cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vehicle yaw inertia and mass independent adaptive control for stability and trajectory tracking enhancements

This paper describes a vehicle stability control (VSC) system using a yaw inertia and mass independent adaptive control law. As a primary vehicle active control system, VSC can significantly improve vehicle driving safety for passenger cars and enhance trajectory tracking accuracy for other applications such as autonomous, surveillance, and wheeled mobile robot vehicles. For the designs of vehicle dynamic control systems, vehicle yaw inertia and mass are two of the most important parameters. However, in practical applications, vehicle yaw inertia and mass often change with vehicle payload and load distribution. In this paper, an adaptive control law is proposed to treat the vehicle yaw inertia and mass as unknown parameters and automatically address their variations. For the proposed adaptive control law, asymptotical stability of the yaw rate tracking error was proved by a Lyapunov-like analysis for certain vehicle architecture under some reasonable assumptions. The performance of the yaw inertia and mass independent adaptive vehicle stability control system was evaluated under several driving conditions (i.e. double lane-changing on a slippery surface and brake on a split-μ surface tests) through simulation studies using a high-fidelity full-vehicle model provided by CarSim®.
Impact of a Two-Rate Property Tax on Residential Densities

Municipalities sometimes reform property tax schedules in an effort to increase suboptimal residential densities. One such approach is to reduce the tax rate applied to building values and increase the tax rate applied to land, known as a two‐rate property tax (TPT). This paper evaluates the impact of a TPT on residential density in Nashville‐Davidson County, Tennessee where a conventional property tax schedule prevails during 2006–2007. When land taxes are proportionally higher than taxes on structures, 1.07 to 1 and 1.25 to 1 for general and urban service districts, respectively, ex ante simulations suggest that housing density increases by 18% in general services districts and 83% in urban services districts.
A methodology for simulating the US recreational fishery for billfish

A simulation model of the process for recreational tournament fishing for billfish is developed, using the northeastern Gulf of Mexico as the study area. The objective is to explore the relationship between catch-rate and abundance. Starting with an initial fish population, both the boat and fish move throughout a spatial grid as the fishing day progresses. The simulation first determines if a fish is within proximity of a boat and, if so, if the fish was subsequently raised to the bait. It then determines if a raised fish was hooked. Data are tabulated on the number of fish hooked by all boats fishing during a tournament day per 100 hours of effort. The catch rate is classically used for indexing abundance. >
Thrombotic occlusion of the main stem of the left coronary artery in a neonate

Thrombotic coronary arterial occlusion, and myocardial infarction, are rare in the newborn. We report such a happening presenting shortly after birth with cardiogenic shock, no left ventricular output and a systemic circulation dependent on flow from a patent arterial duct.
Liquid‐Crystalline Supramolecular Polymers Formed through Complementary Nucleobase‐Pair Interactions

We report how the place- ment of nucleobase units, thymine, or N 6 -(4-methoxybenzoyl)adenine, onto the ends of a mesogenic core, bis-4- alkoxy-substituted bis(phenylethynyl)- benzene, affects the properties of these materials. We show that addition of these bulky polar groups significantly reduces the range of liquid-crystalline behavior of these compounds. Howev- er, mixing two complementary nucleo- base-containing AA- and BB-type monomer units together does result in the formation of stable, thermotropic liquid-crystalline (LC) phases. Hydro- gen bonding is shown to play an impor- tant role in the formation of these LC phases, consistent with the formation of oligomeric or polymeric hydrogen- bonded aggregates. X-ray analyses of these mixed materials are consistent with the formation of smectic C phases.
A Novel Role of MicroRNA in Late Preconditioning: Upregulation of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Heat Shock Protein 70

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are noncoding RNAs of 18 to 24 nucleotides that are involved in posttranscriptional regulation of protein expression. Their role in ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is currently unknown. We hypothesized that miRNAs induced after IPC in the heart may create a preconditioned phenotype through upregulating proteins including endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS)/inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and heat shock protein (HSP)70, which are implicated in the late-phase protection of IPC. miRNAs were extracted from hearts of ICR mice following IPC. The purified miRNAs were injected in vivo into the left ventricular wall of mice, and, 48 hours later, the hearts were subjected to regional ischemia/reperfusion injury by left anterior descending artery ligation for 30 minutes followed by reperfusion for 24 hour. IPC caused no changes in miRNA-23b and miRNA-483 whereas miRNA-1, miRNA-21and miRNA-24 were significantly increased. The IPC-miRNA treatment caused an increase in eNOS mRNA and protein, whereas iNOS was not changed. HSF-1 (heat shock transcription factor 1) and HSP70 were also increased with IPC-miRNA treatment versus control. Moreover, injection of IPC-miRNA protected the hearts against ischemia/reperfusion injury, as shown by a reduction of infarct size as compared with saline or non-IPC miRNA-treated control. We conclude that IPC-induced miRNAs trigger cardioprotection similar to the delayed phase of IPC, possibly through upregulating eNOS, HSP70, and the HSP70 transcription factor HSF-1.
Learning to Teach Science as Inquiry in the Rough and Tumble of Practice

This study examined the knowledge, beliefs and efforts of five prospective teachers to enact teaching science as inquiry, over the course of a one-year high school fieldwork experience. Data sources included interviews, field notes, and artifacts, as these prospective teachers engaged in learning how to teach science. Research questions included 1) What were these prospective teachers' beliefs of teaching science? 2) To what extent did these prospective teachers articulate understandings of teaching science as inquiry? 3) In what ways, if any, did these prospective teachers endeavor to teach science as inquiry in their classrooms? 4) In what ways did the mentor teachers' views of teaching science appear to support or constrain these prospective teachers' intentions and abilities to teach science as inquiry? Despite support from a professional development school setting, the Interns' teaching strategies represented an entire spectrum of practice—from traditional, lecture-driven lessons, to innovative, open, full-inquiry projects. Evidence suggests one of the critical factors influencing a prospective teacher's intentions and abilities to teach science as inquiry, is the teacher's complex set of personal beliefs about teaching and of science. This paper explores the methodological issues in examining teachers' beliefs and knowledge in actual classroom practice. 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 613-642, 2007 Keywords: physics; biology; science teacher education; inquiry; teacher beliefs
Solar Water Heating

One of the most durable applications of solar energy for over 100 years has been the use of the Sun to heat water. In this article, a number of topics relevant to this general thrust are given. Included are discussions of various types of collectors, how their performance can be assessed, and sources of performance information on commercial units. Keywords: solar water heating systems; flat-plate collectors; evacuated tube collectors; rating organizations; efficiency; collector orientation; system simulation
Circulating Tumor Cells, DNA, and mRNA: Potential for Clinical Utility in Patients With Melanoma

UNLABELLED : Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA), collectively termed circulating tumor products (CTPs), represent areas of immense interest from scientists' and clinicians' perspectives. In melanoma, CTP analysis may have clinical utility in many areas, from screening and diagnosis to clinical decision-making aids, as surveillance biomarkers or sources of real-time genetic or molecular characterization. In addition, CTP analysis can be useful in the discovery of new biomarkers, patterns of treatment resistance, and mechanisms of metastasis development. Here, we compare and contrast CTCs, ctDNA, and mRNA, review the extent of translational evidence to date, and discuss how future studies involving both scientists and clinicians can help to further develop this tool for the benefit of melanoma patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Scientific advancement has enabled the rapid development of tools to analyze circulating tumor cells, tumor DNA, and messenger RNA, collectively termed circulating tumor products (CTPs). A variety of techniques have emerged to detect and characterize melanoma CTPs; however, only a fraction has been applied to human subjects. This review summarizes the available human data that investigate clinical utility of CTP in cancer screening, melanoma diagnosis, prognosis, prediction, and genetic or molecular characterization. It provides a rationale for how CTPs may be useful for future research and discusses how clinicians can be involved in developing this exciting new technology.
International Red Cross Must Include Israel

Israel's corresponding relief agency, the Mogen David Adom, has provided emergency services to countries all over the world since 1939, and it meets or surpasses every other standard for IFRC membership. Yet Israel remains the only nation left out of the 178- country federation. Why?An IFRC spokesman says that it is "governments, not the federation, that give emblems the protective force of international law," and that "governments" are preparing to adopt an additional emblem, with no religious or national connotations, to stand alongside the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, one that Israel could adopt as its own.The consequences of Israel's exclusion are more than merely symbolic. While Israel is permitted to attend Red Cross meetings, it is not permitted to vote. Although the IFRC continues to function without America's dues, it has had to dismiss 6 percent of its headquarters staff. This doesn't impede the amount of Red Cross aid distributed worldwide, but it does present significant logistical and public relations problems.
A Normal Mode Theory of an Underwater Acoustic Duct by Means of Green's Function

The resolvent Green's function technique is used to find the acoustic field due to a CW point source located in a laminar inhomogeneous medium. Results are in terms of a residue expansion (normal modes) and branch line integrals. This approach is then used to solve the wave equation for an underwater acoustic duct described by an Epstein layer. Only the residue expansion is evaluated. From the residue expansion, propagation loss is found as a function of range. Application to a realistic velocity-depth profile indicates a pattern of beats resulting from a superposition of the normal modes. A general procedure is next described for obtaining exact solutions of the wave equation for a large variety of velocity-depth profiles. This procedure may prove useful in developing future normal mode models.
Correlates of African-American Undergraduate Student Achievement: Implications for the Prize Initiative

Male and female African-American college students (n = 131) at a large urban predominately White publicly funded institution participated in a survey measuring the effect of a multitude of psychoso...
Pressure broadening and line shifting of atomic strontium5s2S01→5s5pP13and5s5pP0,1,23→5s6sS13absorption transitions induced by noble-gas collisions

The broadening and shifting of spectral lines induced by collisions with the five noble gases in both the intercombination system and the triplet manifold of Sr are studied using tunable dye laser absorption spectroscopy. Cross sections for impact broadening and line shifting are determined from an examination of the spectral line profiles. These results are utilized in an analysis to compute difference potentials modeled by the Lennard-Jones (6-12) potential and the coefficients and derived from this analysis are reported.
Design and Development of a Mobile Detection Platform for Grid Connection of Small Photovoltaic Power Stations

In view of the current trend of connecting photovoltaic power stations to the power grid in China and according to the technical stipulations for grid connection of photovoltaic power stations,a small-scale mobile detection platform for the grid connection of photovoltaic power stations is developed.The utility voltage and frequency disturbance test,anti-islanding test,power output feature test,electric power quality test and general performance test can be made on the spot by the mobile detection platform.In light of the characteristics of distributed access to the grid of the photovoltaic power station,the detection platform designed is capable of flexible mobile performance.It is shown by the results of a field test on the platform-based photovoltaic power station that the detection platform can accomplish all of the testing contents.
Nitric oxide-mediated spinal disinhibition contributes to the sensitization of primate spinothalamic tract neurons.

Nitric oxide–mediated spinal disinhibition contributes to the sensitization of primate spinothalamic tract neurons. This study concentrated on whether an increase in spinal nitric oxide (NO) dimini...
Climate adaptation education: embracing reality or abandoning environmental values

AbstractGiven the magnitude and immediacy of climate change, how should environmental education (EE) address not only reducing our climate footprint but also climate adaptation? Whereas some approaches to adaptation education are consistent with EE foundational principles, others, while crucial for individual survival, address more immediate risks in ways that do not promote longer-term environmental quality. Using a literature review, we examine issues climate adaptation education raises for the field of EE. We then describe example programs that integrate climate mitigation and adaptation, drawing from EE programs in New York City following devastating floods brought about by Hurricane Sandy. These programs are consistent with a praxis or action research approach to EE where learning is embedded in restoration and other forms of action. We close with reflections on how EE might address climate change adaptation in a manner consistent with climate mitigation education and with our field’s focus on improv...
Chapter 15 – Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagus/Gastric Cardia

Unlike squamous carcinoma of the esophagus, adenocarcinomas is not closely linked to alcohol use. Tobacco plays a role, but a less important one than for squamous cancers. Risk may be higher in those who are obese. A medical condition that seems to be important in the causation of these adenocarcinomas is gastroesophageal reflux, wherein acid from the stomach travels up into the lower esophagus, causing changes in the tissue structure. Adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia is many times more common in men than women, and occurs in Los Angeles County at about the same rate as in other parts of the country. The higher risk to males and whites is characteristic of this malignancy, as is the increase over time and the diminished risk among those of lower social class, even though the malignancies of adjacent tissues in the esophagus and lower stomach are both strongly linked to lower social class. No obvious nonrandom determinant distinguishes the observed high risk census tracts from the others.
Signal reconstruction by path integral methods

As a signal travels through a waveguide or through the atmosphere, natural conditions such as inhomogeneity and dissipation can cause alterations in the signal quality. While generally we determine the received signal given the initial waveform along with its distribution in space and the conditions between the source and received points, here we attempt to solve the inverse problem. That is, given the received signal at a point in space, reconstruct the source signal. Naturally this can be accomplished by a number of methods given the field distribution over a cross section of a region in space, but here we only wish to consider the possibility of being provided with the material conditions of the space between the source and receiver and the actual signal received at a point in space. A scheme for restoring such distorted waves has been presented by Foong (1959), based on a generalized Kac method (1959). Our approach is similar in that it relies upon a Feyman path integral formulation, but in a form quite different from that of Kac.
Response to "Ethical and Clinical Dilemmas in Using Psychotropic Medications During Pregnancy".

Treatment of pregnant women with psychosis may involve reconciling conflicting ethical obligations.
Design of a series elastic resistance mechanism for exercise and rehabilitation

This paper introduces an initial investigation of a series elastic resistance mechanism for exercise and rehabilitation. The idea of Series Elastic Actuator is applied to a resistance mechanism that is designed to perform stable force control under safe operation in a cost effective way. The mechanism can generate various resistance force considering the biomechanical characteristic of a human by actively controlling resistance during an exercise stroke. As an initial investment of a series elastic resistance mechanism, a prototype hardware has been developed. Bluetooth communication is used to connect the prototype with a smartphone which sets resistance levels and receives experimental data log. A PID feedback controller is implemented with the prototype hardware to provide a constant, non-inertial resistance force by maintaining a constant deflection of springs during an exercise stroke. Dynamic simulation and experimental results of the prototype are also presented.
The Rare Bone Disease Working Group: report from the 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Annual Meeting

A working group on rare bone diseases was held in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the 2016 annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. The meeting was organized by Matthew Drake. Given recent advances in our understanding of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), the initial portion of the program was devoted to basic, translational, and clinical aspects of FOP. The remainder of the program was divided into updates on an array of rare bone diseases as detailed below. In total, there were more than 120 scientists from academia and industry in attendance.
Prolonged Administration of Aprepitant Does Not Increase Toxicity in Patients Undergoing High Dose Chemotherapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplant.

Aprepitant is a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist used for the prevention of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) with highly emetogenic chemotherapy. The recommended dose for the prevention of CINV is 125 mg orally on day of treatment, followed by 80 mg orally on days 2 and 3. It is known that aprepitant inhibits cytochrome P450 3A4, therefore elevating plasma concentrations of various drugs, including certain chemotherapy drugs such as etoposide. Given the highly emetogenic nature and length of conditioning regimens used in Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) patients, we elected to treat patients for a longer period of time with aprepitant. Twenty-five patients received aprepitant for an average of 7.6 days, with an initial dose of 125 mg p.o. on day 1 and 80 mg p.o. on subsequent days. Eleven patients were women and the remaining fourteen were men. The youngest transplanted patient was 20 and the oldest was 68 years old. Engraftment was defined as an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) greater than 1000 x 3 days and number of days until platelet transfusion independence. The mean day to ANC recovery was 12.3 and the mean day of platelet transfusion independence was 13. This data was based on 24 patients, as one male patient died day +10 secondary to RSV bronchiolitis prior to engraftment. The incidence of mucositis, neutropenic fevers, pulmonary toxicities, and other complications did not differ compared with previously established data. We conclude that aprepitant can be used safely without adding significant toxicity to therapy with high dose chemotherapy in autologous stem cell transplant patients. A randomized prospective trial should be considered to evaluate the efficacy in reducing CINV and to further evaluate toxicity.
Exploring the Use of Gesture in Collaborative Tasks

Personal assistants such as Siri have changed the way people interact with computers by introducing virtual assistants that collaborate with humans through natural speech-based interfaces. However, relying on speech alone as the medium of communication can be a limitation; non-verbal aspects of communication also play a vital role in natural human discourse. Thus, it is necessary to identify the use of gesture and other non-verbal aspects in order to apply them towards the development of computer systems. We conducted an exploratory study to identify how humans use gesture and speech to communicate when solving collaborative tasks. We highlight differences in gesturing strategies in the presence/absence of speech and also show that the inclusion of gesture with speech resulted in faster task completion times than with speech alone. Based on these results, we present implications for the design of gestural and multimodal interactions.
Estimation Theory-Based Robust Phase Offset Determination in Presence of Possible Path Asymmetries

This paper addresses the problem of robust clock phase offset estimation for the IEEE 1588 precision time protocol in the presence of unknown asymmetric network path delays. The presence of an unknown asymmetry between the path delays can lead to significant degradation in the performance of a phase offset estimation scheme. Assuming multiple master-slave communication paths are available, we first provide lower bounds on the best achievable performance for a phase offset estimation scheme in the presence of asymmetric master-slave communication paths. We then present a novel phase offset estimation scheme that employs the expectation-maximization algorithm to identify the asymmetric master–slave communication paths. After discarding information from these paths, we employ the minimax optimum vector location parameter estimator for estimating the phase offset. Simulation results are presented to show that the proposed phase offset estimation scheme exhibits performance close to the lower bounds in a wide variety of network scenarios.
The numerical abilities of anurans and their neural correlates: insights from neuroethological studies of acoustic communication.

Acoustic communication is important in the reproductive behaviour of anurans. The acoustic repertoire of most species consists of several call types, but some anurans gradually increase the complex...
Novel phenotype–disease matching tool for rare genetic diseases

To improve the accuracy of matching rare genetic diseases based on patient’s phenotypes. We introduce new methods to prioritize diagnosis of genetic diseases based on integrated semantic similarity (method 1) and ontological overlap (method 2) between the phenotypes expressed by a patient and phenotypes annotated to known diseases. We evaluated the performance of our methods by two sets of simulated data and one set of patient’s data derived from electronic health records. We demonstrated that the two methods achieved significantly improved performance compared with previous methods in correctly prioritizing candidate diseases in all of the three sets. Our methods are freely available as a web application ( https://gddp.research.cchmc.org/ ) to aid diagnosis of genetic diseases. Our methods can capture the diagnostic information embedded in the phenotype ontology, consider all phenotypes exhibited by a patient, and are more robust than the existing methods when phenotypes are incorrectly or imprecisely specified. These methods can assist the diagnosis of rare genetic diseases and help the interpretation of the results of DNA tests.
Snapshotter: Lightweight intrusion detection and prevention system for industrial control systems

In recent years, security aspects of industrial control systems (ICS) have become a center of interest in cyberwarfare and engineering research, especially after the rise of advanced and sophisticated malware (e.g., Stuxnet) specifically designed to target such systems for different malicious purposes including industrial espionage, physical damage, financial gains, etc. Of special interest to us are programmable logic controllers (PLC) which play a major role in ICS for process control purposes in different industries such as telecommunications, chemical processing, etc. A successful compromise of such controllers provides a malefic adversary the capability to inject arbitrary (malicious) code into the system in hopes of industrial process steering. Therefore, we investigate how a forward secure logging mechanism can be used for intrusion detection and prevention purposes in such cases. The proposed defense mechanism can be summarized in security-related information gathering and fast forward-secure logging by an intrusion detection agent, in addition to log analysis, incident identification and response by a trusted server. We implemented our proposal on the OpenPLC framework as the proof of concept and we show how our proposed scheme can be effective in order to detect and prevent adversaries from running arbitrary code on the controllers. The performance overhead we measured on our platform is at most 54 μs per scan cycle, which confirms how lightweight the presented solution is.
Oncocytoid artifact of the parotid gland: A newly reported artifact

Electrocautery can induce significant alterations in the connective tissues and epithelium of specimens removed for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. When electrocautery is used during parotid surgery, it can cause an oncocytoid artifact. The alterations described in this article are enlarged, tightly packed serous acinar cells with coarse to granular eosinophilic cytoplasm, distinct cell borders, and round basal nuclei that on cursory microscopic examination resemble oncocytes with respect to morphology. These changes are seen in conjunction with other, more recognized changes secondary to electrocautery and are believed to occur as a consequence of the electrothermal discharge. On the basis of our findings, this artifact is common in parotid surgical specimens and was misdiagnosed as benign oncocytic lesions in 5 cases.
Case 72: Things to Remember When You Change a Cordis Catheter to a Triple Lumen

You are called late at night to change a Cordis Catheter (Arrow Flex Sheath, 9Fr), situated in a patient’s internal jugular vein (IJV) to a triple lumen. Both catheters are made by Arrow, Reading, PA 19605. This is not your patient but you are the first call and everyone has gone home. The patient is awake in the recovery room. Her past history is significant for obesity, hypertension, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease with angioplasty and bypass grafting, and deep vein thrombosis. She was originally going to ICU but is now being admitted to an ordinary ward. Since the hospital policy is that no patient can have a cordis in an ordinary ward, the cordis must either be removed or changed to a triple lumen. The surgeon wants a triple lumen for IV access, as she has no other IV working.
TROP2 methylation and expression in tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer

The DNA methyltransferase 1 inhibitor, 5-Aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-dC) is a potential treatment for breast cancer. However, not all breast tumors will respond similarly to treatment with 5-Aza-dC, and little is known regarding the response of hormone-resistant breast cancers to 5-Aza-dC. We demonstrate that 5-Aza-dC-treatment has a stronger effect on an estrogen receptor-negative, Tamoxifen-selected cell line, TMX2-28, than on the estrogen receptor-positive, MCF7, parental cell line. Using data obtained from the HM450 Methylation Bead Chip, pyrosequencing, and RT-qPCR, we identified a panel of genes that are silenced by promoter methylation in TMX2-28 and re-expressed after treatment with 5-Aza-dC. One of the genes identified, tumor associated calcium signal transducer 2 (TACSTD2), is altered by DNA methylation, and there is evidence that in some cancers decreased expression may result in greater proliferation. Analysis of DNA methylation of TACSTD2 and protein expression of its product, trophoblast antigen protein 2 (TROP2), was extended to a panel of primary (n = 34) and recurrent (n = 34) breast tumors. Stratifying tumors by both recurrence and ER status showed no significant relationship between TROP2 levels and TACSTD2 methylation. Knocking down TACSTD2 expression in MCF7 increased proliferation however; re-expressing TACSTD2 in TMX2-28 did not inhibit proliferation, indicating that TACSTD2 re-expression alone was insufficient to explain the decreased proliferation observed after treatment with 5-Aza-dC. These results illustrate the complexity of the TROP2 signaling network. However, TROP2 may be a valid therapeutic target for some cancers. Further studies are needed to identify biomarkers that indicate how TROP2 signaling affects tumor growth and whether targeting TROP2 would be beneficial to the patient.
Influencing Factors and Countermeasures of Neonatal Brain Injury

This study probes into the occurrence of neonatal brain injury, explores the influencing factors of neonatal brain injury and puts forwards relevant suggestions, with a view to providing scientific basis for clinical effective preventive measures. The study selects 225 neonates admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) from March 2016 to May 2017 in Zhengzhou Children's Hospital and collects the related clinical data and the results of cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for single factor chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis using SPSS statistical software. The incidence rate of neonatal brain injury is 37.8%. Chorioamnionitis in pregnant women, mechanical ventilation during the neonatal period, and neonatal infection are independent risk factors for neonatal brain injury, while cesarean delivery is its protective factor (P<0.05). Risk factors for brain injury include chorioamnionitis in pregnant women, mechanical ventilation in the neonatal period, and neonatal infections, thus it is necessary to pay attention to the high-risk neonates before, during and after delivery, and take intervention measures to reduce the incidence rate of brain injury so as to improve the life quality of neonates.
Robotic Urologic Surgery: How to Make an Effective Robotic Program

Robotic urology is here to stay and the its acceptability is increasing by each passing day. The hospitals are keen to initiate the program but as this is a huge undertaking and involves major financial investment along with the need for appropriate infrastructure and medical team. This chapter aims at guiding the institutions in identifying the thrust areas that need to be addressed to ensure the establishment of a successful robotic program.
Spanish-Speaking Hispanic Patients' Information-Sharing Preferences During Hospitalization: An Exploratory Pilot Study.

Background: Self-management of chronic conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, requires the coordination of care across multiple care settings. Current patient-centered, hospital-based care initiatives, including bedside nursing handoff and multidisciplinary rounds, often focus on provider information exchange and roles but fall short of the goals of participatory medicine, which recognize the right of patients to partner in their own care and play an active role in self-management. Objective: This study aimed to elicit Spanish-speaking Hispanic patients’ perspectives on the exchange and sharing of information during hospitalization. Methods: This exploratory pilot study incorporated a qualitative descriptive approach by using Spanish language focus groups, posthospitalization, to determine patient-identified information needs during hospitalization. Results: Participants preferred paper-based Spanish language medical information. Doctors and nurses were key information providers and communicated with participants verbally, usually with the assistance of a translator. Participants expressed a desire to be informed about medication and treatments, including side effects and why there were changes in medication during hospitalization. In addition, they expressed interest in knowing about the progress of their condition and when they could expect to go home. Emotional readiness to receive information about their condition and prognosis was identified as an individual barrier to asking questions and seeking additional information about their condition(s). Conclusions: Overall, participants shared positive experiences with providers during hospitalization and the usefulness of self-care instructions. Language was not recognized as a barrier by any of the participants. Nevertheless, future research on the influence of emotional readiness on the timing of medical information is needed.
Calibration of the Highway Safety ManualGiven Safety Performance Functions for RuralMultilane Segments and Intersections in Kansas

The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) provides models and methodologies for safety evaluation and prediction of safety performance of various types of roadways. However, predictive methods in the HSM are of limited use if they are not calibrated for local conditions. In this study, calibration procedures given in the HSM were followed for rural segments and intersections in Kansas. Results indicated that HSM overpredicts fatal and injury crashes and underpredicts total crashes on rural multilane roadway segments in Kansas. Therefore, existing safety performance functions (SPFs) must be adjusted for Kansas conditions, in order to increase accuracy of crash prediction. This study examined a way to adjust HSM calibration procedures by development of new regression coefficients for existing HSM-given SPF. Final calibration factors obtained through modified SPFs indicated significant improvement in crash prediction for rural multilane segments in Kansas. Additionally, obtained calibration factors indicated that the HSM is capable of predicting crashes at intersections at satisfactory level.
Sphalerons, baryogenesis, and helical magnetogenesis in the electroweak transition of the minimal standard model

We start by considering the production rates of sphalerons with different sizes $\ensuremath{\rho}$ in the symmetric phase, $Tg{T}_{\mathrm{EW}}$. At small $\ensuremath{\rho}$, the distribution is cut off by the growing mass $M\ensuremath{\sim}1/\ensuremath{\rho}$, and at large $\ensuremath{\rho}$ by the magnetic screening mass. In the broken phase, $Tl{T}_{\mathrm{EW}}$, the scale is set by the Higgs vacuum expectation value $v(T)$. We introduce the concept of ``sphaleron freeze-out'' whereby the sphaleron production rate matches the Hubble Universe expansion rate. At freeze-out the sphalerons are out of equilibrium. Sphaleron explosions generate sound and even gravity waves, when a nonzero Weinberg angle makes them nonspherical. We evaluate the magnitude of $CP$ violation during the sphaleron explosions. We assess its magnitude using the Standard Model Cabbibo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) quark matrix, first for nonzero and then zero Dirac eigenstates. We find that its magnitude is maximal at the sphaleron freeze-out condition with $T\ensuremath{\approx}130\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. We proceed to estimate the amount of $CP$ violation needed to generate the observed magnitude of baryon asymmetry of the Universe, and find that it is about an order of magnitude above our CKM-based estimates. We also relate the baryon asymmetry to the generation of $U(1)$ magnetic chirality, which is expected to be conserved and perhaps visible in polarized intergalactic magnetic fields.
Limited Data: Deprescribing is Safe, But at the Risk of Symptom Recurrence.

The limited rigorous data on deprescribing suggest that many patients can safely stop unnecessary medication, but symptom relapse is significant.
Risk factors for graft failure associated with pulmonary hypertension after pediatric heart transplantation.

Postoperative pulmonary hypertension can be a major cause of early death after heart transplantation in children. To identify predictive risk factors of pulmonary hypertension after heart transplantation, we performed a retrospective analysis of our 194 infant and pediatric recipients who underwent heart transplantation between 1987 and 1992. Because the response of pulmonary vasculature may change during growth, the patients were divided into two groups: age less than 1 year in group I (n =152) and 1 year or older in group C (n = 43). The following risk factors were evaluated: cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease and hypoplastic left heart syndrome, pretransplant pulmonary hypertension, history of operation, oversized donor (donor/recipient weight ratio greater than 2) donor's history of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and prolonged graft ischemic time (graft ischemic time 360 minutes or longer). Though there was no significant difference between group I and group C in overall early mortality including early graft loss (19 of 152 versus 5 of 42), the mortality rate from pulmonary hypertension in group I was significantly lower than that in group C (2 of 152 versus 4 of 42; p p
Manufacture of silicon carbide reinforced aluminium 6061 metal matrix composites for enhanced sliding wear properties

Composite materials have the capability of being customised to provide specific mechanical and tribological properties. This paper presents the manufacture of a novel composite of Al6061 with 5% SiC (50 μm size) by the stir casting method. Experimental investigations of mechanical and tribological properties of SiC reinforced Al6061 are discussed. Investigations with a Rockwell hardness tester revealed that this composite had enhanced hardness. Wear characteristics were investigated for Al6061 and the novel composite Al6061 + SiC with a Pin on disc tribometer for a load range of 5N-200N and RPM varying from 200 to 1500. The effect of crucial parameters such as load and RPM on the wear of the novel composite were presented with sensitivity analysis. The results obtained are encouraging, showing the novel composite having a lower wear rate.
Improving the Diagnosis of Ipsilateral Femoral Neck and Shaft Fractures: A New Imaging Protocol.

Background Despite increased awareness of ipsilateral femoral neck fractures in patients with high-energy femoral shaft fractures and advanced imaging with thin-cut high-resolution computed tomography (CT), failure of diagnosis remains problematic. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the preoperative diagnosis of ipsilateral femoral neck fractures in patients with high-energy femoral shaft fractures can be improved with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared with radiographic and CT imaging. Methods In response to delayed diagnoses of femoral neck fractures despite thin-cut high-resolution CT, our institutional imaging protocol for acute, high-energy femoral shaft fractures was altered to include rapid limited-sequence MRI to evaluate for occult femoral neck fractures. All patients received standard radiographic imaging as well as thin-cut high-resolution pelvic CT imaging upon presentation. Rapid limited-sequence MRI of the pelvis was obtained to evaluate for an occult femoral neck fracture. Results Thirty-seven consecutive patients with 39 acute, high-energy femoral shaft fractures resulting from blunt trauma were included. The average age of the patients was 29.1 years (range, 14 to 82 years). Ten (25.6%) of the 39 femoral shaft fractures were open. Two femoral shaft fractures (5.1%) were associated with ipsilateral femoral neck fractures that were detected on radiographs, and no MRI was performed. None of the remaining 37 femoral shaft fractures were associated with a femoral neck fracture that was identified on CT imaging. Thirty-three (89.2%) of 37 patients underwent pelvic MRI to evaluate the ipsilateral femoral neck. Four (12.1%) of those 33 patients were diagnosed with a femoral neck fracture (2 complete, 2 incomplete) that was not identified on thin-cut high-resolution CT or radiographic imaging. Conclusions Rapid limited-sequence MRI of the pelvis for patients with femoral shaft fractures identified femoral neck fractures that were not diagnosed on thin-cut high-resolution CT in 12% of our patients. Our results suggest that the frequency of femoral neck fractures may be underrepresented on CT imaging; rapid limited-sequence MRI was feasible without delaying definitive treatment even in polytraumatized patients. Level of evidence Diagnostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Clinical Characteristics and Treatment of MOG-IgG-Associated Optic Neuritis.

Antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) are associated with a unique acquired central nervous system demyelinating disease—termed MOG-IgG-associated disorder (MOGAD)—which has a variety of clinical manifestations, including optic neuritis, transverse myelitis, acute disseminating encephalomyelitis, and brainstem encephalitis. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of the clinical characteristics, neuroimaging, treatments, and outcomes of MOGAD, with a focus on optic neuritis. The recent development of a reproducible, live cell–based assay for MOG-IgG, has improved our ability to identify and study this disease. Based on contemporary studies, it has become increasingly evident that MOGAD is distinct from multiple sclerosis and aquaporin-4-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder with different clinical features and treatment outcomes. There is now sufficient evidence to separate MOGAD from other inflammatory central nervous system demyelinating disorders, which will allow focused research on understanding the pathophysiology of the disease. Prospective treatment trials are needed to determine the best course of treatment, and until then, treatment plans must be individualized to the clinical manifestations and severity of disease.
APA-Scan: Detection and Visualization of 3’-UTR APA with RNA-seq and 3’-end-seq Data

Abstract The eukaryotic genome is capable of producing multiple isoforms from a gene by alternative polyadenylation (APA) during pre-mRNA processing. APA in the 3’-untranslated region (3’-UTR) of mRNA produces transcripts with shorter 3’-UTR. Often, 3’-UTR serves as a binding platform for microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins, which affect the fate of the mRNA transcript. Thus, 3’-UTR APA provides a means to regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and is known to promote translation. Current bioinformatics pipelines have limited capability in profiling 3’-UTR APA events due to incomplete annotations and a low-resolution analyzing power: widely available bioinformatics pipelines do not reference actionable polyadenylation (cleavage) sites but simulate 3’-UTR APA only using RNA-seq read coverage, causing false positive identifications. To overcome these limitations, we developed APA-Scan, a robust program that identifies 3’-UTR APA events and visualizes the RNA-seq short-read coverage with gene annotations. APA-Scan utilizes either predicted or experimentally validated actionable polyadenylation signals as a reference for polyadenylation sites and calculates the quantity of long and short 3’-UTR transcripts in the RNA-seq data. The performance of APA-Scan was validated by qPCR. Implementation APA-Scan is implemented in Python. Source code and a comprehensive user’s manual are freely available at https://github.com/compbiolabucf/APA-Scan
Public address as embodied experience: using digital technologies to enhance communicative and civic engagement in the communication classroom

This study examines how students characterize their experience of a communication-based digital humanities project in relation to elements of situated embodiment and situated learning. Analysis of ...
COMPARISON OF A HEAD MOUNTED IMPACT MEASUREMENT DEVICE TO THE HYBRID III ANTHROPOMORPHIC TESTING DEVICE IN A CONTROLLED LABORATORY SETTING.

BACKGROUND Reports estimate that 1.6 to 3.8 million cases of concussion occur in sports and recreation each year in the United States. Despite continued efforts to reduce the occurrence of concussion, the rate of diagnosis continues to increase. The mechanisms of concussion are thought to involve linear and rotational head accelerations and velocities. One method of quantifying the kinematics experienced during sport participation is to place measurement devices into the athlete's helmet or directly on the athlete's head. PURPOSE The purpose of this research to determine the accuracy of a head mounted device for measuring the head accelerations experienced by the wearer. This will be accomplished by identifying the error in Peak Linear Acceleration (PLA), Peak Rotational Acceleration (PRA) and Peak Rotational Velocity (PRV) of the device. STUDY DESIGN Laboratory study. METHODS A helmeted Hybrid III 50th percentile male headform was impacted via a pneumatic ram from the front, side, rear, front oblique and rear oblique at speeds from 1.5 to 5 m/s. The X2 Biosystems xPatch® (Seattle, WA) sensor was placed on the headform's right side at the approximate location of the mastoid process. Measures of PLA, PRA, PRV from the xPatch ® and Hybrid III were analyzed for Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Absolute and Relative Error (AE, RE). RESULT Seventy-six impacts were analyzed. All measures of correlation, fixed through the origin, were found to be strong: PLA R2=0.967 p<0.01, PRA R2=0.933 p<0.01, PRV R2=0.999 p<0.00. PLA RMSE was 34%, RE 31.0%±14.0, and AE 31.1%±13.7. PRA RMSE was 23.4%, RE -6.7 ± 22.4 and AE 18.9%±13.8. PRV RMSE was 2.2%, RE 0.1 ± 2.2, and AE 1.8 ± 1.3. CONCLUSION Without including corrections for effect of skin artifact, the xPatch® produces measurements highly correlated with the gold standard yet above the average error of testing devices in both PLA and PRA, but a low error in PRV. PLA measures from the xPatch® system demonstrated a high level of correlation with the PLA data from the Hybrid III mounted data collection system. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3.