cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
RESEARCHING THE SUPREME COURT IN A DEMOCRATIC PLURALIST SYSTEM: Some Thoughts on New Directions

The political processes which invite research and the investment of associated resources are those identified as signiscant by the political theories to which we give credence. Though Democratic Pluralism is the most popular explanation of the political system in the United States, its ability to explain Supreme Court behavior cannot be evaluated, for observation of the processes by which Court agendas for national policy making purposes are constructed is not encouraged. The remedy lies in a new and broader perspective which directs attention to a number of institutional actions and incumbent behaviors until now slighted, if not ignored.
A source reconstruction method for multiple scatter Compton cameras

A novel method for finding the direction of gamma rays incident on a multiple scatter Compton camera has been proposed. The method uses the polarization dependence of double Compton scattering to reduce the azimuthal ambiguity normally associated with interpreting Compton scattering events. The CYLTRAN photon Monte Carlo code was modified to include the polarization effects of gamma rays undergoing Compton scattering in the 150-1000-keV energy range and used to test the method. Results for 150-keV gamma rays incident upon a multiple Compton scatter imaging camera are presented. >
Electronic Clinical Surveillance to Improve Outpatient Care: Diverse Applications within an Integrated Delivery System

Efforts to improve patient safety have largely focused on inpatient or emergency settings, but the importance of patient safety in ambulatory care is increasingly being recognized as a key component of overall health care quality. Care gaps in outpatient settings may include missed diagnoses, medication errors, or insufficient monitoring of patients with chronic conditions or on certain medications. Further, care gaps may occur across a wide range of clinical conditions. We report here an innovative approach to improve patient safety in ambulatory settings – the Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) Outpatient Safety Net Program – which leverages electronic health information to efficiently identify and address a variety of potential care gaps across different clinical conditions. Between 2006 and 2012, the KPSC Outpatient Safety Net Program implemented 24 distinct electronic clinical surveillance programs, which routinely scan the electronic health record to identify patients with a particular condition or event. For example, electronic clinical surveillance may be used to scan for harmful medication interactions or potentially missed diagnoses (e.g., abnormal test results without evidence of subsequent care). Keys to the success of the program include strong leadership support, a proactive clinical culture, the blame-free nature of the program, and the availability of electronic health information. The Outpatient Safety Net Program framework may be adopted by other organizations, including those who have electronic health information but not an electronic health record. In the future, the creation of a forum to share electronic clinical surveillance programs across organizations may facilitate more rapid improvements in outpatient safety.
Circuits with light at the nanoscale

Imagine circuit elements so small that you could fit many of them in a tiny microscale volume (e.g., a cell)! Imagine that such circuits could work with light at the nanoscale instead of electricity! What could you do with such optical nanocircuits? Would you be able to use them in wireless gadgets at nanoscales, like a “nanoradio”, that may connect our nanoworlds? Could these tiny optical nanocircuits be coupled with biological entities and thus provide nanoscale sensors? The fields of metamaterials and plasmonic optics may provide road maps for such futuristic nanocircuits and wireless nanosystems and sensors. We have been developing and investigating some of the fundamental concepts and theories, and key features of such metaplasmonic structures, devices, and circuits. These circuit elements and components may be envisioned as a tapestry of nanostructures of sizes much smaller than the wavelengths of light. This field, for which I have coined the term metactronics, addresses metamaterial-inspired optical nanocircuits and nanosystems (See references below).. In my group, a variety of ideas and paradigms for nanocircuit functions, optical antennas and sensors for beam shaping and photonic wireless at the nanoscale, optical nanoscopy, nanospectrometer for molecular spectroscopy, cloaking of particles, nanotagging and barcodes based on these optical circuits are being studied. In this talk, I will give an overview of these studies, present insights into these findings, and forecast future ideas and road maps in these areas. For more information, please see the references below.
Effect of ovarian tumor characteristics on venous thromboembolic risk.

Objective Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are common in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, resulting in high costs associated with diagnosis and treatment. I aimed to identify subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer that pose greater and lesser venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk. Methods I assessed the outcomes of 641 patients with epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer over a ten-year period. All inpatient, outpatient, and pathology records were reviewed. The rates at which people were evaluated for and diagnosed with venous thromboembolism were assessed. Results Of the 641 cases, 30.0% underwent an imaging test to evaluate for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and 21.7% underwent testing for pulmonary embolism (PE). A 10.8% of all subjects were diagnosed with DVT and 7.2% were diagnosed with PE. Borderline tumors and mucinous showed a strikingly low rate of both DVT and PE. Clear cell and high-grade undifferentiated adenocarcinomas were the most likely to result in VTE. In a multivariate model, pathologic subtype was not only a significant predictor of VTE, but was the single best predictor of VTE. Conclusion Clear cell and undifferentiated pathology in epithelial ovarian carcinomas is associated with a higher VTE risk. The underlying reason for this may related to differences in tumor biology. By identifying low and high risk groups, I may both better conserve medical resources and design more effective thromboprophylaxis for my patients.
Airway obstruction due to massive lingual oedema following cleft palate surgery

The Pierre Robin syndrome consists of micrognathia, pseudo-macroglossia, glossoptosis and a high arched or cleft palate. Difficult intubation of the trachea and associated abnormalities such as congenital heart disease are well known complications of this syndrome. Intraoral surgery (such as cleft palate repair and palatoplasty) can also be technically difficult for the surgeon resulting in prolonged retraction on the tongue with a mouth gag to provide adequate surgical exposure. We report a case where massive lingual oedema following a cleft palate repair resulted in life-threatening airway obstruction.
Particle filtered modified compressed sensing and applications in visual tracking

The main idea of the thesis is to design an efficient tracking algorithm that is able to track moving objects in presence of spatial illumination variation. The state vectors constitute of the motion parameters and the illumination vectors. The illumination vector is designed as a sparse vector using the fact that the scene parameters (e.g. illumination) at any given instant, can have a sparse representation with respect to the basis i.e. only a few basis elements will contribute to the scene dynamics at each instant. The observation is the entire image frame. The non-linearity and the multimodality of the state-space necessitates the use of Particle Filter. The illumination vector along with motion makes the state-space large dimensional thus making the implementation of regular particle filter expensive. PF-MT has been designed to tackle this problem but it does not utilize the sparsity constraint and hence fails to detect the sparse illumination vector. So we design an algorithm that would use particle filter and importance sample on the motion or the ’effective space’ and the mode tracking step of PF-MT is replaced by the Modified Compressed Sensing for estimating the ’residual space’. Simulation and also experiments with real video demonstrate the advantage of the proposed algorithm over other existing PF based algorithms.
The influence of climatic variability on local population dynamics of Cercidium microphyllum (foothill paloverde)

This study investigated correlations among climatic variability, population age structure, and seedling survival of a dominant Sonoran Desert tree, Cercidium microphyllum (foothill paloverde), at Tucson, Arizona, USA. A major goal was to determine whether wet years promote seedling establishment and thereby determine population structure. Plant age was estimated from basal circumference for a sample of 980 living and dead trees in twelve 0.5-ha plots. Ages ranged from 1 to 181 years. Age frequency distribution showed that the population is in decline. Most (51.2%) of the 814 living trees were 40-80 years old; only 6.5% were younger than 20 years. The average age of the 166 dead trees was 78 years. Fifty-nine percent of dead trees were aged 60-100 years. Survival of newly emerged seedlings was monitored for 7 years in a 557-m2 permanent plot. Mean survival in the 1st year of life was 1.7%. Only 2 of 1,008 seedlings lived longer than 1 year. Length of survival was not correlated with rainfall. Residual regeneration, an index of the difference between predicted and observed cohort size, showed that regeneration was high during the first half of the twentieth century and poor after the mid-1950s. Trends in regeneration did not reflect interannual variation in seasonal temperature or rain before 1950, that is, in the years before urban warming. Taken together, the seedling study and the regeneration analysis suggest that local population dynamics reflect biotic factors to such an extent that population age structure might not always be a reliable clue to past climatic influences.
Home Range of Dobsonia minor (Pteropodidae): A Solitary, Foliage–roosting Fruit Bat in Papua New Guinea

Abstract Lesser bare-backed bats (Dobsonia minor [Pteropodidae]) are solitary and roost in foliage of understory and subcanopy trees in lowland rain forest. These 70–90 gram frugivorous bats forage in primary and secondary forest and in abandoned gardens. At the Kau Wildlife Area in Papua New Guinea, movements (N = 1041) of four males and four females fitted with radio transmitters were monitored for 1 to 18 months. Mean home range within 30-day sampling periods was 5.1 ha (N = 12). There were no significant differences in home ranges by sex or by dry–wet season. Females, however, had significantly larger mean core-use areas than males (1.43 ± 0.61 and 0.65 ± 0.16 ha, respectively). There was moderate overlap in home range and core-use areas among some simultaneously tracked animals. The long axes of home ranges varied from 150 to 1150 m and the mean was significantly larger in females. Individuals commuted from day roosts to multiple feeding areas, sometimes resulting in disjunct core-use areas and home ...
Falls in young adults: perceived causes and environmental factors assessed with a daily online survey

Falls are the third leading cause of unintentional injuries for ages 18-35years (CDC), but the causes and circumstances of falls in this age group are understudied. The purpose of this study was to document the frequency and circumstances of falls in young adults with a daily online survey. Ninety-four undergraduate students (19.9±0.9years) received a daily email for 16weeks regarding slips, trips and falls in the past 24h (93% response rate). More than half of the participants (52%) fell in the 16-week interval. Injuries were reported in 16% of falls, and medical treatment was received in 4% of all falls. The majority of falls occurred while walking (58%), and the main cause of the fall was a slip (48%) or trip (25%). On average, participants fell once out of every 18 perceived slips and trips. Physical activity level did not distinguish fallers from non-fallers (p=0.45), but for those who did fall, falls were more frequent as physical activity level increased (p=0.007). The high fall and injury rate in a short interval reflects the inherent instability of bipedal locomotion and indicates that falls are not a trivial problem for young adults.
Therapeutic Delivery of Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1 for Injury Repair

Stromal cell-derived growth factor-1 (SDF1) is a chemokine that is over-expressed at sites of injury and is believed to play an important role in wound repair. At the cellular level, SDF1 regulates the mobilization and trafficking of endothelial progenitors that originate in the bone marrow and functionally contribute to neovascularization and angiogenesis in the wound. Consequently, SDF1 is a potentially interesting therapeutic with the potential to enhance these processes in acute and chronic injuries that otherwise tend to heal poorly, such as spinal cord injury, stroke, myocardial infarction, diabetic skin wounds and acute burns. However, the therapeutic usefulness of SDF1, as many other similar peptide-based growth factors and chemokines, is severely limited due to its short in vivo half-life, as it is rapidly degraded by proteases, which are typically very abundant at the wound site. Several studies have reported methodologies to increase SDF1 in vivo stability by mutating the protease cleavage site...
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Innovative Clinical Applications

Neurologically-based therapies such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) are being clinically implemented and researched in the field of psychotherapy. While EMDR has a theoretical base and some research support for its effectiveness with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) therapists are now developing and using EMDR for other clinical problems. This report illustrates some of the unique applications of EMDR with clinical problems such as: driving phobia, interpersonal arguments, dyspareunia, depression, anxiety, and eating problems.
No Evidence of Increased Survival or Decreased Straying from Acclimating Subyearling Fall Chinook Salmon to Release Locations in the Umatilla River of Oregon

AbstractSmolt-to-adult survival (SAS) and straying of subyearling fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha that were acclimated in waters of their release site before river release was compared with those of fish that were transported to the river and released directly into the river. Results showed that there were no differences in average SAS, which was 0.08% for both acclimated and direct-release groups, or straying, which averaged 33.8% and 35.3% for direct and acclimated release groups, respectively. We conclude that an acclimation period may not improve these metrics in subyearling-released salmon.Received June 19, 2015; accepted October 31, 2015
Studies of Mixing Efficiency in Batch and Continuous Mixers

Abstract In this paper we have reviewed some of the results of 3-D, isothermal flow simulations for batch and continuous mixers. The flow patterns were obtained by using FIDAP, a fluid dynamics analysis package based on the finite element method. The problem of time dependent flow boundaries due to the rotations of the rotors in the Banbury mixer, was solved by selecting a number of sequential geometries to represent a complete cycle. Non-slip boundary conditions for the stationary and moving surfaces were employed. For different regions of continuous mixers we used a nominal value for the normal stress difference in the axial direction as an additional boundary condition. The results obtained in terms of velocity and pressure profiles were further processed to analyze mixing efficiency. Dispersive mixing efficiency was studied in terms of the shear stresses generated and the elongational characteristics of the flow field. Distribution plots for shear stresses and a parameter λ, quantifying the elongation...
Mechanism and outcomes of catheter ablation for ventricular tachycardia in adults with repaired congenital heart disease.

Background Repaired congenital heart disease (rCHD) is strongly associated with ventricular tachycardia (VT) as an important late cause of morbidity and mortality. Ventricular reentry most commonly includes anatomic isthmuses created during the repair procedures. Objective The purpose of this study was to analyze the long-term outcomes of catheter ablation, a commonly used standalone or adjunctive therapy, in a cohort of rCHD patients. Methods A retrospective analysis of 21 consecutive patients with rCHD (45.0 ± 3.0 years, 71.4% male) undergoing ablation for VT was performed. The primary composite outcome was defined as in-hospital arrhythmic death, out-of-hospital sudden cardiac death, or appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy. Results At initial electrophysiologic study, 14 patients (66.7%) had reentrant VT through an electroanatomic isthmus; the remaining 7 patients (33.3%) demonstrated focal VT. Isthmus-dependent reentry was identified as the mechanism for VT in 14 patients (66.7%), and conduction block was confirmed in 8 of these patients (57.1%). No patients with confirmed block developed VT recurrence. During long-term follow-up (33 ± 7 months), 20 of 21 patients (95.2%) had not reached the primary composite outcome. Three patients died of nonarrhythmic causes. Conclusion Catheter-based VT ablation in patients with rCHD is associated with a low rate of VT recurrence. Focal VT was not uncommon in this cohort. If a reentrant mechanism is present, confirmation of conduction block across the isthmus is vital to prevent recurrence.
Resource aware routing in heterogeneous opportunistic networks

In heterogeneous scenarios, nodes greatly differ with respect to their capabilities and mobility patterns. Moreover, episodic connectivity in opportunistic networks further aggravates the problem of finding a suitable next-hop to obviate unnecessary utilization of network resources. In this paper, we present a Multiattribute Routing Scheme (MARS) based on "Simple Multiattribute Rating Technique" (SMART) that collects samples of vital information about a node's different characteristics. This stochastic picture of a node behavior in multiple dimensions is then effectively employed in calculating its next-hop fitness. We also devise a method based on learning rules of neural networks which dynamically determines relative importance of each dimension to maximize next-hop utility of a node. With simulations, using synthetic and real mobility traces against well-known utility-based schemes, we show that MARS can achieve better delivery ratios despite introducing limited redundancy within the network.
Anomalous population of two 4 + states in C 12 ( Li 6 , d ) O 16

In the reaction $^{12}\mathrm{C}(^{6}\mathrm{Li},d)^{16}\mathrm{O}$, two ${4}^{+}$ states (at ${E}_{x}=10.35 \mathrm{and} 11.096$ MeV) are populated with relative strengths of $\frac{\ensuremath{\sigma}(11.096)}{\ensuremath{\sigma}(10.35)}\ensuremath{\approx}0.5$ even though their reduced $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-particle widths to the g.s. of $^{12}\mathrm{C}$ are in the ratio $\frac{{S}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}(11.096)}{{S}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}(10.35)}l{10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. A two-step process proceeding through the first excited state of $^{12}\mathrm{C}$ offers a likely mechanism of the enhanced feeding of the 11.096-MeV state.[NUCLEAR REACTIONS $^{12}\mathrm{C}(^{6}\mathrm{Li},d)$, $E=32$ MeV; measured $\ensuremath{\sigma}(\ensuremath{\theta})$.]
Inference on graphs via semidefinite programming.

Inference problems on graphs arise naturally when trying to make sense of network data. Oftentimes, these problems are formulated as intractable optimization programs. This renders the need for fast heuristics to find adequate solutions and for the study of their performance. For a certain class of problems, Javanmard et al. (1) successfully use tools from statistical physics to analyze the performance of semidefinite programming relaxations, an important heuristic for intractable problems. A particularly interesting class of inverse problems in graphs is that of synchronization problems (2, 3). These include registration of multiple pictures of the same scene, alignment of signals, community detection, and many others. After associating objects (for example, images or signals) to nodes of a graph, the goal is to estimate labels of the nodes (viewing direction of the image, shift of the signal, or community membership) from pairwise information about labels of nodes sharing edges (obtained, for example, by comparing two images). It is productive to think of the labels as being in a group (for example, of transformations) and the pairwise information being about group ratios (or relative transformations). An important example is synchronization of 3D rotations, which is a crucial step in the reconstruction problem in cryoelectron microscopy (4). Community detection under the binary stochastic block model has recently received significant attention (5⇓⇓⇓⇓–10). In this model, a random graph is drawn on vertices belonging to … [↵][1]1Email: bandeira{at}mit.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Tyrants and Migrants Authoritarian Immigration Policy

This article examines the determinants of immigration policy toward low-skilled workers across 13 relatively wealthy autocracies after World War II. I argue that authoritarian immigration policy is...
Human immunodeficiency virus and infectious considerations.

This article deals with the virology and epidemiology of HIV and its prevalence in trauma patients. It addresses the direct and indirect effects of HIV as a comorbid factor in injury. Current exposure risk estimates, guidelines for limiting exposure, and recommendations for treatment of exposure incidents in health care workers are also outlined.
Response to xenograft technology: a new frontier in medicine. Xenograft technology: proceed with caution.

Many Americans do not deal well with aging or preparing for death as a natural part of life. One indication of this is that only about 15% of the population have completed advance directives. Growing old gracefully and dying with dignity are not foremost considerations in our culture. We ask our government and private industry to spend billions of health care dollars to prolong our lives at all costs. Organ xenotransplantation has the potential of being a very complex, high tech, and expensive way of saving lives from the jaws of death--for a few more months or years. Derenge and Bartucci (1999) pointedly ask, "...should we instead be providing support and comfort to those who are dying and not intervene?" (p. 432). Finally, Dr. Margaret Somerville from the McGill Centre of Medicine, Ethics, and Law reminds us of the importance of addressing ethical issues early during the research process. Somerville (1998) states, "It is not enough to do ethics as an add-on at the end of having done your science." Science, medicine, and ethics, in the case of xenotransplantation, must progress together. Leaders in social policy should address the issues presented here before xenotransplantation is undertaken in the United States.
WE-DE-207B-04: Quantitative Contrast-Enhanced Spectral Mammography Based On Photon-Counting Detectors: A Feasibility Study

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of accurate quantification of iodine mass thickness in contrast-enhanced spectral mammography. Methods: Experimental phantom studies were performed on a spectral mammography system based on Si strip photon-counting detectors. Dual-energy images were acquired using 40 kVp and a splitting energy of 34 keV with 3 mm Al pre-filtration. The initial calibration was done with glandular and adipose tissue equivalent phantoms of uniform thicknesses and iodine disk phantoms of various concentrations. A secondary calibration was carried out using the iodine signal obtained from the dual-energy decomposed images and the known background phantom thicknesses and densities. The iodine signal quantification method was validated using phantoms composed of a mixture of glandular and adipose materials, for various breast thicknesses and densities. Finally, the traditional dual-energy weighted subtraction method was also studied as a comparison. The measured iodine signal from both methods was compared to the known iodine concentrations of the disk phantoms to characterize the quantification accuracy. Results: There was good agreement between the iodine mass thicknesses measured using the proposed method and the known values. The root-mean-square (RMS) error was estimated to be 0.2 mg/cm2. The traditional weighted subtraction method also predicted a linear correlation between the measured signal and the known iodine mass thickness. However, the correlation slope and offset values were strongly dependent on the total breast thickness and density. Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest that iodine mass thickness can be accurately quantified with contrast-enhanced spectral mammography. The quantitative information can potentially improve the differentiation between benign and malignant legions. Grant funding from Philips Medical Systems.
Straddling the divide: invasive aquatic species in Illinois and movement between the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins

The Laurentian Great Lakes and the Mississippi River are two of the largest freshwater ecosystems in North America, and each contains large numbers of non-native species. In 1900 the Great Lakes and Mississippi were permanently connected with the opening of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in the US state of Illinois. More recently, movement of trailered boats, bait, and other overland vectors have increased and further enabled movement of non-native aquatic species. To investigate the role of Illinois in continent-wide species spread we assembled a comprehensive database of recorded occurrences of aquatic non-native species in Illinois inland waters. For each species we determined vector, location, current stage in the invasion sequence (introduced or established), and ecological impacts. The arrival of non-native species has accelerated over time. Sixty species are now established, and a further 39 have been recorded. The Great Lakes have been a stronger source of species to Illinois and the Mississippi River basin than the reverse. Over the last two decades the most important vectors delivering non-native aquatic species have been unintentional release and shipping. Through a survey of Illinois aquatic ecologists we found that established species exhibit a continuous range of ecological impacts and that almost a third have high or very high ecological impacts. Local, national, and continental approaches will be required to mitigate the threat of further invasive species spreading into Illinois and between the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins.
The Use of Intraoperative Electromyogram During Spinal Cord Stimulator Placement Surgery: A Case Series.

Background Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an efficacious treatment for various chronic pain syndromes culminating predominantly into spinal nerves. To improve intraoperative electrode placement, several groups have advocated the use of intraoperative neuromonitoring for localization of the spinal cord midline. In our study we present the case series of patients undergoing stimulator placement with consistent electromyographic intraoperative testing, with an emphasis on examining reoperation rates and complications. Methods After approval from the institutional review board, we retrospectively collected data on standard demographics, preoperative diagnoses, prior spine surgeries, electrode manufacturer, blood loss, complications, and patient outcome. Results The study included 103 patients with an average age of 60.7 years. Of these, 72 (69.9%) had prior spine surgery, which was associated with higher rate of reoperation ( P = 0.019). The mean latency between initial SCS implantation and revision surgery ± SD was 14.6 ± 17.2 months, with a median time of 280 days. There was a 13.6% complication rate. Common complications that lead to reoperation included migrated electrode or failed generator. Conclusions Our retrospective chart review of 103 patients indicates that patients receiving SCS implantation in conjunction with electromyographic monitoring have low complication rates and rarely return to the operating room for electrode repositioning or removal.
Further Developments of Romantic Love in the Fourteenth Through Nineteenth Centuries

Progressing through a historical timeline of the concept of romantic love across a number of cultures, this chapter explores how love was conceptualized between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Like the two previous chapters, it takes a look at how people throughout the world experienced and expressed romantic love in the context of their respective cultures and geographical regions. This chapter focuses on love concepts and meanings among the people of the Middle East, India, Polynesia, and Europe during the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic, and Victorian eras. Furthermore, it looks at love in America during the Victorian and post-Revolutionary eras. In this context, it explores the differences in not only the cultures mentioned, but also the particular time periods within the larger time frame outlined.
Structural Modeling of Mechanosensitivity in Non-Muscle Cells: Multiscale Approach to Understand Cell Sensing

The contraction and spreading of nonmuscle cells are important phenomena in a number of cellular processes such as differentiation, morphogenesis, and tissue growth. Recent experimental work has shown that the topology and the mechanical properties of the underlying substrate play a significant role in directing the cell’s response. In this work, we introduce a multiscale model to understand the sensing, activation, and contraction of the actin cytoskeleton of nonmuscle cells based on the idea that acto-myosin cross-bridges display a catch-bond response. After investigating the respective roles of bond catchiness and acto-myosin assembly on the mechano-sensitivity of stress fibers, we present full simulations of cells laying on arrays of micropillars. Model predictions show good qualitative agreements with experimental observation, suggesting that acto-myosin catch bonds are a major mechano-sensing element in nonmuscle cells.
Soil Particle Size and Shape Distributions by Stereophotography and Image Analysis

Image-based soil particle size and shape characterization methods have witnessed great progress in duplicating traditional sieving and manual methods for shape measurement. Nevertheless, some discrepancies between results still existed since the third (vertical) dimension of particles are not attainable from single images. This paper described a simple, effective, and inexpensive stereophotography system to obtain precise 3D surfaces and thus, all three principal dimensions of many sand to gravel particles simultaneously. Advanced image analysis techniques, including improved watershed segmentation, dynamic programing, pyramidal matching, and sub-pixel estimation were used to obtain greater precision and higher computational speeds. Six hundred randomly selected soil particles covering a range of sizes, colors, shapes, and surface roughnesses were tested by the stereophotography system. Excellent agreement was found between the stereo image results when compared to sieving analysis and manual measurement of shapes using calipers.
Sensitivity of the activated partial thromboplastin time to heparin: effect of anticoagulant used for sample collection.

Using an in vitro system, plasma specimens collected in oxalate were much less sensitive to the presence of heparin than were those collected in citrate. It is recommended that samples be collected only in citrate when activated partial thromboplastin times are to be performed to monitor heparin therapy.
Variation in and adaptive plasticity of flower size and drought-coping traits

Although phenotypic plasticity of morphological and physiological traits in response to drought could be adaptive, there have been relatively few tests of plasticity variation or of adaptive plasticity in drought-coping traits across populations with different moisture availabilities. We measured floral size, vegetative size, and physiological traits in four field populations of Leptosiphon androsaceus (Polemoniaceae) that were distributed across a rainfall gradient in California, USA. Measurements were made over 5 years that varied in precipitation. We also conducted a growth chamber experiment in which half-sibs from three populations were divided equally among a well-watered and a drought treatment. We tested for selection on traits in each of the watering treatments, and evaluated whether traits exhibited plasticity. In the field, plant traits exhibited substantial variation across populations and years. Flower size, leaf size, and water-use efficiency (WUE) were generally higher for populations that received greater average rainfall. However, in dry years, we observed a decrease in flower and leaf size, but an increase in WUE across the populations. In the growth chamber experiment, leaf and physiological traits exhibited plasticity, with smaller leaves and higher WUE found in the drought, as compared to the well-watered treatment. Only specific leaf area exhibited differentiation in plasticity among populations. Although there was no observed plasticity in floral size, selection favored smaller flowers in the drought treatment and larger flowers in the well-watered treatment. Our results suggest that moisture availability has led to trait variation in L. androsaceus via a combination of selection and phenotypic plasticity.
Quality of life in patients treated with sacral neuromodulation for fecal incontinence

Abstract Fecal incontinence, the uncontrolled loss of liquid or solid stool, is a common problem whose prevalence ranges from 2% to 17% in the US. Patients with this condition may suffer from severe embarrassment, shame, or depression, which, in turn, may severely impede daily activities. Sacral neuromodulation/stimulation (SNS) was first employed for the treatment of fecal incontinence in 1995. Since that time, over 100 case series have been conducted to assess SNM efficacy for the treatment of fecal incontinence. Most of these studies have shown significant improvement in fecal incontinence severity over short- and long-term follow-up. A more limited number of studies have assessed the effect of SNM on patient quality of life. This article broadly reviews these studies and concludes that SNM improves patient quality of life for both short- and long-term therapy.
Caregiver Burden: Grandmothers Raising Their High Risk Grandchildren

1. The term caregiver burden currently describes the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and financial problems that can be experienced by family members who are caregivers. 2. The health, emotional and psychosocial well being of the grandchild (care recipient) directly affects the grandmother caregiver's health, emotional, and psychosocial well being. 3. The nursing profession is in an ideal position to identify effective interventions to reduce the stress grandmothers feel.
A Comparative Physiologist’s Journey Into the Field of Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine

A career path may take many unexpected twists, turns, and detours before ending in an unexpected place. Mine was one such journey that started in the high school classroom and ended as Director of a Women’s Health Research Program advocating for sex- and gender-specific medicine. Along the way, I found purpose, passion, collaborations, friendships, and resolutions. These relationships helped to develop a new area of scientific investigation and cleared a path for others to follow.
Digital beam scanning in HMSIW millimeterwave leaky wave antenna

Scanning of main beam of radiation digitally at fixed millimeter wave frequency in a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) Leaky Wave Antenna (LWA) has not been investigated so far in literature. In this work a Half-Mode Substrate Integrated Waveguide (HMSIW) LWA is presented which steers its main beam digitally at fixed millimeter wave frequency of 26 GHz. Digital beam steering is made feasible by changing the status of the PIN diodes. The full wave EM simulations show that the main beam scans from 32° to 48° in the first quadrant.
Inter-arm systolic blood pressure dependence on hand dominance.

Inter-arm systolic blood pressure differences (SBP-DIFF) ≥ 10 mmHg have been reported useful to predict future cardiovascular-related morbidities. Although well studied in patients, there is little information on healthy young adults and the role of hand-dominance as a factor affecting SBP-DIFF. As dominant arms (DOM) tend to have greater girth and muscle development than nondominant arms (NDOM) it was reasoned that cuff pressures needed to obtain SBP may be greater on DOM causing DOM SBP to be greater. To test this hypothesis and also provide typical values, SBP was measured in left and right-handers (29·4 ± 10·4 years) in whom handedness was clearly defined. Handedness was determined by a multi-question form in 90 young adults (45 male) and SBP-DIFF determined via simultaneous measurements done in triplicate on seated subjects. The percentage of left-handers in male and female sub-groups were equal at 37·8%. Results show that the absolute SBP-DIFF in left-handers (mean ± SD) was 4·4 ± 3·8 mmHg and for right-handers was 5·0 ± 4·2 mmHg (P = 0·362). There was also no statistically significant difference among 1st, 2nd and 3rd measured SBP-DIFF for either right or left-handers or differences between right and left-handers. Results show no evidence of a higher SBP in DOM and thus clarifies the hand-dominance issue as a factor not generally needing to be considered in clinical assessments. A potentially useful secondary outcome was the finding that 14·8% of this group had at least one measured SBP-DIFF ≥ 10 mmHg a fact that may have future relevance.
Social-Media-Nutzung im B2B-Umfeld – Fallbeispiel IBM

IBM ist mit uber 400.000 freien und festen Mitarbeitern einer der grosten Anbieter von Informationstechnologie weltweit. Vielen ist IBM noch immer als Hardware-Lieferant ein Begriff. Dabei ist die Geschaftssoftware mittlerweile das wichtigste Standbein des Unternehmens. Ein Kernbereich der Software ist die Lotus-Software. Dabei handelt es sich um sichere Kommunikations-Software, die es Unternehmen ermoglicht, miteinander zu kommunizieren, zusammenzuarbeiten und die Produktivitat zu steigern. Vielen ist vor allem das Programm Lotus Notes bekannt, eine Plattform zur Entwicklung kollaborativer Anwendungen mit sehr enger E-Mail-Anbindung.
Total Ionizing Dose Measurements of a Commercial Samsung NAND Flash Memory for a High Dose Mission

We present total ionizing dose (TID) measurements of a commercial Samsung NAND flash memory intended for use on a high dose mission. Statistical variation in the first measurements necessitates a second set of measurements with an increased sample set.
Vertebral compression fractures associated with yoga: a case series

Background The importance of exercise in skeletal health is increasingly recognized by both patients and providers. However, the safety of prescribed or recreational exercise in at-risk populations remains under-reported and under-publicized. Yoga has gained widespread popularity due to its physical and psychological benefits. When practiced in a population at increased fracture risk, however, some yoga poses may increase fracture risk, particularly at the spine, rather than increasing BMD as noted in recent popular press reports. Case report Nine subjects (8 women) with a median age of 66 years (range 53-87), developed vertebral compression fracture (VCF) one month to six years after initiating yoga-associated spinal flexion exercises (SFE). VCF presented with back pain and occurred in the thoracicspine (N.=6), lumbar-spine (N.=4) and cervical-spine (N.=1). Four patients had osteoporosis by BMD criteria prior to VCF and 2 had osteopenia (median T-score -2.35; range -3.3 to +2.0). Interestingly, all patients had their lowest T-scores at the spine. Three patients had a history of fragility fracture prior to the index VCF. While one patient had primary hyperparathyroidism and another was treated with high dose prednisone, no other risk factors for bone loss including medications or secondary osteoporosis causes were identified in the other patients. Clinical rehabilitation impact This study identified patients in whom increased torsional and compressive mechanical loading pressures occurring during yoga SFE resulted in de novo VCF. Despite the need for selectivity in yoga poses in populations at increased fracture risk, both scientific and media reports continue to advertise yoga as a bone protective activity. Accordingly, yoga is misconceived as a 'onesize-fits-all' prescription. Instead, the appropriate selection of patients likely to benefit from yoga must be a cornerstone of fracture prevention.
Physics-based combustion simulation in bifrost

Fire, from small-scale candle flames to enormous explosions, remains an area of special interest in visual effects. Even compared to regular fluid simulation, the wide range of chemical reactions with corresponding generated motion and illumination makes for highly complex visual phenomena, difficult for an artist to recreate directly. The goal of our software is to provide attractive physical and chemical simulation workflows, which enable the artist to automaticall achieve "physically plausible" results by default. Ideally, these results should come close to matching real-world footage if the real-world parameters are known (such as what fuel is being burned). To support this, we aim to provide a user interface for artistic direction where the controls map intuitively to changes in the visual result. More user-demanding proceduralism will only occasionally be required for final artistic tweaks or hero shots.
A Spaced, Interleaved Retrieval Practice Tool that is Motivating and Effective

Retrieval practice, spacing, and interleaving are known to enhance long-term learning and transfer, but reduce short-term performance. It can be difficult to get both students and instructors to use these techniques since they perceive them as impeding initial student learning. We leveraged user experience design and research techniques, including survey and participant observation, to improve the design of a practice tool during a semester of use in a large introductory Python programming course. In this paper, we describe the design features that made the tool effective for learning as well as motivating. These include requiring spacing by giving credit for each day that a student answered a minimum number of questions, adapting a spaced repetition algorithm to schedule topics rather than specific questions, providing a visual representation of the evolving schedule in order to support meta-cognition, and providing several gameful design elements. To assess effectiveness, we estimated a regression model: each hour spent using the practice tool over the course of a semester was associated with an increase in final exam grades of 1.04%, even after controlling for many potential confounds. To assess motivation, we report on the amount of practice tool use: 62 of the 193 students (32%) voluntarily used the tool more than the required 45 days. This provides evidence that the design of the tool successfully overcame the typically negative perceptions of retrieval practice, spacing, and interleaving.
Reward Responsiveness and Ruminative Styles Interact to Predict Inflammation and Mood Symptomatology

Abnormal reward responsiveness and rumination each are associated with elevated inflammation and mood symptoms. Ruminating on positive and negative affect, or dampening positive affect, may amplify, or buffer, the associations of reward hyper/hyposensitivity with inflammation and mood symptoms. Young adults (N = 109) with high or moderate reward sensitivity completed reward responsiveness and ruminative style measures at the initial visit of a longitudinal study of mood symptoms, a blood draw to assess inflammatory biomarkers, and mood symptom measures at the study visits before and after the day of the blood draw. The interaction between high reward responsiveness and rumination on positive affect was associated with higher levels of an inflammatory composite measure and hypomanic symptoms. The interaction between lower reward responsiveness and high dampening of positive affect was associated with higher levels of the inflammatory composite measure and depressive symptoms. Lower reward responsiveness also interacted with low rumination on positive affect to predict increases in depressive symptoms and higher levels of the inflammatory composite. Thus, levels of reward responsiveness and ruminative response styles may synergistically influence the development of inflammatory phenotypes and both hypomanic and depressive mood symptoms.
Lessons Learned Developing and Extending a Visual Analytics Solution for Investigative Analysis of Scamming Activities.

Cybersecurity analysts work on large communication data sets to perform investigative analysis by painstakingly going over thousands of email conversations to find potential scamming activities and the network of cyber scammers. Traditionally,experts used email clients, database systems and text editors to perform this investigation. With the advent of technology,elaborate tools that summarize data more efficiently by using cutting edge data visualization techniques have come out. Beagle[1] is one such tool which visualizes the large communication data using different panels such that the inspector has better chances of finding the scam network. This paper is a report on our work to implement and improve the work done by Jay Koven et al. [1]. We have proposed and demonstrated via implementation, a few more visualizations that we feel would help in grouping and analyzing the e-mail data more efficiently. Lastly, we have also presented a case study that shows the potential use of our tool in a real-world scenario.
Label-free spectroscopic imaging of the skin characterizes biochemical changes associated with systemic sclerosis

Abstract Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic multisystem disease associated with collagen accumulation and fibrosis, most prominent in the skin and lungs. There is considerable patient-to-patient, as well as within-patient temporal, heterogeneity in the extent and course of fibrosis. The widely used modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) employs skin thickening as a surrogate for SSc severity; however, the value of this tool for risk stratification and for prediction of disease progression is limited. Infrared (IR) spectroscopic imaging permits rapid label-free tissue imaging to extract spectral biomarkers for prediction of disease outcome, and shows sensitivity to biochemical changes that can identify sub-clinical complications and pre-histological changes in multiple diseases. In this study, we performed IR spectroscopic imaging of skin biopsies from 15 healthy controls and 20 SSc patients. The results demonstrate unambiguous spectral changes discriminating between healthy and SSc biopsies using multivariate data analysis. Spectral differences in skin biopsies were not correlated with the potential confounding factors age, race or gender or disease duration. In longitudinal analysis, baseline skin biopsies were unable to predict changes in mRSS at 12 months. Together, these results demonstrated the utility of IR spectroscopic imaging for classifying skin biopsies. Further studies are required to determine whether spectral IR imaging can provide clinical-level information for augmenting current approaches to disease classification in SSc.
Regimented Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitor Use Reduces Emergency Department Visits for Recurrent Ischemic Priapism.

Purpose:We evaluated the real-world effectiveness of regimented phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor dosing on recurrent ischemic priapism outcomes using emergency department visits as a proxy for th...