cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Critical Need for Accurate and Quantitative Viability Assays to Optimize Fat Grafting Protocols

Outcomes following autologous fat grafting continue to be unpredictable. The lack of a standardized protocol for fat harvest, processing, and transplant produces variable graft retention rates. Plastic surgeons historically have relied on trial and error to modify their techniques.1 To optimize fat grafting protocols, systematic evaluation of each procedural step for its specific impact on adipose tissue (AT) viability is critically needed. Many assays have been developed to measure AT viability, but most measurements are neither accurate nor quantitative, are operator dependent, and have not helped correlate fat grafting protocols (or changes to protocols) with outcomes.1 AT viability has been estimated through visual assessment, membrane integrity staining, conventional histology, or special staining for apoptosis or mitochondrial function; all these techniques are largely semiquantitative, because the outcome still depends on the individual operator's evaluation of results. The …
Phentermine/Topiramate for the Treatment of Obesity

OBJECTIVETo review the pharmacology, efficacy, and safety of phentermine/topiramate (PHEN/TPM) in the management of obese patients.DATA SOURCESMEDLINE (1966-July 2012) was searched using the terms weight loss, obesity, phentermine and topiramate, phentermine, topiramate, Qnexa, Qsymia, and VI-0521. Additionally, the new drug application and prescribing information for PHEN/TPM were retrieved.STUDY SELECTION/DATA EXTRACTIONAll studies considering the pharmacology, efficacy, and safety of PHEN/TPM were reviewed with a focus on efficacy and safety data from Phase 3 trials.DATA SYNTHESISIn 3 Phase 3 trials (EQUIP, CONQUER, and SEQUEL), treatment with PHEN/TPM consistently demonstrated statistically significant weight loss compared with placebo. After 56 weeks of treatment, percent weight loss achieved with PHEN/TPM was 10.6%, 8.4%, and 5.1% with 15/92 mg, 7.5/46 mg, and 3.75/23 mg, respectively (p < 0.0001). The 52-week extension study (SEQUEL) showed maintained weight loss over 2 years with 9.3% and 10.5% we...
FLI-1 Flightless-1 and LET-60 Ras control germ line morphogenesis in C. elegans

In the C. elegans germ line, syncytial germ line nuclei are arranged at the cortex of the germ line as they exit mitosis and enter meiosis, forming a nucleus-free core of germ line cytoplasm called the rachis. Molecular mechanisms of rachis formation and germ line organization are not well understood. Mutations in the fli-1 gene disrupt rachis organization without affecting meiotic differentiation, a phenotype in C. elegans referred to here as the germ line morphogenesis (Glm) phenotype. In fli-1 mutants, chains of meiotic germ nuclei spanned the rachis and were partially enveloped by invaginations of germ line plasma membrane, similar to nuclei at the cortex. Extensions of the somatic sheath cells that surround the germ line protruded deep inside the rachis and were associated with displaced nuclei in fli-1 mutants. fli-1 encodes a molecule with leucine-rich repeats and gelsolin repeats similar to Drosophila flightless 1 and human Fliih, which have been shown to act as cytoplasmic actin regulators as well as nuclear transcriptional regulators. Mutations in let-60 Ras, previously implicated in germ line development, were found to cause the Glm phenotype. Constitutively-active LET-60 partially rescued the fli-1 Glm phenotype, suggesting that LET-60 Ras and FLI-1 might act together to control germ line morphogenesis. FLI-1 controls germ line morphogenesis and rachis organization, a process about which little is known at the molecular level. The LET-60 Ras GTPase might act with FLI-1 to control germ line morphogenesis.
Evaluation of healing with use of an internal matrix to repair furcation perforations

AIM The purpose of this study was to evaluate healing responses following repair of furcation perforations, with and without an internal matrix. Two matrix materials, HAPSET (65% non-resorbable hydroxyapatite and 35% plaster of paris) and hydroxyapatite were compared. METHODOLOGY Four adult female baboons (Papio anubis) served as experimental models. Furcation perforations were made in the molar and premolar teeth, which were then randomly assigned to one of the five groups, according to the method of perforation repair: 1 Experimental group 1 (16 teeth): The matrix material was HAPSET and the sealing material, amalgam. 2 Experimental group 2 (16 teeth): The matrix material was hydroxyapatite and the sealing material, amalgam. 3 Experimental group 3 (16 teeth): No matrix was placed. The sealing material was amalgam. 4 Positive control group (16 teeth): The perforation was not sealed. 5 Negative control group (16 teeth): No perforation was made. The animals were sacrificed at 1 week and 1, 3 and 7 months. Specimens were prepared for examination with light microscopy. RESULTS The data revealed that when amalgam was used alone without a matrix, there was marked extrusion of the material into the underlying bone with an associated severe inflammatory response, which continued throughout the observational period. When an internal matrix was used, there was an initial acute inflammatory response that diminished with time such that at 7 months, 75% of these specimens were free of inflammation. There was no difference in the tissue response to the different matrix materials. HAPSET and hydroxyapatite underwent connective tissue encapsulation in the early stages followed by new bone deposition in direct contact with the materials. CONCLUSIONS Within this animal model healing responses are better when an internal matrix, whether HAPSET or hydroxyapatite, is used in the repair of furcation perforations.
A multicast transport protocol for cooperative media distribution

This paper describes the main ideas of DRMTP (Distributed Real-time Multicast Transport Protocol), an adaptive application-level protocol which allows cooperative multicast of real-time streams. Our protocol is designed for peer-to-peer operation, where multiple sources residing on end-user machines may be present in the network, and is based on a dynamic stream aggregation and congestion control scheme. The protocol solves the problem of network asymmetry that plagues residential broadband networks and allows for fast fail-over and adaptation to departure of source nodes, mitigating the reliability and upstream capacity problems of end-user nodes. Coupled with traffic localization, stream patching, and TCP-friendly congestion control, we design a protocol that enables scalable soft real-time media distribution in a completely decentralised, serverless fashion.
Dynamic zero compression for cache energy reduction

Dynamic zero compression reduces the energy required for cache accesses by only writing and reading a single bit for every zero-valued byte. This energy-conscious compression is invisible to software and is handled with additional circuitry embedded inside the cache RAM arrays and the CPU. The additional circuitry imposes a cache area overhead of 9% and a read latency overhead of around two F04 gate delays. Simulation results show that we can reduce total data cache energy by around 26% and instruction cache energy by around 10% for SPECint95 and MediaBench benchmarks. We also describe the use of an instruction recoding technique that increases instruction cache energy savings to 18%.
A hybrid code compression technique using bitmask and prefix encoding with enhanced dictionary selection

Memory is one of the most significant detrimental factors in increasing the cost and area of embedded systems, especially assemiconductor technology scales down. Code compression techniques have been employed to reduce the memory requirement of the system without sacrificing its functionality. Bitmask-based code compression has been demonstrated to be a successful technique that produces low compression ratios while having a fast and simple decompression engine. However, the current approach requires dictionary sizes of +16K bytes to produce acceptable results, adding significant overhead to the system. In this paper, we develop a new hybrid encoding method that combines the traditional bitmask-based encoding and prefix-based Huffman encoding as well as a new dictionary selection technique based on a non-greedy algorithm. The combination of these two new methods reduces the compression ratio by 9-20% and performs well with small dictionary sizes.
Natural vs. random protein sequences: Discovering combinatorics properties on amino acid words

Casual mutations and natural selection have driven the evolution of protein amino acid sequences that we observe at present in nature. The question about which is the dominant force of proteins evolution is still lacking of an unambiguous answer. Casual mutations tend to randomize protein sequences while, in order to have the correct functionality, one expects that selection mechanisms impose rigid constraints on amino acid sequences. Moreover, one also has to consider that the space of all possible amino acid sequences is so astonishingly large that it could be reasonable to have a well tuned amino acid sequence indistinguishable from a random one. In order to study the possibility to discriminate between random and natural amino acid sequences, we introduce different measures of association between pairs of amino acids in a sequence, and apply them to a dataset of 1047 natural protein sequences and 10,470 random sequences, carefully generated in order to preserve the relative length and amino acid distribution of the natural proteins. We analyze the multidimensional measures with machine learning techniques and show that, to a reasonable extent, natural protein sequences can be differentiated from random ones.
Stability of P an S velocities from Central California quarry blasts

abstract Travel times of crustal P and S waves from 70 quarry blasts in Central California between July 1961 and June 1973 have been measured for seven paths 46 to 168 km long passing in several cases within 10 km of hypocenters of moderate ( M L 4.5 to 5.4) earthquakes. All P and S times and their ratios T S / T P lie within 2.3 per cent of the mean values and over 97 per cent of the T S /T P ratios lie within 1 per cent of the mean values. Variations can be explained by reading errors and uncertainties in source times and locations. There are no indications of velocity variations related to earthquake occurrences. Mean V P / V S ratios range from 1.73 to 1.84 for the various paths. The phenomenon of premonitory dilatancy accompanied by a 10 to 20 per cent reduction in V P or V P / V S cannot be reconciled with these observations unless the affected source regions have lateral dimensions less than about 5 km for these moderate strike-slip earthquakes.
Shape-controlled synthesis of well-defined matlockite LnOCl (Ln: La, Ce, Gd, Dy) nanocrystals by a novel non-hydrolytic approach.

We report here a novel synthetic route for the preparation of well-defined and faceted nanocrystals of ternary rare earth oxychlorides based on the ligand exchange and condensation of rare earth halides and alkoxides in the presence of coordinating solvents. Nanocubes, faceted 2D nanosheets, and nanodisk morphologies are obtained as a result of preferential growth along specific crystallographic directions dictated by the choice of the rare earth ion and the capping ligand. The synthetic approach reported here represents a unique low-temperature route for the preparation of LnOCl in the PbFCl matlockite phase. The synthetic strategy can further be adapted to incorporate dopant ions. The potential applicability of these nanostructures as phosphors is illustrated by demonstrating the upconversion of near-infrared illumination to green and red emission by Er3+:GdOCl nanocrystals.
Reducing Mixing Fan Thermostat Setpoints in Naturally Ventilated Broiler Housing During Hot Weather

Abstract Performance of poultry during hot weather has been improved by reducing the air temperature and increasing air movement over the birds during the coolest portion of a diurnal cycle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of increasing the use of mixing fans at night during hot weather in naturally ventilated houses on four broiler farms. Mixing fan thermostats wee set according to the standard policy of the cooperating company in the control houses and 5 or 10°F lower in the test houses. When thermostat settings were reduced by 10°F for summer flocks in 1991 and 1992, several results appeared: average weight gain was 0.02 to 0.18 lbs greater, feed conversion ratio was 0.01 to 0.04lb/lb lower, and mortality was 0.2 to 1.2% lower in the test houses than in the control houses. Based on electricity and production costs, the net benefit to the grower varied from $25 to $275 per house for these summer flocks. For flocks that extended into the fall of 1992, there was little effect on feed conversion or livability, so the growers experienced net losses averaging $96 per house.
Interpreting the coronary-artery calcium score.

Though coronary-artery calcium scoring is not helpful in screening for coronary artery disease in many cases, it's advertised to consumers, and those with positive scores are told to see their physician. How should physicians interpret the scores and counsel patients?
New strategies for treating patients with heart failure.

What's next for your patient when drug therapy doesn't work? Here, you'll learn about innovative therapies that may help him.
Technetium-99m-sestamibi imaging before reoperation for primary hyperparathyroidism

Recent studies have reported high sensitivities for parathyroid localization with 99mTc-sestamibi and have been performed using either 123I/99mTc-sestamibi or a double-phase sestamibi scanning technique. These studies have focused primarily on patients undergoing initial surgery. We studied 35 patients prior to reoperative surgery to investigate the relative sensitivities of these two techniques in this patient population. Methods: Double-phase sestamibi scanning (early and delayed imaging) was performed in all patients. Evaluable 123/99mTc-sestamibi subtraction studies were also obtained in 25 patients. Results were correlated with surgical findings in 32 patients and with clinical outcome in 3 patients in whom mediastinal lesions were radiographically ablated. Results: Overall, double-phase sestamibi imaging detected 23 of 39 abnormal parathyroid glands (59%), whereas 123/99mTc-sestamibi detected 19 of 27 (70%). Oblique imaging, delayed imaging and 123I subtraction all contributed to sensitivity, and 123I subtraction also proved useful in patients with partial thyroid suppression. Two patients had lesions visible on the early sestamibi images that were not seen at all on the delayed scans. There were four false-positive findings. Conclusion: No significant differences between double-phase sestamibi and 123/99mTc-sestamibi subtraction scanning were found, although the latter tended to be more sensitive.
SPE-IC Determination of sodium cyclamate and sulfur dioxide in wine

Accurately measured a certain amount of wine,the diluted sample was pretreated by passing through filter membrane and DIONEX On GuardⅡ P ﹠ RP chromatographic column,prior to sample detection for the partly removal of the organic material( protein /pigment). After injection with KOH as eluent,ion chromatography determination of sodium cyclamate and sulfur dioxide in wine. Results showed a good peak shape and good separation from other ions in solution. RSD was less than 5%,the spiked recoveries ranged from 91% ~ 99%.
Fault line selection of single-phase to ground based on negative sequence current pilot differential in distribution network

Single-phase to ground short is most liable to fault,but how to detect fault section is the largest technical problem in distribution network. At first,the general changes of negative sequence current distributing is discussed and theoretical basis is provided for single-phase to ground fault detection in distribution network in this paper. And then a new fault selection method is proposed base on negative sequence current pilot differential in distribution network. The method detects fault section through comparing the negative sequence current of line's both ends,and the method has great value of practical application. The principle is verified by PSCAD simulator,which has been tested in dynamic power system model,and the results show that the method proposed in this paper is reliable and accurate. The principle can neglect negative sequence current during system normal operation and is effective for all types of neutral grounding mode in distribution network. Finally,the advantages and disadvantages of this method are discussed,and the technology that need further studied is also proposed.
Extrapolating Mixing Study Results from the STACLOT-LA.

The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostatis (ISTH) has established criteria for the diagnosis of lupus anticoagulants (LA) to include a mixing study to establish the presence of an inhibitor. Up to 30% of LAs are time and temperature dependent inhibitors, therefore only an incubated mixing study will detect this subtype. Global assays (i.e. STACLOT-LA® Diagnostica Stago) incorporate a sensitive screening reagent, a source of normal pooled plasma (npp) for an immediate mixing study, and a step to demonstrate phospholipids dependence. It does not, however, include an incubated mixing study. 493 consecutive STACLOT-LA samples were evaluated based on outcome and compared to the clotting time for Tube 1 (sample + npp + buffer) and Tube 2 (sample + npp + buffer + hexagonal phospholipids). All samples were tested according to manufacture’s instructions with a delta > 8 seconds considered positive. Figure 1 reveals the lack of clear demarcation between negative and positive outcomes. Figure 2 identifies considerable differences between the clotting times of tube 1. Tube 2, while statistically different, has greatly overlapping confidence intervals. From this, it was identified that samples with Tube 1 clotting times between 55–75 seconds represented the population most likely to give borderline confirmatory calculations (CC). Subsequently, 45 samples with this criterion were selected for study, 17 negatives and 28 positives (CC 6.2–9.7). Immediate and 1 hour incubated mixing studies were performed with two reagents - aPTT-A and aPTT-LA® (Diagnostica Stago). The results are given in the table. Conclusions: Borderline positive STACLOT-LA results showed an inhibitor pattern only 50% of the time under the most optimal conditions of a LA sensitive aPTT reagent with select interpretative guidelines. Therefore, a borderline or indeterminate range might be a more effective way to communicate these results if the inclination is to avoid a separate mixing study.
Ten-Year Clinical Experience with the Lumenless, Catheter-Delivered, 4.1-Fr Diameter Pacing Lead in Patients with and without Congenital Heart.

BACKGROUND Patients with congenital heart defects (CHD) often present more challenges to pacing therapy due to anatomy than those without CHD. The lumenless, 4.1Fr diameter M3830 pacing lead (Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, USA), approved for use in 2005, has, to date, reported to have excellent short-term (<6 years) lead performance. Unfortunately, very long-term performance is unknown, especially among CHD patients and with implants at alternate pacing (AP) sites. This study reports a 10-year clinical experience with the M3830 lead. METHODS Records of patients who received the M3830 lead were reviewed: patient demographics, implant techniques and locations, sensing and pacing characteristics, impedances (Imp), and any complications at implant and follow-up. RESULTS From 2005 to 2015, 141 patients (ages 2-50, mean 20.1 years, 57% males) received 212 leads: atrial 115; ventricle 97. CHD was present in 62% of patients. Leads were inserted at AP sites in 96% of patients. Postimplant follow-up was from 3 months to 10 years (mean 56.3 months). Comparative implant versus follow-up values (mean ± standard deviation) were available on 196 leads (92.5%), showing persistently low (<1 v @ 0.4-0.5 ms) pacing thresholds (P = 0.57). Sensing was also comparable (atrial leads, P = 0.41; ventricular leads, P = 0.9). Impedances differed (P < 0.05) but remained within the normal range. Two A leads became dislodged and one was repositioned while two other leads (1 A, 1 V) were extracted. There are no differences observed in the pacing characteristics between the CHD and non-CHD groups on follow-up. CONCLUSIONS The 4.1Fr lumenless pacing lead shows ease of implant regardless of CHD or AP site, excellent very long-term (10 years) stability, and performance indices with a very low rate of complications.
The cognitive basis of individual recognition

Individual recognition allows animals to discriminate among individuals and adjust their behavior accordingly. It involves the production and propagation of individually-distinctive signals or cues and then the perception and recognition of those signals or cues. This review highlights recent work investigating this process, emphasizing the cognitive basis of perception and recognition. It finds that relatively few studies have addressed how signatures propagate through the environment and are processed by the receiver. Given variation across species in the complexity of recognition, this review recommends further comparative studies be conducted to unravel the factors underlying this variation.
Securing Home Base: Separation-Individuation, Attachment Theory, and the “Virtual Worlds” Paradigm in Video Games

ABSTRACTThis paper identifies the “virtual worlds” paradigm in psychoanalytic approaches to video games. Sometimes counterproductive to game interpretation, this paradigm views all games as an escape into separate and substitutive virtual reality. I argue that the virtual worlds framework only applies to some video games, and rarely encapsulates most games’ address to the player. I propose an alternative approach based in separation-individuation and attachment theory, pointing to how a wide variety of games provide players with “secure base” experiences as a form of affect regulation and metacognition. Introducing three broad categories of tether fantasies in video games—lifeline, home base, and perpetuum mobile—, I map out some of the generic terrain of commercial games from a secure base perspective, emphasizing the value of going and coming in the process of developing autonomy. I argue that the tether fantasy in video games not only illustrates the integration of attachment and separation-individuati...
Charting Relations between Intersectionality Theory and the Neurodiversity Paradigm

This essay explores central elements and applications of intersectionality theory and the neurodiversity paradigm. First, the histories and tenets of intersectionality theory and neurodiversity paradigm are provided. Then, areas are explored where each of the two approaches might further engage with the principles of the other. Finally, the essay concludes by broadly considering the efforts made by the Black Lives Matter movement and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to bring attention to and end police violence as both networks employ and attend to elements of intersectionality and neurodiversity. The way these two networks draw on both intersectionality and neurodiversity to further their mission could be a possible site for scholars to consider in the interest of advancing dialogues between intersectionality theory and the neurodiversity paradigm. Ultimately, the essay calls for a continued exploration of the potentials for intersectionality and neurodiversity to complement and complicate one another, both in terms of theoretical development and coalition building.
Classification of adrenal lesions through spatial Bayesian modeling of GLCM

Radiomics, an emerging field of quantitative imaging, encompasses a broad class of analytical techniques. Recent literature have interrogated associations between quantitatively derived GLCM-based texture features and clinical/pathology information using machine learning algorithms in many cancer settings, but often fail to elucidate the predictive power of these features. Moreover, for many cancers characterized by complex histopathological profiles, such as adrenocortical carcinoma, reducing the multivariate functional structure of GLCM to a set of summary statistics is potentially reductive, masking the patterns that distinguish malignancy from benignity. We develop a Bayesian probabilistic framework for predictive classification of lesion types, based on the entire GLCM. Our method, which uses a spatial Gaussian random field to model dependencies among neighboring cells of the GLCMs, was applied in a cancer detection context to discriminant malignant from benign adrenal lesions using GLCMs arising from non-contrast CT scans. Our method is shown to yield improved predictive power both in simulations as well as the adrenal CT application when compared to state-of-the-art diagnostic algorithms that use GLCM derived features.
Piperidine-Based Fused Biheterocycles

This chapter describes methods of synthesis, pharmacological properties and the use of derivatives of piperidine-based fused biheterocycles represented on the pharmaceutical market as thienopyridine-derivatives such as ticlopidine, clopidogrel, and prasugrel—the primary platelet inhibitors, γ-carbolines such as antihistaminic mebhydrolin, atypical antipsychotics gevotroline and carvotroline, and hypotensive drug endralazine.
Can Interface Cues Nudge Modeling of Food Consumption? Experiments on a Food-Ordering Website

Following the nudging perspective, this research investigates how technology interface could cue heuristics that influence decisions. A field study showed that interface cues on a food-ordering website signaling the amount of food other users consume could trigger an anchoring heuristic and induce individuals to model that amount when deciding their own consumption volume. A laboratory experiment further showed that the anchoring cue tends to induce the modeling behavior of individuals without them being aware of its influence, and such an influence was especially pronounced when resources for cognitive deliberation were limited. Altogether, this research suggests that interface cues could function as nudges and influence decisions at a relatively automatic level. Implications for technology design and intervention are discussed.
Military Applied Geomorphological Mapping: Normandy Case Study

Abstract Geomorphological maps allow military commanders to see the battlefield and understand how the landscape will influence military operations. The global availability of free digital data sets allows anyone to make small- or medium-scale analyses using readily available software and common microcomputers. Shaded relief maps provide simple, intuitive terrain depictions, but additional capabilities include slope, curvature and terrain organisation. Satellite imagery can be processed to show land cover categories, and edge filters can highlight potential obstacles and bottlenecks. A series of geomorphological maps from the Normandy Peninsula demonstrate how military terrain analysis works within the framework of a modern geographical information system.
State Certification of Teachers of Blind and Visually Impaired Students: Report of a National Study:

Certification officers of the state departments of education were surveyed during the winter of 1985/1986 about certification requirements and policies for teachers of blind and visually impaired c...
The secret garden : a therapeutic metaphor

This paper analyzes a work of children's literature, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, to demonstrate a therapeutic process. Two children are able to resume normal development, and overcome pathological character traits, through the agency of new object relationships, peer group experiences, and favorable environmental influences. As a result, both attain the skills and ego functions of normal latency and prepuberty. Elements of this therapeutic process that resembles the psychoanalytic encounter and the therapeutic treatment milieu are highlighted and discussed. The central role of transference, with its similarities and differences in both settings, is emphasized. Finally, the metaphoric meanings of "secret gardens" are explored and connected with the enormous appeal of this book for its prepubertal girl readers.
Occurrence and removal of pharmaceutical compounds and steroids at four wastewater treatment plants in Hawai'i and their environmental fate.

Abstract The occurrence of pharmaceutical and steroid compounds in groundwater due to wastewater reuse has been reported and is of concern in tropical islands which primarily rely on groundwater. The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence and removal of 43 pharmaceutical and steroid compounds detected in wastewater at four different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Hawai‘i and to understand their environmental behavior through tropical soils as the treated effluents are used in landscapes for irrigation. Eight soil sampling locations, collected at three different depths, representing the most common soil types in Hawai‘i and four WWTPs located across the major Hawaiian Islands were used. Disturbed soil samples were used to conduct the soil sorption and degradation studies and to estimate the leaching risk associated to the identified compounds. Quantification of selected compounds was conducted using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Among the investigated compounds, only ten were detected in the treated effluents at concentrations ranging from 0.004 to 0.900 μg L−1. Caffeine (64 μg L−1) and ibuprofen (96.5 μg L−1) showed the highest concentration in raw samples, while diphenhydramine (0.9 μg L−1) showed the highest concentration in treated effluent samples. Sulfamethoxazole showed the lowest removal (0–75%). Several pharmaceuticals showed consistently higher sorption capacity and longer persistency compared with steroids regardless of soil types and depths. Poamoho (Oxisol soil) and Waimānalo (Mollisol soil) showed the highest sorption capacity, while Waimea (Entisol soil) showed the lowest sorption capacity. Soil physico-chemical properties (i.e., clay content, level of organic carbon, and presence of metal oxide) and soil depth highly impacted the sorption behavior of the selected pharmaceutical compounds. In particular, the sorption capacity decreased with soil depth due to the higher level of organic carbon present in the first 30 cm compared with the deeper depths (60–90 cm).
The Human Term Placenta as a Source of Transplantable Hematopoietic Stem Cells

In this chapter we summarize current knowledge on the hematopoietic potential of the human placenta throughout gestation and speculate about the possible use of this tissue at birth for the harvest of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and progenitors. Placental CD34+ cells could be used to augment those harvested from umbilical cord blood (UCB), which are routinely banked and used for stem cell transplantation. The placenta is an organ that develops from embryonic tissue, even before formation of the embryo, and it performs multiple critical transport functions throughout gestation. The discovery, a decade ago, that the placenta harbors HSCs and is an active and important hematopoietic organ in mice and humans dramatically changed our knowledge of the ontogeny of the hematopoietic system, adding a new extra-embryonic site to our models of hematopoietic development. We think that unveiling the hematopoietic potential of the placenta did more than shift our understanding of developmental hematopoiesis; the finding that the full-term placenta also contains sizable numbers of HSCs, which could readily be harvested at birth and combined with those present in the UCB, might also change the way we collect, bank, and transplant neonatal HSCs. Moreover, this finding might also further expand the use of UCB-HSCs for adult allogeneic transplantation by significantly increasing the harvested number of HSCs and thus avoiding the use of multiple units of UCB in single transplants, ex vivo expansion of UCB-HSCs or any other manipulation of this precious, but limited, source of HSCs prior transplantation.
Directions for Future Underemployment Research: Measurement and Practice

The last decade has seen noticeable growth in research on the underemployment phenomenon – when an individual is employed in some way that is insufficient relative to some standard – and the problems associated with it. This research comes from a variety of areas, most notably economics, sociology, and the organizational sciences (i.e., industrial-organizational psychology and management). For example, the academic database PsycINFO returned 97 sources with the underemployment keyword between the years 2000 and 2009, up 76% from the previous 10-year span. Very recently, economic woes in most developed nations and across the globe have also brought underemployment into public consciousness. Various media outlets continue to give attention to overqualification and related problems of insufficient employment (e.g., Hemming, 2010; Korkki, 2010; Luo, March 2010; Reingold, February 2009; Schieffer & Besner, 2009). This increased interest from both scholars and the popular press is notable in that, until recently, the underemployment problem has been overshadowed by the unemployment problem (Dooley, Prause, & Ham-Rowbottom, 2000; Feldman, 1996), especially in the media.
Expectation functionals associated with some stochastic evolution equations

Infinite-dimensional diffusion equations for the expectation functionals associated with some stochastic evolution equations in Hilbert spaces are studied. The asymptotic properties such as the boundedness and the stationary distributions of solutions are also disscused.
The Problem of the World: Merleau-Ponty on Flesh, Soul and Place

In our current period of technoscience, what controversy could there be concerning the existence of the world? In The Visible and the Invisible, Merleau-Ponty outlines a remaining difficulty, which he refers to as “the problem of the world” (le problem du monde). In actual practice, we share a basic faith in perception: “We see the things themselves, the world is what we see.”1 But when we try to express this deeply rooted or mute opinion in terms of some formula, we face a conflict between two indubitable convictions. It is the world and its things that we see; our perceptions enable us to enter upon existing objects and relations. Yet, this claim is contested by the equally strong opinion that sense perception is a singular perspective which does not give direct access to objects in the common world shared by us all. My perceptions surely anchor a belief in the existence of this table and of this visible pencil before me now, but they are also inescapably mine. Thus, we remain perplexed: if we explicate our faith in perception by stating that we see things of the world, then we neglect to mention that contact with the world arises from our own unique look, touch or hearing; but if we affirm that vision or touch permits only singular access, then our account seems to separate us from each other and to place us at a distance from the natural world. Fortunately, Merleau-Ponty indicates that this paradox of convictions does not necessarily return us to age-old debates concerning solipsism and to doubts about the existence of things. Instead, our faith in perception is so unshakable that we accept the task of finding a more basic account capable of explaining how each of us already possesses a singular contact with existing things.2
Organizational Structure and the Behavior of Firms: Implications for Integrated Assessment

Existing climate/economy models typically treatproduction through the assumptions that firms maximizeprofits and that inputs are transformed to outputsaccording to a neoclassical production function. Yetthese assumptions are at variance with some of theknown empirical features of business behavior. One ofthe most promising ways to model firms morerealistically is to include organizational networkstructure as an integral part of the representation. The firm's optimization problem then includes not onlythe choice of inputs and outputs, but the choice of anorganizational structure as well. This approach makesit possible to examine in a unified framework a numberof issues pertaining to the internal workings of thefirm: the consequences of multiple organizationalobjectives, the possible existence of productivityspillovers from one activity to another, and thealgorithmic characteristics of procedural routines. Understanding how organizational structures influenceoverall performance is an important step towardsbetter representing firms in integrated assessmentmodels. Our results show that phenomena of the typecharacterizing the `Porter hypothesis' (improvedenvironmental performance without reduction inproductivity or profitability) can appear even in verysimple models of the firm, provided the effects oforganizational structure are taken into account.
Regulatory Reform: The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the FCC Media Ownership Rules

The Federal Communications Commission has regulated ownership of mass media outlets since the 1920s. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 abolished some of these regulations, changed others, and required the FCC to review its rules regularly and to repeal those no longer required. There is little opposition to the idea that media ownership policy should promote economic competition (to increase the economic welfare of consumers) and First Amendment values (to preserve the political freedom of citizens). This paper examines, from an economic perspective, federal administrative restrictions on ownership of media properties, including both antitrust and First Amendment policy bases for the rules. It concludes that the present rules are duplicative of antitrust law enforcement and should therefore be abolished as wasteful of public resources and a burden on consumer welfare. It argues that First Amendment goals are not threatened by abolition.
The Ivy League-Big Ten Epidemiology of Concussion Study: A Report on Methods and First Findings.

Background:Little is known about the nature of concussion injury among university student-athletes, including concussion incidence and rates across sports, the mechanisms of injury, the type of act...
Gothic "Voodoo" in Africa and Haiti

This paper seeks to historicize and demystify “Voodoo” religion in Africa and Haiti while also drawing comparisons and contrasts to concepts and themes related to “the gothic”. What is assumed to be “supernatural” or “paranormal” in Western and Gothic circles has long been a part of everyday reality for many peoples of African descent and devotees of Vodun in Western Africa and Vodou in Haiti. Tropes that are essential to realms of the gothic (supernatural characters, mystery, the macabre, spirits, and paranormal entities) — are also central to the cosmology and liturgy of so-called “Voodoo”. As “the gothic” undergoes a resurgence in academic and popular cultures, so too does “Voodoo” religion. And yet, both terms continue to be conflated by popular culture, and by equating “voodoo” with “the gothic”, the true spirt of both concepts become confounded. A certain racialized Eurocentric hegemony devalues one of the world’s least understood religions (“Voodoo”) by equating it with equally distorted concepts of “the gothic”. As globalization transforms society, and the neo-liberal order creates more uncertainty, the continued distortion of both terms continues. Vodun does more than just speak to the unknown, it is an ancient organizing principle and way of life for millions of followers. Vodou/Vodun are not cognates of the “American Zombie gothic”, but rather, are a mode of survival and offer a way of seeing and being in an unpredictable world.
Detection of fly artifacts from four species of necrophagous flies on household materials using immunoassays

An immunoassay was previously developed as a technique to improve methods for detection and analysis of fly artifacts found at crime scenes. The dot blot assay utilized a polyclonal antiserum (anti-md3) based on a unique digestive cathepsin D found in cyclorrhaphous Diptera. In this study, artifacts produced by adults of Calliphora vicina, Cynomya cadaverina, Sarcophaga bullata, and Protophormia terraenovae were examined using the immunoassay to determine if insect-derived stains could be distinguished from a range of human body fluid stains. A lift technique was developed which permitted transfer of fly artifacts from test materials to filter paper for dot blot analyses. All species readily deposited artifacts on all test household materials regardless of diet consumed. Despite differences in texture and porosity of the household materials, artifacts of all species transferred to the filter paper. With all fly species, anti-md3 serum bound to artifacts produced after feeding on semen, blood, feces, urine, and saliva. By contrast, anti-md3 serum did not react with any of the human fluids tested, nor with any of the lifts from household materials not exposed to flies. There was no evidence of false positives with any of the fly species tested, regardless of diet consumed. There was also no indication of false negatives with any of the dot blot assays. These observations suggest that immunoassays using anti-md3 serum performed on a simple lift of suspected fly artifacts can be used effectively as a confirmatory assay to distinguish fly regurgitate and fecal stains from human body fluids.
Software and Synthesis Development Libraries for Power Electronic System Real-Time Simulation

In this paper, C++ libraries to create high performance real-time simulators of power electronic systems are presented. These libraries utilize the Latency-Based Linear Multistep Compound (LB-LMC) method for the solver algorithm. C++ simulation solver engines created from these libraries support both real-time CPU and FPGA execution, allowing for fast and flexible simulator implementations. These libraries support object-oriented simulator development and metaprogramming development utilizing code generation to produce heavily optimized solver engines for given execution target. Details of these libraries and their application are discussed. Example cases of the usage of these libraries for FPGA-based simulation from prior papers are presented to demonstrate capabilities of the libraries, allowing for real-time power electronic system simulators running with $\le 50$ ns time steps.
Culturally informed gatekeeper training for youth suicide prevention in Guyana: A pilot examination:

Adolescent suicide is a pressing concern in Guyana, a low-to middle-income country in South America with the highest adolescent suicide rate globally. Gatekeeper trainings for suicide prevention co...
The allotetraploidization of maize : Part 2: The theoretical basis - the cytogenetics of segmental allotetraploids.

Summary. Allotetraploidization is the creation of artifical aUotetraploids from a normally diploid species. The possible value of aUotetraploid maize has been discussed in Section I of this series. AUotetraploidization of maize can be achieved by restructuring a maize genome so that its chromosomes will not pair with those of the standard maize genome. This restructuring can be done by concentrating differential pairing affinity (DPA) factors into a single line by a recurrent selection type of breeding program. Because the divergence of the maize genome is a gradual process, it is necessary to devise a model for chromosome pairing and gene segregation in segmental allotetraploids. This has been done by considering pairing in each arm separately and then combining paired arms to form pairing configurations for whole chromosomes. The chromosome disjunction patterns are hypothesized and genetic ratios in relation to different levels of DPA are suggested.
Every module is an inverse limit of injectives

It is shown that any left module A over a ring R can be written as the intersection of a downward directed system of injective submodules of an injective module; equivalently, as an inverse limit of one-to-one homomorphisms of injectives. If R is left Noetherian, A can also be written as the inverse limit of a system of surjective homomorphisms of injectives. Some questions are raised. The flat modules over a ring are precisely the direct limits of projective modules [11] [6] [10, Theorem 2.4.34]. Which modules are, dually, inverse limits of injectives? I sketched the answer in [1], but in view of the limited distribution of that item, it seems worthwhile to make the result more widely available. The construction from [1] is Theorem 2 below; the connecting maps there are inclusions. In Theorem 4, we shall see that the connecting maps can, alternatively, be taken to be onto if R is Noetherian on the appropriate side. In §2 we ask some questions, in §3 we take some steps toward answering one of them, and in §4 we note what the proofs of our results tell us when applied to not necessarily injective modules. Throughout, “ring” means associative ring with unit, and modules are unital. I am indebted to Pace Nielsen for pointing out the need to assume κ regular in Lemma 1, and to the referee for some useful suggestions.
Discovering Cultural Differences Through Information Flow of National DMOs Websites

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether cultural differences are reflected in how destinations present themselves online by performing hyperlink network analysis of their official DMOs websites. The study examines whether variance in online presentation can be explained using well established theories on culture. To this end, hyperlink data were collected from three official tourism websites: Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) of South Korea, Brand USA of United States, and German National Tourist Board (GNTB) of Germany. The results show that the three hyperlink networks exhibit differences in size and structural properties. The information network of KTO tends to reflect collectivism, while those of Brand USA and GNTB reflect individualism. Blockmodeling analysis provides the grounds for further statistical approach.
Clinical trials of anticoagulation in COVID-19: a systematic review

A high prevalence of thrombotic events is observed in coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19). Optimal anticoagulation becomes a critical part of treatment and higher-dose prophylactic anticoagulation is being practiced. Prospective evidence to confirm the safety and efficacy of these regimens is lacking. We performed a systematic review of existing studies of anticoagulation in COVID-19. The ClinicalTrials.gov registry, the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), and the EU Clinical Trials Register (EudraCT) were searched from inception to September 1, 2020. PRISMA guidelines were followed. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were performed. We identified 36 clinical studies involving anticoagulation in COVID-19. Most common study location was the United States (n=12, 33%). Thirty studies were randomized-controlled (83%) of which 22 were open-label. Median sample size was 309 (IQR 139-952) and study duration was 233 days (IQR 174-357). Most common study setting was critical and non-critical care (n=21, 58%). Most common single primary outcome was all-cause mortality (n=15, 42%) but thrombotic events represent the overall most common primary outcome (n=28, 77%). Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) was the most common agent studied (n=25, 69%) followed by unfractionated heparin (UFH) (n=14, 38.8%) and factor Xa antagonists (n=8, 22.2%). Therapeutic-intensity prophylaxis was the most common dosage regimen studied in comparison to routine thromboprophylaxis dose in 76% and 86% of studies with LMWH and UFH respectively. Five studies (14%) used intermediate-dose prophylaxis. Bleeding is studied as an outcome variable in 19 studies (53%). Our review identifies studies of anticoagulation in COVID-19 and the pharmacological agents used, dosage intensities, and the outcomes analyzed.