cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nd: YAG laser treatment of extramammary Paget's disease of the penis and scrotum.

Abstract Extramammary Paget's disease is a malignant skin condition which rarely affects the penis and scrotum. Standard treatment consists of wide surgical excision in order to avoid local recurrence. A case of extensive extramammary Paget's disease of the penis and scrotum treated with the Nd:YAG laser is described. Nd:YAG laser therapy, although widely used for penile lesions, has not been previously reported for extramammary Paget's disease. Laser surgery for extramammary Paget's disease may become a useful therapeutic modality in the future because it is relatively easy to perform and allows for extension of the surgical field without excessive loss of tissue.
Vicarious Apologies as Moral Repair

Apologies are key components of moral repair. They can identify a wrong, express regret, and accept culpability for some transgression. Apologies can vindicate a victim's value as someone who was due different treatment. This paper explores whether acts with vicarious elements may serve as apologies. I offer a functionalist account of apologies: acts are apologies not so much by having correct ingredients but by serving certain apologetic functions. Those functions can be realized in multiple ways. Whether the offenders are individuals or collectives, they can sometimes fulfill such functions through third party agents. Having vicarious elements does not necessarily undermine the reparative reasons offenders hope to provide.1
Personalized contraceptive counseling: helping women make the right choice.

Unintended pregnancy is a significant problem with medical social and economic consequences. Half of unintended pregnancies are a result of no contraceptive use; while the other half results from contraceptive inconsistencies or method failure. Women have an array of contraceptive options to choose from each of which differs significantly in terms of usage efficacy side effects risks and noncontraceptive benefits. Determining the best tool for communication is a challenge. In addition the choice of contraceptive method differs among women with medical problems. Not all contraceptive methods are suitable for women with certain medical problems. In this review we discuss different methods of counseling and the tools available for sharing contraception information.
Comparison among inhibitor activities in four kinds of Crataegus pinnatifida Bge.seeds

In order to find out relationship between inhibitor and dormancy of seed in Crataegus pinnatifida Bge, inhibitory substances in the endocarp, seed capsule and embryo in four kinds of C. pinnatifida Bge. were extracted by 80% methanol solution, and then they were separated into five components using five menstruums by systematic solvent separation method, which were petroleum ether, ether, ethyl acetate, methanol and water, respectively. Cabbage seeds were treated by the extracting solutions. The inhibitor activities in different hawthorn seeds were determined through cabbage seed germination test. The results showed that the inhibitor activities in ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extracting solutions were higher, and those in petroleum and water extracting solutions were lower. The inhibitor activity in the seed from the bigger hawthorn (Hot summer hawthorn and Dawang) was higher than that in the seed from the smaller hawthorn seed (Liaoning hawthorn and Funing wild hawthorn).
Moving Beyond Readability Metrics for Health-Related Text Simplification

Limited health literacy is a barrier to understanding health information. Simplifying text can reduce this barrier and possibly address other known health disparities. Unfortunately, few tools exist to simplify text with a demonstrated impact on comprehension. By leveraging modern data sources integrated with natural language processing algorithms, the authors have developed a semi-automated text-simplification tool. They introduce their evidence-based development strategy for designing effective text-simplification software and summarize initial, promising results. They also present a new study examining existing readability formulas, which are the most commonly used tools for text simplification in healthcare. They compare syllable count--the proxy for word difficulty used by most readability formulas--with their new metric, term familiarity, and determine that syllable count measures how difficult words appear to be, but not their actual difficulty. In contrast, term familiarity can be used to measure actual difficulty.
Changing the Scale of Analysis for Urban Renewal Research Small Cities, the State of Kentucky, and the 1974 Urban Renewal Directory

Traditional urban renewal scholarship has emphasized the experiences of America’s largest cities, leaving the equally significant story of urban renewal in small cities largely unexplored. This is ...
PaniniJ: Adding the capsule programming abstraction to Java to provide linguistic support for modular reasoning in concurrent program design

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Introduction: A Century of Challenges

The first decade and a half of the twenty-first century has demonstrated that we are living in a time of rapid change, unanticipated crises, and general turmoil. These disruptions are occurring against the background of declining US influence and the rising power of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Traditional inter-state security concerns coexist with new security preoccupations, such as the rivalries likely to erupt over the resources of the global commons, the threat of cyber warfare, and the economic and social repercussions of globalization. Will the twenty-first-century state be able to address the challenges posed by rapid change presaged by all these developments?
Colloidal Cluster Assembly into Ordered Superstructures via Engineered Directional Binding

Recent experimental studies have demonstrated a facile route for fabricating large numbers of geometrically uniform colloidal clusters out of submicron DNA-functionalized spheres. These clusters are ideally suited for use as anisotropic building blocks for hierarchical assembly of superstructures with symmetries that are otherwise inaccessible with simple spherical particles. We study computationally the self-assembly of cubic, tetrahedral, and octahedral clusters mediated by “bond spheres” that dock with the clusters at specific preferential sites, providing robust and well-defined directional bonding. We analyze the assembly process with a combination of direct molecular dynamics simulations of superstructure growth and state-of-the-art umbrella sampling techniques to compute nucleation free energy profiles. The simulations confirm the versatility and robustness of hierarchical cluster assembly but also reveal potential obstacles in the form of energetically accessible defect states. We find and study s...
Turgenev, Extremism, and Aristotle’s Solution of the Mean: An Interdisciplinary Case Study of Theory, Literature, and Contemporary Events

There can be little doubt that today's university student is quite different from students of the past. Less informed and less well read, many students come to the classroom ill prepared to employ the analytical skills necessary for courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Confronting this new reality in an effective and timely manner seems to be one of the greatest challenges for contemporary academics. In a course entitled "Politics and Literature," I have attempted to address this problem by having students engage in thematically broad and diverse reading curriculum, from the ancient to the modern world, in an effort to demonstrate the interconnectedness of those ideas and concepts present in the works of philosophy, literature, and contemporary politics. By uncovering the universal and transcendent themes of the diverse texts and applying them to contemporary events through class discussion, students begin to understand the complicated, shared, and lasting perils of the human condition. To this end, this paper provides a roadmap for textual examination and class discussion of Aristotle's philosophic analysis of the "mean," as it manifests itself through the characters of Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons." Standing out among other novels as one of the most useful texts for providing an understanding of political extremism and the possibility of its resolution, Turgenev's work offers students a "literary" example of how political extremism betrays those who embrace its ideology, all the while reinforcing Aristotle's teachings on moderation. This paper illustrates how an instructor may utilize noteworthy literary characters to reveal a philosophic tenet to students through class discussion, close textual analysis, and application to current political events. Use of this method will reinforce the goal of having students become more historic, better critical readers, and more knowledgeable about their place in the world today.
Effect of high-temperature on the swellable organically-modified silica (SOMS) and its application to gas-phase hydrodechlorination of trichloroethylene

Abstract Pd catalysts supported on swellable organically-modified silica (SOMS) and high-temperature-treated swellable organically-modified silica (H-SOMS) were characterized and tested for gas-phase hydrodechlorination (HDC) of trichloroethylene (TCE) conditions. The high-temperature treatment on SOMS resulted in an increase in surface area and pore diameter as well as significant improvement of Pd dispersion on H-SOMS with smaller Pd particle sizes compared to the Pd/SOMS catalyst. Although the high-temperature treatment led to some alteration of the SOMS polysiloxane network, the hydrophobicity and organic vapor adsorption characteristics of SOMS were preserved. The reduction and oxidation characteristics of Pd on SOMS and HSOMS were investigated in situ using XANES technique. It was found that the Pd sites in the pores of SOMS was accessible to small molecules such as H2, facilitating the reduction of PdOx, whereas oxidation of metallic Pd was limited even at higher temperatures when O2 was used. This effect was only observed over Pd/SOMS catalyst. For Pd/H-SOMS, because the pores were more widely open than Pd/SOMS, both reduction and oxidation of Pd were observed. Finally, the catalytic activity of Pd/H-SOMS for gas-phase HDC of TCE was significantly better than Pd/SOMS. When water was added to the reactant stream (TCE + H2O), both Pd/SOMS and Pd/H-SOMS maintained its catalytic performances due to hydrophobic property of the supports.
Connecting deep neural networks with symbolic knowledge

Neural networks have attracted significant interest in recent years due to their exceptional performance in various domains ranging from natural language processing to image identification and classification. Modern deep neural networks demonstrate state-of-the-art results in complex tasks such as epileptic seizure detection [1] and time series classification [2]. The internal architecture of these networks, in terms of learned representations, still remains opaque. This research addresses the first step towards the long term goal of constructing a bidirectional connection between raw input data and symbolic representations. In this research, we examined whether a denoising autoencoder can internally find correlated principal features from input images and their symbolic representations that can be used to generate one from the other. Our results indicate that using symbolic representations along with the raw inputs generates better reconstructions. Our network was able to construct the symbolic representations from the input as well as input instances from their symbolic representations.
Deep learning based multi-label classification for surgical tool presence detection in laparoscopic videos

Automatic recognition of surgical workflow is an unresolved problem among the community of computer-assisted interventions. Among all the features used for surgical workflow recognition, one important feature is the presence of the surgical tools. Extracting this feature leads to the surgical tool presence detection problem to detect what tools are used at each time in surgery. This paper proposes a deep learning based multi-label classification method for surgical tool presence detection in laparoscopic videos. The proposed method combines two state-of-the-art deep neural networks and uses ensemble learning to solve the tool presence detection problem as a multi-label classification problem. The performance of the proposed method has been evaluated in the surgical tool presence detection challenge held by Modeling and Monitoring of Computer Assisted Interventions workshop. The proposed method shows superior performance compared to other methods and has won the first place of the challenge.
On the Transition from Confinement to Screening in Large N Gauge Theory

The QCD string that describes confining large N SU(N) gauge theory becomes tensionless at values of the couplings for which the gauge theory passes from confinement to screening. We study this phenomenon in two dimensional QCD coupled to adjoint matter. As the string tension goes to zero, the Hilbert space of “single string” states splits into disconnected Hilbert spaces describing massless and massive, single and multiparticle excitations. The enormous number of states that seem to come down to the same energy is replaced by a large number of degenerate decoupled sectors, labeled by discrete quantum numbers parametrizing a topological field theory. Our results point to subtleties in the usual treatment of “zero modes” in discretized light front quantization. (Talk presented at the conference “New Non-perturbative Methods and Quantization on the Light-Cone”, Les Houches, February 24 — March 7, 1997.)
The first webpage design: nifty assignment

The experience of accessing individual student personal web pages via the Internet is an important course objective of Introduction to Micro Computers. The purpose of the proposed assignment is to lead students through the experience of creating web pages which are publicly accessible from the Internet. From this assignment, students learn how to design a frame page with two columns, create an index page, produce images via peripheral devices, arrange materials by tables, and embed internal and external hyperlinks into web pages. Through the final step of uploading files to a server, students learn about client-server relationship. The assignment also demonstrates how directory tree structure files are transferred from a local PC to a server via the communication program SSH Secure Shell.
A smart healthcare portal for clinical decision making and precision medicine

There has been an unprecedented generation of healthcare data at clinical practices. With the availability of advanced computing frameworks and the ability to electronically mine data from disparate sources (e.g. demographics, genetics, imaging, treatment, clinical decisions, and outcomes) big data research in medicine has become a very active field of interest. In this paper, we discuss the challenges associated with designing clinical decision support systems that try to leverage such disparate data sources and create smart healthcare tools to aid medical practitioners for better patient care and treatment plans. We next propose an integrated data curation, storage and analytics portal, called HINGE (the Health Information Gateway and Exchange application), that can effectively address many of the outstanding challenges in this domain. HINGE specifically caters to healthcare data from radiation oncology patients however, the underlying formalisms and principles, as discussed here, are readily extendible to other disease types making it an attractive tool for the design of next generation clinical decision support systems.
The Challenge of Coming in First: Helping First-Generation College Students Win Beyond Getting In

First-generation students are those whose parents did not attend post-secondary education or attended some college and did not earn a degree. FGCSs report lower life satisfaction, have fewer on-campus supports, and are more likely to leave school early. This chapter describes the case of an older teenager with major depressive disorder who is the first in her family to attend college despite multiple psychosocial barriers. Although stable at the time of admission, she begins to relapse as she struggles to find her place in college and campus mental health services. Discussion focuses on the social, familial, and academic challenges FGCSs may face, considers how the transitioning psychiatrist should examine the student’s unique psychological needs, and proposes that universities connect students to academic and social support services and make mental health treatment easily accessible.
A Collaborative Virtual Game to Support Activity and Social Engagement for Older Adults

Many older adults suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias and have affected cognitive abilities. In general, physical exercise, cognitive stimulation, and social engagement have been found to be beneficial for the physical and mental health of older adults with and without cognitive impairment. In an effort to address these needs, researchers have been developing human-machine interaction (HMI) systems to administer activity-oriented therapies. However, most of these system, while promising, focus on one-on-one interaction with the computer and thus do not support social engagement by involving multiple older adults. In this paper, we present the design and development of a motion-based collaborative virtual environment (CVE) application to support both activity and social engagement. The CVE task is based on a book-sorting activity and has embedded collaborative components to encourage human-human interaction (HHI). The system records quantitative data regarding users’ performance, interaction frequency, and social interaction. A preliminary user study was conducted to validate system usability and test on older adults’ tolerance and acceptance of the motion-based user interface (UI) as well as the CVE task. The results showed the usability of the motion-based UI and system capability to assess HMI and HHI from recorded quantitative data. The results from post-test and analysis of audio files indicated that the system might be potentially useful. More user study and data analysis need to be conducted to further investigate the CVE system.
MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF ELECTROMAGNETIC CASTING OF METALS AND SOME EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION

Electromagnetic (EM) casting is now a common technique for solidification of aluminum and may be exploited for other metals shortly. EM casting proceeds without the use of a mold; the molten metal is supported by EM forces while it solidifies. Besides supporting the molten metal, these forces cause its stirring with velocities of many centimeters per second, with consequences for solid microstructure, mass transport, behaviour of oxide films and the surface finish of the solidified metal. The paper describes a mathematical model for the two types of EM caster in commercial use. Maxwell's equations are solved iteratively to compute the shape of the electromagnetically supported meniscus and EM fields. The EM-driven turbulent fluid flow of melt is then computed. Both 2D (axisymmetric) and fully 3D versions of the model have been developed. Some testing was carried out on a physical model of a caster which employs Wood's alloy to simulate the liquid metal pool. Measurements of electric field, magnetic field, meniscus shape and velocity were carried out for both axisymmetric and 3D designs. Comparisons of measurements and predictions are provided.
Advances in Comparative-Historical Analysis: The developmental state is dead: long live the developmental state!

This paper considers the contribution of the developmental state literature to comparative historical analysis, with a particular emphasis on methodological issues: the role of single and comparative case studies, counter-factual analysis, the nature of historical explanation and the possibilities for causal inference in "configurative" research designs.
An Elective Course for Student Pharmacists on Pharmaceutical Industry Practice.

Objective. To design and implement an elective course on pharmaceutical industry practice and assess its impact on student pharmacists’ knowledge and perceptions.Methods. This was a two-credit hour...
From America to Norway: Norwegian-American Immigrant Letters, 1838–1914, volume 3, 1893–1914.

Review of: From America to Norway: Norwegian-American Immigrant Letters, 1838–1914, volume 3, 1893–1914, edited and translated by Orm Overland
Certified Nursing Assistants Want to Use External Memory Aids for Residents With Dementia: Survey Results Within an Implementation Science Framework.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the self-perceived knowledge and self-efficacy of certified nursing assistants (CNAs) when using external memory aids to enhance the communication an...
Monte Carlo and experimental analysis of a novel directional rotating scatter mask gamma detection system

Abstract For such diverse applications as on-site radiation monitoring, treaty or material verification, cargo monitoring during transport, and orphan source location a radioactive source localization system is of great use. The Rotating Scatter Mask (RSM) detection system, a rapid scatter mask retrofit to a conventional radiation detector, provides a low-cost, large field of view and energy range solution to this problem. This work demonstrates successful experimental operation of a prototype system to identify source direction which was modeled using a library of signals simulated using GEANT and a novel algorithm, validated by comparing results with MCNP and experiment.
Current and Future Performance of the CMS Simulation

The CMS full simulation using Geant4 has delivered billions of simulated events for analysis during Runs 1 and 2 of the LHC. However, the HL-LHC dataset will be an order of magnitude larger, with a similar increase in occupancy per event. In addition, the upgraded CMS detector will be considerably more complex, with an extended silicon tracker and a high granularity calorimeter in the endcap region. Increases in conventional computing resources are subject to both technological and budgetary limitations, so novel approaches are needed to improve software efficiency and to take advantage of new architectures and heterogeneous resources. Several projects are in development to address these needs, including the vectorized geometry library Vec-Geom and the GeantV transport engine, which uses track-level parallelization. The current computing performance of the CMS simulation will be presented as a baseline, along with an overview of the various optimizations already available for Geant4. Finally, the progress and outlook for integrating VecGeom and GeantV in the CMS software framework will be discussed.
Nicotine replacement therapy sampling for smoking cessation within primary care: results from a pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial.

Background and aims Within the context of busy clinical settings, health-care providers need practical, evidence-based options to engage smokers in quitting. Sampling of nicotine replacement therapy [i.e. provision of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT starter kits)] is a brief, pragmatic strategy to address this need. We aimed to compare the effects of NRT sampling plus standard care (SC), relative to SC alone, provided by primary care providers during routine clinic visits. Design Cluster-randomized clinical trial. Setting Twenty-two primary care clinics in South Carolina, USA. Participants Adult smokers [n = 1245; 61% female, mean age = 50.7, standard deviation (SD) = 13.5] both motivated and unmotivated to quit, seen during routine clinical visit. Interventions were provider-delivered SC (n = 652, 12 clinics) cessation advice or SC + a 2-week supply of both nicotine patch and lozenge, with minimal instructions on use (n = 593; 10 clinics). Measurements The primary outcome was 7-day point prevalence smoking abstinence at 6-month follow-up, using intent-to-treat. Additional outcomes included NRT use and quit attempts, assessed at 1, 3 and 6 months following baseline. Findings Seven-day point prevalence abstinence rates were significantly higher in the NRT sampling group throughout follow-up, including at 6 months [12 versus 8%, odds ratio (OR) = 1.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.0-2.4]. NRT sampling increased prevalence of any use of NRT (65 versus 25%, OR = 5.8, 95% CI = 4.3-7.7), with higher prevalence of use at 6 months (25 versus 14%, OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.5-2.7). NRT sampling increased the rate of quit attempts in the initial month (24 versus 18%, OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.0-2.3) but had no significant effect on overall rate of quit attempts (48 versus 45%, OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 0.8-1.7). Conclusion Providing smokers with a free 2-week starter kit of nicotine replacement therapy increased quit attempts, use of stop smoking medications and smoking abstinence compared with standard care in a primary care setting.
Machine Learning-Based Roadside Vehicular Traffic Localization via Opportunistic Wireless Sensing

Comprehensive Situational Awareness (SA) in mixed traffic environments (i.e., both autonomous and human-operated platforms) is a critical requirement in addressing some of the challenges that hinder the deployment of autonomous vehicle (AV) systems onto roadways. In this paper, a novel framework that leverages machine learning techniques for utilizing Signals of Opportunity (SoO) for robust localization of all vehicles operating along a stretch of roadway is presented. By making use of ubiquitous wireless emissions from vehicles, the presented approach performs vehicle localization without any active participation/assistance from vehicles thus making it a suitable candidate for SA in mixed traffic environments. Our simulation results show that given the road shape and number of vehicles present, observed 2D localization estimates generated by an arbitrary algorithm whose error is described by a Gaussian bivariate distribution with 10 meters covariance yields unbiased vehicle centroid estimates with less than one meter mean squared error by eight Kalman Filter (KF) iterations. A set of KFs for each vehicle are used to leverage the filtering of multiple estimates per vehicle per filter step to reduce measurement noise by averaging, while a clustering algorithm performs the dual role of forming KF set priors and classifying location estimates to their correct vehicle.
Pricing Implications of Transmission Security Modeling In Electric Energy Markets

This paper discusses the pricing implications of modeling transmission security constraints in market clearing models. Most market operators include transmission security constraints in optimization models that are used to determine the commitment and dispatch schedules for both the day ahead and the real time markets. The inclusion of transmission security constraints leads to the rise of a post transmission contingency congestion component in the nodal market clearing prices. Most contemporary market models follow an approach that does not allow for a re-dispatch in generation after the occurrence of a transmission contingency, attempting to arrive at a single market solution that is transmission feasible for both the base case and all modeled post-contingency network models. A theoretical analysis of the pricing implications of transmission security modeling in energy market clearing models (including a model allowing for re-dispatch) is presented by leveraging duality theory.
ESPC Operational Implementation and Validation

Abstract : The long-term goal is a fully coupled global atmosphere/ocean/ice/wave/land prediction system providing daily predictions out to 10 days and weekly predictions out to 30 days. Task: Design the infrastructure for operational implementation of the coupled system. The main objective of this task is designing the infrastructure for operational implementation of the fully coupled global system. This design includes scoping the system to fit within the constraints of the operational centers. These constraints include both computational and manpower resources. Determination of the run cycle will take into account the three main forecasts (10 day deterministic, 30 day deterministic and 30 day probabilistic) with data assimilation for the different components to be considered. Data streams, inputs and post-processing also will be considered.
What the Urologist Wants to Know from Prostate MRI

The role of multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer (PCa) has evolved rapidly over the previous decade. At present, it includes the following indications: prior negative biopsies with ongoing clinical concern for underlying malignancy, presurgical planning, active surveillance, and local recurrence after prostatectomy. In this review, we will begin by discussing the role of mpMRI at time of initial diagnosis, both in the biopsy-naive and prior biopsy setting. We will discuss its use in active surveillance (AS), both in confirmatory biopsy and ongoing surveillance. Finally, we will review the role prior to local (or surgical) therapy of known PCa.
Assessing linear CD4 decline quantifying diagnosis delay after HIV seroconversion: assessing the linearity assumption of CD4 decline.

Abstract Purpose To estimate time from seroconversion to diagnosis, researchers have modeled time based on CD4 decline, assuming the square root of the CD4 count decreases linearly over time before antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation. If true, utilizing CD4 counts reported anytime in the pre-ART period would result in estimates of diagnosis delay that are not appreciably different. Methods We applied CD4 depletion model parameters from seroconverter cohorts to New York City residents diagnosed from 2006 to 2015, having two or more pre-ART CD4 counts. Results Median diagnosis delays based on first or second pre-ART CD4 counts were similar (n = 12,849; 2.8 years, interquartile range [IQR]: 0–7.7, and 2.8 years, IQR: 0–7.6, respectively; P = .09, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). Among people whose second pre-ART CD4 count was measured more than 6 months after diagnosis (n = 2761), the average diagnosis delay based on first pre-ART CD4 count was shorter (1.5 years, IQR: 0–5.4) than the second pre-ART CD4 count (1.7 years, IQR: 0–6.0) but not significantly (P = .12). Conclusions Results are consistent with the linearity assumption of the CD4 depletion model. To estimate population-level diagnosis delay, researchers may use pre-ART CD4 counts reported more than 6 months post-diagnosis.
Using Agent Based Modeling to Interpret Underlying Factors of Underrepresentation of Minorities in Hollywood Films

Based on examination of top grossing films it is clear there exists racial underrepresentation in Hollywood movies. I propose a socioeconomic approach to examine the Hollywood labor system as a network using an agent based model (ABM) within a notional movie labor market based on preferential attachment and compare the findings with 50 co-production ego networks during the 2015 movie cycle. Using an ABM, I test the hypothesis that slight individual preference for racial and ethnic similarity within one’s own network at the microlevel sufficiently explains the phenomena of Hollywood underrepresentation at the macrolevel. Using regression analysis of the real world 2015 co-actor networks I test the hypothesis that race/ethnic minority status affects ones position within the network of successful actors. In both cases, the hypotheses are not sufficient to explain the phenomena and I propose further exploration into causes of opportunity loss in accessing the labor market.
Activating Magnesium Electrolytes through Chemical Generation of Free Chloride and Removal of Trace Water.

Mg batteries are attractive next-generation energy storage systems due to their high natural abundance, inexpensive cost, and high theoretical capacity compared to conventional Li-ion based systems. The high energy density is achieved by electrodeposition and stripping of a Mg metal anode and requires the development of effective electrolytes enabled by a mechanistic understanding of the charge-transfer mechanism. The magnesium aluminum chloride complex (MACC) electrolyte is a good model system to study the mechanism as the solution phase speciation is known. Previously, we reported that minor addition of Mg(HMDS)2 to the MACC electrolyte causes significant improvement in the Mg deposition and stripping voltammetry resulting in good Coulombic efficiency on cycle one and, therefore, negating the need for electrochemical conditioning. To determine the cause of the improved electrochemistry, here we probe the speciation of the electrolyte after Mg(HMDS)2 addition using Raman spectroscopy, 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and 1H-29Si heteronuclear multiple bond correlation spectroscopy on MACC + Mg(HMDS)2 at various Mg(HMDS)2 concentrations. Mg(HMDS)2 scavenges trace H2O, but it also reacts with MACC complexes, namely, AlCl4-, to form free Cl-. We suggest that although both the removal of H2O and the formation of free Cl- improve electrochemistry by altering the speciation at the interface, the latter has a profound effect on electrodeposition and stripping of Mg.
Distinctions in the Management, Patient Impact, and Clinical Profiles of Pachyonychia Congenita Subtypes.

Introduction Pachyonychia congenita (PC) is a rare dermatosis that confers lifelong physical and emotional morbidities in affected patients. However, the clinical findings, treatments, and psychosocial impact of this disease have not been adequately described. The International PC Research Registry (IPCRR), a multinational initiative to collect data on PC patients, has allowed an opportunity to distinguish the salient features of this disease. We aimed to characterize the breadth and extent of nail disease, treatments, and quality of life in PC patients, and to describe any significant differences in clinical presentation or treatment of PC subtypes. Methods The most recent IPCRR patient survey data consisting of an 857-response questionnaire and a 102-response addendum were analyzed in a retrospective analysis. The survey data were collected as part of a multinational, multicenter initiative and comprise the largest representative population of PC to date. Participants (survey respondents) were included in the study based on questionnaire responses and a genetic confirmation of having a PC subtype. Results A total of 857 survey responses were collected. Genetic variations among PC subtypes influence nail disease onset and severity of symptoms. Nail disease negatively impacts patients' emotional health, especially during the adolescent and young adult years. Nail treatment tools vary little in terms of effectiveness and acquired infection rates. Conclusion and discussion Patients with different PC subtypes have distinct clinical nail presentations and psychosocial impact. Genetic testing should be used to confirm PC diagnoses. Further characterization of PC, especially the rarer subtypes, may allow for more individualized patient education.
An Unusual Presentation of Volvulus Revealed a Rare Variant of Heterotaxy Syndrome: A Case Report

Heterotaxy with asplenia, also referred to as situs ambiguous with asplenia, is a rare congenital condition resulting from abnormal arrangement of organs in the abdominal and thoracic cavities during embryologic development. It is characterized by disruption of the normal left-right axis orientation of visceral organs. Heterotaxy is divided into incomplete lateralization (i.e., heterotaxy) and complete (i.e., situs inversus totalis). Cardiac anomalies are major manifestations of heterotaxy that leads to early detection of such a syndrome. This case report demonstrates an unusual presentation of volvulus in a five-year old female who was unexpectedly found to …
Adjunctive Phenobarbital for Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome: A Focused Literature Review.

Objective:To review the literature describing the use of adjunctive phenobarbital in the treatment of severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS).Data Sources:PubMed and EMBASE were searched using the...
Generation Z: Cyber-Attack Awareness Training Effectiveness

This paper is exploratory research to 1) provide insight into how Generation Z, the cyber tech generation (born after 1990), will deal with a catastrophic cyber-attack, and 2) provide a foundation ...
The Innate Immune Glycoprotein Lactoferrin Represses the Helicobacter pylori cag Type IV Secretion System.

Chronic infection with Helicobacter pylori increases risk of gastric diseases including gastric cancer. Despite development of a robust immune response, H. pylori persists in the gastric niche. Progression of gastric inflammation to serious disease outcomes is associated with infection with H. pylori strains which encode the cag Type IV Secretion System (cag T4SS). The cag T4SS is responsible for translocating the oncogenic protein CagA into host cells and inducing pro-inflammatory and carcinogenic signaling cascades. Our previous work demonstrated that nutrient iron modulates the activity of the T4SS and biogenesis of T4SS pili. In response to H. pylori infection, the host produces a variety of antimicrobial molecules, including the iron-binding glycoprotein, lactoferrin. Our work shows that apo-lactoferrin exerts antimicrobial activity against H. pylori under iron-limited conditions, while holo-lactoferrin enhances bacterial growth. Culturing H. pylori in the presence of holo-lactoferrin prior to co-culture with gastric epithelial cells, results in repression of the cag T4SS activity. Concomitantly, a decrease in biogenesis of cag T4SS pili at the host-pathogen interface was observed under these culture conditions by high-resolution electron microscopy analyses. Taken together, these results indicate that acquisition of alternate sources of nutrient iron plays a role in regulating the pro-inflammatory activity of a bacterial secretion system and present novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of H. pylori-related disease.
Neuroimaging in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

This chapter describes the important role of neuroimaging in forensic evaluation of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Beginning with an historical context for neuroimaging, the chapter emphasizes the not uncommon circumstance in which prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) cannot be established definitively and the important role neuroimaging can play in establishing an FASD diagnosis. The chapter surveys specific neuroimaging techniques used presently in forensic FASD assessment, often in the capital murder context, with an emphasis on quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Following this, the chapter addresses theoretical and practical issues (e.g., evidentiary admissibility) that are highly pertinent to using neuroimaging in the medico-legal setting. The chapter ends with a proposed protocol for optimizing the use of neuroimaging data in forensic cases involving FASD, with an illustrative case example.
Cost effectiveness of buprenorphine vs. methadone for pregnant people with opioid use disorder.

To assess the cost effectiveness of buprenorphine versus methadone in the management of opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy. We designed a decision-analytic model to evaluate the costs and o...
SWOT Analysis of a Didactic Program in Dietetics: Results from Focus Group Research

This study utilized focus group research to understand the experiences of students in a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) at a large, public university. Students participating in the focus group reflected on and discussed the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats of the program. The participants stated that faculty support, hands-on learning, and opportunities to participate in clubs were strengths of the program. Students would like more opportunity to do research with faculty. They also indicated that there are program weaknesses such as access to common space, limits in course availability, roadblocks in curriculum, and limited access to necessary tools. Program opportunities, such as the upcoming accreditation visit, will express the student’s concerns and therefore focus administration’s attention on much needed financial support for the program. Although not a specific threat, changes in the credentialing for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists were also discussed by the students. Data were collected in preparation for an accreditation visit. However, the results can be used to advise department and university administrators about what items make students successful in their programs.
A Fundamental Force as the Deterministic Explanation of Quantum Mechanics

In a recent monograph [1], the author has proposed a new fundamental force as the root explanation of the relationship between particle distributions and wave intensities as well as the relationship between the energy momentum of particles and the periods and wavelengths of waves. This new force involves a nonlinear relationship between the relativistic particle acceleration and the components of waves which are treated as fields. Extensive numerical calculations were given to illustrate and verify these claims for a variety of time-independent wave solutions. The work presented here extends this previous work to time-dependent wave packet reflection. Using the fundamental force, the calculations show that starting with randomly chosen initial particle positions and momentum, the particle distribution is re-shaped to match that of the traveling wave-packet. Upon partial reflection of the packet the particles redistribute themselves to match the new wave intensity involving interference of the incident and reflected waves. The fundamental force imposes a constraint on the metric tensors that generally cannot be satisfied by a Minkowski flat space. For a solution of this dilemma, I propose a Riemann field metric with metric pulses that propagate with the waves. Some implications of the latter are briefly discussed.
Where is the content?: Elementary social studies in preservice field experiences

Abstract Anecdotal evidence has long lamented the status of social studies in elementary classrooms as observed by preservice teachers. As standardized testing has risen for mathematics and language arts, social studies has been pushed aside. In the aftermath of accountability legislation such as No Child Left Behind, research indicates that social studies is less visible in elementary classrooms due to an instructional focus on tested content areas (e.g. math, language arts, reading). In this study, approximately 90 elementary preservice teachers enrolled in a social studies methods course responded to a survey and indicated the frequency and quality of lessons they observed over the course of a single semester. Findings report that preservice elementary teachers witnessed few, if any, lessons in social studies in the elementary classroom. Implications for teacher education are discussed.
Medical Genetics: Progress and Problems

It is entirely fitting that the Youth Council of the A.A.A.S. should select the field of medical genetics for a symposium. I say this because medical genetics is a youthful field, conceived in this century, infantile until a mere quarter century ago, and currently undergoing a most dramatic adolescent growth spurt. In fact, the field has many of the emotional characteristics of an adolescent — boundless energy and optimism coupled with impatience and a modicum of naivete. In my remarks, I shall take my cue from the ebullient spirit of this young field and attempt to convey the sense of excitement and challenge which those of us engaged in the study of medical genetics feel today.
Advisor Beliefs Regarding Effective Life Insurance Disclosure

Since 1997, and where designated, state regulation dictates the content and structure of the life insurance illustration. Based on the model regulation the National Association of Insurance Commissioners adopted in 1995, illustrations have a mandated purpose of to educate and protect the consumer during and after purchasing life insurance. Using data collected in 2012 through an online survey targeting financial advisors providing life insurance advice, we examine advisor beliefs about life insurance illustration effectiveness and find that over one-third of survey respondents believe the mandated illustration is a less than effective consumer education and protection tool while less than 15 percent rated the tool as more than effective. We find the agency relationships between advisors and insurers as well as between advisors and consumers significantly impact advisor opinions about illustrations. We find no significant evidence that advisor compensation method shapes their opinions about illustration effectiveness.
Molecular players of homologous recombination in protozoan parasites: implications for generating antigenic variation

A major impediment to vaccine development against infections caused by protozoan parasites such as Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma is the extraordinary ability of these parasites to rapidly change their surface molecules, a phenomenon known as antigenic variation. A prominent determinant of antigenic variation in these organisms is associated with rearrangements of genes, especially those known as var in P. falciparum and vsg in Trypanosoma. However, mechanisms underlying generation of anitgenic diversities among these protozoan parasites are poorly understood. The hypothesis that links all the different sections in this review is that antigenic variations in the protozoan parasites is coupled with genetic rearrangements, which occur during the course of DNA break repair. Here, we provide comprehensive and up-to-date information on Rad51 in these organisms, an eukaryotic homologue of bacterial RecA, and homologous recombination mechanisms. In trypanosomes both Rad51-dependent and -independent mechanisms have been suggested to play roles in antigenic variation. Finally, we speculate on how might similar DNA repair mechanisms contribute to genetic rearrangement associated with antigenic variation in the apicomplexan Plasmodium parasites, an immune evasion strategy.
Processing natural language without natural language processing

We can still create computer programs displaying only the most rudimentary natural language processing capabilities. One of the greatest barriers to advanced natural language processing is our inability to overcome the linguistic knowledge acquisition bottleneck. In this paper, we describe recent work in a number of areas, including grammar checker development, automatic question answering, and language modeling, where state of the art accuracy is achieved using very simple methods whose power comes entirely from the plethora of text currently available to these systems, as opposed to deep linguistic analysis or the application of state of the art machine learning techniques. This suggests that the field of NLP might benefit by concentrating less on technology development and more on data acquisition.
Food sensitivity; a study of 150 allergic children.

Abstract This is a study of 150 children, all of whom were referred with a diagnosis of an “allergic” disease. Ninety-seven had atopic eczema, nonseasonal asthma, or both. Most of these patients were quite ill. Of the ninety-seven children, sixty-seven had a positive clinical food history or positive food tests. They were designated as having preliminary evidence of food allergy. These sixty-seven were observed for a period of three years. Forty-seven had proved food sensitivities. They were sensitive to a total of 121 foods. The manifestation of their food sensitivities were mostly unrelated to the asthma or eczema. Even when wheezing and eczema appeared to be due to food allergy, one could not be certain of this since these youngsters were having asthma or eczema most of the time.