cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimal trajectory planning for spray coating

The problem of how to optimally traverse a spray applicator around a surface to be coated is formulated as a type of optimization problem known as a constrained variational problem. An optimal trajectory for a spray applicator is defined to be one that results in minimal variation in accumulated film thickness on the surface. For each surface point and for each feasible position and orientation of the applicator, a value for the instantaneous rate of film accumulation is assumed to be known. Empirical data and/or estimates for these values can be readily incorporated in the formulation. By making realistic approximations, the proposed constrained variational problem is transformed into a finite dimensional constrained optimization problem. Numerical studies are included that illustrate the utility of the problem formulation and the effectiveness of applying standard nonlinear programming techniques for determining solutions. >
Determining economically optimal household organic material management pathways

Abstract This article presents a model to determine profit-maximizing processing pathways for urban household organic material. It was applied to a case study system in the city of Rochester, NY to compare the profitability of local material management pathways. Four industrially relevant and locally available pathways were examined: anaerobic digestion (AD), simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), windrow composting, and landfill with gas capture. This research hypothesized that the current status quo of landfill with gas capture is profit-maximizing, and formulated objective functions based on alternate practices of AD, SSF, and windrow composting to test the status quo. Material chemical parameters such as biomethane potential and carbon to nitrogen ratio were experimentally determined and used as inputs. The baseline model showed the status quo of landfill with gas capture is 52–92% less profitable than optimal pathways depending on ranges of input parameters. Optimal pathways were AD for single-stream and food, composting for compostable paper, and SSF for yard trimmings. Composting was the most sensitive pathway to market and chemical variables. AD being the optimal pathway is robust for food waste compared to landfill with gas capture; to reach parity with AD, landfill tipping fees must double or AD trucking costs triple.
THIRD-PARTY EFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL: OBSERVER ATTRIBUTIONS AND RESPONSES.

The article discusses the interpersonal effects of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) and its organizational implications. The author describes the four main components of PsyCap as being hope, self-ef...
Germination of Grain Sorghum and Sudan Grass Seeds After Fumigation with Methyl Bromide and Hydrocyanic Acid

Seeds of three varieties of grain sorghum with a graded moisture range of 9%, 11%, 13% and 15%, and of one variety of Sudan grass with a graded moisture range of 8%, 10%, 12% and 14% were fumigated with methyl bromide and hydrocyanic acid in 100-cubie-foot gas-tight chambers. Exposure periods, dosages of fumigant applied, and temperatures during fumigation were varied. One-half of the fumigated samples of seeds received one fumigation; the others were fumigated twice. Under the conditions of these studies, germination of grain sorghum and Sudan grass was not seriously impaired by hydrocyanic acid when seeds were thoroughly aerated before planting. Injury resulting from methyl bromide fumigations could be identified as retarded emergence and growth of roots and shoots in various degrees, ranging up to complete absence of germination in some seeds. Dosages of fumigant applied, temperatures during fumigation, period of exposure, and moisture content of seeds were variables found to be most important in contributing to injury of seeds by methyl bromide. Two fumigations resulted in lower percentages of germination than one fumigation. Differences in the response to methyl bromide among the three varieties of grain sorghums were attributed to quality of seeds used rather than to varietal differences in susceptibility to the fumigant. Sudan grass seeds were considerably less susceptible to injury during fumigation than seeds of the grain sorghums.
Abstract 2364: Regulation of cofilin activity and tumor cell migration through protein kinase D

During early metastatic events in cancer, reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton must occur to allow for cell invasion and migration. A key enzyme initiating actin remodeling at the leading edge is Cofilin, a small actin binding protein of the ADF/cofilin family with actin severing activities. Cofilin activity is tightly regulated by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation events that are mediated by LIM Kinase (LIMK) and the phosphatase Slingshot (SSH), respectively. Protein kinase D (PKD) is a serine/threonine kinase that has previously been shown to regulate actin driven directed cell migration through phosphorylation and thus inactivation of Slingshot. Here we show that PKD can also regulate cofilin activity via activation of LIMK. We further show that PKD-induced regulation of LIMK and the resulting diminished cofilin activity translates to altered cell motility. Our data suggest that PKD inactivates Cofilin through modulation of both of its regulatory pathways. Further elucidation of the mechanisms by which PKD regulates directed cell migration could enable development of a potential treatment strategy for invasive cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2364. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2364
A Scheme for Accelerator Classification

Abstract MUCH has been written about the constitution and chemical behavior of vulcanization accelerators. Theories have been advanced regarding the mechanism of vulcanization effected with their aid. Yet even the authors of such papers—presumably best qualified to interpret their contents—would hesitate to predict, from chemical structure, many of those features which are of practical interest to the rubber manufacturer. Nevertheless, an increasing number and variety of organic accelerators are being offered on the market, and it is not strange that the mind of the average rubber man is confused by the excess at his command and the conflicting claims of the distributors. In these circumstances it is natural to hesitate to undertake the somewhat formidable task of sorting and classifying. Fortunately, however, it is not necessary to do all the work of classification on a factory scale. Certain laboratory helps are available and can be used to reduce considerably the arduousness of the task. It is believed...
Interpolation-Enhanced Powered Descent Guidance for Onboard Nominal, Off-Nominal, and Multi-X Scenarios

Next-generation soft-landing missions for interplanetary exploration can require large diverts during powered descent for precision/pinpoint landing or avoiding large hazards. However, Apollo-era polynomial powered descent guidance can incur prohibitive system-level mass penalties for large diverts. Recent advances in convexification of the fully constrained, fuel-optimal, powered-descent problem can remove these penalties and enable large diverts. To do so, the convexified problem must be solved in near-realtime onboard a lander using a radiation-hardened processor. The convexified powered descent problem requires a line-search to find the optimal time-of-flight, which can require solving for 10 or more divert trajectories. Here it is shown empirically that, over the engineering range of interest for landing on Mars, both the optimal time-of-flight and optimal propellant mass for powered descent can be accurately predicted via interpolation from a reasonably-sized grid of initial conditions. This engineering-level interpolability is significant. First, the time-of-flight line-search can be replaced with interpolation from a small table, immediately reducing the run-time by a factor of 10. Second, to trigger powered descent while a lander is descending on chute or a deorbit trajectory, the optimal propellant mass to reach the target can be looked-up over a finite horizon. If the propellant to reach the target starting a divert now is a local minimum and/or viable, then powered descent can be initiated. Third, for Multi-X, in which a lander selects from a list of safe targets, the optimal target can be selected quickly from hundreds of possibilities by simply looking up the propellant mass for each target and selecting the lowest. Fourth, if there is insufficient propellant to reach a target, the point closest to the target that can be reached can be approximated through a grid-based search using interpolated propellant mass. Fifth and finally, the farthest possible divert can also be approximated by finding the largest propellant-feasible distance over a grid of targets.
Surveillance analysis on the high risk population and environment of avian influenza in Zhaoqing,2011-2012

Objective To analyze the influenza status of the occupational exposure population and external environment of Zhaoqing. Methods The serum samples were collected from the population and influenza virus was detected by haemagglutination inhibition(HI) tests. The environment specimens were detected for FluA, AH5, AH7 and AH9 subtypes by PCR. Results 400 serum samples were negative for influenza virus detection from 2011 to 2012, and 25 of 202 environmental samples collected from 2011 to 2012 were positive.The number of positive samples for H9,H7 and other subtype were 14,1 and 10,respectively.No AH5 was detected. Conclusions The population has not yet been found infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus.The environment has been contaminated with avian influenza A virus,and H9 is the prevailing subtypes.
Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars: Pathophysiology, Classification, and Treatment.

BACKGROUNDKeloid and hypertrophic scars represent an aberrant response to the wound healing process. These scars are characterized by dysregulated growth with excessive collagen formation, and can be cosmetically and functionally disruptive to patients.OBJECTIVEObjectives are to describe the pathoph
Play and Liminality in Modernist Cultural Theory

Before I can turn to exploring the exilic-utopian imagination both as one of the main features of modernity and as a ludic form of liminality, I need briefly to review the ways in which the concepts of play and liminality have so far been employed in modernist cultural theory and clarify my own understanding of these concepts.1
Juvenile Myasthenia Gravis: Diagnosis and Outcome

The usefulness of various diagnostic tests, treatment, and outcome in 27 juvenile myasthenics seen over a 25 year period are reported from the Departments of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Anatomy, University of Iowa.
Clinical Red Flags in the Diagnosis of a Patient with Atypical Lower Limb Pain-A Case Report

Background and purpose When a patient rsquo s signs and symptoms do not promptly point to a plausible cause of pain or dysfunction it is important to think about a differential diagnosis This case report describes the clinical decision making and differential diagnostic process for a patient with atypical bilateral lower limb pain due to a benign thoracic spinal tumor Case description The patient had a sixteen month insidious onset and progressive aggravation of a bilateral non specific foot pain and tingling followed by left knee pain and weakness right hip and low back pain as well as poor balance and gait abnormalities Outcomes Following surgical resection of a thoracic schwannoma and three months of rehabilitation patient recovered completely Discussion This case demonstrates the need for physical therapists to judiciously listen to patients rsquo complaints even when these do not make sense objectively and perform a complete neurological examination whenever bilateral limb symptoms are reported even as common as foot pain
Leveraging Multilingual Training for Limited Resource Event Extraction

Event extraction has become one of the most important topics in information extraction, but to date, there is very limited work on leveraging cross-lingual training to boost performance. We propose a new event extraction approach that trains on multiple languages using a combination of both language-dependent and language-independent features, with particular focus on the case where target domain training data is of very limited size. We show empirically that multilingual training can boost performance for the tasks of event trigger extraction and event argument extraction on the Chinese ACE 2005 dataset.
Intraoperative Rupture of Ovarian Dermoid Cysts in the Pediatric and Adolescent Population: Should This Change Your Surgical Management?

Abstract Study Objective (1) To determine the incidence of chemical peritonitis after cystectomy for ovarian dermoid cysts with intraoperative cyst rupture in the pediatric and adolescent population; and (2) to examine the intraoperative and postoperative outcomes of cystectomies performed for ovarian dermoid cysts using laparoscopy and laparotomy, especially those with intraoperative cyst rupture. Design A retrospective cohort study of female patients who underwent ovarian cystectomy with proven ovarian dermoid pathology between July 2007 and July 2015. Setting Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas. Participants One hundred forty-four patients between the ages of 1 and 21 years who underwent an ovarian cystectomy with proven benign ovarian dermoid histology on the basis of pathology reports. Interventions and Main Outcome Measures Occurrence of spill of cyst contents, chemical peritonitis, postoperative complications, and hospital readmissions. Results One hundred forty-four female patients underwent cystectomy (38 laparotomy and 106 laparoscopy) resulting in benign ovarian dermoid histology. Their mean age was 12.4 ± 4.1 years (range, 1-21), mean cyst size was 9.2 ± 6.4 cm (range, 1-30 cm), no patients had elevated tumor markers, 42 (29.1%) presented with torsion, 73 (50.7%) had cyst fluid spill, and there were no cases of chemical peritonitis. Few significant differences were found between cases performed via laparoscopy and laparotomy and those with and without intraoperative cyst rupture resulting in spill of contents. Laparotomy cases were found to have larger mean cyst size (P Conclusion Laparoscopic cystectomy of ovarian dermoid cysts is associated with greater intraoperative cyst rupture. However, cyst rupture is rarely associated with complications, therefore minimally invasive surgical management of ovarian dermoid cysts is a reasonable surgical approach.
Implications of the 2013 ACC/AHA cholesterol guidelines on contemporary clinical practice for patients with atherosclerotic coronary and peripheral arterial disease.

Abstract Background Cholesterol management guidelines from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA-2013) recommend fixed statin dosing (dose depends on age ≤ or >75 years) compared to the earlier adult treatment panel III (ATPIII) guidelines which recommended specific low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) targets. Clinical implications of this recommendation are not known. Methods We retrospectively compared cholesterol levels and statin utilization across cohorts with coronary artery disease (CAD) (n = 9563), peripheral arterial disease (PAD) (n = 596) and CAD + PAD (n = 975) by applying both guidelines. The percentage of patients who achieved guideline-specific targets using 2013 ACC/AHA (use of moderate/high intensity statins) or ATPIII guidelines (LDL-C Results Using both guidelines, the PAD only group demonstrated lower utilization and lower statin doses than the CAD or CAD + PAD groups. When applying the ACC/AHA guidelines, more patients in the CAD only group (age ≤75 years) were considered at goal as compared to the ATPIII guidelines (92.2% vs. 75%), primarily driven by the group placed on moderate/high intensity statins but had an LDL-C level >100 mg/dl. Conclusions Application of the ACC/AHA guidelines results in a higher percentage of patients considered to be ‘at goal’ when compared to the ATP III guidelines without changes in clinical practice. This is due to patients ≤75 years old on adequate statin doses but still have LDL-C levels >100 mg/dl, thereby raising concerns that physicians may not pursue alternate LDL reduction strategies since they are now considered at goal despite LDL-C >100 mg/dl. Lipid management of PAD patients remains sub-optimal as compared to CAD and CAD + PAD.
Monovalent Cation Activation of the Radical SAM Enzyme Pyruvate Formate-Lyase Activating Enzyme

Pyruvate formate-lyase activating enzyme (PFL-AE) is a radical S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) enzyme that installs a catalytically essential glycyl radical on pyruvate formate-lyase. We show that PFL-AE binds a catalytically essential monovalent cation at its active site, yet another parallel with B12 enzymes, and we characterize this cation site by a combination of structural, biochemical, and spectroscopic approaches. Refinement of the PFL-AE crystal structure reveals Na+ as the most likely ion present in the solved structures, and pulsed electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) demonstrates that the same cation site is occupied by 23Na in the solution state of the as-isolated enzyme. A SAM carboxylate-oxygen is an M+ ligand, and EPR and circular dichroism spectroscopies reveal that both the site occupancy and the identity of the cation perturb the electronic properties of the SAM-chelated iron–sulfur cluster. ENDOR studies of the PFL-AE/[13C-methyl]-SAM complex show that the target sulfonium positionin...
Introduction: freaked and othered bodies in comics

ABSTRACTBuilding upon Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s (1996) freak genealogy, this introduction begins by identifying four socio-historical categories of Othering: super-natural (the freak, the monster, the mad); the outcast (the queer, the racial Other, the criminal); the medicalised Other (medicalised physical difference and disability, especially with regard to ‘curing’); and the post-human (including the cyborg). We then tie these categories of othering to issues of representation of freaked and Othered bodies in comics by offering a literature review that draws attention to some archetypes and stereotypes of Otherness in graphic narratives. We will note that despite the fascination with the body as a physical spectacle in comics, so far little scholarship explores thoroughly the representation of freaks, monsters, and mutants, or deformed, grotesque and Othered bodies. This special issue of Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, which this article introduces, aims to lay a foundation for the study of ‘fre...
Modeling the biogeochemical role of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria in phosphorus cycling in a managed eutrophic lake

Abstract Vertical distributions of total dissolved phosphorus (TDP), sulfide, chlorophyll, and primary production produced by photosynthetic sulfur bacteria (PSB) were studied in a small stratified, highly productive, and dimictic lake, Linsley Pond, CT, USA. The goal was to understand and model the role of PSB in a lake undergoing trophic transformation as a result of lake management involving reduced phosphorus loading. High levels of sulfide developed in the anoxic hypolimnion, though a decrease was observed compared to earlier years, possibly as a result of lake management under a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process. A deep chlorophyll maximum was observed, and absorption spectra confirmed that it was the result of photosynthetic sulfur bacteria. The summer chlorophyll maximum occurred at an interface marked by high amounts of sulfide and low, but adequate, levels of light. Primary production by PSB was found at a depth of 7 m in July 2008, and thereafter extended slowly to 9 m until late fall overturn. PSB only contributed a minor portion of total primary production in Linsley Pond that year, but a straightforward biogeochemical phosphorus model reveals that the existence of PSB serves as a significant biological barrier for phosphorus being transported back into the upper mixing zone. A large amount of TDP was trapped in the hypolimnion, and upward transport of TDP from the upper boundary of the hypolimnion to the mixing zone was about 30% of external phosphorus loading from the only tributary during the summer stratification period. By comparison, the amount of TDP assimilated by PSB and settling back to the hypolimnion was comparable to external phosphorus loading to the lake from its tributary. As lake management reduces external P loading and productivity, bottom sulfide is likely to decrease, suppressing PSB activity and having the undesired effect of allowing more TDP to be transported upward to the epilimnion as this biological barrier is suppressed.
Unsupervised Feature Learning From Time-Series Data Using Linear Models

In the Internet of Things (IoT), heterogenous sensors generate time-series data with different properties. The problem of unsupervised feature learning from a time-series dataset poses two challenges. First, it is known that centroids obtained by clustering time-series with high overlap do not reflect their patterns, i.e., subsequence time-series clustering is meaningless . In this paper, we show that principal component analysis, sparse coding, and non-negative matrix factorization are also meaningless for the same task, and that the systematic approach to learning meaningful features from time-series is by using the shift-invariant versions of these algorithms. Second, by comparing their shift-invariant versions on different kinds of time-series for reconstruction, prediction and classification, we show that no one algorithm is best suited for all time-series. This comparison leads to a method for automatically selecting the suitable feature learning algorithm for a given time-series dataset based on its structural properties. Generality of the method and significance of the structural properties are examined using statistical tests. The method can be implemented as a simple logic circuit, convenient for embedding in IoT hardware.
5.4 Atomic Force Microscopy and Fluorescence Microscopy of Lipid Bilayers

Abstract The focus of this chapter is the development of a general understanding of single and multiphase supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) and giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) by observation and simple quantification of images produced using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and fluorescence microscopy. This work has been extremely useful in understanding lipid phases, phase diagrams, mechanisms of phase emergence, and the characteristic morphologies observed when applying microscopy to SLBs and GUVs.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE OF MICROSOMAL ENZYMES IN THE FORMATION OF TOXIC METABOLITES

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the role of microsomal enzymes in the formation of toxic metabolites. Many of the pharmacological and toxicological actions of drugs in vivo may be caused in part by drug metabolites. The effects of the metabolites may either closely resemble or differ from those of the parent compound. Several drugs cause tissue necrosis through the formation of chemically reactive metabolites. The identification of toxic chemically reactive metabolites can be difficult for several reasons. Studies have shown that hamster liver microsomes convert N -hydroxyphenacetin but not acetaminophen to N -hydroxyacetaminophen even though more acetaminophen metabolite is covalently bound to microsomal proteins than is the metabolite of N -hydroxyphenacetin. A foreign compound may cause tissue damage in several tissues. It should not be assumed that the mechanisms of toxicity in the different tissues are identical. Studies of the covalent binding of the metabolites are useful even when the toxicity is not caused by the chemically reactive metabolite that combines with protein.
Evaluation of Regulations

How does one evaluate the “success” of a safety regulation? There would seem to be three criteria. The first is that the regulation tackles a genuine market failure. The second is that the written standards are set at appropriate levels to achieve the minimum acceptable benchmark level of safety. The term “minimum” is used here to recognize that in a vertically-differentiated marketplace, some firms will elect to supply a higher quality service to appeal to customers who have a high taste for safety. The regulations will need to be written to be consistent with the tastes of those customers who prefer a lower level of safety. The third criterion is that the monitoring and enforcement strategy achieves compliance at the minimum cost to the government and the firms that are regulated. A regulation will be a “failure” if there are deficiencies in any or all of these three criteria.
Halorhodopsin: A Prokaryotic Light-Driven Active Chloride Transport System

Because they inhabit hypersaline bodies of water, the extremely halophilic archae, such as Halobacterium halobium, have developed effective mechanisms to transport cations and anions across their cell membrane. Some of these, e.g., the electron transfer chain (Lanyi 1968; Cheah 1969, 1970; Hallberg Gradin and Colmsjo 1989), which couples proton extrusion to aerobic respiration, the sodium/proton antiporter (Lanyi and MacDonald 1976; Eisenbach et al. 1977; Lanyi and Silverman 1979; Konishi and Murakami 1988, 1990), and the proton-transport ATPase (Hochstein et al. 1987; Mukohata and Yoshida 1987b; Nanba and Mukohata 1987; Stan-Lotter and Hochstein 1989; Ihara and Mukohata 1991; Schobert 1991; Stan-Lotter et al. 1991) are similar to transport systems in less exotic forms of life. Others are unique to this group of organisms, however: they are the ion-motive bacterial rhodopsins (reviewed in Lanyi 1990; Mathies et al. 1991) which, together with the halobacterial sensory rhodopsins (reviewed in Spudich and Bogomolni 1988), resemble the visual pigments of higher organisms in what appears to be a striking example of convergent evolution.
OC-2-KB: integrating crowdsourcing into an obesity and cancer knowledge base curation system

There is strong scientific evidence linking obesity and overweight to the risk of various cancers and to cancer survivorship. Nevertheless, the existing online information about the relationship between obesity and cancer is poorly organized, not evidenced-based, of poor quality, and confusing to health information consumers. A formal knowledge representation such as a Semantic Web knowledge base (KB) can help better organize and deliver quality health information. We previously presented the OC-2-KB (Obesity and Cancer to Knowledge Base), a software pipeline that can automatically build an obesity and cancer KB from scientific literature. In this work, we investigated crowdsourcing strategies to increase the number of ground truth annotations and improve the quality of the KB. We developed a new release of the OC-2-KB system addressing key challenges in automatic KB construction. OC-2-KB automatically extracts semantic triples in the form of subject-predicate-object expressions from PubMed abstracts related to the obesity and cancer literature. The accuracy of the facts extracted from scientific literature heavily relies on both the quantity and quality of the available ground truth triples. Thus, we incorporated a crowdsourcing process to improve the quality of the KB. We conducted two rounds of crowdsourcing experiments using a new corpus with 82 obesity and cancer-related PubMed abstracts. We demonstrated that crowdsourcing is indeed a low-cost mechanism to collect labeled data from non-expert laypeople. Even though individual layperson might not offer reliable answers, the collective wisdom of the crowd is comparable to expert opinions. We also retrained the relation detection machine learning models in OC-2-KB using the crowd annotated data and evaluated the content of the curated KB with a set of competency questions. Our evaluation showed improved performance of the underlying relation detection model in comparison to the baseline OC-2-KB. We presented a new version of OC-2-KB, a system that automatically builds an evidence-based obesity and cancer KB from scientific literature. Our KB construction framework integrated automatic information extraction with crowdsourcing techniques to verify the extracted knowledge. Our ultimate goal is a paradigm shift in how the general public access, read, digest, and use online health information.
Community college engineering students' perceptions of classroom climate and fundamental engineering skills

The purpose of this study was to examine community college engineering students' perceptions of their classroom climate and how these perceptions are related to fundamental skills in engineering. The study was guided by the following research question: How are community college engineering students' perceptions of their fundamental engineering skills related to their perceptions of classroom climate? Data from a 2009 National Science Foundation sponsored project, Prototype to Production: Processes and Conditions for Preparing the Engineer of 2020 (P2P), which contains information from students in 15 pre-engineering community college programs, were examined. Measures of classroom climate and fundamental skills related to engineering were first established through an exploratory factor analysis. In order to explore differences in student perceptions by individual characteristics and by institution, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used. Results indicated that for community college engineering students, a warmer perception of classroom climate was associated with a higher perception of fundamental engineering skills. At community colleges, class sizes are generally smaller, especially compared to introductory courses at universities, and may provide a warmer climate for students considering beginning their engineering degrees. Given the diversity within community colleges, these institutions may provide an important pathway for underrepresented groups in engineering.
Tobacco smoke exposure is an independent predictor of vitamin D deficiency in US children.

Importance The role of tobacco-smoke exposure on serum vitamin D concentration in US pediatric population is not known. We hypothesized that tobacco smoke exposure would increase the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in US children. Methods Representative national data were accessed from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009–2010 databank on 2,263 subjects of ages 3 to 17 years. Subjects were categorized into two groups based on their age: children, if <10 years; and youth if 10 to 17 years. Descriptive and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the effect of serum cotinine-verified tobacco smoke exposure on vitamin D status after controlling for key sociodemographic confounders. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25(OH)D <20 ng/mL, insufficiency as 25(OH)D of 20–29.9 ng/mL, and sufficiency as 25(OH)D of ≥30 ng/mL. Tobacco smoke exposure status was defined by serum cotinine concentration as follows: unexposed and non-smoking (<0.05 ng/mL) and exposed (passive and active smokers combined) (≥0.05ng/mL). Specifically, passive and active smoking were defined as cotinine of 0.05–10 ng/mL, and ≥10ng/mL respectively. Results The prevalence of second-hand smoke exposure was 42.0% (95%CI, 36.7%-47.5%); while the prevalence of active smoking among teenagers was 9.0% (95%CI, 6.2%-12.5%). Vitamin D deficiency occurred at a frequency of 15.1% in children unexposed to tobacco smoke, 20.9% in children exposed to passive tobacco smoke, and 18.0% among actively smoking youth (p<0.001). Tobacco smoke exposure independently predicted vitamin D deficiency after controlling for age, sex, race, BMI, maternal education, and family socio-economic status (OR:1.50; 95%CI, 1.14–1.85, p = 0.002). Conclusions This analysis of a nationwide database reports that tobacco smoke exposure is an independent predictor of vitamin D deficiency in US children.
Local field potentials in dorsal anterior cingulate sulcus reflect rewards but not travel time costs during foraging.

To maximise long-term reward rates, foragers deciding when to leave a patch must compute a decision variable that reflects both the immediately available reward and the time costs associated with t...
Extent of Resection for High- and Low-Grade Gliomas

Abstract Glioma surgery aims to maximize tumor resection while minimizing the risk of functional decline. The natural history of gliomas is progressive growth with malignant transformation and recurrence; therefore, the role of surgical resection in the natural history of gliomas has been extensively studied in the last three decades although there is still a need for randomized and prospective trials. In this chapter, we present the available data for extent of resection (EOR) for both high-grade glioma (HGG) and low-grade glioma (LGG). The current mainstay for treatment of HGGs is maximal resection followed by radiation therapy with concurrent or adjuvant chemotherapy. There is clear evidence that maximal EOR helps improve both survival rates and clinical factors such as seizure control, steroid burden, and quality of life, although careful balance between EOR and new postoperative deficits is essential. EOR in LGGs is still a very controversial topic since LGGs have been traditionally considered indolent and slow growing tumors. However, the analyses of molecular markers and the malignant transformation of LGGs are gaining importance. Some studies confirm that those LGGs managed with biopsy or subtotal resection and conservative management have a higher risk of malignant transformation compared with those treated with more extensive tumor removal. As we collect long-term survival data and analyze the impact of resection over decades, the evidence points toward an important benefit in maximal resection for LGGs. Finally, studies on EOR are biased by the patient selection criteria, the quantitative methods used to calculate the amount of resection, and the lack of a truly homogeneous patient treatment. Fortunately, technology and clinical knowledge are constantly evolving to improve both the safety of increased EOR and the opportunities to obtain higher quality data available to our patients and the neurosurgical community.
Shaping Girls: Analyzing Animated Female Body Shapes:

The debate over whether television and film affect girls’ body image has been contentious. Researchers argue that film and television negatively affect, only partially affect, or do not affect girl...
The Stolen Voice Illusion

Visual cues facilitate speech perception during face-to-face communication, particularly in noisy environments. These visual-driven enhancements arise from both automatic lip-reading behaviors and ...
The Global Battle Over Copyright Reform: Developing the Rule of Law in the Chinese Business Context

Nations and businesses around the globe have been battling over copyright protection laws, with industrialized nations pressuring developing nations to adopt “Western-style” copyright regimes. China is at the cutting edge of these debates. In 2012 and 2013, China released transformative new proposals to reform its copyright laws. This Article — believed to be the first scholarly comparative analysis of China’s reforms — critiques China’s new proposals. More broadly, this Article examines China’s copyright reforms as a study of the issues involved in developing the rule of law in emerging economies. This Article argues that Western governments and businesses have been misguided in pressuring China to adopt Western-style copyright laws. Instead, this Article argues that for China to create a more effective system of copyright protections, China should adopt a more rules-based approach similar to the copyright regimes of Japan and Taiwan. Drawing on comparative law theory and an analysis of rules-based versus standards-based approaches to legal development and copyright law, this Article discusses how China could effectively reform its copyright system and enhance public awareness of copyright norms and their functions. To support this argument, this Article conducts a comparative analysis of copyright regimes in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. In doing so, this Article seeks to demonstrate that Western approaches to copyright protection are not one-size-fits-all solutions, but rather that reformers drawing upon legal transplants must take into account the particular cultural and societal milieus within which copyright rules are implemented.
Tricyclic antidepressant overdose

Overdose of a tricyclic antidepressant is a serious and all-too-frequent occurrence. The diagnosis must be considered in known or suspected overdoses, and signs such as a dry axilla, tachycardia, and wide QRS must be specifically sought. Management depends upon support of vital functions and a thorough understanding of the pharmacology of the drug. Emptying the gastrointestinal tract with ipecac or lavage and hastening elimination with activated charcoal and a cathartic are extremely important measures. Cardiac arrhythmias generally respond to sodium bicarbonate, and seizures respond to intravenous diazepam. Neither physostigmine nor dialysis are considered to be treatments of choice. As in other overdoses, counseling to prevent ingestions is more than worth "a pound of the cure."
Paraganglioma of the recurrent laryngeal nerve

Paragangliomas of the head and neck are rare, and most frequently benign, slow growing, and nonsecretory. The most frequent locations these tumors arise in the head and neck include the carotid body, jugular bulb, vagus nerve, tympanic branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve, and sympathetic chain. Here we present, to our knowledge, the second reported case of paraganglioma of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. This case is unique given the patient presentation due to ipsilateral vocal fold paralysis, which has not previously been reported, lack of previous surgery, and demonstration of loss of succinate dehydrogenase iron-sulfur subunit B expression. Laryngoscope, 2019.
Does Benefit Corporation Status Matter to Investors? An Exploratory Study of Investor Perceptions and Decisions:

We investigate whether the disclosure of a firm’s decision to organize as a benefit corporation (BC) rather than a traditional C corporation (CC) influences investors. We survey 136 investors and 5...
Effect of carvedilol on atrial excitation-contraction coupling, Ca 2+ release, and arrhythmogenicity.

Carvedilol is an FDA-approved β-blocker commonly used for treatment of high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and cardiac tachyarrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation. We investigated at the cellular level the mechanisms through which carvedilol interferes with sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release during excitation-contraction coupling (ECC) in single rabbit atrial myocytes. Carvedilol caused concentration-dependent (1-10 µM) failure of SR Ca2+ release. Failure of ECC and Ca2+ release was the result of dose-dependent inhibition of voltage-gated Na+ (INa) and L-type Ca2+ (ICa) currents that are responsible for the rapid depolarization phase of the cardiac action potential (AP) and the initiation of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release from the SR, respectively. Carvedilol (1 µM) led to AP duration shortening, AP failures, and peak INa inhibition by ~80%, whereas ICa was not markedly affected. Carvedilol (10 µM) blocked INa almost completely and reduced ICa by ~40%. No effect on Ca2+-transient amplitude, ICa, and INa was observed in control experiments with the β-blocker metoprolol, suggesting that the carvedilol effect on ECC is unlikely the result of its β-blocking property. The effects of carvedilol (1 µM) on subcellular SR Ca2+ release was spatially inhomogeneous, where a selective inhibition of peripheral subsarcolemmal Ca2+ release from the junctional SR accounted for the cell-averaged reduction in Ca2+-transient amplitude. Furthermore, carvedilol significantly reduced the probability of spontaneous arrhythmogenic Ca2+ waves without changes of SR Ca2+ load. The data suggest a profound antiarrhythmic action of carvedilol in atrial myocytes resulting from an inhibitory effect on the SR Ca2+ release channel.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Here we show that the clinically widely used β-blocker carvedilol has profound effects on Ca2+ signaling and ion currents, but also antiarrhythmic effects in adult atrial myocytes. Carvedilol inhibits sodium and calcium currents and leads to failure of ECC but also prevents spontaneous Ca2+ release from cellular sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ stores in form of arrhythmogenic Ca2+ waves. The antiarrhythmic effect occurs by carvedilol acting directly on the SR ryanodine receptor Ca2+ release channel.
Deciding for Others: Compelling Medical Treatment Against Parental Wishes in Diseases with Prognostic Uncertainty

Background: Urea cycle disorders are a group of metabolic diseases that can result in hyperammonemia, requiring lifelong close medical monitoring, medication, strict dietary management, and consideration of a liver transplant. Some are very rare, with only 10 cases reported in the country. Newborn screening for these disorders aims to identify and treat early, as severe forms have high morbidity and mortality. …
On Building an Automatic Identification of Country-Specific Feature Requests in Mobile App Reviews: Possibilities and Challenges

Mobile app stores are available in over 150 countries, allowing users from all over the world to leave public reviews of downloaded apps. Previous studies have shown that such reviews can serve as sources of requirements and suggested that users from different countries have different needs and expectations regarding the same app. However, the tremendous quantity of reviews from multiple countries, as well as several other factors, complicates identifying country-specific app feature requests. In this work, we present a simple approach to address this through NLP-based analysis and discuss some of the challenges involved in using the NLP-based analysis for this task.
IRS Spectra of Solar-Type Stars: A Search for Asteroid Belt Analogs

We report the results of a spectroscopic search for debris disks surrounding 41 nearby solar-type stars, including eight planet-bearing stars, using the Infrared Spectrometer (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. With the accurate relative photometry of the IRS between 7 and 34 μm we are able to look for excesses as small as ~2% of photospheric levels, with particular sensitivity to weak spectral features. For stars with no excess, the 3 σ upper limit in a band at 30-34 μm corresponds to ~75 times the brightness of our zodiacal dust cloud. Comparable limits at 8.5-13 μm correspond to ~1400 times the brightness of our zodiacal dust cloud. These limits correspond to material located within the <1 to ~5 AU region that, in our solar system, originates predominantly from debris associated with the asteroid belt. We find excess emission longward of ~25 μm from five stars, of which four also show excess emission at 70 μm. This emitting dust must be located in a region starting around 5-10 AU. One star has 70 μm emission but no IRS excess. In this case, the emitting region must begin outside 10 AU; this star has a known radial velocity planet. Only two stars of the five show emission shortward of 25 μm, where spectral features reveal the presence of a population of small, hot dust grains emitting in the 7-20 μm band. One of these stars, HD 72905, is quite young (300 Myr), while the other, HD 69830, is older than 2 Gyr. The data presented here strengthen the results of previous studies to show that excesses at 25 μm and shorter are rare: only 1 out of 40 stars older than 1 Gyr or ~2.5% shows an excess. Asteroid belts 10-30 times more massive than our own appear are rare among mature, solar-type stars.
Understanding the Role of Online Media Platforms in Airport Capital Projects and Community Outreach

Community outreach and engagement efforts are critical to an airport’s role as an ever-evolving transportation infrastructure and regional economic driver. As online social media platforms continue...
Spatio-temporal variations in the physiological profiles of streambed bacterial communities: implication of wastewater treatment plant effluents

The effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represent a complex mixture of nutrients and toxic substances, thus, the potential exists for the effluents to significantly impact the biochemical characteristics and bacterial communities of the receiving water. We examined spatial and seasonal patterns, and the impact of effluents on microbial biomass, bacterial community structure, and metabolic diversity on a fourth-order stream. We took triplicate sediment samples at five different locations along a 5000 m transect over three sampling periods. We quantified bacterial community structure as community-level physiological profiles and microbial biomass with phospholipid phosphate analysis. Our findings highlight the worrisome impacts of effluents on microbial biomass and bacterial metabolic diversity on the receiving water. Microbial biomass was significantly higher at the WWTP outfall compared to upstream and downstream sites and correlated positively with sediment physicochemical parameters. Furthermore, our data revealed significant spatial differences in bacterial community structure in the context of WWTP impact. High nutrient availability (lower carbon/nitrogen ratios) at the outfall increased site-specific bacterial metabolic diversity in winter but decreased the same in fall. Seasonal changes in the sedimentary microbial biomass and bacterial carbon substrate utilization were evident regardless of the spatial variations or impacts of the wastewater effluents. Communities in fall showed more versatile substrate utilization patterns than the winter communities. These results suggest that WWTP effluents significantly increased microbial biomass and highlight its mixed effects on bacterial community structure and metabolic diversity. Also, our data underscore a close association between sedimentary physicochemical parameters and the associated microbial functional activities.
Translanguaging for biliteracy: Book reading practices in a Chinese bilingual family

This is a qualitative case study that explores conversational interactions during book-reading practices in a Mandarin-speaking Chinese American family between the mother and her two young children...
Return-to-Play Considerations Following a COVID-19 Infection in Elite Athletes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a unique challenge for sports medicine staffs as they are attempting to safely transition elite athletes into sport participation after a COVID-19 infection. Athletes must isolate for a period of time after testing positive for COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the virus within a community. After an isolation period, a battery of cardiac tests must be given to assess whether or not an athlete is ready to begin a reconditioning protocol. A return-to-play plan should be established to safely re-integrate high-level athletes into strength and conditioning, sport-specific drill work, and contact drill work. Elite athletes should also be gradually eased back into full training loads in order to avoid increases in orthopedic injuries after a prolonged absence from training.