cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sketch Worksheets: A Sketch-based Educational Software System

Intelligent tutoring systems and learning environments can provide important benefits for education, but few have been developed for heavily spatial domains. One bottleneck has been the lack of rich models of visual and conceptual processing in sketch understanding, so that what students draw can be interpreted in a human-like way. This paper describes Sketch Worksheets, a form of sketch-based educational software that mimics aspects of pencil and paper worksheets commonly found in classrooms, but provides on-the-spot feedback and support for richer off-line assessments. The basic architecture of sketch worksheets is described, including an authoring environment that allows non-developers to create them and a coach that uses analogy to compare student and instructor sketches as a means to provide feedback. A pilot experiment where sketch worksheets were used successfully in a college geoscience class in Fall 2009 is summarized to show the potential of the idea.
Vertex algebras associated to the affine Lie algebras of abelian polynomial current algebras

We construct a family of vertex algebras associated to the affine Lie algebra of polynomial current algebras of finite-dimensional abelian Lie algebras, along with their modules and logarithmic modules. These vertex algebras and their (logarithmic) modules are strongly ℕ-graded and quasi-conformal. We then show that matrix elements of products and iterates of logarithmic intertwining operators among these logarithmic modules satisfy certain systems of differential equations. Using these systems of differential equations, we verify the convergence and extension property needed in the logarithmic tensor category theory developed by Huang, Lepowsky and Zhang.
The WH2 Domain and Actin Nucleation: Necessary but Insufficient

Two types of sequences, proline-rich domains (PRDs) and the WASP-homology 2 (WH2) domain, are found in most actin filament nucleation and elongation factors discovered thus far. PRDs serve as a platform for protein-protein interactions, often mediating the binding of profilin-actin. The WH2 domain is an abundant actin monomer-binding motif comprising ∼17 amino acids. It frequently occurs in tandem repeats, and functions in nucleation by recruiting actin subunits to form the polymerization nucleus. It is found in Spire, Cordon Bleu (Cobl), Leiomodin (Lmod), Arp2/3 complex activators (WASP, WHAMM, WAVE, etc.), the bacterial nucleators VopL/VopF and Sca2, and some formins. Yet, it is argued here that the WH2 domain plays only an auxiliary role in nucleation, always synergizing with other domains or proteins for this activity.
Evidence-Based Review of Physiologic Effects of Kangaroo Care

A comprehensive review of the evidence documenting preterm infant physiologic responses to Kangaroo Care (KC - intermittent skin-to-skin contact) and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC - 24/7 skin-to-skin contact) has been conducted. Kangaroo Care's effects on preterm infant heart rate, bradycardia, respiratory rate, apnea, oxygen saturation, cerebral oxygenation, supplemental oxygen needs, oxygen consumption, desaturation episodes, temperature, rewarming, blood glucose, serum bilirubin, cholecystokinin, gastrin, somatostatin, weight gain or change, sleep and crying, brain maturation and complexity, infection, stress, and pain are reviewed, as are KC's effects with congenital heart defect infants. Documented effects of KC on prevention and amelioration of maternal depression, swifter delivery of the placenta and involution, and decreased likelihood of postpartal anemia are presented. Guidelines based on dosage (duration and frequency) of KC are provided, as is a summary of actual and potential benefits of KC, including use at end-of-life. Kangaroo Care's role in moving to the new paradigms of non-separation of the infant and mother during hospitalization and parents as primary providers of neonatal care concludes the manuscript.
A biomarker‐responsive T2ex MRI contrast agent

Purpose This study investigated a fundamentally new type of responsive MRI contrast agent for molecular imaging that alters T2 exchange (T2ex ) properties after interacting with a molecular biomarker. Methods The contrast agent Tm-DO3A-oAA was treated with nitric oxide (NO) and O2 . The R1 and R2 relaxation rates of the reactant and product were measured with respect to concentration, temperature, and pH. Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) spectra of the reactant and product were acquired using a 7 Tesla (T) MRI scanner and analyzed to estimate the chemical exchange rates and r2ex relaxivities. Results The reaction of Tm-DO3A-oAA with NO and O2 caused a 6.4-fold increase in the r2 relaxivity of the agent, whereas r1 relaxivity remained unchanged, which demonstrated that Tm-DO3A-oAA is a responsive T2ex agent. The effects of pH and temperature on the r2 relaxivities of the reactant and product supported the conclusion that the product's benzimidazole ligand caused the agent to have a fast chemical exchange rate relative to the slow exchange rate of the reactant's ortho-aminoanilide ligand. Conclusions T2ex MRI contrast agents are a new type of responsive agent that have good detection sensitivity and specificity for detecting a biomarker, which can serve as a new tool for molecular imaging. Magn Reson Med 77:1665-1670, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Authors' Characteristics of Articles Published in Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine,2010-2013

[Objective] To analyze the characteristics of authors of articles published in the Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine(JEOM) during 2010-2013, in order to provide proper editorial plans for JEOM. [Methods] The basic information, authors, and author affiliations of all articles published in the selected four years, as well as ratio of funded papers to the total, were quantitatively analyzed.[Results] 1) Totally 902 articles were published in the JEOM during 2010-2013, and the average delay in publication were 8-9 months. 2) The average number of authors was 4.40-5.01 per article with a co-authorship rate of 96.01%. The largest proportions of first authors were female(51.85%-60.00%), born in 1970s' and 1980s'(34.16%-40.44%, 25.33%-45.27%), with a master's degree(53.22%), and from centers for disease control and prevention or institutes of health inspection(47.48%). 3) As for the distribution of provinces where the author affiliations located, Shanghai ranked first with 400(44.35%) articles. Zhejiang and Jiangsu followed behind with 90(9.98%) and 70(7.76%) articles, respectively. 4) Ratios of funded papers were 49.78%-56.42%. [Conclusion] The JEOM is one of the most important information resources for public health research. The authors of articles published in the JEOM are widely distributed with a high co-authorship rate. More contributions are from Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, which in turn have more influence on the Yangtz River Delta areas, but the distribution is not balanced.
The use of 19F NMR in the study of protein alkylation by fluorinated reactive intermediates.

Cysteine S-conjugates are formed as a result of enzymatic conjugation of xenobiotics with the tripeptide glutathione and subsequent peptidase cleavage. Enzymatic N-acetylation of cysteine S-conjugates yields the corresponding mercapturic acids, which are excreted in the urine. Thus glutathione and cysteine S-conjugate formation are associated with detoxication and excretion of xenobiotics. However, cysteine S-conjugate β-lyase, which is identical to glutamine transaminase K, catalyzes β-elimination reactions of cysteine S-conjugates, yielding a thiolate, pyruvate, and ammonia.
Fatty-acid profiles of juvenile lake trout reflect experimental diets consisting of natural prey

Summary It is relatively well-known that fatty-acid profiles of consumers reflect their diets. However, with fish, controlled studies that trace fatty-acid profiles of natural prey into consumers are lacking. We asked whether lake trout (Salmonidae: Salvelinus namaycush) fatty-acid profiles reflect diets at 4, 8 or 14 weeks after feeding began. We also evaluated if calibration coefficients were similar for each diet, a key assumption of quantitative fatty-acid signature analysis (QFASA). In this study, juvenile lake trout were fed commercially available frozen diets of chironomids (Chironomidae: Chironomus spp.), copepods (Cyclopoida spp.), or Mysis (Mysidae: Mysis relicta) over a 14-week period. Accurate classification of lake trout into a priori diet groups was attained after 8 weeks of feeding. Calibration coefficients were significantly different among diet groups, especially for lake trout that were fed chironomids, suggesting that diet-specific modifications to fatty acids occurred. Chironomid-fed lake trout grew significantly larger than others despite consuming prey that lacked long-chain essential fatty acids. Furthermore, chironomid-fed lake trout provide evidence for the conversion of 18:3n-3 into longer chain n-3 fatty acids. Our results call for additional studies to better understand how fatty acids reflect dietary origins prior to employing QFASA on wild freshwater fishes. QFASA could provide accurate diet estimates for freshwater fishes with low-diversity diet compositions, if calibration coefficients for each predator–prey relationship are incorporated.
Sex differences in the association between stressor-evoked interleukin-6 reactivity and C-reactive protein

Individuals differ consistently in the magnitude of their inflammatory responses to acute stressors, with females often showing larger responses than males. While the clinical significance of these individual differences remains unclear, it may be that greater inflammatory responses relate to increased systemic inflammation and thereby risk for chronic inflammatory disease. Here, we examined whether acute stressor-evoked interleukin (IL)-6 responses associate with resting levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, and whether this association differs by sex. Subjects were 57 healthy midlife adults (30-51years; 33% female; 68% white). Blood was drawn before and 30-min after two mental stress tasks: a multisource interference task and a Stroop color word task. Hierarchical regressions controlling for age, sex, race, and BMI tested whether stressor-evoked IL-6 responses were associated with resting CRP and whether this association differed by sex. Results indicated that sex and stressor-evoked IL-6 responses interacted to predict CRP (ΔR2=0.08, B=-1.33, β=-0.39, p=0.02). In males, larger stressor-evoked IL-6 responses associated with higher CRP, whereas in females, stressor-evoked IL-6 responses showed a non-significant negative association with CRP. These findings indicate that inflammatory responses to acute stressors associate with resting levels of CRP; however, this association differs by sex. Previous literature suggests that there are sex differences in stressor-evoked IL-6 responses, but this is the first study to show sex differences in the relationship between acute inflammatory responses and systemic inflammation. The contribution of these sex differences to inflammatory disease risk warrants further investigation.
Anesthesia and neurologic outcome of endovascular therapy in acute ischemic stroke: MR (not so) CLEAN.

Recent trials have confirmed the effectiveness of endovascular mechanical thrombectomy for selected acute ischemic stroke patients with large artery occlusion, whose outcomes remained poor despite optimal medical management. Among many challenges for thrombectomy implementation is determining whether general anesthesia (GA) reduces the benefits of thrombectomy, as several recent studies suggest.1,2 Berkhemer et al.3 approach this question with a post hoc analysis of Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands (MR CLEAN), the first prospective, randomized study to compare endovascular treatment (predominantly mechanical thrombectomy using stent retrievers) with best medical care (including IV thrombolysis) to medical care alone for CT angiography–proven large artery stroke.4 The analysis reveals a 51% decrease in the primary treatment effect—outcome on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at 90 days—in those treated under GA, and negative effects on secondary outcomes, including recanalization rate, infarct volume, and stroke progression.3 In fact, endovascular therapy was only beneficial when GA was not used. These results agree with several prior studies1,2 and, if correct, carry implications for clinical care.
Nicotinic receptor subtypes differentially modulate glutamate release in the dorsal medial striatum

The dorsal medial striatum is a crucial part of the neural network that subserves dynamic, goal-directed behaviors. Functional output of this nucleus is shaped, in part, by the influence of glutamatergic inputs. Striatal cholinergic systems have the capacity to modulate these excitatory inputs through presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs); however, the individual contribution of the two major nicotinic receptor subtypes, α4β2 and α7, to such modulation is not well characterized. In the present experiments, glutamate biosensors were used to monitor nAChR-dependent glutamate release with high temporal precision in the dorsal medial striatum of rats. Both α4β2 and α7 nAChRs were found to potently modulate glutamate release; however the two receptor subtypes do so in strikingly different ways. α7 nAChRs appear to enhance release from glutamatergic terminals. In contrast, α4β2 nAChRs act as a brake on glutamate release via an interaction with local dopaminergic inputs and D2 receptors. Combined, the present data reveal the capacity of local striatal cholinergic signaling to dynamically modulate excitatory inputs through nAChRs.
Parallelized Iterative Closest Point for Autonomous Aerial Refueling

The Iterative Closest Point algorithm is a widely used approach to aligning the geometry between two 3 dimensional objects. The capability of aligning two geometries in real time on low-cost hardware will enable the creation of new applications in Computer Vision and Graphics. The execution time of many modern approaches are dominated by either the k nearest neighbor search (kNN) or the point alignment phase. This work presents an accelerated alignment variant which utilizes parallelization on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) of multiple kNN approaches augmented with a novel Delaunay Traversal to achieve real time estimates.
The Microbiome and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease with detrimental sequela. In many patients, PSC progresses to end-stage liver disease and hepatobiliary cancer. There is no medical therapy that is proven to halt or reverse the progression of PSC. Approximately 70 to 80% of PSC patients have inflammatory bowel disease, usually ulcerative colitis. The etiology of PSC is poorly understood. Several lines of evidence suggest that the intestinal microbiota plays an important role in the etiopathogenesis of PSC. Stemming from this theory, several antibiotics have been tried in PSC, some of which had shown promising results. Fecal microbiota transplantation is a novel therapy, and is currently being investigated as a potential therapeutic strategy in PSC along with probiotics. In this article, the authors discuss the current knowledge of the intestinal microbiota in PSC.
Subacute Combined Degeneration Provoked by Nitrous Oxide Anethesia Patients with Cobalamin Deficiency

Vitamin B12 deficiency leads to neuropathological changes in humans, principally subacute combined degeneration (SCD) of the spinal cord and polyneuropathy. Less commonly it causes encephalopathy leading to degeneration and optic neuropathy. Myelopathy may develop after nitrous oxide anesthesia in asymptomatic patients or those with borderline vitamin B12 deficiency or overlooked cases. It can result from chronic recreational use of N2O or industrial exposure. This presentation will focus on myelopathy and SCD.
Racial Disparities in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma: A VA Population Study.

Background: Racial disparities in diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (DLBCL) are not well studied. Racial differences in outcome are not well recognized given majority of patients with DLBCL are white. The VA health care system offers a platform to study those racial differences given similar other variables and socioeconomic status among those patients. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis. The VA Central Cancer Registry (VACCR) database was used to identify patients with DLBCL diagnosed between 1995 and 2005. There are approximately 120 VA medical centers diagnosing and/or treating patients with cancer. The VACCR aggregates the data collected by the medical centers’ cancer registries. Data were extrapolated and analyzed using bio-statistical software SPSS. Variables included age, sex, stage of disease, histology subtype, date of diagnosis, date of last contact, date of relapse, vital status, family history of cancer, tobacco history, alcohol history, Agent orange exposure and whether patients received chemotherapy and or radiation. Independent t test was used for comparing continuous variables and chi square test for categorical variables. Wilcoxon test was used to compare survival among the two groups. Results: There were 2792 patients with DLBCL at the VA system, 2402 white and 323 black patients. Sixty-seven patients from other racial groups were excluded from this analysis. The mean age of presentation among blacks was 57.8 years compared to 65.7 years among whites (P-value Conclusions: DLBCL is less common among blacks. Blacks diagnosed with DLBCL are more likely to present at younger age. The treatment and outcome of DLBCL among blacks are not different from whites within the VA system.
Bile Acid Recognition by Mouse Ileal Bile Acid Binding Protein

Ileal bile acid binding protein (I-BABP, gene name FABP6) is a component of the bile acid recycling system, expressed in the ileal enterocyte. The physiological role of I-BABP has been hypothesized to be either an intracellular buffering agent to protect against excess intracellular bile acids or separately as a modulator of bile acid controlled transcription. We investigated mouse I-BABP (mI-BABP) to understand the function of this protein family. Here, we studied energetics and site selectivity of binding with physiological bile acids using a combination of isothermal calorimetric analysis and NMR spectroscopy. We found that the most abundant bile acid in the mouse (β-muricholic acid) binds with weak affinity individually and in combination with other bile acids. Further analysis showed that mI-BABP like human I-BABP (hI-BABP) specifically recognizes the conjugated form of cholic acid:chenodeoxycholic acid (CA:CDCA) in a site-selective manner, displaying the highest affinity of any bile acid combination tested. These results indicate that I-BABP specifically recognizes the ligand combination of CDCA and CA, even in a species such as the mouse where CDCA only represents a trace component of the physiological pool. Specific and conserved recognition of the CDCA and CA ligand combination suggests that I-BABP may play a critical role in the regulation of bile acid signaling in addition to its proposed role as a buffering agent.
Simple actions activate semantic associations

It is well known that words can prime the identification of related pictures. But how are these connections between words and their visual representations prioritized? Here we show that action modulates word–picture priming. Participants in three experiments either did nothing or made a simple, arbitrary action (a keypress) while reading a word. Next, they searched for a target that was superimposed on one of several images. In some trials, the target was on an image that represented the previously seen word; in other trials, that image contained a distractor. The word primed the picture during visual search, such that targets on that (task-irrelevant) image were found more quickly. Importantly, the magnitude of this word–picture priming was greater if participants had made an action while reading the word. These results are the first to implicate action as a factor that can modulate word–picture associations, and they show that the effects of action on perception are more profound than has previously been believed: Elements that share only semantic (but not sensory) overlap with acted-on objects receive attentional priority.
Integrated Equilibrium Flow Models for Transportation Planning

The conventional transport model (recursive in character) is a combination of three submodels, trip generation, trip distribution and assignment. As a rule, these stages are treated separately as if the travel choices involved in each one were made independently of the other. A careful examination of this procedure, however, reveals some significant weaknesses. Although quite sophisticated models based on behavioral assumptions have been developed for the assignment stage, the models available for the distribution and generation stages are less refined. As a result, serious internal inconsistencies arise. For example, the travel costs that are used as inputs for the distribution and generation stage are not the same as those which are outputs from the assignment stage. As a partial remedy, practitioners have devised in recent years an iterative scheme, in which the above model is imbedded, in the hope that the interrelationship between demand, supply and cost will be taken into account. Unfortunately, the above scheme does not produce in general equilibrium flows (see e.g. [6]). For these reasons we strongly believe that the substitution of the “first generation” recursive transport model by a “second generation” integrated transport model based on behavioral assumptions and the equilibrium concept will be an important step towards better planning of transportation systems.
Troubled waters: Risk perception and the case of oyster restoration in the closed waters of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary

Abstract Pathways to recognizing shared interests in addressing environmental problems are sometimes blocked by a lack of understanding or even misperceptions among stakeholder groups, which can impede productive communication. Drawing on a currently evolving case study, this study examines the perceptions of stakeholders involved with oyster restoration in waters of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary considered unsuitable for commercial harvesting (i.e., closed waters) in New York and New Jersey. Survey research conducted with commercial shellfish farmers and oyster restoration volunteers shows that support for oyster restoration is less related to stakeholder group identification and more to the perceived risks to public health and the economy, and the perceived ecological benefits. The conclusions suggest how these results might be used to demonstrate where agreement exists among stakeholder groups, which could improve discussion about oyster restoration and advance shared interests.
Respect for Structure

Imagine the following. There is a planet out there in the universe that, you know with absolute certainty, no humans or other intelligent forms of life will ever come into any significant contact with. By that, I mean at least that no such forms of life will ever land on the planet, use any of it, or even know enough about it to be able to appreciate its existence or qualities aesthetically. Besides, the planet contains no life of its own: no animals, no bacteria, no plants. It does, on the other hand, have a perfectly definite (inanimate) structure: there are mountains and rivers there, oceans and lakes and deserts. And there is a button on your desk here, and if you press that button the planet will instantaneously disintegrate.
The Fallacy of Unfinished Business

It is a truism that the wise person is not necessarily known by the answers he gives, but by the way he formulates the questions. Perhaps this is because even the best of us often cannot resolve a problem when it has been formulated in terms of the wrong questions.
End-stage heart failure with multiple intracardiac thrombi: a rescue strategy.

The use of ventricular assist devices as a bridge to transplantation has become a widely used option for patients with end-stage heart failure. In contrast to total artificial hearts, ventricular assist devices support the failing heart by bypassing one or both ventricles. In certain cases (myocardial tumors, graft failure, transplant rejection, endocarditis, intracardiac thrombus formation), however, it may be advantageous to excise the heart and replace it with an artificial device. Total artificial hearts are intracorporeal devices designed for this purpose. Unfortunately, some patients are too small or are, for other reasons, ineligible for a total artificial heart. We describe the case of a 55-year-old woman who had ischemic cardiomyopathy and thrombus formation in all 4 cardiac chambers. To reduce the risk of thromboembolic events, we elected to replace her heart completely with 2 extracorporeal ventricular assist devices. The heart was excised via a median sternotomy approach, and the outflow cannulae (from device to patient) were connected to both atrial remnants. The 2 inflow cannulae (from patient to device) were anastomosed end-to-end to the aorta and the pulmonary artery, respectively. After attaining a flow of more than 5 L, the 2 extracorporeal assist devices effectively and efficiently performed the work of the native heart. Thus re-established, organ perfusion was improved by this mechanically driven circulation, as signified by an initial decrease in creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels. The patient, however, did not recover from postoperative neurological dysfunction and died of respiratory insufficiency and multiple-organ failure on the 26th postoperative day.
Inhibition of the Na+/Ca2+ antiport of heart mitochondria by diethylpyrocarbonate.

Diethylpyrocarbonate inhibits Na+/Ca2+ antiport activity in isolated heart mitochondria. The inhibition is time-dependent with maximum activity developed after 5 min at 25°C. The reaction of diethylpyrocarbonate with the mitochondrial membrane is biphasic with 25–30 nmol mg−1 reacting rapidly and an additional 30 nmol mg−1 taken up slowly over a 30-min incubation. Inhibition of mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ antiport by diethylpyrocarbonate decreases theVmax of the reaction, and the inhibition cannot be reversed by washing the mitochondria or addition of excess histidine. The inhibition occurs at levels of inhibitor that have little or no effect on Ca2+ uptake, Na+/H+ antiport, or succinate respiration. A portion of the Na+-dependent efflux of Ca2+ is insensitive to diethylpyrocarbonate and this component is abolished by diltiazem. The mechanism by which diethylpyrocarbonate inactivates Na+/Ca2+ antiport is still uncertain, but may involve the modification of an unprotonated histidine residue in the transporter.
Computational investigations of the coupling between transient flame dynamics and thermo-acoustic instability in a self-excited resonance combustor

Combustion instability due to thermo-acoustic interactions is a critical combustion problem that requires a thorough understanding because of its adverse impact on stable and reliable operation of ...
Characterization of Stem Cells Using Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Publisher Summary Rapid, sensitive, and quantitative methods for the detection of developmental stages of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are essential to any laboratory working with these cells. Current methods include monitoring of morphological changes by phase contrast microscopy, examination of molecular markers by immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and determination of physiological events. RT-PCR is commonly used because it is a relative simple, sensitive, and rapid assay. RT-PCR is a quick and dependable technique for monitoring the gene expression profile of stem cells. It is often used in conjunction with immunocytochemistry (tissue distribution) and/or immunoblot analysis (specific molecular size), which complement the results of RT-PCR. A common practice is to use RT-PCR as a screening assay to determine whether to check the protein expression by immunocytochemistry or immunoblot analysis.
Shifting from Conflict Resolution to Conflict Management

Scholars have started to pay attention to the idea of conflict management in the search for a negotiating solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and this interest has evolved with the emergence of a trend calling for the replacement of the conflict resolution methodology with the conflict management methodology to deal with the conflict. Therefore, calling for a substitution requires highlighting the form of the relationship between them. This chapter explores the reasonableness of the claim to replace the methodologies in light of the idea of a fixed chronological order between them, and then to know whether this replacement is warranted and or whether the substitution serves both parties to the conflict or only one of them. The chapter then seeks to find a link between the methodology of conflict management and the Israeli negotiating behavior and to explore whether the Israeli negotiating methodology is trying to reach a real solution to the conflict or has been inspired by the idea of conflict management since the start of the negotiating process. In conclusion, the chapter provides an assessment of the conflict management methodology and its implications for the parties to the conflict and the development of the conflict and the opportunities for its resolution through an analysis of the core function of the methodology.
The Development and Validation of a Teacher Preparation Program Follow-Up Survey

Students in my applied advanced statistics course for educational administration doctoral students developed a follow-up survey for teacher preparation programs, using the following scale development processes: adopting a framework; developing items; providing evidence of content validity; conducting a pilot test; and analyzing data. The students developed the survey items by using the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) principles as the framework to operationally define the knowledge and skills that highly qualified teachers should possess. The students analyzed the data from the pilot study for their final exam in the course. The follow-up survey currently is being used by our university for program evaluation, improvement, and accreditation.
Evaluation of semi-empirical soot models for nonpremixed flames with increased stoichiometric mixture fraction and strain

Abstract Due to the size and complexity of industrial-scale systems and computing limitations, semi-empirical soot models are often employed in CFD simulations rather than computationally-expensive detailed models. Many of these models were developed for specific applications with unique characteristic timescales and/or validated only under fuel-air combustion conditions. Hence, their use in different contexts, such as oxy-combustion, could lead to inaccurate predictions. In this study, twelve semi-empirical models (1-step or 2-step) are evaluated on their ability to respond to changes in stoichiometric mixture fraction (Zst) and strain in a series of ethylene counterflow flames which span the experimental sooting-to-non-sooting (yellow to blue) transition. A unique approach of plotting soot formation rate in normalized, local equivalence ratio space is introduced to aid in the analysis. Results show that no existing model is able to predict a blue flame when Zst is increased beyond the experimentally-measured sooting limit. Many models give the counter-intuitive result of increasing peak and/or integrated soot volume fraction (svf) as Zst increased, contrary to experimental observations. Two models are able to successfully predict a blue flame upon increase of strain to the sooting limit value. For two-step models, the strong dependence of growth rate on surface area results in high sensitivity of svf to changing flame boundary conditions, but with mixed accuracy. There remains a significant need for a robust semi-empirical model which can accurately predict soot fraction in systems with oxygen-enrichment or variable strain.
Prevalence of Hallux Rigidus in Patients With End-Stage Ankle Arthritis.

Abstract Arthritis of the foot is a significant cause of pain and disability. The prevalence of foot arthritis in adults aged ≥50 has been reported to be 17%. Of those, 25% are estimated to be radiographic arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint. The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the prevalence of radiographic hallux rigidus (HR) in a population of patients with end-stage ankle arthritis relative to that reported in the general population and (2) identify associations between the presence of HR and demographic and clinical factors. A total of 870 feet in 809 subjects with end-stage ankle arthritis who underwent primary total ankle arthroplasty between November 2006 and November 2017 were included. Feet were stratified by patient age:
Optical Spectroscopy of the Surface Population of the rho Ophiuchi Molecular Cloud: The First Wave of Star Formation

We present the results of optical spectroscopy of 139 stars obtained with the Hydra multi-object spectrograph. The objects extend over a 1.3 square degree area surrounding the main cloud of the rho Oph complex. The objects were selected from narrowband images to have H alpha in emission. Using the presence of strong H alpha emission, lithium absorption, location in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, or previously reported x-ray emission, we were able to identify 88 objects as young stars associated with the cloud. Strong H alpha emission was confirmed in 39 objects with line widths consistent with their origin in magnetospheric accretion columns. Two of the strongest emission-line objects are young, x-ray emitting brown dwarf candidates with M8 spectral types. Comparisons of the bolometric luminosities and effective temperatures with theoretical models suggest a medianage for this population of 2.1 Myr which is signifcantly older than the ages derived for objects in the cloud core. It appears that these stars formed contemporaneously with low mass stars in the Upper Scorpius subgroup, likely triggered by massive stars in the Upper-Centaurus subgroup.
Accelerate Non-unit Stride Convolutions with Winograd Algorithms

While computer vision tasks target increasingly challenging scenarios, the need for real-time processing of images rises as well, requiring more efficient methods to accelerate convolutional neural networks. For unit stride convolutions, we use FFT-based methods and Winograd algorithms to compute matrix convolutions, which effectively lower the computing complexity by reducing the number of multiplications. For non-unit stride convolutions, we usually cannot directly apply those algorithms to accelerate the computations. In this work, we propose a novel universal approach to construct the non-unit stride convolution algorithms for any given stride and filter sizes from Winograd algorithms. Specifically, we first demonstrate the steps to decompose an arbitrary convolutional kernel and apply the Winograd algorithms separately to compute non-unit stride convolutions. We then present the derivation of this method and proof by construction to confirm the validity of this approach. Finally, we discuss the minimum number of multiplications and additions necessary for the non-unit stride convolutions and evaluate the performance of the decomposed Winograd algorithms. From our analysis of the computational complexity, the new approach can benefit from 1.5x to 3x fewer multiplications. In our experiments in real DNN layers, we have acquired around 1.3x speedup (T old / T new ) of the Winograd algorithms against the conventional convolution algorithm in various experiment settings.
Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inhibitors through a combination of high-throughput screening and FlipGFP-based reporter assay

The papain-like protease (PL pro ) of SARS-CoV-2 is a validated antiviral drug target. PL pro is involved in the cleavage of viral polyproteins and antagonizing host innate immune response through its deubiquitinating and deISG15ylating activities, rendering it a high profile antiviral drug target. Through a FRET-based high-throughput screening, several hits were identified as PL pro inhibitors with IC 50 values at the single-digit micromolar range. Subsequent lead optimization led to potent inhibitors with IC 50 values ranging from 0.56 to 0.90 µM. To help prioritize lead compounds for the cellular antiviral assay against SARS-CoV-2, we developed the cell-based FlipGFP assay that is suitable for quantifying the intracellular enzymatic inhibition potency of PL pro inhibitors in the BSL-2 setting. Two compounds selected from the FlipGFP-PL pro assay, Jun9-53-2 and Jun9-72-2, inhibited SARS-CoV-2 replication in Caco-2 hACE2 cells with EC 50 values of 8.89 and 8.32 µM, respectively, which were 3-fold more potent than GRL0617 (EC 50 = 25.1 µM). The X-ray crystal structures of PL pro in complex with GRL0617 showed that binding of GRL0617 to SARS-CoV-2 induced a conformational change in the BL2 loop to the more closed conformation. Overall, the PL pro inhibitors identified in this study represent promising starting points for further development as SARS-CoV-2 antivirals, and FlipGFP-PL pro assay might be a suitable surrogate for screening PL pro inhibitors in the BSL-2 setting.
Management of A Contained Ruptured Infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Pseudoaneurysm Caused by Inferior Vena Cava Struts Injury: A CASE Report and Literature Review

Aortic pseudoaneurysms are rare entities caused by infection, trauma, atherosclerotic plaque rupture, or aortic instrumentation. Their natural course remains unknown; however, repair is invariably recommended. We present a case of a 71-year-old man with a history of recurrent deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms who underwent an inferior vena cava filter placement 8 years prior and was found to have a 3.6-cm contained ruptured infrarenal aortic pseudoaneurysm on imaging performed for abdominal pain. His pseudoaneurysm was excluded using a Gore Excluder Endoprosthesis. We further reviewed literature on the subject to highlight the various surgical approaches to this lethal condition.
Pulmonary dose tolerance in hemithorax radiotherapy for Ewing sarcoma of the chest wall: Are we overestimating the risk of radiation pneumonitis?

BACKGROUND Children with chest wall Ewing sarcoma with malignant pulmonary effusion or pleural stranding require hemithorax radiation, often with plans that exceed lung constraints. We investigated disease control and pneumonitis in children requiring hemithorax radiation. PROCEDURE Eleven children (median age 13 years) received hemithorax radiotherapy. Symptomatic radiation pneumonitis was considered National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) grade 1+ with respiratory symptoms. Mean lung dose (MLD), volume of lung exposed to a dose ≥5 Gy (V5), ≥20 Gy (V20), and ≥35 Gy (V35) were recorded. Adult and pediatric lung constraints were obtained from Quantitative Analysis of Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic (QUANTEC) guidelines and Children's Oncology Group (COG) protocols, respectively. RESULTS Median hemithorax dose was 15 Gy (1.5 Gy/fraction). Median total dose was 51 Gy (1.8 Gy/fraction). Most plans delivered both protons and photons. The ipsilateral MLD, V5, and V20 were 27.2 Gy, 100%, and 48.3%; the bilateral MLD, V20, and V35 were 14.1 Gy, 22.8%, and 14.3%, respectively. One hundred percent, 36%, and 91% of treatments exceeded recommended adult ipsilateral lung constraints of V5 <65%, V20 <52%, and MLD of 22 Gy; 64%, 45%, and 82% exceeded COG bilateral lung constraints of V20 <20%, MLD <15 Gy, and MLD <12 Gy, respectively; 82% of treatments exceeded the COG ipsilateral lung constraint of V20 <30%. At a median 36 months (range 12-129), the symptomatic radiation pneumonitis incidence was 0%. Two patients progressed with nonpulmonary metastatic disease and died at a median 12 months following radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Existing guidelines may overestimate pneumonitis risk, even among young children receiving multiagent chemotherapy. For children with chest wall Ewing sarcoma and other thoracic malignancies, more data are needed to refine pediatric dose-effect models for pulmonary toxicity.
Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies and Our Futures

What does culturally sustaining pedagogy mean in the context of a global pandemic, uprisings for racial and decolonial justice, and an ongoing climate crisis? In this essay, I build from decades of...
Kant on Practical Life: From Duty to History

Introduction 1. Freedom of the self as such: the good will, duty, and moral feeling 2. Freedom of the self over time: virtue 3. Freedom of the self and the moral world: the highest good 4. Enacting the moral world: founding and promoting a civil condition 5. Enacting the moral world: joining the ethical community 6. Human finitude undone: culture and history Conclusion: practical reason's 'peculiar fate'.
Toward a Comparative Psychology of Mind

Publisher Summary In humans, self-recognition of own reflection is commonplace but not universal. The capacity to recognize self in a mirror appears to be subject to maturational and experiential constraints. In the first place, the ability to correctly interpret mirrored information about the self presupposes prior experience with mirrors. For instance, people born with congenital visual defects who undergo operations in later life—which provide for normal sight—respond just like nonhumans and initially react to themselves in mirrors as though they were seeing other people. Social behavior in response to mirrors begins at about six months of age, but the average child does not start to show reliable signs of self-recognition until 18 to 24 months. A prevailing view of self-concept formation in humans is that the sense of self emerges out of a social milieu. Self-awareness according to this view is a by-product of social interaction with others. For instance, according to G.H. Mead, in order for the self to emerge as an object of conscious inspection, it requires the opportunity to see yourself as you are seen by others.
Group Selection in the Evolution of Religion: Genetic Evolution or Cultural Evolution?

In the scientific literature on religious evolution, two competing theories appeal to group selection to explain the relationship between religious belief and altruism, or costly, prosocial behavior. Both theories agree that group selection plays an important role in cultural evolution, affecting psychological traits that individuals acquire through social learning. They disagree, however, about whether group selection has also played a role in genetic evolution, affecting traits that are inherited genetically. Recently, Jonathan Haidt has defended the most fully developed account based on genetic group selection, and I argue here that problems with this account reveal good reasons to doubt that genetic group selection has played any important role in human evolution at all. Thus, considering the role of group selection in religious evolution is important not just because of what it reveals about religious psychology and religious evolution, but also because of what it reveals about the role of group selection in human evolution more generally.
Considerations on Man versus Machines for Space Probing

Publisher Summary This chapter, in a full symbiosis of man and instruments, raises the question whether to place man on board or on the ground with communication links providing remote eyes and hands as required in each case and with what types of instruments. Besides the question of human eyes versus instruments, the most important question concerns the definition of the communication problems and, in particular, the evaluation of the delays encountered in each system. The chapter discusses the argument in its philosophical nature first and recommendations based on possible engineering compromises as required in certain space missions are offered later. It appears highly recommendable to expand laboratory simulation work in which most of the environmental conditions expected in the course of a space mission could be duplicated and controlled.
A Semantic Navigation Tool for the UMLS

Background. The Knowledge Source Server (KSS) allows users to browse virtually every bit of information in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). In KSS, the presentation of contextual information from the Metathesaurus tends to reflect the organization of terms in the source vocabularies. For example, hierarchically related concepts are presented as lists of indented terms, one list for each vocabulary using this term. Instead of multiple trees, the semantic structure of the UMLS can be visualized as a graph in which concepts are the nodes and inter-concept relationships are the links between nodes. The graph structure offers a unified view of the context (Figure 1).
REO: a generic RAID engine and optimizer

Present day applications that require reliable data storage use one of five commonly available RAID levels to protect against data loss due to media or disk failures. With a marked rise in the quantity of stored data and no commensurate improvement in disk reliability, a greater variety is becoming necessary to contain costs. Adding new RAID codes to an implementation becomes cost prohibitive since they require significant development, testing and tuning efforts. We suggest a novel solution to this problem: a generic RAID Engine and Optimizer (REO). It is generic in that it works for any XOR-based erasure (RAID) code and under any combination of sector or disk failures. REO can systematically deduce a least cost reconstruction strategy for a read to lost pages or for an update strategy for a flush of dirty pages. Using trace driven simulations we show that REO can automatically tune I/O performance to be competitive with existing RAID implementations.
Whole recombinant yeast vaccine activates dendritic cells and elicits protective cell-mediated immunity.

There is currently a need for vaccines that stimulate cell-mediated immunity—particularly that mediated by CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs)—against viral and tumor antigens. The optimal induction of cell-mediated immunity requires the presentation of antigens by specialized cells of the immune system called dendritic cells1 (DCs). DCs are unique in their ability to process exogenous antigens via the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I pathway2 as well as in their ability to activate naive, antigen-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells1,3. Vaccine strategies that target or activate DCs in order to elicit potent CTL-mediated immunity are the subject of intense research. We report here that whole recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast expressing tumor or HIV-1 antigens potently induced antigen-specific, CTL responses, including those mediating tumor protection, in vaccinated animals. Interactions between yeast and DCs led to DC maturation, IL-12 production and the efficient priming of MHC class I- and class II-restricted, antigen-specific T-cell responses. Yeast exerted a strong adjuvant effect, augmenting DC presentation of exogenous whole-protein antigen to MHC class I- and class II-restricted T cells. Recombinant yeast represent a novel vaccine strategy for the induction of broad-based cellular immune responses.
Fowl Cholera Immunization in Turkeys II. Use of Experimental Epornitic Method to Study Vaccine Efficacy in Flocks of Turkeys

Groups of turkeys were challenged with Pasteurella multocida (P-1059) by the contact method. In this method, turkeys are artificially infected by the intramuscular injection of P. multocida organisms and are then introduced into the test group. The death patterns resulting from this contact method of challenge are either normally distributed or skewed to the right.