cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vaccination: A Public Health Intervention that Changed History & is Changing with History

ABSTRACT One of the most successful prophylactic interventions in the history of public health, vaccination helped control some of the deadliest and most debilitating infectious diseases. As a result of vaccination programs, smallpox was eradicated worldwide, poliomyelitis was nearly eradicated and emerges as the next eradication target, and national programs helped reduce the incidence of tuberculosis in many countries. Other, more recent vaccines have already achieved a visible impact, as revealed by the ability of the hepatitis B vaccine to decrease the number of new hepatitis infections and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma. While vaccination, like any other medical intervention, may have adverse effects, significant controversies gravitated, in recent years, around its supposed link to autism. One of the articles that provided substantial support for this link was recently retracted amid evidence of ample scientific and ethical misconduct. As studies from several countries found that the inci...
Multiscale wear of plasma-sprayed carbon-nanotube-reinforced aluminum oxide nanocomposite coating

A multiple length scale wear study of plasma-sprayed Al2O3–carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite coating is described. CNT content and dispersion have been shown to enhance the macro-wear resistance (pin-on-disk) by more than 49 times, and nano-wear (scratch) resistance up to 18 times. CNTs have been shown to reduce the wear of Al2O3 matrix by (i) increasing densification, (ii) CNT bridging and (iii) CNT lubrication. A strong dependence of wear volume loss on the microstructural features is described at different length scales, and the disparity of material loss observed in the macro- and nano-wear tests is explained. A wear model has been established to numerically quantify wear loss dependence in terms of bulk material properties and correlating these with wear parameters from nano-scratch testing.
A project-oriented power electronics laboratory

This paper presents a power electronics educational laboratory suitable for undergraduate and graduate students. The pedagogical approach taken is one where the students revisit previously studied material placed in a practical context. This approach supports the prerequisite lecture material and allows study of some practical issues which are best handled in a laboratory setting. The course format makes the students gradually more responsible for the design of control circuitry which permits nominal operation of generic power converters. The laboratory experience culminates in a project where the student analyzes, designs, simulates and demonstrates a power electronics related topic. >
Smooth Muscle Stiffness Sensitivity is Driven by Soluble and Insoluble ECM Chemistry

Smooth muscle cell (SMC) invasion into plaques and subsequent proliferation is a major factor in the progression of atherosclerosis. During disease progression, SMCs experience major changes in their microenvironment, such as what integrin-binding sites are exposed, the portfolio of soluble factors available, and the elasticity and modulus of the surrounding vessel wall. We have developed a hydrogel biomaterial platform to examine the combined effect of these changes on SMC phenotype. We were particularly interested in how the chemical microenvironment affected the ability of SMCs to sense and respond to modulus. To our surprise, we observed that integrin binding and soluble factors are major drivers of several critical SMC behaviors, such as motility, proliferation, invasion, and differentiation marker expression, and these factors modulated the effect of stiffness on proliferation and migration. Overall, modulus only modestly affected behaviors other than proliferation, relative to integrin binding and soluble factors. Surprisingly, pathological behaviors (proliferation, motility) are not inversely related to SMC marker expression, in direct conflict with previous studies on substrates coupled with single extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. A high-throughput bead-based ELISA approach and inhibitor studies revealed that differentiation marker expression is mediated chiefly via focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signaling, and we propose that integrin binding and FAK drive the transition from a migratory to a proliferative phenotype. We emphasize the importance of increasing the complexity of in vitro testing platforms to capture these subtleties in cell phenotypes and signaling, in order to better recapitulate important features of in vivo disease and elucidate potential context-dependent therapeutic targets.
Ignoring perfect knowledge in-the-world for imperfect knowledge in-the-head: Implications of rational analysis for interface design

Memory can be internal or external – knowledge in-theworld or knowledge in-the-head. Making needed information available in an interface may seem the perfect alternative to relying on imperfect memory. However, the rational analysis framework (Anderson, 1990) suggests that least-effort tradeoffs may lead to imperfect performance even when perfect knowledge in-the-world is readily available. The implications of rational analysis for interactive behavior are investigated in two experiments. In experiment 1 we varied the perceptual-motor effort of accessing knowledge in-the-world as well as the cognitive effort of retrieving items from memory. In experiment 2 we replicated one of the experiment 1 conditions to collect eye movement data. The results suggest that milliseconds matter. Least-effort tradeoffs are adopted even when the absolute difference in effort between a perceptual-motor versus a memory strategy is small, and even when adopting a memory strategy results in a higher error rate and lower performance.
Synaptic targeting by Aβ oligomers (ADDLS) as a basis for memory loss in early Alzheimer's disease

Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) ultimately will require identification of its pathogenic mechanism. Such a mechanism must explain the hallmark of early AD--a profound inability to form new memories. For many years, the most promising hypothesis maintained that memory failure derived from neuron death induced by insoluble deposits of amyloid fibrils. Newer findings, however, suggest that memory loss, especially in early AD, may be a failure in synaptic plasticity caused by small soluble A beta oligomers ("ADDLs"). ADDLs are neurologically potent toxins that rapidly inhibit long-term potentiation and reversal of long-term depression, classic paradigms for learning and memory. In human samples, ADDLs show striking increases in AD brain and CSF. The ADDL hypothesis is considerably reinforced by nerve cell biology studies showing that ADDLs specifically attack synapses, essentially acting as gain-of-function pathogenic ligands. Selective damage by ADDLs to memory-linked synaptic mechanisms provides an appealing explanation for early AD memory loss and suggests that ADDLs provide a valid target for therapeutics and diagnostics.
Islamic Law and Society Post-9/11

▪ Abstract After the events of September 11, 2001, scholars rushed to contribute to the growing public debate about religion and political violence, including to counter stereotypic depictions of Islamic law and to raise questions about its role in the social and political life of Muslim and non-Muslim nations. The same period also witnessed the publication of much scholarship on Muslim personal or family law. This review focuses on these works and highlights their sophisticated theoretical treatments of social theory in critical areas, such as the interaction of normative orders, constructions and intersections of identity, human agency in the legal process, law reform and social movements, state uses of law, and the challenges facing globalizing societies. These theories provide grounding for scholars, activists, and policymakers in addressing the pressing issues emerging after 9/11.
University-Based Community College Leadership Programs: Where Future Community College Leaders Are Prepared.

This chapter describes major factors influencing the shape, content, and direction of the new EdD programs and discusses some unique challenges in establishing a separate cohort program in community college leadership. These insights may be useful as individuals examine graduate programs in leadership development, and as community college search committees seek to hire new leaders.
The Wisdom of Hindsight

This essay is a highly personalized account of some of the important conceptual contributions to immunology. I have asked myself, "What were the ideas that caught my attention and how and by whom were they presented?" I have learned that most of what immunologists have called concepts deal with too small a slice of the subject. They are essentially inductive extrapolations from one experiment to a possible next step. Historically, these extrapolations extended over too narrow a chasm to account for the information available at the time. The result was that an extrapolation from one misleading observation could dominate and distort, for a significant time, the course of the field. It is also why there has been an inverse relationship between the clarity of a theory and its ease of acceptance by immunologists. Looking to the past, I have used two areas to illustrate the role of conceptualization: the self-nonself discrimination and the origin of the humoral repertoire. To illustrate all of this I have chosen as a cast of characters the founding fathers of immunology as we know it today. I hope that by taking this look into the rear view mirror our efforts will be guided in more productive ways. The take-home lesson is that we need to widen our horizon constantly to make more general concepts that then render the manipulation of the immune system more useful.
Threshold changes in rat brain docosahexaenoic acid incorporation and concentration following graded reductions in dietary alpha-linolenic acid.

Abstract Background This study tested the dietary level of alpha-linolenic acid (α-LNA, 18:3n-3) required to maintain brain 14 C-Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) metabolism and concentration following graded α-LNA reduction. Methods Fischer-344 (CDF) male rat pups (18–21 days old) were randomized to the AIN-93G diet containing as a % of total fatty acids, 4.6% ("n-3 adequate"), 3.6%, 2.7%, 0.9% or 0.2% ("n-3 deficient") α-LNA for 15 weeks. Rats were intravenously infused with 14 C-DHA to steady state for 5min, serial blood samples collected to obtain plasma, and brains excised following microwave fixation. Labeled and unlabeled DHA concentrations were measured in plasma and brain to calculate the incorporation coefficient, k* , and incorporation rate, J in . Results Compared to 4.6% α-LNA controls, k * was significantly increased in ethanolamine glycerophospholipids in the 0.2% α-LNA group. Circulating unesterified DHA and brain incorporation rates ( J in ) were significantly reduced at 0.2% α-LNA. Brain total lipid and phospholipid DHA concentrations were reduced at or below 0.9% α-LNA. Conclusion Threshold changes for brain DHA metabolism and concentration were maintained at or below 0.9% dietary α-LNA, suggesting the presence of homeostatic mechanisms to maintain brain DHA metabolism when dietary α-LNA intake is low.
A position embedded in identity: subalternity in neoliberal globalization

ABSTRACTGayatri Spivak asserts that subalternity is a position without identity and has no examples. This paper demonstrates that identities – imposed and subscribed to, contingent yet naturalized – have to be taken into account, particularly when we consider that such identities are inscribed into a war of positions. It argues that the notion of ‘subaltern’ in Gramsci, followed through in the idea of ‘subjugated knowledges’ in Foucault, read commonly as marginality, intervenes in established social relations to expose that Time is asynonymous with History. Subalternity, emblematized through positions, which are held by identities, plays a crucial role in negotiating that discontinuity between Time and History. The paper ‘relocates’ subalternity by redefining it as a process – in order to convey this, I use ‘subalternized’ instead of ‘subaltern’; identity, then, is also necessarily a process, captured temporarily in the course of political–cultural engagement. The essay reads the positions of racialized a...
Preparing university students to lead K-12 engineering outreach programmes: a design experiment

ABSTRACTThis paper describes an engineering outreach programme designed to increase the interest of under-represented youth in engineering and to disseminate pre-engineering design challenge materials to K-12 educators and volunteers. Given university students’ critical role as facilitators of the outreach programme, researchers conducted a two-year design experiment to examine the programme's effectiveness at preparing university students to lead pre-engineering activities. Pre- and post-surveys incorporated items from the Student Engagement sub-scale of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale. Surveys were analysed using paired-samples t-test. Interview and open-ended survey data were analysed using discourse analysis and the constant comparative method. As a result of participation in the programme, university students reported a gain in efficacy to lead pre-engineering activities. The paper discusses programme features that supported efficacy gains and concludes with a set of design principles for develop...
Markov Decision Models for Optimal Decision Making in Bottlenecks Identification and Mitigation

Existing methods for bottleneck detection can be categorized into two: methods based on stochastic analysis and methods based on data-driven analysis. The stochastic methods are accurate in estimating bottlenecks in long term, ignoring the current improvement opportunities, while the data-driven methods tend to do the opposite. In this paper, we develop an optimal policy to integrate the two methods based on Markov decision theory. The characterization of the optimal policy is provided. In addition, to implement the policy, the optimal frequency for carrying out bottleneck analysis is investigated. Numerical experiment is performed to validate the effectiveness of the optimal policy and compare it to the existing methods.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Effect of Parathyroid Hormone on the Isolated Papillary Muscle of the Rat Heart

It has been well accepted that the bone and the kidney are the principal organs of parathyroid hormone (PTH) action. Several lines of evidence obtained during the last decade suggest that PTH directly acts on organs other than the bone and kidney; these include the brain, liver and blood cells (1–5).
Thinking and Caring about Indigenous Peoples' Human Rights: Swedish Students Writing History beyond Scholarly Debate.

According to national and international guidelines, schools should promote historical thinking and foster moral values. Scholars have debated, but not analysed in depth in practice, whether history ...
Nanocrystalline Solutions as Precursors to The Spray Deposition of Cdte Thin Films

In this article we report the first nanoparticle-derived route to smooth, dense, phase-pure CdTe thin films. Capped CdTe nanoparticles were prepared by injection of a mixture of Cd(CH3)2n-C8H17)3 PTe and (n-C8H17)3P into (n-C8H17)3PO at elevated temperatures. The resultant nanoparticles 32-45 A in diameter were characterized by x-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. CdTe thin film deposition was accomplished by dissolving CdTe nanoparticles in butanol and then spraying the solution onto SnO2-coated glass substrates at variable susceptor temperatures. Smooth and dense CdTe thin films were obtained using growth temperatures approximately 200 °C less than conventional spray pyrolysis approaches. CdTe films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy. An increase in crystallinity and average grain size as determined by x-ray diffraction was noted as growth temperature was increased from 240 to 300 °C. This temperature dependence of film grain size was further confirmed by atomic force microscopy with no remnant nanocrystalline morphological features detected. UV-Vis characterization of the CdTe thin films revealed a gradual decrease of the band gap (i.e., elimination of nanocrystalline CdTe phase) as the growth temperature was increased with bulk CdTe optical properties observed for films grown at 300 °C.
Lessons from a service learning trip to Haiti.

On June 1, 2010, we embarked on a journey of service learning to Haiti, months after a tragic earthquake struck that country. The lessons we learned from this experience were innumerable and life-altering. Early in our professional education, we learned that providing pharmaceutical care starts
The Morphology and Nutrition of a New Species of Sirolpidium

Clam and oyster larvae grown at the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Laboratory at Milford, Conn. have suffered from time to time from outbreaks of a fungus parasite tentatively identified as a Sirolpidium (3). This fungus has now been isolated and grown in pure culture, thus obviating the difficulties, well described by Sparrow (9), of attempts to study marine phycomycetes in their natural hosts. Neither the morphology of this fungus in pure culture, nor its host range, permits assignment to any previously described species. It is therefore described as a new species. The species here erected is based primarily upon host range, since the distinguishing morphological features appear primarily in flourishing older cultures. This is the first marine phycomycete to be described in pure culture (though S. W. Watson x isolated Phraustochytrium proliferum in 1951). Studies of previously described species in pure cul? ture will undoubtedly extend our ideas of their capacity for development.
Polyreactive Antibodies: Function and Quantification

Polyreactive antibodies, a major component of the natural antibody repertoire, bind with low affinity to a variety of structurally unrelated antigens. Many of these antibodies are germline or near germline in sequence. Little is known, however, about the function of these antibodies. In the present mini-review we show: (1) that the broad antibacterial activity of the natural antibody repertoire is largely due to polyreactive antibodies, which in the presence of complement lyse bacteria and enhance phagocytosis; (2) that polyreactive antibodies bind to UV- or human immunodeficiency virus-induced apoptotic cells and with complement enhance the phagocytosis of these cells by macrophages; and (3) that dinitrophenol can be used as a surrogate for quantitating the level of polyreactive antibodies in serum. We conclude that polyreactive antibodies protect the host against both foreign invaders and its own damaged/apoptotic cells.
Study and Preparation of New Type and Long Life Hot Gas Desulfurizer

The recently research result of new type an long life hot gas desulfurizer is introduced that is one of the “Nine Five" Science and Technology Project-“Key Technology of IGCC - Hot Gas Desulfurizer Manufacture and Desulfurization Regeneration Process Research and Development" special subject. G-201 and G-202 desulfurizer are prepared from a large scheme design and tests. The 1500 hr real hat gas desulfurization long life examinatorial test of G-201 desulfurization had been completed at PDU. The efflorescence and sintering of desulfurizer had not been found through checking after examinatorial test. The physical strength is also to keep original. Sulfur capacity can also keep at 21% through real measurement.
Recent advances in immunosuppressive drugs

Immunosuppressive drugs take more and more importantrole in organ transplant ation.During recent years,the success ratio of organ transplant ation has been more improved by the using of powerful and lower toxicity immunosuppressive drugs.The mechanism,clinical uses and adverse reactions of immunosuppressive drugs which have been used or studied in clinic were reviewed,including mycophenolate mofetil,tacrolimus,sirolimus,mizoribine,humanized monoclonal antibody,FTY720 etc.
The effects of age and dietary restriction without nutritional supplementation on whole bone structural properties in C57BL/6J mice

While caloric restriction is a proven means to extend longevity, its effects on bone are not well understood. This study examined the effects of dietary restriction without vitamin or mineral supplementation on bone in female 60- and 120-day-old C57BL/6J mice. Baseline controls were sacrificed at 60 or 120 days, while diet-restricted animals ate approximately 72.9-78.6% of the ad libitum fed animals for thirty days. 60-day-old ad libitum animals experienced normal growth with average increases of 6.4% in bone length, 23.5% in bone mass, 9.4% in %mineralization, 36.4% in maximum strength, 59.2% in stiffness, 22.3% in cortical thickness, 12.9% in %cortical area, and 11.3% in microhardness. Growth in 120-day-old ad libitum animals followed a trend but with more modest increases. Diet-restricted mice matured very little from baseline levels in 60-day-old animals. There were no significant changes from baseline levels in the parameters indicated above, except for a 8.3% decrease in %cortical area attributable to increased resorption. 120-day-old diet-restricted animals also evidenced little deviation from baseline levels except for significant decreases in %mineralization (2.1%) and %cortical area (6.7%). The effects of diet restriction on bone properties decreased with age. Bone from 60-day-old diet-restricted mice showed diminished mechanical and compositional properties, resulting from little growth and excess resorption. Bone from 120-day-old diet-restricted mice showed little growth and some resorption. Increased resorption, localized on the endosteal surfaces, likely minimized the negative impact of structural degradation of the long bones. Resorption may have also provided minerals to compensate for nutritional deficiencies.
Price and Welfare Effects of Catastrophic Forest Damage from Southern Pine Beetle Epidemics

Southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis) epidemics are periodically responsible for catastrophic levels of mortality to southern yellow pine'forests. Traditional forest damage appraisal techniquesdeveloped for site specific economic analysis are theoretically weak since they do not consider aggregate impacts across ecosystems and related markets. Because the traditional model estimates losses onlyto producers with damaged forests, it provides misleading information from a distributional standpoint by ignoring impacts on producers with undamaged forests and timber consumers. An economic model of timber supply and demand is introduced and used to develop a new technique for estimating short-run market level impacts of catastrophic forest damages. The null hypothesis that catastrophic disruption of forest ecosystem production has no effect on timber markets is tested using intervention analysis and data on the recent Texas-Louisiana epidemic. Parameter estimates are used to compute short-run changes in economic welfare for producers on damaged forests, producers on undamaged forests, and timber consumers. Principal findings are: (1) changes in social welfare resulting from catastrophic damage to standing timber across forest ecosystems requires market-level analysis, and (2) the net change in economic welfare resulting from insect epidemics is unambiguously negative. HE SOUTHERN PINE BEETLE (hereafter SPB) is a major pest in southern forests. While the SPB is usually active somewhere in its range every T year, epidemics occasionally are responsible for catastrophic levels of timber mortality across broad regions of the South (Price and Doggett 1982). Damage appraisals are useful to forest managers and policymakers who require information on the benefits and costs of forest protection to develop and imple- ment efficient damage control programs. The traditional damage appraisal technique was developed to assist forest man- agers determine the optimal level of forest protection. The basic method esti- mates loss as the difference between the present value of the forest resource with and without damage (Davis 1954, Leuschner et al. 1978, Liebhold et al. 1986). The optimal level of control from a forest manager's point of view is found by minimizing the sum of control cost plus value loss (e.g., see Gorte and Gorte 1979, Herrick 1981). A fundamental theoretical weakness of the traditional damage appraisal model is that it doesn't consider the depressing effect salvaged timber may have on equilibrium market price and therefore it cannot provide an estimate of the change in economic welfare to producers holding undamaged forests and to timber con- sumers. From society's viewpoint, ignoring the impact of catastrophic forest
Non-metallic coating thickness prediction using artificial neural network and support vector machine with time resolved thermography

Abstract A method without requirements on knowledge about thermal properties of coatings or those of substrates will be interested in the industrial application. Supervised machine learning regressions may provide possible solution to the problem. This paper compares the performances of two regression models (artificial neural networks (ANN) and support vector machines for regression (SVM)) with respect to coating thickness estimations made based on surface temperature increments collected via time resolved thermography. We describe SVM roles in coating thickness prediction. Non-dimensional analyses are conducted to illustrate the effects of coating thicknesses and various factors on surface temperature increments. It’s theoretically possible to correlate coating thickness with surface increment. Based on the analyses, the laser power is selected in such a way: during the heating, the temperature increment is high enough to determine the coating thickness variance but low enough to avoid surface melting. Sixty-one pain-coated samples with coating thicknesses varying from 63.5 μm to 571 μm are used to train models. Hyper-parameters of the models are optimized by 10-folder cross validation. Another 28 sets of data are then collected to test the performance of the three methods. The study shows that SVM can provide reliable predictions of unknown data, due to its deterministic characteristics, and it works well when used for a small input data group. The SVM model generates more accurate coating thickness estimates than the ANN model.
Good outcomes with the intraventricular vancomycin therapy in a patient with ruptured brain abscesses

Brain abscesses are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. In particular, patients with intraventricular rupture of brain abscess (IVROBA) exhibit mortality rates up to 85%. Treatment options are lacking for IVROBA, once patients become refractory to intravenous antibiotics and surgical drainage. Limited data exist regarding the risks and benefits of intraventricular therapy in such a scenario. We report a patient with IVROBA, who deteriorated while on systemic antibiotics; once intraventricular vancomycin was employed, the patient demonstrated remarkable improvement without perceivable side effects. This case suggests that intraventricular vancomycin may be a safe, effective, and viable option for the treatment of IVROBA, especially for patients becoming refractory to systemic antibiotics.
Plant Community Dynamics 25 Years After Juniper Control

ABSTRACT The expansion of pinon-juniper woodlands over the past 100–150 yr in the western United States has resulted in large-scale efforts to kill trees and recover sagebrush steppe rangelands. Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis spp. occidentalisHook.) expansion in the northern Great Basin has reduced sagebrush-steppe productivity and habitat. Chainsaw cutting of western juniper woodlands is a commonly applied practice to kill trees and restore shrub-understory composition. Studies reporting vegetation response following juniper cutting have been limited to early successional stages. This study assessed successional dynamics spanning 25 yr following tree cutting on Steens Mountain, southeast Oregon. Herbaceous standing crop and yield and plant densities were compared between chainsaw cut (Cut) and uncut woodland (Control) treatments. Cut plots were treated in 1991. In the Cut, total standing crop and yield have remained fairly consistent since 1996 and on average were 8 times greater than the Contro...
Friction Stir Welding Process Development of AA7075 for Hot Stamping Applications

In order to compete with advanced high strength steels (AHSS) such as dual-phase (DP) or temperature induced plasticity (TRIP) in structural parts, some automotive manufacturers are looking to introduce high strength aluminum alloys that have high peak-aged mechanical properties like AA7075. Formability of these high strength aluminum alloys is possible through hot stamping. Hot stamping refers to simultaneously forming and quenching a blank that is initially at an elevated temperature. Material efficiency can be obtained by using tailor welded blank sections which could lead to weight reductions between 10 and 12%. Friction stir welding (FSW), as a solid-state welding process, has already been proven suitable without hot cracking issues when welding AA7075. However, abnormal grain growth (AGG) issues arise when post-weld operations at high temperature are required such as solution heat treatment or hot stamping operations. This paper details the development of FSW process parameters which will be adapted to hot stamping to effectively join tailor welded AA7075 blanks.
Constraints on Sustainable Growth in Agricultural Production: Into the 21st Century:

In this paper I summarize the conclusions from a series of three consultations that I have organized with leading agricultural, environmental and health scientists, with support from the Rockefelle...
Composite Agency: Semiotics of Modularity and Guiding Interactions.

Principles of constructivism are used here to explore how organisms develop tools, subagents, scaffolds, signs, and adaptations. Here I discuss reasons why organisms have composite nature and include diverse subagents that interact in partially cooperating and partially conflicting ways. Such modularity is necessary for efficient and robust functionality, including mutual construction and adaptability at various time scales. Subagents interact via material and semiotic relations, some of which force or prescribe actions of partners. Other interactions, which I call “guiding”, do not have immediate effects and do not disrupt the evolution and learning capacity of partner agents. However, they modify the extent of learning and evolutionary possibilities of partners via establishment of scaffolds and constraints. As a result, subagents construct reciprocal scaffolding for each other to rebalance their communal evolution and learning. As an example, I discuss guiding interactions between the body and mind of animals, where the pain system adjusts mind-based learning to the physical and physiological constraints of the body. Reciprocal effects of mind and behaviors on the development and evolution of the body includes the effects of Lamarck and Baldwin.
Ethnic Conflict Management in Eastern Europe: Structured, Focused Comparison and the Case for Multidimensional Prevention

While large statistical studies are able to identify the variables that are at play in the evaluation of the impact of third parties on conflict dynamics, they do less well in exploring how and explaining why they are influential. This chapter illustrates how “focused, structured comparison” can, through in-depth case studies, identify areas of current policy frameworks that require refinement and additional study. A comparison of conflict prevention efforts in Estonia, Ukraine and Moldova, three cases very similar in characteristics but very different in outcome, makes a persuasive case that existing frameworks are essentially one-dimensional and state-centric; they focus almost entirely on the intervening party and the target state. They do not adequately consider or account for the actions of sub-state actors such as minority groups, despite the fact that the minority is clearly a stakeholder. These findings allow for a re-conceptualization of conflict prevention policies and a shift toward a focus on what Kachuyevski terms multidimensional prevention.
Leveraging local data for reflective teaching in large classes

AbstractIn this paper, we discuss efforts to collect and analyse data at the local level to prompt reflective teaching in large foundational engineering courses. The work is in direct response to the growing demands and constraints of teaching in large classes that compromise the educational environment. We feel that motivated improvement-seeking institutions and academics must strive to innovate within the constraints. To do this, we argue that locally rooted data analytics offers unique opportunities to infuse data back into decision-making processes. As a demonstration of our claims, we discuss summaries of our team’s efforts within large foundational engineering mechanics courses at a public research institution in the United States. Specifically, we report on work to examine (1) Student Engagement and Performance (analysis of student surveys and course grades); (2) Performance Patterns Not Performance Points (analysis of course-level data); and (3) Understanding Courses in Context (analysis of existi...
Management of the Neck and Unknown Primary of the Head and Neck

IA: submental Bounded anteriorly by mandible, posteriorly by body of hyoid bone, superiorly by inferior edge of mandible, inferiorly by midhyoid bone, laterally by medial edge of anterior belly of digastric IB: submandibular Bounded anteriorly by mandible, posteriorly by posterior edge of the submandibular gland, superiorly by superior edge of submandibular gland, inferiorly by midhyoid bone, laterally by inner side of mandible, and medially by lateral edge of anterior belly of digastric muscle
First steps toward automated design of mechatronic systems using bond graphs and genetic programming

This paper suggests a method for automatically synthesizing designs for mechatronic systems. The domain of mechatronic systems includes mixtures of, for example, electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and thermal components, making it difficult to design a system to meet specified performance goals with a single design tool. Bond graphs are domain independent, allow free composition, and are efficient for classification and analysis of models, allowing rapid determination of various types of acceptability or feasibility of candidate designs (Karnopp et al). This can sharply reduce the time needed for analysis of designs that are infeasible or otherwise unattractive. Genetic programming is well recognized as a powerful tool for open-ended search (Koza et al). The combination of these two powerful methods is therefore an appropriate target for a better system for synthesis of complex multi-domain systems. The approach described here will evolve new designs (represented as bond graphs) with ever-improving performance, in an iterative loop of synthesis, analysis, and feedback to the synthesis process.
Could've Been a Contender: The Making and Breaking of "China" in the Ottoman Empire

Growing interest in global historical archaeology is often focused on commodities exchange, especially between “the west and the rest.” However, ceramics production and consumption in the Ottoman Empire during the fourteenth through twentieth centuries was not only between the Ottomans and the west, but also the Far East. Chinese porcelains served as inspiration for the production of many Ottoman ceramics, especially during the Empire's height in the sixteenth century. Although with less success, Ottoman ceramics “contended” for a place within local and global markets. This paper will examine the production and consumption of Ottoman ceramics as part of this empire's struggle to achieve and maintain power relationships globally, as well as within its own dominions.
Advances in pharmaceutical treatment options for narcolepsy

Introduction: Narcolepsy is a syndrome characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy, and other abnormal manifestations of rapid eye movement sleep phenomena. Since hypocretin defi...
Tests of trend between disease outcomes and ordinal covariates discretized from underlying continuous variables: simulation studies and applications to NHANES 2007–2008

Many epidemiological studies test trends when investigating the association between a risk factor and a disease outcome. Continuous exposures are commonly discretized when the outcome is nonlinearly related to exposure as well as to facilitate interpretation and reduce measurement error. Guidance is needed regarding statistically valid trend tests for epidemiological data of this nature. The association between a discretized variable and a disease is modeled through logistic regression or survival analysis. Linear regression is then conducted by regressing the odds ratio or relative risk on the midpoint of the exposure interval. The trend test is based on the slope of the regression line. In order to investigate the performance of this approach, we conducted simulation studies, considering ten different approaches for the linear regression based on the inclusion or exclusion of an intercept in the model and the form of the weights. The proposed methods are applied to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2008 for illustration. The simulation studies show that eight of these methods are valid, and the relative efficiency depends on the underlying relationship between the covariate and the outcome. The significance of the study is its potential to help practitioners select an appropriate method to test for trend in their future studies that utilize ordinal covariates.
Unveiling the pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanisms of nanostructured vanadium nitrides using in-situ analyses

Abstract The future of energy storage devices relies on energy storage systems with both high energy and power densities. Supercapacitors, a hybrid of capacitors and batteries, have the potential to deliver both high energy and power densities. Materials suitable for supercapacitors are those capable of storing charges via faradaic redox reactions or pseudocapacitive reactions in addition to electrostatic double-layer storage. High-surface-area early transition metal nitrides such as vanadium nitride (VN) have promising properties for use in energy storage devices, especially supercapacitors, due to their pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanisms. The nature of their pseudocapacitive function, however, remains poorly understood. Further development of these materials requires a detailed understanding of their pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanisms. This paper reports a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the pseudocapacitive charge-storage mechanisms of the VN material in aqueous alkaline electrolytes using in-situ small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and in-situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) combined with physical and electrochemical characterization techniques. Contrary to conventional wisdom that large pores are more accessible to electrolyte ions and thus store more charge, our results showed that pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanism for VN in aqueous alkaline media is induced by the insertion/extraction of anions (i.e. OH−, OD−) in and out of micropores. The anion insertion/extraction leads to the reduction/oxidation of the V metal, as the material was electrochemically charged and dis-charged within its operating potential window. These results suggest that high pseudocapacitances in excess of 1300 Fg-1 could be achieved by the VN material in 1.2 V aqueous alkaline electrolytes. This work undoubtedly provides a clear and generic conceptual and fundamental characterization approach for energy storage devices and related systems.
The 18th-century elocution movement and Facebook: reading emotion before and after the subject:

The rise of social media has recently inspired a renewed debate about the decentering of the subject. Some scholars have responded to Facebook’s seemingly intrusive influence over people’s emotions...
The Timeliness Initiative: Continuous Process Improvement for Prompt Initiation of Radiation Therapy Treatment.

Abstract Purpose The ambulatory patient experience is heavily influenced by wait times for provider care. Delayed patient visit start times may negatively affect overall satisfaction, and increased wait times affect the perception of the information, instructions, and treatment given by health care providers. Improving institutional practices overall requires the determination of the essential quality metrics that will make such an achievement possible. A protracted time leading up to the initiation of radiation therapy may promote poor satisfaction and perceived quality of care for both patients and referring providers alike, which may then create a barrier to patients being treated with radiation therapy. This institution piloted and sucessfully completed a study into improving the timeliness of initiation of patient radiation therapy for our patients. Methods and Materials This work sought to identify inefficiencies in radiation therapy treatment planning to shorten the time each patient waited for treatment. We examined the time between simulation to the start of the first fraction of treatment. This period includes simulation, contouring, treatment planning, and quality assurance of the plan. Results Before the study, the planning process would typically take 2 weeks. Target and organs-at-risk contouring were found to be the main inefficiency delaying treatment start dates. This delineating process includes drawing contours on radiologic images, typically computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. We focused on the time needed for the contouring process to be completed and took steps to increase efficiency. The length of time from simulation to contour approval was decreased by more than 60%, a reduction from an average of more than 4 days to less than 1.5 days. Overall planning time dropped from 2 weeks to less than 5 days. Conclusions Process improvements and implementation of task-specific tools improved the timeliness of patient treatments, reducing the overall planning time from simulation to treatments to less than 5 days. Continuous monitoring and modification of these processes revealed that the successes achieved toward better quality of care have been sustained.
How biased are halo properties in cosmological simulations

Cosmological N-body simulations have been a major tool of theorists for decades, yet many of the numerical issues that these simulations face are still unexplored. This paper measures numerical biases in these large, dark matter-only simulations that affect the properties of their dark matter haloes. We compare many simulation suites in order to provide several tools for simulators and analysts which help mitigate these biases. We summarise our comparisons with practical `convergence limits' that can be applied to a wide range of halo properties, including halo properties which are traditionally overlooked by the testing literature. We also find that the halo properties predicted by different simulations can diverge from one another at unexpectedly high resolutions. We demonstrate that many halo properties depend strongly on force softening scale and that this dependence leads to much of the measured divergence between simulations. We offer an empirical model to estimate the impact of such effects on the rotation curves of a halo population. This model can serve as a template for future empirical models of the biases in other halo properties.
Physician sentiment toward artificial intelligence (AI) in colonoscopic practice: a survey of US gastroenterologists.

Background and study aims Early studies have shown that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to augment the performance of gastroenterologists during endoscopy. Our aim was to determine how gastroenterologists view the potential role of AI in gastrointestinal endoscopy. Methods In this cross-sectional study, an online survey was sent to US gastroenterologists. The survey included questions about physician level of training, experience, and practice characteristics and physician perception of AI. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize sentiment about AI. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess whether background information about physicians correlated to their sentiment. Results Surveys were emailed to 330 gastroenterologists nationwide. Between December 2018 and January 2019, 124 physicians (38 %) completed the survey. Eighty-six percent of physicians reported interest in AI-assisted colonoscopy; 84.7 % agreed that computer-assisted polyp detection (CADe) would improve their endoscopic performance. Of the respondents, 57.2 % felt comfortable using computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) to support a “diagnose and leave” strategy for hyperplastic polyps. Multivariate analysis showed that post-fellowship experience of fewer than 15 years was the most important factor in determining whether physicians were likely to believe that CADe would lead to more removed polyps (odds ratio = 5.09; P = .01). The most common concerns about implementation of AI were cost (75.2 %), operator dependence (62.8 %), and increased procedural time (60.3 %). Conclusions Gastroenterologists have strong interest in the application of AI to colonoscopy, particularly with regard to CADe for polyp detection. The primary concerns were its cost, potential to increase procedural time, and potential to develop operator dependence. Future developments in AI should prioritize mitigation of these concerns.
A Review of Biological Interventions in Chronic Aphasia.

Aphasia is a common and debilitating condition following stroke. While the gold standard for aphasia treatment is behavioral speech-language therapy, benefits remain modest in chronic stages of recovery. This limitation motivates the pursuit of novel interventions for chronic aphasia. Here, we review biological approaches that have been used (or proposed for use, in the case of regenerative and genetic therapies) to treat chronic aphasia. These techniques aim to ameliorate the deficits of aphasia by directly manipulating brain function, rather than training lost or compensatory functions, although many have been used to augment effects of behavioral therapy. Specifically, we explore the most robust designs of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and pharmacotherapy that have been applied in chronic (≥6 months) post-stroke aphasia. We also consider less investigated approaches including epidural cortical stimulation and photobiomodulation. All methods are currently in nascent phases and restricted to experimental studies and clinical trials. Although the evidence base remains limited, such interventions may ultimately improve language function and quality of life for those living with chronic aphasia. However, it is crucial that application of these methods consider the effects of concomitant speech-language therapy, as biological interventions combined with behaviorally induced experience-dependent plasticity will likely yield the most beneficial and durable outcomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the southern united states

The Southern United States, the fastest growing region in the nation, is comprised of the largest number of states and home to the largest population of residents compared to the other three U.S. r...