cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of a Reading Priority Scoring System on the Prioritization of Examination Interpretations.

OBJECTIVE. Our institution implemented a read priority scoring system to combat the known limitations of traditional methods for the prioritization of examination interpretations by radiologists. We aimed to determine the impact on report turnaround time (RTAT) and RTAT variability. MATERIALS AND METHODS. On examination completion, technologists entered a read priority score (1–9) using provided definitions. We retrospectively reviewed the median RTAT and RTAT variability (i.e., interquartile range length) for radiology examinations (n = 615,541; 2011–2014). We used Spearman correlation coefficients to determine the relationships between read priority scores and the median RTAT and the RTAT variability by year. We compared median RTAT and RTAT variability between early (2011) versus late (2012–2014) adoption phases using distribution-free random permutation tests. RESULTS. Ranked correlations showed yearly improvement, leading to a near-perfect ranking of median RTAT (r = 0.98, p < 0.001) and a perfect ra...
Codling Moth: Diel Periodicity of Catch in Synthetic Sex Attractant vs. Female-Baited Traps

The diel periodicity of the mating flight activity of Laspeyresia pomonella (L.) was studied by catches in timing sex pheromone traps operated over the 1972 season in pears at San Jose, California. Males (both released and wild) responded rhythmically in approximately the same way to both trans -8, trans -10-dodecadien-l-ol (1 mg dispenser) and to caged living virgin females (5 females per cage). The response was entrained to the light-dark cycle, but was not uniform over the season, because both low and high temperatures often limited flight. Temperatures at this location were relatively moderate and affected, for the most part, only the tails of the daily distributions, and the median catches usually occurred within one hour after sunset over the entire season. Compared with early season, initiation of daily flight was delayed in mid-late season because of high afternoon temperatures. Evening flight, on the other hand, was somewhat greater because limiting low temperatures were less often encountered during that period. Also, in the late period there appeared to be a slight tendency for more prolonged evening flight to the synthetic sex attractant than to females.
Synthesis of Shape Amphiphiles Based on POSS Tethered with Two Symmetric/Asymmetric Polymer Tails via Sequential “Grafting-from” and Thiol–Ene “Click” Chemistry

A series of shape amphiphiles based on functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) head tethered with two polymeric tails of symmetric or asymmetric compositions was designed and synthesized using sequential “grafting-from” and “click” surface functionalization. The monofunctionalization of octavinylPOSS was performed using thiol–ene chemistry to afford a dihydroxyl-functionalized POSS that was further derived into precisely defined homo- and heterobifunctional macroinitiators. Polymer tails, such as polycaprolactone and polystyrene, could then be grown from these POSS-based macroinitiators with controlled molecular weight via ring-opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The vinyl groups on POSS were found to be compatible with ATRP conditions. These macromolecular precursors were further modified by thiol–ene chemistry to install surface functionalities onto the POSS cage. The polymer chain composition and POSS surface chemistry can thus be tuned separately ...
Progress on the genetics of lodging resistance in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Lodging is a common phenomenon in rice production, particularly in super rice breeding. Lodging seriously affects grain quality and yield. To study the traits associated with lodging, looking insight into the genetic basis of lodging resistance in rice and perform rice breeding for lodging resistance was the fundamental way to solve lodging problem. In this paper, we summarized the recent progress on the genetics of lodging resistance in rice and discussed the problems and future development.
Esophageal cancer. Radiologic diagnosis

The vast majority of malignant esophageal tumors are either squamous cell carcinomas or adenocarcinomas arising in Barrett's mucosa. This article reviews the spectrum of findings associated with these tumors on barium studies. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of double-contrast esophagography in detecting early cancers, because these lesions have the best possibility for cure. Other less common malignant tumors, such as spindle cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, leiomyosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, and malignant melanoma, are also reviewed.
Thrombostatin inhibits cyclic flow variations in stenosed canine coronary arteries.

Thrombostatins are a group of compounds based upon a breakdown product of bradykinin, RPPGF. They inhibit alpha-thrombin-induced platelet activation by binding to protease activated receptor 1 and, at a lower affinity, by interacting with thrombin's active site. After a single intravenous infusion of MAP4-RPPGF (11.58 mg/kg), its t1/2alpha was 4.5 min with a clearance of 2.0 ml/min. MAP4-RPPGF administration had a sustained antiplatelet effect, preventing gamma-thrombin-induced (12.5 nM) platelet activation for 4 h. Its antiplatelet effect summated with that of aspirin and/or clopidogrel. MAP4-RPPGF was compared with aspirin and clopidogrel in the Folts model of coronary artery thrombosis. Dogs were randomized to 3 treatment groups: aspirin 1.14 mg/kg i.v., clopidogrel 0.5 mg/kg i.v., or MAP4-RPPGF 0.77 mg/kg i.v. Cyclic flow variations (CFV) were recorded in 5 untreated dogs hourly for 3 successive hours and for 1 h before (all groups >11 CFV/h), and for 2 h after drug infusion in each of the 3 treatment groups. After 1 h drug treatment, all groups of animals had <6 CFV/h; after 2 h treatment, all had <1 CFV/h. All agents significantly reduced CFV from control at each hour, but none was significantly better than any other. Thrombostatin was as effective as aspirin or clopidogrel in inhibiting coronary artery thrombosis in this canine model.
Influence of fluid motion on growth and vertical distribution of cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa

Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) is one of the dominant algae in lakes surrounded by urban and agriculture-dominated landscapes. Microcystis blooms pose ecological, economical, and human health risk, and there is a need to identify the forcing factors that influence Microcystis growth and blooms. We hypothesize that fluid motion has an influence on the growth and the vertical variability of M. aeruginosa, and its influence can be quantified by measuring the corresponding rate of energy dissipation levels of fluid motion. We conducted laboratory experiment measuring the population growth and vertical distribution of M. aeruginosa in a dual tower bioreactor with one tower used as experimental control. Fluid velocities were measured using a two-dimensional particle image velocimetry allowing the estimate of turbulence statistics that were related to measured M. aeruginosa growth rates and vertical cell concentration profiles. The effects of turbulence on M. aeruginosa physiology was evident by a 22 % increase in growth rate at depth-averaged energy dissipation rate ( $$\left\langle \varepsilon \right\rangle$$ ) of 8.5 × 10−5 m2 s−3, suppressed growth rate at $$\left\langle \varepsilon \right\rangle$$ > 2.8 × 10−4 m2 s−3, and no impact for $$\left\langle \varepsilon \right\rangle$$ < 4 × 10−6 m2 s−3. A similar trend was observed by analyzing the depth-dependent M. aeruginosa concentration versus the corresponding time-averaged local turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate. A maximum cell biomass was discovered at e ~ 8.0 × 10−5 m2 s−3. Findings from this study can facilitate a greater understanding of physiology and spatial distribution of M. aeruginosa in aquatic ecosystems. The results will be instrumental in developing mechanistic models of the spatial and temporal distribution of M. aeruginosa that can improve management of aquatic ecosystems.
Rapidly Biodegrading PLGA-Polyurethane Fibers for Sustained Release of Physicochemically Diverse Drugs.

Sustained release of physicochemically diverse drugs from electrospun fibers remains a challenge and precludes the use of fibers in many medical applications. Here, we synthesize a new class of polyurethanes with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) moieties that degrade faster than polyurethanes based on polycaprolactone. The new polymers, with varying hard to soft segment ratios and fluorobenzene pendant group content, were electrospun into nanofibers and loaded with four physicochemically diverse small molecule drugs. Polymers were characterized using GPC, XPS, and 19F NMR. The size and morphology of electrospun fibers were visualized using SEM, and drug/polymer compatibility and drug crystallinity were evaluated using DSC. We measured in vitro drug release, polymer degradation and cell-culture cytotoxicity of biodegradation products. We show that these newly synthesized PLGA-based polyurethanes degrade up to 65–80% within 4 weeks and are cytocompatible in vitro. The drug-loaded electrospun fibers were...
Spatiotemporal heterogeneity in precipitation patterns explain population-level germination strategies in an edaphic specialist

Background and aims Many locally endemic species in biodiversity hotspots are restricted to edaphic conditions that are fixed in the landscape, limiting their potential to track climate change through dispersal. Instead, such species experience strong selection for germination strategies that can track suitable conditions through time. Germination strategies were compared among populations across the geographic range of a California vernal pool annual, Lasthenia fremontii Local germination strategies were tested to determine the associations with geographic variation in precipitation patterns. Methods This study evaluated patterns of seed germination, dormancy and mortality in response to simulated variation in the timing, amount and duration of the first autumn precipitation event using seeds from six populations that span a geographic gradient in precipitation. Next, it was tested whether the germination strategies of different populations can be predicted by historical precipitation patterns that characterize each site. Key results A significant positive relationship was observed between the historical variability in autumn precipitation and the extent of dormancy in a population. Marginal populations, with histories of the most extreme but constant autumn precipitation levels, expressed the lowest dormancy levels. Populations from sites with historically higher levels of autumn precipitation tended to germinate faster, but this tendency was not statistically significant. Conclusions Germination in L. fremontii is cued by the onset of the first rains that characterize the beginning of winter in California's Great Central Valley. However, populations differ in how fast they germinate and the fraction of seeds that remain dormant when germination cues occur. The results suggest that seed dormancy may be a key trait for populations to track increasingly drier climates predicted by climate change models. However, the low dormancy and high mortality levels observed among seeds of the southernmost, driest populations make them most vulnerable to local extinction.
Improving Low-Resource CD-DNN-HMM Using Dropout and Multilingual DNN Training

We investigate two strategies to improve the context-dependent deep neural network hidden Markov model (CD-DNN-HMM) in low-resource speech recognition. Although outperforming the conventional Gaussian mixture model (GMM) HMM on various tasks, CD-DNN-HMM acoustic modeling becomes challenging with limited transcribed speech, e.g., less than 10 hours. To resolve this issue, we firstly exploit dropout which prevents overfitting in DNN finetuning and improves model robustness under data sparseness. Then, the effectiveness of multilingual DNN training is evaluated when additional auxiliary languages are available. The hidden layer parameters of the target language are shared and learned over multiple languages. Experiments show that both strategies boost the recognition performance significantly. Combining them results in further reduction in word error rate, achieving 11.6% and 6.2% relative improvement on two limited data conditions.
And the Band Played on: Before and After

In fall 1987, Randy Shilts published his second book, “And the Band Played on: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic.” The jacket proclaimed that “the epidemic spread widely because the federal government put budget ahead of the nation’s welfare; health authorities placed political expediency before the public health; and scientists were more often more concerned with international prestige than saving lives.” In the Prologue Shilts wrote, “The bitter truth was that AIDS did not just happen to America—it was allowed to happen by an array of institutions, all of which failed to perform their appropriate tasks to safeguard the public health.” This essay reviews the controversial book published by Randy Shilts 30 years ago in light of some of the events that have followed. First, the context and content of the book—and reactions to its publication—are summarized. Secondly, several major developments after publication of the book are noted. Thirdly, a critical assessment of the author and his work is offered in an era when some politicians and physicians in the United States are imagining “an AIDS-free generation.”
Conversion of Wet Glass to Melt at Lower Seismogenic Zone Conditions: Implications for Pseudotachylyte Creep

Coseismic frictional melting and the production of quenched glass called pseudotachylyte is a recurring process during earthquakes. To investigate how glassy materials affect the postseismic strength and stability of faults, obsidian gouges were sheared under dry and wet conditions from 200°C to 300°C at ~150 MPa effective normal stress. Dry glass exhibited a brittle rheology at all conditions tested, exhibiting friction values and microstructures consistent with siliciclastic materials. Likewise, wet glass at 200°C exhibited a brittle rheology. In contrast, wet gouges at 300°C transitioned from brittle sliding to linear-viscous (Newtonian) flow at strain rates <3 × 10−4 s−1, indicating melt-like behavior. The viscosity ranged from 2 × 1011 to 7.8 × 1011 Pa-s. Microstructures show that viscous gouges were fully welded with rod-shaped microlites rotated into the flow direction. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy along with electron backscatter imaging demonstrate that hydration of the glass by diffusion of pore water was the dominant process reducing the viscosity and promoting viscous flow. As much as 5 wt % water diffused into the glass. These results may provide insight into postseismic-slip behaviors and challenge some interpretations of fault kinematics based on studies assuming that pseudotachylyte formation and flow is solely coseismic.
The risk to lose ecosystem services due to climate change: A South American case

Abstract The effects of the global climate change on oceans and coastal areas are manifested in many ways. In coastal environments, the climate change influence on coastal ecosystems is particularly worrisome, affecting their configuration and restricting the ecosystem services they produce and their benefits to nature and society. This possible loss of ecosystem services translates well the significance of the “environmental risk” that climate change can cause. An assessment of the environmental risk generated by climate threats in coastal ecosystems was carried out through a South American case study developed on the Southern coast of Brazil – Estuary of Patos Lagoon. The study involved the implementation of a model that estimates the risk of losing ecosystem services used by different stakeholder groups as a function of (1) the climate threat, (2) the value of the service defined by the stakeholder perception, and (3) the vulnerability of each group in relation to a possible service loss. Based on information generated by scenarios predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and from a significant database collected from interviews of several service users, the model was able to generate levels of risks for different conditions. The calculated risk values, standardized to values between zero and one, allow numerous possibilities of evaluation for ecosystems, user groups and climate variability indicators. Moreover, the model appears as a tool capable of generating comparative risk levels and can help to establish environmental management policies related to the climatic effects and the necessary adaptations.
Financial Conflicts of Interest Among Authors of Urology Clinical Practice Guidelines.

Abstract Background Recent studies have highlighted the presence of disclosed and undisclosed financial conflicts of interest among authors of clinical practice guidelines. Objective We sought to determine to what extent urology guideline authors receive and report industry payments in accordance with the Physician Payment Sunshine Act. Design, setting, and participants We selected the 13 urology guidelines that were published by the American Urological Association (AUA) after disclosure was mandated by the Physician Payment Sunshine Act. Payments received by guideline authors were searched independently by two investigators using the Open Payments database. Outcome measures and statistical analysis Our primary outcome measure was the number of authors receiving payments from industry, stratified by amount thresholds. Our secondary outcome measure was the number of authors with accurate conflict of interest disclosure statements. Results and limitations We identified a total of 54 author disclosures. Thirty-two authors (59.3%) received at least one payment from industry. Twenty (37.0%) received >$10 000 and six (11.1%) received >$50 000. Median total payments were $578 (interquartile range $0–19 228). Twenty (37.0%) disclosure statements were inaccurate. Via Dollars for Docs, we identified $74 195.13 paid for drugs and devices directly related to guideline recommendations. We were limited in our ability to determine when authors began working on guideline panels, as this information was not provided, and by the lack of specificity in Dollars for Docs. Conclusions Many of the AUA guideline authors received payments from industry, some in excess of $50 000. A significant portion of disclosure statements were inaccurate, indicating a need for more stringent enforcement of the AUA disclosure policy. Patient summary Pharmaceutical company payments to doctors have been shown to influence how doctors treat patients. If these doctors are charged with making clinical recommendations to other doctors, in the form of clinical practice guidelines, the issue of industry payments becomes more severe. We found that many urologists on guideline panels receive money from industry and that a significant portion did not disclose all payments received.
Cryptography in Context : Co-teaching Ethics and Mathematics

AbstractMany of the applied mathematics courses we teach touch upon a range of rich and important ethical issues – issues that, for a number of reasons, are rarely openly discussed in class. In thi...
Does direct instruction work?: A critical assessment of direct instruction research and its theoretical perspective

ABSTRACTDirect Instruction (DI), commercially marketed by McGraw-Hill as Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading, is a bundle of highly scripted reading programs emphasizing phonics and phonemic awa...
National policies that connect ICT-based education reform to economic and social development

Information and communication technology (ICT) is a principal driver of economic development and social change, worldwide. In many countries, the need for economic and social development is used to justify investments in educational reform and in educational ICT. Yet the connections between national development goals and ICT-based education reform are often more rhetorical than programmatic. This paper identifies the factors that influence economic growth and shows how they supported economic and social development in three national case studies: Singapore, Finland, and Egypt. It describes a systemic framework of growth factors and types of development that can be used to analyze national policies and connect ICT-based education reform to national economic and social development goals. And it discusses how the coordination of policies within and across ministries can support a nation’s efforts to improve economic and social conditions. The paper highlights special concerns and challenges of developing countries.
Welfare Effects of Trade-Diverting Customs Unions: A Quantitative Approach

The seminal analysis of trade-diverting custom unions introduced by Gehrels and Lipsey in the 1950s is reconsidered from a quantitative point of view. It is found that, if utility functions are assumed to have a constant elasticity of substitution, then when this elasticity of substitution is low (say less than one-quarter), the precustoms-union tariff rate would have to be extremely high (above 1800%) in order for the trade-diverting customs union to be welfare-improving. This seems to accord well with Viner’s view.
Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation After Chemical Disasters

The term chemical agent has traditionally been defined as a substance intended for use in military operations to kill, seriously injure, or incapacitate humans (or animals) through its toxicological effects [1]. These agents have been used in warfare for thousands of years. Recent events, such as the 1994 sarin nerve agent attack in Matsumoto, Japan and the 1995 Tokyo subway destructive release of this chemical, have made it clear that health care providers need to be prepared to handle chemical agent attacks.
Using provenance to extract semantic file attributes

Rich, semantically descriptive file attributes are valuable in many contexts, such as semantic namespaces and desktop search. Descriptive attributes help users to find files placed in seemingly-arbitrary locations by different applications. However, extracting semantic attributes from file contents is nontrivial. An alternative is to examine file provenance: how and when files are used, and the agents that use them.We study the extraction of semantic attributes from file provenance by applying data mining and machine learning techniques to file metadata. We show that provenance and other metadata predict semantic attributes such as file extensions. This complements previous work, which has shown that file extensions predict access patterns.
Real-time Application of an Inpatient Heart Failure Mortality Model to Predict 30-Day Mortality

Background A CART model using admission systolic blood pressure (SBP), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and serum creatinine (SCr) is proven to discern HF in-patient mortality risk. However, this model was not able to evaluate post-discharge outcomes. Objective We sought to 1) investigate an established HF in-patient mortality CART model's ability to discern 30-day all-cause mortality risk at an academic medical center and 2) investigate the potential to implement it in a real-time HF dashboard within the EMR Methods We have previously derived and validated a region-specific risk tool using CMS data on Medicare beneficiaries, age >65 years admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with a primary diagnosis of acute HF from July 2009 to June 2016. We then applied the pre-specified threshold values from the aforementioned CART model for admission SBP, BUN, and SCr to evaluate 30-day all-cause mortality across the 5 resultant risk groups. We explored the presence of the model's data points at admission, the ability to automatically extract the data, and the ability to present a risk score in a real-time HF dashboard within the EMR. We utilized the CMS mortality report to identify death occurring within 30 days of hospital discharge. Results There were 2065 patients in the study population with 192 deaths occurring from July 2009-June 2016. The total population mean age was 77 ± 7.6 years with 54% male, 48% HFrEF, and 77% ischemic cardiomyopathy, not significantly different from the patients who died, 78 ± 7.6 years with 58% male, 57% HFrEF, and 77% ischemic cardiomyopathy. At admission, the median BUN was 28 (19,44) mg/dl, SCr was 1.4 (1.1, 2.0) mg/dl, and SBP was 122 (107,138) mmHg. The three data points were available within 24 hours of admission in all patients and the risk score was able to be presented in the EMR in real-time. In-patient mortality occurred in 2.5% of the population and the 30-day mortality rate was 9.3% at a median of 6 (0,15) days from discharge. The Highest Risk cohort in our CMS regional-specific model had increased 30-day mortality compared to the Low (OR 9.4; 95% CI 5.5-15.9), Intermediate Risk 3 (OR 6.5; 95% CI 3.7-11.4), and Intermediate Risk 2 (OR 3.5, 95% CI 2.0-6.2) cohorts but not the Intermediate Risk 1 (OR 1.60; 95% CI 0.9-2.8) cohort. Conclusion The high mortality risk stratification tool is capable of discerning 30-day mortality risk among hospitalized HF patients upon admission. This could be utilized to identify patients who may benefit from palliative care referral.
Reconsidering the Role of Design Standards in Developing Effective Safety Labeling: Monolithic Recipes or Collections of Separable Features?

ObjectiveThis research investigated whether safety labeling design guidelines, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z535 series, contribute to better warnings.BackgroundStudies ...
Novel educational and goal-setting tool to improve knowledge of chronic kidney disease among liver transplant recipients: A pilot study.

INTRODUCTION Liver transplant (LT) recipients have limited understanding of post-transplant chronic kidney disease (CKD) despite an excellent pre-existing framework of transplant care. This pilot study examined the efficacy and feasibility of a tailored educational and goal-setting tool in improving CKD knowledge among LT recipients with early-stage CKD. METHODS In this prospective cohort study, we administered the CKD educational and goal-setting tool to 81 LT recipients between 7/1/2016 and 12/31/2017. We excluded patients with simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation, eGFR<30 ml/min, non-English speaking, on hemodialysis or listed for kidney transplantation. The pre- and post-education knowledge scores were compared using a paired t-test. Linear regression was used to assess the independent predictors of change in knowledge score. RESULTS Mean age was 56.3 years, 69.1% were males, 85.2% were Caucasians and mean eGFR was 61.2 ± 20.0 ml/min. The CKD educational and goal-setting tool improved the CKD knowledge scores among LT recipients (pre: 71.8 ± 16.6%, post: 83.3 ± 10.4%; p<0.001). In an adjusted model (r2 = 0.75), those with lower pre-education knowledge scores had the most improvement in their post-education knowledge scores (β = -83.2; p<0.001). Two-thirds stated their most important self-management goal and reported motivation to follow this goal. Time spent for the CKD education was approximately 15 minutes. CONCLUSIONS A simple LT-specific patient educational and goal-setting tool effectively improved CKD knowledge. Implementation of this tailored intervention will improve CKD awareness and may promote goal-setting in the target population.
The Absence of Attrition in the War of Attrition under Complete Information

We consider a two-player game of war of attrition under complete information. It is well- known that this class of games admits equilibria in pure, as well as mixed strategies, and much of the literature has focused on the latter. We show that if the players’ payoffs whilst in “war” vary stochastically and their exit payoffs are heterogeneous, then the game admits Markov Perfect equilibria in pure strategies only. This is true irrespective of the degree of randomness and heterogeneity, thus highlighting the fragility of mixed-strategy equilibria to a natural perturbation of the canonical model. In contrast, when the players’ flow payoffs are deterministic or their exit payoffs are homogeneous, the game admits equilibria in pure and mixed strategies.
The Effect of Bilingualism on Writing Ability

The goal of this study is to determine whether or not individuals who identify as bilingual have more advanced writing skills than individuals of the same educational level who identify as monolingual. The importance of this study lies in the realm of education; our cities are becoming increasingly globalized, which means that teachers must meet more linguistic needs than ever before. The results of this study and others like it can help determine which method of teaching (subtractive or additive bilingualism) is most beneficial to students learning multiple languages, and to students who only know one language. In order to determine what effect, if any, bilingualism has on writing ability, bilingual and monolingual junior- and senior-level university students (n = 4) submitted academic writing samples that are assessed via both a rubric and a holistic reading by a third-party grader. The rubric results are then compared, and a relationship is determined between “writing ability” based on the rubric, and the language classification of the participants.
Translating Trauma-Informed Principles into Social Work Practice

Trauma-informed social work is characterized by client-centered practices that facilitate trust, safety, respect, collaboration, hope, and shared power. Many agencies have adopted trauma-informed care (TIC) initiatives and many social workers are familiar with its basic principles, but it is challenging to infuse these ideals into real-world service delivery. This article offers 10 trauma-informed practices (TIPs) for translating TIC concepts into action by (a) conceptualizing client problems, strengths, and coping strategies through the trauma lens and (b) responding in ways that avoid inadvertently reinforcing clients' feelings of vulnerability and disempowerment (re-traumatization). TIPs guide workers to consider trauma as an explanation for client problems, incorporate knowledge about trauma into service delivery, understand trauma symptoms, transform trauma narratives, and use the helping relationship as a tool for healing.
Furniture-Integrated Respiration Sensors by Notched Transmission Lines

Non-invasive respiration sensors integrated into furniture can be invisible to the user and greatly enhance comfort and convenience to facilitate many applications. Current sensors often require user cooperation or fitting, which discourages frequent usage. We present a new respiration sensor integrated into a bed or a chair by modifying a radio-frequency (RF) coaxial cable structure with a designed notch. The lung motion is coupled to the electromagnetic leakage at the notch through near-field coherent sensing (NCS). The sensors, covered with fabrics and positioned under the abdomen and thorax, can capture the respiratory waveforms and derive the breath rate. The heart rate can also be evaluated in the same setup with proper filtering. The sensor design can tolerate large position variation to accommodate user uncertainties. Various voluntary exercises of normal, deep, fast, held and blocked breathing were measured under different postures of supine, recumbent and sitting by the carrier frequency range between 900MHz and 2.4GHz. The breath rate from 10 participants compare well with the synchronous commercial chest-belt sensors in all breathing routines.
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Burnout: a Systematic Review.

Awareness of burnout and its implications within the medical field has been growing. However, an understanding of the prevalence and consequences of burnout among underrepresented minority (URM), specifically underrepresented minority in medicine (UiM) populations, is not readily available. To examine literature investigating burnout among UiM compared to non-UiM, with particular attention to which measures of burnout are currently being used for which racial/ethnic groups. The authors identified peer-reviewed articles, published in English through systematic examination using PubMed, PsycINFO, Countway Discovery Medicine, and Web of Science databases. Studies meeting the inclusion criteria were summarized and study quality was assessed. Sixteen studies assessing racial/ethnic differences in burnout were eligible for inclusion. Nearly all studies were cross-sectional (n = 15) in design and conducted among populations in North America (n = 15). Most studies examined burnout among medical students or physicians and used the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Differences in burnout among UiM and non-UiM are inconclusive, although several studies have nuanced findings. Increased focus on burnout measurement, conceptualization, and mitigation among UiM populations may be useful in improving recruitment, retention, and thriving.
An Academic-Community Collaboration to Deliver Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Services to Patients Living in Rural Counties of a Southwestern State in the United States.

Background:Patients living in rural communities often experience pronounced health disparities, have a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension, and poorer access to care compared to urban ar...
"They Make You Feel Less of a Human Being": Understanding and Responding to Milwaukee's Racial Disparity in Infant Mortality.

Black infants die three times as often as white and Hispanic infants before their first birthday in Milwaukee, WI. Prematurity is the major cause of infant mortality, and social determinants of health contribute to this disparity. To understand how socioeconomic factors and racism create barriers to healthy pregnancies and birth outcomes for Black women, and identify practices necessary for overcoming these barriers. Thirteen collaborators (four women, four support group leaders, and five health professionals) were recruited from church support groups, a family medicine residency clinic, and the health department. Data were collected through field observations, six one-on-one interviews, one small group interview, and one focus group. Thematic analysis identified six key themes related to socioeconomic factors and racism in women’s and infant health: Public Apathy; Violence and Stress; Discrimination; Mistrust; Spiritual and Social Support; Reproductive Justice. These themes point out failures in health care, social services, and policy initiatives that do not meet women’s and infant needs, in addition to some opportunities to implement successful practices. Recommendations are made for policymakers, social services, health systems, and health professionals to implement systemic changes that support Black women and their families. Future applications of this work include implementing and measuring the impact of systems change to benefit Black women and families.
Effects from Intensive Standardized Kindergarten and First-Grade Interventions for the Prevention of Reading Difficulties

The purpose of this chapter is to describe reading interventions that might be used within a responseto-intervention (RTI) framework when students do not show adequate progress in learning to read from their current instruction. We will provide information about the nature of these interventions, the settings in which they have been studied, and the strength of their impact on early reading growth. There is a critical need for effective early interventions in reading, since current data (NAEP, 2005) indicate that 36% of students in the United States cannot meet basic standards of reading competence by the end of fourth grade. The situation is even more troublesome for poor and minority students, in that the latest national assessment indicates that 56% of poor, 61% of African American, and 57% of Hispanic students currently fail to meet basic reading standards in fourth grade. The need for strengthening early reading instruction is underlined when we consider that the incidence of students identified as learning disabled during elementary school has grown exponentially since the establishment of the category in 1977 (over 200%), and most LD students are identified because of difficulties in learning to read. The importance of work to develop effective early identification and interventions for students who struggle in reading is also supported by the fact that it becomes much more difficult to remediate reading difficulties after students have struggled in learning to read for several years. For example, Torgesen (2005) has recently reported data showing that, once students fall seriously behind in reading fluency, even the most powerful remedial interventions are not able to help them “close the gap” in fluency with students who are learning to read normally. Other data point out a variety of negative consequences for early difficulties in reading that include relatively weak vocabulary growth (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998), changes in attitude and motivation for reading (Wigfield and Guthrie, 1997), and loss of opportunities for development of increasingly sophisticated reading strategies (Brown, Palinscar, and Purcell, 1986). Finally, there is the sobering fact obtained in several longitudinal studies that children who are poor readers at the end of first grade almost never acquire average-level reading skills by the end of elementary school (Francis, Shaywitz, Stuebing, Shaywitz, and Fletcher, 1996; Juel, 1988; Torgesen and Burgess, 1998).
A Laboratory Test for Assessing Impacts of Substances on Developing Communities of Benthic Estuarine Organisms

The effect of substances on the development of estuarine communities was assessed by comparing the numbers, species, and phyla of benthic animals that grew from planktonic larvae in an uncontaminated apparatus and in three identical apparatuses continuously contaminated (each with a different concentration) for 2 to 4 months. Each apparatus was separated into ten sand-filled compartments (40 total) and received a continuous flow of seawater containing natural plankton. We conducted six experiments, using Aroclor 1254, toxaphene, pentachlorophenol, Dowicide G-ST, barite, and a lignosulfonate drilling mud. The communities that developed during each test were diverse, averaging more than 4000 individuals, 50 species, and 7 phyla. Comparison of the results of these tests with results of acute and chronic exposures of single species demonstrates that: (a) the test can be as sensitive or more sensitive than chronic exposures of single species because the often more sensitive early developmental stages are exposed; and (b) the species typically impacted are representatives of phyla that are also sensitive in single-species tests. Also, the test may identify sensitive species not normally tested, thereby helping us to select species for additional toxicity tests. The test can also assess impacts of substances that affect community structure by physically altering the substrate.
Educational Needs and Care of Children with FASD

The effects from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can cause a range of neurobehavioral deficits that impact learning and functioning in school. As a result, children affected by PAE have diverse learning needs and may experience problems in school. Educational planning needs to be developed in accordance with the children’s individual cognitive and learning profiles. Interventions need to focus on habilitation of the underlying deficits that influence learning within the context of an academic or school skill. Caregivers require information on how to advocate for their children’s needs. Additionally, families, school personnel, and other professionals require training on the impact of PAE on development, learning, and school functioning. Using a comprehensive and collaborative approach to provide the necessary educational care for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) may lessen the risk of academic and school failure.
Care and feeding of Drosophila melanogaster.

The information provided here should allow you to begin working with Drosophila. Mine your colleagues for alternative approaches, improvements, and refinements and develop your own. If you find a new and better way to do any aspect of fly work, take the time to share it with your colleagues through bionet.drosophila or DIN.
Expansion of Effector Memory TCR Vβ4+CD8+ T Cells Is Associated with Latent Infection-Mediated Resistance to Transplantation Tolerance

Therapies that control largely T cell-dependent allograft rejection in humans also possess the undesirable effect of impairing T cell function, leaving transplant recipients susceptible to opportunistic viruses. Prime among these opportunists are the ubiquitous herpesviruses. To date, studies are lacking that address the effect of viruses that establish a true latent state on allograft tolerance or the effect of tolerance protocols on the immune control of latent viruses. By using a mixed chimerism-based tolerance-induction protocol, we found that mice undergoing latent infection with γHV68, a murine γ-herpesvirus closely related to human γ-herpesviruses such as EBV and Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, significantly resist tolerance to allografts. Limiting the degree of virus reactivation or innate immune response did not reconstitute chimerism in latently infected mice. However, γHV68-infected mice showed increased frequency of CD8+ T cell alloreactivity and, interestingly, expansion of virus-induced, alloreactive, “effector/effector memory” TCR Vβ4+CD8+ T cells driven by the γHV68-M1 gene was associated with resistance to tolerance induction in studies using γHV68-M1 mutant virus. These results define the viral gene and immune cell types involved in latent infection-mediated resistance to allograft tolerance and underscore the influence of latent herpesviruses on allograft survival.
A First-Year Teacher's Top 10 Mistakes.

Abstract A teacher shares a detailed look into a first year of teaching and the lessons she learned.
Perception as Unconscious Inference

Consider for a moment the spatial and chromatic dimensions of your visual experience. Suppose that as you gaze about the room you see a table, some books, and papers. Ignore for now the fact that you immediately recognize these objects to be a table with books and papers on it. Concentrate on how the table looks to you: its top spreads out in front of you, stopping at edges beyond which lies unfilled space, leading to more or less distant chairs, shelves, or expanses of floor. The books and paper on the table top create shaped visual boundaries between areas of different color, within which there may be further variation of color or visual texture. Propelled by a slight breeze, a sheet of paper slides across the table, and you experience its smooth motion before it floats out of sight. The aspects of visual perception to which I’ve drawn your attention are objects of study in contemporary perceptual psychology, which considers the perception of size, shape, distance, motion, and color. These phenomenal aspects of vision are sometimes contrasted with other, more typically cognitive aspects of perception, including our recognition that the objects in front of us include the table, books, and paper, our seeing that the table is old and well crafted, and our identifying the sheets of paper as the draft of an article in progress. All of these elements of our visual experience, whether characterized here as phenomenal or cognitive,1 seem to arise effortlessly as we direct our gaze here and there. Yet we know that the cognitive aspects must depend on previously attained knowledge. We are not born recognizing books and tables, but we learn to categorize these artifacts and to determine at a glance that a table is an old one of good quality. What about the phenomenal aspects? A persistent theme in the history of visual theory has been that the phenomenal aspects of visual perception are produced by inferences or judgments, which are
Reduced intraluminal bile acid concentrations and fat maldigestion in pancreatic insufficiency: Correction by treatment

Abstract Malabsorption of bile acids is known to occur in patients with pancreatic insufficiency particularly when due to cystic fibrosis. Abnormal biliary secretion or intraluminal acidic precipitation of bile acids could contribute to the steatorrhea of pancreatic insufficiency. To measure bile acid outputs and duodenal concentrations of bile salts and lipids simultaneously, we performed intestinal intubation and perfusion studies during feeding of a solid test meal in 6 healthy controls and 8 adult patients with advanced acquired exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. The effects of various treatment regimens were also investigated. Postprandial bile acid secretion was similar in all treatment groups. However, significant (P
Una historia silenciada, no reconocida, ignorada, ocultada, invisibilizada: la vida religiosa femenina en la historia brasileña e hispanoamericana

En este articulo pretendemos esbozar los grandes hitos de la vida religiosa femeninahispanoamericana y brasilena desde la colonia hasta el siglo XX. Es un esfuerzo ambiciosoy de sintesis para mostrar en el largo plazo la trascendencia historica de la vida religiosafemenina en su triple relacion con la iglesia, la sociedad y el estado, siendo el articuladorde esta triple relacion, la accion o funcion social de estas mujeres. Nuestro enfoque son lasordenes y congregaciones religiosas de vida apostolica activa, es decir, aquellas que hanorientado su trabajo apostolico por un carisma particular, que se expresa generalmente enla realizacion de una obra social para atender las necesidades de un grupo socialdeterminado. Nos remontamos a la vida conventual colonial para poder mirar lascontinuidades y enraizamiento en la vida apegada a la regla y en clausura exigida a la mujerconsagrada en el catolicismo hasta mediados del siglo XX. Sin embargo, no nos centramosen la dimension espiritual y el alejamiento del mundo, en busqueda de santidad, sino porel contrario en su presencia en el mundo para mostrar la trascendencia y el sentido de lavida de este grupo de mujeres, poco reconocidas por la historia, incluidas las de las propiasmujeres o las de la iglesia
Hyperbaric oxygen induces a cytoprotective and angiogenic response in human microvascular endothelial cells

A genome-wide microarray analysis of gene expression was carried out on human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) exposed to hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) under conditions that approximated clinical settings. Highly up-regulated genes included immediate early transcription factors (FOS, FOSB, and JUNB) and metallothioneins. Six molecular chaperones were also up-regulated immediately following HBOT, and all of these have been implicated in protein damage control. Pathway analysis programs identified the Nrf-2-mediated oxidative stress response as one of the primary responders to HBOT. Several of the microarray changes in the Nrf2 pathway and a molecular chaperone were validated using quantitative PCR. For all of the genes tested (Nrf2, HMOX1, HSPA1A, M1A, ACTC1, and FOS), HBOT elicited large responses, whereas changes were minimal following treatment with 100% O(2) in the absence of elevated pressure. The increased expression of immediate early and cytoprotective genes corresponded with an HBOT-induced increase in cell proliferation and oxidative stress resistance. In addition, HBOT treatment enhanced endothelial tube formation on Matrigel plates, with particularly dramatic effects observed following two daily HBO treatments. Understanding how HBOT influences gene expression changes in endothelial cells may be beneficial for improving current HBOT-based wound-healing protocols. These data also point to other potential HBOT applications where stimulating protection and repair of the endothelium would be beneficial, such as patient preconditioning prior to major surgery.