cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Medical expulsive therapy use in emergency department patients diagnosed with ureteral stones.

Abstract Objective Recent studies have clarified the role of alpha-blockers, such as tamsulosin, for patients diagnosed with ureteral stones Methods We used data from a randomized trial of CT scan vs. ultrasound in participants with suspected urolithiasis enrolled at 15 EDs between October 2011 and February 2013. The use of medical expulsive therapy was identified by the prescription of an alpha-blocker, calcium channel blocker, or steroid at the ED visit. The prevalence of alpha-blocker use in participants with ureteral stones on imaging was calculated, and multivariable models were used to examine risk factors for utilization. Results Of the 524 participants who were identified with a ureteral stone on CT scan and discharged from the ED, 375 (71.4%) received an alpha-blocker, and 2 ( Conclusions Alpha-blockers were prescribed in more than two-thirds of patients with a distal ureteral stone on imaging, a much higher prevalence than previously reported. There was substantial variability in alpha-blocker use based on ED site.
Making our way through the world: Towards a functional understanding of the brain's spatial circuits

Abstract Many animals make return trips from a home base to gather food and supplies, mate, or survive the seasons. In a world of unreliable and ambiguous cues, localizing within familiar environments and mapping new environments – functions critical for making successful return trips – is a complex problem requiring memory, integration, and inference. We review some key features of the mammalian brain's navigation system and its computational challenges, as well as the task neuroscientists face in understanding how its components interact and function. We argue that synthesizing the wide body of neural phenomenology requires formalization of the navigation problem as one of sequential probabilistic inference, as done in the robotics field of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).
Dental adaptations of Bronze Age Harappans: Occlusal wear, crown size, and dental pathology.

Abstract Systematic study of dental attributes yields insights regarding diet and subsistence that cannot be gained from the archaeological record alone. This analysis documents occlusal tooth wear, tooth crown dimensions and dental pathology of an expanded dental sample from Harappa (2550–2030 cal BC; Pakistan). New floral and faunal evidence of subsistence indicates a mix of agriculture and pastoralism that can be integrated with evidence of dental attributes and disease to reveal the impact of Harappan diet on oral health. An enlarged dental sample (58 specimens, 910 teeth) from mature phase Harappa was analyzed using Scott’s quadrant wear system, measures of crown size, and prevalence of seven pathological dental lesions. All data were collected by the author using standard methods. Sex differences were found in wear, tooth size and prevalence of dental diseases. Females exhibit greater caries prevalence and antemortem tooth loss than men, an attribute associated with higher rates of pulp exposure and abscesses in women. At Harappa antemortem tooth loss results from penetrating caries, while in foragers the cause is severe occlusal wear. In contrast to early Holocene foragers of north India (Damdama, 8800–8600 BP), Harappans have greater occlusal wear, smaller teeth, and a distinct dental pathology profile.
The Resilience of Communities

The Resilience of Communities. Resilience is a hot topic in disaster research; and in this chapter, we investigate factors that can serve to diminish resilience and potentially facilitate crime. We begin by examining types of disaster and find that natech and technological disasters may diminish resilience. We then examine community characteristics and here, we focus on resilience’s counterpart, vulnerability. We find that certain community characteristics, including high proportions of racial and ethnic minorities, children and the elderly, women, the disabled, and those with low socioeconomic status, increase vulnerability to loss of life and property as a result of disaster. Finally, we examine official response characteristics and find that an ineffective official response may diminish resilience. We contend that an examination of these factors in tandem will lead to a greater understanding of resilience and to resilience’s role in reducing disaster crime.
Early Childhood: Socioemotional Risks

Socioemotional development in early childhood broadly pertains to the quality of children's evolving participation in relationships, with the parent–child relationship serving as a primary focus in early childhood. This article discusses socioemotional development in early childhood from the vantage point of attachment theory. It is argued that specific threats to the quality of parenting will place young children at risk for insecure attachment and, in turn, for socioemotional difficulties in the wider world. Socioemotional risks from the parent, the parent's social-ecological niche, and the child are examined, and include nonautonomous parental states of mind with regard to attachment, parental psychopathology, marital discord, insufficient parental social supports, and difficult infant temperament. Individual and cumulative effects of risks are addressed, along with suggestions for future directions that include closer examination of the manner in which protective and risk factors interact in predicting children's socioemotional health.
Main-chain polyacetal conjugates with HIF-1 inhibitors: temperature-responsive, pH-degradable drug delivery vehicles

Main-chain polymer–drug conjugates are prepared from polyacetals (PA) and three hydrophobic diol-based HIF-1 inhibitors. The new conjugates are temperature-responsive with lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior and are intrinsically pH-degradable. While soluble in plasma at room temperature, they lose solubility above a target temperature that can be adjusted to virtually any temperature of physicological interest, providing mechanisms for site-specific delivery by active thermal targeting or temperature-induced gelation. The reverse phase transition temperature can be precisely tuned by proper choice of four structural variables that characterize the amphiphilic diol and divinyl ether monomers used in the synthesis, or by adjusting the content of drug incorporated within the polymer. These main-chain PA–drug conjugates also allow for site-specific controlled release as they degrade in acidic microenvironments such as tumors. The degradation rates increase with decreasing pH, degradation products are neutral, and pristine drug is released, without any remnants of the conjugation chemistry.
B.F. Skinner and the Metaphysics of Darwinism.

B. F. Skinner viewed behaviorism not as the science of behavior, but a philosophy of that science. Such philosophizing is a legitimate part of a scientist’s investigative behavior. He sought to eliminate confusion and error by getting rid of objectionable posits such as homunculi, vital forces, intentionalities, purposes and essences, sticking to overt behavior and spurning “mentalism.” Skinner believed that there are hard analogies between learning and natural selection, such that what is appropriate in the study of one may be appropriate in the study of the other. Dispensing with teleology is but one example. Where there is selection by consequences, variation has to be taken seriously. Essentialism or typology screens out variation and leads to stereotypes. It may be viewed as treating individuals (in a broad, philosophical sense) as if they were classes. Individuals are concrete, particular things, including species and many other groups, whereas classes are abstract. Individuals can engage in processes, such as behavior. But they do not have definitions (or essences), and there are no laws of nature for them. Trying to find a definition, or an essence, for the human species is trying to find a definition for an indefinable instead of a description for a describable. Idealism has introduced a kind of mentalism into behavioral discourse that behavior analysts should scrupulously avoid. There are no laws for individuals, only for kinds of individuals, and care needs to be taken to avoid confusing laws of nature with contingent, historical fact. Skinner was a (perhaps somewhat inconsistent) realist who presupposed the uniformity of nature in his investigations. Investigative behavior may be more lawful than even he maintained.
Using structured data entry systems in the electronic medical record to collect clinical data for quality and research: Can we efficiently serve multiple needs for complex patients with spina bifida?

PURPOSE The era of the electronic health record (EHR) generates the ability to systematically collect and record innumerable data for complex procedures such as videourodynamic studies (VUDS). We developed a Structured Data Entry System (SDES) that would serve as a way to better standardize VUDS for both quality improvement and research capabilities. METHODS A working group convened to design a SDES form for VUDS in a flow sheet format in our hospital's EHR, allowing for easy integration of the information into the clinical encounter note and for weekly export of data to clinicians in spreadsheet form. RESULTS Analysis of weekly VUDS data revealed that entries were missing in 3% of cells in all SDES forms completed. The availability of the data in an Excel spreadsheet allows for easy manipulation, calculation of clinical variables, and streamlined analysis in figures or graphs to identify patients at the highest risk. CONCLUSION Designing and implementing a SDES based on a flowsheet that can allow data to be placed seamlessly in the clinical record and to be integrated into a searchable database for quality improvement and research purposes allows one to harness the true potential of the EHR.
DEVELOPING YOUR RESEARCH CAREER: Session 307

Abstract This meeting provides information on opportunities for new researchers in geriatric psychiatry and how to get started, obtain research training and support, and persist in the research field.
Controlling Friction With External Electric or Magnetic Fields: 25 Examples

Studies of the fundamental origins of friction have undergone rapid progress in recent years, providing valuable information on the relative contributions of electronic, magnetic, electrostatic and phononic dissipative mechanisms. They are now evolving into methods that allow active control of nano and/or meso scale friction through tuning of magnetic and electric fields external to the contact. These methods constitute an area of rapidly growing interest, as they address one of tribology’s present day grand challenges: achieving in situ control of friction levels without removing and replacing lubricant materials situated within inaccessible confines of a contact. In this minireview, 25 examples of electromagnetic tuning of friction are overviewed, with examples spanning atomic to macro scale systems to demonstrate the variety and versatility of approaches that have been reported in the literature. Applications include, but are not limited to triboelectric generators, geological drilling, automotive braking and efficiency, spacecraft systems, biological systems and magnetic spintronics. Experimental methods for measuring the impact of electric or magnetic fields on friction include AFM, SFA, QCM, pin-on-disk, hard disk head- substrate, MEMS and NEMS based tribometers, and optical spectroscopies. Computational and theoretical approaches include analytic, equilibrium and nonequilbrium Monte Carlo simulations.
Endoscopic Dilation of Refractory Postlaryngectomy Strictures: A Case Series and Literature Review.

Background. Endoscopic dilation of postlaryngectomy strictures (PLS) is safe and effective; however, PLS are often refractory and require serial dilations. Long-term outcomes of dilation in patients with refractory PLS are not well reported. Materials and Methods. Seven patients with dysphagia and refractory PLS underwent serial endoscopic dilation therapy during a 4.5-year period. Dilation characteristics, technical success, clinical success, and diet advancement (as assessed by Diet/GT scale) were measured. Results. All strictures were complex, and there were no reported complications. The median number of dilations per patient was 12 (range 7 to 48). The average interval in between dilations was six weeks. Technical success was achieved in 6/7 patients, and clinical success was achieved in 2/7 patients. 6/7 patients had advancements in Diet/GT scores. Conclusions. Dilation of refractory PLS is safe and effective and frequently requires the use of a retrograde approach, fluoroscopic guidance, and/or lumen patency strings. Serial dilations are required to maintain luminal patency, relieve dysphagia, and advance oral diet. The definition of clinical success of dilation in these patients should avoid the use of a specific time interval between dilations to characterize success.
Surgical management of neuroproliferative-associated vestibulodynia: a tutorial on vestibulectomy with vaginal advancement flap.

Provoked vestibulodynia is an often underdiagnosed and mismanaged medical condition that impacts the lives of many women. When symptoms are due to a dramatically increased density of pain fibers in the vestibular endoderm, the condition is referred to as neuroproliferative-associated vestibulodynia. Unfortunately, assessment of pain fiber density can only be performed after surgery during histologic examination. First-line therapies for this condition often include topical or oral medications targeting hyperalgesia and allodynia at the vulvar vestibule. However, in the setting of refractory disease, surgical treatment should be considered. The surgical video (Video 1) highlights anatomical landmarks as well as key surgical steps when performing a vulvar vestibulectomy with a vaginal advancement flap for the treatment of neuroproliferative-associated vestibulodynia. Surgeons should have a thorough understanding of pertinent vulvar anatomical landmarks before performing this procedure (Figure 1). The goal of vulvar vestibulectomy, as described in this video, is to excise the entirety of the vestibule containing the pathologic density of afferent pain fibers. This tutorial serves to identify key anatomical landmarks including Hart’s line as well as outline the meticulous dissection required for successful completion of this procedure. We describe our surgical instrumentation as well as provide insight into steps that can be taken to minimize postoperative morbidity.
Neighborhood Deprivation and Adherence to Initial Diabetic Retinopathy Screening.

Abstract Residence within a disadvantaged US neighborhood was significantly associated with adherence to initial diabetic retinopathy screening. Composite measures of community-level socioeconomic status have the potential to be utilized to inform patient-specific care and policy interventions.
Outcomes and Conclusions from the 2018 AM-Bench Measurements, Challenge Problems, Modeling Submissions, and Conference

The Additive Manufacturing Benchmark (AM-Bench) test series was established to provide rigorous measurement test data for validating additive manufacturing (AM) simulations for a broad range of AM technologies and material systems. AM-Bench includes extensive in situ and ex situ measurements, simulation challenges for the AM modeling community, and a corresponding conference series. In 2018, the first round of AM-Bench measurements and the first AM-Bench conference were completed, focusing primarily upon laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processing of metals, and both LPBF and material extrusion processing of polymers. In all, 46 blind modeling simulations were submitted by the international AM community in comparison with the in situ and ex situ measurements. Analysis of these submissions provides valuable insight into existing AM modeling capabilities. The AM-Bench data are permanently archived and freely accessible online.
Archetypes: The Contribution of Individual Psychology to Cross-cultural Symbolism

When a patient reports a dream or undirected fantasy in psychotherapy, classical Jungian technique includes, among other things, comparing this material to that of cross-cultural symbolism (CCS). The validity of this aspect of the method hinges on what we think the origin of CCS is. If we believe that the lion’s share of such content comes from specific universal tendencies of the individual psyche, then it is reasonable to look to CCS as a source of clinical interpretive information. If not, however, the method loses credibility. An examination of this comparison reveals that some discussions about archetypes have been plagued by a false dichotomy of biology vs. emergence. Addressing this problem helps to organize various theories about archetypes that compare CCS into a more productive dialogue.
CHAPTER 3 – Linear Programming

Publisher Summary Many of the mathematical methods are very useful when applied to problems of optimisation, that is, maximising and minimising quantities. The methods of differential calculus and linear programming are of particular importance. The methods of linear programming are a mathematical approach used in determining a course of action to be used to obtain an objective when the possible courses of action are restricted by certain conditions called constraints. While the types of problems that can be solved by these methods must fit several basic requirements, there is still a large assortment of problems that can be solved by linear programming techniques. This chapter discusses linear programs in two variables. In general, all linear programming problems involve the optimisation, maximisation, or minimisation, of a linear expression called the objective function. It shall be assumed that the objective function may be evaluated at any point in the feasible set even at those points yielding nonintegral solutions.
Creating healthier policies, systems, and environments: Using the CDC CHANGE tool to evaluate the impact of a coalition provided community-based wellness program.

Objectives This manuscript describes policy, systems, and environments (PSE) changes made to support health secondary to a county-based coalition nurse-led program targeting vulnerable populations at five community-based sites in a single rural Midwest county. Design A mixed-methods pre-post approach was used to evaluate the PSE changes occurring over a 1-year period secondary to wellness programming. Sample Five community sites including three predominantly manufacturing worksites and two faith-based sites were included in this study. Measurements The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Community Health Assessment aNd Group Evaluation tool was used to collect PSE data both at site initiation and 1 year later. Logs kept by program staff which included discussions with site leaders and program participants were also used to measure PSE changes. Intervention Monthly wellness programming which included intentional feedback to site leadership concerning participant feedback and coalition staff observations of the impact of site specific PSEs on healthy lifestyle behaviors. Outcomes Positive changes reflecting improvement in policy and environments were noted for 99.2% of the scores with a total of 13 PSE changes documented across the sites. The greatest change noted related to leadership, indicating increased commitment by site leadership to support health.
Blocking the progressive city: How state pre-emptions undermine labour rights in the USA:

While some US cities and states have taken the lead in protecting labour rights, a counter-trend is found in state pre-emptions – state laws that prohibit cities from making any ordinances or laws ...
The New PGY-1 Year: Lessons Learned.

Describe the ACGME’s changes to the PGY-1 year in urology and discuss the benefits and challenges faced by training programs. There are no publications detailing the integration of the PGY-1 year in urology; however, response of other surgical subspecialties to their own integration has been studied. Benefits of integration include earlier exposure to techniques and knowledge specific to urology, potentially leading to increased preparedness for next steps in training and exams. Program directors have more flexibility to select rotations relevant to urology. Resident wellness may be improved as interns are incorporated into the department earlier and can help distribute the workload for senior residents. Challenges include decreased exposure to basic surgical knowledge and skills, decreased camaraderie with general surgery colleagues, and difficulties associated with evaluating interns who are spending limited time with urology departments. Overall, the change seems to have a positive impact on urological training.
What do we learn from enzyme behaviors in organic solvents? - Structural functionalization of ionic liquids for enzyme activation and stabilization

Enzyme activity in nonaqueous media (e.g. conventional organic solvents) is typically lower than in water by several orders of magnitude. There is a rising interest of developing new nonaqueous solvent systems that are more "water-like" and more biocompatible. Therefore, we need to learn from the current state of nonaqueous biocatalysis to overcome its bottleneck and provide guidance for new solvent design. This review firstly focuses on the discussion of how organic solvent properties (such as polarity and hydrophobicity) influence the enzyme activity and stability, and how these properties impact the enzyme's conformation and dynamics. While hydrophobic organic solvents usually lead to the maintenance of enzyme activity, solvents carrying functional groups like hydroxys and ethers (including crown ethers and cyclodextrins) can lead to enzyme activation. Ionic liquids (ILs) are designable solvents that can conveniently incorporate these functional groups. Therefore, we systematically survey these ether- and/or hydroxy-functionalized ILs, and find most of them are highly compatible with enzymes leading to high activity and stability. In particular, ILs carrying both ether and tert-alcohol groups are among the most enzyme-activating solvents. Future direction is to learn from enzyme behaviors in both water and nonaqueous media to design biocompatible "water-like" solvents.
Multilevel Pathways of Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Low-Income Vietnamese Americans: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis:

Background:Colorectal cancer (CRC) disproportionately affects Vietnamese Americans, especially those with low income and were born outside of the United States. CRC screening tests are crucial for ...
Spending on Cardiovascular Disease and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the United States: 1996 to 2016.

Background: Spending on cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors (cardiovascular spending) accounts for a significant portion of overall US health care spending. Our objective was to ...
Understanding Game Roles and Strategy Using a Mixed Methods Approach

In this paper, we use the Tracer Method to examine a complex and team-oriented, first-person shooter game to determine how the output can better inform Esports training. The Tracer Method combines eye tracking with Critical Decision Method to focus the analyses on the critical aspects of gameplay, while providing insight into the most frequent visual search transitions across game areas of interest. We examined the differences across three in-game roles and three decision types (strategic, operational, and tactical) using network centrality diagrams and entropy measures. No differences in overall stationary entropy were found for either role or decision type. However, each game role and decision type produced a different network centrality diagram, indicating different visual search transitions, which could support training of Esport players.
Evaluation of residual stresses in isothermal friction stir welded 304L stainless steel plates

Abstract Friction stir welding was performed on 304L SS plates in order to heal simulated cracks created by electrical discharge machining. Two different tool temperatures (825 and 725 °C) were chosen for this study. Both neutron diffraction and X-ray diffraction techniques were employed to evaluate the residual stresses along two orthogonal reference directions, longitudinal (σyy) and transverse (σxx). The former technique was also used to measure residual stresses at various depths. It was found that, at 1 mm depth from the top surface inside the stir zone (SZ), the longitudinal component was tensile in nature while the transverse component was compressive. The nature and magnitude of the residual stress fields, and the position of the peak residual stresses were found to vary with the weld depth. The SZ of the 725 °C weld exhibited higher peak stress than 825 °C weld mainly due to a lack of stress relief at the lower temperature.
Modeling Sympatric Speciation in Quasiperiodic Environments

Sympatric speciation is the emergence of new species from a single ancestral species while inhabiting the same geographic region. This process presents an interesting problem for theoretical studies of evolution. One mechanism by which sympatric speciation might occur is periodic or quasiperiodic fluctuations in the abundance of the resources. In this paper inspired by the experimental findings of (Herron and Doebeli, PLoS Biol. 11, p. e1001490, 2013), we present a number of models of asexual speciation of E. coli, which range in the level of biological detail and the degree of analytical treatment. We show that coexistence of multiple species arises as a robust phenomenon, even in the presence of spatial and temporal randomness.
Transistor-level circuit experiments using evolvable hardware

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) performs research in fault tolerant, long life, and space survivable electronics for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With that focus, JPL has been involved in Evolvable Hardware (EHW) technology research for the past several years. We have advanced the technology not only by simulation and evolution experiments, but also by designing, fabricating, and evolving a variety of transistor-based analog and digital circuits at the chip level. EHW refers to self-configuration of electronic hardware by evolutionary/genetic search mechanisms, thereby maintaining existing functionality in the presence of degradations due to aging, temperature, and radiation. In addition, EHW has the capability to reconfigure itself for new functionality when required for mission changes or encountered opportunities. Evolution experiments are performed using a genetic algorithm running on a DSP as the reconfiguration mechanism and controlling the evolvable hardware mounted on a self-contained circuit board. Rapid reconfiguration allows convergence to circuit solutions in the order of seconds. The paper illustrates hardware evolution results of electronic circuits and their ability to perform under 280C temperature as well as radiations of up to 175kRad.
Gene Therapy: Delivery Targeting

Delivery targeting is a novel approach for the design and administration of therapeutic agents wherein the agent is rationally designed to localize to the site of disease in a self-directed manner, usually via exploitation of unique biophysical properties of the diseased tissue. Keywords: adenovirus; targeting; gene therapy; tropism modification; cancer
Continuous monitoring of gas-phase species at trace levels with electrochemical detectors: Part 1. Direct amperometric measurement of hydrogen peroxide and enzyme-based detection of alcohols and sulfur dioxide

Abstract A simple detection system suitable for the continuous measurement of atmospheric hydrogen peroxide in the parts per trillion (10 12 ) volume (pptv) range is described. The proposed method involves the use of a flowing recipient buffer pumped through a given length of narrow-bore (0.2 mm) microporous polyethylene tubing and then on to a platinum electrode detector polarized at + 0.4 V vs. SCE. Hydrogen peroxide in the gas phase surrounding the tube enters through the pores and is carried to the platinum electrode detector where it is oxidized, resulting in an anodic current directly proportional to the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the gas phase. In addition, when appropriate immobilized enzymes are incorporated into the flow arrangement prior to the amperometric detector (e.g., sulfite oxide and alcohol oxidase), the same measurement scheme can be used to monitor volatile substrates of these enzymes continuously at parts per billion (10 9 ) by volume (ppbv) levels (sulfur dioxide and low-molecular-weight alcohols). In this case, substrate gases enter the recipient buffer stream through the walls of the sampling device and are converted to products plus electrochemically detectable hydrogen peroxide by the immobilized enzymes. The sensitivity and selectivity of each of these detection systems is examined in detail, as are the prospects of enhancing sensitivity by using a novel stopped-flow/flow-injection analysis operating mode.
Cooperative load sharing in V2G application

In this paper, a state-of-charge (SoC) based distributed cooperative control (DCC) strategy has been proposed for minimizing the voltage regulation and proportional power sharing (in per unit) among Plug-in-Electric Vehicles (PEVs) and distributed generations (DGs) connected in DC μGrid. The proposed method can control the charging and discharging rates of PEVs depending on the available generation capacity of the DC μGrid. Using the information from neighboring PEVs and DGs only, the global μGrid voltage is estimated and proportional load sharing among the converters is achieved by cooperative control methodology. A distributed Energy Management System (EMS) for PEV has also been proposed which has low computational burden. The system operation and performance has been verified through simulation.
Multi-level decision trees for static and dynamic pronunciation models.

We have been focusing on improving pronunciation models for automatic transcription of television and radio news reports by modeling phone, syllable, and word pronunciation distributions with decision trees. These models were employed in two separate sets of experiments. First, decision trees facilitated selection of word pronunciations derived automatically from data for use in a standard speech recognizer dictionary. We have seen a small but significant improvement with these automatically constructed dictionaries in our one-pass decoding system. In a second set of experiments, we allowed decision tree models to determine the probability of word pronunciations dynamically, dependent on the linguistic context of the word during recognition. Dynamic models provided an additional insignificant decrease in error, but improvements were focused within the spontaneous speech portion of the test set.
Prevention of childhood injuries

Accidents account for more deaths among children aged 1 to 14 years than the next five most common causes. Thinking about accidents as injuries that happen in a context comprising a host, an agent, and an environment may help prevent them. Until a profile of the family and child at risk of injuries is developed, causal factors must be identified and removed, and parents and children educated about injury prevention. Different problems occur at different stages of a child's development. The agents most commonly associated with injuries are automobiles, bicycles, swimming, and animals. The special vulnerability of infants was addressed by the American Academy of Pediatrics' "First Ride/A Safe Ride" program, which encouraged the use of safety seats. Design changes have reduced the number of bicycle injuries, but human factors continue to contribute significantly. Most drownings occur in fresh water, with many children within a few feet of safety; continuing education is essential. Inculcating respect for animals, learning safety rules for interaction, and advice on pet ownership help to reduce animal bite injuries.
Encapsulation of PEGylated low-molecular-weight PEI polyplexes in hyaluronic acid hydrogels reduces aggregation.

Abstract The effective delivery of DNA locally could increase the applicability of gene therapy in tissue regeneration and therapeutic angiogenesis. One promising approach is through use of porous hydrogel scaffolds that incorporate and deliver DNA in the form of nanoparticles to the affected sites. While we have previously reported on caged nanoparticle encapsulation (CnE) to load DNA polyplexes within hydrogels at high concentrations without aggregation, frequent issues with limited polyplex release following CnE have been encountered. In this study, we report two alternative approaches to polyplex presentation for decreasing aggregation in porous hydrogels. The first approach reduces polyplex aggregation by utilizing polyethylene glycol modification of the gene carrier polymer polyethyleneimine (sPEG-PEI) to mitigate charge–charge interactions between polyplexes and the scaffold during gelation. The second approach electrostatically presents polyplexes on the surfaces of scaffold pores as opposed to an encapsulated presentation. The sPEG-PEI polymer formed a smaller, less toxic, and more stable polyplex that exhibited less aggregation within HA gels when compared to the traditionally used linear PEI (LPEI) polymer. Surface-coated polyplexes also resulted in a more homogenous distribution of polyplexes in hydrogels. Furthermore, sPEG-PEI polyplexes retained transfection abilities comparable to LPEI in 3D surface-coated transfections. These results demonstrate a significant improvement in scaffold-mediated gene delivery and show promise in applications to multi-gene delivery systems. Statement of Significance A promising gene delivery approach for regenerative medicine is implanting porous hydrogel scaffolds loaded with DNA nanoparticles for delivery to affected sites. However, loading DNA polyplexes at high concentrations within hydrogels results in significant aggregation. Here, we describe two methods for decreasing aggregation of DNA polyplexes in porous gels. First, the gene carrier polymer polyethyleneimine (PEI) was modified with polyethylene glycol (sPEG-PEI) to mitigate the electrostatic interactions between polyplexes and scaffold polymer to in turn decrease aggregation. Second, polyplexes were presented along the surfaces of the pores of the hydrogel instead of being encapsulated within the gel. These methods allow for highly tunable and sustained transgene expression from scaffold-mediated gene delivery while avoiding polyplex aggregation.
Effect of sugar on behavior and mental performance

Sugar is one of the major dietary components and any relation between sugar and behavior is of major interest. We review the scientific evidence supporting or refuting the relation between sugar and behavior or cognitive function. Little evidence supports the claim that refined sugar intake significantly influences behavior or cognitive performance in children. A few children may have idiosyncratic reactions or rare allergic syndromes and may therefore respond adversely, but this has yet to be substantiated by carefully controlled research. A role for glucose in the potentiation of memory processing appears clear. Further research is required to define the clinical relevance of this role and to elucidate the mechanisms involved. Sucrose may have a sedative effect, at least in infants, but there are no substantial data suggesting that any sugar has analgesic properties.
Comparisons of levels and predictors of mothers' and fathers' engagement with their preschool aged children.

Self-report data from 112 two-parent families were used to compare levels and predictors of four types of mothers’ and fathers’ engagement with their preschool aged children: socialization, didactic, caregiving, and physical play. Mothers were more involved than fathers in socialization, didactic, and caregiving, whereas fathers were more involved than mothers in physical play. Mothers’ greatest engagement was in caregiving, whereas fathers were about equally engaged in didactic, caregiving, and physical play. Mothers who contributed more to family income were less engaged in socialization and caregiving, whereas fathers with nontraditional beliefs about their roles were more engaged in didactic and caregiving. Children with greater temperamental effortful control received more didactic and physical play engagement from mothers. Fathers were more likely to engage in socialization activities with earlier-born children, whereas mothers were more likely to engage in socialization with girls high in effortful control. Mothers were more likely to engage in physical play with boys and with later-born children.
On the oxidation of Co35 w% Cr at high temperatures

The oxidation behaviour of coupon and spherical specimens of Co-35 w/o Cr have been studied in the temperature range 900–1300°C and at oxygen pressures from 0.2 to 760 torr. For coupon specimens the oxidation is approximately parabolic at and below 1100°C. Protective scales of Cr2O3 are formed on flat surfaces. Corners and edges show enhanced oxidation, and in these regions the surface oxide also contains CoCr2O4. Oxidation of spherical specimens is nonparabolic and the oxide scales consist of Cr2O3, CoCr2O4, and interspersed particles of CoO. During initial oxidation spherical specimens oxidize faster than coupon specimens.
CHF model for subcooled flow boiling in Earth gravity and microgravity

Abstract This study is the first attempt at extending the Interfacial Lift-off CHF Model to subcooled flow boiling conditions. A new CHF database was generated for FC-72 from ground tests as well as from microgravity tests that were performed in parabolic flight trajectory. These tests also included high-speed video imaging and analysis of the liquid–vapor interface during the CHF transient. Both the CHF data and the video records played a vital role in constructing and validating the extended CHF model. The fundamental difference between the original Interfacial Lift-off Model, which was developed for saturated flow boiling, and the newly extended model is the partitioning of wall energy between sensible and latent heat for subcooled flow boiling. This partitioning is modeled with the aid of a new “heat utility ratio”. Using this ratio, the extended Interfacial Lift-off Model is shown to effectively predict both saturated and subcooled flow boiling CHF in Earth gravity and in microgravity.
Light intensity and reactive oxygen species are centrally involved in photoregulatory responses during complementary chromatic adaptation in Fremyella diplosiphon

Light, including properties such as light quality and light quantity or intensity, and light-associated factors, including light-dependent, oxidative stress-associated accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), are involved in the photoregulation of cellular morphogenesis in the freshwater cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon. Although it has been long noted that differences in light quality can impact cellular morphology and filament lengths of F. diplosiphon, our recent findings indicate that light intensity and light-associated regulation of ROS levels are correlated with changes in morphology as well. Red light (RL) induces accumulation of ROS, as does an increase in light intensity, both of which are associated with a shift toward a more spherical cell shape. As the impacts of increased light intensity on pigmentation, cellular ROS levels and morphology are reversible when cells are shifted from high RL intensity to a lower intensity, our cumulative results suggest a causative impact of light-int...
Differential regulation of disheveled in a novel vegetal cortical domain in sea urchin eggs and embryos: Implications for the localized activation of canonical Wnt signaling

Pattern formation along the animal-vegetal (AV) axis in sea urchin embryos is initiated when canonical Wnt (cWnt) signaling is activated in vegetal blastomeres. The mechanisms that restrict cWnt signaling to vegetal blastomeres are not well understood, but there is increasing evidence that the egg’s vegetal cortex plays a critical role in this process by mediating localized “activation” of Disheveled (Dsh). To investigate how Dsh activity is regulated along the AV axis, sea urchin-specific Dsh antibodies were used to examine expression, subcellular localization, and post-translational modification of Dsh during development. Dsh is broadly expressed during early sea urchin development, but immunolocalization studies revealed that this protein is enriched in a punctate pattern in a novel vegetal cortical domain (VCD) in the egg. Vegetal blastomeres inherit this VCD during embryogenesis, and at the 60-cell stage Dsh puncta are seen in all cells that display nuclear β-catenin. Analysis of Dsh post-translational modification using two-dimensional Western blot analysis revealed that compared to Dsh pools in the bulk cytoplasm, this protein is differentially modified in the VCD and in the 16-cell stage micromeres that partially inherit this domain. Dsh localization to the VCD is not directly affected by disruption of microfilaments and microtubules, but unexpectedly, microfilament disruption led to degradation of all the Dsh pools in unfertilized eggs over a period of incubation suggesting that microfilament integrity is required for maintaining Dsh stability. These results demonstrate that a pool of differentially modified Dsh in the VCD is selectively inherited by the vegetal blastomeres that activate cWnt signaling in early embryos, and suggests that this domain functions as a scaffold for localized Dsh activation. Localized cWnt activation regulates AV axis patterning in many metazoan embryos. Hence, it is possible that the VCD is an evolutionarily conserved cytoarchitectural domain that specifies the AV axis in metazoan ova.
Mismatched DNA Base Pairs Show Increased Conformational Fluctuations

Base pair mismatches in DNA can have many adverse consequences, yet the exact mechanism by which mismatches are repaired is unknown. Both matched and mismatched DNA sequences were studied using molecular dynamics in biased and unbiased simulation. Significant differences were found between matched and mismatched pairs in structure, hydrogen bonding, and base flip work profiles. Mismatched pairs show greater movement perpendicular to the DNA strand and a lower free energy barrier for base flip than matched pairs. This supports experimental findings that the primary mechanism utilized by mismatch repair enzymes is to fully flip the base into the active site.
Analytic Study of the Tadoma Method: Improving Performance through the Use of Supplementary Tactual Displays.

Although results obtained with the Tadoma method of speechreading have set a new standard for tactual speech communication, they are nevertheless inferior to those obtained in the normal auditory domain. Speech reception through Tadoma is comparable to that of normal-hearing subjects listening to speech under adverse conditions corresponding to a speech-to-noise ratio of roughly 0 dB. The goal of the current study was to demonstrate improvements to speech reception through Tadoma through the use of supplementary tactual information, thus leading to a new standard of performance in the tactual domain. Three supplementary tactual displays were investigated: (a) an articulatory-based display of tongue contact with the hard palate; (b) a multichannel display of the short-term speech spectrum; and (c) tactual reception of Cued Speech. The ability of laboratory-trained subjects to discriminate pairs of speech segments that are highly confused through Tadoma was studied for each of these augmental displays. Generally, discrimination tests were conducted for Tadoma alone, the supplementary display alone, and Tadoma combined with the supplementary tactual display. The results indicated that the tongue-palate contact display was an effective supplement to Tadoma for improving discrimination of consonants, but that neither the tongue-palate contact display nor the short-term spectral display was highly effective in improving vowel discriminability. For both vowel and consonant stimulus pairs, discriminability was nearly perfect for the tactual reception of the manual cues associated with Cued Speech. Further experiments on the identification of speech segments were conducted for Tadoma combined with Cued Speech. The observed data for both discrimination and identification experiments are compared with the predictions of models of integration of information from separate sources.
Characterizing Cardiac Donation After Circulatory Death: Implications for Perfusion Preservation

Background Donation after circulatory determination of death (DCDD) involves variable definitions of death among hospitals, and DCDD hearts are not generally considered for transplantation. The definition can affect ischemic times, and machine perfusion preservation appears promising for recovery of DCDD hearts. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the agonal phase of DCDD donors and evaluate retrograde perfusion preservation of DCDD donor hearts in a large animal model of cardiac transplantation. Methods Ten canines were anesthetized and then disconnected from mechanical ventilation. Time to loss of pulse (systolic blood pressure Results The agonal phase was similar between groups. Loss of pulse and pressure were consistent between animals (7.9 ± 0.5 minutes [range, 5 to 11 minutes], 10.2 ± 0.4 minutes [range, 9 to 13 minutes], respectively). Electrical silence was variable at 26.9 ± 3.8 minutes (range, 11 to 43 minutes). All perfused hearts separated and remained off cardiopulmonary bypass. Three of four static hearts initially separated from cardiopulmonary bypass, but two returned by the end of the reperfusion period. The preload recruitable stroke work was significantly higher in perfused hearts. Conclusions Protocols for DCDD have implications on ischemic times of donor hearts. Machine perfusion preservation can recover DCDD hearts more consistently than static storage.
Ethics programs and their dimensions

All organizations have ethics programs which consist of both explicit and implicit parts. This paper defines corporate ethics programs and identifies a number of their components. Corporate ethics programs' structural and behavioral dimensions are proposed which may allow further examination of such program components and their impacts. Finally, fifteen propositions are suggested which describe the influence of founder values, competitive pressures, leadership, and organizational problems on corporate ethics programs and the manageability of such programs.
The Role of Foreign Direct Investment as a Structural Development Indicator of the Hierarchical World Economy

The world-system perspective has been little employed for the examination of foreign direct investment (FDI) distributions in the world economy. We approach FDI distributions as a function of the structural hierarchy of the world economy. The goal is to examine some fundamental relationships between the structure of the world economy and the flows and stocks of FDI. A state-space approach is used such that the world-economy classification serves as a dependent variable to be explained by FDI behavior. An FDI capital distribution model is developed to generate hypotheses for statistical validation. Results of the analyses suggest that, while the world-economy classification accounts for a significant proportion of variability, FDI is more complex than the core–periphery capital distribution model predicts. Differences in average profit rate, investment risk, and investment purpose all serve to adjust variation in the FDI distributions. Investment risk exhibits a stable relationship among world-economy clas...