cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Producing zones of neediness in world politics: missionaries, educators, and a cultural political economy of colonialism in Appalachia

Against the “intellectual monoculture” that organizes American IPE, this paper draws on Inayatullah and Blaney’s conception of ethnological IPE and Escobar’s analysis of the production and manageme...
Innovative Teaching: An Effective Ingredient for Educational Change at University Level

Educational Change gravely needs an effective and innovative teaching methodology in universities. It is voice of the time, the innovative methods in teaching can not only meet the individual needs of the students but can produce high grade quality future professionals. To review the current status of teaching in universities, a quantitative study has been conducted. A survey based on innovative teaching practices and educational change linked with these practices have been done from the sample of 400 students of BS / MPhil / PhD and 200 teachers of BS/ MS/ MPhil /PhD level. The results have shown that still there’s a long way to go to encounter the fast changing scenario of education at higher level. Keywords: Educational change, Innovative Teaching, Ingredient, University Level
Tobacco Screening in Inpatient Adolescents On Admission

Introduction Tobacco use often starts in adolescence and national data demonstrates one in four high school students report using tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The AAP recommends screening adolescents for tobacco use and the inpatient setting offers an opportunity to screen and potentially treat tobacco dependence. The aim of this study is to evaluate inpatient adolescent screening for tobacco products and the performance of subsequent intervention. Methods This was a retrospective study of inpatient hospital admissions ≥ 13 years to medical-surgical units of a tertiary care, freestanding, urban children’s hospital …
Phantom Limb Pain

Phantom limb pain is a phenomenon known for centuries. It affects more than 70% of all amputees, and it is thought to be the consequence of central or peripheral neuron damage. The phenomenon of brain functional reorganization, called representational plasticity, has been shown to be involved in the development and propagation of phantom pain. The molecular mechanisms underlying phantom pain are even less elucidated. Future studies of these mechanisms may lead to help further identify the underpinning of phantom pain, and lead to new and improved treatment strategies. The optimal, evidence based pharmacological approach is still uncertain and the clinical management of phantom limb pain remains a challenge to the practicing clinician. Non-pharmacological therapies can also be considered. Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) may improve postamputation pain in this patient population. TMR performed at the time of major limb amputation is emerging as a promising surgical technique that may act pre-emptively and improve functional outcomes and quality of life in these patients. The most beneficial treatment is based on an early and aggressive multimodal approach, involving pre-emptive analgesia, pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, rehabilitation and possible vocational training, education and psychotherapy.
Hierarchical Integration of Thin-Film NiTi Actuators Using Additive Manufacturing for Microrobotics

Shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators can provide significant advantages for small-scale robotics given their robustness, energy density, and low voltage actuation. However, NiTi thin films typically found in SMA microactuators do not often provide useful forces and displacements for microrobotic applications. This work presents a fabrication process in which NiTi thin film actuators are integrated with two-photon polymerization (TPP) 3D printing to scale these actuators up for use in mesoscale systems. Individual unimorph actuators are characterized with respect to uniformity across many actuators so that actuators can be arrayed together for even larger forces or combined toward the operation of complex mechanisms. The resulting actuators are fast to prototype, reliable and stable (up to 5000 cycles), and can utilize complex geometries that are otherwise challenging to achieve with conventional MEMS microfabrication techniques. A 2D positioner is demonstrated by combining six individually controlled actuators with conventional mm-scale fabrication techniques (3D stereolithography printing, wire bonding and PCB assembly). The actuators are controlled by a commercial microcontroller and powered using a standard Lithium polymer battery. [2020-0208]
AIDS infrastructures, queer networks: Architecting the critical path

This essay pursues how HIV/AIDS and digital media transform one another’s historiographies. Working with the archive of activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya (1943–2000), the essay considers the role of AIDS organizing in the history of the Internet, and in establishing recursive relations between media formats. Kuromiya’s early adoption of Internet technology centered the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS, incarcerated people, and people of color to access vital information for community formation and survival. Tracing the unlikely collaboration between Kuromiya and techno-futurist architect R. Buckminster Fuller (1885–1983), which culminated in Kuromiya’s founding of the Critical Path AIDS Project, this essay interrogates the term “adjuvant,” which Fuller borrowed from immunological discourse to describe their co-authorship. Anchored in a critical engagement with the metaphor of the adjuvant — an agent aiding immunological response — this essay elaborates the digital infrastructures underwriting a blueprint for community building, offering a prehistory of digital queer care networks. In conclusion, the essay meditates on the role of curation in theorizing the temporality of AIDS and its ongoing histories.
Archaeological mitogenomes illuminate the historical ecology of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) and the viability of reintroduction.

Genetic analyses are an important contribution to wildlife reintroductions, particularly in the modern context of extirpations and ecological destruction. To address the complex historical ecology ...
Holding The World Bank Accountable for the Leakage of Funds From Africa’s Health Sector

This article explores the accountability of international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank, for human rights violations related to the massive leakage of funds from sub-Saharan Africa's health sector. The article begins by summarizing the quantitative results of Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys performed in six African countries, all showing disturbingly high levels of leakage in the health sector. It then addresses the inadequacy of good governance and anticorruption programs in remedying this problem. After explaining how the World Bank's Inspection Panel may serve as an accountability mechanism for addressing the leakage of funds, discussing violations of specific Bank policies and procedures that would support a claim related to leakage and examining the relevance of human rights concerns to such as claim, the article explores some of the Panel's limitations and the positive steps taken to address these concerns.
Towards High-Throughput Single-Cell Proteomics Using Droplet Microfluidics

Single-cell proteomics is emerging as an effective method to characterize cell populations. To accommodate alternative protein labeling and quantification technologies, it may be beneficial to incorporate cell encapsulation and droplet coalescence in a standard workflow. In this work, a microfluidic device was designed and tested towards the goal of high-throughput single-cell analysis. The device incorporated a cell-encapsulated droplet generator, an on-chip DNA-barcode droplet separator, and a droplet merging module. The microfluidic droplets that can contain cells are merged with the barcode-containing droplets. A merging efficiency of 68% was achieved.
Edge Computing-Based Mobile Object Tracking in Internet of Things

Abstract Mobile object tracking, which has broad applications, utilizes a large number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to identify, record, and share the trajectory information of physical objects. Nonetheless, IoT devices are energy constrained and not feasible for deploying advanced tracking techniques due to significant computing requirements. To address these issues, in this paper, we develop an edge computing-based multivariate time series (EC-MTS) framework to accurately track mobile objects and exploit edge computing to offload its intensive computation tasks. Specifically, EC-MTS leverages statistical technique (i.e., vector auto regression (VAR)) to conduct arbitrary historical object trajectory data revisit and fit a best-effort trajectory model for accurate mobile object location prediction. Our framework offers the benefit of offloading computation intensive tasks from IoT devices by using edge computing infrastructure. We have validated the efficacy of EC-MTS and our experimental results demonstrate that EC-MTS framework could significantly improve mobile object tracking efficacy in terms of trajectory goodness-of-fit and location prediction accuracy of mobile objects. In addition, we extend our proposed EC-MTS framework to conduct multiple objects tracking in IoT systems.
Deep learning for mapping element distribution of high-entropy alloys in scanning transmission electron microscopy images

Abstract The latest developments of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms have paved the way to effectively analyze the atomic structure of chemically-complex materials. In this work, we present a DL model built upon a fully convolutional neural network (FCN) to resolve the random elements distribution of complex PtNiPdCoFe high-entropy alloys (HEAs) represented in the scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images at atomic resolution. The objective of the proposed neural network is to learn through semantic segmentation the non-linear correlations between the pixels’ intensities of STEM images and the number of atoms of different constituent elements in the atomic columns (i.e., column heights) in the HEA’s structure. We demonstrate that our DL model is capable of correctly estimating the column heights or with an error up to 1 atom for the majority of the columns in the HEA structures represented in the simulated STEM images used to train and test the network. This establishes a sufficiently high level of confidence in the estimation of the element distribution in experimental images. The predicted distributions in different STEM images of nanoparticles reveal inhomogeneous fluctuations with local aggregations in the elemental atomic fractions within the columns. The most pronounced aggregation is displayed by Pt, which is the largest and most electronegative element in the synthesized HEA material. The proposed DL method is beneficial for an in-depth characterization of the structural properties of HEAs and multielement 3D materials in general.
Highly Efficient Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Immobilized on Cellulose Nanofibril Aerogels for Arsenic Removal from Water.

The application and optimal operation of nanoparticle adsorbents in fixed-bed columns or industrial-scale water treatment applications are limited. This limitation is generally due to the tendency of nanoparticles to aggregate, the use of non-sustainable and inefficient polymeric resins as supporting materials in fixed-bed columns, or low adsorption capacity. In this study, magnesium-doped amorphous iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were synthesized and immobilized on the surface of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) within a lightweight porous aerogel for arsenic removal from water. The IONPs had a specific surface area of 165 m2 g−1. The IONP-containing CNF aerogels were stable in water and under constant agitation due to the induced crosslinking using an epichlorohydrin crosslinker. The adsorption kinetics showed that both As(III) and As(V) adsorption followed a pseudo second-order kinetic model, and the equilibrium adsorption isotherm was best fitted using the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacities of CNF-IONP aerogel for As(III) and As(V) were 48 and 91 mg As g-IONP−1, respectively. The optimum IONP concentration in the aerogel was 12.5 wt.%, which resulted in a maximum arsenic removal, minimal mass loss, and negligible leaching of iron into water.
ECUT: Energy Conversion and Utilization Technologies program. Chemical Processes project report, FY 1982

Planned research efforts and reorganization of the Project as the Biocatalysis Research Activity are described, including the following topics: electrocatalysts, fluid extraction, ammonia synthesis, biocatalysis, membrane fouling, energy and economic analysis, decarboxylation, microscopic reaction models, plasmid monitoring, and reaction kinetics.
Targeting of the surfactant protein A receptor SP-R210L variant by influenza A virus in macrophages. (INM8P.440)

Alveolar macrophages (AM) are critical for controlling IAV infection by limiting virus release and by initiating innate and adaptive immunity. Surfactant proteins A (SP-A) and D (SP-D) are a primary line of defense against IAV. Previous studies demonstrated that the SP-A receptor SP-R210 mediates clearance of SP-A-opsonized pathogens. Macrophages express two variants, SP-R210 L and SP-R210 S , though SP-R210 L is predominant on AMs. Here, we studied the role of SP-R210 in IAV infection. We show that disruption of SP-R210 L in vitro blocked IAV infection with H3N2 and H1N1 IAV strains. Flow cytometry and microscopy experiments showed that SP-R210 L is required for endocytic trafficking of IAV to the nucleus. Furthermore, SP-R210 L -mediated infection of macrophages was coupled to the production of TNFα. Interestingly, SP-R210 L -deficient macrophages were hyper-responsive to the TLR7 ligand imiquimod. Accordingly, IAV inhibited SP-R210 L expression in a time-dependent manner. To address these results in vivo , we studied transgenic mice with conditional disruption of SP-R210 in macrophages; SP-R210-deficient mice were significantly more susceptible to IAV infection as indicated by increased morbidity, decreased survival, and severe lung histopathology compared to WT littermates. Taken together, these findings support the model that by co-opting SP-R210 L in AMs, IAV causes a functional ‘knock-down’, reducing the beneficial function of SP-R210 L and leading to excessive lung inflammation.
High-Tech Feudalism: Warrior Culture and Science Fiction TV

"Richard ΠΙ with aliens" is how Cornell (102) describes "Sins of the Father," an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (hereafter TNG) in which the Klingon warrior Worf, son of Mogh, seeks to restore his family's honour by exposing and challenging those responsible for falsely accusing his dead father of treason to the Klingon Empire. Worf is only partly successful in his quest, and he remains a perpetually marginal figure whose identity is divided by his Klingon heritage, his childhood as a Klingon orphan raised by humans., and his current status as the only Klingon in Starflect, the military arm of the Federation of Planets, an alliance of Earth and other worlds whose relationship with the Klingon Empire is marked by tension, suspicion and, at times, open hostility. As a result of these divisions and struggles, Worf s family is e'ventually stripped of its wealth and rank on the Klingon home-world, and Worfs brother Kurn seeks a ritual death as the only way to absolve his own and his family's disgrace.
K-series centrifuges. 3. Effect of core taper on particle capture efficiency.

Abstract The taper in the K-II core was designed to aid in maintaining resolution during dynamic unloading. Static unloading has proved to be superior in practice however, thereby eliminating the requirement for a taper. Since, as shown here, superior recovery is obtained with a nontapered core, the latter design has been adopted for the K-III titanium continuous-sample-flow-with-banding rotor (17).
Development and Control of Bacterial Biofilms on Dairy Processing Membranes

Membrane fouling is a major operational problem that leads to reduced membrane performance and premature replacement of membranes. Bacterial biofilms developed on reverse osmosis membranes can cause severe flux declines during whey processing. Various types of biological, physical, and chemical factors regulate the formation of biofilms. Extracellular polymeric substances produced by constitutive microflora provide an effective barrier for the embedded cells. Cultural and microscopic techniques also revealed the presence of biofilms with attached bacterial cells on membrane surfaces. Presence of biofilms, despite regular cleaning processes, reflects ineffectiveness of cleaning agents. Cleaning efficiency depends upon factors such as pH of the cleaning agent, temperature, pressure, cleaning agent dose, optimum cleaning time, and cross-flow velocity during cleaning. Among different cleaning agents, surfactants help to prevent bacterial attachment to surfaces by reducing the surface tension of water and interfacial tension between the layers. Enzymes mixed with surfactants and chelating agents can be used to penetrate the biofilm matrix formed by microbes. Recent studies have shown the role of quorum-sensing-based cell-to-cell signaling, which provides communication within bacterial cells to form a mature biofilm, and also the role of applying quorum inhibitors to prevent biofilm formation. Major cleaning applications are also summarized in Table 1.
Application of modular avionics to the EF-111A systems improvement program

IBM has been selected by Grumman to supply embedded processor sets (EPSs) for the EF-111A system improvement program. These EPSs utilize modular avionics technology to provide data processing and MIL-STD-1553 I/O for several avionics units in the system. Existing modules developed under the F-15 VHSIC central computer program are reused for EF-111A, thereby maximizing logistics benefits and reducing development cost and risk. The modules are implemented in the SEM-E form factor, and implement the PI bus, TM-bus, and MIL-STD-1750 instruction set architecture. A bus translator module interfaces the 1750 module architecture to the existing host native buses of the line replaceable units in which they are embedded. This same concept may be used in other applications that require a substantial processing performance upgrade at low risk and low cost. >
Spiral defect chaos in Rayleigh-Be´nard convection: defect population statistics

Abstract We report a number of observations regarding the populations of defects in the spiral-defect-chaos state of Rayleigh-Be´nard convection. The experiments were carried out using CO 2 at 32 bar with a Prandtl number σ = 0.98 in a cylindrical convection cell with radius-to-height ratio Γ = 52. The populations of spirals, targets, and sidewall foci were measured as functions of ɛ ≡Δ T /Δ T c −1 and were used to describe the transition to spiral-defect chaos. The probability distributions of the number and size of defects were determined and compared to Poisson and Gaussian distributions. The populations of spirals were further characterized by size and sense of winding (clockwise or counterclockwise) and the normalized difference is presented as a function of ɛ.
Effects of interfacial excess energy on the elastic field of a nano-inhomogeneity

Abstract A semi-analytical approach based on a variational framework is developed to obtain the three-dimensional solution for a nano-scale inhomogeneity with arbitrary eigenstrains embedded in a matrix of infinite extent. Both the inhomogeneity and the matrix can be elastically anisotropic. The Gurtin–Murdoch surface/interface model is used to describe the elastic behavior of the inhomogeneity/matrix interface. The displacement fields in the inhomogeneity and the matrix are represented, respectively, by two sets of polynomials. Coefficients of these polynomials are determined by solving a system of linear algebraic equations that are derived from minimizing the total potential energy of the system. In the case of an isotropic spherical inhomogeneity with dilatational eigenstrain in an isotropic matrix, our solution shows an excellent agreement with the corresponding analytical solution available in the literature. To demonstrate the capabilities of the method developed here and to investigate the effect of interfacial excess energy, numerical examples are also presented when the inhomogeneity and matrix are both elastically anisotropic. Both dilatational and pure shear eigenstrains are considered in these examples.
National leadership in confronting bioterrorism: 1.

John J. Hamre, PhDa I remember when I first had to think about bioterrorism. It was back in the fall of 1998, and Secretary Cohen was on a trip in the Middle East. We were in one of our periodic dust-ups with Iraq, and I had to go over to the White House to attend an interagency meeting with the president. At the very end, the president did something he never did any other time that I was there. He pointed his finger at me and said, “I need to talk to you for a minute.” Whew, that was a big deal! He hauled me into the Oval Office and said, “Is this book Cobra Event true?” I said, “Sir, I haven’t read it, to be honest. I don’t know,” but “before the sun rises in the morning, I’ll have 100 colonels who will have read it and we’ll figure it out.” I didn’t get 3 feet out of the White House compound when the phones were ringing all over the Pentagon. The Department of Internal Affairs was reviewing the book. We went to battle stations. You know, when the president says something, you do it. I was really surprised, and gratified, to find out that we had people at the Department of Defense (DOD) who did know about this book and had been thinking about the subject for some time. I, for sure, had not. That led to a remarkable event several weeks later, when the president brought together six or seven distinguished Americans who are experts in this area, some of whom have become close friends since, like Josh Lederberg. The president arranged a little tutorial for the cabinet, and it was remarkable to be sitting there and having the president of the United States and the cabinet officials sitting opposite these scientists. By the way, this is the way I think it worked in the past. I have a feeling that’s the way it was when they came and told the president about nuclear weapons 50 years ago. It ought to be like that: a dialogue with scientists who have a sense of public spirit. It was quite an eyeopening experience. Two months later, I remember the sinking feeling when I got a phone call from the National Military Command Center that reported, “We have what we think is an actual anthrax incident here in this country.” It was like one of those events that you hope never happens in you life, and it’s astounding when it does. I can remember virtually all of it, and thinking to myself, “This new world has finally hit us.”
Multidimensional political spectrum identification and analysis

In this work, we show the importance of multidimensional opinion representation in the political context combining domain knowledge and results from principal component analysis. We discuss the differences of feature selection between political spectrum analysis and normal opinion mining tasks. We build regression models on each opinion dimension for scoring and placing new opinion entities, e.g. personal blogs or politicians, onto the political opinion spectrum. We apply our methods on the floor statement records of the United States Senate and evaluate it against the uni-dimensional representation of political opinion space. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed model in explaining the voting records of the Senate.
TU-C-BRE-06: Effect of Implementing In-House Treatment Couch Model On Patient Specific QA for Pinnacle SmartArc Treatment Plans

Purpose: Failure to model the treatment couch during VMAT QA planar dose calculation may Result in discrepancies between measured and calculated dose. These discrepancies are due to beam attenuation by the treatment couch that is not included in dose calculation. This work evaluates effects of accounting for this attenuation on patient specific VMAT QA results using an in-house created Varian Exact couch model in Pinnacl Methods: Patient specific VMAT QA results for 13 Pinnacle SmartArc plans generated for treatment on a Varian iX accelerator were studied. These plans included 3 treatment sites (7 H'N, 5 brain, 1 prostate). A Pinnacle model for Varian Exact couch was created in-house to replace the CT simulator couch. Composite arc planar doses were calculated with no couch present (NC) and with the Exact couch model (CM) in place for each plan. QA measurements were taken using IBA Matrixx Evolution ion chamber array set up in IBA MultiCube and were compared to each planar dose. Gamma passing criteria of both 3%/3mm and 2%/2mm tolerances were used. Results: Over all treatment sites, increases in gamma passing rates from NC to CM ranged from -0.4% to +27.3% at 3%/3mm and +0.1% to +30.5% at 2%/2mm. Mean increases in passing rates were +3.7% and +5.3% for 3%/3mm and 2%/2mm tolerances, respectively. Site-specific mean increases (NC to CM) in gamma passing rates were +4.4%, +3.4%, +0.4% (3%/3mm tolerance) and +6.9%, +3.7%, and +2.9% at (2%/2mm tolerance) for H'N, brain, and prostate, respectively. Conclusion: Results support use of a couch model when generating planar dose for patient specific VMAT QA analysis. The improvements were most noticeable at 2%/2mm tolerance and for the H'N and brain sites. Eliminating treatment couch beam attenuation as a source of discrepancy in QA measurements may improve the ability to recognize otherwise masked delivered dose errors.
Predicting the onset of condensate droplet departure from a vertical surface due to air flow—Applications to topographically-modified, micro-grooved surfaces

Abstract Air-flow induced water droplet movement on micro-patterned aluminum surfaces consisting of parallel grooves tens of microns in width and depth is considered, and a simple model for calculating the critical air flow force for water droplet departure from vertical surfaces is presented. This model which considers the combined effect of the gravitational, surface tension, and air flow forces on the droplet was found to provide reasonably accurate agreement with experimental data for water droplets 1–25 μL in size. In this method, the user must specify the advancing and receding contact angles of the surface, droplet volume, and micro-channel width and depth (if applicable). When applied to surfaces of varying wettability, the model was shown to calculate the actual critical air velocity to within 15.2% for 89% of the droplet volumes analyzed. For surfaces with parallel micro-channels aligned vertically with gravity and no surface coating, the critical air velocity for water droplet departure was found to be more than 180% higher than the baseline surface (i.e. no micro-channels or coating)—a behavior that was also observed experimentally. Moreover, for micro-grooved samples with a PDMS coating, the required air velocity for movement across the channels was 1.0–1.2 m/s larger than the air velocity required for movement along the channels and only slightly lower than the baseline case. These results suggest that topographically-modified, anisotropic surfaces may be useful in air cooling applications where both heat and mass transfer occur and where the surface micro-channels are aligned parallel to gravity to not only assist in condensate drainage but to also resist the carryover of condensate into the occupied space.
Development of an Anthropomorphic Breast Software Phantom Based on Region Growing Algorithm

Software breast phantoms offer greater flexibility in generating synthetic breast images compared to physical phantoms. The realism of such generated synthetic images depends on the method for simulating the three-dimensional breast anatomical structures. We present here a novel algorithm for computer simulation of breast anatomy. The algorithm simulates the skin, regions of predominantly adipose tissue and fibro-glandular tissue, and the matrix of adipose tissue compartments and Cooper's ligaments. The simulation approach is based upon a region growing procedure; adipose compartments are grown from a selected set of seed points with different orientation and growth rate. The simulated adipose compartments vary in shape and size similarly to the anatomical breast variation, resulting in much improved phantom realism compared to our previous simulation based on geometric primitives. The proposed simulation also has an improved control over the breast size and glandularity. Our software breast phantom has been used in a number of applications, including breast tomosynthesis and texture analysis optimization.
Mapping full field deformation of auxetic foams using digital speckle photography

Measuring strain in foam presents a number of challanges. In the case of polymeric foam, the material is so soft that a conventional strain gage is not applicable because the rigidity of gage and its associated glue is stronger than the foam itself. Transducers such as clip gage, etc. may not be suitable either because the strain field may not be uniform within the gage length. Thus it is desirable that a non-contact and full field strain measurement technique be available. In this paper we introduce a speckle photography technique that is non-contact and can measure the full field deformation of a foam speci- 0 men. We use the natural texture of the pattern. Digitized images of the foam specimen under different loads are "compared" using a special algorithm called CAS1, to yield deformation maps of the specimen. Examples of applying this technique to testing PVC foam composites are presented in the paper.
Results of microbial testing exploring the etiology of deep breast pain during lactation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of nonrandomized trials.

Introduction: Controversy over the etiology of deep or burning breast pain during lactation continues to persist, despite a long history of published studies and case reports. This article reviews the literature exploring the etiology of deep breast pain, summarizes the results, and identifies possible explanations for the controversies surrounding this disorder. Methods: A clinical query and a librarian-assisted search of MEDLINE were used to find articles published between 1896 and 2010. Inclusion criteria consisted of comparing microbial testing results from symptomatic and asymptomatic lactating women. Cases were restricted to those experiencing deep or burning breast pain when possible. Results: Prospective studies consisting of 1 unmatched case-control and 6 cohorts were found. Trials typically detected higher microbial levels in the milk or nipple(s) or both of symptomatic women, irrespective of the detection method or type and range of microbes (bacterial, yeast, or fungal) studied. Case milk samples were positively associated with finding Staphylococcus aureus (relative risk ratio [RR] 7.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.25-16.36) or Candida (RR 8.45; 95% CI, 3.96-18.06). Moreover, recent reports about small-colony variants and biofilm-producing organisms may explain the atypical symptoms unique to this disorder. Discussion: In lactating women reporting deep breast pain, evidence consistent with infection is persistently found, and explanations exist for the disorder’s atypical characteristics. Although lactating women with deep breast pain are more likely to test positive for Candida, the risk of testing positive for S aureus is also present. Thus, these women should have cultures done. Management options include treating immediately while awaiting results or waiting until results are available to guide treatment. With either approach, providers must consider the risk of falsely negative tests.
Effect of pH and heat on the binding of iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc and the loss of phytic acid in soy flour.

The effect of pH and heat treatments on the binding of iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc and the loss of phytic acid in defatted soy flour was investigated. The soy flour was found to bind more iron, calcium, and magnesium at pH 6.8 than at pH 5.0, but the reverse situation occurred with zinc. Boiling caused a significant increase in binding of zinc and magnesium at both pH values, but was pH dependent for iron and calcium. Toasting caused a significant increase in binding of zinc and calcium at both pH values and a pH variable effect on iron and magnesium. Phytic acid analysis under the same conditions suggested that the degree of binding of these minerals did not correlate with the presence of phytic acid.
Emergency Neurological Life Support (ENLS): what to do in the first hour of a neurological emergency.

Emergency Neurological Life Support (ENLS) is a series of protocols, generated by experienced neurocritical care and emergency physicians that describe key steps when managing a patient within the first hours of a neurological emergency. The protocols are designed to help standardize these important early steps for several reasons: (1) patients will likely experience better outcomes, (2) they provide the essential elements to communicate to receiving physicians a patient’s diagnosis and emergency treatment, (3) this approach forms the foundation for eventual consensus on neurological emergency decisions, and (4) this consensus can inform researchers about the important clinical questions that need resolution to enhance patient care. ENLS is online and free to use. Certification and training in ENLS is hosted by the Neurocritical Care Society. This document introduces the concept of ENLS, reviews the history of its creation, and enumerates future goals as ENLS becomes adopted more widely.
Design and Implementation of a Portable Software Radio

We summarize the design and development of a portable software radio prototype built primarily using commercial off-the-shelf components and open source software. Our research group leverages these prototypes for several funded projects focusing on issues including interoperable public safety communications, cognitive wireless networks, and educational initiatives. The device components include a general-purpose processor on a small-form-factor motherboard, radio hardware, touchscreen and LCD, audio microphone and speaker, and an internal battery enabling hours of mobile operation. We describe the selection of hardware and software components, identification and modification of the operating system, and development of an application programming framework that augments the selected radio software. We discuss trade-offs in the selection of hardware and software, decisions that proved to be stable throughout the lifetime of the project, issues that arose, and lessons learned along the way. Significant advances over the past decade have made GPP-based software radio a viable solution in many areas, and this work demonstrates that today's processors are capable of enabling a new generation of software radio in portable form factor devices.
Regulation of Crustacean Molting: A Multi-Hormonal System

SYNOPSIS. In order to increase in size, arthropods must first molt (shed) their confining exoskeleton. This molting process is under the immediate control of the steroid molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE). Both the initial rise in circulating hormone concentration and a coordinated decline are necessary for successful molting. Synthesis and/or release of ecdysone, the precursor to 20-HE, is regulated by the neuropeptide molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH). We have determined the primary amino acid sequence of MIH in the lobster, Homarus americanus . This peptide has a high degree of identity with the lobster hyperglycemic hormone. Another endocrine factor that appears to be involved in molting is the juvenile hormone-like terpenoid methyl farnesoate (MF). We have characterized hemolymph MF binding proteins during the molt cycle. In addition, recent data indicate that MF may stimulate the secretion of 20-HE in vivo and in vitro .
Modified full-thickness anterior blepharotomy for upper eyelid retraction in children

Graded full-thickness anterior blepharotomy has been used to treat eyelid retraction in adult patients with thyroid eye disease. We report 2 children diagnosed with upper eyelid retraction who underwent a modified full-thickness anterior blepharotomy. In both cases, symptoms resolved and cosmetically acceptable outcomes were achieved.
The use of decapitated insects to study lipid mobilization in adult Manduca sexta: Effects of adipokinetic hormone and trehalose on fat body lipase activity

In order to perform studies on lipid mobilization in adult M. sexta, it is necessary to overcome the effects of starvation and handling, which both provoke an increase in hemolymph lipid concentration. When trehalose was injected into intact insects, a 35% decrease in the content of the diacylglycerol (DG)-rich hemolymph lipoprotein, low density lipophorin (LDLp) was observed within 30 min, but the level of LDLp returned to control values after 1 h. Decapitated insects exhibited 60% reduction in LDLp concentration and the levels remained low for at least 24 h. In contrast to intact insects, injection of trehalose into decapitated animals did not alter the LDLp concentration. After decapitation, the response to adipokinetic hormone (AKH) and the ability of the fat body to release DG into the hemolymph was maintained for at least 24 h. In decapitated insects, 6 pmol of AKH-stimulated measurable lipid mobilization and a near maximum response was obtained with 100 pmol of the hormone. The action of trehalose and AKH on the fat body triacylglycerol (TG)-lipase activity in decapitated animals was studied. Fat body homogenates from trehalose-treated insects exhibited a TG-lipase activity 40% lower than the control insects. Activation of fat body triacylglycerol-lipase was observed after injection of AKH, with the extent of activation ranging between 97 and 380% ten min after AKH injection. A time course study showed that the activation of the fat body triacylglycerol lipase preceded the increase in hemolymph LDLp concentration, suggesting that activation of the lipase initiates lipid mobilization. It is concluded that decapitated insects injected with trehalose is a very useful system for investigating the hormonal regulation of lipid mobilization in adult M. sexta.
Neurotoxicity of polychlorinated biphenyls: structure-activity relationship of individual congeners.

Experimental and epidemiological data indicate that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may function as neurotoxicants. The mechanism(s) of action of PCBs in the brain is not well understood. One reason for our lack of understanding of PCB action in the central nervous system is that, in general, commercial mixtures of PCBs have been used for these experiments. We used a homogeneous cell line, PC12 cells, to investigated the relative potency of 43 individual PCB congeners. The neurotoxicant action of PCB congeners was measured as a decrease in cell dopamine content. We first described the potency of individual congeners; 2,2′-dichlorobiphenyl was the most potent congener (EC50 = 65 μm). The structure-activity relationships described in these experiments indicated that (i) congeners with ortho- or ortho-, para-chlorine substitutions were most potent; (ii) chlorination in a meta position decreased cell dopamine content in ortho-substituted congeners, but had little effect in ortho-, para-substituted congeners; and (iii) increasing congener chlorination did not correlate with a decrease in potency, though total chlorination of a ring appeared to reduce potency. Second, we determined that potency did not correlate with either cellular PCB content or gas chromatographic retention time. Finally, experiments with 2,2′-dichlorobiphenyl indicated that PCBs and not their metabolites were the toxicants. Thus, PCB congeners decrease cell dopamine content by interaction at specific sites that have preference for ortho- or ortho-, para-substituted congeners. The neurotoxic action of PCBs may occur by a different mechanism than PCB hepato- and immunotoxicity since these effects are most sensitive to non- ortho-substituted, dioxin-like, congeners.
Alterations in mitochondrial function, hydrogen peroxide release and oxidative damage in mouse hind-limb skeletal muscle during aging

Mitochondrial function, hydrogen peroxide generation and oxidative damage were measured in hind-limb skeletal muscle from young (6-8 month) and old (27-29 month) wildtype and heterozygous Mn-superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) knockout mice (Sod2(+/-)). The reduction in MnSOD activity in the Sod2(+/-) mice makes these mice a good model to examine the implications of life-long elevated endogenous mitochondrial oxidative stress on mitochondrial function. ATP production was reduced approximately 30% with age in skeletal muscle mitochondria isolated from wildtype mice, and reduced 40-45% in mitochondria from both young and old Sod2(+/-) mice compared to the young wildtype mice. Release of hydrogen peroxide from skeletal muscle mitochondria increased 40-50% with age in both wildtype and Sod2(+/-) but was not higher in mitochondria from Sod2(+/-) mice. Activities of electron transport Complexes I and V were decreased 25-30% in both young and old Sod2(+/-) mice compared to wildtype mice, and were 25-30% lower in mitochondria from old wildtype and old Sod2(+/-) mice. DNA oxidative damage (oxo8dG levels) increased more than 45% with age and over 130% in the young Sod2(+/-) mice compared to the wildtype mice. These data show that mitochondrial oxidative stress in mouse skeletal muscle is increased with age, leading to alterations in mitochondrial function. In addition, increased oxidative stress generated by reduced activity of MnSOD does not exacerbate these alterations during aging.
An Intercomparison of the High Temperature Scale

List of laboratories taking part in intercomparison.\char22{}This paper gives results on an intercomparison of the high temperature scales in use at the Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt in Berlin, the Laboratoire Central in Paris, the Laboratory of the Philips Glowlampworks in Eindhoven, and the Laboratory of the Osram Lamp Company at Berlin with that in use in the Laboratory at Nela Park. For purpose in comparison the results of a previous intercomparison with the Bureau of Standards, the National Physical Laboratory at London, the General Electric Research Laboratory at Schenectady, and the Physical Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin are included.
Low overhead Soft Error Mitigation techniques for high-performance and aggressive systems

The threat of soft error induced system failure in high performance computing systems has become more prominent, as we adopt ultra-deep submicron process technologies. In this paper, we propose two techniques, namely Soft Error Mitigation (SEM) and Soft and Timing Error Mitigation (STEM), for protecting combinational logic blocks from soft errors. Our first technique (SEM), based on distributed and temporal voting of three registers, unloads the soft error detection overhead from the critical path of the systems. Our second technique (STEM) adds timing error detection capability to guarantee reliable execution in aggressively clocked designs that enhance system performance by operating beyond worst-case clock frequency. We also present a specialized low overhead clock generation scheme that ably supports our proposed techniques. Timing annotated gate level simulations, using 45nm libraries, of a pipelined adder-multiplier and DLX processor show that both our techniques achieve near 100% fault coverage. For DLX processor, even under severe fault injection campaigns, SEM achieves an average performance improvement of 26.58% over a conventional triple modular redundancy voter based soft error mitigation scheme, while STEM outperforms SEM by 27.42%.
Effects of surface heat transfer on the performance of a thermoelectric generator

Abstract Analytical solutions are given for the steady-state temperature distribution, power output, and efficiency of a thermoelement which is used in a thermoelectric power generator. The longitudinal surface of the thermoelement is divided into three regions. The first region is exposed to convection with the environment at the cold junction; the second region is thermally insulated; the third region is exposed to convection with the environment at the hot junction. The relative sizes of the three regions are variable. The solutions are useful for predicting the performance of thermoelectric power generators and for showing the improvements in performance that can be gained through the use of surface heat transfer. It is shown that substantial increases in the power output can be gained if the thermoelements are exposed to surface heat transfer. It is possible to use surface heat transfer to reduce greatly the amount of fin surface needed at the hot and cold junctions. A numerical example is presented in which no fins are used at the hot and cold junctions; it is shown in this example, that, by using surface heat transfer, 97 per cent of the maximum theoretical output can be achieved.
Synthesis of monomethyl 5,5′-dehydrodiferulic acid

Synthesis of the internal standard reference compound monomethyl 5,5′-dehydrodiferulic acid is described. The synthetic scheme relies on a selective monomethylation of the known compound 5,5′-dehydrodivanillin followed by elaboration into the dehydrodiferulic framework through a dual Horner–Emmons–Wadsworth reaction with methyl diethylphosphonoacetate. Saponification of the ester functionalities provided the target monomethyl 5,5′-dehydrodiferulic acid in 49% overall yield from 5,5′-dehydrodivanillin.
SVM-like decision theoretical classification of high-dimensional vectors

Abstract In this paper, we consider the classification of high-dimensional vectors based on a small number of training samples from each class. The proposed method follows the Bayesian paradigm, and it is based on a small vector which can be viewed as the regression of the new observation on the space spanned by the training samples. The classification method provides posterior probabilities that the new vector belongs to each of the classes, hence it adapts naturally to any number of classes. Furthermore, we show a direct similarity between the proposed method and the multicategory linear support vector machine introduced in Lee et al. [2004. Multicategory support vector machines: theory and applications to the classification of microarray data and satellite radiance data. Journal of the American Statistical Association 99 (465), 67–81]. We compare the performance of the technique proposed in this paper with the SVM classifier using real-life military and microarray datasets. The study shows that the misclassification errors of both methods are very similar, and that the posterior probabilities assigned to each class are fairly accurate.
Transient steel factor dependence by neural crest-derived melanocyte precursors.

Growth/trophic factors, encountered by dispersing neural crest cells, affect the development of different crest-derived subpopulations. Here, we address the dependence by cells of the crest-derived melanogenic lineage on Steel factor (SLF). Specifically, we have asked when SLF-responsive cells first appear in cultured neural crest cell populations and whether there is a defined period during which this melanogenic subpopulation requires the presence of the SLF. We demonstrate that survival of a melanogenic subpopulation of cultured murine crest cells requires SLF for a critical period, which begins only after the second day of dispersal in vitro. We also conclude that the critical period of SLF dependence lasts about 4 days, ending about the time that melanocytes differentiate, as indicated by the presence of functional melanosomes, but before their overt melanization. Finally, we demonstrate that although the final stages of melanogenesis (i.e., melanization) do not appear to require SLF, this process may be enhanced by extended exposure to high levels of SLF in vitro.