cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence That MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging (Tractography) Predicts the Natural History of Regional Progression in Patients Irradiated Conformally for Primary Brain Tumors

Purpose Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is fast becoming the method of choice for treatment of nonsuperficial brain lesions. SRT treatment plans of malignant brain tumors typically incorporate a 20-mm isotropic margin to account for microscopic tumor spread; however, distant or progressive tumors occur outside this margin. Our hypothesis is that paths of elevated water diffusion may provide a preferred route for transport or migration of cancer cells. If our hypothesis is correct, then future SRT treatment volumes could be modified to provide elongated treatment margins along the paths of elevated water diffusion, thereby creating a biologically better treatment plan that may reduce the incidence of progression. Methods and Materials Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) datasets were acquired on patient subjects before the appearance of >5 mm diameter progressive lesions or secondary tumors. DTI was performed using an echo-planar imaging sequence on a 1.5T clinical General Electric scanner with voxel dimensions of 0.98 × 0.98 × 6 mm. After SRT, patients were given repeated magnetic resonance imaging follow-ups at regular intervals to identify early tumor progression. When progressive disease was detected, DTIstudio and FMRIB Software Library software was used to compute paths of preferred water diffusion through the primary tumor site and the site of progression. Results Our preliminary results on 14 patient datasets suggest a strong relationship between routes of elevated water diffusion from the primary tumor and the location of tumor progression. Conclusions Further investigation is therefore warranted. Future work will employ more sophisticated fiber analysis in a prospective study.
Scaling of radiation yields of single and double planar wire arrays at the 1MA zebra generator

Summary form only given. Analysis is presented on scaling of radiated x-ray power, energy and implosion timing of single and double planar wire array loads of Al, Cu, Mo, and W with respect to mass, width, and inter-planar spacing at IMA and 100ns current pulse. Such scaling investigations are important for understanding the potential of planar wire arrays as a radiation source. These data are used to identify promising directions to pursue with regard to highest x-ray output, smallest load size, and most consistent shot-to-shot performance. X-ray data were obtained from a Ni bolometer, an array of fast x-ray diodes, time-gated and time-integrated x-ray pinhole cameras, and time-gated and time-integrated x-ray spectrometers. It is shown that double planar wire array radiation yields decrease slowly as the width is decreased, which may allow for more compact loads without significant sacrifice to the output radiation. A mass scan of several W loads show that the implosion timing increases with mass while a width scan of Al loads reveal that implosion timing increases with width. Double planar array scans of inter-planar gaps from 1.5mm to 9mm show an output maximum at 1.5mm with decreasing output for 6mm and 9mm. In addition to raw data analysis, the novel Wire Ablation Dynamics Model is applied to better understand results by identifying how dynamic processes change as a specific parameter is varied and by 'stretching' the experimental data to reveal useful trends.
Design and control of vast DOF wet SMA array actuators

A new concept for an actuator array is presented where a vast number of actuators are contained within a small volume and are controlled in a scalable sense. This vast degree-of-freedom system utilizes an array of shape memory alloy wires embedded within a network of fluidic vessels. A matrix manifold and valve (MMV) system routes fluid from hot and cold reservoirs in order to control an array of N/sup 2/ SMA actuators using only 2N valves. A prototype MMV system containing a 4 by 4 array of wet SMA actuators is designed and implemented. Control strategies suitable for controlling MMV system that uses 2N valves to control N/sup 2/ actuators are presented. Two different protocols are presented and evaluated. The system error increases without bound under certain input conditions, since all the actuators cannot be activated at the same time. Simulations show that system error starts to go out of bound when the individual actuator is activated 25% of the time for the 4 by 4 arrays of the actuators.
Assessing Vulnerability to Agricultural Drought: A Nebraska Case Study

Recent drought events in the United States and the magnitude of drought losses indicate the continuing vulnerability of the country to drought. Until recently, drought management in many states, including Nebraska, has been largely response oriented with little or no attention to mitigation and preparedness. In 1998, Nebraska began to revise its drought plan in order to place more emphasis on mitigation. One of the main aspects of drought mitigation and planning is the assessment of who and what is vulnerable and why. This paper presents a method for spatial, Geographic Information Systems-based assessment of agricultural drought vulnerability in Nebraska. It was hypothesized that the key biophysical and social factors that define agricultural drought vulnerability were climate, soils, land use, and access to irrigation. The framework for derivation of an agricultural drought vulnerability map was created through development of a numerical weighting scheme to evaluate the drought potential of the classes within each factor. The results indicate that the most vulnerable areas to agricultural drought were non-irrigated cropland and rangeland on sandy soils, located in areas with a very high probability of seasonal crop moisture deficiency. The identification of drought vulnerability is an essential step in addressing the issue of drought vulnerability in the state and can lead to mitigation-oriented drought management.
Signals and noise in the mammalian retina

The mammalian retina serves as a convenient model for signal-to-noise ratio considerations in the nervous system as a whole, since it contains a rich diversity of forms of signaling and sources of noise. In this presentation, the field of neural signalling and noise in the retina is reviewed for a science-educated but non-neurobiologist audience. Some observations that bear on the question of neural signalling and the thoughts that these observations provoked are presented. The authors suggest that a major step forward in the understanding of the nervous system could be made if the plethora of exciting new observations could be reconciled in new generalizations about neural signalling. >
Residual Strength Analyses of Riveted Lap-Splice Joints

The objective of this paper was to analyze the crack-linkup behavior in riveted-stiffened lap-splice joint panels with small multiple-site damage (MSD) cracks at several adjacent rivet holes. Analyses are based on the STAGS (STructural Analysis of General Shells) code with the critical crack-tip-opening angle (CTOA) fracture criterion. To account for high constraint around a crack front, the "plane strain core" option in STAGS was used. The importance of modeling rivet flexibility with fastener elements that accurately model load transfer across the joint is discussed. Fastener holes are not modeled but rivet connectivity is accounted for by attaching rivets to the sheet on one side of the cracks that simulated both the rivet diameter and MSD cracks. Residual strength analyses made on 2024-T3 alloy (1.6-mm thick) riveted-lap-splice joints with a lead crack and various size MSD cracks were compared with test data from Boeing Airplane Company. Analyses were conducted for both restrained and unrestrained buckling conditions. Comparison of results from these analyses and results from lap-splice-joint test panels, which were partially restrained against buckling indicate that the test results were bounded by the failure loads predicted by the analyses with restrained and unrestrained conditions.
Dust Production and Mass Loss in Cool Evolved Stars

Following the red giant branch phase and the subsequent core He-burning phase, the low- to intermediate-mass stars (0.8<M/M solar mass <8) begin to ascend the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). Pulsations levitate material from the stellar surface and provide density enhancements and shocks, which can encourage dust formation and re-processing. The dust composition depends on the atmospheric chemistry (abundance of carbon relative to oxygen), which is altered by dredging up newly formed carbon to the surface of the star. I will briefly review the current status of models that include AGB mass loss and relate them to recent observations of AGB stars from the Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution (SAGE) Spitzer surveys of the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, including measures of the total dust input to the interstellar medium from AGB stars.
Retrofitting the Genome: L1 Extinction Follows Endogenous Retroviral Expansion in a Group of Muroid Rodents

Long interspersed nuclear element 1 (LINE-1; L1) retrotransposons are the most common retroelements in mammalian genomes. Unlike individual families of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), they have remained active throughout the mammalian radiation and are responsible for most of the retroelement movement and much genome rearrangement within mammals. They can be viewed as occupying a substantial niche within mammalian genomes. Our previous demonstration that L1s and B1 short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) are inactive in a group of South American rodents led us to ask if other elements have amplified to fill the empty niche. We identified a novel and highly active family of ERVs (mysTR). To determine whether loss of L1 activity was correlated with expansion of mysTR, we examined mysTR activity in four South American rodent species that have lost L1 and B1 activity and four sister species with active L1s. The copy number of recent mysTR insertions was extremely high, with an average of 4,200 copies per genome. High copy numbers exist in both L1-active and L1-extinct species, so the mysTR expansion appears to have preceded the loss of both SINE and L1 activity rather than to have filled an empty niche created by their loss. It may be coincidental that two unusual genomic events--loss of L1 activity and massive expansion of an ERV family--occur in the same group of mammals. Alternatively, it is possible that this large ERV expansion set the stage for L1 extinction.
Assembly of the AAA ATPase Vps4 on ESCRT-III

Vps4 is a key enzyme that functions in endosomal protein trafficking, cytokinesis, and retroviral budding. Vps4 activity is regulated by its recruitment from the cytoplasm to ESCRT-III, where the protein oligomerizes into an active ATPase. The recruitment and oligomerization steps are mediated by a complex network of at least 12 distinct interactions between Vps4, ESCRT-III, Ist1, Vta1, and Did2. The order of events leading to active, ESCRT-III-associated Vps4 is poorly understood. In this study we present a systematic in vivo analysis of the Vps4 interaction network. The data demonstrated a high degree of redundancy in the network. Although no single interaction was found to be essential for the localization or activity of Vps4, certain interactions proved more important than others. The most significant among these were the binding of Vps4 to Vta1 and to the ESCRT-III subunits Vps2 and Snf7. In our model we propose the formation of a recruitment complex in the cytoplasm that is composed of Did2-Ist1-Vps4, which upon binding to ESCRT-III recruits Vta1. Vta1 in turn is predicted to cause a rearrangement of the Vps4 interactions that initiates the assembly of the active Vps4 oligomer.
Birth Timing and the Division of Labor in Dual-Earner Families Exploratory Findings and Suggestions for Future Research

This article reports on the results of an exploratory study of domestic role-sharing in a purposive sample of dual-earner couples with school-aged children. Divisions of household labor are analyzed with reference to the couples' accounts of how and why they attempt to share child care and housework. Postponing the transition to parenthood facilitated task-sharing by encouraging men to become attached to the father role and promoting women's efforts to relinquish full responsibility for household management. Past findings linking educational attainment to husbands' housework are reevaluated with reference to the potential impacts of birth timing, and suggestions are offered for future research on divisions of household labor.
A divide-and-conquer methodology for system-level diagnosis of processor arrays

System-level diagnosis in a multiprocessor system should be both effective and efficient. Most of the existing results are not applicable in practice because of the high diagnosis cost and limited diagnosability. We propose a divide-and-conquer methodology of fault diagnosis for a general class of processor arrays, which is one of the most popular architectures in today's multiprocessor systems. Parallel testing and adaptive diagnosis are our major strategies. The over-d fault problem is inherently tackled through a deterministic method. Based on this unified methodology, we first propose an algorithm for 2D arrays. Moreover, our methodology can be fully explored to those multi-dimensional arrays with high degree of hierarchy like hypercubes. We thus propose another diagnosis algorithm for this kind of architectures. Analytical and simulation results show that our approaches are superior. >
Optimality and computational feasibility in transient control: Part I. A modified criterion for optimality

The notion of optimality with regard to transient control is critically examined with a particular view toward the computational difficulties of solving the optimal control problem, and the arbitrary aspects of the usual objective functions. Realizing a need for effective approximations, a criterion for transient control is developed which requires a minimum of computational effort to apply in practice. Optimality is achieved in an instantaneous sense, and it is argued that overall optimality is well approximated for many cases of practical interest. To demonstrate its use, the criterion is applied to the transient control of a stirred-tank reactor. Numerical examples are given and the results are discussed and compared with those obtained by alternative methods.
Engineering amount of cell–cell contact demonstrates biphasic proliferative regulation through RhoA and the actin cytoskeleton

Endothelial cell-cell contact via VE-cadherin plays an important role in regulating numerous cell functions, including proliferation. However, using different experimental approaches to manipulate cell-cell contact, investigators have observed both inhibition and stimulation of proliferation depending on the adhesive context. In this study, we used micropatterned wells combined with active positioning of cells by dielectrophoresis in order to investigate whether the number of contacting neighbors affected the proliferative response. Varying cell-cell contact resulted in a biphasic effect on proliferation; one contacting neighbor increased proliferation, while two or more neighboring cells partially inhibited this increase. We also observed that cell-cell contact increased the formation of actin stress fibers, and that expression of dominant negative RhoA (RhoN19) blocked the contact-mediated increase in stress fibers and proliferation. Furthermore, examination of heterotypic pairs of untreated cells in contact with RhoN19-expressing cells revealed that intracellular, but not intercellular, tension is required for the contact-mediated stimulation of proliferation. Moreover, engagement of VE-cadherin with cadherin-coated beads was sufficient to stimulate proliferation in the absence of actual cell-cell contact. In all, these results demonstrate that cell-cell contact signals through VE-cadherin, RhoA, and intracellular tension in the actin cytoskeleton to regulate proliferation.
Targeting β-Cell Function Early in the Course of Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: This report examines current perspectives regarding likely mechanisms of β-cell failure in type 2 diabetes and their clinical implications for protecting or sparing β-cells early in the disease progression. In addition, it considers translation strategies to incorporate relevant scientific findings into educational initiatives targeting clinical practice behavior. Participants: On January 10, 2009, a working group of basic researchers, clinical endocrinologists, and primary care physicians met to consider whether current knowledge regarding pancreatic β-cell defects justifies retargeting and retiming treatment for clinical practice. Based on this meeting, a writing group comprised of four meeting participants subsequently prepared this consensus statement. The conference was convened by The Endocrine Society and funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Novo Nordisk. Evidence: Participants reviewed and discussed published literature, plus their own unpublished data. Consensus Process: Th...
Patterns of Seed Dispersal and Dispersal Failure in a Hawaiian Dry Forest Having Only Introduced Birds

Dry forests are among the most endangered natural communities in the Hawaiian Islands. Most have been reduced to isolated trees and small forest fragments in which native tree species reproduce poorly. The replacement of native birds by introduced generalists may be contributing to dry forest decline through modification of seed dispersal patterns. To document seed dispersal by introduced birds, we conducted foraging observations on fleshy-fruited trees and measured seed rain under trees and in adjacent open areas for 1 year in a dry forest dominated by native trees. Although trees covered only 15.2 percent of the study area, 96.9 percent of the bird-dispersed seeds were deposited beneath them. The Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus) was the principal dispersal agent. Among bird-dispersed seeds, those of the invasive tree Bocconia frutescens accounted for 75 percent of all seeds collected beneath trees (14.8 seeds/m /yr) and the invasive shrub Lantana camara accounted for 17 percent. Although nearly 60 percent of the reserve's native woody species possess fleshy fruits, introduced birds rarely disperse their seeds. Native trees accounted for < 8 percent of all bird-dispersed seeds and are consequently experiencing dispersal failure by falling directly under parent trees. Smaller-seeded non-native plants, in contrast, may be benefiting from dispersal by introduced birds. Current dispersal patterns suggest that these readily disseminated non-native plants may eventually replace the remaining native flora.
Outcome of Psychiatric Hospitalization for Very Low-Functioning Demented Patients

The authors determined the outcome of geropsychiatric hospitalization for 73 very low-functioning demented patients (GAF score < 21). General psychiatric symptoms, depression, and agitation decreased significantly, and mean GAF scores increased significantly, with no significant change in cognitive function. Psychiatric hospitalization can meaningfully improve function and quality of life even in this very impaired population. Despite these improvements many patients are discharged to more restrictive settings.
Pediatric Nonpowder Firearm Injuries: Outcomes in an Urban Pediatric Setting

Background . Approximately 32 000 nonpowder firearm injuries are reported annually with more than 60% occurring in the pediatric population. Case reports of serious and fatal injuries have been described; however, no large inclusive series have been published. We reviewed an 11-year experience of an urban pediatric emergency department to evaluate the circumstances, spectrum of injuries, and outcomes attributable to nonpowder firearms. Methods . A retrospective, descriptive case series of all children 18 years of age or younger evaluated at an urban children9s hospital from January 1983 through December 1994 were eligible for study. Patients were identified using a computerized database, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, and the trauma registry in the department of surgery. Medical records were reviewed to collect demographic information, circumstances of injury, anatomic site and type of injury, treatment, and outcomes for nonpowder firearm injuries. Results . One hundred eighty patients were identified, and a complete data set was available for 166 (92%). The mean age was 12 ± 3.7 years, 24% of children were Conclusion . The majority of nonpowder firearm injuries are minor; however, the potential for serious injury should not be underestimated. Minor injuries can be treated with local wound care and tetanus prophylaxis, and patients can be discharged from the emergency department. Education of parents and children to the potential risks associated with these weapons is essential. Stricter regulations regarding ownership of nonpowder firearms and mandatory safety instruction should be considered.
Timing of hatching in a mourning dove population in Tucson, Arizona

Abstract We calculated hatching dates for 2,479 immature mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) captured and banded in a suburban area of Tucson, Arizona, during 2000–2012. Hatching commenced in February and continued into late September. Frequency of hatching peaked during 21–31 May and gradually declined to the end of September. Mourning doves in the Tucson area have hatching distribution similar to those of populations in other parts of the United States. Our data show no measurable differences in length of the mourning dove breeding season among varied locations throughout the United States over a 70-year period.
The Accuracy of Trajectories during ANATEX Calculated Using Dynamic Model Analyses Versus Rawinsonde Observations

Abstract Aircraft tracer measurements all made within 300 km of the release sites during, the Across North America Experiment (ANATEX) provided 30 separate trials to evaluate the error of back-trajectory calculations. The trajectory calculations used dynamic-model-output meteorological data from the NOAA prognostic Nested Grid Model (NGM) and from comparable gridded meteorological fields from 4-day rawinsonde or 2-day rawinsonde observations. Over all trials, no significant difference was discernable in trajectory accuracy using the different meteorological input data; absolute trajectory error ranged from 20% to 30% of the travel distance. When the trajectories were grouped into similar categories, the NGM data provided the but results when smaller-scale flow features were present; ones that could not be resolved in the rawinsonde network. Four-day rawinsonde data provided the best results when fronts or low pressure systems were present in the vicinity of the tracer release. Slower transport in more hom...
Synergistic effects of interferon gamma and tumour necrosis factor alpha on T84 cell function.

BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterised by chronic intestinal inflammation and increased epithelial permeability. Both tumour necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interferon γ (IFN-γ) have been implicated in IBD. AIMS To understand better the effects of these cytokines on epithelial cell function. METHODS T84 cells were cultured with IFN-γ and TNF-α and changes in transepithelial resistance (TER), fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) dextran flux, short circuit current ( I sc ), cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein levels, cell morphology, TNF receptor gene expression, and apoptosis were assayed. RESULTS Relative to controls, significant changes (p I sc were decreased to 51 (6.4)% and 24 (2.2)%, respectively, and CFTR levels were decreased to 47 (11)%. Cell morphology was altered but cell death was not induced. TNF receptor mRNA levels were increased. When added with IFN-γ, TNF-α accelerated IFN-γ dependent changes. Relative to controls, significant changes occurred after one day of culture with IFN-γ plus TNF-α: TER was decreased to 27 (3.5)%, FITC–dextran flux was increased by 185 (45)-fold, and cAMP and Ca dependent I sc were decreased to 66 (12)% and 35 (6.8)%, respectively. TNF-α also enhanced IFN-γ dependent changes in cell morphology but did not induce cell death. CONCLUSION IFN-γ alters T84 cell epithelial properties and TNF-α can enhance these effects, perhaps due to IFN-γ dependent increases in TNF receptor gene expression. Overall, these studies suggest that in IBD, TNF-α may have synergistic effects on IFN-γ mediated alterations of epithelial cell function.
Angiotensin II-Induced Hypertension Is Attenuated by Overexpressing Copper/Zinc Superoxide Dismutase in the Brain Organum Vasculosum of the Lamina Terminalis

Angiotensin II (AngII) can access the brain via circumventricular organs (CVOs), including the subfornical organ (SFO) and organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT), to modulate blood pressure. Previous studies have demonstrated a role for both the SFO and OVLT in the hypertensive response to chronic AngII, yet it is unclear which intracellular signaling pathways are involved in this response. Overexpression of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD) in the SFO has been shown to attenuate the chronic hypertensive effects of AngII. Presently, we tested the hypothesis that elevated levels of superoxide (O2 (∙-)) in the OVLT contribute to the hypertensive effects of AngII. To facilitate overexpression of superoxide dismutase, adenoviral vectors encoding human CuZnSOD or control adenovirus (AdEmpty) were injected directly into the OVLT of rats. Following 3 days of control saline infusion, rats were intravenously infused with AngII (10 ng/kg/min) for ten days. Blood pressure increased 33 ± 8 mmHg in AdEmpty rats (n = 6), while rats overexpressing CuZnSOD (n = 8) in the OVLT demonstrated a blood pressure increase of only 18 ± 5 mmHg after 10 days of AngII infusion. These results support the hypothesis that overproduction of O2 (∙-) in the OVLT plays an important role in the development of chronic AngII-dependent hypertension.
A Duopoly Model of World Wheat Pricing

arrangements for agricultural commodities emphasizes the need for an explanation of past price movements and for a framework for analyzing possible future price trends. This article reports an attempt to formulate a conceptual framework useful in exploring past wheat price behavior and for suggesting the important structural and behavioral variables likely to affect future price movements. The domestic policies of the major participants in the world wheat market are integrated into a duopoly pricing model. Two approaches to the world wheat market are prevalent in the literature. First, the market is considered from an institutional and statistical viewpoint [8, 10]; that is, the market is described in terms of trade flows and announced prices but little imputation is made regarding the underlying price mechanism. A second approach includes attempts to analyze wheat pricing in the period after World War II in terms of the International Wheat Agreement (IWA). Mendelsohn [12] argues that to consider international pricing in the framework of classical competitive trade theory is inappropriate and that "the world price of wheat is directly affected by monopolistic and monopsonistic forces exercised through the International Wheat Agreement" (italics mine) [12, p. 1724]. This article attempts to show that Mendelsohn is essentially correct in identifying the
CT in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Diagnosis and Beyond

OBJECTIVE. This review focuses on recent idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis guidelines with regard to CT-based diagnosis, the limitations and potential sources of diagnostic error in their clinical application, and proposals for future guideline modification and improvement. The review also addresses the use of CT in disease monitoring, prognostic assessment, and therapeutic clinical trials. CONCLUSION. Ongoing research and clinical experience highlight the need for updating existing guidelines frequently.
Selective Fabrication of SiC/Si Diodes by Excimer Laser Under Ambient Conditions

This letter presents SiC/Si diodes fabricated by the selective growth of SiC on Si substrate under ambient (atmospheric) conditions. The selective growth of $\beta $ -SiC was obtained by irradiating a high-power KrF excimer laser beam on a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-coated Si wafer. The laser decomposed carbon atoms from the PMMA, which dissolve into molten Si to form SiC. The Raman spectrum of the grown samples shows a dominant band in the range of 930–990 cm $^{-1}$ , i.e., the spectral region characteristic for $\beta $ -SiC. The quality of SiC can be optimized by changing the induced power. The best performing SiC/Si diode shows a good rectification ratio of $\sim 3 \times 10^{4}$ (±1 V), a low leakage current density of $\sim 1~\mu \text{A}$ /cm2 (−1 V), and high breakdown (>200 V), which confirms the high quality of the SiC/Si interface. The doping of SiC was calculated from 1/ $C ^{2}$ versus $V$ plot and found to be $\sim 5 \times 10^{15}$ cm $^{-3}$ . In addition, the measured photoelectric response shows a short circuit current density of 17 mA/cm2, an open circuit voltage of 0.33 V, and a fill factor of 62%.
Dose-dependent cannabis use, depressive symptoms, and FAAH genotype predict sleep quality in emerging adults: a pilot study

ABSTRACTBackground: Cannabis has been shown to affect sleep in humans. Findings from animal studies indicate that higher endocannabinoid levels promote sleep, suggesting that chronic use of cannabis, which downregulates endocannabinoid activity, may disrupt sleep. Objectives: This study sought to determine if past-year cannabis use and genes that regulate endocannabinoid signaling, FAAH rs324420 and CNR1 rs2180619, predicted sleep quality. As depression has been previously associated with both cannabis and sleep, the secondary aim was to determine if depressive symptoms moderated or mediated these relationships. Methods: Data were collected from 41 emerging adult (ages 18–25) cannabis users. Exclusion criteria included Axis I disorders (besides SUD) and medical and neurologic disorders. Relationships were tested using multiple regressions, controlling for demographic variables, past-year substance use, and length of cannabis abstinence. Results: Greater past-year cannabis use and FAAH C/C genotype were as...
Electromyographic/Somatosensory Evoked Potential Monitoring During Sacral Neuromodulation

Sacral root neuromodulation has been employed for the treatment of idiopathic overactive bladder, fecal incontinence, urgency-frequency syndromes, interstitial cystitis, pudendal neuralgia, vulvodynia, coccygodynia, and a variety of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) syndromes. A direct, single root stimulation device received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of urinary urgency and frequency, urinary incontinence in 1997, and urinary retention in 1999, but many centers have had more success with retrograde longitudinal placement within the spinal canal. The ventral rami of S2–4 provide innervation of the pelvis. The S3 sacral level contributes to the innervation of the anterior perineal muscles, making it the most frequent target in treatment of pelvic dysfunction and a typical target for the single root percutaneous device. These portions of the nervous system have traditionally been very difficult to target with traditional methods over the dorsal columns in the spinal cord. The conus medullaris is a highly mobile structure, which is nearly enveloped in the nerve roots of the cauda equina. Accordingly, placement of epidural stimulating electrodes over the conus has traditionally been plagued by extreme variability in the effects of stimulation, not only from patient to patient but also in the same patient over time. At the conus level, the dorsal cerebrospinal fluid layer is relatively thick and serves as an insulator for the spinal cord; the conus is very mobile, which increases the risk of lead migration, and finally, owing to the presence of large afferent fibers, the sacral stimulation may produce undesired paresthesia in additional regions.
Rationales and Purposes of Book

This chapter provides an introduction to Critical Literacy Practice: Applications of Critical Theory in Diverse Settings. It describes the purpose of this book which is to show educators the application of critical theory through practice in diverse educational (kindergarten through university) settings. It then provides the layout of the book with brief summaries of each chapter. Through examples of critical literacy practice in various current research studies in and beyond the classroom, this book helps teachers, researchers, and teacher educators make clear connections between critical literacy theory and practice.
Proto-Variation in Protoplast Derived Brassica Napus Plants

Plant regeneration from protoplasts facilitates gene transfer, somatic cell fusion, and mutation. Genetic variability in plants regenerated from tissue culture is termed “somaclonal variation” (Larkin and Scowcroft, 1981), and we propose that variation observed in protoplast derived plants be referred to as “proto-variation”. Our aims were 1) to regenerate plants from Brassica napus L. protoplasts; and 2) to select desirable proto-variants (p-variants) with herbicide resistance and high seed quantity.
What Freud Really Meant: A Chronological Reconstruction of his Theory of the Mind

Through an exacting yet accessible reconstruction of eleven of Freud's essential theoretical writings, Susan Sugarman demonstrates that the traditionally received Freud is the diametric opposite of the one evident in the pages of his own works. Whereas Freud's theory of the mind is typically conceived as a catalogue of uninflected concepts and crude reductionism - for instance that we are nothing but our infantile origins or sexual and aggressive instincts - it emerges here as an organic whole built from first principles and developing in sophistication over time. Sugarman's exciting interpretation, tracking Freud's texts in the order in which he wrote them, grounds his claims in the reasoning that led to them and reveals their real intent. This fresh reading will appeal to specialists and students across a variety of disciplines.
The correlation between muscle activity of the quadriceps and balance and gait in stroke patients

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between quadriceps muscle activity and balance and gait in stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] Fifty-five stroke patients (30 males 25 females; mean age 58.7 years; stroke duration 4.82 months; Korean mini-mental state examination score 26.4) participated in this study. MP100 surface electromyography, BioRescue, and LUKOtronic were used to measure the quadriceps muscle activity, balance, and gait, respectively. [Results] There was a significant correlation between quadriceps muscle activity (vastus lateralis % reference voluntary contraction, vastus medialis % reference voluntary contraction) and balance (limits of stability) and gait (gait velocity) but there was none between vastus lateralis % reference voluntary contraction, vastus medialis % reference voluntary contraction. [Conclusion] An increase in quadriceps muscle activity will improve balance and gait ability. To improve function in stroke patients, training is needed to strengthen the quadriceps muscles.
Limestone-Mediated Suppression of Fusarium Wilt in Spinach Seed Crops

Fusarium wilt of spinach is caused by the soilborne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. spinaciae and occurs in most regions of spinach production. The disease is favored by acid soils and warm temperatures, and the fungus can survive extended periods as chlamydospores or by asymptomatic colonization of the roots of nonhost plant species. The 10- to 15-year rotation required to minimize losses to Fusarium wilt is the primary constraint on spinach seed production in the maritime Pacific Northwest, the only region of the United States suitable for this cool-season, daylength-sensitive crop. Raising soil pH with agricultural limestone (97% CaCO3) results in a transitory, partially suppressive effect on spinach Fusarium wilt. A field trial was completed from 2009 to 2012 to assess the potential for annual applications of agricultural limestone at 0, 2.24, and 4.48 tons/ha for 3 years prior to a spinach seed crop to improve Fusarium wilt suppression compared with the level of suppression attained from a single limestone amendment at 4.48 tons/ha. Three proprietary female spinach lines were planted that ranged from highly susceptible to partially resistant to Fusarium wilt. Three successive annual applications of limestone at 4.48 tons/ha reduced midseason wilt incidence by an average of 20%, increased spinach biomass by 33%, and increased marketable spinach seed yield by 45% compared with plots amended once with the same rate of limestone in the spring of planting. The suppressive effect increased with increasing rate of limestone amendment, with the greatest difference observed when limestone was applied at between 0 and 2.24 tons/ha annually for 3 years. The effects on seed yield were greatest for the partially resistant female line, followed by the moderately susceptible and highly susceptible female lines. Overall, the results demonstrate that annual applications of agricultural limestone on acid soils of the maritime Pacific Northwest of the United States can enhance suppression of spinach Fusarium wilt, potentially reducing the required rotation interval by as much as 50%, thereby doubling the capacity for spinach seed production in the United States.
Iodine Deficiency and Learning Disabilities

The effect of prolonged iodine deficiency on learning and motivation to achieve was studied in 100 male children selected from both severely iodine-deficient (SID) and mildly iodine-deficient (MID) villages and reported from the Department of Psychology, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, and Department of Endocrinology, Banjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
Novel patient optimized acquisition trajectories for dedicated breast SPECT imaging

Novel acquisition trajectories developed for our dedicated breast SPECT camera move 3 dimensionally within a hemispherical volume, fully contouring a patient’s pendent breast to provide a high quality, high resolution 3D functional image. Each unique trajectory, created in under a minute, is tailored for each breast of each subject to obtain the highest image quality for a particular study. If a suspected lesion location is known prior to the scan, a trajectory can be created with many close and direct views of the lesion. A torso phantom with an attached 1730 mL breast phantom containing a 2.1 mL (0.8cm radius) spherical lesion was filled with clinical levels of activity: heart:liver:torso:breast:lesion concentration ratio 12:12:1:1:6. A variety of novel acquisition trajectories were employed to image the lesion. Sequentially increasing tilted parallel beam trajectories investigated signals obtained from different polar angles for imaging the breast and chest wall with contamination from the heart and liver. These studies yielded a bound on polar positions for all azimuthal locations in order to minimize background contamination. Other trajectories were created to obtain the best lesion signal. This study shows sinusoidal trajectories can recover the breast’s shape and image into the chest wall best. Changing the camera’s starting position or subtracting projection views can reduce cardiac and hepatic contamination in the reconstructed image. However, more than one trajectory may provide equivalent image quality. Acquisition trajectories can be created to meet specific imaging goals which consider certain patient factors, such as breast size, lesion location and cardiac and hepatic uptake.
Remote Sensing Applications to Ocean and Human Health

Remote sensing is defined here as the acquisition of information about an object without physical contact by way of recording or sensing devices mounted on aircraft, satellites, or simply sited on a high hill or bluff overlooking an area of interest. Ocean and human health is the general field that assesses conditions in the marine environment including estuaries that are relevant to the well-being of living resources and to the use of these resources and seawater by humans for amenities or the sustenance of life.
Maintain optimal staffing with position control

Often indicated as a top priority, managing labor costs is vital to sustaining an organization's financial health.1 The American Organization of Nurse Executives identifies business skills, specifically financial management, as an essential nurse leader competency.2 We're required to maintai
Outcomes of Operative Vaginal Delivery during Trial of Labor after Cesarean Delivery.

Objective The objective of this study is to determine the maternal and neonatal morbidity associated with attempting operative vaginal delivery (OVD) compared with the alternative of a laboring repeat cesarean delivery (LRCD) in women attempting a trial of labor after cesarean delivery (TOLAC). Methods This is a secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective study designed to assess perinatal outcomes of OVD in women with a prior uterine scar. The study includes women who attempted TOLAC and reached +2 station with a fully dilated cervix. Composites on neonatal and maternal morbidity were compared between women in whom OVD was attempted and those who underwent LRCD by fitting multivariate logistic regression models. Results In total, 6,489 women attempting TOLAC reached 2+ station with a fully dilated cervix. Of these, 5,640 (86.9%) had a spontaneous vaginal delivery, 762 (11.7%) underwent attempted OVD, and 87 (1.3%) had an LRCD. Compared with attempting OVD, LRCD was associated with greater neonatal morbidity (odds ratio [OR]: 2.41; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13–5.15) and less maternal morbidity (OR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.14–0.55). Maternal morbidity of OVD is driven by perineal injury. Conclusion In laboring women with a previous uterine scar, attempting OVD is associated with greater maternal and less neonatal morbidity than LRCD.
Evolution: Catastrophe triggers diversification.

An analysis of more than 2,000 species of bird provides insight into how the animals' diverse beak shapes evolved, and points to a single rare event as a trigger for the rapid initial divergence of avian lineages. See Letter p.344 What shapes biological diversity? A study of more than 2,000 bird species shows that diversity in bill shape expands early in avian evolution before settling down to a more sedate phase, tapping wedges into Darwin's canonical barrel. The surprise, though, is that this pattern is decoupled from temporal variation. Early evolution is no faster than evolution later on. In addition, the authors identify a few occurrences of rapid increases in rate along single branches, leading to clades with extreme morphologies but few species
Neurotransmitters and Receptors: Melatonin Receptors

Melatonin is a neuromodulator that is synthesized by retinal photoreceptors during the dark period under the control of a circadian pacemaker. Melatonin diffuses to other cells in the retina and binds to specific G protein-coupled receptors to modify their activity. Potential target cells for melatonin within the retina are horizontal cells, bipolar cells, amacrine cells, ganglion cells, retinal pigment epithelial cells, and the photoreceptors themselves. Melatonin inhibits the release of dopamine from amacrine cells and increases the light sensitivity of bipolar and horizontal cells, but also may have direction actions on these cells. The expression of different melatonin receptor subtypes may enable target cells to respond to melatonin by a variety of signaling mechanisms.
Navigating Difficulty in Classroom-Community Outreach Projects

Article Abstract Sustainability in community engagement projects depends on careful attention to the ways we navigate complex, often challenging relationships with our partners, our students, agencies, and the institutions in which we occupy multiple, sometimes competing roles. This article considers the difficulty inherent in developing and maintaining relationships with the community members who choose to participate in our research. Based on the experiences of three undergraduate students in a community literacy seminar, the author traces the ways these students confront challenges in their projects, arguing for the value of difficulty in community literacy work.
Strong Stability of Invariant Subspaces of Quaternion Matrices

Classes of matrices and their invariant subspaces with various robustness properties are described, in the context of matrices over real quaternions and quaternionic subspaces. Robustness is understood in the sense of being close to the original invariant subspace under small perturbation of the matrix.
In search of a universal human rights metaphor: Moral conversations across differences

AbstractThis article takes up the educational challenge of the framers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Specifically, the author explores the question of: how can we talk about a universal conception of human rights in a way that both respects the need for cultural pluralism and the necessity to protect those rights and freedoms that all people—regardless of differences such as race, class, culture, or religion—are entitled to? What metaphor or metaphors can be useful for us to speak clearly and coherently about the issue of universal human rights in a diverse world? The author examines a prevailing yet problematic metaphor, which Makau Mutua critiques in his well-known essay ‘Savages, Victims and Saviors: The Metaphor of Human Rights.’ He then attempts to articulate some common values that can serve as a foundation for an alternative conception of human rights. Next, he proposes an alternative metaphor—the Buddhist notion of equalizing and exchanging self and other—that more aptly captures t...
Order Parameters and Color-Flavor Center Symmetry in QCD

U.S. Department of Energy [DE-FG02-00ER-41132, DE-FG02-04ER41338, DE-SC0013036, DE-FG02-00ER41132, DE-SC0011637]; Los Alamos National Laboratory; University of Regensburg; Alexander von Humboldt foundation
Full Inclusion and the Education of Children and Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

The recent professional literature has been replete with articles focusing on the school reform movement labeled full inclusion whereby advocates are pushing for the placement of all students with disabilities in general education settings. While the movement's roots can be traced to advocates of persons with severe handicaps, educators, administrators, and parents are generalizing the movement's goals to students with other disabilities including emotional and behavioral disorders. Related issues surrounding the full inclusion movement must be examined prior to wide adaptation for all students with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to explore three relevant issues in determining appropriate placements for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. First, this article examines some of the current objectives of the full inclusion movement in relation to the education of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Second, issues surrounding the placement of students with disabilities...
Brief Report: Postsecondary Work and Educational Disruptions for Youth on the Autism Spectrum

This study examined vocational/educational disruption in the 2–3 years after high school for 36 youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Data were collected three times from parents: during youth’s last year of high school and two times after high school exit. Data were coded into categories indicating any versus no disruptions in postsecondary vocation/education, and group differences in individual (behavior problems, IQ, adaptive behavior, autism severity, stress reactivity) and family (parent depression, anxiety, quality of life; family income and climate) factors were examined. One-half of youth had experienced a postsecondary vocational/educational disruption; parents of those with a disruption had more depressive and anxiety symptoms and lower quality of life while their son/daughter was still in high school.