cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
No Margin, No Mission: Challenges for Catholic Urban Schools in the USA

In the USA over 220 Catholic schools closed in 2006, many of which were in urban areas, leaving a number of parents, students, and teachers forced to fi nd new schools. Financial troubles are affl icting Catholic schools around the country as parish subsidies decrease and school enrollments drop, while the costs of educating students in Catholic schools increases. But Catholic schools are still an indispensable presence in urban education. Urban education in the USA is inadequate. Catholic schools, especially urban Catholic schools, have been shown to actually increased student achievement, as measured by standardized test scores, dropout rates,1 and even college admission. The situation is complex, and the literature on urban Catholic schools refl ects this complexity and begs the question of how to sustain these Catholic schools. What does it mean to sustain these schools? Sustaining the Legacy: Inner-City Catholic Elementary Schools in the United States (2004) took an in-depth look into inner-city or urban schools, painting a portrait of these schools and describing the situation according to three main elements within these schools: students, staffi ng, and structure. Urban and inner-city Catholic schools need enrolled students, committed staff, and creative structures that allow these schools to meet the needs of the communities they serve while attaining the resources to provide for these needs. As this chapter will show, in many ways Catholic schools are more effective than public schools (government-funded schools), yet face many challenges regarding students, staffi ng, and structure causing many to close their doors as a result.
Combined effects of genistein, quercetin, and resveratrol in human and 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

ABSTRACT The natural compounds genistein (G), quercetin (Q), and resveratrol (R) have been reported to each exhibit anti-adipogenic activities in adipocytes and antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic activities in several cell types. We studied the combined effects of G, Q, and R on adipogenesis and apoptosis in primary human adipocytes (HAs) and 3T3-L1 murine adipocyte (MAs). Combined treatment with 6.25 μM G, 12.5 μM Q, and 12.5 μM R during the 14-day differentiation period caused an enhanced inhibition of lipid accumulation in maturing HAs that was greater than the responses to individual compounds and to the calculated additive response. Glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, a marker of late adipocyte differentiation, was decreased markedly in HAs treated with the combination of G+Q+R. In addition, combined treatment with 50 μM G, 100 μM Q, and 100 μM R for 3 days decreased cell viability and induced apoptosis in early- and mid- phase maturing and lipid-filled mature HAs. In contrast, no compound ...
Fractional, Circular, and Defective Coloring of Series-Parallel Graphs

In this note we consider colorings of series-parallel graphs. Specifically, we provide bounds on their fractional and circular chromatic numbers and the defective version of these parameters. The main result is that the fractional chromatic number of any series-parallel graph of odd girth k is exactly 2k/k-1.
Role of CtBP in Transcriptional Repression by the Drosophila giant Protein

Abstract The giant protein is a short-range transcriptional repressor that refines the expression pattern of gap and pair-rule genes in the Drosophila blastoderm embryo. Short-range repressors including knirps, Kruppel, and snail utilize the CtBP cofactor for repression, but it is not known whether a functional interaction with CtBP is a general property of all short-range repressors. We studied giant repression activity in a CtBP mutant and find that this cofactor is required for giant repression of some, but not all, genes. While targets of giant such as the even-skipped stripe 2 enhancer and a synthetic lacZ reporter show clear derepression in the CtBP mutant, another giant target, the hunchback gene, is expressed normally. A more complex situation is seen with regulation of the Kruppel gene, in which one enhancer is repressed by giant in a CtBP-dependent manner, while another is repressed in a CtBP-independent manner. These results demonstrate that giant can repress both via CtBP-dependent and CtBP-independent pathways, and that promoter context is critical for determining giant-CtBP functional interaction. To initiate mechanistic studies of the giant repression activity, we have identified a minimal repression domain within giant that encompasses residues 89–205, including an evolutionarily conserved region bearing a putative CtBP binding motif.
Computer assisted holographic moire contouring

Theoretical analyses and experimental results on holographic moirecontouring on diffusely reflecting objects are presented. The sen- sitivity and limitations of the method are discussed. Particular emphasis is put on computer-assisted data retrieval, processing, and recording. © 2000 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. (S0091-3286(00)01201-0)
American Dialect Research

American Dialect Research. Dennis R. Preston. ed. Centennial Series of the American Dialect Society. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1993. 460 pp.
Postdischarge nutritional therapy

Nutrient-enriched diets for preterm infants after hospital discharge (preterm formula or postdischarge formula (PDF)) results in improved growth and these differences appear to persist beyond the period of nutrient intervention. The PDF diet effect is greatest in males, possibly reflecting their higher growth rates. The critical growth epoch appears to be the first 2 months post-term, suggesting a finite period and therefore opportunity for enhanced growth. Whether the observed growth effects persist further or have consequences for other aspects of health or development requires further investigation.
Nonlinear vibration of an edge-cracked beam with a cohesive zone, I: Nonlinear bending load-displacement relations for a linear softening cohesive law

Part I of this paper describes the computations of the quasistatic nonlinear moment-slope relation for an edge-cracked beam element with a strictly linear softening cohesive zone ahead of the crack tip. A static plane stress linear elastic boundary element analysis is used in which the cohesive nonlinearity appears in the crack plane boundary conditions only. An iterative solution scheme is used to determine the unknown cohesive zone length, the cohesive displacement jumps, and the bending mode J -integral. Interpreting the moment-slope relation as a generalized load-displacement relation the bending compliance (and slope) at a given applied moment are calculated from computed J -integral values over a grid of applied moment and crack-length values. The dependence of the moment-slope relation on the cohesive law parameters is studied and the various computed moment-slope relations are then used in Part II to model the dynamic effect of the cohesive zone and law on the free-vibration of an edge-cracked simply-supported beam.
Expression and regulation of soluble epoxide hydrolase in adipose tissue.

Obesity is an increasingly important public health issue reaching epidemic proportions. Visceral obesity has been defined as an important element of the metabolic syndrome and expansion of the visceral fat mass has been shown to contribute to the development of insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. To identify novel contributors to cardiovascular and metabolic abnormalities in obesity, we analyzed the adipose proteome and identified soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) in the epididymal fat pad from C57BL/6J mice that received either a regular diet or a “western diet.” sEH was synthesized in adipocytes and expression levels increased upon differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Although normalized sEH mRNA and protein levels did not differ in the fat pads from mice receiving a regular or a “western diet,” total adipose sEH activity was higher in the obese mice, even after normalization for body weight. Furthermore, peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonists increased the expression of sEH in mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes in vitro and in adipose tissue in vivo. Considering the established role for sEH in inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, and lipid metabolism, and the suggested involvement of sEH in the development of type 2 diabetes, our study has identified adipose sEH as a potential novel therapeutic target that might affect the development of metabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities in obesity.
Effect of Red Bull energy drink on cardiovascular and renal function

Energy drink consumption has been anecdotally linked to the development of adverse cardiovascular effects in consumers, although clinical trials to support this link are lacking. The effects of Red Bull® energy drink on cardiovascular and neurologic functions were examined in college-aged students enrolled at Winona State University. In a double-blind experiment where normal calorie and low calorie Red Bull® were compared to normal and low calorie placebos, no changes in overall cardiovascular function nor blood glucose (mg/dL) were recorded in any participant (n = 68) throughout a 2-h test period. However, in the second experiment, nine male and twelve female participants subjected to a cold pressor test (CPT) before and after Red Bull® consumption showed a significant increase in blood sugar levels pre- and post Red Bull® consumption. There was a significant increase in diastolic blood pressure of the male volunteers immediately after submersion of the hand in the 5°C water for the CPT. Under the influence of Red Bull®, the increase in diastolic pressure for the male participants during the CPT was negated. There were no significant changes in the blood pressure of the female participants for the CPT with or without Red Bull®. Finally, the CPT was used to evaluate pain threshold and pain tolerance before and after Red Bull® consumption. Red Bull® consumption was associated with a significant increase in pain tolerance in all participants. These findings suggest that Red Bull® consumption ameliorates changes in blood pressure during stressful experiences and increases the participants’ pain tolerance.
The Problem of Human Self-Transcendence in the Dialectical Theology

MAN POSES for himself his most tantalizing problems. He seeks to discover what he is, to foresee whither he goes, and to find what limits are imposed on his progress. He ponders his connections with the realm of matter, and seeks to locate himself within a larger sphere of an all-inclusive Reality. As a citizen of the world of space and time, man feels an essential homelessness, and reaches out toward a possible realm in which those aspirations which are unfulfilled in his present experience may find fulfilment. He persists in looking beyond himself as an individual, and beyond the social group of which he is a part. In so doing he is confronted with a tension between the world of possibility which he intuits and his own present situation. While this phase of the interpretation of human nature has been a subject of general concern to scholarship, the problem under consideration has been posed in new form by the contemporary movement known as the Dialectical Theology. The thinkers of this school have sought to harmonize a pessimistic interpretation of man with the insights of modern science into human nature and human behavior. In support of their position, they adduce the present world situation, and seek to utilize as well the pessimistic anthropology which they feel to be characteristic of the Christian Scriptures. The development of the specific question of human self-transcendence occurs chiefly in the writings of the following: Karl Barth, H. Emil Brunner, and Reinhold Niebuhr. It is Emil Brunner who furnishes the following definition of human self-transcendence:
Electrolyte and plasma changes after ingestion of pickle juice, water, and a common carbohydrate-electrolyte solution.

Context: Health care professionals advocate that athletes who are susceptible to exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMCs) should moderately increase their fluid and electrolyte intake by drinking sport drinks. Some clinicians have also claimed drinking small volumes of pickle juice effectively relieves acute EAMCs, often alleviating them within 35 seconds. Others fear ingesting pickle juice will enhance dehydration-induced hypertonicity, thereby prolonging dehydration. Objective: To determine if ingesting small quantities of pickle juice, a carbohydrate-electrolyte (CHO-e) drink, or water increases plasma electrolytes or other selected plasma variables. Design: Crossover study. Setting: Exercise physiology laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Nine euhydrated, healthy men (age 5 25 6 2 years, height 5 179.4 6 7.2 cm, mass 5 86.3 6 15.9 kg) completed the study. Intervention(s): Resting blood samples were collected preingestion (20.5 minutes); immediately postingestion (0 minutes); and at 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, and 60 minutes postingestion of 1 mL/kg body mass of pickle juice, CHO-e drink, or tap water. Main Outcome Measure(s): Plasma sodium concentration, plasma magnesium concentration, plasma calcium concentration, plasma potassium concentration, plasma osmolality, and changes in plasma volume were analyzed. Urine specific gravity, osmolality, and volume were also measured to characterize hydration status. Results: Mean fluid intake was 86.3 6 16.7 mL. Plasma sodium concentration, plasma magnesium concentration, plasma calcium concentration, plasma osmolality, and plasma volume did not change during the 60 minutes after ingestion of each fluid (P $ .05). Water ingestion slightly decreased plasma potassium concentration at 60 minutes (0.21 6 0.14 mg/dL [0.21 6 0.14 mmol/L]; P # .05). Conclusions: At these volumes, ingestion of pickle juice and CHO-e drink did not cause substantial changes in plasma electrolyte concentrations, plasma osmolality, or plasma volume in rested, euhydrated men. Concern that ingesting these volumes of pickle juice might exacerbate an athlete’s risk of dehydration-induced hypertonicity may be unwarranted. If EAMCs are caused by large electrolyte loss due to sweating, these volumes of pickle juice or CHO-e drink are unlikely to restore any deficit incurred by exercise.
High power, high efficiency E-band GaN amplifier MMICs

An advanced high power, high frequency GaN semiconductor process has been used to design high performance E-band power amplifier MMICs demonstrating unprecedented output power, PAE and reliability. To the author's knowledge, these power amplifier designs demonstrate performance beyond previously published results for E-band power amplifier MMICs.
Engineering New Approaches to Rehabilitation

The population in the industrialized world is aging rapidly. Modest growth in national economies coupled with rapidly increasing expenditures for medical goods and services have strained the health care budgets for most of the industrialized world. This means that there will be an increased emphasis on maintaining a productive, older workforce, and that there will be an advantage for health systems that can develop strategies to reduce disabilities, maintain individuals' function and control costs. While there is increased competition for resources from other disciplines, neurorehabilitation has a new set of tools that can begin to create the kind of scientific excitement and major clinical advances that we have seen in other fields. These include functional imaging, gene therapies, tissue engineering, biomechanical modeling, to name just a few. We also are seeing a new generation of investigators and clinicians emerging that are taking on the challenge of developing effective treatments for stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury. Science is rapidly moving away from the "cottage industry" of the individual investigator working in an isolated laboratory to the collaborative, multidisciplinary model of "big science". To survive, neurorehabilitation must maintain the pace of scientific and clinical innovation while also retaining the essential elements of successful clinical interaction
Porosity-size relationship of drilling mud flocs; fractal structure

The porosities of flocs formed from a used drilling mud were determined by measuring sizes and settling speeds of individual flocs. These flocs were produced in a Couette-type flocculator under a variety of combinations of fluid shear and solid concentrations. In the calculation of floc porosities, a floc settling model was employed that can consider the effects of creeping flow through a floc on its settling speed. Results show that floc structure can be well described as a fractal with a fractal dimension of 1.53- 1.64 for the floc size range tested. The effects of flocculation conditions, such as fluid shear and solid concentration, on floc porosity and structure were examined. It was found that floc porosity and fractal dimension were not influenced by solid concentration, but they increased as fluid shear decreased. Em- pirical expressions for the porosity of drilling mud flocs are obtained from both the floc settling model and Stokes' law. For solid volume fraction in flocs, the relative difference between these two expressions could be as much as 38%. However, the fractal dimensions estimated based on the two settling models are nearly the same.
Simian Virus 5 Is a Poor Inducer of Chemokine Secretion from Human Lung Epithelial Cells: Identification of Viral Mutants That Activate Interleukin-8 Secretion by Distinct Mechanisms

We have compared chemokine secretion from human lung A549 cells infected with simian virus 5 (SV5) with other members of the Rubulavirus genus of paramyxoviruses. High levels of the chemokines interleukin-8 (IL-8) and macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were secreted from A549 cells infected with Human parainfluenza virus type 2 (HPIV-2) but not from cells infected with wild-type (WT) SV5. The lack of IL-8 secretion from SV5-infected cells was not due to a global block in all signal transduction pathways leading to IL-8 secretion, since SV5-infected A549 cells secreted IL-8 after stimulation with exogenously added tumor necrosis factor alpha or by coinfection with HPIV-2. A previously described, recombinant SV5 containing substitutions in the shared region of the P/V gene (rSV5-P/V-CPI−) induced IL-8 secretion by a mechanism that was dependent on viral gene expression. By contrast, an SV5 variant isolated from persistently infected cells (Wake Forest strain of Canine parainfluenza virus) induced IL-8 secretion by a mechanism that was largely not affected by inhibitors of viral gene expression. Together, these data demonstrate that SV5 is unusual compared to other closely related paramyxoviruses, since SV5 is a very poor inducer of the cytokines IL-8 and MCP-1. The isolation of two recombinant SV5 mutants that are defective in preventing chemokine induction will allow an identification of mechanisms utilized by WT SV5 to avoid activation of host cell innate immune responses to infection.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF CRACK IN CENTRALLY PERFORATED PHOTOELASTIC CYLINDERS UNDER INTERNAL PRESSURE

Abstract : In this study, the frozen stress photoelastic method was used to investigate the three-dimensional effect on the crack growth behavior in a centrally perforated circular cylinder under internal pressure. The inner surface of the cylinder had a star shape, which consisted of six fins. The specimens were capped at the ends and pressurized internally above critical temperature after real cracks were introduced at the fin tip. After growing to a desired size, the pressure was reduced to stop crack growth and held through cooling. Two different types of cracks, part-through crack and long crack with the crack length nearly equal to the length of the cylinder, were considered. The experimental data were analyzed, and the results are discussed.
The Playboy Way: Playboy Magazine, Soldiers, and the Military in Vietnam

Scholars often have ignored Playboy magazine’s role in the Vietnam War because many have assumed its only function was to provide soldiers with erotic images of women. This article analyzes Playboy ’s content to explain its popularity in the Vietnam War. While acknowledging the importance of erotic images, this examination explores alternative reasons soldiers and the military embraced this “girlie mag.” Centerfolds provided soldiers with “round-eyed” sexuality, but the magazine also fulfilled other needs of the soldiers. Playboy provided a conduit through which soldiers understood social, cultural, and political issues of the time. Playboy ’s treatment of racial tension, military life, the politics of the Vietnam War, and the individual soldier combined with the girl-next-door sexuality that appealed to soldiers on multiple levels made Playboy the magazine of the Vietnam War. Considering what surrounds the centerfold in Playboy illustrates the surprising importance of Playboy to soldiers and the military.
Unfolding Size Distributions

In the preceding chapter, methods were discussed for predicting the distribution of intercepts that a random probe would make with objects in a three-dimensional space. This kind of modeling can be done using either line or plane probes. With line probes the length of the intersection can be measured, and with plane probes the area as well as the shape of the intersection can in principle be determined. This approach requires making several assumptions: the size and shape of the objects being sampled must be known, and the probes must be isotropic, uniform and random with respect to the objects.
Active Surveillance Cultures and Contact Precautions for Control of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms: Ethical Considerations

Infection control personnel are required to develop institutional guidelines for prevention of transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms, especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, within health care settings. Such guidelines include performance of active surveillance cultures for patients after admission to health care facilities or to high-risk-patient care units, to detect colonization with target multidrug-resistant organisms. Patients who are colonized with these potential pathogens are placed under contact precautions to prevent transmission to other patients. Such screening programs are labor and resource intensive and raise the following ethical considerations: (1) autonomy versus communitarianism, (2) indication for informed consent for obtainment of active surveillance cultures, and (3) identification of the appropriate payer. Relevant infection control, public health, and ethical principles are reviewed in an effort to provide guidance for ethical decision making when designing a multidrug-resistant organism control program that includes active surveillance cultures and contact precautions. We conclude that a program of active surveillance cultures and contact precautions is part of standard medical care that requires patient education but not a specific informed consent and that the cost for such programs should be assigned to the health care institution, not the individual patient.
A first test of elemental allelopathy via heterospecific pollen receipt

2 PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Cofl owering plants often share pollinators and may receive mixed species pollen loads. Although detrimental eff ects of heterospe- cifi c pollen receipt have been documented, trait-based modifi ers of interactions on the stigma remain largely unknown. Chemicals that mediate interac- tions between sporophytes could also infl uence pollen-pollen or pollen-style interactions. We test for the fi rst time whether nickel (Ni) accumulation in pollen can lead to "elemental allelopathy" and intensify the fi tness consequences of heterospecifi c pollen receipt. METHODS: We grew Ni-hyperaccumulator Streptanthus polygaloides in soils augmented with three concentrations of Ni, measured pollen Ni concentration, and hand-pollinated non-Ni hyperaccumulator Mimulus guttatus. We assayed pollen germination, tube growth and seeds of M. guttatus after pure and mixed species pollinations. KEY RESULTS: Streptanthus polygaloides pollen accumulated Ni in proportion to soil availability and at levels signifi cantly greater than M. guttatus pollen. Although receipt of S. polygaloides pollen increased M. guttatus pollen germination, it decreased the proportion of pollen tubes reaching the ovary and seed number. Increased Ni in pollen, however, did not signifi cantly intensify the eff ect of S. polygaloides pollen receipt on M. guttatus seed production. CONCLUSIONS: Diff erent levels of Ni in the pollen of S. polygaloides achieved in the greenhouse did not signifi cantly reduce the fi tness of M. guttatus . Stigma tolerance to Ni may also have contributed to the lack of response to increased Ni in heterospecifi c pollen. This study paves the way for additional tests in other metal hyperaccumulators and recipients, and to identify mechanisms of interactions on the stigma.
Cellular adaptation during chronic neonatal hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

Newborn animals develop more severe hypoxic pulmonary hypertension than do adults, their vascular changes are greater, and both the hypertension and vascular changes occur more rapidly. We hypothes...
The Superhero Historicized, Theorized, and Read

The figure of the superhero looms large in today’s culture, not only in big-budget films and television programs, but also popular print and digital superhero comics. Within the context of such interest, The Superhero Reader is a welcome addition. It is a comprehensive and well-organized anthology of much of the best critical work done on superhero narratives. The volume explores the history of superheroes, the attempts to theorize the superhero narrative as a genre, and a diverse assortment of critical approaches to super-heroes as they have been received by different kinds of readers. While one may occasionally dispute editorial selections and omissions, The Superhero Reader is overall a valuable resource for scholars interested in this growing field.
Real-Time Nonlinear Programming by Amplitude Modulation

Nonlinear Programming (NLP) is for optimization of nonlinear cost functions. In applications of NLP for real-time optimization, however, the estimation of the gradient of the cost function remains as a challenge. On the other hand, the Extremum-Seeking Control (ESC) optimizes the cost function in real-time, but it involves a complicated design of filters in multi-dimensional cases. In this paper, a new method that optimizes an arbitrary multi-variable cost function in real-time is proposed. In the proposed method, the variables are updated as in NLP while the gradient of the cost function is continuously estimated by the amplitude modulation as in ESC. The proposed method does not require design of any complicated filters. The performance is verified by simulations on time-varying and noisy cost functions as well as automatic controller tuning applications.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Surgical treatment of osteoarthritis of the shoulder.

SUMMARY Shoulder dysfunction is unusual in osteoarthritis and usually responds to conservative treatment. The primary indication for surgery is pain unresponsive to medical management. The procedure of choice for degenerative changes in the glenohumeral joint is hemiarthroplasty or total shoulder replacement depending on the condition of the glenoid. Shoulder fusion is rarely necessary for osteoarthritis and is recommended for chronic infection, flail shoulder, and failed total shoulder replacement not amenable to revision. Joint resection is reserved for infected joints with massive bone loss. The results of shoulder arthroplasty are good to excellent in 86 to 94 per cent of all patients. The results of shoulder arthrodesis are less predictable, but are usually satisfactory in approximately 75 per cent of patients with 10-year follow-up. The treatment of AC and SC joint arthritis is conservative with rest, local heat, and medication. Pain unresponsive to this regimen is an indication for resection of the joint. Good results with this procedure directly correlate with pain relief on injection of the joint with local anesthetic.
Autonomic dysreflexia: incidence in persons with neurologically complete and incomplete tetraplegia.

AbstractBackground: Autonomic dysreflexia (AD) is a common problem in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) above the T6 neurologic level and may cause serious medical complications if untreated. Previous studies have focused on patients with complete SCI.Design: Prospective analysis of a historic cohort. A retrospective review of a subset of the cohort also was performed.Objectives: To examine the percentage of persons with complete and incomplete tetraplegia who developed AD and determine whether patients with incomplete injuries were at risk for developing AD; and to study the onset of AD and determine the time period that patients are at risk for developing AD.Methods: Data were collected prospectively on 332 patients with tetraplegia to determine American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment score, neurologic level, presence of AD, and length of hospital stay. The charts of 3 4 patients who developed AD were then reviewed retrospectively for further data such as onset and contributing factors...
An overlay architecture for fault diagnosis in video delivery networks

Today's service providers of VoD, SDV and IPTV have a pressing need to proactively detect, isolate and fix outages within access networks. Network induced degradations prove to be detrimental for streaming applications. This typically leads to a poor quality of experience (QoE) for subscribers, leading to subscriber churn. Apart from isolating impairments, service providers often fall short of performing a whole host of other activities: performance discovery (e.g., measuring round trip times of TCP/UDP), topology discovery (e.g., part or full connectivity), service usage discovery (e.g., who is using what service), fraud discovery (e.g., illegal usage), and trend discovery (e.g., forecasting user demands and preferences). In this paper, we show how service providers can simply leverage their existing billing infrastructure which snoops into user traffic to create a whole host of the above mentioned services. We propose a hierarchy of exporters, collectors, and ANCON (ANalysis and CONtrol) nodes that can semi-autonomously monitor, detect and isolate impairments within an access network. Exporters gather and disseminate statistics for individual subnets, which are streamed onto collector nodes. Collector nodes aggregate traffic from various exporters, and stream them onto the root of the tree (ANCON). With an even placement of exporters, root cause analysis can now take the granularity of loss rates or delay rates in individual segments or subnets of an access network. As an extension to our architecture, we show that the overlay can support instrumentations of quality evaluation for streaming video. Logical extensions of this architecture can easily accommodate performance discovery, fraud discovery, trend forecasting and service usage discovery.
Development of a framework for parallel reservoir simulation

The development of a parallel reservoir simulator is a more complex task than nonparallel simulators. Problems related to parallel implementation such as parallel communication, model division amon...
Impact of in-cloud aqueous processes on the chemistry and transport of biogenic volatile organic compounds

We investigate the impacts of cloud aqueous processes on the chemistry and transport of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) using the National Center for Atmospheric Research's large-eddy simulation code with an updated chemical mechanism that includes both gas- and aqueous-phase reactions. We simulate transport and chemistry for a meteorological case with a diurnal pattern of non-precipitating cumulus clouds from the Baltimore-Washington area DISCOVER-AQ campaign. We evaluate two scenarios with and without aqueous-phase chemical reactions. In the cloud layer (2-3 km), the addition of aqueous phase reactions decreases HCHO by 18% over the domain due to its solubility and the fast depletion from aqueous reactions, resulting in a corresponding decrease in radical oxidants (e.g., 18% decrease in OH). The decrease of OH increases the mixing ratios of isoprene and MACR (100% and 15%, respectively) in the cloud layer because the reaction rate is lower. Aqueous-phase reactions can modify the segregation between OH and BVOC by changing the sign of the segregation intensity, causing up to 55% reduction in the isoprene-OH reaction rate and 40% reduction for the MACR-OH reaction when clouds are present. Analysis of the isoprene-OH covariance budget shows the chemistry term is the primary driver of the strong segregation in clouds, triggered by the decrease in OH. All organic acids except acetic acid are formed only through aqueous-phase reactions. For acids formed in the aqueous phase, turbulence mixes these compounds on short time scales, with the near-surface mixing ratios of these acids reaching 20% of the mixing ratios in the cloud layer within one hour of cloud formation.
Proteomic analysis of the downstream signaling network of PARP1

Poly-ADP-ribosylation (PARylation) is a protein posttranslational modification (PTM) that is critically involved in many biological processes that are linked to cell stress responses. It is catalyzed by a class of enzymes known as poly-ADP-ribose polymerases (PARPs). In particular, PARP1 is a nuclear protein that is activated upon sensing nicked DNA. Once activated, PARP1 is responsible for the synthesis of a large number of PARylated proteins and initiation of the DNA damage response mechanisms. This observation provided the rationale for developing PARP1 inhibitors for the treatment of human malignancies. Indeed, three PARP1 inhibitors (Olaparib, Rucaparib, and Niraparib) have recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Moreover, in 2017, both Olaparib and Niraparib have also been approved for the treatment of fallopian tube cancer and primary peritoneal cancer. Despite this very exciting progress in the clinic, the basic signaling mechanism that connects PARP1 to a diverse array of biological processes is still poorly understood. This is, in large part, due to the inherent technical difficulty associated with the analysis of protein PARylation, which is a low-abundance, labile, and heterogeneous PTM. The study of PARylation has been greatly facilitated by the recent advances in mass spectrometry-based proteomic technologies tailored to the analysis of this modification. In this Perspective, we discuss these breakthroughs, including their technical development, and applications that provide a global view of the many biological processes regulated by this important protein modification.
Subverting and Minding Boundaries: The Intellectual Work of Women

ABSTRACTUsing various methods and analytical angles, researchers consistently show that members of non-dominant groups, including women, experience academia as a hostile and marginalizing space. Su...
Assessment of robot necessity in time interval dependent rehabilitation therapy

Multiple stroke rehabilitation therapies, including paired associative stimulation(PAS) and repetitive facilitation exercises(RFE) rely on strict timing between peripheral and central stimulation. Current RFE protocols require a human therapist to determine and provide the timing for these stimulations. This work investigates the need for robotic assistance, as well as potential feedback methods, through the use of an interval production task. Mock RFE was shown to produce effective stimulation in well below 50% of the trials. Graphical, numeric and absolute error feedback were analyzed and results indicates graphical feedback is better in creating accurate time interval. However performance was improved with numeric feedback.
Abstract 1190: Incidence of gastric cancer in the United States during 1999 to 2013: A 50-state analysis

Background: The incidence of gastric cancer while declining in many places worldwide is characterized by considerable geographic variability in incidence rates and temporal trends. The United States has large racial, ethnic, and regional variation; we collected data from all 50 states to better characterize recent changes in gastric cancer incidence in the entire United States. Methods: We extracted data on the annual gastric cancer (ICD-O-3: C16.0-C16.9) incidence rates for the period 1999-2013 from the United Stated Cancer Statistics (USCS) registry, which covers 97% of the population. Both age-adjusted incidence rates and temporal trends of gastric cancer incidence were examined overall, as well as stratified by sociodemographic factors and at the state level. We used Joinpoint regression analysis to compute annual percent change (APC) and average annual percent change (AAPC) and corresponding 95% CIs. Heat maps were created to highlight the temporal trend in age-adjusted incidence rates in each state over three 5-year periods: 1999-2003, 2004-2008, and 2009-2013. As a secondary analysis, we also extracted data from the SEER 13 registries to examine the incidence rates and trends separately for cardia and non-cardia gastric cancers. Results: Overall gastric cancer incidence decreased from 7.64 per 100,000 in 1999 to 6.55 per 100,000 in 2013, decreasing by 1.02% (AAPC=-1.02; 95% CI, -1.28 to -0.76) annually between 1999 and 2013. However, while overall gastric cancer incidence rates decreased (1999-2008 APC=-1.75, 95% CI, -2.02 to -1.47) and then plateaued (2008-2013 APC=-0.24, 95% CI: -0.89, 0.42) among persons aged ≥50 years, the rates increased among persons aged 95% CI, -2.51 to -1.90). Increasing rate of non-cardia cancer helped explain the uprising trend of gastric cancer among aged Conclusions: While gastric cancer, particularly non-cardia, rates have decreased rapidly among persons aged ≥50 years in the United States, the incidence rates among persons aged Citation Format: Zhensheng Wang, Anam Khan, Maya Balakrishnan, Hashem B. El-Serag, Aaron P. Thrift. Incidence of gastric cancer in the United States during 1999 to 2013: A 50-state analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1190.
Innovative Sensing by Using Deep Learning Framework

Structures experience large vibrations and stress variations during their life cycles. This causes reduction in their load-carrying capacity which is the main design criteria for many structures. Therefore, it is important to accurately establish the performance of structures after construction that often needs full-field strain or stress measurements. Many traditional inspection methods collect strain measurements by using wired strain gauges. These strain gauges carry a high installation cost and have high power demand. In contrast, this paper introduces a new methodology to replace this high cost with utilizing inexpensive data coming from wireless sensor networks. The study proposes to collect acceleration responses coming from a structure and give them as an input to deep learning framework to estimate the stress or strain responses. The obtained stress or strain time series then can be used in many applications to better understand the conditions of the structures. In this paper, designed deep learning architecture consists of multi-layer neural networks and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). The network achieves to learn the relationship between input and output by exploiting the temporal dependencies of them. In the evaluation of the method, a three-story steel building is simulated by using various dynamic wind and earthquake loading scenarios. The acceleration time histories under these loading cases are utilized to predict the stress time series. The learned architecture is tested on acceleration time series that the structure has never experienced.
Tetracycline resistance associated with commensal bacteria from representative ready-to-consume deli and restaurant foods.

Proper knowledge of antibiotic resistance (AR) dissemination is essential for effective mitigation. This study examined the profiles of tetracycline-resistant (Tetr) commensal bacteria from representative ready-to-consume food samples from salad bars at local grocery stores and restaurants. Out of 900 Tetr isolates examined, 158 (17.6%) carried one or more of tetM, tetL, tetS, and tetK genes by conventional PCR, 28 harbored more than one Tetr determinants. The most prevalent genotype was tetM, which was detected in 70.9% of the AR gene carriers, followed by tetL (31.6%), tetS (13.9%), and tetK (2.5%). Identified AR gene carriers included Enterococcus, Lactococcus, Staphylococcus, Brochothrix, Carnobacterium, Stenotrophomonas, Pseudomonas, and Sphingobacterium, by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. AR determinants were successfully transmitted, and led to resistance in Streptococcus mutans via natural gene transformation and Enterococcus faecalis via electroporation, suggesting the functionality and mobility...
Caregivers dying before care recipients with dementia

Abstract Introduction Although a handful of studies have examined mortality among caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia (ADRD), the proportion of caregivers who die before their cognitively impaired care recipients remains unknown. Methods We conducted descriptive and survival analyses on up to 17 years of data from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study to evaluate the proportion of spouse caregivers who died before their care recipients. Results Eighteen percent of spouse ADRD caregivers died before their care recipients, and spouse caregivers had a significantly lower risk of mortality than their husbands or wives with ADRD. Discussion Although a large majority of spouse ADRD caregivers will likely not die before their cognitively impaired husband or wife, those persons with ADRD who survive longer than their caregivers are worthy of future inquiry given their potential risk for negative health outcomes.
Triple A syndrome: two siblings with a novel mutation in the AAAS gene

Objective Triple A syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the AAAS gene on chromosome 12q13. Its main clinical features are alacrima, achalasia, and adrenal insufficiency, with most patients also having neurological symptoms and autonomic dysfunction. The neurologic manifestations are less well-understood, especially in children. Here, we examine two siblings who were found to have a novel mutation in the AAAS gene and who were found to have subtle, but important, neurologic findings. Design This is a case report of two siblings. Results We discuss two siblings exhibiting different signs of the disorder including neurologic dysfunction found at varying ages. Genetic analysis revealed that both patients have the same compound heterozygous mutations in the AAAS gene consisting of one novel mutation (c.500 C>A, A167E) and one previously described mutation (c.1331+1G> A/IVS14+1 G>A). A diagnosis of triple A syndrome was reached based on their clinical and genetic findings. Conclusions The unique characteristic of these two cases is the novel mutation in the AAAS gene, which is likely pathogenic. In addition, they showcase the genotype-phenotype variability of the disease, as well as the importance of early identification of the neurologic abnormalities, which can result in early intervention and possibly improved outcomes.
Using Observed Contrast Motion During Cardiac Catheterization to Tune Patient Specific Coronary Blood Flow Simulations

In the assessment of coronary artery disease, virtual Fractional Flow Reserve is an emerging technology that uses patient specific of Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations to infer the pressure loss through a stenosis, replacing an effective, but expensive technique based on the use of a pressure wire. To date, most vFFR efforts make use of reduced order lumped parameter models for the inlet and outlet/s of the coronary arterial tree to approximate the patient specific boundary conditions, but suffer from the inability to specify the associated parameters in a patient specific manner. When applying vFFR in a catheter laboratory setting using X-Ray angiograms as the basis for creating the geometrical model, there is some indirect functional information available through observing the motion of the radio-opaque contrast agent. In this work, we present a novel method for tuning the arterial resistances, based on simulating the contrast release and minimising a misfit defined in terms of simulated and observed arrival times of the contrast at multiple points within a coronary tree.
Risk Factors and Outcomes for Sepsis after Appendectomy in Adults

Abstract Background: Sepsis is an uncommon occurrence after appendectomy, but the morbidity and mortality of patients who develop sepsis after appendectomy remains exceedingly high. The purpose of ...
Theoretical Analysis of AM and FM Interference Robustness of Integrating DDR Receiver for Human Body Communication

Prolific growth of miniaturized devices has led to widespread use of wearable devices and physiological sensors. The state-of-art technique for connecting these devices and sensors is through wireless radio waves. However, wireless body area wireless body area network (WBAN) suffers from limited security (wireless signals from energy-constrained sensors can be snooped by nearby attackers), poor energy-efficiency (up conversion and down conversion), and self-interference. Human body communication (HBC), which uses human body as a conducting medium, has emerged as a new alternative physical layer for WBAN, as it can enable communication with better energy efficiency and enhanced security. Broadband (BB) HBC uses the human body channel as a broadband communication medium and can enable higher energy efficiency compared to narrowband HBC. However, due to the antenna effect of human body, ambient interferences get picked up from the environment, proving to be one of the primary bottlenecks for BB-HBC systems. In this paper, we analyze the performance of an integrating dual data rate (I-DDR) receiver, which enables interference robust BB-HBC, under continuous wave (CW), amplitude modulated (AM), and frequency modulated (FM) interferences. Theoretical derivations along with simulations provide key insights into the behavior of I-DDR receiver under different interference scenarios, highlighting the efficacy (>22 dB improvement in SIR tolerance for both FM and AM) of the technique. Finally, measurements are carried out by applying the I-DDR principle on signals transmitted through the human body and captured on an oscilloscope. Measurements from an I-DDR receiver fabricated in TSMC 65 nm technology shows <10−4 BER in presence of CW, AM, and FM interference with −21 dB SIR further demonstrating the efficacy of the I-DDR method in interference rejection.
Navigation, Guidance, and Control of a Micro Unmanned Aerial Glider

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory has developed the latest variant of the Close-In Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft (CICADA) micro unmanned glider, the CICADA mk5. Navigation, guidance, and c...
A Retrospective Study of Retrolental Fibroplasia.

The relationship between retrolental fibroplasia (RLF) and severe affect disturbances (often simulating autism) was investigated through the collection and analysis of data concerning 263 subjects ...