cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interprofessional Dialogues Within a Senior Mentoring Program: Incorporating Gerontology Students as Facilitation Leaders

Effective health care with older adults requires that clinicians and practitioners are knowledgeable about aging issues and have the skills to work within an interdisciplinary team context. This article describes a Senior Mentoring Program that paired clinical students in medicine, nursing, and a physician assistant program with community-dwelling seniors for regular interactions. This interprofessional education experience included graduate gerontology students as discussion facilitators. Because including gerontology students as Interprofessional Dialogue Facilitators (IDFs) was an innovative aspect of the program, their participation within interdisciplinary groups was analyzed. IDFs monitored a secure internet site where clinical students discussed their experiences with their mentors. Discussion posts by the IDFs were clustered into three major types: amplifying statements that stimulated and furthered dialogue, augmenting posts that integrated specialized content on aging within the discussions, and...
Global protein synthesis shutdown in Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus-infected Ld652Y cells is rescued by tRNA from uninfected cells.

Global protein synthesis arrest occurs in Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcNPV)-infected Ld652Y cells at late times postinfection (p.i.). A Lymantria dispar nucleopolyhedrovirus gene, hrf-1, precludes this protein synthesis arrest. We used in vitro translation assays to characterize the translation defect. Cell-free lysates prepared from uninfected Ld652Y cells, AcNPV-infected cells harvested at early times p.i., and cells infected with vAchrf-1, a recombinant AcNPV bearing hrf-1, all supported translation. Lysates prepared from AcNPV-infected Ld652Y cells at late times p.i. did not support translation, but activity was restored by adding small RNA species from mock-, vAchrf-1- (24 or 48 h p.i.), and AcNPV- (6 h p.i. ) infected cells. Small RNA species (24 and 48 h p.i.) from AcNPV-infected cells did not rescue translation. Assays of RNA species further fractionated by ion exchange chromatography demonstrated that tRNA rescued translation. Although specific defective tRNA species were not revealed by comparative two-dimensional gel analysis, analysis of (32)P-labeled tRNAs showed a reduction in de novo synthesis of small RNA isolated from AcNPV-infected cells compared with mock- and vAchrf-1-infected cells. This study suggests a mechanism of translation arrest involving defective or depleted tRNA species in AcNPV-infected Ld652Y cells.
Effects of vitamin C supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: In observational studies, increased vitamin C intake, vitamin C supplementation, and higher blood concentrations of vitamin C are associated with lower blood pressure (BP). However, evidence for blood pressure–lowering effects of vitamin C in clinical trials is inconsistent. Objective: The objective was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials that examined the effects of vitamin C supplementation on BP. Design: We searched Medline, EMBASE, and Central databases from 1966 to 2011. Prespecified inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) use of a randomized controlled trial design; 2) trial reported effects on systolic BP (SBP) or diastolic BP (DBP) or both; 3) trial used oral vitamin C and concurrent control groups; and 4) trial had a minimum duration of 2 wk. BP effects were pooled by random-effects models, with trials weighted by inverse variance. Results: Twenty-nine trials met eligibility criteria for the primary analysis. The median dose was 500 mg/d, the median duration was 8 wk, and trial sizes ranged from 10 to 120 participants. The pooled changes in SBP and DBP were 23.84 mm Hg (95% CI: 25.29, 22.38 mm Hg; P , 0.01) and 21.48 mm Hg (95% CI: 22.86, 20.10 mm Hg; P = 0.04), respectively. In trials in hypertensive participants, corresponding reductions in SBP and DBP were 24.85 mm Hg (P , 0.01) and 21.67 mm Hg (P = 0.17). After the inclusion of 9 trials with imputed BP effects, BP effects were attenuated but remained significant. Conclusions: In short-term trials, vitamin C supplementation reduced SBP and DBP. Long-term trials on the effects of vitamin C supplementation on BP and clinical events are needed. Am J Clin Nutr 2012;95:1079–88.
Real-time decision analysis-algorithms, architectures and implementation

Summary form only given, as follows. Decision analysis is the process of making an optimal decision (classification) based on extracted features as an input. Although an important task in supervised statistical pattern recognition, decision analysis is often the speed bottleneck of such a system. Most of the work on real-time pattern recognition was done in the area of feature extraction, and very little was done in the area of decision analysis. The design of a real-time decision analyzer that can operate at image sensor speeds is presented. The real-time performance is achieved by selecting a class of classifiers that is amenable to VLSI implementation and has considerable discriminatory power. A flexible system architecture for the decision analyzer is proposed. It can be tailored to particular user specifications and is based on a two-chip set as a building block. An application of the design to a low-level image segmentation system, called LISA, which is currently being built, is also reported. >
Disease-related distress, self-care and clinical outcomes among low-income patients with diabetes

Background The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of diabetes distress and its relationship with health behaviours and clinical outcomes in low-income patients. Methods Secondary analyses were conducted using baseline data from a clinical trial evaluating a diabetes self-management intervention. Interviews were conducted with 666 participants receiving care at nine safety net clinics in Missouri. Distress was measured using the Diabetes Distress Scale, and outcomes included medication adherence, physical activity, nutrition and clinical biomarkers (haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol). Results In a sample of 666 participants, 14.1% and 27.3% of patients were identified as highly and moderately distressed, respectively, with higher rates among younger, female and lower income patients. When compared with moderately and no distress groups, highly distressed patients were less adherent to medications (20.7% vs 29.9% vs 39.4%, p Conclusions Diabetes distress is prevalent and linked to poorer adherence to health behaviours and glycemic control in a sample of patients receiving care from low-income clinics.
Wind-induced shear dispersion and genesis of the shelf-break front

Abstract Through a simple analytical model, we examine the shear dispersion associated with oscillatory winds in an unstratified coastal ocean. As noted previously in the tidal regime, the vertical-integrated (total) horizontal diffusivity has a maximum where the water depth equals the diffusive depth – defined as the reach of the vertical diffusion during one forcing cycle. Due principally to the long synoptic timescale that characterizes the wind forcing, this depth lies over the outer shelf. When combined with effective mixing of the slope water by meso-scale eddies, the total diffusivity exhibits a minimum around the shelf break, thus facilitating frontogenesis. Due again to the long forcing period, the bottom Ekman flow is well developed at the diffusive depth, which would accentuate the gradient enhancement of the front over the inshore water, which however is bounded above by doubling. Calculations from a primitive-equation numerical model are carried out for both unstratified and stratified oceans. From an initially uniform property gradient, a front is seen to emerge around the shelf break after an oscillating wind is switched on, in a visual demonstration of the proposed frontogenesis. The unstratified solution closely agrees with the analytical solution, and although the front is not particularly sharp, it is comparable to that observed. The stratified solution renders a more realistic simulation of the observed front, but it retains the basic features, suggesting the dominance of the proposed mechanism even in the presence of the cross-frontal circulation.
Role of GacA in virulence of Vibrio vulnificus

The GacS/GacA two-component signal transduction system regulates virulence, biofilm formation and symbiosis in Vibrio species. The present study investigated this regulatory pathway in Vibrio vulnificus, a human pathogen that causes life-threatening disease associated with the consumption of raw oysters and wound infections. Small non-coding RNAs (csrB1, csrB2, csrB3 and csrC) commonly regulated by the GacS/GacA pathway were decreased (P<0.0003) in a V. vulnificus CMCP6 ΔgacA : : aph mutant compared with the wild-type parent, and expression was restored by complementation of the gacA deletion mutation in trans. Of the 20 genes examined by RT-PCR, significant reductions in the transcript levels of the mutant in comparison with the wild-type strain were observed only for genes related to motility (flaA), stationary phase (rpoS) and protease (vvpE) (P=0.04, 0.01 and 0.002, respectively). Swimming motility, flagellation and opaque colony morphology indicative of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) were unchanged in the mutant, while cytotoxicity, protease activity, CPS phase variation and the ability to acquire iron were decreased compared with the wild-type (P<0.01). The role of gacA in virulence of V. vulnificus was also demonstrated by significant impairment in the ability of the mutant strain to cause either skin (P<0.0005) or systemic infections (P<0.02) in subcutaneously inoculated, non-iron-treated mice. However, the virulence of the mutant was equivalent to that of the wild-type in iron-treated mice, demonstrating that the GacA pathway in V. vulnificus regulates the virulence of this organism in an iron-dependent manner.
An improved cryosection method for polyethylene glycol hydrogels used in tissue engineering

The high water content of hydrogels allows these materials to closely mimic the native biological extracellular conditions, but it also makes difficult the histological preparation of hydrogel-based bioengineered tissue. Paraffin-embedding techniques require dehydration of hydrogels, resulting in substantial collapse and deformation, whereas cryosectioning is hampered by the formation of ice crystals within the hydrogel material. Here, we sought to develop a method to obtain good-quality cryosections for the microscopic evaluation of hydrogel-based tissue-engineered constructs, using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a test hydrogel. Conventional sucrose solutions, which dehydrate cells while leaving extracellular water in place, produce a hydrogel block that is brittle and difficult to section. We therefore replaced sucrose with multiple protein-based and nonprotein-based solutions as cryoprotectants. Our analysis demonstrated that overnight incubation in bovine serum albumin (BSA), fetal bovine serum (FBS), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), optimum cutting temperature (OCT) compound, and Fisher HistoPrep frozen tissue-embedding media work well to improve the cryosectioning of hydrogels. The protein-based solutions give background staining with routine hematoxylin and eosin, but the use of nonprotein-based solutions PVA and OCT reduces this background by 50%. These methods preserve the tissue architecture and cellular details with both in vitro PEG constructs and in constructs that have been implanted in vivo. This simple hydrogel cryosectioning technique improves the methodology for creation of good-quality histological sections from hydrogels in multiple applications.
Massive data management in parallel machines

Discusses issues related to the design and and usage of database management systems consisting of massive amounts of data in parallel environments. The issues include the placement of the data in the memory, file systems, concurrent access to data, effects on query processing, the implications of specific machine architectures, and the peculiarities of specific parallel systems. Since not all parameters are currently amenable to rigorous analysis, results of performance studies are highlighted wherever they are deemed appropriate. >
Crust and upper mantle velocity structure of the Yellowstone hot spot and surroundings

[1] The Yellowstone hot spot has recently been shown to be a plume that extends into the transition zone. At roughly 60–120 km depth, the plume material rising beneath Yellowstone Park is sheared SW by North America Plate motion, producing a profound low velocity layer emplaced beneath the thin lithosphere. To constrain the absolute seismic velocity of the plate-sheared plume layer, fundamental mode Rayleigh wave observations have been inverted for phase velocity using the two plane wave technique. The resulting phase velocity models are inverted with Moho-converted P to S arrival times to better constrain crustal thickness and absolute S wave velocity structure to � 120 km depth. A regionalized S wave velocity model has an extremely low velocity minimum of 3.8 ± 0.1 km/s at 80 km depth beneath the hot spot track. Nonregionalized 3-D velocity models find a velocity minimum of 3.9 km/s beneath the hot spot track. Below 120 km depth, our resolution diminishes such that the lateral spreading of the plume track is not resolved. The volume of the low velocity plume layer is small and the estimated buoyancy flux for the Yellowstone plume is <0.1 Mg/s which contrasts with the � 9 Mg/s value for Hawaii. In addition, a notable region of thick crust and high lower crustal velocities is found around Billings, Montana, consistent with previous refraction and receiver function studies that interpret this as evidence for a massive Precambrian underplating event. Citation: Schutt, D. L., K. Dueker, and H. Yuan (2008), Crust and upper mantle velocity structure of the Yellowstone hot spot and surroundings, J. Geophys. Res., 113, B03310, doi:10.1029/2007JB005109.
An experiential factor influencing the effectiveness of testosterone propionate in eliciting sexual behavior in male guinea pigs.

CONSIDERABLE evidence supports the view that the patterns of sexual behavior displayed in response to hormonal stimulation are related to the character of the soma or substrate on which the hormones act rather than to the amount of hormone, provided a certain threshold quantity is present (Young, Dempsey, Myers and Hagquist, 1938; Boling, Young and Dempsey, 1938; Young and Fish, 1945; Grunt and Young, 1952, 1953; Riss and Young, 1954). More recently it has been shown for the male guinea pig that patterns of sexual behavior are formed as the result of an interaction of experiential and genetic factors. Contact with other animals plays an important role in the acquisition of the mature copulatory pattern, but the amount of contact that is required varies depending on the genetic strain to which the individual belongs (Valenstein, Riss and Young, 1955).
The Absence of Tertiary Interactions in a Self-Assembled DNA Crystal Structure

DNA is a highly effective molecule for controlling nanometer-scale structure. The convenience of using DNA lies in the programmability of Watson-Crick base-paired secondary interactions, useful both to design branched molecular motifs and to connect them through sticky-ended cohesion. Recently, the tensegrity triangle motif has been used to self-assemble three-dimensional crystals whose structures have been determined; sticky ends were reported to be the only intermolecular cohesive elements in those crystals. A recent communication in this journal suggested that tertiary interactions between phosphates and cytosine N(4) groups are responsible for intermolecular cohesion in these crystals, in addition to the secondary and covalent interactions programmed into the motif. To resolve this issue, we report experiments challenging this contention. Gel electrophoresis demonstrates that the tensegrity triangle exists in conditions where cytosine-PO(4) tertiary interactions seem ineffective. Furthermore, we have crystallized a tensegrity triangle using a junction lacking the cytosine suggested for involvement in tertiary interactions. The unit cell is isomorphous with that of a tensegrity triangle crystal reported earlier. This structure has been solved by molecular replacement and refined. The data presented here leave no doubt that the tensegrity triangle crystal structures reported earlier depend only on base pairing and covalent interactions for their formation.
Diabetes in American Indians: Reflections and future directions

The two goals of the next generation of diabetes research should be to reduce the incidence of diabetes mellitus and to decrease the risk of complications from the disease. The prevention of diabetes will require a better understanding of the interaction of genetic and host-environmental factors, especially energy balance, diet and exercise, and specific nutrients. The prevention of weight gain should probably be of highest priority. The prevention of complications needs to focus on hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, blood pressure, smoking, and lipoproteins. Clinical trials are needed to evaluate objectively the benefits of specific interventions. Such trials should be closely linked to community health programs to maximize the health status of the population.
Echocardiographic assessment of the right ventricle and associated hemodynamics.

Abstract Echocardiographic imaging of the right ventricle has inherent challenges stemming from the chamber's complex shape. More focus has been placed on right ventricular function recently because it is an independent prognostic indicator of morbidity and mortality in heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. Echocardiography is a widely available, inexpensive, and well-validated tool that allows for comprehensive evaluation of the right ventricle's size and function. With improvements in ultrasound techniques and methods, there are many qualitative and quantitative indices that, when used in conjunction with noninvasive pulmonary hemodynamics, provide important diagnostic and prognostic information to the clinician. As echocardiographic modalities – particularly three-dimensional imaging – improve, enhanced assessment of the right ventricle will lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of right heart failure and enhanced ability to follow responses to therapy.
Size control of Cu nanorods through oxygen-mediated growth and low temperature sintering

Control of the size of Cu nanorods vapor-deposited at an oblique angle (∼85 ◦ ) by oxygen-mediated growth was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). It was observed that exposure of Cu nanorods to the oxygen ambient periodically resulted in a reduction in the diameter of the nanorods as well as an increase in the areal density of the nanorods. This oxygen-induced modification to the nanorod growth is attributed to the higher energy barrier for Cu adatom migration on the oxide surface at room temperature; this reduces the rod diameter. At a low annealing temperature of ∼300 ◦ C, the SEM images show that the nanorods have densified and formed a continuous film structure, which is consistent with the sintering phenomenon. The XRD and SEM analyses show that the coalescent/grain growth rate for Cu nanorods with smaller diameters is enhanced due to the size effect. This low temperature sintering characteristic of the Cu nanorod array has great potential for being utilized in wafer bonding for three-dimensional integration of devices. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)
The Fox and the Grapes: Is Real Reform beyond Reach in the United States?

As the challenges of maintaining (or, in the US case, attaining) affordable universal coverage multiply, the debate about what constitutes "real" reform intensifies in Western health care systems. The reality of reform, however, lies in the eyes of myriad beholders who variously enshrine consumer responsibility, changes in payment systems, reorganization, and other strategies -- or some encompassing combination of all of the above -- as the essential ingredient(s). This debate, increasingly informed by the agendas of health services researchers and health policy analysts, arguably serves as much or more to becloud as to clarify the practical options policy makers face and remains severely imbalanced with respect to the institutional sectors on which it concentrates, the fields of knowledge on which it draws, and the roles it envisions for markets and the state.
Culture in humans and other animals

The study of animal culture is a flourishing field, with culture being recorded in a wide range of taxa, including non-human primates, birds, cetaceans, and rodents. In spite of this research, however, the concept of culture itself remains elusive. There is no universally assented to concept of culture, and there is debate over the connection between culture and related concepts like tradition and social learning. Furthermore, it is not clear whether culture in humans and culture in non-human animals is really the same thing, or merely loose analogues that go by the same name. The purpose of this paper is to explicate core desiderata for a concept of culture and then to construct a concept that meets these desiderata. The paper then applies this concept in both humans and non-human animals.
Diuretic Induced Long Term Hemodynamic Changes in Hypertension. A Retrospective Study in a Mrfit Clinical Center

Retrospective analysis of hemodynamic factors was performed on hypertensive participants of our Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) center to determine whether these may have a role in the higher mortality in a subgroup of special intervention (SI) participants with minor baseline electrocardiographic abnormalities. Stroke volume was estimated by a formula [SV=K(LVETxPP)x(1+LVET/DP) where the K factor was determined using a separate group of individuals undergoing cardiac catheterization. The Pearson correlation between the two methods (dye dilution and above formula) was 0.7744 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.57-0.89 for the true correlation. In 222 SI and 186 usual care (UC) participants with no differences in stroke volume index (SVI) and cardiac output index (CI) at baseline, SVI and CI were systematically lower during the entire period of treatment in SI receiving higher average doses of thiazide diuretics. There was a moderate increase of S VI and CI in SI participants toward baselin...
Interactive Terascale Particle Visualization

This work describes the methods used to produce an interactive visualization of a 2 TB computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data set using particle tracing (streaklines). We use the method introduced by Bruckschen el al. (2001) that precomputes a large number of particles, stores them on disk using a space-filling curve ordering that minimizes seeks, then retrieves and displays the particles according to the user's command. We describe how the particle computation can be performed using a PC cluster, how the algorithm can be adapted to work with a multiblock curvilinear mesh, how scalars can be extracted and used to color the particles, and how the out-of-core visualization can be scaled to 293 billion particles while still achieving interactive performance on PC hardware. Compared to the earlier work, our data set size and total number of particles are an order of magnitude larger. We also describe a new compression technique that losslessly reduces the amount of particle storage by 41% and speeds the particle retrieval by about 20%.
Fiber-optic Based Heterodyne Interferometer for Noncontact Ultrasonic Determination of Acoustic Velocity and Attenuation in Materials

Optical methods offer several potential advantages over contact transducer methods for accurate determination of acoustic velocity and attenuation in solids. Their noncontact nature eliminates inaccuracies introduced by variations in coupling efficiencies and delays. Broad bandwidth detection by optical means permits extreme fidelity of displacement measurement thus eliminating the need to deconvolve the transducer characteristics from the recorded signal. Finally, the effective “contact” area of optical transducers can be made to be smaller than 10 microns avoiding acoustic phase cancellation problems and permitting accurate measurements of surface wave velocity.
Industrial Real Estate Mortgage Default Experience of the New York State Job Development Authority Second Loan Program

This paper explores the loan loss experience of a public industrial lending authority, employing contemporaneous borrower net equity as a link to mortgage loan default. The relationship between default, net equity and bankruptcy is tested on a small longitudinal data set of loans using nonparametric statistics and a proportional hazard model. Results show that negative net equity and firm bankruptcy are strongly associated with default among the study population. Further, the borrowers studied did not exercise the put option promptly, suggesting potential benefits from monitoring net equity one year or more prior to default.
Biomedical informatics research network: Building a national collaboratory to hasten the derivation of new understanding and treatment of disease

Through support from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources, the Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN) is pioneering the use of advanced cyberinfrastructure for medical research. By synchronizing developments in advanced wide area networking, distributed computing, distributed database federation, and other emerging capabilities of e-science, the BIRN has created a collaborative environment that is paving the way for biomedical research and clinical information management. The BIRN Coordinating Center (BIRN-CC) is orchestrating the development and deployment of key infrastructure components for immediate and long-range support of biomedical and clinical research being pursued by domain scientists in three neuroimaging test beds.
Abstract TP180: Markedly Elevated High-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) Predicts Early Mortality Among Stroke Patients

Background: High-sensitive C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP) levels are correlated with risk of vascular disease and cardiovascular mortality. The clinical implications of markedly elevated hsCRP levels in the setting of acute stroke are less understood as they are often excluded from studies. Objective: To determine the association of very high admission hsCRP levels (> 10mg/L) on all-cause mortality in patients with acute stroke Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to our institution with acute stroke (8/2003- 11/2011) who had at least one hsCRP assay drawn 10 mg/L after adjusting for age, sex, race and the following co-morbid conditions: cancer, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction Results: There were 293 stroke patients identified with hsCRP levels drawn 10 mg/L. Patients with hsCRP > 10 mg/L had a 2.7 times higher risk of mortality than those with hsCRP Conclusion: Very high level of hsCRP (>10 mg/L) at the time of admission is associated with increased early mortality among patients presenting with acute strokes. This finding may help stratify risk of death in stroke.
International Council on Archives, Committee on Professional Education and Training Meeting, April 1987, Grenada, Spain

The Committee on Professional Education and Training of the International Council on Archives (ICA) met in Grenada, Spain, on 27-29 April 1987. The agenda focused on both procedural and substantive matters. Members attending the meeting were Francis X. Blouin, Jr., (U.S.A.), Bruno Delmas (France), Norma de Goes Montiero (Brazil), Carlo Paganini (Italy), J. Peter Sigmond (Netherlands), Stefka SlavovaPetkova (Bulgaria), Abdeljelil Temimi (Tunisia), Bodil Ulate-Segura (Sweden), and Michael Cook (Great Britain), chair. Corresponding members attending the meeting included Carol Couture (Canada), Marcelino Rodrigues Pereira and Julio de Sousa Ramos (Portugal), Mariela Alvarez Rodriguez (Columbia), and Carlos Alessio Rossato (Brazil). Charles Kesckemeti of the ICA also attended.
Application of nonlinear multi-channel algorithms for estimating sea surface temperature with NOAA-14 AVHRR data

NOAA global operational NOAA/AVHRR Nonlinear Sea Surface Temperature (NLSST) retrieval algorithms were used to generate Global Area Coverage (GAC) sea surface temperature (SST) measurements in the global ocean in 1998. The accuracy of SST retrieved from daytime split window NLSST algorithm and nighttime triple window NLSST algorithm for NOAA-14 AVHRR data was investigated in this study. A matchup dataset of drifting buoys and NOAA-14 satellite measurements in the global ocean was generated to validate these operational split window and triple window algorithms For NOAA-14 in 1998, we had 14095 and 22643 satellite and buoy matchups that matched within 25 km and 4 hours for daytime, respectively. The satellite derived SST had a bias of less than 0.1°C and standard deviation of about 0.5°C. This study also showed that the NLSST algorithm provided the same order of SST accuracy in different time of the year and under a wide range of satellite zenith angle and water vapor represented by the channel 4 and 5 brightness temperature difference. Therefore NLSST algorithms are usually independent of season, geographic location, or atmospheric moisture content. Comparison between the low resolution AVHRR GAC data accuracy and high resolution Local Area Coverage (LAC) data accuracy is also discussed.
A Comparison of Natural Control of Toxoptera Graminum in South Africa and the United States

During the past year, the author, while engaged as Lecturer in Entomology at the Potchefstroon School of Agriculture, spent considerable time in studying Toxoptera graminum in South Africa and its control there by natural enemies. As the results obtained have been somewhat different from those obtained in the United States, it is thought that a comparison of the conditions and the results would be of interest to Entomologists.
Revisiting Mixed Mode Fracture in Laminated Composites Using Edge Delamination Strength Testing

This study uses the Edge Delamination Strength (EDS) Testing to determine the critical strain energy release rate at the onset of delamination for mixed mode fracture (Gc) for different layups as per an established method. One of the key steps in the previous method is to use the rule of mixture to calculate the sub-laminate stiffness. Rule of mixtures does not capture the coupling behavior in laminates. Since the sub-laminates have layups that show extension-twist coupling, the stiffness calculated by rule of mixtures and numerical techniques show different results. The differences in the computed Gc value using the rule of mixture method and the numerical method for some of the laminates are compared. A consistent drop in Gc is observed when the homogenized engineering constants computation is done taking the sub-laminates as is (unsymmetrical).
Cutting out Their Tongues: Mujeres' Testimonios and the Malintzin Researcher

This article presents the issues I encountered as I collected data and translated life herstories/ testimonios of six Latina mothers living in a city in the U. S. Mountain West. After over five years of living, being, working, collaborating, and developing relationships with six Latina mother activists (five Mexicanas and one Guatemalan), I delved into critical reflexivity. The experience of researching and writing the critical ethnography and the depth of relational connections I developed with each of the six mothers moved me to write this critique so that I might continue to learn from the use of testimonio methodology and the countering act of translating their stories from Spanish to English. I search the possibility and explore the contradictions of being a "Malintzin researcher" and how such researchers may be replicating oppressive acts when we translate and edit the voices of participants in educational research. At the same time, as Malintzin educational researchers in our communities, as Mexica...
Transplantation Dose Alters the Differentiation Program of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Summary Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is the most prevalent stem cell therapy, but it remains a risky procedure. To improve this treatment, it is important to understand how transplanted stem cells rebuild the blood and immune systems and how this process is impacted by transplantation variables such as the HSC dose. Here, we find that, in the long term following transplantation, 70%–80% of donor-HSC-derived clones do not produce all measured blood cell types. High HSC doses lead to more clones that exhibit balanced lymphocyte production, whereas low doses produce more T-cell-specialized clones. High HSC doses also produce significantly higher proportions of early-differentiating clones compared to low doses. These complex differentiation behaviors uncover the clonal-level regeneration dynamics of hematopoietic regeneration and suggest that transplantation dose can be exploited to improve stem cell therapy.
Overwhelming infections in trauma.

PreviewOpen wounds caused by trauma can provide an ideal environment for contamination by bacteria, potentially resulting in gas infections. With proper management, such infections can be prevented or controlled. Drawing from extensive experience in treating clostridial and nonclostridial infections, the author of this article describes their pathogenesis and proper steps in therapy.
Dielectrics for superconducting systems

Technical and economic considerations indicate that it is advantageous to operate cryogenic underground cables at high voltages in an optimum range between approximately 100 and 500 kV. Several programs under way in the United states for the development of high voltage superconducting or cryoresistive cables were recently summarized by Belanger.1 An appendix to his paper summarizes the most important work in progress in other countries. In particular, the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission has funded a program to investigate several different superconducting cable concepts. The design of these high voltage cryogenic cables will require engineering data on the dielectric behavior of cryogenic liquids and solid insulators similar to that which already exists for room temperature liquid and solid insulation.
Comparison of Polyglactic and Polyglycolic Acid Sutures in Reproductive Tissue

Polyglactic acid and polyglycolic acid suture materials were compared in rat uterine and abdominal wall tissues for inflammatory response and tissue fibrosis. By 90 days after surgery, the tissue inflammatory reaction and fibrosis were significantly less in response to polyglactic acid suture (Vicryl) in both uterus and skin as compared with the response to polyglycolic acid (Dexon). In addition, the over-all tissue response in skin was significantly greater than that in uterus for both suture materials. The potential importance of tissue fibrosis--particularly in oviductal surgery, over and above the formation of adhesions between one organ and another--is emphasized. It is concluded that (1) the magnitude of tissue response to suture material varies for different tissues, (2) the degree of tissue wall fibrosis does not necessarily correspond to external tissue adhesions, (3) adhesions are maximal at the surgical knots regardless of the suture material used, and (4) polyglactic acid suture material may be preferable to polyglycolic acid suture material for infertility surgery, in which a minimum of tissue reaction is imperative.
Gender Trouble in Abolitionism: On Ethos Work

Status hierarchies cutting across and within social movements give rise to emotional inequalities that constrain opportunities for protest rhetoric. Yet some status-subordinated participants invent ways of surmounting the status binds and of seizing moral authority on stage. This chapter analyzes status binds in public speaking that emerge because of gender inequalities given the threat of backlash against gender deviance. Gender-status dynamics compelled women orators to do more ethos work when speaking, that is, to deliver performances of moral virtue and proper ‘feminine’ character. Comparing ethos work across two types of women’s antislavery rhetoric sheds light on how status hierarchies structure the emotional pathways of protest rhetoric. In the prophetic-feminist type, status summoning involves the creative extraction of emotional energy from culturally autonomous religious formations and heterodoxic status imaginaries.
Tradeoffs in multi-channel microscopy volume visualization: an initial evaluation

In this paper, we describe two different pipelines for visualizing multi-channel cell image volumes. We obtained six different multichannel three-dimensional cell image datasets from the Cell Image Library (CIL); a freely-accessible online public repository of cell images. We processed these sets to create Segmented and Iso-Surface volume renderings. These two visualization pipelines were used to create animations such that same data can be viewed using both approaches side-by-side. A survey involving 50 anonymous participants was conducted to assess the suitability of Segmented or Iso-Surface volume rendering for the perception of proximity, connectivity and containment of two or more structures in a given volume. The Iso-Surface rendering was a winning choice for judging estimates of Proximity and Connectivity, while both approaches were rated equally useful for judgments of Containment in the 6 datasets tested.
Nonthermal inactivation of norovirus surrogates on blueberries using atmospheric cold plasma.

Viruses are currently the leading cause of foodborne outbreaks, most of which are associated with foods consumed raw. Cold plasma (CP) is an emerging novel nonthermal technology that can be used to surface decontaminate foods. This study investigated CP technology for the nonthermal inactivation of human norovirus surrogates, Tulane virus (TV) and murine norovirus (MNV), on the surface of blueberries. Blueberries (5 g) were weighed into sterile 4 oz. glass jars and inoculated with TV, 5 log PFU/g. Samples were treated with atmospheric CP for 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 s at a working distance of 7.5 cm with 4 cubic feet/minute (cfm) of CP jet. Temperature readings were taken with an infrared camera prior to, and immediately following, CP treatments. In order to establish the impact of air flow during CP treatment (4 cfm), an additional 7 cfm jet of room temperature air was introduced from a separate nozzle. The experiment was repeated with 90 and 120 s as additional treatment time points. Viral titers were measured immediately after each treatment with a plaque assay using LLC-MK2 cells (TV) or RAW 264.7 cells (MNV). TV was significantly reduced 1.5 PFU/g compared to the control after treatment time of 45s, which was achieved regardless of temperature conditions. With the addition of 7 cfm of ambient air, the maximum log reduction for TV was 3.5 log PFU/g after 120s of treatment. MNV was significantly reduced by 0.5 log PFU/g compare to the control at 15s, and further treatment of MNV with ambient air brought the log reduction to greater than 5 log PFU/g at 90 s of treatment (Fig. 3). These results demonstrate that CP viral inactivation does not rely on thermal inactivation, and is therefore nonthermal in nature. With further optimization, CP may be used by food processors as a means of nonthermal inactivation of foodborne viruses.
Low-dimensional reduced-order models for statistical response and uncertainty quantification: Barotropic turbulence with topography

Abstract A low-dimensional reduced-order statistical closure model is developed for quantifying the uncertainty to changes in forcing in a barotropic turbulent system with topography involving interactions between small-scale motions and a large-scale mean flow. Imperfect model sensitivity is improved through a recent mathematical strategy for calibrating model errors in a training phase, where information theory and linear statistical response theory are combined in a systematic fashion to achieve the optimal model parameters. Statistical theories about a Gaussian invariant measure and the exact statistical energy equations are also developed for the truncated barotropic equations that can be used to improve the imperfect model prediction skill. A stringent paradigm model of 57 degrees of freedom is used to display the feasibility of the reduced-order methods. This simple model creates large-scale zonal mean flow shifting directions from westward to eastward jets with an abrupt change in amplitude when perturbations are applied, and prototype blocked and unblocked patterns can be generated in this simple model similar to the real natural system. Principal statistical responses in mean and variance can be captured by the reduced-order models with desirable accuracy and efficiency with only 3 resolved modes. An even more challenging regime with non-Gaussian equilibrium statistics using the fluctuation equations is also tested in the reduced-order models with accurate prediction using the first 5 resolved modes. These reduced-order models also show potential for uncertainty quantification and prediction in more complex realistic geophysical turbulent dynamical systems.
Synthesis of Boriranes by Double Hydroboration Reactions of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Boranes and Dimethyl Acetylenedicarboxylate

Reaction of bis-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene borane with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate gives 80% yield of a stable borirane (boracyclopropane) formed by formal double hydroboration along with 5% of the (E)-alkenylborane. DFT calculations suggest a mechanism where divergence to the two products occurs after a common initial stage of hydride transfer from the NHC-borane to the acetylenedicarboxylate.
Simpler therapy may successfully treat adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

ABSTRACT FROM: Le Grange D, Hughes EK, Court A, et al. Randomized clinical trial of parent-focused treatment and family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2016;55:683–92. Family-based treatment (FBT) is an effective evidence-based therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN) and is the recommended approach to treatment at the present time.1 The effectiveness of other treatments such as individual psychotherapy (ego-oriented therapy) and generic family therapy (systemic family therapy) is based on less evidence and such treatments are not as effective as FBT.1 Whether treatment involving the whole family, or a simpler treatment involving parents only, differ in effectiveness is not known. This was a single-site study conducted at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. A total of 107 adolescents aged 12–18 years with AN were randomly allocated to two treatments: FBT—involving the whole family in treatment together with a family meal, or parent-focused treatment (PFT)—involving only the parents in treatment …
Mechanical testing of orthopedic implants: Hand and wrist

This chapter provides a review of the current knowledge base of mechanical testing in hand and wrist implants. The focus is on publicly available standards and published peer-reviewed studies that are specific to the finger and wrist joints. Unlike hip and knee arthroplasty, the decision to treat end-stage wrist disease by arthrodesis or by arthroplasty remains controversial, in part because early wrist arthroplasty exhibited high complication rates. Recent cost-utility analysis suggests that modern wrist arthroplasty is worthy of further consideration and that an increase in the cost of arthrodesis should not be considered prohibitive. A similar cost-benefit analysis for finger arthroplasty could not be identified in the literature. This chapter begins with a review of the relevant skeletal anatomy of the hand. The somber history of hand arthroplasty is briefly summarized. The focus is then directed to the factors that are important to consider in hand implant design and testing—the kinematics of the joints and the loads experienced by the joints. This is followed by a review of the testing protocols published to date. In conclusion, a summary and recommendations for future efforts is provided.
Enhanced sensitivity at higher-order exceptional points

Non-Hermitian degeneracies, also known as exceptional points, have recently emerged as a new way to engineer the response of open physical systems, that is, those that interact with the environment. They correspond to points in parameter space at which the eigenvalues of the underlying system and the corresponding eigenvectors simultaneously coalesce. In optics, the abrupt nature of the phase transitions that are encountered around exceptional points has been shown to lead to many intriguing phenomena, such as loss-induced transparency, unidirectional invisibility, band merging, topological chirality and laser mode selectivity. Recently, it has been shown that the bifurcation properties of second-order non-Hermitian degeneracies can provide a means of enhancing the sensitivity (frequency shifts) of resonant optical structures to external perturbations. Of particular interest is the use of even higher-order exceptional points (greater than second order), which in principle could further amplify the effect of perturbations, leading to even greater sensitivity. Although a growing number of theoretical studies have been devoted to such higher-order degeneracies, their experimental demonstration in the optical domain has so far remained elusive. Here we report the observation of higher-order exceptional points in a coupled cavity arrangement-specifically, a ternary, parity-time-symmetric photonic laser molecule-with a carefully tailored gain-loss distribution. We study the system in the spectral domain and find that the frequency response associated with this system follows a cube-root dependence on induced perturbations in the refractive index. Our work paves the way for utilizing non-Hermitian degeneracies in fields including photonics, optomechanics, microwaves and atomic physics.
Impact of Mismatch Angle on Electronic Transport Across Grain Boundaries and Interfaces in 2D Materials

We study the impact of grain boundaries (GB) and misorientation angles between grains on electronic transport in 2-dimensional materials. Here we have developed a numerical model based on the first-principles electronic bandstructure calculations in conjunction with a method which computes electron transmission coefficients from simultaneous conservation of energy and momentum at the interface to essentially evaluate GB/interface resistance in a Landauer formalism. We find that the resistance across graphene GBs vary over a wide range depending on misorientation angles and type of GBs, starting from 53 Ω μm for low-mismatch angles in twin (symmetric) GBs to about 1020 Ω μm for 21° mismatch in tilt (asymmetric) GBs. On the other hand, misorientation angles have weak influence on the resistance across MoS2 GBs, ranging from about 130 Ω μm for low mismatch angles to about 6000 Ω μm for 21°. The interface resistance across graphene-MoS2 heterojunctions also exhibits a strong dependence on misorientation angles with resistance values ranging from about 100 Ω μm for low-mismatch angles in Class-I (symmetric) interfaces to 1015 Ω μm for 14° mismatch in Class-II (asymmetric) interfaces. Overall, symmetric homo/heterojunctions exhibit a weak dependence on misorientation angles, while in MoS2 both symmetric and asymmetric GBs show a gradual dependence on mismatch angles.
On Positivity Preserving, Translation Invariant Operators in \( \mathit L^p (\mathbb R^n)^m \)

We characterize positivity preserving, translation invariant, linear operators in \( \mathit L^p (\mathbb R^n)^m , \mathit p \epsilon [1,\infty), m,n \epsilon \mathbb R \).