cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Scalable mean voting mechanism for fault tolerant analog circuits

Redundancy techniques, such as N-tuple modular redundancy has been widely used to improve the reliability of digital circuits. Unfortunately nothing substantial has been done for the analog and mixed signal systems. In this paper, we propose a redundancy based fault-tolerant methodology to design a highly reliable analog systems. The key contribution of our work is an innovative analog mean voter. This mean voter is a low power, small area, very high bandwidth and linearly scalable voting circuit. Unlike digital voter which works with odd N in an NMR, for analog circuits the mean analog voter works for both odd and even N and hence reduces the area and power further. For the proof of concept, we designed two fault tolerant circuits i.e. a low pass anti-aliasing analog filter and a flash ADC. Experimental results are reported to verify the concepts and measure the system's reliability when single upset transient may occur.
Behavioral and neural correlates of disrupted orienting attention in posttraumatic stress disorder

Prior work has revealed that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with altered (a) attentional performance and (b) resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in brain networks linked to attention. Here, we sought to characterize and link these behavioral and brain-based alterations in the context of Posner and Peterson's tripartite model of attention. Male military veterans with PTSD (N = 49; all deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan) and healthy age-and-gender-matched community controls (N = 26) completed the Attention Network Task. A subset of these individuals (36 PTSD and 21 controls) also underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess rsFC. The behavioral measures revealed that the PTSD group was impaired at disengaging spatial attention, relative to the control group. FMRI measures further revealed that, relative to the control group, the PTSD group exhibited greater rsFC between the salience network and (a) the default mode network, (b) the dorsal attention network, and (c) the ventral attention network. Moreover, problems with disengaging spatial attention increased the rsFC between the networks above in the control group, but not in the PTSD group. The present findings link PTSD to both altered orienting of spatial attention and altered relationships between spatial orienting and functional connectivity involving the salience network. Interventions that target orienting and disengaging spatial attention may be a new avenue for PTSD research.
Source mechanism of an explosively induced mine collapse

Abstract Mining explosions and collapses, in addition to earthquakes, may trigger the future Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) monitoring system. Many shallow, spontaneously occurring mine collapses have implosional source mechanisms that might provide a physical basis to discriminate them from explosions. In this study, an explosively induced mine collapse was investigated. The collapse occurred immediately after the support pillars of a 320-m-deep underground mine opening were destroyed by explosives. It had an Lg body-wave magnitude ( m bLg ) of 2.8. We analyzed free-surface ground-motion data (within 1200 m) from the collapse by waveform forward modeling and time-dependent source moment-tensor inversion. The results indicate that the source mechanism of the collapse can be represented by a horizontal opening and closing crack. The time functions of the diagonal source moment-tensor components are similar to that of a spall source accompanying an underground explosion. A unique source characteristic of the induced collapse is that, unlike spontaneous collapses, the induced collapse initiated as a tensile crack. Because of the initially expansive source characteristic, this kind of induced mine collapses may pose some difficulties to the seismic discrimination problem. Despite the similarities between the induced mine collapse and underground explosions, the collapse has a more band-limited source spectrum and seems to be more efficient in shear and surface-wave generation.
Interstitial Lung Disease in Newborns

The term ‘interstitial lung disease’ (ILD) refers to a group of disorders involving both the airspaces and tissue compartments of the lung, and these disorders are more accurately termed diffuse lung diseases. Although rare, they are associated with significant morbidity and mortality, with the prognosis depending upon the specific diagnosis. The major categories of ILD in children that present in the neonatal period include developmental disorders, growth disorders, surfactant dysfunction disorders, and specific conditions of unknown etiology unique to infancy. Whereas lung histopathology has been the gold standard for the diagnosis of ILD, as many of the disorders have a genetic basis, non-invasive diagnosis is feasible, and characteristic clinical and imaging features may allow for specific diagnosis in some circumstances. The underlying mechanisms, clinical, imaging, and lung pathology features and outcomes of ILD presenting in newborns are reviewed with an emphasis on genetic mechanisms and diagnosis.
Sexualization, Youthification, and Adultification: A Content Analysis of Images of Girls and Women in Popular Magazines:

The present study examines the “adultification” of girls and “youthification” of women in popular magazines, in which girls are “dressed up” to look like women, and women are “dressed down” to look...
Board Financial Expertise and Corporate Payout Policy

This study investigates whether financial experts on the board affect firm economic decisions. Motivated by agency theory, I examine the relationship between board financial expertise and corporate payout policy. I find that board financial expertise influences a firm’s dividend policy. Furthermore, I find that the level of agency costs proxied by the percentage of institutional ownership mitigates the relationship between board financial expertise and dividend policies. Several additional analyses support the main findings. The results are important as they demonstrate board financial expertise has effects beyond financial reporting quality by affecting crucial corporate policies.
Automated formant tracking using reassigned spectrograms

The measurement and tracking of formant frequencies is usually accomplished with a linear prediction spectrum estimate, combined with a heuristic-based tracking algorithm. Despite the broad acceptance of this procedure over decades, there is a known bias towards the nearest harmonic, and formant estimates are less accurate for speech with higher fundamental frequency. Previous research has established the superior accuracy of formant measurement using the reassigned spectrogram; however, the measurements must be done by hand, severely limiting its usefulness. Here we present a technique that can locate formants automatically in a reassigned spectrogram. First, the reassigned spectrogram of the signal must be heavily “pruned” so that only a few points remain which highlight the detected frequency components, which are the presumed formants. Second, we apply a simple ridge-finding routine to the pruned spectrogram, to determine the formant tracks automatically. This process was tested on speech samples—/hVd/-words—by four speakers previously used in a comparison of 5 automatic algorithms and manually-measured reassigned spectrograms, and on breathy and falling tones in a speaker of Hmong. The results of this process are generally as good or better than the manual measurement when the optimal parameters for ridge-finding are used.The measurement and tracking of formant frequencies is usually accomplished with a linear prediction spectrum estimate, combined with a heuristic-based tracking algorithm. Despite the broad acceptance of this procedure over decades, there is a known bias towards the nearest harmonic, and formant estimates are less accurate for speech with higher fundamental frequency. Previous research has established the superior accuracy of formant measurement using the reassigned spectrogram; however, the measurements must be done by hand, severely limiting its usefulness. Here we present a technique that can locate formants automatically in a reassigned spectrogram. First, the reassigned spectrogram of the signal must be heavily “pruned” so that only a few points remain which highlight the detected frequency components, which are the presumed formants. Second, we apply a simple ridge-finding routine to the pruned spectrogram, to determine the formant tracks automatically. This process was tested on speech samples—/hVd...
Integrating Mathematics and Science Within STEM Paradigm

This chapter discusses research findings on integrating mathematics and science within STEM platform. It summarizes the premises that benefit the learners as seen from the perspective of mathematics and science content knowledge and highlights the areas that need more attention. In the traditional curriculum, science provides the contexts and mathematics and offers the tools to quantify the contexts. While students do use the tools of mathematics to solve problems in science and use scientific contexts in mathematics, research shows that the methods applied are often disconnected. STEM activities can be seen as offering opportunities to create a new, unique knowledge rooted in merging these two disciplines into an integrated inquiry. In the attempt to merge these two learning disciplines in such a way, this chapter also provides an analysis of the primary phases of scientific investigation and its possible fit to STEM mathematics activities. A draft of the general theoretical framework on merging scientific inquiry with mathematical reasoning and its relation to STEM competencies is also brought to the reader’s attention in this chapter.
MHC Regulation of Immune Responses

The major histocompatibility complex is a group of complex genes situated on the short arm of chromosome 6 in humans. They play an important role in the regulation of the immune response. Autoimmune blistering disease provides an ideal model for studying the role of MHC in autoimmunity. The diseases are organ specific, and in some of them the relevant antigen has been cloned and sequenced. Such information on the antigen will help further define the interactions of the Ag, MHC, and TCR. Use of family studies hopefully will define and localize susceptibility alleles, so that any genetic susceptibility can be identified at the molecular level. It is from these molecular perspectives that molecular therapies could be assigned to restore the immune system.
TEN YEARS IN PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

Publisher Summary This chapter outlines work in the field of protein synthesis. Several biochemists demonstrated that the template was an RNA species, designated by them as messenger RNA that became attached to ribosomes and programmed them for protein synthesis. The working hypothesis for code deciphering was a logical extension of this discovery. Its essence was to provide ribosomes in a cell-free protein-synthesizing system with simple synthetic messengers. The simplest possible messenger is a homopolyribonucleotide. If active, it could direct the formation of nothing but a homopolypeptide. Copolyribonucleotides (of random sequence but defined nucleotide composition), if active, can, however, direct the synthesis of polypeptides containing more than one amino acid. By using various homopolynbonucleotides and copolyribonucleotides containing two or three types of nucleotide residues in varying ratios, it might be possible to calculate the nucleotide composition (though not the sequence) of codons specifying the various amino acids. Polynucleotide phosphorylase, an enzyme discovered by Grunberg–Manago and Ochoa, could be used for synthesizing the required polyribonucleotides.
A General Embedding Framework for Heterogeneous Information Learning in Large-Scale Networks

Network analysis has been widely applied in many real-world tasks, such as gene analysis and targeted marketing. To extract effective features for these analysis tasks, network embedding automatically learns a low-dimensional vector representation for each node, such that the meaningful topological proximity is well preserved. While the embedding algorithms on pure topological structure have attracted considerable attention, in practice, nodes are often abundantly accompanied with other types of meaningful information, such as node attributes, second-order proximity, and link directionality. A general framework for incorporating the heterogeneous information into network embedding could be potentially helpful in learning better vector representations. However, it remains a challenging task to jointly embed the geometrical structure and a distinct type of information due to the heterogeneity. In addition, the real-world networks often contain a large number of nodes, which put demands on the scalability of the embedding algorithms. To bridge the gap, in this article, we propose a general embedding framework named Heterogeneous Information Learning in Large-scale networks (HILL) to accelerate the joint learning. It enables the simultaneous node proximity assessing process to be done in a distributed manner by decomposing the complex modeling and optimization into many simple and independent sub-problems. We validate the significant correlation between the heterogeneous information and topological structure, and illustrate the generalizability of HILL by applying it to perform attributed network embedding and second-order proximity learning. A variation is proposed for link directionality modeling. Experimental results on real-world networks demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of HILL.
Documenting the Process of a Prospective Elementary Teacher’s Flexibility Development: Scaffolded Strategy Ranges and Sociomathematical Norms for Mental Computation

This article contributes to the research literature concerning prospective elementary teachers’ mathematical thinking and learning with a focus on flexibility. We present a case study of a prospect...
The Impact of Flipped Learning on Student Academic Performance and Perceptions

The purpose of this study was to explore if flipped learning has an impact on aviation students perceptions and academic performance in a human factors course. A total of 81 students from a large Midwestern university participated. The Course Evaluation Survey (CES) was used to measure student perceptions, while course exams were used to measure academic performance. To analyze the data, the researchers use paired sample t -tests, independent sample t -tests, and a MANCOVA. Findings show students in the flipped classroom did not perform better than the lecture classroom. In addition, students in the lecture group had significantly higher overall course satisfaction. These findings suggest students are familiar with lecture and changing the pedagogical approach is more nuanced, requiring students more time to adjust.
Double Minority Status and Neighborhoods: Examining the Primacy of Race in Black Immigrants’ Racial and Socioeconomic Segregation:

Sociologists have long viewed spatial assimilation as a measure of minorities’ socioeconomic progress. While assimilation increases as socioeconomic status (SES) improves, blacks remain more highly...
Inoculating a New Generation: Immunology in Medical Education.

Educating the next generation of physicians is a key means of communicating and disseminating impactful immunologic scientific knowledge, and its practical application to human disease. We present our perspective, using as our model a first-year medical school course entitled Host Defense. As the name suggests, immunology is the overarching principle that links the multiple subjects in the course. We address a range of immunologically relevant topics, including innate and adaptive immunity, vaccines, inflammation, allergy, tumor immunotherapy, transplantation, and autoimmunity. These topics are integrated with the fields of infectious diseases, pathology, clinical laboratory testing and public health, to illustrate how the basic science discoveries in immunology are relevant to clinical practice. The course objectives are not only to deliver “first principles” and molecular mechanisms, but also to connect these principles with the clinical world of diagnosis and therapy. We detail the different methodologies used to achieve these objectives and to reach today’s medical students. This provides a framework for course structure and execution designed to engage both the novice and the more “immunologically experienced” learner. The framework includes classical didactic components and personalized instructor access, aligned with current approaches to self-directed learning and using digital media. We also address some of the challenges of assembling a course like Host Defense in the context of an academic medical center with multiple scientific, educational, and clinical missions. This perspective is not meant be proscriptive, but rather to outline our experiences on the strategies tried, while describing their advantages and drawbacks in teaching immunology.
Inception of subsequent stepped leaders in negative cloud-to-ground lightning

Time-correlated high-speed video and electric field change data for 139 natural, negative cloud-to-ground (CG)-lightning flashes reveal 615 return strokes (RSs) and 29 upward-illumination (UI)-type strokes. Among 121 multi-stroke flashes, 56% visibly connected to more than one ground location for either a RS or UI-type stroke. The number of separate ground-stroke connection locations per CG flash averaged 1.74, with maximum 6. This study examines the 88 subsequent strokes that involved a subsequent stepped leader (SSL), either reaching ground or intercepting a former leader to ground, in 61 flashes. Two basic modes by which these SSLs begin are described and are termed dart-then-stepped leaders herein. One inception mode occurs when a dart leader deflects from the prior main channel and begins propagating as a stepped leader to ground. In these ‘divert’ mode cases, the relevant interstroke time from the prior RS in the channel to the SSL inception from that path is long, ranging from 105 to 204 ms in four visible cases. The alternative mode of SSL inception occurs when a dart leader reaches the end of a prior unsuccessful branch—of an earlier competing dart leader, stepped leader, or initial leader—then begins advancing as a stepped leader toward ground. In this more common ‘branch’ mode (85% of visible cases), there may be no portion of the subsequent RS channel that is shared with a prior RS channel. These two inception modes, and variations among them, can occur in different subsequent strokes of the same flash.
Stravinsky, Ditta, and Bartók’s First Piano Concerto

In a memorable letter of 18 March 1926, brought to the attention of Anglophone scholars by David Schneider, Bartok’s second wife Ditta Pasztory described her reaction (obviously also reflecting that of her husband’s) to Stravinsky’s Piano Concerto just after listening to its Budapest premiere with the composer at the piano as being attracted to the machine music but missing in it what she called her “homeland.” In the present article I should like to show that the machine music described as intimidating is no more threatening than a sewing machine, because the inspiration for it was 1920s-style performances of Bach. Furthermore, despite his notorious rhetoric, Stravinsky too aimed at exaltation and catharsis. Parallels between the climaxes in Bartok’s First Piano Concerto and those in Stravinsky’s (especially in the first movement) might reveal the real kinship between the two works. At the same time, Bartok’s obviously different approach to Bach, testified in his few fragmentary recordings, may help us understand the differences of aesthetics between the two composers in their respective neoclassical style showcased in the most important genre for a concertizing pianist.
Face and Content Validity of an Automated Vehicle Road Course and a Corresponding Simulation Scenario

Introduction: Automated vehicle use is rapidly expanding, globally. Florida is one of the leading states for researching, testing, implementing, and operating automated vehicles. Although driving simulators may create an opportunity to assess user behaviors related to automated vehicles, their use in this context is not well documented. Objectives: This study examined face and content validity of an on-road automated shuttle route and its congruence to a driving simulator scenario, representing the on-road route. Methodology: Face validity (i.e., clarity, understandability, congruence) was examined directly by members of the Institute for Mobility, Activity, and Participation. Content validity was assessed via a content validity index (CVI) based on inputs from experts who represented a variety of disciplines. These included computer and information science and engineering, transportation engineering, rehabilitation science, industrial and systems engineering, experimental psychology and driver rehabilitation science. Findings: Face validity resulted in feedback pertaining to traffic, environment, hazards, fidelity, and “other” recommendations. Six of the recommendations were used to enhance the simulator scenario. For content validity, the scale CVI was equal to .83, and was above the acceptable threshold of .80. However, on the item level, two items, i.e. traffic flow (I-CVI =.57) and seat direction (I-CVI = .67), were rated lower than anticipated. The ratings resulted in implementing enhancements to the driving simulator scenario. Conclusion: Automated vehicle on-road routes can be replicated in a driving simulator scenario but require a process of examining the face and content validity and refining the developed scenario, as need, to ensure reasonable accuracy.
How does a switch work? The relation between adult mechanistic language and children's learning

Abstract Two studies explore how explanations that contain mechanistic information can influence 4- and 5-year-old children's subsequent learning. In Study 1 (N = 56) children participated in a science task with their parents across five phases: (a) exploration phase, (b) parent explanation questions, (c) familiar phase, (d) novel extension phase, and (e) child recall. Parents' use of explations containing mechanistic information predicted children's ability to appropriately place more pieces in both the familiar and novel phases. In Study 2 (N = 64) children worked with an unfamiliar experimenter and were either exposed to explanations that did or did not include mechanistic information. Children who were exposed to mechanistic information were more likely to appropriately generalize the underlying concept in all phases. Together these studies indicate that exposure to mechanistic language helps children acquire knowledge of novel concepts.
Long-term tillage effect on with-in season variations in soil conditions and respiration from dryland winter wheat and soybean cropping systems.

Soil respiration from agricultural soils is a major anthropogenic source of CO2 to the atmosphere. With-in season emission of soil CO2 from croplands are affected by changes in weather, tillage, plant row spacing, and plant growth stage. Tillage involves physical turning of soils which accelerate residue decomposition and CO2 emission. No-tillage lacks soil disturbance and residues undergo slower decomposition at the surface. In this study, we compared with-in season soil conditions (temperature and moisture) and soil respiration from two major crops (soybean and winter wheat) by making high temporal frequency measurements using automated chambers at half-hourly intervals. The experiment lasted for 179 days. Total number of measurements made from conventional and no-tillage soybean and winter wheat plots were 6480 and 4456, respectively. Average flux after the winter-dormancy period of wheat was 37% higher in tilled soil compared to no-till soil. However, average flux during the soybean growing season was 8% lower in conventional till compared to no-till soil. This differential response of soil respiration in wheat and soybean was primarily due to tillage-induced changes in surface characteristics (residue cover) and soil environmental conditions (soil temperature and soil moisture). Results from this study can help elucidate relationships for modeling and assessment of field-scale soil CO2 emissions from dryland wheat and soybean crops grown in sub-tropics.
Incorporating conditional survival into prognostication for gunshot wounds to the head

Objective Several scores estimate the prognosis for gunshot wounds to the head (GSWH) at the point of hospital admission. However, prognosis may change over the course of the hospital stay. This study measures the accuracy of the Baylor score among patients who have already survived the acute phase of hospitalization and generates conditional outcome curves for the duration of hospital stay for patients with GSWH. Methods Patients in whom GSWH with dural penetration occurred between January 2009 and June 2019 were identified from a trauma registry at a level I trauma center in the southeastern US. The Baylor score was calculated using component variables. Conditional overall survival and good functional outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale score of 4 or 5) curves were generated. The accuracy of the Baylor score in predicting mortality and functional outcome among acute-phase survivors (survival > 48 hours) was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the curve (AUC). Results A total of 297 patients were included (mean age 38.0 [SD 15.7] years, 73.4% White, 85.2% male), and 129 patients survived the initial 48 hours of admission. These acute-phase survivors had a decreased mortality rate of 32.6% (n = 42) compared to 68.4% (n = 203) for all patients, and an increased rate of good functional outcome (48.1%; n = 62) compared to the rate for all patients (23.2%; n = 69). Among acute-phase survivors, the Baylor score accurately predicted mortality (AUC = 0.807) and functional outcome (AUC = 0.837). However, the Baylor score generally overestimated true mortality rates and underestimated good functional outcome. Additionally, hospital day 18 represented an inflection point of decreasing probability of good functional outcome. Conclusions During admission for GSWH, surviving beyond the acute phase of 48 hours doubles the rates of survival and good functional outcome. The Baylor score maintains reasonable accuracy in predicting these outcomes for acute-phase survivors, but generally overestimates mortality and underestimates good functional outcome. Future prognostic models should incorporate conditional survival to improve the accuracy of prognostication after the acute phase.
The Behavioral Welfare Economist in Society: Considerations from David Hume

We draw on David Hume’s essays on happiness to extend ideas about welfare, preferences, and the social role of behavioral welfare economists in Mario Rizzo and Glen Whitman’s (2020) Escaping Paternalism. Through literary dialogue, Hume illustrates that individuals have different perspectives on the good life. These perspectives cannot be resolved by the philosopher or the economist. Hume’s sensibilities dovetail with Rizzo and Whitman’s notion of inclusive rationality, which implies an open-ended conception of welfare. Hume’s dialogical treatment of the good life has political implications. We take these implications to be a useful expression of Rizzo and Whitman’s “paternalism-resisting framework.” The paper concludes with a discussion of Hume’s vision of the proper role of the philosopher in society. That vision extends Rizzo and Whitman’s sense that the behavioral economist ought to view herself as a friendly social advisor in conversation with fellow citizens.
A host-microbiome interaction mediates the opposing effects of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids on metabolic endotoxemia.

Metabolic endotoxemia, commonly derived from gut dysbiosis, is a primary cause of chronic low grade inflammation that underlies many chronic diseases. Here we show that mice fed a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids exhibit higher levels of metabolic endotoxemia and systemic low-grade inflammation, while transgenic conversion of tissue omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids dramatically reduces endotoxemic and inflammatory status. These opposing effects of tissue omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids can be eliminated by antibiotic treatment and animal co-housing, suggesting the involvement of the gut microbiota. Analysis of gut microbiota and fecal transfer revealed that elevated tissue omega-3 fatty acids enhance intestinal production and secretion of intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), which induces changes in the gut bacteria composition resulting in decreased lipopolysaccharide production and gut permeability, and ultimately, reduced metabolic endotoxemia and inflammation. Our findings uncover an interaction between host tissue fatty acid composition and gut microbiota as a novel mechanism for the anti-inflammatory effect of omega-3 fatty acids. Given the excess of omega-6 and deficiency of omega-3 in the modern Western diet, the differential effects of tissue omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids on gut microbiota and metabolic endotoxemia provide insight into the etiology and management of today’s health epidemics.
B Lymphocyte Stimulation and Suppression by the Fc Portion of Immunoglobulin

The Fc region of immunoglobulin (Ig), whether in the form of an Fc fragment1, aggregated Ig1,2 or an immune complex3 can induce normal murine splenic B cells and human peripheral blood B lymphocytes to proliferate and differentiate to polyclonal antibody-secreting cells. Only the Fc portion of Ig is able to induce this response. Fab or F(ab′)2 fragments, either soluble or heat aggregated, are inactive. Some change has to occur in the Fc part of the molecule since unaggregated intact IgG is inactive. It appears that the alterations of IgG that occur with heat aggregation and after interaction of IgG antibody with antigen, as well as by splitting Fc from the parent molecule by papain digestion, all expose a site in the Fc portion that is masked in the intact molecule and which is critical in mitogenesis. The mitogenic signal of Fc fragments does not appear to depend on approximation of Fc regions by aggregation. Mitogenically active human Fc fragments obtained by cleavage with papain have a sedimentation rate of Fc monomers and do not appear to aggregate in the culture medium1. Further, heat aggregation or chemical crosslinking of purified Fc fragments does not increase their mitogenicity (unpublished observation).
Pelvic Floor Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction

Pelvic floor myofascial pain and dysfunction are common, but treatable, musculoskeletal conditions during and after pregnancy. Pregnancy-related anatomic and hormonal changes may have effects on biomechanical patterns of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) causing changes in contraction, relaxation, and muscle strength leading to myofascial pain. Pelvic floor myofascial pain is characterized by muscular pain, taut bands, and trigger points that cause pain referral with pressure, usually due to underlying overuse or weakness. Pelvic floor myofascial dysfunction refers to abnormal muscle activation patterns. Understanding the anatomic relationship of the PFM with the pelvic girdle, spine, and hips will aid the rehabilitation provider in diagnosis, management, and appropriate referrals. Pelvic floor myofascial pain and dysfunction are diagnosed mainly by clinical examination of the PFM by specialists in women’s health rehabilitation. The treatment consists of pelvic floor physical therapy, medications, bracing, and judicious use of injection therapy, as well as consideration of complementary treatment options. This chapter will focus on pelvic floor myofascial pain and dysfunction, discuss the complex relationship with dyspareunia, and explain the rehabilitation approach to treating these common disorders.
Using confocal laser scanning microscopy to investigate the organization and development of neuronal projections labeled with DiI.

Publisher Summary This chapter provides a technical framework for any investigator pondering the use of carbocyanine dyes for the study of neuronal connectivity. The focus is on using one such dye, 1,l′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanineperchlorate (DiI), in combination with confocal laser scanning microscopy. The choice of whether to choose confocal microscopy to visualize the dye, or more conventional fluorescence microscopy, is determined by the specific question being addressed. This chapter focuses on using confocal laser scanning microscopy to investigate the organization and development of neuronal projections labeled with DiI. The advantage of DiI when used in vivo is that the fluorescent properties persist over long postinjection survival periods. This finding, initially observed in cell culture has also been demonstrated in retrogradely labeled neurons. This aspect of the label has presented the exciting opportunity for directly observing the development of neuronal systems in vivo .
Applied electro-optics educational and training program with multiple entrance and exit pathways

This paper presents an innovative hands-on training program designed to create a pipeline of highly-skilled technical workers for today’s workforce economy. The 2+2+2 Pennsylvania Integrated Workforce Leadership Program in Electro-Optics prepares students for a career in this new high-tech field. With seamless transition from high school into college, the program offers the versatility of multiple entrance and exit pathways. After completion of each educational level, students can exit the program with various skill levels, including certificates, an associate’s degree, or a bachelor’s degree. Launched by Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in partnership with Lenape Vocational School (Lenape), the 2+2+2 educational pathway program was implemented to promote early training of high-school students. During the first level, students in their junior and/or senior year enroll in four Electro-Optics courses at Lenape. Upon completion of these courses and an Advanced Placement Equivalency course with an appropriate exam score, students can earn a certificate from Lenape for the 15+ credits, which also can be articulated into IUP’s associate degree program in Electro-Optics. During the second level, students can earn an associate’s degree in Electro-Optics, offered only at the IUP Northpointe Campus. After completion of the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.), students are prepared to enter the workforce as senior technicians. During the third level, students who have completed the Associate of Science (A.S.) in Electro-Optics have the opportunity to matriculate at IUP’s Indiana Campus to earn a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Applied Physics with a track in Electro-Optics. Hence, the name 2+2+2 refers to getting started in high school, continuing the educational experience with an associate’s degree program, and optionally moving on to a bachelor’s degree. Consequently, students move from one educational level to the next with advanced credits toward the next degree. This program was made possible by two grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (PA DCED). The intent of the grant is to foster partnerships that will develop programs in high-tech fields, such as biotechnology/life sciences, information technology, opto-electronics, and advanced manufacturing and materials. Topics of discussion will include program development, curriculum development, course descriptions, course sequencing, outreach and recruitment efforts, and program challenges.
Chromosome Engineering in Lycopersicon

The purpose of this article is to summarise the present state of knowledge concerning chromosomal manipulations that are possible in the genus Lycopersicon. References to the pertinent literature will be given, and examples presented.
Block of Peripheral Pain Response by High‐Frequency Sinusoidal Stimulation

Objectives Pain due to peripheral neuropathy is extremely difficult to treat as drugs often become less and less effective over the course of a patient's life. In order to augment such treatments, electrical stimulation has become relatively common, in the form of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation, and spinal cord stimulation. Unfortunately, these treatments are only effective in a subset of chronic pain patients. Materials and Methods A rabbit sural-gastrocnemius reflex model of pain was used, in which reflex twitches were elicited using 0.3-Hz 100-μs pulses applied to the sural nerve. This stimulation induces a small electromyogram (EMG) twitch recorded from the gastrocnemius with about 1-msec delay. When pain stimuli are applied on the heel of the foot, the amplitude of the reflex-induced EMG response increased by 4.7 ± 2.5-fold (p < 0.005). Sinusoidal stimulation (high-frequency stimulation) was applied (130 Hz) through a tripolar cuff placed distally on the sural nerve to block the C-fiber activity induced by heel pain. Results The stimulation paradigm was able to successfully and reversibly block pain signals as measured by the lack of potentiation of the reflex in 100% of the five nerves tested (no significant difference in reflex response, p > 0.5), with thresholds between 500 and 900 μApp. Conclusions Complete, reversible block of pain-induced reflex potentiation was obtained in all five nerves tested. This method could be applicable to the control of pain in patients with peripheral neuropathy.
Disability by Design

Given the primacy of global economics and marketing mind-sets, this article interrogates disability as a phenomenon of design and branding. We begin by briefly reviewing relevant design and branding concepts, proceed to apply them to the creation of a disability identity and set of responses, and then demonstrate the power of design and branding as subversive or facilitative of advancing transformative global inclusion and human rights.
Daily affect variability and context‐specific alcohol consumption

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Research explored the effects of variability in negative and positive affect on alcohol consumption, specifying daily fluctuation in affect as a critical form of emotion dysregulation. Using daily process methodology allows for a more objective calculation of affect variability relative to traditional self-reports. The present study models within-person negative and positive affect variabilities as predictors of context-specific consumption (i.e. solitary vs. social drinking), controlling for mean levels of affect. DESIGN AND METHODS: A community sample of moderate-to-heavy drinkers (n = 47; 49% women) from a US metropolitan area reported on affect and alcohol consumption thrice daily for 30 days via a handheld electronic interviewer. Within-person affect variability was calculated using daily standard deviations in positive and negative affect. RESULTS: Within person, greater negative and positive variabilities are related to greater daily solitary and social consumption. Across study days, mean levels of negative and positive affect variabilities related to greater social consumption between persons; yet, aggregated negative affect variability was related to less solitary consumption. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Results affirm affect variability as a unique predictor of alcohol consumption, independent of mean affect levels. Yet, it is important to differentiate social context of consumption, as well as type of affect variability, particularly at the between-person level. These distinctions help clarify inconsistencies in the self-medication literature regarding associations between average levels of affect and consumption. Importantly, consistent within-person relationships for both variabilities support arguments that both negative and positive affect variabilities are detrimental and reflect an inability to regulate emotional experience. [Mohr CD, Arpin S, McCabe CT. Daily affect variability and context-specific alcohol consumption. Drug Alcohol Rev 2015]. Language: en
Molecular profiling in the treatment of colorectal cancer: focus on regorafenib

Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a highly heterogeneous disease. Its treatment outcome has been significantly improved over the last decade with the incorporation of biological targeted therapies, including anti-EGFR antibodies, cetuximab and panitumumab, and VEGF inhibitors, bevacizumab, ramucirumab, and aflibercept. The identification of predictive biomarkers has further improved the survival by accurately selecting patients who are most likely to benefit from these treatments, such as RAS mutation profiling for EGFR antibodies. Regorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor currently used as late line therapy for mCRC. The molecular and genetic markers associated with regorafenib treatment response are yet to be characterized. Here, we review currently available clinical evidence of mCRC molecular profiling, such as RAS, BRAF, and MMR testing, and its role in targeted therapies with special focus on regorafenib treatment.
Heart rate variability and vagal tone in schizophrenia: A review

Recent heart rate variability (HRV) research has identified diminished levels of parasympathetic activity among schizophrenia patients. Over two dozen empirically-based studies have been published on this topic; primarily over the last decade. However, no theoretical review appears to have been published on this work. Further, only one empirical study has evaluated HRV research findings in the context of documented hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivity in schizophrenia. HRV research indicates that no abnormalities exist in the initial sympathetic stress response of schizophrenia patients. However, evidence has consistently demonstrated that patients exhibit a diminished capacity to recover from a stress response as a result of deficits in parasympathetic activity. Moreover, this diminished parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) response, also known as decreased vagal tone, has been found to relate to increased symptom severity. Although these findings may cause speculation that the observed vagal tone disruption merely results from anxiety produced by the presence of positive symptomology, additional studies have identified similar parasympathetic dysfunction among nonpsychotic relatives of individuals with schizophrenia. We posit that the resulting sympathovagal imbalance leads to an overall sympathetic dominance despite the fact that sympathetic nervous system activity is not abnormally elevated among patients. Implications are discussed within the context of the diathesis-stress/vulnerability-stress model, including the potential for identifying a mechanism of action by which environmental stressors may contribute to triggering first-episode psychosis.
Microenterprise as a practical alternative to maquiladoras

Examines alternative ways to foster microenterprises in developing countries. Microenterprises, in contrast to maquiladoras (assembly or processing plants), contribute to just relationships in the workplace and to human development. In today’s global economy, US corporations have established a number of maquiladoras in Latin America and the Caribbean that have benefitted them as foreign owners but have had some deleterious effects on the workers and economies of the countries. US financial institutions and non‐profit organizations are providing micro‐financing, training and organization to promote microenterprises in developing countries. These enterprises, though small, contribute to self‐sufficient development at the grassroots level.
Coping with fatherhood: The first year

Fantasy (thinking back to prebaby times) and holidays (going out alone with the wife) are examined here as methods of coping with parenthood for 93 white, first-time fathers. Results suggest that only the holiday coping mechanism is associated with maintaining or improving marital satisfaction. The use of fantasy actually decreases marital satisfaction. These data suggest that the discrepancies in the conclusions of previous “parenthood as crisis” studies may be accounted for through the analysis of coping mechanisms that various fathers utilize.
A 2.8GHz 128-entry × 152b 3-read/2-write multi-precision floating-point register file and shuffler in 32nm CMOS

A 128-entry × 152b 3-read/2-write ported multi-precision floating-point register file/shuffler with measured 2.8GHz operation is fabricated in 1.05V, 32nm CMOS. Single-precision (24b-mantissa), 2-way 12b or 4-way 6b reduced mantissa precision modes, certainty tracking bits, mode-dependent gating, area-efficient windowing using 1R/1W cells, and ultra-low-voltage read/write circuits enable 350mV–1.2V wide dynamic voltage range with measured peak energy-efficiency of 751GOPS/W at 400mV, 4-way 6b-mode (22.3× higher than 1.05V single-precision mode) and 19% area reduction over single-precision 3R/2W implementations.
The Interactive Effect of Leader-Member Exchange and Political Skill on Subjective Career Success:

Whereas previous research has examined the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and objective measures of career success, it is likely that LMX is also an important predictor of subjective career success. Additionally, because of the political nature of an individual's career progression, it has been argued that one's personal style and resulting impressions are positively related to subjective career success. A sample of 295 retail workers was surveyed, and the results indicated that individuals in low-quality leader-member exchange experienced higher perceptions of subjective career success when they possess high levels of political skill.
‘Corruption’, nationalism, and the native elites in soviet central Asia

In the years since Brezhnev's death, the indigenous Communist elites of Uzbekistan and other Soviet Central Asian republics have been the target of a far‐reaching purge. Ostensibly aimed at elimina...
Fuzzy logic association: performance, implementation issues, and automated resource allocation

A recursive multisensor association algorithm has been developed based on fuzzy logic. It associates data from the same target for multiple sensor types. The algorithm provides an estimate of the number of targets present and reduced noise estimates of the quantities being measured. Uncertain information from many sources including other algorithms can be easily incorporated. A comparison of the algorithm to a more conventional Bayesian association algorithm is provided. The algorithm is applied to a multitarget environment for simulated data. The data from both the ESM and radar systems is noisy and the ESM data is intermittent. The radar data has probability of detection less than unity. The effects on parameter estimation, determination of the number of targets, and multisensor data association is examined for the case of a large number of targets closely spaced in the RF-PRI plane. When a sliding window is introduced to minimize memory and CPU requirements the algorithm is shown to lose little in performance, while gaining significantly in speed. The algorithm's CPU usage, computational complexity, and real-time implementation requirements are examined. Finally, the algorithm will be considered as an association algorithm for a multifunction antenna that makes use of fuzzy logic for resource allocation.
DEFICIENCY IN THE DESCEMET'S MEMBRANE OF THE CORNEA.

DURING an investigation of the histochemical localization of an oxidative and dephosphorylating group of enzymes of the rabbit eye some unexpected features of Descemet's membrane were observed.