cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Initial countershock in the treatment of asystole

Abstract Background: Routine provision of defibrillatory countershock (CS) in the initial management of asystolic cardiac arrest has been advocated because certain cases of ventricular fibrillation (VF) may present as asystole (AS). Objective: To determine the value of initial CS versus endotracheal intubation and pharmacologic therapy alone in the treatment of asystolic cardiac arrest. Design/Participants: A retrospective analysis of data collected prospectively during a multicenter study of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The study subjects were all patients whose initial cardiac arrest rhythm was AS and were treated with standard advanced cardiac life support (ACLS). Setting: Six urban emergency medical services (EMS) systems. Intervention: Patients in AS were treated initially with CS followed by ACLS therapy (CS Group), and were compared to those patients receiving endotracheal intubation and pharmacologic therapy alone (No CS Group). Outcome measures: Those receiving initial CS were compared to those not receiving CS using both Chi-square and logistic regression analysis. Outcome parameters included: rates of return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), emergency department admission, hospital admission and hospital discharge. Results: Of the 194 patients presenting with AS, 77 received CS as their initial therapy. Of these, 13 (16.9%) had ROSC compared to 27 of the 117 (23.1%) from the No CS Group (P = 0.30). Emergency department and hospital admission rates were not significantly different; 13.0% versus 18.0% (P = 0.36), and 13.0% versus 11.1 % (P = 0.69) for CS versus No CS, respectively. None of the patients in the CS Group were discharged alive versus two (1.7%) from No CS (P = 0.52). Of 42 patients with bystander-witnessed cardiac arrests, 13.3% in the CS Group had ROSC compared to 40.7% in the No CS Group (P = 0.07). Emergency department admission rates were 6.7% for the CS Group and 33.3% for the No CS Group (P = 0.07); while hospital admission rates were 6.7% and 22.2%, respectively (P = 0.39). When these comparisons were adjusted for bystander-initiated CPR, CPR interval, and paramedic response interval, the P-values became 0.10, 0.05 and 0.17, respectively. Conclusions: Although, statistically, the results for both groups were not distinguishable, outcomes for asystolic patients had a tendency to be better when the initial therapy did not involve CS. Larger study populations are recommended to confirm these preliminary observations.
A dual-stage method for lesion segmentation on digital mammograms.

Mass lesion segmentation on mammograms is a challenging task since mass lesions are usually embedded and hidden in varying densities of parenchymal tissue structures. In this article, we present a method for automatic delineation of lesion boundaries on digital mammograms. This method utilizes a geometric active contour model that minimizes an energy function based on the homogeneities inside and outside of the evolving contour. Prior to the application of the active contour model, a radial gradient index (RGI)-based segmentation method is applied to yield an initial contour closer to the lesion boundary location in a computationally efficient manner. Based on the initial segmentation, an automatic background estimation method is applied to identify the effective circumstance of the lesion, and a dynamic stopping criterion is implemented to terminate the contour evolution when it reaches the lesion boundary. By using a full-field digital mammography database with 739 images, we quantitatively compare the proposed algorithm with a conventional region-growing method and an RGI-based algorithm by use of the area overlap ratio between computer segmentation and manual segmentation by an expert radiologist. At an overlap threshold of 0.4, 85% of the images are correctly segmented with the proposed method, while only 69% and 73%more » of the images are correctly delineated by our previous developed region-growing and RGI methods, respectively. This resulting improvement in segmentation is statistically significant.« less
Developing Best Practices for Machine Translation Using Google Translate and OCR Terminal

This article describes a process of developing a set of best practices for machine translation at an off-site storage facility. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software is tested, along with various machine translation programs, to develop a free system to translate non-English materials for staff and users. There is also a brief literature review regarding some reasons why libraries should be concerned with translating materials into other languages.
Reliability, validity and administrative burden of the community reintegration of injured service members computer adaptive test (CRIS-CAT)”

The Computer Adaptive Test version of the Community Reintegration of Injured Service Members measure (CRIS-CAT) consists of three scales measuring Extent of, Perceived Limitations in, and Satisfaction with community integration. The CRIS-CAT was developed using item response theory methods. The purposes of this study were to assess the reliability, concurrent, known group and predictive validity and respondent burden of the CRIS-CAT. The CRIS-CAT was developed using item response theory methods. The purposes of this study were to assess the reliability, concurrent, known group and predictive validity and respondent burden of the CRIS-CAT. This was a three-part study that included a 1) a cross-sectional field study of 517 homeless, employed, and Operation Enduring Freedom / Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans; who completed all items in the CRIS item set, 2) a cohort study with one year follow-up study of 135 OEF/OIF Veterans, and 3) a 50-person study of CRIS-CAT administration. Conditional reliability of simulated CAT scores was calculated from the field study data, and concurrent validity and known group validity were examined using Pearson product correlations and ANOVAs. Data from the cohort were used to examine the ability of the CRIS-CAT to predict key one year outcomes. Data from the CRIS-CAT administration study were used to calculate ICC (2,1) minimum detectable change (MDC), and average number of items used during CAT administration. Reliability scores for all scales were above 0.75, but decreased at both ends of the score continuum. CRIS-CAT scores were correlated with concurrent validity indicators and differed significantly between the three Veteran groups (P 0.9. MDCs were 5.9, 6.2, and 3.6, respectively for Extent, Perceived and Satisfaction subscales. Number of items (mn, SD) administered at Visit 1 were 14.6 (3.8) 10.9 (2.7) and 10.4 (1.7) respectively for Extent, Perceived and Satisfaction subscales. The CRIS-CAT demonstrated sound measurement properties including reliability, construct, known group and predictive validity, and it was administered with minimal respondent burden. These findings support the use of this measure in assessing community reintegration.
The Versatility of Human Locomotion

Human locomotion was studied for 160 societies through the use of early travel accounts, missionaries' reports, and the ethnographic literature. As a result of the value Western society has placed on a sedentary way of life, and the consequent devaluation of movement, the common “striding gait” of humans has taken on a kind of misplaced concreteness. Humans facultatively employ a number of locomotor patterns besides the habitual bipedal gait: long-distance running, climbing, leaping, crawling, swimming, and skiing (the latter two are not dealt with in this paper). Human locomotion, like that of animals, is an analogous rather than a univocal concept, admitting great variation, plasticity, and subtle differences in gait, style, speed, and endurance. These multiple concepts have important implications for the construction of models of the evolution of hominid bipedalism.
Brief Report: Preschoolers' Social Preferences for Interacting with Peers with Physical Differences

Investigated preschoolers' playmate preferences for line drawings of a physically normal child, one with a facial scar, one wearing a leg brace, and one sitting in a wheelchair for several contexts: classroom, eating, reading, television, and playground. Difference in preferences for age, gender, ethnic group, and context were investigated. No gender differences were found. African American children were more accepting of a child seated in a wheelchair than Caucasian children. Very young children had limited understanding of the impairments. Also, the children were less likely to express preferences for the children with orthopedic impairments for the playground context. Interventions involving typically developing children and peers with impairments in play that does not require motor activity may enhance the acceptance of children with orthopedic impairments.
A supported polymeric liquid membrane process for removal of carboxylic acids from a waste stream

The removal or elimination of organic residues from aqueous waste streams represents a major need in the chemical industry. The authors have developed a new class of membrane called supported polymeric liquid membranes that are capable of removing and concentrating low molecular weight organic compounds from dilute aqueous solutions, especially those that also contain high concentrations of inorganic salts. Attractive features of this membrane process include the ability to recover the contaminants in concentrated form for either recycle or more economical disposal, low pressure (ambient) operation, simple scale-up using commercial hollow fiber modules, and ease of in-situ regeneration of the polymeric liquid. The process has shown treatment feasibility for several types of aqueous waste streams. This paper describes the laboratory development activities for treating a waste stream containing a dilute mixture of C2-C6 carboxylic acids and nitric acid.
Constitutively active HIF-1α improves perfusion and arterial remodeling in an endovascular model of limb ischemia

Objective: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) regulates the expression of angiogenic growth factors. We analyzed the effect of intramuscular (i.m.) delivery of AdCA5, an adenovirus encoding a constitutively active form of the HIF-1α subunit, in a novel model of limb ischemia. Methods: AdCa5 or AdLacZ (6 × 108 pfu) was injected into male New Zealand White rabbits that were untreated or subjected to occlusion of the left superficial femoral artery by endovascular coils. Expression of mRNAs was quantified 1, 3, and 7 days after adenovirus injection into rabbits without occlusion. Calf blood pressure (BP), angiography, and immunohistochemical analyses were performed 14 days after arterial occlusion and adenovirus injection. Results: AdCA5 increased the expression of HIF-1α, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, placental growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor B, stromal-derived factor 1α, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA as well as HIF-1α and VEGF protein. On day 14, AdCA5-injected limbs showed improved calf BP ratios (0.89 ± 0.13 vs. 0.51 ± 0.05, p = 0.02), angiographic perfusion scores (3.50 ± 0.56 vs. 8.33 ± 1.31, p = 0.007), and distal deep femoral artery diameter ratio (1.84 ± 0.25 vs. 0.93 ± 0.22, p = 0.02) relative to those receiving AdLacZ. The capillary/myocyte ratio (0.93 ± 0.03 vs. 0.78 ± 0.06, p = 0.04) and arterial luminal area (0.32 ± 0.05 mm2 vs. 0.21 ± 0.03 mm2, p = 0.04) were significantly increased in the AdCA5 group. Conclusion: In a model that resembles atherosclerotic obstruction of peripheral arteries in patients, the i.m. administration of AdCA5 promoted arteriogenic and angiogenic responses.
The Promise of IT: Educating the Federal Government

According to former US chief information officer Vivek Kundra, "Information technology should enable government to better serve the American people. But despite spending more than $600 billion on information technology over the past decade, the federal government has achieved little of the productivity improvements that private industry has realized from IT. The problem isn't in the technical training of IT professionals working for the federal government. Rather, we need to better educate the nonIT professionals among federal employees-in particular, those in management positions. They need to understand IT's role as a business-enhancing tool, even if the "business" here is serving the American people. This will require a major shift in government culture. To help promote such a shift, I suggest an IT curriculum for educating the federal government on realizing the benefits of IT. The goal is to develop partnership building blocks among the three groups that compose the federal government IT community: the cadre of IT professionals who provide critical IT services for the government, the nonIT workforce benefiting from such services, and the government leaders providing the overall vision that such services support.
Molecular Characterization of a Tyrosine-Specific Protein Phosphatase Encoded by a Stress-Responsive Gene in Arabidopsis

Protein tyrosine kinases and phosphatases play a vital role in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation in animal systems. However, none of these enzymes has been characterized from higher plants. In this study, we isolated a cDNA encoding a putative protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTPase) from Arabidopsis (referred to as AtPTP1). The expression level of AtPTP1 is highly sensitive to environmental stresses. High-salt conditions increased AtPTP1 mRNA levels, whereas cold treatment rapidly eliminated the AtPTP1 transcript. The recombinant AtPTP1 protein specifically hydrolyzed phosphotyrosine, but not phosphoserine/threonine, in protein substrates. Site-directed mutagenesis defined two highly conserved amino acids, cysteine-265 and aspartate-234, as being essential for the phosphatase activity of the AtPTP1 protein, suggesting a common catalytic mechanism for PTPases from all eukaryotic systems. In summary, we have identified AtPTP1 as a tyrosine-specific protein phosphatase that may function in stress responses of higher plants.
Determinants of Compliance with Anticoagulation: A Case-Control Study

Abstract BACKGROUND: The number of patients for whom long-term anticoagulation is indicated has increased dramatically over the past decade. Good patient compliance is necessary to safely realize the benefits of anticoagulation, yet barriers to compliance with anticoagulation therapy have not been studied. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study in the Anticoagulation Therapy Unit (ATU) at Massachusetts General Hospital. Forty-three patients who had been discharged from the ATU for noncompliance (cases) and 89 randomly selected compliant ATU controls were interviewed. Noncompliant cases had self-discontinued warfarin or were taking warfarin with inadequate monitoring of international normalized ratio (INR) levels. Telephone interviews assessed sociodemographic features, indication for anticoagulation, patient satisfaction, and health beliefs. RESULTS: Noncompliant cases were more likely to be younger (mean 53.7 years versus 68.7 years, P CONCLUSIONS: Patients who are noncompliant with warfarin share distinctive clinical characteristics. Notably, younger, male patients who have not experienced a thromboembolic event are more likely to forego INR testing or to stop anticoagulation therapy completely. Improved patient education, physician involvement, and ease of monitoring may improve compliance, particularly among younger male patients.
Medicolegal aspects of neoplastic dermatology

Medical malpractice litigation is rising at an explosive rate in the US and, to a lesser extent, in Canada. The impact of medical malpractice litigation on health care costs and the cost of insurance is dramatic. Certain specialist categories are becoming uninsurable in some parts of the US, while in others, clinicians are retiring early, restricting or changing practice or changing states of residence in consequence of medical malpractice claims and of the cost and availability of insurance. This, in turn, has had the real effect of denying care to patients in some communities in the US. Some 13% of all medical malpractice claims relate to one area of neoplastic dermatopathology, specifically, melanocytic neoplasia. Certain steps can be taken by pathology laboratories to reduce, but never completely eliminate, the risk of medical malpractice claims. In this review, attention is paid to the source of medical malpractice claims and an abbreviated approach to specific strategies for risk management is presented.
Probabilistic Air Segmentation and Sparse Regression Estimated Pseudo CT for PET/MR Attenuation Correction

A probabilistic air segmentation and sparse regression method was developed for PET attenuation correction with a mean whole-brain PET error of 2.42% ± 1.0 by estimating continuous pseudo CT images from T1-weighted MR and atlas CT images.
Consistency in maternal behavior within families of free-ranging rhesus monkeys: An extension of the concept of maternal style.

This paper assesses the extent to which free-ranging rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago show consistent mother-infant interaction with individual infants over time and consistent maternal styles from one infant to another. Inter-pair differences in several measures of mother-infant interaction related to proximity and contact were correlated positively and highly significantly between 6-week age periods. Analysis of variance methods were used to show that, after the first 6 weeks, these measures of interaction were also more similar among pairs with the same mother (i.e., families) than among pairs with different mothers. Differences between families were also consistent between age periods, and appeared to be due primarily to differences between mothers rather than to differences between sets of infant siblings. The results suggest that the concept of maternal style can be used to describe variation between both individual Cayo Santiago mother-infant pairs and between individual Cayo Santiago mothers.
The Nurse's Role in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect: Part II

I N PART I, the incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment in the United States was discussed. An attempt was made to raise awareness and to convey that the incidence and consequences of child abuse in America continues to be a serious problem. Part II will discuss ways in which nurses can play a role in helping to decrease the incidence of child abuse and neglect in this country. Three factors are key in this endeavor: prevention, recognition and education, all of which are interrelated. Nurses are in an excellent position to intervene in these areas using primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention.
Ignition Temperature vs Droplet Size for Hydrazine and Pentaborane in Air

Content In the mathematical model, a spherical, liquid fuel droplet is assumed to be in velocity equilibrium with its gaseous environment, while its interior is uniformly at its boiling point for the environmental pressure (1 atm herein). A pseudosteady state prevails; the radius of the droplet (rs) is held constant in an energy balance and fuel and oxidizer mass balances, which include chemical reaction at finite, temperature-dependent rates, radial convection of energy or fuel mass resulting from evaporation at the surface, and thermal diffusion from the environment or mass diffusion due to concentration gradients. Energy transport due to diffusive mass transfer, and mass diffusion due to the temperature gradient, are neglected. The model is limited by specification of a constant density and a Lewis number of unity. Using the method of Schvab and Zeldovitch to describe boundary conditions at the surface, expressions can be written for temperature, oxidizer concentration, and the dimensionless fuel mass burning rate, a = (burning velocity) (radius) /(diffusivity). This system of equations constitutes a two-point boundary value problem for fuel mass fraction XF, with a as an eigenvalue. For prescribed boundary conditions and physical properties of the fuel-oxidizer system, conditions at the droplet surface are computed for an assumed value of a, then a dimensionless fuel mass balance is integrated numerically outward from the droplet surface to some designated, large distance where an arbitrarily small XF will be reached. Calculations for hydrocarbon fuels1-2 demonstrated that the curve for a vs environmental temperature Tm is S-shaped. Ignition due to diffusive heating is defined as the point where a discontinuity is observed in the mathematical model at the lower knee of the £-curve (i.e., two values of a both satisfy the boundary conditions). A second or reverse knee at lower Tm corresponds to the process of extinction. Diffusion-controlled combustion on the upper branch of the curve ceases, and a discrete decrease in a takes place, with a decrease in Tm, at this point.
A pulsed UWB transmitter and receiver with 4-element beamforming for 1-Gbps meter-range WPAN applications

A UWB transceiver that employs pulsed, multiband signaling with frequency-hopping is demonstrated in a 65nm CMOS process. The transceiver satisfies ECC requirements and operates in the frequency range 6–8.5 GHz. The proposed signaling scheme provides flexibility to satisfy regulations across multiple regions with low implementation complexity. The receiver employs 4-element beamforming at IF to enhance sensitivity. The beamforming architecture does not require a wideband delay circuit at the RX. The prototype demonstrates 1 Gbps data rate over 2 meters, while consuming 221 mW in the TX and 211 mW in the receiver.
Vision and strategy towards the course-embedded library: new possibilities for a “virtual carrel” initiative

Course-embedded libraries represent an emerging need in education, as academic libraries seek new strategies in service. Amidst the sweeping changes in demographics, technology, science, and economy, the need to reach out to distant learners has reached a critical point, urging librarians, course administrators, and technologist staff to establish new collective goals and strategies. The “virtual carrel” is a vision for an online workspace with collocated course content and embedded library resources. Innovative strategies can be introduced to further integrate the library in the online classroom, thus embedding the library into the context of online coursework. As an extension to macroand micro-level strategies for library involvement intended for hybrid courses, the author proposes a nano-level strategy, which may solve technical problems preventing the seamless movement between course content and academic library resources. Although the findings here are somewhat specific to the online environment at Baker College, the strategies can be applied towards solving shared problems throughout higher education.
Propagation characteristics of picosecond electrical transients on YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-y transmission lines

Picosecond electrical transients have been propagated on various sized superconducting parallel ooplanar transmission lines made of YBa2Cu3O7-y. The superconducting films were produced at Cornell University in situ by a high-pressure reactive evaporation process without the necessity of a postdeposition oven anneal cycle.1 The flims were prepared on a yttria stabilized, cubic zirconia substrate. The smallest transmission lines made from these films were 15 μm in width spaced by 15 μm.
Writing parallel libraries with MPI - common practice, issues, and extensions

Modular programming is an important software design concept. We discuss principles for programming parallel libraries, show several successful library implementations, and introduce a taxonomy for existing parallel libraries. We derive common requirements that parallel libraries pose on the programming framework. We then show how those requirements are supported in the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard. We also note several potential pitfalls for library implementers using MPI. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of state-of-the art of parallel library programming and we provide some guidelines for library designers.
RGB detectors on compressive snapshot multi-spectral imagers

The coded aperture snapshot spectral imager (CASSI) system has been demonstrated to produce spectral images using just a single snapshot taken by a monochrome image sensor. In this paper, we introduce the use of color image sensors in CASSI to include the spectral sensitivity of the image sensor pixels to account for color and then investigate the impact on image quality. We analyze the use of the traditional Bayer color filter array image sensor, and the novel Foveon image sensor which stacks red, green, and blue pixels on top of one another. Several simulations on different 3D spatio-spectral databases show improvements of up to 3 dBs in terms of PSNR over traditional monochrome sensors.
Effects of High Octane Ethanol Blends on Four Legacy Flex-Fuel Vehicles, and a Turbocharged GDI Vehicle

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is supporting engine and vehicle research to investigate the potential of high-octane fuels to improve fuel economy. Ethanol has very high research octane number (RON) and heat of vaporization (HoV), properties that make it an excellent spark ignition engine fuel. The prospects of increasing both the ethanol content and the octane number of the gasoline pool has the potential to enable improved fuel economy in future vehicles with downsized, downsped engines. This report describes a small study to explore the potential performance benefits of high octane ethanol blends in the legacy fleet. There are over 17 million flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) on the road today in the United States, vehicles capable of using any fuel from E0 to E85. If a future high-octane blend for dedicated vehicles is on the horizon, the nation is faced with the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma. If today’s FFVs can see a performance advantage with a high octane ethanol blend such as E25 or E30, then perhaps consumer demand for this fuel can serve as a bridge to future dedicated vehicles. Experiments were performed with four FFVs using a 10% ethanol fuel (E10) with 88 pump octane, and a market gasolinemore » blended with ethanol to make a 30% by volume ethanol fuel (E30) with 94 pump octane. The research octane numbers were 92.4 for the E10 fuel and 100.7 for the E30 fuel. Two vehicles had gasoline direct injected (GDI) engines, and two featured port fuel injection (PFI). Significant wide open throttle (WOT) performance improvements were measured for three of the four FFVs, with one vehicle showing no change. Additionally, a conventional (non-FFV) vehicle with a small turbocharged direct-injected engine was tested with a regular grade of gasoline with no ethanol (E0) and a splash blend of this same fuel with 15% ethanol by volume (E15). RON was increased from 90.7 for the E0 to 97.8 for the E15 blend. Significant wide open throttle and thermal efficiency performance improvement was measured for this vehicle, which achieved near volumetric fuel economy parity on the aggressive US06 drive cycle, demonstrating the potential for improved fuel economy in forthcoming downsized, downsped engines with high-octane fuels.« less
From raw reads to trees: Whole genome SNP phylogenetics across the tree of life

Next-generation sequencing is increasingly being used to examine closely related organisms. However, while genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) provide an excellent resource for phylogenetic reconstruction, to date evolutionary analyses have been performed using different ad hoc methods that are not often widely applicable across different projects. To facilitate the construction of robust phylogenies, we have developed a method for genome-wide identification/characterization of SNPs from sequencing reads and genome assemblies. Our phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary (PhaME) analysis software is unique in its ability to take reads and draft/complete genome(s) as input, derive core genome alignments, identify SNPs, construct phylogenies and perform evolutionary analyses. Several examples using genomes and read datasets for bacterial, eukaryotic and viral linages demonstrate the broad and robust functionality of PhaME. Furthermore, the ability to incorporate raw metagenomic reads from clinical samples with suspected infectious agents shows promise for the rapid phylogenetic characterization of pathogens within complex samples.
Analysis of distribution and antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria in PICU of Guangzhou Children's Hospital.

Objective To investigate the distribution and antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria in PICU and to provide evidence for use of antibiotics rationally.Method All the pathogenic bacteria isolated from pediatric intensive care unit of our hospital from Nov.2003 to Oct.2005 were retrospectively analyzed.Results Gram negative bacteria was the most prevalent strains and accounted for 72.2% in 295 strains isolated.Gram positive bacteria and fungi accounted for 19.7% and 8.1% respectively.Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter were the main strains of Gram negative bacteria and coagulase-negative staphylococcus was the main strains of Gram positive bacteria.The antibiotic resistance of Enterobacteriaceae to ampicillin,ampicillin/sulbactam,piperacillin and cephalosporin were higher,but to imipenem,cefoperazone/sulbactam and amikacin were lower.Acinetobacter was resistant to most of monitored antibiotics,except for imipenem,cefoperazone/sulbactam.Pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to Cefotaxime but susceptible to the others.Staphylococcus was highly resistant to penicillin and erythromycin but susceptible to vancomycin,teicoplanin and amikacin.Conclusions Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most prevalent strains isolated in PICU.It was important for clinic using antibiotics rationally according to drug sensitivity test.
Feet of Clay: An Archaeology of Huedan Elite Anxiety in the Era of Atlantic Trade

In archaeological accounts of the Dahomey Gap region, elite West Africans are often characterized as bellicose regional administrators and iron-fisted military commanders. Previous studies focus on the role of artifacts and architectural features in projecting and bolstering their authority. In essence, “materiality” of the Dahomey Gap world emerges from the narrative history of the region as items intersecting with political economies and things that referenced the prominence of merchant/warrior kings. This chapter addresses a more subjective state of elite African existence, the anxiousness inherent to a region rocked by slaving raids and wholesale warfare. It argues that archaeologically recovered earthenware offerings, originally placed under living surfaces and in household shrines, played an active role in mitigating such anxiety by providing concealed sources of protection and private points of reflection. It further argues that we need a more holistic understanding of the Dahomey Gap emotional communities during the middle Atlantic period (ca. 1700 AD).
Refinement of current monitoring methodology for electroosmotic flow assessment under low ionic strength conditions

Current monitoring is a well-established technique for the characterization of electroosmotic (EO) flow in microfluidic devices. This method relies on monitoring the time response of the electric current when a test buffer solution is displaced by an auxiliary solution using EO flow. In this scheme, each solution has a different ionic concentration (and electric conductivity). The difference in the ionic concentration of the two solutions defines the dynamic time response of the electric current and, hence, the current signal to be measured: larger concentration differences result in larger measurable signals. A small concentration difference is needed, however, to avoid dispersion at the interface between the two solutions, which can result in undesired pressure-driven flow that conflicts with the EO flow. Additional challenges arise as the conductivity of the test solution decreases, leading to a reduced electric current signal that may be masked by noise during the measuring process, making for a difficult estimation of an accurate EO mobility. This contribution presents a new scheme for current monitoring that employs multiple channels arranged in parallel, producing an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio of the electric current to be measured and increasing the estimation accuracy. The use of this parallel approach is particularly useful in the estimation of the EO mobility in systems where low conductivity mediums are required, such as insulator based dielectrophoresis devices.
WE-H-202-00: Session in Memory of Jean Pouliot: Next-Generation Deformable Image Registration

Deformable image registration has now been commercially available for several years, with solid performance in a number of sites and for several applications including contour and dose mapping. However, more complex applications have arisen, such as assessing response to radiation therapy over time, registering images pre- and post-surgery, and auto-segmentation from atlases. These applications require innovative registration algorithms to achieve accurate alignment. The goal of this session is to highlight emerging registration technology and these new applications. The state of the art in image registration will be presented from an engineering perspective. Translational clinical applications will also be discussed to tie these new registration approaches together with imaging and radiation therapy applications in specific diseases such as cervical and lung cancers. Learning Objectives: 1.To understand developing techniques and algorithms in deformable image registration that are likely to translate into clinical tools in the near future. 2.To understand emerging imaging and radiation therapy clinical applications that require such new registration algorithms. Research supported in part by the National Institutes of Health under award numbers P01CA059827, R01CA166119, and R01CA166703. Disclosures: Phillips Medical systems (Hugo), Roger Koch (Christensen) support, Varian Medical Systems (Brock), licensing agreements from Raysearch (Brock) and Varian (Hugo).; K. Brock, Licensing Agreement - RaySearch Laboratories. Research Funding - Varian Medical Systems; G. Hugo, Research grant from National Institutes of Health, award number R01CA166119.; G. Christensen, Research support from NIH grants CA166119 and CA166703 and a gift from Roger Koch. There are no conflicts of interest.
High dimensional model representation constructed by support vector regression. I. Independent variables with known probability distributions

High dimensional model representation (HDMR) is a general set of quantitative model assessment and analysis tools for capturing high dimensional input-output system behavior. In practice, the HDMR component functions are each approximated by an appropriate basis function expansion. This procedure often requires many input-output samples which can restrict the treatment of high dimensional systems. In order to address this problem we introduce svr-based HDMR to efficiently and effectively construct the HDMR expansion by support vector regression (SVR) for a function $$f(\mathbf{x})$$ . In this paper the results for independent variables sampled over known probability distributions are reported. The theoretical foundation of the new approach relies on the kernel used in SVR itself being an HDMR expansion (referred to as the HDMR kernel ), i.e., an ANOVA kernel whose component kernels are mutually orthogonal and all non-constant component kernels have zero expectation. Several HDMR kernels are constructed as illustrations. While preserving the characteristic properties of HDMR, the svr-based HDMR method enables efficient construction of high dimensional models with satisfactory prediction accuracy from a modest number of samples, which also permits accurate computation of the sensitivity indices. A genetic algorithm is employed to optimally determine all the parameters of the component HDMR kernels and in SVR. The svr-based HDMR introduces a new route to advance HDMR algorithms. Two examples are used to illustrate the capability of the method.
Recovery from the DNA Replication Checkpoint

Checkpoint recovery is integral to a successful checkpoint response. Checkpoint pathways monitor progress during cell division so that in the event of an error, the checkpoint is activated to block the cell cycle and activate repair pathways. Intrinsic to this process is that once repair has been achieved, the checkpoint signaling pathway is inactivated and cell cycle progression resumes. We use the term “checkpoint recovery” to describe the pathways responsible for the inactivation of checkpoint signaling and cell cycle re-entry after the initial stress has been alleviated. The DNA replication or S-phase checkpoint monitors the integrity of DNA synthesis. When replication stress is encountered, replication forks are stalled, and the checkpoint signaling pathway is activated. Central to recovery from the S-phase checkpoint is the restart of stalled replication forks. If checkpoint recovery fails, stalled forks may become unstable and lead to DNA breaks or unusual DNA structures that are difficult to resolve, causing genomic instability. Alternatively, if cell cycle resumption mechanisms become uncoupled from checkpoint inactivation, cells with under-replicated DNA might proceed through the cell cycle, also diminishing genomic stability. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms that contribute to inactivation of the S-phase checkpoint signaling pathway and the restart of replication forks during recovery from replication stress.
Narrating Community: the Qiṣṣat Shakarwatī Farmāḍ and Accounts of Origin in Kerala and around the Indian Ocean

The story of an Indian king’s conversion to Islam by the prophet Muhammad and of the subsequent foundation by Arab Muslims of communities and mosques across the sovereign’s former dominion in Kerala appears in various Arabic and Malayalam literary iterations. The most remarkable among them is the Qiṣṣat Shakarwatī Farmāḍ . This legend of community origins is here translated from the Arabic in full for the first time. Historians have dealt with such origin stories by transmitting them at face value, rejecting their historicity, or sifting them for kernels of historical truth. The comparative approach adopted here instead juxtaposes the Qiṣṣa with a Malayalam folksong and other Indian Ocean narratives of conversion as related in medieval Arabic travel literature to reveal underlying archetypes of just or enlightened kings as sponsors of community. The legend emerges as a crucial primary source for the constitution and self-definition of Islam in Kerala and for the discursive claims of this community vis-a-vis others.
Algorithm to Identify Systemic Cancer Therapy Treatment Using Structured Electronic Data

PurposeWith the shift in the majority of oncology clinical care in the United States from paper records to electronic health records, researchers need efficient and validated processes to obtain accurate data about the entire treatment history of patients diagnosed with cancer. The objective of this study was to develop and validate an algorithm that is agnostic to the source of data but that can identify specific regimens in the entire course of systemic therapy treatment for patients diagnosed with breast, colorectal, or lung cancer.MethodsA cohort of patients with incident breast, colorectal, and lung cancer were randomly distributed into six groups. The algorithm was iteratively modified, and the performance was assessed until no additional modifications could be identified in the first three groups. The performance of the algorithm was confirmed in the three groups that remained.ResultsThe final model produced ranges of sensitivity between 97.2% and 100% for first-course systemic therapy across all c...
Probabilistic multi-scale modeling of interdependencies between critical infrastructure systems for resilience

The prevalence of aging infrastructure and an increase in cascading failures have highlighted the need to focus on building strong, interdependent infrastructure systems to increase resilience. To ...
Three Complete Genome Sequences of Genotype G Mumps Virus from the 2016 Outbreak in Arkansas, USA.

We present here the complete genome sequences of three mumps virus (MuV) strains isolated from patients who tested positive for the mumps virus during a mumps outbreak in Springdale, AR (USA), in 2016. The virus genomes, sequenced with Oxford Nanopore technology, belong to genotype G and have an average length of 15,342 nucleotides (nt).
The Uses of Tentatio: Satan, Luther, and Theological Maturation

Temptations presented by the devil to humans, like the serpent’s enticements of Eve in Eden or the alluring visions of Saint Anthony in the desert, are traditionally described in negative terms, but Martin Luther valued tentatio highly, considering it to be one of the essential ingredients of a theologian’s education. Of course, as Luther and others used the Latin word, it had a wider range of signification than its English derivative possesses today. Tentatio meant much more than “testing”; it also encompassed the idea of “experience,” or even “suffering.” Throughout his life in a variety of contexts Luther continued to stress how much the development of his own theology owed not only to such spiritual disciplines as meditation or prayer, but also to tentatio.
Climate drivers and animal host use determine kelp performance over decadal scales in the kelp Pleurophycus gardneri (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae).

Primary producers respond to climate directly and indirectly due to effects on their consumers. In the temperate coastal ocean, the highly productive brown algae known as kelp have both strong climate and grazer linkages. We analyzed the demographic response of the kelp Pleurophycus gardneri over a 25-year span to determine the interaction between ocean climate indicators and invertebrate infestation rates. Pleurophycus hosts amphipod species that burrow in the stipe, increasing mortality. Although kelp performance is generally greater with more negative values of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and colder seawater temperatures, Pleurophycus showed the opposite pattern. When we compared the 1990s, a period of positive values for the PDO and warmer sea surface temperatures, with the following decade, a period characterized by negative PDO values, we documented a contradictory outcome for proxies of kelp fitness. In the 1990s, Pleurophycus unexpectedly showed greater longevity, faster growth, greater reproductive effort, and a trend toward decreased amphipod infestation compared with the 2006-2012 period. In contrast, the period from 2006-2012 showed opposite kelp performance patterns and with a trend toward greater amphipod infestation. Pleurophycus performance metrics suggest that some coastal primary producers will respond differently to climate drivers, particularly if they interact strongly with grazers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
A Comparison of Predictors of Success on NCLEX-RN™ for African American, Foreign-Born, and White Baccalaureate Graduates

This retrospective study was concerned with identifying the strongest predictors of success for African American and foreign-born baccalaureate graduates on the NCLEX-RN from the following nine variables--the admission grade point average, medical-surgical nursing grade point average, nursing grade point average, cumulative grade point average, percentile rank on the Mosby Assess Test, age at the time of the licensing examination, number of semesters needed to complete the nursing curriculum, licensed vocational nurse status, and the number of Ds and Fs received in nursing courses--and comparing these with predictors of success for white baccalaureate graduates. Three random samples of 50 African American, foreign-born, and white graduates from four baccalaureate schools from May 1987 through May 1992 were selected from a total population of 1,205. Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, two-way analysis of variance, and discriminant analysis were used to analyze the data. Students in all three ethnic groups with a Mosby Assess Test percentile rank below 21 and a D or F in a nursing course were more likely to fail the NCLEX-RN than those with a higher percentile rank and no Ds or Fs.
MOLECULAR BEAM SCATTERING FROM SOLID SURFACES

A general review of molecular-beam solid-surface scattering experiments is given with particular emphasis upon recent studies of directed scattering. A general improvement in experimental techniques has made these data more amenable to theoretical interpretation. On the other hand, these refinements demonstrate quite dramatically the deficiencies in such studies, particularly with regard to the solid surface, and these deficiencies are reviewed along with suggestions for further work. Comparison of experiment with theory, where applicable, is also made. The studies cited are restricted to beam energies
HUT 78 T cells bind to noncytokine-stimulated keratinocytes using a non-CD18-dependent adhesion pathway

The initial in vitro observation that cultured keratinocytes, when treated with cytokines such as gamma interferon, increased the binding of T lymphocytes, opened up a whole new avenue of research to understand epidermal trafficking patterns in inflammatory skin diseases. A growing body of data strongly supports the in vivo role of lymphocyte-function-associated antigen-1 (CD18) expression by T cells in the binding to intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (CD54) expressing keratinocytes. To further explore the molecular basis for other possible adhesive interactions involving T cells and skin-derived cellular constituents, the authors used 2 cell lines (HUT 78 cells and Jurkat cells) and added them to multipassaged human keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and melanocytes. The skin-derived cells were treated with cytokines alone, or in combination, with a phorbol ester. HUT cells were capable of binding to keratinocytes in the absence of pretreatment with cytokines at 25 degrees C, which was not inhibited by anti-CD18 antibodies, or sensitive to reducing the temperature of the adhesion assay to 7 degrees C. Fibroblasts and melanocytes also constitutively bound HUT cells, but the binding to fibroblasts was highly temperature-sensitive. When keratinocytes were pretreated for 48 hours with gamma interferon plus phorbol ester, a "superadhesive" state was induced, resulting in a synergistically increased binding ability of both HUT cells and Jurkat cells. This effect was related to quantitative increases in keratinocyte intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression. Several other clear-cut qualitative and quantitative differences were detectable in the ability of HUT cells and JS cells to bind to nontreated and cytokine/phorbol ester-treated keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and melanocytes. These results emphasize the complexity of molecular associations underlying T-cell trafficking patterns, potentially operative in the dermal and epidermal compartments of the skin.
Definitorische Grundlagen und Forschungsstand

Das Ziel dieses Kapitels ist es, zunachst die Grundlagen fur die vorliegende Untersuchung zu schaffen, in dem der Begriff der Forschungskooperation zwischen Universitat und Industrie definiert und damit die Arbeit fokussiert wird (Kapitel 2.1). Danach folgt eine umfassende qualitative Aufarbeitung der empirischen Studien aus dem Bereich Verbindungen zwischen Universitaten und Industrie, in den die Forschungskooperation eingeordnet werden kann (Kapitel 2.2), um anschliesend die vorliegende Erkenntnisse zu den hier betrachteten Forschungsfragen in einer quantitativen Metastudie weiter zu integrieren (Kapitel 2.3).
Recent Advances in Bat Migration Research

In this chapter we discuss the state of research on bat migration and compare some of these patterns to those of birds. We begin with an overview of the literature on migration, apply migration theory, and discuss case studies on four bat species on which the greatest knowledge and understanding of migratory patterns exists. We also discuss what is known of motivating factors for bat migration and where research needs are apparent.