cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A coarse-grained FPGA architecture for high-performance FIR filtering

This paper introduces a coarse-grained FPGA architecture that is specialized for high-performance Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filtering. The proposed architecture provides the flexibility of a DSP processor with performance and area efficiency similar to that of a custom ASIC design, while allowing all of the basic FIR design parameters, including coefficient precision, to be configured. Previous research has already shown that FPGAs can provide a high-performance alternative to DSP processors. Experimental comparisons in this paper show that the performance and area efficiency of the proposed architecture is similar to that of custom approaches across a wide range of filter sizes and configurations.
Responses of the insulin signaling pathways in the brown adipose tissue of rats following cold exposure.

UNLABELLED The insulin signaling pathway is critical for the control of blood glucose levels. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) has also been implicated as important in glucose homeostasis. The effect of short-term cold exposure on this pathway in BAT has not been explored. We evaluated the effect of 4 hours of cold exposure on the insulin pathway in the BAT of rats. Whole genomic microarray chips were used to examine the transcripts of the pathway in BAT of rats exposed to 4°C and 22°C for 4 hours. The 4 most significantly altered pathways following 4 hours of cold exposure were the insulin signaling pathway, protein kinase A, PI3K/AKT and ERK/MAPK signaling. The insulin signaling pathway was the most affected. In the documented 142 genes of the insulin pathway, 42 transcripts (29.6%) responded significantly to this cold exposure with the least false discovery rate (Benjamini-Hochberg Multiple Testing: -log10 (p-value) = 7.18). Twenty-seven genes (64%) were up-regulated, including the insulin receptor (Insr), insulin substrates 1 and 2 (Irs1 and Irs2). Fifteen transcripts (36%) were down-regulated. Multiple transcripts of the primary target and secondary effector targets for the insulin signaling were also up-regulated, including those for carbohydrate metabolism. Using western blotting, we demonstrated that the cold induced higher Irs2, Irs1, and Akt-p protein levels in the BAT than in the BAT of controls maintained at room temperature, and higher Akt-p protein level in the muscle. CONCLUSION this study demonstrated that 4 hours of cold exposure stimulated the insulin signaling pathway in the BAT and muscle of overnight fasted rats. This raises the possibility that acute cold stimulation may have potential to improve glucose clearance and insulin sensitivity.
An Evaluation of the Individualized Learning Intervention: A Mentoring Program for Early Childhood Teachers.

This study describes the results of an evaluation of the Individualized Learning Intervention (ILI), a mentoring program for early childhood educators that is built upon adult self-directed learning experiences and the collaborative support of others. Sixteen Mentor and 16 Protege teachers in Head Start classrooms were selected for participation in the study. Each Mentor and Protege pair was randomly assigned to either the treatment or control condition. In the treatment condition the Mentors participated in the ILI, which has 3 components including a 50-hr mentor seminar, ongoing mentoring of Proteges by Mentors, and support for Mentors by the Mentor Coordinator. Evidence is presented for the impact of the mentoring program on enhanced child developmental progress as well as on the professional growth of the Mentors and Proteges.
A general model for non-uniform data access in a database system

The analysis of the data accessing mechanism is of importance to the analytical performance evaluation of any data processing system. So far, most such analyses have been done under the assumption of a uniform data access model. This is not true in the real world and some attempts at modeling nonuniform data access have been made. The authors develop a new, improved model, which is believed to be capable of describing the real-world scenario fairly accurately. They also develop the general formula and properties of an important performance parameter, namely, the probability of conflict. >
A radial flow hollow fiber bioreactor for the large‐scale culture of mammalian cells

A radial flow hollow fiber bioreactor has been developed that maximizes the utilization of fiber surface for cell growth while eliminating nutrient and metabolic gradients inherent in conventional hollow fiber cartridges. The reactor consists of a central flow distributor tube surrounded by an annular bed of hollow fibers. The central flow distributor tube ensures an axially uniform radial convective flow of nutrients across the fiber bed. Cells attach and proliferate on the outer surface of the fibers. The fibers are pretreated with polylysine to facilitate cell attachment and long-term maintenance of tissuelike densities of cell mass. A mixture of air and CO(2) is fed through the tube side of the hollow fibers, ensuring direct oxygenation of the cells and maintenance of pH. Spent medium diffuses across the cell layer into the tube side of the fibers and is convected away along with the spent gas stream. The bioreactor was run as a recycle reactor to permit maximum utilization of nutrient medium. A bioreactor with a membrane surface area of 1150 cm(2) was developed and H1 cells were grown to a density of 7.3 x 10(6) cells/cm(2).
A new pathway for communicating the 11-year solar cycle signal to the QBO

[1] The response of the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) to zonal-mean ozone perturbations consistent with the 11-year solar cycle is examined using a 2 dimensional model of the tropical stratosphere. Unique to this model are wave-ozone feedbacks, which provide a new, nonlinear pathway for communicating solar variability effects to the QBO. Model simulations show that for zonal-mean ozone perturbations representative of solar maximum (minimum), the diabatic heating due to the wave-ozone feedbacks is primarily responsible for driving a slightly stronger (weaker) QBO circulation and producing a slightly shorter (longer) QBO period. These results, which are explained via an analytical analysis of the divergence of Eliassen-palm flux, are in general agreement with observations of quasi-decadal variability of the QBO.
Importance of using rigorous statistical methods to analyze low energy laser experimental data: Part two

Background and Objective: Numerous authors have reported successful alteration of peripheral nerve action potential characteristics through application of low energy laser irradiation (LELI). The statistical analysis that accompanies many of these reports frequently does not account for the special nature of the data generated in typical LELI experiments. The objective of this study was to evaluate the application of repeated measures linear regression techniques to the analysis of this type of data. Issues of analyzing raw versus normalized data, proper accounting for correlation between measurements, and discrete time point hypothesis testing were addressed. Study Design/Materials and Methods: The data analyzed in this work were generated from an experiment in which in vitro frog sciatic nerves were irradiated with a helium-neon laser using a variety of treatment protocols. Compound action potential (CAP) amplitude, latency, depolarization rate, and repolarization rate were recorded at 1-minute intervals for 135 minutes for each nerve. Laser-induced changes in CAP parameters were analyzed using various repeated measures linear regression models. Results: The findings of statistical significance were highly dependent on the rigor of the regression model applied. Application of the same regression model to raw and normalized data produced different findings of significance. Determination of significant contrasts was highly dependent on how well the regression model accounted for the correlation between repeated measurements made on the same nerve. In general, models that failed to account adequately for this correlation produced more findings of significant contrasts than increasingly rigorous models. Finally, discrete time point hypothesis testing on normalized data can suggest improper statistical conclusions if the proper correlation structure is not applied to the data set. Conclusion: Linear regression analysis offers advantages over discrete time point hypothesis testing in the analysis of highly correlated serial data of this type. Trends in the behavior of the measured parameters are evident, rigorous accounting for correlation between measurements is facilitated, and hypothesis testing is highly flexible.
Importance sampling-based estimation over AND/OR search spaces for graphical models

It is well known that the accuracy of importance sampling can be improved by reducing the variance of its sample mean and therefore variance reduction schemes have been the subject of much research. In this paper, we introduce a family of variance reduction schemes that generalize the sample mean from the conventional OR search space to the AND/OR search space for graphical models. The new AND/OR sample means allow trading time and space with variance. At one end is the AND/OR sample tree mean which has the same time and space complexity as the conventional OR sample tree mean but has smaller variance. At other end is the AND/OR sample graph mean which requires more time and space to compute but has the smallest variance. Theoretically, we show that the variance is smaller in the AND/OR space because the AND/OR sample mean is defined over a larger virtual sample size compared with the OR sample mean. Empirically, we demonstrate that the AND/OR sample mean is far closer to the true mean than the OR sample mean.
Differential front and back seat safety belt use by prehospital care providers

Abstract The object of the study was to assess the habits and attitudes of prehospital care personnel regarding safety belt use in the front and rear ambulance compartments. Therefore, a cross-sectional descriptive survey was administered at emergency medical service conferences and through provider agencies throughout the United States and Canada. Approximately 900 public, private, and volunteer prehospital care providers participated. Demographic information, traffic collision history, percent of time safety belts were used, belief in safety belt use, and reasons for nonuse in the rear compartment of the ambulance were measured. The results showed that safety belt use was highest in the front seat during emergency runs (median, 100%) and rarest in the back compartment during emergency runs (median, 0%). Respondents cited the following reasons for non-use in the rear compartment: inhibited patient care (67.9%), restricted movement (34.7%), inconvenience (15.1%), or lack of efficacy (5.3%). Prehospital care personnel typically wear safety belts when in the front seat, but not while in the rear compartment of the ambulance. More intensive efforts at educating prehospital care providers about the importance of safety restraints in the rear compartment, enumerating patient care activities that can be performed while wearing a safety belt, and design of a functional restraint system for the rear compartment may increase ambulance safety.
SPASTIC PARALYSIS AND ALLIED DISORDERS

A series of 1720 consecutive cases of spastic paralysis and allied disorders are herein analyzed from the standpoint of classification, characteristics of each class, and etiology. The 1217 cases of lesions of the pyramidal tract are discussed in detail from the standpoint of the extremities involved, associated conditions, requirements or prerequisites for surgical correction of the deformities, and reasons for non-intervention in those cases rejected for surgery. The various deformities encountered in both upper and lower extremities are then discussed with the various operations which have been used, together with the results obtained. An attempt is made to establish some rationale for the selection of the most desirable operation in each type of deformity. The total number of operations on the upper extremities was 115 with only sixteen good results. Surgical treatment on the whole is unsatisfactory, with improvement primarily cosmetic, not functional. Attempts at correction of deformities in the upper extremity are justified for: 1. Pronation of the forearm, 2. Flexion of the wrist. The total number of operations on the lower extremities was 1063 with 677 good results. Surgical treatment on the whole is satisfactory, and should be attempted for: 1. Adduction of the thighs, 2. Internal rotation of the thighs, 3. Flexion deformity of the knees, 4. Spasm or contracture of the heel cord, 5. Other fixed foot deformities.
Risk Price Dynamics

We present a novel approach to depicting asset pricing dynamics by characterizing shock exposures and prices for alternative investment horizons. We quantify the shock exposures in terms of elasticities that measure the impact of a current shock on future cash-flow growth. The elasticities are designed to accommodate nonlinearities in the stochastic evolution modeled as a Markov process. Stochastic growth in the underlying macro-economy and stochastic discounting in the representation of asset values are central ingredients in our investigation. We provide elasticity calculations in a series of examples featuring consumption externalities, recursive utility, and jump risk.
Perspectives and Future Directions

Background: Mechanisms of behavior change (MOBC) in treating drinking problems is a topic of growing importance. Methods: This article identifies salient themes presented in talks during the first Annual RSA Satellite on Mechanisms of Behavior Change in Alcoholism Treatment. Results: Themes focused on the need to move beyond a passive approach to identifying MOBC in alcoholism treatment and a number of conceptual and methodological advances were proposed. Conclusions: While a consensus has emerged that more attention should be paid to MOBC in alcoholism treatment research, a subgroup of experts are calling for MOBC to be the primary focus in future efforts.
The Landweber iteration and projection onto convex sets

Iterative signal reconstruction and restoration have made considerable use of variations of the Landweber iteration and, more recently, of projection onto convex sets. For circulant systems, the Landweber iteration with a special step size is shown to be equivalent to a variation of the projection method. Based on experimental evidence, it is conjectured that the projection technique has a better convergence rate. Additionally, the projection method makes it easier to combine other a priori information with the basic iteration.
Greater activation in left hemisphere language-related regions during simple judgment tasks among substance-dependent patients in treatment for alcoholism.

Background: Alcoholism is often associated with impaired emotional control. Alcoholics have also been found to have deficits in frontal lobe executive functions. Recent functional imaging studies have suggested that alcoholics show greater activation than nonalcoholics in circuits involving frontal lobes, as well as more posterior brain regions, when engaged in executive-type tasks. In this study, we compared brain activations of alcohol-dependent patients and healthy nonalcoholics while they performed 2 simple judgment tasks designed to activate frontal circuits involved in a basic form of decision making. Participants completed 1 judgment task that required an emotional judgment and 1 task that did not, which enabled us to study whether alcoholics had greater brain activation while performing executive tasks, and to determine if emotional tasks elicited even greater activation than nonemotional tasks. Methods: We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while alcoholic patients and nonalcoholic controls viewed pictures from the International Affective Picture System. In 3 separate runs, participants viewed the images without making a judgment, determined whether the images were indoor or outdoor scenes, or decided if they liked or disliked the images. Results: There was little difference in brain activation between alcoholics and controls when no judgment was required. When participants made judgments about either the location or whether they liked or disliked an image, however, we observed significantly increased activation in frontal, limbic, and temporal regions in the patients relative to the controls. Increases were particularly robust in the frontal lobe and in areas of the brain associated with language. When we compared the emotional to the nonemotional judgment, the alcoholics, but not the controls, showed greater activation in the ventral mesial frontal cortex. Conclusions: Alcoholic patients appear to use brain language areas more than nonalcoholics while making judgments about the setting or liking of emotionally arousing visual images. This increased activation may reflect a compensatory recruitment of brain regions to perform simple decision-making tasks.
On optimality of a hybrid digital/analog scheme for Wyner-Ziv coding over broadcast channels

A new hybrid digital/analog scheme is proposed for lossy transmission of a Gaussian source over a two-receiver bandwidth-matched Gaussian broadcast channel with source side information available at each receiver. The proposed scheme makes use of a new level of freedom for point-to-point transmission and combines two previously known schemes that are optimal under two different conditions regarding channel and side information quality parameters. It is shown that for the entire intermediate region in the parameter space sandwiched between those two conditions, the proposed scheme can achieve the same distortion-power tradeoff as in point-to-point transmission simultaneously for both channels, and is therefore optimal.
Role of nitric oxide in modulating the chronic renal and arterial pressure responses to angiotensin II

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine long-term role of nitric oxide in modulating the chronic renal and arterial pressure responses to angiotensin II (AII). In normal dogs, intrarenal AII infusion (1.0 ng/kg/min) decreased renal plasma flow (RPF) by 31% and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by 17% and increased mean arterial pressure (MAP) by 22%. In dogs with chronic intrarenal NO synthesis blockade with Nω-nitro- l -arginine methyl ester (3 μg/kg/min), AII decreased RPF by 25% and GFR by 19%, and increased MAP by 7%. These data indicate that chronic inhibition of NO synthesis within the kidney attenuated the long-term renal and arterial pressure responses to AII in dogs.
Preference for wheat straw by lambs conditioned with intraruminal infusions of starch

We hypothesized that feed preference depends on the interplay between flavour and postingestive effects, and we tested two predictions based on this hypothesis: (1) lambs acquire preferences for poorly nutritious feeds paired with starch; and (2) preferences persist when starch is no longer administered. Twenty lambs were randomly allocated to two groups and conditioned as follows: on odd-numbered days, lambs in group 1 received onion-flavoured wheat straw and lambs in group 2 received oregano-flavoured wheat straw. On even-numbered days, the flavours were switched and starch (2.5-9.4% of the digestible energy received/d) was infused into the rumen of all animals during straw consumption. Four periods of 8 d of conditioning were performed and on the 9th day of each period all animals were offered a choice between onion- and oregano-flavoured straw. After conditioning, starch administration was suspended and lambs were offered onion- and oregano-flavoured straw at weekly intervals for 8 weeks (extinction). Lambs strongly preferred the flavoured straw paired with starch, and this preference persisted during extinction. Thus, these results suggest that the postingestive effects of energy play an important role in the development of feed preferences of ruminants.
ECU Design and Reliability

Onboard ECUs have become larger in scale and increasingly complex to meet the various requirements demanded of vehicles. Such ECUs are efficiently designed by utilizing design support tools. A higher level of reliability is also required of onboard ECUs, and onboard ECUs are evaluated in a specific manner. This chapter describes case examples of utilizing design support tools that apply simulation technology used in design, and future prospects. Examples of what to look for when performing a reliability assessment, the onboard environment, ECU failure mode, reliability test items, and accelerated testing are also explained. Keywords: onboard ECU design; simulation; reliability assessment
Technology Readiness Level, Schedule Risk, and Slippage in Spacecraft Design

Level of the system/payload under development as a principal culprit driving schedule risk and slippage. In this paper, based on data from past space programs, we analyze the relationship between technology uncertainty and schedule risk in the acquisition of space systems and propose an analytical framework to identify appropriate schedule margins for mitigating the risk of schedule slippage. We also introduce the Technology Readiness Level schedule-risk curves to help program managers make risk-informed decisions regarding the appropriate schedule margins for a given program or the appropriate Technology Readiness Level to consider if the program’s schedule were to be exogenously and rigidly constrained. Based on our findings, we recommend that the industry adopt and develop schedule-risk curves (instead of single-schedule point estimates), that these schedule-risk curves be made available to policy- and decision-makers in acquisition programs, and that adequate schedule margins be defined according to an agreed-upon and acceptable schedule-risk level.
Work in progress - ethical model eliciting activities (E-MEA) - extending the construct

Mastery of the professional skills is needed if our graduates will continue to excel in the increasingly global engineering environment. To date, much of the research associated with studying ethical decision making in organizations has focused on business and individual decisions with little empirical research focused on team-based ethical decision making specific to engineering. As part of a Phase III CCLI project, we are developing E-MEAs, which are open-ended, realistic problems that challenge student teams to recognize and resolve potential ethical dilemmas embedded within a larger engineering problem requiring skills integration. By extending the AMA construct to ethical situations we are able to better identify and understand the various strategies teams use to resolve complex ethical dilemmas. We are both adapting existing cases and creating our own scenarios that bring out differing perspectives, in order to provide a rich body of work that will enable the analysis of studentspsila ethical decision making processes in the context of engineering problem solving. To capture needed process data, we are adapting MEA reflection tools and utilizing PDA devices and team Wikis. Further, to assess performance outcomes, we are utilizing two rubrics, one of which (P-MEAR) was developed previously to assess the ethical dimension of student projects. Data collected will be analyzed using cluster and statistical methodologies to classify students according to performance and strategies employed.
Our Archives, Our Selves: Documentation Strategy and the Re-Appraisal of Professional Identity

The relatively recent realization that archivists are more often shapers of the past than neutral keepers of the past has its root in the intersection of appraisal theory and professional identity. This paper explores the relationship between the two through an analysis of the literature on archival documentation strategy. Though ultimately unworkable, documentation strategy caught archivists' attention because, as this paper argues, it represented a practical application of a larger identity shift within the profession.
Qing Connections to the Early Modern World: Ethnography and Cartography in Eighteenth-Century China

‘Consulting literary sources is not as satisfactory as observation . . . If one wants to control the barbarian frontier area, one must judge the profitability of the land, and investigate the nature of its people.’—Qian Shu‘If one does not differentiate between their varieties, or know their customs, then one has not what it takes to appreciate their circumstances, and to govern them.’—‘Miaoliao tushuo’
The use of wood fibers as reinforcements in composites

Abstract: The chapter begins by discussing the major characteristics of wood in terms of structure, major chemical constituents and wood fiber production methods, which is followed by the description of major manufacturing processes for wood plastic composites (WPCs). It then reviews the effects of different variables such as the nature of wood flour (particle size, wood species, and wood flour content), filler–matrix adhesion, characteristics of polymer matrix, processing conditions, performance-enhancing additives, and foaming agents on the physical, mechanical, thermal, and durability properties of WPCs. Finally, the chapter discusses future trends in WPCs including new materials, novel manufacturing techniques, and emerging applications.
Introduction Queering Family, Home, Love, Loss/Relational Troubling

There is an unmistakable power in narrative to comment on and shape cultural lives. This special issue of Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies is comprised of often unheard stories that seek to queer the relational phenomena of family, home, love, and loss. Authors draw on a range of theoretical perspectives and methodologies to disrupt and dismantle the normative conceptualizations that pervade research and everyday understanding concerning these thematic areas. These essays work in creative and experimental ways to evocatively demonstrate Queer Theory and queer as unique, needed, and generative paradigmatic orientations and conceptual tools for use in Cultural Studies research. They help to advance a more open and tentative understanding of relational stories and fluid and dynamic relational identities.
Level of Economic Development and Income Inequality: Evidence from the Postwar Developed World

Using a recent high-quality panel dataset on income distribution for 19 developed countries, the postwar relation between the level of economic development and income inequality is estimated in terms of several Kuznets-type specifications. Contrary to what one might expect on the basis of Kuznets's hypothesis, inequality does not decline with an increase in income even at such high levels of development, but shows an uninverted-U pattern that is characterized by an initial decline and a subsequent increase in income inequality. The estimates suggest that the position noted for the postwar United States is shared widely in the developed world.
Effects of Host Plant Experience on Foraging Behavior of the Predatory Mite Phytoseiulus persimilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

The influence of predator experience on foraging responses by the predatory mite, Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henriot, to stimuli from lima bean and rose leaves with or without residues of Tetranychus urticae Koch, were studied in the laboratory using two-choice tests. Starved P. persimilis females that were born and reared on T. urticaeinfested bean leaves spent more time on bean than on rose leaves with T. urticae residues, although this response was not significant when predators were well fed. Regardless of hunger level, predators with prior experience on rose leaves showed no plant preference. However, P. persimilis females that were born and reared on one plant species (bean or rose) but were subsequently exposed to the other plant species (rose or bean) for 5 d as adults showed no preference for either plant species, regardless of their experiences. P. persimilis females that were born on rose but reared on bean leaves spent more time on bean than on rose, whereas female predators that were born on bean but reared on rose showed no preference for either plant species. When uninfested bean or rose leaves were used, P. persimilis females with prior experience on bean showed no plant preference, regardless of feeding state, whereas well-fed predators with prior experience on rose leaves spent more time on rose than on bean. It was concluded that (1) experience by P. persimilis on different host plants affected predator foraging behavior; (2) stimuli from both prey and host plant were involved; (3) postembryonic experience of the present generation, rather than the experience of the parent generations or where the eggs were laid, affected predator foraging behavior; and (4) foraging responses were influenced by hunger state. The results of this study support two hypotheses of the variable-response model for foraging behavior.
Mediastinal pathology and the contributions of Dr. Juan Rosai

Dr. Juan Rosai is one of the most prolific contributors to the literature on mediastinal pathology, and he has added steadily to that body of work over a 50-year period. Rosai has written several landmark articles in this topical area, including articles on thymic epithelial lesions, mediastinal neuroendocrine tumors, mediastinal lymphoma and other hematopoietic lesions, thymolipoma, thymoliposarcoma, mediastinal solitary fibrous tumor, intrathymic langerhans-cell histiocytosis, mediastinal germ cell neoplasms, and multilocular thymic cyst. This review recounts his role as one of the principal figures in the surgical pathology of mediastinal diseases.
Analysis of the charateristcs of the category A and B intestinal infectious diseases in Guangxi between 2004 and 2013

Objective To analyze the prevalent trend of intestinal infectious diseases in Guangxi,so as to provide scientific basis for formulating control strategies.Methods By taking the advantage of Excel and SPSS to collect data and manage graphs;at the same time, using descriptive epidemiological analysis method to analyze the data of A and B intestinal infectious diseases in Guangxi from 2004 to 2013. Results A total of 160 774 cases and105 deaths of intestinal infectious diseases were reported from 2004 to 2013 in Guangxi, and the average annual incidence and mortality rate were 35.282/100 000 and 0.02/100 000, respectively. The incidence of male was higher than that of female; onset age was given priority to the children and young adults, In occupation,the incidence rates of farmers(35.70%) and scattered children(31.06%)were higher. A total of 91 outbreaks of intestinal infectious disease were reported,with 5 341 cases and 1 death. The outbreak events were mainly bacterial dysentery, typhoid and paratyphoid and hepatitis A.Conclusion The incidence of the category A and B intestinal infectious disease declines year by year in Guangxi, while the incidence of hepatitis E increases. Intestinal infectious diseases prevention and control is still one of the focus in the region, and it should be integrated with participation of the government, institutions and communities.
The thermolabile variant of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is not a major risk factor for neural tube defect in American Caucasians

Mutations in the gene for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) have been implicated as a risk factor in the formation of neural tube defects. We investigated this gene in a series of 65 sporadic American Caucasian patients with lumbosacral NTD and their unaffected parents, using both case-control design and assessment of linkage disequilibrium. We found no evidence to support mutations in MTHFR as a significant risk factor for NTD in this population.
Skeletal Completeness, Frequencies of Skeletal Parts, and Fragmentation

The minimum number of individuals (MNI) is typically defined as something like “the most frequently occurring skeletal part” (Table 2.4). Variation in how that definition can be operationalized – are differences in size, age, sex, or recovery context (aggregation) considered – renders MNI as a derived measure. But on a general, in some ways less discriminating scale, how the basic definition of MNI is operationalized is simply this: Given all the remains of a taxon in a collection (how the spatiotemporal boundaries of that collection are defined need not concern us initially), redundant skeletal parts are each tallied as a single MNI. Redundant skeletal parts means that specimens overlap anatomically. Two left femora of deer overlap anatomically and are redundant with one another, just as are two upper right second molars, three right distal humeri, and four left innominates. In the order listed, the MNI values are 2, 2, 3, and 4. To reiterate, redundant – that is, anatomically overlapping – skeletal parts each represent a unique individual or a tally of one MNI. How MNI is operationalized on a general scale – by redundant skeletal parts – forces us to recognize a previously unmentioned quantitative unit. That unit was not really distinctively named until 1982, but it had played an important role in paleozoology for decades prior to that time. Today that quantitative unit is known as the minimum number of elements, or MNE.
Sport for development and peace: a program evaluation of a sport diplomacy initiative

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the immediate, short-term effectiveness of a specific SDP program, the sport diplomacy initiative, relative to established program goals. Thirty-six groups comprised of 554 individuals participated in the SportsUnited Sport Visitors program over the course of 39 months and were given the opportunity to complete both a pre-test and post-test survey consisting of two essential demographic items (e.g., gender, role as coach or athlete) and seven items measuring core concepts associated with participation. After the data were cleaned, 520 valid respondents remained for analysis. The overall total mean for all seven items combined yields a large effect size of 1.27. Effect sizes indicate that the program is having a strong positive impact on participants as a whole. While all seven items yielded significant gains, there were no significant differences based upon measured demographics.
A Model of organic Consumption

The purpose of this study is to conceptualize organic consumption that applies to a wide range of consumer product categories, including food, household items, and fiber products. The conceptual model will include dimensions that shape the environmental risk and efficacy perceptions and their relationships with organic consumption.
Optic Neuritis, Abnormal MRI and Outcome

Researchers at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Great Ormond Street and Evelina Children’s Hospitals, London, UK followed 44 children (female/male ratio 1.8; median age 10.9 years) with a first-episode optic neuritis for a median of 1 year (mean, 1 year 10 months).
Multiparametric plasma EV profiling facilitates diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is usually detected late in the disease process. Clinical workup through imaging and tissue biopsies is often complex and expensive due to a paucity of reliable biomarkers. We used an advanced multiplexed plasmonic assay to analyze circulating tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (tEVs) in more than 100 clinical populations. Using EV-based protein marker profiling, we identified a signature of five markers (PDACEV signature) for PDAC detection. In our prospective cohort, the accuracy for the PDACEV signature was 84% [95% confidence interval (CI), 69 to 93%] but only 63 to 72% for single-marker screening. One of the best markers, GPC1 alone, had a sensitivity of 82% (CI, 60 to 95%) and a specificity of 52% (CI, 30 to 74%), whereas the PDACEV signature showed a sensitivity of 86% (CI, 65 to 97%) and a specificity of 81% (CI, 58 to 95%). The PDACEV signature of tEVs offered higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy than the existing serum marker (CA 19-9) or single-tEV marker analyses. This approach should improve the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
The Difference Culture Makes

The dawn of culture and its subsequent elaboration is one of the most important developments in the history of life. It is now recognized that culture, at least in a minimalist sense of behavioral traditions shaped by social learning, is found widely throughout the animal kingdom. And this fact, perhaps ironically for those of a reductionist bent, has made possible new understandings of just how distinctive humans are, especially in terms of symbolic thought, cooperativity far beyond genetic relatedness, the cumulative nature of our cultures, and our pervasive sense of transcendence. Yet, nearly 150 years after Tylor’s Primitive Culture , we are still coming to appreciate in sometimes surprising new ways how the phenomenon of culture is transforming this planet. I suggest that despite the apparent pervasiveness of the concept, or at least the word, in both scholarly and everyday discourse, we have yet to appreciate the full potential of the concept of culture as an intellectual tool. Through brief exploration of five different situations in which it is useful, I hope to illustrate the importance of the phenomenon and show the untapped potential of the concept.
Diagnosis and Treatment Considerations for Nonphyseal Long Bone Fractures in the Foal

Many long bone fractures that are not considered repairable in the adult horse are repairable in the foal. This is largely because of reduced patient size and more rapid healing in the foal. When there is no articular communication, the long-term prognosis for athletic function can be very good. Emergency care and transport of the foal with a long bone fracture is different than the adult.
A critical review of the current evidence examining whether resistance training improves time trial performance.

ABSTRACTA number of reviews have concluded that resistance training is beneficial for improving sports performance despite the inclusion of studies which do not actually measure a performance outcome (i.e. a timed trial). The purpose of this review was to examine only those studies which would allow us to infer the benefits of resistance training on improving time trial performance. Of the nine studies meeting all inclusion criteria only three demonstrated an additive effect of adding resistance training to the current activity-specific training being performed. These three studies demonstrated improvements in either 5 or 10 km time trial among recreationally skilled athletes (i.e. non-elite level time). Previous reviews have included studies which did not include: (1) performance outcomes; (2) control groups; and/or (3) equal volumes of activity-specific exercise among the resistance training and control groups. Presently, there is little evidence that adding resistance exercise to a sport-specific train...
Severe Hyperkalemia Complicating Voriconazole Treatment in a Kidney Transplant Recipient With Histoplasmosis: A Case Report

Voriconazole is an antifungal agent that is commonly used in immunocompromised patients who develop fungal infections. We report a case of severe recurrent hyperkalemia that developed after starting voriconazole for the treatment of histoplasmosis in a kidney transplant patient who was maintained on tacrolimus-based immunosuppression. Hyperkalemia developed despite reducing the tacrolimus dose to maintain levels in a low therapeutic range. Although interactions between azoles and calcineurin inhibitors are widely recognized, this is the 1st report describing new-onset hyperkalemia following initiation of voriconazole in a kidney transplant patient receiving tacrolimus.
Toward wave-based sound synthesis for computer animation

We explore an integrated approach to sound generation that supports a wide variety of physics-based simulation models and computer-animated phenomena. Targeting high-quality offline sound synthesis, we seek to resolve animation-driven sound radiation with near-field scattering and diffraction effects. The core of our approach is a sharp-interface finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) wavesolver, with a series of supporting algorithms to handle rapidly deforming and vibrating embedded interfaces arising in physics-based animation sound. Once the solver rasterizes these interfaces, it must evaluate acceleration boundary conditions (BCs) that involve model-and phenomena-specific computations. We introduce acoustic shaders as a mechanism to abstract away these complexities, and describe a variety of implementations for computer animation: near-rigid objects with ringing and acceleration noise, deformable (finite element) models such as thin shells, bubble-based water, and virtual characters. Since time-domain wave synthesis is expensive, we only simulate pressure waves in a small region about each sound source, then estimate a far-field pressure signal. To further improve scalability beyond multi-threading, we propose a fully time-parallel sound synthesis method that is demonstrated on commodity cloud computing resources. In addition to presenting results for multiple animation phenomena (water, rigid, shells, kinematic deformers, etc.) we also propose 3D automatic dialogue replacement (3DADR) for virtual characters so that pre-recorded dialogue can include character movement, and near-field shadowing and scattering sound effects.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Cocaine Use, and HIV Persistence.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stimulant use disorders are highly prevalent, commonly co-occur, and predict faster clinical HIV progression. However, scant research has examined if PTSD and cocaine use are associated with the HIV reservoir that persists in immune cells, lymphoid tissue, and organs of people living with HIV that are receiving effective treatment. This cross-sectional study enrolled 48 HIV-positive persons with sustained undetectable viral load (< 20 copies/mL) in the past year to examine the associations of PTSD and recent cocaine use with two measures of HIV persistence in immune cells: (1) proviral HIV DNA and (2) cell-associated (CA)-HIV RNA. Greater PTSD symptoms were significantly associated with lower proviral HIV DNA (r = − 0.30, p = 0.041) but not with CA-HIV RNA. Greater severity of PTSD symptom clusters for intrusions (Standardized Beta = − 0.30, p = 0.038) and hyperarousal (Standardized Beta = − 0.30, p = 0.047) were independently associated with lower proviral HIV DNA. Although participants with recent cocaine use had a significantly shorter duration of sustained undetectable HIV viral load (19.9 versus 26.9 months; p = 0.047), cocaine use was not significantly associated with proviral HIV DNA or CA-HIV RNA. Further research is needed to examine the potentially bi-directional pathways linking PTSD symptom severity and HIV persistence.
Outcomes of Complex Cataract Surgery in Patients with Primary Open-angle Glaucoma.

Aim Whether pupillary expansion during phacoemulsification causes a change in postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) is currently unknown. However, a growing proportion of patients can present with concurrent glaucoma and cataracts, which poses an increased risk of having small pupils and makes finding the answer to this question imperative for treating physicians. Materials and methods This was a retrospective, observational cohort study which utilized data from 2008 to 2016 from the University Hospital, Newark, New Jersey, USA. All patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) who underwent phacoemulsification with pupillary expansion were considered for inclusion. Cases were subsequently excluded if they had prior incisional glaucoma surgery, if phacoemulsification was combined with another surgery, or if they had any incisional surgery in the eye 1 year preoperatively or postoperatively. The control group was made up of patients without POAG. The primary outcome was IOP. Results Thirty-seven eyes from 31 glaucoma patients and 29 eyes from 28 control patients met inclusion criteria. The mean IOP in the POAG group increased from 15.0 ± 4.6 mm Hg to 15.9 ± 3.5 mm Hg after 1 year, whereas the control group decreased from 14.1 ± 3.6 mm Hg to 11.9 ± 3.9 mm Hg. Multivariate analysis showed that glaucoma was associated with a 5.56 mm Hg increase in IOP at 12 months postoperatively. The average number of glaucoma medications decreased significantly from 1.7 ± 1.4 at the baseline to 1.3 ± 1.3 after 1 year. Conclusion In contrast with non-POAG patients, no significant drop in the mean IOP was noted after complex cataract surgery for this cohort of glaucoma patients, although medication burden significantly decreased and VA improved significantly. Clinical significance Phacoemulsification with intraoperative pupillary expansion in POAG patients may not decrease IOP after 12 months but it can decrease the number of anti-glaucoma medications they take. How to cite this article Bargoud AR, Parikh H, et al. Outcomes of Complex Cataract Surgery in Patients with Primary Open-angle Glaucoma. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2019;13(2):62-67.
Erythroleukemia, with special emphasis on the acute or incomplete variety; report of five cases.

Five cases of erythroleukemia of the acute or incomplete variety form the basis of this report. Four of the patients were women. The ages of these five patients ranged from 19 to 73 years at time of admission to the Mayo Clinic. Studies were made on the blood and peripheral marrow for varying periods throughout the course of the disease. All five patients had anemia and extreme immaturity of the erythrocytes in the peripheral blood and bone marrow. Leukopenia was eventually present in four cases as was thrombopenia. Splenectomy was performed on one patient. One patient lived six years after the condition developed, two died within thirteen months of the time of diagnosis, one was not followed, and the fifth was still living at last report. Relatively few cases of erythroleukemia have been reported in the literature and most of those reported have been cases of the chronic variety. The erythrocytic picture in the chronic variety differs from that in the acute variety. In the acute type acute erythremia is associated with leukemia and in the chronic type polycythemia is associated with it. Either the erythrocytic abnormality or the leukocytic may appear first. Our studies and those reported in the literature suggest excessive activity of the blast cell in two directions.
Intracranial Saccular Aneurysms

It has long been accepted that mechanical factors play a critical role in the natural history of intracranial saccular aneurysms — their pathogenesis, enlargement, and rupture. Nevertheless, until very recently, biomechanical analysis has been surprisingly scant. In this chapter, we see how nonlinear elasticity, membrane theory, nonlinear dynamics, and nonlinear finite element analyses can be used to increase our understanding of the mechanics of saccular aneurysms. Much has been learned, but much remains to be accomplished, particularly in the area of the mechanics of biological growth and remodeling. Hence, it is also hoped that this chapter will encourage new investigators to study the mechanics of aneurysms.