cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Affect recognition among adolescents in therapeutic schools: relationships with posttraumatic stress disorder and conduct disorder symptoms.

Background Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and conduct disorder (CD) symptoms often co-occur in adolescence, but little is known about whether they show common or distinct emotional processing deficits. Method We examined the effects of PTSD and CD symptoms on facial affect processing in youth with emotional and behavior problems. Teens enrolled in therapeutic day schools (N = 371; ages 13–19) completed a structured diagnostic assessment and the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 facial affect recognition task. Results Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were associated with deficits in the recognition of angry facial expressions, specifically the false identification of angry faces as fearful. CD symptoms were associated with greater difficulty correctly identifying sadness. Conclusions Findings suggest specificity in the relationships of PTSD and CD symptoms with emotional processing.
Approximate symbolic model checking using overlapping projections

Bugs in hardware cost money. Whenever an error creeps into a design, time and money must be spent to locate and correct it. With the growing complexity of digital systems, and the tremendous pressure for early-time-to-market schedules, the need for verification tools that can help designers catch bugs at an early stage in the design process cannot be overemphasized. Traditional methods of verification are empirical in nature and are based on extensive simulation of hand-written or automatically generated diagnostic test vectors. Although provably effective in the early stages of the debugging process, their effectiveness drops quickly as the size of the state space grows large. More formal methods based on the use of theorem provers to comprehensively verify designs, are time consuming and often require a great deal of human expertise to construct a detailed logical proof. An alternative formal verification approach is model checking , in which efficient search procedures automatically determine if the state space of a design satisfies an abstract logical specification. Symbolic model checking extends the scope of verification problems that can be handled automatically by using symbolic representations with binary decision diagrams (BDDs) rather than explicitly searching the entire state space of the model. However even the most sophisticated symbolic model checking methods cannot be directly applied to today's large designs. Approximate symbolic model checking is an attempt to trade off accuracy with the capacity to deal with bigger designs. This work explores the idea of using a new approximation scheme called overlapping projections. Under this new approximation scheme, the state space is represented using a collection of BDDs that constrain possibly overlapping subsets of the state variables in the system. This new scheme is more general and significantly better than earlier approximation schemes. The ideas have been evaluated on publicly available benchmarks from the ISCAS-89 benchmark suite. We report orders of magnitude improvement in the results obtained when compared with earlier schemes. The ideas are also applied in extensively verifying a real large design example from the I/O unit of the MAGIC chip in the Stanford FLASH multiprocessor.
Platinum-Coated Gold Nanorods: Efficient Reactive Oxygen Scavengers That Prevent Oxidative Damage toward Healthy, Untreated Cells during Plasmonic Photothermal Therapy

As a minimally invasive therapeutic strategy, gold nanorod (AuNR)-based plasmonic photothermal therapy (PPT) has shown significant promise for the selective ablation of cancer cells. However, the heat stress experienced by cells during the PPT treatment produces significant amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which could harm healthy, untreated tissue near the point of care by inducing irreversible damage to DNA, lipids, and proteins, potentially causing cellular dysfunction or mutation. In this study, we utilized biocompatible Pt-coated AuNRs (PtAuNRs) with different platinum shell thicknesses as an alternative to AuNRs often used for the treatment. We show that the PtAuNRs maintain the efficacy of traditional AuNRs for inducing cell death while scavenging the ROS formed as a byproduct during PPT treatment, thereby protecting healthy, untreated cells from indirect death resulting from ROS formation. The synergistic effect of PtAuNRs in effectively killing cancer cells through hyperthermia with the ...
Accurate, simple, and inexpensive assays to diagnose F8 gene inversion mutations in hemophilia A patients and carriers.

Abstract The most frequent mutations resulting in hemophilia A are an intron 22 or intron 1 gene inversion, which together cause ∼50% of severe hemophilia A cases. We report a simple and accurate RNA-based assay to detect these mutations in patients and heterozygous carriers. The assays do not require specialized equipment or expensive reagents; therefore, they may provide useful and economic protocols that could be standardized for central laboratory testing. RNA is purified from a blood sample, and reverse transcription nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-NPCR) reactions amplify DNA fragments with the F8 sequence spanning the exon 22 to 23 splice site (intron 22 inversion test) or the exon 1 to 2 splice site (intron 1 inversion test). These sequences will be amplified only from F8 RNA without an intron 22 or intron 1 inversion mutation, respectively. Additional RT-NPCR reactions are then carried out to amplify the inverted sequences extending from F8 exon 19 to the first in-frame stop codon within intron 22 or a chimeric transcript containing F8 exon 1 and the VBP1 gene. These latter 2 products are produced only by individuals with an intron 22 or intron 1 inversion mutation, respectively. The intron 22 inversion mutations may be further classified (eg, as type 1 or type 2, reflecting the specific homologous recombination sites) by the standard DNA-based “inverse-shifting” PCR assay if desired. Efficient Bcl I and T4 DNA ligase enzymes that cleave and ligate DNA in minutes were used, which is a substantial improvement over previous protocols that required overnight incubations. These protocols can accurately detect F8 inversion mutations via same-day testing of patient samples.
Cardiac dysfunction and cognitive decline.

This editorial refers to ‘Associations between single and multiple cardiometabolic disease and cognitive abilities in 14 129 UK Biobank participants’, by D. Lyall et al. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehw528. The Ebers papyrus dating back to ∼1550 BC contains a treatise on the heart where it refers to this organ as the centre of the body’s blood supply.1 Although blood circulation was not described in this ancient document, diseases such as depression and dementia are discussed as well as their possible treatments. It is anybody’s guess whether early Egyptian physicians suspected that the heart could have a role in mental disorders. Scrolling forward to 1977, an anonymous editor at The Lancet proposed that cardiac dysrhythmia and hypotension in the elderly could be an underdiagnosed cause of cognitive decline and dementia.2 This provocative Editorial was promptly ignored by most readers and unceremoniously shot down by Emerson and colleagues3 in 1981 when they reported no association between cardiac disease and dementia. Except for atrial fibrillation where only four patients from each group were studied, these authors did not examine dyscognitive patients with the cardiac abnormalities listed in Figure 1 , nor did they compare the demented patients with a cognitively intact control group. Figure 1 Selected cardiovascular and cardiometabolic risk factors reported to impact the brain and induce cognitive dysfunction. These risk factors are …
Homing Ability of Harvestmen Nymphs (Opiliones, Cranaidae)

This field experiment provide the first demonstration of the ability of cranaid nymphs to return to the same aggregation after displacement. This is a remarkable accomplishment for a group with such low vagility (Giribet and Kury 2007).
‘A power that deifies the human and humanizes God’: the psychodynamics of love and hypostatic deification according to Maximos the Confessor

ABSTRACTMaximus the Confessor has been the subject of numerous subsets of the historical, philosophical, and theological disciplines, but the prominent role virtue – and above all else love – plays in his corpus remains vastly underexplored or misunderstood in secondary scholarship. The ascetic thinker’s understanding of virtue is fascinating in its own right since it implies and decodes the enormity of his theological vision by serving as the locus in and through which the created and the uncreated encounter each other. But the distinctive edge of his aretology is all the more peculiar by the way in which he forged it from the remaining shards of the late antique philosophical schools and honed it against the theological touchstones of anchorites, monastics, and Biblical commentators. The result was a multilayered theology of virtue that reimagined the place of love in the Christian life and remained a constitutive aspect of Greek monastic practice and lay piety until the fall of Constantinople and beyon...
An Interdisciplinary Control Engineering Laboratory Course

Abstract In this work, we describe our experiences with a laboratory-based course which was added to the engineering curriculum as a new elective for civil, electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering. Our objectives for the laboratory course include the following: (1) Provide students with a realistic introduction to the practice of control engineering in applications from a variety of disciplines, using computer control system identical to those encountered in industrial applications. (2) Integrate fundamental skills and principles from throughout the curriculum to solve practical engineering problems in dynamics and control, emphasizing the design of control systems to add a solid interdisciplinary design component to the engineering curriculum. (3) Encourage the development of group interaction skills vital to the success of practicing engineers and provide a forum for the enrichment of communications skills through both oral and written reporting. (4) Encourage problem-based learning and innovative student approaches via open-ended control problems.
Nonmedical prescription drug use among African Americans who use MDMA (ecstasy/molly): Implications for risk reduction

Recent data suggest that both nonmedical prescription drug and MDMA (ecstasy/molly) use have risen among African Americans. However, studies investigating these two forms of drug use among African Americans are rare. As a result, very little is known about African-American MDMA users and their nonmedical use of prescription medications. The primary goal of this study, therefore, was to describe patterns of nonmedical prescription drug use among African Americans who use MDMA. We also assessed alcohol and illicit drug use among the sample. Surveys (n=100) and in-depth interviews (n=15) were conducted with African-American young adults in Southwest Florida between August 2014 and November 2015. Survey results show that a significant proportion of the sample used MDMA in conjunction with prescription medications (benzodiazepines=59%; opioids=35%; stimulants=13%). Qualitative findings suggest that benzodiazepine medications were used to alleviate MDMA comedown symptoms, opioids were used to achieve a different quality high, and stimulants were used to provide added energy throughout the night. These results suggest that treatment practitioners and harm reduction professionals should pay particular attention to informing users of the potential hazards of combining MDMA with prescription medications. Although additional research is clearly needed, these findings are an important first step towards understanding both nonmedical prescription drug and MDMA use among African Americans, and could be used to tailor treatment and risk reduction interventions to this population.
Low Density Parity Check Convolutional Codes Derived from Quasi-Cyclic Block Codes

Using algebraic techniques, one of the co-authors has designed a [155,64, 20] low density parity check code based on permutation matrices. This code is quasi-cyclic by construction and hence admits a convolutional representation. A set of low density parity check convolutional codes is derived from this quasi-cyclic code and its generalizations. The performance of these convolutional codes is investigated when decoded using belief propagation on their corresponding graph representations.
Novel Mechanism of Cancer Thrombosis Induced by Microvesicles

Microvesicles consist of a heterogeneous array of cell-derived vesicles of different origins. A subset of microvesicles, termed microparticles, are derived from budding from cell surfaces, whereas the smaller exosomes are released from the endosomal compartment through specific cellular transport mechanisms.1–3 All cells, both nontransformed and malignant, release microvesicles, with increased numbers released in response to inflammatory stimuli, apoptosis, and other sources of cellular stress. Though the enumeration of microvesicles in plasma remains challenging,4 plasma microvesicle concentrations are thought to range from 107 to 1011/mL. See accompanying article on page 772 Although microvesicles mediate many biological effects, there has been great interest in their role in thrombotic disease.5 Because thrombosis is a common complication in patients with cancer,6 cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) has been a productive area in which to study the prothrombotic activity of microvesicles. Several studies have investigated the prothrombotic mechanisms of microvesicles derived from cancer cells and patients with cancer, many focusing on the role of tissue factor (TF).7 Some studies have identified a correlation between the expression of TF by microvesicles from cancer patients and the development of clinical thrombosis.8–10 However, though these correlations seem to be significant in the case of pancreatic cancer, they have not been confirmed in other cancer types.11 Indeed, the …
The Epigenetic Landscape in the Treatment of Gynecologic Malignancies

The care of patients with advanced-stage or recurrent endometrial, ovarian, and cervical cancer remains clinically challenging. Despite the identification of novel therapeutics and advancements in supportive care, survival outcomes have been relatively unchanged over the past decade. In addition to established genomic alterations and the contributions of the tumor microenvironment to cancer progression, epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as important contributors to gynecologic cancer progression. DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding RNA expression may be important contributors to disease initiation and progression and may represent novel therapeutic targets. This article reviews the epigenetic landscape of endometrial, ovarian, and cervical cancer, describing the state of the science and discussing potential clinical applications. To date, the role of epigenetic drugs in the treatment of gynecologic cancers remains unclear, although continued progress may inform future treatment modalities.
Trace element status in type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis.

Introduction Type 2 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that has been associated with alterations in the status of trace elements, including zinc, copper, iron and manganese. However, clinical studies reporting statuses of these trace elements in type 2 diabetes patients compared to controls have shown conflicting results. Objective This meta-analysis aimed to summarize the existing literature on the statuses of zinc, copper, iron, and manganese in Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Methods A literature search of Embase, PubMed, EBSCOHost, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Cochrane library and Web of Science electronic databases was conducted to find studies published from 1970 to November 2016 that compared the trace elements of interest between type 2 diabetic patients and healthy controls. Keywords used were type 2 diabetes, diabetes, hyperglycemia, insulin, glucose, HbA1c, trace elements, micronutrients, zinc, manganese, copper, ceruloplasmin, iron and ferritin. The bias corrected Hedges' g, was utilized as the effect sizes. Due to the biological interaction between trace elements, it is important to collectively evaluate the statuses of these minerals in type 2 diabetes. Thus, the robust variance estimation method was chosen to handle dependency between multiple outcomes. Results A total of 52 studies met the inclusion criteria, amounting to 98 effect sizes. Diabetic patients (n=20183) had significantly lower zinc status when compared to controls (effect size = -1.73, p<0.01); whereas copper (effect size = 1.10, p<0.05) and ferritin levels (effect size = 1.05, p<0.01) were significantly higher. Although not significant, ceruloplasmin (effect size = 1.85, p=0.06) and iron (effect size = 1.42, p=0.06) levels were higher, and manganese (effect size = 0.27, p=0.34) was lower in patients. Conclusion Results from this meta-analysis indicate lower zinc status accompanied by increased copper and ferritin levels in patients with type 2 diabetes when compared to controls.
A research study review of effectiveness of treatments for psychiatric conditions common to end-stage cancer patients: needs assessment for future research and an impassioned plea

Rates of psychiatric conditions common to end-stage cancer patients (delirium, depression, anxiety disorders) remain unchanged. However, patient numbers have increased as the population has aged; indeed, cancer is a chief cause of mortality and morbidity in older populations. Effectiveness of psychiatric interventions and research to evaluate, inform, and improve interventions is critical to these patients’ care. This article’s intent is to report results from a recent review study on the effectiveness of interventions for psychiatric conditions common to end-stage cancer patients; the review study assessed the state of research regarding treatment effectiveness. Unlike previous review studies, this one included non-traditional/alternative therapies and spirituality interventions that have undergone scientific inquiry. A five-phase systematic strategy and a theoretic grounded iterative methodology were used to identify studies for inclusion and to craft an integrated, synthesized, comprehensive, and reasonably current end-product. Psychiatric medication therapies undoubtedly are the most powerful treatments. Among them, the most effective (i.e., “best practices benchmarks”) are: (1) for delirium, typical antipsychotics—though there is no difference between typical vs. atypical and other antipsychotics, except for different side-effect profiles, (2) for depression, if patient life expectancy is ≥4–6 weeks, then a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and if < 3 weeks, then psychostimulants or ketamine, and these generally are useful anytime in the cancer disease course, and (3) for anxiety disorders, bio-diazepams (BDZs) are most used and most effective. A universal consensus suggests that psychosocial (i.e., talk) therapy and spirituality interventions fortify the therapeutic alliance and psychiatric medication protocols. However, trial studies have had mixed results regarding effectiveness in reducing psychiatric symptoms, even for touted psychotherapies. This study’s findings prompted a testable linear conceptual model of co-factors and their importance for providing effective psychiatric care for end-stage cancer patients. The complicated and tricky part is negotiating patients’ diagnoses while articulating internal intricacies within and between each of the model’s co-factors. There is a relative absence of scientifically derived information and need for more large-scale, diverse scientific inquiry. Thus, this article is an impassioned plea for accelerated study and better care for end-stage cancer patients’ psychiatric conditions.
Corals and Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystems, at least on a per-area basis if not overall, with perhaps millions of species. They are also among the most threatened ecosystems. Outbreaks of coral eaters, smothering by seaweed, coral bleaching, and coral disease have all decimated reefs globally. The underlying anthropogenic causes are direct destruction, poor water quality, overfishing, introduction of invasive species, and the multiple effects of increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere due to burning of fossil fuels. Successful conservation of coral reefs and their biodiversity will depend on aggressive reduction of local stressors and ultimately on the stabilization and lowering of CO 2 emissions.
Control of Involucrin Synthesis During Terminal Differentiation of Human Epidermal Cells in Culture

In the epidermis, cell division takes place in the basal layer. When cells leave this layer they no longer proliferate, but undergo terminal differentiation. Moving through the stratified layers, the cells enlarge progressively and synthesise a range of specialised products. In the outermost cell layers destruction of the nucleus and cytoplasmic organelles occurs, leaving only keratin fibres surrounded by a cross-linked protein envelope.
Credit Card Risk Behavior in a High Interest Rate Context

College students frequently exhibit little skill for using credit cards in a responsible manner. This chapter examines this issue in an emerging market and in a pioneering manner. University students (n = 769), in a high interest rate context, replied to a questionnaire about their habits in credit card use. Logit models revealed associations between personal characteristics and credit card use habits that reflect financially risky behavior. The main results show (i) a larger number of credit cards increase the probability of risk behavior and (ii) those students who alleged awareness of the card’s interest rates were less inclined to engage in risk behavior. These results might prove informative to the financial industry as well as university managers and policymakers. This chapter points to the advisability, indeed necessity, to inform students on responsible use of financial products (notably credit cards) emphasizing the associated high interest rates. The findings regarding student behavior for credit card usage in emerging economies are both significant and relevant. Furthermore, financial literature, while stressing the importance of the topic, has not significantly examined emerging economies.
Pierre Robin syndrome: clinical, light and electron-microscopic and biochemical observations in a case.

Clinical, light and electron-microscopic, and biochemical observations are presented in an 11 years old boy with Pierre Robin Syndrome; micrognathia, cleft palate and glossoptosis. Respiratory distress and feeding difficulties were early and serious complications of the glossoptosis. “Cachexia”, a striking physical underdevelopment, profound psychomotor retardation and epilepsy constituted the prominent clinical features. The neuropathology of the syndrome was characterized by the following: 1. Arrest in cerebral growth and maturation; 2. Mild diffuse and laminar cortical neuronal losses and astrocytic fibrosis; and 3. Minor histogenetic anomaly in the cerebellar cortex. The arrest in cerebral development was reflected grossly by microencephaly and, histologically by “immaturity” of numerous cortical neurons, poverty of intracortical fibrillary plexuses, poor establishment of cytoarchitectonic characteristics and hypoplasia of hemispheric white matter. At subcellular level, there was diminution of cytoplasmic organelles, particularly the rough endoplasmic reticulum. A marked deficiency in myelin lipids and severe diminution of total ganglioside concentration in the cerebral cortex were the major biochemical findings. In the pathogenesis of cerebral alterations congenital factors and the complications of “glossoptosis” were considered. It was suggested that the early undernutrition played an important role in the impediment of cerebral growth and maturation. The cerebral hypoxic insults further curtailed the development of already compromised neurons and depressed their functional activities, particularly in the more susceptible cerebral cortex. It was proposed that the arrested brain development provided a substantial structural basis for the psychomotor retardation.
P110 Clinical predictors of donor specific antibody following kidney transplantation

Aim Optimizing immunosuppressive drug therapy for individual patients has been one of the challenges of transplantation. In this study, we attempt to define the relationship between tacrolimus (TAC) and mycophenolate mofetil (MPA) in the development of donor specific antibody (DSA) in patients with kidney transplants. Methods 253 patients underwent kidney transplantation from January 2011 to February 2017. All patients received induction therapy with 2–5 mg/kg of thymoglobulin. Standard immunotherapy after induction consisted of steroids, MPA and tacrolimus. All tacrolimus levels drawn after transplantation were included. A two-hour AUC for the active metabolite, MPA, and the glucuronide, MPAG, was determined 1–5 months following transplantation. Results Patients that developed DSA were compared to those that did not using logistic regression. Variables in the logistic regression included age, mean tacrolimus levels with their standard deviation, MPA area under the curve (AUC) with its standard deviation, MPAG (MPA glucuronide) with its standard deviation (SD). For a given patient the mean of all TAC levels was calculated by using every level obtained following kidney transplantation. See Table 1. The coefficients associated with the variables above suggest that the most predictive variables for the development of DSA were mean TAC level, SD of the mean TAC level, mean MPAG level and age. See Table 2. Conclusions Our data suggests: (1) Mean tacrolimus level and standard deviation of the mean has the highest predictive value for the development of DSA, (2) Mean MPAG AUC and not mean MPA AUC, is almost equally important in forecasting the development of DSA and (3) young age predisposes to the formation of DSA.
Prediction of Freezing Temperature inside Concrete Crossties at the Rail Seat Area

AbstractAir-entrained high performance concrete (HPC) crossties or ties (alternatively called sleepers outside of North America) have been observed to suffer structural and material degradation at ...
Health status utility assessment by standard gamble: a comparison of the probability equivalence and the lottery equivalence approaches.

Purpose. Utility values obtained with the standard gamble (SG) method using the probability equivalence approach (PE) have a reported bias due to the "certainty effect." This effect causes individuals to overvalue a positive outcome when it occurs under certainty. Researchers in the decision sciences have proposed an alternative, "lottery equivalence” (LE) approach, using paired gambles, to eliminate this bias. The major objective of the current study was to investigate the certainty effect in health status utility measures and to test our hypothesis that the certainty effect would act in a reverse direction for negatively valued outcomes. Methods. Fifty-four subjects completed the study by assessing preferences for three health states by rating scale and then by SG using PE as well as LE approaches with assessment lotteries of 0.5 and 0.75. Results. The results from 41 useable responses point towards possible existence of the certainty effect in health in the hypothesized direction: utility values obtained with the PE were significantly lower than with the LEs. There was no significant difference between the LE values indicating elimination of the bias. Conclusions. The results have important implications since the SG using PE is thought be the "gold standard” in health status utility measurements.
Flow through Deep Ocean Passages

Below the warm upper layers of the ocean lie the deep and bottom waters comprising about three-fourths of the total volume of the oceans. The motion of this water is largely governed by forces acting at the surface and hydrodynamic instabilities of the upper ocean general circulation. However, the ocean’s bottom relief plays a very important role in determining the pathways for the deep circulation and, to a great extent, determines the mixing between different water masses. In addition, the deepest parts of the ocean are separated into smaller basins by ridges through which deep passages and fracture zones permit the flow of bottom water. These constrictions can act in an analogous fashion to dams in rivers to control the properties of the flow connecting the basins. In this article, the theory for such control will be reviewed taking into account the rotation of the Earth. A number of important deep passages will be described in which reasonably accurate measurements of flow have been made that can be compared with theoretical predictions. Broader implications, which include enhanced local mixing, the determination of regionally averaged mixing rates, and the monitoring of long-term property changes, are also discussed.
Algorithms and Systems for Low Power Time-of-Flight Imaging

Depth sensing is essential for many applications. These include autonomous navigation, augmented reality, and industrial robotics, which all use depth to interact with their environments. Time-of-flight (ToF) cameras are appealing depth sensors because they obtain dense depth measurements with minimal latency. However, one drawback of this sensor is that it can be power hungry because it must emit light to estimate depth. For a range up to 4 m, ToF cameras consume 3-5 W [1] . For industrial sensors 1 , this figure can be as high as 20 W. Therefore, lowering this power has the practical benefit of extending the battery-life for applications on "edge" devices. For applications that are not constrained by power, this would minimize heat dissipation.
Corrected Standard Errors with Clustered Data

The use of cluster robust standard errors (CRSE) is common as data are often collected from units, such as cities, states or countries, with multiple observations per unit. There is considerable discussion of how best to estimate standard errors and confidence intervals when using CRSE (Harden 2011; Imbens and Kolesar 2016; MacKinnon and Webb 2017; Esarey and Menger 2019). Extensive simulations in this literature and here show that CRSE seriously underestimate coefficient standard errors and their associated confidence intervals, particularly with a small number of clusters and when there is little within cluster variation in the explanatory variables. These same simulations show that a method developed here provides more reliable estimates of coefficient standard errors. They underestimate confidence intervals for tests of individual and sets of coefficients in extreme conditions, but by far less than do CRSE. Simulations also show that this method produces more accurate standard error and confidence interval estimates than bootstrapping, which is often recommended as an alternative to CRSE.
Cohesive conjunctions in the English writing of Cantonese speaking students from Hong Kong

Student writers in Hong Kong have a distinctive style in ordering their thoughts for academic essay assignments which consists of frequent prefacing of their points with cohesive conjunctions. Applied linguists in Hong Kong have studied this use of conjunction to ascertain how it differs from native speaker use, to gauge the extent to which teaching, textbooks and transfer are influential and to analyse the extent of misuse and unnecessary use. This work is reviewed with close attention to Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) cohesion theory and further research directions and teaching implications are presented in the light of this theory.
Impact of Stressors on Broiler Chicken and Development of IT Monitoring System for a Better Production

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of various stress factors on broiler chicken, to calculate the weighted value of each Stress index that may be obtained by a data mining technique, and to build a platform for a precision livestock farming system.
Best Value Procurement Results within the GSA

A large government agency, seeking to become more efficient, implemented the Performance Information Procurement System (PIPS) Best Value (BV) process on various construction projects to determine if the program could increase the performance of outsourced services. The impact of this model for increasing the performance of procured projects is presented. The environment of the projects and testing of the process were unique, as they allowed concurrent testing and validation of multiple projects, similar in scope, and uniform application of key performance metrics. A case study is also used to illustrate the overall performance of the BV process. The findings in this paper show that the process resulted in approximately a 60% increase in performance with regards to customer satisfaction, project delays, and cost increases. In an industry with delays in excess of 20-50%, a model that results in an increase of performance for outsourced services is significant.
Definitely Mixed Feelings: The Effect of COVID-19 on Bereavement in Parents of Children Who Died of Cancer

Abstract Context Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted most elements of daily life, including the provision of support after a child's death and the experience of parental bereavement. Objectives This study aims to examine ways in which COVID-19 has affected the bereavement experiences of parents whose children died of cancer before the pandemic. Methods Parents who participated in a survey-based study examining the early grief experience were invited to complete a semistructured interview. During the interview, which focused on examining the current support for parents and other family members within the first several years after the child's death, participants were asked how COVID-19 has impacted their life and bereavement. Results Fifteen of 33 eligible parents completed the interview; 14 were white and non-Hispanic, five were males. Parents participated an average of 19 (range 12–34) months after their child's death. COVID-19 was addressed in 13 interviews. Eleven codes were used to describe interview segments; the most commonly used codes were change in support, no effect, familiarity with uncertainty/ability to cope, and change in contact with care/research team. Conclusion Parents identified multiple and variable ways—both positive, negative, and neutral—how COVID-19 has affected their bereavement. Many parents commented on feeling more isolated because of the inability to connect with family or attend in-person support groups, whereas others acknowledged their experience has made them uniquely positioned to cope with the uncertainty of the current situation. Clinicians must find innovative ways to connect with and support bereaved parents during this unique time.
Bats (Chiroptera) of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah and Arizona

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area covers large and geographically unique regions of southern Utah and northern Arizona. However, multiple surveys of bats from 1952 to 2017 have not been published. Prior to 2015, most bat surveys in the recreation area were conducted using mist nets only and did not include acoustic monitoring. In this paper we compile records of bats found in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area from 1952 to 2017, including records from our recent surveys using both mist nets and acoustic sampling. During our recent surveys, 2 new species were captured (Nyctinomops macrotis and Lasionycteris noctivagans), and 2 other new species were documented using acoustic detection (Myotis evotis and Eumops perotis), bringing the total documented bat species in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to 17 species. This paper sheds light on the diverse bat assemblage of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that will serve as a baseline for future research and conservation efforts.
Radiation exposure to patient transporters

2119 Objectives : Saint Joseph’s Hospital has a Central Transport Service that transports patients and equipment throughout the hospital. As part of their job, the transporters are responsible for transporting patients from the Nuclear Medicine Department to the mobile PET/CT truck. Out of 18 transporters possibly working at any one time, eleven were assigned to Nuclear Medicine. With the increase of PET studies, the amount of PET patients our transporters were exposed to increased. There was concern that the transporters’ exposures would exceed the limit. The objective of this study is to determine how much radiation these eleven transporters are being exposed to. Methods : Two whole body radiation badges (Landauer, Glenwood, IL) were hung on lanyards. Each time a transporter arrived to take a patient from Nuclear Medicine to the mobile PET/CT scanner, he/she was instructed to wear the lanyard around their neck. Once at the mobile unit, the transporter removed the lanyard so it would be available for the transporter performing the patient’s return trip from the mobile unit to Nuclear Medicine. Due to consecutive scans, two badges were used so that one badge was available at each location. After a three-month period, the badges were sent to Landauer to be read and to determine the amount of radioactivity the eleven transporters were exposed to. Results : For the period between August 20, 2005 and November 20, 2005, the deep dose equivalent (DDE) for the two badges was 133 mrem, the lens dose equivalent (LDE) was 135 mrem and the shallow dose equivalent (SDE) was 135 mrem. It was assumed that only the eleven people assigned to Nuclear Medicine received jobs transporting the PET patients, and it was also assumed that all of the jobs transporting the PET patients were equally split; therefore the exposure divided into the eleven transporters reduces the average exposure rate to 12.1 mrem DDE, and 12.3 mrem LDE and SDE. Conclusions : The total limit of exposure for a non-radiation worker is 100 mrem/year. The exposure rate to the patient transporters at St. Joseph’s Hospital only averages 3.1 mrem a month, or an estimated 48.8 mrem a year. As a result, the transport department does not need to wear radiation badges.
The Lattice of Growth in Knowledge

A series of theories T 1, T 2, T 3,… constituting a scientific research program, is ‘theoretically’ and ‘empirically progressive’ and therefore to be appraised as truly ‘scientific’ and ‘rational’, and to be preferred methodologically, if “each subsequent theory… [has] at least as much content as the unrefuted content of its predecessor” and “leads us to the discovery of some new fact” 1 Such is Imre Lakatos’s linear theory of scientific growth. My contention is that a partial ordering of a kind represented in Figure 1 and generalized to n dimensions serves better both the purpose of explicating the historical case studies adduced by Lakatos in support of his view and the purpose of arriving at a normative structure for the appraisal of progress in scientific research. I shall conclude then that it is necessary to add to Lakatos’s methodological principles an additional one: the principle of lattice-growth.
Crack Formation in Brittle Materials by Sharp Contact

Cracking during Vickers indentation has been studied in 11 transparent brittle materials, both amorphous and crystalline, in a hardness testing apparatus which allows for in situ observation of cracking events while recording the indentation load-displacement curves. In no case was the formation of a crack associated with a load-displacement feature which could be used to identify the cracking event, thereby casting some doubt on the usefulness of load/displacement sensing indentation techniques in the study of indentation fracture. However, is still remains to be seen if the lack of an observable feature is related to machine stiffness effects. The points along the load-displacement curves at which cracks first appear in the 11 transparent materials are documented. The overall sequence of cracking events suggests a classification of the materials into 3 major groups -- normal glasses, anomalous glasses, and single crystals. The characteristics of each group are outlined and discussed in relation to models for indentation cracking. The models are shown to be deficient in that they do not pay enough attention to material specific details. 11 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab.
A longitudinal study of modifying influences in the relationship between domestic violence and child maltreatment

The increased risk of child maltreatment in the presence of domestic violence is well documented, but much remains unknown about factors that modify this relationship. This study investigates the roles of risk and protective factors in the relationship between domestic violence and being reported to the Department of Social Services for child maltreatment. Consistent with the literature, we find a significant overlap between domestic violence and maltreatment. Young maternal age, low education, low income, and lack of involvement in a religious community add to the risk for maltreatment associated with domestic violence. Separation between the maternal caregiver and her partner significantly reduces the risk for maltreatment when domestic violence is reported. A significant reduction in the risk for maltreatment is also found with higher levels of support from the maternal caregiver reported by the child in the context of domestic violence.
Performance Evaluation of Document Image Algorithms

Performance evaluation for document image processing has a different emphasis than performance evaluation in other areas of image processing. Other areas of image processing can tolerate some error. Because it is so easily done nearly perfectly by humans, document image processing must also be done nearly perfectly. So the first aspect of performance evaluation for document image processing is to determine the domain in which the performance is nearly perfect. Outside this domain, the algorithm makes errors. Such instances of errors need to be examined and classified and categorized so that the weaknesses of the algorithm can be characterized.
Social integration and dialect divergence in coastal Palestine

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The history of Palestine has caused communities to be displaced and relocated, entailing that speech communities have been dismantled and created anew. The coastal cities of Jaffa and Gaza exemplify this reality. This study analyzes speakers from Jaffa, some of whom remained there and others residing in Gaza as refugees. Through an examination of three variables, ({glottal stop, reversed}), (AH), and (Q), we shed light on the effects of dialect contact while highlighting the link between dialect contact and identity formation and maintenance. All three variables are found to be in varied states of change as a result of contact with other varieties of Arabic, as well as with Modern Hebrew. We conclude that (Q), through its high social salience, works to create and maintain a sense of community identity for Jaffan refugees in Gaza at a time when the speech of the larger Jaffa community is undergoing substantial linguistic change.
The Corporation that Changed the World: How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational by Nick Robins

Most international business textbooks begin the era of the multinational from the mid-twentieth century, right after the Second World War, when companies like Coca Cola, GE, and IBM began expanding...
Franz Kafka, Lawrence Joseph, and the Possibilities of Jurisprudential Literature

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it offers a complementary reading of Franz Kafka’s writings on the law and Lawrence Joseph’s novel Lawyerland. This reading focuses on the distinct perspectives offered by these authors. Whereas Kafka approaches the law from the perspective of the litigant or accused, Joseph’s perspective, through the eyes of his lawyers and judges, is that of the consummate insider. The importance of perspective rests with the fact that although law might constitute an objective system, its experience is inevitably subjective. The absurd malevolence of law in Kafka can thus be rationalized by the system of law depicted by Joseph. The second builds on the conclusions of the first by interpreting this complementary reading to constitute a coherent literary jurisprudence. The works of Kafka and Joseph point away from the narrow confines of academic jurisprudence and current constitutional scholarship by placing legal authority at the basic levels of legal practice. It is in the trenches of contemporary legal practice, rather than in the Supreme Court or elite law schools, where the most important decisions on the law are taken and the nature of legal reality fully explored. By recognizing this fact, the jurisprudence of Kafka and Joseph takes a relational approach to how law is conceived - law takes form only insomuch as it is utilized and applied in the course of resolving legal problems. The possibilities of such jurisprudential literature will only become more important as legal practice continues to evolve along a relational path into the twenty-first century, and law and literature should accordingly focus on these possibilities as it itself continues to evolve.
Tiotidine, a new long-acting histamine H2-receptor antagonist: Comparison with cimetidine

Abstract The effects of tiotidine, a new histamine H 2 -receptor antagonist, and cimetidine on food-stimulated gastric acid secretion were evaluated in duodenal ulcer patients. Homogenized steak meals were infused immediately after, 1 h after, 5 h after, and 10 h after an oral dose of medication, and food-stimulated acid secretion was measured by in vivo intragastric titration. Tiotidine and cimetidine had a similar onset of action; however, tiotidine was more potent and had a longer duration of effect. Increased potency was demonstrated by the fact that from 1 to 2 h after medication 150 mg tiotidine inhibited acid secretion to approximately the same extent as did 300 mg cimetidine, and by the fact that for a given percent inhibition of acid secretion, plasma tiotidine concentration was eight to nine times lower than plasma cimetidine concentration. Longer duration of effect was demonstrated by the fact that from 5 to 7 h after medication, acid secretion was inhibited by 80% and 97% with 150 and 300 mg tiotidine, respectively, whereas 300 mg cimetidine inhibited acid secretion by only 22%. Also, 10–12 h after medication, 150 and 300 mg tiotidine inhibited acid secretion by 22% and 53%, respectively, while 300 mg cimetidine had no inhibitory effect. The long duration of effect was due in part to increased potency and in part to a plateau in plasma concentration of tiotidine, which was maintained from 2 to 6 h after medication. Neither tiotidine nor cimetidine had a significant effect on food-stimulated gastrin release or gastric emptying of a nonabsorbable marker.
Malignant melanoma in neo-bladder urinary cytology: a brief report.

Malignant melanoma has an unusual predilection for metastasis to the small bowel, sometimes several years after the original diagnosis. In patients who have had a cystoprostatectomy followed by an ileal conduit, metastatic melanoma to the ileal conduit can present in urine cytology. We present a rare case of metastatic malignant melanoma in neo-bladder urine in a patient who had undergone a cystoprostatectomy for high grade urothelial carcinoma of the bladder and prostatic adenocarcinoma of Gleason grade 3+3 and two excisional procedures for cutaneous malignant melanoma. He presented with persistent hematuria and urinary tract infections unresponsive to treatment. Urine cytology revealed single large atypical cells, with large nuclei, prominent nucleoli, and cytoplasmic melanin pigment. Subsequent surgical resection revealed two areas of metastatic melanoma in the ileum, one of them being in the ileal conduit. The tumor cells were immunoreactive for S-100 protein, Melan-A, and HMB-45 and were negative for CAM5.2 and cytokeratins 7 and 20. Diagn. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2013;41:997–999. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.