cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lateral femoral traction pin entry: risk to the femoral artery and other medial neurovascular structures

Background: Femoral skeletal traction assists in the reduction and transient stabilization of pelvic, acetabular, hip, and femoral fractures when splinting is ineffective. Traditional teaching has recommended a medial entry site for insertion of the traction pin in order to minimize injury to the femoral artery as it passes through Hunter’s canal. The present anatomical study evaluates the risk to the femoral artery and other medial neurovascular structures using a lateral entry approach. Methods: Six embalmed cadavers (twelve femurs) were obtained for dissection. Steinman pins were drilled from lateral to medial at the level of the superior pole of the patella, at 2 cm, and at 4 cm proximal to this point. Medial superficial dissection was then performed to identify the saphenous nerve, the superior medial geniculate artery, the adductor hiatus, the tendinous insertion of the adductor magnus and the femoral artery. Measurements localizing these anatomic structures relative to the pins were obtained. Results: The femoral artery was relatively safe and was no closer than 29.6 mm (mean) from any of the three Steinman pins. The superior medial geniculate artery was the medial structure at most risk. Conclusions: Lateral femoral traction pin entry is a safe procedure with minimal risk to the saphenous nerve and femoral artery. Of the structures examined, only the superior medial geniculate artery is at a risk of iatrogenic injury due to its position. The incidence of such injury in clinical practice and its clinical significance is not known. Lateral insertion facilitates traction pin placement since it minimizes the need to move the contralateral extremity out of the way of the drilling equipment or the need to elevate or externally rotate the injured extremity relative to the contralateral extremity.
Violent Video Games and Aggressive Behavior in Young Women.

The increasing availability of violent video games and their implication in recent school shootings has raised the volume of public debate on the effects of such games on aggressive behavior and related variables. This article reports an experiment designed to test key hypotheses concerning the short term impact of exposure to violent video games on young women, a population that has received relatively little attention in this research literature. Results were that brief exposure to a violent video game increased aggressive behavior. Mediational analyses suggested that the violent video game effect on aggression was not mediated by instrumental aggressive motivation, but was partially mediated by revenge motivation. Other results suggested that the violent video game effect on aggression might be greater when the game player controls a same-sex violent game character.
Momentum Flux Budget across the Air–Sea Interface under Uniform and Tropical Cyclone Winds

In coupled ocean‐atmosphere models, it is usually assumed that the momentum flux into ocean currents is equal to the flux from air (wind stress). However, when the surface wave field grows (decays) in space or time, it gains (loses) momentum and reduces (increases) the momentum flux into subsurface currents compared to the flux from the wind. In particular, under tropical cyclone (TC) conditions the surface wave field is complex and fast varying in space and time and may significantly affect the momentum flux from wind into ocean. In this paper, numerical experiments are performed to investigate the momentum flux budget across the air‐sea interface under both uniform and idealized TC winds. The wave fields are simulated using the WAVEWATCH III model. The difference between the momentum flux from wind and the flux into currents is estimated using an air‐sea momentum flux budget model. In many of the experiments, the momentum flux into currents is significantly reduced relative to the flux from the wind. The percentage of this reduction depends on the choice of the drag coefficient parameterization and can be as large as 25%. For the TC cases, the reduction is mainly in the right-rear quadrant of the hurricane, and the percentage of the flux reduction is insensitive to the changes of the storm size and the asymmetry in the wind field but varies with the TC translation speed and the storm intensity. The results of this study suggest that it is important to explicitly resolve the effect of surface waves for accurate estimations of the momentum flux into currents under TCs.
Evaluation of the education sector enhancement program in Barbados

ABSTRACT Drawing on the education production function literature, we examine the short-run impact of comprehensive education reforms in Barbados on primary school student outcomes. Using a variety of specifications to test the robustness of our results, we find modest and mixed changes in student test scores. Our findings are discussed in the context of management challenges that resulted from the need to coordinate a multi-faceted project in a rapidly developing nation; alignment of goals and schedules of two multi-national development banks, the Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports (MES), and the Government of Barbados; and, a very rapidly changing information technology environment that led, in part, to changes in planned capital improvements in schools, equipment needs, and had implications for teacher training.
Monotonic and cyclic short beam shear response of 3D woven composites

Monotonic, multi-step and cyclic short beam shear tests were conducted on 2D and 3D woven composites. The test results were used to determine the effect of z-yarns on the inter-laminar shear strength as well as the multi-loading behavior. The presence of z-yarns was found to affect not only the inter-laminar shear strength of the composite but also the behavior of the composite beyond the elastic limit. Microscopic examination of the damaged specimens revealed large delamination cracks in 2D woven composites while delamination cracks were hindered by z-yarns in 3D composites. This crack arrest phenomena resulted in a reduction in inter-laminar crack lengths and a higher distribution of the micro-cracks throughout the 3D composite. The multi-step and cyclic loading tests are found to be useful in the monitoring of specimen behavior during short beam shear testing. The induced damage was quantified in terms of the loss of strength and stiffness during each loading cycle. It was found that while the 2D composites have higher damage resistance, the 3D composites have a higher damage tolerance.
Evaluation of a kinetic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus-specific antibodies.

A kinetic indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (k-ELISA) was evaluated for detection of antibody to caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV), using sodium dodecyl sulfate-treated CAEV-63 as antigen. Two hundred fifteen caprine sera submitted to the diagnostic laboratory were tested for CAEV antibody by the k-ELISA and by immunoprecipi tation of ( 35 S)-methionine-labeled CAEV. A k-ELISA positive cutoff point of 80 yielded a sensitivity of 94.4% and a specificity of 100%, as compared with immunoprecipitation. A k-ELISA cutoff point of 50 resulted in a sensitivity of 100%, with 95.6% specificity. When sera with k-ELISA scores between 50 and 80 were considered suspect, testing of 1,001 diagnostic sera resulted in < 1.5% suspect reactions. Using the 80 cutoff point, the CAEV k-ELISA had good sensitivity and specificity, with the added advantages of quick turn-around time, few suspect reactions, and adaptability to large numbers of samples. Caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) is a ret- Materials and methods
Graded gene expression changes determine phenotype severity in mouse models of CRX-associated retinopathies.

Background: Mutations in the cone-rod-homeobox protein CRX are typically associated with dominant blinding retinopathies with variable age of onset and severity. Five well-characterized mouse models carrying different Crx mutations show a wide range of disease phenotypes. To determine if the phenotype variability correlates with distinct changes in CRX target gene expression, we perform RNA-seq analyses on three of these models and compare the results with published data. Results: Despite dramatic phenotypic differences between the three models tested, graded expression changes in shared sets of genes are detected. Phenotype severity correlates with the down-regulation of genes encoding key rod and cone phototransduction proteins. Interestingly, in increasingly severe mouse models, the transcription of many rod-enriched genes decreases decrementally, whereas that of cone-enriched genes increases incrementally. Unlike down-regulated genes, which show a high degree of CRX binding and dynamic epigenetic profiles in normal retinas, the up-regulated cone-enriched genes do not correlate with direct activity of CRX, but instead likely reflect a change in rod cell-fate integrity. Furthermore, these analyses describe the impact of minor gene expression changes on the phenotype, as two mutants showed marginally distinguishable expression patterns but huge phenotypic differences, including distinct mechanisms of retinal degeneration. Conclusions: Our results implicate a threshold effect of gene expression level on photoreceptor function and survival, highlight the importance of CRX in photoreceptor subtype development and maintenance, and provide a molecular basis for phenotype variability in CRX-associated retinopathies.
A Convergent Multiscale Gaussian-Beam Parametrix for the Wave Equation

The Gaussian beam method is an asymptotic method for wave equations with highly oscillatory data. In a recent published paper by two of the authors, a multiscale Gaussian beam method was first proposed for wave equations by utilizing the parabolic scaling principle and multiscale Gaussian wavepacket transforms, and numerical examples there demonstrated excellent performance of the multiscale Gaussian beam method. This article is concerned with the important convergence properties of this multiscale method. Specifically, the following results are established. If the Cauchy data are in the form of non-truncated multiscale Gaussian wavepackets, the multiscale Gaussian beam method provides a convergent parametrix for the wave equation with highly oscillatory data, and the convergence rate is , where λ is the smallest frequency contained in the highly oscillatory data. If the highly oscillatory Cauchy data are in the form of truncated multiscale Gaussian wavepackets, the multiscale Gaussian beam method converg...
Goals as Reference Points

We argue that goals serve as reference points and alter outcomes in a manner consistent with the value function of Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979; Tversky & Kahneman, 1992). We present new evidence that goals inherit the properties of the value function—not only a reference point, but also loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity. We also use the value function to explain previous empirical results in the goal literature on affect, effort, persistence, and performance. ≈ 1999 Academic Press
Salmonella Manipulates Autophagy to "Serve and Protect".

Many intracellular pathogens, including Salmonella typhimurium, trigger autophagy in host cells, which is widely thought to restrict intracellular growth and survival. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Kreibich et al. (2015) demonstrate a role for the autophagic machinery in the repair of damaged Salmonella-containing vacuoles (SCVs).
Clinical experience of patients undergoing photodynamic therapy for Barrett's dysplasia or cancer

Summary Introduction : Barrett's oesophagus is the most important risk factor in the increase in incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Photodynamic therapy using porfimer sodium is the only approved endoscopic treatment for use in patients with Barrett's high-grade dysplasia. Aim : To determine clinical characteristics, endoscopic findings and treatment complications in Barrett's high-grade dysplasia patients undergoing photodynamic therapy. Methods : We reviewed our experience using porfimer sodium photodynamic therapy to treat patients with Barrett's oesophagus and high-grade dysplasia or mucosal carcinoma. Data collected included patients characteristics, presentation symptoms, endoscopic findings, subsequent use of surveillance endoscopy and outcome after photodynamic therapy. Results : Since 1997, 102 patients with Barrett's high-grade dysplasia (69 patients) or mucosal adenocarcinoma (33 patients) have been treated with photodynamic therapy using porfimer sodium as an alternative to oesophagectomy (median series follow-up time = 1.6 years). Almost half (46%) of patients had high-grade dysplasia or carcinoma detected on their first endoscopy and the remainder (54%) were found during surveillance of known Barrett's oesophagus. Symptoms typically associated with oesophageal disease were only found in 29 of 47 (62%) patients in whom dysplasia/carcinoma was detected on the initial endoscopy – chest pain in 13 patients, dysphagia in nine patients and chronic gastro-oesophageal disease in seven patients. Comparison of endoscopic characteristics found the median Barrett's glandular segment length was significantly shorter in adenocarcinoma patients (median 3 cm; range: 1–12) vs. Barrett's high-grade dysplasia patients (median 5 cm; range: 1–16, P < 0.001). Overall treatment results found complete ablation of glandular epithelium with one course of photodynamic therapy in most patients (56%). Stricture requiring dilation occurred in 20 patients (20%) was the most common serious adverse event. Photodynamic therapy failed to ablate dysplasia or carcinoma in four patients and subsequent oesophagectomy was curative in three of these patients. Conclusions : Approximately 40% of newly diagnosed patients with Barrett's associated dysplasia or carcinoma had no oesophageal symptoms and had carcinoma associated with short segment (3 cm or less). Photodynamic therapy is a highly effective, safe and minimally invasive first-line treatment for patients with Barrett's dysplasia and mucosal adenocarcinoma.
Statewide Study of Diagnostic Agreement in Breast Pathology

Background: This study assessed the degree of diagnostic agreement among community-based general pathologists reading slides of representative breast tissue specimens and tested whether diagnostic variability is associated with type of breast specimen (e.g., core needle or excisional biopsy) or slide quality. Methods: Twenty-six of the 44 eligible pathologists working at community-based pathology practices in New Hampshire participated. Each pathologist evaluated slides of breast tissue obtained from 30 case subjects randomly selected from a statewide breast pathology database. The diagnostic categories used were benign, benign with atypia, noninvasive malignant, and invasive malignant. The levels of agreement (i.e., kappa coefficients) for the diagnoses were assessed. Results: Agreement was high among pathologists for assignment of diagnostic category (kappa coefficient = 0.71) and was nearly perfect for their selection of benign versus malignant categories (kappa coefficient = 0.95). There was less agreement for the categories of noninvasive malignant and benign with atypia (kappa coefficients of 0.59 and 0.22, respectively). There was no apparent relationship between levels of diagnostic agreement and specimen type or perceived slide quality. Conclusions : Diagnostic agreement for breast tissue specimens is high overall among community-based pathologists, but clinically relevant disagreements may occur in the assessment of noninvasive malignant diagnoses. The establishment of reread policies for certain diagnostic categories may reduce the possibility that diagnostic misclassification will lead to overtreatment or under-treatment. The high degree of diagnostic reproducibility for invasive cancerous lesions of the breast suggests that it is unnecessary for a central review of these lesions in national cancer trials.
Fusion Pore in Live Cells

Earlier electrophysiological measurements on live secretory cells suggested the presence of fusion pores at the plasma membrane, where secretory vesicles fuse to release vesicular contents. Recent studies using atomic force microscopy demonstrate for the first time the presence of the fusion pore and reveal its morphology and dynamics at near-nanometer resolution and in real time.
Ultraviolet-induced individual cell keratinization.

Characteristic cells have been demonstrated as being individually dispersed throughout the superficial epidermis 24 h after being exposed to ultraviolet light. These „sunburn cells” with cosinophilic cytoplasm and pyknotic nuclei observed by light microscopy are also observed to be dyskeratotic by using electron microscopy.
Perceiving and managing business risks: differences between entrepreneurs and bankers

Abstract We compared entrepreneurs with bankers in their perception and management of a variety of risks. Problems included financial risk, risk to human life and health, and risk of a natural disaster. Cluster analysis and content analysis of think-aloud protocols revealed surprising details. Entrepreneurs accept risk as given and focus on controlling the outcomes at any given level of risk; they also frame their problem spaces with personal values and assume greater personal responsibility for the outcomes. Bankers focus on target outcomes — attempting to control risk within structured problem spaces and avoiding situations where they risk higher levels of personal responsibility.
Cerebral Hemorrhage and Thrombosis

In the previous chapter we considered the relative frequencies of cerebral hemorrhage and thrombosis within both mortality and incidence studies. We estimated from the latter that mortality statistics should provide at present about 30% of CVD deaths as cerebral hemorrhage and about 50% as thrombosis-embolism. We saw however that observed frequencies were quite discrepant. Further they were extremely variable, so much so that I think any differentiation between hemorrhage and thrombosis based on mortality data is hazardous.
Focal Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy With High-Dose Interleukin-2 Therapy for Malignant Melanoma

High-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an available treatment option for patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma, and is associated with sustained complete and partial responses in a subset of patients. IL-2, however, is not devoid of toxicities, most of which involve the cardiovascular system and manifest as hypotension, arrhythmias, and cardiomyopathy. This report describes an unusual presentation of takotsubo cardiomyopathy in a postmenopausal woman receiving high-dose IL-2 for metastatic melanoma.
Insurance Eligibility of Adult Emergency Department Patients

Acknowledgments This study was supported by a grant from the Maryland Emergency Medicine Network. The manuscript was copyedited by Linda J. Kesselring, M.S., ELS, the technical editor/writer in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Purpose To determine if uninsured patients seeking care in an inner-city emergency department (ED) were eligible for any of the three government-sponsored insurance programs that were available to them at the time this study was conducted. Methods In June and July 2012 (before implementation of the Affordable Care Act), a medical student and two social work students trained in insurance eligibility approached a convenience sample of uninsured adult ED patients (age ≥ 19 years) whose conditions warranted discharge after treatment. The students administered a survey that collected information (age, marital status, income, family size, number of dependents, and pregnancy status) that was used to determine if the patient was eligible for medical insurance. Patients who were acutely ill, confused, under the influence of substances, acutely psychotic, non-English speaking, unable to give consent, under arrest, or being admitted or transferred were deemed ineligible for this study. Results Of the 132 patients who participated in the study, 114 (86.4%) were eligible for insurance. The difference between the median incomes for those who were eligible for insurance and those who were not ($2,300 vs $17,388) was statistically significant (p Conclusion EDs have a valuable opportunity to identify patients who are eligible for government-backed medical insurance programs. Identifying these individuals, and assisting them with the application process, has the potential to enhance the indigent population’s access to medical care and to give hospitals a means of billing for reimbursement for services provided.
Apnea of prematurity and caffeine pharmacokinetics: potential impact on hospital discharge

To determine the half-life of serum caffeine concentrations and its relation to apnea of prematurity (AOP) after caffeine is discontinued in preparation for hospital discharge. Prospective cohort study involving preterm infants with gestational ages ⩽33 weeks at birth. After caffeine was discontinued, serum caffeine concentrations and electronic detection of pathologic apnea, defined a priori, were obtained at 24 and 168 h, respectively. Caffeine levels decreased from 13.3±3.8 to 4.3±2 mg l−1 (n=50, mean±s.d.) at 24 and 168 h, respectively (P<0.01). The mean caffeine half-life was 87±25 h at 35±1 weeks postmenstrual age. Seven days after discontinuation of caffeine, 64% of the infants had pathologic apnea. Hospital discharge planning for preterm infants with a history of AOP should be carefully considered after discontinuing caffeine. This study showed that caffeine may not reach subtherapeutic levels until around 11–12 days.
Behavioural and biomedical risk factors for the transmission of HIV / AIDS in Bangladesh (reply) [letter]

In response to Shah et al.s letter I would like to say that we agree that migrant workers are a group which should be targeted by HIV prevention efforts. As we mentioned in our article the highest number of reported HIV/AIDS cases to date have occurred in emigrant workers (Bangladeshis who had previously worked in the Gulf) and as we noted targeted educational efforts are needed for the various high-risk populations of which migrant workers are one. The authors of the letter also pointed to the importance of Hijras (traditional transvestites or transsexuals) as a high-risk group. There have been no studies to our knowledge of how important they are as a high-risk group. More research is needed on this group and clearly they should be included in HIV prevention efforts. (full text)
Bill Clinton and John E Kennedy: The Dark Side of Charisma

(2000). Bill Clinton and John E Kennedy: The Dark Side of Charisma. Psychoanalytic Dialogues: Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 285-289.
A two-step strategy for the preparation of 6-deoxy-l-sorbose

A two-step enzymatic strategy for the efficient and convenient synthesis of 6-deoxy-l-sorbose was reported herein. In the first reaction step, the isomerization of l-fucose (6-deoxy-l-galactose) to l-fuculose (6-deoxy-l-tagatose) catalyzed by l-fucose isomerase (FucI), and the epimerization of l-fuculose to 6-deoxy-l-sorbose catalyzed by d-tagatose 3-epimerase (DTE) were coupled with the targeted phosphorylation of 6-deoxy-l-sorbose by fructose kinase from human (HK) in a one-pot reaction. The resultant 6-deoxy-l-sorbose 1-phosphate was purified by silver nitrate precipitation method. In the second reaction step, the phosphate group of the 6-deoxy-l-sorbose 1-phosphate was hydrolyzed with acid phosphatase (AphA) to produce 6-deoxy-l-sorbose in 81% yield with regard to l-fucose.
Effects of Relative Humidity on Oviposition Behavior in Periplaneta fuliginosa (Blattodea: Blattidae)

Effects of relative humidity on reproductive behavior of smokybrown cockroaches, Periplaneta fuliginosa (Serville), were studied. Groups of five field-collected females (newly molted and mated) were placed in aquaria containing four substrate choices for oviposition (peat, marble chips, a simulated wall void, or bare floor). Aquaria were maintained in humidity chambers set at either 50–55, 65–70, or 80–85% RH. After 49 d, adults were removed from the aquaria and location and number of oothecae were recorded. Oothecae were kept separately until nymphs were counted after eclosing. Peat was the substrate used most often for oviposition. Variations in humidity did not have a significant effect on substrate choice, numbers of oothecae produced, or eclosion rate of oothecae. Oothecae that were glued to a substrate had a significantly greater eclosion rate than those that were not glued. It is not known whether a female can detect which oothecae are viable and subsequently invests the time and energy to glue them to a substrate or whether gluing oothecae enhances their eclosion rate.
Tuning Optical Properties of Encapsulated Clusters of Gold Nanoparticles through Stimuli‐Triggered Controlled Aggregation

Gold nanoparticles entrapped in the hollow polymer nanocapsules undergo pH-mediated controlled aggregation. Encapsulated clusters of nanoparticles show absorbance at higher wavelengths compared with individual nanoparticles. The size of the aggregates is controlled by the number of nanoparticles entrapped in individual nanocapsules. Such controlled aggregation may permit small biocompatible nanoparticles exhibit desirable properties for biomedical applications that are typically characteristic of large nanoparticles.
Function of Figrative Thinking in Technical Translation

There exists a bias in the translation circle:in technical translation,logical thinking is a must while figurative thinking is of no importance.In fact,figurative thinking also plays an important role in technical translation and its function in technical translation lies in the following aspects:determine the meaning of the fuzzy word;guarantee the wholeness and coherence of the technical version and improve the aesthetic function of the technical version.
Estimating mineral abundances of clay and gypsum mixtures using radiative transfer models applied to visible-near infrared reflectance spectra

Abstract Quantitative mineral abundances of lab derived clay–gypsum mixtures were estimated using a revised Hapke VIS-NIR and Shkuratov radiative transfer model. Montmorillonite–gypsum mixtures were used to test the effectiveness of the model in distinguishing between subtle differences in minor absorption features that are diagnostic of mineralogy in the presence of strong H 2 O absorptions that are not always diagnostic of distinct phases or mineral abundance. The optical constants ( k -values) for both endmembers were determined from bi-directional reflectance spectra measured in RELAB as well as on an ASD FieldSpec3 in a controlled laboratory setting. Multiple size fractions were measured in order to derive a single k -value from optimization of the optical path length in the radiative transfer models. It is shown that with careful experimental conditions, optical constants can be accurately determined from powdered samples using a field spectrometer, consistent with previous studies. Variability in the montmorillonite hydration level increased the uncertainties in the derived k -values, but estimated modal abundances for the mixtures were still within 5% of the measured values. Results suggest that the Hapke model works well in distinguishing between hydrated phases that have overlapping H 2 O absorptions and it is able to detect gypsum and montmorillonite in these simple mixtures where they are present at levels of ∼10%. Care must be taken however to derive k -values from a sample with appropriate H 2 O content relative to the modeled spectra. These initial results are promising for the potential quantitative analysis of orbital remote sensing data of hydrated minerals, including more complex clay and sulfate assemblages such as mudstones examined by the Curiosity rover in Gale crater.
Resectoscopic myoma vaporizer.

OBJECTIVE : To evaluate a new resectoscopic electrode design intended to vaporize large intrauterine myomata. STUDY DESIGN : To study the vaporizing electrode's capabilities of destroying myomata on contact using electrical energy (cutting waveform), attempts were made to find the lowest effective power to accomplish the desired effect. Vaporization of myomata was performed in the outpatient surgical center of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center during operative hysteroscopy, with the patient under general anesthesia. The procedures were performed on 12 patients presenting with menorrhagia for whom intra-cavitary submucous myomata were discovered at office hysteroscopy, with attempts at settings of from 110-200 W. RESULTS : Vaporization of myomata readily occurred, with 200 W of pure cutting waveform current the optimal setting. CONCLUSION : A new grooved ball or grooved cylinder electrode can be used to vaporize portions of intrauterine myomata to facilitate their removal. Advantages of using the vaporizing electrode include significant reduction in the time of the procedure, avoidance of a large number of chips of myomata that interfere with the ease and safety of the resectoscopic procedure, apparently reduced intraoperative bleeding and intravascular intravasation.
The Driving Forces of Higher Education: Westernization, Confucianism, Economization, and Globalization

Although Western epistemology has dominated the landscape of higher education through early establishment and subsequent expansion, via colonization, the Confucian model of education is also a driving force of higher education throughout Asia. Four driving forces of higher education (Western, Confucian, Economic, and Globalization) will be discussed in greater detail in the following chapters in this part, and this chapter provides an overview of each force. These dominant forces shape the degree to which a higher education is attainable and the degree to which it is considered useful for society.
Tracking the activities of daily lives: An integrated approach

The tracking of the activities of daily living (ADL) may have significant implications in healthcare because it would enable healthcare professionals to receive updates remotely regarding the functional status of post-injury and post-surgery patients, and people with disabilities and the elderly. If successful, technologies that enable ADL tracking could dramatically reduce the healthcare cost because people could stay at the comfort of their home instead of at the healthcare facilities. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a system that integrates two modalities of human motion tracking: computer vision and inertial sensing. For the computer vision modality, we choose to use the Microsoft Kinect sensor due to its low-cost and excellent programming support. For the inertial sensing modality, we choose to use smart watches for the same reason. The Kinect sensor is responsible for indoor ADL tracking, while the smart-watch component is responsible for outdoor ADL tracking. The smart-watch component also facilitates user-identification with the Kinect sensor and user's health related activities information with indoor computing component, as well delivers realtime feedbacks to the users.
When work is punishment: Penal subjectivities in punitive labor regimes:

Scholars have persuasively argued that U.S. penal and welfare institutions comprise a single policy regime that has taken a punitive turn with carceral expansion and welfare contraction. Less recog...
Finding host targets for HIV therapy

A CRISPR screen conducted in a CD4+ T cell leukemia line has identified host factors required for HIV infection but dispensable for cellular survival. The results highlight sulfation on the HIV co-receptor CCR5 and cellular aggregation as potential targets for therapeutic intervention.
Root Infection of Woody Hosts with Verticillium albo-atrum

Verticilium wilt is a plant disease caused by the fungus Verticil- Hum albo-atrum Reinke and Berthold. This pathogen is peculiar in tliat it does not confine its attacks to one host, or a few closely related hosts, as is so frequently the case with most other pathogenic fungi; it attacks a large number of widely unrelated plants, many of which are of economic importance. The disease does not often occur in forest stands, but it is becoming increasingly prevalent in plantings of ornamental trees and shrubs, particularly in temperate regions of the world. The present study initiated in 1970 and completed in 1972 deals with ( 1 the influence of root wounds and age of wounds on infection, (2) penetration and development of the fungus in susceptible and resistant woody hosts, (3) analysis of the growth response of young tree seedlings after root infection, (4) the influence of temperature and heat treating of soil on development of V. albo-atrum in excised roots, and (5) laboratory and greenhouse evaluation of fungicides against V. albo-atrum. This report is adapted from a thesis submitted to the University of Illinois in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Pliilosophy in Plant Pathology.
Biofilm mediated uptake of selenium in streams with mountaintop coal mine drainage

Abstract Selenium (Se) may cause reproductive toxicity, yet the characteristics of Se bioaccumulation in aquatic food webs are understudied. Stream biofilms were grown in two reaches of Mud River, West Virginia (WV), including one downstream of a coal mine complex and an adjacent, unmined watershed. Mined stream biofilms contained significantly higher Se concentrations compared to unmined biofilms. An inverse relationship between water Se concentrations and biofilm accumulation factors was observed; mined-stream biofilms had an average bioconcentration factor (BCF) of 688 ± 350 fold while unmined-stream biofilms had an average BCF of 14505 ± 2700 fold.
An adaptive control scheme for leader-following consensus of multi-agent systems with parametric uncertainties

This paper studies a leader-following consensus problem of multi-agent systems where the leader and the followers both have parametric uncertainties and some unknown disturbances act on the followers. The control objective is to make the followers follow the active leader with a desired trajectory in the presence of such uncertainties. An adaptive control method is adopted to solve this problem. A new adaptive control scheme is first proposed dealing with parametric uncertainties without disturbances. Then, in order to cancel the effect of disturbances, an adaptive disturbance compensator is developed. Under some design conditions, the proposed compensation scheme has the capability to guarantee that all agents can reach an agreement asymptotically with disturbances acting on the follower agents. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive control schemes in dealing with system and disturbance uncertainties.
Broken Glass: The Social Evil of Urban Poverty and a Critical Education:

Ghettos are a social evil. They are social atrocities maintained by inexcusable racist laws and practices, structures of class domination, and institutionalized political marginalization. After Bro...
Stress and Myocardial Protein Synthesis: The Effect of Alcohol and Acetaldehyde

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the effect of alcohol and aldehyde on stress and myocardial synthesis. Studies of protein synthesis with both ethanol and acetaldehyde in the perfused heart strongly suggest that while ethanol produces no measurable effect on protein synthesis in acute studies, acetaldehyde strongly inhibits this process in intact hearts and subcellular systems. Thus, the evidence suggests that interference with cardiac protein synthetic mechanism may play a role in the development of cardiomyopathy of malnutrition and alcoholism, the former by amino acid deprivation and the latter by direct inhibition at the polysome level by acetaldehyde. The cardiac protein synthetic mechanism responds rapidly to stress. In contrast to hypertension or work loading, the stresses of malnutrition and alcoholism lead to a primary myocardial disease usually manifested by cardiac enlargement, cardiac failure, and nonspecific electrocardiographic changes often seen with various types of myocardial disease. The nature of the cardiac wasting involves myocardial cell size, and loss of myofibrils and myofibrillar proteins. The differential wasting between cardiac and skeletal muscle may be because of differences in the balance between degradation and synthesis of protein in heart and skeletal muscle.
Nitrogen and carbon concentrations and stable isotope ratios: Data from a 15N tracer study in short-form Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata.

Abstract We present four datasets that provide information on primary production, nitrogen (N) uptake and allocation in two salt marsh grasses, short-form Spartina alterniflora and Distichlis spicata. These four datasets were generated during a month-long stable isotope (15N) tracer study described in the companion manuscript (Hill et al., 2018). They include an allometry dataset containing mass and height data for individual plants harvested from Colt State Park, Bristol, Rhode Island and used to nondestructively estimate plant masses. A second dataset contains weekly stem height measurements collected over the course of the 15N tracer study. Also included are high resolution data from 49 vegetated compartments (leaves, stems, fine/coarse roots, rhizomes) and bulk sediment depth intervals, reporting the mass, carbon and N concentrations, and stable isotope ratios measured following the harvest of cores over time. Additionally, we provide a complementary dataset with estimates of microbial removal from potential and ambient denitrification enzyme assays. These data, along with source code used in their analysis, are compiled in the NitrogenUptake2016 R package available from the Comprehensive R Archive Network.
Constructing the Phase Diagram of a Single-Component System Using Fundamental Principles of Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics: A Spreadsheet-Based Learning Experience for Students

A spreadsheet project that enables students to construct chemical potential vs temperature plots, μ(T), of liquid and gaseous mercury and all three phases of diiodine and ammonia is presented. Statistical thermodynamics is used to determine the entropies of the substances in the gas phase. For the solid and liquid phases, students start with published heat capacities, third law entropies, and other thermodynamic quantities to obtain entropies over the range of temperatures needed. By using thermodynamic cycles, they calculate the chemical potentials of the metastable phases at standard conditions. With these values as starting points, students use the Gibbs equation and stepwise integration to obtain the chemical potentials over a range of temperatures. Using this data, they calculate the melting and boiling points and transition enthalpies and entropies from the intersection points of the two phases. The calculated thermochemical quantities are in excellent agreement with literature values.
Water Resources Management for Ensuring Food and Water Security

Today, water resources of most countries are under unprecedented stress. Given the fast growth of the global population, a 40% shortage between water demand and supply is projected by the World Bank by 2030. Moreover, climate change, climatic extremes and chronic water scarcity are threatening global water security. To achieve sustainability and strengthen water security, countries are investing in water resources management tools that will enable them to make optimal decisions under increasing uncertainty.The Blue Nile Basin (BNB), Ethiopia contributes over 60% of the Nile flow, and its water management decisions deeply influence all of East Africa. Despite the fact that the BNB has the physical resources to drive regional economic growth through irrigated agriculture and hydropower development, its exceptional climate variability and sensitivity to climate change have limited this development.This lecture will discuss water resources management of the BNB in general with a more specific focus on the development of an integrated surface water-groundwater model of the Lake Tana region, the source of the Blue Nile, which can be used as a tool for optimal water resources management. Model simulations using both a physically-based and a data-driven model are discussed and compared. The challenges are multiple – starting from the scarcity of the available in-situ data that inspired the establishment of a citizen science initiative involving high school students, to creating an accurate conceptual model representation and parameterizing the model to match reality as close as possible.The work presented here is part of an NSF (National Science Foundation) funded PIRE (Partnerships for International Research and Education) project. This project is a multi-year collaborative endeavor that aims to craft state-of-the-art tools to enable smallholder farmers in the BNB make practical decisions about water, crops and fertilizers and ultimately gain more secure access to food and water in the face of increasingly challenging climatic extremes (http://pire.engr.uconn.edu).
Assessment of Technology Use and Technology Preferences for HIV Prevention Among Hispanic Women.

Introduction:HIV transmission presents an ongoing risk to Hispanic women, and prevention efforts remain a priority. The use of technology to prevent HIV transmission among Hispanic women and those ...
Multi-Pig Part Detection and Association with a Fully-Convolutional Network

Computer vision systems have the potential to provide automated, non-invasive monitoring of livestock animals, however, the lack of public datasets with well-defined targets and evaluation metrics presents a significant challenge for researchers. Consequently, existing solutions often focus on achieving task-specific objectives using relatively small, private datasets. This work introduces a new dataset and method for instance-level detection of multiple pigs in group-housed environments. The method uses a single fully-convolutional neural network to detect the location and orientation of each animal, where both body part locations and pairwise associations are represented in the image space. Accompanying this method is a new dataset containing 2000 annotated images with 24,842 individually annotated pigs from 17 different locations. The proposed method achieves over 99% precision and over 96% recall when detecting pigs in environments previously seen by the network during training. To evaluate the robustness of the trained network, it is also tested on environments and lighting conditions unseen in the training set, where it achieves 91% precision and 67% recall. The dataset is publicly available for download.
Abstract 436: Talin1-Dependent Integrin Activation Drives Endothelial Inflammation and Fibronectin Deposition

Integrin activation plays a critical role in regulating leukocyte and platelet adhesion, but less is known concerning integrin activation in adherent cells. In endothelial cells (ECs), both shear s...
Penile ring entrapment – A true urologic emergency: Grading, approach, and management

Penile rings are used to sustain erection in order to enhance sexual pleasure. They work by reducing the outflow of blood from the cavernosal tissue. However, if left for extended periods of time severe edema, urethral fistula, gangrene, and even complete loss of the distal penis can ensue, this is known as penile ring entrapment (PRE). Management poses particular challenges due to its rarity. Herein, we report our experience with three patients from our institution that presented with PRE and include a review of the approaches others have taken. We also propose a simpler and more effective grading scale to allow for easier communication between providers, as the current grading scales do not do so.
Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β in the Ventral Hippocampus is Important for Cocaine Reward and Object Location Memory

The ventral hippocampus is a component of the neural circuitry involved with context-associated memory for reward and generation of appropriate behavioral responses to context. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β) has been linked to the maintenance of synaptic plasticity, contextual memory retrieval, and is involved in the reconsolidation of cocaine-associated contextual memory. In this study, the effects of targeted downregulation of GSK3β in the ventral hippocampus were examined on a series of behavioral tests for assessing drug reward-context association and non-reward related memory. The Cre/loxP site-specific recombination system was used to knockdown GSK3β through bilateral stereotaxic delivery of an adeno-associated virus expressing Cre-recombinase (AAV-Cre) into the ventral hippocampus of adult mice homozygous for a floxed GSK3β allele. GSK3β floxed mice injected with AAV-Cre had a loss of 56-75% of GSK3β in the ventral hippocampus and displayed diminished development of cocaine conditioned place preference, but not morphine place preference as compared with wild-type mice injected with AAV-Cre or GSK3β floxed mice injected with a control virus, AAV-GFP. Impaired object location memory was observed in mice with GSK3β downregulation in the ventral hippocampus, but novel object recognition remained intact. These results indicate that GSK3β signaling in the ventral hippocampus is differentially involved in the formation of place-drug reward association dependent upon drug class. Additionally, ventral hippocampal GSK3β signaling is important in detection of discrete spatial cues, but not recognition memory for objects.
Asian women’s paths to office: a qualitative comparative analysis approach

This paper evaluates existing theories regarding women’s participation in top government positions by applying these theories to Asia through a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Thus, this pa...
SeAlM: A Query Cache Optimization Technique for Next Generation Sequence Alignment

Genetic data from next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology is being produced at an ever increasing rate - already outpacing the well known Moore's Law. Due to this pace of NGS data generation, new methods are necessary in order to facilitate rapid sequence analysis at the enormous scale required. The need for such methods is further compounded by the dropping financial cost of sequencing, leading to the normalization of large-scale genome studies spanning entire populations. A key process in the genomic data analysis pipeline, and one that is often most time consuming, is read mapping or so-called alignment. This paper introduces Sequence Alignment Memorizer (SeAlM), a technique that reduces the number of redundant alignments to enable population-scale workloads. SeAlM uses a novel method for reordering alignment queries from multiple sources to create batches with increased likelihood of containing redundant queries that can be de-duplicated before alignment, while also ordering those batches to improve the ability to cache queries effectively. We show that our technique can improve the average throughput of alignment for a single human sample by 6.5% and a population of 10 human subjects by 13.6% -18.8% depending on the type of genetic data used.