cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antibody-Independent, CD4+ T-Cell-Dependent Protection against Pneumococcal Colonization Elicited by Intranasal Immunization with Purified Pneumococcal Proteins

Immunity to pneumococcal colonization in mice by exposure to live or killed pneumococci has been shown to be antibody independent but dependent on CD4+ T cells. Here we show that intranasal immunization with pneumococcal proteins (pneumococcal surface protein C, adhesin A, and a pneumolysoid) can elicit a similar mechanism of protection. Colonization could be significantly reduced in mice congenitally deficient in immunoglobulins after intranasal immunization with this mixture of proteins; conversely, the depletion of CD4+ T cells in immunized wild-type mice at the time of challenge eliminated the protection afforded by immunization. Overall, our results show that intranasal immunization with a mixture of pneumococcal proteins protects against colonization in an antibody-independent, CD4+ T-cell-dependent manner.
Dewey’s Concepts of Embodiment, Growth, and Occupation: Extended Bases for a Transactional Perspective

To more fully understand Dewey’s philosophy of action as it pertains to occupation we explore his conceptualizations of embodiment and growth. For Dewey, embodiment refers to a process of inhabiting an inherently social world. We discuss the process of embodying as it fits within Dewey’s view of people as “live creatures.” This process occurs within an uncertain and complex world, and we examine how embodiment works to develop habits and the ability of people to coordinate with a changing world. Coordination necessitates inquiry into problematic situations, and inquiry is a source of growth for individuals and communities. We then discuss the Deweyan concept of growth—the continual emergence and actualization of possibilities—as it connects to embodiment and transaction. Combined with Dewey’s ideas of freedom and equality, embodiment and growth provide the ability to understand occupation in a much richer way. Using Dewey’s early works on education, we synthesize his conceptualization of occupation with his concepts of embodiment and growth. We suggest that occupations be viewed as ways of embodying shared experience, enhancing growth, and promoting personal and communal well-being across the life course.
Manufacturing gigachips in the year 2005

10 years from now, we envision producing gigachips for an ever expanding electronics market at a cost per function that continues to decrease by approximately 25%/year. To meet this challenge, we must continue to pursue advanced concepts in factories and equipment that are synergistic with continuous/synchronous manufacturing. In particular, such opportunities include: larger wafers, single-wafer processing, clustering/multiprocessing, real-time process/factory control, integrated minienvironments, and standards-based modular design. In most cases, the development and implementation of such change will require new levels of cooperation among suppliers, customers, and competitors in the semiconductor industry.
Some Effects of Actinomycin D on Iodine Metabolism in the Rat Thyroido

Actinomycin D (act D), given to intact rats in a dose of 80 μg/100 g body wt 2 or 15 hr before 131I, failed to influence significantly its 4-hr uptake by the thyroid. Sixteen hr after act D, thyroidal organic binding of 131I (determined during the first 8 min after its injection) was unimpaired. The thyroid-serum 131I-concentration ratio (T/S) of intact rats was substantially raised by act D injected 15-16 hr before 131I; since the latency of this effect could be as little as 4 hr, it was apparently not due to the release of endogenous TSH. Depletion of thyroidal organic iodine with propylthiouracil (PTU), followed by suppression of TSH secretion with triiodothyronine (T3), prevented an effect of act D on the T/S when the treatment with both PTU and T3 was sufficiently intensive. The influence of act D was also abolished when rats were deprived of their source of circulating TSH (without previous stimulation of its output with PTU) by chronic T3-treatment or hypophysectomy (in all hypophysectomized rats, ...
Implementation of a fuzzy logic controller on an FPGA using VHDL

Implementation of a fuzzy logic controller on an FPGA using VHDL is presented in this paper. The basic components of the fuzzy logic controller are designed using VHDL and a Xilinx virtex FPGA is used for implementation. The fuzzy logic controller with an 8-bit input, 8-bit output is tested by controlling single disk of an ECP torsional plant.
Radio observations of active stars: Direct evidence for polarity reversals?

Radio astronomical measurements of source spectra and polarization can provide significant insight into the physical conditions, e.g. the electron density, he, the magnetic field, B, and the particle energy, y (=E/moO2), in the emitting regions. Such observations of active stars, e.g. the RS CVn binaries and dMe flare stars, can be particularly useful because they provide information on coronal conditions which is different from, but complementary to, that obtained by X-ray observations. Observations at other bands (UV, optical, IR) allow us to "connect" the corona to the stellar surface and, in effect, provide additional boundary conditions for our interpretations.
Experiments with the Hi-PASS DSP synthesis system

Hi-PASS is a CAD system for synthesizing maximally parallel architectures to implement real-time DSP algorithms. The target DSP applications are the class for which desired sample rates are too high for time sharing of hardware to be feasible. Hi-PASS accepts a C code description of the design to be synthesized and produces a structural description of the final design that can be fabricated using standard cells provided by the Lager IV silicon assembly system. Synthesis experiments carried out with Hi-PASS fall into two categories: application classes where the algorithm can be mapped onto standard functions, such as FIR and IIR filters, for which dedicated functional compilers exist, and applications where the algorithm cannot be mapped to standard functional blocks and which require a genuine architecture synthesis approach with many levels of optimization. Results for FIR filters show that Hi-PASS synthesizes architectures of comparable quality in terms of area and throughput to those generated by a dedicated functional compiler. Results for an edge detection image processing algorithm of the second category show that Hi-PASS provides significant optimization gains. >
Inside Deaf Culture

Inside Deaf Culture. Carol Padden and Tom Humphries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005. 208 pp.
Recruiters’ Perceptions and Use of Applicant Résumé Information: Screening the Recent Graduate

Despite resumes being evaluated as an initial step in most employment decisions for professional-level job openings, researchers have not adequately examined the influence that applicants’ resume qualifications may have on recruiters’ initial impressions of applicants’ employability. Based on prior research, we hypothesised that recruiters’ perceptions of job applicant employability will be associated with varying levels of job applicants’ academic qualifications, work experience, and extracurricular activities as reported on applicants’ resumes. Experienced recruiters (N= 244) evaluated 122 actual applicant resumes of recent or soon-to-be college graduates. Results supported our hypotheses, indicating that recruiters’ perceptions of applicants’ academic qualifications, work experience, and extracurricular activities interacted to predict recruiters’ perceptions of applicants’ employability. Alors que les curriculum vitae sont evalues lors de l’etape initiale de la plupart des procedures de recrutement pour pourvoir des nouveaux emplois d’un niveau professionnel eleve, les chercheurs n’ont pas suffisamment etudie l’influence des qualifications inscrites dans le curriculum vitae sur les premieres impressions des recruteurs quant a l’employabilite des candidats. Basee sur une recherche anterieure, notre hypothese pose que les perceptions des recruteurs de l’employabilite des candidats a un emploi varieraient selon les qualifications academiques du candidat, l’experience professionnelle et les activites extra-professionnelles telles qu’elles sont presentees dans le curriculum vitae. Des recruteurs experimentes (N= 244) ont evalue 122 curriculum vitae de candidats reels recemment ou sur le point d’etre diplomes de l’universite. Les resultats confirment nos hypotheses. Les perceptions des recruteurs quant aux qualifications universitaires des candidats, leur experience professionnelle et leurs autres activites interagissent et permettent de predire les perceptions que les recruteurs ont de l’employabilite des candidats.
Assembly of the unusual oxacycles in the orthosomycin antibiotics

Bacteria, fungi, and plants produce an arsenal of complex biomolecules through which they interact and compete with neighbor organisms (1). The machinery that builds these molecules is replete with iron(II)- and 2-(oxo)glutarate-dependent (Fe/2OG) oxygenases, enzymes that catalyze hydroxylation, halogenation, desaturation, ring-closure, ring-expansion, and stereoinversion reactions on pathways to important natural-product drugs (2). In PNAS, McCulloch, et al. provide evidence for two new reaction types by members of this versatile enzyme class (3). The reactions would explain how two unusual structures (Fig. 1A), orthoester (Fig. 1A, red) and dioxymethylene (Fig. 1A, blue) oxacycles, are installed into the oligosaccharide antibiotics known as orthosomycins (4). Reminiscent of previously demonstrated “oxacyclization” reactions in biosyntheses of such important drugs as clavulanic acid and scopolamine (2), these reactions add to the impressive repertoire of transformations by Fe/2OG enzymes and extend the intriguing mechanistic conundrum posed by the known oxacyclizations.
Information-Led Transformation of Regional Chinese Enterprises

Regional enterprises in fast growth emerging markets such as China are increasingly leveraging advanced information technology to grow their business. As they expand these institutions are accelerating their IT modernization efforts to transform their business models, automate and re-engineer business processes, increase agility, efficiency and resiliency while mitigate risks under volatile market conditions. In this talk we review how service orientation, cloud computing, and other advanced information management solutions are helping these regional institutions in their transformation. Case studies drawn from a number of Chinese companies will be used to illustrate process re-engineering and optimization approaches, architecture best practices, lessons learned, and to shed lights on potential areas for future research and development.
Teachers’ Beliefs About the Participation of Students With Severe Disabilities in School Clubs

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ beliefs about the participation of students with severe disabilities (SD) in school clubs. Participants were special education teachers (N = 60) of middle and junior high school students with SD from one state. Data were collected using a survey. Results indicate that teachers value including students in school clubs and believe that students benefit from engaging in club activities, yet they did not view this setting as a place to address curricula. Issues with supports, transportation, and planning were identified as barriers to participation. Prior experience sponsoring a school club positively affected teachers’ perceptions of benefits gained from participation.
Sampling operations on big data

The 3Vs — Volume, Velocity and Variety — of Big Data continues to be a large challenge for systems and algorithms designed to store, process and disseminate information for discovery and exploration under real-time constraints. Common signal processing operations such as sampling and filtering, which have been used for decades to compress signals are often undefined in data that is characterized by heterogeneity, high dimensionality, and lack of known structure. In this article, we describe and demonstrate an approach to sample large datasets such as social media data. We evaluate the effect of sampling on a common predictive analytic: link prediction. Our results indicate that greatly sampling a dataset can still yield meaningful link prediction results.
Histology and Cytochemistry of Human Skin: VI. The Distribution of Sulfhydryl and Disulfide Groups

The teehnies of Barrnett and Seligman (4) for the demonstration of alcohol and water-insoluble, protein-hound sulfhydryl groups and for disulfide groups (3) yield excellent histological preparations and make the demonstration of these substances predictable and repeatable. This paper describes the distribution of sulfhydryl and disulfide groups in human skin from different regions of the body. All of the observations were made on biopsy specimens of normal skin fixed immediately after being excised and prepared as outlined by the authors named above. Other than the authors of the technics, only Odland (14) and Eisen et al. (6) have applied these technics to the skin.
Evolution of predator avoidance in a Daphnia population: evidence from the egg bank

Dormant propagule pools (egg banks) of zooplankton populations that accumulate in sediments provide biological archives of past conditions and enable the investigation of evolutionary changes in populations over relatively long periods of time (many decades). This study examined the egg bank of a Daphnia pulicaria population in a lake that has been stocked annually with rainbow trout (a zooplanktivore) since 1961. Resting eggs from sediments from the 1920s to 2001 (determined by 210Pb dating) were hatched and established as isofemale clonal lines. The phototactic behavior (a proxy for vertical migration behavior) of clones was assessed in the presence and absence of fish kairomones to evaluate the hypothesis that the heavy and consistent level of predation imposed by the stocked trout would have selected for clones that are more negatively phototactic. In addition, exposure to kairomones was expected to induce stronger negative phototaxis for all clones relative to control conditions. The behavior of clones derived from resting eggs from the trout era (after 1961) was significantly more negatively phototactic than it was for pre-trout era clones. Kairomone exposure induced a more negative phototactic response in clones from both eras, but the response was much greater for the pre-trout era clones. These results suggest that the consistently high level of predation by trout over several decades has selected for a conservative (less plastic) vertical migration strategy in which Daphnia maintain a deep daytime distribution with or without the presence of chemical cues from fish predators.
Op Ed-The Ivory Tower vs. the Dark Side: A Rebuttal to "Joining the Dark Side"

The April, 2012, issue of Against the Grain included an article by Laura Harris, “Joining the Dark Side,”1 which I read with interest.Harris described her transition from working in an academic library to working for Spring share, the developer and vendor for the wonderful LibGuides. The article held interest for me personally, since I experienced a similar change earlier in my career.I had spent seven years in academic libraries when I received an unexpected and unsolicited job offer from EBSCO Subscription Services (later EBSCO Information Services). Like Laura,I had not considered working for a vendor. Well, that’s not quite true. I had actually talked with a couple of folks at EBSCO before, but only for a possible position at their headquarters in Birmingham, AL. I thought I was completely uninterested in any sort of customer-facing position. And yet,that is what I ended up doing (in three different positions) for fifteen years!
Portable, Ambient PM2.5 Sensor for Human and/or Animal Exposure Studies

ABSTRACTA field-portable device for logging PM2.5 mass concentration data has been developed. The device combines the Arduino microprocessor with an SD card, a Sharp DN7C3CA006 optical dust monitor, and 10,000-mAh battery. The dust sensor uses a virtual impactor to size select particles <2.5 microns prior to illuminating the selected fraction with an LED. The LED is triggered by a circuit controlled with the Arduino. Nephelometric detection at 120° referenced to incidence is used. The voltage signal reported by the dust sensor is converted to PM2.5 mass through calibration onboard the Arduino. Data points can be saved to the SD card as rapidly as 0.3 s, although averaging signals over 60 s produced more optimal detection limits. For a 60 s average, the PM2.5 mass limit of detection was 9 µg m−3, indicating that the sensor will be useful for monitoring human exposure to fine particles. Portable exposure monitoring has been demonstrated with the sensing platform as several individuals carried the device wit...
Generalized g-Fractional Calculus of Canavati-Type and Secant-Like Methods

We present local and semilocal convergence results for secant-like methods in order to approximate a locally unique solution of a nonlinear equation in a Banach space setting. Finally, we present some applications from generalized g-fractional calculus involving Canavati-type functions.
Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis: The Foothold in Undervaccination

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a fatal complication of measles infection. We present a case of a fully vaccinated 3-year-old boy who was diagnosed with and treated for autoimmune encephalitis before arriving at a diagnosis of SSPE. We discuss the challenges of diagnosing SSPE in developed countries.
First-principles thermal modeling of hybrid pseudocapacitors under galvanostatic cycling

Abstract This study presents a theoretical framework developed from first principles for predicting the spatiotemporal thermal behavior of hybrid pseudocapacitors under galvanostatic cycling. It accounts for irreversible and reversible heat generation in the electrolyte and in the electrodes due to Joule heating, electric double layer (EDL) formation, and redox reactions. Detailed numerical simulations were performed to investigate the different local heat generation rates and the temperature as functions of time and cycling current. Numerical predictions showed good qualitative agreement with the limited experimental data available in the literature. Such numerical simulations can be used to physically interpret experimental measurements. Indeed, the present results suggest that a distinctive endothermic peak observed in the experimental heat generation rate resulted from cation starvation in the electrolyte reducing the faradaic current density. In addition, heating due to EDL formation significantly affected the local temperature and must be accounted for. The thermal model and the present results will help define safe modes of operation and develop thermal management strategies for pseudocapacitors.
Five factors that guide attention in visual search

How do we find what we are looking for? Even when the desired target is in the current field of view, we need to search because fundamental limits on visual processing make it impossible to recognize everything at once. Searching involves directing attention to objects that might be the target. This deployment of attention is not random. It is guided to the most promising items and locations by five factors discussed here: bottom-up salience, top-down feature guidance, scene structure and meaning, the previous history of search over timescales ranging from milliseconds to years, and the relative value of the targets and distractors. Modern theories of visual search need to incorporate all five factors and specify how these factors combine to shape search behaviour. An understanding of the rules of guidance can be used to improve the accuracy and efficiency of socially important search tasks, from security screening to medical image perception. How do we find what we are looking for? Wolfe and Horowitz discuss the five factors that guide attention in visual search.
Methods: Questionnaire Development and Interviewing Techniques

Abstract Responding appropriately and effectively to the public health threats of a disaster, whether natural or human-induced, requires timely and accurate information. The questionnaire and interview are essential components of data collection for epidemiologic studies. An effective questionnaire is an objective means of collecting data from people affected by the disaster about their health status, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Careful planning is crucial for systematic and thorough data collection. The researcher must know a priori the questions they want answered and must ensure the questionnaire measures what it is intended to measure. The key to successful interviews is standardization. This increases reliability of the data and eliminates a source of bias and error. This is especially important when more than one interviewer is collecting data. This chapter discusses several key steps and tips to developing an effective questionnaire and successfully completing an interview.
An accurate calorimetrie method for measurement of switching losses in silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs

An accurate measurement of switching losses in SiC MOSFETs is necessary in order to design and evaluate the thermal performance of modern converter systems. Conventionally, electrical measurement methods, such as the double-pulse test (DPT) are used for calculating the hard-switching losses. However, with the advent of wide-bandgap devices, which have fast switching transients, it is rather difficult to capture the waveforms accurately during switching transitions, and consequently the measurement of switch loss suffers. This paper presents an accurate calorimetric method for measuring the switching losses. The conventional calorimetric measurement methods can accurately measure the device losses. However, the segregation of the conduction, turn-on and turn-off loss is not possible. This paper addresses this issue and proposes a method that can be used to determine individual loss components. The calorimetric test setup is described and a novel modulation scheme is introduced which enables the separation of turn-on and turn-off switching losses. The experimental test setup has been built and the method has been verified by measuring the losses of a Wolfspeed CMF10120D device.
Is Fear of Falling the Missing Link to Explain Racial Disparities in Fall Risk? Data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Emerging research suggests Black older adults experience a 30% decreased risk for falls compared with their White U.S. counterparts, and this is mediated neither by physical performance nor activit...
Neurenteric cyst of the conus medullaris.

Background Neurenteric cysts (NECs) are rare developmental malformations of the central nervous system (CNS) which originate as benign congenital lesions. They originate from developmental foregut precursors, and are presumed to be the result of abnormal partitioning of the embryonic notochord plate. Such NECs predominantly arise in the cervical region in patients around 6 years of age or in their twenties or thirties. Notably, NECs of the conus medullaris are exceedingly rare, especially in patients of advanced age. Case Description A 70-year-old male presented with bilateral upper thigh and leg pain of over 20 years duration. His pain worsened over the past 3 years, and he sought surgical management. Although his neurological exam was normal, the lumbar magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural, nonenhancing, thin-walled, cystic lesion at L1/conus medullaris. The lesion was successfully resected without any adverse sequelae. Conclusions NECs are rare congenital legions that involve the spine. Here, an L1 intradural extramedullay neuroenteric cyst of the conus medullaris was resected without complications.
Etiologic Aspects of Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders

Understanding causative factors relevant to child and adolescent mood disorders requires a multifactorial model. This article describes the many explanatory models that have been applied to studies of mood disorders and examines available data that may support the extension of these models to children and adolescents with these disorders. Cognitive, behavioral, social, psychodynamic, familial, and biologic perspectives are reviewed. An appreciation of each perspective should enable the clinician to develop a more comprehensive formulation of an individual child or adolescent with a suspected mood disorder.
Using Experiments to Estimate Racially Polarized Voting

“Racial polarization,” the linchpin issue in so-called vote dilution cases, has traditionally been measured using observational data and methods of ecological inference. However, strategic behavior by voters, potential candidates, and other political actors can make it difficult to infer polarization in political preferences from polarization in vote shares. We present a conjoint stated-preference experiment for investigating racial polarization and associated questions about disparate treatment of minority candidates. The design yields measures of racial polarization and disparate treatment, and can guide courts in their use of observational data.
From Boys to Men: Male Choral Singing in the United States

This chapter chronicles the development of male choral singing in the schools, churches, and communities of the United States. Particular focus is given to the relationship between choral music study in school settings and singing that occurs outside of schools and throughout the lifespan. A key factor in the persistence of males in choral activity is the experience of singing during the period of adolescent voice change. The development of theory and research about the developing male voice is presented in overview, with analysis of the influence on the current status of male singing in the United States. Several misalignments between research and reality are discussed, specifically in the areas of pedagogy, performance, practice, and gender stereotypes. The chapter concludes with suggestions from boys about how to increase male participation in choral singing.
Essays on fall fertilizer application

Increased use of nitrogen fertilizer in agricultural production has contributed to increased food production but also contributed to elevated concentration levels of nitrates in groundwater and surface water. High concentration levels of nitrates in drinking water supplied from groundwater and surface water have become a public concern because of their risks to human health.;One way to reduce nitrogen losses is to develop and apply technologies that enable farmers to more accurately match the amount and timing of fertilizer application to crop growth needs. It is best to apply nitrogen as close as possible to when crop needs it most, proper timing is most important with nitrogen fertilizer. Fall application of nitrogen increases the loss of nitrogen through denitrification, it also gives nitrogen time to leach through the root zone and into groundwater.;The first chapter gives overview of the timing of fertilizer application. The purpose of second chapter is to examine the effect of timing of fertilizer application on total amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied. The goals of the third chapter are twofold. First, it determines which factors influence the use of fall fertilizer application and conservation tillage in a modeling framework that recognizes the interrelationship between the two decisions. Second, it examines the implications of adopting these two practices for nitrogen productivity, which is measured by crop yield. The purpose of the forth paper is to develop a contract schedule to induce land-based nonpoint polluters to choose second-best input vectors for their soil type. Specifically, it concentrates on the issue of fall and spring nitrogen fertilizer application. It is assumed that the environmental agency can monitor the total amount of nitrogen applied; however, it cannot observe amounts of nitrogen applied in the fall and spring. Therefore, in addition to asymmetric information about soil type, this model also takes into account the moral hazard problem which appears because of unobserved actions taken by some farmers.
Wireless self-protection system.

The increased deployment of ubiquitous wireless networks has exponentially increased the complexity to detect wireless network attacks and protect against them. In this research, we investigated the vulnerabilities in wireless networks, developed a comprehensive taxonomy of wireless attacks that has been used to guide our approach to develop, and successfully implement a self-protection wireless system capable of detecting and protecting wireless networks from a wide range of attacks. In the past few years, more security improvements took place, but the network is still vulnerable to complex, dynamic, and knowledgeable attacks; in addition, a large number of last-generation unsecured network cards are still available on the market. This dissertation presents an anomaly-based wireless intrusion detection and response system, which is capable of detecting complex malicious attacks. Our approach is based on multi-channel online monitoring and analysis of wireless network features with respect to multiple observation time windows. These features are related to Data Link Layer frame behaviors and the mobility of stations. We have successfully designed and implemented A Wireless Self Protection System (WSPS) that has the following significant features: it monitors wireless networks, generates network features, tracks wireless-network-state machine violations, generates wireless network flows (WNetFlows) for multiple time windows, and uses the dynamically updated anomaly and misuse rules to detect complex known and unknown wireless attacks and take appropriate proactive actions. To evaluate the performance of WSPS and compare it with other wireless intrusion detection systems, we present an evaluation approach that uses different metrics such as adaptability, scalability, accuracy, overhead, and latency. We validate the WSPS approach by experimenting with normal traffic and more than 20 different types of wireless attacks; and compare the WSPS performance with several well-known intrusion protection systems. Our experimental results show that the WSPS approach can protect from wireless network attacks with an average detection rate of 99.13% for all the experimented attacks.
Dosimetric comparison of deep-inspiration breath-hold and free-breathing treatment delivery techniques for left-sided breast cancer using 3D surface tracking.

Abstract Introduction While radiation therapy has been shown to increase local control and overall survival for breast cancer, late cardiac toxicity remains a concern. Morbidity and mortality have been shown to increase proportionally to the mean heart dose. Deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) can reduce heart dose compared to free-breathing (FB) by increasing the heart-to-chest wall distance, especially in left-sided breast cancer. We present our clinical experience with DIBH in left breast and chest-wall irradiation using 3D optical surface tracking. Materials & Methods 29 patients were treated with DIBH using a surface tracking system that provides a real time 3D surface image of the patient. Comparisons of maximum and mean heart dose, heart-chest wall separation, and the percentage of lung volume that receives 20 or more Gy (V20) between the DIBH and hypothetical FB treatment plans were conducted with the Student's t-test. Correlation coefficients were also calculated for heart-chest wall separation, heart volume, and lung volume. Results Comparing DIBH and FB plans showed a decrease in mean and maximum heart doses in all patients. Individual mean heart doses decreased by an average of 1.12 Gy, and the average mean heart dose for DIBH plans was significantly lower than corresponding FB plans (1.02 vs. 2.12 Gy; p Conclusions DIBH with 3D surface tracking can significantly benefit patients with left sided disease by limiting the mean and maximum heart dose. DIBH appears to viably reduce heart dose for left-breast cancer patients and thus potentially reduce long-term complications without prolonging treatment delivery.
A Qualitative Examination of the Experiences of Veterans Treatment Court Graduates in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

U.S. Veterans treatment courts (VTCs) serve justice-involved Veterans with behavioral health and reintegration issues. However, there is paucity of efforts examining VTC participants’ experiences a...
Drivers of referrals to a children’s hospital neonatal–infant intensive care unit

Evaluate the outreach program of a regional NICU for referral satisfaction, drivers and barriers, preferences for service methods, outreach communication, and education. To point out prevalence assessment of preferences, referral reasons, satisfaction and general feedback by regional neonatologists implemented by electronic survey using either multiple-choice or Likert scale questions. Survey questions were derived via consensus of the outreach program team. A 100% response rate was achieved from 136 neonatologists. Over 90% of the respondents indicated either increased or unchanged referral rates and answered “maybe” or “definitely satisfied” with the outreach program. Insurance, bed availability, excellence in subspecialty support, and communication from neonatologists were important referral factors. Research reputation was not a significant driver. Case conferences at referral hospitals and program newsletters were the preferred education methods. Advanced subspecialty services, communication with referring neonatologists, and access to the referral system are important drivers of satisfaction for referrals to our quaternary NICU.
Diagnostic Peritoneal Aspiration/Lavage

Diagnostic peritoneal aspiration (DPA) refers to the insertion of a catheter in the peritoneal cavity and aspiration of any fluid. Diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) involves infusion of normal saline, lavage of the cavity, and macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of the returned fluid. DPA and DPL have largely been replaced by CT scan and abdominal ultrasound. However, in select cases it can provide quick information about intraperitoneal bleeding or infection. The most common trauma indication for DPA/DPL is suspicion of intraperitoneal bleeding in a hemodynamically unstable patient with a negative or equivocal ultrasound, who cannot undergo CT scan evaluation. DPA/DPL might be useful in selected unstable ICU patients with suspected peritonitis or who otherwise cannot be safely transferred for CT scan evaluation. There is evidence that the DPA is as sensitive as DPL in identifying clinically significant intraperitoneal bleeding. DPA/DPL does not identify retroperitoneal bleeding.
2000 Home Demonstration Garden

Home demonstration gardens were located at ten sites across the state. Some of the themes for the 2000 gardens included organic tomatoes in straw bales, ornamental popcorn, and a salsa garden. Several varieties of potatoes, onions, dried beans, yellow tomatoes, salvias, and gazanias were also grown.
Treatment of squamous cell carcinoma in situ of the lower extremity: a study of patient-reported outcomes.

BACKGROUND Squamous cell carcinoma in situ (SCCis) commonly presents on lower extremities (LE). Treatment may include local destruction, excision, or topical therapy, with efficacy supported by evidence. To date, evaluations of patient reported outcomes (PRO) following treatment of SCCis of the LE are lacking. Additionally, treatment of SCCis on the LE may be complicated by delayed wound healing and an increased risk of surgical site complications. METHODS This retrospective study evaluated PRO following treatment of SCCis of the LE. Healing time, satisfaction with aesthetic appearance of scar, interference with activities of daily living (ADLs), perceived tumor recurrence, and future preference for the same treatment were evaluated via patient survey. The recurrence rates associated with these therapies and anatomic site were also examined. RESULTS From February 2014 to February 2017, 152 patients met inclusion criteria; 62 of these patients completed the 5-question survey on PRO. Local destruction was the most commonly selected therapy. When comparing local destruction, excision, and topical therapy, there was no statistically significant difference in PRO regarding healing time, aesthetic appearance of scar, interference in ADLs, or likelihood of choosing the same treatment. There was also no significant difference in recurrence rates between therapies. Biopsy-proven and clinical recurrence rates in a sample of 152 patients were only 4.0% and 1.3%, respectively, and the overall rate of complications was 5.9%. CONCLUSIONS Taken together with the low recurrence rates of the three treatment categories, these PRO suggest that excisional, destructive, and topical therapies are all effective and appropriate for management of SCCis of the LE. Thus, therapeutic selection can be based on the relevant clinical context and patient preference.
Extended Transparent-Scan

Transparent-scan is an approach to test compaction where scan shift cycles and functional capture cycles are interleaved in arbitrary ways as needed for detecting target faults. This is achieved by viewing the scan enable input as a regular primary input that can be assigned arbitrary sequences of zero and one values. This paper notes that transparent-scan leaves an unused combination of the scan enable and scan chain input values. This paper suggests that the unused combination can control design-for-testability logic to achieve better test compaction. At the cost of one additional EXCLUSIVE-OR gate for every state variable, and routing of the scan chain input to all the flip-flops, the extended transparent-scan approach described in this paper allows the values of the next-state variables to be complemented before they are latched in the flip-flops during a functional capture cycle. Extended transparent-scan is developed under bounded transparent-scan, where scan-in and scan-out operations of a conventional scan-based test set are maintained in order to limit the computational cost. Experimental results for transition faults in the functional logic of benchmark circuits demonstrate the additional test compaction that can be achieved with extended transparent-scan. Transition faults in the scan logic are considered as well.
Stress field formulation of linear electro-magneto-elastic materials:

A stress-based approach to the analysis of linear electro-magneto-elastic materials is proposed. Firstly, field equations for linear electro-magneto-elastic solids are given in detail. Next, as a c...
Effectiveness of pregabalin as a secondary treatment for neuropathic pain from postherpetic neuralgia

Herpes zoster or shingles causes a severe painful rash that spreads along dermatomes in the face or chest wall, which leads to a condition known as postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). There is no cure for PHN, but there are many treatments to reduce pain duration and severity. In this case report, we describe a patient treated for PHN using pregabalin (Lyrica) after failure with gabapentin. Despite being listed as a controlled substance by the Food and Drug Administration, pregabalin may be an effective first-line therapy for PHN and other forms of neuropathic and chronic pain.
Applying the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the implementation of the Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE) program

To maximize the benefit of parent-directed, positive sensory exposures in the NICU, a structured sensory-based program titled the Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE) program was developed that includes specific doses and targeted timing of evidence-based sensory exposures. The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework was used to systematically evaluate the SENSE program as an implementation strategy. One-hundred preterm infants ≤32 weeks gestation were studied (61 receiving the SENSE program and 39 standard-of-care). Parent education time and infant sensory exposures were tracked, and parents completed a questionnaire that probed their perceptions about the SENSE program. One-hundered thirty-one families were recruited, and 100 (76%) enrolled. The SENSE program was initiated at an average postmenstrual age of 29.8 (±2.4) weeks; 4.9 (±5.6) days after birth. The average number of education sessions with families was 4.8 (±3.7) amounting to 72.3 (±37.4) total minutes over hospitalization. The total time of logged tactile and auditory exposures among SENSE recipients over the length of hospitalization was a median (IQ range) of 9325 (5295-15,694) minutes over an average of 10.1 (±7.6) weeks of hospitalization. There were differences in the proportion of tactile and auditory exposure targets received by the infant among those receiving the SENSE program compared to standard-of-care (91% compared to 48%; p < 0.0001). Ninety-five percent of infants tolerated the SENSE program as defined, with 5% of infants requiring intermittent adaptations or the interventions being stopped for a period that typically lasted 1–2 weeks. Earlier parent education was related to more parent participation in SENSE program interventions (p = 0.04). Eighty-five percent of participants receiving the SENSE program had most of the sensory interventions completed by parents, as opposed to the medical or sensory support team. Seventy-two percent of infants had at least 100% of the auditory and tactile doses conducted over the length of stay. Parents reported acceptability. The SENSE program had good reach, was effective and acceptable with minimal cost, was adopted, and had good fidelity. Insights from implementation of the SENSE program (within a research study) informed future strategies to aid maintenance during dissemination.
Associations of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and PFAS mixtures with adipokines in midlife women.

Abstract Background Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure have been associated with obesity and related comorbidities, possibly through disrupting signaling pathways of adipokines. Both leptin and adiponectin can modulate metabolic processes. However, the effects of PFAS on adipokines are not well understood. Objective We determined if serum PFAS concentrations were associated with adipokine profiles in midlife women. Methods We examined 1245 women aged 45–56 years from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Concentrations of 11 PFAS were quantified in baseline serum samples collected in 1999–2000. Linear and branched perfluorooctane sulfonic acid isomers (n-PFOS and Sm-PFOS) and their sum (PFOS), linear perfluorooctanoic acid (n-PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), 2-(N-methyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetic acid (MeFOSAA), and 2-(N-ethyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido) acetic acid (EtFOSAA) with detection frequencies >60% were included in the analysis. Adipokines including leptin, soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R), free leptin index (FLI, the ratio of leptin to sOB-R), total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin were assessed in 2002–2003. We utilized multivariable linear regressions and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess individual and overall joint effects of PFAS on adipokines with adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, study site, education, smoking status, physical activity, menopausal status, and waist circumference. Results A doubling of PFAS concentrations was associated with 7.8% (95% CI: 2.5%, 13.4%) higher FLI for PFOS, 9.4% (95% CI: 3.7%, 15.3%) for n-PFOA, 5.5% (95% CI: 2.2%, 9.0%) for EtFOSAA and 7.4% (95% CI: 2.8%, 12.2%) for MeFOSAA. Similar associations were found for leptin. Only EtFOSAA was associated with lower sOB-R concentrations (−1.4%, 95% CI: −2.7%, −0.1%). Results remained in women with overweight or obesity but not those with normal weight or underweight. No statistically significant associations were observed with total or HMW adiponectin, except for PFNA with total and HMW adiponectin observed in women with normal weight or underweight. In BKMR analysis, women with PFAS concentrations at the median and the 90th percentile had 30.9% (95% CI: 15.6%, 48.3%) and 52.1% (95% CI: 27.9%, 81.0%) higher FLI, respectively, compared with those with concentrations fixed at the 10th percentile. Conclusion Some PFAS may alter circulating levels of leptin. Understanding associations between PFAS and adipokines may help elucidate whether PFAS can influence obesity and metabolic disease.
The politics of conservation—taking the biodiversity crisis to the streets

Abstract To halt the extinction crisis and recover ecological integrity requires addressing the causes of both: human population growth and endless economic growth. It will be up to conservation scientists that care and know the most about each to bring about the necessary fundamental human societal changes. They will need to mobilize, organize, and build alliances with key constituencies and engage in transgressive action against the status quo to replace existing institutions. Like the US civil rights movement and the global anti-apartheid movement, the political struggle to end the violence of human domination and exploitation of the natural world will need to bring enormous pressure to bear. Resistance can be expected and will need to be overcome. New institutions will have to incorporate the interests of other species in human decision-making.
The Future of Communications Satellites

The satellite industry is exciting for a variety of reasons. It involves state of the art technology both in space and on the ground. It is international in scope. It is now a highly competitive industry with a rapidly expanding menu of services and applications. The market is highly dynamic, and staying on top of it requires a wide range of technical, operational, financial, regulatory, trade and standards-related knowledge.
A Bayesian model for censored positive count data in evaluating breast cancer progression

Basic science researchers transplant human cancer tissues from patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to animals and observe the progression of the disease. Successful transplants show invasion of human tissues across mammary ducts in animal fat pads and cause DCIS-like lesions in one or more ducts. In this work, we consider data from a recent publication of breast cancer research where positive counts of affected ducts may be subject to censoring. We fit the data with zero-truncated Poisson (ZTP) models with an informative prior of gamma. Due to the zero-truncation and right censoring, posterior distributions may not be conventional gamma and are estimated through Markov chain Monte Carlo and grid approximation. For each of the two cell lines, we fit a model with group-specific parameters for DCIS subtypes classified by the cell surface biomarkers, and another model with a homogeneous parameter across groups. Models are compared by the Deviance Information Criterion (DIC). For the chosen prior parameter values, Bayes estimates are comparative to the maximum likelihood estimates, and the DIC favors the simpler model in both cell lines.
The incidence of mandated maternity benefits.

I consider the labor-market effects of mandates which raise the costs of employing a demographically identifiable group. The efficiency of these policies will be largely dependent on the extent to which their costs are shifted to group-specific wages. I study several state and federal mandates which stipulated that childbirth be covered comprehensively in health insurance plans, raising the relative cost of insuring women of childbearing age. I find substantial shifting of the costs of these mandates to the wages of the targeted group. Correspondingly, I find little effect on total labor input for that group. (JEL 118, J32, H51) In an era of tight fiscal budget constraints, mandating employer provision of workplace benefits to employees is an attractive means for a government to finance its policy agenda. Consequently, in recent years there has been a growth of interest in mandated benefits as a tool of social policy. For example, the centerpiece of President Bill Clinton's health-care proposal is mandated employer provision of health insurance, and more than 20 states have man