cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of High-Dose and Low-Dose Aspirin Plus Intravenous Immunoglobulin in the Treatment of Kawasaki Syndrome

The efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in the treatment of Kawasaki syndrome (KS) has been unequivocally established, but questions remain concerning the proper dose of adjunctive aspirin therapy in the treatment of KS. The medical records of 72 children with KS were reviewed. All patients were treated with IVIG; 21 received 400 mg/kg/dose on 4 consecutive days and 51 received 2 g/kg as a single infusion. Seventy patients also received aspirin. Twenty-four of the 70 patients were started on high-dose aspirin (80-100 mg/kg/day) at the time of diagnosis. High-dose aspirin was given for a mean (+/- SE) duration of 6.1+/-0.9 days, then switched to low-dose aspirin (3-5 mg/kg/day). Forty-six of the 70 patients were started on low-dose aspirin at the time of diagnosis and remained on low-dose aspirin for the duration of treatment. Coronary artery abnormalities were present at the time of diagnosis in 12 of 72 patients (17%), including 6 of 6 of patients (100%) with atypical KS and 6 of 66 patients (9%) with typical KS. None of the remaining 60 patients developed coronary artery abnormalities after treatment with IVIG and aspirin. The mean duration of fever after initiation of therapy was 44+/-6 hours in patients treated with IVIG 400 mg/kg/dose on 4 consecutive days and 35+/-5 hours in patients treated with 2 g/kg as a single infusion (p=0.3). The mean duration of fever after the initiation of therapy was 47+/-8 hours in patients treated with high-dose aspirin compared to 34+/-5 hours in patients treated with low-dose aspirin (p=0.13). These preliminary results indicate there is no benefit to high-dose aspirin compared to low-dose aspirin in the treatment of children with KS.
CULTIVATION OF LEPTOSPIRAE I. Nutrition of Leptospira Canicola

Stalheim, O. H. V. (University of Wisconsin, Madison), and J. B. Wilson. Cultivation of leptospirae. I. Nutrition of Leptospira canicola. J. Bacteriol. 88:48-54. 1964.-The nutrition of Leptospira canicola was investigated by use of synthetic media of suitable ionic strength. At an incubation temperature of 30 C, the minimal components were calcium, iron, magnesium, and ammonium ions, thiamine, and a fatty acid source; barium and strontium replaced calcium. Aspartic acid, glutamic acid, or methionine stimulated the rate and amount of growth; the best growth occurred in medium containing additional amino acids. Additions of cyanocobalamin or biotin permitted growth at 37 C. The stimulatory effects of added cyanocobalamin, biotin, pyridoxine, pantothenate, lipoic acid, or nicotinic acid were additive at 37 C, but not at 30 C. Fatty acids containing 14, 16, 17, or 18 carbon atoms supported growth; linoleic and linolenic acids were toxic. Glyceryl monooleate or trioleate, or Tween 40, 60, or 80 supported moderate to good growth; a mixture of monoolein and Tween 60, or Tweens 60 and 80 supported the best growth. Ten strains of L. canicola cultivated in a synthetic medium containing Tweens 60 and 80 attained cellular densities per ml of 10(7) to 4.0 x 10(7) organisms. L. canicola cells, resuspended in medium containing oleic-1-C(14) acid, incorporated label primarily into cellular lipids; a lesser amount was located in the protein fraction, and only trace amounts were found in the nucleic acid fraction. The rate of incorporation was not affected by added sodium acetate. L. canicola was found to have fatty acid decarboxylase activity.
The Src family tyrosine kinase Fyn regulates natural killer T cell development.

T lymphocytes express two Src tyrosine kinases, Lck and Fyn. While thymocyte and T cell subsets are largely normal in fyn−/− mice, animals lacking Lck have impaired T cell development. Here, it is shown that Fyn is required for the rapid burst of interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 synthesis, which occurs promptly after T cell receptor activation. The lack of cytokine induction in fyn mutant mice is due to a block in natural killer (NK) T cell development. Studies using bone marrow chimeras indicate that the defect behaves in a cell-autonomous manner, and the lack of NK T cells is probably not caused by inappropriate microenvironmental cues. Both NK T cells and conventional T cells express similar levels of Lck, implying that Fyn and Lck have distinct roles in regulating NK T cell ontogeny. The fyn mutation defines the first signaling molecule that is selectively required for NK T cell, but not for T lymphocyte or NK cell development.
A New Basaltic Glass Microanalytical Reference Material for Multiple Techniques

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been producing reference materials since the 1950s. Over 50 materials have been developed to cover bulk rock, sediment, and soils for the geological community. These materials are used globally in geochemistry, environmental, and analytical laboratories that perform bulk chemistry and/or microanalysis for instrument calibration and quality assurance testing. To answer the growing demand for higher spatial resolution and sensitivity, there is a need to create a new generation of microanalytical reference materials suitable for a variety of techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy/X-ray spectrometry (SEM/EDS), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). As such, the microanalytical reference material (MRM) needs to be stable under the beam, be homogeneous at scales of better than 10–25 micrometers for the major to ultra-trace element level, and contain all of the analytes (elements or isotopes) of interest. Previous development of basaltic glasses intended for LA-ICP-MS has resulted in a synthetic basaltic matrix series of glasses (USGS GS-series) and a natural basalt series of glasses (BCR-1G, BHVO-2G, and NKT-1G). These materials have been useful for the LA-ICP-MS community but were not originally intended for use by the electron or ion beam community. A material developed from start to finish with intended use in multiple microanalytical instruments would be useful for inter-laboratory and inter-instrument platform comparisons.This article summarizes the experiments undertaken to produce a basalt glass reference material suitable for distribution as a multiple-technique round robin material. The goal of the analytical work presented here is to demonstrate that the elemental homogeneity of the new glass is acceptable for its use as a reference material. Because the round robin exercise is still underway, only nominal compositional ranges for each element are given in the article.
The Problem of Too Many Statistical Tests: Subgroup Analyses in a Study Comparing the Effectiveness of Online and Live Lectures

The more statistical analyses performed in the analysis of research data, the more likely it is that one or more of the conclusions will be in error. Multiple statistical analyses can occur when the sample contains several subgroups and the researchers perform separate analyses for each subgroup. For example, separate analyses may be done for different ethnic groups, different levels of education, and/or for both genders. Media reports of research frequently omit information on the number of subgroup analyses performed thus leaving the reader with insufficient information to assess the validity of the conclusions. This article discusses the problems with a media report on research that was analyzed by conducting many subgroup analyses. The article concludes that the quantitatively literate reader should be skeptical of articles that report subgroup analyses without reporting the number of analyses that were done.
If you harvest arXiv.org, will they come?

The NASA Technical Report Server (NTRS) is an Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) compliant aggregator. Using primarily OAI-PMH, it harvests metadata records from 17 repositories. We examine which NTRS repositories have received the most downloads during 15 months of operation. In particular, we explore the collection development policy of including non-NASA scientific, technology and medicine (STM) repositories. We found that three of the four non-NASA repositories included in NTRS contributed little to the overall download totals
The Standard Maze-III Procedure

The original Maze procedure (Maze-I) was introduced clinically in September 1987. Although this technique was extremely effective in controlling atrial fibrillation, it resulted in two unforseen problems: 1. Chronotropic inadequacy of the sinoatrial (SA) node. Many patients were unable to develop a sinus tachycardia rate commensurate with the level of their physical activity postoperatively because one of the incisions was positioned in the ‘‘sinus-tachycardia region’’ of the SA node, immediately anterior to the orifice of the superior vena cava (SVC). 2. Prolonged intra-atrial conduction delay. This resulted in the sinus node impulse arriving in the left atrium at the same time it arrived in the left ventricle. This, in turn, resulted in apparent absence of left atrial contraction postoperatively because it was contracting at the same time as the left ventricle. Because of these problems in the first 32 patients, the Maze-I procedure was modified to the Maze-II procedure in the next 15 patients. This technique was equally effective in controlling atrial fibrillation but proved to be extremely difficult to perform technically because of the frequent necessity for transection of the SVC. As a result, the Maze-II was further modified to the Maze-III procedure, which is depicted in the following figures. This technique has been in continuous use since April 1992 and, therefore, has been used in the vast majority of patients in our series. Both of the problems mentioned above were abolished by this last modification in technique.
Quantum simulation of ultrafast spectroscopy

The rapidly advancing area of computer simulation for quantum-mechanical systems now permits the direct evaluation of spectroscopic observables for condensed phase systems, which increasingly overlaps frontier ultra-fast measurements. In this paper recent theoretical techniques are outlined and representative results from application to the hydrated electron are described that exemplify the close connection between theory and experiment that can now be made. Results focus, first, on the decomposition of the equilibrium optical spectrum into the underlying electronic excitations and on simulation of a proposed photophysical hole-burning experiment designed to test the veracity of this decomposition. Second, the author examines aspects of the transient relaxation of initially nonequilibrium photogenerated electrons by simulation of the spectroscopic signature of proposed early time states and of the relaxation of these states to equilibrium.
Plasma oxidizability in Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites

Several lines of evidence support an atherogenic role for oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Previous studies have suggested that although Mexican-Americans have an increased rate of diabetes, obesity, elevated triglyceride levels, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, their rates of coronary heart disease (CHD) are similar or possibly lower than in non-Hispanic whites. Mexican-Americans have smaller, denser LDL than non-Hispanic whites. On the basis of this latter observation, we postulated that lipid peroxide (LPO) levels would be increased in Mexican-Americans. We examined the oxidizability of plasma in 50 Mexican-Americans and 50 non-Hispanic whites from the San Antonio Heart Study, a population-based study of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, at baseline and after coincubation with a metal-independent system (2′2′-azobis-2-amidinopropane hydrochloride [AAPH]) and a metal-dependent system (Fe2+H2O2) of oxidation. LPO levels were measured by a modified fluorimetric assay. Vitamin E and plasma fatty acid composition were also determined. We found significantly higher LPO levels at baseline and after AAPH coincubation in Mexican-Americans that in non-Hispanic whites (baseline, 2.75 ± .09 v 2.07 ± .09 μmol/L, P < .001; post-AAPH, 5.49 ± .14 v 5.07 ± .04 μmol/L, P = .037). However, no significant ethnic differences were seen after coincubation with Fe2+H2O2. Diabetes and cigarette-smoking were also associated with higher LPO levels. Mexican-Americans also had lower levels of vitamin E (the predominant lipid-soluble antioxidant in plasma) than non-Hispanic whites, although these differences only partially explained the differences in susceptibility to oxidation. Plasma fatty acids were similar in Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites, suggesting only small differences in diet composition. We conclude that LPO levels are higher in Mexican-Americans than in non-Hispanic whites, and that these results are only partially related to differences in vitamin E levels.
Novel Biomagnetic Sensing Technique for Characterization of Inflammatory Tissues

We have developed a novel biomagnetic sensing technique, based on the superconducting quantum interference device platform, for detecting the minute magnetic field perturbations associated with biocompatible nanoparticles. This technique has the potential for detecting the presence of small amounts of magnetically labeled cells associated with inflammatory processes. We demonstrated that spatially resolved magnetic images of dry agglomerates of superparamagnetic iron-oxide particles can be obtained at relatively large sample-to-sensor distances. We estimated that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) constrained detection limit at the distance of 9 mm is 5nmol (280 ng) iron. We also demonstrated that time-varying magnetic traces of nanoparticle-colloid samples passing the sensor in a laminar flow can be measured at similar sample-to-sensor distances. These experiments showed that the SNR constrained detection limit at the distance of 10 mm is 12.5 nmol (700 ng) iron.
Gift Exchange and Seaborne Contact in Eighteenth Dynasty Egypt: The Case of Keftiu Artists at Tell el-Dab‘a (Avaris)

Public acquisition and display of imported prestige goods was a well-recognized method by which Egyptian and wider Near Eastern rulers established status in their own societies and negotiated their place among royal peers. Fresco fragments from the palaces at Tell el-Dab‘a (ancient Avaris), constructed and painted in an Aegean technique, suggest that monumental wall decoration was used in this manner as well. Trade and exchange routes between the Aegean and Egypt have been discussed since the time of Arthur Evans’s excavations at Knossos. These discussions have focused primarily on objects and the political-religious ideas behind artistic expression moving in both directions; however, since walls cannot move, in this case it is the artists who painted them that must have traveled. It is argued here that Aegean fresco artists were imported to work at Tell el-Dab‘a through a process of royal gift exchange, which was negotiated via existing sea routes between the Aegean and Egypt. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v05i1_barnes
A NEW BASAL GLYPTODONTID AND OTHER XENARTHRA OF THE EARLY MIOCENE CHUCAL FAUNA, NORTHERN CHILE

ABSTRACT Three cingulates from the early Miocene Chucal Fauna of northern Chile (ca. 17.0–19 Ma; Santacrucian SALMA) are described. A dasypodid, represented by isolated osteoderms, a partial rostrum, and postcranial bones, resembles Stenotatus patagonicus (Eutatini), but is ca. 20% smaller (similar in size to Prozaedyus) and may represent a new Stenotatus species. Two isolated peltephilid osteoderms are referred to cf. Peltephilus sp. A new glyptodontid, Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis, is represented by a mandible, ca. 25% of the carapace, a femur, and other postcrania. This new species differs from other glyptodontids in its dentition (triangular n1-3 and distobuccally elongate n2-3), mandible (unexpanded angle, vertical coronoid process), osteoderms (absent/poorly defined peripheral figures, large principal figure positioned along posterior edge), and femur (highly elevated greater trochanter). A second specimen may represent P. septentrionalis or a closely related species. No sloths have yet b...
NMR Studies of Solid Polymers and Resins: An Introduction

In an effort to impart a flavor for the role of solid-state NMR in polymer science, applications of the technique to two classes of polymeric materials are illustrated: synthetic bulk polymers and synthetic organic resins. In particular, applications involving nylons, polyolefins, phenolic resins and triazine resins are chosen. Within each class, a straightforward application is initially presented with the goal of illustrating the types of information that can be readily obtained. Following such an example, a more recent one is presented with the goal of providing some clues into the types of information that lie on the horizon.
Synthesis in living cells with the assistance of supramolecular nanocarriers

Independent supramolecular nanocarriers can transport pairs of complementary reactants inside living cells in two consecutive incubation steps. After the second internalization step, the nonemissive reactants produce a fluorescent product with the concomitant appearance of intense fluorescence exclusively in the intracellular space. These results demonstrate that supramolecular delivery can be exploited to perform chemical reactions inside target cells and can lead to valuable strategies for the intracellular synthesis of drugs.
Development of a polarized 3 He ion source for RHIC

A Polarized 3He Ion Source in under development for use at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The gas will be polarized using metastability exchange optical pumping, then transferred into the Electron Beam Ion Source for ionization. Nuclear polarization of order 70% is expected under optimal conditions, and roughly 1011 doubly-ionized 3He++ ions will be created in each 20 μs pulse.
Spatio-temporal linear stability analysis of stratified planar wakes: Velocity and density asymmetry effects

This paper explores the hydrodynamic stability of bluff body wakes with non-uniform mean density, asymmetric mean density, and velocity profiles. This work is motivated by experiments [S. Tuttle et al., “Lean blow off behavior of asymmetrically-fueled bluff body-stabilized flames,” Combust. Flame 160, 1677 (2013)], which investigated reacting wakes with equivalence ratio stratification and, hence, asymmetry in the base flow density profiles. They showed that highly stratified cases exhibited strong, narrowband oscillations, suggestive of global hydrodynamic instability. In this paper, we present a local hydrodynamic stability analysis for non-uniform density wakes that includes base flow asymmetry. The results show that increasing the degree of base density asymmetry generally has a destabilizing effect and that increasing base velocity asymmetry tends to be stabilizing. Furthermore, we show that increasing base density asymmetry slightly decreases the absolute frequency and that increasing the base veloc...
Experimental basis of sulfonamide therapy in bacillary dysentery.

The most effective chemotherapy is that which maintains the highest safe concentration of the most effective drug in intimate contact with the infecting organisms until the patient is cured. A rational basis for chemotherapy may therefore be sought experimentally by enquiring into (1) the site requiring treatment, (2) the relative efficacy of suggested chemicals in vitro against the organisms causing the lesion, and (3) the concentration of drug obtainable with safety at the site of the lesion. Studies along these lines are noted below with reference to bacillary dysentery.
MELUS Forum: “The Future American Race”: Charles W. Chesnutt’s Utopian Illusion

The colonial society...embodies a rejection of the colonizer by the colonized and vice versa. This opposition, however, is accompanied by an equally profound dependency, particularly on the part of the colonialist. For while he sees the native as the quintessence of evil and therefore avoids all contact because he fears contamination, he is at the same time absolutely dependent upon the colonized people not only for his privileged social and material status but also for his sense of moral superiority and, therefore, ultimately for his very identity. -Abdul R. JanMohamed, Manichean Aesthetics, 1983
Domestic well database development and integration into a GIS: an approach for managing ground water resources

Connecticut is dominated by rural communities which rely upon individual domestic wells in fractured crystalline bedrock for water supply. The individualized nature of ground water usage has made ground water resource planning on a regional or townwide basis non-existent. In recent years there has been increased development and concerns expressed regarding the sustainability of the fractured crystalline rock water supply and its quality, and the need for ground water resource planning. In this study, using a rural quadrangle in eastern Connecticut, we have developed a database system that is tied to a geographic information system that can be used to help manage and assess ground water conditions. The data in the database were derived using available water completion reports and water quality reports. Data query schemes were developed to screen for data entry and reporting errors. The information maintained in the database has been analyzed to derive products on well yield, well depth, and water elevation. These products are beneficial to town planners, local sanitarians, developers, homeowners, and drillers. They can improve and facilitate decision-making concerning future rural development to ensure ground water sustainability.
Evaluation and management of acute genital ulcers in sexually active patients.

La cause des ulceres genitaux varie avec l'âge des malades. Bien que des ulceres genitaux veneriens peuvent etre observes a tout âge ils sont plus courants entre 15 et 30 ans. Le diagnostic differentiel comprend la syphilis, la phancroide, l'herpes genital, le lymphogranulome venerien, le granulome inguinal, les reactions medicamenteuses et les ulceres traumatiques
Dibutyltin-induced alterations of interleukin 1beta secretion from human immune cells

Dibutyltin (DBT) is used to stabilize polyvinyl chloride plastics (including pipes that distribute drinking water) and as a de-worming agent in poultry. DBT is found in human blood, and DBT exposures alter the secretion of tumor necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma from lymphocytes. Interleukin (IL)-1β is a proinflammatory cytokine that regulates cellular growth, tissue restoration and immune response regulation. IL-1β plays a role in increasing invasiveness of certain tumors. This study reveals that exposures to DBT (24 h, 48 h and 6 days) modify the secretion of IL-1β from increasingly reconstituted preparations of human immune cells (highly enriched human natural killer cells, monocyte-depleted [MD] peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs], PBMCs, granulocytes and a preparation combining both PBMCs and granulocytes). DBT altered IL-1β secretion from all cell preparations. Higher concentrations of DBT (5 and 2.5 μm) decreased the secretion of IL-1β, while lower concentrations of DBT (0.1 and 0.05 μm) increased the secretion of IL-1β. Selected signaling pathways were examined in MD-PBMCs to determine if they play a role in DBT-induced elevations of IL-1β secretion. Pathways examined were IL-1β converting enzyme (caspase 1), mitogen-activated protein kinases and nuclear factor kappa B. Caspase 1 and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways appear to be utilized by DBT in increasing IL-1β secretion. These results indicate that DBT alters IL-1β secretion from human immune cells in an ex. vivo system utilizing several IL-1β regulating signaling pathways. Thus, DBT may have the potential to alter IL-1β secretion in an in vivo system. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Information, Entropy and Knowledge

The mere presence of information does not insure that it is understood. The information has to be processed in order that information could be used to perform work. In this report, the concept of ‘processing potential’ has been presented. The term ‘knowledge’ has been introduced as the processing potential. Using the concept of the processing potential, a specific relationship between information and the dissipation function is proposed. The formulation suggested here is consistent with the formulations used for other physical phenomenon.
Ulcerative Colitis: Surgical Management

Management of patients with ulcerative colitis remains challenging despite advances in the medical and surgical fields. These patients are usually diagnosed at a young age and face the risk of a life-altering operation or lifelong risk of cancer degeneration. These complex patients should be managed by a multidisciplinary team that includes gastroenterologists, surgeons, pathologists, enterostomal therapists, nutritionists, and pediatricians for the younger group. Medical therapy is often first-line treatment. In patients who do not respond to medical interventions, proctocolectomy is curative and should be recommended in a timely fashion to avoid unnecessary morbidity associated with aggressive medical treatment. On the other hand, patients who respond to medical therapy should be followed closely for early detection of cancer progression. The aim of this chapter is to highlight the indications for surgery, principles of surgical decision-making, operative techniques, and special considerations. In the surgical management of ulcerative colitis, one size definitely does not fit all. In the following section, we discussing pros and cons of different approaches based on patient and disease characteristics, surgeon skills, and physician judgment. While these opinions are based on the available evidence, there is a certain component of personal preference.
In Vivo Assessment of Tissue Compatibility

Abstract Tissue compatibility of biomaterials, prosthesis and medical devices can be assessed through in vitro and in vivo methodologies. In vivo assessment ensures that medical devices are safe with functional efficacy under conditions of intended use.
Eudaimonism in the Mencius : Fulfilling the Heart

This paper argues that Mencius is a eudaimonist, and that his eudaimonism plays an architectonic role in his thought. Mencius maintains that the most satisfying life for a human being is the life of benevolence, rightness, wisdom, and ritual propriety, and that such a life fulfills essential desires and capacities of the human heart. He also repeatedly appeals both to these and to morally neutral desires in his efforts to persuade others to develop and exercise the virtues. Classical Greek eudaimonists similarly regarded the life of virtue as both objectively good and subjectively desirable, and appealed to the desire for eudaimonia or happiness to motivate a commitment to the virtues. Mencius offers a carefully crafted, teleological account of human nature that appears designed in part to support his eudaimonism. In contrast with proposals by other scholars, I argue that Mencius’ notion of happiness, analogous to the Greek eudaimonia, is expressed by the construction jin xing 盡性, “fulfilling human nature” or the nearly equivalent jin xīn 盡心, “fulfilling one’s heart.”
Human Rights and the U.S.-China Relationship

The impending change in presidents presents an opportune time to reflect on the role of human rights when formulating U.S.-China policy. The Obama Administration is ending at a delicate time when the U.S. government both recognizes grave concerns regarding human rights violations in the People’s Republic of China and acknowledges the tremendous importance of the U.S.-China relationship in addressing areas ranging from nuclear non-proliferation to transnational crime. Just this March, the United States and eleven other countries issued a rare joint statement expressing their concern over China’s “deteriorating human rights record” and calling on China “to uphold its laws and its international commitments.” The National Security Advisor subsequently affirmed, “There is no more consequential bilateral relationship than the U.S.-China relationship...”This Article argues that a principled and pragmatic approach to human rights requires the United State to articulate an integrated, executive-branch-wide plan for how human rights will be raised in various contexts. It unpacks how human rights are intertwined with issues in the U.S.-China relationship and sets forth a framework for analyzing the role of human rights in different contexts. The Article further demonstrates how law enforcement cooperation provides an example of a key issue on the bilateral agenda with as-yet under-emphasized human rights implications. It has the potential both to cultivate engagement by China in human rights discussions and, even if greater engagement is not forthcoming, to bolster the United States’ credibility as holding true to its moral compass.
Coverage optimization in a terrain-aware wireless sensor network

In hostile environments, random deployment of a Wireless iSensor Network (WSN) may be the only viable approach. However, this leads to coverage holes in the Region of Interest (ROI) of the network, which degrades the WSN's quality of service. Hence, there is a need for an algorithm that relocates the sensing nodes to maximize the coverage while minimizing the mobility cost. The cost of mobility is directly related to the traveled distance and the severity of the terrain. Since this problem is NP-complete, this work examines several evolutionary computation techniques in search for an optimal solution. Three algorithms are used to examine this problem: the Artificial Immune System (AIS) algorithm, the Normalized Genetic Algorithm (NGA) and the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. Multiple experiments are carried out to assess the performance of the utilized algorithms, where depending on the scenario adopted for simulations, some algorithms perform better than the others. In the case where the execution time is not a critical issue, the AIS and NGA algorithms outperform the PSO algorithm in terms of coverage rate and mobility cost, especially for a lower count of sensors.
Performing Animals/Performing Humanity

This chapter examines the cultural significance of performing animals in nineteenth-century Britain, a period when commentators praised progress made by contemporaries in improving training techniques, although many ostensible improvements focused on trainers’ effectiveness rather than actions reducing cruelty to animals. These performances regularly blurred the line between human and animal, often at what Victorian commentators pinpoint as the moment of pleasure. Performances make visible the slippage between metaphoric and metonymic animals, a slippage evident in The Old Curiosity Shop, which offers a fascinating glimpse into Dickens’s views of animals and animal training. The contrast between the treatment of dogs being trained for public performance and the pony that seems untrainable allows Dickens to explore the nature of autonomy in its most literal sense, as self-rule.
The n-Type Copper Oxide Superconductors

The basic intergrowth principles of the crystal architecture of the copper-oxide superconductors is first reviewed. It is then argued that n-type superconductivity requires not only planes of copper in corner-shared square-coplanar coordination, but also internal stresses that stretch a copper-oxygen bond length to 1.95 A or longer in the parent oxide. Two types of structures have been found to satisfy those requirements. The synthesis of n-type superconductors in one of these structure types requires either high-pressure synthesis or epitaxial growth of films. In the other structure, compounds with rare-earth atoms of smaller size cannot be made superconductive because the copper-oxygen bond lengths in the parent compounds are too short.
Dendritic Cell-Airway Epithelial Cell Cross-Talk Changes with Age and Contributes to Chronic Lung Inflammatory Diseases in the Elderly

Age-associated dysregulated immune and inflammatory responses are one of the major factors responsible for the prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases in the older population. Pulmonary dendritic cells (DCs) are present below the airway epithelial cells (AECs) and are critical in initiating effective immune responses to harmful pathogens while maintaining tolerance against harmless antigens. The interaction between DCs and AECs plays a crucial role in lung immunity at homeostasis and during infections. The functions of both DCs and AECs are impacted with age. The present report reviews how the potential crosstalk between pulmonary DCs and AECs is dysregulated in the elderly impairing the capacity to maintain tolerance at the respiratory surfaces, which results in severe and chronic respiratory inflammatory diseases. We also discuss how such DC-AECs crosstalk will provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the increased susceptibility of the elderly to pulmonary inflammatory diseases.
NB-CNN: Deep Learning-Based Crack Detection Using Convolutional Neural Network and Naïve Bayes Data Fusion

Regular inspection of nuclear power plant components is important to guarantee safe operations. However, current practice is time consuming, tedious, and subjective, which involves human technicians reviewing the inspection videos and identifying cracks on reactors. A few vision-based crack detection approaches have been developed for metallic surfaces, and they typically perform poorly when used for analyzing nuclear inspection videos. Detecting these cracks is a challenging task since they are tiny, and noisy patterns exist on the components’ surfaces. This study proposes a deep learning framework, based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a Naive Bayes data fusion scheme, called NB-CNN, to analyze individual video frames for crack detection while a novel data fusion scheme is proposed to aggregate the information extracted from each video frame to enhance the overall performance and robustness of the system. To this end, a CNN is proposed to detect crack patches in each video frame, while the proposed data fusion scheme maintains the spatiotemporal coherence of cracks in videos, and the Naive Bayes decision making discards false positives effectively. The proposed framework achieves a 98.3% hit rate against 0.1 false positives per frame that is significantly higher than state-of-the-art approaches as presented in this paper.
Detection of Orbital Angular Momentum Superposition States in Optical Vortices

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) transfer through nonlinear processes such as coherent Raman generation often distorts the original spatial mode of light, resulting in OAM superposition states. We characterize such modes and quantify their distortion by astigmatic focusing of the laser beam.
A Fluid Model for Data Communication

Example 1 (A Multiple Source Data Handling System). There are N sources of messages, which may be on or off from time to time. A switch receives these messages at a unit rate from each source and transmits them at a fixed maximum rate c (1 ≤ N < ∞, 0 < c < ∞), storing messages it cannot transmit in a buffer of infinite capacity. The sources act independently, the durations of on and off times being independent random variables with exponential densities. Denoting by J(t) the number of on sources at time t, these assumptions amount to the statement that J = {J(t), t ≥ 0} is a birth and death process on the state space {0, 1, 2, …, N}.
Political Lawyering for the 21st Century

Legal education purports to prepare the next generation of lawyers capable of tackling the urgent and complex social justice challenges of our time. But law schools are failing in that public promise. Clinical education offers the best opportunity to overcome those failings by teaching the skills lawyers need to tackle systemic and interlocking legal and social problems. But too often even clinical education falls short: it adheres to conventional pedagogical methodologies that are overly narrow and, in the end, limit students’ abilities to manage today’s complex racial and social justice issues. This article contends that clinical education needs to embrace and reimagine political lawyering for the 21st century in order to prepare aspiring lawyers to tackle both new and chronic issues of injustice through a broad array of advocacy strategies.
The religion of the young Isaac Newton

Half a century ago, Frank Manuel published an original and provocative ‘portrait’ of Isaac Newton. Seeking to better comprehend the elusive mind-set of the great man, Manuel availed himself of psyc...
Extralegal Groups in Post-Conflict Liberia: How Trade Makes the State

This fascinating book examines post-civil war peacebuilding from a novel perspective. Looking beyond the state and external peacekeepers, Cheng examines how local groups establish control of territ...
Collaboration of Dental Hygiene and Nursing Students on Hospital Units: An Interprofessional Education Experience

The aims of this study were to implement and evaluate an innovative collaborative event with hospitalized patients to help develop dental hygiene and nursing students' interprofessional competence. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) was used to assess the students' perceptions of interprofessional skill acquisition. Participants were 24 dental hygiene and 25 nursing students at the University of Southern Indiana in spring 2016. The results showed that all students had statistically significant improvement on the ICCAS items from pretest to posttest. There were no significant differences in improvement between the two groups on any single posttest item as the impact of the responses was similar. These results suggest that incorporating collaborative experiences in hospital settings can be an effective means to develop students' skills in interprofessional competence.
US Food and Drug Administration Reports of Pregnancy and Pregnancy-Related Adverse Events Associated With Isotretinoin.

Importance iPLEDGE is a rigorous program initiated in 2006 to reduce fetal exposure to isotretinoin, a disease-modifying medication for acne that carries a risk of teratogenesis. Despite the imposition of iPLEDGE requirements on patients and clinicians, the scope of isotretinoin-related adverse events is unknown. Objective To determine the frequency and rate of pregnancy and pregnancy-related adverse events among women taking isotretinoin reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Design, Setting, and Participants Pregnancy reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, a public database of medication adverse event reports filed by prescribers, consumers, and manufacturers, were used to perform a retrospective analysis of pregnancy-related adverse events associated with isotretinoin from January 1, 1997, to December 31, 2017. Each individual reporting any pregnancy-related adverse event signified 1 pregnancy. Abortions, pregnancies that occurred while contraception was used, and fetal defects were counted as subgroups of total pregnancy events. Main Outcomes and Measures The frequency of pregnancy and of pregnancy-related events (abortions, pregnancies that occurred while using contraception, and fetal defects) were stratified by year that the FDA was notified of the event and by age. The rates of adverse events were calculated using isotretinoin prescribing data. Results There was a total of 6740 pregnancies among women taking isotretinoin reported to the FDA from 1997 to 2017, peaking in 2006 (768 pregnancies) before settling into a range of 218 to 310 annual reports of pregnancy after 2011. The mean (SD) age of the women was 24.6 (7.1) years. The rate of pregnancy for females of childbearing potential was between 0.33% (388 of 115 925) and 0.65% (768 of 117 784), with a peak in 2006. Although pregnancies, abortions, and fetal defects among women taking isotretinoin have decreased since the initiation of iPLEDGE in 2006, all 3 persist. Conclusions and Relevance The number of reports of pregnancies, abortions, and fetal defects among women taking isotretinoin has decreased since peaking around the initiation of iPLEDGE in 2006. Explanations for this trend include a broader national decrease in teenage pregnancies and abortion rates, improvements in access to effective long-term and emergency contraception, stringent iPLEDGE requirements, and reporting fatigue over time. Despite the decrease, persistent reporting of pregnancy-related events in the last decade warrants investigation into the efficacy of iPLEDGE and exploration of new approaches for lowering fetal exposure to isotretinoin.
Outcomes Following Inferior Mesenteric Artery Reimplantation During Elective Aortic Aneurysm Surgery.

Background The role of inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) reimplantation during open aortic reconstruction is debated. We assessed outcomes after inferior mesenteric artery reimplantation (IMAR) for aortic aneurysmal disease to help shed light on this question. Methods A single-center retrospective review of all IMARs performed during open aortic surgery over a 10-year period between 2000 and 2009 was carried out. The primary outcome was patency, while secondary outcomes included colonic ischemia and overall survival. Analysis was performed using Cox models and Kaplan-Meier estimates. Results Of 840 patients who underwent elective abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) reconstructions during this period, 70 underwent IMAR. Indications for IMAR included intraoperative colonic ischemia (n = 24), poor back bleeding (n = 52), large IMA (n = 5), internal iliac disease (n = 5), and prior colon surgery (n = 1). Follow-up imaging studies were available in 35 of 70 patients (computed tomography in 30 [86%] and duplex in 5 [14%]). Patency was confirmed in 32 of 35 patients (91%) over a median follow-up of 98 months. Both losses in patency were at 4 months and did not require an operation. One patient underwent left colon resection on postoperative day 9 because of ischemia. (Patency could not be confirmed.) No statistically significant predictor of patency was noted. Incidence of colonic ischemia was 1.4% in patients undergoing IMAR. The overall mortality was 51% in patients undergoing IMAR over the median follow-up period. The overall 10-year survival was 30% in patients undergoing IMAR for aortic aneurysmal disease. The nature of aneurysm (juxtarenal or higher juxta renal abdominal aortic aneurysm [JRAAA]) was associated with mortality, with a hazard ratio of 1.8 (P = 0.08) approaching significance. Ten-year survival was worse if IMAR was performed for intraoperative colonic ischemia (26% vs 34%) or in JRAAA (19.0% vs 38%; P = 0.03). Age per year at the time of repair was the only statistically significant predictor of survival (P Conclusion IMAR for AAA remains necessary for select patients. Reimplantation is associated with excellent long-term patency and low risk of colonic ischemia.
Excessive excision of correct nucleotides during DNA synthesis explained by replication hurdles

The proofreading exonuclease activity of replicative DNA polymerase excises misincorporated nucleotides during DNA synthesis, but these events are rare. Therefore, we were surprised to find that T7 replisome excised nearly 7% of correctly incorporated nucleotides during leading and lagging strand syntheses. Similar observations with two other DNA polymerases establish its generality. We show that excessive excision of correctly incorporated nucleotides is not due to events such as processive degradation of nascent DNA or spontaneous partitioning of primer-end to the exonuclease site as a "cost of proofreading". Instead, we show that replication hurdles, including secondary structures in template, slowed helicase, or uncoupled helicase-polymerase, increase DNA reannealing and polymerase backtracking, and generate frayed primer-ends that are shuttled to the exonuclease site and excised efficiently. Our studies indicate that active-site shuttling occurs at a high frequency, and we propose that it serves as a proofreading mechanism to protect primer-ends from mutagenic extensions.
Performance Evaluation of a Regenerative Stormwater Conveyance System: Case Study in Knoxville, Tennessee

AbstractAs communities throughout the world work to reduce the impacts of urban stormwater on receiving streams, new stormwater controls have been a welcome addition to the established suite of gre...
Kβ X-ray Emission Spectroscopy as a Probe of Cu(I) Sites: Application to the Cu(I) Site in Preprocessed Galactose Oxidase.

Cu(I) active sites in metalloproteins are involved in O2 activation, but their O2 reactivity is difficult to study due to the Cu(I) d10 closed shell which precludes the use of conventional spectroscopic methods. Kβ X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) is a promising technique for investigating Cu(I) sites as it detects photons emitted by electronic transitions from occupied orbitals. Here, we demonstrate the utility of Kβ XES in probing Cu(I) sites in model complexes and a metalloprotein. Using Cu(I)Cl, emission features from double-ionization (DI) states are identified using varying incident X-ray photon energies, and a reasonable method to correct the data to remove DI contributions is presented. Kβ XES spectra of Cu(I) model complexes, having biologically relevant N/S ligands and different coordination numbers, are compared and analyzed, with the aid of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, to evaluate the sensitivity of the spectral features to the ligand environment. While the low-energy Kβ2,5 emission feature reflects the ionization energy of ligand np valence orbitals, the high-energy Kβ2,5 emission feature corresponds to transitions from molecular orbitals (MOs) having mainly Cu 3d character with the intensities determined by ligand-mediated d-p mixing. A Kβ XES spectrum of the Cu(I) site in preprocessed galactose oxidase (GOpre) supports the 1Tyr/2His structural model that was determined by our previous X-ray absorption spectroscopy and DFT study. The high-energy Kβ2,5 emission feature in the Cu(I)-GOpre data has information about the MO containing mostly Cu 3dx2-y2 character that is the frontier molecular orbital (FMO) for O2 activation, which shows the potential of Kβ XES in probing the Cu(I) FMO associated with small-molecule activation in metalloproteins.
Trauma-Informed Intervention with Children: Integrating the CANS Assessment with the ARC Framework in a Clinical Setting

Ongoing trauma-focused assessment is critical to developing trauma-informed treatment plans. The current study examines the clinical benefits of utilizing the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment to guide intervention based on the Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) model to address children’s trauma related symptoms in a rural state. WV CANS was developed by adapting the language of original CANS to be culturally specific to the state’s unique situation and culture in consultation with the original CANS developer. This study included the data from children who received mental health services under WV CANS-ARC mapping from 2017 to 2019. Children’s trauma-related symptoms are assessed using the WV CANS at intake and every 90 days to identify any changes in their symptoms. In order to examine the changes of traumatic symptoms over time, the study was limited to children who have at least three time points, with a total of 362 children used for the current analyses using Multilevel modeling with SAS PROC MIXED. The study found that children’s trauma related symptoms significantly decreased in all ARC outcome domains over time after adjusting for basic demographic variables. The current study contributes to the evidence on treatment for children’s trauma-related symptoms, especially with the application of the CANS-ARC mapping in a real-world clinical setting. The findings have significant implications for clinicians in integrating the assessment and treatment process using CANS-ARC mapping and for cross-system collaboration with continuity of care serving children who have experienced trauma.