cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Experimental Verification of Sparse Frequency Linearly Frequency Modulated Ladar Signals Modeling

We present the results of an experiment designed to verify the results of a previously published theoretical model that predicts the range resolution and peak-to-side lobe ratio of sparse frequency linearly frequency modulated (SF-LFM) ladar signals. We use two ultra stable diode lasers which are frequency locked and can be current tuned in order to adjust the difference frequency between the two lasers. The results of the experiment verify the previously developed model proving that SF-LFM ladar signals have the ability to increase the range resolution of a ladar system without the need for larger bandwidth modulators. Finally we simulate a target at a range of approximately 150 meters through the use of a fiber optic delay line, and demonstrate the ability of SF-LFM ladar signals to detect a target at range.
Mandible fracture patterns: a suburban trauma center experience.

Abstract Purpose Mandible fractures are among the most frequently seen injuries in the trauma center setting. Recent shifts in the mechanism and age distribution of patients sustaining these injuries are well documented. This study attempts to define current, predictable patterns of fracture based on patient characteristics and mechanism of injury. Material and methods The charts of 134 patients with 225 mandible fractures treated over a 7-year period by the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Oral-Maxillofacial Surgery services, our institution, were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were categorized based on age, mechanism of fracture, and anatomic location of fracture. Multivariate analysis of data was performed to determine significant relationships among groups. Results Violent crimes such as assault and gunshot wounds accounted for the majority of fractures (50%) in this study, with motor vehicle accidents less likely (29%). Overall, parasymphyseal fractures were most frequent (35%), whereas angle and body fractures were also common (15% and 21%, respectively). There was a statistically significant association of motor vehicle accidents with parasymphyseal fractures (45%), and gunshot wounds with body fractures (36%), whereas assault victims had a higher than predicted frequency of angle fractures (27%) and fewer parasymphyseal fractures (19%). Patients aged 17 to 30 were more likely to suffer from gunshot wounds, whereas older adults (age 31–50) were more likely to be assault victims. Patients over age 50 suffered fractures from falls at a higher than expected rate. Although children and young adults seemed to suffer more parasymphyseal fractures and older adults body fractures, these correlations failed to show statistical significance. Parasymphyseal fractures were most frequently associated with fractures at other sites within the mandible, ipsilateral body fractures being the most common. Conclusions Updated data on the association of patient age and mechanism of injury with fracture pattern can guide treating physicians in anticipating and diagnosing traumatic mandible fractures.
Plasma levels of the proinflammatory chitin-binding glycoprotein YKL-40, variation in the chitinase 3-like 1 gene (CHI3L1), and incident cardiovascular events.

Background YKL-40, encoded by the chitinase 3-like 1 ( CHI3L1 ) gene, is a chitinase-like protein involved in innate immune function hypothesized to play a role in the progression of atherosclerosis that may have differential roles in myocardial infarction (MI), as compared to stroke. Methods and Results In a nested case-control study conducted within a prospective cohort of 23 294 initially healthy women of European ancestry, we (1) measured plasma concentration of YKL-40 among 359 participants who subsequently developed cardiovascular events and among 359 age-, smoking-, and hormone replacement therapy–matched participants who remained free of disease during 17 years of follow-up, (2) compared effects of YKL-40 on vascular risk to that associated with 3 alternative inflammatory biomarkers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) ([hsCRP], soluble intracellular adhesion molecule 1, and fibrinogen), and (3) evaluated the role of 41 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the chitinase 3-like 1 gene ( CHI3L1 ) as determinants of YKL-40 levels and incident vascular events. YKL-40 levels were higher in women with hypertension, diabetes, and obesity and correlated modestly with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and hsCRP, but not with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Baseline YKL-40 level was significantly associated with incident thromboembolic stroke with a magnitude of effect (a 40% per quartile increase in odds ratio [OR], P =0.019) comparable to that of hsCRP (a 52% per quartile increase in OR, P =0.006). By contrast, no significant association was observed between YKL-40 and incident MI. Genetic variation in CHI3L1 was strongly associated with YKL-40 levels; however, in this sample set, we did not observe a statistically significant association between genotype and future vascular events. Conclusions Among initially healthy U.S. women, plasma levels of the proinflammatory chitenase-like protein, YKL-40, were influenced by environmental as well as genetic factors and predicted incident thromboembolic stroke, but not MI, a differential effect consistent with limited previous data.
Novel Strategy for a Cocktail 18F-Fluoride and 18F-FDG PET/CT Scan for Evaluation of Malignancy: Results of the Pilot-Phase Study

18F-FDG PET/CT is used for detecting cancer and monitoring cancer response to therapy. However, because of the variable rates of glucose metabolism, not all cancers are identified reliably. Sodium 18F was previously used for bone imaging and can be used as a PET/CT skeletal tracer. The combined administration of 18F and 18F-FDG in a single PET/CT study for cancer detection has not been reported to date. Methods: This is a prospective pilot study (November 2007–November 2008) of 14 patients with proven malignancy (6 sarcoma, 3 prostate cancer, 2 breast cancer, 1 colon cancer, 1 lung cancer, and 1 malignant paraganglioma) who underwent separate 18F PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT and combined 18F/18F-FDG PET/CT scans for the evaluation of malignancy (a total of 3 scans each). There were 11 men and 3 women (age range, 19–75 y; average, 50.4 y). Results: Interpretation of the combined 18F/18F-FDG PET/CT scans compared favorably with that of the 18F-FDG PET/CT (no lesions missed) and the 18F PET/CT scans (only 1 skull lesion seen on an 18F PET/CT scan was missed on the corresponding combined scan). Through image processing, the combined 18F/18F-FDG scan yielded results for bone radiotracer uptake comparable to those of the 18F PET/CT scan performed separately. Conclusion: Our pilot-phase prospective trial demonstrates that the combined 18F/18F-FDG administration followed by a single PET/CT scan is feasible for cancer detection. This combined method opens the possibility for improved patient care and reduction in health care costs.
Switches and switch interconnects

Switched networks are receiving much attention and supplying a major class of interconnect networks. This paper discusses major issues in switch design and switch interconnects. Due to the importance of high-speed switches in building switched LANs, major design issues are studied and several commercial switches are reviewed. Among different techniques used in switch design, cut-through switching promises short latency delivery and thus is well suited to distributed/parallel applications. The back pressure flow control of cut-through switching also prevents packet loss due to buffer overflow. For economical and practical reasons, switch interconnects should support irregular topologies, which makes deadlock-free routing more difficult. To provide good network performance, a key point is to develop a traffic-balanced network with minimum diameter and average path length. It is important to understand the issues and solutions in these areas in order to meet the increasing performance demand.
Human Monoclonal Antibodies That Inhibit Binding of Hepatitis C Virus E2 Protein to CD81 and Recognize Conserved Conformational Epitopes

The intrinsic variability of hepatitis C virus (HCV) envelope proteins E1 and E2 complicates the identification of protective antibodies. In an attempt to identify antibodies to E2 proteins from divergent HCV isolates, we produced HCV E2 recombinant proteins from individuals infected with HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b. These proteins were then used to characterize 10 human monoclonal antibodies (HMAbs) produced from peripheral B cells isolated from an individual infected with HCV genotype 1b. Nine of the antibodies recognize conformational epitopes within HCV E2. Six HMAbs identify epitopes shared among HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b. Six, including five broadly reactive HMAbs, could inhibit binding of HCV E2 of genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, and 2b to human CD81 when E2 and the antibody were simultaneously exposed to CD81. Surprisingly, all of the antibodies that inhibited the binding of E2 to CD81 retained the ability to recognize preformed CD81-E2 complexes generated with some of the same recombinant E2 proteins. Two antibodies that did not recognize preformed complexes of HCV 1a E2 and CD81 also inhibited binding of HCV 1a virions to CD81. Thus, HCV-infected individuals can produce antibodies that recognize conserved conformational epitopes and inhibit the binding of HCV to CD81. The inhibition is mediated via antibody binding to epitopes outside of the CD81 binding site in E2, possibly by preventing conformational changes in E2 that are required for CD81 binding.
Classical Conditioning of Kindled Seizures

As a model of reflex epilepsy, rats were classically conditioned to show paroxysmal spike activity to an auditory stimulus. A tone stimulus was paired with seizures induced by kindling. After repeated pairings, paroxysmal discharges were elicited at tone onset. The duration of the tone, proximity to the stimulation, and the number of pairings appeared to be important in the conditioning process.
Evaluation of Ceramic Papers and Tapes for Use as Separators in Thermal Batteries

Ceramic tapes and papers were evaluated for potential use as separators in high-temperature thermal batteries. The bulk of the tests involved fiberglass tape and borosilicate filter discs. Quartz (SiO{sub 2}) and zirconia (ZrO{sub 2}) materials were also examined to a limited extent. In addition, custom-prepared MgO-coated ceramic discs from Inventek Inc. were evaluated as separators. The tapes and paper discs were impregnated with LiCl-KCl eutectic or LiCl-LiBr-LiF electrolytes using three different techniques. Test discs were punched from the tapes and papers, impregnated with electrolyte and evaluated as separators in Li(Si)/FeS{sub 2} single cells at 400 or 500 C at a steady-state current of 63 or 125 mA/cm{sup 2}. The performance of single cells containing these discs generally improved with increased electrolyte loading for most of the materials in the case of the LiCl-KCl eutectic. Better results were obtained with the paper filter discs than with the tapes. The best results with the paper discs were obtained with Whatman GF/A filter discs. Active lives for cells with these separators were about 85% of standard cells with pressed-powder separators. Good results were obtained in one battery test with the eutectic electrolyte. Mixed results were obtained with the LiCl-LiBr-LiF electrolyte under similar conditions.more » Higher loadings of electrolyte did not always translate into improved cell performance. Self-discharge reactions are believed responsible. The best overall results were obtained with the Inventek separators. Based on the results of this study, more work in this technology area is merited.« less
The Thyroid Gland: Recurring Problems in Histologic and Cytologic Evaluation

Nodules of the thyroid gland are frequently encountered, occurring in up to 7% of the population, and although most of these nodules are benign, carcinomas of the thyroid gland are the most common malignancy of the endocrine system. Although the different types of thyroid carcinoma are few, a wide variety of recurring problems exists in both their histologic and cytologic evaluation. Here, I will review a selected group of problematic areas, including unusual histologic variants of follicular adenoma, criteria for diagnosing minimally invasive follicular carcinoma, the use of fine-needle aspiration as a screening test for follicular neoplasia, challenging variants of papillary carcinoma, and features of poorly differentiated carcinoma.
Identifying California Microtus species using geometric morphometrics documents Quaternary geographic range contractions

Paleontology can provide a deep-time dimension to observations about recent reactions of small mammals to climate change. Obtaining this perspective for voles (Microtus), a common and important constituent of North American mammal communities, has been difficult because species identification based on their dental remains is problematic. Here I demonstrate that geometric morphometrics and discriminant analyses can use commonly fossilized dental features to identify the 5 extant species of Microtus in California: M. californicus (California vole), M. longicaudus (long-tailed vole), M. montanus (montane vole), M. oregoni (Oregon vole), and M. townsendii (Townsend’s vole). Analyses of landmarks on the lower 1st molar (m1) provide more accurate identification than those of the 3rd upper molar (M3), and it is important to use jackknife misidentification metrics to assess the precision of discriminant analyses. Addition of semilandmark curves on m1 does not improve accuracy. The utility of these techniques is demonstrated by identifying Microtus specimens from 2 California fossil localities, Pacheco 2 and Prune Avenue, which provides the first evidence for extralimital presence of M. longicaudus at both localities. The presence of M. longicaudus at these low-elevation sites indicates that pronounced geographic range shifts in this species that have been observed in California over the last 100 years also occurred during previous climate changes. Eventually it might be possible to ascertain whether current range shifts are exceeding those that typified responses to past climate changes.
A distributed scheduler for airborne backbone networks with directional antennas

Airborne backbone networks are useful in tactical applications to interconnect sub-networks. A major challenge in such networks, normally comprising large numbers of highly mobile nodes, is the design of the medium access control (MAC) and routing protocols. We propose integration of MAC and routing functions, which use the attributes of a clustering scheme that addresses scalability. The reactive routing protocol to establish connectivity between two distant nodes uses the proactive routes within the cluster to address the high dynamics in airborne networks. We present the performance of the proposed solution in terms of success rate, overhead and latency in packet and file delivery.
p53 Deletion or Hotspot Mutations Enhance mTORC1 Activity by Altering Lysosomal Dynamics of TSC2 and Rheb

The activity of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is frequently enhanced in carcinomas, an effect thought to contribute to the malignant phenotype. Here, it is demonstrated that either deletion or mutation of TP53 in colon or lung carcinoma cells substantially enhances mTORC1 kinase activity by an effect downstream of and independent of AMPK. Mechanistically, it was determined that loss or mutation of p53 decreased expression of TSC2 and Sestrin2 (SESN2). Complementation of p53 null cells with TSC2 or Sestrin2 reduced mTORC1 activity to levels found in p53 wild-type (wt) cells, whereas their genetic depletion enhanced mTORC1 activity in p53 wt cells. However, the primary causal event in enhanced mTORC1 activity upon loss of p53 appeared to be a diminished distribution of TSC2 to lysosomal membranes containing mTOR. Subsequently, there was increased Rheb in the lysosomal compartment, and a higher mTOR association with Raptor. Transfection of TSC2 into p53 null cells replaced TSC2 and diminished Rheb at the lysosome, recapitulating cells with wt p53. In contrast, transfection of Sestrin2 decreased mTOR in lysosomes, but the lower levels of Sestrin2 in p53 null cells did not change lysosomal mTOR. In summary, loss of the transcriptional activity of p53, either by deletion or by key mutations in the DNA-binding domain, diminishes expression of TSC2 and Sestrin2, thus, shifting membrane-bound TSC2 out of lysosomal membranes, increasing lysosomal Rheb and increasing the kinase activity of mTORC1. Implications: This study establishes that loss of p53 function decreases lysosomal TSC2 and increases lysosomal Rheb resulting in hyperactive mTORC1, findings that are consistent with a more malignant phenotype. Mol Cancer Res; 14(1); 66–77. ©2015 AACR .
The Visibility of Statistics as a Discipline

Abstract Statistics in this country lacks identity and visibility and has not developed into an accepted discipline for historical and other reasons. Nevertheless, a recent projection predicts that the demand for statisticians will far exceed the supply for the years 1978–1990, making statistics one of the few disciplines in which a shortage of trained personnel is forecast. This demand presents the profession with an opportunity to become more visible, by training statisticians in increasing numbers at all levels to fill these job openings. Recruitment problems for statistics majors at all levels will also be solved by simply spreading the word of projected job openings. Two steps are required: (a) Statistics in colleges and universities must become a full-service department that provides undergraduate and graduate degree programs and that offers courses at all levels for various constituencies, and (b) the role of statistics, its usefulness, and the growing availability of degree holders at various leve...
Control of Aphids and Certain Other Pecan Pests with Soil Treatments of Disulfoton

In field tests in 1971 at Byron, Ga., disulfoton EC formulation injected into the soil and a granular formulation applied to soil surface significantly reduced populations of aphids, Monellia spp., that are pests of pecan. Also, the granular formulation of disulfoton applied to the soil surface gave some control of other insect pests of pecan, a serpentine leafminer, Nepticula juglandifoliella Clemens, and the pecan spittlebug, Clasoptera achatina Germar. In 1972, populations of Monellia spp. and the black pecan aphid, Tinocallis caryaefoliae (Davis), were reduced when an EC formulation of disulfoton was applied as a drench to the soil surface; however, a technical EC formulation injected into the soil was less effective.
The Unprepared Caregiver

Years of studying health care financing and delivery does not prepare you for the actuality of dealing with a serious health event. The practical challenges of our extremely fragmented and complex health care system make it difficult to navigate this world-even when someone is there to help the patient. And, being a caregiver is a far cry from being a health care analyst. There are many lessons to be learned for improving our system: the need for skilled co-ordination support, the need for simplifying and re-orienting the various silos of postacute care, the importance of generating ways to support caregivers, and not least, promoting simple lessons in civility for providers of services.
Restriction and Technological Innovation in Construction and Operation of Power Grid

In order to answer the restrictive factors in construction and operation of power grid,the features and advantages of technological innovation in transmission line was analyzed in this paper,which include new power transmission technologies,new materials and processes of line equipment,new methods and measures of line design,new operation and maintenance technologies of line ect. It is putted forward that,increasing the power capacity per unit corridor area of line,enhancing the ability of line body to resist natural disaster,improving the level of operation and maintenance of line,should be the direction of transmission line construction. The using of these technological innovation in the construction and operation of power grid,has important significance for constructing "resources-saving,environmentally-friendly and strong power grid".
Logic and natural language

To understand and generate natural language requires some means of representing knowledge. A particularly appropriate tool in this endeavour is logic. In this chapter, three kinds of logic (default, model, and temporal) are introduced and their use in resolving certain natural language representational issues is outlined.
Efficient feasibility testing and scheduling for dial-a-ride problem with time-dependent travel time

Dial-a-ride problem is one of the public transit services which can provide door-to-door service with shared-ride vehicle. Dial-a-ride problem differs from other routing and scheduling problems with time windows in that it typically involves service-related constraints such as maximum ride time constraints. Most of the models for dial-a-ride problem reported in the literature assume constant travel times. Clearly, ignoring the fact that the travel time between two locations does not depend only on the distance traveled, but also on the time of the day traveled, impact the application of these models to real-world problems, in that the schedule of the route may be infeasible in the time-dependent cases. In this paper, we present a heuristic algorithm based on time-dependent travel times to assure, given a sequence of pickups and deliveries, whether a feasible schedule exists. We demonstrate that this can be done in O(n2) time.
Sensitive Detection and Simultaneous Discrimination of Influenza A and B Viruses in Nasopharyngeal Swabs in a Single Assay Using Next-Generation Sequencing-Based Diagnostics

Reassortment of 2009 (H1N1) pandemic influenza virus (pdH1N1) with other strains may produce more virulent and pathogenic forms, detection and their rapid characterization is critical. In this study, we reported a “one-size-fits-all” approach using a next-generation sequencing (NGS) detection platform to extensively identify influenza viral genomes for diagnosis and determination of novel virulence and drug resistance markers. A de novo module and other bioinformatics tools were used to generate contiguous sequence and identify influenza types/subtypes. Of 162 archived influenza-positive patient specimens, 161(99.4%) were positive for either influenza A or B viruses determined using the NGS assay. Among these, 135(83.3%) were A(H3N2), 14(8.6%) were A(pdH1N1), 2(1.2%) were A(H3N2) and A(pdH1N1) virus co-infections and 10(6.2%) were influenza B viruses. Of the influenza A viruses, 66.7% of A(H3N2) viruses tested had a E627K mutation in the PB2 protein, and 87.8% of the influenza A viruses contained the S31N mutation in the M2 protein. Further studies demonstrated that the NGS assay could achieve a high level of sensitivity and reveal adequate genetic information for final laboratory confirmation. The current diagnostic platform allows for simultaneous identification of a broad range of influenza viruses, monitoring emerging influenza strains with pandemic potential that facilitating diagnostics and antiviral treatment in the clinical setting and protection of the public health.
SPECTRE: A Game Theoretic Framework for Preventing Collusion in Security Games (Demonstration)

Several models have been proposed for Stackelberg security games (SSGs) and protection against perfectly rational and bounded rational adversaries; however, none of these existing models addressed the destructive cooperation mechanism between adversaries. SPECTRE (Strategic Patrol planner to Extinguish Collusive ThREats) takes into account the synergistic destructive collusion among two groups of adversaries in security games. This framework is designed for the purpose of efficient patrol scheduling for security agents in security games in presence of collusion and is mainly build up on game theoretic approaches, optimization techniques, machine learning methods and theories for human decision making under risk. The major advantage of SPECTRE is involving real world data from human subject experiments with participants on Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT).
Effect of AEDs on Learning and Behavior

The literature on cognitive and behavioral impairments in children treated for epilepsy with various antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is reviewed from the Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA.
The energy consumption in the ceramic tile industry in Brazil

Abstract The ceramic industry occupies a prominent place in the Brazilian industrial context, representing about 1.0% in the GDP composition. On the other hand, it represent about 1.9% of all energy consumed in the country, and 5.8% of the energy consumed in the Brazilian industrial sector in 2014. Regarding the power consumption by the ceramic industry, most is derived from renewable sources (firewood), followed by use of fossil fuels, mainly natural gas (NG). This study was conducted to quantify the energy consumption in the production of ceramic tiles (CT), by means of experimental data obtained directly in the industry and at every step of the manufacturing process. The step of firing and sintering has the highest energy consumption, with approximately 56% of the total energy consumed. In sequence, have the atomization steps with 30% and the drying with 14%, of total energy consumption in the production of ceramic tiles, arising from the use of NG. In addition, it showed that the production of ceramic tiles by wet process has energy consumption four times the dry production process, due to the atomization step.
Optimizing Communication of Emergency Response Adaptive Randomization Clinical Trials to Potential Participants

Introduction: Acute clinical stroke trials are challenging to communicate to patients and families considering participation. Response adaptive randomization (RAR) is a technique that alters the proportion of trial subjects receiving active treatment, based on the outcomes of previous subjects. We aimed to determine how well interactive videos would improve understanding of a simulated acute stroke trial scenario that incorporated a design with RAR. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of emergency department patients who were without stroke, altered mental status, or critical illness. Subjects viewed a hypothetical stroke and clinical trial scenario. They were randomized into one of four groups with either an RAR or fixed randomization clinical trial design and with either a standard consent video, or an interactive video. Results: We enrolled 720 participants. In the RAR group with interactive video, 128 out of 149 (85.9%) of the subjects were able to correctly identify the allocation method, compared to the 172 out of 285 (61.6%) in the RAR group with the uninterrupted video for an absolute increase of 25.6% (95% CI 17,33%). The RAR group with interactive video had a higher odds of correct identification of allocation method (O.R. 2.767, 95% CI [1.011,7.570] while controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, education, self-reported understanding of protocol, stroke awareness and agreement to participate in trial. Conclusions: The interactive video increased participant understanding of an RAR design in a simulated stroke scenario. Future research should focus on whether acute trial recruitment can be enhanced using similar techniques.
Quercetin and the ocular surface: What we know and where we are going.

Flavonoids are a class of plant and fungus secondary metabolites that serve functional roles in protecting against UV-induced oxidative stress, mediating auxin signaling, and promoting microbial de...
The Theory of Composite Faults

Fault masking happens when the effect of one fault serves to mask that of another fault for particular test inputs. The coupling effect is relied upon by testing practitioners to ensure that fault masking is rare. It states that complex faults are coupled to simple faults in such a way that a test data set that detects all simple faults in a program will detect a high percentage of the complex faults. While this effect has been empirically evaluated, our theoretical understanding of the coupling effect is as yet incomplete. Wah proposed a theory of the coupling effect on finite bijective (or near bijective) functions with the same domain and co-domain and assuming a uniform distribution for candidate functions. This model, however, was criticized as being too simple to model real systems, as it did not account for differing domain and co-domain in real programs, or for the syntactic neighborhood. We propose a new theory of fault coupling for general functions (with certain constraints). We show that there are two kinds of fault interactions, of which only the weak interaction can be modeled by the theory of the coupling effect. The strong interaction can produce faults that are semantically different from the original faults. These faults should hence be considered as independent atomic faults. Our analysis shows that the theory holds even when the effect of the syntactic neighborhood of the program is considered. We analyze numerous real-world programs with real faults to validate our hypothesis.
Consumer pseudo-showrooming and omni-channel placement strategies

Recent advances in information technologies (IT) have powered the merger of online and offline retail channels into one single platform. Modern consumers frequently switch between online and offline channels when they navigate through various stages of the decision journey, motivating multichannel sellers to develop omni-channel strategies that optimize their overall profit. This study examines consumers' cross-channel search behavior of "pseudo-showrooming," or the consumer behavior of inspecting one product at a seller's physical store before buying a related but different product at the same seller's online store, and investigates how such consumer behavior allows a multichannel seller to achieve better coordination between its online and offline arms through optimal product placement strategies. We develop a stylized model in which a multichannel firm offers a product line consisting of two horizontally differentiated products. Consumers are uncertain about the true value of either product. A consumer's uncertainty regarding a particular product's value is fully resolved after inspecting that product in person, and can also be partially resolved after inspecting the other related product. By selling only one product through the dual channel and the other product through the online channel exclusively, the firm induces consumer pseudo-showrooming for the online exclusive product. Our analysis shows that this product placement strategy generates a greater profit than selling both products through the dual channel, if the fit probability of individual products and consumers' cost for returning a misfit product are both in the intermediate range. Moreover, we find that over a large parameter region, consumers also enjoy a greater total surplus under the firm's product placement strategy that induces consumer pseudo-showrooming. Furthermore, we find that the firm garners the most benefit from inducing consumer pseudo-showrooming by selling the higher-quality product or the higher-demand product through the online channel exclusively. Collectively, our study offers a compelling demand-side justification of the commonly witnessed practice among multichannel sellers to offer products online exclusively when offline selling is feasible.
New Principles of Growth and Development in the Body Mechanics Program

(1956). New Principles of Growth and Development in the Body Mechanics Program. Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 20-26.
Heart valve tissue engineering for valve replacement and disease modeling

Abstract Heart valve tissue engineering is emerging as a promising method for constructing both valve replacements and valvular disease models. Tissue-engineered valve replacements strive to overcome the limitations of mechanical and bioprosthetic valves, because they are living tissues capable of active remodeling and self-repair. Several tissue-engineered valve replacements have displayed promising results in recent large-animal trials. On the other hand, tissue-engineered disease models provide a scalable platform for investigating the pathobiology of valvular diseases like aortic stenosis. Recently, these models have been used to study the role of spatial heterogeneity, temporal matrix stiffening, and inter-cellular signaling in valve disease. This review provides an overview of recent developments, current challenges, and future directions in the field of heart valve tissue engineering.
Weak Humanism and the Economic Mission of English Education

AbstractThis article examines a theory of ‘weak humanism’ that says (1) secondary English classes should focus on personal development and culture and (2) English classes should deliver economic benefits indirectly, i.e. as knock-on effects of studying the personal and the cultural. Economic benefits are defined here as knowledge/skills students may use to improve their economic positions. This theory of weak humanism emerged as a popular idea among 140 professors of English education surveyed by the author and a colleague. Building out from previous analyses of the survey results, the present article reads weak humanism against a backdrop of shifting economic systems. Weak humanism is shown to take some of its current form in opposition to a regime of high-stakes standardised testing that integrates English education into a system of surveillance capitalism. The article concludes with a call for English teachers to resist surveillance capitalism by taking a revolutionary humanist tack to the work of Engl...
Use of an Assistant Surgeon Does not Mitigate the Effect of Lead Surgeon Volume on Outcomes Following Open Repair of Intact Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Objective/background While higher lead surgeon volume has been associated with lower mortality following open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair, little is known about the impact of using an attending surgeon as assistant surgeon. The aim of this study was to determine whether the presence of an assistant surgeon, particularly a high volume assistant, mitigates the relationship between lead surgeon volume and outcomes. Methods All Medicare beneficiaries who underwent intact, open AAA repair between 2003 and 2008 were evaluated and nested regression models were constructed to evaluate the relationship between surgeon and assistant volume and peri-operative mortality, adjusting for comorbid conditions and hospital volume. Results In total 28,590 repairs were studied, of which 19,284 (67.5%) were performed by a single surgeon and 9306 (32.5%) included an assistant surgeon. Of cases with an assistant, 12.3% included a high volume assistant surgeon. Lower volume surgeons more frequently used an assistant (lead surgeon Q1 volume: 40%; Q2: 36%; Q3: 34%; Q4: 29%; Q5: 27% [p Conclusion Employing an assistant surgeon does not improve outcomes amongst any quintile of volume of the lead surgeon. As surgeons perform fewer open AAA repairs in the modern era, these data imply that even the help of a high volume assistant surgeon may not mitigate the detrimental effect of a lower volume surgeon.
Transition from tube feeding to oral feeding: experience in a tertiary care paediatric cardiology unit

Home enteral tube feeding (HETF) is imperative for many infants and children with congenital heart disease (CHD). Tube weaning (TW) facilitates the progression from tube feeding to oral diet. There is limited literature on TW practices, protocols and success for children with CHD that have been tube fed. The objective of this study is to assess the process of weaning HETF in a tertiary referral centre for paediatric CHD. Specifically, we aimed to assess the duration of HETF, duration of TW and the interventions involved. We retrospectively reviewed the medical and dietetic records of all infants and children that were successfully weaned off HETF over a 12-month period from January 2015 to December 2015. There were 30 children included in the study, 9 boys and 21 girls. The diagnoses included 15 septal defects, 8 univentricular diagnosis and other diagnoses in 7 children. The median age at initiation of enteral tube feeding was 45 days (range 2–169). The median duration to wean from enteral tube feeding was 52 days (range 2–359). Number of dietetic consults required for successful TW varied among patients, median 5 (range 2–23). The number of days required for successful TW was associated with age and duration on HETF. Dietetic interventions included discontinuation of nutrient dense feeds, altering feed schedule and reduction of feed volume. Weaning HETF is possible in the outpatient setting. Early and frequent dietetic intervention is recommended to ensure prompt discontinuation of HETF when appropriate.
Protocol Development and Preparation for a Clinical Trial

A protocol is the most critical document in a research study. It plays a central role in the conduct of a study by describing how a hypothesis will be tested. It provides the necessary guidance and serves as the main reference for all study personnel, while also providing for the welfare and safety of all study participants; it must be prospective, detailed, and comprehensive. A protocol is organized in chronological divisions; the background and rationale provide the first impression of the investigators; study endpoints, especially the primary ones, drive the rest of the study design. The study population, methodological details, schedule of visits/procedures, and methods for ensuring patient safety must be described in detail, along with the study organization, administration, and anticipated results and significance. A high-quality protocol will more likely lead to a valid conclusion, whether it confirms or refutes the hypothesis, thereby reducing the likelihood of needing a costly repeat study.
Service Readiness For Noncommunicable Diseases Was Low In Five Countries In 2013-15

The growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) may pose challenges for resource-limited health systems. This study used standardized, nationally representative data from Service Provision Assessments conducted in 2013–15 and the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment methodology to examine NCD service availability and readiness in Bangladesh, Haiti, Malawi, Nepal, and Tanzania. Both service availability and readiness were found to be very low: Very few facilities were fully “ready” to provide any one NCD service. Shortages of trained health workers and essential medicines were critical limitations to readiness. Rural and free facilities had lower availability and readiness, which may present access barriers. Policy makers should draw on decades of experience with global health initiatives to close these service gaps through the training of health workers on NCD screening and treatment, engaging the private sector on NCDs, and ensuring access to NCD medicines. Such efforts must be attentive t...
Towards a more just society? Care ethics and caregivers in urban China

Abstract Recently, feminist geographers have been calling for research that contributes to a more ethical geography of care that is responsible to society. However, after thoroughly examining the care ethics of attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness, this paper argues that adhering to these ethics in caring relations actually exploits caregivers, instead of contributing to a more just society. Based on empirical research in Shanghai and Beijing, this paper examines the nature of caregivers’ work and provides three significant insights: (1) Care ethics embedded into job requirements demands that caregivers conduct not only bodily and “dirty” work, but also emotional work. (2) The involvement of care ethics in care work establishes different social relations between caregivers and care-recipients, which produces a different subjectivity that blurs the boundary between life and work. (3) The new subjectivity formed when operating under care ethics tends to put caregivers in a “prison of love” situation, where being ethical means being willing to work long hours for low wages. By theorizing the ethics of care work from the three aspects indicated above, this paper challenges the geography of care agenda that seeks to promote the care ethics of attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness.
Aberrant structural and functional connectivity and neurodevelopmental impairment in preterm children

Despite advances in antenatal and neonatal care, preterm birth remains a leading cause of neurological disabilities in children. Infants born prematurely, particularly those delivered at the earliest gestational ages, commonly demonstrate increased rates of impairment across multiple neurodevelopmental domains. Indeed, the current literature establishes that preterm birth is a leading risk factor for cerebral palsy, is associated with executive function deficits, increases risk for impaired receptive and expressive language skills, and is linked with higher rates of co-occurring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorders. These same infants also demonstrate elevated rates of aberrant cerebral structural and functional connectivity, with persistent changes evident across advanced magnetic resonance imaging modalities as early as the neonatal period. Emerging findings from cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations increasingly suggest that aberrant connectivity within key functional networks and white matter tracts may underlie the neurodevelopmental impairments common in this population. This review begins by highlighting the elevated rates of neurodevelopmental disorders across domains in this clinical population, describes the patterns of aberrant structural and functional connectivity common in prematurely-born infants and children, and then reviews the increasingly established body of literature delineating the relationship between these brain abnormalities and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. We also detail important, typically understudied, clinical, and social variables that may influence these relationships among preterm children, including heritability and psychosocial risks. Future work in this domain should continue to leverage longitudinal evaluations of preterm infants which include both neuroimaging and detailed serial neurodevelopmental assessments to further characterize relationships between imaging measures and impairment, information necessary for advancing our understanding of modifiable risk factors underlying these disorders and best practices for improving neurodevelopmental trajectories in this high-risk clinical population.
Explaining educational recommendations through a concept-level knowledge visualization

In this demo paper, we present a visual approach for explaining learning content recommendation in the personalized practice system Mastery Grids. The proposed approach uses a concept-level visualization of student knowledge in Java programming to demonstrate why specific practice content is recommended by the system. The visualized student knowledge is estimated by a Bayesian Knowledge Tracing approach, which traces student problem-solving performance. The visual explanatory components, which show both a fine-grained and aggregated knowledge level, are presented to the students along with textual explanations. The goal of this approach is to display the suitability of each recommended item in the context of a student's current knowledge and goal, i.e., the current topic they are studying.
Woody Vegetation Removal Benefits Grassland Birds on Reclaimed Surface Mines

Grassland birds have declined throughout North America. In the midwestern United States, reclaimed surface mines often provide expanses of contiguous grassland that support grassland birds. However, some reclaimed surface mines often experience severe woody vegetation encroachment, typically by invasive trees and shrubs, including black locust Robinia pseudoacacia, autumn olive Elaeagnus umbellata, and bush honeysuckle Lonicera spp. We conducted point-count surveys to investigate the effects of woody canopy cover and response to treatments of woody vegetation on the abundance of birds. Our treatments were a control, an herbicide application, and an herbicide application followed by cutting and shredding of standing dead woody vegetation. Estimated density of eastern meadowlark Sturnella magna, grasshopper sparrow Ammodramus savannarum, and Henslow's sparrow Centronyx henslowii was 670%, 958%, and 200%, respectively, greater on areas treated with herbicide and shredding and 279%, 666%, and 155%, respectively, greater on areas treated with herbicide-only when compared with control sites. When woody canopy cover increased from 0% to 20%, densities of eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, and Henslow's sparrow decreased by 83.9%, 74.9%, and 50.7%, respectively. Conversely, densities of eastern towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus, prairie warbler Setophaga discolor, yellow-breasted chat Icteria virens, and yellow warbler Setophaga petechia increased 67.4%, 57.0%, 34.6%, and 117.7%, respectively, as estimated woody canopy coverage increased from 20% to 60%. Our results showed treating encroaching woody vegetation on reclaimed surface mines with herbicide and shredding increases available habitat used by grassland birds. Maintaining grasslands on reclaimed surface mines at ≤10% woody canopy coverage would be most beneficial to eastern meadowlarks, grasshopper sparrows, and Henslow's sparrows.
A slip-link model for rheology of entangled polymer melts with crystallization

Many industrial polymer melts are entangled and undergo crystallization during processing. Several recent studies have reported experimental data for the rheology of crystallizing entangled polymers. Meanwhile, over the past few years, slip-link models have been demonstrated to describe the rheology of entangled melts under a variety of nonlinear deformation conditions. In this work, we present a modification of the slip-link model to describe the rheology of an entangled melt undergoing crystallization. The partially crystallized melt is represented by a blend of linear chains with free ends and cross-linked, bridgelike chains with fixed ends that resemble the tie molecules between developing crystallites. Two new parameters are introduced: the fraction of cross-linked chains and a modulus shift factor, both of which are functions of the degree of crystallinity. The model captures the evolution of viscosity and elasticity simultaneously over the whole range of available frequencies in the linear regime. The model is validated using experimental datasets for isotactic polypropylene.Many industrial polymer melts are entangled and undergo crystallization during processing. Several recent studies have reported experimental data for the rheology of crystallizing entangled polymers. Meanwhile, over the past few years, slip-link models have been demonstrated to describe the rheology of entangled melts under a variety of nonlinear deformation conditions. In this work, we present a modification of the slip-link model to describe the rheology of an entangled melt undergoing crystallization. The partially crystallized melt is represented by a blend of linear chains with free ends and cross-linked, bridgelike chains with fixed ends that resemble the tie molecules between developing crystallites. Two new parameters are introduced: the fraction of cross-linked chains and a modulus shift factor, both of which are functions of the degree of crystallinity. The model captures the evolution of viscosity and elasticity simultaneously over the whole range of available frequencies in the linear regime. ...