cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Noteworthy Articles in 2015 for Cardiothoracic Critical Care

In 2015, the demand for the presence of cardiothoracic anesthesiologists outside of the cardiac operating rooms continues to expand. Most notably, cardiothoracic anesthesiologists now find themselves called on to care for patients postoperatively in the cardiothoracic surgical intensive care unit. This article is the first in this annual series to review relevant contributions in postoperative cardiac critical care that may influence the cardiac anesthesiologist. We explore the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, management of postoperative atrial fibrillation and coagulopathy, metabolic support of the critically ill cardiothoracic surgical patient, and new insights into delirium and acute kidney injury.
Assessing Preliminary Impact of the North Carolina Community Transformation Grant Project Farmers' Market Initiatives Among Rural Residents

Abstract Objective Using the Social Determinants of Health as the study's theoretical underpinning, the authors examined the impact of the North Carolina Community Transformation Grant Project farmers' market initiatives on changes in awareness and use of farmers' markets, and fruit and vegetable consumption. Methods During the farmers' market season, the researchers conducted a random digit–dial telephone survey among residents in 3 rural North Carolina counties to examine changes in farmers' market awareness, shopping, and fruit and vegetable consumption. They examined change over 1 year using t tests, chi-square tests, and propensity score matching. Results In 1 county there were increases in farmers' market shopping and fruit and vegetable consumption, and in 1 county there were decreases in farmers' market shopping and fruit and vegetable consumption. Conclusions and Implications The impact of farmers' market initiatives may be affected by county-specific socioeconomic contexts.
Study on the Genotoxicity of Dichloromethane in vitro

[ Objective] To study the mechanism of DNA damage induced by dichloromethane. [ Methods] DNA adducts induced by the different concentration of dichloromethane(2.0,3.0,4.0,5.0,6.0,7.0 μg·μl-1)and DNA-DNA strand cross- link induced by the different concentration of dichloromethane(200,300,400,500,600,700 μg/30 μg DNA)were determined by ultraviolet analysis and fluorescence spectral analysis.[ Results] The results showed that dichloromethane(2.0 - 7.0 μg/μl) induced a shift of absorption UV-spectrum towards longer wavelengths. Dichloromethane(200 ~ 700 μg/30 μg DNA) can increase the DNA-DNA strand cross-link frequency and the cross-link effect has dose-response relationship( r = 0.979,P 0.05). [Conclusions] Dichloromethane may bind with DNA and cause DNA-DNA strand cross-link in vitro.
Holiday Hotels and Online Booking Behavior – News from the GfK Research Panels

The following essay will start by showing how the market of tourism in Europe is developing at the moment. It will then analyse differences that exist between the booking behavior at travel agencies and in online sales. One of its features will be the scope of preferences while choosing a hotel during a stay. All of these analyses are based on the retail panel of GfK Retail and Technology GmbH – or shorter GfK Travel Insights – which has been available for several years now in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Russia.
History and Heritage

Saadallah Wannus, the most prolific and respected of Syria’s playwrights, was also the one to challenge Syrian conceptions of national identity most consistently. The three of his plays that I have already discussed — Soiree for the Fifth of June, Cleansing the Blood, and The Rape - reveal the range of styles with which he experimented while posing the question “Who are we as Syrians?” Despite the stylistic heterogeneity, this small sample of his work also reflects what I will argue is a central concern of his opus: the processes and strategies of narrating the past and how these narrations open or foreclose possibilities for the future. For Wannus, Syrian identity is tied to how Syrians (both as individuals and as a community) manage a past shot through with trauma. In this chapter I will take up five plays that directly address heritage arts and historiography as identity forming enterprises: The Adventures of the Head of Jabir the Mamluk (1970), An Evening with Abu Khalil Qabbani (1972), Historical Miniatures (1993), Rituals of Signs and Transformations (1994), and Wretched Dreams (1994). These plays, I will argue, present heritage and history as mutually constructed ideas. In representing this dialectic, Wannus’s works intervene in existing patterns of knowing the past, undermining the inevitability of such patterns and proposing new models for understanding Syria’s past and present.
A Risk Determining Model for Hazardous Material Operations: Part II

Safe work practices are an essential part of Integrated Safety Management (ISM) and apply to issues of environment, safety, and health. Safe work practices require defining the work; establishing, documenting, and maintaining an effective hazard-control system within which the work is performed; and authorizing both the defined work and the workers to perform the work [1]. Integrating safe work practices with work activities requires workers and their line managers/supervisors to use a systematic, tailored approach and good judgment in applying their knowledge of the work to identifying hazards and controls so that the work can be performed safely. Nowhere is the need for good judgment more apparent than when a line manager/ supervisor is called upon to evaluate the initial and residual risks associated with the work. If a line manager/supervisor underestimates the initial risk associated with an activity, certain required levels of independent peer and/or Environmental, Health & Safety (ES&H) subject matter expert reviews are not performed. If a line manager/ supervisor overestimates the initial risk, unnecessary expense and delays are encountered. Similar issues develop when the residual risk is misjudged. Underestimating the residual risk could result in hazardous material operations that pose an unacceptable risk being conducted. Overestimating the residual risk leads to work slowdowns caused by excessive periodical reviews of operations and overtraining.
Screening and Validation of Housekeeping Genes of the Root and Cotyledon of Cunninghamia lanceolata under Abiotic Stresses by Using Quantitative Real-Time PCR

Cunninghamia lanceolata (Chinese fir) is a fast-growing and commercially important conifer of the Cupressaceae family. Due to the unavailability of complete genome sequences and relatively poor genetic background information of the Chinese fir, it is necessary to identify and analyze the expression levels of suitable housekeeping genes (HKGs) as internal reference for precise analysis. Based on the results of database analysis and transcriptome sequencing, we have chosen five candidate HKGs (Actin, GAPDH, EF1a, 18S rRNA, and UBQ) with conservative sequences in the Chinese fir and related species for quantitative analysis. The expression levels of these HKGs in roots and cotyledons under five different abiotic stresses in different time intervals were measured by qRT-PCR. The data were statistically analyzed using the following algorithms: NormFinder, BestKeeper, and geNorm. Finally, RankAggreg was applied to merge the sequences generated from three programs and rank these according to consensus sequences. The expression levels of these HKGs showed variable stabilities under different abiotic stresses. Among these, Actin was the most stable internal control in root, and GAPDH was the most stable housekeeping gene in cotyledon. We have also described an experimental procedure for selecting HKGs based on the de novo sequencing database of other non-model plants.
Positionality and Consciousness in Husserl’s Ideas I

In this paper I argue that in Husserl’s Ideas I (1913) there is a seeming contradiction between the characterization of pure consciousness as the residue of the performance of the phenomenological reduction and the claim that in the natural attitude consciousness is taken to be an entity is the world. This creates a puzzle regarding the positional status of consciousness in the natural attitude. After reviewing some possible options to solve this puzzle in the existing literature, I claim that the positional status of conscious experiences in the natural attitude is best characterized as unsettled . The act that settles the positional status of conscious experiences (i.e. our manifold Erlebnisse ) is reflection. In reflection, experiences are posited as beings, either in a psychological or in a phenomenological key. I conclude by arguing that the problem of positing is of paramount importance to understand correctly Husserl’s claim that phenomenology is voraussetzungslos .
Effect of pore size and shape on the thermal conductivity of metal-organic frameworks

We investigate the effect of pore size and shape on the thermal conductivity of a series of idealized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) containing adsorbed gas using molecular simulations. With no gas present, the thermal conductivity decreases with increasing pore size. In the presence of adsorbed gas, MOFs with smaller pores experience reduced thermal conductivity due to phonon scattering introduced by gas–crystal interactions. In contrast, for larger pores (>1.7 nm), the adsorbed gas does not significantly affect thermal conductivity. This difference is due to the decreased probability of gas–crystal collisions in larger pore structures. In contrast to MOFs with simple cubic pores, the thermal conductivity in structures with triangular and hexagonal pore channels exhibits significant anisotropy. For different pore geometries at the same atomic density, hexagonal channel MOFs have both the highest and lowest thermal conductivities, along and across the channel direction, respectively. In the triangular and hexagonal channeled structures, the presence of gas molecules has different effects on thermal conductivity along different crystallographic directions.
Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Adolescents’ Well‐Being: The Role of Cross‐Ethnic Friendships and Friends’ Experiences of Discrimination

There is an extensive body of work documenting the negative socioemotional and academic consequences of perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination during adolescence, but little is known about how the larger peer context conditions such effects. Using peer network data from 252 eighth graders (85% Latino, 11% African American, 5% other race/ethnicity), the present study examined the moderating role of cross-ethnic friendships and close friends’ experiences of discrimination in the link between adolescents’ perceptions of discrimination and well-being. Cross-ethnic friendships and friends’ experiences of discrimination generally served a protective role, buffering the negative effects of discrimination on both socioemotional well-being and school outcomes. Overall, results highlight the importance of considering racial/ethnic-related aspects of adolescents’ friendships when studying interpersonal processes closely tied to race/ethnicity.
How does the Affordable Care Act support children at risk for or with diabetes

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) brings our nation closer to the goals of universal, continuous, adequate, and affordable coverage for all children. This commentary discusses the expected outcomes and the potential challenges in the ACA legislation that affect access, coverage, and use of health care services by North Carolina children with diabetes.
Pure-rotational H2 thermometry by ultrabroadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) is a sensitive technique for probing highly luminous flames in combustion applications to determine temperatures and species concentrations. CARS thermometry has been demonstrated for the vibrational Q-branch and pure-rotational S-branch of several small molecules. Practical advantages of pure-rotational CARS, such as multi-species detection, reduction of coherent line mixing and collisional narrowing even at high pressures, and the potential for more precise thermometry, have motivated experimental and theoretical advances in S-branch CARS of nitrogen (N2), for example, which is a dominant species in air-fed combustion processes. Although hydrogen (H2) is of interest given its prevalence as a reactant and product in many gas-phase reactions, laser bandwidth limitations have precluded the extension of CARS thermometry to the H2 S-branch. We demonstrate H2 thermometry using hybrid femtosecond/picosecond pure-rotational CARS, in which a broadband pump/Stokes pu...
Conspecific Wounding in Free-Ranging R. Norvegicus From Stable and Unstable Populations

The incidence and body site distribution of wounds were determined for wild R. norvegicus trapped near the border of either mature sugar cane fields (stable population) or recently harvested and burned cane (unstable population). Rats from both areas displayed recent wounds, but animals from the unstable population had significantly more. In contrast to results of laboratory tests, male and female wound frequencies were similar. Body site distributions of wounds, however, was very much like that found on male intruders into established laboratory rat colonies, with most wounds on the back and very few on the ventrum. This finding corroborates an assertion that offensive biting in R. norvegicus is targeted toward the opponent's back; it thus provides essential support for a view that offensive attack behaviors are strategies enabling the attacking animal to reach this specific target, while many defensive behaviors elicited by conspecific attack are adaptive in protecting this bite target site.
Feasibility of Single-Beam Interference Alignment in Multi-Carrier Interference Channels

Sun and Luo recently showed that if the vector-space single-beam interference alignment problem for a $K$ -user, $L$ -carrier interference channel is feasible, then $K\leq 2L-2$ . We prove the converse, that if $K\leq 2L-2$ , then the problem is feasible, i.e., that the requisite beamformers do exist.
The accommodative response to blur in myopic children

Accommodation has been implicated in one way or another in the genesis of myopia. Two experimental tests of these claims are reported. In the first, the accommodative response function of myopic children was measured and compared to that of a comparable group of emmetropes. The response of the myopes to lens-induced demand was markedly less at near than that of emmetropes; that to real targets was slightly but significantly less. In the second test, change in the response function was measured over an interval of six to twelve months and correlated with accompanying variation in the refractive error. Myopes showed a significant correlation indicating that accommodative response was reduced during increasing myopia but returned to normal during stabilization of refractive error. Emmetropes showed no correlation between these measures. In conclusion: we see no evidence that excessive accommodation is a factor in the progression of myopia, but dioptric blur from reduced accommodation may be. Reduced accommodation in early myopes appears to result from reduced effectiveness of dioptric blur and subsequent retinoneural signals in activating the ciliary muscle.
Survival of Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Treated Without Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Background Case series have reported favorable outcomes with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, those patients were generally young, with few comorbid conditions. Objective To characterize the clinical features and survival rates of patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome who met criteria for ECMO but were managed without it. Methods Patients who met the study criteria were identified prospectively. Inclusion criteria for ECMO included severe hypoxemia, uncompensated hypercapnia, or elevated end-inspiratory plateau pressures despite low tidal volume ventilation. Predicted survival rates with ECMO were calculated using the Respiratory ECMO Survival Prediction score. Results Of the 46 patients who met the criteria for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome and ECMO consideration, 5 received ECMO and 16 patients had at least 1 contraindication to it. The remaining 25 patients met ECMO criteria but did not receive the treatment. The patients' mean age was 53.5 (SD, 14.3) years; 84% had at least 1 major comorbid condition. The median predicted survival rate with ECMO was 57%. The actual hospital discharge survival rate without ECMO was 56%. Conclusions The general medical intensive care patient population with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome is older and sicker than patients reported in prior case series in which patients were treated with ECMO. In this study, the survival rate without ECMO was similar to predicted survival rates with ECMO.
Mobile Technology for Obesity Prevention A Randomized Pilot Study in Racial and Ethnic Minority Girls

Background Mobile technologies have wide-scale reach and disseminability, but no known studies have examined mobile technologies as a stand-alone tool to improve obesity-related behaviors of at-risk youth. Purpose To test a 12-week mobile technology intervention for use and estimate effect sizes for a fully powered trial. Methods Fifty-one low-income, racial/ethnic-minority girls aged 9−14 years were randomized to a mobile technology ( n =26) or control ( n =25) condition. Both conditions lasted 12 weeks and targeted fruits/vegetables (FVs; Weeks 1−4); sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs; Weeks 5−8), and screen time (Weeks 9−12). The mobile intervention prompted real-time goal setting and self-monitoring and provided tips, feedback, and positive reinforcement related to the target behaviors. Controls received the same content in a written manual but no prompting. Outcomes included device utilization and effect size estimates of FVs, SSBs, screen time, and BMI. Data were collected and analyzed in 2011−2012. Results Mobile technology girls used the program on 63% of days and exhibited trends toward increased FVs (+0.88, p =0.08) and decreased SSBs (−0.33, p =0.09). The adjusted difference between groups of 1.0 servings of FVs ( p =0.13) and 0.35 servings of SSBs ( p =0.25) indicated small to moderate effects of the intervention (Cohen's d=0.44 and −0.34, respectively). No differences were observed for screen time or BMI. Conclusions A stand-alone mobile app may produce small to moderate effects for FVs and SSBs. Given the extensive reach of mobile devices, this pilot study demonstrates the need for larger-scale testing of similar programs to address obesity-related behaviors in high-risk youth.
Two Methods for Solving the Inverse Scattering Problem for Time-Harmonic Acoustic Waves

The inverse scattering problem we are considering in this paper is to determine the shape of an acoustically soft obstacle from a knowledge of the time-harmonic incident wave and the far field pattern of the scattered wave, where the frequency is assumed to be in the “resonant” region, i.e. high frequency asymptotic methods are not available. For a survey of the research done in this area, we refer the reader to the monograph of COLTON and KRESS [4] as well as the survey paper by COLTON [2]. Our aim is to provide methods that are numerically implementable, and the basic problem in trying to do this is the fact that the inverse scattering problem is both nonlinear and improperly posed ([2], [4]). In this paper, we shall present two methods for solving the inverse scattering problem. The first of theses is based on the use of integral equations and has been numerically implemented by KIRSCH [7] (see also [2]). Our second method avoids the use of integral equations ad is based on the theory of Hergoltz wave functions (c.f. [6]). Numerical experiments using this method are presently being carried out, but as yet we have no results to report. Hence, the practicality of our second method has yet to be established.
Pilot Evaluation of a Tablet-Based Application to Improve Quality of Care in Child Mental Health Treatment

Mental health systems need scalable solutions that can reduce the efficacy-effectiveness gap and improve mental health outcomes in community mental health service settings. Two major challenges to delivery of high-quality care are providers' fidelity to evidence-based treatment models and children's and caregivers' engagement in the treatment process. We developed a novel, tablet-based application designed to enhance via technology the quality of delivery of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). We piloted its use in four community mental health service organizations using a blocked randomized controlled trial to examine the feasibility of implementing tablet-facilitated TF-CBT versus standard TF-CBT with 13 providers and 27 families. Provider fidelity and child engagement in treatment were observationally measured via session audio recording. Parent and child perceptions of the tablet application were assessed using structured interviews and mixed-method analyses. Providers actively and appropriately used tablet TF-CBT to facilitate treatment activities. Providers and families expressed high satisfaction with its use, demonstrating acceptability of this approach. Youth and caregivers in both conditions reported high alliance with their providers. Overall, we found that tablet-facilitated treatment is accepted by providers and families and may be integrated into mental health treatment with minimal training. Further study is needed to examine the extent to which technology-based applications may enhance the reach, quality, and clinical outcomes of mental health treatment delivered to children and families.
Saudi Arabia plans for its economic future: Vision 2030, the National Transformation Plan and Saudi fiscal reform

In response to a rapid decline in world oil prices, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman introduced a new economic blueprint called Saudi Vision 2030 and the accompanying National Transf...
Sex Determination with Fragmented Skeletal Remains

It is well established that the adult human pelvis offers a high degree of reliability in sexing skeletal remains. The ischiopubic index devised by Schultz [1] and tested by Washburn [2,3] and Hanna and Washburn [4] is generally reliable for 90% or more of cases tested. The ischiopubic index is derived by measuring the lengths of the pubis and ischium from a common point in the acetabulum. The success of this technique rests on the fact that, as a rule, the pubis is absolutely longer in females while the ischium is absolutely longer in males. A second and perhaps more important sexing technique elucidated by Phenice [5] is a nonmetrical method employing three features of the pubic bone. The first and generally most reliable feature is the ventral arc, followed by the subpubic concavity and, finally, the medial aspect of the inferior pubic ramus. The use of all three features gave Phenice in excess of 95% reliability in American whites and blacks. Kelley [6, 7] obtained similar results with this technique in California Indian material. In terms of time, energy, and reliability Phenice's visual sexing technique seems preferable over the ischiopubic index.
Security Design Quality Named and Framed Through TST Choice Property Clusters

The previous chapter offered an exercise in “choice property affect” by illustrating the impact of strengthening a particular property individually in each of seven artefact domains. To explore the compounding of quality effects in property clusters, this chapter presents naming and framing a perspective of design quality on cybersecurity that “interprets” the clustered Thriving Systems choice properties. The design aspects entailing security are sourced from relevant literature of security, security design, and the challenges of cloud computing. Integrated through TST’s design clusters, those quality aspects offer a palpable depiction of the features prerequisite to stakeholder trust in cybersecurity.
Marijuana tax incidence, stockpiling, and cross-border substitution

While the number of legalized recreational marijuana markets continues to grow in the USA, state and local governments are still determining how best to levy taxes on marijuana receipts in the face of consumer behavioral responses, such as stockpiling behavior and cross-border purchasing. Using the introduction of a 25% tax on marijuana in Oregon as a natural experiment, we conduct difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, and event study analyses to identify the effect of the tax increase on marijuana prices and quantities, consumer stockpiling, and cross-border purchasing. Our results are consistent with the theoretical predictions of tax incidence—finding that consumer marijuana prices rise and the quantity of marijuana sold falls as a result of the tax. We also observe evidence of short-term stockpiling of marijuana in anticipation of the tax and find that the tax led to increased cross-border substitution, most notably, at the Washington State border. Based on our results, we also determine that supply is relatively elastic in this market, and demand becomes more elastic over time as consumers gain greater information on prices of substitutes.
Abstract #4148: Developing activated innate immune effectors using toll-like receptor agonist activated dendritic cells (DC) to condition the local immune response in the breast

Background. Cancer vaccines have largely failed to induce clinically-meaningful responses in breast cancer. Part of the issue is that the microenvironment at the site of tumors is inadequate and cannot efficiently attract T cells and other effectors, or create an appropriate microenvironment favoring the destruction of tumor. In this study we investigate the development of innate immune effector DC activated with toll like receptor agonists. Methods. In this study, human monocyte-derived DC were activated with either IFN-\#947;/LPS or IL-1\#946;, IL-6, TNF-\#945; and PGE2 (CM DC). For INF-\#947;/LPS activated DC the cells were harvested at either 6 hour (early) or 24 hour (mature) after LPS treatment. Breast cancer cells were labeled with CFSE and co-cultured with DCs for 18 hours, then stained with 7-AAD and subjected by flow cytometric analysis. DC derived cytokines and chemokines were measured by ELISA and intracellular TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) was detected by flow cytometry. Results. The results demonstrated that DC activated with IFN-\#947; /LPS unlike CM DC produce abundant levels of IL-12, and TNF-\#945;, chemokines IP-10, MIP-1\#945;, MIP-1\#946;, and RANTES. These DC compared with iDC and CM DC also demonstrated a significant capacity to lyse breast cancer cell lines. Interestingly early (6-hour) IFN-\#947;/LPS treated DC demonstrated a substantially greater cytotoxicity against tumor cells than late mature (24-hour) IFN-\#947;/LPS DC. At least part of the lytic activity was due to soluble TNF-\#945; not requiring cell contact and inhibited by anti-TNF-\#945;. IFN-\#947;/LPS activated DC unlike CM DC also expressed high levels of TRAIL in greater quantities early following activation suggesting the remaining lytic activity may be mediated by TRAIL. There was no evidence of perforin or granzyme expression in the DC. Early IFN-\#947;/LPS DC exhibited enhanced ability to uptake antigen compared with late mature DC. Conclusions. Our results indicate that TLR/IFN-\#947; activated DC unlike CM DC are endowed with multiple effector functions, including high level cytokine production (i.e. IL-12), chemokine production to attract lymphocytes and NK cells , direct tumoricidal activity mediated by TNF family members, and potent antigen specific T cell stimulating capacity mediated by IL-12. Peritumoral injection of these DC may condition the immune response locally at the tumor site to improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 4148.
Voltage-Controlled Magnetic Anisotropy in Heterostructures with Atomically Thin Heavy Metals

Efficient, fast, high-density magnetoelectric random-access memory (MeRAM) requires both large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and high-efficiency voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy. Thus the authors propose a double-barrier ferromagnetic heterostructure with an atomically thin layer of a late transition metal $X$ (Rh, Ir, or Pt). First-principles calculations reveal its anticipated performance to be due to the synergy effects of the large strain-induced magnetism in $X$, the large spin-orbit coupling of $X$, and the giant modulation of magnetocrystalline anisotropy at the $X$/MgO interface. This work provides rules for designing the next generation of spintronic memory devices.
Bacterial features of bacteremia in pediatric patients with pneumonia at Children hospital No. 1, Vietnam

Background: Pediatric pneumonia causing bacteremia is a severe condition and the appropriate antibiotic treatment is the mainstay to save their life. Aims: To describe bacterial characteristics of bacteremia in pediatric patients with pneumonia Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at Children hospital no 1, Vietnam from January 2016 to December 2017. All subjects with age ≤ 16 years old had clinical and radiological manifestations consistent to pneumonia and the positive result of blood culture were included. Results: We found 37 of eligible pediatric patients in which 16 patients were excluded because of the blood culture positive for coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. This study showed 54.1% patients with history of underlying condition, 86.5% with duration of symptom ≤ 7 days, and 16.2% with septic shock. Eleven patients with Gram-positive infections including Streptococcus pneumoniae (n=7) and Staphylococcus aureus (n=4) and ten patients with Gram-negative infections including Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=4), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=3), Stenophomonas maltophilia (n=2), and Cupriavidus pauculus (n=1) were found. Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed S. pneumoniae susceptible to penicillin, one case of S. aureus resistant to methicillin, three cases of K. pneumoniae resistant to third generation cephalosporin, and P. aeruginosa susceptible to ceftazidime. Mortality was 6 of 21 cases in which three pseudomonas cases were the initiation of inappropriate antibiotics. Conclusions: Gram-negative infections could cause bacteremia in pediatric patients with pneumonia and K. pneumoniae resistant to third generation cephalosporin and pseudomonas infection should be considered.
Use FTIR as a Tool for the Analysis of Sodium Metasilicate in Ham Product

ObjectivesSodium metasilicate (SMS) is a USDA approved antimicrobial for use in meat and poultry processing. It can be applied into RTE (Ready to Eat) meat surface up to 6% solution at a rate not to exceed 300 ppm of the finished products. However, no any research was performed by using FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) to evaluate the amount the SMS. The objective of this study was to quantitate sodium metasilicate added into RTE ham product and analyzed by using FTIR.Materials and MethodsRTE ham was cut into square size. Ten grams ham was immersed into 50 mL food grade different concentrations of SMS solution (1.0 to 6.0%). Samples treated with distilled water without adding SMS was control treatment. After immersion for 10 min, drained liquid and air-dried for 2 min. Samples were transferred into Whirl-Pak bag containing 50 mL distilled water and homogenized with stomacher at 235 rpm for 2.5 min. The homogenized mixture was filtered with Whatman Grade 1 Qualitative Filter Paper. The homogenates were centrifuged at 6.000 rpm for 10 min at 25°C. The supernatant were transferred into a clean test tube, and filtered with 0.45-µm disposable syringe filter. The filtrate was used for FTIR measurement. The control samples supernatant spiked with known amounts of pure and food grade SMS were analyzed by FTIR.ResultsThe software Delight was used in data analysis. The partial least square (PLS) model was used to predict analyst concentrations in tested samples. The number of PLS latent variables was optimized based on the lowest root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values to avoid overfitting of spectral data. The second derivative transformation results showed that FTIR spectroscopy was able to distinguish the 2 prominent absorption bands at 885 cm-1 and 1,023 cm-1. Data from the fingerprint region 1300 to 850 cm-1 showed the prediction results were obtained with R = 0.9817 and RMSEP = 552.3 ppm for pure SMS, and with R = 0.9117 and RMSEP = 388.6 ppm for spike pure SMS. The prediction results demonstrated that R = 0.994 with RMSEP = 0.1912%, and R = 0.9601 with RMSEP = 0.2886% for industrial SMS and spiked samples, respectively.ConclusionThese results show that the FT-IR spectroscopy in the 1300 to 850 cm-1 wavenumber region could be potential a very reliable technique for quantitate sodium metasilicate in RTE meat samples. It can be used as quickly and simply technique to estimate the amount of sodium metasilicate in meat products. However, more researches should be performed to determine the lower concentration of SMS applied into the RTE and other types of meat samples.
Coverage Analysis for Cellular-Connected UAVs with 3D Antenna Patterns

In this paper, we consider cellular-connected unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks, in which the UAVs are aerial user equipments (UEs) served by the ground base stations (GBSs). A realistic ground-to-air channel model, with line of sight (LOS) and non-LOS (NLOS) transmissions, is incorporated into the analysis. Three dimensional (3D) antenna radiation combing the vertical and horizontal patterns is taken into account for the GBSs. More importantly, 3D antenna patterns are also considered for the UAVs. In particular, we compare the performances of four types of antenna configurations, namely an omni-directional pattern, a doughnut-shaped sine pattern, a doughnut-shaped cosine pattern, a directional pattern with tilting angle toward the serving GBS. Via numerical results, it is demonstrated that the directional pattern with tilting angle provides the best signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) coverage probability. It is also shown that the optimal UAV altitude varies depending on the environment and antenna patterns.
Measuring university students’ beliefs toward healthy snack selection

Objectives: Understanding university students' beliefs toward selecting healthy snacks is important in developing effective programs targeting healthy eating behaviors. The purpose of this research was to assess students' beliefs toward healthy snack selection and consumption. Participants: In November 2017, a convenience sample of 779 undergraduate students living on campus completed an online survey. Methods: A survey was developed to measure students' beliefs about eating healthy snacks. Paired t-tests were used to compare differences in beliefs and their importance. Independent t-tests were used to compare differences in belief responses by gender. Results: Students believed that healthy snacks were good for health and assisting with weight management. However, time management, motivation, preparation needs, and poor taste were reported as barriers to selection and consumption of healthy snacks. Conclusions: Increasing students' awareness of available food preparation facilities, developing food preparation skills, and motivation for consumption of healthy-good tasting snacks may increase healthier snacking.
DS3: A System-Level D omain- S pecific S ystem-on-Chip S imulation Framework

Heterogeneous systems-on-chip (SoCs) are highly favorable computing platforms due to their superior performance and energy efficiency potential compared to homogeneous architectures. They can be further tailored to a specific domain of applications by incorporating processing elements (PEs) that accelerate frequently used kernels in these applications. However, this potential is contingent upon optimizing the SoC for the target domain and utilizing its resources effectively at runtime. To this end, system-level design - including scheduling, power-thermal management algorithms and design space exploration studies - plays a crucial role. This article presents a system-level domain-specific SoC simulation (DS3) framework to address this need. DS3 enables both design space exploration and dynamic resource management for power-performance optimization of domain applications. We showcase DS3 using six real-world applications from wireless communications and radar processing domain. DS3, as well as the reference applications, is shared as open-source software to stimulate research in this area.
A Buddhist debate about the self ; And remarks on Buddhism in the work of Derek Parfit and Galen Strawson

Dans un premier temps, l'A. propose une traduction d'un traite medieval Pali: le chapitre 9 du Traite sur les laics. Ensuite, il propose des remarques sur ce texte en relation avec les conceptions bouddhistes sur l'identite personnelle et la continuite telles qu'elles apparaissent dans les travaux de Derek Parfit (1984) et Galen Strawson (1986). En cherchant a la fois dans la pensee occidentale et dans la pensee bouddhiste, on arrive a la conclusion suivante formulee par Strawson: une personne pleinement objective, un saint bouddhiste doivent necessairement etre, en un sens, non conscients d'eux-memes
Surfactant Modulated Phase Transitions of Liquid Crystals Confined in Electrospun Coaxial Fibers.

Confinement of liquid crystals (LCs) in polymeric fibers offers a promising strategy to control liquid crystal response to external stimuli. Here, the confinement of 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB)...
Microelectromechanical Systems for Nanomechanical Testing: Displacement- and Force-Controlled Tensile Testing with Feedback Control

Background: MEMS-based nanomechanical testing has received much interests. However, it remains challenging to perform displacement- and force-controlled nanomechanical tests (e.g., stress relaxation and creep). Objective: We report a MEMS-based device for displacement- and force-controlled tensile testing of 1D nanomaterials using feedback control. Methods: The device consists of an electrostatic actuator, a load cell, and two differential capacitive sensors. A specimen is mounted between a fixed anchor on one side and a displacement sensor on the other side. Using a multi-channel capacitive readout, both specimen displacement and force (thus strain and stress) can be measured from the readout simultaneously, without the need of imaging that is often used for displacement measurement. Results: With the feedback control, both displacement- and force-controlled tensile testing can be achieved. The capability of the device is demonstrated in three representative tests of metallic nanowires – stress relaxation test, tensile test capturing rapid stress drop, and creep test. Conclusions: The reported MEMS device can be used for a range of tests where imaging for displacement measurement is not feasible, such as ex-situ tests, high-rate tests, and fatigue tests in different environments.
Impact of new passenger rail stations on ridership demand and passenger characteristics: Hiawatha service case study

Abstract The opening of a new station on an existing passenger rail route increases accessibility to rail services, resulting in improved travel conditions for current passengers and stimulating new “induced” demand. However, these changes are not realized immediately, resulting in what is commonly referred to as a demand “ramp-up” period. This paper explores the concept of demand ramp-up and the corresponding impacts on ridership and passenger characteristics in the context of the Milwaukee Airport Rail Station, which opened in January 2005 along an existing Amtrak route between Milwaukee and Chicago. Analysis of ridership data from the new station indicated that the ramp-up period was three years; however, the percentage of steady-state ridership at each year of the ramp-up period was lower than the corresponding figures from other studies. The expected impact of the new station on adjacent stations was generally realized for ridership and access patterns, with approximately half of the new ridership being diverted from other stations while the other half were induced trips. Ridership at the new station was comprised of more business travelers than originally anticipated. However, in general, the other predicted outcomes related to the extent of usage of the station have not been realized after 11 years of operation. The results of this paper are instructive to provide planners and sponsors of passenger rail projects with a better understanding of the extent of demand ramp-up for new stations and how the characteristics of passengers evolve during the ramp-up period.
Hybrid Autoencoder for Low-light and Adversarially-robust Imaging

We demonstrate an optics pipeline for classical computer-vision autoencoders, which are a reliable de-noising defense against adversarial attacks. With vortex Fourier encoding, we show results with 10 nJ/cm2 illumination.
Measurement Uncertainty in Decision Making

Because all measurements have uncertainty, any measurement used to make a pass or fail decision, whether during R&D, manufacturing, calibration, or operation of a product, has some probability of being incorrect. Formulas for false accept and false reject probabilities in the context of manufacturing are discussed, including their relationship to the simplified but commonly used Test Uncertainty Ratio metric for assessing the adequacy of a measurement for making a particular decision. Methods of guardbanding a measurement to reduce the false accept risk are also given for both symmetric and asymmetric tolerances. Finally, a discussion of decision risk and decision rules in a calibration lab setting are provided.
What are the molecular mechanisms driving the switch from MPNs to leukemia

Myeloproliferative neoplasm-blast phase (MPN-BP) is a form of acute leukemia which is distinct from de novo acute myeloid leukemia with each entity being characterized by specific complex cytogenetic abnormalities and myeloid gene mutational patterns. MPN-BP patients have a particularly dismal prognosis with a medium overall survival of 5.8 months with currently available therapies. Large-scale sequencing studies have unraveled the mutational landscape of the chronic MPNs and MPN-BP, demonstrating importance of clonal heterogeneity and the role of somatic mutations in disease progression and their use to determine patient outcomes. JAK inhibitors represent the standard of care for intermediate/high-risk MF patients and have been shown to improve clinical symptoms. However, this therapeutic approach leads to a modest reduction in the variant allele frequency of the known MPN driver mutations in most patients and does not substantially delay or prevent the evolution to MPN-BP. In this article, we will review molecular mechanisms driving the progression from chronic MPNs to a BP, the impact of genetic changes on MPN-BP evolution, and the role of clonal evolution in response to JAK inhibitor therapy and disease progression. We will also discuss our ongoing functional studies of cells responsible for the development of MPN-BP.
Association of psychological distress and religious coping tendencies in parents of children recently diagnosed with cancer: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE Parents of children with cancer exhibit high levels of psychological distress. Parents of children with serious illness report religion and spirituality are important coping resources. We sought to describe characteristics of religion, religious coping, social support, and resiliency in parents of children newly diagnosed with cancer and examine associations between psychological distress and self-reported religious coping, religiosity, resiliency, and social support. PATIENTS AND METHODS Cross-sectional observational study of 100 parents of 81 unique children recently diagnosed with cancer. Parents provided demographic information and completed measures of psychological distress, importance of religion, religious coping, resiliency, and social support. Patients' type of tumor and intensity of treatment were collected by medical record abstraction. RESULTS Compared to nationally reported data for adults, parents of children with cancer reported high scores for psychological distress but similar levels of religiosity, religious coping, and resiliency. Negative religious coping (feelings of negativity related to the divine) was associated with higher levels of psychological distress. This effect was most prominent in parents who reported the highest levels of religiosity. Positive religious coping, religiosity, and social support were not associated with levels of psychological distress. DISCUSSION Findings confirm high levels of distress for parents of children with cancer. Negative religious coping was associated with higher levels of psychological distress but positive religious coping, religiosity, and other coping factors were not found to be significantly associated with distress. Further assessment of negative religious coping to inform interventions to promote resiliency is warranted as they may impact parental decision-making and care.
Gas clumping in the outskirts of the Virgo cluster

Observations of the ICM in the outskirts of the Virgo cluster with Suzaku have found the gas mass fraction in the northern direction to be significantly above the expected level, indicating that there may be a very high level of gas clumping on small scales in this direction. Here, we explore the XMM-Newton data in the outskirts of Virgo, dividing it into a Voronoi tessellation to separate the bulk ICM component from the clumped ICM component. As the nearest galaxy cluster, Virgo's large angular extent allows the spatial scale of the tessellation to be much smaller than has been achieved using the same technique on intermediate redshift clusters, allowing us to probe gas clumping on the scales down to 5$\times$5 kpc. We find that the level of gas clumping in the outskirts to the north is relatively mild, ($\sqrt{C} < 1.1$), suggesting that our point-source detection procedure may have excluded a significant fraction of clumps. While correcting for clumping brings the gas mass fraction at $r_{200}$ into agreement with the universal gas mass fraction, the values outside $r_{200}$ remain significantly above it. This may suggest that non-thermal pressure support in the outskirts to the north is significant, and we find that a non-thermal pressure support at the level of 20 per cent of the total pressure outside $r_{200}$ can explain the high gas mass fraction to the north, which is in agreement with the range expected from simulations.
“You Start with the Youth”: Narratives of Deservingness and Dissent at a Homeless Service Organization:

As they provide social services to people experiencing poverty and homelessness, many nonprofit organizations perpetuate ideologies that obscure the political and economic causes of poverty and bla...
Perceived Impact of Gentrification on Health and Well-Being: Exploring Social Capital and Coping Strategies in Gentrifying Neighborhoods

Despite its positive aspects, gentrification has been criticized for displacing the longtime low-income minorities. This study examined the role of social capital and community activism through the...