cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adoption of an evidence-based colorectal cancer screening promotion program by community organizations serving Filipino Americans

Filipino Americans have low rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening and high CRC mortality. To reduce this disparity, we conducted a dissemination trial in which we offered two levels of technical assistance to community organizations to disseminate an evidence-based CRC screening promotion program among their Filipino American members. This report describes the recruitment of organizations and adoption – the proportion and representativeness of organizations that decided to implement the program. During the recruitment phase, we completed organizational assessments with 44 community-based organizations (previous partners in research, organizations that were referred to us, or new organizations) to assess their eligibility to participate (having ≥ 150 Filipino American members age 50+). We compared organizational characteristics of organizations that did and did not adopt our CRC screening promotion program. Twenty two of the 44 community organizations that completed the assessment adopted the CRC screening promotion program (50%). Adoption was highest among organizations that had previously partnered with us (11/14 = 79%) and among organizations that were referred to us by community partners (5/10 = 50%) and lowest among new organizations (6/20 = 30%). Few organizational differences were found between adopters and non-adopters. The high rate of adoption among organizations that were referred by community partners or had partnered with us in the past underscores the importance of community resources, community-academic relationships, and partnership in the dissemination process. However, the moderate rate of adoption among new organizations and the demands of completing documentation and assessments in our trial to advance dissemination research raise questions regarding the generalizability of study findings.
The Post-Deal Returns of Acquiring Firms: Evidence of an Investment-based Explanation

This paper examines an investment-based explanation for the poor post-deal returns associated with acquisitions. Using a large sample of U.S. firms, we find that the post-deal abnormal stock returns, operating returns, and analyst forecast errors associated with acquisitions are similar to those of other firms that grow organically at the same rate. Moreover, acquisitions that are not associated with balance sheet expansion do not experience poor returns. This observation calls into question a large existing literature by asserting that the distinguishing characteristic associated with acquiring firms is simply their tendency to expand their balance sheet. Our evidence is most consistent with a model where investors systematically and symmetrically overcapitalize acquired and organic growth. The findings reframe our understanding of both the merger and asset growth literature.
Performance of Synthetic Neural Network Classification of Noisy Radar Signals

This study evaluates the performance of the multilayer-perceptron and the frequency-sensitive competitive learning network in identifying five commercial aircraft from radar backscatter measurements. The performance of the neural network classifiers is compared with that of the nearest-neighbor and maximum-likelihood classifiers. Our results indicate that for this problem, the neural network classifiers are relatively insensitive to changes in the network topology, and to the noise level in the training data. While, for this problem, the traditional algorithms outperform these simple neural classifiers, we feel that neural networks show the potential for improved performance.
Site-Specific Effects of Exotic Annual Grass Control Integrated with Revegetation

Invasion by exotic annual grass species such as downy brome and Japanese brome has been implicated in ecosystem degradation in much of the western United States and strategies to restore lands dominated by these species are needed. We evaluated integration of herbicide and revegetation to restore old-field and rangeland sites dominated by annual brome species. In split-plot field studies, we compared three imazapic herbicide rates and eight seeding treatments at an old-field and a rangeland site. We evaluated brome, seeded species, and existing vegetation response to our treatments. Herbicide controlled annual brome at both sites, with > 95% decreases in brome biomass in plots treated with the high rate compared to non-sprayed controls. Control of annual brome persisted for two growing seasons at the old-field site and one season at the rangeland site. Annual brome abundance in non-treated control plots at both sites decreased by 80% between the first and second growing season. No seeded individuals established at the old-field site, but they persisted through two growing seasons at the rangeland site. Seeded species establishment at the rangeland site was impacted by both herbicide rate and seed mix, but no clear patterns emerged. Finally, while we controlled brome at both sites, existing desired vegetation increased only at the old-field site, where perennial grass biomass increased by about 30% in plots sprayed with both rates of herbicide. The differing responses of the existing and seeded plant communities across the two sites highlight the importance of integrating site-specific knowledge into restoration plans.
Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Women Veterans and Associated Heart Health Risks

Abstract Purpose Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. CVD risk factors, including depression, smoking, heavy drinking, being overweight, and physical inactivity, are associated with stress and may be linked to women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. We know little about IPV and CVD risk factors among veteran women. The purpose of this study was to identify the association between lifetime IPV victimization and CVD risk factors among women, accounting for veteran status. Methods We used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2006 for the eight states that included the IPV module. We explored the associations between veteran status and lifetime IPV victimization and between IPV exposure and CVD risk factors, for veteran and non-veteran women. Findings Veteran women were more likely than non-veteran women to report lifetime IPV victimization (33.0% vs. 23.8%). IPV exposure was associated with depression, smoking, and heavy drinking. We did not find evidence for an association between IPV exposure and lack of exercise or being overweight or obese, when controlling for demographic characteristics and veteran status. Conclusion Women veterans have particularly high rates of lifetime IPV victimization. In addition, IPV victimization is associated with an increased risk of heart health risk factors. The findings suggest that we should attend to IPV exposure among veteran women and further investigate the link between IPV and military service, and the associated health impacts.
Predictors of PTSD symptom severity and social reactions in sexual assault victims

Demographics, assault variables, and postassault responses were analyzed as correlates of PTSD symptom severity in a sample of 323 sexual assault victims. Regression analyses indicated that less education, greater perceived life threat, and receipt of more negative social reactions upon disclosing assault were each related to greater PTSD symptom severity. Ethnic minority victims reported more negative social reactions from others. Victims of more severe sexual victimization reported fewer positive, but more negative reactions from others. Greater extent of disclosure of the assault was related to more positive and fewer negative social reactions. Telling more persons about the assault was related to more negative and positive reactions. Implications of these results for developing contextual theoretical models of rape-related PTSD are discussed.
Gandhi's Gita and politics as such

M. K. Gandhi's “Discourses on the Gita,” a series of talks delivered to ashramites at Sabarmati during 1926 and 1927, provides a singular instance in Indian intellectual thought in which the Bhagavad Gita's message of action is transformed into a theory of non-violent resistance. This essay argues that Gandhi's reading of the Gita has to be placed within an identifiable general understanding of the political that emerged among the so-called “extremists’ in the Congress towards the beginning of the twentieth century. Gandhi, we argue, wrested from the “Extremists” their vocabulary and their pre-eminent political text, the Gita, and put them to use in the cause of non-violent politics. But, more importantly, his discourses on the Gita after 1920 suggest an acceptance, on his part, of politics as it actually was. This is where he departed from the projects of Tilak or Aurobindo. The Gita, in Gandhi's hand, became a talismanic device that allowed the satyagrahi his or her involvement in political action while providing protection from the necessary and unavoidable venality of politics and its propensity to violence.
Performance of an optical PPM/CDMA system with turbo coding

In this paper, performance of an optical CDMA system with turbo coding is analyzed and simulated. It is assumed that the optical channel is an intensity-modulated (IM) channel and a direct-detection scheme is employed to detect the received optical signal. The modulation scheme used is pulse-position-modulation (PPM). From the simulation results, it is shown that turbo coding offers considerable coding gain with reasonable encoding/decoding complexity. Also, it is demonstrated that the performance of an optical CDMA system can be substantially improved by increasing the interleaver length and the number of iterations for a fixed code rate. The results in this paper can be applied, for example, to an optical wireless LAN operating in an indoor environment with multiple access applications.
Breast Cancer Patients' Experience of External-Beam Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is a critical component of treatment for the majority of women with breast cancer, particularly those who receive breast conserving surgery. Although medically beneficial, radiotherapy can take a physical and psychological toll on patients. However, little is known about the specific thoughts and feelings experienced by women undergoing breast cancer radiotherapy. Therefore, the study aim was to use qualitative research methods to develop an understanding of these thoughts and feelings based on 180 diary entries completed during radiotherapy by 15 women with stage 0 to stage III breast cancer. Thematic analysis identified four primary participant concerns: (a) a preoccupation with time, (b) fantasies (both optimistic and pessimistic) about life following radiotherapy, (c) the toll their side-effect experience takes on their self-esteem, and (d) feeling mystified by radiotherapy. These themes are consistent with previous literature on illness and identity. These findings have implications for the treatment and care of women undergoing breast cancer radiotherapy.
Dimerization of the Polymeric Immunoglobulin Receptor Controls Its Transcytotic Trafficking

Binding of dimeric immunoglobulin (Ig)A to the polymeric Ig receptor (pIgR) stimulates transcytosis of pIgR across epithelial cells. Through the generation of a series of pIgR chimeric constructs, we have tested the ability of ligand to promote receptor dimerization and the subsequent role of receptor dimerization on its intracellular trafficking. Using the cytoplasmic domain of the T cell receptor-ζ chain as a sensitive indicator of receptor oligomerization, we show that a pIgR:ζ chimeric receptor expressed in Jurkat cells initiates a ζ-specific signal transduction cascade when exposed to dimeric or tetrameric IgA, but not when exposed to monomeric IgA. In addition, we replaced the pIgR’s transmembrane domain with that of glycophorin A to force dimerization or with a mutant glycophorin transmembrane domain to prevent dimerization. Forcing dimerization stimulated transcytosis of the chimera, whereas preventing dimerization abolished ligand-stimulated transcytosis. We conclude that binding of dimeric IgA to the pIgR induces its dimerization and that this dimerization is necessary and sufficient to stimulate pIgR transcytosis.
High-Frequency Fringing Fields Loss in Thick Rectangular and Round Wire Windings

This paper examines high-frequency losses of thick rectangular and round wire windings due to the fringing fields of an air-gap. It derives formulas for the losses and validates them numerically using the 2-D finite-element method (FEM). It also provides a procedure for including the effect of self and proximity fields in the loss calculations, using the principle of superposition and a one-dimensional model of self and proximity fields. The paper validates the latter procedure numerically, using a 2-D finite element model.
Outgassing of ordinary chondritic material and some of its implications for the chemistry of asteroids, planets, and satellites

We used chemical equilibrium calculations to model thermal outgassing of ordinary chondritic material as a function of temperature, pressure, and bulk composition and use our results to discuss outgassing on asteroids and the early Earth. The calculations include ∼1000 solids and gases of the elements Al, C, Ca, Cl, Co, Cr, F, Fe, H, K, Mg, Mn, N, Na, Ni, O, P, S, Si, and Ti. The major outgassed volatiles from ordinary chondritic material are CH4, H2, H2O, N2, and NH3 (the latter at conditions where hydrous minerals form). Contrary to widely held assumptions, CO is never the major C-bearing gas during ordinary chondrite metamorphism. The calculated oxygen fugacity (partial pressure) of ordinary chondritic material is close to that of the quartz–fayalite–iron (QFI) buffer. Our results are insensitive to variable total pressure, variable volatile element abundances, and kinetic inhibition of C and N dissolution in Fe metal. Our results predict that Earth's early atmosphere contained CH4, H2, H2O, N2, and NH3; similar to that used in Miller—Urey synthesis of organic compounds.
Against Edges: Function Approximation with Multiple Support Maps

Networks for reconstructing a sparse or noisy function often use an edge field to segment the function into homogeneous regions, This approach assumes that these regions do not overlap or have disjoint parts, which is often false. For example, images which contain regions split by an occluding object can't be properly reconstructed using this type of network. We have developed a network that overcomes these limitations, using support maps to represent the segmentation of a signal. In our approach, the support of each region in the signal is explicitly represented. Results from an initial implementation demonstrate that this method can reconstruct images and motion sequences which contain complicated occlusion.
A model for the assessment of violence.

How good are we? It turns out that clinicians make reasonably accurate judgments about dangerousness for the purpose of involuntary commitment: persons committed to hospitals for dangerousness are significantly more likely to behave violently during the first days of their hospitalization than are those who are committed for other reasons. 3 Our ability to predict violent behavior over the long term, however, has not yet been demonstrated. We can identify populations more likely to be violent, but we cannot predict the specific risk of violence for a given individual.4,5 In practice, we can assess the approximate likelihood of violence, but not its nature or its magnitude. We plan morerestrictive treatments when we judge the risk of violence to be unacceptable. However, no specific threshold has been defined, either clinically or legally. The standard of care is to complete an assessment and to exercise reasonable clinical judgment. 6 We identify risk factors that correlate empirically with dangerousness; we identify historical factors that characterize the context of an individual patient’s aggressive behavior; and finally, we use those data to formulate a clinical judgment in terms of relative risk. Thus, we aim to integrate our general knowledge of empirically determined risk factors with specific knowledge of an individual’s history. With that combination, we establish a plan that addresses whatever factors can be realistically addressed yet acknowledges the factors that cannot be changed. For example, acute psychosis can be treated, social supports can be enhanced, and a program can be recommended to a patient who abuses substances. In contrast, a past history of violent assault, although it is a factor to be considered, cannot be treated or modified in any way. Identifying the factors that can be addressed in treatment defines the extent and proper limits of what the treatment team can do.
Creating political priority for micronutrient deficiencies: a qualitative case study from Senegal

Objectives: To examine what factors influence the agenda-setting process and level of political priority afforded to micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs). Design: Qualitative case study employing process tracing, informed by primary data collected from semistructured interviews with policymakers. Setting: Dakar, Senegal. Results: Several facilitating and impeding factors affecting the level of political prioritisation for MNDs were identified. Facilitating factors included multiple stakeholders using aligned framing to collectively advocate for MNDs; availability of indicators to quantify issue severity and raise awareness; and transnational advocacy activities around micronutrients. Impeding factors included lack of awareness among policymakers and civil society about MNDs; issue complexity, with the need for coordinated multisectoral response to deliver a complex package of solutions; lack of resources trapping the issue in a ‘low-priority’ cycle; lack of a policy champion to advocate for the issue and the challenge of demonstrating the effectiveness of interventions to support advocacy efforts. Conclusions: This study gives insight into the political prioritisation process for MNDs from the perspective of key stakeholders working at the national level in Senegal. In doing so, the study offers some explanation as to why the issue of MNDs has struggled to gain political attention and make it onto the national policy agenda. Moving forward, greater awareness of the factors affecting agenda setting for MNDs may help to devise political strategies to champion this development issue in countries with high burdens of micronutrient deficiencies.
New robustness theorem with application to adaptive control of nonlinear systems with input/output delays

Many systems must operate in the presence of delays both internal to the system and in its inputs and outputs. In this paper we present a new robustness result for nonlinear systems. We use this result to show that for small unknown input delays, a simple adaptive controller with leakage can produce output regulation to a neighborhood with radius dependent upon the size of the delay. This regulation occurs in the presence of persistent disturbances and the convergence is exponential. We conclude with an example to illustrate the behavior of this adaptive control law.
Structure and reactivity of an isolable seven-membered-ring trans-alkene.

The isolation and characterization of a trans-oxasilacycloheptene is reported. Single-crystal X-ray crystallographic studies indicate a high level of strain and deviation from ideal geometry. Reactions with several electrophiles demonstrated the nucleophilicity of the CC double bond, affording oxasilacycloheptane and tetrahydrofuran products as single diastereomers.
Focal skin defect, limb anomalies and microphthalmia.

We describe two unrelated female patients with congenital single focal skin defects, unilateral microphthalmia and limb anomalies. Growth and psychomotor development were normal and no brain malformation was detected. Although eye and limb anomalies are commonly associated, clinical anophthalmia and limb defects have not been reported with single focal aplasia of the skin. The described features may be compatible with a mild phenotypic variant of Goltz syndrome or may represent a previously undescribed syndrome. Morava, Eva
Recurrent Early Pregnancy Loss

Recurrent early pregnancy loss (RPL) is a profound personal tragedy to couples seeking parenthood and a formidable clinical challenge to their physician. Great strides have been made in characterizing the incidence and diversity of this heterogeneous disorder, and a definite cause of pregnancy loss can be established in over half of couples after a thorough evaluation. In this chapter, we review current data and provide a clear road map for the evaluation and treatment of RPL.
A new record of the rare alga Pachycladella P. C. Silva (Chlorophyceae) in New England

A rarely reported taxon, the microscopic green alga Pachycladella, was found in a pond in Connecticut. Due to an unresolved taxonomic debate within the genus, the species-level identity of the newly discovered population cannot be determined with absolute certainty. However, according to the currently accepted classification the Connecticut specimens best match Pachycladella zatoriensis, heretofore only known from Europe. The find represents not only the first record of Pachycladella in Connecticut, but also in the entire New England region. This study highlights the need for continuing floristic surveys even in regions previously well explored.
Harbormaster: Policy Enforcement for Containers

Lightweight virtualization, as implemented by application container solutions such as Docker, have the potential to revolutionize the way multi-tier applications are developed and deployed, especially in the cloud. The success of application containers can be partly attributed to their ability to share resources with the underlying platform that hosts them. As such, the isolation provided by such containers is not as strict as with traditional VMs. These very characteristics that have contributed to the success of application containers can also be seen as factors that limit their widespread commercial adoption, since enterprise IT administrators cannot implement the various -- and often fine-grained -- security policies they are required to abide by. This problem is of limited consequence when a host is running a single user's application containers. But sharing compute resources among multiple users is an important benefit of containers and cloud-based deployment. In this paper we present a preliminary discussion of the challenges associated with enterprise security policy management for application containers deployed in multi-user environments. Furthermore, we present Harbormaster, a system that addresses some of these challenges by enforcing policy checks on Docker container management operations and allowing administrators to implement the principle of least privilege.
Optical oximetry of volume-oscillating vascular compartments: contributions from oscillatory blood flow

We present a quantitative analysis of dynamic diffuse optical measurements to obtain oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in volume oscillating compartments. We used a phasor representation of oscillatory hemodynamics at the heart rate and respiration frequency to separate the oscillations of tissue concentrations of oxyhemoglobin (O) and deoxyhemoglobin (D) into components due to blood volume (subscript V V ) and blood flow (subscript F F ): O=O V +O F O=OV+OF , D=D V +D F D=DV+DF . This is achieved by setting the phase angle Arg(O F )−Arg(O) Arg(OF)−Arg(O) , which can be estimated by a hemodynamic model that we recently developed. We found this angle to be −72 deg −72 deg for the cardiac pulsation at 1 Hz, and −7 deg −7 deg for paced breathing at 0.1 Hz. Setting this angle, we can obtain the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin of the volume-oscillating vascular compartment, S V =|O V |/(|O V |+|D V |) SV=|OV|/(|OV|+|DV|) . We demonstrate this approach with cerebral near-infrared spectroscopy measurements on healthy volunteers at rest (n=4 n=4 ) and during 0.1 Hz paced breathing (n=3 n=3 ) with a 24-channel system. Rest data at the cardiac frequency were used to calculate the arterial saturation, S (a) S(a) ; over all subjects and channels, we found ⟨S V ⟩=⟨S (a) ⟩=0.96±0.02 ⟨SV⟩=⟨S(a)⟩=0.96±0.02 . In the case of paced breathing, we found ⟨S V ⟩=0.66±0.14 ⟨SV⟩=0.66±0.14 , which reflects venous-dominated hemodynamics at the respiratory frequency.
Salivary gland morphology, tissue tropism and the progression of tospovirus infection in Frankliniella occidentalis

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is transmitted by thrips in a propagative manner; however, progression of virus infection in the insect is not fully understood. The goal of this work was to study the morphology and infection of thrips salivary glands. The primary salivary glands (PSG) are complex, with three distinct regions that may have unique functions. Analysis of TSWV progression in thrips revealed the presence of viral proteins in the foregut, midgut, ligaments, tubular salivary glands (TSG), and efferent duct and filament structures connecting the TSG and PSG of first and second instar larvae. The primary site of virus infection shifted from the midgut and TSG in the larvae to the PSG in adults, suggesting that tissue tropism changes with insect development. TSG infection was detected in advance of PSG infection. These findings support the hypothesis that the TSG are involved in trafficking of TSWV to the PSG.
Detection by Tissue Culture of an Organism Resembling Histoplasma capsulation in an Apparently Healthy Horse.

SummaryIntracellular organisms resembling Histoplasma capsulatum have been observed in apparently normal amnio-allantoic membrane and adult horse spleen maintained in tissue culture.The significance of this finding and comparison with another fungus Cryptococcus jarciminosus is discussed.
An Fc domain protein-small molecule conjugate as an enhanced immunomodulator.

Proteins as well as small molecules have demonstrated success as therapeutic agents, but their pharmacologic properties sometimes fall short against particular drug targets. Although the adenosine 2a receptor (A2AR) has been identified as a promising target for immunotherapy, small molecule A2AR agonists have suffered from short pharmacokinetic half-lives and the potential for toxicity by modulating nonimmune pathways. To overcome these limitations, we have tethered the A2AR agonist CGS-21680 to the immunoglobulin Fc domain using expressed protein ligation with Sf9 cell secreted protein. The protein small molecule conjugate Fc-CGS retained potent Fc receptor and A2AR interactions and showed superior properties as a therapeutic for the treatment of a mouse model of autoimmune pneumonitis. This approach may provide a general strategy for optimizing small molecule therapeutics.
An Overview of Materials Science in Printed Circuit Packaging

A brief description of a set of processes and materials to make printed circuit panels will be given. Then we will discuss the multi-disciplines required for forming a scientific base and provide examples where the fundamentalist and often times specialist is providing the scientific data needed by the packaging engineer. Control techniques, characterization or otherwise basic information helpful in decision making is provided to the development and production groups. Specifically, the state of resin cure at critical steps in the process is used to demonstrate the inter-relation between cure, flow, and mechanical properties in affecting printed circuit board integrity. Finally, the complex role of moisture solubility and diffusion from the process environment in perturbing the chemical and mechanical state is discussed.
Diasporic community smartness: saberes (knowings) beyond schooling and borders

AbstractThis article presents ethnographic data of US Mexican-indigenous heritage children’s transnational experiences during return visits to Mexico. US-born children and youth’s acquisition of transnational diasporic community knowledge, in this article, is studied as a form of ‘smartness.’ Diasporic community knowledge is defined as the saberes (knowings) and ‘smartness’ developed in relation with familia (family) and community life that originate, in this case, in the pueblo of San Miguel Nocutzepo, and that span the geo-physical and geo-political spaces of migration to and from the US. This study finds that these return visit experiences and the saberes/smartness acquired and developed through them were valuable to families and children because they socialize US Mexican-indigenous heritage children and youth in different knowledge systems, and allow them a smartness that is ancestral and that encourages mature participation in diasporic family and community life across transnational social fields.
African American Masculinity in the Wartime Diaries of Two Vietnam Soldiers

In her article "African American Masculinity in the Wartime Diaries of Two Vietnam Soldiers" Sharon D. Raynor discusses an unpublished diary (1967-68) written by her father, Louis Raynor with the diary (1965-66) of David Parks that was revised and published as a memoir. By contextualizing the traditions of African American autographical writing and wartime diaries, Raynor analyzes how African American masculinity permeates the autobiographical structure in the Raynor and Parks diaries as each soldier interweaves a collective experience with a unique personal experience in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam experience challenged their ideologies about racial politics, but affirmed their masculine identity in the face of violence. Raynor focuses on how in these wartime life writings, African American masculine identity is pervasive in the narratives and how it is performed and documented by Raynor and Parks differently.
A working hypothesis for urecholine effects on histamine stimulation of gastric secretion.

Hirschowitz, B. I. & Hutchison, G. A. A working hypothesis for urecholine effects on histamine stimulation of gastric secretion. Scand. J. Gastroent, 1973, 8, 569-576Gastric juice volume, H and Cl ...
Prostatic urethral lift: a novel approach for managing symptomatic BPH in the aging man.

Introduction Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an obligate disorder of the aging male prostate with close associations to other metabolic conditions of aging including obesity. Clinical manifestations of this chronic disorder increase as men age suggesting that a growing number of older men will require intervention for progressive voiding symptoms or bladder dysfunction. Materials and methods The Prostatic Urethral Lift (PUL) procedure represents a new endoscopic approach in which small permanent intraprostatic implants are positioned to correct bladder outlet obstruction without tissue destruction. An overview of the treatment modality, review of recent literature, and analysis of data in the context of cost considerations is presented. Results The mean symptom score improvement of the prospective, sham controlled, pivotal trial was 11 points, 88% greater than sham controls. Multiple studies have confirmed symptom score improvement of at least 52%. Durability has been established out to 3 years. A randomized comparison between PUL and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) established PUL as superior to TURP in terms of a composite BPH6 endpoint which incorporated symptom relief, quality of recovery, erectile function preservation, ejaculatory function preservation, continence preservation, and safety. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence of the United Kingdom conducted an analysis that found PUL is less costly than TURP. Earlier management with PUL may even reduce overall cost for those patients managed with medication. Conclusion Current reports have demonstrated rapid voiding symptom improvement with a low risk of adverse events suggesting that this procedure represents a safe and cost effective new paradigm for the early therapy for BPH/ LUTS.
Radiation therapy in the management of rectal cancer.

Despite improvements in surgical techniques, the overall survival rate for carcinoma of the rectum has not increased. There is clearly a role for adjuvant therapy in rectal carcinoma. This article reviews the problem and predictors of local relapse after curvative surgical resection, a major cause of morbidity in rectal cancer. The role of radiation therapy in preventing local recurrence and potentially improving survival is discussed. Results with preoperative and postoperative radiation therapy in the adjuvant setting, combined modality therapy, and the treatment of recurrent or unresectable rectal carcinoma are reviewed.
Usefulness of Psoas Muscle Area Determined by Computed Tomography to Predict Mortality or Prolonged Length of Hospital Stay in Patients Undergoing Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation.

The purpose of this study is to examine the association of sarcopenia as measured by psoas muscle area and outcomes in patients undergoing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. We retrospectively examined 333 consecutive patients who underwent implantation of a HeartMate II LVAD at our institution from June 2008 to August 2013. Patients were included if they had a perioperative computed tomography that spanned the L3-L4 vertebrae. Sarcopenia was defined as having the lowest tertile psoas muscle area by gender. The primary end point was the composite of inpatient death or prolonged length of stay of >30 days. One hundred patients met inclusion criteria. The psoas muscle area cut-off values for the lowest tertiles were 12.0 cm 2 for men and 6.5 cm 2 for women, resulting in 32 sarcopenic patients (32%). The primary outcome of inpatient death or prolonged length of stay occurred in 81% of patients in the sarcopenic versus 60% in the nonsarcopenic group (p = 0.043). There was a trend toward prolonged length of stay in sarcopenic patients but no difference in overall mortality. This demonstrates that sarcopenia as measured by psoas muscle area is associated with increased composite length of stay and mortality after LVAD implantation and may serve as correlate for frailty.
Long-term treatment with low dose naltrexone maintains stable health in patients with multiple sclerosis:

IntroductionA retrospective study was conducted on patients at Penn State Hershey Medical Center diagnosed with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis between 2006 and 2015.MethodologyLaboratory an...
Social health cues developers use when choosing open source packages

Developers choose open source packages from many alternatives. One increasingly important factor when choosing a package is its "social health", or a developer’s ability to get help on communication channels. We conduct a study to understand how developers learn about the social health of open source packages before using them. We offer preliminary results of the cues developers find.
Using Spectrum-Based Fault Location and Heatmaps to Express Debugging Suggestions to Student Programmers

Automated grading systems are useful for conveying debugging feedback to students, but the manner in which this feedback is displayed can be problematic for students. Automated systems usually report failures in student code, whether it be the results of test case failures or runtime errors. However, since most students are not explicitly taught how to debug, many get stuck. They know the defects exist, but they don't have to experience to know how to find them. Much work has been done in software engineering research using automatic fault localization to programmatically locate bugs within a piece of code under test, as well as research into validating those detection models when applied to student code. However, determining how to present that information back to the student has not been addressed. There is a balance between giving hints and telling the student exactly where the error occurred. The goal of this paper is to present a technique to present the student's code with suggestions to the student of where to investigate, based on the results of the automatic fault location. Taking results from the GZoltar statistical fault localization library, we have developed a method of expressing the suggestions to the students by visualizing the potential defect locations within the context of the student's source code using heatmaps.
Percutaneous Ventricular Restoration with a Partitioning Device for Ischemic Heart Failure Treatment

Percutaneous ventricular restoration with a ventricular partitioning device (VPD) is a novel minimally invasive procedure designed to restore the left ventricular (LV) shape by isolating the infarcted and aneurysmal LV apex from remainder of the cavity in heart failure patients with severely reduced LV ejection fraction. In this review, we perform an in-depth analysis of the design and purpose of the VPD and review the available clinical data, with special attention to hemodynamics, outcomes, and complications. PARACHUTE trials have shown >90% procedural success rate of VPD implant. Heart failure patients had improvement in hemodynamics (reduction in LV volumes and increase in LV ejection fraction) and functional status (6-min walking distance and quality of life scores) after the VPD implant. Optimal implant position is necessary to obtain a good clinical outcome. Percutaneous VPD implantation has thus far been a safe intervention capable of improving surrogate markers of heart failure but there is still a need to develop more durable devices with a long-lasting hemodynamics effect.
Two-photon-absorption line strengths for nitric oxide: Comparison of theory and sub-Doppler, laser-induced fluorescence measurements

We discuss the results of high-resolution, sub-Doppler two-photon-absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TPALIF) spectroscopy of nitric oxide at low pressure and room temperature. The measurements were performed using the single-longitudinal mode output of a diode-laser-seeded optical parametric generator (OPG) system with a measured frequency bandwidth of 220 MHz. The measurements were performed using a counter-propagating pump beam geometry, resulting in sub-Doppler TPALIF spectra of NO for various rotational transitions in the (0,0) vibrational band of the A2Σ+ − X2Π electronic transition. The experimental results are compared with the results of a perturbative treatment of the rotational line strengths for the 20 different rotational branches of the X2Π(v″ = 0) → A2Σ+(v′ = 0) two-photon absorption band. In the derivation of the expressions for the two-photon transition absorption strength, the closure relation is used for rotational states in the intermediate levels of the two-photon transition in ana...
Relative abundance of 'Candidatus Tenderia electrophaga' is linked to cathodic current in an aerobic biocathode community.

Biocathode microbial communities are proposed to catalyse a range of useful reactions. Unlike bioanodes, model biocathode organisms have not yet been successfully cultivated in isolation highlighting the need for culture-independent approaches to characterization. Biocathode MCL (Marinobacter, Chromatiaceae, Labrenzia) is a microbial community proposed to couple CO2 fixation to extracellular electron transfer and O2 reduction. Previous metagenomic analysis of a single MCL bioelectrochemical system (BES) resulted in resolution of 16 bin genomes. To further resolve bin genomes and compare community composition across replicate MCL BES, we performed shotgun metagenomic and 16S rRNA gene (16S) sequencing at steady-state current. Clustering pooled reads from replicate BES increased the number of resolved bin genomes to 20, over half of which were > 90% complete. Direct comparison of unassembled metagenomic reads and 16S operational taxonomic units (OTUs) predicted higher community diversity than the assembled/clustered metagenome and the predicted relative abundances did not match. However, when 16S OTUs were mapped to bin genomes and genome abundance was scaled by 16S gene copy number, estimated relative abundance was more similar to metagenomic analysis. The relative abundance of the bin genome representing 'Ca. Tenderia electrophaga' was correlated with increasing current, further supporting the hypothesis that this organism is the electroautotroph.
Patient safety is improved with an incident learning system-Clinical evidence in brachytherapy.

Abstract Background and purpose Health leaders have advocated for incident learning systems (ILSs) to prevent errors, but there is limited evidence demonstrating that ILSs improve cancer patient safety. Herein, we report a long-term retrospective review of ILS reports for the brachytherapy practice at a large academic institution. Material and methods Over a nine-year period, the brachytherapy practice was encouraged to report all standard operating procedure deviations, including low risk deviations. A multidisciplinary committee assigned root causes and risk scores to all incidents. Evidence based practice changes were made using ILS data, and relevant incidents were communicated to all staff in order to reduce recurrence rates. Results 5258 brachytherapy procedures were performed and 2238 incidents were reported from 2007 to 2015. A ramp-up period was observed in ILS participation between 2007 (0.12 submissions/procedures) and 2011 (1.55 submissions/procedures). Participation remained stable between 2011 and 2015, and we achieved a 60% ( p p p p Conclusions Implementation of an ILS in brachytherapy significantly reduced risk during cancer patient care. Safety improvements have been sustained over several years.
Oxygen and the Rapid Evolution of Life on Mars

Mars had liquid water, and possibly life, on it surface about 3.5–4 billion years ago. Because Mars is smaller, lacks plate tectonics, and had smaller initial water abundance, it would have been more readily oxidized than the Earth. Thus, after the origin of life the key evolutionary steps — oxygenic photosynthesis, endosymbiosis, and multicellularity — related to the concentration of atmospheric oxygen could have occurred much more rapidly on Mars than on Earth. It is possible that during its brief biotic history, estimated to be a billion years or less, Mars experienced the range of biological evolution that would be duplicated on the Earth only with the start of the Cambrian. Examining the fossil record on Mars will be a direct test of these speculations.
Structure and functional morphology of the acid-secreting pygidial glands in the whipscorpion Mastigoproctus giganteus (Lucas, 1835) (Arachnida: Thelyphonida)

The order Thelyphonida (Chelicerata: Arachnida) contains more than 100 species of whipscorpions that live in warm tropical and xeric environments. All whipscorpions possess a pair of pygidial glands in their opisthosoma that secrete and actively discharge a defensive spray composed mostly of acetic acid, hence their common name, vinegaroon. To date, the structure of the glands remains poorly understood and has not been subject to detailed analysis for more than a century. Here, we provide the first description of gland structure in the North American vinegaroon, Mastigoproctus giganteus. We used paraffin histology to study general gland structure in juveniles (2nd instar) and adults. We supplement these observations with histochemical stains, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We found the glands to be composed of numerous long strips of multinucleated syncytium that rest on a basal lamina that lacks an external muscle coat. The gland syncytia contain abundant glycogen granules and secretion drops of different sizes and staining qualities. The adult epithelium is organized into three general patterns: as simple epithelia, as simple acinar glands, and as compound acinar glands. The juvenile gland epithelium is less distinctly organized. A cuticular intima lines the apical (lumenal) surface of adult and juvenile glands, is multilaminate, contains chitin, and may be permeated by irregular pores. The basal side of the intima consists of cuticular, finger-like projections that protrude into a subcuticular space. The underlying epithelium possesses an apical brush border of microvilli that appears to engage in Kurosumi’s type III extrusion, but the contents (cuticle or acids) of the vesicles are unknown. Curiously, the cells possess apical nuclei that also suggest a basal route of secretion, but details on this process are undetermined. Together, these results reveal that vinegaroon pygidial glands are unlike most other arachnid exocrine glands in their structure, methods of secretion, and mechanisms of discharge.
Implementation of Piezoelectric Shape Sensors Using Digital Image Correlation

A practical procedure of implementing shape sensors for full-field deformation sensing of a structure is demonstrated in this extended abstract. The sensors are constructed using a piezoelectric film material which is bonded to the surface of a beam structure. The electrical outputs of the sensors are then calibrated such that the modal coordinates of the beam displacement can be measured. Calibration of the sensors is performed by using beam displacement data from high-speed 3D digital image correlation (DIC). Operational modal analysis is used to estimate mode shapes and to extract the modal coordinates from the DIC data. The shape sensor is then implemented by calibrating sensor voltages to the extracted modal coordinates. This extended abstract presents the procedure and results of this methodology on a beam instrumented with rectangular piezoelectric sensors of arbitrary length.
Beyond Belief and Desire: or, How to Be Orthonomous

The standard belief-desire account of the explanation of action is inadequate to the task of explaining even the very simplest actions. We must suppose instead that three psychological states are in play when we explain action, not just two: desire, belief, and the exercise of the capacity to be instrumentally rational. Once we enrich our understanding of action explanation to acknowledge the causal role played by an agent’s exercise of his rational capacities, much richer accounts of action explanation come into view, accounts that highlight the many different ways in which agents’ actions can be explained by their rational capacities. Of special interest are cases in which agents’ actions are explained by their failure to exercise their rational capacities, where these are capacities that they possess, and cases in which their actions are explained by their failure to exercise their rational capacities, where these are capacities that they do not possess. Richer accounts of action explanation such as these suggest a distinctive story about the conditions under which people are responsible for wrongdoing, a story with surprising implications for our understanding of what it is for an agent’s moral beliefs to be justified.