cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Atropisomeric determination of chiral hydroxylated metabolites of polychlorinated biphenyls using HPLC-MS

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of environmental persistent organic pollutants, which can be metabolized into a series of metabolites, including hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs) in biota. Nineteen of 209 PCB congeners can form chiral stable isomers. However, atropisomeric determination of the hydroxylated metabolites of these chiral PCBs has never been reported by LC methods. In this work, a novel HPLC-MS method was developed to detect five chiral OH-PCBs (4OH-PCB91, 5OH-PCB91, 4OH-PCB95, 5OH-PCB95 and 5OH-PCB149) using HPLC-MS without a derivatization step. The influences of column-type, column temperature, flow rate and ratio of the mobile phase on the atropisomeric separation were investigated in detail. In the final method, calibration curves, based on peak areas against concentration, were linear in a range of 1–100 ng mL-1 of five chiral OH-PCBs with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.9996 to 0.9999 for all atropisomers of OH-PCBs. The relative standard deviations measured at the 10.0 ng mL-1 level for atropisomers of five chiral OH-PCBs were in the range of 0.60-7.55% (n = 5). Calculated detection limits (S/N = 3) of five chiral OH-PCBs were between 0.31 and 0.60 ng mL-1 for all OH-PCB atropisomers. This HPLC-MS method was developed to detect chiral OH-PCBs and further successfully applied to measure OH-PCB atropisomer levels and enantiomeric fractions (EFs) in rat liver microsomal samples. The results from LC-MS method were highly consistent with those from GC-ECD method. It is the first time to report these OH-PCB atropisomers detected in microsomes by HPLC-MS. The proposed method might be applied also to detect chiral OH-PCBs in environmental samples and for metabolites of PCBs in vivo.
Race-based job discrimination, disparities in job control, and their joint effects on health.

Objectives To examine disparities between job control scores in Black and White subjects and attempt to discern whether self-rated low job control in Blacks may arise from structural segregation into different jobs, or represents individual responses to race-based discrimination in hiring or promotion. Methods Data from the National Survey of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) were analyzed by mixed-effects linear regression and variance regression to determine the effects of grouping by occupation, and racial discrimination in hiring or promotion, on control scores from the Job Content Questionnaire in Black and White subjects. Path analyses were constructed to determine the mediating effect of discrimination on pathways from education and job control to self-rated health. Results BlacksubjectsexhibitedlowermeanjobcontrolscorescomparedtoWhites(mean score difference 2.26, P<0.001) adjusted for age, sex, education, and income. This difference narrowed to 1.86 when adjusted for clustering by occupation, and was greatly reduced by conditioning on race-based discrimination (score difference 1.03, P ¼0.12). PathanalysesshowedgreaterreporteddiscriminationinBlackswithincreasingeducation, and a stronger effect of job control on health in Black subjects. Conclusions Individual racially-based discrimination appears a stronger determinant than structural segregation in reduced job control in Black workers, and may contribute to health disparities consequent on work. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:587–595, 2014. 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Fast optical signals in the peripheral nervous system

We present a study of the near-infrared optical response to electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves. The sural nerve of six healthy subjects between the ages of 22 and 41 was stimulated with transcutaneous electrical pulses in a region located approximately 10 cm above the ankle. A two-wavelength 690 and 830 nm tissue spectrometer was used to probe the same sural nerve below the ankle. We measured optical changes that peaked 60 to 160 ms after the electrical stimulus. On the basis of the strong wavelength dependence of these fast optical signals, we argue that their origin is mostly from absorption rather than scattering. From these absorption changes, we obtain oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentration changes that de- scribe a rapid hemodynamic response to electrical nerve activation. In five out of six subjects, this hemodynamic response is an increase in total oxy+deoxy hemoglobin concentration, consistent with a fast vasodilation. Our findings support the hypothesis that the peripheral nervous system undergoes neurovascular coupling, even though more data is needed to prove such hypothesis. © 2006 Society of Photo-Optical
Surgical Pearl: Use of nerve blocks for botulinum toxin treatment of palmar-plantar hyperhidrosis

From Dermatologic Surgery, Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine,a and the Department of Anesthesiology,b University of Washington School of Medicine. Reprints not available from authors. J Am Acad Dermatol 2001;45:587-9. Copyright © 2001 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. 0190-9622/2001/$35.00 + 0 16/74/116341 doi:10.1067/mjd.2001.116341 B otulinum toxin, a polypeptide that irreversibly blocks release of acetylcholine from presynaptic membranes, has become an alternative for the treatment of localized hyperhidrosis.1-7 Pain during injection of palms and soles is one of the main disadvantages of its use. Injections are aimed at the junction of the dermis and subcutaneous tissue where the sweat glands are located. Intracutaneous or subcutaneous injections have been given without anesthesia,1,5 with cold packs,4 or with regional blockade of the median and ulnar nerves.7 We report techniques for peripheral nerve blocks that may be considered to diminish the pain of injection.
Marshaling the autonomic nervous system for treatment of atrial fibrillation.

A number of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF), and some are intricately linked to the autonomic nervous system (ANS) (1). A potential neural influence in AF was suggested by Coumel et al. (2) in 1978 and has since been extensively investigated. Experimentally, stimulation of autonomic nerves during the atrial refractory period has been shown to produce rapid ectopic beats from the pulmonary veins (PVs) and superior vena cava, which in turn can initiate AF (3,4). It is now well recognized that the ANS has an important contribution to the pathogenesis of AF (5,6). However, AF remains poorly understood, and the specific mechanisms underlying the relationship between the ANS and AF have yet to be fully elucidated. Despite this limited knowledge base, both cardiac and extra-cardiac autonomic structures (such as the renal arteries) have been targets of AF therapy (7). Anatomically, the ANS has direct projections to the heart and also indirect projections via the intrinsic cardiac nervous system (ICN), distributed into ganglionated plexi (GPs). GPs are not simply “relay stations” for ANS projections to the heart; they contain sympathetic efferent, parasympathetic efferent, sensory afferent, and local circuit neurons (8,9). Extensive processing of these inputs occurs at the level of the ICN. There is increasing evidence that the ICN plays an active role in the regulation of cardiac function. For example, the right atrial ganglionated plexus (RAGP), found near the right PV complex, mediates vagal control of the sinoatrial (SA) node. Disruption of the RAGP eliminates para-sympathetic projections to the SA node but leaves intact parasympathetic-mediated suppression of sympathetic projections to the SA node (10). GPs exert influence locally but can also influence distant regions. Stimulation of neurons in the RAGP with nicotine, for example, causes changes in unipolar wave forms not only in the atria but also surprisingly in the ventricles. Thus, spatially divergent and overlapping cardiac regions are under the influence of neurons throughout the ICN (11). This also implies a certain degree of redundancy in the network. Imbalances in the ICN are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of AF. Although still controversial, numerous strategies have been used to ablate GPs as adjunctive (12) or stand-alone (13) therapy in the treatment of AF. These approaches have relied on functionally identifying GP regions to target energy delivery, on the basis of autonomic responses to electrical stimulation. Other methods are anatomic, such as targeting the vein of Marshall (VOM) (14), either surgically or by catheter-based approaches (15–17).
Surrogate biomarkers in evaluating response to anti-angiogenic agents: focus on sunitinib

Conventional methods to assess the clinical activity of new agents that target specific biological pathways involved in tumour pathology may not provide correlation with clinically relevant outcomes such as patient survival or progression-free disease, and new and alternative methods should be explored. Biomarkers can assist in evaluation, and once validated, serve as a surrogate for clinical activity. Angiogenesis, a process well known to be involved in tumour growth and metastasis, is the target of several agents available today in the treatment of cancer. Laboratory assays used to detect proteins involved in angiogenesis and emerging imaging approaches have provided the bulk of the biomarker data to date in this area, and have already corroborated aspects of the biochemical basis of anti-angiogenic strategy. This symposium article will provide a brief overview of biomarker data in several different tumour types and discuss the effect that sunitinib and other anti-angiogenic agents have on these biomarkers. Surrogate biomarkers discussed include soluble proteins found in the blood or urine, circulating endothelial cells and their progenitors, and non-invasive imaging techniques.
A Biomechanical Comparison of Bosworth and Poly-L Lactic Acid Bioabsorbable Screws for Treatment of Acromioclavicular Separations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the failure load of intact coracoclavicular ligaments and the pullout strength of a poly-L lactic acid screw (PLLA, Linvatec, Largo, FL) compared with a titanium screw (Bosworth, Stryker Howmedica Osteonics, Allendale, NJ) in the repair of fifth-degree acromioclavicular separations. Type of Study: Biomechanical cadaveric study. Methods: The ultimate tensile strength of coracoclavicular ligaments was determined using a servohydraulic testing machine (MTS, Eden Prairie, MN) by creating grade V acromioclavicular separations. Titanium Bosworth screws and Linvatec PLLA screws were placed across the reduced coracoclavicular joint and through the base of the coracoid process of right and left matched cadaveric shoulder specimens, respectively. The axial pullout strength was determined by MTS uniaxial tensile testing along the screw axis to determine the ultimate fixation failure load at a rate of 1 mm/second. Results: Intact coracoclavicular ligaments required an axial load of 340.15 ± 100.77 N to fail. The bioabsorbable PLLA screw provided fixation strength that was significantly less than the Bosworth screw fixation strength: 272.01 ± 63.26 and 367.01 ± 111.54 N, respectively ( P t test). Conclusions: The titanium Bosworth screw restored strength to the acromioclavicular joint equivalent to the intact coracoclavicular ligament; however, the bioabsorbable PLLA screw fixation was significantly weaker than the intact ligaments and the Bosworth repair. Clinical Relevance: Titanium Bosworth screws supply more strength of fixation in grade V acromioclavicular separations than the PLLA screw tested in this study.
Safety Certification—A Path to Job Security and Personal Growth

In 2005, the American Board for Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. introduced a new credential in safety management for certified occupational health nurses. To date, 11 nurses have attained this credential and several of those have advanced to the Certified Safety Professional designation. This article discusses the certification process and its benefits. It also discusses problems in the application process observed by the administrators, and offers suggestions to prepare for the examination. Nurses who have attained the Safety Manager credential were surveyed for advice to those considering certification.
Sensible and Latent Heat Transfer to a Baffled Finned-Tube Heat Exchanger

A straightforward heat exchanger thermal model is presented and verified experimentally. It may be used to predict the performance of a coil that has condensation occurring on the gas side. Experimentally determined heat and mass transfer coefficients are employed in the model Sample data are presented for a wide range of surface wetting conditions. Partially wet heat exchangers are analyzed by employing an area weighting scheme to the dry and wet portions of the coil with moderate success. It is shown that employing a heat / mass transfer analogy in predicting the performance of a condensing heal exchanger may lead to a considerably undersized coil design.
MMSE multiuser detection for cooperative diversity CDMA systems

Cooperative diversity transmission exploits the spatial diversity created by antenna sharing in a wireless network. The objective of this paper is to investigate the cooperative diversity technique performed in a multi-hop DS-CDMA system, where the limiting factor in the system is the multi-access interference (MAl). We focus on the use of minimum mean-square error (MMSE) multiuser detection (MUD) in the uplink of cooperative CDMA networks. MMSE detectors are designed to suitably combine the signals from the direct path and relaying path and minimize the signal in the interference-and-noise ratio at the receiver output. We evaluate the bit error rate (BER) performance of cooperative transmission in narrow-band block fading channel. Also, MMSE detection is applied in a random CDMA network and the average performance is presented through Monte-Carlo simulations. It is illustrated that, through using MMSE detection in a non-orthogonal CDMA system, cooperation is beneficial in terms of introducing additional diversity gain and thus ensuring a low bit error rate.
Putting molecular disease research into physiological context.

Researchers seek novel ways to promote whole animal physiology and link molecular studies of disease with systems biology. Nicole Garbarini investigates.
The impact of genetic engineering on the commercial production of antibiotics by Streptomyces and related bacteria.

Developments inStreptomyces genetics that have laid a foundation for this field over the past ten years are reviewed and discussed to suggest how this knowledge might useful for improving the commercial production of antibiotics. This brief analysis predicts a bright future for the application ofStreptomyces genetics in antibiotic production.
Obstacles to children developing as mature persons

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on obstacles to the development of children into mature, responsible persons whether those children are classified as poor or not.Design/methodology/approach – The paper concentrates on four obstacles: home, health, school, and neighborhood.Findings – Regarding home‐based obstacles, parents with incomes above the poverty line stated that 10.4 million of their children require more time than they anticipated, and 1.3 million children make them angry. As to health obstacles, with few exceptions, American children are generally in good health. Specifically, the general health status of more than 95 percent of all children is reported as excellent, very good, or good. With respect to school‐based obstacles, there are 1.8 to 2.5 million school‐age children who do not like school, are not interested in school, or do not work hard in school. Nonpoor children outnumber poor children by 4:1. Finally, regarding the neighborhoods in which they live, 33.9 million of all...
Retelling Is Not the Same as Recalling Implications for Memory

In contrast to laboratory free recall (which emphasizes detailed and accurate remembering), conversational retellings depend upon the speaker's goals, the audience, and the social context more generally. Because memories are frequently retrieved in social contexts, retellings of events are often incomplete or distorted, with consequences for later memory. Selective rehearsal contributes to the memory effects, as does the schema activated during retelling. Retellings can be linked to memory errors observed in domains such as eyewitness testimony and flashbulb memories; in all of these situations, people retell events rather than engage in verbatim remembering.
Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Mediastinitis

Community-associated methicillin (meticillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) continues to emerge as a cause of serious infections, chiefly of the skin and soft tissues. We present the first documented case of CA-MRSA mediastinitis in an adult. Blood and mediastinal isolates were characterized as CA-MRSA by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and susceptibility testing.
Modeling without Mathematics

Inquiries into the nature of scientific modeling have tended to focus their attention on mathematical models and, relatedly, to think of nonconcrete models as mathematical structures. The arguments of this article are arguments for rethinking both tendencies. Nonmathematical models play an important role in the sciences, and our account of scientific modeling must accommodate that fact. One key to making such accommodations, moreover, is to recognize that one kind of thing we use the term ‘model’ to refer to is a collection of propositions.
Experimental esophagitis in cats impairs lower esophageal sphincter pressure.

We studied the effect of esophageal inflammation on lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure in cats by measuring LES pressure and taking mucosal biopsies before and after the development of experimental esophagitis, as well as after a 31/2-week recovery period. Perfusion of the esophagus with 0.1 n HC1 for either 1 hr or 1/2 hr per day for 4 days produced inflammatory changes by mucosal biopsy and was associated with a marked decline in LES pressure. Upon resolution of the inflammation, LES pressure returned to normal. Biopsies were normal in control groups which underwent either esophageal perfusion with distilled water or intragastric perfusion with acid, 1 hr per day for 4 days, and LES pressures in these groups remained unchanged from pre-perfusion values. These studies indicate that lower esophageal inflammation per se adversely affects LES pressure in cats, and that experimental esophagitis may be a useful model for the study of LES function and its relation to esophageal inflammation.
Morpheme Data Analysis in Second Language Acquisition Research: Renewing an Old Debate and Raising New Issues

This article will review options which confront second language acquisition researchers in their analysis of a learner's morpheme production. It will first critically examine several different procedures which can be used to compute production accuracy, particularly when assigning values to morpheme oversuppliance, substitution, and regularization, and then review various ways in which morpheme suppliance scores can be computed within individual linguistic contexts or on overall basis, across a speaker's corpus. Conversations with 18 native Spanish speaking adult acquires of English L2 will be used to highlight the often contradictory results obtained when one procedure is chosen over another to quantify the same corpus of morphemes, and to set forth problems which arise when comparisons are made of learners whose morpheme production accuracy has not been computer under the same procedures. Finally, the argument will be made that issues arising from procedural choices in morpheme data analysis are also relevant to research on other dimensions of second language acqusition.
EKF-Based In-Vehicle Estimation of Relative CG Height

The distance from the center of gravity (CG) of the sprung mass to the roll axis, referred to as the relative CG height, is a critical parameter in vehicle roll motion. Although the nominal value of the relative CG height can be measured, its actual value generally varies due to different vehicle loading conditions. To facilitate the control of vehicle roll motion, this paper presents a model-based in-vehicle estimation of the relative CG height. The parameter estimation utilizes information measured by common in-vehicle sensors and employs an approach for the parameter estimation in stochastic gray-boxes models. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is developed based on a linear vehicle yaw/lateral/roll model and the best estimate was solved by minimizing the EKF prediction error. A simplified estimation algorithm for in-vehicle implementation is also presented; the simplified algorithm limits the parameter space to a finite number of candidate parameters and the candidate that yields the smallest EKF innovation is identified as the best estimate. The estimation results with vehicle experimental data are included to verify the effectiveness of the proposed design.© 2008 ASME
HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. The physician's role in prevention.

Preview HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are common problems encountered in virtually every medical practice. Physicians and other healthcare providers are generally well aware of the management of STD syndromes, but they may be less prepared to prevent infection or reinfection. In this article, Dr Cohen reviews the mechanisms of HIV transmission and discusses preventive strategies already available to healthcare providers.
Screening for osteoporosis

Current status of the diagnosis and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis is reviewed, and screening for postmenopausal osteoporosis is discussed. Although prevention and treatment of osteoporosis have been extensively investigated, further knowledge and experience may be still needed for routine clinical application.
Aortic valve replacement with preserved aortic valve homografts.

A total of 229 patients underwent aortic valve replacement with a preserved aortic valve homograft during a 7½ year period. The operative mortality rate was 4.8 per cent. Statistical analysis of follow-up data indicated that, for patients who survived the first 30 days after surgery, the 4 year survival rate was 94 per cent and the 7 year survival was 78 per cent. Actuarial and stepwise discriminate analysis of value failures indicated that the probability of reoperation was 7 per cent within 3 years and 22 per cent at 5 years, with the presence or absence of a diastolic murmur at the time of hospital dismissal being a significant factor in predicting reoperation. An increasing probability of valve failure can be expected as length of follow-up increases.
Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis

The majority of patients encountered by the surgeon in the developing world will be at increased risk of venous thromboembolism, whether from traumatic injury or chronic disease. There is little evidence to guide the surgeon in prophylactic anticoagulation in the resource-limited setting. This chapter provides a summary of the Antithrombotic Therapy and Prevention of Thrombosis, 9th Edition: American Association of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines, with interpretations of these guidelines for use in the developing world.
Bringing (web) databases to the masses

The World-Wide Web contains vast quantities of structured data on a variety of domains, such as hobbies, products and reference data. Moreover, the Web provides a platform that can encourage publishing more data sets from governments and other public organizations and support new data management opportunities, such as effective crisis response, data journalism and crowd-sourcing data sets. To enable such wide-spread dissemination and use of structured data on the Web, we need to create a ecosystem that makes it easier for users to discover, manage, visualize and publish structured data on the Web.
Platelet ABCA1 Expression Is Normal in Scott Syndrome Dogs.

Abstract Scott syndrome is a rare platelet function defect characterized by a failure of Ca2+-stimulated phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization and lack of platelet prothrombinase activity. In 2005 Albrecht et al. (Blood 106:542) described low levels of ATP-binding transporter A1 (ABCA1) mRNA in lymphocytes and heterozygosity for a novel ABCA1 missense mutation in a patient with Scott Syndrome. The proband's expression of platelet ABCA1, however, was not measured. Platelet dysfunction has been described as a feature of Tangier disease, a monogenic disorder caused by ABCA1 mutations (Nofer et al, JBC 279:34032, 2004). The disease phenotype results from altered lipid trafficking, with a virtual absence of plasma HDL cholesterol and accumulation of lipid in cells of the RE system. In the current study, we systematically evaluated platelets from Scott syndrome dogs to find evidence of ABCA1 deficiency. Platelets from control dogs and affected German shepherd dogs (GSD) were compared with regard to cholesterol content, ABCA1 protein expression, and reactivity to collagen, convulxin (CVX), and thrombin. All GSD had normal plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels, with no significant difference in mean platelet cholesterol content from that of control dogs (control cholesterol = 13.4 ug/108 platelets, GSD cholesterol = 12.6 ug/108 platelets; n= 6; p = 0.726). Western blot analysis of platelet extracts from control dogs and GSD using a polyclonal antibody to human ABCA1 revealed comparable levels of a 220 kD protein band, the expected size for human ABCA1. We found no significant differences in maximal platelet aggregation in response to 12 ug/mL collagen stimulation [control dog mean response = 82.9% (n=10), GSD = 75.0 % (n= 7); p = 0.133)]. CVX concentration-response aggregation curves obtained for washed platelets were similar for control dogs (n=4) and GSD (n=3) in the range of 1 to 100 nM CVX, with a plateau of maximal aggregation at 10 nM CVX. In flow cytometry analyses, we found no difference in mean platelet mepacrine uptake between control dogs and GSD (mean positive platelets = 64%, n= 3 control, n=5 GSD). There were no significant differences in mean CD62P expression post-thrombin (0.5 U/mL) or CVX (2 nM) stimulation [control CD62P positive platelets post-thrombin = 57%, post-CVX = 47.5% (n=7); GSD CD62P positive platelets post-thrombin = 49%, post-CVX = 56% (n=4)]. Although ABCA1 has been proposed to play a role in PS transport, we found no evidence of ABCA1 deficiency and none of the characteristic platelet abnormalities associated with Tangier disease in canine Scott syndrome, a model of impaired transmembrane PS movement. Comparison of Platelet Phenotypes ANALYSIS TANGIER DISEASE SCOTT SYNDROME GSD Ionophore induced PS expression Present Absent Collagen or CVX induced aggregation Decreased Normal CVX or thrombin induced alpha granule release Decreased Normal Platelet ABCA1 expression Absent Present
Abstract 092: No Change in Peripartum Cardiomyopathy Outcomes or Risk Factors Over the Past Decade

Background: Few studies have evaluated temporal trends in outcomes and risk factors for peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). Prior research using administrative data could only assess short-term in-ho...
Food Addiction: A Barrier for Effective Weight Management for Obese Adolescents.

Abstract Background: Findings from studies of food addiction in adults suggest those with food addiction are less successful in weight-loss interventions. Little is known about food addiction in obesity treatment-seeking adolescents; therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of food addiction and correlates of food addiction symptoms in obese adolescents entering an outpatient, weight management program. Methods: Obese adolescents (n = 26) were administered the Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children (YFAS-C), measures of appetitive responsiveness, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) before and following a 12-week, outpatient, behavioral weight management program. Descriptive statistics and correlations between YFAS-C symptoms and study variables were performed and further examined with linear regression. Baseline differences were compared between those meeting criteria for food addiction to those who did not (independent t-tests) and pre–postweight management program change...
How to Reach the Sustainable Development Goal 1.2? Simulating Different Strategies to Reduce Multidimensional Child Poverty in Two Middle-Income Countries

Although the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have contributed to substantial progress in reducing the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day since 1990, it is now generally accepted that poverty goes beyond the simple lack of income. The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by all member states of the United Nations (UN) in September 2015 call for “reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions” by 2030 (UNDESA 2016). Although there must be numerous ways of achieving this goal, research evidence on reducing multidimensional poverty is scarce. This paper investigates possible strategies for halving MD poverty among children using the case studies of Armenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Both Armenia and BiH conducted multidimensional child poverty studies in 2014–2016 based on nationally agreed definitions and using secondary data from representative household budget surveys. This analysis compares two approaches to halving the rate of multidimensional poverty among children aged 5–15 by employing static simulations: 1) reducing deprivation headcount in two to three key dimensions and 2) increasing monetary transfers to the consumption-poor.
American Indians and the Landscape of America

The American Indian landscape is intertwined with the landscape of America. It is a product of a 500-year colonialization of an earlier landscape (see also part one of this book). Colonialization involves basic changes in, frequent destructions of Indigenous peoples. Colonializing changes the colonists as well, and they and the colonized become different, as Euro-Americans have. Multifaceted, colonialization may be seen through many different lenses. I use here a lens of “geodemography”, and consider American Indians as a population relating to land. Processes of “colonial demography” and “colonial geography” decimated and dispossessed American Indians, thereby altering Indian-land relationships. Yet remnants remain of an earlier weltanschauung, the American Indian view of the world and how they relate to it. Today there are Old and New Indians – as I call them in America, each Indian in their own way. Old or New, they struggle with past and present; Old Indians to relate the former to later. New Indians to relate the later to former. However, others might prefer dichotomies such as “traditional” and “contemporary”; “full blood” and “mixed blood”; “real” and “census” (referring to those who only list themselves as Indian); “true” and “false”; or “Indian” and “part Indian” (those of some Indian descent). No matter what dichotomy is used, awareness of the difference is basic to understanding American Indian landscape(s) today.
Resource and energy management in high-performance computing: From heterogeneous to exascale systems

Energy is one of the most valuable and scarce resources available to humanity, a significant portion of which is now being consumed to power up computers and their accessories. In particular, high-performance parallel and distributed computing systems, including data centers, massively parallel supercomputers, hybrid CPU/GPUs, embedded architectures, and clouds not only consume considerable amounts of power but also incur extensive air-conditioning costs. Consequently, the explosive growth in computing is leading to rapidly increasing consumption of precious natural resources such as oil and coal, strengthening the looming danger of an energy shortage. The conversion of these resources to electricity results in carbon emissions that can negatively affect the environment, a threat that is continually escalating. Energy-aware “green” computing requires a comprehensive approach that involves myriad research challenges. The next generation green computing systems should self-manage and self-tune for achieving a wider set of objectives including energy reduction. In this talk, we formulate a new problem of simultaneously optimizing performance (P), energy (E), and temperature (T) in scheduling parallel tasks to scalable heterogeneous multi-core systems. We propose multi-objective optimized scheduling algorithms and tools that can save energy while ensuring performance and curbing temperature. Our algorithms utilize evolutionary computing based techniques for obtaining Pareto-optimal solutions with low computational overhead. In one of our projects, we are aiming to develop a multi-layer multi-component scheduling (MMS) engine that will utilize DVFS, core disabling, and task migration techniques to reduce energy and thermal requirements. Computations will be hierarchically unfolded as the scheduling moves down from nodes to chips and from chips to CPU/GPU cores. We will provide an overview of static and dynamic optimization of scheduled tasks on multiple cores using energy and temperature budgets and consumptions of the system. Our work addresses the performance limitations imposed by the soaring power dissipation and temperature hotspot issues of future generation systems, providing alternative approaches for future designs.
Adolescent obesity and hypertension.

This article summarizes how obesity might lead to the development of hypertension, how obesity alters cardiovascular risk, and how to treat the obese child. Special emphasis is also given to describing the relationship between insulin resistance and the development of hypertension in the obese adolescent population.
A method of computing generalized Bayesian probability values for expert systems

This paper presents a new method for calculating the conditional probability of any multi-valued predicate given particular information about the individual case. This calculation is based on the principle of Maximum Entropy (ME), sometimes called the principle of least information, and gives the most unbiased probability estimate given the available evidence. Previous methods for computing maximum entropy values shows that they are either very restrictive in the probabilistic information (constraints) they can use or combinatorially explosive. The computational complexity of the new procedure depends on the inter-connectedness of the constraints, but in practical cases it is small. In addition, the maximum entropy method can give a measure of how accurately a calculated conditional probability is known.
Weak Links and Strong Links: Employee Commitment and Performance

During the last decade American companies have looked in many quarters for ways to improve performance. Different human resource strategies have been tried, from demassing and downsizing to career planning and employee involvement. Despite the self-evident importance of employee performance to the firm, few definitive statements can be made about how it can be increased. One performance improvement strategy that has been tried is to create a highly committed workforce, a workforce that is tightly linked to the firm —loyal, unlikely to leave. The implicit assumption is that a committed workforce is also a high performing workforce. Therefore, by creating commitment, higher performance will surely follow. Unfortunately, this assumption is not always valid.
Climatology of Asian dust activation and transport potential based on MISR satellite observations and trajectory analysis

Abstract. Asian dust, primarily emitted from the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts, has been reported to reach remote destinations, such as North America. However, the relative contribution of the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts to dust loadings through long-range transport remains unaddressed in any observational study. Here, the climatology of Asian dust activation and potential for transport is investigated using stereo observations of dust sources from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument combined with observation-initiated trajectory modeling. MISR-derived dust plume top height and dust plume motion vectors confirm the peak of dust activation and transport potential in spring over the Gobi Desert and in both spring and summer over the Taklamakan Desert. The long-range trajectory patterns of Asian dust, including the influence on North America through trans-Pacific transport, are assessed using extensive forward trajectories initiated by MISR dust plume observations. The trajectory analysis reveals latitude-dependent spread of dust trajectories from the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts, with Taklamakan dust dominantly affecting to the south of 50 ∘ N and Gobi dust primarily affecting to the north of 50 ∘ N in North America. The Asian dust activation and transport potential exhibit substantial seasonal and interannual variability, motivating future studies on the potential drivers.
Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Analysis of Ceftazidime/Avibactam in Critically Ill Patients.

Abstract Background: The pharmacokinetics, especially the volume of distribution (Vd), of s-lactam antibiotics can be altered in critically ill patients. This can lead to decreased serum concentrat...
GROWTH RATE OF COLIFORM ORGANISMS IN COTTAGE CHEESE AND RECONSTITUTED NONFAT DRY MILK1

Summary The objective of this study was to determine the population trends of representative strains of Escherichia coli and Aerobacter aerogenes in cottage cheese and reconstituted nonfat dry milk (skim milk). Inoculated milk samples were stored at 32, 39, 50 and 90 F for a maximum of 130, 76, 119, and 11 days, respectively. The inoculated cheese samples were stored at 39, 50 and 55 F for 80 days. In milk at 50 F the generation time of E. coli during the logarithmic growth phase varied from 516 to 642 minutes and at 90 F the generation time varied from 33 to 39 minutes, respectively. The corresponding generation times for A. aerogenes were 540 to 648 minutes and 29 to 33 minutes. Both coliform species decreased in population at 32 and 39 F and the decrease was greater at 39 F. In cottage cheese the population of both coliform species increased at 55 F and decreased at 39 F, but at 50 F the numbers of E. coli increased while those of A. aerogenes decreased. During the first five days at 55 F, the generati...
Improving Any Arbitrary MPPT Hill Climber with ANN Estimations

Solar energy has a unique challenge associated with power conversion referred to as the maximum power point (MPP) problem. A solar cell will only generate optimal power if the solar cell operating voltage is at the MPP. In this paper a simple ANN employing online learning is presented which can be integrated into any hill climbing MPPT scheme without adding any sensors. The ANN provides a rapid estimation of the MPP based on the solar cell's operating voltage whenever a large change in environmental conditions is detected. This estimation is used as the initial condition for the hill climbing algorithm. This initial condition allows the algorithm to converge more quickly by reducing the search space. Any of the typical favorite MPPT algorithms can be combined with the ANN estimation engine to perform guess and track (G&T) MPPT.
Athletic Trainers' Influence on National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Athletes' Basic Psychological Needs During Sport Injury Rehabilitation.

Context Athletic trainers (ATs) have indicated a desire to better understand the motivations of athletes during rehabilitation. Self-determination theory offers an ideal lens for conceptualizing th...
Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in Pelvic Floor Disorders.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are tools that are widely used by clinicians and researchers across different medical specialties. In this review, we examine the use of PROMs in the evaluation of female pelvic floor disorders (PFD). PROM development in the assessment of urinary incontinence is more advanced than other pelvic disorders. Work is ongoing in the scientific community to improve currently available measures and create new robust tools where needed. Hundreds of PROMs are available for use in the evaluation of PFD, some more rigorously validated than others. They are used to screen for diseases, evaluate their impact on quality of life, determine the results of treatment, and measure patient’s satisfaction with treatment. Careful consideration is required to choose the appropriate PROMs to care for a patient or include in a research study. The topic was reviewed in the Textbook of Female Urology and Urogynecology published in 2017. We reviewed recent literature (2015–2018) on the topic and summarized our findings.
The Effectiveness of Student Coaching in Community Colleges.

ABSTRACTMany community colleges consider non-academic supports as a way to improve student retention and achievement. Past studies on the effects of coaching, mentoring, advising, and other non-aca...
Generalized framework for summarization of fixed-camera lecture videos by detecting and binarizing handwritten content

We propose a framework to extract and binarize handwritten content in lecture videos. The extracted content could potentially be used to index video collections powering content-based search and navigation within lecture videos helping students and educators across the world. A deep learning pipeline is used to detect handwritten text, formulae and sketches and then binarize the extracted content. We exploit the spatio-temporal structure of our binarized detections to compute associativity information of content across all video frames. This information is later used to segment the video. Experiments are conducted to compare the performance of key components of our framework in isolation, as well as the impact on overall performance, with respect to existing methods. We evaluate our framework on the publicly available AccessMath lecture video dataset obtaining an f-measure of $$94.32\%$$ for binary connected components. Code for the framework (including trained weights) and summarization will be released.
Risk-based post injection site care and monitoring for commercial-scale carbon storage: Reevaluation of the FutureGen 2.0 site using NRAP-Open-IAM and DREAM

Abstract Modeling was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the NRAP toolset, specifically NRAP-Open-IAM and DREAM, to determine a risk-based PISC period and optimized monitoring network for a commercial-scale CO2 storage project. Realizations from NRAP-Open-IAM revealed that maximum simulated leakage rates of brine were small, on the order of 10−5 kg/s, and maximum simulated leakage rates of CO2 were on the order of 10-3 kg/s, and could be detected earliest during the injection phase in the Ironton-Galesville, the thief zone immediately overlying the injection reservoir. Using this information to design an optimized monitoring well network eliminated one of the three originally planned monitoring wells, resulting in a cost reduction for the project. Perhaps the most significant finding from this effort is that NRAP-Open-IAM can be used to define a risk-based, and substantially shorter, PISC period for the site. NRAP-Open-IAM realizations indicate that the majority of risk of endangerment to USDWs decreases within the first 5 years after CO2 injection ends. Doubling this timeframe would still lead to a net PISC period reduction of 40-years and an operational cost reduction in excess of $50 M for the project. This study serves as a first-of-its-kind effort to apply NRAP tools to evaluate components of a commercial-scale Class VI UIC permit and provides a foundation for broader application and adoption by the CCS community.
Improving public health control of schistosomiasis with a modified WHO strategy: a model-based comparison study.

Summary Background Schistosomiasis is endemic in many low-income and middle-income countries. To reduce infection-associated morbidity, WHO has published guidelines for control of schistosomiasis based on targeted mass drug administration (MDA) and, in 2017, on supplemental snail control. We compared the current WHO guideline-based strategies from 2012 to an alternative, adaptive decision making framework for control in heterogeneous environments, to estimate their predicted relative effectiveness and time to achievement of defined public health goals. Methods In this model-based comparison study, we adapted an established transmission model for Schistosoma infection that couples local human and snail populations and includes aspects of snail ecology and parasite biology. We calibrated the model using data from high-risk, moderate-risk, and lower-risk rural villages in Kenya, and then simulated control via MDA. We compared 2012 WHO guidelines with a modified adaptive strategy that tested a lower-prevalence threshold for MDA and shorter intervals between implementation, evaluation, and modification. We also explored the addition of snail control to this modified strategy. The primary outcomes were the proportion of simulations that achieved the WHO targets in children aged 5–14 years of less than 5% (2020 morbidity control goal) and less than 1% (2025 elimination as a public health problem goal) heavy infection and the mean duration of treatment required to achieve these goals. Findings In high-risk communities (80% baseline prevalence), current WHO strategies for MDA were not predicted to achieve morbidity control ( Interpretation The modified adaptive decision making framework is predicted to be more effective than the current WHO guidelines in reaching 2025 public health goals, especially for high-prevalence regions. Modifications in current guidelines could reduce the time and resources needed for countries who are currently working on achieving public health goals against schistosomiasis. Funding University of Georgia Research Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Medical Scientist Training Program at Stanford University School of Medicine.
THE GREAT MIMICKER: UNVEILING CARDIAC AMYLOIDOSIS DISGUISED AS HYPERTROPHIC OBSTRUCTIVE CARDIOMYOPATHY

Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is an infiltrative cardiomyopathy that usually presents with progressive left and right heart failure, angina and syncope. It leads to significant morbidity and mortality which is compounded by the fact that it is a diagnostic challenge even with imaging A 79-year-old male
Circle of Trust: A New Approach to Mobile Online Safety for Families

Traditional parental control applications designed to protect children and teens from online risks do so through parental restrictions and privacy-invasive monitoring. We propose a new approach to adolescent online safety that aims to strike a balance between a teen's privacy and their online safety through active communication and fostering trust between parents and children. We designed and developed an Android "app" called Circle of Trust and conducted a mixed methods user study of 17 parent-child pairs to understand their perceptions about the app. Using a within-subjects experimental design, we found that parents and children significantly preferred our new app design over existing parental control apps in terms of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and behavioral intent to use. By applying a lens of Value Sensitive Design to our interview data, we uncovered that parents and children who valued privacy, trust, freedom, and balance of power preferred our app over traditional apps. However, those who valued transparency and control preferred the status quo. Overall, we found that our app was better suited for teens than for younger children.