cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating forest stress factors using various forest growth modeling approaches

Abstract This paper examines in detail the relative merits of several modeling approaches to evaluating forest site, physical, chemical and climatic stresses. The modeling approaches considered are (i) empirical growth and yield (management) models (STEMS and FOREST); (ii) successional models (JABOWA/FORET gap-phase simulation models and FORSKA); (iii) forest process models (FOREST-BGC). The models were analyzed in terms of their assumptions, formulation, and predictive ability. The analysis incorporated intensive measurements of tree growth and weather conditions taken over 7 years in two stands of northern hardwoods located in Upper Michigan (USA). The process model was very detailed and required many input variables. All models performed poorly when pridictions were compared with the observed data making accurate site-specific predictions impossible without local calibrations.
A conceptual model of the determinants of employee benefit satisfaction

Abstract A model of employee benefit satisfaction, as a construct distinct from pay satisfaction, is proposed. Benefit satisfaction in this model contains two components: satisfaction with the costs incurred and satisfaction with the quality of the benefit package. Proposed determinants of benefit satisfaction in the model include employee needs, values and expectations; benefit availability and level of coverage; employee experience with package components; and cost structure of the benefit program. Employer communication, distributive justice and procedural justice are proposed as moderating variables. A discussion of the complete model is presented along with suggestions for future research.
Unified theory of spontaneous and stimulated rotational Raman scattering.

A general analytic theory of spontaneous and stimulated rotational Raman scattering is presented. This analytic description incorporates arbitrary polarization, time dependence, phase matching, and parametric coupling of the pump, Stokes, and anti-Stokes fields and the degeneracy of the rotational states. The analytic expressions for the time-dependent Stokes and anti-Stokes fields provide valuable physical insight into the dynamics of spontaneous and stimulated rotational Raman scattering.
Neutron irradiation induced amorphization of uranium silicides

Time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction studies of incrementally neutron-irradiated U{sub 3}Si and U{sub 3}Si{sub 2} have revealed details of progressive amorphization of bulk materials, crystalline transformation prior to amorphization, elastic strain and diffuse scattering resulting from scattering interference between crystalline and amorphous fractions. Density differences between amorphous and crystalline fractions give rise, respectively, to tensile and compressive strain in U{sub 3}Si and U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}. Diffuse scattering associated with each Bragg peak shows crystallographic direction-dependent variation both in magnitude and displacement (relative to the Bragg position). A theoretical model describing this behavior relates the size of the amorphous zones, and the magnitude and displacement of the diffuse scattering contribution. After complete amorphization of U{sub 3}Si and U{sub 3}Si{sub 2}, anneals to progressively higher temperatures generate gradual evolution of the short- to intermediate-range amorphous structures prior to re-crystallization.
Social policy planning in a federal structure: A social learning strategy

Current social welfare policy planning reflects an inadequate sense of the problems to be solved and an incentive structure which discourages responsible decision making. Proceeding from overly simple cause and effect models, social welfare policies are designed with detailed administrative regulations to insure uniformity and regularity of behavior across the states. When problems are not solved, policy makers focus on the failures of personnel to follow all the detailed regulations. This leads to additional efforts to enforce compliance. There is evidence that implementation personnel consistently and purposively do stretch or ignore regulations in order to service clients. An alternative to further detailed regulations then is to use the autonomy of state units in the federal structure by eliminating negative incentives to innovation and creating incentives to experiment with alternative programs. As a social learning strategy this would encourage innovation and make it possible to learn from the experience of personnel who daily confront the realities of welfare problems and the large array of administrative details.
Training teachers of American Indian students

Without question, the most important relationship within the American education system develops between teacher and student. Schools are perceived as "educating" children and adolescents who then leave the institution with cognitive, affective, and behavioral knowledge of the world around them and their place in it. The teacher fills the major role in the learning process that builds this knowledge; administrators, counselors, specialists, and others in a school setting support the teacher's role. Because all students are different and reflect the cultural diversity on which this country is based, teachers have a great responsibility. This paper concerns the teacher whose student is the American Indian. The focus is on what the teacher brings to the classroom that may either help or hinder student learning and on some suggestions for current and future teacher training.
The Millennium before Clovis

This paper reviews the published information, uncertainties about claims, and possible technological and cultural relationships of a sample of sites which have older-than-Clovis dates in North America. The goal is to trace the origins of “Classic” Clovis techno-cultural patterns. Some sites in the sample contain lithic artifacts and some do not. Production technology and artifact characteristics in a number of the lithic sites (such as Debra Friedkin and possibly Page-Ladson) may be evidence of Clovis ancestry, but the lithic materials in most pre-Clovis sites cannot be explicitly linked to Clovis. A few nonlithic sites (such as Manis, Firelands, and Lindsay) may indicate a pre-Clovis pattern of large-mammal exploitation foreshadowing a later Clovis trait. Overall, the available data are incomplete or ambiguous, and as a result, individual interpretations have produced incompatible models of Clovis origins.
Agents of Socialization Involved in Student Teaching

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine student teaching in an effort to specify the range of individuals acting as socialization agents and to note the areas in which they make contributions. A series of semi-structured interviews was conducted with a group of teacher trainees during their student teaching quarter. Several areas of socialization activity were examined including coaching, legitimation, development of a sense of success or failure, and peer involvement. The interviews revealed that a number of persons aside from the cooperating teacher are involved in providing coaching and legitimation, while pupils are almost the exclusive referents for images of success or failure as well as being involved in other contexts. Peer involvement was very limited. It is clear that socializing agents are not limited to the cooperating teachers or even to the professionals in the student teaching environment.
Evaluation of Field Inoculation Techniques for Screening Peanut Genotypes for Reaction to Preharvest A. flavus Group Infection and Aflatoxin Contamination

Abstract Efforts are being made to screen peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes for resistance to invasion of seed by the Aspergillus flavus (Link ex Fries) group fungi and subsequent contamination by aflatoxins. Field inoculation studies are needed to develop reliable screening techniques that insure infection of susceptible peanut seed by the A. flavus group fungi and minimize the number of escapes. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of A. parasiticus (Speare) inoculum formulation and timing of application on shell and seed colonization and aflatoxin contamination. Soil population densities of A. flavus and plant survival were also measured. Plots were inoculated using various rates either at-plant or at mid-bloom of an organic-matrix infested with A. parasiticus NRRL 2999, and/or using an aqueous conidial suspension of the fungus. Mid-bloom inoculation produced an increase of A. flavus group population densities in the soil. There were no statistical differences between treatmen...
Quality of experience evaluation of voice communication systems using affect-based approach

The voice communication industry is undergoing a rapid phase change with continuously evolving technologies such as cellular, mobile and Internet telephony. Effective evaluation of system performance is becoming critical, which will serve as an important instrument for service providers to monitor and manage quality. Recently, Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics are found to be more valuable quality assessment mechanism since they are more closely related to human perception as compared to traditional QoS-based techniques. In this paper, we investigate a new affect-based approach for QoE evaluation. Our hypothesis states that QoE in voice communication is correlated to user's affective behavior, which will vary across networking conditions. We conduct extensive user study based on natural human-human voice communication. The experimental results indicate very promising prospect of this approach.
A developmental approach to evaluating competence in clinical reasoning

In the past two decades there has been tremendous worldwide interest in assessing the clinical competence of learners in medical education. This interest marks a philosophical shift toward greater objectivity, accountability, and predictive power in the evaluation of trainees. One of the core competencies in medical education is clinical reasoning. Because veterinary and human medical training share several similarities and differences, a review of the current state of clinical reasoning competency assessment in medical education may be useful for veterinary educators. This article covers the core competency of clinical reasoning (not other important competencies, such as physical examination or communication) and reviews research from medical education on the development of clinical reasoning and its implications for the transition from novice to expert. Four common stage-related learner difficulties are described: reduced knowledge, dispersed knowledge, tunnel vision, and the outsider. Specific approaches to measuring competence in clinical reasoning for each developmental level are recommended. Finally, two specific examples of evaluation based on a developmental approach to clinical expertise, the RIME (reporter, interpreter, manager, expert) system and the Script Concordance Test (SCT) methods, are discussed.
Prevalence of TT virus infection in blood donors with elevated ALT in the absence of known hepatitis markers

Prevalence of TT virus infection in blood donors with elevated ALT in the absence of known hepatitis markers
Channeling blackness, challenging racism: a theatrical response:

This article calls attention to the pressing need to explore commercial television’s racial, ethnic, cultural, and gendered representations across the Latin American and Spanish Caribbean region as well as documenting the ways in which non-white citizens are (and have been) coping with their social and televisual marginalization. The performance piece You Don’t Look Like provides a unique opportunity to examine how those who have been excluded from and reconfigured in the local televisual frame have negotiated their invisibility and their constructed Otherness. By reenacting some of Puerto Rico’s scenarios of blackness, You Don’t Look Like questions and denounces the positionality of black citizens in the island’s society, culture, and on television. The article argues that both directly and indirectly, Puerto Rico’s scenarios of blackness not only imply specific geographical sites within the island but also the racialized bodies and cultures that flow back and forth across the Caribbean Sea.
Abnormal Structure and Expression of the p53 Gene in Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cell Lines

In an effort to analyze molecular mechanisms of human ovarian carcinogenesis, we studied the structure and expression of the p53 gene in different cell lines established from human ovarian carcinomas. In all six lines (PA-1, Caov-3 and -4, OVCAR-3, SK-OV-3, and Kuramochi), p53 abnormalities were detected. In the SK-OV-3 cell line, Southern analysis suggested the presence of sequence deletions/rearrangements in at least one allele of the p53 gene, and transcripts were not detectable by either Northern or polymerase chain reaction analysis. Sequence analysis of the entire coding region of the p53 gene revealed point mutations resulting in codon changes of a highly conserved region of the protein in four cell lines, Caov-3 and -4, OVCAR-3, and Kuramochi. In the Caov-3 cell line, the point mutation resulted in chain termination at codon 136. Quantitation of p53 protein by immunoprecipitation analysis revealed a 6-fold higher than control cell level in PA-1. By contrast, p53 protein was not detectable in lines Caov-3 and SK-OV-3. We conclude that altered levels of p53 gene expression and/or mutant forms of the p53 gene product are associated with all human ovarian cancer cells tested.
Evidence for Direct Roles of Two Additional Factors, SECp43 and Soluble Liver Antigen, in the Selenoprotein Synthesis Machinery

Selenocysteine (Sec) is inserted into selenoproteins co-translationally with the help of various cis- and trans-acting factors. The specific mechanisms of Sec biosynthesis and insertion into protein in eukaryotic cells, however, are not known. Two proteins, SECp43 and the soluble liver antigen (SLA), were previously reported to interact with tRNA[Ser]Sec, but their functions remained elusive. Herein, we report that knockdown of SECp43 in NIH3T3 or TCMK-1 cells using RNA interference technology resulted in a reduction in the level of methylation at the 2′-hydroxylribosyl moiety in the wobble position (Um34) of Sec tRNA[Ser]Sec, and consequently reduced glutathione peroxidase 1 expression. Double knockdown of SECp43 and SLA resulted in decreased selenoprotein expression. SECp43 formed a complex with Sec tRNA[Ser]Sec and SLA, and the targeted removal of one of these proteins affected the binding of the other to Sec tRNA[Ser]Sec. SECp43 was located primarily in the nucleus, whereas SLA was found in the cytoplasm. Co-transfection of both proteins resulted in the nuclear translocation of SLA suggesting that SECp43 may also promote shuttling of SLA and Sec tRNA[Ser]Sec between different cellular compartments. Taken together, these data establish the role of SECp43 and SLA in selenoprotein biosynthesis through interaction with tRNA[Ser]Sec in a multiprotein complex. The data also reveal a role of SECp43 in regulation of selenoprotein expression by affecting the synthesis of Um34 on tRNA[Ser]Sec and the intracellular location of SLA.
Structural Versus Individual Perspectives on the Dynamics of Group Performance: Theoretical Exploration and Empirical Investigation

This study contrasts the structural perspective with the individual perspective in explaining group performance in a dynamic setting. The authors argue that these perspectives are not mutually exclusive but have different predictive powers at different group stages. Results from 45 project groups show (a) group structures provide stronger performance predictions at the later stage, whereas individual-based attributes do so at the earlier stage, and (b) different group structures and individual-based attributes provide distinctive insights at respective stages. This indicates the need to explore the potential bridge between the two perspectives in advancing group studies.
Case 2: a 10-year-old girl with hip pain

In this continuing series designed for pediatric radiology trainees, the imaging management of hip pain and a discovered bony mass are dissected through a specific case of a preadolescent.
Make the Most of Your Time: How Should the Analyst Work with Automated Traceability Tools?

Several recent studies employed traditional information retrieval (IR) methods to assist in the mapping of elements of software engineering artifacts to each other. This activity is referred to as candidate link generation because the final say in determining the final mapping belongs to the human analyst. Feedback techniques that utilize information from the analyst (on whether the candidate links are correct or not) have been shown to improve the quality of the mappings. Yet the analyst is making an investment of time in providing the feedback. This leads to the question of whether or not guidance can be provided to the analyst on how to best utilize that time. This paper simulates a number of approaches an analyst might take to evaluating the same candidate link list, and discovers that more structured and organized approaches appear to save time/effort of the analyst.
Spatially mediated release from auditory masking in an anuran amphibian

Summary. 1. The acoustic environment in which many species of frogs must communicate is characterized by high levels of background noise. Because the anuran auditory system is directionally sensitive, spatial cues should be useful in enhancing the ability of these animals to detect and localize calling conspecifics under such conditions. 2. We presented female green treefrogs, Hyla cinerea, with synthetic conspecific advertisement and aggressive calls in the presence of background broadband noise to assess the importance of directional information in signal detection, discrimination and localization. 3. We found that angular separation of call and noise sources facilitated a release from masking; females which failed to orient towards and approach speakers broadcasting calls positioned adjacent to a noise source did so when the noise sources were separated from the speakers by 45 ~ or 90 ~ . We estimate the improvement in signal-to-noise ratio with separation to be 3 dB or less. This increase was insufficient to facilitate discrimination between advertisement and aggressive calls.
The Bayesian two-sample t-test

This article shows how the pooled-variance two-sample t statistic arises from a Bayesian formulation of the two-sided point null testing problem, with emphasis on teaching. We identify a reasonable and useful prior giving a closed-form Bayes factor that can be written in terms of the distribution of the two-sample t statistic under the null and alternative hypotheses, respectively. This provides a Bayesian motivation for the two-sample t statistic, which has heretofore been buried as a special case of more complex linear models, or given only roughly via analytic or Monte Carlo approximations. The resulting formulation of the Bayesian test is easy to apply in practice, and also easy to teach in an introductory course that emphasizes Bayesian methods. The priors are easy to use and simple to elicit, and the posterior probabilities are easily computed using available software, in some cases using spreadsheets.
Epoprostenol for treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

2000;118;1229-1230 Chest Evelyn M. Horn, Robyn J. Barst and Michael Poon Lupus Erythematosus Hypertension in Patients With Systemic Epoprostenol for Treatment of Pulmonary http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/118/4/1229.full.html services can be found online on the World Wide Web at: The online version of this article, along with updated information and ISSN:0012-3692 ) http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml ( written permission of the copyright holder. this article or PDF may be reproduced or distributed without the prior Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL 60062. All rights reserved. No part of Copyright2000by the American College of Chest Physicians, 3300 Physicians. It has been published monthly since 1935. is the official journal of the American College of Chest Chest
Fear of Death in Widows: Effects of Age at Widowhood and Suddenness of Death

This study investigated how widows' fears of death are affected by their age at widowhood and suddenness of death. Researchers administered the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale to 423 participants, categorized according to age (50 and 51) and suddenness of death (expected, unexpected, and non-widowed). No significant differences in fears of the dying process were found among groups. Fears of death of others and death of self were influenced by a significant effect of age: younger women expressed greater fears than older women. A significant interaction between age and suddenness of death was found regarding fear of death of others. Results are discussed and implications for research and practice are suggested.
Some phonetic recognition experiments using artificial neural nets

This paper is concerned with the application of artificial neural nets to phonetic recognition. The goal is to investigate how the framework of multilayer perceptrons can be exploited in speech recognition when the are augmented with acoustic-phonetic knowledge. Major issues as the choice of the error metric, the use of contextual information, and determination of the training procedure are investigated within a set of experiments that attempt to recognize the 16 vowels in American English. The results, based on some 10000 vowel tokens excised from 1000 sentences spoken by 200 speakers, indicate that a top-choice accuracy of 54% and 67% can be achieved for the context-independent and -dependent networks, respectively. >
Characterization of thermal annealed Bi implanted silica

Optical and infrared reflection spectra for Bi implanted silica are reported as a function of dose and thermal annealing. A series of high purity silica samples were implanted with Bi ions at an energy of 350 KeV. Doses were 1 [times] 10[sub 16] and 1.0 [times] 10[sup 17] ions/cm[sup 2] at 5[mu]amps/cm[sup 2]. The samples were subsequently thermally annealed at 400, 600 and 800C. The optical absorption from 6.2 to 1.8 eV and infrared reflectance from 5000 to 450 cm[sup [minus]1] were measured before and after annealing. Effects of thermal annealing are strongly dependent on Bi content.
Hans, Ayers, and Eleventh Amendment Jurisprudence: On Justification, Rationalization, and Sovereign Immunity

Hans v. Louisiana is thought by many commentators to have involved a sharp break with the past Eleventh Amendment jurisprudence. Claims to the contrary notwithstanding, Hans was quite understandable, given the political realities of the time and the then-developing jurisprudence. That said, however, the Court's current expansion of Eleventh Amendment immunity, which cannot be justified in terms of the framers' intentions, the developing jurisprudence, or good public policy, does more to undercut principled decision-making than might have been thought possible just a short time ago.
Clinical and laboratory experience with acyclovir-resistant herpes viruses

The emerging field of antiviral sensitivity testing must depend upon some of the lessons learned from prior experience with anti-bacterial sensitivity testing, but also take into account additional factors including intracellular drug distribution and metabolism as well as the unique features of viral replication. There is an urgent need to standardise in-vitro sensitivity testing, and an international collaborative study is essential so that different laboratories may compare and define their sensitivity results in the context of the outcome of therapy in infected patients. It is only by such a study that the influence of patient and therapeutic factors such as immune function, anatomical location of the infection and dosage regimens used can be understood.
Storage Conditions and Microbial Quality of Smoked Dry Herring in Ghana

A microbial profile of smoked dry herring stored under various storage conditions for up to 6 months at ambient temperature was determined. The fish were stored in polyethylene bags, polyethylene bags with desiccant, the traditional oven storage, modified storage structure, and freezer (control) storage. The fish stored in polyethylene bags with or without desiccant spoiled rapidly. Microbial counts were also very high. The microbial counts of fish stored in the traditional oven and the modified structure were small, even less than that stored in freezer. The storage losses were only 4% for the modified structure while the traditional oven storage was 29%. The major pathogenic bacterium found in smoked dry herring was Staphylococcus aureus .
One size never fits all: Teachers’ responses to standardized curriculum materials and implications for early childhood teacher educators

ABSTRACTThe age of accountability introduced by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 triggered widespread development of local control-oriented policies in an effort to “leave no child behind.” Research makes it clear that such policies directly impact instruction. However, primary grade teachers are rarely included in these studies, leaving teacher educators with little empirical data on which to ground their work with preservice teachers as it relates to such policies. This article reports findings from a study of 15 experienced primary grade teachers who work with standardized curriculum materials. Data from these teachers’ experiences can inform today’s teacher educators as they prepare the next generation of teachers to navigate “one size fits all” curricula. Findings suggest that experienced teachers of young children adapt, augment, and extend the intended curriculum to promote academic proficiency in tested subjects in very specific ways. Implications for preservice teacher education are discussed.
Detecting small effusions of the knee.

Minimal but significant effusions of the knee can be detected with a technic here referred to as the “bulge sign.” Aspirating a small amount of synovial fluid from the knee joint of a patient exhibiting the bulge sign permits the performance of diagnostically helpful laboratory studies.
Information diffusion in the evaluation of medical marijuana laws' impact on risk perception and use

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Young people's more permissive views about marijuana: local impact of state laws or national trend?," by Laura A. Schmidt, Laurie M. Jacobs and Joanne Spetz, along with a response from the authors.
Ensemble Semantics for Large-scale Unsupervised Relation Extraction

Discovering significant types of relations from the web is challenging because of its open nature. Unsupervised algorithms are developed to extract relations from a corpus without knowing the relations in advance, but most of them rely on tagging arguments of predefined types. Recently, a new algorithm was proposed to jointly extract relations and their argument semantic classes, taking a set of relation instances extracted by an open IE algorithm as input. However, it cannot handle polysemy of relation phrases and fails to group many similar ("synonymous") relation instances because of the sparseness of features. In this paper, we present a novel unsupervised algorithm that provides a more general treatment of the polysemy and synonymy problems. The algorithm incorporates various knowledge sources which we will show to be very effective for unsupervised extraction. Moreover, it explicitly disambiguates polysemous relation phrases and groups synonymous ones. While maintaining approximately the same precision, the algorithm achieves significant improvement on recall compared to the previous method. It is also very efficient. Experiments on a real-world dataset show that it can handle 14.7 million relation instances and extract a very large set of relations from the web.
Health concerns and burnout

Disease, although difficult to accurately define, generally includes a convergence of factors that are cumulative in nature and result in a disease process. Disease is fundamentally an indication that the body, or body part, is no longer working effectively. Although performing artists frequently suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, they also experience other nonmusculoskeletal conditions. Common performance-related diseases manifest such as hypermobility syndrome; dysautonomia; scoliosis; dystonia; respiratory and cardiovascular disease; skin, vocal, genitourinary disorders; malignancies; liver-related disorders; and inflammatory diseases. As well, performers are vulnerable to burnout, a common precipitating factor for disease processes. Increased knowledge in performance-related health conditions will potentially improve working conditions and provide guidelines for optimal training programs. Performing arts medicine is a growing field that requires a diverse range of highly specialized medical professionals who understand the unique demands placed on performers.
Discovering Volatile Chemicals from Window Weatherstripping through Solid-Phase Microextraction/Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

Volatile compounds from polymeric materials such as weatherstripping were identified by solid-phase microextraction (SPME), a solvent-free analytical method, coupled to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). These compounds, originating from additives and fillers used in weatherstripping processing, were mostly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The goal of this laboratory experiment was to demonstrate that a reliable connection can be established between the ability of our everyday olfactory sense to detect noxious odors and modern analytical instrumentation. The approach discussed here will guide students to develop critical thinking by interchanging between polymer and analytical instrumentation knowledge. The conceptual simplicity of SPME makes its inclusion in the undergraduate and high school curriculum appropriate and requires 2–3 h of laboratory time to complete.
Securities Disclosure Reform

The adverse impact of the current securities disclosure regime on small entrepreneurial and start-up firms, as well as on innovation, job creation, and economic growth is substantial. Moreover, disclosure requirements have become so voluminous that they obfuscate rather than inform. This paper outlines a program of interim reforms to improve the existing disclosure regime. It recommends specific changes to Regulation A, crowdfunding, Regulation D, and the regulation of small public companies and of secondary markets to improve the current regulatory environment. This paper also outlines a program of fundamental reform that would dramatically simplify the existing disclosure regime to the benefit of both investors and issuers. This proposal would replace the current 14 disclosure categories with three disclosure regimes—public, quasi-public, and private—and disclosure under the first two categories would be scaled based on either public float or the number of beneficial shareholders.
T-Cell Lymphopenia Detected by Newborn Screening in Two Siblings with an Xq13.1 Duplication

Newborn screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency has proven successful in identifying infants with T-cell deficiencies before they become severely ill. Additionally, the newborn screen can detect subtle early phenotypes that may become severe later in life. We present the case of siblings with features suggestive of T-cell lymphopenia identified as having low T-cell receptor excision circles counts by newborn screening. Expanded immune testing showed robust lymphocyte mitogen and antigen responses with normal vaccine responses and immunoglobulin levels for both boys over time. Genetic analysis revealed an Xq13.1 duplication in each child not found in the mother. The variant is downstream of the IL2RG gene with potential regulatory significance, suggesting a mechanism for the T-cell lymphopenia. The newborn screen provided these patients heightened surveillance and patient-specific management, including delayed live vaccines and Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PJP) prophylaxis. Fortunately, the brothers have not suffered invasive or opportunistic infections and are well at ages three and four. In this report, we illustrate the challenges of managing seemingly asymptomatic immunodeficient patients without a definitive genetic diagnosis and show how unbiased genetic analysis can expand understanding about primary immunodeficiency phenotypes.
Effects of a Straw Phonation Protocol on Acoustic and Perceptual Measures of an SATB Chorus.

Summary Background Recent scholarship has suggested that semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises may increase vocal economy of individuals by reducing vocal effort while maintaining or increasing acoustic output. Choral singers, however, may use different resonance techniques or change voicing behaviors in an effort to hear their own sound in relation to others. One investigation revealed significant increases in a choir's mean spectral energy after participating in a straw phonation protocol. However, that study reported only acoustic measures and did not include choristers' perceptions of the choral sound and their own voicing efficiency. Objective The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of a straw phonation protocol on acoustic (long-term average spectrum) and perceptual (self-report) measures of the choral sound of an intact soprano, alto, tenor, and bass (SATB) choir. Study design This is a quasi-experimental, one-group, pretest-posttest design. Methods An SATB choir (N = 48 singers) performed a Renaissance motet, participated in a 4-minute voicing protocol with a small straw, and then sang the motet a second time. They completed the same procedure later in the rehearsal. Results Long-term average spectrum results indicated no statistically significant mean changes in spectral energy after the SOVT protocols. Most participants, however, perceived that the choir sounded better (78.26%) and that their own vocal production was more efficient or comfortable (73.91%) following the protocol. Conclusion Choristers perceived less vocal effort while maintaining vocal output after straw phonation, which may feasibly align with extant solo research. More research may determine whether this result is due specifically to SOVTs.
Leaf and Panicle Separator for Sweet Sorghum

High-biomass sweet sorghum is considered a promising energy crop suitable for the production of energy, first- and second-generation biofuels and biobased chemicals. Processing in a typical sugar cane mill or dedicated sorghum mill is challenged by the presence of trash (leaves and panicles). The separation of leaves and panicles could generate additional value streams, and the reduction of trash is considered beneficial for juice extraction and juice quality. A two-stage trash removal system for the separation of leaves, and panicles was designed and tested. The pneumatic leaf separation stage allowed the removal of up to 56% of leaves in a single pass and the second stage, a novel rotating-disk separator, demonstrated the feasibility of the panicle separation. The basic design parameters were optimized for both systems, and the impact of trash removal tested on Ceres® Inc. “Durasweet” sorghum in 2015 and 2016. Trash removal from the feedstock allowed practically identical recovery (97.3–99.9%) of soluble solids, while up to 19.1% less feedstock with significantly less fiber (82.6% of original feedstock) was processed.
Establishment of the early cilia preassembly protein complex during motile ciliogenesis.

Motile cilia are characterized by dynein motor units, which preassemble in the cytoplasm before trafficking into the cilia. Proteins required for dynein preassembly were discovered by finding human mutations that result in absent ciliary motors, but little is known about their expression, function, or interactions. By monitoring ciliogenesis in primary airway epithelial cells and MCIDAS-regulated induced pluripotent stem cells, we uncovered two phases of expression of preassembly proteins. An early phase, composed of HEATR2, SPAG1, and DNAAF2, preceded other preassembly proteins and was independent of MCIDAS regulation. The early preassembly proteins colocalized within perinuclear foci that also contained dynein arm proteins. These proteins also interacted based on immunoprecipitation and Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies. FRET analysis of HEAT domain deletions and human mutations showed that HEATR2 interacted with itself and SPAG1 at multiple HEAT domains, while DNAAF2 interacted with SPAG1. Human mutations in HEATR2 did not affect this interaction, but triggered the formation of p62/Sequestosome-1-positive aggregates containing the early preassembly proteins, suggesting that degradation of an early preassembly complex is responsible for disease and pointing to key regions required for HEATR2 scaffold stability. We speculate that HEATR2 is an early scaffold for the initiation of dynein complex assembly in motile cilia.
Inductive meandered line metamaterial for metamaterial-enhanced resistive wall amplifiers

The metamaterial-enhanced resistive wall amplifier (ME-RWA) has been demonstrated, through theory, to be a high gain wideband amplifier. This work presents the design and preliminary cold test results of a constructed ME-RWA. In this ME-RWA design, the metamaterial consists of a periodic arrangement of inductive meandered lines. To verify the properties of the metamaterial, the structure's dispersion was measured and found to be in good agreement with simulation and theory.
Rayleigh–Taylor stability in an evaporating binary mixture

A heavy-over-light configuration of a fluid bilayer may be stabilized in the presence of a phase change if the system consists of a single component. However, if the fluid is composed of a binary mixture with the more volatile component having the lower surface tension, it is known that a Marangoni instability occurs. This instability owes its origin to concentration gradients created by the phase change, even though the phase change otherwise has a stabilizing effect. In this study, it is shown via a nonlinear model under a long-wavelength approximation, that this Marangoni destabilization is insufficient to cause a rupture of the interface under practical operating conditions. Computations reveal that the stabilizing effect of the phase change dominates as the film becomes thin by reversing the direction of the Marangoni flow, thereby halting the instability and any hope of rupture.
Investigation of static/dynamic moduli and plastic response of shale specimens

Abstract High clay and organic content, irregular voids, presence of micro-cracks, and obvious bedding planes are among features of shale gas rocks that affect their mechanical response. These sedimentary rocks exhibit substantial degree of anisotropy and inhomogeneity, with non-linear response when subjected to axial loading. The laboratory characterization of these rocks is necessary to design an optimized hydraulic fracturing programme, and for reliable constitutive and numerical modeling of these formations. In this study, a series of triaxial multi-stage elastic and cyclic tests were performed on Marcellus Shale specimens, retrieved from a deep well (~2270 m deep) located in West Virginia, to characterize their elastic-plastic and hysteresis response subjected to loading/unloading cycles. The experimental results indicated a nonlinear response, particularly at low differential stress levels. In addition, the specimens with higher clay content exhibited a softer response with lower estimated static and dynamic moduli at different stress levels compared to those of specimens with higher calcite/quartz content. The ultrasonic P- and S-wave velocity measurements were found to be sensitive to the changes in the micro-structure of the rock caused by variation in stress condition. In general, the estimated Young's modulus during unloading was found to be higher than loading. The plastic deformations were pronounced in the first cycle of loading, followed by a decreasing trend in the subsequent cycles.
Assessment of distal access catheter performance during neuroendovascular procedures: measuring force in three-dimensional patient specific phantoms

Background The amount of force applied on a device is an important measure to evaluate the endovascular and surgical device manipulations. The measure has not been evaluated for neuroenodvascular procedures. Purpose We aimed to study the use of force measure as a novel approach to test distal access catheter (DAC) performance during catheterization of cervical and intracranial vessels using patient specific 3-dimentional (3D) phantoms. Methods Using patient specific 3D phantoms of the cervical and intracranial circulation, we recorded measure of force required to deliver three types of DACs beyond the ophthalmic segment of the internal carotid artery. Six different combinations of DAC–microcatheter–guidewire were tested. We intentionally included what we considered suboptimal combinations of DACs, microcatheters, and guidewires during our experiments to test the feasibility of measuring force under different conditions. A six axis force sensor was secured to the DAC with an adjustable torque used to track axially directed push and pull forces required to navigate the DAC to the target site. Results In a total of 55 experiments, we found a significant difference in the amount of force used between different DACs (mean force for DAC A, 1.887±0.531N; for DAC B, 2.153±1.280 N; and for DAC C, 1.194±0.521 N, P=0.007). There was also a significant difference in force measures among the six different catheter systems (P=0.035). Conclusions Significant difference in the amount of force used between different DACs and catheter systems were recorded. Use of force measure in neuroendovascular procedures on 3D printed phantoms is feasible.
Paraneoplastic dermatomyositis appearing after nivolumab therapy for gastric cancer: a case report

While dermatomyositis is often associated with malignancy, several autoimmune diseases like myositis can be caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors. Differentially diagnosing malignancy-associated dermatomyositis or myositis caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors is sometimes difficult, particularly when a patient with malignancy shows the symptoms of myositis after checkpoint inhibitor administration. We experienced such a case in which we had difficulties in diagnosing paraneoplastic dermatomyositis or drug-associated myositis. In this case, all of our team initially assumed that the diagnosis was myositis caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors. However, it turned out finally that the diagnosis was paraneoplastic dermatomyositis. Because the diagnosis was unexpected, we report here. We report the case of a 71-year-old Japanese man who developed clinical symptoms of myositis, such as muscle aches and weakness, after initiation of nivolumab therapy for his gastric cancer. He was initially diagnosed with nivolumab-induced myositis, because the myositis symptoms appeared after nivolumab administration, and nivolumab is known to trigger various drug-associated autoimmune diseases. However, according to his characteristic skin lesions, the type of muscle weakness, his serum marker profiles, electromyography of his deltoid muscle, and magnetic resonance imaging, he was finally diagnosed as having paraneoplastic dermatomyositis. Accordingly, treatment with intravenously administered corticosteroid pulse treatment, immunoglobulin injection, and tacrolimus was applied; his symptoms subsequently improved. However, to our regret, at day 142 after administration, he died due to rapid worsening of his gastric cancer. Differentially diagnosing paraneoplastic dermatomyositis or drug-associated myositis caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors is difficult in some cases. The differential diagnosis is crucial because it influences the decision regarding the appropriateness of the use of immunosuppressive treatment against the autoimmune diseases as well as the decision regarding the appropriateness of the continuous use of immune checkpoint inhibitors against the primary cancers. Because subclinical autoimmune disease may become overt after administering immune checkpoint inhibitors, non-apparent autoimmune diseases, which have already existed, should also be considered to avoid the delay of appropriate treatment, when symptoms of autoimmune diseases are recognized.
Breast cancer in relation to nursing and menopausal history.

This study compared a group of 340 breast cancer patients with a carefully matched control group with respect to fertility history of lactation menopause age and ethnic background. The breast cancer patients were undergoing treatment or follow-up at 5 New York hospitals; the controls were undergoing general surgical treatment at the same hospitals. A satisfactory match was obtained for 340 of the 452 breast cancer patients interviewed. No appreciable differences in nursing histories of the 2 groups were observed. Such previously reported relationships may have been due to other variables. A relationship between breast cancer and artificial menopause was significantly support ed by the observation that the frequency of artificial menopause was muc h lower among breast cancer patients. This supports the postulate that artificial menopause offers some protection against the later development of breast cancer. This relationship is independent of fertility. No significant difference between the cancer and comparison group was observed with respect to menstrual activity fetal death smoking history frequency of major illness or previous operations.
Pain Catastrophizing and Arthritis Self-Efficacy as Mediators of Sleep Disturbance and Osteoarthritis Symptom Severity.

OBJECTIVE Sleep and pain-related experiences are consistently associated, but the pathways linking these experiences are not well understood. We evaluated whether pain catastrophizing and arthritis self-efficacy mediate the association between sleep disturbance and osteoarthritis (OA) symptom severity in patients with knee OA. METHODS We analyzed cross-sectional baseline data collected from Veterans Affairs (VA) patients enrolled in a clinical trial examining the effectiveness of a positive psychology intervention in managing pain from knee OA. Participants indicated how often in the past two weeks they were bothered by trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much. We used validated scales to assess the primary outcome (OA symptom severity) and potential mediators (arthritis self-efficacy and pain catastrophizing). To test the proposed mediation model, we used parallel multiple mediation analyses with bootstrapping, controlling for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics with bivariate associations with OA symptom severity. RESULTS The sample included 517 patients (Mage = 64 years, 72.9% male, 52.2% African American). On average, participants reported experiencing sleep disturbance at least several days in the past two weeks (M = 1.41, SD = 1.18) and reported moderate OA symptom severity (M = 48.22, SD = 16.36). More frequent sleep disturbance was associated with higher OA symptom severity directly (b = 3.08, P <0.001) and indirectly, through higher pain catastrophizing (b = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.20 to 1.11) and lower arthritis self-efficacy (b = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.42 to 1.42). CONCLUSIONS Pain catastrophizing and arthritis self-efficacy partially mediated the association between sleep disturbance and OA symptom severity. Behavioral interventions that address pain catastrophizing and/or self-efficacy may buffer the association between sleep disturbance and OA symptom severity.
Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World: by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Chicago, IL, American Library Association, 2018, 194 pp., $49.99, ISBN 978-0-8389-1688-9

Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich provides a thorough account of contemporary issues facing the world and a guidebook on what libr...