cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Emerging technologies for non-invasive quantification of physiological oxygen transport in plants

Oxygen plays a critical role in plant metabolism, stress response/signaling, and adaptation to environmental changes (Lambers and Colmer, Plant Soil 274:7-15, 2005; Pitzschke et al., Antioxid Redox Signal 8:1757-1764, 2006; Van Breusegem et al., Plant Sci 161:405-414, 2001). Reactive oxygen species (ROS), by-products of various metabolic pathways in which oxygen is a key molecule, are produced during adaptation responses to environmental stress. While much is known about plant adaptation to stress (e.g., detoxifying enzymes, antioxidant production), the link between ROS metabolism, O2 transport, and stress response mechanisms is unknown. Thus, non-invasive technologies for measuring O2 are critical for understanding the link between physiological O2 transport and ROS signaling. New non-invasive technologies allow real-time measurement of O2 at the single cell and even organelle levels. This review briefly summarizes currently available (i.e., mainstream) technologies for measuring O2 and then introduces emerging technologies for measuring O2. Advanced techniques that provide the ability to non-invasively (i.e., non-destructively) measure O2 are highlighted. In the near future, these non-invasive sensors will facilitate novel experimentation that will allow plant physiologists to ask new hypothesis-driven research questions aimed at improving our understanding of physiological O2 transport.
Water use and water-use efficiency of the invasive Centaurea maculosa and three native grasses

The Eurasian herb Centaurea maculosa Lam. has invaded millions of hectares of semi-arid grasslands in western North America. Its success may reflect that it may be more competitive than native species, it is not grazed by large herbivores, it was introduced without its native enemies, it may interfere with native species via allelopathy, or most likely some combination of these factors. Greater competitive ability could include greater use of limiting soil resources, such as water, or more efficient use of soil water, thereby inhibiting establishment, survival, and reproduction of native species. We measured water use and water-use efficiency of Centaurea and three native grasses, Pseudoroegneria spicata [Scribn. and Smith] A. Love, Pascopyrum smithii [Rybd.] A. Love, and Festuca idahoensis Elmer, in a glasshouse. Water-use efficiency was determined by the traditional measure of biomass produced per mass of water used, and by carbon-isotope discrimination (Δ). Centaurea did not use the most water, or use water more efficiently (based on biomass (g)/ water (kg) and carbon-isotope discrimination) than all three native grasses. We also determined carbon-isotope discrimination of Centaurea and dominant native grasses during the 1999 and 2000 growing seasons at three field sites. Centaurea rosettes had the lowest water-use efficiency (greatest carbon-isotope discrimination), followed by mature plants of Centaurea, and then native grasses. Water-use efficiency of mature Centaurea plants and native grasses was greater in late summer than early summer. Centaurea's success as an invasive species in North America cannot be attributed to greater use of soil water or greater water-use efficiency than native grasses.
Clinical Reasoning: A 34-year-old woman with recurrent bouts of acral paresthesias

A 34-year-old, previously healthy woman presented with a 3-year history of persistent numbness and tingling in her feet ascending to the knees. She was a lifelong long-distance runner, and she normally experiences numbness and tingling in both feet while running that resolve within minutes of stopping her exercise. Three years ago, she developed diarrhea that was followed a week later by paresthesias in her feet and legs with a stocking distribution to the knees. Her symptoms were associated with a transient feeling of overwhelming fatigue, limiting her ambulation to 1 city block. She did not, however, have any functional weakness. After 2 weeks, milder hand and left face paresthesias developed. Four weeks later, her symptoms plateaued and persisted. Three months later, she developed more intense paresthesias and a sensation of “crawling” below both knees. At that time, she was seen at another hospital, where the examination showed bilateral pes cavus and hammertoes. There was no nerve thickening. Cranial nerves were intact. Strength was normal except for mild bilateral thenar weakness and slight difficulty with heel walking. The deep tendon reflexes were decreased at the arms and ankles. There was decreased pinprick sensation in the feet in a stocking-glove distribution with hyperalgesia. Vibration was moderately diminished at the ankles. Nerve conduction studies and electromyography (NCS/EMG) at that time showed uniform, mild conduction velocity slowing of both sensory and motor conduction with borderline prolonged distal latencies in the median and ulnar nerves. She was treated with a 1-month taper of prednisone beginning with 80 mg daily. The crawling sensation resolved and the paresthesias became less intense and stabilized. She was able to resume distance running, but still had persistent, mild numbness in her feet with bouts of increasing intensity every several months. Three years later, the patient presented to us for a …
Conflict and Dialectics: Perceptions of Dialectical Contradictions in Marital Conflict

This study examined the perceived importance of six basic dialectical contradictions to conflict episodes for 25 marital couples. Using a revised version of the Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT) and questionnaire data, marital couples were asked to recall important conflict episodes, coded for issue type, over a 1-year period. Following in-depth questions about the conflicts, a questionnaire was administered that asked participants to rate 6 basic dialectical contradictions according to their importance for each conflict episode. A second questionnaire was also administered that asked participants to determine whether conflicts were dialectical (antagonistic and non-antagonistic) and/or non-dialectical, relative to each conflict episode. Results reveal that the dialectical contradictions of autonomy-connection and openness-closed-ness were perceived as more important than the other contradictions. Two other contradictions (integration-separation, predictability-novelty) were perceived as important f...
Library Screen Identifies Enterococcus faecalis CcpA, the Catabolite Control Protein A, as an Effector of Ace, a Collagen Adhesion Protein Linked to Virulence

ABSTRACT The Enterococcus faecalis cell wall-anchored protein Ace is an important virulence factor involved in cell adhesion and infection. Expression of Ace on the cell surface is affected by many factors, including stage of growth, culture temperature, and environmental components, such as serum, urine, and collagen. However, the mechanisms that regulate or modulate Ace display are not well understood. With interest in identifying genes associated with Ace expression, we utilized a whole-cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based screening method to identify mutants from a transposon insertion mutant library which exhibited distinct Ace surface expression profiles. We identified a ccpA insertion mutant which showed significantly decreased levels of Ace surface expression at early growth phase versus those of wild-type OG1RF. Confirmation of the observation was achieved through flow cytometry and complementation analysis. Compared to the wild type, the E. faecalis ccpA mutant had an impaired ability to adhere to collagen when grown to early exponential phase, consistent with the lack of Ace expression in the early growth phase. As a key component of carbon catabolite regulation, CcpA has been previously reported to play a critical role in regulating expression of proteins involved in E. faecalis carbohydrate uptake and utilization. Our discovery is the first to associate CcpA with the production of a major E. faecalis virulence factor, providing new insights into the regulation of E. faecalis pathogenesis.
Is Iron Maintenance Therapy Better Than Load and Hold

The history of intravenous (IV) iron for anemia management in patients undergoing maintenance dialysis makes for a most fascinating, educational, and clinically relevant story. There have been mixed data, strong opinions, and polarized views among different camps and across multiple dimensions.
Numerical investigation of a plasma beam entering transverse magnetic fields

Two-dimensional electrostatic and electromagnetic particle-in-cell codes are used to investigate plasma beam propagation across transverse magnetic fields. Both large- and small-ion-gyroradius beams are studied in the case of small beam momentum or energy (low drift kinetic beta). Large-ion-gyroradius beams with a large dielectric constant epsilon much greater than (M/m) to the 1/2 (where M/m is the ion-to-electron mass ratio) are found to propagate across the magnetic field via E x B drifts at nearly the initial injection velocity. Beam degradation and undulations are observed, in agreement with previous experimental and analytical results. When epsilon is of order (M/m) to the 1/2 the plasma beam propagates across field lines at only half its initial velocity and loses its coherent structure. When epsilon is much less than (M/m) to the 1/2 the beam particles decouple at the magnetic field boundary, scattering the electrons and deflecting the ions slightly.
Image‐derived arterial input function for quantitative fluorescence imaging of receptor‐drug binding in vivo

Receptor concentration imaging (RCI) with targeted-untargeted optical dye pairs has enabled in vivo immunohistochemistry analysis in preclinical subcutaneous tumors. Successful application of RCI to fluorescence guided resection (FGR), so that quantitative molecular imaging of tumor-specific receptors could be performed in situ, would have a high impact. However, assumptions of pharmacokinetics, permeability and retention, as well as the lack of a suitable reference region limit the potential for RCI in human neurosurgery. In this study, an arterial input graphic analysis (AIGA) method is presented which is enabled by independent component analysis (ICA). The percent difference in arterial concentration between the image-derived arterial input function (AIFICA ) and that obtained by an invasive method (ICACAR ) was 2.0 ± 2.7% during the first hour of circulation of a targeted-untargeted dye pair in mice. Estimates of distribution volume and receptor concentration in tumor bearing mice (n = 5) recovered using the AIGA technique did not differ significantly from values obtained using invasive AIF measurements (p = 0.12). The AIGA method, enabled by the subject-specific AIFICA , was also applied in a rat orthotopic model of U-251 glioblastoma to obtain the first reported receptor concentration and distribution volume maps during open craniotomy.
Site-independent template-block detection

Detection of template and noise blocks in web pages is an important step in improving the performance of information retrieval and content extraction. Of the many approaches proposed, most rely on the assumption of operating within the confines of a single website or require expensive hand-labeling of relevant and non-relevant blocks for model induction. This reduces their applicability, since in many practical scenarios template blocks need to be detected in arbitrary web pages, with no prior knowledge of the site structure. In this work we propose to bridge these two approaches by using within-site template discovery techniques to drive the induction of a site-independent template detector. Our approach eliminates the need for human annotation and produces highly effective models. Experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed methodology for the important applications of keyword extraction, with relative performance gain as high as 20%.
Linear circuits: A measurement based approach

This paper reports a new measurement based approach that can be used to determine the functional dependence of a D.C. circuit variable of interest on a small set of design variables. The approach makes use of a small number of measurements and generalizes the well known Thevenin's Theorem of circuit theory.
Time-dependent, wind-driven flow over a shallow midshelf submarine bank

[1] During summer 2001, high-resolution hydrographic, velocity, and bio-optical surveys were conducted over Heceta Bank off central Oregon. North of the bank, upwelling over simple bottom topography exhibited a classic response with a midshelf, baroclinic coastal jet and upwelled isopycnals. The coastal upwelling jet follows the bank topography as it widens offshore before reaching the southern end of the bank, where the shelf break turns almost 90° back toward the coast. The ensuing adjustment involves the offshelf transport of coastal water and the material it contains. The jet meanders anticyclonically in the “lee” of the bank before resuming its equatorward path seaward of the shelf break. A pool of high-chlorophyll (>15 mg m−3) near-surface water is found in the low-velocity “lee” region created by the bank. A low-temperature, high-salinity bottom water pool, supplied primarily from the south, lies over the inshore region of the bank. This bottom pool is up to 40 m thick and contains elevated levels of suspended material. By creating an east-west perturbation in the coastal upwelling front, the flow-topography interaction introduces an alongshore pressure gradient. When southward upwelling-favorable winds relax, this alongshore pressure gradient can drive flow back to the north. This leads to northward flow on the inshore side of the bank, ultimately setting up the potential for recirculation around the entire bank complex on a timescale of about 10 days. Strong northward winds during summer lead to downwelling within 15 km of the coast, accompanied by significant (>0.2 m s−1) wind-driven northward currents.
Development, Growth and Policy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa since 1950

Prior to 1950, the countries of the Middle East exhibited some of the lowest levels of socioeconomic development in the world. For many of these countries, not even approximate economic statistics are available for the first half of the twentieth century. But the state of underdevelopment can be illustrated by looking at Egypt, the most modernized and populous country in the Arab world at the time. Egyptian per capita income stagnated in the first half of the twentieth century. The country lacked modern industries and relied largely on the cotton sector for export and government revenues, but agricultural productivity had been on a steady decline since the end of the nineteenth century (Owen and Pamuk, 1998). Prior to land reforms in 1952, three-quarters of peasants in this agrarian country owned less than an acre or no land at all. The neglect of human services allowed periodic epidemics and malnutrition to keep mortality rates high until the late 1940s. Education levels were well below other developing regions, with adult illiteracy estimated at 85 percent in 1939 and only 23 percent of children ages 5‐19 enrolled in school. But in the 1960s and 1970s, Egypt and other countries of the Middle East experienced robust economic growth, based largely on high levels of investment in physical capital that facilitated substantial increases in per capita income. It might seem obvious that the higher oil prices of the 1970s should have sustained the growth cycle in this oil-exporting region, but GDP growth per worker in the Middle East decelerated in that decade, and factor productivity growth actually turned negative. In the 1980s and 1990s, GDP growth per worker in the region was less than 1 percent per year, and modest gains in human capital were largely offset by
Avionics system design for testability using a knowledge engineering approach

The authors present a design methodology and a knowledge-based computer-aided design (CAD) environment that allows an avionics system designer to incorporate testability into a design in a formal, verifiable way which also provides clear documentation for this activity. Prototype CAD tools have been built and have met with in-house use success. The design and implementation of the current prototype tools, collectively known as the test engineer's assistant (TEA,) tools, are presented, along with an example application. All outline of a more robust system which should provide users with a more comprehensive environment with enhanced capabilities to better meet the challenges posed by the design methodology presented is given. In addition, the impact of using testability design tool's to potentially reduce life cycle costs is discussed. >
Care, Cure, and Hospital Dying Trajectories

The study was designed to examine the relationship of cause of dying, length of hospital stay, and age to medical treatment effort orientation and amount of work effort expended. The data were obtained through retrospective analysis of patient hospital records of 184 adults who died in an urban teaching hospital. Descriptive variables included demographic characteristics, ascribed medical condition day of death, and code status. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze the relationship of the dependent variables to the independent variables. The findings showed that the medical treatment orientation was overwhelmingly toward the cure end of the care-cure continuum, despite the fact that the majority of patients had been designated no code (non-use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and had conditions labeled by their physicians as either grim prognosis or terminal.
X-Y separable pyramid steerable scalable kernels

A new method for generating X-Y separable, steerable, scalable approximations of filter kernels is proposed which is based on a generalization of the singular value decomposition (SVD) to three dimensions. This "pseudo-SVD" improves upon a previous scheme due to Perona (1992) in that it reduces convolution time and storage requirements. An adaptation of the pseudo-SVD is proposed to generate steerable and scalable kernels which are suitable for use with a Laplacian pyramid. The properties of this method are illustrated experimentally in generating steerable and scalable approximations to an early vision edge-detection kernel. >
Changes and Variations in the Pectic Constitution of Ripening Peaches as Related to Product Firmness

SUMMARY Samples of 6 commercial varieties of peaches–5 freestone (Ranger, Triogem, Sun-high, Elberta, and Afterglow), and 1 clingstone (Ambergem)–were examined at 4 stages of postharvest ripeness. Fresh fruit samples were tested for firmness and analyzed for pectin-esterase activity and for three pectin fractions (water-soluble, Versene-soluble, and Versene-insoluble). Shear press readings were taken on the corresponding canned samples as well as subjective firmness ratings for each variety at each stage of ripeness. In Ambergem, the proportions of the three pectin fractions remained relatively constant in fruits held 4 days at 25°C. In freestone peaches, the proportion of water-soluble pectin increased rapidly at the expense of the other two fractions. There were significant statistical differences between the freestone varieties in the proportions of Versene-soluble pectin retained with advancing ripeness. The differences in pectin constitution were related to the firmness of the fresh and canned products. Pectin-esterase activity was markedly lower for Elberta than for the other freestone varieties. The level of pectinesterase activity was not in itself related to firmness retention but may be involved indirectly in demethylation for cationic-binding.
Empirical Comparison of Models for Short Range Forecasting

Results of a simulation study of the short-range forecasting effectiveness of exponentially smoothed and selected Box-Jenkins models for sixty-three monthly sales series are presented. Brown's exponentially smoothed constant, linear and six-and eight-term harmonic models are compared with two seasonal factor models and ten Box-Jenkins models. The seasonal factor models are Winters' three parameter model and a single parameter model developed by the author. The forecasting errors of the best of the Box-Jenkins models that were tested are either approximately equal to or greater than the errors of the corresponding exponentially smoothed models. Test results indicate that the four exponentially smoothed seasonal models yield approximately equivalent accuracy for most data series. If a sharply defined pattern exists, the seasonal factor models can yield smaller forecast errors than the harmonic models. If no seasonal pattern exists, the errors of the exponentially smoothed models with seasonal components are only slightly greater than those of the constant and linear models.
Field Abundance and Performance of Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) on Soybean Aphid

The management of the soybean aphid Aphis glycines Matsumara is a major challenge to soybean production in the north-central United States. The identification and characterization of the insect predator community has informed integrated pest management strategies by providing insight on predators that can suppress soybean aphid populations. Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are known predators of A. glycines, but more information is needed on their diversity, abundance, and performance to evaluate their importance as biological control agents of A. glycines. In this study, syrphid abundance was evaluated across two growing seasons in four soybean fields in east-central Minnesota. Six methods were used to quantify syrphid abundance at the larval, pupal, and adult life stages; describe species composition and richness for adults; and directly compare larval abundance to aphid abundance. The syrphid community comprised eight species, dominated by Toxomerus marginatus (Say) and Toxomerus geminatus (Say). Syrphid abundance was relatively low in soybean fields. Feeding trials were conducted to compare the performance of the most common syrphid (T. marginatus) on a diet of A. glycines with two native aphids, Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe and Aphis monardae Oestlund. Despite their low abundance in soybeans, T. marginatus larvae perform well on A. glycines, A. nerii, and A. monardae in laboratory feeding trials, implying that factors other than host suitability are limiting their potential to exert biological control on soybean aphids.
Standardizing adverse drug event reporting data

The Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) is an FDA database providing rich information on voluntary reports of adverse drug events (ADEs). Normalizing data in the AERS would improve the mining capacity of the AERS for drug safety signal detection and promote semantic interoperability between the AERS and other data sources. In this study, we normalize the AERS and build a publicly available normalized ADE data source. The drug information in the AERS is normalized to RxNorm, a standard terminology source for medication, using a natural language processing medication extraction tool, MedEx. Drug class information is then obtained from the National Drug File-Reference Terminology (NDF-RT) using a greedy algorithm. Adverse events are aggregated through mapping with the Preferred Term (PT) and System Organ Class (SOC) codes of Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA). The performance of MedEx-based annotation was evaluated and case studies were performed to demonstrate the usefulness of our approaches. Our study yields an aggregated knowledge-enhanced AERS data mining set (AERS-DM). In total, the AERS-DM contains 37,029,228 Drug-ADE records. Seventy-one percent (10,221/14,490) of normalized drug concepts in the AERS were classified to 9 classes in NDF-RT. The number of unique pairs is 4,639,613 between RxNorm concepts and MedDRA Preferred Term (PT) codes and 205,725 between RxNorm concepts and SOC codes after ADE aggregation. We have built an open-source Drug-ADE knowledge resource with data being normalized and aggregated using standard biomedical ontologies. The data resource has the potential to assist the mining of ADE from AERS for the data mining research community.
Sowing Patriotism, But Reaping Nationalism? Consequences of Exposure to the American Flag

The American flag is a frequently displayed national symbol in the United States. Given its high visibility and importance, the present research examines the consequences of exposure to the flag on Americans' sense of national attachment. We hypothesized that the flag would increase patriotism, defined as love and commitment to one's country, and nationalism, defined as a sense of superiority over others. Two experimental studies supported the idea that the American flag increased nationalism, but not necessarily patriotism. The discussion focuses on the practices surrounding the American flag and its implications for the repro duction of American national identity.
Effect of a hand sock on prehension in infancy.

In 4-12 month human infants a briefly applied hand sock frequently resulted in marked prehensile disuse of the socked arm (SA) in excess of the sock's mechanical restriction. Most infants failed to reach with the SA for midline objects on a majority of trials while continuing to use the unsocked arm (UA). The SA grasp and manipulation efforts were also reduced. The onset of disuse was rapid, as was resumption of use after sock removal. The SA disuse was attributed to the effect of excess contactual input from the SA. The character of the disuse differed with age. Whereas younger infants often appeared not to recognize the option to attempt prehension with the SA, older ones were capable at times of deliberate disuse of the arm and could reverse existing patterns of SA disuse. Older infants also displayed: (1) better awareness of the handicapping effects of the sock in the framework of an improved concept of arm structure and function, and (2) better adaptive and compensatory responses including substitute use of the UA. These data were interpreted to suggest a general transition from peripheral to central control of prehensile intention during the 2nd half of the 1st year.
Strategic Human Capital Management in Municipal Government An Assessment of Implementation Practices

Growing empirical evidence supports the fact that human resource management (HRM) practices have a direct impact on organizational performance. However, recognition that the HRM function can impact...
Challenging Myths About China’s One-Child Policy

AbstractChina’s controversial one-child policy continues to generate controversy and misinformation. This essay challenges several common myths: that Mao Zedong consistently opposed efforts to limit China’s population growth; that consequently China’s population continued to grow rapidly until after his death; that the launching of the one-child policy in 1980 led to a dramatic decline in China’s fertility rate; and that the imposition of the policy prevented 400 million births. Evidence is presented contradicting each of these claims. Mao Zedong at times forcefully advocated strict limits on births and presided over a major switch to coercive birth planning after 1970; as much as three-quarters of the decline in fertility since 1970 occurred before the launching of the one-child policy; fertility levels fluctuated in China after the policy was launched; and most of the further decline in fertility since 1980 can be attributed to economic development, not coercive enforcement of birth limits.
RDF-X: a language for sanitizing RDF graphs

With the advent of Semantic Web and Resource Description Framework (RDF), the web is likely to witness an unprecedented wealth of knowledge, resulting from seamless integration of various data sources. Data integration is one of the key features of RDF, however, absence of secure means for managing sensitive RDF data may prevent sharing of critical data altogether or may cause serious damage. Towards this end we present a language for sanitizing RDF graphs, which comprises a set of sanitization operations that transform a graph by concealing the sensitive data. These operations are modeled into a new SPARQL query form known as SANITIZE, which can also be leveraged towards fine grained access control and building advanced anonymization features.
Successful Parasitization of Heliothis zea and Trichoplusia ni Eggs by Trichogramma

Laboratory and field cage studies were conducted to determine the degree of successful parasitization by selected Trichogramma stocks for the eggs of Heliothis zea (Boddie), the bollworm, and Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), the cabbage looper. The laboratory studies showed significant increases in female longevity, number of eggs successfully parasitized, and progeny production when H. zea eggs were used as hosts. Two types of field cage experiments were conducted in cotton fields. The 1st type, which had either H. zea or T. ni egg cards in a given field cage, indicated that twice as many H. zea egg cards were found. The 2nd type of experiment had both hosts in varying proportions in each cage, and showed that a higher proportion of H. zea eggs were successfully parasitized even when T. ni eggs were more abundant.
AN APPROACH TO INTEGRATED DESIGN AND CONTROL OPTIMIZATION OF LAMINATED CYLINDRICAL SHELLS INCLUDING DAMPING

An optimization-based approach to the integrated thickness design and active control is developed for laminated cylindrical shells. The formulation of the problem is obtained by introducing the quadratic cost functionals and comprises a weighted sum of the design and control objectives. The design objective is the maximization of the fundamental frequency, and the control objective is the minimization of the dynamic response of a laminated cylindrical shell, which is expressed in terms of the energy of the structure. The effects of damping on the dynamics of composite structures are incorporated. The problem is solved using a maximum principle of Pareto optimal approach. Numerical examples of a simply supported composite cylindrical shell are presented to demonstrate the significance of the simultaneous design and control optimization as well as the damping effects.
Organizational Consciousness: Factors that Influence Environmentalism on MNCs in India

This research illuminates the differences among multinational corporations (MNC) that operate in an environmentally conscious manner (in other words, those that “live green”) from those that do not in India. In this study, we use a blended qualitative approach involving interviews and direct observations from the MNCs’ executives and facilities located in the United States and India. Results indicate that sustainability is driven by organizational consciousness. Green organizations are mindful of how their policies and operations influence the environment. Further, environmental consciousness was clearly associated with overt concern for employee safety and well-being. This study provides insight into what enables some firms to overcome negative transnational cultural interactions that directly influence environmental performance. This knowledge can be transferred to both international operations and those in the firm’s home country
FlashType $^{\text{TM}}$ : A Context-Aware c-VEP-Based BCI Typing Interface Using EEG Signals

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) offer individuals with disabilities an alternative channel of communication and control, hence they have been receiving increasing interest. BCIs can also be useful for healthy individuals in situations limiting their movement or where other computer interaction modalities need to be supplemented. Event-related and steady state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) are the top two brain signal types used in developing BCIs that allow the user to make a choice from a discrete set of options, including the selection of commands from a menu for a robot or computer to perform, as well as typing letters, symbols, or icons for communication. Popular BCI speller paradigms, such as the P300 Matrix Speller, RSVP Keyboard $^{\rm TM}$ or SSVEP spellers in which the letters on the keyboard display flicker, are sensitive to the font, size and presentation speed. In addition, sensitivity to eye gaze control plays a significant role in usability of most of these keyboards. We present a code-VEP based BCI, utilized in a language model assisted keyboard application. Utilizing a cursor based selection method, stimuli and targets are separated. FlashType $^{\rm TM}$ separates visual stimulation from alphabet presentation to achieve performance invariance under presentation variations. Therefore, FlashType $^{\rm TM}$ can be used for all languages, including the ones containing symbols and icons. FlashType $^{\rm TM}$ , contains a Static Keyboard , a row of Suggested Characters and a row of Predicted Words . FlashType $^{\rm TM}$ , by default, uses only one EEG electrode and four stimuli. The system can operate using only one stimulus at a lower selection rate, useful for individuals with limited or no gaze control. This feature is to be explored in future. Replacing letters with text or icons representing commands would allow controlling a computer or robot. In this study, FlashType $^{\rm TM}$ has been evaluated by three individuals performing 10 Mastery tasks. In depth experimentation, such as assessing the system with potential end users writing long passages of text, will be done in future.
Amine-Functionalized Porous Silicas as Adsorbents for Aldehyde Abatement

A series of aminopropyl-functionalized silicas containing of primary, secondary, or tertiary amines is fabricated via silane-grafting on mesoporous SBA-15 silica and the utility of each material in the adsorption of volatile aldehydes from air is systematically assessed. A particular emphasis is placed on low-molecular-weight aldehydes such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, which are highly problematic volatile organic compound (VOC) pollutants. The adsorption tests demonstrate that the aminosilica materials with primary amines most effectively adsorbed formaldehyde with an adsorption capacity of 1.4 mmolHCHO g–1, whereas the aminosilica containing secondary amines showed lower adsorption capacity (0.80 mmolHCHO g–1) and the aminosilica containing tertiary amines adsorbed a negligible amount of formaldehyde. The primary amine containing silica also successfully abated higher aldehyde VOC pollutants, including acetaldehyde, hexanal, and benzaldehyde, by effectively adsorbing them. The adsorption mechanism ...
The Efficacy of Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Targeted Biopsy in Risk Classification for Patients with Prostate Cancer on Active Surveillance

Purpose: We determined whether multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging targeted biopsies may replace systematic biopsies to detect higher grade prostate cancer (Gleason score 7 or greater) and whether biopsy may be avoided based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging among men with Gleason 3+3 prostate cancer on active surveillance.Materials and Methods: We identified men with previously diagnosed Gleason score 3+3 prostate cancer on active surveillance who underwent multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and a followup prostate biopsy. Suspicion for higher grade cancer was scored on a standardized 5-point scale. All patients underwent a systematic biopsy. Patients with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging regions of interest also underwent magnetic resonance imaging targeted biopsy. The detection rate of higher grade cancer was estimated for different multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging scores with the 3 biopsy strategies of systematic, magnetic resonance imaging targeted and c...
Further on Positron Testing of Carbon Fiber Composites

Two years ago [1] we reported some results of positron Doppler broadening spectroscopy of impact damage in carbon-fiber epoxy-resin matrix composites. Both filament-wound and hand-layed materials were examined. Before reviewing those results, a brief description of the positron technique used will be given.
Introduction: selecting an antidepressant.

Four years ago, my colleagues and I published an article titled “Why isn't bupropion the most frequently prescribed antidepressant?” The goal of that article was not to advocate bupropion as the preferred agent for treating depression, but rather to stimulate discussion about how psychiatrists choose an antidepressant as well as to highlight the gap between results of efficacy studies and clinical decision making in real-world practice.The argument in support of bupropion being the preferred antidepressant was based on three premises: all antidepressants are equally effective; adverse effects (AEs) of greatest concern to patients who take antidepressants are weight gain and sexual dysfunction; and bupropion does not cause either of these AEs. Acceptance of these three premises suggested the title of that article.Although many reviews of the antidepressant literature, including the revised American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder, conclude that antidepressants are equally effective in general, several experts in the treatment of depression have suggested that medications with >1 mechanism of action may be more effective than agents that have more selective neurotransmitter effects. In a meta-analysis of eight studies comparing the remission rates in patients treated with the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) venlafaxine or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Thase and colleagues demonstrated that venlafaxine was more effective than SSRIs in achieving remission in depressed patients. However, these conclusions were tentative as most of the included studies were comparisons of venlafaxine and fluoxetine; only one study included sertraline, and there were no studies of citalopram included in the review. In addition, patients who had previously failed treatment with an SSRI were not excluded, and, although patients who fail with one SSRI may respond to subsequent treatment with another SSRI, the inclusion of SSRI failures may favor venlafaxine in comparisons with SSRIs. Lastly, all of the studies included in the meta-analysis were funded by the manufacturer of venlafaxine.
Outcome Instruments for Assessment of Hip Function

Many hip outcome tools have been developed in the past, primarily for assessment of the impact of hip pathology in the older, less-active patient with hip osteoarthritis and, to a lesser extent, the child with Legg-Calve-Perthes, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, polio, or cerebral palsy. Recent efforts have focused on developing valid and reliable instruments for measuring hip function in young active patients with nonarthritic hip pain undergoing hip arthroscopy. A previous focus on clinician-based outcome tools has given way to patient-reported outcome measures, in recognition of the importance of defining outcomes from the patient’s perspective. Criteria for developing and assessing the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of such instruments have been defined. This chapter summarizes the common outcome tools currently in use for assessment of both arthritic and nonarthritic hip pain and discusses current recommendations regarding their use.
Low Regularity Global Solutions for a generalized MHD-α system

Abstract The Magneto-Hydrodynamic (MHD) system of equations governs the motion of viscous fluids subject to a magnetic field. Due to the difficulty of obtaining global solutions to the MHD system, it has become common to study modified versions of the system. In this paper, we prove the existence of a unique global solution to the incompressible MHD- α system with diffusion terms which are Fourier multipliers with symbols of the form m ( ξ ) = | ξ | γ / g ( | ξ | ) for γ > 0 and g (essentially) a logarithm. Letting γ 1 and γ 2 be the regularity of the diffusion terms, we obtain global existence when γ 1 and γ 2 satisfy γ 1 , γ 2 > 1 , γ 1 ≥ n / 3 , and γ 1 + γ 2 ≥ n in R n for n ≥ 3 .
Los patrones del uso del tiempo pasado producidos por estudiantes de tercer año de español: Un análisis del discurso de sus narrativas personales de tema abierto

In this mixed-methods study, the researchers explored the distribution and accuracy rates for preterite and imperfect in the full discursive context in personal narratives written by native English-speaking learners of Spanish as well as the distribution of aspects, tenses and moods other than the preterite and imperfect. Regarding distribution, results revealed that obligatory contexts for other tenses differed significantly from obligatory context for preterite and imperfect. However, the latter two did not differ significantly from one another. As for accuracy, students seem to have a better command of the preterite at the discourse level, whereas the imperfect appears more problematic in its conceptualization and application. Qualitative analysis yielded additional insights with respect to accuracy in the full discursive context and revealed how other tenses and moods may be required along with the preterite and imperfect to relate a personal narrative.
Short-Term Follow-Up Mammography in Breast Conservation Therapy Likely Leads to Unnecessary Downstream Workup: A Longitudinal Study.

Purpose To analyze the effect of post–radiation therapy (XRT) mammographic timing and radiation technique in relation to additional downstream workup for 569 breast conservation therapy patients treated with adjuvant XRT after their initial surveillance mammogram (MMG). Methods and Materials From January 2011 to December 2014, 569 breast cancer patients treated with breast conservation surgery and adjuvant XRT with a follow-up MMG were reviewed. Patients were stratified by the time interval until their first post-XRT MMG, and by XRT technique—whole breast (472), accelerated partial breast (96), conventional fractionation (373), hypofractionation (94), surgical cavity boosts (407), or no boost (66). The primary endpoint was further imaging after the initial MMG. Results Additional workup for those receiving an MMG within 3 months of completing XRT was 51% (73 of 143), compared with 40% (84 of 210) with MMG between 3 and 6 months and 34.5% (75 of 216) with MMG after 6 months (P=.04). Radiation boost to the postoperative bed was associated with further downstream imaging, whereas accelerated partial-breast irradiation and hypofractionated treatment were not. Conclusions Breast conservation therapy patients who underwent screening MMG before 6 months after completion of XRT were more likely to undergo downstream workup, including additional biopsies. Accelerated and hypofractionated radiation techniques were not associated with supplementary workup. Further study is needed to assess appropriate selection of high-risk patients and possible negative implications of earlier post-XRT screening MMG.
Computing Evans functions numerically via boundary-value problems

Abstract The Evans function has been used extensively to study spectral stability of travelling-wave solutions in spatially extended partial differential equations. To compute Evans functions numerically, several shooting methods have been developed. In this paper, an alternative scheme for the numerical computation of Evans functions is presented that relies on an appropriate boundary-value problem formulation. Convergence of the algorithm is proved, and several examples, including the computation of eigenvalues for a multi-dimensional problem, are given. The main advantage of the scheme proposed here compared with earlier methods is that the scheme is linear and scalable to large problems.
Beyond “Aitch(indus)es and Em(uslim)s”: Debating Secularism in Mariam Karim's My Little Boat and Githa Hariharan's In Times of Siege

(2009). Beyond “Aitch(indus)es and Em(uslim)s”: Debating Secularism in Mariam Karim's My Little Boat and Githa Hariharan's In Times of Siege. South Asian Review: Vol. 30, 'Theorizing Religion in a Postmodern Context'. Guest Edited by John Hawley, pp. 48-64.
To What Extent Is a Highly Successful Men’s NCAA Division II Cross Country Coach Humanistic? A Case Study

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the coaching philosophy of a highly successful men’s United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division II cross country coach and determine to what extent his stated philosophy and actual coaching methods were humanistic. For the past 13 seasons, the participant coach’s men’s cross country team has finished either first or second at the NCAA division II national championships. In-depth semistructured qualitative interviews of the participant coach and three of his athletes were conducted in addition to eight overt naturalistic training session observations. All data were triangulated to generate themes to determine if the stated coaching philosophy and actual methods were congruent with the humanistic philosophy. The findings indicated that the coach was for the most part humanistic in regards to individualization, but was not humanistic in relation to open communication and collaborative decision-making with athletes, or a process-ori...
Self-reported healthcare provider utilization across United States Midwestern households.

Understanding the relationships between health care provider usage and demographics of patients is necessary for the development of educational materials, outreach information, and programs targeting individuals who may benefit from services. This analysis identified relationships between health care provider usage and individual's demographics. A sample of Midwestern U.S. respondents (n = 1265) was obtained through the use of an online survey distributed February 12-26, 2016 and was targeted to be representative of the population of the Midwestern states sampled in terms of sex, age, income, and state of residence. Specific factors identified as significant in contributing to provider usage (in the past five years) differed across the eleven provider types studied. In the most commonly used practitioners (the general or primary physician), relationships between provider usage and age, income, health insurance coverage status, and having children in the household were identified. Furthermore, significant (and positive) correlations were identified between the usage of various practitioners; reporting the use of one type of practitioner studied was correlated positively with reporting the use of another type of health care provider studied in this analysis. This analysis provides insight into the relationships between health care provider usage and demographics of individuals, which can aid in the development of educational materials, outreach programs, and policy development.
Improved potency of F10 relative to 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer cells with p53 mutations.

Aim Resistance to fluoropyrimidine drugs (FPs) is a major cause of mortality in colorectal cancer (CRC). We assessed the potency advantage of the polymeric FP F10 relative to 5-fluorouracil (5FU) in four human CRC cell lines that differ only in TP53 mutational status to determine how p53 mutations affect drug response and whether F10 is likely to improve outcomes. Methods HCT-116 human CRC cells (p53+/+) and three isogenic variants (p53-/-, R248W/+, R248W/-) were assessed for drug response. Resistance factors were derived from cell viability data and used to establish the relative potency advantage for F10. Rescue studies with exogenous uridine/thymidine determined if cytotoxicity resulted from DNA-directed processes. Results Significant resistance to 5-FU resulted from p53-loss or from gain-of-function (GOF) mutation (R248W) and was greatest when GOF mutation was coupled with loss of wild-type p53. F10 is much more potent than 5-FU (137-314-fold depending on TP53 mutational status). F10 and 5-FU induce apoptosis by DNA- and RNA-directed mechanisms, respectively, and only F10 shows a modest enhancement in cytotoxicity upon co-treatment with leucovorin. Conclusion TP53 mutational status affects inherent sensitivity to FPs, with p53 GOF mutations most deleterious. F10 is much more effective than 5-FU regardless of TP53 mutations and has potential to be effective to CRC that is resistant to 5-FU due, in part, to TP53 mutations.6,7.