cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Urinary kallikrein excretion in normal man. Relationships to sodium intake and sodium-retaining steroids.

The urinary excretion of kallikrein, a renal enzyme that cleaves the potent vasodilator kinin, kallidin, from kininogen, was measured in normal volunteers by three different assays, one of which was a bioassay. When sodium intake was changed from ad libitum or 109 mEq/day to 9 mEq/day, daily kallikrein excretion increased progressively in every subject to a mean maximal value that was 271% of control by day 7; an increase in sodium intake to 259 mEq/day resulted in the return of kallikrein excretion to control values. Urinary excretion of amylase, a protein with a molecular weight similar to that of kallikrein, did not change when sodium intake was changed, but plasma renin activity and aldosterone excretion changed appropriately. In subjects on a constant-sodium (109 mEq/day), constant-potassium (100 mEq/day) diet, fludrocortisone, 0.5 mg/day for 10 days, increased kallikrein excretion to a mean maximal value that was 203% of control. In subjects on a diet containing 9 mEq sodium/day, elevated kallikrein excretion decreased during treatment with spironolactone, 400 mg/day. Rapid administration of water (1 or 2 liters in 30 minutes, orally) or rapid infusion of 2.4 liters of normal saline did not significantly alter urinary kallikrein excretion despite large changes in urine volume or sodium excretion. Thus, kallikrein excretion appears to be directly related to the effective level of circulating sodium-retaining steroid. The findings are consistent with a role for the kallikrein-kinin system in the renal response to sodium-retaining hormones.
Dividend Discount Models

Dividends are cash payments made by a corporation to its owners. Though cash dividends are paid to both preferred and common shareholders, most of the focus of the attention is on the dividends paid to the residual owners of the corporation, the common shareholders. Dividends paid to common and preferred shareholders are not legal obligations of a corporation and some corporations do not pay cash dividends. But for those companies that pay dividends, changes in dividends are noticed by investors—increases in dividends are viewed favorably and are associated with increases in the company's stock price, whereas decreases in dividends are viewed quite unfavorably and are associated with decreases in the company's stock price. Most models that use dividends in the estimation of stock value use current dividends, some measure of historical or projected dividend growth, and an estimate of the required rate of return. Popular models include the basic dividend discount model that assumes a constant dividend growth, and the multiple-phase models, which include the two-stage dividend growth model, and the stochastic dividend discount models. Keywords: dividend discount models; dividends per share; dividend yield; dividend payout; finite life general DDM; constant growth dividend discount model (DDM); multiphase DDM; stochastic DDM
Seasonal Variation in Fish Assemblages Within the Estuarine Portions of the Myakka and Peace Rivers, Southwest Florida

Juvenile and small adult fish were sampled monthly from 1996 to 2002 in the estuarine portions of the Myakka and Peace rivers, at the northern end of Charlotte Harbor (a relatively pristine estuarine system in southwest Florida). We provide a detailed description of the fish faunas in these areas, including seasonal assemblage structure. Seasonal cycles in assemblage structure were evident. Nearshore (to 5 m) fish assemblages sampled by seine were separated into three main seasonal groups by cluster analysis (January‐April, May‐September, September‐January). The ichthyofauna collected from deeper (1.8 m) areas by otter trawl formed two seasonal groups (June‐October and November‐March). Small schooling taxa such as Anchoa mitchilli, Menidia spp. and Eucinostomus spp. dominated seine catches, and variations in their abundances contributed greatly to dissimilarities between seasons, as did seasonal recruitment of young-of-the-year (YOY) estuary-dependent species such as Mugil cephalus, Lagodon rhomboides, Leiostomus xanthurus, and Bairdiella chrysoura. Estuarine residents (e.g., A. mitchilli and Trinectes maculatus) and YOY estuary-dependent species (e.g., Cynoscion arenarius and Menticirrhus americanus) were important in defining seasonal dissimilarities in fish assemblages from the trawled areas. Correlations between biotic patterns and environmental factors (water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, precipitation, and river discharge) were relatively low, perhaps reflecting the euryhaline nature of the fish present and their intrinsic spawning periods. The present study provides a detailed description of temporal ichthyofaunal patterns in the estuarine portions of two tidal rivers in southwest Florida and provides a baseline with which future fish populations in this area can be compared.
Robot planning in the space of feasible actions: two examples

Several researchers in robotics and artificial intelligence have found that the commonly used method of planning in a state (configuration) space is intractable in certain domains. This may be because the C-space has very high dimensionality, the "C-space obstacles" are too difficult to compute, or because a mapping between desired states and actions is not straightforward. Instead of using an inverse model that relates a desired state to an action to be executed by a robot, we have used a methodology that selects between the feasible actions that a robot might execute, in effect, circumventing many of the problems faced by configuration space planners. In this paper we discuss the implications of such a method and present two examples of working systems that employ this methodology. One system drives an autonomous cross-country vehicle while the other controls a robotic excavator performing a trenching operation.
SA1 binds directly to DNA through its unique AT-hook to promote sister chromatid cohesion at telomeres

Sister chromatid cohesion relies on cohesin, a complex comprising a tri-partite ring and a peripheral subunit Scc3, which is found as two related isoforms SA1 and SA2 in vertebrates. There is a division of labor between the vertebrate cohesin complexes; SA1-cohesin is required at telomeres and SA2-cohesin at centromeres. Depletion of SA1 has dramatic consequences for telomere function and genome integrity, but the mechanism by which SA1-cohesin mediates cohesion at telomeres is not well understood. Here we dissect the individual contribution of SA1 and the ring subunits to telomere cohesion and show that telomeres rely heavily on SA1 and to a lesser extent on the ring for cohesion. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation we show that SA1 is highly enriched at telomeres, is decreased at mitosis when cohesion is resolved, and is increased when cohesion persists. Overexpression of SA1 alone was sufficient to induce cohesion at telomeres, independent of the cohesin ring and dependent on its unique (not found in SA2) N-terminal domain, which we show binds to telomeric DNA through an AT-hook motif. We suggest that a specialized cohesion mechanism may be required to accommodate the high level of DNA replication-associated repair at telomeres.
Assembly, sorting, and exit of oligomeric proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) uses various mechanisms to ensure that only properly folded proteins enter the secretory pathway. For proteins that oligomerize in the ER, the proper tertiary and quaternary structures must be achieved before their release. Although some proteins fold before oligomerization, others initiate oligomerization cotranslationally. Here, we discuss these different strategies and some of the unique problems they present for the ER quality control system. One mechanism used by the ER is thiol retention. Thiol retention operates by monitoring the redox state of specific cysteine residue(s) and was discovered in studies on the assembly of IgM, a complex oligomeric glycoprotein. This system is also involved in retaining other unassembled proteins in the ER. Mutations that result in uneven numbers of cysteine residues can subject yet other proteins to thiol retention, altering their oligomerization status and function. The implications of these results on the effects of thiol retention on protein function and cell fate are discussed. BioEssays20:546–554, 1998. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Supermodular covering knapsack polytope

Abstract The supermodular covering knapsack set is the discrete upper level set of a non-decreasing supermodular function. Submodular and supermodular knapsack sets arise naturally when modeling utilities, risk and probabilistic constraints on discrete variables. In a recent paper Atamturk and Narayanan (2009) study the lower level set of a non-decreasing submodular function. In this complementary paper we describe pack inequalities for the supermodular covering knapsack set and investigate their separation, extensions and lifting. We give sequence-independent upper bounds and lower bounds on the lifting coefficients. Furthermore, we present a computational study on using the polyhedral results derived for solving 0–1 optimization problems over conic quadratic constraints with a branch-and-cut algorithm.
Relationship between intubation rate and continuous positive airway pressure therapy in the prehospital setting.

BACKGROUND: To determine whether the prehospital use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is associated with a reduced rate of endotracheal intubation in patients with an acute respiratory disorder brought to the emergency department (ED). METHODS: We reviewed medical records of patients with acute respiratory distress who had been treated with CPAP in the Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) from January 2010 to December 2011. These records were compared with those of patients who received standardized care without CPAP in the MICU from January 2004 to December 2004. Categorical variables were summarized as frequencies and compared between groups using Fisher's exact test or the Chi-square test. Continuous variables were summarized as medians (interquartile range), and comparison between the groups was made using Wilcoxon's rank-sum test. The relationship between CPAP and intubation rate was determined using multivariable logistic regression analysis of propensity scores. The results were presented as odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI), and P value for test effect. The adequacy of the model was calibrated using Hosmer and Lemeshow's goodness-of-fi t test. P<0.05 was considered statistically signifi cant. RESULTS: The records of 785 patients were reviewed. Of the 215 patients treated with CPAP in the MICU, 13% were intubated after admission. In contrast, of the 570 patients who did not receive CPAP, 28% were intubated after ED admission. Unadjusted logistic regression analysis showed that patients who had been treated with CPAP were less likely to be intubated than those without CPAP treatment ( OR =0.37, 95% CI , 0.24–0.57, P<0.0001). With propensity scores adjusted, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CPAP treatment was associated with a 62% reduction of intubation (OR =0.384, 95%CI , 0.25–0.60, P!0.0001).
Species Specificity of Plasminogen Activation and Acquisition of Surface-Associated Proteolytic Activity by Group C Streptococci Grown in Plasma

Our laboratory previously demonstrated that group C streptococcal isolates from humans and horses secrete streptokinases that preferentially activate plasminogens reflecting the origin of the isolates. To analyze the significance of these findings, series of streptokinase-producing Streptococcus equisimilis isolates recovered from humans and horses were examined. Southern blot analysis revealed that chromosomal DNA of the streptococcal isolates from humans reacted exclusively with a skchu probe and that chromosomal DNA of streptococcal isolates from horses reacted preferentially with an skceq probe in a distinct pattern. The streptococcal isolates were examined for the ability to acquire surface-bound plasmin-like activity when grown in the presence of human or equine plasma. Each of eight isolates from humans acquired significant enzymatic activity only when grown in the presence of human plasma, while each of eight isolates from horses acquired activity only when grown in the presence of equine plasma. Analysis of bacterial and host protein requirements indicated critical roles for streptokinase, activatable plasminogen, and fibrinogen. These requirements may explain why certain streptococcal isolates cause disease only in a limited number of mammalian hosts.
Cultural transmission in robotic swarms through RFID cards

The recent development of economical high-capacity RFID cards has opened up a new opportunity for stigmergic robotic swarms. Through these cards, robotic agents can dynamically exchange more complex, logical information, such as the whole set of their behavioral rules or “culture”. To the best of our knowledge, this opportunity has not been explored in swarm robotics and other collective robotics communities. We have developed a prototypical robotic swarm system comprised of 8 low-cost OPEN-ROBOTs with the ability to avoid obstacles and exchange information with low-capacity RFID cards randomly distributed in an environment. To evaluate the effectiveness of our RFID-based cultural transmission technique, we created a realistic computer simulation to test the swarm's competence in mapping a virtual multi-room house covered with 80 low-capacity RFID cards in under one hour. By increasing the probability that a robot adopts a random exploration behavior different from one “marked” on a card, the swarm is able to cover more of an environment with higher consistency between trials. This result indicates that encouraging diversity among agents supports robust emergent behavior and lays the groundwork for future experiments with higher-capacity RFID cards.
Hegel's Attempt to Forge a Logic for Spirit*

If Hegel's philosophy were to be characterized by a phrase, it might be “The Dialectical System of Absolute Spirit.” The phrase would seem formidable to some but merely pretentious to others. There are recent signs of an exhumation of the systematic features of Hegel's philosophy in the English-speaking world, and it is to be hoped that the durable cliches of an earlier English period will not prevent a fresh look at Hegel's philosophy. There is, of course, no denying his systematic ambitions, nor any wish on my part to do so. It is just these that I find fascinating. He sought to bring within a comprehensive intellectual order the whole of reality—and a little more besides, say his detractors. In the Phenomenology of Spirit by a turbulent dialectic he scrabblesup to the top of Mount Parnassus in order to clutch the petticoats of the Absolute. In the Science of Logic and in the first part of the Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences he lays out the logical paradigm of intellectual necessities which are subsequently exhibited in the philosophy of nature and of concrete spirit.
Recent advances on non-reciprocal light manipulation from dynamic modulation

We discuss some of our recent works in understanding optical reciprocity without the use of magneto-optics. A key objective for optical non-reciprocal device is to provide optical isolation. We show that a large class of nonlinear optical isolators in fact is constraint by a dynamic reciprocity, and therefore cannot provide complete optical isolation. We also discuss topological effects in dynamic-modulation-induced optical non-reciprocity.
DISCUSSION OF STRATEGIES FOR MOUNTING PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAYS ON ROOFTOPS

The mechanical attachment of photovoltaic (PV) arrays to rooftops presents a number of unique and challenging issues for system designers and installers. With a resurgence of roof mounted PV installations due to increasing duel costs and decreasing PV system prices, the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) has accelerated its investigations of array mounting strategies, with the objectives of identifying key performance and cost parameters from a systems engineering perspective. Two principal classifications can be defined for rooftop PV array mounting systems: building-integrated (BIPV) and building-attached (BAPV) or standoff designs. The various attachment methods within these categories each have pros and cons that affect the labor and cost associated with the install and the system performance. An overview and assessment of some existing rooftop PV array attachment methods or mounting approaches, and their advantages and disadvantages with respect to key design criteria are presented to assist designers and installers in the selection of the appropriate method for a given project.
Classical Conditioning and Clinical Psychology

Classical conditioning occurs when neutral stimuli become associated with a psychologically significant event. The main result is that the ‘neutral’ stimuli come to evoke responses or emotions that can contribute to many clinical disorders. Recent research emphasizes the fact that conditioned stimuli evoke whole systems of physiological, emotional, and behavioral responses that help the organism prepare for the significant event. Basic research on classical conditioning has many other implications for understanding the development of clinical disorders, including (but not limited to) anxiety disorders and drug dependence, as well as their therapy.
A Viscoelastic Analysis Computer Program (VCAP) for Computer Aided Design of Composites on a “PC”

A numerical procedure to predict long term laminate properties of fiber reinforced composite materials is developed. The procedure extends the classical lamination theory to include time related response of composite materials for inplane loading. Numerical instabilities and time constants associated with viscoelastic analysis are discussed and solutions presented. The numerical procedure is incorporated into a stand alone microcomputer program called Viscoelastic Composite Analysis Program (VCAP), which runs on IBM-DOS type computers. The program is designed for ease of use and includes graphics, menus, help messages, etc. The program allows the engineer the ability to tailor composite laminates to minimize the long term viscoelastic response or creep.
Evaluation of the Theta (Θ) Projection Technique for Estimating the Remaining Creep Life of GTD-111DS Turbine Blades

Remaining life estimates for hot section turbine components often involves the use of creep models based on parametric extrapolations of short-term stress rupture tests. For the assessment of components such as gas turbine blades fabricated from nickel based superalloys, strain based approaches may be more useful since life is often evaluated in terms of the time to reach a critical strain limit. In the case of GTD-111DS, General Electric (GE) recommends a retirement limit in the range of 0.5%–1% strain at any point in the airfoil. Tertiary models such as the MPC Omega method, which has gained some popularity in the refining industry, are generally adequate for predicting rupture or retirement times in situations where life is dominated by secondary/tertiary stage creep. However, a constitutive model that describes the full creep curve is needed to adequately evaluate life for highly creep resistant alloys such as GTD-111DS, where a significant portion of service life is consumed with the initial small increments of strain. In this paper, the Theta (Θ) projection technique is used to analyze the creep behavior of GTD-111DS. The statistical variability of extrapolating short term creep tests to actual service conditions using the Θ model is reviewed, and use of the model is discussed in relation to evaluating the life of GTD-111DS turbine blades.© 2007 ASME
PREVALENCE AND EXTENT OF LATE GADOLINIUM ENHANCEMENT IN MYOFILAMENT MUTATION POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY PATIENTS

The presence of left ventricular late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients is associated with an increased risk of heart failure and mortality. It remains unclear if myofilament mutation positive or negative HCM patients have different amounts of late gadolinium
Abstract IA1: Building molecules to guide anticancer therapy

For clinical imaging, we need synthetic molecules with novel amplifying mechanisms for homing to diseased tissues. Activatable cell penetrating peptides (ACPPs) are polycationic cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) whose cellular uptake is minimized by a polyanionic inhibitory domain and then restored upon proteolysis of the peptide linker connecting the polyanionic and polycationic domains. Local activity of proteases able to cut the linker causes amplified retention in tissues and uptake into cells. ACPPs on dendrimers labeled with Cy5 and Gd-DOTA enable whole body magnetic resonance imaging (Olson et al (2010) PNAS 107: 4311–4316) followed by fluorescenceguided surgery. Such fluorescence guidance improves tumor-free survival in two animal models (Nguyen et al (2010) PNAS 107: 4317–4322). Contrast for tumor over normal tissues is amplified and accelerated when the polyanionic domain includes an acceptor of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), because loss of FRET (monitored either by multispectral emission or donor excited-state lifetime) instantly signals proteolysis without waiting for uncleaved substrate to wash out of normal tissues. Thrombin-cleavable ACPPs accumulate in atherosclerotic plaques, and their labeling intensity seems to correlate with progression towards rupture. Separately, we have developed fluorescent peptides that light up peripheral nerves to show surgeons where not to cut (Whitney et al (2011) Nature Biotech. 29: 352–356). Thus we believe that basic tumor biology and molecular design can help improve early detection and surgical resection, not just chemotherapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research; 2011 Sep 14-18; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(18 Suppl):Abstract nr IA1.
Survey on 2 Food Poisoning Incidents Caused by Clenbuterol

[Objective] To identify the cause of food poisoning,and understand the existing problem in food circulation.[Methods]Descriptive epidemiological method was adopted to describe and analyze the course of poisoning,distribution of patients,clinical manifestations,suspicious food,field hygienic investigation,laboratory examination,etc.[Results]The patients of the 2 incidents showed poisoning symptoms due to eating Snake Babu (King snake) containing clenbuterol.[Conclusion]It is necessary to strengthen the supervision on breeding link and circulation link,to simultaneously strengthen the hygienic management and knowledge training for catering units,to carry out publicity and education,and to improve people's self-protection awareness.In addition,emergency disposal should be done well.
Risk factors about COPD in some rural areas of Jilin City

Objective To explore the prevalence and related risk factors about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) in rural areas of Jilin city.Methods We adoped the mechanical sampling method.The resident population over the age of 40 who separately lived in the 27 villages of three townships in Jilin city were surveyed from November 2005 to May 2008.COPD was diagnosed when one-second forced expiratory volume/FVC(FEV1/FVC) was less than 70%.Results 403 cases were diagnosed with COPD among 3254 surveryed people,accounting for 12.4%.The prevalence rate was 26.1% among the smoking crowd,18.8% among the population exposed to occupational hazards,14.5% among the people living in the environment of air pollution.They were higher than the overall prevalence rate,and had a statistical significance(P0.05) between them.Conclusion The prevalence rate of COPD in some rural areas of Jilin city is 12.4%.Occupational factors and the living environment are risk factors for COPD with the exception of smoking as a major risk factor.
Gastroenterology: complicated duodenal ulcer disease. A hypothetical case incorporating a management self-test.

A middle-aged man with a history of duodenal ulcer comes to the emergency room because of symptoms that indicate obstruction of the gastric outlet. An alert physician orders a serum gastrin test. The value is reported as 450 pg/ml. What steps would you take to find the cause of the high gastrin value?
Interaction Theory of Balanced Charges

In this chapter we consider interaction of many charges. In point-like regimes, where the charges are weell-separated in space, we derive Newton’s law of motion. The derivation is in the spirit of the Ehrenfest theorem. In the relativistic case, we obtain the relativistic version of Newton’s law where the mass of a charge is determined by its energy according to Einstein’s formula, and the rest mass is an integral of motion. When charges are in a close proximity as in Hydrogen atom, they are described by multiharmonic solutions. An analysis of corresponding system shows that it has discrete energy levels as in Schrodinger model.
Integrating Personality/Character Neuroscience with Network Analysis

Abstract The existing interfaces between network science and personality research are reviewed, and the other ways in which these two vibrant areas could interact in the future are examined. First, a summary of extant attempts to relate various aspects of personality to brain network characteristics is provided. Contemporary accounts of personality and their development are reviewed in conjunction with a consideration of how they might best be used to devise a research program that could be integrated with network science approaches. An illustration of one such approach is provided using a network science-based analysis, modularity, to extract the community structure from a set of behavioral personality data. The similarities and differences between this approach and the outcome from using a more traditional factor-analytic approach are examined.
The seismic magnitude of the 1989 Loma Prieta mainshock determined from strong motion records

The work investigates the usefulness of regional broadband recordings to estimate rapidly the size of large earthquakes. Strong motion records of the Loma Prieta earthquake from 20 free-field stations at distances 15 < Δ < 105 km from the source are used to compute the local magnitude of the mainshock. Frequency-domain convolution and integration are used to obtain appropriate synthesized signals. An azimuthal average of ML = (6.7 ± 0.09) was estimated from the maximum trace amplitudes measured on synthesized Wood-Anderson torsion records. The low-gain Wood-Anderson torsion seismograph (100 magnification) at the University of California Seismographic Station gave ML = 7.0. Comparison between published local and teleseismic estimates indicates that the usual strong motion accelerometers in the near field of large earthquakes yield acceptable values of magnitude. Efforts to obtain estimates of the overall average radiated seismic energy from the integrated ground velocity-squared records demonstrated the need for special site calibration.
A simplified stratification system for venous thromboembolism risk in severely injured trauma patients

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to re-evaluate and simplify the Greenfield risk assessment profile (RAP) for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in trauma using information readily available at the bedside. Methods Retrospective review of 1233 consecutive admissions to the trauma intensive care unit from August 2011-January 2015. Univariate analyses were performed to determine which RAP risk factors were significant contributors to VTE. Multivariable logistic regression was used to develop models for risk stratification. All results were considered statistically significant at P ≤ 0.05. Results The study population was as follows: age 44 ± 19, 75% male, 72% blunt, injury severity score 21 ± 13, RAP score 9 ± 5, and 8% mortality. Groups were separated into +VTE ( n = 104) and −VTE ( n = 1129). They were similar in age, gender, mechanism, and mortality, but injury severity and RAP scores were higher in the +VTE group (all P P 4 h (OR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.28-3.54), pelvic fracture (OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.44-3.57), age 40-59 y (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.10-2.63), and >2-h operation (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.14-2.85) predicted VTE with an area under the receiver operator curve of 0.729, which was comparable with 0.740 for the RAP score alone. Conclusions VTE risk in trauma can be easily assessed using only five risk factors, which are all readily available at the bedside (transfusion, Glasgow coma scale, pelvic fracture, prolonged operation, and age). This simplified model provides similar predictive ability to the more complicated RAP score. Prospective validation of a simplified risk assessment score is warranted.
How Computer Science Departments and Faculty Can Contribute to the CS for All Initiative

As the role of computer science becomes increasingly central to our way of life, ensuring the successful education of future computer scientists is imperative.
Passive and Active Microrheology of the Intestinal Fluid of the Larval Zebrafish

Abstract The fluids of the intestine serve as a physical barrier to pathogens, a medium for the diffusion of nutrients and metabolites, and an environment for commensal microbes. The rheological properties of intestinal mucus have therefore been the subject of many investigations, thus far limited to in vitro studies due to the difficulty of measurement in the natural context of the gut. This limitation especially hinders our understanding of how the gut microbiota interact with the intestinal space, since examination of this calls not only for in vivo measurement techniques, but for techniques that can be applied to model organisms in which the microbial state of the gut can be controlled. We have addressed this challenge with two complementary approaches. We performed passive microrheological measurements using thermally driven nanoparticles and active microrheology using micron-scale ellipsoidal magnetic microparticles, in both cases using light-sheet fluorescence microscopy to optically access the intestinal bulb of the larval zebrafish, a model vertebrate. We present viscosity measurements in germ-free animals (devoid of gut microbes), animals colonized by a single bacterial species, and conventionally reared animals, and find that in all cases, the mucin-rich intestinal liquid is well described as a Newtonian fluid. Surprisingly, despite known differences in the number of secretory cells in germ-free zebrafish and their conventional counterparts, the fluid viscosity for these two groups is very similar, as measured with either technique. Our study provides, to our knowledge, the first in vivo microrheological measurements of the intestinal space in living animals, and we comment on its implications for timescales of host-microbe interactions in the gut.
Lessons Learned from USACE Seepage Barrier Wall Construction: Wolf Creek to Present

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) maintains a lessons learned goal for all major projects to capture knowledge gained. The focus of the formal lessons learned process is to share knowledge and experience nationwide improving USACE Contracting methodologies, reducing overall costs and improving designs. This continuous improvement can be seen in the evolution of USACE barrier wall construction designs and contracting methods. From the first Wolf creek Dam barrier wall installed in the 19709s to the more recent Bolivar and East Branch Dam barrier wall projects, documentation and sharing of lessons learned in areas such as grouting, data management and QA procedures have increased the efficiency and effectiveness of barrier wall designs, monitoring and contract specifications. Contractual philosophy, use of pre-grouting treatment, verification methods, and data management processes have all changed due to lessons learned and have enabled the USACE to improve the overall end product of barrier wall projects.
Fingerprint Analysis: Moving Toward Multiattribute Determination via Individual Markers

Forensic science will be forever revolutionized if law enforcement can identify personal attributes of a person of interest solely from a fingerprint. For the past 2 years, the goal of our group has been to establish a way to identify originator attributes, specifically biological sex, from a single analyte. To date, an enzymatic assay and two chemical assays have been developed for the analysis of multiple analytes. In this manuscript, two additional assays have been developed. This time, however, the assays utilize only one amino acid each. The enzymatic assay targets alanine and employs alanine transaminase (ALT), pyruvate oxidase (POx), and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The other, a chemical assay, is known as the Sakaguchi test and targets arginine. It is important to note that alanine has a significantly higher concentration than arginine in the fingerprint content of both males and females. Both assays proved to be capable of accurately differentiating between male and female fingerprints, regardle...
Counseling in Pediatric Audiology: Audiologists' Perceptions, Confidence, and Training.

Pediatric audiologists are an important source of support for parents when a child is identified with hearing loss. As parents learn how to manage their child’s hearing loss they often need help navigating challenges that arise; however, audiologists may experience a variety of barriers implementing effective counseling strategies. Many internal and external barriers experienced by parents can be appropriately supported and navigated within audiology services. To investigate audiologists’ perceptions, training, and confidence related to counseling and to explore the influence of years practicing audiology and taking a counseling course on perceptions and confidence. A cross-sectional, population-based survey. Three hundred and fifty surveys were analyzed from pediatric audiologists across the U.S. Responses were received from 26 states and one U.S. territory. Data were collected through the mail and online. Descriptive and comparative statistics were used to analyze the information. Content analysis was performed to identify emergent themes from the responses to open-ended questions. Pediatric audiologists reported their perceptions about importance of counseling skills, challenges they encounter, their confidence in counseling, and how often they use the skills when needed in practice. Most audiologists (≥75%) felt it was very or extremely important to talk with parents about nine of the ten items (e.g., their [parents’] expectations). Three-fourth of the audiologists reported experiencing a moderate challenge or greater in knowing how to assess the presence of psychosocial challenges and in having enough time to address emotional needs. Many of the audiologists felt very or extremely confident in guiding parents in the development of an action plan (62%) and determining if parents have external barriers (60%). Approximately one-third or less of the participants reported performing any of the skills (e.g., determining if parent has external or internal barriers) ≥75% of the time, and a statistically significant difference was found with participants practicing ≤10 yr using the skills more frequently than participants practicing for ≥11 yr. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between participants who had taken an audiology-specific counseling course and those who had not; those who had reported being more confident and using counseling skills more often than audiologists did not have a counseling course. This study found strong support for audiologist perceived importance of counseling; however, fewer audiologists reported confidence in their counseling skills and in using counseling skills. Counseling training was variable; audiologists would benefit from a more systematic approach to counseling instruction within graduate training.
Building Motivational Interviewing Skills: A Practitioner Workbook (2nd ed.)

Rarely does one find a book that includes information about the philosophy of a model as well as practical exercises to expand a practitioner’s skills and abilities. David B. Rosengren’s Building M...
Catalyzing Disruptive Mobility Opportunities Through Transformational Aviation Power

Lightweight, efficient power production has been a pacing technology for aviation. Advances in airborne electric propulsion technology have enabled new aviation concepts in markets that previously were not dominated by aviation systems, largely because electric propulsion allows for efficient, integrated propulsion/aerodynamic/control solutions that were previously not practical with combustion-based power architectures. These new markets include automated package delivery, urban air mobility, and short-haul transportation. As these markets evolve, the impact of using electricity for airborne propulsion on an expanding mission set, as well as the sheer amount of energy consumed, will begin to challenge the energy harvesting and distribution paradigm as it exists today. Left unaddressed, these challenges could stymie the evolution of these new markets and mobility options. This paper identifies some of the potential systemic issues associated with the expanded use of electric propulsion and explores the requirements associated with alternate aviation power architectures. The recommended path includes the development of a new hybrid-electric aviation power architecture that can be used in conjunction with a portfolio of evolving battery-electric and combustion-based systems.
Association of correlates of endogenous hormonal exposure with breast cancer risk in 426 families (United States)

Objective: Women with a strong family history of breast cancer are at significantly increased risk of developing the disease. There is emerging evidence that certain reproductive factors may further elevate risk in these women. We examined whether a family history of breast cancer modifies the association between correlates of endogenous hormonal exposures and breast cancer in a study of 426 families ascertained through breast cancer probands. Methods: Analyses of reproductive factors and breast cancer were performed on 395 sisters and daughters of probands, 3014 nieces and granddaughters, and 2768 marry-ins. Results: Through 226,266 person-years of follow-up since 1952, 240 women developed breast cancer. No statistically significant interactions were observed between relationship to proband and age at menarche, age at menopause, other characteristics of the menstrual cycle, parity, age at first and last birth, infertility, and total ovulatory years. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that most reproductive factors influence breast cancer risk similarly in women with and without a family history of breast cancer. Further studies are needed on individuals who are more homogeneous with regard to hereditary background. However, other options for prevention, such as prophylactic surgery or chemoprevention, may be necessary to have a substantial impact on risk reduction in women at high genetic risk.
Recent Developments in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Related Techniques

This chapter discusses some of the recent developments in scanning tunneling microscopy and related techniques. The aim is to give a flavor of some of the current activities and to indicate new directions in which these exciting techniques are developing.
Physical-Layer Security of a Binary Data Sequence Transmitted With Bessel–Gaussian Beams Over an Optical Wiretap Channel

When an eavesdropper performs an optical beam-splitting attack in a free-space optical communications channel, it is referred to as an optical wiretap channel, which is an extension of Wyner's wiretap channel model. Even though physical-layer security can be compromised, it is possible to exploit the noisy and degraded channel conditions experienced by the eavesdropper to obtain positive secrecy capacity even when a shared secret key is not used. In our previous work, we found that employing Bessel–Gaussian beams can help to improve physical-layer security and provide higher secrecy capacity over that of Laguerre–Gaussian beams in a turbulent free-space optical communications channel. In this companion paper, we conducted an experiment exclusively with Bessel–Gaussian beams onto which we encoded a pseudorandom binary sequence to emulate data transmission over this optical wiretap channel. Bit-error rate curves for the intended receiver and the eavesdropper were calculated from which estimates of secrecy capacity were derived. We found that the bit-error rate curves for the eavesdropper were consistently worse than those of the intended receiver under several turbulence conditions and that further evidence of an error floor even when the eavesdropper uses an optical amplifier is promising for secure communications.
Aortopexy for tracheomalacia via a suprasternal incision.

Abstract Aim Tracheomalacia is flaccidity of the tracheal wall leading to tracheal collapse, particularly on expiration. When severe it can warrant surgical intervention. Aortopexy is one surgical option and has been described using a variety of approaches. We report outcomes of aortopexy performed via a suprasternal incision in a single centre by a single surgeon. Methods All patients undergoing aortopexy between February 2016 and May 2018 were prospectively included. Patients were managed by a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) and underwent standardized work-up, including dynamic flexible bronchoscopy (DFB) and contrast enhanced CT. Aortopexy was performed via a suprasternal skin crease incision. Surgery was guided by intra-operative flexible bronchoscopy. Data regarding pre-operative symptoms, degree of tracheomalacia, and outcomes were recorded. Results Twenty-two patients were included, 18 boys, median age 5 months (range 1 month–5 years). Two aortopexy sutures were used in all cases, and three patients required an additional tracheopexy suture. Median operating time was 1 h 24 min (range 47 min–2 h 35 min). Median pre-operative tracheal collapse on DFB was 85% (range 80–95%), improving to 35% (35–80%) intra-operatively. Median length of stay was 4 days (range 1–118). Conclusions Aortopexy via a suprasternal incision is a useful treatment modality for tracheomalacia with short operating times and rapid recovery. Outcomes vary with the best results in the TOF and premature groups. Careful patient selection and MDT work-up are essential to optimize outcomes. Level of Evidence Level 3 (Case Series).
Harnessing the Chemistry of the Indole Heterocycle to Drive Discoveries in Biology and Medicine

Indole-containing compounds demonstrate an array of biological activities relevant to numerous human diseases. The biological activities of diverse indole-based agents are driven by molecular interactions between indole agent and critical therapeutic target. The chemical inventory of medicinally useful or promising indole compounds spans the entire structural spectrum, from simple synthetic indoles to highly complex indole alkaloids. In an analogous fashion, the chemistry behind the indole heterocycle is unique and provides rich opportunities for extensive synthetic chemistry, enabling the construction and development of novel indole compounds to explore chemical space. This review will present heterocyclic chemistry of the indole nucleus, indole compounds of clinical use, complex indole alkaloids and indole-inspired discovery efforts by multiple research groups interested in using novel indole-containing small molecules to drive discoveries in human biology and medicine.
Integrating solar energy into an urban small-scale anaerobic digester for improved performance

Abstract In this research, the feasibility of using an air-source heat pump as the main heating source for a 30 m 3 mesophilic digester located on the roof of an urban building was investigated during the coldest month of the year. A heat loss model for an insulated digester tank and adjacent rooftop greenhouse were developed as well as a heat transfer model for an air source heatpump. A 3-D model of the rooftop and surrounding buildings was developed in order to determine the effect of shadowing on solar energy gains of the greenhouse. Simulations of tank temperature fluctuation and resulting theoretical biogas production were performed for cases in which the heat pump was active only during daylight hours for each day of the month, every other day of the month, and for one third of the month including a full week without any heating. Results of the simulations show a daily temperature fluctuation of 0.2 °C for the first case, a fluctuation of 0.5 °C for the second case, and a maximum of 2.1 °C for the third case.
Harnessing the Frozen-mode in Coupled Silicon Ridge Waveguides for True Time Delay Applications

Periodic material arrangements and sophisticated metamaterial structures have enabled novel ways of manipulating light by engineering their dispersion to achieve unconventional functionality. Extraordinarily-slow or frozen-modes stemming from mode degeneracy in anisotropic magnetic photonic composites are among the most exotic manifestations of dispersion engineering. In particular, the frozen modes are only enabled by the simultaneous breakdown of time and space inversion symmetries in bulk anisotropic metamaterials. As such, they must include biased magnetic materials in their construction [1]. However, the same frozen-mode phenomena can be more readily achieved in all-dielectric light waveguides by introducing more degrees of freedom using multiple coupled sections. With more-than-2 branches in the dispersion diagram afforded by the multiple transmission lines, it is hence possible to introduce 3-way coupling and tune the dispersion to exhibit a maximally-flat behavior within the propagation band. Moreover, due to mode degeneracy at the so-called stationary inflection point (SIP), coupling into the frozen-mode becomes readily achievable. Such modes have been studied in [2] using 3-way coupled periodic waveguides and coupled resonator optical waveguides in [3].
Management of pathogens in cattle

Abstract Sustainability of animal production units starts with animal health. The overall health of a unit is dependent upon the effective management of the numerous pathogens encountered within the production unit. Preventative vaccination protocols and effective, efficient treatment protocols form the basis of pathogen management in cattle. Other outside factors such as nutrition, genetics and environment play a role through their effects on the immune system. While not completely controllable by the producer, many of the aforementioned factors can at least effectively be investigated and often times mitigated. Therefore, the goal of this chapter will be to cover immunity factors as a neonate up to the adult by discussion of colostrum intake, vaccine protocols, treatment protocols and stress management.