cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Broad Definitions of Culture in the Field of Multicultural Psychology

This chapter provides an overview of a broad definition of culture, and discusses the dynamic and fluid nature of culture. Past theoretical models conceptualized human behavior and functioning from a deficit viewpoint and failed to address culture. Current frameworks not only focus on a balance between deficient and optimal functioning, but also are culturally responsive. Readers are encouraged to reflect on their own cultural influences and multiple cultural identities, as well as those of the other individuals with whom they interact. Models of integrating multicultural thinking are discussed. We focus on Hays’ (2008) ADDRESSING framework and integrate it with the four-front approach (Wright and Lopez 2009) as a model for reflecting upon the complexity of human experience.
Isolation of Gastric Lamina Propria Leukocytes

Immune cells recruited to the infected gastric mucosa can be isolated and used for a variety of purposes. Here we describe methods for the isolation and characterization of gastric lamina propria leukocytes.
AVP reduces transepithelial resistance across IMCD cell monolayers.

The inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) is an important site of action for arginine vasopressin (AVP). To examine the mode of action of AVP in this segment, we measured the change in transepithelial resistance of cultured rat IMCD cells grown to confluence on collagen-coated Millicell culture plate inserts in response to AVP. Resistance was measured by use of an EVOM voltage-ohm meter. AVP at 10(-11)-10(-8) M caused a fall in resistance of 6.9 +/- 1.3 to 14.0 +/- 1.4 omega.cm2 (P less than 0.05 to less than 0.01 vs. no AVP), which was reversed by removal of AVP or addition of 10(-6) M amiloride. Pretreating the apical surface of IMCD cells with trypsin had no effect on resistance but totally prevented the antidiuretic hormone-induced fall in resistance. Pretreating the apical surface with trypsin and amiloride did not prevent the fall in resistance to AVP. Addition of 10(-9) M AVP or 10(-6) M forskolin increased 2-min adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation by 55 or 96%, respectively. Stimulation of endogenous cAMP accumulation by forskolin or the addition of exogenous 8-bromo-cAMP caused no change in resistance. To examine the relationship between intracellular calcium [( Ca2+]i) and AVP action, the response of [Ca2+]i to AVP was measured by use of fura-2. AVP induced no change in [Ca2+]i in IMCD cells in suspension, on glass cover slips, or on permeable supports. Ionomycin (25 nM) increased [Ca2+]i in IMCD cells and lowered resistance across monolayers, but the fall in resistance was not blocked by amiloride.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Preaching to the choir: advocating routine HIV testing.

For the first 25 years of the AIDS epidemic, HIV testing was treated differently from all other types of medical diagnostic testing. Formal pretest and posttest counseling was required, and patients had to give written informed consent before being tested. The need for testing was focused primarily on assessment of risk, which required the taking of a detailed sexual and drug use history for which few clinicians had the time, training, or inclination. The rationale for this particular form of “HIV exceptionalism” was mostly historical, dating back to times when concerns about stigma; discrimination; and loss of insurance, jobs, or housing outweighed any modest benefit that might have been derived from early medical care.
Cryptography based on elliptic curves

A plane curve X over the field F is the set of points ( x, y ) in the plane F 2 that are the zeros of some fixed irreducible bivariate polynomial p(x, y ) over F . If one can define a pairwise operation ( x, y ) + ( x ′, y ′) taking any two points ( x, y ) and ( x ′, y ′) of the curve into a third point of the curve so as to form an abelian group, then one can use this group operation to deine a public-key cryptography system in various ways. Of course, one then requires assurance that such a cryptosystem is secure. These topics comprise the subjects of elliptic-curve cryptography and elliptic-curve cryptanalysis. Together they form the subject of elliptic-curve cryptology. Elliptic curves on finite ields are a very attractive class of plane curves that allow one to define a well-behaved operation on any two points of the curve. This operation, called point addition , forms a finite abelian group whose cyclic subgroups are used to form public-key cryptosystems, called elliptic-curve cryptosystems . Elliptic-curve cryptography is attractive because, in part, index calculus methods of attack have not been found for elliptic curves and are not expected because the notion of a smooth integer does not have a parallel for the points of an elliptic curve. In fact, no satisfactory subexponential algorithm is known for solving the discrete-log problem on an elliptic curve.
Impact of sockets in Package-On-Package electrical validation & design considerations

For next generation mobile tablet platforms, cost and form factor, power and performance are the key vectors which lead to design wins. SoCs(System-On-Chip) are fast becoming the solution for these platforms which contain most of the interfaces in a single package. To reduce power and real estate the trend is to design denser SoC packages which has further led to many PoP (Package-On-Package) designs. These PoP designs are gaining momentum, which give premium tablets with low power, reduced real estate, higher speed and better performance. But these designs come with its own challenges especially on the system and electrical validation side. For example any debugging of system memory interface needs access to memory signals which is all concealed in a PoP now. This led to the use of different kind of sockets and validation cards, which can give access to needed signals. Sockets are again important for volume characterization of SoC or memory parts as well. This raises few interesting questions:- at higher speeds are sockets reliable? Do sockets alter the electrical behavior of a particular interface? If yes, how much it will alter? Do we have different variables to tune the socket behavior? Can we predict the socket impact and manipulate the data? In this paper we try to answer these important questions with simulation and lab data, based on an Intel platform with special emphasis on system memory interface.
Operative variables are better predictors of postdischarge infections and unplanned readmissions in vascular surgery patients than patient characteristics

Abstract Objective Although postoperative readmissions are frequent in vascular surgery patients, the reasons for these readmissions are not well characterized, and effective approaches to their reduction are unknown. Our aim was to analyze the reasons for vascular surgery readmissions and to report potential areas for focused efforts aimed at readmission reduction. Methods The 2012 to 2013 American College of Surgeons National Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) data set was queried for vascular surgery patients. Multivariable models were developed to analyze risk factors for postdischarge infections, the major drivers of unplanned 30-day readmissions. Results We identified 86,403 vascular surgery patients for analysis. Thirty-day readmission occurred in 8827 (10%), of which 8054 (91%) were unplanned. Of the unplanned readmissions, 61% (n = 4951) were related to the index vascular surgery procedure. Infectious complications were the most common reason for a surgery-related readmission (1940 [39%]), with surgical site infection being the most common type of infection related to unplanned readmission. Multivariable analysis showed the top five preoperative risk factors for postdischarge infections were the presence of a preoperative open wound, inpatient operation, obesity, work relative value unit, and insulin-dependent diabetes (but not diabetes managed with oral medications). Cigarette smoking was a weak predictor and came in tenth in the mode (overall C index, 0.657). When operative and postoperative factors were included in the model, total operative time was the strongest predictor of postdischarge infectious complications (odds ratio [OR] 1.2 for each 1-hour increase in operative time), followed by presence of a preoperative open wound (OR, 1.5), inpatient operation (OR, 2), obesity (OR, 1.8), and discharge to rehabilitation facility (OR, 1.7; P P Conclusions Infectious complications dominate the reasons for unplanned 30-day readmissions in vascular surgery patients. We have identified preoperative, operative, and postoperative risk factors for these infections with the goal of reducing these complications and thus readmissions. Expected patient risk factors, such as diabetes, obesity, renal insufficiency, and cigarette smoking, were less important in predicting infectious complications compared with operative time, presence of a preoperative open wound, and inpatient operation. Our findings suggest that careful operative planning and expeditious operations may be the most effective approaches to reducing infections and thus readmissions in vascular surgery patients.
Takao Nishitani: An Outstanding Researcher, Technical Leader, and Mentor

I was most pleased to hear that Dr. Takao Nishitani was selected to receive the 2017 IEEE Donald O. Pederson Award in Solid-State Circuits. Sometimes very deserving candidates are not nominated and never receive the awards they truly deserve. Typically these individuals are too humble to expect these awards; Dr. Nishitani is indeed one such individual. I thank Wanda Gass for finding the original architects of the programmable digital signal processor (DSP) at NEC and Bell Labs and Rajeev Jain for nominating them. Dr. Nishitani's work on programmable signal processing ICs at NEC C&C Research Laboratory over many decades is simply exemplary.
Evaluating Hedge Fund Performance

A diverse set of measures allows investors to evaluate hedge fund portfolio managers’ performance across different dimensions. The various measures quantify the effectiveness of security selection, account for investor flows, operating risk, and worst-case investment scenarios, net out benchmark and peer-fund performance, and control for risk factors that are unique to hedge fund investment strategies. Hedge fund return information in published databases is usually self-reported, which is a conflict of interest that produces several reporting biases and inflated published average returns. After adjusting for these biases hedge fund average returns trail equity market returns and in fact almost exactly equal U.S. Treasury bill average returns between January 1994 and March 2016. Yet, after risk adjustment, the hedge fund performance picture brightens. In the aggregate, hedge funds have higher Sharpe ratios and multi-factor alphas, and lower maximum drawdown levels than equity market benchmarks.
El verbo como espacio

The consideration of time as the basic and defining meaning of the verb keeps the description of the use of the verbal system bogged down in a set of rules of thumb that must be constantly clarified and contradicted by a multitude of unexplained non-temporal uses, which are presented as “exceptional”, "dislocated" or even “incorrect”. This situation, clearly pre-scientific from a theoretical point of view, is especially harmful in the field of teaching. Here students are faced with a tangle of uses without a unitary sense that allows to apply logic to their understanding and use. The present article starts with the rejection of time as an operational value of the Spanish verb (Ruiz 2014) to explore the didactic possibilities and implications of a spatial definition. Under this conception, the rote learning required by the time reference rule-of-thumb can be replaced by a logical understanding of the system as a system and its possibilities of use. This is a logic that leads, furthermore, to the possibility of defining "themes" of grammar that have never been present in our syllabi.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYMPATHETIC TONE AND STRESS RESPONSE RELATED TO PERSONALITY PATTERNS AND EXERCISE HABITS. A POTENTIAL CARDIAC RISK AND SCREENING TEST.

Abstract Among 200 professional men, those with emotionally highly excitable personality patterns and those with completely sedentary living habits displayed the highest cardiac sympathetic tone at rest, and the highest cardiac adrenergic response levels under mild standard sensory and mental stresses (telephone bell, flicker light, mental arithmetic). The criteria used for assessment of sympathetic cardiac adrenergic activity were heart rate, length of the isometric tension period of the left ventricle, and relative length of the left ventricular systole in per cent of the cardiac cycle. No clear relations were demonstrable between personality patterns and exercise habits on the one hand, and blood pressure levels and reactions, serum cholesterol concentration, obesity and smoking habits on the other. Parental cardiovascular morbidity was higher in the groups of subjects with exaggerated sympathetic activity. The applied technic for direct measurement of cardiac chronotropic and inotropic adrenergic activity at rest and under stress is expected to be useful for prospective epidemiologic and preventive cardiac reconditioning studies.
Das ideale Dürfen

Eine Unterscheidung zwischen einem logischen und einem ontischen Durfen ist uberflussig. Wohl gibt es eine Durfensfestsetzung, und sie kann sogar in Form eines Darfsatzes auftreten. Allein dies „darf“ hat dann die Bedeutung „soll durfen“. Auch dafur ist ein logisches „soll“ konstitutiv, dessen Leistung in eben dieser Festsetzung besteht. Die betreffende Darffestsetzung ist mithin nur inhaltlich von anderen Festsetzungen unterschieden. Ein (ontisches) Gegenstuck zu ihr und zu ihrem „soll“ gibt es also nicht. In logischer Hinsicht ist nur eine Festsetzung oder ihre Aufhebung durch ein „soll nicht“ denkbar. Ein Darfsatz verweist deshalb stets eindeutig auf ein ontisches Durfen.
Proceedings of the 1st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Cyber-Physical Systems

Welcome to Stockholm and the First ACM/IEEE International Conference on Cyber-Physical Systems (ICCPS). This is the first ACM/IEEE conference that focuses on Cyber-physical systems that tightly couple the cyber aspects of computing and communications with the physical aspects of dynamics and engineering. ICCPS, as an integral part of CPS Week, is pleased to be co-located with its sister conferences that focus on various components of cyber-physical systems including embedded systems, hybrid systems, real-time systems, and wireless sensor networks. ICCPS, this year and in future years, aims to showcase cutting-edge research that spans both the cyber- and physical aspects of CPS. In the process, it hopes to bring together engineers from various disciplines and computer scientists to create the scientific foundations, identify new principles, present novel architectures, demonstrate promising applications, and enable powerful capabilities of CPS. This inaugural ICCPS event received a substantially higher submission count than we had anticipated: namely, 70 papers. The high submission count and the limited 2-day duration for paper presentations made paper selection a difficult task for the Program Committee. Finally, after extensive deliberations, 20 papers were accepted for publication, yielding an acceptance rate of 28.5%. Many worthy papers had to be excluded solely due to the time constraints in the conference schedule. Each accepted paper had at least 3 reviews to ensure novelty, relevance and contributions to this evolving field. The accepted papers cover different dimensions of cyber-physical systems including mathematical foundations, robustness, security, infrastructural elements and wireless sensor networks. Application sectors include the medical domain, energy management, automotive systems, agriculture, and the monitoring of structures and oil pipelines.
Motor Vehicle Crashes Involving Railroad Crossing Signal Masts and Guardrails

The installation of “active” warning devices, such as crossing signals and gates, is a principal element of state and federal railroad crossing safety programs, and their effectiveness in preventin...
Improving STEM teaching practices with R&P: increasing the full range of young children’s STEM outcomes

ABSTRACTRamps and Pathways (R&P) early physical science activities enable educators and young children (3–8 years) to explore and investigate what happens as marbles and rolling objects are release...
Injectable supramolecular polymer-nanoparticle hydrogels enhance human mesenchymal stem cell delivery.

Stem cell therapies have emerged as promising treatments for injuries and diseases in regenerative medicine. Yet, delivering stem cells therapeutically can be complicated by invasive administration techniques, heterogeneity in the injection media, and/or poor cell retention at the injection site. Despite these issues, traditional administration protocols using bolus injections in a saline solution or surgical implants of cell-laden hydrogels have highlighted the promise of cell administration as a treatment strategy. To address these limitations, we have designed an injectable polymer-nanoparticle (PNP) hydrogel platform exploiting multivalent, noncovalent interactions between modified biopolymers and biodegradable nanoparticles for encapsulation and delivery of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). hMSC-based therapies have shown promise due to their broad differentiation capacities and production of therapeutic paracrine signaling molecules. In this work, the fundamental hydrogel mechanical properties that enhance hMSC delivery processes are elucidated using basic in vitro models. Further, in vivo studies in immunocompetent mice reveal that PNP hydrogels enhance hMSC retention at the injection site and retain administered hMSCs locally for upwards of 2 weeks. Through both in vitro and in vivo experiments, we demonstrate a novel scalable, synthetic, and biodegradable hydrogel system that overcomes current limitations and enables effective cell delivery.
The Role of Gender, Academic Affiliation, and Subspecialty in Relation to Industry Payments to Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Abstract Background The Physician-Payments-Sunshine-Act (PPSA) was introduced in 2010 to provide transparency regarding physician-industry payments by making these payments publicly available. Given potential ethical implications, it is important to understand how these payments are being distributed, particularly as the women orthopaedic workforce increases. The purpose of this study was thus to determine the role of gender and academic affiliation in relation to industry payments within the orthopaedic subspecialties. Methods The PPSA website was used to abstract industry payments to Orthopaedic surgeons. The internet was then queried to identify each surgeon's professional listing and gender. Mann-Whitney U, Chi-square tests, and multivariable regression were used to explore the relationships. Significance was set at a value of P Results In total, 22,352 orthopaedic surgeons were included in the study. Payments were compared between 21,053 men and 1299 women, 2756 academic and 19,596 community surgeons, and across orthopaedic subspecialties. Women surgeons received smaller research and non-research payments than men (both, P Conclusions A large proportion of the US orthopaedic surgeon workforce received industry payments in 2014. Academic surgeons received larger payments than community surgeons. Despite having a larger percentage of surgeons in academia, women surgeons received lower payments than their male counterparts. Women also had a larger representation in the subspecialties with the lowest payments.
Using the web to increase access to oral health care for patients with special health care needs in South Carolina: A replicable model.

AIM To create an accessible web-based resource of providers willing to provide dental services for patients with special health care needs (SCHNs). METHODS With a grant from The Duke Endowment, surveys were sent to dentists in South Carolina RESULTS: Data showed that the majority of providers expressed willingness to treat patients with one or more mild SHCN, but fewer expressed willingness to treat those with one or more moderate or severe SHCN. Additionally, the data showed that among general practitioners specifically, only one-third were willing to treat mild and moderate/severe manifestations of all categories listed. The number of practitioners willing to treat moderate to severe manifestations of SHCN and accept Medicaid and willing to take new Medicaid patients dropped even further. These results demonstrated a need to increase the number of providers in South Carolina who are willing to treat patients with SHCN, and a need to provide an accessible resource for patients with SHCN to be able to find these providers. Data collected populated the web-based resource for the Special Adult Network of Dentists url:www.sandsc.org1 CONCLUSION: This resource may be used by patients, caregivers, and health care providers and could be replicated in other states or designed as a national resource.
Product2Vec: Understanding Product-Level Competition Using Representation Learning

Studying competition and market structure at the product level instead of brand level can provide firms with insights on cannibalization and product line optimization. We introduce Product2Vec, a method based on representation learning, to study product-level competition when the number of products is large. The proposed model takes shopping baskets as inputs and, for every product, generates a low-dimensional vector that preserves important product information. Using these product vectors, we present several findings. First, we show that these vectors can recover analogies between product pairs. Second, we create two measures, complementarity and exchangeability, that allow us to determine whether product pairs are complements or substitutes. Third, we combine these vectors with traditional choice models to study product-level competition. To accurately estimate price elasticities, we modify the representation learning algorithm to remove the influence of price from the product vectors. We show that, compared with state-of-the-art choice models, our approach is faster and can produce more accurate demand forecasts and price elasticities. Fourth, we present two applications of Product2Vec to marketing problems: 1) analyzing intra- and inter-brand competition and 2) analyzing market structure. Overall, our results demonstrate that machine learning algorithms, such as representation learning, can be useful tools to augment and improve traditional marketing methods.
Reprogramming consent: implications of sexual relationships with artificially intelligent partners

The growing cultural conversation about sexual consent comes at a time in which new technologies with potential implications for sexuality norms are also beginning to emerge in the marketplace. ‘Se...
Shared and Unique Neural Circuitry Underlying Temporally Unpredictable Threat and Reward Processing

Temporally unpredictable stimuli influence behavior across species, as previously demonstrated for sequences of simple threats and rewards with fixed or variable onset. Neuroimaging studies have identified a specific frontolimbic circuit that may become engaged during the anticipation of temporally unpredictable threat (U-threat). However, the neural mechanisms underlying processing of temporally unpredictable reward (U-reward) are incompletely understood. It is also unclear whether these processes are mediated by overlapping or distinct neural systems. These knowledge gaps are noteworthy given that disruptions within these neural systems may lead to maladaptive response to uncertainty. Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging data from a sample of 159 young adults, we showed that anticipation of both U-threat and U-reward elicited activation in the right anterior insula, right ventral anterior nucleus of the thalamus and right inferior frontal gyrus. U-threat also activated the right posterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, relative to U-reward. In contrast, U-reward elicited activation in the right fusiform and left middle occipital gyrus, relative to U-threat. Although there is some overlap in the neural circuitry underlying anticipation of U-threat and U-reward, these processes appear to be largely mediated by distinct circuits. Future studies are needed to corroborate and extend these preliminary findings.
Feasibility of Colocating a Nutrition Education Program into a Medical Clinic Setting to Facilitate Pediatric Obesity Prevention.

Purpose:Within a medical clinic environment, pediatric obesity prevention education for families faces challenges. Existing long-term government-funded nutrition education programs have the experti...
Generalizable coordination of large multiscale workflows: challenges and learnings at scale

The advancement of machine learning techniques and the heterogeneous architectures of most current supercomputers are propelling the demand for large multiscale simulations that can automatically and autonomously couple diverse components and map them to relevant resources to solve complex problems at multiple scales. Nevertheless, despite the recent progress in workflow technologies, current capabilities are limited to coupling two scales. In the first-ever demonstration of using three scales of resolution, we present a scalable and generalizable framework that couples pairs of models using machine learning and in situ feedback. We expand upon the massively parallel Multiscale Machine-Learned Modeling Infrastructure (MuMMI), a recent, award-winning workflow, and generalize the framework beyond its original design. We discuss the challenges and learnings in executing a massive multiscale simulation campaign that utilized over 600,000 node hours on Summit and achieved more than 98% GPU occupancy for more than 83% of the time. We present innovations to enable several orders of magnitude scaling, including simultaneously coordinating 24,000 jobs, and managing several TBs of new data per day and over a billion files in total. Finally, we describe the generalizability of our framework and, with an upcoming open-source release, discuss how the presented framework may be used for new applications.
Model predictive control of underactuated bipedal robotic walking

This paper addresses the problem of controlling underactuated bipedal walking robots in the presence of actuator torque saturation. The proposed method synthesizes elements of the Human-Inspired Control (HIC) approach for generating provably-stable walking controllers, rapidly exponentially stabilizing control Lyapunov functions (RES-CLFs) and standard model predictive control (MPC). Specifically, the proposed controller uses feedback linearization to construct a linear control system describing the dynamics of the walking outputs. The input to this linear system is designed to be the solution of a MPC-based Quadratic Program which minimizes the sum of the values of a RES-CLF-describing the walking control objectives-over a finite-time horizon. Future values of the torque constraints are mapped into the linear control system using the Hybrid Zero Dynamics property of HIC and subsequently incorporated in the Quadratic Program. The proposed method is implemented in a rigid-body dynamics simulation and initial experiments with the Durus robot.
Analysis of various automotive body assembly system configurations with respect to reliability, quality, and productivity

We first develop techniques for identifying the configuration of a body assembly system. These techniques are essential because of the increasingly sophisticated hardware adopted in modern automotive assembly plants. Then we use these techniques to benchmark the system configurations of three different automotive body assembly lines. Then we analyze the system reliability of serial, parallel, and parallel-lines and serial-groups systems. Some results are the following: with constant machine reliability, an assembly system could become more reliable if it has more possible paths of material flow. A parallel system configuration has the maximum system redundancy, and its reliability is highest. A serial system configuration has only one path of material flow, so system shutdown cannot be avoided if any of its stations fail. A serial-groups system has a slightly higher reliability than a parallel-lines system has, and both of them are much more reliable than a serial system. If we want to increase the reliability of some critical processes, we can combine several tasks and then duplicate the lines to form a parallel system with not-so-expensive machines. We then analyze the same four configurations for their expected production and present these results also. The relationships between sheet metal assembly quality and different assembly system configurations are investigated. Four different assembly system configurations (serial, parallel, and parallel-lines and serial-groups system configurations) are designed to produce the same sheet metal product. With the same sources of variation, we simulate how the dimensional variation of assembled sheet metal parts is affected by different system configurations. "Mechanistic variation simulation" is used to analyze the variation stack-up of deformable sheet metal part assemblies. From the simulation results, we find that the more material-flow paths an assembly-system had, the distribution of its products' quality is wider. Also, the parts processed through more serial fixtures may have a higher mean deviation.
Incremental learning of new classes in unbalanced datasets: Learn ++ .UDNC

We have previously described an incremental learning algorithm, Learn++.NC, for learning from new datasets that may include new concept classes without accessing previously seen data. We now propose an extension, Learn++.UDNC, that allows the algorithm to incrementally learn new concept classes from unbalanced datasets. We describe the algorithm in detail, and provide some experimental results on two separate representative scenarios (on synthetic as well as real world data) along with comparisons to other approaches for incremental and/or unbalanced dataset approaches.
Berry Contamination: Outbreaks and Contamination Issues

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses 22 documented outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with berries. There may be several reasons why berries have been involved in a myriad of outbreaks, such as contamination by farm and packing-plant workers, use of unsafe agricultural practices, and global sourcing to provide yearlong availability. In general, berry crops are best watered using trickle irrigation, as this allows the grower to apply water at the critical period of fruit development and avoids wetting the fruit, which could foster the development of disease and rot. Prevention of produce contamination is a preferred practice, compared to decontamination especially with products such as berries, for which postharvest intervention strategies are limited, provide incomplete protection, or compromise quality attributes. Since the increase in foodborne illness outbreaks associated with produce, additional measures have been taken to determine and implement good practices aimed at reducing the incidence of contamination on the farm and in handling. Specific guidance documents have been written to expand and customize insight for certain types of produce including leafy greens, tomatoes, and fresh-cut produce. However, given the diversity of growing methods for berries from ground level to bush to vine, specific guidelines that suit all berry products would be particularly challenging to devise.
Abstract 12320: Assessment of Post-Procedural Aortic Regurgitation After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement During the Procedure: An Intraprocedural Transesophageal Echocardiography Study

Introduction: The assessment of post-procedual aortic regurgitation (PAR) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has not been validated. The purpose of this study was (1) to investigate the value of holodiastolic flow reversal (HDFR) in the descending aorta in patients with PAR after TAVR and (2) to determine which color Doppler parameters are useful for PAR grading using the intraprocedural transesophageal echocardiography (iTEE). Hypothesis: We hypothesized that HDFR in the descending aorta and any color Doppler parameters can delineate significant PAR after TAVR. Methods: Three hundred-eighty patients with severe aortic stenosis underwent TAVR with the Edwards SAPIEN valve with 131 pulsed-wave Doppler tracings from the descending aorta had assessed by iTEE. PAR was evaluated using 2D color Doppler by the cross-sectional area of the vena contracta (VCA) at the aortic annular plane, and by the longitudinal jet extent (mosaic signals, Figure A) compared to the location of the tip of the anterior mitral leaflet (AML). Significant PAR was defined as VCA of ≥10 mm2, corresponding to greater than a moderate grade. Results: In patients with any grade of PAR, pulsed-wave Doppler tracing from the descending aorta, jet extent and VCA were obtained in 100%, 80%, and 74%, respectively. All patients with consistent HDFR had significant PAR. By multivariate analysis, a consistent HDFR and jet extent beyond the tip of AML were independent predictors of significant PAR. A consistent HDFR and jet extent beyond the tip of AML predicted significant PAR with specificity of 100% and 97%, respectively. In the other hand, patients with both negative HDFR and jet extent of less than halfway to the tip of AML had no significant PAR with a 97% specificity. Conclusions: The presence of HDFR with each cardiac cycle and jet extent beyond the tip of AML are indicative of significant PAR.
Flight Noise Simulation in an Anechoic Chamber

A widely recognized problem in the jet engine industry is the discrepancy between inflight measurements of fan noise as compared to static tests. This discrepancy consists of blade passing frequency tones, caused by ingested turbulence and flow distortions that appear in the static tests but do not appear in flight. An intensive effort has been carried out to devise means by which an anechoic chamber could be employed to yield fan noise data of the type that one obtains in flight. To reduce flow distortions and turbulence caused by wakes, a streamlined inlet is used to quiet the air entering the fan. Inlet casing suction surfaces are incorporated to allow removal of the turbulent boundary layer. Reduction of the midstream turbulence and flow distortion is accomplished by means of a honeycomb and screen combination. This effort has succeeded in reducing the ingested turbulence, to the point where reductions in the acoustic power at blade passing frequency are as high as 18 dB for subsonic tip speeds. Turbulence mapping of the inlet has confirmed that the tone reductions are due to a reduction in turbulence, as the low frequency (large scale) streamwise and transverse turbulent velocities have been reduced by up to four times and ten times, respectively.
A motion compensated vector quantizer with filtered prediction

It is shown that motion compensated vector quantizer (MCVQ) performance can be improved by inserting spatial filters within the MCVQs prediction loop. The degree of improvement depends on the type of filter applied. Median filtering is poorly matched to the MCVQ noise process and does not work well. Gaussian filters do a much better job of cleaning foreground regions; peak SNR improves from 1 to 3 dB, with an average of about 1.5 dB. Edge rendition can be further improved by using an adaptive space-variant filter that smooths in a direction parallel to strong edges. The rate increases slightly to communicate edge orientations, but this information can be used to upgrade the VQ to a classified VQ structure. >
Expression of salt and urea transporters in rat kidney during cisplatin-induced polyuria

Expression of salt and urea transporters in rat kidney during cisplatin-induced polyuria. Background Cisplatin (CP) induced polyuria in rats is associated with a reduction in medullary hypertonicity, normally generated by the thick ascending limb (TAL) salt transporters, and the collecting duct urea transporters (UT). To investigate the molecular basis of this abnormality, we determined the protein abundance of major salt and UT isoforms in rat kidney during CP-induced polyuria. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats received either a single injection of CP (5 mg/kg, N = 6) or saline ( N = 6) intraperitoneally five days before sacrifice. Urine, blood, and kidneys were collected and analyzed. Results CP-treated rats developed polyuric acute renal failure as assessed by increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN), urine volume and decreased urine osmolality. Western analysis of kidney homogenates revealed a marked reduction in band density of the bumetanide-sensitive Na-K-2Cl cotransporter in cortex (60% of control values, P Conclusions Changes in the abundance of outer or inner medullary salt or urea transporters are unlikely to play a role in the CP-induced reduction in medullary hypertonicity. However, qualitative changes in UT proteins may affect their functionality and thus may have a role.
Anterior Tracheal Suspension for Tracheobronchomalacia in Infants and Children

Background Severe tracheobronchomalacia significantly complicates the postoperative course of infants and children with congenital heart disease, tracheoesophageal fistula, and tracheal stenosis. We have found that traditional approaches, including aortopexy, have been inconsistent in preventing acute life threatening events (ALTEs). In order to directly support the anterior tracheal wall, we have adopted the use of direct anterior tracheal suspension (ATS). Methods Twenty-one children, median age 5 months (35 days to 11 years) and weight 5.0 (2.3 to 28.0) kg have undergone anterior tracheal suspension for severe tracheobronchomalacia through median sternotomy; 15 for inability to ventilate despite mechanical respiratory support, 3 for intermittent ALTEs without mechanical respiratory support, and 3 for recurrent respiratory admissions. Nine procedures were performed as isolated ATS and 12 procedures were combined with at least 1 of the following: repair of ventricular septal defect; vascular ring; atrioventricular canal; tracheal reconstruction or arterial-pexy. Level of respiratory support was graded at preoperative (preop), discharge, and follow-up, and respiratory clinical status was graded at preop and follow-up. Median follow-up was 30.0 months (2.0 to 57.0 months). Results There was no mortality. Both level of respiratory support and the clinical status improved at all time points studied compared with preoperative score ( p Conclusions Anterior tracheal suspension is feasible and appears effective in dramatically improving respiratory clinical status. Tracheal suspension is applicable to a wide range of anatomic variants. Additional study is needed to characterize long-term functional outcomes.
Function2Gene: A gene selection tool to increase the power of genetic association studies by utilizing public databases and expert knowledge

Many common disorders have multiple genetic components which convey increased susceptibility. SNPs have been used to identify genetic components which are associated with a disease. Unfortunately, many studies using these methods suffer from low reproducibility due to lack of power. We present a set of programs which implement a novel method for searching for disease-associated genes using prior information to select and order genes from publicly available databases by their prior likelihood of association with the disease. These programs were used in a published study of childhood-onset SLE which yielded novel associations with modest sample size. Using prior information to decrease the size of the problem space to an amount commensurate with available samples and resources while maintaining appropriate power enables researchers to increase their likelihood of discovering reproducible associations.
Pond heat and temperature regulation (PHATR): Modeling temperature and energy balances in earthen outdoor aquaculture ponds

A pond heat and temperature regulation (PHATR) model was designed to: (1) predict the temperature for earthen outdoor aquaculture ponds and (2) determine the size of energy transfer mechanisms affecting energy gains or losses for these ponds. The model solves a first order, no-linear differential equation using a 4th order Runge-Kutta numerical method and various input data (weather data, pond characteristics and flow rate data). Output data (predicted pond temperature) was compared to measured pond temperature collected from the warmwater ponds at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center Aquaculture Research Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The model over-predicted the temperature for unheated ponds by 0.7 °C and for heated ponds by 2.6 °C. Fluctuations in flowrates of warm water used to heat the pond are believed to be responsible for the greater error in predicting heated pond temperatures. On average, the two most important energy vectors for unheated ponds were longwave pond radiation (39%) and longwave sky radiation (31%). At certain times, solar radiation accounted for as much as 49% of all energy transferred to unheated ponds. For heated ponds, on average, important energy transfer mechanisms were longwave pond radiation (25%), longwave sky radiation (19%), warm geothermal-well water (19%) and discharged water (15%). At certain times, solar radiation accounted for as much as 50% and warm well water 60% of all energy transferred to heated ponds.
ON THE RELEASE OF FISSION GAS FROM AN EVAPORATING FUEL BODY

Abstract Isothermal post-irradiation anneal experiments have been extensively used to determine diffusion coefficients for fission gases in nuclear fuel bodies. Several of these experiments have been carried out at temperatures sufficiently high for an appreciable evaporation rate of the fuel body, but the effect of this evaporation upon the release of the fission gas and upon the determination of diffusion coefficients has heretofore not been analyzed. In the following the time-dependent lattice diffusion of a radioactive gas contained in solids of simple shapes (sphere, slab, cylinder and certain partially unbounded media) is analyzed. The solid sublimes into a vacuum and as a result the boundary surface regresses. This regression is assumed to be a linear function of time. It is shown that the effect of the moving boundary increases the rate of diffusion of the gas through the boundary because the regression of the interface steepens the surface concentration gradient compared with a stationary interface. If surface evaporation is ignored, the predicted diffusion coefficient in a post-irradiation anneal experiment can be erroneously high by several orders of magnitude.
Safety and efficacy of sodium ferric gluconate complex in patients with chronic kidney disease

Abstract Background: We hypothesized that intravenous iron will improve hemoglobin (Hgb) concentrations in anemic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the response would be greater if the underlying erythropoietin deficiency also was treated. Methods: Charts of 58 CKD veterans (glomerular filtration rate Results: Mean Hgb level at baseline was 10.5 ± 1.4 (SD) g/dL (105 ± 14 g/L) in the 30 patients administered recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) plus SFGC and 10.1 ± 1.3 g/dL (101 ± 13 g/L) in the 28 patients administered SFGC alone ( P = not significant). The primary event occurred in 83% of the rHuEPO-plus-SFGC group at 31 days compared with 60% at 62 days in the group administered SFGC alone ( P = 0.037, Cox F test). In patients administered SFGC alone, mean maximal Hgb level was 11.4 ± 0.9 g/dL (114 ± 9 g/L) in contrast to 12.4 ± 1.7 g/dL (124 ± 17 g/L) in the combination group, which remained significantly different even after adjustment for biologically important covariates ( P = 0.01, analysis of covariance). Of the 240 doses of SFGC administered for which infusion records were available, 237 doses were well tolerated; three hypotensive episodes occurred in 2 patients, which did not result in discontinuation of the drug in either case. Conclusion: Correction of anemia with parenteral iron alone suggests a high prevalence of iron deficiency in patients with CKD. Treatment of concomitant iron deficiency with SFGC was well tolerated in patients with CKD and appears to optimize management of anemia. Am J Kidney Dis 40:924-931. © 2002 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.
Isochromosomes in the Chicken

RECENT reports on the chromosomes1 and total DNA2,3 of the chicken cell nucleus show that they differ from those of typical placental mammals in an unusual pattern of chromosome sizes and a DNA content equal to half that of most mammals. These reports can be interpreted so as to illuminate some anomalies of the genetics of fowl. These anomalies include incomplete dominance of the trait barred4,5, ticking6, and alteration of phenotypic sex without visible alterations in the karyotype7. One explanation of these anomalies could be that three-fourths of the normal genetic dose occurs fairly frequently in the chicken.
Excited-state deactivation pathways in uracil versus hydrated uracil: solvatochromatic shift in the (1)nπ* state is the key.

Excited-state deactivation mechanisms of uracil are investigated using spin-flip time-dependent density functional theory. Two important minimum-energy crossing points are located, for both gas-phase and hydrated uracil, and optimized relaxation pathways connecting the most important critical points on the 1nπ* and 1ππ* potential energy surfaces are determined. An ultrafast decay time constant, measured via femtosecond spectroscopy, is assigned to direct 1ππ* → S0 deactivation, while a slower decay component is assigned to indirect 1ππ* → 1nπ* → S0 deactivation. The shorter lifetime of the dark 1nπ* state in aqueous solution is attributed to a decrease in the energy barrier along the pathway connecting the 1nπ* minimum to a 1ππ*/S0 conical intersection. This barrier arises due to hydrogen bonding between uracil and water, leading to a blue-shift in the S0 → 1nπ* excitation energy and considerable modification of energy barriers on the 1nπ* potential surface. These results illustrate how hydrogen bonding t...
Search in an ordered array having variable probe cost

Steiglitz and Parks [“What Is the Filter-Design Problem?,” Proc. 1986 Princeton Conference on Information Science and Systems, B. W. Dickenson, ed., Princeton University, Dept. of Electrical Engine...
Performance of a residential PV system in the desert southwest

Recent research has allowed improved modeling of residential photovoltaic systems currently being deployed throughout the United States. In particular, aware of how photovoltaic systems perform under various environmental scenarios has improved giving those who buy or lease residential systems better insight into the economic performance of their systems and ultimately their investment. One aspect that affects performance is the impact of soiling. In this paper an empirically derived soiling model is assessed against other soiling assumptions on financial payback. In addition, potential owners are required to make decisions that will determine how quickly their investments will pay for themselves. These factors include cost of financing and tariff characteristics. Also, utility incentives have a significant impact on the return of a PV investment. Results show that potential buyers of photovoltaic systems need to examine certain economic assumptions to accurately assess whether or not to pursue an investment in a PV system.