cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tandem gait abnormality in Parkinson disease: Prevalence and implication as a predictor of fall risk

Abstract Introduction We report the prevalence of abnormal tandem gait (TG) in patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) and its association with symptoms of subjective unsteadiness, falls, freezing of gait, and cognitive impairment. Methods We assessed subjective balance impairment, fall history, antero-posterior postural instability, and TG in PD patients (Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stage 0–4). We recorded the age, sex, current medications, HY stage, Schwab and England (S&E) scale score, and MOCA score for each patient. Logistic regression was used to evaluate age-adjusted associations between TG and other demographic and clinical factors. Results A total of 102 patients with PD were assessed. Of those, 63.5% of HY 2 patients and 100% of HY 2.5 and 3 patients had a TG abnormality. The presence of TG abnormality was associated with subjective imbalance, falls, freezing of gait, S&E Conclusions TG abnormality is common in PD, precedes the development of antero-posterior postural instability, is associated with cognitive impairment, and may predict fall risk. A longitudinal study will help determine if TG is a predictor of impending progression from HY 2 to HY 3.
Unexplained Anemia in the Elderly

The prevalence of anemia increases with advancing age, and despite thorough investigation, approximately one-third will be classified as "unexplained." Unexplained anemia (UA) is typically hypoproliferative, normocytic, and with low reticulocyte count. Serum erythropoietin levels are lower than expected for degree of anemia. Chronic inflammation, low testosterone levels, malnutrition, and possibly nascent myelodysplasia are variably contributing factors. No clearly established beneficial treatment strategy has been established, but the association of UA with a wide range of adverse outcomes, including impaired quality of life, physical function, and mortality, is sufficiently compelling to justify expanding clinical research focused on basic and clinical aspects.
β-Arrestin-1 inhibits glucocorticoid receptor turnover and alters glucocorticoid signaling.

Glucocorticoids are among the most widely used drugs to treat many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Although much research has been focused on investigating glucocorticoid activity, it remains unclear how glucocorticoids regulate distinct processes in different cells. Glucocorticoids exert their effects through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which, upon glucocorticoid binding, interacts with regulatory proteins, affecting its activity and function. These protein–protein interactions are necessary for the resolution of glucocorticoid-dependent physiological and pharmacological processes. In this study, we discovered a novel protein interaction between the glucocorticoid receptor and β-arrestin-1, a scaffold protein with a well-established role in G protein–coupled receptor signaling. Using co-immunoprecipitation and in situ proximity ligation assays in A549 cells, we observed that β-arrestin-1 and unliganded GR interact in the cytoplasm and that, following glucocorticoid binding, the protein complex is found in the nucleus. We show that siRNA-mediated β-arrestin-1 knockdown alters GR protein turnover by up-regulating the E3 ubiquitin ligase Pellino-1, which catalyzes GR ubiquitination and thereby marks the receptor for proteasomal degradation. The enhanced GR turnover observed in β-arrestin-1–deficient cells limits the duration of the glucocorticoid response on GR target genes. These results demonstrate that β-arrestin-1 is a crucial player for the stability of the glucocorticoid receptor. The GR/β-arrestin-1 interaction uncovered here may help unravel mechanisms that contribute to the cell type–specific activities of glucocorticoids.
Racial differences in delay of treatment for localized prostate cancer (CaP): A population-based study.

6037 Background: African-Americans (AA) are diagnosed with more advanced CaP than Caucasians (CA) and are more likely to die from CaP. Treatment delay is a potentially modifiable obstacle to care a...
Protective factors against juvenile delinquency: exploring gender with a nationally representative sample of youth

Youth's social bonds' with conventional social institutions (e.g., family and school) and parental management of youth's leisure time represent two dimensions of suppressants against juvenile delinquency. Using Multivariate regression, this paper assesses these two dimensions of factors simultaneously on youth's aggressive and non-aggressive delinquency, and examines if their effects are gender sensitive. Findings suggest that girls have significantly lower involvement in both aggressive and non-aggressive delinquency than boys. However, girls are disproportionately involved in non-aggressive delinquency. Parental monitoring protects boys and girls distinctively on aggressive delinquency; this factor has a more pronounced inhibitory effect on girls' aggressive behavior. This study elucidates that there is a gendered pattern in adolescent delinquency, and that gender moderates the effect of some protective factor.
When is My Baby Going Home? Moderate to Late Preterm Infants are Discharged at 36 Weeks Based on Admission Data

Objective This study evaluates the effect of admission characteristics of uncomplicated moderate to late preterm infants on timing of discharge. One of the first questions that families of infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) ask is, “When is my baby going home?” Moderate to late preterm infants are the largest cohort of NICU patients but little data exist about their length of stay (LOS). Study Design A retrospective electronic chart review was completed on 12,498 infants admitted to our NICU between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2015. All inborn infants with a gestational age between 320/7 and 366/7 weeks were studied. Results A total of 3,240 infants met our inclusion criteria. The mean postmenstrual age at discharge was 363/7 weeks. Infants who were small for gestational age were significantly more likely to have an increased LOS. Infants born between 34 and 366/7 weeks had a significantly increased LOS if they had respiratory distress syndrome. Admission diagnoses of neonatal abstinence syndrome, meconium aspiration syndrome, hydrops, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, biliary emesis, ABO incompatibly, and a genetic diagnosis all had increased LOS for all late preterm infants. Conclusion For uncomplicated moderate to late preterm infants, clinicians can counsel families that their infants will likely be discharged at 36 weeks of postmenstrual age. Small for gestational age infants and those with specific diagnoses may stay longer.
Cellular Phenotypic Plasticity of Cutaneous Melanoma: A Complex Puzzle.

Wenzina et al. (2020) explore the potential role of E-cadherin (CDH1) as a marker for invasive behavior in melanoma. The authors show that CDH1 expression is modulated by p38 signaling, and that manipulation of this pathway can impede endothelial disruption and lung dissemination in vivo and in vitro. The downstream markers PODXL and DEL of the invasive phenotype are associated with a poor prognosis.
IMPACT OF RESTING CORONARY MICROVASCULAR RESISTANCE AND HYPEREMIC CORONARY FLOW RESERVE ON MORTALITY IN PATIENTS WITH ANGINA AND NON-OBSTRUCTIVE CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of resting coronary microvascular resistance (MR) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) on mortality. 1,643 patients with angina and non-obstructive coronary artery disease who underwent invasive assessment of coronary physiology between January 1996 and
Si-based materials for lithium-ion batteries IV: Surface-modified Si/C/perfluorooctene powder

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to analyze nano-Si/C/perfluorooctene powder obtained from Paraclete Energy Inc. The spectra were obtained using incident monochromatic Al Kα radiation at 1486.6 eV (0.834 01 nm). An initial survey spectrum together with F 1s, O 1s, C 1s, and Si 2p are presented. A final survey spectrum was collected to ascertain the amount of beam-induced damage, which appears to be minimal. The spectra indicate the principal core level photoelectron and Auger electron signals with only minor nitrogen signal and show the expected silicon-carbon, carbon-fluorine, and silicon-fluorine species related to the surface modification process in addition to oxidized carbon and silicon due to atmospheric exposure.
The Materiality of Anti-Japanese Racism: “Foreignness” and Racialization at Barneston, Washington (1898-1924)

Archaeologies of Japanese American labor reveal how company towns served as vehicles for racialization. Labor hierarchies at sawmill towns in Pacific Northwestern United States reified Nikkei immigrants as “foreign,” incapable of being full members of American society. Contests over “foreignness” are materialized on the landscape of Barneston, Washington. Community responses to anti-Japanese racism are visible through signage, while sawmill town owner strategies are reflected in the Nikkei’s spatial segregation. These arguments demonstrate how historical archaeology can link research in Asian American studies, racism and racialization, and company town labor to develop new syntheses of labor history.
Task Specialisation, Immigration and Wages

Many workers with low levels of educational attainment immigrated to the United States in recent decades. In a simple model exploiting comparative advantage we show that if less-educated foreign and native-born workers specialize in performing different tasks, immigration will cause natives to reallocate their task supply, thereby reducing downward wage pressure. We merge occupational task-intensity data from the O*NET and DOT data sets with individual Census data across US states from 1960-2000 to demonstrate that foreign-born workers specialize in occupations that require manual and physical labor skills while natives pursue jobs more intensive in communication and language tasks. This increased specialization might explain why economic analyzes commonly find only modest wage and employment consequences of immigration for less-educated native-born workers across U.S. states.
A scientific note on a black soldier fly (Stratiomyidae: Hermetia illucens ) infestation within a western honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) colony

Black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) were discovered in a weak honey bee colony in Hailey, Idaho. The larvae were localized to the brood area and caused the affected comb to putrefy. Further communication with the beekeeper revealed that the colony recently returned from California and that the larvae likely originated there as well. In California, H. illucens are common and exist sympatrically with honey bees, yet there have been very few reports of damage. We therefore believe H. illucens are unlikely to cause damage to healthy colonies or significantly impact the apiculture industry. This report is the first published observation of H. illucens in Idaho and shows conclusively for the first time that H. illucens associates with honey bee colonies in North America.
Gradient Decomposition Methods for Training Neural Networks With Non-ideal Synaptic Devices

While promising for high-capacity machine learning accelerators, memristor devices have non-idealities that prevent software-equivalent accuracies when used for online training. This work uses a combination of Mini-Batch Gradient Descent (MBGD) to average gradients, stochastic rounding to avoid vanishing weight updates, and decomposition methods to keep the memory overhead low during mini-batch training. Since the weight update has to be transferred to the memristor matrices efficiently, we also investigate the impact of reconstructing the gradient matrixes both internally (rank-seq) and externally (rank-sum) to the memristor array. Our results show that streaming batch principal component analysis (streaming batch PCA) and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) decomposition algorithms can achieve near MBGD accuracy in a memristor-based multi-layer perceptron trained on the MNIST (Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology) database with only 3 to 10 ranks at significant memory savings. Moreover, NMF rank-seq outperforms streaming batch PCA rank-seq at low-ranks making it more suitable for hardware implementation in future memristor-based accelerators.
HiveMind: Tuning Crowd Response with a Single Value

One common problem plaguing crowdsourcing tasks is tuning the set of worker responses: Depending on task requirements, requesters may want a large set of rich and varied worker responses (typically in subjective evaluation tasks) or a more convergent response-set (typically for more objective tasks such as fact-checking). This problem is especially salient in tasks that combine workers’ responses to present a single output: Divergence in these settings could either add richness and complexity to the unified answer, or noise. In this paper we present HiveMind, a system of methods that allow requesters to tune different levels of convergence in worker participation for different tasks simply by adjusting the value of one variable.
The Commerce Clause – Commonwealth Comparisons

As is well known, the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court appears to be re-defining its approach to the commerce clause: limits on federal power again are being enunciated. However, the debate on this issue in the United States is taking place without any significant consideration of the comparative law on the subject from Canada and Australia, which have similar clauses in their constitutions. As this Article shows, Canadian and Australian law confirm that the approach of the Supreme Court majority is preferable to that of the minority. Furthermore, the minority's fear that drawing boundaries may prove impossible is shown, by consideration of the experience of Canada and Australia, to be exaggerated.
CPT-11 plus cisplatin in patients with advanced, untreated gastric or gastroesophageal junction carcinoma: results of a phase II study.

BACKGROUND This Phase II study assessed the response rate and toxicity profile of the combination CPT-11 and cisplatin administered weekly to patients with untreated, advanced adenocarcinoma of the stomach or the gastroesophageal junction. METHODS Patients with histologic proof of adenocarcinoma of the stomach or the gastroesophageal junction with adequate liver, kidney, and bone marrow functions were treated with 65 mg/m2 CPT-11 plus 30 mg/m2 cisplatin, both administered intravenously 1 day per week for 4 consecutive weeks, followed by a recovery period of 2 consecutive weeks. The response rate, time to disease progression, survival, and toxic effects were analyzed. RESULTS Thirty-six of 38 registered patients (95%) were assessable. The median number of 6-week cycles per patient was 2.5 (range, 1–7 6-week cycles). Four patients (11%) achieved a complete response, and 17 patients (47%) had a partial response for an overall response rate of 58%. The median time to progression of carcinoma was 24 weeks, and the median survival was 9 months (range, 1–23+ months). There was one treatment-related death. Major toxic effects included diarrhea, neutropenia, and fatigue. Ninety percent of all planned doses were delivered on time; however, 53 of 79 canceled or delayed weekly doses (66%) occurred in the third or fourth week of the therapy cycle. CONCLUSIONS The combination of CPT-11 and cisplatin is active against gastric or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma and needs to be studied further. A modification in doses and schedules may be warranted to make the regimen more tolerable to patients. The addition of other active drugs or radiation therapy to this regimen would be of interest. Cancer 2002;94:641–6. © 2002 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.10279
Genetic Evidence for Plasmid-Linked Lactose Metabolism in Streptococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis.

It has been previously observed that loss of plasmid pGK4101 occurred concomitantly with loss of lactose-fermenting ability in Streptococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis 18-16. Transfer of this 41-megadalton plasmid to LM0230, a lactosenegative (Lac − ) strain of S. lactis , required cell-to-cell contact and resulted in a conversion of LM0230 to the Lac + phenotype. This confirms the linkage of lactose-fermenting ability to the 41-megadalton plasmid in S. lactis subsp. diacetylactis and, in addition, demonstrates transfer by a process resembling conjugation in the group N streptococci. Images
Automated High Throughput Protein Crystallization Screening at Nanoliter Scale and Protein Structural Study on Lactate Dehydrogenase

The purposes of our research were: (1) To develop an economical, easy to use, automated, high throughput system for large scale protein crystallization screening. (2) To develop a new protein crystallization method with high screening efficiency, low protein consumption and complete compatibility with high throughput screening system. (3) To determine the structure of lactate dehydrogenase complexed with NADH by x-ray protein crystallography to study its inherent structural properties. Firstly, we demonstrated large scale protein crystallization screening can be performed in a high throughput manner with low cost, easy operation. The overall system integrates liquid dispensing, crystallization and detection and serves as a whole solution to protein crystallization screening. The system can dispense protein and multiple different precipitants in nanoliter scale and in parallel. A new detection scheme, native fluorescence, has been developed in this system to form a two-detector system with a visible light detector for detecting protein crystallization screening results. This detection scheme has capability of eliminating common false positives by distinguishing protein crystals from inorganic crystals in a high throughput and non-destructive manner. The entire system from liquid dispensing, crystallization to crystal detection is essentially parallel, high throughput and compatible with automation. The system was successfully demonstrated by lysozyme crystallization screening. Secondly, we developed a new crystallization method with high screening efficiency, low protein consumption and compatibility with automation and high throughput. In this crystallization method, a gas permeable membrane is employed to achieve the gentle evaporation required by protein crystallization. Protein consumption is significantly reduced to nanoliter scale for each condition and thus permits exploring more conditions in a phase diagram for given amount of protein. In addition, evaporation rate can be controlled or adjusted in this method during the crystallization process to favor either nucleation or growing processes for optimizing crystallization process. The protein crystals gotten by this method were experimentally proven to possess high x-ray diffraction qualities. Finally, we crystallized human lactate dehydrogenase 1 (H4) complexed with NADH and determined its structure by x-ray crystallography. The structure of LDH/NADH displays a significantly different structural feature, compared with LDH/NADH/inhibitor ternary complex structure, that subunits in LDH/NADH complex show open conformation or two conformations on the active site while the subunits in LDH/NADH/inhibitor are all in close conformation. Multiple LDH/NADH crystals were obtained and used for x-ray diffraction experiments. Difference in subunit conformation was observed among the structures independently solved from multiple individual LDH/NADH crystals. Structural differences observed among crystals suggest the existence of multiple conformers in solution.
Impairment of Caloric Function after Cochlear Implantation.

Purpose This article seeks to review current literature on caloric function following cochlear implantation while analyzing any correlations of caloric function changes with vestibular symptoms. Me...
Adolescent suicide attempts: some significant factors.

ABSTRACT: A group of 108 adolescents who attempted suicide over a two-year period is described. Significant factors related to these attempts are presented and discussed. These adolescent suicide attempts are most significantly related to long-term family dysfunction. Some vegetative depressive symptoms are noted in a majority of patients. Implications are drawn for strengthening the mental health practitioner's role in detecting and preventing adolescent suicide.
Perspective: Ionomer Research and Applications

Ionomers are polymers with bonded ionic species that are used under conditions where the salt groups are in a condensed state. This Feature Article discusses the state of our understanding of ionomers and the historical applications of these nanostructured polymers. It also discusses modern methods for synthesizing new ionomers and describes a number of relatively new applications for ionomers and the potential use of these materials in contemporary technologies, including, shape memory and self-healing materials and supramolecular polymer systems.
Economic and Ecological Rules for Water Quality Trading

Horan, Richard D. and James S. Shortle, 2011. Economic and Ecological Rules for Water Quality Trading. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(1):59-69. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00463.x Abstract: Emissions trading in textbook form uses markets to achieve pollution targets cost-efficiently. This result is accomplished in markets that regulators can implement without knowing pollution abatement costs. The theoretical promise of emissions trading, along with real-world success stories from air emissions trading, has led to initiatives to use trading for water pollution control. Yet, trading, particularly when it involves nonpoint sources of pollution, requires significant departures from the textbook concept. This paper explores how features of water quality problems affect the design of markets for water pollution control relative to textbook emissions markets. Three fundamental design tasks that regulators must address for pollution trading to achieve an environmental goal at low cost are examined: (1) defining the point and nonpoint commodities to be traded, (2) defining rules governing commodity exchange, and (3) setting caps on the commodity supplies so as to achieve an environmental target. We show that the way in which these tasks are optimally addressed for water quality markets differs significantly from the textbook model and its real-world analogs. We also show that the fundamental appeal of emissions trading is lost in the case of realistic water quality markets, as market designs that reduce the costs of achieving water quality goals may no longer be implementable without the regulatory authority having information on abatement costs.
PUNCTURE WOUNDS INTO THE NAVICULAR BURSA OF THE HORSE

Radiography was used to evaluate 32 horses presented for puncture wounds into the navicular bursa. At the initial radiographic examination, 21 horses had no radiographic signs of osteomyelitis, while 11 did. The mean-time interval between injury and radiographic examination was 20.6 days for horses without evidence of osteomyelitis and 59.3 days for those with evidence of osteomyelitis. Radiographic signs of osteomyelitis of the navicular bone included flexor cortical destruction and irregularity of the flexor surface. Other abnormalities included pathologic fracture of the navicular bone, subluxation of the distal interphalangeal joint, or secondary joint disease. The lateromedial and palmaroproximal-palmarodistal oblique projections were most useful for identifying abnormalities of the navicular bone. There was a high correlation between horses that had positive presurgical radiographic signs and surgical findings. However, approximately 50% of horses that had negative radiographic findings initially had positive surgical findings. Ten of 21 horses with negative radiographic findings on initial examination had evidence of bony lesions when reevaluated from 3 weeks to 6 years later. Nine of 11 horses with radiographic signs of osteomyelitis on initial radiographic examination were euthanatized or had an unsatisfactory outcome. Seven of 10 horses with radiographic signs on reexamination were euthanatized. Thirteen of 20 horses with positive surgical findings for navicular bone infection were euthanatized or had an unsatisfactory outcome.
EEG correlates of finger movements as a function of range of motion and pre-loading conditions.

Abstract Objectives : The present study was designed to obtain additional data regarding the differential influence of kinematic parameters and different nominal force levels upon components of movement-related cortical potentials (MRP) during index finger flexion. Methods : The absolute nominal force level of discrete movements was varied while the rate of force development remained constant within a given task. This was accomplished by utilizing a pre-loading experimental design at different ranges of index finger motion (25, 50 and 75°), so that the movement kinematic profiles (velocity and acceleration) and rate of force development remained constant within each given range of motion. Time-domain averaging of EEG single trials was applied in order to extract 3 movement-related potentials (BP −600 to −500 , BP −100 to 0 and N 0 to 100 ) preceding and accompanying 25, 50 and 75° of unilateral finger movement with no pre-load (0 g), small pre-load (100 g) and large pre-load (200 g). Results : The range of motion differentially influenced the amplitude of early (BP −600 to −500 ) and late (BP −100 to 0 ) MRP components spatially localized over frontal, central and parietal areas. The amplitude of the N 0 to 100 component localized over parietal and frontal areas was also sensitive toward experimental manipulations of the range of motion. Overall, the amplitude of N 0 to 100 localized over the central area was the only MRP component that was sensitive to the amount of pre-loading. However, within a given range of motion, none of the pre-loading conditions (0, 100 or 200 g) influenced the amplitude of MRP components. Conclusions : The central finding was that an increase in nominal force production within a given range of motion did not influence MRP components when the rate of force development was held constant. It becomes especially apparent with strict control of kinematic and kinetic movement parameters that different methods of adding weight to the index finger performing the same movement patterns have different consequences for EEG correlates as reflected in the amplitude and spatial distribution of MRP. The range of motion of index finger flexion was the primary kinematic variable that consistently influenced MRP components both preceding and accompanying movement execution.
Production Performance and Stress Tolerance of Sunshine Bass Raised on Reduced Fish Meal Feeds Containing Ethanol Yeast

Abstract Ethanol yeast (EY) has been shown to be an effective alternative to fish meal (FM) in diets of sunshine bass (female white bass Morone chrysops × male striped bass M. saxatilis). Diets containing blends of FM and EY yield production performance similar or superior to that of diets containing no EY. Complete replacement of FM with EY, however, reduces feed palatability, impairs production performance, and may affect other aspects of livestock vigor. Accordingly, the objectives of this study were to determine the effects of dietary EY inclusion (with or without a palatant) on the feed intake, growth performance, and physiological robustness of sunshine bass after stressor exposure. Formulations were developed containing 15, 7.5, and 0% FM with EY as the primary alternative protein source. Experimental diets were prepared according to these formulations with and without the addition of 1% soluble canola protein concentrate as a palatant. Replicate tanks of juvenile sunshine bass (∼4.4 g) were fed th...
Presto: distributed machine learning and graph processing with sparse matrices

It is cumbersome to write machine learning and graph algorithms in data-parallel models such as MapReduce and Dryad. We observe that these algorithms are based on matrix computations and, hence, are inefficient to implement with the restrictive programming and communication interface of such frameworks.In this paper we show that array-based languages such as R [3] are suitable for implementing complex algorithms and can outperform current data parallel solutions. Since R is single-threaded and does not scale to large datasets, we have built Presto, a distributed system that extends R and addresses many of its limitations. Presto efficiently shares sparse structured data, can leverage multi-cores, and dynamically partitions data to mitigate load imbalance. Our results show the promise of this approach: many important machine learning and graph algorithms can be expressed in a single framework and are substantially faster than those in Hadoop and Spark.
Electronic correlations and the non-linear conductance of quantum dots

Abstract We present calculations of the tunneling characteristics of quantum dot systems with few electrons, making explicit consideration of electronic correlations introduced by Coulomb interactions. These are shown to strongly affect the many-particle overlap matrix elements which describe the addition or removal of single electrons to the system. We show that the main features of the differential conductance of quantum dots observed in recent experiments in the nonlinear regime can be attributed to effects introduced by these electronic correlations.
Meridional energy balance of Jupiter

The meridional energy balance of Jupiter is calculated from high spatial resolution observations by the Voyager 1 infrared spectrometer and radiometer. On a hemispheric scale Jupiter radiates thermal energy to space approximately uniform with latitude while solar energy absorption varies approximately as the solar angle. This implies internal adjustment to the solar energy with a larger contribution poleward of + or - 45 deg than in the equatorial zone. The internal flux is modulated by the major visible features of the zone and belt system but, unlike the hemispheric scale where increased internal flux is correlated with decreased solar absorption, on smaller scales the inverse occurs. The energy balance is very likely to be controlled by dynamics, but the relative influence of the upper atmosphere and the interior is not yet clear.
The silent epidemic of falls from buildings: analysis of risk factors

This study wanted to search for potential risk factors associated with falls from windows and balconies in order to eventually improve prevention. All children under the age of 16 years suffering from head injuries/multiple trauma due to falls from windows or balconies treated over the last 7 years at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the University Children’s Hospital Zurich were analysed retrospectively (group A). Fifty patients out of all children suffering from head injuries/multiple trauma due to other types of accidents in the same period were selected at random as controls (group B). Out of a total of 241 children with head injury and/or multiple trauma, 31 (13%) fell out of a building. Twenty-seven of these victims (87%) fell from the third floor or lower. Twenty-one of the falls (68%) occurred at home. Fifteen children (49%) climbed on a piece of furniture before falling. In almost 20% of the accidents dangerous balcony or house constructions led to the fall. Parents did not witness the fall, except for three cases (10%) with direct parental involvement (one mother jumped out with her child, two mothers threw their child out of the window). Two children (6%) attempted suicide. Children aged 0–5 years were predominantly represented (84%), and all six children who died were in this age group. There were significantly more patients with foreign nationalities and lower socio-professional categories in group A than in group B. In both groups, the accidents concerned the youngest child of the family in approximately 50% and happened mostly during summer evenings. There were no significant differences in injured systems and in injury severity between the two groups. This study identified young age, an immigrant family setting, low socio-professional category of the parents, dangerous house constructions, inappropriate furniture placement, and summertime evenings as risk factors for serious building falls in children. This information may foster focused prevention.
State of the art review of inspection technologies for condition assessment of water pipes

Abstract This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of inspection techniques and technologies towards condition assessment of water distribution and transmission mains. Pipe condition assessment is the determination of its current condition, including structural health, impact on water quality, and hydraulic capacity. The collection and analysis of relevant data and information is the first and a paramount step to detect and monitor critical indicators to prevent or mitigate catastrophic failures. The technologies include conventional non-destructive inspection and advanced sensor techniques for condition monitoring. This paper focuses on the inspection techniques and technologies for structural deterioration of water pipes. Technologies like smart pipe, augmented reality, and intelligent robots are also briefly discussed and summarized.
Uhuru observations of Hercules X-1 during the low state of the 35-day cycle.

X-ray emission from Her X-1 has been observed during the 23-day low state of the 35-day cycle. During this time, all the activity normally present during the high state was seen, including regular eclipses, absorption 'dips,' and 1.24-s pulsations. The present observations are compared with the models of Her X-1 derived by Roberts (1974), Gerend and Boynton (1976), Katz (1973), and Petterson (1975). It is suggested that a hot optically thin corona along both faces of the accretion disk can produce the unpulsed component of emission observed during both the high- and low-intensity states.
Identity and the role of expectations, stress, and talk in short-term student sojourner adjustment: An application of the integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation

Abstract Although more students are studying abroad than ever before, they are doing so for shorter periods of time often with high expectations. Unfortunately, for many students there is a gap between their expectations and the reality of the sojourn. Expectation gaps are one contributor to adjustment stress. Findings reported here are the result of a 15-month ethnographic investigation into the communication, adjustment, and identity patterns among U.S. sojourners abroad. This investigation extends and offers empirical evidence for Y.Y. Kim's integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Within that context, a descriptive model of expectations, talk, and identity in the short-term academic sojourn is proposed. Specifically, this report identifies student sojourner expectations and expectation gaps (i.e., academic/language expectations, social expectations, culture/value expectations, and travel/cultural experience expectations), the sources of those expectations (i.e., host university, co-students, friends/family at home, host family, and home university), and the types of talk students engaged in to negotiate expectation gaps (i.e., advice, superficial introductory talk, information sharing, comparison, humor, storytelling, gossip, complaint, and supportive talk). This investigation reveals that within their co-national network, sojourners are able to refine and create new expectations for study abroad through everyday talk. This process reduces expectation gaps enabling sojourners to adjust over time and allowing for the development of a more nuanced cultural identity.
Cultivation and properties of bovine mammary cell cultures.

Abstract Cell cultures derived from bovine mammary glands have been cultivated in the laboratory for varying periods including some which have been propagated for up to two and a half years and have had 30 to 40 passages. For many months most of the cultures are composed of stable populations of predominantly epithelial-like cells which have a generation time of about four days. These cultures retain considerable organizational ability with the fibroblastic-like cells. As the cultures age, most tend to become more fibroblastic-like and to lose their organizational ability. Glycogen synthesis has been observed to be more active in the younger and more epithelial-like cultures. Even though the cells do not have a rapid generation time, the period of stabilized growth is long enough so that almost unlimited numbers of cells can be obtained for use in controlled cell studies.
Torsional bands in far-infrared spectra of thiols and amines

In continuation of earlier work by the authors in which torsional bands were observed in the far-infrared spectra of 2-propanethiol and cyclohexanethiol, torsional bands also have been observed for ethanethiol, 2-methyl-2-propanethiol, n-propylamine, isopropropylamine, and t-butylamine. In the alkanethiols, force-constant calculations show that interactions between SH and CH/sub 3/ torsions are relatively unimportant; however, in contrast, interactions between NH/sub 2/ and CH/sub 3/ torsions are important in the alkylamines. Methanethiol vapor has a complex set of infrared bands between 60 and 500 cm/sup -1/ that arises from coupling between internal and overall rotation.
Interplay of the magnitude and time-course of postsynaptic Ca 2+ concentration in producing spike timing-dependent plasticity

Synaptic strength can be modified by the relative timing of pre- and postsynaptic activity, a phenomenon termed spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). Studies of neurons in the hippocampus and in other regions have found that when presynaptic activity occurs within a narrow time window, typically 10 or 20 ms, before postsynaptic activity, long-term potentiation (LTP) is induced, while if presynaptic activity occurs within a similar time window after postsynaptic activity, long-term depression (LTD) results. The mechanisms underlying these modifications are not completely understood, although there is strong evidence that the postsynaptic Ca 2?+? concentration plays a central role. Some previous modeling of STDP has focused on the dynamics of the postsynaptic Ca 2?+? concentration, while other work has studied biophysical mechanisms of how a synapse can exist in, and switch between, different states corresponding to LTP and LTD. Building on previous work in these two areas we have developed the first low level STDP model of a tristable biochemical system that incorporates induction and maintenance of both LTP and LTD. Our model is able to explain the STDP observed in hippocampal neurons in response to pre- and postsynaptic pulse pairs, using only parameters derived from previous work and without the need for parameter fine-tuning. Our results also give insight into how and why the time course of the postsynaptic Ca 2?+? concentration can lead to either LTP or LTD, and suggest that voltage dependent calcium channels play a key role.
Dosimetric effects of rotational output variation and x‐ray target degradation on helical tomotherapy plans

In this study, two potential sources of IMRT delivery error have been identified for helical tomotherapy delivery using the HiART system (TomoTherapy, Inc., Madison, WI): Rotational output variation and target degradation. The HiArt system is known to have output variation, typically about ±2%, due to the absence of a doseservo system. On the HiArt system, x-ray target replacement is required approximately every 10–12 months due to target degradation. Near the end of target life, the target thins and causes a decrease in the beam energy and a softening of the beam profile at the lateral edges of the beam. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the dosimetric effects of rotational output variation and target degradation by modeling their effects and incorporating them into recalculated treatment plans for three clinical scenarios: Head and neck, partial breast, and prostate. Models were created to emulate both potential sources of error. For output variation, a model was created using a sine function to match the amplitude (±2%), frequency, and phase of the measured rotational output variation data. A second model with a hypothetical variation of ±7% was also created to represent the largest variation that could exist without violating the allowable dose window in the delivery system. A measured beam profile near the end of target life was used to create a modified beam profile model for the target degradation. These models were then incorporated into the treatment plan by modifying the leaf opening times in the delivery sinogram. A new beam model was also created to mimic the change in beam energy seen near the end of target life. The plans were then calculated using a research version of the PLANNED ADAPTIVEtreatment planning software from TomoTherapy, Inc. Three plans were evaluated in this study: Head and neck, partial breast, and prostate. The D 50 of organs at risk, the D 95 for planning target volumes (PTVs), and the local dose difference were used to evaluate the changes in the modified treatment plans. Dosimetric effects from rotational variation were found to be low (less than 1%) for a typical variation of ±2%. Even using a variation of ±7%, DVH values and dose distributions were altered by less than 2% for all scenarios. The dosimetric effects of target degradation were found to be slightly more significant. For a model using data taken just before target failure, dosimetric differences of 2%–4% were observed in the recalculated plans when compared to the original plans. The largest effects (up to 4.5%) were observed for PTVs that were located at deeper depths as seen in the prostate plan. Overall, the recalculated plans show that the dosimetric effects of rotational variation and target degradation are on the order of 1%–4% for helical tomotherapy on the HiART system and do not pose a risk for significant deviations from the original treatment plan.
Formation of organic acids during the hydrolysis and oxidation of several wastes in sub- and supercritical water

The objective of this work was to evaluate the transformation characteristics of four organic substances in supercritical water. The purpose was to demonstrate the yield and stability of the acetic acid produced under hydrolytic and oxidative conditions. Other organic acids, such as formic, glycolic, and lactic acids, were monitored. Cellulose and coconut oil solutions, as well as brewery and dairy effluents, were used as feedstocks. Batch tests were performed at fixed conditions of 400 °C, 27.6 MPa, and 5 min of reaction time. Hydrogen peroxide was the oxidant. Under hydrolytic conditions, 70% of the initial carbon remained as the liquid product. On the contrary, in the presence of excess oxygen, there was a 95% conversion to the gaseous product. Typically, less than 15% of the initial total organic carbon was converted to the acids. The use of catalysts (i.e., TiO2) and additives (i.e., H2SO4) did not enhanced the organic acid yield. However, catalysts addition facilitated feedstock breakdown at lower o...
Feedforward and feedback control of a flexible robotic arm

Feedforward and feedback control strategies are applied to a servo-driven flexible structure and studied by time-domain computer simulations. Simulation results are compared to the results of experimental runs on a flexible arm apparatus. The most accurate and stable responses of the arm are obtained by adding corrective terms to the command signals when position feedback is taken only from the servo. Full conditioning of the command signal, which involves compensating for the dynamics of both the servo and the arm, produced the best response. Simulations and experiments show that positional and accelerometric feedback, combined with a proportional-derivative element acting on the position error, is a viable solution in the less stable situation when feedback is being taken only from the manipulator. >
Coparent Conflict in Single Mother-Headed African American Families: Do Parenting Skills Serve as a Mediator or Moderator of Child Psychosocial Adjustment?

In an effort to expand the parental conflict literature beyond 2-parent and divorced families, this study examined the following questions: Is coparental conflict between single mothers and the individuals who assist them in raising their children associated with child adjustment, and do parenting skills mediate or moderate this association? The sample consisted of 238 African American mothers and their 7- to 11-year-old children. Data were collected at 2 time points separated by approximately 15 months. Results indicated that coparental conflict was associated with child adjustment both concurrently and longitudinally, and that this association was partially mediated, but not moderated, by parenting skills.
Broadleaf species recognition with in situ hyperspectral data

Timely and accurate identification of tree species by spectral methods is crucial for forest and urban ecological management. In this study, a total of 394 reflectance spectra (between 350 and 2500 nm) from foliage branches or canopy of 11 important urban forest broadleaf species were measured in the City of Tampa, Florida, USA with a spectrometer. The 11 species include American elm (Ulmus americana), bluejack oak (Quercus incana), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), laurel oak (Q. laurifolia), live oak (Q. virginiana), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), red maple (Acer rubrum), sand live oak (Q. geminata), American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), and turkey oak (Q. laevis). A total of 46 spectral variables, including normalized spectra, derivative spectra, spectral vegetation indices, spectral position variables, and spectral absorption features were extracted and analysed from the in situ hyperspectral measurements. Two classification algorithms were used to identify the 11 broadleaf species: a nonlinear artificial neural network (ANN) and a linear discriminant analysis (LDA). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates that the 30 selected spectral variables are effective to differentiate the 11 species. The 30 selected spectral variables account for water absorption features at 970, 1200, and 1750 nm and reflect characteristics of pigments and other biochemicals in tree leaves, especially variability of chlorophyll content in leaves. The experimental results indicate that both classification algorithms (ANN and LDA) have produced acceptable accuracies (overall accuracy from 86.3% to 87.8%, kappa from 0.83 to 0.87) and have a similar performance for classifying the 11 broadleaf species with input of the 30 selected spectral variables. The preliminary results of identifying the 11 species with the in situ hyperspectral data imply that with current remote sensing techniques, including high spatial and spectral resolution data, it is still difficult but possible to identify similar species to such 11 broadleaf species with an acceptable accuracy.
Being an Educator in a Foreign Environment: One Road to becoming Internationalized.

What does “internationalizing” university educators mean? This question is being answered differently by business schools everywhere. Although business schools are seeking to internationalize themselves, many are doing so without fully understanding what this might entail. One dimension that often is misdirected is the individual educator and the value of living and working in a foreign environment. This paper discusses this issue for those who undertake a temporary or visiting foreign assignment.
Investigating Properties of Code Transformations

Creating highly optimized code for parallel machines is a difficult task, as the efficiency of the transformed the code depends of the types of tranformations applied.