cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of Adult Patient Risk Factors and Complications Within 30 Days After Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery

Purpose To identify risk factors of adult patients predisposing them to the most common complications that occur within 30 days after arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Methods The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for arthroscopic shoulder procedures. Complications and their frequency were calculated. Multivariate analysis was used to identify risk factors of adult patients predisposing them to complications. Risk factors for reoperation and characteristics of patients undergoing repair procedures were also analyzed. Results Among 10,255 cases of shoulder arthroscopy, 119 complications were reported in 103 cases within 30 days of surgery. The rates of any, major, and minor complications were 1%, 0.57%, and 0.53%, respectively. Return to the operating room (29% of all complications) was the most frequent complication. With risk adjustment, the odds of complications developing were higher for patients older than 60 years (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 3.47; P = .03), patients with a surgical time greater than 1.5 hours (AOR, 1.93; P = .01), patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; AOR, 2.76; P = .03), patients with an inpatient status (AOR, 2.72; P P P = .01). The presence of COPD (AOR, 4.67; P = .04) was a significant predictor for reoperation within 30 days. Repair procedures did not increase the risk of complications compared with non-repair. Male patients, patients aged younger than 30 years, nondiabetic patients, and nonsmokers were more likely to undergo repair procedures ( P Conclusions Shoulder arthroscopy has a 1.0% thirty-day complication rate, with the most common complication being return to the operating room (29% of all complications). Age older than 60 years, surgical time greater than 90 minutes, COPD, inpatient status, disseminated cancer, and current smoking all increased a patient's risk of complications. Patients undergoing repair procedures were not at increased risk. Pulmonary comorbidity increases the risk of reoperation within 30 days. Patients undergoing repair procedures tend to be younger and carry fewer risk factors for complications. Level of Evidence Level IV, prognostic case series.
Rangeland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau: A review of the evidence of its magnitude and causes

Rangelands of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau (QTP), although sparsely populated and contributing little to China's overall economy, play an important environmental role throughout Asia. They contain high biodiversity values and can also potentially provide China with a source of cultural and geographic variety in the future. Chinese government reports paint a gloomy picture, considering vast portions of the QTP degraded and blaming irrational overstocking of livestock as the principal culprit. Global climate change, population increases, and “rodent” damage are also invoked as causes of rangeland degradation. In contrast, some Western observers claim that traditional pastoral practices were sustainable, and identify either previous or more recent state policies as the cause of degradation. Chinese governments at national and provincial levels have initiated a number of sometimes-conflicting and confusing policies aimed, at least nominally, at restoring rangeland productivity. On the basis of a comprehensive literature review, I argue that the extent and magnitude of rangeland degradation on the QTP remains largely unknown because monitoring programs have been subjective and poorly documented. Further, I argue that causes of degradation remain uncertain, often because hypotheses have been articulated too vaguely to test. No phenomena that have been hypothesized as contributing to rangeland degradation on the QTP currently enjoy unequivocal support. Where over-stocking is clearly causing damage, we lack sufficient understanding of current socio-ecological systems to identify ultimate and proximate drivers of pastoralist behavior, and thus policy initiatives aimed at sustainability may well fail.
Velocity Plots and Capture Zones of Pumping Centers for Ground‐Water Investigationsa

Nonpumping monitoring wells are commonly installed and sampled to delineate the extent of a contaminant plume and its chemical character. Samples from municipal and private pumping wells are frequently collected during ground-water-contamination investigations as well. Pumping wells are also employed for remedial actions. To properly interpret sampling data from monitoring and pumping wells and to estimate their potential effectiveness in remedial actions, it is important to clearly define the geometry of that portion of the aquifer contributing water to the well (the capture zone). Velocity-distribution plots by manual and computerized methods are illustrated and shown to be simple and of reasonable accuracy. 13 references, 14 figures.
Sensitivity of Juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon to Three Therapeutic Chemicals Used in Aquaculture

Abstract Static tests were performed to determine the acute toxicities of formalin, chloramine-T, and sodium chloride on juvenile Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus (average weight, 2.1 g) in oxygen-saturated dilution water (total hardness, 86.5 mg/L) at 17°C. The concentrations that were lethal to 50% of the test fish over a 96-h period (the 96-h LC50 values) were 31.00 μL/L for formalin, 7.73 mg/L for chloramine-T, and 9.735 g/L for sodium chloride. These findings indicate that the therapeutic concentrations and exposure times that are commonly employed in aquaculture would not be acutely toxic to Atlantic sturgeon.
Performance, Stress, Workload, and Coping Profiles in 1st Year Medical Students' Interaction with the Endoscopic/Laparoscopic and Robot-Assisted Surgical Techniques

First-year medical students performed a simulated surgical task involving item transfers using a laparoscopic trainer box and the Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci® Surgical System. Performance efficiency in terms of the ratio of successfully transferred items to the sum of transferred items plus drops was greater when using the da Vinci than the laparoscopic system and task-induced stress measured by the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire was greater when working with the laparoscopic than with the da Vinci system. Perceived mental workload indexed by the Multiple Resources Questionnaire was high with both systems. With both systems, profiles of the information-processing resources involved in task performance emphasized manual, short-term memory, spatial, and visual/temporal processing dimensions. As measured by the Coping Inventory of Task Stress, task-focused coping was the dominant coping style used by the students with both surgical systems. The results have potential implications for selection and train...
A Solar Flare Simulation Wheel for the Radiation Test Beamline at the Francis H. BurrProton Therapy Center

The design, construction and testing of a rotating energy shifter that simulates the proton energy spectrum of a solar flare event is described.
An Adaptive Fault Identification Protocol for an Emergency/Rescue-Based Wireless and Mobile Ad-Hoc Network

In this paper, we consider the fault diagnosis problem in MANETs, i.e. the problem of identifying faulty hosts by fault-free ones. The diagnosis scheme that we consider is that based on the comparison approach, where hosts transmit test tasks to their neighbors and the outcomes are compared. By comparing the received outcomes fault-free hosts are able to diagnose the fault status of the network. We propose an adaptive distributed diagnosis algorithm that uses an adaptable spanning tree to disseminate the local diagnosis views throughout the ad-hoc network. The protocol allows all fault-free hosts to correctly identify all faulty ones, and it constitutes a viable addition to existing self-diagnosis protocols.
Early-Onset Bipolar Spectrum Disorders: Diagnostic Issues

Since the mid 1990s, early-onset bipolar spectrum disorders (BPSDs) have received increased attention in both the popular press and scholarly press. Rates of diagnosis of BPSD in children and adolescents have increased in inpatient, outpatient, and primary care settings. BPSDs remain difficult to diagnose, particularly in youth. The current diagnostic system makes few modifications to accommodate children and adolescents. Researchers in this area have developed specific BPSD definitions that affect the generalizability of their findings to all youth with BPSD. Despite knowledge gains from the research, BPSDs are still difficult to diagnose because clinicians must: (1) consider the impact of the child’s developmental level on symptom presentation (e.g., normative behavior prevalence, environmental limitations on youth behavior, pubertal status, irritability, symptom duration); (2) weigh associated impairment and course of illness (e.g., neurocognitive functioning, failing to meet full DSM criteria, future impairment); and (3) make decisions about appropriate assessment (differentiating BPSD from medical illnesses, medications, drug use, or other psychiatric diagnoses that might better account for symptoms; comorbid disorders; informant characteristics and assessment measures to use). Research findings concerning these challenges and relevant recommendations are offered. Areas for further research to guide clinicians’ assessment of children with early-onset BPSD are highlighted.
Architectural Support for Run-Time Validation of Program Data Properties

As computer systems penetrate deeper into our lives and handle private data, safety-critical applications, and transactions of high monetary value, efforts to breach their security also assume significant dimensions way beyond an amateur hacker's play. Until now, security was always an afterthought. This is evident in regular updates to antivirus software, patches issued by vendors after software bugs are discovered, etc. However, increasingly, we are realizing the need to incorporate security during the design of a system, be it software or hardware. We invoke this philosophy in the design of a hardware-based system to enable protection of a program's data during execution. In this paper, we develop a general framework that provides security assurance against a wide class of security attacks. Our work is based on the observation that a program's normal or permissible behavior with respect to data accesses can be characterized by various properties. We present a hardware/software approach wherein such properties can be encoded as data attributes and enforced as security policies during program execution. These policies may be application- specific (e.g., access control for certain data structures), compiler- generated (e.g., enforcing that variables are accessed only within their scope), or universally applicable to all programs (e.g., disallowing WRITES to unallocated memory). We show how an embedded system architecture can support such policies by: 1) enhancing the memory hierarchy to represent the attributes of each datum as security tags that are linked to it throughout its lifetime and 2) adding a configurable hardware checker that interprets the semantics of the tags and enforces the desired security policies. We evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed architecture in enforcing various security policies for several embedded benchmark applications. Our experiments in the context of the Simplescalar framework demonstrate that the proposed solution ensures run-time validation of application-defined data properties with minimal execution time overheads.
Dual Marching Tetrahedra: Contouring in the Tetrahedronal Environment

We discuss the dual marching tetrahedra (DMT) method. The DMT can be viewed as a generalization of the classical cuberille method of Chen et al. to a tetrahedronal. The cuberille method produces a rendering of quadrilaterals comprising a surface that separates voxels deemed to be contained in an object of interest from those voxels not in the object. A cuberille is a region of 3D space partitioned into cubes. A tetrahedronal is a region of 3D space decomposed into tetrahedra. The DMT method generalizes the cubille method from cubes to tetrahedra and corrects a fundamental problem of the original cuberille method where separating surfaces are not necessarily manifolds. For binary segmented data, we propose a method for computing the location of vertices this is based upon the use of a minimal discrete norm curvature criterion. For applications where dependent function values are given at grid points, two alternative methods for computing vertex positions are discussed and compared. Examples are drawn from a variety of applications, including the Yes/No/Don't_Know data sets resulting from inconclusive segmentation processes and Well-Log data sets.
Dynamic behavior of Salmonella-induced membrane tubules in epithelial cells.

Salmonella Typhimurium is a facultative intracellular pathogen that causes acute gastroenteritis in man. Intracellular Salmonella survive and replicate within a modified phagosome known as the Salmonella-containing vacuole (SCV). The onset of intracellular replication is accompanied by the appearance of membrane tubules, called Salmonella-induced filaments (Sifs), extending from the SCV. Sifs are enriched in late endosomal/lysosomal membrane proteins such as lysosome-associated membrane protein 1, but their formation and ability to interact with endosomal compartments are not characterized. In this study, we use live cell imaging techniques to define the dynamics of Sif formation in infected epithelial cells. At early time-points, Sifs are simple tubules extending from the surface of SCVs. These tubules are highly dynamic and exhibit bidirectional, microtubule-dependent movement. At the distal ends of individual Sif tubules, furthest from the SCV, a distinct ‘leader’ domain was often observed. At later times, Sifs develop into highly complex tubular networks that extend throughout the cell and appear less dynamic than nascent Sifs; however, individual tubules continue to display bidirectional dynamics. Sifs can acquire endocytic content by fusion, indicating a sustained interaction with the endocytic pathway. Together, these results show that these Salmonella-induced tubules form a highly dynamic network that involves both microtubule-dependent motility and interactions with endosomal compartments.
Update in Hematology

This year's Update in Hematology focuses on 3 exciting topics in the field: nonablative hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, therapy targeted at specific alterations in cancer cells, and stem-c...
Machine learning approach for structure-based zeolite classification

Application of knowledge discovery methods to crystal structure databases is an emerging research area of materials science that is playing an important role in facilitating data analysis. This study is aimed at combining computational geometry methods with machine learning algorithms for classification of inorganic solid materials of known structure. Zeolite crystals are used for the pilot study where a model based on the topology is developed for classification of the compound by mineral name and by zeolite framework type. The topological descriptors are derived from the Delaunay tessellation for 220 zeolites contained in the inorganic crystal structure database. This zeolite-structure-predictor (ZSP) is trained for classifying this set of selected zeolite crystals into 22 different types of minerals and into 13 framework types. The ZSP is based on the random forest algorithm and contains attributes of Delaunay simplex properties such as tetrahedrality index, frequency of simplex occurrence, and site occupation probability. The ZSP is able to obtain classification in this multitude of classes with more than 81% of correctly classified instances based on framework type. The model shows that the classification into framework types is superior, and that the classification into mineral names is not structurally unique.
All-dielectric photonic-assisted radio front-end technology

The threats to civil society posed by high-power electromagnetic weapons are viewed as a grim but real possibility in the world after 11 September 2001 (refs 1–3). These weapons produce a power surge capable of destroying or damaging sensitive circuitry in electronic systems. Unfortunately, the trend towards circuits with smaller sizes and voltages renders modern electronics highly susceptible to such damage. Radiofrequency communication systems are particularly vulnerable, because the antenna provides a direct port of entry for electromagnetic radiation. Here, we report a type of radiofrequency receiver front end featuring a complete absence of electronic circuitry and metal interconnects, the traditional ‘soft spots’ of a conventional radiofrequency receiver. The device exploits a dielectric resonator antenna to capture and deliver the radiofrequency signal onto an electro–optic field sensor. The dielectric approach has an added benefit in that it reduces the physical size of the front end, an important benefit in mobile applications.
Relating Design Activity to Quality of Outcome: A Regression Analysis of Student Projects

This study focuses on better understanding the impact of design process behavior on project outcomes, as demonstrated by mechanical engineering students at Montana State University. Using process data gathered from student design journals, and quantitative measures of project results, we examine the relationship between student designer activities and project outcomes through a multivariate linear regression analysis. Results indicate that significant differences exist between customer satisfaction, and design quality as measured by professional engineers. Further, this study finds that client satisfaction increases with time spent on problem definition activities and decreases with concept-level engineering analysis. In contrast, system-level idea generation and refinement activities are the most strongly positively associated activities for design quality, while design refinement at the concept level is a strong detractor.
Vega: Non‐Linear FEM Deformable Object Simulator

This practice and experience paper describes a robust C++ implementation of several non-linear solid three-dimensional deformable object strategies commonly employed in computer graphics, named the Vega finite element method (FEM) simulation library. Deformable models supported include co-rotational linear FEM elasticity, Saint–Venant Kirchhoff FEM model, mass–spring system and invertible FEM models: neo-Hookean, Saint–Venant Kirchhoff and Mooney–Rivlin. We provide several timestepping schemes, including implicit Newmark and backward Euler integrators, and explicit central differences. The implementation of material models is separated from integration, which makes it possible to employ our code not only for simulation, but also for deformable object control and shape modelling. We extensively compare the different material models and timestepping schemes. We provide practical experience and insight gained while using our code in several computer animation and simulation research projects.
Congruences on free monoids and submonoids of polycyclic monoids

We establish a one-to-one "group-like" correspondence between congruences on a free monoid X* and so-called positively self-conjugate inverse submonoids of the polycyclic monoid P{X). This enables us to translate many concepts in semigroup theory into the language of inverse semigroups.
Ethics and power in community-campus partnerships for research:

The past 20 years have seen a strong emergence of participatory approaches in social research. Such efforts typically include the researched in defining the questions, in data collection and analysis, and in interpreting and taking action based on the research findings. The objective is co-generating knowledge and, potentially, sharing decision-making based on that knowledge. This movement toward participatory research brings new sets of social relations for research and, as such, presents a new set of ethical challenges. The current framework for understanding the ethical issues involved in research is predicated on post-positivist epistemological assumptions of a distanced objectivist research stance, and thus is ill-suited for examining the ethics of participatory research. This article shall address this gap, outlining the potential ethical implications and presenting a framework for considering the ethical questions involved in participatory research partnerships.
Assessing the Dosimetric Accuracy of Magnetic Resonance-Generated Synthetic CT Images for Focal Brain VMAT Radiation Therapy

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the dosimetric accuracy of synthetic CT (MRCT) volumes generated from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for focal brain radiation therapy. Methods and Materials A study was conducted in 12 patients with gliomas who underwent both MR and CT imaging as part of their simulation for external beam treatment planning. MRCT volumes were generated from MR images. Patients' clinical treatment planning directives were used to create 12 individual volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans, which were then optimized 10 times on each of their respective CT and MRCT-derived electron density maps. Dose metrics derived from optimization criteria, as well as monitor units and gamma analyses, were evaluated to quantify differences between the imaging modalities. Results Mean differences between planning target volume (PTV) doses on MRCT and CT plans across all patients were 0.0% (range: −0.1 to 0.2%) for D 95% ; 0.0% (−0.7 to 0.6%) for D 5% ; and −0.2% (−1.0 to 0.2%) for D max . MRCT plans showed no significant changes in monitor units (−0.4%) compared to CT plans. Organs at risk (OARs) had average D max differences of 0.0 Gy (−2.2 to 1.9 Gy) over 85 structures across all 12 patients, with no significant differences when calculated doses approached planning constraints. Conclusions Focal brain VMAT plans optimized on MRCT images show excellent dosimetric agreement with standard CT-optimized plans. PTVs show equivalent coverage, and OARs do not show any overdose. These results indicate that MRI-derived synthetic CT volumes can be used to support treatment planning of most patients treated for intracranial lesions.
Transformations of Organic Matter: The Carbon Cycle

The sea contains a substantial amount of carbon compared to that present in the atmosphere* or in terrestrial organisms (Table 10–1); only rock deposits contain more carbon, but these resources are not involved in the carbon cycle at ecologically meaningful time scales.
Do Stock Market Risk Premium Respond to Consumer Confidence

During the 2007-9 Great Recession, the risk premium associated with U.S. stocks sharply increased and has since remained significantly higher compared to its range during the last 40 years. The increase in the equity risk premium has led many analysts to believe that risk aversion among stock investors has moved to a permanently higher range in recent years. Our empirical findings show that the recent increase in the equity risk premium primarily reflects a temporary collapse in consumer confidence. As long as the consumer confidence in the sustainability of economic recovery remains low, today's elevated risk premium would persist. Once the confidence level starts to recover - as it has done after every recession since the 1960s - the required return among stock market investors should also diminish.
Impact of older adults' neighborhood perceptions on walking behavior

Built environment features can have varying impacts on user behavior depending on the perceptions of the opportunities and obstacles that the environments create. This study systematically evaluated the relationship between neighborhood perceptions and the specific types of self-reported walking behavior for 121 older adults who resided in urban, suburban, or rural neighborhoods. Perceptions of street connectivity, crime and traffic safety, and overall satisfaction were associated with specific types of walking behaviors, and the strength of the relationships differed by neighborhood type. Sociodemographic variables such as age and sex were associated with certain types and amounts of older adults' walking behaviors both across and within each neighborhood type. The results of this study support the importance of perceived street connectivity regardless of neighborhood type and perceived crime safety in rural neighborhoods to impact the walking behavior among older adults.
Rational stage-directed therapy: A cognitive experiential system using hypnosis, imagery, cognitive restructuring, and developmental staging

Although RSDT is a relatively new form of therapy, we believe there is reason for great optimism regarding the efficacy of the RSDT model. Communications from our colleagues using the model in a variety of settings have been very favorable. We believe the experimental studies that have been conducted on the RSDT model demonstrate that it has generated significantly better outcomes when compared with other therapeutic models and those results obtained from no therapy controls. We think the effectiveness of RSDT has been admirably demonstrated through comprehensive research designs In comparison with outcome studies conducted on other forms of therapy. We look toward the future with optimism as more practitioners begin to use the RSDT model and additional evaluation studies are conducted.
Public Opinion & Drones: The Formation of American Public Opinion Regarding the Use of Drones as a U.S. Foreign Policy Tool

Based on a rigorous content analysis of major media coverage about the use of drones, and a comparison of the findings with available public opinion data, this paper expands current knowledge on the relationship between public opinion and the use of armed, unmanned aerial vehicles as a U.S. foreign policy tool. The discussion, first, focuses on what we know about public opinion regarding the use of unmanned aerial vehicles; and second, rooted in mainstream theories of political communication, this research examines the forces that determine public perception of drones. Indeed, the paper examines one foreign policy issue – the use of UAVs and US-led drone strikes abroad – and in relation to that issue, one key question: What forces cause the US public to think the way it does with respect to the drone strike issue?Inspired by agenda-setting and framing theories, the aim of the content analysis is to answer the following three questions: 1) how often do the media cover issues related to drones; 2) who/what are the main sources of the media message? 3) how is the use of drones framed by political elites and in media reports? Democratic theory stresses the importance of informed, public debates, as well as representation vis-a-vis the relationship between public opinion and public policy outcomes. As such, this research is partly aimed at contributing to a public discussion regarding the use or armed drones, a task accomplished by providing a new data set with respect to media content and elite opinion about this often-controversial tactic.
Nostalgia in the post-apartheid state

In this article, I join recent theorists in furthering an “anthropology of nostalgia,” seeking connections between disparate parts of the globe through a shared sense of loss in the face of global capitalism and liberal democracy. Highlighting contemporary work, I suggest linkages between seemingly disparate regional foci. I then move on to a case study of nostalgia for elements of apartheid in twenty-first century South Africa among historically oppressed residents. My broader contention is that nostalgia arises most poignantly in states and among populations that have in recent decades transitioned from authoritarian to democratic systems of governance, and that this can be understood through the complexity of cultural politics, anxieties of social reproduction and recent turns toward neo-liberal capitalism. Importantly, this nostalgia should be read less as a commentary on the past than as a critique of the present.
Socioemotional wealth preservation in family firms

In this article, we review literature on socioemotional wealth. We explain how the concept of socioemotional wealth builds on previous family firm research showing that family-owners derive utility from the nonfinancial aspects of their firm. We also discuss how family firms' need for socioemotional wealth preservation explains behavioral differences between family and nonfamily firms in managerial decision making. Finally, we discuss the current state of socioemotional wealth research and propose potential directions for future research.
Glial Cell Contributions to Auditory Brainstem Development.

Glial cells, previously thought to have generally supporting roles in the central nervous system, are emerging as essential contributors to multiple aspects of neuronal circuit function and development. This review focuses on the contributions of glial cells to the development of specialized auditory pathways in the brainstem. These pathways display specialized synapses and an unusually high degree of precision in circuitry that enables sound source localization. The development of these pathways thus requires highly coordinated molecular and cellular mechanisms. Several classes of glial cells, including astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia, have now been explored in these circuits in both avian and mammalian brainstems. Distinct populations of astrocytes are found over the course of auditory brainstem maturation. Early appearing astrocytes are associated with spatial compartments in the avian auditory brainstem. Factors from late appearing astrocytes promote synaptogenesis and dendritic maturation, and astrocytes remain integral parts of specialized auditory synapses. Oligodendrocytes play a unique role in both birds and mammals in highly regulated myelination essential for proper timing to decipher interaural cues. Microglia arise early in brainstem development and may contribute to maturation of auditory pathways. Together these studies demonstrate the importance of non-neuronal cells in the assembly of specialized auditory brainstem circuits.
Coenzyme F420 dependence of the methylenetetrahydromethanopterin dehydrogenase of Methanobacteriumthermoautotrophicum

Abstract To identify the electron acceptor of the methylenetetrahydromethanopterin dehydrogenase of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum , we have purified the enzyme to homogeneity. The purified enzyme is absolutely dependent on coenzyme F420 (a 7,8-didemethyl-8-hydroxy-5-deazariboflavin derivative) for activity. Several alternative electron acceptors are ineffectual in the reaction. Changes in the absorption spectra of reaction mixtures indicate that 1.1 mol of coenzyme F420 is reduced per mol of substrate oxidized. The reaction is reversible and the equilibrium favors oxidation of methylenetetra-hydromethanopterin.
Machine Learning-Based Building Energy Consumption Prediction

Energy is the lifeblood of modern societies. In the past decades, the world's energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions have increased rapidly due to the increases in population and comfort demand of people. In this decade, the increase in energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions are expected to continue due to the demand coming from developing countries such as China, India, and some Middle East countries. Negative environmental impacts, such as air pollution and global warming, are being triggered by the generation and use of non-renewable energy, including oil and natural gas. Buildings are a significant source of the world's energy consumption. The building sector is responsible for 39% and 40% of the energy consumption and 38% and 36% of the CO2 emissions in the U.S. (Becerik-Gerber et al. 2014) and Europe (Ahmad et al. 2014), respectively. Buildings, therefore, offer a great potential for reducing the world's energy consumption and limiting the negative impacts caused by the use of non-...
EVALUATION OF METHODS FOR DETECTION OF COLIFORM BACTERIA IN RAW MILK1

Estimates of populations of “total” coliform bacteria in raw mi1k were quantitatively essentially the same when Violet Red Bile agar incubated at 32 C and Lauryl Sulfate Tryptose Broth incubated at 37 C were used. Qualitatively, LST tended to favor recovery of a greater proportion of Aerobaoter aerogenes and IMViC-irregular types. Of the 46 isolates that produced ropiness, 35 were recovered from LST. Escherichia coli populations, as determined on EC medium incubated at 44.5 C, showed no constant relationship to total coliform population. Summer samples contained not only greater numbers of E. coli but also these organisms constituted a greater proportion of the coliform population.
Legal and Ethical Issues in Global Health: A Trip Through the Vagaries of Truth and Culture

The realities of the developing world often make it difficult to apply the principles adhered to in Western medicine and healthcare. While some issues may be unique to lower and middle income countries, all attempts must be made to maintain confidentiality, obtain informed consent, and practice in a safe and just manner for all patients regardless of sex, race, and religion.
Predictive model of length of stay and discharge destination in neuroscience admissions.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to try and determine the best predictors of hospital length of stay and discharge destination in patients admitted to a neuroscience service. METHODS Valid data was collected for 170 patients. Variables included age, gender, location prior to admission, principle diagnosis, various physiological measurements upon admission, comorbidity, independence in various activities of daily living prior to admission, length of stay, and disposition upon discharge. Study design was a correlational descriptive study performed through the analysis of data and the development and validation of statistically significant factors in determining the length of stay. RESULTS All factors with a strong (P < 0.05) relationship with the length of stay were entered into a forward stepwise linear regression with length of stay as the dependent variable. The three most significant variables in predicting length of stay in this study were admission from an outpatient setting, modified Rankin score on admission, and systolic blood pressure on admission. CONCLUSIONS Functional status at admission, specifically, a higher modified Rankin score and a lower systolic blood pressure along with the acquisition of deep vein thrombosis, catheter associated urinary tract infections, intubation, and admission to an intensive care unit all have a statistically significant effect on the hospital length of stay.
Induced p53 loss in mouse luminal cells causes clonal expansion and development of mammary tumours

Most breast cancers may have a luminal origin. TP53 is one of the most frequently mutated genes in breast cancers. However, how p53 deficiency contributes to breast tumorigenesis from luminal cells remains elusive. Here we report that induced p53 loss in Krt8+ mammary luminal cells leads to their clonal expansion without directly affecting their luminal identity. All induced mice develop mammary tumours with 9qA1 (Yap1) and/or 6qA2 (Met) amplification(s). These tumours exhibit a mammary stem cell (MaSC)-like expression signature and most closely resemble claudin-low breast cancer. Thus, although p53 does not directly control the luminal fate, its loss facilitates acquisition of MaSC-like properties by luminal cells and predisposes them to development of mammary tumours with loss of luminal identity. Our data also suggest that claudin-low breast cancer can develop from luminal cells, possibly via a basal-like intermediate state, although further study using a different luminal promoter is needed to fully support this conclusion.
Test–Retest Reliability of Common Measures of Eating Disorder Symptoms in Men Versus Women:

Approximately 10% to 30% of individuals with eating disorders (EDs) are male, yet because measures often have not been tested among male participants, it is unclear whether the psychometric properties of ED measures are equivalent between sexes. The purpose of this study was to compare the test-retest reliability of common ED measures in men versus women. Participants ( N = 227; 58.1% female) completed self-report measures of body dissatisfaction, restrained eating, disinhibited eating, bulimic symptoms, and desire-for-muscularity at baseline and 2-to-4 weeks later. Intraclass correlations were used to compute retest correlations. Spearman's rho was used to compute retest correlations for skewed and kurtotic variables. We compared 95% confidence intervals for intraclass correlation coefficients to determine whether measures differed in reliability between sexes. Most ED measures had at least acceptable test-retest reliabilities. However, few measures of disinhibited and binge eating demonstrated good reliability in men. Results highlight the utility of several ED measures for assessing symptom change over time, and the need for additional research to identify and correct for sources of gender unreliability among ED self-report measures in men-particularly for assessing constructs that include binge-eating behavior.
Classroom Ready Teaching Moments

This article features thumbnail descriptions of 26 Teaching Moments presented at the Society for Marketing Advances 2016 Annual Conference. A wide variety of marketing education interventions are presented, from games that teach marketing fundamentals and enhance faculty effectiveness when counseling students, to visualizing data, and improving complex projects. Some Teaching Moments are lecture-enhancers that take less than a minute; others are class projects that span an academic year. All spark student learning. Classroom collateral used to apply teaching innovations are available for download at the Society for Marketing Advances and DePaul Center for Sales Leadership’s web pages.
Electrospun systems for drug delivery

Electrospun fibrous meshes are promising vehicles for sustained, localized delivery of therapeutic agents to specific target tissues. Their large surface area to volume ratio facilitates a high loading efficiency, and the versatility of methods for drug attachment and/or encapsulation allows for loading with many types of drug molecules. Additionally, varying polymer type and fiber morphology and the use of additional drug-encapsulating particles allow the release profile, mechanical properties, and degradation rate to be tailored to each application. Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of these systems in antibiotic delivery, establishing hemostasis, eliciting tissue growth and remodeling, and treating various types of cancer. These results indicate promising avenues for commercialization, which have yet to be fully realized.
Agent-Based Modeling of Temporal and Spatial Dynamics in Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

Current aggregate and topâ€ down approaches in life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) generally fail to account for spatial, temporal, and emergent behavioral dynamics simultaneously during the inventory stage. We discuss the key characteristics captured by complex system approaches (agentâ€ based modeling [ABM] in particular) in the context of LCSA. It is understood that by integrating ABM, temporal, spatial, and behavioral dynamics can be addressed during the life cycle inventory stage. We propose a general concept to integrate ABM into current building life cycle assessment standards. We then use a hypothetical example of green building development to compare the ABM approach with a predefined static policy model. Simulation results from the agentâ€ based model confirm that there are temporal and spatial variations caused by behavioral dynamics. The results are integrated into the calculation of temporally dynamic LCSA indicators on an annual basis. Spatially distributed simulation results can also be used in spatially dynamic LCSA.
Virtual source synthetic aperture focusing and coherence factor weighting for intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has frequently been used by the cardiologist to diagnose atherosclerosis and guide the interventional procedures. IVUS has gained widely clinical acceptance over the past twenty years because of its superior capability to assess plaque burden and monitor artery remodeling, which also makes it as the irreplaceable image modality for most innovative multimodality intravascular imaging techniques. However, in current IVUS image, the lateral resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) are dramatically downgraded along with the axial direction due to beam divergence of single element transducer, which hinders it from imaging the deeper region of artery wall explicitly. In this study, we report on the application of an ultrasound beamforming method that combines virtual source synthetic aperture (VSSA) focusing and coherence factor weighting (CFW) to improve the IVUS image quality over the entire field of view (FOV).
Shake Table Studies and Analysis of a PT-UHPC Bridge Column with Pocket Connection

AbstractThis study conducts shake table studies and analysis of a large-scale novel posttensioned (PT) precast bridge column connected to a precast footing with a pocket connection. The primary obj...
Early-stage breast cancer and employment participation after 2 years of follow-up: A comparison with age-matched controls.

BACKGROUND Although cancer survivors are more likely to be unemployed than individuals without a cancer history, employment participation after treatment of early-stage breast cancer has not been widely studied to date. The objectives of the current study were to evaluate employment trajectories in a cohort of patients with early-stage breast cancer and age-matched controls from the time of diagnosis to the 2-year follow-up, and identify factors associated with diminished and emerging employment participation. METHODS As part of a larger cohort study of 1096 patients with early-stage breast cancer and same-aged women without breast cancer, data from 723 working-age (aged 40-64 years) women (347 patients and 376 controls) were analyzed to evaluate 4 employment trajectories (sustained unemployment, diminished employment, emerging employment, and sustained employment). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with diminished employment versus sustained employment, and emerging employment versus sustained unemployment. RESULTS Lower percentages of patients (71%) compared with controls (79%) reported full-time or part-time employment at enrollment (P<.01). Fatigue was a significant predictor of diminished employment for both patients (odds ratio [OR], 5.71; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 2.48-13.15) and controls (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.21-4.68). Among patients, African American race (OR, 4.02; 95% CI, 1.57-10.28) and public/uninsured insurance status (OR, 4.76; 95% CI, 1.34-12.38) were found to be associated with diminished employment. Among controls, high social support was associated with emerging employment (OR, 3.12; 95% CI, 1.25-7.79). CONCLUSIONS Fatigued patients, African American patients, and publicly insured/uninsured patients with cancer were more likely to experience diminished employment after 2 years of follow-up. Further investigation with longer follow-up is warranted to identify factors associated with these disparities in employment participation after treatment of early-stage breast cancer. Cancer 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society.
High energy radiation precursors to the collapse of black holes binaries based on resonating plasma modes

Abstract The presence of well organized plasma structures around binary systems of collapsed objects [1] , [2] (black holes and neutron stars) is proposed in which processes can develop [3] leading to high energy electromagnetic radiation emission immediately before the binary collapse. The formulated theoretical model supporting this argument shows that resonating plasma collective modes can be excited in the relevant magnetized plasma structure. Accordingly, the collapse of the binary approaches, with the loss of angular momentum by emission of gravitational waves [2] , the resonance conditions with vertically standing plasma density and magnetic field oscillations are met. Then, secondary plasma modes propagating along the magnetic field are envisioned to be sustained with mode-particle interactions producing the particle populations responsible for the observable electromagnetic radiation emission. Weak evidence for a precursor to the binary collapse reported in Ref. [2] , has been offered by the Agile X- γ -ray observatory [4] while the August 17 (2017) event, identified first by the LIGO-Virgo detection of gravitational waves and featuring the inferred collapse of a neutron star binary, improves the evidence of such a precursor. A new set of experimental observations is needed to reassess the presented theory.
Acute Care for Elders Units

Older patients often experience a loss of independent physical functioning during the course of an acute illness that requires hospitalization. Although functional outcomes are not usually the focus of care in the hospital, they may be critical determinants of the quality of life, physical independence, cost of care, and prognosis among older patients.
Introduction to Data, Computational Processing, and Tools of Satellite Remote Sensing

Since late 1980s, NASA has been developing the Earth Observing System (EOS), which is an integrated, multi-satellite, long-term program designed for monitoring Earth’s land, ocean, and atmosphere as an integrated system (Asrar and Dozier, 1994; King, 1999). Since the Terra and Aqua satellites launched in December 1999 and May 2002, we have entered a new era of Earth science satellite remote sensing. Particularly, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) applications are of interest not only to land, ocean, and atmosphere discipline researchers but also to application, interdisciplinary and environmental scientists because MODIS senses all of the Earth’s surface in 36 spectral bands spanning the visible (VIS, 0.415 µm) to infrared (14.235 µm) spectrum at nadir spatial resolutions of 1 km, 500 m and 250 m. It is also a new challenge to produce and distribute the EOS data to end-users. Barriers to wider use of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) data include: (1) MODIS datasets are too large for most users; (2) Native MODIS data files are stored in Hierarchical Data Format Earth Observing System (HDF-EOS), a file format that does not currently have wide support; (3) MODIS land and ocean product imagery is in a new map projection called the Integerized Sinusoidal (ISIN) projection; (4) most application users utilize Geographic Information System (GIS) system for input, management, analysis and visualization of data, but most GIS software can not handle HDF-EOS and ISIN projection currently (Qu et al., 2005).