cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Feeding Activities of Some Blood-Sucking Diptera with Reference to Vertical Distribution in Bottomland Forest

While general information has been available on the feeding habits of blood-sucking Diptera in the United States, scant literature exists on the vertical distribution and 24-hour activity cycles of such insects. The vertical distribution of biting insects in general has been studied by several trapping methods including light traps on towers (MacCreary, 1941), sticky traps on poles (Kettle, 1951), mechanical traps on aircraft (Glick, 1939), balloon net traps (Nielsen and Greve, 1950), and animals in forest canopy (Davis, 1944; Haddow and Dick, 1948). Investigations of canopy inhabiting irosquitoes in Africa (Haddow, 1945a, 1945b; Haddow et al, 1947; Haddow and Mahaffy, 1949; Garnham et al, 1946), South America (Kumm et al, 1946; Kumm and Cerquiera, 1951; Galindo et al, 1950, 1951), and North America (Gjullin et al, 1950) have involved the use of exposed human baits at various canopy levels. By this method vertical flights of biting insects as well as their frequency on human hosts are observable. The present work employing the human bait method is concerned with observations on the vertical distribution and 24-hour feeding activity of blood-sucking Diptera in bottomland forest at Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, during the 1952 growing season. from the main trunk as practicable so as not to disturb resting mosquitoes and punkies. In general, collections were made simultaneously by single individuals at ground and 30-foot levels in the forest proper and at ground and 75-foot levels at the forest edge. In June, however, three collectors were available and collections were made simultaneously at ground, 30-foot, and 50-foot levels in the forest proper and at ground, 30-foot, and 75-foot levels in the forest edge station. Collectors alternated at two different levels to minimize differences in personal attraction. As only two workers were regularly available for this study, collections were limited to about one hour in every 4-hour period for five or six consecutive 24-hour days in the early middle and late phases of the growing season.
Hospital readmission after multiple major operative procedures among patients with employer provided health insurance

Background Most studies report data only on readmission within 30 days of discharge from the same hospital following a single procedure. We sought to define the incidence of early versus late hospital readmission among patients undergoing multiple major operative procedures. Methods Patients were identified using the MarketScan database from 2010–2012. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with early (≤30 days) versus late readmission (31–90 days) among patients who underwent multiple operative procedures. Results A total of 194,111 patients were identified of whom 63.2% ( n = 122,660) underwent an abdominal procedure (esophagectomy, pancreatectomy, hepatectomy, colectomy, lung resection, and gastrectomy), while the remaining 71,451 (36.8%) patients underwent a cardiovascular procedure (repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm, coronary-artery bypass grafting, carotid endarterectomy, and mitral/aortic valve replacement). A total of 3,444 patients underwent >1 simultaneous procedure (abdominal: 885, 0.7%; cardiovascular: 2,559, 3.6%). The overall incidence of 90-day readmission was 15.6% ( n = 30,309); 9.6% of patients were readmitted early, while 6.0% of patients were readmitted late. Readmission was higher among patients undergoing multiple procedures (21.8% vs 15.5%; P P = .03; cardiovascular: odds ratio 1.18, 95% confidence interval 1.06–1.31; P = .002). Other risk factors independently associated with increased odds for early and late readmission included a higher preoperative comorbidity, postoperative discharge with additional care, an increasing duration of stay, and the development of postoperative complications (all P Conclusion Readmission following a major operation is common, with >15% of patients being readmitted within 90 days of index discharge. Compared with patients undergoing a single operative procedure, patients undergoing multiple operative procedures demonstrated an increased risk for readmission within 90 days of discharge and were more likely to be readmitted within 30 days of index discharge.
Nivolumab, anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody immunotherapy: Role in advanced cancers

The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors has altered the landscape of treatment of advanced cancers. These drugs are well tolerated and have shown clinical activity against a wide variety of...
Field Dependence as a Limiting Factor in Solving a Complex Learning Problem

Subjects in a prior study of complex learning often experienced difficulty in mastering the task because of an apparent reluctance to release one perceptual field and reconstrue the task on a higher cognitive level. It was hypothesized that were this the correct explanation, the faster learners would be more field independent on a measure of field dependence, since independence has been defined in terms of ease in releasing one's attention from the immediate perceptual field. This hypothesis was tested with 22 undergraduate subjects for whom Group Embedded Figures Test scores were correlated with the number of trials to completion on the complex learning task. A moderate but significant correlation supported the hypothesis.
Prostaglandin E2 increases 7-pS Cl- channel density in the apical membrane of A6 distal nephron cells.

In A6 distal nephron cells, short-circuit current (I Sc ) was increased by basolateral exposure to prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ; peak response at 1 μM). The effect was only partially abolished by either apical amiloride, an Na + channel blocker, or 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid (NPPB), a Cl - channel blocker. In apical cell-attached patches, we observed a 7-pS Cl channel with a linear current-voltage relationship, a reversal potential near resting membrane potential, and open probability >0.5. The channel was blocked by diphenylamine-2-carboxylate, glibenclamide, and NPPB but not by 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid. The frequency of observed Cl - channel activity increased 7-fold with 10-min exposure to PGE 2 and 3.7-fold with longer (10-50 min) exposure to PGE 2 . The PGE 2 -induced increase in Cl - channel activity was due primarily to an increase in the number of functional channels. The following conclusions were made: 1) activation of apical, 7-pS Cl - channels in A6 cells accounts for the PGE 2 -induced increase in the amiloride-insensitive I Sc , and 2) 7-pS Cl - channel activation was mediated via an increase in channel density without substantial effects on channel kinetics.
Interpreting Novalis' "Fichte-Studien"

The recent philosophical interpretations of Novalis have argued that the so-called Fichte-Studien, notes taken during Novalis’ study of Fichte (1795-1796), are the most important contribution to philosophical Romanticism. These notes, however, are often contradictory and incoherent. Thus, in the Fichte-Studien, one can locate two mutually exclusive conceptions of being and of the Status of being. Furthermore, the Fichte-Studien do not appear to provide a unique understanding of the meaning and role of the work of art, as many scholars have argued. Therefore, although the Fichte-Studien provide valuable insights into the direction of Novalis’ thought, they cannot be understood as providing a consistent and philosophically-cohesive worldview, but must be read alongside and in relation to Novalis’ later writings.
Staff Development for Cooperative Learning.

Cooperative learning is one type of peer‐mediated instructional approach. Although much has been written about the kinds of cooperative methods available and their effects on students' performance, very little attention has been focused on the personnel preparation requirements associated with their use. In this article critical staff development issues that must be addressed if cooperative learning training is to produce quality implementation across classrooms are examined. Issues of teacher ownership and governance, levels of concern, formats for training, relevance of ecological impact, follow‐up, and administrative support are discussed in relation to planning systematic staff development programs for cooperative learning.
Health and Aging

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the relationship between health and aging and examines the way in which research on health and aging has changed over the past several years. As the research on health and aging shifted from examining older people to the aging process, studies using the long view of aging generated important insights regarding how health and social status in early life influence health in later life. The cumulative-disadvantage theory addresses life-course inequalities and gives explicit attention to how this involves a process of cohort differentiation. Certain cohorts are more advantaged than others from the start, but each cohort also becomes more heterogeneous because of social stratification and accumulated experiences. For health, one sees the substantial variation in functional ability and health behavior in later life and looks backward over cohort history and personal biography to the events, experiences, and inequalities that raise the risk of adverse health outcomes. People use medical-care services over the life course, but aging increases the frequency of interactions with health-care personnel. Self-care may continue to play a significant role in the management of chronic disease, but older adults in most modern societies rely heavily on the medical-care system for handling morbidity.
Validity and reliability of wheelchair sitting posture measures using Coach’s Eye in abled subjects

People in wheelchairs spend a long time in the sitting position and often incur alignment problems resulting in neck and back pain. This study: (1) assessed the validity/reliability of Coach's Eye (CE) smart device application, (2) examined the effect of seat to back support angle adjustments on head, neck, and shoulder posture in the sitting position, and (3) compared changes in cervical rotation at each back support angle. Abled subjects sat in a wheelchair with back support angles positioned at 90°, 100°, and 110°. CE, as well as ImageJ software, was used to analyze three angles: sagittal head angle (SHA), cervical angle (CVA), and shoulder angle (SA). There were highly significant differences for CVA and SA (p < 0.001) among the three seat to back support angles. Validity of CE was examined by correlating CE with ImageJ scores. CE had high validity for all angles (r = 0.99, 0.98, 0.99 respectively, p < 0.001). Inter-rater reliability for SHA, CVA, and SA was high (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] ranged from 0.95 to 0.99). Head (CVA) and shoulder (SA) alignment was closest to neutral posture with back support angles set at 110° and 90°, respectively.
Prosthetic encounter and queer intersubjectivity in The Merchant of Venice

ABSTRACTThis essay is about queer rings in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Troubling readings of the ring scenes in the play’s critical history, this essay employs object-oriented theories to situate prosthetic matter within an inherently queer phenomenology. It explores the ways that prosthetic non-self matter cultivates transformative interchanges between people and even other things, and thus argues for prostheses as the basic material of intersubjective exchange and emotional encounter between bodies in the world. Merchant’s rings showcase how (dis)orienting prosthetic materials extend and reshape the psychic landscapes and embodied experiences of those who come into contact with them. They are lively, familiar matter that, paradoxically, produces new, unfamiliar orientations. They expose the highly contingent social interfaces between 'selves' and 'others,' and also illuminate the queer potentiality of complex, precarious assemblages made possible through prostheses.
The influence of social criteria in mobilizing watershed conservation efforts: A case study of a successful watershed in the Midwestern U.S

It has been argued that certain baseline conditions and social preconditions present in a watershed’s community can influence a project’s likelihood of collective action and farmer adoption of conservation practices. However, it is unclear exactly how these conditions interact with catalyst events to lead to successful collective outcomes. In this paper, we build upon previous research describing the role of catalyst events in leading to collective action, as well as research that proposes specific baseline social indicators to consider when siting watershed conservation projects. We contextualize the impetus for a successful watershed project and identify new social indicators that were mobilized for project success through a qualitative case study; the Indian Creek, Illinois watershed project. We illustrate that baseline conditions and social preconditions were key to project success and contend that these conditions mobilized the watershed community toward collective action after being faced with an intentional catalyst event. While baseline social conditions were key to the project’s success, we found that how the project was structured and managed was also very important. Additionally, baseline conditions changed as a result of the project. This study provides an understanding of the mechanisms contributing to project success and is applicable to practitioners in selecting watersheds for future conservation projects and in determining how to structure and manage a watershed-based project.
Traumatized muscle-derived multipotent progenitor cells recruit endothelial cells through vascular endothelial growth factor-A action

Traumatized muscle, such as that debrided from blast injury sites, is considered a promising and convenient tissue source for multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs), a population of adult mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like cells. The present study aimed to assess the regenerative therapeutic potential of human traumatized muscle-derived MPCs, e.g., for injury repair in the blast-traumatized extremity, by comparing their pro-angiogenic potential in vitro and capillary recruitment activity in vivo to those of MSCs isolated from human bone marrow, a widely-used tissue source. MPCs were tested for their direct and indirect effects on human microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) in vitro. The findings reported here showed that MPC-conditioned culture medium (MPC-CM), like MSC-CM, promoted EC-cord network branching. Silent (si)RNA-mediated silencing of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) expression in MPCs attenuated this effect. In a chick embryonic chorioallantoic membrane in vivo angiogenesis assay, MPCs encapsulated in photocrosslinked gelatin scaffold recruited blood vessels more efficiently than either MSCs or human foreskin fibroblasts. Together, these findings support the potential application of traumatized muscle-derived MPCs in cell-based regenerative medicine therapies as a result of their influence on EC organization. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Association of high tumor infiltrating cytotoxic T cells with absence of lymph node involvement in resected colorectal and gastric cancer: Implications for immunosurveillance.

4068 Background: Adaptive immune response can play an important role in restricting tumor growth, and the presence of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) is associated with lower cancer stage and ...
Direct tracking of multiple targets in MIMO radar

We consider the problem of tracking multiple moving targets by MIMO radar systems with widely distributed antennas and non-coherent processing. Two tracking algorithms based on the extended Kalman filter are proposed to estimate locations and velocities of multiple targets. With indirect tracking, the tracker observations model consists of time delay and velocity estimates and nearest-neighbor data association, whereas direct tracking is performed on the radar observations, and data association is implicit. The analysis shows that for multiple targets, direct tracking outperforms indirect tracking at all signal-to-noise ratio values. The advantage of direct tracking is traced to the elimination of intermediate estimated parameters and explicit data association.
Serum protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) as a prognostic marker in soft tissue sarcoma.

10581 Background: SPARC is a matricellular secreted glycoprotein that performs several functions, including modulating cellular adhesion and proliferation. It has been implicated in tumorigenesis a...
The effect of velocity filtering in pressure estimation

Velocity field measurements allow, in principle, the evaluation of the pressure field by integrating the equations of fluid motion. Unavoidable experimental uncertainty, however, may result in unreliable estimates. In this study, we use the Poisson pressure equation to estimate the relative pressure from experimental velocities, and investigate how pre-processing with smoothing and solenoidal filters affects this estimate. For diffusion dominated laminar flow or for turbulent flow modeled through an eddy viscosity, measurement noise significantly affects the results. In this case, solenoidal filtering provides superior performance over other smoothing approaches, as it preserves the second spatial derivatives of the velocity field. For laminar flows dominated by advection or acceleration components of the pressure gradient, the choice of the filter appears to have little effect under limited noise, while smoothing produces improved relative pressure estimates for higher noise intensities. The above statements are verified using idealized flow conditions, numerical fluid dynamics simulations, and velocity fields from in-vivo and in-vitro magnetic resonance velocimetry.
Front-Door Difference-in-Differences Estimators

We develop front-door difference-in-differences estimators as an extension of front-door estimators. Under one-sided noncompliance, an exclusion restriction, and assumptions analogous to parallel trends assumptions, this extension allows identification when the front-door criterion does not hold. Even if the assumptions are relaxed, we show that the front-door and front-door difference-in-differences estimators may be combined to form bounds. Finally, we show that under one-sided noncompliance, these techniques do not require the use of control units. We illustrate these points with an application to a job training study and with an application to Florida's early in-person voting program. For the job training study, we show that these techniques can recover an experimental benchmark. For the Florida program, we find some evidence that early in-person voting had small positive effects on turnout in 2008. This provides a counterpoint to recent claims that early voting had a negative effect on turnout in 2008.
Examining Gender Equity in Newspaper Coverage of West-Central Ohio High School Basketball Games

Across eight high school basketball seasons between 2000 and 2010, we investigated the coverage of over 300 high school basketball games and compared the quantity of coverage allotted to boys’ and girls’ teams within two west-central Ohio newspapers. Unlike previous investigations on media coverage of high school sports, we restricted our sample to coverage of actual games and did not include feature articles about individual athletes, coaches, or booster clubs, and we determined article length by counting the number of words used in each article. We found that boys’ games received two to three times the length of coverage of girls’ games. Media coverage of girls’ games was also less likely to include a photograph and tended to begin lower on the sports page. We discuss the potential implications of ignoring girls’ high school athletics within community media.
Neither Lys- and DAP-type peptidoglycans stimulate mouse or human innate immune cells via Toll-like receptor 2

Peptidoglycan (PGN), a major component of bacterial cell walls, is a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) that causes innate immune cells to produce inflammatory cytokines that escalate the host response during infection. In order to better understand the role of PGN in infection, we wanted to gain insight into the cellular receptor for PGN. Although the receptor was initially identified as Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), this receptor has remained controversial and other PGN receptors have been reported. We produced PGN from live cultures of Bacillus anthracis and Staphylococcus aureus and tested samples of PGN isolated during the purification process to determine at what point TLR2 activity was removed, if at all. Our results indicate that although live B. anthracis and S. aureus express abundant TLR2 ligands, highly-purified PGN from either bacterial source is not recognized by TLR2.
The burden of out of pocket costs and medical debt faced by households with chronic health conditions in the United States.

Introduction To examine the relationship between chronic health conditions and out-of-pocket costs (OOPC) and medical debt. Methods Secondary data from the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) was used. Households whose head of household and spouse (for married households) were 18 to 64 years old were included. Results Households with 1 to 3 chronic conditions had higher odds of having any OOPC compared to households with no chronic conditions (AOR 1.74, 95% CI 1.39, 2.17) (p < .01). Households with 1 to 3 and 4 or more chronic health conditions were associated with higher odds of having any medical debt (AOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.75 to 2.87; AOR 5.04, 95% CI 3.04 to 8.34) compared to those with no chronic conditions (p < 0.01). Similarly, 1 to 3 and 4 or more chronic health conditions was associated with higher amounts of OOPC (Exponentiated Coefficient 1.18, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.36; Exponentiated Coefficient 1.56, 95% CI 1.17 to 2.07) and medical debt (Exponentiated Coefficient 1.69, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.34; Exponentiated Coefficient 2.73, 95% CI 1.19 to 6.25) compared to households with no chronic conditions (p < 0.05). Conclusions Findings from this study show that the presence of chronic health conditions impose a large financial burden on some households.
The Role of Noncovalent Bonding in Coal

Publisher Summary The primary structure of coal is principally aromatic in nature, with about 55–90% aromatic carbon. The ring positions are mostly occupied by carbon atoms, although there are many heterocyclic rings that include sulfur, nitrogen, or oxygen atoms. Coal and coal liquids contain significant amounts of oxygen and nitrogen compounds and a high aromatic content, which suggests that hydrogen bonding is an important factor in determining the physical properties of coal. The hydrogen bonds can be either intramolecular or intermolecular. This chapter describes the measurement of hydrogen bonding in infrared (IR) spectroscopy, which is done by observing changes in the frequency, intensity, and shape of the absorption bands. Intramolecular hydrogen bonding is virtually unaffected on dilution. Thus, dilution studies offer a means of differentiating between intermolecular and intramolecular types of hydrogen bonds. Similar to IR spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy can also be used as a diagnostic tool for hydrogen bonding. In proton magnetic resonance spectra run in a nonpolar solvent at infinite dilution, the proton resonance of the hydroxyl group in phenol is known to absorb in the range of 4–5 ppm; at higher concentrations, this signal is shifted to 6–11 ppm.
Pericardial invasion: lessons learned from surgical and transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmic complication observed after cardiac surgery. The reported incidence of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after cardiac surgery ranges from 10% to 65% [(1)][1]. The wide range of incidence is driven by myriad factors, including differences in
Climate Change and Conflict

Scholars in a range of academic disciplines have used distinct methods and sources to connect past climate variability and change to the causes of conflict within, and between, diverse societies. Qualitative approaches spearheaded by historians have concentrated on connections between climat harvest failures, societal instability, and violence during the roughly six centuries of the Little Ice Age (LIA). Quantitative approaches pioneered by geographers, by contrast, have found correlations between temperature or precipitation trends, harvest failures, and wars not only in the LIA but also in the modern era of anthropogenic global warming. Recently, some scholars have found relationships between climate change and the conduct of conflict, particularly in pre-modern centuries distinguished by long, open-ended wars; a few have even hypothesized links between conflict and the origins of climate change. Above all, the burgeoning scholarship that connects climate change to conflict has strongly suggested that violence within and between societies both increases societal vulnerability to climate change and exacerbates the human impacts of climate change.
An η4-Thiophene Ligand. A New Mode of Thiophene Coordination in Cp*Ir(η4-2,5-dimethylthiophene).

In connection with an effort to understand the mechanism of thiophene hydrodesulfurization, the possible modes of thiophene coordination at metal centers that are present in catalysts are of interest.
Design and Control of Aerial Modules for Inflight Self-Disassembly

Robotic modular systems have the ability to create and break physical links to self-assemble larger custom robots for general tasks. In case of changes in the task or the environment, they can dynamically self-adapt by self-reconfiguring during the mission. However, applying these concepts to flying vehicles is still a challenge. In this letter, we present a novel modular design based on a quadrotor platform that uses a lightweight passive mechanism to dock and undock in midair. Using this mechanism and a control strategy, we can divide a rectangular structure into two sub-structures during the flight. The undocking action can be sequentially applied to disassemble structures into individual modules. Since self-assembly methods for aerial vehicles have been proposed in the literature, here we focus on the self-disassembly process. We validate our undocking method and self-disassembly algorithm through experiments with actual modules. We highlight that combining our proposed self-disassembly algorithm and existing self-assembly algorithms, aerial modules are able to perform inflight self-reconfiguration.
An investigation of seasonal precipitation patterns for rainfed agriculture in the Southeastern region of the United States

Abstract Over the last two decades, signs of precipitation irregularity were frequently reported across the Southeastern United States (US). Even though the region receives a relatively high annual precipitation, the precipitation events are not equally distributed in the time and space. Hence, rainfed agriculture, a common practice in the region is threatened by changes in precipitation frequencies during the crop growing seasons. With this situation, a better understanding of the actual patterns of precipitation irregularity is needed to support the local agriculture. This study uses a spatial regionalization approach to delineate precipitation regions for an area spanning the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The data used include time-series of seasonal precipitation totals and seasonal numbers of precipitation events >5 mm over the period 1960–2017. A regionalization method which combines principal components and cluster analyses was applied to 208 precipitation stations selected across the study region. Finally, three precipitation regions were delineated based on statistics and similarity criteria. A comparative analysis of these three regions shows significant differences in the seasonal precipitation totals and the seasonal number of precipitation events. In addition, the differences were examined using a probabilistic approach. As a result, tables of probabilities and seasonal precipitation characteristics (precipitation totals and number of events >5 mm) were generated for each region. These tables could provide information about the chances of precipitation deficits or excesses relatively to a crop and henceforth be useful for agricultural water use planning.
Coronary artery disease in a child with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: Regression after liver transplantation.

Abstract Children with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia are at risk for early cardiovascular events secondary to coronary artery disease. Current medical therapy does not ameliorate this risk. Liver transplantation offers the most effective option to reduce circulating levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and thereby reduce risk of cardiovascular events. Angiographic evidence of regression of coronary artery disease is presented.
Congenital neurocutaneous syndromes of childhood. III. Sturge-Weber disease.

Summary 1. Sturge-Weber disease is a congenital vascular malformation of the skin and leptomeninges. 2. The facial nevi usually follow the trigeminal nerve distribution. Skin nevi may in addition involve other areas roughly following dermatomal demarcation. 3. The lesions in the brain are most likely secondary to the angiomatous malformation of the overlaying leptomeninges. Characteristic calcifications are formed in the cerebral cortex, as well as in the angioma. 4. Eight typical cases of Sturge-Weber disease are summarized. 5. The earliest calcification appeared in roentgenogram of the skull of a patient 13 months of age. 6. One unusual “hybrid transitional” case is also presented. 7. The suggestion is made that early surgical extirpation of unilateral lesion may prevent functional deterioration as well as bring symptomatic relief from seizures.
A structure-based deep learning framework for protein engineering

While deep learning methods exist to guide protein optimization, examples of novel proteins generated with these techniques require a priori mutational data. Here we report a 3D convolutional neural network that associates amino acids with neighboring chemical microenvironments at state-of-the-art accuracy. This algorithm enables identification of novel gain-of-function mutations, and subsequent experiments confirm substantive phenotypic improvements in stability-associated phenotypes in vivo across three diverse proteins.
Response Amplification of Back-rotated Piles

Piles are largely back-rotated in sliding slope or subjected to lateral spreading. This paper reveals for the first time that response of these piles (e.g. displacement, rotation and bending moment...
Iron Oxide Removal from Soils and Clays by a Dithionite-Citrate System Buffered with Sodium Bicarbonate

The oxidation potential of dithionite (Na2S2O4) increases from 0.37 V to 0.73 V with increase in pH from 6 to 9, because hydroxyl is consumed during oxidation of dithionite. At the same time the amount of iron oxide dissolved in 15 minutes falls off (from 100 percent to less than 1 percent extracted) with increase in pH from 6 to 12 owing to solubility product relationships of iron oxides. An optimum pH for maximum reaction kinetics occurs at approximately pH 7.3. A buffer is needed to hold the pH at the optimum level because 4 moles of OH are used up in reaction with each mole of Na2S2O4 oxidized. Tests show that NaHCO3 effectively serves as a buffer in this application. Crystalline hematite dissolved in amounts of several hundred milligrams in 2 min. Crystalline goethite dissolved more slowly, but dissolved during the two or three 15 min treatments normally given for iron oxide removal from soils and clays. A series of methods for the extraction of iron oxides from soils and clays was tested with soils high in free iron oxides and with nontronite and other iron-bearing clays. It was found that the bicarbonate-buffered Na2S2O4-citrate system was the most effective in removal of free iron oxides from latosolic soils, and the least destructive of iron silicate clays as indicated by least loss in cation exchange capacity after the iron oxide removal treatment. With soils the decrease was very little but with the very susceptible Woody district nontronite, the decrease was about 17 percent as contrasted to 35–80 percent with other methods.
Prevention and Treatment of Oral Mucositis in Cancer Patients Using Photobiomodulation (Low-Level Laser Therapy and Light-Emitting Diodes)

Oral mucositis (OM) is one of the most impacting oral complications negatively affecting the quality of life of cancer patients being treated with high-dose chemotherapy and radiation of the head and neck. It is an acute adverse effect that can be devastating and could affect cancer prognosis. Prevention and management strategies have not been successful. Photobiomodulation is a form of light therapy delivered to human tissues by lasers, light-emitting diodes, and even broadband light. It interferes in the way human cells repair tissues in a nonthermal and nonionizing fashion. There is mounting evidence that photobiomodulation (PBM or low-level laser therapy) can be effective in preventing OM and/or reducing the severity of this important complication. This chapter describes current modeling of the pathobiology and clinical characteristics of OM, the burden on the cancer patient, and the use of PBM as a preventative and/or therapeutic management of this oral complication.
Acceleration of PDE-Based Biological Simulation Through the Development of Neural Network Metamodels

PDE models are a major tool used in quantitative modeling of biological and scientific phenomena. Their major shortcoming is the high computational complexity of solving each model. When scaling up to millions of simulations needed to find their optimal parameters we frequently have to wait days or weeks for results to come back. To cope with that we propose a neural network approach that can produce comparable results to a PDE model while being about 1000x faster. We quantitatively and qualitatively show the neural network metamodels are accurate and demonstrate their potential for multi-objective optimization in biology. We hope this approach can speed up scientific research and discovery in biology and beyond.
The Enhanced Liver Fibrosis Index Predicts Hepatic Fibrosis Superior to FIB4 and APRI in HIV/HCV Infected Patients.

Background Accurate noninvasive biomarkers of fibrotic progression are important for hepatitis C virus (HCV) management, but commonly used modalities may have decreased efficacy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/HCV-coinfected persons. The enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) index is a highly sensitive noninvasive marker of hepatic fibrosis that has had limited assessment in the HIV/HCV population. We compared ELF index performance to FIB4 and aspartate to platelet ratio index (APRI) at different stages of liver fibrosis as determined by liver histology, and validated the efficacy of the three noninvasive biomarkers in HIV/HCV-coinfected versus HCV-monoinfected. Methods The ELF index was determined in 147 HIV/HCV-coinfected and 98 HCV-monoinfected persons using commercial ELISA assays for the component elements of the index. Area under the receiver-operator curve was used to validate ELF and to compare its performance to liver histology as well as to other noninvasive biomarkers of liver fibrosis, FIB4, and APRI. Results The ELF index increased with histological stage of liver fibrosis and exhibited a linear relationship with Metavir score in all subjects. ELF performance was comparable between HIV/HCV and HCV with advanced liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. In the HIV/HCV cohort ELF cutoffs of 8.45 and 9.23 predicted mild and moderate fibrosis with 85% sensitivity, whereas the ELF cutoff of 9.8 had the highest specificity for advanced fibrosis and the cutoff of 10.4 was 99% specific for cirrhosis. ELF performance was superior to FIB4 and APRI in all subjects regardless of HIV status. Conclusions ELF index demonstrated excellent characteristics toward accurate prediction of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis with superior performance to APRI and FIB4 in HIV/HCV coinfection. Applying this noninvasive biomarker index for diagnosis of liver fibrosis and progression in HIV/HCV is warranted.
FEAST: A Lightweight Lock-free Concurrent Binary Search Tree

We present a lock-free algorithm for concurrent manipulation of a binary search tree (BST) in an asynchronous shared memory system that supports search, insert, and delete operations. In addition to read and write instructions, our algorithm uses (single-word) compare-and-swap (CAS) and bit-test-and-set (BTS) read-modify-write (RMW) instructions, both of which are commonly supported by many modern processors including Intel 64 and AMD64. In contrast to most of the existing concurrent algorithms for a binary search tree, our algorithm is edge-based rather than node-based. When compared to other concurrent algorithms for a binary search tree, modify (insert and delete) operations in our algorithm (a) work on a smaller section of the tree, (b) execute fewer RMW instructions, or (c) use fewer dynamically allocated objects. In our experiments, our lock-free algorithm significantly outperformed all other algorithms for a concurrent binary search tree especially when the contention was high. We also describe modifications to our basic lock-free algorithm so that the amortized complexity of any operation in the modified algorithm can be bounded by the sum of the tree height and the point contention to within a constant factor while preserving the other desirable features of our algorithm.
114. DESIGNING AND EVALUATING A NOVEL MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CURRICULUM

Background Pediatric mental and behavioral health disorders are a growing public health concern with immediate and long-term impacts for children, families, and society. Pediatricians are uniquely positioned, but often inadequately trained, to identify and address childhood mental and behavioral health needs. Design/Methods Two major learning domains were identified for a 2-week rotation in senior year: 1) screening, diagnosis, and treatment of depression, anxiety, and ADHD in outpatient pediatric settings; and 2) evaluation, de-escalation, and triage of children in acute mental health crises. Residents participate in repeated sessions in integrated behavioral health clinics, conduct screenings with social workers, perform intakes supervised by a child psychiatrist, and evaluate patients with acute mental health concerns in the emergency department with child psychiatrists, in the community with Boston Emergency Services Team, and in inpatient settings with the hospital's Behavioral Response Team. Self-directed learning activities provide individualized experiences tailored to residents’ interests. By random selection, half of senior residents will participate in the rotation during its first year. All senior residents were invited to complete a baseline survey at the beginning of the year evaluating their satisfaction with their behavioral health training thus far. Results Fourteen of 29 (48%) eligible seniors completed the baseline assessment, showing that residents were least satisfied with their training in titrating/initiating medications to treat depression and anxiety, and most satisfied with their training in agitation management (Figure). Thus far, 11 senior residents have participated in the rotation. Conclusions Many senior residents have received limited training in behavioral and mental health competencies. We developed a novel 2-week rotation that leverages hands-on experiences with child psychiatrists, social workers, and crisis response teams, as well as individualized self-directed learning, which we will follow-up with surveys to assess efficacy as our next steps.
Implementation of Information Entropy, b-Value, and Regression Analyses for Temporal Evaluation of Acoustic Emission Data Recorded during ASR Cracking

AbstractThis study investigates the efficacy of differing information entropy calculation approaches for concrete structures undergoing alkali-silica reaction (ASR)-induced cracking. In prior work,...
Engaging in Joint Work with Principals: How Principal Supervisors’ Joint Facilitation of Teams Contributes to Principals’ Practice Development

This qualitative study followed the work of 12 principals and their supervisors to understand the concept of joint work as consequential for principals’ learning and practice development. Research ...
Early Recognition of Preventable Factors Associated with Delirium Saves Lives and Costs.

Delirium is a complex diagnosis characterized by inattention accompanied by either disorganized thinking or an altered level of consciousness. Delirium affects approximately 15% of older adults in the hospital. Delirium is associated with a 62% greater risk of mortality within 1 year of discharge and a significant increase in health care costs. Although the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health-5 has defined delirium, its characteristics, and has recommended diagnostic tools, one of the greatest challenges has been instituting timely and effective treatments. Effective management of delirium includes nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions simultaneously instituted to control agitation while exploring causation.
Acquaintance and Mental Files

In recent years there has been an ongoing debate about whether singular thought requires acquaintance. Although few nowadays accept Russell’s view that we are only ever acquainted with sense data, many philosophers continue to maintain that in order to have a singular thought about an object, a subject must have some intimate epistemic or causal connection with it. On the other hand, those in the anti-acquaintance camp have challenged the motivations for imposing acquaintance constraints on singular thought, and have argued that there are serious difficulties confronting such views.1 In Mental Files, Recanati’s answer to the anti-acquaintance theorists is to grant that there is no de facto acquaintance constraint on singular thought, but to insist that there is still a de jure one. On his view, in order to think a singular thought about an object, a subject must possess a mental file that refers to it. Moreover, in order for a subject to possess a mental file, she must be acquainted with its referent. But this does not entail that there are no acquaintanceless singular thoughts. ‘Must’ may be factive on some readings and merely normative on others. Recanati’s interesting idea is that the acquaintance condition on mental files is an instance of the latter. If Recanati is right, then acquaintance is involved in the very concept of a mental file, and by extension, singular thought. In this paper, I will evaluate Recanati’s answer to the anti-acquaintance theorists. I begin with a brief discussion of Recanati’s account of mental files.
Treatment of experimental anoxia with certain respiratory and cardiac stimulants

T HE number of babies which die at birth in the United States spproximates 80,000 annually; since an additional 30,000 die during the first day of life, from causes which are almost always natal in origin, the total infant mortality consequent upon 6he change from intrato extrauterine life is about 110,000 yearly. The majority of these deaths are respiratory in their clinical picture. Most often, the baby simply does not breathe at birth, despite the fact that the heart is beating and despite attempts at art.ificial respiration and the use of respiratory stimulants. During recent years, this problem of apnea of the newborn has been attacked with special vigor; several important etiologic factors have been elucidat,ed and various types of therapy suggested. Prominent among the latter are a number of reports recommending the use of medicinal respiratory stimulants, notably, “alphalobeline, ” “metrazol,” and “coramine.” Modern interest in alpha-lobeline as a respiratory stimulant dates from 1915 when Wieland of Germany isolated the hydrochloride of lobelia in crystalline form; and subsequently the drug has enjoyed widespread use in such conditions as morphine and chloral poisoning, carbon monoxide nsphysiation, pneumonia, laryngeal stenosis and apnea of the newborn. Metrazol (pentamethylenetetrazol) and coraminc (pyridine-beta-carboxydiethylamide) have also been recommended to combat apnea at birth, both being well known respiratory stimulants. The first published reference to coramine appeared in 1922 under the authorship of Lagier. and since that time almost 1,400 articles have dealt with various aspects of the drug. When employed in apneic newborn, these agents are usually injected directly into the umbilical vein, the dose ranging from one-sixth to one-third the adult dosage. Although it might seem offhand that the value of alpha-lobelinc, metrazol, and eoramine in apnea neonatorum could best be determined in actual cases of this disorder, a number of factors renders such clinical observat,ions of dubious reliability. In the first place, many apneic babies cry after thirty seconds or so, even though nothing whatsoever is done to them; naturally, had a drug been given in such cases, the initiat,ion of respirat,ion would have been credited, erroneously, to the therapy. In the second place, the causes of apnea at birth are various, a circumstance which renders the interpretation of treatment difficult. Finally, in the human newborn, rigorous and carefully controlled observations on the effect of any one therapeutic agent are almost impossible, since it is obviously mandatory to employ all recognized means of resuscitation in order to give the infant every possible
A Code Merging Optimization Technique for GPU

A GPU usually delivers the highest performance when it is fully utilized, that is, programs running on it are taking full advantage of all the GPU resources. Two main types of resources on the GPU are the compute engine, i.e., the ALU units, and the data mover, i.e., the memory units. This means that an ideal program will keep both the ALU units and the memory units busy for the duration of the runtime. The vast majority of GPU applications, however, either utilize ALU units but leave memory units idle, which is called ALU bound, or use the memory units but idle ALUs, which is called memory bound, and rarely attempt to take full advantage of both at the same time.
Selected Variables Related to Expected Longevity in Teaching of Entry-Phase Agriculture Teachers

Heath-Camp and Camp (1992) stated, "No period is more critical to the success of a beginning teacher than the induction phase" (p. 35). Garton and Chung (1995) maintained, "Research is needed to assess the inservice needs of today's beginning agriculture teachers" (p. 78). However, Darling-Hammond and Rustique-Forrester (1997) stated, "Of the teachers in classrooms in the year 2006, more than half will have been hired in the next 10 years" (p. 1). Further, Huling-Austin (1986) found that 15% of all new teachers leave the profession after one year of service, "in excess of two-thirds of those [leaving] will do so in the first four years" (p. 3), and by year seven 40 to 50% of a beginning teacher cohort had left the profession. This trend continued through the decade of the `90s (National Center for Education Statistics, 1997). It appears the profile of today's entry-phase teachers-including those who teach agriculture- may be changing rapidly.