cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Testosterone therapy in erectile dysfunction

Studies in animals have indicated that the nitric oxide erectile pathway is testosterone-dependent. Castration induces erectile dysfunction and a reduction in nitric oxide synthase-stained nerves in erectile tissue. Furthermore, castration adversely affects penile hemodynamics and smooth muscle content, leading to venoocclusive dysfunction. Testosterone replenishment reverses these physiological, biochemical and structural changes. Several clinical studies have demonstrated the benefits of a combination of testosterone and sildenafil. A recently published, multicenter study evaluated the safety and efficacy of testosterone gel 1% (Testogel 1 ; Schering AG, Germany/AndroGel 1 ; Solvay Pharmaceuticals) vs. placebo gel in conjunction with sildenafil, in producing an erectile response in hypogonadal men who did not respond to treatment with sildenafil alone for erectile dysfunction. The selection criteria required subjects to have had erectile
Simulated annealing for throughput optimization in communication networks with window flow control

A queuing model of a multichain network is presented where the network is window flow controlled on its virtual channel of the communication network. Its performance is optimized based on simulated annealing. The solution space is assumed to be the set of all admissible service rates of all stations with the nonlinear cost constraint. The optimum total throughput of the network is determined for different chain packets. It is shown that the most desirable method against congestion in any region is to speed up the transmission rate of that channel, but since this costs too much, alternative methods should be considered which reduce the window size within the tolerable limit of throughputs. >
Flow Energy Harvesters With a Nonlinear Restoring Force

This ppppaper examines the performance of a galloping energy harvester possessing a nonlinear restoring force. To achieve this goal, a flow energy harvester consisting of a piezoelectric cantilever beam augmented with a square-sectioned bluff body at the free end is considered. Two magnets located near the tip of the bluff body are used to introduce the nonlinearity which strength and nature can be altered by changing the distance between the magnets. A lumped-parameter aero-electromechanical model adopting the quasi-steady assumption for aerodynamic loading is presented and utilized to numerically simulate the harvester’s response. Wind tunnel tests are also performed to validate the numerical simulations by conducting upward and downward wind velocity sweeps. Results comparing the relative performance of several harvesters with potential functions of different shapes demonstrate that a mono-stable potential function with a hardening restoring force can outperform all other configurations.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Comparison of hip center estimation using in-vivo and ex-vivo measurements from the same subject

Abstract Objective . To evaluate the accuracy of locating the hip center (HIPC) by comparing in-vivo estimations to posthumous HIPC measurement in the same subject. Background . Numerous techniques have been used to locate the HIPC in living subjects and in cadavers. There are no published reports, however, which have compared measurements of the HIPC obtained in-vivo and ex-vivo for the same subject. Design and methods . Bilateral hip centers (HIPC) were estimated for an elderly male patient seven times over 32 months in a gait laboratory using a technique which combines kinematic data and static pointing. The patient's pelvis was recovered posthumously and analytical photogrammetry used to estimate the HIPC locations. Published methods which scale anatomical measurements to locate the HIPC were compared to our ex-vivo and in-vivo measurements. Results . HIPC precision was 0.94 cm for the in-vivo measurements ( N = 7 trial days) and 0.15 cm for the ex-vivo measurements ( N = 6 photogrammetry trials). The resultant error between ex-vivo and in-vivo estimates of HIPC position was 1.17 cm. Resultant errors in locating the HIPC using published anatomical scaling factors ranged between 1.48 cm and 5.37 cm. Conclusions . Although we have been unable to compare in-vivo and ex-vivo HIPC measurements for more than one subject, results of our analysis suggest that using anatomical scaling to locate the HIPC may result in unsatisfactory subject-specific estimates of the HIPC.
Sustained attention and social competence in typically developing preschool‐aged children

The current study examines the relationship between sustained attention and social competence in preschool children. While studies demonstrate that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit poor social competence, less is known about typically developing children. Since children with ADHD have associated behavior problems besides attention deficits, the question remains whether attention per se affects social competence. Forty preschool children participated. Children completed a vigilance task and were observed in free play. Results indicate that attention was associated with greater social competence. Specifically, correct detections predicted social and reciprocal play. Children with higher perceptual sensitivity were more gregarious. Those with greater perceptual sensitivity but less conservatism demonstrated more complex play. Finally, rates of false alarms predicted aggression.
Parental decline of pneumococcal vaccination and risk of pneumococcal related disease in children.

Background An increasing number of parents are choosing to decline immunizations for their children. This study examined the association between the parental decision to decline pneumococcal conjugate (PCV7) vaccinations and the risk of hospitalization due to pneumococcal disease or lobar pneumonia in children.
MET inhibitors in combination with other therapies in non-small cell lung cancer

MET and its ligand hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF) influence cell motility and lead to tumor growth, invasion, and angiogenesis. Alterations in MET have been observed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors, with increased expression associated with more aggressive cancer, as well as acquired resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). MET inhibitors act via two basic mechanisms. Small molecule inhibitors antagonize ATP in the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain of MET, with studies on the following agents reviewed here: tivantinib (ARQ-197), cabozantinib (XL-184), crizotinib (PF-02341066), amuvatinib (MP470), MGCD265, foretinib (EXEL-2880), MK2461, SGX523, PHA665752, JNJ-38877605, SU11274, and K252A. The monoclonal monovalent antibody fragment onartuzumab (MetMAb) is also discussed here, which binds to and prevents the extracellular activation of the receptor by ligand. MET inhibition may both overcome the negative prognostic effect of MET tumor expression as well as antagonize MET-dependent acquired resistance to EGFR inhibitors. Here we discuss MET inhibitors in combination with other therapies in lung cancer.
Trade Agreements and Economic Growth

This article studies the growth effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs), taking into account the World Trade Organization (WTO) participation of RTA members. Assuming smaller preference margins of RTAs for WTO members than for nonmembers, I show in a model a stronger growth effect of RTAs for non-WTO members than the effect for WTO members. Based on a comprehensive set of 270 RTAs and a large panel data set over the period of 1960–2007, the regression results show that RTAs promote growth for non-WTO members, while their growth effect is weaker and often insignificantly different from zero for WTO members. This implies that, so far, the complementarity between the two approaches of trade liberalization in promoting economic growth is limited.
Effectively crowdsourcing the acquisition and analysis of visual data for disaster response

Efficient and thorough data collection and its timely analysis are critical for disaster response and recovery in order to save peoples lives during disasters. However, access to comprehensive data in disaster areas and their quick analysis to transform the data to actionable knowledge are challenging. With the popularity and pervasiveness of mobile devices, crowdsourcing data collection and analysis has emerged as an effective and scalable solution. This paper addresses the problem of crowdsourcing mobile videos for disasters by identifying two unique challenges of 1) prioritizing visualdata collection and transmission under bandwidth scarcity caused by damaged communication networks and 2) analyzing the acquired data in a timely manner. We introduce a new crowdsourcing framework for acquiring and analyzing the mobile videos utilizing fine granularity spatial metadata of videos for a rapidly changing disaster situation. We also develop an analytical model to quantify the visual awareness of a video based on its metadata and propose the visual awareness maximization problem for acquiring the most relevant data under bandwidth constraints. The collected videos are evenly distributed to off-site analysts to collectively minimize crowdsourcing efforts for analysis. Our simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed framework.
Crystallographic study of a MATE transporter presents a difficult case in structure determination with low-resolution, anisotropic data and crystal twinning.

NorM from Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NorM-NG) belongs to the multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family of membrane-transport proteins, which can extrude cytotoxic chemicals across cell membranes and confer multidrug resistance. Here, the structure determination of NorM-NG is described, which had been hampered by low resolution (∼ 4 A), data anisotropy and pseudo-merohedral twinning. The crystal structure was solved using molecular replacement and was corroborated by conducting a difference Fourier analysis. The NorM-NG structure displays an extracellular-facing conformation, similar to that of NorM-NG bound to a crystallization chaperone. The approaches taken to determine the NorM-NG structure and the lessons learned from this study are discussed, which may be useful for analyzing X-ray diffraction data with similar shortcomings.
Physical Sedimentation in Precambrian Cherty Iron Formations of the Lake Superior Type

Sand size iron-rich granules in cross bedded and ripple marked strata containing other clasts establish the particulate nature of the original materials of six Precambrian cherty iron formations of the North American Lake Superior region. Granules are of medium sand size, moderately well sorted, with a mesokurtic size distribution skewed toward an excess of fine material. Packing densities are similar to arenites, but packing proximities are lower. Granule specific gravities average about that of opal. Large grain size and low density may favor selective transport and explain the usual absence of detrital quartz and aluminous materials.
Chemiluminescence and Bioluminescence Analysis

Certain chemical reactions lead to the formation of products in excited electronic states that return to the ground state by emitting a photon. Because excitation is chemical rather than photolytic, this light is known as chemiluminescence (CL) even though the emission spectra match the photoluminescence (fluorescence or phosphorescence) spectra of the excited-state products. If an excited-state product does not itself luminesce, addition of a luminescent energy acceptor can lead to sensitized chemiluminescence.
Endoluminal closure of gastrogastric fistula

and Jehovah's Witness. She had a prior gastric banding which was removed and then had a sleeve. She had lost weight well but regained to her current BMI. After extensive dietary counseling and follow up,a revisional procedure was offered. Part of the preoperative workup included esophagram and upper endoscopy. After review of the available data with the patient, a single anastomosis duodenoileostomy with partial gastrectomy was offered. The video shows the technical details of the procedue.
Effect of topological defects on "nuclear pasta" observables

Background: The “pasta” phase of nuclear matter may play an important role in the structure and evolution of neutron stars. Recent works suggest nuclear pasta has a high resistivity which could be explained by the presence of long-lived topological defects. The defects act as impurities that decrease thermal and electrical conductivity of the pasta. Purpose: To quantify how topological defects affect transport properties of nuclear pasta and estimate this effect using an impurity parameter Q_(imp). Methods: Contrast molecular dynamics simulations of up to 409 600 nucleons arranged in parallel nuclear pasta slabs (perfect pasta) with simulations of pasta slabs connected by topological defects (impure pasta). From these simulations we compare the viscosity and heat conductivity of perfect and impure pasta to obtain an effective impurity parameter Q_(imp) due to the presence of defects. Results: Both the viscosity and thermal conductivity calculated for both perfect and impure pasta are anisotropic, peaking along directions perpendicular to the slabs and reaching a minimum close to zero parallel to them. In our 409 600 nucleon simulation topological defects connecting slabs of pasta reduce both the thermal conductivity and viscosity on average by about 37%. We estimate an effective impurity parameter due to the defects of order Q_(imp)∼30. Conclusions: Topological defects in the pasta phase of nuclear matter have an effect similar to impurities in a crystal lattice. The irregularities introduced by the defects reduce the thermal and electrical conductivities and the viscosity of the system. This effect can be parametrized by a large impurity parameter Q_(imp)∼30.
Mechanisms of MS2 bacteriophage removal by fouled ultrafiltration membrane subjected to different cleaning methods.

An ultrafiltration unit with a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane of 40 nm nominal pore size was used to study bacteriophage MS2 removal under different membrane conditions: pristine membrane, membrane fouled by soluble microbial product (SMP) extracted from membrane bioreactor (MBR) feedwater, backwashed membrane, and chemically cleaned membrane. The order of MS2 removal by these membranes was as follows: fouled membrane > backwashed membrane > chemically cleaned membrane ≈ pristine membrane. A linear correlation between membrane relative permeability and MS2 removal was found. Mass balance analysis showed a high percentage of MS2 in the concentrate for the fouled membrane as compared with the pristine membrane. Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) results showed faster kinetics of MS2 adhesion to the pristine membrane than to the SMP-fouled membrane. In agreement with QCM results, an attractive force between MS2 and the pristine membrane was detected using an atomic force microscope (AFM), whereas a r...
The Judge's Molar: Infanticide and the Meteorite in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West (1985), Cormac McCarthy's fifth and most notorious novel, amounts to more than a monotonous series of atrocities or a relentless, sensationalist a...
Invariant point configurations—a combinatorial approach

A combinatorial and algebraic approach has been applied to the problem of determining the number of distinct configurations of univariant reaction lines about an invariant point, NC, in nondegenerate n-component systems. The resulting expression is $$NC = [1/(4n + 8)]\left( {\sum {[2^{d/2} (\phi (2n + 4)/d]) + (n + 2) 2^{\{ (n + 2)/2\} } } } \right) - 1$$ where the summation is taken over all values of d which divide (2n + 4)evenly but which do not divide (n + 2)evenly, [(n + 2)/2]is the smallest integer greater than or equal to (n + 2)/2,and o[(2n + 4)/d]is the number of integers less than (2n + 4)/d whose only factor is common with (2n + 4)/d is 1.This concise expression is derived through the application of Burnside's lemma, which relates the number of equivalence classes into which a set S is divided by an equivalence relation induced by a permutation group of S to the number of elements of S left invariant by the members of the permutation group. In the derivation of the above expression, the set S is taken to be the set of all possible configurations and orientations of univariant lines about an invariant point, the permutation group is taken to be the set of rigid-body symmetries of S, and the equivalence classes are composed of the different orientations of each configuration. Although the methods used to obtain the above expression are probably unfamiliar to most geologists, they are standard mathematical techniques and represent just one application of these tools to problems of geologic interest.
Regional Enteritis (Crohn’s Disease): Indications for Surgery and Operative Strategy

This article provides an excellent summary of the indications for the surgery of Crohn’s disease. Obstruction of the bowel, sepsis, and a variety of fistulae are some of the indications discussed. The author also describes the comparative advantages of bypass surgery, resection, and ileostomy.
Postmarketing surveillance methodologies.

This article describes and discusses the strengths and limitations of the major pharmacoepidemologic methodologies employed in postmarketing drug surveillance and describes the current status of the U.S. surveillance system. The main methodologies employed in postmarketing drug surveillance include controlled clinical trials, observational epidemiologic studies (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional), demographic methods, drug utilization surveys, spontaneous reports, and automated databases linking medications and disease. Examples of pharmacoepidemiologic studies using each of these methodologies are presented. When a question arises about the efficacy and/or safety of a marketed drug, typically a mixture of these study methodologies is employed. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the role of the Food and Drug Administration, pharmaceutical manufactures, and academic institutions in initiating and conducting postmarketing drug studies.
A Simple and Effective Method for Obtaining Aseptic Raw Beef Tissues1

The need for gnotoxenic studies (defined microflora) in beef to better understand the microbial ecology of spoilage and pathogenic organisms necessitates the development of a simple and rapid method devoid of obvious disadvantages of existing ones. The aseptic technique described here is an improvement on the flaming and hot-iron searing methods already in use. It involved the use of a Sensa-Temp Heat Control Electric Frier (West Bend, IN) at 232°C to destroy practically all surface microflora on top round meat blocks of freshly slaughtered, healthy beef cattle, before aseptically removing the cooked exterior to a depth of approximately 1 cm. In two separate trials, 95 and 90%, respectively, of the total number of samples removed were sterile. We recommend this method to procure sterile samples suitable for inoculation with defined microflora and for other studies. The method seems applicable to a wide variety of muscle food types, including fish.
Study of Warm Cloud Electricity

1. In this study of electricity in warm clouds various types of radiosondes were developed and more than ninety of these radiosondes were launched into warm clouds; special care was taken to identify the life stage of the clouds being studied. It was found that two charge generation processes occur in warm clouds: the generation of a negative charge on cloud droplets and raindrops in the cloud during its developing and mature stages and the generation of a positive charge on raindrops at the cloud top. Electrical activity is maximum at the mature stage, and in-cloud negative charge is accumulated throughout cloud development.
The past of others: Korean memorials in New York’s suburbia

Since the first decade of this century, public monuments to the memory of “comfort women” – women and girls forced into sexual service from the 1930s through 1945, by the Japanese Imperial Army – h...
Interleukin-21 Drives Proliferation and Differentiation of Porcine Memory B Cells into Antibody Secreting Cells

Immunological prevention of infectious disease, especially viral, is based on antigen-specific long-lived memory B cells. To test for cellular proliferation and differentiation factors in swine, an outbred model for humans, CD21+ B cells were activated in vitro with CD40L and stimulated with purported stimulatory cytokines to characterize functional responses. IL-21 induced a 3-fold expansion in total cell numbers with roughly 15% of all B cells differentiating to IgM or IgG antibody secreting cells (ASCs.) However, even with robust proliferation, cellular viability rapidly deteriorated. Therefore, a proliferation inducing ligand (APRIL) and B cell activating factor (BAFF) were evaluated as survival and maintenance factors. BAFF was effective at enhancing the viability of mature B cells as well as ASCs, while APRIL was only effective for ASCs. Both cytokines increased approximately two-fold the amount of IgM and IgG which was secreted by IL-21 differentiated ASCs. Mature B cells from porcine reproductive and respiratory virus (PRRSV) immune and naive age-matched pigs were activated and treated with IL-21 and then tested for memory cell differentiation using a PRRSV non-structural protein 7 ELISPOT and ELISA. PRRSV immune pigs were positive on both ELISPOT and ELISA while naive animals were negative on both assays. These results highlight the IL-21-driven expansion and differentiation of memory B cells in vitro without stimulation of the surface immunoglobulin receptor complex, as well as the establishment of a defined memory B cell culture system for characterization of vaccine responses in outbred animals.
A multidisciplinary treatment for encopresis in children with developmental disabilities

Achieving continence of one's bowel movements is a key step in development and failure to do so leads to many negative consequences. Treatments for encopresis appearing in the literature have employed behavioral strategies; medications such as suppositories, laxatives, or enemas; and in some studies a combination of these approaches. To date, attempts to extend successful treatments for encopresis in typically developing children to those with developmental disabilities have been limited. The current study included three participants diagnosed with developmental disabilities who had a history of encopresis. None of the participants had a continent bowel movement under baseline conditions. Continent bowel movements increased during treatment that included the addition of suppositories to elicit continent bowel movements. Two participants began having independent continent bowel movements (i.e., without requiring suppositories) and medication was successfully faded out for the remaining participant. Treatment took between 13 and 21 days.
The use of mobile learning in PK-12 education

With the increase in mobile device affordances, there has been a concomitant rise in the level of interest in investigating the breadth, purpose and extent of mobile learning in education. This systematic review provides a current synthesis of mobile learning research across 20102015 in PK-12 education. This includes a aggregated quantitative and qualitative analysis of the specific mobile learning activities as they connect to learning theories, specifically behaviorist, constructivist, situated, and collaborative learning. Major findings include that the majority of the studies focused on student learning followed by designing systems. Science was the most common subject researched and elementary schools was the most often studies setting. The findings reveal that 40% of the time researchers designed mobile learning activities aligning with the behaviorist approach to learning. This has the students consuming knowledge and not using the full potential of the mobile devices to have students become producers, collaborators, and creators of knowledge. Qualitative coding show 40% of researchers designed mobile activities that fit with the behaviorist approach to learning.Science was the most common subject researched at 53%.Elementary schools were the most often studied setting comprising 56% of the studies.63% of the studies focused on the student learning rather than the device.The majority of the studies took place in formal educational contexts at 50%.
FUGI Global Early Warning System for Displaced Persons (Forced Migration)

Abstract The FUGI global model has been developed as a media of providing global information to the human society and finding out possibilities of policy coordination among countries in orderto achieve sustainable development of the world economy. The FUGI model 7.0 M80 classifies the world into 80 regions where each national/regional model is globally interdependent through international trade, financialand information flows. The FUGI model also has a role of global early warning system formonitoring displaced persons derived from environmental destruction, failures in development, lack of peace and security as well as violation of human rights.
TCP Rapid: From theory to practice

Delay and rate-based alternatives to TCP congestion-control have been around for nearly three decades and have seen a recent surge in interest. However, such designs have faced significant resistance in being deployed on a wide-scale across the Internet — this has been mostly due to serious concerns about noise in delay measurements, pacing inter-packet gaps, and/or required changes to the standard TCP stack/headers. With the advent of high-speed networking, some of these concerns become even more significant. In this paper, we consider Rapid, a recent proposal for ultra-high speed congestion control, which perhaps stretches each of these challenges to the greatest extent. Rapid adopts a framework of continuous fine-scale bandwidth probing, which requires a potentially different and finely-controlled gap for every packet, high-precision timestamping of received packets, and reliance on fine-scale changes in inter-packet gaps. While simulation-based evaluations of Rapid show that it has outstanding performance gains along several important dimensions, these will not translate to the real-world unless the above challenges are addressed. We design a Linux implementation of Rapid after carefully considering each of these challenges. Our evaluations on a 10Gbps testbed confirm that the implementation can indeed achieve the claimed performance gains, and that it would not have been possible unless each of the above challenges was addressed.
Assessment of Family Custody Issues Using Mental Health Evaluations: Implications for Mental Health Counselors

In the past 30 years high-conflict families seeking resolution of child custody disputes have inundated family courts. Custody-related evaluations conducted by mental health counselors provide family courts with a thorough and unbiased assessment about the functionality of a family and offer recommendations about custody issues. The authors present (a) a description of mental health evaluations in child custody disputes; (b) ethical considerations involved in the evaluation process; (c) recommendations for conducting custody-related mental health evaluations; and (d) a format for the written report.
Age and Mortality and Morbidity in ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Advanced age is a powerful independent predictor of in-hospital and subsequent mortality and morbidity in patients following an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (MI) (1, 2, 3, 4). Randomized studies including thousands of patients with ST-segment elevation MI indicate 10-fold increases in death, clinical heart failure, and cardiogenic shock following either thrombolytic or primary angioplasty as age increases from younger than 60 to older than 85 years, with an exponential rise in both in-hospital and 6-month post-discharge mortality (1, 2, 3, 4). Public health data indicate that nearly 85% of all deaths from coronary disease in the United States occur in individuals older than 65 years of age (5), and that cardiac disease is the leading cause of death in older Americans, which is the most rapidly growing segment of the US population.
The Role of Quarks in Astrophysics

There are astrophysical consequences of quark degrees of freedom only at very high density or at very high temperatures. Sufficiently high densities may occur in the cores of neutron stars that a transition (of unknown order) to quark matter might occur; the presence of the quark matter has impact on the maximum possible mass for the star (which is lower because of the quark phase) and on the cooling rate of the neutron star (which is enhanced by the quark phase). It is possible that three-flavor quark matter is absolutely stable at zero pressure; if this is the case then all neutron stars would (given enough time) convert to “strange stars”. These stars have some very interesting properties, including the possible existence of low mass objects which have nuclear density; one possible example of such an object has been reported in the discovery of a pulsar in Supernova 1987A.
Measuring viscosity of polyethylene blends using a rotational rheometer

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most important and widely used polymer in packaging industry, film and tube forming technology [1]. Knowing the properties of polymer blends and the characterization of their rheological behavior is useful for industrial processes. For that very reason in our research PE blends were prepared and characterized by rheological method to find out the differences between the blends and the base materials. The base materials were TIPELIN FA 381-10 (high-density polyethylene, HDPE) and TIPOLEN FB 243-51 (low-density polyethylene, LDPE). The PE blends were made in the following proportions: 80/20, 60/40, 40/60 and 20/80. The first numbers mean the FA content percentage in the blend, while the second numbers mean the FB content percentage. Viscosity of the polymer melts were measured by rotational rheometer at low shear rate and the effect of temperature on viscosity were also measured. The structure viscous behavior of the polymer melt was confirmed, as the physical structure of the polymeric chain changes in flow. The fact that the number and the structure of the branches influence viscosity was revealed. FA material (HDPE) has the highest viscosity, while FB (LDPE) has the least. The blends show a good correlation between the two limits, although the complex viscosity does not show linear behavior in FA material content. The least viscosity was measured at 20% FA content. The modulus values plummet with temperature. The polydispersity index is 2.2 for FA material at 230°C. The temperature dependence of viscosity was revealed for blend (40-60). Moreover the activation energy was calculated at three frequencies. The fact that the activation energy decreases in function of angular frequency was demonstrated.
Professional development for teacher leaders: using activity theory to understand the complexities of sustainable change

ABSTRACTThis article presents findings from a two-year, qualitative study of K-12 teacher Fellows involved in a grant-funded professional development program. Aiming to foster sustainable change in...
Remodeling of Rectal Innervation After Pullthrough Surgery for Hirschsprung Disease: Relevance to Criteria for the Determination of Retained Transition Zone:

BackgroundAfter pullthrough surgery for Hirschsprung disease (HSCR), Glut1-positive submucosal nerve hypertrophy is used to diagnose retained transition zone in the neorectum. We hypothesized that ...
Oldest record of monk seals from the North Pacific and biogeographic implications.

True seals (crown Phocidae) originated during the late Oligocene–early Miocene (approx. 27–20 Ma) in the North Atlantic/Mediterranean region, with later (middle Miocene, approx. 16–11 Ma) dispersal...
More than travel time: New accessibility index capturing the connectivity of transit services

Abstract Various qualities of transit services, including travel time, frequency, and the presence of alternative paths, affect accessibility—how easily passengers can reach their destinations by transit. Traditional accessibility metrics, such as gravity-type and cumulative-opportunity indices, rely exclusively on travel time as a proxy for travel impedance, failing to consider other qualities of transit services. This study develops a comprehensive transit-based job accessibility index that accounts for the number of feasible alternative routes and their frequency in addition to in-vehicle and out-of-vehicle travel times. It uses the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data and Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm to compute these components of tract-to-tract transit trips in the Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). We demonstrate that conventional accessibility indices considering only gross travel time overestimate job accessibility in the job rich downtown area and suburban train hubs, while they tend to underestimate job accessibility in places mainly served by a suburban bus system. Logistic regression analysis shows that our refined job accessibility measure explains the likelihood of transit commute considerably better than conventional measures.
Does instructional leadership mediate effects of student home resources on opportunity to learn and math reasoning skills? A cross-national comparison of 4th grade students

For many countries, inequitable access to rigorous content and instruction at the early grades leads to the low academic performance for students with fewer resources at home. One way to assess the...
Effects of supplemental protein percentage and feeding level on intake, ruminal fermentation, and digesta passage in beef steers fed prairie hay.

Twelve ruminally cannulated steers (average initial BW 357 kg) were allotted to four treatments (three steers per treatment) in a replicated 4 x 4 Latin square design with 21-d periods (12 d for adaptation and 9 d for collection) to compare the effects of protein supplements that differed in percentage of CP and feeding level on low-quality forage utilization. Treatments were 1) control (C), ad libitum access to 5.6% CP prairie hay, 2) C +600 g of DM.steer-1.d-1 of a 43% CP supplement based on cottonseed meal (PS), 3) C + 1,200 g of DM.steer-1.d-1 of a 22% CP supplement based on corn grain and cottonseed meal (GS), and 4) C + 600 g of DM.steer-1.d-1 of a 22% CP supplement based on corn grain and cottonseed meal (LS). Ruminal total VFA concentrations were increased 8% (P less than .07) by PS vs GS 1 h after supplementation. Among supplemented steers, ruminal acetate (mol/100 mol) was decreased 1.2 mol/100 (P less than .03) by GS vs PS and LS; however, supplementation did not affect (P greater than .10) acetate proportions compared with C. Neither propionate nor butyrate was affected (P greater than .10) by supplementation, but among supplemented steers, butyrate proportions were 8% greater (P less than .03) for GS than for PS and 5% less (P less than .10) for LS than for the average of GS and PS. Ruminal pH did not differ (P greater than .10) among treatments. Ruminal ammonia concentrations were increased 1.4 to 4.8 mg/100 mL (P less than .07) by supplementation and typically were less for LS than for PS and GS at most sampling times. Prairie hay DMI (average = 16.3 g/kg BW) was not affected (P greater than .10) by supplementation. Fluid dilution rate was 8% faster (P less than .01) when steers were supplemented than when they were not fed supplement, and fluid dilution rate was increased 4% (P less than .04) by GS compared with PS. Particulate digesta passage rate was not affected (P greater than .10) by treatment, but total tract retention time was decreased (P less than .01) 10% by supplementation. Extent and rate of prairie hay NDF digestion in situ were not greatly affected by supplementation, but in situ disappearance of supplement N was 6 to 10 percentage units less (P less than .06) for GS than for PS and 2 to 6 percentage units less for LS than for the average of PS and GS supplements.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Realistic and Intelligent Management of Connected Storage Devices in Future Smart Homes Considering Energy Price Tag

Coordinated energy management plays a main role in increasing the performance and economic benefits of future smart homes. This article focuses on the energy management of a smart home equipped with a plug-in electric vehicle (PEV), household battery storage, and photovoltaics (PV), and it proposes an energy price tag (EPT) for all energy storage devices connected to the smart home system. A hybrid approach that consists of optimization and a rule-based prioritization is presented. The proposed algorithm establishes a priority order between the PEV, the household battery, and the imported power from the grid based on the EPT of energy sources. The proposed energy management algorithm seeks for the minimum overall energy cost for the smart home and PEV owner while satisfying household power demand and charging requirements of the storage devices. The performance of the energy management algorithm is examined on a typical smart home over a 24-h period based on time-varying grid electricity price.
Transcriptomic analysis of the heat-stress response in Boechera depauperata and Arabidopsis reveals a distinct and unusual heat-stress response in Boechera

Global surface temperatures are expected to rise throughout the 21st century, and negatively impact plant growth and reproduction. Thus, it is imperative that we deepen our understanding of plant t...
Institutional Complexity and Recombinative Innovation: Evidence from Hybrid Social Ventures

Prior research has produced competing findings regarding the influence of institutional complexity on hybrid organizations. Although some organizations blend multiple logics well for positive innov...
Human Hierarchy and High School Shootings

Human Hierarchy & High School Shootings critically examines the relationship between social hierarchies, gun violence and high school shootings in today's America.
Transcatheter pulmonic valve implantation: Techniques, current roles, and future implications

Right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) obstruction is present in a variety of congenital heart disease states including tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia/stenosis and other conotruncal abnormalities etc. After surgical repair, these patients develop RVOT residual abnormalities of pulmonic stenosis and/or insufficiency of their native outflow tract or right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit. There are also sequelae of other surgeries like the Ross operation for aortic valve disease that lead to right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit dysfunction. Surgical pulmonic valve replacement (SPVR) has been the mainstay for these patients and is considered standard of care. Transcatheter pulmonic valve implantation (TPVI) was first reported in 2000 and has made strides as a comparable alternative to SPVR, being approved in the United States in 2010. We provide a comprehensive review in this space-indications for TPVI, detailed procedural facets and up-to-date review of the literature regarding outcomes of TPVI. TPVI has been shown to have favorable medium-term outcomes free of re-interventions especially after the adoption of the practice of pre-stenting the RVOT. Procedural mortality and complications are uncommon. With more experience, recognition of risk of dreaded outcomes like coronary compression has improved. Also, conduit rupture is increasingly being managed with transcatheter tools. Questions over endocarditis risk still prevail in the TPVI population. Head-to-head comparisons to SPVR are still limited but available data suggests equivalence. We also discuss newer valve technologies that have limited data currently and may have more applicability for treatment of native dysfunctional RVOT substrates.
The influence of snow on sea ice as assessed from simulations of CESM2

Abstract. We assess the influence of snow on sea ice in experiments using the Community Earth System Model version 2 for a preindustrial and a 2xCO2 climate state. In the preindustrial climate, we find that increasing simulated snow accumulation on sea ice results in thicker sea ice and a cooler climate in both hemispheres. The sea ice mass budget response differs fundamentally between the two hemispheres. In the Arctic, increasing snow results in a decrease in both congelation sea ice growth and surface sea ice melt due to the snow's impact on conductive heat transfer and albedo, respectively. These factors dominate in regions of perennial ice but have a smaller influence in seasonal ice areas. Overall, the mass budget changes lead to a reduced amplitude in the annual cycle of ice thickness. In the Antarctic, with increasing snow, ice growth increases due to snow–ice formation and is balanced by larger basal ice melt, which primarily occurs in regions of seasonal ice. In a warmer 2xCO2 climate, the Arctic sea ice sensitivity to snow depth is small and reduced relative to that of the preindustrial climate. In contrast, in the Antarctic, the sensitivity to snow on sea ice in the 2xCO2 climate is qualitatively similar to the sensitivity in the preindustrial climate. These results underscore the importance of accurately representing snow accumulation on sea ice in coupled Earth system models due to its impact on a number of competing processes and feedbacks that affect the melt and growth of sea ice.
Age, racial, and ethnic disparities in reported clinical studies involving brachytherapy.

ABSTRACT PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate for age, racial, and ethnic disparities among clinical studies where patients can potentially receive brachytherapy treatment. METHODS AND MATERIALS Trials involving brachytherapy for breast, cervical, prostate, and uterine cancers were identified using ClinicalTrials.gov. The age, racial, and ethnic breakdown of the identified trials were compared to US population-estimates derived from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Primary outcomes were gaps between gaps between mean age and race and ethnic proportions in trials and the US population. Secondary outcomes included proportions of racial and ethnic data reporting. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, χ2 tests, and univariate analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS A total of 77 trials with reported data were identified, representing 13,580 patients. The overall difference in mean age in the identified trials compared to US population estimates was -2.29 years (p CONCLUSIONS Diversity data is underreported among clinical studies where brachytherapy is a potential treatment component. However, among reported trials, disparities are present albeit relatively small compared to previous studies reporting on disparities in clinical trials. Future efforts should emphasize increased reporting of racial and ethnicity data as well as ensuring inclusion of older patients and minorities.
SU-E-T-153: Burst-Mode Modulated Arc Therapy with Flattening-Filter-Free Beams Versus Flattening-Filtered Beams

Purpose: To compare the dosimetry and delivery of burst-mode modulated arc radiotherapy using flattening-filter-free (FFF) and flattening-filtered (FF) beams. Methods: Burst-mode modulated arc therapy (mARC, Siemens) plans were generated for six prostate cases with FFF and FF beam models, using the Elekta Monaco v. 5.00 planning system. One 360-degree arc was used for five cases, and for one case two 360-degree coplanar arcs were used. The maximum number of optimization points (OPs) per arc was set to 91, and OPs with less than 4 MU were disregarded. All plans were delivered on the Siemens Artiste linear accelerator with 6MV FF (300 MU/min) and comparable-energy FFF (2000 MU/min, labeled as 7UF) beams. Results: For all cases studied, the plans with FFF beams exhibited DVHs for the PTV, rectum, and bladder that were nearly identical to those for the plans with FF beams. The FFF plan yielded reduced dose to the right femoral head for 5 cases, and lower mean dose to the left femoral head for 4 cases. For all but the two-arc case, the FFF and FF plans resulted in an identical number of segments. The total number of MUs was slightly lower for the FF plans for five cases. The total delivery time per fraction was substantially lower for the FFF plans, ranging from 25 to 50 percent among all cases, as compared to the FF plans. Conclusion: For mARC plans, FFF and FF beams provided comparable PTV coverage and rectum and bladder sparing. For the femoral heads, the mean dose was slightly lower in most cases when using the FFF beam. Although the flat beam plans typically required slightly fewer MUs, FFF beams required substantially less time to deliver a plan of similar quality. This work was supported by Siemens Medical Solutions and the MCW Cancer Center Fotsch Foundation.
Partial deficiency of DNA-PKcs increases ionizing radiation induced mutagenesis and cell killing in human cells

4388 The repair of DNA double strand breaks is essential to maintain the integrity of genome. Misrepaired DNA DSBs are detrimental to cells by leading to gene mutation and cancer development. Nonhomologous end-joining (NHEJ) is one of the principal rejoining processes in most higher eukaryotic cells. NHEJ is facilitated by DNA dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), which is composed of a catalytic subunit, DNA-PKcs, and the heterodimeric DNA binding regulatory complex Ku. Null mutation of DNA-PKcs leads to immunodeficiency, chromosomal translocation, cancer predisposition in mice, and gene mutation. However, it is unknown whether the partial deficiency of DNA-PKcs that is more likely to occur in a fraction of the population influences cellular function. Using small interfering RNA transfection, we established partial deficiency of DNA-PKcs in human cells, with a range of 4-85% of control. Our results reveal that partial deficiency of DNA-PKcs leads to an increased ionizing radiation-induced mutagenesis and cell killing. Radiation mutagenesis was increased inversely with DNA-PKcs protein levels, with the most pronounced effect observed between 4 and 50% protein levels.
Alternative splicing generates multiple isoforms of a rabbit prostaglandin E2 receptor

Four cDNA clones homologous with a murine prostaglandin E2 receptor have been isolated from a rabbit kidney cortex cDNA library. These cDNAs encode related proteins that differ only in their COOH-terminal sequences. Southern blot analysis of rabbit genomic DNA indicates that these receptor cDNAs represent alternatively spliced variants derived from a single gene. This was confirmed by isolation and sequence analysis of genomic clones containing common region exons and unique 3'-coding exons, which contained intron/exon boundaries at the predicted splice junctions. Transient expression of a novel full-length cDNA in COS1 cells confirmed the ligand binding profile typical of an EP3 receptor subtype. Ribonuclease protection assays indicate that the gene encoding these receptors is most highly expressed in kidney, adrenal, and stomach with lower but significant expression in uterus, lung, heart, ileum, spleen, and brain. Moreover, each of the cloned isoforms is expressed in the kidney. In situ hybridization analyses of rabbit kidney demonstrated that the level of expression is highest in the outer medulla with lesser expression in the cortex and no detectable expression in the inner medulla. The ligand binding profile and tissue distribution of these receptors is consistent with a functional role for this family of EP3 receptors in mediating the renal actions of prostaglandins as well as the effects of prostaglandins on gastric acid secretion and adrenal function.