cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Downslope fertilizer movement in arctic tussock tundra

Slow release fertilizer pellets (NPK) were spread in June and July 1985, on the frost surface under an 8–20 cm thick layer of thawed tundra in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska. The fertilizer was applied at a rate of 3.8 kg N, 1.2 kg P2O5, and 2.4 kg K to two, 10 × 0.75 m tussock bands. These bands were placed parallel to the contour lines in the middle of a uniform 10° slope. The purpose of the experiment was to test the hypothesis that fertilizer moves at a measurable rate downslope, affecting the vegetation in its course. The results support this hypothesis. One year after fertilizer application, plants collected 2 to 6 m downslope from the fertilizer band had significantly larger leaves and significantly higher nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations than those upslope from fertilizer application. It is concluded that nutrient-releasing tundra perturbations affect the downslope tundra vegetation.
Deterrence, disarmament, and post-cold war stability: Enhancing security for both ``haves`` and ``have nots``

DISCLAIMER: This document was prepared in part as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor the University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability of responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that it use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of author expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
Long-Term Risk of Clinical Progression After Biochemical Recurrence Following Radical Prostatectomy: The Impact of Time from Surgery to Recurrence

Abstract Background The natural history of biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) is variable and does not always translate into systemic progression or prostate cancer (PCa) death. Objective To evaluate long-term clinical outcomes of patients with BCR and to determine predictors of disease progression and mortality in these men. Design, setting, and participants We reviewed our institutional registry of 14 632 patients who underwent RRP between 1990 and 2006 to identify 2426 men with BCR (prostate-specific antigen [PSA] levels ≥0.4ng/ml) who did not receive neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy. Median follow-up was 11.5 yr after RRP and 6.6 yr after BCR. Intervention RRP. Measurements Patients were grouped into quartiles according to time from RRP to BCR. Survival after BCR was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to analyze clinicopathologic variables associated with systemic progression and death from PCa. Results and limitations Median systemic progression-free survival (PFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) had not been reached after 15 yr of follow-up after BCR. Cancer-specific mortality 10 yr after BCR was 9.9%, 9.3%, 7.8%, and 4.7% for patients who experienced BCR 5.9 yr after RRP, respectively ( p =0.10). On multivariate analysis, time from RRP to BCR was not significantly associated with the risk of systemic progression ( p =0.50) or cancer-specific mortality ( p =0.81). Older patient age, increased pathologic Gleason score, advanced tumor stage, and rapid PSA doubling time (DT) predicted systemic progression and death from PCa. Limitations included retrospective design, varied utilization of salvage therapies, and the inclusion of few patients with positive lymph nodes. Conclusions Only a minority of men experience systemic progression and death from PCa following BCR. The decision to institute secondary therapies must balance the risk of disease progression with the cost and morbidity of treatment, independent of time from RRP to BCR.
Longitudinal outcome with pharmacotherapy in a naturalistic study of panic disorder.

Abstract Background: Current recommendations suggest that pharmacotherapy for patients with panic disorder should be continued for at least 1 year [Am. J. Psychiatry 155 (1998) 1], despite a paucity of data systematically examining outcome for periods greater than 3–6 months. It is critically important to obtain more information on the effectiveness of medications over time for patients who initially responded to pharmacotherapy for panic disorder. Methods : Long-term outcome was examined for 78 patients who attained a 2-month period of sustained remission on medication and received maintenance pharmacotherapy for up to 24 months during the Massachusetts General Hospital Longitudinal Study of Panic Disorder, a prospective, naturalistic study. Participants were categorized by their maintenance treatment condition at remission: benzodiazepine alone ( N =45, 58%), antidepressant alone ( N =12, 16%), and combined treatment with a benzodiazepine and an antidepressant ( N =21, 27%). Results: Approximately half ( N =36, 46%) of the patients who had achieved remission relapsed at some time over the 2-year naturalistic study period, despite continued and adequate pharmacotherapy. There was no difference in timing or frequency of relapse by type of maintenance pharmacotherapy. Limitations: Interpretation of the data is limited by the naturalistic nature of the study, and by the relatively low sample size. Conclusions: This data suggests that patients with panic disorder have a high rate of relapse even after acute response to pharmacotherapy, despite continued treatment. In addition, the use of combined pharmacotherapy with antidepressants and benzodiazepines does not appear to provide greater protection from relapse than monotherapy.
Lamb wave generation and reception with time-delay periodic linear arrays: a BEM simulation and experimental study

A time-delay periodic linear array model has been proposed for Lamb wave generation and reception in plates. The unilateral guided wave emitting and receiving have been achieved by applying the interference principle in the array designs. A hybrid BEM technique has been developed and applied to simulate the wave generation procedure with such arrays and to analyze the performance. Experimental results also are presented for two typical time-delay periodic arrays to qualitatively validate the theoretical designs. The effects of the array parameters on the array performance, such as the selectivity of Lamb modes and effectiveness of Lamb wave generation, are investigated through the 2-D phase velocity-frequency spectrum analyses as well as Lamb mode wave structure calculations.
Gender and Status in the Hohokam Pre‐Classic to Classic Transition

Increasing social complexity among the prehistoric Hohokam of southern Arizona after A.D. 1150 was associated with an increase in women's workloads; greater variablity in domestic architecture, creating differential access to community activity; the presence of dual prestige hierarchies for males and females; and greater status differentiation among adult females. The products of women's labor served as a foundation for emerging differentiation in wealth and prestige during the Classic period, with women potentially wielding considerable influence because of men's dependence on them for productive activities.
Activin A, p15INK4b Signaling, and Cell Competition Promote Stem/Progenitor Cell Repopulation of Livers in Aging Rats

Background & Aims Highly proliferative fetal liver stem/progenitor cells (FLSPCs) repopulate livers of normal recipients by cell competition. We investigated the mechanisms by which FLSPCs repopulate livers of older compared with younger rats. Methods Fetal liver cells were transplanted from DPPIV + F344 rats into DPPIV − rats of different ages (2, 6, 14, or 18 months); liver tissues were analyzed 6 months later. Cultured cells and liver tissues were analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunoblot, histochemistry, laser-capture microscopy, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling analyses. Results We observed 4- to 5-fold increases in liver repopulation when FLSPCs were transplanted into older compared with younger rats. Messenger RNA levels of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors increased progressively in livers of older rats; hepatocytes from 20-month-old rats had 6.1-fold higher expression of p15INK4b and were less proliferative in vitro than hepatocytes from 2-month-old rats. Expression of p15INK4b in cultured hepatocytes was up-regulated by activin A, which increased in liver during aging. Activin A inhibited proliferation of adult hepatocytes, whereas FLSPCs were unresponsive because they had reduced expression of activin receptors (eg, ALK-4). In vivo, expanding cell clusters derived from transplanted FLSPCs had lower levels of ALK-4 and p15INK4b and increased levels of Ki-67 compared with the host parenchyma. Liver tissue of older rats had 3-fold more apoptotic cells than that of younger rats. Conclusions FLSPCs, resistant to activin A signaling, repopulate livers of older rats; hepatocytes in older rats have less proliferation because of increased activin A and p15INK4b levels and increased apoptosis than younger rats. These factors and cell types might be manipulated to improve liver cell transplantation strategies in patients with liver diseases in which activin A levels are increased.
Strain variation in response to lung ischemia: role of MMP-12

Background Systemic neovascularization of the lung during chronic ischemia has been observed in all mammals studied. However, the proteins that orchestrate the complex interaction of new vessel growth and tunneling through lung tissue matrix have not been described. Although previous work has demonstrated the CXC chemokines are essential growth factors in the process of angiogenesis in mice and rats, key matrix proteins have not been identified.
Conserving Forest Ecosystems: Guidelines for Size, Condition and Landscape Requirements

A forest ecosystem consists of thousands of species. Conserving forest biodiversity depends on protecting complete ecosystems that contain the full complement of their associated flora and fauna. Here I present an explicit framework and a set of guidelines for selecting and conserving forest sites as coarse-filters for forest biodiversity. The framework focuses on: 1) Size; defined as the area needed to accommodate natural dynamics and provide sufficient breeding area for multiple pairs of forest interior species, 2) Condition; defined as the quantity of biological legacies, and the amount of non-fragmented interior forest needed to ensure resilience, and 3) Landscape context; defined as the amount and configuration of managed forest cover to maintain regional scale properties, and to buffer and connect key reserve areas. I use a case study from the Northern Appalachians ecoregion to illustrate the development of quantitative thresholds and measurable goals for these characteristics.
Report from the Field: Left Media and Left Think Tanks — Foundation-Managed Protest?:

Left media and left think tank staff people generally deny that the acceptance by their organizations of grants from liberal foundations has transformed their organizational priorities, subjected t...
WHAM Observations of Hα from High-Velocity Clouds: Are They Galactic or Extragalactic?

It has been suggested that high-velocity clouds may be distributed throughout the Local Group and are therefore not in general associated with the Milky Way. With the aim of testing this hypothesis, we have made observations in the Hα line of high-velocity clouds selected as the most likely candidates for being at larger than average distances. We have found Hα emission from four out of five of the observed clouds, suggesting that the clouds under study are being illuminated by a Lyman continuum flux greater than that of the metagalactic ionizing radiation. Therefore, it appears likely that these clouds are in the Galactic halo and not distributed throughout the Local Group.
X-Ray Diffraction Study of Chalcopyrite ZnSnP2 Epitaxial Layers

We apply the technique of x-ray diffraction to the determination of the crystallographic structure and the quantitative measurement of the order parameter of ZnSnP2 epitaxial layers. In bulk, ZnSnP2 it is possible to obtain highly ordered distribution of Zn and Sn atoms in the cation sublattice, but epitaxial growth often produces partially ordered layers. The ordered and disordered phases correspond to the chalcopyrite and sphalerite structures and their respective band gaps are 1.66 and 1.24 eV. Since ZnSnP2 is almost lattice-matched to GaAs. it is interesting candidate for optoelectronic applications. Samples used in this work were grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs substrates. Slight variations in growth conditions could be induced to produce partially ordered and disordered structures. Chalcopyrite ordering is determined by the observation of several characteristic reflections identifying the lower symmetry of this structure. For example, reflections from (101), (217) and (611) planes, strictly forbidden for sphalerite, were measured. The quantitative determination of the order parameter could be made by comparing intensities of a carefully chosen set of measured and calculated reflections. We show that while kinematic approximation can be used to model weak superstructure reflections, in the calculation of the strong, low-angle, fundamental reflections used for intensity normalization it is necessary to take into account extinction effects. Order parameters varying from 0 to 30% were obtained.
Demographic Change and Parent-Child Relationships in Adulthood

Demographic changes in who becomes a parent, how many children parents have, and the marital statuses of parents and children affect the extent to which parents and adult children provide for each other later in life. We describe these demographic changes and their implications for the help parents and children give each other throughout their adult years. The changing demography of US families has increased both generations' need for family assistance among those already disadvantaged and has exacerbated differences between the socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged in the availability of kin support. Variations in the marital histories of parents and children also contribute to a divergence between mother-child and father-child relationships in later life. The churning of couple relationships in both generations blurs the boundaries between who is in the family and who is not, threatening the effectiveness of the family safety net among those who may need it the most.
Computer Automated Symbolic Modeling of Dynamics of Robotic Manipulators with Flexible Links

Dynamic equations of chain structured robotic manipulators with compliant links and joints are developed in a non-recursive symbolic form. A program is developed in REDUCE to automate the symbolic expansion of these equations for any given chain structured manipulator. The symbolic non-recursive form of dynamic model is particularly suitable for controller synthesis and real-time control implementations. The link flexibility is included in the formulation using assumed mode shapes. The mode shapes and the parameters that are functions of the mode shapes are kept in symbolic form so that once a symbolic model is generated, different types of mode shapes can be studied using the same model. Because of the structural similarity between the developed equations and the well known rigid manipulator equations, the computer automated symbolic expansion capability presented here are likely to be utilized widely by many other researchers in the area who are already familiar with rigid manipulator problems.
High-frequency scattering from a cylinder coated with a rarefied dielectric layer

An examination is presented of scattering from an infinitely long, perfectly conducting cylinder in which the cylinder is coated by a dielectric layer, the dielectric constant of which is less than that of the surrounding medium. Asymptotic formulas are developed for the high-frequency limit. There are three contributions to the scattered field: the geometrical optics contribution, the creeping wave, and a wave which travels in the dielectric layer. Detailed descriptions of the first two contributions have been given previously in the literature. The wave traveling in the coating is described in a way which makes calculation easier when the results are generalized to convex coated objects, the shapes of which do not permit an exact solution. The method described uses the concept of a fictitious source to simplify the calculations. The results are subject to the restriction that the difference in the dielectric constants is large, and the thickness of the coating is much less than the radius of the cylinder. It is shown that the method of description of the guided wave is in some sense complementary to previous work carried out in lateral wave propagation. >
Perioperative Management of Oral Anticoagulants: A Focus on Target-Specific Oral Anticoagulants

Although warfarin has historically been the dominant oral anticoagulant, newer target-specific oral anticoagulants (TSOACs) have been introduced in the marketplace in the past few years. Dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban, collectively referred to as TSOACs, have undergone extensive testing in comparison with warfarin and other anticoagulants for a variety of conditions. Compared with warfarin, the shorter time to peak effect, shorter half-life, and fewer drug-drug interactions have helped make the TSOACs attractive alternatives to warfarin for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic disease associated with orthopedic surgery and atrial fibrillation as well as for the treatment of venous thromboembolism. However, their unique properties pose a challenge for their management in the perioperative period. This article reviews the current guideline-based approach to perioperative management of anticoagulants, the clinical data, and the recommendations supporting use of the TSOACs in the perioperative period. The article also addresses common pitfalls in their perioperative management. By understanding a few key properties of the new oral anticoagulants and with careful perioperative planning, physicians can ensure that their patients will safely undergo most surgical procedures with minimal disruption of their chronic anticoagulation.
Transvenous Lead Extraction of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices: Who, When, How and Where?

The use of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) has greatly increased over the past 2 decades. In parallel, there has been a growing need for device and lead extraction. The subsequent development of tools, techniques, and standards for transvenous lead extraction (TLE) has improved both the safety and efficacy of these procedures. However, these remain complex interventions that require well trained personnel and a well-equipped facility with tools and strategies to deal with life-threatening complications, should they occur. In this condensed review, we discuss the topic of TLEs with an emphasis on the key elements including: a) qualifications of the primary operator; b) procedural indications and factors to account for in decision making, as well as the c) tools, and d) techniques for TLE: ‘‘The who, when, how and where?’’
Sorrell v. IMS Health: Details, Detailing, and the Death of Privacy

This article was written for a Symposium, jointly hosted by the University of New Hampshire School of Law and the Vermont Law School, exploring the implications of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in IMS Health v. Sorrell, 131 S. Ct. 2653 (2011). In particular, I consider here an important issue that was raised, discussed, but ultimately avoided in IMS Health: what restrictions does the First Amendment place on the government’s ability to limit or prohibit the disclosure of pure data, in order to protect personal privacy. The issue could be avoided in IMS Health because the specific Vermont statute at issue in that case did not, as it happens, impose a general restriction on data disclosure for privacy reasons, it rather only restricted specific uses of regulated data, in order to advance state interests quite distinct from privacy concerns. The broader question of data regulation, however, is lurking in the wings of this and other litigation, and is likely to pose difficult challenges for courts in coming years, as the spread of the Internet drives legislatures to adopt increasingly stringent privacy laws.While the IMS Health majority did not decide the data-disclosure issue posed in the case, it did address it in ways that strongly suggest the six justices in the majority would treat such disclosures as fully protected speech. Moreover, the analysis provided in this article demonstrates that the majority’s hints are fully justified by current Supreme Court doctrine. As currently interpreted by the Court, the First Amendment provides full constitutional protection to disclosures of even personal data, and so restrictions on such disclosures must survive strict scrutiny, a standard that has proven almost impossible to satisfy in the First Amendment context. As a consequence, under current law most statutes seeking to protect privacy by prohibiting data disclosure are likely to be invalidated.In the balance of the article, I suggest that this result reflects a serious weakness in current doctrine, which is the failure to recognize that factual speech is distinct from, and requires different constitutional analysis than, the sorts of political and cultural speech that have traditionally been the mainstay of First Amendment litigation. In particular, drawing on a number of areas of developed law, I argue that speech consisting purely of specific factual data regarding individuals should be considered to be fully protected under the First Amendment only if the speech meaningfully contributes to the process of democratic self-governance. Other data should remain protected, but under a lower standard of scrutiny, perhaps an intermediate standard incorporating an element of balancing. I also briefly explore how different kinds of privacy laws might fare under such an approach.
Multiaxial Fatigue of Preloaded Threaded Fasteners

This experimental study investigates the effect of cyclic multiaxial loading on the High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) life of preloaded threaded fasteners. A special fixture is used for orienting test bolts at different angles relative to the direction of the cyclic load applied by an MTS fatigue testing system. The orientation angle converts the external cyclic load to a combined cyclic axial and shear loading on test bolts. Test data is used for creating the S-N curves for various multiaxial load combinations. The effect of cyclic stress amplitude and mean stress level are investigated.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Monte Carlo simulation based scatter correction in 3D list-mode image reconstruction

We developed a Monte Carlo simulation based scatter correction method for 3D list-mode image reconstruction, and tested the method with Monte Carlo simulations. First, an emission image without scatter correction was reconstructed using MLEM. A transmission image was generated with the CT image. Then, based on the emission and transmission images, GATE was used to simulate coincidence events with their line-of responses (LORs) grouped according to their spatial positions (e.g. interaction positions or detector modules). The scatter ratio (scatter vs total coincidences) in each LOR group was calculated and stored in a scatter table. Finally, the scatter table was applied in a new image reconstruction to correct the scatter on the basis of each LOR group. The method was implemented in a simulated brain-size PET, with 300×300×100 mm3 FOV, 2×2×30 mm3 LYSO crystals, and 5 mm depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolution. Images of a 150×150×80 mm3 PMMA phantom inserted with three different radioisotope distributions were studied, including a point source array, a hot rod matrix, and a uniform source. We used detector module as the criteria to group LORs. With scatter correction, image resolution was almost the same as measured by point sources at different FOV positions; hot-rod sources showed visually improved image quality with reduced background noise; image SNR of the uniform source was not impacted. This method has been successfully implemented in the brain-size PET with improved image quality. It can be potentially applied to other list-mode 3D PET systems, with considering the accuracy and variation of scatter ratio in LOR grouping.
Constraints on the evolution of attractive traits: genetic (co)variance of zebra finch bill colour

We estimated the heritability and genetic correlation between male and female bill colour in a laboratory population of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) in order to examine the potential genetic constraints on the evolution of a sexually dimorphic trait. The heritability estimates of bill colour from regressions of offspring on single parents ranged from h2 = 0.34 to 0.73 and all but one of these estimates were significantly greater than zero. The restricted maximum likelihood heritability estimates for full- and half-siblings were significant for females (h2 = 0.48) but not significant for males (h2 = 0.45). The maximum likelihood estimates indicate that there is little dominance genetic variance for bill colour. The large genetic correlation between male and female bill colour (rg = 0.91) combined with opposing selection on male and female bill colour indicates that the evolution to sex-specific optima may proceed very slowly.
Interdependence of conformational and chemical reaction dynamics during ion assembly in polar solvents.

We have utilized time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy to study the interdependence of the conformational and chemical reaction dynamics of ion assembly in solution. We investigated the chemical interconversion dynamics of the LiNCS ion pair and the (LiNCS)2 ion-pair dimer, as well as the spectral diffusion dynamics of these ionic assemblies. For the strongly coordinating Lewis base solvents benzonitrile, dimethyl carbonate, and ethyl acetate, we observe Li+ coordination by both solvent molecules and NCS– anions, while the weak Lewis base solvent nitromethane shows no evidence for solvent coordination of Li+ ions. The strong interaction between the ion-pair dimer structure and the Lewis base solvents leads to ion-pair dimer solvation dynamics that proceed more slowly than the ion-pair dimer dissociation. We have attributed the slow spectral diffusion dynamics to electrostatic reorganization of the solvent molecules coordinated to the Li+ cations present in the ion-pair dimer structure and concluded that ...
Regioselectivity in the Homolytic Cleavage of S-Adenosylmethionine

The observed regioselectivity of the homolytic cleavage of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) by the radical SAM enzymes is modeled by free radical displacement reactions at sulfoxide centers. These displacements are also regioselective, in direct consequence of the reaction mechanism. The selectivity in the radical SAM reactions is explained by the geometry of the free radical displacement mechanism, required by the chemical reaction and arranged in the active site by the radical SAM proteins.
Environmental Concerns in India: Problems and Solutions

Although India has a rich and long history of environmental laws dating back to the 1970s, it still ranks very low on air and water pollution levels compared to the rest of the world resulting in. higher rates of infant mortality and lower life expectancy rates. Poor sanitation conditions and sewage problems compound the problem affecting the health of ordinary citizens in India. The reasons for this disconnect between enlightened environmental laws and high levels of pollution could be traced to lax enforcement of existing environmental laws, discrepancies in the environmental guidelines for businesses to follow between the central government and at the state levels, and the existence of a large number of SMEs who neither have the resources nor the technical skills to adhere to the existing environmental laws. Using extensive secondary research, this paper suggests a series of steps to help the country achieve safe air and water pollution levels resulting in improved health conditions for its citizens. The cornerstone of the prescription for improvements in the environment is a collaborative arrangement that brings together the various government agencies, the citizens, SMEs, large domestic companies, and NGOs to participate in a collaborative arrangement to educate, streamline effective policies, develop the necessary institutional infrastructure, and provide adequate funding for improving the environment.
Decision Support Systems and Management

The concept of decision support systems is not new. Managers have always used decision support systems of one type or another. To many managers it means asking a question, getting an answer, then using the newly found information to ask yet another question, get yet another answer, and so on until an issue or potential situation is clear enough in an executive’s mind for an informed decision to be made. To these managers, the advent of computer-based decision support systems (DSS) has meant primarily that they can now get answers to questions faster than they could manually. In other cases, computer-based DSSs have provided managers with decision-making opportunities which, for all practical purposes, were not available to them before. Without the help of a computer, these decision makers frequently were forced to give up in the middle of the decision process once they realized that insufficient information and decision tools were available.
Hemozoin detection may provide an inexpensive, sensitive, 1-minute malaria test that could revolutionize malaria screening

ABSTRACTMalaria remains widespread throughout the tropics and is a burden to the estimated 3.5 billion people who are exposed annually. The lack of a fast and accurate diagnostic method contributes to preventable malaria deaths and its continued transmission. In many areas diagnosis is made solely based on clinical presentation. Current methods for malaria diagnosis take more than 20 minutes from the time blood is drawn and are frequently inaccurate. The introduction of an accurate malaria diagnostic that can provide a result in less than 1 minute would allow for widespread screening and treatment of endemic populations, and enable regions that have gained a foothold against malaria to prevent its return. Using malaria parasites’ waste product, hemozoin, as a biomarker for the presence of malaria could be the tool needed to develop this rapid test.
The Role of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Cardiology Consultation

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has emerged as a powerful, multipurpose, noninvasive imaging modality of great value to cardiac consultants who are asked increasingly to evaluate increasingly complex cases of cardiac anatomy and pathophysiology. CMR, unlike other imaging modalities that require ionizing radiation, is extremely safe and suited for the evaluation of both congenital and acquired cardiac diseases. CMR is the gold standard for the evaluation of global systolic function, abnormal tissue characteristics, and myocardial viability. This chapter will review key fundamental principles in MR physics that form the basis of MR imaging followed by a brief discussion of image acquisition and signal processing that are unique for CMR. Basic CMR pulse sequences and common clinical applications of these sequences will be discussed including the use of flow/velocity encoding sequences in the quantitative analysis of flow and myocardial stress imaging. The chapter will also touch on the common roles of CMR in the assessment of restrictive, dilated, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, valvular heart disease, congestive heart failure, myocarditis, cardiac neoplasms, pericardial disease, and congenital heart disease. Technical and patient safety issues will also be reviewed. To date, CMR remains a relatively time-consuming and technically difficult imaging modality and is not commonly available. Future improvement in hardware and software as well as simplifying image post-processing will improve the availability of CMR and allow it to be performed on even more challenging patients.
JOURNAL CLUB: Longitudinal Qualitative Characterization of MRI Features After Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy in Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE. Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), a method for ablating brain tissue under real-time MR thermometry, has been used more frequently in recent years to treat nonmalignant lesions. The purpose of this study is to longitudinally characterize MRI features after LITT in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, primarily in the setting of mesial temporal sclerosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS. MR images from 23 consecutive patients who underwent LITT were retrospectively reviewed. All patients had images obtained immediately after the ablation. Multiple patients had follow-up imaging at various time points after treatment, from postoperative days 7 through 1539. A total of 54 MRI studies were reviewed. RESULTS. Immediately after LITT, MR images showed a ring-enhancing lesion at the ablation site with minimal surrounding edema. Seven images showed increased enhancement of the ipsilateral choroid plexus. Images in the subacute phase showed a mild increase in edema with similar enhancement. Images in th...
Review on the high temperature warpage measurement using shadow moiré

Recently, the members of Jedec committee tried to publish new warpage spec criteria for high temperature to reduce SMT quality issue (open/short) during the reflow on the purpose of the development and the qualification of a component. In order to verify the repeatability and reliability of warpage data with shadow moire, the study on high temperature warpage measurement was performed. From this study, it was found that the warpage could be changed by various measurement parameters such as ramp rate, sample preparation, setup condition even though the JEDEC (JESD22B112) and JEITA (ED-7306) specification was fully followed. Finally, in this paper, we tried to suggest the best known method considering key experimental factors which could affect the warpage in view point of high temperature warpage measurement.
Poliovirus immunizations. What goes around, comes around.

Poliovirus infection may be associated with varying clinical manifestations, from an asymptomatic state to the classical paralytic disease of poliomyelitis. 17,57 Long-term effects of the disease include persistent weakness and muscle atrophy and the late-occurring postpolio syndrome. Epidemics of paralytic disease in the Western world were a major scourge of the latter part of the first half of this century. The development of a formalin-inactivated vaccine led to extensive nationwide field trials in 1954 23 and the licensure of the vaccine the following year. A dramatic decline of paralytic poliomyelitis immediately followed. During the same period, work was progressing on the development of an oral, live attenuated vaccine, 52 which continued the reduction in disease following its licensure in 1962. Since the introduction of these vaccines in the Americas, the annual number of cases of poliomyelitis has significantly declined from more than 20,000 cases in 1952 to the complete eradication of wild-type disease, 57,67 of which the last cases were reported in 1979 in the United States and in 1991 in Peru. An international commission certified the Western hemisphere to be free of poliomyelitis in 1994. 34 At this point, poliovirus vaccines have so successfully prevented disease in developed countries that virtually all discussions regarding poliomyelitis relate to vaccines and vaccine public policies rather than the disease itself. Cases of paralytic polio, however, are still seen in industrialized countries associated with the use of the oral, live attenuated vaccine, but wild-type viruses are still found in much of the world. 22,32,53 As long as this is the case, immunization will have to be maintained until the ultimate goal of worldwide eradication is achieved. 22,32,45 It will not be easy to reach this objective, but with a global initiative to eradicate poliomyelitis worldwide and appropriate revision of current policies in the developed countries 51 to decrease vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP), it could be possible to eradicate all polio-related illness. Although polio vaccines are not new, recent changes in US Public Health Service Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations prompted inclusion of a poliovirus vaccine article in this volume.
Why is prone positioning so unpopular

Recent studies have shown acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) to be underdiagnosed and inadequately treated, as evidenced by underutilization of low-tidal volume ventilation. Despite a proven survival benefit in patients with severe ARDS, studies have also shown underutilization of prone positioning. Many questions persist as to the reasons for prone positioning’s unpopularity. Additional studies are required to uncover the causes of this prone positioning underutilization phenomenon.
Forced Federalism: Contemporary Challenges to Indigenous Nationhood, J. Corntassel, R.C. Witmer III. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK (2008), 251 pages

Throughout the history of the United States, federal policy towards indigenous nations has been characterized by particular policy eras. These eras have shifted at important historical junctures, o...
Exchange bias in bismuth ferrite/cobalt ferrite Janus nanofibers

Bismuth ferrite:cobalt ferrite (BiFeO3:CoFe2O4) nanofibers with tailorable exchange bias effects were synthesized utilizing a Janus type morphology, wherein both phases are coupled longitudinally along the length of each fiber. By varying the relative phase amounts of BiFeO3 and CoFe2O4 of the fibers, the interfacial area between the phases could be tuned and thereby the magnitude of exchange bias effects could also be tuned. Each BiFeO3:CoFe2O4 wt% fiber system exhibited characteristic exchange bias effects, specifically increased anisotropy and coercivity. HE, the magnitude of the shift in the center of the field cooled hysteresis loops, was found to have a direct relationship with interfacial area with a similar minimum for a 50 : 50 wt% sample and maximized as either phase weight percent was decreased.
van der Waals epitaxial ZnTe thin film on single-crystalline graphene

Graphene template has long been promoted as a promising host to support van der Waals flexible electronics. However, van der Waals epitaxial growth of conventional semiconductors in planar thin film form on transferred graphene sheets is challenging because the nucleation rate of film species on graphene is significantly low due to the passive surface of graphene. In this work, we demonstrate the epitaxy of zinc-blende ZnTe thin film on single-crystalline graphene supported by an amorphous glass substrate. Given the amorphous nature and no obvious remote epitaxy effect of the glass substrate, this study clearly proves the van der Waals epitaxy of a 3D semiconductor thin film on graphene. X-ray pole figure analysis reveals the existence of two ZnTe epitaxial orientational domains on graphene, a strong X-ray intensity observed from the ZnTe [ 1 ¯ 1 ¯2] ǁ graphene [10] orientation domain, and a weaker intensity from the ZnTe [ 1 ¯ 1 ¯2] ǁ graphene [11] orientation domain. Furthermore, this study systematical...
Fixing STEM Workforce and Teacher Shortages: How Goal Congruity Can Inform Individuals and Institutions:

As demands increase for individuals with expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), educational institutions and workplaces seek to identify strategies to recruit and re...
Hell and grace: Palimpsestic belonging in The True History of Paradise and Crossing the Mangrove:

The Caribbean has been characterized as paradise, yet the region’s story is a more complicated one. A means of accessing stories that move beyond the tourist brochure representations is to engage w...
Kohut's Self Psychology and Theory of Narcissism: Some Implications regarding the Fall and Restoration of Humanity:

Kohut's contributions toward the understanding of narcissistic development are briefly reviewed, then cast into a mode of theological inquiry that delineates his anthropology and soteriology, utili...
Multi modal pose fusion for monocular flight with unmanned aerial vehicles

Pose estimation using a monocular camera is an area of active research in visual inertial unmanned aerial vehicles. Some of the common methods involve fusing pose from two sources using a kalman filter or a lie algebraic representation for solving the global motion constraints. Some systems even couple inertial systems (IMU) with the visual pose estimation from the camera for robust pose estimation. This work extends the idea of a tightly coupled visual inertial system to a photometric error based method of semi dense visual odometry. The estimated pose from the camera is prone to error spikes due to loss in tracking keyframes. With extensive experimentation we prove that our visual inertial system for semi dense visual odometry is better than using visual odometry alone. We also show robustness of our method and compare our performance to the existing state of the art tightly coupled visual inertial systems that exist in an outdoor environment.
Blood Bank Problems in Trauma Management

Blood bank problems arise in the management of trauma at three levels: (1) those related specifically to trauma to blood or trauma to the hemopoietic system or both, (2) those related to trauma to an individual patient, and (3) those related to trauma to many persons within the community.
In-Process Radiography of ARC Weld

In-process nondestructive evaluation of welds is of major importance for automated weld processing. Real-time evaluation of defect formation makes possible on-line rewelding and adjustment of process parameters. Measurements of physical parameters related to weld quality may also give information important for understanding the weld process and for improvements of weld quality. In this study we implement industrial radiography for real-time weld process monitoring and testing. X-ray penetrating radiation is used for volume observation in the welding pool and the heat-affected zone during the weld process. The advantages of such a technique are on-line testing of defect formation in the weld and the study of metal fusion and filler metal-base metal interaction, metal transfer and mass flow in the welding pool. This technique may also be used for post-service real-time remote testing of weld quality. By integrating automatic nondestructive inspection with an automatic process control system, unified manufacturing control and testing procedures can be developed. In this unit approach, the nondestructive system may be included as a part of the sensing system in the feedback loop of the process control. Research and development of such general concepts for remote weld process control using real-time radiography as a vision system was initiated in our laboratory under the sponsorship of the Edison Welding Institute.
Microemulsions and Their Precursors

Amphiphiles are generally defined with reference to water. An amphiphilic molecule possesses a hydrophilic (water soluble) moiety and a hydrophobic (water insoluble) moiety separable by a mathematical surface. In this paper the only hydrophobic moieties considered are those composed of hydrocarbon chains (as opposed, for example, to fluorocarbon chains). According to IUPAC [1], surfactants are substances which lower the surface tension of the medium in which they are dissolved and/or the interfacial tension with other phases. This definition is too broad as it would include substances such as benzene which lower the surface tension when dissolved in water but have none of the other properties expected of a surfactant. A generally accepted restriction of the definition is that surfactant molecules must be amphiphilic [2–4]. We adopt this restriction and, furthermore, share the view of Laughlin [5] that those properties associated with surfactancy (e.g., detergency, co-solubilization of oil and water, emulsification, foaming, and the like) are not common to all amphiphiles. He reserves the term “surfactant” for molecules which form association colloids such as micelles and liquid crystals. Thus, amphiphiles such as long-chained fatty acid salts (soaps), sodium alkyl sulfates and sodium alkyl sulfonates (detergents), and lecithins are clearly surfactants, whereas monohydric straight-chained alcohols and amines are mere amphiphiles. A special property of the association colloids formed by amphiphiles is that the amphiphiles associate into monolayer or sheet-like structures with the water soluble moieties on one side of the sheet and the water insoluble moieties on the other side (a bilayer is a pair of opposed monolayers). In the spirit of Laughlin, we define surfactants as amphiphiles which form association colloids distinguished by sheet-like surfactant microstructure.
Sequential Mitigation Solutions to Enable Distributed PV Grid Integration

This paper presents a method to assess the technical impacts of a series of distribution system mitigations for integrating increasing penetrations of distributed generation from solar photovoltaics (DGPV). Solutions considered include distribution grid upgrades and advanced control technologies. This study helps pave the way to estimate the distribution integration costs needed to reach various PV penetration levels. The approach uses three stream-lined, bounding scenarios for increased PV penetration patterns. It begins by studying the distribution impact of PV power and quantifying the PV hosting capacity. Then, it studies multiple mitigation solutions to increase PV penetration on distribution feeders. These mitigation solutions are implemented in a sequential manner according to their typical costs. The proposed technique is demonstrated on two representative distribution feeders.
Six weeks of oral Echinacea purpurea supplementation does not enhance the production of serum erythropoietin or erythropoietic status in recreationally active males with above average aerobic fitness

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 6 weeks of oral Echinacea purpurea supplementation on serum erythropoietin (EPO) and erythropoietic status. Twenty-four males (mean ± SE; ...
Tuning Free Rank-Sparse Bayesian Matrix and Tensor Completion with Global-Local Priors

Matrix and tensor completion are frameworks for a wide range of problems, including collaborative filtering, missing data, and image reconstruction. Missing entries are estimated by leveraging an assumption that the matrix or tensor is low-rank. Most existing Bayesian techniques encourage rank-sparsity by modelling factorized matrices and tensors with Normal-Gamma priors. However, the Horseshoe prior and other "global-local" formulations provide tuning-parameter-free solutions which may better achieve simultaneous rank-sparsity and missing-value recovery. We find these global-local priors outperform commonly used alternatives in simulations and in a collaborative filtering task predicting board game ratings.
Organizing a Rainbow Coalition of Revolutionary Solidarity

This article considers the possibilities and limitations of multiracial alliances and antiracist organizing in and beyond the USA by analyzing the Rainbow Coalition of Revolutionary Solidarity in Chicago from 1969 to 1972. The article argues this coalition—involving the Black Panther Party, Young Lords, and Young Patriots, among other diverse organizations—demonstrated a powerful model of organizing across race for revolutionary social change, which structured self-determination in communities-of-color alongside white communities’ responsibility for ending white supremacy.