cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Capecitabine versus 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer: where are we now?

Fluorouracil (5-FU) remains the most widely used agent for colorectal cancer. Capecitabine is a rationally designed 5-FU pro-drug developed to mimic the continuous infusion of 5-FU while avoiding complications and inconvenience of intravenous administration. Capecitabine is absorbed intact from the gastrointestinal tract, converted enzymatically to active 5-FU, and released directly into the tumor. Capecitabine’s efficacy and safety are shown in multiple phase III trials across different disease stages and therapy lines. Three randomized phase III trials demonstrated the equivalence of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (XELOX) versus 5-FU/leucovorin (LV)/oxaliplatin (FOLFOX). The safety of capecitabine compared with 5-FU depends on the regimen of 5-FU used. The adverse event rate with oxaliplatin in combination with infusional 5-FU is similar to that of capecitabine plus oxaliplatin but is associated with more neutropenia and venous thrombotic events; capecitabine plus oxaliplatin-based regimens tend to be associated with more grade 3 diarrhea and hand-foot skin reaction. Combination therapy with capecitabine and irinotecan (CapeIRI) versus 5-FU/LV and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) had more variable results; some former schedules resulted in excessive treatment-related toxicity. More recent data show that lower capecitabine and irinotecan doses, different schedules, and combination with targeted agents (e.g, bevacizumab) have resulted in more favorable outcomes.
Providers' Reported and Actual Use of Coaching Strategies in Natural Environments.

This case study examined the agreement between reported and actual use of coaching strategies based on home visit data collected on a diverse sample of providers and families. Paired videotape and ...
Juvenile Spermatogonial Depletion (jsd) Mutant Seminiferous Tubules Are Capable of Supporting Transplanted Spermatogenesis

In mice, the juvenile spermatogonial depletion (jsd) mutation results in a single wave of spermatogenesis followed by failure of type A spermatogonial stem cells to repopulate the testis, rendering male animals sterile. It is not clear whether the defect in jsd resides in a failure of the somatic component to support spermatogenesis or in a failure that is intrinsic to the mutant’s germ cells. To determine if the jsd intratesticular environment is capable of supporting spermatogenesis, germ cell transplantation experiments were performed in which C57BL/6 ROSA germ cells were transplanted into jsd recipients. To determine if jsd spermatogonia are able to develop in a permissive seminiferous environment, jsd germ cells were transplanted into W/W v and busulfan-treated C57BL/6 animals. The data demonstrate that up to 7 mo after transplantation of normal germ cells, jsd seminiferous tubules are capable of supporting spermatogenesis. In contrast, when jsd germ cells were transplanted into busulfantreated C57BL/6 testis, or into testis of W/W v mice, no jsd-derived spermatogenesis was observed. The data support the hypothesis that the jsd phenotype is due to a defect in the germ cells themselves, and not in the intratubular environment. gametogenesis, processes, spermatogenesis, testes
Linear precoding for MIMO channels with non-zero mean and transmit correlation in orthogonal space-time coded systems

We study the problem of exploiting MIMO wireless transmitter channel knowledge in the form of the channel mean and transmit correlation from a coding perspective. A linear channel precoder is designed to capture the channel information, which is used in concatenation with an orthogonal space-time block code. Based on the pair-wise error probability criterion, the optimal precoding matrix is derived analytically. Depending on the channel mean and correlation, and the SNR, the solution may require mode-dropping, which resembles the water-filling principle. The difference is that both the "water level" and the mode directions change with each water-fill iteration, hence it is termed dynamic water-filling. Efficient binary search algorithms are proposed to carry out the dynamic water-filling process in solving for the optimal precoder. Numerical examples show that significant gain can be obtained using this linear channel precoder.
A Comparison of Craft Use and Academic Preparation in Craft Modalities

The purpose of this study was to compare the use of crafts in psychiatric occupational therapy practice with the actual craft-related training received by occupational therapy students. Two questionnaires were developed, one related to the crafts used in clinical practice, the other related to the amount and type of craft training received in educational programs. One thousand occupational therapists who work in psychiatry and 139 accredited and developing educational programs were asked to complete the questionnaire appropriate to their setting. The final analysis involved 121 educational programs (87% response rate) and 384 clinical programs (38% response rate). The results suggest that there may be substantial differences between craft-related training and actual clinical use of crafts. The findings imply that educational programs must reevaluate the types of crafts taught and the method by which they are integrated into the total curriculum. Implications for the profession include the need to clarify the role of crafts as a therapeutic modality and to reflect on the future direction of the profession.
After the Bell: Participation in Extracurricular Activities, Classroom Behavior, and Academic Achievement

Prior research has not examined how much of the socioeconomic status (SES) advantage on schooling outcomes is related to participation in extracurricular activities. The authors explore the SES advantage and extracurricular participation in elementary school–aged children, with a focus on noncognitive skills. The authors argue that noncognitive skills mediate the influence of SES and extracurricular activities on academic skills. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Class of 1998–99, theauthors find that extracurricular participation explains a modest portion of the SES advantage in noncognitive and cognitive skills. In addition, the influence of extracurricular participation on both noncognitive and cognitive skills varies by children’s SES.
Landscape Scale Correlates of Fox Squirrel Presence on Golf Courses in Coastal South Carolina

The coastal plain of the southeastern United States has experienced rapid and intense urbanization that has substantially changed the area's landscape. Much of this landscape change has been associated with the development of golf courses and associated communities, and cumulatively, these landscape units occupy thousands of hectares in the region. The opportunity for these golf courses to support native wildlife requires examination as these habitats are becoming more common and often represent some of the largest tracts of remaining open space within an area. Although declining throughout the southeastern US, Sciurus niger (Fox Squirrel) popula- tions are still found on golf courses in this region. We investigated the relationship between Fox Squirrel presence and landscape characteristics on 98 golf courses in coastal South Carolina. Visual and telephone surveys indicated Fox Squirrels were present on 68 of the courses surveyed. The best predictor of Fox Squirrel presence on a course was the presence of a Fox Squirrel population on the nearest neighbor- ing course. The probability of Fox Squirrels being present on a course if they were also present on the nearest neighboring course was 87.3%. Course age was the best predictor of Fox Squirrel presence on golf courses without a Fox Squirrel population on their nearest neighboring course. Our results suggest that regional Fox Squirrel populations may be stabilized by multi-patch population dynamics.
Pre-assembled clusters distort crystal nucleation kinetics in supersaturated lysozyme solutions

Efficient determination of three-dimensional protein structures is critical for unraveling structure-function relationships and for supporting targeted drug design. A major impediment to these efforts is our lack of control over the nucleation and growth of high-quality protein crystals for X-ray structure determinations. While basic research on protein crystal growth mechanisms has provided valuable new insights, studies of crystal nucleation have been plagued by inconsistent and outright contradictory results. Using dynamic light scattering and SDS gel electrophoresis, we have investigated possible causes of these inconsistencies. We find that commercial sources of lyophilized hen-egg white lysozyme (HEWL) used in nucleation studies contain significant populations of large (approximately 100 nm), pre-assembled lysozyme clusters that can readily evade standard assays of sample purity. In supersaturated solutions, these clusters act as heterogeneous nucleation centers that enhance the rate of crystal nucleation and significantly deteriorate the quality of macroscopic crystals.
Commuter Choice Benefits Calculator: Web-Based Tool for Estimating Costs and Benefits of Commuter Programs

In the transportation community, there is a real need for information and materials that will help to promote commuter benefits to employers. There is increasing recognition that these programs can offer real financial savings to employers, benefits to employees, and traffic and air quality benefits to communities. The commuter choice benefits calculator helps employers understand the costs and benefits of implementing a commuter benefits program. The calculator is designed to be simple and quick to use, requiring the user to input a modest amount of information, with defaults and ranges available for many data elements, based on studies of commuter benefits programs, to maximize ease of use. For employers, the calculator estimates costs, direct financial savings (savings realized immediately, such as tax savings), and potential financial savings (savings that require additional actions to realize, such as parking cost savings and office space cost savings). For employees, the calculator computes savings ...
A liquid-metal reconfigurable double-stub tuner

A liquid-metal reconfigurable double-stub tuner is presented. The double-stub tuner consists of two fluidic channels whose stub lengths L 1 and L 2 can be tuned with Galinstan liquid metal using pressure-driven flow. The measured input impedance of this tuner shows wide Smith Chart coverage.
A generalized urn scheme for simple learning with a continuum of responses

Abstract A generalization of the classical urn scheme is suggested for the case of simple learning with a continuum of responses. The behavior of the new model under simple noncontingent and simple contingent reinforcement is analyzed. Sufficient conditions for ergodic behavior in the case of contingent reinforcement are developed. The paper concludes with an empirical comparison of the linear model and the correlated urn scheme.
Infants' Intermodal Perception of Events

Abstract Four-month-old infants viewed two sound motion picture films of simple, natural events. The films were projected side by side, as one of the two sound tracks was played through a centrally placed speaker. Infants' visual attention to the films was consistently influenced by what they heard: They looked primarily at the event specified by the sound track. The experiment demonstrates that infants are able to perceive relations between sights and sounds in the absence of spatial cues. They respond to a perceived intermodal invariance with increased attention to the event reaching them over two modalities.
The Great Equalizer: Health Care Access and Infant Mortality in Thailand

This paper analyzes Thailand's 2001 healthcare reform, "30 Baht". The program increased funding available to hospitals to care for the poor and reduced copays to 30 Baht (~$0.75). Our estimates suggest the supply-side funding of the program increased healthcare utilization, especially amongst the poor. Moreover, we find significant impacts on infant mortality: prior to 30 Baht poorer provinces had significantly higher infant mortality rates than richer provinces. After 30 Baht this correlation evaporates to zero. The results suggest that increased access to healthcare among the poor can significantly reduce their infant mortality rates.
Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back From Negative Emotional Experiences.

Theory indicates that resilient individuals “bounce back” from stressful experiences quickly and effectively. Few studies, however, have provided empirical evidence for this theory. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions (B. L. Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) is used as a framework for understanding psychological resilience. The authors used a multimethod approach in 3 studies to predict that resilient people use positive emotions to rebound from, and find positive meaning in, stressful encounters. Mediational analyses revealed that the experience of positive emotions contributed, in part, to participants’ abilities to achieve efficient emotion regulation, demonstrated by accelerated cardiovascular recovery from negative emotional arousal (Studies 1 and 2) and by finding positive meaning in negative circumstances (Study 3). Implications for research on resilience and positive emotions are discussed.
Re-conceptualising prenatal life stressors in predicting post-partum depression: cumulative-, specific-, and domain-specific approaches to calculating risk.

Background Prenatal life stress predicts post-partum depression (PPD); however, studies generally examine individual stressors (a specific approach) or the summation of such exposure (a cumulative approach) and their associations with PPD. Such approaches may oversimplify prenatal life stress as a risk factor for PPD. We evaluated approaches in assessing prenatal life stress as a predictor of PPD diagnosis, including a domain-specific approach that captures cumulative life stress while accounting for stress across different life stress domains: financial, relational, and physical health. Methods The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, a population-based survey, was used to analyse the association of prenatal life stressors with PPD diagnoses among 3566 New York City post-partum women. Results Specific stressors were not associated with PPD diagnosis after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Exposure to a greater number of stressors was associated with PPD diagnosis, even after adjusting for both sociodemographic variables and specific stressors [odds ratio (OR) = 3.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.5, 6.7]. Individuals reporting a moderate-to-high number of financial problems along with a moderate-to-high number of physical problems were at greater odds of PPD (OR = 4.2, 95% CI = 1.2, 15.3); those with a moderate-to-high number of problems in all three domains were at over fivefold increased odds of PPD (OR = 5.5, CI = 1.1, 28.5). Conclusions In assessing prenatal stress, clinicians should consider the extent to which stressors occur across different life domains; this association appears stronger with PPD diagnosis than simple assessments of individual stressors, which typically overestimate risk or cumulative exposures.
Pancreatic beta cell mass PET imaging and quantification with [11C]DTBZ and [18F]FP-(+)-DTBZ in rodent models of diabetes

Purpose The aim of this study is to compare the utility of two positron emission tomography (PET) imaging ligands ((+)-[11C]dihydrotetrabenazine ([11C]DTBZ) and the fluoropropyl analog ([18F]FP-(+)-DTBZ)) that target islet β-cell vesicular monoamine transporter type II to measure pancreatic β-cell mass (BCM).
Evaluations of Self and Others: Self-Enhancement Biases in Social Judgments

Three investigations are reported that examined the relation between self-appraisals and appraisals of others. In Experiment 1, subjects rated a series of valenced trait adjectives according to how well the traits described the self and others. Individuals displayed a pronounced “self-other bias,” such that positive attributes were rated as more descriptive of self than of others, whereas negative attributes were rated as less descriptive of self than of others. Furthermore, in contrast to C. R. Rogers's (1951) assertion that high self-esteem is associated with a comparable regard for others, the tendency for individuals to evaluate the self in more favorable terms than they evaluated people in general was particularly pronounced among those with high self-esteem. These findings were replicated and extended in Experiment 2, where it also was found that self-evaluations were more favorable than were evaluations of a friend and that individuals with high self-esteem were most likely to appraise their friend...
III–V: Replacing Si or more than Moore?

Frequency scaling is coming to an end because of thermal limits as shown in Fig. 1. As an alternative nFET channel material, III–V compound semiconductor has been under intensive investigation in the recent years, hope to provide higher performance and lower power devices. In this paper, we review the status of current III–V research, and discuss the challenges and opportunities for “Moore” and “more than Moore” applications.
Brachytherapy: Update and results

Prostate cancer is the most common noncutaneous malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer mortality in American men. Treatment options for these patients include radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, and prostate brachytherapy. Patients with clinically and radiographically localized disease, especially young patients with few comorbid illnesses, are good candidates for prostate brachytherapy. Prostate brachytherapy has gained widespread acceptance throughout the past two decades and data from several large series of patients are now available. This article describes current techniques, treatment issues, and clinical results of permanent seed implants.
Negotiating from the Inside Constructing Racial and Ethnic Identity in Qualitative Research

This article provides a critical analysis of the role of the “insider” researcher in qualitative fieldwork in race and ethnicity. The analysis is based on research conducted on the construction of racial and ethnic identity in the Cape Verdean American community of southeastern New England. Reflections are presented on the various ways that the researcher's status as an “insider” was evaluated and negotiated during fieldwork. It is suggested that these negotiations reveal the manner in which group members define the boundaries of the group, the attributes they associate with it, and the meaning of the group itself. This interpretation of insider status, as involving complex and ongoing definitions and negotiations of group membership, highlights the way that researchers and participants are simultaneously engaged in the construction of race and ethnicity.
CcpA-dependent and -independent control of beta-galactosidase expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae occurs via regulation of an upstream phosphotransferase system-encoding operon.

A spontaneous mutant of Streptococcus pneumoniae strain D39 exhibiting elevated β-galactosidase activity was identified. We determined that the β-galactosidase activity was due to BgaA, a surface protein in S. pneumoniae, and that the expression of bgaA was regulated. Transcription analyses demonstrated expression of bgaA in the constitutive β-galactosidase (BgaAC) mutant, but not in the parent. β-Galactosidase expression was induced in the parent under specific growth conditions; however, the levels did not reach those of the BgaAC mutant. We localized the mutation resulting in the BgaAC phenotype to a region upstream of bgaA and in the promoter of a phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS) operon. The mutation was in a catabolite-responsive element (cre) and affected the binding of CcpA (catabolite control protein A), a key regulator of many carbon metabolism genes. The pts operon and bgaA were cotranscribed, and their transcription was regulated by CcpA. Deletion of ccpA altered β-galactosidase activity, leading to a sevenfold increase in the parent but a fivefold decrease in the BgaAC mutant. The resulting β-galactosidase activities were the same in the two strains, suggesting the presence of a second repressor. The presence of glucose in the growth medium resulted in pts-bgaA repression by both CcpA and the second repressor, with the latter being important in responding to the glucose concentration. Expression of β-galactosidase is important for S. pneumoniae adherence during colonization of the nasopharynx, a site normally devoid of glucose. CcpA and environmental glucose concentrations thus appear to play important roles in the regulation of a niche-specific virulence factor.
Dyamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) pharmacodynamic (PD) study of sorafenib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC): Results of a randomized, phase II trial

3545 Background: SOR is an antiangiogenic drug for metastatic RCC. We conducted a randomized, dose ranging trial to investigate if DCE-MRI is a PD marker for SOR. Methods: Patients (pts) were rando...
Role of GaAs bounding layers in improving OMVPE growth and performance of strained-layer InGaAs/AlGaAs

In the growth of organometallic vapor phase epitaxy of InGaAs/AIGaAs single-quan-tum-well heterostructures for strained-layer diode lasers, the growth temperature is 100 to 200° C lower for the InGaAs quantum-well layer than for the AlGaAs cladding layers. Earlier studies showed that laser performance is greatly improved by sandwiching the InGaAs layer between lower and upper GaAs bounding layers that are grown during the times before and after InGaAs growth when the substrate temperature is decreased and increased, respectively. In this investigation, it has been found that laser performance is influenced mainly by the upper bounding layer rather than the lower one. By using Auger analysis in combination with Ar-ion sputtering to determine the composition depth profile of In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs test structures layer without AlGaAs layers, it has been shown that the role of the upper bounding layer is to prevent the evaporation of In from the InGaAs quantum-well layer during the interval before the deposition of the upper AlGaAs cladding layer.
Antibiotic Reservoir Injection Reduces Shunt Infection in Adults.

Background Shunt infections are a major complication following ventricular shunts in adults that lead to increased heath care costs, patient morbidity, and mortality. Methods to decrease shunt infection include antibiotic-impregnated catheters, protocol-based surgery, and shunt reservoir antibiotic injection. Methods An Institutional Review Board–approved retrospective review was performed for all adult shunt surgeries performed from January 2000 to September 2013 at a single academic institution. Records were cross-indexed with hospital billing records to identify patients who received antibiotic injections and cross-referenced with a prospective infection control database of all surgical site infections. The primary outcome measure was shunt infection within 1 year of surgery. Results Five-hundred thirteen adult patients met inclusion criteria. Antibiotic reservoir injection was associated with a significantly lower rate of infection (2.6%) when compared with no injection (6.3%, P = 0.0455). The antibiotic injection group also included significantly more patients with infection risk factors than the control group (38.8% vs. 18.0%, P Conclusion Antibiotic reservoir injection is an effective method of reducing shunt infections in adults when combined with standard infection control measures.
The gora and the 'grand' gom-gom

For three centuries the interest of travellers and scholars alike has been aroused by the gora, an unbraced mouth-resonated musical bow peculiar to South Africa, because it is organologically unusual in that it is a blown chordophone. A split quill is attached to the bowstring at one end of the instrument. The string is passed through a hole in one end of the quill and secured; the other end of the quill is then bound or pegged to the stave. The string is lashed to the other end of the stave so that it may be tightened or loosened at will. The player holds the quill lightly between his parted lips, and, by inhaling and exhaling forcefully, causes the quill (and with it the string) to vibrate. Of all the early descriptions of the gora, that of Peter Kolb, a German astronomer who resided at the Cape of Good Hope from 1705 to 1713, has been the most contentious. Not only did his character and his publication in general come under attack, but also his account of Khoikhoi musical bows in particular. Kolb’s text indicates that two types of musical bow were observed, to both of which he applied the name gom-gom. As the ‘lesser’ gom-gom is in fact the gora, the two types of bow may be distinguished conveniently by referring to them as the gora and the ‘grand’ gom-gom respectively.
Functional angiocoupling between follicles and adjacent corpus luteum in heifers

In single ovulating cattle, ipsilateral versus contralateral interovarian relationships refer to a dominant follicle (DF) and CL in the same versus opposite ovaries. The ipsilateral relationship consists of the DF-CL and the devoid (no DF or CL) intraovarian pattern, and the contralateral relationship consists of the DF pattern and the CL pattern. The DF-CL pattern involves positive effects on both the DF and CL when adjacent (≤3-mm apart) versus separated as follows: greater diameter of DF (e.g., 10.5 ± 0.4 vs. 9.0 ± 0.4 mm), greater percentage of the DF wall with color Doppler signals of blood flow (40.2% ± 2.0% vs. 24.5% ± 1.9%), greater cross-sectional area of the CL (2.2 ± 0.1 vs. 1.8 ± 0.2 cm(2)), and greater percentage of the entire CL with blood flow signals (51.8% ± 1.2% vs. 42.5% ± 3.1%). Additional examples of positive coupling are (1) future DF on Day 0 (day of ovulation) is closer to the CL than the future largest subordinate and (2) diameter of growing follicles on Day 0 and the growth rate on Days 0 to 2 are greater for follicles that are adjacent than separated from the CL. An example of a negative intraovarian effect is decreasing diameter and loss of future DF status of a largest follicle when adjacent to a regressing CL. The impact of the continuity of ovarian angioarchitecture during the periovulatory follicular wave was exemplified in 17 of 18 waves by conversion of an ovary with only the preovulatory follicle to the postovulatory DF-CL pattern. Functional angiocoupling from commonality in angioarchitecture of the DF and adjacent CL would account for both the positive two-way coupling between DF and CL during the luteal phase and the negative effect of a regressing CL on an adjacent follicle during luteolysis.
Titration of nonstabilized diazoalkane solutions by fluorine NMR.

A new protocol for titrating nonstabilized diazoalkane solutions by quantitative 19F NMR is reported. An excess of 2-fluorobenzoic acid dissolved in CDCl3 is treated with the diazoalkane solution at a low temperature, immediately forming the corresponding 2-fluorobenzoate ester upon warming. A significant difference in the 19F chemical shift between the ester and acid is seen, allowing facile and accurate integration to determine titer. The procedure is safe, rapid, and indicates the active diazoalkane concentration with high precision.
Development of resistance to erythrosin B in the house fly (Diptera: Muscidae).

Resistance to erythrosin B was induced by feeding successive generations of adult house flies with increasing molar concentrations of the dye before a light exposure period. After 32 generations of selection pressure, a 48-fold level of resistance was recorded. Upon removal of selection pressure after 20 generations, the level of resistance remained nearly constant. This constancy suggests that resistance to erythrosin B is relatively stable. Reciprocal crosses show that erythrosm B resistance is inherited as a codominant character and that sex linkage is not involved.
Magnetic Structure of β − CoS O 4

Recently the present authors reported the antiferromagnetic structure of CoS${\mathrm{O}}_{4}$, and a qualitative explanation was offered for the susceptibility and field-induced transition measurements of Borovik-Romanov and Kreines. It was assumed that the latter were made on the modification which is stable at ordinary temperatures. Subsequent study of a paper by Kreines, however, indicated that the single crystals used for these measurements were of the high-temperature modification (stable above 600\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C). The present paper describes the determination of the antiferromagnetic structure of this modification. There are four different (but symmetry related) spin directions in a magnetic cell of the same size as the chemical unit cell. The observed moment per ${\mathrm{Co}}^{2+}$ ion is found to be $(3.22\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.32){\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$. While the structure accounts for the observation that none of the principal susceptibilities approaches zero at 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K, in other respects the structure is rather different from what one might expect from the magnetic measurements.
Synergetic Phonon–Spin–Charge Mechanism of High-Temperature Superconductivity

For a long time the majority opinion in the field of high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) has been that it is purely an electronic phenomenon involving spin, and could be explained by a t–J Hamiltonian. Phonons and local distortion were regarded as irrelevant or harmful to HTSC. However, various experimental results indicate strong phonon involvement and ubiquitous presence of local spin–charge–lattice inhomogeneity. We suggest that the electron–phonon (e–p) coupling in the cuprate is unconventional, and a synergetic coupling of spin, charge, and phonon could explain the HTSC phenomenon. In our view the spin–charge–lattice inhomogeneity is a signature of such a coupling and an important component of the HTSC mechanism.
Nonnegative matrix factorization-based frequency lowering technology for Mandarin-speaking hearing aid users

Frequency lowering technologies have demonstrated effectiveness in English speech recognition for English-speaking people with high-frequency hearing loss. Their effect on Mandarin speech has not been well investigated. This paper serves two important purposes: it 1) examines the effect of frequency transposition (FT), a category of frequency lowering technologies, on Mandarin speech recognition, and 2) proposes a dictionary-based FT framework based on nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) that is transferable across languages. Our results show that the proposed NMF-FT improves Mandarin consonant identification as compared to the traditional FT, with particularly significant improvements in affricates and fricatives.
Colonic migrating and nonmigrating motor complexes in dogs

We report here the characteristics of a cyclic motor activity in the colon of conscious dogs and its relationship to small intestinal migrating motor complexes (MMCs). The colonic motor activity was recorded by four equispaced strain gauges and small intestinal myoelectric activity by four equispaced bipolar electrodes. The colonic motor activity was characterized by rhythmic bursts of contractions. The mean durations of bursts of contractions varied from 7.0 to 11.5 min at the four colonic recording sites. Those bursts of contractions which migrated over at least three recording sites were called colonic migrating motor complexes (CMMCs). All other patterns of bursts of contractions were called colonic nonmigrating motor complexes (CNMCs). A total of 160 CMMCs were recorded during a total recording period of 132 h; 151 CMMCs migrated caudad and 9 orad. The mean period of caudad migrating CMMCs was 53.3 +/- 5.4 (SE) min, and their mean migration time was 11.3 +/- 1.2 (SE) min. The onset of CMMCs was not temporally related to the onset of small intestinal migrating myoelectric complexes in the duodenum or their arrival in the terminal ileum. CMMCs did not have phases I to IV like those of small intestinal MMCs, but two consecutive CMMCs were separated by a quiescent state or by one or more randomly occurring bursts of contractions (CNMCs).
Anatomy and Surgical Procedures for Renal and Pancreas Transplantations

The field of renal transplantation has undergone major advancements with regard to organ selection, preservation, and allocation; patient selection; and short- and long-term immunosuppressive management. However, despite these strides, the procedure of renal allograft implantation has remained relatively unchanged for the past 40 years. Cadaveric whole-organ pancreas transplantation is done as part of a simultaneous pancreas/kidney transplant, after kidney transplantation (pancreas after previous successful cadaveric or living-donor renal transplant), or as a sole procedure.
Model Calibration with Big Data

The aim of this paper is to address computational efficiency in model calibration in the presence of big data. Model calibration refers to the adjustment of model parameters so that the model output matches well with the observation data. Improvement of sensing technology makes large volume data available, which challenges the capability of current Bayesian calibration techniques, especially when model runs are expensive. Often researchers have used reduced-order models or surrogate models in calibration to save the computational cost; however, this leads to loss of accuracy. This paper applies the MapReduce technique to parallelize the model calibration, in order to make the computation more efficient without lowering the accuracy.
Complications of anticoagulant therapy in patients with brain metastases.

2078Background: Anticoagulation has long been viewed as carrying excessive risk of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in patients with brain metastases. However the data evaluating the exact incidence o...
Triggering Change: An Investigation of the Logics of Turnaround Leadership

Principals are positioned at the center of school improvement. In the United States, current turnaround reforms target the principalship as a key lever for change. This article uses institutional t...
A randomized feasibility pilot trial of hearing treatment for reducing cognitive decline: Results from the Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders Pilot Study.

Abstract Introduction Hearing loss (HL) is prevalent and independently related to cognitive decline and dementia. There has never been a randomized trial to test if HL treatment could reduce cognitive decline in older adults. Methods A 40-person (aged 70–84 years) pilot study in Washington County, MD, was conducted. Participants were randomized 1:1 to a best practices hearing or successful aging intervention and followed for 6 months. clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02412254 . Results The Aging and Cognitive Health Evaluation in Elders Pilot (ACHIEVE-P) Study demonstrated feasibility in recruitment, retention, and implementation of interventions with no treatment-related adverse events. A clear efficacy signal of the hearing intervention was observed in perceived hearing handicap (mean of 0.11 to −1.29 standard deviation [SD] units; lower scores better) and memory (mean of −0.10 SD to 0.38 SD). Discussion ACHIEVE-P sets the stage for the full-scale ACHIEVE trial (N = 850, recruitment beginning November 2017), the first randomized trial to determine efficacy of a best practices hearing (vs. successful aging) intervention on reducing cognitive decline in older adults with HL.
How family, immigrant group, and school contexts shape ethnic educational disparities

ABSTRACTScholars have long questioned why average educational attainments among children of immigrants vary greatly by country of origin. Immigrants’ children from the same country share similar contexts of exit and reception and often similar school and family contexts. What is the relative importance of these factors in explaining ethnic differences in educational attainment? Using cross-classified multi-level models, this study shows that family contexts and immigrant group educational selectivity, but not school contexts, help explain ethnic differences. Immigrant selectivity is more decisive in shaping the second-generation’s educational attainment than other group characteristics related to immigrants’ contexts of exit and reception. While school socioeconomic status (SES) only influences the attainment of immigrants’ children from high-SES families, immigrant group selectivity matters regardless of the SES of the family or school, thus shedding light on why members of some national-origin groups te...
Pulmonary Hypertension in Rare Parenchymal Lung Diseases

This chapter summarizes data published on pulmonary hypertension (PH) in rare parenchymal lung diseases including Pulmonary Langerhan’s Histiocytosis, Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, Neurofibromatosis 1, Cystic Fibrosis, and several others. These diseases have widely differing etiologies and pulmonary pathophysiology changes; however, all of them may be complicated by the development of PH. These conditions often share similar mechanisms responsible for the development of PH, but in some, there are also unique elements that may be contributory. Figure 10.1 summarizes the various mechanisms that may account for the development of PH.
G288(P) Paediatric sepsis mortality in a single centre over a 7 year period – diagnoses and management

Introduction It is recognised that early recognition and treatment of sepsis improves outcomes and reduces mortality. The aim of this study is to review patient characteristics, diagnosis, and management in cases of sepsis mortality in a tertiary paediatric hospital over a 7 year period. Methods We undertook a retrospective review of registered deaths in children in Ireland from 2006–2012. Of 2744 registered deaths, 523 were recorded as due to sepsis. Of these, 434 were excluded as they were cases of neonatal sepsis or occurred in patients with underlying conditions. The remaining 89 cases occurred in children who were previously healthy, 22 of which were registered in TSCUH. Results The medical records for 17 or the 22 patients were available. The age range was from 1–143 months with a mean of 32.2 months. The distance from primary residence to the tertiary hospital ranged from 2.5 to 218 km with a mean of 55.7 km. 8 (47%) were admitted via ED and 9 (53%) were transferred to ICU from another hospital. The duration of admission ranged from 0 – 250 hour with a mean of 20.5 hour. 76% (n=13) had a duration of admission less than 24 hours. The most common diagnoses following death/post mortem were invasive pneumococcal disease (35%, n=6), meningococcal septicaemia (29%, n=5) and bronchopneumonia (12%, n=2). An organism was identified on culture/PCR in 82% (n=14). The organisms identified included Streptococcus Pneumoniae (35%), Neisseria Meningitidis B (29%), Salmonella/Rotavirus (6%), E. Coli (6%), and Adenovirus (6%). All elements of the paediatric sepsis 6 care bundle were recorded to have been delivered in 29% of patients (n=5). Within the first hour oxygen was administered in 66% (n=11), IV access obtained in 100%, IV broad spectrum antibiotics in 46% (n=7), IV fluid resuscitation in 86% (n=13) and the involvement of a senior clinician documented in 60% (n=9). Conclusions Sepsis mortality remains an important concern in paediatrics although the number of deaths in previously healthy children is low. In total, 53% of patients that died underwent transfer during their care highlighting the importance of paediatric transfer/retrieval services. In this series the full sepsis 6 protocol was completed in only 29% of cases with just 46% receiving IV antibiotics
A History Exercise to Locate “Mindfulness” Now

The practice of mindfulness is an experience that from a certain perspective is inexpressible. You gain a tacit knowledge of it that is yours alone; you “know more than [you] can tell,” as Michael Polanyi (1966) phrases it. Yet, from a different perspective, the practice is also a product of all the communications that you have around your experience. Your explicit knowledge, what you can tell, is co-created in relationship with all of those with whom you share your experience now or in the future, from your mindfulness teachers and fellow students, to your colleagues and supervisors in working with mindfulness-based interventions, to the clients or patients that you teach. This co-creation takes place most obviously in verbal language. You learn from a talk or a book by a teacher, a conversation with a colleague, or a dialog with a client. But the nonverbal dimensions are also important. There is much to be learned from a teacher’s posture, gestures, tone of voice, and rate of speech, or from the way a colleague meets your eyes, or from the quality of the pause before a supervisor responds in a tense moment. So, within such relationships, within your own small community, there is an evolving discourse, through which you learn to better understand and, thereby, better express your tacit knowledge of mindfulness practice. Further, it is within such a community and its discourse that you are learning, or will learn, to teach mindfulness as a professional.
Social networks, migration, and HIV testing among Latinos in a new immigrant destination: Insights from a qualitative study.

Latinos in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by HIV and are more likely than non-Latinos to present with a late diagnosis, which delays engagement in HIV care and treatment. Social networks ...
Ridesourcing, the sharing economy, and the future of cities

Abstract As an integral part of the emerging sharing economy, ridesourcing refers to transportation services that connect community drivers with passengers via mobile devices and applications. The spectacular growth of ridesourcing has sparked a burgeoning literature discussing how it affects the future of cities. This paper presents a systematic review of the existing literature concerning the impact of ridesourcing on the efficiency, equity, and sustainability of urban development. Ridesourcing has a positive impact on economic efficiency. It both complements and competes with public transit, but its influence on traffic congestions near city centers is still unclear. Regarding urban equity, ridesourcing further amplifies the issue of the digital divide and raises concerns over the issues of discrimination and data privacy and security. It is also hotly contested whether prosumers (producers/consumers) are exploited by the sharing economy platforms, whether ridesourcing drivers are reasonably compensated, and how to better protect on-demand workers' rights. Even though ridesourcing has been promoting a green image, its true environmental impact has not been thoroughly investigated. According to the evidence reported in the literature so far, it is unlikely that ridesourcing will reduce private car ownership. Ridesourcing's impacts on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are uncertain based on existing research. This paper outlines the danger of conceptual confusion and the methodological issues in the existing literature. Further research is sorely needed as the future of cities is indisputably tied to the sharing economy and its impacts on shared mobility.
ADAM: Architecture for write disturbance mitigation in scaled phase change memory

With technology scaling, phase change memory (PCM) has become highly vulnerable to write disturbance (WD) errors. A PCM WD error occurs when a cell write dissipates heat to idle cells in the same/adjacent word lines (WLs), disturbing the states of those cells. Whereas state-of-the-art solutions, e.g., data insulation (DIN) and super dense PCM (SD-PCM), have successfully addressed WL PCM WD errors, reducing (i) bit line (BL) WD errors and (ii) the performance penalties of aggregate (WL+BL) WD error recovery remain areas of active research and development. Architecture for Write DisturbAnce Mitigation, ADAM, is a low cost, high performance pattern-based data compression and alignment solution to reduce the aggregate (WL+BL) WD error rate in PCM. At no impact to inter-cell spacing, ADAM increases the lateral separation between the cells storing useful data in adjacent WLs, ensuring that the heat dissipated to adjacent WLs minimally impacts the cells storing useful data. For one compression tag bit per 512-bit cache line, ADAM provides an effective solution to reduce the number of WL and BL cells vulnerable to WD errors. ADAM also integrates a novel Deferred WD Correction scheme, DEFT, that opportunistically defers latency-intensive WD error recovery of cached data in the adjacent WLs without impacting memory reliability. ADAM is evaluated on single-/multi-level cell (SLC/MLC) PCM using the SPEC CPU2006 benchmarks. Results for SLC (MLC) PCM show that in comparison to state-of-the-art SD-PCM, ADAM reduces the aggregate WD error rate by 32% (60%); this translates to a 50% (61%) reduction in error correction energy and a 7% (15%) improvement in system performance.
PassHue: Introducing Analog Authentication

Authentication, particularly in the mobile environment, has still failed to capture many useful types of human mental ability. In this paper, we present the concept of analog authentication, an idea revolving around the use of continuously variable information to authenticate users. Analog authentication shifts the memory task from pure recall to estimation, and taps into fundamental human intuition for differentiating items along a continuum. We design PassHue, a color-based analog authentication scheme, to demonstrate the memorability, usability, and security advantages that analog authentication can offer. Our in-the-wild user study demonstrates that PassHue can achieve average login times under 1.7 s, and remain memorable over a period of 2 weeks.
Dynamisierung von Lösungskonzepten

Losungskonzepte sind im allgemeinen fur Spiele in Normalform definiert. Wendet man sie auf dynamische Spiele an, dann ist es mitunter sinnvoll, zusatzliche Bedingungen an die Losungen zu stellen, wie z. B., das sich die Spieler auch in jedem Teilspiel ГZX im Sinne des Losungskonzepts optimal verhalten. Durch diese Bedingungen ergeben sich zu vorgegebenem Losungskonzept verschiedene Varianten. Diese sind zusammengestellt und werden insbesondere auch fur Gleichgewicht und Core betrachtet.
Chapter 2 – A History of Muscle

Ancient theories attributed muscle contraction to cold humor that came from the brain through channels in nerves. In the 17th century electrical stimulation was found to excite muscle, but non-quantifiable “vital forces” were generally believed to cause contraction, until the early 19th century, when physical and chemical laws were shown to explain biological responses. Thermodynamic measurements in the 1930s suggested that contraction was effected by “active points” within muscle that either developed tension or cycled freely. In the 1950s X-ray diffraction and electronmicroscopic data demonstrated that muscles contract when actin filaments slide by myosin filaments; in the subsequent decade the “active points” were shown to be interactions between myosin cross-bridges and actin. The mechanism that activates contraction was clarified in the 1960s when calcium ion was shown to bind to a regulatory complex made up of tropomyosin and troponins C, I, and T. Mechanisms that regulate muscle contractility were identified when much of the activator calcium was found to be derived from internal stores in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, and that relaxation occurs when an ATP-dependent ion pump calcium transports calcium into these membranes.