cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
THE POSSIBILITY OF HEALTHY ORGANIZATIONS: TOWARD A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE

The fields of organizational sociology and organizational development contain considerable literature dealing with organizational effectiveness, but little that focuses explicitly on organizational health. This paper clarifies the notion of “healthy organizations” and describes how it needs to be fed by practice, so that social scientists do not build theories that are unrelated to the reality that people experience in organizations today. This delineation of “organizational health” as an arena of inquiry is built on the definition of health developed by the World Health Organization, and on the writing of behavioral scientists (Argyris, Bruhn, Cooley, Etzioni, Kilburg, Levinson, Sorokin, and Whyte) and non-traditional thinkers and practitioners (G.I. Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, Charles G. Krone, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14 th Dalai Lama). Sociological practice can contribute significantly to the creation of “organizations of the future" (Argyris, 1973) in which a state of reciprocal maintenance (Bennett, 1976) exists between individuals and organizations. “Reciprocal maintenance” means that neither partner seeks to take advantage of the other: the organizations are designed to enable the growth and development of their members or workers (in the broadest sense, including managers) and the individuals do their best to enhance the organization’s long-term viability. I define as “healthy” those organizations that foster such reciprocal maintenance while creating an organizational culture in which people have more influence and control over the decisions that affect their lives. MY RESEARCH AND PRACTICE For me, the uniqueness of sociology lies in the fact that it both studies society and endeavors to improve it. This is what attracted me to the discipline thirty years ago, and it continues to challenge me today. From this standpoint, sociology is inherently an applied science whose leading figures have always been interested in both of these elements.
A Prospective, Randomized, Multicenter, Double-Blind Study of Early Corticosteroid Cessation Versus Long-Term Maintenance of Corticosteroid Therapy With Tacrolimus and Mycophenolate Mofetil in Primary Renal Transplant Recipients: One Year Report

This report summarizes year 1 blinded data from a 5-year prospective, randomized (1:1, stratified by race and donor type), multicenter, double-blind study comparing treatment failure rates between early cessation of corticosteroid therapy and long-term corticosteroid maintenance therapy in 397 primary renal transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil with antibody induction. Sixteen (4.1%) patients died or experienced graft loss during year 1 (9 deaths, 6 graft losses, and 1 death with a graft loss). Fifty-nine (15.3%) patients experienced rejection; 40 (10.4%) of these cases were biopsy-confirmed. Values for 10-year predictive risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) estimated from the Framingham Heart Study scores showed a shift from baseline toward a more favorable risk profile. Renal transplant recipients treated with a tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen and either early cessation or maintenance of corticosteroid therapy experienced excellent patient and graft survival, low acute rejection rates, low rate of posttransplantation diabetes mellitus (9.0%), and improved CHD risk profile at 1 year posttransplantation.
Non-Overlapping and Non–Cell-Type–Specific Gene Expression Signatures Predict Lung Cancer Survival

Purpose Gene expression profiling for outcome prediction of non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains clouded by heterogeneous and unvalidated results. This study applied multivariate approaches to identify and evaluate value-added gene expression signatures in two types of NSCLC. Materials and Methods Two NSCLC oligonucleotide microarray data sets of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma were used as training sets to select prognostic genes independent of conventional predictors. The top 50 genes from each set were used to predict the outcomes of two independent validation data sets of 84 and 91 NSCLC cases. Results Adenocarcinomas with the 50-gene signature from adenocarcinoma in both validation data sets had a 2.4-fold (95% CI, 1.3 to 4.4 and 1.0 to 5.8) increased mortality after adjustment for conventional predictors. Squamous cell carcinoma with this high-risk signature had an adjusted risk of 1.1 (95% CI, 0.4 to 3.2) in one data set and 2.5 (95% CI, 1.1 to 5.8) in another consisting of stage I...
Stress Distributions in Thin Bilayer Discs Subjected to Ball-On-Ring Tests

Ball-on-ring tests have been used extensively to measure the biaxial strength of brittle materials. However, the tests and analyses are limited to materials of uniform properties. An analytical model is developed in the present study to analyze thin bilayer discs subjected to ball-on-ring tests. It is found that closed-form solutions for bilayer discs can be obtained from existing solutions for monolayer discs by replacing the position of the neutral surface and the flexural rigidity of monolayers with those of bilayers. To validate the analytical solutions for bilayers, ball-on-ring tests are performed on a thin Al2O3 scale grown on an oxide dispersion-strengthened FeCrAl alloy disc and photo-stimulated luminescence spectroscopy is used to measure the stress distributions in the Al2O3 layer. In this case, the stress-induced peak shift of the R lines emitted by the Al2O3 scale is used to determine the average stress through the scale thickness. Good agreement between predictions and measurements is obtained.
Some speculations on adsorption and desorption of CO2 in Martian bright areas

Abstract Conjectures are made on the importance of CO2 adsorption in Martian bright areas. Reasonable assumptions relative to temperature, the partial pressure of CO2, and the adsorptive properties of Martian dust permit computation of 4.4 × 10−6 moles/cc of bulk as a conservative estimate for the amount desorbed per unit bulk volume due to solar warming of bright area dust. The latter value is shown to be significant when compared with the tenuous Martian atmosphere. Possible relevance of a CO2 adsorption-desorption cycle to a hypothetical Martian organism is discussed.
Clouds and Earth radiant energy system: an overview

The Clouds and Earth radiant energy system (CERES) instrument was first flown aboard the TRMM spacecraft whose 35 inclination orbit allowed for the collection of radiation budget data over all local times, i.e. all solar zenith angles for the latitude range. Moreover, this instrument has gathered the only bidirectional radiance data covering all local times. An additional quartet of CERES instruments are now operating in pairs on both the TERRA and AQUA spacecrafts. Thus far, these instruments have collected several years of Earth radiation budget observations and continue to operate. For each of the TERRA and AQUA spacecrafts, one CERES instrument operates in a cross-track scan mode for the purpose of mapping the Earths outgoing longwave radiation and reflected solar radiation. The other operates in an azimuthal rotation while scanning also in zenith angle for the purpose of gathering measurements for the angular distribution of radiance from various scene types, to improve the computation of fluxes from radiance measurements. The CERES instruments carry in-flight calibration systems to maintain the measurement accuracy of 1% for measured radiances. In addition to retrieving fluxes at the top of the atmosphere, the CERES program uses data from other instruments aboard the spacecraft to compute the radiation balance at the surface and at levels through the atmosphere. 2003 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Is systems biology the key to preventing the next pandemic

Sporadic outbreaks of epizootics including SARS coronavirus and H5N1 avian influenza remind us of the potential for communicable diseases to quickly spread into worldwide epidemics. To confront emerging viral threats, nations have implemented strategies to prepare for pandemics and to control virus spread. Despite improved surveillance and quarantine measures, we find ourselves in the midst of a H1N1 influenza pandemic. Effective therapeutics and vaccines are essential to protect against current and future pandemics. The best route to effective therapeutics and vaccines is through a detailed and global view of virus-host interactions that can be achieved using a systems biology approach. Here, we provide our perspective on the role of systems biology in deepening our understanding of virus-host interactions and in improving drug and vaccine development. We offer examples from influenza virus research, as well as from research on other pandemics of our time - HIV/AIDS and HCV - to demonstrate that systems biology offers one possible key to stopping the cycle of viral pandemics.
Lower bound on reliability for Weibull distribution when shape parameter is not estimated accurately

The mathematical relationships between the shape parameter beta and estimates of reliability and a life limit lower bound for the two-parameter Weibull distribution are discussed. It is shown that under general conditions both the reliability lower bound and the allowable life limit lower bound (tolerance limit) have unique global minima over a range of beta . Hence, lower bound solutions can be obtained without assuming or estimating beta . The existence and uniqueness of these lower bounds are proven. Some data examples are given to show how these lower bounds can be easily established and to demonstrate their practicality. The method has proven to be useful when using the Weibull distribution in analysis of no-failure or few-failure data. The results are widely applicable, not only in the aerospace industry, but anywhere that system reliabilities are high. >
Domain Specificity and the Limits of Creativity Theory

A growing body of research evidence suggests that creativity is very domain-specific and that domain-general skills or traits contribute little to creative performance. The term “creativity” is a convenient term for collecting many interesting artifacts, processes, and people into a single category, and the term “creative thinking skills” may be a useful way to connect a diverse set of unrelated cognitive processes that operate on different content and in different domains. These concepts are misleading, however, because although they connect things that may seem similar to observers, they lack any underlying cognitive psychological validity. This has implications for the ways we understand and assess creativity, and also for how we should direct our efforts to develop creative-thinking skills in diverse domains. Creativity training needs either to target the domains in which creativity enhancement is desired or to use a wide range of activities in diverse domains if the goal is more general improvement in many domains. Creativity assessment needs to focus on domain-by-domain assessment and to review findings based on allegedly domain-general tests of creativity that may have misled researchers to unsupportable interpretations. Creativity theory needs to set more modest goals of domainby-domain theory development and to recognize that theories that may seem domain-general might better be understood as meta-theoretical heuristics that do not actually describe domain-general processes. These meta-theories might in some cases help guide the search for domain-based theories.
Hematocrit and Hemoglobin of Broilers as Influenced by Environmental Temperature and Dietary Iron Level

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of environmental temperature on hematocrit and hemoglobin values of chicks receiving diets containing various levels of copper (Cu) and iron (Fe). Hematocrit and hemoglobin values were affected by environmental temperature and dietary Cu and Fe level. A significant increase in hemoglobin values was obtained with increasing Cu and Fe levels at both temperatures. The hematocrit values followed the same pattern with the exception of the 19-day-old birds reared at 21.1°C. and receiving the highest Cu and Fe diet. Hemoglobin values of birds reared at 21.1°C. receiving the basal diet supplemented with 2 p.p.m. Cu and 20 p.p.m. Fe were the same as the hemoglobin values of birds reared at 32.2° C. receiving the basal diet supplemented with 9 p.p.m. Cu and 90 p.p.m. Fe. Within each dietary regime, birds reared at 21.1°C. had significantly higher hematocrit and hemoglobin values than birds reared at 32.2°C., with the exception of the hemoglobin values for birds receiving the basal diet. Chicks reared from 1 day of age to 2 weeks of age in a conventional manner responded to dietary Fe level and environmental temperature within a 2-week period. Within each dietary regime, hematocrit and hemoglobin values for birds reared at 10°C. were significantly higher than for birds reared at 21.1° C. Hematocrit and hemoglobin values for birds reared at 32.2°C. were significantly lower than the other two temperatures. A comparison between temperatures for the combined diets shows a decrease in hematocrit and hemoglobin values as the temperature at which birds are reared is increased.
Novel Bacterial Taxa in the Human Microbiome

The human gut harbors thousands of bacterial taxa. A profusion of metagenomic sequence data has been generated from human stool samples in the last few years, raising the question of whether more taxa remain to be identified. We assessed metagenomic data generated by the Human Microbiome Project Consortium to determine if novel taxa remain to be discovered in stool samples from healthy individuals. To do this, we established a rigorous bioinformatics pipeline that uses sequence data from multiple platforms (Illumina GAIIX and Roche 454 FLX Titanium) and approaches (whole-genome shotgun and 16S rDNA amplicons) to validate novel taxa. We applied this approach to stool samples from 11 healthy subjects collected as part of the Human Microbiome Project. We discovered several low-abundance, novel bacterial taxa, which span three major phyla in the bacterial tree of life. We determined that these taxa are present in a larger set of Human Microbiome Project subjects and are found in two sampling sites (Houston and St. Louis). We show that the number of false-positive novel sequences (primarily chimeric sequences) would have been two orders of magnitude higher than the true number of novel taxa without validation using multiple datasets, highlighting the importance of establishing rigorous standards for the identification of novel taxa in metagenomic data. The majority of novel sequences are related to the recently discovered genus Barnesiella, further encouraging efforts to characterize the members of this genus and to study their roles in the microbial communities of the gut. A better understanding of the effects of less-abundant bacteria is important as we seek to understand the complex gut microbiome in healthy individuals and link changes in the microbiome to disease.
State of Charge Estimation for LFP Battery Using the Hybrid Method

A method to accurately estimate the state of charge (SOC) for LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries is urgently required, to address the issues associated with the increased use of LPF batteries for portable devices. This paper proposes a hybrid method that combines a radial basis function (RBF) neural network and enhanced particle swarm optimization (EPSO) algorithm for SOC estimating. With a RBF neural network structure, the EPSO algorithm is used to tune the parameters of the RBF neural network, including the centers and widths of the RBF and the connection weights. The trained RBF neural network is then used to estimate the SOC of a LFP battery. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed estimation method, the method is tested using 12.6V, 52Ah LFP batteries under varied discharging condition. The effectiveness of the proposed method is compared with the Coulomb integration method and the back propagation (BP) neural network. The results show that the proposed method outperforms the other methods.
Factors Associated With Brain Donation Among Optimally Healthy Elderly People

BACKGROUND Consent rates for brain donation were examined in 140 healthy elderly participants of the Oregon Brain Aging Study, a longitudinal study of successful aging. Subjects were initially selected for good health. The study population had a relatively high education level, a high socioeconomic status, and were predominantly white. METHODS At each annual examination, a project physician asked participants to consider brain donation. This analysis examined variables that may affect the rate of brain donation consent: age, gender, education, socioeconomic status, marital status, religiosity, cognitive status, depression, and functional status. RESULTS Of these variables only age was a meaningful factor. CONCLUSION The oldest old participants (> or =85 years of age) were more likely to consent to donation than the younger participants (65-84 years of age).
Infrared Radiation from the Atmosphere over the Arctic Ocean.

The emission spectrum of the atmosphere over the Arctic Ocean was observed during a period when atmosphere and snow surface temperatures were about -40°C. The main contributions to the emission in the 5-to 21-micron range came from ozone and carbon dioxide, with water vapor playing a minor part.
The role of lipid post–translational modification in plant developmental processes

Most eukaryotic proteins are post-translationally modified, and modification has profound effects on protein function. One key modification is the attachment of a lipid group to certain amino acids; this typically facilitates subcellular targeting (association with a membrane) and protein-protein interactions (by virtue of the large hydrophobic moiety). Most widely recognized are lipid modifications of proteins involved in developmental signaling, but proteins with structural roles are also lipid-modified. The three known types of intracellular protein lipid modifications are S-acylation, N-myristoylation, and prenylation. In plants, genetic analysis of the enzymes involved, along with molecular analysis of select target proteins, has recently shed light on the roles of lipid modification in key developmental processes, such as meristem function, flower development, polar cell elongation, cell differentiation, and hormone responses. In addition, while lipid post-translational mechanisms are generally conserved among eukaryotes, plants differ in the nature and function of target proteins, the effects of lipid modification on target proteins, and the roles of lipid modification in developmental processes.
Stubborn facts: Still no evidence that the System of Rice Intensification out-yields best management practices (BMPs) beyond Madagascar

Abstract For more than a decade, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been vigorously promoted as a method for substantially improving the yield performance of conventional rice agriculture through a set of synergistic management principles that are purported to be accessible to poorer farmers and better for the environment. To evaluate the empirical basis for claims that SRI increases the yield ceiling for rice (i.e. the physiological yield potential), McDonald et al. [McDonald, A.J., Hobbs, P.R., Riha, S.J., 2006. Does the System of Rice Intensification outperform conventional best management? A synopsis of the empirical record. Field Crops Res. 96, 31–36] conducted a retrospective analysis of field experiments that had side-by-side yield comparisons of SRI and current best management practices (BMPs). In addition to studies from Madagascar where SRI was first conceived, 35 site-years of data were compiled from nine different Asian countries. Aside from one set of experiments in Madagascar where SRI more than doubled rice grain productivity with respect to BMPs (140–245% increase), we found no evidence of a yield advantage of this magnitude elsewhere. In 24 of 35 site-years, SRI yields were less than those attained with BMPs and in no case did the SRI yield exceed BMPs by more than 22%. Uphoff et al. [Uphoff, N., Kassam, A., Stoop, W., 2008. A critical assessment of a desk study comparing crop production systems: the example of the ‘system of rice intensification’ vs. ‘best management practice.’ Field Crop Res. 108 (1), 109–114] contest these findings with criticisms of our methodology and, more importantly, contend that key evidence demonstrating yield advantages for SRI over BMPs was not considered in our analysis. The assertion of key evidence that is at odds with our conclusions is false, as we detail in this response. Beyond Madagascar, there is still no empirical evidence that SRI has a unique yield advantage over current BMPs for rice. Then and now, our original article [McDonald, A.J., Hobbs, P.R., Riha, S.J., 2006. Does the System of Rice Intensification outperform conventional best management? A synopsis of the empirical record. Field Crops Res. 96, 31–36] accurately characterizes the global experience with the System of Rice Intensification.
PECVD Synthesis of Flexible Optical Coatings for Renewable Energy Applications

The design, fabrication, and evaluation of flexible, multilayer optical coatings deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at low temperature are demonstrated using hybrid nanolaminates consisting of TiO2 and silicone (SiOxCyHz) as the high and low refractive index materials, respectively. A broadband anti-reflection coating was designed and deposited onto a variety of substrates including flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and CdTe solar cells which was shown to increase absolute transmission by an average of 3% over 410–850 nm wavelengths and results in a commensurate increase in short circuit current density. An infrared reflector was designed and applied to PET which was found to provide 70% reflectance in the near-IR while maintaining >80% transmittance for visible light. The optical performance of these flexible coatings on PET remained unchanged after automated bend testing, and were shown to be robust with respect to humidity and thermal shock tests.
pH modulates the binding of early growth response protein 1 transcription factor to DNA

The transcription factor early growth response protein (EGR)1 orchestrates a plethora of signaling cascades involved in cellular homeostasis, and its downregulation has been implicated in the development of prostate cancer. Herein, using a battery of biophysical tools, we show that the binding of EGR1 to DNA is tightly regulated by solution pH. Importantly, the binding affinity undergoes an enhancement of more than an order of magnitude with an increase in pH from 5 to 8, implying that the deprotonation of an ionizable residue accounts for such behavior. This ionizable residue is identified as His382 by virtue of the fact that its replacement by nonionizable residues abolishes the pH dependence of the binding of EGR1 to DNA. Notably, His382 inserts into the major groove of DNA, and stabilizes the EGR1-DNA interaction via both hydrogen bonding and van der Waals contacts. Remarkably, His382 is mainly conserved across other members of the EGR family, implying that histidine protonation-deprotonation may serve as a molecular switch for modulating the protein-DNA interactions that are central to this family of transcription factors. Collectively, our findings reveal an unexpected but a key step in the molecular recognition of the EGR family of transcription factors, and suggest that they may act as sensors of pH within the intracellular environment.
Accessing bilingual code-switching competence

The present work is inspired by an interest in the syntactic regularities that underlie language alternation s in Spanish-English bilingual speech, and the methodolog ies that may prove most reliable and informative in this exploration. Accordingly, it attends to the conceptual and methodological issues that must be addressed and surmounted, and taking account of these concerns, presents new methodologies for gathering codeswitching data. The robust findings attest to the validity of the methodologies and of the elicited data, affording a valuable source of facts for further research.
A Learning Approach for Knowledge Acquisition in the Legal Domain

In this chapter an approach to support knowledge acquisition in the legal domain is presented: it is based on a semantic model for legislation and implemented using knowledge extraction techniques on legislative texts. This methodology is targeted to propose a framework which can contribute to bridge the gap between consensus and authoritativeness in legal knowledge implementation.
The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease. Robert C. Scaer. New York: Haworth Medical Press (2001). 250 pp. ($59.95)

(2003). The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease. Robert C. Scaer. New York: Haworth Medical Press (2001). 250 pp. ($59.95) American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis: Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 262-266.
Fleshy specificity: (re)considering transsexual subjects in lesbian communities.

SUMMARY The transsexual subject position has recently been subsumed under the labeling “transgender.” This article considers the implications of this new labeling for transsexual subjects and their capacity to be incorporated into, or at least configured as affiliated with, lesbian communities and their popularization of transgender terminology. By tracing the complicated academic and political etymology of “transgender,” this article shows how the term unfairly erases the lived experiences of transsexual subjects by ignoring their specificities in the flesh. The article concludes by offering alternative disciplinary matrices and conceptual schemas through which to better imagine transsexual subject formation and transsexual subjectivity.
Tolerance as a Mechanism of Resistance in Corn to the Corn Earworm

Corn lines previously classified as resistant on the basis of car damage possess tolerance as another mechanism of resistance to Heliothis zea (Boddie). Resistant hybrids supported levels of infestation that seriously damaged susceptible hybrids.
Social Media Sites at the State and Local Levels: Operational Success and Governance Failure

This essay reviews some of the recent research on operational uses of Social Media Sites (SMS) in state and local governments throughout the world. Also, it assesses the recent research on the employment of SMS for the tasks of governance at the state and local level as distinguished from service delivery. Finally, it discusses the opportunity and need for further research in this latter area and concludes with a call for research in four areas.
Immune response to actinophage in the mouse.

SummaryActinophage injected intraperitoneally into inbred Balb mice appeared almost instantaneously in blood, brain, liver, kidney, spleen, lung and testis. Viable virus was isolated from the blood for 2 days following challenge, from lung, liver and kidney for 6 days, and from testis and spleen for more than 10 days. Mice produced neutralizing antibody within 48 hours after antigenic stimulation. Antibody production was elicited by as few as 107 actinophage particles.
Evaluating the Role of Viral Proteins in HIV-Mediated Neurotoxicity Using Primary Human Neuronal Cultures

Despite the inability of HIV-1 to infect neurons, over half of the HIV-1-infected population in the USA suffers from neurocognitive dysfunction. HIV-infected immune cells in the periphery enter the central nervous system by causing a breach in the blood-brain barrier. The damage to the neurons is mediated by viral and host toxic products released by activated and infected immune and glial cells. To evaluate the toxicity of any viral isolate, viral protein, or host inflammatory protein, we describe a protocol to assess the neuronal apoptosis and synaptic compromise in primary cultures of human neurons and astrocytes.
Nonbiological Measurements on Biological Agents

Publisher Summary This chapter introduces nonbiological measurements on biological agents. The anthrax letters investigation engendered considerable speculation about the potential importance of nonbiological measurements on samples of biological agents. The forensic utility of data that can be obtained from chemical and physical analyses of agents depends critically on establishing rigorous and defensible scientific underpinnings. Given the relative rarity of major biological terrorism events, there is some danger of complacency about the strength of the preparations and uncertainty about research and development priorities. If there is any lesson to be drawn from past experience, it is that microbial forensic collection and analysis are not very effective when they are conducted as ad hoc activities, by nonspecialists, using improvised methods and on-the-fly attempts at validation, without prior review by a knowledgeable community. The utility of microbial forensic analysis rises in proportion to the extent that it is anticipatory, well planned, driven by a cadre of qualified experts, and resourced adequately. This requires adequate attention to the need for long-term fundamental research on many aspects of biological agent composition and structure. It is encouraging that a robust microbial forensic research and development program is now recognized as an essential part of the national strategy to combat biological threats. With sufficient targeted investment the technical challenges associated with chemical and physical analysis can be met, and the expertise gained in this area will continue to evolve toward an established capability.
Erythrocyte membrane plaques from rats with magnesium deficiency.

This study investigated the anemia of dietary magnesium deficiency in inbred Fisher white rats using freeze-fracture electron microscopy. The plasma membranes of erythrocytes from animals receiving two different magnesium-deficient and control diets were observed at weekly or biweekly intervals for 6 wk. The earliest changes were small plaques on the external surface (ES) and fracture face (PF) of erythrocyte plasma membranes, which occurred after 2 wk of either magnesium-deficient diet. These plaques persisted and increased in size with progressive magnesium deficiency. When fully developed, the plaques consisted of round or oval elevations approximately 30–50 nm in diameter outlined by a narrow raised border. The surface of the plaques was smooth and devoid of intramembranous particles. Incubation of erythrocytes from magnesium-deficient rats in a physiologic solution containing 2 meq/liter magnesium for 1 hr at 37degrees C did not alter the appearance of the plaques. Erythrocytes from control rats, obtained during the same time periods, showed no plaques. Thus, a deficiency of magnesium in rats altered erythrocyte membrane structure.
Equity in adherence to antiretroviral therapy among economically vulnerable adolescents living with HIV in Uganda

Studies from sub-Saharan Africa indicate that children made vulnerable by poverty have been disproportionately affected by HIV with many exposed via mother-to-child transmission. For youth living with HIV, adherence to life-saving treatment regimens are likely to be affected by the complex set of economic and social circumstances that challenge their families and also exacerbate health problems. Using baseline data from the National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD) funded Suubi+Adherence study, we examined the extent to which individual and composite measures of equity predict self-reported adherence among Ugandan adolescents aged 10-16 (n = 702) living with HIV. Results showed that greater asset ownership, specifically familial possession of seven or more tangible assets, was associated with greater odds of self-reported adherence (OR 1.69, 95% CI: 1.00-2.85). Our analyses also indicated that distance to the nearest health clinic impacts youth's adherence to an ARV regimen. Youth who reported living nearest to a clinic were significantly more likely to report optimal adherence (OR 1.49, 95% CI: 0.92-2.40). Moreover, applying the composite equity scores, we found that adolescents with greater economic advantage in ownership of household assets, financial savings, and caregiver employment had higher odds of adherence by a factor of 1.70 (95% CI: 1.07-2.70). These findings suggest that interventions addressing economic and social inequities may be beneficial to increase antiretroviral therapy (ART) uptake among economically vulnerable youth, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This is one of the first studies to address the question of equity in adherence to ART among economically vulnerable youth with HIV.
Indium-111 Platelet Labeling Using Homologous Platelets

Objective: This paper describes an 111In-labeled platelet procedure using substituted donor platelets (homologous) in acutely thrombocytopenic patients. Methods: In two patients, we used packed donor platelets which were centrifuged once. Once the platelets were isolated, they were incubated with 111In-oxine in an anticoagulated solution of normal saline for 5 min. Upon resuspension in the plasma, the platelets were injected into the patients who were imaged with a dual-headed SPECT camera the following day. Results: We successfully labeled packed donor platelets to produce clinically acceptable images by modifying the current standard protocol for platelet labeling. Conclusion: Indium-111 platelet labeling of donor platelets is a feasible alternative to autologous labeling in acutely thrombocytopenic patients.
Angiotensin II Increases Glymphatic Flow Through a Norepinephrine-Dependent Mechanism (P5.214)

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate how manipulation of the RAA axis, both with angiotensin and common anti-hypertensive pharmacotherapy, influences glymphatic flow. Background: The CNS possesses the astrocyte-dependent perivascular glymphatic pathway to facilitate CSF-ISF exchange and clearance of interstitial wastes. Cerebral arterial pulsations drive glymphatic flow, and cerebrovascular pulsatility is dependent, at least in part, on systemic blood pressure. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis dysregulation is responsible for hypertension, a condition that affects nearly 30[percnt] of the US population and 40[percnt] of individuals globally. Methods: All drugs were administered to the cisterna magna via cannulation at a rate of 1 μL/min for a total volume of 5 μL. Immediately after, 1[percnt] AlexaFluor-555 conjugated bovine serum albumin (BSA-555) was delivered intracisternally at a rate of 2 μL/min for a total volume of 10 μL. 30 minutes following tracer injection, cerebral tissues were collected and processed for ex vivo conventional fluorescence microscopy. Tissue area occupied by fluorophore was quantified, with greater percent areas indicating increased glymphatic influx. Results: Pre-treatment with Angiotensin II (ATII, 1 μM) increased glymphatic influx relative to vehicle-injected controls. Losartan (1 μM), an AT1 receptor inhibitor, was found to decrease glymphatic CSF influx, indicating that ATII acts through the AT1 receptor to increase glymphatic flow. Systemic administration of DSP-4 (50 mg/kg), a neurotoxin known to deplete locus coeruleus norepinephrine, resulted in suppressed glymphatic influx. Co-administration of ATII in DSP-4 treated mice or in mice receiving a norepinephrine inhibitory cocktail (1 μM) resulted in decreased glymphatic influx, suggesting that ATII regulates glymphatic pathway function through a NE-dependent mechanism. Conclusions: Angiotensin II acts via the AT1 receptor to increase glymphatic influx in a norepinephrine-dependent manner. Further study on hemodynamic regulation of glymphatic flow may reveal mechanisms of hypertension-related brain pathology. Disclosure: Dr. Russak has nothing to disclose. Dr. Plog has nothing to disclose. Dr. Vates has nothing to disclose. Dr. Nedergaard has nothing to disclose.
Update on Embolization Therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The purpose of the review is to summarize the latest applications for embolotherapy in the management of patients with HCC according to BCLC stage. While traditionally reserved for patients with unresectable HCC and stage B disease, there is an important role for embolization therapies in earlier stage patients as an adjunct to ablation, bridging, or downstaging therapy, as a means to improve safety of resection, and potentially as an arterial ablative option in the case of radioembolization. Newer applications of radioembolization such as radiation segmentectomy have the potential to provide cure in localized unifocal disease, and transarterial chemoembolization–portal vein embolization and radiation lobectomy may provide a combination of treatment and future liver remnant hypertrophy for planned hepatic resection. There is also an increasing role for embolization in the treatment of stage C disease, and recent data suggest it can be used in combination with sorafenib with the potential for survival benefit over sorafenib alone, even in the case of portal vein tumor thrombus. Embolization therapies play an increasingly important role in patients with BCLC stage A–C hepatocellular carcinoma. While different therapies may be offered on a patient-specific basis, there are limited prospective RCT data to support superiority of one technique over another.
Wnt Signaling in Osteoarthritis: a 2017 Update

Osteoarthritis is a progressive degenerative disease of the joints in which the articular cartilage within the joints deteriorates with associated juxta-articular bone formation. While the etiology of OA is still under investigation, preclinical studies have determined that the Wnt/β-catenin signaling and bone morphogenic signaling pathways are important for the formation and repair of the joint tissues, and the effects are on both the phenotype and function of the joint tissue cells. In addition, individuals with polymorphisms in the gene, FRZB, that codes for the wnt signaling protein secreted frizzled related protein 3 (sFRP3) have higher risk of developing OA. A number of proof-of-concept preclinical studies have been performed on inhibitors of the Wnt signaling pathway, and have altered the disease progression. Proof of concept studies assessing the regenerative capacity of mesenchymal stem cells as treatments for painful knee OA have reported both encouraging and discouraging results. Therefore, the identification of the molecular pathways that are responsible for joint formation and repair has led to the development of new novel interventions for the treatment of OA that are now entering clinical trials. The ability to slow or reverse the progression of osteoarthritis may soon be within our reach.
Future Noninvasive Ventilation Strategies in Neonates

The use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has increased over the past decade. Most NICUs use various forms of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation that is influenced by leaks at the interface. This limits the effectiveness of using a flow trigger for synchronous delivery of each breath and the resultant asynchrony contributes to the failure of NIV. Two novel approaches to NIV are now available. Noninvasive neurally adjusted ventilatory assist uses a neural trigger to detect the electrical activation of the diaphragm. Each breath is then proportionally assisted based on the onset, strength, and duration of this electrical signal. It is therefore leak-independent and overcomes the challenges of flow-triggered ventilation. High-frequency nasal ventilation is an extension of bubble continuous positive airway pressure and delivers small tidal volumes at high frequencies that can be adjusted to provide appropriate noninvasive support. The functionality of both these modalities will be discussed, including the clinical evidence available to support their use with NIV.
On characterization of separation force for resin replenishment enhancement in 3D printing

Abstract Additive manufacturing (AM), which is also referred to as 3D printing, is a class of manufacturing techniques that fabricate three dimensional (3D) objects by accumulating materials. Constrained surface based stereolithography is one of the most widely used AM techniques. In the process, a thin layer of liquid photosensitive resin is constrained between a constrained surface and the platform or part. The light penetrates the transparent constrained surface and cures that layer of liquid polymer. Then the platform is moved up to separate the newly cured layer to let new liquid resin fill into the gap and get cured. The separation of newly cured layer from the constrained surface is a grand challenge that limits the printable size and printing speed in this manufacturing technique. Numerous experimental works have been performed to understand how to reduce the separation force in the process. In this paper we study a new design of constrained surface with radial groove texture that significantly influences the effectiveness of reduction of the separation force and hence the manufacturing capability via theoretical modeling. In particular, we investigate the influence of groove shape, groove depth and the number of grooves on the separation force. The proposed model is validated with numerical simulations demonstrating an excellent agreement. We demonstrate the possibility of drastic reduction of the separation force (up to 112%) via surface texturing of the permeable window for continuous 3D printing.
Attracting Secondary School Students to Computer Science through Training Teachers to Establish Computer Clubs: (Abstract Only)

The poster describes an innovative approach to help secondary school teachers enhance their computer science (CS) knowledge through the Google funded CS4HS (Computer Science for High School) program. Through a 4-day professional training workshop teachers learn different computational thinking skills, CS concepts and related tools in an attempt to promote CS education by establishing a computer club and eventually teaching CS courses in their schools. The training includes units from the Exploring Computer Science curriculum and brainstorming sessions on starting clubs, club activities, and strategies for recruiting more girls and minorities in clubs. Participating teachers are invited back during the school year to participate in events including a CS conference and a competition and showcase for their students to continue the momentum started by the workshop. Teachers share the barriers to establishing clubs and success stories of being the first teachers to introduce computer science into their schools. More than 150 teachers from more than 50 secondary schools have participated in the CS4HS workshops since the program"s inception. The result is that many of the participating teachers now have established computer clubs; many teach CS courses and many bring their club students to participate in the annual CS4HS Showcase and Competition event at Buffalo State College; all contributing to the goals of CS4HS which is to promote CS education in every secondary schools of Western New York. This will create a pipeline of aspiring CS students and help to alleviate the current and predicted shortage of CS professionals.
How beginning handwriting is influenced by letter knowledge: Visual-motor coordination during children's form copying.

Abstract Even with recent technological advances, handwriting remains the developmental foundation from which communication via written language unfolds. Despite the importance of handwriting to academic success, previous research with beginning school-age children has only indirectly measured the processes of handwriting using post hoc assessments of legibility and accuracy. We adapted new head-mounted eye-tracking methods to directly measure visual–motor coordination of preschool and early elementary school children (N = 40) as they copied familiar (English letters) and unfamiliar (Cyrillic symbols) letter-like forms in real time. Results indicated that younger children needed more time to visually process a letter or symbol and initiate a writing action compared with older children despite children of all ages writing letters in a similar amount of time. Analyses also revealed that children copied familiar English letters more efficiently than they copied unfamiliar Cyrillic symbols: They spent more time on and made more visual fixations to the Cyrillic symbols compared with the English letters during the copying task. Finally, children made more visual fixations to less frequently occurring English letters than to more frequently occurring ones. Results are considered in relation to how letter recognition influences the development of automaticity in early handwriting.
Detection of Creep in CR-MO Steel by Magnetic Hysteresis Measurements

Creep damage is the slow plastic flow of metal under stress and at high temperature, typically about 50% of the absolute melting temperature. The result is a very slow viscous flow of the metal which ends in sudden failure. This problem occurs in alloy steels that have been used in steam generators, turbines, and pipelines in power plants operating at high temperatures, typically in the range 500°–600°C, and under stress for an extended period of time. Creep failure occurs by a process of cumulative damage which involves plastic deformation, nucleation and growth of cavities at the grain boundaries, subsequent linkage of these cavities to form microcracks, and the propagation of these microcracks until failure.
FISSION GAS RELEASE AND SWELLING DURING HEATING OF IRRADIATED EBR-II TYPE FUEL

Swelling and rare gas release of irradiated prototype EBR-II fuel pins during heating have been studied with material containing 320 to 830 ppm of these gases (0.2 to 0.6 at. % burnup). Data on bot...
Heat stress and cardiovascular, hormonal, and heat shock proteins in humans.

Context: Conditions such as osteoarthritis, obesity, and spinal cord injury limit the ability of patients to exercise, preventing them from experiencing many well-documented physiologic stressors. Recent evidence indicates that some of these stressors might derive from exercise-induced body temperature increases. Objective: To determine whether whole-body heat stress without exercise triggers cardiovascular, hormonal, and extra-cellular protein responses of exercise. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: University research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-five young, healthy adults (13 men, 12 women; age = 22.1 ± 2.4 years, height = 175.2 ± 11.6 cm, mass = 69.4 ± 14.8 kg, body mass index = 22.6 ± 4.0) volunteered. Intervention(s): Participants sat in a heat stress chamber with heat (73°C) and without heat (26°C) stress for 30 minutes on separate days. We obtained blood samples from a subset of 13 participants (7 men, 6 women) before and after exposure to heat stress. Main Outcom...
Impact of Contemporary Group Assignment on Sire Means in Feed Efficiency Testing

Designating correct contemporary groupings is important in reporting performance traits in beef cattle performance programs. An analysis of 166 bulls over a three-year period showed that grouping all cattle into one contemporary group each year lead to major errors in evaluating sires for their average feed intake, feed conversion and residual feed intake (RFI). Under this grouping strategy, sire progeny averages were estimated incorrectly; 58% of sire averages for dry matter intake were off by .5 lbs daily or more, 25% were off by .5 lbs or more in feed conversion and 67% were off by .5 lb or more for RFI. Also 25%, 29% and 33% were estimated with the wrong sign for dry matter intake, feed:gain ratio and RFI, respectively, which means sire progeny averages either received a positive sign for the trait rather than negative, or vice versa.