cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A symmetric formulation and SUPG scheme for the shallow-water equations

Shallow-water flows with supercritical and subcritical subregions often exhibit numerical difficulties because of their associated hydraulic jumps (shock waves), steep layers, and fictitious oscillations. Analogous problems in gas dynamics have led to the recent development of a promising class of Petrov-Galerkin methods specifically designed for hyperbolic/incompletely parabolic systems, and are written in a symmetric conservation form. One of the major difficulties in the application of this class of methods to shallow water problems has been the unavailability of a suitable symmetric form of the governing equations. In the present work, this issue is addressed by introducing the total energy of the water column to motivate a change of variables which symmetrizes the shallow-water conservation system. Then, the one-dimensional case is considered and a time-accurate, streamline-upwind Petrov-Galerkin (SUPG) scheme is developed based on the proposed symmetric form. Numerical results illustrate the method and permit comparison with other schemes.
Dear Critics: Addressing Concerns and Justifying the Benefits of Photography as a Research Method

Photography serves as an important tool for researchers to learn about the contextualized lives of individuals. This article explores the process of integrating photo elicitation interviews (PEI) into research involving children and families. Much literature is dedicated to the general debate surrounding the ethics of visual methods in research, with little attention directed at the actual process of gaining study approval and publishing one's findings. There are two main critiques that researchers must face in order to conduct and disseminate studies involving visual images—ethics committees and peer reviewers. In this article, I identify and discuss some of the challenges that emerged across gaining protocol approval from an ethics committee in the United States. Ethical concerns and restrictions related to the use of photography can delay data collection and create barriers to research designs. Similarly, I describe the process of responding to reviewers' concerns as part of the publication process. Peer reviewers' lack of familiarity with the use of photography as a research tool may lead to misunderstandings and inappropriate requests for manuscript changes. While many concerns are sound, the range of benefits stemming from the use of visual data help to justify the time and energy required to defend this type of research. Implications are discussed for researchers using visual methods in their work. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1503274
Recent developments and emerging concepts in cardiopulmonary cerebral resuscitation

This discussion reviews new and emerging concepts in resuscitation that might be unfamiliar to pediatric emergency medicine clinicians. Specifically discussed are: (1) new methods of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, (2) automated external defibrillators for children, (3) the drugs vasopressin and amiodarone, (4) oxygen as a potential toxin, (5) postresuscitation temperature control, (6) inherited causes of sudden death, and (7) suspended animation.
Does chronic nociceptive stimulation alter the development of morphine tolerance

Abstract Conflicting results exist concerning the issues of whether chronic nociceptive stimulation (a) increases or decreases the effectiveness of morphine analgesia, and (b) facilitates or inhibits the development of narcotic tolerance. We carried out a series of experiments with appropriate controls in order to examine these two issues and their possible relationship. In experiment 1, rats received complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA), a chronic nociceptor, injected into a single hind paw or anesthesia without injection, together with morphine or placebo pellets in a 2 × 2 study design. The data indicate that the presence of the chronic nociceptive stimulus significantly facilitated the development of tolerance to morphine analgesia as measured using tail-flick latency (TFL) testing. Experiment 2 was designed to compare the analgetic effectiveness of an acute injection of morphine in rats experiencing chronic nociceptive stimulation and in controls. CFA was injected in the right hindpaw, and nine days later TFLs were tested after morphine doses of 1 and 2 mg/kg s.c. The data obtained showed that chronic nociceptive stimulation significantly reduced the effectiveness of morphine at the 1 mg/kg dose. However, baseline TFLs appeared to be shorter in rats treated with CFA, suggesting that the decrease in morphine effectiveness could be due to a general increase in pain sensitivity. Therefore, a third experiment was performed, using a less intense thermal stimulus to prolong baseline TFLs and accentuate any potential differences. Sixteen rats either received CFA or served as controls. TFLs were then measured at baseline and one hour after a 0.5 mg/kg dose of morphine. TFLs were significantly shorter in CFA injected animals at both times, suggesting that hyperalgesia had developed and that the observed decrease in morphine effectiveness could be due to an increase in pain sensitivity. We suggest that the primary effect is a facilitation of pain responsiveness in animals exposed to chronic nociceptors, and that experimental variables can lead to an apparent increase or decrease in the rate of development of tolerance to morphine. These results and their relation to previous findings are discussed.
The Role of Bathtub Seats and Rings in Infant Drowning Deaths

Objective. To describe deaths due to drowning that involve the use of an infant bathtub seat or ring. Design. Case series, cases reported to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission data systems. Setting. United States, 1983–1995. Main Outcome Measures. Death in which an infant bathtub seat or ring was in use at the time of death and the primary cause of death was drowning. Results. Thirty-two drowning deaths involving bath seats/rings were identified and investigated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission over a 13-year period. The majority of deaths (84%) occurred from 1991–1995, with more than 50% occurring in the 2 most recent years. The victims9 ages at the time of the incident ranged from 5 to 15 months with a mean and median age of 8 months. In more than 90% of incidents there was a reported lapse in adult supervision, with a mean reported lapse of 6 minutes and a median lapse of 4 minutes. Focus groups with parents found that while making bathing somewhat easier, bath seats/rings are useful for a relatively short time period, as the child rapidly outgrows the product. They also suggested that care givers are more likely to leave a child unattended in the tub if one of these products is in use. Conclusion. Bath seats/rings are associated with an increasing number of reported infant drowning deaths. The use of such products may increase the risk of drowning among infants by increasing the likelihood that an infant will be left alone in the tub. However, in the absence of exposure data in a suitable comparison group it is difficult to assess the overall risk inherent in their use. Educational efforts reinforcing the need for continuous adult supervision of infants and children around all bodies of water should now also include a reminder that bath seats/rings are not safety items and are not a substitute for adult supervision. Infants and toddlers should never be left in the bathtub unsupervised, even for brief moments.
Combined approach of perioperative 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging and intraoperative 18F-FDG handheld gamma probe detection for tumor localization and verification of complete tumor resection in breast cancer

Background 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has become an established method for detecting hypermetabolic sites of known and occult disease and is widely used in oncology surgical planning. Intraoperatively, it is often difficult to localize tumors and verify complete resection of tumors that have been previously detected on diagnostic PET/CT at the time of the original evaluation of the cancer patient. Therefore, we propose an innovative approach for intraoperative tumor localization and verification of complete tumor resection utilizing 18F-FDG for perioperative PET/CT imaging and intraoperative gamma probe detection.
Condition-Driven Integration of Security Services

Deploying security services is hard. Security services are more readily integrated when they can be added at a single point in a network or at a single layer in the protocol stack. Most of today’s widely deployed security tools are deployed in this manner. Unfortunately this kind of deployment significantly limits the kinds of security policies that can be enforced.
Transmission of Iris Yellow Spot Virus by Frankliniella fusca and Thrips tabaci (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Thrips-transmitted Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) (Family Bunyaviridae, Genus Tospovirus) affects onion production in the United States and worldwide. The presence of IYSV in Georgia was confirmed in 2003. Two important thrips species that transmit tospoviruses, the onion thrips (Thrips tabaci (Lindeman)) and the tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca (Hinds)) are known to infest onion in Georgia. However, T. tabaci is the only confirmed vector of IYSV. Experiments were conducted to test the vector status of F. fusca in comparison with T. tabaci. F. fusca and T. tabaci larvae and adults reared on IYSV-infected hosts were tested with antiserum specific to the nonstructural protein of IYSV through an antigen coated plate ELISA. The detection rates for F. fusca larvae and adults were 4.5 and 5.1%, respectively, and for T. tabaci larvae and adults they were 20.0 and 24.0%, respectively, indicating that both F. fusca and T. tabaci can transmit IYSV. Further, transmission efficiencies of F. fusca and T. tabaci were evaluated by using an indicator host, lisianthus (Eustoma russellianum (Salisbury)). Both F. fusca and T. tabaci transmitted IYSV at 18.3 and 76.6%, respectively. Results confirmed that F. fusca also can transmit IYSV but at a lower efficiency than T. tabaci. To attest if low vector competency of our laboratory-reared F. fusca population affected its IYSV transmission capability, a Tomato spotted wilt virus (Family Bunyaviridae, Genus Tospovirus) transmission experiment was conducted. F. fusca transmitted Tomato spotted wilt virus at a competent rate (90%) suggesting that the transmission efficiency of a competent thrips vector can widely vary between two closely related viruses.
A crash course on the simple Bethe Ansatz

The simple Bethe Ansatz is illustrated step by step in great detail for a variety of many-body quantum problems and lattice models. The focus is on a constructive presentation in which the problems of determining the spectral conditions and full wave functions are completely and transparently solved for the cases of the isotropic Heisenberg chain, N bosons or spin ħ/2 fermions with δ-function interactions, the XX-Heisenberg chain, and the six-vertex model. PACS Nos.: 05.50.+q, 05.30.Fk, 03.65.Fd, 75.10.Hk, 71.10.Fd
Long-acting reversible contraception method use among Title X providers and non-Title X providers in California.

Abstract Background Publicly funded family planning services play an important role in reducing unintended pregnancy by providing access to effective contraception. We assessed whether California family planning providers receiving federal Title X funds are more likely to offer on-site long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) methods than those who do not receive these funds. Study Design Using 2009 administrative data, we examined on-site utilization of LARC by clinic type (Title X public, non-Title X public, or private) and constructed beta-binomial logistic regression models. Results The odds of on-site LARC services in non-Title X public and private providers were decreased by 35% [Odds Ratio (OR)=0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54–0.79] and 61% [OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.32–0.47], respectively, compared to those of Title X providers after controlling for clinic size, urban/rural location, and proportion of teen, African–American, and Latina clients. Conclusions On-site utilization of LARC is a potential quality indicator for family planning programs. Title X resources are associated with increased use of LARC.
Rheological properties and the mechanical signatures of phase transitions in weakly-segregated rod-coil block copolymers

The mechanical response of rod-coil block copolymers is critical to their processing and application in organic electronic devices and biotechnology. Using the weakly-segregated system poly(2,5-di(2′-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene-b-isoprene) (PPV-b-PI), the shear behavior of a rod-coil block copolymer system was probed as a function of coil fraction to understand its flow behavior and to identify rheological signatures of phase transitions in this system. The rheology of the block copolymers of symmetric compositions showed behavior that was dominated by the relaxation processes of the rod homopolymer on short timescales, while on longer timescales they show non-terminal behavior with plateaus in both G′ and G″ indicative of a solid-like state. Disordering of the block copolymer at higher temperatures is accompanied by a failure of time-temperature superposition due to the disappearance of the solid-like interactions at long timescales and changes in the PPV relaxation modes at short timescales. As the strength of segregation and rod-rod ordering become weaker with increasing coil fraction, these signatures of the changes in microstructure with temperature disappear. When the coil block length is significantly longer than the entanglement molecular weight, signatures of both PI entanglement and the rod dynamics become apparent in the rheological behavior. Examination of isochronal temperature sweeps shows that the PPV crystallization transition is easily observed in symmetric block copolymers, but becomes difficult to detect at high coil fractions. The order-disorder transition (ODT) was not clearly observable as a mechanical signature in temperature sweeps. The failure of time-temperature superposition and the use of Han plots suggest that rheology may be useful to identify the ODT in rod-coil block copolymers only below some critical coil fraction.
Thin film photodiodes fabricated by electrostatic self-assembly of aqueous colloidal quantum dots

We demonstrate a thin film photodiode structure consisting of multi layers of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) which has application in photovoltaics and photodetection. The CdTe QDs with either positively or negatively charged capping ligands are self-assembled layer-by-layer on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate by electrostatic attraction in aqueous solution. A photolithographically patterned photoresist window defines the device active area and an evaporated aluminum (Al) thin film serves as the top electrode. The built-in electric field due to the work function difference between Al and ITO separates photo-excited electron-hole pairs and generates photocurrent. Since the ligands used for QD synthesis are short (less than 0.5 nm), no additional steps of ligand exchange or annealing is needed for enhancing the thin film photoconductivity. Thiol passivation and self-assembly in an inert environment help reduce surface traps, leading to less fermi-level pinning which also improves the device performance.
Correlation of the mechanical and structural properties of cortical rachis keratin of rectrices of the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco).

A B S T R A C T Mechanical characterization of the cortex of rectrices (tail feathers) of the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) has been carried out by tensile testing of the rachis cortex in order to systematically determine Young’s modulus and maximum tensile strength gradients on the surfaces and along the length of the feather. Of over seventy-fi ve samples tested, the average Young’s modulus was found to be 2.56 ± 0.09 GPa, and maximum tensile strength was found to be 78 ± 6 MPa. The Weibull modulus for all sets is greater than one and less than four, indicating that measured strength is highly variable. The highest Weibull moduli were reported for dorsal samplings. Dorsal and ventral surfaces of the cortex are both signifi cantly stiffer and stronger than lateral rachis cortex. On the dorsal surface, cortex sampled from the distal end of the feather was found to be least stiff and weakest compared to that sampled from proximal and middle regions along the length of the feather. Distinctive fracture patterns correspond to failure in the superfi cial cuticle layer and the bulk of the rachis cortex. In the cuticle, where supramolecular keratinous fi bers are oriented tangentially, evidence of ductile tearing was observed. In the bulk cortex, where the fi bers are bundled and oriented longitudinally, patterns suggestive of near-periodic aggregation and brittle failure were observed. c
Self-Reported News Attention Does Assess Differential Processing of Media Content: An Experiment on Risk Perceptions Utilizing a Random Sample of U.S. Local Crime and Accident News

Evidence for media effects in survey research often depends upon measures of self-reported attention to various types of media content, under the assumption that such attention measures gauge the extent of cognitive processing of content. However, effects associated with self-reports of attention might often be due to reverse causation (the attitude or knowledge tested as the outcome might in fact give rise to self-reports of greater attention) or third variable effects. To better assess whether self-reported attention to content actually measures differential processing of content, an experiment was conducted in the context of media influences on health and safety risk perceptions. A pool of 120 eligible news stories concerning violent crime, car crashes, and other unintentional injuries was randomly selected from a national random sample of such news coverage. These stories were manipulated to contain or not contain reference to alcohol as a contributing factor in the incident. Consistent with predictions and prior cross-sectional survey results, self-reports of attention and the exposure treatment interacted in estimating concern about alcohol-related risks, with the pattern of results suggesting that between-participant differences in self-reports of attention in fact reflected differences in processing of the message. Methodological advantages of using random samples of messages in experiments for inference are also discussed.
Climate Variability of the Equatorial Thermocline Inferred from a Two-Moving-Layer Model of the Ventilated Thermocline*

A two-moving-layer model is used to examine the structure of the equatorial thermocline and its connection with the extratropical thermocline. It is found that cooling (warming) in extratropics generates a low (high) potential vorticity anomaly and induces downward (upward) movement of the thermocline, and the perturbation propagates to the equatorial thermocline, inducing a downward (upward) movement of the thermocline and intensification (weakening) of the undercurrent. Thus, surface cooling in the extratropics can induce warming of the equatorial thermocline. In addition, the total mass flux in the subsurface layer in the extratropics and the equatorial undercurrent is enhanced. Although in the extratropics perturbations generated by localized cooling (warming) are confined within the characteristic cone, defined by the unperturbed trajectories of the thermocline circulation, when these perturbations propagate into the equatorial region they are no longer confined by the characteristic cone in the meridional direction.
Homogeneous Maps of Free Ring Modules

Given an R-module V, the near-ring of homogeneous maps M R(V) is the set of maps for all r ∈ R and v ∈ V under point-wise addition and composition of functions. When R is an integral domain and V is a finitely generated free module, the set will be described for any fixed element v in V.
Learning theories 101: application to everyday teaching and scholarship

Shifts in educational research, in how scholarship in higher education is defined, and in how funding is appropriated suggest that educators within basic science fields can benefit from increased understanding of learning theory and how it applies to classroom practice. This article uses a mock curriculum design scenario as a framework for the introduction of five major learning theories. Foundational constructs and principles from each theory and how they apply to the proposed curriculum designs are described. A summative table that includes basic principles, constructs, and classroom applications as well as the role of the teacher and learner is also provided for each theory.
STRONG, INDEPENDENT, AND IN LOVE: FIGHTING FEMALE FANTASIES IN POPULAR CULTURE

OF DISSERTATION STRONG, INDEPENDENT, AND IN LOVE: FIGHTING FEMALE FANTASIES IN POPULAR CULTURE During the late 1970s and 1980s, feminist critics like Janice Radway began to reconsider so-called women’s genres, like romance novels and soap operas and melodramas, in order to address the forms of subversion and expressions of agency they provided female audiences. However, in spite of greater willingness to consider the progressive potential in romance narratives, there has been little such consideration given to stories of romance for the fighting female character—defined as a protagonist who uses violence, via her body or weapons, to save herself and others. The fighting female has received a good deal of attention from critics like Yvonne Tasker, Sherrie Inness, Rikke Schubart, and Phillipa Gates because she enacts transgressive forms of femininity. However, the typical response has been to ignore the intimate or romantic relationships she has with men or to critique them based on the assumption that such heterorelationships automatically limit her agency and attenuate her representation as a feminist-friendly heroine. This view presumes that female empowerment opposes or can only be imagined outside the dominant cultural narratives that generally organize women’s lives around their hetero-relationships—whether sexual or platonic, familial or vocational. As I argue, some fighting female relationship narratives merit our attention because they reveal a new cache of plausible empowered female identities that women negotiate through their intimacies and romances with men. These negotiations, in turn, enable innovative representations of male-female relationships that challenge longstanding cultural scripts about the nature of dominance and subordination in such relationships. Combining cultural analysis with close readings of key popular American film and television texts since the 1980s, my dissertation argues that certain fighting female relationship themes question regressive conventions in male-female intimacies and reveal potentially progressive ideologies regarding female agency in mass culture. In essence, certain fighting female relationship narratives project feminist-friendly love fantasies that reassure audiences of the desirability of empowered women while also imagining egalitarian intimacies that further empower women.
Tourism Industry and High Speed Rail - Is There a Linkage: Evidence from China’s High Speed Rail Development

This paper investigates the impact of Chinese high speed rail systems on the tourism industry. Through a multivariate panel analyses, the study confirms that during the period between 1999 and 2010, the emerging high speed rail services do have significant impacts on boosting tourism in China. Provinces with high speed rail services are likely to have approximate 20 percent additional numbers of foreign arrivals and 25 percent greater tourism revenues than provinces without such systems.
Medical Devices' Adverse Events' Monitoring ?the Present and the Future

Some concepts related to the medical devices adverse events monitoring, and the laws and administrative regulations in the US, EU, Japan and some international organizations are introduced in the paper. Some works and efforts we have done in the past and what should be done in the near future in China are also outlined.
The Economics of Ottoman Justice: Settlement and Trial in the Sharia Courts

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Ottoman Empire endured long periods of warfare, facing intense financial pressures and new international mercantile and monetary trends. The Empire also experienced major political-administrative restructuring and socioeconomic transformations. In the context of this tumultuous change, The Economics of Ottoman Justice examines Ottoman legal practices and the sharia court's operations to reflect on the judicial system and provincial relationships. Metin Cosgel and Bogac Ergene provide a systematic depiction of socio-legal interactions, identifying how different social, economic, gender and religious groups used the court, how they settled their disputes, and which factors contributed to their success at trial. Using an economic approach, Cosgel and Ergene offer rare insights into the role of power differences in judicial interactions, and into the reproduction of communal hierarchies in court, and demonstrate how court use patterns changed over time.
Causes of death after lung transplantation in children compared to adults in the United States

Introduction: Limited data exist examining differences between causes of death after lung transplantation (LTx) for children compared to adults. Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database was queried from 1987 to 2013 to identify the causes of death in children ( Results: A total of 474 children and 12,870 adults died after LTx. Pediatric recipients who died were more often female compared to male in adults, while both pediatric and adult groups were more frequently to be white. In the cohort that died, the most common indication for LTx was cystic fibrosis in children and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for adults. When comparing pediatric to adult patients who died after LTx, the overall difference in causes of death was significant (p Conclusions: Significant differences in the causes of death after LTx were found between children and adults, suggesting the involvement of age-related mechanisms contributing to mortality.
Ultimate performance of Wi-Fi access points with multiple interfaces: An application of software defined network

Wi-Fi become the more popular wireless technology in our living environment. More than one wireless access point to assemble a wireless distribution system is not exclusive to the enterprise. However, current Wi-Fi protocol has no central control mechanism and efficiency cooperation mode between different wireless access points. In this research we proposed a wireless distribution system with software define network controller which provide the following properties. First, this system separates the control plane and data plane with different wireless interfaces. Second, different traffic flows from one access point to another could be assigned with independent, non-mutual interference channels if wireless resource is enough to achieve high throughput performance for whole wireless system. Third, the SDN controller is centralized unit and could execute the global channel optimization rather than regional channel optimization between two adjacent wireless access points. This system facilitated current wireless infrastructure to build the control plane. It utilizes the central Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller to collect required information from different access points, distribute resources to different access points and control the traffic flows. We demonstrate how wireless system with a central control unit could enhance the channel optimization and improve the whole system performance. Experiment to verify our idea is completed by Network simulation 3 (NS-3). The result shows with reasonable channel assignment, the wireless distribution system could optimize all wireless access points interfaces.
Contribution of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals to the Obesity Epidemic: Consequences of Developmental Exposure

Some environmental chemicals are known to disrupt the programming of endocrine signaling pathways that are established during development, resulting in adverse effects later in life. Initially, most endocrine disruptor studies focused on alterations in fertility and reproductive tract endpoints; however, recent evidence implicates developmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with a growing list of adverse health consequences, including an association with obesity and diabetes. These diseases and their related complications are quickly becoming significant public health problems worldwide and are fast reaching epidemic proportions in many countries. Herein, data from experimental animals are summarized that show an association of environmental estrogens – such as the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES), the high-volume production monomer bisphenol A (BPA) used in the production of polycarbonate plastics, and phytoestrogens found in foods such as soy products – with the development of obesity. In addition, the link to other EDCs with various hormone-disruption activities, such as organotins, phthalates, pesticides, and persistent organic pollutants, are discussed. These animal studies are supported by both experiments with cells in culture and epidemiology surveys that suggest that EDCs contribute to the obesity/diabetes epidemic. The association of EDCs with obesity and related diseases does not diminish the roles of diet and exercise; however, it does point out that exposures to EDCs during development are risk factors that should be avoided wherever possible. This idea shifts the focus on obesity from treatment to prevention.
Usual and Unusual Methods for Detection of Lipid Peroxides as Indicators of Tissue Injury in Cerebral Ischemia: What Is Appropriate and Useful?

1. Free radical-dependent lipid peroxidation processes have long been thought to contribute to brain damage following stroke or cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. 2. The preponderance of evidence for this belief has been derived indirectly, through diminution of tissue injury indices (e.g., brain infarct volume) facilitated by application of free radical scavenger substances. 3. Direct, unequivocal evidence for lipid peroxidation in terms of classical assays (detection of conjugated diene absorbance or thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances) is considerably less common, and its validity can be questioned. 4. Correlations of treatment-induced diminishment of brain injury indices with reductions in lipid peroxidation level are rarer still. 5. Reasons underlying the disparity between the belief that lipid peroxidation contributes to ischemic brain injury and direct evidence for this contribution (at least acutely) are proposed, along with evidence that new methods are being developed which should provide the basis for obtaining a definitive answer.
Ion-Generated Damage

It has to be expected that both ions and electrons will damage specimens under examination to a greater or lesser degree. Electrons are low in mass but can travel at velocities which are a significant fraction of the speed of light. In general, electrons do not significantly damage metallic or inorganic specimens, but even relatively low doses of electrons can be expected to chemically alter or destroy organic materials such as polymers and biological samples.
Argument as Inquiry in a Postmodern Context

Argumentation is a form of communication, rather than an application of(formal) logic, and is used in communicative activity as a means forinquiry, although it is more typically thought of as bringing inquiry toclosure. Thus interpretation is an intrinsic and crucial aspect ofconversational (interactive) argumentation. In order to further thisunderstanding of argumentative activity, I propose a procedure forinterpretation that draws upon hermeneutic phenomenology. In response tocriticisms by argumentation theorists (and others) who understand thistradition as oriented to psychological, perceptual, or textual objects, Iargue that hermeneutic phenomenology supports methods for analysis ofpublic communicative activity. The resulting conception of ’thick argumentation‘ responds to contemporary (postmodern) claims that argumentation valorizes univocity, stasis, and certainty at the expense ofthe pluralism, fluctuation, and range of epistemic results thatcharacterize discourse in the public sphere.
Mechanical Cardiac Valves: Current Status

In this article, the authors focus on the mechanical cardiac valves currently available in the United States and discuss their respective advantages and disadvantages. Valves discussed include the Starr-Edwards, Smeloif-Cutter, Bjork-Shiley, Lillehei-Kaster, Omniscience, Medtronic-Hall, and St. Jude valves.
Serrated polyposis syndrome: Diagnosis and management

Abstract Serrated polyposis syndrome is a clinical diagnosis characterized by a few large right-sided colorectal serrated polyps, multiple small serrated polyps, or a combination of both. Colorectal polyps and cancers develop via the methylator (or serrated) carcinogenic pathway. Patients with SPS have an increased risk of CRC compared to the general population throughout their lifetime and adequate surveillance and intervention are necessary. Cancer develops mainly via serrated polyp intermediates, but adenomas can also be present. The goals of management are to prevent the development of colorectal cancer and death from colorectal cancers. Colonoscopy beginning at age 40 at the latest, with polypectomy is the mainstay of clinical management. Surgery is utilized to treat colorectal cancer or decrease its risk. First-degree family members of patients with SPS are also at increased risk of colorectal cancer compared to the general population and increased colonoscopic screening is indicated.
Major Furocoumarins in Grapefruit are Detectable in Plasma Following Consumption of Grapefruit and Grapefruit Juice

Furocoumarins are aclass of organic compound found in a variety of vegetables and fruits, especially citrus fruits. Grapefruit is a relatively common source of furocoumarins, and because of this, t...
Coronavirus Endoribonuclease Activity in Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Suppresses Type I and Type III Interferon Responses

Identifying viral antagonists of innate immunity and determining if they contribute to pathogenesis are critical for developing effective strategies to control emerging viruses. Previously, we reported that an endoribonuclease (EndoU) encoded by murine coronavirus plays a pivotal role in evasion of host innate immune defenses in macrophages. Here, we asked if the EndoU activity of porcine epidemic diarrhea coronavirus (PEDV), which causes acute diarrhea in swine, plays a role in antagonizing the innate response in porcine epithelial cells and macrophages, the sites of viral replication. We constructed an infectious clone of PEDV-Colorado strain (icPEDV-wt) and an EndoU-mutant PEDV (icPEDV-EnUmt) by changing the codon for a catalytic histidine residue of EndoU to alanine (His226Ala). We found that both icPEDV-wt and icPEDV-EnUmt propagated efficiently in interferon (IFN)-deficient Vero cells. In contrast, the propagation of icPEDV-EnUmt was impaired in porcine epithelial cells (LLC-PK1), where we detected an early and robust transcriptional activation of type I and type III IFNs. Infection of piglets with the parental Colorado strain, icPEDV-wt, or icPEDV-EnUmt revealed that all viruses replicated in the gut and induced diarrhea; however, there was reduced viral shedding and mortality in the icPEDV-EnUmt-infected animals. These results demonstrate that EndoU activity is not required for PEDV replication in immortalized, IFN-deficient Vero cells, but is important for suppressing the IFN response in epithelial cells and macrophages, which facilitates replication, shedding, and pathogenesis in vivo We conclude that PEDV EndoU activity is a key virulence factor that suppresses both type I and type III IFN responses.IMPORTANCE Coronaviruses (CoVs) can emerge from an animal reservoir into a naive host species to cause pandemic respiratory or gastrointestinal diseases with significant mortality in humans or domestic animals. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), an alphacoronavirus (alpha-CoV), infects gut epithelial cells and macrophages, inducing diarrhea and resulting in high mortality in piglets. How PEDV suppresses the innate immune response was unknown. We found that mutating a viral endoribonuclease, EndoU, results in a virus that activates both the type I interferon response and the type III interferon response in macrophages and epithelial cells. This activation of interferon resulted in limited viral replication in epithelial cell cultures and was associated with reduced virus shedding and mortality in piglets. This study reveals a role for EndoU activity as a virulence factor in PEDV infection and provides an approach for generating live-attenuated vaccine candidates for emerging coronaviruses.
Cryptococcal Meningitis in a HIV Seronegative Patient: A Rare Complication of Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak Detected with a New Cisternographic Technique

Immune deficiency is usually the underlying predisposing factor for cryptococcal meningitis, though there have been case reports of immunocompetent patients presenting with same. The portal of entry for Cryptococcus neoformans is the respiratory tract, and by hematogenous spread, it causes systemic symptoms. The presence of CSF leak is described to have predisposed our immunocompetent patient to infection by this organism possibly through direct spread. The gold standard for diagnosing CSF leak is by cisternography. In this case, we added a technique where nasal gauze is inserted during the procedure and scanned afterwards for dye, thus increasing the confidence of diagnosis of CSF leak through the nares. Prompt diagnosis and treatment is key to prevent adverse outcomes, and we propose that in patients with cryptococcal meningitis without any identifiable risk factor, evaluation for CSF leak should be considered especially with history of head trauma.
A simple and highly portable MATLAB interface for learning robotics

In order to attract engineering students from across a wide range of disciplines and subject areas to the study of robotics, it was highly desirable to have an easy-to-use MATLAB-based interface for students to use to program robots and conduct robot experiments. Undoubtedly, MATLAB is one of the most prevalent programming languages engineering students use for modeling, analysis, and data visualization. In this paper, a simple and highly portable MATLAB interface is introduced to support laboratory instruction and experimentation in robotics. This robot interface leverages student’s prior knowledge and skills in MATLAB so that it is easy for them to begin working and learning about many of the fascinating aspects of robotics. The interface was specifically developed for the Pioneer family of mobile robots, which uses a client–server communication model based on the Advanced Robotics Control and Operations Software (ARCOS). The interface client was developed using basic MATLAB functions and communicates directly with the ARCOS server operating on many Pioneer robots. The interface is very light weight and highly portable to any computing platform that supports MATLAB.
Proteomic and transcriptomic analyses of early and late-chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection shows novel and stage specific transcripts

The protozoan pathogen Toxoplasma gondii has the unique ability to develop a chronic infection in the brain of its host by transitioning from the fast growing tachyzoite morphology to latent bradyzoite morphology. A hallmark of the bradyzoite is the development of neuronal cysts that are resilient against host immune response and current therapeutics. The bradyzoite parasites within the cyst have a carbohydrate and protein-rich wall and a slow-replication cycle, allowing them to remain hidden from the host. The intracellular, encysted lifestyle of T. gondii has made them recalcitrant to molecular analysis in vivo. Here, we detail the results from transcriptional and proteomic analyses of bradyzoite-enriched fractions isolated from mouse brains infected with T. gondii over a time course of 21 to 150 days. The enrichment procedure afforded consistent identification of over 2000 parasitic peptides from the mixed-organism sample, representing 366 T. gondii proteins at 28, 90, and 120 day timepoints. Deep sequencing of transcripts expressed during these three timepoints revealed that a subpopulation of genes that are transcriptionally expressed at a high level. Approximately one-third of these transcripts are more enriched during bradyzoite conditions compared to tachyzoites and approximately half are expressed at similar levels during each phase. The T. gondii transcript which increased the most over the course of chronic infection, sporoAMA1, shows stage specific isoform expression of the gene. We have expanded the transcriptional profile of in vivo bradyzoites to 120 days post-infection and provided the first in vivo proteomic profile of T. gondii bradyzoites. The RNA sequencing depth of in vivo bradyzoite T. gondii was over 250-fold greater than previous reports and allowed us to identify low level transcripts and a novel bradyzoite-specific isoform of sporoAMA1.
The AI-cyber nexus: implications for military escalation, deterrence and strategic stability

How could AI-infused cyber capabilities be used to subvert, or otherwise compromise, the reliability, control and use of states’ nuclear forces? This article argues that a new generation of artific...
Popular Religion Temples in Fujian, Southeast China: The Politics of State Intervention, 1990s–2010s:

This article presents an ethnographic examination of state intervention in popular religion temples in Fujian, southeast China. Specifically, it surveys the state presence in four temples, explores...
Abstract #1355: AXL is strongly activated and a potential target for therapeutic intervention in mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a notoriously chemotherapy-resistant neoplasm, which is associated with asbestos exposure. Activation of the receptor tyrosine kinases (TKs) EGFR and MET has been described in subsets of mesothelioma, suggesting that TKs might represent novel therapeutic targets in this lethal disease. We employed the functional proteomic screening approach of phosphotyrosine immunoaffinity purification and tandem mass spectrometry to investigate TK activation in mesothelioma cell lines. The AXL receptor TK protein, which has been shown to have oncogenic properties in non-mesothelial cancer types, was expressed and activated strongly in 9 of 10 mesothelioma cell lines and 6 of 12 mesothelioma biopsies, including 12 of 22 mesotheliomas with spindle-cell histology. Somatic AXL mutations were not found but all cases expressed an alternatively spliced AXL transcript with in-frame deletion of exon 10. AXL silencing by lentivirus-mediated shRNA (short hairpin RNA) in mesotheliomas: 1) inhibited PI3-K/AKT/mTOR and Ras/MAPK signaling pathways; 2) upregulated the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21 and p27, and tumor suppressor p53; 3) dephosphorylated the cell cycle checkpoint proteins Rb and CDK2; 4) suppressed migration and cellular proliferation due to G1 arrest; and 5) induced apoptosis. These studies implicate AXL as a novel therapeutic target in mesothelioma. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 1355.
25 Current Status and Future Directions of Assessment Psychology

Assessment psychology is concerned with methods of identifying similarities and differences among people in their personal characteristics and capacities. This important branch of psychology has become so well researched and established that it can now be considered a subdiscipline within the field. Although psychological assessment has sometimes been equated with testing, assessment involves much more than administering tests. It involves the collection and integration of information not only from psychological tests but also from interviews, behavioral observations, collateral reports, and historical documents so that a more complete picture of a person is obtained. Keywords: assessment psychology; behavioral observations; interviewing; psychological assessment; testing
Population-level variation in neonicotinoid tolerance in nymphs of the Heptageniidae

Abstract Anthropogenic activities can have significant ecological and evolutionary consequences on populations and communities. In the United States, neonicotinoid insecticides are widespread across the agricultural Midwest and frequently detected in stream systems. Their effect on Heptageniidae mayflies is a major concern because they are highly sensitive to neonicotinoids and have some of the lowest reported tolerance values of any organism. Our objective was to evaluate population-level variation in neonicotinoid sensitivity. We did so by conducting 96 h half maximal effective concentration (EC5096-h) tests for the neonicotinoids clothianidin and thiamethoxam on populations of Stenacron, Stenonema, and Maccaffertium mayflies and testing for associations with agricultural landcover. Additionally, we collected water samples to assess temporal patterns of neonicotinoid presence in stream habitats. We found variation in neonicotinoid tolerance with EC50 values ranging from 4.9 μg/L to 32 μg/L and 19.8 μg/L to 86.5 μg/L for clothianidin and thiamethoxam, respectively. Agricultural landcover was associated with neonicotinoid tolerance for Stenacron and thiamethoxam but not for other comparisons. Moreover, water samples demonstrated that the amount of agricultural landcover was not a strong predictor of neonicotinoids presence in streams. Our data suggest that populations of Heptageniidae mayflies can vary substantially in neonicotinoid tolerance. Population-level variation should be considered in toxicity assessments and presents the potential for evolved tolerance.
NMR based real-time enzyme kinetics on estimating the inhibitory effect of sucralose in the enzymatic conversion of sucrose

Sucralose, one of the popular non-caloric artificial sweeteners, has been known to influence the enzymatic conversion of sucrose to glucose and fructose by invertase. In continuing the use of real-time NMR experiments and reaction progress curve analysis to measure enzyme kinetics, here we investigate the role of sucralose as an inhibitor. NMR based kinetic experiments were performed as a function of the substrate concentration for a range of sucralose concentrations, and the results were analyzed by fitting the progress curve to the Lambert-W function. The Michaelis-Menten parameters were then used to estimate the inhibitory constant of sucralose. To estimate the extent of sucralose inhibition on the enzymatic production of glucose, control experiments were performed with lactose as the inhibitor under similar experimental conditions. The results show that sucralose is a much more potent inhibitor than lactose, inhibiting the enzymatic conversion at least seven times more.
“Helping Me Learn New Things Every Day”: The Power of Community College Students’ Writing Across Genres:

Although community colleges are important entry points into higher education for many American students, few studies have investigated how community college students engage with different genres or...
Urban Principal Autonomy and the Goldilocks Dilemma: Considering the Nature and Limits of Principal Power in New York City:

Some contemporary urban educational reformers believe that empowering principals with increased school-based autonomy will help them lead educational improvement more effectively. We consider this ...