cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hierarchical phasers for scalable synchronization and reductions in dynamic parallelism

The phaser construct is a unification of collective and point-to-point synchronization with dynamic parallelism. This construct gives each task the option of synchronizing on a phaser in signal-only/wait-only mode for producer/consumer synchronization or signal-wait mode for barrier synchronization. A phaser accumulator is a reduction construct that works with phasers in a phased setting. Phasers and accumulators support dynamic parallelism i.e., they allow dynamic addition and removal of tasks from the synchronizations and reductions that they support. Past implementations of phasers and phaser accumulators have used a single master task to advance a phaser to the next phase and to perform computations for lazy reductions, while also supporting dynamic parallelism. Though the single master approach provides an effective solution for modest levels of parallelism, it quickly becomes a scalability bottleneck as the number of threads increases. To address this limitation, we propose an approach based on hierarchical phasers for scalable synchronization and hierarchical accumulators for scalable reduction. Our approach also includes tunable initialization parameters that specify the degree and number of tiers for the phaser hierarchy, thereby allowing different values to be chosen for different platforms. Our performance results show significant scalability benefits from our approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approach to support hierarchical synchronization and reductions in the presence of dynamic parallelism.
Pharmacotherapy for bipolar depression: comparative efficacy and acceptability is in the eye of the beholder

ABSTRACT FROM: Taylor DM, Cornelius V, Smith L, et al . Comparative efficacy and acceptability of drug treatments for bipolar depression: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2014;130:452–69. Bipolar disorder is principally a depressive illness, given the amount of time spent symptomatic in the depressed phase.1 Despite this, there are very few approved treatments.2 Consequently, several unapproved drugs are used with varying degrees of efficacy and tolerability. The data for this study were from English language clinical trial study reports published from 1950 to April 2014. Studies that were included were randomised, double blind, 4–16 weeks, controlled trials of adults, with acute bipolar depression. Studies of refractory/resistant patients or mixed populations with mood disorders were excluded. The primary efficacy outcome was effect size. The primary acceptability outcome was ‘switch to mania’. Secondary outcomes were likelihood of response and withdrawals from trials. The direct treatment effect estimates using a random-effects model was followed by a network meta-analysis using Bayesian methodology. The rank probabilities were summarised for each drug by …
Mental Health in Youth Infected with and Affected by HIV: The Role of Caregiver HIV

Objective To examine the association of youth and caregiver HIV status, and other contextual and social regulation factors with youth mental health. Method Data were from two longitudinal studies of urban youth perinatally infected, affected, and unaffected by HIV (N=545; 36% PHIV + youth; 45.7% HIV + caregivers). Youth mental health was measured using the Child Behavior Checklist, the Child Depression Inventory, and the State―Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Results HIV + youth reported elevated scores on the CDI compared with HIV - youth. HIV + caregivers reported fewer symptoms and were less likely to report scores in the clinical range for their children on the CBCL compared with HIV ― caregivers. Caregiver mental health and parent―child communication and involvement were also associated with youth mental health. Conclusions Youth who resided with HIV + caregivers had better mental health. Future research needs to further explore the role of caregiver HIV infection in youth mental health. Understanding and building upon strengths of HIV-affected families may be an effective focus of interventions for this population.
Constant Current Power Transmission Line-Based Power Delivery Network for Single-Ended Signaling

The performance of a system depends heavily on the communication speed between integrated circuits. One of the most important bottlenecks that limit the communication speed is simultaneous switching noise (SSN). A major contribution to SSN is return path discontinuities, which are caused by the change or disruption in return currents due to via transitions, aperture effects, etc. In this paper, a new concept based on power transmission line (PTL) is proposed to supply power, improve signal and power integrity, and enhance chip-to-chip communication speed. The first demonstration of constant current PTL (CCPTL)-based single-ended signaling scheme is implemented and measured. The results show that the CCPTL scheme improves the quality of the received signal in terms of voltage and timing margin.
Sclerouveitis associated with Rosai-Dorfman disease in an HIV-infected patient.

ABSTRACTPurpose: To describe a case of Rosai-Dorfman-associated sclerouveitis in an HIV-infected patient.Design: Case report.Methods: A 49-year-old man with HIV had bilateral eye pain, redness, photophobia, and multiple systemic complaints. He underwent serial ocular examinations, abdomen/pelvis CT scan, and lymph node biopsy.Results: Ophthalmologic evaluation revealed bilateral, nongranulomatous anterior uveitis and anterior scleritis. Biopsy of a retroperitoneal lymph node identified on CT revealed mixed inflammatory infiltrate composed of histiocytes, lymphocytes, and plasma cells involving fibroadipose tissue, indicating Rosai-Dorfman disease.Conclusions: This is the first report of sclerouveitis in Rosai-Dorfman disease. Rosai-Dorfman is typically self-limiting, occurring rarely in HIV.
Non-Uniform error criteria for automatic pattern and speech recognition

The classical Bayes decision theory [1] is the foundation of statistical pattern recognition. Conventional applications of the Bayes decision theory result in ubiquitous use of the maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) decision policy and the paradigm of distribution estimation as practice in the design of a statistical pattern recognition system. In this paper, we address the issue of non-uniform error criteria in statistical pattern recognition, and generalize the Bayes decision theory for pattern recognition tasks where errors over different classes have different degrees of significance. We further propose extensions of the method of minimum classification error (MCE) [2] for a practical design of a statistical pattern recognition system to achieve empirical optimality when non-uniform error criteria are prescribed. In addition, we apply our method upon speech recognition tasks. In the context of automatic speech recognition (ASR), we present a variety of training scenarios and weighting strategies under our framework. The experimental demonstrations for both general pattern recognition and continuous speech recognition are provided to support the effectiveness of our new approach.
Re: Infection control in burn patients: are fungal infections underestimated?

A response to Struck MF. Infection control in burn patients: are fungal infections underestimated? Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2009 Oct 9;17(1):51. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 19818134.
DIMENSÕES EPIDEMIOLÓGICAS ASSOCIATIVAS ENTRE INDICADORES SOCIOECONÔMICOS DE VIDA E PRÁTICA DE EXERCÍCIOS FÍSICOS

This essay constitutes a reflection on some of the paradoxes involved in the notion of health in a consumer society. The text attempts to flesh out some of the points of tension that, through analysis, can be found in discourses on physical ability and health in the area of Physical Education, as well as within the idea of choice as it is used in relation to market-manufactured needs. Within this context, Physical Education becomes a new counselor that claims to guarantee, in these times of uncertainties and wagers, the acquisition of an appropriate and healthy body. This process has only been made possible through the linking of Biomedicine - as a scientific and bio-political register - and Physical Education.
“Who Are You Calling Exploitative?” Defensive Motherhood, Child Labor, and Urban Poverty in Lima, Peru

Resumen Este articulo examina la relacion imaginada entre la maternidad y el trabajo infantil. Sobre la base de un estudio con familias de ninos que trabajan en las calles limenas como malabaristas, vendedores de caramelos y limpiavidrios, sostengo que la campana contra el trabajo infantil, incorporando la retorica neoliberal de derechos y desarrollo, y discursos historicos civilizadores, representa a las madres pobres y mestizas como las explotadoras principales de sus hijos. Frente a las intervenciones moralizantes y criminalizadoras del Estado en sus vidas cotidianas, madres e hijos practican lo que denomino “maternidad defensiva.” Al contrario de las presuposiciones de que el trabajo infantil es principalmente una manera de satisfacer necesidades economicas inmediatas y/o una tradicion cultural retrogada que puede reformarse mediante la educacion, demuestro que las madres, profundamente concientes de su mortalidad bajo un sistema estatal que no las cuida, ensenan a sus hijos el valor del trabajo como manera de invertir en su futuro. [clase, genero, trabajo infantil, Peru, maternidad, urbano]
Preparation of doubly-silylene-bridged zirconocene alkyl complexes, Me2Si)2{η5-C5H2-4-CHMe2}{η5-C5H-3,5-(CHMe2)2}ZrR2 (RCH3, CH2Ph) and investigations of their activity in 1-pentene polymerization. Molecular structure of (Me2Si)2{η5-C5H2-4-CHMe2}{η5-C5H-3,5- (CHMe2)2}Zr(CH2Ph)2

Abstract The syntheses of the doubly-[SiMe 2 ]-bridged zirconocene complexes, Me 2 Si) 2 { η 5 -C 5 H 2 -4-CHMe 2 } { η 5 -C 5 H-3,5-(CHMe 2 ) 2 }-ZrR 2 (RCl ( 2 ); RCH 2 Ph ( 3 ); RCh 3 ( 4 )) are described. The structure of (Me 2 Si) 2 { η 5 -C 2 H 2 -4,-CHMe 2 }{ η 5 -C 5 H-3,5-(CHMe 2 ) 2 }- Zr(CH 2 Ph) 2 ( 3 ), has been examined by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. It crystallizes in the triclinic space group P -1, with a = 9.900(2), b = 11.818(2), c = 15.320(3) A , α = 105.02(3), β = 92.56(3), γ = 105.23(3)° and Z = 2 . Compounds 3 and 4 are active stereospecific pre-catalysts for the [Ph 3 C] [B(C 6 F 5 ) 4 ] co-catalyzed polymerization of 1-pentene. Polymerization reactions at low temperature in liquid monomer produced poly(1-pentene) with syndiotactic microstructure and narrow molecular weight distribution. By contrast, in 1-pentene/toluene solutions a broad molecular weight distribution is observed. Under all conditions examined 2 /MAO systems produced high molecular weight, highly syndiotactic poly-1-pentene with narrow molecular weight distributions.
Apparatus for studying cyclic stress-strain and fatigue at elevated temperatures: Special equipment permits elevated-temperature fatigue tests to be conducted in which the mean strain and the amplitude of alternating strain are held constant

An apparatus is described which permits tubular specimens to be heated to a uniform temperature, while being cyclically strained with a constant amplitude of alternating strain about a fixed mean strain. Under these conditions, tests were performed in which the mean stress was measured as a function of the number of cycles of repeated strain for the alloys Udimet 700 and Rene 41 at 1300°F. These data along with fatigue fracture data are reported.
CNS drug development: Part II: Advances from the 1960s to the 1990s.

This column is the second in a series on central nervous system (CNS) drug development. The goal of this series is to explain to practicing clinicians how drugs are developed and why CNS drug development is at an important juncture involving both significant challenges and opportunities. This column
Curves of Constant Precession

1. INTRODUCTION. Given initial position and direction, the flight-path of a ship in Euclidean space is completely determined by how much it turns and how much it twists at each odometer reading. This is an intuitive interpretation of the Fundamental Theorem for Space Curves, which states that curvature K and torsion , as functions of arclength s, determine a space curve uniquely up to rigid motion. This statement of the Fundamental Theorem ([14], §1-8) should be tempered with the reservations expressed by Nomizu [12] and Wong & Lai [15]. Given a parametric space curve, there are well-known formulae for the arclength, curvature, and torsion (as functions of the parameter). Given two functions of one parameter (potentially curvature and torsion parametrized by arc-length) one might like to find a parametrized space curve for which the two functions are the curvature and torsion. This activity, called "solving natural equations" ([14], §1-10), is generally achieved by solving Riccati equations like dw/ds = -iz/2 iKW + i7W /2. Although the solution generally exists, it usually cannot be obtained explicitly. Euler [6] found explicit integral formulae for plane curves (where z - O) through direct geometric analysis. Hoppe [9] developed a general method for solving the natural equations for space curves by solving Riccati equations through a complicated sequence of integral transformations. He digressed to obtain formulae for the tangent, normal, and binormal indicatrices for general helices and essentially for curves of constant precession. Enneper [5] obtained explicit closed-form solutions for helices on revolved conic sections through direct geometric analysis. A curve of constant precession is defined by the property that as the curve is traversed with unit speed, its centrode revolves about a fixed axis with constant angle and constant speed. In this paper we obtain an arclength-parametrized closed-form solution of the natural equations for curves of constant precession through direct geometric analysis. As part of this analysis, we obtain a new theorem for curves of constant precession analogous with Lancret's Theorem for general helices. We provide the first rendering of a curve of constant precession. We also note for the first time that curves of constant precession lie on circular hyperboloids of one sheet and have closure conditions that are simply related to their arclength, curvature, and torsion. These are 3-type curves, except one family of closed 2-type curves (when Z = 4,u; see [2], [3], and [1]). Given a closed C3 curve in space, it is rather obvious that the curvature and torsion functions will be periodic functions of the arclength, with period equal the total arclength. This is a necessary condition but, as the circular helices (K and z both constant) show, not a sufficient condition that integral curves be closed. Efimov [4] and Fenchel [7] independently formulated The Closed Curve Problem. Find (explicit) necessary and sufficient conditions that determine when, given two periodic functions K(S) and z(s) with the same period L, the integral curve is closed.
Objective Measurement of Fusional Vergence Ranges and Heterophoria in Infants and Preschool Children.

Purpose Binocular alignment typically includes motor fusion compensating for heterophoria. This study evaluated heterophoria and then accommodation and vergence responses during measurement of fusional ranges in infants and preschoolers. Methods Purkinje image eye tracking and eccentric photorefraction (MCS PowerRefractor) were used to record the eye alignment and accommodation of uncorrected infants (n = 17; 3-5 months old), preschoolers (n = 19; 2.5-5 years), and naive functionally emmetropic adults (n = 14; 20-32 years; spherical equivalent [SE], +1 to -1 diopters [D]). Heterophoria was derived from the difference between monocular and binocular alignments while participants viewed naturalistic images at 80 cm. The presence or absence of fusion was then assessed after base-in (BI) and base-out (BO) prisms (2-40 prism diopters [pd]) were introduced. Results Mean (±SD) SE refractions were hyperopic in infants (+2.4 ± 1.2 D) and preschoolers (+1.1 ± 0.6 D). The average exophoria was similar (P = 0.11) across groups (Infants, -0.79 ± 2.5 pd; Preschool, -2.43 ± 2.0 pd; Adults, -1.0 ± 2.7 pd). Mean fusional vergence range also was similar (P = 0.1) for BI (Infants, 11.2 ± 2.5 pd; Preschool, 8.8 ± 2.8 pd; Adults, 11.8 ± 5.2 pd) and BO (Infants, 14 ± 6.6 pd; Preschool, 15.3 ± 8.3 pd; Adults, 20 ± 9.2 pd). Maximum change in accommodation to the highest fusible prism was positive (increased accommodation) for BO (Infants, 1.69 ± 1.4 D; Preschool, 1.35 ± 1.6 D; Adults, 1.22 ± 1.0 D) and negative for BI (Infants, -0.96 ± 1.0 D; Preschool, -0.78 ± 0.6 D; Adults, -0.62 ± 0.3 D), with a similar magnitude across groups (BO, P = 0.6; BI, P = 0.4). Conclusions Despite typical uncorrected hyperopia, infants and preschoolers exhibited small exophorias at 80 cm, similar to adults. All participants demonstrated substantial fusional ranges, providing evidence that even 3- to 5-month-old infants can respond to a large range of image disparities.
Problems And Perspectives on the Use of Decision-Analysis Models For Prostate Cancer

AbstractThe use of modeling studies to illustrate the impact of decision choices in cancer treatment is becoming increasingly common. Decision makers should have some understanding of modeling terminology and issues to evaluate such studies. To be useful, prostate cancer treatment models must be based on acceptable structural assumptions, contain valid data and be understandable to clinical experts. Assumptions with regard to population age, clinical stage, tumor differentiation and combinations of treatment modalities used initially, and for later management of local relapse and distant metastases must all be considered. Difficulties abound because most data sources need some adjustment to avoid bias or to reflect current practice. Despite these difficulties, modeling studies may provide unique insights that are valuable for improving prostate cancer decision making.
Hemodynamic assessment of combined aortoiliac/femoropopliteal occlusive disease and selection of single or multilevel revascularization

Approximately 25% of patients with multilevel arterial occlusive disease will require both inflow and outflow revascularization in order to successfully resolve their symptoms of lower limb ischemia. The preoperative selection of patients for multilevel concurrent arterial reconstruction is guided by symptoms, information from the noninvasive vascular laboratory, the predicted postoperative ABI, and detailed multiview angiography including pull-back intra-arterial pressure measurements. Properly selected patients will benefit from a carefully planned and expeditiously performed simultaneous revascularization. Current results indicate no significant increase in operative morbidity or mortality rates and excellent graft patency rates with these combined procedures.
Lubricant thickness modulation and recovery for contact and near contact recording conditions

Lubricant distribution and recovery for near contact and contact recording conditions are experimentally investigated using Thermal Fly-height Control (TFC) sliders. Contact between the protruded center pad and the lubricant layer causes a thickness modulation together with lubricant depletion that grows with contact duration. In experiments using Z-dol+A20H and Z-tetraol+A20H with different thicknesses, a larger depletion is observed for the thicker lubricant of each type for a given TFC power. Lubricants with lower bonded fraction recover more quickly after the slider is unloaded. From the current experiments it is extrapolated that Z-dol+A20H (30% bonded) lubricant recovers in a time scale of a few hours to a day, while Z-tetraol+A20H (60% bonded) lubricant of comparable thickness takes a few days to fully recover.
[Volunteering in end-of-life care : Challenges, problems and perspectives].

Volunteering in the hospice movement has had a profound impact on generating awareness of hospice work and palliative care in the context of supporting dying persons and their relatives as well as on integrating respective services in the existing health care system. This paper focuses on two specific questions: First, it asks how society is changing with respect to dealing with dying and death, and more precisely with dying persons, which is recognizable by the integration of hospice work and palliative care in the healthcare system and related to the relevance of volunteering in the sense of a citizens' movement. Second, this paper asks what the specific roles of volunteers are as well as the possibilities and limits of voluntary practice in end-of-life care and accompaniment. To answer these questions, the pivotal objectives of the hospice movement - the transformation of the social awareness regarding dying and death, as well as the reorganization of "institutions of dying" - will first be outlined by reference to the concept of "good dying", a specific hospice attitude together with hospice culture and palliative competence. In a second step, the relevance of volunteering and the specific role of volunteers in the actual practice of hospice work and palliative care will be outlined alongside current indicators and recognizable alteration tendencies, before concluding with a discussion of the perspectives of hospices as a citizens' movement.
Neutron scattering cross sections for 204,206Pb and neutron and proton amplitudes of E2 and E3 excitations.

Differential elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections have been measured for neutrons incident on $^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$ and $^{206}\mathrm{Pb}$ at energies of 2.5, 4.6, and 8.0 MeV and total cross sections in 100-keV steps from 250 keV to 4.0 MeV. Both spherical and coupled-channels analyses have been used to interpret this large set of data, together with other cross sections extending to 8 MeV. Several purposes motivate this work. The first is to establish the dispersion-corrected mean field appropriate for these nuclei. A consistent description of the energy dependent neutron scattering potential includes a dispersion relation connecting the real and imaginary parts of the potential; the resultant potential relates the energy dependent scattering field to one representing bound single particle levels. Dispersion relations using both the single channel and coupled-channels models have been examined; both give very similar results. The second motivation is to deduce neutron and proton excitation strengths of the lowest-energy quadrupole and octupole excitations seen via neutron scattering, and to compare those strengths with similar values derived from electromagnetic exciton, heavy-ion and pion scattering. The role of target neutrons in both collective excitations was found to be enhanced compared to the proton role.
An optimal leakage detection strategy for underground pipelines using magnetic induction-based sensor networks

It is difficult to detect small leakages in underground pipelines with high accuracy and low-energy cost due to the inaccessible underground environments. To this end, the Magnetic Induction (MI)-based wireless sensor network for underground pipeline monitoring (MISE-PIPE) is introduced in [13]. The MISE-PIPE deploys high-density underground MI sensors along the pipelines, which provide necessary measurements for leakage detection with very high resolution. However, in order to provide accurate and low-cost leakage detection based on MISE-PIPE, an optimal deployment and activation strategy for those sensors is needed. In this paper, we provide an optimal strategy to detect leakages in underground pipelines based on the MISE-PIPE framework. Based on the proposed detection strategy, the error bound is derived to characterize the accuracy, while the energy consumption is analyzed to model the system energy cost. By trading off the accuracy and the energy consumption, an optimization function is developed to achieve the optimal performance.
Heterotopic ossification and the elucidation of pathologic differentiation

Tissue regeneration following acute or persistent inflammation can manifest a spectrum of phenotypes ranging from the adaptive to the pathologic. Heterotopic Ossification (HO), the endochondral formation of bone within soft-tissue structures following severe injury serves as a prominent example of pathologic differentiation; and remains a persistent clinical issue incurring significant patient morbidity and expense to adequately diagnose and treat. The pathogenesis of HO provides an intriguing opportunity to better characterize the cellular and cell-signaling contributors to aberrant differentiation. Indeed, recent work has continued to resolve the unique cellular lineages, and causative pathways responsible for ectopic bone development yielding promising avenues for the development of novel therapeutic strategies shown to be successful in analogous animal models of HO development. This review details advances in the understanding of HO in the context of inciting inflammation, and explains how these advances inform the current standards of diagnosis and treatment.
Monitoring of regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in acute head injury by thermal diffusion.

During the last few years continuous measurements of CBF by means of a thermal diffusion blood flow probe have been proposed as a possible means for monitoring the patient’s CBF in a clinical setting. Also, it has been suggested that continuous CBF data from head injured patients can be correlated with other continuously recorded clinical parameters, such as ICP and blood pressure, in order to clarify pathophysiological mechanisms such as “plateau-waves”.
Operating Deflection Shapes of a Violin String via High Speed/High Resolution Videography

The action of bowing a violin string to play a properly sounding note produces a stick-slip action between the bow and the string. In an ideal situation this excitation of the string results in Helmholtz motion of the string. This paper describes an experimental method for measuring the motion of a violin string using high speed/high resolution videography and the subsequent digitizing of the motion for use in a high fidelity mathematical model of a violin.
Trans-Cending Space in Women's Only Spaces: Title IX Cannot Be the Basis for Exclusion

Despite many women’s college concern for and sensitivity towards the needs of their transgendered communities, there is no women’s college that claims to admit any student identifying as anything other than female, and most do not have a formal policy regarding the continued enrollment of those students who identified as female at the time of admission but identify otherwise while enrolled. The reason most cited to account for this informal policy of discriminatory admission followed by inclusive enrollment, is due to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The rationale is as follows: Title IX allows private men’s and women’s colleges to discriminate based on sex, but they may not admit students who are not the sex the particular institution serves; therefore, if a women’s college were to admit a student identifying as male (or not identifying as female) the institution would jeopardize its federal funding because it would violate Title IX. However, recent cases involving discrimination against gender non-conforming individuals brought under Title VII and Title IX suggest that Title IX protects transgender individuals in the same way it protects women. Moreover, the disturbing amount of evidence showing the terribly high prevalence of bullying and discrimination faced by gender non-conforming individuals in school dictates that something be done to insure transgender people have equal access to an education free of harassment and discrimination. This note argues that Title IX, specifically it’s affirmative action provision, is one tool that can be used to combat discrimination against transgendered individuals by providing for their admission to women’s colleges, and that while women’s colleges may have other, arguably legitimate, reasons for refusing to admit individuals who do not identify female, they should not rely upon Title IX to avoid defending that difficult decision.
The diagnostic role of triple endoscopy in pediatric patients with chronic cough.

Abstract Objective/hypothesis Multi-disciplinary aero-digestive centers provide high quality health care through improved outcomes and treatment costs over separate sub specialty clinics. These outcomes are often the result of a common investigative tool known as triple endoscopy: a rigid bronchoscopy performed by an otolaryngologist, flexible bronchoscopy and lavage obtained by a pulmonologist, and an endoscopy with guided biopsies performed by a gastroenterologist. Combining such procedures into one 'triple endoscopy' allows for diagnoses which otherwise might have been missed with just one procedure. The goal of our study was to describe the efficacy of the triple endoscopy procedure in diagnosing recalcitrant aero-digestive conditions, specifically chronic cough. Study design: Retrospective chart review Methods Multiple charts from children who underwent the triple endoscopy for chronic cough were retrospectively reviewed from 2005 and 2017. Complete data from the triple procedure was gathered on 243 patients, including findings by sub specialty (otolaryngology, pulmonology, and gastroenterology). Results Of the 243 patients with complete data who underwent triple endoscopy, 203 (83.5%) children had at least one positive finding. Of these children, 101 (41.5%) had one specialty specific diagnosis, and 102 (42%) had multiple cross specialty diagnoses. When describing the diagnoses, 63 children had gastro esophageal reflux (GER), 14 had eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), 118 had tracheomalacia, 54 had laryngeal clefts, and 102 children had positive bronchoalveolar lavages. Outcome data was available on 226 patients (93%), of these patients, 188 patients had a diagnosis from the triple scope. Of those patients with a diagnosis and outcome data, 144 (76.6%) children had an improved outcome as a result of a treatment plan targeting that diagnosis, while 16 of the 37 patients without a diagnosis improved. This difference was significant by chi square analysis (p Conclusion The triple scope procedure is a useful investigative tool for patients with recalcitrant aero-digestive complaints like chronic cough. In particular, triple scope can yield more than one specialty specific diagnosis, normally missed by one procedure. The triple scope also leads to improved parental satisfaction by improved cost and healthcare outcomes.
Highly ambient-stable few-layer black phosphorene by pulsed laser exfoliation and HEMM

Pulsed laser exfoliation was successfully applied to fabricate few-layer phosphorene from high energy mechanical milling (HEMM) synthesized black phosphorus (BP) powders and crystals. The results show that the polycrystalline phosphorene laser-exfoliated from the HEMM-synthesized BP powders is highly stable in ambient environments, providing proof-of-concept for the low-cost fabrication of highly stable few-layer phosphorene for large-scale applications.
Thermal conductivity of polymer nanocomposites: applications of molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract Polymer nanocomposites formed by carbon nanofillers have many potential applications such as thermal energy management in high-density electronic packing. Although carbon nanofillers have excellent thermal and mechanical properties compared to the polymeric materials, in practice, the properties of PNCs exhibit only a minor enhancement compared to those of the neat polymer matrix. Previous literature has indicated that the weak interphase region between the carbon nanofiller and the polymer matrix leads to poor thermal conduction and hence the lack of significant property enhancement in nanocomposites. In this chapter, we will describe the use of atomistically detailed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for investigating the effect of the carbon nanofiller–polymer interfacial region on the thermal properties of the PNCs. The use of finite-sized nanofillers in molecular simulations (compared to experiments) results in additional interfacial regions at the ends of the nanofillers and hence exacerbates the effects of the interphase in simulations. The discussion is presented in the context of two systems: (1) cross-linked epoxy–graphene nanosheet (epoxy-GNS) nanocomposite, and (2) cross-linked epoxy–carbon nanotube (epoxy-CNT) nanocomposite consisting of both infinite (no interphase at CNT end) and finite (interphase at both ends) CNTs. The thermal conductivities of these nanocomposite systems were determined using molecular simulations and were compared with the thermal conductivity of the neat cross-linked epoxy system. These thermal conductivity results are analyzed in the context of the volume fraction of the polymer–nanofiller interphase. A model is presented for quantifying the effect of the interfacial region on the overall rate of heat transfer in the polymer nanocomposite.
Effect of videotape modeling and videotape feedback on job interview behavior

v Introduction 1 Learning Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy 1 The Interventions 5 Modeling via videotape 5 Videotape feedback 7 Previous Job-Interview Research 10 Research Hypotheses 39 Intervention hypotheses 39 Repeated administration hypothesis , 42 Subject Characteristic Covariates 42 Method 44 Subjects 44 Experimental Design 44 Apparatus 45 Procedure 45 Simulated job interview 46 Videotape modeling 47 Videotape feedback 47 Videotape modeling and videotape feedback 48 Videotape feedback and videotape modeling 48 Expectancy-control group 48 Subject characteristic information 49 Debriefing 49 Incentive 49 Dependent Measures 49 Interview Effectiveness Rating Scale 50 Job Interview Rating Scale 51 Overall Interview Effectiveness Scale 52
Safety of Recommended Vaccinations in Children with Inborn-Errors of Metabolism

Background Limited information exists regarding recommendations for routine childhood vaccinations among children with inborn-errors of metabolism (IEM). Although the small number of studies suggest vaccine safety, continued investigation is warranted to confirm best practice for this patient population. Methods Using a retrospective chart review, we identified children ages birth to 18 years whose medical record included at least two documents coded with an ICD-9 diagnosis corresponding to an IEM. We analyzed adverse events, including hospitalizations and ED visits, in the vaccination period for each patient (days 0 to 30 …
Progesterone Attenuates Stress-Induced NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Enhances Autophagy Following Ischemic Brain Injury

NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome inhibition and autophagy induction attenuate inflammation and improve outcome in rodent models of cerebral ischemia. However, the impact of chronic stress on NLRP3 inflammasome and autophagic response to ischemia remains unknown. Progesterone (PROG), a neuroprotective steroid, shows promise in reducing excessive inflammation associated with poor outcome in ischemic brain injury patients with comorbid conditions, including elevated stress. Stress primes microglia, mainly by the release of alarmins such as high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1). HMGB1 activates the NLRP3 inflammasome, resulting in pro-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-1β production. In experiment 1, adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to social defeat stress for 8 days and then subjected to global ischemia by the 4-vessel occlusion model, a clinically relevant brain injury associated with cardiac arrest. PROG was administered 2 and 6 h after occlusion and then daily for 7 days. Animals were killed at 7 or 14 days post-ischemia. Here, we show that stress and global ischemia exert a synergistic effect in HMGB1 release, resulting in exacerbation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation and autophagy impairment in the hippocampus of ischemic animals. In experiment 2, an in vitro inflammasome assay, primary microglia isolated from neonatal brain tissue, were primed with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and stimulated with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), displaying impaired autophagy and increased IL-1β production. In experiment 3, hippocampal microglia isolated from stressed and unstressed animals, were stimulated ex vivo with LPS, exhibiting similar changes than primary microglia. Treatment with PROG reduced HMGB1 release and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and enhanced autophagy in stressed and unstressed ischemic animals. Pre-treatment with an autophagy inhibitor blocked Progesterone's (PROG's) beneficial effects in microglia. Our data suggest that modulation of microglial priming is one of the molecular mechanisms by which PROG ameliorates ischemic brain injury under stressful conditions.
Civilian Gun Shot Wounds Associated With Spinal Injuries

Study Design:RetrospectiveObjective:To evaluate functional outcomes and characteristics associated with gunshot wound (GSW) to the spine.Methods:Patients with GSW to the spine managed at a Level 1 ...
Pediatric hypoglossal nerve stimulator implantation with postoperative assessment using home sleep apnea testing

Abstract Research trial data suggests hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HNS) is an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children with Down syndrome. We present a 13-year-old patient with Down syndrome and OSA successfully treated with HNS as part of routine care. HNS efficacy assessment with home-based sleep testing is discussed.
Geospatial Perspective Reprojections for Ground-Based Sky Imaging System

Sky imaging systems use lenses to acquire images concentrating light beams in a sensor. The light beams received by the sky imager have an elevation angle with respect to the device normal. Thus, the pixels in the image contain information from different areas of the sky within the imaging system field of view. The area of the field of view contained in the pixels increases as the elevation angle of the incident light beams decreases. When the sky imager is mounted on a solar tracker, the light beam's angle of incidence in a pixel varies over time. This investigation introduces a reprojection that trasnforms the original euclidean frame of the imager plane to the geospatial atmosphere cross-section where the sky imager field of view intersects the cloud layer.
Between Rights and Rites: The Ironies of Crisis and Contract

Is the institution of contract law in crisis? Contract and other rights are an institution of the Gesellschaft, the sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies’s metaphor for modern society. There entitlements reify in abstract principles and rules, whether or not the state enforces them. Moral and social norms, customs, and courtesies are more evocative of the Gemeinschaft, the corresponding metaphor for the traditions of religion, family, tribe, or community. The irony is the similarity between appeals to authoritative sources, whether legal or divine. The arc of history is only metaphorically from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft. We can still react to crises, like financial meltdowns or global pandemics, by the invocation of rights or the granting of courtesies. This essay considers whether the reification of entitlements in legal rights (including contract) contributes or detracts from our ability to get along in a reasonable and humane way. The “crisis” is far less about elements of doctrine than it is of morality; less about the enforcement of rights and more about the holders’ willingness to set them aside. During crisis, tunnel-visioned and slavish devotion to abstract contract rights may well be a culprit, not a hero.
Microbial lipid and amino sugar responses to long-term simulated global environmental changes in a California annual grassland.

Global environmental change is predicted to have major consequences for carbon cycling and the functioning of soil ecosystems. However, we have limited knowledge about its impacts on the microorganisms, which act as a “valve” between carbon sequestered in soils versus released into the atmosphere. In this study we examined microbial response to continuous 9-year manipulation of three global change factors (elevated CO2, warming, and nitrogen deposition), singly and in combination using two methods: lipid and amino sugar biomarkers at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment (JRGCE). The two methods yielded important distinctions. There were limited microbial lipid differences, but many significant effects for microbial amino sugars. We found that CO2 was not a direct factor influencing soil carbon and major amino sugar pools, but had a positive impact on bacterial-derived muramic acid. Likewise, warming and nitrogen deposition appeared to enrich residues specific to bacteria despite an overall depletion in total amino sugars. The results indicate that elevated CO2, warming, and nitrogen deposition all appeared to increase bacterial-derived residues, but this accumulation effect was far offset by a corresponding decline in fungal residues. The sensitivity of microbial residue biomarker amino sugars to warming and nitrogen deposition may have implications for our predictions of global change impacts on soil stored carbon.
Language Representation Based on Abstract Sytax

For most of the traditional programming languages, the concept of (concrete) syntax has been the only conceptual framework that relates to the external representation of those languages. Nowadays, more and more people realize that also such language features as extendability, subsetting, and defaulting, which also deal with the external representation of the language need unique concepts. Moreover, more and more people become aware that it is just as important to have these concepts consistently integrated.
Interleukin 6 mediates the therapeutic effects of adipose-derived stromal/stem cells in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury

Adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs) have anti-inflammatory as well as immunosuppressive activities and are currently the focus of clinical trials for a number of inflammatory diseases. Acute lung injury (ALI) is an inflammatory condition of the lung for which standard treatment is mainly supportive due to lack of effective therapies. Our recent studies have demonstrated the ability of both human ASCs (hASCs) and mouse ASCs (mASCs) to attenuate lung damage and inflammation in a rodent model of lipopolysaccharide-induced ALI, suggesting that ASCs may also be beneficial in treating ALI. To better understand how ASCs may act in ALI and to elucidate the mechanism(s) involved in ASC modulation of lung inflammation, gene expression analysis was performed in ASC-treated (hASCs or mASCs) and control sham-treated lungs. The results revealed a dramatic difference between the expression of anti-inflammatory molecules by hASCs and mASCs. These data show that the beneficial effects of hASCs and mASCs in ALI may result from the production of different paracrine factors. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) expression in the mASC-treated lungs was significantly elevated as compared to sham-treated controls 20 hours after delivery of the cells by oropharyngeal aspiration. Knockdown of IL-6 expression in mASCs by RNA interference abrogated most of their therapeutic effects, suggesting that the anti-inflammatory properties of mASCs in ALI are explained, at least in part, by activation of IL-6 secretion.
Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, δ18O and δ13C Chemistry of Quaternary Lacustrine Ostracode Shells from the North American Continental Interior

The application of fossil ostracode shell chemistry to the reconstruction of past continental climate must take into consideration both short-term and long-term changes in the hydrologic budget of the lakes. This is particularly true when working in areas of strong seasonality in temperature and precipitation and negative effective moisture where many lakes owe their existence to inflow from groundwater. Moreover the chemistry (especially Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca) and δ 18 O of lake water may respond differently to hydrologic changes depending on whether they are caused by climate or other factors. These complications make clear how important it is to have information on ostracode ecology, to conduct a time-series monitoring study of the modern system, and to employ other proxy records. Examples of such studies are available from many semi-arid and arid regions of the world. Here I use Rice and Coldwater Lakes, North Dakota, as examples from the northern Great Plains of North America to illustrate these points. Decadally resolved Mg/Ca ratio variations for Rice Lake for the last 2000 years show excellent correlation with the GISP2 ice core δ 18 O record sampled at the same temporal resolution. Mg/Ca data for Rice and Coldwater Lakes also show good agreement with each other and with diatom-inferred salinity records for Coldwater as well as for Moon Lake located 100 km NNE of Coldwater Lake. However, δ 18 O records for neither lake are correlated with Mg/Ca records and highlight the importance of knowing the hydrology of each system.
Tolerating Faults in Counting Networks

Counting networks were proposed by Aspnes, Herlihy and Shavit [3] as a low-contention concurrent data structure for multiprocessor coordination. We address the issue of tolerating faults in counting networks. In our fault model, balancer objects experience responsive crash failures: they behave correctly until they fail, and thereafter they are inaccessible. We propose two methods for tolerating such faults. The first is based on a construction of a k-fault-tolerant balancer with 2(K + 1) bits of memory. All balancers in a counting network are replaced by fault-tolerant ones. Thus, a counting network with depth O(log2 n), where n is the width, is transformed into a k-fault-tolerant counting network with depth O(k log2 n).
Up-regulation of hepatic Acyl CoA: Diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1 (DGAT-1) expression in nephrotic syndrome.

Up-regulation of hepatic Acyl CoA: Diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1 (DGAT-1) expression in nephrotic syndrome. Background Nephrotic syndrome is associated with hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and marked elevations of plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). Hypertriglyceridemia in nephrotic syndrome is accompanied by increased hepatic fatty acid synthesis, elevated triglyceride secretion, as well as lipoprotein lipase, VLDL-receptor, and hepatic triglyceride lipase deficiencies, which lead to impaired clearance of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. Acyl CoA: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) is a microsomal enzyme that joins acyl CoA to 1, 2-diacylglycerol to form triglyceride. Two distinct DGATs (DGAT-1 and DGAT2) have recently been identified in the liver and other tissues. The present study tested the hypothesis that the reported increase in hepatic triglyceride secretion in nephrotic syndrome may be caused by up-regulation of DGAT. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were rendered nephrotic by two sequential injections of puromycin aminonucleoside (130 mg/kg on day 1 and 60 mg/kg on day 14) and studied on day 30. Placebo-treated rats served as controls. Hepatic DGAT-1 and DGAT-2 mRNA abundance and enzymatic activity were measured. Results The nephrotic group exhibited heavy proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and marked elevation of VLDL concentration. Hepatic DGAT-1 mRNA, DGAT-1, and total DGAT activity were significantly increased, whereas DGAT-2 mRNA abundance and activity were unchanged in the nephrotic rats compared to the control animals. The functional significance of elevation of DGAT activity was illustrated by the reduction in microsomal free fatty acid concentration in the liver of nephrotic animals. Conclusion Nephrotic syndrome results in up-regulation of hepatic DGAT-1 expression and activity, which can potentially contribute to the associated hypertriglyceridemia by enhancing triglyceride synthesis. Thus, it appears that both depressed catabolism and increased synthetic capacity contribute to hypertriglyceridemia of nephrotic syndrome.