cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors affecting healing after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Rotator cuff repair has been shown to have good long-term results. Unfortunately, a significant proportion of repairs still fail to heal. Many factors, both patient and surgeon related, can influence healing after repair. Older age, larger tear size, worse muscle quality, greater muscle-tendon unit retraction, smoking, osteoporosis, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia have all shown to negatively influence tendon healing. Surgeon related factors that can influence healing include repair construct-single vs double row, rehabilitation, and biologics including platelet rich plasma and mesenchymal stem cells. Double-row repairs are biomechanically stronger and have better healing rates compared with single-row repairs although clinical outcomes are equivalent between both constructs. Slower, less aggressive rehabilitation programs have demonstrated improved healing with no negative effect on final range of motion and are therefore recommended after repair of most full thickness tears. Additionally no definitive evidence supports the use of platelet rich plasma or mesenchymal stem cells regarding improvement of healing rates and clinical outcomes. Further research is needed to identify effective biologically directed augmentations that will improve healing rates and clinical outcomes after rotator cuff repair.
Merging cultures in the study of membrane traffic

Membrane and organelle assembly has emerged as a dominant theme in cell biology of the twenty-first century. Current approaches and questions have been formulated as a result of numerous historical threads that together weave a complex picture of cellular compartments. The confluence of morphologic, genetic and biochemical approaches laid the foundations for study in this area, and they continue to strengthen our understanding of this essential aspect of cell structure and function.
Analysis of Female Business Travelers' Selection of Lodging Accommodations

Abstract The results of this study should impress upon the lodging industry that female business travelers want to stay in quality lodging operations that are managed with the guests' comfort, safety and satisfaction as a priority. The differences in female business travelers' selection of lodging accommodations were investigated. Ten different factor-stable dimensions were found. The results indicated the COMFORT factor, (cleanliness of hotel, well-maintained furnishings, comfortable mattress and pillows), and friendly service of hotel staff explained the majority of the total variance. MANOVA and ONE-WAY analysis of variance indicated that travelers' selections differed on socio-demo-graphic and travel-related variables as they related to the factor dimensions. The study supports findings from previous studies of business travelers and also presents new findings based on a national sample of female business executives.
Polymerization of monolayers of vinyl and divinyl monomers

Monolayer balance techniques have been used to study “two-dimensional” polymerization of monomolecular films of octadecyl methacrylate and a divinyl ester. Polymerizations were initiated with ultraviolet radiation, and reaction rates and properties of the product evaluated from surface pressure–area isotherms. The polymerization rate of the acrylate in argon is linear up to 70% conversion; the product obtained in this way exhibits an isotherm which may reflect the packing and orientation of the starting monolayer. Rate data for the divinyl system—the product of which should be a sheet-like, two-dimensional analog of a network system—exhibit no unusual features.
Construction of l-Threonine Overproducing Strains of Escherichia coli K-12 Using Recombinant DNA Techniques

The threonine operon of Escherichia coli was cloned in plasmid pBR322, using a threonine producing mutant, βIM4, as the DNA donor. A recombinant plasmid, pAJ294, that contains the whole threonine operon was obtained. No. 29-4, a transformant of βIM4 with pAJ294, had about eleven copies of pAJ294, five times higher homoserine dehydrogenase activity (coded by the thr Agene), and about three times higher threonine productivity than those of βIM4. No. 29-4 produced 13.4 g/liter of l-threonine from 30g/liter of glucose in the culture medium.
The Detection of Incipient Caries with Tracer Dyes

The purpose of this study was to determine the increase in color contrast produced by the use of a tracer dye in detection of incipient caries lesions with transillumination.Twenty four caries-free first premolars were immersed in an acid gelatin for production of artificial incipient caries lesions. After the lesions had developed, these teeth were photographed by transillumination. Two photographs were taken of each tooth. The first photograph showed the lesion without dye. A blue tracer dye was then added and absorbed by the lesion, and a second photograph was taken. The data on the color difference were obtained by use of a reflectance colorimeter and showed a four-fold increase between the lesion and surrounding area with the dye. A two-way analysis of variance was used for the statistical interpretation. The color difference between the lesion without the dye and then with the dye was significant. The use of the blue tracer dye, therefore, significantly increased the contrast in the images of the ar...
Communications: Signatures of quasiparticle entanglement in multidimensional nonlinear optical spectroscopy of aggregates

Excitons represent collective optical excitations in which the motions of electrons belonging to different chromophores are correlated. We discuss the utility of the notion of entanglement commonly used in quantum information processing, in the description of these excitations. A distinction is made between some apparent entanglement effects associated with the linear response that may be removed by a transformation of coordinates and can be handled classically, and genuine entanglement that is fundamentally quantum in nature and shows up only in the nonlinear optical response.
Phase-field simulation of the columnar-to-equiaxed transition in alloy solidification

Abstract The columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET) in directional solidification of alloys is simulated using the phase-field method. The method relies on the solution of a solute conservation equation and an equation for the propagation of the phase field on the scale of the developing microstructure. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of the applied temperature gradient and pulling speed, the seed spacing and nucleation undercooling for the equiaxed grains, and the crystalline anisotropy strength on the CET. The results qualitatively agree with a previously developed analytical model of the CET. At relatively high pulling speeds, a mixed columnar–equiaxed structure is found to be stable over a range of temperature gradients. Furthermore, the CET depends sensitively on the anisotropy strength. The simulations also reveal the presence of primary spacing adjustments during purely columnar growth due to nucleation of seeds, and deactivation of seeds by solutal interactions from nearby growing grains.
Temporal Hierarchical Control of Singing in Birds

Songs of birds comprise hierarchical sets of vocal gestures. In zebra finches, songs include notes and syllables (groups of notes) delivered in fixed sequences. During singing, premotor neurons in the forebrain nucleus HVc exhibited reliable changes in activity rates whose patterns were uniquely associated with syllable identity. Neurons in the forebrain nucleus robustus archistriatalis, which receives input from the HVc, exhibited precisely timed and structured bursts of activity that were uniquely associated with note identity. Hence, units of vocal behavior are represented hierarchically in the avian forebrain. The representation of temporal sequences at each level of the hierarchy may be established by means of a decoding process involving interactions of higher level input with intrinsic local circuitry. Behavior is apparently represented by precise temporal patterning of spike trains at lower levels of the hierarchy.
Physics-based activity modelling in phase space

In this paper, we employ ideas grounded in physics to examine activities in video. We build the Multi-Resolution Phase Space (MRPS) descriptor, which is a set of feature descriptors that is able to represent complex activities in multiple domains directly from tracks without the need for different heuristics. MRPS is used to do single- and multi-object activity modelling in phase space, which consists of all possible values of the coordinates. The MRPS contains the Sethi Metric (S-Metric), the Hamiltonian Energy Signature (HES), and the Multiple Objects, Pairwise Analysis (MOPA) descriptors: the S-Metric is a distance metric which characterizes the global motion of the object, or the entire scene, with a single, scalar value; the HES is a scalar or multi-dimensional time-series that represents the motion of an object over the course of an activity using either the Hamiltonian or the S-Metric; and the MOPA contains phase space features for paired activities, in which we develop physical models of complex interactions in phase space (specifically, we model paired motion as a damped oscillator in phase space). Finally, we show the S-Metric is a proper distance measure over a metric space and prove its additivity; this allows use of the S-Metric as a distance measure as well as its use in the HES. Experimental validation of the theory is provided on the standard VIVID and UCR Videoweb datasets capturing a variety of problem settings: single agent actions, multi-agent actions, and aerial sequences, including video search.
The Spatial Precision of the Honey Bees' Dance Communication

Many social insect species that employ directional recruitment to food finds communicate the location of their targets with seemingly needless imprecision. Here we present evidence that the spatial precision of the honey bees' dance communication has been “tuned” by selection so that recruits are neither so accurate that they usually find areas which have already been depleted nor so inaccurate that they usually fail to find the advertised resources altogether. First, the bees' distance errors are similar in magnitude to their directional errors, and their angular errors decrease greatly with increasing distance to the target (decreasing more than fourfold between 100 and 700 m). As a result, the absolute scatter of recruits remains relatively constant with changing distance to the target (increasing by less than 50% between 100 and 700 m). This is to be expected if the optimal level of imprecision is the same for distance and direction and does not change with the distance of the target from the nest. Second, comparative studies involving three tropical- and one temperate-zone species (all Apis)suggest that the precision of the bees' languages may have been tuned in accordance with the spatial characteristics of the resources each species uses. We suggest that both the round dance, which conveys no directional information for nearby targets, and the high angular divergence in waggle dances indicating targets within several hundred meters of the colony are both understandable in this context.
A visible factor of the Heegner index

Let E be an optimal elliptic curve over Q of conductor N, such that the L-function of E vanishes to order one at s = 1. Let K be a quadratic imaginary field in which all the primes dividing N are split and such that the L-function of E over K also vanishes to order one at s = 1. In view of the Gross-Zagier theorem, the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture says that the index in E(K) of the subgroup generated by the Heegner point is equal to the product of the Manin constant of E, the Tamagawa numbers of E, and the square root of the order of the Shafarevich-Tate group of E (over K). We extract an integer factor from the index mentioned above and relate this factor to certain congruences of the newform associated to E with eigenforms of analytic rank bigger than one. We use the theory of visibility to show that, under certain hypotheses (which includes the first part of the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture on rank), if an odd prime q divides this factor, then q divides the order of the Shafarevich-Tate group, as predicted by the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture.
The networked nonprofit: connecting with social media to drive change

The networked nonprofit: connecting with social media to drive change, by Beth Kanter and Allison H. Fine, San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass Publishing, 2010, 201 pp., US$34.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-0...
Interrelationships Among Piaget's Formal Operational Schemata: Proportions, Probability, and Correlation

Abstract Interrelationships among logical reasoning in the areas of proportions, probability, and correlation are reported. Age, gender, and analysis of ordering of the logical reasoning tasks were investigated in a sample of 94 students selected from the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. A consistent grade-level increase in logical reasoning was found. No gender differences were found in performance in logical reasoning on the tasks, and the developmental relationship, which Inhelder and Piaget (1958) postulated, was shown to exist.
Clinical determinants of PACS acceptance

One of the key determinants influencing how successfully a radiology department can convert from a conventional film-based environment to an exclusively digital imaging environment may be how well referring physician members of the hospital staff who are not radiologists endorse this new system. The benefits of Picture Archive and Communication Systems (PACS) to radiologists are becoming widely accepted and documented; however, physicians who interact with the radiology department represent an important user group whose views on PACS are less well understood. The acceptance of PACS by referring physicians (clinicians) may be critical to the overall utility ofPACS as well as a major drivingforce behind why a hospitalpurchases PACS. The degree to which referring physicians support PACS may be dependent upon many factors. This study identifies several aspects through the administration and analysis ofa survey which improve PACS acceptance by nonradiology physicians. It appears the more patients a referring physician sends to the radiology department, the more time a physician spends traveling to andfrom thefllmflle room retrievingfllms, and, the more interested a referring physician is about computers, the higher his interest is in PACS. If a referring physician believes that PACS will save him or her time, will reduce the incidence oflostfilms, or will cause performance of radiology exams or generation of reports to be more efficient, the referring physician appears more likely to support PACS and to make the initial time investment necessary to learn how PACS equipment operates. The factors which cause referring physicians to support PACS are principally: (1) the elimination oflost, misplaced, and checked outfllms, and (2) the elimination oftrips to and from thefile room. The major distractions ofthe technology are: (1) system reliability, and (2) reduced diagnostic capability. While the high cost ofPACS is also a distraction, it is not the predominant concern.© (1990) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Complete genome sequences for nine simian enteroviruses.

Analysis of the VP1 capsid-coding sequences of the simian picornaviruses has suggested that baboon enterovirus (BaEV), SV19, SV43 and SV46 belong to the species Human enterovirus A (HEV-A) and SA5 belongs to HEV-B, whereas SV4/A2 plaque virus (two isolates of a single serotype), SV6 and N125/N203 (two isolates of a single serotype) appear to represent new species in the genus. We have further characterized by complete genomic sequencing the genetic relationships among the simian enteroviruses serotypes (BaEV, N125/N203, SA5, SV4/A2 plaque virus, SV6, SV19, SV43 and SV46) and to other enteroviruses. Phylogenetic and pairwise sequence relationships for the P1 region paralleled those of VP1 alone, and confirmed that SV4/A-2 plaque virus, SV6 and N125/N203 represent unique genetic clusters that probably correspond to three new species. However, sequence relationships in the P2 and P3 regions were quite different. In 2C, SV19, SV43 and SV46 remain clustered with the human viruses of HEV-A, but BaEV, SV6 and N125/N203 cluster together; in 3CD, SA5 (HEV-B) also joined this cluster. The 3′-non-translated region (NTR) sequences are highly conserved within each of the four human enterovirus species, but the 3′-NTRs of the simian enteroviruses are distinct from those of all human enteroviruses and generally distinct from one another. These results suggest that host species may have a significant influence on the evolution of enterovirus non-capsid sequences.
Declining Government Confidence and Policy Preferences in the U.S.: Devolution, Regime Effects, or Symbolic Change?*

No trend in U.S. public opinion has elicited more enduring concern among scholars, political commentators, and politicians than declining levels of public confidence in the federal government. Motivated by the possibility that this decline signals a crisis of legitimacy or growing dissatisfaction with the overall direction of public policy, two generations of scholarly debates have yielded three competing theoretical interpretations of this phenomenon. While they provide divergent answers to important questions about the devolution of policy-making from the federal government to subnational levels of government, competing hypotheses implied by these interpretations have not been successfully evaluated. We seek to advance theory and research by investigating whether governmental confidence affects the public's willingness to support federal involvement within specific policy domains such as health care and education. Evaluating hypotheses implied by competing interpretations of declining government confidence, we find that the relationship between government confidence and policy preferences is small and shows no evidence of trends. We discuss implications for competing interpretations of government confidence and the possible role of declining confidence in explaining contemporary patterns of welfare state retrenchment.
ADOLESCENT RESILIENCE: A Framework for Understanding Healthy Development in the Face of Risk

Adolescent resilience research differs from risk research by focusing on the assets and resources that enable some adolescents to overcome the negative effects of risk exposure. We discuss three models of resilience-the compensatory, protective, and challenge models-and describe how resilience differs from related concepts. We describe issues and limitations related to resilience and provide an overview of recent resilience research related to adolescent substance use, violent behavior, and sexual risk behavior. We then discuss implications that resilience research has for intervention and describe some resilience-based interventions.
Observation of a Reflected Shock in an Indirectly Driven Spherical Implosion at the National Ignition Facility

A 200 μm radius hot spot at more than 2 keV temperature, 1 g/cm^{3} density has been achieved on the National Ignition Facility using a near vacuum hohlraum. The implosion exhibits ideal one-dimensional behavior and 99% laser-to-hohlraum coupling. The low opacity of the remaining shell at bang time allows for a measurement of the x-ray emission of the reflected central shock in a deuterium plasma. Comparison with 1D hydrodynamic simulations puts constraints on electron-ion collisions and heat conduction. Results are consistent with classical (Spitzer-Harm) heat flux.
Treatment of Benign Orbital Pseudolymphomas With the Monoclonal Anti-CD20 Antibody Rituximab

OBJECTIVE To report the results of treating patients with orbital pseudolymphomas with the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients were included in the study if they had an orbital mass and biopsy-proven orbital pseudolymphomas between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2005. The study focused on patients treated with rituximab. RESULTS Ninety-eight patients were evaluated, and the biopsy results revealed malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 72 (73%); the other 26 (27%) had a pseudolymphoma. Eleven (42%) of the 26 patients with a pseudolymphoma were treated with rituximab, 375 mg/m2, intravenously each week for 4 doses, and 10 (91%) of the 11 responded. Seven patients were either treated with maintenance rituximab or successfully retreated with rituximab after relapse. None of the 10 responders has become refractory to rituximab. CONCLUSION Benign lymphoproliferative tumors are responsive to monoclonal antibody therapy targeted to B lymphocytes. Rituximab should be considered a treatment option for orbital pseudolymphomas.
Characterizing Observed Environmental Variability With HF Doppler Radar Surface Current Mappers and Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers: Environmental Variability in the Coastal Ocean

A network of high-frequency (HF) radars is deployed along the New Jersey coast providing synoptic current maps across the entire shelf. These data serve a variety of user groups from scientific research to Coast Guard search and rescue. In addition, model forecasts have been shown to improve with surface current assimilation. In all applications, there is a need for better definitions and assessment of the measurement uncertainty. During a summer coastal predictive skill experiment in 2001, an array of in situ current profilers was deployed near two HF radar sites, one long-range and one standard-range system. Comparison statistics were calculated between different vertical bins on the same current profiler, between different current profilers, and between the current profilers and the different HF radars. The velocity difference in the vertical and horizontal directions were then characterized using the observed root-mean-square (rms) differences. We further focused on two cases, one with relatively high vertical variability, and the second with relatively low vertical variability. Observed differences between the top bin of the current profiler and the HF radar were influenced by both system accuracy and the environment. Using the in situ current profilers, the environmental variability over scales based on the HF radar sampling was quantified. HF radar comparisons with the current profilers were on the same order as the observed environmental difference over the same scales, indicating that the environment has a significant influence on the observed differences. Velocity variability in the vertical and horizontal directions both contribute to these differences. When the potential effects of the vertical variability could be minimized, the remaining difference between the current profiler and the HF radar was similar to the measured horizontal velocity difference (~2.5 cm/s) and below the resolution of the raw radial data at the time of the deployment
Phylogenetic analysis of the Francisella-like endosymbionts of Dermacentor ticks

Bacterial endosymbionts with significant homology to Francisella tularensis (gamma-proteobacteria) have been described from at least five species of ticks in three different genera, including two North American Dermacentor species [D. andersoni Stiles and D. variabilis (Say)]. The evolutionary relationships among the Francisella-like endosymbionts (FLE) from different hosts and between FLE and the arthropod-borne pathogen F. tularensis are not known. A 1,169-base fragment of the 16s rDNA and a 713-base fragment of the F. tularensis 17-kDa lipoprotein gene homolog of the FLE of six North American Dermacentor tick species [D. anderson, D. variabilis, D. albipictus (Packard), D. occidentalis Marx, D. hunteri Bishopp, and D. (Anocentor) nitens Neumann] and of Amblyomma maculatum Koch and Ornithodoros porcinus (Murry 1877, sensu Walton 1979) as outgroups, were subjected to phylogenetic analysis. These gene phylogenies were compared with a phylogeny of the same tick species constructed from a 435-base fragment of the tick mitochondrial 16s rDNA. Although the phylogenies of the FLE and their tick hosts are parallel at the genus level, the Dermacentor FLE are unresolved at the species level. The FLE and the Dermacentor ticks show little sign of co-speciation, possibly indicating that the association between these endosymbiont and the Dermacentor ticks is of a relatively recent origin. Several ticks were co-infected, either with two FLE with divergent 17-kDa lipoprotein gene sequences or with FLE and an unidentified species of spotted fever group rickettsia (alpha-proteobacteria). Infection with FLE does not seem to have precluded infection with either a second closely related gamma-proteobacterial symbiont or with a second less closely related alpha-proteobacterial symbiont.
Raman Scattering of Alkali-Metal Fullerides

Raman scattering studies of alkali-metal doped ultrathin and thin film materials for 0 < x ≤ 3 provide information on charge transfer, electron-phonon coupling and disorder effects. Studies of variations in composition, alkali-metal type as well as thermal effects provide a means of determining the vibrational modes of significance for a BCS type mechanism for superconductivity. Thermal studies of Na3C60 provide evidence for a structural transition of importance for understanding the nonmetallic behavior and Raman scattering. Very weak, low frequency Raman measurements further indicate variations in intermolecular coupling associated with predominant motion of alkali-metal atoms.
Midface Lifting for the Repair of Lower Lid Retraction

The goal of lower lid blepharoplasty is to restore the youthful appearance of the lower eyelids. However, a failure to appreciate anatomic findings preoperatively, and/or a failure to address these findings at the time of lower eyelid surgery, may put the patient at risk for developing lower lid retraction. Lid retraction can be a devastating complication for both the patient and the physician. Thus, it is important to recognize the contributing factors to this condition and to appreciate the detailed surgical approach to enable a successful repair [1–4].
Young Children’s Tablet Use and Associations with Maternal Well-Being

While recent research has documented a rapid increase in the use of new technologies such as touchscreen tablets early in life, little is known about how young children use tablets, what activities they engage in, and whether family demographic and maternal well-being are associated with early use. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development, the current study addressed these questions with a cross-sectional, online survey of mothers with children between 12 and 48 months of age. Mothers reported on their child’s tablet use as well as their own personal well-being (depressive symptoms and role overload) and relational well-being (relationship satisfaction, coparenting quality, conflict frequency). Nearly 63 % of all mothers owned a tablet. Approximately 46 % of children with access typically use a tablet in an average day, with the majority using for 15 min or less. For families who owned a tablet, child’s frequency of use was positively associated with child’s age and mother’s use and negatively associated with mother’s relational well-being. Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation that screen media be avoided for children under 24 months, children in our study used tablets, albeit infrequently. Our findings suggest that it is important for researchers to consider the relationship between contextual factors within the family and child media use. Refining their focus for families with particular needs may allow child advocates and policy makers to develop more beneficial media recommendations for families with a variety of circumstances.
Reflections on lenses

Recently I introduced Najla El Mangoush, a Libyan lawyer, for her capstone presentation. Under my supervision, for her final project in her MA programme here at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), ...
Preferential Eu Site Occupation and Its Consequences in the Ternary Luminescent HalidesAB2I5:Eu2+(A=Li–Cs;B=Sr, Ba)

Several rare-earth-doped, heavy-metal halides have recently been identified as potential next-generation luminescent materials with high efficiency at low cost. AB2I5:Eu2+ (A=Li–Cs; B=Sr, Ba) is one such family of halides. Its members, such as CsBa2I5:Eu2+ and KSr2I5:Eu2+, are currently being investigated as high-performance scintillators with improved sensitivity, light yield, and energy resolution less than 3% at 662 keV. Within the AB2I5 family, our first-principles-based calculations reveal two remarkably different trends in Eu site occupation. The substitutional Eu ions occupy both eightfold-coordinated B1(VIII) and the sevenfold-coordinated B2(VII) sites in the Sr-containing compounds. However, in the Ba-containing crystals, Eu ions strongly prefer the B2(VII)sites. This random versus preferential distribution of Eu affects their electronic properties. The calculations also suggest that in the Ba-containing compounds one can expect the formation of Eu-rich domains. These results provide atomistic insight into recent experimental observations about the concentration and temperature effects in Eu-doped CsBa2I5. We discuss the implications of our results with respect to luminescent properties and applications. We also hypothesize Sr, Ba-mixed quaternary iodides ABaVIIISrVIII5:Eu as scintillators having enhanced homogeneity and electronic properties.
New Experiments for Improved Theoretical Description of Nonlinear Rheology of Entangled Polymers

The present work discusses four types of new experiments that can improve the current theoretical description of nonlinear rheology of entangled polymers. First, a slowly imposed strain is found to result in nonmonotonic evolution of the state of chain entanglement during quiescent relaxation, consistent with the idea of chain disentanglement after step shear. Second, the stress relaxation upon a sizable step strain is found to be identical to that for small step strain, consistent with a molecular scenario that a strained entangled melt has an entropic barrier to resist chain retraction. Third, the ability of a step-strained polymer to undergo elastic recovery is found to be the same up to strain amplitude of unity, and a sample sheared for a period much longer than the Rouse time is shown to still undergo nearly full elastic recovery. Fourth, an entangled melt, stretched at a rate significantly lower than the Rouse relaxation rate, undergoes full elastic recovery until the point of tensile force maximum...
Spatially-Resolved Non-Contact Methods for the Investigation of Transport and Defects in Semiconductors

Photothermal spectroscopy employs the small rise in temperature associated with the absorption of electromagnetic radiation to probe optical and transport properties of materials. A review of the various photothermal detection schemes is given, and examples which illustrate the power of this technique are reviewed.
Reflex Eating Induced Seizures (REIS) with a Genetic Twist (P04.020)

Objective: We are reporting a case of familial REIS affecting two sisters. Background Reflex seizures are characterized by consistent seizure precipitation by specific sensory stimulus or cognitive activity. REIS are relatively uncommon. Seizures are typically complex partial spells of temporo-limbic origin. The coexistence of seizures induced by other forms of buccal stimulation such as tooth brushing in the same patient has been documented but familial occurrence of REIS has not been reported. We are reporting the case of a woman with REIS whose younger sister suffers from tooth brushing and occasional eating induced seizures. Design/Methods: A 38 year old professional woman of Ethiopian descent presented with history of complex partial seizures triggered by eating since age 27. Her neurological examination was normal as was the brain MRI (3T) performed according to seizure protocol. Her younger sister (age 31) began experiencing seizures induced by tooth brushing with onset at about the same age as herself. The patient was admitted to the hospital and continuous video-EEG monitoring was carried out. Routine and special activation techniques were employed. Results: The baseline EEG showed frequent interictal spikes involving the left anterior- mid temporal regions and activation by eating resulted in induction of clinical seizures with ictal onset from the same areas. Systematic testing confirmed that the seizures were induced by chewing and swallowing of solid food, and not by its sight, smell or taste. The patient9s sister who lives in another city could not be directly tested but her history was reliably verified by the authors by telephone. Conclusions: Video-EEG monitoring confirmed the diagnosis of REIS in our patient. The positive family history highlights the probable genetic basis in some variants of this disorder with inheritance of cortical neuronal hyperexcitability involving the oropharyngeal sensory projection areas. Disclosure: Dr. Patil has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ramani has nothing to disclose.
High Moisture Corn for Dairy Cattle

Summary High moisture corn (HMC) has been used for dairy cattle feeding for some time. With cattle fed HMC, milk production, composition, body weight changes and growth of young animals were comparable to dry corn (DC) in most experiments. Preservatives such as organic acids, especially propionic acid, have improved the preservation of HMC. Certain acid derivatives are less irritating to skin and less corrosive to metal than propionic acid and appear promising. Biological additives (cultures) have generally not been as effective and dependable as organic acids. HMC can be successfully preserved in several types of silos if proper management procedures are used.
Chapter 6 – Functional Academic Adaptive Skills

Publisher Summary Assessment of functional academic adaptive skills typically is included as part of a comprehensive assessment of adaptive behavior. This chapter provides guidelines for instruction and interventions for functional academic adaptive skills and methods for assessing these skills, including the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-II (ABAS-II). The need for a functional academics curriculum that enables individuals with disabilities or other types of learning and behavioral difficulties to succeed in society is apparent. Functional academics are adaptive skills developed sufficiently to allow persons ages 5 and older to be successful in daily activities in and outside the school environment, to increase their independence, and to promote their ability to succeed in a less restrictive environment. A functional academic program utilizes instruction that results in the acquisition of reading, writing, and math adaptive skills at least at a basic level that enables a person to perform daily routines. Academic skills, to be functional and adaptive, must be relevant to an individual's lifestyle. They may display a degree of uniqueness.
Education for Creative Thinking

THE PRIMARY ASPECT OF THE WORK OF ART AS THE STANDARD OF THE WORK To a certain extent, when we consider an alleged instance of creativity, we bring familiar or traditional criteria to bear upon it. Of a work of art, we may ask about the use of color, or the use of representation, or the quality of line drawing. Of a seemingly excellent student term paper, we may ask traditional questions having to do with coherence and consistency. To this extent, the assessment of creative thinking does not itself require the invention of new criteria. On the other hand, traditional criteria may fail to come to grips with that which is original, unique, and distinctive in the work of art or in the student's performance. Under such circumstances, new criteria are needed, but we must still employ criteria that are relevant. It is necessary that the new criteria be drawn from the work itself, or from the student, or from whatever it is we are attempting to judge. Thus, in grading a student, we conventionally employ certain traditional criteria, such as class participation, doing the work assignments, and so on. But we also are concerned with the individualistic aspect of the student and the extent to which the tasks performed contribute to or detract from that individuality. In judging a painting, likewise, we do not fault the artist for what he or she has attempted (as far as the use of the individualistic criterion is concerned).
Radiofrequency catheter ablation of left-sided accessory pathways in children using a new fluoroscopy integrated 3D-mapping system.

Introduction Advances in 3D electroanatomic-mapping technologies have resulted in a safe and effective profile of radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation. The aim of this study was to evaluate a different catheter ablation approach in patients with left-sided accessory pathways (APs). Methods and results From January 2015 to December 2015, 30 patients (median age 11 years, median weight 45 kg) with manifest or concealed left-sided APs underwent RF catheter ablation with a new protocol. All procedures were performed with the CARTO UNIVU™ system, integrating electroanatomic maps with fluoroscopic views. A 7 Fr ablation catheter was inserted into the right femoral vein and advanced into the right atrium. Geometrical reconstruction and activation map of the right atrium, tricuspid annulus, and coronary sinus were acquired. The ablation catheter was then inserted into the left femoral artery and advanced through the aorta and aortic valve, creating an activation map of the mitral annulus. Catheter ablation was targeted to the site of the earliest activation. No complications occurred. The median procedure and fluoroscopy times were 130 min and 6 s, with a median fluoroscopy dose 0.5 mGy. An average of two catheters was used. Long-term success rate was 97% (29/30) at a median follow-up of 9.6 months. This approach reduced fluoroscopy time, dose and number of catheters used compared with manifest or concealed left-sided AP ablation using CARTO 3™ (P < 0.05). Conclusions This new ablation protocol seems to be promising in reducing fluoroscopy exposure and number of catheters used during left-sided AP ablation in children.
Premotor neural correlates of predictive motor timing for speech production and hand movement: evidence for a temporal predictive code in the motor system.

The predictive coding model suggests that neural processing of sensory information is facilitated for temporally-predictable stimuli. This study investigated how temporal processing of visually-presented sensory cues modulates movement reaction time and neural activities in speech and hand motor systems. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 13 subjects while they were visually-cued to prepare to produce a steady vocalization of a vowel sound or press a button in a randomized order, and to initiate the cued movement following the onset of a go signal on the screen. Experiment was conducted in two counterbalanced blocks in which the time interval between visual cue and go signal was temporally-predictable (fixed delay at 1000 ms) or unpredictable (variable between 1000 and 2000 ms). Results of the behavioral response analysis indicated that movement reaction time was significantly decreased for temporally-predictable stimuli in both speech and hand modalities. We identified premotor ERP activities with a left-lateralized parietal distribution for hand and a frontocentral distribution for speech that were significantly suppressed in response to temporally-predictable compared with unpredictable stimuli. The premotor ERPs were elicited approximately −100 ms before movement and were significantly correlated with speech and hand motor reaction times only in response to temporally-predictable stimuli. These findings suggest that the motor system establishes a predictive code to facilitate movement in response to temporally-predictable sensory stimuli. Our data suggest that the premotor ERP activities are robust neurophysiological biomarkers of such predictive coding mechanisms. These findings provide novel insights into the temporal processing mechanisms of speech and hand motor systems.
Purchases Made with a Fruit and Vegetable Voucher in a Rural Mexican-Heritage Community

Recent recommendations for US food assistance programs are intended to ensure foods provided through these programs help households consume a varied, healthful diet. From a policy viewpoint, it is important to examine the impact of economic incentives to purchase healthy foods across subpopulations, particularly low-income Latinos, who comprise 40% of the WIC program nationwide. Our aim was to determine how rural, Mexican-heritage households (N = 227) residing in California’s Central Valley distributed fruit and vegetable (F/V) voucher spending among F/V subgroups and specific items over a 1-year period. Households contained at least one child who was between 3 and 8 years old at baseline and had a parent of Mexican-heritage. F/V voucher purchase data were collected via grocery store scanners. Expenditure and frequency shares of subgroups and individual items were analyzed to determine purchasing habits. Fruits were the most commonly purchased subgroup, representing 55% of spending and 45% of frequency. Households allocated low percentages of their voucher to dark green and red/orange vegetables—7 and 9% respectively. Approximately 20% of purchases were good potassium sources and 30% of purchases were good fiber sources. Many of the most frequently purchased items were of cultural significance (tomatillo, chayote, chili/jalapeno pepper, and Mexican squash). This study suggests that economic incentives can contribute important nutrients to participants’ diets and targeted vouchers provided by food assistance programs should continue to include culturally important foods and be aware of the cultural values of their participants.
A Bio-Inspired Approach to Traffic Network Equilibrium Assignment Problem

Finding an equilibrium state of the traffic assignment plays a significant role in the design of transportation networks. We adapt the path finding mathematical model of slime mold Physarum polycephalum to solve the traffic equilibrium assignment problem. We make three contributions in this paper. First, we propose a generalized Physarum model to solve the shortest path problem in directed and asymmetric graphs. Second, we extend it further to resolve the network design problem with multiple source nodes and sink nodes. At last, we demonstrate that the Physarum solver converges to the user-optimized (Wardrop) equilibrium by dynamically updating the costs of links in the network. In addition, convergence of the developed algorithm is proved. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. The superiority of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated in comparison with several other algorithms, including the Frank-Wolfe algorithm, conjugate Frank-Wolfe algorithm, biconjugate Frank-Wolfe algorithm, and gradient projection algorithm.
Even Better Than the Real Thing? Xenografting in Pediatric Patients with Scald Injury

This article reviews a single burn center experience with porcine xenografts to treat pediatric scald injuries, over a 10-year period. The authors compare xenografting to autografting, as well as wound care only, and provide outcome data on length of stay, incidence of health care-associated infections, and need for reconstructive surgery.
Removal of perennial herbaceous species affects response of Cold Desert shrublands to fire

Questions Two of the primary global change factors that threaten shrublands worldwide are loss of native perennial herbaceous species due to inappropriate livestock grazing and loss of native shrubs due to altered fire regimes. We asked: (1) How do the separate and interacting effects of removal of perennial herbaceous species and burning influence relative abundance of plant functional groups over longer time frames? (2) How do interactions between perennial herbaceous species removal and burning differ along environmental gradients? We discuss implications of our findings for ecosystem resilience to these disturbances. Location Shoshone Mountain Range, Nevada and East Tintic Range, Utah, western USA. Methods We used a factorial experiment to test effects of perennial herbaceous species removal (0%, 50%, and 100%) and burning (burned and not burned) on plant functional group cover along elevation gradients within watersheds characterized by Artemisia tridentata Nutt. vegetation types. The experiment was conducted in two locations (Nevada and Utah) with sites located at low (1960 and 1710 m), mid (2190 and 2085 m), and high (2380 and 2274 m) elevations and was repeated in two years. Percentage cover of native and exotic species and canopy area, density, and size of the shrub, A. tridentata, were evaluated 12 and 13 yrs after study implementation. Results Over a decade later, removal treatments resulted in highly significant decreases (40 to 62%) in perennial native grass and forb cover across site elevations. Burning decreased overall shrub and A. tridentata cover, but effects on perennial native grass cover differed among elevations. Removal had strong positive effects on A. tridentata seedling recruitment and resulted in progressive increases in density and canopy area following burning. A. tridentata canopy areas on burned plots with 0%, 50%, and 100% removal were 0.19, 0.40, and 0.84 m2, respectively. Annual invasive grass density also increased with degree of removal, and both density and cover decreased with elevation. Conclusions Our results show that loss of perennial herbaceous species, which can result from inappropriate livestock grazing, and loss of shrubs, which often results from fire, interact to affect key functional groups. The implications are that ecosystem resilience to disturbance in Cold Desert shrublands decreases when competition from perennial native grasses and forbs for available resources no longer prevents dominance by A. tridentata and other shrubs and/or annual invasive grasses. Managing livestock grazing to maintain or increase perennial herbaceous species, especially deep-rooted grasses which contribute to resilience along elevation gradients, can help prevent threshold crossings to undesirable states and retain critical ecosystem services following disturbances such as wildfire. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Identifying direct causal effects in linear models

This paper deals with the problem of identifying direct causal effects in recursive linear structural equation models. Using techniques developed for graphical causal models, we show that a model can be decomposed into a set of submodels such that the identification problem can be solved independently in each submodel. We provide a new identification method that identifies causal effects by solving a set of algebraic equations.
The third tier in treatment: Attending to the growing connection between gut health and emotional well-being.

The microbial environment of the human gut has powerful influence on immunity, metabolism, and obesity. There is now emerging evidence that the microbiome of our gastrointestinal system may also be...
Learning to Parse Natural Language Commands to a Robot Control System

As robots become more ubiquitous and capable of performing complex tasks, the importance of enabling untrained users to interact with them has increased. In response, unconstrained natural-language interaction with robots has emerged as a significant research area. We discuss the problem of parsing natural language commands to actions and control structures that can be readily implemented in a robot execution system. Our approach learns a parser based on example pairs of English commands and corresponding control language expressions. We evaluate this approach in the context of following route instructions through an indoor environment, and demonstrate that our system can learn to translate English commands into sequences of desired actions, while correctly capturing the semantic intent of statements involving complex control structures. The procedural nature of our formal representation allows a robot to interpret route instructions online while moving through a previously unknown environment.