cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Proton Irradiation Effects in Mos and Junction Field-Effect Transistors and Integrated Circuits

Because of the application of field-effect transistors, and integrated circuits in space electronic systems and the fact that proton irradiation data at energies typical of a space environment are not extensive, an experimental evaluation of these devices has been conducted. Thee important electrical parameters of these devices were measured before, during, and after irradiation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's 22-Mev Cyclotron. The results obtained from the MOS field-effect study show that their degradation processes include that of charge storage in the silicon dioxide insulating layer and radiation-induced changes in surface states. MOS transistors have been found to degrade at orders of magnitude less integrated proton flux than many bipolar and junction field-effect transistors; therefore, for space applications in radiation fields such as Van Allen Belts and solar particle events, these devices may be subject to serious radiation damage. The junction field-effect transistor desplays a large initial spread in device irradiation response. However, it appears to possess a high degree of resistance to proton irradiation. The integrated circuits tested were of the monolithic type and under proton irradiation displayed a large reduction of minority carrier lifetime in the base region of the circuit transistors. Other less important defects are reduction of free carrier concentration and reduction in mobility. Important electrical parameters that are affected by radiation are imput threshold voltages, output low level voltages, leakages currents, and transient characteristics. In conclusion, MOS field-effect transistors and integrated circuits display significant damage characteristics when subjected to a space proton environment.
The morphosyntax of aspect stacking in Northeastern Neo-Aramaic

Many Northeastern Neo-Aramaic languages have two distinct strategies for marking perfective aspect, both morphosyntactically restricted in different ways. The canonical perfective strategy – the perfective verb base – typically bans certain types of objects, while the secondary perfective strategy – the imperfective verb base bearing the perfective prefix qam- – requires a certain type of object. This paper deals mainly with the secondary perfective strategy, attempting to understand and formally characterize its distribution and structure. While this phenomenon is well-known in the descriptive and historical literature (see Coghill 1999 and references therein), it has never before received theoretical treatment. I argue that qam- is a high perfective aspect marker analogous to certain so-called “superlexical” prefixes in Slavic languages, which have a perfectivizing function and select for an imperfective stem (Babko-Malaya 1999; 2003; Ramchand 2004; Romanova 2004; Tatevosov 2008; Gribanova 2013; i.a .). Slavic-like stacking of high aspects is thus shown to exist in languages that lack a corresponding system of rich lexical aspect (cf. the Slavic “lexical” prefixes). The secondary perfective in Northeastern Neo-Aramaic also illuminates another cross-linguistic pattern: apparent temporal or aspectual mismatches between the clause level and the verb-stem/base level, like those found in Indo-Iranian languages (Haig 2008), need not imply that the verb bases/stems lack tense and aspect. Finally, I show that the secondary perfective furnishes a new type of argument for the syntactic nature of φ -agreement.
Protein Phosphatase2A Regulates Stromal Cell- Derived Factor-1 Mediated Responses of CD34+ Cord Blood Cells.

Abstract The chemokine stromal cell- derived factor-1(SDF-1) and its receptor, CXCR4, play a major role in migration, retention, and development of hematopoietic progenitors in the bone marrow. During steady-state hematopoiesis, CXCR4/SDF-1 interaction restricts hematopoietic stem progenitor cells in marrow and disruption of the SDF-1/CXCR4 axis leads to their egress into circulation. However, biological responses to SDF-1 are rapidly attenuated by overlapping mechanisms that include peptide degradation by cell surface proteases, receptor uncoupling from heterotrimeric G-proteins and receptor endocytosis. It is known that phosphorylation of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) by several protein kinases including serine-threonine kinase, protein kinase C (PKC), can result in receptor desensitization. This prompted us to investigate whether the role of serine- threonine phosphatase in the regulation of SDF-1 induced responses of CD34+ cord blood (CB) cells. To investigate the role of serine- threonine phosphatase we evaluated the effect of okadaic acid, a specific serine-threonine phosphatase inhibitor, on SDF-1 induced chemotaxis and adhesion of CD34+ cells from cord blood. Pre-incubation of CD34+ CB cells with okadaic acid (100–1000nM) significantly reduced SDF-1 directed chemotaxis and adhesion of CD34+ CB cells. This correlated with an increase in PKC phosphorylation. Although primary SDF-1 induced calcium flux in CD34+CB cells was unaffected by okadaic acid, if the cells were pretreated with SDF-1 and then stimulated with SDF-1, calcium flux was significantly less in CD34+CB cells pretreated with okadaic acid compared to untreated cells. Further, confocal microscopy was used to demonstrate the co-localization of serine threonine phosphatase and PKC. Using antibodies specific to PP2A catalytic subunit (PP2Ac) and various classes of PKC super family, it was observed in unstimulated CD34+ CB cells PP2Ac was mainly localized in nucleus and some phosphor-PKC-delta was detected in the cytoplasm. However, upon SDF-1 stimulation, co-localization of PP2Ac and phospho-PKC-delta was observed on the membrane of CD34+CB cells. These results indicate that serine-threonine phosphatase regulate SDF-1 mediated responses in CD34+CB cells and may play an important role in the ability of hematopoietic stem progenitor cells to continually respond to SDF-1.
Two New Mobile Apps for Rangeland Inventory and Monitoring by Landowners and Land Managers

On the Ground • Opportunities for rangeland inventory and monitoring have been transformed by innovations in both indicator and methods standardization and new technologies. • These technologies make it easier to collect, store, access, and interpret inventory and monitoring data. • The Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) platform and apps help users with little or no soils knowledge to describe their soil, and for those with little botanical knowledge to monitor key shifts in the relative dominance of plant structural groups. • The system also allows users to easily share and compare their data with others.
Two new Entyloma (Entylomataceae, Basidiomycota) species on North American Sanicula

Three smut species of Entyloma on Sanicula including two new species, E. californiensis on Sanicula graveolens and E. flavoluteum on S. crassicaulis are reported from the United States.
Temporal shifts in dominant sulfur-oxidizing chemoautotrophic populations across the Cariaco Basin's redoxcline

Abstract A pronounced and relatively stable peak in dark carbon assimilation (DCA) has been observed within the Cariaco Basin's redoxcline over a 19-year observation period, presumably driven largely by sulfur-oxidizing chemoautotrophic bacteria (thioautotrophs). As documented in previous reports, this midwater productivity hotspot is associated with prominent biomass peaks, consisting of prokaryoplankton (Bacteria + Archaea) protists and viruses. Early in the time-series, phylogenetic studies (small subunit ribosomal RNA gene libraries) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) surveys documented that the chemoautotrophic layer was overwhelmingly populated by e-proteobacteria related to sulfur-oxidizing symbionts from hydrothermal vent systems and β-proteobacteria. However, after May 2009, β- and e-proteobacteria were no longer detected in significant numbers by FISH or by more exhaustive sequencing efforts (454 pyrosequencing and MiSeq iTag libraries). Sulfur oxidation gene quantification (qPCR) also confirmed that e-proteobacteria were rare in samples collected after mid-2009 and that the chemoautotrophic layer became dominated by γ-proteobacterial sulfur-oxidizers (GSOs). Monthly hydrographic and chemical data from the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series were examined for temporal changes that might have driven this shift in the dominant thioautotrophs. Within the redoxcline (250–450 m), significant shifts occurred in water density structure and distributions of H2S, NH4+, O2, and NO2- between the β-/e-proteobacteria-dominated and the γ-proteobacteria-dominated periods. Contrary to observations in other euxinic systems, GSO seem to have a selective advantage over other sulfur-oxidizing lieages during periods of higher and less variable H2S vertical fluxes and higher relative fluxes of H2S to O2 and NO3-. How exactly this changing seascape might have selected for one lineage over another cannot be directly determined. However, spatiotemporal variations in water density and concentration gradients altered vertical fluxes of the major reductant (H2S) and oxidants (O2, NO3-,NO2-), which we postulate provided a more geochemically stable environment favoring GSOs.
Symbolic Dynamics and Chaos

We begin this chapter with a discussion of symbolic dynamics. As we proceed through the discussion, it may seem that the dynamics of the shift map on symbol space is an odd place to look for a deeper understanding of the logistic map, but we shall see that it is precisely the tool we need.
Towards Joint Attention Training for Children with ASD - a VR Game Approach and Eye Gaze Exploration

Joint attention is critical to the education and development of a child. Deficits in joint attention are considered by many researchers to be an early predictor of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Training of joint attention have been a significant topic in ASD intervention education research. We propose a novel joint attention training approach using a Customizable Virtual Human (CVH) and a Virtual Reality (VR) game to assist with joint attention training. Previous work has shown that CVHs potentially help the users with ASD to increase their performance in hand-eye coordination, motivate the users to play longer, as well as improve user experience in a training game. Based upon these discovered CVH benefits, we hypothesize that CVHs may also be beneficial in training joint attention for users with ASD. To test our hypothesis, we developed a CVH with customizable facial features in an educational game - Imagination Drums - and conducted a user study on adolescents with high functioning ASD to investigate the effects of CVHs. We collected users' eye-gaze data and task performance during the game to evaluate the users' joint attention with CVHs and the effectiveness of CVHs compared with Non-Customizable Virtual Humans (NCVHs). The study results showed that the CVH make the participants gaze less at the irrelevant area of the game's storyline (i.e. background), but surprisingly, also provided evidence that participants react slower to the CVH's joint attention bids, compared with NCVH. Overall, the study reveals insights of how users with ASD interact with CVHs and how these interactions affect joint attention.
Highly Hydrophobic Electrospun Reduced Graphene Oxide/Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) Membranes for Use in Membrane Distillation

Membrane distillation has seen a growing amount of industrial interest due to its low operating pressure, minimal temperature requirements, and high salt rejection. This body of work involves the fabrication of a microporous nanocomposite membrane with enhanced hydrophobicity for use in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. Reduced graphene oxide/poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (rGO/PVDF-HFP) flatsheet membranes were prepared via a facile electrospinning technique. These fabricated membranes were characterized using techniques including SEM, XPS, AFM, a TGA test, liquid entry pressure (LEP), and the measurement of contact angle in order to investigate the effect that incorporating rGO has on membrane surface morphology and performance. Results demonstrated that a maximum water contact angle of 139° was achieved with an increased liquid entry pressure (LEP) of up to 103.42 kPa. Antifouling and antiwetting performance of fabricated membranes were investigated through a dire...
ROLE OF QRS FRAGMENTATION FOR RISK STRATIFICATION IN ADULTS WITH TETRALOGY OF FALLOT

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) patients remain at risk for cardiovascular events despite successful repair. Some of the current risk stratification tools require advanced imaging and invasive studies, and hence difficult to apply to routine patient care. A recent study showed that QRS fragmentation (QRS-
Decision-Making in American Foreign Policy: Translating Theory into Practice

This foreign policy analysis textbook is written especially for students studying to become national security professionals. It translates academic knowledge about the complex influences on American foreign policymaking into an intuitive, cohesive, and practical set of analytic tools. The focus here is not theory for the sake of theory, but rather to translate theory into practice. Classic paradigms are adapted to fit the changing realities of the contemporary national security environment. For example, the growing centrality of the White House is seen in the 'palace politics' of the president's inner circle, and the growth of the national security apparatus introduces new dimensions to organizational processes and subordinate levels of bureaucratic politics. Real-world case studies are used throughout to allow students to apply theory. These comprise recent events that draw impartially across partisan lines and encompass a variety of diplomatic, military, and economic and trade issues.
Patent foramen ovale and paradoxical systemic embolism: a bibliographic review

A patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been reported to be an important risk factor for cardioembolic cerebrovascular accidents through paradoxical systemic embolization, and it provides one potential mechanism for the paradoxical systemic embolization of venous gas bubbles produced after altitude or hyperbaric decompressions. Here, we present in a single document a summary of the original findings and views from authors in this field. It is a comprehensive review of 145 peer-reviewed journal articles related to PFO that is intended to encourage reflection on PFO detection methods and on the possible association between PFO and stroke. There is a heightened debate on whether aviators, astronauts, and scuba divers should go through screening for PFO. Because it is a source of an important controversy, we prefer to present the findings in the format of a neutral bibliographic review independent of our own opinions. Each cited peer-reviewed article includes a short summary in which we attempt to present potential parallels with the pathophysiology of decompression bubbles. Two types of articles are summarized, as follows. First, we report the original clinical and physiological findings which focus on PFO. The consistent reporting sequence begins by describing the method of detection of PFO and goal of the study, followed by bulleted results, and finally the discussion and conclusion. Second, we summarize from review papers the issues related only to PFO. At the end of each section, an abstract with concluding remarks based on the cited articles provides guidelines.
Using puzzles and chases for student engagement in a course for non-majors

This paper describes an experience of engaging non-major students in a general education computing course by using simple puzzles and chases to have the students participating in teams and exploring campus during their computer science course. This particular experience brought a higher percentage of students into the act of reviewing the material of the course and had a small impact on final exam scores.
Assessing the impact of drug courts on provider-directed marketing efforts by manufactures of medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

Abstract Background Opioid use disorder (OUD) has become an increasingly consequential public health concern, especially in the United States where 47,600 opioid overdose deaths occurred in 2017 ( Scholl, Seth, Kariisa, Wilson, & Baldwin, 2019 ). Medications for OUD (MOUD) are effective for decreasing opioid-related morbidity and mortality, including within the criminal justice system ( Hedrich et al., 2012 ; Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Save Lives, 2019 ; Moore et al., 2019 ).While a stronger evidence base exists for agonist MOUD than for antagonist MOUD, a national study of drug courts found that half prohibited agonist MOUD (Matusow et al., 2013).Furthermore, recent media reports suggest that the pharmaceutical manufacturer of an antagonist MOUD has marketed its product towards drug court judges (Goodnough & Zernike, 2017; Harper, 2017). However, no study to date has systematically examined the relationship between MOUD marketing practices and drug courts. This ecological study examines the association at the county level between MOUD manufacturer payments to prescribers and drug court locations. Method We extracted provider-directed payments from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)'s Sunshine Act Open Payments data 2014–2017, isolating those records mentioning any MOUD. We compared provider-directed payments for two major MOUDs: buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone, in counties with and without drug courts. Results The presence of any adult drug courts in the county is associated with a 7.86 percentage-point increase in the likelihood of providers in that county receiving any MOUD-related payments (about 22.46% of the sample mean, p Conclusions Our results show an ecological association at the county level between MOUD manufacturer payments to prescribers and drug court presence. However, we did not examine a causal association between these variables.
Cross-sectional study of blood biomarkers of patients with moderate to severe alopecia areata reveals systemic immune and cardiovascular biomarker dysregulation.

Background Although there is increased understanding of the alopecia areata (AA) pathogenesis based on studies in scalp tissues, little is known about its systemic profile. Objective To evaluate the blood proteomic signature of AA and determine biomarkers associated with increased disease severity. Methods In a cross-sectional study, we assessed 350 inflammatory and cardiovascular proteins using OLINK high-throughput proteomics in patients with moderate to severe AA (n = 35), as compared with healthy individuals (n = 36), patients with moderate to severe psoriasis (n = 19), and those with atopic dermatitis (n = 49). Results Seventy-four proteins were significantly differentially expressed between AA and control individuals (false discovery rate, Limitations Our analysis was limited to 350 proteins. Conclusion This study defined the abnormalities of moderate to severe AA and associated circulatory biomarkers. It shows that AA has systemic immune, cardiovascular, and atherosclerosis biomarker dysregulation, suggesting the need for systemic treatment approaches.
A Review of Postmortem Findings in Patients With COVID-19

Multiple public health problems have been caused by various coronavirus strains over the last few years, such as the middle eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and COVID-19. COVID-19, which is also known as coronavirus disease 2019, was first detected in Wuhan, China, and has significantly impacted people's health and lives. Additionally, it has led to a pandemic, and the virus has spread to over 121 countries worldwide. There is numerous information available regarding this virus. A detailed and extensive study of the morphological and histopathological findings will help understand and diagnose the disease. As it is a new disease, it is challenging to understand the mechanism of the action and disease pathology due to the limited availability of data from autopsies or biopsies. However, as the detailed mechanism of injury remains unclear, this paper aims to review the postmortem gross and histopathological findings of various organs that have been affected with coronavirus, focusing on the pulmonary, cardiac, and hematologic findings. This paper emphasizes the postmortem findings of the effect of the coronavirus disease on multiple organ systems. Advance search of the keywords on PubMed was used, limiting the search to the last five years. The eligible article is narrowed based on relevance containing postmortem findings of the novel virus; COVID-19. A total of 25 full-text articles were selected and used in the review of this paper.
Transforming the practice of medicine through team science

The translation of biomedical research discoveries into clinical practice is marked by extended timelines (averaging 17 years) and multiple sequential process steps. However, even after a drug, device, diagnostic tool or unique therapeutic procedure successfully navigates through clinical testing to approval, real barriers remain in applying and scaling the innovation in practice. Mayo Clinic initiated the Transform the Practice programme to facilitate multidisciplinary team and convergence science to continuously reinvent solutions to address unmet patient needs and accelerate the application of next-generation healthcare solutions. During a 5-year period, 24 programme teams received financial resources, barrier-removing engagement from clinical and research leadership, and enhanced administrative support, including dedicated project managers. The approach created value in facilitating consistent progress toward project objectives and resulted in multiple publications, new extramural funding sources, and implementation of new tests and services into the clinical practice. This report describes the concentrated institutional effort to accelerate the discovery–translation–application continuum in an academic medical centre and highlights successful applications and persistent obstacles. The Transform the Practice approach is effective in moving high-potential research discoveries closer to implementation in the clinical practice. Its concepts, including the application of structured project management methodology, may be quickly integrated to shorten an organisation’s time to implementing its most important discoveries.
Assessing macro-scale patterns in urban tree canopy and inequality

Abstract Urban forests provide a variety of ecosystem services that influence environmental and social welfare, but variable distribution of urban tree canopy (UTC) within and among urban areas can lead to inequitable provisioning of these benefits. Variation in UTC among and within urban areas is associated with local development patterns and socio-economic factors as well as broad-scale variation in the biophysical and socio-cultural context of urban regions. The objective of this study was to evaluate regional and continental trends in UTC distribution within and among urban areas, including assessing relationships of UTC and UTC inequality with socio-economic/demographic factors and characteristics of urban regions. Remotely-sensed UTC assessments and US Census data were used to derive census block group-level UTC-related response variables (e.g., percent UTC, inequality in UTC) and socio-economic/demographic predictor variables (e.g., median income, population density) for forty U.S. cities spanning several biophysical and socio-cultural regions. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze relationships of UTC with socio-economic/demographic predictor variables and the strength of these relationships was compared among cities across regions. There was a significant negative relationship (R2 = 0.45) between total UTC and UTC inequality across the 40 cities, as the equality of UTC distribution within cities increased with decreasing total UTC. There was significant variation across biophysical and socio-cultural regions in UTC, UTC inequality, and the strength of the correlation of fine scale UTC with socio-economic/demographic factors. These findings illustrate the important role of broad-scale biophysical and socio-cultural factors as drivers of UTC patterns within and among cities.
Concussion Is Associated With Increased Odds of Acute Lower-Extremity Musculoskeletal Injury Among National Basketball Association Players.

Purpose To determine the odds of sustaining an acute lower-extremity (LE) musculoskeletal injury during the 90-day period after return-to-play (RTP) from concussion in National Basketball Association (NBA) athletes. Methods Concussion data for NBA players were collected from the 1999-2000 to 2017-2018 seasons, from publicly available sources. Age, position, injury, time to RTP, and demographic factors were collected. The 90-day period after each case of concussion was reviewed for acute noncontact LE musculoskeletal injury. Control athletes without a documented history of concussion were matched to concussed athletes by age, body mass index, position, and experience. Conditional logistic regression with a calculated odds ratio and a 95% confidence interval were used to assess the association between concussion and subsequent risk of LE injury. Results In total, 189 concussions were documented in 153 athletes. Of these, 140 cases were the first recorded instance of concussion in players with publicly available data. Thirty-six (25.7%) athletes sustained a LE injury within 90 days of concussion; 26 (20.2%) were non-season-ending and included in RTP analysis. The odds of sustaining an acute LE musculoskeletal injury within the 90-day period after concussion was 4.69 times greater in concussed players compared with controls (95% confidence interval 1.96-11.23, P < .001). There was no significant difference in games (4.2 ± 5.0 vs 4.7 ± 4.7 games, P = .566) or days (18.5 ± 39.1 days vs 10.9 ± 10.6 days, P = .912) missed between concussed players with LE injury and nonconcussed controls. The most common LE injuries in concussed athletes were ligament sprains/tears (65%). Conclusions Concussed NBA athletes have increased odds for sustaining an acute LE musculoskeletal injury within 90 days of RTP compared with nonconcussed controls. The most common injuries were ligament strains or tears. Changes in neuromotor control and proprioception following a concussion should be evaluated in high-level basketball players returning to sport. Level of Evidence Level III, Case-Control Study.
Characterization of Insect Wing Membranes by 13C CPMAS NMR

Insects owe much of their success to their ability to fly. A common motif of the insect wing is a thin membrane interlaced with rigid veins. The mechanical properties of insect wings are due to gro...
Opportunities in Replacement Heifer Growth

The opportunities that are available to influence replacement heifer growth on a dairy farm are great. To fully understand the process involved in optimizing growth rates, one must consider that the ultimate goal of a dairy heifer raising program is to develop these animals to their full lactation potential as an adult cow, at a desired age, and at minimal expense. Important considerations must be made to aspects of heifer growth that affect reproduction, lactation potential, and economics.
Correlates and Outcomes of Early Acute Kidney Injury after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Abstract Background Patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) are at high risk for acute kidney injury (AKI). The etiology of AKI is often multifactorial and includes exposure to antibiotics and calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) for prevention of graft versus host disease. Methods This is a retrospective, single center study which evaluated patients undergoing inpatient HCT at Froedtert Memorial Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2016. AKI was defined as an increase in serum creatinine > 0.3 mg/dL from baseline value. Results The total number of patients included in the study was 280, 64 had AKI and 216 were in the non-AKI group. AKI was noted in 23% patients. Exposure to CNI or vancomycin accounted for the majority of the cases (82%). The median pre-AKI vancomycin trough was elevated in the AKI group at 21.3 mcg/mL (range: 17.4–24.4 mcg/mL) while the pre-AKI CNI trough was lower in the AKI group at 12.3 ng/mL (range: 8.7–14.7 ng/mL).There were also a higher number of ICU transfers (19%) and higher 100 day mortality (15.6%) in the AKI group. Conclusion AKI is a frequent complication following HCT and is associated with a higher risk of ICU transfer and higher mortality post HCT. While a higher vancomycin trough level may be indicative of a higher risk of AKI, the risk following CNI exposure may not be related to trough levels alone. There may be underlying pharmacogenetic factors which may alter the risk of AKI with CNI use.
Dodecylamine rapidly kills of spores of multiple Firmicute species: properties of the killed spores and the mechanism of the killing.

Aims Previous work showed that Bacillus subtilis dormant spore killing and germination by dodecylamine take place by different mechanisms. This new work aimed to optimize killing of B. subtilis and other Firmicutes spores and to determine the mechanism of the killing. Methods and results Spores of seven Firmicute species were killed rapidly by dodecylamine under optimal conditions and more slowly by decylamine or tetradecylamine. The killed spores were not recovered by additions to recovery media, and some of the killed spores subsequently germinated, all indicating that dodecylamine-killed spores truly are dead. Spores of two species treated with dodecylamine were more sensitive to killing by a subsequent heat treatment, and spore killing of at least one species was faster with chemically decoated spores. The cores of dodecylamine-killed spores were stained by the nucleic acid stain propidium iodide, and dodecylamine-killed wild-type and germination-deficient spores released their stores of phosphate-containing small molecules. Conclusions This work indicates that dodecylamine is likely a universal sporicide for Firmicute species, and it kills spores by damaging their inner membrane, with attendant loss of this membrane as a permeability barrier. Significance and impact of study There is a significant need for agents that can effectively kill spores of a number of Firmicute species, especially in wide area decontamination. Dodecylamine appears to be a universal sporicide with a novel mechanism of action, and this or some comparable molecule could be useful in wide area spore decontamination.
Abstract 17076: Empowering Telemetry Technicians to Call Code Blue

Background: Delays in treatment of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) events are associated with lower survival and poor neurologic outcomes. With centralized telemetry, telemetry technicians need t...
Lawyers, Guns & Public Monies: The U.S. Treasury, World War One, and the Administration of the Modern Fiscal State

The First World War was a pivotal event for American political and economic development, particularly in the realm of public finance. For it was during the war years that the federal government ended its traditional reliance on regressive import duties and excise taxes as principal sources of revenue and began a modern era of fiscal governance, one based primarily on the direct and progressive taxation of personal and corporate income. Like other aspects of war mobilization, this fiscal revolution required an enormous infusion of national administrative resources. Nowhere was this more evident than within the corridors of the U.S. Treasury Department – the executive agency responsible for creating, managing, and defending wartime fiscal policies. This article examines the vital role that Treasury department lawyers played in constructing, administering, and defending the emerging fiscal polity during the Great War. It contends that these attorneys relied on their social and professional networks, their technical legal skills and their practical experiences as social and economic intermediaries to shape the administrative foundation of the rising modern American fiscal state – a state that contained significant limits as well as achievements.
Control of Agricultural Production Systems

With the development and application of control theory and approach agricultural production systems should be implemented with improved performance. Precision management of agricultural production systems has been developed and applied since the 1980s, through the 2010s, to present with advanced digital agricultural information technologies. Agricultural cybernetics (AC) provides precision agricultural production management new insights into what the systems can do with information exchange and communication and how the systems are controlled with schemes designed with control theory and compared with the application in industrial environment to come up to a generic agricultural cybernetic system.
Abstract 15229: Racial Disparity in Blood Pressure Control in VA Patients from 2000 to 2011

The VA Electronic Health Record with reminders effectively manages hypertension and stores data longitudinally. Vital signs from the entire VA were analyzed between 2000 and 2011. Of 7,361,848 patients with 274,162,609 BP measurements; 4,055,558 had elevations >140 systolic or >90 diastolic on three separate days. Analysis was made for age, race, treatment and BMI. Control for Blacks improved from 49.8 in 2000 to 72.5 in 2011, and Whites from 50.6 to 77.0 respectively (Fig. 1). Black/White difference was small when both groups were poorly controlled (2000 - 2001), but as treatment improved, Blacks consistently were less well controlled than Whites. BMI for hypertensive Blacks and Whites remained steady at 29.5 until 2006, then increasing for both, reaching 30.1 in 2011. This increase may explain why controlling hypertension becoming more difficult in 2006. Normotensive Blacks had a BMI of 25.5 in 2000 rising to 27.7 in 2011, while Whites increased from 26.6 to 27.9 respectively (Fig. 2). Drug data became available starting in 2004. Both Blacks and Whites received the same number of anti-hypertensive medicine classes (2.7 ± 1.4, p=0.21). Medicine coverage, where the number of daily doses were compared with frequency of refills, showed no racial difference (81.0% + 16%, p=0.64). Conclusion: Blacks and Whites both improved hypertensive control over 11 years with Blacks consistently 5% less well controlled than Whites. The reason for this disparity cannot be explained by differences in BMI, number of medicine classes or less coverage. More intensive treatment, with improved weight control, may be required if Blacks are to achieve BP control equal to Whites.
Combining Monitors for Runtime System Verification

Abstract Runtime verification permits checking system properties that cannot be fully verified off-line. This is particularly true when the system includes complex third-party components, such as general-purpose operating systems and software libraries, and when the properties of interest include security and performance. The challenge is to find reliable ways to monitor these properties in realistic systems. In particular, it is important to have assurance that violations will be reported when they actually occur. For instance, a monitor may not detect a security violation if the violation results from a series of system events that are not in its model. We describe how combining runtime monitors for diverse features such as memory management, security-related events, performance data, and higher-level temporal properties can result in more effective runtime verification. After discussing some basic notions for combining and relating monitors, we illustrate their application in an intrusion-tolerant Web server architecture under development at SRI.
CH-MAC: A multi-channel MAC protocol for dynamic spectrum access networks

CH-MAC is a multi-channel medium access control protocol designed to work for multi-hop dynamic spectrum access networks. Its performance has been extensively evaluated with Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing and Destination Sequence Distance Vector (DSDV) protocols. Besides, CH-MAC protocol has several new architectural features such as channel evacuation and error recovery mechanisms that get activated when presence of an incumbent is detected on a channel in use that differ with existing protocols. We demonstrate that for static and dynamic network topologies, CH-MAC has better throughput and delay performance than well-known multi-channel protocols.
Canonical Transient Receptor Potential 5 Channel in Conjunction with Orai1 and STIM1 Allows Sr2+ Entry, Optimal Influx of Ca2+, and Degranulation in a Rat Mast Cell Line

Degranulation of mast cells in response to Ag or the calcium mobilizing agent, thapsigargin, is dependent on emptying of intracellular stores of Ca(2+) and the ensuing influx of external Ca(2+), also referred to as store-operated calcium entry. However, it is unlikely that the calcium release-activated calcium channel is the sole mechanism for the entry of Ca(2+) because Sr(2+) and other divalent cations also permeate and support degranulation in stimulated mast cells. In this study we show that influx of Ca(2+) and Sr(2+) as well as degranulation are dependent on the presence of the canonical transient receptor potential (TRPC) channel protein TRPC5, in addition to STIM1 and Orai1, as demonstrated by knock down of each of these proteins by inhibitory RNAs in a rat mast cell (RBL-2H3) line. Overexpression of STIM1 and Orai1, which are known to be essential components of calcium release-activated calcium channel, allows entry of Ca(2+) but not Sr(2+), whereas overexpression of STIM1 and TRPC5 allows entry of both Ca(2+) and Sr(2+). These and other observations suggest that the Sr(2+)-permeable TRPC5 associates with STIM1 and Orai1 in a stoichiometric manner to enhance entry of Ca(2+) to generate a signal for degranulation.
Defects in CD8+ Regulatory T Cells in the Lamina Propria of Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Mucosal tolerance is believed to be partly mediated by regulatory T cells. Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) may play an important role in the generation of such regulatory cells, because they are able to process and present Ag to T cells. Furthermore, we have previously demonstrated that IECs are able to generate regulatory CD8(+) T cells in vitro. In the present study, we have analyzed lamina propria (LP) lymphocytes for the presence of such regulatory CD8(+) T cells in normal individuals as well as in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The results of the present study show that LP CD8(+) T cells derived from normal controls possess regulatory activity, whereas both unfractionated LP lymphocytes and purified LP CD4(+) T cells do not. The LP CD8(+) T cells suppress Ig production by pokeweed mitogen-stimulated PBMCs by 31-80%, in a cell contact-dependent manner. No significant difference in suppression between CD28(+) and CD28(-)CD8(+) LP T cells was observed. In contrast to CD8(+) T cells from normal LP, CD8(+) T cells isolated from LP of IBD patients, did not suppress Ig production by pokeweed mitogen-stimulated PBMC (five of six ulcerative colitis specimens; six of six Crohn's disease specimens). Furthermore, we demonstrate that the frequency of TCR Vbeta5.1-positive CD8(+) T cells, which we previously have demonstrated to be regulatory and to be expanded by IECs in vitro, is decreased in IBD LP compared with normal LP. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that CD8(+) T cells with regulatory activity are present in the LP of normal healthy individuals, but not in patients with IBD, suggesting that these cells might play an active role in mucosal tolerance.
Futility in the Practice of Community Psychiatry

The experience of futility among frontline clinicians in community psychiatry is produced by the temporal structuring of their work. All health care providers share the disposition to intervene in the course of disease. Specific notions about the course of severe mental illness are woven into the mission of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) as well as the treatment plan, a key paperwork tool used to stage daily activities. The treatment plan demands a narrative of progress that ACT workers often find impossible to supply. The gap between the ideal of progress and the realities of practice produce distinctive kinds of demoralization. Drawing from an ethnography of a single ACT team in the United States, this article explores how clinicians encounter, articulate, and attempt to resolve such experiences of futility. It explores their practical strategies to reframe the time horizons of work and thereby restore the sense of their own therapeutic power.
Modal Analysis of an Ultra-Flexible, Self-Rigidizing Toroidal Satellite Component

Over the past few years, much research has been performed on understanding the dynamics of an ultra-large, flexible toroidal satellite component subject to an internal pressure. However, the harsh environment of space is no place for inflated, membrane-like materials for fear of micro meteorite bombardment and subsequent puncture. Addressing this issue directly, United Applied Technologies (Huntsville, AL) has developed a novel, thin film casting approach to create a self-rigidizing torus. Once inflated, the torus structure is able to support its own shape, thus eliminating the need for any internal pressure. The self-rigidizing torus is extremely flexible, much more so than its pressurized predecessors. Such compliancy makes modal testing extremely difficult. However, through careful application of traditional modal testing techniques (shaker and accelerometer testing), the damped natural frequencies and mode shapes of the self-rigidizing torus can be discerned in the frequencies and mode shapes of the self-rigidizing torus can be discerned in the frequency bandwidth of interest, 1–12 Hz.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Thermodynamic Solubility Product of Human Tooth Enamel: Powdered Sample

Solubility of human dental enamel in H3PO4 was studied in the pH range of 4.5 to 7.6. Thermodynamic solubility of the enamel mineral was calculated in terms of the ion activity product, (Ca2+)5(PO4 3-)3 (OH-), for hydroxyapatite. The solubility product varied from 7.2 × 10-53 to 6.4 × 10-58 mol9 liter-9 depending on the cumulative amount of the dissolution of the solid in a series of repetitive sequences of solubility experiments.
Time-reversibility and particle sedimentation

This paper studies an ODE model, called the Stokeslet model, and describes sedimentation of small clusters of particles in a highly viscous fluid. This model has a trivial solution in which the n particles arrange themselves at the vertices of a regular n-sided polygon. When n = 3, Hocking and Caflisch et al. (1988) proved the existence of periodic motion (in the frame moving with the center of gravity in the cluster) in which the particles form an isosceles triangle. Here, the study of periodic and quasi-periodic solutions of the Stokeslet model is continued, with emphasis on the spatial and time-reversal symmetry of the model. For three particles, the existence of a second family of periodic solutions and a family of quasi-periodic solutions is proved. It is also indicated how the methods generalize to the case of n particles.
THE PREVALENCE OF CYTOMEGALOVIRUS (CMV) VIRURIA AMONG HOSPITALIZED CHILDREN AND THE RISK OF CMV ACQUISITION BY NURSES

Top of pageAbstract In 17 months 2198 children had admission urines cultured for CMV. 4.7% had CMV viruria (105 positive cultures), but significant age differences were observed. In the intensive care nursery the prevalence of CMV viruria (congenital and acquired infections) was 3.3% (18 of 551 newborns with viruria). On the nursing units for children ages 0 to 2 yrs, the prevalence of CMV viruria was 6.8% (32 of 544 positive, P 0.5 Chi square=0.004). On a nursing unit for children ages 5 to 12 yrs the prevalence of CMV viruria decreased to 4.2% (20 of 476, P=0.01, Chi square=6.6 when compared to children 2 to 5 yrs). For 12 to 18 year olds the prevalence of CMV viruria was only 1.2% (3 of 245, P<.001, Chi square=9.2, when compared to children 5 to 12 yrs). Among 72 seronegative nurses with daily patient contact, none acquired CMV but only 20 worked with the high prevalence age group (0 to 5 yrs). These results suggest that in spite of constant exposure CMV transmission occurs infrequently.
Autogenous venous valve transplantation in the dog.

Abstract Incompetence of femoral vein valves has been causally linked to venous insufficiency of the lower extremities. Attempts to transplant competent venous valves into the femoral region have historically been associated with a high rate of early thrombosis. Using modern vasclar surgical techniques, 10 mongrel male dogs had 20 competent valves from the external jugular veins transplanted to both femoral veins. Five dogs (Group I) received no perioperative pharmacological therapy, while 5 dogs (Group II) received low-dose aspirin (2 mg/kg) daily. The surgical technique involved gentle, no-touch dissection of the external jugular veins, systematic anticoagulation with a single bolus of heparin (5000 units), excision of a valve-containing segment of the femoral vein, and transplantation of a valve-containing segment of external jugular vein using interrupted 7-O monoflament sutures. Early patency was confirmed by venography at 2, 7, and 14 days postoperatively. Five animals were sacrificed at 43, 65, 69, 91, and 105 days. Valve competency was evaluated by retrograde flushing. Group I had 100% early and late graft patency and valve competency. Group II had two thrombosed grafts (80% patency) with irreversible valve destruction. Both graft failures were associated with wound hematomas. These results suggest that autotransplantation of competent venous valves into the femoral region can be accomplished using modern vascular surgical techniques. Adjunctive measures such as distal arteriovenous fistulae or anti-platelet therapy do not appear necessary to maintain graft patency or valve competence.
Epitaxial growth of 4H–SiC at low temperatures using CH3Cl carbon gas precursor: Growth rate, surface morphology, and influence of gas phase nucleation

Abstract This paper explores homoepitaxial growth of 4H–SiC on 8° and 2° off-axis 4H–SiC(0 0 0 1) substrates at temperatures below 1300 °C, which is more than 200 °C lower than in conventional state-of-the-art SiC epitaxial growth. In this work, the growth at reduced temperatures is enabled by using halo-carbon growth precursor chloromethane. The growth rate is strongly influenced by Si cluster nucleation in the gas phase. In addition, the condensation of silicon vapor results in decrease of the silicon-to-carbon (Si/C) ratio above the growth surface. The epilayer morphology becomes strongly dependent on the Si/C ratio when the growth temperature ( T g ) is reduced. For growth on low-angle (2°) vicinal substrates, topographic defect generation is increasingly difficult to control at lower T g values. However, low to moderate values of T g in combination with a beneficial influence of chlorine-containing products of halo-carbon decomposition largely overcome the step-bunching problem of epitaxial growth on low-angle vicinal substrates.