cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A novel high sensitivity p-i-n MODFET photodetector using low-temperature-MBE grown GaAs

A novel, high sensitivity photodetector which combines a p-i-n diode and a modulation doped field effect transistor (MODFET) in a single device is reported for the first time. There are two possible modes of operation of the device, a vertical p-i-n mode and a lateral MODFET mode. The device exhibits a high responsivity of /spl sim/95 A/W in the MODFET mode which is /spl sim/6000 times that in the p-i-n mode. The device also has significant photo-response in the GaAs subbandgap region arising from the arsenic clusters and/or the traps present in the low-temperature grown GaAs layer.
DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ABUSED CHILDREN

The account of these patients documents the necessity for critical attention to the entire environment, including cultural factors believed to be especially important in the care and development of the injured child. It further documents the necessity for early intervention when abuse is suspected. Drastic management by removal from the home, the only method of intervention referred to in this paper, is indicated when the caretaker cannot respond to milder measures designed to improve his relations with the infant. Other methods such as home helps, intensive psychotherapy, or day care for the infant should be carefully tried if the child is considered safe from further assault. Of course, ongoing evaluation should be part of any attempt at intervention.
Salivary Flow Rate and Peritonsillar Abscess Development: A Prospective Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION: While there are several theories for peritonsillar abscess (PTA) development, their exact pathogenesis is unknown. We propose that PTAs develop secondary to salivary stasis in the face of tonsillar inflammation. Patients who have a combination of dehydration and poor baseline salivary flow will be at a greater risk to subsequently develop ductal obstruction of Weber’s glands (minor salivary glands of the superior tonsillar pillar), leading to further inflammation, cellulitis and PTA formation.
Photodynamic therapy of viral contaminants with potential for blood banking applications

A photodynamic method has been evaluated as a means of eradicating viral contaminants with the potential for rendering blood safe for transfusion. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was tested under flowing conditions in culture media or in blood supplemented with the virus. Hematoporphyrin derivative was used as the sensitizer and was photoactivated with visible light at 630 nm and 5 J/cm2. HSV-1 in suspension both in culture medium as well as in blood was shown to be killed. The human immunodeficiency virus was also found to be photoinactivated in flowing cell culture medium and, thus, potentially may be inactivated in blood. These findings extend our previous studies which demonstrated that enveloped viruses can be photoinactivated with hematoporphyrin derivative in a static fluid system. Analysis of blood cell number, red cell lysis, plasma proteins, and other standard hematological tests showed no significant change. The possibility that transfusion-associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) may result from a blood unit infected with human immunodeficiency virus that tested negative makes it imperative that a safe and effective means of viral killing be developed. The system reported here offers promise as an effective approach to this problem.
Pediatric pain management: the multidisciplinary approach

Chronic pain in children and adolescents is a growing problem and one that is increasingly being addressed with multidisciplinary treatment teams. This review summarizes different multidisciplinary clinics, focusing specifically on intensive pediatric pain rehabilitation centers. This review offers a summary of the challenges faced by these programs and areas for future study.
Anemone: adaptive network memory engine

There is a constant battle to break-even between continuing improvements in DRAM capacities and the demands for even more memory by modern memory-intensive high-performance applications. Such applications do not take long to hit the physical memory limit and start paging to disk, which in turn considerably slows down their performance. We tackle this problem in the Adaptive Network Memory Engine (Anemone) project by pooling together the distributed memory resources of multiple machines across a gigabit network based cluster. Anemone is a distributed memory virtualization system that can dramatically improve application performance by paging over the gigabit network to the unused memory of remote clients. Anemone provides clients with completely transparent access to a potentially unlimited amount of collective memory pool. Earlier research efforts in this area advocate significant modifications to client systems, either in terms of a specific programming interface for applications, or in terms of extensive changes to the operating systems and device drivers. In contrast, Anemone requires no modifications to either the client system or the memory-intensive application.
Electrical and optical characteristics of vacuum-sealed polysilicon microlamps

A silicon-filament vacuum-sealed incandescent light source has been fabricated using IC technology and subsurface micromachining. The incandescent source consists of a heavily doped p/sup +/ polysilicon filament coated with silicon nitride and enclosed in a vacuum-sealed ( approximately=80-mT) cavity in the silicon-chip surface. The filament is formed beneath the surface and later released using sacrificial etching to obtain a microstructure that is protected from the external environment. The filament is electrically heated to reach incandescence at a temperature near 1400 K. The power required to achieve this temperature (for a filament 510*5*1 mu m) is 5 mW. The emitted optical power is 250 mu W, and the peak in the spectrum distribution is near 2.5 mu m. The radiation approximately follows Lambert's cosine law. The subsurface micromachining technique used to produce the evacuated cavity has applications in other micromechanical devices. >
Pulmonary perfusion patterns and pulmonary arterial pressure.

PURPOSE: To use artificial intelligence methods to determine whether quantitative parameters describing the perfusion image can be synthesized to make a reasonable estimate of the pulmonary arterial (PA) pressure measured at angiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Radionuclide perfusion images were obtained in 120 patients with normal chest radiographs who also underwent angiographic PA pressure measurement within 3 days of the radionuclide study. An artificial neural network (ANN) was constructed from several image parameters describing statistical and boundary characteristics of the perfusion images. With use of a leave-one-out cross-validation technique, this method was used to predict the PA systolic pressure in cases on which the ANN had not been trained. A Pearson correlation coefficient was determined between the predicted and measured PA systolic pressures. RESULTS: ANN predictions correlated with measured pulmonary systolic pressures (r = 0.846, P < .001). The accuracy of the predictions was not infl...
Concurrent Verbal Encouragement and Wingate Anaerobic Cycle Test Performance in Females: Athletes vs. Non-Athletes

To examine the effect of concurrent verbal encouragement on the performance of the WAnT in female athletes vs. female non-athletes. College-age female subjects were recruited where ten of the subjects were intercollegiate athletes (ATH, n1 =10) and the nine were non-athletes (NON, n2 =9). The WAnT was novel to all subjects and the subjects were blinded to the study's purpose. Prior to the experimental trials, subjects were measured for body composition and performed a familiarity WAnT trial without verbal encouragement. Subjects then performed the WAnT twice, once with concurrent verbal encouragement (VE) and once without (NVE), in a balanced cross-over design. Peak (PP) and mean power (MP), and total work (TW) were compared between ATH and NON across VE and NVE using an ANOVA (1 between, 1 within), α=0.05. ATH and NON did not differ (p>0.05) in age or body composition with the exception of fat-free mass which differed significantly (ATH=53.7±6.6, NON=46.1±5.7 kg) (p 0.05) for PP (VE=12.4±1.7, NVE=12.0±1.9 W·kg-1), MP (VE=7.3±1.1, NVE=7.2±1.2 W·kg-1) and TW (VE=219±33, NVE=215±35 J·kg-1). The ATH/NON interaction with VE/NVE was not significant (p>0.05). Concurrent verbal encouragement does not affect performance on the WAnT in females, nor does it affect WAnT performance in female athletes and non-athletes differently.
The Notch ligand, X-Delta-2, mediates segmentation of the paraxial mesoderm in Xenopus embryos

Segmentation of the vertebrate embryo begins when the paraxial mesoderm is subdivided into somites, through a process that remains poorly understood. To study this process, we have characterized X-Delta-2, which encodes the second Xenopus homolog of Drosophila Delta. Strikingly, X-Delta-2 is expressed within the presomitic mesoderm in a set of stripes that corresponds to prospective somitic boundaries, suggesting that Notch signaling within this region establishes a segmental prepattern prior to somitogenesis. To test this idea, we introduced antimorphic forms of X-Delta-2 and Xenopus Suppressor of Hairless (X-Su(H)) into embryos, and assayed the effects of these antimorphs on somite formation. In embryos expressing these antimorphs, the paraxial mesoderm differentiated normally into somitic tissue, but failed to segment properly. Both antimorphs also disrupted the segmental expression of X-Delta-2 and Hairy2A, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene, within the presomitic mesoderm. These observations suggest that X-Delta-2, via X-Notch-1, plays a role in segmentation, by mediating cell-cell interactions that underlie the formation of a segmental prepattern prior to somitogenesis.
Analysis of Residual Stress State in Thermal Barrier Coatings

To enhance thermal efficiency of high-temperature structural system, thermal barrier coatings (TBC) are often applied on the cooled metallic substrate to extend the life of a component and/or to protect it from deterioration while increasing the operating temperature of the system. Current TBCs utilize a two-layer design methodology. Usually it consists of a zirconia ceramic top coat on an oxidation-resistant metallic (Ni-22Cr-10A1-1Y, for example) bond coat. When subjected to thermal cycling in service, however, an additional oxide layer is created on the bond coat at an interface with a topcoat, resulting in a 3 layer system. The residual stress field induced by the growing oxide scale can play an important role in spalling, delamination and failure of the TBC. A finite element analysis is performed to study the morphological effects of the thermally grown oxide (TGO) on the residual stress state of this three-layer heterogeneous elastic system subjected to cool down conditions. Specifically, the effects of the thickness and radii of curvature of the TGO on the maximum normal stress as well as first principal stress in the TBC have been systematically investigated. The results indicated that enhanced stresses are built-up at the interfaces between the TGO and the ceramic top coat as well as between TGO and the metallic bond coat, indicating the propensity of cracking over those locations. Further, higher thickness and lower radius of curvature of the TGO zone yield higher level of peak stress. These findings are consistent with experimental observations. The developed finite-element code can be used to predict reliability of the TBC in service against thermal fatigue.
Prevalence of qacA/B Genes and Mupirocin Resistance Among Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Isolates in the Setting of Chlorhexidine Bathing Without Mupirocin.

OBJECTIVE We aimed to determine the frequency of qacA/B chlorhexidine tolerance genes and high-level mupirocin resistance among MRSA isolates before and after the introduction of a chlorhexidine (CHG) daily bathing intervention in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU). DESIGN Retrospective cohort study (2005–2012) SETTING A large tertiary-care center PATIENTS Patients admitted to SICU who had MRSA surveillance cultures of the anterior nares METHODS A random sample of banked MRSA anterior nares isolates recovered during (2005) and after (2006–2012) implementation of a daily CHG bathing protocol was examined for qacA/B genes and high-level mupirocin resistance. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing was also performed. RESULTS Of the 504 randomly selected isolates (63 per year), 36 (7.1%) were qacA/B positive (+) and 35 (6.9%) were mupirocin resistant. Of these, 184 (36.5%) isolates were SCCmec type IV. There was a significant trend for increasing qacA/B (P=.02; highest prevalence, 16.9% in 2009 and 2010) and SCCmec type IV (P<.001; highest prevalence, 52.4% in 2012) during the study period. qacA/B(+) MRSA isolates were more likely to be mupirocin resistant (9 of 36 [25%] qacA/B(+) vs 26 of 468 [5.6%] qacA/B(−); P=.003). CONCLUSIONS A long-term, daily CHG bathing protocol was associated with a change in the frequency of qacA/B genes in MRSA isolates recovered from the anterior nares over an 8-year period. This change in the frequency of qacA/B genes is most likely due to patients in those years being exposed in prior admissions. Future studies need to further evaluate the implications of universal CHG daily bathing on MRSA qacA/B genes among hospitalized patients. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:590–597
Release and Actions of Prostaglandins in Inflammation and Fever: Inhibition by Anti-Inflammatory and Antipyretic Drugs

When studying the pharmacological mediation of an inflammatory reaction, several difficulties are encountered. These lie in the multiplicity of factors involved and the complexity of their interactions. However, there are rigid criteria which ought to be satisfied before a substance can be definitely classified as a mediator of inflammation; these are listed below: (1) The putative mediator of inflammation should induce some or all of the signs of inflammation. (2) During the inflammatory reaction, the putative mediator should be released in amounts whose local concentrations in the tissue are capable of inducing these signs; ideally its appearance should correlate with development of the inflammatory reaction. (3) Release or actions of the putative mediator should be reduced by known anti-inflammatory drugs and, as a corollary, drugs which reduce the release or actions of the mediator should possess anti-inflammatory properties.
Discrete Chromatic Aberrations Arising from Photoinduced Electron-Photon Interactions in Ultrafast Electron Microscopy.

In femtosecond ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) experiments, the initial excitation period is composed of spatiotemporal overlap of the temporally commensurate pump photon pulse and probe photoelectron packet. Generation of evanescent near-fields at the nanostructure specimens produces a dispersion relation that enables coupling of the photons (ℏω = 2.4 eV, for example) and freely propagating electrons (200 keV, for example) in the near-field. Typically, this manifests as discrete peaks occurring at integer multiples (n) of the photon energy in the low-loss/gain region of electron-energy spectra (i.e., at 200 keV ± nℏω eV). Here, we examine the UEM imaging resolution implications of the strong inelastic near-field interactions between the photons employed in optical excitation and the probe photoelectrons. We find that the additional photoinduced energy dispersion occurring when swift electrons pass through intense evanescent near-fields results in a discrete chromatic aberration that limits the spatia...
Relationship of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase activity and nutritional pancreatic atrophy in selenium-deficient chicks.

Experiments were conducted to determine the relationship of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (SeGSHpx) activity to the onset of nutritional pancreatic atrophy (NPA) in chicks. Chicks produced from hens fed a low Se, low vitamin E practical diet had low activities of SeGSHpx in plasma and pancreas at hatching. The SeGSHpx activity remained at a low level before and during all stages of the onset of NPA. Selenium supplementation of the diet prevented NPA and resulted in significant elevations in SeGSHpx activity. Although the early stages of NPA are believed to involve mitochondrial swelling, no significant differences were found in rate of oxygen uptake, respiratory control index or adenosine diphosphate to oxygen ratio between pancreatic mitochondria isolated from Se-deficient or Se-adequate chicks. Improvements in maternal Se status significantly increased chick pancreatic SeGSHpx activity at hatching and delayed the onset of NPA in chicks fed a Se-deficient diet. A significant proportion of the second-generation Se- and vitamin E-depleted chicks used in these studies was found to grow at nearly normal rates when fed the Se-deficient diet. These chicks, designated as refractory to the growth-depressing effect of severe Se-deficiency, were biochemically deficient (i.e., had very low SeGSHpx activities) and showed NPA. It is concluded that the Se-responsive lesion which results in NPA in the chick is different from that which results in depressed growth.
Determinants of practice patterns in pediatric UTI management.

Summary Introduction Urinary tract infection (UTI) affects 10% of girls and 3% of boys by age 16. Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Guidelines recommend urine testing prior to initiation of antibiotic treatment and the use of local antibiograms to guide empiric antibiotic therapy. Urine culture results not only provide the opportunity to halt empiric therapy if there is no bacterial growth, but also allow for tailoring of broad-spectrum therapy. Additionally, the use of antiobiograms improves empiric antibiotic selection based on local resistance patterns. However, execution of guideline recommendations has proved challenging. Understanding barriers in implementation is critical to developing targeted interventions aimed to improve adherence to these guidelines. Objectives The present study sought to investigate practice patterns and factors that influence urine testing and antibiogram use in the setting of empiric antibiotic treatment of UTI in children to ultimately improve adherence to UTI management guidelines. Study design A random, national sample of physicians caring for children was surveyed from the American Medical Association Masterfile. Participants were queried regarding practice type, length of time in practice, factors influencing urine testing, urine specimen collection method, and antibiogram utilization. Logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with use of urine testing, bagged specimens, and antibiograms. Results Of respondents who acknowledged contact by surveyors, 47% completed the survey (n = 366). Most respondents (84%) obtain urinalysis and culture prior to treatment for UTI. Physicians report they would more likely order testing if the specimen were easier to collect (46%) and if results were available immediately (48%) (Table). Urine collection by bag was more common in circumcised boys (>30%) compared with girls (20%) and uncircumcised boys (20%) (P = 0.02). The most common reasons for collection by bag were parental refusal for (49%) and difficulty with (42%) catheterization (Table). Of the 70% of respondents reporting antibiogram access (n = 256), 50% report its use the majority of the time with empiric prescription (n = 128). Discussion While most practitioners report following guidelines to obtain urine testing prior to antibiotic prescription for UTI, urine collection by bag is common. Additionally, Table . Factors cited by respondents as (A) barriers to botaining any urine testing and (B) influential in using a urine collection bag. Factor Frequency of responses a (A) Barries to obtaining urine testing Culture result would be availability immediately 48% Easier to obtain urine specimen 45% (B) Factors reported by respondents in using a urine collection bag Parents refuse catheterization 49% Difficulty with catheterization 42% a Respondents were able to select multiple factors which influenced their decision; therefore, sum of percentages >100.
Immunohistochemical studies of central and peripheral peptidergic neurons.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews some aspects of the distribution of presently characterized neuropeptides revealed by immunohistochemical techniques. The distribution of neuropeptides as revealed by immunohistochemical techniques suggests two varieties of neural circuits in which the peptides play a role. The first of these generalized systems is thought to participate in neuroendocrine regulation, as the peptides are found in high concentrations in terminals adjacent to vascular elements that drain either to the anterior pituitary or to systemic circulation. Peptides released from such neurohemal sites may act as hormones upon target cells. Alternatively, they may act via axo-axonic interactions with other peptidergic terminals that liberate “true” hormones. Neuropeptides are also found in circuits of neurons engaged in interneuronal communication.
DRUJ Dislocation/Galeazzi Fracture

A Galeazzi fracture-dislocation, known as a “fracture of necessity,” is an unstable fracture of the shaft of the radius with an associated dislocation of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) that requires recognition, open reduction and internal fixation to achieve satisfactory outcomes. Complications are associated with unrecognized DRUJ injury or incomplete reduction and stabilization such as chronic DRUJ pain and limited forearm and wrist range of motion. With fracture of the radial shaft, a surgeon must have a high suspicion of DRUJ instability and perform a thorough examination after radial fixation. Anatomical fixation of the radius fracture and DRUJ stabilization will reduce the need of future salvage procedures associated with a missed or inadequately treated Galeazzi fracture-dislocation.
Grain Boundary Migration in Ceramics

During ceramic fabrication, densification processes compete with coarsening processes to determine the path of microstructural evolution. Grain growth is a key coarsening process. This paper examines grain boundary migration in ceramics, and discusses the effects of solutes, pores, and liquid phases on grain boundary migration rates. An effort is made to highlight work in the past decade that has contributed to and advanced our understanding of solute drag effects, pore-boundary interactions, and the role of liquid phases in grain growth and microstructural evolution. Anisotropy of the grain boundary mobility, and its role in the development of anisotropic (anisometric) microstructures is discussed as it is a central issue in recent efforts to produce ceramic materials with new combinations of properties and functionality.
The opercular mouth-opening mechanism of largemouth bass functions as a 3D four-bar linkage with three degrees of freedom.

ABSTRACT The planar, one degree of freedom (1-DoF) four-bar linkage is an important model for understanding the function, performance and evolution of numerous biomechanical systems. One such system is the opercular mechanism in fishes, which is thought to function like a four-bar linkage to depress the lower jaw. While anatomical and behavioral observations suggest some form of mechanical coupling, previous attempts to model the opercular mechanism as a planar four-bar have consistently produced poor model fits relative to observed kinematics. Using newly developed, open source mechanism fitting software, we fitted multiple three-dimensional (3D) four-bar models with varying DoF to in vivo kinematics in largemouth bass to test whether the opercular mechanism functions instead as a 3D four-bar with one or more DoF. We examined link position error, link rotation error and the ratio of output to input link rotation to identify a best-fit model at two different levels of variation: for each feeding strike and across all strikes from the same individual. A 3D, 3-DoF four-bar linkage was the best-fit model for the opercular mechanism, achieving link rotational errors of less than 5%. We also found that the opercular mechanism moves with multiple degrees of freedom at the level of each strike and across multiple strikes. These results suggest that active motor control may be needed to direct the force input to the mechanism by the axial muscles and achieve a particular mouth-opening trajectory. Our results also expand the versatility of four-bar models in simulating biomechanical systems and extend their utility beyond planar or single-DoF systems.
Base station positioning fot industrial wireless sensor

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have increasingly been employed in a wide range of industrial applications mainly for monitoring, quality control and diagnosis of the industrial equipment and machines. In such industrial applications, one of the most challenging problem is to determine an optimal positions for mounting the wireless sensor nodes for the highest quality in signal reception. It is typically assumed that the sensor nodes used for monitoring the industrial machines are deployed on fixed locations adjacent to the machines, finding the position of the base station is an important problem that requires attention. In most cases, due to the harsh conditions of the industrial environment, it is necessary to utilize more than one base stations to improve the signal quality, which makes the problem more complicated. In this paper, we focus on the problem of estimating the number and optimal position for wireless base stations in an industrial application of WSNs. We present a k-means clustering based method for estimating not only the optimal position, but also the optimal number of the base stations. The simulation result illustrate that increasing the number of the base station to some extend will enhance the communication link quality in industrial environments where there is a huge effect of fading and shadowing.
The Prediction of Contamination Potential in Coastal Aquifers from Proposed Shallow Disposal Sites for Low-Level Radioactive Wastes

A brief summary is presented of work aimed at establishing the potential migration routes of contaminants introduced into two coastal aquifers from overlying disposal facilities for low-level radioactive wastes. Two-dimensional depth-integrated finite element models have been applied sequentially to consider aspects of groundwater flow and migration. The effect on contaminant transport of coastal fresh/saline water interfaces has been studied. The results of the work have assisted in providing data for an overall probabilistic risk assessment model used to provide estimates of radiological risk for each site.
Executive Cognitive Functioning in Alcohol Use Disorders

Executive cognitive functioning (ECF) has been identified as an important determinant in the etiology of alcoholism. ECF represents a “higher-order” cognitive construct involved in the self-regulation of goal-directed behavior. The prefrontal cortex and its subcortical connections represent the primary neurological substrate that subserves ECF. Both alcoholics and individuals at high risk for alcoholism exhibit a mild dysfunction in ECF. However, this deficit appears to be significantly stronger in alcoholics with a comorbid diagnosis of an antisocial personality disorder. Individuals with other disorders that are also highly comorbid with alcoholism, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder, also demonstrate deficits in ECF. As such, compromised ECF may not be specific to alcoholism, but instead, might be a potential underlying etiologic substrate for a number of disorders of behavioral excess-disinhibition.
Analysis by Means of Spectral Reflectance of Substances Resolved on Thin Plates

Because of the many advantages it affords, thin-layer chromatography has found widespread application in the resolution of mixtures and the identification of their components. Not only are the procedures employed simple and easily carried out and the equipment required inexpensive, but the separations achieved are usually sharper than those obtained with the same or a similar solvent-system used in conjunction with paper. Particularly noteworthy is the speed of chromatographic development, with only one or two hours often sufficing for the resolution of a mixture on chromatoplates.
Can One Hear the Shape of a Fractal Drum? Partial Resolution of the Weyl-Berry Conjecture

Several years ago, motivated in part by the challenging problem of studying the scattering of light from “fractal” surfaces, the physicist Michael V. Berry formulated a very intriguing conjecture about the vibrations of “drums with fractal boundary”. Extending to the “fractal” case a long standing conjecture of Hermann Weyl, he conjectured in particular that the high frequencies of such “fractal drums” were governed by the Hausdorff dimension of their boundary [1,2].
Morgan Clarke, Islam and new kinship: reproductive technology and the shariah in Lebanon

Islam and new kinship presents a thoughtful and nuanced analysis of Islamic legal responses to issues raised by assisted reproductive technologies. Although the author conducted extensive fieldwork in Lebanon, which serves as the central case study in the book, the discussion addresses religious reflections and legal opinions in diverse locales, including Syria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, among others. The most significant theme, of several that run unevenly through the book, involves the process of Islamic legal reasoning in the face of popular and medical concerns with reproductive technologies. Clarke engages in a thorough and captivating assessment of the numerous fatwas issued in the context of global Islamic legal scholarship concerning medical ethics, in particular, medically assisted conception. The author’s argument derives from extensive interviews and correspondence with religious authorities of various ‘confessions’ (Sunni, Shi’i, Druze, Maronite Christian, Greek Orthodox) in several countries: Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah and his associates as well as the head of the Sunni courts in Lebanon, representatives of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Khamene’i of Iran, and Grand Ayatollah Sayyid ‘Ali al-Sistani, based in Najaf, Iraq. This very abbreviated list does not do justice to the impressive interview and archival data that form the basis of the book. What readers may find most interesting is the process of legal reasoning made apparent in the discussion of the permissibility of various technological interventions such as donor eggs or sperm, or gestational surrogacy. One question of interest involves the hierarchy of juridical authority (Whose fatwas are authoritative? And how do individuals with particular personal interests select among possible learned jurists known for specific legal stances?) Not only does Cont Islam (2012) 6:93–94 DOI 10.1007/s11562-010-0133-8
Overview of Objective Tests to Assess Excessive Sleepiness

Sleepiness, when it interferes with activities of daily living, is considered excessive and can be hazardous. It increases morbidity, decreases productivity, and can lead to accidents. Most commonly the result of sleep deprivation, sleepiness is also a usual consequence of sleep disorders. The objective evaluation of sleepiness focuses on tests to assess sleepiness (the clinically used tests include the multiple sleep latency test, the maintenance of wakefulness test, and the Oxford Sleep Resistance (OSLER) test). Evaluation of excessive daytime sleepiness can be challenging because of the variations of what is considered normal even in standardized objective testing.
Games and Dementia: Evidence Needed

Dementia is one of public health’s significant problems, affecting millions of people worldwide. Many tools and techniques have been examined for the diagnosis and treatment of dementia. For example, video games have been suggested as potentially useful for integration into standard dementia care. This chapter examines the research surrounding dementia games and other contextual factors that will potentially impact their effectiveness. While some research studies seem to show positive results, they have primarily been low sample size pilot studies or studies that do not assess whether the results transfer to everyday tasks of dementia patients. Other studies have been unable to show benefits of dementia games. Overall, the field is in the early stages of research and currently lacks the research-based evidence required to implement dementia games with confidence. Future studies should engage in large sample size research that assesses the generalizability of results.
Multilevel Quality Improvement Teams: An Alternative Approach for Surgical Academic Training Programs to Meet ACGME Core Competency Milestones.

Background Quality improvement (QI) activities are an integral part of residency training. We started the process to implement team-based, multilevel QI project streams within our academic surgical residency by studying resident perceptions. Objective Our residency carried out 6 QI projects in line with the American Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies. A resident survey was completed in 2016 to measure resident perceptions of an individual versus team-based QI project approach. Methods This was a descriptive study looking at resident's preference for team projects and ongoing projects within the training program. We started in 2014 utilizing Wait's Team Action Projects in surgery paradigm to conduct 6 QI projects. After initiation of projects, we allotted 2 full years to pass prior to assessing resident perceptions via a 12-item survey. Results Notably, this was a descriptive study aiming to capture resident perceptions on team-based QI and the foundational elements necessary to create and sustain such projects by integrating into our curriculum from the intern year. In 2016, 40 residents completed surveys (72.7% response rate), all (100%) opined that they preferred team-based approaches over individual ones, and 75% were on board to move forward with only a team-based approach in the future. Conclusions This was a pivotal start to adopting a team-based QI project strategy in the future and laid a solid foundation to build upon. We found residents in our program desire to work within teams early on to develop effective solutions to clinical problems. Residents perceived that the team-based model resulted in an improved resident experience with the QI process and improved patient care. We hope to publish a series of articles updating our progress as we move forward in this endeavor.
Towards an Economic Mechanism for Providing Inertial Support Through DFIG-based Wind Farms

As large scale power grids add generation resources that are interconnected via DC interfaces and power electronics (including wind turbines) and retire thermal generators, the total amount of inertia in the machines connected to the grid declines, and the grid becomes "weaker". Wind turbines could provide synthetic inertial support, but that comes at some cost of power provision to the system. Using the 16-machine 5-area dynamic equivalent of the New England-New York system, we model the system benefit of synthetic inertia in terms of improved steady-state frequency following the loss of a generator or increase in total load under three wind scenarios, and trace out opportunity costs for a DFIG wind farm providing synthetic inertia. We find that, for a given deviation from MPPT, the wind farm is able to provide a greater level of inertial support to the system, as wind penetration declines. Further, for larger deviations from MPPT we observe decreasing returns in terms of provision of inertial support across all three wind scenarios.
A Dynamic Examination of the Associations between Shyness, Psychological Difficulties, and Stressful Life Events during Early Adolescence

Although numerous studies have established linkages between shyness and later psychological difficulties, most extant research did not examine variation in shyness over time in relation to variation in psychological difficulties over time or possible environmental factors of influence outside of the school context. The current study used multi-level modelling to simultaneously examine time-invariant and time-variant associations between shyness, the psychological difficulties of depressive symptoms and loneliness, and stressful life events at four waves across 1 year in a community sample of 271 young adolescents (51% boys; Mage = 11.83 years at W1). Results revealed significant time-variant and time-invariant effects when loneliness was examined as a predictor of shyness. In addition, a significant interaction effect indicated that shyness decreased over time for those young adolescents who experienced few stressful life events, highlighting an understudied moderator of risk. Overall, findings have important implications for understanding the psychological concomitants of shyness as well as etiological models of shyness.
Sex-specific associations between prenatal negative life events and birth outcomes

AbstractMaternal psychosocial stress can negatively impact gestational length and development of the fetus. These effects may be sex-specific but have not been extensively studied. The objective of...
Ares: A Scalable High-Performance Passive Measurement Tool Using a Multicore System

Network measurement tools must support the collection of fine-grain flow statistics and scale well to the increasing line rates. However, conventional network measurement software tools are inadequate in high-speed network at the current scale. In this paper, we present Ares, a scalable high-performance passive network measurement tool to collect accurate per-flow metrics. Ares is built on a multicore platform, consisting of an effective hierarchical core assignment strategy, an efficient hash table for keeping flow statistics, a novel lockless flow statistics management scheme, as well as cache friendly prefetching. Our extensive performance evaluation shows that Ares brings about 19x speedup for 64-byte packets over existing approaches and can sustain up to a line rate of 100Gbps, while delivering the same level of fine-grained flow metrics.
AS TECNOLOGIAS DIGITAIS E O DESENVOLVIMENTO DA CRIATIVIDADE HUMANA EM QUESTÃO

The present study, of a reconstructive hermeneutic approach, aims to identify the dimensions of human creativity that serve to enhance technologies in educational practices, by the bias of recognizing creative participation in the renewal of in order to rebuild teaching and learning processes. The appreciation of creativity is moving with the pedagogical ideals of renewing educational practices and can be conceived as a human potential that expands horizons of recreation and not only of applied reproduction of technical knowledge, which makes it difficult to mobilization of thinking and inhibits creative expression. We conclude that through technological resources in the classroom it is possible to act and rebuild pedagogical projects, in view of the multiple possibilities of learning and producing knowledge in the social sphere, transforming contexts and manifesting the necessary knowledge for educational practices with technologies
Compact Development and BMI for Young Adults

Problem, research strategy, and findings: The literature widely reports a statistical association between the built environment and obesity. What is less clear is the reason for the association. Is...
Mindset development by applying U theory and religious concept in educational system: Thailand as a case

The dynamic changes, the fast growing of technology, causing unpredictable environment that forces people to live with tension. Man must learn to adapt oneself mentally to the changing phenomenal. The mindset is crucial for a workplace and chaotic society. This article, the author has reviewed religious concept and the U theory form secondary data. The purpose is to propose the development of people emphasis on their mindset by employing the alignment of the two concepts in the educational system in Thailand. These two concepts accent to cultivate in the deepest mind of human. It enhances people to have consciousness, being an open mind, open heart, and open will. As a result, making people to live with others harmoniously, peacefully, seeing things as it is, and aware of their thought and temper that might lead to intolerable situations.
Utilization of Isochronal Late Activation Mapping to Minimize Ablation Lesion Set in a Patient with Diffuse Epicardial Scar from Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

A 56-year-old male with history of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy underwent endocardial and epicardial catheter ablation procedure for recurrent ventricular tachycardia. Electroanatomic mapping demonstrated extensive scar involving almost the entire right and left ventricular epicardium. Ablation at a site of isochronal “crowding” on the anterior epicardium resulted in termination of the ventricular tachycardia.
A local curvature bound in Ricci flow

In this note we give a proof of a result which is closely related to Perelman’s theorem in Section 10.3 of the paper The entropy formula for the Ricci flow and its geometric applications [?].
Risk Vector-based Near miss Obstacle Avoidance for Autonomous Surface Vehicles

This paper presents a novel risk vector-based near miss prediction and obstacle avoidance method. The proposed method uses the sensor readings about the pose of the other obstacles to infer their motion model (velocity and heading) and, accordingly, adapt the risk assessment and take corrective actions if necessary. Relative vector calculations allow the method to perform in real-time. The algorithm has 1.68 times faster computation performance with less change of motion than other methods and it enables a robot to avoid 25 obstacles in a congested area. Fallback behaviors are also proposed in case of faulty sensors or situation changes. Simulation experiments with parameters inferred from experiments in the ocean with our custom-made robotic boat show the flexibility and adaptability of the proposed method to many obstacles present in the environment. Results highlight more efficient trajectories and comparable safety as other state-of-the-art methods, as well as robustness to failures.
HIV-1 genomic RNA U3 region forms a stable quadruplex-hairpin structure

The U3 promoter region of the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) has previously been shown to fold into a series of dynamic G-quadruplex structures. Among the G-quadruplexes identified in the LTR sequence, LTR-III was shown to be the most stable in vitro. NMR studies of this 28-nucleotide (nt) DNA revealed a unique quadruplex-hairpin structure. Whether the hairpin forms in RNA element is unknown and the role of the hairpin in the structure and stability of quadruplexes has not been characterized. Here, we used optical and thermodynamic studies to address these questions. The wild-type LTR-III RNA formed a monomolecular quadruplex with a parallel topology using only propeller loops, including the hairpin loop element. By comparison to the WT and variant RNAs, LTR-III DNA structures were more heterogeneous and less stable. Increased stability of the RNA suggests that the RNA quadruplex-hairpin structure may be a more attractive therapeutic target than the analogous DNA element.
Characteristics of emerging adulthood and e-cigarette use: Findings from a pilot study.

Abstract Introduction Emerging adults (ages 18 to 25) are more likely to use e-cigarettes compared to other age groups, but little is known about their risk and protective factors. A next step to understanding e-cigarette use among emerging adults may involve examining how transition-to-adulthood themes are associated with e-cigarette use. It may also be important to know which specific transitions, and how the accumulated number of role transitions experienced in emerging adulthood, are associated with e-cigarette use. Methods Emerging adults completed surveys indicating their identification with transition-to-adulthood themes, role transitions in the past year, and e-cigarette use. Logistic regression models examined the associations between transition-to-adulthood themes and e-cigarette use. Separate logistic regression models explored the association between individual role transitions, as well as the accumulated number of role transitions experienced, and e-cigarette use, controlling for age, gender, and ethnicity. Results Among the participants (n = 555), 21% were male, the average age was 22, 45% reported lifetime, and 12% reported past-month, e-cigarette use. Participants who felt emerging adulthood was a time of experimentation/possibility were more likely to report e-cigarette use. Several role transitions were found to be associated with e-cigarette use such as loss of a job, dating someone new, and experiencing a breakup. The relationship between the accumulated number of role transitions and e-cigarette use was curvilinear. Conclusion Findings from this pilot study can be a point of departure for future studies looking to understand the risk and protective factors of e-cigarettes among emerging adults.
Designing Portals: Opportunities and Challenges

The ABC's of Building Internet Portals Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize: Using Inquiry to Increase the Benefits of Institutional Portals Portals: Your Institution's Reputation Depends on Them Developing A Portal Channel Strategy Campus Portal Strategies The Next Generation of Internet Portals Indiana University's Enterprise Portal as a Service Delivery Framework Begin With The End (User) In Mind: Planning for the San Diego State University Campus Portal Values-Based Design of Learning Portals as New Academic Spaces Building A Campus Portal - A Strategy That Succeeded Portals Unlock the Knowledge that Drives Business Value
Adenosine triphosphate-adenosine 5'-monophosphate phosphotransferase of bovine liver mitochondria. I. Isolation and chemical properties.

Abstract Adenylate kinase has been purified approximately 700-fold from bovine liver mitochondria. The purity of the final preparation was evaluated by studies with ion exchange and molecular sieve chromatography and by sedimentation studies. By these criteria the enzyme is estimated to be 85 to 95% pure. The purified enzyme catalyzes transphosphorylation reactions between adenosine triphosphate and adenosine monophosphate, ATP and deoxy-AMP, and inosine triphosphate and AMP. The nearly constant ratios of these three activities throughout the purification scheme suggests that all are catalyzed by the same enzyme. Studies of the physical properties of the purified enzyme indicate it to possess a sedimentation constant of 2.49 S, a diffusion constant of 10.3 x 10-7 cm2 sec-1, a partial specific volume of 0.73 ml per g, and a molecular weight of 21,500. These properties are identical with those previously reported for crystalline adenylate kinase from skeletal muscle. Amino acid analysis of the purified enzyme indicate its composition to be: Asp18, Thr9, Ser11, Glu20, Pro13, Gly15, Ala17, Val13, Met5, Leu20, Illeu9, Phe7, Tyr5, Lys15, His4, Arg10, Try2, and CyS4, totaling 197 residues. Spectral studies with p-chloromercuribenzoate indicate that the enzyme does not contain free sulfhydryl groups. This finding is consistent with the lack of inhibition of catalytic activity by this and other sulfhydryl reagents and indicates that whereas the skeletal enzyme is sensitive to sulfhydryl reagents and is known to contain free sulfhydryl groups, the liver enzyme contains 4 half-cystine residues in some other form, possibly as two disulfide groups.