cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence of alphabetic knowledge in writing: connections to letter and word identification skills in preschool and kindergarten

The writing skills of 286 children (157 female and 129 male) were studied by comparing name writing and letter writing scores from preschool to kindergarten with letter and word reading scores over the same time period. Two rubrics for scoring writing were compared to determine if scores based on multiple components (i.e., letter formation, orientation on the vertical axis, left–right orientation, and correct letter sequencing) would better reflect differences in children’s writing knowledge in preschool and kindergarten than rubrics composed of one component (i.e., letter formation only). While developmental changes in writing scores were found, little additional information was provided by multiple component scoring rubrics compared to the single component rubric. Letter writing scores were more strongly related to letter and word reading scores than name writing scores but neither writing score was predictive of growth. Implications of the findings for intentional/systematic writing instruction in preschool curricula are discussed.
Pharmacology of inotropic agents in infants and children.

Abstract Inotropic agents are drugs which increase the stroke work of the heart at a given pre-load and after-load. All of these agents work through a final common pathway involving the modulation of calcium interactions with various myocardial contractile proteins. The agents employed with pediatric patients include the cardial glycosides, catecholamine β-agonists and the selective phosphodiesterase III inhibitors. Digoxin is the prototypic cardiac glycoside which has a long history of safe and effective use in infants and children. Its utility in improving right ventricular dysfunction in patients with cor pulmonale leading to biventricular dysfunction makes it ideally suited to the pediatric population. Monitoring digoxin pharmacokinetics in infants is confounded by the presence of an endogenous digoxin-like substance. Nevertheless, the drug is well suited for subacute and chronic myocardial support. In contrast, the catecholamines are the drugs of choice for acute intervention. Their pharmacokinetics permit rapid dosing titration. In infants and children the greatest experience has been accrued with dopamine, a mixed α- and β-agonist but both epinephreine and norepinephrine are being used with increasing frequency as the need for drugs with increased potency and pressor activity becomes more common. The phosphodiesterase inhibitors amrinone and milrinone are the newest additions to our therapeutic armamentarium. In addition to their modest inotropic effects, amrinone and to a greater extent, milrinone offer significant pulmonary vasodilatation as part of their therapeutic package. These effects occur with little or any impact on myocardial oxygen consumpton while their lusitropic effects enhance relaxation in hypertrophied ventricular muscle. Of the two agents milrinone is probably preferred due to its greater therapeutic index and shorter elimination half-life. All of these agents remain important tools in the care of critically ill infants and children. The rational use of these drugs based upon their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties is essential to achieve their optimal effects.
The factor VIII C1 domain contributes to platelet binding

Activated factor VIII (FVIIIa) forms a procoagulant complex with factor IXa on negatively charged membranes, including activated platelet surfaces. Membrane attachment involves the FVIII C2 domain; involvement of the adjacent C1 domain has not been established. Binding of recombinant FVIII C1C2 and C2 proteins to platelets was detected by flow cytometry using (1) anti-C2 monoclonal antibody ESH8 followed by a phycoerythrin-labeled secondary antibody; (2) biotinylated C1C2 detected by phycoerythrin-labeled streptavidin, and (3) C1C2 and C2 site-specifically labeled with fluorescein. Highest binding and lowest background were obtained using fluorescein-conjugated proteins. More than 90% of activated platelets bound C1C2, compared with approximately 50% for equimolar C2. Estimates using fluorescent microbeads indicated approximately 7000 C1C2-binding sites per platelet, approximately 1400 for C2, and approximately 3000 for fluorescein-labeled FVIIIa. Unlike C2 or FVIII(a), C1C2 bound to approximately 700 sites/platelet before activation. C1C2 binding to activated platelets appeared independent of von Willebrand factor and was competed effectively by FVIII(a), but only partially by excess C2. Fluorescein-labeled FVIIIa was competed much more effectively by C1C2 than C2 for binding to activated platelets. Two monoclonal antibodies that inhibit C2 binding to membranes competed platelet binding of C2 more effectively than C1C2. Thus, the C1 domain of FVIII contributes to platelet-binding affinity.
MED19 and MED26 Are Synergistic Functional Targets of the RE1 Silencing Transcription Factor in Epigenetic Silencing of Neuronal Gene Expression

A key hub for the orchestration of epigenetic modifications necessary to restrict neuronal gene expression to the nervous system is the RE1 silencing transcription factor (REST; also known as neuron restrictive silencer factor, NRSF). REST suppresses the nonspecific and premature expression of neuronal genes in non-neuronal and neural progenitor cells, respectively, via recruitment of enzymatically diverse corepressors, including G9a histone methyltransferase (HMTase) that catalyzes di-methylation of histone 3-lysine 9 (H3K9me2). Recently, we identified the RNA polymerase II transcriptional Mediator to be an essential link between RE1-bound REST and G9a in epigenetic suppression of neuronal genes in non-neuronal cells. However, the means by which REST recruits Mediator to facilitate G9a-dependent extra-neuronal gene silencing remains to be elucidated. Here, we identify the MED19 and MED26 subunits in Mediator as direct physical and synergistic functional targets of REST. We show that although REST independently binds to both MED19 and MED26 in isolation, combined depletion of both subunits is required to disrupt the association of REST with Mediator. Furthermore, combined, but not individual, depletion of MED19/MED26 impairs REST-directed recruitment to RE1 elements of Mediator and G9a, leading to a reversal of G9a-dependent H3K9me2 and de-repression of REST-target gene expression. Together, these findings identify MED19/MED26 as a probable composite REST interface in Mediator and further clarify the mechanistic basis by which Mediator facilitates REST-imposed epigenetic restrictions on neuronal gene expression.
Crowdsourcing urban surveillance: The development of homeland security markets for environmental sensor networks

Abstract Mobile systems for detecting environmental threats may radically restructure spatial imaginaries as people learn to see and engage with heretofore largely hidden dimensions of urban spaces. While the design of such technological systems is contingent and currently open to varied outcomes, powerful security and industry players are asserting their influence to set overriding protocols that will ensure widespread ambient data collection, especially for security and commercial applications. This paper critically explores the emergent power geographies of surveillance revealed by one such system: the Department of Homeland Security’s Cell-All project. This project, which has been under development at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2007, equips mobile phones with chemical-agent detectors and links them to security networks so that threats to urban populations can be automatically detected and rapidly mitigated. In order to assess the politics of crowdsourced sensing systems, first we map the core characteristics of the Cell-All development model: creating a participatory system, building public–private partnerships, and outsourcing responsibility for privacy protections. Second, we describe some alternative designs for mobile, participatory environmental sensing and reflect on their potentials for correcting power inequalities or achieving environmental justice. Finally, we conclude by discussing the implications of these various systems and the conditions that could alter their outcomes.
Plant 14-3-3s: Omnipotent Metabolic Phosphopartners?

The accurate regulation of metabolism is crucial to the existence all organisms. The inappropriate activation of metabolic enzymes can waste precious energy; likewise, the failure to activate metabolic enzymes can disrupt homeostasis and lead to suboptimal cellular (and organismic) responses. Plants use several means to control their metabolic proteins, including a two-step process of protein phosphorylation and subsequent binding by phosphospecific binding proteins termed 14-3-3 proteins. Sehnke and Ferl discuss how 14-3-3 proteins regulate the activity of nitrate reductase and the H + -ATPase pump in plants, and compare the functions of 14-3-3 proteins in plants and animals.
Social Network Resources and Management of Hypertension

Hypertension is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases among older adults, but rates of blood pressure control are low. In this article, we explore the role of social network ties and network-based resources (e.g., information and support) in hypertension diagnosis and management. We use data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to identify older adults with undiagnosed or uncontrolled hypertension. We find that network characteristics and emotional support are associated with hypertension diagnosis and control. Importantly, the risks of undiagnosed and uncontrolled hypertension are lower among those with larger social networks—if they discuss health issues with their network members. When these lines of communication are closed, network size is associated with greater risk for undiagnosed and uncontrolled hypertension. Health care utilization partially mediates associations with diagnosis, but the benefits of network resources for hypertension control do not seem to stem from heal...
Glucocorticoids Play an Important Role in Mediating the Enhanced Metabolism of Arginine and Glutamine in Enterocytes of Postweaning Pigs

Weaning is associated with increased intestinal metabolism of glutamine and arginine as well as elevated plasma concentrations of cortisol (the major circulating glucocorticoid) in pigs. The objective of this study was to determine if cortisol plays an important role in mediating the enhanced amino acid metabolism in enterocytes of weaned pigs by administering RU486 (a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist). Eighteen 21-d-old pigs were randomly assigned to three groups of six. Two of these groups received intramuscular injections of 0 or 10 mg RU486 per kg body weight 5 min before and 24 and 72 h after weaning to a corn-soybean meal-based diet. The third group was allowed to suckle freely from sows. When the pigs were 29 d old, jugular venous blood was obtained and pigs were killed for preparation of jejunal enterocytes. The activities of arginase, argininosuccinate synthase (ASS), argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) and pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) synthase were measured. For metabolic studies, cells were incubated for 0 or 30 min at 37°C in 2 mL of Krebs-bicarbonate buffer (pH 7.4) containing 0 or 2 mmol/L L-[U- 14 C]arginine or 2 mmol/L L-[U- 14 C]glutamine. In comparison with suckling pigs, weaning resulted in increases in the following: 1) the activities of arginase, ASS, ASL and P5C synthase, 2) the metabolism of arginine to CO 2 , proline and ornithine, and 3) the conversion of glutamine to ornithine, citrulline and CO 2 . The effects of the administration of RU486 were as follows: 1) attenuation of the increase in arginase activity and the production of ornithine from arginine, 2) abolition of the induction of ASL and P5C synthase, and 3) prevention of the increase in glutamine metabolism and the production of proline and CO 2 from arginine in enterocytes of weaned pigs. These data suggest that glucocorticoids play an essential role in mediating the enhanced intestinal degradation of arginine and glutamine during weaning.
Some Conversational Conditions and Processes of Brief Encounters

Conversation, the exchange of opinions between two parties, was analyzed as a function. of the parties' topical experience, attitudinal polarization, and three behavioral processes. Two experiments consisting of fifteen-minute conversational interactions showed different effects of experience and behavioral process factors on frequency of conversational statements. Behavioral processes were shown not to function by a similarity mechanism. Implications for thinking about conversation were drawn.
Expressiveness and effectiveness of program comprehension: Thoughts on future research directions

A number of research challenges in the area of program comprehension are presented. The expressiveness and effectiveness of program comprehension are discussed, and research directions are organized along these two axes. Both fundament research issues are raised along with new applications for program comprehension methods. The work advocates the investigation of better measures, further empirical studies, and controlled experiments to assess the effectiveness of program comprehension techniques.
Charge-collection characteristics of GaAs heterostructure FETs fabricated with a low-temperature grown GaAs buffer layer

The charge-collection characteristics of GaAs heterojunction-insulated-gate FETs fabricated with a low-temperature grown GaAs (LT GaAs) buffer layer are investigated as a function of device bias conditions for laser and ion irradiation. In accordance with earlier measurements, the LT GaAs FETs of this study exhibit a significant reduction in charge-collection efficiencies when compared to those of conventional FETs. This reduction in collected charge is associated with the efficient reduction of charge-enhancement mechanisms in the LT GaAs devices. It is revealed that charge-enhancement processes do occur in the LT devices under certain bias conditions, although at significantly reduced levels when compared to conventional FETs.
Microwave-Assisted Immunoelectron Microscopy of Skin: Localization of Laminin, Type IV Collagen, and Bullous Pemphigoid Antigen

AbstractChemical fixatives and conventional fixation times used for standardized preservation of tissues can result in serious alterations in morphology as a consequence of solubilization and conformational changes of proteins and lipids. These untoward changes typically result in compromised antigenicity of many tissue proteins. With the advent of microwave energy (MWE) processing, tissue antigens can be distinctly better preserved, antigen retrieval made more replicate, and histochemical and immunochemical reactions made ultrafast. The present study had two objectives: to compare MWE-processed skin with skin conventionally processed for ultrastructural integrity and to evaluate MWE presentation of antigenicities of selected skin proteins that are usually sensitive to conventional chemical processing. Skin proteins selected were bullous pemphigoid antigen (BPA), laminin and type IV collagen. Biopsied skin from haired guinea pigs was MWE-processed for routine peroxidase immunocytochemistry according to a ...
Egg Quality Control in Australia

A successful quality control programme ensures that consumers' requirements for eggs are satisfied. Existing procedures for production, grading and distribution of eggs would be enhanced by impleme...
Gas-phase conversion of glycerol to synthesis gas over carbon-supported platinum and platinum-rhenium catalysts

Abstract The rate of glycerol conversion to H2/CO gas mixtures was measured under kinetically controlled reaction conditions over carbon-supported platinum and platinum–rhenium catalysts. The reaction is fractional order with respect to glycerol and zero order with respect to hydrogen, with activation barriers of 60–90 kJ mol−1. The addition of an equimolar amount of Re to Pt/C increases the production rate of CO by a factor of 5 at low conversion ( 20 % ) and while co-feeding H2, both of these factors leading to low pressures of CO in the reactor. At higher conversion conditions (20% conversion to gas-phase products) and without co-feeding H2, the Pt–Re/C catalyst is an order of magnitude more active than Pt/C. Accordingly, Re has a greater promotional effect on the rate of glycerol conversion at conditions leading to higher CO pressures, suggesting that the primary promotional effect of Re is to weaken the interaction of CO with the surface, thereby decreasing the CO coverage and allowing the catalyst to operate at high rates in the presence of gaseous CO. Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) studies of carbon-supported Pt and Re catalysts showed a peak near 460 K for Pt/C and near 650 K for Re/C. The position of the TPR peak for Re shifted to lower temperature on addition of Pt to Re, suggesting interaction between Pt and Re species, leading to alloy formation.
Vertical Interaction Between Dust Particles Confined in a Glass Box in a Complex Plasma

In this experiment, falling particle trajectories within and without a glass box placed on the lower electrode in a Gaseous Electronics Conference reference cell are recorded and analyzed, and the electrostatic forces exerted on the dust particles are measured and compared. Experimental results show that, for particles falling in a complex plasma with no glass box, only a single force balance point (i.e., the position where the gravitational force is balanced by the electrostatic force) exists in the vertical direction while, for particles falling inside a glass box, this force balance spans an extended vertical range.
Voltage-Clamp Studies of the Isolated Olfactory Mucosa

All cells recognize chemicals in their immediate environment. They detect and respond specifically to substances as simple and ubiquitous as sodium ions to substances as complex as protein antigens. In many cases the response involves the translocation of the ligand or the activation of an ion channel.
TERMINAL CLASSIC CIRCULAR ARCHITECTURE IN THE SIBUN VALLEY, BELIZE

Terminal Classic circular architecture has been characterized as a “non-Classic” trait stemming from Chontal-Itza groups from the Gulf lowlands who developed a long-distance, circum-peninsular trade route and established their capital city at Chichen Itza in northern Yucatan. Recent investigations of a series of circular shrines proximate to the Caribbean coast in Belize have yielded ceramics and radiocarbon dates that link these buildings to the ninth century, coeval with the early Sotuta phase at Chichen Itza (a.d. 830–900). We present an architectural comparison of circular shrines and map out a network of sites that cluster along the rivers and coast of Belize. We consider two possibilities that may not be mutually exclusive: (1) local elite emulation of northern styles following pilgrimage to Chichen Itza for political accession ceremonies, and, (2) trading diasporas involving small-scale migration of Chontal-Itza merchants along the eastern Caribbean coast.
The evolution-informed optimal dietary potassium intake of human beings greatly exceeds current and recommended intakes.

An organism best fits the environment described by its genes, an environment that prevailed during the time period (millions of years) when evolution naturally selected the genes of its ancestors—those who survived to pass on their genes. When an organism’s current environment differs from its ancestral one, the environment’s mismatch with the organism’s genome may result in functional disadvantages for the organism. The genetically conditioned nutritional requirements of human beings established themselves over millions of years in which ancestral hominins, living as hunter-gatherers, ate a diet markedly different from that of agriculturally dependent contemporary human beings. In that context, we sought to quantify the ancestral-contemporary dietary difference with respect to the supply of one of the body’s major mineral nutrients: potassium. In 159 retrojected Stone Age diets, human potassium intake averaged 400 125 mEq/d, which exceeds current and recommended intakes by more than a factor of 4. We accounted for the transition to the relatively potassium-poor modern diet by the fact that the modern diet has substantially replaced Stone Age amounts of potassium-rich plant foods (especially fruits, leafy greens, vegetable fruits, roots, and tubers), with energy-dense nutrient-poor foods (separated fats, oils, refined sugars, and refined grains), and with potassium-poor energy-rich plant foods (especially cereal grains) introduced by agriculture (circa 10,000 years ago). Given the fundamental physiologic importance of potassium, such a large magnitude of change in potassium intake invites the consideration in human beings of whether the quantitative values of potassium-influenced physiologic phenomena (eg, blood pressure, insulin and aldosterone secretion rates, and intracellular pH) currently viewed as normal, in fact disaccord with genetically conditioned norms. We discuss the potential implications of our findings in respect to human health and disease. Semin Nephrol 26:447-453 © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Efficient and flexible architectural support for dynamic monitoring

Recent impressive performance improvements in computer architecture have not led to significant gains in the case of debugging. Software debugging often relies on inserting run-time software checks. In many cases, however, it is hard to find the root cause of a bug. Moreover, program execution typically slows down significantly, often by 10--100 times.To address this problem, this paper introduces the intelligent watcher (iWatcher), a novel architectural scheme to monitor dynamic execution automatically, flexibly, and with minimal overhead. iWatcher associates program-specified monitoring functions with memory locations. When any such location is accessed, the monitoring function is automatically triggered with low overhead. To further reduce overhead and support rollback, iWatcher can optionally leverage thread-level speculation (TLS). The iWatcher architecture can be used to detect various bugs, including buffer overflow, accessing freed locations, memory leaks, stack-smashing and value-invariant violations. To evaluate iWatcher, we use seven applications with various real and injected bugs. Our results show that iWatcher detects many more software bugs than Valgrind, a well-known open-source bug detector. Moreover, iWatcher only induces a 0.1--179% execution overhead, which is orders of magnitude less than Valgrind. Our sensitivity study shows that even with 20% of the dynamic loads monitored in a program, iWatcher adds only 72--182% overhead. Finally, TLS is effective at reducing overheads for programs with substantial monitoring.
Profiling Heterogeneous Multi-GPU Systems to Accelerate Cortically Inspired Learning Algorithms

Recent advances in neuroscientific understanding make parallel computing devices modeled after the human neocortex a plausible, attractive, fault-tolerant, and energy-efficient possibility. Such attributes have once again sparked an interest in creating learning algorithms that aspire to reverse-engineer many of the abilities of the brain. In this paper we describe a GPGPU-accelerated extension to an intelligent learning model inspired by the structural and functional properties of the mammalian neocortex. Our cortical network, like the brain, exhibits massive amounts of processing parallelism, making today's GPGPUs a highly attractive and readily-available hardware accelerator for such a model. Furthermore, we consider two inefficiencies inherent to our initial design: multiple kernel-launch overhead and poor utilization of GPGPU resources. We propose optimizations such as a software work-queue structure and pipelining the hierarchical layers of the cortical network to mitigate such problems. Our analysis provides important insight into the GPU architecture details including the number of cores, the memory system, and the global thread scheduler. Additionally, we create a runtime profiling tool for our parallel learning algorithm which proportionally distributes the cortical network across the host CPU as well as multiple GPUs, whether homogeneous or heterogeneous, that may be available to the system. Using the profiling tool with these optimizations on Nvidia's CUDA framework, we achieve up to 60x speedup over a single-threaded CPU implementation of the model.
Improved DS-CDMA Multi-stage PIC in Fading Channels using a Generalized Soft Limiter

In this paper, we examine performance of a multi-stage parallel interference cancellation (PIC) receiver using a generalized soft limiter. The generalized soft limiter (GSL) improves the accuracy of the reconstructed interference signals by making hard decisions on "reliable" signals and partial soft decisions on "unreliable" signals. The system performance degradation caused by imperfect amplitude estimation and near-far effects is also analyzed in the paper. It is also shown that GSL-PIC can achieve comparable performance to that of hyperbolic tangent decision PIC (HT-PIC), which has been shown to be the optimum decision for the single user case with Gaussian interference and noise. The advantage of the GSL is that it is much easier to implement than the HT. Both GSL-PIC and HT-PIC are shown to be able to achieve performance much better than other improved PIC techniques such as null-zone decision PIC (NZ-PIQ, soft-limiter PIC, and partial PIC (PPIC) in most scenarios.
Experimental Reproduction of Transmissible Viral Proventriculitis by Infection of Chickens with a Novel Adenovirus-Like Virus (Isolate R11/3)

SUMMARY. Transmissible viral proventriculitis (TVP) was experimentally reproduced in 2-wk-old specific-pathogen-free chickens and commercial broiler chickens by eyedrop inoculation of adenovirus-like virus (AdLV), isolate R11/3. No clinical signs and no weight gain depression were observed in chickens inoculated with AdLV (R11/3); however, gross and microscopic lesions characteristic of TVP were present in proventriculi of inoculated chickens. Proventriculi of AdLV (R11/3)‐inoculated chickens were markedly enlarged, compared with sham-inoculated controls, by day 7 postinoculation (PI). Microscopic lesions in proventriculi of inoculated chickens were detected beginning on day 3 PI and consisted of degeneration and necrosis of glandular epithelium, ductal epithelial hyperplasia, replacement of glandular epithelium with ductal epithelium, and diffuse interstitial lymphoid infiltration; no microscopic lesions were observed in other tissues. AdLV (R11/3) antigens were detected in proventriculi by immunohistochemistry on days 3‐10 PI in inoculated SPF chickens and days 3‐21 PI in inoculated commercial broiler chickens; no viral antigens were detected in other tissues. AdLV (R11/3) was reisolated from proventriculi of inoculated SPF and commercial broiler chickens on days 5 and 7 PI. No virus, viral antigens, or lesions were detected in proventriculi collected from sham-inoculated chickens. These findings indicate an etiologic role for AdLV (R11/3) in TVP.
The Right to a Parent-Child Relationship

Although much lip service is given in the United States to the sacredness of family ties and children as a precious resource, scant public support is allocated to help parents raise their children. Children’s needs are by-and-large conceived of as the responsibility of their parents; the general view is that there is no social obligation to make available the time, services, and money parents need to bring up children successfully. This assumption and the privatization of caregiving responsibilities has had deleterious effects on parents and children alike; it has undercut efforts to achieve sexual equality in both public and private life, and it has produced tremendous hardship and injustice for those parents and children who are marginalized by poverty, race, and immigration status. I argue here that the significance of the parent-child relationship both to civil society and to the individuals involved gives rise to claims to certain kinds of public support. Such support should include workplace accommodation of care giving needs, services like home visitation to all households with newborns, child (or family) allowances, and measures to prevent disruption and dissolution of family ties. I focus here on preventing the disruption of family ties, and argue that the state needs to provide more resources before placing children in foster care, to facilitate communication and visitation for incarcerated parents and their children, and to pass legislation that will help keep immigrant parents and their children together.
Pitirim A. Sorokin

Sociology appeared with criticism, has grown with criticism, and lives with criticism. If we care to promote sociology as a science, a critical attitude must be displayed by all sociologists as regards any sociological theory, without any exception whatsoever.
An intermediate introduction to the Erlang programming language: tutorial presentation

Erlang is a general purpose functional programming language. It is dynamically typed, uses pattern matching extensively, and has built in support for concurrency and fault tolerance. Erlang allows parallel processing without locks, shared memory or synchronized methods. Erlang programs can run on a single a core processor, can use multiple core seamlessly, can run run over trusted networks and even, with restrictions, over the internet.
Tactical medical skill requirements for law enforcement officers: a 10-year analysis of line-of-duty deaths.

Introduction:In the absence of other data, military Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) precepts are increasingly being adapted to law enforcement needs. The purpose of this study is to better describe the nature of potentially preventable law enforcement Line-of-Duty Deaths (LODDs) occurring as a result of felonious assaults.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed of open source data available through the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) program for the years 1998–2007 inclusive.Results:After applying exclusion criteria, 341 victim officers were included in the study. The most common cause of death was head trauma (n = 198), followed by chest trauma (n = 90). There were 123 victim officers that suffered potentially preventable deaths; the majority of these injuries involved the chest. Over the 10-year study period, only two officers (0.6%) died from isolated extremity hemorrhage.Conclusions:The current emphasis of TCCC on control of exsanguinating extremity hemorrhage may not meet the needs of law enforcement personnel in an environment with expedited access to well-developed trauma systems. Further study is needed to better examine the causes of preventable deaths in law enforcement officers, as well as the most appropriate law enforcement tactical medical skill set and treatment priorities.
Consumer willingness to pay across retail channels

Abstract Published research examining differences in consumer willingness to pay for products at omnichannel and pure-play online retailers is based on non-durable, search products and is equivocal; prices at pure-play online retailers are not always lower. This research examines differences in consumer willingness to pay for online purchases of functional and expressive products that differ in the length of product life, i.e. durable and nondurables at omnichannel versus pure play online retailers. Empirical analysis of consumer-centric, multi-site clickstream data of prices paid show that consumers are willing to pay higher prices for home goods products at omnichannel retailers compared to pure-play online retailers but differ for functional and expressive products. Implications are drawn to assist both omnichannel and PPO retailers in their pricing strategies.
Participatory design and artificial intelligence: strategies to improve health communication for diverse audiences

A major public health challenge is to develop large-scale health communication interventions that are successful with diverse and vulnerable audiences. Participatory design approaches are critical to create communication programs that are relevant to people’s literacy, language, culture, access and functional needs. Further, there are powerful synergies in linking participatory design and artificial intelligence methods. This paper focuses on traditional weaknesses of health communication, and participatory design strategies and models that can be used by developers, researchers and health practitioners.
Langerhans cell collections, but not eosinophils, are clues to a diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis in appropriate skin biopsies

Background Langerhans cell collections (LCCs) and eosinophils are traditionally considered histologic clues to allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), but rigorous histologic analyses are limited. We correlated the presence of LCCs and eosinophils in skin biopsies with patch test results in patients evaluated for ACD. Methods Charts of all patients patch tested and biopsied at one institution from 2011 to 2013 were reviewed. Biopsies had to have a diagnosis of either spongiotic dermatitis, psoriasiform dermatitis or mixed psoriasiform/spongiotic dermatitis. Various histologic parameters were assessed, including the presence of LCCs and number of eosinophils. Design A total of 68 biopsies met study criteria. Of these, 27 (40%) had ≥1 LCC. Twenty-one out of 27 (78%) with ≥1 LCC were patch test positive; 6 were patch test negative (22%). Of 41 cases with no LCCs, 23 were patch test positive (23/41, 56%) and 18 were patch test negative (18/41, 44%). LCCs were significantly more common in patch test positive patients (p = 0.046). Eosinophil count did not significantly differ in patch test positive and negative cases (p = 0.216). Conclusion LCCs are significantly more common in patch test positive cases. There were no differences with regards to presence of eosinophils between patch test positive and negative groups.
Combined Environments Testing of Space Shuttle External Tank Foam Defects

Throughout the history of the Space Shuttle program significant amounts of foam debris have been released from the External Tank (ET) during launch posing a significant impact hazard to the Orbiter thermal protection system. Various root causes for this debris were identified and well researched following the Columbia accident, which had resulted from a foam debris impact. One mechanism that can produce debris arises due to the presence of gas-filled voids trapped within the foam. The flight environments can induce the void to vent through the foam surface, allowing the foam above the void to be ejected as debris. Following the Columbia accident, substantial characterization testing was conducted by the ET Project to estimate worst-case mass and release timing for this debris. However, when conducting a probabilistic risk assessment for foam debris, realistic inputs of foam mass and release timing are crucial to producing an accurate risk calculation. For this reason a test was developed and conducted in The Aerospace Corporation’s combined-environments wind tunnel. Samples of ET foam were manufactured with simulated voids at realistic angles of orientation and then exposed to Space Shuttle flight environments. This testing demonstrated a significant reduction in mass and frequency of release for voids that are not fixed in a worst-case orientation relative to the foam surface. This observation is better correlated with photographic evidence acquired after ET separation, which counts the size and number of debris divots of this nature. Further, the time of release was spread out over a longer period of time with a significant portion of debris being expelled at a time of flight when the atmospheric pressure is negligible, which prevents debris acceleration and impact damage.
Dissociative Electron-Ion Recombination of the Interstellar Species Protonated Glycolaldehyde, Acetic Acid, and Methyl Formate

Recently, methyl formate, glycolaldehyde, and acetic acid have been detected in the Interstellar Medium, ISM. The rate constants, α(e), for dissociative electron-ion recombination of protonated gycolaldehyde, (HOCH(2)CHO)H(+), and protonated methyl formate, (HCOOCH(3))H(+), have been determined at 300 K in a variable temperature flowing afterglow using a Langmuir probe to obtain the electron density. The recombination rate constants at 300 K are 3.2 × 10(-7) cm(3) s(-1) for protonated methyl formate and 7.5 × 10(-7) cm(3) s(-1) for protonated glycolaldehyde. The recombination rate constant of protonated acetic acid could not be directly measured, but it appears to have a rate constant, α(e), on the 10(-7) cm(3) s(-1) scale. Several high- and low-temperature measurements for protonated methyl formate were made. In addition, an α(e) measurement at 220 K for protonated glycolaldehyde was performed. The astrochemical implications of the rates of recombination, α(e), and protonation routes are discussed.
Differential aerosol challenge studies in byssinosis.

Cotton textile mill workers with conditions diagnosed as byssinosis or not byssinosis by a modified Medical Research Council (MRC) questionnaire were challenged with extracts of cotton dust fractionated by filter membrane dialysis, and volatilization. Byssinotic subjects responded with a significant decrease in FEV1.0 and with clinical symptoms to the inhalation of whole raw cotton extract and nonvolatile, nondialyzable cotton extract compared to saline, volatile extract, and dialyzable extract. Subjects without byssinosis responded the same to saline as to all other extracts. Comparison of responses of byssinotic and nonbyssinotic subjects showed no statistically significant differences with any extract. It was concluded that the active agent in cotton dust is water soluble, filterable at 0.22μ, nonvolatile at 40C, and nondialyzable but may not be active only in that group of patients identified as byssinotic by questionnaire.
Detection on antibiotic-resistance and antibiotic-resistant genes of Pseudomonas aeruinosa

Objective To learn the antibiotic-resistance and antibiotic-resistant genes of Pseudomonas aeruinosa( PA) from inpatients,smear samples of hospital and clinic environment,smear samples of medical staff's hands and foods in Nanshan District of Shenzhen in 2011 and 2012. Methods Antibiotic resistance of PA strains from different samples were detected by VITEK 2 compact apparatus and the 20 kinds antibiotic-resistant genes( TEM,VEB,CARB,OXA,SHV,PER,GES,GTX,SPM,GIM,IMP,VIM,DHA,oprD,Aac( 6')-I,Aac( 6')-II,Aac( 3')-I,Aac( 2')-I,qacE1-sull and int-I) were detected by polymeras chain reaction( PCR). Results The antibiotic resistance rate was 100% to Amikacin and Ampicillin etc,while 10% to 30% to Nitrofurantoin and Imipenem etc. 11 resistant genes,including TEM,SHV,IMP,DHA,Aac( 6')-I,Aac( 6')-II,Aac( 3')-I,Aac( 2')-I,qacE1-sull,int-I and oprD,were detected,and the positivity rates were 7.54%,5.66%,3.77%,11. 32%,5. 66%,15. 09%,5. 66%,58. 49%,9. 43% and 9. 43%,respectively; the loss rate of oprD gene was 67. 93%. Conclusion The PA strains from patients showed multi-drug resistance and carried multiple resistant genes. These findings suggest that it is important to strengthen the monitoring on multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. There are some differences in the resistant genes carried by PA strains from different samples.
Have you seen a liver transplant patient with a cytomegalovirus-associated ophthalmologic complication?

A cytomegalovirus (CMV) donor positive/recipient negative liver transplant recipient developed CMV syndrome with presumed colitis 2 weeks after discontinuing the standard 3 months of valganciclovir prophylaxis. Treatment with intravenous ganciclovir (GCV) reduced, but did not clear, CMV replication. A CMV UL97 mutation (M460V) conferring GCV resistance was identified. Reduction of immunosuppression was followed by rapidly rising lymphocyte counts as well as by clearance of CMV viremia and of clinical symptoms. However, bilateral chorioretinitis was diagnosed 2 weeks later and treated with foscarnet and cidofovir. Then, right eye vitritis occurred necessitating vitrectomy due to a partially rhegmatogeneous retinal detachment. Because chorioretinitis-vitritis after rising lymphocyte counts and clearance of CMV viremia was strongly suggestive of an immune reconstitution syndrome (IRS)-like disease, we investigated CMV-specific T-cells in the peripheral blood available during follow-up. We found strong CD8 + but only low CD4 + T-cell responses (4.77% vs. < 0.1%) to the CMV immediate early pp72, while responses to CMV-lysate or CMV-pp65 (CD4 + < 0.01%; CD8 + < 0.01%) were low. Over 16 weeks of follow-up, pp72-specific CD8 + responses declined, while responses to pp65 gradually increased (CD4 + 0.16%; CD8 + 0.76%) indicating a slowly adapting CMV-specific cellular T-cell response. Review of 12,653 published liver transplant patients identified only 14 (0.1%) reported cases of CMV-associated chorioretinitis at a median 41.7 weeks post transplant. CMV-associated ophthalmologic complications late post transplantation may possibly involve 2 different entities of cytopathic retinitis and IRS-like chorioretinitis-vitritis.
PVIF OF $1 table creation & usage in C#: fundamental intricacies: nifty assignment

The following project is submitted as a "Nifty Course Assignment" for several reasons. In our Computer Information Systems program students must take a core object-oriented class in which they use Visual BASIC but can only gain experience with C# if they choose to take it as an elective. For those students who do elect to enroll in C# there are many advantages which include a comfort level writing code based upon their experiences in VB and the familiarity with Visual Studio and the creation of event driven systems which proceed from it. Also, by the time students take this course they are generally much more "seasoned" in regard to programming logic and design, and can readily work with problems of a more interesting nature. Unlike computer science majors our CIS students are required to take supportive classes in area such as business and accounting, and when they are equipped with this background it is quite appropriate to formulate assignments which dovetail programming with financial topics.
AcmB Is an S-Layer-Associated β-N-Acetylglucosaminidase and Functional Autolysin in Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM.

ABSTRACT Autolysins, also known as peptidoglycan hydrolases, are enzymes that hydrolyze specific bonds within bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan during cell division and daughter cell separation. Within the genome of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, there are 11 genes encoding proteins with peptidoglycan hydrolase catalytic domains, 9 of which are predicted to be functional. Notably, 5 of the 9 putative autolysins in L. acidophilus NCFM are S-layer-associated proteins (SLAPs) noncovalently colocalized along with the surface (S)-layer at the cell surface. One of these SLAPs, AcmB, a β-N-acetylglucosaminidase encoded by the gene lba0176 (acmB), was selected for functional analysis. In silico analysis revealed that acmB orthologs are found exclusively in S-layer- forming species of Lactobacillus. Chromosomal deletion of acmB resulted in aberrant cell division, autolysis, and autoaggregation. Complementation of acmB in the ΔacmB mutant restored the wild-type phenotype, confirming the role of this SLAP in cell division. The absence of AcmB within the exoproteome had a pleiotropic effect on the extracellular proteins covalently and noncovalently bound to the peptidoglycan, which likely led to the observed decrease in the binding capacity of the ΔacmB strain for mucin and extracellular matrices fibronectin, laminin, and collagen in vitro. These data suggest a functional association between the S-layer and the multiple autolysins noncovalently colocalized at the cell surface of L. acidophilus NCFM and other S-layer-producing Lactobacillus species. IMPORTANCELactobacillus acidophilus is one of the most widely used probiotic microbes incorporated in many dairy foods and dietary supplements. This organism produces a surface (S)-layer, which is a self-assembling crystalline array found as the outermost layer of the cell wall. The S-layer, along with colocalized associated proteins, is an important mediator of probiotic activity through intestinal adhesion and modulation of the mucosal immune system. However, there is still a dearth of information regarding the basic cellular and evolutionary function of S-layers. Here, we demonstrate that multiple autolysins, responsible for breaking down the cell wall during cell division, are associated with the S-layer. Deletion of the gene encoding one of these S-layer-associated autolysins confirmed its autolytic role and resulted in reduced binding capacity to mucin and intestinal extracellular matrices. These data suggest a functional association between the S-layer and autolytic activity through the extracellular presentation of autolysins.
V Convención Colegio de Periodistas Venezuela

Durante los dias 19, 20 Y 21 de julio del presente ano, se celebro en la sede del Colegio Nacional de Periodistas -CNP Seccional Carabobo-Cojedes la V Convencion Nacional del Colegio Nacional de Periodistas.
Improved automatic English proficiency rating of unconstrained speech with multiple corpora

The performance of machine learning classifiers in automatically scoring the English proficiency of unconstrained speech has been explored. Suprasegmental measures were computed by software, which identifies the basic elements of Brazil's model in human discourse. This paper explores machine learning training with multiple corpora to improve two of those algorithms: prominent syllable detection and tone choice classification. The results show that machine learning training with the Boston University Radio News Corpus can improve automatic English proficiency scoring of unconstrained speech from a Pearson's correlation of 0.677---0.718. This correlation is higher than any other existing computer programs for automatically scoring the proficiency of unconstrained speech and is approaching that of human raters in terms of inter-rater reliability.
Glucose measurement using Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) has a great potential to serve as a monitoring technology for biomolecules, but sensing biomolecules for practical purposes have remained challenging for two reasons. One of the challenges is securing SERS substrates with uniform spatial enhancement that is crucial for quantitative measurements, and the other is finding proper linker molecules that will promote the surface enhancement. To address these challenges, we have been developing a new approach of using highly sensitive surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platform for glucose sensing. In the presentation, I will discuss the fabrication of high performance 3D SERS substrate based on straightforward, two successive wet chemical processes, with experimentally proven strong enhancement and excellent spatial uniformity as well as the use of new linker molecules for making glucose-specific SERS substrates and their use in performing quantitative glucose measurements. Glucose sensing results from different development stages will be discussed.