cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pancreas divisum and stenosis of the major and minor papillae in an 8-year-old girl: Treatment by dual sphincteroplasty

Pancreas divisum is the most common congenital anomaly of the pancreas. Its relationship to the development of pancreatitis is controversial. The authors report on an 8-year-old girl who presented with recurrent bouts of acute pancreatitis and multiple failed attempts at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) who was referred for surgical exploration. She was found to have marked stenoses of both major and minor papillae and an intraoperative pancreaticogram consistent with pancreas divisum. She underwent sphincteroplasty of both major and minor papillae and remains symptom-free after 22 months. It is believed that in a patient with pancreatitis and pancreas divisum, or in a patient with pancreatitis and multiple failed attempts at ERCP, transduodenal exploration and intraoperative pancreaticogram are appropriate next steps in management. If pancreas divisum in association with minor papilla stenosis is found, sphincteroplasty is appropriate therapy. If major papilla stenosis is also present, we recommend sphincteroplasty of both the major and minor papillae.
Bow Echo Sensitivity to Ambient Moisture and Cold Pool Strength

Abstract Bow echo development within quasi-linear convective systems is investigated using a storm-scale numerical model. A strong sensitivity to the ambient water vapor mixing ratio is demonstrated. Relatively dry conditions at low and midlevels favor intense cold-air production and strong cold pool development, leading to upshear-tilted, “slab-like” convection for various magnitudes of convective available potential energy (CAPE) and low-level shear. High relative humidity in the environment tends to reduce the rate of production of cold air, leading to weak cold pools and downshear-tilted convective systems, with primarily cell-scale three-dimensionality in the convective region. At intermediate moisture contents, long-lived, coherent bowing segments are generated within the convective line. In general, the scale of the coherent three-dimensional structures increases with increasing cold pool strength. The bowing lines are characterized in their developing and mature stages by segments of the convectiv...
Simple and Efficient Separation of Magnetic Minerals From Speleothems and Other Carbonates

Abstract Trace concentrations of iron oxide minerals in carbonate sediments can preserve fine details about Earth processes, from high-resolution recordings of the Earth's ancient magnetic field to microscopic remnants of extraterrestrial impacts. This paper presents a novel flask extraction method which uses a neodymium magnet and an orbital shaker for simple and efficient separation of magnetic minerals from carbonate sediments. A mineral assemblage of magnetic standards (titanomagnetite, magnetite, goethite, and hematite) combined with other mineral standards (kaolinite, quartz, and nanoscale TiO2) was subjected to the extraction procedure and compared to a natural speleothem sample. Exposure of the magnetic standards to a mildly acidic acetate buffer (pH ∼ 4) did not cause physical or chemical alteration. The strongly magnetic minerals were reproducibly extracted, with greater than 90% efficiency (by mass), from mixtures of the mineral standards. XRD and low-temperature magnetic characterization demonstrated phase purity of the extracts. Quantitative comparison with two commonly used literature methods showed that the flask extraction method was more reproducible and efficient. The addition of surfactant (Na(PO3)6) did not significantly improve extraction efficiency. Sequential dissolution and flask extraction of a simulated speleothem containing magnetic particles resulted in consistent extraction efficiencies for samples containing large (> 1 µm) strongly magnetic grains, but a reduction in efficiency was observed for smaller (< 1 µm) grain sizes. No method successfully extracted the weakly magnetic goethite and hematite. However, unprecedented, representative characterization of these minerals was possible through quantitative analysis of the remainder after the collection of the magnetic extract. This approach may facilitate detailed characterization of a wide range of carbonates, such as pelagic limestone, dolostone, unlithified carbonate ooze, speleothems, and freshwater and pedogenic carbonates. Such mineral extractions can lead to new insights into paleoenvironmental processes as well as an improved understanding of the recording of the Earth's magnetic field.
Sepsis reduces the threshold hydrostatic pressure necessary for pulmonary edema in baboons

The threshold hydrostatic pressure necessary to produce pulmonary edema may be lowered by a decrease in plasma colloid oncotic pressure (COP) or an increase in capillary permeability. Sepsis is thought to increase capillary permeability. The object of this report was to assess the effect of sepsis on threshold hydrostatic pressure. In five adult male baboons a Foley catheter was inserted into the left atrium. In 1 week negative COP-pulmonary artery wedge (PAW) gradients were generated by decreasing the PAW above COP in 5-mm-Hg increments from 0 to - 15 in random order. At each S-mm-Hg increment intrapulmonary shunt (Qs/Qr) was calculated from blood gases. A Qs/Qr of 15% was considered to be significant. Sepsis was then induced by the continuous infusion of E. coli. The animals then underwent a similar sequence of COP-PAW gradients and the measurements were repeated. At every COP-PAW gradient the QslQt was elevated in the septic (S) period over the QslQr during the nonseptic (NS) period. (0 mm Hg 32.61 2 9.02; S, 12.52 -e 4.90, NS; -5 mm Hg -31.13 f 11.41, S; 13.54 f 4.23, NS (P<O.O2); -10 mm Hg -34.33 f 9.66, S, 16.95 k 8.49, NS (P < 0.02); -15 mm -31.54 f 4.87, S, 26.06 *-9.09, NS). The threshold COP-PAW gradient is raised from -10 in the nonseptic period to 0 in the septic period. Sepsis increases QslQr significantly over the effect of increased hydrostatic pressure alone (linear model (P < 0.001)). Sepsis lowers the hydrostatic pressure necessary to cause pulmonary edema.
A novel self-aligned punchthrough implant: A simulation study

This paper presents a simulation study of a novel self-aligned punchthrough implant. The self-aligned dopant profile is achieved using a high-energy implant after polysilicon gate definition. The result is that in the channel region the implant peak is just below the surface and in the source-drain regions the implant peak is well below the junctions. Performance is increased through the reduction of parasitic junction capacitance. In this analysis an established 0.5 /spl mu/m baseline technology shows a 100% reduction in the delay of a loaded inverter. Technologies with smaller or larger gate dimensions can benefit as well.
Importance of Sonographers Reporting Work-Related Musculoskeletal Injury A Qualitative View

This study is intended to provide descriptive data of the incidence of sonographers reporting work-related musculoskeletal pain and barriers that inhibit reporting. Approximately 135 sonographers r...
The Impact of a Comprehensive Microfinance Intervention on Depression Levels of AIDS-Orphaned Children in Uganda

Abstract Purpose By adversely affecting family functioning and stability, poverty constitutes an important risk factor for children's poor mental health functioning. This study examines the impact of a comprehensive microfinance intervention, designed to reduce the risk of poverty, on depression among AIDS-orphaned youth. Methods Children from 15 comparable primary schools in Rakai District of Uganda, one of those hardest hit by HIV/AIDS in the country, were randomly assigned to control (n = 148) or treatment (n = 138) conditions. Children in the treatment condition received a comprehensive microfinance intervention comprising matched savings accounts, financial management workshops, and mentorship. This was in addition to traditional services provided for all school-going orphaned adolescents (counseling and school supplies). Data were collected at wave 1 (baseline), wave 2 (10 months after intervention), and wave 3 (20 months after intervention). We used multilevel growth models to examine the trajectory of depression in treatment and control conditions, measured using Children's Depression Inventory (Kovacs). Results Children in the treatment group exhibited a significant decrease in depression, whereas their control group counterparts showed no change in depression. Conclusions The findings indicate that over and above traditional psychosocial approaches used to address mental health functioning among orphaned children in sub-Saharan Africa, incorporating poverty alleviation-focused approaches, such as this comprehensive microfinance intervention, has the potential to improve psychosocial functioning of these children.
Development of Fetal Movement between 26 and 36-Weeks' Gestation in Response to Vibro-Acoustic Stimulation.

Background: Ultrasound observation of fetal movement has documented general trends in motor development and fetal age when motor response to stimulation is observed. Evaluation of fetal movement quality, in addition to specific motor activity, may improve documentation of motor development and highlight specific motor responses to stimulation. Aim: The aim of this investigation was to assess fetal movement at 26 and 36-weeks gestation during three conditions (baseline, immediate response to vibro-acoustic stimulation (VAS), and post-response). Design: A prospective, longitudinal design was utilized. Subjects: Twelve normally developing fetuses, eight females and four males, were examined with continuous ultrasound imaging. Outcome Measures: The fetal neurobehavioral coding system (FENS) was used to evaluate the quality of motor activity during 10-s epochs over the three conditions. Results: Seventy-five percent of the fetuses at the 26-week assessment and 100% of the fetuses at the 36-week assessment responded with movement immediately following stimulation. Significant differences in head, fetal breathing, general, limb, and mouthing movements were detected between the 26 and 36-week assessments. Movement differences between conditions were detected in head, fetal breathing, limb, and mouthing movements. Conclusion: Smoother and more complex movement was observed with fetal maturation. Following VAS stimulation, an immediate increase of large, jerky movements suggests instability in fetal capabilities. Fetal movement quality changes over gestation may reflect sensorimotor synaptogenesis in the central nervous system, while observation of immature movement patterns following VAS stimulation may reflect movement pattern instability.
Packrat Midden Evidence of Late Quaternary Vegetation Change in the White Mountains, California-Nevada

Packrat (Neotoma spp.) middens from the White Mountains indicate climatic and plant community conditions for the last 19,000 yr. During full-glacial times (ca. 19,000 yr B.P.) and at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary juniper woodlands were 600 m lower in elevation than at present. Midden assemblages and stable-isotope data suggest lower temperatures and increased precipitation relative to the present into the early Holocene. Two early Holocene middens (ca. 8000 yr B.P.) from lower elevations of the White Mountains contain fragments of pinyon pine and indicate that both pinyon and juniper grew at a site that today supports only a pinyon woodland. Two middle Holocene middens (ca. 5000 yr B.P.) indicate that there was an upward migration of pinyon-juniper woodlands along a high-elevation ecotone, but little change in the middle of the pinyon-juniper woodland. Middens from the late Holocene indicate that present-day plant communities were in place by ca. 2000 yr B.P. or before.
MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS OF ENAPHALODES RUFULUS (COLEOPTERA: CERAMBYCIDAE)

Abstract Oak-hickory forests in northwestern Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and southern Missouri have recently experienced an oak decline event with widespread oak mortality. The oak mortality is associated with an outbreak of a native wood-boring cerambycid, Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldeman), the red oak borer. Taxonomic identification, below the family level, of larval Cerambycidae through traditional morphological methods is not usually possible. We employed molecular diagnostics, with polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), to distinguish E. rufulus from other closely related species of cerambycids. A portion of the mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA gene, isolated from legs or thoraxes of adult museum specimens, was amplified and digested with Alu I and Hind III restriction enzymes. Both restriction enzymes independently produced fragments for E. rufulus that were significantly different from any other cerambycid tested. Alu I had one restriction site for E. rufulus and two r...
Rapid density gradient centrifugation using short column techniques.

Abstract The Short Column Technique is a useful technique for rate zonal and isopycnic density gradient runs with both the swinging bucket and fixed angle rotors, We have described and illustrated its advantages of significant time saving and the elimination of the need for tube caps. Thick-walled polycarbonate tubes are used. While some loss in resolution may result with some samples using short columns. It is our opinlon that the technique can be widely adopted to provide useful information.
An Evaluation of Citation Counts, Search Results, and Frequency of Updates in DynaMed® and UpToDate®

This study examines two point-of-care products: DynaMed® and UpToDate®. These resources were evaluated based on four criteria: search result counts, search result answers, reference counts, and currency of updates. The results of the study suggest that of the four areas evaluated, two indicate a statistical advantage of one database over the other. DynaMed contained updates that were more current, and UpToDate had a more significant total number of references used in a topic. The other two criteria, of initial search result counts and if there was an exact answer to the clinical question, did not produce a statistically significant difference.
Dose-finding study of hepatic arterial infusion of oxaliplatin-based treatment in patients with advanced solid tumors metastatic to the liver

Background Liver metastases in patients with cancer are associated with poor survival. We hypothesized that hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) of oxaliplatin combination therapy would have antitumor activity in these patients.
Number of representations providing noiseless subsystems

This paper studies the combinatoric structure of the set of all representations, up to equivalence, of a finite-dimensional semisimple Lie algebra. This has intrinsic interest as a previously unsolved problem in representation theory, and also has applications to the understanding of quantum decoherence. We prove that for Hilbert spaces of sufficiently high dimension, decoherence-free (DF) subspaces exist for almost all representations of the error algebra. For decoherence-free subsystems, we plot the function ${f}_{d}(n)$ which is the fraction of all $d$-dimensional quantum systems which preserve $n$ bits of information through DF subsystems, and note that this function fits an inverse beta distribution. The mathematical tools which arise include techniques from classical number theory.
Changes in Physical Therapy Providers' Use of Fall Prevention Strategies Following a Multicomponent Behavioral Change Intervention

Background and Purpose. An abundance of evidence suggests that interventions targeting fall risk factors are effective; however, it remains unknown whether, or to what extent, this body of evidence has affected the clinical practice of physical therapy providers. The purposes of this study were: (1) to describe knowledge of, and attitudes toward, fall risk factors and fall reduction strategies; (2) to assess self-reported use of fall reduction strategies with patients; and (3) to identify factors associated with increased use of fall reduction strategies with patients among physical therapy providers exposed to a behavioral change strategy. Subjects and Methods. A cross-sectional survey of physical therapy providers from hospital-based and freestanding outpatient physical therapy facilities throughout north-central Connecticut was conducted between October 2002 and April 2003. The participants were 94 physical therapy providers who had been exposed to the Connecticut Collaboration for Fall Prevention (CCFP) behavioral change effort. The CCFP program uses multicomponent professional behavioral change strategies to embed fall risk factor assessment and management, based on evidence from randomized controlled trials, into the clinical care of older patients. A telephone questionnaire—focusing on fall risk factor knowledge and attitudes and self-reported fall risk factor assessment and management practices before and after exposure to the CCFP efforts—was administered to consenting physical therapy providers. Results. Environmental hazards and gait and balance deficits were named as fall risk factors by 86 (91%) and 73 (78%) participants, respectively. All of the targeted risk factors were mentioned by at least 30% of the participants. Sixty-four participants (68%) reported increased fall reduction practice behaviors. The area of multiple medications was noted most frequently, with 77 participants (82%) noting new practices related to medication use. Only knowledge of fall risk factors and pre-CCFP behaviors were associated with increased fall reduction practices. Discussion and Conclusion. Physical therapy providers reported an increase in practice behaviors in response to the multicomponent behavioral change strategy. Knowledge of fall risk factors was associated with increased fall reduction practice behaviors, most likely due to the focused nature of the education strategy.
Abstract B52: The role of p38 activation in nucleotide excision repair in human skin

Keratinocyte-based skin malignancies are diagnosed over one million times a year in this country alone despite widespread knowledge about UV avoidance and sunscreen use. The majority bear evidence of UV-induced mutations in key cancer-related genes such as TP53, highlighting the importance of environmental sun and tanning bed exposure in their pathophysiology. Accumulation of UV-induced DNA mutations, and ultimately skin cancer risk, is determined not only by UV exposure but also by the ability of keratinocytes to repair mutagenic damage caused by UV radiation. Xeroderma pigmentosum patients, in whom DNA repair is defective due to homozygous loss of any one of at least eight enzymes in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, suffer exceptionally high incidences of UV-induced skin cancers, illustrating the importance of NER in resistance to skin cancer. There is little understanding of the factors that determine the efficiency of NER in the skin. We have found that NER can be modified exogenously by inducing a cAMP-based pathway in the skin. Specifically, topically-applied forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase reproducibly enhances clearance of UV-induced cyclobutane dimers in human skin explants and in human keratinocytes. Pharmacologic induction of cAMP via forskolin efficiently activates the protein kinase A (PKA) signaling cascade and leads to downstream phosphorylation of the cAMP responsive binding element (CREB) transcription factor. Intriguingly, we and others have found that UV radiation also results in robust CREB phosphorylation in human skin and human keratinocytes, but in a PKA-independent manner. Furthermore, UVB induced CREB phosphorylation displays similar kinetics to UVB induced p38 activation and is diminished upon p38 inhibition. Together, these data suggests the p38 damage response pathway, recruited by UV, directly phosphorylates CREB without involving the cAMP second messenger. Currently, we are determining the effects of p38 inhibition on NER activity. We hypothesize that inhibiting p38 will lead to decreased NER activity in human skin and this loss of NER can be overcome with the addition of forskolin. Our observations presented here suggest that the p38/CREB signaling axis may be a major determinant of NER efficiency in the skin and raise the exciting possibility of a novel skin cancer preventative approach outside of UV-avoidance. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2011;4(10 Suppl):B52.
An Alternate Proof of Cramer's Rule

In almost every introductory book on linear algebra, the proof of Cramer's Rule assumes that students are familiar with the classical adjoint, adjyl, of a matrix A. The proof then uses the result that ^4(adj A) = (det^l)J. In their text Matrix Analysis [Cambridge University Press, New York, 1985, p. 21], Roger A. Horn and Charles A. Johnson sketch an elementary proof that we believe should be the standard of Cramer's Rule in linear algebra texts. Our intent is to call attention to their proof and fill in sufficiently many details so that the proof may be presented in a first course in linear algebra. Let C = {Cl,C2,...,Cn) be an nXn matrix whose ith column is C? and let C(y; i) denote the n X n matrix obtained from C by replacing C, by the column vector y. Using this notation, Cramer's Rule asserts the following:
A new broad host spectrum nuclear polyhedrosis virus isolated from a Celery Looper, Anagrapha falcifera (Kirby), (Lepidoptera : noctuidae)

A new multiple embedded nuclear polyhedrosis virus was isolated from a fourth-instar celery looper, Anagrapha falcifera (Kirby) collected from cabbage in central Missouri in May 1985. Characterization and comparison to other multiple embedded nuclear polyhedrosis viruses via restriction endonuclease analysis indicated a unique baculovirus with a molecular weight of 85.6 × 108 Daltons. This baculovirus (AfMNPV) was propagated in cabbage looper larvae and tested against a variety of insect species in laboratory bioassays. More than 31 species of Lepidoptera from 10 families demonstrated susceptibility when allowed to feed ad libitum on substrates (artificial or natural) contaminated with occlusion bodies (OB) at 10 or 100 OB/mm2. Helicoverpa (= Heliothis) zea and H. virescens did not demonstrate differential susceptibility to AfMNPV (LC50, 0.36 and 0.39 OB/mm2, respectively) as compared to the alfalfa looper, Autographa californica , multiple embedded nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) LC50, 10.3 and 0.45 OB/mm2, respectively). No other currently known natural or genetically engineered baculovirus infects as many cosmopolitan, economically important insect species or causes mortality as quickly at low concentrations. This is the first baculovirus patented by the U.S. Government Patent and Trademark Office (no. 4,911,913, issued 27 March 1990).
Strategies for Managing Retirement Risks

Retirees commonly face four risks that can threaten to derail their retirement: longevity, health care, sequence of returns, and inflation. These risks pose a multifaceted challenge that requires a combination of strategies, such as carefully choosing when to claim Social Security, allocating assets to lifetime income annuities, adopting a systematic withdrawal strategy, and planning for long-term care. This article offers a range of ideas and insights to help retirees achieve a more secure retirement.
Nonasymptotic Noisy Lossy Source Coding

This paper shows new general nonasymptotic achievability and converse bounds and performs their dispersion analysis for the lossy compression problem in which the compressor observes the source through a noisy channel. While this problem is asymptotically equivalent to a noiseless lossy source coding problem with a modified distortion function, nonasymptotically there is a noticeable gap in how fast their minimum achievable coding rates approach the common rate-distortion function, as evidenced both by the refined asymptotic analysis (dispersion) and the numerical results. The size of the gap between the dispersions of the noisy problem and the asymptotically equivalent noiseless problem depends on the stochastic variability of the channel through which the compressor observes the source.
Sequential social experiences interact to modulate aggression but not brain gene expression in the honey bee (Apis mellifera).

In highly structured societies, individuals behave flexibly and cooperatively in order to achieve a particular group-level outcome. However, even in social species, environmental inputs can have long lasting effects on individual behavior, and variable experiences can even result in consistent individual differences and constrained behavioral flexibility. Despite the fact that such constraints on behavior could have implications for behavioral optimization at the social group level, few studies have explored how social experiences accumulate over time, and the mechanistic basis of these effects. In the current study, I evaluate how sequential social experiences affect individual and group level aggressive phenotypes, and individual brain gene expression, in the highly social honey bee (Apis mellifera). To do this, I combine a whole colony chronic predator disturbance treatment with a lab-based manipulation of social group composition. Compared to the undisturbed control, chronically disturbed individuals show lower aggression levels﻿ overall, but also enhanced behavioral flexibility in the second, lab-based social context. Disturbed bees display aggression levels that decline with increasing numbers of more aggressive, undisturbed group members. However, group level aggressive phenotypes are similar regardless of the behavioral tendencies of the individuals that make up the group, ﻿suggesting a combination of underlying behavioral tendency and negative social feedback influences﻿ the aggressive behaviors displayed, particularly in the case of disturbed individuals﻿. An analysis of brain gene expression showed that aggression related biomarker genes reflect an individual’s disturbance history, but not subsequent social group experience or behavioral outcomes. In highly social animals with collective behavioral phenotypes, social context may mask underlying variation in individual behavioral tendencies. Moreover, gene expression patterns may reflect behavioral tendency, while behavioral outcomes are further regulated by social cues perceived in real-time.
ROTATIONAL EXCITATION IN MOLECULAR COLLISIONS: CORRECTIONS TO A STRONG- COUPLING APPROXIMATION.

Abstract A first-order iteration (analogous to that used in the distorted wave approximation) of Takayanagi's quantum mechanical strong coupling approximation for rotationally inelastic collisions is discussed and applied to a model problem.
Comparison Between Leaky Sign-sign and LMS Adaptive Algorithms

Abstract Leakage is used in adaptive signal processing to avoid parameter drift caused by noise in under excited systems. Its introduction however, precludes exact convergence of the parameter estimates to their desired values even under ideal situations. This paper examines the dependence of these resultant parameter offsets on certain design variables. Two algorithms, namely leaky sign-sign and leaky LMS are considered and compared
Incorporating population viability models into species status assessment and listing decisions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Abstract Assessment of a species' status is a key part of management decision making for endangered and threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Predicting the future state of the species is an essential part of species status assessment, and projection models can play an important role in developing predictions. We built a stochastic simulation model that incorporated parametric and environmental uncertainty to predict the probable future status of the Sonoran desert tortoise in the southwestern United States and North Central Mexico. Sonoran desert tortoise was a Candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act, and decision makers wanted to use model predictions in their decision making process. The model accounted for future habitat loss and possible effects of climate change induced droughts to predict future population growth rates, abundances, and quasi-extinction probabilities. Our model predicts that the population will likely decline over the next few decades, but there is very low probability of quasi-extinction less than 75 years into the future. Increases in drought frequency and intensity may increase extinction risk for the species. Our model helped decision makers predict and characterize uncertainty about the future status of the species in their listing decision. We incorporated complex ecological processes (e.g., climate change effects on tortoises) in transparent and explicit ways tailored to support decision making processes related to endangered species.
Behavior of organic carbon during subsurface wetland treatment in the Sonoran Desert

We examined the fate of organics during wetland treatment of secondary effluent and groundwater (control) flows in parallel, research-scale, subsurface-flow (SSF) wetland raceways at the Constructed Ecosystem Research Facility (CERF) located in Tucson, Arizona. The CERF facility enabled us to distinguish experimentally among effects on effluent quality due to season-dependent processes of evapotranspiration (ET) and wetlands-derived production of organics. Organics of wastewater and wetlands origin were compared in terms of their contributions to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in wetland effluent. Elevated temperatures and associated biochemical activities increased DOC levels in wetland effluents during summer. In other words, DOC removal efficiency was negatively correlated to temperature. The contributions of ET and wetland-derived organics to elevation of DOC in wetland effluents during summer were roughly comparable. The elevation of organic carbon concentration during wetland polishing of wastewater effluent will lead to higher levels of disinfection by-products when treated waters are chlorinated prior to reuse. Results of this work are relevant to water managers in arid regions, which may incorporate wetlands into sequential wastewater treatments leading to potable reuse of reclaimed water.
Effects of a golf swing intervention on senior golfers’ ball striking and motivation to play golf

Several golf swing movements have been correlated with the production of club speed in skilled golfers. However, less skilled golfers, such as senior golfers, may not be capable of many of those movements. One golf swing—Minimalist Golf Swing—reduces the downswing range of motion through which a golfer’s body must move to reach the impact positions seen in skilled golfers. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the MGS could improve senior golfers’ ball flight and consistency, and increase their motivation to play golf. Twenty-two seniors (16 males, 6 females), aged 54–81, participated in an 11-session study comprising pretest, intervention, and posttest sessions. During the test sessions, participants hit 20 shots with each of their own 6-iron and driver clubs. Ball movement immediately after impact was measured using a camera-based ball launch monitor. Participants’ motivation to play golf before and after the intervention was assessed using the Sports Motivation Scale II. A mixed effects model...
Depressive personality disorder: Theoretical issues, clinical findings, and future research questions

This article reviews the theoretical construct of depressive personality disorder and its related research. The history of depressive personality disorder is reviewed. It is concluded that differing theories converge on similar descriptions and mechanisms of development for the depressive personality disorder. Substantial empirical work supports the diagnostic distinctiveness of depressive personality disorder in clinical populations. Past and current assessment devices for assessing depressive personality disorder are also described along with their psychometric properties and clinical value. Suggestions are made for future research on the etiology and validity of the depressive personality disorder construct in order to facilitate deciding whether or not to include depressive personality disorder in future editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
SOLAR WATER SUPPLY AND PURIFICATION SYSTEM FOR REMOTE AREAS AND VILLAGES

ABSTRACT Substantial betterment in the quality of life can be realized in remote villages by the availability of a potable water supply system of modest capability. The main obstacle is the lack of adequate power because of remoteness or other feasibility reasons. Solar cells are available power sources for such areas, in spite of their relatively high expense. The Solar Water Supply and Purification System (SWPS) proposed is simple in design, of very low maintenance, and is economically feasible. Cost will vary depending on water quality and location. The system utilizes solar power packs with a short duty cycle. To further reduce the electric load, gravity flow techniques and hydraulic valves are incorporated. A moderate SWPS of 10,000 gallons weekly capacity will ensure a supply of 7 gallons/person/day to a village of 200, or any other combination. This quantity is more than sufficient for drinking and cooking. For a TDH of 50 feet, the capital cost is about $30,000 at moderate insolation. Automatic operation and modular construction minimize labor and maintenance needs. These are vital factors which effect successful operation of any project in remote areas.
The ̄∂-Neumann Problem

Here we study a boundary problem arising in the theory of functions of several complex variables.
Psychology of the Experience: The Missing Link in Service Science

For service science to be a complete discipline it must address how customers experience services with the same depth of analysis as it studies the analytics of information and physical flow processes that deliver the service. In this paper we identify topics and insights drawn from the behavioral sciences that can be used to provide the initial underpinnings of the psychological side of service science. We also propose an agenda for research and education in the area.
Comparison of Spherical and Cylindrical Cathode Geometries in Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Devices

The performance of a new Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion device using a cylindrical anode and two different cathode geometries, spherical and cylindrical, was compared to an existing IEC device with two different sized configurations of spherical anodes and cathodes. Experimental data was generated at -30 to -150 kilovolts, 30 milliamps steady-state, and 0.3 Pascal of Deuterium (D) and/or Helium-3 ( 3 He). The best neutron rate achieved by the new device in a D environment was 2.7x10 7 neutrons per second at 145 kV and 35 mA. In a D-3He environment, the best proton rate achieved was 2.0x10 7 protons per second at 130 kV and 30 mA. Both the D-D neutron rate and the D- 3 He proton rate were approximately 40% lower than the larger volume existing IEC device.
InSight Mars Lander Robotics Instrument Deployment System

The InSight Mars Lander is equipped with an Instrument Deployment System (IDS) and science payload with accompanying auxiliary peripherals mounted on the Lander. The InSight science payload includes a seismometer (SEIS) and Wind and Thermal Shield (WTS), heat flow probe (Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, HP3) and a precision tracking system (RISE) to measure the size and state of the core, mantle and crust of Mars. The InSight flight system is a close copy of the Mars Phoenix Lander and comprises a Lander, cruise stage, heatshield and backshell. The IDS comprises an Instrument Deployment Arm (IDA), scoop, five finger “claw” grapple, motor controller, arm-mounted Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), lander-mounted Instrument Context Camera (ICC), and control software. IDS is responsible for the first precision robotic instrument placement and release of SEIS and HP3 on a planetary surface that will enable scientists to perform the first comprehensive surface-based geophysical investigation of Mars’ interior structure. This paper describes the design and operations of the Instrument Deployment Systems (IDS), a critical subsystem of the InSight Mars Lander necessary to achieve the primary scientific goals of the mission including robotic arm geology and physical properties (soil mechanics) investigations at the Landing site. In addition, we present test results of flight IDS Verification and Validation activities including thermal characterization and InSight 2017 Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO), Deployment Scenario Test at Lockheed Martin, Denver, where all the flight payloads were successfully deployed with a balloon gravity offload fixture to compensate for Mars to Earth gravity.
Thirty-year experience with a bileaflet mechanical valve prosthesis.

Abstract Background The objective was to evaluate the long-term outcomes of the St Jude Medical (Saint Paul, Minn) mechanical valve prosthesis implantation. Methods Since 1979, every patient receiving this prosthesis has been followed annually. Results From January 1979 to December 2014, 1023 patients were accrued. Patients' ages ranged from 18 to 85 years. Aortic valve replacement was performed in 584 patients, and mitral valve replacement was performed in 439 patients. Follow-up was 95% complete. Operative mortality was 3% (17/584, aortic valve replacement) and 4% (18/439, mitral valve replacement). In patients undergoing aortic valve replacement, late actuarial survival was 62% ± 2%, 32% ± 2%, and 14% ± 3% at 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively. Thirty-year freedom from reoperation, thromboembolism, valve thrombosis, bleeding, and endocarditis was 92% ± 2%, 79% ± 3%, 96% ± 1%, 56% ± 5%, and 92% ± 2%, respectively. In patients undergoing mitral valve replacement, late actuarial survival was 64% ± 3%, 28% ± 3%, and 14% ± 3% at 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively. Thirty-year freedom from reoperation, thromboembolism, valve thrombosis, bleeding, and endocarditis was 85% ± 5%, 55% ± 6%, 99% ± 1%, 57% ± 6%, and 95% ± 2%, respectively. The incidence of bleeding was 2.5% and 2.0% per patient-year for aortic valve replacement and mitral valve replacement, respectively. The incidence of thromboembolism was 1.6% and 2.9% per patient-year for aortic valve replacement and mitral valve replacement, respectively. Conclusions Annual follow-up of all of our patients receiving a St Jude Medical mechanical valves prosthesis has allowed better identification valve-related issues and events. After 3 decades of observation with close follow-up, the St Jude Medical mechanical valve continues to be a reliable prosthesis.
The Informal Workforce in a Global Economy

The Informal Workforce in a Global Economy: Who are We Talking About, Why are We Concerned, and How Should We Respond Dr. Chen will open her talk with international definitions of three related con...
Discrimination of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) and purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) based on field spectral data

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) and purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.) are invasive weeds that displace native vegetation. Herbicides are often applied to these weeds during flowering, so it would be ideal to identify them early in the season, possibly by the leaves. This paper evaluates the spectral separability of the inflorescences and leaves of these plants from surrounding vegetation. Leafy spurge, purple loosestrife, and surrounding vegetation were collected from sites in southeastern North Dakota and subjected to spectral analysis. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to separate the spectral signatures of these weeds in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Using PLS-DA, the weeds were discriminated from their surroundings with R² values of 0.86 to 0.92. Analysis of the data indicated that the bands contributing the most to each model were in the red and red-edge spectral regions. Identifying these weeds by the leaves allows them to be mapped earlier in the season, providing more time for herbicide application planning. The spectral signatures identified in this proof of concept study are the first step before using ultra–high resolution aerial imagery to classify and identify leafy spurge and purple loosestrife. Nomenclature: Leafy spurge, Euphorbia esula L.; purple loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria L.
Understanding the Cost of Change: Measuring Sustainability of Computing Education

This study examines the cost of change in maintaining the quality of effective university courses. The primary contribution is the development and deployment of an instrument developed for assessing the number of courses changed annually, the severity of those changes, as well as compounding factors related to the length of time as an instructor. The study involves survey comparisons of computing and non-computing faculty in teaching institutions, and among computing education faculty. The preliminary results suggest strongly that when it comes to the cost of maintaining courses, computing differs from engineering, and differs significantly from other higher education both in the frequency and the severity of changes sustained by teaching faculty. This study presents data suggesting that maintaining computing courses is similar to that in humanities, and more dynamic than other disciplines.
Gene expression profiling (GEP) to predict the primary site of metastatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) presenting with an unknown primary.

4141 Background: NETs often present as liver metastasis with an unknown primary. Accurate subtyping of NETs has important clinical implications for staging and site-specific targeted therapy. Tradi...
Characteristics of Hospitalized Adults With COVID-19 in an Integrated Health Care System in California.

This case series characterizes the demographics, health services use, and vital status and discharge dispositions of patients with polymerase chain reaction–confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalized in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health system in March 2020.
Taxing the Brave New World: A Comment on Professor Tessa Davis’s Article "Freezing the Future: Elective Egg Freezing and the Future of the Medical Expense Deduction"

This short review piece examines Professor Tessa Davis's article in the Kentucky Law Journal called "Freezing the Future". Davis's piece explores the tax consequences of elective egg freezing and the discriminatory age and gender concerns associated with those tax consequences. Ultimately, Davis's piece gives us a fresh lens through which to think about tax as it plays out in the real world, and the way that the facially neutral tax code has meaningfully different impacts on certain groups of people.
Intersectionality of whiteness, racism, and homophobia among agriculture students

This study looks to unearth bigoted ideas among White students in education classes at a large land-grant University. This research utilises Critical Whiteness in a narrative format to elicit 14 Wh...
Development as … appeasement? From Peaceful Change to ideological combat

Before the outbreak of European war in 1939, figures in international development discourse struggled to disentangle it from the idea of ‘economic appeasement’. How and when development emerged is ...
Sources and Impacts of Uncertainty in Uncalibrated Bioretention Models Using SWMM 5.1.012

AbstractUsing the USEPA’s Storm Water Management Model version 5.1.012 (SWMM), a case study of a street right-of-way bioretention system (ROWB) configured as a storage node is compared against SWMM...
Chromium and vanadium incorporation in sulfate-containing sodium aluminoborosilicate glass

In the composition space for Hanford low-activity nuclear waste glass, the waste loading of some formulations is limited by poor incorporation of sulfate. In particular, certain elements identified in previous studies tend to raise or lower sulfate solubility in borosilicate glass. The aim of the current study is to understand how vanadium and chromium each affect a sulfate-containing sodium aluminoborosilicate glass structure. Glass transition temperature, mass density, visible absorption, and Raman scattering were measured to investigate changes in the glass structure. Both Cr6+ (CrO42−) and Cr3+ were found in the chromium-containing glasses while vanadium primarily existed in the 5+ oxidation state in the vanadium-containing glasses. Electron probe microanalysis determined elemental compositions to assess retention of components. Increasing Cr2O3 caused saturation of Cr concentration within the glass and formation of crystalline eskolaite (Cr2O3). On the other hand, all the targeted V was incorporated into the glass. A fraction of batched S was not incorporated in any glass, presumably due to volatilization during melting. Apparently, the details of incorporation of Cr, and to an extent V, are different depending on whether sulfur is added as in this study or in oversaturated conditions as described in the literature, where Cr partitions to a sulfate-containing salt phase.
Sorting Things Out: Valuation of New Firms in Uncertain Markets

Materialization of new markets results in variations in company valuations due to information asymmetry compounded with uncertainty. This information asymmetry can lead to adverse selection and moral hazard. However, this information asymmetry can be reduced, to a certain extent, through secondary information sources that provide previously hidden vital information. This investigation determines how secondary indicators, such as corporate governance, work in decreasing the uncertainty factor for investors, so that firms are valued more accurately. The characteristics of corporate governance consist of stock-based incentives, blockholder and institutional ownership, venture capital backing, and board structure. Data were gathered primarily from sources that tracked Internet firms such as Fortune, Motley Fool, and Hoovers. 184 firms that completed an initial public offering (IPO) on or before 1999 were included. Findings reveal that there is a strong positive correlation between market sorting and corporate governance characteristics. It is concluded that firms with opaque secondary indicators are endowed price premiums by the market, since they are perceived to not possess as much risk as competing firms.(SRY)
Material Point Method for Cone Penetration in Clays

AbstractThis study presents a coupled material point method (MPM) formulation for the analysis of cone penetration in clays. The formulation is based on the generalized interpolation material point...
Meta-Analysis on the Relation Between Acculturation and Alcohol Use Among Immigrant Youth.

Purpose We empirically examined the relation between acculturation and alcohol use in immigrant youth, with attention to demographic and methodological moderators. Methods We identified 43 studies (38 empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals and 6 dissertations) yielding 66 independent samples and 118 effect sizes. The total sample size was 61,851 immigrant youth from birth to 25 years of age (M = 937.14, standard deviation = 1,271.24) with a mean age of 15.50 years (standard deviation = 2.46). Results The average effect size for the fixed effects model was .04 with a 95% confidence interval of .03-.05, which was significantly different from zero (p Conclusions This meta-analytic review supported the immigrant paradox in which acculturation puts immigrant youth at risk for alcohol use. Several demographic and methodological factors also moderated this relation in a significant way. Important implications are discussed.