cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Minds “At Attention”: Mindfulness Training Curbs Attentional Lapses in Military Cohorts

We investigated the impact of mindfulness training (MT) on attentional performance lapses associated with task-unrelated thought (i.e., mind wandering). Periods of persistent and intensive demands may compromise attention and increase off-task thinking. Here, we investigated if MT may mitigate these deleterious effects and promote cognitive resilience in military cohorts enduring a high-demand interval of predeployment training. To better understand which aspects of MT programs are most beneficial, three military cohorts were examined. Two of the three groups were provided MT. One group received an 8-hour, 8-week variant of Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT) emphasizing engagement in training exercises (training-focused MT, n = 40), a second group received a didactic-focused variant emphasizing content regarding stress and resilience (didactic-focused MT, n = 40), and the third group served as a no-training control (NTC, n = 24). Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) performance was indexed in all military groups and a no-training civilian group (CIV, n = 45) before (T1) and after (T2) the MT course period. Attentional performance (measured by A’, a sensitivity index) was lower in NTC vs. CIV at T2, suggesting that performance suffers after enduring a high-demand predeployment interval relative to a similar time period of civilian life. Yet, there were significantly fewer performance lapses in the military cohorts receiving MT relative to NTC, with training-focused MT outperforming didactic-focused MT at T2. From T1 to T2, A’ degraded in NTC and didactic-focused MT but remained stable in training-focused MT and CIV. In sum, while protracted periods of high-demand military training may increase attentional performance lapses, practice-focused MT programs akin to training-focused MT may bolster attentional performance more than didactic-focused programs. As such, training-focused MT programs should be further examined in cohorts experiencing protracted high-demand intervals.
Calculated beta-ray spectra from decay of fission products produced by thermal-neutron fission of 235U

Abstract Beta-ray spectra from decay of fission products created by thermal-neutron fission of 235U have been calculated using summation techniques and using an independently created beta-ray data file. The calculated beta-ray spectra are in very good agreement for Eβ ≅ 1 to 8 MeV with recently measured specta of beta rays for two very different exposure and counting time conditions: (a) an “instantaneous” spectrum following a 1.5 day exposure, and (b) an 8 s counting-time spectrum obtained 1.7 s following a 1 s exposure of 235U by thermal neutrons.
INDUCED PREMEIOTIC EXCHANGE OF LINKED MARKERS IN THE ANGIOSPERM ARABIDOPSIS.

is well known that X rays produce various types of chromosomal reCrrangements and deficiencies which may cause variegation, but induced reassortment of markers on homologous chromatids appears not to have been reported. In higher plants, somatic variegation can rarely be subjected to critical analysis. One major difficulty is the limited number of appropriate somatic markers usable to distinguish the mechanisms causing variegation. Another is that, although it may be possible, by dedifferentiating and redifferentiating somatic cells, to obtain progenies from the critical segments (cf. STEWARD, MAPES. KENT and HOLSTEN 1964) , this is not yet simple and practical for classical genetic analyses. The felicitous material used in this study reduced these barriers, and permitted several somatic sectors of interest to be subjected to genetic analysis (progeny test). Investigations on this problem would not have been initiated in Arabidopsis thaliana, a typical higher plant, had not twin spots appeared in some experiments designed primarily to induce and detect locus-specific mutations and deletions ( RBDEI 1960, unpublished; HIRONO and RBDEI 1963b). This report demonstrates induced premeiotic exchange of linked markers in an angiosperm, simulating crossing over. The analysis to follow indicates, however, a different mechanism, possibly a translocation between homologous chromatids.
Recreation and the Glenview Neighborhood: Implications for Youth and Community Development

The purpose of this interpretive study was to explore the voices of the ecological agents surrounding the youth of Glenview, a low-resource neighborhood. The research focused on a phenomenon that involved the establishment and discontinuation of a community organization effort to provide structured recreation programs for youth. Theoretical frameworks of the ecological perspective and community social organization guided the study. Twenty-one participants were interviewed. Four major themes were constructed from the data through constant comparison: the neighborhood environment, despondence, parental conditions and parental involvement. Implications relate to social capital and recreation's role in youth and community development.
Selenium spares ascorbate and α‐tocopherol in cultured liver cell lines under oxidant stress

The selenoenzyme thioredoxin reductase (TR) can recycle ascorbic acid, which in turn can recycle α-tocopherol. Therefore, we evaluated the role of selenium in ascorbic acid recycling and in protection against oxidant-induced loss of α-tocopherol in cultured liver cells. Treatment of HepG2 or H4IIE cultured liver cells for 48 h with sodium selenite (0–116 nmol/l) tripled the activity of the selenoenzyme TR, measured as aurothioglucose-sensitive dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) reduction. However, selenium did not increase the ability of H4IIE cells to take up and reduce 2 mM DHA, despite a 25% increase in ascorbate-dependent ferricyanide reduction (which reflects cellular ascorbate recycling). Nonetheless, selenium supplements both spared ascorbate in overnight cultures of H4IIE cells, and prevented loss of cellular α-tocopherol in response to an oxidant stress induced by either ferricyanide or diazobenzene sulfonate. Whereas TR contributes little to ascorbate recycling in H4IIE cells, selenium spares ascorbate in culture and α-tocopherol in response to an oxidant stress.
Systematicity as a selection constraint in analogical mapping

Analogy is often viewed as a partial similarity match between domains. But not all partial similarities qualify as analogy: There must be some selection of which commonalities count. Three experiments tested a particular selection constraint in analogical mapping, namely, systematicity. That is, we tested whether a given predicate is more likely to figure in the interpretation of and prediction from an analogy if the predicate participates in a common system of relations. In Experiment 1, subjects judged two matches to be included in an analogy: on isolated match, and a match embedded in a larger matching system. Subjects preferred the embedded match. In Experiments 2 and 3, subjects made analogical predictions about a target domain. Subjects predicted information that followed from a causal system that matched the base domain, rather than information that was equally plausible, but that created an isolated match with the base. Results support Gentner's (1983, 1989) structure-mapping theory in that analogical mapping concerns systems and not individual predicates, and that attention to shared systematic structure constrains the selection of information to include in an analogy.
Ab Initio Calculations of H2O OH + H

The minimum energy path of the H2O(1A1) OH(2π) + H(2S) ground-state dissociation has been computed using SCSCF, SCSCF + CI, MCSCF, and MCSCF + PT methods with a double- and triple-zeta basis.
The Effects of the Precision of Pointer Analysis

In order to analyze programs that manipulate pointers, it is necessary to have safe information about what each pointer might point to. There are many algorithms that can be used to determine this information, with varying degrees of accuracy. However, there has been very little previous work that addresses how much the relative accuracies of different pointer-analysis algorithms affect “transitive” results: the results of a subsequent analysis.
Using Thin Films to Screen Possible Scintillator Materials

The discovery and optimization of new scintillators has traditionally been a rather slow process due to the difficulties of single crystal growth. This paper discusses the production of polycrystalline scintillator thin films which were tested in order to determine what characterizations could be made concerning a material's ultimate potential as a scintillator prior to pursuing crystal growth. Thin films of a few microns thickness of CaF2(Eu), CeF3, and CeCl3, all known scintillators, were produced by vapor deposition. The hygroscopic CeCl3 was coated with multiple polymer-aluminum oxide bi-layers. Emission wavelengths and decay times agreed with values from single crystals. The films were too thin to measure gamma photopeaks, but using alpha energy deposition peaks, one could compare the relative photon yield/MeV between materials. The values obtained appear to give a relevant indication of a material's light yield potential. The technique may also be useful for quickly indicating the proper dopant amount for a given material.
Assessing attitudes toward mathematics across teacher education contexts

This article reports on the development of attitudes toward mathematics among pre-service elementary teachers (n = 146) in relation to their experiences as K-12 learners of mathematics and experiences within a teacher education program. Using a combination of the Rasch Rating Scale Model and traditional parametric analyses, results indicate that significant changes in attitudes occurred over the duration of mathematics methods coursework and student teaching. Further, these changes can be explained, in part, by various teacher education experiences. In particular, having a student teaching experience with meaningful mathematics instruction played a significant role for those who entered with negative attitudes toward mathematics.
Fever and bacteremia.

1. Eric Biondi, MD* 2. Jennifer Murzycki, MD, PhD* 3. Shawn Ralston, MD† 4. Francis Gigliotti, MD* 1. *Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong Memorial Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. 2. †Director of Hospital Medicine at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH. Is it necessary to monitor blood cultures for a full 48 hours to consider a febrile infant to be free of serious bacterial infection? Fever that could be due to bacteremia in infants is a common and serious problem faced by pediatricians. Because of their immature immune systems and nonspecific signs, infants are more susceptible to serious bacterial infections (SBIs) than adults. A wide variety of strategies have been developed for the assessment of febrile but well-appearing children younger than age 90 days, known collectively as the “rule out sepsis” evaluation. This clinical presentation is a common reason for infant hospitalization. However, it remains unclear how long blood cultures from this population need to be monitored and how long infants need to be hospitalized. The literature is inconclusive, and there is variability in current practice. A review of currently published data did not identify a clear-cut observational period. Randhawa et al suggest a 96-hour observational period, although it was not obvious from this study what type of culture detection system was used or whether the patients were symptomatic. (1) In 2011, Guerti et al demonstrated support for an evaluation period of more than 36 hours. (2) They found that 56% of blood cultures were positive for bacteremia after an incubation time of 24 hours, 89% after 48 hours, and 97% after 72 hours. Another large study by Kumar et al demonstrated similar results. (3) Interestingly, if all coagulase-negative Staphylococcus are removed in these …
A functional and structural diagnosis of online health communities sustainability

The reality of online communities' under-contribution issues has often been clouded with theoretical rather than real-world insight. The present study aims to neutralize this disparity, through content analysis on 196 health websites and online communities to systematically evaluate their functional and structural interfaces-the ingredients for a thriving online environment. Particular attention is paid to what variables equate to successful site traffic and impressions, ultimately providing suggestions to facilitate and optimize user contribution. While the majority of health websites and online health communities offered users fairly rich information about general health concerns, user environments in online health communities significantly lacked both structural and functional cues to encourage user contribution. External sponsorship could mitigate the discrepancy between the real world situations and academic suggestions. User environments in online health communities were systematically assessed.Online health communities failed to present the features for user contribution.A large volume of resource was limited to general, not critical, health concerns.Advertisements appeared to impede information accessibility.Sponsorship might be critical to hold a healthy environment for user contribution.
Nephrobronchial Colonic Fistula Complicating Perinephric Abscess

Perinephric abscess is an uncommon complication of acute pyelonephritis. A nephrobronchial colonic fistula is a rare sequela of perinephric abscesses. We report such a case, review the literature, and discuss the associated morbidity and diagnostic dilemmas.
Acute resetting of baroreceptor reflex in rabbits: a central component

Electrical stimulation of the aortic nerve of the anesthetized rabbit was used to determine whether there is a central nervous system component to acute resetting of the baroreceptor reflex. After stimulation of the aortic nerve for 5 min at 10 Hz, a ramp test stimulus to the nerve produced a reflex arterial pressure response that was attenuated as compared with that produced by the same ramp prior to the five-min stimulation period. Renal sympathetic nerve activity was recorded simultaneously to determine whether a reduction in the magnitude of the reflex inhibition of sympathetic activity produced by the depressor nerve stimulation could account for the attenuated arterial pressure response. Renal activity during the test ramp was reduced to the same value both before and after the constant stimulus period and thus did not correlate with the attenuated pressure response. There was, however, prolonged inhibition of tonic sympathetic activity after the 5-min stimulus period such that during the test stimulus there was less sympathetic activity to inhibit. The results were similar when sympathetic activity was recorded from branches of the sciatic nerve and from thoracic postganglionic nerves. In these nerves the period of prolonged inhibition after aortic nerve stimulation was up to 5 min. The attenuated pressure response to baroreceptor nerve stimulation after a constant stimulus appears to reflect the reduced change in sympathetic activity rather than the value to which the sympathetic activity falls.
TH-B-204-03: TG-199: Implanted Markers for Radiation Treatment Verification

Implanted markers as target surrogates have been widely used for treatment verification, as they provide safe and reliable monitoring of the inter- and intra-fractional target motion. The rapid advancement of technology requires a critical review and recommendation for the usage of implanted surrogates in current field. The symposium, also reporting an update of AAPM TG 199 - Implanted Target Surrogates for Radiation Treatment Verification, will be focusing on all clinical aspects of using the implanted target surrogates for treatment verification and related issues. A wide variety of markers available in the market will be first reviewed, including radiopaque markers, MRI compatible makers, non-migrating coils, surgical clips and electromagnetic transponders etc. The pros and cons of each kind will be discussed. The clinical applications of implanted surrogates will be presented based on different anatomical sites. For the lung, we will discuss gated treatments and 2D or 3D real-time fiducial tracking techniques. For the prostate, we will be focusing on 2D-3D, 3D-3D matching and electromagnetic transponder based localization techniques. For the liver, we will review techniques when patients are under gating, shallow or free breathing condition. We will review techniques when treating challenging breast cancer as deformation may occur. Finally, we will summarize potential issues related to the usage of implanted target surrogates with TG 199 recommendations. A review of fiducial migration and fiducial derived target rotation in different disease sites will be provided. The issue of target deformation, especially near the diaphragm, and related suggestions will be also presented and discussed. Learning Objectives: 1. Knowledge of a wide variety of markers 2. Knowledge of their application for different disease sites 3. Understand of issues related to these applications Z. Wang: Research funding support from Brainlab AG Q. Xu: Consultant for Accuray; Q. Xu, I am a consultant for Accuray planning service
Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.

The problem of the control of tuberculous disease is far from being solved, even though great strides have been made in the use of antituberculous agents and the addition of refinements in surgical technics, particularly those of pulmonary resection. The more urgent problem, however, is that of establishing the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis early. Only in this way can tuberculous persons be isolated and the spread of tuberculous disease precluded.
Adaptation and the (Trans)Nation: Creolized Shakespeare, Intercultural Cervantes

It is difficult to imagine a theatre festival in any part of the world today not including at least one ‘chestnut’ from the Western canon. When I attended the Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa in 2007, the main stage featured an adaptation of the Orpheus myth, while the street theatre boasted an adaptation of Euripides’ Medea as well as an adaptation of a play by Moliere. Writing about festivals such as the DuMaurier World Stage in Toronto and the Edinburgh festival in Scotland, Ric Knowles (2004) notes that classics are often favored at festivals because they already have ‘transcultural authority or resonance’ (183). This allows festivals to cash in on cultural cachet and attract important sponsors. Lusophone theatre festivals are no exception to the rule. At FESTLIP 2009, a Portuguese production of Beckett’s Happy Days shared space on the program with Angolan dramatizations of colonial trauma. At the Mindelact International Theatre Festival, visiting troupes have performed adaptations of Waiting for Godot, Romeo and Juliet, and Of Mice and Men, and new Cape Verdean adaptations of Shakespeare often debut there. Seemingly, international festival programs are destined to read like a ‘Who’s Who’ of the Western theatre canon, even when they also include alternative genres and new plays.
Characterization of in vitro phenotypes of Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei strains potentially associated with persistent infection in mice

Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) and Burkholderia mallei (Bm), the agents of melioidosis and glanders, respectively, are Tier 1 biothreats. They infect humans and animals, causing disease ranging from acute and fatal to protracted and chronic. Chronic infections are especially challenging to treat, and the identification of in vitro phenotypic markers which signal progression from acute to persistent infection would be extremely valuable. First, a phenotyping strategy was developed employing colony morphotyping, chemical sensitivity testing, macrophage infection, and lipopolysaccharide fingerprint analyses to distinguish Burkholderia strains. Then mouse spleen isolates collected 3–180 days after infection were characterized phenotypically. Isolates from long-term infections often exhibited increased colony morphology differences and altered patterns of antimicrobial sensitivity and macrophage infection. Some of the Bp and Bm persistent infection isolates clearly displayed enhanced virulence in mice. Future studies will evaluate the potential role and significance of these phenotypic markers in signaling the establishment of a chronic infection.
Glycosphingolipid–Protein Interaction in Signal Transduction

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are a class of ceramide-based glycolipids essential for embryo development in mammals. The synthesis of specific GSLs depends on the expression of distinctive sets of GSL synthesizing enzymes that is tightly regulated during development. Several reports have described how cell surface receptors can be kept in a resting state or activate alternative signalling events as a consequence of their interaction with GSLs. Specific GSLs, indeed, interface with specific protein domains that are found in signalling molecules and which act as GSL sensors to modify signalling responses. The regulation exerted by GSLs on signal transduction is orthogonal to the ligand-receptor axis, as it usually does not directly interfere with the ligand binding to receptors. Due to their properties of adjustable production and orthogonal action on receptors, GSLs add a new dimension to the control of the signalling in development. GSLs can, indeed, dynamically influence progenitor cell response to morphogenetic stimuli, resulting in alternative differentiation fates. Here, we review the available literature on GSL-protein interactions and their effects on cell signalling and development.
Thymic Shielding (TS) in Recipients of Total Body Irradiation (TBI) and Alternative Donor Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (AD-HSCT): Reduced Risk of Opportunistic Infection in Patients with Fanconi Anemia (FA).

Delayed immune reconstitution and consequent opportunistic infections remain major obstacles to the successful application of HSCT, particularly in older patients, those with HLA mismatched donors and in selected diseases, such as FA. Based on preclinical work suggesting that TS may improve immune reconstitution in recipients of TBI and allogeneic HSCT (J Immunol1987:139:358), we evaluated the safety and potential efficacy of TS in FA patients. After CT localization of the thymus, 5HVL cerrubend blocks were fabricated and used to shield the thymus from both the anterior and posterior TBI fields. Thymus blocks were attached to special TBI stand brackets that secure the lung compensators. Otherwise all patients received the standard preparative regimen consisting of fludarabine 175 mg/m2, cyclosphosphamide 40 mg/kg, single fraction TBI 450 cGy, and antithymocyte globulin, with cyclosporine and short course methylprednisolone as GVHD immunoprophylaxis. In order to assess the potential risks and benefits of TS, we compared transplant outcomes of these FA patients who received TS to FA patients treated with the exact same preparative regimen without TS. Between April 1999–June 2006, 59 FA patients underwent AD-HSCT at the University of Minnesota; 16 patients had TBI with TS and 43 had TBI without TS. For those with and without TS, donors were HLA matched (n=42) or mismatched (n=17), and stem cell sources were T cell depleted bone marrow (n=9 vs n=38) or umbilical cord blood (n=7 vs n=5). While excess graft failure was considered to be the principal toxicity risk in recipients of TS, incidence of engraftment was similar in those with and without TS (94% vs 97% respectively, p=.46). Although not statistically significant, survival at one year was higher in FA patients with TS (67% vs 53% respectively, p=.46). However, as shown, TS was associated with a significantly lower risk of all three categories of opportunistic infection after HSCT (Table 1). In conclusion, TS in recipients of TBI is associated with significantly lower risk of opportunistic infections without any deleterious effect on hematopoietic recovery in recipients of AD-HSCT. While these results indicate that TS reduces the infection rate and potentially improves survival in patients with FA, they also suggests that TS should be considered for other high risk populations (e.g. adults) and in those with other non malignant disorders. While it appears that immune reconstitution is improved based on the reduced incidence of opportunistic infections, correlative laboratory assessments (TREC, CD4 recovery) are currently being performed.
An accurate ultra wideband (UWB) ranging for precision asset location

This paper investigates a ranging method employing ultra wideband (UWB) pulses under the existence of the line of sight (LOS) path in a multipath environment. Our method is based on the estimation of time of arrival of the first multipath. It averages the received pulses over multiple time frames, performs a correlation operation on the averaged signal, and detects the peak of the correlated signal. Our method reduces the ranging accuracy over conventional methods, and its accuracy is close to the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on even for a low SNR.
Abstract P84: Pre-hospital Lactate Levels Are Better Predictors of Mortality and Hospital Admission Than Traditional Vital Signs

Intro: Traditional vital signs are routinely obtained in the pre-hospital environment. These vital signs are used to make triage and treatment decisions without showing strong relationships to illness severity. Conversely, elevated lactate levels are good predictors of outcome in the Emergency Department (ED) and inpatient areas. Recent advances in point of care (POC) testing have made the ability to accurately measure lactate readily available to EMS providers. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that POC whole blood lactate, collected in the pre-hospital environment, will predict severity of illness measured by death and ED disposition. Methods: Prospective, observational, blinded, cohort study involving 2 EMS systems; 1 urban and 1 rural. Data from 2,062 subjects transported to a Level 1 Trauma, Academic Medical Center, and 6 Community Hospitals were analyzed. Subjects evaluated were advanced life support transports. Traditional vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate) and POC lactate (Lactate Pro) were measured during initial EMS assessment. Outcome variables [Death, ED disposition, type of admission (ICU or non-ICU)], were recorded for each ED visit. Receiving ED physicians were blinded to the pre-hospital lactate levels. Results: Independent predictors of death and hospital admission were identified by using a logistic regression analysis. All hospitals were included in the analysis. Pre-hospital independent predictors of death included: POC lactate (OR 2.14; CI 1.19–3.85), HR (OR 1.04; CI 1.02–1.05), and age (OR 1.04; CI 1.02–1.07). Pre-hospital independent predictors of hospital admission were only POC lactate (OR 1.43; CI 1.17–1.75), and age (OR 1.03; CI 1.02–1.04). Conclusions: POC lactate outperformed all pre-hospital vital signs in predicting ED disposition and mortality. Pre-hospital POC lactate allows providers to identify patients with a higher severity of illness not demonstrated by traditional vital signs Future knowledge of pre-hospital lactate values may enhance pre-hospital triage, transport and treatment decisions.
Designing a Bridging Discourse: Re-Mediation of a Mathematical Learning Disability

Students with disabilities present a unique instructional design challenge. These students often have qualitatively different ways of processing information, meaning that standard instructional approaches may not be effective. In this study I present a case study of a student with a mathematical learning disability for whom standard instruction on fractions had been ineffective. With regard to theory, I draw on Lev Vygotsky’s framing of disability and then use Anna Sfard’s conceptualization of mathematics as a discourse to design a fraction re-mediation that provided a bridge from the student’s discourse to the canonical mathematics discourse. This bridging discourse was used in 5 videotaped re-mediation sessions with the case study student. A fine-grained analysis of the re-mediation sessions traced the ways in which the student’s discourse shifted over time, which enabled her to solve problems she had previously been unable to solve. This study provides a proof of concept for reconceptualizing remediati...
Studies on Transformation by the Adenovirus-SV40 Hybrid Viruses

The adenovirus-SV40 hybrid viruses have been utilized for in vitro transformation experiments in order to answer the following questions: 1) Do all hybrids have the ability to transform primary weanling hamster kidney tissue culture cells? 2) What contribution to the transformation does the SV40 genome make, and would the effect on differentiation of hamster kidney cells observed with SV40 virus be seen by the hybrid viruses which contain only a portion of the SV40 genome? 3) What other markers of the SV40 genome are present in transformed cells other than the SV40 tumor (T) antigen? 4) Can a non-oncogenic adenovirus become oncogenic by the presence of a portion of the SV40 genome integrated with the adenovirus DNA? 5) Can enhancement of the oncogenic potential of an adenovirus be effected by the integration of a part of the SV40 genome? 6) If non-oncogenic adenoviruses, by hybridization, become oncogenic, would the tumors have a T antigen charactetristic of the non-oncogenic adenovirus? 7) What contributions to the transformation do the adeno and SV40 genomes make as regards morphology of the transformed cells?
The Sound Quality of Cochlear Implants: Studies With Single-sided Deaf Patients.

OBJECTIVE The goal of the present study was to assess the sound quality of a cochlear implant for single-sided deaf (SSD) patients fit with a cochlear implant (CI). BACKGROUND One of the fundamental, unanswered questions in CI research is "what does an implant sound like?" Conventional CI patients must use the memory of a clean signal, often decades old, to judge the sound quality of their CIs. In contrast, SSD-CI patients can rate the similarity of a clean signal presented to the CI ear and candidate, CI-like signals presented to the ear with normal hearing. METHODS For Experiment 1 four types of stimuli were created for presentation to the normal hearing ear: noise vocoded signals, sine vocoded signals, frequency shifted, sine vocoded signals and band-pass filtered, natural speech signals. Listeners rated the similarity of these signals to unmodified signals sent to the CI on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being a complete match to the CI signal. For Experiment 2 multitrack signal mixing was used to create natural speech signals that varied along multiple dimensions. RESULTS In Experiment 1 for eight adult SSD-CI listeners, the best median similarity rating to the sound of the CI for noise vocoded signals was 1.9; for sine vocoded signals 2.9; for frequency upshifted signals, 1.9; and for band pass filtered signals, 5.5. In Experiment 2 for three young listeners, combinations of band pass filtering and spectral smearing lead to ratings of 10. CONCLUSION The sound quality of noise and sine vocoders does not generally correspond to the sound quality of cochlear implants fit to SSD patients. Our preliminary conclusion is that natural speech signals that have been muffled to one degree or another by band pass filtering and/or spectral smearing provide a close, but incomplete, match to CI sound quality for some patients.
Evolution: A Paradigm Shift in Snake Sex Chromosome Genetics

Summary The belief that all snakes possess ZW sex chromosomes has prevailed for decades, despite no evidence of this in boas, pythons, and their relatives. A recent discovery of male-specific genetic markers reveals that these snakes instead possess XY sex chromosomes.
Feedback Stabilization of Switched Linear Systems With Unknown Disturbances Under Data-Rate Constraints

We study the problem of stabilizing a switched linear system with a completely unknown disturbance using sampled and quantized state feedback. The switching is assumed to be slow enough in the sense of combined dwell time and average dwell time, each individual mode is assumed to be stabilizable, and the data rate is assumed to be large enough but finite. By extending the approach of reachable-set approximation and propagation from an earlier result on the disturbance-free case, we develop a communication and control strategy that achieves a variant of input-to-state stability with exponential decay. An estimate of the disturbance bound is introduced to counteract the unknown disturbance, and a novel algorithm is designed to adjust the estimate and recover the state when it escapes the range of quantization.
Traumatic Renal Transplant Subcapsular Hematoma: Diagnosis by Duplex Ultrasound:

IntroductionSubcapsular renal hematomas result from a hemorrhage within the kidney that is contained by its fibrous capsule. In some cases, enlarging or acute hematomas may compress the renal paren...
PERIVASCULAR THICKENING ON OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY AS A MARKER OF INFLAMMATION IN BIRDSHOT RETINOCHOROIDITIS.

Purpose:In this study, we hypothesized that thickening along the major arcade vessels is a noninvasive marker of inflammation in eyes with birdshot retinochoroiditis (BRC).Methods:In this single-center retrospective study, patients with BRC were identified. Perivascular thickening was categorized as
Treatment Receipt and Outcomes of Self-Reported Voice Problems in the US Population Aged ≥65 Years:

Objectives(1) Characterize the US population aged ≥65 years with self-reported voice problems, (2) describe voice treatment characteristics in this group, and (3) identify factors associated with s...
Selective anisotropic etching of GaN over AlGaN for very thin films

Selective etching of gallium nitride (GaN) over aluminum gallium nitride (AlxGa1-xN) with inductively coupled plasma and reactive ion etching (RIE) was examined using only chlorine and oxygen gasses. Etch selectivity was heavily influenced by the amount of oxygen present during etching and was slightly influenced by RIE power. Surface roughness was also influenced heavily by the oxygen flow and RIE power which is important for local and across-wafer uniformity. Etch rates were intentionally minimized for use for highly controlled etching of very thin GaN and Al0.25Ga0.75N epitaxial layers. Maximum tested etch rates for GaN and Al0.25Ga0.75N were 200 and 15 A/min, respectively, and maximum selectivity between GaN and Al0.25Ga0.75N achieved was at least 68.5 to 1. Above a certain oxygen flow, the etch rate of both GaN and Al0.25Ga0.75N drop so drastically that it was impractical to obtain the etch rate and selectivity in a timely manner. Optimum selectivity was obtained with a low oxygen flow to inhibit Al0...
Using fNIRS to Measure Mental Workload in the Real World

In the past decade, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has seen increasing use as a non-invasive brain sensing technology. Using optical signals to approximate blood-oxygenation levels in localized regions of the brain, the appeal of the fNIRS signal is that it is relatively robust to movement artifacts and comparable to fMRI measures. We provide an overview of research that builds towards the use of fNIRS to monitor user workload in real world environments, and eventually to act as input to biocybernetic systems. While there are still challenges for the use of fNIRS in real world environments, its unique characteristics make it an appealing alternative for monitoring the cognitive processes of a user.
Peering down the kaleidoscope of thiol proteomics and unfolded protein response in studying the anticancer action of selenium

A monomethylated selenium metabolite called methylseleninic acid (MSA) has recently been shown to cause global thiol redox modification of proteins. These changes represent a form of cellular stress due to protein misfolding or unfolding. When this occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a process known as unfolded protein response (UPR) is orchestrated to repair the damage or commit the cells to apoptosis if the rescue effort becomes inadequate. Treatment of PC-3 human prostate cancer cells with MSA leads to activation of three signature ER stress transducers and increased expression of UPR target genes, as exemplified by GRP78 and GADD153. GRP78 is part of the damage control mechanism, while GADD153 is a transcription factor associated with growth arrest and apoptosis. Transfection with GRP78 largely negates the apoptotic effect of MSA and GADD 153 induction because an abundance of GRP78 allows cells to cope better with ER stress. Conversely, knocking down GRP78 by siRNA magnifies the cell growth arrest effect of MSA and GADD153 expression. Collectively, the research findings support the idea that UPR plays an important role in mediating the anticancer activities of selenium.
Passive Optical Devices

In the present chapter we discuss the following passive optical devices that are of great importance in integrated optic sensors [1]: 1 Beam expanders 2 Optical couplers and beam adders 3 Y-Junctions and beam splitters 4 Phase modifiers 5 Guided TE and TM wave polarizer 6 Multiplexers, filters, and resonators 7 Two-dimensional lenses 8 Corrugated structures and spatial filters 9 Fiber optic and free space to waveguide couplers
Climate Change and Cryptosporidiosis: A Qualitative Analysis

The effects of climate change on drinking-waterborne cryptosporidiosis transmission in the United States are analyzed using an influence diagram representation of epidemic development. Results from a systematic qualitative analysis indicate that climate change will have little effect on cryptosporidiosis incidence if the United States continues to be wealthy and maintains its commitment to public health. The major impact will, instead, be the additional costs of adapting to new climate regimes in order to avoid drinking-waterborne disease risk. These costs, for the most part, will be from improved monitoring and treatment of drinking water. The consequences of disaster scenarios are also considered. These, too, suggest that climate change per se will be a poor predictor of waterborne cryptosporidiosis in countries with high standards of living. Rather, the risk of epidemics will depend on the interplay between population, public health investment, infrastructure maintenance, emergency planning/response capabilities, water-treatment technologies, drinking-water regulations, and climate.
Safety and efficacy of statin therapy

The 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines on blood cholesterol management were a major shift in the delineation of the main patient groups that could benefit from statin therapy and emphasized the use of higher-intensity statin therapies. In 2016, an expert consensus panel from the ACC recommended the use of nonstatin therapies (ezetimibe and PCSK9 inhibitors) in addition to maximally tolerated statin therapy in individuals whose LDL-cholesterol and non-HDL-cholesterol levels remained above certain thresholds after statin treatment. Given the substantial benefits of statin therapies in both primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, their long-term safety has become a concern. The potential harmful effects of statin therapy on muscle and liver have been known for some time, but new concerns have emerged regarding the risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus, cognitive impairment and haemorrhagic stroke associated with the use of statins and the risks of achieving very low levels of LDL cholesterol. The increased media attention on the adverse events associated with statins has unfortunately led to statin therapy discontinuation, nonadherence to therapy or concerns about initiating statin therapy. In this Review, we explore the safety of statin therapy in light of the latest evidence and provide clinicians with reassurance about the safety of statins. Overwhelming evidence suggests that the benefits of statin therapy far outweigh any real or perceived risks. The current guidelines recommending the use of higher-intensity statin therapy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease have raised concerns about potential adverse effects associated with long-term statin therapy. In this Review, Adhyaru and Jacobson discuss the evidence for the efficacy and safety of statins to help clinicians and patients make informed decisions about statin therapy.
TurboReg: a framework for scaling up spatial logistic regression models

Predicting the presence or absence of spatial phenomena has been of great interest to scientists pursuing research in several applications including epidemic diseases detection, species occurrence prediction and earth observation. In this operation, a geographical space is divided by a two-dimensional grid, where the prediction (i.e, either 0 or 1) is performed at each cell in the grid. A common approach to solve this problem is to build spatial logistic regression models (a.k.a autologistic models) that estimate the prediction at any location based on a set of predictors (i.e., features) at this location and predictions from neighboring locations. Unfortunately, existing methods to build autologistic models are computationally expensive and do not scale up for large-scale grid data (e.g., fine-grained satellite images). This paper introduces TurboReg, a scalable framework to build autologistic models for predicting large-scale spatial phenomena. TurboReg considers both the accuracy and efficiency aspects when learning the regression model parameters. TurboReg is built on top of Markov Logic Network (MLN), a scalable statistical learning framework, where its internals and data structures are optimized to process spatial data. A set of experiments using large real and synthetic data show that TurboReg achieves at least three orders of magnitude performance gain over existing methods while preserving the model accuracy.
Fluorine Beam Performance of Fluoride Dopant Gases and Their Gas Mixtures

Fluorine co-implantation is used in advanced semiconductor device manufacturing for defect engineering, shallow junction formation, and material modification. A common setup for fluorine implantation includes feeding a fluoride dopant source gas into the ion source to provide fluorine (F) as one of the dissociation byproducts. Use of fluorine containing feed gases creates a halogen cycle which can negatively impact ion source performance, source life, implant tool productivity and cost of tool ownership. However, there has been a significant interest in improving fluorine ion beam performance considering its broad potential applications. This paper presents initial results of fluorine beam evaluation of common dopant candidates (BF 3 , SiF 4 , and GeF 4 ) and related hydrogen co-mixtures for added process efficiency and tool productivity improvements.
Accounts of Thriving in the Face of Discrimination for Latina/o Undergraduate Students

Latina/o undergraduate students face many challenges, including campus climate and ethnic discrimination, which are tied to mental health problems and lower academic achievement. While always diffi...
Closed Incision Negative Pressure Wound Therapy After Resection of Large, Radiated, Soft Tissue Sarcomas.

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has revolutionized wound care. Negative pressure therapy (NPT) is now being applied to closed incisions. Closed-incision NPT (ciNPT) management systems apply negative pressure to the incision and structurally stabilize the surrounding tissues. They are thought to be helpful in high-risk surgical closure. Patients with large sarcomas that have been previously radiated are considered to be among the highest risk for postoperative wound complications. We share our experience with ciNPT in two patients after resection of large, previously irradiated invasive sarcomas. In both cases, healing was uncomplicated. ciNPT shows promise of effective and favorable wound healing in early case reports. Additional prospective randomized clinical trials or registry studies will be necessary to provide higher levels of evidence for this technique.
Axial psoriatic arthritis: An update for dermatologists

Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated, systemic, inflammatory disorder characterized by skin plaques and, often, nail disease and arthritis that contribute to reduced quality of life. Psoriatic arthritis—a heterogeneous, inflammatory, musculoskeletal disease that can cause permanent damage to both peripheral and axial joints—is the most common comorbidity of psoriasis. Axial disease occurs in 25% to 70% of patients with PsA, with some patients exclusively experiencing axial joint involvement. Early therapeutic intervention is important for preventing permanent joint and spine damage and loss of functionality in these patients. Because skin symptoms associated with psoriasis often precede psoriatic arthritis, dermatologists are uniquely positioned to play an important role in identifying and treating patients with psoriatic arthritis. Proactive screening of patients with all severities of psoriasis for the signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis is key to early diagnosis and intervention. In this review, we discuss the clinical presentation, risk factors, and treatment options for psoriatic arthritis with axial involvement, with the aim of helping dermatologists understand the disease and identify patients who might benefit from further assessment, treatment, and/or referral to a rheumatology practice.
A Rare Case of Angiolymphoid Hyperplasia without Eosinophils, with Review of the Literature

The epithelioid hemangioma, more commonly termed angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophils, is a pathologic vascular proliferation characterized by a distinctive eosinophil-rich mixed inflammatory infiltrate. A nonspecific accompanying infiltrate has only rarely been reported, and may confound the diagnosis of this benign process with malignant mimics. We present such a case of angiolymphoid hyperplasia without eosinophils, and consider its diagnosis and pathogenesis within the spectrum of related entities.
How Long Must They Be Alone? The Experience of Unaccompanied Minors and Implications for Social Work Practice

Unaccompanied minors often face severe trauma during their preflight lives as well as during the course of their migration. These traumatic experiences can have negative psychosocial impacts on the minors, and hostile reception policies in destination countries exacerbate their hardships. Though social work services are traditionally undervalued in the areas of asylum and resettlement, the discipline has much to offer in terms of practice, programming, and policy. The complexity of circumstances in which children become unaccompanied, as well as the diverse needs of the children themselves, mean that no single country, discipline, or agency can solve the problem individually. Complementary skills should be coordinated and international mandates must be established in a concerted effort to respond to this issue. There is a need for more research to determine the psychosocial issues of unaccompanied minors and identify best practices for social workers in destination countries to provide direct services and advocacy for this population.
Cell-Based Delivery Approaches for DNA-Binding Domains into the Central Nervous System.

Advancements in programmable DNA-binding proteins (DBDs) that target the genome, such as zinc fingers, transcription activator-like effectors, and Cas9, have broadened drug target design beyond traditional protein substrates. Effective delivery methodologies remain a major barrier in targeting the central nervous system. Currently, adeno-associated virus is the most well-validated delivery system for the delivery of DBDs towards the central nervous with multiple, on-going clinical trials. While effective in transducing neuronal cells, viral delivery systems for DBDs remain problematic due to inherent viral packaging limits or immune responses that hinder translational potential. Direct administration of DBDs or encapsulation in lipid nanoparticles may provide alternative means towards delivering gene therapies into the central nervous system. This review will evaluate strengths and limitations in current DBD delivery strategies in-vivo. Furthermore, this review will discuss the use of adult stem cells as a putative delivery vehicle for DBDs and potential advantages that these systems have over previous methodologies.