cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhancing interest and performance with a utility value intervention.

We tested whether a utility value intervention (via manipulated relevance) influenced interest and performance on a task and whether this intervention had different effects depending on an individual's performance expectations or prior performance. Interest was defined as triggered situational interest (i.e., affective and emotional task reactions) and maintained situational interest (i.e., inclination to engage in the task in the future). In 2 randomized experiments, 1 conducted in the laboratory and the other in a college classroom, utility value was manipulated through a writing task in which participants were asked to explain how the material they were learning (math or psychology) was relevant to their lives (or not). The intervention increased perceptions of utility value and interest, especially for students who were low in expected (laboratory) or actual (classroom) performance. Mediation analyses revealed that perceptions of utility value explained the effects of the intervention on interest and predicted performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed
A COST-EFFECTIVE STREAMLINING OF THE DIOGENES DESIGN METHODOLOGY

The original DIOGENES design methodology produces fault-tolerant layouts of VLSI processor arrays by designing an array's interconnection network as a (possibly large) number of (re)configurable bundles of wires, each bundle being organized as either a stack or a queue. The benefits of DIOGENES often come only at high cost, in terms of both configuration hardware and algorithmic cost of configuration. In this paper, we improve the original methodology in a way that simultaneously: streamlines the design process; produces more cost-effective layouts; can be augmented to allow efficient dynamic reconfigurability. Our new version of DIOGENES replaces the wire-stacks and/or -queues of the original methodology by a single generalized deletion stack (GDS for short), independent of the topology of the array. The new methodology has three major benefits: 1. A GDS-network can be configured in time linear in the size of the graph being realized. (Optimal network configuration is superlinear for the queue-based version and NPcomplete for the stack-based version of the original methodology.) 2. A GDS-network can realize any linearization of any graph, subject only to the constraints of the implemented node-degree and cutwidth. (The original methodology demands a priori commitment to a fixed number of stacks or queues of fixed sizes, hence limits one to a restricted set of array topologies.) 3. A GDS-network usually requires dramatically less configuration hardware than a stack- or queue-based network would (albeit with larger switches). We end with suggested enhancements to this new, flexible, version of DIOGENES.
Caring for a demented relative at home: Effects on parent-adolescent relationships and family dynamics

Abstract Informed by a family systems perspective, the main purpose of this study was to identify changes in parent–adolescent relationships and in family dynamics when a family member with Alzheimer's or similar dementia moves into the household. The data, based on in-depth interviews with 17 adolescents, revealed that the care situation induces both positive and negative changes in family relationships. On the one hand, adolescents showed considerable empathy and respect for the parent who is the primary caregiver and reported that joint involvement in caregiving enhances adolescent–parent bonds. On the other hand, the adolescents lamented restrictions on their own and the family unit's activities due to the care situation. They also complained about spillover of caregiver stress on other family relationships and about parent-caregivers' focus of attention on the care recipient. These negative features strongly influenced adolescents' adaptation to the care situation. Overall, the results confirm the importance of a family systems perspective for understanding of and intervention in family caregiving for demented relatives. Family life educators should convey the importance of family dynamics in caregiving situations to their audiences, and family practitioners should be aware that an exclusive focus on the primary caregiver's problems may hamper adaptation of other family members (and especially adolescents) who are involved in the care situation.
Defining Optimal Aerobic Exercise Parameters to Affect Complex Motor and Cognitive Outcomes after Stroke: A Systematic Review and Synthesis

Although poststroke aerobic exercise (AE) increases markers of neuroplasticity and protects perilesional tissue, the degree to which it enhances complex motor or cognitive outcomes is unknown. Previous research suggests that timing and dosage of exercise may be important. We synthesized data from clinical and animal studies in order to determine optimal AE training parameters and recovery outcomes for future research. Using predefined criteria, we included clinical trials of stroke of any type or duration and animal studies employing any established models of stroke. Of the 5,259 titles returned, 52 articles met our criteria, measuring the effects of AE on balance, lower extremity coordination, upper limb motor skills, learning, processing speed, memory, and executive function. We found that early-initiated low-to-moderate intensity AE improved locomotor coordination in rodents. In clinical trials, AE improved balance and lower limb coordination irrespective of intervention modality or parameter. In contrast, fine upper limb recovery was relatively resistant to AE. In terms of cognitive outcomes, poststroke AE in animals improved memory and learning, except when training was too intense. However, in clinical trials, combined training protocols more consistently improved cognition. We noted a paucity of studies examining the benefits of AE on recovery beyond cessation of the intervention.
International Wrongs, State Law Remedies, and Presidential Policies

This article, prepared as part of Loyola of Los Angeles Law School’s symposium “Litigating Genocide,” considers the power of U.S. states to provide remedies for international wrongs such as genocide. Its immediate subject is the recent decision in Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung AG (9th Cir. 2009); more broadly, it addresses the issue of conflict between state law remedies and policies of the U.S. executive branch. In Movsesian, the court concluded that presidential foreign policy preempts state law remedies when the two conflict. This article disagrees. Allowing otherwise valid state laws to be displaced by mere presidential policies is contrary to the Constitution’s designation of Congress, not the President, as the nation’s lawmaking body, and to the Constitution’s designation of treaties and statutes, but not presidential policies, as the “supreme Law of the Land.” It is also inconsistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Medellin v. Texas. Though the Movsesian court gave Medellin only slight attention, Medellin involved the same issue: a claim that presidential foreign policy should preempt inconsistent state law. And Medellin held firmly against the President, even though it found the foreign policy implications invoked by the President to be “plainly compelling.” In reaching this conclusion, the Court sharply limited its prior decision in American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, which the court in Movsesian (and the executive branch in Medellin) read broadly to endorse the idea of executive foreign policy preemption. Notwithstanding Garamendi, the Court said in Medellin, the simple and determinative constitutional rule is that the President is not a lawmaker. This article argues that the Court’s conclusion in Medellin is correct as a matter of fundamental constitutional text and structure, and should allow state law claims for international wrongs to go forward unless displaced by a federal treaty or statute.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

Dementia is a general term that refers to a decline in cognitive function that is severe enough to affect a person’s ability to perform usual daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in older adults, contributing to 50–80% of dementia cases, but there is growing recognition that many cases of dementia are likely to have mixed etiologies. New AD diagnostic criteria differentiate between three hypothesized phases: pre-clinical disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD with biomarkers to help determine whether the cognitive symptoms are attributable to AD pathology. The most important risk factor for dementia is age, with a doubling in disease incidence every 5 years after 65 years of age. Given longer life expectancies and demographic changes, prevalence is expected to triple worldwide over the next 40 years. Many potentially modifiable risk factors have been identified, including medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity; lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity, diet, smoking and low education; and psychosocial factors such as depression and lack of social support. Several randomized, controlled trials are examining the impact of risk factor modification strategies on cognitive decline and risk of dementia. If they are successful, large-scale public health interventions may help prevent the impending dementia epidemic.
Socially Responsible Reform

To the Editor: I appreciate the work that you do for Physical Therapy . The quality of the research articles continues to improve under your tenure. I must, however, take great exception to a statement you made in your Editor's Note in the December 1994 issue. As you reflected over the year, you made a statement, “In the year gone by I saw my hope for health care reform and universal coverage dashed in a chaotic flight from social responsibility by people who should have known better.” I take exception to this statement as I was one of those people who strongly lobbied to my representatives to avoid a large government-run system and guaranteeing of universal access within that system. I did this to be “socially responsible” and to avoid even higher taxation to middle-class people who can barely afford the current level of taxes we must now tolerate.… [ ARTICLE][1] [1]: /lookup/volpage/74/1091?iss=12
Evaluation of Smoke Toxicity of Automotive Materials According to Standard Small-Scale Test Procedures

This paper examines the role of inhalation toxicity of the products of combustion that are generated in post-collision motor vehicle fires by automotive materials used under the hood. Small-scale toxic gas measurements were performed at Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) on eighteen components of two of the vehicles that were tested previously at the Factory Mutual Test Center (FMTC). The small-scale toxic gas measurements were obtained under dynamic flow-through conditions in the Cone Calorimeter (ASTM E 1354) and under static conditions in two smoke chamber methods (ASTM E 662 and ASTM E 1995); all methods were supplemented with FTIR gas analysis. Average yields of toxic gases measured in the Cone Calorimeter are comparable to but consistently lower than values reported in the literature for the Fire Propagation Apparatus (ASTM E 2058). Toxic gas yields are higher in the smoke chamber methods than in the Cone Calorimeter, but the ranking order of materials based on the concentrations of CO and other toxic gases is different between the dynamic and static methods. Materials were tested individually, and the results do not account for the interaction between multiple components installed in a vehicle.
Detection of DNA Double-Strand Breaks and Chromosome Translocations Using Ligation-Mediated PCR and Inverse PCR

Current techniques for examining the global creation and repair of DNA double-strand breaks are restricted in their sensitivity, and such techniques mask any site-dependent variations in breakage and repair rate or fidelity. We present here a system for analyzing the fate of documented DNA breaks, using the MLL gene as an example, through application of ligation-mediated PCR. Here, a simple asymmetric double-stranded DNA adapter molecule is ligated to experimentally induced DNA breaks and subjected to seminested PCR using adapter and gene-specific primers. The rate of appearance and loss of specific PCR products allows detection of both the break and its repair. Using the additional technique of inverse PCR, the presence of misrepaired products (translocations) can be detected at the same site, providing information on the fidelity of the ligation reaction in intact cells. Such techniques may be adapted for the analysis of DNA breaks introduced into any identifiable genomic location.
Representing Random Permutations as the Product of Two Involutions

An involution is a permutation that is its own inverse. Given a permutation $\sigma$ of $[n],$ let $\mathbf{N}_{n}(\sigma)$ denote the number of ways to write $\sigma$ as a product of two involutions of $[n].$ If we endow the symmetric groups $S_{n}$ with uniform probability measures, then the random variables ${\mathbf N}_{n}$ are asymptotically lognormal. The proof is based upon the observation that, for most permutations $\sigma$, $\mathbf{N}_{n}(\sigma)$ can be well approximated by $\mathbf{B}_{n}(\sigma),$ the product of the cycle lengths of $\sigma$. Asymptotic lognormality of $\mathbf{N}_{n}$ can therefore be deduced from Erd\H{o}s and Tur\'{a}n's theorem that $\mathbf{B}_{n}$ is itself asymptotically lognormal.
The mechanism and prevention technology of the inrush water disaster warning of karst tunnels

The formation and occurrence of inrush water disaster of karst tunnels must have four basic conditions: special geological structure,sufficient filled material,abundant groundwater resources and man-made excavation disturbance.A three-grade monitoring warning scheme of inrush water disaster of karst tunnels was first presented based on the analysis of water pressure,water quality,rock displacement,and stress of steel arches.Then,the inrush water disaster warning system of karst tunnels was also developed.In-situ experimental results in the Liuyang River tunnel of Wuhan-Guangzhou railway and the Dazhiping tunnel of the Yichang-Wanzhou railway showed that,the inrush water disaster warning system of karst tunnels adapts well to the complicated environment with good stability.Popularization and application of the system are conducive to safe construction of large tunnel.Finally,the regulation principle of inrush water disaster of karst tunnels was presented.
Urbanization Effects on Birds:from Community to Individual

Increasing urbanization worldwide resulted in increased human impacts on ecosystems. Urbanization effects on birds have drawn much attention from community to individual. At community level,urbanization impacts on assemblage,species richness,abundance,biomass,biodiversity,etc. were documented; Species level studies indicated the causes underlying bird community patterns in urbanization environment: different species have various responses to urbanization; Recent studies went further to detect urbanization pressures on birds by comparing individuals in behaviors and life history traits between urban environments and native habitats. Many evidences showed that a variety of factors induced with urbanization,including land use change,human disturbance,heat island effect,food change,nest predation,artificial light,etc. contributed more or less to the urbanization effects on birds.
Predominance and Distribution of a Persistent Listeria monocytogenes Clone in a Commercial Fresh Mushroom Processing Environment

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Listeria spp. in a commercial fresh mushroom slicing and packaging environment. Samples were collected at three different sampling periods within a 13-month time interval. Of the 255 environmental samples collected, 18.8% tested positive for L. monocytogenes, 4.3% for L. innocua, and 2.0% for L. grayi. L. monocytogenes was most often found on wet floors within the washing and slicing and packaging areas. Each of the 171 L. monocytogenes isolates found in the environment could be placed into one of three different serotypes; 1/2c was predominant (93.6%), followed by 1/2b (3.5%) and 1/2a (2.9%). Of 58 isolates subtyped using multi-virulence-locus sequence typing, all 1/2c isolates were identified as virulence type (VT) 11 (VT11), all 1/2b isolates were VT105, and 1/2a isolates were either VT107 or VT56. VT11 was designated as the predominant and persistent clone in the environment because it was isolated repeatedly at numerous locations throu...
Gorbachev and Yeltsin as Leaders: Yeltsin versus Gorbachev

The collapse of Gorbachev's efforts to steer a middle course toward a mixed system at home and abroad was in large measure a product of the social forces his policies had unleashed in the USSR and Eastern Europe. But if there was one individual who acted as an independent causal force in the unfolding of this process, it was Boris Yeltsin. Initially, during 1986–1988, Yeltsin merely complicated Gorbachev's authority-building efforts. During 1989–1991, however, he effectively scuttled Gorbachev's attempts to recoup lost credibility. When Gorbachev first tapped Yeltsin for a leadership position in Moscow in 1985, raising him from the ranks of first secretary of the Sverdlovsk Party organization, he had little idea of the trouble he was buying. Gorbachev's authority-building strategy at that point was still fairly conservative, and in 1986–1987 it would come to combine radicalization with a controlled and evolutionary pace of change. It sought to expand the arenas of politics and transform the language of politics, but at a pace to be dictated by the general secretary. Yeltsin, it turned out, found the pace in each realm to be intolerably slow. YELTSIN, GORBACHEV, AND THE STAGE OF POLITICAL SUCCESSION, 1985–1986 The Politburo brought Yeltsin to Moscow in April 1985, appointing him first as head of the Central Committee construction department and then as Central Committee secretary for construction. By his own admission, he hated the experience, for the central Party apparatus left him much less leeway to run things as he saw fit.
Continued Participation in a Telestroke Program Improves Time to Intravenous Thrombolysis (P4.315)

Background/Objective: Improved clinical outcomes after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) are time dependent. We sought to assess the effects of continued participation in a telestroke program on times to administration of IV tPA. Design/Methods: Our institutional telestroke program began in March 2011 and consists of an academic hub (comprehensive stroke center) that serves 8 community spoke hospitals. We retrospectively reviewed acute ischemic stroke patients treated with IV tPA via the telestroke program. We compared 2 cohorts of patients: Period 1 (July 2011-June 2013) and Period 2 (July 2013-July 2014). We collected data on demographics, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and times from initiation of telestroke consult to IV tPA administration. Results: Among 259 consecutive stroke patients (mean: 69.6 years, 56[percnt] female) treated with IV tPA via telestroke, the median NIHSS score was 11.8, and 41.7[percnt] of patients were transferred to the hub. The mean time from initiation of telestroke consult to IV tPA administration was 42.2 minutes. Period 1 included 129 patients and Period 2 included 130 patients, and the two groups did not differ by age (p=0.2), gender (p=0.3), or NIHSS score (p=0.3). Time from initiation of telestroke consult to IV tPA administration improved from Period 1 to Period 2 (35 vs. 49.9 minutes, p Conclusions: Maturation of a telestroke program is associated with improvement in the timeliness of IV tPA delivery. This improvement is due to faster responses in both the hub site (recommending IV tPA earlier) and spoke site (administering IV tPA quicker). Further studies aimed at improving delivery of IV tPA in telestroke program are warranted. Disclosure: Dr. Muthana has nothing to disclose. Dr. Conners has nothing to disclose. Dr. Cutting has nothing to disclose. Dr. Song has nothing to disclose. Dr. Diebolt has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bock has nothing to disclose. Dr. Lee has nothing to disclose.
Universal prevention of eating disorders: A concept analysis

The definition of universal prevention is important for theoretical, research, and policy-related reasons. The present article provides an etymological and historical look at the concept of universal prevention, in and of itself and in terms of its position on the mental health intervention spectrum involving mental health promotion, selective prevention, indicated prevention, case identification, and treatment. Following a summary of the features commonly associated with universal prevention, these characteristics are fashioned into a family resemblance model for defining the construct. This model is applied to four of the articles constituting the journal Eating Behaviors' special issue on the universal prevention of eating disorders. It is argued that this family resemblance approach captures the diversity of current universal approaches to reducing risk factors and/or preventing eating disorders. This type of definition, coupled with Foxcroft's (2014) tripartite functional analysis of universal prevention, has the potential to improve evaluations of universal prevention, as well as large-scale collaborative projects that seek to integrate programs across the mental health intervention spectrum.
Direct Printing of Thermal Management Device Using Low-Cost Composite Ink

This work presents a new method for fabricating thermal devices, such as heat sinks, using a 3D printing technique and lightweight composite ink. The method focuses on formulating composite inks with desired properties and direct ink writing for manufacturing. The ink undergoes two phases: phase one uses low viscosity epoxy to provide viscoelastic properties and phase two provides the fillers consisting of carbon fiber and graphite nanoplatelets to provide high thermal conductivity and structural properties. By combining these functional materials, 3D structures with a high thermal conductivity (≈2 W m−1 K−1) are printed for thermal management applications with the storage modulus of 3000 MPa and a density only 1.24 g cm−3. The results show that by carefully tailoring functional properties of the ink, net-shape multifunctional structures can be directly printed for thermal management device applications, such as heat sinks.
GYY4137, a Hydrogen Sulfide Donor Modulates miR194-Dependent Collagen Realignment in Diabetic Kidney

The relationship between hydrogen sulfide (H2S), microRNAs (miRs), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and poly-ADP-ribose-polymerase-1 (PARP-1) in diabetic kidney remodeling remains mostly obscured. We aimed at investigating whether alteration of miR-194-dependent MMPs and PARP-1 causes renal fibrosis in diabetes kidney, and whether H2S ameliorates fibrosis. Wild type, diabetic Akita mice as well as mouse glomerular endothelial cells (MGECs) were used as experimental models, and GYY4137 as H2S donor. In diabetic mice, plasma H2S levels were decreased while ROS and expression of its modulator (ROMO1) were increased. In addition, alteration of MMPs-9, −13 and −14 expression, PARP-1, HIF1α, and increased collagen biosynthesis as well as collagen cross-linking protein, P4HA1 and PLOD2 were observed along with diminished vascular density in diabetic kidney. These changes were ameliorated by GYY4137. Further, downregulated miRNA-194 was normalized by GYY4137 in diabetic kidney. Similar results were obtained in in vitro condition. Interestingly, miR-194 mimic also diminished ROS production, and normalized ROMO1, MMPs-9, −13 and −14, and PARP-1 along with collagen biosynthesis and cross-linking protein in HG condition. We conclude that decrease H2S diminishes miR-194, induces collagen deposition and realignment leading to fibrosis and renovascular constriction in diabetes. GYY4137 mitigates renal fibrosis in diabetes through miR-194-dependent pathway.
Magnetic Properties of CoFe2O4 Thin Films Synthesized by Radical-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition.

A radical-enhanced atomic layer deposition (RE-ALD) process was developed for growing ferrimagnetic CoFe2O4 thin films. By utilizing bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) cobalt(II), tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) iron(III), and atomic oxygen as the metal and oxidation sources, respectively, amorphous and stoichiometric CoFe2O4 films were deposited onto SrTiO3 (001) substrates at 200 °C. The RE-ALD growth rate obtained for CoFe2O4 is ∼2.4 A/supercycle, significantly higher than the values reported for thermally activated ALD processes. Microstructural characterization by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy indicate that the CoFe2O4 films annealed between 450 and 750 °C were textured polycrystalline with an epitaxial interfacial layer, which allows strain-mediated tuning of the magnetic properties given its highly magnetostrictive nature. The magnetic behavior was studied as a function of film thickness and annealing temperature: saturation magnetization (Ms) ranged f...
Verification of experimental dynamic strength methods with atomistic ramp-release simulations

Material strength and moduli can be determined from dynamic high-pressure ramp-release experiments using an indirect method of Lagrangian wave profile analysis of surface velocities. This method, termed self-consistent Lagrangian analysis (SCLA), has been difficult to calibrate and corroborate with other experimental methods. Using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics, we validate the SCLA technique by demonstrating that it accurately predicts the same bulk modulus, shear modulus, and strength as those calculated from the full stress tensor data, especially where strain rate induced relaxation effects and wave attenuation are small. We show here that introducing a hold in the loading profile at peak pressure gives improved accuracy in the shear moduli and relaxation-adjusted strength by reducing the effect of wave attenuation. When rate-dependent effects coupled with wave attenuation are large, we find that Lagrangian analysis overpredicts the maximum unload wavespeed, leading to increased error in the measured dynamic shear modulus. These simulations provide insight into the definition of dynamic strength, as well as a plausible explanation for experimental disagreement in reported dynamic strength values.
The Electron Ronchigram

The electron Ronchigram is a form of inline hologram that offers a convenient way to directly see and measure electron optical aberrations. Any user of an aberration-corrected STEM is likely to benefit from a basic understanding of how such an image is formed and used. This chapter will review the formation of the electron Ronchigram with a particular emphasis on the effects and measurement of aberrations. This review will be largely based on our own approach and previously published work.
"Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry": A Culturally Specific, Subversive Concept of Child Agency.

This article is a critique of Mildred D. Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry with regard to its positioning of the child subject. I propose that the novel contrasts classic works of children's fiction by following a trajectory of child agency, which is enabled through the novel's racial specificity. The adults in the novel “teach” the children, but they do so in a way that encourages autonomous action. Subversive child agency is enabled in the novel through the demystification of history and the unveiling of power structures. In the process, the child characters become agents of resistance.
Requirements for a one parameter characterization of crack tip fields by the HRR singularity

Detailed crack tip stress and strain fields are generated for the edge crack bar subjected to bending and the center cracked panel and single cracked panel subjected to tensile loads. These fields are compared with the singular fields, due to Hutchinson and Rice and Rosengren, at the same level of applied J. The comparisons show that the size R of the region at the crack tip dominated by the HRR singularity is substantially larger in the bend specimen than in the center-cracked panel for contained and large scale plasticity. Hardening properties also have a strong influence on R. The implications of these results on the minimum size requirement essential to a one parameter fracture criterion based on the J-integral or crack tip opening displacement are discussed.
Cohesion and leadership in individual sports: a social network analysis of participation in recreational running groups

Sixty percent of recreational runners in the United States use running groups to participate in the sport. Within these groups, cohesion, or the process of working together to achieve goals and obj...
Roundup Pro® Over the Top of Nursery Crops: Rates and Timing

Nine species of container-grown plants were treated over-the-top with Roundup Pro® (41% glyshosate) at four rates: 0.28, 0.56, 1.12, and 2.24 kg ai·ha−1 (0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 lb ai·A−1) either in...
The influence of muscle length on gastrocnemius and vastus lateralis muscle oxygen saturation and endurance

Abstract Increasing muscle length (passive stretch) has been shown to reduce muscle oxygen levels by increasing intramuscular pressure. Purpose To measure the effect of passive stretch on muscle-specific endurance and oxygen saturation in the vastus lateralis and medial gastrocnemius muscle groups. Methods Muscle Endurance (EI), Muscle blood flow (MBF), and Muscle oxygen saturation (MVO2) were measured on the vastus lateralis and medial gastrocnemius muscles in a passive stretched (lengthened) and relaxed (shortened) positions in 10 healthy individuals (21 ± 1 yrs.). Muscle endurance was measured with tri-axial accelerometer. Muscle oxygen saturation and blood flow were measured using a continuous wavelength Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). Results Muscle at stretched position showed a lower endurance index in the gastrocnemius (51 ± 9.6% versus 77 ± 9.1%, p = 0.008) and vastus lateralis (54 ± 8.9% versus 75 ± 9.6%, p 0.05 for all comparisons). Conclusions Studies of muscle endurance need to control for muscle length as changes in muscle length can influence muscle endurance.
Systems genetics applications in metabolism research

The common forms of metabolic diseases are highly complex, involving hundreds of genes, environmental and lifestyle factors, age-related changes, sex differences and gut-microbiome interactions. Systems genetics is a population-based approach to address this complexity. In contrast to commonly used 'reductionist' approaches, such as gain or loss of function, that examine one element at a time, systems genetics uses high-throughput 'omics' technologies to quantitatively assess the many molecular differences among individuals in a population and then to relate these to physiologic functions or disease states. Unlike genome-wide association studies, systems genetics seeks to go beyond the identification of disease-causing genes to understand higher-order interactions at the molecular level. The purpose of this review is to introduce the systems genetics applications in the areas of metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Here, we explain how large clinical and omics-level data and databases from both human and animal populations are available to help researchers place genes in the context of pathways and networks and formulate hypotheses that can then be experimentally examined. We provide lists of such databases and examples of the integration of reductionist and systems genetics data. Among the important applications emerging is the development of improved nutritional and pharmacological strategies to address the rise of metabolic diseases.
RESISTANCE OR COMPLIANCE: READING DANIEL 1 AS A FAUX-HIDDEN TRANSCRIPT

This article examines imperial and economic forces of colonisation surrounding post-exilic Israel, specifically the late Persian period (334-330 BCE) transitioning into the Hellenistic era (332-64 BCE), to do a suspicious reading of Daniel 1 as a text of imperial resistance. Using a paradigm constructed from elements of James Scott's theory of hidden transcripts from “Domination and the arts of resistance”, Daniel 1 becomes a Hellenistic text capable of placating and appeasing as much as (or perhaps more than) opposing and resisting empire. This work emphasises suspicious tensions to examine socio-economic class structures in and around the composition of the book of Daniel to interpret Daniel 1 through a hermeneutic of suspicion with a focus on postcolonial theory.
Facts only the perpetrator could have known? A study of contamination in mock crime interrogations.

Objective This paper examines contamination in interrogations: the process by which an interrogator divulges privileged information to a suspect. Hypotheses In Experiment 1, we predicted that mock investigators would communicate critical crime details when they interview mock suspects about a crime-and that innocent and guilty suspects alike would later produce confessions that contained these details. In Experiment 2, we hypothesized that observers who listened only to the confessions would exhibit a greater guilt bias than those who also had exposure to the eliciting interview. Method Experiment 1 (N = 59) used student participants in a mock crime scenario to test whether contamination is natural to communication even in the absence of external incentives. In Experiment 2, MTurk participants (N = 499) listened to audio-clips from Experiment 1 to test whether presenting observers with the full interview decreases guilt ratings for false confessors. Results Investigators divulged crime information to both innocent and guilty suspects, and even false confessions later included accurate details. Although Experiment 2 observers exhibited a guilt bias, exposure to the interview (not just the confession) attenuated this effect for innocent confessors. Conclusions The information disclosure associated with contamination is a normal cognitive process that occurs even without external incentives to secure a confession. Experiment 2 showed that seeing contamination in action may decrease judgments of guilt for innocent suspects. Interrogations should be recorded in their entirety to provide fact finders with an objective record of the source of crime details contained within narrative confessions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Commission Regulation of the Issuance and the Accounting Treatment of Security Issues for Water Works Purposes

Two of the most persistent problems in regulating water utilities are, first, working out a practicable balance between home rule sentiment and state control; second, devising practical means of fairly spreading the cost of water service among classes of customers and between water users and taxpayers. As to the first problem, strong home rule sentiment is natural because of our political traditions and because of the predominantly local character of water utility service. Under these circumstances a wise state control will pool experience and tend to improve standards of water works practice. In working out this reconciliation between home rule sentiment and state control, the Wisconsin Commission has blended its regulatory functions with advisory functions. In some respects the Commission has. served in much the same way as a management servicing organization ina holding company system. It has furnished advice and assistance along many lines, not the least of which is assistance in water utility accounting. The second problem is divisible into two parts. One angle is to fairly spread the cost of service among classes of users. This is primarily a matter of rate design, although it ties in closely with the second related problem of spreading costs fairly as between water users and taxpayers. This second problem is a factor in both rate-making (determining whether rates shall yield enough revenues to finance additions or retire city advances) and financing (choosing a financial policy respecting acquisition of or additions to plant which determines the relative burdens to be assumed by the water users as distinct from the taxpayers). Rate-making is a large subject by itself. In may remarks I shall focus upon financial problems and methods that involve security issues, with occasional reference to accounting practices.
Synovial Vascular Tumors

Vascular tumors of the joint are rare; they are defined as neoplastic proliferations of cells with endothelial phenotype that arise in periarticular structures, especially the synovium. The majority of cases reported in the literature are synovial hemangiomas. The knee joint is the most common location. Angiosarcoma of the joint is extremely rare. Clinically, intra-articular hemangioma can cause pain, tenderness, swelling, and hemarthrosis. Phleboliths can be identified on plain radiographs. MRI shows an intra-articular or juxta-articular soft tissue mass of intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted images and of high signal intensity of T2-weighted images. Microscopically, the tumors can be composed of capillary, cavernous, or mixed arteriovenous types. Current treatment is surgical excision via arthroscopy, or open excision if the lesion is diffuse. Preoperative embolization may be effective for diffuse lesions.
Efficacy of Intravitreal Aflibercept Injections in the Treatment of Idiopathic Retinal Vasculitis, Aneurysms and Neuroretinitis Syndrome.

PURPOSE To present a case of IRVAN syndrome that was successfully managed with serial intravitreal aflibercept injections. METHODS Ophthalmic imaging and visual acuity were used to monitor disease state and track treatment methods in order to determine the most valuable combination of treatment medication and treatment interval. RESULTS 25-year-old woman with IRVAN syndrome status post panretinal photocoagulation of both eyes presented with bilateral cystoid macular edema (CME). We demonstrate successful management of retinal CME associated with idiopathic retinal vasculitis, aneurysms and neuroretinitis (IRVAN) syndrome using serial intravitreal aflibercept injections. CONCLUSION Intravitreal aflibercept has a useful role in managing the potential retinal complications associated with IRVAN syndrome and provides further insight into treatment of the later stages of this rare disease.
But How Homeless Are You? Toward a More Just and Effective Response to Youth Homelessness

Each year, an estimated 4,200,000 unaccompanied youth ages 13 to 25 experience homelessness in the United States. The threats facing young people in housing crisis are many, and their potential impacts, harrowing. Youth are at high risk for physical and sexual victimization, mental and physical illness, and involvement with the criminal legal system and face serious threats to their education, their future economic stability, and their lives. Despite these dangerous consequences, the response to this issue in the United States continues to lack urgency, meaningful investment, and empirical support. This article critically examines the current approach to services for youth in situations of homelessness in the United States. Directly informed by the lived experiences of young people, it calls for a shift in understanding of the nature and scope of the problem and, consequently, the practice and policy strategies being implemented to address it. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of homelessness, along with corresponding procedures that further limit access to services, is examined in a call to change course in response to youth homelessness.
Introduction: The Peacebuilding Universe in Nigeria’s Oil Region

This chapter provides a background to the peacebuilding universe in Nigeria’s oil region. Building on a powerful and persuasive narrative of the author’s experience, it lays out the conceptual foundation of this book, and provide justification for its scholarly and policy significance to establish a central argument concerning the nature of peace in Nigeria’s oil region.
Chapter I A view of unconstrained optimization

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the most basic nonlinear optimization problem in continuous variables, the unconstrained optimization problem. The basic methods for unconstrained optimization are understood through their relation to the basic methods for a second nonlinear algebraic problem, the nonlinear equations problem. The chapter discusses the modern, efficient methods for solving unconstrained optimization problems. The basic local method for unconstrained optimization and nonlinear equations, that is, the Newton's method is discussed. The chapter also discusses two important methods that do not fit conveniently in the Taylor series approach: these include (1) Nelder–Mead simplex method, an important method for solving problems in few variables, and (2) conjugate gradient methods, a leading approach to problems with many variables. The current research directions in unconstrained optimization, including approaches to solving problems in many variables, special methods for problems arising from data fitting, issues in secant approximation of derivatives, the solution of problems where the Jacobian or Hessian matrix at the solution is singular, and the use of parallel computers in solving unconstrained optimization problems is also discussed in this chapter.
A Stationary Wavelet Entropy-Based Clustering Approach Accurately Predicts Gene Expression

Abstract Studying epigenetic landscapes is important to understand the condition for gene regulation. Clustering is a useful approach to study epigenetic landscapes by grouping genes based on their epigenetic conditions. However, classical clustering approaches that often use a representative value of the signals in a fixed-sized window do not fully use the information written in the epigenetic landscapes. Clustering approaches to maximize the information of the epigenetic signals are necessary for better understanding gene regulatory environments. For effective clustering of multidimensional epigenetic signals, we developed a method called Dewer, which uses the entropy of stationary wavelet of epigenetic signals inside enriched regions for gene clustering. Interestingly, the gene expression levels were highly correlated with the entropy levels of epigenetic signals. Dewer separates genes better than a window-based approach in the assessment using gene expression and achieved a correlation coefficient abo...
A digital background calibration method for mash /spl Sigma/-/spl Delta/ modulators by using coefficient estimation

This paper proposes a digital background calibration method that mitigates the effects of errors of 2/sup nd/ order analog loop filter in multi-bit cascaded sigma-delta modulators. In contrast to methods in which the general approach of adaptive FIR filtering is taken, coefficient values determining both /spl omega/ and Q of the noise transfer function are measured by a complex estimation technique in which the sampling clock signal divided by four is injected. Measured coefficient values are periodically applied to digital IIR noise cancellation filters. Digital hardware is greatly simplified compared with the FIR filter approach. Not only DC gain error but also frequency dependent gain errors are compensated by the proposed method. The out-of-band test tone can be easily removed by a decimation filter, therefore background calibration is possible. The effectiveness of this method is verified through computer simulation.
Designing Verification Conditions for Software

Software verification technology has the potential to improve the quality of software. The basic technique is to generate verification conditions for a given program and to discharge these proof obligations using a theorem prover. Encoding the verification conditions is a delicate process, not just because it must capture the intended programming semantics, but also because it must yield formulas that a theorem prover can process effectively. In this talk, I will discuss the process of generating verification conditions in the program verifier for the object-oriented language Spec#. I will highlight design decisions we have made in modeling programs and targeting SMT solvers, lessons we have learned, and challenges that remain ahead.
A Forecasting Ionospheric Real‐time Scintillation Tool (FIRST)

[1] Transionospheric radio waves propagating through an irregular ionosphere with plasma depletions, or “bubbles,” are subject to sporadic enhancement and fading commonly referred to as scintillation. Knowledge of the current ionospheric condition allows system operators to distinguish between compromises due to the radio environment and system induced failures, while a forecast of the same provides the opportunity for operators to take appropriate actions to mitigate the effects and optimize service. This paper describes a technique that uses the readily accessible ionospheric characteristic h′F from ground-based ionospheric sounder data near the geomagnetic equator to forecast the occurrence or nonoccurrence of low-latitude scintillation activity in VHF/UHF bands. We illustrate the development of the Forecasting Ionospheric Real-time Scintillation Tool and its real-time capability for forecasting scintillation activity. Finally, we have found that there exists a threshold in the h′F value at 1930 LT that corresponds to the onset of scintillation activity in the Peruvian longitude sector, which is found to decrease with decreasing F10.7 cm fluxes in a linear manner.
Sperm migration through the uterine cervix in the macaque during the menstrual cycle

Abstract The quantitative distribution of spermatozoa and leukocytes in the uterine cervix of adult female crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis) was studied. Females bred at mid-cycle were autopsied 3, 6, 16, and 24 hours after coitus. Females bred during the follicular and luteal phases and a gonadotropin-treated female were autopsied 6 hours later. Concentration gradients of spermatozoa and leukocytes in different portions of the cervix were remarkable. Concentrations of both were maximal in the vagina close to the external os and the ectocervical canal and gradually decreased with proximity to the uterus. In aninals bred at mid-cycle, maximal gradients were observed at 3 and 6 hours after coitus. By 16 or 24 hours after coitus the number of spermatozoa in the cervix had significantly declined and concentration gradients between various portions of the cervix were less evident. When copulation took place during the early follicular phase, sperm transport through the cervix was largely inhibited and cervical mucus contained large numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes mixed with spermatozoa. After copulation during the luteal phase, sperm progression toward the uterus was almost completely inhibited as a result of unfavorable biophysical characteristics of cervical mucus. The cervical mucus, unlike that of the early follicular phase, contained only a small amount of leukocytes. The pattern of ascent of spermatozoa through the cervical canal was mainly random. However, in the mid-cervix and endocervix of monkeys bred at mid-cycle, many spermatozoa were aggregated along strands of cervical mucus. Some of these spermatozoa migrated directly to the uterus. Others, moving along mucus strands originating in cervical crypts, aggregated in these crypts, perhaps forming sperm reservoirs.
Management of Indeterminate Cystic Kidney Lesions: Review of Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound as a Diagnostic Tool

Indeterminate cystic kidney lesions found incidentally are an increasingly prevalent diagnostic challenge. Standard workup includes Bosniak classification with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, these tests are costly and not without risks. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a relatively new technique with lower risk of adverse events than iodine-containing contrast or gadolinium. In our review of the evidence for characterization of cystic kidney lesions with CEUS, CEUS displayed sensitivity (89%-100%) and negative predictive value (86%-100%) comparable to contrast-enhanced CT or MRI, with no decrease in specificity compared with CT and only a slight decrease compared with MRI.