cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
THE GENESIS OF THE ACNM 1971 STATEMENT ON ABORTION

Abstract In 1971, the Board of Directors of the American College of Nurse-Midwives approved a statement that prohibited certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) from performing abortions. In 1990, the statement was superseded by a second “Statement on Abortion,” which essentialiy reworded the 1971 statement with no substantive change. In 1991, 20 years after the first statement was adopted, a resolution was approved at the Annual Meeting recommending that the Board of Directors rescind the statement, thereby allowing individual CNMs to utilize the guidelines for the incorporation of new procedures into nurse-midwifery practice if she/he decides to provide abortions. This article describes the historical basis for the initial 1971 statement in the hope that an understanding of that history will assist nurse-midwives as they reconsider the statement.
Pharmacological of an Intra-oral Fluoride-releasing Device in Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to quantify fluoride (F) concentrations in body fluids of adolescents wearing two intra-oral fluoride-releasing devices (IFRDs) designed to release 0.10 mg Fiday. Fluoride concentrations were determined potentiometrically.No significant increases occurred in urine or serum F concentratiotis during the 26-week device phase. Elevated salivary F concentrations were maintained throughout the device phase when broken or depleted IFRDs were replaced. However, salivary F concentrations returned to pre-device phase values, by 26 weeks when the original IFRDs were maintained. These findings suggest that IFRDs can significantly elevate salivary F concentrations of adolescents without significant elevations in systemic F concentrations.
Bioinformatics and variability in drug response: a protein structural perspective.

Marketed drugs frequently perform worse in clinical practice than in the clinical trials on which their approval is based. Many therapeutic compounds are ineffective for a large subpopulation of patients to whom they are prescribed; worse, a significant fraction of patients experience adverse effects more severe than anticipated. The unacceptable risk–benefit profile for many drugs mandates a paradigm shift towards personalized medicine. However, prior to adoption of patient-specific approaches, it is useful to understand the molecular details underlying variable drug response among diverse patient populations. Over the past decade, progress in structural genomics led to an explosion of available three-dimensional structures of drug target proteins while efforts in pharmacogenetics offered insights into polymorphisms correlated with differential therapeutic outcomes. Together these advances provide the opportunity to examine how altered protein structures arising from genetic differences affect protein–drug interactions and, ultimately, drug response. In this review, we first summarize structural characteristics of protein targets and common mechanisms of drug interactions. Next, we describe the impact of coding mutations on protein structures and drug response. Finally, we highlight tools for analysing protein structures and protein–drug interactions and discuss their application for understanding altered drug responses associated with protein structural variants.
A CAMAC based data acquisition system for flat-panel image array readout

A readout system has been developed to facilitate the digitization and subsequent display of image data from two-dimensional, pixellated, flat-panel, amorphous silicon imaging arrays. These arrays have been designed specifically for medical X-ray imaging applications. The readout system is based around hardware and software developed for various experiments at CERN and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Additional analog signal processing and digital control electronics were constructed specifically for this application at Michigan. The authors report on the form of the resulting data acquisition system, discuss aspects of its performance, and consider the compromises which were involved in its design. Although there are some features of the resulting system which are not optimized for the particular application (e.g., analog noise considerations and data transfer bandwidth), it has been possible to perform numerous investigations of the signal and noise characteristics of these imaging devices. In addition, the first diagnostic and megavoltage images of anatomical detail have been generated, thereby verifying the concept of this new detector technology. >
Caregiver burden in atypical dementias: comparing frontotemporal dementia, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Background Caregiver burden is a significant issue in the treatment of dementia and a known contributor to institutionalization of patients with dementia. Published data have documented increased caregiver burden in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) compared to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Another atypical dementia with high-perceived caregiver burden is sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), but no formal studies have assessed this perception. The aim of this study was to compare caregiver burden across atypical dementia etiologies. Methods 76 adults with atypical dementia (young-onset AD [YOAD], bvFTD, language variant FTD [lvFTD], and sCJD) were administered an abbreviated version of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q), and other assessment instruments during a five-year time period at Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH). A Cox regression model examined differences between disease categories that impact mean ZBI scores. Results Mean ZBI scores were significantly different between dementia etiologies, with bvFTD and sCJD having the highest caregiver burden (p = 0.026). Mean NPI-Q caregiver distress scores were highest in bvFTD and sCJD (p = 0.002), with sCJD and bvFTD also having the highest number of endorsed symptom domains (p = 0.012). On regression analyses, an interactive variable combining final diagnosis category and NPI-Q total severity score demonstrated statistically significant differences in mean ZBI scores for sCJD and bvFTD. Conclusions This study demonstrates that bvFTD and sCJD have increased levels of caregiver burden, NPI-Q caregiver distress, total severity scores, and number of endorsed symptom domains. These results suggest that higher caregiver burden in bvFTD and sCJD are disease specific and possibly related to neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Idiopathic Hypersomnia and Hypersomnolence Disorder: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Background Hypersomnia is a common complaint in medical offices. Often patients are given psychiatric diagnoses, but a primary sleep disorder may be present. The new diagnosis of “hypersomnolence disorder” (HD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition is a primary sleep disorder most similar to the diagnosis “idiopathic hypersomnia” (IH) in sleep literature and can be missed in psychiatric settings. Methods A systematic review of the computerized databases PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Psychinfo using the search criteria “idiopathic AND (hypersomnolence OR hypersomnia),” as well as “hypersomnolence disorder was conducted.” Articles were included if they were in English and included information regarding the epidemiology, diagnosis, pathophysiology, or treatment of IH or HD. Where relevant, weighted means and 95% CI were calculated based on the number of subjects in each study. Results A total of 143 articles discussed IH, whereas no articles were found regarding HD. Most articles were review articles, prospective studies, or studies of pathophysiology. IH is found in approximately 0.02%–0.010% of the general population, has a mean age of onset of 21.8 years, and is associated with several somatic symptoms. Alterations in histaminergic or dopaminergic signaling may be involved in IH. Treatment with modafinil or other stimulants appears moderately effective. IH can be differentiated from psychiatric hypersomnolence by formal polysomnography. Conclusions IH and HD are relatively uncommon disorders and little is known about them. However, they are distinct from psychiatric disorders and respond well to treatment once properly identified.
Creating a European Constitutional Monarchy for Afghanistan: The Transnational Dynamics of Afghanistan's Constitutional Period

Afghanistan’s Constitutional Period represents the last time Afghans were able to create a constitution and government for themselves absent direct foreign intervention and during a period of relative stability. To be sure, the ability of the constitution to affect significant or lasting political change had its limits. However, it served several important functions, providing a theoretical safeguard for instances wherein the country went off-track and laying the groundwork for increasing democracy and implementing the rule of law. Most importantly, the constitution was viewed as a symbol of the country’s direction, not only by its citizens but also by the international community. In the case of the 1964 Constitution, French scholars and Egyptian-educated Muslim jurists worked with elite Afghan bureaucrats in an attempt to realize an imagined national community and create a parliamentary monarchy modeled after those in Europe. Drawing haphazardly from German, French, and Arab influences, and self-legitimizing via a combination of Islamic discourse and Pashtun tribal structures, these reforms lasted less than a decade as they failed to take into consideration the realities of Afghanistan’s political, social, or linguistic culture, causing, among other things, a systemic inability to solve basic problems or even perform the most perfunctory acts of governance. The 1964 Constitution and its reforms failed for several reasons. I argue that rather than creating a unified nationalist identity, the pervasive efficiency of the new government, acting in combination with increased levels of education and literacy and exposure to foreign political ideologies, created a space for the emergence of competing nationalist movements inspired by European Marxism on one hand and Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood political Islam on the other. Political polarization and social unrest amongst the urban intelligentsia was further exacerbated by the fact that graduates of the newly modernized, European-style educational system were thrust into an economic landscape wherein political patronage networks, rather than ability or aspiration, determined future prospects, and Islamic discourse, rather than the language of an industrialized economy, legitimated policy goals. The project of infrastructure modernization, meanwhile, begun in the years just before the Constitutional period, had improved infrastructure and communication, allowing previously far-flung peoples and provinces to learn firsthand about the depth and consequences about endemic government corruption and paralysis, as well as the persistence of Pashtun privilege in spite of the promise of shared, neutral Afghan citizenship privileges for all.
Institutional Arrangements, Property Rights and the Endogenity of Comparative Advantage

This Article argues that institutional arrangements and security of property rights can have an impact not just on investment and growth, but on comparative advantage and the pattern of trade as well.It considers the empirical evidence on the relationship between property rights regimes and investment, and briefly examines some of the empirical literature from the “new” growth theory. After considering the implications of the factor proportions model for patterns of production and factor endowments and examining the model’s poor empirical performance, as well recent work suggesting that all exports are not necessarily the same in terms of their impacts on economic growth, the analysis focuses on how institutional arrangements can vitiate or enhance comparative advantage. Using two case studies, as well as one shorter illustration, I examine the link between institutional arrangements and trade patterns, and then discuss the policy implications of these findings, particularly for the allocation of scarce institutional capital in developing countries.
Saint Peter's Leaky Boat: Falling Intergenerational Persistence among U.S.-Born Catholics since 1974

Author(s): Hout, M | Abstract: Since the 1950s, one-of-four American adults has been a Catholic. That constant fraction hides substantial change. Higher fertility, more immigrants, and a relatively young age distribution implies growth, not stasis. The demographic advantage is reflected in the growing fraction of adults who were raised Catholic. The fraction raised Catholic exceeded one-of-three Americans in recent years. The difference between one-of-four and one-of-three means substantial defection. More than ever, people raised Catholic are leaving; most drop out of organized religion altogether. Measures of core beliefs and strength of identity changed less, overall, implying that it was inactive and weakly identified Catholics who left. Identities, beliefs, and practices among millennials with no religious preference, but Catholic roots underscore the degree to which changes are rooted in disaffection with organized religion. Among people who were raised Catholic, the traditional sexual ethic continued to Erode, but papal authority has not changed across recent cohorts.
Field Testing and New Applications of Gas Phase Miniature Chemical Analysis Systems (µChemlab

Sandia National Laboratories has developed both gas and liquid phase chemical analysis systems (µChemLab™). The gas phase system was originally targeted toward the field detection of chemical warfare agents (CWA) and consists of microfabricated components that are coated to achieve the desired sensitivity and selectivity. The performance of individual components with a variety of selected organic compounds has been presented in the past [1]. This paper presents results of field and laboratory tests using the total analytical system (µChemLab™) and discusses new applications.
Mapping Stability and Change in Advanced Capitalisms

Within the study of comparative capitalisms (CC), there is little consensus on the core traits, proper labels, or categorization of different capitalist economies. This paper seeks to clarify the discussion by constructing an empirical index that can be used to map advanced capitalist economies. The index is based on a dozen variables organized into three key domains: the organization of labor, the organization of business and the role of the state. In terms of cross-national comparison, the distribution of states largely matched theory, although with greater diversity among liberal economies and relatively less among European economies than would be expected. Over time, there has been a general movement toward liberalization with some states, such as New Zealand, liberalizing substantially. Alternately others, mainly Ireland, have actually become more coordinated. Beyond descriptive mapping, this paper also demonstrates how the CC index can be used to provide analytical leverage over questions of the taxonomy of capitalisms, the connection between models and economic performance and the relative contribution of diverse institutions toward economic performance.
Fisheries prospects for the future--freshwater and marine.

The successful nutrition research conducted at the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama for the past 25 years has, understandably, not been greatly concerned with animal protein of aquatic provenience. It is fitting, however, that a future-oriented Anniversary Symposium also deal with this facet of man’s protein supply, and therefore this chapter treats the production of fish and other aquatic animals, giving special emphasis to certain aspects of aquaculture and tropical capture fisheries, including a selective discussion of postharvest technology.
Ecocultural Conversations: Bridging the Human-Nature Divide through Connective Communication Practices

ABSTRACTScholars have long argued that various modern, Western cultures have come to conceptualize “the environment” as a separate, ordered, and submissive entity. A problematic human–nature divide stems from this rational view, resulting in environmental degradation. Yet, humans and other-than-humans regularly interrupt these ordered, rational framings. Through a qualitative examination of a K–12 state forest conservation education program, I use a transhuman, materialist communication approach to illustrate how curriculum and the forest service problematically construct humanature relations. I then show how students, rangers, and other-than-humans disrupt and disorder these framings. Instead of using practices that worsen the problem, practitioners and researchers can create ecocultural conversations—connective communication practices that help bridge the human–nature divide. This article articulates how more sustainable environmental communication theories and practices can address dire social and envi...
Brand owner approaches to assessing the risk of product counterfeiting

Product counterfeiting is an ongoing problem whose complexity makes it difficult to be assessed. Although many organizations have estimated its extent, their measurements often have methodological shortcomings. Brand owners are working with industry organizations to improve these measurements. In this study, we use interviews with brand owners in various industries to identify practices and challenges for measuring the extent of product counterfeiting.
Precisely evaluating of discrepancy

Discrepancy is a measure of quality of samples distribution expressed as a supremum. In general, estimating this supremum relies on comparing volumes of many randomly chosen sets from some given family to quantity of samples belonging to these sets. In this paper, a numerical method of precise determinating discrepancy using the most popular families of sets will be introduced.
Near-net-shape processed ZnS ceramics by aqueous casting and pressureless sintering

Abstract In this paper, slip casted ZnS ceramics were pressurelessly sintered at 1000 °C under flowing argon atmosphere. The application of cold isostatic pressing enhanced the microstructural homogeneity of the ZnS green body and therefore contributed to the overall densification progress. Highest relative density of 92% was achieved after sintering for 6 h, accompanied by remarkable grain growth. Phase transition from sphalerite to wurtzite was found by the prolonged soaking time. The mechanisms for grain growth were analyzed.
Protection against Salmonella via immunization with recombinant lactic acid bacteria

Mucosal immunization of hens may be effective to prevent contamination of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) in eggs. Lactic acid bacteria have been considered potential vaccine delivery agents because they are safe, immunogenic, and inexpensive. Our research group has been investigating the development of oral vaccines against SE using a Lactobacillus casei strain as an antigen delivery vehicle. Recombinant lactobacilli expressing SE antigens FliC and SipC have been constructed and administered to mice. Antigen specific immune responses and protective immunity were elicited after the immunization. For adjuvant delivery, IL-1beta-secreting L. casei was also engineered and its efficacies were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. This article reviews a novel approach to develop SE vaccines using recombinant lactobacilli.
Preventive services: counseling for healthy lifestyles.

Upon completion of this article, participants will be able to: employ clinical practice guidelines, integrate evidence-based medicine into clinical practice, become familiar with new therapeutic regimens, and counsel patients on preventive health and wellness.
Raman Scattering from Spin — Density Fluctuations in n — Ga As

The anomalously large cross sections observed for scattering from single-electron excitations in GaAs can be explained in part as scattering from spin-density fluctuations. The electromagnetic field is coupled to the spins through second-order p∙ A perturbation terms involving the spin-orbit splitting of the valence band. At high carrier densities, where the screening wave vector is much greater than the momentum transfer, the spindensity fluctuations are not screened out as the charge-density fluctuations are, and hence the cross section can be much larger than that due to charge-density fluctuations alone. The polarization properties of the scattered radiation are also different for the two processes. For spin-density scattering the matrix element is proportional to \(\overrightarrow {\sigma \cdot } {\mkern 1mu} \left( {{{\hat \in }_1} \times {{\hat \in }_2}} \right),\) whereas for charge-density scattering it varies as \(\left( {{{\hat \in }_1}\cdot {{\hat \in }_2}} \right),\) where \({\hat \in _1}\) and \({\hat \in _2}\) are the incident and scattered polarization vectors. The magnetic field is taken to be zero throughout.
Seven Steps to Developing a Model

This chapter discusses various steps to developing a useful model for a control system. The principal function of a model is to improve your understanding of the system. The first step in modeling is to define the behaviors one wants to understand better. The detail in the model should correspond to the behaviors under examination. Training models are the easiest models to develop. Troubleshooting models are used to help correct a problem in a control system. They are used to identify the source of the problem and then to allow the engineer to simulate corrections without having to change the actual product or process. One needs to write a model in meters, seconds, and kilograms. Modeling in English units or other nonstandard units is more difficult because most processes must be scaled. The next stage of modeling is identifying the system. The plant is usually understood after examining reference material. Power converters are complicated, but they can often be simplified to low-pass filters. The controller is often the most difficult element to identify. It may incorporate many functions besides the control laws, including scaling and filtering.
Venous Thromboembolism in Patients Undergoing Craniotomy for Brain Tumors: A U.S. Nationwide Analysis.

Background Patients who undergo craniotomy for brain tumor have an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). Using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) registry, patients undergoing craniotomy for brain tumor from 2006 and 2014 were analyzed to identify risk factors for postoperative VTE. Methods The study population, identified by Current Procedural Terminology codes, included all NSQIP-reported patients who underwent a craniotomy for brain tumor resection. Results There were 629 instances of VTE among 19,409 craniotomies for brain tumor (3.2%) recorded in NSQIP. Occurrence of VTE was associated with other postoperative complications on univariate analysis, including pneumonia, respiratory failure, stroke, and sepsis (all p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, independent predictors of VTE included age 46 to 57 years (odds ratio [OR], 1.432; p = 0.006), 57 to 66 years (OR, 1.550; p = 0.001), or over 66 years (OR, 2.493; p < 0.001), body mass index (BMI) over 32.1 kg/m2 (OR, 1.835; p < 0.001), functional dependence (OR, 1.657; p < 0.001), ventilator dependence (OR, 2.516; p < 0.001), steroid use (OR, 1.661; p < 0.001), prior sepsis (OR, 1.845; p < 0.001), and total operative time 183 to 271 minutes (OR, 1.462; p = 0.032) and longer than 271 minutes (OR, 1.945; p < 0.001). Conclusions VTE occurs in approximately 3% of patients undergoing craniotomy for brain tumor resection. Independent predictors for developing VTE include older age, higher BMI, recent steroid use, and total operative time.
How to process a multi million gate ASIC layout in 21 hours

This paper discusses the turn around time reduction issue for the ASIC layout design process. It reviews key technologies to reduce the runtime of several of the most time consuming design steps. It also introduces a flexible yet easy to use reference layout design flow called FastTAT that is implemented in TheGuide, an IBM ASIC design methodology tool. The layout of a 17 million gate design has been processed within 21 hours from unplaced netlist to a fully routed and timing optimized design. Practical design issues related to turn around time are also discussed.
GRAFT-VERSUS-LEUKEMIA

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the work in progress to develop a treatment plan for patients with refractory and/or recurrent acute leukemia. The experiments described are being made on leukemic mice and have been planned in such a way as to simulate some of the unsolved problems of acute leukemia in man. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and adoptive immunotherapy have been combined in a treatment model that has the potential for clinical applicability. The key feature of the treatment model is a transplant of immunologically competent cells obtained from a healthy donor. The transplanted immunocompetent cells are asked to eradicate residual leukemia cells in the host after intensive, but noncurative, conventional antileukemic therapy. A chemoradioadoptive immunotherapeutic model for the treatment of murine leukemia with potential for clinical applicability has been described. A temporary graft versus leukemia (GVL) reaction is the key feature of the model. The term GVL reaction is used to signify the adoptive immunotherapeutic effect of transplanted immunologically competent cells from an allogeneic donor on leukemia cells in an immunosuppressed host. The graft versus host disease was circumvented. Cell cure of 88% of AKR mice bearing a virulent lymphocytic leukemia was achieved. Late mortality occurred in 58% of the mice because of bone marrow and lymphoid aplasia. Perfection of this treatment model will lead to a treatment plan that can be used for patients with refractory and/or recurrent acute leukemia.
Chapter 14 – Practical Applications of Optimization

Practical problems can require large models to accurately predict response of the system to inputs, such as the finite element models for structural and mechanical systems. In such cases, constraints for the problem cannot be expressed only in terms of the design variables; that is, they are implicit functions of the design variables. Optimum design problem formulation of such systems is described. Gradient evaluation of implicit functions is presented so that a gradient-based method can be used for optimization. Practical aspects of optimization software selection and its integration with the analysis software are discussed. Several example problems are formulated as optimization problems, solved, and discussed. Optimal control of systems is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem and solved by the sequential quadratic programming method. Several objective functions are used to demonstrate generality of the formulation. Optimum design of tension members, compression members, flexural members and pole structures to satisfy a design code constraints are formulated and solved. These problems have “IF THEN ELSE” type constraints. Procedures are discussed to treat these types of constraints in derivative-based optimization algorithms. Alternative formulations for structural optimization are also described where the design and the analysis variables are treated as solution variables simultaneously. This makes all the problem functions explicit in variables; however, the size of the optimization problem is enlarged. Alternative formulations for time-dependent optimization problems are also discussed.
Multi-agent systems using diamagnetic micro manipulation — From floating swarms to mobile sensors

Multi-agent robotic systems on small scales typically use, or envision using, small mobile robots. This paper takes a broad-brush look at a relatively recent development in milli and micro robots, Diamagnetic Micro Manipulation (DM3) systems, in a multi-agent context. We report various multi-agent operations, such as multi-agent part manipulation, robots-acting-on-other-robots for enhanced functionality, and robot-supplied local feed, to assess the state of the art of this new type of system. In addition, we explore and analyze the multi-agent implications of known DM3 properties and earlier single-agent results to motivate future research in this area. As reported here, some of these multi-agent implications include mobile high-precision sensor transducers, near-field communications channels using robots as both transmitters and receivers, and novel swarm architectures.
Evidence that curtailing proactive policing can reduce major crime

Governments employ police to prevent criminal acts. But it remains in dispute whether high rates of police stops, criminal summonses and aggressive low-level arrests reduce serious crime 1â€“7 . Police officers target their efforts at areas where crime is anticipated and/or where they expect enforcement will be most effective. Simultaneously, citizens decide to comply with the law or commit crime partly on the basis of police deployment and enforcement strategies. In other words, policing and crime are endogenous to unobservable strategic interaction, which frustrates causal analysis. Here, we resolve these challenges and present evidence that proactive policingâ€”which involves systematic and aggressive enforcement of low-level violationsâ€”is positively related to reports of major crime. We examine a political shock that caused the New York Police Department (NYPD) to effectively halt proactive policing in late 2014 and early 2015. Analysing several years of unique data obtained from the NYPD, we find that civilian complaints of major crimes (such as burglary, felony assault and grand larceny) decreased during and shortly after sharp reductions in proactive policing. The results challenge prevailing scholarship as well as conventional wisdom on authority and legal compliance, as they imply that aggressively enforcing minor legal statutes incites more severe criminal acts.
ENLARGEMENT OF SCLEROCHOROIDAL CALCIFICATIONS: MULTIMODAL IMAGING UPDATE.

Purpose To report the multimodal imaging and enlargement of sclerochoroidal calcifications over a 10-year period. Methods Case report of a 74-year-old white man who presented for routine follow-up and was found to have yellow chorioretinal lesions in the right eye. Results Multimodal imaging was performed and confirmed sclerochoroidal calcifications. Comparison of fundus photography over a 10-year period demonstrated growth of preexisting lesions and the development of new lesions in the right eye. Conclusion Over time, this patient developed new sclerochoroidal calcifications and enlargement of preexisting calcifications. We, therefore, recommend regular follow-up with periodic multimodal imaging for these patients.
Microbial and nitrogen pool response to fuel treatments in Pinyon-Juniper woodlands of the southwestern USA

Abstract Wildfire mitigation in Pinyon-Juniper woodlands in the Colorado Plateau region is a management priority. Two wildfire mitigation treatments, mastication and thin-pile-burn, are often chosen based on costs and availability of equipment, yet there are ecological concerns with either treatment. Ecological outcomes from additions of low quality organic residues following mastication can potentially alter microbially mediated soil nitrogen availability, therefore we wished to evaluate the effects of the additions of low quality woody residues to the soil surface compared to thin-pile-burn treatments at three Ips confusus affected woodland sites in the Colorado Plateau region. Thin-pile-burn treatments consisted of thinning between 40% and 60% of the canopy cover, while mastication treatments entailed shredding dead trees and 50% of shrub canopy while retaining live pinyon trees and designated snags. Both fuels treatments achieved wildfire mitigation goals, yet twice as much basal area and three times as much volume were removed by thinning relative to mastication. Surface additions of woody residues favored bacteria, while fungal populations that typically colonize and decompose woody organic residues did not increase in the upper mineral horizon. Neither fuel treatment affected mineral soils at the plot level, but the carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio of the organic horizon was significantly greater with mastication compared to the control. Nitrogen availability was reduced by almost half during the non-growing season, yet fuel treatments did not significantly influence nitrogen availability compared to control. Fuel treatment as performed in our study following the large mortality event demonstrated that microbial populations and their effects on nitrogen availability are resistant to disturbances produced by wildfire mitigations treatments.
A Novel Application of Structural Equation Modeling Estimates the Association between Oxidative Stress and Colorectal Adenoma

In vitro evidence implicates oxidative stress in many adverse health conditions, including colorectal neoplasia. In human studies, however, oxidative stress is measured by imperfect biomarkers, which are inconsistently associated with health outcomes. Structural equation modeling (SEM) offers one possible solution by modeling a latent (unobserved) construct from multiple biomarkers. Our goal was to investigate the association of a latent oxidative stress variable with colorectal adenoma. Using SEM, we analyzed pooled data from two cross-sectional studies of colorectal adenoma (n = 526) that measured five plasma biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation that comprised the latent oxidative stress variable: F2-isoprostanes (FIP), fluorescent oxidation products (FOP), mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) copy number, γ-tocopherol (Gtoc), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Higher levels of oxidative stress were associated with colorectal adenoma [OR = 3.23 per SD increase in oxidative stress; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.28-8.18]. The latent variable estimate was considerably stronger than the associations of adenoma with the individual biomarkers, which were modest and mostly nonsignificant. Risk factors were associated with adenoma via the oxidative stress pathway, particularly overweight and obesity with an OR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.10-2.81; and OR = 2.95; 95% CI, 1.28-12.45, respectively. Oxidative stress may be positively associated with colorectal adenoma, and important risk factors may act through this mechanism, but the cross-sectional design of the current study precludes observing the directionality of associations. The presence of an adenoma could affect levels of the circulating biomarkers; thus, we should be cautious of strong conclusions until the findings are replicated in a follow-up study. Cancer Prev Res; 11(1); 52-58. ©2017 AACR.
Innovative Instructional Module Uses Evaluation to Enhance Quality

The instructional module, Southeastern Forests and Climate Change, is an example of innovation in sustainability education. The module was designed for high school science teachers and developed as part of a research project on southern pine productivity in a changing climate. As a result, it combines climate science with pine ecophysiology and economic productivity. It also encourages classroom debate and role playing activities to explore relevant ethical issues. It deftly brings together science education and education for sustainability. The process of developing the instructional module utilized a needs assessment, experimentation, and evaluation which improved program quality. The summative evaluation provided insights about the success of the program. This tight coupling of evaluation and program development created a high quality product that educators are requesting and using.
Critical caring theory and public health nursing advocacy for comprehensive sexual health education

Public health nurses (PHNs) often work with adolescent populations at risk for unplanned pregnancies who do not have access to comprehensive sexual health education (CSHE). Evidence-based CSHE can have a significant protective effect on adolescent sexual behaviors. This article applies critical caring theory to public health nursing advocacy for CSHE. Critical caring theory defines the social justice work of PHNs as an expression of their caring as nurses. The lack of CSHE in schools for adolescents is a social justice issue, and PHNs can be important advocates. The purpose of this article is to explore how critical caring theory can inform public health nursing practice regarding the importance of CSHE advocacy with the goal of creating equitable access to CSHE for all adolescents.
Sustainability university–community partnerships: Lessons for practitioners and scholars from highly sustainable communities:

As local communities face increasing pressure to address environmental concerns, town–gown partnerships are one avenue for improving environmental conditions and sustainability planning for the fut...
Carbonic anhydrase II does not exhibit Nitrite reductase or Nitrous Anhydrase Activity

Carbonic anhydrase II (CA II) is a zinc metalloenzyme that catalyzes the reversible interconversion of water and CO2 to bicarbonate and a proton. CA II is abundant in most cells, and plays a role in numerous processes including gas exchange, epithelial ion transport, respiration, extra- and intracellular pH control, and vascular regulation. Beyond these CO2 and pH-linked roles, it has been postulated that CA II might also reduce nitrite (NO2-) to nitric oxide (NO), as bicarbonate and NO2- both exhibit sp2 molecular geometry and NO also plays an important role in vasodilation and regulation of blood pressure. Indeed, previous studies by Aamand et al. have shown that bovine CA II (BCA II) possesses nitrite dehydration activity and paradoxically demonstrated that CA inhibitors (CAIs) such as dorzolamide and acetazolamide significantly increased NO production (Aamand et al., 2009; Nielsen and Fago, 2015) [1,2]. Hence, the goal of this work was to revisit these studies using the same experimental conditions as Aamand et al. measuring NO generation by two methods, and to examine the structure of CA II in complex with NO2- in the presence and absence of dorzolamide. Our results contradict the previous findings and indicate that CA II does not exhibit nitrite reductase or dehydration activity, and that this is not enhanced in the presence of CA inhibitors. In addition, a structural examination of BCA II in complex with NO2- and superimposed with dorzolamide demonstrates that CA inhibitor binding at the active site to the zinc moiety blocks potential NO2- binding.
THE HILBERT TRANSFORM OF THE GAUSSIAN

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the Hilbert transform of the Gaussian. It highlights a connection between the Hilbert transform and the one-dimensional heat equation. The Hilbert transform is a linear operator that takes a function, u ( t ), and produces a function, H ( u )( t ), with the same domain. The Hilbert transform is a basic tool in Fourier analysis and provides a concrete means for realizing the harmonic conjugate of a given function or Fourier series. By taking A = 0 and B = 1/π gives Q ( u ), the conjugate Poisson kernel for the upper half plane.
Arvède Barine: History, Modernity, and Feminism

Arvede Barine, pseudonym of Louise-Cecile Vincens (1840–1908), is hardly known today, but her histories, biographies, and literary criticism were immensely popular in France, Europe, and North America during her lifetime. This essay links Barine’s historical practices to her ambivalent relationship to feminism and modernity, based on her published works and the extensive correspondence addressed to Barine held in the Manuscripts Department of the National Library of France in Paris. While she explicitly rejected feminist claims for legal equality with men, she was very much interested in ways that women in the past exerted influence and conducted their lives. This chapter contends that this ambiguity lies in the three different levels of analysis Barine applied to her subjects: inherited traits, social and cultural history, and individual choices.
2-Dominant Resource Fairness: Fairness-Efficiency Tradeoffs in Multi-resource Allocation

Fair allocation has been studied intensively in both economics and computer science. Many existing mechanisms that consider fairness of resource allocation focus on a single resource. With the advance of cloud computing that centralizes multiple types of resources under one shared platform, multi-resource allocation has come into the spotlight. In fact, fair/efficient multi-resource allocation has become a fundamental problem in any shared computer system. The widely-used solution is to partition resources into bundles that contain fixed amounts of different resources, so that multiple resources are abstracted as a single resource. However, this abstraction cannot satisfy different demands from heterogeneous users, especially on ensuring fairness among users competing for resources with different capacity limits. A promising approach to this problem is dominant resource fairness (DRF), which tries to equalize each user's dominant share (share of a user's most highly demanded resource, i.e., the largest fraction of any resource that the user has required for a task), but this method may still suffer from significant loss of efficiency (i.e., some resources are underused). This paper develops a new allocation mechanism based on DRF aiming to balance fairness and efficiency. We consider fairness not only in terms of a user's dominant resource, but also in another resource dimension which is secondarily desired by this user. We call this allocation mechanism 2-dominant resource fairness (2-DF). Then, we design a non-trivial on-line algorithm to find a 2-DF allocation and extend this concept to $k$ -dominant resource fairness ( $k$ -DF).
Alert and Awake: Role of alertness and attention on rate of new product introductions

Abstract Integrating the attention-based view and entrepreneurial alertness perspective, we develop our theoretical framework to test the influence of CEO attention and alertness on rate of new product introduction (NPI). We propose that a firm's rate of NPI is predicted independently and jointly by attention and alertness, two different yet complementary cognitive characteristics of the CEO. Using a sample of 271 US-based small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) from 2004 to 2015, we show that CEO's attention to RD however, high alertness hurts the rate of NPI. Such theoretical elaboration and empirical illustrations contribute to a better understanding of the microfoundations of managerial cognition and its role in NPI. By adding alertness from entrepreneurship literature and explicating the nexus between alertness and attention, our study explains how some CEOs who are able to acquire novel information and stay focused are able to achieve higher rate of NPI.
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Endothelial Networks Accelerate Vascularization But Not Bone Regeneration

Vascularization is critical for engineering mineralized tissues. It has been previously shown that biomaterials containing preformed endothelial networks anastomose to host vasculature following implantation. However, the networks alone may not increase regeneration. In addition, a clinically applicable source of cells for vascularization is needed. In this study, vascular networks were generated from endothelial cells (ECs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Network formation by iPSC-ECs within fibrin gels was investigated in a mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) coculture spheroid model. Statistical design of experiments technique was evaluated for its predicting capability during the optimization of experimental parameters. The prevascularized units were combined with hydroxyapatite nanoparticles to develop a vascularized composite hydrogel that was implanted in a rodent critical-sized cranial defect model. Immunohistological staining for human-specific CD31 at week 1 indicated the presence and maintenance of the implanted vessels. At 8 weeks, the prevascularized systems resulted in higher vessel density over MSC-only scaffolds. The implanted vessels appeared to establish flow with host vasculature. While there was a slight increase in bone volume in the prevascularized bone construct compared to MSC-only bone constructs, there was not a profound increase in bone regeneration. These results show that scaffolds with network structures can be generated from ECs derived from iPSC and that the networks survive and inosculate with the host postimplantation in a bone model. Impact statement Vascularization is critical for engineering bone. Prevascularized scaffolds have been shown to improve postimplantation vascularization. Herein, vascularized networks were generated from induced pluripotent cells derived from endothelial cells. These vascularized units were combined with a fibrin/hydroxyapatite scaffold to develop a prevascularized construct for bone regeneration. Implantation of these scaffolds in a small animal cranial defect model resulted in network inosculation and increased vascularization, but exhibited only a limited effect on bone formation. This study provides insight into the challenges of generating vascularized bone.
Implementation of multi-component diesel fuel surrogates and chemical kinetic mechanisms for engine combustion simulations

Abstract Recent developments have led to the formulation of multi-component surrogates that closely match physical and chemical properties of diesel fuels. These surrogates have been characterized and extensively tested in constant pressure vessels as well as engine experiments. The adoption of such surrogates in simulations is an important step towards predictive engine simulations. However, significant challenges remain in adoption of such surrogates. The complex chemical kinetics associated with a multi-component fuel leads to an extremely large and stiff chemistry mechanism with thousands of species. Such chemistry mechanisms are prohibitive to be directly used in engine simulations using traditional solvers due to the excessively-high computational cost. This work describes some of the experimental investigations of a 4-component diesel fuel surrogate in constant volume combustion chambers that provide useful validation datasets for numerical models. In addition, a chemical kinetic mechanism for the multi-component diesel surrogate with 1544 species is proposed. A previously validated unsteady flamelet model, accelerated by a sparse solver and analytical Jacobian, is used to implement large chemistry mechanisms for realistic diesel engine simulations. A flamelet solver is used to generate multi-dimensional unsteady flamelet libraries for the multi-component surrogate for a range of conditions. This approach is then used in a large eddy simulation (LES) framework to model combustion of the 4-component surrogate in a constant pressure spray vessel over a range of ambient oxygen conditions. The current chemistry mechanism and computational methodology can capture the two-step ignition delay as well as flame lift-off length trends observed in the experiments. Some of the low temperature combustion characteristics are analyzed in detail. The computational setup and the validation results demonstrate the feasibility of using these latest multi-component fuel surrogates for engine simulations by leveraging multi-dimensional chemistry tabulation methods. Highlights: 1. Detailed experiments with the multicomponent V0A surrogate were carried out in the High Temperature Pressure Vessel facility. 2. A detailed chemistry mechanism with 1544 species was developed for the V0A surrogate. 3. The LSODES based flamelet tabulation method was used to implement and validate these high-fidelity surrogates and mechanisms in engine relevant LES calculations.
Home Alone: Home Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Scams and the Theft of Equity

Mortgage foreclosures caused by predatory lending and subprime mortgages seem to garner front page headlines on a daily basis. Greedy mortgage brokers, greedy banks, greedy investors, and financially illiterate consumers all share some blame for this crisis. However, the Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Scam (MFRS) has caused a crisis of its own for decades. This article describes how MFRS works. It gives a detailed account of an actual victim of MFRS and proposes several solutions to prevent the scam, when the elderly are its target.