cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adult day health care organizational and program characteristics.

A survey of 31 adult day health care (ADHC) programs assessed the extent to which the programs were implemented as intended by the VA. The study described and compared the host communities, ADHC organizational characteristics, program characteristics, and patient use of services. Four of the centers were operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in VA Medical Center facilities. The remaining 27 centers were community providers serving veterans on contract through four additional VA Medical Centers. Veterans Administration programs were located in larger facilities, with lower client/staff ratios and fewer hours of operation than community contract programs. Patients on the average made 45 visits to the VA-ADHC programs and 58 visits to the contract ADHC programs. The VA and contract programs were generally found to have been implemented as planned, i.e., they followed VA guidelines for staffing, space, and equipment.
SEGMENTAL PATTERN OF INFILTRATES OVER RETINAL VESSELS IN FUNGAL ENDOPHTHALMITIS.

Purpose To describe the case of a patient with Candida tropicalis endophthalmitis who presented with a pattern of segmentally distributed preretinal infiltrates overlying the retinal blood vessels. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed. A 72-year-old East Indian male presented with redness, pain, photosensitivity, and loss of vision in the right eye for 1 month. He had been recently hospitalized for necrotizing pancreatitis and had been receiving intravenous medications as well as parenteral nutrition through a peripherally inserted central catheter. Results Fundus examination revealed moderate vitreous cells and infiltrates, including a segmental pattern of preretinal bead-like opacities along several blood vessels. The patient underwent emergent vitrectomy with injection of antibiotics and antifungal medications. Vitreous cultures grew C. tropicalis. The patient was treated with oral antifungal medication for 6 weeks. By 7 weeks after surgery, all infiltrates and inflammatory cells had completely resolved. The imaging and intraoperative observations suggest that the opacities behaved like infiltrates and were associated with vitreous rather than vascular inflammation. Conclusion A segmental pattern of preretinal infiltrates over retinal vessels can be a presenting feature in endogenous fungal endophthalmitis. The observations in this case may contribute to understanding the pathophysiology of the findings.
High osteoporosis risk among East Africans linked to lactase persistence genotype

This ecological correlation study explores the marked differential in osteoporosis susceptibility between East and West Africans. African tsetse belt populations are lactase non-persistent (lactose intolerant) and possess none of the genetic polymorphisms carried by lactase persistent (lactose tolerant) ethnic populations. What appears paradoxical, however, is the fact that Niger-Kordofanian (NK) West African ethnicities are also at minimal risk of osteoporosis. Although East Africans share a genetic affinity with NK West Africans, they display susceptibility rates of the bone disorder closer to those found in Europe. Similar to Europeans, they also carry alleles conferring the lactase persistence genetic traits. Hip fracture rates of African populations are juxtaposed with a global model to determine whether it is the unique ecology of the tsetse-infested zone or other variables that may be at work. This project uses MINITAB 17 software for regression analyses. The research data are found on AJOL (African Journals Online), PUBMED and JSTOR (Scholarly Journal Archive). Data showing the risk of osteoporosis to be 80 times higher among East Africans with higher levels of lactase persistence than lactase non-persistence West Africans are compared with global statistics. Hip fracture rates in 40 countries exhibit a high Pearson's correlation of r=0.851, with P-value=0.000 in relation to dairy consumption. Lower correlations are seen for hip fracture incidence vis-a-vis lactase persistence, per capita income and animal protein consumption. Ethnic populations who lack lactase persistence single-nucleotide polymorphisms may be at low risk of developing osteoporosis.
Signifying Aids: How media use metaphors to define a disease

ABSTRACTHIV is still one of the biggest public health challenges in Tanzania. The media play an important role in keeping the public updated about this issue. Aids’ invasive traits and infectious viruses have been systematically metaphorised to communicate complex information in simple terms over the past three decades. Even though metaphors are present in our everyday speech, when applied to illness and science, the consequences can have a ripple effect if misused. Employing semiotic analysis, this study explores how the Tanzanian media use metaphors and related imagery to report on HIV/Aids. The results indicate that the use of war metaphors, accompanied by photographs mostly featuring men, vivifies the HIV/Aids epidemic and valourises the stakeholders who engage in battling the ‘virus’. These stakeholders include government officials, international donors and heterosexual men, and exclude women and other disenfranchised groups such as homosexuals and the elderly.
The Later Conception of God

Royce has considered how comparison of ideas and social interpretation are related. Comparison of ideas sets a model of truth for the interpretations which occur in the social community. Royce now directs attention to the relation between the requirements for truth in the human community and the requirements for truth in the universe of Being. The underlying thought that connects the two is this. All human efforts to achieve truth suppose the existence of some human community of interpretation. Without community, human judgment would have no norm of objectivity. Hence, if there is truth concerning the real world, it must be that the real world is in the form of a community of interpretation. In this world the contrasting ideas which need interpretation are the antitheses, sometimes tragic, which occur in time and afflict human lives. These are signs which call for interpretation. If there is truth concerning the real world, there is an interpretation and an interpreter of these signs. In short, Being is in the form of a community of interpretation.
Application of the Marchenko Method to Three-Dimensional Inverse Scattering

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the application of the Marchenko method to three-dimensional inverse scattering. The inversion problem must deal with the fact that the domain of M with matrix S consists of functions of three variables in R3, whereas its range consists of functions of five variables in R x S2 x S: k, and the two angles, each required to specify the incoming and outgoing directions. One of the aspects to solve the inverse problem is to find a set of equations whose input consists of the scattering data and whose unique solution yields the potential in the Schrodinger equation, the solution of which, in turn, leads to the same data used as input. The chapter finally presents the Riemann–Hilbert problem without bound states and also with bound states.
Inkjet-printed 3D interconnects for millimeter-wave system-on-package solutions

This work outlines the development, fabrication, and measurement of fully inkjet-printed 3D interconnects for wireless mm-wave packaging solutions. Conductive silver nanoparticle and dielectric polymer-based inks are utilized to fabricate die attach, dielectric ramp, and CPW transmission line interconnect structures in order to interface a silicon die with a packaging substrate. Insertion and return loss are measured and compared with simulations over the range of 0–40 GHz. An inkjet-printed mm-wave bow-tie slot antenna is integrated with the IC die in order to highlight the highly versatile nature of this 3D interconnect technology for integration with emerging SoP technology.
Preparation of Reference Water and Soil Samples for Performance Evaluation of Volatile Organic Analysis

Methodology was developed to reproducibly prepare performance evaluation materials for volatile organics analysis in soils and waters. Tedlar gas sampling bags are used to prepare the volatile organics spike solutions. Most volatile organics were well preserved in 3 water samples by storage at refrigerator temperature for 14 days
Charged vacancy diffusion in chromium oxide crystal: DFT and DFT+U predictions

In this work, we computationally studied the lattice diffusion through the ion-vacancy exchange mechanism in α-Cr2O3 crystal using the first-principles density functional theory (DFT) and DFT+U calculation methods. For both O and Cr vacancies, we have identified four elementary diffusion paths in α-Cr2O3 crystal. Our DFT+U calculations predict that the O vacancy with charge +2 ( VO2+) is stable when Fermi energy is near to valence band maximum, whereas the Cr vacancy with charge −3 ( VCr3−) is stable when Fermi energy is close to conduction band minimum. Moreover, the DFT+U calculations predict that the migration energy for VO2+ diffusion varies from 1.18 to 2.98 eV, whereas that for VCr3− diffusion varies from 2.02 to 2.59 eV, close to experimental data. Both DFT and DFT+U results indicate that the migration energy of neutral vacancies ( VO0 and VCr0) is higher than that of the charged vacancies ( VO2+ and VCr3−) along any diffusive path. Importantly, it is found that the DFT+U method describes α-Cr2O3 ...
Distinguishing Signatures of Multipathway Conformational Transitions.

The folding and binding of biomolecules into functional conformations are thought to be commonly mediated by multiple pathways rather than a unique route. Yet even in experiments where one can ``see'' individual conformational transitions, their stochastic nature generally precludes one from determining whether the transitions occurred through one or multiple pathways. We establish model-free, observable signatures in the response of macromolecules to force that unambiguously identify multiple pathways---even when the pathways themselves cannot be resolved. The unified analytical description reveals that, through multiple pathways, the response of molecules to external forces can be shaped in diverse ways, resulting in a rich design space for a tailored biological function already at the single-molecule level.
Monitoring the Health of a Cantilever Beam Using Nonlinear Modal Tracking

Cantilever beams can often be used as representative models for more complex systems and can accurately display the expected behavior of these systems under different loads. The health of a cantilever beam after being subjected to harmonic excitation at its second resonance frequency is determined using a nondestructive health monitoring technique. Nonlinear Modal Tracking assumes a second order differential equation that factors in mass, stiffness, and damping of the beam with a cubic nonlinearity parameter. Research so far has confirmed that a drastic shift in this nonlinear term is a result of crack initiation and an indicator of the beam’s transition from healthy to unhealthy. Application of this Nonlinear Modal Tracking can be beneficial in monitoring the health of structures in order to predict catastrophic failure. The purpose of this study was to investigate several new techniques and conditions to verify the robustness of the model.
Electrofusion: The Technique and Its Application to Somatic Hybridization

The use of electric fields for inducing protoplast fusion (electrofusion) has its origins in biophysical studies of cell membranes. However, recent work showing electrofusion to be simpler, quicker, and often more efficient than chemically induced fusion is attracting the interest of geneticists and tissue-culture practitioners. Indeed, electrofusion may become the fusion technique of choice for species whose cells exhibit a severe cytotoxic response to polyethylene glycol (PEG). Interest in this area has been further heightened by recent demonstrations that electric pulses can be used to introduce foreign DNA into plant cells (“electroporation”: Fromm et al. 1986; Riggs and Bates 1986). This chapter provides an overview of electrofusion and its application to plant somatic hybridization.
Abstract 514: Females are Protected from Hypertension and Kidney and Brain Infiltration of T Lymphocytes During Angiotensin II Infusion

There is extensive evidence that activation of the immune system is both necessary and required for the development of Ang II induced hypertension in males and that the central nervous system (CNS) is involved in this response. The purpose of the present study was to determine if there are sex differences in ability of the adaptive immune system to induce Ang II hypertension and the effect of sex on T-cell infiltration into the brain and kidney during Ang II induced hypertension. Rag-1-/- mice, with a genetic deletion of the recombinase-activating gene and lacking both T and B cells were used in this study. Male (n=4) and female (n=4) Rag-1-/- mice both received adoptive transfer of male CD3+ T cells three weeks prior to 14 day Ang II infusion (490 ng/kg/min). Blood pressure was monitored non-invasively via tail cuff. In Rag-1-/- mice, in the absence of T cells, male and female mean arterial pressure (MAP) responses to Ang II were similar, males increased MAP 14.6 mmHg (107.8mmHg to122.5mmHg) and females increased 14.4 mmHg (102.7mmHg to 117.2 mmHg). However, following adoptive transfer of male CD3+ Tcells, Ang II induced a significantly greater increase in blood pressure in males (delta 37.8 mmHg, 107.2mmHg to 139.5mmHg, p
A moderately precise dynamical age for the Homunculus of Eta Carinae based on 13 years of HST imaging

NASA from the Space Telescope Science Institute [AR-12618, AR-14586, GO-13390]; NASA [NAS5-26555]; NSF [AST-1312221]
Personalizing MM Treatment: Gaps in Current Knowledge

Management of multiple myeloma has become more complex with advances in our understanding of disease biology and the availability of newer therapies. Clinicians should use the best available evidence and make personalized decisions for individual patients. There are several disease-, patient-, and treatment-related factors that go into planning a therapeutic strategy for a given patient. The present chapter discusses the gaps in our knowledge and potential ways in which data are being gathered for better informed treatment decisions.
Lead toxicity in the pediatric patient with sickle cell disease: Unique risks and management

Lead toxicity is the result of lead ingestion, one of the most common ingestions in the pediatric population. Nationwide and statewide efforts to recognize and curtail this epidemic have led to declining rates of toxicity. In patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), lead toxicity can be an elusive diagnosis due to overlapping symptom profiles, and inconsistent follow-up with a primary care physician can make the diagnosis even more difficult. In this article, two illustrative cases of lead toxicity in patients with SCD are described. The discussion reviews the current risk factors, screening, and inpatient management of lead toxicity, as well as describing the unique and sometimes confounding presentations of lead toxicity versus sickle cell crisis. [Pediatr Ann. 2018;47(1):e36-e40.].
Utilizing the M-Scan to measure standards-based mathematics teaching practices: affordances and limitations

The Mathematics Scan (M-Scan), a content-specific observational measure, was utilized to examine the extent to which standards-based mathematics teaching practices were present in three focal lessons. While previous studies have provided evidence of validity of the inferences drawn from M-Scan data, no prior work has investigated the affordances and limitations of the M-Scan in capturing standards-based mathematics teaching. We organize the affordances and limitations into three categories: the operationalization of the M-Scan, the organization of the M-Scan, and the M-Scan within the larger ecology of instruction. Our analysis indicates the M-Scan differentiates among lessons in their use of standards-based mathematics teaching practices by operationalizing the M-Scan dimensions at the lesson level, sometimes at the expense of capturing the peaks and valleys within a single lesson. Simultaneously, the analysis revealed how the application of the rubrics may be impacted by lesson transcripts. We discuss the theoretical organization of the M-Scan and its implications for researchers and practitioners applying the rubrics. Finally, we point to the affordances and limitations of the M-Scan within the larger ecology of instruction by considering curricular issues and two dimensions of instruction not highlighted by the M-Scan.
Waitlist Outcomes in Liver Transplant Candidates with High MELD and Severe Hepatic Encephalopathy.

Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and United Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) implemented the Share 35 policy in June 2013 to prioritize the sickest patients awaiting liver transplantation (LT). However, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score does not incorporate hepatic encephalopathy (HE), an independent predictor of waitlist mortality. To evaluate the impact of severe HE (grade 3–4) on waitlist outcomes in MELD ≥ 30 patients. Using the OPTN/UNOS database, we evaluated LT waitlist registrants from 2005–2014. Demographics, comorbidities, and waitlist survival were compared between four cohorts: MELD 30–34 with severe HE, MELD 30–34 without severe HE, MELD ≥ 35 with severe HE, and MELD ≥ 35 without severe HE. Among 10,003 waitlist registrants studied, 41.6% had MELD score 30–34 and 58.4% had MELD ≥ 35. Patients with severe HE had a higher 90-day waitlist mortality in both MELD 30–34 (severe HE 71.1% vs. no HE 56.6%; p < 0.001) and MELD ≥ 35 subgroups (severe HE 85% versus no HE 74.2%; p < 0.001). MELD 30–34 patients with severe HE had similar 90-day waitlist mortality as MELD ≥ 35 patients without severe HE (71.1 vs. 74.2%, respectively; p = 0.35). On multivariate Cox proportional hazards modeling, MELD ≥ 30 patients had 58% greater risk of 90-day waitlist mortality than those without severe HE (HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.53–1.62; p < 0.001). Patients awaiting LT with MELD score of 30–34 and severe HE should receive priority status for organ allocation with exception MELD ≥ 35.
Too Much Carrot and Not Enough Stick in New Stem Cell Oversight Trends

Regulators are now more often distinguishing between perceived good citizens and "bad actors" in stem cell and regenerative medicine clinical research, resulting in relatively more polar, carrot-and-stick oversight approaches. Here, I discuss why there may be too much carrot and not enough stick by regulators for effective enforcement.
Phenomenology of Antiamorphous Order

When dealing with the phenomenology associated with aggregates of matter, it is useful to appeal to a taxonomy that is based on concepts of order.
Modeling the Wind and Thermohaline Circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean

In this paper we shall review the results from the series of modeling experiments carried out under the WOCE Community Modeling Effort at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder and at the Institut fur Meereskunde in Kiel. In this series, a variety of experiments has been performed using the GFDL primitive equation model at 1/3° × 2/5° latitude-longitude resolution, examining sensitivity to surface forcing and parameterization choices. In addition, two experiments have been run for a few years at 1/6° × 1/5° resolution and about 30 experiments have been run at 1° × 1.2° resolution for hundreds of years. After a brief description of these results, the implications of these experiments for future ocean model development and for studies of ocean circulation and climate change will be discussed. In particular, we shall examine the potential for improving the surface boundary conditions for the fluxes of heat and fresh water and briefly address issues concerning open boundary conditions and improved physical parameterizations in the CME context.
Quantification of 99mTc-duramycin uptake kinetics in the area-at-risk after myocardial ischemia and reperfusion using a compartment model

1446 Objectives 99mTc-duramycin is a novel radiopharmaceutical that detects apoptosis and necrosis by recognizing phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Prior studies demonstrated that 99mTc-duramycin is particularly suitable for cardiac applications, due to its low molecular weight, fast blood clearance, avid infarct binding and minimal hepatic background. The aim of this study was to quantitatively characterize the in vivo kinetics of 99mTc-duramycin in the area-at-risk using compartmental analysis. Methods Myocardial infarction was induced in rats. 99mTc-Duramycin was injected iv. At 3, 10, 20, 60 and 180 min, the radioactivity in infarcted and normal myocardium was measured (%ID/g). A compartment model was developed consisting of vascular and tissue regions representing the vascular and tissue regions of the myocardium, with blood activity as input. For infarct myocardium, the model allows for tracer diffusionbetween vascular and tissue regions, and sequestration within the tissue region via specific binding. Results Model results show that the sequestration of 99mTc-Duramycin within tissue region of infarct myocardium follows linear kinetics. The rate of tracer diffusion (0.22 ml/min/g) between vascular and tissue region of infarct myocardium is larger than the rate of sequestration (0.05 ml/min/g) within the tissue region. Conclusions Model results suggest that the rate of diffusion of 99mTc-Duramycin is not a limiting factor for the binding within the tissue region of infarct myocardium. The model provides a means for quantitative interpretation of the 99mTc-Duramycin kinetic data in terms of the dominant factors that determines its disposition in infarct tissue.
Wound Healing, Chronic Inflammation, and Immune Responses

The biocompatibility of orthopedic materials impacts the processes of wound healing, chronic inflammation, and immune responses. Metal alloys within the body present a complex problem, since they may take the form of solid components, particulate metal debris, and metallic ions. Biological responses to metals in particulate form share much in common with other stimuli of the inflammatory response, but metal ions have the capacity to both exert direct effects on cells and provoke the development of an immunological reaction. While wound healing, chronic inflammation, and the immune response share numerous common mediators and pathways, there are subtle variations between the processes that will influence the eventual biological resolution of any orthopedic biomaterial. The pathways pertinent to these basic responses are under genetic regulation, meaning that the precise reaction of any given patient to a particular biomaterial is difficult to predict. This chapter will review the primary pathways in cellular biology that regulate wound healing, inflammation, and immunity, with a particular focus upon common mediators that interact between the systems. We will further examine the current state of knowledge of the influence of metal in its various forms on these biological processes.
MelodyMorph: A Reconfigurable Musical Instrument

I present MelodyMorph, a reconfigurable musical instrument designed with a focus on melodic improvisation. It is designed for a touch-screen interface, and allows the user to create “bells” which can be tapped to play a note, and dragged around on a pannable and zoomable canvas. Colors, textures and shapes of the bells represent pitch and timbre properties. “Recorder bells” can store and play back performances. Users can construct instruments that are modifiable as they play, and build up complex melodies hierarchically from simple parts.
Treatment of primary rectal adenocarcinoma after prior pelvic radiation: The role of hyperfractionated accelerated reirradiation.

Abstract Purpose Previous studies have reported that hyperfractionated accelerated reirradiation can be used as part of multimodality treatment of locally recurrent rectal cancer with acceptable toxicity and promising outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes and toxicity of hyperfractionated accelerated reirradiation for patients with primary rectal adenocarcinoma and a history of prior pelvic radiation for other primary malignancies. Methods and materials We identified 10 patients with a prior history of pelvic radiation for other primary malignancies who were treated with hyperfractionated accelerated reirradiation for primary rectal adenocarcinoma. Radiation therapy was administered with 1.5 Gy twice daily fractions to a total dose of 39 Gy to 45Gy. Results The median follow-up time was 3.2 years (range, 0.6-9.0 years). Seven of 10 patients received surgery after reirradiation. The 3-year freedom-from-local-progression rate was 62% for all patients and 80% for patients who underwent surgery. The 3-year overall survival rate was 100%, with 3 deaths occurring at 4.7, 6.5, and 9.0 years after reirradiation. One patient had an acute Grade 3 toxicity of diarrhea, and 1 patient experienced a late Grade 3 toxicity of sacral insufficiency fracture. Conclusions Hyperfractionated accelerated reirradiation was well tolerated with promising rates of freedom from local progression and overall survival in patients with primary rectal cancer with a history of prior pelvic radiation therapy. This approach, along with concurrent chemotherapy and surgery, appears to be a viable treatment strategy for this patient population.
Detecting Spies in IoT Systems using Cyber-Physical Correlation

The emerging ubiquity of IoT devices with monitoring capabilities has resulted in a growing concern for user privacy. Whereas previous research has focused on preventing an attacker from learning about user activities through analyzing data, we are concerned with the problem of attackers that utilize either hidden or compromised IoT devices to spy on users. Our work addresses the challenge of automatically identifying devices that are streaming privacy-intruding information about a user despite the presence of both encryption and a large number of wirelessly connected devices within range of the user. We present a framework for inducing a signal in the physical world and then detecting its digital footprint when devices are monitoring the user. Our approach only requires the user to have a device such as a smart phone with the ability to enter into promiscuous packet capture mode. As an example application, we have set up a hidden camera and conducted 222 trials of devices that are not recording the user along with 680 trials of the hidden camera under a wide variety of configurations. In most of the environments examined, we were able to to detect over 90% of the hidden cameras while producing less than 6% false positives. As a result, this paper provides significant evidence that our approach is feasible for detecting spying devices.
A roadmap for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine development based on volunteer challenge studies

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of travelers’ diarrhea and of diarrhea among young children in developing countries. Experimental challenge studies in adult volunteers have...
Leptin produced by obesity-altered adipose stem cells promotes metastasis but not tumorigenesis of triple-negative breast cancer in orthotopic xenograft and patient-derived xenograft models

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the USA. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a clinically aggressive subtype of breast cancer with high rates of metastasis, tumor recurrence, and resistance to therapeutics. Obesity, defined by a high body mass index (BMI), is an established risk factor for breast cancer. Women with a high BMI have increased incidence and mortality of breast cancer; however, the mechanisms(s) by which obesity promotes tumor progression are not well understood. In this study, obesity-altered adipose stem cells (obASCs) were used to evaluate obesity-mediated effects of TNBC. Both in vitro and in vivo analyses of TNBC cell lines were co-cultured with six pooled donors of obASCs (BMI > 30) or ASCs isolated from lean women (lnASCs) (BMI < 25). We found that obASCs promote a pro-metastatic phenotype by upregulating genes associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and promoting migration in vitro. We confirmed our findings using a TNBC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model. PDX tumors grown in the presence of obASCS in SCID/beige mice had increased circulating HLA1+ human cells as well as increased numbers of CD44+CD24− cancer stem cells in the peripheral blood. Exposure of the TNBC PDX to obASCs also increased the formation of metastases. The knockdown of leptin expression in obASCs suppressed the pro-metastatic effects of obASCs. Leptin signaling is a potential mechanism through which obASCs promote metastasis of TNBC in both in vitro and in vivo analyses.
Nerves, smooth muscle cells and interstitial cells in the GI tract: Molecular and cellular interactions

Abstract Multiple cell types generate and organize the movements of the gut muscles required to process nutrients and wastes in the GI tract. Central to motility are smooth muscle cells (SMCs) that generate the forces necessary to propel luminal contents or restrict movements. SMCs are not capable of organ level cooperation without complex regulatory mechanisms. Unrestrained, SMCs are a detriment to propulsive activity because of their intrinsic but cell-to-cell uncoordinated excitability properties. SMCs are coupled electrically to interstitial cells forming a regulatory unit called the SIP syncytium. SIP is an acronym that describes a syncytium of electrical network cells formed by the SMCs, ICC (Interstitial Cells of Cajal) and PDGFR2 + (Platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha). Interstitial cells generate electrical rhythmicity and synchronize the contractions of SMCs into phasic contractions. Interstitial cells also receive and transduce neural inputs. Superimposed upon the regulation provided by the SIP syncytium, the enteric nervous system senses the volume and composition of luminal contents through intrinsic primary sensory nerves (IPANs) and generates motility patterns at the whole organ level. These effects are further mediated through 5-hydroxy tryptamine (Serotonin), acetyl choline, vasoactive intestinal peptide, nitric oxide and others. Neuropathies of the enteric nervous system are associated with serious motility disorders.
The stigma effect: unintended consequences of mental health campaigns

As mental health practitioners and scientists, we are attuned to the unique challenges faced by those that we help, and we do our best to lessen the interference of these challenges with the way in...
Impact of composite scaffold degradation rate on neural stem cell persistence in the glioblastoma surgical resection cavity

Abstract Tumoricidal neural stem cells (NSCs) are an emerging therapy to combat glioblastoma (GBM). This therapy employs genetically engineered NSCs that secrete tumoricidal agents to seek out and kill tumor foci remaining after GBM surgical resection. Biomaterial scaffolds have previously been utilized to deliver NSCs to the resection cavity. Here, we investigated the impact of scaffold degradation rate on NSC persistence in the brain resection cavity. Composite acetalated dextran (Ace-DEX) gelatin electrospun scaffolds were fabricated with two distinct degradation profiles created by changing the ratio of cyclic to acyclic acetal coverage of Ace-DEX. In vitro, fast degrading scaffolds were fully degraded by one week, whereas slow degrading scaffolds had a half-life of >56 days. The scaffolds also retained distinct degradation profiles in vivo. Two different NSC lines readily adhered to and remained viable on Ace-DEX gelatin scaffolds, in vitro. Therapeutic NSCs secreting tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) had the same TRAIL output as tissue culture treated polystyrene (TCPS) when seeded on both scaffolds. Furthermore, secreted TRAIL was found to be highly potent against the human derived GBM cell line, GBM8, in vitro. Firefly luciferase expressing NSCs were seeded on scaffolds, implanted in a surgical resection cavity and their persistence in the brain was monitored by bioluminescent imaging (BLI). NSC loaded scaffolds were compared to a direct injection (DI) of NSCs in suspension, which is the current clinical approach to NSC therapy for GBM. Fast and slow degrading scaffolds enhanced NSC implantation efficiency 2.87 and 3.08-fold over DI, respectively. Interestingly, scaffold degradation profile did not significantly impact NSC persistence. However, persistence and long-term survival of NSCs was significantly greater for both scaffolds compared to DI, with scaffold implanted NSCs still detected by BLI at day 120 in most mice. Overall, these results highlight the benefit of utilizing a scaffold for application of tumoricidal NSC therapy for GBM.
A Tribute to Eleanor D. Kinney - Introduction

Professor Kinney was a leading exponent of the idea of health care as a human right. That the contributors to this issue are moved to “engage, deeply, generously, and thoughtfully” with Professor Kinney’s ideas is a testament to her achievement. Her conviction that a human rights approach to health care could help improve the health of the most vulnerable was of a piece with her faith in a beneficent ultimate reality. May her memory be a blessing.
Prediction Modeling of Frequency Response Characteristic of Power System Based on Historical Data

The disturbance brought by the connection of new energy to the grid poses greater challenges for the automatic generation control system of the power grid. In this paper, a real-time prediction method of frequency response characteristic coefficient of power system based on historical data is proposed, which can be used to improve the frequency deviation of the automatic generation control system coefficient setting. First, the maximal information coefficient is used as the index of the max-relevance and min-redundancy algorithm to extract the features of many factors affecting the frequency response characteristic in the power system. Then, according to the results of feature extraction, a prediction model for the frequency response characteristic of power system was established by using an artificial neural network with dropout. The analysis and comparison of different models using historical operation data of the power grid verified that the model has better prediction accuracy and generalization ability.
Wind turbine power curve modeling using radial basis function neural networks and tabu search

Abstract Wind turbine power curve (WTPC) modeling is of great importance for performance monitoring. This work proposes a new method for producing highly accurate non-parametric models for wind turbines based on artificial neural networks (ANNs). To achieve this, we employ networks belonging to the radial basis function (RBF) architecture, and feed them with additional important input variables besides wind speed. To further increase modeling accuracy, while at the same time keeping the computational cost at acceptable levels, we introduce a new training algorithm based on the successful non-symmetric fuzzy means (NSFM) approach, which in this work is hybridized with the tabu search (TS) metaheuristic technique, enabling the method to train efficiently datasets of high dimensionality. The resulting method is evaluated on real data from four wind turbines, whereas a comparison with numerous WTPC modeling schemes, including parametric and non-parametric models is conducted. The solution found by the proposed algorithm outperforms the results produced by its rivals in terms of both modeling accuracy and efficiency, while in most cases it also leads to simpler models. The resulting models can be used successfully, not only for accurate WTPC modeling, but also for constructing wind turbine performance analysis tools, e.g. 3-D power curves.
Introduction to Part IV: Abnormal Electrical Functions of the Heart and Their Diagnoses in Clinic

The electrocardiograph (ECG) is the cornerstone of diagnostics for electrical diseases of the heart. Yet, the devices in use today and their outputs would not be unrecognizable to the contemporaries of Waller and Einthoven more than a century ago. Most chapters in this section focus on the ECG and various derivative measurements, which speak volumes to the clinical utility and enduring power of this diagnostic instrument (Fig. 8.1).
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Length in Pediatric Populations: An MRI Study:

Background:As regards anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR), graft diameter has been identified as a major predictor of failure in skeletally mature patients; however, this topic h...
Isolation, Characterizations of Bioactive Principles from Melia dubia Leaf and Its In-silico and In-vitro Urolithiatic Activity

Various bioactive compounds were extensively found at different levels in many medicinal plants. This study mainly focuses on identification and separation of antioxidants from the different extract of leaves of Melia dubia. Soxhlet extraction was adopted for extraction using solvents namely hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol, water and 70% ethanol. Anti-oxidant capacity of six extracts was analyzed by quick and convenient DPPH method. Extracts which possess high scavenging activity were taken for separation and are achieved by chromatographic techniques, then, characterized by spectral methods. Compound owing highest antioxidant efficacy were tested for its inhibitory potential against Urolithiatic activity via In-silico and In-vitro analysis. On antioxidant activity the methanol and 70% ethanol extracts revealed greater antioxidant potential from which two antioxidants were isolated and characterized namely MDL-1 and MDL-2. The antioxidant MDL-1 exhibited highest scavenging potential than MDL-2 and its antiurolithiatic potentials were confirmed with molecular docking (In-silico) as well as single diffusion gel method (In-vitro).
Early life and adult stress promote sex dependent changes in hypothalamic miRNAs and environmental enrichment prevents stress-induced miRNA and gene expression changes in rats.

Background The hypothalamus plays a key role in the stress response. While early life stress (ELS) increases susceptibility to psychiatric disorders including major depressive disorder (MDD), acute stress during adulthood can also precipitate MDD after ELS. Aim Here, we tested the expression of miRNAs following ELS and susceptibility to depression-like behavior and whether sex or acute stress exacerbates this response. We also tested whether environmental enrichment (Enr) promotes early life and adult behavioral stress resilience and its effect on hypothalamic miRNA and gene expression. Following rat maternal separation (MS) as an ELS model, Enr from weaning through adulthood, and restraint (RS) as acute adult stress, we tested both animal behavior and miRNA expression in the hypothalamus. Target genes and their enrichment and ontology were analyzed using bioinformatic tools. Target gene expression changes were tested using qPCR, and miRNA promoter methylation was studied using methylated-DNA immunoprecipitation qPCR. Results MS, Enr, RS, and sex altered hypothalamic miRNAs, including several previously reported in MS literature: miRs-29, - 124, - 132, - 144, - 504. Sex had a significant effect on the greatest number of miRNAs. Also, Enr reversed downregulation of miR-29b-1-5p and -301b-3p in MS. qPCR showed that MAPK6 and MMP19, targets of miR-301b-3p, were upregulated in MS and reversed by Enr. Additionally, miR-219a was hypermethylated in MS coinciding with decreased miR-219a expression. Conclusions This study found that sex plays a critical role in the hypothalamic miRNA response to both ELS and acute stress, with males expressing greater changes following postnatal stress. Moreover, enrichment significantly altered behavior as well as hypothalamic miRNA expression and their gene targets. Because of its role as the initiator of the autonomic stress response and connection to hedonic and motivational behavior, the hypothalamic miRNA landscape may significantly alter both the short and long-term behavioral response to stress.
Public transit generates new physical activity: evidence from individual GPS and accelerometer data before and after light rail construction in a neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Poor health outcomes from insufficient physical activity (PA) are a persistent public health issue. Public transit is often promoted for positive influence on PA. Although there is cross-sectional evidence that transit users have higher PA levels, this may be coincidental or shifted from activities such as recreational walking. We use a quasi-experimental design to test if light rail transit (LRT) generated new PA in a neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Participants (n=536) wore Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and accelerometers before (2012) and after (2013) LRT construction. We test within-person differences in individuals' PA time based on changes in transit usage pre- versus post-intervention. We map transit-related PA to detect spatial clustering of PA around the new transit stops. We analyze within-person differences in PA time based on daily transit use and estimate the effect of daily transit use on PA time controlling for socio-demographic variables. Results suggest that transit use directly generates new PA that is not shifted from other PA. This supports the public health benefits from new high quality public transit such as LRT.
Racism: What It Is and What It Isn’t

Productive conversations about racial matters are too infrequent, both inside and outside classroom settings. Confusion about the meaning of “racism” contributes to the problem, and some guidelines will help. First, within a given category (actions, jokes, stereotypes, remarks, stereotypes, persons), we should confine “racism” to especially egregious wrongs in that category. Not every racial stereotype is racist. Not every racially insensitive action is a racist action. The distinct opprobrium attached to racism and racist can be retained and protected if we recognize that racism refers to racial inferiorization or racial antipathy, and that the different categorical forms of racism can all be related to either of those two definitions. Second, we should not confuse racism in one category with racism in another. A person who is prey to a racist stereotype is not necessarily “a racist”; nor does he or she necessarily operate from racist motives. Finally, racism by no means captures all of what can go wrong in the domain of race. There is a much larger terrain of moral ills in the racial domain than racism itself, and we should draw on our manifold linguistic resources — racial insensitivity, failure to recognize racial identity, racial ignorance, racial anxiety, racial injustice, racial homogenization, and so on — to express and describe moral disvalue in this domain.
Mining Indirect Associations in Web Data

Web associations are valuable patterns because they provide useful insights into the browsing behavior of Web users. However, there are two major drawbacks of using current techniques for mining Web association patterns, namely, their inability to detect interesting negative associations in data and their failure to account for the impact of site structure on the support of a pattern. To address these issues, a new data mining technique called indirect association is applied to the Web click-stream data. The idea here is to find pairs of pages that are negatively associated with each other, but are positively associated with another set of pages called the mediator. These pairs of pages are said to be indirectly associated via their common mediator. Indirect associations are interesting patterns because they represent the diverse interests of Web users who share a similar traversal path. These patterns are not easily found using existing data mining techniques unless the groups of users are known a priori. The effectiveness of indirect association is demonstrated using Web data from an academic institution and an online Web store.
Health Care Fraud: An Introduction to a Major Cost Issue

Fraud affects all businesses and industries, but when health care is viewed as a single industry including hospitals, physicians, insurers, pharmaceuticals, etc., fraud in this single industry assumes a monumental identity. Malcolm Sparrow of Harvard University affirmed that the order of magnitude of health care fraud is measured in the hundreds of billions, and provided a range of $100-$600 billion. While fraud is typically discussed in financial terms, some health care industry frauds have an element that is absent in most other industries, i.e., individuals’ health and lives may be affected. This paper provides a definitional understanding of health care fraud, defines specific frauds, and categorizes health care frauds into four types; describes the unique non-financial consequences of health care fraud; and discusses efforts to mitigate health care fraud. Readers should benefit from greater awareness of health care fraud, that could be helpful in developing more effective fraud control processes.
THE ABC-X MODEL OF FAMILY STRESS IN THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS

Throughout history, families have dealt with stress and crises. Hill's 1949 ABC-X model of family stress remains a useful tool for identifying the different components that affect how successfully ...
The New Paltz/VISION program

The School of Education at the University College at New Paltz, New York, has worked with area industrial technological sites to determine ways in which curriculum and pedagogy in secondary level mathematics and science must be revised to meet the needs of industry. This program is called the VISION (Vision of Industry and Schools Involved in an Ongoing Network) project. A network of area teachers has been developed, devoted to the integration of collaborative problem solving into the curriculum in mathematics and science. It is proposed through this project to demonstrate the results of this changed curriculum for other teachers and to raise the major issues surrounding the need for reform in the practices of all secondary level mathematics and science teachers. >
Natural nanoparticle structure, properties and reactivity from X-ray studies

Synthetic analogs of naturally occurring nanoparticles have been studied by a range of X-ray techniques to determine their structure and chemistry, and relate these to their novel chemical properties and physical behavior. ZnS nanoparticles, formed in large concentrations naturally bymicrobial action, have an interesting core-shell structure with a highly distorted and strained outer layer. The strain propagates through the particles and produces unusual stiffness but can be relieved by changing the nature of the surface ligand binding. Weaker bound ligands allow high surface distortion, but strongly bound ligands relax this structure and reduce the overall strain. Only small amounts of ligand exchange causes transformations from the strained to the relaxed state. Most remarkably, minor point contacts between strained nanoparticles also relax the strain. Fe oxyhydroxide nanoparticles appear to go through structural transformations dependent on their size and formation conditions, and display a crystallographically oriented form of aggregation at the nanoscale that alters growth kinetics. At least one Fe oxyhydroxide mineral may only be stable on the nanoscale, and nonstoichiometry observed on the hematite surface suggests that for this phase and possibly other natural metal oxides, chemistry may be size dependent. Numerous questions exist on nanominerals formed in acid mine drainage sites and by reactions at interfaces.