cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Autonomous Fire Suppression System for Use in High and Low Visibility Environments by Visual Servoing

An autonomous fire suppression system was developed for localized fire suppression in high and low visibility environments. The system contains a multispectral sensor suite, including UV sensors and infrared stereovision, to detect and target a fire for suppression. The UV sensor provides an alert to the system to begin fire detection. IR imagery is used to segment fire from the field of view and target the base of the fire and IR stereovision to determine the 3D coordinates of the fire. IR tracking provides continuously updated information on the size and intensity of the fire before and during suppression and alerts the system when to cease suppression activity. Visual servoing is used to correctly position a nozzle based on feedback of changes in the fire location and size. The autonomous system was used to suppress wood crib fires (40 kW to 50 kW) in high and low visibility environments and at varying distances (2.8 m to 5.5 m) and elevations (0.4 m to 1.3 m). The suppression time in clear conditions was 3.72 s ± 1.51 s and 4.49 s ± 1.62 s in low visibility conditions. To simulate wind effects and inaccurate initial target coordinates, forced offsets were input to the system to show effectiveness of the feedback control algorithm when an initial estimate of spray trajectory does not accurately spray the center base of the fire. System performance with a forced offset resulted in suppression times of 4.11 s ± 0.84 s.
The Amyloid β Precursor Protein and Cognitive Function in Alzheimer’s Disease

The amyloid beta precursor protein more commonly known as the amyloid precursor protein, or APP, is a complex polypeptide playing a part in a diverse array of cellular functions. As implied by its name, most of the initial and much of the continued interest in APP arises from its connection to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its role in the generation of the amyloid-beta peptide. However, it has become clear that this protein and its many proteolytic products are also important for the proper function of the nervous system and could be linked to AD in multiple ways. In order to understand the roles APP may play in AD, this chapter will first describe the characteristics of APP and its associated cellular pathways/functions before addressing the ways in which APP function or dysfunction can contribute to AD.
Environmental Factors Aecting Situation Awareness in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

eld also entails additional environmental stresses, such as less optimal use of computer equipment, variations in weather, and the physical demands of the terrain. In this paper, a pilot study is conducted to determine if any of these factors signicantly impact situation awareness, by comparing operator performance in a visual identication task in a live eld test with operators performing an identical task in a lab environment. Metric results suggest that performance is similar across the two conditions, but qualitative responses from participants suggest that the underlying strategies employed dier in the two conditions.
Dynamics in an Ecologically Isolated Population of the Brush Mouse

A live-trap study of the brush mouse, Peromyscus boylii attwateri , was conducted on an ecologically isolated cedar glade in the Missouri Ozarks. Population density varied from a high of 2.17 per acre in December 1961 to a low of 0.28 mouse per acre in August 1962. This decline appeared to result from a reproductive failure in the females coupled with a normal mortality rate of resident mice. The failure of females to produce young during this breeding period could not be related to any obvious environmental or population condition. The survival rate at 4-month intervals (for 16 months) of 15 mice marked in August 1961 was 66.7%, 40.4%, 13.3% and 6.7%, respectively. The estimated mean life-span of 39 mice was 6.8 months and the estimated maximum life-span was 18.0 months. The absence of egress from the cedar glade by members of the population was deemed the significant factor in revealing the rather high survival rate and long life-span of brush mice. The average home range of adult brush mice was 0.49 acre. The home ranges of males averaged almost twice as large as those of females. Home ranges invariably had an elongated axis which coincided with the horizontal and parallel outcrops of dolomite which were present.
Forearm Cephalic Vein Graft for Short, "Middle"-Flow, Internal Maxillary Artery to Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass.

Background The cervical carotid system has been used as a source of donor vessels for radial artery or saphenous vein grafts in cerebral bypass. Recently, internal maxillary artery to middle cerebral artery bypass has been described as an alternative, with reduction of graft length potentially correlating with improved patency. Objective To describe our experience using the forearm cephalic vein grafts for short segment internal maxillary artery to middle cerebral artery bypasses. Methods All vein grafts were harvested from the volar forearm between the proximal cubital fossa where the median cubital vein is confluent with the cephalic vein and the distal wrist. Results Six patients were treated with internal maxillary artery to middle cerebral artery bypass. In 4, the cephalic vein was used. Postoperative angiography demonstrated good filling of the grafts with robust distal flow. There were no upper extremity vascular complications. All but 1 patient (mortality) tolerated the procedure well. The other 3 patients returned to their neurological baseline with no new neurological deficit during follow-up. Conclusion The internal maxillary artery to middle cerebral artery "middle" flow bypass allows for shorter graft length with both the proximal and distal anastomoses within the same microsurgical field. These unique variable flow grafts represent an ideal opportunity for use of the cephalic vein of the forearm, which is more easily harvested than the wider saphenous vein graft and which has good match size to the M1/M2 segments of the middle cerebral artery. The vessel wall is supple, which facilitates handling during anastomosis. There is lower morbidity potential than utilization of the radial artery. Going forward, the cephalic vein will be our preferred choice for external carotid-internal carotid transplanted conduit bypass.
The Cartesian Bull's Eye in the Classroom

Summary.-A replication of Descartes' demonstration of the inversion of the retinal image is described. Suggestions are made for both preparing a cattle eye and constructing an artificial one for purposes of classroom demonstration. Although Johannes Kepler knew the correct optics of the eye that produces an inverted image on the retina and demonstrated it with glass lenses (Kepler, 1604/1964), it was RenC Descarces who, using an excised bull's eye, was first to show that such an inversion actually takes place in the eye. He removed a portion of the dark material at the back of the eye, allowing the light entering the pupil co project on the sclerotic coat. What he saw was an upside down image of what was in front of the eye (Descartes, 1637/1973). I suspect that the Cartesian demonstration has not been actually repeated very many times in the past 300 years, certainly not in the classroom, either as a demonstration of what happens in the eye in the process of seeing or as a reconstruction of an historical first. It is dutifully reported in history books, assuming that the demonstration took place as Descartes described it. I have heard doubts expressed, however, by at least one Ph.D. psychologist, that a retinal image actually forms on the bottom of the eye. This note reports a replication of the Cartesian demonstration. A few years ago I decided to use the Cartesian demonstration as one of several that I had introduced in my History of Psychology course to make the course more interesting to the students. Securing a cattle eye is one of the inconveniences that may explain why the dernonstracion is not more widely used. First, arrangements must be made with an agreeable slaughterhouse beforehand to be there at the time when the slaughtering takes place. Cattle are slaughtered very early in the morning, which means getting up even earlier. It will not do to have the eye removed and kept for you to be picked up at 9 o'clock. If your class is at 10 or later, you won't have a demonstration: the vitreous humor of the eye begins to cloud up in a few hours. This diffuses the light and prevents an image from forming. There may be a way of keeping the vitreous humor clear, but immersing the eye in water or physiological solution is not a method that works. Preparing the eye causes further difficulties: trimming the extremely tough connective tissue from the back of the eye is one. Then there is the
Evaluation of Experimental Insecticides for Control of Hornworms on Tobacco

Nine compounds were tested on mature tobacco plants as foliage sprays for the control of the early instars of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta (Johannson), and the tomato hornworm, M. quinquemaculata (Haworth). Three systemic insecticides, NIA 10242 (2,3-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-7-benzofuranyl methylcarbamate), American Cyanamid CL-47470 (cyclic propylene (diethoxyphosphinyl)-dithioimidocarbonate), and Amer. Cyan. 47031 (cyclic ethylene (diethoxyphosphinyl) dithioimidocarbonate) were the most effective materials tested. Oxydemetonmethyl was ineffective in controlling hornworms. Five nonsystemics, Chipman RP-11974 ( O, O -diethyl phosphorodithioate S -ester with 6-chloro-3-(mercaptomethyl)-2-benzoxazolinone), GS-13005 ( O, O -dimethyl phosphorodithioate S -ester with 4(-mercaptomethyl)-2-methoxy-∆2-1,3,4-thiadiazolin-5-one), GC-9160 (ethyl 1,1a,3,3a,4,5,5,5a,5b,6-decachloro-octahydro-2-hydroxy-1,3,4-methane-2 H -cyclobuta[ cd ]pentalene-2-levulinate), MC-A-600 (benzo[ b ]thien-4-yl methylcarbamate), and SD-8447 (2-chloro-1-(2,4,5-trichlorophenyl) vinyl dimethyl phosphate) were effective initially and gave somewhat similar residual control of the 2 species of hornworms.
The quadrupole moment of substituted cyclopentadienyl anions.

Previous work in our group on the cation binding of substituted cyclopentadienyl anions (Cp) showed the curious result that Cp traceless electric quadrupole moments (Θ zz ) are almost all positive. Probing this issue further here we show that substituted Cp Θ zz values are always significantly more positive than the analogous substituted benzenes. Given the nature of aromatic Θ zz values, this is the opposite of what would be predicted. Furthermore, we show that the quadrupole moments of Cp anions do not behave as one would expect based on Cp substitutions. Unlike the quadrupole moments of substituted benzenes, which generally become more negative with the addition of electron-donating groups and more positive with the addition of electron-withdrawing groups, Cp quadrupole moments become more positive when any substituent is added, regardless of the electron-donating/withdrawing nature of the substituent. To explain these results we propose a model where the anionic Cp π-electron density repels the substituent electron density toward the molecular periphery and AIM calculations support this view.
Visualizing Construction Supply Chains with Google Cloud Computing Tools

There is an increasing awareness of the importance of supply chain management to the performance of construction projects in the construction industry. Project delays, disruption of site work flows, and elevated carbon footprint are common consequences of poor supply chain management. Information technology solutions, such as enterprise resource planning systems, are widely used in the manufacturing industry for managing supply chains. However, in the construction industry, only a few large construction firms can afford to deploy such sophisticated IT tools. The majority of the firms in the construction industry are small to medium size companies, and they don’t have resources and manpower to use and maintain proprietary supply chain management solutions. This research explored freely available Google cloud computing tools, including Google Fusion Table (GFT), Google Maps, and Google Earth, as a potential cloud-based supply chain management platform. The focus of this research is on the capability of the proposed platform on providing mechanisms for online information exchange, multi-party collaboration, real-time supply demand update, and supply chain data visualization. Experiments were conducted on a campus building project. The results suggest that the proposed platform provides the basic functionalities for developing a costeffective tool for small and medium size construction firms to manage supply chain
Application of PBNM Concepts

This chapter discusses how policy is used to control signaling and provisioning applications. Policy approaches are categorized as being either pro-active or reactive. Changes that are pro-active typically take the form of changing the configuration of a device, whereas reactive approaches concentrate on dynamically adjusting devices. This dynamic adjustment is made through the use of signaling applications. These two approaches are in fact complementary and can be used together. The chapter provided several examples of how policy, in conjunction with information modeling, is used in PBNM systems. There are several advantages in administering PBNM systems. First, since the PBNM components form an integrated application, the number of different applications that an administrator needs to implement a service is dramatically reduced. Second, PBNM systems rely on separating application data into public and private data. Public data are designed to be shared among participating application component.
Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for Axial Pain Syndromes

Axial spinal pain is particularly difficult to treat for the surgeon and pain interventionist alike. Significant advances loom on the neuromodulatory horizon with possibly excellent capacity to provide pain relief; however, the science surrounding their usage is young and the data may be too early to fully translate into a robust argument for these new therapies, some of which are not yet FDA approved. Tonic, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been traditionally feeble in rising to the task of ameliorating axial spinal pain. The addition of either peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) or peripheral nerve field stimulation (PNfS) to SCS has provided additional clinical results that are difficult to obtain with SCS alone. Typically the meaningfully stimulated neural target, the innervation of the posterior axial anatomy from the lumbar spine and especially more cranially, is a furtive and frustratingly hunted quarry. Discussed in this chapter are the science, data, and techniques surrounding the uses of peripheral nerve stimulation for axial pain syndromes.
mer-Tri­chlorido­tris­(tetra­hydro­thio­phene-κS)iridium(III): preparation and comparison with other mer-tri­chlorido­tris­(tetra­hydro­thio­phene-κS)metal complexes

The title complex, [IrCl3(C4H8S)3], was prepared according to a literature method. A suitable crystal was obtained by diffusion of pentane into a di­chloro­methane solution and analyzed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at 100 K. The title complex is isotypic with mer-tri­chlorido­tris­(tetra­hydro­thio­phene-κS)rhodium(III). However, the orientation of the tetra­hydro­thio­phene rings is different from an earlier report of mer-tri­chlorido­tris­(tetra­hydro­thio­phene-κS)iridium(III) deposited in the Cambridge Structural Database. The IrS3Cl3 core shows a nearly octa­hedral structure with various bond angles within 1–2° of the perfect 90 or 180° expected for an octa­hedron. The structure of the title compound is compared with the previous iridium complex as well as the rhodium and other octa­hedral metal tris-tetra­hydro­thio­phene compounds previously structurally characterized. DFT calculations were performed, which indicate the mer isomer is significantly lower in energy than the fac isomer by 50.1 kJ mol−1, thereby accounting for all compounds in the CSD being of the mer geometry. Powder X-ray diffraction of the bulk material showed that the preparation method yielded only the isomorph reported in this communication.
Enzymes and Models

Many important redox-active metalloenzymes consist of 3d transition metals in their active sites. They catalyze multi-electron reactions in aqueous solution, under ambient temperature and pressure. To understand the functionality of the catalytic sites of these enzymes, X-ray spectroscopy methods provide important information of the electronic structure of the metal of interest and its local structural information, as well as their changes during the catalysis. Studying model compounds, that mimic enzyme catalytic site structures or their functional mimics, is as critical as studying enzymes themselves, in order to interpret X-ray spectroscopic data. In this chapter, various X-ray spectroscopic methods that are useful for structural and electronic structural studies of enzymes and model compounds are described.
Precision trajectory reconstruction

A precision trajectory reconstruction technique based on photoscoring has been developed to evaluate the airborne accuracy performance of guidance and navigation systems. The sensors include a reference inertial navigation system (INS) and a motion picture camera. The camera is mounted in the aircraft at a known position and attitude with respect to the inertial system and is used to photograph marker panels placed at precisely surveyed locations on the ground. The camera includes a time display device which is driven by a clock associated with the inertial data. The image data from the camera are processed with a modern Kalman filter/smoother to estimate the inertial system errors. The trajectory is then reconstructed by correcting the inertial system data with the estimated errors. It is shown using covariance analysis that the precision photoscoring technique can be used to reconstruct the flight trajectory with a position error of 0.4 m under baseline conditions. In addition, flight tests were used to evaluate the accuracy of the photoscoring process. >
Multistatic acoustic characterization of seabed targets

One application for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) is detecting and classifying hazardous objects on the seabed. An acoustic approach to this problem has been studied in which an acoustic source insonifies seabed target while receiving AUVs with passive sensing payloads discriminate targets based on features of the three dimensional scattered fields. The OASES-SCATT simulator was used to study how scattering data collected by mobile receivers around targets insonified by mobile sources might be used for sphere and cylinder target characterization in terms of shape, composition, and size. The impact of target geometry on these multistatic scattering fields is explored, and a discrimination approach developed in which the source and receiver circle the target with the same radial speed. The frequency components of the multistatic scattering data at different bistatic angles are used to form models for target characteristics. Data are then classified using these models. Classification accuracies were greater than 98% for shape and composition. Regression for target volume showed potential, with 90% chance of errors less than 15%. The significance of this approach is to make classification using low-cost vehicles plausible from scattering amplitudes and the relative angles between the target, source, and receiver vehicles.
Learning to teach through writing with students

This article presents a study of how dialogical notes can be used to inform teaching. A total of 43 pre-service teachers were asked to write dialogical notes back and forth with their students for one semester during their practicum in the elementary school. Their notes and reflections were analyzed to see what the pre-service teachers learned about their students through note writing. In addition, the impact of note writing on the pre-service teachers’ teaching was also investigated. This article argues that dialogical notes serve as a viable tool for teachers to know students on a deeper level as well as to plan and adapt their teaching accordingly.
Effects of Integrated Play Therapy on Relationship Satisfaction and Intimacy Within Couples Counseling: A Clinical Case Study

The importance of play and playfulness has been recognized from Greek philosophy to contemporary psychology, while play has been primarily limited to the population of children in the use of mental health therapy. Play in adult couples counseling has been recently brought to the attention of mental health clinicians, while no clinical studies have yet been done. This study explored the effects of integrated play therapy on relationship satisfaction and intimacy in couples counseling through a clinical case study.
On Systemic Paradigms and Domestic Politics: A Critique of the Newest Realism

Both Gideon Rose's neoclassical realism and Andrew Moravcsik's liberalism attempt to solve the problem of how to incorporate domestic factors into international relations theory. They do so in very...
Patient Safety and Employee Word-of-Mouth Communication: An Abstract

In this paper a framework for marketing patient safety through positive employee word-of-mouth is developed. The culture of patient safety is an important aspect of hospital quality (Cohen, Eustis, & Gribbins, 2003). In the extant literature employee involvement has not been discussed as a factor that may influence the culture of safety. Employees who believe in the integrity of their organization are much more likely to recommend it via word of mouth (Bendapudi & Berry, 1997). It follows that this relationship may extend to other areas that include the promotion of patient safety. This may involve employee communication to both patients and other publics. The importance of interpersonal relationships between front-line personnel and customers is documented in the literature (Beatty et al., 1996; Price & Arnould, 1999) and can lead to improving customer perceptions and satisfaction (Bendapudi & Berry, 1997). This personal bond may be more important in services as they are more difficult to convey to customers. In particular, healthcare services are difficult for customers to comprehend, and thus communication from employees may promote the quality of a healthcare service better than traditional advertising or promotional methods (Erdem & Swait, 1998).
A Single-Stage Soft-Switching High-Frequency AC-Link PV Inverter: Design, Analysis, and Evaluation of Si-Based and SiC-Based Prototypes

This paper proposes a high-power-density and reliable inverter topology, which transfers the maximum power of a PV array to the load in one power conversion stage. The single-stage power conversion, along with the soft-switching capability of the proposed three-phase PV inverter promises high efficiency at all operating points. Instead of a capacitive dc link that decouples the dc–dc converter and the voltage source inverter in traditional two-stage PV inverters, a high-frequency capacitive ac link is employed in the proposed inverter, which enables exploiting a very small film capacitor, rather than a bulky electrolytic capacitor, for transferring power. Eliminating electrolytic capacitors prolongs the lifetime of this inverter. Considering the long lifetime of PV modules, this feature is of high importance in PV applications. The high-frequency ac link also allows using high-frequency transformers for providing galvanic isolation. Therefore, this inverter is expected to have a very high power density. This paper presents principles of the operation and control, design, and analysis of this inverter, and verifies the performance of the inverter through two prototypes: a 2-kW Si-based prototype and a 2-kW SiC-based prototype operating at different switching frequencies.
Chapter 15 Posture and Communication in Mother-Infant Interaction

Abstract Weekly observations of thirteen mother-infant dyads, from one to five months of age, were used to examine whether the type and timing of maternal changes in infant postural position were related to infant gaze, facial expression and reaching. Results show that mothers changed the infant's position more frequently when the infant was gazing away from her compared to when the infant was gazing at her, and when the infant was facially either neutral or positive. When the infants gazed away, mothers alternated their position between sitting upright while facing her and upright while facing in the direction of the infant's gaze. Some mother's choice of postural position matched the infant's developmental changes in gaze, while other mothers lagged behind. These mismatches of gaze and postural position continued until the developmental onset of reaching. Social-developmental processes are discussed with respect to the role of postural and sensorimotor factors using a dynamic systems perspective.
Evaluation of crystallization kinetics of glasses by non-isothermal analysis

Based on Johnson-Mehl-Avrami transition equation, this paper proposes a new non-isothermal method for evaluating the crystallization kinetics of glasses. An equation relating the kinetic parameters of the crystallization activation energy, E, and the frequency factor, v, to the inflection-point temperature, Tf, and the heating rate, β, of differential thermal analysis (DTA) experiment is established. The inflection-point temperature, Tf, can be easily determined from the derivative differential thermal analysis (DDTA) curves. The validity of the proposed method is ascertained by applying it to Li2O·2SiO2 glass. The acquired values of the crystallization kinetic parameters by this method are excellent agreement with the isothermal analysis results. In contrast, the traditional non-isothermal methods give much higher values.
Marketing and recruiting efforts as perceived by administrators and students of hospitality graduate programs.

(1994). Marketing and Recruiting Efforts as Perceived by Administrators and Students of Hospitality Graduate Programs. Hospitality & Tourism Educator: Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 33-37.
Roberta; or, the Ambiguities: Tough Love and High-Stakes Assessment at a Two-Year College in North Georgia

This ethnographic narrative employs a neo-Vygotskian perspective (Holland et al.) to examine how, in the setting of a remedial ESL program at a public two-year college in North Georgia, the subject position of an ESL basic writing instructor was mediated by her understandings of and engagement with the multiple and interactive contexts of her profes- sional activity. Despite a wide variety of tensions that complicated the instructor's understand- ings of who she was professionally, Roberta was able to position herself in ways that allowed her to make sense of her professional choices. However, her construction of gatekeeping as advocacy brought with it an emotional toll at the end of each semester when some students passed and some students failed—shaking the sense of her tough-love pedagogical stance. Representations of basic writing professionals are critiqued to argue the need for more nu- anced research for and with basic writing faculty in the activist college composition literature.
Advances in simulating radiance signatures for dynamic air/water interfaces

The air-water interface poses a number of problems for both collecting and simulating imagery. At the surface, the magnitude of observed radiance can change by multiple orders of magnitude at high spatiotemporal frequency due to glinting effects. In the volume, similarly high frequency focusing of photons by a dynamic wave surface significantly changes the reflected radiance of in-water objects and the scattered return of the volume itself. These phenomena are often manifest as saturated pixels and artifacts in collected imagery (often enhanced by time delays between neighboring pixels or interpolation between adjacent filters) and as noise and greater required computation times in simulated imagery. This paper describes recent advances made to the Digital Image and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) model to address the simulation issues to better facilitate an understanding of a multi/hyper-spectral collection. Glint effects are simulated using a dynamic height field that can be driven by wave frequency models and generates a sea state at arbitrary time scales. The volume scattering problem is handled by coupling the geometry representing the surface (facetization by the height field) with the single scattering contribution at any point in the water. The problem is constrained somewhat by assuming that contributions come from a Snell’s window above the scattering point and by assuming a direct source (sun). Diffuse single scattered and multiple scattered energy contributions are handled by Monte Carlo techniques employed previously. The model is compared to existing radiative transfer codes where possible, with the objective of providing a robust movel of time-dependent absolute radiance at many wavelengths.
Active learning for inference and regeneration of computer programs that store and retrieve data

As modern computation platforms become increasingly complex, their programming interfaces are increasingly difficult to use. This complexity is especially inappropriate given the relatively simple core functionality that many of the computations implement. We present a new approach for obtaining software that executes on modern computing platforms with complex programming interfaces. Our approach starts with a simple seed program, written in the language of the developer's choice, that implements the desired core functionality. It then systematically generates inputs and observes the resulting outputs to learn the core functionality. It finally automatically regenerates new code that implements the learned core functionality on the target computing platform. This regenerated code contains boilerplate code for the complex programming interfaces that the target computing platform presents. By providing a productive new mechanism for capturing and encapsulating knowledge about how to use modern complex interfaces, this new approach promises to greatly reduce the developer effort required to obtain secure, robust software that executes on modern computing platforms.
A Portable Cosmic Ray Detector for Engineering, IoT, and Science Research

A portable and cost-effective cosmic ray detector designed and built for engineering and scientific education and research is presented. The design is an improvement over previous designs as it allows for more flexibility in setting up experimental conditions. The basic design and operation are described. Preliminary background photon measurements, predominantly gamma rays, are presented. The detector's response to a radioactive mineral, monazite, is shown. The use of a histogram in lieu of a multi-channel analyzer to capture the shape of the gamma spectrum is demonstrated. The results show that the detector can reliably detect the intensity and energy spectrum of gamma radiation. This cosmic ray detector is designed to be used in large-scale physics research as well as projects involving Raspberry Pi and Internet of Things.
Retinal degeneration 3 (RD3) protein, a retinal guanylyl cyclase regulator, forms a monomeric and elongated four-helix bundle

Retinal degeneration 3 (RD3) protein promotes accumulation of retinal membrane guanylyl cyclase (RetGC) in the photoreceptor outer segment and suppresses RetGC activation by guanylyl cyclase-activating proteins (GCAPs). Mutations truncating RD3 cause severe congenital blindness by preventing the inhibitory binding of RD3 to the cyclase. The high propensity of RD3 to aggregate in solution has prevented structural analysis. Here, we produced a highly soluble variant of human RD3 (residues 18-160) that is monomeric and can still bind and negatively regulate RetGC. The NMR solution structure of RD3 revealed an elongated backbone structure (70 A long and 30 A wide) consisting of a four-helix bundle with a long unstructured loop between helices 1 and 2. The structure reveals that RD3 residues previously implicated in the RetGC binding map to a localized and contiguous area on the structure, involving a loop between helices 2 and 3 and adjacent parts of helices 3 and 4. The NMR structure of RD3 was validated by mutagenesis. Introducing Trp85 or Phe29 to replace Cys or Leu, respectively, disrupts packing in the hydrophobic core and lowers RD3's apparent affinity for RetGC1. Introducing a positive charge at the interface (Glu32 to Lys) also lowered the affinity. Conversely, introducing Val in place of Cys93 stabilized the hydrophobic core and increased the RD3 affinity for the cyclase. The NMR structure of RD3 presented here provides a structural basis for elucidating RD3-RetGC interactions relevant for normal vision or blindness.
PICADAR score as an evaluation tool of Greek physicians’ PCD awareness

Background: Primary Cilia Dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetically heterogeneous disease leading to chronic inflammation and loss of lung function. To facilitate diagnosis, PICADAR score has been created as an easy-to-use predictive score for determining the likelihood of an individual having PCD Aim: Using PICADAR, this retrospective study, aims to analyze the astuteness of Greek physicians in correctly suspecting and subsequently referring PCD patients Methods: All medical records were retrospectively scrutinized. Referral accuracy was appointed by the patients’ history agreement with PICADAR score. ATS criteria were also used as an adjunct Results: 235 patients (males 52.6%) were referred to our PCD Centre from 2014 to date. Age ranged from 40 day- to 68 year-old. Most referrals were from paediatric pulmonologists (PP) (64.9%). Paediatricians (P) and adult pulmonologists (AP) referred the rest of the patients (15.6% and 14.7% respectively). PICADAR score was not applicable in 14 (5.9%) of overall referrals. The number of patients referred with a not applicable PICADAR score, differed between the 3 professional groups (1, 8, and 5 for PP, P, and AP, respectively, p Conclusion: There is a major lack of knowledge about PCD diagnostic criteria among Greek medical community. Steps should be made for bridging this gap in order to maximize referrals accuracy and minimize unnecessary health costs and patients’ discomfort
Industrial Policy and Technology Innovation under the US Trade War against China

Industrial policy (IP) toward technology innovation (TI) is a focus of the US trade war against China. The US is forcing China to stop IP uses in promoting TI that directly threaten the US technolo...
Antibiotic use in goats: role of experience and education of Missouri veterinarians.

Background In a previous study, we found that rates of antibiotic residues in goat carcasses in Missouri were three times the published national average, warranting further research in this area. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey of goat veterinarians to determine attitudes and practices regarding antibiotics, recruiting 725 veterinarians listed on the American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners (AASRP) website and 64 Missouri Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) veterinarians. Results We collected 189 responses (26.1%) from AASRP members (170 valid) and 8 (12.5%) from MVMA veterinarians totalling 178 responses. While the vast majority of all veterinarians indicated that they prescribed antibiotics less than half of the time, Missouri veterinarians indicated that they spent more time treating goats for overt disease like intestinal parasites and less time on proactive practices such as reproductive herd health management comparatively. While veterinarians agreed that antibiotic resistance was a growing concern, veterinarians outside of Missouri seemed more confident that their own prescription practices was not a contributor. Although nationally most veterinarians felt that attending continuing education classes was beneficial, 73.4% in other states attended classes on antibiotic use compared to only four of the nine Missouri veterinarians. Conclusion Missouri veterinarians had less veterinary experience than veterinarians in other states, and this, in conjunction with low continuing education requirements in Missouri relative to most other states, may hinder development of more proactive and effective client–veterinary relationships.
Prophylactic effect of flavanol rich preparation metabolites in promoting resilience to a mouse model of social stress

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of disability, and there is an urgent need for new therapeutics. Stress-mediated induction of pro-inflammation in the periphery contributes to depression-like behaviors both in humans and in experimental models. Inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) has emerged as a potential therapeutic target. Our studies demonstrated that metabolism of flavanol rich cocoa preparation (FRP) led to the accumulation of select phenolic acids that may contribute to its anti-inflammatory activity. Using a repeated social defeat stress (RSDS) model of depression, we showed that oral administration of FRP attenuates susceptibility to RSDS-mediated depression, supporting the further development of FRP as a novel therapeutic for the treatment of stress disorders and anxiety in humans.
Associations between daily alcohol consumption and systemic lupus erythematosus-related cytokines and chemokines among US female nurses without SLE:

ObjectivesModerate alcohol consumption has been associated with decreased systemic lupus erythematosus risk, but the biologic basis for this association is unknown. We aimed to determine whether mo...
Bike helmets prevent pediatric head injury in serious bicycle crashes with motor vehicles

Approximately 75% of all bicycle-related mortality is secondary to head injuries, 85% of which could have been prevented by wearing a bicycle helmet. Younger children appear to be at greater risk than adults, yet helmet use is low despite this risk and legislation and ordinances requiring helmet use among younger riders. We sought to determine whether bicycle helmets are associated with the incidence and severity of head injury among pediatric bicyclists involved in a bicycle crash involving a motor vehicle. We performed a retrospective review of patients age ≤ 18 years hospitalized at a level I pediatric trauma center between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2018. Data were abstracted from the institutional trauma registry and electronic medical record. International Classification of Diseases 9th and 10th editions and external causes of injury codes were used to identify MV related bicycle crashes and determine the abbreviated injury severity (AIS) for head injury severity. Injury narratives were reviewed to determine helmet use. We calculated the incidence of head injury from bicycle vs. MV crashes utilizing descriptive statistics. We analyzed the risk and severity of injury utilizing univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Overall, 226 bicyclists were treated for injuries from being struck by a MV. The median age was 11 (interquartile range (IQR): 8 to 13) years. Helmeted bicyclists (n = 26, 27%) were younger (9.4 years versus 10.8 years, p = 0.04), and were less likely (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.49) to be diagnosed with a head injury compared to unhelmeted bicyclists (n = 199). Of those with a head injury, helmeted bicyclists were less likely (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.11–2.82) to sustain severe or higher injury using AIS. When adjusting for demographics (age, sex, race) and injury severity, helmet use predicted a reduction in head injury (OR 6.02, 95% CI 2.4–15.2). Bicycle helmet use was associated with reduced odds of head injury and severity of injury.. These results support the use of strategies to increase the uptake of bicycle helmets wearing as part of a comprehensive youth bicycling injury prevention program.
Self-rated health and mental health among older incarcerated males

Older incarcerated persons are a rapidly growing population with considerable mental health needs. We evaluated perceived worth and meaningfulness in life as mediators in the relationship between s...
Treatment of Sarcoidosis in U.S. Rheumatology Practices: Data from ACR's Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry.

Objective Sarcoidosis is often treated with glucocorticoids, although the use of biologics is growing. Prescribing patterns for biologics for sarcoidosis patients in U.S. rheumatology practices have never been examined. Given that there are no steroid-sparing FDA-approved therapies for sarcoidosis, we sought to characterize the real-world treatment of sarcoidosis and to assess practice-level variation in prescribing patterns. Methods We conducted an observational study of sarcoidosis patients using data from the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) registry (2014-2018). The RISE registry represents an estimated 32% of the U.S. clinical rheumatology workforce. Adult patients with ≥ 2 codes for sarcoidosis ≥ 30 days apart were included. We examined sarcoidosis-specific medication use at any time during the study period. Data was analyzed at the practice level. Results A total of 3276 patients with sarcoidosis from 184 practices were included. 75.1% were women; with mean age 59.0 ± 12.5; 48.3% were White and 27.6% were Black. Overall, 59.3% of patients were prescribed glucocorticoids; 24.7% received prolonged glucocorticoid therapy (≥10 mg/day for 90 days). 12.1% received a biologic or targeted synthetic disease modifying drug (tsDMARD), most commonly TNF inhibitors. There was wide practice-level variation among 31 practices with ≥ 30 sarcoidosis patients: biologic use ranged from 15.6% to 69.2%; infliximab represented the most common biologic prescribed. Conclusion In a large sample of U.S. rheumatology practices, 12.1% of patients with sarcoidosis received biologics or tsDMARD. We found high variability in biologic use across practices. The significant use of long-term glucocorticoids suggests unmet therapeutic needs in this patient population.
Epilepsy, Mood, and Disability

Epilepsy is a spectrum of seizure disorders for which seizures are only one of the symptoms that can impact quality of life. Both cognitive issues and psychiatric comorbidities may occur with epilepsy, and the patient must be managed holistically to maximize quality of life. Patients with epilepsy qualify for disability due to seizures when they cannot be managed adequately to allow the patient to be gainfully employed. Moreover, the Americans with Disabilities Act protects patients with chronic seizures and their comorbid symptoms and conditions. It is important that individuals with epilepsy know the law and their rights under that law.
Modeling the associations between internal body orientation, body appreciation, and intuitive eating among early-adult and middle-adult men and women: A multigroup structural invariance analysis.

Abstract This cross-sectional study investigated the associations among internal body orientation, body appreciation, intuitive eating, age, and BMI in men and women between 30 and 70 years old as delineated in the acceptance model of intuitive eating. Self-report measures were administered to a final sample of 522 individuals consisting of early-adult men (ages 30–44; n = 153), middle-adult men (ages 45–70; n = 108), early-adult women (ages 30–44; n = 135), and middle-adult women (ages 45–70; n = 126). Overall mean age was 45.03 (SD = 10.95). Structural equation modeling evidenced that, for both age groups of men and women, internal body orientation was positively associated with body appreciation and body appreciation was positively associated with intuitive eating. Internal body orientation was positively associated with intuitive eating in each group, except early-adult women. The associations among age and BMI with the aforementioned variables were inconsistent. Although evidencing measurement non-invariance among a number of parameters, multigroup structural invariance analyses showed that the associations among internal body orientation, body appreciation, intuitive eating, age, and BMI were invariant across each gender and age. These results further confirm components of the acceptance model of intuitive eating among men and women in early-adulthood and middle-adulthood.
The prognostic outcome of 'type 2 diabetes mellitus and breast cancer' association pivots on hypoxia-hyperglycemia axis

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and breast cancer are complex, chronic, heterogeneous, and multi-factorial diseases; with common risk factors including but not limited to diet, obesity, and age. They also share mutually inclusive phenotypic features such as the metabolic deregulations resulting from hyperglycemia, hypoxic conditions and hormonal imbalances. Although, the association between diabetes and cancer has long been speculated; however, the exact molecular nature of this link remains to be fully elucidated. Both the diseases are leading causes of death worldwide and a causal relationship between the two if not addressed, may translate into a major global health concern. Previous studies have hypothesized hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hormonal imbalances and chronic inflammation, as some of the possible grounds for explaining how diabetes may lead to cancer initiation, yet further research still needs to be done to validate these proposed mechanisms. At the crux of this dilemma, hyperglycemia and hypoxia are two intimately related states involving an intricate level of crosstalk and hypoxia inducible factor 1, at the center of this, plays a key role in mediating an aggressive disease state, particularly in solid tumors such as breast cancer. Subsequently, elucidating the role of HIF1 in establishing the diabetes-breast cancer link on hypoxia-hyperglycemia axis may not only provide an insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the association but also, illuminate on the prognostic outcome of the therapeutic targeting of HIF1 signaling in diabetic patients with breast cancer or vice versa. Hence, this review highlights the critical role of HIF1 signaling in patients with both T2DM and breast cancer, potentiates its significance as a prognostic marker in comorbid patients, and further discusses the potential prognostic outcome of targeting HIF1, subsequently establishing the pressing need for HIF1 molecular profiling-based patient selection leading to more effective therapeutic strategies emerging from personalized medicine.
Transformational Leadership in Extreme Contexts: Associations with Posttraumatic Growth and Self-Efficacy Among Combat Veterans:

Decades of research have established transformational leadership as an encompassing leadership approach with broad applications across organizational contexts. Despite dozens of meta-analyses and m...
Time-Dependent Reliability Analysis of Buried Water Distribution Network: Combined Finite-Element and Probabilistic Approach

AbstractCorrosion deterioration is the predominant factor for a large number of cast iron (CI) water main breaks. The reliability of CI pipelines decreases overtime as corrosion growth on pipe wall...
Directed intermixing in multicomponent self-assembling biomaterials.

The noncovalent coassembly of multiple different peptides can be a useful route for producing multifunctional biomaterials. However, to date, such materials have almost exclusively been investigated as homogeneous self-assemblies, having functional components uniformly distributed throughout their supramolecular structures. Here we illustrate control over the intermixing of multiple different self-assembling peptides, in turn providing a simple but powerful means for modulating these materials’ mechanical and biological properties. In β-sheet fibrillizing hydrogels, significant increases in stiffening could be achieved using heterobifunctional cross-linkers by sequestering peptides bearing different reactive groups into distinct populations of fibrils, thus favoring interfibril cross-linking. Further, by specifying the intermixing of RGD-bearing peptides in 2-D and 3-D self-assemblies, the growth of HUVECs and NIH 3T3 cells could be significantly modulated. This approach may be immediately applicable towa...
Optimal multiple-impulse orbital rendezvous

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Thesis. 1967. Sc.D.