cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Language of Design Within Science and Engineering

We are born with a powerful integrated set of tools and capabilities that help us read the world. The visual is often dominant, critical, logical, relevant and hard-wired (Dahaene, S. (2009). Reading in the Brain. New York: Penguin Group). However, schools tend to privilege text by closing the visual (images, color, symbols, and typestyles) aspects of content off, dis-integrating and reducing its status and impact. Graphic design is a field of expertise that integrates pictures and words, using words as visual expression that can help students access content, construct meaning using a broader set of tools and demonstrate knowledge. Graphic design is already in mathematics and science education classrooms, however, many users do not fully utilize the learning and communication potential of graphical languages.
Aspects of Science Engagement, Student Background, and School Characteristics: Impact on Science Achievement of U.S. Students

OF DISSERTATION ASPECTS OF SCIENCE ENGAGEMENT, STUDENT BACKGROUND, AND SCHOOL CHARACTERISTICS: IMPACTS ON SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT OF U.S. STUDENTS Science achievement of U.S. students has lagged significantly behind other nations; educational reformers have suggested science engagement may enhance this critical measure. The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was science-focused and measured science achievement along with nine aspects of science engagement: science self-efficacy, science self-concept, enjoyment of science, general interest in learning science, instrumental motivation for science, future-oriented science motivation, general value of science, personal value of science, and science-related activities. I used multilevel modeling techniques to address both aspects of science engagement and science achievement as outcome variables in the context of student background and school characteristics. Treating aspects of science engagement as outcome variables provided tests for approaches for their enhancement; meanwhile, treating science achievement as the outcome variable provided tests for the influence of the aspects of science engagement on science achievement under appropriate controls. When aspects of science engagement were treated as outcome variables, gender and father’s SES had frequent (significant) influences, as did science teaching strategies which focused on applications or models and hands-on activities over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. When science achievement was treated as the outcome variable, each aspect of science engagement was significant, and eight had medium or large effect sizes (future-oriented science motivation was the exception). The science teaching strategy which involved hands-on activities frequently enhanced science achievement over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. Policy recommendations for U.S. science educators included enhancing eight aspects of science engagement and implementing two specific science teaching strategies (focus on applications or models and hands-on activities). Focused implementation of these research findings could enhance both science engagement and science achievement of U.S. students. I identified five key limitations of my research project: the age of the dataset, the lack of racial/ethnic identifiers, the low proportion of student-level variance accounted for by multilevel models with aspects of science engagement as outcome variables, the lack of class-level measures, and the lack of inclusion of students’ epistemological and fixed/flexible beliefs. These limitations provide opportunities for further investigations into these critical issues in science education.
Strategies with Service Business Model Innovation

Due to the complex and fragmented nature of health care, innovative business models are needed to increase efficiency and improve quality of care. There are a vast array of barriers to innovation in health care. An understanding of the elements of a good business model design is essential to overcoming those barriers in order to implement innovative business models in healthcare. Using an innovative business model can help organizations gain competitive advantage. Knowledge of the driving factors in competition and how to build and sustain competitive advantage in health care is vital. With the understanding of the elements of a good business model design and the strategies essential to business model innovation, organizations can then understand how to integrate a business model with strategy to protect competitive advantage.
Cervical arthroplasty: what does the labeling say?

OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper was to comprehensively review each of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved labels of 7 total cervical disc replacements, assess the exact methodology in which the trial was conducted, and provide a broad comparison of these devices to allow each surgeon to determine which disc best suits his or her specific treatment goals based on the specific labels and not the studies published. METHODS The FDA-approved labels for each of the 7 artificial discs were obtained from the official FDA website. These labels were meticulously compared with regard to the statistical analysis performed, the safety and efficacy data, and the randomized controlled trial that each artificial disc was involved in to obtain the FDA approval for the product or device. Both single-level and 2-level approvals were examined, and primary and secondary end points were assessed. RESULTS In the single-level group, 4 of the 7 artificial discs—Prestige LP, Prestige ST, Bryan, and Secure-C—showed supe...
ThermoGater: Thermally-Aware On-Chip Voltage Regulation

Tailoring the operating voltage to fine-grain temporal changes in the power and performance needs of the workload can effectively enhance power efficiency. Therefore, power-limited computing platforms of today widely deploy integrated (i.e., on-chip) voltage regulation which enables fast fine-grain voltage control. Voltage regulators convert and distribute power from an external energy source to the processor. Unfortunately, power conversion loss is inevitable and projected integrated regulator designs are unlikely to eliminate this loss even asymptotically. Reconfigurable power delivery by selective shut-down, i.e., gating, of distributed on-chip regulators in response to spatio-temporal changes in power demand can sustain operation at the minimum conversion loss. However, even the minimum conversion loss is sizable, and as conversion loss gets dissipated as heat, on-chip regulators can easily cause thermal emergencies due to their small footprint.Although reconfigurable distributed on-chip power delivery is emerging as a new design paradigm to enforce sustained operation at minimum possible power conversion loss, thermal implications have been overlooked at the architectural level. This paper hence provides a thermal characterization. We introduce ThermoGater, an architectural governor for a collection of practical, thermally-aware regulator gating policies to mitigate (if not prevent) regulator-induced thermal emergencies, which also consider potential implications for voltage noise. Practical ThermoGater policies can not only sustain minimum power conversion loss throughout execution effectively, but also keep the maximum temperature (thermal gradient) across chip within 0.6°C (0.3°C) on average in comparison to thermally-optimal oracular regulator gating, while the maximum voltage noise stays within 1.0% of the best case voltage noise profile.
Malignant Mesothelioma Electron Microscopy

In spite of recent advances in immunocytochemistry, electron microscopy continues to be the “gold standard” for the differential diagnosis of mesothelioma from other tumors affecting serosal surfaces (1). Three major morphologic subtypes of mesothelioma are well established: epithelial, sarcomatoid, and mixed or biphasic. Of these three types, electron microscopy has been the most contributory in the diagnosis of the epithelial variant and is less helpful in the sarcomatoid mesotheliomas (2,3).
Demonstrating the Ability of Elementary School Students to Reason About Programs

Over the last decade, CS Education researchers have developed different curricula, resources, and strategies to foster computer science learning in K-12 education. However, there is a lack of research about how elementary school students develop the ability to reason about programs. Reasoning about programs consists of a student's ability to read, write, debug, trace, and predict program behavior. This paper presents results from a think-aloud study of fourth and fifth grade students learning to program in Kodu. The goal of this study was to track students' understanding of how Kodu interprets and executes rules of a program. To understand students' reasoning of program execution, we explicitly taught them the Laws of Kodu computation which govern the decision making and execution process of Kodu rules. We collected students' responses on pre- and post-assessments, and we conducted think-aloud interviews with students where students explained their answers to assessment questions. We found that explicitly teaching students how Kodu rules are interpreted significantly improved their ability to understand the execution of programs and to explain program behavior. The results of this study provide insight into how elementary school students reason about simple programs, and how this ability can be scaffolded.
Amyloid "accumulators": The next generation of candidates for amyloid-targeted clinical trials?

We are now in an era of disease-modifying clinical trials for Alzheimer disease (AD), including several recent β-amyloid (Aβ)–focused therapies. Results from aducanumab and solanezumab suggest that these antibodies yield PET evidence for Aβ clearance over the course of treatment,1,2 but the clinical consequences of such clearance have been mixed. While early evidence suggests that aducanumab treatment is also associated with attenuated cognitive decline,2 there was no evidence for a cognitive benefit for solanezumab in mild to moderate AD.3 However, secondary analyses suggest that Aβ-targeted trials may be more successful in mild AD.4 Therefore, there is increasing consensus that Aβ-targeted trials are more likely to meet biomarker and clinical endpoints if they target Aβ in individuals with the mildest or even preclinical forms of disease.
Evaluations of the behavioral attributes of only children in Beijing, China: moderating effects of gender and the one-child policy.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore whether evaluations of the behavioral attributes of only children in Beijing differed from evaluations of children with siblings, and how these evaluations were affected by gender and China's One-Child Policy (OCP). This study applies hierarchical linear regression analyses to data collected from children born before or after the initiation of the OCP. The participants (N = 1000) were randomly selected schoolchildren whose behavioral attributes were evaluated by the children themselves, their peers, parents, and teachers, using a 32 attributes checklist, consisting of attributes Chinese experts considered important for school-aged children. In addition, a difference score, representing the difference between self and peer evaluations, was considered in order to assess degrees of self-enhancement. The results indicated that male only children received less positive self, peer, parent, and teacher evaluations than female only children and that among children born before the OCP, only children evaluated themselves less positively than their peers with siblings. Parents evaluated their only children born after the OCP more positively than did parents of only children born before the OCP. In terms of self-enhancement, only children, particularly male only children, evaluated themselves more positively than they were evaluated by their peers. These findings are discussed in terms of the major social and cultural changes happening in China since the OCP that affected how only children saw themselves and were seen by others.
Jimmie C. Holland, MD: In Memoriam (1928–2017)

![][1] On December 24, 2017, the cancer research community lost an internationally acclaimed pioneer of psycho-oncology, Jimmie C. Holland. She had served on the AACR's Program Committee for many years, was Chair of the AACR Task Force on Survivorship Research, and was honored with
Advanced Green composites using liquid crystalline cellulose fibers and waxy maize starch based resin

Abstract Advanced green composites have been fabricated by using modified liquid crystalline cellulose (M-LCC) fibers and micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) modified waxy maize starch (M-WMS) based resin. LCC fibers, as a reinforcement, were modified in terms of tensile properties by a combination of chemical and heat treatment, under a predetermined tension. The surface topography, crystallinity, molecular alignment, and mechanical properties of M-LCC fibers were investigated to determine the effects of combination modification process on the fibers. M-WMS, as a resin, was prepared by two steps. In the first step, an environment-friendly cross-linker, 1,2,3,4-butane tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA), was used to improve the water resistance and tensile properties of the resin. In the second step, ‘MFC’, as reinforcing agent, was dispersed in the cross-linked resin to obtain substantial improvements in its tensile properties. Unidirectional advanced green composites consisting of M-LCC fibers and M-WMS were fabricated using hand lay-up followed by a compression molding process. The results showed that the M-LCC fibers had strength close to 2 GPa and the composites had strength close to 800 MPa. These advanced green composites could be used in structural applications.
Modified two-component Shepard tones and their application to sine wave speech

Sinewave Speech (SWS), consisting of several frequency-modulated sinusoids representing vocal tract formants, elicits perception of words/sentences, making it useful for studying the perceptual basis of speech. However, SWS contains no information relevant for pitch perception, making it a poor tool for investigating tone languages or prosody (Remez & Rubin, 1993, JASA94; Rosen & Hui, 2015, JASA138). The objective of this study was to develop a method for creating modified SWS replicas adding a minimal cue for pitch. The lowest sinusoid was replaced with a “modified Shepard tone:” a tone formed from a bandpass whose center frequency tracks F1, wide enough at any timepoint for exactly two harmonics of an independently specified f0 contour. It has been shown (Ritsma 1962, JASA34, Smoorenburg 1970, JASA48, Houtgast 1976, JASA60) that tones consisting of 1–3 harmonics elicit perception of a missing fundamental. An initial experiment confirmed that a bandpass whose center frequency fell from 700 to 400 Hz over 400 ms, intersected with harmonics of a rising f0 (85–185 Hz), elicited a strong perception of a rising contour, and vice versa. A second experiment replaced F1 in a set of SWS replicas with these two-component tones and elicited robust perception of contrasting pitch contours.Sinewave Speech (SWS), consisting of several frequency-modulated sinusoids representing vocal tract formants, elicits perception of words/sentences, making it useful for studying the perceptual basis of speech. However, SWS contains no information relevant for pitch perception, making it a poor tool for investigating tone languages or prosody (Remez & Rubin, 1993, JASA94; Rosen & Hui, 2015, JASA138). The objective of this study was to develop a method for creating modified SWS replicas adding a minimal cue for pitch. The lowest sinusoid was replaced with a “modified Shepard tone:” a tone formed from a bandpass whose center frequency tracks F1, wide enough at any timepoint for exactly two harmonics of an independently specified f0 contour. It has been shown (Ritsma 1962, JASA34, Smoorenburg 1970, JASA48, Houtgast 1976, JASA60) that tones consisting of 1–3 harmonics elicit perception of a missing fundamental. An initial experiment confirmed that a bandpass whose center frequency fell from 700 to 400 Hz over...
Social class, control, and action: Socioeconomic status differences in antecedents of support for pro-environmental action

Abstract Addressing social issues such as climate change requires significant support and engagement of citizens with diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The present research examines whether individuals who vary in their socioeconomic status significantly differ in their psychological antecedents of support for pro-environmental action. Study 1, using U.S. nationally representative data, showed that personal beliefs about climate change predicted support for pro-environmental policies more strongly among individuals with a higher, relative to lower, SES background. Studies 2 and 3, by employing correlational and experimental approaches respectively, found that general sense of control over life outcomes underlies the extent to which support for pro-environmental action is contingent on personal beliefs about climate change. Study 4 identified perceived social norms about pro-environmental actions as an alternative predictor of support for pro-environmental action among people from lower SES background. Taken together, the present research shows that individuals with distinct socioeconomic backgrounds differ in their key psychological levers of pro-environmental action. To grasp how to solve urgent social issues such as climate change requires greater understanding of the psychology of citizens with diverse backgrounds.
Major depressive disorder: barriers to treatment.

There are a variety of barriers to major depressive disorder (MDD) treatment which may impede access to professional help and prevent best patient outcome. These barriers include the heterogeneity of MDD, societal factors, and clinician-patient relationship as well as issues of concordance, compliance, and adherence.
250 Watt Average Power Electro-Optically Q-Switched Diode-Pumped Power Oscillator

We describe an electro-optically Q-switched, diode-pumped Nd:YAG slab laser oscillator operating at an average power of greater than 250 watts. More than 100 watts of frequency doubled light has been demonstrated.
Disorders of Sexual Development: Surgical Management

There is no topic in pediatric urology/surgery that generates as much controversy as surgery for disorders of sexual development (DSD). Birth of a child with DSD is an extraordinarily difficult time for young parents, and they require support. Historically most parents have elected early surgery to “normalize” their child’s ambiguous genitalia, but this has been challenged by advocacy groups and some physicians. We outline the controversies of performing surgery at all and the timing of procedures. We feel strongly that the parent should know of all pros and cons of both having surgery and not having surgery. The parents should also be an integral part of the gender assignment team and participate in all decisions. We discuss the surgical approaches and techniques of feminizing genitoplasty, including clitoroplasty, vaginoplasty – (1) cutback vaginoplasty, (2) flap vaginoplasty, and (3) pull-through vaginoplasty – and labioplasty. Lastly, we discuss the lack of reliable long-term data in this patient population and future direction.
Fresh Recycled Mushroom Compost Suppresses Artillery Fungi Sporulation: A 4-Year Field Study

Abstract Artillery fungi (Sphaerobolus spp.) have recently emerged from an interesting mycological curiosity that grow in landscape mulch, to a problem of emotional stress and financial concern to ...
Manual of Orthopaedics. 6th ed.

Marc F. Swiontkowski, Steven D. Stovitz, editors. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2006. 468 pages. $49.95. The sixth edition of the Manual of Orthopaedics continues to be designed for use by medical students, house staff interested in the care of orthopaedic patients, and family practice doctors who treat many orthopaedic patients and may then refer them to an orthopaedic surgeon. The first four editions were primarily concerned with orthopaedic trauma. The fifth edition included discussion about nontraumatic conditions, and the sixth edition has incorporated even more topics …
Filtering through the role of NRF2 in kidney disease

Kidney disease affects ~ 10% of the population worldwide, resulting in millions of deaths each year. Mechanistically, oxidative stress is a major driver of various kidney diseases, and promotes the progression from acute to chronic injury, as well as renal cancer development. NRF2, the master regulator of redox balance, has been shown to protect against kidney disease through its negation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, many kidney diseases exhibit high levels of ROS as a result of decreased NRF2 protein levels and transcriptional activity. Many studies have tested the strategy of using NRF2 inducing compounds to alleviate ROS to prevent or slow down the progression of kidney diseases. Oppositely, in specific subsets of renal cancer, NRF2 is constitutively activated and contributes to tumor burden and overall poor prognosis; therefore, there has been a recent interest in studies investigating the benefits of NRF2 inhibition. In this review, we summarize recent literature investigating the role of NRF2 and oxidative stress in various kidney diseases, and how pharmacological modification of NRF2 signaling could play a protective role.
Abstract P3006: Angiotensin-(1-7) Prevents Doxorubicin-Induced Aortic Dysfunction Through Anti-Fibrotic Mechanisms in Juvenile Male and Female Sprague Dawley Rats

Doxorubicin (Dox) is an effective, anthracycline chemotherapeutic administered for a variety of malignancies, but clinical use of the drug is limited by a cumulative, dose-dependent cardiotoxicity....
Development of Neutropenic Murine Models of Iron Overload and Depletion To Study the Efficacy of Siderophore-Antibiotic Conjugates.

Siderophore-antibiotic conjugates have increased in vitro activity in low-iron environments where bacteria express siderophores and associated transporters. The host immune hypoferremic response reduces iron availability to bacteria; however, patients with iron overload or deficiency may have altered ability to restrict iron, which may affect the efficacy of siderophore-antibiotic conjugates. In vivo models of infection with iron overload and deficiency are needed to perform this assessment. The standard neutropenic murine thigh infection model was supplemented with iron-altering treatments: iron dextran at 100 mg/kg of body weight daily for 14 days to load iron or deferoxamine at 100 mg/kg daily plus a low-iron diet for up to 30 days to deplete iron. Human-simulated regimens of cefiderocol and meropenem were administered in both models to assess any impact of iron alteration on plasma pharmacokinetics. Median iron in overloaded mice was significantly higher than that of controls in plasma (1,657 versus 336 μg/dl; P < 0.001), liver (2,133 versus 11 μg/g; P < 0.001), and spleen (473 versus 144 μg/g; P < 0.001). At 30 days, depleted mice had significantly lower iron than controls in liver (2.4 versus 6.5 μg/g; P < 0.001) and spleen (72 versus 133 μg/g; P = 0.029) but not plasma (351 versus 324 μg/dl; P = 0.95). Cefiderocol and meropenem plasma concentrations were similar in iron overloaded and control mice but varied in iron-depleted mice. The iron-overloaded murine thigh infection model was established, and human-simulated regimens of cefiderocol and meropenem were validated therein. While deferoxamine successfully reduced liver and splenic iron, this depleting treatment altered the pharmacokinetics of both antimicrobials.
Observing Cyber Security Incident Response: Qualitative Themes From Field Research:

Cyber security increasingly focuses on the challenges faced by network defenders. Cultural and security-driven sentiments about external observation, as well as publication concerns, limit the abil...
Online Education Research Adopting the Community of Inquiry Framework: A Systematic Review

Online education is an evident trend in higher education, and likewise, the field of Kinesiology has expanded online teaching. Such expansion, however, was too fast to make a proper adjustment and ...
Single-Use Grasper Integrated Flexible Cystoscope for Stent Removal: A Micro-Costing Analysis-Based Comparison.

Background: A single-use flexible cystoscope with integrated grasper (Isiris; Coloplast, Denmark) has recently become commercially available. The objective of our study is to compare the costs of s...
Supercontinuum generation in single-crystal YAG fibers pumped around the zero-dispersion wavelength.

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) is a common host material for both bulk and single-crystal fiber lasers. With increasing interest in developing optical technologies in the short-wave infrared and mid-infrared wavelength range, YAG may be a potential supercontinuum medium for these applications. Here, we characterize femtosecond laser pumped supercontinuum generation with 1200–2000 nm pump wavelengths (λp) for undoped, single-crystal YAG fibers, which are representative of the normal, zero, and anomalous-dispersion regimes. Supercontinuum was observed over the spectral region of about 0.2 to 1.6λp. Z-scan measurements were also performed of bulk YAG, which revealed little dispersion of the nonlinear index of refraction (n2) in the region of interest. The measured values of n2 (∼1×10−6cm2/GW) indicate a regime in which the nonlinear length, LNL, is less than the dispersion length, LD, (LNL≪LD). We report intensity clamping of the generated filament in the normal group velocity dispersion (GVD) regime and an isolated anti-Stokes peak in the anomalous GVD regime, suggesting further consideration is needed to optimize supercontinuum generation in this fiber medium.
Exploring target specificity of antimicrobial peptides through deep learning embeddings

In the face of increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have stood out as an encouraging target for the development of new drugs. Machine learning approaches can be applied to this area to characterize large sets of AMPs based on their bacterial targets, activity measures, and other sequence features. Such methods enable wet-laboratory researchers to optimize the speed and accuracy of their work by focusing on prioritized candidates [5]. Prior work on computational AMP recognition has largely focused on binary sequence classification (predicting AMP vs non-AMP) but is beginning to venture into de novo peptide design [5]. This work takes steps to further understand AMP function and specificity by learning sequence embeddings based on both molecular sequence and activity measures against different bacteria targets. The model uses a Siamese network architecture [1] to learn from pairs of AMPs to predict how their activity differs against 10 different genera of bacteria. Unlike many other approaches, we also consider N- and C-termini modifications to sequences. Training and testing data originates from the Database of Antimicrobial Activity and Structure of Peptides (DBAASP) [4] and was parsed to consider monomer AMPs with activity measurements recorded as minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Due to the large heterogeneity of bacteria at the species-level, responses were grouped by genera and MIC values averaged. Based on the percentage of all AMPs with a mean MIC response available, the top 10 genera were considered. That data set was split into training (4, 170 AMPs), validation (1, 142 AMPs), and testing (535 AMPs) partitions. To reduce the chance of data leakage between testing and training data, the CD-HIT server [2] was used (after removing termini modifications) to ensure all testing sequences share The Siamese network consists of an embedding and long short-term memory layer [3] that are trained in a supervised setting. It compares AMP sequence pairs to train a shared set of weights. All input sequences are padded to be the same length and a tokenizer is used to encode both amino acids and termini modifications. The model outputs sequence embeddings based on the difference in MIC for each AMP pair. To obtain insight into AMP activity and specificity, separate models are trained for gram-positive and gram-negative genera. Trained embeddings for each model are then plotted and compared to visualize how bacterial membrane structure can influence AMP sequence composition. These results present another step towards making AMP deep learning models more informative and understandable to the research community.
The majority of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in COVID-19 patients with obesity are autoimmune and not neutralizing.

Obesity decreases the secretion of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibodies in the blood of COVID-19 patients. How obesity impacts the quality of the antibodies secreted, however, is not understood. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the presence of neutralizing versus autoimmune antibodies in COVID-19 patients with obesity. Thirty serum samples from individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR were collected from inpatient and outpatient settings. Of these, 15 were lean (BMI < 25) and 15 were obese (BMI ≥ 30). Control serum samples were from 30 uninfected individuals, age-, gender-, and BMI-matched, recruited before the current pandemic. Neutralizing and autoimmune antibodies were measured by ELISA. IgG autoimmune antibodies were specific for malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation, and for adipocyte-derived protein antigens (AD), markers of virus-induced cell death in the obese adipose tissue. SARS-CoV-2 infection induces neutralizing antibodies in all lean but only in few obese COVID-19 patients. SARS-CoV-2 infection also induces anti-MDA and anti-AD autoimmune antibodies more in lean than in obese patients as compared to uninfected controls. Serum levels of these autoimmune antibodies, however, are always higher in obese versus lean COVID-19 patients. Moreover, because the autoimmune antibodies found in serum samples of COVID-19 patients have been correlated with serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a general marker of inflammation, we also evaluated the association of anti-MDA and anti-AD antibodies with serum CRP and found a positive association between CRP and autoimmune antibodies. Our results highlight the importance of evaluating the quality of the antibody response in COVID-19 patients with obesity, particularly the presence of autoimmune antibodies, and identify biomarkers of self-tolerance breakdown. This is crucial to protect this vulnerable population at higher risk of responding poorly to infection with SARS-CoV-2 than lean controls.
The Development of Strain-Gradient-Based Finite Elements

Purpose of Lesson To develop and demonstrate a procedure for formulating finite element stiffness matrices using strain gradient notation.
Patients' perception of care during image-guided breast biopsy in a rural community breast center: communication matters.

This retrospective study surveyed women about their experience with image-guided breast biopsies in a rural cancer center. Our study objectives were to determine: women’s perception of their emotional and physical comfort during the biopsy; the clarity and acceptability of the communication about the biopsy, as well as the methods used to provide the results of her biopsy and treatment options; and the overall impressions of the technical and personal care she received. A single mailed survey of 500 biopsy patients. The response rate was 43% (n = 215). Prior to their biopsy, 22% had been concerned that the biopsy would be painful and 43% were concerned that the biopsy might show cancer. Almost all women rated the communication about the biopsy procedure as understandable (99%) and accurately reflecting their experience (99%.) Most (77%) patients characterized the biopsy as producing minimal discomfort, although 5% disagreed. Most patients (98%) characterized their physician and technologists as caring about their emotional and physical comfort. Most patients felt that the typical 1-day wait to receive the results of their biopsy was reasonable (90%) and that the use of the phone to convey the results was acceptable (90%). On comparing patients with a diagnosis of cancer to those without, there was no difference in the level of satisfaction with the use of the phone to communicate biopsy results. This study offers encouragement that communication practices can alleviate the anxiety of women undergoing image-guided breast cancer biopsies.
Fault zone structure from topography: Signatures of en echelon fault slip at Mustang Ridge on the San Andreas Fault, Monterey County, California

[1] We used high-resolution topography to quantify the spatial distribution of scarps, linear valleys, topographic sinks, and oversteepened stream channels formed along an extensional step over on the San Andreas Fault (SAF) at Mustang Ridge, California. This location provides detail of both creeping fault landform development and complex fault zone kinematics. Here, the SAF creeps 10–14 mm/yr slower than at locations ∼20 km along the fault in either direction. This spatial change in creep rate is coincident with a series of en echelon oblique-normal faults that strike obliquely to the SAF and may accommodate the missing deformation. This study presents a suite of analyses that are helpful for proper mapping of faults in locations where high-resolution topographic data are available. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that two large subsidiary faults near the center of the step over zone appear to carry significant distributed deformation based on their large apparent vertical offsets, the presence of associated sag ponds and fluvial knickpoints, and the observation that they are rotating a segment of the main SAF. Several subsidiary faults in the southeastern portion of Mustang Ridge are likely less active; they have few associated sag ponds and have older scarp morphologic ages and subdued channel knickpoints. Several faults in the northwestern part of Mustang Ridge, though relatively small, are likely also actively accommodating active fault slip based on their young morphologic ages and the presence of associated sag ponds.
Analysis of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles' utility factors using GPS-based longitudinal travel data

Abstract The benefit of using a PHEV comes from its ability to substitute gasoline with electricity in operation. Defined as the proportion of distance traveled in the electric mode, the utility factor (UF) depends mostly on the battery capacity, but also on many other factors, such as travel pattern and recharging pattern. Conventionally, the UFs are calculated based on the daily vehicle miles traveled (DVMT) by assuming motorists leave home in the morning with a full battery, and no charge occurs before returning home in the evening. Such an assumption, however, ignores the impact of the heterogeneity in both travel and charging behavior, such as going back home more than once in a day, the impact of available charging time, and the price of gasoline and electricity. Moreover, the conventional UFs are based on the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data, which are one-day travel data of each sample vehicle. A motorist’s daily travel distance variation is ignored. This paper employs the GPS-based longitudinal travel data (covering 3–18 months) collected from 403 vehicles in the Seattle metropolitan area to investigate how such travel and charging behavior affects UFs. To do this, for each vehicle, we organized trips to a series of home and work related tours. The UFs based on the DVMT are found close to those based on home-to-home tours. On the other hand, it is seen that the workplace charge opportunities significantly increase UFs if the CD range is no more than 40 miles.
Fabrication and electromagnetic characterization of novel self-metallized thin films

Unique, self-metallized films were investigated for deployable reflector antenna applications at L-band. Polyamic acid resins or soluble polyimides were doped with metal complexes, cast into films, and thermally cured. Each resulting film had a metallic layer on one side, adhering unfailingly to the polymer. Metallization was successful for silver or palladium in 3,3',4,4'-benzophenonetetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (BTDA) and 4,4'- oxydianiline and for gold in BTDA and 2,2-bis[4-(4- aminophenoxy)phenyl]hexafluoropropane (4-BDAF) or the space durable polyimide, 2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl)- hexafluoropropane dianhydride and 4-BDAF (LaRCCP1). Reflectivity, transmissivity, and emissivity were determined, using an HP 8510 Vector Network Analyzer, to within 0.001 precision and accuracy. A custom-made test fixture/positioner, a thru-reflect-line calibration, and calculated reflection coefficients were used. The Ag film proved most suitable for further study, with 0.9957 reflectivity and 0.0042 emissivity. The Pd films were 0.89 reflective and 0.11 emissive; both Au films tested entirely transmissive. Transmission and scanning electron micrographs, S-parameters, and power coefficients are shown.
Ultrafast Molecular and Materials Dynamics probed by Coherent X-Rays

Ultrafast short-wavelength light is ideal as a probe of complex, highly excited, systems. We resolve for the first time the decay of core-excited atoms adsorbed onto a surface, and x-ray driven molecular dissociation
Myocardial kinetics of carbon-11-meta-hydroxyephedrine: retention mechanisms and effects of norepinephrine.

Carbon-11-labeled meta-hydroxyephedrine (HED, N-methyl-metaraminol) is a catecholamine analog developed for the PET imaging of sympathetic nerve terminals of the heart. The retention mechanisms of this tracer and interactions with norepinephrine were investigated in isolated working rat hearts. Externally monitored time-activity curves showed a strong uptake process in control hearts (K1 = 2.66 +/- 0.39 ml/g/min) and relatively slow monoexponential clearance rates (k2 = 0.011 +/- 0.003 min-1). Comparative studies with the neuronal uptake inhibitor desipramine indicated little extraneuronal distribution and a strong dependence of clearance rate on neuronal reuptake of tracer. Norepinephrine (< or = 10 nM) increased HED clearance rate without affecting initial uptake rates. This effect may be related to competitive inhibition of neuronal reuptake and/or accelerated neuronal release of HED. These results indicate that the uptake and retention of HED by the myocardium is highly specific to sympathetic nerve terminals. However, its retention in the myocardium is not directly related to neuronal processing of catecholamines (i.e., metabolism and vesicular turnover). Thus, important differences may exist in the physiologic information indicated by retention measurements of HED and radiolabeled catecholamines. The finding of increased clearance rates with NE in the perfusion medium recommends the consideration of potential effects of circulating and endogenous catecholamines on PET measurements of myocardial retention of HED, especially in subjects with elevated plasma catecholamines or high sympathetic tone.
Women's and Men's Campaigns for The U.S. House of Representatives, 1972-1982 A Finance Gap?:

The lack of access to equal financial resources with male candidates has been viewed as a major contributing factor in women's inability to gain public office. Analysis of the campaign finance records for election to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1972 to 1982 shows that although on the average women nominees have never raised or spent as much as men, the size of their disparity is curvilinear over these years, and the correlation between gender and campaign financing is weak. Within candidate status groups (incumbents, challengers, and open races) and within the parties female nominees have not been consistently disadvantaged. Women candidates of both parties even have outdistanced their male counterparts on occasion. Data from the 1980 and 1982 elections also indicate that the structure of male and female fund raising is similar in their support from large contributors, political action committees, and the parties. Further, for women challengers, expenditures have a larger impact on votes than f...
Does Risk Assessment Make a Difference? Results of Implementing the SAVRY in Juvenile Probation

An effective approach to reducing recidivism is, first, to identify a youth's risk of reoffending and then to match the intensity of interventions to that risk level. This pre-post quasi-experimental, prospective study compared 247 (pre) with 217 (post) adjudicated youths to examine the implementation of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and its effects on case management practices in Louisiana's Caddo parish probation office. The results indicated that placement rates dropped by 50%, use of maximum levels of supervision dropped by almost 30%, and use of community services decreased except for high-risk youths, but only after the SAVRY was properly implemented. This shift towards more appropriate allocation of resources that are matched to risk level occurred without a significant increase in reoffending. The implications for implementation and for use of risk/needs assessment in juvenile probation are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en
Influence of medium viscosity on the oxygen consumption of rat bone marrow cells

Der Sauerstoffverbrauch von Kno chenmarkzellen der Ratte in Thyrodelosung (verschiedene Konzentrationen und Molekulargewichte) wurde unter sucht. Zwischen Sauerstoffverbrauch und Viskositat des suspendierenden Mediums oder des Volumens der Zellen konnten keine Beziehungen gefunden werden. Mogliche physiologische Dextranwirkungen auf die Zellaktivitat werden diskutiert.
The management of keratocysts

Summary The clinical and histological data of 106 keratocysts from the files of the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Nijmegen and Arnhem, The Netherlands, formed the basis of this study. There was a wide age range with a male predominance and with the mandibular third molar area and ramus being the most common sites involved. Special attention has been drawn to the various ways in which recurrent keratocysts may develop. In the present study the recurrence rate of two groups of patients, treated according to two different concepts in the surgical management of keratocysts, are compared. As a result of a 21-year follow-up on 92 keratocysts a rational approach to the surgical treatment to eliminate a high recurrence rate is suggested.
Ancient linkage groups and frozen accidents

Evidence is presented that the genetic differences between man and the other mammals are extremely small. This supports the concept that natural selection conserves the status quo. The idea of evolution viewed as a succession of “frozen accidents” is discussed, taking as an example the remarkable similarity of the X-linkage group in all mammals both placental and marsupial.
Quadric-based simplification in any dimension

We present a novel generalization of the quadric error metric used in surface simplification that can be used for simplifying simplicial complexes of any type embedded in Euclidean spaces of any dimension. We demonstrate that our generalized simplification system can produce high quality approximations of plane and space curves, triangulated surfaces, tetrahedralized volume data, and simplicial complexes of mixed type. Our method is both efficient and easy to implement. It is capable of processing complexes of arbitrary topology, including nonmanifolds, and can preserve intricate boundaries.
Reversibility of hepatic encephalopathy after liver transplantation.

Until the advent of Liver transplantation, it was widely believed that Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) was usually reversible. The exceptions were the so called “Acquired Hepatocerebral Degeneration cases” which were considered irreversible. Paradoxically, it seems, with liver transplantation, we have seen cases that contradict these rules. Whether the “residual effects” of HE, degenerative brain injury or independent neurological insults are causing post transplant neurological deficits is not easy to discern. As more emphasis is being put on maintaining brain ‘status’ after liver transplantation, we are finding confirmation of the largely reversible nature of HE. But, enough important exceptions to this rule are occurring to make further research on this topic mandatory.
The crystal structure of a heterobimetallic crown ether complex: [Na(dibenzo-18-crown-6)][FeCl4]

Slow evaporation of a solution of ferric chloride and dibenzo-18-crown-6 in 3∶1 CH3CN∶CH3OH produced single crystals of the title complex. This heterobimetallic crown ether complex, [Na(dibenzo-18-crown-6)][FeCl4], crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2t/n with cell parameters (at 22°C)a=14.608(6),b=10.466(9),c=17.276(9)A, β=91.47(6)°, andDcalc=1.46 g cm−3 for Z=4. The structure consists of discrete ions with the shortest Na ... Cl distance a lengthy contact of 3.56(1)A. The average Na...O separation is 2.69(3)A. The [FeCl4]− anion exhibits a distorted tetrahedral geometry with an average Fe−Cl bond length of 2.16(2)A.
Nonmonotonic age changes in susceptibility to hypothermia-induced retrograde amnesia in rats☆

Abstract The effects of post-training and/or pretesting body cooling on retention of Pavlovian discriminated fear conditioning were examined in preweanling (16-day) and weanling (23-day) rats. Twenty-four hour retention was assessed in 16- and 23-day-old rats receiving hypothermia after training, after training and prior to testing, or at neither time. Amnesia was present in the preweanling but not weanling rats. Recovery from amnesia was not observed in the preweanling rats following a second cooling treatment. Control groups indicated the differential amnesia was not the result of differences in 24 hr baseline retention, depth of hypothermia cooling, rate of recovery from hypothermia treatment, or body temperature immediately post-testing. The results are discussed with respect to current views of infantile amnesia and the growing evidence for similar nonmonotonic functions during ontogeny.
Confronting Constructionism: Ending India's Naga War:

One of the world's oldest continuing armed conflicts is also one of the least known: the conflict between the government of India and the Nagas. Since 1997, there has been a ceasefire between the Indian government and Naga militants, and there have been intermittent talks to end the conflict. Naga leaders appear to be willing to make concessions on their main demand of independence. But the peace process has stumbled on an unexpected hurdle: the Naga aspiration to the unification of all Naga-inhabited areas. Whether or not some people included in the Naga category should indeed be considered Nagas is in fact a highly contested matter. Since it is impossible to agree on who is a Naga and who is not, it has been difficult to decide what the Naga-inhabited areas are. The issue has generated some new conflicts in the region. As in all ethno-national conflicts, the politics of recognition is an underlying theme in the Naga conflict. But projects about recognition are also projects about constructing identities. The notion of bounded collectivities living in national homelands relies on a very different spatial discourse from the one of overlapping frontiers and hierarchical polities that precedes it. The article argues that the historical relations between hill peoples and the lowland states in this frontier region were premised on an especially complex spatial, cultural, and political dynamic. Saving the faltering Naga peace process will require confronting the constructionism of modern identities by the political actors themselves.