cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Participation and quality of life in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by muscle damage and progressive loss of muscle function in male children. DMD is one of the most devastating genetically linked neuromuscular diseases for which there is currently no cure. Most clinical studies for DMD utilize a standard protocol for measurement exploring pathophysiology, muscle strength and timed tasks. However, we propose that examining broader components of health as emphasized by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-Children and Youth Version (ICF-CY) may be of great value to children and their families, and important outcomes for future clinical trials. Fifty boys with DMD and 25 unaffected age-matched boys completed two self-report measures: the Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and the Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryTM 4.0. We investigated differences between the two groups with regard to participation in life activities and perceived quality of life (QoL). Additionally, we compared participation in activities and QoL in both cohorts of younger and older boys. Participation in physical activities was significantly lower in boys with DMD than unaffected boys. Perceived QoL was markedly diminished in children with DMD relative to unaffected controls, except in the emotional domain. The amount of time boys engage in an activity, as well as participation in social activities, declined for our older boys with DMD but no changes were observed for our older unaffected boys. For both groups, QoL remained constant over time. The ICF-CY provides a conceptual framework and specific terminology that facilitates investigation of the consequences of impairment in children and youth. Our study is one of the first to explore participation in a cohort of boys with DMD. It was not surprising that activities of choice for boys with DMD were less physical in nature than unaffected boys their age, but the consequences of less social engagement as the boys with DMD age is of great concern. Results from our study underscore the need to further evaluate activities that children elect to participate in, with special emphasis on facilitators and barriers to participation and how participation changes throughout the course of a disease.
A Measure of Long-Term Orientation: Development and Validation:

Long-term orientation (LTO) is a salient aspect of national culture values and as such influences consumers’ decisionmaking processes. This article describes the development and validation of measures to assess LTO. Scale development procedures resulted in a two-factor, eight-item scale that reflects the tradition and planning aspects of LTO. A program of studies involving more than 2,000 respondents in four countries demonstrated the psychometric properties of the measures, their discriminant and convergent validities, and the relationship of the measures to other important theoretical concepts (e.g., consumer frugality, compulsive buying, and ethical values). The measures are applicable for investigating individual differences in LTO both within and across cultures.
Law in Action: The Attorney General's Committee on Administrative Procedure

The story of American political development in the twentieth century is in no small part the story of administration. Administrative agencies, bureaus, and departments tasked with handling the work of the federal government had been a feature of governance since the early republic. With the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1887, however, administrative agencies and independent regulatory commissions began to proliferate across the federal landscape. By the end of the massive expansion of federal power that characterized the New Deal, Americans very much experienced government through their interactions with bureaucrats and with administrative boards. Individuals and businesses claimed benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board and Veterans Administration, defended themselves against claims of unfair competition before the Federal Trade Commission, requested permits from the Federal Alcohol Administration and the Federal Communications Commission, and sought to resolve labor disputes before the National Labor Relations Board.
Self-healing polymer nanocomposite materials: A review

Abstract During the last few years, different kinds of autonomic and non-autonomic self-healing materials have been prepared using diverse techniques for a number of applications. The incorporation of suitable functionalities into these materials facilitates a healing mechanism that is triggered by damage/rupture as well as various chemistries. This article presents a detailed study of the self-healing properties of different kinds of polymer nanocomposites utilizing a number of healing mechanisms, including the addition of several healing agents. The article will also provide an overview of different chemistries employed in the preparation of self-healing polymer nanocomposites, along with their advantages and disadvantages.
Memory and Tradition in the Book of Numbers: Falling in the Wilderness: The Politics of Death and Burial

… collective memory serves as an excellent instrument of power. Mortal remains are never a matter of indifference where bonds of love and kinship exist. In his mythic poem רבדמ יתמ, the modern Hebrew poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik imagines the entire biblical generation that has been liberated from Egypt lying exposed in the wilderness. In the opening stanza, they are first spotted sprawled across the ground: Their faces are tough and tanned, … Their foreheads are stubborn and bold, defying the wrath of the heavens. Bialik vacillates between depicting them as dead or merely at rest: … the mighty phalanx awakes. They suddenly rouse themselves, the stalwart men of war, lightening ablaze in their eyes, their faces aflame, hands on swords. Whether dead or merely sleeping, the wilderness encompasses them in anonymity, shielding them from the outside observer: No one on earth knows the site, nor knows of their rise, or their fall. Heaps of hills piled up by the storm enclose and encircle them. In an epigraph to his poem Bialik alludes to a talmudic legend that pictures this same generation alive and at rest. In the legend, an Arab merchant leads Rabbah b. Bar Hana through the desert to find the generation. Rabbah b. Bar Hana describes what he saw: “They looked as if in a state of exhilaration. They slept on their backs: the knee of one of them was raised.” Why do both poet and rabbinic legend render the wilderness generation merely at rest rather than dead?
Supply and Demand Shocks in the Oil Market: Theory Applied

This paper contains a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model comprised of a representative consumer, a firm, and an oil-sector with storage technology. The purpose is to test if the identification strategy and predictability results in Rapaport (2013a) are consistent with this rational setting. A simplified version of the model allows for structural recovery of theoretical counterparts to the reduced-form predictors in Rapaport (2013a) which are highly correlated and display the same prominent variability around oil-market-specific and economy-wide events. A full-blown version of the model motivates the identification strategy and predictability results in Rapaport (2013a) by qualitatively matching the sign of the impulse-responses of the relevant endogenous variables to several explicitly modeled shocks. The model quantitatively matches key asset pricing, macroeconomic, and oil-market-specific unconditional moments, but finds it hard to match the magnitude of excess returns predictability found in Rapaport (2013a). The paper finds that an unexpected and persistent increase in the conditional volatility of the oil supply shock, which leads to an oil price increase and stock market decrease, leads also to the observed increase in the ex-ante expected excess returns from betting short in oil futures and long in the stock market. Albeit, the magnitude of the increase in uncertainty regarding oil supplies that is needed to rationalize the empirical predictability is an order of magnitude larger than what is plausible and poses a puzzle.
Packet dropping with intra-flow prioritization for Internet video calls in mobile networks

Mobile data traffic has witnessed tremendous growth over the last few years. A key application driving that growth is Over-The-Top (OTT) applications. Yet very little is known about the OTT traffic characteristics. In this paper, we focus on delay-sensitive real-time Internet video call applications such as Skype. We propose a novel intra-flow prioritization packet dropping (IPPD) scheme for efficient congestion mitigation of OTT Internet applications in Mobile Broadband Networks, e.g. 3G, LTE, LTE-A, etc. Simulation results show a great increase of video call capacity in a LTE network. The necessary protocol enhancements for LTE networks are also discussed.
Phenotype-driven chemical screening in zebrafish for compounds that inhibit collective cell migration identifies multiple pathways potentially involved in metastatic invasion

In the last decade, high-throughput chemical screening has become the dominant approach for discovering novel compounds with therapeutic properties. Automated screening using in vitro or cultured cell assays have yielded thousands of candidate drugs for a variety of biological targets, but these approaches have not resulted in an increase in drug discovery despite major increases in expenditures. In contrast, phenotype-driven screens have shown a much stronger success rate, which is why we developed an in vivo assay using transgenic zebrafish with a GFP-marked migrating posterior lateral line primordium (PLLp) to identify compounds that influence collective cell migration. We then conducted a high-throughput screen using a compound library of 2160 annotated bioactive synthetic compounds and 800 natural products to identify molecules that block normal PLLp migration. We identified 165 compounds that interfere with primordium migration without overt toxicity in vivo. Selected compounds were confirmed in their migration-blocking activity by using additional assays for cell migration. We then proved the screen to be successful in identifying anti-metastatic compounds active in vivo by performing orthotopic tumor implantation assays in mice. We demonstrated that the Src inhibitor SU6656, identified in our screen, can be used to suppress the metastatic capacity of a highly aggressive mammary tumor cell line. Finally, we used CRISPR/Cas9-targeted mutagenesis in zebrafish to genetically validate predicted targets of compounds. This approach demonstrates that the migrating PLLp in zebrafish can be used for large-scale, high-throughput screening for compounds that inhibit collective cell migration and, potentially, anti-metastatic compounds.
Cyber attack mitigation for cyber–physical systems: hybrid system approach to controller design

This study considers robust controller design for cyber–physical systems (CPSs) subject to cyber attacks. While previous studies have investigated secure control by assuming specific attack strategies, in this study the authors propose a robust hybrid control scheme containing multiple sub-controllers, each matched to a different type of cyber attack. A system using this control scheme is able to adapt its behaviour to various cyber attacks (including those which have not been specifically addressed in the sub-controller designs) by switching sub-controllers to achieve the best performance. They propose a method for designing the secure switching logic to counter possible cyber attacks and to mathematically verify the system's performance and stability as well. The performance of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated by the hybrid H 2–H ∞ controller applied to a CPS subject to cyber attacks.
Psychological distress in a sample of teachers.

ABSTRACT This article describes a cross-sectional study of the links between job-related stressors and depressive and psychophysiologic symptoms and morale in 67 New York City teachers. The teachers' mean score on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; M = 13.03) was higher than might be expected from average community residents. The teachers also tended to express dissatisfaction with their jobs. The CES-D and the Psychophysiologic Symptom Scale were correlated as highly as their reliabilities would permit, a finding consistent with the view that the CES-D and the Psycho physiologic Symptom Scale measure the same construct, nonspecific psychological distress. The correlational findings suggest that distress is distinct from job-related morale, which was indexed by measures of motivation to continue teaching and job satisfaction. The results of regression analyses, which controlled for sociodemographic factors, indicated that the level of job strain (frequency of ongoing stressors) ...
A preferred pattern of joint coordination during arm movements with redundant degrees of freedom.

Redundancy of degrees of freedom (DOFs) during natural human movements is a central problem of motor control research. This study tests a novel interpretation that during arm movements, the DOF red...
Notes on Fungi Responsible for the Decay Of Hickory Nuts

Bisby, G. R. 1952. The name Oidium. Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 35: 236-237. Linder, D. H. 1942. A contribution towards a monograph of the genus Oidium (Fungi Imperfecti). Lloydia 5: 165-207. Luttrell, E. S. 1950. Grain sorghum diseases in Georgia-1949. P1. Dis. Reptr. 38: 45-52. . 1954. Diseases of pearl millet in Georgia. PI. Dis. Reptr. 38: 507-514. Rao, P. N., M. A. Salam, and M. J. Thirumalachar. 1957. (1956, publ. 13 Jan. 1957). A new genus of downy mildew on sorghum. Mycologia 48: 860-864. Swart, H. J. 1959. Observations on fungus cultures from the collection in the Botany Department of the University of Witwatersrand. 1. Gonatobotrys. S. Afr. J. Sci. 55: 49-51. Tarr, S. A. J. 1962. Diseases of sorghum, sudan grass, and broom corn. Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew. Wallace, G. B. and Maud M. Wallace. 1949. A list of plant diseases of economic importance in Tanganyika Territory. Mycol. Pap. 26: 1-26.
Evolution of Gelastic Epilepsy with Hypothalamic Hamartoma

The patterns of clinical presentation, evolution of the epilepsy, and electoclinical diagnostic features of hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) in 19 patients (8 children and 11 adults), seen between 1991 and 2001, were evaluated at Kings College Hospital and the Institute of Epileptology, London, UK.
Educating lives for Christian wisdom

This article explores how educating lives for Christian wisdom might serve as an antidote to the vice of acedia, a prominent feature of the culture of contemporary higher education. After suggesting that the capital vice of acedia seems to capture well various facets of our present age and how the pursuit of wisdom serves as its antidote, we examine important practices and virtues that sustain the quest for Christian wisdom as distinct from practical and theoretical wisdom. In particular, we discuss worship, wonder and delight, humility and prayer, charitable reading, and friendship.
Therapeutic advantage of recombinant human plasminogen activator in endocarditis: evidence from experiments in rabbits

In infective endocarditis vegetations are stabilized by fibrin. To learn if fibrin digestion would be therapeutic, experimental endocarditis was induced in rabbits by inoculation with a platelet-aggregating strain (Agg+) of Streptococcus sanguis and treated with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA), rt-PA with penicillin, or penicillin alone. Control rabbits were inoculated with saline. All treatments of Agg+ endocarditis reduced the mass of valvular vegetations and clinical signs of endocarditis, including the frequency of left axis deviation and heart ischemia. rt-PA with penicillin was more effective than penicillin or rt-PA alone, reducing the mass of vegetations and clinical signs to that of saline controls. Within 50 min, rt-PA cleared 5-fold more 111Indium-labelled platelets from the heart than untreated rabbits and 1.4-fold more after 3 days. Combined with penicillin, thrombolytic therapy for human endocarditis should be reconsidered.
Deciphering the Effect of Substrate Viscoelasticity on Hepatic Stellate Cell Function and Differentiation in the Context of Liver Fibrosis

Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are mechanosensitive cells able to differentiate in vivo into myofibroblasts in stiff environments. Liver fibrosis is a pathological context condition characterized by increasing liver stiffness, and myofibroblastic differentiation, but the balance between the contribution of both the stiffness and the viscosity of the cellular matrix to this phenomenon remains to be determined. In order to evaluate the influence of substrate viscosity on HSC phenotype we developed a custom system of acrylamide gels with varying viscoelastic properties. Plating primary murine HSC on such acrylamide gels of varying stiffness, viscosity and biological functionalization reveals how the cellular phenotype is induced by each of these parameters and their respective influence on HSC function. Creation of substrates in which both the magnitude of elastic modulus and its rate of relaxation can be tuned can help define the time scales over which cellular mechanosensing occurs.
An Art Education Chronology: A Process of Selection and Interpretation.

An historical study allows examination of the past for the purposes of understanding the present and contemplating a course of action for the future. There is, however, no one history that is the past; rather, history is a collection of perspectives consisting of selections and interpretations. The purpose of this paper is to present a chronology of art education theories and programs as well as to examine the limitations, biases, choices, and interpretations inherent in this chronology and in historical research and reporting in general.
Protein dynamics and thermodynamics crossover at 10 °C: Different roles of hydration at hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups

Abstract Water at hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups interact differently with proteins. Particularly, hydration properties at hydrophobic groups undergo qualitative changes as temperature decreases below 10 °C. The influence of such interfacial changes on protein dynamics and thermodynamics remains largely unexplored. Here, nanosecond to microsecond protein dynamics and the free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of protein hydration are investigated by in - situ NMR as a function of hydration level and temperature. A crossover at 10 °C in protein dynamics and thermodynamics is revealed. The influence of water at hydrophilic groups shows little temperature dependence, whereas water at hydrophobic groups has stronger effect above 10 °C.
Robust controller synthesis of switched systems using counterexample guided framework

We investigate the problem of synthesizing robust controllers that ensure that the closed loop satisfies an input reach-while-stay specification, wherein all trajectories starting from some initial set I, eventually reach a specified goal set G, while staying inside a safe set S. Our plant model consists of a continuous-time switched system controlled by an external switching signal and plant disturbance inputs. The controller uses a state feedback law to control the switching signal in order to ensure that the desired correctness properties hold, regardless of the disturbance actions. Our approach uses a proof certificate in the form of a robust control Lyapunov-like function (RCLF) whose existence guarantees the reach-while-stay specification. A counterexample guided inductive synthesis (CEGIS) framework is used to find a RCLF by solving a ∃∀∃∀ formula iteratively using quantifier free SMT solvers. We compare our synthesis scheme against a common approach that fixes disturbances to nominal values and synthesizes the controller, ignoring the disturbance. We demonstrate that the latter approach fails to yield a robust controller over some benchmark examples, whereas our approach does. Finally, we consider the problem of translating the RCLF synthesized by our approach into a control implementation. We outline the series of offline and real-time computation steps needed. The synthesized controller is implemented and simulated using the Matlab(tm)/Simulink(tm) model-based design framework, and illustrated on some examples.
Complex Engineered Systems Design Verification Based on Assume-Guarantee Reasoning

System verification is one of the most critical tasks into the process of engineered system design. This process is time-consuming and prone with errors when a limited set of scenarios is evaluated to guarantee the correct functionality of the system. Therefore, novel design approaches and tools based on a rigorous framework for analysis, verification, and testing are very much needed. This paper provides such a framework where system properties are verified and modeled with respect to the assumptions on the environment where components and subsystems' performances are guaranteed under these assumptions. To validate the proposed approach, this paper provides a case study to demonstrate how the proposed methodology reduces design complexity and presents a formal argument to assess the quality of the design.
Securing embedded systems and their IPs with digital reconfigurable PUFs

In the near future, firmware security will be imperative for the large number of smart embedded devices that are tightly integrated into one's daily lives. In this paper, we present a security scheme for these embedded systems that can provide protection from tempered binaries and the thefts of hardware and software Intellectual Properties (IPs). The key idea is to incorporate digital Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) in an authentication mechanism at the machine-code level. Each copy of the binary is digitally locked by vendor using the signatures of the individual PUFs. At run time, the binaries are unlocked by the embedded digital PUFs at a low cost to performance and resource utilization. Each digital PUF is unique by initialization using analog PUFs, and at the same time it can be reconfigured with new seeds. The digital reconfigurable PUFs (drPUFs) have much lower risks of side-channel attacks and much more combinations of challenge-response pairs, while retaining the speed and ease of digital PUF implementation. We demonstrate how the digital PUF is implemented and incorporated into a processor design as well as a software production flow to generate unique firmware binaries that are paired with respective drPUF devices. As a proof of concept we will show the results of the implementation on a Xilinx Spartan-6 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device.
Emergency Medicine Myths: Epinephrine in Cardiac Arrest.

Abstract Background Sudden cardiac arrest accounts for approximately 15% of deaths in developed nations, with poor survival rate. The American Heart Association states that epinephrine is reasonable for patients with cardiac arrest, though the literature behind its use is not strong. Objective To review the evidence behind epinephrine for cardiac arrest. Discussion Sudden cardiac arrest causes over 450,000 deaths annually in the United States. The American Heart Association recommends epinephrine may be reasonable in patients with cardiac arrest, as part of Advanced Cardiac Life Support. This recommendation is partly based on studies conducted on dogs in the 1960s. High-dose epinephrine is harmful and is not recommended. Epinephrine may improve return of spontaneous circulation, but does not improve survival to discharge or neurologic outcome. Literature suggests that three phases of resuscitation are present: electrical, circulatory, and metabolic. Epinephrine may improve outcomes in the circulatory phase prior to 10 min post arrest, though further study is needed. Basic Life Support measures including adequate chest compressions and early defibrillation provide the greatest benefit. Conclusions Epinephrine may improve return of spontaneous circulation, but it does not improve survival to discharge or neurologic outcome. Timing of epinephrine may affect patient outcome, but Basic Life Support measures are the most important aspect of resuscitation and patient survival.
Adaptive droop-based active power curtailment method for overvoltage prevention in low voltage distribution network

Clean energy incentives and the continuous fall in the cost of photovoltaic (PV) installations have led to a steady growth in residential PV systems. One of the main consequences of this high PV penetration in low voltage (LV) distribution networks is the overvoltage issue. Active power curtailment of PV inverters has been previously used to curtail the output power of the inverters below its operating point to prevent such overvoltages. This technique, however, uses a constant droop-based approach to curtail the power, based on the difference between the measured voltage and a critical voltage level. In this paper, this technique is implemented in a typical LV distribution network in North America with high PV penetration level. The simulation results show that the system undergoes excessive curtailment resulting in unnecessary energy loss. An adaptive droop-based approach using adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) is proposed as a possible solution to minimize the total energy loss in the system while keeping the system voltage under the critical operating limits. The energy loss due to curtailment has decreased by 25% after implementing the adaptive-droop based approach using ADP.
Abstract 80: Left Atrial Structural and Functional Parameters in Ischemic Stroke Patients Show Differences in Cardioembolic versus Embolic Strokes of Unknown Source (ESUS) and Other Determined Causes: Rethinking Whether ESUS Patients Should be Treated as Cardioembolic Equivalents

Background: The role of anticoagulation in patients with embolic strokes of unknown source (ESUS) remains controversial. Left atrial (LA) structural and functional parameters on transthoracic echoc...
A computerized testing system for primates: Cognition, welfare, and the Rumbaughx

Innovations in apparatus technology come about for a variety of reasons such as the need to use the same methodology with various species, the opportunity to present dynamic and carefully controlled stimuli, the goal of using automation to make data collection more precise or efficient, and the need to control for and/or eliminate the presence of experimenters in the testing context. At the Language Research Center (LRC) of Georgia State University, a computer-based system has been developed and used extensively with nonhuman primate species. This system involves the animal working in an enclosure that provides visual access to a computer screen, access to a joystick to control a cursor on the screen, and access to a food dish where pellets are delivered for correct responses. Here we will describe the history and development of this system as well as some considerations that might be applied to expanding this apparatus to a new environment, including the mobility of test stations, equipment needs, training protocols, and the cost and considerations for initial set up of such a system. A variety of computer based programs have been developed for use with this system. These programs have allowed insight into many nonhuman primate cognitive abilities and we highlight some that have been the focus of study at the LRC such as metacognition, numerical cognition, inhibitory processes, prospective memory, attention, and cognitive control. In addition, this cognitive testing apparatus has been shown to create a stimulating and enriching environment for the animals. We advocate that the computerized testing apparatus is useful for advancing our understanding of nonhuman animal cognition and may be uniquely suited to optimizing animal welfare. This area of research is already rapidly expanding in zoos, and we hope to offer some insight from one journey of designing, implementing and adapting a computerized testing paradigm.
Entrepreneurship by immigrants: a review of existing literature and directions for future research

The topic of immigrant entrepreneurship has gained considerable attention in social and policy circles around the world. Likewise, research on it has grown significantly over the past few decades, with studies examining the micro-, meso-, and macro-level antecedents and consequences of this phenomenon. While contributing to our knowledge, this growth in literature has also created complexity within this domain. As such, there is a need to take stock of current research. In the present study, I advance in this direction. I delineate the boundaries and outline the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurship research to the field of entrepreneurship. Thereafter, based on a comprehensive review of 69 studies published between 1980 and 2016 in journals across multiple disciplines, I develop a framework to integrate findings within this domain. Finally, I identify gaps and advance suggestions for future research. It is hoped that these steps will provide a clear vision of common research ground on which to build theory, identify assumptions, develop meaningful research questions and establish the ontological and epistemological base of this domain.
Evaporative Crystallization in Drops on Superhydrophobic and Liquid-Impregnated Surfaces

Mineral-fouling induced corrosion and deterioration of marine vessels, aircraft, and coastal structures is due in part from structural intrusion of crystals grown from ocean-generated saline drops. As such, much work has explored surface treatments that induce hydrophobicity or introduce barriers for antifouling and corrosion prevention; however, the efficacy of these strategies will be altered by the underlying substrate texture. Here, we study the behavior of evaporating saline drops on superhydrophobic and liquid-impregnated surfaces as a function of surface texture. On superhydrophobic surfaces, four disparate regimes (which are not observed for particle-laden drops) emerge as a function of the substrate solid fraction: Cassie-pinning, Cassie-gliding, Cassie–Wenzel transition, and Wenzel. These regimes control the morphology of the resultant crystal deposits. In contrast to the superhydrophobic surfaces, spreading liquid-impregnated surfaces demonstrate minimal influence of solid fraction on evaporati...
The next generation of precision medicine: observational studies, electronic health records, biobanks and continuous monitoring

Precision medicine can utilize new techniques in order to more effectively translate research findings into clinical practice. In this article, we first explore the limitations of traditional study designs, which stem from (to name a few): massive cost for the assembly of large patient cohorts; non-representative patient data; and the astounding complexity of human biology. Second, we propose that harnessing electronic health records and mobile device biometrics coupled to longitudinal data may prove to be a solution to many of these problems by capturing a 'real world' phenotype. We envision that future biomedical research utilizing more precise approaches to patient care will utilize continuous and longitudinal data sources.
Stress impedes exploration and the acquisition of spatial information in the eight-arm radial maze

To determine whether stress impairs the acquisition of spatial information in the eight-arm radial maze, one group of rats (n = 8) was restrained and exposed to ninety 1-sec, 1-mA tailshocks. Twenty-four hours later, they were reexposed to 5 shocks, and 30 min later, they were tested on the radial maze with the use of obvious spatial cues. Compared with the unstressed controls (n = 8), the stressed rats displayed a significantly different distribution of errors across the 12 trials, an effect attributable, in part, to their initial decrease in exploration and increase in perseveration. An equation that controls for the changing probability of choices and errors during a trial is presented, and the calculations suggest that the stressed rats are capable of learning the maze, but that their baseline behavior hinders the process. Since both stress and long-term potentiation (LTP) increase classical conditioning and both delay the acquisition of spatial information, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that stress is inducing a phenomenon similar to, if not the same as, LTP.
The Impact of Work Orientation on Intrapersonal and Workplace Conflict

Work Orientation, the viewing of one’s work as a job or career or calling, is a meaningful way of understanding individual differences that differs from traditional personality-based theories in the kinds of predictions that it makes. We argue that work orientation will interact with organization type and leadership style to affect intrapersonal conflict and hence conflict in the workplace.
Soil compaction and crop residue management effects on root diseases of annual food legumes

Current production techniques and cultural practices for annual food legumes can lead to excessive soil compaction and root stress caused by soil mechanical strength and poor aeration. Root disease complexes in these crops are especially favoured by these soil conditions. A system for demonstrating excessive compaction effects on pea was applied to the plough layer of Walla Walla silt loam; measurements of soil properties, pathogen inoculum, and root disease were compared to the excessive compaction predictions. Predictions for a Webster clay loam were compared with those for Walla Walla silt loam to illustrate the varying influence of soil properties. This systematic approach can assist in evaluating soil compaction damages providing that: (a) the excessive compaction criteria are evaluated in disease-infested rather than nearly axenic soils; and (b) the compression index (stress-strain relation) can be improved to better account for stress transmission under traffic on both recently-disturbed and naturally-reconsolidated soil. Machinery adaptations and reduced tillage are necessary to exclude traffic over rows during secondary tillage and planting.
Cryosurgical ablation of renal cell carcinoma.

BackgroundSmall renal masses are being commonly diagnosed incidentally in older patients. A partial nephrectomy is the first-line nephron sparing treatment option for these lesions. However, probe ...
Accessing information and services on the DAML enabled web

The DARPA Agent Markup Language (DAML) program aims to allow one to mark up web pages to indicate the meaning of their content; it is intended that the results delivered by a DAML-enabled browser will more closely match the intentions of the user than is possible with today's syntactically oriented search engines. In this paper we present our vision of a DAML-enabled search architecture. We present a set of queries of increasing complexity that should be answered efficiently in a SemanticWeb. We describe several scenarios illustrating how queries are processed, identifying the main software components necessary to facilitate the search. We examine the issue of inference in search, and we address how to characterize procedures and services in DAML, enabling a DAML query language to find web sites with specified capabilities.
Permeable Border: The Great Lakes Basin as Transnational Region, 1650–1990

Review of: "Permeable Border: The Great Lakes Basin as Transnational Region, 1650–1990," by John J. Bukowczyk; Nora Faires; David R. Smith; and Randy Widdis.
Who feels it? Income inequality, relative deprivation, and financial satisfaction in U.S. states, 1973-2012

Abstract Many accounts posit that as income inequality rises, individuals will be less satisfied with their own financial situation as they feel increasingly deprived relative to others—driving these individuals to spend more as they engage in positional competition and increasing their anxieties as position in the income distribution becomes ever more important. I examine if and for whom income inequality reduces financial satisfaction by analyzing the 1973–2012 General Social Surveys linked to state-level administrative data based on tax returns, the Census, and the American Community Survey. I find that higher state-level income inequality decreases financial satisfaction overall, and I further find that this effect is especially pronounced for those in the middle of the income distribution. Counterfactual simulations suggest rising income inequality explains a substantial portion of a four-decade decline in financial satisfaction.
A new approach to measure the resistance of fabric to liquid and viral penetration

Protective clothing manufacturers routinely test their products for resistance to liquid and viral penetration. Several of the test methods specified by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for penetration testing produce binary results (i.e. pass or fail), deliver imprecise pressure regulation, and do not record the location at which penetration events occur. Instead, our approach measures a continuous variable (time of penetration) during a slow and continuous increase of hydrostatic pressure and retains the location of penetration events. Using a fluorescent dye to enhance visual detection, we evaluate temporal and spatial patterns of penetration events. We then compare the time of liquid penetration with the time of penetration of two bacteriophages (Phi-X174 and MS2). For the fabric tested, the mean viral penetration occurred 0.29 minutes earlier than liquid penetration when solved by logistic regression. The breakthrough time of MS2 was not different from the Phi-X174 bacteriophage. The time of liquid penetration was a latent indicator of the time of viral penetration.
Stable recombinant production of codon-scrambled lubricin and mucin in human cells.

Widespread therapeutic and commercial interest in recombinant mucin technology has emerged due to the unique ability of mucin glycoproteins to hydrate, protect, and lubricate biological surfaces. However, recombinant production of the large, highly repetitive domains that are characteristic of mucins remains a challenge in biomanufacturing likely due, at least in part, to the inherent instability of DNA repeats in the cellular genome. To overcome this challenge, we exploit codon redundancy to encode desired mucin polypeptides with minimal nucleotide repetition. The codon-scrambling strategy was applied to generate synonymous genes, or "synDNAs," for two mucins of commercial interest: lubricin and mucin 1. Stable, long-term recombinant production in suspension-adapted human 293-F cells was demonstrated for the synonymous lubricin complementary DNA (cDNA), which we refer to as SynLubricin. Under optimal conditions, a 293-F subpopulation produced recombinant SynLubricin at more than 200 mg/L of media and was stable throughout 2 months of continuous culture. Functionality tests confirmed that the recombinant lubricin could effectively inhibit cell adhesion and lubricate cartilage explants. Together, our work provides a viable workflow for cDNA design and stable mucin production in mammalian host production systems.
Stress- and strain-induced formation of martensite and its effects on strength and ductility of metastable austenitic stainless steels

The effects of deformation-induced formation of martensite have been studied in metastable austenitic stainless steels. The stability of the austenite, being the critical factor in the formation of martensite, was controlled principally by varying the amounts of carbon and manganese. The formation of martensite was also affected by different test and rolling temperatures, rolling time, and various reductions in thickness. The terms “stress-induced” and “strain-induced” formation of martensite are defined. Experimental results show that low austenite stability resulted in stress-induced formation of martensite, high work-hardening rates, high tensile strengths, low “yield strengths,” and low elongation values. When the austenite was stable, plastic deformation was initiated by slip, and the work-hardening rate was too low to prevent early necking. A specific amount of strain-induced martensite led to an “optimum” work-hardening rate, resulting in high strengthand high ductility. For best results processing should be carried out aboveMd and testing betweenMd andMs. Mechanical working aboveMd had a negligible effect on the yield strength betweenMd andMs when the austenite stability was low, but its effect increased as the austenite became, more stable. Serrations appeared in the stress-strain curve when martensite was strain induced.
Diagnosis of Parathyroid Adenomas with New Ultrasound Imaging Modalities

Ultrasound technology is becoming an integral part of diagnosing parathyroid adenomas. Careful ultrasound evaluation with b-mode, shear wave elastography, and three-dimensional (3D) of parathyroid ...
Aromatase Inhibitor Symptom Management Practices: A Retrospective Study

Abstract Purpose Aromatase inhibitor (AI) associated symptoms are large contributors to early discontinuation. Though guidelines exist for management of these symptoms, little is known about the degree to which physicians address symptoms and adhere to the guidelines for treatment. Patients In this retrospective chart review, 179 women with hormone receptor positive breast cancer who were prescribed an AI between October 15, 2012 and September 14, 2017 were randomly selected from the institution’s National Association of Central Cancer Registry. Methods Patient medical records were reviewed to identify the prevalence of symptom documentation and management. Documented symptoms were categorized into musculoskeletal, vasomotor, and urogenital. Symptom treatment guidelines were compiled from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the American Cancer Society/American Society of Clinical Oncology (ACS/ASCO). Treatments were categorized as either guideline or non-guideline. Among patients with symptoms recorded, Chi square tests and time-to-event models were used to examine 1) factors associated with treatment and 2) factors associated with guideline-based treatment. Results Among 179 women prescribed an AI, 82% had at least one symptom and 46% had multiple symptoms. Of the 147 women with any documented symptom, 97 (66%) received some form of symptom-palliating treatment. Seventy-seven patients (52%) received guideline-based treatments or guideline-based treatments in combination with non-guideline based treatments. There were no differences in receipt of treatment overall (i.e. guideline or non-guideline-based for either vasomotor musculoskeletal by age, race, or stage. Conclusions Although 82% of patients had symptoms documented in their medical records, just over half of those patients received guideline-based treatment.
Analysis of growth-dependent signals that link cell cycle entry to cell growth in budding yeast

Abstract Entry into the cell cycle occurs only when sufficient growth has occurred. In budding yeast, the cyclin Cln3 initiates cell cycle entry in late G1 phase by inactivating Whi5, a repressor that blocks transcription of genes that drive cell cycle entry. Growth-dependent changes in the concentrations of Cln3 and/or Whi5 have been proposed to link cell cycle entry to cell growth. However, there are conflicting reports regarding the behavior and roles of Cln3 and Whi5 during G1 phase, and little is known about the molecular mechanisms that link changes in their concentrations to cell growth. Here, we analyzed levels of Cln3 and Whi5 as a function of growth in G1 phase. We found no evidence that changes in the concentration of Whi5 play a major role in controlling cell cycle entry. Rather, the data are consistent with models in which a growth-dependent increase in the concentration of Cln3 drives cell cycle entry. We further found that Cln3 levels in G1 phase are strongly modulated by nutrient availability and by homologs of mammalian SGK kinases that are required for normal control of cell growth and size.
Challenges of Size-Exclusion Chromatography for the Analysis of Bottlebrush Polymers

The establishment of structure–function relationships requires the accurate characterization of the materials being studied. For polymer science, size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) is among one of...
Institutional Barriers in the Coproduction of Knowledge for Transportation Planning

Barriers to an inclusive planning process include institutional context shaped by organizational structures, interactions between professionals outside of their disciplines, and practices. We seek ...
25 Understanding institutional physician chronic opioid prescription practices for the improved implementation of newly developed EMR tools

Background Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) affects a significant portion of the United States population each year and is often treated with chronic opioids. Several policies including the 2016 ‘CDC Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain’ have been developed to guide CNCP management. These recommendations include the use of pain management agreements, urine drug screening, prescription monitoring programs (PMP), and risk and pain assessments among others. In Texas, several recent policies have made these practices mandatory, requiring support in order to enforce them. Preliminary chart review at UTSW showed low adherence overall. Objectives Our aim was to improve opioid treatment standards in CNCP patients at UTSW by increasing the number of physicians adhering to Texas Medical Board CNCP treatment requirements to 100% by December 2020. Methods A three-part intervention including an electronic medical record (EMR) navigator tool (figure 1), chronic opioids registry, and physician education was developed to improve accessibility, documentation, and understanding of opioid prescribing guideline recommendations. A survey was developed to measure physician barriers to policy adherence, attitudes toward the policy components, and current opioid prescribing practices. Results Physicians who had used the EMR navigator tool reported overall greater use of several guideline-concordant treatment components compared to those who had not used it (figure 2). Physicians who received opioid prescribing training were more aware and familiar with the policy. Those who had used the EMR navigator tool were more likely to implement pain management agreements and check the PMP (table 1). Only a small percentage of respondents reported co-prescribing naloxone for high-risk CNCP individuals (table 2). Conclusions An EMR navigator tool to improve accessibility of treatment components is effective in improving policy adherence at our institution. These interventions may serve as a valuable tool at other academic medical centers to support safer opioid prescribing and provide a framework for tools to support other guidelines as well.
Modeling Clinical Empathy in Narrative Essays

Empathy is commonly defined as the capacity to stand in another's shoes and can be generally divided into two major components: affective and cognitive empathy. The role and importance of empathy in clinical practice have been widely discussed in the research community at large and there have been numerous initiatives to train physicians and nurses in empathic communication. Qualitative and quantitative investigations of clinical practice settings involving empathy have primarily focused on patient experience, yet little has been done on the quantitative analysis and modeling of clinical empathy themselves. In this paper, we address two important aspects of clinical empathy modeling: the design and implementation of a new annotation protocol, and an automatic classification system trained on a new corpus of narrative essays written by pre-med students. To develop the annotation protocol, we built MedicalCare, a corpus of essays simulating a doctor's delivery of bad news to a hypothetical patient. We compared our results with state-of-the-art research on empathy prediction using self-rated empathy scores. Our research suggests that the classification system we built is effective in modeling clinical empathy and that our annotation protocol is more reliable when compared with self-assessment approaches to empathy prediction.