cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neural control of gonad size by hormone feedback in the desert iguana Dipsosaurus dorsalis dorsalis.

Seasonal maturation of the gonads was inhibited by implantation of testosterone propionate or estradiol benzoate into the median eminence region of the brain of the desert iguana Dipsosaurus dorsalis dorsalis. Hormone implantation in other regions of the hypothalamus did not prevent development of the gonads. Normal gonadal development occurred following cholesterol implantation in the median eminence; one female laid eggs. Seasonal development of the gonads in lizards thus appears to depend upon appropriate stimuli from the brain (hypothalamus) to the pituitarygonad axis, transmitted from the median eminence to the pituitary presumably by the portal system. These stimuli are initiated only when little or no gonadal steroids are reaching the brain.
Mechanical properties of rigid thermoplastic foams—Part I: Experimental considerations

The through-thickness variation in the porosity of structural foam material is known to result in different “material properties” when mechanics based on homogeneous materials is used to interpret data from standard tensile and bend tests. Unresolved issues relating to structural design include the specification of the most useful test specimen, the identification of useful material properties, and the application of these properties to part design and analysis. This paper develops procedures for determining the mechanical properties of rigid thermoplastic structural foams, and for the application of these properties to the design of load-bearing components. Rather than molded specimens, it is suggested that specimens cut from large, edge-gated plates be used for determining mechanical properties of structural foams. By modeling foams as continuous but nonhomogeneous materials, it is shown that data from simple tensile and flexural tests can be used in structural analysis to systematically account for the through-thickness variation of material properties.
Medicolegal Issues in Endoscopic Sinus Surgery and Complications

Complications occur during and after endoscopic sinus surgery. Complications leading to temporary or most commonly permanent injury often are involved in litigation for malpractice. This article concentrates on areas of importance that are considered during medicolegal deliberations.
Improved Culture Flask for Obligate Anaerobes

Abstract An improved flask system for the growth of extremely oxygen-sensitive bacteria in liquid culture is described. The improvement described utilizes an all-glass, neoprene-stoppered flask designed for growth of 50- to 1,000-ml cultures of bacteria with continuous gassing.
Vector Lane Threading

Multi-lane vector processors achieve excellent computational throughput for programs with high data-level parallelism (DLP). However, application phases without significant DLP are unable to fully utilize the datapaths in the vector lanes. In this paper, we propose vector lane threading (VLT), an architectural enhancement that allows idle vector lanes to run short-vector or scalar threads. VLTenhanced vector hardware can exploit both data-level and thread-level parallelism to achieve higher performance. We investigate implementation alternatives for VLT, focusing mostly on the instruction issue bandwidth requirements. We demonstrate that VLT?s area overhead is small. For applications with short vectors, VLT leads to additional speedup of 1.4 to 2.3 over the base vector design. For scalar threads, VLT outperforms a 2-way CMP design by a factor of two. Overall, VLT allows vector processors to reach high computational throughput for a wider range of parallel programs and become a competitive alternative to CMP systems.
Instructional Resources for the New MCAT Exam Available at the Open-Access, Pre-Health Collection within MedEdPORTAL’s iCollaborative

The Pre-Health Collection within MedEdPORTAL’s iCollaborative, supported by the Association of American Medical Colleges, is an open-access repository of curriculum resources available to instructors. The goal of the collection is to help instructors develop high-quality lessons from resources developed by other instructors. Resources are acquired by submissions from faculty, and are then reviewed by editors before addition to the collection. The editors highly encourage submissions from this Journal’s readership.
Attitude determination and parameter estimation using vector observations

Procedures for attitude determination based on Wahba's loss function are generalized to include the estimation of parameters other than the attitude, such as sensor biases. Optimization with respect to the attitude requires either the singular value decomposition of a 3x3 matrix or finding the maximum eigenvalue and corresponding eigenvector of a 4x4 symmetric matrix, but does not require an a priori estimate of the attitude. Optimization with respect to the other parameters employs an iterative approach, which does require an a priori estimate of these parameters. Conventional state estimation methods require a priori estimates of both the parameters and the attitude, while the algorithms presented in this paper always compute the exact optimal attitude for given values of the parameters. The proposed method is shown to give the correct solution of an example problem. An expression for the covariance of the attitude and parameter estimates is derived.
Selenium Influences the Turnover of Selenocysteine tRNA[Ser]Sec in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

Selenocysteine transfer RNA (tRNA (Ser)Sec ) is a central molecule in the production of selenium- containing proteins, and may play a role in the regulation of their biosynthesis. Selenium concentration influences both the levels of tRNA (Ser)Sec and the relative abundance of two isoforms. To study the mechanism by which selenium affects tRNA (Ser)Sec levels, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were treated with the transcription inhibitor, actinomycin D, and tRNA (Ser)Sec levels were determined by Northern blotting, primer extension and reverse-phase column chromatography. Turnover of tRNA (Ser)Sec in CHO cells was faster than the total tRNA population. Supplementation of the culture media with selenium reduced turnover of tRNA (Ser)Sec , but did not influence turnover of a randomly selected serine tRNA. Inhibition of transcription with actinomycin D resulted in a relative increase in the abundance of the isoform containing methylcarboxymethyl-5-uridine-2-O-methylribose in the wobble position of the anticodon. Primer extension studies, which permitted the independent evaluation of the tRNA (Ser)Sec arising from the introduced mouse gene and that derived from the host CHO gene, indicated an accelerated decline in tRNA (Ser)Sec derived from both the transfected and the native gene. These results provide additional insight into the levels of regulation that control the translation of selenium containing proteins in mammalian cells. J. Nutr. 132: 1830 -1835, 2002.
Non-cardiovascular effects associated with statins

Statins form the pharmacologic cornerstone of the primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In addition to beneficial cardiovascular effects, statins seem to have multiple non-cardiovascular effects. Although early concerns about statin induced hepatotoxicity and cancer have subsided owing to reassuring evidence, two of the most common concerns that clinicians have are myopathy and diabetes. Randomized controlled trials suggest that statins are associated with a modest increase in the risk of myositis but not the risk of myalgia. Severe myopathy (rhabdomyolysis) is rare and often linked to a statin regimen that is no longer recommended (simvastatin 80 mg). Randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses suggest an increase in the risk of diabetes with statins, particularly with higher intensity regimens in people with two or more components of the metabolic syndrome. Other non-cardiovascular effects covered in this review are contrast induced nephropathy, cognition, cataracts, erectile dysfunction, and venous thromboembolism. Currently, systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines indicate that the cardiovascular benefits of statins generally outweigh non-cardiovascular harms in patients above a certain threshold of cardiovascular risk. Literature is also accumulating on the potential non-cardiovascular benefits of statins, which could lead to novel applications of this class of drug in the future.
A characterization of positive semidefinite operators on a Hilbert space

In this paper, we show that, under certain conditions, a Hilbert space operator is positive semidefinite whenever it is positive semidefinite plus on a closed convex cone and positive semidefinite on the polar cone (with respect to the operator). This result is a generalization of a result by Han and Mangasarian on matrices.
Multiple-terminal hybrid graphics for control-system analysis

Hybrid computation can be extremely efficient, not only in solving certain dynamics and control-system problems, but also in the graphical presentation and analysis of results. Analysis routines, simu lation, and animation can be interactively graphed in a time-shared mode using analog generated dis play with storage-type terminal screens. Many types of control problems amenable to graphical analysis and solution display may not require the large memory and sophistication of all-digital graphics. Hybrid-analog graphics provide an effi cient alternative, as demonstrated with two examples using root-locus and Nyquist diagram analyses. By employing the digital computer on an intermittent basis for calculation of root-locus and Nyquist data, efficient use is made of the analog in solving differential equations describing the system and in generating displays. Parallel effort between the two computers minimizes the total computational time required. Programming of analog logic allows a number of users of termi...
Occult pulmonary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma presenting as catastrophic antiphospholipid antibody syndrome

Catastrophic antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (CAPS) is characterized by fulminant thrombosis of the arterial and venous beds of multiple organ systems over a relatively short period of time and with a high mortality rate. Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the lung has never been reported as a causative or precipitating factor for CAPS in the CAPS registry database. The present study describes a rare case of pulmonary MALT lymphoma of the lung that presented as CAPS. A 19-year-old Hispanic female presented with shortness of breath and abdominal pain. Computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest and abdomen revealed multiple portal vein thromboses and bilateral pulmonary nodules. Within one week of presentation, the patient developed a straight sinus thrombosis and upper extremity deep vein thrombosis, which led to shortness of breath. A biopsy of the lung nodule revealed MALT lymphoma. The present case illustrates a rarely reported pulmonary MALT lymphoma presenting as CAPS in a young female. The patient was successfully treated with 90 mg/m2 bendamustine on days one and two and rituximab 375 mg/m2 on day one of each 28-day cycle. Complete remission of the lung nodules was observed following three cycles of treatment, as visualized by positron emission tomography (PET)/CT scan. Fondaparinux was identified as a feasible anticoagulation drug of choice for this case. At seven months post-treatment, the patient continues to be stable with no further evidence of thrombosis and is currently undergoing rituximab maintenance therapy every six months for two years. A repeat lupus anticoagulant antibody assay turned and remained negative during the clinical follow-up period. A prompt diagnosis and early aggressive treatment is potentially curative and may dramatically decrease the mortality risk. Future studies should explore the role of rituximab in the management of CAPS-associated B-cell lymphoid malignancies.
Soil management concepts and carbon sequestration in cropland soils

Abstract One of the most important terrestrial pools for carbon (C) storage and exchange with atmospheric CO 2 is soil organic carbon (SOC). Following the advent of large-scale cultivation, this long-term balance was disrupted and increased amounts of SOC were exposed to oxidation and loss as atmospheric CO 2 . The result was a dramatic decrease in SOC. If amounts of C entering the soil exceed that lost to the atmosphere by oxidation, SOC increases. Such an increase can result from practices that include improved: (1) tillage management and cropping systems, (2) management to increase amount of land cover, and (3) efficient use of production inputs, e.g. nutrients and water. Among the most important contributors is conservation tillage (i.e., no-till, ridge-till, and mulch-tillage) whereby higher levels of residue cover are maintained than for conventional-tillage. Gains in amount of land area under conservation tillage between 1989 and 1998 are encouraging because of their contributions to soil and water conservation and for their potential to sequester SOC. Other important contributors are crop residue and biomass management and fallow reduction. Collectively, tillage management and cropping systems in the US are estimated to have the potential to sequester 30–105 million metric tons of carbon (MMTC) yr −1 . Two important examples of management strategies whereby land cover is increased include crop rotations with winter cover crops and the conservation reserve program (CRP). Such practices enhance SOC sequestration by increasing the amount and time during which the land is covered by growing plants. Crop rotations, winter cover crops, and the CRP combined have the potential to sequester 14–29 MMTC yr −1 . Biomass production is increased by efficient use of production inputs. Optimum fertility levels and water availability in soils can directly affect quantity of crop residues produced for return to the soil and for SOC sequestration. Nutrient inputs and supplemental irrigation are estimated to have the potential to sequester 11–30 MMTC yr −1 . In the future, it is important to acquire an improved understanding of SOC sequestration processes, the ability to make quantitative estimates of rates of SOC sequestration, and technology to enhance these rates in an energy- and input-efficient manner. Adoption of improved tillage practices and cropping systems, increased land cover, and efficient use of nutrient and water inputs are examples where such information is necessary.
Are births just “women's business”? Gift exchange, value, and global volatility in Muslim Senegal

Through global circuits of wage labor and capital, the Murid way has become an economic force in the Senegalese postcolony amid conditions of protracted global volatility. In this article, I analyze women's actions within these global circuits. Women create value by giving gifts during the celebration of births and marriages, gifts that are the product of and the motivating force behind Murid global trade. Female ritual activities, on which male honor rests, draw women into conflict with the Murid clergy, which views women's actions as customary and not part of its modern, austere, and global vision of Islam in Senegal.
Extended Outcomes in the Treatment of Male Stress Urinary Incontinence With a Transobturator Sling

Objective To review extended patient outcomes after male transobturator sling placement for stress urinary incontinence. Methods A retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database for patients with at least 12 months of postoperative follow-up after AdVance male sling placement was performed. Success was defined as a dry safety pad or less (cured) or >50% improvement in pads used per day and patient satisfaction (improved). Patients requiring repeat continence procedures were considered failures. Results We reviewed data from 102 patients with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up (mean ± standard deviation 36.2 ± 16.5 months). The mean age at surgery was 66.1 years, and 86.4% had previously undergone a prostatectomy. At 12 months, 24 months, and final follow-up, success rates were 74%, 63%, and 62%, respectively. Although cure rates also declined over time, 40% of patients experienced a durable cure with no complaints of wet pads at final follow-up. Complications were minimal and similar with previous reports. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed detrusor overactivity and an elevated detrusor pressure and peak flow negatively predicted being cured using sling placement. Conclusion AdVance sling placement continues to represent a viable option in the treatment of male stress incontinence. Although a decrease in efficacy over time was observed, a substantial portion of patients can expect a durable cure.
Flagellar elongation induced by glucose limitation is preadaptive for Trypanosoma cruzi differentiation.

Trypanosomes must sense and respond to environmental change in order to progress through their life cycles. The American trypanosome, Trypanosoma cruzi, differentiates from the noninfective epimastigote form to the infective metacyclic form spontaneously in axenic culture. Here, we investigate the initial stimulus for that change and demonstrate that T. cruzi epimastigotes sense limitation of glucose in the medium and respond by undergoing significant morphological and biochemical change. As part of this change, the mean flagellar length of the population triples, which is correlated with an increased ability to maintain interactions with hydrophobic substrates, a requirement for differentiation to the next life cycle stage.
Phosphorylated Tau as a Candidate Biomarker for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Importance An increasingly varied clinical spectrum of cases with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been identified, and objective criteria for clinical trial eligibility are necessary. Objective To develop a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of ALS. Design, Setting, and Participants A case-control study including 51 individuals with ALS and 23 individuals with a disorder associated with a 4-repeat tauopathy was conducted at an academic medical center. Main Outcomes and Measures The CSF level of tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (ptau) and ratio of ptau to total tau (ttau). Results Using a cross-validation prediction procedure, we found significantly reduced CSF levels of ptau and the ptau:ttau ratio in ALS relative to 4-repeat tauopathy and to controls. In the validation cohort, the receiver operating characteristic area under the curve for the ptau:ttau ratio was 0.916, and the comparison of ALS with 4-repeat tauopathy showed 92.0% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity. Correct classification based on a low CSF ptau:ttau ratio was confirmed in 18 of 21 cases (86%) with autopsy-proved or genetically determined disease. In patients with available measures, ptau:ttau in ALS correlated with clinical measures of disease severity, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (n = 51) and ALS Functional Rating Scale–Revised (n = 42), and regression analyses related the ptau:ttau ratio to magnetic resonance imaging (n = 10) evidence of disease in the corticospinal tract and white matter projections involving the prefrontal cortex. Conclusions and Relevance The CSF ptau:ttau ratio may be a candidate biomarker to provide objective support for the diagnosis of ALS.
Power-aware global signaling strategies

The paper targets the rising power demands (both static and dynamic) of aggressive repeater usage for global interconnect. We describe three techniques to reduce both dynamic and static power consumption, including active mode leakage reduction. These techniques leverage new repeater designs, multiple voltage domains, and transition-awareness to improve upon the traditional repeater paradigm with little increase in design effort.
Stability of Filgrastim and Epoetin Alfa in a System Designed for Enteral Administration in Neonates

OBJECTIVE:To determine the stability of recombinant granulocyte colony—stimulating factor (rG-CSF, filgrastim) and recombinant erythropoietin (rEpo, epoetin alfa) in a solution designed for enteral administration in the neonatal intensive care unit.DESIGN:Filgrastim and epoetin alfa were added to a solution with NaCl 0.9%, sodium acetate, potassium chloride, and human albumin in concentrations designed to mimic human amniotic fluid. Additionally, the solution was dripped through polyvinyl chloride feeding tubes to simulate feedings, and aliquots were collected before, during, and after priming of the tube. Other aliquots were either frozen immediately, stored at room temperature, or refrigerated for 0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Filgrastim and epoetin alfa concentrations in the various aliquots were compared with the concentrations in the original solution.RESULTS:Filgrastim and epoetin alfa concentrations were stable for at least 24 hours when refrigerated and for at least three weeks ...
Taking the Assets of Criminals to Compensate Victims of Violence: A Legal and Philosophical Approach

We contend that all people who abhor violence should favor stripping the criminal of his profits and compensating the hapless victim. To that end we explore the recent California case, which we call "Son of Sinatra,"' to discover a constitutionally pleasing way to accomplish this result. We discuss the constitutional problems that arise when states set out to seize assets of the criminal that have a connection with his storytelling about the crime.
Coastal Zone Processes

The zone of interest in this chapter is that segment of the coast located between the offshore point where shoaling waves begin to move sediment and the onshore limit of active marine processes. The latter is usually delineated by a dune field or cliff line, unless a line of structures is constructed along the coast. Most of the world’s coastlines consist of sandy beaches. In some locations the beach is covered partially or completely with coarser stone known as shingle. Many shorelines consist of long beaches occasionally interrupted be a river, tidal inlet, or rocky headland. In other locations there are short pocket beaches between large headlands that limit the interchange of sediment between adjacent beaches.
Prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen kinetics and the risk of biopsy progression in active surveillance patients.

Objective To analyze the association between prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen kinetics and the risk of biopsy progression in prostate cancer patients on active surveillance, and to study the effect of prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen values on the predictive performance of prostate-specific antigen velocity and prostate-specific antigen doubling time. Methods The study included 137 active surveillance patients with two or more prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen levels measured over a period of at least 3 months. Two sets of analyses were carried out. First, the association between prostate-specific antigen kinetics calculated using only the prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen values and the risk of biopsy progression was studied. Second, using the same cohort of patients, the predictive value of prostate-specific antigen kinetics calculated using only post-diagnostic prostate-specific antigens and compared with that of prostate-specific antigen kinetics based on both pre- and post-diagnostic prostate-specific antigen levels was analyzed. Results Of 137 patients included in the analysis, 37 (27%) had biopsy progression over a median follow-up period of 3.2 years. Prediagnostic prostate-specific antigen velocity of more than 2 ng/mL/year and 3 ng/mL/year was statistically significantly associated with the risk of future biopsy progression. However, after adjustment for baseline prostate-specific antigen density, these associations were no longer significant. None of the tested prostate-specific antigen kinetics based on combined pre- and post-diagnostic prostate-specific antigen values were statistically significantly associated with the risk of biopsy progression. Conclusions Historical prediagnostic prostate-specific antigens seems to be not clinically useful in patients diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance.
IEEE/IBM Watson Student Showcase

The Miface project is using crowdsourcing to build an extensive database of semantically tagged facial expressions. Developed by students at NYU, the Web application uses IBM Watson's Tone Analyzer module to refine user labels for each expression. The end result will be to enrich the ability of computational agents to understand and generate meaningful nonverbal cues for human interaction. The Web extra at https://youtu.be/kvdlR41M28c is a video of the Miface project, which is using crowdsourcing to build an extensive database of semantically-tagged facial expressions.
Tensile properties of a split quadriceps graft for ACL reconstruction.

Anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction can be performed using different grafts, such as quadriceps tendon. Grafts can be split in either coronal or sagittal planes to approximate the two bundles of the native ACL, but it is unknown whether a difference exists in the graft tensile properties depending on splitting plane. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tensile properties of split human quadriceps tendon-bone grafts. Twenty full-thickness quadriceps tendon-bone grafts were prepared to mimic grafts for double-bundle ACL reconstruction. Ten grafts were split in the sagittal plane, and ten were split in the coronal plane. Each graft underwent cyclic creep testing and load-to-failure testing to compare creep, ultimate load, ultimate elongation, stiffness, and tangent modulus between splitting planes. All parameters were compared between splitting groups (significance p < 0.05). Lateral halves of grafts split in the sagittal plane exhibited a percent creep of 42.5 ± 12.4 %, ultimate load of 445 ± 210 N, ultimate elongation of 7.3 ± 1.9 mm, stiffness of 75.7 ± 19.9 N/mm, and tangent modulus of 174.0 ± 99.8 MPa. No differences were found between halves within split tendons or between splitting planes (n.s.). Overall, splitting quadriceps tendon grafts for anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction results in similar tensile properties regardless of splitting plane. Surgeons can split quadriceps tendon in either splitting plane, but should take care to preserve fibres as much as possible. This study provides data that support the use of both coronal and sagittal splits of quadriceps tendons for anatomic double-bundle ACL reconstruction.
A rare presentation of complication arising from Meckel's diverticulum in the form of diverticulotransverse colonic fistula in an adult

Meckel's diverticulum is a common congenital malformation of the gastrointestinal tract, reported to be present in 2-4% of the population. Although most patients with Meckel's diverticulum remain asymptomatic throughout life, reports of acute inflammation, perforation, haemorrhage, intussusception, intestinal obstruction, vesicodiverticular fistulae and primary tumours are described. We present a rare diagnosis of diverticulotransverse colonic fistula and its management.
First-principles characterization of the critical thickness for forming metallic states in strained LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃(001) heterostructure.

The emerging two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the interface between polar LaAlO3 (LAO) and nonpolar SrTiO3 (STO) provides potential applications in low-dimensional nanoelectronic devices because of its exceptional electron transport property. To form 2DEG in the LAO/STO heterostructure (HS), a minimum thickness of approximately 4 unit cells of LAO is necessary. Herein, we modeled the n-type (TiO2)0/(LaO)+1 HS by depositing (LAO)n (n = 4, 5, and 6) thin films on the STO substrate and explored strain effects on the critical thickness for forming 2DEG in the LAO/STO HS-based slab systems using first-principles electronic structure calculations. A vacuum layer was added along the [001] direction on the LAO film to resemble the actual epitaxial growth process of the materials. An insulator-to-metal transition is predicted in unstrained (LAO)n/STO systems when n ≥ 5. Our calculations indicate that O 2px/py states give rise to the surface conductivity, while Ti 3dxy states are responsible for the interfaci...
Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmitted Electron Backscatter Diffraction Examination of Asbestos Standard Reference Materials, Amphibole Particles of Differing Morphology, and Particle Phase Discrimination from Talc Ores

Since 1972, when the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration established the first limits on occupational exposure to asbestos fibers, numerous analytical methods employing several microscopy techniques have been developed to identify a group of minerals defined by legislation as asbestos. While transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is implemented in standardized analytical methods, these methods specify the use of selected area electron diffraction. Because of this constraint, the diffraction data a TEM can provide are often underutilized due to challenges associated with collecting and interpreting individual diffraction patterns. It has been shown that transmission electron backscatter diffraction (tEBSD) produces diffraction patterns nearly identical to electron backscatter diffraction, but from smaller crystal domains. This paper explores the utility of tEBSD for characterization of asbestiform particles from reference asbestos materials, a suite of amphibole minerals of varying morphologies to determine if there is a correlation between mineral habit (i.e., crystal form), microscopic particle shape preferred orientation, and mineral specimens from an industrial talc deposit to provide a case study of the utility and limitations of the technique.
Design Integration Into Circuits and Mechatronics Courses

Lab exercises have traditionally been a time when students follow a given procedure, collect data, and interpret the data. The highly structured experience often leads to students focusing on the procedure and not fully thinking through the concepts being covered. While labs are fully completed each week, the structured approach does not prepare students for the open-ended, non-procedural work entry-level engineers will encounter in industry. To encourage a deeper understanding of course concepts and how they translate to physical systems and better prepare students for the workforce, open-ended design projects were offered in place of structured labs in the circuits and mechatronics courses at James Madison University.The design projects are undirected experiences that build on the directed experiences in lecture and lab. Students are challenged to work in teams to design, build, test, and in one case, calibrate, an electrical system. No instruction is provided for the project, rather, a set of design requirements, timetable, and supplemental materials (e.g., data sheets, vendor design briefs, past labs relevant to the design requirements) are given. Students must synthesize multiple weeks of course content into a single design project. This paper reports on our observations and student feedback for embedding design experiences in engineering science courses.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Selfies and Self-Writing: Cue Card Confessions as Social Media Technologies of the Self

This article explores the aesthetic genealogy of the cue card confession social media trope, where producers create a self-portrait or vlog featuring handwritten cards to relate an autobiographical narrative. Returning to Michael Foucault’s theories of self-writing as a confessional discourse of the self that creates a correspondence of ethical perception between the writer and reader by way of contemporary theorizations of the demand for authenticity and consumability in social media, I argue that the cue card confessions constitute an important mode of self-writing that uses the visual spectacle of the body and the discursive demands of confessional discourse to invoke mediated witnessing as a mode of ethical engagement.
Core/Shell Approach to Dopant Incorporation and Shape Control in Colloidal Zinc Oxide Nanorods

Tunable aliovalent doping is critical to controlling the optoelectronic properties of semiconductor nanocrystal systems. However, unintentional dopant-induced shape evolution and kinetically limited doping reactions in low-temperature nanocrystal syntheses make it difficult to independently control shape and incorporate dopants in colloidal metal oxide nanocrystals. Here, we demonstrate a synthetic strategy for achieving simultaneous control of both nanorod shape and dopant concentration in colloidal zinc oxide nanorods. We show that this approach succeeds in doping zinc oxide nanorods using Group III dopants (indium or aluminum) in varying concentrations, and we quantify the effects of dopant incorporation on the structural, optical, and plasmonic properties of the nanorods. The synthesis of undoped zinc oxide nanorod templates and subsequent addition of dopant salts to the ongoing reaction enables both shape retention and dopant incorporation. Subsequent growth of an undoped shell on the nanorods incorp...
Directional Solidification and Growth of Faceted Phases

The faceted phases exist widely in alloys solidification,whereas the present study including solidification theory and experimental research mainly focus on the investigation of non-faceted phases.As a result,many solidification phenomena caused by the growth of faceted phases remain unclear.With the development of the novel materials,such as intermetallic compound,thermoelectric material,and biomaterial,faceted phases formed in these materials will receive more attention.This paper reviews the directional solidification and growth of faceted phases involving the solidification condition and growth mechanism of the faceted phases.The theoretical analysis method is also addressed.Additionally,we briefly put forward some important unsolved problems that deserve to further explore in solidification of faceted phases.
Eyes Wide Open: High School Student Reflections on Music Teaching Experiences within a Pre-collegiate Recruitment Program

This is a preliminary investigation of a pre-collegiate, music teacher recruitment initiative. Interviews were conducted at three points in time with 11 high school students serving as sectional coaches in a 12-week, middle school band outreach program. A video-assisted, stimulated recall protocol was used to elicit the participants' (a) awareness of their teaching, (b) thoughts about student improvement, (c) thoughts about potential improvements to their teaching, and (d) sense of teacher identity. Data consisted of over 1000 coded statements drawn from over 400 minutes of interviews. Responses indicated a predominance of concern about the following: evaluation of teaching, communication ability, establishing a sense of comfort, implementation of teaching strategies, student learning, student motivation, and adapting to students in the moment. Analyses of trends over time indicated progressively less concern with communication ability and comfort, and more focus on individualizing instruction and adapting to students in the moment. Participants' ideas for improvements in their teaching revealed shifts from self-focus at interview 1 (e.g., mannerisms, organization) to a focus on the act of teaching at interviews 2 and 3 (e.g., efficiency, pacing). Participants' sense of teacher identity increased significantly over time (p < .001) and 73% of those eligible (i.e., 6 of 8 seniors, 2 of 3 juniors) went on to pursue music education in college. Approaches for modifying the recruitment initiative are discussed.
Control and characterization of electromagnetic emissions in wide band gap based converter modules for ungrounded grid-forming applications

Electromagnetic emissions of a 1.2kV, 120A SiC-based half-bridge switching at 100kHz that includes grounding paths and that can be extended to a 100kVA inverter and, eventually, systems of paralleled and cascaded inverters suitable for shipboard and solar farm applications is studied. This switching pole forms the basis of a test platform specifically designed to discover sensitivities to resonant paths so that design guidelines for peripheral structures and EMI mitigating components can be developed. Ungrounded grid-forming inverters are considered in this work because such systems present a worst case scenario when it comes to the effects of resonances through grounding paths being excited by “near-RF” frequencies associated with Wide Band Gap implementations.
Partial Purification of a Prostatic Growth Factor

AbstractA 5-step fractionation procedure was used to isolate a prostatic growth factor from a tissue homogenate of human benign prostatic hyperplasia. The procedure made use of the property of prostatic growth factor to occur predominately as a large molecule (>67,000) in low ionic strength solution (Tris with 0.05 M NaCl) but as a smaller molecule (<33,000) in high salt buffer (Tris with 1.55 M NaCl). The fractionation scheme consisted of ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration (low ionic strength) and DEAE chromatography. The growth factor activity was eluted from DEAE with high ionic strength buffer followed by 2 gel filtration steps in high ionic strength buffer. The fractionation scheme produced greater than a 200-fold increase in prostatic growth factor activity and 10 per cent recovery. Additional separation steps will be required to purify prostatic growth factor to homogeneity.
Platform Oriented Semantic Description of Pattern-Based Learning Scenarios

In our research work, we address the issue of representing the learning scenario’s concepts, in a learning platform. In this context, we have proposed a process for operationalizing pattern-based learning scenarios. We present the first two steps dealing with the new challenge of modeling deployable e-learning scenarios using Semantic Web technologies. It is primarily an ontology-based description of learning scenarios, which helps reducing the gap between human-readable and machine-readable vocabulary. We highlight the effectiveness of orienting teachers-designers, non-platform experts, toward creating adaptable and deployable learning scenarios. We defend that an assisted and platform-oriented design, allows the teachers to have a better pedagogical use of the embedded tools and features of learning platforms.
Novel Approach to Measuring the Droplet Detachment Force from Fibers.

Determining the force required to detach a droplet from a fiber or from an assembly of fibers is of great importance to many applications. A novel technique is developed in this work to measure this force experimentally by using ferrofluid droplets in a magnetic field. Unlike previous methods reported in the literature, our technique does not require air flow or a mechanical object to detach the droplet from the fiber(s); therefore, it simplifies the experiment and also allows one to study the capillarity of the droplet–fiber system in a more isolated environment. In this article, we investigated the effects of the relative angle between intersecting fibers on the force required to detach a droplet from the fibers in the in-plane or out-of-plane direction. The in-plane and through-plane detachment forces were also predicted via numerical simulation and compared with the experimental results. Good agreement was observed between the numerical and experimental results. It was found that the relative angle be...
Manifold methods for assimilating geophysical and meteorological data in Earth system models and their components

Abstract A novel manifold method of reconstructing dynamically evolving spatial fields is presented for assimilating data from sensor networks in integrated land surface – subsurface, oceanic/lake models. The method was developed based on the assumption that data can be mapped onto an underlying differential manifold. In this study, the proposed method was used to reconstruct meteorological forcing over Lake Michigan, the bathymetry of an inland lake (Gull Lake), and precipitation over the Grand River watershed in Michigan. In the first case study, hourly meteorological forcing data were reconstructed and used to run a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model of Lake Michigan and to quantify the improvement that results from the use of the new method. In the second example, the bathymetry of Gull Lake was reconstructed from measured scatter point data using the manifold technique. A hydrodynamic model of Gull Lake was developed and refined using the improved bathymetry. In the last case study, improved daily participation data for a six-year period over the Grand River watershed were used as input to an integrated, distributed hydrologic model. All three examples illustrate the superior performance of the manifold method over standard methods in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency. Our results also indicate that using the cross-validation technique to evaluate the performance of data reconstruction methods can lead to misleading conclusions about their relative performance.
Performance evaluations of capacitor-switched PSFB converter with SiC MOSFETs

In this paper, a silicon-carbide based capacitor-switched phase-shifted full bridge DC-DC converter circuit for electrical vehicles is investigated. The state-of-the-art silicon-carbide components were used as switching power devices. The reduction of conduction and switching losses has been achieved by using silicon-carbide devices. As a consequence, the performance of the converter is increased and weight and volume of the circuit are reduced.
The association between specific combat experiences and aspects of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.

Abstract Background Studies examining the relationship between combat exposure and suicide risk typically focus on combat exposure overall, combining numerous different combat experiences. Our study expands upon prior research by examining the association between specific combat experiences and components of both suicidal desire and the capability for suicide. Method We hypothesized that most combat experiences would be associated with capability for suicide. Furthermore, we hypothesized that experiences that involved direct exposure to death and injury (e.g. personally witnessing the death or injury of other soldiers) would be associated with higher levels of thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation. Participants were 400 service members drawn largely from the Army National Guard who had been deployed at least once and endorsed having experienced combat. Results Consistent with hypotheses, combat experiences involving direct exposure to injury or death exhibited a more pronounced pattern of associations with suicide risk factors than did other experiences. However, only a minority of combat experiences were associated with the capability for suicide. Discussion These results, while preliminary, indicate that different combat experiences are associated with different outcomes and that, in this sense, not all combat experiences are created equal with respect to suicide risk.
Flat Epithelial Atypia on Core Biopsy and Upgrade to Cancer: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

No consensus exists on whether flat epithelial atypia (FEA) diagnosed percutaneously should be surgically excised. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the frequency of upgrade to cancer or an atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) at surgical excision of FEA was performed. Embase, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from January 2003 to November 2015 were searched. The inclusion criteria required a manuscript in English with original data on FEA diagnosed percutaneously, data including the presence or absence of other concurrent high-risk lesions, and data including outcome of cancer at surgical excision. Studies were assessed for quality, and two reviewers extracted data. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool estimates. The impact of study-level characteristics was assessed by stratified meta-analysis and meta-regression. The inclusion criteria was met by 32 studies. A total of 1966 core needle biopsies showed pure FEA, and 1517 (77%) showed surgical excision. The proportions of patients with upgrade to cancer varied from 0 to 42%, with an overall pooled estimate of 11.1%. Heterogeneity was observed, with the greatest impact based on whether a study included cases of FEA diagnosed before 2003. With restriction of the investigation to 16 higher-quality studies, the cancer upgrade pooled estimate was 7.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.4–10.4%), and the rate of invasive cancer was 3% (95% CI 1.9–4.5%). For upgrade to ADH, data from 22 studies including 937 patients were analyzed. The proportion of patients upgraded to ADH ranged from 0 to 60%, with a pooled estimate of 17.9% overall and 18.6% among high-quality studies. With patient management change potential for approximately 25% of patients, this analysis supports a general recommendation for surgical excision of FEA diagnosed by core biopsy.
On the pressure-dependent phonon characteristics and anomalous thermal expansion coefficient of 3C-SiC

By exploiting a realistic rigid-ion model (RIM) in the quasi-harmonic approximation, we have calculated the pressure- and temperature-dependent phonon characteristics of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC). All the RIM parameters at ambient (1 atm or P = 0) and high pressure (P = 22.5 GPa) are carefully optimized by using successive least-square fitting procedures – incorporating critical-point phonon energies as input while the lattice, elastic constants and their pressure derivatives are employed as constraints. For P > 0, we strongly recommend the need of high resolution temperature-dependent second-order Raman scattering measurements to help identify the shifts of optical and acoustical phonons perceived in the two-phonon density of states. Unlike many zinc-blende semiconductors, the present lattice dynamical study of 3C-SiC exhibited no negative thermal expansion (NTE) coefficient α(T) at low temperatures T < 100 K. The mechanism responsible for the absence of NTE behavior is identified and discussed in terms of the bonding and elastic properties of 3C-SiC with comparison to those of diamond (C) and silicon (Si) materials.
Ultrasound Features of Mammographic Developing Asymmetries and Correlation With Histopathologic Findings.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to review the ultrasound (US) features of developing asymmetries and correlate them with histopathologic findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We searched the mammography database of an academic medical center, affiliated cancer center, and two ambulatory imaging facilities from 2009 to 2012 and identified 201 patients with developing asymmetries, 187 of whom had US at the time of, or within 1 month of, diagnostic mammography evaluation. Seventy-five (40.1%) of these 187 patients had a US correlate, and three additional patients had a positive second-look US after MRI (US results were initially negative), and one patient had a US correlate for a newly palpable developing asymmetry 1 month after receiving a BI-RADS category 3 mammography-only assessment. These 78 developing asymmetries with US correlates comprised the study cases. US features were obtained by consensus image review; patient demographic characteristics and outcomes were obtained from the electronic medical...