cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rehabilitation Factors Following Transmetatarsal Amputation

Despite the occurrence of approximately 10,000 transmetatarsal amputations (TMAs) a year in the United States, there are few reports describing rehabilitation for this patient group. The purposes of this clinical perspective are (1) to identify common problems encountered during rehabilitation of patients with TMA, (2) to identify factors that may contribute to these problems, and (3) to propose methods to manage these problems. A review of the literature and biomechanical models of the residuum, footwear, and orthotic devices are provided to help accomplish these purposes. Common problems encountered during rehabilitation of patients with TMA are skin breakdown and instability during functional activities. Decreased foot length and peripheral neuropathies appear to contribute to these problems. Solutions focus on attempting to provide a substitute for the plantar-flexor lever arm and protection of the insensitive residual foot. Suggestions for additional research are presented.
In vivo molecular imaging of thrombosis and thrombolysis using a fibrin-binding positron emission tomographic probe.

Background—Fibrin is a major component of arterial and venous thrombi and represents an ideal candidate for molecular imaging of thrombosis. Here, we describe imaging properties and target uptake o...
Oxidative stress enhances the production and actions of adenosine in the kidney

The purpose of this study was to determine whether superoxide anions (O 2 − ·) activate 5′-nucleotidase (5′-ND), thereby increasing the production of renal adenosine and regulating renal function. ...
The chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of interleukin-1 beta alters the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis of cycling rats. I. Effect on LHRH and gonadotropin biosynthesis and secretion.

We have previously reported that the acute injection of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) into the brain ventricles of intact female rats promptly decreases LHRH release and inhibits gene expression of this peptide in the medial preoptic area (MPOA). The present studies were therefore designed to determine whether continuous exposure to the cytokine would disrupt the estrous cycle. IL-1 beta was injected intracerebroventricularly for 4-6 days at a rate of 4 ng/h. Daily vaginal smears were obtained to follow the cycle; pituitary LH and FSH secretion were measured at regular intervals. Steady state levels of LH and FSH messenger RNA (mRNA) in the pituitary, and LHRH gene expression in the MPOA, were measured at the end of the treatment. Infusion of IL-1 beta caused a total disruption of the estrous cycle, characterized by persistent smears indicative of the diestrus stage. When compared to animals treated with the vehicle, rats infused with IL-1 beta showed a significant decrease in circulating LH concentrations, which was accompanied by lowered mRNA levels in the pituitary. This statistical difference (P < 0.01) persisted even when treated rats were compared to control in a similar stage of the cycle (i.e. diestrus). Plasma FSH levels remained low at all times after IL-1 beta infusion but showed the expected cyclic changes in control animals. At the end of treatment, LHRH gene expression was also markedly suppressed in LHRH neurons distributed between the rostral preoptic area/organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis and the MPOA of these animals. These results indicate that prolonged infusion of IL-1 beta into brain ventricles disrupts the estrous cycle, an event accompanied by decreased biosynthesis/release of LHRH and gonadotropins. We report in a related study that IL-1-treated rats also show increased plasma progesterone levels. However, it is improbable that this change was responsible for the interruption of the cycle described here; indeed we have previously observed that the central administration of IL-1 beta to intact rats resulted in an immediate blockade of the spontaneous activity of LHRH perikarya during the afternoon of proestrus and significantly decreased LHRH mRNA levels in gonadectomized animals. Taken together, these data suggest that the primary effect of IL-1 beta is at the level of LHRH perikarya, and that the resulting interruption of the cycle is caused by altered LHRH neuronal activity and blunted gonadotropin secretion.
Contemporary Land Change Alters Fish Communities in a San Francisco Bay Watershed, California, U.S.A.

Urbanization is one of the leading threats to freshwater biodiversity, and urban regions continue to expand globally. Here we examined the relationship between recent urbanization and shifts in stream fish communities. We sampled fishes at 32 sites in the Alameda Creek Watershed, near San Francisco, California, in 1993–1994 and again in 2009, and we quantified univariate and multivariate changes in fish communities between the sampling periods. Sampling sites were classified into those downstream of a rapidly urbanizing area (“urbanized sites”), and those found in less impacted areas (“low-impacted sites”). We calculated the change from non-urban to urban land cover between 1993 and 2009 at two scales for each site (the total watershed and a 3km buffer zone immediately upstream of each site). Neither the mean relative abundance of native fish nor nonnative species richness changed significantly between the survey periods. However, we observed significant changes in fish community composition (as measured by Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) and a decrease in native species richness between the sampling periods at urbanized sites, but not at low-impacted sites. Moreover, the relative abundance of one native cyprinid (Lavinia symmetricus) decreased at the urbanized sites but not at low-impacted sites. Increased urbanization was associated with changes in the fish community, and this relationship was strongest at the smaller (3km buffer) scale. Our results suggest that ongoing land change alters fish communities and that contemporary resurveys are an important tool for examining how freshwater taxa are responding to recent environmental change.
A role for Siamois in Spemann organizer formation

The vertebrate body plan is specified in the early embryo through the inductive influence of the organizer, a special region that forms on the dorsalmost side of the embryo at the beginning of gastrulation. In Xenopus, the homeobox gene Siamois is activated prior to gastrulation in the area of organizer activity and is capable of inducing a secondary body axis when ectopically expressed. To elucidate the function of endogeneous Siamois in dorsoventral axis formation, we made a dominant repressor construct (SE) in which the Siamois homeodomain was fused to an active repression domain of Drosophila engrailed. Overexpression of 1-5 pg of this chimeric mRNA in the early embryo blocks axis development and inhibits activation of dorsal, but not ventrolateral, marginal zone markers. At similar expression levels, SE proteins with altered DNA-binding specificity do not have the same effect. Coexpression of mRNA encoding wild-type Siamois, but not a mutated Siamois, restores dorsal development to SE embryos. Furthermore, SE strongly blocks axis formation triggered by beta-catenin but not by the organizer product noggin. These results suggest that Siamois function is essential for beta-catenin-mediated formation of the Spemann organizer, and that Siamois acts prior to noggin in specifying dorsal development.
Development of Innovative Antifreeze Grout Mortar for Anchor Applications in Cold Regions

Ground anchors and anchored systems have been successfully used as cost-effective soil supporting systems for highway safety considerations for decades. However, some unique challenges exist when these systems are used in Alaska and other cold regions. One challenge associated with anchor installation could be potential thawing of the warm permafrost as a result of grout mortar hydration; this thawing might undermine the capacity of the anchor. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an innovative antifreeze grout mortar for successful application of anchors in cold regions. A testing matrix of different combinations of chemical admixtures was developed, and workability, early-age strength, and freezing point of the mix water of mixes were evaluated to determine the optimum mix designs. Test results showed that the antifreeze grout mortar achieved three primary objectives: (a) it depressed the freezing point of the mix water available for the hydration process, (b) it accelerated the early-age strength gai...
Micelle-based nanoreactors containing Ru-porphyrin for the epoxidation of terminal olefins in water

Abstract This contribution introduces a strategy to use Ru(II)-porphyrin complexes as catalysts for the epoxidation of alkenes in water. The design is based on shell cross-linked micelle-based nanoreactors with hydrophobic cores and hydrophilic shells as supports for the Ru(II) porphyrin complexes. The supported complexes are efficient catalysts for oxidation reactions, specifically the selectively oxidation of alkenes to epoxides. The presented strategy is the first system that allows for running Ru-catalyzed epoxidation reactions in water.
Influence of Diet on Chick Growth-Promoting and Antiperotic Properties of Betaine, Methionine and Choline.∗

SummaryBetaine and methionine have been shown to be effective in preventing perosis and promoting growth in chicks when added to a simplified diet. They were ineffective when added to a purified diet of higher methionine content. In contrast, choline prevented perosis and promoted growth on both diets.The results indicate that choline is required as such for the prevention of perosis and for growth and that betaine and methionine when added to the simplified diet enabled the chick to synthesize choline. This may be caused by an unidentified factor present in the simplified diet which is necessary for choline synthesis. Another possible explanation is that a factor which inhibits choline synthesis is present in the purified diet.When the casein in the purified diet was replaced with an isolated fraction of the proteins of soybeans with resultant reduction in methionine content, betaine and methionine failed to prevent perosis but promoted some growth. The growth response obtained with betaine and methionin...
Bullying victimization and emotional distress: is there strength in numbers for vulnerable youth?

Abstract Objective The present study examines whether the prevalence of vulnerable peers in school protects the emotional health of youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning (LGBQ), overweight, or have a disability, and if the adverse emotional effects of bullying victimization are mitigated by the presence of these peers. Methods Survey data come from a large school-based sample of adolescents attending 505 schools. The primary independent variable was the percent of students in school with each vulnerability characteristic. Multilevel logistic regression models estimated the odds of internalizing problems, self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among students who were LGBQ, overweight or had a disability. Cross-level interaction terms were added to determine if the association between being victimized and emotional distress was moderated by the presence of vulnerable peers. Results Greater presence of similar students was, on average, protective against emotional distress for LGBQ girls and overweight boys. In contrast, greater presence of students with a disability was, on average, a risk factor among girls with a disability. Several tests of effect modification indicated that odds of emotional distress for those who had been victimized were lower in schools with a higher proportion of vulnerable youth. Conclusions The presence of a similar peer group may increase the likelihood that a bystander or witness to bullying will react in a helpful way. School personnel, health care providers and other youth service professionals should inquire about social relationships at school, including experiences of harassment and perceptions of peer support, to buffer negative experiences.
Historians under Leo the Wise

In the last quarter of the ninth century, during a period when both education and literature in general were recovering, Byzantine historiography seems to have been briefly interrupted.1 The long, unedifying, and inconclusive controversy over the patriarchates of Ignatius and Photius would have made an intractable topic for any writer who wanted not to offend powerful people. Because Basil I had murdered Michael III but had been adopted by him, and Leo VI thought Michael was his father but had to pretend he was Basil’s son, historians under Leo were unsure how to treat either Basil or Michael.2 While almost everyone agreed that the restoration of icons in 843 had been a splendid triumph, subsequent events took a less favorable turn. The empire did win some victories over the Arabs and Paulicians in Anatolia, but these were overshadowed by the Arab conquest of Syracuse in 878, losses to the Bulgarians between 894 and 896, and the Arab sack of Thessalonica in 904. Although Leo VI (886-912) later acquired the epithet “the Wise,” his reign seemed particularly contentious and unsuccessful. Although none of the reverses that the empire suffered was truly devastating, they were too important to ignore completely in any full-scale history. Historians therefore had to choose between recording both the good and the bad, giving prominence to the bad, or writing on restricted subjects. Thus nobody wrote a history of the twenty-six years of Leo’s reign as such, but several historians wrote about parts of it or included it as part of a more comprehensive history.
“They must be guilty of something”: Myths of criminalization

But the thing is, you don't have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That's contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not a suspect. Former Attorney General of the United States, Edwin Meese In the early morning hours of July 23, 1999, law enforcement officers raided homes and arrested 46 residents on drug charges in the small west Texas town of Tulia. Forty of those arrested were African Americans, representing about 10% of the town's African American population. Local television stations were alerted in advance of the raids, and cameras rolled as suspects, many of whom were not allowed to get fully dressed, were led out of their homes into squad cars. The arrests were based on white undercover officer Tom Coleman's 18-month investigation. And while no drugs, weapons, or large sums of cash were found at any of the residences, 38 of the 46 were convicted, based, in most cases, solely on Coleman's testimony that the suspects had sold him drugs. Coleman did not wear a wire or take notes during the purported transactions, and there were no eyewitnesses or video records. Judges ruled information about Coleman's checkered past inadmissible at the trials. No African Americans served as jurors on any of the cases. The first trial concluded with resident Joe Moore being sentenced to 90 years in prison. Another suspect got 300 years.
The earth's crust

The present structure of the earth consists of a largely molten core composed chiefly of iron and nickel, surrounded by lighter rocks. The outer few miles, the crust, is the only portion of the earth that is accessible, and is the source of most of the substances used in a technological society. This chapter describes the structure, composition, and evolution of earth crust, and the processes that take place in it. The volume of material to be mined and processed, the energy requirements, and the waste disposal problems clearly set economic and environmental restrictions on the minimum concentration that can be employed for large-scale use of any substance but the society generally uses atypical, high concentration sources for most of its mineral needs. Bacteria can also be used for recovery of metals from low-grade sources in an economical way through microbial mining. Surface rocks are subject to breakup and chemical change by several weathering processes including physical disintegration, chemical reactions, and biological effects that lead to soil formation. Soil is a vital substance but its degradation is of serious concern in terms of its impact on future food needs. Human activity frequently causes degradation of soil in ways that range from loss of nutrients to changes in physical character of the soil to contamination with toxic materials to loss of the soil itself. Different types of soils, their composition and process of formation, soil contamination, and methods of decontamination such as bioremediation, are also presented in the chapter.
Simple and Accurate time-domain method for internal fault location in layer-type transformer windings

Internal winding faults are among the most common causes of transformer failure. Once a fault occurs, a fast and efficient method for its detection and location is required to repair and reconnect the device, thus avoiding further delays in the network operation. This paper introduces a simple method for the location of internal winding faults. This method is based on time-domain terminal measurements of wave propagation along the winding. By means of low-cost laboratory components (a lowvoltage DC source and an oscilloscope), different types of faults in layer-type windings can be detected and located with high accuracy. A frequency-domain distributed-parameter winding model is used to predict the transient response of the winding subjected to different types of faults. FEM simulations are used to compute the model parameters. A test case is presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the fault location method.
On welfare economics in the principles course

I much enjoyed reading these articles by Steve Schmidt and Jonathan B. Wight on the normative underpinnings of how we teach introductory economics. I have long believed that teaching the fundamenta...
Probabilistic techniques for diagnosis of multiple component degradations

We present probabilistic techniques that make synergistic use of available process information for diagnosis and detection of component fault manifestation in a multicomponent system. We begin by describing the motivation for using probabilistic techniques for systems diagnostics and then define probabilistic expressions that embody the diagnostics knowledge of interest. We show that a combination of a Bayesian expression with the solution to the Chapman-Kolmogoroff equation contains the diagnostic information of interest while explicitly making use of available process information including plant data or measurements, mathematical system models, and individual component reliability data. Given these probabilistic expressions, we introduce a practical means of obtaining the necessary constituent probability density functions corresponding to feasible component transitions via an adaptive Kalman filtering formulation. To demonstrate the consolidated probabilistic technique, we consider a low-order model of a balance of plant of a boiling water reactor, represented by 11 system variables, 9 component characteristics, and 5 observations. We simulate 5 to 10% degradations in two components subject to 1% signal noise in two different transient events. Our test calculations indicate that the proposed algorithm is able to provide correct fault detection and diagnosis of the faulted components and fault magnitudes, together with a rank-ordered likelihood of the binary faults.
Optical methods for enabling focus cues in head-mounted displays for virtual and augmented reality

Developing head-mounted displays (HMD) that offer uncompromised optical pathways to both digital and physical worlds without encumbrance and discomfort confronts many grand challenges, both from technological perspectives and human factors. Among the many challenges, minimizing visual discomfort is one of the key obstacles. One of the key contributing factors to visual discomfort is the lack of the ability to render proper focus cues in HMDs to stimulate natural eye accommodation responses, which leads to the well-known accommodation-convergence cue discrepancy problem. In this paper, I will provide a summary on the various optical methods approaches toward enabling focus cues in HMDs for both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
Fistula with Stenosis of Feeding Artery

Arterial lesions associated with the dialysis vascular access are generally easily treated with angioplasty. The only admonition is that the balloon should not be oversized as is the case for venous angioplasty. Since the artery also has a vital function in providing blood supply to the extremity distal to the anastomosis special care is required.
Generalization of dimension-based statistical learning

Recent research demonstrates that the relationship between an acoustic dimension and speech categories is not static. Rather, it is influenced by the evolving distribution of dimensional regularity experienced across time, and specific to experienced individual sounds. Three studies examine the nature of this perceptual, dimension-based statistical learning of artificially accented [b] and [p] speech categories in online word recognition by testing generalization of learning across contexts, and testing the effect of a larger word list across which learning is induced. The results indicate that whereas learning of accented [b] and [p] generalizes across contexts, generalization to contexts not experienced in the accent is weaker even for the same speech categories [b] and [p] spoken by the same speaker. The results support a rich model of speech representation that is sensitive to context-dependent variation in the way the acoustic dimensions are related to speech categories.
Transcriptional profile and differential fitness in a specialist milkweed insect across host plants varying in toxicity

Interactions between plants and herbivorous insects have been models for theories of specialization and co-evolution for over a century. Phytochemicals govern many aspects of these interactions and have fostered the evolution of adaptations by insects to tolerate or even specialize on plant defensive chemistry. While genomic approaches are providing new insights into the genes and mechanisms insect specialists employ to tolerate plant secondary metabolites, open questions remain about the evolution and conservation of insect counterdefences, how insects respond to the diversity defences mounted by their host plants, and the costs and benefits of resistance and tolerance to plant defences in natural ecological communities. Using a milkweed-specialist aphid (Aphis nerii) model, we test the effects of host plant species with increased toxicity, likely driven primarily by increased secondary metabolites, on aphid life history traits and whole-body gene expression. We show that more toxic plant species have a negative effect on aphid development and lifetime fecundity. When feeding on more toxic host plants with higher levels of secondary metabolites, aphids regulate a narrow, targeted set of genes, including those involved in canonical detoxification processes (e.g., cytochrome P450s, hydrolases, UDP-glucuronosyltransferases and ABC transporters). These results indicate that A. nerii marshal a variety of metabolic detoxification mechanisms to circumvent milkweed toxicity and facilitate host plant specialization, yet, despite these detoxification mechanisms, aphids experience reduced fitness when feeding on more toxic host plants. Disentangling how specialist insects respond to challenging host plants is a pivotal step in understanding the evolution of specialized diet breadths.
Modulation of vasoactive intestinal peptide pulmonary relaxation by NO in tracheally superfused guinea pig lungs

The mechanism of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-induced pulmonary relaxation in tracheally perfused guinea pig lungs was defined with the use of inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and by direct measurement of nitric oxide (NO) equivalents recovered from lung perfusion fluid. Lungs treated with 200 microM NG-nitro-L-arginine were resistant to the relaxant effects of VIP in these lungs; the 50% inhibitory dose (ID50) for VIP was 32 nmol/kg (95% confidence interval, 16-79), which was approximately 100-fold greater than the ID50 of control lungs which was 0.39 nmol/kg, (0.16-0.79, P < 0.0001). This inhibitory effect could be overcome with excess L- but not D-arginine. In contrast, VIP-induced relaxation of isolated guinea pig trachea was not modified by inhibitors of NOS. To confirm that VIP infusion resulted in NO generation in whole lungs, we measured NO equivalents in lung effluent by two distinct technologies. We found that VIP injection caused a significant increase in NO equivalents from 0.11 +/- 0.04 microM to 0.78 +/- 0.15 microM (P < 0.05) and that this increase preceded VIP-induced pulmonary relaxation. Lungs pretreated with the putative guanylyl cyclase inhibitor methylene blue were less responsive to VIP [ID50 4.0 nmol/kg (1.5-10), P < 0.005 compared with control lungs], consistent with a physiologically significant guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-dependent mechanism. Our data demonstrate that VIP has the capacity to relax whole lungs in part by stimulating the generation of NO.
Release of Neurotransmitters from the Brain in Vivo by Amphetamine, Methylphenidate and Cocaine

During the past 15 years the results of indirect in vivo and direct in vitro studies suggest that a variety of central stimulant drugs exert their characteristic pharmacological effects by interacting with aminergic neuronal systems in the brain. Early behavioral and biochemical experiments indicated that amphetamines exerted central stimulant actions by releasing norepinephrine (Stein, 1964; Carr and Moore, 1969), but more recent studies suggest that the release of dopamine is more important for many of the central actions of this drug (e.g., Carlsson, 1970; Thornburg and Moore, 1937b; Hollister, Breese, and Cooper, 1974). Since the central stimulation of amphetamine is blocked by α-methyltyrosine but not by reserpine (Rech, 1964; Smith, 1965; Weissman, Koe, and Tenen, 1966), it has been postulated that amphetamine acts by preferentially releasing dopamine from a newly synthesized pool of this amine in the nerve terminals. On the other hand, the central stimulant actions of methylphenidate and cocaine are reduced by reserpine pretreatment but not by α-methyltyrosine (van Rossum, van der Schoot, and Hurkmans, 1962; Scheel-Kruger, 1971; Simon, Sultan, Chermat, and Boissier, 1972) suggesting that the actions of these two stimulants are dependent upon a storage or reserpine-sensitive pool of brain catecholamines. There has been less interest in the interactions of these central stimulants with 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) neuronal systems, but recent behavioral-biochemical studies (Green and Harvey, 1974; Breese, Cooper, and Mueller, 1974) suggest that tryptaminergic neurons exert an inhibitory action on amphetamine stimulation; there are few reports on the interactions of cocaine or methylphenidate with 5HT neurons.
Mesostructured Thin Film Oxides

The chapter on “Mesostructured Thin Film Oxides” addressed three main topics. The first is a brief introduction to mesostructured materials, focusing on mesostructure assembly and general synthesis and processing considerations as well as properties and characteristics of periodically ordered mesostructured materials with an emphasis on thin film oxides is given. In the second part, periodically organized transition metal oxide thin films with nanocrystalline mesostructure frameworks are discussed, including the assembly/nanocrystallization chemistry behind such inherently functional porous thin films, using mesostructured semiconducting anatase titania as a general example. A particular challenge is how to combine a three-dimensional ordered porous structure with a high degree of framework crystallinity. The third part focuses on recent promising applications of periodically organized multi-compositional mesostructured transition metal oxide-based thin films and is divided into the areas of (1) optical, electrical, and electrochemical applications, (2) photocatalytic and electrochromic applications and (3) photovoltaic/solar cell applications. The chapter ends with some conclusions and a brief outlook on the potential and promise of mesostructured thin film oxides as future low-cost solar energy conversion materials and photocatalysts.
Microglia seeding the brain for α-synuclein pathology

The prion-like mechanism for spreading α-synuclein pathology may be facilitated by microgliosis in Parkinson’s disease.
Rhabdomyolysis, Methamphetamine, Amphetamine and MDMA Use: Associated Factors and Risks

Rhabdomyolysis is associated with methamphetamine, amphetamine, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MA) use. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency, severity, and risk factors of rhabd...
Nicotine inhibits MAPK signaling and spheroid invasion in ovarian cancer cells

Abstract Nicotine is the major addictive component of cigarette smoke and although it is not considered carcinogenic, it can enhance or inhibit cancer cell proliferation depending on the type of cancer. Nicotine mediates its effects through nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which are expressed in many different neuronal and non-neuronal cell types. We observed that the nAChR α4, α5, α7 subunits were expressed in ovarian cancer (OC) cells. Nicotine inhibited the proliferation of SKOV3 and TOV112D OC cells, which have TP53 mutation and wild-type KRAS, but did not inhibit the proliferation of TOV21G or HEY OC cells, which have KRAS mutation and wild-type TP53. Exposure to nicotine for 96 h led to a significant reduction in the amounts of activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and activated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in SKOV3 cells, and in activated ERK in TOV112D cells. In addition, SKOV3 and TOV112D invasion and spheroid formation were substantially inhibited by siRNA knockdown of mixed lineage kinase 3 (MLK3), or MEK inhibition. Nicotine treatment reduced SKOV3 and TOV112D spheroid invasion and compaction but did not significantly affect spheroid formation. Furthermore, SKOV3 spheroid invasion was blocked by p38 inhibition with SB202190, but not by MEK inhibition with U0126; whereas TOV112D spheroid invasion was reduced by MEK inhibition, but not by p38 inhibition. These results indicate that nicotine can suppress spheroid invasion and compaction as well as proliferation in SKOV3 and TOV112D OC cells; and p38 and ERK MAPK signaling pathways are important mediators of these responses.
A program for embedding career activities in multiple core business courses

Abstract One of the goals of undergraduate business programs is to prepare students for navigating the job market, yet many programs do not effectively incorporate career activities into the curriculum. Often career-focused training is outsourced to a career center or a career services unit of the university or school, which results in a lack of linkage between the student's professional preparedness and their course of study. Additionally, this outsourcing may not ensure full participation of the business students. We present a program for integrating career preparedness activities into the business curriculum across multiple years in conjunction with our university career services, which has been well-received by the student body. The program has two main components: (1) progressive, stepwise career activities are embedded into a core course from each year of the traditional 4-year undergraduate business program, and (2) the activities are graded requirements, making up a portion of how the student is evaluated in that course. This program ensures every student in the school of business is provided with adequate career preparedness training, and the school of business is well-positioned to achieve high job placement rates.
Racket’s intermediate language for control (invited talk)

As a language that is intended for building languages in a composable way, Racket provides an especially rich set of constructs for control, including delimited continuations and efficient reflection on continuations. This talk will explain Racket’s constructs for control and describe how the implementation is built in layers.
Laser Doppler vibrometry-based characterization of bending waves by rotating viscoelastic panel materials applied in wallboard systems

A low-cost, thin-panel form of viscoelastic materials has found potential applications as constrained damping layers integrated into gypsum wallboards. The standardized chamber-based random-incident tests demonstrate drastically increased sound transmission losses without significantly increasing the board thickness and weight when the viscoelastic thin panels are integrated into gypsum wallboards in sandwich structure. For better understanding of their excellent effect as constrained damping layers, this work applies a laser Doppler vibrometer-based method in characterizing bending wave properties of the viscoelastic panel materials. The method involves a time-domain broadband measurement technique which correlates impulse responses taken at two points radially away from a bending wave source. Using reasonable sample sizes, boundary reflections will still obscure measurement results, particularly towards low frequencies. By rotating the panel under test, the coherence of direct wave pulses measured equidistant from the source and the lack thereof disturbing boundary reflections enables largely removing the undesirable reflections. In this way the direct wave pulses can be extracted by angular averaging and windowing in the time-domain. This paper discusses experimental investigations on the characterization method of bending wave properties using a laser Doppler vibrometer.
Are the words as important as the concepts? Using pedagogical language knowledge to expand analysis of mathematics teaching with linguistically diverse students

We examine how two ninth grade mathematics teachers in a linguistically diverse school used general-everyday and discipline-specific language, along with language access strategies, during a lesson on linear rates of change. We use the socioculturally based framework of “pedagogical language knowledge” (PLK) to understand and unpack the teachers’ use of general-everyday and discipline-specific language. We argue that the teachers’ language use corresponded to concrete instances of PLK in action in the multilingual mathematics classrooms examined. We then discuss the potential of PLK as a lens for examining the pedagogical and linguistic choices of secondary mathematics teachers in linguistically diverse mathematics classrooms in light of foundational works in language and mathematics education in linguistically diverse contexts.
MEG-PLAN: a clinical and technical protocol for obtaining magnetoencephalography data in minimally verbal or nonverbal children who have autism spectrum disorder

Neuroimaging research on individuals who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has historically been limited primarily to those with age-appropriate cognitive and language performance. Children with limited abilities are frequently excluded from such neuroscience research given anticipated barriers like tolerating the loud sounds associated with magnetic resonance imaging and remaining still during data collection. To better understand brain function across the full range of ASD there is a need to (1) include individuals with limited cognitive and language performance in neuroimaging research (non-sedated, awake) and (2) improve data quality across the performance range. The purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and test the feasibility of a clinical/behavioral and technical protocol for obtaining magnetoencephalography (MEG) data. Participants were 38 children with ASD (8–12 years) meeting the study definition of minimally verbal/nonverbal language. MEG data were obtained during a passive pure-tone auditory task. Based on stakeholder feedback, the MEG Protocol for Low-language/cognitive Ability Neuroimaging (MEG-PLAN) was developed, integrating clinical/behavioral and technical components to be implemented by an interdisciplinary team (clinicians, behavior specialists, scientists, and technologists). Using MEG-PLAN, a 74% success rate was achieved for acquiring MEG data, with a 71% success rate for evaluable and analyzable data. Exploratory analyses suggested nonverbal IQ and adaptive skills were related to reaching the point of acquirable data. No differences in group characteristics were observed between those with acquirable versus evaluable/analyzable data. Examination of data quality (evaluable trial count) was acceptable. Moreover, results were reproducible, with high intraclass correlation coefficients for pure-tone auditory latency. Children who have ASD who are minimally verbal/nonverbal, and often have co-occurring cognitive impairments, can be effectively and comfortably supported to complete an electrophysiological exam that yields valid and reproducible results. MEG-PLAN is a protocol that can be disseminated and implemented across research teams and adapted across technologies and neurodevelopmental disorders to collect electrophysiology and neuroimaging data in previously understudied groups of individuals.
Directed stimulation of the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract for deep brain stimulation in essential tremor: a blinded clinical trial.

ObjectiveObservational studies utilising diffusion tractography have suggested a common mechanism for tremor alleviation in deep brain stimulation for essential tremor: the decussating portion of t...
Erythritol combined with non-nutritive sucralose increases feeding by Drosophila suzukii, quickens mortality and reduces oviposition

Abstract Drosophila suzukii, spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), is a fly pest of small fruits and cherries often managed by chemical insecticides, and finding a convenient, human-safe alternative is a challenge. Erythritol, a non-caloric sugar, is safe for humans and toxic to D. suzukii by causing an osmotic imbalance. Combining erythritol with sucrose as a phagostimulant can enhance fly mortality. However, sucrose is sticky when applied on plants and provides flies with nutritional carbohydrate if a non-lethal dose is ingested. Therefore, our objectives were to find a sucrose alternative, a non-caloric sugar that also has phagostimulative properties, where the formulation will enhance mortality, and reduce daily oviposition rates before females die. Through capillary no-choice and choice experiments, flies fed on 0.1 M sucralose (Sul) readily, and flies consumed more 1.5 M erythritol: 0.1 M sucralose (E:Sul) formulation than erythritol alone. In eleven different mortality assays, E:Sul induced mortality as did the 1.5 M erythritol: 0.5 M sucrose (E:S) formulation, while E:Sul was more successful than E:S when D. suzukii could also drink water to offset water loss. Sucralose (0.1 M) itself had modest insecticidal properties, but when combined with erythritol it increased the insecticidal effect. Both E:Sul and E:S formulations reduced oviposition when it was directly fed to D. suzukii in a cotton wick or applied on blueberry fruit. The latter suggests that the sugary coating on fruits has a deterrent effect. Given the potential of E:Sul, additional studies on the effect of sucralose on fly osmolar regulation, sugar metabolism, and field efficacy trials are underway to provide growers an efficacious tool.
Materials for Superconducting Electronics

The cryogenic engineering and cryogenic materials communities have traditionally been well aware of the problems and opportunities associated with large-scale applications of superconductivity, i.e., those involving high-field, high-current superconductivity such as magnets, generators, power lines etc. By comparison, appreciation of the so-called small-scale applications of superconductivity — superconducting electronics — has been much less. It is interesting to note in this regard that at the last Applied Superconductivity Conference, the conference chairman noted that for the first time in the history of that conference the number of papers related to superconducting electronics exceeded those related to large-scale applications. Happily this situation arose from a growth of activity in the small-scale applications rather than a decrease of activity in the large-scale area. The message implied by this statistic is, I believe, quite clear. Namely, superconducting electronics is increasingly emerging as a well-defined technology with considerable technical and economic promise. Major development programs are underway. These development programs, in turn, define problems and present opportunities increasingly appropriate for consideration by members of the CEC and ICMC communities.
AN AUTOMATED APPROACH TO EXTRACTING RIVER BANK LOCATIONS FROM AERIAL IMAGERY USING IMAGE TEXTURE

Abstract : A fundamental challenge in river analysis and modelling is the lack of readily available and reliable information on river bank geometry. Traditional survey methods are expensive and time consuming and often difficult to execute in many river systems because of hazardous terrain or lack of access. However, as high quality aerial and satellite imagery becomes available for more of the globe, it is increasingly possible to extract these bank locations directly from imagery. The most direct method of doing this involves manually designating edges based on visual criterion. This, however, is often prohibitively time consuming and labour intensive, and the quality is dependent on the individual doing the task. This paper describes a quick and fully automated method for locating water surface and river banks in high resolution aerial imagery without recourse to any multispectral information, by segmenting based on the local entropy of the image. This method is demonstrated on imagery of several rivers and its advantages and limitations are discussed.
Macroeconomic implications of demographic changes: A global perspective

The populations of the World are aging, in both rich and poor countries. Older people work much less than younger adults, and earn far less than their consumption costs. The difference is made up in part by public or private transfers from working age adults, and in part from asset income. As countries grow richer, labor supply at older ages drops while consumption at older ages rises relative to younger, due mainly to the rising costs of publicly provided health care. For these reasons, population aging becomes more costly with economic development. As populations age in the coming decades, support ratios will drop, slowing the growth of per capita consumption by .3% to .8% per year. However, the same processes that lead to population aging also may lead to increased investment in both human capital and in physical and financial assets, raising the capital intensity of the economy and raising labor productivity. The rising labor productivity should offset the declining support ratio, and increased asset income will further offset these declines. However, the extent to which these offsetting processes unfold depends on the institutional structures and public policies that are in place. While population aging will place severe strains on particular public programs, overall, the economic challenges of population aging need not be overwhelming, and need not pose a major threat to economic well-being.
The Theory and Application of Trade Utility Functions

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the theory and application of trade utility functions. It formally presents the properties of trade utility functions and their derived trade demand correspondences, strictly within the framework of the model analyzed by Leontief and Meade, in which the underlying preferences in each country are aggregable, defined over the set of goods and services consumed and traded, and in particular are independent of factor supplies. It is assumed that there is a (convex) production possibility set defined on the space of commodity bundles entering individuals' and the group's preferences. The assumption of aggregable preferences is, of course, highly restrictive. It has nevertheless been very popular and persistent in the literature on international trade, where the emphasis has been on adherence to simple assumptions and structures that can yield unambiguous and empirically refutable results, rather than on complete generality. An example of aggregable preferences is found in the Mill−Graham postulate of expenditure proportionality employed in the Graham−McKenzie model of world trade.
YACLD: yet another computer literacy definition

The term "computer literacy" means different things to different people. The ambiguousness of this important term has resulted in confusion on how to provide students with true computer literacy at the university level. The authors have separated computer literacy into two components, awareness and competence, and proposed a two course sequence that addresses both the awareness and the competence components of computer literacy. A student that completes the sequence is truly computer literate.
Risk‐Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC)

This article describes some of the practical and academic issues that arise in allocating capital and measuring the performance of businesses within a bank. Keywords: credit worthiness; performance measurement; allocation of capital
A Tale of Two Reports

Conclusions in the 2006 annual video competition report released by the Federal Communications Commission undercut the rationale for additional regulation of cable providers. Although the data used in the report is 30 months out-of-date, it illustrates a steady trend of increasing competition among video service providers and increasing sources of diverse information and video programming.The most important finding of the recently released Thirteenth Annual Video Competition Report is the continuation of trends discussed in previous reports: cable competition is growing, consumer choice of diverse sources of video programming and information is increasing and cable operators are offering an ever-increasing array of video and non-video services. These results undermine the arguments for both increased regulation and sustaining the current level of regulation of cable in two ways. First, the report indicates even as of June 2006, cable penetration is unlikely to have surpassed 70% of the market, the threshold in which cable would be open to further regulation. Second, the report reveals that as of that date, the vertical integration of video programming and distribution channels was decreasing, and the video market was successfully providing consumers with a diversity of information sources, including new distribution methods, such as the Internet. Especially lamentable is the 14 month delay in the release of the report, keeping vital statistics about the video marketplace out of the hands of both Congress and consumers. Had the FCC been up to date with its annual video competition reports, it might have discovered that the answer to [the perceived twin problems of] cable pricing and the inability of consumers to buy programming on a per-channel basis - are already being addressed through technological innovation and market forces without the expenditure of a single "full time equivalent" federal employee man or woman hour.