cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NIACIN BIOSYNTHESIS IN GERMINATING×LAELIOCATTLEYA ORCHID EMBRYOS AND YOUNG SEEDLINGS

precursors were investigated by assessing their germination and growth-promoting effects in orchid embryo and seedling cultures. Only niacin, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, quinolinic acid and kynurenine exhibited a growth-promoting effect on seedlings of all ages. Tryptophan inhibited the growth of 70-day-old seedlings but enhanced growth of older seedlings. The data presented are interpreted to be consistent with the hypothesis that orchids may synthesize their niacin by a pathway similar to that of certain bacteria, fungi, birds, and mammals.
Ascorbic Acid Transport by Isolated Bovine Adrenal Cortical Cells

Viable, ACTH-sensitive, bovine adrenal cortical cells have the ability to accumulate [l-l4C]ascorbic acid. Transport of the vitamin displays saturation kinetics (Km = 16.6 μm), requires Ca2+, and is inhibited maximally by ACTH at the same concentrations of the hormone necessary for maximal stimulation of steroidogenesis. Despite the transport of quantities of radioactive ascorbate amounting to approximately 25% of the total intracellular pool, no change in the ascorbate concentration in the cells can be detected by chemical methods. Transport of the vitamin ;is apparently a membrane carrier-mediated exchange process, since although intracellular ascorbate concentrations are 60- to 90-fold higher than those in the incubation medium, accumulated label can only be displaced when the cells are incubated in the presence of unlabeled ascorbic acid or metabolic inhibitors. Furthermore, ACTH fails to deplete ascorbic acid from [l-l4C]ascorbate-loaded cells. It is hypothesized that the vitamin exists in two pools,...
Botanical literature of Northland, New Zealand

This bibliography gives 292 annotated entries relating to the higher plants of Northland excluding the islands.
Study of 31P with the 29Si(3He, p)31P reaction

Abstract The 29 Si( 3 He, p) 31 P reaction has been investigated at a bombarding energy of 15.0 MeV. Excitation energies and angular distributions were measured for 28 levels below 7.2 MeV in excitation. L -values were extracted from DWBA fits to the data. Angular distributions for the low-lying states were compared with DWBA curves calculated from Nilsson-model wave functions.
Effect of a multicomponent, ephedra-containing dietary supplement (Metabolife 356) on Holter monitoring and hemostatic parameters in healthy volunteers

Herbal products containing ephedra (a natural source of ephedrine alkaloids) in combination with other ingredients exhibiting sympathomimetic properties (kola nut, guarana, and green tea extract) are widely available under names such as Xenadrine RFA-1 (Cytodyne Technologies, Lakewood, New Jersey), Metabolife 356 (Metabolife International, San Diego, California), and Ripped Fuel (Twin Laboratories, Inc., Hauppauge, New York). These products are most often taken to promote weight loss and to enhance exercise performance. Metabolife 356 has become the nation’s best-selling weight loss supplement, capturing 45% of the weight loss supplement market. Metabolife 356 contains a variety of herbs, including ma huang, guarana, ginger, ginseng, and gotu kola, as well as various other vitamins and minerals. Only a few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of ephedra-containing products on weight loss, yet the safety aspects of these products remains equivocal. Ephedracontaining dietary supplements have been associated with serious adverse effects, including myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmia, hypertension, hepatitis, seizure, stroke, and death. 1– 8 This study was conducted to evaluate the short-term effects of Metabolife 356 on blood pressure, heart rate, 24-hour Holter monitoring, and hemostatic parameters in healthy subjects.  Healthy men aged 20 to 40 years were included in this study. Exclusion criteria were history of consumption of any ephedra-containing supplement, any known medical condition, smoking, and current use of any prescription or nonprescription medication. Subjects were required to refrain from caffeine and exercise throughout the study period. The protocol was approved by the institutional review board. All subjects provided written informed consent before any study-related procedures were initiated. After a 7-day, caffeine-free period, subjects underwent baseline venipuncture, cuff blood pressure measurement, heart rate, 12-lead electrocardiography, and physical examination. Casual cuff blood pressures were measured using an aneroid sphygmomanometer in the dominant arm after a minimum of 10 minutes of rest in a seated position. After confi rmation of a 12hour fast, venous blood samples were collected and the serum was separated and stored frozen at 70°C. The samples were shipped frozen to the clinical laboratories and were analyzed for tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; ephedra was assessed using liquid chromatographic/ mass spectrophotometric techniques. A baseline chemistry panel and complete blood count were also obtained to rule out any abnormalities before supplementation. Subjects with normal fi ndings at the baseline visit
The Cornell Institute for Research on Children: A vision of integrated developmental science $

The Cornell Institute for Research on Children (CIRC) is an intellectual infrastructure funded by the National Science Foundation under the aegis of the Children's Research Initiative, which was spearheaded by Rodney R. Cocking. Cocking's vision of integrated developmental science is an integral part of CIRC's philosophy. CIRC aims to integrate knowledge and paradigms from a variety of fields (e.g., developmental psychology, economics, neuroscience, and pediatrics), which take different perspectives on similar issues (e.g., the effects of toxins on cognitive development), making it explicitly interdisciplinary. The object of CIRC studies is to apply research findings to social policy. To accomplish this, CIRC provides resources to enable teams of scholars from diverse fields to collaborate on policy-relevant questions. CIRC's approach begins by asking policy-makers to define questions for researchers to address, then shepherds the process by which scholars from various relevant disciplines are commissioned to work as a team to answer such questions. To demonstrate the strengths of this approach we describe the six components that comprise CIRC and provide an actual example of a project that CIRC has commissioned as well as a hypothetical example of a project that CIRC could undertake. This article is a progress report, written in an effort to disseminate information about CIRC's agenda.
Parameters Governing The Intensity Laser Induced Infrared Fluorescence

Abstract In order to use laser-induced IR fluorescence as a tool in quantitative analysis. Various parameters governing the relationship between fluorescence intensity and sample concentration must be understood. To that end the effect on fluorescence intensity of laser power, sample concentration, quantum efficiency, collision deactivation and pressure broadening have been studied.
Why should engineers be interested in bizarre systems

Examines the shortcomings of conventional analysis when applied to complex processes, and considers the consequences of ignoring process behaviors simply because they do not conveniently project on to lists of numbers. Complex behavior is bizarre, but not absurd. Bizarre systems are counter-intuitive, and yet bizarre behavior is logically tractable. The inferential linkages within a bizarre system's epistemological model are congruent with the causal linkages that govern its ontological behavior. From the perspective of neurophysiology, the behaviors that we normally consider to be intelligent are irreducible to a list of numbers. This being the case, no list of numbers, no matter how big, can emulate intelligent behavior. To discuss intelligence other than by empirical observation, some logical description of it must be found that is not limited to predicative inferential structures. Mathematics abounds with such alternatives; impredicative mathematical entities provide powerful ways of describing complex behavior. They do so at a cost, being non-algorithmic. Engineering decisions based on predictions made by attempting to reduce complex behaviors to algorithms cannot be trusted; the projection ignores key aspects of the behavior. Present-day computers only work for algorithmic processes. An engineered artifact that exhibits intelligent behavior requires at least one, and possibly both, of the following developments: a more powerful model of computation than the Turing machine, and/or a computing element that has entailments similar to those observed in complex processes.
Exploration of Short Reads Genome Mapping in Hardware

The newest generation of sequencing instruments, such as Illumina/Solexa Genome Analyzer and ABI SOLiD, can generate hundreds of millions of short DNA “reads” from a single run. These reads must be matched against a reference genome to identify their original location. Due to sequencing errors or variations in the sequenced genome, the matching procedure must allow a variable but limited number of mismatches. This problem is a version of the classic approximate string matching where a long text is searched for the occurrence of a set of short patterns. Typical strategies to speed up the matching involve elaborate hashing schemes that exploit the inherent repetitions of the data. However, such large data structures are not well suited for FPGA implementations. In this paper we evaluate an FPGA implementation that uses a “naive” approach which checks every possible read-genome alignment. We compare the performance of the naive approach to popular software tools currently used to map short reads to a reference genome showing a speedup of up to 4X over the fastest software tool.
Hyperfine spectroscopy of highly-excited atomic states based on atomic coherence

Abstract The hyperfine structures of highly-excited atomic states can be determined by electromagnetically-induced transparency experiment based on atomic coherence. We report an experiment on the excited states 5 D 5 2 in 85Rb atoms in a vapor cell. A theoretical model is presented and is in good agreement with the experimental results.
The dynamics of fish populations at low abundance and prospects for rebuilding and recovery

Previous meta-analysis of spawner–recruit relationships suggested that depensatory behaviour is uncommon, and stocks pushed to low abundance are unlikely to suffer decreases in recruitment more severe than would be expected based on the decline in spawning stock. Using an updated database that has over 100 stocks that were depleted to less than 20% of their maximum observed stock size, we tested for depensatory behaviour in both total surplus production and recruitment and we also examined the probability of stock increase as a function of stock size and fishing pressure. The number of stocks that showed a significant improvement with depensatory models was less than that expected by chance. Hierarchical meta-analysis showed that themajority of the evidence was for no depensatory behaviour but could not rule out depensation at very low stock sizes. Stocks that are depleted to low abundance are expected to rebuild when fishing pressure is reduced if the environment has not changed but there is considerable evidence that the majority of fish stocks are impacted by changes in productivity regimes. Nevertheless, if stocks are very heavily depleted and fishing pressure is not reduced to quite low levels, the expected recovery time is both uncertain and long. Very low abundance should clearly be avoided for many reasons and the range of abundance where depensation cannot be ruled out is well below commonly adopted limit reference points.
Scalable reader-writer locks for parallel systems

Current algorithms for reader-writer synchronization do not scale for readers: readers cannot acquire locks in parallel. The authors describe two new algorithms that allow parallelism among readers during lock acquisition; this is achieved by distributing the lock state among different processors, and by trading reader throughput for writer throughput. Their experiments show that when reads are a large percentage of lock requests, the throughput of each of their algorithms scales significantly better than current algorithms. >
Unilateral thalamic infarction presenting as vertical gaze palsy: a case report

Vertical gaze palsy is a recognized manifestation of midbrain lesions. It rarely is a consequence of unilateral thalamic infarction. We report the case of a 48-year-old African-American woman who presented to our facility with vertical gaze palsy and evidence of left medial thalamic infarct on diffusion-weighted imaging without coexisting midbrain ischemia. The etiology of infarct was determined to be small vessel disease after extensive investigation. This report suggests a possible role of the thalamus as a vertical gaze control center. Clinicoradiological studies are needed to further define the role of the thalamus in vertical gaze control.
Genetic optimization of self-organizing feature maps

The authors present an application of the genetic algorithm to the design of Kohonen self-organizing feature maps. The genetic algorithm is used to optimize various parameters of the network model for a given problem. Performance criteria relevant to clustering or vector quantization applications are considered: root mean square error and an information-theoretic map entropy measure. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, and suggest some interesting generalizations. >
A Model of Academic Self-Concept: Perceived Difficulty and Social Comparison Among Academically Accelerated Secondary School Students

Academic self-concept predicts students’ future goals and is affected by a student’s relative success compared with his or her peer group. This exploratory study used structural equation modeling to examine the contributions of the perceived level of difficulty of the curriculum, in addition to the contributions of social comparison and achievement in schoolwork, to academic self-concept among students enrolled in advanced coursework. Along with school achievement, perceived difficulty and social comparison also predicted academic self-concept. The final model indicated that students differentiate between learner self-concept, which is how students perceived their ability to understand new ideas or knowledge, and student self-concept, which is how they perceived their abilities to succeed in school-related tasks. Of these two constructs, student self-concept was a better predictor of future goals; however, the overall effect was small.
Adaptive Forward-Backward Greedy Algorithm for Learning Sparse Representations

Given a large number of basis functions that can be potentially more than the number of samples, we consider the problem of learning a sparse target function that can be expressed as a linear combination of a small number of these basis functions. We are interested in two closely related themes: · feature selection, or identifying the basis functions with nonzero coefficients; · estimation accuracy, or reconstructing the target function from noisy observations. Two heuristics that are widely used in practice are forward and backward greedy algorithms. First, we show that neither idea is adequate. Second, we propose a novel combination that is based on the forward greedy algorithm but takes backward steps adaptively whenever beneficial. For least squares regression, we develop strong theoretical results for the new procedure showing that it can effectively solve this problem under some assumptions. Experimental results support our theory.
pH-sensitive liposomes for delivery of macromolecules into cytoplasm of cultured cells.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses different aspects of liposome cell interaction that inspired the development of acid-destabilized lipid vesicles, the strategies used in creating pH-sensitive liposomes, their characteristics in vitro, and their potential as cellular delivery vehicles. Methodology will be presented to allow the preparation and evaluation of pH-sensitive liposomes. This chapter discusses various hypotheses will be advanced to explain critical steps that determine the efficiency of cytoplasmic delivery by pH sensitive liposomes. Destabilization of pH-sensitive liposomes in close proximity to cellular membranes could result either in liposome-endosome fusion, or in a gross destabilization of the endosome membrane. Either event likely would lead to cytoplasmic delivery of liposome contents. Clearly, testing these hypotheses will provide the basis for further optimization of pH-sensitive liposomes for cytoplasmic delivery. Antibodies may also maintain the liposome and cellular membrane in close apposition during the process of pH-dependent destabilization, thus improving the likelihood that destabilization of the liposome will destabilize the enclosing endocytic vesicle membrane as well.
Magnetic ordering in the frustrated J 1 − J 2 Ising chain candidate BaNd 2 O 4

The $A{R}_{2}{\text{O}}_{4}$ family ($R=\text{rare}$ earth) has recently been attracting interest as a new series of frustrated magnets, with the magnetic $R$ atoms forming zigzag chains running along the $c$ axis. We have investigated polycrystalline ${\mathrm{BaNd}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ with a combination of magnetization, heat-capacity, and neutron powder diffraction measurements. Magnetic Bragg peaks are observed below ${T}_{N}=1.7\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, and they can be indexed with a propagation vector of $\stackrel{P\vec}{k}=(0,1/2,1/2)$. The signal from magnetic diffraction is well described by long-range ordering of only one of the two types of Nd zigzag chains, with collinear up-up-down-down intrachain spin configurations (double N\'eel state). Furthermore, low-temperature magnetization and heat-capacity measurements reveal two magnetic-field-induced spin transitions at 2.75 and 4 T for $T=0.46\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$. The high-field phase is paramagnetic, while the intermediate-field state may arise from a spin transition of the long-range ordered Nd chains. One possible candidate for the field-induced ordered state corresponds to an up-up-down intrachain spin configuration, as predicted for a classical ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ Ising chain with a double N\'eel ground state in zero field.
Staff Perceptions of Obstacles to Quality Management Systems in Low- and High- Performing Hospitals in Jordan

Implementing a quality management system (QMS) is important for hospitals to deliver high-quality services. Hospitals in Jordan vary greatly in terms of the quality of their services. This study aimed to explore QMS obstacles in low- and high-performing hospitals in Jordan. The study employed a Mixed Method-Sequential Exploratory design. A questionnaire was used to explore the QMS obstacles. The study population was drawn from six public and private hospitals considered low- and high-performing. A total of 908 participants who worked in the six hospitals completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire contained 23 items and was rated using 5-points Likert Scale. The data was analysed using quantitative tools as Descriptive statistics, General Liner Model (Univariate analysis) to determine the major QMS obstacles in low- and high-performing hospitals and to explore the relationship between participants’ background variables. The study found that low-performing hospitals faced six major obstacles: lack of rewards for hospital staff, inadequate material resources, lack of training programmes in sufficient staff motivation, insufficient budget for a QMS, and inadequate authority delegation. Whereas, the high-performing hospitals faced three major obstacles: lack of rewards for hospital staff, inadequate authority delegation, and shortage of staff. The results showed that there were significant differences between low- and high-performance hospitals in terms of the QMS obstacles. The study also provides recommendations for improving the implementation of QMS in Jordanian hospitals.
Method of obtaining direct-body displacement-velocity-acceleration ballistocardiograms of the dog.

SummaryA method of obtaining direct-body displacement, velocity and acceleration ballistocardiograms of the dog has been described. Ballistocardiograms obtained by this method are similar to those of the human.
Influence of smoking on urinary pepsinogen excretion.

SummaryThe average excretion of urinary pepsinogen of habitual smokers was found to be 43% higher than that of non-smokers.
Abstract 21: Variations in DNA repair gene expression and breast cancer risk in the New York site of the Breast Cancer Family Registry.

Reduced DNA repair capacity contributes to genomic instability, a hallmark of carcinogenesis. The link between DNA repair capacity and cancer is especially relevant in breast cancer, where women with suboptimal repair capacity have been reported to have up to a five-fold increase in breast cancer risk compared to women with greater repair capacity. We investigated the expression level of several DNA repair-related genes and their association with breast cancer risk among participants of the New York site of the Breast Cancer Family Registry. We examined RNA from viable mononuclear cells in 213 sisters (N=511 women). A total of five genes, ATM, BRCA1, MSH2, MUTYH and XPC, were selected and assayed using Taqman gene expression kits from Applied Biosystems. With the exception of BRCA1, expression of these genes was lower, but not statistically significant, among sisters with breast cancer compared with their unaffected sisters. Using generalized estimating equations (GEE), we found that individuals in the lowest quartile of expression for MSH2, a gene involved in DNA mismatch repair, had significantly higher odds of breast cancer compared to individuals in the highest quartile of expression, adjusting for age at blood draw (OR=1.82, 95% CI=1.11, 2.99). These findings suggest that a reduction in MSH2 expression compromises mismatch repair capacity and, thereby, increases breast cancer susceptibility. Citation Format: Maya Kappil, Mary Beth Terry, Yuyan Liao, Regina Santella. Variations in DNA repair gene expression and breast cancer risk in the New York site of the Breast Cancer Family Registry. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Post-GWAS Horizons in Molecular Epidemiology: Digging Deeper into the Environment; 2012 Nov 11-14; Hollywood, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(11 Suppl):Abstract nr 21.
Effect of Ionic Liquid Confinement on Gas Separation Characteristics

Work in our laboratory has focused for a number of years on examining the potential of room-temperature ionic liquids for post-combustion carbon capture processes. Results from studies of carbon dioxide solubility, diffusivity, and permeation across supported ionic liquid membranes have raised questions about the impact of a solid interface on the properties of ionic liquids. In this paper, we report results from measurements of carbon dioxide uptake into ionic liquids confined within a ceramic nanoporous film and compare carbon dioxide solubility and diffusivity to values measured with bulk phase ionic liquids. Results show that both solubility and diffusivity are enhanced in confined ionic liquids when compared to values observed in unconfined liquids. These observations have implications for gas separation processes involving supported ionic liquid membranes.
Microstructure-Sensitive Fatigue Design for Notched Components

The current drive for the discovery and use of advanced materials in safety-critical components necessitates the development of reliable fatigue design tools. However, most of the current tools require a number of approximations based on heuristics and phenomenological data rather than solid theoretical underpinning and still yield unsatisfactory and inconsistent results when applied to complex components under in service loads. Microstructural inhomogeneities in the materials induce notch size effects, but are not explicitly accounted for in phenomenological methods. Accordingly, notch sensitivity remains a highly empirical subject in spite of significant advances in microstructure-sensitive modeling. More robust fatigue design tools should capture the cause and effect relation of microstructure to distribution of slip and driving forces for formation and early growth of small cracks in the notch root field. Recent developments in computational crystal plasticity and microstructure-scale modeling have provided deeper understanding of the complex correlations between properties and structures and further indicate the limitations of conventional fatigue life prediction approaches. These modeling approaches have the potential to substantially reduce the need for costly large scale experimental programs to determine scatter in fatigue, for example. At present, however, there is a lack of simulation-based methodologies for considering interactive effects of stress and strain field gradients at the notch-root and microstructure-scale behavior in predicting notch-root fatigue crack initiation. In this paper results from simulations within a well-defined notch root damage process zone are used along with a probabilistic mesomechanics approach to develop a framework for new microstructure-sensitive fatigue notch factor. In addition, probability distributions of fatigue strength and fatigue life to form small cracks are estimated from simulations, extending notch sensitivity to explicitly incorporate microstructure sensitivity and attendant size effects via probabilistic arguments.© 2009 ASME
Central aorto-pulmonary shunts in treatment of complex congenital heart diseases in children

Objective To evaluate the surgical results of central aorto-pulmonary shunts in treatment of complex congenital heart diseases.Methods From July 1998 to June 2006,68 patients (male 36,female 32)aged from one day to 17yr received central aorto-pulmonary shunts and were re- ported upon.Their average body weight was from 3.2 kg to 39 kg(9.75±5.83)kg.The arterial blood saturation of oxygen(SaO_2)was studied before and after operation.The diameter of pulmonary artery was measured before operation and during the period of follow-up.The quality of life and the succes- sive therapy were recorded at the same time.Results There were 8 postoperative deaths(11.76%). The follow-up results of 60 cases from 1 month to 7.5 years showed that the diameter of main pulmo- nary arteries has been enlarged from(6.12±2.78)mm to(10.34±3.94)mm;the left pulmonary ar- teries has been enlarged from(3.98±2.11)mm to(8.64±4.09)mm and the right pulmonary arteries from(5.46±2.29)mm to(9.91±3.95)mm.The two-stage radical operation was performed on 21 patients.Two cases died out of 5 patients who underwent the secondary palliative operation with a mortality of 7.69%.Conclusions Central aorto-pulmonary shunts is simple and effective palliative procedure.The general condition of cases with complex congenital heart diseases can be improved postoperatively so as to receive a later staging operation.
Health risk assessment for personnels in downwind when DU hit tanks

In order to assess the health risk for soldiers in the use of depleted uranium(DU) in war,based on the test data of US army,parameters of the aerosol such as conversion fraction,composition,chemical characteristics,etc.produced when the tank was hit by DU penetrator were analyzed. The explosion-cloud method and Hotspot software were adopted to calculate the personnel′s DU exposure and inhalation doses in the downwind when the tank was hit by large caliber DU penetrator.The metabolic rule of DU in human body was analyzed by Biokmod software.The result shows that personal exposure dose E(τ) under this condition was less than 0.136 mSv.The risk of excess carcinogenic for lifetime was less than 6.8×10-6 and the risk of excess lethiferous carcinogenic for lifetime was less than 6.4×10-6.This health risk level may be accepted.
Will ovarian autotransplantation have a role in reproductive and gynecological medicine

Dr. Helena Corleta and colleagues reported on successful ovarian autotransplantation without vascular anastomosis in Wistar rats with maintenance of gonadal steroid secretion as evidenced by estrous cyclicity in the majority of transplanted females (1). This is an example of a classical endocrine investigation in which adequate sham-operated and oophorectomizednontreated controls were studied. The endocrine viability and functional competence of the autotransplanted ovarian tissue were assessed through the evaluation of end-target organs such as vaginal epithelium and uterus.
Audio event classification using deep neural networks.

We present in this paper our work on audio event classification for outdoor events. As the main classification method we employ a deep neural network (DNN) and compare this to other classification methods. We propose a novel improvement to the pre-training process of the network which is useful when training with Gaussian data. Our experimental results are based on an audio corpus extracted from the FreeSound.org website repository. We show that the DNN has some advantage over other classification methods and that fusion of two methods can produce the best results.
Alterations in weight gain and levels of plasma metabolites, proteins, insulin and free fatty acids following implantation of an anabolic steroid in heifers.

SUMMARY Twelve growing heifers were paired on the basis of breed, age and weight. One animal in each pair was implanted wtih an anabolic steroid, trienbolone acetate (300 mg). The animals were weighed and plasma samples taken at weekly intervals for eight weeks. The animals were fed a controlled diet related to their bodyweight. The mean liveweight gains of the animals were 62.2 kg and 36.6 kg for the implanted group and control group respectively. Each implanted animal gained more weight than its paired-control over four or eight weeks following implantation. The levels of plasma urea and albumin were significantly decreased during the second month after implantation. No changes were observed in the concentrations of plasma glucose, non-esterified free fatty acids, insulin, Mg2 +, Ca2 +, Pi and total protein.
The Effects of Computer Graphic Organizers on the Narrative Writing of Elementary School Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

This study used a multiple baseline across subjects design to explore the effects of using a computer graphic organizer program during planning on the narrative writing compositions of four fourth- and fifth-grade boys with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). Four dependent variables were measured: total number of words, total minutes planning, number of common story elements, and overall organization. Baseline planning was done with paper and pencil, while intervention planning was done using the computer graphic organizer program Kidspiration 3.0 (2011). Compositions in both conditions were written and edited using paper and pencil. The results indicated that computer graphic organizers used during planning had a positive effect on three of four dependent measures. When looking at mean scores, participants wrote more words (from 20.25 to 41.86 more), planned for longer periods of time (from 1.00 to 5.00 more minutes), and included more story elements in their compositions (from 0.80 to 3.10 more out o...
Characterization of Waldenström Macroglobulinemia Subtypes using Global Gene Expression Profiling.

Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a lymphoid neoplasm associated with accumulation of lymphoplasmacytic cells in the bone marrow and an elevated monoclonal IgM in the serum. Although the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind the pathogenesis of WM are not well understood, losses of the long arm of chromosome 6 have been found as the only recurrent genomic aberration. These deletions, mostly starting at 6q21, are observed in upwards of 50% of patients and involve the majority of the clonal cells. To better characterize pathologic gene expression signatures in different types of WM at the molecular level (6q deleted versus not), we examined gene expression level changes of more than 20000 human gene probes in bone marrow tissues of clinically proven WM patients. We used Affymetrix HG-U133A v2 chips (n = 24). Clonal cells were purified using a combination of anti-CD138 and anti-CD19 Miltenyi™ magnetic microbeads. Based on cIgM-FISH results, we classified samples into two groups - 6q normal (ND) group and 6q deletion (D) group. We then proceeded to identify genes that showed differential expression between the two groups. We selected 165 differentially expressed genes (DEG) using SAM, and underwent further investigation of biological annotations of them using Gene Ontology™ (GO) terms. Among165 DEG, only 32 showed high level of expression in ND group compared to D group while 133 showed high level of expression in D group. As expected, all genes that reside in 6q region showed under-expression in D group, constituting 53% (17 genes) of genes under-expressed in D group (32 genes). According to GO analysis, the 6q-deletion-induced under-expression affects many biological processes, and is associated with a transcriptional upregulation of downstream genetic cascades. This likely indicates release of regulatory control by a tumor suppressor gene. Genes involved in cell growth and maintenance, cell communication and morphogenesis are also over-expressed in D group. Interestingly, a gene that is involved in innate immune response and inflammatory response shows under-expression in D group but is not accounted for by other mechanisms. In similar vein, a gene that is involved in negative regulation of cytokine biosynthesis showed over-expression in D group. We think these transcriptional characteristics can provide basic framework for differentiating subtypes of WM and search for genes associated with WM pathogenesis
General endotracheal vs. non-endotracheal regional anesthesia for elective inguinal hernia surgery in very preterm neonates: A single institution experience

Abstract Background Very pre-term infants (VP) at Methods A retrospective cohort study was done to compare pulmonary-related perioperative risks between VP patients undergoing non-emergent inguinal hernia repair prior to NICU discharge under GE (n=58) vs regional anesthesia RA (n=37). Results Median PMA (RA 26 vs GE 27 weeks), operative weight (RA 2.2 vs GE 2.27 kg), % with BPD, medical and surgical comorbidities, number of concurrent procedures are similar between groups, except for sac laparoscopy (0% RA vs 36% GE). Procedural anesthesia time was 40 minutes for RA vs 69 minutes for GE, (p Conclusion RA is safe. RA is associated with early resumption of full feed, avoidance of prolonged mechanical intubation. We recommend a randomized controlled trial comparing the safety and efficacy of GE vs RA in VP infants undergoing elective NICU inguinal hernia repair. Level of Evidence II Retrospective study.
Photostrictive Two-Dimensional Materials in the Monochalcogenide Family.

Photostriction is predicted for group-IV monochalcogenide monolayers, two-dimensional ferroelectrics with rectangular unit cells (the lattice vector ${\mathbf{a}}_{1}$ is larger than ${\mathbf{a}}_{2}$) and an intrinsic dipole moment parallel to ${\mathbf{a}}_{1}$. Photostriction is found to be related to the structural change induced by a screened electric polarization (i.e., a converse piezoelectric effect) in photoexcited electronic states with either ${p}_{x}$ or ${p}_{y}$ (in-plane) orbital symmetry that leads to a compression of ${a}_{1}$ and a comparatively smaller increase of ${a}_{2}$ for a reduced unit cell area. The structural change documented here is 10 times larger than that observed in ${\mathrm{BiFeO}}_{3}$, making monochalcogenide monolayers an ultimate platform for this effect. This structural modification should be observable under experimentally feasible densities of photexcited carriers on samples that have been grown already, having a potential usefulness for light-induced, remote mechano-optoelectronic applications.
Abstract WP328: A Nurse-Led Initiative Improves Adherence Rates for Stroke Follow-up and Blood Pressure Management

Background and Issues Aggressive management of vascular risk factors reduces stroke rates. It is unknown whether structured nurse-led follow up increases adherence rates for stroke patients after hospital discharge. Purpose The purpose of this program is to improve secondary stroke risk factor management by instituting a nurse-led initiative called Stroke Therapy, Education, Prevention (STEP). Methods The pilot STEP program was based on protocols used for other stroke prevention trials. This nurse-led program includes inpatient initiation and outpatient maintenance of pharmacologic and lifestyle goals for stroke patients. Eligible patients have a non-disabling ischemic stroke or TIA and are without insurance restrictions and live within a distance allowing return to clinic for follow up. Prior to discharge, the STEP nurse completes patient education, and reviews outpatient goals. The STEP nurse makes phone contact with the patient 7-10 days after discharge to review medication compliance and reinforce education. At 30 days post discharge patients are seen in clinic by the STEP nurse where a resting blood pressure (BP) is measured. If the patient does not meet targets ( We undertook a retrospective chart review of a consecutive cohort of patients matched to STEP eligibility criteria to determine whether the program improved retention rates and BP management. Chi-Square analysis was used to compare visit adherence and percentage achieving goal BPs at 30 days. Results In the STEP group 25/32(78%) patients completed the 30 day follow up compared to 14/32 (44%) patients in the historical matched cohort (p=0.0048). Target BP was achieved in 13/25(52%) STEP patients and 5/14 (36%) matched cohort patients (p=0.32) returning to clinic. Overall, target BP was achieved in 13/32 (41%) and 5/32 (16%) respectively (p=0.026). Conclusions In conclusion, follow up adherence and BP management in the group as a whole was better in the nurse-led model and is recommended for secondary stroke prevention. Long term follow up with this model may further increase in-target rates of BP control and other stroke risk factors.
International medical graduates: from brain drain to potential gain

The international mobility of healthcare professionals is a well-documented phenomenon that has dynamic effects on global healthcare, labor markets, and the world economy. One aspect of this phenomenon—the movement of international medical graduates (IMGs) to the United States for residency training - is often criticized because of the “brain drain” from their home countries. We propose a different way of looking at this brain drain phenomenon and highlight the beneficial aspects of international physicians obtaining training in the United States and the potential impact such physicians could have on the healthcare systems of their own countries and possibly of the entire world. Immigration of professionals is a blessing in disguise Currently, one in four physicians practicing in the United States is an IMG.1 In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the number of IMGs obtaining medical training positions in residency programs in the United States. In 2015, 3,641 non-US citizen IMGs obtained residency training positions2 as compared to 2010 when 2,881 secured such positions.3 National Residents Matching Program (NRMP) results continue to show that there is a consistent shortage of American medical graduates to fill all the residency positions available annually in the United States.2,3 These results challenge earlier projections that the country would not need any more IMGs by the year 2015.4 Moreover, the shortage of doctors in the United States is likely to continue to encourage IMGs to come to this country in the future. We believe that, with planning, these professionals could be the basis of a ‘brain circulation’ system that would help develop graduate medical education, healthcare infrastructure, and medical research in their home countries, which, in turn, would help to retain and repatriate the next generation of physicians.
Standard Model EFT and Extended Scalar Sectors

One of the simplest extensions of the Standard Model is the inclusion of an additional scalar multiplet, and we consider scalars in the $SU(2{)}_{L}$ singlet, triplet, and quartet representations. We examine models with heavy neutral scalars, ${m}_{H}\ensuremath{\sim}1--2\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{TeV}$, and the matching of the UV complete theories to the low energy effective field theory. We demonstrate the agreement of the kinematic distributions obtained in the singlet models for the gluon fusion of a Higgs pair with the predictions of the effective field theory. The restrictions on the extended scalar sectors due to unitarity and precision electroweak measurements are summarized and lead to highly restricted regions of viable parameter space for the triplet and quartet models.
Distributed coordinated signal timing optimization in connected transportation networks

Abstract This paper presents a Distributed-Coordinated methodology for signal timing optimization in connected urban street networks. The underlying assumption is that all vehicles and intersections are connected and intersections can share information with each other. The novelty of the work arises from reformulating the signal timing optimization problem from a central architecture, where all signal timing parameters are optimized in one mathematical program, to a decentralized approach, where a mathematical program controls the timing of only a single intersection. As a result of this distribution, the complexity of the problem is significantly reduced thus, the proposed approach is real-time and scalable. Furthermore, distributed mathematical programs continuously coordinate with each other to avoid finding locally optimal solutions and to move towards global optimality. We proposed a real-time and scalable solution technique to solve the problem and applied it to several case study networks under various demand patterns. The algorithm controlled queue length and maximized intersection throughput (between 1% and 5% increase compared to the actuated coordinated signals optimized in VISTRO) and reduced travel time (between 17% and 48% decrease compared to actuated coordinated signals) in all cases.
Non-cardiac targets to treat heart failure in children: Anemia, Exercise, Nutrition, Proceedings from the 4th International Conference on Cardiomyopathy in Children, Bethesda, May 17, 2017

Abstract Anemia, exercise, and nutrition are areas which have been studied extensively as targets to modify outcomes in adult heart failure. Non cardiac targets to improve heart failure outcomes in children are not well established and clinical trials related to pediatric heart failure have been limited. The purpose of this article is to highlight potential therapeutic targets and outcome measures, specifically related to iron deficiency, exercise training, and malnutrition, that can be considered for research protocol development with clinical implications.
Empirical Determination of Extreme Ultraviolet Imager Background

Southwest Research Institute internal funding [15-R8624]; development of the Tomographic Refilling and Erosion Observatory (TREO) Small Explorer proposal
Overtaking Tracking Problems in Risk-Averse Control

Among the important results herein is the performance information analysis of forecasting higher-order characteristics of a general criterion of performance associated with a stochastic tracking system which is closely supervised by a reference command input and a desired trajectory. Both compactness from logic of state-space model description and quantitativity from probabilistic knowledge of stochastic disturbances are exploited to therefore allow accurate prediction of the effects of chi-squared randomness on performance distribution of the optimal tracking problem. Information about performance-measure statistics is further utilized in the synthesis of statistical optimal controllers which are thus capable of shaping the distribution of tracking performance without reliance on computationally intensive Monte Carlo analysis as needed in post-design performance assessment. As a by-product, the recent results can potentially be applicable to another substantially larger class of optimal tracking systems whereby local representations with only first two statistics for non-Gaussian random distributions of exogenous disturbances and uncertain environments may be sufficient.
Partnering with Pots: The Work of Objects in the Imperial Inca Project

New developments in the natural sciences are contributing to new thinking on the nature of matter, materiality and being. Such re-visioning of the natural world is, in part, responsible for ‘the ontological turn’, a trend clearly visible in recent archaeological discourse. In combination with evolving relational and symmetrical approaches to investigating the constitution of ‘the social’, the door is open for exploring logics, taxonomies and understandings of reality different from our own in studies of the past. Applying these ideas to the investigation of early imperialism, this paper offers an analysis of a key element in the repertoire of Inca material culture that forwards the importance of human–thing relations in the context of early state politics. Working from the basis of the imperial Inca ceramic assemblage, the study examines how these objects were deployed in the task of empire-building and what insights they provide into Andean ontological commitments during the late pre-Columbian period. An argument is developed that imperial pots were construed as animate beings and agents of the State. The study brings to the fore the mutually constituted nature of the imperial Inca project and suggests new avenues for future research that highlight the matter of early empires.
Operative Management for Pediatric and Adolescent Scaphoid Nonunions: A Meta-analysis.

Introduction:Scaphoid fractures in the pediatric population represent ∼3% of all hand and carpal fractures. Cast immobilization has been shown to yield excellent results in the acute phase, however some patients develop nonunions. Currently, there is no consensus regarding the best surgical treatmen
Quasiparticle excitations in GaAs1-xNx and AlAs1-xNx ordered alloys.

We have performed a quasiparticle study of the fundamental excitations in ordered alloys of III-V semiconductors, ${\mathrm{GaAs}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathit{x}}$ and ${\mathrm{AlAs}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathit{x}}$. The experimentally observed anomalous redshift in ${\mathrm{GaAs}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathit{x}}$ of the direct band edge is explained here by effects arising from the 20% lattice mismatch. The fact that the bottom of the conduction band is mainly dominated by nitrogen leads to a large reduction of the fundamental gap at \ensuremath{\Gamma} as the volume increases. This reduction continues until the charge density begins to locate on the arsenic site. Based on this simple scenario, we predict that a similar redshift may be observed in the indirect gap ${\mathrm{AlAs}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathit{x}}$ alloys. Also an indirect to direct band-gap transition will be observed for intermediate N concentrations. The possibility of closing the band gap is discussed in terms of the quasiparticle results.