cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ovarian Follicular Cysts in Dairy Cows

Ovarian follicular cysts are anovulatory follicular structures that occur in 10 to 13% of dairy cows. This review focuses upon the dynamics of cyst growth, development, and persistence as well as on associated endocrine and cellular mechanisms. During the estrous cycle of cows, two to four waves of follicular growth occur. From a cohort of recruited follicles, one is selected for continued growth and dominance while the other undergo atresia and regress. In contrast, cysts have long been thought to be static structures that persist for extended periods. Although cysts can persist for extended periods, most regress over time and are replaced during subsequent follicular waves. The next dominant follicle either ovulates or develops into a new cyst. The recruitment of a cohort of follicles from which a cyst develops and the growth rate of cysts to ovulatory size are similar to ovulatory follicular waves, but the cyst continues to grow for a longer period. The interval between waves of follicular growth is longer for cows with cysts than for cows with normal estrous cycles. Each wave is preceded by a transient increase in circulating FSH. Near the time of cyst development and persistence, the concentration of FSH is not different from that during normal estrous cycles. Serum concentrations of LH and estradiol-17 beta are higher in cows that develop cysts than in cows that do not. Conversely, hypothalamic content of GnRH is lower in cows with cysts. Thus, cysts are dynamic structures, and their development and lifespan are likely associated with altered hypothalamic-hypophysial-ovarian function.
Positron Emission Tomography Imaging for Tumor Ablation

Nuclear medicine imaging involves the injection or ingestion of radioactive Pharmaceuticals known as radiotracers, each designed to track a particular physiologic or pathophysiologic process. In contrast to conventional radiologic imaging such as x-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which map out anatomic structure and depend on changes in morphology or size for determination of pathology, nuclear medicine imaging provides information on the metabolic function of the investigated organ or tissue.
Aid at the frontier: building knowledge collectively

This paper articulates how programme evaluation generally, and impact evaluation specifically, contributes to good governance – not by replacing politics, but by informing it. We argue that institutions with the mandate to accelerate progress in the developing world through aid transfers are particularly well suited to fund impact evaluations. We argue, in fact, that funding impact evaluations through a collective vehicle like the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) should be a primary focus of foreign aid. Finally, we highlight the conditions needed and the additional efforts required to yield the full benefits of collective investment in finding out what works.
Charge transport and trapping characteristics in thin nitride-oxide stacked films

A charge transport and trapping model for thin nitride-oxide stacked films between silicon substrates and polysilicon gates is proposed. Nitride-oxide stacked films can be thought of as an oxide film with electron trapping at the nitride/oxide interface. The density of electron trapping is determined by the current-continuity requirement. The electron trapping reduces the leakage current and helps to lower the incidence of early failures for nitride-oxide stacked films. >
Fault location on a transmission line using synchronized Voltage measurements

Many methods for fault location using synchronized phasor measurement have been reported in literature. Most of these methods use voltage and current measurements at one or both ends of a transmission line. Accuracy of current measurement is limited by the accuracy of the current transformers (CT) used. This paper describes a fault-location method for transmission lines using only synchronized voltage measurements at both ends of the line, eliminating the inherent error due to CT. The method can be applied to transposed and untransposed lines. The method is tested using results from a steady state fault-analysis program and EMTP.
Injury Patterns Associated with Earthquakes

Major earthquakes create disaster conditions because the resulting structural collapse causes significant morbidity and mortality. An estimated 15 million deaths have been caused by earthquakes since the beginning of recorded history. (1) Earthquakes have caused an average of 11,250 deaths per year for the last 40 years(2) accounting for 37% of all deaths caused by disaster. (3) In addition to the injury and death caused at the time of the earth movement itself, an earthquake disrupts the community’s capacity to respond effectively. Transportation, communications, and health care systems are typically damaged significantly in the hours and days following the event. As a result, national and international assistance is usually required, since the salvage rate for victims unrescued from a collapsed structure decreases steadily after the first 24 hours after entrapment, international assistance teams and equipment should be on site within one or two days. Unfortunately this kind of response time is rarely possible under present conditions.
Demand-Side Research’s Role in Macro-Management: A Commentary on Priem, Li, and Carr

I respond to the recent article in the Journal of Management by Priem, Li, and Carr titled “Insights and New Directions From Demand-Side Approaches to Technology Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management Research.” Priem et al. argue that demand-side research can provide understandings of firm activity that research focusing on other aspects of the firm’s value chain cannot. I highlight what I believe are issues that, if addressed, can promote the contribution of demand-side studies to macro-management research.
Moving Objects Information Management: The Database Challenge

Miniaturization of computing devices, and advances in wireless communication and sensor technology are some of the forces that are propagating computing from the stationary desktop to the mobile outdoors. Some important classes of new applications that will be enabled by this revolutionary development include location-based services, tourist services, mobile electronic commerce, and digital battlefield. Some existing application classes that will benefit from the development include transportation and air traffic control, weather forecasting, emergency response, mobile resource management, and mobile workforce. Location management, i.e. the management of transient location information, is an enabling technology for all these applications. Location management is also a fundamental component of other technologies such as fly-through visualization, context awareness, augmented reality, cellular communication, and dynamic resource discovery.In this paper we present our view of the important research issues in location management. These include modeling of location information, uncertainty management, spatio-temporal data access languages, indexing and scalability issues, data mining (including traffic and location prediction), location dissemination, privacy and security, location fusion and synchronization.
Cognate facilitation effect in balanced and non-balanced Spanish–English bilinguals using the Boston Naming Test

The "cognate facilitation effect" refers to the advantage cognate words have over non-cognates in speed of recognition and production of words during the performance of multiple oral and written language tasks. It has been demonstrated that bilinguals produce and recognize cognates faster than non-cognates. Questions remain about the variables affecting the cognate facilitation effect. The present study investigated whether naming ability in a relatively large sample of balanced and non-balanced Spanish-English bilinguals is affected by the cognate status of the target words and whether the magnitude of this effect is influenced by bilinguals' relative levels of proficiency in their two languages. One hundred and three (53 balanced, 50 non-balanced) participants (mean age= 42.52; SD =19.09) from South Florida were administered the Boston Naming Test (BNT) in Spanish and English. Half of the sample received the English version first and the other half the Spanish version first. Results showed that whereas the cognate effect in the balanced bilinguals is similar in both languages, the non-balanced group showed a more prominent cognate effect in the non-preferred language. Current results may contribute to the understanding of language representation in bilinguals. Results demonstrated that the retrieval of words in the BNT is
Skeletal Muscle–Specific Genetic Determinants Contribute to the Differential Strain-Dependent Effects of Hindlimb Ischemia in Mice

Genetics plays an important role in determining peripheral arterial disease (PAD) pathology, which causes a spectrum of clinical disorders that range from clinically silent reductions in blood flow to limb-threatening ischemia. The cell-type specificity of PAD pathology, however, has received little attention. To determine whether strain-dependent differences in skeletal muscle cells might account for the differential responses to ischemia observed in C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice, endothelial and skeletal muscle cells were subjected to hypoxia and nutrient deprivation (HND) in vitro, to mimic ischemia. Muscle cells were more susceptible to HND than were endothelial cells. In vivo, C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice displayed strain-specific differences in myofiber responses after hindlimb ischemia, with significantly greater myofiber atrophy, greater apoptosis, and attenuated myogenic regulatory gene expression and stress-responsive signaling in BALB/c mice. Strain-specific deficits were recapitulated in vitro in primary muscle cells from both strains after HND. Muscle cells from BALB/c mice congenic for the C57BL/6 Lsq-1 quantitative trait locus were protected from HND-induced atrophy, and gene expression of vascular growth factors and their receptors was significantly greater in C57BL/6 primary muscle cells. Our results indicate that the previously identified specific genetic locus regulating strain-dependent collateral vessel density has a nonvascular or muscle cell-autonomous role involving both the myogenic program and traditional vascular growth factor receptor expression.
Biologically inspired image sensor/processor architecture with 2D cellular neural network for vision

A scalable image sensor array processor with frame memory buffer and cellular neural network (CNN) for nearest neighbor interaction has been developed in a 0.5 /spl mu/m HP CMOS technology. The CNN with analog programmable weights was constructed with compact mixed-signal VLSI circuit components in the current-mode techniques. The low voltage, low power operation is supported with the current mode scheme which scales well with the supply voltage. VLSI design of a variable gain neuron circuit can be incorporated into the prototype to realize the optimal solution capability using hardware annealing.
Effect of Long Chain Alcohols on Micellar Relaxation Time and Foaming Properties of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Solutions.

The effect of long chain alcohols (5 mol% CnOH forn= 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16) on the micellar stability of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solutions (SDS concentration ranging from 25 to 200 mM) was investigated and related to foaming properties, such as foamability, dynamic and equilibrium surface tension, and surface viscosity. The slow micellar relaxation time τ2, which is directly related to micellar stability, was determined by the pressure-jump technique. It was found that below 150 mM all the long chain alcohols investigated in this study cause an increase in τ2and, hence, micellar stability, due to the strong ion–dipole interaction between the SDS and the alkyl alcohol. However, above approximately 150 mM SDS, all alcohols except C12OH decrease the micellar stability due to mismatching of the alkyl chains. When the chain length of the alcohol and SDS are not equal, the excess hydrocarbon chain exhibits thermal motion, thereby increasing the area per molecule in micelles as well as at the air/water interface. Foamability was determined by two methods: air blowing through a single capillary submerged in the surfactant solution or vigorous hand shaking. When enough time is allowed for the interface to form (in case of single bubble foam generation), the dynamic surface tension approaches the equilibrium surface tension. Since the equilibrium surface tension for the SDS/C12OH mixture is significantly lower (approximately 7 mN/m) than that for the pure SDS solution, more foam is generated with the mixed surfactant system. However, in very high shear rate processes (e.g., vigorous hand shaking), the break up time of micelles determines the flux of surfactant molecules to the interface and hence the foamability. Since the mixed SDS/C12OH micelles are more stable (longer relaxation time, τ2) than pure SDS micelles, higher dynamic surface tensions are attained and thus less foam is generated with the surfactant/alcohol mixture by the shaking method. In conclusion, we show that the foamability can exhibit opposite behavior depending upon the rate of foam generation (i.e., specific method used for foaming).
The dispatcher assisted resuscitation trial: indirect benefits of emergency research.

Abstract Objective Conduct of emergency research under waiver of consent produces special challenges. Moreover, the act of performing research may have unintended effects, potentially beneficial or detrimental. The Dispatcher-Assisted Randomized Trial (DART) was designed to compare 2 types of dispatcher cardiopulmonary (CPR) instruction, but not intended to affect the proportion of arrest victims that received bystander CPR. We sought to determine whether odds of receiving bystander CPR were higher during DART than during the periods before and after. Methods We conducted an observational cohort study of 8626 adults who suffered non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest prior to emergency medical services (EMS) arrival in greater King County, Washington, between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2011. Bystander CPR status was assessed through review of dispatch recordings and EMS reports to classify any bystander CPR (any B-CPR), and further categorized as bystander CPR with or without dispatcher assistance (DA-CPR and B-CPR, no DA). We used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate odds of B-CPR before, during, and after DART. Results The proportions receiving any B-CPR were 52% before DART (1817/3468), 59% during DART (2093/3527), and 54% after DART (885/1631). Compared to the period before DART, odds of receiving any B-CPR were higher during DART (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.23–1.49), but no different after (OR = 1.10, 0.98–1.24). Compared to the before period, odds of DA-CPR were higher during DART (OR = 1.79, 1.59–2.02) but no different after (OR = 0.94, 0.80–1.10). Conclusions Odds of bystander CPR were higher during the trial, an increase related to higher likelihood of DA-CPR. The finding suggests a possible indirect community-wide benefit due to the interventional trial.
Fiducialization of magnets for the MIT-Bates SHR

The 190-m-circumference South Hall Ring (SHR) and Injection Line contain 94 quadrupoles for which the design position tolerances are +or-100 mu m, transverse and vertical. About half of the error budget on this tolerance will be used in fiducialization, the relating of the magnetic axes to the positions of survey targets fixed to the magnet. The system being developed uses the SLAC Industrial Measurement System (SIMS) while the magnetic properties are being measured on a harmonic analyzer. The usual step of relating the magnetic axes to the mechanical axes is bypassed in this system, but this relationship will be measured for a subset of magnets as a check of systematics. Results of the fiducialization of over 20 quadrupoles are presented. >
Pancreas after kidney transplants.

Abstract Background: For certain uremic diabetic patients, a sequential transplant of a kidney (usually from a living donor) followed by a cadaver pancreas has become an attractive alternative to a simultaneous transplant of both organs. The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes with simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) versus pancreas after kidney (PAK) transplants to determine advantages and disadvantages of the two procedures. Methods: Between January 1, 1994, and June 30, 2000, we performed 398 cadaver pancreas transplants at our center. Of these, 193 were SPK transplants and 205 were PAK transplants. We compared these two groups with regard to several endpoints, including patient and graft survival rates, surgical complications, acute rejection rates, waiting times, length of hospital stay, and quality of life. Results: Overall, surgical complications were more common for SPK recipients. The total relaparotomy rate was 25.9% for SPK recipients versus 15.1% for PAK recipients ( P = 0.006). Leaks, intraabdominal infections, and wound infections were all significantly more common in SPK recipients ( P = 0.009, P = 0.05, and P = 0.01, respectively, versus PAK recipients). Short-term pancreas graft survival rates were similar between the two groups: at 1 year posttransplant, 78.0% for SPK recipients and 77.9% for PAK recipients ( P = not significant). By 3 years, however, pancreas graft survival differed between the two groups (74.1% for SPK and 61.7% for PAK recipients), although this did not quite reach statistical significance ( P = 0.15). This difference in graft survival seemed to be due to increased immunologic losses for PAK recipients: at 3 years posttransplant, the incidence of immunologic graft loss was 16.2% for PAK versus 5.2% for SPK recipients ( P = 0.01). Kidney graft survival rates were, however, better for PAK recipients. At 3 years after their kidney transplant, kidney graft survival rates were 83.6% for SPK and 94.6% for PAK recipients ( P = 0.001). The mean waiting time to receive the pancreas transplant was 244 days for SPK and 167 days for PAK recipients ( P = 0.001). Conclusions: PAK transplants are a viable option for uremic diabetics. While long-term pancreas graft results are slightly inferior to SPK transplants, the advantages of PAK transplants include the possibility of a preemptive living donor kidney transplant, better long-term kidney graft survival, significantly decreased waiting times, and decreased surgical complication rates. Use of a living donor for the kidney transplant expands the donor pool. Improvements in immunosuppressive regimens will hopefully eliminate some of the difference in long-term pancreas graft survival between SPK and PAK transplants.
Molecular Mechanisms of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Insights to Therapy

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequently occurring human malignancies in the world and is associated with a high mortality rate. As such, understanding the molecular underpinnings of this cancer in order to identify novel diagnostic markers, therapeutic targets, and prognostic indicators that aid in patient care is a major goal for clinicians and researchers alike. Progress has been made on this front over the past several years resulting in the development of drugs that specifically target processes believed to propagate HCC cell transformation, growth, and metastasis such as cell surface receptor–ligand interaction and signal transduction, cell cycle and apoptosis progression, extracellular matrix remodeling, vasculogenesis, motility, histone modification, and others. Many of these agents have been assessed in pre-clinical animal models and are now being evaluated in human clinical trials in the United States and elsewhere. This chapter will discuss targeted therapies for HCC under study in humans as well as the pathways they intercept.
When Is It Acceptable to Lie? Interpersonal and Intergroup Perspectives on Deception

While deception is generally viewed as an undesirable and unethical action, people evaluate some lies as more detrimental than others. This study examined factors influencing deception assessments, including the seriousness of the lie and whom it benefits. The effect of an intergroup versus an interpersonal context for the lie was examined. Utilizing 24 vignettes varying in terms of these conditions, 259 participants evaluated a lie’s appropriateness, deceptiveness, and complexity. Altruistic and white lies were viewed as less deceptive and more acceptable than self-serving and more consequential lies. Lies evaluated as least acceptable were interpersonal, serious, and self-serving compared to altruistic lies and those embedded in an intergroup context. Intergroup and interpersonal deceptions are recognized as distinct forms of lying and are evaluated differently.
Characterization of a Lignite Ash from the Metc Gasifier II. Scanning Electron Microscopy

Lignite coal ash produced in a stirred, fixed-bed gasifier at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) has been studied by scanning electron microscopy using both morphologic and chemical analyses. Detailed chemical analyses of phases, grains, and traverses across grains illustrate the heterogeneous nature of the ash. These data support the concept that most of the ash was formed by partial melting and subsequent crystallization and agglomeration.
Assessing the Impact of Psychotropic Medication Changes on Challenging Behavior of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.

Objective: The use of psychotropic medication to address challenging behavior in individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities is common practice; however, very few studies have examined how multiple medication use (or combination treatment) impacts the behaviors these medications are prescribed to treat.Method: The current study followed eight individuals over a two-year period as they experienced changes in their psychotropic medication regimens. During that time, data from functional analyses and indirect assessments of challenging behavior were collected.Results: The results suggest that changes in psychotropic medication regimens can produce changes in functional assessment outcomes, suggesting a need for continued behavioral assessment to better inform medication practices and behavioral treatment. Of the eight participants in the study, five participants’ behaviors varied in rate of responding in functional analysis (FAs) across all medication changes. Additionally, three participants’ FAs p...
Cooperative Destination Marketing: Theoretical Foundations and Implications to Tourism Marketing in China

Destination marketing has been a challenging task for areas which rely heavily on tourism industry for economic development. Collaboration can provide an effective solution to destinations in dealing with such challenges in their destination marketing efforts. Taking interorganizational relation as its theoretical foundation,the paper intends to examine several important issues related to collaborative destination marketing,including preconditions,motivations,processes as well as outcomes. Implications are discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives.
Vesicoureteral Reflux in Black Girls

Abstract In a review of girls evaluated for symptomatic urinary tract infection white girls were found to be affected 2.9 times more often than black girls. In the same group vesicoureteral reflux was noted to occur 3.4 times more commonly in white than black girls. This suggests that the prevalence of reflux in black girls is at least 10 times less than in white girls and should influence our indications for recommending urinary tract evaluation in black girls.
Corrosion and Leaching of Copper Tubing Exposed to Chlorinated Drinking Water

The leaching of lead and copper from plumbing materials is a source of metals in drinking water and is a public health concern. This work investigated the influence of free chlorine (HOCl/OCl-) on the level of copper in water in contact with the solid metal, and proposed an oxidation-dissolution mechanism to explain copper leaching. Experimental results are presented for the leaching of copper metal exposed to chlorine-disinfected water under various pH, free chlorine, dissolved oxygen, total carbonate, chloride, and water volume conditions. The rate of copper leaching is found to be accelerated in waters with high free chlorine concentrations and low pHs. The leaching is explained by a proposed mechanism involving two consecutive steps: (1) direct oxidative attack on the solid metal surface by the free chlorine, followed by (2) dissolution of the partially oxidized copper surface as determined by the solubility of the copper mineral products at a particular pH.
The Influence of Chinese Academia and Culture

Most Chinese women scientists and engineers received their K-12 education and their bachelor’s degrees from one of the top Chinese universities. This chapter describes the key context of Chinese academia, its history, and the story of women’s participation in education, as well as its influence on Chinese women students’ lived experiences in their U.S. classrooms and research teams.
Relations between Parenting Stress, Parenting Style, and Child Executive Functioning for Children with ADHD or Autism

Relations among parenting stress, parenting style, and child executive functioning for children with disabilities are not easily teased apart. The current study explored these relations among 82 children and adolescents age 7–18: 21 with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 33 with autism spectrum disorder, and 28 typically developing. Results indicated that children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder had more executive functioning deficits, and their parents reported more parenting stress and a greater use of permissive parenting, compared to typically developing children. In general, increased parenting stress was associated with greater use of authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, as well as more problems with behavior regulation for children. Authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were associated with poorer child executive functioning. Child diagnostic group (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, typically developing) moderated relations between parent stress and child functioning, and between parenting style and child functioning. Implications for intervention with families of children with disabilities are discussed.
Investigating Nanoscale Electrochemistry with Surface- and Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

ConspectusThe chemical sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) methodologies allows for the investigation of heterogeneous chemical reactions with high sensitivity. Specifically, SERS methodologies are well-suited to study electron transfer (ET) reactions, which lie at the heart of numerous fundamental processes: electrocatalysis, solar energy conversion, energy storage in batteries, and biological events such as photosynthesis. Heterogeneous ET reactions are commonly monitored by electrochemical methods such as cyclic voltammetry, observing billions of electrochemical events per second. Since the first proof of detecting single molecules by redox cycling, there has been growing interest in examining electrochemistry at the nanoscale and single-molecule levels. Doing so unravels details that would otherwise be obscured by an ensemble experiment. The use of optical spectroscopies, such as SERS, to elucidate nanoscale electrochemical behavior is an attractive alternative to traditional app...
The importance of total kidney volume in evaluating progression of polycystic kidney disease

The rate at which autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) progresses to end-stage renal disease varies widely and is determined by genetic and non-genetic factors. The ability to determine the prognosis of children and young adults with ADPKD is important for the effective life-long management of the disease and to enable the efficacy of emerging therapies to be determined. Total kidney volume (TKV) reflects the sum volume of hundreds of individual cysts with potentially devastating effects on renal function. The sequential measurement of TKV has been advanced as a dynamic biomarker of disease progression, yet doubt remains among nephrologists and regulatory agencies as to its usefulness. Here, we review the mechanisms that lead to an increase in TKV in ADPKD, and examine the evidence supporting the conclusion that TKV provides a metric of disease progression that can be used to assess the efficacy of potential therapeutic regimens in children and adults with ADPKD. Moreover, we propose that TKV can be used to monitor treatment efficacy in patients with normal levels of renal function, before the pathologic processes of ADPKD cause extensive fibrosis and irreversible loss of functioning renal tissue.
Identifiability of sparse structural equation models for directed and cyclic networks

Structural equation models (SEMs) provide a statistical description of directed networks. The networks modeled by SEMs may have signed edge weights, a property that is pertinent to represent the activating and inhibitory interactions characteristic of biological systems, as well as the collaborative and antagonist behaviors found in social networks, among other applications. They may also have cyclic paths, accommodating the presence of protein stabilizing loops, or the feedback in decision making processes. Starting from the mathematical description of a linear SEM, this paper aims to identify the topology, edge directions, and edge weights of the underlying network. It is established that perturbation data is essential for this purpose, otherwise directional ambiguities cannot be resolved. It is also proved that the required amount of data is significantly reduced when the network topology is assumed to be sparse; that is, when the number of incoming edges per node is much smaller than the network size. Identifying a dynamic network with step changes across time is also considered, but it is left as an open problem to be addressed in an extended version of this paper.
Width of 27 P(1.19 MeV ) and the 26 Si(p ,γ ) reaction rate

I have used a simple potential model to calculate single-particle widths in $^{27}\mathrm{P}$. Assuming mirror symmetry, I have combined them with the spectroscopic factor from the reaction $^{26}\mathrm{Mg}(d,p)$ to compute proton widths for the $3/{2}^{+}$ first-excited state. I present results for the resonance strength parameter $\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and for the $(p,\ensuremath{\gamma})$ reaction rate for two values of the $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ width and two values of the resonance energy.
Fabrication and Evaluation of Electrospun, 3D-Bioplotted, and Combination of Electrospun/3D-Bioplotted Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

Electrospun scaffolds provide a dense framework of nanofibers with pore sizes and fiber diameters that closely resemble the architecture of native extracellular matrix. However, it generates limited three-dimensional structures of relevant physiological thicknesses. 3D printing allows digitally controlled fabrication of three-dimensional single/multimaterial constructs with precisely ordered fiber and pore architecture in a single build. However, this approach generally lacks the ability to achieve submicron resolution features to mimic native tissue. The goal of this study was to fabricate and evaluate 3D printed, electrospun, and combination of 3D printed/electrospun scaffolds to mimic the native architecture of heterogeneous tissue. We assessed their ability to support viability and proliferation of human adipose derived stem cells (hASC). Cells had increased proliferation and high viability over 21 days on all scaffolds. We further tested implantation of stacked-electrospun scaffold versus combined electrospun/3D scaffold on a cadaveric pig knee model and found that stacked-electrospun scaffold easily delaminated during implantation while the combined scaffold was easier to implant. Our approach combining these two commonly used scaffold fabrication technologies allows for the creation of a scaffold with more close resemblance to heterogeneous tissue architecture, holding great potential for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications of osteochondral tissue and other heterogeneous tissues.
Bayesian Registration of Functions With a Gaussian Process Prior

ABSTRACTWe present a Bayesian framework for registration of real-valued functional data. At the core of our approach is a series of transformations of the data and functional parameters, developed under a differential geometric framework. We aim to avoid discretization of functional objects for as long as possible, thus minimizing the potential pitfalls associated with high-dimensional Bayesian inference. Approximate draws from the posterior distribution are obtained using a novel Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm, which is well suited for estimation of functions. We illustrate our approach via pairwise and multiple functional data registration, using both simulated and real datasets. Supplementary material for this article is available online.
Are Facebook user ratings associated with hospital cost, quality and patient satisfaction? A cross-sectional analysis of hospitals in New York State

Background Hospital care costs are high while quality varies across hospitals. Patient satisfaction may be associated with better clinical quality, and social media ratings may offer another opportunity to measure patient satisfaction with care. Objectives To test if Facebook user ratings of hospitals are associated with existing measures of patient satisfaction, cost and quality. Research design Data were obtained from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare, the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System impact files and the Area Health Resource File for 2015. Information from hospitals’ Facebook pages was collected in July 2016. Multivariate linear regression was used to test if there is an association between Facebook user ratings (star rating and adjusted number of ‘likes’) and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient satisfaction measures, the 30-day all-cause readmission rate, and the Medicare spending per beneficiary (MSPB) ratio. Subjects One hundred and thirty-six acute care hospitals in New York State in 2015. Results An increase in the Facebook star rating is associated with significant increases in 21/23 HCAHPS measures (p≤0.003). An increase in the adjusted number of ‘likes’ is associated with very small increases in 3/23 HCAHPS measures (p Conclusions Results demonstrate an association between HCAHPS patient satisfaction measures and Facebook star ratings. Adjusted number of ‘likes’ may not be a useful measure of patient satisfaction.
Wrestling with the future

We who teach journalism and mass communications are sometimes compelled to predict the future. What professional skills will our students need to master by the time they graduate? What is the best method to help them achieve this mastery?
Detection of Brucella , abortus , in the cervical mucus of nulliparous heifers.

Abstract Sixteen nulliparous Holstein heifers were exposed artificially to Brucella , abortus , biotype 1 strain 2308. Attempts were made to recover the organism from blood, udder secretions and cervical mucus. Blood cultures 2 to 4 wk postexposure were positive. B . abortus , was recovered from one or more udder quarters in 11 heifers. B . abortus , was recovered from cervical mucus of one heifer on Day 18 postexposure. All heifers were serologically positive within 5 wk. The presence of B . abortus , in the nongravid uterus is transitory and associated with the bacteremic phase. It is limited or prevented in most heifers due to the effect of estrus. Nulliparous heifers are suitable candidates for use as donors of Brucella -free embryos, even where infection is known to exist in the herd.
Role of animal movement and indirect contact among farms in transmission of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus

Epidemiological models of the spread of pathogens in livestock populations primarily focus on direct contact between farms based on animal movement data, and in some cases, local spatial spread based on proximity between premises. The roles of other types of indirect contact among farms is rarely accounted for. In addition, data on animal movements is seldom available in the United States. However, the spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) in U.S. swine represents one of the best documented emergences of a highly infectious pathogen in the U.S. livestock industry, providing an opportunity to parameterize models of pathogen spread via direct and indirect transmission mechanisms in swine. Using observed data on pig movements during the initial phase of the PEDv epidemic, we developed a network-based and spatially explicit epidemiological model that simulates the spread of PEDv via both indirect and direct movement-related contact in order to answer unresolved questions concerning factors facilitating between-farm transmission. By modifying the likelihood of each transmission mechanism and fitting this model to observed epidemiological dynamics, our results suggest that between-farm transmission was primarily driven by direct mechanisms related to animal movement and indirect mechanisms related to local spatial spread based on geographic proximity. However, other forms of indirect transmission among farms, including contact via contaminated vehicles and feed, were responsible for high consequence transmission events resulting in the introduction of the virus into new geographic areas. This research is among the first reports of farm-level animal movements in the U.S. swine industry and, to our knowledge, represents the first epidemiological model of commercial U.S. swine using actual data on farm-level animal movement.
From “Autonomous” to “Interactive” Histories: World History’s Challenge to Armenian Studies

Although awareness of the insularity of the field of Armenian historical writing and Armenian studies are nothing new, not much work has been done on analyzing the sources of this insularity and offering remedies to opening up the field. This chapter offers a set of provisional reflections on the writing of Armenian history and to a lesser extent on the field of Armenian Studies that builds upon past discussions but also adds a new level of analysis informed by recent scholarship done in the burgeoning field of world/global history. The discussion draws not only from the scholarship of global history and its comparative and interactive methodology of studying the past, but also from the cognate field of connected histories. Its reflections are not meant to be definitive statements but rather invitations to further debate and explore the advantages of imagining Armenian history not as autonomous history but as an open arena shaped by mobility and an unfolding of interactive histories.
AR-Based Mobile Applications for Exposure Therapy

Facing one’s fears could be a way forward for people whose anxieties debilitate them. Exposure-based treatment is an evidence-based approach to reducing pathological anxiety. As a part of treatment, therapists who practice exposure therapy create environments to provide opportunities for patients to experience (and ultimately, overcome) the anxiety that arises for patients in feared situations. More than 50% of anxiety patients, however, never receive treatment. We developed an Android application that uses augmented reality (AR) for providing opportunities for exposure to spiders, a relatively common presentation of specific phobia. With this app, users can engage with exposure therapy without visits to a therapist. In the next phase, we will conduct a user study to determine whether mobile applications equipped with augmented reality technologies can be used to reduce the anxiety response to a feared stimulus (i.e., a tarantula), and whether the app is considered easy to use and acceptable. In this poster, we will provide details about the mobile app and describe the study setup.
Staff Education, Liaison, and Program Consultation

In whichever context the reader chooses, the contents of this chapter have the potential for stimulating conflict or controversy among any group of mental health and childbirth professionals. Depending on what kind of end-point data one wishes to select, there may be much or little documentation that the activities and programs herein described are (1) cost-effective; (2) clinically beneficial, or (3) likely to have any long-range impact on the developmental outcome of the infant who is the product of the pregnancy.
Knockout of TRPC6 promotes insulin resistance and exacerbates glomerular injury in Akita mice

Gain-of-function mutations in TRPC6 cause familial focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, and TRPC6 is upregulated in glomerular diseases including diabetic kidney disease. We studied the effect of systemic TRPC6 knockout in the Akita model of type 1 diabetes. Knockout of TRPC6 inhibited albuminuria in Akita mice at 12 and 16 weeks of age, but this difference disappeared by 20 weeks. Knockout of TRPC6 also reduced tubular injury in Akita mice; however, mesangial expansion was significantly increased. Hyperglycemia and blood pressure were similar between TRPC6 knockout and wild-type Akita mice, but knockout mice were more insulin resistant. In cultured podocytes, knockout of TRPC6 inhibited expression of the calcium/calcineurin responsive gene insulin receptor substrate 2 and decreased insulin responsiveness. Insulin resistance is reported to promote diabetic kidney disease independent of blood glucose levels. While the mechanisms are not fully understood, insulin activates both Akt2 and ERK, which inhibits apoptosis signal regulated kinase 1 (ASK1)-p38–induced apoptosis. In cultured podocytes, hyperglycemia stimulated p38 signaling and induced apoptosis, which was reduced by insulin and ASK1 inhibition and enhanced by Akt or ERK inhibition. Glomerular p38 signaling was increased in TRPC6 knockout Akita mice and was associated with enhanced expression of the p38 gene target cyclooxygenase 2. These data suggest that knockout of TRPC6 in Akita mice promotes insulin resistance and exacerbates glomerular disease independent of hyperglycemia.
HybridPower: An R Package for a Bayesian-Frequentist Hybrid Approach to Power Analysis.

Power analysis is the gold standard for justifying sample size in study design. Extant software for computing power (e.g., G*Power by Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, 2009) can only accept the spe...
Incidentally Diagnosed Alport Syndrome in a Patient with Drug-Induced Vasculitis

A 53-year-old woman is admitted with a serum creatinine of 16 mg/dl. Seven months earlier, she was diagnosed with heart failure and started on several medications, including Hydralazine. Laboratory studies revealed the presence of dual Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies (anti-MPO and anti-PR3), anti-nuclear and anti-histone antibodies. The clinical diagnosis was Drug-Induced ANCA Vasculitis (DIAV). Kidney histology, however, did not reveal crescents, but showed characteristic features of Alport's syndrome.
Relaxing the Constraints on Locally Recoverable Erasure Codes by Finite Field Element Variation

To enable the continued scaling of distributed storage, locally recoverable (LRC) erasure codes are necessary to substantially reduce the number of symbols to access for failure recovery. Codes based on parity splitting and generalized integrated interleaved codes are two categories of LRC codes that achieve good tradeoffs on locality, redundancy, and complexity. The parity check and nesting matrices in these codes are modified to improve the complexity and locality. On the other hand, these structural modifications add constraints on the code parameters. This letter proposes to relax the constraints by exploiting different finite field elements, field constructions, and independent entries in the matrices. The computation complexity of finding the maximum allowed values of the parameters has been reduced by orders of magnitudes through taking advantage of isomorphic mapping and conjugacy classes, as well as developing a decomposed searching method. Significant improvements on the applicable code parameters have been achieved for both codes using the proposed schemes.
Master Counselors as Teachers: Clinical Practices of Counselor Educators

Using a mixed methods design, we surveyed 117 counselor educators to explore their clinical practices and their perceptions of the impact of clinical practice on teaching, supervision, research, and service. The results indicate that clinical practice had the greatest influence on their supervision and teaching. A negative relationship between years served as a counselor educator and hours engaged in counseling was found. Through qualitative analysis, we identified several themes related to counselor educators' decisions to engage in clinical practice, among them staying relevant, enhancing teaching and supervision, and staying current in the field. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are discussed.
Awards, metrics, and transitions

At the joint NAGT/GSA/CUR Awards luncheon at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, I presented two awards for the Journal of Geoscience Education. The Outstanding Paper Awar...
Identification of quantitative trait loci for carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) in a recombinant inbred population of soybean

QTL analysis identified 16 QTLs, grouped in eight loci on seven soybean chromosomes that were associated with carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) in a biparental recombinant inbred population. Drought is a major limitation to soybean yield, and the frequency of drought stress is likely to increase under future climatic scenarios. Water use efficiency (WUE) is associated with drought tolerance, and carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) is positively correlated with WUE. In this study, 196 F6-derived recombinant inbred lines from a cross of PI 416997 (high WUE) × PI 567201D (low WUE) were evaluated in four environments to identify genomic regions associated with δ13C. There were positive correlations of δ13C values between different environments (0.67 ≤ r ≤ 0.78). Genotype, environment, and genotype × environment interactions had significant effects on δ13C. Narrow sense heritability of δ13C was 90% when estimated across environments. There was a total of 16 QTLs on seven chromosomes with individual QTLs explaining between 2.5 and 29.9% of the phenotypic variation and with additive effects ranging from 0.07 to 0.22‰. These 16 QTLs likely identified eight loci based on their overlapping confidence intervals. Of these eight loci, two loci on chromosome 20 (Gm20) were detected in at least three environments and were considered as stable QTLs. Additive QTLs on Gm20 showed epistatic interactions with 10 QTLs present across nine chromosomes. Five QTLs were identified across environments and showed significant QTL × environment interactions. These findings demonstrate that additive QTLs and QTL × QTL interactions play significant roles in genetic control of the δ13C trait. Markers flanking identified QTLs may facilitate marker-assisted selection to accumulate desirable QTLs to improve WUE and drought tolerance in soybean.