cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Entering history through ‘weak’ prose: Dazai Osamu's ‘Sange’

AbstractThis article explores Dazai Osamu's (1909–1948) work ‘Sange’ (Fallen flowers, 1944), which juxtaposes tales of the narrator's two friends’ deaths: one died a quiet, ‘personal’ death at home and the other a heroic death in the battle of Attu near the end of the Pacific War. The narrator's effusive admiration of both deaths makes it difficult to determine where exactly the narrator stands politically. This article argues that the story surreptitiously privileges the quiet death impervious to wartime exploitation of the fear of the unknown over the heroic death in battle. In doing so, the article shows the ways in which the ironic configuration of writing makes it such that only after the reader ‘experiences’ the narrator's aestheticization of death in battle can she hear his critical voice submerged in the text. This duplicity of the text opens a way for critiquing, rather than simply denouncing, the allure of aestheticized, ‘meaningful’ death at a specific historical juncture. It deters the reader ...
Extraocular Muscle Repositioning and Diplopia: Associated with Ophthalmic Plaque Radiation Therapy for Choroidal Melanoma

Objective To evaluate extraocular muscle surgery associated with plaque brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma. Design Single-center retrospective cohort study. Participants Three hundred twenty-nine eyes of 329 consecutive patients with clinically diagnosed choroidal melanoma. Intervention Palladium 103 plaque brachytherapy with or without extraocular muscle surgery. Main Outcome Measures Type of muscle surgery required for each tumor location, timing, incidence, and duration of diplopia, as well as treatment. Results Two hundred fifty-four patients (n = 254/329; 77.2%) required muscle surgery. One hundred seven patients (n = 107/329; 32.5%) required surgery on 2 or more muscles. Of 373 muscles repositioned, the lateral rectus muscle (n = 115/373; 30.8%) and inferior oblique muscle (n = 70/373; 18.7%) were the most common, correlating to intraocular tumor location ( P Conclusions Extraocular muscle surgery frequently is required for plaque brachytherapy. Although transient diplopia occurred in 11.2% of patients, persistent diplopia occurred in only 1.9% of patients and was treatable.
MOTOR NEURONE COUPLING IN LOCUST FLIGHT

1. Techniques are described for recording in locust thoracic ganglia from single units identifiable as the motor neurones of specific flight muscles. 2. There are at least two kinds of excitatory interactions among flight-muscle motor neurones. A spike in one motor neurone may be electrically transmitted to another with little delay but much attenuation. Stimulation of a group of motor neurones produces a second, probably chemically transmitted, potential with a latency of 5-6 msec. 3. No short-term inhibitory interactions between motor neurones were observed. 4. Activity in one motor unit of the flight system has long-term effects on the motor neurones of other units, excitatory in some cases and inhibitory in others. 5. Single impulses in sensory neurones have little effect on motor neurones; sustained sensory input to a motor neurone produces a slow depolarization and increase in impulse frequency. 6. Antidromic impulses in one group of motor neurones can entrain orthodromic impulses in another motor neurone. 7. These data are discussed with reference to the hypothesis that the pattern of locust flight--rhythmic synchronous bursts of synergist activity, strict alternation between antagonists--can be produced by motor neurone interactions alone.
Color calibration of multi-projector displays through automatic optimization of hardware settings

We describe a system that performs automatic, camera-based photometric projector calibration by adjusting hardware settings (e.g. brightness, contrast, etc.). The approach has two basic advantages over software-correction methods. First, there is no software interface imposed on graphical programs: all imagery displayed on the projector benefits from the calibration immediately, without render-time overhead or code changes. Secondly, the approach benefits from the fact that projector hardware settings typically are capable of expanding or shifting color gamuts (e.g. trading off maximum brightness versus darkness of black levels), something that software methods, which only shrink gamuts, cannot do. In practice this means that hardware settings can possibly match colors between projectors while maintaining a larger overall color gamut (e.g. better contrast) than software-only correction can. The prototype system is fully automatic. The space of hardware settings is explored by using a computer-controlled universal remote to navigate each projector's menu system. An off-the-shelf camera observes each projector's response curves. A cost function is computed for the curves based on their similarity to each other, as well as intrinsic characteristics, including color balance, black level, gamma, and dynamic range. An approximate optimum is found using a heuristic combinatoric search. Results show significant qualitative improvements in the absolute colors, as well as the color consistency, of the display.
Length scales of interactions in magnetic, dielectric, and mechanical nanocomposites

It is investigated how figures of merits of nanocomposites are affected by structural and interaction length scales, Aside from macroscopic effects without characteristic lengths scales and atomic-scale quantum-mechanical interactions there are nanoscale interactions that reflect a competition between different energy contributions. We consider three systems, namely dielectric media, carbon-black reinforced rubbers and magnetic composites. In all cases, it is relatively easy to determine effective materials constants, which do not involve specific length scales. Nucleation and breakdown phenomena tend to occur on a nanoscale and yield a logarithmic dependence of figures of merit on the macroscopic system size. Essential system-specific differences arise because figures of merits are generally nonlinear energy integrals. Furthermore, different physical interactions yield different length scales. For example, the interaction in magnetic hard­ soft composites reflects the competition between relativistic anisotropy and nonrelativistic exchange interactions, but such hierarchies of interactions are more difficult to establish in mechanical polymer composites and dielectrics.
Mesh incisional herniorrhaphy increases abdominal wall elastic properties: a mechanism for decreased hernia recurrences in comparison with suture repair.

Background An improved understanding of load-bearing soft tissue repair suggests that the mechanism for the improved outcomes after alloplastic incisional herniorrhaphy involves more than simple tissue replacement or material strength. We test the hypothesis that postrepair abdominal wall elastic properties are most predictive of successful abdominal wall reconstruction. Methods A rodent model of chronic incisional hernia formation was used. Midline incisional hernias were repaired primarily with suture (n = 24) or polypropylene mesh (n = 24). Rodents were sacrificed at serial postoperative time points over 60 days. Intact abdominal wall strips were cut perpendicular to the wound for tensiometric analysis. Biopsies of wound provisional matrix were obtained for biochemical analysis. Results Recurrent incisional hernia formation was significantly decreased in the mesh-repair group, compared with the suture-repair group (5/24 vs 14/24, P = .02). Mesh-repaired abdominal walls demonstrated significantly more elongation (P Conclusions Mesh incisional herniorrhaphy increases abdominal wall elastic properties as measured by increased elongation and reduced stiffness. Increased abdominal wall elasticity after incisional hernia repair in turn results in lower recurrence rates.
Differential Treatment in an Institution: Reexamining the Preston Study

Jesness' analysis of the Preston data offers no support for the utilization of Interpersonal Maturity Level Theory (I-Level Theory) to reduce parole violation among delinquents. The data are reanalysed here and show interaction effects between I-Level and Treatment for a specially selected Psychiatric Treatment Unit. There are no interaction effects for other groups of subjects. The characteristics on which the Psychiatric unit was selected do not appear to account for the results. Instead, there is evidence that treatment strategies were better developed in this unit. Findings on interaction effects in the Psychiatric Unit are favorable to the emphasis on differential treatment in California's Community Treatment Project and to some of the Project's treatment recommendations. Support for the use of the I-Level typology appears to have been limited, at least in part, by insufficient empirical testing of interaction effects, poor interpretation of findings, and conclusions drawn from inappropriate data.
Modulation error in active-aperture phased-array radar systems

The authors address range sidelobe (RSL) suppression in the context of active arrays defined as a phased array antenna driven by distributed solid-state element-level modules or tube-driven subarray-level transmitters and receivers. In assessing signal effects, the interaction of the waveform spectrum and the antenna pattern must be considered in the context of module-to-module amplitude and phase tracking variation. The basic methodology for achieving low RSL performance in active arrays using modulation error compensation is briefly reviewed. The associated performance limits imposed by modulation error decorrelation and noise-limited error characterization are delineated. Emphasis is placed on presenting these performance trades in an analogous fashion to those associated with narrowband pulse Doppler mechanization so as to permit ready comparison of implementation requirements.
Corporate Governance: Is It Time For Global Standards?

Financial markets depend on the integrity of the financial information generated by management. In order for that integrity to be ensured, an effective corporate governance system must be in place by the corporation. While the United States has been the initial focal point on the effectiveness of corporate governance through the actions at Enron and WorldCom, European companies such as Ahold, Parmalat and Adecco have also demonstrated that the European Union faces challenges pertaining to corporate governance. The purpose of this paper is to compare how the United States and the European Union address the issue of corporate governance. The paper will examine and compare the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States, the European Commission’s Action Plan on corporate governance and the new corporate governance guidelines issues by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The paper will conclude with a discussion on whether global corporate governance standards are necessary to ensure the stability of global financial markets. The author will argue that certain core standards are universal in nature. However, flexibility is still warranted in some areas due to specific cultural beliefs and established business standards.
Robot-Assisted Anterior Pelvic Exenteration for Bladder Cancer in the Female

Radical cystectomy remains a gold standard oncologic treatment for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer and for those with high-grade, recurrent, noninvasive tumors. The applications of robotics to female cystectomy have not been well described. However, given the successful application of robotics in male patients, and growing experience with robotics in female pelvic procedures in the gynecologic literature, the stage has been set for its application to anterior pelvic exenteration for female patients with bladder cancer.
The Demand for and Supply of Food Marketing Services: An Aggregate View

The central problem of this paper is to explain the decline in the farm share of U.S. consumer expenditures for food. The statistical analysis is mainly concerned with estimating the demand for and supply of foodmarketing (distribution and processing) services. The findings indicate that the increase in household purchases of marketing services from 1929 to 1962 resulted from an increase in demand. The supply of marketing services kept pace with the increase in demand so that there was no apparent trend in the "real" price of services. About one-third of the post-World War II decline in the farm share of consumer expenditures for foods is attributed to a greater increase in the demand for services compared with the demand for farm products; two-thirds is attributed to an increase in the supply of farm products relative to demand. MARKETING (processing and distribution) costs have historically accounted for a growing share of U.S. household expenditures for farm-originated foods. In recent years, about two-thirds of total household expenditures for these foods has gone for marketing services and the remaining third has gone to farmers for raw materials [6]. Before World War I, the earliest period for which comparable data are available, the shares were about equal. The rise in the marketing share-or decline in the farm share-has been particularly marked since the end of World War II. The purpose of this article is to help explain this trend. The reported research was mainly concerned with the demand for and supply of marketing services. Total civilian consumption of marketing services rose sharply after 1937, whereas the "real" price of these services showed no significant trend (Fig. 1). There was no trend in either consumption or real price between 1929 and 1937. Also, the "real" price of marketing services was stable during most of the period, particularly during the post-World War II years. The graph indicates that almost all of the growth in marketing services resulted from an increase in demand, and that the supply of services paralleled the rise in demand. The real price of services was also stable during most of the period, particularly in the postwar years, for which the data are better. This article presents estimates of the household-demand relation for * This paper was written while I was an employee of the Marketing Economics Division, Economic Research Service, USDA. The views expressed here do not necessarily
A Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce Catheter Exchange Rates for Fluoroscopically Guided Gastrostomy Tubes.

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of a data-driven quality improvement initiative to reduce catheter exchange rates. Materials and Methods A single-institution retrospective analysis of all percutaneous radiologic gastrostomy (PRG) placement and replacement procedures between January 2010 and July 2015 was conducted. A statistical model predicting the risk for catheter exchange for any reason and exchanges specifically for tube malfunction was created; a quality improvement plan to reduce catheter exchanges was designed and implemented in June 2014. The outcomes for subsequent PRG procedures from July 2014 through March 2015 were followed until July 2015. Results Between 2010 and June 2014, 1,144 primary PRG procedures and 442 replacement procedures were performed in 1,112 patients. Of the 442 exchange procedures, 289 were "rescue" procedures secondary to catheter malfunction. A quality improvement plan was implemented in June 2014 that encouraged primary gastrojejunostomy catheter and balloon-retained PRG catheter placement and placement of skin sutures in patients considered high risk for catheter dislodgment. From July 2014 through March 2015, 229 PRG catheters were placed, and 71 exchange procedures were performed through July 2015. There was a statistically significant decrease in the number of rescue exchanges performed secondary to catheter malfunction ( P = .036). Conclusions Procedural and patient-specific risk factors for PRG complications were identified, and a statistical model to predict rates of minor complications was created. These findings were used to implement a quality improvement program that resulted in a decrease in PRG exchanges secondary to catheter malfunction.
Point Defects in GaN

Abstract In this chapter, a critical analysis of point defects in GaN and their manifestation in such experiments as photoluminescence (PL), deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) is presented. Only a few PL bands are attributed to specific defects. The dominant defect-related PL band in GaN grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) or molecular beam epitaxy is the yellow luminescence (YL) band with a maximum at 2.2 eV, which is attributed to the CNON complex. In DLTS studies, it is known as a hole trap H1 with the ionization energy of about 0.85 eV. In thick GaN layers grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) or in bulk GaN grown by some other techniques, the green luminescence (GL) band with a maximum at 2.4 eV is the dominant PL band. The GL band and the YL band in these samples are attributed to two charge states of the CN defect. The blue luminescence band with a maximum at 2.9 eV in undoped and Zn-doped GaN grown by HVPE or MOCVD is attributed to the ZnGa acceptor. The GL2 band observed in high-resistivity GaN samples at 2.35 eV is caused by an internal transition at the VN defect. The VGaON defect is present with high concentrations in n-type GaN and can be detected by PAS and optical DLTS. Most likely, it is a nonradiative defect and cannot be detected by PL.
i-MIRROR: A Software Managed Die-Stacked DRAM-Based Memory Subsystem

This paper presents an operating system managed die-stacked DRAM called i-MIRROR that mirrors high locality pages from off-chip DRAM. Optimizing the problems of reducing cache tag area, reducing transfer bandwidth and improving hit latency altogether while using die-stacked DRAM as hardware cache is extremely challenging. In this paper, we show that performance and energy efficiency can be obtained by software management of die-stacked DRAM, which eliminates the need for tags, the source of aforementioned problems. In the proposed scheme, the operating system loads pages from disks to die-stacked DRAM on a page fault at the same time as they are loaded to off-chip DRAM. Our scheme maintains the pages in off-chip and die-stacked DRAM in a synchronized/mirrored state by exploiting the parallel loading capability to die-stacked and off-chip DRAM from the disk. This eliminates the need for physical page movement to the slower off-chip DRAM upon eviction from die-stacked DRAM. Requests for pages that got evicted from die-stacked DRAM are simply serviced by the slower off-chip DRAM to prevent frequent data movements of large pages and thrashing between conflicting pages. The operating system periodically monitors the usage of the pages in off-chip DRAM and promotes high locality pages to die-stacked DRAM. Our evaluations show that the proposed hardware-assisted software-managed i-MIRROR scheme achieves an IPC improvement of 13% while consuming 6% less energy than prior state-of-the-art die-stacked caching schemes and 79% improvement in terms of IPC and 72% in terms of energy savings over systems without die-stacked DRAM support.
Molecular analysis of amoeboid chemotaxis: parallel observations in amoeboid phagocytes and metastatic tumor cells.

Metastasis is a multistep process in which amoeboid Chemotaxis plays a key role in the movement of tumor cells into and out of vessels. On a molecular level, much of what is known about amoeboid Chemotaxis has been learned through work with Dictyostelium discoideum, a lower eukaryotic amoeboid phagocyte. One of the first and most crucial events to occur in the actin cytoskeleton following chemotactic stimulation is activation of actin nucleation. This is followed by incorporation of specific actin cross-linking proteins into the cytoskeleton, proteins which are implicated in the extension of pseudopods and filopods. Together, these events have been termed the Cortical Expansion Model for amoeboid Chemotaxis. Detailed biochemical analysis has implicated a new actin-capping protein and has shown that one of the cross-linking proteins is Elongation Factor la, suggesting a link between Chemotaxis and growth control. Preliminary data from parallel studies on neoplastic cells are presented.
Potential for prolonged disease-free survival following combination chemotherapy of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The evaluation of the results of CVP and MOPP chemotherapy in 80 patients with advanced stages of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma indicates that 36 (45%) achieved a complete remission. Twenty-eight per cent of the entire group of patients remain free of disease for periods ranging from 4 mo to over 7 yr, with a projected median duration of complete remission of 3½ yr. Significant differences in prognosis relative to histologic categories were found. Well-differentiated and nodular histology were positive determinants for improved median survival, confirming the over-all clinical validity of the Rappaport classification system for the non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. The median survival for patients in the most clinically aggressive subgroups with diffuse histology is inferior to those with nodular patterns or well-differentiated cells. In this study it was demonstrated that it was possible to achieve a significant number of complete remissions even in the most aggressive histologic subgroups using combination chemotherapy, and these responses can be correlated with an extended disease-free survival without further therapy.
Tuberculous Infection in Guinea-Pigs Treated with Tubercle Bacilli Made Non-Acidfast by Incubation with Olive Oil

Dehydrated cultures of tubercle bacilli suspended in olive oil promptly loose their acid-fastness upon incubation, and the subcutaneous or intraperitoneal injection of these non-acid fast cultures into guinea-pigs sensitizes to the intracutaneous administration of old tuberculin.1 The purpose of this paper is to present a series of results obtained by treating guinea-pigs with the non-acidfast cultures before and after inoculating them with living tubercle bacilli.
The Clinical Analysis of Treatment for 102 Cases Congenital Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis

Objective: To study the clinical characteristics of congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.Method: The clinical data of 102 patients with congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis admitted from 2003 to 2009 in The Childrens Hospital of Hebei province were analyzed retrospectively.Result: All 102 cases were were cured by pyloromyotomy.Conclusion: The study shows that the diagnosis and treatment are the earlier;Careful and skilled manipulation in operation can avoid the complication.Keeping the water and eletrolytes balance and nutrition improved are considered to be the key point of operation.
Automating Position and Timing Quality Assurance for High Dose Rate Brachytherapy Using Radioluminescent Phosphors and Optical Imaging

procedures for both systems are entirely different. The Axxent system uses a well-type chamber calibrated in terms of Air Kerma Strength (AKS). The calibration system for the Intrabeam device is performed in terms of absorbed dose to water utilizing a soft X-ray ionization chamber in a water. The calibration factor of the chamber is derived from Air Kerma calibrations and a conversion into Dw according to ICRU 17. For the development of the primary standard device and investigations of the calibration chain characterizations of both sources were required: X-ray emission spectra were measured at various azimuthal and radial angles, relative 3Ddose distributions in distances below 3 cm were determined with radiochromic gels. Scintillator and X-ray storage film measurements were used for complement measurements. Monte-Carlo-simulations were performed to mimic the characteristics of the sources, for the characterization of the utilized measuring devices, and to calculate conversionand correction factors for the primary standard. The German (PTB) and Czech (CMI) national collaborated in this project, founded in the framework of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) (project: MetrExtRT, http://radiotherapy-emrp.eu/). The prototype of the primary standard is based on the ‘‘Grovex II’’, an extrapolation chamber in a phantom of water-equivalent material, which is already utilized at PTB as a primary standard device for I-125 seeds. However, the phantom material, RW1, is less suitable for the radiation fields of EBXs as due to the higher amount of low-energy photons much more disturbing lowenergy fluorescence-photons of the ingredients of RW1, Mg and Ca, are induced. Therefore, the phantom material needed to be substituted and after rebuilding, the chamber needed to be recommissioned. Results: The results of the measurements for the characterization of the sources and the complementary Monte Carlo simulations will be presented with a special emphasis on the information required for the realization and dissemination of the desired quantity absorbed dose to water. The procedure of the realization will be exemplified and compared to that of the realization of the absorbed dose to water for I-125 seeds including a discussion of the uncertainties. Conclusions: The realization of the absorbed dose to water for EBXs is ongoing. In a further step consistent procedures or protocols for the dissemination of the quantity needs to be established. Thereby, fundamental issues are the establishment of criteria to be met by devices defines as EBX and a consistent protocol for all EBX devices is desirable or practicable.
Contemporary Stapling Instruments and Basic Mechanical Suture Techniques

This article provides a description and demonstration of the basic linear staple closures and anastomoses, as well as of circular anastomoses. Depending on the technique used, bowel may be closed in a mucosa-to-mucosa or serosa-to-serosa fashion, and comparable results with either modality are demonstrated.
An Input Adjustment Method for Challenging Privatization: A Case from Michigan Prison Health Services:

I investigate the feasibility of completely privatizing prison physical and mental health service. The study is based on bid documents from Michigan’s 2012 exploration of privatized health care, al...
Bone CLARITY: Clearing, imaging, and computational analysis of osteoprogenitors within intact bone marrow.

Bone tissue harbors unique and essential physiological processes, such as hematopoiesis, bone growth, and bone remodeling. To enable visualization of these processes at the cellular level in an intact environment, we developed “Bone CLARITY,” a bone tissue clearing method. We used Bone CLARITY and a custom-built light-sheet fluorescence microscope to detect the endogenous fluorescence of Sox9-tdTomato+ osteoprogenitor cells in the tibia, femur, and vertebral column of adult transgenic mice. To obtain a complete distribution map of these osteoprogenitor cells, we developed a computational pipeline that semiautomatically detects individual Sox9-tdTomato+ cells in their native three-dimensional environment. Our computational method counted all labeled osteoprogenitor cells without relying on sampling techniques and displayed increased precision when compared with traditional stereology techniques for estimating the total number of these rare cells. We demonstrate the value of the clearing-imaging pipeline by quantifying changes in the population of Sox9-tdTomato–labeled osteoprogenitor cells after sclerostin antibody treatment. Bone tissue clearing is able to provide fast and comprehensive visualization of biological processes in intact bone tissue.
Comprehensive Analysis of Cancer-Proteogenome to Identify Biomarkers for the Early Diagnosis and Prognosis of Cancer.

During the past century, our understanding of cancer diagnosis and treatment has been based on a monogenic approach, and as a consequence our knowledge of the clinical genetic underpinnings of cancer is incomplete. Since the completion of the human genome in 2003, it has steered us into therapeutic target discovery, enabling us to mine the genome using cutting edge proteogenomics tools. A number of novel and promising cancer targets have emerged from the genome project for diagnostics, therapeutics, and prognostic markers, which are being used to monitor response to cancer treatment. The heterogeneous nature of cancer has hindered progress in understanding the underlying mechanisms that lead to abnormal cellular growth. Since, the start of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the International Genome consortium projects, there has been tremendous progress in genome sequencing and immense numbers of cancer genomes have been completed, and this approach has transformed our understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of different types of cancers. By employing Genomics and proteomics technologies, an immense amount of genomic data is being generated on clinical tumors, which has transformed the cancer landscape and has the potential to transform cancer diagnosis and prognosis. A complete molecular view of the cancer landscape is necessary for understanding the underlying mechanisms of cancer initiation to improve diagnosis and prognosis, which ultimately will lead to personalized treatment. Interestingly, cancer proteome analysis has also allowed us to identify biomarkers to monitor drug and radiation resistance in patients undergoing cancer treatment. Further, TCGA-funded studies have allowed for the genomic and transcriptomic characterization of targeted cancers, this analysis aiding the development of targeted therapies for highly lethal malignancy. High-throughput technologies, such as complete proteome, epigenome, protein–protein interaction, and pharmacogenomics data, are indispensable to glean into the cancer genome and proteome and these approaches have generated multidimensional universal studies of genes and proteins (OMICS) data which has the potential to facilitate precision medicine. However, due to slow progress in computational technologies, the translation of big omics data into their clinical aspects have been slow. In this review, attempts have been made to describe the role of high-throughput genomic and proteomic technologies in identifying a panel of biomarkers which could be used for the early diagnosis and prognosis of cancer.
Alcohol Intoxication and Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: Basic and Clinical Science

Abstract Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) often has devastating and permanent neurological consequences. There are about 17,000 cases of traumatic SCI every year. Up to 34% of SCI patients are intoxicated at the time of their injury. Alcohol intoxication has been shown to have deleterious effects on experimental SCI severity. Alcohol intoxication worsens the degree of vascular insult, inflammation and immune-mediated response, excitatory neurotransmitter damage, free radical damage, edema formation, and membrane dysfunction. In human SCI, alcohol intoxication has no impact on the severity on injury. Intoxicated patients, however, suffer more complications than sober patients. This chapter covers the pathophysiology of SCI, alcohol intoxication and its effects on the pathophysiology of SCI, and alcohol intoxication and its impact on clinical SCI patients.
Smart resistor: Trajectory control of constant power loads in DC microgrids

Application areas such as electric vehicles, data centers and microgrids increasingly rely on power electronic converters and electric motor drives to control loads. These tightly regulated converters act as Constant Power Loads (CPLs) in the context of the entire system. The negative incremental impedance of a CPL causes inherent instability which may lead to a grid collapse. This paper reviews the operating principles of the Smart Resistor concept wherein a bi-directional current compensation circuit and energy storage are attached at the point-of-load to stabilize the system. This decentralized control allows the equivalent load to behave as a linear resistor, which is inherently stable during either voltage or power perturbations. These adaptive resistors can work with smart sources to realize ultimate smart power networks. This paper then details the full control strategy needed to realize the concept. Smart Resistor voltage and current trajectory control principles are analyzed and validated using a hardware test setup. Energy management strategies are discussed and verified in simulation to ensure uninterrupted operation.
Levels and stages of organization of phytosystems

Із позицій системного підходу розглядаються універсальні принципи організації фітосистем, їх ієрархічна підпорядкованість. Визначені біологічні кванти для основних рівнів організації фітосистем. Вводиться поняття “фітоциклоценон” (елементарна сукцесійна система) і обґрун товується правомірність розгляду його як основної еволюційної одиниці фітоценосистемного рівня організації.
Day length is associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior among older women.

Physical activity may be influenced by one’s physical environment, including day length and weather. Studies of physical activity, day length, and weather have primarily used self-reported activity, broad meteorological categorization, and limited geographic regions. We aim to examine the association of day length and physical activity in a large cohort of older women, covering a wide geographic range. Participants (N = 16,741; mean (SD) age = 72.0 (SD = 5.7) years) were drawn from the Women’s Health Study and lived throughout the United States. Physical activity was assessed by accelerometer (ActiGraph GT3X+) between 2011 and 2015. Day length and weather information were obtained by matching weather stations to the participants’ location using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration databases. Women who experienced day lengths greater than 14 hours had 5.5% more steps, 9.4% more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and 1.6% less sedentary behavior, compared to women who experienced day lengths less than 10 hours, after adjusting for age, accelerometer wear, temperature, and precipitation. Day length is associated with physical activity and sedentary behavior in older women, and needs to be considered in programs promoting physical activity as well as in the analyses of accelerometer data covering wide geographic regions.
Current Concepts of Platelet Structure

The involvement of blood platelets in hemostasis, hemorrhagic disorders, and thrombotic disease is well known. In more recent years it has been appreciated that platelets also participate in host defense against infection, transplantation rejection, would healing, and the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. As a result, it became essential to develop knowledge of basic relationships between platelet structure, biochemistry, and function in order to define the mechanisms involved in normal hemostatic activity and pathologic behavior. The specialized approach to identify these associations has been termed platelet structural physiology and pathology. This H. P. Smith lecture summarizes relationships between platelet structure, biochemistry, and hemostatic activity and presents some of the new concepts which have resulted from the multidisciplinary approach.
Conclusions, Implications, and More Stories

In this final chapter, I briefly describe the years that followed Simon’s three years at Chesed, summarize this study, and discuss conclusions, outline implications, further questions, and research directions for the future. After being shown the door at Chesed, Lawrence and Elizabeth were forced to scramble to find a school for third grade. They decided to put Simon in a private school for students with LD. They asked around and researched on the web until they found a couple of possibilities. Griffin was one of them and one of the reasons they chose it was because it offered early admittance. They needed to make sure that Simon had a place in the fall. Another reason they chose Griffin was that because Simon was in such an emotionally vulnerable state, they felt that the school’s reputation as nurturing and accommodating was just what he needed.
Professional Identity, Job Satisfaction, and Commitment of Nonphysician Faculty in Academic Family Medicine.

Background and objectives Nonphysician faculty are common in academic family medicine departments and residencies. The objective of this study was to examine whether these nonphysician faculty have adopted a professional identity of family medicine and how that relates to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Methods In 2017, a survey of nonphysician members of the Council of Academic Family Medicine organizations in the United States and Canada was conducted. The overall response rate for the survey was 52.6% (526/1,001). The current analysis was conducted on the individuals who met all of the inclusion criteria and had complete data on all investigated scales (n=360). Scales on professional identity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment were examined along with age, gender, race, and professional characteristics. Results The respondents indicated a professional identity with family medicine, commitment to their organization, and high job satisfaction. There was a lack of association with gender for these primary variables. Professional identity had a moderately positive relationship with years in family medicine (r=0.23). Professional identity had a moderately strong positive relationship with both commitment to the organization (r=0.41), and job satisfaction (r=0.43). In multivariate regressions, race/ethnicity was associated with both professional identity (Pl.05) and job satisfaction (Pl.05), with nonwhites having lower professional identity and job satisfaction. Conclusions The results of this survey of nonphysician faculty in family medicine indicated a high professional identity to family medicine, high job satisfaction, and commitment to their organization. Strategies including cultural competency training may serve as important tools to avoid dissatisfaction or turnover among this key workforce element in academic family medicine.
Improving redox sensitivity of roGFP1 by incorporation of selenocysteine at position 147.

Redox-sensitive green fluorescent protein (roGFP) is a genetically-encoded redox-sensitive protein used to detect cellular oxidative stress associated with reactive oxygen species production. Here we replaced the cysteine at position 147 of roGFP1 (variant of roGFP) with selenocysteine in order to increase redox sensitivity of the redox reporter. Expression of roGFP1 selenoprotein (roGFP1-Se147) in HEK293 cells required the presence of a selenocysteine insertion sequence and was augmented by co-expression with SBP2. roGFP1-Se147 demonstrated a similar excitation and emission spectra to roGFP1. Although expression of roGFP1-Se147 was limited, it was sufficient enough to perform live cell imaging to evaluate sensitivity to oxidation and reduction. roGFP1-Se147 exhibited a 100-fold increase in sensitivity to oxidation with H2O2 in comparison to roGFP1 as well as a 20-fold decrease in the EC50 of H2O2. Furthermore, roGFP1-Se147, unlike roGFP1, was able to detect oxidation caused by the mitochondrial electron transport complex III inhibitor antimycin A. Unfortunately roGFP-Se147 exhibited a diminished dynamic range and photoinstability.
Normalization of Metabolic Status after LVAD Implantation is Associated with Heart Failure Free Survival

Purpose Metabolic abnormalities are common in advanced heart failure patients. It has previously been shown that after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation, there is reversal of metabolic dysfunction. However, little is known if this reversal affects outcomes. This study investigates if normalization of metabolic dysfunction after LVAD implantation leads to improvement in outcomes including survival and hemocompatibility related adverse events (HRAEs). Methods Patients who received LVAD were consecutively enrolled in this prospective study. Metabolic labs, including thyroid function tests, total and free testosterone, and hemoglobin A1c (HgA1c) were drawn within 30 days before LVAD implantation and between 1-3 months after LVAD implantation. Normal metabolic status (NMS) was defined as HgA1c 90 pg/dL in males and > 3 pg/dL in females. Outcomes of patients who achieved NMS 1-3 months after implantation were compared to outcomes of patients who did not. Results 62 patients were enrolled in this study. At 1-3 months after LVAD implantation, 47 patients did not achieve NMS and 15 patients did. Overall, the percentage of patients with NMS improved from 2% before implantation to 24% after implantation (p Conclusion Advanced heart failure patients have metabolic derangements that improve after LVAD implantation. In patients who achieved NMS 1-3 months after LVAD implantation, there is a significant improvement in survival free from heart failure compared to those who did not.
Tyranny, Self, and Genre in Pliny's Letter 5.8

In Letter 5.8 Pliny shows that in the post-Domitianic era historia has become an impossible genre, both as a vehicle for conventional moral wisdom and because of the authoritative narrative voice it necessitates. The letter9s literary strategies of deferral express these problems even as its content appears to argue positively the merits of historia and compare it with those of oratio. Pliny emphasizes the insufficiency of the narrative “I”, suggesting instead the importance of dialogue as the means both toward the ethical reconstruction of post-tyrannical discourse and the literary fame for which Pliny also hopes.
FLUID FLOW SENSING TECHNIQUES

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses fluid-flow-sensing techniques. The entire problem of the measurement of fluid flow rates may be divided into two fundamental types for most purposes, namely, the measurement of liquids and the measurement of gases. The chapter describes a breakdown of the various sensing techniques presently available for the measurement of flow: (1) measurement of flow rate by use of the principle of Bernoulli, (2) velocity measurement, and (3) direct mass flow measurements. The chapter discusses all of these various techniques with regard to their method of operation, their applicability to airborne measurements, and their development status. The most directly applicable system for measuring flow rates in airborne use and for general commercial purposes appears to be the turbine type meter, which is by far superior to any other method for the measurement of volumetric flow rates. The turbine type airspeed indicator appears to be the best technique available for the measurement of volumetric gas flow rates as well, utilizing the same principle as the standard turbine-type meter.
Immunohistochemistry Innovations for Diagnosis and Tissue-Based Biomarker Detection.

Immunohistochemistry is an integral technique for tissue-based diagnostics and biomarker detection with broad worldwide adoption. Advances in core chemistries, antibody design, and automation have ushered unprecedented sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility in immunohistochemistry assays. As a result, clinical immunohistochemistry assays that utilize dual-color approaches and mutation-specific antibodies provide novel tools in clinical diagnostics that until recently were in the realm of investigational research. This review provides an overview of innovations in clinical immunohistochemistry assays with emphasis on those used for patients with hematopoietic neoplasms. Advances in clinical-grade immunohistochemistry techniques have allowed labs to develop and validate multiplex assays that improve diagnostic utility—such as CD5/PAX5 and TCF4/CD123 dual-color stains—and have the potential to enhance the specificity of biomarker detection. In addition, the increased availability of immunohistochemistry assays that detect mutant proteins (e.g., BRAF V600E and IDH1 R132H) provides a helpful replacement and/or adjunct for molecular testing. These techniques are highly reproducible, entail reasonable technical and interpretation complexity, and are relatively cost-effective, making them valuable novel tools in modern cancer care. Multiplex and mutation-specific immunohistochemistry assays represent important innovations that provide improved utility in the context of personalized medicine and targeted therapy.
“A Short Story of a Lonely Guy”: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Involuntary Celibacy Using Reddit

Scant research exists on those who classify as involuntarily celibate. Research in the past has focused on groups such as people celibate in marriage, those with chronic disease or illness, and the elderly. However, the recent media attention given to involuntary celibate males, or “incels,” and their role in violence against women has gained national attention. Research on involuntary celibates has found a new group of individuals emerging who have a strong desire for a sexual connection and are disturbed by the lack of interpersonal sexuality in their lives. With the gap in literature surrounding the perceptions of this new group of “incels”, and their relationship to violence against women, the goal of this research was to use the “r/Braincels” Subreddit to answer the research question “what are the shared experiences, sentiments, and expressions of people who self-define as incels?” This study followed thematic content analysis methodological guidelines designed for obtaining data from Reddit and identifying specific extraction criteria. Themes identified and discussed include a constructed trope of women, the patriarchally-informed male ideal, hypocritical approaches to gender, and the incel identity. Implications include the need for increased education regarding healthy relationships in schools, creation of incel-specific group therapy, and more research to identify red flags regarding incel identity and its relationship to violent acts.
Adult blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) use shallow water as a refuge from great hammerheads (Sphyrna mokarran)

A refuge can be any space that keeps an organism safe from danger. Prey usually seek protection in the closest refuge available to minimize cost while maximizing survival. Aerial drone footage of blacktip sharks, Carcharhinus limbatus, along the coast of southeast Florida, USA, shows adult blacktips fleeing to the shallow water adjacent to the beach when confronted with or chased by a predatory great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran. To authors' knowledge, this is the first evidence of adult C. limbatus using shallow waters as a refuge.
Impact of Fatty-Acid Labeling of Bacillus subtilis Membranes on the Cellular Lipidome and Proteome

Developing cultivation methods that yield chemically and isotopically defined fatty acid (FA) compositions within bacterial cytoplasmic membranes establishes an in vivo experimental platform to study membrane biophysics and cell membrane regulation using novel approaches. Yet before fully realizing the potential of this method, it is prudent to understand the systemic changes in cells induced by the labeling procedure itself. In this work, analysis of cellular membrane compositions was paired with proteomics to assess how the proteome changes in response to the directed incorporation of exogenous FAs into the membrane of Bacillus subtilis. Key findings from this analysis include an alteration in lipid headgroup distribution, with an increase in phosphatidylglycerol lipids and decrease in phosphatidylethanolamine lipids, possibly providing a fluidizing effect on the cell membrane in response to the induced change in membrane composition. Changes in the abundance of enzymes involved in FA biosynthesis and degradation are observed; along with changes in abundance of cell wall enzymes and isoprenoid lipid production. The observed changes may influence membrane organization, and indeed the well-known lipid raft-associated protein flotillin was found to be substantially down-regulated in the labeled cells - as was the actin-like protein MreB. Taken as a whole, this study provides a greater depth of understanding for this important cell membrane experimental platform and presents a number of new connections to be explored in regard to modulating cell membrane FA composition and its effects on lipid headgroup and raft/cytoskeletal associated proteins.