cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Power-Efficient Algorithms for Fourier Analysis over Random Wireless Sensor Network

Reduced execution time and increased power efficiency are important objectives in the distributed execution of collaborative signal processing tasks over wireless sensor networks. The power-efficient implementation of the Fourier transform computation is an exemplar of distributed data communication and processing task widely used in the signal processing field. Past work has presented some energy-efficient in-network Fourier transform computation algorithms devised only for uniformly sampled one-dimensional (1D) sensor data. However the circumstance that sensors are randomly distributed over a 2D plane may be more practical, therefore the conventional two-dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (2D FFT) defined for data sampled on uniform grids is not directly applicable in such environments. We address this problem by designing a distributed hybrid structure consisting of local None quispaced Discrete Fourier Transform (NDFT) and global FFT computation. Firstly, NDFT method is applied in a suitable choice of clusters to get the initial uniform Fourier coefficients with allowable estimation error bounds. We experiment with classical linear as well as generalized interpolation methods to compute NDFT coefficients within each cluster. A separable 2D FFT is then performed over all these clusters by employing our proposed energy-efficient 1D FFT computation that reduces communication costs using a novel bit index mapping strategy for data exchanges between sensors. The proposed techniques are implemented in a SID net-SWANS platform to investigate the communication costs, execution time, and energy consumption. Our results show reduced execution time and improved energy consumption when compared with existing work.
Multivariate Models and Dependence Concepts

Introduction. Aspects of Interpretation. Technical Considerations. Statistical Analysis. Special Methods for Joint Responses. Some Examples. Strategical Aspects. More Specialized Topics. Appendices.
Application of Salivary Concentration Data to Pharmacokinetic Studies with Antipyrine

Abstract The concentrations of antipyrine in plasma and saliva were equivalent in normal volunteers and in patients with acute viral hepatitis following oral doses of antipyrine. Estimates of clearance, volume of distribution and half‐life made from either plasma or saliva samples were not statistically different in these subjects. Differences in the disposition kinetics of antipyrine during the acute phase of viral hepatitis and on recovery were detected using either plasma or saliva samples.
Progression and Severity of Gas Bubble Trauma in Juvenile Salmonids

Abstract We conducted laboratory experiments to assess the progression and to quantify the severity of signs of gas bubble trauma (GBT) in juvenile chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss exposed to different levels of total dissolved gas (TDG), and we attempted to relate these signs to the likelihood of mortality. When fish were exposed to 110% TDG for up to 22 d, no fish died, and there were few signs of GBT in the lateral line or gills. Bubbles in the fins, however, were relatively common, and they progressively worsened over the experimental period. When fish were exposed to 120% TDG for up to 140 h, chinook salmon had an LT20 (time necessary to kill 20% of the fish) ranging from 40 to 120 h, whereas steelhead had LT20s ranging from 20 to 35 h. In steelhead, bubbles in the lateral line, fins, and gills displayed poor trends of worsening over time, showed substantial interindividual variability, and were poorly related to mortality. In chinook salmon, only bubbles in t...
Aerobic and Cometabolic MTBE Biodegradation at Novato and Port Hueneme

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline oxygenate additive, is present in groundwater aquifers at the Department of Defense Housing Facility, Novato, Calif. (Novato), and the Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, Calif. (Port Hueneme). A microcosm study was conducted to examine and compare the potential for and performance of aerobic, anaerobic, and aerobic cometabolic MTBE biodegradation processes using soils and groundwater collected from the Novato and Port Hueneme sites. Propane and butane were tested as the cometabolic growth substrates. Nitrogen requirements were tested by preparing microcosms with and without nitrate as a nitrogen source. The results of this study demonstrated the potential for aerobic MTBE biodegradation and mineralization at both sites. In the commingled, or upgradient, portion of the Novato plume, nitrate enhanced aerobic MTBE biodegradation; in the absence of nitrate or under anaerobic conditions, MTBE degradation was insignificant. Downgradient, where the groundwater was...
Historical consciousness and traditional Buddhist narratives

In this paper, I intend to explore some of the issues that come up when I tried to teach academically grounded, accurate, non-sectarian history of Buddhism at Buddhist dharma centers. First among these issues is that Western Buddhists can be quite fundamentalist in their approach to Buddhism and take many narratives literally. Chief among these, especially for Mahāyāna Buddhists, is the Heart Sūtra, which they believe was actually given by the historical Buddha during his lifetime because of the setting in which this narrative is placed. To explain why Mahāyāna teachings did not take hold for about four hundred years, they add the belief that the historical Buddha realized that people were not ready for those teachings, so he had them concealed among the nāgas, from where Nāgārjuna retrieved them. Historians obviously do not take this story seriously as history and seek for historical causes and conditions that led to the development of Mahāyāna ideas some four hundred years after the death of the Buddha. I will argue, first, that key Buddhist teachings, especially teachings on all-pervasive impermanence and on interdependent origination, can be used to verify historical accounts of the origins of Mahāyāna Buddhism. In other words, to accept the more sensible and reasonable account given by modern historians is not to abandon traditional Buddhist beliefs and teachings. It is rather to appeal to traditional Buddhist teachings that provide more adequate explanations of the origins of Mahāyāna Buddhism that the traditional mythic narrative. Second, I will discuss how the mythic account can be interpreted symbolically and will argue that symbols should not be considered as less important or real than facts. Only those who buy completely into the model of scientific materialism provided by the European enlightenment would not understand that in religions, symbols are as meaningful as facts.
External Influences on Business Cycle Synchronization in the Euro Area

Most studies of business cycle synchronization in the EMU identify a core set of counties with high synchronization and a periphery set of countries with low synchronization. Using a structural VAR with model uncertainty, we identify spillover effects from shocks that originate in the United States, the EMU, and the rest of the world to test whether external influences can explain the existence of the core and periphery. Most countries typically found in the core respond to external spillovers in similar ways, leading to more synchronized business cycles. The response to external influences in the countries traditionally found in the periphery, on the other hand, help explain their exclusion from the core.
The Office of Akhbār Nawīs: The Transition from Mughal to British Forms

The persistence and yet transformation of the office of akhbār nawīs (‘newswriter’) reflected fundamental aspects of the transition from the Mughal to the British Empires. The Mughals appointed akhbār nawīs to collect and transmit specific kinds of information. This office continued, albeit with new functions, through the decentralizing of political power that characterized eighteenth-century South Asia. The expansion fo hte English East India Company meant constant change in the essential nature of political relations, changes mirrored in this office. Indeed, the Company, and its political Residents, subordinated and redefined this office. Under the British Raj, the concept ‘akhbār nawīs’ stood transformed, like the nature of the information it conveyed.
Single-Molecule Analysis of Myocyte Differentiation Reveals Bimodal Lineage Commitment

Cell differentiation is the foundation for tissue development and regeneration, disease modeling, and cell-based therapies. Although the differentiation of cell populations has been extensively studied in many systems, much less is known about the distribution of decision making of single cells within these populations. To characterize the differentiation of single skeletal muscle cells, we used single-molecule mRNA fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH) to precisely quantify the expression levels of the master myogenic regulatory factors MyoD and myogenin in individual myoblasts. We identified distinct cell states characterized by the number of myogenin transcripts expressed by a cell, with myoblasts stochastically transitioning to a myogenin-high state during differentiation. We also used MyoD overexpression to force the transdifferentiation of C3H10T1/2 cells into an induced myoblast phenotype. These reprogrammed cells revealed the presence of a critical threshold of MyoD expression required to initiate myogenin expression. These results provide quantitative single-molecule data to support the model of switch-like cell decision making and lineage specification.
Polyomaviruses and Cancer

The polyomaviruses, particularly SV40 and murine polyomavirus, have provided us with extraordinary model systems and profound insights to the molecular basis of cancer. The early polyomavirus proteins, large and small T antigen, convergently target key tumor suppressor pathways involving pRB, p53, Hsc70, p300/CBP, and PP2A to elicit neoplastic transformation and tumor induction in animals. A number of additional cellular targets of large T antigen have been identified, but their exact significance in different cell contexts and for different viruses has not been clearly established yet. Eight human polyomaviruses have been identified to date (BKV, JCV, KIV, WUV, MCV, HPyV6, HPyV7, and TSV), six of them within the last 3 years because of novel techniques. These viruses appear to be characterized by widespread, lifelong, asymptomatic infections of the human population and only rarely, for example under immunosuppression, are they associated with disease. The recent studies of MCV for the first time strongly connect a polyomavirus causally with a human malignancy: MCV is clonally integrated in about 80% of the rare but aggressive skin cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma.
A kinematical interpretation of subsidiary conditions

A linear relativistic wave equation is presumed to describe a particle with arbitrary spin. For the free particle with spin >1 the Klein-Gordon equation is a consequence of imposing subsidiary conditions on the solution of the linear equation. We use the correspondence principle to obtain the implied constraint on a classical spinning particle. The constraint is shown to be kinematically equivalent to the projection of a restricted class of particle motions. Further, the inconsistencies arising from minimal electromagnetic coupling are shown to correspond to an overconstraint of the particle multipole structure.
On Dust Wave Instabilities in Collisional Magnetized Plasmas

The physics of dusty plasmas in high magnetic field is an area of current interest, spurred by the development of experiments in this area. Dust acoustic (or dust density) waves have been observed in many laboratory dusty plasmas where there is either no or weak magnetic field. These waves may be excited by the flow of ions relative to dust. The effects of high magnetic field on the excitation of dust waves have been considered in the theoretical literature, including instabilities driven by ions streaming either along or across the magnetic field. We review and extend prior theory work on such instabilities, exploring their behavior as the magnetization of the ions is varied, while the electrons are strongly magnetized and the dust is unmagnetized. It is shown that when the ions are magnetized, there can be structure in the unstable wavenumber spectrum under certain conditions. Application to possible experimental parameters is discussed.
Speed-contingent reinforcement

A description is provided of a pellet dispenser that automatically reinforces a rat on each trial with an amount of food that is directly proportional to the speed with which the rat has traversed a runway. Preliminary data indicate that Ss reinforced on such a speed-contingent basis run significantly faster and are less variable than yoked controls.
A one-two punch for pain control

Neuropathic pain is a debilitating pain condition caused by damage to the nervous system. Affecting 5 to 10% of the population, neuropathic pain is commonly associated with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and HIV. Conventional treatment includes antidepressants, calcium channel
Virologic Cure of Hepatitis C: Impact on Hepatic Fibrosis and Patient Outcomes

Treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents has revolutionized the approach to hepatitis C. We are now able to obtain high sustained virological response (SVR) rates, even in the historically difficult-to-treat patient populations. SVR translates into improved clinical outcomes, particularly overall and liver-related mortality, and benefits are more striking in patients with cirrhosis. A 2.5- to 5-fold risk reduction in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma and improvement in complications derived from portal hypertension have been reported as well. It is hypothesized that the benefits from SVR occur largely due to regression of fibrosis, which arises from the halt on the fibrogenic stimuli and activation of extracellular matrix reabsorption signals. Non-invasive markers of fibrosis are being utilized to assess regression, but it is still unclear how accurate they are in this clinical scenario. Interventions aiming to improve liver wellness and screening for cirrhosis-related complications should continue to be the norm after SVR.
Chance-Constrained Programming Based Distribution Network Reconfiguration Considering Multi-States of Distributed Generation and Load

Large-scale integration of distributed generation(DG) makes distribution network becoming active network, and due to the feature of output randomness of wind farm and photovoltaic(PV) generation traditional distribution network reconfiguration methods are not suitable for distribution network containing DG. Considering the randomness of natural resources and power load, according to probability density function the multi-state models for uncontrollable DG and load are established respectively, and then the multi-state model of distribution network is achieved. Taking switch states as optimization variable, the minimum network loss higher than confidence level as objective function and out-of-limit probability of nodal voltage and branch power, which meets the requirement of confidence level, as constraints, a chance-constrained programming based reconfiguration model for distribution network containing multi DGs is built. The structure of the distribution network is searched by the strategy of spanning tree, and the built model is solved by the improved ant colony algorithm. The validity of the proposed method and model for distribution network reconfiguration containing DGs is verified by simulation results of IEEE 33-bus system connecting with wind power generators.
New High-Frequency Core Loss Measurement Method With Partial Cancellation Concept

As an essential part in a power converter, the magnetic cores and their design play an important role in achieving high efficiency and high power density. Accurate measurement of the core loss is important to their optimization. To improve the measurement accuracy (especially at high frequencies), previous methods proposed to cancel the reactive voltage of the testing core by using a cancellation capacitor or inductor. However, the value of the cancellation component is critical, and a small variation can induce a big measurement error, so extra effort is required to fine-tune the cancellation component value, which is a very time-consuming process and makes the standardization of the measurement instrument almost impossible. This paper presents a new measurement method with a partial cancellation concept that enables accurate core loss measurement for arbitrary wave excitation without the requirement to fine-tune the cancellation component value. The proposed method is experimentally verified up to 10 MHz.
Stoffwechsel von Progesteron-4-C14 im Arrhenoblastom

Virilizing arrhenoblastoma obtained from a 20-year-old woman has been incubatedin vitro with progesterone-4-C14. Conversion to 17 α-hydroxy-progesterone, Δ4-androstene-3,17-dione, and at least two more polar substances has been demonstrated.
Direct Integration 3-D FDTD Method for Single-Species Cold Magnetized Plasma

Finite-difference equations for 3-D single-species cold magnetized plasma EM propagation are systematically generated using a new, algorithmic approach for generating finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) updates. This new approach is then generalized to handle systems with complex dispersion of arbitrarily high-order. It is shown how this results in the second-order accurate algorithms with numerical dispersion relations that can always be cast in the form of continuum dispersion counterparts via simple substitutions, avoiding laborious analysis. This allowed here the first reporting of a numerical Appleton–Hartree equation. The problem of field collocation is handled by the repetition of the Yee algorithm so that all field variables are defined at the corners of a new cubic computational cell. This cell offers new properties, such as full-vector control of the solution at each node. A new technique for deriving the stability condition is introduced to FDTD and shows that the new method has retained the same stability criterion of free-space propagation. Several simulation results are presented, one of which reveals a previously unreported problem, common to some gyrotropic methods—the tendency for spurious fields to arise at source locations. It is shown how this spuriousness, which has contaminated the results of a previous report, may be removed.
The Whispers of Cities: Information Flows in Istanbul, London, & Paris in the Age of William Trumbull. By John-Paul Ghobrial. (Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. 208. $99.00.)

The study of global connections is an area of increasing historical research. This coincides with an emerging revisionist account of the historical relationship between Europe and the Ottoman Empir...
Irrigating Forage Crops with Saline Waters: 2. Modeling Root Uptake and Drainage

The recycling of agricultural drainage water for irrigation is increasingly viewed as a desirable management practice in areas with limited options for drainage disposal. Modeling is potentially a cost-effective approach to examining design and management options for drainage reuse systems, but questions exist about the accuracy of simulated root water uptake in dynamic, highly saline conditions such as those encountered in reuse operations. This study compares HYDRUS-1D simulations of root water uptake and drainage with lysimeter data collected during an experiment in which forage crops (alfalfa [ Medicago sativa L.] and tall wheatgrass [ Agropyron elongatum (Host) P. Beauv.]) were irrigated with synthetic drainage waters. A trial-and-error fitting procedure was used to determine uptake reduction parameters for each crop. Good agreement between the model simulations and data was achieved, a noteworthy result given the broad range of experimental conditions considered: irrigation waters with salinities ranging from 2.5 to 28 dS m −1 and irrigation rates ranging from deficit to luxurious. The approximations required to derive uptake reduction parameters from published salt tolerance data are examined. Simulations are presented that attempt to account for the uncertainty in derived uptake reduction functions. Overall, we concluded that the general modeling approach captures many essential features of root water uptake under stressed conditions and it may be useful in designing and analyzing reuse operations.
Rehearsal-Independent Episodic Memory: Long-Term Forgetting

Research on age differences in episodic memory began to move in an exciting new direction following the distinction made by Hasher and Zacks (1979, 1984) between effortful- and automatic-encoding processes. We discovered in Chapter 6 (pp. 354–355) that automatic-encoding processes are presumably unaffected by an individual’s limited-cognitive resources. The usual position is that they function independently of working memory’s limited capacity (see Figure 6.27). According to Hasher and Zacks, “Automatic processes function at optimal levels, continuously and independently of intention…and these processes require only that the event be attended to…. The information encoded in this way is no different than it is when intention is activated” (1984, p. 1373). From this perspective, automatic forms of episodic memory should be rehearsal independent in the sense that rehearsal activity initiated by the intent to memorize should have little effect on subsequent memorability (Kausler & Lichty, 1988). By contrast, cognitively effortful forms of memory, as represented by traditional free-recall tasks, are rehearsal dependent. That is, memory performance is dependent on the quality and/or quantity of the rehearsal the to-be-remembered events receive. When translated to laboratory conditions, rehearsal independency means that memory performances should be no better under incidental- memory conditions than under intentional-memory conditions. The null effect for intentionality is, in fact, a primary criterion for determining whether or not memory for specific kinds of events is truly automatic. Hasher and Zacks (1979) reasoned that automaticity of encoding occurs for information that is essential for maintaining continuity with the everyday world. Presumably, automaticity is ensured either by being innately programmed in the human organism or by being the end product of years of frequent practice during childhood (Hasher & Zacks, 1979).
Cardinality of Upper Average and Its Application to Network Optimization

We propose a new characteristic for counting the number of large outcomes in a data set that are considered to be large with respect to some fixed threshold $x$. A popular characteristic used for t...
Defect-mediated photoluminescence up-conversion in cadmium sulfide nanobelts (Conference Presentation)

The concept of optical cooling of solids has existed for nearly 90 years ever since Pringsheim proposed a way to cool solids through the annihilation of phonons via phonon-assisted photoluminescence (PL) up-conversion. In this process, energy is removed from the solid by the emission of photons with energies larger than those of incident photons. However, actually realizing optical cooling requires exacting parameters from the condensed phase medium such as near unity external quantum efficiencies as well as existence of a low background absorption. Until recently, laser cooling has only been successfully realized in rare earth doped solids. In semiconductors, optical cooling has very recently been demonstrated in cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanobelts as well as in hybrid lead halide perovskites. For the former, large internal quantum efficiencies, sub-wavelength thicknesses, which decrease light trapping, and low background absorption, all make near unity external quantum yields possible. Net cooling by as much as 40 K has therefore been possible with CdS nanobelts. In this study, we describe a detailed investigation of the nature of efficient anti-Stokes photoluminescence (ASPL) in CdS nanobelts. Temperature-dependent PL up-conversion and optical absorption studies on individual NBs together with frequency-dependent up-converted PL intensity spectroscopies suggest that ASPL in CdS nanobelts is defect-mediated through involvement of defect levels below the band gap.
Community Commerce: Facilitating Trust in Mom-to-Mom Sale Groups on Facebook

Consumers are turning to Facebook Groups to buy and sell with strangers in their local communities. This trend is counter-intuitive given Facebook's lack of conventional e-commerce features, such as sophisticated search engines and reputation systems. We interviewed 18 members of two Mom-to-Mom Facebook sale groups. Despite a lack of commerce tools, members perceived sale groups as an easy-to-use way to quickly and conveniently buy and sell. Most important to members was that the groups felt safe and trustworthy. Drawing on these insights, we contribute a novel framing, community commerce, which explains the trust mechanisms that enable transactions between strangers in some groups. Community commerce fosters trust through (a) exclusive membership to a closed group, (b) regulation and sanctioning of behavior at the admin, member, and group level, and (c) a shared group identity or perceived similarity (though, surprisingly, not through social bonding). We discuss how community commerce affords unique and sometimes superior trust assurances and propose design implications for platforms hoping to foster trust between members who buy, sell, or share amongst themselves.
Evolution of Public Health Surveillance: Status and Recommendations.

An editorial is presented which addresses the author's views about the evolution of public health surveillance in America since the late 1990s, and it mentions the author's work on surveillance system development at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and as a consultant to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The American federal government's HSPD-10 directive on bioterrorism is examined, along with chronic diseases and advances in biotechnology.
Non-Linearity and Post-Bell Quantum Mechanics

Although increasingly successful in the laboratory, the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics [QM] is still marred by the notorious “measurement paradox”, a difficulty created by the postulation of a single universal “linear” mode of evolution for the quantum state1. In order to avoid paradox, the realist is increasingly compelled to reject the notion of a universal, “linear” law of evolution for the whole of QM2; yet, can one do this in a convincing way? The situation is admittedly complex and, it has bcen competently argued, thick with philosophical prejudice3.
TSVCIS performance analysis over bent-pipe relays with automatic gain control

This paper presents a performance analysis of modern voice and FM plaintext voice with squelch over the automatic gain control (AGC) method developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and implemented on the NRL Surrogate TACSAT communications relay payload. The AGC enabled relaying U.S. Military VHF voice and data communications beyond line of sight (BLOS) without exceeding our RF combiners input power limits. It was found to perform as desired with transmitters at a range of 27 miles (43.4523 kilometers) with a tethered balloon borne relay payload at a height of 600 feet (182.88 meters). Additionally, the performance analysis shows that (1) several Tactical Secure Voice Cryptographic Interoperability Specification (TSVCIS) modes found in modern tactical voice will operate without errors through a bent-pipe relay with automatic gain control and (2) pseudo noise (PN) code sequences can be detected as long as the correlation threshold is set low enough to allow for the bit errors that occur during an AGC update.
Biochar and mill ash improve yields of sugarcane on a sand soil in Florida

Abstract The addition of organic residues to sand soils can improve soil properties and sugarcane productivity. However, biochar use can have variable effects on crops, and few studies have evaluated the effect of mill ash applications on sand soils. This study aimed to determine the effect of mill ash, and three biochars on yields of sugarcane grown on sand soils of South Florida near the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Nine treatments and a control were evaluated. Treatments consisted of mill ash (AS) and biochars produced from hardwood yard waste (HY), horse barn shavings (HM), and rice hulls (RH) incorporated at 1% and 2% (by weight) prior to the plant-cane crop of a lysimeter experiment that extended for two crop cycles. A standard practice treatment of mill ash applied at 6% was also included. Results show that mill ash applied at 6% and 2% (AS6 and AS2), and rice hulls biochar applied at 2% (RH2) produced significantly greater biomass and sucrose yields compared with the control in the plant-cane and the first-ratoon crops. Soil silicon concentrations increased with AS and RH in the plant-cane crop, which may have contributed to improved yields. Treatments AS6 and RH2 may have also increased sugarcane yields through improved soil properties. Our results show that mill ash and rice hulls biochar amendments can potentially improve sugarcane yields on sand soils near the EAA.
Seeing Is Believing … Or Is it? The Effect of Product Review Modality and Valence: An Abstract

Imagine you are shopping online for certain products and you search the Internet for online reviews. However, these reviews come in different forms, video and/or text, and different degrees of valence, positive and negative. You find yourself confused and not sure which reviews you should believe. You are not certain which reviews are more credible and useful and which one you should believe. To answer this question, we examine how consumers respond to online reviews that come in different formats and valence.
Male Reproductive Functions Disrupted by Pharmacological Agents.

In this chapter, we review the male reproductive functions disrupted by medications. Medications can affect the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonad axis, acting as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Disturbances may be directly at androgen receptors, modifying the activity of endogenous androgens at the target tissue, or may disrupt feedback loops at the hypothalamus or pituitary resulting in modification of gonadotropin release. Impaired testosterone production and/or spermatogenesis result. Other EDC activities can be indirect via effects on levels of prolactin (PRL), estrogen, cortisol, thyroid hormone, or sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Appropriate regulation of these hormones and SHBG are essential for normal reproductive function. An increase in circulating PRL levels is a common adverse medication effect. The consequence is lower gonadotropin and testosterone secretion. Drugs can also have direct toxicity on the seminiferous tubule epithelium, including effects on Leydig cells, Sertoli cells, or germ cells. In some cases, spermatogenesis is severely impaired. After leaving the testis, sperm spend a week or more in the epididymis. It is clear from the timing of some drug effects that sperm are damaged during epididymal transit. There can also be impairment of the ejaculatory reflex, resulting in alterations of emission or expulsion of semen. Even after ejaculation, exposure to seminal plasma can alter sperm function, and some drugs may affect sperm at this stage. The most critical effects on male reproduction are decreased fertility and/or health effects on offspring. These endpoints have received little research attention. Another consideration is the metabolism of drugs. Medications may become more toxic if metabolic systems are suboptimal due to comorbid conditions.
Young Adult Outcomes for Children With 22q11 Deletion Syndrome and Comorbid ADHD.

Background 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is a common microdeletion syndrome associated with a variety of negative health, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. 22q11DS is comorbid with many psychiatric disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current study aimed to investigate the cognitive, behavioral, and functional outcomes that a childhood ADHD diagnosis predicts to in adulthood. Methods This longitudinal study followed 52 individuals with 22q11DS over 9 years. Childhood ADHD was operationalized both categorically (Diagnostic and statistical manual - 4th edition (DSM-IV) ADHD diagnoses) and dimensionally (inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms) and was tested as predictors of young adult outcomes. Results As young adults, children with 22q11DS + baseline ADHD had more parent-reported executive dysfunction and lower levels of clinician-rated overall functioning than those with 22q11DS yet without ADHD. Dimensional symptoms of ADHD in childhood did not predict young adult outcomes. No self-report differences emerged between those with and without baseline ADHD. The majority (82.4%) of individuals with 22q11DS + baseline ADHD were never treated with an ADHD medication. Conclusions A categorical diagnosis of ADHD in childhood predicted a greater variety of worse outcomes than dimensional levels of ADHD symptoms. Despite the significant impact of comorbid ADHD in 22q11DS, evidence-based treatment rates were low.
Predictors of youth e-cigarette use susceptibility in a U.S. nationally representative sample

Abstract Objectives Given that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances and that adolescents who are exposed to nicotine via e-cigarettes can progress to conventional cigarette smoking, there is a need to identify youth who are susceptible to e-cigarette use and prevent them from initiating e-cigarette use. Susceptibility to e-cigarette use, defined as the absence of a firm decision not to use e-cigarettes, is a useful concept that can be used to predict e-cigarette initiation and identify youth who have high risk of initiating e-cigarettes. This study was conducted to investigate factors that affect youth susceptibility to e-cigarette use. Methods Youth who have never smoked conventional cigarettes and who had seen or heard of e-cigarettes but never used them (N = 9853) were drawn from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study Wave 1 youth dataset collected from 2013 to 2014. Data were analyzed using logistic regression to investigate intrapersonal and environmental determinants of youth susceptibility to e-cigarette use. Results Overall, 24.2% (n = 2410) of youth who have never used e-cigarettes were susceptible to e-cigarette use. Psychological problems and rebelliousness were associated with increased susceptibility. Ever use of alcohol, marijuana, and other substances and household secondhand smoke exposure were found to be risk factors. Perceptions of e-cigarettes as addictive and harmful worked as protective factors. Conclusions The results revealed determinants of e-cigarette use susceptibility. Multi-level intervention approach is needed to prevent youth from being susceptible to e-cigarette initiation.
Junk-food enhances conditioned food cup approach to a previously established food cue, but does not alter cue potentiated feeding; implications for the effects of palatable diets on incentive motivation

Efforts to stem the global rise in obesity have been minimally effective, perhaps in part because our understanding of the psychological and behavioral drivers of obesity is limited. It is well established that stimuli that are paired with palatable foods can powerfully influence food-seeking and feeding behaviors. However, how consumption of sugary, fatty "junk-foods" affects these motivational responses to food cues is poorly understood. Here, we determined the effects of short- and long-term "junk-food" consumption on the expression of cue potentiated feeding and conditioned food cup approach to Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (CS). Further, to determine the degree to which effects of "junk-food" were selective to Pavlovian motivational processes, we varied the predictive validity of the CS by including training groups conditioned with unique CS-US contingencies ranging from -1.0 to +1.0. "Junk-food" did not enhance cue potentiated feeding in any group, but expression of this potentiation effect varied with the CS-US contingency independent of diet. In contrast, "junk-food" consistently enhanced conditioned approach to the food cup; this effect was dependent on the previously established CS-US contingency. That is, consumption of "junk-food" following training enhanced approach to the food cup only in response to CSs with previously positive CS-US contingencies. This was accompanied by reduced motivation for the US itself. Together these data show that "junk-food" consumption selectively enhances incentive motivational responses to previously established food CSs, without altering cue potentiated feeding induced by these same CSs, and in the absence of enhanced motivation for food itself.
Investigating the origins of STEM intervention programs: an isomorphic analysis

ABSTRACTIn recent decades, efforts to diversify Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields have relied on a variety of recruitment and retention programs designed to improve ac...
Exploring Clinical Ethics' Past to Imagine Its Possible Future(s).

“And he told me, ‘You need to start yourself a consultation service!’and I said, like a bright young philosopher, ‘What's that?’”—Richard M. Zaner (Bartlett et al. 2016a)How we read White and colle...
Assessment Strategies for Substance Use Disorders

The assessment of substance use disorders is a process of acquiring and synthesizing information on the impact of psychoactive substance use on the lives of consumers of human services. The process of assessment involves developing a productive therapeutic alliance with consumers in order to engage them in treatment and to develop an understanding of the role substances play in a person’s life across multiple psychosocial domains. Assessment must also include the development of an understanding of how consumers conceptualize their own substance use and their readiness to change substance use behaviors. Information gathered from the assessment is then synthesized into a collaborative plan of action designed to meet the short- and long-term goals as identified by the consumer. This chapter includes an overview of how co-occurring substance use disorders and serious mental illness impact the assessment process and outlines the five common components of a substance use assessment: screening, diagnosis, psychosocial assessment, functional analysis, and assessing readiness for change. The development of stage appropriate treatment plans based on assessment information using an illustrative case study is also provided.
Effects of brain stimulation on declarative and procedural memories.

Memories are acquired (encoding), maintained (storage), and later retrieved (retrieval). Long-term memory can be divided into two main types: declarative (explicit) memory and procedural (implicit) memory. Declarative memory also has two major subdivisions: episodic memory and semantic memory. There is evidence that transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) is a powerful tool to evaluate the causal role of cortical regions and to modulate memory function. The aim of this chapter is to critically review studies that showed enhancement of declarative and procedural memories by means of tES in healthy humans, an issue of critical importance for possible applications of tES in the clinical arena.
Sarcoidosis and the nervous system.

Neurologic involvement is an infrequent yet significant manifestation of systemic sarcoidosis. Diagnosis is often based on an appropriate clinical picture with evidence of granulomas found in other organ systems. Any portion of the nervous system may be involved, but there is a characteristic predilection for certain areas. The prognosis of neurosarcoidosis is related both to the site of involvement and manner of presentation. Presentations associated with acute systemic sarcoidosis and cranial nerve lesions tend to have a better prognosis, with frequent spontaneous resolution and good response to corticosteroids. Central nervous system parenchymal involvement tends to be chronic with a poorer prognosis.
De-Immunizing Convicted Judges: A Proposed Amendment to the Civil RICO Statute, Title 18 Section 1964

In numerous cases following Randall v. Brigham in 1868 and Bradley v. Fisher in 1871, the United States Supreme Court has granted judges broad absolute immunity for all acts they have taken within their jurisdiction. The breadth of absolute judicial immunity is justified by numerous public policies. The policy arguments supporting judicial immunity are so strong that there are only two recognized exceptions to the doctrine.Two cases pending before the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, however, demonstrate the need for Congress to act to provide a third exception. The conspiracy at the center of these criminal and civil cases is alleged to be the largest instance of judicial corruption in American history. This Note argues that the policy justifications behind absolute judicial immunity do not apply to racketeering acts a judge performs within his or her jurisdiction as part of his or her judicial function.The Note proposes that Congress amend the Civil RICO statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1964, to establish a third exception to judicial immunity. The Note includes the text of the amendment it proposes and argues that if Congress would enact the amendment before the conclusion of the civil case now pending in Pennsylvania, and if Congress would make clear its intent for the amendment to have retroactive effect, the amendment, when triggered, would remove immunity protection from the judges’ non-administrative acts.
Expression of RNA Binding Proteins DND1 and FXR1 in the Porcine Uterus during the Estrous Cycle and Early Pregnancy

Pig uterine endometrium undergoes significant transcriptional and translational reorganization during the course of the estrous cycle and during early pregnancy establishment. The expression of two RNA binding proteins, DND1 and FXR1, was analyzed from samples of endometrial tissue taken on different days of either the estrous cycle or gestation. Expression of FXR1 is significantly affected by day of estrous cycle, while DND1 expression is not. Using immunohistochemistry DND1 protein expression was demonstrated to occur primarily in luminal epithelial cells of the uterine endometrium.
Brain Slice Techniques in Neurotoxicology

Publisher Summary This chapter explores the various applications of brain slice methods in neurotoxicology. Brain slice methods are excellent tools for studying neurotoxicant effects from a variety of perspectives and at a variety of levels of analysis. Brain slices, and the effects of potential toxicants on slices, can be studied using a variety of methods from electrophysiological and biochemical to anatomical. Slice methods are appropriate both for rapidly screening for potential toxic effects and for exploring mechanisms of action. The analytical power of the slice allows the same hippocampal preparation to be used to investigate the mechanisms of action in considerable depth and detail. The ability to use the same preparation for both screening and analysis can potentially increase the power and efficiency of the search for toxicant action. This chapter describes the methodology employed for maintaining slices of CNS tissue in vitro using the hippocampal slice preparation as a representative example. The chapter also introduces common electrophysiological approaches for studying the hippocampal slice and deals with the potential role of brain slice preparations as analytical and screening tools for neurotoxicology.
Postscript: Towards a Universal Brain/Behavior Omnibus in the Neuropsychology of African Children

Our principal thesis is as follows: cross-cultural neuropsychology, brain imaging, and genomic technologies together can elucidate a brain/behavior omnibus foundational to human neuroplasticity across the life span. The integration of these approaches can provide a powerful new paradigm in understanding the relationship between the developing brain, culture, and cognitive ability. Such a paradigm can help us better understand how, across the life span, ecological necessity sculpts culturally specific cognitive ability profiles, doing so upon a universal brain/behavior omnibus (Boivin and Giordani 2009). The neuropsychological study of risk and resilience in African children provides a rich and powerful vantage point for exploring this process.
The utility of early cross-sectional imaging to evaluate suspected acute mild pancreatitis

Background There are roughly 300,000 hospitalizations for acute pancreatitis annually in the United States. Many of the affected patients at our institution undergo computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unnecessarily early during their admissions. We hypothesize that cross-sectional imaging within 48 h of admission in patients meeting the criteria for acute, mild pancreatitis is over-utilized and does not change management. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with a discharge diagnosis of acute pancreatitis from our tertiary care institution from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2015. Inclusion criteria were a lipase more than three times the upper limit of normal and clinical suspicion of pancreatitis. Exclusion criteria were an etiology of pancreatitis following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, recurrent or chronic pancreatitis, severe pancreatitis, and ultrasound findings being the reason for imaging. Results Of the 166 patients who met the criteria for analysis, 105 (63.3%) underwent cross-sectional imaging within 48 h of presentation (CT: 104, MRI: 1). Of the examined CTs, 27 (26.0%) showed no abnormality and 55 (52.9%) revealed uncomplicated pancreatitis. The remaining 22 (21.2%) demonstrated at least one of the following: local complications, biliary ductal dilatation or other findings. On thorough chart review, only two patients received a beneficial change in management as a result of the early imaging. Conclusions This analysis supports current guidelines that early cross-sectional abdominal imaging (CT or MRI) in patients with suspected acute mild pancreatitis does not alter medical management. Early imaging may lead to unnecessary resource use and patient irradiation.