cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical adequacy assessment of autocontours for prostate IMRT with meaningful endpoints.

Purpose To determine if radiation treatment plans created based on autosegmented (AS) regions-of-interest (ROI)s are clinically equivalent to plans created based on manually segmented ROIs, where equivalence is evaluated using probabilistic dosimetric metrics and probabilistic biological endpoints for prostate IMRT. Method and materials Manually drawn contours and autosegmented ROIs were created for 167 CT image sets acquired from 19 prostate patients. Autosegmentation was performed utilizing Pinnacle's Smart Probabilistic Image Contouring Engine. For each CT set, 78 Gy/39 fraction 7-beam IMRT treatment plans with 1 cm CTV-to-PTV margins were created for each of the three contour scenarios; PMD using manually delineated (MD) ROIs, PAS using autosegmented ROIs, and PAM using autosegmented organ-at-risks (OAR)s and the manually drawn target. For each plan, 1000 virtual treatment simulations with different systematic errors for each simulation and a different random error for each fraction were performed. The statistical probability of achieving dose–volume metrics (coverage probability (CP)), expectation values for normal tissue complication probability (NTCP), and tumor control probability (TCP) metrics for all possible cross-evaluation pairs of ROI types and planning scenarios were reported. In evaluation scenarios, the root mean square loss (RMSL) and maximum absolute loss (MAL) of coverage probability of dose–volume objectives, E[TCP], and E[NTCP] were compared with respect to the base plan created and evaluated with manually drawn contours. Results Femoral head dose objectives were satisfied in all situations, as well as the maximum dose objectives for all ROIs. Bladder metrics were within the clinical coverage tolerances except D35Gy for the autosegmented plan evaluated with the manual contours. Dosimetric indices for CTV and rectum could be highly compromised when the definition of the ROIs switched from manually delineated to autosegmented. Seventy-two percent of CT image sets satisfied the worst-case CP thresholds for all dosimetric objectives in all scenarios, the percentage dropped to 50% if biological indices were taken into account. Among evaluation scenarios, (MD,PAM) bore the highest resemblance to (MD,PMD) where 99% and 88% of cases met all CP thresholds for bladder and rectum, respectively. Conclusions When including daily setup variations in prostate IMRT, the dose–volume metric CP, and biological indices of ROIs were approximately equivalent for the plans created based on manually drawn targets and autosegmented OARs in 88% of cases. The accuracy of autosegmented prostates and rectums are impediment to attain statistically equivalent plans created based on manually drawn ROIs.
Solution Conformations and Dynamics of Substrate-Bound Cytochrome P450 MycG.

MycG is a P450 monooxygenase that catalyzes the sequential hydroxylation and epoxidation of mycinamicin IV (M-IV), the last two steps in the biosynthesis of mycinamicin II, a macrolide antibiotic isolated from Micromonospora griseorubida. The crystal structure of MycG with M-IV bound was previously determined but showed the bound substrate in an orientation that did not rationalize the observed regiochemistry of M-IV hydroxylation. Nuclear magnetic resonance paramagnetic relaxation enhancements provided evidence of an orientation of M-IV in the MycG active site more compatible with the observed chemistry, but substrate-induced changes in the enzyme structure were not characterized. We now describe the use of amide 1H–15N residual dipolar couplings as experimental restraints in solvated “soft annealing” molecular dynamics simulations to generate solution structural ensembles of M-IV-bound MycG. Chemical shift perturbations, hydrogen–deuterium exchange, and 15N relaxation behavior provide insight into the d...
Sperm DNA fragmentation testing: ready for prime time?

The authors present fair evidence indicating that sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) testing is a useful diagnostic tool in male fertility evaluation.
Experimentally quantifying critical stresses associated with basal slip and twinning in magnesium using micropillars

Abstract Basal slip and { 01 1 ¯ 2 } twinning are two major plastic deformation mechanisms in hexagonal closed-packed magnesium. Here we quantify the critical stresses associated with basal slip and twinning in single-crystal and bi-crystal magnesium samples by performing in situ compression of micropillars with different diameters in a scanning electron microscope. The micropillars are designed to favor either slip or twinning under uniaxial compression. Compression tests imply a negligible size effect related to basal slip and twinning as pillar diameter is greater than 10 μm. The critical resolved shear stresses are deduced to be 29 MPa for twinning and 6 MPa for basal slip from a series of micropillar compression tests. Employing full-field elasto-visco-plastic simulations, we further interpret the experimental observations in terms of the local stress distribution associated with multiple twinning, twin nucleation, and twin growth. Our simulation results suggest that the twinning features being studied should not be close to the top surface of the micropillar because of local stress perturbations induced by the hard indenter.
Improvements in Standardized Testing for Evaluating Sediment Barrier Performance: Design of a Full-Scale Testing Apparatus

AbstractPerimeter controls [i.e., sediment barriers (SBs) or sediment retention devices] are typically used on construction sites to retain sediment and prevent polluted stormwater runoff from adve...
Cognitive all-optical fiber network architecture

The optical network of the future will have ~3 orders of magnitude increase in data rates, mostly due to large transactions. These elephant flows need fast scheduling of network resources and agile network adaptations for congestion control, load balancing and reconfiguration to cope with huge traffic transients and reconstitution for network resilience. This paper move beyond SDN as well as “orchestration,” to involve all layers particularly the optical Physical and Control layers for fast (∼100ms) and efficient adaptation using cognitive techniques.
SPINAL AND PERIPHERAL DRY NEEDLING VERSUS PERIPHERAL DRY NEEDLING ALONE AMONG INDIVIDUALS WITH A HISTORY OF LATERAL ANKLE SPRAIN: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL.

Background In addition to established interventions, dry needling may reduce impairments leading to greater functional abilities for individuals following ankle sprain. Hypothesis/purpose The purpose of this study was to compare effects of spinal and peripheral dry needling (DN) with peripheral DN alone on impairments and functional performance among individuals with a history of lateral ankle sprain. Study design Randomized controlled trial. Methods Twenty individuals with a history of lateral ankle sprain (18 bilateral, 2 unilateral) participated in this study (4 males, 16 females; mean age 28.9 + /- 9.2 years). During the first of two sessions, participants completed the Foot and Ankle Disability Index (FADI) and the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) and their strength, unilateral balance, and unilateral hop test performance was assessed. Participants were randomly assigned to a spinal and peripheral DN group (SPDN), or a peripheral only DN group (PDN). Participants in the SPDN site group received DN to bilateral L5 multifidi and fibularis longus and brevis muscles on the involved lower extremity. Participants in the PDN group received DN to the fibularis muscles alone. Participants' strength, balance and hop test performance were reassessed immediately following the intervention, and at follow-up 6-7 days later, all outcome measures were reassessed. Three-way mixed model ANOVAs and Mann-Whitney U tests assessed between group differences for outcome variables with normal distributions and non-normal distributions, respectively. Results ANOVAs showed significant group by time interaction (p 0.05) for the side hop test or FADI. Conclusion The results suggest that DN of the multifidi in addition to fibularis muscles does not result in improvements in strength, unilateral balance or unilateral hop test performance, compared to DN the fibularis muscles alone among individuals with a history of ankle sprain.
Model-Assisted Approach for Probability of Detection (POD) in High-Temperature Ultrasonic NDE Using Low-Temperature Signals

AbstractAdvanced piezoelectric-based ultrasonic transducers offer the potential for in-coolant nondestructive testing (NDT) measurements at high temperatures (HTs), including during hot standby (~260°C) for liquid-sodium–cooled advanced small modular reactors. The reliability of the NDT measurements is typically quantified by the probability of detection (POD) measured at the corresponding temperature. Obtaining such data in liquid sodium is challenging. Using a model-assisted POD approach, a transfer function is reported that enables data obtained on low carbon steel specimens at room temperature to give an estimated POD at an HT. A primary source of the difference in POD between room temperature and HT is due to the transducer material temperature-dependent performance. This paper demonstrates the transfer function approach using data for modified lead zirconium titanate (PZT-5A). A physics-based model was developed using a finite element method and used to quantify reduction in the scattering amplitude...
Kanter’s Theory of Proportions: Organizational Demography and PhD Completion in Science and Engineering Departments

Increasing the size and diversity of the scientific and technological workforce is a national priority. Investments in policy and programmatic efforts toward increasing the representation of women in science and engineering fields have resulted in significant advances; however, a gender gap remains among PhDs and faculty in these fields. This study tests whether Kanter’s (Men and women of the corporation, Basic Books, New York, 1977) theory of proportions, which suggests that numerical representation of groups influence group dynamics and cultural context, applies to the proportion of female faculty and the probability that female doctoral students will complete their degrees in science and engineering. Using data from two research-intensive academic institutions, results show that female doctoral students are more likely to complete the degree in departments with higher proportions of female faculty. Further, female PhD students working with female faculty dissertation advisors are also more likely to complete the degree than female PhD students working with male faculty dissertation advisors. Departmental faculty sex ratios and whether their faculty advisor is male or female, however, have no effect on the completion probabilities of male PhD students. Consistent with Kanter’s theory, research findings illustrate the importance of organizational demography on the academic outcomes of PhD students, and provide support for initiatives and programs aimed at increasing the representation of female faculty in science and engineering.
Facilitating an Eclectic Use of Practice Theory

To link social work skills to an eclectic use of intervention theories, the generic assessment was translated into the language of role theory, and a problem typology based on the theory was develo...
Chemistry of human erythrocyte polylactosamine glycopeptides (erythroglycans) as related to ABH blood group antigenic determinants.

Twenty-four years after the first discovery in 1900 of the blood group antigens on erythrocytes by Landsteiner and others (1–3) several researchers successfully extracted small amounts of ABH substances from red cell membranes using 95% ethanol (4–7) as an elutrient. These findings that ethanol could extract some ABH substance were confirmed by others in subsequent years leading to the idea that lipids carried the ABH antigens on erythrocytes. The main proponents of this idea were Masamune and his students Hirata, Tokura, and Satoh (8–10) in the 1950’s. Yamakawa, a pioneer in this area, also isolated at the same time a “globoside” fraction containing ABH activity from erythrocyte stroma using methanol-ether (11, 12). Modern knowledge suggests that these substances were probably the shorter, 5–20 sugar lactosaminyl ceramides having terminal ABH groups. Masamune’s student, Hakomori, has performed the most careful and detailed work on the latter class of lipids and has developed methods for their purification and characterization (13).
Effects of high- and low-intensity fires on soil properties and plant growth in a Bolivian dry forest

We compared soil nutrient availability and soil physical properties among four treatments (high-intensity fire, low-intensity fire, plant removal, and harvesting gap) and a control (intact forest understory) over a period of 18 months in a tropical dry forest in Bolivia. The effect of treatments on plant growth was tested using a shade intolerant tree species (Anadenanthera colubrina Vell. Conc.) as a bioassay. Surface soils in high-intensity fire treatments had significantly greater pH values, concentrations of extractable calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and phosphorus (P), and amounts of resin-available P and nitrogen (N) than other treatments; however, a loss of soil organic matter during high-intensity fires likely resulted in increased bulk density and strength, and decreased water infiltration rates. Low intensity fires also significantly increased soil pH, concentrations of extractable Ca, K, Mg, and P, and amounts of resin-available P and N, although to a lesser degree than high-intensity fires. Low-intensity fires did not lower soil organic matter contents or alter soil physical properties. Plant removal and harvesting gap treatments had little effect on soil chemical and physical properties. Despite the potentially negative effects of degraded soil structure on plant growth, growth of A. colubrina seedlings were greater following high-intensity fires. Evidently, the increase in nutrient availability caused by high-intensity fires was not offset by degraded soil structure in its effects on seedling growth. Long-term effects of high intensity fires require further research.
Inconsistency of Magnetic Monopole

It is simply proved that the Hamiltonian for an electric point charge interacting with a fixed magnetic monopole does not exist. This shows that the concept of magnetic monopole is inconsistent within the theory of electrodynamics.
(Re)defining disability culture: Perspectives from the Americans with Disabilities Act generation:

The present study examined the views of students with varying physical disabilities on disability culture in a post-Americans with Disability Act society. Qualitative, participatory research method...
Chapter 12 – Putting Together the Pieces: Reconstructing Mortuary Practices from Commingled Ossuary Cremains

This chapter provides the results of an analysis of commingled cremated remains from a prehistoric ossuary to elucidate the mortuary practices at the site. Several studies of mortuary practices involving cremated remains have focused on distinguishing between fleshed, green and dry cremated bones by analysing colouration and patterns of burning and fragmentation. This chapter draws on the earlier works but adds an additional dimension to the analysis: the spatial patterning of burned bone fragments. The burials appear to have been surface interments in crevices and caves formed beneath and between the fallen rocks. When first discovered, the burials were assumed to be late prehistoric or protohistoric in age, based on the current understanding of mortuary practices in this region. The role of cremation in the broader realm of mortuary practices needs to be elucidated. Burned human remains are an unusual occurrence in prehistoric midden sites on the Northwest Coast (although occasional examples have been reported from at least eight sites in the region) but become increasingly common in the late prehistoric period, particularly in association with large earthen burial mounds/cairns. In most cases, whether ancient or protohistoric, the burned bones have not been subjected to careful analysis, so it is difficult to determine not only the demographic characteristics of the cremated individuals but also the context (deliberate or incidental to other activities), nature (fleshed, green or dry bone) and extent of burning.
Oxidized neutral lipid lipolysis regulates insulin signaling during acute stress

Acute hyperglycemia and systemic insulin resistance (IR) often develop after injury or surgery. This stress response, appropriately known as critical illness diabetes, leads to increased post-operative complications and mortality. Insulin administration reduces this hyperglycemia in some patients but has a risk of dangerous hypoglycemia. The underlying mechanisms driving IR are unknown, which limits the development of alternative therapies and emphasizes the need to elucidate the pathophysiology. It is, however, known that surgical animal models rapidly develop adipose IR, and impaired insulin action in adipose alone can result in whole-body IR. Therefore, we focused on how adipose contributes to stress-induced IR. We have previously demonstrated using a mouse model of surgery that the development of IR and hyperglycemia are dependent on adipose lipolysis. Furthermore, β-adrenergic stimulation of adipocytes causes inhibition and dissociation of mTORC1 and mTORC2, key steps in the insulin cascade, in a lipolysis-dependent manner. Therefore, we hypothesized that a product of adipose lipolysis was responsible for the development of IR. We found that lipid extracts isolated from forskolin-stimulated 3T3-L1 adipocytes inhibited the activity of mTORC in vitro, however “traditional” lipolytic products (DAG, MAG, fatty acids) had no effect. Interestingly, stimulating peroxidation of fatty acids further exacerbated mTORC inhibition, while antioxidants reversed this effect. This suggests that the active species is an oxidized fatty acid. In fact, incubation of mTORC with in vitro auto-oxidized fatty acids is sufficient to inhibit kinase activity. Therefore, we propose that lipolysis breaks down oxidized TAGs into oxidized fatty acids, which cause mTORC dissociation and attenuation of insulin signaling during the stress response. Our work will elucidate a novel role for oxidized TAGs and their lipolytic products in the regulation of insulin signaling. Defining the mechanism by which catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis attenuates insulin signaling will provide novel therapeutic targets for improved post-operative glucose homeostasis.
Mitochondrial membrane potential and delayed graft function following kidney transplantation.

Delayed graft function (DGF) complicates 20%-40% of deceased-donor kidney transplants and is associated with increased length of stay and subsequent allograft failure. Accurate prediction of DGF risk for a particular allograft could influence organ allocation, patient counseling, and postoperative planning. Mitochondrial dysfunction, a reported surrogate of tissue health in ischemia-perfusion injury, might also be a surrogate for tissue health after organ transplantation. To understand the potential of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in clinical decision-making, we analyzed whether lower MMP, a measure of mitochondrial dysfunction, was associated with DGF. In a prospective, single-center proof-of-concept study, we measured pretransplant MMP in 28 deceased donor kidneys and analyzed the association between MMP and DGF. We used hybrid registry-augmented regression to adjust for donor and recipient characteristics, minimizing overfitting by leveraging Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data. The range of MMP levels was 964-28 333 units. Low-MMP kidneys (MMP<4000) were more likely from female donors (75% vs 10%, P = .002) and donation after cardiac death donors (75% vs 12%, P = .004). For every 10% decrease in MMP levels, there were 38% higher odds of DGF (adjusted odds ratio = 1.08 1.381.78 , P = .01). In summary, MMP might be a promising pretransplant surrogate for tissue health in kidney transplantation and, after further validation, could improve clinical decision-making through its independent association with DGF.
Association of Endothelin-1 With Accelerated Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy and Late Mortality Following Heart Transplantation.

ABSTRACT Background Endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been implicated in the development of post–heart transplantation (HT) cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), but has not been well studied in humans. Methods and Results In 90 HT patients, plasma ET-1 was measured within 8 weeks after HT (baseline) via a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Three-dimensional volumetric intravascular ultrasound of the left anterior descending artery was performed at baseline and at 1 year. Accelerated CAV (lumen volume loss) was defined with the 75th percentile as a cutoff. Patients were followed beyond the first year after HT for late death or retransplantation. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve demonstrated that a baseline ET-1 concentration of 1.75 pg/mL provided the best accuracy for diagnosis of accelerated CAV at 1 year (area under the ROC curve 0.69, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57–0.82; P = .007). In multivariate logistic regression, a higher baseline ET-1 concentration was independently associated with accelerated CAV (odds ratio [OR] 2.13, 95% CI 1.15–3.94; P = .01); this relationship persisted when ET-1 was dichotomized at 1.75 pg/mL (OR 4.88, 95% CI 1.69–14.10; P = .003). Eighteen deaths occurred during a median follow-up period of 3.99 (interquartile range 2.51–9.95) years. Treated as a continuous variable, baseline ET-1 was not associated with late mortality in multivariate Cox regression (hazard ratio [HR] 1.22, 95% CI 0.72–2.05; P = .44). However, ET-1 >1.75 pg/mL conferred a significantly lower cumulative event-free survival on Kaplan-Meier analysis (P = .047) and was independently associated with late mortality (HR 2.94, 95% CI 1.12–7.72; P = .02). Conclusions Elevated ET-1 early after HT is an independent predictor of accelerated CAV and late mortality, suggesting that ET-1 has durable prognostic value in the HT arena.
Sticky ethics: Environmental activism and the limits of ethical freedom in Kerala, India:

Environmental activists in Kerala, India often contest the boundaries between the ethical and the non-ethical, flouting widely-accepted norms while ethicalizing usually trivial aspects of everyday ...
Ensemble Classification Method for Imbalanced Data Using Deep Learning

Nowadays various types of devices provide abundant data, and many businesses want to pinpoint what they are interested in from the data such as target marketing, fraud transaction detection. However, current classification algorithms in data mining show a poor performance when classifying imbalanced data.
Medial gastrocnemius muscle remodeling correlates with reduced plantarflexor kinetics 14 weeks following Achilles tendon rupture

In our study, we found that when the Achilles tendon ruptures due to excessive biomechanical loading, the neighboring skeletal muscle undergoes rapid changes in its configuration. The magnitude of ...
Home is where the heart is: Latinx youth expression and identity in a critical maker project

Making has been touted for its potential to democratize STEM yet could be replicating issues of limited participation of persons from educationally underserved populations. This version of making c...
Interactions between Amyloid-Β Proteins and Human Brain Pericytes: Implications for the Pathobiology of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the most common cause of dementia, especially among aging populations. Despite advances in AD research, the underlying cause and the discovery of disease-modifying treatments have remained elusive. Two key features of AD pathology are the aberrant deposition of amyloid beta (amyloid-β or Aβ) proteins in the brain parenchyma and Aβ toxicity in brain pericytes of the neurovascular unit/blood-brain barrier (NVU/BBB). This toxicity induces oxidative stress in pericytes and leads to capillary constriction. The interaction between pericytes and Aβ proteins results in the release of endothelin-1 in the pericytes. Endothelin-1 interacts with ETA receptors to cause pericyte contraction. This pericyte-mediated constriction of brain capillaries can cause chronic hypoperfusion of the brain microvasculature, subsequently leading to the neurodegeneration and cognitive decline observed in AD patients. The interaction between Aβ proteins and brain pericytes is largely unknown and requires further investigation. This review provides an updated overview of the interaction between Aβ proteins with pericytes, one the most significant and often forgotten cellular components of the BBB and the inner blood-retinal barrier (IBRB). The IBRB has been shown to be a window into the central nervous system (CNS) that could allow the early diagnosis of AD pathology in the brain and the BBB using modern photonic imaging systems such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and two-photon microscopy. In this review, I explore the regulation of Aβ proteins in the brain parenchyma, their role in AD pathobiology, and their association with pericyte function. This review discusses Aβ proteins and pericytes in the ocular compartment of AD patients as well as strategies to rescue or protect pericytes from the effects of Aβ proteins, or to replace them with healthy cells.
Dance Education in New York City Charter Schools

The aim of this empirical study was to develop a portrait of and investigate dance education programming in the New York City charter sector. Despite operating within an arts-focused, culturally ri...
Analysis of surveillance results of iodine deficiency disorders in Chongqing, 2017.

Objective To master the current status of iodine deficiency disorders in Chongqing, and provide evidence for scientific prevention and treatment of iodine deficiency disorders. Methods In 2017, a cross-sectional survey method was adopted. In 26 districts (counties) in Chongqing, each district (county) was divided into five sampling areas by east, west, south, north and middle. One township/street (including at least one street) was selected in each area and one primary school was selected in each township/street. Forty non-boarding students aged 8 to 10 years old(half males and half females) were selected from each primary school. Their salt and instant urine samples were collected for salt iodine and urine iodine detection. At the same time, thyroid volume was measured in 8 to 10 years old students in 14 districts (counties). Results A total of 5 546 edible salt samples were collected, including 5 520 iodized salts, 5 094 qualified iodized salts and 26 non-iodized salts. The average salt iodine content was 26.1 mg/kg and the range was 23.2 to 30.7 mg/kg. Iodized salt coverage rate, iodized salt pass rate, qualified iodized salt consumption rate, and non-iodized salt rate were 99.53% (5 520/5 546), 92.28% (5 094/5 520), 91.85% (5 094/5 546), and 0.47% (26/5 546), respectively. A total of 5 565 urine samples were tested, the median urinary iodine was 221.9 μg/L, urinary iodine < 50 μg/L accounted for 2.98% (166/5 565), 50 - 99 μg/L accounted for 8.09% (450/5 565), 100 - 199 μg/L accounted for 31.66% (1 762/5 565), 200 - 299 μg/L accounted for 30.03% (1 671/5 565), and ≥300 μg/L accounted for 27.24% (1 516/5 565). A total of 3 111 children were tested for thyroid volume. The median thyroid volume was 2.6, 2.9, 3.1 ml in the 8th, 9th, and 10th years, and the thyroid enlargement rate was 1.93% (60/3 111). The districts (counties) had a goiter rate ranging from 0.45% to 2.74%. Conclusions The consumption rates of qualified iodized salt and the median urinary iodine in Chongqing have reached the national standard for eliminating iodine deficiency disorders. The rate of goiter in children has remained at a low level, but the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt in some areas has shown a downward trend. The monitoring of the presence of non-iodized salt districts (counties) should be emphasized. Key words: Iodine; Deficiency diseases; Salts; Urine; Goiter
Nursing care of uterine arterial embolization for treatment of cesarean scar pregnancy

Objective To explore the nursing methods of uterine artery embolization in treatment for cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) during operation period.Methods This article summarized 85 samples for nursing of uterine artery embolization.Results The aforesaid 85 samples were all healed.After the operation,there were hypogastrium and lumbosacral portion nulge pain in 30 cases,fever in 25 cases,nausea and vomiting in 20 cases.Conclusion The key nursing points include the adequate health education before the cure,mental nursing and the preoperative preparation,as well as monitoring of vital signs and patients' conditions after operation,observing the potential complications and adverse drug reactions (ADR) and finally making discharge instructions. Key words: Uterine Artery Embolization; Cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP); Nursing care
Repurposing the Veterinary Antiprotozoal Drug Ronidazole for the Treatment of Clostridioides difficile Infection.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a principal cause of hospital-acquired infections and fatalities worldwide. The need for new, more potent anticlostridial agents is far from being met. Drug repurposing can be utilized as a rapid and cost-efficient method of drug development. The current study was conducted to evaluate the activity of ronidazole, a veterinary antiprotozoal drug, as a potential treatment for CDI. Ronidazole inhibited the growth of clinical C. difficile isolates (including NAP1 and toxigenic strains) at a very low concentration (0.125 µg/mL) and showed superior killing kinetics compared with metronidazole, an anticlostridial agent from the same chemical category. In addition, ronidazole did not inhibit growth of several commensal organisms naturally present in the human intestine that play a protective role in preventing CDIs. Furthermore, ronidazole was found to be non-toxic to human gut cells and permeated a monolayer of colonic epithelial cells (Caco-2) at a slower rate than metronidazole. Finally, ronidazole outperformed metronidazole when both were tested at a dose of 1 mg/kg daily in a mouse model of CDI. Overall, ronidazole merits further investigation as a potential treatment for CDIs.
Autophagy: New Insights into Its Roles in Cancer Progression and Drug Resistance

Autophagy is a mechanism of lysosomal proteolysis that is utilized to degrade damaged organelles, proteins, and other cellular components. Although key studies demonstrate that autophagy functions as a mechanism of tumor suppression via the degradation of defective pre-malignant cells, autophagy can also be used as a mechanism to break down cellular components under stress conditions to generate the required metabolic materials for cell survival. Autophagy has emerged as an important mediator of resistance to radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted agents. This series of articles highlight the role of autophagy in cancer progression and drug resistance and underscores the need for new and more effective agents that target this process.
How a catchy bass line might someday resonate beyond my business ethics classroom: Rock music in management learning:

Business ethics is one of the “unsettled humanities” in a management curriculum that tends to value instrumental and measurable goods. However, the value of business ethics may not be apparent to s...
UV-LED Lithography System and Characterization

This paper presents a design, system setup, characterization, and microfabrication of high-intensity UV-LED microlithography. Since the high enough intensity of the UV light enables even a millimeter thick SU-8 photoresist process, an array of high-intensity UV-LEDs has been optimized as a light source of the microlithography system. A simple waveguide with a single optical lens has made light collimation without high attenuation of the light intensity while the rotation of the light source provides uniform light distribution. Adopting the x-y-z-r stage to the light source enables a mask aligning function together with light intensity and exposure time controllers. The maximum intensity of 448 mW/cm2 has been measured and the light collimation has been achieved within 5°. The uniform light distribution was measured without and with light rotation. The rotating light source resulted in approximately 29% better than the no-rotation case. The LED source has been stable over 100 hours of operation. The test microstructures include 3 μm lines, high-aspect-ratio micropillars, and 2-mm tall SU-8 pillar array. The proposed system has great flexibility and versatility as a mask aligner system that can be used as both conventional and MEMS microfabrication.
Laboratory assessment of early-age durability benefits of a self-healing system to cementitious composites

Abstract Shrinkage of cement composites (paste, mortar, grout, or concrete) due to moisture loss during the curing period is a challenge for their durability. In this laboratory study, urea-formaldehyde (UF) microcapsules and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) microfibres were utilized as a self-healing system to improve the early-age durability of cement mortars by mitigating their total shrinkage during the curing period. Experimental results revealed that the admixed UF microcapsules/PVA microfibres together could mitigate 25% of the total shrinkage during the curing period of 35 days. In addition, this self-healing system could reduce the gas permeability of the mortars by over 75%. The UF microcapsules and PVA microfibres could interfere with the formation of some crystalline hydration products and modify the microstructure of hydrated cement mortar, resulting in slight reductions in the compressive strength (less than 12%) and at some dosages significantly reduced the chloride migration coefficient of the mortars (i.e., 1% 1100+PVA, 2% 700, and 1% 1100). The UF microcapsules mainly affected the pores with a radius between 10 nm and 1000 nm, whereas the PVA microfibers mainly affected the larger pores at the interfacial transition zone .
Don Weidner and the Modern Law of Partnerships

In honor of his retirement as dean of the FSU College of Law, this article considers the very considerable contributions of Donald Weidner to the modern law of partnerships.
Design Experiential Learning Activities for MIS Introductory Courses

Experiential learning activities (ELAs) that are industry-partnered and real-world problem-based can provide undergraduate students with concrete experiences of using information technologies in the field. Flow theory provides a theoretical basis to guide the design of ELAs, ensuring that the goals are clear, feedback is explicit, and the challenges and skills are balanced. Based on this theory, we developed two ELAs, implemented them in two different introductory MIS classes and surveyed students’ perceptions of their experiences. The results confirmed that flow theory provides an appropriate theoretical basis for effective ELAs. Based on these results, new guidelines for designing ELAs are presented.
Biokinetic analysis of vitamin absorption and disposition in humans.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the biokinetic analysis of vitamin absorption and disposition in humans. Following the determination of vitamin baseline concentrations in body fluids and the administration of the vitamin test dose, blood and urine samples are repeatedly taken to allow kinetic analysis of the vitamin concentration-versus-time curves. The duration of sampling is determined by the compliance of the subjects to obey the study protocol and the requirement of a sufficient number of data points during the terminal phase of vitamin disposition. Favorably, vitamin baseline concentrations as observed before the administration of the vitamin test dose are reached again when the trial is terminated. The achievement of baseline levels is mainly determined by the disposition characteristics of the vitamin. Intravenously (i.v.) administered pyridoxine hydrochloride has a plasma half-life of ∼0.11 hr. The terminal half-life of its metabolite pyridoxal 5'-phosphate is 31.5 hours.
Organometallic conformational equilbria : XVI. Steric effects on π-allyl and π-indenyl orientation in molybdenum and tungsten complexes

Abstract Steric effects on π-allyl and π-indenyl orientation in molybdenum and tungsten complexes have been studied. Magnetic anistropies associated with indenyl derivatives have provided a definitive technique for determination of stereochemistry in these complexes. The steric factors which determine the stability of the orientations of the allyl moiety have been discussed. Generally π-cycloentadienyl or π-indenyl ligands have been considered to be essentially freely rotating. Analysis of the magnitude of the magnetic anisotropy arising from the benzene ring has suggested that there is relatively free rotation of the indenyl ligands, but there is a preferred conformation with the six-membered ring oriented over the allyl. Appropriate substitution on the allyl offers sufficient steric hindrance to make other conformations more probable.
Nesting biology of Lesser Canada Geese, Branta canadensis parvipes, along the Tanana River, Alaska

Lesser Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis parvipes ) are widespread throughout interior regions of Alaska and Canada, yet there have been no published studies documenting basic aspects of their nesting biology. We conducted a study to determine reproductive parameters of Lesser Canada Geese nesting along the Tanana River near the city of Fairbanks, in interior Alaska. Fieldwork was conducted in May of 2003, and consisted of locating nests along the riparian corridor between Fairbanks and Northpole, Alaska. Nests were found on gravel islands and shore habitats along the Tanana River, and were most commonly observed among driftwood logs associated with patches of alder ( Alnus spp.) and willow ( Salix spp.). Peak of nest initiation was 3-8 May, with a range from 27 April to 20 May; renesting was likely. Clutches ranged in size from 2 to 7 eggs and averaged 4.6 eggs. There was a negative correlation between clutch size and date of nest initiation. Egg size (mean mass = 128 g) was similar to other medium-sized Canada Geese. A positive correlation between egg size and clutch size was likely related to female age. Nineteen of 28 nests (68%) were active when visited; nests located on islands with nesting Mew Gulls ( Larus canus ) were more likely to be active than nests located elsewhere. Evidence at nest sites implicated Bald Eagles ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) and Red Foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) as nest predators.
The Development of a Preeminent Corrections Scholar: Doris Layton MacKenzie, from Motherhood to Professor

Abstract Doris Layton MacKenzie came into the field of criminal justice and criminology in her thirties, balancing the dual tasks of motherhood and scholarship successfully. After completing her Doctoral work in Psychology at Pennsylvania State University, MacKenzie accepted her first academic position at Louisiana State University. There she began what has become the most comprehensive body of work to date on the study of boot camps. Now a full professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, MacKenzie continues her work in discovering what works and what doesn't work in corrections, and is a strong advocate for field research that generates real, practical applications for public safety and crime control. Building on her PhD research in psychology, Doris Layton MacKenzie has focused her career on offender behavior and what can be done to change that behavior. This article profiles the life of Doris Layton MacKenzie: her childhood years; her education; and he...
Analysis of soft error rate in flip-flops and scannable latches

Soft errors can be induced through radiation sources, with particles of low energy occurring far more frequently than particles of high energy. Therefore, smaller CMOS device are more easily affected by lower energy particles. Thus, soft errors are gaining importance as technology scales. Flip-flops, an important component of pipelined architectures, are becoming more susceptible to soft errors. This work analyzes soft error rates on a variety of flip-flops. The analysis was performed by implementing and simulating various designs in 70 nm, 1 V CMOS technology. First, we evaluate the critical charge for the susceptible nodes in each design. Further, we implement two hardening techniques and present the results. One attempts to increase the gate capacitance, the other improves the overall robustness of the circuit by replicating the master stage of the master-slave flip-flops, which leads to reduced power and area overhead.
Applied Behavior Analysis and Occupational Safety: The Challenge of Response Maintenance

Abstract Methods of generalization (Stokes & Baer, 1977) are applied to investigate contingencies that produce long-term response maintenance in large-scale behavioral interventions for industrial safety. It is proposed that characteristics representing four methods originally outlined by Stokes and Baer (1977) have an additive effect on the duration and amount of response maintenance obtained. To evaluate the validity of this conceptualization, a sample of occupational safety research published in refereed journals between 1974 and 1996 is described and analyzed. Regardless of intervention technique, noteworthy consistencies among all studies successful at producing maintenance were the use of on-site workers to administer the program and general feedback in the context of multiple target behaviors; or a single-target behavior that was easy and convenient to emit. It is recommended that applied behavior analysts set out to program response maintenance at the expense of publishing fewer short-term demonst...
Breast duct anatomy in the human nipple: three-dimensional patterns and clinical implications

The anatomy of the nipple has become clinically relevant. Diagnostic techniques access the breast through nipple ducts and surgeons offer nipple-sparing mastectomy. There is variation in the number of ducts reported and little is known about the spatial location of ducts, their size, and their relationship to orifices on the surface. Nipple specimens were taken from 129 consecutive mastectomies. Each was sectioned coronally into 3 mm blocks and one section was prepared from each block. The number of ducts and cross-sectional areas of nipple and duct ‘bundle’ were recorded. Three nipples were sectioned at 50 μm intervals and digitally reconstructed in three dimensions. The median number of ducts was 23 (interquartile range 19–28). Reconstructions and summary data from 25 nipples show a central duct bundle narrowing to form a ‘waist’ as the ducts enter breast parenchyma. A three-dimensional reconstruction focusing on one nipple tip demonstrated 29 ducts arising from 15 orifices. Beneath the skin, most ducts are very narrow, gradually becoming larger deeper within the nipple. This work demonstrates that many ducts share a few common openings onto the surface of the nipple, explaining the observed discrepancy between number of ducts and of orifices. Neither duct diameter nor position predicts whether a duct system will terminate close to the nipple or pass deeper into the breast. These new insights into nipple anatomy will be of use in considering the reliability of a ductal approach to diagnosis and in planning nipple-sparing mastectomy.
Factors that Affect Parent Perceptions of Provider–Family Partnership for Children with Special Health Care Needs

Partnering between families and their children's providers is a cornerstone of family-centered care. This study aimed to identify factors associated with family-provider partnership and determine the association between partnership and other outcome measures for children with special health care needs (CSHCN). Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted using data from the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. Multivariate models showed that CSHCN who are White non-Hispanic, younger than 12, reside in households with incomes above 400% of the federal poverty level, and have a usual source of care were associated with family-provider partnership. Multivariate models showed that family-provider partnership was significantly associated with adequate insurance, early and continual screening, organized health care services, and transition preparedness. Family-provider partnership was associated with 20% fewer emergency department visits and 9% fewer school days missed. This study suggests that policies aimed at promoting family-provider partnership could increase health outcomes for CSHCN.
Pre-test estimation under squared error loss☆

Abstract This paper specifies a pre-test estimator for conditions normally fulfilled in econometric practice, analytically evaluates its risk and demonstrates it is, under a squared error loss measure, superior to other traditional and non-traditional pre-test estimators.
Fast triangulated vortex methods for the 2D Euler equations

Abstract Vortex methods for inviscid incompressible two-dimensional fluid flow are usually based on blob approximations. This paper presents a vortex method in which the vorticity is approximated by a piecewise polynomial interpolant on a Delaunay triangulation of the vortices. An efficient reconstruction of the Delaunay triangulation at each step makes the method accurate for long times. The vertices of the triangulation move with the fluid velocity, which is reconstructed from the vorticity via a simplified fast multipole method for the Biot-Savart law with a continuous source distribution. The initial distribution of vortices is constructed from the initial vorticity field by an adaptive approximation method which produces good accuracy even for discontinuous initial data. Numerical results show that the method is highly accurate over long time intervals. Experiments with single and multiple circular and elliptical rotating patches of both piecewise constant and smooth vorticity indicate that the method produces much smaller errors than blob methods with the same number of degrees of freedom, at little additional cost. Generalizations to domains with boundaries, viscous flow, and three space dimensions are discussed.