cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alpha 1-antitrypsin reduces inflammation and enhances mouse pancreatic islet transplant survival

The promise of islet cell transplantation cannot be fully realized in the absence of improvements in engraftment of resilient islets. The marginal mass of islets surviving the serial peritransplant insults may lead to exhaustion and thereby contribute to an unacceptably high rate of intermediate and long-term graft loss. Hence, we have studied the effects of treatment with alpha 1-antitrypsin (AAT) in a syngeneic nonautoimmune islet graft model. A marginal number of syngeneic mouse islets were transplanted into nonautoimmune diabetic hosts and islet function was analyzed in control and AAT treated hosts. In untreated controls, marginal mass islet transplants did not restore euglycemia. Outcomes were dramatically improved by short-term AAT treatment. Transcriptional profiling identified 1,184 differentially expressed transcripts in AAT-treated hosts at 3 d posttransplantation. Systems-biology–based analysis revealed AAT down-regulated regulatory hubs formed by inflammation-related molecules (e.g., TNF-α, NF-κB). The conclusions yielded by the systems-biology analysis were rigorously confirmed by QRT-PCR and immunohistology. These data suggest that short-term AAT treatment of human islet transplant recipients may be worthy of a clinical trial.
Analysis on ideal network structures to improve reliability by multi-path and multi-homing BGP routing in the Internet

We analyzed how reliability, defined as the probability of continuing transmissions on link failures, will be affected by inter-domain multi-path and multi-homing routing when the structure in the future Internet changes. The goal of this project is to find properties for the ideal network structure that maximizes the advantage of multi-path and multi-home routing. We focused on how each end-to-end path is built, how many multi-paths exist and how each multi-path consists of no multi-path and multi-path segments. The results of the analyses showed that multi-path and multi-home routing can improve the reliability by 10 to 30% in absolute probability of survivals on link failures, which were two to six times better than the existing no multi-path and no multi-home routing. After the analyses, several interesting properties are identified. It is important to keep the path length short to maximize the benefit from multi-path routing but a large number of multi-paths nor multi-homing connections are not necessary. The multi-homing configurations of degree three improved the reliability up to 50% for link failure rate up to 50% compared to degree of two in our analyses. It is found that single-path edge sections in a path should be short for multi-path routing. The results of this analysis can be a guide in structuring the future Internet.
Do Mothers and Teens Disagree about Sexual Communication? A Methodological Reappraisal.

This study investigated whether parent–teen disagreement in reports of sexual discussions is due to methodological factors. Forty-four mothers and their 12- to 15-year-old daughters (n = 18) and sons (n = 26) completed parallel questionnaires including measures of communication about 18 different sexual topics during the teen's entire life and during the past year. Analyses examined whether congruence rates were influenced by the use of global as compared to specific items, assessment of conversations during the teen's entire life as compared to the past year, and use of forced-choice as opposed to continuous-response categories. Taken as a whole, results support the notion that methodological limitations are partly responsible for lack of congruence in parent–teen reports. Suggestions for methodological improvements in future research are discussed.
A MOOS module for autonomous underwater vehicle fleet control

Software plays an increasingly important role in the development of intelligent agents and represents a significant development cost. In this paper we present a software module, pFleetControl, that is compatible with the Mission Oriented Operating Suite, a software framework for autonomous vehicles. This module, working in concert with other public modules, supports a variety of fleet behaviors useful for ocean exploration. Results from simulation of a mine countermeasure mission are presented, demonstrating formation control, vehicle replacement, and divert to inspection.
Non-linear stabilization of high-order Flux Reconstruction schemes via Fourier-spectral filtering

High-order Flux Reconstruction (FR) schemes have been limited in their application to transonic and supersonic problems on account of numerical instabilities related to the resolution of jump discontinuities. These instabilities arise from aliasing errors associated with the collocation projection of the flux corresponding to the numerical solution onto the polynomial basis of the numerical flux. In this paper, we obtain energy bounds on the numerical solution via FR to prove that stability can be ensured for any polynomial order by the addition of adequate artificial dissipation such that the solution is energy-stable beyond a critical grid resolution. This artificial viscosity is then approximately posed as a Fourier filtering operation which is implemented in the physical space via a strictly local convolution integral. The filter is selectively applied to 'troubled' cells as indicated by a discontinuity sensor based on the spectral concentration method. Numerous numerical tests in 1-D and 2-D have been performed. The proposed approach captures shock discontinuities while preserving accuracy in smooth regions of the solution, even for very high polynomial orders such as P = 119 . The filtered solution provides reduced total variation, reduced maximum overshoot/undershoot, and even allows sub-element shocks to be localized in the interior of an element.
Surviving the “School of Slavery”: Acculturation in Sharon Draper’s Copper Sun and Joyce Hansen’s The Captive

Although children’s literature has long alluded to cultural connections between Africans and African Americans, very few texts establish clear lines of influence between particular African ethnic groups and African American characters and communities. Joyce Hansen’s The Captive (1994) and Sharon Draper’s Copper Sun (2006) stand out in portraying protagonists Kofi’s and Amari’s reliance on their past upbringing as Ashanti and Ewe, respectively. As Kofi and Amari endure the traumas of the Middle Passage and slavery in eighteenth-century America, they adapt by relying on their past socialization in traditional West African societies. The two novels challenge the idea of cultural erasure promoted in Elizabeth Yates’ Amos Fortune, Free Man (1950), which is still a fixture on multicultural reading lists for middle school students. The Captive and Copper Sun do provide sharply contrasting visions of their protagonist’s relationships to American society. Copper Sun indicates that a black girl’s concerns, including her need for subsistence and protection, and her desire for creative expression and personal autonomy, can complement the economic and military interests of the state. By contrast, The Captive insists on the necessity for its emancipated protagonist to maintain an adversarial role within a stratified, white-dominated U.S. culture. The novels thus highlight the very different messages about social identity and participation that recent multicultural children’s literature can convey.
MESHNET: a new fault-tolerant LAN for industrial environment

The design and protocol for a fault-tolerant high-performance local area network called MESHNET is proposed. It is a token passing scheme with multiple buses. It provides multiple paths between any pair of nodes and thus the fault-tolerance feature. Under fault-free conditions, it can support a much faster rate of traffic generation and a much higher number of nodes compared to a single bus architecture and gives a better performance in terms of channel utilization, throughput, and average delay per data packet. It maintains connectivity even when multiple faults have occurred. The topology, architecture, and other basic features of the proposed network are described, and a preliminary reliability analysis is presented. >
Voices of Change: Narratives from Ranching Women of the Southwestern United States☆

The gendered contexts of rangeland decision-making in the southwestern United States are poorly understood. We conducted life-history interviews with 19 ranching women and analyzed the resulting transcripts using narrative analysis. Interviews revealed eight common themes in these women ranchers’ experiences: 1) learning from older generations, 2) finding a personal career path, 3) operating livestock businesses, 4) breaking gender barriers, 5) leading communities, 6) aging and going on alone, 7) living close to the land, and 8) passing the ranching tradition to the next generation. Women’s roles as ranch decision-makers, community-keepers, and business operators evolve throughout their lifetimes, as do their needs for decision-making support from outreach. We suggest that women’s life stages and gendered contexts be considered in further rangeland management research, policy, and extension.
Meaning, Medicine, and the “Placebo Effect”: The healing process

Human beings respond to injury in three ways. Autonomous responses are the most important ones in healing, and involve all those processes which the organism can invoke to regain health or equilibrium, including the various immunological and related systems. A cut finger rarely needs much more than to be rinsed in water (or licked clean), and it will heal “by itself.” Specific responses are those of the body to the content of medical treatment - to the salicylates in willow bark tea, or to the antibiotic quality of penicillin. The direct pressure of a bandage on a cut finger might facilitate its healing. Meaning responses follow from the interaction with the context in which healing occurs - with the “power” of the laser in surgery, or with the red color of the pill that contains stimulating medication. Sometimes, a bandage on a cut finger works better if it has a picture of Snoopy on it. These three sorts of factors all work together to enhance the sick individual's return to health. Pain relief with “Trivaricane” and saline solution To illustrate this threesome, I will describe the results of some research involving pain. Now pain is a tricky thing to deal with. I can't see or measure pain; I can only listen to what you say about it. And asking you about your pain is likely to change its intensity.
The capsular mechanism in recurrent dislocation of the shoulder.

Functional lengthening of the capsule and loss of the anterior restraining effect of the capsular mechanism appear to be the primary causes of recurrent dislocation of the shoulder. Separation of the medial attachment of the capsule from the anterior glenoid margin is the most consistent cause of capsular lengthening. Congenital lengthening is probably present more often than is suspected, but interpretation is made difficult by the finding of secondary damage at the glenoid margin. The function of the normal capsule, which allows this usually lax structure to become an effective barrier against anterior projection of the humeral head in external rotation, is referred to as the capsular mechanism. Repair should aim at re-establishment of the capsular mechanism. If there is no medial capsular separation, a modification of Magnuson's procedure is adequate. If there is separation of the capsule, but capsular tissue remains at the glenoid margin, sutures into the soft tissue only need he used. If there is complete loss of soft. tissue from the anterior glenoid margin, the capsule should be anchored directly to the bone. Reattachment of the glenoidal labrum is not necessary, and the presence or absence of this structure does not alter the operative procedure or the success of the repair. Limitation of shoulder motion to prevent dislocation is usually not necessary. Bankart must be credited for focusing attention on the medial attachment of the capsule to the glenoid margin, and for gradual recognition of the correct operative procedure for the majority of cases of dislocation of the shoulder.
The Road from Syria to Ukraine

The concept of humanitarian intervention offers a possible solution for the crisis in Syria, it also provides legal justification for Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The ease with which the concept of humanitarian intervention can be used for subjective use of force determinations is extremely troubling and raises a difficult question. What poses a greater risk to international peace: a humanitarian crisis or a subjective legal basis that empowers nations to unilaterally initiate international armed conflict?
Effect of Adrenotropic Hormone on Ascorbic Acid and Cholesterol Content of the Adrenal.

SummaryA single dose of pure adrenotropic hormone diminishes both the ascorbic acid and cholesterol content of the adrenals. The level of ascorbic acid is reduced to two-thirds within 20 minutes and one-half of its normal value in one hour. It has again returned to its initial concentration 9 hours after hormone administration. On the other hand the maximum decrease in cholesterol is not reached until 3 hours after injection and its restoration also occurs at a slower rate. It is suggested that the two processes may be related to cortical hormone synthesis in or release from the adrenal gland.
Cellular expression of extracellular matrix proteins in childhood rhabdomyosarcoma

Tumour invasion and metastasis are believed to involve the adhesive interaction of tumour cells with extracellular matrix (ECM). Study of the expression of ECM components within tumour cells will help us to identify and understand the matrix proteins and receptors that play a role in tumour invasion. The following study reports the expression of laminin, fibronectin, thrombospondin and tenascin in rhabdomyosarcoma cells taken from tumours derived from 12 paediatric patients. 12 paraffin - embedded rhabdomyosarcomas consisting of 5 alveolar, 6 embryonal and one botyroid subtype diagnosed in the last 8 years were retrieved from the archives of the Department of Histopathology (WCH). After dewaxing, the tissue was treated with Target Unmasking Fluid (Monosan, The Netherlands) to expose antigens, and then immunohistochemically stained by a standard alkaline phosphatase conjugate technique using the respective polyclonal antibodies to the ECM proteins listed above. All tumours demonstrated positive staining of malignant cells for thrombospondin and tenascin, 10 were positive for fibronectin and 5 were positive for laminin. Both specimens without cellular staining for fibronectin were of embryonal subtype. Expression of the studied ECM proteins did not however have a strong correlation with tumour subtype or the presence of metastatic disease at clinical presentation. Although malignant cells variably expressed all four of the ECM components looked for in this study, further investigations of these and other matrix components and receptors will be needed to gain an understanding of the expression of ECM components in rhabdomyosarcoma cells, and the relationship of this to infiltration, metastasis and biological outcome.
Organotin contamination in seawater and marine animals along intertidal zone at Dapeng Bay and Daya Bay of Shenzhen, China

The authors investigate organotin contamination in seawater and marine animals along the intertidal zone at the Dapeng Bay and Daya Bay of Shenzhen.The concentrations of tributyltin(TBT) and dibutyltin(DBT) in seawater of the Dapeng Bay were 21.13-25.03ng·L-1 and 10.22-18.68ng·L-1,respectively.The concentrations of TBT and DBT in seawater of the Daya Bay were nd(lower than the detectable level)-7.63ng·L-1and nd-8.56ng·L-1,respectively.Monobutyltin(MBT) was not detected in any of the seawater samples.The concentrations of TBT,DBT,MBT and triphenyltin(TPT) in mollusks,including Ostrea rivularis Gould,Ostrea glomerata Gould and Monodonta labio,from the intertidal zone in the Dapeng Bay were 3.02-26.48,nd-2.65,nd-1.57 and 13.10-164.08ng.g-1(wet weight),respectively.The concentrations of TBT,DBT,MBT and TPT in mollusks from the intertidal zone in the Daya Bay were nd-17.67,nd-1.50,nd and nd-17.66ng·g-1(wet weight),respectively.Comparing the present results with reported data worldwide,it is shown that the coastal water in the Daya Bay was just slightly contaminated by the organotin compounds.However,more attention should be given to the prob-lem of organotin contamination in the Dapeng Bay.Accordingly,legislative restriction is needed on the application of organo-tin compounds in China.
The Method Research about Water Landscape Planning in Urban Landscape Planning

Stream style is an important part of the city style.It is an crucial circle in urban landscape planning.After the analysis and research about water landscape planning's importance and relative example,this paper comes up with the method and content about water landscape planning in urban landscape planning: show the city style hydrophilic,content with people's attachment to water,give deep connotation to the stream in order to let water system more culturally,reflect the city landscape,let water turn to be sustainable resources under the rational use and favorable protection.
Endocrine and body growth traits in heifers exposed to testosterone-propionate during early fetal development.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of testosterone-propionate exposure during fetal development on sexual differentiation and growth rates in heifers. Ten pregnant cows were given subcutaneous injections of testosterone-propionate (250 mg/injection) every other day during d 40 to 60 of gestation. Four cows aborted after the end of testosterone treatment, while four heifers (androgenized females) and two bulls (androgenized males) were produced from the six remaining pregnant, testosterone-propionate treated cows. Calves from cows that did not receive exogenous hormone treatment were used as controls. At 8 mo of age, the androgenized heifers and control heifers and control steers were challenged with 1 mg estradiol-17 beta to induce a preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge. Two weeks later, pituitary responsiveness to exogenous luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH; 75 micrograms) was evaluated in androgenized heifers and in control heifers and control steers. To monitor growth rates, all animals were weighed at 28-d intervals from birth to 380 d of age. Androgenized females exhibited a partially masculinized phenotype as well as internal male reproductive structures. Treatment with estradiol-17 beta first depressed (P less than .05) serum LH concentrations in all animals, then induced (P less than .05) a preovulatory-like LH surge in control and androgenized females. Control steers did not (P greater than .05) exhibit a preovulatory-like LH surge following administration of estradiol-17 beta. Exogenous LHRH treatment stimulated peak LH concentrations (P less than .05) to a greater extent in control and androgenized females than in control steers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Impact Ionization Coefficients in InP Determined by Analysis of Photocurrent and Noise Measurements

The electron and hole impact ionization coefficients, α and β respectively, have been determined in (100) InP by analysis of photo- multiplication measurements performed on specially fabricated p+n and n+p structures. The ratio of β/α is found to decrease from 4.0 to 1.3 as the electric field increases from 2.4 to 7.7xl05 V/cm. The electric field dependence of α and β cannot be reproduced by the Baraff or Baraff-Chwang models of impact ionization. Avalanche noise measurements indicate a value of β/α which is generally consistent with the photocurrent multiplication results.
Later Life and Legacy of Henry George

There are few that enjoyed a life so colorful, at times controversial, and with so many professional transitions as Henry George. George’s later life, following years of campaigning his idea of the single tax around the country and the world, were no less tranquil.
HIV and aging

With the wider availability of antiretrovirals, the world's HIV population is aging. More than 10% of the 34.5 million HIV-positive individuals worldwide are over the age of 50 years and the average age continues to increase. In the USA more than 50% of the 1.3 million people with HIV are over 50 years old and by the year 2030 it is estimated that 70% will be over the age of 50 years. Although the life expectancy of HIV-positive people has increased dramatically, it still lags behind that of HIV-negative individuals. There is controversy about whether HIV itself accelerates the aging process. Elevated rates of inflammation seen in people with HIV, even if their viral loads are suppressed and their CD4 counts are preserved, are associated with greater rates of cardiovascular, renal, neurocognitive, oncological, and osteoporotic disease. These conditions increase exponentially in the elderly and will represent a major challenge for HIV patients. In addition, conditions such as geriatric syndromes including frailty are also seen at higher rates. Management of the aging HIV patient includes an emphasis on early diagnosis and treatment, preventative measures for co-morbidities, and avoiding polypharmacy. Finally, the issue of quality of life, prioritization of medical issues, and end of life care become increasingly important as the patient grows older.
Incidence of Idiopathic Ventricular Arrhythmias: A Population-Based Study.

Background—Ventricular tachycardia and premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) most frequently occur in the context of structural heart disease. However, the burden of idiopathic ventricular arrhyth...
Bicuspid Aortic Valvulopathy and Associated Aortopathy: a Review of Contemporary Studies Relevant to Clinical Decision-Making.

The bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) phenotype is becoming increasingly recognized as a complex and heterogeneous clinical entity, with some but not all patients developing accelerated degrees of both aortic insufficiency (AI) and aortic stenosis (AS) in comparison to patients with tricuspid aortic valves (TAV). In addition, there remains a well-established association between the BAV phenotype and aortic enlargement independent of valve function as well as progression among some to ascending aortic aneurysm and the attendant concern over risk of aortic dissection. Because the understanding of the complexity of the BAV phenotype is evolving as quickly as are the options for medical, surgical, and interventional therapy, this review aims to provide an update on the most clinically relevant recent advances in the realm of BAV and associated aortopathy from a genetic, morphologic, and clinical outcomes perspective in order to give the practicing clinician a deeper understanding of how to approach both medical and surgical decision-making in the patient with BAV. The following major principles have emerged in recent years including (1) the importance of cusp anatomy and its implications on the long-term risk of AI, aortic dilation, and aortic dissection, (2) the role of post-valvular flow dynamics in the pathogenesis of aortic dilation in BAV patients, (3) the ability of aortic valve replacement to halt accelerated dilation rates, and (4) the finding that the risk of aortic dissection, while still overall intermediate is much more akin to the baseline risk present in TAV patients rather than the much higher rates observed in patients with Marfan’s disease. Together, these data support the less aggressive approach to aortic replacement in BAV patients as reflected in the most recent ACC/AHA guidelines and provide a stronger basis upon which future studies, including those aimed at medical and transcatheter therapies, stand to make further impact on our ability to optimally treat this epidemiologically important and complex population of patients.
Exploring differences in self-control across sex, race, age, education, and language: Considering a bifactor MIMIC model

Abstract Purpose Two research avenues on self-control measurement have explored the factor structure and identified differential item functioning (DIF) in the Grasmick et al. (1993) scale. This work integrates and extends this research by considering the consequences of factor structure for the detection of biased items across age, sex, race, education, and language. Methods Within a structural equation modeling framework, unidimensional and bifactor multiple indicator, multiple causes (MIMIC) models are employed to detect DIF in covariates under alternative factor structures. Effects of covariates on item responses are decomposed into general, specific, and DIF effects and mean difference tests are conducted. Results Factor structure contributed to an overestimation of DIF; nonetheless, 32% of all possible covariate-to-item effects exhibited DIF, which was most common across race and language. Bias due to factor structure and DIF for mean difference tests in self-control was confined to race, where the effect was underestimated by half. Except for sex, there were generally larger implications of factor structure and DIF for mean difference tests of the elements. Conclusion Apart from race, testing group differences in self-control with an observed scale score is largely unbiased. Testing group differences in elements using observed subscores is frequently biased and generally unsupported.
Water and Salt Transport Properties of Triptycene-Containing Sulfonated Polysulfone Materials for Desalination Membrane Applications.

A series of triptycene-containing sulfonated polysulfone (TRP-BP) materials was prepared via condensation polymerization, and the desalination membrane-relevant fundamental water and salt transport properties (i.e., sorption, diffusion, and permeability coefficients) of the polymers were characterized. Incorporating triptycene into sulfonated polysulfone increased the water content of the material compared to sulfonated polysulfone materials that do not contain triptycene. No significant difference in salt sorption was observed between TRP-BP membranes and other sulfonated polysulfone membranes, suggesting that the presence of triptycene in the polymer did not dramatically affect thermodynamic interactions between salt and the polymer. Both water and salt diffusion coefficients in the TRP-BP membranes were suppressed relative to other sulfonated polysulfone materials with comparable water content, and these phenomena may result from the influence of triptycene on polymer chain packing and/or free-volume d...
Patients' Body Image Improves After Mohs Micrographic Surgery for Nonmelanoma Head and Neck Skin Cancer.

BACKGROUNDMost skin cancers occur on the head and neck, areas of the body that are significant to an individual's body image (BI) perception. Poor BI is a robust risk factor for depression and decreased quality of life. Thus, patients with nonmelanoma head and neck skin cancer (NMHNSC) may be more v
Invariant Manifolds in the Taylor Problem

This chapter is devoted to a method for calculating the unstable manifold that arises from the basic flow in hydrodynamical problems, devised by Davey 1962, Davey, DiPrima, and Stuart 1968, and Eagles 1971 for the study of the Taylor problem. Although the results that have been obtained with it so far are rather limited, it is the only method known at present for such problems (but see Hassard 1980 for a similar method in finite-dimensional spaces). Presumably, methods of this sort will be needed to understand the early onset of turbulence in detail.
A Natural Language Processing Based Trend Analysis of Advanced Persistent Threat Techniques

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) continue to be a major security problem in today’s cyberspace. Understanding APT techniques is necessary for implementing an effective defense against APT attacks. In this paper, we first present a new information retrieval system, called SECCMiner, to assist cybersecurity professionals to more efficiently obtain actionable knowledge regarding APTs from a collected set of unstructured APT reports written in a natural language. It relies on a set of natural language processing and information retrieval techniques to identify adversarial techniques and tactics in given input reports. We then used SECCMiner to conduct a systematic study of existing APT techniques based on a repository of 445 technical reports, containing more than 1.9 million words, on recent APTs. The result includes trend analysis of common APT techniques since 2008, their inter-relationship, and the latest APT techniques that may become influential in the near future (e.g., using PowerShell scripts).
Eigenform product identities for degree two Siegel modular forms

Abstract It is known via work of Duke and Ghate that there are only finitely many pairs of full level, degree one eigenforms f and g whose product fg is also an eigenform. We prove a partial generalization of this theorem for degree two Siegel modular forms. Namely, we show that there is only one pair of eigenforms F and G such that FG is a non-cuspidal eigenform. In the case that FG is a cuspform, we provide necessary conditions for FG to be an eigenform, give one example, and conjecture that is the only example.
Protest from the Margins: Emerging Global Networks in the Early Sixteenth Century and Their German Detractors

This chapter argues for an inclusion of earlier historical periods in the contemporary discussion of globalization and provides a theoretical framework for doing so. The key features of early modern globalization were the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to Asia, the ensuing rapid growth of global trade networks, the first information revolution, and the growing cosmographic understanding of the earth as endless space. While Germany stood at its periphery, its impact nonetheless was registered and discussed in a range of texts as the old urban elites felt threatened and marginalized by the rise of a new class of globally networked merchants. Writers like Sebastian Brant, Ulrich von Hutten, Martin Luther, and Hieronymus Bock engaged in a nationalist backlash against the felt impact of the globalizing dynamic and constructed false memories of a pure, heroic, and idyllic German culture of the past.
A Dye-Free Analog to Retinal Angiography Using Hyperspectral Unmixing to Retrieve Oxyhemoglobin Abundance.

Purpose Retinal angiography evaluates retinal and choroidal perfusion and vascular integrity and is used to manage many ophthalmic diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration. The most common method, fluorescein angiography (FA), is invasive and can lead to untoward effects. As an emerging replacement, noninvasive OCT angiography (OCTA) is used regularly as a dye-free substitute with superior resolution and additional depth-sectioning abilities; however, general trends in FA as signified by varying intensity in images are not always reproducible in the fine structural detail in an OCTA image stack because of the source of their respective signals, OCT speckle decorrelation versus fluorescein emission. Methods We present a noninvasive/dye-free analog to angiography imaging using retinal hyperspectral imaging with a nonscanning spectral imager, the image mapping spectrometer (IMS), to reproduce perfusion-related data based on the abundance of oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) in the retina. With a new unmixing procedure of the IMS-acquired spectral data cubes (350 × 350 × 43), we produced noninvasive HbO2 maps unmixed from reflectance spectra. Results Here, we present 15 HbO2 maps from seven healthy and eight diseased retinas and compare these maps with corresponding FA and OCTA results with a discussion of each technique. Conclusions Our maps showed visual agreement with hypo- and hyperfluorescence trends in venous phase FA images, suggesting that our method provides a new use for hyperspectral imaging as a noninvasive angiography-analog technique and as a complementary technique to OCTA. Translational Relevance The application of hyperspectral imaging and spectral analysis can potentially improve/broaden retinal disease screening and enable a noninvasive technique, which complements OCTA.
Speech-language development as proceduralization and skill learning: Implications for assessment and intervention.

Abstract Purpose This article considers how speech-language development can be viewed as proceduralization and skill learning. Viewing speech-language development in this way has important implications for the assessment and treatment of individuals with speech-language disorders. Method Topics discussed are Ullman’s (2016) distinction between the procedural and declarative memory systems, speech-language development as proceduralization and skill learning, and implications for assessment and intervention. Conclusion Norm-referenced measures provide a good measure of deliberative speech-language processes whereas social conversations and discourses about familiar topics with familiar listeners provide the best indication of proceduralized speech-language processes. Intervention goals and planning need to consider which speech-language operations should be proceduralized and which ones will primarily require deliberative processing. Additional research and clinical application of these ideas are clearly needed to develop more precise criteria to define the line of demarcation between deliberative and proceduralized speech-language processes.
Halo currents and vertical displacements after ITER disruptions

Axisymmetric control of the vertical position of highly shaped tokamaks, such as ITER, requires active feedback. In ITER, this control will be lost during the period in which the plasma current decays following a thermal quench of a disruption; the decay is sufficiently rapid that the surrounding walls in ITER can be approximated as perfect conductors. When axisymmetric feedback control was required before the disruption, it is shown that the edge safety factor tends to drop as the plasma current decays following a thermal quench. When the q = 2 surface approaches the plasma edge, a strong nonaxisymmetric halo current is expected to arise, which could occur when the plasma current has decayed less than 20% from the predisruption magnitude.Axisymmetric control of the vertical position of highly shaped tokamaks, such as ITER, requires active feedback. In ITER, this control will be lost during the period in which the plasma current decays following a thermal quench of a disruption; the decay is sufficiently rapid that the surrounding walls in ITER can be approximated as perfect conductors. When axisymmetric feedback control was required before the disruption, it is shown that the edge safety factor tends to drop as the plasma current decays following a thermal quench. When the q = 2 surface approaches the plasma edge, a strong nonaxisymmetric halo current is expected to arise, which could occur when the plasma current has decayed less than 20% from the predisruption magnitude.
Effects of Varying Hygrothermal Environments on Moisture Absorption in Epoxy Composites

Moisture diffusion in epoxy matrix composites relevant to current aerospace applications has been well characterized under conditions of constant temperature and relative humidity over the past several years and is in general agreement with the theoretical predictions of currently available diffusion models. However, the introduction of an intermittent drying cycle, representative of supersonic flight conditions, or a complete drying cycle, corresponding to specimen storage in a low humidity environment following exposure to a high relative humidity environment, results in anomalous diffusion effects. This paper addresses both of these effects in an attempt to interpret observed anomalies in our real time ground and flight temperature humidity profiles, which simulate moisture absorption under periodic supersonic flights and simulated runway storage conditions at temperate and tropical locations. In particular, the effect of thermal cycle peak temperature and background relative humidity on the equilibrium moisture (M∞) content and composite glass transition temperature (Tg) and the effect of repeated moisture absorption-desorption cycling on the moisture diffusion rate and equilibrium moisture content are investigated.
Discontinuation of Life-Sustaining Therapy in Intensive Care: Ethical and Legal Issues

This updated chapter addresses ethically challenging situations that can occur in pediatric intensive care. It begins with an introduction to medical ethics, continues by reviewing key issues in decision-making in pediatrics, and finally considers recent changes in end-of-life care (EOLC). It has taken into account developments in palliative care provision and the growing availability of ethical and other support mechanisms in decision-making, including the greater involvement of children and their families in shared decision-making even in the toughest situations.
Sea Surface Temperature Imagery Elucidates Spatiotemporal Nutrient Patterns for Offshore Kelp Aquaculture Siting in the Southern California Bight

Offshore aquaculture of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) has been proposed by the US Department of Energy for large scale biofuel production along the west coast of the California. The Southern Californian Bight provides an ideal area for offshore kelp aquaculture as the upwelling and advection of cool, nutrient-rich waters supports the growth of vast native giant kelp populations. However, concentrations of nutrients vary greatly across space, can be limiting for kelp growth over seasonal to interannual time scales, and inputs of nutrients to surface waters may be subject to local circulation processes. Therefore, it is important to understand both the spatiotemporal variability of seawater nitrate concentrations and the appropriate scale of observation in order for offshore kelp aquaculture to be successful. Here, we use a combination of satellite sea surface temperature imagery, in situ measurements, and modeling to determine seawater nitrate fields across multiple spatial and temporal scales. We then combine this information with known giant kelp physiological traits to develop a Kelp Stress Index for the optimal siting of offshore kelp aquaculture over seasonal to decadal scales. Temperature to nitrate relationships were determined from in situ measurements using generalized additive models and validated with buoy data. Summer and winter relationships were significantly different, and satellite-derived products compared well to buoy validations. Surface nitrate patterns, as derived from satellite temperature products, reveal the spatial variability in nitrate concentrations and indicate areas that that may cause nutrient stress seasonally and during the negative phase of the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation. As the spatial scale of the surface nitrate product decreased, the negative bias increased and fine scale spatial variability was lost. Similarly, the averaging of daily nitrate concentration determinations over longer time scales increased the negative bias. We found that daily, 1 km spatial resolution nitrate products were most sufficient for identifying localized upwelling and areas of consistently high surface nitrate concentrations, and that areas in the northern and western-most portions of the Southern California Bight are the most suitable for sustained offshore kelp aquaculture.
Mechanisms of neurite repair

Upon receiving injury signals, neurons can activate various pathways to reduce harm, initiate neuroprotection, and repair damaged neurite without cell death. Here, we review recent progresses in the study of neurite repair focusing on neuronal cell-autonomous mechanisms, including new findings on ion channels that serve as key regulators to initiate neurite repair and intrinsic signaling pathways and transcriptional and post-transcriptional factors that facilitate neurite repair. We also touch upon reports on how dendrites may be affected upon axotomy and how the regeneration potential in injured neurites might be maximized.
Use and Outcomes of SBRT for Early Stage NSCLC Without Pathologic Confirmation in the Veterans Health Care Administration.

Abstract Purpose Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) use has increased among patients without pathologic confirmation (PC) of lung cancer. Empirical SBRT without PC raises concerns about variation in workup and patient selection, but national trends have not been well described. In this study, we assessed patterns of empirical SBRT use, workup, and causes of death among a large national non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cohort. Methods and Materials We identified 2221 patients treated with SBRT for cT1-T2aN0M0 NSCLC in the Veterans Affairs health care system from 2008 to 2015. We reviewed their pretreatment workup and assessed associations between absence of PC and clinical and demographic factors. We compared causes of death between PC and non-PC groups and used Cox proportional hazards modeling to compare overall survival and lung cancer specific survival (LCSS) between these groups. Results Treatment without PC varied from 0% to 61% among Veterans Affairs medical centers, with at least 5 cases of stage I NSCLC. Overall, 14.9% of patients were treated without PC and 8.8% did not have a biopsy attempt. Ten percent of facilities were responsible for almost two-thirds (62%) of cases of treatment without PC. Of non-PC patients, 95.5% had positron emission tomography scans, 40.6% had biopsy procedures attempted, and 12.7% underwent endobronchial ultrasound. Non-PC patients were more likely to have cT1 tumors and live outside the histoplasmosis belt. Age, sex, smoking status, and Charlson comorbidity index were similar between groups. Lung cancer was the most common cause of death in both groups. Overall survival was similar between groups, whereas non-PC patients had better LCSS (hazard ratio = 0.77, P = .031). Conclusions Empirical SBRT use varied widely among institutions and appropriate radiographic workup was consistently used in this national cohort. Future studies should investigate determinants of variation and reasons for higher LCSS among non-PC patients.
Recovering cavity effects in corrugated organic light emitting diodes

Cavity effects play an important role in determining the out-coupling efficiency of an OLED. By fabricating OLEDs on corrugated substrates, the waveguide and SPP modes can be extracted by diffraction. However, corrugation does not always lead to an enhancement in out-coupling efficiency due to the reduction of the electrode reflectance and hence the cavity effects. Based on the results of our rigorous couple-wave analysis (RCWA) simulation, we found that the cavity effects can be partially recovered using a low index Teflon layer inserted between the ITO anode and the substrate due to the enhancement of the reflectance of the corrugated electrodes. To verify the simulation results, we fabricated corrugated OLEDs having a low-index Teflon interlayer with an EQE of 36%, which is 29% higher than an optimized planar OLED. By experimentally measuring the OLED air mode dispersion, we confirm the cavity emission of a corrugated OLED is enhanced by the low index layer.
The impact of gender on clinical outcomes after sustaining a pelvic fracture.

INTRODUCTION In trauma care, pelvic fractures contribute to morbidity and mortality. Since men and women have different pelvic structures and hormonal milieu, we studied if these gender differences affect clinical outcomes after pelvic fractures. METHODS Using the 2016 American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program (ACS TQIP) database, we stratified 24,425 patients with pelvic fractures by gender. Male and female patients were analyzed for differences in comorbidities, mechanism of injury, complications, and other clinical parameters. RESULTS Female patients were older (p < 0.001) and had more comorbidities (p < 0.001), such as bleeding disorder, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, dementia, chronic renal failure, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Although female patients were sicker before sustaining pelvic fractures, male patients had higher rates of post-trauma complications (p < 0.001), such as acute kidney injury, deep vein thrombosis, unplanned admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and unplanned return to the operating room (OR). Multivariate logistic regression further supports this as male gender was independently associated with a 26.1% higher risk of developing at least one complication (p < 0.001), despite having a higher average Injury Severity Score (ISS) (21.91 ± 0.09 versus 20.71 ± 0.11, p < 0.001). Interestingly, male patients also had a longer hospital length of stay than female patients (13.36 ± 0.12 days versus 11.8 2± 0.14 days, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Even though female patients were older and had more pre-existing comorbidities, male patients developed more complications and had longer hospital stays. Trial registration number Not a clinical trial.
Switching from Biologic to Biosimilar Products: Insight from an Integrated Health Care System.

Biologics are indicated for the treatment of a wide range of conditions and have transformed care in several therapeutic areas; however, they are expensive for both health care systems and patients. The use of biosimilars, which are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as being “highly similar” to the originator biologic, has the potential to change the health care landscape in the biologic space through considerable cost savings for both payors and patients. With the introduction of biosimilars, organizations are increasingly evaluating how to switch patients from originator biologics to biosimilars. While published studies have evaluated the outcomes of patients switched from originator biologics to biosimilars, there are few publications describing the process health care systems have used to adopt and switch patients to biosimilars. Since 2016, Kaiser Permanente Colorado (KPCO) has undertaken several biosimilar switches starting with the first biosimilar introduced to the market, filgrastim, and has been able to successfully switch 91.8% of patients receiving infliximab, 99.8% receiving rituximab, and 100% receiving filgrastim, trastuzumab, and bevacizumab originator biologics to their respective biosimilars. In an effort to support other health care systems and provide a framework for implementing biosimilar switches, the purpose of this paper is to describe the biosimilar switch model and share learnings from the KPCO experience.
Atmospheric radiation tables

This monograph contains numerical tools required to compute approximately the effects of radiative transfer in the atmosphere for the far infrared region of the spectrum. We shall not deal with the transmission and scattering of solar radiation, but only with the long-wave radiation that is emitted, and of course also absorbed, by the earth’s surface, by clouds, and by the atmosphere itself. This part of the spectrum extends from a wavelength of about 4 microns to near the microwave range at a fraction of a millimeter wavelength. The main agents of transfer are two water-vapor bands and one band of carbon dioxide. In addition, there are some bands of carbon dioxide of minor importance and a band or rather a cluster of bands of ozone.
Water and solute binding by proteins. 1. Electrolytes.

Abstract A simple theory of solute and water binding by proteins is presented. The theory is employed in an isopiestic study of the addition of CsCl, RbCl, KCl, NaCl, LiCl, CaCl, NaBr, NaI, NaCNS, and Na 2 SO 4 to egg albumin solutions. The chlorides (with the possible exception of CaCl 2 ) are bound to only a moderate degree. It is necessary to apply a correction to the isopiestic data as a result of the lowering of the water vapor pressure due to the protein itself. The correction is obtained through osmotic pressure measurements. The moles of water bound per mole of egg albumin in the presence of the various salts are, respectively, LiCl, 193; NaCl, 211; KCl, 360; RbCl, 409; and CsCl, 493; NaI, NaCNS, and CaCl 2 are preferentially bound by the protein. Na 2 SO 4 greatly increases the extent of hydration of egg albumin.