cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunostimulatory DNA Prepriming: A Novel Approach for Prolonged Th1-Biased Immunity

Immunostimulatory DNA sequences (ISS) have been shown to promote CTL and Th1 immune responses to coinjected antigens. This phenomenon can be attributed to the capacity of ISS to induce the secretion of type-1 cytokines and to up regulate costimulatory ligands on antigen-presenting cells. We hypothesized that ISS administration prior to antigen administration (prepriming), via the mechanisms stated above, would Th1 bias immune responses to subsequently injected antigens for an extended period of time. The data presented show that ISS provide in vivo adjuvant activity for up to 2 weeks after intradermal or intranasal delivery. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that ISS prepriming can induce immune responses that are significantly stronger than with ISS/antigen covaccination. ISS prepriming offers an alternative approach to the traditional use of adjuvants (i.e., antigen/adjuvant coinjection) and expands the potential clinical applications for ISS.
Jammer excision in spread spectrum communications via Wiener masking and frequency-frequency evolutionary transform

We propose jammer excision techniques for direct sequence spread spectrum communications when the jammers cannot be parametrically characterized. The representation of the non-stationary signals is done using the time-frequency and the frequency-frequency evolutionary transformations. One of the methods, based on the frequency-frequency representation of the received signal, uses a deterministic masking approach while the other, based on nonstationary Wiener filtering, reduces interference in a mean-square fashion. Both of these approaches use the fact that the spreading sequence is known at the transmitter and the receiver, and that, as such, its evolutionary representation can be used to estimate the sent bit. The difference in performance between these two approaches depends on the support rather than on the type of jammer being excised. The frequency-frequency masking approach works well when the jammer is narrowly concentrated in parts of the frequency-frequency plane, while the Wiener masking approach works well in situations when the jammer is spread over all frequencies. Simulations illustrating the performance of the two methods, in different situations, are shown.
ISLANDS: A Self-Leveling landing platform for autonomous miniature UAVs

The Intelligent Self-Leveling and Nodal Docking System (ISLANDS) is a mobile recharging/refueling station designed and built to enhance endurance and range of small-scale, autonomous, unmanned helicopters, which are becoming increasingly popular for a wide range of non-military applications such as, surveillance, reconnaissance, traffic monitoring, emergency response, agricultural spraying, and many other “eye in the sky” missions. The primary function of ISLANDS is to provide a safe, level landing platform for such helicopters. Additionally, in order to provide the maximum benefit in terms of increased range and flight-time, ISLANDS must be strategically located in the work field of the helicopter. In this paper, we discuss both the design of the individual ISLANDS “node,” and the use of ISLANDS within a larger systems context. At the node level, the mechanical subsystems implementing these ISLANDS are described. At the system level, we report on initial results tackling the ISLANDS placement problem with a genetic search algorithm. In combination, these contributions provide a complete solution to enable longer and more complex missions for small autonomous helicopters.
Escaping the house : comfort and the California garden

The energy-intensive character of the current reliance on air-conditioning suggests the need for a different approach to comfort and new designs to achieve it. It is argued that there are multiple paths to personal comfort, and that residential design in a lower carbon society should provide flexible spaces for achieving personal cooling and comfort as adjuncts to mechanical systems. Of particular importance are residential gardens. In the post-war period, landscape architects developed designs for functional or social gardens that presented new ideas about the relationship of gardens to both people and houses. Le caractere a forte intensite d'energie de la dependance actuelle vis-a-vis de la climatisation laisse a penser qu'il est necessaire d'aborder differemment la notion de confort et les nouveaux concepts pour y parvenir. L'auteur avance qu'il existe de multiples voies vers le confort personnel et que le concept de residentiel dans une societe a faible emission de carbone devrait fournir des espaces ...
Spanish-English Articulation and Phonology of 4- and 5-Year-Old Preschool Children An Initial Investigation

In this study, it was postulated that typically developing (i.e., normally developing without incidence of a speech or language delay or disorder) Spanish/Englishspeaking children ages 4 to 5 years old would show different articulation productions and phonological patterns in both languages. Sixteen participants from Florida were tested with Spanish and English articulation and phonology tests. For articulation, two manner or articulation comparisons were found to be significant (i.e., plosives and liquids/glides). In addition, two phonological patterns (i.e., stopping and velar fronting) were significantly different. Normative articulation and phonological Spanish and English data were obtained and should be useful for today’s public school speech-language pathologists. Further research should include normative data for bilingual children with articulation and/or phonological disorders to develop more appropriate treatments. In addition, it is recommended that other languages be investigated as the natio...
Cancer cachexia: getting to the heart of the matter.

This editorial refers to ‘Prevention of liver cancer cachexia-induced cardiac wasting and heart failure’, by J. Springer et al. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/eht302 In his Principles and Practices of Medicine , written over 100 years ago, William Osler described cachexia in stomach cancer as ‘progressive emaciation’ and ‘loss of strength disproportionate to loss of weight’.1 Today, cachexia is further defined as a multifactorial syndrome characterized by an ongoing loss of skeletal muscle mass that cannot be reversed by conventional nutritional support, leading to progressive functional impairment.2 Although the prevalence and severity vary across cancer types, cachexia occurs in the majority of patients with advanced oncological disease and is responsible for ∼ 20% of cancer deaths.3,4 The negative impact on functional capacity, quality of life, cancer treatment response, and prognosis in the oncology setting emphasizes the clinical importance of cachexia. Despite reductions in overall lean mass, most previous work has focused on the loss of skeletal muscle. Few studies have assessed effects of cachexia on non-skeletal muscle types, such as the myocardium. Also, whereas pre-clinical models have been developed to elucidate the underlying effects of cancer cachexia on skeletal muscle, there remains a paucity of human data to inform the development of effective therapies.5 Although there is clear evidence that cancer therapy can negatively impact cardiac muscle function,6 it is less clear if tumour growth alone is sufficient to cause either cardiac atrophy (similar to skeletal muscle wasting) or cardiac dysfunction. Springer and colleagues now add to a growing body of literature suggesting that tumours can lead specifically to atrophy and dysfunction of cardiac tissue.7 Furthermore, they show that these effects …
The Isolation of Nucleoli from Ungerminated Pea Embryos

A method is described for the isolation of nuclei and nucleoli from ungerminated pea embryos. Electron micrographs of the nucleolar preparation indicate a high degree of purity but only a partial preservation of composition, because of a loss of material from the nucleoli which occurs during the isolation procedure.
Recombinant Anti-Human HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) Fusion Protein Retains Antigen Specificity and Cytokine Function and Demonstrates Antitumor Activity

Anti-HER2/neu therapy of human HER2/neu-expressing malignancies such as breast cancer has shown only partial success in clinical trials. To expand the clinical potential of this approach, we have genetically engineered an anti-HER2/neu IgG3 fusion protein containing GM-CSF. Anti-HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) expressed in myeloma cells was correctly assembled and secreted. It was able to target HER2/neu-expressing cells and to support growth of a GM-CSF-dependent murine myeloid cell line, FDC-P1. The Ab fusion protein activated J774.2 macrophage cells so that they exhibit an enhanced cytotoxic activity and was comparable to the parental Ab in its ability to effect Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity-mediated tumor cell lysis. Pharmacokinetic studies showed that anti-HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) is stable in the blood. Interestingly, the half-life of anti-HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) depended on the injected dose with longer in vivo persistence observed at higher doses. Biodistribution studies showed that anti-HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) is mainly localized in the spleen. In addition, anti-HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) was able to target the HER2/neu-expressing murine tumor CT26-HER2/neu and enhance the immune response against the targeted Ag HER2/neu. Anti-HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) is able to enhance both Th1- and Th2-mediated immune responses and treatment with this Ab fusion protein resulted in significant retardation in the growth of s.c. CT26-HER2/neu tumors. Our results suggest that anti-HER2/neu IgG3-(GM-CSF) fusion protein is useful in the treatment of HER2/neu-expressing tumors.
Massive endocytosis driven by lipidic forces originating in the outer plasmalemmal monolayer: a new approach to membrane recycling and lipid domains.

The roles that lipids play in endocytosis are the subject of debate. Using electrical and imaging methods, we describe massive endocytosis (MEND) in baby hamster kidney (BHK) and HEK293 cells when the outer plasma membrane monolayer is perturbed by the nonionic detergents, Triton X-100 (TX100) and NP-40. Some alkane detergents, the amphipathic drugs, edelfosine and tamoxifen, and the phospholipase inhibitor, U73122, are also effective. Uptake of the membrane tracer, FM 4–64, into vesicles and loss of reversible FM 4–64 binding confirm that 40–75% of the cell surface is internalized. Ongoing MEND stops in 2–4 s when amphipaths are removed, and amphipaths are without effect from the cytoplasmic side. Thus, expansion of the outer monolayer is critical. As found for Ca-activated MEND, vesicles formed are 5 mM), MEND can reverse completely and be repeated multiple times in BHK and HEK293 cells, but not cardiac myocytes. Reversal is blocked by N -ethylmaleimide and a nitric oxide donor, nitroprusside. Constitutively expressed Na/Ca exchangers internalize roughly in proportion to surface membrane, whereas Na/K pump activities decrease over-proportionally. Sodium dodecyl sulfate and dodecylglucoside do not cause MEND during their application, but MEND occurs rapidly when they are removed. As monitored capacitively, the binding of these detergents decreases with MEND, whereas TX100 binding does not decrease. In summary, nonionic detergents can fractionate the plasma membrane in vivo, and vesicles formed connect immediately to physiological membrane-trafficking mechanisms. We suggest that lateral and transbilayer inhomogeneities of the plasma membrane provide potential energies that, when unbridled by triggers, can drive endocytosis by lipidic forces.
Mutations in the Coding Region of c-myc Occur Frequently in Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome-Associated Lymphomas

We have analyzed 30 cases of high- and intermediate-grade acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (AIDS-NHL) for mutations in the c-myc coding region. In addition, in these same tumors, we have sought the presence of mutations in a regulatory region within the first c-myc intron defined by the binding to a factor that inhibits c-myc transcription (MYC intron factor, or mif). Mutations in the c-myc coding region were present in 10 of 16 small noncleaved cell lymphoma (SNCL), but in only 3 of 14 other histologic subtypes tested (0/3 large non-cleaved cell, 2/8 immunoblastic, and 1/3 anaplastic large cell lymphomas). Nineteen of the AIDS-NHLs analyzed contained a c-myc rearrangement and in 10 of these the c-myc gene was mutated in its coding region. In contrast, we could detect a mutation in the coding region in only 2 of 8 AIDS-NHL without a c-myc rearrangement. Mutations in the mif region were detected in 5 of 16 SNCL. Among AIDS-NHL carrying mutations in the c-myc coding region, only 4 carried mutations in the regulatory region. These results suggest that the mutations in the coding region of the c-myc protein may either be a consequence of the translocations involving c-myc, or may be necessary only in tumors where c-myc is deregulated as a result of a c-myc/lg translocation.
Validation of self-reported complications by bone marrow transplantation survivors

Self-administered questionnaires are commonly used to measure exposures and outcomes in epidemiological research and thus need good validity. With increasing numbers of cancer survivors, there is interest in the ongoing assessment of therapy-related complications. A medical record validation of patient-reported complications following bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was performed using a self-administered questionnaire. The study population consisted of 100 patients who had undergone BMT at the City of Hope. The following self-reported complications were validated using medical records: ocular, endocrine, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, neurological, graft-versus-host disease, and subsequent cancers. Using information from medical records as the standard, sensitivities ranged from 52.9% for subsequent cancers to 100% for avascular necrosis and hypothyroidism. Specificities ranged from 75.4% for ocular complications to 100% for avascular necrosis. There was intermediate to excellent agreement (kappa = 0. 4-1.0) for all complications evaluated. Thus, the agreement between self-reporting and medical records was good for complications with clear diagnostic criteria that are easily communicated to the patient, but was diminished for complications with non-established diagnostic criteria (xerophthalmia) or a fluctuating course (peripheral neuropathies and hypertension). Overall these results suggest that cancer survivors can self-report serious complications with an acceptable level of accuracy in epidemiological research.
In vivo imaging of dendritic pruning in dentate granule cells

We longitudinally imaged the developing dendrites of adult-born mouse dentate granule cells (DGCs) in vivo and found that they underwent over-branching and pruning. Exposure to an enriched environment and constraint of dendritic growth by disrupting Wnt signaling led to increased branch addition and accelerated growth, which were, however, counteracted by earlier and more extensive pruning. Our results indicate that pruning is regulated in a homeostatic fashion to oppose excessive branching and promote a similar dendrite structure in DGCs.
Prediction of Damage Length of Fireproof Coating on Steel Members

In order to improve the fire resistance of steel structures,fireproof coating is commonly used on steel members.Fireproof coating is fragile and easily damaged by accidental impact.The interlaminar stress between steel plate and coating under external forces was analyzed through 3D and 2D models to predict the damage level of coating.The distribution of interlaminar normal stress and shear stress were obtained along the length and width of steel members.The models were validated by employing elastic theory method and a good agreement has been found.Two damage criteria,maximum stress and distortion energy,are introduced to predict the damage length of coating under moment and shear force.A parametric study was also performed on two factors which have effects on the damage length of coating.The study showed that 2D model is feasible and reliable to evaluate the interlaminar stress between coating and steel column.There is only minor difference in the damage length predictions by two criteria.The damage length increases with the increase of load ratio and coating depth.
Comparison of the methods of artificial insemination on the incidence of conception in single unmarried women

Objective To compare pregnancy rates after intrauterine insemination (IUI) versus pericervical insemination in absolute male factor infertility using each patient as her own control. Design Ovulatory women with patent fallopian tubes without male partners were alternately inseminated with cryopreserved donor semen using either IUI or pericervical insemination techniques. A total of 81 cycles, which included up to 4 cycles per patient were performed. In this manner a comparison between the efficacy of each method could be evaluated. Setting The donor insemination program at the Center For Assisted Reproduction at Northwestern University Medical School. Patients Twenty-six single, healthy, unmarried women with patent fallopian tubes and Main Outcome Measures Positive quantitative serum subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin followed by the presence of an intrauterine gestational sac seen by transvaginal ultrasonography. Results Fourteen (54%) of 26 patients conceived including two (14%) miscarriages within four insemination cycles. Seven (17.5%) patients after IUI, and 7 (17.1%) patients after pericervical insemination conceived. The pregnancy rates were similar regardless of the order of insemination method. Conclusion These findings reveal that there is no statistical difference in the pregnancy outcome between these two methods of insemination in absolute male factor infertility.
Performance bounds for robust decentralized control

We consider the decentralized output feedback control of stochastic linear systems, subject to robust linear constraints on both the state and input trajectories. For problems with partially nested information structures, we establish an upper bound on the minimum achievable cost by computing the optimal affine decentralized control policy as a solution to a finite-dimensional conic program. For problems with general (possibly nonclassical) information structures, we construct another finite-dimensional conic program whose optimal value stands as a lower bound on the minimum achievable cost. With this lower bound in hand, one can bound the suboptimality incurred by any feasible decentralized control policy. A study of a partially nested system reveals that affine policies can be close to optimal, even in the presence state/input constraints and non-Gaussian disturbances.
Clinical Effects of Gamma-Radiation-Resistant Aspergillus sydowii on Germ-Free Mice Immunologically Prone to Inflammatory Bowel Disease

We report and investigated a case of inadvertent contamination of 125 mice (housed in two germ-free positive-pressurized isolators) with emerging human and coral pathogen Aspergillus sydowii. The infected mice correspond to genetic line SAMP1/YitFc, which have 100% immune predisposition to develop Crohn’s disease-like spontaneous pathologies, namely, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Pathogen update based on a scoping review of the literature and our clinical observations and experimentation are discussed. The unwanted infection of germ-free mice (immunologically prone to suffer chronic inflammation) with human pathogen A. sydowii resulted in no overt signs of clinical disease over 3-week exposure period, or during DSS-induced colitis experiments. Results and observations suggest that A. sydowii alone has limited clinical effect in immunocompromised germ-free mice or that other commensal microbial flora is required for Aspergillus-associated disease to occur.
Multiple channel complexity: Conceptualization and measurement

Abstract Nowadays, to better serve their customers, many companies are using multiple channels with different levels of complexity. Although the literature agrees that it is a challenge to design and manage multiple channels for improved performance in today's circumstances, there are no empirically determined guidelines offered to achieve that goal. One contributing factor to this is the lack of a clear conceptualization of multiple channel complexity in the literature. With no such construct and measure, researchers are unable to conduct studies to understand variability in the complexity of multiple channels in practice and hence to draw normative conclusions for managers. In this work, drawing upon the vast organizational complexity literature, we provide a conceptual definition and a measure of multiple channel complexity. Our construct describes the structure of a multiple channel system with respect to three complexity dimensions: channel number; channel levels, and channel member variety. The data from 305 sales/marketing managers in the electronics industry support the validity of the construct as we observe that in highly uncertain environments having highly complex multiple channels in place improves company performance.
The Part-Time Cloud: Enabling Balanced Elasticity Between Diverse Computing Environments

Clouds, HPC clusters, HTC systems, and testbeds all serve different parts of the computing ecosystem: each are designed for different types of workloads and suited to different types of research and commercial users. We propose that an effective way to share resources among these diverse applications is to not shoehorn them all into the same resource management framework, but to partition a common hardware substrate among different frameworks: for example, to have part of a cluster managed by a cloud framework such as OpenStack, part of it managed by an HPC scheduler such as SLURM, etc. In order to efficiently manage such a shared resource, it must be possible to adjust the set of resources controlled by each in an elastic manner.While resource allocation and scheduling within each of these types of environments are well studied, what we consider in this paper is elasticity between them. Our goal is to enable each management framework to separately manage the resources currently within its own domain, scheduling jobs, VMs, etc. according to its own needs and policies. At the same time, the frameworks can coordinate with one another so that when resources must be moved between them, it can be done in the most fair and efficient manner possible. We evaluate our ideas using a prototype that shares resources between a testbed and an HPC cluster, and with simulations using real workload traces. We find that with only minimal information flow it is possible to elastically adjust resource assignments while each framework optimizes for its own internal criteria.
Child-bride marriage and female welfare

“Child-bride marriage”—the marriage of prepubescent girls to adult men—has well-known nefarious consequences for females in developing countries where such marriage is often practiced. To improve these outcomes, developing-world governments have adopted several policies aimed at raising female marriage age. This paper investigates the effects of these policies for females in developing countries where parents strongly prefer sons to daughters. I find that raising female marriage age in such countries may have the unintended consequence of increasing the prevalence of female infanticide and sex-selective abortion. Where parents strongly prefer sons to daughters, some parents seek to dispose of their unwanted daughters through child-bride marriage, female infanticide, or sex-selective abortion. By raising the cost of child-bride marriage relative to infanticide or abortion, policies that raise female marriage age induce such parents to substitute the latter disposal methods for the former. I evaluate one such policy in Haryana, India and find empirical support for this prediction. My analysis suggests that from the perspective of female welfare, child-bride marriage may be a second-best institution, or constrained optimum, in developing countries that exhibit strong son preference.
Addressing corrosion control and valve tuberculation in a water distribution system supplied by a silica-laden groundwater

AbstractMetal corrosion and valve tuberculation within a water distribution system supplied by groundwater containing 52 mg/L silica were studied using a corrosion test rack installed within a residence to determine the effectiveness of phosphate-based (PB) and silica-based (SB) corrosion inhibitor (CI). Results indicated that internal corrosion control based on the use of phosphate-based or silica-based CIs did not significantly decrease iron, lead, or copper corrosion rates, and in one case, caused a negative impact on copper corrosion rate. Evaluations of metal coupons using scanning electron microscopy, electron dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectrophotometry confirmed these findings. Since CI failed to reduce corrosion rates, valve tuberculation within the water system could not be controlled. Consequently, a valve replacement plan was developed in place of an internal corrosion control method using CIs. An opinion of probable replacement cost for 200 tuberculated valves approxim...
Harms of Restrictive Risk-Based Mammographic Breast Cancer Screening

OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to determine if restrictive risk-based mammographic screening could miss breast cancers that population-based screening could detect. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Through a retrospective search of records at a single institution, we identified 552 screen-detected breast cancers in 533 patients. All in situ and invasive breast cancers detected at screening between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2014, were included. Medical records were reviewed for history, pathology, cancer size, nodal status, breast density, and mammographic findings. Mammograms were interpreted by one of 14 breast imaging radiologists with 3–30 years of experience, all of whom were certified according to the Mammography Quality Standards Act. Patient ages ranged from 36 to 88 years (mean, 61 years). The breast cancer risks evaluated were family history of breast cancer and dense breast tissue. Positive family history was defined as a first-degree relative with breast cancer. Dense breast parenchym...
Antidepressants: The Blue-Chip Psychotropic for the Modern Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

356 J Clin Psychiatry 60:6, June 1999 BRAINSTORMS is a monthly section of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry aimed at providing updates of novel concepts emerging from the neurosciences that have relevance to the practicing psychiatrist. From the Clinical Neuroscience Research Center in San Diego and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego. Reprint requests to: Stephen M. Stahl, M.D., Ph.D., Editor, BRAINSTORMS, 8899 University Center Lane, Suite 130, San Diego, CA 92122. Antidepressants: The Blue-Chip Psychotropic for the Modern Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
Role of Cell-Mediated Enzymatic Degradation and Cytoskeletal Tension on Dynamic Changes in the Rheology of the Pericellular Region Prior to Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Motility.

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are encapsulated in synthetic matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) degradable poly(ethylene glycol)-peptide hydrogels to characterize cell-mediated degradation of the pericellular region using multiple particle tracking microrheology. The hydrogel scaffold is degraded by cell-secreted enzymes and cytoskeletal tension. We determine that cell-secreted enzymatic degradation is the main contributor to changes in the pericellular region, with cytoskeletal tension playing a minimal role. Measured degradation profiles for untreated and myosin II inhibited hMSCs have the highest cross-link density around the cell. We hypothesize that cells are also secreting tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) to inhibit MMPs, which allow cell spreading and attachment prior to motility. We develop a Michaelis–Menten competitive enzymatic inhibition model which accurately describes the degradation profile due to MMP–TIMP unbinding.
Circulating tumor cells as a surrogate for treatment response in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

318Background: The collection and enumeration of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are feasible in metastatic breast, prostate and colorectal cancers. CTCs have diagnostic, prognostic and treatment mo...
Towards Understanding Emotional Reactions of Driver-Passenger Dyads in Automated Driving

Automated driving has the potential to reduce the amount of fatal crashes, lighten the burden of commutes, and democratize mobility access to wider populations. But delegation of control to automation is not without issues. One of the foreseen drawbacks is that users might experience negative emotional reactions to unanticipated or unexplainable automated maneuvers. In this paper we present a novel method to induce targeted emotional reactions, frustration and startle, in simulated automated driving environments. We describe the data collection process for 17 driver - passenger dyads and discuss the data labelling method for generating reliable novel emotion datasets. This contribution is a foundational methodology towards expanding emotional understanding in automated vehicles, a critical skill for building long-term trusted experiences.
Depression, Immune Function, and Health in Older Adults

In summary, there are clearly significant immunological declines associated with depression, depressed mood, and stress. Unfortunately, these distress-related effects are magnified in elderly populations because the aging process itself contributes to downward change in immune function. The interaction of distress and aging leaves older adults open to physical health complications. Alterations of immune function have been linked to poorer vaccine response and slower wound healing time, as well as increased mortality and morbidity. These trends reveal greater risks for distressed older adults, who are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of immune decline.
Experimental Investigation of an Eddy-Current Bearing

An AC-electromagnetic bearing based on eddy-current repulsion has been built and tested. The bearing was found to be inherently stable and able to provide support in five degrees of freedom, i.e. a short rotor was fully supported by a single bearing without any feedback control. However, with the current design configuration, the load carrying capacity and the stiffness and damping are lower than for the conventional DC-electromagnetic bearing and the power consumption is higher. Experimental confirmation of the inherent bearing stability and the support capabilities was reported in an earlier paper. The current paper reports on the experimental investigation of two additional capabilities, namely motoring and emergency shutdown without catcher bearings. In addition, quantitative experimental results are presented by which the goodness of each of the bearing capabilities can be judged. Based on these results, design modifications are proposed for improving the bearing capabilities.
Corroboration, Extension, Complication

This chapter is principally a synopsis of the research into language factors in stuttering that was published subsequent to the S.F. Brown series. A few of these studies were reported within a short time of Brown’s last article (Brown, 1945), but the majority did not begin to appear until almost two decades later.
Political Institutions, Plausible Deniability, and the Decision to Hide Torture

To increase plausible deniability about torture, governments have increasingly turned to stealth techniques that do not scar the victim’s body. This study argues that democratic institutions provide leaders with different incentives with regard to the decision to hide torture. Because torture is often targeted at minorities, institutions that protect the majority — like contested elections — do not encourage leaders to prioritize plausible deniability. As such, states with elections engage in more scarring torture. Other institutions — like domestic courts — were created to protect minority rights. Leaders in states with powerful courts prefer plausible deniability of rights violations and consequently demonstrate higher levels of stealth torture. We find support for our hypotheses using new data from the Ill-Treatment and Torture (ITT) Data Collection Project that distinguish between Amnesty International (AI) allegations of scarring and stealth torture from 1995 to 2005.
Chronic Toxicity of 4-Nonylphenol to Two Unionid Mussels in Water-Only Exposures

Limited studies indicate that mussels are generally insensitive to organic chemicals; however, these studies were conducted in acute or short-term exposures, and little is known about the chronic sensitivity of mussels to organic chemicals. We evaluated the chronic (28 days) toxicity of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) to two commonly tested species of mussels: fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea) and rainbow mussel (Villosa iris). By the end of the 28 days chronic exposures, mean survival was ≥93% in all treatments, but the mean dry weight and biomass of mussels at the highest exposure concentrations were significantly reduced relative to the control. The 20% effect concentrations were similar between the two species. When compared to all other tested species, fatmucket and rainbow mussels are among the top four most sensitive species to 4-NP. However, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chronic water quality criterion of 6.6 μg 4-NP/L should protect the two mussel species.
A Portable Device Integrated with Aligned Carbon Nanotubes for Sensitive Virus Capture and Detection

Point-of-care virus diagnosis is highly desirable in worldwide infectious disease control. Here we report a hand-held device for capturing viruses by applying physical size based exclusion inside a point-of-care device integrated with vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) nanostructures to achieve label-free and high throughput virus capture. The microfluidic device is constructed from a VACNT channel wall synthesized bottom-up via chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The VACNT has ~117 nm average gap size and ~97& porosity. By bonding with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) cover sealing the top, the aqueous sample containing virus particles filter through the VACNT channel wall under negative pressure applied at the outlet end. We have demonstrated that the device is capable of filtering 50 μL of PBS containing ~6.3 × 104 counts of lentivirus particles in 10 minutes with 97& of capture efficiency, quantified by the cell infectious titration technique.
Structural, Hydraulic, and “Economic” Aspects of Leaf Venation and Shape

I would like to begin by outlining the relationships between the methods of this investigation and the central bionic hypothesis.
Systems Thinking and Green Chemistry: Powerful Levers for Curricular Change and Adoption

Curricular change within the chemistry curriculum is often difficult and slow, in part because there are numerous specific barriers to implementation. However, a larger issue is that the curriculum...
Essential Mathematics for Pharmacokinetics

The purpose of this chapter is to make certain that you have the required algebra skills to read and understand the next two chapters that are related to introductory pharmacokinetic theory. I have been using this chapter as an introductory single lecture for the course of pharmacokinetics followed by a 45-min exam for the last 3 years. It is verified that students who do not perform well in this chapter, do not perform well in the subject of pharmacokinetics.
Editorial Commentary: Fill It up: The Fate of "Absorbable" Implants.

Abstract Surgeons make conscious decisions daily regarding implants. But do they really know what happens in the body to “absorbable anchors?” How long does it take to resorb, and what fills the space left behind? Absorbable materials can be very different, and well-done studies are important to help us understand the process and to guide our decisions.
Parsing Early Modern English for Linguistic Search.

We investigate the question of whether advances in NLP over the last few years make it possible to vastly increase the size of data usable for research in historical syntax. This brings together many of the usual tools in NLP - word embeddings, tagging, and parsing - in the service of linguistic queries over automatically annotated corpora. We train a part-of-speech (POS) tagger and parser on a corpus of historical English, using ELMo embeddings trained over a billion words of similar text. The evaluation is based on the standard metrics, as well as on the accuracy of the query searches using the parsed data.
Promoting adoption of two-stage agricultural drainage ditches: A change agent perspective

Adoption of innovations, including adoption of conservation practices, is a topic of extensive scholarly enterprise. The diffusion of innovations literature has often examined the characteristics of three sets of variables: the adopter, the change agent, and the innovation. This literature clearly establishes the crucial role of change agents in promoting an innovation. However, what we don't know is what makes change agents want to promote a particular innovation. In this study, change agents' perceptions of the attributes of two-stage drainage ditches, an innovative agricultural drainage ditch design, are examined in order to understand what affects their willingness to promote them. Diffusion of innovation theory provides the conceptual grounding as well as the theoretical motivation for this study. The data for this study come from semi-structured interviews with 17 change agents. Results suggest that change agents perceive the relative advantage associated with two-stage ditches to be low, and that two-stage ditches might be perceived by potential adopters to be incompatible with the prevalent sociocultural beliefs about drainage ditch management. Results also indicate that change agents' perceptions of environmental benefits of adopting two-stage ditches affects their willingness to promote them. Results are more broadly informative about promoting conservation practices, and is relevant for both academicians and practitioners.
The status of menopause outpatient clinics in maternal and children health institutions and general hospitals in 11 provinces of China

Objective: To understand the status of menopause outpatient clinics in maternal and children health (MCH) institutions and general hospitals. Methods: A total of 314 health administrative departments, MCH health institutions and general hospitals in 11 provinces of China were enrolled by using multi-stage random sampling method. A self-made questionnaire was used to investigate the development of normative documents for menopausal health work, and the establishment, services, health resources, system and information management of menopause outpatient clinics. The current situation of menopause outpatient clinics in MCH institutions was compared with that in general hospitals. Results: All health administrative departments did not formulate normative documents for menopausal health care. Among MCH health institutions and general hospitals, 53.4% (111/208) established menopause outpatient clinic. About 60.9% (64/105) of MCH institutions established menopause outpatient clinic, which was higher than that of general hospitals [45.6% (47/103)] (P<0.05). From high priority to less, the services of menopause outpatient clinics were menopausal disease diagnosis and treatment, counseling, health education and disease referral. 90.1% (100/111) of menopause outpatient clinics provided routine medical examinations, and only 55.9% (62/111) and 59.5% (66/111) of them provide psychological and nutritional status assessment. The allocation rate of commonly used examination equipment in menopause outpatient clinics was 81.1%-96.4%, while only 28.8%-37.8% of them had psychological status assessment tool, human body composition analyzer and nutrition status assessment tool. Among 111 menopause outpatient clinics, 46.8% (n=52), 36.0% (n=40), and 34.2% (n=38) of them established outpatient consultation process, referral (consultation) work system, and follow-up work system, and 49.5% (n=55), 29.7% (n=33), 42.3% (n=47), and 17.1% (n=19) of them established visit registration, health records, follow-up records of referrals, and reported outpatient services, respectively. Conclusion: Menopause outpatient clinics in 11 provinces of China have been initially established, and policy guidance and human resources allocation should be further strengthened.
Effect of closed loop stimulation versus accelerometer on outcomes with cardiac resynchronization therapy: the CLASS trial.

Chronotropic incompetence (CI) in patients with heart failure is common and associated with impaired exercise intolerance and adverse outcomes. This study sought to determine the effects of closed loop stimulation (CLS) rate-adaptive pacing on functional capacity in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and CI implanted with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices. A randomized, blinded, cross-over designed trial enrolled patients with HFrEF and CI implanted with a Biotronik CRT-D to complete a quality of life questionnaire, 6-min walk distance (6MWD), and cardiopulmonary exercise testing after two programmed periods: 1-week period of CLS and 1-week period of standard accelerometer (DDDR). Nine patients (6 males, mean age 71.4 years, 7 with New York Heart Association Class III, mean ejection fraction 39 ± 8%) were enrolled. Quality of life trended higher in CLS as compared to DDDR (550.8 ± 123.9 vs 489.3 ± 164.9, p = 0.06). There were no differences between CLS and DDDR in 6MWD (293.1 ± 90.2 m vs 315.1 ± 95.5 m, p = 0.52), peak heart rate (HR) 110.7 ± 14.7 bpm vs 109.7 bpm ± 14.1, p = 0.67), or peak VO2 (12.3 ± 4.9 ml/kg/min vs 12.9 ± 5.9, p = 0.47). As tests were submaximal as indicated by low respiratory exchange ratios (0.98 ± 0.11 vs 1.0 ± 0.8, p = 0.35), VE/VCO2 slope also showed no difference between CLS and DDDR (35.8 ± 5.6 vs 35.4 ± 5.7, p = 0.65). Five patients (56%) preferred CLS programming (p = 1.0). In patients with HFrEF and CI implanted with a CRT-D, peak HR, peak VO2, and 6MWD were equivalent, while there was a trend toward improved quality of life in CLS as compared to DDDR. URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT02693262.
Supporting Student Wellness and Success through the LSU Libraries Relaxation Room

As students are increasingly overwhelmed with stress and anxiety, especially during exam weeks, it is important for libraries to demonstrate their impact on student wellness and success. While traditionally libraries have been focused on the educational aspects of student growth, it is important that as students’ needs have grown, libraries grow as well. One way LSU Libraries is doing this is through the creation of a Relaxation Room during exam weeks. The room not only helps provide outreach and engagement to students but it also helps with alleviating library anxiety as well as encouraging the idea of library as a place for community. By focusing on student’s needs, the library positions itself to be a community center on campus and a leader in helping to develop well-rounded students.
Direct Oral Anticoagulants Versus Warfarin in the Treatment of Left Ventricular Thrombus.

BackgroundUse of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for the treatment of left ventricular (LV) thrombus has gained considerable interest.ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate if DOACs are effective in the ...
Treatment of Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Elbow with BioCartilage

Osteochondritis dissecans can occur in multiple areas of the body; one of the areas that it is commonly seen is the capitellum of the elbow. This condition can cause pain while throwing in overhead athletes in addition to being nonresponsive at times to conservative management in the adolescent age group. When patients fail conservative management surgery is needed. Surgeons have treated this condition in a variety of ways over the years and recently biologics have been used to improve the cartilage formation in the capitellum. In this chapter, we describe a technique utilizing BioCartilage to treat osteochondritis dissecans of the elbow.
Modernity From Below: The Amalgamated Oriental Carpet Manufacturers, Ltd. of Izmir, 1907-1922

Turkish carpet making and marketing, a rapidly expanding niche in the world market in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, offers an excellent case study for modernity in a major Ottoman provincial urban center such as Izmir and its hinterland in western Anatolia. Representative of the changes that the city’s economy was undergoing was the Amalgamated Oriental Carpet Manufacturers Limited ( ocm), which included multiethnic and multiconfessional actors similar to the city’s business sector and general population, as well as dual nodes of administration in London and Izmir. This case study of ocm(and of its emulators) reveals the degree of modernity that Izmir’s business circles were capable of at the turn of the century, and their ability to put together a trust and strategize accordingly along similar lines as the trusts in Europe or the us.
Cognitive psychology in and out of the laboratory

Chapter 1 Cognitive Psychology: History, Methods, and Paradigms Chapter 2 The Brain: An Overview of Structure and Function Chapter 3 Perception: Recognizing Patterns and Objects Chapter 4 Attention: Deploying Cognitive Resources Chapter 5 Working Memory: Forming and Using New Memory Traces Chapter 6 Retrieving Memories from Long-Term Storage Chapter 7 Knowledge Representation: Storing and Organizing Information in Long-Term Memory Chapter 8 Visual Imagery and Spatial Cognition Chapter 9 Language Chapter 10 Thinking and Problem Solving Chapter 11 Reasoning and Decision Making Chapter 12 Cognitive Development Through Adolescence Chapter 13 Individual Differences in Cognition Chapter 14 Cognition in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Vitamin B1 in marine sediments: pore water concentration gradient drives benthic flux with potential biological implications.

Vitamin B1, or thiamin, can limit primary productivity in marine environments, however the major marine environmental sources of this essential coenzyme remain largely unknown. Vitamin B1 can only be produced by organisms that possess its complete synthesis pathway, while other organisms meet their cellular B1 quota by scavenging the coenzyme from exogenous sources. Due to high bacterial cell density and diversity, marine sediments could represent some of the highest concentrations of putative B1 producers, yet these environments have received little attention as a possible source of B1 to the overlying water column. Here we report the first dissolved pore water profiles of B1 measured in cores collected in two consecutive years from Santa Monica Basin, CA. Vitamin B1 concentrations were fairly consistent between the two years ranging from 30 pM up to 770 pM. A consistent maximum at ~5 cm sediment depth covaried with dissolved concentrations of iron. Pore water concentrations were higher than water column levels and represented some of the highest known environmental concentrations of B1 measured to date, (over two times higher than maximum water column concentrations) suggesting increased rates of cellular production and release within the sediments. A one dimensional diffusion-transport model applied to the B1 profile was used to estimate a diffusive benthic flux of ~0.7 nmol m 2 d-1. This is an estimated flux across the sediment-water interface in a deep sea basin; if similar magnitude B-vitamin fluxes occur in shallow coastal waters, benthic input could prove to be a significant B1-source to the water column and may play an important role in supplying this organic growth factor to auxotrophic primary producers.