cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ORIGINAL RESEARCH—SURGERY: A Surgical Algorithm for Men with Combined Peyronie's Disease and Erectile Dysfunction: Functional and Satisfaction Outcomes

ABSTRACT Introduction Men with Peyronie's disease who also have erectile dysfunction represent a challenge to the urologist. Historically, penile prosthesis surgery has been the management strategy of choice for this population. This study was undertaken to define the outcomes of a penile reconstructive surgery algorithm in men with Peyronie's disease and concomitant erectile dysfunction (ED). Methods Patients presenting with combined Peyronie's disease and erectile dysfunction were treated with vasoactive therapy initially. All patients underwent dynamic infusion cavernosometry and cavernosography. Nonresponders to erectogenic pharmacotherapy were advised to undergo penile prosthetic surgery. Responders to erectogenic therapy were considered candidates for either corporoplasty or plaque incision and grafting. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) questionnaire was used to compare erectile function and satisfaction profiles serially pre‐ and postoperatively between the patients in the three groups. Results Sixty‐two patients constituted the study population. Eighty‐one percent of the patients responded to erectogenic pharmacotherapy. Postoperative IIEF erectile function domain scores were statistically higher for implant patients and lower for plaque incision and grafting patients compared to preoperative scores. Postoperative IIEF satisfaction domain scores were higher for corporoplasty and implant patients and lower for plaque incision and grafting patients compared to preoperative scores. Conclusions The surgical algorithm used in this study leads to excellent IIEF erectile function and satisfaction scores for corporoplasty and implant patients; however, plaque incision and grafting patients had poor functional and satisfaction outcomes. These data support the concept that not all men with combined ED and Peyronie's disease require penile prosthetic surgery, and furthermore, plaque incision and grafting surgery is a poor option for men with combined disease.
Optical delay lines formed by circuits of spherical cavities with coupled whispering gallery modes

We propose a novel concept of optical delay lines where the tunable delay can be achieved by controlling the inter-resonator gap sizes in circuits of optically coupled microspheres.
Multiresidue Analysis of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics in Chicken Tissue Using Automated Microdialysis- Liquid Chromatography

An efficient procedure for the simultaneous extraction and analysis of six fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotics is developed using an automated microdialysis-liquid chromatographic (LC) system. In this method, samples extracted from chicken liver and muscle are further purified by microdialysis, separated on an LC column, and the FQs detected by their fluorescence. Recoveries from fortified chicken liver and muscle samples are at least 70% with limits of quantitation (microg/kg) for the FQs in liver (and muscle) as follows: 0.3 (0.4) for danofloxacin, 0.8 (0.2) for desethylene ciprofloxacin, 2 (1) for norfloxacin, 2 (0.8) for enrofloxacin, 3 (1) for ciprofloxacin, and 5 (2) for sarafloxacin. Enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin are determined in enrofloxacin-incurred chicken liver and muscle samples using this method.
Diurnal Covariation in Soil Heat Flux and Net Radiation

Abstract Diurnal variation in soil heat flux is a key constraint on the amount of energy available for sensible and latent heating of the lower troposphere. Many studies have demonstrated that soil heat flux G is strongly correlated with net radiation Rn. However, methods to parameterize G based on this relationship typically do not account for the dependency of G on soil properties and ignore asymmetry in the diurnal variation of G relative to Rn. In this paper, the diurnal behavior of G as a function of Rn is examined for sparse cover and bare soil conditions, focusing on patterns of diurnal variation as well as on the effects of soil moisture and soil type. To this end, information from field data is combined with simulations from a multilayer, diffusion-based soil model over a range of soil conditions and vegetation densities. The results show that a relatively simple function can be used to capture the first-order diurnal covariation between G and Rn. Within this framework, soil moisture exerts an im...
Finite volume hydromechanical simulation in porous media

Cell-centered finite volume methods are prevailing in numerical simulation of flow in porous media. However, due to the lack of cell-centered finite volume methods for mechanics, coupled flow and deformation is usually treated either by coupled finite-volume-finite element discretizations, or within a finite element setting. The former approach is unfavorable as it introduces two separate grid structures, while the latter approach loses the advantages of finite volume methods for the flow equation. Recently, we proposed a cell-centered finite volume method for elasticity. Herein, we explore the applicability of this novel method to provide a compatible finite volume discretization for coupled hydromechanic flows in porous media. We detail in particular the issue of coupling terms, and show how this is naturally handled. Furthermore, we observe how the cell-centered finite volume framework naturally allows for modeling fractured and fracturing porous media through internal boundary conditions. We support the discussion with a set of numerical examples: the convergence properties of the coupled scheme are first investigated; second, we illustrate the practical applicability of the method both for fractured and heterogeneous media.
VLSI implementation of a self-checking self-exercising memory system

A VLSI implementation of a design concept for a self-checking self-exercising (SCSE) memory system described by D. Rennels and S. Chau (see Proc. 16th Int. Symp. on Fault-Tolerant Computing p.358-63 (1986)) is presented. The design, which provides a way of detecting faults and correcting errors in RAMs within milliseconds while concurrently performing normal execution of programs, is reviewed. The approach is to add two parity bits to each row in the storage arrays of the RAM chips and to provide hardware scrubbing interleaved with normal program cycles. The RAM and MIBB (memory interface building block) chip designs, and some of the augmentations and changes required from the original conceptual design, are examined. The approach has been determined to be feasible, and the three-year design process has also demonstrated the large distance between a conceptual design and its realization. Errors and deficiencies were found in the original design and corrected, and new useful functions were identified and added. >
SMALL‐SCALE FUEL VARIATION ALTERS FIRE INTENSITY AND SHRUB ABUNDANCE IN A PINE SAVANNA

Small-scale variation in fire intensity and effects may be an important source of environmental heterogeneity in frequently burned plant communities. We hypothesized that variation in fire intensity resulting from local differences in fuel loads produces heterogeneity in pine savanna ground cover by altering shrub abundance. To test this hypothesis, we experimentally manipulated prefire fuel loads to mimic naturally occurring fuel-load heterogeneity associated with branch falls, needle fall near large pines, and animal disturbances in a frequently burned longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savanna in Louisiana, USA. We applied one of four fuel treatments (unaltered control, fine-fuel removal, fine-fuel addition, wood addition) to each of 540 (1-m2) quadrats prior to growing-season prescribed fires in each of two years (1999 and 2001). In both years fuel addition increased (and fuel removal decreased) fuel consumption and maximum fire temperatures relative to unaltered controls. Fuel addition, particularly wood, increased damage to shrubs, increased shrub mortality, and decreased resprout density relative to controls. We propose that local variation in fire intensity may contribute to maintenance of high species diversity in pine savannas by reducing shrub abundance and creating openings in an otherwise continuous ground cover.
Investigation of turbulence model and numerical scheme combinations for practical finite-volume large eddy simulations

Large eddy simulation (LES) is known to suffer from two primary error sources – the subgrid stress (SGS) model and the numerical discretization scheme. These cannot be separately quantified for finite-volume numerical simulations, but an appropriate combination can yield ‘engineering accurate’ prediction of turbulence dynamics. This paper seeks to evaluate combinations of commonly used second-order numerical schemes and Smagorinsky-type SGS models for practical LES. Error assessments are performed for isotropic decaying turbulence using both pseudospectral and finite-volume solvers, followed by validation for a complex turbulent flow of engineering interest. Error assessment using pseudospectral techniques is performed to isolate finite-differencing and modeling errors by explicitly adding numerical derivative error terms to the simulations. Error assessment using the finite-volume method focuses on identification of optimal model-discretization combinations for the best LES predictions using application ...
Kingston-Murray Enterprises

In this case, the senior financial analyst for Kingston-Murray Enterprises, must decide what funding technique to recommend to the company's chief financial officer.The firm's recent discoveries of gold and sulfur reserves have created a need for $500 million in operating cash. Because of the company's low credit rating and the high cost of borrowing, senior management has restricted the financing choices to either common stock or convertible bonds. The zero-coupon convertible under consideration is a LYON (liquid-yield option note). Before recommending whether to should issue LYONs, the analyst wants to understand the details of these subordinate, zero-coupon, callable, putable, convertible notes.
Association of Pepper with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Influences Populations of the Herbivore Frankliniella occidentalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Abstract The symbiosis of plants with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can improve crop growth by enhancing nutrient uptake and by increasing plant tolerance to certain pests. Pest populations also can be affected, but the effects of mycorrhizal colonization of plant hosts on species of thrips are unknown. We inoculated 2-week-old bell pepper seedling roots with a commercial mycorrhizal mixture of Glomus species (Glomales: Zygomycotina) and evaluated the effects 8 wks later on the bell pepper pest, western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande)). Females that were 10-days-old after adult emergence significantly preferred plants inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizae compared with noninoculated plants in a laboratory choice experiment. Their numbers were greater on inoculated plants 48 h after release into cages containing inoculated and noninoculated plants. A no-choice laboratory experiment compared performance of F. occidentalis on noninoculated and inoculated bell pepper plants. Females that ...
Bifurcation Trees of Period-1 Motion to Chaos in a Duffing Oscillator With Double-Well Potential

In this paper, periodic motions of a periodically forced Duffing oscillator with double-well potential are analytically predicted through implicit discrete mappings. The implicit discrete maps are obtained from discretization of differential equation of the Duffing oscillator. From mapping structures, bifurcation trees of periodic motions are predicted analytically, and the corresponding stability and bifurcation analysis are carried out through eigenvalue analysis. From the analytical prediction, numerical results of periodic motions are performed to verify the analytical prediction.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Room for a new generation.

Back in the 1980s, when I began my research on human aging, I believed that within the next few decades we would find a way to live 300 years with healthy minds and bodies. I optimistically planned to hold a professor position for about 30 years, retire for 5 years, go back to school for a fresh
William Dennis Hawkland: A Tribute

Laudatory remarks about Bill Hawkland. He is a man of many parts – legal scholar, legal educator and teacher, law school creator and administrator, and repository of all statistics relevant to the all-American game of baseball. He is a definitive authority in each of his fields.
Superlayer Test for Interfacial Fracture Toughness Measurements

Knowledge of the mode-mixity (?) dependent interfacial fracture toughness (Γ) is needed to predict the interface delamination and the component reliability of thin-film structures. Mode-mixity, ?, is a measure of the relative shearing to tensile opening of the interface crack near the tip. Typically, Γ increases as ? increases, such that the delamination is less likely when the loading on the interface is shear-dominated. The measurement of mode-mixity dependent Γ has been a challenge for thin film interfaces. The single-strip superlayer test, developed by the authors, eliminates the shortcomings of current testing methods. This test employs a stress-engineered superlayer to drive the interfacial delamination between the thin-film and the substrate. An innovative aspect of the proposed test is to introduce a release layer of varying width between the interested interfaces to control the amount of energy available for delamination propagation. By designing a decreasing area of the release layer, it is possible to arrest the interfacial delamination at a given location, and the interfacial fracture toughness or critical energy release rate can be found at the location where the delamination ceases to propagate. Design, preparation, and execution of the test are presented. Results are shown for Ti/Si interfaces of different mode mixities.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Direct photolysis of α-pinene ozonolysis secondary organic aerosol: effect on particle mass and peroxide content.

Primary and secondary organic aerosols (POA and SOA) contain a complex mixture of multifunctional chemicals, many of which are photolabile. Much of the previous work that aimed to understand the chemical evolution (aging) of POA and SOA has focused on the reactive uptake of gas-phase oxidants by particles. By stripping volatile compounds and ozone from α-pinene ozonolysis SOA with three 1-m-long denuders, and exposing the residual particles in a flow cell to near-ultraviolet (λ>300 nm) radiation, we find that condensed-phase photochemistry can induce significant changes in SOA particle size and chemical composition. The particle-bound organic peroxides, which are highly abundant in α-pinene ozonolysis SOA (22 ± 5% by weight), have an atmospheric photolysis lifetime of about 6 days at a 24-h average solar zenith angle (SZA) of 65° experienced at 34° latitude (Los Angeles) in the summer. In addition, the particle diameter shrinks 0.56% per day under these irradiation conditions as a result of the loss of vo...
Reducing Competition by Coordinating Solvent Promotes Morphological Control in Alternating Layer Growth of CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Quantum Dots

The formation of core/shell structures in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals is important in maintaining the spectroscopic properties of colloidal quantum dots (QDs) and defining new functions. When using selective ionic layer adhesion and reaction (SILAR)-based techniques, conversion of shell precursors to surface-adsorbed equivalents should be maximized for effective control of shell growth. In this work, we monitored precursor conversion and shell growth on CdSe QDs in the presence of three different amine solvents in an effort to increase the synthetic yield of shell growth. UV–vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy are applied to monitor shell growth. Photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy was applied to confirm the presence/absence of precursor nucleation. Additionally, during shell growth, the free precursor concentration was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and fit with a Langmuir isotherm-based model, which reveals the influence of the different solvents on ...
Compressive and Entrapment Neuropathies of the Lower Extremity

Lower extremity mononeuropathies are not as prevalent as those of the upper extremities. However, they may cause a diagnostic challenge since they are commonly confused with lumbosacral radiculopathies or, less often, lumbosacral plexopathies. This is particularly true in elderly patients where lumbosacral radiculopathies, due to lumbar spine disease, are common, and incorrect diagnoses may lead to unnecessary spine surgery. These nerve lesions are also debilitating since they often interfere with standing and walking and may results in falls. This chapter discusses in details the applied anatomy of lower extremity peripheral nerves and the clinical and electrodiagnostic aspects of lower extremity mononeuropathies.
Developmental manganese exposure in combination with developmental stress and iron deficiency: Effects on behavior and monoamines

Manganese (Mn) is an essential element but neurotoxic at higher exposures, however, Mn exposure seldom occurs in isolation. It often co-occurs in populations with inadequate dietary iron (Fe) and limited resources that result in stress. Subclinical FeD affects up to 15% of U.S. children and exacerbates Mn toxicity by increasing Mn bioavailability. Therefore, we investigated Mn overexposure (MnOE) in rats in combination with Fe deficiency (FeD) and developmental stress, for which we used barren cage rearing. For barren cage rearing (BAR), rats were housed in cages with a wire grid floor or standard bedding material (STD) from embryonic day (E)7 through postnatal day (P)28. For FeD, dams were fed a 90% Fe-deficient NIH-07 diet from E15 through P28. Within each litter, different offspring were treated with 100mg/kg Mn (MnOE) or vehicle (VEH) by gavage every other day from P4-28. Behavior was assessed at two ages and consisted of: open-field, anxiety tests, acoustic startle response (ASR) with prepulse inhibition (PPI), sociability, sucrose preference, tapered beam crossing, and the Porsolt's forced swim test. MnOE had main effects of decreasing activity, ASR, social preference, and social novelty. BAR and FeD transiently modified MnOE effects. BAR groups weighed less and showed decreased anxiety in the elevated zero maze, had increased ASR and decreased PPI, and exhibited reduced sucrose preference compared with the STD groups. FeD animals also weighed less and had increased slips on the tapered beam. Most of the monoamine effects were dopaminergic and occurred in the MnOE groups. The results showed that Mn is a pervasive developmental neurotoxin, the effects of which are modulated by FeD and/or BAR cage rearing.
The national state and the protection of ethnic minorities

Hannah Arendt argues that the creation of the “national minority” as a permanent institution – a modus vivendi between different ethnic groups living in the same territory – was one of the most unique initiatives introduced in the aftermath of World War I. While the fate of religious minorities had long been an international issue with countries that had a state religion, the political existence of national or ethnic minorities had never before been officially recognized by international institutions. So long as the states of Europe were conceived as either political/ economic institutions or as the territorial realm of a monarch or emperor, they remained separate from considerations of nationality. This did not change significantly even after the “age of nationalism” swept the continent. Ever since the end of the “great migrations” of the early Middle Ages, there had been relative stability in the composition of the populations within Western Europe. As a result, when these territories became states and later developed a concept of “nationality,” there was a fair degree of ethnic homogeneity within them, at least as “ethnicity” came to be defined in the West. At the same time, the vast prewar empires of central, eastern and southern Europe had been truly multinational, with no single ethnic group holding a majority. At its height, the Russians comprised only 44 percent of the Romanov empire, the Germans less than 37 percent of Austria-Hungary and the Magyars only 48 percent of the Hapsburg's Hungarian territories.
Polymyalgia rheumatica and risk of cerebrovascular accident: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Several chronic inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, have been linked to an increased risk of cerebrovascular accident (CVA), but the data on polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) remains unclear. Materials and Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies that reported odds ratio, relative risk, hazard ratio, or standardized incidence ratio comparing the risk of CVA in patients with PMR versus non-PMR controls. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird. Results: Three retrospective cohort studies and one cross-sectional study were identified and included in the data analysis. We found a significantly elevated CVA risk in patients with PMR, with the pooled risk ratio of 1.87 (95% CI, 1.43–2.43). The statistical heterogeneity was high, with an I2 of 91%. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated a statistically significantly increased CVA risk among patients with PMR.
Commonsense interpretation of Triangle behavior

The ability to infer intentions, emotions, and other unobservable psychological states from people's behavior is a hallmark of human social cognition, and an essential capability for future Artificial Intelligence systems. The commonsense theories of psychology and sociology necessary for such inferences have been a focus of logic-based knowledge representation research, but have been difficult to employ in robust automated reasoning architectures. In this paper we model behavior interpretation as a process of logical abduction, where the reasoning task is to identify the most probable set of assumptions that logically entail the observable behavior of others, given commonsense theories of psychology and sociology. We evaluate our approach using Triangle-COPA, a benchmark suite of 100 challenge problems based on an early social psychology experiment by Fritz Heider and Marianne Simmel. Commonsense knowledge of actions, social relationships, intentions, and emotions are encoded as defeasible axioms in first-order logic. We identify sets of assumptions that logically entail observed behaviors by backchaining with these axioms to a given depth, and order these sets by their joint probability assuming conditional independence. Our approach solves almost all (91) of the 100 questions in Triangle-COPA, and demonstrates a promising approach to robust behavior interpretation that integrates both logical and probabilistic reasoning.
Extending Models of Sensitive Parenting of Infants to Women at Risk for Perinatal Depression.

SYNOPSISObjective. Recognizing that not all mothers at risk for depression engage in insensitive parenting, this study examined predictors of individual differences in sensitive parenting of infants by mothers with histories of depression, who are at elevated risk for depression during the perinatal period. Design. We examined maternal personal characteristics, context, and early infant temperament as predictors of sensitive parenting. Seventy-six women with a history of major depression were followed through pregnancy and postpartum and observed during play and feeding interactions with their 12-month-old infants. Results. Maternal personal characteristics (recurrence of clinically significant depression symptom levels during pregnancy or postpartum and higher trait anxiety), context (lower social context and lower income), and early infant temperament (higher negative affectivity, surgency/extraversion, and orienting/regulation) are often associated with less sensitive parenting, with stronger and clear...
Misremembering emotion: Inductive category effects for complex emotional stimuli.

Memories of objects are biased toward what is typical of the category to which they belong. Prior research on memory for emotional facial expressions has demonstrated a bias towards an emotional expression prototype (e.g., slightly happy faces are remembered as happier). We investigate an alternate source of bias in memory for emotional expressions – the central tendency bias. The central tendency bias skews reconstruction of a memory trace towards the center of the distribution for a particular attribute. This bias has been attributed to a Bayesian combination of an imprecise memory for a particular object with prior information about its category. Until now, studies examining the central tendency bias have focused on simple stimuli. We extend this work to socially relevant, complex, emotional facial expressions. We morphed facial expressions on a continuum from sad to happy. Different ranges of emotion were used in four experiments in which participants viewed individual expressions and, after a variable delay, reproduced each face by adjusting a morph to match it. Estimates were biased toward the center of the presented stimulus range, and the bias increased at longer memory delays, consistent with the Bayesian prediction that as trace memory loses precision, category knowledge is given more weight. The central tendency effect persisted within and across emotion categories (sad, neutral, and happy). This article expands the scope of work on inductive category effects to memory for complex, emotional stimuli.
Elder Abuse Victims’ Access to Justice: Roles of the Civil, Criminal, and Judicial Systems in Preventing, Detecting, and Remedying Elder Abuse

Recent high-profile cases of elder abuse—including those involving New York City philanthropist Brooke Astor and entertainer Mickey Rooney—have drawn attention to the fact that the three components of the US justice system—civil, criminal, and judicial—have crucial roles in preventing, detecting, and remedying elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation (“elder abuse”). This chapter provides an overview and comparison of the goals of the civil justice and criminal justice systems, and then focuses on impediments that victims may face in accessing the three system components and the ways in which lawyers, judges, and allied professionals can protect older persons from elder abuse, make victims whole, and hold perpetrators accountable. This chapter also addresses ideas and promising practices for improving the justice system’s response to elder abuse, and the potential benefits of involving justice system professionals in efforts to enhance the response of other systems that are relevant to elder abuse victims. No matter the form or the setting of elder abuse, there is some purpose that one or more components of the justice system can serve.
Name It as a Sub-brand! Event Marketing from Brand Architecture Perspective: An Abstract

An emerging challenge for sport event organizers is to convince the city council to grant licenses for hosting events. One effective means is to empirically show how events could add value to the host city. Recent years have seen an increasing number of sport events that brand themselves through associating with a city brand. These events adopt the city name in the event name structure to establish the sub-brand—master brand relationship with the city brand. Based on the brand architecture framework, this study proposes a conceptual model to investigate the relationship between consumers’ perception of an event, as a sub-brand, and the image of a city, as the master brand, in the context of a regional sports event. Brand architecture is an organizing structure representing the relationship between brands in a brand portfolio (Aaker and Joachimsthaler, Calif Manage Rev 42(4):8–23, 2000). From a top-down perspective, researchers find that the image of the master brand could influence the extended brand (Volkner et al., J Serv Res 13(4):379–396, 2010). Yet it is important to investigate how image transfers from a bottom-up perspective since service brands are consumed at the sub-brand level.
Congenital Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism in Males: Clinical Features and Pathophysiology

Ever since the first detailed clinical description by Franz Kallmann, congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism has been recognized both clinically and genetically as a heterogeneous disease. There are two broadly recognized clinical forms of CHH: Kallmann syndrome (KS), characterized by CHH and anosmia, represents a syndromic phenotype resulting from joint developmental failure of the GnRH and olfactory systems whereas normosmic CHH (nCHH), i.e., those with a normal sense of smell, indict processes that impair GnRH secretion and/or action without discernible GnRH migratory defects. Reproductive features of CHH depend on the timing of the defect in GnRH deficiency and its severity. In addition, several non-reproductive features are also evident in some patients and relate to the developmental etiology of the condition and the genetic and cellular pathways that are defective. There is considerable phenotypic heterogeneity in the clinical presentation of CHH, and, in addition to the typical KS and nCHH presentations, several variant forms of CHH are recognized including fertile eunuch variant, adult-onset CHH, and, more recently, reversible forms of CHH, wherein CHH recovers in adulthood with the resumption of spontaneous hypothalamo-pituitary gonadal activity. The pathophysiology of CHH, the varied genetic causes of CHH, syndromic forms of CHH, and the clinical evaluation of CHH humans are extensively described in this chapter. Quite remarkably, despite the rarity of CHH, physiologic and genetic studies in CHH patients have begun to reveal several key insights into the regulation of GnRH neurons in humans. First, in keeping with the critical evolutionary role of the reproductive system in species survival, genetic studies of humans with CHH have revealed mutations in several novel genes that represent multi-tiered, overlapping genetic and cellular pathways that govern GnRH neuronal ontogeny. Moreover, in some cases, KS and nCHH occur within a single family sharing a similar genetic milieu suggesting that both variants of CHH represent part of a continuous spectrum of GnRH deficiency. In addition, there is an emerging evidence of oligogenicity, thus explaining the variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance seen within CHH families. Collectively, the phenotypic and genetic features of CHH patients represent a remarkable advancement of our collective understanding of the hypothalamic control of reproduction. However, despite this remarkable progress, the genetic basis of CHH is only known in ~40% of cases and it is clear that several key genes remain to be discovered. With the accelerating advances in next-generation sequencing and reducing costs, further novel genes will be discovered and this chapter will require additional updates.
Host response: Cross-fit T cells battle Zika virus.

Flaviviruses stimulate cross-reactive immune responses that may reduce or exacerbate manifestations of subsequent flavivirus infection. Recent work demonstrates that cross-reactive T cells protect against Zika in HLA transgenic mice, a key step in the development of safe and effective vaccines.
Spectral element method with geometric mesh for two-sided fractional differential equations

Solutions of two-sided fractional differential equations (FDEs) usually exhibit singularities at the both endpoints, so it can not be well approximated by a usual polynomial based method. Furthermore, the singular behaviors are usually not known a priori, making it difficult to construct special spectral methods tailored for given singularities. We construct a spectral element approximation with geometric mesh, describe its efficient implementation, and derive corresponding error estimates. We also present ample numerical examples to validate our error analysis.
Dual-route targeted vaccine protects efficiently against botulinum neurotoxin A complex.

Clostridium botulinum readily persists in the soil and secretes life-threatening botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) that are categorized into serotypes A to H, of which, serotype A (BoNT/A) is the most commonly occurring in nature. An efficacious vaccine with high longevity against BoNT intoxication is urgent. Herein, we developed a dual-route vaccine administered over four consecutive weeks by mucosal and parenteral routes, consisting of the heavy chain (Hc) of BoNT/A targeting dendritic cell peptide (DCpep) expressed by Lactobacillus acidophilus as a secretory immunogenic protein. The administered dual-route vaccine elicited robust and long-lasting memory B cell responses comprising germinal center (GC) B cells and follicular T cells (Tfh) that fully protected mice from lethal oral BoNT/A fatal intoxication. Additionally, passively transferring neutralizing antibodies against BoNT/A into naive mice induced robust protection against BoNT/A lethal intoxication. Together, a targeted vaccine employing local and systemic administrative routes may represent a novel formulation eliciting protective B cell responses with remarkable longevity against threatening biologic agents such as BoNTs.
Synthesis and Computational Studies Demonstrate the Utility of an Intramolecular Styryl Diels–Alder Reaction and Di-t-butylhydroxytoluene Assisted [1,3]-Shift to Construct Anticancer dl-Deoxypodophyllotoxin

Deoxypodophyllotoxin is a secondary metabolite lignan possessing potent anticancer activity with potential as a precursor for known anticancer drugs, but its use is limited by scarcity from natural sources. We here report the total synthesis of racemic deoxypodophyllotoxin in seven steps using an intramolecular styryl Diels–Alder reaction strategy uniquely suited to assemble the deoxypodophyllotoxin core. Density functional theory was used to analyze concerted, polar, and singlet-open-shell diradical reaction pathways, which identified a low-energy concerted [4 + 2] Diels–Alder pathway followed by a faster di-t-butylhydroxytoluene assisted [1,3]-formal hydrogen shift.
Immunomodulatory Drugs and Monoclonal Antibodies

Autoimmune disorders result for either congenital or acquired defects in central or peripheral immune tolerance. A genetic propensity may underlie the development of most such disorders, but an external trigger may be required for the eventual development of the autoimmune disease. The development of pharmacologic agents to treat such disorders by inducing self-tolerance has progressed over the last 60 years. Historically termed immunosuppressive agents, it is now understood that they may modulate the immune system varied and unexpected ways. While many of the original immune-modulatory agents were cytotoxic drugs developed to treat lymphoid and myeloid malignancies, newer agents target specific immune cell populations, immune signaling pathways, immune cellular trafficking, and signaling molecules such as chemokines and cytokines. In particular, monoclonal antibodies that inhibit cytokine or cytokine receptors have become important immune-modulating agents in autoimmune disease.
Limitations and corrections in measuring structural dynamics

This work deals with limitations encountered in measuring the dynamic characteristics of structural systems. Structural loading and response are measured by transducers that are characterized by multiple resonant frequencies where peaks occur in the magnification factor of their transfer function. The transfer function of a transducer is the ratio of the Fourier transform of its output to the Fourier transform of the input causing that output. The magnification factor of the transfer function of a transducer is the factor by which its zero-frequency response must be multiplied to determine the magnitude of its steady-state response at any given frequency. The presence of multiple peaks in the transfer function of a transducer indicates a potential for problems when the transducer responds to a transient stimulus. The problem is more severe if the stimulus contains significant amplitude at frequencies near these peaks; distortion of the recorded signal will occur. If the transfer function of the transducer is completely characterized, data distortion can be corrected by an inverse treatment. This inverse problem consists of determining the corresponding excitation associated with a particular system model and a given response. Even though measurement difficulties encountered when using transducers with multiple resonant peaks are not generally solvable by an inverse treatment, procedures are described in this work which can be applied on a frequency-selective basis to acquire valid data.
Building a paperless service: making the internship connection

Central Ridge University1 (CRU) is a large, research-oriented university composed of 10 major colleges, connecting over 15 branch campuses, and offering various continuing, distance, outreach and executive programs. One of the major colleges of CRU is The College of Business Administration (CBA). CBA maintains an optional internship program for its undergraduate and MBA populations. CBA strongly recommends its students to experience the corporate world by doing an internship before their graduation. Also, CBA students seek the internship experience to complement their academic courses. The Internship Office of CBA is charged with the responsibility of facilitating studentsâ€™ contacts with corporate clients. In order to do so, the office must gather, record, and disseminate information to students and to corporations. In addition, the information must be kept private, accurate, and comprehensive. Typical information processes existing in the Internship Office relied heavily on paper entries, paper duplication, and mailings. However, in the Internship Office, the use of technology was lagging. An end-user within the Internship Office was enlisted to develop an information technology solution to the paper-intensive tasks of the office. Issues of the case study include (1) the organizational behavior issues to overcome when implementing information technology even in an enthusiastic and sympathetic organization, (2) the difficulties in defining a system by an end-user even a sophisticated one, and (3) the obstacles of implementing a satisfactory system under tight time and security constraints even with the cooperation of a systems department.
The regulation of limb stiffness in the context of locomotor tasks.

Locomotion on ramped surfaces requires modulation of both pattern-generating circuits and limb stiffness. To meet the mechanical demands of locomotion under these conditions, muscular activation patterns must correspond to the appropriate functions, whether the muscles are serving as force generators or brakes. Limb stiffness is a critical mechanical property that determines how the body interacts with the environment, and is regulated by both intrinsic and neural mechanisms. We have recently investigated how pattern generation, stiffness, and proprioceptive feedback are modulated in a task-specific way using the decerebrate cat preparation. Our results confirm previous research using intact animals that during level and upslope walking, hip and ankle extensors are recruited for propulsion during stance. During downslope walking, hip extensors are inhibited and hip flexors are recruited during stance to provide the needed braking action. Our new data further show that endpoint stiffness of the limb is correspondingly reduced for walking down a slope, and that the reduction in stiffness is likely due to an increase in inhibitory force feedback. Our results further suggest that a body orientation signal derived from vestibular and neck proprioceptive information is responsible for the required muscular activation patterns as well as a reduction in limb stiffness. This increased compliance is consistent with the function of the distal limb to cushion the impact during the braking action of the antigravity musculature.
Consequences of modeling on tire development

Publisher Summary The wear-life of the products on the road is ever increasing; at the same time, the development delays are reduced and more severe usage conditions arise. Thus, products and lower costs need to be improved: such are the technical challenges of tire product research and development. The tire is a continuously improving technical product. Regulation has had a positive influence by setting a faster pace for product improvements, particularly in the areas of noise and endurance. Large deformations and rotations that characterize rubber materials, the complexity of tire constituents' behavior, very low compressibility, nonlinearities because of contact, heavily degrade structural calculation conditioning so that it is important to carefully choose material constitutive models as well as boundary conditions. Specific algorithms that can be adapted for these stiff nonlinear problems are needed.
Sharpness-based correction methods in holographic aperture ladar (HAL)

Turbulence mitigation has long been a challenge in long-distance imaging systems. Holographic aperture ladar (HAL), a multiwavelength spatio-temporal heterodyne 3D imaging modality, is also vulnerable to the deleterious effects of volumetric turbulence along the path of propagation. In this work, we develop a sharpness-maximization turbulence mitigation algorithm using a single phase plane approximation to volumetric turbulence. We show preliminary results that simulated HAL fields aberrated by a single turbulent phase screen, coincident with the pupil, are well corrected using this sharpness-maximization algorithm for turbulence profiles with D/r0 values of up to 50.
Cell-specific Retention and Action of Pheophorbide-based Photosensitizers in Human Lung Cancer Cells.

This study determined in primary cultures of human lung cancer cells the cell specificity of chlorin-based photosensitizers. Epithelial cells (ECs) preferentially retained 3-[1-hexyloxyethyl]-2-devinylpyropheophorbide-a (HPPH) and related structural variants. Tumor-associated fibroblasts (Fb) differ from EC by a higher efflux rate of HPPH. Immunoblot analyses indicated dimerization of STAT3 as a reliable biomarker of the photoreaction. Compared to mitochondria/ER-localized photoreaction by HPPH, the photoreaction by lysosomally targeted HPPH-lactose showed a trend toward lower STAT3 cross-linking. Lethal consequence of the photoreaction differed between EC and Fb with the latter cells being more resistant. A survey of lung tumor cases indicated a large quantitative range by which EC retains HPPH. The specificity of HPPH retention defined in vitro could be confirmed in vivo in selected cases grown as xenografts. HPPH retention as a function of the tetrapyrrole structure was evaluated by altering side groups on the porphyrin macrocycle. The presence or absence of a carboxylic acid at position 172 proved to be critical. A benzyl group at position 20 enhanced retention in a subset of cancer cells with low HPPH binding. This study indicated experimental tools that are potentially effective in defining the photosensitizer preference and application for individual patient's cancer lesions.
Knowledge Flow as a Metaphor? A grounded theory of information and knowledge networks

Knowledge flow is a construct in applied economics, strategy, sociology, and management of innovation. Research on knowledge flow has been conducted at different levels of analysis because of their...
Reliability and validity of three versions of the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale in patients with systemic sclerosis: A Scleroderma Patient-Centered Intervention Network Cohort study

Objective Fear of negative evaluation is a common concern among individuals with visible differences but has received limited attention in systemic sclerosis (SSc), which can involve substantial changes to appearance. The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE) was specifically designed to evaluate fear of negative evaluation. There are currently 3 versions of the BFNE with strong demonstrated measurement properties: two 8-item versions (BFNE-S, BFNE-8) and one 12-item version (BFNE-II). The present study evaluated these versions in SSc, and identified the most appropriate version for use among SSc patients. Methods Participants were 1,010 patients with SSc enrolled in the Scleroderma Patient-Centered Intervention Network cohort. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, and Pearson's product-moment correlations were used to evaluate structural validity, internal consistency reliability, and convergent and divergent validity, respectively. Results Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that 1-factor models fit acceptably well for the 12-item BFNE-II, the 8-item BFNE-S, and the 8-item BFNE-8. Additionally, all Cronbach's alphas demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability (BFNE-II = 0.98, BFNE-S = 0.97, BFNE-8 = 0.96), and all versions had comparable associations with measures of social anxiety, body-related attitudes, depression, age, and education. Conclusion Psychometric support was found for all 3 versions of the BFNE, although the longer 12-item BFNE-II did not improve measurement compared to the shorter 8-item versions (BFNE-S and BFNE-8). Of these 2, the BFNE-S has been more widely studied, with strong validity data in a greater number of populations. Therefore, the BFNE-S is recommended to assess fear of negative evaluation among patients with SSc.
Factors affecting graduating nurses' nutritional knowledge: implications for continuing education

Nurses over 25 years of age and with more than 10 years of health-related work experience scored highest when tested for nutritional knowledge in a study of 129 midwestern graduating nurses. Significant differences (F [2, 128] = 5.8, p = .02) were revealed between nurses with 16 or more hours of clinical practice per week in comparison to those nurses with less than 16 hours of clinical practice per week. Cultural nutrition content was the area in which graduating nurses scored the lowest while food and nutrition policies/regulations was the area with which nurses were most familiar. These results have implications for hiring graduating nurses who will need the necessary nutritional care skills to provide quality nursing care today.
Editorial: Evaluating the Clinical and Financial Outcomes of Implementing Dialectical Behavior Therapy on a Psychiatric Inpatient Unit: A Change in Practice and Culture.

Applying and evaluating evidence-based treatments (EBTs) across the mental health care continuum continues to gain support and cultivate strategies for development, training, implementation, and evaluation.1 However, there is a disconnect between science and practice, resulting in limited implementation of EBTs in real-world clinical settings, such as outpatient care, partial hospitalization programs, intensive outpatient programs, psychiatric inpatient hospitalization, and residential care. Although some EBTs and associated interventions have been evaluated in outpatient settings, few have been evaluated in acute and intense treatment settings (eg, partial hospitalization programs, inpatient hospitalization).
Hot Carrier Solar Cells based on Inter-Valley Phonon Scattering: A New Approach towards a Practical Solution

Here, a new approach to extract hot carriers and circumvent the thermalization losses in single energy gap solar cells is introduced. Specifically, it is proposed to harness the properties of metastable satellite valleys in the conduction band via enhanced inter-valley carrier scattering, which inhibits and subsequently facilitates hot carrier extraction. Two established III-V systems are proposed to demonstrate the potential of this protocol and provide a route to the long-sought hot carrier solar cell under standard AM 1.5G conditions