cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A flexible processor for a digital adaptive array radar

A digital beamforming processor for an adaptive array radar is described. The functionality and the architecture of the processor are strongly driven by a goal of achieving adaptive null depths in the 60-dB to 70-dB range, which necessitates substantial preprocessing of each channel. In particular, conversion to baseband quadrature channels is accomplished digitally using a single A/D converter per channel, and FIR (finite impulse response) equalizing filters are employed in each channel to match channel transfer functions. The processor is highly modular, and this not only distributes the total processing load, but also the I/O (input/output) bandwidth requirement. This is accomplished by distributing the adaptive beamforming algorithm systolically across a linear array of processing nodes. The processor is expandable to a different number of channels and sufficiently flexible to be applied to other problems of an array signal processing nature. Experimental data presented demonstrate that the processor is capable of supporting channel-to-channel cancellation of interfering signals to the level of -65 dB. >
A linear bicharacteristic FDTD method

The linear bicharacteristic scheme (LBS) is a classical leapfrog algorithm, but is combined with upwind bias in the spatial derivatives. This approach preserves the time-reversibility of the leapfrog algorithm, which results in no dissipation, and it permits more flexibility by the ability to adopt a characteristic based method. The use of characteristic variables allows the LBS to treat the outer computational boundaries naturally using the exact compatibility equations. The LBS offers a central storage approach with lower dispersion than the Yee algorithm, plus it generalizes much easier to nonuniform grids. It has previously been applied to two and three-dimensional free-space electromagnetic propagation and scattering problems. This paper extends the LBS to model lossy dielectric and magnetic materials. Results are presented for several one-dimensional model problems, and the FDTD algorithm is chosen as a convenient reference for comparison.
A Contractarian Defense of Corporate Philanthropy

Statutory and case law make it clear that corporate officers and directors have very wide discretion to direct reasonable amounts of corporate resources toward artistic, educational, and humanitarian causes, even if those causes have only a remote connection (or no obvious connection at all) to the business goals and profitability of the firm. This stance of the law has been defended primarily by reference to an "entity" theory of the firm. By contrast, contractarian legal scholars, who view the corporation in terms of a principal-agent model, with shareholders as principles, and officers and directors as their agents, have argued that corporate giving, if it is permitted at all, should be strictly limited to those situations in which the benefit to the firm in the form of higher expected profits is clear and compelling. This paper provides an alternative defense of managerial discretion with respect to corporate philanthropy that embraces contractarian reasoning but follows that reasoning to a different conclusion. The argument uses a "team production" model to make the case that the mutual "contract" that corporate participants enter into requires granting directors very wide discretion in making decisions about the use of corporate assets, including discretion to use corporate assets for philanthropic causes or charitable causes.
mRNA and Translation

I. INTRODUCTION The process of gene expression, during which the nucleotide sequence of a gene is converted to the amino acid sequence of a protein, is long and tortuous. An expressed gene must be transcribed, its pre-mRNA must be capped, polyadenylated, spliced, and transported to the cytoplasm, and the mature mRNA must be loaded onto polysomes and faithfully translated. In principle, gene expression can be regulated by modulating any of these molecularly complex steps. Indeed, examples of biological regulation occurring at each of these steps have been described in various organisms. We focus in this chapter on translation and translational regulation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Recent work with several C. elegans genes demonstrates that the level, timing, and pattern of gene expression can be regulated at the level of translation by elements contained within a messenger RNA’s 3′-untranslated region (3′ UTR). We also review the genetic and molecular effects of mutations that affect the translational apparatus itself. By altering the mechanics of translation, such mutations can influence the phenotypic consequences of mutations in many different genes. II. THE TRANSLATIONAL APPARATUS A. Cytoplasmic Translation Many components of the translational apparatus have been identified and studied, including ribosomal RNAs and the ribosomal DNA repeat (Sulston and Brenner 1974; Files and Hirsh 1981; Albertson 1984a; Ellis et al. 1986); 5S rRNA and the 5S rDNA repeat (Kumazaki et al. 1982; Nelson and Honda 1985, 1986); ribosomal proteins L29, L21, L35, L37, S9, and S16 (Bektesh et al. 1988; Wilson et al. 1994; Zorio et...
How Often Are Parents Counseled About Family Planning During Pediatric Visits? Results of a Nationally Representative Sample

Abstract Objective Maternal family planning plays an important role in child, maternal, and family health; children's health care providers are in a unique position to counsel adult caregivers regarding contraception and appropriate birth spacing. We sought to determine the prevalence of caregiver family planning counseling by children's health care providers during preventive care visits for infants and young children. Methods Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2009 to 2012 as well as National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2009 to 2011 were analyzed to determine the weighted frequency of family planning/contraception counseling provided during preventive, primary care visits for children younger than the age of 2 years. Results Family planning/contraception counseling or education was documented in only 16 of 4261 preventive care visits in primary care settings for children younger than the age of 2 years, corresponding to 0.30% (95% confidence interval, −0.08% to 0.68%) of visits nationally. Similar frequencies were calculated for preventive visits with children younger than 1 year and with infants younger than 60 days of age. Conclusions Despite Bright Futures' recommendations for children's health care providers to address caregiver family planning during well infant visits, documented counseling is rare. The results indicate that there are missed opportunities to promote family health in the pediatric setting.
Correlation and Prediction of Water Content in Alkanes Using a Molecular Theory

We present a predictive model for the saturated water concentration in n-alkanes based on a theoretical equation of state for the hydrocarbon rich phase and a water equation of state for the aqueous phase. By considering a polar or associating component at low concentration in a nonpolar solvent, we can neglect polar or hydrogen bonding interactions in the hydrocarbon rich phase, thus reducing the number of fitted parameters. The approach allows us to determine the intrinsic pure component equation of state parameters independent of polar and associating interactions. As an example, the nonpolar, non-associating equation of state parameters for water are determined by fitting water solubility data in liquid hydrocarbons (carbon numbers (CN) = 4–13, 16) at ambient conditions. Using the PC-SAFT equation of state, a predictive model for the solubility of water in n-alkanes is produced. Comparisons of the model are presented with binary mixture experimental data for methane to decane across a wide range of co...
Improved Ventricular Function after TEE‐guided Cardioversion of Atrial Arrhythmias in Patients after the Fontan Operation

Objective Atrial tachyarrhythmias frequently develop after the Fontan operation. Patients with Fontan physiology rely on atrial contribution to cardiac output, and thus control of atrial arrhythmias is important. Outcomes after cardioversion in patients after Fontan have not been reported. We sought to determine if cardioversion results in improved echocardiographic parameters or clinical symptomatology; and, discern risk factors for arrhythmia recurrence. Design We retrospectively analyzed the Mayo Clinic echocardiographic database to capture patients after the Fontan operation who underwent transesophageal echocardiography–guided electrical cardioversion from 2000–2015. Clinical and echocardiographic data were collected and compared at baseline and follow-up. Results Eight hundred ninety patients with prior Fontan operation underwent echocardiographic evaluation; 341 (38%) developed atrial arrhythmias. Thirty-six patients [20 males, median age 29 (12–51)] underwent transesophageal echocardiography–guided cardioversion of atrial arrhythmias [atrial flutter/intraatrial reentrant tachycardia (75%); atrial fibrillation (25%)]. At follow-up, improvements were noted in ejection fraction by 10% (P < .0001); atrioventricular valve regurgitation grade (39%) (P = .002); New York Heart Association (NYHA) class (61%) (P < .001); and resolution of spontaneous echo contrast in the Fontan circuit (65%) (P < .01). No embolic events occurred following cardioversion. Eighteen patients (50%) developed recurrent atrial arrhythmias at 15 (3–36) months after cardioversion. Five-year freedom from arrhythmia recurrence was 61%. Significant univariate predictors of arrhythmia recurrence were atrial flutter/intraatrial reentrant tachycardia (HR = 4.3, P = .02); NYHA ≥ II (HR = 4.1, P = .03); systemic right ventricle (HR = 5.2; P = .02); and ejection fraction ≤ 40% (HR = 2.8; P = .04). On multivariate analysis, only systemic right ventricle (HR = 3.7; P = .02) remained an independent predictor of arrhythmia recurrence. Conclusion After the Fontan operation, cardioversion of atrial arrhythmias improves ventricular function, atrioventricular valve regurgitation grade, and NYHA class. Arrhythmia recurrence was common and patients with atrial flutter/intraatrial reentrant tachycardia, systemic right ventricle, or reduced ventricular function may be at risk of arrhythmia recurrence. Further studies are required to identify additional risk factors and protective factors for arrhythmia recurrence.
Molecular dynamics of the Diels-Alder reactions of tetrazines with alkenes and N2 extrusions from adducts.

The cycloadditions of tetrazines with cyclopropenes and other strained alkenes have become among the most valuable bioorthogonal reactions. These reactions lead to bicyclic Diels–Alder adducts that spontaneously lose N2. We report quantum mechanical (QM) and quasiclassical trajectory simulations on a number of these reactions, with special attention to stereoelectronic and dynamic effects on spontaneous N2 loss from these adducts. QM calculations show that the barrier to N2 loss is low, and molecular dynamics calculations show that the intermediate is frequently bypassed dynamically. There is a large preference for N2 loss anti to the cyclopropane moiety rather than syn from adducts formed from reactions with cyclopropenes. This is explained by the interactions of the Walsh orbitals of the cyclopropane group with the breaking C–N bonds in N2 loss. Dynamical effects opposing the QM preferences have also been discovered involving the coupling of vibrations associated with the formation of the new C–C bonds ...
Effects of Erythromycin, Fermacto-500, Herring Fish Meal and Taurine in Diets of Young Turkeys

Abstract Two experiments involving a total of 864 turkeys divided into 96 pens were conducted to determine the primary and interaction effects of adding erythromycin, Fermacto-500, herring fish meal and taurine to diets of young Medium White turkeys on their body weight, feed consumption and feed efficiency from one day to eight weeks of age. In each experiment, 24 diets in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of variables were each fed to 9 males and 9 females. Body weights at eight weeks of age were increased 8.1 percent by the addition of 22 p.p.m. erythromycin thiocyanate, 10.1 percent by the addition of 0.25 percent Fermacto-500, and 8.1 percent by the addition of both factors to the diets without an added antibiotic. Similar interactions in feed consumption and feed efficiency data were observed. Bacteriological tests showed that erythromycin thiocyanate is not present in Fermacto-500 or is not present in sufficient amounts to produce a growth response. These data suggest that a potent metabolite which stimulates growth such as a vitamin or another antibiotic similar to erythromycin is present in the Fermacto-500. The addition of 5 percent herring fish meal to the diets increased body weight by 5.9 percent, feed consumption by 3.4 percent and feed efficiency by 2.5 percent. Taurine, which was added at 25 and 250 p.p.m. to the diets, failed to affect significantly any of these measurements.
Effects of soil temperature and moisture on soil respiration in a poplar plantation in Daxing district, Beijing

Continuous half-hourly measurements of soil CO2 efflux with Li-Cor-8150 in a polar plantation in Daxing District of Beijing between January and December 2007 were made to investigate the seasonal and diurnal dependence of soil respiration (RS) on soil temperature (TS) and water content (w). The results showed: (1) The diurnal variation of RS was described as a single-peak curve, high during daytime and low during night. RS was low during the non-growing season, but it increased from May and reached the maximum in August. (2) TS was the main factor that influences RS. An exponential model explained 69% of the annual RS variation. In a low temperature environment (0 ℃) , RS decreased with the increase in TS. There was a positive correlatation between Rs and TS when Ts 0 ℃. Rs increased ed at first and then decreased with the increase of w 。 A cubic model indicated that w contributed 33% of the variation of Rs. The contribution increased to 51% when w waslower than 9.5%. TS was also an important factor to RS. (3) The influences of w and TS a on RS acted together. Rs responded to TS differently under different w conditions. The R2 of the exponential model between RS and TS reached 0.86 with w was the range of 4%-10%,; when w was too high or too low, the influence of TS was relatively weakened, while the effect of w was relatively strengthened. We conclude that the sensitivity of RS was affected by w and TS in a non-linear fashion and could not be described by a exponential function. This study suggest multiple functions are needed to describe the complex relationship between Rs and environmental factors.
Evaluation of the relative validity of a Web-based food frequency questionnaire used to assess Soy Isoflavones and nutrient intake in adolescents

Dietary assessment during adolescence is crucial in determining how adolescents’ consumption habits potentially affect current and long-term health. However, assessment methods for adolescents need to be relevant to their emerging technological culture. We developed a web-based food frequency questionnaire (webFFQ) to assess the habitual soy isoflavones and nutrient intake of adolescents. Our purpose was to validate this webFFQ against multiple 1-day photograph-assisted food records (FR). Adolescents aged 12–18 years (n = 70) attending middle and high schools completed the webFFQ and provided six 1-day FR. Fifteen participants were excluded due to improbable energy intake. Statistical agreements were determined using Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, Pearson’s bivariate correlations of normalized values with energy-adjustment and correction for attenuation, cross-classification, and Bland-Altman plots. Based on n = 55, the webFFQ had higher intake estimates for all isoflavones and most nutrients compared to the FR. Energy-adjusted and deattenuated correlations were moderately strong for total isoflavones (r = 0.67), daidzein (r = 0.63), genistein (r = 0.64), and glycitein (r = 0.54). They ranged from a high of 0.82 (animal proteins) to a low of 0.11 (vitamin B12) for nutrients. Cross-classification agreement up to within 1 quartile ranged from 99.0 % (vegetable protein) to 61.8 % (vitamin B12) with low gross misclassifications (0.0–12.7 %). Bland-Altman plots for the isoflavones showed consistent overestimation and wide variation but nevertheless good agreement between the two methods. The webFFQ is relatively valid in ranking adolescents according to their isoflavones and nutrient intake. However, while it significantly overestimates the absolute intake of most nutrients, results are comparable to other food frequency questionnaires developed for adolescents.
What Mathematics Education Can Learn from Art: The Assumptions, Values, and Vision of Mathematics Education.

Eisner (2002) proposes that educational challenges can be met by applying an artful lens. In this article, I draw from Eisner's proposal to consider the assumptions, values, and vision of mathematics education by theorizing mathematics curriculum as an art form specifically, I argue that by conceptualizing mathematics curriculum (both in written and enacted forms) as stories, the mathematical lessons experienced by students can be artfully crafted to inspire wonder or grab attention through surprise. An example of a mathematical story from a Grade 7 mathematics textbook is presented and discussed. By framing mathematical content in narrative terms, I seek to enable a rewriting of mathematical expeneces for learners.
The Prism of Travesty

Jumpers invites of us, as actors and witnesses, an attentive ethical concern that we can observe nowhere within the ominously absurd world we are playing. Travesties proposes a yet trickier game. It asks us to refract both the content and the style of our playing through an ironic prism that illuminates several large questions: How do we make art? Or revolution? Or history? Or, indeed, any kind of meaning?
The short-term operation of microgrids in a transactive energy architecture

Abstract The transactive energy framework provides value-driven control schemes that facilitate power delivery with higher efficiency, sustainability and economic soundness while ensuring the reliability and security of the energy infrastructure system. This article addresses the challenges and solution frameworks for the short-term operation of distributed energy resources, controllable demands, and microgrids in a transactive energy architecture, with a focus on the distributed energy management of hybrid AC/DC microgrids.
Direct and indirect urban water footprints of the United States

The water footprint of the urban environment is not limited to direct water consumption (i.e., municipal supplies); embedded water in imported resources, or virtual water transfers, provides an additional component of the urban water footprint. Using empirical data, our analysis extends traditional urban water footprinting analysis to quantify both direct and indirect urban resources for the United States. We determine direct water volumes and their embedded energy through open records requests of water utilities. The indirect component of the urban water footprint includes water indirectly consumed through energy and food, relating to the food-energy-water nexus. We comprehensively quantify the indirect water footprint for 74 metropolitan statistical areas through the combination of various databases, including the Commodity Flow Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Water Footprint Network, and the Energy Information Administration. We then analyze spatial heterogeneity in both direct and indirect water footprints, determining the average urban water footprint in the United States to be 1.64 million gallons of water per person per year [6200 m3/person/yr or 17,000 L/person/d], dominated by indirect water. Additionally, our study of the urban water cycle extends beyond considering only water resources to include embedded energy and equivalent carbon dioxide emissions. The inclusion of multiple sectors of the urban water cycle and their underlying processes provides important insights to the overall urban environment, the interdependencies of the food-energy-water nexus, and water resource sustainability. Our results provide opportunities for benchmarking the urban energy-water nexus, water footprints, and climate change potential.
Dual-cavity resonant modulators for efficient narrowband RF/microwave photonics

We propose a novel RF photonic modulator that Is based on a coupled dual-cavity resonator. We show that such a coupled cavity system can perform efficient RF-to-optical signal conversion, in one example with more than 30 dB improvement over a single-cavity resonant modulator.
Robotic assisted VATS lobectomy for loco-regionally advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Despite lung cancer screening programs and efforts at early detection, patients with non-small cell lung cancer continue to present with loco-regionally advanced disease. In particular, patients with positive mediastinal lymph nodes (N1/2, stage II/IIIA) present a challenge to the thoracic surgeon. The thorough lymphadenectomy required by these patients can be difficult to perform with standard VATS approaches. In addition, hilar fibrosis may result from the neoadjuvant therapy these patients generally receive, which complicates dissection of the vascular and bronchial structures. The robotic approach offers benefits that can help to address these challenges. While not ideal for the surgeon just learning robotic surgery, in experienced hands this is an effective tool to deal with loco-regionally advanced lung cancer safely and with optimal oncologic efficacy.
Health practices and behaviors of childhood cancer survivors not attending a comprehensive survivor clinic.

10063 Background: Little is known regarding the health practices and behaviors of childhood cancer patients who have not received recommended survivorship care, a group that represents the majority...
Some properties of chitinase from Phycomyces blakesleeanus.

Abstract The cytosol of the sporangiophore of Phycomyces blakesleeanus has considerable chitinolytic activity. This activity is strongly dependent on the presence of a dialyzable activator. Maximal activity is achieved at pH 5.5; and ionic strength and Ca++ or Mg++ have little effect. Ungerminated spores do not contribute activity. The possibility is discussed that chitinase might be involved in the growth response system by transiently loosening the rigid framework of chitin at specific and defined points.
Data Derives: Confronting Digital Geographic Information as Spectacle

Digital data informs, shapes, and defines our lives and choices. Smartphones, credit cards, official records, and surveillance systems feed data to companies and governments that collect, aggregate, and combine it to constitute what is colloquially known as ‘big data.’ In such systems, individuals who create the data transform into quantitative abstractions that stand in for them amidst global systems of capital. Data, then, is becoming spectacle in two ways: first, as a site for speculative investment by corporate actors like Google, Apple, and Facebook; and then again as the analysis of data reproduces itself as a centre of attention for the individual who produced it, often as geotargeted advertising, credit ratings, and location-based services. In such systems, the very turn-by-turn directions that guide us through urban space have become sites of speculative investment and separation through spectacular data. In this chapter, we explore the separation of people from the spectacle of their digital geographic data and thus spaces in their lives. Doing so builds upon nascent critical discourses in critical data studies and critical GIS that approach data as contingent, contested constructs and extends those critiques to open new possibilities for the production of situations. Specifically, we propose a counter-move to spectacularised data: the data derive, a playful, yet critical exploration of the points, contours and currents of digital geographic data. Drifting through data provides a promising alternative way to engage the subject positions, limits, and critical possibilities of big data.
Dynamic Ca2+ imaging with a simplified lattice light-sheet microscope: A sideways view of subcellular Ca2+ puffs.

Abstract We describe the construction of a simplified, inexpensive lattice light-sheet microscope, and illustrate its use for imaging subcellular Ca2+ puffs evoked by photoreleased i-IP3 in cultured SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells loaded with the Ca2+ probe Cal520. The microscope provides sub-micron spatial resolution and enables recording of local Ca2+ transients in single-slice mode with a signal-to-noise ratio and temporal resolution (2 ms) at least as good as confocal or total internal reflection microscopy. Signals arising from openings of individual IP3R channels are clearly resolved, as are stepwise changes in fluorescence reflecting openings and closings of individual channels during puffs. Moreover, by stepping the specimen through the light-sheet, the entire volume of a cell can be scanned within a few hundred ms. The ability to directly visualize a sideways (axial) section through cells directly reveals that IP3-evoked Ca2+ puffs originate at sites in very close (≤a few hundred nm) to the plasma membrane, suggesting they play a specific role in signaling to the membrane.
Medical professionalism and social media: the responsibility of military medical personnel.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS INTERFACE WITH MEDICAL PROFESSIONALISM ARE HERE TO STAY Medical professionalism has become an increasingly important focus over the past decade. A search of the medical literature using PubMed found only 130 published articles with the term “Professionalism” in the title in the years 1970 to 1980 and over 700 articles in the years from 2000 to 2008. Attributes of medical professionalism, including compassion, altruism, respect, and duty are now outlined for trainees in the manuals of medical oversight organizations. Simultaneously, the rise of social media as an omnipresent communication tool is posing unique challenges to medical professionalism. Therefore, military medical educators and those in command in the military health care system must address the appropriate use of social media with their trainees and subordinates. Social networking’s interface with the military medical profession should be explicitly defined and understood at every level.
Induction of nerve growth factor by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate is dependent upon the mitogen activated protein kinase pathway.

Abstract Several small molecules have been identified that induce glial cells to synthesize and secrete nerve growth factor (NGF), a critical neurotrophin that supports neuronal growth and survival, and as such show promise in the development of drugs for the chemoprevention of Alzheimer's disease. To map the signal transduction cascade leading to NGF synthesis and secretion, cultured human glial cells were stimulated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), an agonist of Protein Kinase C. Changes in intracellular protein phosphorylation states were evaluated by reverse phase protein microarrays (RPPA), selectively screening over 130 protein endpoints. Of these, 55 proteins showed statistically significant changes in phosphorylation state due to cellular exposure to PMA. A critical signal transduction pathway was identified, and subsequent validation by ELISA and qPCR revealed that the signaling proteins Raf, MEK, ERK, and the signal transduction factor CREB are all essential to the upregulation of NGF gene expression by PMA. Additionally, members of the RSK family of kinases appear to be involved in glial secretion (exocytosis) of the NGF protein. Furthermore, through RPPA, the effects of PMA on apoptosis signaling events and cell proliferation were differentiated from the pathway to NGF upregulation. Overall, this study reveals potential protein targets for the rational design of Alzheimer's therapeutics.
Introduction: Molecular Genetics of Acid Sensing and Response

Since most biological reactions in human body occur within narrow ranges around neutral environments, any changes in the pH environment have great impacts on a wide variety of functions, including gene expression, protein folding, enzymatic activities, cell proliferation, and cell death. When the pH homeostasis is disrupted and results in tissue acidity, how various cell types sense and respond in their physiology, metabolism, and gene expression play a dramatic role in modulating disease outcomes. Therefore, understanding how various cells sense and react to pH imbalance have broad impact in a wide variety of human diseases, including cancer, stroke, myocardial infarction, diabetes, and renal and infectious diseases. In this book, several experts in the field have highlighted various aspects of the molecular genetics on how mammalian cells sense and respond to acidosis and their implications in the normal physiological adaptations and pathogenesis. These reviews highlight at least three levels of complexity in the acid sensing and response among different cell types and disease settings.
Leadership for Social Justice Education: A Critical Transformative Approach

This chapter presents an argument for the need for a robust theory of educational leadership that helps students to understand their roles in perpetuating or addressing disparities and inequities in the world. It distinguishes among transformative leadership theory and many others prevalent in the twenty-first century and argues that transformative leadership is a theory that undergirds both social justice education and high academic achievement. The chapter thus identifies eight tenets of transformative leadership and explains how these tenets, taken together, provide a focus that can guide and ground an educator faced with a multiple of demands and challenges and a myriad of daily challenges. The tenets are the mandate to effect deep and equitable change; the need to deconstruct knowledge frameworks that perpetuate inequity and injustice and to reconstruct them, a focus on emancipation, democracy, equity, and justice; the need to address the inequitable distribution of power; an emphasis on both private and public (individual and collective) good; an emphasis on interdependence, interconnectedness, and global awareness; the necessity of balancing critique with promise; and the call to exhibit moral courage.
A review and critique of the U.S. responses to the commercial sexual exploitation of children

Abstract Awareness about the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the United States has increased during the last ten years. The increased awareness is reflected in the U.S. government's substantial efforts to address the problem of human trafficking through legislation including the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 and its four subsequent reauthorizations. Despite these policy efforts, addressing the needs of CSEC victims who are U.S.-born children continues to be a major challenge in the implementation of the federal anti-trafficking policy. This paper reviews and critiques the responses to CSEC in the United States. Following an overview of the literature on the identification, characteristics and needs of CSEC victims, the paper discusses issues in the identification of CSEC victims and their needs. Then, the paper examines and critiques the policy responses of the U.S to CSEC within its borders. Finally, the paper provides an overview of best practices for addressing the needs of CSEC victims and critiques the availability and accessibility of services. Implications and recommendations are discussed for each of the key issues.
Developing Bridges Center Grant Proposal: A Budgeting Case for a Nonprofit Organization

ABSTRACT The case study introduces the challenges and unique accounting needs of nonprofit organizations, particularly in budget preparation and the grant proposal process. The case is designed for...
Eating Breakfast and Family Meals in Adolescence: The Role of Body Image.

Regularly eating breakfast and meals with family has important health implications for youth. However, the association between eating breakfast and family meals regularly with body image has not be...
Association Between Cannabis Use and Complications Related to Crohn’s Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Crohn’s disease is an idiopathic inflammatory process that is occasionally associated with complications, which cause significant morbidity and mortality. The anti-inflammatory effect of cannabis in intestinal inflammation has been shown in several experimental models; it is unknown whether this correlates with fewer complications in Crohn’s disease patients. To compare the prevalence of Crohn’s disease-related complications among cannabis users and non-users in patients admitted with a primary diagnosis of Crohn’s disease or a primary diagnosis of Crohn’s related complication and a secondary diagnosis of Crohn’s disease between 2012 and 2014. We used data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project–National Inpatient Sample. Cannabis users (615) were compared directly after propensity score match to non-users, in aspects of various complications and clinical end-points. Among matched cohorts, Cannabis users were less likely to have the following: active fistulizing disease and intra-abdominal abscess (11.5% vs. 15.9%; aOR 0.68 [0.49 to 0.94], p = 0.025), blood product transfusion (5.0% vs. 8.0%; aOR 0.48 [0.30 to 0.79], p = 0.037), colectomy (3.7% vs. 7.5%; aOR 0.48 [0.29–0.80], p = 0.004), and parenteral nutrition requirement (3.4% vs. 6.7%, aOR 0.39 [0.23 to 0.68], p = 0.009). Cannabis use may mitigate several of the well-described complications of Crohn’s disease among hospital inpatients. These effects could possibly be through the effect of cannabis in the endocannabinoid system.
Degrees of Medicalization: The Case of Infertility Health-Seeking

We examine responses to infertility among a sample of 2,361 women with infertility from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. Latent class analysis uncovered seven latent classes of behavioral...
Survival Disparities in Black Patients With EGFR-mutated Non-small-cell Lung Cancer.

Abstract: Background Little is known about the difference between black and non-black patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC particularly regarding survival. We thus characterized the EGFR expression proﬁle, clinical characteristics, and survival outcome in these patients. Patient and Methods We reviewed the cancer registry and patient charts at a New York-Bronx network (n=2773) treating a large population of minority patients, for non-squamous NSCLC (n=1986) diagnosed between 2009 and 2015. Survival was adjusted for smoking, gender, age, weight, and stage. Results The EGFR mutation rate was 15% (98/652) in tested patients (Black: 14%; non-black: 16%). There was no significant difference between two cohorts with respect to age at diagnosis, gender, presenting stages and socioeconomic status. On the other hand, weight was noted to be heavier in Black patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC than their non-black counterparts (p=0.012). After adjusting for gender, age, smoking status, weight and stage, the multivariate analysis revealed no racial disparity in survival among patients with wild-type EGFR (p=0.774); However, among patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC, black patients had shorter survival in comparison to non-black patients (p=0.001), with two-year survival rates being 33% vs. 61% respectively. Such shorter survival was also observed among EGFR-inhibitor treated patients with common EGFR-mutations (P=0.040). Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first report of inferior survival among Black NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations, relative to non-black patients. The survival disparities suggest the need of more tailored management for this patient population.
Exercise Effects on Mitochondrial Function and Lipid Metabolism during Energy Balance.

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE Aerobic exercise training (AET) has been shown to improve mitochondrial bioenergetics and upregulate proteins related to lipid metabolism. However, it remains to be determined if these alterations associated with AET persist when measured in energy balance (EB) in the days after the last bout of training. The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that improvements in skeletal muscle mitochondrial function induced by AET observed in previous literature would persist when measured after restoring EB conditions 72 h removed from the last exercise bout. METHODS Participants were 14 premenopausal women (age = 31.2 ± 6.7 yr, BMI = 26.6 ± 5.1 kg·m). The AET program required three monitored training sessions per week for 8-16 wk. Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained at baseline and after 8-16 wk of AET (≥72 h after the last exercise bout). All food was provided for 72 h before biopsies, and EB was managed 24 h before testing within ±100 kcal of measured energy requirements using a whole-room calorimeter. Mitochondrial oxidative capacity was quantified in permeabilized muscle fibers from the vastus lateralis. RESULTS We found that AET increased coupled respiration (154%) and uncoupled respiration (90%) rates using a fatty acid substrate (palmitoyl carnitine) (P < 0.05). However, when rates were normalized to complex IV activity (a marker of mitochondrial content), no significant differences were observed. In addition, there were no changes in proteins known to mediate mitochondrial biogenesis or lipid transport and metabolism after AET. CONCLUSION Eight to 16 wk of AET improved mitochondrial capacity under fatty acid substrate when assessed in EB, which appears to be due to mitochondrial biogenesis.
The effect of breastfeeding on postpartum fructosamine and HbA1c values after normal pregnancy

IntroductionBreastfeeding can lower postpartum oral glucose tolerance test results by 5%. Similar data do not exist regarding fructosamine and HbA1c. The primary outcome was to determine if breastf...
Navigating the Packaging Challenges of 5G and Beyond

Abstract 5G is all the buzz with significant developments and investments underway. With promises of tremendous bandwidth and reduced latencies there is no limit to the possibilities this platform ...
Ultra-rapid cooling of aluminum: Homogeneous solidification to anisotropic nanocrystals

Aluminum fcc-crystal surfaces (110) are irradiated by series of ≈15 ns-long pulses of laser light. Each pulse is calculated to produce an ≈2 µm thick surface layer of liquid and quasi-liquid whose temperature decays rapidly, becomes supercooled liquid until ≈168 K below the nominal melting temperature, and then freezes homogeneously into fcc nanocrystals and amorphous atoms. The cooling rate is ≈1.2 × 109 K s−1 in the undercooled solidification region, which we call ultra-rapid because it is faster than that in experiments involving splat-cooling or melt-spinning. However, it is slower than those in a molecular-dynamics simulation with a million aluminum atoms, which was described by Mahata et al. [Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 26, 025007 (2018)]. Standard θ/2θ x-ray diffraction is applied to the resulting solid. The magnitude and location of the diffraction peaks yield estimates of the anisotropy and the sizes of the nanocrystals. The sizes, between about 4 nm and 50 nm, are on the order of “critical” as defined in classical nucleation theory. The anisotropy is caused by a difference in growth rates among various crystal faces, which is in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions. For example, the loosely packed (311) face grows much faster than that of the close packed (111).
Cruising Through School: General Equilibrium Effects of Cruise Ship Arrivals on Employment and Education:

Cruise tourism is the fastest-growing branch of the tourism sector, and many have turned to it as a development strategy despite little systematic evidence of its equilibrium effects. I match 10.6 ...
Genetics Meets Epigenetics in Treg Cells and Autoimmunity.

Summary Most autoimmunity-associated SNPs in the genome map to noncoding regulatory regions in T cells, but the nature of underlying epigenetic mechanisms and any normal purpose in T cell differentiation remain unclear. In this issue of Immunity, Ohkura et al. establish that crucial SNPs linked to autoimmune disease are enriched in DNA regions of CpG demethylation that govern Treg cell development and function.
Thermal Fatigue and Its Failure Prediction for Brittle Ceramics

The thermal fatigue behavior of a soda-lime-silica glass subjected to water quench and silicon-nitride subjected to thermal environment of a turbine engine was predicted from data of slow (subcritical) crack growth. A numerical integration technique was developed to calculate the extent of slow crack growth for each thermal cycle over the total duration of the transient thermal stress and temperature, as well as the total number of cycles required for catastrophic failure to occur. Good agreement between the predicted and experimental data was found. The results indicate that, for reliable prediction of thermal fatigue resistance, an estimate of critical flaw-depth based on a statistical (such as the Weibull) theory of brittle fracture is necessary.
Mechanisms of Taxane Resistance

The taxane family of chemotherapy drugs has been used to treat a variety of mostly epithelial-derived tumors and remain the first-line treatment for some cancers. Despite the improved survival time and reduction of tumor size observed in some patients, many have no response to the drugs or develop resistance over time. Taxane resistance is multi-faceted and involves multiple pathways in proliferation, apoptosis, metabolism, and the transport of foreign substances. In this review, we dive deeper into hypothesized resistance mechanisms from research during the last decade, with a focus on the cancer types that use taxanes as first-line treatment but frequently develop resistance to them. Furthermore, we will discuss current clinical inhibitors and those yet to be approved that target key pathways or proteins and aim to reverse resistance in combination with taxanes or individually. Lastly, we will highlight taxane response biomarkers, specific genes with monitored expression and correlated with response to taxanes, mentioning those currently being used and those that should be adopted. The future directions of taxanes involve more personalized approaches to treatment by tailoring drug-inhibitor combinations or alternatives depending on levels of resistance biomarkers. We hope that this review will identify gaps in knowledge surrounding taxane resistance that future research or clinical trials can overcome.
The Role of the Fragment in German Romantic Philosophy and Nietzsche

The chapter explores the philosophical role of the fragment in early German Romantic philosophy, specifically in the thought of Friedrich Schlegel and Novalis. It first provides a general account of the fragmentary form, and then explains how its use by the Romantics could be seen as undergirded by a conception of the metaphysical importance of aesthetics as enabling access to the Absolute. The chapter then turns to compare Nietzsche with the Romantics and argues that while there are a number of illuminating similarities between the early Romantics and Nietzsche both in general and with respect to the aphoristic and fragmentary form, it is with Nietzsche that the fragmentary form is realized to a fuller extent.
Posterior Cruciate Ligament Repair With Suture Augmentation: A Report of Two Cases With Two-Year Follow-Up.

We present two cases of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) repair with suture augmentation (SA) in the setting of multiligamentous knee injury (MLKI). Excellent clinical outcomes were obtained at two-year follow-up with both patients returning to sport following injury. Both patients demonstrated improvements in Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) that exceeded the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) as reported in the literature for ligamentous knee injuries. One patient developed arthrofibrosis, which was successfully treated with manipulation under anesthesia and arthroscopic lysis of adhesions two months postoperatively. Both patients had full knee range of motion (ROM) by a one-year follow-up. One patient returned to full preinjury level of sport at six months postoperatively while the other patient returned to 50% of preinjury intensity at two-year follow-up. This series of two cases of PCL repair with SA in MLKIs demonstrates that PCL repair with SA is a viable procedure that can result in excellent short-term outcomes and restore knee stability.
Fetal hemoglobin levels in premature newborns. Should we reconsider transfusion of adult donor blood

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to assess the percent decrease in fetal hemoglobin (HbF) after transfusion of adult-derived donor packed red blood cell (pRBC) units in extremely low gestational age newborns (ELGANs). Methods Control percent fetal hemoglobin (%HbF) levels were measured in newborn cord blood or peripheral blood samples in non-transfused patients prior to elective surgery. ELGANs were followed prospectively and %HbF was measured on residual post-test complete blood count (CBC) specimens. ELGAN %HbF values were compared to the control population and transfusions were recorded. Results Initial mean %HbF in ELGANs (n=16) was 92.2±1.3% (range 90.2-95.1%), which is similar to the control group (n=25). Mean levels dropped to 61.1±11.1% (range 34.2-73.2%) after a single pRBC transfusion (n=9) and to a mean of 35.6±6.3% after an additional transfusion (n=5). %HbF levels trended upwards if no additional transfusions were given, but levels still remained lower than expected for gestational age through discharge (n=85 samples). Conclusions Percent fetal hemoglobin concentrations in ELGANs decrease precipitously after transfusion with adult donor pRBCs. Further studies are needed to evaluate the benefit of maintaining higher fetal hemoglobin concentrations in these patients and whether administration of HbF rather than adult donor pRBCs would improve patient outcomes.
Bell-Wigner inequalities: their logical relationship and satisfaction by quantum mechanics

The Bell and Wigner inequalities are commonly derived using logically separate this http URL is not generally appreciated that they are closely related.Their relationship follows from the fact that the Bell inequality describes a constraint on the correlations of random variable pairs and leads to a constraint on the probabilities from which they are this http URL the case of the Bell inequality, the logic of the constraint is further clarified when it is found that the inequality that Bell derived for correlation functions must be identically satisfied by the data sets of +-1s used to compute the correlations.This data set inequality is independent of the assumptions used by Bell in the course of derivation of the correlation inequality.Thus, the Bell inequality in its most fundamental form cannot be violated by the number of data sets used in deriving it regardless of their individual characteristics.When the Bell inequality is applied to three predicted correlations using properties based on perfect entanglement, the resulting symmetries allow correlations to be replaced by their probabilities in the inequality.The Wigner inequality follows.The two related inequalities are satisfied by correlations and probabilities respectively computed using quantum mechanical principles.