cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Consuming for an Imagined Future: Middle-Class Consumer Lifestyle and Exploratory Experiences in the Transition to Adulthood

This study examines middle-class consumption and lifestyle during the transition to adulthood in the United States. Based on analysis of qualitative data from interviews with emerging adults between adolescence and settled adulthood, we argue that middle-class emerging adulthood is marked by a focus on exploratory experience consumption: the consumption of novel experiences with cultural capital potential. This tacit, embodied orientation is rooted in a habitus developed during entitled childhoods but is also shaped by an anticipated shortage of opportunities for exploration after they marry and have children. Accordingly, middle-class emerging adults voraciously consume exploratory experiences in the present with their imagined future selves in mind. The class basis for this orientation is examined through our analysis of interviews with working-class emerging adults whose lifestyles are characterized not by exploratory experience consumption but by a desire for the familiar, a fear of the unknown, and a longing for stability. The discussion focuses on how the middle-class consumer orientation toward exploratory experiences reinforces class (dis)advantage, life trajectories, and inequality.
The River Basin as the Basis of Water Control for Agriculture in Antiquity

Water control for agriculture is probably the earliest form of regulation of rivers and lakes, and its development gave rise to the so-called fluvial or irrigation civilizations in the basins of the Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, Indus, Yellow, Yangtze, and lesser rivers of the Old World, as well as in Mexico, coastal Peru, and other scattered localities of the New World. It was practiced as early as 4,000 B.C. at least in Mesopotamia,1 and its significance is attested to by the fact that stories of the origins of society in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China all refer to some legendary figure who controlled the rivers and made the land fruitful. In the Babylonian epic of creation this legendary being was the god Marduk, who “laid reeds in the face of the waters” and piled up earthen banks sheltered by the reeds “in order to master the Euphrates flowing wide like a sea.”2 In the Nile valley the controller was Menes (a composite of two or more early kings), who united Upper and Lower Egypt (c. 3400 B.C.) and reclaimed the river’s left bank by the construction of canals and dikes.3 In China a similar role was performed in legend by Yu, founder of the Hsia dynasty (at about the beginning of the second millenium B.C.).4 Modern research has shown that the original works were undertaken by small communities or lesser rulers, rather than by a single individual.5
Should a Preschool Child with Acute Episodic Wheeze be Treated with Oral Corticosteroids? A Pro/Con Debate

Traditionally, preschool-aged children with an acute wheezing episode have been treated with oral corticosteroids (OCSs) based on the efficacy of OCSs in older children and adolescents. However, this practice has been recently challenged based on the results of recent studies. The argument supporting the use of OCSs underscores the observation that many children with recurrent preschool wheezing develop atopic disease in early life which predicts both an increased risk to develop asthma in later life and response to OCS therapy. Further, review of the literature demonstrates heterogeneity of study designs, OCS dosage, interventions, study medication adherence, and settings and overall lack of predefined preschool wheezing phenotypes. The heterogeneity of these studies does not allow a definitive recommendation discouraging OCS use. Advocates against the use of OCSs in this population argue that most of studies investigating the efficacy of OCSs in acute episodic wheeze in preschool-aged children have not demonstrated beneficial effects. Moreover, repeated OCS bursts may be associated with adverse effects. Finally, both sides can agree that there is a significant need to conduct efficacy trials evaluating OCS treatment in preschool-aged children with recurrent wheezing targeted at phenotypes that would be expected to respond to OCSs. This article presents a summary of recent literature regarding the use of OCSs for acute episodic wheezing in preschool-aged children and a "pro" and "con" debate for such use
The RipA and RipB Peptidoglycan Endopeptidases Are Individually Nonessential to Mycobacterium smegmatis

ABSTRACT Mycobacteria possess a series of Rip peptidoglycan endopeptidases that have been characterized in various levels of detail. The RipA and RipB proteins have been extensively studied and are dl-endopeptidases, and RipA has been considered essential to Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We show here that the ripA and ripB genes are individually dispensable in M. smegmatis and that at least one of the genes must be expressed for viability. We characterized strains carrying in-frame deletion mutations of ripA and ripB and found that both mutant strains exhibited increased susceptibility to a limited number of antibiotics and to detergent but that only the ΔripA mutant displayed hypersusceptibility to lysozyme. We also constructed and characterized ΔripD and ΔripA ΔripD mutants and found that the single mutant had only an intermediate lysozyme hypersusceptibility phenotype compared to that of wild-type cells while loss of ripD in the ΔripA background partially rescued the antibiotic and lysozyme phenotypes of the ΔripA mutant. IMPORTANCE We show that the RipA endopeptidase, which has been considered essential for cell division in certain mycobacteria, is not essential but that at least it or a similar protein, RipB, must be expressed by the bacteria for viability. This work is the first description of strains carrying single deletion mutations of RipA, RipB, and a novel endopeptidase-like protein, RipD.
Development of the Sky Arrow surface-atmosphere flux aircraft for global ecosystem research

The direct measurement and regional scaling of ecosystem net trace gas exchange has long been an important and difficult issue. This importance is heightened by the Kyoto accord which mandates measurements of greenhouse gas exchange as part of active forest ecosystem management activities (Article 3, paragraph 3). The Sky Arrow ERA is a new commercially available FAA certified aircraft collaboratively developed by the manufacturer (Iniziative Industrial! Italiane of Italy), NOAA, and San Diego State University to provide the global scientific community access to technology developed for near surface ecosystem trace gas exchange and remote sensing observations.
An analysis of the total insensitivity of input shaping designs

In the modeling of flexible structures, there is generally uncertainty in both the frequencies and damping constants, and it is thus important that the control methods for such systems be robust to these uncertainties. Input shapers have been shown to yield good performance while being insensitive to modeling errors. Most previous studies, however, have addressed only frequency modeling errors. We consider modeling errors in damping as well and define a total insensitivity measure that incorporates both frequency and damping modeling errors. An analysis of several types of input shapers shows a different ordering of shaper types in terms of their total insensitivity to frequency and damping modeling errors compared to previous studies and comparisons of these shaper types in terms of uncertainty in frequency alone.
300 MODULATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDE RESPONSE: A NEW VIRULENCE FACTOR OF SALMONELLA ENTERICA SEROVAR TYPHIMURIUM

Salmonella infections continue to cause major illness and economic loss. Various mouse models with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ST) infection have been established to study Salmonella pathogenesis and host defense. Though invasion of the gram-negative bacterium Salmonella into the sub-epithelial region of the small intestine has been well described, it is not yet clear how Salmonella can overcome the natural antimicrobial agents, which cover the intestinal epithelium. Recent studies have shown that wild-type but not mutant ST can decrease production of these intestinal antimicrobials including lysozyme. Lysozyme is well known for its peptidoglycan hydrolyzing activity. In addition, it has recently been shown that it also has a direct bactericidal activity against gram-negative bacteria. In mice, there are two types of lysozyme, P-lysozyme from Paneth cells and M-lysozyme produced by macrophages and other myeloid cells. These two forms can be distinguished by their mobility pattern in acid urea polyacrylamide (AU-PAGE) electrophoresis. Employing immunoblot with lysozyme specific antisera we aimed to determine whether the described decreased production of antimicrobial peptides in the small intestine induced by wild type ST is a local Paneth cell specific effect or whether it reflects a broader down regulation of immune responses involving macrophages and other immune cells. Mice were orally infected with wild type and mutant ST, or PBS as control. Small intestinal luminal washes, whole gut and crypt extracts were collected. Cationic proteins were subjected to AU-PAGE followed by immunoblot analysis. Resulting band intensities were compared to protein standards and quantified using an imaging system. Our findings suggest that Salmonella mediated decrease of lysozyme involves host defenses beyond the intestinal epithelium. Our future research will explore changes of cytokine levels in infected mice to elucidate the chain of events occurring during the infection.
Permanent endocardial pacing in pediatric patients

Improved technology with smaller pulse generators and passive and active fixation endocardial lead systems has the potential for facilitating safe, reliable pacing in pediatric patients. Of 18 pediatric patients (mean age 11.1 years) undergoing permanent transvenous cardiac pacing during the period April, 1977, to January, 1981, two (11%) required reoperation during a mean follow-up of 18.8 months. Satisfactory stable pacing was maintained even in patients with dual-chamber pacing systems and in patients with transposition of the great vessels in whom a lead was placed in a morphologically left atrium. This reoperation rate of 11% contrasts with a reoperation rate of 32% in 22 pediatric patients (mean age 8.7 years) who underwent placement of ventricular-demand epicardial pacing systems during the same period. In our experience, transvenous endocardial pacing is the preferred route in pediatric patients because of the improved lead system survival and the potential for atrial or atrioventricular sequential pacing.
Corporate Socially Responsible Firms Perform Well! Evidence from Financial and Operating Performances 1

This paper analyzes the financial and operational performance of Corporate Socially Responsible firms. We test different hypothesis of over- and under-performance of such companies and show that the firms identified as Corporate Socially Responsible perform just as they were expected to perform financially and operationally, even after bearing the cost of being socially responsible. We also show that firms, being successful in the stock market in the past, tend to invest in socially responsible activities. Our findings indicate that bearing the cost of socially responsible behavior does not have a negative tradeoff. We find that strong past financial performance has implications for current investments in Corporate Social Responsibility; however, past measures of Corporate Social Responsibility have no negative impact on the future financial or operational performance of firms. The overall findings indicate that socially responsible firms “outperform” in that they satisfy their stakeholder needs and may generate even higher returns for their shareholders in the future due to the feedback effect.
The Anthranilate Synthetase-Anthranilate-5-Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate Phosphoribosyltransferase Aggregate ON THE REACTION MECHANISM OF ANTHRANILATE SYNTHETASE FROM SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM

Abstract The reaction of the glutamine analogue, 6-diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine (DON), with the bifunctional, regulatory enzyme aggregate of the tryptophan pathway, anthranilate synthetase-anthranilate 5-phosphoribosylpyrophosphate phosphoribosyltransferase (PR transferase), and with the anthranilate synthetase Component I protein of the aggregate was studied. DON inhibits anthranilate synthetase Component I activity and glutamine- and NH3-dependent anthranilate synthetase activities of anthranilate synthetase-PR transferase. DON inactivates glutamine-dependent anthranilate synthetase activity of the enzyme aggregate, but has less effect on the NH3-dependent anthranilate synthetase activity of the aggregate and does not inactivate anthranilate synthetase Component I. Inactivation of anthranilate synthetase activity of anthranilate synthetase-PR transferase by DON is dependent upon the substrate chorismate, thus providing evidence for ordered binding of first chorismate and then DON (or glutamine). Inactivation of anthranilate synthetase by DON is prevented by the feedback inhibitor, tryptophan. It is suggested that tryptophan evokes feedback inhibition, at least in part, by either preventing chorismate from binding or by preventing the conformational change needed to allow glutamine to bind. The two components of the aggregate, anthranilate synthetase Component I and PR transferase, can be separated by disc gel electrophoresis in 8 m urea. Following treatment of anthranilate synthetase-PR transferase with 14C-DON, most of the radioactivity is incorporated into PR transferase. It therefore appears that the two substrates for anthranilate synthetase bind to different polypeptide chains, chorismate to anthranilate synthetase Component I and glutamine to PR transferase. Approximately 2 moles of 14C-DON bind per mole of enzyme; this suggests a subunit composition of (anthranilate synthetase Component I)2 (PR transferase)2. Titrations with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) indicate that DON alkylates 2 cysteine residues per enzyme molecule. A glutaminase activity has been detected in purified preparations of anthranilate synthetase-PR transferase. Glutaminase activity is stimulated by chorismate and inhibited by tryptophan. It is suggested that this activity serves to transfer the amide of glutamine from the site on PR transferase to the NH3 site on anthranilate synthetase Component I. A reaction mechanism which accommodates the experimental data is proposed.
Automatic generation of dynamic models of cables

Abstract A new theory for the dynamic modeling of cables is presented in this paper, focusing on underwater applications. The main idea is to approximate the continuous flexibility of the cable by several rigid links connected by fictitious elastic joints, allowing three movements: elevation, azimuth and torsion. The Lagrangian of the system is written in a compact form and can be generated for any number of links chosen to represent the structural dynamics. The application of Euler–Lagrange equations allows to obtain the dynamic model, which in this article was developed analytically for the cases of 2, 3 and 4 links. The dynamic model's equations grow significantly with the growth of the number of links and a detailed analysis of this growth enabled the proposition of generic algorithms for the automatic generation of the vectors and matrices elements, for whatever number of considered links. This theory was proposed considering a cable fixed at one end and free at the other, containing a terminal load. However, it can be easily adapted to flexible structures fixed at both ends and for applications underwater or out of water. The generic algorithms proposed in this article allow fast and automatic retrieval of dynamic models of cables, considering a large number of links to represent the structural flexibility, that would be unfeasible to obtain manually.
Characterization of diffuse targets for CO 2 lidars

Two more commonly accessible types of diffuse target for CO2 lidar reflectance measurements are sandblasted aluminum (SBA) and sandpaper. The relationship between the intensity of the scattered wave and the correlation of the diffuse surface is developed by Goodman in Ref. 1. In his development two assumptions are made concerning the characteristics of the rough surfaces. These assumptions are that the surface height variations and the normalizad correlation function of the surface height variations follow a Gaussian distribution. The lack of information on how well sandblasted aluminum and sandpaper obey these assumptions prompted this paper.
Indian and Slave Royalists in the Age of Revolution: Reform, Revolution, and Royalism in the Northern Andes, 1780-1825

Royalist Indians and slaves in the northern Andes engaged with the ideas of the Age of Revolution (1780–1825), such as citizenship and freedom. Although generally ignored in recent revolution-centered versions of the Latin American independence processes, their story is an essential part of the history of the period. In Indian and Slave Royalists in the Age of Revolution, Marcela Echeverri draws a picture of the royalist region of Popayan (modern-day Colombia) that reveals deep chronological layers and multiple social and spatial textures. She uses royalism as a lens to rethink the temporal, spatial, and conceptual boundaries that conventionally structure historical narratives about the Age of Revolution. Looking at royalism and liberal reform in the northern Andes, she suggests that profound changes took place within the royalist territories. These emerged as a result of the negotiation of the rights of local people, Indians and slaves, with the changing monarchical regime.
Tracking the Activity of mTORC1 in Living Cells Using Genetically Encoded FRET-based Biosensor TORCAR.

Mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is a highly conserved serine/threonine protein kinase that responds to multiple distinct signals (e.g., growth factors, amino acids, stress, and energy level) and coordinates cell growth and proliferation. The underlying molecular mechanisms by which these stimuli regulate the activity of mTORC1 are still not fully understood. The spatial compartmentalization of mTORC1 signaling has been suggested as an important mechanism for mTORC1 to achieve the signal specificity and efficiency. To examine the spatial regulation of the activity of mTORC1 in live cells, we describe a protocol using a newly developed molecular tool, a genetically encoded fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based mTORC1 activity reporter, TORCAR. When expressed in the cell, TORCAR acts as a surrogate substrate of mTORC1, and exhibits a change in FRET in response to phosphorylation by mTORC1. Genetically targeting TORCAR to specific subcellular locations further allows for the characterization of spatial compartmentalized mTORC1 signaling. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Keywords: biosensor; fluorescence; live-cell imaging; mTOR kinase
Associations of High-Dose Melphalan Pharmacokinetics and Outcomes in the Setting of a Randomized Cryotherapy Trial

High-dose melphalan followed by autologous stem cell transplantation remains the standard of care for eligible patients with multiple myeloma, but disease response and toxicity, including severe mucositis, varies among patients. Our randomized trial investigated duration of cryotherapy (2 and 6 h) for reduction of mucositis prevalence and severity and explored factors associated with variability in pharmacokinetics and outcomes from melphalan therapy. The results demonstrate that 2-h is at least as effective as 6-h cryotherapy in decreasing severe mucositis. From a population pharmacokinetic model, we identified that fat-free mass, hematocrit, and creatinine clearance were significant covariates, as reported previously. Furthermore, we observed the rs4240803 SLC7A5 polymorphism was significantly associated with pharmacokinetic variability, and pharmacokinetics was associated with both mucositis and neutropenia. However, melphalan exposure was not associated with progression-free or overall survival in our dataset. These findings contribute to ongoing efforts to personalize melphalan dosing in transplant patients.
Dynamic Response of Coupled Wall Systems

Results of an experimental investigation to determine the inelastic dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete coupled wall systems under severe earthquake motions are reported. These tests show that the natural frequencies of reinforced concrete structures are reduced to as much as 50% of the initial uncracked values during the first few seconds of a strong earthquake, additional reductions in the natural frequencies are not as significant as those caused by the first shock even if the aftershocks are significantly stronger than the first one, the size, strength, and ductility of the coupling beams are the controlling factors in the mode of failure of coupled wall systems, and although the test structures were subjected to severe inelastic behavior, some characteristics, such as modal shapes, nodal points, and amplification (filtering) along the height of the structure were similar to those of linear elastic systems.
Doxastic paradox and reputation effects in iterated games

The "chain-store paradox" of Reinhard Selten is one of a number of scenarios involving the finite repetition of a certain kind of sub-game about which a paradoxical conclusion can be derived. In each of these cases, a backward-induction argument is used to prove that it is futile to try to establish a reputation for cooperative or punitive behavior through appropriate action in the early stages of the game, despite the fact that nearly all agree that it is intuitively reasonable to do so. Selten believed that this is paradoxical in the weak sense: a surprising, unexpected result of game theory. In this paper, I argue that it is paradoxical in the strong sense: a logical antinomy of rational belief or subjective probability, analogous to the paradox of the Liar.
Abstract WP316: Incidence, Risk Factors, and In-Hospital Outcomes Associated With Hospital-Acquired Conditions and Patient Safety Indicators In Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Introduction: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality patient safety indicators (PSIs) are standardized...
Exploring sparsity of firing activities and clock gating for energy-efficient recurrent spiking neural processors

As a model of recurrent spiking neural networks, the Liquid State Machine (LSM) offers a powerful brain-inspired computing platform for pattern recognition and machine learning applications. While operated by processing neural spiking activities, the LSM naturally lends itself to an efficient hardware implementation via exploration of typical sparse firing patterns emerged from the recurrent neural network and smart processing of computational tasks that are orchestrated by different firing events at runtime. We explore these opportunities by presenting a LSM processor architecture with integrated on-chip learning and its FPGA implementation. Our LSM processor leverage the sparsity of firing activities to allow for efficient event-driven processing and activity-dependent clock gating. Using the spoken English letters adopted from the TI46 [1] speech recognition corpus as a benchmark, we show that the proposed FPGA-based neural processor system is up to 29% more energy efficient than a baseline LSM processor with little extra hardware overhead.
Nanoformulated copper/zinc superoxide dismutase exerts differential effects on glucose vs lipid homeostasis depending on the diet composition possibly via altered AMPK signaling

Evidence suggests that superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) promotes glucose vs lipid metabolism depending on the diet type. We recently reported that nanoformulated SOD1 (Nano) improved lipid metabolism without altering glucose homeostasis in high-fat (HF) diet-fed mice. Here, we sought to determine the effects and potential mechanisms of Nano in modulating glucose and lipid homeostasis in mice fed a normal chow diet (CD) vs HF diet. Mice were fed a CD or a HF diet (45%) for 10 wk and injected with Nano once every 2 days for 15 days. The fasting glucose level was lower ( P
Vacuum radiometry of an infrared nanoantenna-coupled tunnel diode rectenna

We examine the vacuum infrared photoresponse of a large-area nanoantenna-coupled tunnel diode rectenna resulting from thermal radiation from a temperature controlled heater. The measured infrared photocurrent is obtained as a function of the source temperature, sample distance and view factor. Far-field radiation power conversion is examined using standard radiometric techniques and correlated with the rectified current response.
Abstract 113: Beneficial or Harmful? The Role of Intensive Anti-hypertensive Treatment in the Development of Chronic Kidney Disease

Hypertension is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, and one of the goals of anti-hypertensive treatment is to protect the kidney. However, it is unknown how low of blood pressure as the treatment target should be so that anti-hypertensive therapy would not bring harm to patients especially
Abstract LB-A35: Discovery of a new kinase inhibitor targeting BRAF monomers and dimers

Increased activation of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway, through mutations in upstream activators or in components of the pathway, can lead to uncontrolled cellular growth and proliferation leading to tumor development. BRAF mutations are present in more than 50% of melanoma patients as well as in colorectal (5-10%), thyroid carcinomas (25-45%), hairy-cell leukemia (~100%) and less commonly in ovarian and lung malignancies. Specifically, activating BRAF mutation V600E in the kinase domain of BRAF accounts for almost 50% of melanoma. Although, FDA-approved RAF inhibitors vemurafenib and dabrafenib have elicited remarkable responses and improved survival of melanoma patients with BRAFV600E/K mutations, acquired resistance limits their effectiveness as patients relapse. Several studies have demonstrated that resistance in melanoma and other tumors involve increased formation of RAF dimers that are not effectively inhibited by clinical inhibitors. Hence, underscoring the need for improved RAF inhibitors. Toward this goal, we developed an in-cell-western assay to screen for small molecule kinase inhibitors of the ERK signaling pathway, using melanoma cells that express BRAFV600E monomers and dimers. Because several inhibitors have been identified to inhibit ERK signaling that led us to investigate the precise mechanism of inhibition. We performed structural characterization and biochemical analysis of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway in cells with different RAS/BRAF mutational background, expressing BRAF monomers and dimers. Our study enabled us to identify a kinase inhibitor that potently inhibits BRAF monomers and dimers, with distinct structural properties compared to current RAF inhibitors. Further development of this new class of RAF kinase inhibitor may lead to more effective ERK signaling inhibition and improved treatments for BRAF-dependent tumors. Citation Format: Xiomaris M. Cotto Rios, Paul Agianian, Yang Wu, Evripidis Gavathiotis. Discovery of a new kinase inhibitor targeting BRAF monomers and dimers [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2017 Oct 26-30; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2018;17(1 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-A35.
Handbook of Diagnosis and Treatment of Dsm-5 Personality Disorders: Assessment, Case Conceptualization, and Treatment

Since the publication of the acclaimed second edition of Handbook of Diagnosis and Treatment of DSM-IV-TR Personality Disorders, much has changed in how the personality disorders are understood and treated. However, like its previous editions, this new edition is a hands-on manual of the most current and effective, evidence-based assessment and treatment interventions for these challenging disorders. The beginning chapters describes several cutting-edge trends in the diagnosis, case conceptualization, and treatment of them. Then, specific chapters focus on evidence-based diagnosis and treatment interventions for each of the 10 DSM-5 personality disorders. Emphasized are the most recent developments from Cognitive Behavior Therapies, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Analysis System of Psychotherapy, Pattern-Focused Psychotherapy, Mindfulness, Schema Therapy, Transference Focused Psychotherapy, and Mentalization-Based Treatment. As in previous editions, extensive case material is used to illustrate key points of diagnosis and treatment.
Instrument artifacts lead to uncertainties in parameterizations of cloud condensation nucleation

Abstract. The concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) modulate cloud properties, rainfall location and intensity, and climate forcings. This work assesses uncertainties in CCN measurements and the apparent hygroscopicity parameter ( κapp ), which is widely used to represent CCN populations in climate models. CCN measurements require accurate operation of three instruments: the CCN instrument, the differential mobility analyzer (DMA), and the condensation particle counter (CPC). Assessment of DMA operation showed that varying the ratio of aerosol to sheath flow from 0.05 to 0.30 resulted in discrepancies between the κapp values calculated from CCN measurements and the literature value. Discrepancies were found to increase from % to 13 % for both sodium chloride and ammonium sulfate. The ratio of excess to sheath flow was also varied, which shifted the downstream aerosol distribution towards smaller particle diameters (for excess flow sheath flow) or larger particle diameters (for excess flow > sheath flow) than predicted. For the CPC instrument, undercounting occurred at high concentrations, resulting in calculated κapp lower than the literature values. Lastly, undercounting by CCN instruments at high concentration was also assessed, taking the effect of supersaturation on counting efficiency into account. Under recommended operating conditions, the combined DMA, CPC, and CCN uncertainties in κapp are 1.2 % or less for 25 to 200 nm diameter aerosols.
Modeling of Unit-Cells with Z-Pins Using Flash: Pre-Processing and Post Processing

Although the toughening properties of stitches, z-pins and similar structures have been studied extensively, investigations on the effect of z-pins on the in-plane properties of laminates are limited. A brief summary on the effect of z-pins on the in-plane tensile and compressive properties of composite laminates is presented together with a concise introduction into the finite element code FLASH. The remainder of the report illustrates the modeling aspect of unit cells with z-pins in FLASH and focuses on input and output data as well as post-processing of results.
A robust LC-MS/MS assay with online cleanup for measurement of serum testosterone.

Accurate measurement of low levels of testosterone is critical for diagnosis and treatment of androgen disorders. The very low concentrations of testosterone in children, females, and males with androgen suppression therapies necessitate the use of mass spectrometry-based methods. We aimed to develop a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method with simplified sample preparation and online solid-phase extraction cleanup to achieve enhanced precision, accuracy, robustness, and cost-effectiveness. The assay was linear from 10 to 20 000 pg/mL with an analytical recovery of 93-104%. The total coefficient of variation was 2.5, 1.9, and 1.7% at concentration levels of 348, 5432, and 10 848 pg/mL, respectively. No significant carryover was observed from samples with concentrations up to 20 000 pg/mL. No significant interference was observed from androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, epi-testosterone, and estriol. Comparison with CDC Hormone Standardization program (HoSt) reference samples with defined values (n = 40) showed a Deming regression slope of 0.963, intercept of 28.06 pg/mL, standard error of estimate was 66.9, a correlation coefficient of 0.9996, and a mean bias of -0.6%. The method met the accuracy criteria by the CDC HoSt program. In addition, we achieved >12 000 injections on a single analytical column without significant performance deterioration due to the specific online solid-phase extraction settings.
Physician Burnout: A U.S. Public Health Crisis in Need of a Socio-Ecological Solution

The issue of physician burnout will be explored as both a personal issue and a public health systems-level threat through an applied socio-ecological lens. The author will begin by briefly sharing her lived experience of discovering she had burnout when she began researching it. She will then offer an overview of the specific problem of physician burnout as more than just an individual’s problem, but instead as a systems-level issue for both the cost and quality of U.S. healthcare delivery. As will be discussed, physician burnout has increased at an alarming rate for the past 3 years in a row. As of 2018, 1 out of every 2 physicians (51%) reported frequent or constant feelings of burnout, and 2 out of every 3 resident physicians (50–75%) experienced burnout. Burnout is defined as a “progressive loss of idealism, energy, and purpose experienced by people in the helping professions as a result of the conditions of their work,” and there are three key characteristics of burnout: physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Physician burnout has been correlated with job dissatisfaction, less altruistic values, broken relationships, problematic alcohol use, and suicidal ideation and also threatens patient outcomes due to medical errors, decreased physician empathy, increased physician unprofessional conduct, lower patient satisfaction, and reduced patient adherence to treatment plans. Readers will gain individual- and systems-level understandings of the rapid rise of physician burnout prevalence in the USA, as well as an expanded understanding of how intervention and policy design might address it.
Abdominal Insufflation Is Associated With Increase of Intracranial Pressure in Patients With Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

BACKGROUND Ventriculoperitoneal shunting (VPS) is effective for the treatment of normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) and sometimes requires laparoscopic assistance with abdominal insufflation. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association of abdominal insufflation with opening pressure (OP) in NPH patients undergoing VPS implantation. METHODS Between March 2016 and April 2019, 52 consecutive patients who underwent first-time VPS implantation surgery were retrospectively identified by reviewing electronic health records. OP during the large volume lumbar tap test (OPLP) and VPS implantation surgery (OPSURGERY) were measured in 29 patients. RESULTS Laparoscopic assistance with abdominal insufflation was used in 20 (69%) cases. There were no differences in patient age (P = .589), gender (P = .822), body mass index (P = .289), weight (P = .789), height (P = .542), and OPLP (P = .476) in patients operated with and without laparoscopic assistance. When compared to patients operated without laparoscopic assistance, laparoscopic assistance was associated with a greater rate of OP increase during surgery relative to OPLP (40% vs 100%, P = .002), a greater increase in OPSURGERY relative to OPLP (-0.40 ± 5.38 vs 10.17 ± 5.53 cm H2O, P < .001), and a greater proportion of patients with OPSURGERY of ≥25 cm H2O during the VPS surgery (0% vs 78%, P < .001). CONCLUSION Abdominal insufflation is associated with an increase in intracranial pressure with OPs often exceeding 25 cm H2O. This should be considered when selecting optimal VPS pressure settings.
A test of the interpretation of X-ray patterns of micelles.

CLEAR transparent solutions of soaps and detergents give characteristic X-ray patterns, due to the colloidal micelles formed by association of ions or molecules or both. There is still, however, no agreement about the number and kinds of micelles which can be present1. Hess and Gunderman2 were the first to explain the X-ray patterns upon the basis of lamellar micelles consisting of double layers of molecules separated by equally spaced layers of water. Harkins3 recently directed attention to a so-called 'M-band' in the pattern and attributed it to diffraction from the double-leaflet alone.
Partisanship, Universalism, and the Dialectics of Moral Consciousness

Upon the collapse of the Socialist governments of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, there was very quickly manifested a rash of nationalisms, parochialisms, racisms, and other forms of fiendishness. However, there was also a somewhat gentler manifestation that took the form of abandoning Marxist philosophy and bringing East European and Russian philosophy into a closer alignment with what might be called the more standardized philosophical traditions of the capitalist world. One example of this change was the formation of the International Society for Universalism in Poland, which grew out of the group of Marxist humanists who published the journal Dialectics and Humanism, the name of which was altered to Dialogue and Humanism. The purpose of this group was that of identifying and codifying a set of universal values. It is against this background that we have written this paper.
Mission Animation: Christian Higher Education, the Common Good, and Community Engagement

AbstractChristian institutions are founded on a diverse set of historical and theological backgrounds and strive to integrate faith, learning, and living in a way that not only educates and develop...
Machine Learning Enabled Wearable Brain Deformation Sensing System

Brain deformation – the primary cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI) – occurs during fall, automobile accident, brain surgery, or explosion (i.e., pressurized airflow) [1] . Mechanical impact causes strain energy that leads to tissue displacement. Researchers have attempted to characterize the brain deformation for diagnosis and prevention of concussion-related TBI [2] . It is especially important to measure microscale deformation because even a few tens of micrometer brain deformation may have direct neuropsychiatric and neuro-degenerative consequences [3] – [6] . Another effort to minimize brain deformation can be found in intracranial surgeries. The deformation is inevitable but can be minimized by designing a better apparatus and using advance stereotactic techniques [7] – [9] . As such, there are a few methods to measure brain deformation today [8] , [10] – [12] . Computational models and imaging technologies (e.g., FEM (finite element method) modeling, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) are such examples. However, because the brain is viscoelastic [13] , these technologies lack 1) detailed information regarding micro-scale brain deformation and 2) real-time measurement capability.
Application research on quantitative real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR assay for Brucella

Objective To discuss a real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) wether if can be used to detect Brucella. Methods According to the BCSP31 gene sequences specific for Brucella, one pair of primers and one TaqMan probe were designed. A real-time PCR was developed with the BCSP31 fragments cloned into PMD18-T vector. The standard cure was established and the sensitivity, the species specificity and the stability of the assay were evaluated. The clinical blood specimens were detected by QT-PCR and compared with clinical diagnosis. Results The standard curve was established with the standard template and the relationship between the Ct and the DNA copy number was linear(r=0.999). The sensitivity of the real-time PCR was 5 copies/μl. The sensitivity of the common PCR was 5×102 copies/μl. The sensitivity was about 100 times higher than common PCR. Species specificity of this FQ-PCR assay evaluated using genomic DNA from 6 Bmcella strains and 5 non-Brucella strains and strong fluorescence was detected in all Brucella strains. The CV of intra-assay and inter-assay reproducibility were 0.71%,7.23%, reprectively. Twenty-four specimens from clinical brucellosis cases, 19 showed positive, the positive coincident rate was 79%(19/24). The negative results were obtained for all 31 negative control, and the negative coincident rate was 100%(31/31). Two were positive from all 30 specimens clinically suspected. Conclusions Highly specific, sensitive, repeatable and coincidental with clinic, this FQ-PCR is quite useful for rapid detection of tiny DNA of Brucella in various samples and laboratory diagnosis. Key words: Brucella; Polymerase chain reaction; Detection
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL BONDING, CAREER DECISION MAKING AND SOCIAL SUPPORT: A CROSS CULTURAL STUDY

Career choice is a significant issue in the developmental lives of youth. Of all the judgement one makes in life, what could be more important than one makes while seeking and selecting a career? The choice of career is crucial as it shall drive what will be the individual’s daily schedule for the rest of their life. Good career planning leads to life fulfillment however; cultural heritage can conflict with youth’s personal interests. While there are several factors that influence career decisions, relationship with parents, support from friends, family, teachers etc, were some of the factors that were found significant. The present study attempts to establish the hypotheses that there is a relationship between parental bonding, social support and career decision making and there is a difference in the levels of parental bonding, social support and career decision making between Hyderabadis and Mizos. The sample of this study consisted of 200 college students grouped in two different groups: People living in Hyderabad and people living in Mizoram between the age groups 18-25. In this study, the researcher has used purposive sampling methods and correlational research design. The participants were made to answer three types of questionnaires- Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), Berlin Social Support Scale (BSSS) and Career Decision Making Scale (CDMS). Reliable and valid scales had been used for data collection. The statistical results that there exists a relationship between parental bonding, social support and career decision making, there exists a significant difference in levels of parental bonding, social support and career decision making between two different regions.
Adipocytes and membranous fat necrosis within native cardiac valves: Clinicopathologic characterization of histologic constituents.

Abstract The constituents of normal cardiac valves as well as those involved by active and/or chronic processes have been detailed previously, however minor attention has been provided toward mature adipocytes within valves and correlation with other histologic, clinical, and echocardiographic data. The literature also contains a paucity of investigations examining the presence of a particular form of degenerative change of mature adipocytes termed membranous fat necrosis. We retrospectively reviewed the histologic findings of 1042 native cardiac valves which included identification of the presence of adipocytes and membranous fat necrosis within them, as well as correlation with other histopathologic features, and clinical and echocardiographic findings. Notable observations included that membranous fat necrosis was only present in valves with adipocytes, adipocytes and membranous fat necrosis were seen in older patients, and that Caucasians made up a greater proportion of patients while African Americans made up a lower proportion of patients when valves were found with adipocytes and membranous fat necrosis. Aortic valves contained adipocytes and membranous fat necrosis at a greater rate than compared to other valves, and aortic valves with adipocytes and membranous fat necrosis were more commonly tricuspid (as opposed to bicuspid) and with larger aortic valve area and lower peak and mean gradients. Further investigation is required to determine potential physiologic and/or pathologic consequence of their presence.
Predictive modeling to create a proactive approach to patient blood management in the oncology population

332Background: Patient safety concerns that arose during COVID-19, related to blood shortages at a large oncological transfusion center, foregrounded the need for predictive modeling tools to optim...
Simulation inverse problems of reconstruction of image data using patterned electrical impedance tomography female breast

This article analyzes the performance of the Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) technique in the diagnosis of breast cancer. The simulations used EIDORS (Electrical Impedance Tomography and Diffuse Optical Tomography Reconstruction Software) and OCTAVE, a computational tool for numerical calculation. We compared three algorithms: prior Laplace, NOSER and Tikhonov. The NOSER algorithm obtained the best classification according to performance metrics of proximity between neoplasms, where this factor changes the resolution of the reconstruction images generated depending on the chosen algorithm.
A random Least Trimmed Squares identification algorithm

The least trimmed squares estimator (LTS) is a well known robust estimator in terms of protecting the estimate from the outliers. Its high computational complexity is however a problem in practice. In this paper, we propose a random LTS algorithm which has a low computational complexity that can be calculated a priori as a function of the required error bound and the confidence interval. Moreover, if the number of data points goes to infinite, the algorithm becomes a deterministic one that converges to the true LTS in some probability sense.
Polyurethane design using stochastic optimization

Abstract The objective of this work is to develop a method for predicting polyurethane structures having physical and chemical properties matching a given set of properties. Preliminary quantitative structure property relations (QSPRs) are developed for mechanical properties of polyurethane elastomers. A mixed integer nonlinear program (MINLP) optimization problem is solved using Tabu search, a stochastic optimization method, to find a set of polymers with properties matching the target set. Results are obtained for the design of encapsulant polymers for electronics applications.
Copies With Souls: The Late Seventeenth-century Marianas Martyrs, Francis Xavier, and the Question of Clerical Reproduction

Although Ignatius created the template for Jesuit manhood, the task of modeling missionary masculinity for future generations fell to Francis Xavier as the first member to venture beyond Europe. This essay focuses on two late seventeenth-century followers of Xavier in the Marianas mission, Diego Luis de Sanvitores and Augustin Strobach, whom contemporaries characterized as virtual “copies” of Xavier with a twist: while the original Xavier longed for martyrdom in vain, Sanvitores and Strobach were able to shed blood for the faith. Their stories are set against the backdrop of the post-Trent revival of martyrdom and the Society’s need to keep generating new Christians as well as new missionaries to extend its reach across space and time. Print technology, which circulated images and stories of saintly exemplars worldwide and offered a cultural template for mimetic copying, was crucial in facilitating such clerical reproduction across the much greater distances involved in early modern evangelization.