cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Blind 2-D RAKE receivers based on RLS-type space-time adaptive filtering for DS-CDMA system

We previously presented a blind 2-D RAKE receiver for CDMA that cancels strong multi-user access interference and optimally combines multipath. The weight vector yielding the optimum signal to interference plus noise ratio for bit decisions is the "largest" generalized eigenvector of the spatio-frequency (spatio-temporal) correlation matrix pencil. However, the eigen-analysis based algorithm is on the order of O(N/sup 3/) computational complexity and the resulting spatio-frequency (spatio-temporal) correlation matrix pencil is of a large dimension. This detracts from the real-time applicability of that scheme. A blind 2-D RAKE receiver is thus presented based on an RLS-type space-time adaptive filtering scheme which offers O(N/sup 2/) computational complexity and competitive performance. The applicability of the scheme to the IS-95 uplink is also addressed as in a decision directed fashion.
ZoomBoard: a diminutive qwerty soft keyboard using iterative zooming for ultra-small devices

The proliferation of touchscreen devices has made soft keyboards a routine part of life. However, ultra-small computing platforms like the Sony SmartWatch and Apple iPod Nano lack a means of text entry. This limits their potential, despite the fact they are quite capable computers. In this work, we present a soft keyboard interaction technique called ZoomBoard that enables text entry on ultra-small devices. Our approach uses iterative zooming to enlarge otherwise impossibly tiny keys to comfortable size. We based our design on a QWERTY layout, so that it is immediately familiar to users and leverages existing skill. As the ultimate test, we ran a text entry experiment on a keyboard measuring just 16 x 6mm - smaller than a US penny. After eight practice trials, users achieved an average of 9.3 words per minute, with accuracy comparable to a full-sized physical keyboard. This compares favorably to existing mobile text input methods.
Health Literacy and Self-Care of Patients with Heart Failure

Background and Research Objective—Today’s complex health care system relies heavily on sophisticated self-care regimens. To navigate the system and follow self-care protocols, patients must be able to understand and use health information, which requires health literacy. However, nearly 90 million Americans lack the necessary health literacy skills to adequately care for themselves in the face of a complex healthcare system and self-care regimens. Understanding how to effectively care for one’s self is thought to improve heart failure symptoms and patient outcomes, but little is actually known about how health literacy influences self-care in patients with heart failure. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the relationship between health literacy and self-care of patients with heart failure. Subjects and Methods—Patients with a diagnosis of heart failure were recruited from a variety of community settings. Participants completed the Short-Form Test of Functional Health Literacy (measured health literacy), the Self-Care Index of Heart Failure (measured self-care maintenance, management, and confidence), and a demographic questionnaire. Spearman’s Rho correlations were used to assess the strength of the relationship between health literacy level and self-care scores. Results and Conclusions—Among the 49 participants recruited, health literacy was positively related to self-care maintenance (Rs=0.357, p=0.006). Health literacy had a negative relationship with self-care management (Rs=−0.573, p=0.001). There was no association between health literacy and self-care confidence (Rs=0.201, p=0.083). This project provides preliminary data regarding the association between health literacy and self-care in heart failure, showing support for higher health literate patients performing more self-care maintenance, which has been shown to improve patient outcomes in heart failure. Patients with higher health literacy trended toward having greater self-care confidence, which can increase the likelihood of performing self-care, but
Extracellular HMGB1 regulates multi-walled carbon nanotube-induced inflammation in vivo

Endotoxin is often used to activate NF-κB in vitro when assessing NLRP3 inflammasome activation by various exogenous particles including nanoparticles. However, the endogenous source of this signal 1 is unknown. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is known to play a critical role in acute lung injury, however the potential contribution of the alarmin HMGB1 to NLRP3 Inflammasome activation has not been determined in response to nanoparticles in vivo. In this study, the ability of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) to cause release of HMGB1 in vitro and in vivo, as well as the potential of HMGB1 to function as signal 1 in vitro and in vivo, was determined. HMGB1 activity in vivo was assessed by administration of HMGB1 neutralization antibodies following MWCNT exposure. Caspase-1(-/-) mice were utilized to elucidate the dependence of HMGB1 secretion on NLRP3 inflammasome activity. MWCNT exposure increased extracellular HMGB1 levels in primary alveolar macrophages from C57Bl/6 mice and C10 mouse epithelial cell culture supernatants, and in C57Bl/6 mouse lung lavage fluid. MWCNT-induced HMGB1 secretion was dependent upon caspase-1. HMGB1 increased MWCNT-induced IL-1β release from macrophages in vitro, and neutralization of extracellular HMGB1 reduced MWCNT-induced IL-1β secretion in vivo. HMGB1 neutralization was accompanied with overall decreased inflammation. In summary, this study suggests extracellular HMGB1 participates in NLRP3 inflammasome activity and regulates IL-1β associated sterile inflammation induced by MWCNT.
Predicting cancer susceptibility from single-nucleotide polymorphism data: a case study in multiple myeloma

This paper asks whether susceptibility to early-onset (diagnosis before age 40) of a particularly deadly form of cancer, Multiple Myeloma, can be predicted from single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles with an accuracy greater than chance. Specifically, given SNP profiles for 80 Multiple Myeloma patients -- of which we believe 40 to have high susceptibility and 40 to have lower susceptibility -- we train a support vector machine (SVM) to predict age at diagnosis. We chose SVMs for this task because they are well suited to deal with interactions among features and redundant features. The accuracy of the trained SVM estimated by leave-one-out cross-validation is 71%, significantly greater than random guessing. This result is particularly encouraging since only 3000 SNPs were used in profiling, whereas several million SNPs are known.
Chlorine Gas Exposure and the Lung: A Review

We conducted a review of the literature detailing the respiratory effects of chlorine, an extremely important but toxic halogen. Historically, the heaviest mass inhalational exposures to chlorine resulted from World War I gassing. Currently potential human exposure to chlorine inhalation occurs in a variety of settings in the workplace, as a result of inadvertent environmental releases, and even in the home due to household cleaning mishaps. Chlorine species are highly reactive; tissue injury results from exposure to chlorine, hydrochloric acid, hypochlorous acid, or chloramines. Acute, high level exposure to chlorine gas in occupational or environmental settings results in a variety of dose-related lung effects ranging from respiratory mucus membrane irritation to pulmonary edema. Pulmonary function testing can reveal either obstructive or restrictive deficits immediately following exposure, with resolution over time in the majority of cases. However, some of those exposed may demonstrate long-term persistent obstructive or restrictive pulmonary deficits or increased nonspecific airway reactivity after high level exposure to chlorine gas. Symptoms and signs following inhalation of mixtures of chlorine-containing cleaners in the home are similar to those after occupational exposures and environmental releases. Although generally less severe, these events may be extremely common. Controlled human exposure data suggest that some subjects may be more responsive to the effects of chlorine gas; epidemiologic data also indicate that certain subpopulations (e.g., smokers) may be at greater risk of adverse outcome after chlorine inhalation. Although these findings are intriguing, additional study is needed to better delineate the risk factors that predispose toward the development of long-term pulmonary sequelae following chlorine gas exposure.
Ocular immune privilege: the eye takes a dim but practical view of immunity and inflammation

The delicate visual axis that makes pre- cise vision possible is highly vulnerable to the de- structive potential of immunogenic inflammation. Immune privilege of the eye is the experimental expression of the way in which evolution has coped with the countermanding threats to vision of ocular infections and ocular immunity and inflammation. Ocular immune privilege has five primary features that account for its existence: blood:ocular barri- ers, absent lymphatic drainage pathways, soluble immunomodulatory factors in aqueous humor, im- munomodulatory ligands on the surface of ocular parenchymal cells, and indigenous, tolerance-pro- moting antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Three manifestations of ocular immune privilege that have received the most extensive study are the intraocular microenvironment, which is selectively anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive; the prolonged acceptance of solid tissue and tumor allografts in the anterior chamber; and the induc- tion of systemic tolerance to eye-derived antigens. Anterior chamber-associated immune deviation is known to arise when indigenous, ocular APCs cap- ture eye-derived antigens and deliver them to the spleen where multicellular clusters of these cells, natural killer T cells, marginal zone B cells, and T cells create an antigen-presentation environment that leads to CD4 and CD8 / T cells, which as regulators, suppress induction and expression of T helper cell type 1 (Th1) and Th2 immune expres- sion systems. The ways the eye influences local and systemic immune responses to ocular antigens and pathogens carry risks to and benefits for mamma- lian organisms. As loss of sight is a powerful, neg- ative-selecting force, the benefits of ocular immune privilege outweigh the risks. J. Leukoc. Biol. 74: 179-185; 2003.
Redesigning the hydrophobic core of a four‐helix‐bundle protein

Rationally redesigned variants of the 4-helix-bundle protein Rop are described. The novel proteins have simplified, repacked, hydrophobic cores and yet reproduce the structure and native-like physical properties of the wild-type protein. The repacked proteins have been characterized thermodynamically and their equilibrium and kinetic thermal and chemical unfolding properties are compared with those of wild-type Rop. The equilibrium stability of the repacked proteins to thermal denaturation is enhanced relative to that of the wild-type protein. The rate of chemically induced folding and unfolding of wild-type Rop is extremely slow when compared with other small proteins. Interestingly, although the repacked proteins are more thermally stable than the wild type, their rates of chemically induced folding and unfolding are greatly increased in comparison to wild type. Perhaps as a consequence of this, their equilibrium stabilities to chemical denaturants are slightly reduced in comparison to the wild type.
Telemetry Considerations for Large Space Vehicles

This paper discusses some of the problem areas and considerations unique to large space-vehicle telemetry. Some significant characteristics of specific telemetry multiplexing and modulation techniques are pointed out. The contributions to real-time data requirements such as vehicle prelaunch monitoring and checkout that can be made by telemetry techniques are described. Finally, some observations are made on the direction of future research and development (R & D) effort in the telemetry field.
Loss of HtrA3, a serine protease involved in smoking-related lung cancer: Implications for chemoresistance

B70 Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. Approximately 90% of lung cancer cases are smoking-related. HtrA3 is a serine protease belonging to HtrA family of serine proteases. We identified HtrA1 as a downregulated gene in ovarian and other cancers. Our initial analysis of expression of HtrA3 seems to indicate that it is specifically downregulated in lung and hepatocellular carcinomas as opposed to cancers of the ovary, breast or prostate. In addition, global gene expression analysis of human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to cigarette condensates showed complete chronic downregulation of HtrA3 within two hours of exposure. In contrast the other two HtrA family members, HtrA1 and HtrA2, did not show any alteration in the expression levels following exposure to cigarette condensates as seen in the gene expression profiles in the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus database. Our more detailed analysis of HtrA3 expression in 18 lung cancer cell lines showed that 10 of 18 cell lines had either a complete loss (16 cell lines) or lower levels of HtrA3 expression compared to normal lung, implicating HtrA3 as a tumor suppressor gene in lung cancer etiology. Consistent with this observation, our preliminary results using methylation specific PCR (MS-PCR) indicate that two of five lung cancer cell lines analyzed had methylation of the HtrA3 promoter with corresponding loss of HtrA3 expression. Based on these preliminary data, we hypothesize that HtrA3 could be a target in lung cancer progression, specifically related to smoking. Preliminary data also indicate that forced expression of HtrA3 restores sensitivity to etoposide in resistant HeLa cells. Ongoing experiments will determine whether HtrA3 will confer chemosensitivity to lung cancer.
Front end architectures for multistandard digital TV receivers

A concept for the simplification of tuner architectures for digital and analog TV is presented that supports solid state integration and is based on downconversion of UHF to baseband by means of a compensated mixer architecture. I/Q imbalance impairments can be removed in the analog and the digital part of the receiver.
A new pulse compression scheme applied to spread ALOHA in VSAT networks

A new pulse compression scheme using inverse filters and sidelobe-optimal sequences is proposed. Comparisons are made between the proposed scheme and the conventional matched filter approach. The new scheme is shown to provide very sharp sidelobe reduction capability without increasing the transmission bandwidth, vis-a-vis the conventional scheme. The performances of the two filtering schemes, embedded in a spread ALOHA communication system in a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) data network, are calculated and compared. The inverse filter scheme in many situations has fewer detection errors then does the conventional matched filter scheme with the same bit-energy to thermal-noise ratio. >
VOTING, PUNISHMENT, AND PUBLIC GOODS

Researchers have found that voting can help increase voluntary contributions to a public good—provided enforcement through a third party. Not all collective agreements, however, guarantee third-party enforcement. We design an experiment to explore whether a voting rule with and without endogenous punishment increases contributions to a public good. Our results suggest that voting by itself does not increase cooperation, but if voters can punish violators, contributions increase significantly. While costly punishment increases contributions at the price of lower efficiency, overall efficiency for a voting-withpunishment rule still exceeds the level observed for a voting-without-punishment rule. (JEL C92, D72, H41)
Substrate Induced Crystallinity in Reactive Sputter Deposition of Hydrogenated Silicon

We use in situ multi-wavelength ellipsometry to study growth of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and crystalline silicon deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. Crystal silicon covered with native oxide and oxide free crystal silicon are used as substrates. Deposition on c-Si/ox over a wide range of conditions yields amorphous films, and the growth proceeds with formation of small islands, regardless of hydrogen partial pressure. Growth on oxide free c-Si, on the other hand, is hydrogen dependent. Even at a low hydrogen pressure, a layer with mixed phase of c-Si and a-Si:H begin to appear near the c-Si substrate. This layer thickness and its c-Si fraction increase with hydrogen pressure. Bombardment of growing surface by energetic particles, both silicon and hydrogen species, appears to lead to the crystallization.
Infrared Thermography As A Control For The Welding Process

A feasibility study was performed to determine if infrared thermography could be used to detect perturbations in the arc welding process that result in defects. Data were gathered using an infrared camera with a resolution of 0.2°C, which was trained on the molten metal pool during welding. Several defects were then intentionally induced, and the resulting thermal images were preserved on film. These images revealed that different types of weld defects induce different characteristic changes in the thermal image by detectably altering the temperature field around the weld. These perturbations in the temperature field can be used to identify and locate defects such as arc misalignment, plate gap, puddle impurities, etc. Macrostructural examinations permitted investigations into the relationships between weld puddle penetration depth and the temperature field. Using computer-aided processing of these thermal images, we expect that the welding process can be controlled to a higher degree than is presently possible.
Structure, Function, and Targeting of Interleukin 4 Receptors on Human Head and Neck Cancer Cells

Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, survival rates for patients with head and neck cancer have remained unchanged for the last 30 years. In an attempt to develop novel therapeutic agents, we have observed that a variety of murine and human carcinoma cells expresses high levels of receptors for interleukin 4 (IL-4) in vitro and in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that 17 head and neck cancer cell lines also express surface IL-4 receptors (IL-4R) and IL-4 binds to IL-4R on one cell line studied with low affinity ((k)d = 37.9 +/- 0.4 nM). The investigation of the subunit structure of IL-4R demonstrated that head and neck cancer cell lines expressed mRNA for IL-4R beta chain (also known as IL-4R alpha) and IL-13R alpha' chain (also known as IL-13R alpha1). However, no cell line expressed IL-2R common gamma-chain, which is known to be shared with IL-4R in immune cells. IL-4R is functional because IL-4 strongly induced activation of signal transducers and activators of transcription 6 (STAT-6) in these cell lines. A fusion protein, IL4(38-37)-PE38KDEL, containing translocation and enzymatic domains of Pseudomonas exotoxin and a circularly permuted human IL-4 was found to be highly and specifically cytotoxic to IL-4R-positive head and neck cancer cells, as determined by protein synthesis inhibition assay and confirmed by clonogenic assay. IL4(38-37)-PE38KDEL induced DNA fragmentation and condensation of nuclei indicative of apoptotic cell death. These results establish uniform expression of IL-4R on head and neck cancer cell lines and IL-4 toxin IL4(38-37)-PE38KDEL as a novel therapeutic agent for the possible treatment of human head and neck cancers.
Influence of nest concealment and distance to habitat edge on depredation rates of simulated grassland bird nests in southeast Kansas

Abstract Many features appear to influence avian nest success, and nest concealment and distance to habitat edge are among the most influential. We placed simulated bird nests baited with House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) eggs in two riparian grasslands to document the influence of these two habitat characteristics on nest depredation rates. Over three trials, 49% of nests (n = 105) were depredated with a mean daily survival rate of 0.908 (± 0.012 SE). Side and overhead concealment of depredated and undisturbed nests did not differ in any consistent manner, and logistic regression models indicated that nest fate was not influenced by the amount of vegetative concealment surrounding a nest. Depredated simulated nests were closer to habitat edges than undisturbed nests during only one of three trials, suggesting nest depredation was not strongly influenced by habitat edges. Our results indicate that in simulated grassland bird nests baited with sparrow eggs, concealment may be more influential on nest fate ...
"CITIZEN GOVERNANCE" AS IMAGE MANAGEMENT IN POSTMODERN CONTEXT

In recent years, the level of skepticism by the public towards government coupled with the emergence of "citizen governance" literature in the discipline of public administration has led administrators to step into an area wrought with legitimacy questions. "Citizen governance" is seen mainly as an administrative strategy or style, perhaps useful in the present historical moment, that may be brought to bear in the face of the negative image of government in general and the civil service in particular. The article explicates three image management strategies: non-active image management (NIM); reactive image management (RIM); proactive image management (PIM), and considers the normative dimensions of each of these approaches. The authors reason that when administrators involve themselves in the polity in a proactive way, questions of legitimacy arise.
Aligning Linguistic and Brain Views on Language Comprehension

Publisher Summary Language affords human beings an incredible degree of representational flexibility within the limits of highly restrictive constraints. Despite the remarkable ability of the human vocal tract to produce all kinds of sounds, only a limited subset of these is actually used in the world's languages. A striking fact is that almost all humans learn this complicated coding system early in life and use it throughout their life span with ease. This chapter discusses that the language system is structured at multiple levels, ranging from its physical form to its referential meaning in context. From a linguist's perspective, then, language is a highly structured system, and this structure is important for understanding how language can be used so readily and efficiently. The understanding of language processing demands that people apprehend how the multiple sub-processes involved interact over time and space. The brain's sensitivity to linguistic patterns of various types highlights another important aspect of language—namely, the need to process relations between items, at different levels of abstraction.
The short- and long-term effects of life events on residential mobility

In this paper we examine how life events impact inter-neighborhood residential mobility among a cohort of young adults from the United States. We combine choice-based models of mobility with life-course principles to argue that life events associated with the transition to adulthood should be associated with residential mobility in the short-term, but residential stability in the long-term. Unanticipated and disruptive events, on the other hand, are expected to place individuals on a long-term trajectory of residential instability. Longitudinal survey data covering nearly 30 years allows us to capture short-term effects, average effects, and trends across time. We find particularly strong short-term effects on mobility for marriage and homeownership, both of which subsequently lead to long-term stability. We also find that divorce and incarceration (an emerging turning point in the life-course) predict instability in both the short- and long-term. Additional analyses suggest that some events – like homeownership – are immediately stabilizing, while others – like marriage – lead to stability across time. We conclude by discussing the contributions of the findings to our understanding of residential mobility and the transition to adulthood in the contemporary United States.
Finite Production Run-Based Serial Lines With Bernoulli Machines: Performance Analysis, Bottleneck, and Case Study

In manufacturing systems with large variety of products, small- to medium-size production runs are typically carried out according to the customers’ orders. When the volume of a production run is small, the production system operates partially (or entirely) in the transient regime and the traditional steady-state analysis may become inapplicable. In this paper, under the framework of serial production lines with finite buffers and with machines having the Bernoulli reliability model, we study the problems of performance evaluation, system-theoretic properties, and bottleneck of such systems. Specifically, we study the mathematical model for the one- and two-machine cases and derive analytical formulas to evaluate the performance measures of such systems. Then, for longer lines, a computationally efficient algorithm based on aggregation is developed to approximate the system performance measures with high accuracy. In addition, the monotonicity and reversibility properties and completion time bottleneck are discussed. Finally, a case study in a lighting equipment assembly plant is described to illustrate the theoretical results obtained.
Selection for a Nondiapause Strain of the Bollworm, Heliothis zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

A strain of bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), was selected that possessed a low incidence of diapause under normal diapause-inducing conditions. This strain was developed through the use of artificial mass selection under conditions of 10:14 L:D photoperiod and a temperature of 20±2°C. Fourteen cycles of selection reduced the incidence of diapause from 64.2% to 5.6%.
Capillarity Effect on Two-Phase Flow Resistance in Microchannels

An experimental set-up is developed to investigate the effects of surface energy/surface wettability on characteristics of two-phase flow in microchannels. Two-phase (water and air) slug flow is established in entrance effect free microchannel test sections of various surface wettabilities. Pressure drop measurements and flow pattern detection by high speed visualization are employed to characterize the flow. Pressure drop of flow in hydrophilic channels is lesser than that of flow in hydrophobic channels. Significant change in contact line in advancing and receding interface section with surface wettability is observed.© 2007 ASME
Amylase production by Mucor miehei and M. pusillus.

(1976). Amylase Production by Mucor Miehei and M. Pusillus. Mycologia: Vol. 68, No. 4, pp. 934-938.
Bond strengths of glass ionomers using a dentin adhesive.

Purpose To determine the effect of All-Bond 2 adhesive on the shear bond strengths to dentin of Fuji II LC, Photac-Fil, and Vitremer. Materials and methods The occlusal surfaces of 60 extracted human third molars were ground flat to expose dentin and were polished to 600 grit. The teeth were randomly assigned to six groups (n = 10). In three groups, dentin was treated using the conditioner or primer recommended by the manufacturer. In the remaining groups, dentin was treated with All-Bond 2 etchant, primer, and adhesive. Restorative materials were applied to the treated surfaces in gelatin capsule matrices and were light-cured. Specimens were thermocycled, and shear bond strengths were determined using a materials testing machine. Results The use of All-Bond 2 improved the mean bond strength of Photac-Fil from 1.7 to 8.7 MPa, but decreased the bond strength of Vitremer from 7.3 to 5.5 MPa. The bond strengths of Fuji II LC were 7.5 and 7.9 MPa, with and without the use of All-Bond 2, respectively. ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test showed that only the difference for Photac-Fil was statistically significant.
Telepsychological services with criminal justice and substance abuse clients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Recent years have seen the incorporation of telepsychology into poorly accessed, rural, and underserved settings, including criminal justice and substance abuse treatment. A systematic search of the literature on telepsychological and related services with justice-involved and substance abuse clients revealed numerous descriptive reports, but few empirical studies. The results of 3 studies of criminal justice participants and 2 studies of substance-abuse participants were subjected to a series of 5 outcome-specific meta-analyses (mental health symptoms, therapeutic processes, program engagement, program performance, and service satisfaction). These 5 studies, all of which utilized a comparison group, contributed a total of 342 participants and 14 total effect sizes. Summary data on 3 additional uncontrolled studies are also presented. Results indicated that telepsychological outcomes were at least comparable with in-person outcomes. This review serves as an initial reference for clinicians and policymakers working with criminal justice and substance abuse clients, but also highlights the need for more rigorous scientific investigation into the nuances of telepsychological practice.
Survey of advanced nuclear technologies for potential applications of sonoprocessing

Ultrasonics has been used in many industrial applications for both sensing at low power and processing at higher power. Generally, the high power applications fall within the categories of liquid stream degassing, impurity separation, and sonochemical enhancement of chemical processes. Examples of such industrial applications include metal production, food processing, chemical production, and pharmaceutical production. There are many nuclear process streams that have similar physical and chemical processes to those applications listed above. These nuclear processes could potentially benefit from the use of high-power ultrasonics. There are also potential benefits to applying these techniques in advanced nuclear fuel cycle processes, and these benefits have not been fully investigated. Currently the dominant use of ultrasonic technology in the nuclear industry has been using low power ultrasonics for non-destructive testing/evaluation (NDT/NDE), where it is primarily used for inspections and for characterizing material degradation. Because there has been very little consideration given to how sonoprocessing can potentially improve efficiency and add value to important process streams throughout the nuclear fuel cycle, there are numerous opportunities for improvement in current and future nuclear technologies. In this paper, the relevant fundamental theory underlying sonoprocessing is highlighted, and some potential applications to advanced nuclear technologies throughout the nuclear fuel cycle are discussed.
Evaluation and Management of Older Adults with Multimorbidity and Cancer: A Geriatric Perspective on Oncology Care

Cancer is primarily a disease of older adults. Decision making about care for older adults is challenging. There is heterogeneity in the health status of older patients with cancer, including differences in comorbidities, cognitive status, physical performance, nutrition, functional abilities, and social circumstances, each of which can significantly impact cancer treatment decisions and outcomes. It is therefore important to characterize the health of older patients with multimorbidity and cancer using a multidimensional and validated geriatric assessment. This requires a systematic approach to decision making and management of older cancer patients. This chapter outlines such an approach and presents a framework to guide cancer management decisions.
Social Order in a Fragile State: Rio's Favelas

A peculiar social order exists in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, where the drug factions that control them permit humanitarian activity which curbs drug use and faction affiliation. This article provides an institutional perspective on faction control of the favelas where a lack of government presence fosters faction legitimacy among residents. Allowing humanitarian organisations to operate in the favelas creates common knowledge among residents within a large coordination game where factions signal a desire to cooperate. Legitimisation among residents improves faction profits, while residents benefit from ‘law and order’, public services and public goods that are not provided by the state.
NEMO5: Predicting MoS 2 heterojunctions

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) is a promising 2D material since it has a finite band gap, and its electronic band structure depends on the layer thickness. The tunability of the gate voltage on band alignment of different MoS 2 layers is analyzed. For this purpose, the multipurpose nanodevice simulation tool NEMO5 was altered by several new features: electronic bandstructure calculations in maximally localized Wannier function (MLWF) representation and self-consistent charge calculations with subatomic electrostatic resolution.
Quasi-static major and minor strain-stress loops in textured polycrystalline Fe81.6Ga18.4 Galfenol

The ΔE effect (Young's modulus variation of magnetostrictive materials) is useful for tunable vibration absorption and stiffness control. The ΔE effect of iron-gallium (Galfenol) has not been fully characterized. In this study, major and minor strain-stress loops were measured under different bias magnetic fields in solid, research grade, ⟨100⟩-oriented, highly-textured polycrystalline Fe81.6Ga18.4 Galfenol. A 1 Hz, constant amplitude compressive stress was applied from −0.5 MPa to −63.3 MPa for major loop responses. Minor loops were generated by simultaneously applying a 4 Hz, 2.88 MPa amplitude sinusoidal stress and different bias stresses ranging from −5.7 MPa to −41.6 MPa in increments of about 7.2 MPa. Bias magnetic fields were applied in two ways, a constant field in the sample obtained using a proportional-integral (PI) controller and a constant current in the excitation coils. The ΔE effect was quantified from major and minor loop measurements. The maximum ΔE effect is 54.84% and 39.01% for consta...
Microsatellite Expansion Diseases: Repeat Toxicity Found in Translation.

Sellier et al. (2017) show that translation of expanded CGG repeats in fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome is initiated at an upstream ACG near-cognate start codon. The resulting polyglycine-containing protein, but not repeat RNA, is pathogenic by disrupting the nuclear lamina.
Unplanned gait termination in individuals with multiple sclerosis

Abstract Despite the pervasive nature of gait impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS), there is limited information concerning the control of gait termination in individuals with MS. The purpose of this investigation was to examine unplanned gait termination with and without cognitive distractors in individuals with MS compared to healthy controls. Thirty-one individuals with MS and 14 healthy controls completed a series of unplanned gait termination tasks over a pressure sensitive walkway under distracting and non-distracting conditions. Individuals with MS were further broken down into groups based on assistive device use: (no assistive device (MS noAD ) n = 18; and assistive device (MS AD ) n = 13). Individuals with MS who walked with an assistive device (MS AD : 67.8 ± 15.1 cm/s) walked slower than individuals without an assistive device (MS noAD : 110.4 ± 32.3 cm/s, p 0.01) and controls (120.0 ± 30.0 cm/s; p 0.01). There was a significant reduction in velocity in the cognitively distracting condition (93.4 ± 32.1 cm/s) compared to the normal condition [108.8 ± 36.2 cm/s; F(1,43) = 3.4, p = 0.04]. All participants took longer to stop during the distracting condition (1.7±0.6 s) than the non-distracting condition (1.4 ± 0.4 s; U = 673.0 p 0.01). After controlling for gait velocity, post-hoc analysis revealed the MS AD group took significantly longer to stop compared to the control group ( p = 0.05). Further research investigating the control of unplanned gait termination in MS is warranted.
205 CHRONIC PAIN: PATIENT EDUCATION BROCHURE.

Purpose of Study Chronic pain afflicts an estimated 75 million people a year in the United States. A community project was developed to address patient education about chronic pain at a community clinic catering to Latinos and low-income patients. Methods Used Using the community-oriented primary care (COPC) method, practice information was gathered from clinic providers and professional literature. The concerns and issues of chronic pain patients were solicited. Summary of Results A brochure on chronic pain was designed and made available in English and Spanish where previously no educational material existed. The key points of the brochure were definition of chronic pain, treatment options at this clinic, and additional resources for the patients. A literature review was performed to determine the effectiveness of chronic pain patient education material. The review revealed that there is little information available on the use of patient educational material as a resource for chronic pain patients. Conclusions Reached The brochure had three main objectives: to provide physicians and patients with a starting point to begin discussion of treatment strategies; to show patients that there are a number of non-narcotic-based treatments for chronic pain; and to validate for patients that their pain is real and treatment options exist. Meeting these objectives will ideally increase patient and physician satisfaction and improve the quality of care for chronic pain. However, more work is needed to properly evaluate the effectiveness of chronic pain patient education material.
Gender-Specific Determinants and Patterns of Online Health Information Seeking: Results From a Representative German Health Survey.

Background: Online health information-seeking behavior (OHISB) is currently a widespread and common behavior that has been described as an important prerequisite of empowerment and health literacy. Although demographic factors such as socioeconomic status (SES), age, and gender have been identified as important determinants of OHISB, research is limited regarding the gender-specific motivational determinants of OHISB and differences between women and men in the use of online resources for health information purposes. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify gender-specific determinants and patterns of OHISB by analyzing data from a representative German sample of adults (N=1728) with special attention to access and frequency of use as well as topics and sources of OHISB. Methods: We employed a 2-step analysis, that is, after exploring differences between users and nonusers of online health information using logistic regression models, we highlighted gender-specific determinants of the frequency of OHISB by applying zero-truncated negative binomial models. Results: Age (odds ratio, OR for females=0.97, 95% CI 0.96-0.99) and degree of satisfaction with one’s general practitioner (GP) (OR for males=0.73, 95% CI 0.57-0.92) were gender-specific determinants of access to OHISB. Regarding the frequency of OHISB, daily Internet use (incidence rate ratio, IRR=1.67, 95% CI 1.19-2.33) and a strong interest in health topics (IRR=1.45, 95% CI 1.19-1.77) were revealed to be more important predictors than SES (IRR for high SES=1.25, 95% CI 0.91-1.73). Conclusions: Users indicate that the Internet seems to be capable of providing a valuable source of informational support and patient empowerment. Increasing the potential value of the Internet as a source for health literacy and patient empowerment requires need-oriented and gender-specific health communication efforts, media, and information strategies.
Faculty drivers and barriers: laying the groundwork for undergraduate STEM education reform in academic departments

Calls to improve student learning and increase the number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) college and university graduates assert the need for widespread adoption of evidence-based instructional practices in undergraduate STEM courses. For successful reforms to take hold and endure, it is likely that a significant shift in culture around teaching is needed. This study seeks to describe the initial response of faculty to an effort to shift teaching norms, with a long-term goal of altering the culture around teaching and learning in STEM. While the effort was envisioned and led at the institutional level, dialog about the proposed change and actions taken by faculty was emergent and supported within departments. Faculty identify a variety of barriers to proposed changes in teaching practice; however, faculty also identify a variety of drivers that might help the institution alter teaching and learning norms. Analysis of faculty responses reveals 18 categories of barriers and 15 categories of drivers in faculty responses. Many of the barrier and driver categories were present in each department’s responses; however, the distribution and frequency with which they appear reveals departmental differences that are important for moving forward with strategies to change teaching practice. Addressing faculty’s barriers to change is essential, but identifying and leveraging faculty’s drivers for the change is potentially equally important in efforts to catalyze changes that are supported or constrained by the local context. Further, the collection of faculty perspectives opens a dialog around the current and future state of teaching, an important step in laying the groundwork for change. Departmental differences in barriers and drivers make clear the importance of “knowing” the local contexts so strategies adopted by departments can be appropriately tailored. Results are discussed in light of what kind of strategies might be employed to effect changes in STEM education.
Iâ€™m Latinoâ€¦Why Do I Need a Class on Culture?

As the demographics of schools become more diverse, it is imperative for schools to recruit and hire more educators of color as role models but as the results from this study indicate, these actions may be far from adequate. The Latino graduate students enrolled in a cultural foundations course in the EducationalÂ Leadership program at a traditionally Hispanic Serving Institution expressed many of the same deficit beliefs as those documented on White educators in the field. Schools and institutions of higher education therefore cannot assume Latino educators come with the cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills to effectively work with students and families of the same ethnicity but must provide them with the necessary preparation. This study discusses the instructional process used in this cultural foundations course to develop Latino studentsâ€™ cultural knowledge and skills and challenge and reframe their deficit thinking. Students not only reported a change in their beliefs and practice but the impact of this transformation appeared to extend beyond their own classrooms.
Colorimetric Recognition of Aldehydes and Ketones

A colorimetric sensor array has been designed for the identification of and discrimination among aldehydes and ketones in vapor phase. Due to rapid chemical reactions between the solid-state sensor elements and gaseous analytes, distinct color difference patterns were produced and digitally imaged for chemometric analysis. The sensor array was developed from classical spot tests using aniline and phenylhydrazine dyes that enable molecular recognition of a wide variety of aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes and ketones, as demonstrated by hierarchical cluster, principal component, and support vector machine analyses. The aldehyde/ketone-specific sensors were further employed for differentiation among and identification of ten liquor samples (whiskies, brandy, vodka) and ethanol controls, showing its potential applications in the beverage industry.
Abstract WP119: Transcriptome Analysis of Motor Cortex Network Responses in Spontaneously Recovered Stroke Mice

Introduction: Spontaneous recovery after stroke occurs in both human and animals. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms driving spontaneous recovery are still unclear. This study investigate...
Role of imaging in the diagnosis of parotid infantile hemangiomas.

Abstract Objectives To review the clinical presentation, imaging and follow-up of parotid infantile hemangiomas (IH). Methods Over a 15-year period, all patients with a clinical diagnosis of parotid IH were evaluated. Imaging was available in 35. The medical records, photographs, and radiology studies of these patients were reviewed. Results All patients presented at less than 4 months of age (M:F, 13:21). 19 (55)% of tumors were on the left and were bilateral in 2 patients. The majority (29 patients) presented due to localized swelling or palpable mass; the remainder had a cutaneous lesion, but no palpable mass at the time of presentation. The referring diagnosis was incomplete or incorrect in 9 patients (26%). The imaging studies all demonstrated a well-defined homogeneous mass, with no abnormality of the surrounding subcutaneous fat. Sonography showed a uniformly vascular lesion with pulsatile fast-flow seen on Doppler. On MRI, the lesion was hyperintense on T2-weighted images, isointense on T1, with intense enhancement post-contrast. Oral therapy (propranolol or corticosteroids) was prescribed in 15 (45%). Follow-up in 28 patients demonstrated stability of the lesion in 11, regression in size in 11 and complete involution in 6. After involution 2 patients underwent resection of residual tissue and/or excess skin. Conclusions Typical clinical presentation alone may be adequate to establish a diagnosis of parotid infantile hemangioma. However, in patients with no overlying cutaneous lesion, imaging can play a critical role in confirming the diagnosis. The sonographic findings are sufficiently characteristic to allow for a definitive diagnosis, obviating the need for further investigations. If diagnostic uncertainty remains or the full extent of the lesion cannot be appreciated, then MRI should be preferred over CT to avoid ionizing radiation.
Implant Arthroplasty for Proximal Interphalangeal, Metacarpophalangeal, and Trapeziometacarpal Joint Degeneration

Arthritis of the hand can result from inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis (OA), or be posttraumatic and can cause pain and debilitation. Arthroplasty serves as 1 surgical option in the surgical management of arthritis and aims to create a pain-free joint with preservation of motion. Although implant arthroplasty of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP), metacarpophalangeal (MCP), and trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joints predictably produce pain relief and high satisfaction, it has historically suffered from high rates of complications. The hinged silicone prosthesis was 1 of the early implants and, in many cases, remains the gold standard. However, problems with deformity correction, implant fracture, and synovitis remain. Implants made of alternative materials such as metal-plastic and pyrocarbon have evolved; however, survivorship and reoperation rates remain a concern. This review details the evolution and current options available for small joint implant arthroplasty involving the MCP, PIP, and TMC joints.
Proliferative Growth during Myogenesis In Vitro

Growth of the skeletal muscle cell occurs in two forms during cell differentiation--a proliferative form and a protein synthetic form of growth. In this paper I will focus on the proliferative form of growth. The intent is to demonstrate that the first round of DNA Synthesis and cell division in myogenic cells in tissue culture is subject to influence by the environment in which the cell finds itself.