cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adaptation of the acoustic angiography technique for use with a capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT)

Though a fairly new technology, CMUTs present many advantages over traditional piezoelectric transducers, including wider frequency bandwidths, easier integration with circuitry, and cheaper and easier production. The wide frequency bandwidth of CMUTs makes them ideal for multi-frequency ultrasound (US) applications in particular. In this work, we present a CMUT-specific version of the dual-frequency superharmonic imaging technique known as “acoustic angiography” (AA). This contrast US method combines a low frequency transmit with a high frequency receive to create microvascular images, but two-element prototypes are required to do so. These probes are confocally aligned and must be mechanically scanned to create an image. Here, this technique has been optimized for use with a single CMUT array.
Occupational medicine specialist referral triggers: Mixed-methods analysis of teleconsult cases.

Background Qualitative analyses can yield critical lessons for learning organizations in healthcare. Few studies have applied these techniques in the field of occupational and environmental medicine (OEM). Aims To describe the characteristics of complex cases referred for OEM subspecialty evaluation and variation by referring provider's training. Methods Using a mixed methods approach, we conducted a content analysis of clinical cases submitted to a national OEM teleconsult service. Consecutive cases entered between April 2014 and July 2015 were screened, coded and analysed. Results 108 cases were available for analysis. Local Veterans Health Administration (VHA) non-specialist providers entered a primary medical diagnosis in 96% of cases at the time of intake. OEM speciality physicians coded significant medical conditions based on free text comments. Coder inter-rater reliability was 84%. The most frequent medical diagnosis types associated with tertiary OEM referral by non-specialists were endocrine (19%), cardiovascular (18%) and mental health (16%). Concern for usage of controlled and/or sedating medications was cited in 1% of cases. Compared to referring non-specialists, OEM physicians were more likely to attribute case complexity to musculoskeletal (OR: 2.3, 1.68-3.14) or neurological (OR: 1.69, 1.28-2.24) conditions. Medication usage (OR: 2.2, 1.49-2.26) was more likely to be a source of clinical concern among referring providers. Conclusions The findings highlight the range of triggers for OEM physician subspecialty referral in clinical practice with employee patients. The results of this study can be used to inform development of provider education, standardized clinical practice pathways, and quality review activities for occupational medicine practitioners.
Avoiding Water Shortages Some Ancient Greek Solutions

One of the most important features of water provision in ancient Greek cities is that as many sources of water as possible were utilized, thus reducing the reliance on any one source. That is, if the enemy cut off the aqueduct, or if an earthquake interrupted the flow of the spring, there was cistern water to fall back on. If the cistern went dry, there was the fountain. If the rains were delayed, there was still the well or the spring. This meant that the failure of anyone source had less potential to devastate the community. Use of multiple sources of water was an evolutionary advance. The survival of the community was assured by the deliberate redundency of the system.
MEET THE EDITORS

The “Meet the Editors” panel session provides attendees with an opportunity to meet journal editors or representatives, from the Senior Scholars' Basket of Eight Journals and leading international IS journals, who share key points about the journals. The panel targets active researchers interested in learning about possible publication opportunities. The perspectives provided are intended to assist researchers targeting the journals for publication consideration. Attendees benefit by asking questions about manuscript preparation, submission requirements, the review process, responding to peer reviewers’ comments, and preparing the final article.
Radiotherapy and Anesthesia

Anesthesia providers face many unique challenges in providing anesthesia services for patients requiring radiation care. The diagnostic and therapeutic use of radiation modalities is an integral part of cancer care that is being used more frequently. Many of the procedures required by the patient could not be accomplished without anesthesia intervention. A discussion between the anesthesia provider and the radiologist should take place before the procedure so appropriate arrangements can be in place with regard to the equipment, monitoring and choice of anesthesia.
Involvement of Retinoic Acid Nuclear Receptors in Transcriptional Regulation of Tissue Transglutaminase, the Gene Involved in Apoptosis

Retinoic acid (RA), an active metabolite of dietary vitamin A (1,2), is essential to maintain normal growth and differentiation of epithelial cells (3,4). RA and certain of its analogs have also been used in experimental animals to prevent and treat cancers of a variety of epithelial tissues (4-9). The mode of action of RA remains speculative. Accumulating evidence indicate that RA mediates its effects through specific nuclear receptors (10-16). RA nuclear receptors belong to a super-family of steroid, thyroid and vitamin D receptors, the ligand-inducible transcriptional factors (10-12). Two major families of RA nuclear receptors (RAR and RXR) have been identified. The RAR (α,β, γ) are activated by both all trans-RA and 9-cis-RA while RXR (α, β, γ) are activated by 9-cis-RA only (16,17). Thus, RAR and RXR are distinct retinoid receptor subfamilies (16,17). RAR require co-regulators to bind effectively to RA responsive element (RARE) in a target gene. RXR functions as auxiliary receptor for RAR and related receptors (18). RXRI3 forms heterodimers with RAR to increase its DNA binding and transcriptional activity (16,19). Other transcriptional factors such as COUP-TF can also modulate RAR activities (20). We determined the role that RAR plays in the signal transduction pathway leading to the expression of tissue transglutaminase (TG) by RA (21,22). Data indicating that vitamin A nutritional status in rats influences the expression of both RAR and tissue TG in certain tissues will be presented. The results that imply that the levels of RAR determine the magnitude of tissue TG induction by retinoic acid will also be summarized.
Novel Flu Viruses in Bats and Cattle: “Pushing the Envelope” of Influenza Infection

Influenza viruses are among the major infectious disease threats of animal and human health. This review examines the recent discovery of novel influenza viruses in bats and cattle, the evolving complexity of influenza virus host range including the ability to cross species barriers and geographic boundaries, and implications to animal and human health.
Rapid Phase Screening via Hydride Route: A Discovery of K8–xZn18+3xSb16

A new antimonide K8–xZn18+3xSb16 was synthesized using reactive potassium hydride KH as a precursor. Owing to intimate mixing of starting materials, the hydride route allows rapid phase “screening” of ternary systems and is particularly suitable for the search of new antimonides. The crystal structure of K8–xZn18+3xSb16 (x = 1.12(8); P42/nmc (no. 137), a = 12.3042(5) A, c = 7.3031(3) A, V = 1105.6(1) A3, R1 = 0.029) has a [Zn18Sb16] framework with large channels alternately filled by K cations and Zn3 triangular units. The Zn3 triangles break the channels into finite cages by forming covalent bonds to the framework, preventing K migration along the channel. This structural feature is responsible for its stability in air, uncommon for this class of compounds, as well as for its low thermal conductivity. Transport property measurement and computational analysis of the electronic structure indicate that the title compound is a semimetal with properties highly dependent on the precise composition, i.e., the K...
Orientation and Polarization Dependence of Ground- and Excited-State FSRS in Crystalline Betaine-30

Charge transfer reactions are frequently accompanied by large changes in dipole and are of instrumental importance in many biological and chemical processes. Understanding the mechanism and dynamic...
Life Events and Prosocial Behaviors Among Young Adults: Considering the Roles of Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern.

AbstractThe authors examined the altruism born of suffering model in a culturally diverse sample of young adults. They hypothesized that major life events would interact with perspective taking to ...
Gamification of a Mobile Applications Lecture in a Pharmacy Course.

AbstractThis report describes a librarian’s development of an interactive and competitive trivia game using Poll Everywhere, an audience response system software. The trivia game was implemented du...
A Hybrid Strategy for the Discovery and Design of Photonic Structures

Metasurfaces and metamaterials are playing a growing role in the control of electromagnetic waves in the application of communication, display, and sensing technologies. However, designing photonic structures as the building blocks of these systems is typically a tedious trial-and-error process that requires extensive simulations with iterative sweeps in a multi-dimensional parameter space. To circumvent this conventional approach and substantially expedite the discovery and development of photonic structures, here we develop a framework leveraging both a deep generative model and a modified evolution strategy to automate the inverse design of engineered photonic materials and devices. The capacity of the proposed methodology is tested through the application to a case study, where metasurfaces in either continuous or discrete topologies are generated in response to customer-defined spectra at the input. Through a variational autoencoder, all potential patterns of unit structures are encoded into a continuous latent space. An evolution strategy is applied to vectors in the latent space to identify an optimized vector whose corresponding metasurface fulfills the design objective. The evaluation shows that over 95% accuracy can be achieved for all the unit patterns of the metasurfaces in the test dataset. Our scheme requires no prior knowledge of the geometry of the photonic structures, and, in principle, allows joint optimization of the dimensional parameters. As such, our work represents an efficient, on-demand, and automated approach for the inverse design of photonic structures with subwavelength features.
Pardon the Interruption(s)-Enabling a Safer Emergency Department Sign Out.

INTRODUCTION Patient "handoffs" or "sign outs" in medicine are widely recognized as highly vulnerable times for medical errors to occur. The Emergency Department (ED) has been identified as an environment where these transitions of care at shift changes are particularly high-risk due to a variety of factors, including frequent interruptions, which can further lead to errors in transfer of information. Our primary objective was to evaluate whether simple interventions could minimize interruptions during the sign out period in an attempt to improve patient safety. METHODS Multiple low-cost interventions were implemented, including an overhead chime, clerical staff diversion of phone calls and electrocardiograms, and prominent positioning of a movable pedestal sign. Utilizing a before-and-after study design, we directly observed team sign outs at various shift changes throughout the day over 2-month periods before and after implementation. Our primary outcome measure was the number of interruptions that occurred during designated sign out times. We also assessed total time spent in sign out, and a survey was sent to clinicians to assess their perception of sign out safety. RESULTS Total sign out interruptions were significantly decreased as a result of the above-noted interventions (average 6.1 vs 1.1; P < 0.01). Total time spent during sign out was reduced (14.1 vs 11.4 minutes; P < 0.04), and clinicians' perception of safety improved significantly, with Likert scores of 4 or 5 on a 5 point scale increasing from 47.4% before to 91.7% after implementation. CONCLUSION Patient sign out at shift change is a vulnerable time for patient safety and transition of care with interruptions further compromising the safe transfer of information. Simple interventions significantly decreased interruptions and were associated with shorter sign out periods and improved provider perception of sign out safety.
Breakdown of an Ironclad Defense System: The Critical Role of NRF2 in Mediating Ferroptosis

Ferroptosis is a non-apoptotic mode of regulated cell death that is iron and lipid peroxidation dependent. As new mechanistic insight into ferroptotic effectors and how they are regulated in different disease contexts is uncovered, our understanding of the physiological and pathological relevance of this mode of cell death continues to grow. Along these lines, a host of pharmacological modulators of this pathway have been identified, targeting proteins involved in iron homeostasis; the generation and reduction of lipid peroxides; or cystine import and glutathione metabolism. Also, of note, many components of the ferroptosis cascade are target genes of the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), indicating its critical role in mediating the ferroptotic response. In this review, we discuss the in vitro, in vivo, and clinical evidence of ferroptosis in disease, including a brief discussion of targeting upstream mediators of this cascade, including NRF2, to treat ferroptosis-driven diseases.
Valuing shale gas development in resource-dependent communities

Abstract Technological advances in oil and gas drilling have enabled the productive extraction of natural gas in new regions. The benefits from employment and income opportunities can help stimulate economies and may be valued by local residents. At the same time, however, shale gas activity can alter natural landscapes and is associated with negative externalities, including potential groundwater contamination. While some previous research has examined the impact of shale development, our paper focuses on the local impacts in West Virginia, a state with a long history of resource-extraction and one whose economy has lagged the nation. Because of its history of resource extraction, communities in West Virginia who may have limited other economic prospects may value the activity differently. Additionally, most of the previous research used data during the initial boom, ignoring the slowdown that followed. Using the coarsened exact matching (CEM) technique, we match houses near producing wells with other similar houses, in order to examine how property values in West Virginia are affected by proximity to horizontal producing wells. This technique helps compensate for the relatively small number of housing transactions in West Virginia, ensuring we have a good counterfactual. After matching, we estimate the average capitalization effect of houses near producing shale wells. We find that the price of all houses (regardless of water source) decreases as the number of surrounding wells increases. However, we also find some evidence that this effect varies over time and that the negative capitalization effect attenuates over space.
Gastric cancer: a comprehensive review of current and future treatment strategies

Gastric cancer remains a major unmet clinical problem with over 1 million new cases worldwide. It is the fourth most commonly occurring cancer in men and the seventh most commonly occurring cancer in women. A major fraction of gastric cancer has been linked to variety of pathogenic infections including but not limited to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) or Epstein Barr virus (EBV). Strategies are being pursued to prevent gastric cancer development such as H. pylori eradication, which has helped to prevent significant proportion of gastric cancer. Today, treatments have helped to manage this disease and the 5-year survival for stage IA and IB tumors treated with surgery are between 60 and 80%. However, patients with stage III tumors undergoing surgery have a dismal 5-year survival rate between 18 and 50% depending on the dataset. These figures indicate the need for more effective molecularly driven treatment strategies. This review discusses the molecular profile of gastric tumors, the success, and challenges with available therapeutic targets along with newer biomarkers and emerging targets.
18F-Fluciclovine Uptake in Thymoma Demonstrated on PET/MRI.

ABSTRACT A 68-year-old man with a history of prostate cancer post-primary treatment presented with rising prostate-specific antigen levels and was referred for 18F-fluciclovine PET/MRI to localize recurrent disease. PET/MRI revealed a solitary focus of uptake in a soft tissue nodule in the anterior mediastinum, which was resected and found to be a type B2 thymoma. 18F-fluciclovine uptake is mediated by amino acid transporters, primarily alanine-serine-cysteine transporter 2 and l-type amino acid transporter 1, previously demonstrated to be expressed on thymic carcinomas. This case highlights the possibility of overexpression of amino acid transporters in thymomas as well, rarely described before.
Exploration of Carbon Nanotube Forest Synthesis-Structure Relationships Using Physics-Based Simulation and Machine Learning

The parameter space of CNT forest synthesis is vast and multidimensional, making experimental and/or numerical exploration of the synthesis prohibitive. We propose a more practical approach to explore the synthesis-process relationships of CNT forests using machine learning (ML) algorithms to infer the underlying complex physical processes. Currently, no such ML model linking CNT forest morphology to synthesis parameters has been demonstrated. In the current work, we use a physics-based numerical model to generate CNT forest morphology images with known synthesis parameters to train such a ML algorithm. The CNT forest synthesis variables of CNT diameter and CNT number densities are varied to generate a total of 12 distinct CNT forest classes. Images of the resultant CNT forests at different time steps during the growth and self-assembly process are then used as the training dataset. Based on the CNT forest structural morphology, multiple single and combined histogram-based texture descriptors are used as features to build a random forest (RF) classifier to predict class labels based on correlation of CNT forest physical attributes with the growth parameters. The machine learning model achieved an accuracy of up to 83.5% on predicting the synthesis conditions of CNT number density and diameter. These results are the first step towards rapidly characterizing CNT forest attributes using machine learning. Identifying the relevant process-structure interactions for the CNT forests using physics-based simulations and machine learning could rapidly advance the design, development, and adoption of CNT forest applications with varied morphologies and properties.
Prognostic Values of Serum Ferritin and D-Dimer Trajectory in Patients with COVID-19

Cytokine storm syndrome in patients with COVID-19 is mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines resulting in acute lung injury and multiorgan failure. Elevation in serum ferritin and D-dimer is observed in COVID-19 patients. To determine prognostic values of optimal serum cutoff with trajectory plots for both serum ferritin and D-dimer in COVID-19 patients with invasive ventilator dependence and in-hospital mortality. We used retrospective longitudinal data from the Cerner COVID-19 de-identified cohort. COVID-19 infected patients with valid repeated values of serum ferritin and D-dimer during hospitalization were used in mixed-effects logistic-regression models. Among 52,411 patients, 28.5% (14,958) had valid serum ferritin and 28.6% (15,005) D-dimer laboratory results. Optimal cutoffs of ferritin (714 ng/mL) and D-dimer (2.1 mg/L) revealed AUCs ≥ 0.99 for in-hospital mortality. Optimal cutoffs for ferritin (502 ng/mL) and D-dimer (2.0 mg/L) revealed AUCs ≥ 0.99 for invasive ventilator dependence. Optimal cutoffs for in-house mortality, among females, were lower in serum ferritin (433 ng/mL) and D-dimer (1.9 mg/L) compared to males (740 ng/mL and 2.5 mg/L, respectively). Optimal cutoffs for invasive ventilator dependence, among females, were lower in ferritin (270 ng/mL) and D-dimer (1.3 mg/L) compared to males (860 ng/mL and 2.3 mg/L, respectively). Optimal prognostic cutoffs for serum ferritin and D-dimer require considering the entire trajectory of laboratory values during the disease course. Females have an overall lower optimal cutoff for both serum ferritin and D-dimer. The presented research allows health professionals to predict clinical outcomes and appropriate allocation of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially early recognition of COVID-19 patients needing higher levels of care.
Constructing the photographic archive of Rochor Centre in tabula rasa Singapore

What photographs remain once buildings are demolished, and their inhabitants displaced? This paper proposes to construct the photographic archive of a demolished site in Singapore: Rochor Centre. I...
MegaMind: a platform for security & privacy extensions for voice assistants

Voice assistants raise serious security and privacy concerns because they use always-on microphones in sensitive locations (e.g., inside a home) and send audio recordings to the cloud for processing. The cloud transcribes these recordings and interprets them as user requests, and sometimes even shares these requests with third-party services. These steps may result in unintended or malicious voice data leaks and in unauthorized actions, such as a purchase. This paper presents MegaMind, a novel extensible platform that lets a user deploy security and privacy extensions locally on their voice assistant. MegaMind's extensions interpose on requests before sending them to the cloud and on responses before delivering them to the user. MegaMind's programming model enables writing powerful extensions with ease, such as one for secure conversations. Additionally, MegaMind protects against malicious extensions by providing two important guarantees, namely permission enforcement and non-interference. We implement MegaMind and integrate it with Amazon Alexa Service SDK. Our evaluation shows that MegaMind achieves a small conversation latency on platforms with adequate compute power, such as a Raspberry Pi 4 and an x86-based laptop.
INHIBITION OF PHOSPHATASES IN LIVER AND KIDNEY OF ALBINO RATS

The toxic effect of copper sulphate and zinc acetate on the activity of the few enzymes like alkaline phosphatases and acid phosphatases in the liver and kindey of Rattus rattus albino have been analysed histochemically. Inhibited enzyme reactions suggested damage to the plasma membrane, lysosomes and endoplasmic reticulum.
Micro-force sensing mobile microrobots

This paper presents the first microscale micro force sensing mobile microrobot. The design consists of a planar, vision-based micro force sensor end-effector, while the microrobot body is made from photoresist mixed with nickel particles that is driven by an exterior magnetic field. With a known stiffness, the manipulation forces can be determined from observing the deformation of the end-effector through a camera attached to an optical microscope. After analyzing and calibrating the stiffness of a micromachined prototype, proof of concept tests are conducted to verify this microrobot prototype possessing the mobility and in-situ force sensing capabilities. This microscale micro-Force Sensing Mobile Microrobot (μFSMM) is able to translate with the speed up to 10 mm=s in a fluid environment. The calibrated stiffness of the micro force sensor end-effector of the μFSMM is on the order of 10 -2 N=m. The force sensing resolution with the current vision system is approximately 100 nN.
THE CLINICAL SPECTRUM OF AMMONIUM URATE RENAL CALCULI

Ammonium acid urate may occur with urealytic urinary-tract infections where it is most often found with magnesium ammonium phosphate1. Ammonium urate may be present in sterile urine with endemic bladder stones which were common in certain areas of nineteenth-century Europe and are occasionally found today in India, Turkey, or southeast Asia26. In addition, this calculus was reported by us to exist in sterile urine of patients with a certain form of laxative abuse7. A new cause for this form of urinary calculus has been discovered in three patients with ileal resection and ileostomy/or massive colonic resection. Their clinical profiles, which are strikingly similar to the patients with laxative abuse, are presented in the following report.
Effects of gate recess depth on pulsed I-V characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HFETs

This paper reports pulsed I-V characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HFETs fabricated with gate regions recessed into the AlGaN barrier layer with different recess geometries. Pulsed I-V characteristics are known to correlate with rf ouput power measurements vs bias, and are an important estimator of "knee voltage walkout" and "current slump" effects in the nitride HFETs. Our measurements indicate that the knee voltage walkout is strongly dependent on the depth of the recessed region, and that the walkout is minimized in devices with shallower recess depth. The results strongly support the model that current slump is due to surface traps. An effective trap time constant of 10 /spl mu/sec is extracted for these devices.
Talking and Writing About Data with WALTER

"Here is a graph..." announces the speaker. In the engineering world, we lean heavily on our graphs and illustrations to inform our opinions, answer our questions, and drive our decisions. We discuss visuals and data in presentations, on posters, in papers, with classmates, with professors, and with mentors. Pretty straightforward, right? But there's a problem: All too often we assume that the data speaks for itself, but it doesn't. It never does. We have to speak on its behalf, to give it life and make it shine.
C60 and C70 fullerenes and potassium fullerides.

Photoemission and inverse photoemission studies of thin films of ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ and ${\mathit{C}}_{70}$ reveal the distribution of occupied and empty electronic states of these molecular solids. X-ray photoemission results also show the C 1s main line and features related to \ensuremath{\pi}-${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\pi}}}^{\mathrm{*}}$ shakeups, electron energy losses, and plasmons. Potassium doping produces changes that can be related to the occupation of states derived from the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals of the fullerenes and band-structure effects. Important differences are observed upon K doping of ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ and ${\mathrm{C}}_{70}$, particularly in states near the Fermi level, and these would be reflected in the electron-phonon coupling, superconductivity, and the phase diagram. Resistivity measurements for ${\mathrm{K}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ show a resistivity minimum for ${\mathrm{K}}_{3}$${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ and a dependence on stoichiometry that is indicative of dispersed conducting micrograins in an insulating medium. Oxygen-exposure studies demonstrate that ${\mathrm{K}}_{\mathit{x}}$${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ thin films are unstable.
Gender Differences in Institutional Long-Term Care Transitions

Abstract Introduction This study investigates the relationship between gender, the likelihood of discharge from institutional long-term care (LTC) facilities, and post-discharge living arrangements, highlighting sociodemographic, health, socioeconomic, and family characteristics. Methods We use the Health and Retirement Study to examine individuals age 65 and older admitted to LTC facilities between 2000 and 2010 ( n = 3,351). We examine discharge patterns using survival analyses that account for the competing risk of death and estimate the probabilities of post-discharge living arrangements using multinomial logistic regression models. Results Women are more likely than men to be discharged from LTC facilities during the first year of stay. Women are more likely to live alone or with kin after discharge, whereas men are more likely to live with a spouse or transfer to another institution. Gender differences in the availability and use of family support may partly account for the gender disparity of LTC discharge and post-discharge living arrangements. Conclusion Our findings suggest that women and men follow distinct pathways after LTC discharge. As local and federal efforts begin to place more emphasis on the transition from LTC facilities to prior communities (e.g., transitional care initiatives under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), policymakers should take these gender differences into account in the design of community transition programs.
Composite right/left-handed leaky-wave transmission-line with switchable polarization capability

In this paper a two port composite right/left-handed (CRLH) leaky-wave (LW) transmission-line (TL) is introduced that has the capability of switching between two orthogonal polarizations while operating in the fast-wave region. This switchable functionality is achievable based on the configuration of the unit-cells in use for the proposed structure. Each proposed unit-cell consists of two orthogonal CRLH portions and two orthogonal microstrip sections. Each microstrip section is in parallel to one of the CRLH portions. The active propagation path of the unit-cell includes only one CRLH and one microstrip portion. Depending on the chosen propagation path of the CRLH portion followed by the microstrip section or vice versa, two orthogonal radiating field polarizations can be obtained. For illustration purposes, an 8-cell two port CRLH LW-TL based on the proposed unit-cell is simulated, fabricated and measured and the obtained results verify the unique switchable polarization feature of the structure.
Impact of numeracy on parental self-efficacy and treatment outcome of children on complex diets.

Health numeracy, a counterpart to health literacy, can be a mediator of health disparities. This study analyzed the impact of both cognitive and affective numeracy on the pathway linking health behavior to health outcomes, and the role of self-efficacy in this relationship, based on the Health Belief Model. The context was parental management of children's complex diets that require numerical calculations. Parents of children ages 12 months to 12 years with type 1 diabetes (T1D) or phenylketonuria (PKU) were recruited at clinics or community events in east-central states. Ninety-eight participants completed a standardized test of math skills, an instrument to assess attitudes and emotions towards mathematics in daily life, and a questionnaire on parental self-efficacy of caring for a child with T1D or PKU. Health outcome was evaluated via hemoglobin A1c or blood levels of phenylalanine. Engagement was measured by number of blood levels taken during glucose or phenylalanine monitoring, compared to clinic recommendations. Factor analysis indicated affective numeracy was a significant component of the overall variable numeracy. Structural equation modeling did not support a relationship between any variable and health outcome, although bivariate analysis suggested significant relationships between poor math skills, low self-efficacy, less engagement, low income, less education, or more years on the diet, and poor metabolic control. In pathway analysis, cognitive numeracy had a strong positive relationship with engagement, while affective numeracy had an equal but negative predictive effect. Adjustments to the model identified education as the ultimate driver of the relationship. Parental self-efficacy was not a mediator between numeracy and health outcomes or engagement. The relationship between self-efficacy and engagement was strongly influenced by other pathway variables, and parental self-efficacy was significantly lower when the child had been on the diet for a longer time. This study asserts the importance of affective component of numeracy along with cognitive skills, and offers a validated instrument for assessment. Treatment programs for PKU and T1D should recognize that parents with lower numeracy skills and discomfort with math are at risk for less engagement. Further research is needed to clarify the path by which numeracy impacts health outcomes.
Language, Time-Consciousness and Image-Making in the Human Mind

This paper aims to demonstrate that the “monosemic” approach to the study of meaning (where each linguistic sign – word or grammatical form – is considered, in principle, to have a single underlying meaning) provides a unique understanding of time-consciousness and image-making in the human mind. Taking the actual signs of language as organic properties of mind in their own right yields a set of conceptual properties that are mirrored in striking detail in the universal structure of man’s myths, in the composition of rock and tribal art worldwide, and ultimately in the activity of the human mind operating under conditions of sensory deprivation – in reports of those having experienced hallucinations and altered states of consciousness. From this evidence it is concluded that the signs of language must be operating in tandem with a set of cognitive processes that exist at a supra-rational level of consciousness, beyond our normal awareness. And the rational constructs of consciousness, the ones that produc...
The use of absorbable co-polymer pads with alginate and cells for articular cartilage repair in rabbits.

Abstract Purpose : To determine the effect of polyglycolic acid (PGA)–polylactic acid (PLA) co-polymer pads with calcium alginate on chondrogenic gene expression for chondrocytes cultured in vitro. We also evaluated the ability of these absorbable pads with alginate to deliver chondrocytes and influence osteochondral defect repair in vivo in immature rabbit knees. Methods : Rabbit rib chondrocytes were suspended in calcium alginate and co-polymer pads composed of either 47.5/52.5 PGA–PLA or 90/10 PGA–PLA at two different cell concentrations and cultured in vitro for 1, 3, and 5 days. Analysis was performed using RT-PCR for chondrogenic gene expression of aggrecan, type II collagen, and type I collagen. Cells labeled with a traceable green fluorescent protein (GFP) marker in vitro were suspended within the pads to analyze for dispersion and attachment to the pad. An in vivo study was performed in which full-thickness (3×4 mm 2 ) osteochondral defects were made in 60 rabbit knees. The study comprised four treatment groups based on the type of implant into the defect (empty, alginate alone, or either type of co-polymer pad) and harvested at either 6 or 12 weeks. Two independent blinded observers analyzed and scored the defects grossly and histologically. Results : In vitro analysis of the chondrocytes after 1, 3, and 5 days in culture showed no statistical differences between the types of PGA/PLA co-polymer pad with regard to expression of aggrecan, type II collagen, or type I collagen. However, although statistically insignificant, the expression of aggrecan and type II collagen was found to be greater than that for type I collagen in both types of pads, confirming the chondrogenic effect of suspension culture for this system. The addition of alginate to polymer pads allowed costal chondrocytes to be implanted in vivo, as evidenced by the attachment of the cells to the fibers and the uniform dispersion of the GFP-labeled cells through the pad as seen on fluorescent microscopy. Histologic results showed improved scores for the 47.5/52.5 PGA–PLA group (21.3) and the 90/10 PGA–PLA group (18.3) when compared to empty (15.3) or alginate alone (15.1) defects at 12 weeks. Conclusion : The addition of calcium alginate to the co-polymer pads offers a new approach to deliver cells to an osteochondral defect and may enhance cartilage regeneration. Future application of this model may allow for an arthroscopic delivery system to assist the healing of cartilage defects.
Investigation of the grid and intake-generated tumble on the in-cylinder flow in a compression ignition direct-injection engine

AbstractThe in-cylinder flow field was numerically investigated for a four-valve per cylinder Caterpillar diesel CAT3401 engine. The computer program used was the KIVA3V code developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory. To assess the effect of modelling assumptions made during the domain discretization, three grid models were developed. The first grid or the ‘complete’ grid was a full 360° mesh with moving valves, intake ports, exhaust ports, and runners. The second grid was a full 360° mesh without moving valves, intake ports, or exhaust ports. The third grid assumed that the in-cylinder flow field was periodic and a 60° mesh was generated to accommodate one of the six centrally located fuel injectors. It also neglected the valves and the intake and exhaust ports. The simplification of the grids is to reduce the massive computational and memory requirements to model these flows.For the complete grid, the computation was initiated when the piston was at the top dead centre location on the intake stroke. F...
Complex fractionated atrial electrograms: Properties of time-domain versus frequency-domain methods

Background Complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAEs) are thought to identify high-frequency electrical sources and have become an important target for radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods used to identify CFAEs and locate suitable ablation sites usually depend on subjective analysis of the electrograms but may also involve objective, computer-based paradigms through either time- or frequency-domain approaches. Methods We generated a set of simulated test electrograms, which were defined by a combination of a basic cycle length, phase-resetting noise, and phase-preserving noise, accounting for far-field effects. The simulated electrograms were analyzed separately by well-known basic time-domain (complex fractionated electrogram [CFE]) and frequency-domain (dominant frequency [DF]) methods, and the results were compared with each other to determine objectively the potential reliability of either method to accurately estimate the cycle length of the atrial electrogram. Results The behavior of the time-domain method depends on the assumed amplitude-sensitivity threshold and can be tuned to its optimal performance but only for signals having stable (and known a priori ) amplitude. When the signal amplitude varies randomly (with ±20% standard deviation range), the time-domain method loses performance. By contrast, the performance of the frequency-domain method remains stable. Conclusion Despite potentially good performance of time-domain methods to estimate the cycle length during AF and localize ablation sites, their performance is easily prone to degradation. The frequency-domain method seems to be much more robust.
Relationships between radiosonde and RUC‐2 meteorological conditions and cloud occurrence determined from ARM data

[1] Relationships between modeled and measured meteorological state parameters and cloudy and cloud-free conditions are examined using data taken over the ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) Southern Great Plains Central Facility between 1 March 2000 and 28 February 2001. Cloud vertical layering was determined from the Active Remotely Sensed Cloud Location product based on the ARM active sensor measurements. Both temperature and relative humidity (RH) observations from balloon-borne Vaisala RS80-15LH radiosonde (SONDE) and the Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) 40-km resolution model are highly correlated, but the SONDE RHs generally exceed those from RUC. Inside cloudy layers, the RH from SONDE is 2–14% higher than the RH from RUC at all pressure levels. Although the layer mean RH within clouds is much greater than the layer mean RH outside clouds or in clear skies, RH thresholds chosen as a function of temperature can more accurately diagnose cloud occurrence for either data set than a fixed RH threshold. For overcast clouds (cloud amount greater than or equal to 90%), it was found that the 50% probability RH threshold for diagnosing a cloud, within a given upper tropospheric layer, is roughly 90% for the SONDE and 80% for RUC data. For partial cloud cover (cloud amount is less than 90%), the SONDE RH thresholds are close to those for RUC at a given probability in upper tropospheric layers. Cloud probability was found to be only minimally dependent on vertical velocity. In the upper troposphere, SONDE ice-supersaturated air occurred in 8 and 35% of the clear and cloudy layers, respectively. The RH was distributed exponentially in the ice supersaturated layers as found in previous studies. The occurrence of high-altitude, ice-supersaturated layers in the RUC data was roughly half of that in the SONDE data. Optimal thresholds were derived as functions of temperature to define the best RH thresholds for accurately determining the mean cloud cover. For warm clouds the typical SONDE threshold exceeds 87%, while the RH thresholds for cold clouds are typically less than 80% and greater than 90% with respect to liquid and ice water, respectively. Preliminary comparisons with satellite data suggest that the relationships between cloudiness and RH and T determined here could be useful for improving the characterization of cloud vertical structure from satellite data by providing information about low-level clouds that were obscured by high-level clouds viewed by the satellite. The results have potential for improving computations of atmospheric heating rate profiles and estimates of aircraft icing conditions. Similar analyses are recommended for later versions of the RUC analyses and forecasts.
Renal vasculitis with HIV seropositivity: potential manifestation of cytomegalovirus infection

Abstract The associations among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, and its variant, "collapsing glomerulopathy," often leading to chronic renal failure, are well described. HIV-seropositive patients may also develop a variety of immune complex-mediated glomerular diseases, including postinfectious glomerulonephritis, IgA nephropathy, and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Herein we describe a case of pauci-immune necrotizing renal vasculitis in an HIV-seropositive patient, thereby expanding the differential diagnosis of acute renal failure in this setting.
"It will always continue unless we can change something": consequences of intimate partner violence for indigenous women, children, and families

Background : Violence against indigenous women and girls is endemic, yet the absence of research on the consequences of this violence from the perspectives of women presents a profound barrier to the development of knowledge, along with violence prevention and mitigation. Although family is central to many indigenous communities, existing research typically examines the consequences of intimate partner violence (IPV) on women or children in isolation, rather than examining its consequences holistically. Objective : The purpose of this article is to identify US indigenous women’s perspectives about the impact of IPV on women, children, and families. Method : Data were collected with 29 indigenous women affected by violence from a Southeastern tribe in the United States. As part of a larger critical ethnography, pragmatic horizon analysis of life history interviews revealed the consequences of IPV across multiple levels. Results : Women reported profound psychological consequences resulting from IPV. The majority of women had witnessed IPV in their childhood, providing support for an intergenerational cycle of violence. Women reported psychological consequences on children, which paralleled those reported by women, leaving deep impressions on children across their life course. Consequences on children and whole families were extensive, indicating the negative ramifications of IPV transcended personal boundaries and affected children and families across multiple generations. Conclusions : Given the tight-knit nature of indigenous families and communities, the consequences across individuals and families were noteworthy. However, a dearth in research examining consequences of IPV across levels fails to capture the interconnections of consequences for women, children, and families. Given the centrality of family in many indigenous communities, examining IPV from a holistic perspective that incorporates multiple levels is recommended for IPV research and intervention development. Keywords: American Indian; Native American; domestic violence; family violence; qualitative; ethnography; life histor y Responsible Editor: Sheila Sprague, McMaster University, Canada. This paper is part of the Special Issue: Intimate partner violence and mental health . More papers from this issue can be found at http://www.eurojnlofpsychotraumatol.net (Published: 12 September 2014) Citation: European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2014, 5 : 24585 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v5.24585
A new ready‐to‐eat dish for a traditional market

Consumption of ready-to-eat meals in Spain is limited, although an increasing trend is observed. This paper examines consumers’ reactions to the possible launching of a new ready-to-eat roast lamb dish, which could be applied for home consumption or foodservice/catering. This dish is cooked following traditional methods, is appreciated by most consumers and is consumed quite often. A survey has been undertaken to gain information about consumers’ opinions, purchasing habits and consumption of ready-to-eat dishes. The consumption of this type of product is strongly related to consumers’ age, education and income. Spanish consumers do not trust ready-to-eat dishes because they perceive these dishes as incorrectly processed and containing preservatives. In this study a hypothetical ready-to-eat roast lamb dish was also presented to consumers with two non-traditional side dishes. Consumers tasted the dish, and their preferences were analysed using a conjoint analysis. Results show that some preferences are linked with tradition, whereas others are more innovative and typical of modern-time behaviour. The right combination of features could be critical for a proper launching process.
An experiment and analyses on elastic waves in beams from lateral impact

Abstract A long beam is laterally loaded with a spatially uniform impulse over a length equal to three beam thicknesses. Loading is produced by short-duration magnetic pressure pulses and the response is measured with strain gages. Strain measurements are compared with predictions from beam theories and a two-dimensional numerical analysis.
The Treatment of Poverty in the Talmud

What Is The Talmud? The Talmud is a vast body of Jewish religious scholarship spanning almost eight centuries from about 300 BCE to about 500 CE. Composed by scholars living mainly in Palestine and Babylon it is essentially a codification of Jewish religious law, yet its discussions include observations on almost every aspect of human conduct.
Critical care obstetrics and gynecology

The critical care aspects of obstetrics and pregnancy are varied and demand that critical care practitioners have a thorough knowledge of fetal and maternal changes in physiology as pregnancy progresses. Pregnancy can affect every organ system; and organ-specific conditions as well as syndromes that span multiple organ systems were described. Care of the critically ill, pregnant patient requires a true multidisciplinary approach for optimal outcomes. A review of the current concepts and suggestions for therapy were presented.