cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lessons from a restorative circles initiative for intimate partner violence

AbstractThere is much debate about the appropriateness of using restorative justice (RJ) to address intimate partner violence (IPV). This qualitative research examines a restorative pilot programme in Minnesota specifically designed for cases of partner violence. The programme involved separate restorative processes for each party—sentencing circles for offenders and support circles for victims. It enlisted the help of family and community members to disrupt abusive patterns. The programme appeared to decrease violent actions of offenders and increase safety, social support and material resources for some victims. The results offer useful lessons for the development of RJ practices for partner violence, including how to integrate the values and practices of RJ with those of the battered women's movement.
Robotic partial nephrectomy for renal tumours in obese patients: Perioperative outcomes in a multi-institutional analysis

Introduction: We sought to evaluate the association of obesity with surgical outcomes of robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN) using a large, multicentre database. Methods: We identified 1836 patients who underwent RPN from five academic centres from 2006-2014. A total of 806 patients were obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥30 kg/m 2 ). Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared between obese and non-obese patients. Multivariable analysis was used to assess the association of obesity on RPN outcomes. Results: A total of 806 (44%) patients were obese with median BMI of 33.8kg/m 2 . Compared to non-obese patients, obese patients had greater median tumour size (2.9 vs. 2.5 cm, p<0.001), mean RENAL nephrometry score (7.3 vs. 7.1, p = 0.04), median operating time (176 vs. 165 min, p=0.002), and median estimated blood loss (EBL, 150 vs. 100 ml, p=0.002), but no difference in complications. Obesity was not an independent predictor of operative time or EBL on regression analysis. Among obese patients, males had a greater EBL (150 vs. 100 ml, p<0.001), operative time (180 vs. 166 min, p<0.001) and warm ischemia time (WIT, 20 vs. 18, p=0.001) and male sex was an independent predictor of these outcomes on regression analysis. Conclusion: In this large, multicentre study on RPN, obesity was not associated with increased complications and was not an independent predictor of operating time or blood loss. However, in obese patients, male gender was an independent predictor of greater EBL, operative time, and WIT. Our results indicate that obesity alone should not preclude consideration for RPN.
Irregular wave energy extraction analysis for a slider crank WEC power take-off system

Slider crank Wave Energy Converter (WEC) is a novel energy conversion device. It converts wave energy into electricity at a relatively high efficiency, and it features a simple structure. Past analysis on this WEC has been done under regular sinusoidal wave conditions, and a suboptimal energy could be achieved. This paper presents the analysis of the system under irregular wave conditions; a time-domain hydrodynamics model is adopted and the control methodology is modified to better serve the irregular wave conditions. Results from the simulations show that the performance of the system under irregular wave conditions is different from that under regular sinusoidal wave conditions, but still a reasonable amount of energy can be extracted.
Bounding Integrity Risk for Sequential State Estimators in the Presence of Stochastic Modeling Uncertainty

A new method is introduced to upper bound integrity risk for sequential state estimators when the autocorrelation functions of measurement noise and disturbance inputs are subject to bounded uncertainties. Integrity risk is defined as the probability of the state estimate error exceeding predefined bounds of acceptability. In the first part of the paper, a new expression is derived that relates the measurement noise and disturbance input autocorrelation functions to the state estimate error vector. Using this relation, an efficient algorithm is developed in the second part of the paper to upper bound the estimation integrity risk when each input autocorrelation function is known to lie between upper and lower bounding functions. Numerical simulations for a one-dimensional position and velocity estimation problem are conducted to demonstrate the practical feasibility and effectiveness of this new bounding method.
Interferon Production in Hamsters Experimentally Infected with Rabies Virus.

SummaryThe induction of interferon by rabies virus was studied in order to establish the status of this virus as an inducer of interferon in the cells it infects. Previous investigators, using in vitro systems, have been unable to demonstrate interferon production from cells infected with rabies virus, and this has caused some confusion among researchers working on rabies. However, using an in vivo system, we were able to isolate and characterize rabies induced interferon from several tissues. The brain, in which the virus reached its highest titer, also contained the largest amount of interferon, with the other levels of interferon corresponding to the centrifugal spread of rabies virus from the brain to the organs.
You Can't Go Home Again: Homesickness and Nostalgia in U.S. History

At the end of Thomas Wolfe's novel You Cant Go Home Again, the protagonist, George Webber, realized, "You can't go back home to your family, back home to your child hood, . . . back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame . . . back home to places in the country, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time?back home to the escapes of Time and Memory." The idea that it is impossible to return home and to the past is com monplace today and a hallmark of modern consciousness.1 Yet generations of Americans have longed to go home, either to their actual childhood homes or to metaphorical homes located somewhere in the past. This essay examines how Americans have understood, expressed, and managed such yearnings for a lost home and traces how the modern perspective?that return is impossible?gradually emerged. It is a preliminary explora tion of the history of homesickness and other emotions that often accompanied it, in particular, nostalgia. Today, homesickness is defined as the longing for a particular home, nostalgia as a longing for a lost time. Nostalgia may carry within it a yearning for home, but it is a home faraway in time rather than space. Both emotions have existed throughout history, albeit under different names. Although some historians maintain that nostalgia, in particular, is a new emotion and an effect of the social, political, and economic changes of the last two or three centuries, such a claim seems questionable.5 Industrial capitalism and liberal de mocracy provide plentiful occasions for such yearnings, and individuals respond to them in historically specific ways, but there is little evidence that homesickness and nostalgia are wholly new feelings. Instead, those emotions gained new recognition in the modern age and took on new functions.
Reproduction and Consumption Rate of Amblyseius hibisci1 on a Diet of Pollen and Panonychus citri2

The phytoseiid mite Amblyseius hibisci (Chant) has been prevalent on avocado plants in southern California and is found on lemons in the Albany area of northern California. A. hibisci was observed feeding on pollen, honeydew, mildew (Chant and Fleschner 1960) and scale crawlers (McMurtry 1963), as well as phytophagous mites (Fleschner and Ricker 1954). It was also determined that A. hibisci reproduced more rapidly on pollen than on tetranychid mites (McMurtry and Scriven 1964) and that increase of this species on avocado in spring in the absence of mite prey was correlated with the presence of pollen produced by avocado flowers (McMurtry and Johnson 1965).
The Toll on the Environment

With a final cap in place and the well killed, and with no new oil released into the Gulf, cleanup crews could begin to get ahead of the environmental calamity. Those crews cleaned up beaches, placed, and replaced booms offshore. They had also rinsed grasslands when intervention was more effective, and would induce less damage, than allowing nature to regenerate the marshes. Finally, they could see much more rapid progress.
Beneficial effect of pre-transplant splenectomy for leukopenia in primary cadaver kidney transplants.

Abstract Pre-transplant splenectomy is controversial. We compared 21 nondiabetic, transfused recipients of first cadaver kidney grafts who underwent pre-transplant splenectomy for steroid-resistant leukopenia to 114 without steroid-resistant leukopenia. Kidney graft survivals at 2 years were 80.2 plus or minus 8.9 and 48.5 plus or minus 5.3 per cent, respectively (p
Single, Smooth and Ultra-broadband Chirped Mirrors With a Nanostructured Layer

One to one and half octaves chirped mirrors have been designed with small group delay dispersion ripples and they could be used alone without being in a mirror pair.
Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction for Rapid Detection of Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus

Transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) is a highly contagious disease of pigs caused by the TGE virus (TGEV). Rapid detection of the virus in the affected pigs’ feces is critical for controlling the disease outbreaks. The real-time RT-PCR assay described in this chapter can quickly detect the presence of TGEV in fecal samples with high sensitivity and specificity.
Boundary-Value Problems

This chapter explains the boundary-value problems of the plane and the cylinder concerning infinite surfaces which serve as guides to traveling waves. The sphere is an example of a body bounded by a closed surface within which there can be set up a system of standing waves. The chapter shows that the field of the principal wave within the conductor tends to concentrate in a thin skin near the surface. The field and current distribution within the cylinder in the case of complementary waves is nearly uniform. The "skin effect" is then external, and the conversion into heat correspondingly large. As the conductivity of the cylinder is decreased, the attenuation of the principal wave increases, while that of the complementary waves is diminished until finally, in the limit of a perfect dielectric cylinder, the authors find the principal wave to have vanished and the complementary waves propagated without attenuation.
Patient Positioning and Safety in Steep Trendelenburg

The modern era of urologic surgery has become increasingly dependent on technological advances, none of which is more evident than the use of the da Vinci robotic system in the management of prostate cancer. As we introduce and implement new technologies into practice, we must be cognizant of how they will affect our patients and their safety during surgery. The goals in the surgical management of prostate cancer are twofold: oncologic outcomes and patient safety. This requires a team effort between the surgeon, nurses, scrub technologists, and anesthesiologists. The evolution in surgical technique from open radical retropubic prostatectomy to robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has required corresponding refinements in attention to matters of patient safety. Specifically, patient positioning is completely different for the robotic approach as compared to the open approach. Whereas open surgery allows for the use of traditional surgical retractors to provide visibility and access to the deep pelvis, robotic pelvic surgery must rely on gravity using the steep Trendelenburg position to move the bowels out of the way. This positioning brings with it unique challenges and dangers that must be acknowledged by surgeons performing RARP. Poor patient positioning can make the RARP more difficult for the surgeon and it can compromise the safety of the patient. In this chapter we discuss options for positioning patients to allow surgeons to accomplish the RARP efficiently while maintaining patient safety goals.
All-Optical Decoder for Rapid and Noncontact Readout of Thermal Barcodes

An all-optical decoder was developed for remote rapid readout of the thermal barcode made of solid-to-liquid phase-change materials (PCMs). An infrared source was used to heat up barcode; a thermal imager (IR camera) was used to collect thermal images continuously while the barcode was heating up or cooling down. Thermal barcodes consisting of four types of PCMs were decoded by identifying abrupt changes in temperature profiles during heating (cooling) process. Instead of identifying melting temperatures via direct contact in traditional differential scanning calorimetry, the infrared heating and imaging techniques provide a noncontact and highly sensitive way to characterize material properties and decode thermal barcode at high spatial resolution.
Genetic regulation of cercosporin production inCercospora kikuchii

The large and diverseCercospora genus of plant pathogenic fungi includes many species that are causal agents of economically relevant leaf, stem, and seed blights of numerous crop plants. Several of these pathogens produce the red, photoactivated, phytotoxic polyketide toxin cercosporin. This mycotoxin is a crucial pathogenicity factor in the development of leaf and pod blights by the seed-borne soybean fungal pathogenCercospora kikuchii. Although certain cultivars may be less susceptible to the leaf- and pod-infection phases of the fungus, there are no soybean cultivars with resistance to cercosporin. A newly isolated gene fromC. kikuchil, known as LE6, is essential for cercosporin production and pathogenicity. Therefore, genetic manipulation of this gene may affect resistance to cercosporin. Transcription of LE6 is regulated by light. The expression of cercosporin also may be inhibited by certain growth media and other natural products. Modification of cultivar screens that target LE6 may greatly enhance the possibility of finding native resistance to this soybean pathogen. Soybean germplasm that produces strong LE6 downregulating or inhibiting compounds may enhance pathogen resistance. Thus knowledge of the genetic and physiological regulation of cercosporin should provide new technological strategies for biocontrol of mycotoxins and the development of soybean breeding lines that exhibit durable resistance toC. kikuchii.
Direct Laser Writing Polymer Micro-Resonators for Refractive Index Sensors

A sensitive refractometric polymer micro-resonator sensor is fabricated using direct laser writing. The design consists of two tapered waveguides that can be directly coupled by single mode fibers, two “Y” splitting waveguides that are combined in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) configuration and a micro-cylinder that evanescently couples with the arms of the MZI. The resonant wavelength shifts in response to the refractive index change in the surrounding medium of the micro-cylinder. The strong interaction between the medium and the whispering gallery mode results in a sensitivity of 154.84 nm/RIU (refractive index units), which demonstrates that such micro-resonators can be used for measurements of refractive index of liquids.
Abstract 016: Profound and Sustained Amplification of Circulating ACE2 Activity Does Not Protect Diabetic Mice from Kidney Disease

ACE2 is a monocarboxypeptidase that by converting AngII to Ang1-7 should down-regulate the renin-angiotensin system and therefore provide a means to therapeutically target diabetic kidney disease, a condition where the kidney RAS is overactive. Previous work indicated that soluble human recombinant (r)ACE2 administration for 4 weeks attenuated kidney injury in diabetic Akita mice. Whether such effect of rACE2 can be confirmed and attributed to augmented ACE2 activity is uncertain because chronic use of human rACE2 in mice induces immunogenicity and the development of antibodies that neutralize serum ACE2 activity. To examine the effect of chronic amplification of circulating ACE2 on kidney injury caused by STZ-induced diabetes and to circumvent the immunogenicity arising from xenogeneic ACE2, ACE2 of mouse origin was administered to mice using either daily i.p. injections (1 mg/kg) of mrACE2 for 4 weeks or after 20 weeks of ACE2 mini-circle (MC) (10-30ug/mouse) administration. MC provides a form of gene delivery that is resistant to gene silencing and, in addition, greatly optimizes long-term in vivo overexpression of proteins of interest. ACE2MC resulted in a profound and sustained increase in serum ACE2 activity (2.4±0.3 vs. 497±135 RFU/ul/hr, p In conclusion, profound and long-term augmentation of ACE2 activity confined to the circulation is not sufficient to attenuate glomerular pathology and albuminuria in STZ-induced diabetic kidney disease probably because of lack of kidney delivery of ACE2. Strategies to achieve over-expression of ACE2 at the kidney level are needed to demonstrate a beneficial effect of this enzyme on diabetic kidney disease.
Musings on the Holy Grail of reproducibility

Disciplines as diverse as psychology, physics, marketing, and medicine have, for the past few years, been going through a soul-searching over the "reproducibility crisis". According to a recent survey in Nature, over 70% of researchers have failed in reproducing another scientist's results and more than half have failed in trying to reproduce their own results. But replication of scientific results is the heart of the scientific method; without this cornerstone we do not have science, we have faith and mysticism. Note, however, that reproducibility comes at a steep cost: more rigor, more scrutiny, and tightened controls on what is considered a publishable result will doubtless burden scientists and slow the pace of innovation. In this talk I will discuss the roots of replication problems---replication bias, null aversion, and incentive structures for researchers---and their implications on reproducibility for the field of software engineering. Finally, I will present a few ideas on how we can think about improving the state of our discipline.
Gender, Commercialization and Thought Leadership in Computing: Examining Women’s Participation in Information Technology Patenting and Conference Paper Authorship

Few studies have investigated gendered patterns in IT patenting or authorship, but understanding female participation in these areas is important if we are to increase women’s meaningful participation in recognized and rewarded aspects of IT innovation. This chapter reports findings from two studies: one on female rates of patenting and one on female authorship of computing conference papers. In short, we demonstrate that while women’s participation remains low, especially in terms of patenting, important increases have been made over time. We also examine variation in these rates of patenting and authorship across companies and across conferences, ultimately identifying some important implications for increasing women’s meaningful participation in key commercial and intellectual aspects of computing.
Global Stability Results

In this chapter we present some general results on the global asymptotic stability and global attractivity of some quite general nonlinear difference equations of order greater than one. The global asymptotic stability of such equations is an unexplored area, still in its infancy, with great potential for applications. Therefore this is a fertile area for research and, hopefully, the results in this chapter will stimulate interest for further investigations.
Testosterone nadir and PSA recurrence-free survival in men with intermediate and high-risk localized prostate cancer undergoing definitive radiotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy.

100Background: There is limited data on the relationship between testosterone level during androgen deprivation and clinical outcomes of localized prostate cancer treated with hormone therapy and radiation therapy (RT). Here we investigate the association between testosterone nadir during androgen deprivation therapy and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response and survival. Methods: Using a nationwide Veterans Affairs database, we identified 899 patients with intermediate- or high-risk localized prostate adenocarcinoma diagnosed between 2000 and 2015 and treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists and RT. All patients had total testosterone measurements while receiving hormone therapy and between 6 weeks and 6 months after the start of hormone therapy. Using univariable and multivariable models we examined the effect of testosterone nadir on 3-month post-treatment PSA, PSA recurrence-free survival, and prostate cancer-specific survival. Multivariable models included age at diagnosis, Gleason sco...
Safe Use of Vasopressin and Angiotensin II for Patients with Circulatory Shock

Circulatory shock is a medical emergency that requires rapid intervention to optimize patient outcomes. Although catecholamine vasopressors are considered life-sustaining therapy, they are associated with adverse reactions, and vasopressin and angiotensin II may be used to minimize these adverse effects. However, vasopressin and angiotensin II are also associated with adverse reactions that must be known to the clinician to mitigate risk for patients. This review focuses on the known adverse drug effects of vasopressin and angiotensin II while offering potential solutions to minimize harm with these agents. Future directions with vasoactive medication safety including optimization of the electronic medical record, clinical decision support, prediction analytics, and precision medicine for patients with circulatory shock are also discussed.
Impact of Flue Gas Desulfurization Gypsum and Manure Application on Transfer of Potentially Toxic Elements to Plants, Soil, and Runoff

There are concerns regarding the fate of nutrients from surface application of animal manure. One approach to reduce losses of P is to treat manure with industrial byproducts such as flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum. However, concerns regarding potentially toxic elements contributed to the environment have arisen based on previous element-rich forms of FGD gypsum that included fly ash, whereas "new" FGD gypsum without fly ash is much lower in contaminants. This study examined the impact of FGD gypsum application on soil, plants, and runoff when applied alone or with poultry litter (PL) to soil. The study consisted of a plant response study (four rates of FGD gypsum of 0, 2.2, 4.4, and 8.9 Mg ha and four rates of PL of 0, 4.4, 8.9, and 13.4 Mg ha) and a rainfall simulation study (3.4 Mg PL ha with four rates of FGD gypsum of 0, 2.2, 4.4, and 8.9 Mg ha and controls). Plant, soil, and runoff samples were analyzed for As, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Sb, Se, Tl, V, and Zn. Results indicated that FGD gypsum application would not result in increased potentially toxic elements in plants, soil, or runoff. In addition, the application of FGD gypsum significantly reduced P, As, and Fe concentrations in runoff, indicating that FGD gypsum can reduce the negative impact of manure surface application on surface water degradation.
Tyrosine phosphorylation of the transmembrane protein SIRPα: Sensing synaptic activity and regulating ectodomain cleavage for synapse maturation

Synapse maturation is a neural activity–dependent process during brain development, in which active synapses preferentially undergo maturation to establish efficient neural circuits in the brain. Defects in this process are implicated in various neuropsychiatric disorders. We have previously reported that a postsynaptic transmembrane protein, signal regulatory protein-α (SIRPα), plays an important role in activity-dependently directing synapse maturation. In the presence of synaptic activity, the ectodomain of SIRPα is cleaved and released and then acts as a retrograde signal to induce presynaptic maturation. However, how SIRPα detects synaptic activity to promote its ectodomain cleavage and synapse maturation is unknown. Here, we show that activity-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation of SIRPα is critical for SIRPα cleavage and synapse maturation. We found that during synapse maturation and in response to neural activity, SIRPα is highly phosphorylated on its tyrosine residues in the hippocampus, a structure critical for learning and memory. Tyrosine phosphorylation of SIRPα was necessary for SIRPα cleavage and presynaptic maturation, as indicated by the fact that a phosphorylation-deficient SIRPα variant underwent much less cleavage and could not drive presynaptic maturation. However, SIRPα phosphorylation did not affect its synaptic localization. Finally, we show that inhibitors of the Src and JAK kinase family suppress neural activity–dependent SIRPα phosphorylation and cleavage. Together, our results indicate that SIRPα phosphorylation serves as a mechanism for detecting synaptic activity and linking it to the ectodomain cleavage of SIRPα, which in turn drives synapse maturation in an activity-dependent manner.
Central serous chorioretinopathy and HIV.

Background Patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) have sudden-onset, painless, uniocular blur that is typically diagnosed via fundus and fluorescein angiographic appearance. The etiology and pathophysiology are not fully understood; however, there may be an association with an infectious etiology. This article presents two cases of HIV-positive patients in whom central serous chorioretinopathy developed and discusses the possible relationship between the two cases. The differential diagnosis, clinical features, angiographic appearance, management options, and proposed etiologies of CSC will be presented. Case reports A 34-year-old black man HIV reported to the eye clinic with decreased vision in his right eye. A diagnosis of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) was made on the basis of the clinical and fluorescein appearance. He is currently being monitored for resolution. A 44-year-old black man with profoundly compromised immunity also came to the eye clinic with CSC and HIV retinopathy. He later progressed to CMV retinitis and subsequently died. Conclusion Although considered in many cases to be idiopathic, central serous chorioretinopathy has been associated with infectious etiologies, one of which could be HIV.
Quality of Life and Economic Impact of Chronic Prostatitis

Chronic prostatitis (CP) is a common syndrome of uncertain etiology. In the current National Institutes of Health (NIH) classification system, there are four categories of prostatitis. From 1990 to 1994, prostatitis accounted for almost 2 million outpatient visits per year, 8% of visits to urologists, and 1% of visits to primary care physicians in the United States. CP has health-related quality of life and economic implications for its sufferers and for society. For patients, the syndrome affects both physical and psychological functioning. Treatment of these symptoms may involve procedures, prescriptions, and/or frequent visits to the physician, resulting in substantial financial costs for the patient and for society. This chapter reviews the current state of knowledge about the quality of life and economic impact of prostatitis.
Sulfated proteoglycans in the human lamina cribrosa.

The sulfated proteoglycans in the normal human lamina cribrosa were studied by electron microscopy after cuprolinic blue dye binding. Within the cores of the laminar plates, three types of cuprolinic blue-positive proteoglycan filaments with different sizes were associated with collagen fibers. These filaments, which were partially sensitive to chondroitinase AC and chondroitinase B, were completely removed by chondroitinase ABC and were identified as chondroitin/dermatan sulfate proteoglycans. In addition, small punctate and filamentous structures that stained with cuprolinic blue were associated with the basal laminae of astrocytes and blood vessels. Enzyme chondroitinase ABC had no effect, but heparinase digested all of these basement membrane-associated structures, indicating that they represented heparan sulfate proteoglycan molecules. Keratanase did not affect any of the cuprolinic bluepositive materials. This investigation illustrates the ultrastructural distribution and morphology of proteoglycans in the human lamina cribrosa and provides baseline information for future studies regarding the roles of proteoglycan molecules in diseases such as glaucoma. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 33:2388-2398, 1992 The lamina cribrosa is a perforated region in the optic nerve head through which ganglion cell axons exit the eye as the optic nerve. Ultrastructurally, the lamina cribrosa consists of a series of laminar plates made up of bundles of collagenous fibers and elastic tissues. Coating the collagenous beams are the basal laminae of glial cells. Additional basement membranes are derived from vascular endothelial cells. The extracellular matrices in the lamina cribrosa have attracted considerable attention. 1 " 7 They are believed to provide mechanical and functional support for the optic nerve fiber bundles and to play a part in the disease process in glaucoma. Studies using immunohistochemical and immunoelectron microscopic methods showed that collagen types I, III, and VI, as well as fibronectin and elastin, were present within the laminar plates of the human and monkey lamina cribrosa and in arterial vessel walls. Collagen type IV, laminin, and heparan sulfate proteoglycans were localized to the basement membranes of vessels and glial
Modifying mosquito impoundment management to enhance nursery habitat value for juvenile common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis) and Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)

Coastal wetlands function as nurseries for juveniles of many fishes, including common snook (Centropomus undecimalis) and Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). Thousands of hectares of mangrove habitat in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), Florida (USA) have been impounded for mosquito control, limiting connectivity and potentially decreasing nursery habitat value. Many impoundments are managed to provide connectivity through culverts to the IRL from October through April (non-breeding season for mosquitos), with the impoundments isolated and filled with water to control mosquito breeding from May through September. To determine whether seasonality of impoundment-estuary connectivity affected nursery habitat value, we conducted a quantitative assessment of the emigration of juvenile snook and tarpon from Bee Gum Point, a mosquito impoundment in the IRL. A total of 305 snook and 103 tarpon were captured within the impoundment and marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. Pairs of tag-detecting antennas were established at culverts in two basins within the impoundment and monitored for 2 years. Only four tagged snook, and no tagged tarpon, were physically recaptured, while nearly 71% of the tagged snook and 77% of the tagged tarpon were detected at least once by antennas on the inside of the impoundment. Antennas on the outside of the culverts detected only 18 snook and eight tarpon emigrating through the culverts during 418 days of two open seasons. When culverts were experimentally opened for a total of 21 days in three periods during two summers, both snook (n = 49) and tarpon (n = 22) emigrated at far higher rates that they did during the normal open season. This significant increase in emigration indicates the importance of managing habitat connectivity to correspond to natural seasonal emigration patterns to increase the productivity of these fish nurseries.
Recovery from bradycardia and desaturation events at 32 weeks corrected age and NICU length of stay: an indicator of physiologic resilience?

Preterm very low birth weight (VLBW) infants experience physiologic maturation and transitions off therapies from 32 to 35 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA), which may impact episodic bradycardia and oxygen desaturation. We sought to characterize bradycardias and desaturations from 32 to 35 weeks PMA and test whether events at 32 weeks PMA are associated with NICU length of stay. For 265 VLBW infants from 32 to 35 weeks PMA, we quantified the number and duration of bradycardias (HR <100 for ≥4 s) and desaturations (SpO2 <80% for ≥10 s) and compared events around discontinuation of CPAP, caffeine, and supplemental oxygen. We modeled associations between clinical variables, bradycardias and desaturations at 32 weeks PMA, and discharge PMA. Desaturations decreased from 60 to 41 per day at 32 and 35 weeks, respectively (p < 0.01). Duration of desaturations and number and duration of bradycardias decreased to a smaller extent (p < 0.05), and there was a non-significant trend toward increased desaturations after stopping CPAP and caffeine. Controlling for clinical variables, longer duration of bradycardias and desaturations at 32 weeks PMA was associated with later discharge PMA. Delayed recovery from bradycardias and desaturations at 32 weeks PMA, perhaps reflecting less physiologic resilience, is associated with prolonged NICU stay for VLBW infants.
Activity Segmentation Using Wearable Sensors for DVT/PE Risk Detection

Using a wearable electromyography (EMG) and an accelerometer sensor, classification of subject activity state (i.e., walking, sitting, standing, or ankle circles) enables detection of prolonged "negative" activity states in which the calf muscles do not facilitate blood flow return via the deep veins of the leg. By employing machine learning classification on a multi-sensor wearable device, we are able to classify human subject state between "positive" and "negative" activities, and among each activity state, with greater than 95% accuracy. Some negative activity states cannot be accurately discriminated due to their similar presentation from an accelerometer (i.e., standing vs. sitting); however, it is desirable to separate these states to better inform the risk of developing a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). Augmentation with a wearable EMG sensor improves separability of these activities by 30%.
Intelligence-Driven, Dynamic Strategic Planning/Positioning

As was suggested in an earlier chapter, the most popular of approaches to organizational management is still some sort of management-by-objectives (MBO) scheme. This, in turn, will be given tangible expression in terms of either a simple bifocal model-base structure of the type underlying a goal-driven/developmental or sequential-state/cybernetic management system configuration. But no management-by-objectives scheme can be made dynamic —i.e., have its objectives modified or adjusted with any frequency— without sacrificing the appearance of consistency that lends it its essential pragmatic appeal. This weakness has served as the basic point of departure for all those arguing the case for some sort of alternative to the MBO approach. That alternative posed most often in the popular management literature is centered on the suggestion that enterprises adopt more of an entrepreneurial elan. Naturally enough, advocates of this approach generally tend to view traditional management-by-objectives schemes as the essence of bland corporate bureacracy, and chastise its practitioners for being too wedded to the familiar and the precedented … too much given to setting pedestrian objectives that always leave their organization a step or two short of the leading edge of technological innovation in their fields of endeavor.
Recombinant ADAMTS13 Improves Neurological Outcome in Experimental Stroke in Mice.

Abstract 3134 Poster Board III-71 Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability and each year, about 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke in the United States. The only FDA approved therapy available for stroke is tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which converts inactive plasminogen into plasmin and then catalyzes the digestion of fibrin into soluble degradable products facilitating clot lysis. Although tPA was approved by the FDA, experiments in mice revealed side effects including increased risk of hemorrhage and induction of blood brain barrier breakdown. Therefore, there is a need for an alternative candidate drug. von Willebrand factor (VWF) is an adhesion molecule that plays an important role in platelet adhesion and cohesion at sites of vascular injury both at arterial and venous shear rates. The activity of VWF is modulated by ADAMTS13 (A Disintegrin-like And Metalloprotease with Thrombospondin type I repeats-13) which cleaves VWF to smaller less active forms. Recently, it was demonstrated that deficiency of VWF protects mice from ischemic stroke in the middle cerebral artery occlusion model (MCAO) (Kleinschnitz et al., Blood, 2009.). This observation is in agreement with our previous findings presented at the 2008 ASH meeting. In addition, we have shown that deficiency of ADAMTS13 in mice aggravates consequences of ischemic stroke in the MCAO model. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of recombinant human ADAMTS13 (r-hu ADAMTS13) in prevention of stroke. We have previously shown that r-hu ADAMTS13 was effective in reducing platelet plug size in the ferric chloride arterial injury model in mice (Chauhan et al., JEM, 2006). We infused r-hu ADAMTS13 prior to reperfusion in wild-type (WT) mice that underwent one hour of middle cerebral artery occlusion. After 24 hours, WT mice infused with r-hu ADAMTS13 had approximately 30% smaller infarctions (P Disclosures Dockal:Baxter: Employment. Scheiflinger:Baxter Bioscience: Employment.
Estrogenic regulation of memory: The first 50 years.

Abstract This review highlights fifty years of progress in research on estradiol's role in regulating behavior(s). It was initially thought that estradiol was only involved in regulating estrus/menstrual cycles and concomitant sexual behavior, but it is now clear that estradiol also influences the higher order neural function of cognition. We provide a brief overview of estradiol's regulation of memory and some mechanisms which underlie its effects. Given systemically or directly into the hippocampus, to ovariectomized female rodents, estradiol or specific agonists, enhance learning and/or memory in a variety of rodent cognitive tasks. Acute (within minutes) or chronic (days) treatments enhance cognitive functions. Under the same treatment conditions, dendritic spine density on pyramidal neurons in the CA1 area of the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex increase which suggests that these changes are an important component of estrogen's ability to impact memory processes. Noradrenergic, dopaminergic and serotoninergic activity are also altered in these areas following estrogen treatments. Memory enhancements and increased spine density by estrogens are not limited to females but are also present in castrate males. In the next fifty years, neuroscientists need to determine how currently described neural changes mediate improved memory, how interactions among areas important for memory promote memory and the potential significance of neurally derived estrogens in normal cognitive processing. Answering these questions may provide significant advances for treatment of dementias as well as age and neuro-degenerative disease related memory loss.
Applicability of Space Colonization Algorithm for Real Time Tree Generation

Realistic tree modeling has been a subject of several studies but their application remains a computationally expensive task for real-time tree model generation. Space colonization algorithm [1] is one of such method which utilizes competition of space between tree branches to generate visually realistic trees and bushes. In this paper, we study the applicability of space colonization algorithm for real-time procedural tree model generation for video games. We present optimal parameters for space colonization algorithm, several approaches to introduce variety in the generated tree models such as procedural generation of unique crown shapes, several point sampling techniques and procedural generation of branch segments while maintaining the visual appeal and acceptable generation time.
Evaluation of Volume of News Reporting and Opioid-Related Deaths in the United States: Comparative Analysis Study of Geographic and Socioeconomic Differences.

Background: News media coverage is a powerful influence on public attitude and government action. The digitization of news media covering the current opioid epidemic has changed the landscape of coverage and may have implications for how to effectively respond to the opioid crisis. Objective: This study aims to characterize the relationship between volume of online opioid news reporting and opioid-related deaths in the United States and how these measures differ across geographic and socioeconomic county-level factors. Methods: Online news reports from February 2018 to April 2019 on opioid-related events in the United States were extracted from Google News. News data were aggregated at the county level and compared against opioid-related death counts. Ordinary least squares regression was used to model opioid-related death rate and opioid news coverage with the inclusion of socioeconomic and geographic explanatory variables. Results: A total of 35,758 relevant news reports were collected representing 1789 counties. Regression analysis revealed that opioid-related death rate was positively associated with news reporting. However, opioid-related death rate and news reporting volume showed opposite correlations with educational attainment and rurality. When controlling for variation in death rate, counties in the Northeast were overrepresented by news coverage. Conclusions: Our results suggest that regional variation in the volume of opioid-related news reporting does not reflect regional variation in opioid-related death rate. Differences in the amount of media attention may influence perceptions of the severity of opioid epidemic. Future studies should investigate the influence of media reporting on public support and action on opioid issues.
Bracing for Acute and Subacute Osteoporotic Compression Fractures: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Background Many treatment options for osteoporotic vertebral fractures are available. However, limited and variable findings have been reported on the efficacy of the individual therapies. The objective of the present study was to systematically review the reported data for evidence of efficacy of spinal orthoses for osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Methods A systematic review of the PubMed database was performed. Two reviewers evaluated the studies found for eligibility. Randomized controlled trails (RCTs) and prospective nonrandomized, prospective single-arm, and retrospective comparative studies of the treatment of acute osteoporotic vertebral fractures with spinal orthoses were included. Results A total of 16 studies were included: 5 RCTs, 6 nonrandomized prospective comparative studies, 1 retrospective case-control study, and 4 prospective single-arm studies. Of the 16 studies, 4 (3 single-arm studies and 1 nonrandomized study) provided low-quality evidence that bracing, with or without bedrest, was safe. Also, 1 nonrandomized and 1 single-arm study provided low-quality evidence that bracing improved pain and disability. In addition, 4 studies demonstrated that the use of a rigid brace was equivalent to the use of a soft brace or no brace (2 high-quality RCTs, 2 nonrandomized studies, 1 low-quality RCT). Two nonrandomized and one case-control study demonstrated a benefit of kyphoplasty compared with bracing alone (all low quality). Two RCTs had provided low-quality evidence that bracing was superior to no brace and one nonrandomized study provided low-quality evidence that a dynamic brace was superior to rigid orthosis. Conclusions Limited evidence has suggested the safety of spinal orthoses for the treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures. At present, compelling evidence is not available to suggest that a rigid brace is superior to a soft brace or no brace. Kyphoplasty might be of benefit for select patients.
A multi-institutional phase 2 trial of stereotactic body radiotherapy in the treatment of bone metastases in pediatric and young adult patients with sarcoma.

Background Metastasectomy is standard of care for pediatric patients with metastatic sarcoma with limited disease. For patients with unresectable disease, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) may serve as an alternative. Herein, the authors report the results of a prospective, multi-institutional phase 2 trial of SBRT in children and young adults with metastatic sarcoma. Methods Patients aged >3 years and ≤40 years with unresected, osseous metastatic nonrhabdomyosarcoma sarcomas of soft tissue and bone were eligible. Patients received SBRT to a dose of 40 Gray (Gy) in 5 fractions. Local control (LC), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results Fourteen patients with a median age of 17 years (range, 4-25 years) were treated to 37 distinct metastatic lesions. With a median follow-up of 6.8 months (30.5 months in surviving patients), the Kaplan-Meier patient-specific and lesion-specific LC rates at 6 months were 89% and 95%, respectively. The median PFS was 6 months and the median OS was 24 months. In a post hoc analysis, PFS (median, 9.3 months vs 3.7 months; log-rank P = .03) and OS (median not reached vs 12.7 months; log-rank P = .02) were improved when all known sites of metastatic disease were consolidated with SBRT compared with partial consolidation. SBRT was well tolerated, with 2 patients experiencing grade 3 toxicities. Conclusions SBRT achieved high rates of LC in pediatric patients with inoperable metastatic nonrhabdomyosarcoma sarcomas of soft tissue and bone. These results suggest that the ability to achieve total consolidation of metastatic disease with SBRT is associated with improved PFS and OS.
Predicting U.S. 2001 Recession, Composite Leading Economic Indicators, Structural Change, and Monetary Policy

In an attempt to predict a peak in the U.S. economy using a classical statistical decision methodology and a Bayesian methodology and using the 1996 revised composite leading economic indicators, it is learned that the Bayesian models have generally outperformed the classical statistical ones and, among the Bayesian models, the two using two and three consecutive CLI growth rates are superior in reliability and in accuracy. These two models, however, failed to correctly predict the 2001 recession. In investigating the reasons behind their failures, we learned that (1) if the concurrent data to the economic structure of 1983-1999 are used for the prediction, they have also been able to predict the 2001 recession correctly, but their overall reliability is not as strong as before, (2) given the overwhelming weight of the monetary policy tools in the CLI-1996 design and the combination of the economic and political events in year 2000, the less than expected effectiveness of the monetary policy since year 2001 has contributed to this failure, and (3) a possible structural change in the U.S. economy since year 2000 has also contributed to this prediction failure.
Complement C5 is Not Critical for the Formation of Sub-RPE Deposits ­in Efemp1 Mutant Mice

The complement system plays a role in the formation of sub-retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) deposits in early stages of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). But the specific mechanisms that connect complement activation and deposit formation in AMD patients are unknown, which limits the development of efficient therapies to reduce or stop disease progression. We have previously demonstrated that C3 blockage prevents the formation of sub-RPE deposits in a mouse model of EFEMP1-associated macular degeneration. In this study, we have used double mutant Efemp1R345W/R345W:C5-/- mice to investigate the role of C5 in the formation of sub-RPE deposits in vivo and in vitro. The data revealed that the genetic ablation of C5 does not eliminate the formation of sub-RPE deposits. Contrarily, the absence of C5 in RPE cultures promotes complement dysregulation that results in increased activation of C3, which likely contributes to deposit formation even in the absence of EFEMP1-R345W mutant protein. The results also suggest that genetic ablation of C5 alters the extracellular matrix turnover through an effect on matrix metalloproteinases in RPE cell cultures. These results confirm that C3 rather than C5 could be an effective therapeutic target to treat early AMD.