cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical Outcomes Associated with Thermal Pulsation System Treatment.

Author(s): Satjawatcharaphong, Pam; Ge, Shaokui; Lin, Meng C | Abstract: PurposeTo identify patient characteristics at a baseline ocular surface evaluation that correlate with improvement in dry eye symptoms at a follow-up visit after treatment with the LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation System.MethodsThirty-two patients completed a comprehensive baseline ocular surface evaluation and were treated with the LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation System followed by maintenance home therapy. Lipid layer thickness and blink pattern were determined using the LipiView Interferometer. Noninvasive tear breakup time was measured using a Medmont E300 Corneal Topographer. Slit lamp biomicroscopy was used to evaluate invasive tear breakup time and corneal staining after instillation of fluorescein dye. Conjunctival staining, location of the line of Marx, and presence of lid wiper epitheliopathy were evaluated with lissamine green dye. Meibomian gland expressibility was scored using the TearScience Meibomian Gland Evaluator, and meibography was imaged using the Oculus Keratograph. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds ratios for having a decreased posttreatment score (reduced symptoms) of Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED).ResultsBaseline SPEED score (p = 0.01) and sex (p = 0.03) had significant odds ratios at the α = 0.05 level. Baseline noninvasive tear breakup time (p = 0.07), number of grade 0 meibomian glands in the lower lid (p = 0.09), and conjunctival staining grade in the inferior region (p = 0.10) met an α = 0.10 criterion for significant odds ratios, but not the typical α = 0.05 criterion. Higher baseline SPEED score and male sex had greater odds for decreased posttreatment SPEED score.ConclusionsOur results identified factors that better select candidates for LipiFlow Thermal Pulsation System.
Advanced MRI and staging of multiple sclerosis lesions

Over the past few decades, MRI-based visualization of demyelinated CNS lesions has become pivotal to the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS). In this Review, we outline current efforts to correlate imaging findings with the pathology of lesion development in MS, and the pitfalls that are being encountered in this research. Multimodal imaging at high and ultra-high magnetic field strengths is yielding biologically relevant insights into the pathophysiology of blood-brain barrier dynamics and both active and chronic inflammation, as well as mechanisms of lesion healing and remyelination. Here, we parallel the results in humans with advances in imaging of a primate model of MS - experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the common marmoset - in which demyelinated lesions resemble their human counterparts far more closely than do EAE lesions in the rodent. This approach holds promise for the identification of innovative biological markers, and for next-generation clinical trials that will focus more on tissue protection and repair.
Diagnosis of eyelid and periorbital abnormalities.

Familiarity with the structural components of the lids and appreciation of the local manifestations of systemic disease can equip the general physician to recognize and deal with conditions that threaten sight and life.
The proteolysis of fibrinogen by plasmin: The identification of thrombin-clottable fibrinogen derivatives which polymerize abnormally

Abstract The sequential stages by which human plasmin degrades human and bovine fibrinogen have been studied by analytical ultracentrifugal, gel electrophoretic, and biochemical techniques. Fibrinogen, a large molecule of unusual structure and specificity, is degraded by plasmin in a complex series of reactions. Although a variety of fibrinogen derivates are formed, the degradation reaction occurs in a defined sequence. In the first stage, during which approximately 10 per cent of the fibrinogen molecule is cleaved in the form of low molecular weight fragments, a fibrinogen derivative (Mol. wt. 265,000) is formed having an S o 20, w identical with that of fibrinogen but with a significantly altered diffusion constant (D 20, w of 2.49 as compared with 1.98 for fibrinogen, itself) and with a consequently significantly altered molecular configuration and protein axial ratio. This fibrinogen derivative, though still 100 per cent clottable by thrombin and assayable as native fibrinogen in a plasma milieu, clots slowly and abnormally as a result of its grossly altered configurational structure. Following release of a further 5 to 10 per cent of low molecular weight fragments, further molecular configurational alterations occur, but at this stage S 20, w values are reduced and these intermediates although still partially clottable by thrombin are readily identifiable by analytical ultracentrifugal means. Finally, with complete enzymatic degradation, three classes of plasmin-resistant fragments with S 20, w values of 5.3, 3, and a heterogeneous low-molecular weight group are formed. During the degradation of human, but not bovine, fibrinogen by plasmin, significant polymer formation was invariably noted suggesting that plasmin cleaved arginine-glycine bonds (those susceptible to thrombin) in a random fashion.
The Dynamics of Bureaucracy in the U.S. Government: The Regulatory Process as an Attention Mechanism

Herbert Simon (1971, pp. 40–41) noted more than forty years ago that information “consumes the attention of its recipients.” The policy-making process generates massive amounts of information, and given the scarce nature of attention, knowing which bits of information to attend to is vitally important for decision making. The regulatory process functions as an attention mechanism, channeling eyes, ears, and resources to important and salient problems. This view of the process is consistent with its creation as a legislative process and its subsequent legislative development. Its value in regard to information processing is also a consistent theme in empirical research on the process of rulemaking. The legislative development of the regulatory process shows that it was, at its inception, intended to be legislative in nature (Rosenbloom, 2001). This intent shows up in both the substance and procedure of bureaucratic policy making, as well as in the organizational relationship between agencies and units within Congress. In their specialization and functional differentiation, agencies roughly mirror the substantive structure of the committee system. Members of Congress envisioned the regulatory process as an extension of legislative power, and Congress's modifications of the process have both deepened and broadened its influence. In addition to the legislative development of the regulatory process, Congress has steered the institutional development of its own bureaucracies, such as the GAO, in such a way as to heighten the informational value of the regulatory process. Empirical research suggests the value of the process in generating information about politics and policy, functioning as a signal to policy makers, and enhancing congressional prominence in steering the course of regulatory policy. LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT Table 3.1 shows the major pieces of legislation affecting how bureaucracies make public policy. Taken together, these laws mold the regulatory process as legislative in nature, address oversight by Congress, and facilitate the creation of information in the process. The regulatory process was built to mirror or mimic similar processes in Congress for the development of legislation.
Online Learning: Designing for All Users

During the fall of 2008, 4.6 million students pursued their education in online environments in the United States (Allen & Seaman, 2009). Considering that students with disabilities represent nearly 10% of all U.S. college students (National Council on Disability as reported by Frieden, 2003), one can see a need to disseminate information regarding how to best meet the needs of this population as they look to further their education by taking advantage of online learning opportunities. Through this paper, the reader will learn about Universal Design for Learning (UDL), accessibility laws, how the laws affect online education, and how instructional design can be implemented as a way to increase access to education for college students with disabilities. Finally, there will be an exploration of the impact accessibility laws have on instructional design and how an increase in accessibility can improve motivation for all segments of the population. Note: Although the statistics cited are based on U.S. postsecondary education student populations, the ideas outlined herein can be applied beyond the U.S., as the needs of disabled students are universal.
Genome Sequence of the Photoarsenotrophic Bacterium Ectothiorhodospira sp. Strain BSL-9, Isolated from a Hypersaline Alkaline Arsenic-Rich Extreme Environment

The full genome sequence of Ectothiorhodospira sp. strain BSL-9 is reported here. This purple sulfur bacterium encodes an arxA-type arsenite oxidase within the arxB2AB1CD gene island and is capable of carrying out "photoarsenotrophy" anoxygenic photosynthetic arsenite oxidation. Its genome is composed of 3.5 Mb and has approximately 63% G+C content.
Employing self-collimation phenomena in photonic crystals for the invisibility cloak development

We demonstrate that self-collimation effects in the invisibility cloak medium formed from 2D dielectric Photonic Crystal (PhC) can support wave propagation along curvilinear paths around an object to be hidden, with superluminal phase velocities controlled by deformation of PhC lattice cells. These effects can be used for the development of uni-directional cloaks with wave phase preservation, which can be scaled from microwave to optical frequencies. The obtained results show that employment of self-collimation effects can make PhCs advantageous with respect to metamaterials at the formation of the media requested by coordinate transformation techniques for the development of new electromagnetic devices.
Agroindustrial Soilscapes in the Caribbean: A Geochemical Perspective from Betty’s Hope, Antigua

This research examines the chemical impacts to soils caused by the industrialisation (mechanisation and mass production) of sugar and rum manufacturing in the Caribbean during the eighteenth and ni...
Ghost Stories, Ghost Estates: Melancholia in Irish Recession Literature

This article considers representations of melancholia in post-Celtic Tiger Irish literature. By situating their post-recession fictions in “ghost estates,” or largely uninhabited housing developments, Donal Ryan and Tana French present neoliberally-inflected varieties of melancholia for their contemporary readers to contemplate. The settings of the ghost estates – and the accompanying supernatural elements to the texts – call to mind ghosts of Ireland’s past and legacies of recent economically unsound policies, spurring the reader to think about the imagined loss of futurity that accompanied the Irish economic crash. “Ghost stories for ghost estates,” then, represent an important contribution to the growing field of post-recession Irish literature.
Electrification and Decarbonization of the Chemical Industry

Zachary Schiffer is currently a doctoral student in the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT. An NSF Graduate Research Fellow and an MIT Presidential Fellow, he is studying applications of electrochemistry to the nitrogen cycle in the Manthiram Lab. Zachary received a B.S.E. from Princeton University in Chemical and Biological Engineering with minors in applications of computing and materials science. As an undergraduate, he worked in Dr. Craig Arnold's lab studying the coupling of mechanics and electrochemistry in lithium ion batteries. Karthish Manthiram is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. The Manthiram Lab develops technologies that enable modular and sustainable transformations of molecules. The lab is currently focused on the conversion of distributed feedstocks, such as air, water, carbon dioxide, and renewable electricity, into molecules that have an impact on our everyday lives. Examples include catalytic technologies through which farmers in developing countries can produce their own ammonia fertilizers and conversion of carbon dioxide into methanol to mitigate emissions that would otherwise contribute to global warming. Karthish received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 2010 and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 2015, both in Chemical Engineering. Most recently, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology.
Biosimilars in Inflammatory Bowel Disease 2017: State of the Science, State of the Art, and State of the Finances

Biosimilars are defined as highly similar but not chemically identical to the original (also known as the reference) biologic drug. In order to obtain regulatory approval, an anti-TNF biosimilar must prove that there is “highly similar” structural, physiochemical, pharmacokinetic (PK), pharmacodynamic (PD) mechanism of anti-TNF binding and neutralization and no “clinically meaningful differences between the biological and the reference product in terms of safety, purity, and potency.” In randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), comparing reference infliximab and CT-P13 (Celltrion, Inc.), the first infliximab biosimilar, comparable clinical results in terms of efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity were found.Similarly, an adalimumab biosimilar ABP 501 (Amgen, Inc.) was approved based on extrapolation from a single RCT in RA and psoriasis, respectively.Indication extrapolation for a biosimilar can be granted by regulatory agencies for diseases in which it has not been studied, if the disease pathophysiology and mechanism of actions of the drug are considered comparable between diseases. Based on these factors, the FDA approved CT-P13 (Inflectra, Pfizer Inc.)and ABP 501 as biosimilars for infliximab and adalimumab, respectively, in 2016 for all diseases for which infliximaband adalimumab had previously been approved, including adult and pediatric moderate to severe UC and pediatric and adult moderate to severe and fistulizing CD. This was despite the absence of any randomized controlled trials (RCTs) studying these anti-TNF biosimilars in any inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).In January 2017, the FDA issued theirguidance document regarding the critical issue of interchangeability,whereby an approved biosimilar can be substituted for a prescribed reference drug without the approval or even the knowledge of the prescribing physician or patient.
An unusual presentation of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the parotid gland

We present an unusual case of mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the parotid gland in which the patient reported the presence of the lesion since childhood and initially suspected to represent a first branchial cleft cyst Preoperative imaging found a cystic lesion in the superficial lobe of the parotid gland without associated lymphadenopathy After surgical excision pathology revealed a unicystic lesion lined by cuboidal to columnar and some squamoid cells with positive mucicarmine staining and MAML rearrangement strongly suggesting mucoepidermoid carcinoma
Frequency offset compensation for acoustic OFDM systems

This paper addresses the problem of compensating for motion-induced Doppler frequency offset in multicarrier acoustic communication systems based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). In mobile acoustic systems, Doppler effect can be sever enough that the received OFDM signal experiences non-negligible frequency offsets even after initial resampling. To target these offsets, a practical method based on a hypothesis-testing approach is proposed. The method relies on differentially coherent detection which keeps the receiver complexity at a minimum and requires only a small pilot overhead. Differential encoding is applied across carriers, promoting the use of a large number of closely spaced carriers within a given bandwidth. This approach simultaneously supports frequency-domain coherence and efficient use of bandwidth for achieving high bit rates. While frequency synchronization capitalizes on differentially coherent detection framework, it can also be used as a pre-processing stage in coherent receivers without creating undue complexity. Using the experimental data transmitted over a 3–7 km shallow water channel in the 10.5–15.5 kHz acoustic band, we study the system performance in terms of data detection mean squared error (MSE) and bit error rate (BER), and show that the proposed method provides excellent performance at low computational cost.
New approaches for solving old problems in neuronal protein trafficking.

Abstract Fundamental cellular properties are determined by the repertoire and abundance of proteins displayed on the cell surface. As such, the trafficking mechanisms for establishing and maintaining the surface proteome must be tightly regulated for cells to respond appropriately to extracellular cues, yet plastic enough to adapt to ever-changing environments. Not only are the identity and abundance of surface proteins critical, but in many cases, their regulated spatial positioning within surface nanodomains can greatly impact their function. In the context of neuronal cell biology, surface levels and positioning of ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors play essential roles in establishing important properties, including cellular excitability and synaptic strength. Here we review our current understanding of the trafficking pathways that control the abundance and localization of proteins important for synaptic function and plasticity, as well as recent technological advances that are allowing the field to investigate protein trafficking with increasing spatiotemporal precision.
Treehugger Organic Farm: Visions for Small-Scale, Sustainable Agriculture in Broward, Florida

As a response to inadequacies in the industrialized food system, small-scale, sustainable agricultural projects are on the rise in urban areas. This case study details the formation of Treehugger Organic Farm in Broward, Florida. It outlines the progression and challenges the owner and personnel faced while developing an environmentally and socially sustainable farm. The farm and personnel became deeply embedded in the local community, not just as a source of food but also as a place for community outreach and political activism. The closing of this chapter raises important questions about farming for profit and farming as a labor of love, and what happens when visions of a sustainable future are tested.
Modeling at the RT Level

A Register Transfer Level (RTL) design consists of a set of registers connected by combinational logic as shown in Fig. 8.1. The registers are shown as rectangular boxes connected to the clock signal and the combinational logic is represented by the “cloud” object. This chapter explains the relationship between the RTL constructs in VHDL and the logic which is synthesized. It focuses on code styles that will give the best performance for an RTL synthesis tool. An RTL synthesis tool produces registered and combinational logic at the RTL level.
Medical Malpractice, Defensive Medicine, and Physician Supply

This article summarizes the empirical research on the impact of the US malpractice system on physician supply. In general, this research finds that higher levels of malpractice liability lead to lower levels of supply. Tort reforms that directly reduce the costs imposed by the US malpractice system have a small, statistically significant positive effect on the number of physicians per capita, on the order of 2–4%. Although there is some debate about the robustness of this result for the overall physician population, there is almost universal agreement that reforms increase supply of certain subgroups that are likely to be sensitive to malpractice incentives. These subgroups include specialists who face substantial exposure to malpractice risk; rural physicians who may be less able to increase their markups to recover the costs of malpractice from their patients; and physicians who serve patient populations that are more likely to file a claim. However, the consequences of malpractice-induced reductions in supply on the cost of care and patient health outcomes – and hence on social welfare – remains largely an open question. Investigation of the links between physician supply, costs, and outcomes is therefore an important topic for future research.
The effects of feeding various carbohydrates on the development of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis.

Dietary carbohydrates affect serum lipid levels in man as well as in other species. In general, the ingestion of simple sugars is correlated with hyperlipemia, a phenomenon that has been the subject of several exhaustive reviews (1–4). The ingestion of sucrose has been linked to the development of heart disease in man (5–7).
Ultrahydrophobic Textiles Using Nanoparticles: Lotus Approach:

It is well established that the water wettability of materials is governed by both the chemical composition and the geometrical microstructure of the surface.1 Traditional textile wet processing tr...
The Thymus and Lymphomyeloid System in Poikilothermic Vertebrates

The present account is concerned with the organization and function of the immune system, particularly the thymus, in ectothermic or poikilothermic vertebrates-fishes, amphibians, and reptiles. The place of these three classes in the general context of the vertebrate phylum is summarized in Figs. 1–4, which also show the location, in each group, of the thymus and other lymphomyeloid organs.
Integration into a PhD Program: An Arts-Based Research Approach to Examine the Experiences of Doctoral Students

[full article in English] This article explores the experiences of twelve doctoral students during their processes of integrating into a doctoral program. In this qualitative study, by using a participatory, arts-based research design, twelve participants were asked to create collages and write narratives depicting their collages representative of their integration experiences. The research question this study addressed is the following: how have the students experienced integrating into their doctoral program? The gathered data revealed that academic and social factors play important roles in shaping and impacting the doctoral journey of a student.
The McElroy Brothers, New Media, and the Queering of White Nerd Masculinity:

Nerd masculinity is in the midst of a cultural rebirth. Podcasters the McElroy Brothers—Justin, Travis, and Griffin—are exemplars of how nerds queer contemporary masculinity discourse. Their podcas...
Kernel Protection Against Just-In-Time Code Reuse

The abundance of memory corruption and disclosure vulnerabilities in kernel code necessitates the deployment of hardening techniques to prevent privilege escalation attacks. As stricter memory isolation mechanisms between the kernel and user space become commonplace, attackers increasingly rely on code reuse techniques to exploit kernel vulnerabilities. Contrary to similar attacks in more restrictive settings, as in web browsers, in kernel exploitation, non-privileged local adversaries have great flexibility in abusing memory disclosure vulnerabilities to dynamically discover, or infer, the location of code snippets in order to construct code-reuse payloads. Recent studies have shown that the coupling of code diversification with the enforcement of a “read XOR execute” (R∧X) memory safety policy is an effective defense against the exploitation of userland software, but so far this approach has not been applied for the protection of the kernel itself. In this article, we fill this gap by presenting kR∧X: a kernel-hardening scheme based on execute-only memory and code diversification. We study a previously unexplored point in the design space, where a hypervisor or a super-privileged component is not required. Implemented mostly as a set of GCC plugins, kR∧X is readily applicable to x86 Linux kernels (both 32b and 64b) and can benefit from hardware support (segmentation on x86, MPX on x86-64) to optimize performance. In full protection mode, kR∧X incurs a low runtime overhead of 4.04%, which drops to 2.32% when MPX is available, and 1.32% when memory segmentation is in use.
Focal length adjustable metalenses for zoom imaging

Lenses with tunable focal length are crucial to the operation of many optical systems, as in photography, mixed reality, and microscopy. Various technologies exist that support this behavior, but they often entail high power consumption and rely on bulky and expensive optical components. With recent advances in metasurface optics in miniaturizing and augmenting traditional systems, these devices may enable the next generation of varifocal lenses. These devices are flat optical elements comprising arrays of subwavelength-spaced scatterers that can impart spatially varying phase, amplitude, and polarization changes on wavefronts. In recent years, this field has attracted substantial research interest and has produced several demonstrations of focal length adjustable metalenses. These techniques, however, often rely on high control voltages to apply a strain to a flexible substrate or depend on microelectromechanical actuators that require sophisticated fabrication and cannot scale to large area apertures. Here, we discuss our work developing and building a 1 cm aperture Alvarez lens metasurface system with which we demonstrate a focal length tuning range of 6 cm (>200% change) at 1550 nm wavelength. We also design 1 mm Alvarez lens-inspired higher order metasurfaces for full-color imaging when combined with post-capture deconvolution. Using both designs, we demonstrate varifocal zoom imaging.
Abstract P136: The Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among West African Immigrants in the African Immigrant Health Study

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and in the US. Blacks have a higher burden of CVD compared to other racial/ethnic groups. However, Blacks are not m...
Delayed Photoactivation of Dual-cure Composites: Effect on Cuspal Flexure, Depth-of-cure, and Mechanical Properties.

Clinical Relevance Delaying two minutes before light-curing after placing dual-cure composites can take advantage of shrinkage stress reduction of the slower self-cure component before the more rap...
A systematic review of strategies to increase drinking‐water access and consumption among 0‐ to 5‐year‐olds

The objective of this study is to identify promising strategies for improving drinking-water access and consumption among children aged 0 to 5 years. MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, ERIC, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases were searched in this review. Studies included peer-reviewed, full-text studies from high-income countries, published in English between January 1, 2000, and January 12, 2018, that evaluated interventions to increase water access or consumption in children aged 0 to 5 years. Twenty-five studies met inclusion criteria; 19 used an effective intervention strategy to increase water access or water consumption. Three studies addressed both water access and consumption. Frequently used strategies included policy and practice changes, increasing water access and convenience, and education, training, or social support for caregivers. Studies were of fair methodological quality (average score: 18.8 of 26) for randomized studies and of moderate quality (5.1 of 9) for non-randomized studies. To date, few high-quality studies with objectively measured outcomes have clearly demonstrated strategies that may influence water intake and consumption among young children aged 0 to 5 years.
Instructional Pseudocode Guide to Teach Problem-Solving

Teaching students problem-solving skills is the biggest challenge for many computing programs. Students often do not consider what questions they need to ask while designing a solution. This paper introduces how technical writing techniques and problem-solving strategies can be combined to help students find those questions and develop programming code through writing instructions and documenting their design process. Preliminary results indicate that this approach helps developing problem-solving skills and improves the student success rate in the first programming course.
Experiences from scaling scale Science Gateway operations

Science gateways are distributed computing systems that provide science-centric, end-user environments that simplify and expand the use of scientific software and data on diverse scientific software on backend resources. In this poster we describe the experiences of using a common software platform to host "Software as a Service" Science Gateways.
Evaluating First Semester Associate Degree Nursing Students’ Perception of the Usefulness and Ease of Use of an Electronic Medical Record Documentation Program

The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is an integral part of health care. The National League for Nursing (NLN) along with accrediting agencies have recognized the importance of the development and understanding of the EMR. In nursing schools, the challenge is when to introduce the EMR to the students. The capstone project challenged the introduction of an EMR to the first semester of an associate degree nursing program. Looking at the perception of usefulness and ease of use of the EMR for nursing students in the first semester, the capstone provided data showing the impact of the introduction of the EMR in the first semester. Literature provided to support the project and the use of three theories. The Adult Learning Theory (ALT), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) provided understanding into the population, the technology and how the student EMR is used to in the lab environment to impact the student’s perception. The study was conducted in one semester with a survey distributed to the students by faculty not teaching in the course the study in conducted. The survey was distributed in two separate times. The data shown from the data collection provided insight into the initial perception and post experience with the student EMR in the lab. Further recommendations for development in a nursing program surrounding the EMR are provided. The recommendations discussed will impact the discussion of the appropriateness of developing the education surrounding the EMR and the EMR’s impact for nursing and health care programs.
Understanding the Role of Intimate Partner Violence on Child Development in LMICs

* Abbreviations: DHS — : Demographic and Health Surveys ECDI — : Early Child Development Index IPV — : intimate partner violence LMIC — : low- and middle-income country MICS — : Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys In an important and well-crafted study appearing in this month’s issue of Pediatrics , Jeong et al1 investigate the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) and of maternal and paternal intellectual and social stimulation on early child development in 11 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The study includes data on >18 000 children drawn from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which are nationally representative household surveys that collect health and population data in >90 countries.2 The DHS include a core survey used in all countries and optional modules on a range of topics that each country may select. This remarkable study using routinely collected data was made possible by the simultaneous inclusion of both the Early Child Development Index (ECDI) module and the domestic violence module in the DHS in these 11 forward-thinking countries. In their study, Jeong et al1 provide important national and regional estimates on the contribution of IPV to a low ECDI in children in LMICs. They make use of questions on the nature of parental interactions with the child, allowing a nuanced study of whether differences in paternal or maternal stimulation partially account for the impact of … Address correspondence to Leslie L. Davidson, MD, MSc, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, Room 1609, New York, NY 10032. E-mail: lld1{at}cumc.columbia.edu
Influence of relative humidity on the expression of twolined spittlebug (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) feeding injury in turfgrass genotypes

The twolined spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta (Say) (Hemiptera: Cercopidae), is an important insect pest of turfgrass in the eastern United States. Although twolined spittlebug infests most warm-season turfgrasses, the influence of low and high relative humidity (RH) on the expression of feeding damage in warm-season turfgrasses is not well understood. Experiments were conducted in which five warm-season turfgrasses were caged with ten twolined spittlebug adults and exposed to 40% and 95% RH for 5 days. The extent of damage was measured with a SPAD meter (chlorophyll content), and ratings of greenness, yellowness, and purpleness were obtained using a scale system. Physiological parameters such as stomatal conductance (GS), photosynthesis (A), evapotranspiration (E), and water use efficiency (WUE) were measured. Under both 40 and 95% RH, bermudagrass [Cynodon L.C. Rich, spp.] exhibited injury symptoms after twolined spittlebug exposure. The rate of A was lower in the presence of twolined spittlebug in bermudagrass under both RHs. Injury symptoms in centipedegrass [Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack] were only observed under high-RH conditions, whereas in zoysiagrass [Zoysia matrella (L.) Merrill.] symptoms were only observed under low RH. Minimal levels of symptom expression were observed in St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze], and no feeding symptoms were observed in seashore paspalum [Paspalum vaginatum Sw.] under low RH. Overall, the presence of twolined spittlebug A was influenced by high RH, whereas WUE was affected by low RH in most of the turfgrass genotypes.
Bicollar neighborhoods; an extension of the Loop theorem

Let M 2 be a connected polyhedral 2-manifold, in the interior of a triangulated 3-manifold M 3 = |K| with boundary. Suppose that M 2 separates every sufficiently small connected neighborhood of M 2 in M 3. (That is, there is a neighborhood V of M2 such that if W is a connected neighborhood of M 2, and W ⊂ V, then W ’ M 2 is not connected.) Then M 2 is two sided in M 3. More generally, if M 2 is not necessarily connected, then M 2 is two sided if every component of M 2 is two sided.
Predicting characteristics of rainfall driven estrogen runoff and transport from swine AFO spray fields

Animal feeding operations (AFOs) have been implicated as potentially major sources of estrogenic contaminants into the aquatic environment due to the relatively minimal treatment of waste and potential mobilization and transport of waste components from spray fields. In this study a Bayesian network (BN) model was developed to inform management decisions and better predict the transport and fate of natural steroidal estrogens from these sites. The developed BN model integrates processes of surface runoff and sediment loss with the modified universal soil loss equation (MUSLE) and the soil conservation service curve number (SCS-CN) runoff model. What-if scenario simulations of lagoon slurry wastes to the spray fields were conducted for the most abundant natural estrogen estrone (E1) observed in the system. It was found that E1 attenuated significantly after 2 months following waste slurry application in both spring and summer seasons, with the overall attenuation rate predicted to be higher in the summer compared to the spring. Using simulations of rainfall events in conjunction with waste slurry application rates, it was predicted that the magnitude of E1 runoff loss is significantly higher in the spring as compared to the summer months, primarily due to spray field crop management plans. Our what-if scenario analyses suggest that planting Bermuda grass in the spray fields is likely to reduce runoff losses of natural estrogens near the water bodies and ecosystems, as compared to planting of soybeans.
Crafting connections: maya linkages between Guatemala's Altiplano and El Norte

International migration constitutes one of the most significant phenomena impacting Gua- temala today. About a million and a half Guatemalans live and work in rural and urban cities and towns across the United States and Canada. Like many other migrant groups, most Guatemalans sustain strong transnational linkages between their homeland and el norte (the United States). In the Guatemalan example highlighted in this article, such bonds owe much to the long-standing Guatemalan-U.S. historical connections, to the countrys geographic priximity to the United States. Drawing on ethnographic material, this article examines the divergent kinds of transnational connections that Maya indigenous (Kiche´) migrants craft and keep alive between their home community and their two primary destination localities in the United States—Houston, Texas and Los Angeles, California. The article shows the different means of communication and technology, as well as the varying types of transnational organizing —particularly grass-roots efforts— that help shape current linkages between those who go and those who stay. Keyword: Transnational migration, social ties, Guatemalan Maya migration, communications, grass- roots organizing. Resumen. La migracion internacional constituye uno de los fenomenos mas significativos que afectan a Guatemala hoy en dia. Casi un millon y medio de guatemaltecos viven y trabajan en grandes ciuda- des o en comunidades rurales y pueblos de los Estados Unidos y Canada. Al igual que muchos otros grupos migrantes, lamayoria de los guatemaltecos mantienen fuertes lazos entre su pais natal y el norte (los Estados Unidos). Segun el ejemplo que se resalta en este articulo, dichos lazos se deben en gran medida: a las conexiones historicas que se han mantenido entre Guatemala y los Estados Unidos desde hace muchos anos, a la disponibilidad hoy en dia de medios de comunicacion y de transporte mas eficientes, y a la proximidad geografica del pais centroamericano con los Estados Unidos. Median- te la recopilacion de material etngrafico, este articulo examinara los tipos divergentes de conexiones transnacionales que los indigenas migrantes mayas (Kiche´) establecen y mantienen vivas entre su pais natal y los dos destinos principales ubicados en los Estados Unidos: Houston, Texas y Los Angeles, California. Este articulo muestra los diferentes medios de comunicacion y tecnologia. asi como los diversos tipos de organizaciones transnacionales, principalmente los esfuerzos por conservar sus rai- ces, que es lo que ayuda a conformar los lazos entre los que se van y los que se quedan. Palabras clave: Migracion transnacional, redes sociales, migracion de guatemaltecos maya, comunicaiones, organizacion a nivel local.
International Financial Management

Part One: Foundations of International Financial Management Chapter 1: Globalization and the Multinational Firm Chapter 2: International Monetary System Chapter 3: Balance of Payments Chapter 4: Corporate Governance Around the World Part Two: The Foreign Exchange Market, Exchange Rate Determination, and Currency Derivatives Chapter 5: The Market for Foreign Exchange Chapter 6: International Parity Relationships and Forecasting Foreign Exchange Rates Chapter 7: Futures and Options on Foreign Exchange Part Three: Foreign Exchange Exposure and Management Chapter 8: Management of Transaction Exposure Chapter 9: Management of Economic Exposure Chapter 10: Management of Translation Exposure Part Four: World Financial Markets and Institutions Chapter 11: International Banking and Money Market Chapter 12: International Bond Market Chapter 13: International Equity Markets Chapter 14: Interest Rate and Currency Swaps Chapter 15: International Portfolio Investment Part Five: Financial Management of the Multinational Firm Chapter 16: Foreign Direct Investment and Cross-Border Acquisitions Chapter 17: International Capital Structure and the Cost of Capital Chapter 18: International Capital Budgeting Chapter 19: Multinational Cash Management Chapter 20: International Trade Finance Chapter 21: International Tax Environment and Transfer Pricing
Message Routing On Irregular 2d-meshes And Tori

Wormhole message routing is supported by the communication hardware of several distributed memory machines. This particular method of message routing has numerous advantages but creates the problem of a routing deadlock. When long messages compete for the same channels in the network, some messages will be blocked until the the first message is fully consumed by the processor at the destination of the message. A deadlock occurs if a set of messages mutually blocks, and no message can progress towards its destination. Most deadlock free routing schemes previously known are designed to work on regular binary hypercubes. Regular hypercubes and meshes are just a special case of networks. However, these routing schemes do not provide enough flexibility to deal with irregular 2-D-tori and with attached auxiliary cells, which can be found on many newer parallel systems. To handle irregular topologies elegantly, a simple proof is necessary to verify the router code. The new proof given in this report is carried out directly on the network graph. It is constructive in the sense that it reveals the design options to deal with irregularities and shows how additional flexibility can be used to achieve better load balancing. Based on the modified routing model, a set of deadlock free router functions relevant to the iWarp system configurations are described and proven to be correct.
Active Learning Using Arbitrary Binary Valued Queries

The original and most widely studied PAC model for learning assumes a passive learner in the sense that the learner plays no role in obtaining information about the unknown concept. That is, the samples are simply drawn independently from some probability distribution. Some work has been done on studying more powerful oracles and how they affect learnability. To find bounds on the improvement in sample complexity that can be expected from using oracles, we consider active learning in the sense that the learner has complete control over the information received. Specifically, we allow the learner to ask arbitrary yes/no questions. We consider both active learning under a fixed distribution and distribution-free active learning. In the case of active learning, the underlying probability distribution is used only to measure distance between concepts. For learnability with respect to a fixed distribution, active learning does not enlarge the set of learnable concept classes, but can improve the sample complexity. For distribution-free learning, it is shown that a concept class is actively learnable iff it is finite, so that active learning is in fact less powerful than the usual passive learning model. We also consider a form of distribution-free learning in which the learner knows the distribution being used, so that “distribution-free” refers only to the requirement that a bound on the number of queries can be obtained uniformly over all distributions. Even with the side information of the distribution being used, a concept class is actively learnable iff it has finite VC dimension, so that active learning with the side information still does not enlarge the set of learnable concept classes.
Extractors for Weak Random Sources and Their Applications

An extractor is an algorithm which, on input a long string from a defective random source and a short truly random string, outputs a long almost-random string. In this talk, we survey extractors for weak random sources and their applications.
Solutions to Green-Ampt Infiltration Equation

The simple method of solving the Green-Ampt one-dimensional infiltration equations developed from Darcy's law are proposed for practical applications. The explicit solution is an approximation obtained by employing a power series expansion of the logarithmic term. The maximum error resulting from applying this simple explicit solution is 8%. The implicit exact solution is obtained by refining the explicit solution using the second-order Newton method. The maximum error resulting from employing the implicit solution is 0.003%. These new methods have advantages over other existing solutions in that they are derived from the theory of mathematics and the errors due to approximation can be evaluated theoretically. Moreover, the two methods are simple and easy to use either with a desk calculator or in a digital computer, and they are applicable without limitation on ranges.
Solution-Focused Supervision: Returning the Focus to Client Goals

Summary This article discusses the use of solution-focused supervision questions and their perceived effect on a class of counseling practicum students. Rating scales have been used as a tool to evaluate therapist development since the 1960s. In this case study, questions were asked of student therapists from the perspective of the client. Student reports find that the questions were beneficial in helping direct future sessions toward client goals.
The influence of repair tissue maturation on the response to oscillatory compression in a cartilage defect repair model

This study examined the effects of mechanical compression on engineered cartilage in a novel hybrid culture system. Cylindrical holes were cut in discs of bovine articular cartilage and filled with agarose gels containing chondrocytes. These con- structs were compressed in radiolabeled medium under static or oscillatory unconfined compression. Oscillatory compression at 1 Hz significantly stimulated synthesis above static control levels. Control experiments indicate that oscillatory compression does not stimulate freshly cast gels (without annuli), but does so after several weeks. This may be because physiologic fluid flow levels do not occur until sufficient extracellular matrix has accumulated. Finite element models predict minimal fluid flow in the gel core, and minimal differences in flow patterns between free and constrained gels. However, the models predict fluid pressures in constrained gels to be substantially higher than those in free gels. Our results suggest that pressure variations may influence synthesis of engineered cartilage matrices, with implications for construct development and post-implantation survival.
Hedgehog signaling is essential for normal wound healing

The hedgehog family of morphogens (sonic [Shh], Indian, and desert hedgehog) are central regulators of embryologic growth and tissue patterning. Although recent work implicates Shh in postnatal tissue repair and development, conclusive evidence is lacking. Here, we demonstrated the importance of Shh in wound repair, by examining the effects of cyclopamine, a specific inhibitor of the Shh signaling cascade, on tissue repair. Using a murine-splinted excisional wound model, which attenuates wound contraction in this loose-skinned rodent, we established that, by all measures (wound closure, epithelialization, granulation formation, vascularity, and proliferation), wound healing was profoundly impaired when Shh signaling was disrupted. Because embryonic disruption of Shh is associated with distinct phenotypic defects, our findings invite investigation of the potential role of Shh signaling under postnatal conditions associated with disregulated wound healing.
Scattered data interpolation and approximation using bivariate C 1 piecewise cubic polynomials

Abstract We show that if the scattered data over a polygonal domain can be quadrangulated, then the space of bivariate C 1 piecewise cubic polynomial functions on a triangulation obtained from the quadrangulation has the full approximation order. We point out that our method is more efficient than the Clough-Tocher scheme.