cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Membrane distillation for concentration of hypersaline brines from the Great Salt Lake: Effects of scaling and fouling on performance, efficiency, and salt rejection

Abstract Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally-driven separation process that utilizes a difference in vapor pressure across a porous, hydrophobic membrane as the driving force. MD may be applied to aqueous systems at concentrations up to and exceeding saturation of both sparingly soluble salts and soluble salts such as sodium chloride (NaCl), leading to potential application in high-recovery desalination processes that approach Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) operation, or as a concentration strategy for mineral recovery. Scaling and fouling is a significant risk for such processes, and knowledge of the effects of these phenomena on performance is essential to the evaluation of MD as a viable technology for these applications. The present study investigated the scaling and fouling behavior of a hypersaline brine collected from the North Arm of the Great Salt Lake (GSL), which was nearly saturated with respect to NaCl, and also contained high concentrations of dissolved minerals and organic carbon. Effects on water flux, thermal efficiency, and salt rejection were measured, and membranes used were analyzed before and after testing to evaluate potential causes of these effects. Scaling by NaCl crystallization on the membrane surface limited water recovery to approximately 10%, and also caused damage to the internal pore structure of the membrane when the temperature difference (ΔT) between the feed and distillate was higher than 20 °C. Analysis of the solution chemistry of the GSL water was effective in predicting the scaling tendency of NaCl, but inadequate in predicting the scaling tendency of other salts. Amorphous scaling structures on the membrane surfaces containing magnesium and oxygen were implied as the dominant factors contributing to performance decline at concentrations below NaCl saturation, and the result of fouling due to interactions between organic matter and magnesium. Operation at a maximum water recovery of 8% combined with intermittent reversal of the temperature gradient were effective strategies to prevent both scaling and fouling and maintain long-term performance.
Role of methylphenidate in the treatment of fatigue in advanced pancreatic cancer population.

Background Fatigue is a common but devastating symptom for advanced pancreatic cancer (APC) patients. To date, no proven treatment exists. Methylphenidate (MPH) showed inconsistent results in treating other cancer related fatigue. We performed a retrospective study to assess MPH in ameliorating fatigue in APC patients. Methods We retrospectively reviewed our clinic APC patients’ records who visited from 06/2011 - 11/2014. Fatigue was assessed by Visual Analog Fatigue Scale (VAFS) and classified as grade 1 (VAFS 1-3), grade 2 (VAFS 4-6) and grade 3 (VAFS 7-10) to correspond with CTCAE V4.0. MPH was dosed at 5 mg daily in the morning and was escalated to 10 mg after 2 weeks if needed. The primary endpoint was to assess the change of fatigue grade after 4 weeks of MPH. Secondary outcomes included MPH’s effect on depression, anorexia, maintenance chemotherapy intensity and adverse effects. Results A total of 71 APC patients on concomitant chemotherapy were included, of whom 67% received doublet, 13% triplet, and 20% single-agent chemotherapy. Mean baseline VAFS was 7, which dropped to 4 after 4 weeks of MPH, 55% patients’ fatigue score improved by 1 grade, 8% by 2 grades, 23% had fatigue resolved, 14% without benefit. 72% patients maintained chemotherapy intensity, 39% felt less depression and 52% had improved appetite. 13% stopped MPH due to side effects. Rare Grade 3 or 4 adverse events included insomnia, restlessness, palpitations and anorexia. Conclusions Our findings support low-dose MPH benefits APC patients with improved fatigue, depression and anorexia. A large randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm its usage and safety. Keywords Methylphenidate, fatigue, pancreatic cancer, chemotherapy, cachexia Ann Gastroenterol 2016; 29 (4): 536-543
Influence of Sulfhydryl Reagents and Heavy Metals on the Functional State of the Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor in Rat Brain

Membranes from rat brain contain several groups that react with sulfhydryl reagents to influence muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binding. p-Chloromercuribenzoate (PCMB) reacts with a group(s) within or under the allosteric control of the receptor binding site to inhibit both agonist and antagonist binding. Receptors can be protected from PCMB inactivation by the presence of receptor ligands (agonists or antagonists), and the inactivation can be reversed by subsequent treatment with organic sulfhydryls. Reductive alkylation of neural membranes with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) can prevent much of the inhibition of antagonist, but not agonist, binding by subsequent PCMB treatment, suggesting that it is the presence of a mercuribenzoate, but not an ethylmaleimide residue, within the binding site that is inimical to receptor binding. NEM treatment increases agonist binding by converting receptors from a state of low agonist affinity to high agonist affinity, whereas both states have the same high affinity for receptor antagonists. The presence of agonists but not antagonists during the NEM treatment enhances the ability of NEM to increase agonist affinity. Prior treatment with low concentrations of PCMB abolishes the ability of NEM subsequently to increase agonist binding, even when binding site-saturating concentrations of receptor ligands are included during the PCMB treatment to protect the binding site—a finding which suggests that NEM exerts its influence on agonist binding through interaction with a group contiguous to the receptor binding site. Transition metal ions, which appear to interact with all of the NEM- and PCMB-reactive moieties, increase agonist binding, decrease agonist binding, or decrease both agonist and antagonist binding, depending on the concentration of metal. Membranes from various areas of the brain contain receptors that differ in their distribution between the high- and low-agonist-affinity forms; in terms of the affinity of muscarinic receptors for agonists, brain stem>>telencephalon>hippocampus. Receptors from different brain areas also display different sensitivities to sulfhydryl reagents and heavy metals.
Tarsier talk : Tarsiers, hunters, and ecotourism in Corella, bohol

In 1997, the Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta) was declared a “specially protected faunal species of the Philippines” through Proclamation 1030 released by the President Ramos administration. The proclamation prohibits the hunting, killing, wounding, taking away, or possession of tarsiers and the destruction of its habitat. It also encouraged the establishment of sanctuaries “to preserve and protect the species” (Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc. 2005). The government response came about in the context of the growing recognition that human activities have contributed much to the endangerment and possible future extinction of the species. Conservationists remarked that even before
Impact of the Economic Downturn on Elective Cervical Spine Surgery in the United States: A National Trend Analysis, 2003-2013.

Objective To analyze overall trends of elective cervical spine surgery in the United States from 2003 to 2013 with the goal of determining whether the economic downturn had an impact. Methods Codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification were used to identify elective cervical spine surgery procedures in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2003 to 2013. National Health Expenditure, gross domestic product, and S&P 500 Index were used as measures of economic performance. The economic downturn was defined as 2008–2009. Confidence intervals were determined using subgroup analysis techniques. Linear regressions were completed to determine the association between surgery trends and economic conditions. Results From 2003 to 2013, posterior cervical fusions saw a 102.7% increase. During the same time frame, there was a 7.4% and 14.7% decrease in the number of anterior cervical diskectomy and fusions (ACDFs) and posterior decompressions, respectively. The trend of elective cervical spine surgeries per 100,000 persons in the U.S. population may have been affected by the economic downturn from 2008 to 2009 (−0.03% growth). The percentage of procedures paid for by private insurance decreased from 2003 to 2013 for all ACDFs, posterior cervical fusions, and posterior decompressions. The linear regression coefficients (β) and R 2 values between the number of surgeries and each of the macroeconomic factors analyzed were not statistically significant. Conclusions The overall elective cervical spine surgery trend was not likely impacted by the economic downturn. Posterior cervical fusions grew significantly from 2003 to 2013, whereas ACDFs and posterior decompressions decreased.
Optical phase retrieval using conical refraction in structured media

We propose a method of optical phase retrieval based on the conical refraction imaging in structured media. We show that a multilayered dielectric photonic crystal functioning as a conically refractive flat lens can be used to reconstruct phase information of complex optical signals. Our method enables a single simultaneous measurement of multiple images on the same image plane and allows a rapid stable recovery of the optical phase. The planar geometry of the proposed device is compatible with current nano-fabrication techniques and, therefore, can find broad applications in optical signal processing and imaging.
NILPOTENT SUBSETS OF HOPF MODULE ALGEBRAS

Let H be a Hopf algebra over the field k and let A be an H-module algebra. In this paper we consider when various nilpotent subsets of A are stable under the action of H. We first show an Engel-type theorem about triangularizing H-stable subalgebras of nilpotent matrices. We also prove that if A is finite-dimensional, H is involutory, and the field is of characteristic zero or characteristic p relatively prime to the dimension of A, then the Jacobson radical of A is H-stable. This fact was known earlier in several special cases; when H = kG,a group algebra, it is trivially true, and when H = (k [G]) * it was proved in [CM], answering a question of Bergman [B]. The general situation of H-stable radicals was considered by Fisher [F], with some partial results. It is false without some hypotheses, as we show with some examples.
Solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes with emission from a doublet exciton; using (2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl as emitter

Abstract Neutral-π radical based open shell molecules foster new potential in light emitting diodes because of their theoretical near-equity quantum efficiencies. In this study, we report organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on a novel open shell molecule (2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl (TTM) as the electroluminescent layer. The singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) level and optical bandgap of TTM was calculated using cyclic voltammetry and UV–visible absorption respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis showed a stable molecule capable of sublimation. Two decidedly different approaches, thermal evaporation and solution processing, were employed to deposit TTM:host blend thin films for OLED device fabrication. OLED devices fabricated via thermal evaporation and solution processing yielded external quantum efficiencies of 2.78% and 0.28% and luminances of 330 cdm -2 and 78 cdm -2 respectively. Further, the effect of doping ratios of the host materials on OLED device performance were investigated and optimal ratios were established. We report for the first time solution processed open shell organic molecules for light emitting diode applications. Our results elucidate the potential for low-cost and high efficiency optoelectronic devices.
An Institutional Approach to the Effect of Gender Diversity on Organizational Performance

What is the effect of an organization’s gender diversity on its performance? Although institutionalists have long argued that institutional norms and rules have important influences on investors an...
Micron scale energy harvesters using multiple piezoelectric polymer layers

Abstract This paper presents the design, fabrication, and experimental results of micron scale energy harvesters that utilize piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE). Proposed devices are free-standing thin film cantilevers with multiple PVDF-TrFE and electrode layers. During the design phase, optimal piezoelectric layer thickness for the chosen substrate was calculated as 7.4 μm. In order to alleviate the potential fabrication problems, a multilayer approach was adopted instead of coating a single layer. Device dimensions were selected to yield resonance frequencies below 1 kHz. Cantilever type piezoelectric energy harvesters with 3 parallel-connected PVDF-TrFE layers were created using standard microfabrication techniques. Energy harvesting performances of the fabricated devices were evaluated using an electrodynamic shaker and an accelerometer to create and observe input vibrations at different amplitudes and frequencies. Measurement results were compared with theoretical calculations and the effect of substrate clamping was discussed. The power output of a (1800 μm × 2000 μm) prototype was measured as 0.1 μW when driven with a peak input acceleration of 1.0 g at its resonance frequency of 192.5 Hz. Half power bandwidth of the same prototype was measured as 2.9 Hz. Proposed energy harvesters have relatively low resonance frequencies for their sizes and have the potential to be easily integrated with other microfabricated devices.
Protecting the Organization During Vulnerable Times

Most organizations need to secure their networks from both outside and within the business, as well as in the cloud, but during a divestiture, merger, or acquisition, this need for cybersecurity gets elevated. The organization is in a state of flux throughout the transaction period, with significant changes to the enterprise network and security configurations, user profiles, and business-critical applications that may be opening the door to cyber threats.
Female Veterans With Diagnoses of Both Chronic Pelvic Pain and Overactive Bladder; How Do They Compare to Women Diagnosed With Interstitial Cystitis?

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare women with a known diagnosis of interstitial cystitis (IC) to a population that might be at risk for the diagnosis of IC, women with diagnoses of both chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and overactive bladder (OAB). METHODS We conducted a retrospective study of data from the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse. The cohort included all female veterans who had established care with a primary care provider from 1997 to present. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes were used to identify women with a diagnosis of IC, CPP, and OAB. Demographic data and comorbidities were compared between groups. RESULTS A total of 596,815 women were identified. Two thousand three hundred one women (0.4%) were diagnosed with IC; 4459 women (0.7%) were diagnosed with CPP and OAB. At baseline, women with OAB and CPP were more likely to identify as minority (P < 0.001). Anxiety (57.3% vs 49.5%), depression (39.0% vs 46.0%), and posttraumatic stress disorder (29.7 vs 26.4%) were all more common in the CPP and OAB group than in the IC group. In the multivariable model, women with CPP and OAB were more likely to identify as a minority, use tobacco, and carry a diagnosis of anxiety. CONCLUSIONS There were more patients diagnosed with CPP and OAB compared with patients diagnosed with IC in this population of female veterans. Given the high rate of comorbid anxiety and depression in both groups, further study is warranted to determine whether these women are misdiagnosed.
Reanalysis of the 1954–63 Atlantic Hurricane Seasons

AbstractThe National Hurricane Center (NHC) “best track” hurricane database (HURDAT2) is the main historical archive of all tropical storms, subtropical storms, and hurricanes from 1851 to the present in the North Atlantic basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. The Atlantic Hurricane Reanalysis Project is an ongoing effort to maintain HURDAT2 and to provide the most accurate database possible based upon on all available data. The work reported here covers hurricane seasons from 1954 to 1963, during the early years of aircraft reconnaissance, but before satellite imagery became available routinely. All available original observations were analyzed from aircraft reconnaissance, ships, land stations, land-based radars, and satellite images. The track and intensity of each existing tropical cyclone have been reassessed, and previously unrecognized tropical cyclones have been discovered, analyzed, and recommended to the Best Track Change Committee for inclusion into HURDAT2. Changes were r...
CT20p as a therapeutic for lung cancer with elevated chaperonin containing TCP1 (CCT) expression levels.

e23163Background: We previously reported, in breast cancer, the effectiveness of a novel therapeutic peptide called CT20p that displays cancer-selective cytotoxicity. CT20p targets for inhibition a...
Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID)

Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) refers to a heterogeneous group of primary immune deficiency disorders (PIDD) presenting with recurrent sinopulmonary infections, hypogammagloblunemia, inadequate vaccination responses, and in a subset, co-existent autoimmune and inflammatory disease. The definition and diagnosis of CVID has evolved since its recognition in 1971 from one of exclusion to include the laboratory and clinical manifestations of hypogammaglobulinemia. In 1991, the European Society for Immunodeficiency and the Pan American Group for Immunodeficiency (ESID/PAGID) established formal diagnostic criteria as probable indicators of CVID: a decrease in serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) of at least two standard deviations below the mean for age, a decrease in one or both of the isotypes IgM and IgA, age of onset greater than 2 years, absent hemagglutinins or poor response to vaccines, and a lack of other causes for hypogammaglobulinemia. These diagnostic criteria remained in effect until 2014 when the ESID registry released slightly refined criteria that contains the following additions and alterations: minimum age of diagnosis of 4 years, at least one symptom related to the PIDD or evidence of family history of the disorder, and no evidence of profound T cell deficiency. As there is no universally accepted definition or diagnostic criteria, efforts are continuously being made to more clearly define exactly what constitutes CVID both clinically and biologically with the recognition that it likely represents several different genetic defects with phenotypic variation.
RT Wise Owls: A Recreational Therapy Website for Evidence-Based Practice Resources and Tools

The â€œRT Wise Owlsâ€ website (www.rtwiseowls.com), established in 2013 by the Therapeutic Recreation (TR) program at Temple University, was initiated to publicly share recreational therapy (RT) research/synthesis projects developed by students under faculty mentorship, with the goal of strengthening access to, and use of, Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) within RT practice. Since its inception, the site has grown exponentially to address the needs of the profession and is now one of the most frequently visited RT information sites. Within the past year, the site has received over 11,000 visits from 31 different countries and the number of hits per day has more than doubled over the past year.
Neonatal mortality in infants born weighing 501 to 1000 grams: The influence of changes in birth weight distribution and birth weight-specific mortality rates on neonatal survival

We analyzed changes over time in neonatal mortality rates for infants born weighing 501 to 1000 gm. The decline in total mortality in this weight group due to improved small-group, birth weight-specific mortality was contrasted to the increase in mortality caused by changes in the birth weight distribution resulting from the care of smaller infants. Had the birth weight distribution remained unchanged, the total improvement in neonatal mortality for the entire 501 to 1000 gm group would have been substantially greater.
Enhancing chemoradiation of colorectal cancer through targeted delivery of raltitrexed by hyaluronic acid coated nanoparticles.

Combined modality therapy incorporating raltitrexed (RTX), a thymidylate synthase inhibitor, and radiation can lead to improved outcome for rectal cancer patients. To increase delivery and treatment efficacy, we formulated a hyaluronic acid (HA) coated nanoparticle encapsulating RTX (HARPs) through layer-by-layer assembly. These particles were determined to have a diameter of ∼115 nm, with a polydispersity index of 0.112 and a zeta potential of −22 mV. Cell uptake in CT26 cells determined through flow cytometry showed a ∼5-fold increase between untargeted and HA-coated particles. Through viability and DNA damage assays, we assessed the potency of the free RTX and HARPs, and found increased DNA damage in cells treated with the RTX-loaded nanoparticles administered concurrently with radiation. In vivo efficacy through tumor growth inhibition was investigated in a syngeneic murine colorectal cancer model. Nanoparticle treatment showed no acute toxicity in vivo, and all treatments showed survival benefits for their respective groups compared to controls. HARPs alone slowed tumor growth, although not significantly. Radiation alone and in combination with the HARPs showed significant growth delay. Notably, the combination treatment significantly hindered tumor progression relative to the HARPs highlighting the benefit of this multipronged treatment. These results provide a foundation for loading RTX in a nanoparticle formulation, and establish a combined radiation and drug dosing schedule to determine optimal tumor growth delay and subsequent treatment efficacy.
Software Data Planes: You Can't Always Spin to Win

Today's datacenters demand high-performance, energy-efficient software data planes, which are widely used in many areas including fast network packet processing, network function virtualization, high-speed data transfer in storage systems, and I/O virtualization. Modern software data planes bypass OS I/O stacks and rely on cores spinning on user-level queues as a fast notification mechanism. Whereas spin-polling can improve latency and throughput, it entails significant shortcomings, especially when scaling to large numbers of cores/queues. In this paper, we pinpoint and quantify challenges of spin-polling--based software data planes using Intel's Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) as a representative infrastructure. We characterize four scalability issues of software data planes: (1) Full-tilt spinning cores perform more (useless) polling work when there is less work pending in the queues; (2) Spin-polling scales poorly with the number of polled queues due to processor cache capacity constraints, especially when traffic is unbalanced; (3) Operation rate limits (transactions per second) as well as a Polling Tax (the overhead of polling, which is considerable even when operating at saturation throughput) result in poor core scalability. (4) Whereas shared queues can mitigate load imbalance and head-of-line-blocking, synchronization overheads limit their potential benefits. We identify root causes of these issues and discuss solution directions to improve hardware and software abstractions for better performance, efficiency, and scalability in software data planes.
Learning the Plural from Variable Input: An Eye-tracking Study of Chilean Children’s Plural Comprehension

Natural languages frequently display both consistent and variable morphological patterns. Previous studies have indicated that variable morphological patterns are mastered more slowly than consistent ones. In particular, it has been argued that Chilean children, who are exposed to variable plural-marking, take longer to consistently associate the plural marker to a more-than-one interpretation than children who are exposed to non-variable plural-marking (e.g. children from Mexico City). Building on this previous work, the present study assesses Chilean children’s ability to associate the plural marker to a more-than-one interpretation in both an act-out task and an eye-tracking task, in order to compare performance across different contexts and between offline and real-time comprehension, and to enrich our understanding of the acquisition of variable morphology.
A Review: Neural-Inspired Photonic Functional Systems for Dynamic RF Signal Processing

Drawing inspiration from our nature, photonic systems that use light to imitate neural algorithms and behaviors of nature could be effective to solve complex problems in human's civilized society that have been challenging for conventional electronic to tackle. Since neural algorithms are natural designs that have undergone hundreds of million years of evolution and govern the survival of the organism, therefore, those neural algorithms are highly effective for the designated tasks. The goal of this article is to review the recent demonstrations of the photonic implementations of small scale functional neural algorithms for dynamic RF signal processing applications. In this article, two small-scale neural algorithms are reviewed – (i) spike timing dependent plasticity, an algorithm that governs how neural network are connecting together and how learning/adaptation can be achieved in animals, and (ii) jamming avoidance response in Eigenmannia, an algorithm in a gene of electric fish that mitigates frequency jamming between neighboring electric fish. The photonic circuits that are inspired by the two neural algorithms are also presented and the real-life applications of the neural algorithms in human society will be discussed.
On the performance of Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) for imbalanced dataset

Abstract The Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC) is one of the popular measurements for classification accuracy. It has been generally regarded as a balanced measure which can be used even if the classes are of very different sizes. The study of this paper finds that this is not true. MCC deteriorates seriously when the dataset in classification are imbalanced. Experiment results and analysis show that MCC is not suitable for classification accuracy measurement on imbalanced datasets.
Prolonged Hospitalization Following Acute Respiratory Failure.

Background A better understanding of the clinical features associated with prolonged hospitalization in acute respiratory failure may allow for better-informed care planning. Research Question What are the incidence, mortality, cost, and clinical determinants of prolonged hospitalization among patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF)? Study Design and Methods Using the National Inpatient Sample data from 2004 to 2014, we identified adults 18 years and older with International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition (ICD-9) codes for ARF requiring mechanical ventilation for at least 2 days (ICD-9 518.81 or 518.82, 96.7 or 96.04, and 96.05). Outcomes studied included incidence, in-hospital mortality, cost of hospitalization, and associated patient-level and hospital-level characteristics. Trends were assessed by logistic regression, linear regression, and general linear modeling with Poisson distribution. Results Of the 5,539,567 patients with ARF, 77,665 (1.4%) had a prolonged length of stay (pLOS), defined as ≥ 60 days. Among those with pLOS, 52,776 (68%) survived to discharge. Over the study period, the incidence of pLOS decreased by 48%, in-patient mortality decreased by 18%, per-patient cost of care rose, but the percentage of the total cost of ARF care consumed by patients with pLOS did not significantly decrease (P = .06). Prolonged LOS was more likely to occur in urban teaching hospitals (OR, 6.8; 95% CI, 4.6-10.2; P Interpretation From 2004 to 2014, incidence and mortality decreased among patients with ARF and pLOS, and although per-patient costs rose, the percentage of total cost of care remained stable. There is substantial variation in length of stay for patients with ARF by US region, hospital teaching status, and patient insurance coverage.
TEATRO-EDUCAÇÃO: Uma proposta de consolidação de um núcleo de teatro estudantil no IFC – Campus Concórdia

O teatro apresenta-se como instrumento de aprendizagem, colaborando para ahumanizacao do individuo, promovendo a reflexao sobre sentimentos e acoes vividaspelos alunos-atores, favorecendo o senso de cidadania e uma visao de mundoamplificada. Este projeto, portanto, tem por objetivo estruturar um nucleo de teatroestudantil a partir da abordagem de teatro-educacao, possibilitando espacoapropriado para o desenvolvimento social, emocional, cognitivo e motor dosestudantes. Como resultado, alem da primeira peca produzida pelo grupo, realizadausando a tecnica do teatro de sombras, este projeto contribuiu para consolidar umprocesso de criacao coletivo e colaborativo, proporcionando uma formacao integralaos estudantes.
Fabrication of Ionic Covalent Triazine Framework-Linked Membranes via a Facile Sol–Gel Approach

Covalent triazine framework (CTF)-based membranes have shown unique properties and wide applications in energy-related fields, but there is still no efficient strategy capable of affording CTF memb...
The encyclopedia of agroecology and Indigenous wisdom: Reflections on McFadden’s Deep Agroecology

First paragraph: Presenting an array of facts and an encyclopedia of ideas, Deep Agroecology: Food, Farms, and Our Future, by journalist Steven McFadden, urges the reader to activate their ‘spiritual understanding’ of agriculture in order to elevate all life on Earth. The author calls for nothing short of a spiritual awakening of all human beings to prevent further deterioration of the planet. As our climate falls into chaos, oceans warm, deserts grow, and the ice poles melt, McFadden argues, infusing and sustaining greater spirituality in farming practices is essential for the food system and farmers, for our culture, and for the health of the planet. McFadden’s goal with this book is not just to explore agroecology but to advocate for an additional “realm of critical mystery” (p. xiii) in our conception of farming. . . .
Revise and resubmit: Beauty and the Beast (2017), live-action remakes, and the Disney Princess franchise

When Beauty and the Beast premiered in 1991, its self-assured protagonist was a deliberate departure from the earlier Disney princess narratives. With time, however, the film has been lumped in wit...
Endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder stenting to prevent acute cholecystitis in patients receiving fully covered self-expandable metal stents for benign biliary stricture

Background and study aims Fully covered self-expanding metal stents (FCSEMS) are being increasingly used for benign biliary strictures (BBS); however, they are associated with risk of acute cholecystitis. Prophylactic endoscopic transpapillary gallbladder stenting (ETPGBS) can facilitate continuous gallbladder drainage and prevent acute cholecystitis from occlusion of cystic duct orifice by the FCSEMS. The aim of this study was to assess the technical feasibility, efficacy, and safety of ETPGBS to prevent acute cholecystitis in patients receiving FCSEMS for BBS. Patients and methods This was a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database at a single center of all patients who underwent prophylactic ETPGBS with FCSEMS for BBS between December 1, 2016 and November 30, 2020. Results A total of 71 ETPGBS were placed during the study period. Sixteen patients (mean age: 66.4 ± 19.8 years; 81 % male) underwent ETPGBS prior to biliary FCSEMS during the same endoscopic session. FCSEMS were left in place (stent dwell time) for a median of 173 days (range: 69–473; mean 196 ± 121) with resolution of BBS and successful removal of ETPGBS and FCSEMS in 12 patients. There was significant improvement in total bilirubin level (5.25 ± 5.53 vs 0.94 ± 0.85 gm/dL; P = 0.008). No episodes of acute cholecystitis or any other post-procedural complications were noted during the median follow-up of 337 days (range: 150–856; mean 394 ± 236). Conclusions ETPGBS prevented stent-related acute cholecystitis with continued efficacy of FCSEMS for BBS.
Patient Experiences with Telemedicine for HIV Care during the first COVID-19 Wave in Atlanta, Georgia.

We explored experiences with telemedicine among persons with HIV (PWH) during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A convenience sample of adults (>18 years) receivin...
Evaluation and Enhancement of Robustness for Reinforced Concrete Buildings

AbstractSince the events of September 11, 2001, the engineering community has devoted increased attention to evaluating the vulnerability of multistory buildings to disproportionate collapse, inclu...
The BPD Problem

In Reply.— The above letter by Merritt et al gives us the opportunity to emphasize the goals of our report. Our model was not meant to be applied to individual neonates for prognostic reasons but only to select the most appropriate neonates for enrollment in clinical trials testing therapy for the prevention or treatment of "BPD." In this way, neonates with a low risk for BPD would be ineligible, enriching the frequency of BPD in the study population.
VDisaster recovery with the help of real time video streaming using MANET support

The calamities occurs unfortunately in the neighbourhood, which deteriorates the communication infrastructure completely. To recover completely from this disaster the wireless communication infrastructure should be replaced immediately, so that it can be in mobility everywhere and at the same time be connected to the headquarters base station as well. In this paper we try to implement the Mobile Ad Hoc communications (MANET) as the primary mode of communication between the nodes, which forms the rescue team. An Ad-Hoc communications infrastructure, with support for multimedia traffic such as voice over IP and videostreaming, must be quickly replaced to support the command, control and communication needs of the rescue and recovery operations. Moreover the realtime video communication possibility is analyzed along with the conventional voice communication systems. In this paper we examine the combination of the Wi-Fi, Wi-Max and the MANET to efficiently transmit the data across the wide area networks to meet the necessity of the disaster recovery operations.
Embracing Diversity: The Institutionalization of Affirmative Action as Diversity Management at UC‐Berkeley, UT‐Austin, and UW‐Madison

While affirmative action in universities is the subject of extensive empirical scholarship, little research has been conducted on the role of university officials in crafting, defending, and transforming race-based affirmative admissions. Through forty-five in-depth interviews with thirty-nine admissions officials and top administrators at three selective public universities between 1999 and 2004, this study uncovers how a near-consensus in favor of race-based affirmative action has emerged among these players. Whereas scholars, citizens, and activists debate the morality and legality of race-based affirmative action as an equal opportunity policy, admissions decision makers have come to view race-based affirmative action in addition as a central, diversity management technique. This article claims that interest group capture theory and judicial implementation theory are insufficient to explain the diversity consensus. I suggest that neoinstitutional organizational theory has great potential to describe and situate the thought processes leading these key actors to forge this policy transformation.
Solvent perturbation studies of heme proteins and other colored proteins. II. On the environment and location of the tryptophyl residues in hemoglobin.

Abstract The location and environment of the tryptophyl residues in hemoglobin have been investigated by the solvent perturbation technique of difference spectroscopy. The perturbation parameters obtained on horse hemoglobin, by use of six perturbants, suggest a substantial degree of burial of the six tryptophyl residues in the native protein. While it was not possible to analyze the solution data in terms of exposed, partly buried, and buried groups, comparison of the hemoglobin data with the literature data of ribonuclease and lysozyme, suggests that the sum of fractional exposures and perturbations due to six partly buried groups or perhaps four partly buried and two buried or largely buried chromophores would be most consistent with the observed hemoglobin perturbations. The perturbation parameters obtained on five additional mammalian hemoglobins with 20% ethylene glycol as perturbant suggest that the tryptophyl residues in the mammalian hemoglobins in solution are probably located in very similar environments.
Optical design for extremely large telescope adaptive optics systems

Designing an adaptive optics (AO) system for extremely large telescopes (ELT's) will present new optical engineering challenges. Several of these challenges are addressed in this work, including first-order design of multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) systems, pyramid wavefront sensors (PWFS's), and laser guide star (LGS) spot elongation. MCAO systems need to be designed in consideration of various constraints, including deformable mirror size and correction height. The y,{bar y} method of first-order optical design is a graphical technique that uses a plot with marginal and chief ray heights as coordinates; the optical system is represented as a segmented line. This method is shown to be a powerful tool in designing MCAO systems. From these analyses, important conclusions about configurations are derived. PWFS's, which offer an alternative to Shack-Hartmann (SH) wavefront sensors (WFS's), are envisioned as the workhorse of layer-oriented adaptive optics. Current approaches use a 4-faceted glass pyramid to create a WFS analogous to a quad-cell SH WFS. PWFS's and SH WFS's are compared and some newly-considered similarities and PWFS advantages are presented. Techniques to extend PWFS's are offered: First, PWFS's can be extended to more pixels in the image by tiling pyramids contiguously. Second, pyramids, which are difficult to manufacture, canmore » be replaced by less expensive lenslet arrays. An approach is outlined to convert existing SH WFS's to PWFS's for easy evaluation of PWFS's. Also, a demonstration of PWFS's in sensing varying amounts of an aberration is presented. For ELT's, the finite altitude and finite thickness of LGS's means that the LGS will appear elongated from the viewpoint of subapertures not directly under the telescope. Two techniques for dealing with LGS spot elongation in SH WFS's are presented. One method assumes that the laser will be pulsed and uses a segmented micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) to track the LGS light subaperture by subaperture as the light is returned from the upward-propagating laser pulse. A second method can be used if the laser is not pulsed. A lenslet array is described which creates ''pixels'' which are aligned with the axes of the elongated spot of each subaperture, without requiring special charge-coupled devices (CCD's).« less
Ni–M (M = Sn and Sb) intermetallic-based catalytic functional layer as a built-in safeguard for hydrocarbon-fueled solid oxide fuel cells

One critical hindrance to solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with a Ni-based anode fueled with hydrocarbons is the coking (carbon deposition) phenomenon; on anodes exposed directly to hydrocarbon fuels, solid carbonaceous materials accumulate during SOFC operation, resulting in severe degradation of the catalytic activity of Ni and structural damage to the anode. This may be overcome by Ni–M (M = Sn, Sb) intermetallic compound-based catalytic functional layers (CFLs) on the anode surface. Sn or Sb incorporated onto Ni surface develops into intermetallic compounds under reducing atmosphere, thereby interrupting the interaction between Ni and the solid carbon produced by hydrocarbon cracking beforehand. Moreover, the hydrophilic properties of Sn or Sb facilitate the formation of hydroxyl groups on their surfaces by reaction with the water vapor generated by the electrochemical oxidation of fuel, and the solid carbon accumulated onto the intermetallic surface is oxidized by the hydroxyls and removed from the anode. With these roles of Sn or Sb in M/Ni–Ce0.8Gd0.2O1.9 CFLs, we show here that the operational stability of SOFCs can be maintained more than 200 h in methane fuel at intermediate temperatures.
Managers and Investor Sentiment

We examine the relation between managerial trading and market sentiment. We investigate whether managers' trades are associated with changes in market sentiment, and we find they are negatively related. We then explore cross-sectional differences in managerial trading and find trading against sentiment is strongest in firms that are difficult-to-value, such as small firms and loss firms. Our results are robust to controlling for other determinants of insider trading, including insiders' tendency to be contrarian investors, wealth diversification concerns, tax-motivated selling, and CEO overconfidence.
Magnetic resonance imaging follow up of total cavopulmonary connection

A 4 year old boy with double inlet left ventricle, tricuspid atresia, and malposition of the great arteries had initially undergone banding of the pulmonary artery. At the age of 5 months a bidirectional Glenn anastomosis was placed. Finally, definite …
Effect of High-Dose Cysteine Supplementation on Erythrocyte Glutathione A Double-Blinded, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study in Critically Ill Neonates

Background: This study’s objective was to determine if parenteral cysteine when compared with isonitrogenous noncysteine supplementation increases erythrocyte reduced glutathione (GSH) in neonates at high risk for inflammatory injury. Material and Methods: Neonates with a score for neonatal acute physiology >10 requiring mechanical ventilation and parenteral nutrition (PN) were randomized in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled study to receive parenteral cysteine-HCl (CYS group) or additional PN amino acids (ISO group) at 121 mg/kg/d for ≥7 days. A 6-hour [13C2] glycine IV infusion was administered at study week 1 to determine the fractional synthetic rate of GSH (FSR-GSH). Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between the CYS (n = 17) and ISO groups (n = 21). Erythrocyte GSH and total glutathione concentrations, GSH:oxidized GSH (GSSG), and FSR-GSH after treatment were not different between groups. However, the CYS group had a larger individual positive change in GSH and total glutathione (infu...
Ductility exhaustion mechanisms in thermally exposed thin sheets of a near-β titanium alloy

This study examines the effects of thermal exposure in air environment on the plastic elongation of thin sheets of Ti-15Mo-2.7Nb-3Al-0.2Si (Timetal-21S) alloy. Specimens with thicknesses of 0.12, 0.39, and 1.0 mm were exposed in air environment to temperatures ranging from 482 °C to 693 °C. Tensile tests conducted on these specimens at room temperature show a reduction of plastic elongation proportional to the thermal exposure parameters, time and temperature. Furthermore, a change in the failure mode into a quasi-brittle fracture was observed in the near-surface region. The depth of this region depends on both exposure time and temperature. The kinetics of embrittlement is studied through theoretical considerations of gas diffusion into metal. This approach shows that two distinct embrittlement mechanisms operate in this alloy. The characteristics of each of these mechanisms depend on the corresponding temperature range. At temperatures higher than 545 °C, the embrittlement activation energy is 41.2 kcal·mol−1, indicating that the embrittlement process is governed by an enhanced diffusion of oxygen into Timetal-21S. Below this transitional temperature, the embrittlement activation energy approaches zero, a characteristic of slow kinetics transformation. The effects of solid-solution hardening, precipitation-hardening mechanisms, and alloying-element partitioning on ductility exhaustion processes are analyzed and discussed.
Y modification of the transconjunctival approach for management of zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures: a technical note.

s d l b o b b u a n There are multiple approaches described to access the zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) and orbital floor: lateral eyebrow, upper blepharoplasty, coronal, subciliary, subtarsal, infraorbital, transconjunctival, and transoral. All these approaches have their advantages, disadvantages, and indications according to location of fracture, degree of displacement, and surgeon’s experience with a specific technique. Bourquet first described the transconjunctival aproach in the French literature in 1924. In the early 970s Tenzel and Miller described this approach for management of orbital floor fractures, but Tessier and Converse et al popularized this technique a few ears later for management of congenital malformaions and orbital trauma. The purpose of this article is to describe the Y odification of the cutaneous portion of the transconunctival approach with lateral canthotomy and infeior cantholysis to gain exposure of the frontozygoatic area and the body of the zygoma.
A structural comparison of the subunits of the Dolichos biflorus Seed lectin by peptide mapping and carboxyl terminal amino acid analysis

Abstract The Dolichos biflorus seed lectin is a 110,000 Mr tetrameric glycoprotein composed of equal amounts of two structurally similar subunits, I and II. Cleavage of the lectin with Staphylococcus aureus V-8 protease followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea poly-acrylamide gel electrophoresis produces a peptide map consisting of at least six peptide bands. A comparison of the peptide maps from isolated Subunits I and II shows that all the peptides are common to both subunits with the exception of one. This unique peptide has been isolated and appears to be derived from the carboxyl terminus of the subunit since cyanogen bromide treatment generates a fragment with the same electrophoretic mobility as the carboxyl-terminal cyanogen bromide fragment of the lectin. Carboxypeptidase Y treatment of Subunit I resulted in the rapid release of leucine, followed by serine and valine. Similar treatment of Subunit II resulted in the initial release of aspartate, followed by leucine and proline. These data support earlier work which indicated that the two subunits differ in structure at their carboxyl terminal ends. The significance of this finding in regard to the relationship between the structure and function of the lectin is discussed.