cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What does the clinical doctorate in physical therapy mean for rural communities

Background and Purpose. The transition to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) as the entry-level degree for physical therapists in the United States is nearly complete. Little is known about how the transition has affected the characteristics of the physical therapy workforce or the provision of physical therapy services. Effects may be particularly acute in rural communities with persistent health-care provider shortages. The study objectives were to explore the early impact of the DPT on the supply and quality of physical therapy care in rural areas and to identify issues for future research. Methods. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews. The interview subjects were education programme directors, directors of physical therapy at rural hospitals and presidents of state physical therapy associations. Results. The respondents provided little evidence that the DPT has had a significant impact on the supply or quality of physical therapy in rural areas thus far. There are problems with the supply of physical therapists in rural communities, but few respondents attributed this directly to the DPT. Few respondents believed the DPT has improved the quality of physical therapy care in rural settings, noting that experience was the main factor that contributed to quality of care. However, several respondents believed the DPT may impact the supply and quality of rural physical therapy in the future; about half were concerned about the potential for negative effects on the supply of physical therapists in rural areas. Conclusions. In general, the respondents did not indicate that the DPT has had large effects on rural health care. However, future research should consider the negative and positive effects that may occur as DPT therapists make up a larger share of the workforce. Further, there are several areas where increased collaboration could be mutually beneficial to physical therapy educators, practitioners and rural communities. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Assimilation and Changing Social Roles of Chinese Americans.

This article is concerned with the effects of social change on the role relationships and adjustment of Chinese Americans. The influences of cultural and social assimilation have undermined the commitment of Chinese youths to traditional cultural norms, and social disequilibrium can be seen within the family as well as outside the home. The changing sex role of females has affected their relationships with their parents and the opposite sex. Chinese vary in the extent to which they have become progressively removed from their parental culture, and the social distances between Chinese with different life styles have segregated them into a variety of disparate groups. Some of the changes in the psychological and social characteristics of the Chinese are examined from empirical studies.
Moving to the Beat: From Zumba to Hip-Hop Hoedown.

The importance of regular moderately intense exercise for overall wellness has been well documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Reductions in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis, and increased brain function can be achieved by being active throughout life. Quality physical education, as part of a K-12 comprehensive curriculum, can achieve important objectives and outcomes in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. Dance is an activity that can contribute toward meeting these learning goals. This article highlights a more traditional aerobic dance activity, Zumba, as well as two ideas for making traditional dance more contemporary for today's youth.
A COMPARISON OF SIMULTANEOUS POLYGRAPH AND MICROGRAPH TRACINGS.

From a study of the accompanying tracings we may conclude that: 1. The delicate mechanism of the micrograph registers the movements in the heart and blood-vessels more accurately than does the polygraph. 2. The inertia of the polygraph lever and diaphragm distorts the tracing. The difference between the results obtained with the two instruments is shown by the records made simultaneously with the micrograph and the polygraph. 3. The micrograph is particularly useful for recording heart sounds. Some records illustrating this are shown. We are directing especial attention to this and will report the results in a subsequent paper. 4. While the micrograph will not supersede the polygraph or electrocardiograph, we feel that it has distinct possibilities as a clinical instrument.
Dry Powder PA-824 Aerosols for Treatment of Tuberculosis in Guinea Pigs

Novel treatments for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), or latent TB are needed urgently. Recently, we reported the formulation and characterization of the nitroimidazo-oxazine PA-824 for efficient aerosol delivery as dry powder porous particles and the subsequent disposition in guinea pigs after pulmonary administration. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of these PA-824 therapeutic aerosols on the extent of TB infection in the low-inoculum aerosol infection guinea pig model. Four weeks after infection by the pulmonary route, animals received daily treatment for 4 weeks of either a high or a low dose of PA-824 dry powder aerosol. Animals received PA-824 cyclodextrin/lecithin suspensions orally as positive controls, and those receiving placebo particles or no treatment were negative controls. The lungs and spleens of animals receiving the high dose of inhaled PA-824 particles exhibited a lower degree of inflammation (indicated by wet tissue weights), bacterial burden, and tissue damage (indicated by histopathology) than those of untreated or placebo animals. Treatment with oral PA-824 cyclodextrin/lecithin suspension resulted in a more significant reduction in the bacterial burden of lungs and spleen, consistent with a dose that was larger than inhaled doses (eight times the inhaled low dose and four times the inhaled high dose). However, histopathological analysis revealed that the extent of tissue damage was comparable in groups receiving the oral or either inhaled dose. The present studies indicate the potential use of PA-824 dry powder aerosols in the treatment of TB.
Comparison of the action of Escherichia coli enterotoxin on the thymocyte adenylate cyclase-cyclic adenosine monophosphate system to that of cholera toxin and prostaglandin E1.

Mousethymocytes were usedto compare mechanisms bywhichVibrio cholerae andheat-labile Escherichia coli enterotoxins activate theadenylate cyclase-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP)system. Bothenterotoxins had their time-delayed increase incyclic AMP neutralized byantisera toV.cholerae or E.colienterotoxin, blocked bylowconcentrations ofganglioside GMI,and destroyed byprior heating. Enterotoxin activation ofadenylate cyclase was similarly affected. Bycontrast, prostaglandin E,-mediated increases incyclic AMP were notaffected byspecific antitoxins organgliosides. Combination of maximalstimulatory dosesofbothenterotoxins didnotproduce additive increases incyclic AMP.Washexperiments suggested thatbothenterotoxins bindrapidly andtightly tothymocytes at37C.However, lowering theincubation temperature to8C reduced theaffinity ofE.colienterotoxin butnotcholera toxin forthymocytes. Results suggest thatheat-labile E.colienterotoxin and cholera enterotoxin may activate thesame adenylate cyclase enzyme bysimilar mechanisms. Enterotoxins produced bypathogenic strains ofEscherichia coli arenowrecognized asa probable cause ofacute diarrhea ininfants (11), adults (25), andanimals (15). Theseenterotox
Pliocene subaqueous fans and Gilbert‐type deltas in maar crater lakes, Hopi Buttes, Navajo Nation (Arizona), USA

Maar craters of the Mio-Pliocene Hopi Buttes volcanic field of Arizona formed within a broad playa system, and accumulated a variety of lacustrine sedimentary deposits. Many craters initially held isolated, groundwater-fed lakes. Ephemeral streams crossing the playa entered some of the lake-filled craters, and built coarse grained Gilbert-type deltas and subaqueous fans along the margins of these craters. The small, coarse grained fans and deltas have many features in common with much larger coarse grained deltaic and fan deltaic deposits. However, the local production of coarse grained volcanic sediment, low gradients in the local stream catchment, steep subaqueous relief and the small size of the receiving ‘basins’resulted in a unique combination of features. Cone-shaped subaqueous fans initially formed at the mouths of incised feeder streams. The fans are small accumulations of steeply dipping gravelly tephra that consist almost entirely of overlapping lobes constructed by density-modified grain flows. Gravelly Gilbert-type tephra deltas formed in brimfull craters fed by a freely migrating feeder stream. They are concave lakeward, mimicking the underlying crater wall topography. Complex deltaic geometries are defined by topset strata that steeply onlap tall foreset beds. They suggest that feeding stream floods caused rapid and comparatively large variations in lake level within the small crater lakes. Bed-specific carbonate alteration is common, and probably resulted from both influx of detrital carbonate across the playa and alteration of tephra beds by carbonate-saturated lakewaters during between flood periods of high net evaporation.
A Distributed Procedure for Carrier Sensing Threshold Adaptation in CSMA-Based Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

This paper discusses the problem of determining the carrier sense threshold (CSth) of nodes in a CSMA-based Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) and proposes a practical, fully distributed, CSth adaptation procedure. The procedure enables a node to select its CSth in order to improve the data throughput of the system by maximizing the number of successful transmissions in its neighborhood. Simulation results show that the procedure is able to improve the data throughput in more than 85% of random topologies. The average throughput improvement over all topologies were 11% and 18% in two different scenarios, with some topologies showing up to 75% data throughput gains.
Determining the detectability range of camouflaged targets.

This paper describes a quick economical method for determining the maximum range at which camouflaged targets can be detected. The method produces results which agree within 10% of those obtained by conventional psychophysical methods.
Surface functionalities of gold nanoparticles impact embryonic gene expression responses

Incorporation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) into consumer products is increasing; however, there is a gap in available toxicological data to determine the safety of AuNPs. In this study, we utilised the embryonic zebrafish to investigate how surface functionalisation and charge influence molecular responses. Precisely engineered AuNPs with 1.5 nm cores were synthesised and functionalized with three ligands: 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid (MES), N,N,N-trimethylammoniumethanethiol (TMAT), or 2-(2-(2-mercaptoethoxy)ethoxy)ethanol. Developmental assessments revealed differential biological responses when embryos were exposed to the functionalised AuNPs at the same concentration. Using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry, AuNP uptake was confirmed in exposed embryos. Following exposure to MES- and TMAT-AuNPs from 6 to 24 or 6 to 48 h post fertilisation, pathways involved in inflammation and immune response were perturbed. Additionally, transport mechanisms were misregulated after exposure to TMAT and MES-AuNPs, demonstrating that surface functionalisation influences many molecular pathways.
Catecholamine Release Mediates Pressor Effects of Adrenomedullin-(15-22) in the Rat

Human adrenomedullin, a novel hypotensive peptide, contains a six-member ring structure similar to that found in calcitonin gene–related peptide and pancreatic amylin. Unlike the full-sequence peptide, human adrenomedullin-(15-22) [hADM-(15-22)], which contains the ring structure, increases systemic arterial pressure in the rat but not the cat. We undertook the present study to investigate the mechanism by which hADM-(15-22) increases systemic arterial pressure in the rat. Injection of hADM-(15-22) in doses of 10 to 300 nmol/kg IV increased systemic arterial pressure in a dose-dependent manner and was threefold less potent than norepinephrine when doses were compared on a nanomole basis. However, the ring structures of human calcitonin gene–related peptide and human amylin, human calcitonin gene–related peptide-(1-8) and human amylin-(1-8), respectively, had no significant effect on systemic arterial pressure in the rat. Pressor responses to hADM-(15-22) were reduced significantly after administration of phentolamine or reserpine. Responses to hADM-(15-22) were not altered by the angiotensin type 1 blocking agent DuP 753 or the endothelin-A/endothelin-B receptor blocking agent bosentan, and responses to hADM-(15-22) and the nicotinic agonist 1,1-dimethyl-4-phenylpiperazinium (DMPP) were reduced after bilateral adrenalectomy. Pressor responses to DMPP were reduced by hexamethonium, whereas the nicotinic blocking agent had no effect on the pressor response to hADM-(15-22). These data suggest that increases in systemic arterial pressure in response to hADM-(15-22) in the rat are mediated by the activation of α-adrenergic receptors by catecholamines released from the adrenal medulla. The present data suggest that hADM-(15-22) releases catecholamines from the adrenal medulla by a noncholinergic mechanism.
Attaining Status at the Expense of Likeability: Pilfering Power Through Conversational Interruption

Do status expectations affect how we interpret interruption in conversation? Two experiments examined how interrupters and their targets are perceived in same- and mixed-gender dyads. In Experiment 1, participants listened to a brief audiotaped conversation in which one person interrupted the other five times. In Experiment 2, four confederates (two men and two women) systematically interrupted naive participants while discussing an article. In general, interrupters gained in status and targets of interruption lost status. In addition, participants who were interrupted rated themselves as less influential than those who were not interrupted. As expected, interrupters, especially female interrupters, were liked less than those who did not interrupt. Theoretical implications are discussed.
The Pathophysiology and Treatment of Canine Kerosene Pulmonary Injury: Effects of Plasmapheresis and Positive End-Expiratory Pressure

Hydrocarbon aspiration is a relatively common cause of pulmonary injury in the pediatric age group. We evaluated the pathophysiology of kerosene aspiration in 18 anesthetized dogs during the first hour after injury and then compared the effects of treatments by plasmapheresis (n = 6) and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of 10 cm H2O (n = 6) with the results obtained in untreated control dogs (n = 6) over the next four hours. A group of uninjured control dogs (n = 3) confirmed that surgical preparation and saline sham injury did not cause acute lung injury like that due to kerosene. The untreated control dogs with a stable pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (Ppw) of 10 torr received 0.5 mL/kg of intratracheal kerosene. Although Ppw was maintained at 10 torr for five hours post-injury in these dogs, there was a wide range of lung edema (wet lung weight to body weight ratios from 16.4 to 61.1 g/kg; median of 41.4 g/kg). Between one and five hours, extravascular thermal volume (ETV) increased by 19.1 mL/kg, associated with a median increase in venous admixture (Ova/ Qt) of 28.5% and a median reduction in lung compliance of 12.7 mL/cm H2O. Another group of dogs was similarly injured, but underwent batch plasmapheresis one hour after injury to reduce Ppw to a target value of 5 torr for the remainder of the protocol. Plasmapheresis was associated with a smaller change in ETV (0.8 mL/kg, P < .05 compared with injured animals, Kruskall-Wallis). Gravimetric analysis of edema from lungs excised at five hours confirmed the in vivo findings that reduced Ppw was associated with a lower median wet weight to body weight ratio (20.5 g/kg) than in the untreated group (P < .06, Kruskall-Wallis). Similarly, progressive increases in Qva/Qt (2.6%, P < .06) and decreases in lung compliance (3.7 mL/cm H2O, P < .05) were prevented by plasmapheresis. A third group of dogs with transmural Ppw maintained at 10 torr underwent identical injury but were treated from one hour with 10 cm H2O PEEP. In this group, Qva/Qt was also stabilized (median decrease of 2.5%): but edema formation continued (median ETV increase of 28.5 mL/kg). Cardiac output and oxygen delivery were adequately maintained in both treatment groups so that oxygen consumption was not reduced. We conclude that kerosene aspiration caused pulmonary vascular leaks of varied severity and that plasmapheresis reduced pulmonary edema and its adverse effects on gas exchange and lung mechanics in this model. PEEP also reduced Qva/Qt, but did not reduce edema or lung stiffness and so necessitated the use of higher inflation pressures. Because plasmapheresis did not adversely affect systemic oxygen delivery and consumption, this canine study supports a therapeutic approach to early hydrocarbon pneumonitis of seeking the lowest vascular volume or Ppw associated with an adequate cardiac output and oxygen transport.
Factors Influencing Membership of Federal Wildlife Biologists in The Wildlife Society

Abstract Membership in scientific societies is an avenue wildlife professionals may use to maintain and enhance their professional capabilities. We studied factors influencing United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) biologists' membership in scientific societies in general and The Wildlife Society (TWS) in particular. We conducted an internet census survey of 3,755 USFWS professionals and 932 USGS Biological Resource Division professionals. The survey collected data on membership and participation in scientific societies as well as other variables that we theorized could influence membership. We used logistic regressions to identify factors correlated with the membership of wildlife biologists in TWS. A greater proportion of USGS biologists (90.2%) than USFWS biologists (51.8%) were members of scientific societies, and the likelihood of wildlife biologists belonging to TWS was higher in USGS. Factors most consistently correlated with membership in TWS inc...
Effect of Mutations in the Mouse Hepatitis Virus 3′(+)42 Protein Binding Element on RNA Replication

The mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) genome9s 3′ untranslated region contains cis -acting sequences necessary for replication. Studies of MHV and other coronaviruses have indicated a role for RNA secondary and tertiary elements in replication. Previous work in our laboratory has identified four proteins which form ribonucleoprotein complexes with the 3′-terminal 42 nucleotides [3′(+)42] of the MHV genome. Defective interfering (DI) RNA replication assays have demonstrated a role for the 3′(+)42 host protein binding element in the MHV life cycle. Using gel mobility shift RNase T 1 protection assays and secondary structure modeling, we have characterized a possible role for RNA secondary structure in host protein binding to the 3′-terminal 42-nucleotide element. Additionally we have identified a role for the 3′-terminal 42-nucleotide host protein binding element in RNA replication and transcription using DI RNA replication assays and targeted recombination and by directly constructing mutants in this protein binding element using a recently described MHV reverse genetic system. DI RNA replication assays demonstrated that mutations in the 3′(+)42 host protein binding element had a deleterious effect on the accumulation of DI RNA. When the identical mutations were directly inserted into the MHV genome, most mutant genomes were viable but formed smaller plaques than the wild-type parent virus. One mutant was not viable. This mutant directed the synthesis of genome-sized negative-sense RNA approximately as efficiently as the wild type did but had a defect in subgenomic mRNA synthesis. These results point to a potential role for sequences at the extreme 3′ end of the MHV genome in subgenomic RNA synthesis.
Henderson Global Investors 1999: Institutional Investments in Real Estate

This case presents the issues facing Henderson Global Investors as it restructured three closed-end commingled real estate funds. This case provides the instructor with the opportunity to cover a variety of topics: a review of modern portfolio theory, including how to calculate the basic statistics that underlie the theory; an historical perspective on asset class returns, examining how stocks, bonds, and real estate performed as asset classes during the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century; an introduction to institutional investments in real estate, including why institutional investors should add real estate to an existing stock-and-bond portfolio, and what investment vehicles are available to accomplish this.
These from Bits

When answering the question of what properties a material has, a theoretical physicist may ask. “What is its Hamiltonian?” or “What is its Lagrangian?” Most physicists seem to believe that every physical property of a material can be predicted once the Hamiltonian or Lagrangian of some physical phenomena are known.
Oxidative substitution of boranephosphonate diesters as a route to post-synthetically modified DNA.

The introduction of modifications into oligonucleotides is important for a large number of applications in the nucleic acids field. However, the method of solid-phase DNA synthesis presents significant challenges for incorporating many useful modifications that are unstable to the conditions for preparing synthetic DNA. Here we report that boranephosphonate diesters undergo facile nucleophilic substitution in a stereospecific manner upon activation by iodine. We have subsequently used this reactivity to post-synthetically introduce modifications including azides and fluorophores into DNA by first synthesizing boranephosphonate-linked 2′-deoxyoligonucleotides and then treating these oligomers with iodine and various nucleophiles. In addition, we show that this reaction is an attractive method for preparing stereodefined phosphorus-modified oligonucleotides. We have also examined the mechanism of this reaction and show that it proceeds via an iodophosphate intermediate. Beyond nucleic acids synthesis, due t...
Economic interactions of migrants and their households of origin : Are women more reliable supporters?

One of the salient features of internal migration in Thailand is the increasing participation of women in population mobility. Drawn by growing economic opportunities in urban areas, more and more women are participating in migration streams. This paper examines, from a gender perspective, the interactions between migrants and their households of origin, in terms of the transfer of money and goods. The analysis of the National Migration Survey data suggests that, as the theory of New Economics of Labour Migration posits, migration might have functioned as a survival strategy of many Thai households. The flows of money and goods into migrant-sending households are large and essential supplements for the livelihood of the households. Presumably conditioned by traditional gender roles in Thai culture, female migrants showed deeper commitment than male migrants in providing economic supports for their households left behind
Elevated Seminal Plasma Protein: A Characteristic of Yellow Turkey Semen

Abstract Semen volume, seminal plasma color, protein concentration, and subfractions from 8 white semen (WS) and 8 yellow semen (YS) Large White turkeys were measured for 15 weeks. Average volume was .29 ± .01 ml for WS and .32 ± .02 ml for YS males. Plasma from WS was white and averaged 1.84 ± .07 g/100 ml protein, whereas YS seminal plasma was yellow with 7.03 ± .5 g/100 ml protein. Protein subfractions in WS and YS seminal plasma were qualitatively similar and consisted of prealbumin, albumin, alpha−1 and −2, beta−1, −2, and −3, and postbeta (gamma). The alpha proteins were more frequently seen in YS seminal plasma. The elevated protein of YS seminal plasma was due to an increased concentration of all proteins, with the possible exception of beta−3, with albumin contributing the most. Except for prealbumin and beta−3, the seminal proteins had the same electrophoretic mobility as counterpart blood proteins. Blood and seminal plasma protein concentrations were poorly correlated (+ .039; P≤.75). Blood protein concentrations from 68 toms ranged from 3.3 to 5.7 g/100 ml and averaged 4.2 g/100 ml; seminal plasma protein concentrations ranged from .93 to 12.8 g/100 ml. Nineteen percent of the males had YS with seminal plasma protein greater than 4.0 g/100 ml. The high correlation between intensity of the yellow color in YS seminal plasma and protein concentration (+ .76; P≤.01) indicates that semen quality of turkey breeders could be improved by selection on the basis of low seminal plasma protein concentration.
Monocrotaline-Induced Cardiopulmonary Damage in Rats: Amelioration by the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor CL242817

Pulmonary injury induced by the plant alkaloid monocrotaline is partially prevented by the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor captopril. CL242817 [(S-[R*,S*])-1-([3-acetylthio]-3-benzoyl-2-methyl-propionyl)- L-proline] is a new orally active ACE inhibitor under evaluation as an antihypertensive agent. To determine whether CL242817 also can modify monocrotaline-induced pulmonary injury, male rats were divided into four groups: control; CL242817 (60 mg/kg/day, po); monocrotaline (2.4 mg/kg/day, po); or monocrotaline plus CL242817, and were sacrificed after 6 weeks of continuous treatment. Rats receiving monocrotaline alone exhibited occlusive medial thickening of the pulmonary arteries, cardiomegaly, and right ventricular hypertrophy. Electron micrographs of monocrotaline-treated lung revealed degeneration of both endothelial and Type I epithelial cells, as well as marked interstitial hypercellularity and fibrosis. Hydroxyproline (collagen) content of monocrotaline-treated lung also increased significantly, confirming the fibrosis observed in the electron micrographs. These structural changes were accompanied by decreased lung ACE and plasminogen activator (PLA) activities, indicative of pulmonary endothelial dysfunction. Concomitant CL242817 treatment ameliorated all anatomic manifestations of monocrotaline injury, particularly the right ventricular hypertrophy, pulmonary arterial occlusion, epithelial degeneration, and interstitial fibrosis. CL242817 also significantly prevented the monocrotaline-induced increase in lung hydroxyproline content. In contrast, concomitant CL242817 did not significantly influence the suppressed lung ACE and PLA activities in monocrotaline-treated rats. CL242817 alone produced retarded weight gain, decreased heart weight relative to body weight, decreased lung hydroxyproline content and ACE activity, and increased serum ACE activity and plasma AII concentration. Thus CL242817 resembles captopril, both in its ability to ameliorate monocrotaline-induced pulmonary injury in rats, and in many of its side effects.
Volume of oil and route of administration as factors influencing testosterone propionate activity.

SummaryThe increase in seminal vesicle and ventral prostate weights in immature male rats following a single subcutaneous injection of 0.25 mg of testosterone propionate is not influenced by the volume of oil (0.1-0.8 cc). Seminal vesicle weight increased to a greater degree than the ventral prostate weight whereas testes weight decreased. Subcutaneous and intramuscular routes of administration increased accessory sexual organ weight equally well in contrast to the intraperitoneal route which exercised little effect following one injection.
Industrial Applications of Plant-Wide Equation-Oriented Process Modeling—2010

Mathematical models of industrial processes have long been used to better design and operate facilities. Traditional applications of such models have been limited in scope and usage due to the rapid rise in complexity, execution time, and difficulties encountered as model size increases to encompass sufficient fidelity and scope to address overall economic impact to business units. Simultaneous solution techniques, referred to as equation-oriented (EO) modeling, as opposed to sequential modular (SM) approaches, have addressed many of the issues that previously limited model fidelity and scope across multiple scales from delivering actionable, value-adding results in a frequent, day-to-day, or even hour-to-hour time frame. Models of alkanolamines-based carbon dioxide (CO2) capture facilities exemplify the ability of EO modeling to include the best high fidelity, multiscale, mechanistic models along with sufficient scope to optimize operations, allowing economic trade-offs among plant throughput and solution regeneration costs, in the context of the larger process that the CO2 capture system serves. These models span scales from physical and chemical properties of CO2 and absorbent molecules, process equipment or units, process plants, to site complexes. A steady-state flowsheet model of the CO2 absorption and solution regeneration system is illustrated and discussed, both in a parameter estimation mode, elucidating system performance from observed plant data, and in an optimization mode, honoring operating constraints, reflecting control system configuration, while maximizing operating profit. The model is also able to help identify and quantify debottlenecking alternatives. The topics of model robustness, accuracy, and execution speed are covered as well. This application illustrates that integrated, high fidelity, multiscale models from molecular level to site-wide complex can be deployed in nonideal online environments to deliver benefits and insight that cannot be elucidated with simpler, less rigorous, more empirical models.
NOTES Transvaginal Sleeve Gastrectomy

Sleeve gastrectomy has become one of the most commonly performed operations in the world. Given the difficulties with incisions in morbidly obese patients, strategies to reduce the number of incisions (and thus potential complications) could be beneficial. NOTES has gained the interest of surgeons as the next evolution in minimally invasive surgery. Using a NOTES approach for sleeve gastrectomy, specifically for organ extraction, has the potential to reduce postoperative pain and incisional hernias after sleeve gastrectomy.
Neighborhood and Depressive Symptoms: A Comparison of Rural and Urban Chinese Older Adults.

Background and objectives Individual stressors of depressive symptoms in old age are well identified, yet little is known about the neighborhood stressors of depressive symptoms. Guided by the ecological extension of the Pearlin's Stress Process Model, this study explores the rural and urban differences in neighborhood stressors of depressive symptoms among older adults in China. Research design and methods Data came from two waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative survey. The study included 6,548 older adults ages 60 and above in 2011, with follow-up in 2013. Predictors (individual and neighborhood characteristics) were drawn from the 2011 baseline, and outcome, depressive symptoms, was extracted from the 2013 wave. Results Multilevel modeling results showed that after controlling for depressive symptoms at the baseline, symptoms decreased in neighborhoods where physical environment and social environment were better. Among rural respondents, neighborhood stressors stemmed mainly from the physical environment, whereas among urban residents, the stressors came from the social environment. Discussion and implications This study demonstrated and discussed the role that neighborhoods may play in reducing depressive symptoms in later life. Community organizers and policy makers are encouraged to ameliorate community environments to improve mental health among older adults in China.
The Measuring Process

The final chapter of von Neumann’s book is entitled “The Measuring Process”. But the real topic is “us”, and our acquisition of knowledge. The core message of quantum mechanics, in the words of Niels Bohr, is: “In the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators.” It is our influence on our acts of acquiring knowledge that allows us actors to transform a quantum world of potentialities into actualities that are expressions of our values. It is these consequences of our probing actions that give meaning to our lives.
Correction to: Ultraviolet-C Light Inactivation Kinetics of E. coli on Bologna Beef Packaged in Plastic Films

The original version of this article unfortunately have mistake in Author list and in affiliation field.
In large vessel occlusive stroke, time is brain… but collaterals are time.

For acute ischemic stroke patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO), the use of CT and magnetic resonance perfusion imaging to define the ischemic core and penumbra has overshadowed the importance of evaluating the cerebral collateral circulation.1 In part, this reflects the relative ease with which perfusion imaging can now be interpreted, particularly with quantitative commercial software such as RAPID and Olea Sphere. However, collaterals remain an important predictor of clinical outcome and response to acute stroke therapy.2–4 Many factors likely contribute to the observed phenotypic variation in cerebral collaterals, including both genetic and metabolic determinants,5,6 but substantial knowledge gaps remain. Why do patients exhibit such a wide variation in the extent of collaterals? Can we recruit collaterals to protect the penumbra after ischemic stroke? When are collaterals recruited after LVO, and why do they subsequently fail in selected patients?
Prolactin Induced Protein (PIP) is a potential biomarker for early stage and malignant breast cancer

Abstract Objectives Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. Bioinformatic analysis and expression screening showed that Prolactin Induced Protein (PIP) was differentially expressed in BC. The objective of this investigation was to characterize the expression pattern of PIP, an aspartyl proteinase, in malignant and non-malignant breast tissues. Materials and Methods Real time quantitative PCR was employed to analyze PIP and androgen receptor (AR) mRNA levels in BC cell lines and 190 normal tissues and tumor samples. The tumor specimens were categorized based on TNM classification, anatomic stage, histologic grade and molecular subtype and expression pattern evaluated. To detect protein levels, immunohistochemistry followed by semi quantitative scoring was employed in the examination of 517 normal, benign, and invasive BC tissues. Results We observed substantial downregulation of PIP transcription in cancer samples compared to normal breast tissue. mRNA levels were significantly downregulated (93 fold, P Conclusions PIP mRNA is significantly downregulated in early stage BC compared to normal breast tissue. Consequently, low PIP mRNA expression in BC tissues could potentially be used as a tissue based biomarker to assist pathologists in confirmation of early stage BC diagnosis.
The influence of surgeon volume on outcomes after pelvic exenteration for a gynecologic cancer

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of surgeon experience on intraoperative, postoperative and long-term outcomes among patients undergoing pelvic exenteration for gynecologic cancer. METHODS This was a retrospective analysis of all women who underwent exenteration for a gynecologic malignancy at MD Anderson Cancer Center, between January 1993 and June 2013. A logistic regression was used to model the relationship between surgeon experience (measured as the number of exenteration cases performed by the surgeon prior to a given exenteration) and operative outcomes and postoperative complications. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to model survival outcomes. RESULTS A total of 167 exenterations were performed by 19 surgeons for cervix (78, 46.7%), vaginal (43, 25.8%), uterine (24, 14.4%), vulvar (14, 8.4%) and other cancer (8, 4.7%). The most common procedure was total pelvic exenteration (69.4%), incontinent urinary diversion (63.5%) and vertical rectus abdominis musculocutaneous reconstruction (42.5%). Surgical experience was associated with decreased estimated blood loss (p<0.001), intraoperative transfusion (p=0.009) and a shorter length of stay (p=0.03). No difference was noted in the postoperative complication rate (p=0.12-0.95). More surgeon experience was not associated with overall or disease specific survival: OS (hazard ratio [HR]=1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.97-1.06; p=0.46) and DSS (HR=1.01; 95% CI=0.97-1.04; p=0.66), respectively. CONCLUSION Patients undergoing exenteration by more experienced surgeons had improvement in intraoperative factors such as estimated blood loss, transfusion rates and length of stay. No difference was seen in postoperative complication rates, overall or disease specific survival.
Challenges in Tuberculous Meningitis

Ten million cases of tuberculosis occur annually in the world, and the second most frequent extrapulmonary manifestation is meningitis. Tuberculous meningitis is notoriously difficult to diagnose as the disease initially resembles many common and nonsevere illnesses, and detection of the organism is difficult, especially in young children who are particularly prone to developing the disease. The clinical manifestations closely follow the pathophysiology, much of which is determined by the host response to the organisms. Treatment requires the use of several drugs for many months and is often complicated by immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. All of these problems are enhanced in patients with HIV coinfection, who also may be affected by other unusual pathogens that cause similar clinical manifestations. Neuroradiology is critically important for the early and accurate diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis. While treatment has concentrated on killing the organism, there is renewed emphasis on determining how to best control the deleterious effects of the inflammation that accompanies the infection.
Energy Efficient FDSOI and FinFET based Power Gating Circuit Using Data Retention Transistor

Fully Depleted Silicon-on-Insulator (FDSOI) and Fin Field Effect Transistor (FinFET) are replacing the bulk MOSFET processes for lower technology nodes. Bulk MOSFETs suffer from severe short channel effects and leakage issues. Sleep transistor based power gating circuits are typically used to address leakage power. In this paper, data retention transistor along with sleep transistor is used to improve the performance. The proposed technique is implemented in 20nm FDSOI and 20nm FinFET technology. Simulations are performed in HSPICE and 2-input NAND gate is used for test purpose. It is observed that FinFET-NAND gate consumes 3.75 times less energy compared to FDSOI-NAND gate during active mode. However, FinFET-NAND gate consumes 1.05 times more energy than FDSOI-NAND gate during hold mode.
In situ formation of a multicomponent inorganic-rich SEI layer provides a fast charging and high specific energy Li-metal battery

The performance of the rechargeable Li metal battery anode is limited by the poor ionic conductivity and poor mechanical properties of its solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer. To overcome this, a 3 : 1 v/v ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) : fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) containing 0.8 M lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) and 0.2 M lithium difluoro(oxalate)borate (LiDFOB) dual-salts with 0.05 M lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) was tested to promote the formation of a multitude of SEI-beneficial species. The resulting SEI layer was rich in LiF, Li2CO3, oligomeric and glass borates, Li3N, and Li2S, which enhanced its role as a protective yet Li+ conductive film, stabilizing the lithium metal anode and minimizing dead lithium build-up. With a stable SEI, a Li/Li[Ni0.59Co0.2Mn0.2Al0.01]O2 Li-metal battery (LMB) retains 75% of its 177 mA h g−1 specific discharge capacity for 500 hours at a coulombic efficiency of greater than 99.3% at the fast charge–discharge rate of 1.8 mA cm−2.
Improved read/write cost tradeoff in DNA-based data storage using LDPC codes

With the amount of data being stored increasing rapidly, there is significant interest in exploring alternative storage technologies. In this context, DNA-based storage systems can offer significantly higher storage densities (petabytes/gram) and durability (thousands of years) than current technologies. Specifically, DNA has been found to be stable over extended periods of time which has been demonstrated in the analysis of organisms long since extinct. Recent advances in DNA sequencing and synthesis pipelines have made DNA-based storage a promising candidate for the storage technology of the future.Recently, there have been multiple efforts in this direction, focusing on aspects such as error correction for synthesis/sequencing errors and erasure correction for handling missing sequences. The typical approach is to use separate codes for handling errors and erasures, but there is limited understanding of the efficiency of this framework. Furthermore, the existing techniques use short block-length codes and heavily rely on read consensus, both of which are known to be suboptimal in coding theory.In this work, we study the tradeoff between the writing and reading costs involved in DNA-based storage and propose a practical scheme to achieve an improved tradeoff between these quantities. Our scheme breaks with the traditional separation framework and instead uses a single large block-length LDPC code for both erasure and error correction. We also introduce novel techniques to handle insertion and deletion errors introduced by the synthesis process. For a range of writing costs, the proposed scheme achieves 30-40% lower reading costs than state-of-the-art techniques on experimental data obtained using array synthesis and Illumina sequencing.The code, data, and Supplementary Material is available at https://github.com/shubhamchandak94/LDPC_ DNA_storage.
The influence of fear on risk taking: a meta-analysis

A common finding in the study of emotion and decision making is the tendency for fear and anxiety to decrease risk taking. The current meta-analysis summarises the strength and variability of this ...
Hamiltonian MCMC methods for estimating rare events probabilities in high-dimensional problems

Accurate and efficient estimation of rare events probabilities is of significant importance, since often the occurrences of such events have widespread impacts. The focus in this work is on precisely quantifying these probabilities, often encountered in reliability analysis of complex engineering systems, based on an introduced framework termed Approximate Sampling Target with Post-processing Adjustment (ASTPA), which herein is integrated with and supported by gradient-based Hamiltonian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (HMCMC) methods. The basic idea is to construct a relevant target distribution by weighting the high-dimensional random variable space through a one-dimensional output likelihood model, using the limit-state function. To sample from this target distribution, we exploit HMCMC algorithms, a family of MCMC methods that adopts physical system dynamics, rather than solely using a proposal probability distribution, to generate distant sequential samples, and we develop a new Quasi-Newton mass preconditioned HMCMC scheme (QNp-HMCMC), which is particularly efficient and suitable for high-dimensional spaces. To eventually compute the rare event probability, an original post-sampling step is devised using an inverse importance sampling procedure based on the already obtained samples. The statistical properties of the estimator are analyzed as well, and the performance of the proposed methodology is examined in detail and compared against Subset Simulation in a series of challenging low- and high-dimensional problems.
Identifying Diversity and Activities of Soil Microbes Using Pigmentation Patterns on Buried Cotton Strips: A Novel Approach

Soil biology influences soil nutrient cycling and crop nutrition, and yet, the use of synthetic fertilizers supersedes the need for crop producers to improve soil biological health. A big reason is...
Reversible basal ganglia signal changes associated with vigabatrin treatment in infants with epilepsy

We describe four children with an apparently unique form of easily treatable early onset epilepsy. All had an un- remarkable family history, pregnancy and delivery. One child presented with neonatal seizures. None of them had neonatal jaundice. They presented with developmental impairment, cortical visual agnosia or squint, and clusters of epileptic spasms (3) beginning in infancy. Electroencephalogram showed features of modified (atypical) hypsarrhythmia. Neuroimaging in infancy showed unilateral or bilateral signal changes in the globus pallidus. All infants were treated with high dose vigabatrin (VGB). The seizure disorder responded well to treatment and VGB was discontinued. Repeat magnetic resonance imaging brain scan showed complete resolution of the signal changes in the globus pallidi. All remained seizure free but continued to show severe intellectual disability. We suggest that VGB treatment was associated with "reversible" signal changes in the globus pallidi in these children.
Going Public with Asymmetric Information, Agency Costs and Dynamic Trading

We study the problem of going public in the presence of moral hazard, adverse selection and multiple trading periods. In the multi-period game managers strategically choose the level of extraction of private benefits and can develop a good reputation for expropriating low levels of private benefits. The costs of going public can be significantly reduced because of this reputation effect, and this can be an important factor in sustaining emerging stock markets that offer weak protection to minority shareholders. Also, allowing controlling managers to issue non-voting shares can increase the stock market efficiency, because the reputation effect is stronger when managers can divest more without losing control.
Prostaglandin E 1 as a regulator of lymphocyte function. Selective action on B lymphocytes and synergy with procarbazine in depression of immune responses.

The possibility that prostaglandin (PG) E1 can regulate lymphocyte function in vivo was studied. In conjunction with procarbazine hydrochloride, a powerful immunosuppressive agent whose main target is the thymus and thymus-derived (T) cells, PGE1 had a synergistic effect in prolonging homograft survival, though alone it had no effect on this immune response. The main lymphocyte target of PGE1 appeared to be bone marrow-derived (B) as determined from direct assessment of total, complement receptor and θ-positive lymphocytes in the spleen and by histological evaluation.