cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Latina Administrators in Local Government: The Interplay of Role Orientation and Policy Intentions

Latina administrators in urban municipal bureaucracies experiencing demographic change are continuously constructing their role—at times calling on their ethnic/nationality lens and at other times drawing on their racialized, feminist perspective and always mindful of their institutional context. Personal interviews with 16 Latina administrators provide rich insights into the ways race/ethnicity, gender, and institutional context intertwine in affecting policy outcomes. Three Latina administrator role orientations—activists, bridge builders, and institutionalists—are identified and linked to strength of identity to theoretical bases of representative bureaucracy, Latina critical race theory, new institutionalism, and concepts of legal and cultural abidance.
Assessing the Influence of Gender and Sexual Self-Schema on Affective Responses to Sexual Content in Advertising

Abstract This investigation contributes to work on emotion-based advertising by testing responses to three types of sexual stimuli in commercials: ads featuring women, men, or both women and men. As expected, affective and attitudinal responses were most favorable to opposite-sex stimuli, followed by mixed-sex stimuli, with same-sex imagery evaluated least favorably. In addition, the relationship between Sexual Self-Schema (SSS) and emotional response revealed that SSS significantly predicted females' affective reactions to commercials featuring opposite sex models and couples, but not same-sex models. For male viewers, only a marginal link existed between SSS and affect in response to female models. The findings provide evidence that both gender and predispositions to sexual stimuli should be considered when assessing emotional reactions to sex in advertising.
Field Measurement of Slow Metamorphic Reaction Rates at Temperatures of 500° to 600°C

High-temperature metamorphic reaction rates were measured using strontium isotopic ratios of garnet and whole rock from a field site near Simplon Pass, Switzerland. For metamorphic conditions of cooling from 612 degrees +/- 17 degrees C to 505 degrees +/- 15 degrees C at pressures up to 9.1 kilobars, the inferred bulk fluid-rock exchange rate is 1.3(-0.4)(+1.1) x 10(-7) grams of solid reacted per gram of solid per year, several orders of magnitude lower than laboratory-based estimates. The inferred reaction rate suggests that mineral chemistry may lag the evolving conditions in Earth's crust during mountain building.
The solution dynamics of photoinduced geminate radical ion pairs: free ion formation

For geminate radical ion pairs (RIPs) formed by electron transfer quenching of excited 9,10-dicyanoanthracene (DCA) using benzene donors substituted with different bulky groups in several moderately polar solvents, the recombination rates at a variety of separation distances are measured. We used photocurrent techniques together with single photon timing measurements. For the first time, increased recombination rate constants with increasing RIP separation distance are observed. It is concluded that the dominant mechanism for the recombination of solvent separated radical ion pairs (SSRIP) involves a direct return electron transfer from SSRIPs by tunneling, thus by-passing the contact radical ion pairs (CRIP).
Frequency of use of imaging tests in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism: effects of physician specialty, patient characteristics, and region.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether clinical practice in diagnosing pulmonary embolism is consistent with recommendations in the literature and to explore variations in practice across site of care (e.g., emergency department), physician and patient characteristics, and geographic location.MATERIALS AND METHODS. Medicare 5% research identifiable files were analyzed. The cases of patients with emergency department visits or inpatient stays for a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism or for symptoms related to pulmonary embolism (shortness of breath, chest pain, and syncope) were identified. We determined the number of patients who underwent each type of relevant imaging test and evaluated variations in the first non-chest-radiographic test by site of care and treating physician specialty. Using logistic regression, we studied variations in the use of common imaging tests, exploring variations associated with patient characteristics, physician specialty, site of care, and geographic loca...
A Fully Polarimetric Characterization of the Impact of Precipitation on Short Wavelength Synthetic Aperture Radar

When synthetic aperture radars (SAR) operating above 5 GHz began acquiring data clearly showing attenuation and backscatter from storms in the images, the notion that SAR is truly an “all weather” technology was challenged. With the recent launch of several dual-polarization X-band SAR systems, the capability of characterizing this impact became reality; however, a complete model describing SAR observations during precipitation is required to do this. Using real storm observations by fully polarimetric ground radars and microphysical models of electromagnetic scattering from hydrometeors, a quantitative characterization of the impact of precipitation on high-frequency SAR is presented here. The methodology is described to simulate X-band SAR observations of real storms from ground-based weather radars with an example of a squall line observed by the CSU-CHILL weather radar added to a TerraSAR-X image acquired at a different time. By conditioning the simulation on real data, the variability of radar observations is greatly reduced and more realistic than simulating from pure theoretical parameters. Given the challenges involved in characterizing the propagation effects, the results demonstrate the model capabilities well, and the results will apply to higher frequency systems for the future.
Financial and Medico‐Legal Implications of Late‐Start Dialysis: Understanding the Present Policies through a Window of Past Performance

In the United States, multiple stakeholders have impacted the timing of dialysis initiation for patients with end-stage renal disease. The optimal policy to start dialysis for this vulnerable population remains unknown. Historically, patients initiated dialysis weeks after the appearance of uremic symptoms. This changed not only due to an evolution in medical providers' practice but also due to changes in the care delivery system, the political imperatives, and the economic driving forces surrounding the care of these patients. One large randomized control trial looked at patient outcomes with strategies of early versus late start. The trial included an economic analysis. Depending on the specific comparison, cost was either lower in the late-start group or was equivalent between groups. This result would tend to favor a late-start strategy, where patients had an additional 6 months of dialysis-free time. However, the generalizability of this analysis has been questioned. Future care models that would include patients before and after dialysis initiation would be ideal to study cost and quality at the time of this transition of care. The recently implemented CMS Quality Incentive Program is one mechanism that could use such findings to implement a high-value strategy for patients starting chronic dialysis therapies.
Multiple partner selection in cooperative OFDM networks using an auction strategy

Cooperative diversity is a form of distributed spatial diversity achieved by cooperative communication among mobile users in cellular or wireless data networks. The problem of selecting suitable partners for a cooperative strategy is more complex when prospective partners have links of dissimilar quality to a central destination, leading to the possibility of non-reciprocal cooperation. We analyze self-configuring cooperative orthogonal frequency-division multiplex wireless networks under conditions of minimal topology and channel link information available to individual users. For such cases, a robust auction-theoretic mechanism is proposed for the selection of single as well as multiple simultaneous cooperative partners. We characterize equilibrium strategies and revenue for the multiple-object second-price auction for multi-carrier cooperation, under conditions of uncertainty in the number of users requesting cooperation. The proposed auction-theoretic selection scheme is shown to be a robust decentralized solution for improving the outage probability in dynamic cooperative wireless systems.
The MDG–Human Rights Nexus to 2015 and Beyond

Progress has been made in some MDG areas. But in some regions and in many Target areas, progress is overshadowed by the numbers of those left behind and by rising inequalities within and between nations. This article argues that we need better integration of human rights and development and provides some specific ways forward to do this.
The effects of different exposures to augmented sensory feedback on the control of heart rate.

The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of different exposures to augmented sensory feedback of heart rate performance on the development of voluntary control of heart rate. Three groups of five Ss each received augmented sensory feedback on 100%, 50%, or 0% of training trials respectively. The amount of heart rate control exhibited by Ss was observed to be a direct function of the percentage of training trials on which feedback was given. Respiration rate changes were not systematically influenced by this variable although higher respiration rates were consistently associated with high heart rates and lower respiration rates with low heart rates.
Blood Synthetic Cannabinoid Concentrations in Cases of Suspected Impaired Driving

Twelve cases of suspected impaired driving are discussed in which the drivers who subsequently tested positive for synthetic cannabinoid drugs underwent a psychophysical assessment. The attitude of the drivers was described as cooperative and relaxed, speech was slow and slurred and coordination was poor. Pulse and blood pressure were generally elevated. Horizontal gaze nystagmus was assessed in nine of the subjects, but was present in only two. The most consistent indicator was a marked lack of convergence. In all cases where a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) officer evaluated and documented impairment (10 cases), it was attributed to the DRE cannabis category. Performance in field sobriety tests was variable, ranging from poor to minimal observable effect. Synthetic cannabinoid testing was performed by LC‐MS-MS. Positive results included: JWH-018 (n 5 4), 0.1‐1.1 ng/mL; JWH-081 (n 5 2) qualitative only; JWH-122 (n 5 3), 2.5 ng/mL; JWH-210 (n 5 4), 0.1 ng/mL; JWH250 (n 5 1), 0.38 ng/mL and AM-2201 (n 5 6), 0.43‐4.0 ng/mL. While there is good evidence of psychophysical impairment in these subjects, further structured data collection is needed to fully assess the relationship between synthetic cannabinoid use and psychomotor and cognitive impairment.
Cluster tools with chamber revisiting-modeling and analysis using timed Petri nets

Timed Petri nets are formal models of discrete concurrent systems. Since the durations of all activities are included in the model descriptions, many performance characteristics can be derived from such models. In the case of cluster tools, net models represent the flow of wafers through the chambers of the tool as well as consecutive actions performed by the robotic transporter. Steady-state performance of cluster tools with chamber revisiting is investigated in this paper. A systematic development of detailed tool schedules, based on a general behavioral description of the tool, is proposed and is used to derive the corresponding Petri net models. Symbolic performance characteristics of the modeled tools are obtained by using place invariants, without exhaustive reachability analysis. Simple examples presented in the paper can be easily extended in many ways.
Treatment of civilian and combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder with topiramate.

Objective:To evaluate the use of topiramate for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Data Sources:Ovid MEDLINE (1950 to June week 4, 2010), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970 to May 2010), ISI Web of Science (1945 to July 3, 2010), and Iowa Drug Information Service (searched July 6, 2010) were searched using the terms posttraumatic stress disorder and topiramate. Guidelines and other sources were identified from bibliography searches.Study Selection and Data Extraction:All English-language human studies and case reports that evaluated the use of topiramate for treatment of PTSD were evaluated.Data Synthesis:One case report, 1 case series, 2 open-label trials, and 1 placebo-controlled trial that used topiramate (monotherapy or adjunct) to treat civilian PTSD were identified and evaluated. The case report and case series reported subjective reduction of symptoms, and the open-label trials reported a significant reduction in PTSD Checklist–Civilian score. The placebo-controlled tri...
“When I hear literacy”: Using pre-service teachers' perceptions of mathematical literacy to inform program changes in teacher education

Abstract This case study investigated pre-service teachers' (PSTs) perceptions of disciplinary, or mathematical, literacy and factors related to their teacher education program at a public research university that influenced these perceptions. Seven PSTs volunteered to participate in individual and focus group interviews. Analysis indicated that PSTs considered certain elements of literacy (i.e., communication, application, vocabulary) to be important in mathematics education, but PSTs felt that literacy coursework did little to support their understanding of mathematical literacy. PSTs also discussed barriers present in mathematics methods coursework that hindered their understanding of mathematical literacy instruction and their ability to incorporate such instruction.
Agglomeration within an urban area

Abstract This paper utilizes a newly created index for colocalization to estimate the determinants of industrial agglomeration within a single urban area. Our new index directly incorporates the location of individual establishments while controlling for the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) in order to create this measure of spatial similarity between two industries. We estimate that proximity to transportation infrastructure and consumers as well as knowledge spillovers largely explain patterns of agglomeration. We find a smaller role for input–output linkages and consumption externalities for retail and consumer service industries.
Molecular-level origins of biomass recalcitrance: decrystallization free energies for four common cellulose polymorphs.

Cellulose is a crystalline polymer of β1,4-d-glucose that is difficult to deconstruct to sugars by enzymes. The recalcitrance of cellulose microfibrils is a function of both the shape of cellulose microfibrils and the intrinsic work required to decrystallize individual chains, the latter of which is calculated here from the surfaces of four crystalline cellulose polymorphs: cellulose Iβ, cellulose Iα, cellulose II, and cellulose IIII. For edge chains, the order of decrystallization work is as follows (from highest to lowest): Iβ, Iα, ΙΙΙΙ, and II. For cellulose Iβ, we compare chains from three different locations on the surface and find that an increasing number of intralayer hydrogen bonds (from 0 to 2) increases the intrinsic decrystallization work. From these results, we propose a microkinetic model for the deconstruction of cellulose (and chitin) by processive enzymes, which when taken with a previous study [Horn et al.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2006, 103, 18089] identifies the thermodynamic and ki...
Latex agglutination test for disseminated lupus erythematosus.

SummaryPolystyrene latex particles, after treatment with calf thymus nucleoprotein, were agglutinated by some DLE sera. The agglutinating property of DLE serum in most cases paralleled the results of LE cell tests. DNA in small amounts inhibited nucleoprotein latex agglutination.
Low Pressure Injection Molding and HIP Sintering of Al2O3 of High Purity

Al2O3 ceramics was fabricated by low pressure injection molding and successive normal sintering and HIP sintering. Fine particles of Al2O3 with mean particle size of 0.23μm were used as startingmatereal. By adding 17-18 wt% of wax binder Selna E-146 to the powder, ceramic slurry was successfully injected to form an uniform compact.In normal sintering at 1275°C, sintered specimen showed 99% bulk density. The mean bending strength 71.6kgf/mm2 was obtained in the specimen normally sintered at 1300°C for 3 h.On the other hand, the specimen HIP sintered at 1300°C for 3 h showed bulk density of 99.7% and the maximum mean bending strength of 81.0kgf/mm2. According to SEX observation of fractured surface, grain size of HIP sintered body at 1300°C was 0.5-2.0μm in size and fracture within grain was frequently observed. Bending strength decreases as sintering temperture raises above 1500°C, because of remarked grain growth.
Continuous subcultivation of epithelial-like cells from normal human tissues.

SummaryEpithelial-like cells from normal human conjunctiva, liver, kidney and appendix have been serially cultivated for 30, 26, 22, and 16 passages, respectively.
Rheumatoid arthritis; etiologic and diagnostic considerations.

There is no short cut to the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis; it still should be based on careful evaluation of all available evidence. Punch biopsy is a safe, effective means of obtaining synovial tissue for examination and is particularly valuable in monarticular disease. The various serologic tests vary somewhat in sensitivity and specificity but provide essentially similar information and diagnostic aid; newer procedures, still limited to investigative purposes, offer promise of improvement. Available evidence does not support the view that the rheumatoid factor plays a significant role in pathogenesis of the articular manifestations or is a direct reflection of articular involvement.
Efficient Clustering and Path Planning Strategies for Robotic Data Collection Using Space-Filling Curves

In this paper, we consider a scenario where a mobile robot is tasked with periodically collecting data from a fixed wireless-sensor network. Our goal is to minimize the total cost of the system, including the motion cost of the robot and the communication cost of the sensors to the robot in realistic fading environments. We propose a strategy that divides the sensors into a number of clusters and uses a mobile robot to visit each cluster in order to wirelessly collect the corresponding data. We then propose a computationally efficient approach to solve this joint path planning and clustering problem by using space-filling curves. More specifically, by utilizing space-filling curves and their locality property, we show how the coupled clustering, stop position selection, path planning, and motion design problems can be solved as a series of convex optimization problems. We further mathematically characterize an upper bound for the total energy consumption of our proposed approach for the case of uniformly distributed sensors, relating it to key motion and communication parameters, such as motor parameters, channel multipath fading and shadowing variances, path-loss exponent, and target bit error rate. Finally, we verify the effectiveness of our framework in a simulation environment. Our results with realistic channel and motion parameters show considerable energy savings.
Genetic predisposition for various forms of spondyloarthritis

In addition to the long-established association of HLA-B27 antigen and spondyloarthritis, several studies have shown a similar association with HLA-B7 antigen. But since the whole MHC region carries less than half of the risk for the development of the disease, the main goal of many recently performed researches, which implemented various high-throughput methods, was to discover the influence of genes outside the MHC region on disease development. The results showed that genes closely linked to spondyloarthritis participate in antigen processing and coding of various cytokines. This can lead to the conclusion that diseases from the spondyloarthritis group are polygenic, affected by both autoinflammatory and autoimmune mechanisms.
Identification of safety-critical events using kinematic vehicle data and the discrete fourier transform.

Abstract Recent technological advances have made it both feasible and practical to identify unsafe driving behaviors using second-by-second trajectory data. Presented in this paper is a unique approach to detecting safety-critical events using vehicles⿿ longitudinal accelerations. A Discrete Fourier Transform is used in combination with K-means clustering to flag patterns in the vehicles⿿ accelerations in time-series that are likely to be crashes or near-crashes. The algorithm was able to detect roughly 78% of crasjavascript:void(0)hes and near-crashes (71 out of 91 validated events in the Naturalistic Driving Study data used), while generating about 1 false positive every 2.7 h. In addition to presenting the promising results, an implementation strategy is discussed and further research topics that can improve this method are suggested in the paper.
Biologic mesh in ventral hernia repair: Outcomes, recurrence, and charge analysis.

Background Biologic mesh choice in ventral hernia repair is challenging due to lack of prospective data. This study examines long-term, single-center biologic mesh outcomes. Methods Prospective operative outcomes data was queried for open ventral hernia repair with biologic mesh. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to compare mesh outcomes. Results In the study, 223 patients underwent open ventral hernia repair with biologic mesh, including 40 with Alloderm, 23 AlloMax, 70 FlexHD, 68 Strattice, and 22 Xenmatrix. Overall, 9.8% had an American Society of Anesthesiology classification of 4, 54.6% with a classification of 3, and 35.6% with a classification of 1 or 2. Operative time averaged 241 minutes with estimated blood loss of 202 mL. Hernia defects averaged 257 ± 245 cm2 with mesh size 384 cm2. Biologic mesh was used as a fascial bridge in 19.6%, component separation was performed in 47.5%, and 82% had concomitant procedure. Inpatient mortality was 1.4%. Hernia recurrence varied significantly by mesh type: 35% Alloderm, 34.5% AlloMax, 37.1% FlexHD, 14.7% Strattice, and 59.1% Xenmatrix (P = .001). The mean follow-up was 18.2 months. After multivariate analysis comparing to Strattice, AlloMax had a 3.4 higher odds ratio for recurrence, FlexHD a 2.9 odds ratio, and Xenmatrix a 7.8 odds ratio. The rate of mesh infections requiring explantation was Conclusion In 223 ventral hernia repair performed with biologic mesh at a tertiary care institution, Strattice, a porcine acellular dermal mesh, had significantly lower odds of hernia recurrence compared with AlloMax, FlexHD, and Xenmatrix. Choice of biologic mesh affects long-term postoperative outcomes in ventral hernia repair.
Occipital neurostimulation for treatment of intractable headache syndromes.

Intractable migraine and other headache syndromes affect almost 40 million Americans and many more millions worldwide. Although many treatment protocols exist, mainly designed around medication regimens, there are estimated to be at least 3–5% of these headache sufferers that do not respond in a meaningful way to medications and whose lives can be severely restricted to darkened, quiet rooms, heavy doses of narcotics, failed personal relationships and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. In this article, we describe current neuromodulation-based approach to the management of intractable headache.
Smiling in School Yearbook Photos: Gender Differences from Kindergarten to Adulthood

To explore the hypothesis that girls and women smile more frequently than boys and men, 16,514 photographs of students (kindergarten to college) from school yearbooks were studied, as were photos of faculty and staff members. The predicted gender difference in smiling was small and nonsignificant until Grade 4, when a statistically significant difference was first obtained. The gender difference reached its peak in grade 9 (effect size =.275) and remained relatively constant through adulthood. Systematic study of yearbook photos from one high school during the period 1968–1993 revealed no change in the gender difference over time. Discussion focused on the emergence of the smiling difference during preadolescence and the theoretical implications of such a finding.
Parque industrial, romance da Pauliceia desvairada

Em edicao paga por Oswald de Andrade, romance de Patricia Galvao passou quase despercebido em seu lancamento, mas hoje vem recebendo cada vez mais atencao da critica como obra-prima do romance social urbano e um dos grandes textos perdidos do modernismo. Apoiado numa montagem visual e cinematografica, combina, numa prosa sintetica e concisa, o retrato da vida paulistana de cinco trabalhadoras do Bras com a denuncia social.
Isolated Preparations: Dose—Response Data

Much of our practical knowledge of pharmacology and many of the theories of drug action have been attained from experiments conducted on isolated preparations. When we work with isolated preparations we can observe the direct actions of drugs on the organ of interest. These observations are reasonably unencumbered by the many compensatory mechanisms of the organism that often mask the drugs’ direct actions. Yet, working at this level, we remain within the realm of investigation that permits us to connect observations on the whole animal with the more intimate action of drugs on individual molecules. In this chapter we discuss several of these isolated preparations and present dose-response data for selected agents which act on them.
Abstract 121: Statin Use For Secondary Prevention Of Coronary Artery Disease In Patients Undergoing Repeat Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Real World Data

Background: Secondary prevention with statin therapy in Coronary artery disease (CAD) decreases future major cardiovascular events and mortality and improves outcomes. Current guidelines recommend ...
Lasing of site-controlled InGaAs/InP quantum well nanopillars grown on silicon

A site-controlled two-step metal organic chemical vapor deposition process is developed to monolithically integrate upright InP nanopillars on Silicon substrate at CMOS compatible temperatures and catalyst free conditions. Excellent crystal quality and a high quality factor of the intrinsic optical cavity result in optically pumped lasing at room temperature and 0.87 μm wavelength. Incorporation of multi quantum wells enables tuning of the emission wavelength and ultimately lasing at 1.21 μm, which represents the first realization of a silicon transparent III-V nanolaser monolithically integrated on Silicon substrate and a crucial achievement on the way towards on-chip optical links.
Hate Spin: The Manufacture of Religious Offense and Its Threat to Democracy: by Cherian George. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2016. 328 pp. Hardcover. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-2620-3530-9.

Contemporary political and social instances of religious related hate speech make this a timely and important work. George provides both a theoretical framework and three case studies exploring the...
Breast Tomosynthesis: Clinical Evidence

In the last 20 years, there has been rapid evolution of the clinical research on digital breast tomosynthesis supporting its adoption in clinical breast imaging practice. Beginning with proof of principle pilot observational studies and culminating in prospective population-based screening trials and outcome reporting from clinical practice, there is a wealth of data on the DBT technology. This article catalogs the scientific and clinical evidence of DBT, highlighting some of the most important studies that have been reported to date.
Why Sasquatch and Other Crypto‐Beasts Haunt Our Imaginations

The Sasquatch pastoral attempts to define the parameters of why mythic accounts of wild-men are so common. As a concept, it is a critically useful way of understanding how Sasquatch, Bigfoot, the Yeti, and other cryptozoological accounts fulfill a deep-seated and seemingly universal desire to understand humanity's own mythic origins. Whether such accounts have any veracity or not, the Sasquatch pastoral provides a theoretical vocabulary for conceptualizing the archetypal attractions of such accounts.
Chapter 13 – Organization of the Globus Pallidus

This chapter describes the anatomical and physiological organization of the external and internal segments of the globus pallidus (GPe and GPi, respectively). A large section is devoted to descriptions of the GPe, including the morphological and chemical subtypes of neurons, their physiological properties, and physiological characteristics of inputs from the striatum and the subthalamic nucleus. The descriptions also include known characteristics of recently identified chemical subtypes of GPe neurons. A smaller section describes the anatomical and physiological organization of the GPi. The section on functional considerations discusses neuronal activity of globus pallidus neurons and their possible role in normal and pathophysiological conditions.
Neuroblastoma and Other Adrenal Tumors

This chapter addresses the medical presentation, histology, biological features, risk stratification, and surgical management of malignant adrenal disease. Neuroblastoma is the most common adrenal neoplasm in the pediatric population, accounting for 97 % of adrenal neoplasms in children younger than 15 months. It is 50 times more common than pheochromocytoma, the next most common tumor. The good prognosis associated with early-stage, biologically favorable disease, with a survival rate of more than 90 %, stands in dramatic contradistinction to the poor prognosis associated with metastatic or biologically unfavorable presentations. Treatment is typically determined by the risk stratification schemes of the Children’s Oncology Group, the International Neuroblastoma Staging System, and the International Neuroblastoma Research Group.
Hybrid Optimization of Curvilinearly Stiffened Shells Using Parallel Processing

With the advances being made in additive manufacturing, it is becoming increasingly possible to fabricate a broad class of complex-shaped designs for practical applications. This manufacturing capa...
Impact of ball weight on medial elbow torque in youth baseball pitchers

Hypothesis Our hypothesis was that an increase in ball weight would result in an increase in medial elbow torque during the pitching motion. Methods Youth pitchers were recruited for this study and instructed to throw 5 maximum-effort fastballs from ground level using baseballs of 4 different weights: 85 g (3 oz), 113 g (4 oz), 142 g (5 oz), and 170 g (6 oz). The validated Motus sensor was used to assess medial elbow torque, arm speed, arm slot, and shoulder rotation for each pitch. Pitch velocity was measured using a radar gun. Relationships between baseball weight and pitching kinetics and/or kinematics were evaluated using linear mixed-effects analysis. An exit survey was conducted detailing the pitcher's evaluation of the ball weights used. Results A total of 19 youth baseball pitchers (average age, 11.8 ± 1.1 years; age range, 9-14 years) completed the study. For every 1-oz (28-g) increase in ball weight, ball velocity decreased 2.0 ± 0.1 mph (χ2 = 52.68, P .05). Survey results indicated that the 85-g (3-oz) baseball was most favored (8 of 19 pitchers) and believed to result in the highest pitch velocity (15 of 19 pitchers). The 170-g (6-oz) baseball was least favored (17 of 19 pitchers) and believed to result in the slowest pitch velocity (18 of 19 pitchers). No adverse outcomes were reported with the use of any ball weight or the mobile sensor. Conclusion Among youth pitchers, an increase in ball weight correlated with greater medial elbow torque, decreased pitch velocity, and decreased arm speed.
Bacterial Expression and in Vitro Assay of Cell Cycle Kinases

There is currently widespread interest in the mechanisms that regulate the activation of Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks). Monomeric Cdks have no detectable activity but are fully activated by association with a Cyclin subunit and phosphorylation of a conserved threonine residue. Cak (Cdk- activating kinase) is the enzyme responsible for phosphorylating Cdks on the activating threonine (Fesquet at al. 1993; Poon at al. 1993; Solomon at al. 1993). Negative regulation of Cdc2-Cyclin B complexes is achieved by phosphorylation of tyrosine 15 in Cdc2 by tyrosine kinases of the Wee1 family. While most studies investigating Cdk activation have employed some kind of cell lysate system containing endogenous Cak activity, recent developments now make it possible to produce active Cdk-Cyclin complexes in vitro using highly purified reagents generated in bacteria. The primary advantage of using bacteria is that they contain far fewer protein kinases than eukaryotic cells, making it possible to prepare Cdk and Cyclin components in their unphosphorylated state. This facilitates the study of both positive and negative regulation via phosphorylation. Here we describe methods for purification of Cdk2, Cdc2, Cyclins, and other cell cycle proteins expressed in bacteria, as well as assays for histone H1 kinase activity of Cdk2 and Cdc2. We hope that these protocols will be a guide to specific individual needs.
Montessori Identity in Dialogue: A Selected Review of Literature on Teacher Identity

Montessori teacher education includes an intensive and ongoing teacher transformation. This experience aids in the development of a clearly defined teacher identity. Research on teacher identity broadly has shown that while such an identity can offer guidance and support, it can also limit teachers and prevent them from exploring other strategies that may support them and, in turn, their students (e.g., Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Britzman, 2003; Sumsion, 2002). This effect is problematic when teachers face moments of uncertainty and dilemmas in their teaching practice. As Montessori classrooms become increasingly diverse, teachers may need to adopt identities that are not explicitly defined in Montessori teacher transformation. This review of literature examines components of a Montessori teacher identity and, broadly, the effects of teacher identity as well as elements of antibias and antiracist teacher-identity development that includes inner reflection and an activist approach to teaching.
RHODA Topology Configuration Using Bayesian Optimization

The rapid growth of data center traffic requires data center networks (DCNs) to be scalable, energy-efficient, and provide low latencies. Optical Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is a promising technique to build data centers comprising millions of servers. In [24], a WDM-based Reconfigurable Hierarchical Optical DCN Architecture (RHODA) was presented, which can accommodate up to 10+ million of servers and a variety of traffic patterns. RHODA also saves tremendous amounts of power and cost through its extensive use of passive optical devices, and minimal use of power-hungry and costly devices. RHODA achieves high throughput through reconfigurable clustering of racks of servers. In this paper, we focus on the design of the cluster topology (also called inter-cluster network). Given the pair-wise cluster traffic, our objective for the cluster topology is to minimize the average hop length. In [24], a simple variant of the Hungarian algorithm that maximizes the one-hop or direct traffic among clusters was used. In this paper, we leverage the Bayesian Optimization (BO) framework and propose a fast algorithm to minimize the average number of hops in the inter-cluster network of RHODA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that employs BO to optimize optical DCN performance. We present our design decisions and modifications to BO based on the network constraints. Results show that BO can achieve optimal or near-optimal results, and outperforms a well-known regular topology (Gemnet) and the Hungarian-based method by up to \(13\%\) and \(58\%\), respectively.
Honor in the Modern World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives: edited by Laurie M. Johnson and Dan Demetriou, Lanham, MD, Lexington Books, 2016, vii + 318 pp., $94.70/₤88.90 (cloth), $49.25/₤24.74 (paper)

This is a superb anthology that questions the value and even the existence of honor in the contemporary world. Although readers have had the benefit of excellent works on this concept from mainly a...
Cash and voucher assistance and children's nutrition status in Somalia

To address ongoing food insecurity and acute malnutrition in Somalia, a broad range of assistance modalities are used, including in-kind food, food vouchers, and cash transfers. Evidence of the impact of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) on prevention of acute malnutrition is limited in humanitarian and development settings. This study examined the impact of CVA on prevention of child acute malnutrition in 2017/2018 in the context of the Somalia food crisis. Changes in diet and acute malnutrition were measured over a 4-month period among children age 6-59 months from households receiving household transfers of approximately US$450 delivered either as food vouchers or a mix of in-kind food, vouchers, and cash. Baseline to endline change in children's dietary diversity, meal frequency, minimum acceptable diet (MAD), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and acute malnutrition (MUAC < 12.5 cm) were compared using difference-in-difference analysis with inverse probability weighting. There were no statistically significant changes in dietary diversity, meal frequency, or the proportion of children with MAD for either intervention group. Adjusted change in mean MUAC showed increases of 0.5 cm (confidence interval [CI; 0.0, 0.7 cm]) in the food voucher group and 0.1 cm (CI [-0.1, 0.4]) in the mixed transfer group. In adjusted analysis, prevalence of acute malnutrition among children under 5 years increased by 0.7% (CI [-13.4, 14.4%]) among food voucher recipients and decreased by 4.8% (CI [-9.9, 8.1%]) in mixed transfer recipients. The change over time in both mean MUAC and acute malnutrition prevalence was similar for both interventions, suggesting that cash and vouchers had similar effects on child nutrition status.
COP9 signalosome is an essential and druggable parasite target that regulates protein degradation

Understanding how the protozoan protein degradation pathway is regulated could uncover new parasite biology for drug discovery. We found the COP9 signalosome (CSN) conserved in multiple pathogens such as Leishmania, Trypanosoma, Toxoplasma, and used the severe diarrhea-causing Entamoeba histolytica to study its function in medically significant protozoa. We show that CSN is an essential upstream regulator of parasite protein degradation. Genetic disruption of E. histolytica CSN by two distinct approaches inhibited cell proliferation and viability. Both CSN5 knockdown and dominant negative mutation trapped cullin in a neddylated state, disrupting UPS activity and protein degradation. In addition, zinc ditiocarb (ZnDTC), a main metabolite of the inexpensive FDA-approved alcohol-abuse drug disulfiram, was active against parasites acting in a COP9-dependent manner. ZnDTC, given as disulfiram-zinc, had oral efficacy in clearing parasites in vivo. Our findings provide insights into the regulation of parasite protein degradation, and supports the significant therapeutic potential of COP9 inhibition.
The potential danger of suboptimal antibody responses in COVID-19.

There is a desperate need for effective therapies and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 to mitigate the growing economic crisis that has ensued from societal lockdown. Vaccines are being developed at an unprecedented speed and are already in clinical trials, without preclinical testing for safety and efficacy. Yet, safety evaluation of candidate vaccines must not be overlooked. Here, Iwasaki and Yang highlight the potential dangers of inducing suboptimal antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2. They stress the need for proper safety evaluation of candidate vaccines for COVID-19.
Methods for Investigating Corneal Cell Interactions and Extracellular Vesicles In Vitro

Science and medicine have become increasingly "human-centric" over the years. A growing shift away from the use of animals in basic research has led to the development of sophisticated in vitro models of various tissues utilizing human-derived cells to study physiology and disease. The human cornea has likewise been modeled in vitro using primary cells derived from corneas obtained from cadavers or post-transplantation. By utilizing a cell's intrinsic ability to maintain its tissue phenotype in a pre-designed microenvironment containing the required growth factors, physiological temperature, and humidity, tissue-engineered corneas can be grown and maintained in culture for relatively long periods of time on the scale of weeks to months. Due to its transparency and avascularity, the cornea is an optimal tissue for studies of extracellular matrix and cell-cell interactions, toxicology and permeability of drugs, and underlying mechanisms of scarring and tissue regeneration. This paper describes methods for the cultivation of corneal keratocytes, fibroblasts, epithelial, and endothelial cells for in vitro applications. We also provide detailed, step-by-step protocols for assembling and culturing 3D constructs of the corneal stroma, epithelial- and endothelial-stromal co-cultures and isolation of extracellular vesicles. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Isolating and culturing human corneal keratocytes and fibroblasts Basic Protocol 2: Isolating and culturing human corneal epithelial cells Basic Protocol 3: Isolating and culturing human corneal endothelial cells Basic Protocol 4: 3D corneal stromal construct assembly Basic Protocol 5: 3D corneal epithelial-stromal construct assembly Basic Protocol 6: 3D corneal endothelial-stromal construct assembly Basic Protocol 7: Isolating extracellular vesicles from corneal cell conditioned medium Support Protocol: Cryopreserving human corneal fibroblasts, corneal epithelial cells, and corneal endothelial cells.
Mapping quantitative trait loci(QTL) for brown planthopper resistance of introgression lines derived from Oryza minuta

【Objective】Quantitative trait loci(QTL) for brown planthopper(BPH) resistance were identified from the wild rice species Oryza minuta(Acc. No. 101133) in the present study, and molecular mapping of the BPH resistance gene was carried out in order to provide basis and materials on rice BPH resistance breeding. 【Method】The BPH resistance of a set of introgression lines derive from Oryza minuta was identified by using standard seedling stage group method. The seedling mortality of introgression line plants with BPH infestation was measured to evaluate the resistance. The QTL for BPH resistance of 131 introgression lines derived from a cross between O. sativa and O. minuta were determined by using composite interval mapping analysis in software Windows QTL Cartographer 2.5. 【Result】The seedlingmortality of IR24and Oryza minuta was 92.2% and 11.1%, which showed a high susceptibility and high resistance to BPH, respectively.The seedling mortality of 131 introgression lines ranged from 15.5% to 91.1%, which presented skewness continuous distribution. Three QTLs for BPH resistance were detected, among them, qBph3 was located in the interval RM570-RM85 on the long arm of chromosome 3, qBph4 in RM335-RM518 on the short arm of chromosomes 4, and qBph12 in RM309-RM17 on the long arm of chromosomes 12; out of which, qBph4 showed the most stable effect being with highest effective value. The alleles derived from wild rice had the effect on decreasing seedling mortality, and their jointing contribution rate was 58.8%. Duplicate lines of 13 introgression lines carrying alleles of O. minuta at qBph4 were tested with BPH infestation. As compared with IR24, the average seedling mortality of all the 9 lines carrying homozygous alleles of O. minuta at qBph4 was significantly decreased by 37.7%(P0.01). 【Conclusion】Three QTLs for brown planthopper resistance of introgression lines derived from Oryza minuta was mapped. The validation of major QTL qBph4 on enhancing BPH resistance not only provides a useful QTL but also a series of breeding materials for BPH resistance breeding.
Defamiliarizing Faith: Emily Dickinson’s Use of Hymns, Scripture, and Prayer

Emily Dickinson has been read as a skeptic, atheist, or purely secular as seen in interpretations from critics such as David Porter, who refers to Dickinson’s “religious skepticism” and “secular wh...
What Babesia microti Is Now

Parasites from diverse hosts morphologically identified as Babesia microti have previously been shown to belong to a paraphyletic species complex. With a growing number of reports of B. microti-like parasites from across the world, this paper seeks to report on the current knowledge of the diversity of this species complex. Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA sequences obtained from GenBank shows that the diversity of the B. microti species complex has markedly increased and now encompasses at least five distinct clades. This cryptic diversity calls into question much of our current knowledge of the life cycle of these parasites, as many biological studies were conducted before DNA sequencing technology was available. In many cases, it is uncertain which B. microti-like parasite was studied because parasites from different clades may occur sympatrically and even share the same host. Progress can only be made if future studies are conducted with careful attention to parasite identification and PCR primer specificity.
Relation-based aggregation: finding objects in large spatial datasets

Regularities exist in datasets describing spatially distributed physical phenomena. Human experts often understand and verbalize the regularities as abstract spatial objects evolving coherently and interacting with each other in the domain space. We describe a novel computational approach for identifying and extracting these abstract spatial objects through the construction of a hierarchy of spatial relations. We demonstrate the approach with an application to finding pressure trough features in weather data sets.
DISTIL: A Design Support Environment for Conceptual Modeling of Spatio-temporal Requirements

We describe DISTIL (DIstributed design of SpaTIo-temporaL data), a web-based conceptual modeling prototype system that can help capture the semantics of spatio-temporal data. Via DISTIL, we describe an annotation-based approach that divides spatio-temporal conceptual design into two steps: first capture the current reality of an application using a conventional conceptual model without considering the spatial aspects, and only then annotate the schema with the spatio-temporal semantics of the application. A database development team can use DISTIL to capture and validate their spatio-temporal data requirements. Using DISTIL we demonstrate that the annotation-based approach for capturing spatio-temporal requirements is straightforward to implement, satisfies ontology-based and cognition-based requirements, and integrates seamlessly into the existing database design methodologies.
On the Unification of Active Databases and Deductive databases

These two rule-oriented paradigms of databases have been the focus of extensive research and are now coming of age in the commercial DBMS world. However, the systems developed so far support well only one of the two paradigms—thus limiting the effectiveness of such systems in many applications that require complete integration of both kinds of rules. In this paper, we discuss the technical problems that make such an integration difficult, and trace their roots to a lack of a unified underlying semantics. Then, we review recent advances in the semantics of nonmonotonic logic and show that they can be used to unify the foundations of active databases and deductive databases. Finally, we outline the design a new rule language for databases that integrates a deductive system with a trigger-based DBMS.