An Innovative, Multidisciplinary Educational Program in Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval

There exists a large number of large-scale bibliographic Information Storage and Retrieval Systems containing large amounts of valuable data of interest in a wide variety of research applications. These systems are not used to capacity because the end users, i.e., the researchers, have not been trained in the techniques of accessing such systems. This thesis describes the development of a transportable, university-level course in methods of querying on-line interactive Information Storage and Retrieval systems as a solution to this problem. This course was designed to instruct upper division science and engineering students to enable these end users to directly access such systems. The course is designed to be taught by instructors who are not specialists in either computer science or research skills. It is independent of any particular IS and R system or computer hardware. The project is sponsored by NASA and conducted by the University of Southwestern Louisiana and Southern University

Fatal hemopericardial tamponade due to primary pericardial mesothelioma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Primary mesothelioma of the pericardium comprises less than 1% of all mesothelioma cases. Its typical presentation is insidious, with nonspecific signs and symptoms, and usually results in heart failure due to cardiac tamponade, either by a serous effusion or by direct tumorous constriction of the heart. With the exception of several case reports, the outcome is uniformly fatal, and patients typically die within six months of diagnosis.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 45-year-old African American female presented to the emergency department with several days of dizziness, difficulty walking, and low blood pressure. The patient suddenly suffered cardiac arrest, and her death was pronounced. The medical examiner assumed jurisdiction of the case due to the sudden death nature of the case without known medical history. At autopsy, a one-liter hemopericardium was present, and the pericardial sac was thick, granular and adhesed to the heart, suspicious for pericarditis. Microscopic examination of the pericardial tissue instead led to a diagnosis of primary pericardial mesothelioma.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our case demonstrates a pericardial mesothelioma initially masquerading grossly as pericarditis. Microscopic examination of any grossly abnormal pericardial tissue therefore may be warranted so that a neoplastic disease process does not go undetected. Additionally, of the approximately 200 such tumors reported in the medical literature, a case demonstrating marked hemopericardium and resulting in sudden death has not been described until now.</p

Bacteria Use Type IV Pili to Walk Upright and Detach from Surfaces

1. Department of Bioengineering, California Nano Systems Institute,University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. 2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA. 3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA. 4. Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.Bacterial biofilms are structured multicellular communities involved in a broad range of infections. Knowing how free-swimming bacteria adapt their motility mechanisms near surfaces is crucial for understanding the transition between planktonic and biofilm phenotypes. By translating microscopy movies into searchable databases of bacterial behavior, we identified fundamental type IV pili–driven mechanisms for Pseudomonas aeruginosa surface motility involved in distinct foraging strategies. Bacteria stood upright and “walked” with trajectories optimized for two-dimensional surface exploration. Vertical orientation facilitated surface detachment and could influence biofilm morphology.Center for Nonlinear Dynamic

Tort Law and Practice

Tort Law and Practice provides a rich context for the study of Tort Law. Teachers and students consistently rate this book highly. This innovative casebook thoroughly develops the core torts principles, and has many unique features, such as: Emphasis on contemporary cases while retaining the classic cases; Use of problems (with model answers for teachers) to facilitate learning and application; Variety of negligence duty issues to select from for classroom focus; Balanced presentation of alternative points of view; Inclusion of substantive and damages issues reflecting the diversity of U.S. society; Summary of contents at the beginning of each chapter to help students keep the concepts in focus; Boxed outline summaries and flow charts to facilitate learning; Ethical issues in personal injury cases discussed in context; and practice materials included to help students understand the process. The Fifth Edition of Tort Law and Practice represents the authors\u27 continued efforts to humanize the subject matter of torts and to include issues reflecting the diversity of our society where relevant. Highlights of the new edition include: Chapter 3: Duty — Tarasoff doctrine: Estates of Morgan v. Fairfield Family Counseling Center Chapter 6: Damages — extensively reworked, and with a new section on Racial, Gender, Cohabitation & Class Fairness in Tort Chapter 8: Intentional Torts — New Cases: The Meaning of Intent (Doe v. Johnson) and Emotional Distress in Discrimination Cases (Graham v. Guilderland Central School District) Chapter 10: Products Liability — New Case on Deviation from Design Specs: Welge v. Planters Lifesavers Co. Chapter 12: Privacy — New Case on Intrusion: Stengart v. Loving Care Agency The comprehensive Teacher\u27s Manual provides insights to the analysis of the cases, suggested teaching techniques, and model answers to the many problems in the casebook.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/facultyteaching/1021/thumbnail.jp

Achieving Brazil's deforestation target will reduce fire and deliver air quality and public health benefits

Climate, deforestation, and forest fires are closely coupled in the Amazon, but models of fire that include these interactions are lacking. We trained machine learning models on temperature, rainfall, deforestation, land-use, and fire data to show that spatial and temporal patterns of fire in the Amazon are strongly modified by deforestation. We find that fire count across the Brazilian Amazon increases by 0.44 percentage points for each percentage point increase in deforestation rate. We used the model to predict that the increased deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon from 2013 to 2020 caused a 42% increase in fire counts in 2020. We predict that if Brazil had achieved the deforestation target under the National Policy on Climate Change, there would have been 32% fewer fire counts across the Brazilian Amazon in 2020. Using a regional chemistry-climate model and exposure-response associations, we estimate that the improved air quality due to reduced smoke emission under this scenario would have resulted in 2300 fewer deaths due to reduced exposure to fine particulate matter. Our analysis demonstrates the air quality and public health benefits that would accrue from reducing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Factor XI inhibitors in adjunct to antiplatelet therapy: the ultimate dual-pathway inhibition?

A strategy of oral anticoagulants (OAC) in addition to single or dual antiplatelet therapy, known as dual-pathway inhibition (DPI), has shown to reduce thrombotic events in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, despite its efficacy, its use in clinical practice has been hindered by the fact this strategy is also associated with increased bleeding, including major bleeding. The use of low dose direct oral anticoagulant (i.e. rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily) on top of antiplatelet therapy has been associated with reduced bleeding, but some safety concerns still exists. The availability of a novel class of OACs selectively targeting the intrinsic coagulation pathway and potentially uncoupling thrombosis and hemostasis has sparked the interest towards the use of a new generation DPI strategy associated with enhanced safety. Several phase II trials using factor XI (FXI) inhibitors on top of antiplatelet therapy in patients with coronary artery or cerebrovascular disease have been recently published and others are under investigation. We here discuss the available evidence and future perspectives of DPI with FXI inhibitors in patients with cardiovascular disease

ACCOMMODATING MIXED-SEVERITY FIRE TO RESTORE AND MAINTAIN ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY WITH A FOCUS ON THE SIERRA NEVADA OF CALIFORNIA, USA

Existing fire policy encourages the maintenance of ecosystem integrity in fire management, yet this is difficult to implement on lands managed for competing economic, human safety, and air quality concerns. We discuss a fire management approach in the mid-elevations of the Sierra Nevada, California, USA, that may exemplify similar challenges in other fire-adapted regions of the western USA. We also discuss how managing for pyrodiversity through mixed-severity fires can promote ecosystem integrity in Sierran mixed conifer and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws) forests. To illustrate, we show how coarse-filter (landscape-level) and complementary fine-filter (species-level) approaches can enhance forest management and conservation biology objectives as related to wildfire management. At the coarse-filter level, pyrodiverse mixed-severity fires provide landscape heterogeneity. Species and ecosystem characteristics associated with pyrodiversity can be maintained or enhanced by accommodating moderately severe fires, which hasten restoration by recreating a complex vegetation mosaic otherwise at risk from suppression. At the fine-filter level, managers can select focal species and species of conservation concern based on the degree to which those species depend on fire and accommodate their specific conservation needs. The black-backed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus [Swainson, 1832]) is an ideal focal species for monitoring the ecological integrity of forests restored through mixed-severity fire, and the California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis [Xantus de Vesey, 1860]) is a species of conservation concern that uses post-fire habitat mosaics and is particularly vulnerable to logging. We suggest a comprehensive approach that integrates wildland fire for ecosystem integrity and species viability with strategic deployment of fire suppression and ecologically based restoration of pyrodiverse landscapes. Our approach would accomplish fire management goals while simultaneously maintaining biodiversity