cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Meditation, melatonin and breast/prostate cancer: hypothesis and preliminary data

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the regular practice of mindfulness meditation is associated with increased physiological levels of melatonin. Melatonin may be related to a variety of biologic functions important in maintaining health and preventing disease, including breast and prostate cancer. Previous studies have shown melatonin production is photosensitive and we suggest here that it also may be psychosensitive. A cross-sectional study of 12-hour (20:00-08:00) urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin was conducted from which we analyzed data from 8 women who regularly meditate (RM) and 8 women who do not meditate (NM). All samples were collected in the homes of study participants. Volunteers were recruited to provide 12-hour overnight samples of urine. All subjects collected the samples on one night during the same 1-week period. There was no explicit intervention. However, all RM were either graduates of, or teachers in, the University of Massachusetts Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program. The main outcome measure was the total excretion of urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin. Multiple linear regression (Proc GLM in SAS) was performed to test the effect of meditation (RM vs NM) on 6-sulphatoxymelatonin. The results of the study were that after controlling for the non-significant effect of menstrual period interval, we found an effect of meditation group (RM vs NM: b = 1.983; F = 6.78; p = 0.02) and age (for each integer year: b = 0.169; F = 8.41; p = 0.01). The conclusion is that study results are consistent with our hypothesis and indicate that melatonin might be a useful parameter in testing similar psycho-social interventions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Boloponera vicans gen.n. and sp.n. and two new species of the Plectroctena genus group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The Afrotropical ponerine ant genus Boloponera gen.n. and the following species are newly described: Boloponera vicans sp.n., Loboponera nobileae sp.n., and Plectroctena thaui sp.n. An analysis of petiole structure within the Ponerini reveals that Dolioponera BROWN, 1974 and Boloponera gen.n. are outside the Plectroctena genus group.
An Equivariant Cohomology Theory Related to Fibre Bundle Theory

In the application of cohomology theory to the study of topological transformation groups, a natural and convenient formalism is to define an equivariant cohomology theory for the category of G-spaces which effectively reflects the cohomological behavior of both the space and the G-action. Following an idea of A. Borel [cf. B10], we shall define the equivariant cohomology of a G-space X to be the ordinary cohomology of the total space X G of the universal bundle, X → X G → B G , with the given G-space X as its typical fibre, namely $$H_{G}^{*}(X)\mathop{ = }\limits^{{def}} {H^{*}}({X_{G}}),\,where\,{X_{G}} = {E_{G}}{ \times _{G}}X = ({E_{G}} \times X)/G$$ .
The benefits of child-parent psychotherapy to marital satisfaction.

Introduction Given the interdependent nature of relationships within the family system, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential role of child-parent psychotherapy (CPP) to extend its positive influence beyond the mother-child relationship within families challenged by maternal depression. Accordingly, we analyzed longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction over 3 years in order to evaluate if the benefits of CPP to mother-child attachment security might generalize within the family and indirectly benefit marital relationships. Method We tested our hypotheses in a randomized control trial of CPP (N = 159 families) to examine the intervention's efficacy in families with mothers with histories of depression since the target child's birth (Mage = 20.4 months, SD = 2.5; 56% boys). Results Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with an actor-partner interdependence modeling (APIM) framework, the results supported our hypothesis as well as revealed significant associations between depressive symptoms and marital functioning. Specifically, shifts in mothers' depressive symptoms within specific waves of follow-up were associated with corresponding shifts in both their husbands' and their own relationship satisfaction in those same waves. After controlling for those effects, only mothers with a history of depression who received CPP demonstrated slight improvements in relationship satisfaction over the 3 years of the study, suggesting secondary benefits of CPP within the family system. Discussion Results are discussed in terms of the importance of examining therapeutic processes within the larger family system. Concerning future research, we also suggest examining potential mechanisms through which CPP might influence marital satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record
Growth Dynamics of Type II Gratings Made with Ultrafast Radiation

A study of fs-IR type II grating formation reveals a complex growth process involving the formation of a type I grating followed by its erasure and subsequent formation of a type II structure.
Educational Perspectives: Using Self-Motivation Strategies to Optimize Your Professional Learning

Active engagement in continuing professional development promotes learning to optimize patient care, as well as advance health care through quality improvement and/or research. To build healthy habits to sustain lifelong learning, health care professionals may apply the principles of self-determination theory (SDT) to better understand the factors that promote and inhibit their motivation to learn. SDT can help individuals identify learning opportunities that best support their competence, autonomy, and ability to relate to their colleagues and profession.
Perceptions of cervical cancer risk and screening among transmasculine individuals: patient and provider perspectives

AbstractTransmasculine people (individuals assigned a female sex at birth who identify as male or masculine) are at risk of cervical cancer. Despite low rates of Pap test use in this population, research examining the determinants of cervical cancer screening among transmasculine individuals is scarce. We conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with 49 participants (32 transmasculine patients and 17 healthcare providers) in order to examine transmasculine individuals’ and healthcare providers’ perceptions of cervical cancer risk and screening among individuals on the transmasculine continuum. Overall, patients believed that transmasculine individuals should receive regular Pap tests, especially in the event of gynaecological concerns. While healthcare providers’ views varied, many perceived transmasculine individuals to be at low risk of cervical cancer. Contrary to existing screening guidelines, several providers believed that transmasculine individuals who did not engage in penile-vaginal interco...
Analysis of Financial Unequally in Construction of Western China Cities——A Study of Economic and Social Problems in Western China Cities

The imbalance of public finance capacity directly influences the equalization of basic public services in Western China cities.This paper has statistic depiction of the imbalance,which demonstrates the great gaps on public finance capacity in Western China cities.And there are also group measurements based on panel data regression estimation,which reveals the industrial cause of the imbalance,as well as the long-term nature of the imbalance.Theoretical meditation is made based on the above depiction and measurements,which could be summarized as follows: the imbalance on public finance capacity is the results of imbalance of economic development,which will be a long period phenomenon;the criteria for defined the degree of imbalance should be determined by the demand of minimum public services;and transfer payment should not change the original order of public finance capacity.Public policies are needed to minimize the imbalance,and the objective,overall and dispassionate theoretic meditation is needed in analyzing public policy.
Major factors controlling the accumulation and high productivity in marine shale gas in the Lower Paleozoic of Sichuan Basin and its periphery:A case study of the Wufeng-Longmaxi Formation of Jiaoshiba area

The formation conditions of marine shale gas in the Wufeng-Longmaxi Formation of Jiaoshiba area were evaluated in this paper on the basis of drilling,seismic survey and sample experiment data.The major factors controlling the accumulation and high productivity of marine shale gas in the lower paleozoic of Sichuan Basin were analyzed.The results show that shales of Longmaxi Formation in Jiaoshiba area are characterized by thick formation,good type,high levels of thermal evolution of organic matter,good physical and gas-bearing properties,suitable preservation condition and fracability.Meanwhile,the development and preservation condition of organic- rich shales,natural fractures development and crushability of the shales constitute the major factors controlling the accumulation and high productivity of marine shale gas in the lower Paleozoic strata of Sichuan Basin and its periphery.As abundant materials were provided by the development of organic-rich shales for shale gas generation and storage,suitable preservation conditions seem to be the key factor for accumulation and high productivity of shale gas.Natural fractures and crushability have guaranteed high productivity of shale gas.
Low-volume aluminum and aluminum / titanium nitride bilayer lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors for far-infrared astronomy

We present the design and characterization of low-volume, lumped-element aluminum kinetic inductance de- tectors for sensitive far-infrared astronomy observations. The lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors are comprised of meandered inductors that serve as radiation absorbers in parallel with interdigitated capacitors, forming high quality factor resonators. Low inductor volumes lead to low noise equivalent powers by raising quasiparticles densities, and hence responsivities, with respect to larger volumes. Low volumes are achieved with thin (20 nm), narrow (150 nm) inductors. The interdigitated capacitor architecture is designed to mitigate two-level system noise by lowering electric fields in the silicon substrate. Resonance frequencies are in the range of 190 to 500 MHz, with measured internal quality factors in excess of 1 x 10 5 . In a prior incarnation, a titanium nitride layer on top of the aluminum served as a protective layer, but complicated the superconducting proper- ties. These results were reported previously. In the current incarnation, the aluminum layer is left bare with no titanium nitride over-layer. The results for these bare aluminum devices include a yield of 88%, frequency responsivity of 10 9 W -1 , and noise equivalent power of 1 x 10 -17 W Hz -1/2 for a 350μm array. There is no evidence for 1=f noise down to at least 200 mHz. The sensitivity is currently limited by white noise, very likely from stray light in the testbed; for this detector design, sensitivities limited by generation-recombination noise in a lower-background environment should be several orders of magnitude lower.
Imperial ambition in the early modern Mediterranean. Genoese merchants and the Spanish Crown, by Céline Dauverd

Fernand Braudel once wrote that the age of the Genoese was ‘so discrete and sophisticated that historians for a long time failed to notice it’.1 Unfortunately, despite the attention lavished upon G...
The Normative Force of Law

In the previous chapter, I considered the possibility that the debate over the grounds of law is a waste of time, not because it is apparently intractable, though it is, but rather because it is about something that after all doesn’t matter. So long as we have theories of good governance (encompassing legitimacy, justice, and the rule of law), the ability to predict how individuals’ conduct will trigger reactions from legal institutions, and theories (one for each distinct kind of legal subject) of the prudential and moral relevance of legal materials, then we have no need for an account of how to determine the content of the law in force. Though this eliminativist view is not ridiculous on its face, in the end we should not accept it. People do accept the law, in Hart’s sense of treating it as a source of reasons for action, and different kinds of legal subjects (private subjects, officials of different kinds) most naturally explain the differences in the legal aspects of their practical situations in terms of their different standing with respect to the law – the different normative implications of the law for them and the different effects their decisions have on the development of the law. The distorting artificiality of trying to banish beliefs about the content of the law in force from practical deliberation is most clear when we consider the frame of mind of the lawmaker. Lawmakers do not think that they are creating legal materials that will have varying practical significance for people depending on their institutional role. They think that they are (justifiably) producing legal directives and power-conferring legal schemes that involve legitimate demands on our conduct. It is not clear that there is a coherent frame of mind available for lawmakers if they must stop thinking in this way.
Localized high-grade gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: Defining prognostic and therapeutic factors for a disease of increasing clinical significance.

Abstract Background Due to the limited sample size in the existing series, the natural history and management of high-grade gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET) is poorly understood. In order to better understand high-grade GEP-NET, a large cohort study was undertaken. Objective To determine the prognostic factors associated with high-grade GEP-NET. Methods Patients diagnosed with non-metastatic high-grade GEP-NET from 1988 to 2010 were identified in SEER. Results Incidence of high-grade GEP-NETs increased from 0.03 to 0.19/100,000 over the study period. The median age was 65 years, and the majority of the patients were white and females. The most common primary site was colorectal, and the most frequent T classification was T3. Surgical resection was performed in 89% of patients that varied by site (p Conclusion High-grade GEP-NETs are neoplasms with exponentially increasing in incidence. Tumor location and nodal status are predictors of survival. Surgery is associated with a survival advantage and could be considered for localized disease.
Conclusions and Final Remarks

The basic goal of this work was to discuss different theories of causation, their difficulties, how they account for our intuitions about the concept of causation, how clearly they analyse that concept, and how they relate to each other. Apart from discussing the general virtues of each theory, I placed special focus on the way in which these theories confront different types of overdetermination cases. These cases are characterised by the feature that a given effect can be caused by more than one event. The fundamental idea defended in this work is that, in order to describe overdetermination cases appropriately, a theory of causation must appeal in some way to causal contextualism . Causal contextualism was understood as the thesis that the truth value of causal claims depends on the context in which they are evaluated. Although the notion of context has been used in this work in a loose way, the context on which causal claims depend has, as I have considered it, a basic feature: It is an epistemic rather than a metaphysical context.
Using Young Adult (YA) Literature in a Classroom: How Does YA Literature Impact Writing Literacies

While English teachers are working to incorporate various versions of the Common Core State Standards into their curriculum, they are often emphasizing canonical fiction over alternative literature that students may connect with at a higher engagement level. Young Adult (YA) literature may help teachers meet the needs of the whole student as well as local standards. The purposes of this study were (1) to explore how students engaged with reading and writing after reading YA literature, (2) to evaluate whether the YA students’ writing samples differed from the canonical group’s, (3) to determine if students see themselves as better writers after the experience, and (4) to examine the teacher’s perception of reading YA Literature. The research was conducted in a single teacher’s 9 th grade classes at an urban high school in the Southwest with a primarily Hispanic population. Two groups worked with canonical literature, and two groups worked with YA literature. All students were given a modified version of the Daly Miller Writing Apprehension Survey before and after they read either a YA short story or a classic short story. They then constructed a writing sample using the same generic prompt for all groups. Several students and the teacher were interviewed after the process. Quantitative results showed that students who read the YA pieces increased their mean score on the modified Daly Miller Survey. Their writing samples had a greater mean score than the canonical group. The qualitative results also indicated greater engagement and understanding of the YA literature, while the teacher expressed enjoyment in teaching both pieces since they were both received well by the students. Finding that students improved in a quantifiable way after using YA literature indicates that there are pedagogical reasons to incorporate YA literature in the classroom, in addition to enhancing enjoyment.
Electrochemically Modulated Luminescence in Nanophotonic Structures

Electrochemistry can be applied to extract fundamental information about charge transfer processes in a large number of situations. However, at ultrasmall scales, when the system of interest contains mesoscopic collections of matter, direct electrical measurements become difficult, and there is ample reason to couple electron transfer reactions to luminescence. This chapter summarizes a new class of spectroelectrochemical experiments in which a very small numbers of redox-active molecules interact with nanophotonic structures so that the molecular luminescence is strongly coupled to the electrochemical event in zero-dimensional, 0-D, and one-dimensional, 1-D, architectures. In this chapter, we will describe various nanophotonic and nanoelectronic structures, especially the zero-mode waveguide, ZMW, that are being coupled to mesoscopic samples of redox-active molecules in order to carry out ultrasensitive measurements on the nanoscale.
Improvement in Excoriation (Skin-Picking) with use of Risperidone in a Patient with Developmental Disability.

Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder present with a heterogeneous mix of features beyond the core symptoms of the disorder. These features can be emotional, cognitive or behavioral. Behavioral symptoms often include self-injury, and this may take the form of repetitive skin-picking. The prevalence of skin-picking disorder in Autism is unknown. Skin-picking may lead to significant medical and psychosocial complications. Recent data suggest that behavioral interventions may be more effective than medications at reducing skin-picking in neurotypical patients. In this case, an 11-year-old male with intellectual disability and autistic spectrum disorder, with self-injurious skin-picking, was treated with risperidone with complete resolution of skin-picking symptoms. risperidone has been approved for irritability and aggression in Autistic spectrum disorder, and may be a valuable treatment option for skinpicking in pediatric patients with developmental disabilities.
Aspirin and Pancreatic Cancer—Response

I thank Dr. Mormile for her suggestion that our observed reduced risk of pancreatic cancer with aspirin use ([1][1]) might arise from downregulation of the antiapoptosis protein survivin ([2][2]). Survivin has been observed to be expressed by cancer tissue but not normal tissue ([3][3]). Its benefit
The Metaplectic Representation and Annihilation and Creation Operators, arbitrary d

In this chapter we’ll turn from the \(d=1\) case of chapter 24 to the general case of arbitrary d.
Thermoplasmonic dissipation in gold nanoparticle–polyvinylpyrrolidone thin films

Thermal dissipation of plasmon energy from gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) dispersed in transparent polymers is important to biotherapeutics, optoelectronics, sensing, and chemical separations. This work assessed heat dissipated from power extinguished by 16 nm AuNPs with negligible Rayleigh scattering cross-sections dispersed into subwavelength, 70 nm polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) films at interparticle separations much less than the resonant wavelength. In contrast to super-wavelength films with particles at separations near the resonant wavelength, measured optical extinction and temperature increase per NP (°C per NP) decreased as AuNP concentration increased: °C per NP decreased 22% and optical extinction per NP decreased 35% as AuNP concentration increased from 1.01 to 5.06 × 1015 NP per cm3. The trend and magnitude of measured values were consistent with those from a priori description of optical extinction per NP from Maxwell Garnett effective medium theory (EMT) and from coupled dipole approximation (CDA). Optical power extinguished by the films exhibited a trend and magnitude consistent with finite element analysis (FEA) of thermal dissipation from subwavelength films at particle separations of 130 to 76 nm. Comparing measured values with results from EMT, CDA, and FEA distinguished contributions to plasmon-resonant optical extinction and heat dissipation. These results support design and adaptive control of thermal dissipation from plasmonic films.
Olfactory responses of Phycomycesblakesleeanus

Upon exposure to low levels of various volatile compounds such as n-heptanol, methanol, CHCl3, mercaptoheptane, etc., the sporangiophore of Phycomycesblakesleeanus responds with a transient and reproducible decrease in its elongation rate. All 22 volatile substances tested (except H2O) elicited negative responses. The amplitude of the responses depends on the compound and its concentration. A characteristic concentration, required for 50% inhibition, correlates remarkable well with the human olfactory threshold (coefficient of correlation r = 0.89 (P < 0.001)). Perhaps some process in olfaction is common to this fungus and higher systems.
IJEE Soapbox: Ecology and evolution as professions, And as liberal arts

All biologists know that the phenotype is a reflection of the interaction between a genotype—what an organism “is”, as governed by its DNA—and an environment—all those contingent details of what an organism experiences as it lives its life, modulated by epigenetic processes such as genetic imprinting and maternal effects that straddle generations. In like manner, the lives and careers we craft are governed both by who we are (our drive, interests, motivation, and talents) and by where we live (within those broad currents of the educational, intellectual, sociological, and educational milieus in which our life-trajectories are crafted, or sometimes driven). The world constrains our dreams. The thoughtful paper by Marshall et al. (2009; this issue) brings out the very challenging standards—as assessed by publications and other metrics of professional experience and accomplishment—that must be met these days to land a position in ecology or evolution in higher education. In this essay, I use the Marshall et al. paper as a springboard to reflect on some general issues in entering ecology as a profession, which I hope readers find of use. The pursuit of ecology and evolution can be wonderful professions. Also, I firmly believe that an understanding of ecology and evolution enhances whatever profession one chooses to follow, is essential to effective citizenship, and in general enriches one’s life as a sentient being in this splendid, troubled world we inhabit. So let us step back for a moment from the issue of what individuals need to do to be successful in the academic marketplace, to reflect on how an appreciation of ecology and evolution fit into the broader issue of becoming an educated person. One mark of being human is our capacity for education. What is “education”? Howard Lee Nostrand (1946, cited in Rosovsky 1990, p. 100) stated that “education means the whole development of the individual, apart from his occupational training. It includes the civilizing of his life ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION, Vol. 55, 2009, pp. 307–313 DOI: 10.1560/IJEE.55.4.307
Using Machine Learning to Understand Changes in How Youth Discuss Bullying With Celebrities on Social Media

This study combines social science and machine learning methods to address three goals related to how individuals engage with celebrities on the topic of bullying. 1) Do the perceived bullying roles of celebrities change over time? 2) If bullying roles change over time what causes the shift- a specific event, a retweet phenomenon, or an unrelated event? 3) When roles change how long is the change for and does it differ by combination of roles or type of celebrity? It is critical to understand youth's bullying behaviors in relation to celebrities since social media is a space that may promote well-being around the topic of bullying and Twitter users frequently reach out to celebrities about bullying in both positive and negative ways.All 3,468,784 English language posts mentioning a top celebrity user within any post that contained a bullying keyword between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014 were collected from the Twitter streaming API. Humans annotated a subset of bullying tweets that mentioned any of the celebrity users to determine the bullying role of the celebrity (Xu, 2015). The roles were advocate, bully, confidant, other, requested advocate, and victim. A model was trained to automatically classify the celebrity role for the corpus of tweets. The annotated tweets were used as training data to train a support vector machine. Each tweet was represented by a vector of word counts known as a bag-of-words (BOW) representation with unigram (a single letter or word token) and bigram (two consecutive letter or word tokens) features (Zhu, Goldberg, Rabbat, & Nowak, 2008). The class label is the bullying role. The trained support vector machine was applied to all tweets.Findings indicate that roles do change for the majority of celebrities. However, most of the role changes are short term and triggered by statements made by the celebrity or retweets. Combining methods from two disciplines allowed for the use of massive amounts of real-world, real-time data about bullying. This study exemplifies how technology can be used to advance multiple areas of scientific research and has broad implications.
Modal property difference formulations and optimization algorithm comparison towards FE model updating

This research studies finite element (FE) model updating formulations utilizing the measured frequency-domain modal properties, i.e. resonance frequencies and mode shapes. The modal properties provided by an FE model are usually different from the ones experimentally measured from an as-built structure. To update the FE model parameters, optimization problems are formulated to minimize the difference between experimental and simulated modal properties. Two modal property difference formulations are presented in this research, one using MAC values and the other using direct differences between eigenvectors. To find the optimal solution of the formulated optimization problem, two optimization algorithms are studied for comparison, i.e. the Levenberg-Marquardt and the trust-region-reflective algorithms. Randomly generated starting values of optimization variables are adopted to increase the chance of finding global minimum. The model updating formulations with different optimization algorithms are studied with a space frame example.
Surface Magnon Polaritonics for Strong Magnetic Interactions with Light

We propose using surface magnon polaritons, an electromagnetically dual concept to surface plasmon polaritons, to access normally very inefficient spin-flip and other magnetic spontaneous emission processes.
Patterns of care for anal cancer in the United States - a comparison between academic and community cancer centers

Management of squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) is becoming more relevant, as its incidence increases. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible differences in patient population and care delivery for SCCA between academic and community cancer programs in the United States. A review of available data from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Cancer National Cancer DataBase focused on gender, age, race, type of health insurance, comorbidity score, distance traveled for care, stage at diagnosis, and therapy utilization (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy) as first course of treatment (FCT). The analysis included 38,766 patients treated for SCCA. Of them, 14,422 patients received treatment at Academic Cancer Programs (ACPs), while 24,344 were treated at Community Cancer Programs (CCPs) between the years 2003 and 2013. Over the 11-year study period, ACPs had significantly more male patients, of younger age, a greater non-white race population, with more Medicaid or no insurance coverage, who traveled farther for cancer center care (p < 0.001). There was no difference between ACPs and CCPs with respect to Charlson co-morbidity score and stage of SCCA at diagnosis. For stage 0 patients, use of chemotherapy was 8% for ACPs, 9% for CCPs, and use of radiotherapy was 10% for ACPs and 14% for CCPs. The incidence of stage unknown was identical at both ACPs and CCPs (11.5%). CCPs had a greater overall utilization of radiation therapy as FCT for stage 0, I, II and IV patients (p < 0.001). Our study indicates that gender, demographic and socio-economic differences exist in the patient population with SCCA accessing different cancer programs in the US. The high incidence of stage unknown patients reflects ongoing challenges in the pre-treatment phase. A significant percentage of stage 0 patients received systemic chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, rather than surgery alone. Despite comparable stage at diagnosis and comorbidity scores between ACPs and CCPs, there appear to be variations in treatment choices, especially with the use of radiotherapy, with associated cost and toxicity risks. Further analysis and monitoring of SCCA management in the US may lead to improved compliance with NCCN guidelines.
A multi-channel defense against communication denial-of-service attacks in wireless networks

In this dissertation, we focus on the security and reliability of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We specifically address attacks which target the availability of the wireless communication medium. Due to their unattended functioning and over-the-air communication, WSNs are particularly vulnerable to link-level denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against the communication channel. Our main contribution is to design reactive solutions that can achieve a higher throughput out of an attacked region via the use of parallel communication paths. Our approach uses a hybrid Medium Access Control layer consisting of both CSMA and time-slotted channel access mechanisms. We define and analyze a set of distributed transmission scheduling algorithms for use in the attacked region, ranging from management-free to precise coordinated scheduling. To implement our techniques, we develop a distributed data exfiltration protocol which has two variants, one to act as a response against single-hop attacks and another which provides resilience against attacks affecting multi-hop regions. Extensive experimental evaluation shows that under many attack scenarios our approach achieves a data delivery rate comparable to pre-attack conditions and far lower latency than other similar approaches. Furthermore, a simulation-based evaluation of the data exfiltration methods and protocols as a fault-tolerance mechanism in protecting a critical infrastructure has demonstrated that its incorporation in the application’s design will lead to increased reliability and robustness in WSNs.
Microsystems in Health Care: Part 3. Planning Patient-Centered Services

BACKGROUND: Strategic focus on the clinical microsystems--the small, functional, frontline units that provide most health care to most people--is essential to designing the most efficient, populati ...
Fuel Cells for Automotive Applications

The main properties of the fuel cells based on polymeric electrolyte are described in this chapter explaining the technical reasons that make them more suitable to automotive applications in comparison with other types of fuel cells. A preliminary discussion on basic thermodynamic and kinetic concepts necessary for the comprehension of fuel cell electrochemistry is presented before describing details and problems of the different components of a polymeric electrolyte fuel cell: membrane electrolyte, electrocatalysts, gas diffusion layers, bipolar plates. The effect of different operative parameters (membrane humidity grade, reactant pressure, stack temperature, stoichiometric ratio) on stack performance is experimentally analyzed, evidencing the kinetic limitations which cause efficiency losses. A brief discussion on stack durability issues concludes the chapter.
ESTIMATES OF SUBPRIMAL YIELDS FROM BEEF CARCASSES AS AFFECTED BY USDA GRADES, SUBCUTANEOUS FAT TRIM LEVEL, AND CARCASS SEX CLASS AND TYPE

One hundred beef carcasses were selected to represent the mix of cattle slaughtered across the United States. Selection criteria included breed type (60% British/continental European, 20% Bos indicus, and 20% dairy carcasses), sex class (beef and Bos indicus: 67% steers, 33% heifers; dairy: 100% steers), USDA quality grade (4% Prime, 53% Choice, and 43% Select), USDA yield grade (10% YG 1, 43% YG 2, 40% YG 3, and 7% YG 4), and carcass weight (steers: 272.2 to 385.6 kg, heifers: 226.8 to 340.2 kg). One side of each carcass was fabricated into boneless subprimals and minor cuts following Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications. After fabrication, subprimals were trimmed progressively of fat in .64-cm increments beginning with a maximum of 2.54 cm and ending with .64 cm. Linear regression models were developed for each individual cut, including fabrication byproduct items (bone, fat trim) to estimate the percentage yield of those cuts reported by USDA Market News. Strip loin, top sirloin butt, and gooseneck rounds from heifers tended to have a higher percentage yield at the same USDA yield grade than the same cuts from steers, possibly resulting from increased fat deposition on heifers. Percentage of fat trimmed from dairy steers was 2 to 3% lower than that from other sex-class/carcass types; however, due to increased percentage of bone and less muscle, dairy steers were lower-yielding. Fat trimmed from carcasses ranged from 7.9 to 15.6% as the maximum trim level decreased from 2.54 to .64 cm.
IMAGE PROCESSING SOFTWARE A SURVEY

As with many software systems, the languages of language systems used for image processing are proliferating rapidly. This would be justified if each image processing application required unique and specialized data types, control structures, and directives. However this is often not the case and proliferation, in contrast to coordination, has had the result of stultifying work in the image processing field. This chapter surveys image processing software comprehensively for the purpose of reviewing the state-of-the-art and of encouraging coordination between research groups in this field.
A Novel Approach for Total Nasal Reconstruction.

A 61-year-old woman who lost her nose, upper lip, and most of her midface bony structures because of cancer 20 years previously underwent advanced surgical reconstruction. This patient previously underwent multiple reconstructive surgeries that failed to satisfactorily restore her nose. Therefore, a multistage reconstruction was performed to recreate a complete nose and increase her upper lip length. Because of a lack of sufficient facial bone and nasal supporting structures, the reconstruction was extremely challenging. Virtual surgical planning technology was used to create a customized titanium nasal plate. The patient's nose was successfully reconstructed using the nasal plate, costal cartilage, and a paramedian forehead flap. The patient is highly satisfied with the cosmetic and functional results and has had marked psychosocial improvement since the reconstruction.
Kidney Ultrasound Findings in Sickle Cell Anemia According to Kidney Disease and the APOL1 G1/G2 Risk Variants

Abstract Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited red blood cell disorder that leads to kidney disease in up to two-thirds of adults. Ultrasound is a non-invasive modality that can identify pathologic changes in the kidney. Previous studies have demonstrated that SCA patients have larger and more echogenic kidneys compared to non-SCA patients, but the association of abnormal kidney ultrasound findings with kidney function or with the APOL1 G1/G2 kidney risk variants in SCA is not clear. We conducted a retrospective analysis to evaluate the association of kidney ultrasound findings with markers of kidney function and the APOL1 G1/G2 risk variants at our institution. Clinical and laboratory variables were collected closest to the time of the ultrasound. Ultrasounds were independently reviewed by radiologists who were blinded to the measures of kidney function and APOL1 G1/G2 risk status. APOL1 G1 and G2 and α-thalassemia status were determined by PCR. Homozygous or compound heterozygous inheritance of the G1 and/or G2 risk variants was defined as high risk. Echogenicity was classified as normal if the renal cortex was less echogenic than the adjacent liver or spleen, mild if the renal cortex was the same or mildly more echogenic than the adjacent liver or spleen, and markedly increased if the renal cortex echogenicity was obliterating the renal sinus. Normal kidney size ranges were defined as 10-14cm in men and 9-13cm in women. Hemoglobinuria was defined as urinalysis positive for blood by dipstick with Between 2/2002 and 2/2018, 199 SCA patients had an abdominal or retroperitoneal ultrasound performed with assessment of the kidneys. The median age of the cohort was 35 years (interquartile range [IQR], 24-46 years) and 37% were male. Echogenicity of the kidneys was normal in 125 (63%), mildly increased in 43 (22%), and markedly increased in 31 (16%) SCA patients. Incremental kidney echogenicity was associated with older age, increased albuminuria, and lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (P Kidney size measurements were categorized as small in 20 (10%), normal size in 157 (79%), and large in 22 (11%) of SCA patients. Smaller kidneys were associated with older age (P=0.03), increased albuminuria (P=0.04) and a lower eGFR (P=0.003) (Figure 2). We did not observe significant associations between kidney size and hemoglobinuria, α-thalassemia status, or APOL1 G1/G2 risk variant status. In conclusion, we demonstrate that in SCA patients, increased kidney echogenicity and smaller kidney size are associated with older age, reduced eGFR, and worsening albuminuria. Furthermore, absence of α-thalassemia, and presence of the APOL1 G1/G2 kidney risk variants are associated with the degree of kidney echogenicity. Future studies evaluating the utility of kidney ultrasounds as a clinical tool to monitor kidney disease and its progression in SCA are warranted. Download : Download high-res image (342KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Droplet actuation on superhydrophobic substrates via electric field gradients

A superhydrophobic surface is non-sticking to aqueous droplets due to minimized solid-liquid contact, but the small contact area also poses challenges to droplet maneuvering. This letter reports a technique using electric field gradients to actuate aqueous droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces. A pin-ring electrode pair underneath the insulating superhydrophobic surface is used to generate electric field gradient above the surface, with the field focused around the pin. The non-uniform field operates on the electrostatically induced charges on the droplet, producing an actuation force attracting the droplet toward the pin. The actuation force is proportional to the square of the imposed field as shown in both experiments and simulations. This non-contact actuation technique is effective in electrostatically trapping and translating superhydrophobic droplets, despite the small solid-liquid contact. The pin-ring configuration can be readily extended to a pin array between two parallel lines, which essentially form a stretched ring closing at infinity. The pin array is used to demonstrate individual actuation of two droplets leading to their eventual coalescence.
Comparison of tumor characteristics and survival between esophageal and other gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms.

e15556Background: Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NEN) of esophagus are extremely rare. Limited information is available on survival of these tumors. The objective of this study was to define the clinico...
Effects of Intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Thermal Imaging Signal Artifact During Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy on Thermal Damage Estimate and Postoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Ablative Area Concordance.

BACKGROUND Magnetic resonance-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MRgLITT) is a minimally invasive procedure that utilizes intraoperative magnetic resonance thermal imaging (MRTI) to generate a thermal damage estimate (TDE) of the ablative area. In select cases, the MRTI contains a signal artifact or defect that distorts the ablative region. No study has considered the impact of this artifact on TDE accuracy. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of intraoperative MRTI signal artifact on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-predicted ablative area. METHODS All ablations were performed using the Visualase MRI-Guided Laser Ablation System (Medtronic). Patients were grouped based on whether the intraoperative MRTI contained signal artifact that distorted the ablative region. Cross-sectional area of the ablative lesion from the MRI image was measured, and the difference between intraoperative TDE and postoperative MRI cross-sectional area was calculated and compared between groups with and without intraoperative MRTI artifact. RESULTS A total of 91 patients undergoing MRgLITT for various surgical indications were examined. MRTI artifact was observed in 43.9% of cases overall. The mean absolute difference between TDE and the postoperative MRI cross-sectional area was 94.8 mm2 (SEM = 11.6) in the group with intraoperative MRTI artifact and 54.4 mm2 (SEM = 5.5) in the nonartifact group. CONCLUSION MRTI signal artifact is common during LITT. The presence of signal artifact during intraoperative MRTI results in higher variation between intraoperative TDE and postoperative MRI cross-sectional ablative area. In cases in which intraoperative MRTI artifact is observed, there may be a larger degree of variation between observed intraoperative TDE and measured postoperative MRTI ablative area.
Data‐driven physiologic thresholds for iron deficiency associated with hematologic decline

Iron-deficiency contributes to a ∼50% of anemia prevalence worldwide, but reference intervals for iron status tests are not optimized for anemia diagnosis. To address this limitation, we identified the serum ferritin (SF) thresholds associated with hematologic decline in iron-deficient patients, and the SF thresholds from which an SF increase was associated with hematologic improvement. Paired red blood cell and SF measurements were analysed from two adult cohorts at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), from 2008-2011 (N = 48 409), and 2016-2018 (N = 10 042). Inter-patient measurements in the first cohort were used to define optimal SF thresholds based on the physiologic relationship between SF and red cell measurements. Intra-patient measurements (1-26 weeks apart) in the second cohort were used to identify SF thresholds from which an SF increase was associated, with an increase in red cell measurements. The identified optimal SF thresholds varied with age, sex and red cell measure. Thresholds associated with a ∼5% decline in red cell index were typically in the range 10-25 ng/mL. Thresholds for younger women (18-45 year) were ∼5 ng/mL lower than for older women (60-95 years), and ∼10 ng/mL lower than for men. Thresholds from which a subsequent increase in SF was associated with a concomitant increase in red cell measure showed similar patterns: younger women had lower thresholds (∼15 ng/mL) than older women (∼25 ng/mL), or men (∼35 ng/mL). These results suggest that diagnostic accuracy may be improved by setting different SF thresholds for younger women, older women, and men. This study illustrates how clinical databases may provide physiologic evidence for improved diagnostic thresholds.
Abstract WMP79: Recapitulation on the Ground of Helicopter Flight Low Frequency Vibration Enhances Stroke Thrombolysis

Background: Understanding the potential effects on stroke outcome of the unique physical factors present in a helicopter ambulance flight is critical in the era of thrombectomy. However, this facto...
Incision of Ma’adim Vallis (Mars) by dry volcanic megafloods effused from multiple highland sources

Abstract The Ma’adim Vallis channel system extends ~900 ​km northward across the highlands of Terra Cimmeria into Gusev crater. Formation of this system has previously been attributed to the past operation of aqueous processes variously involving periodic surface runoff from adjacent intercrater plains, releases from one or more highland lakes, sudden and voluminous effusions of groundwater, and/or basal sapping. Some researchers have interpreted Ma’adim Vallis as a product of multiple discrete episodes of highland water flow that collectively occurred over a broad time frame extending from the Noachian to the Amazonian, but others have favored catastrophic development of the system as a result of the partial drainage of a long-lived lake hypothesized to have existed in the Eridania basin in the Late Noachian. Problematically, clear geomorphological and mineralogical evidence is lacking for the past voluminous flow of water along Ma’adim Vallis, and for the existence of one or more long-lived water bodies in adjacent highlands. Instead, the properties of Ma’adim Vallis suggest dry volcanic origins involving effusions of low-viscosity flood lavas from multiple highland sources during the Noachian and Hesperian. The geochemistry of lavas accumulated near the mouth of Ma’adim Vallis suggests viscosities sufficiently low to have allowed for substantial incision into bedrock substrates if lavas were erupted at high effusion rates and with high total volumes. Formation of Ma’adim Vallis is estimated to have required effusion of a minimum lava volume of ~112,000 ​km3. Development of many other highland channel networks on Mars is expected to have involved analogous volcanic processes.