cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Octilinear redistributive routing in bump arrays

This paper proposes a scheme for automatic re-distribution layer (RDL) routing, which is used in chip-package connections. Traditional RDL routing designs are mostly performed manually because the wire geometries are more flexible and therefore more difficult to handle on RDL than on chip. For example, octilinear routing is manufacturable in RDL and is widely adopted due to its higher efficiency than Manhattan routing. In this paper we devise a polynomial time octilinear RDL routing algorithm based on a grid network embedded in the bump array. The grid network is constructed to fully utilize the routing space as well as avoid any spacing violation. Detailed routing solution can be obtained following the min-cost max-flow in the network. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our router.
Caveolin-1 reduces HIV-1 infectivity by restoration of HIV Nef mediated impairment of cholesterol efflux by apoA-I

HIV infection results in inhibited cholesterol efflux by apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) in macrophages, and this impairment involves Nef mediated down-regulation and redistribution of ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA-1). We investigated the effect of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) on the cholesterol efflux by apoA-I in HIV infected primary and THP-1 cell-differentiated macrophages as well as astrocyte derived glioblastoma U87 cells. Our results reveal that Cav-1 restores the Nef -mediated impairment of cholesterol efflux by apoA-I in both cell types. Co-immunoprecipitation studies indicate a physical association of Cav-1 and Nef. The level of ABCA-1 expression remains the same whether Cav-1 is over-expressed or not. In addition, we examined the cholesterol composition of HIV particles released from Cav-1 treated cells and identified that the cholesterol content is dramatically reduced. The infectivity level of these virus particles is also significantly decreased. These observations suggest that the interplay of Cav-1 with Nef and cholesterol subsequently counters Nef induced impairment of cholesterol efflux by apoA-l. The findings provide a cellular mechanism by which Cav-1 has an ability to restore HIV mediated impairment of cholesterol efflux in macrophages. This subsequently influences the cholesterol content incorporated into virus particles thereby inhibiting HIV infectivity and contributing to HIV’s persistent infection of macrophages.
Mechanism of cardiac depression after trauma-hemorrhage: increased cardiomyocyte IL-6 and effect of sex steroids on IL-6 regulation and cardiac function.

A prolonged depression of cardiovascular function occurs in males after trauma-hemorrhagic shock (T-H). Although a correlation between increased circulatory IL-6 levels and poor outcome has been re...
Organization-Ontology Based Framework for Implementing the Business Understanding Phase of Data Mining Projects

CRISP-DM is a detailed and widely used data mining methodology that aims to provide explicit guidance regarding how the various phases of a data mining project could be executed. The 'business understanding' phase marks the beginning of a data mining project and forms the foundation for the execution of the remaining phases. Unfortunately, the real-world implementation of this pivotal phase is performed in a rather unstructured and ad-hoc manner. We argue that the reason for this lies in the lack of support in form of appropriate tools and techniques that can be used to execute the large number of activities (=67) prescribed within this phase. This paper presents an organization-ontology based framework that not only incorporates the applicable tools and techniques, but also provides the ability to present the output of activities in a form that allows for at least their semi-automated integration with activities of this phase and succeeding phases.
Changes of synaptic efficacy in the medial geniculate nucleus as a result of auditory classical conditioning

In this study we examined inputs to neurons in the medial subnucleus of the medial geniculate nucleus (mMG) for changes of synaptic efficacy associated with heart-rate conditioning to an auditory conditioned stimulus (CS). Conditioning-related changes of synaptic efficacy were measured in awake animals by examining mMG single-unit responses evoked by stimulation of one of two areas that send auditory CS and nonauditory information monosynaptically to the mMG, the brachium of the inferior colliculus (BlC) and the superior colliculus (SC). Synaptic efficacy was measured before, immediately after, and 1 hr after one session of classical conditioning with a tone CS and a corneal airpuff unconditioned stimulus. To determine whether conditioning produced changes of synaptic efficacy on the auditory BlC inputs to mMG cells and not general changes of cellular excitability, analyses of synaptic efficacy were performed on the mMG units that exhibited short-latency evoked responses (< 3.5 msec) to both BlC and SC stimulation. Analyses revealed that the BlC but not the SC test stimulus-evoked unit activity from the same neurons exhibited the following changes immediately after conditioning: decreases in unit response latency, increases in unit response reliability, and increases in spike frequency. BlC-evoked unit responses after pseudoconditioning did not exhibit these changes in unit responding. These results suggest that the synapses carrying auditory CS information to mMG neurons increase in strength as the result of associative conditioning with an acoustic CS. Some of these changes of synaptic efficacy remained 1 hr after training.
Another look at heavy episodic drinking and alcohol use disorders among college and noncollege youth.

Objective To estimate rates of heavy episodic drinking, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence among U.S. adults 18-29 years of age and determine the relationship of these rates to student status and residence. Method The analysis is based on data from a subsample of U.S. adults 18-29 years of age (N = 8666; 4849 female) who were interviewed as part of the 2001-02 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N = 43,093). Data were collected in personal interviews from a representative sample of adults 18 and older, living in households and selected group quarters in the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii and the District of Columbia. Results Of all adults 18-29 years of age, 73.1% reported any drinking in the past year, 39.6% reported any heavy episodic drinking, 21.1% reported heavy drinking more than once a month and 11.0% reported heavy drinking more than once a week. Among past-year drinkers, these correspond to rates of 54.3% for any heavy episodic drinking, 28.9% for heavy drinking more than once a month and 15.0% for heavy drinking more than once a week. Although rates of heavy episodic drinking were slightly higher for college students than for noncollege students (p Conclusions Heavy episodic drinking and alcohol use disorders are youth as well as college phenomena. Prevention campaigns targeted at all youth are needed to supplement interventions conducted at the campus level.
Risk Factors for Candidal Bloodstream Infections in Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patients: The NEMIS Prospective Multicenter Study

To assess risk factors for development of candidal blood stream infections (CBSIs), a prospective cohort study was performed at 6 sites that involved all patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) for >48 h over a 2-year period. Among 4276 such patients, 42 CBSIs occurred (9.82 CBSIs per 1000 admissions). The overall incidence was 0.98 CBSIs per 1000 patient days and 1.42 per 1000 SICU days with a central venous catheter in place. In multivariate analysis, factors independently associated with increased risk of CBSI included prior surgery (relative risk [RR], 7.3), acute renal failure (RR, 4.2), receipt of parenteral nutrition (RR, 3.6), and, for patients who had undergone surgery, presence of a triple lumen catheter (RR, 5.4). Receipt of an antifungal agent was associated with decreased risk (RR, 0.3). Prospective clinical studies are needed to identify which antifungal agents are most protective and which high-risk patients will benefit from antifungal prophylaxis.
To Handle, to Learn and to Manipulate the Attacker's (Uncertain) Payoffs in Security Games: Doctoral Consortium

Stackelberg security games (SSGs) are now established as a powerful tool in security domains. In order to compute the optimal strategy for the defender in SSG model, the defender needs to know the attacker's preferences over targets so that she can predict how the attacker would react under a certain defender strategy. Uncertainty over attacker preferences may cause the defender to suffer large losses.My thesis focuses on uncertainty in attacker preferences: such uncertainty may arise because of uncertainty over attacker's risk attitude or uncertainty over true attacker payoffs. To that end, the first part of my thesis focuses on risk-averse attackers. Extensive studies show that the attackers in some domains are in fact risk-averse rather than risk-neutral, which has never been taken into account in previous security game literatures. To handle the attacker's risk aversion attitude in viewing payoffs, I develop an algorithm to compute the defender's robust strategy against an uncertain risk-averse attacker since the defenders are also uncertain about the degree of attacker's risk aversion. The second part of my thesis focuses on learning attacker payoffs. More specifically, the concept of SSGs has also been applied to the domain of protecting natural resources, where the attacker "attacks"(illegally extracts natural resources) frequently, which reveals his preference over different targets. Based on this concept, I develop the algorithm for the defender to learn target values from the attacker's actions and then use this information to better plan her strategy.
Decomposition of Molecules with n-Fold Symmetry

In Chapter 1 we developed graph theoretical methods for the facile solution of HMO parameters of conjugated polyenes with eight or less carbon vertices without having to expand their secular determinants. Also, it was shown that knowledge of some eigenvalues through other means, such as embedding, permitted us to solve even larger molecular polyenes for their HMO parameters. In this chapter, we will show how to decompose or fragment larger symmetrical molecular graphs into smaller subgraphs. The eigenvalues of these subgraphs then can be obtained by the methods discussed in Chapter 1. The collection of eigenvalues for these subgraphs will be eigenvalues of the precursor molecular graph. Mirror plane fragmentation of molecules having at least one mirror plane of symmetry (e.g., C 2v and D 2h) is the most general decomposition method.
Association between Lateral Skull Base Thickness and Surgical Outcomes in Spontaneous CSF Otorrhea

Objectives(1) Correlate skull base thickness with perioperative outcomes for spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) otorrhea. (2) Augment perioperative counseling of patients with abnormally thin skull bases.Study DesignCase series with chart review.SettingTertiary center. Patients with spontaneous CSF otorrhea have thin skull bases. This is associated with obesity and/or idiopathic intracranial hypertension. The influence of skull base thinning on perioperative outcomes is unknown.Subjects and MethodsA retrospective review was conducted from 2004 to 2014. Forty-eight cases of spontaneous CSF otorrhea met the inclusion criteria of primary surgery by the senior authors: preoperative dedicated temporal bone computed tomography, absence of other leak etiologies, and follow-up >6 months. Patients were stratified into thin ( 0.9 mm) groups based on computed tomography measures of their tegmen. Primary outcomes measures were as follows: postoperative meningitis, recurrent leak, second site le...
18F-FDG and 11C-PBR28 micro-PET and autoradiography for assessment of inflammation associated with rat abdominal aortic aneurysm development

1763 Objectives Detection of vascular wall inflammation might allow detection of impending abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture. As correlates of AAA inflammation, we evaluated 11C-PBR28 binding to peripheral macrophage translocator protein (TSPO), as well as 18F-FDG uptake in Sprague-Dawley rat aortic walls. Methods Infrarenal AAA development was induced by infusion of active (A-PPE, n=21) and heat-inactivated (I-PPE, control, n=18) porcine pancreatic elastase for 30 minutes. Fourteen days after PPE exposure, aortic diameters were determined with 12MHz ultrasound (US), and rats were imaged with dynamic microPET administering approx. 1 mCi of 18F-FDG (90 min scan; A-PPE n=10, I-PPE n=6) and 11C-PBR28 (60 min scan; A-PPE n=3, I-PPE n=3). Maximum infrarenal to mean suprarenal abdominal aortic uptake ratios (AARs) were determined. On autoradiography, mean infrarenal abdominal aortic to mean psoas muscle ratios (AMRs) were calculated for 18F-FDG (A-PPE n=3, I-PPE n=3) and 11C-PBR28 (A-PPE n=1, I-PPE n=1) and compared with macrophage specific CD68 immunohistochemistry (IHC). As an indirect correlate of macrophage presence, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) expression was evaluated with western blot analyses (A-PPE n=12, I-PPE n=5). Results On US, mean aortic diameter increases of 332.3% and 43.0% were observed in the A-PPE and I-PPE groups, respectively (p=0.0005). For 18F-FDG, mean AARs were 3.96 ± 0.42 and 1.75 ± 0.19 (p=0.0005), and the mean AMRs by autoradiography were 1.28 ± 0.20 and 0.38 ± 0.02 (p=0.046) for the A-PPE and I-PPE groups, respectively. Mean AARs by 11C-PBR28 imaging were 7.50 ± 1.56 and 2.55 ± 0.63 (p=0.042) for A-PPE and I-PPE groups, respectively. A-PPE CD68 staining and pro-MMP9 expression were significantly increased compared to controls. Conclusions 18F-FDG and 11C-PBR28 allow for monitoring of rat AAA inflammation. Additional studies are needed to assess the potential to predict AAA rupture. Research Support NIH F32 HL103065-01 (University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center Inaugural Grant Fund G009884
Characteristics of Hospitalized Children With a Diagnosis of Malnutrition United States, 2010

Introduction: Malnutrition is common in hospitalized patients in the United States. In 2010, 80,710 of 6,280,710 hospitalized children 3 times higher than those wi...
A NEW SPECIES OF LEPIOTA

Pileus 0.8-4 cm latus, conicus vel convexus demum convexus vel planoconvexus, siccus, glaber, obscure rufobrunneus vel brunneus, interdum luteo-suffusus. Caro lutea. Lamellae liberae, confertae vel subdistantae, luteae. Stipes 1.5-4.5 cm longus, 2.5-7 mm latus, fibrillosus, pallidus vel luteus, basi olivaceus vel brunneus. Annulus evanescens. Sporae 4.5-5.1 x 2.6-3.2 ,/, ovoideae vel breve ellipsoideae, non pseudo-amyloideae vel amyloideae. Cystidia nulla. Cuticula paliformis. Hab. in humo sub Cupresso macrocarpa Hartw. ex Gord. Typum legit H. D. Thiers, n. 24760, San Francisco Water Department Property, San Mateo Co., California, February 10, 1970; in herbario San Francisco State College conservatum.
Design and Performance Analysis of Nine Stages CMOS Based Ring Oscillator

This paper deals with the design and performance analysis of a ring oscillator using CMOS 45nm technology process in Cadence virtuoso environment. The design of optimal Analog and Mixed Signal (AMS) very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI) is a challenging task for the integrated circuit(IC) designer. A Ring Oscillator is an active device which is made up of odd number of NOT gates and whose output oscillates between two voltage levels representing high and low. There are a number of challenges ahead while designing the CMOS Ring Oscillator which are delay, noise and glitches. CMOS is the technology of choice for many applications, CMOS oscillators with low power, phase noise and timing jitter are highly desired. In this paper, we have designed a CMOS ring oscillator with nine stages. Previously, the researchers were unable to reduce the phase noise in ring oscillators substantially with nine stages. We have successfully reduced the phase noise to -6.4kdBc/Hz at 2GHz center frequency of oscillation.
280 BARRIERS TO OBTAINING HEALTH INSURANCE: A REALITY OR A MYTH?

Background Twenty-eight percent of Houston residents are uninsured, which constitutes one of the highest uninsured rates in the entire United States. A better understanding of barriers that underserved families in Houston face obtaining health insurance is needed to help improve the health insurance attainment process. Objectives To determine the association between sociodemographic factors and baseline knowledge of health insurance and to identify barriers experienced in obtaining health insurance. Design/Methods This prospective cohort study is being carried out at the SuperKids Mobile Clinic with data collection to be completed by November 2005. We enrolled parents/guardians of children without health insurance. A baseline and telephone follow-up survey was used to collect data on sociodemographics, health insurance knowledge, and barriers in obtaining health insurance. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared analysis, and multivariate logistic regression were employed in analyzing the data. Preliminary Results We found that parents/guardians who have at least a fifth-grade education (OR 7.7, 95% CI 1.33-4.49) or those with children aged 1 to 5 years (OR 8.0, 95% CI 1.03-6.61) are more likely to have heard of health insurance. African-American respondents are less likely to have heard of health insurance (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.06-0.81). Of the 170 participants who have completed the study thus far, 52 (31%) had obtained health insurance while 118 were still without insurance. Only 43 (36%) of the 118 respondents without insurance had applied. Problems with the application process were reported by 12 (13%) of the 95 respondents who had applied for insurance. These included difficulty accumulating the application paperwork (58%) and problems obtaining the employer wage verification form (8%). Further data collection and analysis on the remaining study participants will help clarify the barriers experienced in obtaining health insurance. Conclusions This study demonstrated specific populations that may benefit from focused counseling/education to increase their awareness of health insurance and subsequently improve health care access. In addition, barriers were also identified in the application process, which can help guide policy makers to target specific areas of improvement in this process.
Teaching at the University of Jordan.

Editor's note: This column chronicles the author's experience teaching abroad this past year.
New technique for the measurement of polarization-mode dispersion in optical materials and fibers

Correlated pairs of photons generated in nonlinear type-II spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) can be used to develop a new approach for directly measuring the group-velocity difference between two orthogonally polarized wave packets propagating inside optical materials or fibers with femtosecond time resolution. This technique can be used to improve the accuracy of polarization-mode-dispersion measurement in single-mode and high-birefringence fibers, fiber sensors, and birefringent materials, including nonlinear crystals, waveguides, Pockels cells, and Faraday rotators, in the visible and IR spectra.
Integration of sheep grazing for cover crop termination into market gardens: Agronomic consequences of an ecologically based management strategy

Cover crops are suites of non-marketable plants grown to improve soil tilth and reduce erosion. Despite these agronomic benefits, the use of cover crops is often limited because they do not provide a direct source of revenue for producers. Integrating livestock to graze cover crops could provide both an expeditious method for cover crop termination and an alternative source of revenue. However, there has been little research on the agronomic impacts of grazing for cover crop termination, especially in horticultural market-gardens. We conducted a 3-year study comparing the effects of sheep grazing to terminate a four species cover crop (buckwheat, sweetclover, peas and beets) with those of mowing on soil quality indicators, cover crop termination efficacy, and subsequent cash-crop yields. In addition, we tested the nutritional quality of the cover crop as forage. Compared with mowing, sheep grazing did not affect soil chemistry, temperature or moisture. Our study demonstrates that sheep grazing removed more cover crop biomass than mowing at termination. The assessment of nutritional indices suggests that the four-species cover crop mixture could provide high-quality forage with a potential value of US$144.00–481.80 ha−1 of direct revenue as a grazing lease. Cash-crop yields did not differ between previously grazed and previously mowed plots in the subsequent growing season. We conclude that integrating sheep grazing into market vegetable garden operations could make cover crops more economically viable without having adverse effects on subsequent cash crops.
Learning dynamic humanoid motion using predictive control in low dimensional subspaces

Imitation of complex human motion by a humanoid robot has long been recognized as an important problem in robotics. The problem is particularly difficult when body dynamics such as balance and stability must be taken into account during imitation. In this paper we present a framework applicable to the problem of imitating an input motion while simultaneously considering dynamic motion stability. Our framework leverages two main components. Firstly, dimensionality reduction techniques allow for efficient and compact state and control signal representations. Secondly, a learning-based predictive control architecture generates novel motions optimizing over expected sensory signals. We demonstrate results on modifying an input walking gait which allows for both faster and more stable walking
Double K-shell ionization in the electron capture decay of 54 Mn

The probability per $K$ capture for double $K$-shell ionization in the electron capture decay of $^{54}\mathrm{Mn}$ was studied by recording coincidences between Cr $K$ x rays when the two $K$-shell vacancies were filled. The probability for this decay was found to be (3.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 0.3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$, which is a factor of 1.5 times the theoretical prediction by Suzuki and Law, and 3.2 times that of Intemann. The energy shifts of the $\mathrm{Cr} K{\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{H}$ and $\mathrm{Cr} K{\ensuremath{\beta}}^{H}$ hypersatellites were found to be 254\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}18 and 319\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}22 eV, respectively, which are about 5% higher than the calculation of Chen, Crasemann, and Mark.
Mycorrhizal Mediation of Soil Fertility Amidst Nitrogen Eutrophication and Climate Change

Mycorrhizal fungi consume a large sink of carbon fixed by plants and supply a large fraction of nutrients. But there are a number of complex mechanisms for acquisition and transport that can vary in space and time. Global change is resulting in a general warming process caused by an anthropogenic elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) and increasing deposition of nitrogen oxide (NOx) from human activities. These directional changes alter the uptake and exchange mechanisms in novel ways. Specifically, both CO2 and nitrogen (N) availability are increasing. How mycorrhizas will respond to this novel environment is unpredictable. We present a dynamic stoichiometric conceptual approach to understand how mycorrhizal functioning might impact future soil-plant nutrition. C:N:phosphorus (P) ratios provide useful insights into processes such as photosynthesis, nutrient uptake, weathering, and mineralization. Based on this approach, we can develop predictive models for understanding mediation of soil fertility and plant production.
I11 Common but unrecognised symptoms in juvenile huntington’s disease (JHD)

Background JHD is ultra-rare (5–10% of all HD) and therefore our knowledge about it is spotty with most information coming from clinical experience or case series. Social media has allowed communities of JHD families to communicate regularly. Through this mechanism, we identified 5 symptoms that were often mentioned by JHD caretakers, but were not considered part of the classic triad of symptoms (motor, cognitive, behaviour): 1) sleep disturbance; 2) pain; 3) itching; 4) tics; 5) psychosis. We sought to quantify and clarify these symptoms in subjects with JHD. Aim To quantify and characterise 5 symptoms associated with JHD but outside of the classic features. Methods A Qualtrics on-line survey was constructed and distributed through Facebook and Twitter accounts associated with HD and JHD communities. JHD was defined by an age at diagnosis of 21 or younger. For each of the 5 symptoms, the survey inquired whether or not that symptom was present in the JHD subject; if yes, additional information location, severity, frequency, and nature was obtained. Results A total of 38 surveys were analysed. The % of respondents that answered ‘yes’ to the presence of each of the 5 symptoms were: Sleep disturbance (90%); tics (76%); Pain (68%); itching (57%) and psychosis (39%). Sleep disturbance was typically moderate to severe and nightly. Pain was localised mostly in the legs, also moderate to severe and daily. The phenomenon called ‘itching’ was not associated with any dermatologic changes and was also considered very problematic. The most common psychotic symptom was visual hallucinations. Conclusion These symptoms are common but unrecognised in JHD. Many families expressed frustration at the lack of knowledge about these symptoms or how to treat them. Better understanding of these symptoms will require a study to determine potential neurobiology and should lead to development of more effective treatment plans.
Candidate Identity and Strategic Communication: Exploratory Analysis of the Influence of Race and Gender on Campaign Messaging

When women and racial minorities run for office, they face significant disadvantages. Voters prefer the leadership traits of men and view minority candidates as lacking competence and intelligence (Huddy and Feldman, 2009; Lawless, 2004; Tesler, 2013). Voters also use stereotypes to attribute ideological positions (Mcdermott, 1998). I argue that candidates are aware of the race and gender stereotypes they may face, and that candidates effectively deal with these stereotypes through use of both issue ownership and compensation for potential trait ownership deficits. For example, women and minorities are more concerned about their electoral viability, and employ strategies to quell their anxieties (Pearson and McGhee, 2013). Providing information about candidate qualifications and positions can attenuate the effects of voter attitudes (Ditonto et al., 2014; Mo, 2014). But how do strategic candidates deliver information about their qualifications and issue positions? What messages are prioritized? I expand upon the broader literature by assessing the influence of race and gender on the strategic communication of candidates. To accomplish this, I introduce a novel dataset built from the campaign website texts of 2,434 candidates who ran for office in the 2014 election cycle. Using Structural Topic Modeling and Latent Dirichlet Allocation, I find that female and racial minority candidates differ from their male and White counterparts in policy engagement. Moreover, they differ in use of thematic frames and expositions of competency. Women and racial minority candidates respond to deficits in voter perceptions by discussing their background, endorsements, work ethic, fundraising and election.
"Because I say so": The Impact of Leaders’ Attitudes Toward Organizational Change

Change is part of daily organizational life. While previous research has largely focused on the importance of leaders as change agents, scholars are increasingly arguing for a shift away from a lea...
Auditory Cognitive Training for Pediatric Cochlear Implant Recipients.

Objectives Understanding speech in noise is the biggest challenge faced by individuals with cochlear implants (CIs). Improving speech-in-noise perception for pediatric CI recipients continues to remain a high priority for all stakeholders. This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of working memory training for improving speech-in-noise recognition for children with CIs. Design Fourteen children with CIs (aged 6 to 15 years) received adaptive, home-based training on forward digit span task for 5 weeks, while 13 children with CIs participated in backward digit span training. Seventeen age-matched children with CIs in the control group received a placebo. Outcome measures included forward and backward digit span and speech recognition threshold for digit triplets in noise at pretraining, post-training, and 5-week follow-up. Performance measures from 26 age-matched children with normal hearing were also obtained only at the baseline session to generate normative standards for comparison. Results Digit span scores were significantly higher at post-training and follow-up compared with pretraining for both forward- and backward-trained groups. Both trained groups showed similar training-induced shifts. The control group showed no such improvement. There was no effect of training on the speech recognition threshold. Children with CIs showed significantly lower digit span scores and a higher speech recognition threshold relative to children with normal hearing. Conclusions Training improves working memory capacity as measured by digit spans for children with CIs. Training-induced improvements are stable for at least 5 weeks. Learning effects demonstrate near-transfer, from forward to backward digit span and vice versa, but failed to show far-transfer to speech-in-noise recognition. Current evidence is not supportive of cognitive training for improving speech-in-noise performance for children with CIs.
Studies of Photosystem II Using Azide as an Inhibitor of Oxygen Evolution

Chloride is required for proper function of the oxygen evolving complex in Photosystem II (P SIT). Chloride-depletion and replacement of chloride with some anions, such as F−, interferes with normal formation of the EPR signals from the S2 state, suppressing the multiline signal and causing an increase in the g=4.1 signal (1, 2). Chloride binds to one high affinity, slow exchange site in PSII with dissociation constant Kd =20 μM (3). This site goes into a lower affinity form after chloride-depletion (3).
Big data resources for EEGs: Enabling deep learning research

The Temple University Hospital (TUH) electroencephalography (EEG) Corpus is the world's largest open source EEG corpus of its kind [1]. This corpus consists of over 25,000 EEG studies and over 14,000 patients, and includes a neurologist's interpretation of the test, a brief medical history of the patient, and demographic information about the patients such as gender and age. This database represents the efforts of the Department of Neurology and the Neural Engineering Data Consortium to support the use of EEG data in machine learning research. The data was collected in normal clinical settings and hence includes many non-epileptic features such as muscle and movement artifacts, and a variety of channel configurations that cannot be found in currently available, more sanitized datasets. This is the first dataset of its kind to contain a sufficient amount of EEG data to support the application of state of the art deep learning algorithms. The most recent release of this corpus is vl.0.0 which includes 13,550 patients, 23,218 EEG sessions with reports and 61,634 EEG files.
Design of Vaccines for the Induction of Antibody Responses in Th-Cell Deficient Individuals

Development of a vaccine to protect against infection with HIV-1 or to enhance antiviral immunity after HIV-1 has established itself in the host, is a major challenge to researchers. The virus has evolved many successful ways of evading the immune system which include its innate ability to mutate immunodominant regions and to lie dormant for many years as an integrated part of the human genome. In addition, the major target of HIV-1 is the CD4+ T-helper cell (Lane and Fauci, 1985). This cell plays a central role in the induction of effector cells responses to viruses. Early on following infection CD4+ Th cells are decreased in function and gradually are also decreased in number. Since these helper cell are required for specific immune responses to protein antigens, in terms of antibody and cytotoxic T cell responses (CTL), the host loses ability to attack the virus and to ward off other infections. The vaccines that are currently in clinical trials involve the use of proteins which probably require normal function of CD4+ Th in order that primary and secondary immune responses take place.
Choices, Identities, Paths: Understanding College Students’ Academic Decisions

Curricular exploration is a fateful and internationally peculiar component of undergraduate academic life in the United States, yet the mechanisms through which college students consider and select courses have received only modest social-scientific attention. Insights from organizational theory, decision research, and social psychology can inform further inquiry. Drawing on preliminary empirical research involving a web-based course exploration and planning tool in use at a private U.S. research university, we develop a conceptual framework for studying college students’ academic choices as an important instance of decision making under conditions of uncertainty.
Dramatic hydrodynamic and sedimentary responses in Galveston Bay and adjacent inner shelf to Hurricane Harvey.

Abstract Hurricane Harvey, one of the worst hurricanes that hit the United States in recent history, poured record-breaking rainfall across the Houston metropolitan area. Based on a comprehensive set of data from various sources, we examined the dramatic responses in hydrodynamic and sedimentary processes of Galveston Bay to this extreme event. Using a freshwater fraction method that circumvents the uncertainties in surface runoff and groundwater discharge, the freshwater load into the bay during Harvey and the following month was estimated to be 11.1 × 109 m3, about 3 times the bay volume, which had completely refreshed the entire bay. Harvey also delivered 9.86 × 107 metric tons of sediment into the bay, equivalent to 18 years of average annual sediment load. At a site inside the San Jacinto Estuary, acute bed erosion of 48 cm followed by deposition of 22 cm of new sediment was observed from the sediment cores. Slow salinity recovery (~2 month) and a thick flood deposit (~10.5 cm average over the entire bay) had likely impacted the ecosystem in the bay and the adjacent inner shelf. Estuaries with similar bathymetric and geometric characteristics, i.e., shallow bathymetry with narrow outlets, are expected to experience similar dramatic estuarine responses while extreme precipitation events are expected to occur more frequently under the warming climate.
Intelligent Solar Cell Carrier (iSC 2 ) for Solar Cell Calibration Standards

AM0 solar cell measurements currently require calibrated balloon standards for tuning solar simulators. The uncertainty in the solar cell measurement is largely dependent on the quality of the calibrated balloon standard used to tune the simulator. Current practices reduce this uncertainty to ∼1% while requiring expensive and infrequent methods for obtaining new calibration standards. This paper outlines an effort to reduce the uncertainty of the calibration standard, while providing a solution for low cost and frequent standard creation.
Chapter 17 – Lasers in Electronic Fabrication

This chapter describes the status and future prospects for laser processing of the electronic circuit elements. It emphasizes the currently used applications in electronic fabrication, and discusses the developing approaches for the usage of lasers in integrated circuit fabrication. Laser processing is widely used for fabrication of electronic components. Some of the applications include trimming of resistors, hole drilling, scribing, and marking. The trimming of resistors can significantly increase the yield in the processing of resistive elements. Resistors are fabricated with low values of resistance and then trimmed by removing the material from the conducting path. The value of the resistance can be monitored during the trimming process, and the trimming is terminated when the desired resistance is reached. Lasers may also be used to fabricate microcircuits via the controlled deposition of semiconductors, metals, and insulators. The CO 2 and the infrared Nd:YAG lasers are widely used in the electronic processing applications, especially for trimming and drilling.
Angular Distribution of Alphas from Li 6 ( d , α ) α and Li 7 ( p , α ) α

The intensity of the reaction ${\mathrm{Li}}^{6}(d,\ensuremath{\alpha})\ensuremath{\alpha}$ is observed to vary with angle as $1+A(E){cos}^{2}\ensuremath{\theta}+B(E){cos}^{4}\ensuremath{\theta}$, as expected from the Bose statistics of the product alphas, with $A(E)$ rising gradually beginning just below 1 Mev to a broad maximum a little below unity at a bombarding energy $E$ in the neighborhood of 2 Mev. The coefficient $B(E)$ remains zero up to almost 1.5 Mev and rises to a positive value of about 0.35 at higher energies. The yield curve observed at right angles to the beam displays a sharp maximum at 0.75 Mev and there is evidence of approach to another peak at or just beyond the highest bombarding energy employed, 3.75 Mev. The substitution of a proportional counter for the ionization chamber used in earlier work has made possible improvement over our earlier observations of the angular distribution of the reaction ${\mathrm{Li}}^{7}(p,\ensuremath{\alpha})\ensuremath{\alpha}$ in the neighborhood of 3 Mev, where difficulty was experienced in the discrimination against pile-up of scattered protons, and the new results show a node in the curve for $A(E)$ at 2.7 Mev. A peak in the yield curve of this reaction is found at 3 Mev, which is about 3 Mev lower in the compound nucleus ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$ than the lower peak observed in the reaction ${\mathrm{Li}}^{6}(d,\ensuremath{\alpha})\ensuremath{\alpha}$. There is great similarity in the trends of the angular distributions of the two reactions, but their coefficients $B(E)$ have opposite signs in the energy regions investigated, and both $A(E)$ and $B(E)$ rise from zero more gradually in ${\mathrm{Li}}^{6}(d,\ensuremath{\alpha})\ensuremath{\alpha}$ than in ${\mathrm{Li}}^{7}(p,\ensuremath{\alpha})\ensuremath{\alpha}$ as the bombarding energy increases from low values.
Changes in depressive symptoms over age among older Americans: Differences by gender, race/ethnicity, education, and birth cohort.

Abstract Despite concerns about recent trends in the health and functioning of older Americans, little is known about dynamics of depression among recent cohorts of U.S. older adults and how these dynamics differ across sociodemographic groups. This study examined sociodemographic differences in mid- and late-life depressive symptoms over age, as well as changes over time. Using nationally representative data from the Health and Retirement Study (1994–2014), we estimated mixed effects models to generate depressive symptoms over age by gender, race/ethnicity, education, and birth cohort in 33,280 adults ages 51–90 years. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 8-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. Women compared to men, low compared to high education groups, and racial/ethnic minorities compared to whites exhibited higher depressive symptoms. The largest disparity resulted from education, with those without high school degrees exhibiting over two more predicted depressive symptoms in midlife compared to those with college degrees. Importantly, war babies and baby boomers (born 1942–1959) exhibited slightly higher depressive symptoms with more decreasing symptoms over age than their predecessors (born 1931–1941) at ages 51–65. We additionally observed an age-as-leveler pattern by gender, whereby females compared to males had higher depressive symptomology from ages 51–85, but not at ages 86–90. Our findings have implication for gauging the aging population's overall well-being, for public health policies aimed at reducing health disparities, and for anticipating demand on an array of health and social services.
Determinants of Microbial Antibiotic Susceptibility: The Commensal Gut Microbiota Perspective.

Ng et al. (2019) unravel the complex factors that shape commensal gut microbiota susceptibility and resilience to antibiotics. These findings depict the microbiota's malleable dynamics resulting from compositional changes, environmental variability, and dietary shifts, further informing potential strategies to mitigate incomplete microbiome recovery accompanying antibiotic treatment.
Emerging drugs for small cell lung cancer: a focused review on immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive malignancy that accounts for 15% of all lung cancers. It is characterized by initial responsiveness to therapy followed by rapid disease progression t...
A phase 0 trial of riluzole in patients with resectable stage III or IV melanoma.

LB-244 Abstract LB-244 was submitted as a Late-Breaking Abstract and is embargoed until the time of presentation. The complete abstract will be posted to this site at or after the following date and time: 4/15/2008 1:00 PM.
Condorcet Relaxation In Spatial Voting

Consider a set of voters V, represented by a multiset in a metric space (X,d). The voters have to reach a decision - a point in X. A choice p∈ X is called a β-plurality point for V, if for any other choice q∈ X it holds that |{v∈ V ∣ β⋅ d(p,v)≤ d(q,v)}| ≥|V|/2 . In other words, at least half of the voters ``prefer'' over q, when an extra factor of β is taken in favor of p. For β=1, this is equivalent to Condorcet winner, which rarely exists. The concept of β-plurality was suggested by Aronov, de Berg, Gudmundsson, and Horton [SoCG 2020] as a relaxation of the Condorcet criterion. Denote by β*(X,d) the value sup{ β ∣ every finite multiset V in X admits a β-plurality point}}. The parameter β* determines the amount of relaxation required in order to reach a stable decision. Aronov et al. showed that for the Euclidean plane β*(ℝ2,\|⋅\|2)=√3/2 , and more generally, for d-dimensional Euclidean space, 1/√d ≤ β*(ℝd,\|⋅\|2)≤√3/2 . In this paper, we show that 0.557≤ β*(ℝd,\|⋅\|2) for any dimension d (notice that 1/√d
Preventing School Failure for Teachers, Revisited: Special Educators Explore Their Emotional Labor

This article describes a study conducted collaboratively with 19 special educators to learn about their emotional practice through the emotional labor framework. Emotional labor refers to the management of emotional expression in the workplace. Specifically, the study sought to (a) deconstruct the stressors these special educators perceived, (b) understand how they use emotional labor, and (c) discern how this theory might inform special educators' practice. All participants divulged daily stress at work. Furthermore, all conceded that they used emotional labor to conceal their feelings from students; most acknowledged such acting as a survival skill. Teachers expressed relief at having a language for their emotional work, suggesting that the theory offers a framework for supporting special educators as they face the emotional demands of the job.
A comparison between multi-channel audio equalization filters using warping

Typically, room equalization techniques do not focus on designing filters that equalize the room responses at perceptually relevant frequencies. Thus, by performing Bark warping of the room responses and using lower order spectral models, it is possible to design low order psycho-acoustically motivated equalization filters. We compare the performance, through experiments, between the traditional RMS averaging filter (with and without warping to the Bark scale) and our pattern recognition based multiple listener equalization filter with warping (Bharitkar, S. and Kyriakakis, C., Proc. 36th Asilomar Conf. on Signals, Systems and Computers, 2002). It is shown that our pattern recognition filter, using warping, outperforms the RMS averaging filter (with and without warping to the Bark scale).
Internal Charging Hazards in Near-Earth Space During Solar Cycle 24 Maximum: Van Allen Probes Measurements

The Van Allen Probes mission provides an unprecedented opportunity to make detailed measurements of electrons and protons in the inner magnetosphere during the weak solar maximum period of cycle 24. The MagEIS suite of sensors measures energy spectra and fluxes of charged particles in the space environment. The calculations show that these fluxes result in electron deposition rates high enough to cause internal charging. We use omnidirectional fluxes of electrons and protons to calculate the dose under varying materials and thicknesses of shielding. We show examples of charge deposition rates during the times of nominal and high levels of penetrating fluxes in the inner magnetosphere covering the period from the beginning of 2013 through mid-2014. These charge deposition rates are related to charging levels quite possibly encountered by shielded dielectrics with different resistivities. Using a simple model, we find temporal profiles for different materials showing the long-term charge deposition rate and estimated charge density levels reaching high levels. These levels are an indicator of internal charging rates that satellites might possibly experience in the inner magnetosphere. The results are compared with charge densities that can induce internal electrostatic discharge.
ScalaTrace: tracing, analysis and modeling of HPC codes at scale

Characterizing the communication behavior of large-scale applications is a difficult and costly task due to code/system complexity and their long execution times. An alternative to running actual codes is to gather their communication traces and then replay them, which facilitates application tuning and future procurements. While past approaches lacked lossless scalable trace collection, we contribute an approach that provides orders of magnitude smaller, if not near constant-size, communication traces regardless of the number of nodes while preserving structural information. We introduce intra- and inter-node compression techniques of MPI events, we develop a scheme to preserve time and causality of communication events, and we present results of our implementation for BlueGene/L. Given this novel capability, we discuss its impact on communication tuning and on trace extrapolation. To the best of our knowledge, such a concise representation of MPI traces in a scalable manner combined with time-preserving deterministic MPI call replay are without any precedence.