cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Covalently linked immunomagnetic separation/adenosine triphosphate technique (Cov‐IMS/ATP) enables rapid, in‐field detection and quantification of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. in freshwater and marine environments

Aims: Developing a rapid method for detection of faecal pollution is among the critical goals set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency in its revision of water quality criteria. The purpose of this study is to devise and test covalently linked antibody‐bead complexes for faecal indicator bacteria (FIB), specifically Escherichia coli or Enterococcus spp., in measuring water quality in freshwater and marine systems. Methods and Results: Covalently linked complexes were 58‐89% more robust than antibody‐bead complexes used in previous studies. Freshwater and marine water samples analysed using covalently linked immunomagnetic separation ⁄adenosine triphosphate quantification technique (Cov-IMS ⁄ATP) and culture-based methods yielded good correlations for E. coli (R =0 AE87) and Enterococcus spp. (R =0 AE94), with method detection limits below EPA recreational water quality health standards for single standard exceedances (E. coli ‐ 38 cells per 100 ml; Enterococcus spp. ‐ 25 cells per 100 ml). Cov-IMS ⁄ATP correctly classified 87% of E. coli and 94% of Enterococcus spp. samples based on these water quality standards. Cov-IMS ⁄ATP was also used as a field method to rapidly distinguish differential loading of E. coli between two stream channels to their confluence. Conclusions: Cov-IMS ⁄ATP is a robust, in-field detection method for determining water quality of both fresh and marine water systems as well as differential loading of FIB from two converging channels. Significance and Impact of the Study: To our knowledge, this is the first work to present a viable rapid, in-field assay for measuring FIB concentrations in marine water environments. Cov-IMS ⁄ATP is a potential alternative detection method, particularly in areas with limited laboratory support and resources, because of its increased economy and portability.
Selecting a restoration technique to minimize OCR error

This paper introduces a learning problem related to the task of converting printed documents to ASCII text files. The goal of the learning procedure is to produce a function that maps documents to restoration techniques in such a way that on average the restored documents have minimum optical character recognition error. We derive a general form for the optimal function and use it to motivate the development of a nonparametric method based on nearest neighbors. We also develop a direct method of solution based on empirical error minimization for which we prove a finite sample bound on estimation error that is independent of distribution. We show that this empirical error minimization problem is an extension of the empirical optimization problem for traditional M-class classification with general loss function and prove computational hardness for this problem. We then derive a simple iterative algorithm called generalized multiclass ratchet (GMR) and prove that it produces an optimal function asymptotically (with probability 1). To obtain the GMR algorithm we introduce a new data map that extends Kesler's construction for the multiclass problem and then apply an algorithm called Ratchet to this mapped data, where Ratchet is a modification of the Pocket algorithm . Finally, we apply these methods to a collection of documents and report on the experimental results.
Replication kinetics and cell tropism of an immunosuppressive feline leukaemia virus

To elucidate in vivo cell tropism and infection kinetics of an immunodeficiency-inducing isolate of feline leukaemia virus (FeLV-FAIDS), we quantified the two major genotypes comprising FeLV-FAIDS [the replication-competent common form (clone 61E) and the replication-defective variant (clone 61C)] in lymphocyte and leukocyte populations from infected cats. Micromagnetic separation of cell subsets, virus genome-specific PCR and flow cytometry were used to demonstrate the following sequence of events in infected animals: (i) very early replication of both 61E and 61C in CD4 T cells (provirus burden 0.2 to 1 copy/cell at 2–4 weeks post-infection); (ii) lower magnitude replication of both viruses in CD8 T cells and B cells during this initial phase of infection; (iii) plateauing of CD4 cell virus burden accompanied by escalation in CD8 and B cell provirus burdens after 4 weeks; (iv) extensive infection of haemopoietic and circulating myeloid cells. FeLV-FAIDS 61E and 61C replication kinetics and lymphocyte tropisms were similar in blood and lymph nodes, where provirus burdens ranged from 0.15 to 1.0 copy/cell. Moreover, virus infection was productive; 8–48% of blood lymphocytes, 35–81% of node lymphocytes and 53–98% of bone marrow cells expressed FeLV capsid antigen (p27 Gag). These findings suggest that the immunosuppressive potency of FeLV-FAIDS reflects the unique cytopathicity rather than unique cytotropism of its 61C (versus 61E) component.
Teaching and Mentoring Teachers

This chapter provides an overview of teaching and mentoring teachers. It describes the procedures for motivating and teaching teachers in the classroom as they perform teaching functions by using the Personalized System of Instruction to teach the three functions of teaching as a strategic science of instruction; monitoring teacher performance and the performance of the professional, who are responsible for teaching teachers; and developing, maintaining, and using school and classroom level data management to ensure high-quality instruction. The supervisor — like the university teacher trainer and the consulting special education teacher — is a teacher of teachers. He or she functions as a teacher of the science and practice of effective pedagogy for less experienced teachers and as a collegial consultant in pedagogy for the more advanced teachers. The individual doing the teacher training must have the repertoires of an advanced strategic scientist of instruction. His or her expertise in the science provides a natural rather than forced authority. Therefore, the power implicit in the role are effective only if expertise in the science and practice of teaching as behavior analysis is the source of power.
Anomalous electron loading in SLAC 5045 klystron and relativistic klystron input cavities

Studies of RF breakup and instability in the SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) 5045 klystrons have revealed that many production klystrons show loading of the input cavity by low-energy electrons even under cold-cathode no-beam conditions. Sometime after the onset of the RF drive pulse, the input cavity absorbs a portion of the incident RF drive that would otherwise be reflected from the not-beam-loaded cavity. This power absorption is a function of drive level and of axial magnetic field surrounding the cavity. No power absorption is present when the axial magnetic field is zero. This same phenomenon has been observed in the input cavity of relativistic klystron experiments being conducted as part of the SLAC-LBL-LLNL development program. The phenomenon may be associated with RF breakup and RF instability in SLAC 5045 klystrons, and with unstable pulse shortening in the relativistic klystron experiments. Some old and new observations of microwave beam device malfunctions that probably are associated with low-energy electron fluxes in the vacuum environments of microwave power devices are outlined. >
Area efficient parallel decoder architecture for long BCH codes

Long BCH codes achieve additional coding gain of around 0.6 dB compared to Reed-Solomon codes with similar code rate used for long-haul optical communication systems. For our considered parallel decoder architecture, a novel group matching scheme is proposed to reduce the overall hardware complexity of both Chien search and syndrome generator units by 46% for BCH(2047, 1926, 23) code as opposed to only 22% if directly applying the iterative matching algorithm. The proposed scheme exploits the substructure sharing within a finite field multiplier (FFM) and among groups of FFMs.
Embedding Markov normal algorithms within the λ-calculus

Most attempts to explain some aspect of computation formally have relied on a single formalism. This paper presents examples of a blending of two well-known formalisms, the ,λ-calculus and Markov normal algorithms, and illustrates the additional expressive power of the combined formalism.
Reduced-volume horn antennas with integrated high-impedance electromagnetic surfaces

Due to the miniaturization of wireless systems, antennas are being reduced in volume and placed in close proximity to other system elements. In these configurations novel topologies are required to both maximize gain and minimize near-field coupling. Antennas incorporating Sievenpiper high-impedance electromagnetic surfaces are capable of providing such performance improvements and thus enabling reductions in volume and flexible methods of deployment. In the following work high-impedance surfaces are utilized as the walls of a rectangular horn antenna. The goal is to allow the antenna to function as a TEM waveguide at dimensions that would otherwise be below the TE1,0 cutoff frequency, thus enabling a reduction in antenna volume. Four horn antenna configurations comprised of probe-fed rectangular waveguides with high-impedance surfaces as sides are designed and measured.
Attitudes of German Exchange Students during a Year in the United States

There are many intriguing problems connected with studying the effect of visiting a foreign country on the attitudes of the visitors, especially when their residence in the country they are visiting extends over a substantial period of time. One would like to know which experiences produce what changes in attitude and also to what extent the modified attitudes resist further change when the visitor returns to his own country. One might also ask to what extent the decision to make the trip predisposed the visitor to modify the attitudes he held. It would be asking too much to call for answers to all these questions in a single study. The article which follows is a contribution based on an intensive study of a small sample of German exchange students. Walter Gruen is Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Buffalo.
Tenascin-C promotes melanoma progression by maintaining the ABCB5-positive side population.

Tenascin-C (TNC) is highly expressed in melanoma; however, little is known about its functions. Recent studies indicate that TNC has a role within the stem cell niche. We hypothesized that TNC creates a specific environment for melanoma cells to show a stem cell-like phenotype, promoting tumor growth and evading conventional therapies. TNC expression was strongly upregulated in melanoma cells grown as 3D spheres (enriched for stem-like cells) when compared to adherent cells. Downmodulation of TNC by shRNA lentiviruses significantly decreased the growth of melanoma spheres. The incidence of pulmonary metastases after intravenous injection of TNC knockdown cells was significantly lower in NOD/SCID IL2Rγnull mice compared with control cells. Melanoma spheres contain an increased number of side population (SP) cells, which show stem cell characteristics, and have the potential for drug resistance due to their high efflux capacity. Knockdown of TNC dramatically decreased the SP fraction in melanoma spheres and lowered their resistance to doxorubicin treatment, likely because of the downregulation of multiple ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, including ABCB5. These data suggest that TNC is critical in melanoma progression as it mediates protective signals in the therapy-resistant population of melanoma.
Low-Density Lipoprotein Lowering and Atherosclerosis Progression Does More Mean Less?

Statins (hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A [HMG-CoA] reductase inhibitors) have been shown to significantly reduce cardiovascular clinical events in a variety of patient categories, ranging from patients with established cardiovascular disease to those at risk for cardiovascular disease.1–6⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓ Clinical benefits of statin therapy have also been shown across a wide range of pretreatment cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, warranting recent recommendations that statin therapy should be considered in all high-risk subjects, regardless of baseline cholesterol levels.6 While it is generally agreed that most of the clinical benefits of statins are related to cholesterol/LDL-C 2lowering, other biological effects of statins that do not depend on LDL-C lowering, the so-called pleiotropic effects, including effects on non-LDL lipid fractions, have also been implicated, mostly based on indirect data and preclinical findings.7,8⇓ Two important questions with respect to the statins are 1) is the magnitude of clinical benefit from statins related to the magnitude of LDL-C lowering or, in other words, does a lower LDL-C mean greater benefit, and if so, what is the lowest LDL-C level below which no further benefit can be expected? and 2) do statins differ from each other in terms of clinical benefit, and if so, is that related to unique properties of a statin or simply due to differing potencies in LDL-C lowering? See p 2055 In this issue of Circulation , Taylor and colleagues9 attempted to address the issue of magnitude of LDL-C lowering and its effect on changes in carotid-intima media thickness (IMT) in a cohort of patients with …
Fast, quasi-3D modeling of base resistance for circuit simulation

Modifications are made to a finite-difference device simulator (PISCES) to model distributed base resistance. The simulator is modified to run in a quasi-3-D mode in which two numerically simulated dimensions model the lateral flow of the base current, and the third dimension is modeled with the modified Gummel-Poon (MGP) equations. The modulation of the intrinsic base sheet resistivity and the base current injection at each node are determined by the MGP model. Basewidth modulation, high injection, emitter debiasing, bias dependence of current paths, and interactions among these effects are studied for a variety of drawn geometries, sheet resistances, and temperatures. It is found that the standard models used in circuit simulation (SPICE) do not adequately model some of these effects. A model that adds an extra term into the function of base resistance is introduced to model these effects. Performing curve fits to the simulation results allows the base resistance parameters to be expressed as a polynomial sum in terms of geometry, the intrinsic and extrinsic sheet resistivities, and temperature. >
Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Troponin I-T-C Complex from Human Serum using Microwave-Accelerated Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence

We present the rapid and sensitive detection of Troponin I-T-C (Tn I-T-C) complex from buffer and human serum samples using Microwave-Accelerated and Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (MA-MEF) technique, which is based on the combined use of low power microwave heating, silver nanoparticle films (SNFs) and fluorescence spectroscopy. The detection of Tn I-T-C complex from buffer solutions and human serum samples on SNFs was carried out using fluorescence-based immunoassays at room temperature (control immunoassay, 2 hour total assay time) and using low-power microwave heating (MA-MEF-based immunoassay, 1 minute total assay time). A lower detection limit for Tn I-T-C complex from buffer solutions in the control immunoassay and MA-MEF-based immunoassay was 0.01 ng/ml and 0.005 ng/ml, respectively. However, the lower detection limit for Tn I-T-C complex from human serum in the control immunoassay was increased to 10 ng/ml. The use of MA-MEF technique afforded for the detection of Tn I-T-C complex from human serum samples in 1 min with a lower detection limit of 0.05 ng/ml.
Mechanism of Acid Attack in Human Enamel as Determined by Electron Optical Instrumentation Analysis

Extraction replicas of human enamel were prepared directly from acid-etched tooth surfaces. Sequential examinations by electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electron probe microanalysis revealed that the extracted particles were pieces of rod core material. The findings indicated that the mechanism of acid attack was primarily a penetration through the interface between the rod core and rod sheath.
A Phylogenetic Analysis of Tribes Beslerieae and Napeantheae (Gesneriaceae) and Evolution of Fruit Types: Parsimony and Maximum Likelihood Analyses of ndhF Sequences

Abstract A cladistic analysis of tribes Beslerieae and Napeantheae revealed that both are monophyletic groups and that Napeantheae is sister to Beslerieae. These relationships are supported by parsimony and most models of maximum likelihood analysis, although with the F81 model, maximum likelihood places Napeantheae within Beslerieae making the latter tribe paraphyletic. All analyses indicate that within Beslerieae, Besleria and Gasteranthus are sister genera. In parsimony analysis these two genera are sister to the remainder of the tribe whereas in the maximum likelihood analyses, Cremosperma is sister to Besleria/Gasteranthus. Regardless of the analysis, there is a close relationship between clades comprised of dehiscent fleshy-fruited genera and those with indehiscent fleshy fruits. This is similar to Episcieae, implying that the transition from dry capsular fruits to berries may require a two-step process where a fleshy dehiscent capsule is the first stage followed by an indehiscent fleshy berry. The ...
Book & Resource Reviews

The article reviews the book “Teach What You Know: A Practical Leader's Guide to Knowledge Transfer Using Peer Mentoring,” by Steve Trautman.
Techniques for depth-selective, low-frequency eddy current analysis for SQUID-based nondestructive testing

Conventional eddy current techniques are widely used for detection of surface-breaking cracks in metal structures. These techniques have limited success in the detection of deep, nonsurface-breaking flaws that require low frequency eddy currents, for which inductive pick-up probes have drastically reduced sensitivity. High resolution, Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometers, which are very sensitive to do or low frequency magnetic fields, have been developed for detection of subsurface flaws. We have now extended SQUID NDE by utilizing a sheet inducer to produce an extended eddy current parallel to the surface in a conducting plate. The magnitude of the induced current density inside the plate reduces with the depth; however, the current component at a certain phase angle may increase with the depth. At a particular phase angle, the current density on the surface becomes zero, while the current inside the plate is large, so that the magnetic signal at that phase angle due to the surface structures can be minimized. With this method, we have detected simulated cracks in the sides of plugged holes in a thick plate, a hidden corrosion area in a specimen which consisted of two painted aluminum plates joined with sealant, as well as crack defects adjacent to fasteners in the second layer of lap joined aluminum plates. We present a theoretical model for simulation of the phase-related magnetic signal due to a flaw, which shows the relation between the phase angle and the depth of the flaw. The theoretical phase analysis is compared with the experimental results.
Characteristics of state prescription drug monitoring programs: a state-by-state survey.

OBJECTIVES: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are state-based data collection systems recording controlled substance medications. Currently, 49 states have PDMPs. There are discrepancies in reporting patterns, infrastructure, and oversight between programs. We characterized aspects of each state's PDMP. METHODS: A web search of each state's PDMP was conducted, and a list of all PDMP administrators was obtained. From August 1 to November 31, 2014, a link to a web-based survey was sent to each PDMP administrator. Closed-ended questions included type of access, mandatory-use programs, data sharing, proactive contact with patients or health care providers, details of pharmacy reporting, and protocols for identifying "high-risk" patients. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. RESULTS: We received a 100% response rate (49/49). Ninety-six percent (47/49) have a physician-accessible PDMP. Most, 68% (32/49), do not have an enrollment mandate for physicians. Prior to prescribing controlled medications, 16% (8/49) require prescribers to access their state's PDMP. More than half of states (53%, 26/49) reported patient prescriptions over the past two or more years. Most, 57% (28/59), reported a lag time of 1 week or longer for patients to appear in a PDMP database after prescription filling. A majority of states (65% 32/49) share data with at least one other state. Protocols exist to identify high-risk patients for prescription drug misuse in 55% (27/49) of states. CONCLUSION: Characteristics of PDMPs are heterogeneous throughout the country. Standardizing data capture, availability, and reporting would improve their usefulness for providers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en
A method for water layer recognition based on wavelet packet analysis and process neural network

In view of the pattern recognition problem of complex time-varying signal,this paper proposes an information processing method based on combining the wavelet packet transform and process neural network for water layer recognition.The method uses the muli-resolution characteristics that is characteristic of wavelet packet analysis.It can effectively filter noise signal and guarantee time-frequency feature extraction integrity of the useful signal.The two-dimensional space-time information processing capacity and nonlinear mapping ability that process neural network are employed.As a pattern classifier,the model uses the filtered time-varying signal as classifier input,it can implement pattern classification to the time-varying signal directly.This paper presents the specific algorithm steps by taking the logging signal for water layer recognition as an example,it achieves good results.
A new color transfer quality measure

Color transfer changes the color contents of a target image by replacing the colors in the target image with colors from another source image. The target image will be repainted/recolored to exhibit the same ambience as the source image. Color transfer is applicable to a wide range of commercial image processing tools and products. While much outstanding research has been conducted on this subject, judging the performance of the recoloring process remains subjective to human evaluation. To obtain an objective quantitative assessment of recoloring algorithms’ performance, a new color transfer quality measure is proposed. In this paper, we will first establish the requirements that a good color transfer quality measure should meet. Then, according to these requirements, a new color transfer quality measure is proposed that focuses on measuring the content similarity between a target image and a resulting recolored output image, and the color similarity between the source image and the output image. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed measure, the subjective human perception Mean Opinion Score (MOS) values are used. The high correlation between MOS and the proposed measure demonstrate the measure’s performance and demonstrate that it exhibits high consistency with human perception.
Semantic Content Enrichment of Sensor Network Data for Environmental Monitoring

The Semantic Sensor Web (SSW) will eventually revolutionize how we perceive and query information about the physical world. Currently, there is an ongoing effort to develop a searchable web of things that sense and control the world. As this new internet of things expands, there will be an explosion of available raw data that may not always be reachable by users. Bridging this gap between what the user wants and the information collected and represented by embedded devices is a critical issue. In order to really maximize the benefit of such a web of networked sensing devices, new semantic approaches that can infer and predict additional information about the sensors and their context need to be developed. This paper proposes a content enrichment approach that uses sensor and context data as features to predict new meta-tags that can further identify relevant categorizations for the embedded devices and the physical data they collect. Specifically, machine learning classification and regression techniques are used to predict semantic tags for each embedded system context. Results of the 10-fold cross validation analysis and feature ranking are presented and discussed.
Policy and regulations in light of the human body as a ‘superorganism’ containing multiple, intertwined symbiotic relationships

AbstractThe human body is now understood to exist as an ecosystem that includes an abundance of life, called the human biome. For purposes of understanding and treating disease, the biome of the human ‘superorganism’ can be divided into three parts: human, microbial, and more complex organisms such as worms and protists. This paper examines medical progress with biome restorative practices, including fecal microbiota transplants and helminthic therapy, which have proven in some cases more effective and more economical at treating a wide range of diseases than pharmaceutical-based approaches. The regulatory and policy hurdles responsible in part for this limited use of these restorative practices are examined. More importantly, new approaches are encouraged which might reverse the general lack of interest for these restorative practices seen in the medical and biomedical research communities. Such approaches include the regulation of benign helminths as dietary supplements and the establishment of an Insti...
Chemical-free n-type and p-type multilayer-graphene transistors

A single-step doping method to fabricate n- and p-type multilayer graphene (MG) top-gate field effect transistors (GFETs) is demonstrated. The transistors are fabricated on soda-lime glass substrates, with the n-type doping of MG caused by the sodium in the substrate without the addition of external chemicals. Placing a hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) barrier layer between the MG and the substrate blocks the n-doping, resulting in p-type doping of the MG above regions patterned with HSQ. The HSQ is deposited in a single fabrication step using electron beam lithography, allowing the patterning of arbitrary sub-micron spatial patterns of n- and p-type doping. When a MG channel is deposited partially on the barrier and partially on the glass substrate, a p-type and n-type doping profile is created, which is used for fabricating complementary transistors pairs. Unlike chemically doped GFETs in which the external dopants are typically introduced from the top, these substrate doped GFETs allow for a top gate whic...
Evidence for a Disease Complex Between Pythium aphanidermatum and Root-knot Nematodes in Cucumber

A field trial in 2012 indicated a possible disease complex between Pythium aphanidermatum and the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita in cucumber. Two growth chamber trials were conducte...
Applying the AcciMap methodology to investigate the tragic Sewol Ferry accident in South Korea

Abstract This study applies the AcciMap methodology, which was originally proposed by Professor Jens Rasmussen (1997), to the analysis of the tragic Sewol Ferry accident in South Korea on April 16, 2014, which killed 304 mostly young people and is considered as a national disaster in that country. This graphical representation, by incorporating associated socio-technical factors into an integrated framework, provides a big-picture to illustrate the context in which an accident occurred as well as the interactions between different levels of the studied system that resulted in that event. In general, analysis of past accidents within the stated framework can define the patterns of hazards within an industrial sector. Such analysis can lead to the definition of preconditions for safe operations, which is a main focus of proactive risk management systems. In the case of the Sewol Ferry accident, a lot of the blame has been placed on the Sewol's captain and its crewmembers. However, according to this study, which relied on analyzing all available sources published in English and Korean, the disaster is the result of a series of lapses and disregards for safety across different levels of government and regulatory bodies, Chonghaejin Company, and the Sewol's crewmembers. The primary layers of the AcciMap framework, which include the political environment and non-proactive governmental body; inadequate regulations and their lax oversight and enforcement; poor safety culture; inconsideration of human factors issues; and lack of and/or outdated standard operating and emergency procedures were not only limited to the maritime industry in South Korea, and the Sewol Ferry accident, but they could also subject any safety-sensitive industry anywhere in the world.
Neural Network Predictive Control Applied to Power System Stability

In this paper we consider the problem of power system stability with an application of predictive control systems, and in particular control systems which rely on Neural Networks to maintain system stability. The work focuses on how a hybrid control system utilizing neural networks has the capabilities to improve the stability of an electric power grid when used in place of traditional control systems, i.e. PID type controllers. Testing is done using simulation of the dynamical system with the different control schemes implemented, resulting in a measure of stability through which the controllers can be justified.
An evolutionary nested sampling algorithm for Bayesian model updating and model selection using modal measurement

Abstract Nested sampling (NS) is a highly efficient and easily implemented sampling algorithm that has been successfully incorporated into Bayesian inference for model updating and model selection. The key step of this algorithm lies in proposing a new sample in each step that has a higher likelihood to replace the sample that has the lowest likelihood evaluated in the previous iteration. This process, also regarded as a constrained sampling step, has significant impact on the algorithm efficiency. This paper presents an evolutionary nested sampling (ENS) algorithm to promote the proposal of effective samples for Bayesian model updating and model selection by introducing evolutionary operators into standard NS. Instead of randomly drawing new samples from prior space, ENS algorithm proposes new samples from previously evaluated samples in light of their likelihood values without any evaluation of gradient. The main contribution of the presented algorithm is to greatly improve the sampling speed in the constrained sampling step by use of previous samples. The performances of the proposed ENS algorithm for model updating and model selection are examined through two numerical examples.
Sample size and power determination when limited preliminary information is available

We describe a novel strategy for power and sample size determination developed for studies utilizing investigational technologies with limited available preliminary data, specifically of imaging biomarkers. We evaluated diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging (DOSI), an experimental noninvasive imaging technique that may be capable of assessing changes in mammographic density. Because there is significant evidence that tamoxifen treatment is more effective at reducing breast cancer risk when accompanied by a reduction of breast density, we designed a study to assess the changes from baseline in DOSI imaging biomarkers that may reflect fluctuations in breast density in premenopausal women receiving tamoxifen. While preliminary data demonstrate that DOSI is sensitive to mammographic density in women about to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, there is no information on DOSI in tamoxifen treatment. Since the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DOSI has been established in previous studies, we developed a statistical simulation approach utilizing information from an investigation of MRI assessment of breast density in 16 women before and after treatment with tamoxifen to estimate the changes in DOSI biomarkers due to tamoxifen. Three sets of 10,000 pairs of MRI breast density data with correlation coefficients of 0.5, 0.8 and 0.9 were simulated and generated and were used to simulate and generate a corresponding 5,000,000 pairs of DOSI values representing water, ctHHB, and lipid. Minimum sample sizes needed per group for specified clinically-relevant effect sizes were obtained. The simulation techniques we describe can be applied in studies of other experimental technologies to obtain the important preliminary data to inform the power and sample size calculations.
Diversity of Scientific Outputs for Scientific Fields: Appropriate Indicators for Measuring the Scientific Performance

Science has a diversity of research fields that differ for the nature of topics investigated and methods of inquiry. Science indicators are quite general and tend to be applied to all research fields without to consider the inner differences. The purpose of this paper is to detect the appropriate science indicators to assess the scientific performance of different scientific fields. The Muldimensional Scaling technique shows the heterogeneity of science indicators to detect the scientific performance of different research fields. The analysis here suggests two scientific behaviour of research fields, when their main research outputs are considered: research fields oriented to publications ISI (included in the Journal Citation Reports by Institute for Scientific Information) and patents and research fields Not-patenting and Not-ISI publications oriented. These results can support appropriate scientometrics for a correct research evaluation of different scientific fields.
David Oliver: Supervision and clinical autonomy for junior doctors-have we gone too far?

Doctors in training grades can gain experience ranging from independent, lightly supervised practice to a more constant, “helicopter” presence of consultants directing most decisions.1 Is the current balance right, or has it tipped too far towards the hands-on boss? Helping junior doctors to feel ready for more senior, unsupervised roles as they ascend the training ladder means allowing them to work more in difficult scenarios involving team leadership, autonomy, and risk acceptance.2 If opportunities to step up are limited, the lack of opportunity becomes self reinforcing as doctors lack the confidence to take on more senior roles. In adult internal medicine specialties, surveys have shown that doctors are very concerned about their capacity to take on medical registrar roles. This isn’t just because of …
Can Severity Outweigh Smaller Numbers? A Deliberative Perspective from Canada

Abstract Objectives To use structured deliberation to elicit and describe the values of the public in Alberta, Canada, on the question of whether the severity of a rare condition can justify it being given priority in funding over common conditions affecting larger numbers of patients, and what aspects of a condition drive this judgment. Methods Thematic analysis of transcripts of a group deliberative exercise carried out as part of two citizens' juries. The exercise was designed to elicit participants' conception of disease severity, and trade-offs between helping small groups with severe conditions and larger groups with less severe conditions. Results In trading off severity and numbers, all groups were willing to choose a more severely ill but smaller group of patients over a less severely ill but larger group of patients, although how much of a severity differential was required varied between groups. Pain that could not be relieved by alternative means was the strongest motivator for choosing the smaller group. Other symptoms with no alternative means of relief were strong motivators as well. Conclusions These findings indicate that, all else being equal, the public would support giving priority to a smaller but more severely ill group of patients over a larger group when prioritizing the needs of the few is life-saving, extends life enough to give hope of future improvement, and relieves otherwise intractable symptoms, especially pain.
Costs and benefits of software engineering in product development environments

A computer-based cost benefit (CBFM) forecasting model was developed to investigate possible long term effects of improved productivity that might be realized from the use of modern software engineering tools. The model was implemented in the development environment of Company X, a multinational corporation that manufactures embedded processor based control system products. The primary purpose of the model was to generate comparative data to answer “what if’ questions posed by senior corporate management attempting to understand possible overall effects of introducing the new software development methodologies. The model provided comparative data regarding programmer labor costs, probably this company’s most visible yet least understood line item in their monthly status reports. For Company X, the assumptions that were used to develop the CBFM were tailored to senior management’s own priorities. Hence the model produced comparative summaries that ultimately allowed Company X to make the decision to begin implementing new software engineering strategies for product development.
Shift of Bias as Non-Monotonic Reasoning

We show how to express many kinds of inductive leaps, and shifts of bias, as deductions in a non-monotonic logic of prioritized defaults, based on circumscription. This continues our effort to view learning a concept from examples as an inference process, based on a declarative representation of biases, developed in [Russell & Grosof 1987, this volume]. In particular, we demonstrate that “version space” bias can be encoded formally in such a way that it will be weakened when contradicted by observations. Implementation of inference in the non-monotonie logic then enables the principled, automatic modification of the description space employed in a concept learning program, which Bundy et al. (1985) named as “the most urgent problem facing automatic learning”. We also show how to formulate with prioritized defaults two kinds of “preference” biases: maximal specificity and maximal generality. This leads us to a perspective on inductive biases as preferred beliefs (about the external environment). Several open questions remain, including how to implement efficiently the required non-monotonic theorem-proving, and how to provide the epistemological basis for default axioms and priorities among default axioms.
Die Funktionelle Auffassung der Erkenntnis

In den voraufgehenden Kapiteln haben wir uns mit einer Reihe von Resultaten der wissenschaftlichen Philosophie beschaftigt; auserdem haben wir die beiden Hauptwerkzeuge der Erkenntnis, die deduktive und die induktive Logik, im Hinblick auf ihre Methoden und Ergebnisse behandelt. In diesem Kapitel mochte ich eine Zusammenfassung der allgemeinen Grundlagen der wissenschaftlichen Philosophie geben, in deren Rahmen ein neuer Erkenntnisbegriff entwickelt und das Problem der physikalischen Ausenwelt auf wissenschaftliche Weise gelost worden ist. Um das Wesen dieser Auffassung deutlich zu machen, will ich sie mit dem Erkenntnisbegriff vergleichen, den Anhanger der traditionellen philosophischen Systeme mehr oder weniger offen verteidigen.
Pediatric Training and Experience Requirements—Development of UNOS Bylaws

We review the background and process of policy development, which led to the development of the UNOS Pediatric Training and Experience Bylaws. Pre- and posttransplant outcomes mirror findings observed in the management of a variety of pediatric surgical diseases ranging from acute appendicitis to complex congenital heart disease. Specifically, patients treated at higher volume and typically pediatric focused institutions exhibit improved outcomes in terms of diagnosis, waitlist survival, and postoperative morbidity and mortality. Pediatric transplantation is a defined subspecialty within transplantation and requires additional pediatric training, experience, and resources to achieve optimal short- and long-term outcomes in this unique patient population.
Comparative analysis of transparent conductive oxide electro-absorption modulators [Invited]

Electron accumulation in transparent conductive oxides (TCOs), when driven by a gate voltage, is capable of inducing extremely strong electro-optic absorption at the telecommunication wavelength window due to the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) effect and various waveguide modulators have been proposed in recent years. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of TCO modulators by reviewing several representative designs based on the uniform concentration accumulated carrier model and the classical continuous carrier distribution model. We also apply the quantum moment model to analyze the free carrier distribution of the TCO based metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor for the first time, and reveal significantly different device physics compared with previous simulation models. The quantum moment model predicts a much higher driving voltage in order to turn the TCO materials into ENZ and a stronger modulation strength compared with the classical model. Especially, the requirement of the higher gate voltage brings a great challenge to the insulator layer as the electric field in the insulator is exceeding the breakdown strength, which raises the concern of reliability. In order to evaluate the accuracy of different models, we compare the simulation results with two of the most recent experimental papers and show that the quantum model has a better match in terms of the electro-absorption rate and the differential driving voltage. However, the quantum moment model still cannot explain some other experimental results, which may be induced by different modulation mechanisms.
Resistance Training Reduces Skeletal Muscle Work Efficiency in Weight-Reduced and Non-Weight-Reduced Subjects.

Objective The objective of this study is to determine whether resistance training is similarly effective in reducing skeletal muscle efficiency and increasing strength in weight-reduced and maximal weight subjects. Methods This study examined the effects of supervised resistance exercise on skeletal muscle in 14 individuals with overweight and obesity sustaining a 10% or greater weight loss for over 6 months and a phenotypically similar group of 15 subjects who had not reduced weight and were weight stable at their maximal lifetime body weight. We assessed skeletal muscle work efficiency and fuel utilization (bicycle ergometry), strength (dynamometry), body composition (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry), and resting energy expenditure (indirect calorimetry) before and after 12 weeks of thrice-weekly resistance training. Results Non-weight-reduced subjects were significantly (10%-20%) stronger before and after the intervention than reduced-weight subjects and gained significantly more fat-free mass with a greater decline in percentage of body fat than weight-reduced subjects. Resistance training resulted in similar significant decreases (~10%) in skeletal muscle work efficiency at low-level exercise and ~10% to 20% increases in leg strength in both weight-reduced and non-weight-reduced subjects. Conclusions Resistance training similarly increases muscle strength and decreases efficiency regardless of weight loss history. Increased resistance training could be an effective adjunct to reduced-weight maintenance therapy.
Other Hematologic Disorders

This chapter discusses other common hematologic disorders, such as von Willebrand’s disease, hemophilia, DIC, and factor V Leiden.
Prevalence of pneumoconiosis among young adults aged 24-44 years in a heavily industrialized province of China.

Objectives The purposes of this study were to clarify (i) the prevalence of pneumoconiosis among young adults and (ii) the factors associated with pneumoconiosis among young adults to explore targeted solution for control of pneumoconiosis among young adults (aged 24-44 years). Methods The new cases diagnosed from 2001 to 2015 (extracted from the National Occupational Disease and Occupational Health Information Monitoring System) were involved in this research, including information of employer, patient's name, date of birth, gender, date of diagnosis, first year of dust exposure, duration of exposure, aggregation etc RESULTS: A total of 1519 pneumoconiosis cases were diagnosed among young adults (21.6% of overall cases). Silicosis was the most common type with acute process of disease. Compared with overall cases, the young patients had shorter duration of exposure, more stage II/III cases and higher aggravation rate; and were even more concentrated in small and medium enterprises where more migrant workers were employed and insufficient protective measures were used. Without further regulation, the prevalence of pneumoconiosis among young adults would bring not only disease suffering for 3000 individuals and their families, but also an annual economic loss up to 180 million yuan for Hebei province till 2025. Conclusions As a typical heavily industrialized province of China, Hebei has severe situation on pneumoconiosis among young adults. Special attention and effort on silica-contacting industries, small and medium enterprises, and migrant workers should be focused in future occupational supervision and regulation among young adults.
Median-Truncated Gradient Descent: A Robust and Scalable Nonconvex Approach for Signal Estimation

Recent work has demonstrated the effectiveness of gradient descent for directly estimating high-dimensional signals via nonconvex optimization in a globally convergent manner using a proper initialization. However, the performance is highly sensitive in the presence of adversarial outliers that may take arbitrary values. In this chapter, we introduce the median-Truncated Gradient Descent (median-TGD) algorithm to improve the robustness of gradient descent against outliers, and apply it to two celebrated problems: low-rank matrix recovery and phase retrieval. Median-TGD truncates the contributions of samples that deviate significantly from the sample median in each iteration in order to stabilize the search direction. Encouragingly, when initialized in a neighborhood of the ground truth known as the basin of attraction, median-TGD converges to the ground truth at a linear rate under Gaussian designs with a near-optimal number of measurements, even when a constant fraction of the measurements are arbitrarily corrupted. In addition, we introduce a new median-truncated spectral method that ensures an initialization in the basin of attraction. The stability against additional dense bounded noise is also established. Numerical experiments are provided to validate the superior performance of median-TGD.
Simulation of Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar Tests on Sands with Low Water Content

AbstractThe stress-strain response of sand at high strain rate is an important topic. However, most of the numerical studies concentrated on sands at high water content and were not able to capture...