cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structural and functional specialization of A delta and C fiber free nerve endings innervating rabbit corneal epithelium

An in vitro preparation of rabbit cornea was used to compare anatomical specialization and electrophysiological responses of A delta and C fiber sensory afferents which terminate as free nerve endings. Living nerve endings were visualized using epifluorescence microscopy and the vital dye 4-di2-ASP, and response properties were determined using microstimulation and recording of fiber discharge activity. Fiber type was determined based on conduction velocity measurement and preferred stimulus energy (modality) of each fiber. Four modality-specific fiber populations were identified: (1) slowly adapting C fiber cold receptors (conduction velocity of 0.25–1.6 m/sec), (2) C fiber chemosensitive units with mixed phasic and tonic activity (1.1–1.8 m/sec), (3) rapidly adapting mechanosensitive A delta fibers (1.5–2.8 m/sec), and (4) high- threshold mechano/heat (> 350 dyne or > 40 degrees C) phasic A delta afferents (3.5–4.4 m/sec). In addition to these physiological differences, anatomical specialization was also noted. A delta fiber nerve endings were distinguished from those of C fibers by thin, elongated sensory endings that ran parallel to the corneal surface; C fiber endings formed short, branching clusters that ran mostly perpendicular to the surface. The elongated structure of A delta nerve endings was associated with directional selectivity for mechanical stimuli. These results substantiate previous suggestions that free nerve endings can exhibit both structural and functional specialization.
Semen Production in the Turkey Male 3. Quantities Produced

Abstract THE literature on semen production in chickens and turkeys has been reviewed by Parker (1949) and the extensive literature on the domestic fowl has also been reviewed by Van Drimmelen (1951). The results published by various investigators agree that turkey males produce a smaller volume of semen than chicken males (average about. 3, and .6 ml. respectively) but that the concentration of spermatozoa per unit of semen is higher for the former, hence the number of sperm per ejaculate is about the same. The number of sperm intoduced into the oviduct of the hen are related to the fertility of the eggs produced and to duration of fertility in turkeys (Lorenz, 1950; McCartney, 1954). Estimates of the number of sperm required to maintain high fertility vary considerably. Thus Parker (1946) did not detect significant differences in fertility when he made inseminations at three-week intervals with from 0.1 to 0.005 ml… .
HIL simulation of machine drives utilizing the physics-based phase variable model of machines

This paper presents an approach for performing the hardware-in-the-loop simulation of PWM-based drive utilizing the physics-based phase variable machine model to represent the actual machine. A 6-pole 2 hp permanent magnet synchronous machine is used as an example. The physics-based phase variable model of the sample machines is built with parameters (inductances, flux linkages, and the cogging torque) obtained from solutions of nonlinear field computations covering a complete ac cycle. The developed physics-based phase variable model considers the variation of inductances and the flux linkages with the position of the rotor and the nonlinear magnetization property of the core. The accuracy of the developed machine model is compared with the FE model to examine its accuracy. The utilization of the developed physics-based phase variable model in the hardware-in-the-loop simulation of PWM-based machine drive is studied. A practical approach is proposed to achieve the real time simulation of the machine drive having a 50 mus time cycle of the machine model against the 0.1 mus time resolution of PWM hardware module. A voltage sensor and a filter are added between the PWM module and the machine model. The filter is purposely designed; its output equals to the actual average voltage produced by the inverter. The impact of the added voltage sensor and the filter is investigated to examine the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Prospective applications of the developed physics-based phase variable model and its utilization in hardware-in-the-loop simulation are suggested.
Manual rescheduling and incremental repair of register-level datapaths

A description is given of new capabilities of the RLEXT register level exploration tool. RLEXT is an interactive tool that takes a datapath design and allows a user to modify it freely, using transformations that do not themselves preserve correctness. By maintaining a representation of the desired behavior and timing as well as structure, RLEXT is able to 'repair' the design when the user creases modifying, so that the ability of the design to express the specified behavior is once again guaranteed. A description is also given of RLEXT's support for manual changes of schedule in the presence of an existing data-path structure. Such schedule changes invalidate the structure, but the structure is incrementally repaired rather than just thrown out. The author knows of no other high-level synthesis tool that supports this kind of functionality. >
Strategies for the stabilization of longitudinal forward flapping flight revealed using a dynamically-scaled robotic fly

The ability to regulate forward speed is an essential requirement for flying animals. Here, we use a dynamically-scaled robot to study how flapping insects adjust their wing kinematics to regulate and stabilize forward flight. The results suggest that the steady-state lift and thrust requirements at different speeds may be accomplished with quite subtle changes in hovering kinematics, and that these adjustments act primarily by altering the pitch moment. This finding is consistent with prior hypotheses regarding the relationship between body pitch and flight speed in fruit flies. Adjusting the mean stroke position of the wings is a likely mechanism for trimming the pitch moment at all speeds, whereas changes in the mean angle of attack may be required at higher speeds. To ensure stability, the flapping system requires additional pitch damping that increases in magnitude with flight speed. A compensatory reflex driven by fast feedback of pitch rate from the halteres could provide such damping, and would automatically exhibit gain scheduling with flight speed if pitch torque was regulated via changes in stroke deviation. Such a control scheme would provide an elegant solution for stabilization across a wide range of forward flight speeds.
Fuel characterization in the southern Appalachian Mountains: an application of Landscape Ecosystem Classification

Prescribed fire has been widely used in the south-eastern United States to meet forest management objectives, but has only recently been reintroduced to the southern Appalachian Mountains. Fuel information is not available to forest managers in this region and direct measurement is often impractical owing to steep, remote topography. The objective of the present study was to determine whether landscape ecosystem classification (LEC) site units support different types and amounts of fuel in the Chauga Ridges, a subregion of the Blue Ridge Mountain Province. Ecosystem classification identifies vegetation assemblages that are the expressive result of soils, physiography and vegetation, and recur predictably on the landscape. Four fuel complexes were identified using LEC units and field measurements of fuel characteristics. Fuel bed depth, duff (Oe + Oa) thickness, 1000-h fuel loading, and Rhododendron maximum, R. minus, and Vaccinium spp. ground cover were discriminating fuel characteristics of xeric, intermediate, submesic, and mesic site units. Discriminant function analysis provided an overall 64% cross-validation success rate using 138 undisturbed, randomly located plots. This method of characterizing fuel complexes may also be possible in other forested ecosystems where LECs or other ecological vegetation classifications have been developed.
Multiplex Detection of IgM and IgG Class Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella Virus, and Cytomegalovirus Using a Novel Multiplex Flow Immunoassay

The goal of this study was to evaluate the BioPlex 2200 Toxoplasma, rubella, and cytomegalovirus (CMV) (ToRC) IgG and IgM multiplex immunoassays (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA) and compare the results to those of conventional testing by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and enzyme-linked fluorescent assay (ELFA). Serum specimens (n = 600) submitted for routine ToRC IgG and IgM testing by EIA (SeraQuest, Doral, FL; Diamedix, Miami, FL) or ELFA (Vidas; bioMerieux, Durham, NC) were also tested by the BioPlex ToRC multiplex immunoassays. Samples showing discordant results were retested by both methods, with further discrepancies being arbitrated by a third assay. Following repeat testing, the BioPlex Toxoplasma, rubella, and CMV IgG assays demonstrated agreements of 98.7 (592/600 specimens), 93.3 (560/600 specimens), and 98.3% (590/600 specimens), respectively, while the ToRC IgM assays yielded agreements of 91.2 (547/600 specimens), 87.3 (524/600 specimens), and 95.2% (571/600 specimens), respectively. The BioPlex ToRC IgG assays provided results comparable to EIA/ELFA results, with kappa coefficients showing near-perfect agreement for the Toxoplasma (κ = 0.94) and CMV (κ = 0.97) IgG assays and substantial agreement for the rubella IgG assay (κ = 0.66). The BioPlex ToRC IgM assays showed lower specificity with only slight agreement for Toxoplasma IgM (κ = 0.07), poor agreement for rubella IgM (κ = −0.03), and moderate agreement for CMV IgM (κ = 0.55). Both the BioPlex IgG and IgM assays reduced turnaround time (1.7 h versus 5.5 h by EIA/ELFA for 100 specimens) and eliminated the necessity to manually pipette or aliquot specimens prior to testing.
Profile driven partitioning of parallel simulation models

A considerable amount of research on parallel discrete event simulation has been conducted over the past few decades. However, most of this research has targeted the parallel simulation infrastructure; focusing on data structures, algorithms, and synchronization methods for parallel simulation kernels. Unfortunately, distributed environments often have high communication latencies that can reduce the potential performance of parallel simulations. Effective partitioning of the concurrent simulation objects of the real world models can have a large impact on the amount of network traffic necessary in the simulation, and consequently the overall performance. This paper presents our studies on profiling the characteristics of simulation models and using the collected data to perform partitioning of the models for concurrent execution. Our benchmarks show that Profile Guided Partitioning can result in dramatic performance gains in the parallel simulations. In some of the models, 5-fold improvements of the run time of the concurrently executed simulations were observed.
Comparative high-pressure crystal chemistry of karrooite, MgTi2O5, with different ordering states

Two karrooite crystals, one with a disorder parameter (X = Ti content in the M1 site) of 0.070(5) and the other with X = 0.485(5), were mounted together in one diamond-anvil cell and studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction at several pressures up to 7.51 GPa. The most noticeable effect of increasing cation disorder on the high-pressure behavior of the structure is to increase the compressibilities of the mean "M2-O" bond length from 0.00148(2) GPa (super -1) in the ordered sample to 0.00163(7) GPa (super -1) in the disordered one and decrease those of the mean "M1-O" bond length from 0.00243(5) to 0.00193(12) GPa (super -1) . These changes are responsible for the compressibility difference between the two phases observed by Hazen and Yang (1997). Both compressibilities of the mean "M-O" bond lengths and the octahedral volumes in two phases decrease linearly with increasing the Ti contents in the octahedral sites. All octahedra in two samples become less distorted as pressure increases, but those in the more disordered structure exhibit larger decreases in terms of the octahedral angle variance than the corresponding ones in the more ordered structure. The influence of pressure on the interatomic angles is small compared to the interatomic distances, suggesting that compression of the karrooite structure is controlled primarily by the bond-length shortening, rather than by bond-angle bending. The strong compressional anisotropy of the structure is a consequence of the differential compressibilities of the weaker Mg (super 2+) -O and stronger Ti (super 4+) -O bonds and the complex edge-sharing linkage involving the M1 and M2 octahedra.
Caring for military children in the 21st century.

Purpose Civilian healthcare professionals provide approximately 2/3 of the healthcare for the 2 million U.S. military children. The President of the United States has made their care and support a top national security priority. The purpose of this article is to arm NPs with information necessary to care for the 21st century military child by providing current data on military family life, deployments, and the impact on children and their health-seeking behaviors. Data sources Literature collected from sources identified through searches of PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycInfo covering the periods from 2003 to 2012. Conclusions Military children are both resilient and vulnerable. While frequent moves build resilience, combat deployments increase the risk for abuse, neglect, attachment problems, and inadequate coping. The risk is highest right after the service member leaves for deployment and immediately upon return. Children's reactions to deployment differ by age, gender, and individual temperament. There is an 11% increase in outpatient visits for mental or behavioral health issues during deployment. Implications for practice Healthcare professionals can support the physical and mental health of children by normalizing expectations and using the I CARE (Identify, Correlate, Ask, Ready Resources, Encourage) strategy to facilitate prevention and encourage early engagement with available resources.
Intervention of cardiomyocyte death based on real-time monitoring of cell adhesion through impedance sensing.

Abstract Cardiomyocyte death caused by proinflammatory cytokines, such as Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), is one of the hot topics in cardiovascular research. TNF-α can induce multiple cell processes that are dependent on the treatment time although the long-term treatment definitely leads to cell death. The ability to intervene in cell death will be invaluable to reveal the effects of short-term TNF-α treatment to cardiomyocytes. However, a real-time monitoring technique is needed to guide the intervention of cell responses. In this work, we employed the impedance-sensing technique to real-time monitor the equivalent cell–substrate distance of cardiomyocytes via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electrical cell–substrate impedance sensing (ECIS). In the stabilized cardiomyocyte culture, the sustained TNF-α treatment caused strengthened cell adhesion in the first 2 h which was followed by the transition to cell detachment afterwards. Considering cell detachment was an early morphological evidence of cell death, we removed TNF-α from the cardiomyocyte culture before the transition to achieve the intervention of cell responses. The result of this intervention showed that cell adhesion was continuously strengthened before and after the removal of TNF-α, indicating the short-term treated cardiomyocytes did not undergo death processes. It was also demonstrated in TUNEL and TBE tests that the percentages of apoptosis and cell death were both lowered.
Normal mode study of the Earth's rigid body motions

In this paper it is shown that the earth's rigid body (rb) motions can be represented by an analytical set of eigensolutions to the equation of motion for elastic-gravitational free oscillations. Thus each degree of freedom in the rb motion is associated with a rb normal mode. Cases of both nonrotating and rotating earth models are studied, and it is shown that the rb modes do incorporate neatly into the earth's system of normal modes of free oscillation. The excitation formula for the rb modes are also obtained, based on normal mode theory. Physical implications of the results are summarized and the fundamental differences between rb modes and seismic modes are emphasized. In particular, it is ascertained that the Chandler wobble, being one of the rb modes belonging to the rotating earth, can be studied using the established theory of normal modes.
Preparation of barium cerate-based thin films using a modified Pechini process

Thin films of BaCe0.8Gd0.2O3 have been successfully prepared on both dense and porous substrates using a modified Pechini process. To increase the extent of chelation, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) has been used to replace citric acid in the Pechini process. Results indicate that the most important processing parameter is the molar ratio of complexation/polymerization agent (EDTA) to metal ions (C ratio). Films derived from sols with C ratio smaller than 1 are usually cracked, while those derived from sols with C ratio greater than 2.5 are porous. Crack-free and uniform films are obtained from the sols with C ratios between 1.5 and 2.5. Thin-film membranes of barium cerate electrolytes have also been deposited on porous substrates by modifying the surface of the porous substrate with an intermediate polymer film derived from EDTA and ethylene glycol.
Pairing-specific long-term depression of Purkinje cell excitatory postsynaptic potentials results from a classical conditioning procedure in the rabbit cerebellar slice

1. Using a rabbit cerebellar slice preparation, we stimulated a classical conditioning procedure by stimulating parallel fiber inputs to Purkinje cells with the use of a brief, high-frequency train of eight constant-current pulses 80 ms before climbing fiber inputs to the same Purkinje cell were stimulated with the use of a brief, lower frequency train of three constant-current pulses. In all experiments, we assessed the effects of stimulation by measuring the peak amplitude of Purkinje cell excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) to single parallel fiber test pulses. 2. Intradendritically recorded Purkinje cell EPSPs underwent a long-term (> 20 min) reduction in peak amplitude (30%) after paired stimulation of the parallel and climbing fibers but not after unpaired or parallel fiber alone stimulation. We call this phenomenon pairing-specific long-term depression (PSD). 3. Facilitation of the peak amplitude of a second EPSP elicited by a parallel fiber train occurred both before and after paired stimulation suggesting that the locus of depression was not presynaptic. Depression of the peak amplitude of a depolarizing response to focal application of glutamate following pairings of parallel and climbing fiber stimulation added support to a suggested postsynaptic locus of the PSD effect. 4. The application of aniracetam potentiated EPSP peak amplitude by 40%, but these values returned to baseline as a result of pairings. With the removal of aniracetam from the bath 20 min after pairings, normal levels of pairing-specific EPSP depression were observed, indicating that the effect did not result from direct desensitization of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-proprionic acid (AMPA) receptors. 5. Incubation of slices in the protein kinase inhibitor H-7 potentiated EPSP peak amplitudes slightly (9%), but peak amplitudes returned to baseline levels after pairings. The net reduction in EPSP peak amplitude of < 10% after pairings suggested that H-7 partially blocked PSD and that, in turn, PSD involved protein kinases. 6. The means of induction and the specificity of those means suggest that the phenomenology of PSD is fundamentally different from that of long-term depression. PSD only occurs with pairings of trains of parallel fiber and climbing fiber stimulation; it occurs without the need for bicuculline; and it can overcome the blocking effects of aniracetam. 7. Nevertheless, the involvement of protein kinases and the potential role of calcium suggest that the mechanisms involved in the induction of PSD and long-term depression have a number of features in common. 8. Because of the pairing-specific nature of the long-term synaptic depression observed in these experiments, PSD provides a mechanism that may contribute to the role of the cerebellar cortex in classical conditioning.
Transboundary Water Resources Mangement in the Upper Rio Grande Basin

The Rio Grande flows southward nearly 2,000 miles (about 3,000 km) from its headwaters in southern Colorado through the state of New Mexico and then on into Texas, forming the international boundary between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, and finally into the Gulf of Mexico. It drains an area of over 350,000 square miles (roughly 920,000 square km), with over half of this area in Mexico.
Systemic Antifungal Agents

Anti-fungal agents are classified under two major headings, systematic and topical agents. Only systematic anti-fungal agents will be discussed in this chapter. Since the discovery in 1955, amphotericin B has been the cornerstone of anti-fungal treatment. It is active against most species of fungi. However, Candida lusitaniae, Pseudallescheria boydii, and fusarium spp have primary resistance to amphotericin B. Recently, new liposomal preparations of amphotericin B have been developed. They are less nephrotoxic. The azole family of anti-fungal includes two broad classes: the imidazoles (clotrimazote, ketoconazote, miconazole) and the triazoles (flucouazole and itracouazole). Imidazoles are still widely used for the treatment of superficial mycoses and vaginal candidiasis. The systematic triazoles are more slowly metabolized and have less effect on human synthesis than imidazoles, hence they are preferred for systemic therapy. Flucytosine is a fluorinated pyrimidine. Clinically, the principal use of flucytosine is as adjunctive therapy with amphotericin B in the treatment of candidial or cryptococcal diseases, Griseofuluin is derived from penicillium. It is fungistatic in vitro for species of dermatophytes. It is useful for the treatment of tinea capitis and tinea unginum.
Post Deposition Annealing Atmosphere Effect on SSI-LEDs Made of Zr-Doped HfO2 High-k Gate Dielectric

The phenomenon of white light emission from solid state incandescent light emitting devices made of Zr-doped HfO2 high-k dielectric stacks under the O2 or N2 post deposition annealing condition has been investigated. Compared with the N2 annealed sample, the O2 annealed sample had different properties: 1) a SiOx-like interface layer, 2) lower defect densities in bulk and interface layers, 3) a larger dielectric breakdown voltage, 4) a low leakage current, 5) fewer light emission dots, and 6) stronger emitted light. The shape of the emitted light and other optical properties were little influenced by the annealing gas. The high temperature of the conductive path during the operation enhanced the diffusion of Si to the gate electrode and Zr to the high-k/Si interface. This kind of device is applicable to a wide range of areas.
Effect of Reinforcement Material on the Properties of Pin-Reinforced Metal to Composite Joints

A methodical scientific study was completed to develop and demonstrate a fail-safe advanced structural concept for joining metallic and composite parts without mechanical fasteners. The approach was to internally reinforce an adhesively bonded joint with a titanium wire bent into a U-shape. The effect of pin material, diameter, and aerial density on the failure characteristics of single overlap shear specimens was determined. The best configuration increased the joint failure stress from 1,600 psi to 2,800 psi. Significant improvements in joint toughness were also demonstrated.
Sound Localization Sensors for Search and Rescue Biobots

Recent advances in neural engineering have enabled direct control of insect locomotion through neural and muscular stimulation. The resulting insect biobots, with a natural ability to crawl through small spaces, offer unique advantages over traditional synthetic robots. A cyberphysical network of such biobots could prove useful for search and rescue applications in uncertain disaster environments. We present a vision-based automated system for an objective assessment of biobotic navigation capability on Madagascar hissing cockroaches. We report the most precise control results obtained with insect biobots so far both manually and autonomously. We also demonstrate autonomous control capability where a low-power insect-mounted array of microphones was used to localize a sound source and guide the biobot toward it. Forming a wireless mobile sensor network with directional and omnidirectional microphones distributed within the structure of a rubble pile could be useful for both environmental mapping and localization of trapped survivors under the rubble.
A simplified approach to model damping behaviour of interleaved carbon fibre laminates

Abstract Interleaving a viscoelastic layer within a laminate has been individuated as an efficient architecture for increasing damping performance of plane structures. A semi-analytical model based on the first order shear deformation theory accounting for the out-of–plane strain contributions to the energy dissipation in composite laminates with interleaved architecture is proposed. Two different configurations for the interleaved composite laminate architecture have been manufactured and tested in bending. The elastic and dissipative material functions for the elongational and shear modes have been experimentally characterised for the constituents of the interleaved laminates: the unidirectional lamina and the damping layer material. These constitutive material behaviours have been used for the model calculations. A satisfactorily agreement between the experimental data and predicted results has been found for the bending behaviour of the different architectures.
On the Conservation and Utilization of Butterflies Resource in Shunhuangshan Mountain National Forest Park

This article is to investigate and study the status of butterflies resource in Shunhuangshan Mountain National Forest Park, Dongan, Hunan. It analyzes the threat which the butterflies resource faced with in the park. Moreover, to provide the reference for the economic development in this area, the article proposes the suited measure on conservation and utilization.
Hands by hand: Crowd-sourced motion tracking for gesture annotation

We describe a method for using crowd-sourced labor to track motion and ultimately annotate gestures of humans in video. Our chosen platform for deployment, Amazon Mechanical Turk, divides labor into HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks). Given the informational density of video, our task is potentially larger than a traditional HIT that involves processing a block of text or a single image. We exploit redundancies in video data in such a way that workers' efforts can be multiplied in effect. In the end, a fraction of frames need to be annotated by hand, but we can still achieve complete coverage of all video frames. This is achieved with a combination of HITs using a novel user interface, combined with automatic techniques such as template tracking and affinity propagation clustering. We show in a case study how we can annotate a video database of political speeches with 2D positions and 3D hand pose configurations. This data is then used for some preliminary analytical tasks.
Classifying swarm behavior via compressive subspace learning

Bio-inspired robot swarms encompass a rich space of dynamics and collective behaviors. Given some agent measurements of a swarm at a particular time instance, an important problem is the classification of the swarm behavior. This is challenging in practical scenarios where information from only a small number of agents may be available, resulting in limited agent samples for classification. Another challenge is recognizing emerging behavior: the prediction of swarm behavior prior to convergence of the attracting state. In this paper we address these challenges by modeling a swarm's collective motion as a low-dimensional linear subspace. We illustrate that for both synthetic and real data, these behaviors manifest as low-dimensional subspaces, and that these subspaces are highly discriminative. We also show that these subspaces generalize well to predicting emerging behavior, highlighting that there exists low-dimensional structure in transient agent behavior. In order to learn distinct behavior subspaces, we extend previous work on subspace estimation and identification from missing data to that of compressive measurements, where compressive measurements arise due to agent positions scattered throughout the domain. We demonstrate improvement in performance over prior works with respect to limited agent samples over a wide range of agent models and scenarios.
Optimization of the oblique angles in the treatment of prostate cancer during six-field conformal radiotherapy.

Abstract Historically, four perpendicular treatment fields or bilateral arcs have been used in the treatment of prostate cancer. As new techniques challenge the four-field box technique for their superiority of tumor coverage and adjacent critical structure sparing, oblique beam angles (in addition to right and left laterals) have been introduced as an alternative to anterior (AP) and posterior (PA) beams. Among the most popular of these alternative approaches is a six-field technique. Traditionally 45° angles have been used with this technique. In this study, opposed coplanar oblique beams angled 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45° off the lateral beam position, were compared for their ability to minimize adjacent critical structure doses, while maintaining maximum clinical target volume (CTV) coverage. This analysis compared rectum, bladder, and femoral head dose volume histograms (DVH) for each of these varying oblique gantry angles. As the angle of the posterior oblique beams became more horizontal, it is more difficult to encompass the apex of the prostate in the 95% isodose value. On inferior CT slices near the apex of the prostate, the density of the pelvic bones in the path of the posterior oblique fields causes the beam to be slightly attenuated, thereby underdosing the CTV. The oblique angles most affected by this bone heterogeneity are beams angled from 20 to 30° off the lateral beam position. As the angles approach the vertical direction, rectal and bladder doses increase, while femoral head doses decrease. Oblique gantry angles approaching the horizontal direction result in a decrease in rectal and bladder doses, while femoral head doses increase. Of the oblique angles studied, 35° off the lateral position provides lower rectum and bladder doses than 30, 40, and 45°; lower femoral head doses than 20, 25, and 30°, and the maximum CTV coverage on all CT slices studied.
Repetitive Thoughts and Behavior in Pervasive Developmental Disorders

The repetitive thoughts and behavior of patients with pervasive developmental disorder(s) [PDD(s)] can be quite interfering, often disrupting educational and vocational opportunities, as well as general quality of life for the individual and family members. To date, results from studies designed to differentiate the nature of repetitive thoughts and behavior in specific subtypes of PDD, such as Asperger’s disorder, have not been published. Recent data indicate that drugs that are potent inhibitors of serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] neuronal uptake may be effective for reducing repetitive thoughts and behavior in some children, adolescents, and adults with PDDs.
Exploring the Language of Leadership Learning and Education

This chapter examines the importance of language in the emerging field of leadership, especially when establishing and maintaining partnerships and when designing pedagogical practices for leadership learning.
Immune Compromise Associated with Biologics

Biologics are large molecule therapeutics, usually proteins, which are isolated from human (or sometimes other biological) material, or produced by in vitro cell culture and recombinant gene technology. Many biologics specifically bind cellular or soluble components of the immune system with very high avidity. The majority of these are themselves monoclonal antibodies. They are generally highly effective in depleting or neutralizing their intended target. While this therapeutic precision can be very valuable for treating diseases of the immune system, it also results in a profound degree of deficiency in the function of the targeted element, somewhat analogous to what is seen with a complete genetic deletion in PID. Consequently, the treated patient may lose the ability to control infections with bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses, including those that cause neoplasms. Thus, immune compromise by targeted biologic therapy represents a major clinical concern, and a limitation on the development and clinical use of these agents.
Personality Traits in College Students and Caregiving for a Relative with a Chronic Health Condition

The purpose of this study was to investigate among college students the relationship between personality traits and willingness to care for a relative with a chronic health condition. 329 undergraduate students completed an online questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regressions found that after controlling for demographics personality traits explained 10% of the variance in willingness to provide emotional care, 7% in instrumental care, and 7% in nursing care. Within these models, greater empathy was uniquely associated with willingness to provide emotional, instrumental, and nursing care for a family member in the future. Similarly, participants with high agreeableness were more willing to provide emotional care, and participant older age was a unique predictor of instrumental care. The results can help shape research on interventions that incorporate perspective taking, motivational interviewing, and training in life skills as a means of boosting college students’ willingness to provide care for a relative with a chronic health condition.
Evaluations of landscape preference, complexity, and coherence for designed digital landscape models

Abstract Few studies have investigated whether intentionally manipulating objective measures related to the informational concepts of complexity and coherence, within the context of natural and built settings, affects respondents’ preference ratings and estimations of complexity and coherence. Our study addresses this research need. Color digital landscape model views depicted three variations in the number of unique plant species (complexity), translated into Shannon’s information entropy bit values, and three methods of plant organization (coherence)—formal, clustered, and scattershot—within field, residential, and urban settings. Participants viewed and evaluated the digital landscape model views for preference ( n = 77) or estimated the presence of complexity ( n = 34) or coherence ( n = 38). Strong, direct correlations resulted between respondents’ estimations of complexity and designed entropy bit values. Respondents’ estimations of coherence inversely correlated with the number of regions depicted in model views that represent the methods of plant organization. Preference did not correlate with estimations of coherence or designed entropy values, but did correlate with estimations of complexity. Repeated measures ANOVA test results suggest that respondents’ preference for scenes increased as entropy values increased between two and four bits, and that plants arranged in clusters were liked more than scattershot or formal compositions. Moreover, respondents liked residential settings significantly more than urban settings, and preference increased significantly more with increasing entropy values in urban settings than in residential. The interaction between setting and entropy values for depictions of clustered and formal plant arrangements affected preference differently in each setting.
California’s Sterilization Survivors: An Estimate and Call for Redress

From 1919 to 1952, approximately 20 000 individuals were sterilized in California’s state institutions on the basis of eugenic laws that sought to control the reproductive capacity of people labeled unfit and defective.Using data from more than 19 000 sterilization recommendations processed by state institutions over this 33-year period, we provide the most accurate estimate of living sterilization survivors. As of 2016, we estimate that as many as 831 individuals, with an average age of 87.9 years, are alive.We suggest that California emulate North Carolina and Virginia, states that maintained similar sterilization programs and recently have approved monetary compensation for victims. We discuss the societal obligation for redress of this historical injustice and recommend that California seriously consider reparations and full accountability.
Physics-Inspired Neural Networks for Efficient Device Compact Modeling

We present a novel physics-inspired neural network (Pi-NN) approach for compact modeling. Development of high-quality compact models for devices is a key to connect device science with applications. One recent approach is to treat compact modeling as a regression problem in machine learning. The most common learning algorithm to develop compact models is the multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network. However, device compact models derived using the MLP neural networks often exhibit unphysical behavior, which is eliminated in the Pi-NN approach proposed in this paper, since the Pi-NN incorporates fundamental device physics. As a result, smooth, accurate, and computationally efficient device models can be learned from discrete data points by using Pi-NN. This paper sheds new light on the future of the neural network compact modeling.
Java-MOP: A monitoring oriented programming environment for java

A Java-based tool-supported software development and analysis framework is presented, where monitoring is a foundational principle. Expressive requirements specification formalisms can be included into the framework via logic plug-ins, allowing one to refer not only to the current state, but also to both past and future states.
Accuracy of breast MRI in predicting pathologic tumor size.

1109 Background: MRI use as a preoperative planning tool is increasing in women with breast cancer, yet the correlation between MRI and pathologic size of cancers is unclear. The purpose of this st...
Re-shuffling the Deck on Environmental Sustainability: Using a Card Sort to Uncover Perceived Behavioral Categories, Effort, and Impact in a College Environment

Definitions of sustainability in social settings can vary widely across contexts and age groups. The aim of this experiment is to identify actions college students classify as sustainable within their everyday context, how such actions are grouped into behavioral categories, the perceived effort and impact of actions, and ways that public spaces can limit these actions. A card-sort, co-current interview, and ranking task was conducted with ten students (ages 20–27). Student listed sustainable actions and behavioral categories were compared against a researcher-generated list of categorized actions possible within their college environment. Ranking data of perceived effort and impact was used to identify which behaviors would be easy and difficult to encourage in college buildings. Key findings are that students’ perceptions of effort and impact varied widely, students categorized actions based on many types of commonalities, students consistently placed actions appropriately in predetermined categories, and that educational environments contain social and physical norms limiting perceived ability to act. In the future, these methods could be replicated to identify perceptions influencing sustainable behaviors in multiple contexts.
Medicaid Cost Savings of a Preventive Home Visit Program for Disabled Older Adults

Background/Objectives Little is known about cost savings of programs that reduce disability in older adults. The objective was to determine whether the Community Aging in Place, Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE) program saves Medicaid more money than it costs to provide. Design Single‐arm clinical trial (N = 204) with a comparison group of individuals (N = 2,013) dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare matched on baseline geographic and demographic characteristics, chronic conditions, and healthcare use. We used finite mixture model regression estimates in a Markov model. Setting Baltimore, MD Participants Individuals aged 65 and older with reported difficulty with at least one activity of daily living. Intervention CAPABLE is a 5‐month program to reduce the health effects of impaired physical function in low‐income older adults by addressing individual capacity and the home environment. CAPABLE uses an interprofessional team (occupational therapist, registered nurse, handyman) to help older adults attain self‐identified functional goals. Measurements Monthly average Medicaid expenditure and likelihood of high‐ or low‐cost use of eight healthcare service categories. Results Average Medicaid spending per CAPABLE participant was $867 less per month than that of their matched comparison counterparts (observation period average 17 months, range 1–31 months). The largest differential reduction in expenditures were for inpatient care and long‐term services and supports. Conclusion CAPABLE is associated with lower likelihood of inpatient and long‐term service use and lower overall Medicaid spending. The magnitude of reduced Medicaid spending could pay for CAPABLE delivery and provide further Medicaid program savings due to averted services use. Clinical trial registration CAPABLE for Frail dually eligible older adults NCT01743495 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01743495
Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis of Pulmonary Embolism

The treatment of intermediate- and high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) is experiencing dramatic changes given the ineligibility of many patients for systemic thrombolysis and the potential associated complications. Catheter-directed interventions (CDIs) are increasingly performed for acute PE as they are presumed to provide similar therapeutic benefits compared to systemic thrombolysis while decreasing the dose of thrombolytic required and the associated risks. This chapter reviews catheter-directed interventions for acute PE including the indications, available techniques, clinical effectiveness, complication rates, and long-term outcomes.
Live-cell imaging reveals the dynamics of PRC2 and recruitment to chromatin by SUZ12-associated subunits

Polycomb-repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is a histone methyltransferase that promotes epigenetic gene silencing, but the dynamics of its interactions with chromatin are largely unknown. Here we quantitatively measured the binding of PRC2 to chromatin in human cancer cells. Genome editing of a HaloTag into the endogenous EZH2 and SUZ12 loci and single-particle tracking revealed that ∼80% of PRC2 rapidly diffuses through the nucleus, while ∼20% is chromatin-bound. Short-term treatment with a small molecule inhibitor of the EED-H3K27me3 interaction had no immediate effect on the chromatin residence time of PRC2. In contrast, separation-of-function mutants of SUZ12, which still form the core PRC2 complex but cannot bind accessory proteins, revealed a major contribution of AEBP2 and PCL homolog proteins to chromatin binding. We therefore quantified the dynamics of this chromatin-modifying complex in living cells and separated the contributions of H3K27me3 histone marks and various PRC2 subunits to recruitment of PRC2 to chromatin.
Exploring predictive replacement policies for instruction cache and branch target buffer

Modern processors support instruction fetch with the instruction cache (I-cache) and branch target buffer (BTB). Due to timing and area constraints, the I-cache and BTB must efficiently make use of their limited capacities. Blocks in the I-cache or entries in the BTB that have low potential for reuse should be replaced by more useful blocks/entries. This work explores predictive replacement policies based on reuse prediction that can be applied to both the I-cache and BTB. Using a large suite of recently released industrial traces, we show that predictive replacement policies can reduce misses in the I-cache and BTB. We introduce Global History Reuse Prediction (GHRP), a replacement technique that uses the history of past instruction addresses and their reuse behaviors to predict dead blocks in the I-cache and dead entries in the BTB. This paper describes the effectiveness of GHRP as a dead block replacement and bypass optimization for both the I-cache and BTB. For a 64KB set-associative I-cache with a 64B block size, GHRP lowers the I-cache misses per 1000 instructions (MPKI) by an average of 18% over the least-recently-used (LRU) policy on a set of 662 industrial workloads, performing significantly better than Static Re-reference Interval Prediction (SRRIP) [1] and Sampling Dead Block Prediction (SDBP)[2]. For a 4K-entry BTB, GHRP lowers MPKI by an average of 30% over LRU, 23% over SRRIP, and 29% over SDBP.
Factors Influencing Sustained Engagement with ECG Self-Monitoring: Perspectives from Patients and Health Care Providers.

Background Patient-generated health data (PGHD) collected digitally with mobile health (mHealth) technology has garnered recent excitement for its potential to improve precision management of chronic conditions such as atrial fibrillation (AF), a common cardiac arrhythmia. However, sustained engagement is a major barrier to collection of PGHD. Little is known about barriers to sustained engagement or strategies to intervene upon engagement through application design. Objective This article investigates individual patient differences in sustained engagement among individuals with a history of AF who are self-monitoring using mHealth technology. Methods This qualitative study involved patients, health care providers, and research coordinators previously involved in a randomized, controlled trial involving electrocardiogram (ECG) self-monitoring of AF. Patients were adults with a history of AF randomized to the intervention arm of this trial who self-monitored using ECG mHealth technology for 6 months. Semistructured interviews and focus groups were conducted separately with health care providers and research coordinators, engaged patients, and unengaged patients. A validated model of sustained engagement, an adapted unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), guided data collection, and analysis through directed content analysis. Results We interviewed 13 patients (7 engaged, 6 unengaged), 6 providers, and 2 research coordinators. In addition to finding differences between engaged and unengaged patients within each predictor in the adapted UTAUT model (perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, facilitating conditions), four additional factors were identified as being related to sustained engagement in this population. These are: (1) internal motivation to manage health, (2) relationship with health care provider, (3) supportive environments, and (4) feedback and guidance. Conclusion Although it required some modification, the adapted UTAUT model was useful in understanding of the parameters of sustained engagement. The findings of this study provide initial requirement specifications for the design of applications that engage patients in this unique population of adults with AF.