cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pattern of recurrence of medulloblastoma after low-dose craniospinal radiotherapy

Abstract Purpose: We retrospectively evaluated relapse of medulloblastoma after low- or high-dose craniospinal radiotherapy, and after conventional or hyperfractionated posterior fossa irradiation. Methods and Materials: Ninety-two pediatric patients were treated postoperatively since 1970 at the University of California, San Francisco. Until 1989, we employed conventional fractionation with low (≤ 30 Gy) or high-dose craniospinal fields and low-dose (≤ 56 Gy) posterior fossa boosts. Recently, hyperfractionation delivered low- or high-dose to the craniospinal axis and high-dose to the posterior fossa. Most patients treated after 1979 received chemotherapy. Results: Median follow-up was 70 months. Five-year disease-free survival was 36% (22% for poor-risk vs. 59% for good-risk patients). Five-year overall survival was 52% (43% for poor vs. 68% for good-risk). Neither the dose to the posterior fossa nor the craniospinal axis was statistically related to recurrence. Failure in the posterior fossa occurred despite boosts greater than 56 Gy. Females, over the age of 6 years, had significantly better relapse-free survival than males of the same age. Six of the 54 patients who relapsed were long-term survivors. Conclusions: Low-dose craniospinal radiotherapy, where the majority of patients received chemotherapy, was not associated with increased failure. High-dose posterior fossa hyperfractionation did not improve control. Long-term survival was noted in a number of patients after relapse. We recommend 60 Gy or greater with conventional fractions to the primary area, and continued study of low-dose craniospinal irradiation with adjuvant chemotherapy.
Edge effects on low temperature surface adsorption phases and phase transitions on finite-width square terraces

Abstract A transfer matrix approach is used to conduct a thorough investigation of all possible adsorbate configurations or phases on terraces of various widths M including edge effects, and limited to first- and second-neighbor adsorbate–adsorbate interactions. Figures showing the configurations that occur within this model are presented for M=3 and 4, and detailed tables provide the phase sequences corresponding to all possible ranges of values for the interaction energies. Higher width terrace results have also been completed and are available upon request. As such, the model calculations provide a useful reference for experimentalists leading to predictions of the values of the interaction energies from the observed phase sequence and the conditions prevailing at the transition between phases. A few experimental results are interpreted using the model. One suggests specific experiments, which would make the observations more amenable to direct comparison with the calculations.
Something to chew on: psychosocial factors associated with oral health practices

Although they can be prevented or reversed with proper oral hygiene, oral diseases are prevalent because oral self-care in the population is poor. Using structural equation modeling, we examined associations of theoretically guided psychosocial factors with oral health practices and dissatisfaction in young adults. Conscientiousness predicted lower dissatisfaction (β = −.35, p < .05); oral health self-efficacy predicted lower dissatisfaction (β = −.52, p < .05) and better oral health practices (β = .89, p < .05). Barriers to receiving dental care and knowledge about oral health did not predict either outcome. Findings suggest that by promoting task-specific oral health self-efficacy, healthcare providers may be able to improve patients' oral health satisfaction and increase compliance with recommendations for self-care.
Ethics, Problem Framing, and Training in Qualitative Inquiry

This article examines the ethical issues bound up in the ways research problems are initially framed: the questions asked, the temporal and spatial frames of the study, the ways participants are defined. It explores the consequences of thinking through ethical issues using recent reconceptualizations of agency and suggests extensions of the ways researchers define participants for ethical purposes. The article concludes by examining some of the reasons for the relative neglect of such issues in graduate research preparation.
Virtual Reality and Interactive Digital Game Technology: New Tools to Address Obesity and Diabetes:

The convergence of the exponential advances in virtual reality (VR)-enabling technologies with a growing body of clinical research and experience has fueled the evolution of the discipline of clinical VR. This article begins with a brief overview of methods for producing and delivering VR environments that can be accessed by users for a range of clinical health conditions. Interactive digital games and new forms of natural movement-based interface devices are also discussed in the context of the emerging area of exergaming, along with some of the early results from studies of energy expenditure during the use of these systems. While these results suggest that playing currently available active exergames uses significantly more energy than sedentary activities and is equivalent to a brisk walk, these activities do not reach the level of intensity that would match playing the actual sport, nor do they deliver the recommended daily amount of exercise for children. However, these results provide some support for the use of digital exergames using the current state of technology as a complement to, rather than a replacement, for regular exercise. This may change in the future as new advances in novel full-body interaction systems for providing vigorous interaction with digital games are expected to drive the creation of engaging, low-cost interactive game-based applications designed to increase exercise participation in persons at risk for obesity.
Do Learning Communities Make a Difference

Introductory political sciences courses can be both a blessing and a curse for professors. At many universities they are required classes, creating a demand for more sections and hence more professors. However, these classes are often sizable and, to make matters worse, full of disinterested students. A recent report finds that only 28% of the freshman class of 2000 believes that it is very important or essential to keep current with political affairs (Bennett and Bennett 2001). Teaching in a room full of disinterested students is a formidable
Technique for Insertion of HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist Device Inflow Cannula

During implantation of the HeartMate II left ventricular assist device, the inflow cannula is typically inserted in such a way that the sewing ring is placed within the ventricular cavity in contact with the endocardium. We describe a novel implantation technique in which the sewing ring is secured to the left ventricular epicardium, thus avoiding the complication of bleeding from the exposed cut surface of apical myocardium. In addition, the shortened intraventricular segment of the inflow cannula protects against inflow occlusion by the interventricular septum.
Depressive Symptoms in Severely Obese Compared With Normal Weight Adolescents: Results From a Community-Based Longitudinal Study

Abstract Purpose Little is known about the relationship between severe obesity and depressive symptoms, particularly in community as opposed to clinic-based samples. This study determined the relationship of severe obesity and depressive symptoms over 3 years in a community-based sample of non-Hispanic black and white adolescents in grades 7–12 at baseline. Methods The nested matched cohort study using data from a longitudinal school-based study of youth followed up for 3 years. A total of 51 severely obese participants (body mass index-for-age ≥99% and a body mass index ≥40 at one or more study visit) were identified and paired with an age-, gender-, and race-matched normal weight subject. Depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression [CES-D] scale) were assessed at baseline, 2 and 3 years later. High-depressive symptoms were defined by CES-D score above cut points predictive of major depressive disorder or use of antidepressant medication. Results Pairs were 73% non-Hispanic black, 67% females. There was no relationship between weight status and high-depressive symptoms at any assessment point. However, a positive association between weight status and CES-D scores, while not present at baseline or at 2 years, emerged at 3 years ( p = .02). This relationship was present only among non-Hispanic whites ( p = .006 whites, p = .25 blacks) and did not differ by gender. Conclusion Severely obese youth in this community sample did not have increased likelihood of high levels of depressive symptoms. However, significantly increased depressive symptoms among non-Hispanic white youth at the end of the follow-up period suggests that this racial/ethnic group may be particularly vulnerable to the psychological effects of obesity in late adolescence and/or early adulthood.
Resilient Cluster Formation for Sensor Networks

Sensor nodes are often organized into clusters to facilitate many network operations such as data aggregation. Clustering has to be protected in hostile environments. Otherwise, an attacker can easily mislead a cluster-based application by attacking the clustering protocol. This paper proposes three techniques for resilient cluster formation. The simple neighbor validation provides a simple yet effective way to validate a sensor's neighbors; the priority-based selection organizes clusters basedon the sensor's priority of being a cluster head; and the centralized detection further enhances the security by detecting misbehaving nodes. Another appealing benefit of this protocol is that a sensor node can make a clustering decision immediately once the neighborhood information is available. This further increases the difficulty of attacking the clustering protocol. The analysis also shows that the proposed protocol is efficient and effective in dealing with attacks.
Multilevel regularized regression for simultaneous taxa selection and network construction with metagenomic count data

© The Author 2014. Motivation: Identifying disease associated taxa and constructing networks for bacteria interactions are two important tasks usually studied separately. In reality, differentiation of disease associated taxa and correlation among taxa may affect each other. One genus can be differentiated because it is highly correlated with another highly differentiated one. In addition, network structures may vary under different clinical conditions. Permutation tests are commonly used to detect differences between networks in distinct phenotypes, and they are time-consuming. Results: In this manuscript, we propose a multilevel regularized regression method to simultaneously identify taxa and construct networks. We also extend the framework to allow construction of a common network and differentiated network together. An efficient algorithm with dual formulation is developed to deal with the large-scale n 蠐 m problem with a large number of taxa (m) and a small number of samples (n) efficiently. The proposed method is regularized with a general Lp (p ∈ [0,2]) penalty and models the effects of taxa abundance differentiation and correlation jointly. We demonstrate that it can identify both true and biologically significant genera and network structures.
Image processing for extended depth of field

Improvement in the depth of field is demonstrated by properly processing a succession of image samples. Due to the limited depth of field each image sample has in-focus as well as out-of-focus segments. By setting criteria for selecting the in-focus segments, an improved composite image is formed. Three algorithms for implementing this construction are discussed.
MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY IN INTACT, IN ADRENALECTOMIZED AND IN HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED RATS

Control and magnesium-deficient synthetic diets were fed ad libitum to intact, to adrenalectomized and to hypophysectomized male rats for 8, 15 and 22 days. The course and sequence of the appearance of magnesium-deficiency symptoms were recorded. In the intact and the adrenalectomized rats fed the deficient diet, the growth rate was depressed, whereas the hypophysectomized deficient rats showed no significant difference in weight gain compared to their controls. Rats in each of the three groups on the deficient diet developed hyperemia, leucocytosis (especially eosinophilia) and renal lesions in the distal convoluted tubules coincident with the initial depletion of serum magnesium. In the intact and the adrenalectomized rats these magnesium-deficiency symptoms appeared during the first week on the experimental diet, but in the hypophysectomized rats the onset of the symptoms was significantly delayed to the third week. Although the kidney lesions were similar to those described for the potassium-deficient...
Perception and visualization of line images

This paper deals with state-of-the-art novel ideas of visualization, understanding and interpretation of two-dimensional (2D) line images. A new strategy using fast two-pass parallel pattern matching techniques is presented. It can learn, represent, visualize, and interpret 2D polyhedral line images with only very few learning samples. It can also distinguish similar patterns more accurately than other methods. Such a technique is applied to articulated object recognition and algorithms for articulated feature extraction are presented. Several illustrations are given and future research topics are discussed.
Genetically Modified Maize, Biodiversity, and Subsistence Farming in Mexico

Concern over the loss of genetic diversity in the world's field crops has increased due to the commercial introduction of genetically modified crops. Mexico is particularly sensitive to this issue, as it is the center of genetic diversity for maize and home to a large number of indigenous farmers who propagate this diversity. This paper analyzes to what extent the biodiversity of maize may be endangered as subsistence farmers are forced off their land. Off-farm migration is suggested as a potential rational response of farmers to the large and rapidly growing imports of maize from the U.S., a large share of which consists of genetically modified maize. The maize imports from the U.S. are seen not only as worsening the terms of trade of subsistence farmers but also as raising the risk of lower yields as indigenous varieties of maize may lose their resilience to environmental stress through contamination with genetically modified maize.
GLOSSI: a method to assess the association of genetic loci-sets with complex diseases

The developments of high-throughput genotyping technologies, which enable the simultaneous genotyping of hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) have the potential to increase the benefits of genetic epidemiology studies. Although the enhanced resolution of these platforms increases the chance of interrogating functional SNPs that are themselves causative or in linkage disequilibrium with causal SNPs, commonly used single SNP-association approaches suffer from serious multiple hypothesis testing problems and provide limited insights into combinations of loci that may contribute to complex diseases. Drawing inspiration from Gene Set Enrichment Analysis developed for gene expression data, we have developed a method, named GLOSSI (G ene-lo ci S et Analysi s), that integrates prior biological knowledge into the statistical analysis of genotyping data to test the association of a group of SNPs (loci-set) with complex disease phenotypes. The most significant loci-sets can be used to formulate hypotheses from a functional viewpoint that can be validated experimentally. In a simulation study, GLOSSI showed sufficient power to detect loci-sets with less than 10% of SNPs having moderate-to-large effect sizes and intermediate minor allele frequency values. When applied to a biological dataset where no single SNP-association was found in a previous study, GLOSSI was able to identify several loci-sets that are significantly related to blood pressure response to an antihypertensive drug. GLOSSI is valuable for association of SNPs at multiple genetic loci with complex disease phenotypes. In contrast to methods based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic, the approach is parametric and only utilizes information from within the interrogated loci-set. It properly accounts for dependency among SNPs and allows the testing of loci-sets of any size.
Recombinant human sulphamidase: expression, amplification, purification and characterization

Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA (MPS IIIA, Sanfilippo A syndrome) is a lysosomal storage disease that causes a profound neurological deterioration. The disorder is caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme sulphamidase which is a requisite for the degradation of heparan sulphate. To facilitate the development of enzyme-replacement strategies for MPS IIIA patients, we have constructed a high-level expression system for recombinant human sulphamidase in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. An expression construct containing a methotrexate-resistant dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene allowed amplification of expression levels from less than 1 mg of sulphamidase per litre of culture medium to approx. 15 mg/l. Unlike many cell lines made by gene amplification in DHFR-deficient CHO cells, and utilizing the normal DHFR gene, these cell lines appeared to be stable in the absence of selective pressure. Recombinant human sulphamidase was purified from unamplified and amplified cell lines. The native enzyme was found to be a dimer of 115 kDa. Denaturing and reducing SDS/PAGE revealed a subunit size of 62 kDa. Kinetic analysis demonstrated that the recombinant enzyme had broadly similar kinetic characteristics to sulphamidase purified from liver. Recombinant human sulphamidase was able to correct the storage phenotype of MPS IIIA fibroblasts after endocytosis via the mannose-6-phosphate receptor.
A Factor Analytic Study of the Infant-Toddler and Early Childhood Versions of the Home Inventory

Over the past 40 years research has clearly established a link between children's experiences in their home environment and their health and behavioral development to the point that it has become c...
Preoptic hypothalamic control of arteriolar vasodilatory responses

Arteriolar responses to hemorrhage were directly observed in the skeletal muscle and intestinal circulations of two groups of animals. In one group, the periventricular tissue surrounding the anteroventral portion of the third cerebral ventricle (AV3V) was electrolytically lesioned 7-10 days before an acute experiment. In the other group, control surgical procedures were performed. Hemorrhage resulted in similar decreases in arterial blood pressure (30-60% prehemorrhage level) and intestinal blood flow (20-60% prehemorrhage level) in both groups. In contrast, arteriolar diameter significantly increased following hemorrhage in the spinotrapezius muscle of control-operated animals (141 +/- 9% prehemorrhage level) but did not change in animals with AV3V lesions (97 +/- 7% prehemorrhage level). In a previous study, electrical stimulation of intact AV3V tissue was shown to cause a sustained decrease in blood pressure (80-90% of control level) and a vasodilation in skeletal muscle arterioles (120-140% control level). Since stimulation of intact AV3V tissue evokes vasodilation and AV3V tissue ablation reduces hemorrhage-induced vasodilation, this region of the hypothalamus may play an important role in the regulation or modulation of some responses in the peripheral microcirculation.
Gene-expression profiling to demonstrate select neutrophils from breast cancer patients versus healthy women as cytotoxic against breast cancer cells via novel chemokine-mediated mechanisms.

11086 Background: We have previously shown that neutrophils, entrained by a primary breast tumor, inhibit metastatic seeding and are cytotoxic to cancer cells in mouse models (Granot et al., 2010)....
The Attitude to Women, and Women Poets, in Spanish Romantic Poetry

On 18 May 1998, to commemorate, on the exact day, Ivy McClelland's ninetieth birthday, Geoffrey Ribbans delivered the annual ‘Ivy McClelland Lecture’ at the University of Glasgow. Ivy herself was i...
Benchmark in der Automatisierungstechnik

Um Wertschopfungspotentiale in der Automatisierungstechnik zu identifizieren, hat die BASF ein Benchmark-Konzept in einem von ARC initiierten Konsortium zusammen mit anderen globalen Chemieunternehmen entwickelt. Erste Erfahrungen aus einem Pilotversuch bestatigen den Nutzen eines Automatisierungs-Benchmarks, liefern aber auch Ansatze fur die Fortentwicklung der Methode. Als ein erstes konkretes Ergebnis wird das Thema Alarm-Management vordringlich behandelt werden. Die BASF wird sich im Automatisierungs-Benchmark weiterhin engagieren, ihn sowohl extern als auch intern weiterfuhren und die Daten ferner zur Erganzung anderer interner Standort-Benchmarks verwenden. Benchmark in der Automatisierungstechnik bildet zukunftig ein Element der Benchmark Strategie fur die Technical Community der BASF.
Systematic Thinking as a Prerequisite to Clarity of Expression in Business Writing

On presente l'organisation de cours pour la redaction de rapports par une approche systematique de resolution de problemes, passant par une cooperation entre les departements d'anglais et d'affaires de l'organisme d'enseignement
DIFFUSION DURING THE COAGULATION PROCESS OF WET SPINNING OF ACRYLIC FIBERS (II) RELATION BETWEEN THE MUTUAL DIFFUSION IN FILAMENT AND THE FORMED STRUCTURE

Using the equations reported in the previous paper, the diffusion coefficients of solvent (DMSO) and coagulant (water) in filament during the coagulation process were calculated, and the effect of various spinning conditions on diffusion coefficients were studied and the relation between the diffusion coefficients and the formed structure were found. The obtained results are as follows:(1) Factors such as solid content in dope, temperature of coagulation bath and take-up speed of filament effect more strongly on diffusion coefficients than bulb stretch ratio. Apparent activation energies of diffusion are 4.72Kcal/mol for DMSO and 4.20Kcal/mol for water.(2) The diffusion coefficients of both DMSO and water show the minimum value at the bath content of 55% DMSO, where the volume porosity of as-spun fibers has the minimum value. This diffusional interchange explaines the dependence of volume porosity on the bath content. This phenomenon is considered to be caused by the formation of complex of one DMSO molecule and two water molecules, and the subsequent increase in viscosity of the liquid bath. In the bath content of about 55% DMSO, the complexes are considered to diffuse as coagulants into fibers more predominantly than water, while DMSO molecules diffuse out of fibers.(3) As the diffusion velocity becomes high, the fibers formed become porous and the fibrils and voids in the fiber become larger. This tendency is observed not only in DMSO-water spinning system, but also in ordinary wet spinning systems of acrylic fibers.
A molecular genetic linkage map identifying the St and H subgenomes of Elymus (Poaceae: Triticeae) wheatgrass

Elymus L. is the largest and most complex genus in the Triticeae tribe of grasses with approximately 150 poly- ploid perennial species occurring worldwide. We report here the first genetic linkage map for Elymus. Backcross mapping populations were created by crossing caespitose Elymus wawawaiensis (EW) (Snake River wheatgrass) and rhizomatous Ely- mus lanceolatus (EL) (thickspike wheatgrass) to produce F1 interspecific hybrids that were then backcrossed to the same EL male to generate progeny with segregating phenotypes. EW and EL are both allotetraploid species (n = 14) containing the St (Pseudoroegneria) and H (Hordeum) genomes. A total of 387 backcross progeny from four populations were genotyped using 399 AFLP and 116 EST-based SSR and STS markers. The resulting consensus map was 2574 cM in length appor- tioned among the expected number of 14 linkage groups. EST-based SSR and STS markers with homology to rice genome sequences were used to identify Elymus linkage groups homoeologous to chromosomes 1-7 of wheat. The frequency of St- derived genome markers on each linkage group was used to assign genome designations to all linkage groups, resulting in the identification of the seven St and seven H linkage groups of Elymus. This map also confirms the alloploidy and disomic chromosome pairing and segregation of Elymus and will be useful in identifying QTLs controlling perennial grass traits in this genus.
Resident Technical Experience in Obstetrics and Gynecology Before and After Implementation of Work-Hour Rules

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate resident experience in obstetric and gynecologic procedures after implementation of resident work-hour restrictions.METHODS:Median resident experience in core obstetric and gynecologic procedures in the role of “surgeon” for the 3-year period before the implementation of work-h
Teachers on the Front Line of Prevention Science

Because prevention programs are often implemented in schools, teachers have an important role to play in delivery of universal interventions. To design school-based programs that are feasible for implementation in routine practice, and to collaborate fruitfully with school personnel, it is imperative that prevention scientists understand the work of teachers and the reality of their work in classrooms. To that end, this chapter reviews the knowledge base for teaching, the educational preparation for teaching, and the ongoing professional development that continues to build teachers’ knowledge. The story of a hypothetical middle school teacher is provided to illustrate the nature of a teacher’s professional life. The chapter closes with suggestions for how prevention scientists can forge collaborative relationships with teachers by being empathetic, flexible, and supportive.
Analysis of Heart Rate Variability during Asymptomatic Periods in Children with Vasovagal Syncope

Objective To analyze heart rate variability during asymptomatic periods in children with vasovagal syncope(VVS). Me-thods Forty-five children diagnosed as VVS in clinic were recruited as a study group,38 with positive and 7 with negative response to head-up tilt test(HUTT).Twenty healthy children were matched as healthy controls.Twenty-four hours holter monitoring was performed and time and frequency domain indices were studied. Results 1.Compared with the healthy controls,the values of time-domain SDNN(121.82±33.0 vs 152.95±31.66,P0.01) and SDANN(114.42±33.41 vs 134.7±27.43,P0.05) were lower,and the ratio of low frequency / high frequency(LF/ HF)(1.67±0.54 vs 1.25±0.2,P0.01) were higher in study group.2.There was no significant difference in the time-domain and frequency-domain indices(P0.05) in HUTT positive and negative children.3.Compared with cardioinhibitory response(CI) children,SDNN(100.61±23.02 vs 150.5±29.46,P0.01),SDANN(96.78±28.77 vs 141.25±29.06,P0.05),rMSSD(29.22±19.56 vs 53.75±23.08,P0.05) and PNN50(11.29±9.31 vs 23.96±12.54,P0.05) were significantly lower,LF(39.61±8.45 vs 19.68±4.17,P0.01) and LF/HF(2.12±0.55 vs 1.09±0.11,P0.01) were significantly higher in vasodepressor response(VD) children.And compared with mixed responses(MX)children,rMSSD(29.22±19.56 vs 52.57±18.54,P0.05) and PNN50(11.29±9.31 vs 22.96±11.13,P0.05) were lower significantly,LF(39.61±8.45 vs 29.72±9.87,P0.05) and LF/HF(2.12±0.55 vs 1.38±0.30,P0.01) were higher significantly in VD children,but there was no difference between CI and MX children(P0.05).4.Compared with the healthy controls,rMSSD and PNN50 obviously declined in VD group while LF significantly increased(P0.05). Conclusions There is a different alteration in autonomic activity in VVS children during asymptomatic periods.The changes in baseline of RMSSD,PNN50 and LF parameters may serve as a predictor to identify VD clinically.
Analysis of urinary extracts by gas chromatography. 3alpha,17-Dihydroxypregnan-20-one, pregnane-3alpha,17,20alpha-triol and delta5-pregnene-3beta,17,20alpha-triol.

Abstract Analysis by gas chromatography on the non-polar phase SE-30 has been used to determine the quantity of 3α,17-dihydroxypregnan-20-one, pregnane-3α,17,20α-triol and Δ 5 -pregnene-3β,17,20α-triol in eluates of paper chromatograms of urinary extracts. During the process, the 3α,17-dihydroxypregnan-20-one rearranges to 3α,17-dihydroxy-17β-methyl-D-homoetiocholan-17a-one.
Reliability of compliant electrically conductive adhesives for flexible PV modules

Lightweight flexible Photovoltaic (PV) modules are an attractive product option in variety of markets including portable (to power IoT devices) and low load-bearing rooftop applications. The ease of transport, installation, integration, cost, and reliability/ruggedness are the primary drivers towards penetration of the lightweight flexible PV products in the market. Factors that enable the lightweight and flexibility features include the absence of a frame, no-glass encapsulation, and flexible interconnection. The impact of these factors on reliability needs careful attention as they significantly deviate from the traditional silicon PV module package. In this paper, we focus on the area of robustness of interconnections in thin film lightweight flexible PV modules. The use of flexible and more permeable polymer coversheets in these modules (rather than glass) present a greater challenge on the mechanical integrity and environmental stability of the interconnects.
Why doesn’t feedback correct Vierordt’s law?

ABSTRACTVierordt [(1868). Der zeitsinn nach versuchen. Tubingen: Laupp] observed that participants over-reproduce short durations and under-reproduce long durations within a test range of sample durations (Vierordt’s law). Similar phenomena have been reported for sensory and other processing (e.g. [Helson (1964). Adaptation-level theory. New York: Harper & Row; Stevens, and Greenbaum (1966). Regression effect in psychophysical judgment. Perception & Psychophysics, 1, 439–446]. Performance feedback (knowledge of results) does not correct this performance distortion although it does correct other errors. In Experiment 1, I tested the hypothesis that a random presentation order of the standard durations makes feedback on one trial inappropriate for the next trial preventing correction of the Vierordt effect. In Experiment 2, participants performed two consecutive reproductions after each standard duration. Having the opportunity to immediately utilize the feedback from the first reproduction did not eliminat...
NUP98 Fusion Proteins Interact with the NSL and MLL1 Complexes to Drive Leukemogenesis

The nucleoporin 98 gene (NUP98) is fused to a variety of partner genes in multiple hematopoietic malignancies. Here, we demonstrate that NUP98 fusion proteins, including NUP98-HOXA9 (NHA9), NUP98-HOXD13 (NHD13), NUP98-NSD1, NUP98-PHF23, and NUP98-TOP1 physically interact with mixed lineage leukemia 1 (MLL1) and the non-specific lethal (NSL) histone-modifying complexes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing illustrates that NHA9 and MLL1 co-localize on chromatin and are found associated with Hox gene promoter regions. Furthermore, MLL1 is required for the proliferation of NHA9 cells in vitro and in vivo. Inactivation of MLL1 leads to decreased expression of genes bound by NHA9 and MLL1 and reverses a gene expression signature found in NUP98-rearranged human leukemias. Our data reveal a molecular dependency on MLL1 function in NUP98-fusion-driven leukemogenesis.
Analyzing the Area Under the Curve of Pharyngeal pH Probes in the Diagnosis of Reflux Disease.

Objectives:To analyze the area under the curve (AUC) from 24-hour pharyngeal pH probes and evaluate this parameter as a predictor of disease severity for laryngopharyngeal reflux.Methods:Eighty pat...
Mining non-lattice subgraphs for detecting missing hierarchical relations and concepts in SNOMED CT.

Objective Quality assurance of large ontological systems such as SNOMED CT is an indispensable part of the terminology management lifecycle. We introduce a hybrid structural-lexical method for scalable and systematic discovery of missing hierarchical relations and concepts in SNOMED CT. Material and methods All non-lattice subgraphs (the structural part) in SNOMED CT are exhaustively extracted using a scalable MapReduce algorithm. Four lexical patterns (the lexical part) are identified among the extracted non-lattice subgraphs. Non-lattice subgraphs exhibiting such lexical patterns are often indicative of missing hierarchical relations or concepts. Each lexical pattern is associated with a potential specific type of error. Results Applying the structural-lexical method to SNOMED CT (September 2015 US edition), we found 6801 non-lattice subgraphs that matched these lexical patterns, of which 2046 were amenable to visual inspection. We evaluated a random sample of 100 small subgraphs, of which 59 were reviewed in detail by domain experts. All the subgraphs reviewed contained errors confirmed by the experts. The most frequent type of error was missing is-a relations due to incomplete or inconsistent modeling of the concepts. Conclusions Our hybrid structural-lexical method is innovative and proved effective not only in detecting errors in SNOMED CT, but also in suggesting remediation for these errors.
A General-Purpose Counting Filter: Making Every Bit Count

Approximate Membership Query (AMQ) data structures, such as the Bloom filter, quotient filter, and cuckoo filter, have found numerous applications in databases, storage systems, networks, computational biology, and other domains. However, many applications must work around limitations in the capabilities or performance of current AMQs, making these applications more complex and less performant. For example, many current AMQs cannot delete or count the number of occurrences of each input item, take up large amounts of space, are slow, cannot be resized or merged, or have poor locality of reference and hence perform poorly when stored on SSD or disk. This paper proposes a new general-purpose AMQ, the counting quotient filter (CQF). The CQF supports approximate membership testing and counting the occurrences of items in a data set. This general-purpose AMQ is small and fast, has good locality of reference, scales out of RAM to SSD, and supports deletions, counting (even on skewed data sets), resizing, merging, and highly concurrent access. The paper reports on the structure's performance on both manufactured and application-generated data sets. In our experiments, the CQF performs in-memory inserts and queries up to an order-of magnitude faster than the original quotient filter, several times faster than a Bloom filter, and similarly to the cuckoo filter, even though none of these other data structures support counting. On SSD, the CQF outperforms all structures by a factor of at least 2 because the CQF has good data locality. The CQF achieves these performance gains by restructuring the metadata bits of the quotient filter to obtain fast lookups at high load factors (i.e., even when the data structure is almost full). As a result, the CQF offers good lookup performance even up to a load factor of 95%. Counting is essentially free in the CQF in the sense that the structure is comparable or more space efficient even than non-counting data structures (e.g., Bloom, quotient, and cuckoo filters). The paper also shows how to speed up CQF operations by using new x86 bit-manipulation instructions introduced in Intel's Haswell line of processors. The restructured metadata transforms many quotient filter metadata operations into rank-and-select bit-vector operations. Thus, our efficient implementations of rank and select may be useful for other rank-and-select-based data structures.
Senescence As A Defense Strategy Against Parasites

The teleology of aging has been one of the more vexing and controversial question in biology. While the prevailing view of aging as a non-programmed, degenerative process has been challenged by recent discovery of genes that appear to influence the rate of aging and of interventions such as parabiosis and microbiome transfers that appear to reverse some features of aging, a convincing explanation for why programmed senescence might be evolutionarily favored has been lacking. Here we describe stochastic simulations of host and parasite populations with senescence as an independent variable. The results show that populations with more rapid senescence bear lower parasite loads and oscillate more quickly through alternate phenotypes with differential resistance against parasites. We conclude that programmed aging and death may promote host evasion of parasites in an evolutionary arms race against parasites.
Towards Integrating Synchrotron FTIR Microscopy with Mass Spectrometry at the Berkeley Synchrotron Infrared Structural Biology (BSISB) Program

Synchrotron-radiation-based Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR or sFTIR) facilities worldwide are probing both live cells and tissues non-destructively under native-like conditions. From spectrosc...
The first freely available open source software package for performing 3D image reconstruction for digital breast tomosynthesis

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) improves the visibility of cancerous lesions as compared to 2D full-field digital mammography (FFDM) by removing the overlap in breast tissues. An integral and computationally demanding part of the DBT image acquisition process is the reconstruction of the volume from projections. To facilitate further research towards improving DBT technology, it is essential to have access to image reconstruction software that generates volumes within a reasonable amount of time. We have developed an open source version of the filtered back-projection (FBP) reconstruction algorithm for DBT using single-threaded C. This is an extention to the C codes developed by Leeser et al. for cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) reconstruction. For each projection angle, the DBT projection view was interpolated to create an estimation of the corresponding CT projection view for that angle. The estimated CT projection views were then filtered and backprojected to generate the DBT volume. We tested our implementation using mathematical and anatomical phantom data and compared the results with a previously verified MATLAB implementation. We observed negligible relative differences between the DBT reconstruction by both methods with a considerable increase (up to 9 times faster) in speed over the MATLAB code.
Experimental validation of connected automated vehicle design among human-driven vehicles

In this paper, we present results regarding the experimental validation of connected automated vehicle design. In order for a connected automated vehicle to integrate well with human-dominated traffic, we propose a class of connected cruise control algorithms with feedback structure originated from human driving behavior. We test the connected cruise controllers using real vehicles under several driving scenarios while utilizing beyond-line-of-sight motion information obtained from neighboring human-driven vehicles via vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. We experimentally show that the design is robust against variations in human behavior as well as changes in the topology of the communication network. We demonstrate that both safety and energy efficiency can be significantly improved for the connected automated vehicle as well as for the neighboring human-driven vehicles and that the connected automated vehicle may bring additional societal benefits by mitigating traffic waves.
Electroluminescent refrigeration by ultra-efficient GaAs light-emitting diodes

Electroluminescence—the conversion of electrons to photons in a light-emitting diode (LED)—can be used as a mechanism for refrigeration, provided that the LED has an exceptionally high quantum efficiency. We investigate the practical limits of present optoelectronic technology for cooling applications by optimizing a GaAs/GaInP double heterostructure LED. We develop a model of the design based on the physics of detailed balance and the methods of statistical ray optics, and predict an external luminescence efficiency of ηext = 97.7% at 263 K. To enhance the cooling coefficient of performance, we pair the refrigerated LED with a photovoltaic cell, which partially recovers the emitted optical energy as electricity. For applications near room temperature and moderate power densities (1.0–10 mW/cm2), we project that an electroluminescent refrigerator can operate with up to 1.7× the coefficient of performance of thermoelectric coolers with ZT = 1, using the material quality in existing GaAs devices. We also predict superior cooling efficiency for cryogenic applications relative to both thermoelectric and laser cooling. Large improvements to these results are possible with optoelectronic devices that asymptotically approach unity luminescence efficiency.
MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CORRELATES OF ISOMETRIC FATIGUE IN CAT SKELETAL MUSCLE

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses mechanical, electrical, and biochemical correlates of isometric fatigue in cat skeletal muscle. In a study described in the chapter, although unfatigued skeletal muscle required frequencies of sequential stimulation as high as 40 Hz to tetanize the muscle, fatigued fast or slow twitch skeletal muscle requires frequencies of motor unit discharge only as high as 20 Hz to tetanize fully. Although the action potential amplitude was reduced at the end of the fatiguing contraction, a reduction has no effect on the contractile characteristics of the muscles. If fatigue in these muscles is not in the excitation, it must reside in either excitation–contraction coupling or in the contractile mechanism of the muscles.
Viscous and Inviscid Fluids and Elastic Solids

In this chapter, we shall summarize the governing partial differential equations for inviscid fluids, Stokes flow, and elastic solids.
6-DOF Automated Flight Testing Using a Humanoid Robot Arm

In this research, we propose a novel solution for automated flight testing that facilitates the design, control, and application of DAVs by accurately emulating the free flight environment while ensuring safety. In our platform, the vehicle is mounted to the end-effector of an articulated robot manipulator through a 6-axis force/torque sensor. Then, a dual-module control scheme is developed to drive the manipulator to follow the movement of the vehicle. The regular module implements a damping force control law with feedforward compensation to emulate the free flight environment by maintaining a zero interaction force/torque between the robot end-effector and the vehicle in 6 degrees of freedom (DOF). In the safety module, a safety algorithm is designed to confine the movement of the vehicle within a predefined safe region, so that the collision to objects and injury to humans can be avoided. With the proposed dual-module control structure, a safe and realistic 6-DOF free flight emulation can be achieved. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate the applicability of our proposed scheme.
Tauopathies in Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a well-defined risk factor for the development of tauopathy, specifically Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). While CTE was first diagnosed in boxers nearly a century ago, this condition has come to the forefront of the public’s attention, due to the association of early onset dementia secondary to repetitive head trauma, best known for affecting professional football players. A brief history of mTBI will be discussed, ranging from Dementia Pugilistica to the modern understanding of the relationship between brain injury and CTE. A review of the neuropathology responsible for the clinical syndromes will be included, along with current animal models utilized to advance the state of the art.
A Statewide Early Childhood Alternative Teacher Preparation Program Delivered via Synchronous Video Conference

This article describes a statewide online alternative teacher preparation program in early childhood special education. The history and evolution of the program is explained along with the programm...
SUDS3 regulates BRMS1-mediated phenotypes by affecting SIN3-HDAC complex composition

2484 The involvement of Breast Cancer Metastasis Suppressor 1 (BRMS1) in SIN3-HDAC chromatin remodeling complexes has been implicated as a mechanism by which BRMS1 can suppress metastasis. This involvement is thought to be mediated by the direct interaction of BRMS1 with the SIN3-HDAC complex components SUDS3 and ARID4A. In yeast, SUDS3 acts as a scaffolding protein that stabilizes SIN3-HDAC complexes. We hypothesized that direct interaction of SUDS3 and BRMS1 regulates the composition of these complexes and, thus, regulates the transcription of genes required for metastasis. Mutational analysis showed that deletion of the first coiled-coil domain results in a BRMS1 mutant, BRMS1ΔCC1, that does not interact with SUDS3 in yeast two hybrid genetic screens. While BRMS1ΔCC1 still directly interacts with ARID4A in yeast, it was unable to co-immunoprecipitate ARID4A in MDA-MB-435 cells. These data suggest that the interaction of SUDS3 with BRMS1 is necessary for the formation of a BRMS1-protein complex containing ARID4A and, moreover, suggests that SUDS3 influences the composition of BRMS1-SIN3-HDAC protein complexes. Unlike wild-type BRMS1, BRMS1ΔCC1 did not decrease levels of PtdIns(4,5)P2. However, like wild-type, BRMS1ΔCC1 completely down-regulated expression of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in MDA-MB-435 cells. Through more refined mutational analysis, the site of BRMS1:SUDS3 interaction is being mapped to confirm that these and other results are a direct effect of disrupting this interaction. Taken together these data indicate that the interaction of SUDS3 and BRMS1, at least partially, dictates the composition of BRMS1-SIN3-HDAC complexes to alter specific (i.e., not all) BRMS1-mediated phenotypes. These insights into the formation of BRMS1-SIN3-HDAC complexes can lead to a better understanding of how BRMS1 regulates transcriptional events to suppress metastasis. Support: CA87728, F32CA113037, Natl. Fndn Cancer Res
The Effect of Crossbreeding on Some Economic Traits for Chicks of Lohmann Chicken

The experiment has been conducted at the poultry farm of Al-Qadisyah University, College of Agriculture, Department of Animal Production , for the period 24/11/2018 till 10/4/2019 by using 80 hatching chicks which belong to 20 dams and 5 sires, each sire includes 16 chicks. Four chickens are put with each sire, the first sire( Leghorn) crossbreeding with dams of Lohmann , the remaining sires are local cocks ,with five Lohmann hens. The chicks of each sire divided into two replicates ,each replicate contains 8 chicks , the experiment continues for 42 days of age. The experiment aims to study the effect of sire groups on growth traits (weight at hatching , weight at 42 days of age , weight gain and daily weight gain ) Also , the effect of sire on weekly consumption feed , in addition to estimate the heritability for previous traits and the genetic correlations among these traits. The results can be summarized as follows : The overall means of weight at hatching , weigh at 42 days of age , weight gain and daily weight gain are 34.572 , 354.898 , 320.327 and 7.627 gm respectively , the sire groups appear significantly (p<05) effect on weight at hatching and weight at 42 days of age and weekly consumption seeds. Sex has significantly (p<05) effect on weight at hatching and weight at 42 days of age. The conversion feed ratio is 3.462 gm consume feed/ gm of meat. The estimated values of heritability for weight at hatching weight at 42 days of age , weight gain and daily weight gain and daily weight gain , are 0.332 , 0.55 , 0.55 and 0.56 respectively. The values of genetic correlation between weight at hatching and weight at 42 days of age and between weight at hatching and weight gain are 0.98 and 0.58 respectively.