cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antibody-Independent, Interleukin-17A-Mediated, Cross-Serotype Immunity to Pneumococci in Mice Immunized Intranasally with the Cell Wall Polysaccharide

Serotype-specific immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae is conferred by antibodies to the capsular polysaccharides, which define the 90 known serotypes. Whether antibody to the species-common cell wall polysaccharide (C-Ps) is protective has been a matter of controversy. Here we show that C-Ps given intranasally with mucosal adjuvant increased the resistance of mice to experimental nasopharyngeal colonization by capsulated S. pneumoniae of serotype 6B. This immunity could be induced in mice congenitally lacking immunoglobulin but was dependent upon CD4+ T cells. Elimination of the charged amino group on the polymer backbone by N acetylation of C-Ps reduced the immunity, as did treatment of the mice with antibody to the cytokine interleukin-17A at the time of challenge, both consistent with the hypothesis of T-cell activation due to the zwitterionic motif of the polymer. C-Ps also protected in a model of fatal aspiration pneumonia by heavily capsulated serotype 3. These findings suggest a novel immunization strategy against S. pneumoniae.
Work in progress — integrating multiple computer science disciplines via a technical game development course

This paper describes a new course in development that utilizes technical game development as the unifying subject. This matches a goal of our Computer Science program to provide opportunities for students to utilize multiple CS topics in a single course. Doing so results in those subjects being reinforced and expanded by repeating them in a new context, it also provides new challenges and learning opportunities when several topics are integrated in a single project. The course requires all work is done in teams of three to five, with each project following standard software development practice, and incorporating multiple technical components, such as concurrency, Artificial Intelligence, and etc. The course requires students to peer review, which helps train them to critically review otherpsilas work; they are also required to give an oral presentation of their final project.
Defining a link between gap junction communication, proteolysis, and cataract formation

Disruption of the connexin alpha 3 (Cx46) gene (alpha 3 (-/-)) in mice results in severe cataracts within the nuclear portion of the lens. These cataracts are associated with proteolytic processing of the abundant lens protein gamma-crystallin, leading to its aggregation and subsequent opacification of the lens. The general cysteine protease inhibitor, E-64, blocked cataract formation and gamma-crystallin cleavage in alpha 3 (-/-) lenses. Using a new class of activity-based cysteine protease affinity probes, we identified the calcium-dependent proteases, m-calpain and Lp82, as the primary targets of E-64 in the lens. Profiling changes in protease activities throughout cataractogenesis indicated that Lp82 activity was dramatically increased in alpha 3 (-/-) lenses and correlated both spatially and temporally with cataract formation. Increased Lp82 activity was due to calcium accumulation as a result of increased influx and decreased outflux of calcium ions in alpha 3 (-/-) lenses. These data establish a role for alpha 3 gap junctions in maintaining calcium homeostasis that in turn is required to control activity of the calcium-dependent cysteine protease Lp82, shown here to be a key initiator of the process of cataractogenesis.
Growth of GaN from elemental Gallium and Ammonia via Modified Sandwich Growth Technique

Gallium nitride (GaN) films were grown on (0001) sapphire substrates at 1050°C by controlled evaporation of gallium (Ga) metal and reaction with ammonia (NH3) at a total reactor pressure of 800 Torr. Pure nitrogen (N2) was flowed directly above the molten Ga source to prevented direct reaction between the molten Ga and ammonia, which causes Ga spattering and GaN crust formation. At the same time, this substantially enhanced the Ga transport to the substrate. A simple mass-transport model based on total reactor pressure, gas flow rates and source temperature was developed and verified. The theoretical calculations and growth rate measurements at different ammonia flow rates and reactor pressures showed that the maximum growth rate was controlled by transport of both Ga species and reactive ammonia to the substrate surface.
The best estimate of Fisher's precision parameter k

Summary. Three estimates for Fisher's precision parameter, K, are derived and their relevance to inference testing in palaeomagnetic work is discussed. It is shown that the statistic K(= (N - 2)/N - R)), an unbiased estimate for K, is essentially irrelevant. The maximum likelihood estimate K(=N/(N—R)) is shown to be the appropriate estimate for the ‘goodness of fit’ test. The estimate kF(=(N - 1)/(N - R)), commonly referred to as ‘the best estimate’, is shown to be the appropriate statistic for comparisons of sample dispersions and its derivation by Fisher is re-examined. Further, (1/kF) is shown to be an unbiased estimate for (1/K) and to be analogous to the unbiased estimate of variance in a normal distribution. The limits of applicability of these various results are examined.
A Comparison of Pituitary Responsiveness to Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone during Lactation and the Estrous Cycle of the Rat

To determine what role pituitary responsiveness plays in the suppression of gonadotropin secretion during lactation in the rat, three parameters of pituitary responsiveness to LHRH were compared during lactation and the estrous cycle: 1) the magnitude of the response, 2) the duration of the response, and 3) the dose response. Doses of 25,100, or 500 ng of LHRH were administered to animals on diestrus-1 (D-l), diestrus- 2 (D-2), and on days 5, 10, 15, and 20 postpartum. Following each of the three doses of LHRH, dose-dependent peak levels of LH were reached which did not differ in cycling animals and in lactating females nursing either two or eight pups. In all groups of animals, the magnitude of the response following 25 ng LHRH was approximately 50% of that following 500 ng of LHRH. Therefore, pituitary responsiveness to LHRH during lactation is similar to that during diestrus of the cycle, as judged by peak levels of LH reached. Furthermore, since 500 ng of LHRH released significantly more LH in ovariec...
Digitizing a complex urban panorama in the Renaissance: The 1500 bird’s-eye view of Venice by Jacopo de’ Barbari:

This study surveys the fundamental technical approaches adopted by Renaissance artist Jacopo de’ Barbari in drafting his 1500 bird’s-eye view of Venice, as well as the ideological and military implications that accompanied the map’s production. In doing so, the authors point out some fundamental parallels between the masterpiece of Renaissance map-making and the current computer-supported digital representations of urban spaces. The historical sources indicate that de’ Barbari’s map was a composite image stitched together from numerous partial views; such partial views were already “digitized” and consequently mechanically reproduced and manipulated into one synoptic image whose sheer size and amount of detail was able to evoke in viewers an experience of virtual reality. Ultimately, the study challenges the rhetoric of newness that dominates current media studies by emphasizing the need to separate what is genuinely new in our everyday experiences of media from what has been seen before.
AppAdapt: Opportunistic Application Adaptation in Presence of Hardware Variation

In this work, we propose a method to reduce the impact of process variations by adapting the application's algorithm at the software layer. We introduce the concept of hardware signatures as the measured post manufacturing hardware characteristics that can be used to drive software adaptation across different die. Using H.264 encoding as an example, we demonstrate significant yield improvements (as much as 30% points at 0% hardware overdesign), a reduction in overdesign (by as much as 8% points at 80% yield) as well as application quality improvements (about 2.0 dB increase in average peak-signal-to-noise ratio at 70% yield). Further, we investigate implications of limited information exchange (i.e., signature quantization) on yield and quality. We conclude that hardware-signature-based application adaptation is an easy and inexpensive (to implement), better informed (by actual application requirements) and effective way to manage yield-cost-quality tradeoffs in application-implementation design flows.
Associations of Discrimination and Violence With Smoking Among Emerging Adults: Differences by Gender and Sexual Orientation

INTRODUCTION: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (i.e., sexual minority) populations have higher smoking prevalence than their heterosexual peers, but there is a lack of empirical study into why such disparities exist. This secondary analysis of data sought to examine associations of discrimination and violence victimization with cigarette smoking within sexual orientation groups. METHODS: Data from the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 National College Health Assessments were truncated to respondents of 18-24 years of age (n = 92,470). Since heterosexuals comprised over 90% of respondents, a random 5% subsample of heterosexuals was drawn, creating a total analytic sample of 11,046. Smoking status (i.e., never-, ever-, and current smoker) was regressed on general (e.g., not sexual orientation-specific) measures of past-year victimization and discrimination. To examine within-group differences, two sets of multivariate ordered logistic regression analyses were conducted: one set of models stratified by sexual orientation and another set stratified by gender-by-sexual-orientation groups. RESULTS: Sexual minorities indicated more experiences of violence victimization and discrimination when compared with their heterosexual counterparts and had nearly twice the current smoking prevalence of heterosexuals. After adjusting for age and race, lesbians/gays who were in physical fights or were physically assaulted had higher proportional odds of being current smokers when compared with their lesbian/gay counterparts who did not experience those stressors.Conclusions:When possible, lesbian/gay and bisexual groups should be analyzed separately, as analyses revealed that bisexuals had a higher risk profile than lesbians/gays. Further research is needed with more nuanced measures of smoking (e.g., intensity), as well as examining if victimization may interact with smoking cessation. Language: en
High-speed navigation of unmanned ground vehicles on uneven terrain using potential fields

Many applications require unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to travel at high speeds on sloped, natural terrain. In this paper, a potential field-based method is proposed for UGV navigation in such scenarios. In the proposed approach, a potential field is generated in the two-dimensional “trajectory space” of the UGV path curvature and longitudinal velocity. In contrast to traditional potential field methods, dynamic constraints and the effect of changing terrain conditions can be easily expressed in the proposed framework. A maneuver is chosen within a set of performance bounds, based on the local potential field gradient. It is shown that the proposed method is subject to local maxima problems, rather than local minima. A simple randomization technique is proposed to address this problem. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method can successfully navigate a small UGV between predefined waypoints at speeds up to 7.0 m/s, while avoiding static hazards. Further, vehicle curvature and velocity are controlled during vehicle motion to avoid rollover and excessive side slip. The method is computationally efficient, and thus suitable for onboard real-time implementation.
Reaction of nitrogen dioxide with iron tetraphenylporphyrinate nitro complex containing the trans-1-methylimidazole ligand

Electron and IR spectroscopy, as well as the data on the isotopic analog 15NO2, were used for the studies of the reaction of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) with thin layers of the six-coordinated FeIII-porphyrin nitro complex with trans-1-methylimidazole ligand Fe(TPP)(1-MeIm)(NO2) (TPP is the meso-tetraphenylporphyrinate dianion), which is a heme-modelling system. It was shown that, like in the case of the five-coordinated nitrite complex, additional portions of NO2 promote the nitrite-to-nitrate transformation, accompanied by the evolution of NO. The reaction leads to the formation in the layer of five- and six-coordinated Fe-porphyrin nitrate complexes and a small amount of imidazole complexes FeIII(TPP)(1-MeIm)2 with the outersphere nitrate anion. The latter complex became predominate after treatment of this layer with additional portion of 1-methylimidazole.
Observation of Peak Neoclassical Toroidal Viscous Force in the DIII-D Tokamak

Columbia University, 2960 Broadway, New York, New York 10027-1754, USA(Received 21 July 2010; published 1 June 2011)Observation of a theoretically predicted peak in the neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) force as afunction of toroidal plasma rotation rate is reported. The NTV was generated by applying n ¼ 3magnetic ﬁelds from internal coils to low plasmas produced with nearly balanced neutral beaminjection. Locally, the peak corresponds to a toroidal rotation rate
Approximation of Geothermal Gradients in Northern West Virginia Using Bottom-Hole Temperatures from Electric Logs: GEOLOGIC NOTES

Nonequilibrium bottom-hole temperature data and well depths were obtained from electric logs run on oil and gas wells in several northern West Virginia counties. Geothermal gradients were calculated from the temperature data, the mean surface temperature, and the well depths. These gradients ranged from 0.808°F/100 ft to 1.892°F/100 ft. The mean geothermal gradient was found to be 1.108°F/100 ft. Isothermal maps were developed for the base of the Pennsylvanian and the Mississippian formations in northern West Virginia. A linear regression analysis of the geotemperature data yields a seventh-degree equation which can be approximated by the following straight line: TF = 55.0 + 1.11 × 10-2(DF), where TF is temperature in °F, and DF is well depth below the surface in feet. The gradient as expressed by this equation seems to agree fairly well with published literature for other geologically quiescent regions.
Results of ACL reconstruction with tibial Retroscrew fixation: Comparison of clinical outcomes and tibial tunnel widening

AbstractSummary. ACL reconstruction with the RetroScrew™ shows superior clinical outcomes compared to historical Achilles allograft studies with antegrade screws. Addition of antegrade screw augmentation to retrograde fixation causes an increase in tibial tunnel widening. Introduction. In traditional antegrade screw fixation of Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) soft tissue allografts, the screw is secured in the opposite direction of graft tension, potentially altering the appropriate tension on the graft. The RetroScrew (Arthrex) is a bioabsorbable screw placed in a retrograde fashion, potentially improving the tension of the graft by placing the screw in a proximal-to-distal direction. In addition, the RetroScrew theoretically decreases tibial tunnel widening by closing the aperture of the tibial tunnel, which prevents ingress of synovial fluid. Early tunnel expansion has been implicated due to excessive transverse and longitudinal graft motion. The clinical effects of tunnel expansion have yet to be ful...
Medicine’s Great Divide—The View from the Alternative Side

The relationship between conventional and alternative medicine is wary at best. What is needed is expanded medicine, which encompasses the best that both kinds of medicine have to offer.
Concepts, Theory, and Techniques A NEW METHODOLOGY FOR ORDINAL MULTIOBJECTIVE DECISIONS BASED ON FUZZY SETS

Using the structural forms supplied by fuzzy set theory and approximate reasoning, a new method is presented for solving multiple-objective decision problems for which the decision maker can supply only ordinal information on his preferences and the importance of the individual objectives.
Effect of a detergent of flux of tritiated water into isolated perfused gills of rainbow trout

Abstract 1. 1. During the 65 min experimental periods isolated perfused gills of rainbow trout exposed to step inputs of 5, 10, 20 or 100 mg 1 −1 linear alkylate sulfonate (LAS) responded with an exponential increase in tritiated water uptake with time. 2. 2. Arches perfused with solutions containing 10 −5 epinephrine or 10 −8 M acetylcholine and exposed to 10 mg 1 −1 LAS responded in a similar manner. 3. 3. The results indicate that LAS has a rapid dose-related effect on the tritiated water uptake of the isolated gill preparation.
An atomic orbital-based formulation of analytical gradients and nonadiabatic coupling vector elements for the state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field method on graphical processing units.

We recently presented an algorithm for state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field (SA-CASSCF) orbital optimization that capitalizes on sparsity in the atomic orbital basis set to reduce the scaling of computational effort with respect to molecular size. Here, we extend those algorithms to calculate the analytic gradient and nonadiabatic coupling vectors for SA-CASSCF. Combining the low computational scaling with acceleration from graphical processing units allows us to perform SA-CASSCF geometry optimizations for molecules with more than 1000 atoms. The new approach will make minimal energy conical intersection searches and nonadiabatic dynamics routine for molecular systems with O(102) atoms.
The Status of Standardization in Electronic Production and Manchine Tool Control

The techniques of automation have been experiencing a rapid expansion in the past few years. It became apparent that standards should be arrived at to prevent chaos in this relatively new means of production. In August of 1954, the Radio Electronics Television Manufacturing Association organized a committee to propose standards in this field of automation. The great interest shown, by industry in general, indicated the urgent need for this type of action. The progress, observations, and results of this standardization activity will be described and outlined in detail.
A single alteration 20 nt 5′ to an editing target inhibits chloroplast RNA editing in vivo

Transcripts of typical dicot plant plastid genes undergo C-->U RNA editing at approximately 30 locations, but there is no consensus sequence surrounding the C targets of editing. The cis-acting elements required for editing of the C located at tobacco rpoB editing site II were investigated by introducing translatable chimeric minigenes containing sequence -20 to +6 surrounding the C target of editing. When the -20 to +6 sequence specified by the homologous region present in the black pine chloroplast genome was incorporated, virtually no editing of the transcripts occurred in transgenic tobacco plastids. Nucleotides that differ between the black pine and tobacco sequence were tested for their role in C-->U editing by designing chimeric genes containing one or more of these divergent nucleotides. Surprisingly, the divergent nucleotide that had the strongest negative effect on editing of the minigene transcript was located -20 nt 5' to the C target of editing. Expression of transgene transcripts carrying the 27 nt sequence did not affect the editing extent of the endogenous rpoB transcripts, even though the chimeric transcripts were much more abundant than those of the endogenous gene. In plants carrying a 93 nt rpoB editing site sequence, transgene transcripts accumulated to a level three times greater than transgene transcripts in the plants carrying the 27 nt rpoB editing sites and resulted in editing of the endogenous transcripts from 100 to 50%. Both a lower affinity of the 27 nt site for a trans-acting factor and lower abundance of the transcript could explain why expression of minigene transcripts containing the 27 nt sequence did not affect endogenous editing.
Narrating Social Work Through Autoethnography, by Stanley L. Witkin (Ed.)

This text is an edited collection of autoethnographies in which social workers narrate their experiences in both personal and professional situations including (but not limited to) reconciling two ...
Geologic Investigation of Dam Sites by the SCS

Role of geologists in Soil Conservation Service, particularly in connection with dam building; types of drilling equipment used, organization of parties, and costs of drilling; drilling investigations involving foundations, emergency spillways, borrow material, and embankment drainage; geologic reports and laboratory analyses.
Polyhedral cell Shapes

Many authors have discussed the shapes of cells of the parenchyma of plants, and remarked on their similarity of form to bubbles in foam, to the grains of certain metal alloys, and to compressed lead shot, balls of “Plasticene,” and of peas, which have imbibed water while packed in a closed container. In all of these cases the “cells” have a great variety of polyhedral forms, and are closely packed so as to fill space. I will review some of the studies of cell shapes which have been published, and the ideas which have been proposed to account for these shapes. A partial enumeration of the possible polyhedra will be discussed, and some consideration will be given to the packing of these polyhedra.
Low-loss RF photonic pulse compression filter based on an optical frequency comb

We demonstrate an RF photonic pulse compression filter using a broadband optical frequency comb and balanced detection. This scheme provides a large RF bandwidth of >7GHz, low loss of <1dB, and programmability. A jamming experiment is conducted to highlight the advantages of the filter.
Pilot Investigation of the Katie Brown Educational Program: A School-Community Partnership.

BACKGROUND Schools in the United States are increasingly being urged to address the problem of adolescent dating violence (DV) with their students. Given the limited time available to implement prevention programming during the school day, brief programs are needed. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a widely disseminated, brief community-based DV prevention program in partnership with a nonprofit community agency. METHODS We conducted a randomized waitlist control trial of a 5-session DV prevention program (active condition) compared to health class as usual (waitlist control condition). Participants were 225 10th-grade students with a recent dating history in a large public school in New England. Surveys were administered at baseline, end of program, and 3 months postintervention. RESULTS After completing the program, students in the active condition reported significantly lower approval of aggression, healthier dating attitudes, and more DV knowledge. These effects were sustained at 3-month follow-up. In addition, students in the active condition reported significantly less emotional/verbal and total DV perpetration and victimization at 3-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that a brief, community-based DV prevention curriculum can promote change in behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge among high school students.
Studies of the Kinetics and Mechanisms of Yolk Deterioration in Shell Eggs

Abstract INTRODUCTION A PRIMARY investigation in this laboratory concerns the causes and mechanisms of the deteriorative thinning of thick egg white and the weakening of the yolk membrane which occur during the storage of shell eggs. The various theories for the deteriorations of the thick egg white have recently been outlined (Feeney, 1955). Presently, the two theories which are receiving the most attention are those involving chemical reduction (MacDonnell, Lineweaver and Feeney, 1951) and interactions between lysozyme and ovomucin (Hawthorne, 1951; Feeney, Ducay, MacDonnell and Silva, 1952; Cotterill and Winter, 1955). The influence of temperature on the rates of these deteriorations has been studied in order to obtain insight into the basic natures of the deteriorations (“protein denaturation” versus simple chemical reaction or physical change) and to help in determining whether the different deteriorations have similar mechanisms. In this report we are presenting our results on deterioration of yolk at storage temperatures …
Anisotropy of the Thermal Conductivity in GaAs/AlAs Superlattices

We combine the transient thermal grating and time-domain thermoreflectance techniques to characterize the anisotropic thermal conductivities of GaAs/AlAs superlattices from the same wafer. The transient grating technique is sensitive only to the in-plane thermal conductivity, while time-domain thermoreflectance is sensitive to the thermal conductivity in the cross-plane direction, making them a powerful combination to address the challenges associated with characterizing anisotropic heat conduction in thin films. We compare the experimental results from the GaAs/AlAs superlattices with first-principles calculations and previous measurements of Si/Ge SLs. The measured anisotropy is smaller than that of Si/Ge SLs, consistent with both the mass-mismatch picture of interface scattering and with the results of calculations from density-functional perturbation theory with interface mixing included.
Seasonal incidence of male dogwood borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) and other species of clearwing moths in selected habitats in Tennessee

Males of eight species of clearwing moths were collected in pheromone-baited traps placed in commercial nursery, urban, and forest habitats in eastern and middle Tennessee during 1987 and 1988. Seasonal flight activity was recorded for Podosesia syringae (Harris), lilac borer; Paranthrene simulans “palmii” (Grote), an oak borer; Synanthedon scitula , dogwood borer; Synanthedon rhododendri (Beutenmuller), rhododendron borer; Synanthedon exitiosa (Say), peachtree borer; Synanthedon fatifera Hodges, a viburnum borer; Synanthedon acerni (Clemens), maple callus borer; and Synanthedon decipiens (Hy. Edwards), a borer of cynipid galls on oak. The dogwood borer exhibited bimodal emergence with the first peak occurring in mid-May and the second in the beginning of August. In the forest, the rhododendron borer exhibited bimodal emergence. The dogwood borer and peachtree borer were not collected in the forest habitat.
Can Microscopic Screening Be Used to Determine the Suitability of Sputum for Culture of Haemophilus Species

Sputum specimens with less than 25 squamous epithelial cells per low-power field were also examined microscopically for the presence of alveolar macrophages and Haemophilus-like organisms and cultured for Haemophilus species. The isolation of Haemophilus species was considered to be clinically significant in 11 of 13 (84.6%) specimens containing greater than or equal to 2+ alveolar macrophages (at least 1 alveolar macrophage/high-power field) and predominant Haemophilus-like organisms (greater than or equal to 12 Haemophilus-like organisms/oil immersion field); in 12 of 27 (44.4%) specimens with greater than 2+ alveolar macrophages and few, if any, Haemophilus-like organisms; and in only 1 of 20 (5%) specimens with few, if any, alveolar macrophages and Haemophilus-like organisms. It was concluded that only sputum specimens with either greater than or equal to 2+ alveolar macrophages or predominant Haemophilus-like organisms or both should be candidates for culture of Haemophilus species.
Asymptotic normalization coefficients and spectroscopic factors from deuteron stripping reactions

We present the analysis of three deuteron stripping reactions, $^{14}\mathrm{C}(d,p)^{15}\mathrm{C},^{58}\mathrm{Ni}(d,p)^{59}\mathrm{Ni}$, and $^{116}\mathrm{Sn}(d,p)^{117}\mathrm{Sn}$ using the combined method [A. M. Mukhamedzhanov and F. M. Nunes, Phys. Rev. C 72, 017602 (2005)], in which each reaction is analyzed at low and significantly higher energies. At low energies all these reactions are peripheral and the experimental asymptotic normalization coefficients (ANCs) are determined with accuracy about $10%$. At higher energies we determine the spectroscopic factors (SFs) by fixing the normalization of the peripheral parts of the reaction amplitudes governed by the ANCs found from the low-energy data. The combined method imposes a strict limitation on the variation of the geometrical parameters of the single-particle potential, which can be arbitrarily taken in the standard approach. By checking the compatibility of the ANCs and SFs using the combined method we reveal the flaw in the contemporary nuclear reaction theory in treating the nuclear interior, which is the most crucial part in the determination of the SFs.
Causal absorption: Its effect on synthetic seismograms computed by the reflectivity method

Lomnitz's causal formulation of anelasticity is incorporated into the Fuchs-Muller-Kennett reflectivity program. For waves passing through a highly attenuating upper-mantle low-velocity zone ( Q = 35), the synthetic seismograms computed with Lomnitz's weakly frequency-dependent phase velocity, c , and specific attenuation, Q , differ noticeably from those computed with frequency-independent parameters. For these waves, the first pulse is larger and more abrupt and the peaks and troughs are somewhat later for causal absorption than for noncausal absorption.
Ontology-based collection, representation and analysis of drug-associated neuropathy adverse events

Neuropathy often occurs following drug treatment such as chemotherapy. Severe instances of neuropathy can result in cessation of life-saving chemotherapy treatment. To support data representation and analysis of drug-associated neuropathy adverse events (AEs), we developed the Ontology of Drug Neuropathy Adverse Events (ODNAE). ODNAE extends the Ontology of Adverse Events (OAE). Our combinatorial approach identified 215 US FDA-licensed small molecule drugs that induce signs and symptoms of various types of neuropathy. ODNAE imports related drugs from the Drug Ontology (DrON) with their chemical ingredients defined in ChEBI. ODNAE includes 139 drug mechanisms of action from NDF-RT and 186 biological processes represented in the Gene Ontology (GO). In total ODNAE contains 1579 terms. Our analysis of the ODNAE knowledge base shows neuropathy-inducing drugs classified under specific molecular entity groups, especially carbon, pnictogen, chalcogen, and heterocyclic compounds. The carbon drug group includes 127 organic chemical drugs. Thirty nine receptor agonist and antagonist terms were identified, including 4 pairs (31 drugs) of agonists and antagonists that share targets (e.g., adrenergic receptor, dopamine, serotonin, and sex hormone receptor). Many drugs regulate neurological system processes (e.g., negative regulation of dopamine or serotonin uptake). SPARQL scripts were used to query the ODNAE ontology knowledge base. ODNAE is an effective platform for building a drug-induced neuropathy knowledge base and for analyzing the underlying mechanisms of drug-induced neuropathy. The ODNAE-based methods used in this study can also be extended to the representation and study of other categories of adverse events.
Understanding Cancer — the Need for a Broad and Integrated Scientific Approach

Understanding and controlling cancer is a challenge to science equal to the challenge of controlling hereditary disorders and understanding the aging process. Several aspects of the disease are considered in making such a comprehensive statement.
A 60 GHz 64-element phased-array beam-pointing communication system for 5G 100 meter links up to 2 Gbps

This paper presents a 60 GHz communication link system and measurements using a 64-element phased array transmitter. The transmit array includes high-efficiency on-wafer antennas, 3-bits amplitude and 5-bits phase control on each element, a measured saturated EIRP of 38 dBm at 60 GHz and scans to +/− 55° in the E- and H-planes with near-ideal patterns and low sidelobes. The phased-array transmitter is used in a 60 GHz communication link with an external up-conversion mixers and a Keysight 802.11ad waveform generator. A standard gain horn with a gain of 20 dB is used as the receiver, coupled to a Keysight high-speed digital demodulation scope. The communication link achieves a 16-QAM modulation with 3.85 Gbps at 4 m (full 802.11ad channel) and a QPSK modulation with 1.54 GBps over 100 m while scanning to +/−45° in both planes.
The Pancreas in Idiopathic Diabetes

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the gross and microscopic alterations occurring in the pancreases of diabetic patients. The chapter discusses the historical development of recognition of these changes and describes their place within the framework of the modern concept of the pathophysiology of human diabetes. The etiology of diabetes is heterogeneous. Its manifestations are produced by a number of factors of which only some are known. The disease has its roots in extrapancreatic alterations such as hyperthyroidism, cortical or medullary adrenal diseases or hyperplasia or tumors of the anterior pituitary gland. In most diabetic patients, the etiology of the disease remains obscure, and it is to this large group of cases that the term idiopathic diabetes has been applied. Depending upon the age of onset and on the clinical manifestations, two types of diabetes are distinguished: (1) the juvenile, or growth-onset, and (2) the adult, or maturity-onset. The metabolic disturbances of diabetes mellitus may not only be the result of relative or absolute insulin deficiency but may also require the presence of glucagon.
Randomized pilot trial measuring knowledge acquisition of opioid education in emergency department patients using a novel media platform.

ABSTRACTBackground: The number of active opioid analgesic prescriptions has risen steadily, causing increases in nonmedical opioid use, addiction, and overdose. Insufficient focus on patient discharge instructions has contributed to lack of patient awareness regarding dangers of opioids. This study examines whether an educational Khan Academy–style animation discharge instruction on the dangers and safe usage of opioid analgesics elicits higher knowledge acquisition than current standard of care. Additionally, it measures the feasibility of implementing this video discharge instruction in the emergency department (ED). Methods: Fifty-two English-speaking patients aged 18 years or older receiving an opioid prescription were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomized into 2 groups. The standard of care group received verbal instruction and an informational sheet, whereas the video animation group received a 6-minute video on proper usage of opioids in addition to standard of care. Video content was so...
Judging the Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Assessment Tools to Guide Future Tool Development: The use of Clinimetrics as Opposed to Psychometrics.

In the face of the current Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) epidemic, there is considerable variability in the assessment and management of infants with NAS. In this manuscript, we particularly focus on NAS assessment, with special attention given to the popular Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Score (FNAS). A major instigator of the problem of variable practices is that multiple modified versions of the FNAS exist and continue to be proposed, including shortened versions. Furthermore, the validity of such assessment tools has been questioned, and as a result the need for better tools has been suggested. The ultimate purpose of this manuscript therefore is to increase researchers’ and clinicians’ understanding on how to judge the usefulness of NAS assessment tools in order to guide future tool development and to reduce variable practices. In short, we suggest that judgment of NAS assessment tools should be made on a clinimetrics viewpoint as opposed to psychometrically. We provide examples, address multiple issues that must be considered, and discuss future tool development. Furthermore, we urge researchers and clinicians to come together, utilizing their knowledge and experience, to assess the utility and practicality of existing assessment tools and to determine if one or more new or modified tools are needed with the goal of increased agreement on the assessment of NAS in practice.
SalsaAsst: Beat Counting System Empowered by Mobile Devices to Assist Salsa Dancers

Dancing is always challenging especially for beginners who may lack sense of rhythm. Salsa, as a popular style of dancing, is even harder to learn due to its unique overlapped rhythmic patterns made by different Latin instruments (e.g., Clave sticks, Conga drums, Timbale drums) together. In order to dance in synchronization with the Salsa beats, the beginners always need prompts (e.g., beat counting voice) to remind them of the beat timing. The traditional way to generate the Salsa music with beat counting voice prompts requires professional dancers or musicians to count Salsa beats manually, which is only possible in dance studios. Additionally, the existing music beat tracking solutions cannot well capture the Salsa beats due to its intricacy of rhythms. In this work, we propose a mobile device enabled beat counting system, SalsaAsst, which can perform rhythm deciphering and fine-grained Salsa beat tracking to assist Salsa dancers with beat counting voice/vibration prompts. The proposed system can be used conveniently in many scenarios, which can not only help Salsa beginners make accelerated learning progress during practice at home but also significantly reduce professional dancers' errors during their live performance. The developed Salsa beat counting algorithm has the capability to track beats accurately in both real-time and offline manners. Our extensive tests using 40 Salsa songs under 8 evaluation metrics demonstrate that SalsaAsst can accurately track the beats of Salsa music and achieve much better performance comparing to existing beat tracking approaches.
Creating a culture of accommodation in the public-speaking course

Jillian (pseudonym) entered my office for what I thought to be a fairly standard student meeting about her fear of public speaking. As soon as she sat down, though, I realized her situation was muc...
Learning safe recovery trajectories with deep neural networks for unmanned aerial vehicles

Unmanned vehicles that use vision sensors for perception to aid autonomous flight are a highly popular area of research. However, these systems are often prone to failures that are often hard to model. Previous work has focused on using deep learning to detect these failures. In this work, we build on these failure detection systems and develop a pipeline that learns to identify the correct trajectory to execute that restores the vision system and the unmanned vehicle to a safe state. The key challenge with using a deep learning pipeline for this problem is the limited amount of training data available from a real world system. Ideally one requires millions of data points to sufficiently train a model from scratch. However, this is not feasible for an unmanned aerial vehicle. The dataset we operate with is limited to 400–500 points. To sufficiently learn from such a small dataset we leverage the idea of transfer learning and non linear dimensionality reduction. We deploy our pipeline on an unmanned aerial vehicle flying autonomously through outdoor clutter (in a GPS denied environment) and show that we are able to achieve long durations of safe autonomous flight.
Pathology and Immunopathology of Acute and Chronic Hepatitis B

This chapter describes the pathologic characteristics of acute and chronic hepatitis B, as derived from our current knowledge of the biology of hepatitis S virus (HBV)1 and of the immunopathology of the disease.2 Since the precise mechanism of hepatocyte necrosis by HBV is still unknown, some of the information presented here is speculative.
Skill-Based Educational Video Creation in Gambia: A participatory video project review

Videos continue to be useful educational tools for low-literacy adults in rural developing areas. This article outlines a project that combined applied cognitive science and participatory video methodology to design and create high-quality skill-learning videos for adults in The Gambia, West Africa. First, it provides an overview of the collaboration involved in the project design and development. Then, it reviews the characteristics of the videos created. We examine the project merits through interviews with villagers. These interviews revealed that village women valued video education because learning was easily accessible and the skills presented had benefits for their lives. Project reflections and recommendations are provided at the end in order to support participatory video projects in similar settings.
Dynamic Prosody Generation for Speech Synthesis Using Linguistics-Driven Acoustic Embedding Selection.

Recent advances in Text-to-Speech (TTS) have improved quality and naturalness to near-human capabilities when considering isolated sentences. But something which is still lacking in order to achieve human-like communication is the dynamic variations and adaptability of human speech. This work attempts to solve the problem of achieving a more dynamic and natural intonation in TTS systems, particularly for stylistic speech such as the newscaster speaking style. We propose a novel embedding selection approach which exploits linguistic information, leveraging the speech variability present in the training dataset. We analyze the contribution of both semantic and syntactic features. Our results show that the approach improves the prosody and naturalness for complex utterances as well as in Long Form Reading (LFR).
Perinatal Depression in Low-Income Women: A Literature Review and Innovative Screening Approach.

This paper reviews literature on perinatal depression prevalence, consequences, and screening among low-income women and women of color. We introduce the Warm Connections program’s innovative perinatal depression screening protocol and explore perinatal depression patterns among WIC participants. Perinatal depression negatively impacts maternal and child outcomes. Research shows mixed findings of perinatal depression prevalence rates among low-income women and women of color. The Warm Connections program supports the ability of WIC staff to administer the EPDS to WIC participants. Perinatal depression rates appeared lower in the Warm Connections program than in studies using less specific perinatal depression screening instruments with similar samples. Future research should continue to explore perinatal depression patterns among low-income women and women of color. Partnering with community-based settings such as WIC provides innovative opportunities to provide screening, referral, and treatment for low income women and women of color.
Commutative Caputo Fractional Korovkin Approximation for Stochastic Processes

Here we consider and study expectation commutative stochastic positive linear operators acting on \(L^{1}\)-continuous stochastic processes which are Caputo fractional differentiable. Under some mild, general and natural assumptions on the stochastic processes we produce related Caputo fractional stochastic Shisha-Mond type inequalities pointwise and uniform. All convergences are produced with rates and are given by the fractional stochastic inequalities involving the first modulus of continuity of the expectation of the \(\alpha \)th right and left fractional derivatives of the engaged stochastic process, \(\alpha >0\), \(\alpha \notin \mathbb {N}\). The amazing fact here is that the basic real Korovkin test functions assumptions impose the conclusions of our Caputo fractional stochastic Korovkin theory. We include also a detailed application to stochastic Bernstein operators. See also [11].
Colonic Stent Use by Indication and Patient Outcomes: A Nationwide Inpatient Sample Study.

ABSTRACT Background Colonic stent placement can avoid urgent surgery for large bowel obstruction in selected patients. Population-wide stent utilization patterns and outcomes are unknown. Materials and Methods Using retrospective, population-based, Nationwide Inpatient Sample data, we studied patients with colonic stents discharged during 2010-2015. The primary outcome was ostomy creation during the same hospitalization. Other outcomes were perforation or peritonitis, and in-hospital death. Associations of outcomes with stent indication were investigated, adjusting for patient-, admission-, and hospital characteristics. We estimated annual population-wide stent use volumes. Results Of 4257 patients with stent placement (52% male, mean age 64.6 years), 9.9% had non-metastatic colon cancer, 12.9% metastatic colon cancer, 37.8% extracolonic malignancy (ECM), and 39.3% had benign obstruction. In 8.1% of patients, ostomy creation surgery was performed. Perforation or peritonitis occurred in 16.7%, and in-hospital death in 4.5%. Relative to ECM, ostomy creation was several-fold more likely among nonmetastatic colon cancer (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 3.4; 95%CI, 2.1-5.5), metastatic colon cancer (adjusted OR 2.5; 95%CI, 1.7-3.7), and benign obstruction patients (adjusted OR 3.1; 95%CI, 2.1-4.7). Benign obstruction was associated with high risk of perforation/peritonitis (adjusted OR 3.1 relative to non-metastatic CC (95%CI, 2.1-4.5)). Perforation/peritonitis was highly associated with inpatient death (adjusted OR 6.8 (95%CI, 4.9-9.5)). Annually, about 3,580 patients underwent stent placement, with benign obstruction showing an increasing trend (P=0.0002). Conclusions Over 75% of stent placements were done for patients with benign disease and ECM obstruction. Subsequent ostomy creation during the hospitalization was least likely among ECM patients. Rates of perforation/peritonitis in benign obstructions were concerningly high. (22.2%).
Transparent Machine Learning Models to Diagnose Suspicious Thoracic Lesions Leveraging CT Guided Biopsy Data.

Rationale and Objectives To train and validate machine learning models capable of classifying suspicious thoracic lesions as benign or malignant and to further classify malignant lesions by pathologic subtype while quantifying feature importance for each classification. Materials and Methods 796 patients who had undergone CT guided thoracic biopsy for a concerning thoracic lesion (79.3% lung, 11.4% mediastinum, 6.5% pleura, 2.7% chest wall) were retrospectively enrolled. Lesions were classified as malignant or benign based on ground-truth pathology result, and malignant lesions were classified as primary or secondary cancer. Clinical variables were extracted from EMR and radiology reports. Supervised binary and multiclass classification models were trained to classify lesions based on the input features and evaluated on a held-out test set. Model specific feature analyses were performed to identify variables most predictive of each class, as well as to assess the independent importance of clinical, and imaging features. Results Binary classification models achieved a top accuracy of 80.6%, with predictive features included smoking history, age, lesion size, and lesion location. Multiclass classification models achieved a top weighted average f1-score of 0.73. Features predictive of primary cancer included smoking history, race, and age, while features predictive of secondary cancer included lesion location, and a history of cancer. Conclusion Machine learning models enable classification of suspicious thoracic lesions based on clinical and imaging variables, achieving clinically useful performance while identifying importance of individual input features on a pathology-proven dataset. We believe models such as these are more likely to be trusted and adopted by clinicians.
Bedside Neck Exploration for Venous Flow Coupler Signal Loss in Postoperative Free Tissue Transfer Monitoring.

ObjectiveTo describe the role and efficacy of bedside neck exploration following free tissue transfer.Study DesignRetrospective case series.SettingSingle tertiary care institution.MethodsA retrospe...
Visibility-based Optimal Motion Planning

So far, we have considered various visibility-based optimization problems in which either the point-observers are stationary or free to move along certain admissible paths.