cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nutrition I: Protein and Vitamins

Protein and micronutrient deficiencies are well-known complications of bariatric surgery. Recent evidence suggests that these deficiencies can be present in significant numbers of candidates for bariatric surgery. This chapter will review the importance of protein and vitamin nutrition in relation to bariatric surgery and rapid weight loss. Nutrients are discussed individually in regard to metabolic function, mechanism of absorption, daily requirement, assessment technique, and clinical effects of deficiency. Current recommendations for supplementation and management of deficiency are included.
Effect of short-term exercise training on angiogenic growth factor gene responses in rats

We investigated whether 1) 5 days of exercise training would reduce the acute exercise-induced increase in skeletal muscle growth factor gene expression; and 2) reductions in the increase in growth factor gene expression in response to short-term exercise training would be coincident with increases in skeletal muscle oxidative potential. Female Wistar rats were used. Six groups (rest; exercise for 1-5 consecutive days) were used to measure the growth factor response through the early phases of an exercise training program. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) mRNA were analyzed from the left gastrocnemius by quantitative Northern blot. Citrate synthase activity was analyzed from the right gastrocnemius. VEGF and TGF-beta1 mRNA increased after each of 5 days of exercise training, whereas exercise on any day did not increase bFGF mRNA. On day 1, the VEGF mRNA response was significantly greater than on days 2-5. However, the reduced increase in VEGF mRNA observed on days 2-5 was not coincident with increases in citrate synthase activity. These findings suggest that, in skeletal muscle, 1) VEGF and TGF-beta1 mRNA are increased through 5 days of exercise training and 2) the reduced exercise-induced increase in VEGF mRNA responses on days 2-5 does not result from increases in oxidative potential.
CoBots: robust symbiotic autonomous mobile service robots

We research and develop autonomous mobile service robots as Collaborative Robots, i.e., CoBots. For the last three years, our four CoBots have autonomously navigated in our multi-floor office buildings for more than 1,000km, as the result of the integration of multiple perceptual, cognitive, and actuations representations and algorithms. In this paper, we identify a few core aspects of our CoBots underlying their robust functionality. The reliable mobility in the varying indoor environments comes from a novel episodic non-Markov localization. Service tasks requested by users are the input to a scheduler that can consider different types of constraints, including transfers among multiple robots. With symbiotic autonomy, the CoBots proactively seek external sources of help to fill-in for their inevitable occasional limitations. We present sampled results from a deployment and conclude with a brief review of other features of our service robots.
SPSP Phase III Recruiting, Selecting, and Developing Secure Power Systems Professionals. Job Profiles

The Secure Power Systems Professional Phase III final report was released last year which an appendix of Job Profiles. This new report is that appendix broken out as a standalone document to assist utilities in recruiting and developing Secure Power Systems Professionals at their site.
Understanding flame trapping in detonation combustion via vacuum chambers

Abstract It is of great interest for the engineering community to understand effective mechanisms to inhibit transition from deflagration to detonation (DDT). Recent experimental studies indicate that suppression of DDT is possible by incorporating a vacuum chamber adjacent to the propagation tunnel. In the present study computational fluid dynamic simulations are used to evaluate the influence of such a low pressure chamber on the propagation of deflagration and detonation waves. This study focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which such suppression is possible. It is demonstrated via numerical experiments that the success depends strongly on the location of the chamber w.r.t propagation of detonation pressure waves.
Electronically Excited States of Vitamin B12 and Methylcobalamin: Theoretical Analysis of Absorption, CD, and MCD Data

Linear and quadratic response time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) has been applied to investigate absorption (Abs), circular dichroism (CD), and magnetic CD (MCD) spectra of cyanocobalamin (CNCbl) and methylcobalamin (MeCbl). Although electronically excited states of both cobalamins have been probed by applying different experimental techniques, their exact nature remains poorly understood from an electronic structure point of view. Recent theoretical studies have revealed a lot of relevant information about their properties but also left some unresolved issues related to the nature of individual transitions. In this contribution, not only Abs but also CD and MCD spectra of both cobalamins were computed for direct comparison with experiment. The results were evaluated with respect to the choice of exchange-correlation functional, basis set, and the environment (gas phase or solvent) used in the calculation. Taking into account the complexity of the CNCbl and MeCbl systems, reliable agreement...
BUILDING PERFORMANCE ENGINEERING DURING CONSTRUCTION

Exploratory research was performed into the hypothesis that a substantial number of building performance engineering tasks on design-bid-build projects are typically provided by entities associated with the construction phase, not with the AE of Record. The project specifications, drawings, and submittals were analyzed and employees from key project participants were interviewed for five $5-45M building construction projects. Twenty four building performance engineering tasks were required by the project specifications to be performed by entities associated with the construction of the buildings. Many of these tasks had to be completed by a licensed engineer retained by subcontractors or material suppliers. This large number of delegated design tasks indicates the increasing fragmentation of the design and construction process, which has implications for design-bid-build, design-build and lean construction processes. The shift in engineering from AEs to construction entities is proposed to result from decreased design time and profit margins, attempts to minimize liability, increased specialization and increased prefabrication. The compelling preliminary findings suggest additional research is warranted.
The Relationship of Years of Experience and Special Educators' Concerns Regarding Cooperation with Vocational Education: A Pilot Study

This pilot study investigated the stage of secondary special education teachers' concerns about cooperation with vocational education and the relationship between years of teaching experience and the level of those concerns. A random sample of 207 secondary special education teachers was surveyed using the Stages of Concerns Questionnaire (SoCQ); 67 responses were analyzed. Subjects were blocked into three experience groups (1-5, 6-8, 9 + years). All three experience grouops exhibited either no concern or interest in cooperating with vocational education or concern about the effect of this cooperation on themselves rather than on the learner or other professionals. Multiple regression analysis indicated a statistically significant relationship (p ( .01) between the total concern score and years of teaching. The least experienced teachers were the most open to such cooperation, followed closely by the most experienced teachers. Teachers in the middle groups were the least interested in cooperating with voc...
A transcriptomics-informed genetic association study identifies RHOA in simvastatin-induced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol lowering.

1. Medina MW, Theusch E, Naidoo D, Bauzon F, Stevens K, Mangravite LM, Kuang YL, Krauss RM. RHOA is a modulator of the cholesterol-lowering effects of statin. PLoS Genet . 2012;8:e1003058. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003058. Inhibitors of HMGCR (or statins) are the most common and effective medications used for the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. It is well known that statins mediate their effect primarily through the reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) which is causally related to the development of coronary and other forms of atherosclerosis/thrombosis. Despite their effectiveness, there is significant variability in the LDLc-lowering effects of statins with few clinical predictors of the magnitude of statin-induced LDLc lowering. Recent genomewide studies of allelic variation of statin-induced LDLc have identified few genomic loci ( APOE, ABCG2, LPA) in which genetic variation predicts the magnitude of LDLc lowering with statins. Although important, much of the observed variability in response remains unexplained. …
Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

This chapter examines the treatment and comprehensive management of patients with co-morbid psychiatric disorders, including eating and cognitive disorders, and CKD. Nephrologists need to coordinate care with community mental health resources. Practical and theoretical information, including pharmacologic considerations related to diminution in renal function, are necessary to assist the clinical nephrologist in the use of psychopharmacological treatments, including those for both pediatric and elderly patients with CKD.
Dirichlet Process Based Active Learning and Discovery of Unknown Classes for Hyperspectral Image Classification

Active learning is an area of significant ongoing research interest for the classification of remotely sensed data, where obtaining efficient training data is both time consuming and expensive. The goal of active learning is to achieve high classification performance by querying as few samples as possible from a large unlabeled data pool. Traditional active learning frameworks all assume the existence of labeled samples for all classes of interest. However, in real-world applications, the unlabeled data pool may contain data from unknown classes that we are not aware of in advance, and a quick detection of them is useful for enriching our training set. In this scenario, traditional active learning methods may not effectively and rapidly detect the unknown classes. We proposed an active learning framework which provides robust classification performance with minimum manual labeling effort while simultaneously discovering unknown (missing) classes. The discovery of unknown classes is particularly suited to an active learning framework where an annotator is in the loop. A Dirichlet process mixture model is utilized in our proposed method to cluster the labeled and unlabeled samples as a whole. If unknown classes exist, they will emerge as new clusters which are different from other existing clusters occupied by known classes, and then, the proposed query strategy will give priority to querying samples in the new clusters. We present experimental results with hyperspectral data to show that our method provides better classification performance compared to existing active learning methods with or without unknown classes.
Increasing Psychological Well-being Through Human-Robot Interaction

Intelligent tutoring systems, electronic fitness bands, and assistive robots all contribute toward increasing the wellness of humans by providing different forms of support. As a class of machines focused on increasing the physical and psychological well-being of users emerges, new design considerations and questions arise. We are exploring the potential of prosocial machines via social robotic systems focused on enhancing a user's psychological well-being through positive interventions. This article briefly summarizes our initial approach to understanding prosocial machines via a positive psychology based intervention focused on comparing the ability of different systems to induce measurable increases in a human's level of hopefulness.
Neutrophil adhesion to endothelium following hyperosmolar insult

This study examined the effects of hyperglycemic/hyperosmolar conditions on neutrophil adhesion to endothelium. A 2.4-fold increase in neutrophil adhesion was observed following exposure of endothelial cells to 100 mM glucose for 24 hours (n = 9, p less than 0.001), and a 57% increase occurred following pre-incubation in 50 mM glucose for 24 hours (n = 8, p less than 0.01). Phase-contrast microscopy of endothelial monolayers following exposure to 100 mM glucose showed no gross morphological changes, and no differences in membrane permeability were detected. Electron microscopy, however, revealed that cells exposed to 100 mM glucose generally had more pseudopods, an increased density of cytoplasm, and more finely dispersed chromatin throughout the nucleus. Increased neutrophil adhesion to endothelium was also observed following exposure of endothelial cells to 100 mM mannitol, indicating that hyperosmolarity could account for the effect observed with high concentrations of glucose. However, the increase following mannitol treatment was 170% of control (n = 6), while glucose pre-treatment resulted in a 240% increase (n = 9, p = 0.01 for glucose compared to mannitol). The effect of high concentrations of glucose on neutrophil adhesion to endothelial cells was to some degree specific for endothelium, as the same effect was not observed with microvascular pericytes. As neutrophil adhesion to endothelium is an important early step in the acute inflammatory response, these findings may help to explain the increased incidence and severity of infections in diabetic patients.
Pharmacologic Intervention to Prevent Graft Failure

Despite continued improvements in the selection of patients, preoperative and intraoperative diagnostic imaging, and surgical techniques, graft failure remains a substantial problem for both autogenous and prosthetic bypass grafts. The use of anticoagulants and other pharmacologic agents to prolong graft patency is discussed, and practical suggestions are made regarding the best current management for high-risk bypass grafts.
Meteorologic Radar Polarimetry in North America During 1950–1991

A brief summary of early polarimetric radar development pertinent to radar meteorology in North America over the past forty years (1950–1991) is presented. Rather than providing an in-depth assessment, only important events leading to major advances are succinctly reviewed by providing the pertinent references.
Beryl-II, a high-pressure phase of beryl: Raman and luminescence spectroscopy to 16.4 GPa

The Raman and Cr3+ and V2+ luminescence spectra of beryl and emerald have been characterized up to 15.0 and 16.4 GPa, respectively. The Raman spectra show that an E 1g symmetry mode at 138 cm−1 shifts negatively by −4.57 (±0.55) cm−1/GPa, and an extrapolation of the pressure dependence of this mode indicates that a soft-mode transition should occur near 12 GPa. Such a transition is in accord with prior theoretical results. Dramatic changes in Raman mode intensities and positions occur between 11.2 and 15.0 GPa. These changes are indicative of a phase transition that primarily involves tilting and mild distortion of the Si6O18 rings. New Raman modes are not observed in the high-pressure phase, which indicates that the local bonding environment is not altered dramatically across the transition (e.g., changes in coordination do not occur). Both sharp line and broadband luminescence are observed for both Cr3+ and V2+ in emerald under compression to 16.4 GPa. The R-lines of both Cr3+ and V2+ shift to lower energy (longer wavelength) under compression. Both R-lines of Cr3+ split at ~13.7 GPa, and the V2+ R1 slope changes at this pressure and shifts more rapidly up to ~16.4 GPa. The Cr3+ R-line splitting and FWHM show more complex behavior, but also shift in behavior at ~13.7 GPa. These changes in the pressure dependency of the Cr3+ and V2+ R-lines and the changes in R-line splitting and FWHM at ~13.7 GPa further demonstrate that a phase transition occurs at this pressure, in good agreement with our Raman results. The high-pressure phase of beryl appears to have two Al sites that become more regular under compression. Hysteresis is not observed in our Raman or luminescence spectra on decompression, suggesting that this transition is second order in nature: The occurrence of a second-order transition near this pressure is also in accord with prior theoretical results. We speculate that the high-pressure phase (beryl-II) might be a mildly modulated structure, and/or that extensive twinning occurs across this transition.
Memristor crossbar deep network implementation based on a Convolutional neural network

This paper presents a simulated memristor crossbar implementation of a deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). In the past few years deep neural networks implemented on GPU clusters have become the state of the art in image classification. They provide excellent classification ability at the cost of a more complex data manipulation process. However once these systems are trained, we show that the analog crossbar circuits in this paper can highly parallelize the recognition phase of a CNN algorithm. One of the drawbacks of using memristors to carry out computations is that the data stored will likely have less precision when compared to typical 32-bit floating point memory. However, we show the proposed system is capable of operating with zero loss in classification accuracy if the memristors utilized are able to store at least 16 unique values (essentially acting as 4-bit devices). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that presents a memristor based circuit for implementing CNN recognition. This is also the first paper that provides a circuit for precise memristor based analog convolution.
The TANF Resources Problem

The year 2016 marked the twentieth anniversary of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Whereas AFDC was based on an open-ended matching grant, TANF is funded with a block grant from the federal government and “maintenance of effort” (MOE) obligations for states, which were generally set at 75 percent of nominal expenditures in the mid-1990s. This article looks at trends in TANF funding compared to trends in child poverty. We include a more comprehensive poverty measure and adjustments for interstate variation in prices. Over the past decade, inequality in state resources per poor child has increased. The disparities are great, making application of uniform TANF work participation standards to all states without adjustment for variation in resources questionable. The article concludes with an exploration of the connection between TANF resources and state fiscal capacity and a discussion of options for reform.
Multi-annual Climate predictions for fisheries: An assessment of skill of sea surface temperature forecasts for large marine ecosystems

Decisions made by fishers and fisheries managers are informed by climate and fisheries observations that now often span more than 50 years. Multi-annual climate forecasts could further inform such decisions if they were skillful in predicting future conditions relative to the 50-year scope of past variability. We demonstrate that an existing multi-annual prediction system skillfully forecasts the probability of next year, the next 1-3 years, and the next 1-10 years being warmer or cooler than the 50-year average at the surface in coastal ecosystems. Probabilistic forecasts of upper and lower seas surface temperature (SST) terciles over the next 3 or 10 years from the GFDL CM 2.1 10-member ensemble global prediction system showed significant improvements in skill over the use of a 50-year climatology for most Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) in the North Atlantic, the western Pacific, and Indian oceans. Through a comparison of the forecast skill of initialized and uninitialized hindcasts, we demonstrate that this skill is largely due to the predictable signature of radiative forcing changes over the 50-year timescale rather than prediction of evolving modes of climate variability. North Atlantic LMEs stood out as the only coastal regions where initialization significantly contributed to SST prediction skill at the 1 to 10 year scale.
Is a Mediator Like a Bus? How Legal Ethics May Inform the Question of Case Discrimination by Mediators

Impartiality and freedom from bias are the most important ethical considerations for mediators. An impartial mediator can treat the parties equally and ensure that the parties resolve the disputes themselves. To help promote neutrality, ethical rules generally give mediators great flexibility in declining cases or withdrawing from cases because of bias. Mediators should take care to become aware of their biases through thoughtful reflection and introspection. Mediators may have biases relating to a wide range of things, such as socio-economic status, personal appearance, cooperativeness, to name a few. But what about a bias based on a protected characteristic, such as gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity? While mediation ethics may tell a mediator to withdraw, anti-discrimination law may require the mediator to serve. This article grapples with the difficult question of mediator bias when the bias may otherwise be unlawful discrimination. Competing policy obligations make the inquiry even more difficult because legitimate policy interests lie on both sides of the argument. After comparing the policy arguments and drawing on parallels from the world of litigation, this article concludes that mediation and mediation clients are better served by allowing biased mediators to decline to serve, as opposed to forcing mediators to take cases in which they know they cannot act neutrally. Given this conclusion, this article makes legal and practical suggestions to conform with this overarching recommendation to ensure that clients are served and mediators can work in a neutral capacity.
Chapter 1 Fractionation of Chromatin into Template-Active and Template-Inactive Portions

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the fractionation of chromatin into template-active and template-inactive portions. The term “chromatin fractionation” states implicitly that one or more forms of chromatin are to be separated from one or more other forms. This goal has been approached in several different ways, all depending on the different structural and chemical properties of the varied kinds of chromatin. Template activity in support of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase is an obvious candidate as a criterion for fractionation of template-active from template-inactive chromatin. Template activity is the rate of transcription of native chromatin by a fixed amount of RNA polymerase relative to the rate of transcription of purified homologous DNA by the same amount of RNA polymerase. Template activity has been measured for several kinds of chromatin. Separation of euchromatin and heterochromatin is discussed. Fractionation by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and ion-exchange chromatography is explained in the chapter.
Unnatural Child Birth: Naples, the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit, and the Blank Space of Possibility in Francesca Comencini’s Lo Spazio Bianco

Millicent Marcus, “Unnatural Child Birth: Naples, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the Blank Space of Possibility in Francesca Comencini’s Lo spazio bianco.” Marcus analyzes Lo spazio bianco in the following terms: as an adaptation of Valeria Parrella’s eponymous novel; as a subversion of the topos of Naples as a place of triumphant procreativity (enshrined in Roberto Rossellini’s Viaggio in Italia, and in the “Adelina” episode of Vittorio De Sica’s “Ieri, oggi domani); as a rejection of conventional romantic plot structure; and as an experiment in a new cinematic language adequate to the experience of the “inside-out” pregnancy made possible by the technology of artificial gestation. The essay explores Lo spazio bianco as the space of possibility opened up by the protagonist’s willingness to free herself from a series of social and psychological restrictions during the interval between her baby’s premature birth, and the child’s release from the high-tech womb of the neo-natal intensive care unit.
A middleware-transparent approach to developing distributed applications: Research Articles

An innovative middleware-transparent approach to developing distributed applications is presented. The approach uses an aspect-oriented software development technique to separate an application's middleware-independent functionality from its middleware-specific functionality. Application elements that are specific to the middleware are localized in aspects that can be seamlessly integrated into middleware-independent application designs. The middleware-transparent approach is used to decouple business functionality from middleware-specific functionality. The decoupling allows developers to change middleware application elements without significantly modifying business functionality. Middleware technologies such as Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI), Jini, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) remote procedure call (RPC) and .Net are used as examples to illustrate the approach. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Forward Osmosis: Mass Transmission Coefficient-Based Models for Evaluation of Concentration Polarization under Different Conditions

AbstractIn the past, forward osmosis (FO) models were developed to evaluate the effects of concentration polarization (CP), including external CP (ECP) and internal CP (ICP), on FO performance. How...
A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Smoking and Weight Eating Episodes Test (SWEET).

The Smoking and Weight Eating Episodes Test (SWEET; Adams et al. 2011) is a self-report measure designed to assess multiple reasons why and when smokers use cigarettes for appetite, weight, and shape management, that was initially developed and validated in young female smokers. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SWEET measure among both male and female daily cigarette smokers. Participants (n = 577; Mage = 44.42; SD = 13.80; 52.7% female) were daily smokers recruited through Qualtrics Online Sample for an anonymous study on smoking and health. On average, participants reported smoking for 25.7 years (SD = 14.35), smoked 17.0 cigarettes per day (SD = 8.38), and had moderate levels of tobacco dependence. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the initial factor structure found in the original SWEET measure suggesting a four-factor structure fit the data well, but not a one-factor structure. Factors included using cigarettes for appetite suppression, using cigarettes to prevent overeating, smoking to cope with body dissatisfaction, and using cigarettes to cope with appetite-related withdrawal symptoms. Tests of measurement invariance revealed no significant differences when evaluating SWEET scores by participant sex. The SWEET factor scores evidenced internal consistency, known groups validity, convergent validity with related constructs (compensatory eating behaviors, tobacco dependence) and cessation-relevant variables (smoking abstinence expectancies, prior withdrawal symptoms), and discriminant validity with physical activity and sedentary behavior. The present study provides evidence in support of the validity and reliability of scores on the SWEET as a multidimensional measure of smoking for appetite, weight, and body-related concerns in male and female daily cigarette smokers.
Temporal lobe epilepsy lateralization using retrospective cerebral blood volume MRI.

Abstract Steady-state cerebral blood volume (CBV) is tightly coupled to regional cerebral metabolism, and CBV imaging is a variant of MRI that has proven useful in mapping brain dysfunction. CBV derived from exogenous contrast-enhanced MRI can generate sub-millimeter functional maps. Higher resolution helps to more accurately interrogate smaller cortical regions, such as functionally distinct regions of the hippocampus. Many MRIs have fortuitously adequate sequences required for CBV mapping. However, these scans vary substantially in acquisition parameters. Here, we determined whether previously acquired contrast-enhanced MRI scans ordered in patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy can be used to generate hippocampal CBV. We used intrinsic reference regions to correct for intensity scaling on a research CBV dataset to identify white matter as a robust marker for scaling correction. Next, we tested the technique on a sample of unilateral focal epilepsy patients using clinical MRI scans. We find evidence suggestive of significant hypometabolism in the ipsilateral-hippocampus of unilateral TLE subjects. We also highlight the subiculum as a potential driver of this effect. This study introduces a technique that allows CBV maps to be generated retrospectively from clinical scans, potentially with broad application for mapping dysfunction throughout the brain.
Big Brother Goes to School: Privacy Awareness and Parental Support for Technological Security Measures

Security measures present considerable concerns for student privacy. Parents might not be aware of these risks. This leads to the question: does parents' knowledge of the privacy implications of se...
Estimation of Reactivity Ratios

During more than the half century since the development of the Mayo—Lewis equation for binary copolymerization7 based on the terminal kinetic model, an impressive amount of literature has been devoted to it.54 This large quantity of experimental data has mainly been used to determine reactivity ratios (r ij ) and resonance stabilization (Q) and electronegativity (e) parameters (see Section 2.9). A number of methods can be found in the copolymer literature for calculating reactivity ratios from copolymer composition and initial comonomer concentrations.
Characterization and properties of .R;S /-commutative matrices

Let R=Pdiag(γ0Im0,γ1Im1,…,γk-1Imk-1)P-1∈Cm×m and Sσ=Qdiag(γσ(0)In0,γσ(1)In1,…,γσ(k-1)Ink-1)Q-1∈Cn×n, where m0+m1+⋯+mk-1=m, n0+n1+⋯+nk-1=n, γ0, γ1, …, γk-1 are distinct complex numbers, and σ:ZktoZk={0,1,…,k-1}. We say that A∈Cm×n is (R,Sσ)-commutative if RA=ASσ. We characterize the class of (R,Sσ)-commutative matrices and extend results obtained previously for the case where γl=e2πil/k and σ(l)=αl+μ(modk), 0⩽l⩽k-1, with α, μ∈Zk. Our results are independent of γ0, γ1, …, γk-1, so long as they are distinct; i.e., if RA=ASσ for some choice of γ0, γ1,…,γk-1 (all distinct), then RA=ASσ for arbitrary of γ0, γ1, …, γk-1.
A "new age" in pertussis prevention new opportunities through adult vaccination.

Background For the first time, pertussis vaccines for adolescents and adults (combined with tetanus and diphtheria toxoids [Tdap]) became available in the United States in 2005. Despite a fully implemented U.S. childhood pertussis vaccination program, substantial morbidity because of pertussis continues to occur. To reduce this morbidity, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended Tdap for all adolescents and adults in place of the next tetanus-diphtheria booster. As background for the basis of these recommendations, we summarize data on the morbidity and incidence of pertussis in U.S. adults and the role of adults in transmitting pertussis to young infants. Methods A MEDLINE search was performed in March 2006 for data on pertussis incidence rates and cough illness because of pertussis among U.S. adults (prospective, nonoutbreak studies were selected) and pertussis complications in adults. Data from the national passive surveillance system were also analyzed in October 2005. Results The true adult burden is estimated at more than 600,000 cases annually in the United States. Adults with pertussis commonly cough for 2–4 months, often resulting in repeated medical visits and missed work. Complications include pneumonia, rib fractures, and cough syncope. Adults are an important source of pertussis for young infants, who have the highest risk of hospitalization and death. Conclusions The morbidity from pertussis in adults can be substantial, the incidence of pertussis in U.S. adults is high, and adults transmit infection to young infants. Providers now have the opportunity to reduce the burden of pertussis by vaccinating adults with Tdap.
Parity++: Lightweight Error Correction for Last Level Caches

As the size of on-chip SRAM caches is increasing rapidly and the physical dimension of the SRAM devices is decreasing, reliability of caches is becoming a growing concern. This is because with increased size of caches, the likelihood of radiation-induced soft faults also increases. As a result, information redundancy in the form of Error Correcting Codes (ECC) is becoming extremely important, especially to protect the larger sized last level caches (LLCs). In typical ECCs, extra redundancy bits are added to every row to detect and correct errors. There is additional encoding (while writing data) and decoding (while reading data) procedures required as well. In caches, these additional area, power and latency overheads need to be minimized as much as possible. To address this problem, we present in this paper Parity++: a novel unequal message protection scheme for last level caches that preferentially provides stronger error protection to certain "special messages". This protection scheme provides Single Error Detection (SED) for all messages and Single Error Correction (SEC) for a subset of messages. Thus, it is stronger than just a basic SED parity and has much lower parity storage overhead (4X lower for a 64-bit memory) and lower error detection energy than a traditional Single Error Correcting, Double Error Detecting (SECDED) code. We also evaluate Parity++ with a memory speculation procedure that can be used with any ECC scheme to hide the decoding latency while reading messages when there are no errors.
A case study of recurring slope lineae (RSL) at Tivat crater: Implications for RSL origins

Abstract The origin or origins of recurring slope lineae (RSL) on Mars are enigmatic. These seasonally dark, linear features correlate with temperatures appropriate for liquid water or brine. They also progress slowly downslope and fade (disappear) when inactive, similar to shallow subsurface groundwater flows that wick moisture to the surface. If liquid water or brine does indeed flow so near the surface and is sufficiently dilute, it could have profound implications for the modern habitability of Mars. We present the results of a case study at Tivat crater in the southern midlatitudes that provide new insights into RSL, including their potential origins at Tivat. These results include comprehensive maps of RSL extents in four Mars years, detailed RSL evolution across one growth season, rockfall markings, and dust devil tracks. In two well-constrained years, RSL and rockfall markings—which are more widely distributed than RSL—fade at the same time, suggesting a fading mechanism that acts across Tivat. Based on relative albedo analyses, RSL and rockfall markings at Tivat fade because their host slopes darken, which is most easily explained by the widespread removal of dust. Such a dry fading mechanism would favor a dry origin for RSL. We also present a wide range of other RSL observations, including highly variable growth, pooling-like behavior where slopes shallow to roughly 30°, and total areal extents that decrease each year across a span of five years. We discuss the implications of these observations for various RSL formation models, including a new conceptual model that primarily mobilizes dust. Taken together, our observations seem to favor a dry mass movement origin for RSL at Tivat, but significant challenges remain for each examined model.
Nonuniformity Correction Method of Thermal Radiation Effects in Infrared Images

This paper proposes a correction method based on dark channel prior. The method takes full advantage of the sparseness of dark channels of latent images. It applies an L0 norm constraint of dark channels to the latent images, and an L2 norm constraint with smoothing gradient to the intensity bias field caused by the aero-optic thermal radiation effects. And finally it adopts split Bregman method to solve the nonconvex and nonlinear optimization problem. The experimental results show that compared with the existing methods, this method greatly reduces aero-optic thermal radiation effects in infrared imaging detection system.
Comparing stakeholder attitudes toward white-tailed deer and rare plant management in Canaan Valley, West Virginia

Abstract Canaan Valley, West Virginia, USA provides habitat for many plants considered rare in West Virginia. The local white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimm.) are a popular attraction for visitors as well as resident and nonresident hunters. However, concerns exist over the impact of white-tailed deer herbivory on rare plant communities in the wetlands. We evaluated stakeholder attitudes regarding white-tailed deer management and rare plant conservation by mailing surveys to property owners in Canaan Valley and Tucker County, WV, and providing surveys to visitors at Canaan Valley State Park and National Wildlife Refuge. Individuals that had incurred crop damage were more likely to view the Canaan Valley population as overabundant while nonresident landowners placed higher values on the conservation of rare plants and plant communities in Canaan Valley. We found that hunters were more likely than nonhunters to support white-tailed deer management actions. Results of this survey may help managers to direct management and education goals toward actual rather than perceived stakeholder attitudes.
Associations between Emotion Regulation and Parental Reflective Functioning

Emotion regulation encapsulates the capability to successfully manage an ongoing emotional experience, particularly in social interactions, and thus may be especially significant to early parent-child relationships. In particular, the capacity to adjust emotions may support parental mentalization and reflective functioning – how parents think about their own and their child’s mental states and how these mental states effect behavior. To examine this issue, we investigated the association between emotion regulation, emotion dysregulation, and parental reflective functioning in a maternal sample (N = 97). We found that mothers with higher tendencies to suppress their emotions and who had more difficulties with emotion regulation engaged in greater levels of pre-mentalizing (i.e., a non-mentalizing mode). Mothers with poorer emotional awareness also evidenced less interest and curiosity in their child’s mental states. Finally, mothers who reported greater difficulty setting goals also evidenced a reduced capacity to recognize that their infant’s mental states are not directly observable. Taken together, our findings support the relationship between different aspects of emotion regulation and maternal reflective functioning, suggesting that emotion regulation should be integrated in empirical and intervention work that targets maternal mentalization.
Data Driven Hourly Taxi Drop-offs Prediction using TLC Trip Record Data

Crowdsourcing applications are proven to be a promising tool to gather valuable information, which can be used for a wide range of tasks, such as ensuring public safety. Traffic data collected using these applications have been used for efficient evacuation planning in large cities. In this paper, we propose to use regression-based machine learning methods to predict hourly taxi rides for a given location in a target day of week and month. The presented method can be used for the following purposes: 1) Predicting the number of taxi rides for a given location at a given time, 2) Identifying hot spots in a city, 3) Getting a rough count of the population density at a given location at a targeted hour, and 4) Planing evacuation routes for possible disasters. The presented approach has potential use for resource planning and evacuation in large cities. The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) trip record data collected from 2017 to 2018 was used for this experiment. It was found that random forest regression can successfully predict hourly taxi drop-offs for a given taxi zone as well as for the entire city of New York.
Covariates of hazardous alcohol use among sexual and gender minorities in Texas: Identifying the most vulnerable.

Abstract Background Information is limited on the prevalence of hazardous drinking and associated covariates among sexual and gender minority (SGM) persons. These analyses estimated the prevalence of hazardous drinking and identified associated covariates. Methods A total of 1273 SGM adolescents and adults living in Texas completed an online survey between March 2016 and January 2017. Variables associated with hazardous drinking at the bivariate-level (p Results More than a third (39.1%) of participants meet criteria for hazardous drinking. Compared to non-hazardous drinkers, hazardous drinkers were younger ( x - = 20.7 [SD = 8.9] vs. x - = 26.5 [SD = 13.8]) and more likely to be Hispanic (41.5% vs. 26.2%). Hazardous drinkers were more likely to report using substances in past 12 months, including opioids (15.3% vs. 6.7%), stimulants (26.3% vs. 12.7%), and marijuana (37.6% vs. 21.2%). More hazardous drinkers reported injecting drugs (12.3% vs. 5.8%) and having a history of incarceration (14.1% vs. 7.3%). They were less likely to be diagnosed with depression (50.2% vs. 56.5%). When entered into a multivariate logistic regression model, hazardous drinkers were more likely to be younger (aOR = 0.97 [0.95, 0.98]), Hispanic (aOR = 1.5 [1.2, 2.0]), have a history of incarceration (aOR = 2.4 [1.5, 3.6]), and use a substance, not including marijuana (aOR = 1.7 [1.3, 2.3]). They were less likely to be diagnosed with depression (aOR = 0.73 [0.6, 0.9]). Conclusions Our findings highlight the intersection of race and ethnicity, mental health, criminal justice involvement, and substance use and the need for tailored interventions that address underlying determinants.
[Uretero-pelvic junction obstruction due to crossing pole vessel: contra vascular hitch].

Hydronephrosis in infants and children is most commonly due to a congenital, intrinsic obstruction of the uretero-pelvic junction. The Gold standard of care is defined as a dismembered pyeloplasty, nowadays mostly performed in a minimally-invasive procedure, either through a laparoscopic (also robotic-assisted) or retroperitoneoscopic approach. Less common is an extrinsic obstruction of the ureter or the uretero-pelvic junction caused by an aberrant crossing pole vessel, a condition more likely to affect children beyond infancy. This entity most often becomes apparent when it causes intermittent abdominal or flank pain. For this entity, Hellstrom described a surgical procedure avoiding dismembered pyeloplasty by hitching the crossing vessel in a tunnel at the pyelon. This has been increasingly advocated as a valuable therapeutic alternative to dismembered pyeloplasty. The discussion on whether dismembered pyeloplasty or a vascular hitch procedure is preferable to resolve the obstruction is controversial and ongoing. There is evidence in the literature that in the case of a crossing pole vessel an intrinsic stenosis of the ureter may additionally be present in up to 57 % of cases. However, this finding can only be proven histologically. The intraoperative aspect of a crossing pole vessel and the uretero-pelvic junction does not serve to discriminate between intrinsic and extrinsic stenosis. Therefore, a vascular hitch procedure bears the risk that a remaining intrinsic obstruction will be disregarded, which, in turn, may lead to urodynamic obstruction and consecutive loss of differential renal function. In addition, there is a general risk of compromising the perfusion of the affected kidney while hitching an aberrant vessel providing significant blood supply. Dismembered pyeloplasty can avoid a false selection of patients. In addition, there is sufficient evidence showing that dismembered pyeloplasty is a procedure with a low complication rate ranging from 2 to 3 %, providing very good results in functional outcome in terms of improving drainage and preserving differential renal function. Therefore, we prefer dismembered pyeloplasty as the method of choice for both the treatment of intrinsic as well as extrinsic uretero-pelvic junction obstruction.
High optode-density wearable probe for monitoring breast tumor dynamics during neoadjuvant chemotherapy

We present a high-optode density continuous-wave (CW) wearable diffuse optical device for the investigation of hemodynamic responses of locally advanced breast tumors. Initial results from tissue-simulating phantoms and a normal volunteer study are described.
The Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement Fidelity Measure (MORE-FM): Development and Validation of a New Tool to Assess Therapist Adherence and Competence

Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) is a mind-body therapy that unites complementary aspects of mindfulness training, third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and principles from...
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-Authorized Retailers' Perceived Costs to Use Behavioral Economic Strategies to Encourage Healthy Product Sales.

SNAP-authorized retailers could use marketing-mix and choice-architecture (MMCA) strategies to improve SNAP purchases, but associated costs are unknown. Perceived cost and inconvenience to implemen...
'Reasoning-Lite' in the Violent Video Game Case

One might have expected that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the violent video game case, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass’n, would have been a thoughtful balancing of society’s competing interests in protecting freedom of speech and protecting children from harm. After all, the Supreme Court had held decades earlier that the government could deny minors access to soft-porn, or what the Court called “girlie magazines.” So one could have assumed the Court would seriously consider California’s claim that minors also needed sheltering from the grittier world of violent video game rapes, beheadings, and ethnic cleansings.Yet, as Justice Scalia’s majority opinion made clear, any such assumption – like so many of the virtual bystanders in these games – was dead on arrival. Scalia’s opinion was not a methodical exegesis about when speech could be curtailed to protect minors. It was a judicial broadside: the verbal equivalent of throwing the California claim out the courthouse door, down the marble staircase, and into a District of Columbia dumpster.In this essay, I contend that the majority failed to wrestle with the serious issues raised by the case and instead signed onto Justice Antonin Scalia’s glibly written opinion with its facile, “reasoning-lite” analysis. By critiquing Scalia’s reasoning, I am able to offer constructive suggestions for how the Court could more effectively evaluate competing claims in future free speech cases.