cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Backscatter-Imaging Instruments

Instruments can be divided into several groups depending on the type of transmit insonation and signal reception used. The principal mode of imaging in medicine is echo or backscatter geometry. This has evolved because of the limited number of available windows into the body. Ultrasonic energy is stopped by bones and gas-filled cavities which can be found throughout the body. Therefore, medical instruments have evolved that transmit energy into and receive backscattered signals out of the same window. Transmission geometries in which the energy is transmitted entirely through the body, similar to x-ray techniques, have not been successful yet, although several have been developed and will be described in the next chapter. Other types of geometry such as orthogonal scattering, mode conversion scattering, and nonlinear imaging have not been successfully applied and will not be discussed in this book. This chapter begins with a brief review of piezoelectrics, beamforming, and scanning and then describes the relationship of scattering hierarchies to images obtained in the echo mode.
Stem Anatomy and Pressure–Volume Curves

This chapter reviews the anatomy of stems and then shows how one places a leafy stem in a pressure chamber to determine graphically, via a pressure–volume curve, the two main components of the plant water potential: the osmotic potential and the turgor potential. Pressure is applied to the cut-off shoot, and the volume of sap exuded from the cut end is measured. One then graphs pressure versus volume. The theory of pressure–volume curves is based on the work by van't Hoff, who used data of the botanist Wilhelm Pfeffer to develop his law on osmotic pressure. The chapter also tells how to measure plant water content and relative water content. Osmotic potential can be determined using an osmometer, and its theory is presented, which depends upon knowledge of the Clausius–Clapeyron equation. Direct measurement of turgor potential with a pressure probe is reviewed. Appendices give biographies of Pfeffer, van't Hoff, and Clausius.
Community Media: Newspaper, Radio and Television

Community media constitutes an important arena in the construction of diasporic citizenship and identity precisely because it provides an effective link to the mainland, the host country and the diaspora. As a diasporic production, the community media are shaped by the circumstances the group finds itself in, the constraints and opportunities provided by the mainstream, and the social evolution of the homeland. These media are more than just ethnic media because they are not created solely for the assimilation of the population into American society; that is, the diaspora does not constitute their exclusive center or pole of distribution. They are also created to interconnect various diasporic sites to each other and to the homeland. Moreover, because the transnational feature is a cardinal point in the operation of some, like the newspapers, it is preferable to refer to them as transnational media. They reflect the transnationality of the diasporic citizens. Since they are produced in the United States, their content tends to reflect the preoccupations of Haitian immigrants in the United States.
Intellectual Property, Human Rights, and Public-Private Partnerships

This chapter focuses on the roles and responsibilities of intellectual property-related public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the international human rights regime. It begins by debunking two key claims transnational corporations (TNCs) have advanced in the area intersecting intellectual property and human rights. Although PPPs involve many types of private sector partners, this discussion singles out TNCs because of their frequent and vocal opposition to business and human rights initiatives. Such a focus will underscore the immense challenge of protecting human rights in the private sphere.This chapter then examines the "protect, respect and remedy" framework and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which John Ruggie presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in his capacity as the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Representative on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises. These documents are highly relevant to the discussion of the human rights responsibilities of PPPs because they apply to not only States and TNCs, but also other types of private sector partners, such as donor and civil society organizations. After evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the Ruggie Framework and the Guiding Principles, this chapter will explain why these partnerships should assume greater human rights responsibilities than TNCs.The chapter concludes with three specific examples illustrating how PPPs can be utilized to foster a more appropriate balance between intellectual property and human rights. These examples are important because striking this balance will require more than efforts in identifying, cataloguing and clarifying human rights responsibilities. To achieve such a balance, governments, intergovernmental bodies, TNCs and nongovernmental organizations will also need to pro-actively develop PPPs for human rights in the intellectual property arena.
ADMINISTRATIVE ANSWERS TO “MAJOR QUESTIONS”: ON THE DEMOCRATIC AUTHORITY OF AGENCY STATUTORY INTERPRETATION

This Article critiques the legal and theoretical premises of the “major questions doctrine,” and proposes a revision of the doctrine that better comports with the institutional structure and ideological origins of our administrative state. The major questions doctrine holds that courts generally should not defer to agency statutory interpretations that concern questions of “vast economic or political significance.” This doctrine, most recently invoked by the Supreme Court in King v. Burwell, purports to enforce the constitutional norms of non-delegation and popular sovereignty. But it relies on two auxiliary political-theoretic assumptions about the proper roles of courts and agencies. First, it imports the assumption of the Legal Process School that courts are always the primary interpreters of the important value questions implicated by statutory law. Second, it imports Max Weber’s assumption that administrative officials are morally-neutral technocrats, who should only implement value choices specified by statute. These assumptions do not capture important aspects of the institutional structure and ideological justification for our American administrative state. I show how the Progressive thinkers who first advocated administrative governance in the United States believed that administrators should resolve important value questions in consultation with the affected public. Our current institutions reflect this vision to a significant degree, with broad-textured statutes that leave significant norm-setting authority to agencies, while requiring that such decisions be made through participatory procedures. I propose that the major questions doctrine should be reformulated, so that an agency’s resolution of a “major question” can receive full Chevron deference if it is promulgated through notice-and-comment rulemaking and addresses the relevant political and economic questions in the rulemaking record. If an agency’s interpretation is not promulgated through rulemaking, the reviewing court should give weight to the agency’s interpretation proportional to the degree of its deliberative engagement with the affected public, and its discussion of the relevant policy questions.
Modeling noncoplanarity effects on thermal performance of computer chips

A project was undertaken to investigate the effects of noncoplanarity (the absence of perfect surface flatness) on heat transfer in computer chip packages. The goal of the project was to determine the level of model complexity required to accurately determine thermal contact resistance in the presence of non-coplanarity and to determine a method to accurately model these effects using conventional finiteelement and CFD packages. Various types of air gaps were modeled and results tabulated. It was found that heat transfer within gaps on the order of tens of microns could be analyzed by “scaling-up” the model so that minimum cell size of the meshing software was no longer an issue. The scaled and unscaled results agreed to within 97%. Published data and the CFD model results agreed to within 96%. While noncoplanarity was shown to have a significant effect on the thermal contact resistance, it was shown that a complex model of the thermal interface material is not needed for an accurate simulation.
Legalizing Marijuana and Its Effect on Adolescent Behavior and Health in the USA: Risk and Opportunity

There is no adolescent malady that does more damage or is more preventable than adolescent substance misuse. If we are unable to reduce the burden of substance abuse, it will be virtually impossible to make progress toward improving adolescent health in any meaningful way. The apprehension over legalizing marijuana for adult use in the USA is the concern and fear that legalizing marijuana will increase the risk of adolescent use, abuse, and dependence. Opponents predict marijuana abuse will increase. Moreover, they predict marijuana will be more available to children and adolescents, which will result in more adolescent marijuana and drug abuse. Proponents of legalization argue that adolescents currently have unfettered access to illegal marijuana, and legalization and regulation will provide more controls. Furthermore, there is undisputable evidence that arresting a young person for possession of marijuana has a negative effect on the adolescent in the present and throughout their lives (Svrakic et al. in Missouri Medicine 109:90–98, 2011). Both positions on legalization are logical, but neither can be used to predict the effect that legal marijuana will have effect on adolescent behavior and health. What can be used to help predict the effect of legal marijuana is the experiences of 23 states (out of the 50 in 2015) in the USA that have legalized marijuana. To that end, in this chapter, we will emphasize research and studies conducted within states that have legalized marijuana in the USA.
Sprawl As Where We Grow: Or, How Government Spreads Suburbia

Defenders of suburbanization argues that it is a result of consumer choice, and that what the market has put together, government should not tear asunder. But in fact, sprawl is a result of a variety of government policies, such as highway spending that facilitated suburban commuting, school residency requirements that force city residents into poverty-packed public schools while creating homogenously affluent suburban schools, and federal housing policies that favored suburbanites over city residents. This chapter also suggests a variety of market-oriented, anti-sprawl reforms, such as reducing government highway spending and allowing urban parents to opt out of urban public schools.
Assessing the value of state legislative experience and legislative professionalism in national election performance, 1974–2010

Abstract State legislative experience and chamber professionalism have been shown to benefit state legislators as they decide and prepare to run for national office in American Congressional elections. Yet, what are the effects of these two factors on national election performance? I test the implications from the literature that state legislative experience and chamber professionalism should impact national election outcomes on all two-party contested elections from 1974 to 2010. I find that state legislative experience enhances candidates’ vote shares, though differently for different candidates. Yet, surprisingly professionalism plays no moderating role. Such effects present at the earlier stages of elections wash out as elections come to a close.
Modifying Emission Spectral Bandwidth of Phosphorescent Platinum(II) Complexes Through Synthetic Control

The design, synthesis, and characterization of a series of tetradentate cyclometalated Pt(II) complexes are reported. The platinum complexes have the general structure Pt(ppz-O-CbPy-R), where a tetradentate cyclometalating ligand is consisting of ppz (3,5-dimethyl-1-phenyl-pyrazole), CbPy (carbazolylpyridine) components, and an oxygen bridging group. Variations of the R group on the pyridyl ring with various electron withdrawing and donating substituents are shown to have profound effects on the photophysical properties of Pt complexes. Electrochemical analysis indicates that reduction process occurs mainly on the electron-accepting pyridyl group, and the irreversible oxidation process is primarily localized on the metal-phenyl portions. The studies of their photophysical properties indicate that the lowest excited state of the platinum complexes is a ligand-centered 3π–π* state with minor to significant 1MLCT/3MLCT character and are strongly dependent on the nature of the electron-accepting pyridyl moiet...
Simplification of an MCNP model designed for dose rate estimation

A study was made to investigate the methods of building a simplified MCNP model for radiological dose estimation. The research was done using an example of a complicated glovebox with extra shielding. The paper presents several different calculations for neutron and photon dose evaluations where glovebox elements were consecutively excluded from the MCNP model. The analysis indicated that to obtain a fast and reasonable estimation of dose, the model should be realistic in details that are close to the tally. Other details may be omitted.
Robust sub-pixel hyperspectral classification via locality preserving feature extraction and a dirichlet process mixture model

In this work we present and apply a new Hyperspectral image classification method based on Dirichlet Process Gaussian mixture models (also known as infinite Gaussian mixture models — IGMMs). Since this approach is a non-parametric Bayesian method, we circumvent the problem of model selection which is unavoidable and often difficult when employing traditional parametric Gaussian mixture models (GMM). In order to infer model parameters from observations, we adopt a Gibbs Sampling method to sample the posterior distributions of these parameters. In the preprocessing step, we use Local Fisher's Discriminant Analysis (LFDA) for dimension reduction since we expect it to preserve the multi-modal, non-Gaussian structure of the hyperspectral data. We compared our proposed IGMM based classification method to the existing state-of-the-art classification methods using popular hyperspectral imagery datasets. To simulate challenging real-world sensing environment, we mix every pixel with background and study the performance of these classification approaches. Our experiments show that the proposed LFDA-IGMM method and GMM method have almost the same performance for most cases, given “pure” data — with mixed pixels, LFDA-IGMM outperformed GMM for sub-pixel classification. Both methods outperformed the other commonly used classification approaches when the training sample size is relatively large. Also, the IGMM based method is less sensitive to pixel mixing than other methods.
Mental health status and healthcare utilization among community dwelling older adults.

Background: Shifts in mental health utilization patterns are necessary to allow for meaningful access to care for vulnerable populations. There have been long standing issues in how mental health i...
Relation of the Neuroendocrine System to the Development of Mammary Tumors in Rats during Aging

Among the vast array of rodent models of human breast cancer, the carcinogen-induced, i.e., MCA, DMBA, MNU, rat mammary tumor model has received the greatest attention, particularly from those who are interested in the hormonal control of this disease. The popularity of this experimental tumor system stems from the realization that this model closely parallels the human disease, as judged by significant morphological and physiological criteria. For example, carcinogen-induced rat mammary carcinomas appear to arise from the ductal elements of the mammary gland (Russo et al., 1977), and most human breast carcinomas also appear to be of ductal origin (Wellings et al., 1975). A crucial viral component has not been clearly demonstrated in this model (Chopra and Taylor, 1970), nor has such a factor been unequivocally demonstrated in the human disease (McGrath and Soule, 1977). Most of the rat mammary carcinomas induced by chemical carcinogens are hormone (pituitary and ovarian) responsive (Welsch, 1982) as are a significant fraction of human breast carcinomas (Segaloff, 1975). Furthermore, carcinogens such as DMBA and MNU are relatively specific for the mam-mary gland (other organs are not often involved) and a single injection of either one of these carcinogens is tumorigenic in the rat, allowing one to examine separately the initiation and promotional phases of this neo-plastic process (Welsch et al.,1980, 1981).
A framework for modeling mosquito vectors

Vector-borne diseases account for 16% of the global infectious disease burden [26]. Many of these debilitating and sometimes fatal diseases are transmitted between human hosts by a mosquito. Mosquito-targeted intervention methods have controlled or eliminated mosquito-borne diseases from many regions of the world but holoendemic areas of transmission still exist [23]. These areas require a smarter and sharper system of intervention. To measure the impact of various intervention methods, there should to be a unified method for modeling mosquitoes in an agent-based simulation environment. This method should be flexible enough to model different species and genera of insects. In this paper, we propose a solution on how to model the life cycle of two genera of mosquitoes within a unified software architecture. The model's structure describes the gonotrophic cycle of the insects and the simulated phenomena are well documented in the biological literature. The reproduction of the biological phenomena contributes to the validation of our design and model.
Integration of Non-monotonic Cell Swelling Characteristic for State-of-Charge Estimation

Traditionally, battery State of Charge (SOC) is estimated using measurements of current, temperature, and Terminal Voltage (TV). For some battery chemistry, such as Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), the voltage is flat (low slope) making the rate of convergence of the SOC estimation relatively slow. In this case, measurement of the cell expansion caused by swelling of the electrode active material during charging can be used to augment the estimation scheme. In previous work [1] [2], the force (F) generated by cell swelling in a constrained package has an affine dependency on SOC. In this paper we consider the LFP chemistry with phase transition of the active electrode material resulting in non-unique F-SOC relation, hence requiring a novel estimator. The non-monotonic (F) could potentially drive any output based observer, like the Linear Quadratic Estimator (LQE), to an incorrect equilibrium. To address this problem, a piecewise-linear (PWL) model is used to approximate the F-SOC curve, which enables the automatic selection of the gain with the correct (positive or negative) slope. The comparison between the TV, F, and the fusion of both sensors is investigated via simulations of a nonlinear higher order model of the battery eletro-mechanical behavior. The electrical battery model is described by an equivalent circuit model and a nonlinear open circuit plus hysteresis model. The performance of the estimators based on the TV and F sensors are compared and evaluated against the ±5% absolute error of the SOC using the Dynamic Stress Test (DST) protocol.
Wicked Messes: The Pioneering Work of Horst Rittel and Russ Ackoff

This chapter extends the concept of complex, messy systems even further. It shows that the systems of which we are increasingly a part are more complex than anything we’ve encountered. At every level of our existence and being, we are not only dealing with, but we are part of wicked messes. The supreme challenge is how one manages, better yet, copes with wicked messes. This is especially critical since crises are some of their prime components. There are no such things as self-standing, individual crises that are totally distinct and separate from one another. Although Chapter Ten treats crisis management in detail, every chapter introduces key components. Taken together, they lead to a substantial revision of our previous ideas and knowledge of crisis management. Step-by-step, the book builds up the intellectual concepts and the emotional fortitude that are necessary in first recognizing and then treating the daunting crises that are integral parts of wicked messes.
Diversity and Virulence of Alternaria spp. Causing Potato Early Blight and Brown Spot in Wisconsin

Early blight, caused by Alternaria solani, along with brown spot, caused by A. alternata, have the potential to reduce quality and yield in potato production globally. Prior to this study, the incidence, disease impact, and fungicide resistance attributes of A. alternata in Wisconsin were poorly understood. Potato pathogens were isolated from foliar lesions at three commercial locations in Wisconsin in 2012 and 2017 and were initially morphologically identified as A. solani (n = 33) and A. alternata (n = 40). Identifications were further corroborated with the phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1 (TEF1), gapdh, Alt a 1, and OPA10-2. A multigene phylogeny of ITS, TEF1, gapdh, and Alt a 1 showed five genotypes of A. alternata and one single genotype of A. solani. We demonstrated that the A. alternata isolates were virulent on potato cultivars Russet Burbank (P < 0.013) and Atlantic (P < 0.0073), though they caused less disease than A. solani (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0001, respectively). A. alternata caused little disease on the breeding line 24-24-12 (P = 0.9929), and A. solani caused fewer disease symptoms on 24-24-12 than on Russet Burbank (P < 0.0001) or Atlantic (P < 0.0001). Breeding line 24-24-12 may be a promising source of potential resistance for the two diseases. There was no significant difference in virulence of different A. alternata genotypes, and no significant difference in virulence or genotype clustering among isolates from the three locations. Isolates of A. alternata that induced chlorosis caused larger lesion areas than isolates that did not in Russet Burbank (P < 0.0001), Atlantic (P < 0.0001), and 24-24-12 (P = 0.0365). There was no significant difference in virulence between quinone outside inhibitor (QoI)-sensitive and QoI-resistant isolates of A. alternata. This study enhanced our understanding of potato early blight and brown spot in Wisconsin, and suggested that A. alternata in addition to A. solani should be carefully monitored and possibly uniquely managed in order to achieve overall disease control.
Identifying Psychopathy Subtypes Using a Broader Model of Personality: An Investigation of the Five Factor Model Using Model-Based Cluster Analysis.

The field of psychopathy research largely argues that the disorder is a heterogeneous concept with two predominant subtypes: primary psychopathy and secondary psychopathy. Early research examined p...
Friend Request Pending: A Comparative Assessment of Engineering- and Social Science–Inspired Approaches to Analyzing Complex Birth Cohort Survey Data:

The Fragile Families Challenge is a mass collaboration social science data challenge whose aim is to learn how various early childhood variables predict the long-term outcomes of children. The auth...
Regional increases in brain signal variability are associated with pain intensity reductions following repeated eccentric exercise bouts.

BACKGROUND Traditional pain interventions limit fluctuations in pain sensation, which may paradoxically impair endogenous pain modulatory systems (EPMS). However, controlled exposures to clinically relevant pain (e.g. delayed onset muscle soreness [DOMS]) may build capacity in the EPMS. Emerging evidence suggests that regional signal variability (RSV) may be an important indicator of efficiency and modulatory capacity within brain regions. This study sought to determine the role of RSV in both susceptibility to and trainability of pain response following repeated DOMS inductions. METHODS Baseline and follow-up resting-state fMRI was performed on 12 healthy volunteers ~40 days apart. Between scanning visits, participants received four weekly DOMS inductions in alternating elbow flexors and were supplied seven days of post-induction pain ratings. Voxel-wise standard deviation of signal intensity was calculated to measure RSV. Associations among DOMS-related pain and RSV were assessed with regression. Relationships among baseline and change measurements were probed (i.e. susceptibility to DOMS; trainability following multiple inductions). RESULTS Significant association between baseline RSV in left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and right cerebellum and reductions in DOMS-related pain unpleasantness were detected. Furthermore, increases in RSV were associated with reduced DOMS pain intensity (left lingual gyrus, right MTG, left MTG, left precuneus) and unpleasantness (left MTG, right SFG). DISCUSSION Findings suggest that RSV may be an indicator of EPMS resilience and responsivity to training, as well as an indicator that is responsive to training. Involved regions underlie cognitive, affective and representation processes. Results further clarify the potential role of RSV as an indicator of pain modulation and resilience. SIGNIFICANCE Regional signal variability may be an important indicator of endogenous pain modulatory system responsivity to training following repeated bouts of clinically relevant pain and may in fact be responsive to training itself.
A systematic and quantitative comparison of lattice and Gaussian light-sheets

The axial resolving power of a light-sheet microscope is determined by the thickness of the illumination beam and the numerical aperture of its detection optics. Bessel-based optical lattices have generated significant interest owing to their potentially narrow beam waist and propagation-invariant characteristics. Yet, despite their significant use in Lattice Light-Sheet Microscopy, and recent incorporation into commercialized systems, there are very few quantitative reports on their physical properties and how they compare to standard Gaussian illumination beams. Here, we systematically measure the beam properties in transmission of dithered square lattices, which is the most commonly used variant of Lattice Light-Sheet Microscopy, and Gaussian-based light-sheets. After a systematic analysis, we find that square lattices are very similar to Gaussian-based light-sheets in terms of thickness, confocal parameter and propagation length.
Polarization in the production of the antihydrogen ion

We provide estimates of both the cross section and rate coefficient for the radiative attachment of a second positron to create the H+ ion, H(1s)+e+→H+(1s2 1Se)+ℏω, for which the polarization of the initial state H(1s) is taken into account. We show how to analytically integrate the resulting six-dimensional, three-body integrals for wave functions composed of explicitly correlated exponentials, a result that may be extended to Hylleraas wave functions. We extend Bhatia’s polarization results for the equivalent matter problem down to the low temperatures required for the Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest (GBAR) experiment at CERN. The two-electron polarization cross-term is of intrinsic interest because it has every appearance of being singular at the origin, but non-singular when integrated numerically. We show that conventional approaches lead to a final integral with two singular terms that may be made to cancel in lowest order. However, higher-order terms in such approaches defy analytical integration. We use an integro-differential transform based on Gaussian transforms to bypass this blockage to yield a fully analytic result. Even in this method, one avoids the singular form only by integrating out the radial integrals before solving the second Gaussian integral.
Oncologic Emergencies: Palliative Care in the Emergency Department Setting

Abstract Background Palliative care is an essential component of emergency medicine, as many patients with terminal illness will present to the emergency department (ED) for symptomatic management at the end of life (EOL). Objective This narrative review evaluates palliative care in the ED, with a focus on the literature behind management of EOL symptoms, especially dyspnea and cancer-related pain. Discussion As the population ages, increasing numbers of patients present to the ED with severe EOL symptoms. An understanding of the role of palliative care in the ED is crucial to effectively communicating with these patients to determine their goals and provide medical care in line with their wishes. Beneficence, nonmaleficence, and patient autonomy are essential components of palliative care. Patients without medical decision-making capacity may have an advance directive, do not resuscitate or do not intubate order, or Portable Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment available to assist clinicians. Effective and empathetic communication with patients and families is vital to EOL care discussions. Two of the most common and distressing symptoms at the EOL are dyspnea and pain. The most effective treatment of EOL dyspnea is opioids, with literature showing little efficacy for other therapies. The most effective treatment for cancer-related pain is opioids, with expeditious pain control achievable with a rapid fentanyl titration. It is also important to address nausea, vomiting, and secretions, as these are common at the EOL. Conclusions Emergency clinicians play a vital role in EOL patient care. Clear, empathetic communication and treatment of EOL symptoms are essential.
Maximizing Learning Management Systems to Support Mathematical Problem Solving in Online Learning

Mathematical problem solving is a complex cognitive activity, which poses difficulties for students with and without disabilities in inclusive learning environments. With a variety of functions, Le...
A Multi-task Contextual Atrous Residual Network for Brain Tumor Detection & Segmentation

In recent years, deep neural networks have achieved state-of-the-art performance in a variety of recognition and segmentation tasks in medical imaging including brain tumor segmentation. We investigate that segmenting a brain tumor is facing to the imbalanced data problem where the number of pixels belonging to the background class (non tumor pixel) is much larger than the number of pixels belonging to the foreground class (tumor pixel). To address this problem, we propose a multitask network which is formed as a cascaded structure. Our model consists of two targets, i.e., (i) effectively differentiate the brain tumor regions and (ii) estimate the brain tumor mask. The first objective is performed by our proposed contextual brain tumor detection network, which plays a role of an attention gate and focuses on the region around brain tumor only while ignoring the far neighbor background which is less correlated to the tumor. Different from other existing object detection networks which process every pixel, our contextual brain tumor detection network only processes contextual regions around ground-truth instances and this strategy aims at producing meaningful regions proposals. The second objective is built upon a 3D atrous residual network and under an encode-decode network in order to effectively segment both large and small objects (brain tumor). Our 3D atrous residual network is designed with a skip connection to enables the gradient from the deep layers to be directly propagated to shallow layers, thus, features of different depths are preserved and used for refining each other. In order to incorporate larger contextual information from volume MRI data, our network utilizes the 3D atrous convolution with various kernel sizes, which enlarges the receptive field of filters. Our proposed network has been evaluated on various datasets including BRATS2015, BRATS2017 and BRATS2018 datasets with both validation set and testing set. Our performance has been benchmarked by both region-based metrics and surface-based metrics. We also have conducted comparisons against state-of-the-art approaches.11Code and models will be publicly available
Matched case control analysis of breast cancer specific factors impacting risk of developing SARSCov-2 infection

Background: Patients with cancer have increased risk of developing SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19) infection. It is unknown if characteristics related to breast cancer increase the risk of COVID-19 infection. In this retrospective matched case control study, we aim to identify breast cancer related risk factors associated with developing COVID-19 and describe outcomes of patients with breast cancer diagnosed with COVID-19. Methods: Women with breast cancer treated at the Medical College of Wisconsin and diagnosed with COVID-19 between March and December 2020 served as cases. Women with breast cancer without COVID-19 diagnosis within the same time frame were identified as potential controls. Controls were chosen by matching for age (≥60 vs <60), obesity (BMI <30 vs ≥30), county (Milwaukee vs suburban), race (white vs non-white) and diabetes mellitus (DM) with 3:1 matching planned. Univariate comparisons between cases and controls were done via RaoScott stratified chi-square test for categorical outcomes and stratified t-test for continuous variables. Conditional logistic regression was done to evaluate the joint effect of multiple characteristics on the odds of being a COVID-19 case. Results: Twenty-five cases and 77 controls were identified. All cases were fully matched by age, obesity, county, and race with 3 cases not able to be matched for DM. Mean age was 54.6 vs 54.9 (p=0.88), BMI 31.0 vs 31.6 (p=0.69), 48% lived in Milwaukee county and 68% were white (cases 24% black & 8% American Indian;controls 32% black). Regarding COVID outcomes, 24.0% (n=6) of cases were hospitalized, median length of stay was 2 days, 8% (n=2) needed oxygen, 4% (n=1) were intubated and 4% (n=1) died due to COVID-19. COVID-19 led to treatment delays in 40% of cases. On univariate analysis of cases vs controls, 64 vs 75% were ER/PR+ (p=0.31), 6.5 vs 5.2% HER2+ (p=0.34), and 9.0 vs 4.2% triple negative (p=0.10). There were no significant differences in breast cancer stage. At time of COVID diagnosis (or last clinic contact if control), 16 vs 14% had active disease (p=0.81), 72 vs 74% were on active treatment (p=0.85), with 21 vs 4% being on chemotherapy (p=0.007), and 44 vs 52% on endocrine therapy (p=0.49). On conditional logistic regression, being on active chemotherapy (OR 5.8, p=0.043) significantly increased the likelihood of developing COVID with a trend seen for triple negative disease (OR 2.8, p=0.12). Conclusions: In this matched case control study of patients with breast cancer, active chemotherapy was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of developing COVID-19 with a trend seen for triple negative disease. Rates of death due to COVID-19 were overall low. Our analysis was limited by small numbers and an inability to fully match patients for DM. These findings support continued strict precautions for those on active chemotherapy and warrants further analysis in those with triple negative disease.
The Strict/Tolerant Idea and Bilattices

Strict/tolerant logic is a formally defined logic that has the same consequence relation as classical logic, though it differs from classical logic at the metaconsequence level. Specifically, it does not satisfy a cut rule. It has been proposed for use in work on theories of truth because it avoids some objectionable features arising from the use of classical logic. Here we are not interested in applications, but in the formal details themselves. We show that a wide range of logics have strict/tolerant counterparts, with the same consequence relations but differing at the metaconsequence level. Among these logics are Kleene’s \(\mathsf {K_3}\), Priest’s \({\mathsf {LP}}\), and first-degree entailment, FDE. The primary tool we use is the bilattice. But it is more than a tool, it seems to be the natural home for this kind of investigation.
Culture, Policy, and ASEAN: The Macro Dimension

The first content dimension of the Regional Human Resource Development (Regional HRD) ecosystem in Southeast Asia—the macro dimension—is made up of actors and forces that regulate and shape the ecosystem. These include cultural characteristics, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), government policy and regulation, and regional talent mobility. Whereas individual workers and employees and the organizations who invest in them play a direct role in HRD processes, the macro dimension is made up of components that more indirectly influence the implementation of HRD. Within the backdrop of a changing economic and technological landscape, culture shapes the paradigms that countries and individuals bring to HRD. Governments implicitly and explicitly shape National HRD strategies, policies, and regulations. ASEAN encourages its member countries to develop the region’s human resources and recommends regional qualification frameworks and mutual recognition arrangements for skilled labor. These all then influence regional talent mobility, which further affects HRD priorities and implementation regionally. The macro dimension of the Regional HRD ecosystem is dynamic, and it is situated within the broader international HRD ecosystem. This chapter describes this dimension and uses Vietnam an illustrative case of how these components interact.
ImmunoHorizons: The Immunology Education Destination.

We all have that moment when we first fell in love with immunology. We might have become interested at first when we wanted to know how we fight disease or how vaccines work or why we sneeze and itch so much. But there was something that really made us fall in love. It could have been when you saw your first precipitin line when you ran an Ouchterlony and could visualize Ag–Ab complexes. Maybe it was the beautiful symmetry of an Ab molecule. Perhaps it was the elegant specificity that arose out of gene recombination. Or maybe it was the orchestra of an immune response that culminated in memory. For me I think it was the prospect of understanding cellular communication at the molecular level—that, and the fact that immunologists seemed to have a sense of humor. I still remember one of …
Whither thiotepa (for patients in the USA)

We wish to highlight the ongoing shortage of thiotepa in the USA so that our colleagues may plan ahead accordingly. We are not aware of similar shortages of this agent affecting other countries. In neuro-oncology, thiotepa is most often used for the treatment of leptomeningeal metastases. It is recommended for this indication in the most recently issued National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines. In the Guidelines, it appears fourth in a list of nine, just below (liposomal) cytarabine and methotrexate [1]. Along with topotecan and etoposide, it is one of only three agents which is indicated by general use (e.g. as opposed to methotrexate where its use is specifically recommended for lymphoma/leukemia and for breast cancer). Like most of the agents on the list, its patent has expired. Thiotepa has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for:
Bank Recapitalization Through Ch. 11

This article discusses the resolution of insolvent banks and contrasts FDIC receivership with the increasing use of bankruptcy through § 363 sales and prepackaged Ch. 11 filings (prepacks). First, it presents the legal framework for bank insolvency and previews the transaction structures discussed. Second, the legal mechanics of the FDIC receivership and auction process are illustrated. Third, the article describes two strategies to recapitalize banks through bankruptcy: (1) §363 asset sales — through which the bank operating subsidiary is auctioned off; and (2) prepackaged chapter 11 filings to recapitalize, rather than liquidate bank-holding companies. Finally, it closes with potential policy implications and assesses the parallels with respect to the insolvency of systemically important financial institutions.
A Short Chronicle of Academic Thought about Development

Abstract Concerted analytical attention to the economic and social conditions of the poor countries of the world began after World War II. It focused first on major issues such as resource requirements, unemployment and overall policy. In the 1970's and 1980's, microeconomic analysis turned neoclassical and frequently assumed that good markets were pervasive. Balance of payments crises associated with international finance and energy prices preoccupied macroeconomic analysis. Closer attention to specific microeconomic policy issues has characterized the most recent thinking about development, with greater awareness of market imperfections and the problems of acquiring and using information in policy formation.
Magnetization transfer in lamellar liquid crystals

Purpose This study examines the relationship between quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) parameters and the molecular composition of a model lamellar liquid crystal (LLC) system composed of 1-decyl alcohol (decanol), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and water. Methods Samples were made within a stable lamellar mesophase to provide different ratios of total semisolid protons (SDS + decanol) to water protons. Data were collected as a function of radiofrequency power, frequency offset, and temperature. qMT parameters were estimated by fitting a standard model to the data. Fitting results of four different semisolid line shapes were compared. Results A super-Lorentzian line shape for the semisolid component provided the best fit. The estimated amount of semisolids was proportional to the ratio of decanol-to-water protons. Other qMT parameters exhibited nonlinear dependence on sample composition. Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) was a linear function of the semisolid fraction over a limited range of decanol concentration. Conclusion In LLC samples, MT between semisolid and water originates from intramolecular nOe among decanol aliphatic chain protons followed by proton exchange between decanol hydroxyl and water. Exchange kinetics is influenced by SDS, although SDS protons do not participate in MT. These studies provide clinically relevant range of semisolid fraction proportional to detected MTR. Magn Reson Med 72:1427–1434, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Self-rolled-up tube transformers: Extreme miniaturization and performance enhancement

On-chip lumped RFIC transformers are critical radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) components that are used to do voltage transformation, signal coupling, and impedance matching, etc. Current RFIC on-chip transformers are based on planar spiral inductors which are fabricated by standard two-dimensional (2D) planar fabrication process. Limitations of planar spiral inductors, such as large footprint and serious substrate parasitic effects, 1 are carried over to the transformer's primary/secondary windings.
Antimicrobial Proteins and Peptides

Antimicrobial proteins and peptides are important effectors of the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system. They interfere with microbial integrity or metabolism by targeting structures or nutrients specific to microbes. Keywords: phagocytes; epithelia; membrane-active agents; bacteriolytic enzymes
Unraveling the complexity of network management

Operator interviews and anecdotal evidence suggest that an operator's ability to manage a network decreases as the network becomes more complex. However, there is currently no way to systematically quantify how complex a network's design is nor how complexity may impact network management activities. In this paper, we develop a suite of complexity models that describe the routing design and configuration of a network in a succinct fashion, abstracting away details of the underlying configuration languages. Our models, and the complexity metrics arising from them, capture the difficulty of configuring control and data plane behaviors on routers. They also measure the inherent complexity of the reachability constraints that a network implements via its routing design. Our models simplify network design and management by facilitating comparison between alternative designs for a network. We tested our models on seven networks, including four university networks and three enterprise networks. We validated the results through interviews with the operators of five of the networks, and we show that the metrics are predictive of the issues operators face when reconfiguring their networks.
The Reactions of the Melanophores of the Horned Toad.

observing the initial and the later phases of phosphorescence there would be an actual discontinuity between the processes referred to above and those in the curves for the phosphorescence of slow decay. Summary.-(1) The regions of selective excitation (the bands of excitation) for the Lenard and Klatt sulphides are shown to coincide in position and extent with absorption bands in the transmission spectrum of the substances.
901-62 Effects of Intraventricular Conduction Delay on Survival in Patients Taking Antiarrhythmic Drugs

An intraventricular conduction delay (IVCD) may influence the efficacy and safety of antiarrhythmic (AA) drugs. The Cardiac Arrhythmia Suppression Trial (CAST) allows assessment of the influence of an IVCD on survival when AA drugs are used following a myocardial infarction IMI). In CAST, MI patients with frequent ventricular premature depolarization (VPDs) (averaging 28 VPD/H) were randomized to receive an AA drug (flecainide, encainide or moricizine) or a placebo. After therapy was started 956 patients (35%) had an IVCD (QRS ≥ 0.11 sec) and 1796 patients (65%) had a QRS l 0.11 sec. PatientsIVCD patients differed from those with normal conduction by: being older (72% g age 60 vs. 54%); more often having an ejection fraction l 0.30 130% vs. 21%); more often having g50 VPD/H at baseline (51% vs. 43%): and having more pre-CAST Mis (45% vs. 38%) (P l 0.001 for each). Mean follow-up was 1.1 years. GRS Duration l0.11 sec ≥0.11 sec Mortality rate (% per year) AA drug 7.3% 16.7% Placebo 6.0% 7.8% Arrhythmic death rate (% per year) AA drug 4.4% 10.9% Placebo 3.6% 4.4% Results After adjusting for age, ejection fraction and prior MI, the combination of IVCD and antiarrhythmic drug remains a significant predictor of increased mortality (hazard ratio 1.69, P l 0.04) Conclusion Antiarrhythmic drug use is associated with and possibly a cause of increased mortality and arrhythmic deaths in patients with an IVCD.
Human ribs: static testing as a promising medical application.

Abstract We are developing a mechanical bone testing procedure for medical applications, and have found that properly selected rib segments obtained at autopsy can be tested in bending as straight beams. The component of spongy bone may be disregarded as both its elastic modulus ( E ) and ultimate stress (σ) are lower than those of whole rib by orders of magnitude. Plastic replica testing shows that the effect of skew, curvature and taper is negligible. In the rib cross-section the compact bone is easily identified by ultraviolet illumination, photographically enlarged tenfold, then divided into small elements on a grid. The moment of inertia is then computed numerically. The findings in 10 radiologically normal subjects suggest that ribs have values for E and σ 15–50 per cent lower than those reported by investigators who tested other bones. Since significantly lower values were found in pathologically demineralized specimens, clinical applicability seems a reasonable prospect.