cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Software-directed register deallocation for simultaneous multithreaded processors

This paper proposes and evaluates software techniques that increase register file utilization for simultaneous multithreading (SMT) processors. SMT processors require large register files to hold multiple thread contexts that can issue instructions out of order every cycle. By supporting better interthread sharing and management of physical registers, an SMT processor can reduce the number of registers required and can improve performance for a given register file size. Our techniques specifically target register deal location. While out-of-order processors with register renaming are effective at knowing when a new physical register must be allocated, they have limited knowledge of when physical registers can be deallocated. We propose architectural extensions that permit the compiler and operating system to: 1) free registers immediately upon their last use, and 2) free registers allocated to idle thread contexts. Our results, based on detailed instruction-level simulations of an SMT processor, show that these techniques can increase performance significantly for register-intensive, multithreaded programs.
Hierarchical visualization of metabolic networks using virtual reality

MetNetVR combines graph layouts in 3D space, computer graphics, and VR technologies for interactive visualization of high dimensional metabolic networks. This paper highlights the use of hierarchical visualization that captures the hierarchical relationships in metabolic networks and the use of detail-on-demand interactions to help users understand both the global relationships and local details of a large network simultaneously. Complex interactions are enabled by MetNetVR Tweek, an auxiliary 2D GUI program which communicates with MetNetVR in real time. These interactions control graph theoretic operations, layout management, and visual metaphors.
Site‐Selective Labeling of a Lysine Residue in Human Serum Albumin

Conjugation to human serum albumin (HSA) has emerged as a powerful approach for extending the in vivo half-life of many small molecule and peptide/protein drugs. Current HSA conjugation strategies, however, can often yield heterogeneous mixtures with inadequate pharmacokinetics, low efficacies, and variable safety profiles. Here, we designed and synthesized analogues of TAK-242, a small molecule inhibitor of Toll-like receptor 4, that primarily reacted with a single lysine residue of HSA. These TAK-242-based cyclohexene compounds demonstrated robust reactivity, and Lys64 was identified as the primary conjugation site. A bivalent HSA conjugate was also prepared in a site-specific manner. Additionally, HSA-cyclohexene conjugates maintained higher levels of stability both in human plasma and in mice than the corresponding maleimide conjugates. This new conjugation strategy promises to broadly enhance the performance of HSA conjugates for numerous applications.
Classification of Neck Dissection: Variations on a New Theme

Background: Commencing in 1984, we initiated a head and neck service surgical database that included a classification system for neck dissection. The aim was to reduce the confusion in terminology resulting from growing interest in modifications of conventional radical neck dissection. Methods: We considered a neck dissection as radical when four or five lymph node levels were excised; this included patients who had an otherwise classical neck dissection for supraglottic larynx or hypopharyngeal cancer sparing level 1. Lymph-node levels removed, nonlymphatic structures preserved, and excised non-lymphatic structures not ordinarily included in a classical radical neck dissection were all specified by the operating surgeon. We defined as a selective neck dissection any lymphadenectomy that encompassed no more than three nodal levels, usually supraomohyoid (levels 1, 2, 3), or jugular (levels 2, 3, 4). We defined as a limited neck dissection any lymphadenectomy that involved removal of no more than two nodal levels. Results: At the 10-year mark, this database of 10,650 patients now includes 2,635 lymphadenectomies in 2,426 patients, the precise extent of which is accurately described in each patient. Conclusions: The current classification of neck dissection does not cover all possibilities. If we define as radical those lymphadenectomies that resect four or five nodal levels and specify structures preserved or additional nonlymphatic structures sacrificed, we allow for the possibility that some procedures may be both modified and extended. Selective would describe the standard, three-level dissections (eg, supraomohyoid or jugular node dissections), and the term limited would be introduced to indicate a neck dissection that involves removal of no more than two nodal levels. Such a three-tiered classification would more accurately reflect the time and effort involved and provide a more equitable basis for reimbursement.
The Political Economy of Archaeology in the United States

▪ Abstract The professionalization of archaeology in the late nineteenth century was linked to the growth of antiquities markets and the development of museums as institutions of education and social reproduction. Professional archaeologists moved into the universities in large numbers after World War II and then increasingly into the private sector after the mid-1970s. In the United States, archaeologists currently confront a highly segmented labor market with significant wage and benefits differentials, and increasing numbers face marginal employment. At the same time, descendant communities and government regulations are transforming the ways by which archaeologists have traditionally conducted their investigations.
Heating effect on swelling behaviour of expansive soils

To minimise potential structural damage to the overlying structures, foundation sites that contain expansive soils need treatment. One of the numerous improvement techniques currently available is thermal stabilisation. In an attempt to enhance the knowledge base on this subject matter, this paper presents the results of a study on the swelling behaviour of two heated expansive soils. The test specimens were heated in a programmable furnace at desired heating rates to desired temperatures. Swelling tests were performed to determine both the amount and rate of swelling. Based on the test results, the effect of heating on swelling behaviour was evaluated and the mechanism of swelling are discussed using the principles of physical chemistry and clay mineralogy. Meanwhile, the engineering significance of the research findings in terms of practical applications of thermal stabilisation are discussed. The findings of this study would provide a database useful for the design of structures that involve cohesive f...
Excitation Energy Dependent Efficiency of Charge Carrier Relaxation and Photoluminescence in Colloidal InP Quantum Dots

Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy has been used together with time-integrated photoluminescence (PL) measurements to study charge carrier relaxation in colloidal InP quantum dots (QDs). Measurements of band-edge photoinduced bleaching as well as PL intensity measurements indicate that the fraction of charge carriers relaxing to the band-edge states depends on excitation wavelength, with a markedly reduced relaxation efficiency observed for excitation well above the absorption edge. The results concur with previous research on CdSe and InP QDs, and suggest that with increasing excitation energy there arise relaxation pathways involving surface or external energy states exhibiting reduced radiative efficiency. Such highly excited carriers are either inhibited or deviated from reaching the band-edge states. Excitation intensity dependent measurements indicate that those charge carriers which contribute to the band-edge absorption bleaching also contribute proportionally to the time-integrated PL spectrum.
Resonantly enhanced transmission of terahertz radiation through a periodic array of subwavelength apertures

We demonstrate resonantly enhanced transmission of freely propagating coherent terahertz radiation through free-standing metal foils perforated with periodic arrays of sub-wavelength apertures. These arrays consist of 400 microm diameter apertures periodically spaced by 1 mm and 600 microm diameter apertures periodically spaced by 1.5 mm. We measure absolute amplitude transmission coefficients of ~0.6 at the resonance wavelength. Correspondingly, the ratio of the absolute amplitude transmission coefficient to the fractional aperture area at these resonance frequencies is ~5. This value at terahertz frequencies is significantly larger than equivalent values measured at optical frequencies.
TRACON: Interference-Aware Schedulingfor Data-Intensive Applicationsin Virtualized Environments

Large-scale data centers leverage virtualization technology to achieve excellent resource utilization, scalability, and high availability. Ideally, the performance of an application running inside a virtual machine (VM) shall be independent of co-located applications and VMs that share the physical machine. However, adverse interference effects exist and are especially severe for data-intensive applications in such virtualized environments. In this work, we present TRACON, a novel Task and Resource Allocation CONtrol framework that mitigates the interference effects from concurrent data-intensive applications and greatly improves the overall system performance. TRACON utilizes modeling and control techniques from statistical machine learning and consists of three major components: the interference prediction model that infers application performance from resource consumption observed from different VMs, the interference-aware scheduler that is designed to utilize the model for effective resource management, and the task and resource monitor that collects application characteristics at the runtime for model adaption. We implement and validate TRACON with a variety of cloud applications. The evaluation results show that TRACON can achieve up to 25 percent improvement on application throughput on virtualized servers.
Recent advances in scattering model-based decompositions: an overview

In the last decade, the three-component polarimetric scattering decomposition by Freeman and Durden has stimulated research and applications in model-based decompositions. In this paper, we will review recent advances in the scattering models, focusing on the negative power problem and its mitigation, the problem of the reflection symmetry assumption, and the effect of orientation angle compensation. An extended decomposition based on the extended Bragg model is also proposed. Polarimetric SAR images illustrate our approach.
Screening for Biotinidase Deficiency in Children with Unexplained Neurologic or Developmental Abnormalities

To test the hypothesis that the frequency of biotinidase deficiency is greater in children with unexplained developmental delay or neurologic abnormalities than in the general population, we studied children seen at a large outpatient clinic over a four-year period who had one or more of these neurologic abnormalities and for whom no specific cause for their abnormalities could be found. The group totaled 274 children (163 boys; 111 girls) whose ages ranged from 2 weeks to 17 years. Characteristics were IQ/DQ, 30 to 70 in the 115 for whom scores were available; 41% had seizures; 15% had sensorineural hearing loss; 54% showed gross motor delay or ataxia; and 27% had decreased muscle tone. One patient with a classical clinical picture of biotinidase deficiency was diagnosed during the study period and was not included in the study.None of the patients with nonclassic findings had a deficiency of biotinidase activity. Our results suggest that biotinidase deficiency does not account for a large proportion of ...
Integrin cytoplasmic domain-binding proteins.

Integrins are a large family of cell surface receptors that mediate cell adhesion and influence migration, signal transduction, and gene expression. The cytoplasmic domains of integrins play a pivotal role in these integrin-mediated cellular functions. Through interaction with the cytoskeleton, signaling molecules, and other cellular proteins, integrin cytoplasmic domains transduce signals from both the outside and inside of the cell and regulate integrin-mediated biological functions. Identification and functional analyses of integrin cytoplasmic domain-binding proteins have been pursued intensively. In recent years, more cellular proteins have been reported to directly interact with integrin cytoplasmic domains and some of these interactions may play important roles in integrin-mediated biological responses. Integrin (β) chains, for example, interact with actin-binding proteins (e.g. talin and filamin), which form mechanical links to the cytoskeleton. These and other proteins (e.g. FAK, ILK and novel proteins such as TAP20) might also link integrins to signaling mechanisms and, in some cases (e.g. JAB1) mediate integrin-dependent gene regulation.
PKA, PKC, and AKAP localization in and around the neuromuscular junction.

Background One mechanism that directs the action of the second messengers, cAMP and diacylglycerol, is the compartmentalization of protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC). A-kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) can recruit both enzymes to specific subcellular locations via interactions with the various isoforms of each family of kinases. We found previously that a new class of AKAPs, dual-specific AKAPs, denoted D-AKAP1 and D-AKAP2, bind to RIα in addition to the RII subunits.
Structural basis for the action of drugs that affect microtubule dynamics

The microtubule cytoskeleton is a highly regulated system. Depending on the time in the cell cycle and position within the organism, microtubules can be very stable or highly dynamic. Both stability and dynamics are regulated by interaction with a large number of proteins that themselves may change at specific points in the cell cycle. Other ligands can disrupt the normal processes by either increasing or decreasing microtubule stability, thereby inhibiting the dynamic behaviour. Because altering the natural dynamics can easily lead to inhibition of cell proliferation, tubulin, the main component of microtubules, has been a successful target in cancer therapy and in treatment of a number of other diseases. The recent determination of the structure of tubulin makes it now possible to begin to understand the details of these interactions. We review here the structure of the tubulin dimer as it relates both to the protein-protein interactions involved in microtubule dynamics and to how drugs may bind and mod...
Column: NATA Think Tank Educator Forum Highlights

The following is a brief review of selected topics discussed on the NATA Think Tank Educator Forum. Only NATA members can access the archived messages and discussions. To view this forum, go to: http://forum.nata.org/thinktanks (login required).
A Review of Economic Instruments Employed for Biodiversity Conservation

Globally, the use of economic instruments for biodiversity conservation has gained a lot of support. This is because of the concern for the economic well being of people living in and near biodiversity-rich areas. Also, economic drivers are the main threats to biodiversity. This policy of using economic instruments is being used on a case-by-case basis worldwide. A review of their use from a global perspective is important to facilitate learning from issues resulting from their implementation. This article documents and reviews the specific economic instruments being used in different parts of the world for biodiversity conservation. An analysis of the economic instruments using a demand or supply classification suggests that more instruments are targeted at increasing supply of biological resources for human use. A review of literature and field documents was also employed to determine trends in the use of economic instruments for conservation. A major trend observed is the relatively low investments in economic instruments used for biodiversity conservation in developing countries, even though such countries tend to be rich in biodiversity. Author’s Note Edem Kodzo Ekpe is Research Associate at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA, where he graduated with a PhD in Conservation Biology. He also works in Ghana, where he has had extensive professional experience in socioecological research and management of biodiversity conservation projects.
A Review of "Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist: From Classroom to Consulting Room"

Mead's (2013) Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist: From Classroom to Consulting Room is the book form of a mentor to walk prospective students through the first year of Marriage and Family The...
Mixing in Shallow Coastal Sea: Case Study

Two tracer studies were used to characterize mixing and tidal exchange in a New Jersey coastal sea. Several dredged channels and complex flow patterns due to islands and embayments cause the system to exchange slowly and to be mixed relatively well internally. Tracer output at the mouth displayed multiple peaks, a long delay, and detectable concentrations for several days. A transient lumped-parameter, reacter network model was calibrated with the second data set. Agreement between the model and field data was good. The simulation did not perform well with the first data set. Further, the output was relatively insensitive to input. This model is not well suited to water quality planning and management for the estuary studied.
Educators or facilitators? Clarifying extension's role in the emerging local food systems movement.

With the recent growth of the local food systems movement, OSU Extension formed a new statewide team. In the process, Extension program delivery systems were explored contrasting traditional program delivery (historically rooted in a teacher-clientele, information transfer, demonstration methodology) vs. a community capacity-building facilitation process. This seemingly marginal distinction raised questions with deeper implications for Extension's outreach and engagement process. In brief, how can Extension fill the gap between community-expressed needs and the traditional framework of delivery? Should Extension help communities fulfill their goals and objectives by acting as facilitators, co-conveners, and true partners, rather than simply as educators?
Notes on Paradichlorobenzene and Naphthalene as Repellents Against Clothes Moth Larvae

Paradichlorobenzene and naphthalene, used in small quantities in a room of average size, were of no practical value as repellents against larvae of the webbing clothes moth, Tineola biselliella . In tests with each of these insecticides, more than one-half of the larvae concerned remained for two days within six inches of the material and were apparently uninjured.
Calcium mobilization from acellular bone and effects of hypophysectomy on calcium metabolism inFundulus kansae

1. Seasonal changes in the half-times (0.5) for calcium influx and outflux in bone, skin and scales, and soft-tissue compartments ofF. kansae were measured. 2. The size of diffusible calcium pools in the three compartments was estimated from the ratio of the loading and unloading half-times. Both the bone and skin and scales compartments contain diffusible calcium pools which increase in size during the summer months. 3. The calcium in the soft-tissue compartment is all diffusible, and the kinetics indicate that this compartment receives calcium from the other two compartments. 4. Hypophysectomy reduced the rate of calcium turnover in summer animals to the levels measured in intact winter animals. Such treatment also affected the distribution of radiocalcium within the animal. 5. It is concluded that acellular bone is a metabolically active tissue.
Cellular uptake and nanoscale localization of gold nanoparticles in cancer using label-free confocal Raman microscopy.

This work demonstrates the use of confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) to measure the dynamics of cellular uptake and localization of gold nanoparticles (GNP) with nanoscale resolution. This is important as nanoparticle cellular interactions are increasingly under investigation to support applications as diverse as drug delivery, gene transfection and a variety of heat and radiation based therapeutics. At the heart of these applications is a need to know the dynamics of nanoparticle cellular uptake and localization (i.e., cell membrane, cytoplasm or nucleus). This process can change dramatically based on size, charge, shape and ligand attached to the nanoparticle. While electron microscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy and histology can be used to assess cellular uptake, they are labor intensive and post-mortem and can miss critical dynamics of the process. For this reason investigators are increasingly turning to optically active nanoparticles that allow direct microscopic interrogation of uptake. Here we sho...
Radiographic evaluation of the calcaneocuboid joint: a cadaver study.

Eighteen cadaver feet were used for radiographic evaluation of the calcaneocuboid joint. The articular surface of the cuboid on all specimens was painted with a ra-diopaque material. Fractures and 1-mm step-off of the fractures were simulated in six specimens. The articular surface line and joint space could be visualized maximally on an oblique radiograph without overlapping structures. The oblique view is good for assessing the extent of the minor fracture-displacement, which is normally obscured by overlapping projections in dorsoplan-tar and lateral radiographs. If there is any doubt on the routine radiographs or any injury involving the calcaneocuboid joint, an oblique view of the foot should be performed. The early diagnosis and treatment of calcaneocuboid joint injuries may minimize development of posttraumatic degenerative arthritis.
Evidence for conformational states of poliovirions: effects of cations on reactivity of poliovirions to guanidine.

SummaryThe kinetics of inactivation of poliovirions were determined in the presence of various concentrations of monovalent and divalent ions, methionine, guanidine and combinations of these at various temperatures. Four states of the virion, under control of the ionic environment, could be recognized which were reversibly interchangeable and yet retained infectious potential. These states were detected by differential sensitivity of the virion to inactivation of infectivity by heat, urea and guanidine. The data are interpreted in terms of conformational structural changes under control of the ionic environment. It is proposed that these various structural conformations are meaningful to the various biologic functional states of the virus.
John Graham Senior Clinicians Award Lecture. Posttraumatic migraine.

The term posttraumatic migraine has been used in several contexts. The purpose of this discussion is to outline the different circumstances in which migraine may follow trauma. Cases from the literature and from the Headache Unit of Montefiore Medical Center are reviewed. Although trauma may be one of many triggers of migraine, trauma is sometimes the sole or predominant precipitating factor; e.g., footballer's migraine. In the posttraumatic syndrome, some exacerbations of headache upon a background of chronic daily headache often fulfill the criteria of migraine. Trauma may trigger the first attack of migraine in a susceptible individual. Biochemical and epidemiologic studies suggest that trauma may be the main etiologic factor of migraine in some cases. Migraine may also follow trauma on the basis of chance. Differentiating the different types of posttraumatic migraine has diagnostic, therapeutic, and legal implications.
Factor Analysis: Revisited

The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment and compedium of some of the recent contributions to the development of factor analysis. A description of factor analysis and a chronological review of various researchers’ contributions is presented.
Department of Veteran Affairs Options for LTC

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has developed many options for long-term care that include traditional institutional care as well as innovative programs for community-based long-term and post-acute care. Not unlike The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the VA is also focused on the provision of cost-effective care through community based services aimed at reducing hospitalizations and preventing long-term institutionalization. Services that the VA offers to community dwelling veterans include: Hospital in Home, Home Based Primary Care, Telehealth, and Aide and Attendance. End-of-life care is also available to veterans with eligibility based on clinical need. Veterans can receive nursing facility (NF) care, either at a community NF or at a community living center (CLC) if they meet service-connected status, level of disability, and income requirements.
Security Threats in Cloud Computing

This chapter discusses the most common threats in cloud computing. It starts with discussing data breaches and data loss. It also discusses the dangers of account and service hijacking in addition to the use of insecure APIs. The chapter also explains different threats to availability in the cloud and the dangers of malicious insiders. The chapter ends with the explanation of insufficient due diligence along with a few other minor threats.
Bone Health Assesment in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

INTRODUCTION : The increased survival of hematological patients has required to widen the care of these patients, with emphasis in factors related to quality of life and late mortality. Among them, osteoporosis (OP) is a fundamental problem. Patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) are at great risk of OP, mainly due to prolonged exposure to chemotherapy, immunosuppresants and the hypogonadism frequently associated to these treatments. Despite this, there is lack of strong evidence on this matter and HCT guidelines are not clear on this problem. OBJECTIVES : To evaluate parameters related to bone health in patients undergoing HCT. To measure the frequency and severity of the alterations in this group of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Observational and retrospective analysis of patients undergoing HCT at the Catholic University Hematology-Oncology Department. All patients undergoing HCT were recommended to have determination of 25-OH vitamin D, PTHi, Calcium, Phosphorus and bone densitometry (DXA). We included all patients with the evaluation before HCT (preHCT) and 1 year after HCT (postHCT). RESULTS : We obtained data from 20 patients preHCT and 22 patients postHCT. Main diagnosis were acute myeloid leukemia (n=13; 32%), multiple myeloma (n=11; 26%), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n=9; 21%) and Hodgkin's Lymphoma (n=5; 12%). Mean age was 40 years (range: 17-67) and 67% were males. In the preHCT group, the median 25-OH vitamin D levels were 13,6 ng/ml (range: 4,9-26,7 ng/ml) and 100% of the patients were in the insuficiency range leveles (<30 ng/ml). Median PTHi levels were 62,6 pg/ml (range: 24,4-223,7 pg/ml), and 46% of the patients had secondary hyperparathyroidism. In the postHCT group, median 25-OH vitamina D levels were 11,4 ng/ml (range: 4-29,4 ng/ml) and 100% had insuficiency levels. Median PTHi levels were 68 pg/ml (range: 37,4-135,8 pg/ml), and 56% of the patients had secondary hyperparathyroidism. 12 patients had DXA before HCT and 3 (25%) of them had DXA lumbar Z score less than -2.0. In 19 patients postHCT, 4 (21%) had decreased DXA Z score < 2.0. No difference could be established between autologus or allogeneic HCT in any meassurement. CONCLUSIONS: HCT patients represent a high risk group of developing severe vitamin D deficiency, secondary hyperparathyrodism and decreased DXA levels. These data are a warning that this population of patients requiere early intervention to prevent long term complications. This report is the initial evaluation for the development and treatment of bone health in a prospective matter in HCT patients in our center. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Nanostructures and Monolayers of Spheres Reduce Surface Reflections in Hyperiid Amphipods

Summary Transparent zooplankton and nekton are often nearly invisible when viewed under ambient light in the pelagic zone [1–3]. However, in this environment, where the light field is directional (and thus likely to cause reflections), and under the bioluminescent searchlights of potential predators, animals may be revealed by reflections from their body surface [4–7]. We investigated the cuticle surfaces of seven species of hyperiids (Crustacea; Amphipoda) using scanning electron microscopy and found two undocumented features that may reduce reflectance. We found that the legs of Cystisoma spp. (n = 5) are covered with an ordered array of nanoprotuberances 200 ± 20 nm SD in height that function optically as a gradient refractive index material [6, 8, 9]. Additionally, we observed that Cystisoma and six other species of hyperiids are covered with a monolayer of homogenous spheres (diameters ranging from 52 ± 7 nm SD on Cystisoma spp. to 320 ± 15 nm SD on Phronima spp.). Optical modeling using effective medium theory and transfer matrix methods demonstrated that both the nanoprotuberances and the monolayers reduce reflectance by as much as 100-fold, depending on the wavelength and angle of the incident light and the thickness of the gradient layer. Even though we only consider surface reflectance and not internal light scattering, our study demonstrates that these nanoprotuberances and spheres can improve crypsis in a featureless habitat where the smallest reflection can render an animal vulnerable to visual predation.
Shape Analysis of Traffic Flow Curves using a Hybrid Computational Analysis

Abstract This paper highlights and validates the use of shape analysis using Mathematical Morphology tools as a means to develop meaningful clustering of historical data. Furthermore, through clustering more appropriate grouping can be accomplished that can result in the better parameterization or estimation of models. This results in more effective prediction model development. Hence, in an effort to highlight this within the research herein, a Back-Propagation Neural Network is used to validate the classification achieved through the employment of MM tools. Specifically, the Granulometric Size Distribution (GSD) is used to achieve clustering of daily traffic flow patterns based solely on their shape. To ascertain the significance of shape in traffic analysis, a comparative classification analysis of original data and GSD transformed data is carried out. The results demonstrate the significance of functional shape in traffic analysis. In addition, the results validate the need for clustering prior to prediction. It is determined that a span of two through four years of traffic data is found sufficient for training to produce satisfactory BPNN performance.
Characterisation of ultraviolet-absorbing recalcitrant organics in landfill leachate for treatment process optimisation

Organics in leachate from municipal solid waste landfills are notoriously difficult to treat by biological processes. These organics have high ultraviolet absorbance and can interfere with the ultraviolet disinfection process at the wastewater treatment plant that receives leachate if the leachate flow contribution is large enough. With more wastewater treatment plants switching to ultraviolet disinfection, landfills face increased pressure to treat leachate further. This study used size exclusion chromatography, fluorescence spectroscopy and ultraviolet/Vis spectrophotometry to characterise the bulk organic matter in raw landfill leachate and the biorecalcitrant organic matter in biologically treated leachate from the same site. The results indicate that biorecalcitrant organics have the polyphenolic absorbance peak at 280 nm, fluorescence peak at 280 nm excitation and 315 nm emission, and molecular size range of 1000–7000 Da, all of which are consistent with lignin. The lignin-like nature of biorecalcit...
Daily Memory Lapses in Adults: Characterization and Influence on Affect.

Objective The current analyses examined the impact of daily memory lapses on daily affect and whether this impact varied across age. Method One hundred sixty-six adults (ages 20-79) completed assessments of memory lapses and affect each day for 7 consecutive days. Assessments included retrospective and prospective memory lapses as well as the impact of these lapses (how irritating, interfering, and consequential). Affect was assessed using ratings of daily positive and negative affect. Results Participants reported memory lapses on 33.3% of days. Prospective lapses were consistently rated as more consequential. Regardless of age, participants had significantly lower in positive affect and significantly higher in negative affect on days with a prospective lapse. Effects of retrospective lapses depended on age: compared to older adults, younger adults reported lower positive affect on days with a retrospective lapse. Discussion Previous work on daily memory lapses has focused on prospective lapses. Although retrospective lapses occurred more frequently in this sample, prospective lapses appeared to have a greater impact on daily experiences regardless of age. By measuring daily memory lapses and affect over consecutive days, we can begin to understand how the experience of forgetting impacts individuals at a micro-level.
Preparing Principals to Improve Student Achievement

The growing interest in principal effectiveness as a means of improving teaching and student learning has led to a focus on the quality of principal preparation programs (PPPs) with calls for the adoption of PPP accountability systems similar to those of teacher preparation programs. The purpose of the present study is to examine the impact of the National Institute for School Leadership’s Executive Development Program (NISL-EDP) on student achievement in a large school district in the Midwestern United States. The sample included elementary and middle school students whose principals participated in the NISL-EDP compared with students in schools with non-EDP trained principals. Using propensity score matching, findings are reported from the analysis of standardized student achievement scores on the state test, the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination. Overall, in terms of state reading and mathematics achievement tests, the control students scored higher in Spring 2014 relative to their NISL counterparts. With respect to researchers and policymakers, the approach used to evaluating PPP effectiveness and principal effectiveness is informative and could be used as part of larger accountability systems. Student test scores do not, however, fully capture principal effectiveness and alone should not be used in making high-stakes decisions pertaining to programs or individuals.
Against Branching Identity

Would you survive if your consciousness branched into two or more streams? Commonly discussed within the context of split-brain scenarios, this possibility might soon become commonplace with mind uploading technology. Cerullo (Minds and Machines, 25, 17–36, 2015) suggests that after nondestructive mind uploading and other branching scenarios, personal identity would continue in two streams of consciousness. Thus he argues for what he calls branching identity. In this discussion, I evaluate the theory of branching identity and Cerullo’s arguments for it, concluding that branching identity is insufficiently justified and does not yield a better interpretation of branching cases than provided by Parfit (1984).
Volumetric laser endomicroscopy interpretation and feature analysis in dysplastic Barrett's esophagus.

BACKGROUND AND AIM Volumetric laser endomicroscopy (VLE) is used to identify Barrett's esophagus (BE) dysplasia. Selection of a dysplastic region of interest (ROI) can be challenging due to feature variability across a large amount of data. The degree of agreement among VLE users in selecting a ROI has not been studied. METHODS High-definition videos that divided a VLE scan from 18 patients with biopsy-proven BE dysplasia into 1-cm segments were reviewed using a four-quadrant grid superimposed for systematic interpretation. VLE scans were selected based on image quality and appropriate visualization of BE epithelium. Four experienced VLE users rated each quadrant as dysplastic or non-dysplastic. For quadrants rated as dysplastic, reviewers selected a single timeframe with representative features. A high-degree of agreement among reviewers was defined as ≥75% agreement on the quadrant diagnosis and ≥50% agreement on selected timeframe (±2 s). RESULTS Thirty-one videos, each 32 s in length, comprising 124 quadrants were reviewed. There was high-agreement among reviewers in 99 (80%) quadrants, of which 68 (69%) were rated as dysplastic. Compared with quadrants rated as non-dysplastic, ROIs of quadrants rated as dysplastic contained a higher number of epithelial glands (12.7 vs 1.2, P < 0.001) with atypical architecture (54 vs 1, P < 0.001). A statistically significant difference was observed between the signal intensity profiles of quadrants rated as dysplastic and quadrants rated as non-dysplastic (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION This study highlights that experienced VLE users can identify ROIs with high-degree of agreement. Selected ROIs contained VLE features associated with BE dysplasia.
SALT CONSERVATION, SELECTIVITY REVERSAL AND BREAKTHROUGH DETECTION IN ION EXCHANGE FOR NITRATE REMOVAL

A single-bed ion-exchange process for nitrate removal from water supplies has been studied extensively in the laboratory and in the field. In the conventional mode, nitrate removal is achieved by passing a portion of the feedwater through a fixed bed of chloride-form, strong-base anion resin, and blending the nitrate-free effluent with raw water to produce a blended product water with less than 10 mg/L NO3-N.
GENETIC ORGANIZATION OF HIV

HIV-1 is a member of the primate lentivirus subgroup of retroviruses (Weiss et al., 1982), and is a close relative to HIV-2 and simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV). More distantly related retroviruses infect sheep (visna virus), horses (equine infectious anemia virus), cats (feline immunodeficiency virus), and cattle (bovine immunodeficiency virus). These viruses are distinguished from murine and avian retroviruses in their vast array of regulatory and accessory gene products, in addition to the structural and enzymatic gene products common to all retroviruses. This chapter describes our current understanding of HIV-1 genes, their products, and functions. Rather than provide a lengthy list of references, this chapter refers to several excellent, recent reviews, and a selected group of more recent scientific papers.
Angiotensin II induces transcription and expression of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Angiotensin II (ANG II) induces vascular smooth muscle contraction and functions as a growth factor stimulating vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) hypertrophy. We wondered whether ANG II might indu...
Composites from Natural Fibers and Soy Oil Resins

The goal of this project is to develop new composites using fibers and resins from renewable resources. The ACRES (Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources) group at the University of Delaware has developed new chemistries to synthesize rigid polymers from plant oils. The resins produced contain at least 50% plant triglycerides and have mechanical properties comparable to commercially available synthetic resins such as vinyl esters, polyesters and epoxies. This project explores the development of all-natural composites by using natural fibers such as hemp and flax as reinforcements in the ACRES resins. Replacing synthetic fibers with natural fibers has both environmental and economic advantages. Unlike carbon and glass fibers, natural fibers are abundantly available from renewable resources. In terms of cost, natural fibers are cheaper than the synthetic alternatives. The natural fibers and plant-based resins have been shown to combine to produce a low cost composite with good mechanical properties. Tensile strength in the 30 MPa range has been obtained for a composite containing about 30 wt% Durafibre Grade 2 flax. The tensile modulus was found to be 4.7 GPa for a 40 wt% flax composite. Similar numbers where obtained for the hemp composites obtained from Hemcore Inc. Composites from renewable resources offer significant potential for new high volume, low cost applications.
Semantic parsing of automobile steering systems

Formal specification plays crucial roles in the rigorous verification and design of automobile steering systems. The challenge of getting high-quality formal specifications is well documented. This paper presents a problem called 'semantic parsing', the goal of which is to automatically translate the behavior of an automobile steering system to a formal specification written in signal temporal logic (STL) with human-in-the loop manner. To tackle the combinatorial explosion inherent to the problem, this paper adopts a search strategy called agenda-based parsing, which is inspired by natural language processing. Based on such a strategy, the semantic parsing problem can be formulated as a Markov decision process (MDP) and then solved using reinforcement learning. The obtained formal specification can be viewed as an interpretable classifier, which, on the one hand, can classify desirable and undesirable behaviors, and, on the other hand, is expressed in a human-understandable form. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated with study.
Meaning in life as a predictor of optimism: How parents mattering matters to Asian and European Americans

Abstract The present study sought to examine for the relationship between meaning in life (i.e., presence of and searching for) and optimism and the role of parents mattering (i.e., importance of parents' well-being) between European Americans and Asian Americans. Participants included 201 European American (136 female & 65 male) and 187 Asian American (117 female & 70 male) college students. A cross-sectional survey study design was utilized. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that meaning in life accounted for a significant amount of variance in optimism for both groups. Although parents mattering did not account for any additional significant variance in optimism beyond meaning in life for either group, the interaction of Searching × Parents Mattering was a significant predictor of optimism for Asian Americans and Presence × Parents Mattering was a significant predictor of optimism for European Americans. Findings indicate that considerations for parents' well-being plays an important role in determining how meaning in life is related to optimism and support the need to consider how cultural and contextual factors in accounting for the relationship between meaning in life and optimism.
Dynamic Sensor-Actor Interactions for Path-Planning in a Threat Field

We consider the problem of planning the path of a vehicle, which we refer to as the actor, to traverse a threat field with minimum threat exposure. The threat field is an unknown, time-invariant, and strictly positive scalar field defined on a compact 2D spatial domain – the actor’s workspace. The threat field is estimated by a network of mobile sensors that can measure the threat field pointwise at their locations. All measurements are noisy. The objective is to determine a path for the actor to reach a desired goal with minimum risk, which is a measure sensitive not only to the threat exposure itself, but also to the uncertainty therein. A novelty of this problem setup is that the actor can communicate with the sensor network and request that the sensors position themselves such that the actor’s risk is minimized. Future applications of this problem setup include, for example, delivery (by an actor) of emergency supplies to a remote location that lies within/beyond a region afflicted by wildfire or atmospheric contaminants (the threat field). We formulate this problem on a grid defined on the actor’s workspace, which defines a topological graph \(\mathcal {G}\). The threat field is assumed to be finitely parameterized by coefficients of spatial basis functions. Least squares estimates of these parameters are constructed using measurements from the sensors and the actor. Whereas edge transitions in the graph \(\mathcal {G}\) are deterministic, the transition costs depend on the threat field estimates, and are deterministic but unknown. The actor and the sensors interact iteratively. At each iteration, Dijkstra’s algorithm is used to determine a minimum risk path in the graph \(\mathcal {G}\) for the actor. Next, a set of grid points “near” this path are identified as points of interest. Finally, the next set of sensor locations is determined to maximize the confidence of threat field estimates on these points of interest, the threat field estimate is accordingly updated, and the iteration repeats. We explore the effect of initial sensor placement on the convergence of the iterative planner-sensor as well as discuss convergence properties with respect to the relative number of parameters and sensors available.
Sleep characteristics in young adults with type 1 diabetes.

Abstract Only 14% of young adults with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) achieve targets for glycemic control (HbA1C
Cognitive versus behavioral skills in CBT for depressed adolescents: Disaggregating within-patient versus between-patient effects on symptom change.

Objective Despite a growing body of research supporting the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depressed adolescents, few studies have investigated the role of the acquisition and use of CBT skills in accounting for symptom improvement. The present study examined the role of cognitive versus behavioral skills in predicting symptom improvement in depressed youth. Analyses considered different raters of patient skills (patient vs. therapist) as well as disaggregated between-patient versus within-patient effects. Method Data were derived from a 12-week clinical trial of CBT for depressed adolescent females (N = 33; ages 13-18 years; 69.7% White). Both therapist-report and patient-report measures of CBT skills (skills of cognitive therapy) were acquired at 5 time points throughout therapy: Sessions 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12. Depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory-II) were assessed at every session. Results Therapist and patient ratings of CBT skills showed small to moderate associations (rs = .20-.38). Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated that the majority of the variance in skills scores (61-90%) was attributable to within-patient variance from session to session, rather than due to between-patient differences. When disaggregating within-patient and between-patient effects, and consistent with a causal relationship, within-patient variability in both patient-rated (b = -2.55; p = .025) and therapist-rated (b = -2.41; p = .033) behavioral skills predicted subsequent symptom change. Conclusions Analyses highlight the importance of the acquisition and use of behavioral skills in CBT for depressed adolescents. Findings also underscore the importance of disentangling within-patient from between-patient effects in future studies, an approach infrequently used in process-outcome research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
DIPNECH: The Mayo experience.

e20029Background: Diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH) is a pulmonary disorder with neuroendocrine cell proliferation with potential progression to lung neuroendoc...