cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reprogrammable fuzzy logic finite state machine model

The R* composite linguistic model for the Fuzzy-State-Fuzzy-Output Finite State Machine (FSFO FSM) is discussed. The FSFO FSM is implemented by a Boolean FSM based on two-valued logic. A systematic method is suggested to design the state transients of the FSFO FSM by means of a specified sequence of changes at the fuzzy inputs and outputs. Reprogrammable architectures have been gaining ground to meet the demands of a broad variety of applications. Two alternatives are considered; one is based on ASIC technology and programmable and erasable logic devices, the other is based on FPGAs with static RAM.
Measuring movement expertise in surgical tasks

Surgical movement is composed of discrete gestures that are combined to perform complex surgical procedures. A promising approach to objective surgical skill evaluation systems is kinematics and kinetic analysis of hand movement that yields a gesture level analysis of proficiency of a performed movement. In this paper, we propose a novel system that combines surgical gesture segmentation, surgical gesture recognition, and expertise analysis of surgical profiles in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Kinematic analysis was used to segment gestures from a continuous motion stream. Human anatomy driven Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) are adopted for gesture recognition and expertise identification. When the proposed system was tested on a library of 200 samples for every basic surgical gesture, the gesture recognition module reported a perfect accuracy rate for the basic gestures, while the expertise identification module showed 94.7% accuracy.
A 50 MHz 70 mW 8-tap adaptive equalizer/Viterbi sequence detector in 1.2 /spl mu/m CMOS

A new architecture for digital implementation of the adaptive equalizer in Class IV Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) channels employing parallelism and pipelining is described. The architecture was used in a prototype integrated circuit in a 1.2 /spl mu/m CMOS technology to implement a 50 MHz adaptive equalizer and Viterbi sequence detector dissipating 70 mW from a 3.3 V supply. >
The dilemma of the wounded healer.

The wounded healer is an archetype that suggests that a healer’s own wounds can carry curative power for clients. This article reviews past research regarding the construct of the wounded healer. The unique benefits that a psychotherapist’s personal struggles might have on work with clients are explored, as well as the potential vulnerability of some wounded healers with respect to stability of recovery, difficulty managing countertransference, compassion fatigue, and/or professional impairment. The review also explores psychologists’ perceptions of and responses to wounded healers and examines factors relating to social stigma and self-stigma that may influence wounded healers’ comfort in disclosing their wounds. We propose that the relative absence of dialogue in the field regarding wounded healers encourages secrecy and shame among the wounded, thereby preventing access to support and guidance and discouraging timely intervention when needed. We explore the complexities of navigating disclosure of wounds, given the atmosphere of silence and stigma. We suggest that the mental health field move toward an approach of greater openness and support regarding the wounded healer, and provide recommendations for cultivating the safety necessary to promote resilience and posttraumatic growth.
The Good Samaritan

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also came, and when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them; then he took the man to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper saying. Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back, [1].
Health Care Provider Satisfaction with Telephone Consultations Provided by Pharmacists and Physicians at the National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center

Background:The federally funded National HIV/AIDS Clinicians’ Consultation Center (NCCC) offers US health care providers expert telephone consultations for managing HIV/AIDS and occupational exposures to blood-borne pathogens through 3 telephone services: the National Clinicians’ Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline (PEPline), the National HIV Telephone Consultation Service (Warmline), and the Perinatal HIV Hotline. Callers to the NCCC receive consultation from either a clinical pharmacist (PharmD) or a physician (MD) with HIV expertise.Objective:To compare the satisfaction of NCCC callers who received clinical consultations from clinical pharmacists and physicians with HIV expertise.Methods:We prospectively mailed 1256 satisfaction surveys to NCCC health care provider callers during a 7-month period. Survey recipients were not aware that satisfaction surveys compared PharmD and MD consultation services. Respondents rated their level of agreement with 8 statements about the quality of consultation, the quali...
Virtual environment modeling for requirements validation of high consequence systems

An essential type of "evidence" of the correctness of the requirements formalization process can be provided by human-based calculation. Human calculation can be significantly amplified by shifting from symbolic representations to graphical representations. Having a formally-defined system model, we can visualize formulas that represent the functional behavior of the system and associated safety constraints. This, in turn, provides an environment for the validation of system models. The visual model strengthens the specifier's ability to grasp the system's complexity, build a correct mental model of the system and write the symbolic specification. The visual model can also serve as a bridge between the domain expert and symbolic specification, and provide evidence of the correctness of the formalization process. As a case study, we developed a virtual environment model for the Production Cell robotic system. The model runs in the ImmersaDesk virtual reality environment. We used this model to evaluate the applicability of virtual reality environments for software requirements validation. Although it introduces higher cost in the requirements formalization phase, this approach can be very beneficial in the development of high-consequence systems.
Novel Thermoplastic Elastomers: Star-Blocks Consisting of Eight Poly(Styrene-b-Isobutylene) Arms Radiating from a Calix[8]Arene Core

Abstract The first synthesis by a core-first strategy of novel star-block copolymers consisting of eight poly(styrene-b-isobutylene) (PSt-b-PIB) arms radiating from a calix[8]arene core is described. An octafunctional methoxy calix[8]arene derivative was used to initiate the living polymerization of isobutylene (IB) to desirable molecular weights, then styrene (St) was added to obtain the sought star-blocks. Molecular weights and PSt contents were determined by triple-detector GPC and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Star-block thermoplastic elastomers containing 17–32% PSt showed high strength and elongation (up to ∼26 MPa and >500%) and relatively low melt viscosities. The mechanical and rheological properties of these star-blocks are superior to those of linear PSt-b-PIB-b-PSt triblocks. PIB-based thermoplastic elastomers may be of use as novel biomaterials.
The Nociceptive Modulatory Effects of Periaqueductal Gray Activation are Mediated by Two Neuronal Classes in the Rostral Ventromedial Medulla

The periaqueductal gray (PAG) has long been implicated in the central modulation of nociceptive transmission (for reviews see Basbaum and Fields, 1984; Besson and Chaouch, 1987). PAG activation suppresses nociceptive reflexes and inhibits the responses of nociceptive cells in the spinal and medullary dorsal horns. The antinociceptive effects of PAG stimulation are mediated, at least in part, by a synaptic relay in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM), a region that contains many neurons that project directly to the dorsal horn and spinal trigeminal nucleus. This chapter will review our current knowledge on the role of the PAG-RVM-dorsal horn pathway in the modulation of nociceptive transmission.
Did Phillips Change Anything? Empirical Analysis of the Federal Circuit’s Claim Construction Jurisprudence

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s role in the U.S. Patent system has never been so controversial. And at the center of the debate concerning the institutional structure of the patent system lies the Federal Circuit’s 2005 en banc decision in Phillips v. AWH, representing that court’s effort to resolve problems with perhaps the most important doctrine in the patent law – claim construction, or the interpretation of patent claims. Building on our prior work in this area, we report the results of an empirical study evaluating the jurisprudence of claim construction at the Federal Circuit. We find little to suggest that the Phillips opinion has had any measurable effect on the law of claim construction. Indeed, we find that the open-ended nature of the Phillips opinion, and its failure to resolve the longstanding split in claim construction jurisprudence, has undermined the Federal Circuit’s efforts to develop a coherent and predictable jurisprudence. Accordingly, Phillips stands forth as an unfortunate example of poor decision-making by the court, and one that negatively impacts its overall role in the patent system.
Using an Online Simulation of Supreme Court Decision MakingIn Large Classes

Simulating the decision making of the U.S. Supreme Court continues to be a common component in many political science and law school courses. The vast majority of reported simulations involve oral argument and the use of moot courts to enhance student understanding of decision making. This paper reviews the merits of an online simulation which incorporates additional stages and actors. Moreover, a segregated communication environment is used to better represent these additional stages. There are also several efficiencies gained by using this type of simulation including its use in large classes. Most important, this paper discusses the implementation in several classes and the problems of evaluation encountered. Students responses were so consistently mediocre that a precise and systematic evaluation of the ‘effectiveness’ was not possible. There are several possible barriers to a successful experience. The paper discusses the likely culprits in these simulations as well as the general challenges for simulations in large classes.
Have abstraction and eat performance, too: optimized heterogeneous computing with parallel patterns

High performance in modern computing platforms requires programs to be parallel, distributed, and run on heterogeneous hardware. However programming such architectures is extremely difficult due to the need to implement the application using multiple programming models and combine them together in ad-hoc ways. To optimize distributed applications both for modern hardware and for modern programmers we need a programming model that is sufficiently expressive to support a variety of parallel applications, sufficiently performant to surpass hand-optimized sequential implementations, and sufficiently portable to support a variety of heterogeneous hardware. Unfortunately existing systems tend to fall short of these requirements. In this paper we introduce the Distributed Multiloop Language (DMLL), a new intermediate language based on common parallel patterns that captures the necessary semantic knowledge to efficiently target distributed heterogeneous architectures. We show straightforward analyses that determine what data to distribute based on its usage as well as powerful transformations of nested patterns that restructure computation to enable distribution and optimize for heterogeneous devices. We present experimental results for a range of applications spanning multiple domains and demonstrate highly efficient execution compared to manually-optimized counterparts in multiple distributed programming models.
Hardware parallelism vs. software parallelism

In this paper, we explore the rationale for multicore parallelism and instead argue that a better use of transistors is to use reconfigurable hardware cores. The difficulty in achieving software parallelism means that new ways of exploiting the silicon real estate need to be explored. Hardware implementations can often expose much finer grained parallelism than possible with software implementations. We discuss some of the challenges from a design and system support perspective.
Chronic Liver Disease in Children

Chronic liver disease encompasses a wide spectrum of disorders, including infectious, metabolic, genetic, drug-induced, idiopathic, structural, and autoimmune diseases. The clinical presentation and initial laboratory data in many of these diseases are similar, and a definitive diagnosis often relies on specialized laboratory investigation and histologic examination of liver tissue. The aim of this article is to: 1) Define chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis; 2) Review briefly the clinical presentation, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of the more common pediatric causes of chronic liver disease; 3) Review the complications associated with chronic liver disease and discuss their appropriate management; and 4) Review the indications for hepatic transplantation. Chronic Hepatitis Chronic hepatitis is defined as ongoing inflammation within the liver that is capable of progression to cirrhosis, liver failure, and death. The presence of continued hepatic inflammation, as confirmed by clinical manifestations and laboratory studies, for a period of greater than 10 weeks usually excludes a self-limited hepatitis and implies chronicity. However, to fulfill the international criteria for chronic disease strictly, evidence of continued hepatic inflammatory activity needs to be present for a period of at least 6 months. Most pediatricians, however, allow 3 months for an acute liver insult to clear before undertaking specialized laboratory investigations and invasive studies.
Cancer genomics: opportunities for medicinal chemistry?

Cancer genomics It is well known that cancer is a genetic disease. Cancer genomics is to systematically sequence the genome in order to identify recurrent genomics alterations in cancers [1]. To date, more than 80 types of cancers are, or have been, sequenced by centers around the world. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) [2] project and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) [3] project are among the most renowned. These projects have expanded the list of cancer genes, and also revealed many emerging disregulated cellular processes such as those involved in chromatin and epigenomic regulation, as well as those that are involved in RNA splicing, protein homeostasis, metabolism and lineage maturation. For a more detailed review on cancer genomics, readers are referred to the review articles [1,4]. The rapid advance in cancer genomics research can be largely attributed to the application of novel next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and the development of new computational tools.
Synthetic tracked aperture ultrasound imaging: design, simulation, and experimental evaluation.

Ultrasonography is a widely used imaging modality to visualize anatomical structures due to its low cost and ease of use; however, it is challenging to acquire acceptable image quality in deep tissue. Synthetic aperture (SA) is a technique used to increase image resolution by synthesizing information from multiple subapertures, but the resolution improvement is limited by the physical size of the array transducer. With a large F-number, it is difficult to achieve high resolution in deep regions without extending the effective aperture size. We propose a method to extend the available aperture size for SA—called synthetic tracked aperture ultrasound (STRATUS) imaging—by sweeping an ultrasound transducer while tracking its orientation and location. Tracking information of the ultrasound probe is used to synthesize the signals received at different positions. Considering the practical implementation, we estimated the effect of tracking and ultrasound calibration error to the quality of the final beamformed image through simulation. In addition, to experimentally validate this approach, a 6 degree-of-freedom robot arm was used as a mechanical tracker to hold an ultrasound transducer and to apply in-plane lateral translational motion. Results indicate that STRATUS imaging with robotic tracking has the potential to improve ultrasound image quality.
Polarization Conductivity in p -Type Germanium

The ac conductivity ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{ac}}$ of $p$-type Ge was measured over the frequency range of ${10}^{2}$ to ${10}^{5}$ cps and in the impurity conduction temperature range of 1.2 to 4.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. Doping by transmutation insured a constant donor to acceptor concentration ratio of 0.4. The acceptor concentration ranged from 3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{14}$ to 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{15}$/cc. The observed frequency and concentration dependence of ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{pol}}={\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{ac}}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{dc}}$ can be understood on the basis of the polarization model of Pollak and Geballe. The observed temperature dependence can be understood by considering the interaction between ionized donors and electrons. From the absolute magnitude of ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{pol}}$, the Bohr radius of the acceptor wave function is found to be about 74 \AA{}, in good agreement with that found from dc measurements.
Lipid dynamics in zebrafish embryonic development observed by DESI-MS imaging and nanoelectrospray-MS

The zebrafish Danio rerio is a model vertebrate organism for understanding biological mechanisms. Recent studies have explored using zebrafish as a model for lipid-related diseases, for in vivo fish bioassays, and for embryonic toxicity experiments. Mass spectrometry (MS) and MS imaging are established tools for lipid profiling and spatial mapping of biomolecules and offer rapid, sensitive, and simple analytical protocols for zebrafish analysis. When ambient ionization techniques are used, ions are generated in native environmental conditions, requiring neither sample preparation nor separation of molecules prior to MS. We used two direct MS techniques to describe the dynamics of the lipid profile during zebrafish embryonic development from 0 to 96 hours post-fertilization and to explore these analytical approaches as molecular diagnostic assays. Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) MS imaging followed by nanoelectrospray (nESI) MS and tandem MS (MS/MS) were used in positive and negative ion modes, allowing the detection of a large variety of phosphatidylglycerols, phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylinositols, free fatty acids, triacylglycerols, ubiquinone, squalene, and other lipids, and revealed information on the spatial distributions of lipids within the embryo and on lipid molecular structure. Differences were observed in the relative ion abundances of free fatty acids, triacylglycerols, and ubiquinone - essentially localized to the yolk - across developmental stages, whereas no relevant differences were found in the distribution of complex membrane glycerophospholipids, indicating conserved lipid constitution. Embryos exposed to trichloroethylene for 72 hours exhibited an altered lipid profile, indicating the potential utility of this technique for testing the effects of environmental contaminants.
Analysis of the hand-foot-mouth disease virus with influenza virus nuclear acid negative samples of ILI patients

Objective To reveal the status of HFMD in the negative sample of influenza,in the cause of correcting clinical diagnosis for HFMD.Methods The viral RNA were extracted from 153 cases of the negative samples of influenza,and the viral RNA were taken to detect the 5'-UTR gene of PE,the VP3-VP1 genes of EV71 and CVA16 by RT-PCR assay.The PCR products were analyzed by agarose gen electrophoresis.Results Detection and analysis of the hand-foot-mouth disease with 153 cases of the negative samples of influenza were performed,24(15.69%) were PE positive,5(3.27%) were EV71 positive,19 were other EV positive(12.42%)and none of the sample was CVA16 positive.The age of patients who were EV71 positive was from 10 months to 4 years old.Conclusions 24 PE positive and 5 EV71 positive were found in the 153 cases of the negative samples of influenza.
Current Situation and Progress of the Study and Practice of Modularization

At the beginning of the new century,three theory systems of modularization become a hot topic and cause modularization upsurge all around the world.Modularization is the development result of the application of standardization principle.It provides a simple method for low risk and high efficiency innovations.Modularization is easy to understand,but hard to implement;it is both a technical issue,and a management issue.Enterprises should make their own strategy of modularization,and the standardization should now focus more on modularization and the sharing platform.
Optical Approaches for Studying Intracellular pH in Epithelial Cells

Ten years ago, the only practical approach for continuously monitoring intracellular pH (pH i ) in epithelial cells was to employ pH-sensitive microelectrodes with a recessed glass sensor [1]. Although these electrodes are extremely accurate and stable, they require skill to fabricate and use. Moreover, although they can be used with modestly small cells (e.g., amphibian proximal-tubule cells), the electrode response time increases with the sharpness of the electrode tip. In the ensuing years, the introduction of improved “proton cocktails” [2] for liquid-membrane electrodes has greatly simplified the preparation of pH-sensitive microelectrodes and, to a lesser extent, has increased the sharpness of their tips. Nevertheless, although it is relatively easy to use these pH-sensitive microelectrodes with amphibian renal tubules, it remains rather difficult to extend the technology to mammalian tubules. It is for this reason that we have devoted considerable effort during the past decade to developing three optical techniques for monitoring pH i in isolated renal tubules and even in single cells. The first technique exploits photodiode array technology for measuring the absorbance spectrum of an intracellular pH-sensitive dye. It has been applied to isolated renal tubules from amphibians [3] and mammals [4], as well as to single cells [5]. The second technique is the use of an epifluorescence microscope to monitor the fluorescence of a pH-sensitive dye. Once again, this approach has been applied both to single cells [6] and to isolated mammalian tubules [7]. Finally, the approach on which we have devoted our most recent efforts is an extension of the earlier fluorescence technique in which the detector is an image-intensifier/TV-camera rather than a photomultiplier tube. Digital image processing makes it possible to monitor pH i transients in multiple individual cells, or even in portions of a single cell.
Simplified model and corrective measures for induction motor instability caused by PWM inverter blanking time

Blanking time in PWM (pulse width modulation) inverter switching is known to cause distortion of the AC voltage waveform and can induce instability in induction motors. A fundamental component equivalent circuit of the inverter in which the effect of the waveform distortion is represented as an equivalent source resistance is derived. The added resistance is shown to be the cause of instability. The equivalent circuit is shown to be useful in predicting the current and speed waveforms of induction motors fed by PWM inverters. This circuit is useful for simulating the effect of the blanking time, and requires far less computation than a full PWM inverter model. A simple corrective measure that adds an offset to the PWM reference signal according to the polarity of the load current is described. The compensation corrects the distortion due to the blanking time, and reduces the rotor oscillations due to the motor instability. >
Lifetime balanced data aggregation for the internet of things

A lifetime balanced data aggregation scheme for the Internet of Things, called LBA, is proposed.LBA adjusts the aggregation delays of neighboring devices in a collaborative manner.The lifetime between neighboring devices may be balanced without increasing the end-to-end delay.LBA is distributed, scalable, and able to dynamically adapt to the network changes in practice. Display Omitted This paper proposes LBA, a lifetime balanced data aggregation scheme for the Internet of Things (IoT) under an application-specified end-to-end delay requirement. In contrast to existing aggregation schemes, LBA aims to prolong the IoT network lifetime under network heterogeneity and dynamics, while ensuring the required data delivery delay. To achieve this goal in a distributed manner, LBA adaptively adjusts the aggregation delays of neighboring devices to balance the lifetime between them. As such balancing takes place in all neighborhoods, the minimal device lifetime in the network is increased gradually, thus prolonging the lifetime of the entire network. The effectiveness of LBA is demonstrated via extensive experiments on a testbed. Generally, when the network presents a higher degree of heterogeneity and dynamics, LBAs performance gain over a state-of-the-art non-adaptive data aggregation scheme becomes more significant, and the gap between LBAs performance and its theoretical upper bound gets smaller.
ParFuse: Parallel and Compositional Analysis of Message Passing Programs

Static analysis discovers provable true properties about behaviors of programs that are useful in optimization, debugging and verification. Sequential static analysis techniques fail to interpret the message passing semantics of the MPI and lack the ability to optimize or check the message passing behaviors of MPI programs. In this paper, we introduce an abstraction for approximating the message passing behaviors of MPI programs that is more precise than prior work and is applicable to a wide variety of applications. Our approach builds on the compositional paradigm where we transparently extend MPI support to sequential analyses through composition with our MPI analyses. This is the first framework where the data flow analysis is carried out in parallel on a cluster, with the message-carried data flow facts for refining inter-process data flow analysis states. We detail ParFuse – a framework that supports such parallel and compositional analysis of MPI programs, report its scalability and detail the prospects of extending our work for more powerful analyses.
Recognition-mediated particle detection under microfluidic flow with waveguide-coupled 2D photonic crystals: towards integrated photonic virus detectors

Label-free biodetection schemes compatible with standard CMOS fabrication methods constitute an important goal, as these are enabling tools for the mass production of high-sensitivity biosensors. Two-dimensional slab photonic crystal (2D slab-PhC) sensors have been posited as ultrahigh-sensitivity detection components, but to date recognition-mediated detection of viruses or simulants under flow has not been demonstrated. We report the design and optimization of a new W1 waveguide-coupled 2D slab-PhC sensor, with a geometry well suited to virus detection. Proof of concept experiments with fluorescent latex particles verified that the sensor could respond to infiltration of a single particle, both in air and under an aqueous cover layer. Subsequent experiments with antibody-functionalized sensors and virus simulants confirmed the ability of the device to detect virus-sized particles under flow via a recognition-mediated process. This work sets the stage for incorporation of 2D slab-PhC sensors into fully integrated photonic sensor systems.
Influence of central hemodynamics on VV ECMO oxygen delivery in neonatal animal model

BACKGROUND Recirculation of oxygenated blood in venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) can decrease the oxygen delivery provided by the ECMO support. This study investigated the influence of central hemodynamics and catheter position on the amount of recirculation and oxygen delivery during VV ECMO. METHODS Recirculation was measured in seven newborn lambs (mean weight 4.7 kg) during VV ECMO using the ELSA Monitor (Transonic Systems, Inc., Ithaca, NY) and using the central venous line (CVL) method. The ECMO pump was set at the prescribed flow of 110-120 mL/kg/min for a targeted oxygen delivery rate of 6cc/kg/min without recirculation. Hemodynamic status before and during ECMO was also measured by the COstatus Monitor (Transonic Systems, Inc.,Ithaca, NY). RESULTS Lambs with a higher cardiac index (>160 ml/min/kg), had a tendency to have higher percent oxygen delivery (65-94%, at prescribed flow) while lambs with lower cardiac index (<150 ml/min/kg), tended to have lower percent oxygen delivery (39-62%, at prescribed flow). ELSA recirculation measurements had a squared correlation coefficient R2 = 0.8 with the CVL method. CONCLUSIONS The ELSA monitor provides an easy to use, non-invasive method to measure recirculation in VV ECMO. The data suggests that cardiac function may play an important prognostic role in achieving effective VV ECMO support.
Detection of Organochlorine Pesticides in Contaminated Marine Environments via Cyclodextrin-Promoted Fluorescence Modulation.

The development of practical and robust detection methods for pesticides is an important research objective owing to the known toxicity, carcinogenicity, and environmental persistence of these compounds. Pesticides have been found in bodies of water that are located near areas where pesticides are commonly used and easily spread to beaches, lakes, and rivers; affect the species living in those waterways; and harm humans who come into contact with or eat fish from such water. Reported herein is the rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of four organochlorine pesticides in a variety of water sources across the state of Rhode Island using cyclodextrin-promoted fluorescence detection. This method relies on the ability of cyclodextrin to promote analyte-specific fluorescence modulation of a high quantum yield fluorophore when a pesticide is in close proximity, combined with subsequent array-based statistical analyses of the measurable changes in the emission signals. This system operates with high sensitiv...
Practice-Based Evidence: A Model for Helping Educators Make Evidence-Based Decisions:

Within their teacher preparation courses and field experiences, preservice teachers are introduced to numerous instructional practices, not all of which are considered research-based. For this reas...
Short Comparative Interrupted Time Series Using Aggregate School-Level Data in Education Research:

Short comparative interrupted times series (CITS) designs are increasingly being used in education research to assess the effectiveness of school-level interventions. These designs can be implement...
Evaluation of fronto-striatal networks during cognitive control in unmedicated patients with schizophrenia and the effect of antipsychotic medication

To understand the mechanism of cognitive control dysfunction in schizophrenia, it is critical to characterize brain function without the confounding effect of medication. It is also important to establish the extent to which antipsychotic medication restores brain function and whether those changes are related to psychosis improvement. Twenty-two patients with schizophrenia, initially unmedicated and after a 6-week course of risperidone, and 20 healthy controls (HC) studied twice, 6 weeks apart, performed an fMRI task. We examined group and longitudinal differences in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), striatum, and midbrain functional activity during performance of a Stroop color task as well as activity patterns associated with improvement in psychosis symptoms. Unmedicated patients showed reduced functional activity in the ACC, striatum, and midbrain compared to HC. Post hoc contrasts from significant group-by-time interactions indicated that, in patients, drug administration was associated with both activity increases and decreases. In unmedicated patients, greater baseline functional activity in the striatum and midbrain predicted subsequent better treatment response. Greater changes in functional activity in ACC and ventral putamen over the course of 6 weeks positively correlated with better treatment response. Unmedicated patients show reduced activity in brain networks pivotal for cognitive control and medication is associated with functional changes in these regions. These results suggest a mechanism by which antipsychotic medication has a beneficial effect on cognition. Our results also support the notion that treatment response is determined by a combination of the baseline pattern of brain function and by the pharmacological modulation of these regions.
FEW SELF-INVOLVED AGENTS AMONG BOUNDED CONFIDENCE AGENTS CAN CHANGE NORMS

Social issues are generally discussed by highly-involved and less-involved people to build social norms defining what has to be thought and done about them. As self-involved agents share different ...
Comparing the theoretical performances of 1.65- and 3.3-μm differential absorption lidar systems used for airborne remote sensing of natural gas leaks (Erratum)

Airborne remote sensing approaches to natural gas leak detection have recently become a viable alternative to traditional in situ surveillance methods. However, there have been few formal studies addressing the advantages and disadvantages of the various kinds of instruments typically employed for this purpose. This investigation compares the theoretical performances of differential absorption lidar systems operating near 1.65 and 3.3 μm. The random errors affecting these instruments’ respective retrievals were simulated over a range of aircraft altitudes and observed natural gas concentrations. It was found that the 3.3-μm system is capable of measuring smaller leaks with less error than the 1.65-μm system but only when flying at lower altitudes. The noise floors of the 1.65- and 3.3-μm instruments simulated in this particular analysis are ∼1.4 and ∼0.1 ppm m, respectively. However, when flying at altitudes >∼220 m or observing leaks with concentrations >∼500 ppm m, the 1.65-μm system exhibits better precision than the 3.3-μm system. These results demonstrate that it may be more appropriate to employ one instrument over the other depending on the surveillance scenario at hand.
MOODSWINGS: A COLLABORATIVE GAME FOR MUSIC MOOD LABEL COLLECTION

There are many problems in the field of music information retrieval that are not only difficult for machines to solve, but that do not have well-defined answers. In labeling and detecting emotions within music, this lack of specificity makes it difficult to train systems that rely on quantified labels for supervised machine learning. The collection of such “ground truth” data for these subjectively perceived features necessarily requires human subjects. Traditional methods of data collection, such as the hiring of subjects, can be flawed, since labeling tasks are time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Recently, there have been many initiatives to use customized online games to harness so-called “Human Computation” for the collection of label data, and several such games have been proposed to collect labels spanning an excerpt of music. We present a new game, MoodSwings (http://schubert.ece.drexel.edu/moodswings), which differs in that it records dynamic (per-second) labels of players’ mood ratings of music, in keeping with the unique timevarying quality of musical mood. As in prior collaborative game approaches, players are partnered to verify each others’ results, and the game is designed to maximize consensusbuilding between users. We present preliminary results from an initial set of game play data.
Some Effects of Contraceptive Steroids on Hepatic Function in Normal Women and in Patients with Acquired and Inheritable Defects in Hepatic Excretory Function

Although the development of oral contraceptive pills represents a major advance in population control, the use of these agents has introduced several problems relating to jaundice. Table 1 classifies three types of hepatic effects of oral contraceptive steroids. Decreased hepatic excretion of sulfobromophthalein (BSP), regularly seen in women taking oral contraceptives, is not associated with hyperbilirubinemia, and mimics that seen in the last trimester of pregnancy (1) or following administration of estrogens (2) or C-17 alkylated anabolic steroids (3). Jaundice occurring during administration of oral contraceptives may be classified on the basis of whether or not the patient was previously anicteric. The disorders listed in Group 2 are characterized by bile secretory failure manifested by accumulation in serum of conjugated bilirubin, bile salts and cholesterol, increased serum alkaline phosphatase and 5’-nucleotidase activities, and a relatively characteristic lesion of bile canaliculi and lysosomes which is best seen by enzyme histochemical and electron microscopic examinations (4). Occasionally, patients receiving oral contraceptives manifest non-dosage related bile secretory failure and are presumed to be sensitive to the drug although the mechanism is unknown (5). Other patients develop bile secretory failure in association with pregnancy (6) or without obvious precipitating cause (7) and manifest recrudescence of the syndrome following administration of oral contraceptive drugs.
Pharmacology—Toxicology of the Lithium Ion

The lithium ion is unique among the available psychopharmaceutical drugs in that it exerts therapeutic activity without producing any undesirable side effects on emotional—intellectual functioning. However, there are unwanted somatic side effects that occur during lithium treatment. Although there are several classifications possible, we are dividing these unwanted effects into three main types. The first is represented by mild to moderate toxic effects and may be seen at low serum lithium concentrations; the second is the lithium intoxication or poisoning associated with accumulation of lithium to serum levels above 2.0 meq/liter. This borderline is not absolute; patients occasionally have serum concentrations between 2 and 3 meq/liter without being intoxicated (Schou, 1968), while symptoms of intoxication have been noted at serum lithium levels in the range of 0.75 meq/liter (Shopsin et al., 1970). The third type of side effect coincident with administration of lithium includes a variety of endocrine and metabolic effects; it may be more appropriate to view some of these effects as complications of treatment with this medication.
Whither Family Firms in Developing Countries

The current literature on governance presents the US-type widely-held public corporation as the universal model of the modern business organization. Conversely, family firms, which are dominant elsewhere are presented as an inferior form, laden with dysfunctional corporate governance structures. They are allegedly prevalent in countries with weak corporate law, and they cause poor macroeconomic performance. Influenced by this wave of Anglo-American thought, some reformers in developing countries have taken steps either to abolish family firms, or to reform investor-protection laws hopeful that these measures will result in the eclipse of family firms. This paper attempts to show attempts to force the eclipse of family firm are misguided. It highlights factors that may cause family firms to persist in spite of improvements in the quality of corporate law. The paper concludes with a reflection on what reformers, concerned about promoting economic development, should pay attention to in developing countries.
Phosphorylation in the Regulation of Protein Phosphatases

Cell cycles are controlled by the cycling of proteins through phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. These reactions are catalyzed by kinases and phosphatases that are now appreciated as being highly specific. Dephosphorylation is not the simple reverse of phosphorylation because the introduction of a phosphate group will lead to formation of hydrogen bonds with the guanidinium side chains of arginine residues, accompanied by a refolding of the protein (1). The phosphorylated site then occupies a new position on the protein surface hydrogen-bonded to a portion of the protein distant from the original location of the unphosphorylated site. Phosphatases recognize the new conformation and hydrolyze the phosphate, abolishing the hydrogen bonds formed following phosphorylation, thereby reversing the conformational change. The cycle of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation functions as a molecular switch at appropriate times during the cell cycle and in response to extracellular signals (Figure 1A).
Accurate flexible refinement of atomic models against medium-resolution cryo-EM maps using damped dynamics

Dramatic progress has recently been made in cryo-electron microscopy technologies, which now make possible the reconstruction of a growing number of biomolecular structures to near-atomic resolution. However, the need persists for fitting and refinement approaches that address those cases that require modeling assistance. In this paper, we describe algorithms to optimize the performance of such medium-resolution refinement methods. These algorithms aim to automatically optimize the parameters that define the density shape of the flexibly fitted model, as well as the time-dependent damper cutoff distance. Atomic distance constraints can be prescribed for cases where extra containment of parts of the structure is helpful, such as in regions where the density map is poorly defined. Also, we propose a simple stopping criterion that estimates the probable onset of overfitting during the simulation. The new set of algorithms produce more accurate fitting and refinement results, and yield a faster rate of convergence of the trajectory toward the fitted conformation. The latter is also more reliable due to the overfitting warning provided to the user. The algorithms described here were implemented in the new Damped-Dynamics Flexible Fitting simulation tool “DDforge” in the Situs package.
Alleviating Anxiety and Altering Appraisals: Social-Emotional Learning in the College Classroom

Most college students experience stress and an increasing number also experience anxiety. This stress and anxiety has negative impacts on academic performance, as well as psychological well-being. ...
Thermostable Ebola virus vaccine formulations lyophilized in the presence of aluminum hydroxide.

Abstract No United States Food and Drug Administration-licensed vaccines protective against Ebola virus (EBOV) infections are currently available. EBOV vaccine candidates currently in development, as well as most currently licensed vaccines in general, require transport and storage under a continuous cold chain in order to prevent potential decreases in product efficacy. Cold chain requirements are particularly difficult to maintain in developing countries. To improve thermostability and reduce costly cold chain requirements, a subunit protein vaccine against EBOV was formulated as a glassy solid using lyophilization. Formulations of the key antigen, Ebola glycoprotein (EBOV-GP), adjuvanted with microparticulate aluminum hydroxide were prepared in liquid and lyophilized forms, and the vaccines were incubated at 40 °C for 12 weeks. Aggregation and degradation of EBOV-GP were observed in liquid formulations during the 12-week incubation period, whereas changes were minimal in lyophilized formulations. Antibody responses against EBOV-GP following three intramuscular immunizations in BALB/c mice were used to determine vaccine immunogenicity. EBOV-GP formulations were equally immunogenic in liquid and lyophilized forms. After lyophilization and reconstitution, adjuvanted vaccine formulations produced anti-EBOV-GP IgG antibody responses in mice similar to those generated against corresponding adjuvanted liquid vaccine formulations. More importantly, antibody responses in mice injected with reconstituted lyophilized vaccine formulations that had been incubated at 40 °C for 12 weeks prior to injection indicated that vaccine immunogenicity was fully retained after high-temperature storage, showing promise for future vaccine development efforts.
“Not Fissures but Moments of Crises that Can Be Overcome”: Building a Relational Organizing Culture in Community Organizations and Trade Unions

Community organizations and trade unions rely to a certain extent on a committed membership to be effective. It can be difficult, however, to build solidarity when there are diverse members with competing interests and this can lead to internal conflicts. Based on participant observation and interviews, this article examines how membership organizations have been able to maintain an active grassroots base and overcome internal crises through the development of a relational organizing culture.
Applying a Developmental Lens to Youth-Led Participatory Action Research: A Critical Examination and Integration of Existing Evidence:

In light of the increasing global population of young people, practitioners and policy makers face formidable challenges in promoting positive youth development and the successful transition to adu...
Leading-Following Challenges to Living Dignity:

There are many moments when the values and beliefs of leaders are "shown" to others, especially as those in formal leadership positions are faced with opportunities and challenges. While guiding others, it is important to be grounded in dignity that places others as priority. Dignity is always present and serves as the basis for the ethos of humanbecoming: shaping the enduring tradition of honoring people and the lives they live.
Crystal Structures of DOTMA Chelates from Ce3+ to Yb3+: Evidence for a Continuum of Metal Ion Hydration States

The crystal structures of chelates formed between each stable paramagnetic lanthanide ion and the octadentate polyamino carboxylate ligand DOTMA are described. A total of 23 individual chelates structures were obtained; in each chelate the coordination geometry around the metal ion is best described as a twisted square antiprism (torsion angle -25.0°--31.4°). Despite the uniformity of the general coordination geometry provided by the DOTMA ligand, there is a considerable variation in the hydration state of each chelate. The early Ln3+ chelates are associated with a single inner sphere water molecule; the Ln-OH2 interaction is remarkable for being very long. After a clear break at gadolinium, the number of chelates in the unit cell that have a water molecule interacting with the Ln3+ decreases linearly until at Tm3+ no water is found to interact with the metal ion. The Ln-OH2 distance observed in the chelates of the later Ln3+ ions are also extremely long and increase as the ions contract (2.550-2.732 A). No clear break between hydrated and dehydrated chelates is observed; rather this series of chelates appear to represent a continuum of hydration states in which the ligand gradually closes around the metal ion as its ionic radius decreases (with decreased hydration) and the metal drops down into the coordination cage.