cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Wavelength-compensated photonic multibeam-forming system for two-dimensional wideband radio-frequency phased-array antennas

Traditional lens-based photonic Fourier beam-forming systems can be used to steer multiple beams for narrowband radio-frequency (RF) phased-array antennas. For wideband RF phased-array antennas, such Fourier beam-forming systems suffer from frequency-dependent beam steering, known as beam squint. We present a novel squint-free Fourier-based photonic multibeam-forming system for wideband two-dimensional RF phased-array antennas using a lens and frequency-mapped modulation. In this new beam-forming system, we modulate the receiving wideband RF signals onto a broadband light source in a frequency-mapped manner by a traveling-wave tunable filter at each antenna element. These modulated signals are launched in a miniaturized topology of the RF antenna array, and the wavelength-scaling factor in the lens Fourier transform exactly compensates the frequency dependence of beam steering. Heterodyne detection at the Fourier plane between the focused modulated multicolor spots and the broadband laser reference beams from the same light source recovers the received RF signals. An analysis with numerical simulations and then demonstrated with preliminary experimental results of this beam-forming system is presented.
A Universal Placement Technique of Compressed Instructions for Efficient Parallel Decompression

Instruction compression is important in embedded system design since it reduces the code size (memory requirement) and thereby improves the overall area, power, and performance. Existing research in this field has explored two directions: efficient compression with slow decompression, or fast decompression at the cost of compression efficiency. This paper combines the advantages of both approaches by introducing a novel bitstream placement method. Our contribution in this paper is a novel compressed bitstream placement technique to support parallel decompression without sacrificing the compression efficiency. The proposed technique enables splitting a single bitstream (instruction binary) fetched from memory into multiple bitstreams, which are then fed into different decoders. As a result, multiple slow decoders can simultaneously work to produce the effect of high decode bandwidth. We prove that our approach is a close approximation of the optimal placement scheme. Our experimental results demonstrate that our approach can improve the decode bandwidth up to four times with minor impact (less than 3%) on the compression efficiency.
Application of a Functional Perspective on Receptive Language Development to Early Intervention

This paper reviews research on the early receptive language development of normal and language-handicapped children. A functional analysis perspective emphasizes how developmental changes are effected through the interactions of children with their environments. Lexical acquisition and early morphological/syntactic acquisition are addressed, functional processes that appear to be responsible for early lexical learning and for the application of syntactic rules during interpretation of early multiword utterances during normal receptive language development are isolated. Lexical training with language-handicapped children might be improved by (a) encouraging and making sure of children's action response strategy, (b) exploiting children's early reliance on extra-linguistic cues and then systematically shifting stimulus control, and (c) taking advantage of an elimination strategy. Morphological/syntactic training might be improved by selecting language input and training strategies that have been found to fa...
Phase-Signature Based Watermarking for Multimedia Authentication: Analysis and Design

In this work, we address phase-signature based digital image watermarking. The signature is extracted from the Fourier phase information of the digital media. It is then embedded in the Fourier magnitude spectrum. The detection and/or authentication is based on the well established area of phase-only filter based correlation techniques in the optics community. We propose to analyze the distortion coming out of the embedding process, model it, and eventually parameterize it so that optimal embedding can be done by trading off with other aspects of watermarking. It will be shown why permutation like functions facilitate the signature embedding process by minimizing the embedding degradation.
Improving the performance of distributed applications using active networks

An active network allows applications to inject customized programs into network nodes. This enables faster protocol innovation by making it easier to deploy new network protocols, even over the wide area. We argue that the ability to introduce active protocols offers important opportunities for end-to-end performance improvements of distributed applications. We begin by describing several active protocols that provide novel network services and discussing the potential impact of these kinds of services on end-to-end application performance. We then present and analyze the performance of an active networking protocol that uses caching within the network backbone to reduce load on both servers and backbone routers.
A Genomic Scan for Selection Reveals Candidates for Genes Involved in the Evolution of Cultivated Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Genomic scans for selection are a useful tool for identifying genes underlying phenotypic transitions. In this article, we describe the results of a genome scan designed to identify candidates for genes targeted by selection during the evolution of cultivated sunflower. This work involved screening 492 loci derived from ESTs on a large panel of wild, primitive (i.e., landrace), and improved sunflower (Helianthus annuus) lines. This sampling strategy allowed us to identify candidates for selectively important genes and investigate the likely timing of selection. Thirty-six genes showed evidence of selection during either domestication or improvement based on multiple criteria, and a sequence-based test of selection on a subset of these loci confirmed this result. In view of what is known about the structure of linkage disequilibrium across the sunflower genome, these genes are themselves likely to have been targeted by selection, rather than being merely linked to the actual targets. While the selection candidates showed a broad range of putative functions, they were enriched for genes involved in amino acid synthesis and protein catabolism. Given that a similar pattern has been detected in maize (Zea mays), this finding suggests that selection on amino acid composition may be a general feature of the evolution of crop plants. In terms of genomic locations, the selection candidates were significantly clustered near quantitative trait loci (QTL) that contribute to phenotypic differences between wild and cultivated sunflower, and specific instances of QTL colocalization provide some clues as to the roles that these genes may have played during sunflower evolution.
School-Wide Goal Environment and Continuing Motivation in Music:

This study describes the school-wide motivation culture of an elementary music program that has an exceptional record of stimulating students’ continuing motivation to participate in music ensembles on the middle school level. Participant observer techniques and open-ended interviews were used to gather data that were analyzed using the theoretical model taken from Maehr’s “Transforming School Culture to Enhance Motivation.” It was found that the principal in this context was supportive of the music program and according to Maehr’s theoretical framework, was instrumental in creating a school-wide environment supportive of student task-goal adoption, thus stimulating continuing motivation.
Purification of a Protein Palmitoyltransferase that Acts on H-Ras Protein and on a C-terminal N-Ras Peptide*

Mammalian H-Ras and N-Ras are GTP-binding proteins that must be post-translationally lipidated to function as molecular switches in signal transduction cascades controlling cell growth and differentiation. These proteins contain a C-terminal farnesyl-cysteine α-methyl ester and palmitoyl groups attached to nearby cysteines. Data is presented showing that rat liver microsomes contain an enzyme that transfers the palmitoyl group from palmitoyl-coenzyme A to cysteine residues of H-Ras protein and of a synthetic peptide having the structure of the C terminus of N-Ras. This protein palmitoyltransferase (PPT) was solubilized from membranes and purified 10,500-fold to apparent homogeneity with an overall yield of 10%. On an SDS gel, PPT appears as two proteins of molecular masses of ≈30 and ≈33 kDa. If the palmitoylation sites of the N-Ras peptide (the non-farnesylated cysteine) or H-Ras protein (cysteines 181 and 184) are changed to serine, palmitoylation by PPT does not occur. Non-farnesylated H-Ras produced in bacteria as well as in vitro farnesylated bacterial H-Ras are not substrates for PPT nor is the non-farnesylated, methylated N-Ras peptide. These results suggest, but do not prove, that farnesylation and possibly C-terminal methylation are prerequisites for Ras palmitoylation. PPT shows a large preference for palmitoyl-coenzyme A over myristoyl-coenzyme as the acyl donor. Values of Km for palmitoyl-CoA and H-Ras are 4.3 ± 1.2 and 0.8 ± 0.3 μ, respectively. PPT is the first protein palmitoyltransferase to be purified, and the availability of pure enzyme should contribute to our understanding of the function and regulation of Ras palmitoylation in cells.
Influence of Sympathomimetic Pressor Drugs on Arrhythmias Caused by Multiple Stimuli

A technic of administering successive stimuli to the heart at various ectopic foci was devised. Under normal circumstances the heart had sufficient power of integration to resist disorganization of its action by these multiple stimuli. Methoxamine, mephentermine and metaraminol had less tendency to increase vulnerability to fibrillation than did levarterenol under these conditions of stress. A new compound (Lilly #20522) blocked for a time the arrhythmia-producing action of levarterenol.
GWAS GUI

Summary: We describe an interactive package that provides graphical overviews of the results of whole-genome association studies in datasets with rich multi-dimensional phenotypic information, such as global surveys of gene expression. Windows, Linux and Mac binaries are available from our website. Availability: http://www.sph.umich.edu/csg/weich/software.html Contact: weich@umich.edu Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Accounting for system affects in depolarization lidar

When using lidar to measure small depolarization values, coupling of polarization planes in the system is of significant concern.We employ hardware polarization compensation to reduce system polarization cross-talk, improving depolarization estimates.
Analytical solution for a leaky-wave antenna

An ideal model of an inductive-grid leaky-wave antenna is analyzed, and the rigorous solution for the radiation pattern obtained. This rigorous pattern is compared with the approximate pattern obtained from the Fourier transform of the approximate aperture distribution. The agreement between the two is found to be very good and hence justifies the use of the simpler Fourier transform method. The analysis also sheds light on the significance of the leakywave pole for this class of antennas.
Fasciectomy and controlled hypotension in treatment of Dupuytren's contracture.

Abstract Radical fasciectomy was performed on sixty-three hands involved by Dupuytren's contracture, thirty with and thirty-three without hypotensive anesthesia. Of those with ancillary hypotension, none had hematomas, three had minor skin sloughs, nine had edema, and four had some recalcitrant stiffness. Of those without hypotensive anesthesia, three had hematoma, seven had minor skin slough, eleven had edema, and three had recalcitrant stiffness. All eventually had good long-term results. It would appear that hypotensive anesthesia may be useful in surgical treatment of Dupuytren's contracture.
Learning convolution filters for inverse covariance estimation of neural network connectivity

We consider the problem of inferring direct neural network connections from Calcium imaging time series. Inverse covariance estimation has proven to be a fast and accurate method for learning macro- and micro-scale network connectivity in the brain and in a recent Kaggle Connectomics competition inverse covariance was the main component of several top ten solutions, including our own and the winning team's algorithm. However, the accuracy of inverse covariance estimation is highly sensitive to signal preprocessing of the Calcium fluorescence time series. Furthermore, brute force optimization methods such as grid search and coordinate ascent over signal processing parameters is a time intensive process, where learning may take several days and parameters that optimize one network may not generalize to networks with different size and parameters. In this paper we show how inverse covariance estimation can be dramatically improved using a simple convolution filter prior to applying sample covariance. Furthermore, these signal processing parameters can be learned quickly using a supervised optimization algorithm. In particular, we maximize a binomial log-likelihood loss function with respect to a convolution filter of the time series and the inverse covariance regularization parameter. Our proposed algorithm is relatively fast on networks the size of those in the competition (1000 neurons), producing AUC scores with similar accuracy to the winning solution in training time under 2 hours on a cpu. Prediction on new networks of the same size is carried out in less than 15 minutes, the time it takes to read in the data and write out the solution.
Abnormal glucose tolerance testing following gastric bypass demonstrates reactive hypoglycemia

Symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia have been reported by patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery who experience maladaptive eating behavior and weight regain. A 4-h glucose tolerance test (GTT) was used to assess the incidence and extent of hypoglycemia. Thirty-six patients who were at least 6 months postoperative from RYGB were administered a 4-h GTT with measurement of insulin levels. Mean age was 49.4 ± 11.4 years, mean preoperative body mass index (BMI) was 48.8 ± 6.6 kg/m2, percent excess BMI lost (%EBL) was 62.6 ± 21.6%, mean weight change from nadir weight was 8.2 ± 8.6 kg, and mean follow-up time was 40.5 ± 26.7 months. Twelve patients had diabetes preoperatively. Thirty-two of 36 patients (89%) had abnormal GTT. Six patients (17%) were identified as diabetic based on GTT. All six of these patients were diabetic preoperatively. Twenty-six patients (72%) had evidence of reactive hypoglycemia at 2 h post glucose load. Within this cohort of 26 patients, 14 had maximum to minimum glucose ratio (MMGR) > 3:1, 5 with a ratio > 4:1. Eleven patients had weight regain greater than 10% of initial weight loss (range 4.9–25.6 kg). Ten of these 11 patients (91%) with weight recidivism showed reactive hypoglycemia. Abnormal GTT is a common finding post RYGB. Persistence of diabetes was noted in 50% of patients with diabetes preoperatively. Amongst the nondiabetic patients, reactive hypoglycemia was found to be more common and pronounced than expected. Absence of abnormally high insulin levels does not support nesidioblastosis as an etiology of this hypoglycemia. More than 50% of patients with reactive hypoglycemia had significantly exaggerated MMGR. We believe this may be due to the nonphysiologic transit of food to the small intestine due to lack of a pyloric valve after RYGB. This reactive hypoglycemia may contribute to maladaptive eating behaviors leading to weight regain long term. Our data suggest that GTT is an important part of post-RYGB follow-up and should be incorporated into the routine postoperative screening protocol. Further studies on the impact of pylorus preservation are necessary.
Changing adolescent health behaviors: the healthy teens counseling approach.

Methods: Healthy Teens was a primary care, office-system intervention to support efficient, patientcentered counseling at well visits. Healthy Teens utilized a personal digital assistant (PDA)– based screener that provided the clinician with information about a teen’s health risks and motivation to change. Changes in adolescent self-report of diet and activity health behaviors 6 months later were assessed in two cross-sectional samples of teens from five rural practices in 2005 and 2006. Usual-care subjects (N�148) were recruited at well visits prior to the intervention, and the Healthy Teens subjects (N�136) were recruited at well visits after the Healthy Teens system was well established. Results: At 6-month follow-up, the Healthy Teens group had significantly increased self-reported exercise levels and milk-product intake. In the models exploring covariates, the only significant predictors for improvement in exercise levels were intervention-group status (p�0.009) and post-visit interest in making a change (p�0.015). Interest in changing predicted increased milk intake (p�0.028) in both groups. When teens planned an action related to nutrition, physical activity, or both after a well visit, Healthy Teens participants were more likely to report multiple planned actions (68% Healthy Teens vs 32% usual care, p�0.05). Conclusions: Changes in office systems using low-cost technology to screen adolescents and promote patient-centered counseling appear to influence teens to increase exercise and milk intake. (Am J Prev Med 2008;35(5S):S359 –S364) © 2008 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Should there be a Constitutional Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment

This article summarizes the author's argument in her book The Clean Water Act and the Constitution (ELI 2004) that constitutional principles such as standing and separation of powers distort the balance of enforcement authority that Congress created in most of the federal environmental statutes. Arguing that the inclusion of environmental citizen suits is an important part of American environmental policy and that the Supreme Court has unnecessarily narrowed constitutional doctrines to limit citizen suits, this article concludes that a structural amendment to the United States Constitution that recognizes the role of citizens in the law could better balance environmental enforcement opportunities while preserving to Congress, rather than the courts, the primary authority to set environmental policy.
Pectin adjuvant for oral penicillin.

ConclusionsPectin hydrolysate used as an adjuvant for oral calcium penicillin resulted in somewhat better sustained plasma penicillin levels as compared with the same materials without the pectin.
Guided-mode resonance filters fabricated in UV curable polymers

Guided-mode resonance devices fabricated by soft lithography are presented. The fabrication process using an elastomeric mold and UV curable polymers is simple and cost-effective. Resonant photopolymer filters at 1550 nm are made and characterized.
Collagenase activity of cathepsins.

SummaryPapain and ficin digest collagen in the pH 2.0-4.5 range at low salt concentration. Evidence is presented that collagen undergoes a reversible alteration at low pH which renders it susceptible to digestion by a number of proteolytic enzymes active at acid pH's. A mechanism for the enzymatic breakdown of collagen in areas of suppuration is suggested. No evidence has been obtained to support a preliminary alteration in collagen as part of the mechanism by which Clostridium histolyticum collagenase preparations degrade collagen.
Abstract 540: Increased growth and malignant transformation of human prostate epithelial cells by chronic exposure to arsenic and estrogen

Both Arsenic and 17β-estradiol have been shown to induce growth and neoplastic formations in prostate epithelial cells. Estrogens are involved in prostate development and function at several stages. Arsenic has mild estrogenic properties. However, the effects of the co-exposure to physiologically relevant doses of these two chemicals on human prostate epithelial cells are not known. We hypothesize that as compared to the individual exposure, the co-exposure to arsenic and estrogen will potentiate the cell growth and transformation in prostate epithelial cells. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the effects of chronic exposure to arsenic and estrogen both individually and in combination on neoplastic transformations and increase cell growth. Human prostate epithelial cells, RWPE-1 were treated for 6 months with sodium-meta arsenite and 17β-estradiol both alone and in combination at concentrations of 100 pg/mL and 100 ng/mL. These treated cells were maintained further for 3 months in culture media without arsenic or estrogen supplementation. The effects of these compounds on cell growth were determined by cell count and MTT assay, and malignant transformation of cells was determined by anchorage independent growth assay on soft agar. The mitogenic effects of these chemicals were further confirmed at molecular level by cell cycle analysis using flow cytometry and gene expression analysis by quantitative real time PCR. The result of this study revealed that chronic exposure to arsenic and estrogen causes increased cell proliferation and induces cell transformation as observed in colony formation assay. The combination of these two chemicals had potentiating effects on cell growth and transformation of RWPE-1 cells. The increased percentage of cells in S-phase and increased expression of CyclinD1 as well as the anti-apoptotic gene Bcl2 further confirmed the mitogenic potential of these two chemicals in RWPE-1 cells. The present findings of increased growth and transformation of arsenic and estrogen treated cells and epigenetic changes observed in these cells together suggest that these carcinogenic chemicals induce malignant transformation in prostate epithelial cells at least in part through epigenetic mechanisms. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 540. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-540
On Environmental Education for Chemical Department Students at College

This paper gires a brief infroduetion edueation situation at hame and abroad generaliaes the parts of chemleal textbooks of middle schools, and combines the environment edueation with every subject studied by chemical department students at college, makes them fit together, become a whole, Studemts are taught to be aware of the importanee of enviroment protection.
Parathyroid hormone inhibits Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase through Gq/G11 and the calcium-independent phospholipase A2

Previous studies from this laboratory have demonstrated that the 3–34 analog of parathyroid hormone (PTH) causes a 15–30% inhibition of Na(+)-K(+)-adenosinetriphosphatase (Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase) activi...
Chapter 3 It Takes Two to Tango

This ethno-identity dance is equally sexy for both men and women. In looking at the wide variety of tango variations, Shay views them through the lens of theater and fantasy: dramatic and theatrical movements and gestures and the sexual fantasies that the tango performance produces for many participants. He describes the history of the dance: how it originated in the brothels of Buenos Aires, found popularity in turn-of-the-century Paris and London, and gained acceptance among Argentine elites. He describes its movements, stressing the importance of improvisation. Shay then looks at the machismo role of the male dancer and femme fatale role of the woman.
Overview of Manufacturing Processes

A manufacturing process is defined as the use of one or more physical mechanisms to transform a material’s shape and/or form. Manufacturing processes can be further divided into discrete parts processes and continuous processes. The metalworking industry, where many single items are produced, uses discrete parts manufacturing. Chemical processing, used in, for example, the film- or fiber-making industries, uses continuous processing. In this chapter, we will concentrate on discrete parts manufacturing.
Successful Endoscopic Clipping of Appendiceal Orifice Bleeding: A Technical Maneuver to Convert an Emergency to an Elective Procedure

Objective : We report a rare case of an elderly man with appendiceal bleeding successfully treated with endoscopic placement of hemoclips. Methods : We describe the patient’s clinical presentation, laboratory test results, imaging, and treatment. Results : An 89-year-old man presented with two episodes of bloody diarrhea that occurred two hours apart. Colonoscopy revealed active bleeding from the appen- diceal orifice. Hemostasis was achieved with epinephrine injections followed by placement of five hemoclips to effectively close the appendiceal orifice. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed an irregular thick- ening of the appendix wall, raising the possibility of an appendiceal mass. On hospital day 4, the patient underwent appendectomy and partial cecectomy. Pathology revealed focal ulceration of the mucosa without malig- nancy. The remainder of the patient’s hospital course was uneventful. Conclusion : The endoscopic methods used in our case proved effective in achieving hemostasis and allowed the patient to be stabilized prior to surgery. It is unclear whether longer monitoring would reveal any possible long-term complications after endoscopic closure of the appendix. It would be of interest to further investigate this approach to assess the long-term safety and efficacy of this procedure.
Tired in the Reading Room: The Influence of Fatigue in Radiology.

Commonly conflated with sleepiness, fatigue is a distinct multidimensional condition with physical and mental effects. Fatigue in health care providers and any secondary effects on patient care are an important societal concern. As medical image interpretation is highly dependent on visual input, visual fatigue is of particular interest to radiologists. Humans analyze their surroundings with rapid eye movements called saccades, and fatigue decreases saccadic velocity. Oculomotor parameters may, therefore, be an objective and reproducible metric of fatigue and eye movement analysis can provide valuable insight into the etiology of fatigue-related error.
Taking up sonic space: feminized vocality and podcasting as resistance

The authors of this paper host a podcast called Feminist Killjoys, PhD. Every week, we research and compile notes about our topic; set up technology to record, talk, and laugh for an hour; manage o...
Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment After Methotrexate: The Durability of Triple Therapy Versus Etanercept.

Objective Although it is common for rheumatologists to initiate biologic agents after failure of methotrexate monotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ample data support the initial use of combinations of conventional therapies in this clinical scenario. Our study explores the durability of triple therapy (methotrexate, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine) versus methotrexate-etanercept in RA. Methods RA patients with suboptimal response to methotrexate (n = 353) were randomized to either triple therapy or methotrexate-etanercept therapy in a 48-week, double-blinded, noninferiority trial. Patients without clinical improvement at 24 weeks were switched to the alternative treatment. Of the total, 289 participated in followup. We report treatment durability, Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28), and other measures during an open-label extension for an additional period up to 72 weeks. Results Mean ± SD duration of open-label followup was 11 ± 6 months. The likelihood of continuing conventional therapy at 1 year was 78% for triple therapy versus 63% for methotrexate-etanercept, with most treatment changes occurring at the start of followup. More patients changed from methotrexate-etanercept to triple therapy than from triple therapy to methotrexate-etanercept (P = 0.005). DAS28 scores and other disease activity measures were not different for the 2 treatments and were stable during followup. Conclusion In RA patients with suboptimal methotrexate response randomized to receive triple therapy or methotrexate-etanercept, the former was found to be significantly more durable. Given cost differences and similar outcomes, the variable durability demonstrated provides additional evidence supporting conventional combinations over biologic agent combinations as the first choice after methotrexate inadequate response.
Managing the risks: An analysis of bird strike reporting at Part 139 Airports in Indiana 2001-2014

Purpose : The purpose of the current study was fourfold: to identify bird strike reporting trends at Part 139 airports in Indiana (2001-2014) for comparison to national data; to determine which quarter of the year yields the most bird strike data; to gain a clearer understanding of the relationship between altitude and bird strikes, and to develop information based upon the data analyzed that can be used for the safety management of birds including comparisons to national data. Design/methodology: The researchers in this study answered the research questions by reviewing, sorting, and analyzing existing data. The data collection took place from March 01 to May 02, 2016. Two data sets were utilized for data collection. The National Wildlife Strike Database (NWSD) and the FAA Air Traffic Activity System (ATADS). Findings: When compared to national data, Indiana Part 139 airports have seen a faster increase in bird strike reporting during 2012 and 2014. Aggregate data indicated June through September (Quarter 3) had a significantly higher frequency of bird strikes reported. When examining bird strikes and altitude of occurrences, the exponential equation explained 95 % of the variation in number of strikes by 1,000-foot intervals from 1000 to 10,000 feet. Not surprisingly, the risk of bird strikes appears to decrease as altitude increases. Originality/value: This study adds to the body of knowledge by addressing the lack of published bird strike report analyses at a regional level. It also connects data analyses to safety management system (SMS) concepts and Wildlife Hazards Management Programs (WHMP). The aviation community can use regional bird strike data and information to develop or enhance existing wildlife hazard management programs, increase pilot awareness, and offers airport managerial implications.
Comparison of Home-Based Oral Fluid Rapid HIV Self-Testing Versus Mail-in Blood Sample Collection or Medical/Community HIV Testing By Young Adult Black, Hispanic, and White MSM: Results from a Randomized Trial

We aimed to determine in a randomized trial if young adult black, Hispanic, and white men-who-have-sex-with-men (YMSM) are more likely to complete home-based oral fluid rapid HIV self-testing than either mail-in blood sample collection or medical facility/community organization-based HIV testing. Stratified by race/ethnicity, participants were randomly assigned to use a free oral fluid rapid HIV self-test (n = 142), a free mail-in blood sample collection HIV test (n = 142), or be tested at a medical facility/community organization of their choice (n = 141). Of the 425 participants, completion of assigned test (66% oral fluid vs. 40% mail-in blood sample vs. 56% medical facility/community), willingness to refer (36% oral fluid vs. 20% mail-in blood sample vs. 26% medical facility/community), and legitimate referrals (58% oral fluid vs. 43% mail-in blood sample vs. 43% medical facility/community) were greater in the oral fluid rapid HIV self-test than the mail-in blood sample collection HIV test arm, but not the medical facility/community testing arm. There were no differences in assigned test completion by race/ethnicity. Although free home-based oral fluid rapid HIV self-testing showed moderate promise in facilitating HIV testing among black, Hispanic, and white YMSM, it did not lead to greater testing than directing these YMSM to medical facility/community HIV testing venues. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02369627.
Software-defined extreme scale networks for bigdata applications

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging technology that supports recent network applications. An SDN redefines networks by introducing the concept of decoupling the control plane from the data plane, thus providing centralized management, programmability, and dynamic reconfiguration. In this research, we specifically investigate the significance of using SDNs in support of Big-Data applications. SDN proved to support Big-Data applications through a more efficient use of distributed nodes. With Hadoop as an example of Big-Data application, we investigate the performance in terms of throughput and execution time for the read/write and sorting operations. The experiments take into consideration different network sizes of a Fat-tree topology. A Hadoop multi-node cluster is installed in Docker containers connected through a Fat-tree of OpenFlow switches. The packet forwarding is either by way of an SDN controller or the normal packet switching rules. Experimental results show that using an SDN controller outperforms normal forwarding by the switches. As a result, our research suggests that using SDN controllers has a strong potential to greatly enhance the performance of Big-Data applications on extreme-scale networks.
Nonlinear Analysis of Plates with Rotation Gradient–Dependent Potential Energy for Constrained Microrotation

AbstractIn this study, the weak-form finite-element model has been developed for bending of plates considering the rotation gradient–dependent potential energy along with the conventional strain en...
Position Taking or Position Ducking? A Theory of Public Debate in Single-Party Legislatures:

Are representatives in authoritarian legislatures encouraged to take positions on salient issues? More generally, why do some autocracies allow public debate on hot topics at all? Understanding the...
Validity of caregiver-report measures of language skill for Wolof-learning infants and toddlers living in rural African villages

Valid indigenous language assessments are needed to further our understanding of how children learn language around the world. We assessed the psychometric properties and performance of two caregiver-report measures of Wolof language skill (language milestones achieved and vocabulary knowledge) for 500 children (ages 0;4 to 2;6) living in rural Senegal. Item response models (IRM) evaluated instrument- and item-level performance and differential function by gender. Both caregiver-report measures had good psychometric properties and displayed expected age and socioeconomic effects. Modest concurrent validity was found by comparing the caregiver-report scores to transcribed child language samples from a naturalistic play session. The caregiver-report method offers a valid alternative to more costly tools, such as direct behavioral assessments or language sampling, for measuring early language development in non-literate, rural African communities. Recommendations are made to further improve the performance of caregiver-report measures of child language skill in these settings.
Evaluation of Verticutting and Herbicides for Tropical Signalgrass (Urochloa subquadripara) Control in Turf

Tropical signalgrass (TSG) is one of the most problematic weeds found on golf courses, sports fields, and sod farms in south Florida. The recent ban of monosodium methane-arsonate (MSMA), an organic arsenical herbicide, from urban areas in Florida has left turfgrass managers searching for effective management options. In an effort to avoid relying solely on POST chemical control, this research examined the effect of combining a cultural practice, verticutting, along with PRE and POST herbicides as an integrated weed management approach to controlling TSG in hybrid bermudagrass. Field experiments were conducted at multiple locations over 2 yr in south Florida to: (1) determine whether verticutting before herbicide applications increases TSG control and (2) identify herbicide programs that effectively control TSG. No interactions between verticutting and herbicide programs were detected, but verticutting consistently provided a slight reduction (8% averaged across herbicide treatments) in TSG cover. Treatments containing a PRE herbicide resulted in a significant reduction (20% to 50%) in TSG cover at 52 wk after initial treatment (WAIT), while some POST herbicide treatments reduced TSG cover to 80% TSG control at 4, 8, and 12 WAIT, with some reaching 100% TSG control at 4 WAIT. Based on these data, verticutting may provide limited complementary control, but certain combinations of POST herbicides exhibited excellent (>95%) TSG control.Nomenclature: Amicarbazone; foramsulfuron; halosulfuron; mesotrione; monosodium methane-arsonate (MSMA); thiencarbazone; trifloxysulfuron; hybrid bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. X Cynodon transvaalensis Burtt-Davy, cv. ‘Tifway 419’; smallflowered alexandergrass (syn. tropical signalgrass), Urochloa subquadripara (Trin.) R.D. Webster
Use of Routine Pathologic Evaluation of Nonmalignant Lesions in Hand Surgery: A National Study.

Background:Most lesions of the upper extremity are common and benign, and many have questioned the need for routine pathologic evaluation of these specimens. The authors aim to examine the national use of routine pathologic examination of nonmalignant hand lesions to help guide health care policy an
Chromosome-Breakage Syndromes: Different Genes, Different Treatments, Different Cancers

Comparison of the strikingly different distributions of types of cancer that occur in the genetic disorders that feature chromosome instability raises several interesting points. (a) Bloom's syndrome: the distribution suggests that many of the cancers that occur with regularity in the general population just occur more commonly and at an earlier age. (b) Ataxia telangiectasia: cancers of many types are increased in frequency, but lymphoreticular cancers are exceptionally common, the case also in several other genetically determined immunodeficiency disorders. Both Bloom's syndrome and ataxia telangiectasia share defective immunity as a major clinical feature, but the respective roles, if any, of it and of chromosome instability in producing the cancer predispositions are unknown. (c) Fanconi's anemia: cancer apparently has become common only recently. The types and distribution which occur are unusual. Fanconi's anemia cells have been shown to be hypertransformable by oncogenic virus and to be defective in handling certain types of DNA damage (as well as to manifest chromosome instability) so that the recent increase in cancer incidence is both surprising and unexplained. The degree of cancer proneness of Fanconi's anemia per se, untreated by modern methods, must at present be considered unknown. (d) Xeroderma pigmentosum: the cancer predisposition apparently extends only to cells which receive solar damage, i.e., to skin and eye. This would not have been predicted in view of the fact that the cellular mechanism is defective for repairing DNA damage produced not just by sunlight but also by certain classes of chemical carcinogens.
Cerebral Sphingolipids in the Quaking Mouse

There are over 300 mutant genes in the mouse which are characterized by a variety of specific phenotypic expressions (Green, 1966, pp. 87–150). The “Quaking” strain of mouse has been extensively characterized genetically and histologically by Sidman, Dickie and Appel (1964) and shown to bear an autosomal recessive gene (qk) which is responsible for abnormalities in central nervous system structure and function. Affected animals can be recognized by the twelfth day pospartum by an unsteady gait and tremor of the hindquarters. Tonic-clonic seizures are induced readily by sensory stimulation in the adult Quaking animal. The principal neuropathological findings in the Quaking mice is a generalized deficiency of myelin.
Spectral Representation of Discrete-Time Stationary Signals and Their Computer Simulations

Given an arbitrary power spectrum S X (f) or, equivalently, its inverse Fourier transform, the autocovariance function γx(τ), our ability to simulate the corresponding stationary random signals X(t), using only the pseudo-random number generator, which produces, say, discrete-time white noise, depends on the observation that, in some sense, all stationary random signals can be approximated by superpositions of random harmonic oscillations such as those discussed in Examples 4.1.2 and 4.1.9.
Psychiatric Consultation in the Emergency Setting

Consultants may be called to an emergency department for a variety of reasons. Most requests are like those from a general hospital ward. However, two issues are notable: a broader definition of psychiatric emergencies and greater concern about patient rights. These issues stem from an emergency department’s lack of a buffer from its surrounding community: patients come as they are, whether pushed, or just so inclined, whether in crisis, or just avoiding clinic appointment delays. There is little or no time for patients and emergency department staff to come to any understanding. In this absence of a traditional physician–patient relationship, consultants may be forced to change their usual approach.
Reaction-chemistry-directed sequence alignment of aldehyde dehydrogenases.

Aldehyde hydrogenases (ALDH) occur in multiple forms throughout a large variety of organisms. In recent years many have been sequenced and compared to arrive at the consensus of invariable residues that are essential for catalysis; a conserved feature during evolution. Thus, 16 different aldehyde dehydrogenases were compared by Hempel et al., (1993)who found 23 invariable amino acid residues by alignment of sequences available at that time.
Abstract 5085: CXCR2 signaling in pancreatic cancer induces a tumor supporting inflammatory phenotype of the cancer-associated fibroblasts

Pancreatic cancer (PC) remains one of the deadliest types of solid malignancies. Making progress in dealing with PC starts by understanding the complex interaction of cellular components in the tumor microenvironment and identifying the crucial checkpoints for tumor progression and metastasis. Desmoplasia and inflammation are two major hallmarks of PC. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are known for inducing fibrosis in several pathologies of the pancreas including PC. Recent reports have described that CAFs can assume the fibrosis-inducing phenotype, when close or have a direct contact with tumor cells, or a tumor-promoting inflammatory phenotype, through distant paracrine signaling. Known for their role in recruiting granulocytes and inducing angiogenesis, CXC chemokines (1-3 and 5-8) contain a conserved motif of Glutamic acid-Leucine-Arginine (ELR) and signal through CXCR1/2 chemokine receptors. In PC, ELR+ chemokines produced by malignant cells and stromal cells contribute to tumor growth, angiogenesis, and tumor-supporting immunosuppression. The deletion of CXCR2 in the genetically engineered PC mouse model (KC) promoted fibrosis and tumor metastasis. Taken together, we hypothesize that ELR+ chemokines signaling through CXCR2 may trigger the inflammatory phenotype of CAFs in PC that promotes tumor growth and progression. Utilizing unidirectional coculture studies, incubating CAFs in conditioned media of PC cells inhibited their growth, decreased the expression of the fibrotic CAFs-associated markers such as αSMA and collagen I, and increased the expression of immunosuppressive cytokines and tumor-promoting chemokines including IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, and CXCL7. Treating CAFs with exogenous ELR+ chemokines (CXCL1 and CXCL8) exhibited a similar phenotype. Furthermore, treating CAFs with exogenous ELR+ chemokines or PC cells conditioned media in the presence of pharmacological inhibitors of CXCR2 rescued this phenotype. In summary, we believe that ELR+ chemokine signaling through CXCR2 induces the inflammatory phenotype of CAFs that promotes immunosuppression, tumor growth, and tumor progression of PC. Citation Format: Mohammad Awaji, Michelle Varney, Abhilasha Purohit, Surinder Batra, Rakesh Singh. CXCR2 signaling in pancreatic cancer induces a tumor supporting inflammatory phenotype of the cancer-associated fibroblasts [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5085.
Determining the impact of an interprofessional learning in practice model on learners and patients.

The Institute of Medicine recently expressed a need to measure the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on health professions collaborative behavior in practice environments and patient outc...
Techno-economic and life cycle analysis of different types of hydrolysis process for the production of p-Xylene

Abstract The need for producing renewable chemicals and fuels from lignocellulosic biomass has increased due to economic and environment reasons. However, most of the chemicals studied to date are produced using sugars, which is readily available from biomass as their starting raw materials rather than lignocellulose, which increase the minimum selling price of produced chemicals. In this work a novel one-step saccharification (combining pretreatment and hydrolysis) process of biomass using molten salt hydrates (MSHs), an inorganic salt solution, to produce sugars and further integration of the upstream process to produce p-Xylene is investigated. We compared our one-step process with reported commercial relevant dilute acid (DA) and concentrated acid (CA) processes using detailed techno-economic analysis and life cycle analysis. The production of p-Xylene using the DA process is more costly compared to the MSH and CA processes. The cost of raw materials and utilities are the two major cost factors for the MSH process. From the life cycle analysis point of view, CA perform better than MSH process, while the DA process is less environmentally friendly mainly due to high reaction temperatures and usage of steam because of the dilute nature of the process.
Improved Parameterization of Ice Particle Size Distributions Using Uncorrelated Mass Spectrum Parameters: Results from GCPEx

AbstractSatellite retrieval algorithms and model microphysical parameterizations require guidance from observations to improve the representation of ice-phase microphysical quantities and processes...
Environing at the Margins: Huanjing as a Critical Practice

This chapter sketches a field of Chinese Environmental Humanities (CEH). It first outlines the context for the emergence of CEH. Second, it introduces scholarly CEH activities in China and beyond to a global audience. Third, it provides Chinese critical vocabularies and viewpoints. Two keywords, ziran (spontaneity/“self-so-ing” or “nature”) and huanjing (“territory-making” or “environing”), complement each other: while ziran is employed to develop a nondualistic ecological thought, huanjing is reconceptualized as a mode of EH critical inquiry that delves into different cultural, narrative, or aesthetic modes, and politics of environmental inclusion and exclusion. Lastly, it briefly describes each chapter and explains how they engage the huanjing discourse with a correlating “ethics at the margins” that questions the past and present “normative dimensions of current environmental practices.”
A Critical Review of Research on Student Self-Assessment

This article is a review of research on student self-assessment conducted largely between 2013 and 2018. The purpose of the review is to provide an updated overview of theory and research. The treatment of theory involves articulating a refined definition and operationalization of self-assessment. The review of 76 empirical studies offers a critical perspective on what has been investigated, including the relationship between self-assessment and achievement, consistency of self-assessment and others’ assessments, student perceptions of self-assessment, and the association between self-assessment and self-regulated learning. An argument is made for less research on consistency and summative self-assessment, and more on the cognitive and affective mechanisms of formative self-assessment.