cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Benchmark Solution for Degradation of Elastic Properties due to Transverse Matrix Cracking in Laminated Composites

Abstract Degradation of laminate moduli and laminate coefficients of thermal expansion, as well as degradation of the cracked lamina moduli and lamina coefficients of thermal expansion, are predicted as a function of crack density for laminated composites with intralaminar matrix cracks. The methodology assumes linear elastic behavior and periodicity of the transverse cracks. The representative volume element is discretized into finite elements. Stress free conditions on the crack surfaces are enforced. Periodic boundary conditions are applied so that any state of applied far-field strain can be simulated. An averaging procedure is used to yield the average stress field. Three uniaxial states of strain and a null state of strain coupled with a unit increment of temperature are used to obtain the degraded stiffness and coefficients of thermal expansion. Results are presented for a number of laminates and materials systems that are customarily used in the literature for experimentation. The modeling approach and results can be used to assess the quality of approximate models. Comparisons are presented to the predictions of one such model and to experimental data. Also, comparisons are presented to classical lamination theory for asymptotic values of crack density.
Mycoplasmas: sophisticated, reemerging, and burdened by their notoriety.

Mycoplasmas are most unusual self-replicating bacteria, possessing very small genomes, lacking cell wall components, requiring cholesterol for membrane function and growth, using UGA codon for tryptophan, passing through “bacterial-retaining” filters, and displaying genetic economy that requires a strict dependence on the host for nutrients and refuge. In addition, many of the mycoplasmas pathogenic for humans and animals possess extraordinary specialized tip organelles that mediate their intimate interaction with eucaryotic cells. This host-adapted survival is achieved through surface parasitism of target cells, acquisition of essential biosynthetic precursors, and in some cases, subsequent entry and survival intracellularly. Misconceptions concerning the role of mycoplasmas in disease pathogenesis can be directly attributed to their biological subtleties and to fundamental deficits in understanding their virulence capabilities. In this review, we highlight the biology and pathogenesis of these procaryotes and provide new evidence that may lead to increased appreciation of their role as human pathogens.
Model reference adaptive control of constrained cooperative manipulators

We consider the dynamics and control of two or more multi-link robot manipulators cooperatively maneuvering a rigid payload. The redundantly actuated case is considered and trajectory tracking control laws are derived to account for the uncertain payload properties but ensuring stable tracking error dynamics. The dynamics of the constrained system is projected on to the null space of the constraints and is shown that this reduces the parameterization of the controller greatly. The control law is shown to be robust against large payload errors.
Microwave Limb Sounder THz module on Aura

The objective of the Microwave Limb Sounder THz module on the Aura satellite is to measure stratospheric and mesospheric OH. This paper describes the optical design, alignment, calibration, and performance of the THz module. The calibration uncertainty for one limb scan is substantially less than the precision due to radiometric noise. For averages of many scans, the dominant calibration uncertainty of 2% is due to uncertainty in beam efficiency.
Voiding dysfunction after surgery for stress incontinence: literature review and survey results

Postoperative voiding dysfunction is a potential complication of anti-incontinence procedures. Reported rates of urethral obstruction range from 5% to 20%. There is a lack of consensus in the literature regarding the appropriate evaluation and management of this distressing problem. A literature search was carried out using Medline (1966–2001) for postoperative voiding dysfunction. The key word urethrolysis was cross-referenced with surgical complications and stress urinary incontinence to identify all published English-language articles. The bibliographies of reviewed articles were searched manually. We also mailed a survey to the members of American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) regarding their management of this problem. Overall, 262 members (31.4%) responded to the survey. Success rates reported in the literature between retropubic and vaginal techniques of urethrolysis are comparable, but morbidity is lower with the vaginal approach. The success rates are equivalent with (68%) or without (74%) resuspension following transvaginal urethrolysis. The incidence of postoperative SUI is acceptably low even without resuspension of the urethra (6% for both). Results of the AUGS survey reveal that most providers favor a transvaginal approach (74%) when performing urethrolysis, and they do not routinely resupport the bladder neck (82%).
Selection of PMAC machine for starter-generator application in a series hybrid bus

This paper presents a comparative study of PMAC machine candidates for starter-generator application in hybrid bus with series powertrain configuration. PMAC machines with interior and surface mount permanent magnets are considered and compared, although a complete analysis is only carried out for the SPM. Different design aspects such as: concentrated versus distributed windings as well as interior and exterior rotor structures are evaluated. Different slot per pole per phase configurations for concentrated winding PMAC machines are also examined. Comparison and evaluation of the machines is based on their performance which included evaluation of winding and iron losses, magnet losses and maximum torque capability as well as the size and weight of the machines.
Office arthroscopy: a diagnostic alternative.

Abstract Twenty patients with enigmatic knee symptoms were selected for evaluation by both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and office arthroscopy. Office arthroscopy was performed in a standard examination room using a miniature (1.7 mm) fiberoptic arthroscope under local anesthesia. All MRI scans were performed on a state-of-the-art 1.5-T magnet unit, and included specialized cartilage sequences in 7 patients. In 14 patients, 26 areas showed articular cartilage changes by arthroscopy (grade 2–3). Only nine of these areas were detected by MRI (sensitivity 34.6%). There were five false-positive and four false-negative readings of meniscal tears by MRI as compared with office arthroscopy. These results improved when postoperative menisci were excluded. Only one of three anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) disruptions identified by MRI could be verified by arthroscopy. The one posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) disruption was confirmed by both techniques. MRI was superior to arthroscopy in identifying bone contusions, subchondral sclerosis, and medial cruciate ligament (MCL) sprains. Office arthroscopy is an accurate and cost-efficient alternative to MRI in diagnostic evaluation of knee pathology in patients with enigmatic symptomatology.
Prevalence of self-injurious behaviors in a large state facility for the retarded: a three-year follow-up study.

A combined informant questionnaire and interview survey of self-injurious behavior (SIB) at a large state facility for the retarded was conducted independently three times over a 3-year period. Prevalence consistently was about 10% of the population. SIB cases tended to be younger and institutionalized longer than the rest of the population. Severe cases had a longer history of chronic SIB. SIB cases had more seizure disorders, severe language handicaps, visual impairments, and severe or profound retardation than the rest of the population. They appeared to fulfill most of the Rutter (1966) criteria for autism. But unlike the severely autistic, there was little relation of sex to incidence of SIB. Over 90% of SIB cases changed status over 3 years, suggesting that SIB was amenable to behavior modification in most cases (94%). Psychotropic behavior control medications helped in some intervention programs (52%). SIB remitted spontaneously in 27% of SIB cases where there had been no behavioral or drug intervention.
DPF: fast, flexible message demultiplexing using dynamic code generation

Fast and flexible message demultiplexing are well-established goals in the networking community [1, 18, 22]. Currently, however, network architects have had to sacrifice one for the other. We present a new packet-filter system, DPF (Dynamic Packet Filters), that provides both the traditional flexibility of packet filters [18] and the speed of hand-crafted demultiplexing routines [3]. DPF filters run 10-50 times faster than the fastest packet filters reported in the literature [1, 17, 18, 27]. DPF's performance is either equivalent to or, when it can exploit runtime information, superior to hand-coded demultiplexors. DPF achieves high performance by using a carefully-designed declarative packet-filter language that is aggressively optimized using dynamic code generation. The contributions of this work are: (1) a detailed description of the DPF design, (2) discussion of the use of dynamic code generation and quantitative results on its performance impact, (3) quantitative results on how DPF is used in the Aegis kernel to export network devices safely and securely to user space so that UDP and TCP can be implemented efficiently as user-level libraries, and (4) the unrestricted release of DPF into the public domain.
Mu suppression as an index of sensorimotor contributions to speech processing: evidence from continuous EEG signals.

Abstract Mu rhythm suppression is an index of sensorimotor activity during the processing of sensory stimuli. Two present studies investigate the extent to which this measure is sensitive to differences in acoustic processing. In both studies, participants were required to listen to 90 second acoustic stimuli clips with their eyes closed and identify predetermined targets. Experimental conditions were designed to vary the acoustic processing demands. Mu suppression was measured continuously across central electrodes (C3, Cz, and C4). Ten adult females participated in the first study in which the target was a pseudoword presented in three conditions (identification, discrimination, discrimination in noise). Mu suppression was strongest and reached significance relative to baseline only in the discrimination in noise task at C3 (indicative of left hemisphere sensorimotor activity) when measured in a 10–12 Hz bandwidth. Thirteen adult females participated in the second study, which measured mu suppression to acoustic stimuli with ‘segmentation’ (i.e., separating a parsed stimulus into individual components) versus non-segmentation requirements in both speech and tone discrimination conditions. Significantly greater overall suppression to speech relative to tone tasks was found in the 10–12 Hz bandwidth. Further, suppression relative to baseline was significant only at C3 during the speech discrimination with segmentation task. Taken together, findings indicate that mu rhythm suppression in acoustic processing is sensitive to dorsal stream processing. More specifically, it is sensitive to (1) increases in overall processing demands and (2) processing linguistic versus non-linguistic information.
Perturbation analysis: the state of the art and research issues explained via the GI/G/1 queue

Perturbation analysis (PA) of discrete event dynamic systems (DEDS) enables parameter sensitivities of DEDS to be obtained by observing a single sample path of the system. A simple GI/G/1 system is used to give an introduction to PA and illustrate the basic theoretical issues involved in this technique. The application of PA to networks of queues is covered briefly, and then some of the recent extensions to PA are discussed. It is shown that many interesting open questions remain for PA, and areas for research are indicated. >
Neuropychological approaches for early detection and characterization of dementing disorders

Background: Epidemiological studies indicate that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a multi-factorial disease with several modifiable risk factors. Diagnostic criteria are currently being revised to facilitate better management of AD. It is now imperative to pay more attention to practical clinical and public health-related issues in AD prevention, estimating the long-term effects of our actions. Methods: This presentation will review and illustrate current status and future directions in AD prevention. Results: Dementia and cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention have more in common than previously thought. Finland has over 40 years experience of successful CVD prevention, and has established a countrywide monitoring system for risk factors for chronic diseases (FINRISK), which can be used as an example and a frame to build upon. Work is currently done to integrate dementia/ AD into FINRISK. The Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) study originates in FINRISK and has indicated several modifiable risk factors for AD, and their interactions with genetic factors. CAIDE study has also enabled studying differences in risk factor profiles at midlife and late-life and risk factor dynamics over time in relation to cognitive changes. Scoring tools for estimating dementia risk in different age groups (short-term and long-term prediction tools) have been recently formulated. Such tools are necessary for selecting participants in prevention clinical trials. They are also important for health education and community planning. Previous preventive trials with single agents in elderly or cognitively impaired persons have yielded disappointing results. Possible reasons for this and future directions in planning preventive interventions will be summarized. The Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) is currently ongoing multi-domain intervention study primarily designed to delay cognitive impairment among high-risk individuals. The 2-year intervention has four main components: nutritional guidance; physical activity; cognitive training and social activity; intensive monitoring/management of vascular risk factors. Experiences from FINGER study and results from two other Nordic lifestyle interventions (Diabetes Prevention Study and DR’s EXTRA) will be presented. Conclusions: A lifelong perspective is needed for managing AD. Some changes in neurological thinking are still necessary on the way from knowledge to action.
Decomposition of ammonia on rhodium crystals

The rates of ammonia decomposition of (110), (100), and (111) single-crystal faces of rhodium were measured over the temperature range 580–725 K for ammonia pressures ranging from 1 × 10−3 to 500 × 10−3 Torr and hydrogen and nitrogen pressures varying from 1 × 10−3 to 150 × 10−3 Torr and 1 × 10−3 to 250 × 10−3 Torr, respectively. The decomposition rates were proportional to PNH312 and PNH3 at low and high hydrogen pressure, respectively. The H2 kinetic order varied from 0 (low PH2) to −1.0 (high pH2). The rate was independent of nitrogen pressure. Isotope studies indicated that NH3 decomposes about 1.5 times faster than ND3 on the (110) and (111) faces. A large face specificity is evident with the rates on the (110) surface over 10 times as great as those on the (111) surface. LEED, AES, and flash desorption experiments indicated that boron (B) was a significant surface “poison” and that the Rh (110) surface under reaction conditions might contain at most moderate coverages of nitrogen adatoms, but that coverages of other species were very small. The LEED/AES characterizations were done in a different system from that used in the kinetic and thermal desorption experiments. Rate expressions consistent with the observed kinetics are derived from a model involving surface species Rh2NH, RhH, and RhN, with only the RhN coverage being appreciable under the experimental conditions used. The kinetic data for the Rh (110) face are semiquantitatively fit to these rate expressions via a superposition technique and also to an empirical rate expression which functionally is similar to the mechanism rate equation. A decreasing NH3 order (<12) at high PNH3 and low T is attributed to the buildup of surface nitrogen. Kinetic orders and activation energies obtained are generally consfistent with most other literature data.
Device for measuring voluntary response time to peripherally placed stimuli.

A technical description and circuit schematic are given in sufficient detail for fabrication of a device for presenting visual stimuli at points throughout the visual field and measuring the associ...
Theoretical and Computational Chemistry of Complex Systems

We present a general operational method aimed at quantitative simulations of complex chemical systems. Quantum-chemical simulations are used only for those aspects of the problem where electrons and nuclei must be explicitly considered as the system’s particles. Statistical mechanics is used for those aspects where atoms and molecules can be considered as the system’s particle; other aspects are simulated assuming a continuoum distribution rather than a discrete distribution. The parameters in the general method are internal energy, electronic density, entropy, temperature, free energy, probability distribution, time and static or dynamic properties of continuoum media. Examples considered deal with solvent-solute interactions where the solute are either ions, or amino acids, or proteins, or bases and pair-base of nucleic acids, or DNA (single or double helix).
CALCULATION OF THE p+H$sub 2$$Yields$H$sup -$+ 2p REACTION CROSS SECTION

A method recently presented for calculation of double-charge transfer cross sections is applied to this reaction. The method neglects correlation between the two transferred particles. The amplitude for two-particle exchange is then obtained as the square of the amplitude for single-particle exchange. The one-particle exchange amplitude is calculated in Born approximation, and in a modified Born approximation (modified to correct for nonorthogonality), and the two-particle exchange cross section is obtained from these. Neither calculation should be good at the energies at which the cross section was measured, but the two calculations straddle the measured values. The corrected one appears to give a good agreement at the higher measured energies.
Anthropogenic impacts on nitrogen fixation rates between restored and natural Mediterranean salt marshes

To test the effects of site and successional stage on nitrogen fixation rates in salt marshes of the Venice Lagoon, Italy, acetylene reduction assays were performed with Salicornia veneta- and Spartina townsendii-vegetated sediments from three restored (6–14 years) and two natural marshes. Average nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) rates ranged from 31 to 343 μmol C2H4·m−2·h−1 among all marshes, with the greatest average rates being from one natural marsh (Tezze Fonde). These high rates are up to six times greater than those reported from Southern California Spartina marshes of similar Mediterranean climate, but substantially lower than those found in moister climates of the Atlantic US coast. Nitrogen fixation rates did not consistently vary between natural and restored marshes within a site (Fossei Est, Tezze Fonde, Cenesa) but were negatively related to assayed plant biomass within the acetylene reduction samples collected among all marshes. Highest nitrogen fixation rates were found at Tezze Fonde, the location closest to the city of Venice, in both natural and restored marshes, suggesting possible site-specific impacts of anthropogenic stress on marsh succession.
Fatal gastrointestinal tract hemorrhage: a complication of ulcerative cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, and cholecystoduodenal fistula.

Clinicallyapparent hemorrhage originating from the gallbladder is unusual. A case in which massive and subsequently fatal bleeding resulted from erosion of the cystic artery by gallstones is reported. The blood entered the bowel through a cholecystoduodenal fistula, producing clinical signs and symptoms identical to those of massive upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. With gastrointestinal bleeding, the gallbladder and associated vessels should be considered as a possible source of hemorrhage in patients with cholelithiasis or in those in whom at surgery the source of bleeding is not readily apparent.
Outcomes of patients with loco-regionally recurrent or new primary squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck treated with curative intent reirradiation at Mayo Clinic.

We reviewed outcomes of patients with loco-regionally recurrent (LRR) or new primary (NP) squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) treated at our institution with reirradiation (RRT). Patients received definitive RRT (DRRT) or post-operative RRT following salvage surgery (PRRT) from 2003 to 2011. Measured survival outcomes included loco-regional relapse free survival (LRFS) and overall survival (OS). Among 81 patients (PRRT, 42; DRRT, 39), median PRRT and DRRT doses were 60 Gy (12–70 Gy) and 69.6 Gy (48–76.8 Gy). The majority of patients received IMRT-based RRT (n = 77, 95 %). With median follow-up of 78.1 months (95 % CI, 56–96.8 months), 2-year OS was 53 % with PRRT and 48 % with DRRT (p = 0.12); 23 % of patients were alive at last follow-up. LRFS at 2 years was 60 %, and did not differ significantly between PRRT and DRRT groups. A trend toward inferior LRFS was noted among patients receiving chemotherapy with RRT versus RRT alone (p = 0.06). Late serious toxicities were uncommon, including osteoradionecrosis (2 patients) and carotid artery bleeding (1 patient, non-fatal). OS of PRRT- and DRRT-treated patients in this series appears superior to the published literature. We used IMRT for the majority of patients, in contrast to several series and trials previously reported, which may account in part for this difference. Future studies should seek to improve outcomes among patients with LRR/NP SCCHN via alternative therapeutic modalities such as proton radiotherapy and by incorporating novel systemic agents.
Statin Use Is Associated With Incident Diabetes Mellitus Among Patients in the HIV Outpatient Study.

Introduction Statin therapy is effective in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the general population but has been shown to modestly increase the risk for incident diabetes mellitus (DM).
Modification of Adaptive Disturbance Rejection Control for an Active Magnetic Bearing

Recent work in Adaptive Disturbance Rejection Control has shown this method to be effective to reject forces due to imbalance, runout and base motion disturbances on magnetically supported flywheels over a large span of frequencies. The method, however, requires certain properties (such as almost -strict positive realness) that active magnetic bea rings do not possess, limiting the applicability of the method. In this work, the adaptive disturbance rejection control law is modified (with relaxed assumptions) and a design methodology is presented to allow for a much wider range of frequencies to be r ejected. The ideas used here include using a reduced order model, appropriate state estimator design, and modifying the original adaptive gains. Computer simulation and experimental results are given to validate the ideas presented.
Abstract 1574: The Hippo pathway regulates liver development and tumorigenesis in zebrafish.

The Hippo pathway is a novel signaling cascade that regulates cell proliferation, organ size and tumorigenesis in mammals. In mice, deregulation of the Hippo pathway in the liver has been shown to potently induce tumor formation. However, the molecular mechanism by which the Hippo pathway regulates hepatic growth is not well understood. In this study, we have examined liver development in NF2-/- mutant zebrafish, which exhibit systemic activation of Yap, and found that liver size was increased by 5 days post fertilization (dpf). Histological evaluation of the NF2-/- mutant zebrafish embryos revealed that the enlarged liver was composed of an extended biliary network. In order to examine the cell-autonomous effects of Yap activation in hepatocytes, we generated Tg(fabp10a:YapS87A) fish and found that liver size increased dramatically by 5 dpf. In contrast to the NF2-/- mutant, histological and FACS analysis revealed that the enlarged liver in the Tg(fabp10a:YapS87A) embryos was composed of a greater number of hepatocytes. Chemical exposure to the γ-secretase inhibitor DAPT or erlotinib rescued the hepatomegaly phenotype in 5 dpf Tg(fabp10a:YapS87A) embryos, indicating dependence on Notch and EGFR signaling pathways. To gain greater insight into how these developmental studies relate to tumorigenesis, we compared NF2+/- mutants and Tg(fabp10a:YapS87A) adults and found that both lines were predisposed to liver tumor formation, developing predominantly intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas. Together, these studies reveal an evolutionarily conserved role of the Hippo pathway at the interface between liver development and tumorigenesis in zebrafish. Citation Format: Andrew G. Cox, Sebastian Beltz, Kimberley Evason, Didier Y. Stainier, Trista E. North, Wolfram Goessling. The Hippo pathway regulates liver development and tumorigenesis in zebrafish. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1574. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1574
REFRACTORY CARDIOGENIC SHOCK REQUIRING EMERGENCY MECHANICAL CIRCULATORY SUPPORT AS BRIDGE TO DEFINITIVE THERAPY

Cardiogenic shock is defined as end-organ hypo-perfusion from decreased cardiac output. It is a known complication in patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction. Despite technological advances in mechanical circulatory support, mortality remains high. The challenge is appropriate selection
Shades of Grey in Vaccination Decision Making: Tradeoffs, Heuristics, and Implications

Many studies have investigated how individual factors, message factors, and combinations of individual and message factors influence choice of information processing strategy. This commentary probes a complex contemporary personal and policy issue to illustrate the drawbacks of relying on subjects’ self-reports of reasoning strategy, or the conclusions of subjects’ decision-making processes, to distinguish between heuristic and systematic information processing. Moreover, it argues that to reach their audiences effectively, science communicators need both a sophisticated understanding of the tradeoffs in the science and health issues they cover, and a knowledge of the commonly used heuristics that influence individuals’ costs-benefits analyses.
Choroidal lymphoma masquerading as anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

PURPOSE To report a patient with presumed nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) found on our evaluation to have bilateral uveal lymphoma. METHODS The clinical history and physical examination, Humphrey visual field testing, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and fine needle aspiration biopsy specimen of a 60-year-old man with presumed NAION were evaluated. RESULTS The patient initially presented with painless blurred vision OD and foreign body sensation OS. Upon examination, he was found to have optic nerve edema OD suspicious for NAION and oral steroids were employed with no improvement. Later, an abnormality in the left eye raised suspicion for choroidal metastasis. By ultrasound, the tumor in the left choroid was acoustically hollow. MRI of the orbits revealed a choroidal infiltrative process OU. Fine needle aspiration biopsy of OS confirmed atypical lymphocytes, predominantly small to intermediate sized, without necrosis. The patient was treated with external beam radiation therapy to both eyes. CONCLUSIONS Choroidal lymphoma may present with clinical features of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or choroidal metastasis.
Now What?—Resubmission

The decision to resubmit a grant may be difficult. However, a close reading of the Summary Statement will provide solid indications of whether a resubmission is necessary or if a resubmission should be undertaken. This chapter provides a discussion of what a Summary Statement is, how to interpret the Summary Statement, how to use this information to determine if you should resubmit, and how to address the reviewers’ comments. A description of the Introduction to the Application, the section in which the applicant states how they addressed the previous critiques, is also included with examples of key words and phrases to focus the writing.
Abstract 4225: Dynamic control of tumor vasculature with direct observation using intravital microscopy

Introduction Intravital microscopy (IVM) provides in vivo real-time imaging of tumor-associated vasculature. Our group was the first to use IVM successfully in human subjects to image melanoma associated vessels. In this preclinical study, we hypothesized that intravenous (IV) nicardipine increases observable blood flow to tumor through vasodilatation and therefore may facilitate drug delivery. Methods Standard window chambers for IVM were implanted into female BALB/c mice. The murine colon cancer cell line CT26HA was inoculated in the skin within the chamber. Fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-dex) was injected IV to enhance vessel observation prior to nicardipine (8 μg/mouse). Observations were performed at 100x magnification using a modified Olympus microscope for 10 minutes. Naive mice were used for control observations. Mice bearing CT26HA were observed on post-inoculation day 5, 12 and 20. Vessel architecture and vessel diameter in response to nicardipine were compared. Results In non-CT26HA bearing mice, nicardipine resulted in a greater than 10% increase in skin vessel diameters directly measured using IVM (pre-nicardipine diameter 82.4 ± 3.6 μm versus post-nicardipine diameter 93.0 ± 3.9 μm. In CT26HA bearing mice, abnormal vessels were observed as early as day 7 even in the absence of a solid tumor mass. Vessel abnormalities included haphazard areas of increased vessel density, aberrant vessel branching patterns, nonfunctional vessels, and altered flow rates. Following nicardipine injection, the diameter of larger tumor-associated vessels did not increase and remained constant (pre: 111.2 ± 2.7 μm vs post: 109.1 ± 3.3 μm). Paradoxically, for smaller vessels ( Conclusions Observation of dynamic vessel changes from vasoactive agents is feasible using IVM. For tumor-associated vessels, nicardipine was not shown to increase vessel diameter and counterintuitively decreased diameters of smaller vessels. Implication on drug delivery from vasoactive agents will lead to further pre-clinical study of applications for human IVM. Citation Format: Emmanuel M. Gabriel, Daniel Fisher, Minhyung Kim, Colin Powers, Anthony Visioni, Jason Muhitch, Joseph Skitzki. Dynamic control of tumor vasculature with direct observation using intravital microscopy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4225.
Blood pressure burden and outcome in warfarin-related intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background and purposeBlood pressure reduction is a promising intervention for acute intracerebral hemorrhage, but clinical trials of this treatment often exclude those with anticoagulant-associate...
Global High-Speed Signaling in Nanometer CMOS

A practical transmission line scheme, for long-range (-10 mm) on-chip, digital signaling in a conventional digital CMOS process is presented. Unlike other schemes, there is no requirement for up-conversion, equalization, or special metal processing. The new scheme eliminates the dispersion associated with long lossy lines, allowing very high rates (>40 Gb/s) to be achieved. Eye diagrams, based on line characteristics derived from EM simulation, indicate minimal inter-symbol interference at 40 Gb/s. For a 40 Gb/s link, in 130 nm CMOS, power consumption is shown to be less than a quarter that of a conventional parallel bus with optimally placed repeaters. The performance of a 0.72 cm link implemented in standard digital 180 nm CMOS is verified with measurements
Early Sigmoidoscopy or Colonoscopy Is Associated With Improved Hospital Outcomes in Ulcerative Colitis-Related Hospitalization

Early Sigmoidoscopy or Colonoscopy Is Associated With Improved Hospital Outcomes in Ulcerative Colitis-Related Hospitalization
Preparticipation Physical Exams: The Rhode Island Perspective, A Call for Standardization

As of 2015, 98% of U.S. states require preparticipation exams (PPE) before participating in scholastic sports. Despite widespread availability of a PPE monograph endorsed by six medical societies, a lack of uniformity exists regarding implementation of the PPE among Rhode Island health care providers (HCPs). Consequently, significant variability exists regarding how comprehensive a history and physical exam screening is conducted for adolescent athletes looking for sports participation clearance. The purpose of this document is to: 1) establish a uniform screening process in Rhode Island for the PPE utilizing a peer-reviewed history and physical exam; 2) familiarize HCPs with the 2010 PPE monograph, with emphasis on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal (MSK) systems; 3) encourage HCPs to treat the PPE as a separate entity from the annual wellness visit; 4) engage HCPs and sports medicine providers in Rhode Island to improve the quality and process of evaluating adolescent athletes for sports participation. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2016-10.asp].
Interband Effects on Hot Carrier Relaxation in Titanium Nitride Films

Hot carrier cooling rates were measured using transmission pump-probe on 30nm TiN films. Experiments used a 400nm pump/800nm probe and a 650nm pump/800nm probe. The bandstructure gives insight into the long cooling times observed.
Real-Time Motion Planning and Control in the 2005 Cornell RoboCup System

Since 1999 Cornell has competed in the RoboCup Small Size League. RoboCup is an annual international gathering featuring robot soccer competitions aimed at fostering research and education in robotics, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence. In the small size league, autonomous teams of five cantaloupe sized robots play on a 4.9 × 3.4 m field with overhead global vision cameras. Teams are typically made up of a mixture of graduate and undergraduate students.
INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION IN BREEDING FOR WHITE PINE BLISTER RUST RESISTANCE

ABSTRACT Interspecies breeding with white pines was tried in attempts to introduce resistance factors into Pinus strobus L. from related more resistant species. Seedlings, which were screened by artificial inoculation for their resistance to blister rust, were obtained from crosses between P. strobus and P. ayacahuite Ehrenb., P. griffithii McClel., P. monticola Dougl., P. parviflora Sieb. and Zucc, P. peuce Griseb., and a few from a cross with P. flexilis James. Failures resulted from all attempted crosses with P. armandii Franch., P. cembra L., and P. koraiensis Sieb. and Zucc. Hybrid progenies of P. strobus × P. monticola and of the reciprocal were as susceptible to blister rust infection as corresponding intraspecies progenies. Hybrid progenies of P. strobus × P. griffithii contained the highest percentages of resistant seedlings among all hybrids tested. Differences among P. griffithii selections were evident, however, in ability to transmit resistance to progenies. Indications of resistance were obtained in crosses of P. strobus × P. parviflora , but hybrid progenies of P. strobus × P. ayacahuite were as susceptible as intraspecies P. strobus progenies. Contradictory results were obtained with the hybrids of P. strobus × P. peuce and of the reciprocal cross. Hybrids of P. strobus × P. ayachuite, P. strobus × P. griffithii , and P. strobus × P. monticola were affected by winter injury, particularly during their first year or two in the test beds in central Wisconsin. It appeared that screening of individuals within a resistant species for ability to transmit resistance to their progeny was as necessary as in a susceptible species.
Adsorption and capacitive regeneration of nitrate using inverted capacitive deionization with surfactant functionalized carbon electrodes

Abstract Nitrate is a pollutant present in groundwater worldwide. Several techniques are available to remove nitrate from water, but they are difficult to automate in remote settings or require chemicals for treatment for regeneration. Here, we demonstrate the use of two surfactant-treated high surface area porous electrodes for passive adsorption of nitrate followed by electrical regeneration. In order to generate the surface charge driving adsorption, we functionalized the active electrode (cathode) and capacitive counter electrode (anode) with cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (SDBS), respectively. We find voltage applied during regeneration is directly proportional to the subsequent available adsorption capacity at short circuit. In a recent preliminary work, we used a Faradaic counter electrode, and here, we compare both studies in terms of energy-normalized adsorbed salt ( ENAS )—a measure of energy efficiency—and average salt adsorption rate ( ASAR ). We show that capacitive counter electrode used in this work increases ENAS by two orders of magnitude, while maintaining a similar ASAR .
Quantitative Toxicity Prediction Using Topology Based Multitask Deep Neural Networks.

The understanding of toxicity is of paramount importance to human health and environmental protection. Quantitative toxicity analysis has become a new standard in the field. This work introduces element specific persistent homology (ESPH), an algebraic topology approach, for quantitative toxicity prediction. ESPH retains crucial chemical information during the topological abstraction of geometric complexity and provides a representation of small molecules that cannot be obtained by any other method. To investigate the representability and predictive power of ESPH for small molecules, ancillary descriptors have also been developed based on physical models. Topological and physical descriptors are paired with advanced machine learning algorithms, such as the deep neural network (DNN), random forest (RF), and gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT), to facilitate their applications to quantitative toxicity predictions. A topology based multitask strategy is proposed to take the advantage of the availability o...
Harnessing the persuasive potential of data: The combinatory effects of data visualization and interactive narratives on obesity perceptions and policy attitudes

Abstract Data visualization has become a useful tool for website designers to effectively present complicated statistical information. In the context of health communication, however, the collective nature of aggregated data may hinder users from empathizing with individuals who suffer from a health issue. This study attempts to provide a solution to the limitation, by adding an interactive personal narrative to visualization of obesity data. Given the lack of empirical research that investigates why data visualization influences user engagement, the current study examines interactivity as an underlying mechanism. The level of interactivity in data visualization (low vs. high) was varied, along with the level of interactivity in a narrative of an obese character (low vs. high) in a 2 × 2 factorial-design experiment with 385 valid participants. Results showed that increased message interactivity for the narrative, presented with increased modality interactivity for data visualization, led to a greater empathic perception of obese individuals’ hardships and greater perceived severity of obesity, and less defensive responses to the website. As a result, high interactivity in data visualization showed significant indirect effects on participants’ attitudes toward policy change, only when presented with the highly interactive narrative.
Habitat complexity and predictability effects on finding and collecting food when ants search as cooperative groups

Cooperatively foraging groups have two sequential goals: to find food and thereafter efficiently exploit or retrieve it. Previous research has largely focused on searching behaviours of individuals or organization of food retrieval processes, rather than on how groups initially distribute themselves to find ephemeral food items that are unpredictable in time and space. In the present study, we examined how Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, search environments in anticipation of food appearing briefly in areas with differing spatial complexity. Nests were connected to three foraging arenas containing 1, 9 or 25 cells. Food appeared briefly in one cell each day, either randomly or more predictably in distant cells (but equally often in each arena). We recorded the number of ants in cells when food had not been recently present, and thereafter whether ants successfully located the food when presented. Surprisingly, as food location became more predictable, ants found it less frequently. Foragers were located more often in cells closer to the nest (i.e. at information ‘choke points’ that returning foragers needed to traverse), and in cells with higher connectivity and greater centralness within foraging arenas. Such distributions reduce search coverage area but likely increase information transmission. Thus, it appears that L. humile foragers distribute themselves to favour rapid recruitment when food is found rather than maximizing food encounter rates. Although the reduced foraging success with more predictably located food suggests that ants did not adjust expectations in a Bayesian manner within arenas towards individual cells, they did appear Bayesian across arenas. Because foragers missed food more often in higher-complexity arenas than in lower-complexity arenas, this could increase perceptions that the latter are more rewarding. Shifts in distributions were consistent with such biased perceptions. Future studies to determine whether other group-foraging species use analogous solutions would be highly useful.
Schooling and Capitalism

Given the assumption that industrial capitalism relies on “achievement” criteria to rationally allocate workers to jobs, there exists a fundamental belief in the American ideology of education—the notion that schooling is the key to occupational and financial success. This belief is evidenced by individuals when in ever-growing numbers they “invest” in higher education, and by public policies that seek to control poverty and other social ills by increasing access to education and training programs. This belief constitutes the essence of an implied social contract between the economic and educational institutions in American society. The experience of the past decades has shown, however, that these promised payoffs to schooling are neither guaranteed, homogeneous, nor universal.
Modeling Plant Metabolism: Advancements and Future Capabilities

Genome-scale metabolic (GSM) models of plants have flourished over the last decade with advancements in both their scope and their applications. While the first plant models were mainly developed to represent a comprehensive set of all metabolic reactions that occur within a plant, organ- and tissue-specific models have been developed and recently these models have been linked to create whole-plant metabolic models. GSM models provide a promising path to predict the effect of genetic and environmental perturbations on metabolism. These models capture the interplay between carbon and nitrogen metabolism, which is important in designing genetic manipulations that improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). There is also potential to apply and adapt the diverse set of algorithms developed for microbial GSM models to plants. These algorithms have yielded numerous success stories in predicting the metabolic effects of genetic manipulations by identifying strategies for over-producing chemicals, and driving discovery. Furthering the development of plant GSM models and associated algorithmic tools is expected to have a large impact on predicting manipulations to improve plant traits such as NUE.
A New Approach to Linear Degrees of Freedom: the MIMO Broadcast Channel with Hybrid CSIT

The K-user multiple-input multiple-output broadcast channel with an arbitrary number of antennas at each node is studied. It is assumed that the transmitter has either perfect or no channel state information from each of the K receivers. The degrees of freedom (DoF) region under the restriction of linear encoding strategies - also known as the linear DoF (LDoF) - is established. In particular, a novel approach is developed to find outer bounds on the LDoF region. First, we discover some key properties of the corner points of the LDoF region. Then, we construct a convex hull of a series of sub-regions which together contains all possible corner points of the LDoF region, and thus the convex hull is an outer bound of the LDoF region. Furthermore, by showing that each of the sub-regions is achievable using linear coding schemes, we prove that the obtained convex hull is the exact LDoF region. We also provide the explicit expressions of the LDoF region polytope for two and three- user special cases, recovering known results.
178. Impact of a Best Practice Alert Linking Clostridium difficile Infection Test Results to a Severity-Based Treatment Order Set

Background Adherence to practice guidelines for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been associated with improved patient outcomes. In March 2014, the hospital’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) implemented a best practice alert (BPA) in the electronic medical record linking a positive test result to guideline-based CDI orders for those not on CDI therapy. We sought to assess provider adherence to practice guidelines before and after implementation of this clinical decision support tool.
Abstract 001: Loss of ET B Receptor Function Activates Inflammasome Signaling Pathways and Dendritic Cells in the Renal Outer Medulla During Type 1 Diabetes

Renal inflammation is a hallmark of diabetic kidney disease. Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoactive peptide that acts through two receptors (ETA and ETB), has been implicated in diabetes and is u...
The identification of minimum-weight sound packages

Generally, heavier noise control treatments are favored over lighter treatments since heavier acoustical materials generally insulate (block) noise sources more effectively than do lighter materials. In automotive applications, however, heavier materials cannot always be adopted because of concerns about the total weight of the vehicle. Thus, it would be useful to identify lightweight acoustical treatments that can mitigate vehicle interior noise. Automotive sound packages have both absorption and transmission characteristics, and there is inevitably a trade-off between these two. Therefore, it is important to study the exchange between the absorption and transmission of acoustical materials particularly as it pertains to weight. Here, we describe a procedure, based on plane wave analysis, that can be used to identify weight reduction opportunities by adjusting the acoustical properties of a generic sound package, consisting of a fibrous layer and a flexible microperforated panel surface treatment, so that it meets a target sound pressure level in a downstream interior space. It has been found for the configuration studied here that there are lightweight sound package configurations that can maintain acoustical performance equivalent to that of heavier noise treatments, and further, it has been found that the lightest treatments tend to favor barrier performance rather than absorption. Further, the impact of acoustical leaks is considered, and it has been found that even very small leaks can result in a very substantial weight penalty if a specified level of acoustical performance is to be ensured.