cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Furthering the link between the sarcomere and primary cardiomyopathies: Restrictive cardiomyopathy associated with multiple mutations in genes previously associated with hypertrophic or dilated cardiomyopathy†

Mutations in genes that encode components of the sarcomere are well established as the cause of hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies. Sarcomere genes, however, are increasingly being associated with other cardiomyopathies. One phenotype more recently recognized as a disease of the sarcomere is restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM). We report on two patients with RCM associated with multiple mutations in sarcomere genes not previously associated with RCM. Patient 1 presented with NYHA Class III/IV heart failure at 22 years of age. She was diagnosed with RCM and advanced heart failure requiring heart transplantation. Sequencing of sarcomere genes revealed previously reported homozygous p.Glu143Lys mutations in MYL3, and a novel heterozygous p.Gly57Glu mutation in MYL2. The patient's mother is a double heterozygote for these mutations, with no evidence of cardiomyopathy. Patient 2 presented at 35 years of age with volume overload while hospitalized for oophorectomy. She was diagnosed with RCM and is being evaluated for heart transplantation. Sarcomere gene sequencing identified homozygous p.Asn279His mutations in TPM1. The patient's parents are consanguineous and confirmed heterozygotes. Her father was diagnosed with HCM at 42 years of age. This is the first report of mutations in TPM1, MYL3, and MYL2 associated with primary, non-hypertrophied RCM. The association of more sarcomere genes with RCM provides further evidence that mutations in the various sarcomere genes can cause different cardiomyopathy phenotypes. These cases also contribute to the growing body of evidence that multiple mutations have an additive effect on the severity of cardiomyopathies.
Pediatric Occupant—Vehicle Contact Maps in Rollover Motor Vehicle Crashes

Objective: Rollover crashes account for more than 33% of all motor vehicle–related fatalities and have the highest fatality risk of all crash types, at 1.37% in the United States. There is increased awareness of the high fatality rate associated with this crash type, but there is very limited pediatric-specific data related to rollover crashes in the United States. Recent focus on rollover mitigation has resulted in implementation of countermeasures, making it important to evaluate injury causation for child occupants in rollover crashes with a more current data set.Methods: We queried the Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) from case years 1998 through 2013. Rollover crashes for passenger vehicles of model year 1998 or newer with at least one restrained occupant (excluding drivers) between 0 and 19 years of age were included. Vehicle-involved physical component and occupant–vehicle contact maps were developed with the CIREN data set.Results and Conclusions: Of the 20 CIREN cases that me...
N-chloro-N-sodio-2-trimethylsilyl ethyl carbamate: A new nitrogen source for the catalytic asymmetric aminohydroxylation

Abstract The use of N-chloro-N-sodio-2-trimethylsilyl ethyl carbamate in the osmium-catalyzed asymmetric aminohydroxylation of alkenes leads to enantiomerically enriched N-trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl (TeoC) protected aminoalcohols in yields up to 80% and ee's up to 99%.
Complex adaptive systems modeling with repast simphony

This paper is to describe development of the features and functions of Repast Simphony, the widely used, free, and open source agent-based modeling environment that builds on the Repast 3 library. Repast Simphony was designed from the ground up with a focus on well-factored abstractions. The resulting code has a modular architecture that allows individual components such as networks, logging, and time scheduling to be replaced as needed. The Repast family of agent-based modeling software has collectively been under continuous development for more than 10 years. Includes reviewing other free and open-source modeling libraries and environments as well as describing the architecture of Repast Simphony. The architectural description includes a discussion of the Simphony application framework, the core module, ReLogo, data collection, the geographical information system, visualization, freeze drying, and third party application integration. Include a review of several Repast Simphony applications and brief tutorial on how to use Repast Simphony to model a simple complex adaptive system. We discuss opportunities for future work, including plans to provide support for increasingly large-scale modeling efforts.
Stepping onto raised, laterally compliant structures: A biomechanical study of age and gender effects in healthy adults

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of gender and age on the kinematics and kinetics associated with stepping onto, and balancing on, a raised structure with lateral compliance. BACKGROUND: Falls from a stepladder tipping sideways are associated with considerable socioeconomic costs. METHOD: Ten young women (YF) and 10 young men (YM), aged 23 to 29 years, and 10 older men (OM) aged 66 to 75 years were asked to step up onto one of two raised structures with increasing lateral compliance (C1 and C2), presented in sets of six trials separated by up to 12 rigid (C0) structure trials. RESULTS: Structural compliance (C1 or C2) significantly affected step duration (p Language: en
Funding long-term care: applications of the trade-off principle in both public and private sectors.

The uncertain need for long-term care services is a risk best protected by insurance. However, the current funding relies heavily on personal payment and public welfare, and only lightly on social and private insurances. This method, akin to sitting on a two-legged stool, is unlikely to be sustainable. To incorporate insurance as a key component of funding and to mobilize public and private resources more effectively, we propose a three-legged-stool funding model under which social insurance would provide a basic protection, to be supplemented by private insurance and personal payment. When these sources do not provide sufficient protection for some individuals, Medicaid as public welfare would serve as a safety net. This article (a) discusses how to implement this funding model by using the trade-off principle in both the public and private sectors when resources for long-term care are scarce, and (b) analyzes several objections to this model from cognitive psychology∕behavioral economics.
YouTube as a participatory culture

There is an explosion of youth subscriptions to original content-media-sharing Web sites such as YouTube. These Web sites combine media production and distribution with social networking features, making them an ideal place to create, connect, collaborate, and circulate. By encouraging youth to become media creators and social networkers, new media platforms such as YouTube offer a participatory culture in which youth can develop, interact, and learn. As youth development researchers, we must be cognizant of this context and critically examine what this platform offers that might be unique to (or redundant of) typical adolescent experiences in other developmental contexts.
Electrocardiographic evaluation studies on quinidine-induced changes of myocardial conduction.

Abstract Quinidine slows the rate of depolarization of both auricle and ventricle, as indicated by a widening of the P wave and the QRS complex; this is an effect which may well be responsible for the drug's effectiveness in atrial fibrillation. Precordial lead records show no change in contour of the QRS complex following large doses of quinidine; the initial and terminal portions of the QRS complex are equally prolonged. That there is no alteration in the sequence of ventricular depolarization by quinidine is confirmed in that there is neither change of contour nor axis of QRS vector loop. These observations would rule out the production of left or right bundle branch block by quinidine. Quinidine does not delay atrial or ventricular repolarization. The prolongation of P-R and Q-T intervals by quinidine can be attributed to its reduction of the heart rate. Lethal doses of quinidine present many of the electrocardiographic features of potassium intoxication at a time when the influence of hypoxia can be ruled out. Although large doses of quinidine do not significantly alter plasma ion concentrations, left ventricular tissue shows the drug to have caused a loss of sodium and a retention of potassium ion; this apparently reflects intracellular changes. Sodium lactate administered to dogs dying from quinidine poisoning exerts a respiratory stimulant action, but cannot restore to normal the quinidine-prolonged QRS complex or width of the P wave. Nearly lethal doses of quinidine were followed at no time by ventricular tachycardia nor other ventricular arrhythmias, despite considerable prolongation of myocardial depolarization and slowing of heart rate.
High dispersal ability inhibits speciation in a continental radiation of passerine birds

Dispersal can stimulate speciation by facilitating geographical expansion across barriers or inhibit speciation by maintaining gene flow among populations. Therefore, the relationship between dispersal ability and speciation rates can be positive or negative. Furthermore, an ‘intermediate dispersal’ model that combines positive and negative effects predicts a unimodal relationship between dispersal and diversification. Because both dispersal ability and speciation rates are difficult to quantify, empirical evidence for the relationship between dispersal and diversification remains scarce. Using a surrogate for flight performance and a species-level DNA-based phylogeny of a large South American bird radiation (the Furnariidae), we found that lineages with higher dispersal ability experienced lower speciation rates. We propose that the degree of fragmentation or permeability of the geographical setting together with the intermediate dispersal model are crucial in reconciling previous, often contradictory findings regarding the relationship between dispersal and diversification.
Strain Measurements from Single Grains in Passivated Aluminum Conductor Lines by X-Ray Microdiffraction During Electromigration

We describe a method for determining the local strain state of passivated aluminum metal lines from single grains within 2.6 µm × 7.0 µm × 0.75 µm sized regions along the line. X-ray microbeam diffraction is used to obtain localized measurements of thermal and electromigration-induced strain during 37 hours of electromigration in a passivated 2.6 µm-wide, 300 µm-long pure Al conductor line at a current density of 4.2×10 5 A/cm 2 and temperature of 270°C. Diffraction from single grains is used to measure both the in-plane and normal components of strain and their evolution during electromigration at several positions along the line.
Fish Reproduction and Stress

This chapter will draw attention to the importance of performing more research on the effects of stress on the reproductive performance of fishes. The subject will be approached from the point of view that reproduction may have a narrower tolerance to stress than any other life function, while enjoying at the same time a pivotal role in the success or failure of a population in nature. The sensitivity of reproduction to stress has emerged during the last 10 years. Mount (1968) announced this point of view for the first time in his studies of the effect of copper on the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). He said, “It appears from these data that there is a range of concentration of copper in water in which indefinite survival is possible but reproduction is inhibited and that this effect is not detected by measurements of growth or histopathological examination.” This statement has been echoed many times since, and it is now taken for granted that the bioassay of any stressor must take into account the whole life cycle with the strong possibility that reproduction will be the most sensitive part. Reproductive bioassays are as much as 200–500 times more sensitive than acute survival bioassays (Eaton 1973).
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene expression in human whole blood.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) Is recognized as a principal mediator of a variety of pathophysiologic and immunologic events. Llpopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge, either in vitro or in vivo, results in significant TNF production. In this study we present data demonstrating LPS-lnduced TNF mRNA expression and bioactlvlty using an In vitro tissue system of whole blood (WB). The kinetics of LPS-induced TNF production by WB was signifIcantly accelerated as compared to isolated cultured peripheral blood monocytes (PBM). At post-LPS challenge, plasma from WB demonstrated a rapid rise in TNF bloactivity, peaking by 4 hr (1,021 units/mI/i 06 cells), plateauing between 4 and 8 hr, and then decreasing over the next 16 hr. In contrast, the highest measured TNF bioactlvity from PBM did not occur until the 24-hr time-point (175 unIts/mI/b6 cells). Whole blood buffycoat TNF mRNA was assessed by Northern blot analysis, and demonstrated significant TNF mRNA accumulation at 1 hr and a peak 2 hr post-LPS challenge. By 8 hr TNF mRNA was undetectable. Concomitant administration of LPS with either prostagiandin E2 (106M) or Dexamethasone (106M) resulted In significant suppression of LPS-induced TNF production. This data supports WB as a useful in vitro medium for the molecular and cellular analyis of TNF. As specialized connective tissue, WB may provide an important environment to study the pharmacologic manipulation of TNF mRNA and bloactivity.
Wanted: Floating-Point Add Round-off Error instruction

We propose a new instruction (FPADDRE) that computes the round-o error in oating-point addition. We explain how this instruction benets high-precision arithmetic operations in applications where double precision is not sucient. Performance estimates on Intel Haswell, Intel Skylake, and AMD Steamroller processors, as well as Intel Knights Corner co-processor, demonstrate that such an instruction would improve the latency of double-double addition by up to 55% and increase double-double addition throughput by up to 103%, with smaller, but non-negligible benets for doubledouble multiplication. The new instruction delivers up to 2 speedups on three benchmarks that use high-precision oating-point arithmetic: double-double matrix-matrix multiplication, compensated dot product, and polynomial evaluation via the compensated Horner scheme.
A Profile of Urban In-home Shoppers:

Who are in-home shoppers? Are they convenience oriented? Do they find store shopping particularly difficult or unpleasant ? Are they likely to be “locked in” at home? This article suggests some ans...
Nanoscale imaging and hydrophobicity mapping of the antimicrobial effect of copper on bacterial surfaces

Copper has a long historical role in the arena of materials with antimicrobial properties. Various forms of copper ranging from surfaces to impregnation in textiles and particles, have attracted considerable interest owing to their versatility, potency, chemical stability, and low cost. However, the effects and mechanisms of their antimicrobial action is still unclear. In this study, the effect of copper particles on Escherichia coli was studied at the nanoscale using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Time-lapse AFM images at the single cell level show the morphological changes on live E. coli during antimicrobial treatment, in which for the first time, this process was followed in situ on the same cell over time. AFM-based hydrophobicity mapping further showed that incubating cells with Cu decreased the surface hydrophobicity with an increase of incubation time. Specifically, we are able to visualize both morphology and physico-chemical nature of the bacterial cell surface change in response to copper treatment, leading to the membrane damage and cytoplasm leakage. Overall, the time-lapse AFM imaging combined with hydrophobicity mapping approach presented here provides spatio-temporal insight into the antimicrobial mechanisms of copper at the single cell level, and can be applied to design of better metallic antimicrobial materials as well as investigate different microorganisms.
Inflammatory/Hemostatic Biomarkers and Coronary Artery Calcium Progression in Women at Midlife (from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, Heart Study).

It is unknown whether inflammatory/hemostatic biomarkers are associated with coronary artery calcium (CAC) progression. Our purpose was to evaluate the associations of baseline levels of C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator antigen, and circulating factor VII with CAC progression in healthy midlife women. Inflammatory/hemostatic biomarkers were measured at baseline. CAC was quantified by computed tomography scans at baseline and after 2.3 ± 0.5 years of follow-up. Significant CAC progression was defined as present if (1) follow-up CAC Agatston score was >0 if baseline CAC score = 0; (2) annualized change in CAC score was ≥10 if baseline CAC score >0 to (follow-up) +25) − log(CAC (baseline) +25)]/year. Logistic and linear regression models were used as appropriate, and the final models were adjusted for baseline CAC score, age, study site, race/ethnicity, menopausal status, sociodemographics, traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, family history of CVD, and CVD medication use. The study included 252 women (baseline age 51.2 ± 2.6 years; 67.5% white; 56.4% premenopausal or early perimenopausal). In final models, only log(PAI-1) was associated with presence of CAC progression (odds ratio 1.91, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.93; per 1 log unit increase in PAI-1; p = 0.003). In addition, higher log(PAI-1) was marginally associated with greater extent of CAC progression (p = 0.06). In conclusion, PAI-1 is associated with the presence of CAC progression in middle-aged women. Targeting PAI-1 may decrease atherogenesis beyond conventional CVD risk factors.
Controlled release products for control of ectoparasites of livestock

Publisher Summary A variety of insects, ticks, and mites affect the well-being and productivity of livestock. These pests can cause loss of blood, increase susceptibility to disease and infection, transmit diseases. Despite the inherent environmental problems of chemical control and the inevitable problem of resistance, pesticides remain a significant part of the producer's defense against these pests either alone or as part of an integrated pest management strategy. Therefore it is necessary to develop pesticides in a judicious and safe manner. Novel and improved delivery systems provide a means of minimizing the quantity of chemical needed for control of the pests, reducing the labor involved in gathering and treating cattle at frequent intervals, and reducing the environmental hazards associated with chemical control. The purpose of this chapter is to review various controlled release delivery systems that have been developed or are under development for the control of livestock ectoparasites.
Left and right generalized inverses

Abstract This article examines a way to define left and right versions of the large class of “ ( b , c ) -inverses” introduced by the writer in (2012) [6] : Given any semigroup S and any a , b , c ∈ S , then a is called left ( b , c ) -invertible if b ∈ S c a b , and x ∈ S is called a left ( b , c ) -inverse of a if x ∈ S c and x a b = b , and dually c ∈ c a b S , z ∈ S b and c a z = z for right ( b , c ) -inverses z of a. It is shown that left and right ( b , c ) -invertibility of a together imply ( b , c ) -invertibility, in which case every left ( b , c ) -inverse of a is also a right ( b , c ) -inverse, and conversely, and then all left or right ( b , c ) -inverses of a coincide. When b = c (e.g. for the Moore-Penrose inverse or for the pseudo-inverse of the author) left ( b , b ) -invertibility coincides with right ( b , b ) -invertibility in every strongly π-regular semigroup. A fundamental result of Vaserstein and Goodearl, which guarantees the left-right symmetry of Bass's property of stable range 1, is extended from two-sided inverses to left or right inverses, and, for central b, to left or right ( b , b ) -inverses.
Clinical outcomes of levalbuterol versus racemic albuterol in pediatric patients with asthma: Propensity score matching approach in a medicaid population

Objective Racemic albuterol and levalbuterol are used to treat acute episodes of asthma. The main objective of this study was to compare levalbuterol therapy to albuterol therapy on incidence rates of subsequent emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. Method We conducted a retrospective cohort study of asthmatic children who had pharmacy refills for levalbuterol/albuterol in the South Carolina Medicaid database in 2002-2011. Children receiving levalbuterol were matched to those receiving albuterol using propensity score matching technique. For ED visits and separately for hospitalizations, multivariable negative binomial regression was used to estimate the two group-specific incidence rates and the incidence rate ratio (IRR). Results A total of 8,172 asthmatic patients aged 2-18 years were identified in the South Carolina Medicaid database. During the 12-month follow-up period, the levalbuterol group had fewer asthma-related ED visits and hospitalizations: 939 (11.49%) children had asthma-related ED visits (levalbuterol: 8.76%; albuterol: 14.21%), and 89 (1.09%) children had asthma-related hospitalizations (levalbuterol: 1.07%; albuterol: 1.12%). Comparing the levalbuterol group to the albuterol group, the adjusted IRR estimate was 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49-0.65) for of asthma-related ED visits, and 0.93 (95%CI, 0.99-1.63) for hospitalizations. Children filling levalbuterol also had a lower IRR of all-cause ED visit (0.88; 95%CI, 0.82-0.95), but similar IRR of all-cause hospitalizations (1.08; 95%CI, 0.82-1.42). Conclusion This observational study of children aged 2-18 demonstrated levalbuterol prescription fills were associated with reduced ED visits, but not hospitalizations. Additional research may be necessary to assess this association. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2017;52:516-523. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura as a Marker for Disease Progression in a Patient with Metastatic Rectal Cancer.

The pathophysiology of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) relates the ADAMTS 13 protease deficiency as a result of an inhibitor in acquired TTP, such as secondary to malignancy. Relapsing TTP is due to the inhibition or relative deficiency of von Willibrand factor (vWf)-cleaving protease activity preventing the breakdown of unusually large multimers of vWf, with resultant platelet adhesion to the subendothelium, platelet aggregation, and endothelial damage (Nabhan, 2003). We describe the manifestation of TTP as marker for rectal cancer disease recurrence and progression. A 60 y/o black male with Dukes C2 rectal cancer was treated with surgical resection, local radiation and six months of adjuvant fluoruracil and leucovorin. Two years later, he presented with fatigue, shortness of breath and confusion. He had a hemoglobin of 7.0 g/dl, platelets of 20,000, 2+ schistocytes, and acute renal failure with a creatinine of 1.5 mg/dl. TTP was confirmed with decreased ADAMTS 13 protease activity His evaluation revealed a carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) of 11.4 μg/L (normal Palliative chemotherapy with FOLFIRI (irenotecan, 5-FU, and leucovorin) achieved a partial remission of his rectal cancer. He also had a good therapeutic response for his relapsed TTP, with improved ADAMTS 13 activity to 27%, but continued to required weekly maintenance plasmapheresis prior to chemotherapy. Progression of his rectal cancer was preceded by relapsed TTP, requiring intensification of treatment with increased frequency of plasmapheresis. CT scan and rising CEA confirmed rectal cancer progression, and his chemotherapy was changed to XELOX (capecitabine and oxaliplatin). Response to chemotherapy correlated with stable disease with regards to his TTP. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and the related hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) are rare, but well described complications in patients with adenocarcinomas, including gastrointestinal, pancreatic, breast and prostate primaries. TTP has also been described following treatment with certain chemotherapeutic agents, including cisplatin, gemcitabine, bleomycin and mitomycin C. Only one case has been reported in the literature of TTP relapse at the time of tumor progression, and this was a patient with breast cancer (Amer. J. Clin. Oncology23(1): 74-7, 2000). However, there is no report of recurrent TTP-HUS serving as a marker for solid tumor disease recurrence with correlative ADAMTS 13 protease activity and inhibitor. We conclude that effective treatment of the primary adenocarcinoma is crucial to the control of malignancy associated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and ADAMTS 13 inhibiter and activity levels are important clinical indicators of disease progression and response to treatment.
The Sauk Sequence: Ediacarian—Lower Ordovician

This chapter initiates the discussion of Phanerozoic history and, simultaneously, sets the format for the remainder of the book. The chapter divisions will be based on the cratonic sequences of L. L. Sloss, which reflect natural stratigraphic breaks in response to waxing and waning of the epeiric seas which have characterized much of North America’s Paleozoic and Mesozoic history.
Next Generation Digital PET Neuroimaging: Does the Acquisition Field of View Size Matter?

1810 Objectives The introduction of next generation digital PET/CT technology (dPET) motivates the re-evaluation of numerous aspects of PET/CT imaging. Improvements in system sensitivity, Time of Flight (TOF) timing resolution, and count statistics allow for changes in dosing approaches and reconstruction protocols, leading toward higher definition imaging than ever before. PET for evaluation of neurology has traditionally required long acquisition times with a dedicated, smaller field of view (FOV), e.g. 256 mm, protocol than whole body imaging, FOV 576 mm. As we noted already, excellent neuro image quality on the large FOV using a dPET system, we assessed whether there remains a need for smaller FOV acquisition especially if there are medical reasons to potentially image beyond the brain region. Therefore, we performed an intra-individual comparison using both acquisition modes. Methods 20 patients were imaged on a pre-commercial release dPET system, Vereos, between 50 and 110 minutes post-injection using an average dose of 13 mCi FDG. A single bed position was centered on the brain and a 90 second acquisition was performed using the dedicated brain FOV 256 cm. Immediately following, a standard whole body acquisition including the brain was performed using 90 seconds per bed and the whole body FOV 576 cm. Both data sets were then reconstructed with 2 and 1 mm3 voxel volumes, 3 iterations and 29 subsets, point spread function correction and Gaussian filter applied consistently. An atlas based analysis was then performed measuring SUVmax and z-score over 84 brain regions. The evaluations from the 256 and 576 FOV acquisitions were then further compared for both 2 and 1 mm3 reconstructions. Additionally, a blinded reader match comparison assessment was performed. Results When comparing the brain 256 FOV acquisitions with those from the whole body 576 FOV, no significant differences in SUVmax or z-score measures were found, for both 2 and 1 mm3 voxel volumes. The visual review of the images from each FOV setting demonstrated no perceptible differences in visual quality or readability while accounting for the fact that they were acquired at slightly different time points and as two independent scans. Conclusions This initial trial indicates, that next generation digital PET may not require a dedicated acquisition, limited field of view (256 mm) as equivalent image and quantitative quality can be achieved using the full (whole-body) field of view. This facilitates improved workflow especially when larger anatomic or even whole body acquisitions are combined with neuro-imaging. While longer acquisition times over the brain may still be desirable, incorporation of variable bed times into whole body acquisitions can easily accommodate such needs.
Hypercalcemia in Inpatient Setting: Diagnostic Approach and Management

Hypercalcemia is commonly seen as a chronic disorder which can be effectively managed in the outpatient world. Acute decompensation of hypercalcemia is a condition that needs urgent evaluation and treatment, otherwise, can become life-threatening. In majority of cases, hyperparathyroidism and malignancy are the causes. Thorough history and examination can provide us clues to delineate the cause of hypercalcemia. PTH is the mainstay blood testing that can point us further towards the diagnostic approach. This evaluation is usually done while the patient is being treated to lower down Ca levels with IV hydration, calcitonin, and bisphosphonates. Hypercalcemic crisis can require more aggressive approach such as surgical exploration of the neck and emergent parathyroidectomy.
Symbolic and neural learning algorithms: an experimental comparison

Despite the fact that many symbolic and neural network (connectionist) learning algorithms address the same problem of learning from classified examples, very little is known regarding their comparative strengths and weaknesses. Experiments comparing the ID3 symbolic learning algorithm with the perception and backpropagation neural learning algorithms have been performed using five large, real-world data sets. Overall, backpropagation performs slightly better than the other two algorithms in terms of classification accuracy on new examples, but takes much longer to train. Experimental results suggest that backpropagation can work significantly better on data sets containing numerical data. Also analyzed empirically are the effects of (1) the amount of training data, (2) imperfect training examples, and (3) the encoding of the desired outputs. Backpropagation occasionally outperforms the other two systems when given relatively small amounts of training data. It is slightly more accurate than ID3 when examples are noisy or incompletely specified. Finally, backpropagation more effectively utilizes a “distributed” output encoding.
Immigration Adjudication: The Missing Rule of Law

The United States spends more than $19 billion each year on border and immigration enforcement.1 The Obama administration removed more people in eight years than the last four administrations combi...
Concomitant venous thromboembolism at the time of primary EOC diagnosis: Perioperative outcomes and survival analyses

Abstract Objective To compare outcomes among women with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) undergoing primary surgery who present without venous thromboembolism (VTE) versus with VTE and placement of inferior vena cava (IVC) filter. Methods Women who underwent primary surgery for EOC between 1/2/2003 and 12/30/2011 were identified. Patient characteristics were retrospectively abstracted, including diagnosis of VTE within 30days prior to surgery and placement of IVC filter. Associations with overall survival (OS) were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results A total of 843 patients met inclusion criteria; 817 patients (Group 1) did not have VTE at the time of EOC diagnosis and 26 patients (Group 2) had a VTE and IVC placement within 30days prior to surgery. Group 2 had worse performance status, lower albumin, and more likely to have clear cell histology. Groups 1 and 2 were similar in terms of perioperative outcomes. Mortality within 90days of surgery was 6.4% in Group 1 versus 11.5% in Group 2 (p=0.24). Although median OS for group 1 was much higher than group 2, 56.6m versus 25.7m, in this cohort this difference did not reach statistical significance (adjusted HR 1.39, 95% CI 0.85–2.29, p=0.19). Conclusions Patients with VTE diagnosed at the time of EOC diagnosis have poor outcomes. This may reflect more aggressive tumor biology, worse overall health of the patient following VTE, or may reflect worse survival secondary to the VTE. Patients must be carefully selected for surgery in the setting of VTE.
Bioinspired Layered Composite Principles of Biomineralized Fish Scale

This chapter provides a road map for the current state of knowledge for biomineralized fish scale composite research. Since the fish scale is an analog of bone; detailed descriptions are given for the diverse field of bone research as well. Additionally provided are computational modeling methods that can be used to identify the structure–property relationships for the fish scale. Finally, the chapter integrates the biomaterials, science, and engineering perspectives so that the underlying mechanisms leading to the energy absorptive/dissipative characteristics can be ascertained. The goal of this chapter is to provide a prospectus into the current state of fish scale experimentation and modeling that can be used to develop bioinspired designs for protective structures. While the focus of this chapter is to discuss biomaterials and bioinspired design/analysis of protective structures, the state of knowledge is applicable to composites, aerospace, and biomedical communities of practice.
Content deafness: When coherent talk just doesn't matter

Abstract Common intuition suggests that, when people are engaged in face-to-face conversation, they diligently monitor the coherence of the messages they exchange. We present evidence showing that, contrary to this intuition, people often fail to notice cases of blatant conversational incoherence. Thirty participants engaged in spontaneous face-to-face conversations with a confederate who, 8 min into the conversation, uttered the nonsensical sentence “colorless green ideas sleep furiously”. The sentence was uttered with a clear voice when participants were silent. A minute later the conversation was ended and participants were asked if they had noticed the sentence. Remarkably, only 10 participants noticed. This newly uncovered phenomenon—which we label content deafness—corroborates and extends previous findings with online instant messaging.
E-Learning in Iran as a Developing Country: Challenges Ahead and Possible Solutions

E-learning has lately grown into a proliferating area because of its good potentials for instructional and assessment purposes. Context of instruction where e-learning is commissioned can bear implications for the scope and instances of application. The present study addresses the major challenges faced in this respect by Iranian practitioners and also offer some practical solutions to these challenges. As a descriptive study in nature, the data population comprised 350 Iranian citizens from various social, economical and educational backgrounds aged between 16 and 53 who were asked to prioritize six major challenges Iranian people face regarding the e-learning arena on a standardized Likert-type scale. The challenges were selected from among those earlier cited in the related literature. Six major challenges to be prioritized were: lack of government support, lack of public awareness, high costs of e-learning, collectivist society of Iran, low-speed internet, internal filtering and external sanctions. The results indicated that lack of public awareness, lack of government support and collectivist society of Iran were chosen by the participants as the main hurdles in the path of e-learning development in Iran, respectively. Further solutions and implications of the study are discussed in the study.
Studying Educational Computing Projects

This paper describes how a long-term project has evolved from a qualitative research study carried out in the early 1990s to the point of transition where it is today. The long-term goal of the project has been to improve the viability of educational computing projects by identifying and disseminating effective and sustainable strategies. The initial study took place between the years 1990–1993. Information from interviews with 19 key participants and supplemental documents were used to explore the educational, technical and organizational contexts of a number of projects. In each project, attempts to reach unique discipline and learner oriented goals afforded by new computing capabilities led to unforeseen technical challenges that became intertwined with issues related to traditional organizational structures. Limitations encountered in the original study’s methodology drove this project to transform into an initiative to use negotiation and cooperation to collect and compare historical data about educational computing projects.
Emerging concepts of the nature of circulating parathyroid hormones: implications for clinical research.

Publisher Summary Endocrinology has been revolutionized by the development of the radioimmunoassay technique for measuring minute quantities of peptide hormones. First applied to insulin, the principles of the assay have been quickly adapted to the measurement of other circulating peptide hormones. This chapter provides an overview on the radioimmunoassay of parathyroid hormone (PTH). It discusses the biological significance and origin of circulating forms of immunoreactive PTH. An antiserum possessing high affinity for the N-terminal, biologically active portion of the molecule is best suited for the study of the parathyroid secretion control. When long-term secretory rates of the hormone are at issue, an antiserum possessing high affinity for long-lived fragments is useful. Despite limitations, the immunoassay of PTH has proved to be an extraordinarily powerful and useful tool in clinical investigation. The chapter also discusses the existence of predictable circadian changes in the levels of many hormones and electrolytes in blood and urine.
A Concise History of Russia: War and Revolution

The Russian revolution of 1917 was one of the many consequences of the First World War. The war placed strains on the Russian state and society that neither could withstand. The result was six years of war and upheaval that created the Soviet Union. War Russia's participation in the First World War was not an accident. After the Russo-Japanese War Russia's foreign policy turned west. In 1907 Russia concluded the treaty with its long time rival, Great Britain, to establish a condominium over Iran. The Russians took control of the northern part of the country down to Teheran, and the British the south. This compromise put an end to Anglo-Russian imperial competition in Asia, and meant that Russia was now effectively allied with Britain as well as France. The only imaginable enemies were Germany and Austria. The agreement over Persia set the stage for 1914, but it was imperial rivalries in the Balkans that provided the spark for the explosion. There, Russia faced a resurgent Ottoman Empire allied with Germany and Austria and Bulgaria tagging along. At this point Russia's only ally was tiny Serbia, which stood right in the way of Austro-German expansion in the south. A series of Balkan crises in these years repeatedly showed Russia's weakness in the area: it had no formal allies other than Serbia and none of the informal power that came from business ties established by the Germans and Austrians as well as the French and British. When Gavrilo Princip assassinated the Austrian archduke in Sarajevo in 1914, Vienna issued an ultimatum to Serbia and Russia had to back up Serbian resistance. Russia's basic credibility was at stake, and the result was war. It had not sought the war, but had drifted into the crisis as it was doing in so many other areas.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Selective Search Index Partitions without Supervision

Selective search architectures partition a document collection into topic-oriented index shards, usually using algorithms that have random components. Different mappings of documents into index shards (shard maps) produce different search accuracy and consistency, however identifying which shard maps will deliver the highest average effectiveness is an open problem. This paper presents a new metric, Area Under Recall Curve (AUReC), to evaluate and compare shard maps. AUReC is the first such metric that is independent of resource selection and shard cut-off estimation. It does not require an end-to-end evaluation or manual gold-standard judgements. Experiments show that its predictions are highly-correlated with evaluating end-to-end systems of various configurations, while being easier to implement and computationally inexpensive.
Interpretation of Basic Clinical Images: How Are Surgical Residents Performing Compared to Other Trainees?

BACKGROUND During medical training students, residents, and fellows learn how to accurately interpret basic radiographic images. This skill is mostly utilized by physicians in the acute and critical care settings. It is unclear whether surgical residents’ interpretation skills differ from that of other trainees. METHODS A 30-question online quiz was developed to evaluate trainees’ skills in interpreting images using various radiologic modalities. The participating cohort included (1) medical students (MS), (2) general surgery residents (GST), internal medicine residents and fellows (IMT), and radiology trainees (RT). The impact of residency specialty and level of training on performance was evaluated. RESULTS A total of 69 postgraduate trainees and 19 MS enrolled in the online quiz. The average score was 67.6% (±16.6). GST scored higher than IMT (74.2% ± 10.7% vs. 67.9% ± 11.3%, p = 0.038); however, they were equally proficient to RT. MS had the lowest interpretation accuracy rates compared to postgraduate trainees (57.4% ± 16.8%, p CONCLUSIONS GST were able to correctly interpret 74.2% of basic clinical images. Although superior in the evaluation of pathologies seen on CT body and ultrasound, GST have comparable performance to other trainees in X-rays, tube/line localization images, and CT head. Integration of radiology education in surgical training may enhance performance and potentially improve patient care.
Model-free Online Motion Adaptation for Optimal Range and Endurance of Multicopters

In this work we introduce an approach that allows a quadcopter to find the velocity which maximizes its flight time (endurance) or flight distance (range) while moving along a given path, using on-board power measurement. The proposed strategy is based on Extremum Seeking control and (a) does not require any model of the power consumption of the system, (b) can be executed on-line, and (c) guarantees adaptation to unknown disturbances. We show experimentally that hovering is not the most energy-efficient loitering strategy, and we demonstrate the proposed method’s ability to adapt to different aerodynamic disturbances, such as payloads. The method may be especially useful in applications where a quadcopter carries an unknown payload, allowing it to adapt for improved range.
Additional Consolidation after Attaining Second Complete Remission Results in Superior Outcomes after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Adults with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract Introduction Treatment outcomes for adult patients with relapsed ALL are limited. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only curative option in a small subset of patients. We sought to investigate the optimal extent of therapy required prior to proceeding to transplant in second complete remission (CR2). Methods 126 consecutive patients with ALL in CR2 underwent HCT at MD Anderson Cancer Center between January 2004 to December 2015. The patient and transplant characteristics are described in table 1. The probabilities of outcomes were calculated with the Kaplan-Meyer method. Variables found to be significant at the p Results Median follow-up was 38.4 months (range 6-125). The 3-year overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and transplant-related mortality (TRM) were 34.6%, 29.5% and 33.2%, respectively. Eighty-three patients received at least one course of chemotherapy after achieving CR2 (median 2, range 1-6). These patients had significantly better OS, PFS and relapse rate than the 34 patients that went to transplant immediately after achieving CR2. Namely, 43.8% vs 7.6% (p=0.002), 39.4% vs. 5.1% (p=0.002) and 37.9% vs. 89.5% (p Patient’s age, performance status, comorbidity index and graft source were also predictive for outcome. In multivariate analysis receiving at least one additional course of chemotherapy after achieving CR2 (RR=0.53, CI=0.31-0.91, p=0.02), age>45 (RR=2.06, CI=1.20-3.53, p=0.009), alternative graft sources (RR=1.81, CI=1.09-2.97, p=0.02) and Karnofsky 45 (RR=1.92, CI=1.15-3.20, p=0.01) and Karnofsky Conclusion: The outcome of patients with relapsed ALL who proceed to HCT immediately after achieving CR2 is dismal. Our data supports the notion that patients should receive at least one additional course of treatment after achieving CR2 prior to transplantation, regardless of MRD status. However, our observations must be interpreted with caution as this was not an intent to treat analysis so we could not adjust for loss of patients prior transplantation. Further analysis on an intent to treat basis is underway. Download : Download high-res image (98KB) Download : Download full-size image Download : Download high-res image (190KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures Ciurea: Spectrum Pharmaceuticals: Other: Advisory Board; Cyto-Sen Therapeutics: Equity Ownership. Jabbour: Pfizer: Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy; ARIAD: Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy; Novartis: Research Funding; ARIAD: Consultancy. Kantarjian: BMS, Pfizer, Amgen, Novartis: Research Funding. Champlin: Intrexon: Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties; Ziopharm Oncology: Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties.
Genetic relationships among cold, salt and drought tolerance during seed germination in an interspecific cross of tomato

Seed of BC1 progeny of an interspecific cross between a slow germinating Lycopersicon esculentum breeding line(NC84173; maternal and recurrent parent) and a fast germinating L.pimpinellifolium accession (LA722) were evaluated for germination under cold stress, salt stress and drought stress, and in each treatment the most rapidly germinating seeds (first 2%) were selected. Selected individuals were grown to maturity and self-pollinated to produce BC1S1 progeny families. The selected BC1S1 progeny from each experiment were evaluated for germination rate in each of a non stress (control),cold-, salt- and drought-stress treatment, and their performances were compared with those of a non selected BC1S1population in the same treatments. Results indicated that selection for rapid seed germination in each of the three stress treatments was effective and significantly improved progeny germination rate under all three stress conditions. The results support the suggestion that same genes might control the rate of seed germination under cold, salt and drought stress. Furthermore, selection in each of the three stress treatments resulted in improved progeny seed germination rate under nonstress conditions, suggesting that genetic mechanisms that facilitate rapid seed germination under stress conditions might also contribute to rapid germination under nonstress conditions. In practice, therefore, selection for rapid seed germination under a single stress environment may result in progeny with improved seed germination under a wide range of environmental conditions. Furthermore, to improve germination rate under nonstress conditions, it might be more efficient to make selections under stress conditions.