cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 13055: Cardiac Structure and Function in US Latinos of Diverse Backgrounds With and Without the Metabolic Syndrome: The Echocardiographic Study of Latinos (Echo-SOL)

Background: Hispanics/Latinos with heart failure are younger with more co-morbidities compared to non-Hispanic whites, yet the role of metabolic syndrome (MetS) as a risk factor for cardiac dysfunction in this population has not been well described. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of Echo-SOL, a population-based cohort of 1818 US Hispanics/Latinos. Nondiabetic participants without coronary artery disease or severe valve disease were included. MetS was defined by the AHA/NHLBI 2009 Joint Scientific Statement. Survey multivariable linear regression analyses using sampling weights were used to model the relationship between MetS and echocardiographic measures of cardiac structure and function, adjusting for covariates (age, sex, study site, tobacco use, alcohol use, physical activity, years of education). Additionally, individuals with a body mass index (BMI) 25/ -MetS; and BMI>25/+MetS. Results: Among 1260 nondiabetics (59% female) high waist circumference and elevated triglycerides were associated with worse GLS; high waist circumference and elevated blood pressure were associated with higher left ventricular mass index and worse E/E’ ratio. Compared with individuals without MetS, individuals with MetS had lower medial and lateral E’ velocities (-0.4 cm/s, [Standard Error 0.1], p=0.0002; -0.5 cm/s [0.2], p=0.02, respectively), greater E/E’ (0.5 [0.2], p=0.01), and worse 2-chamber global longitudinal strain (GLS) (0.9%, SE 0.3, p=0.009). Individuals with BMI Conclusions: In a sample of US Hispanics/Latinos, MetS was associated with worse left ventricular systolic and diastolic function, even among normal weight individuals.
Components of a Measure to Describe Organizational Culture in Academic Pharmacy.

Objective. To develop a measure of organizational culture in academic pharmacy and identify characteristics of an academic pharmacy program that would be impactful for internal (eg, students, employees) and external (eg, preceptors, practitioners) clients of the program.Methods. A three-round Delphi procedure of 24 panelists from pharmacy schools in the U.S. and Canada generated items based on the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP), which were then evaluated and refined for inclusion in subsequent rounds. Items were assessed for appropriateness and impact.Results. The panel produced 35 items across six domains that measured organizational culture in academic pharmacy: competitiveness, performance orientation, social responsibility, innovation, emphasis on collegial support, and stability.Conclusion. The items generated require testing for validation and reliability in a large sample to finalize this measure of organizational culture.
Chlamydia trachomatis dapF Encodes a Bifunctional Enzyme Capable of Both d-Glutamate Racemase and Diaminopimelate Epimerase Activities.

Peptidoglycan is a sugar/amino acid polymer unique to bacteria and essential for division and cell shape maintenance. The d-amino acids that make up its cross-linked stem peptides are not abundant in nature and must be synthesized by bacteria de novo d-Glutamate is present at the second position of the pentapeptide stem and is strictly conserved in all bacterial species. In Gram-negative bacteria, d-glutamate is generated via the racemization of l-glutamate by glutamate racemase (MurI). Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of infectious blindness and sexually transmitted bacterial infections worldwide. While its genome encodes a majority of the enzymes involved in peptidoglycan synthesis, no murI homologue has ever been annotated. Recent studies have revealed the presence of peptidoglycan in C. trachomatis and confirmed that its pentapeptide includes d-glutamate. In this study, we show that C. trachomatis synthesizes d-glutamate by utilizing a novel, bifunctional homologue of diaminopimelate epimerase (DapF). DapF catalyzes the final step in the synthesis of meso-diaminopimelate, another amino acid unique to peptidoglycan. Genetic complementation of an Escherichia coli murI mutant demonstrated that Chlamydia DapF can generate d-glutamate. Biochemical analysis showed robust activity, but unlike canonical glutamate racemases, activity was dependent on the cofactor pyridoxal phosphate. Genetic complementation, enzymatic characterization, and bioinformatic analyses indicate that chlamydial DapF shares characteristics with other promiscuous/primordial enzymes, presenting a potential mechanism for d-glutamate synthesis not only in Chlamydia but also numerous other genera within the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobiae-Chlamydiae superphylum that lack recognized glutamate racemases.IMPORTANCE Here we describe one of the last remaining "missing" steps in peptidoglycan synthesis in pathogenic Chlamydia species, the synthesis of d-glutamate. We have determined that the diaminopimelate epimerase (DapF) encoded by Chlamydia trachomatis is capable of carrying out both the epimerization of DAP and the pyridoxal phosphate-dependent racemization of glutamate. Enzyme promiscuity is thought to be the hallmark of early microbial life on this planet, and there is currently an active debate as to whether "moonlighting enzymes" represent primordial evolutionary relics or are a product of more recent reductionist evolutionary pressures. Given the large number of Chlamydia species (as well as members of the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobiae-Chlamydiae superphylum) that possess DapF but lack homologues of MurI, it is likely that DapF is a primordial isomerase that functions as both racemase and epimerase in these organisms, suggesting that specialized d-glutamate racemase enzymes never evolved in these microbes.
Activation Effect of 2′-Adenylic Acid on Bacterial Transhydrogenases

The Pseudomonas pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenases have been found to catalyze the following reaction (1,2): $$ TPNH + DP{N^{ + }} \to TP{N^{ + }} + DPNH $$ (1) Kaplan et al. (3) demonstrated that the reversal of Reaction 1 proceeds at a negligible rate, however, the reduction of TPN+ by DPNH is greatly accelerated by the presence of the 2-adenylic acid (2′AMP).
[22] Use of multiple spectroscopic methods to monitor equilibrium unfolding of proteins

Publisher Summary This chapter comments on the methods used to monitor protein unfolding, with emphasis on spectroscopic methods. The chapter discusses the advantages of using multiple probing methods in order to gain more information about an unfolding process. To test various models, only equilibrium unfolding studies with proteins are considered, although many of the principles and methods can be extended to kinetics studies and to studies with other types of structured biomacromolecules, such as oligonucleotide duplexes. The unfolding of proteins can be induced in a number of ways. These include increasing (or decreasing) temperature, adding chaotropic chemical denaturants (for example, urea or guanidine), exposing to extreme pH, or increasing hydrostatic pressure. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is the method of choice for studying the thermodynamics of the thermal unfolding of proteins. The chapter reviews the basic theory of pseudo-first-order conformational transitions in proteins. Examples are provided of how two or more different spectroscopic methods can be combined and/or how multiple types of spectroscopic data can be obtained with the same instrument.
Family development and the martial arts: A phenomenological study

This article outlines the results of a grounded-theory, phenomenological study about the impact of the martial arts on the process of family development. Thirty-two couples and families with at least four months of martial arts study experience were interviewed to identify data and data themes about how the martial arts enhanced family development. Themes identified were self-defense, self-confidence, physical vitality, concentration, respect, friendship, moral development, spirit, training for life, grades, respect for life, and the importance of the martial arts instructor.
Detection of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA in Saliva of Patients with Aids and Related Disorders

There are increasing reports supporting a role for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in AIDS; EBV-DNA has been detected in lymphomas and other pathologic lesions, oral hairy leukoplakia and lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis, found in these patients. The present study expanded on the possible contribution of EBV to the development of AIDS and related disorders by determining the viral load in these patients. The results were compared to those from two control groups.
Methods and study designs for characterizing the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of carrier-mediated agents

Major advances in carrier-mediated agents (CMAs), which include nanoparticles, nanosomes, and conjugates, have revolutionized drug delivery capabilities over the past decade. While providing numerous advantages, such as greater solubility, duration of exposure, and delivery to the site of action over their small molecule counterparts, there is substantial variability in systemic clearance and distribution, tumor delivery, and pharmacologic effects (efficacy and toxicity) of these agents. In this chapter, we focus on the analytical and phenotypic methods required to design a study that characterizes the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of all forms of these nanoparticle-based drug agents. These methods include separation of encapsulated and released drugs, ultrafiltration for measurement of non-protein bound active drug, microdialysis to measure intra-tumor drug concentrations, immunomagnetic separation and flow cytometry for sorting cell types, and evaluation of spatial distribution of drug forms relative to tissue architecture by mass spectrometry imaging and immunohistochemistry.
Basic Equations and Concepts

Space plasma physics took a big leap soon after the second world war when declassified reports from plasma physics research were made available to astronomy, physics, and astrophysics communities. At about the same time, advanced radar technologies developed during the war years also became available enabling astronomers to explore regions of space not accessible previously. Several scientific meetings were held devoted specifically to discussing how space observations could be interpreted using the laws of plasma physics. This was in the early 1950s before the launch of the first spacecraft.
Renal disease and the surgical patient: Minimizing the impact

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common in patients scheduled for surgery and increases the risk of postoperative acute kidney injury, major adverse cardiac events, and death. Acute kidney injury is a common complication of cardiac and noncardiac surgery and negatively affects both short- and long-term outcomes. If we can detect underlying CKD and other risk factors for acute kidney injury before surgery, we may in theory be able to give preventive therapies and improve perioperative outcomes.
Human, social and cultural predictors of productive activities in later life

While considerable scholarly attention has been given to factors influencing productive activity, less is known about how multiple forms of resources predict the maintenance or initiation of such activity over time. Using two-wave panel data of older adults from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), the study investigated the relationship between measures of capital and changes in multiple types of productive activity. Findings showed that all three types of capital were associated with volunteering in cross-sectional analyses, but only education, neighbourhood socialisation and religious service attendance remain significant predictors of continued volunteerism. Human capital strongly influenced employment both cross-sectionally and over time. Aspects of social capital – marital status and network size – were linked to participation and initiation of care-giving activities. The findings demonstrate that different patterns emerge in cross-sectional and two-wave panel data of multiple productive activities, adjusting for baseline activity level and selective attrition. The project also suggests factors that promote or hinder continued engagement in productive activity.
A FHIR-Enabled Streaming Sepsis Prediction System for ICUs

Sepsis is a common disease with very costly, potentially deadly implications. Early prediction of Sepsis and initiation of antibiotic is widely considered as an important determinant of patient survival. Cross-institutional validation and implementation of algorithms for early prediction of Sepsis at a minimum require common data formats, streaming analytic platforms for timely risk assessment, and interoperable and standardized interfaces. In this work we present an open-source cloud-based analytic pipeline, which receives de-identified patient data from an interoperable server and produces real-time Sepsis risk scores for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients.
Dynamic Memory Protection via Intel SGX-Supported Heap Allocation

There is an increased emphasis on attacks that utilize heap buffer overflow vulnerabilities to target critical metadata and sensitive data in programs. Mitigation solutions implemented within the same virtual memory space are vulnerable to attacks that leverage program metadata to gain further control of a user buffer or to manipulate the memory layout for the purpose of overflowing specific data. Solutions such as Intel's Software Guard Extensions (SGX) provide hardware-separated memory space using enclaves to protect critical data. We present METASAFE, a novel set of heap management APIs that leverages Intel's SGX to protect against tampering of heap metadata by securing the critical data within the enclaves. METASAFE's API suite is designed for ease of use so that the programmers can protect and manage critical data of user programs without significantly modifying the current programming model. METASAFE is evaluated on several open source projects, such as ngingx, nullhttpd, netcat and gzip. Finally, we present a use case in which METASAFE is used to secure the RSA private key in the OpenSSL Library. We evaluate the security of the key using a Metasploit module based on the famous Heartbleed exploit and show that in spite of a vulnerability, an attacker cannot access the key.
LiveFace: A Multi-task CNN for Fast Face-Authentication

Modern face recognition systems are accurate but they are vulnerable to different types of spoofing attacks. To solve this problem, conventional face authentication systems typically employ an additional module to analyze the liveness of the input faces before feeding it into the face recognition module. Such two-stage designs not only suffer from longer processing time but also require more storage and resources, which are usually limited on mobile and embedded platforms. In this paper, we propose a multi-task Convolutional Neural Network(CNN), namely LiveFace, for face-authentication. Given an input face image, LiveFace generates two outputs through a single stage: (i) a face representation that can be used for identification or verification, and (ii) the corresponding liveness score. The two tasks share lower layers to reduce the computation cost. Experimental results using three datasets show that our model achieves a comparable performance on both face recognition and anti-spoofing tasks but much faster than conventional authentication systems. In addition, we have implemented a prototype of our scheme on Android phones and demonstrated that our scheme can run in real-time on three Android devices that we have tested.
Dynamics of Networks

This chapter explores the dynamic functions that emerge when there are multiple flows on a network. The diffusion of innovation framework, Metcalfe’s law, inhibition and its role in network balance, and the power of weak ties are all used as examples. A major focus of the chapter is on how networks are formed from the combination of structural motifs that perform particular functions. Several generic motifs are introduced along with how they perform functions that include sensing, actuating, memory, and logic. Network flows are also applied to the concepts of disease, learning, and the spread of viruses and rumors in human-created and natural systems. More provocative topics are the idea that there is a common source of origins in natural and human-created systems, what it means to be alive using the concept of autopoiesis, artificial life, and the Gaia theory. The chapter concludes with questions for either reflection or group discussion as well as resources for further exploration.
Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

Recent studies have shown that preference judgments can vary considerably from one person to another and when these data are averaged the results can be misleading. In the current study, we examine individual differences in aesthetic preference for randomized visual patterns. In Experiment 1, we start with a structured checkerboard and progressively randomize its alternating black and white squares by 10% increments. In Experiment 2, we begin with a structured square array of vertical line segments and progressively randomize line orientation. In both experiments, there were strong differences in responding with most participants favoring either ordered or randomized versions. We found differences in Big-Five trait scores across these groupings. Individuals who scored high on extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness all preferred random patterns. Preference results for openness and neuroticism varied across the experiments. Explanations for predicted and obtained trait outcomes are provided.
Occupational traumatic injuries rarely affect genitourinary organs: a retrospective, comparative study

To determine the mechanisms of injury associated with occupational injuries (OI) to genitourinary (GU) organs and compare GU OIs with GU non-OIs. A single institution, retrospective study was conducted at a level 1 trauma center between 2010 and 2016 of all patients with GU injuries. OI was defined as any traumatic event that occurred in the workplace requiring hospital admission. Types of occupations were recorded in addition to the location of injury, mechanisms of injury, concomitant injuries, operative interventions, total cost, and mortality. GU OI patients were then compared to GU non-OI patients. 623 patients suffered a GU injury, of which 39 (6.3%) had a GU OI. Fall (43%) was the most common mechanism of injury; followed by motor vehicle collision/motorcycle crash (31%), crush injury (18%), and pedestrian struck (8%). The adrenal gland (38%) and kidney (38%) were the most commonly injured organs. There was no difference in mortality (13% GU OI vs. 15% GU non-OI, p = 0.70) or total direct cost ($21,192 ± 28,543 GU OI vs. $28,215 ± 32,332 GU non-OI, p = 0.45). Total costs were decreased with mortality from a GU injury (odds ratio (OR) 0.3, CI 0.26–0.59; p = < 0.001) and increased with higher injury severity scores (OR 1.1, CI 1.09–1.2; p = < 0.0001). Total costs were not affected by OI status. Occupational GU trauma presents with similar patterns of injury, hospital course, and direct cost as GU trauma that occurs in non-occupational settings.
Results from a phase Ib/II study of enzalutamide and metformin in men with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

5054Background: Preclinical models have shown that autophagy is a cell survival mechanism to overcome treatment-induced stress and facilitate progression and resistance in CRPC. Metformin (met) dem...
Auto-destruction or auto-reproduction?

This article addresses the literary aesthetics of extreme violence in Yasmina Khadra’s A quoi revent les loups. In Khadra’s descriptions of violence a flood of words erupt which graphically detail ...
Gender Segregation and Trajectories of Organizational Change: The Underrepresentation of Women in Sports Leadership:

This article offers an account of organizational change to explain why women leaders are underrepresented compared to women athletes in many sports organizations. I distinguish between accommodatio...
3D Printed Chaotic Mixer for Low Reynolds Number Microfluidics

This work presents three dimensional laminar flow chaotic fluidic mixing via novel intra-channel microscale 3D structures - only made possible using high resolution 3D printing - fabricated into an entirely-3D printed modular microfluidic mixing device. These 3D micromixer (μ-mixer) structures generate passive chaotic advection in three dimensions to enhance mixing quality per-unit microchannel (μ-channel) length as compared to other state-of-the-art additive manufacturing-based 3D μ-mixer designs. Additionally, these 3D μ-mixers can be easily incorporated into any arbitrary 3D printable microfluidic device design, being fabricated along the μ-channel where efficient mixing is desired.
Prevalence, distribution, and risk factors for canine blastomycosis in Michigan, USA.

Blastomycosis is a systemic fungal infection that most commonly affects dogs and humans. The disease is thought to be endemic in southern regions of Michigan, USA, but epidemiologic investigations have not been reported in detail for this state. The primary aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence and distribution of canine blastomycosis cases in Michigan and to identify risk factors for infection. Over 200 primary care veterinary clinics throughout the state were surveyed regarding blastomycosis prevalence, and demographic information was obtained from medical records of affected dogs that were evaluated at these clinics. A retrospective case control study was conducted for an additional 49 dogs with blastomycosis that were evaluated at specialty referral centers located in the southern mid-Michigan region. Prevalence rates were calculated for each county, and cases were mapped using geocoding software. Univariable and multivariable analyses were used to identify risk factors for infection. Prevalence rates were ≥100 cases per 100,000 dogs in five counties. Most blastomycosis cases originated from the Upper Peninsula or from a high-density area in the northern Lower Peninsula. Multivariable regression analysis identified travel or residence north of the 45th parallel as a strong risk factor for infection (P < .001). Blastomycosis was uncommon in southern counties. These results refute previous speculations and should be of value to both human and animal health. Given that many heightened risk areas are popular tourist destinations, practitioners across the USA should be mindful of the spatial distribution of blastomycosis in Michigan.
Identifying Thermal Decomposition Products of Nitrate Ester Explosives Using Gas Chromatography–Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectroscopy: An Experimental and Computational Study:

Analysis of nitrate ester explosives (e.g., nitroglycerine) using gas chromatography-vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy (GC-VUV) results in their thermal decomposition into nitric oxide, water, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and formaldehyde. These decomposition products exhibit highly structured spectra in the VUV that is not seen in larger molecules. Computational analysis using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) was utilized to investigate the excited states and vibronic transitions of these decomposition products. The experimental and computational results are compared with those in previous literature using synchrotron spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), photoabsorption spectroscopy, and other computational excited state methods. It was determined that a benchtop GC-VUV detector gives comparable results to those previously reported, and TDDFT could predict vibronic spacing and model molecular orbital diagrams.
Robust Trajectory Generation for Multiaxis Vibration Avoidance

Precision manufacturing equipment suffer from unwanted vibrations triggered in rapid motion. Unless mitigated, these vibrations limit achievable accuracy and productivity of motion systems. This article presents a novel technique to generate reference motion trajectories that can robustly avoid triggering unwanted inertial vibrations. The reference trajectory is defined in B-spline form, and its frequency spectrum is optimized to attenuate spectral energy in a desired frequency band to avoid excitation of unwanted vibrations. A novel time-domain smoothing objective is also proposed to improve tracebility of generated trajectories. The trajectory optimization problem is put in a convex form, and a novel windowing scheme is designed to solve it efficiently for real-time implementation. Robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method is validated experimentally on an industrial three-axis Cartesian machine tool. Experiments show that the proposed method can robustly avoid unwanted structural vibrations without introducing delay to the motion and outperform state-of-the-art prefiltering methods.
Pregnancy-related complications and risk of postpartum readmission for seizures and epilepsy: A national study.

OBJECTIVE Peripartum seizures remain a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, recognition of high-risk individuals is essential. We aimed to determine the rate and identify risk factors for postpartum seizure/epilepsy readmissions. METHODS In this retrospective cohort study, the Nationwide Readmissions Database was used to identify index admissions for delivery and readmissions for seizures in the year 2013, defined by International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes for epilepsy, convulsions, and eclampsia in the primary diagnostic position. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine 30-day readmission for seizures as well as associations between demographic, medical, psychiatric, and pregnancy-related factors. RESULTS There were 1 633 714 index admissions for delivery, with a 30-day readmission rate for seizures/epilepsy of 19.69 per 100 000 index admissions. The mean age of index participants was 28.6 years (SD = 5.8). Postpartum 30-day readmissions for eclampsia represented 80% of seizure/epilepsy readmissions. Higher income was associated with lower odds of seizure/epilepsy readmission (odds ratio [OR] = 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.34-0.72, P = .03) for the highest income group. Eclampsia (OR = 19.9, 95% CI = 9.38-42.2, P < .001), preexisting epilepsy (OR = 10.63, 95% CI = 6.43-17.56, P < .001), pre-eclampsia (OR = 3.23, 95% CI = 2.31-4.51, P < .001), and gestational hypertension (OR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.94-3.98, P < .001) were associated with readmission for seizures. SIGNIFICANCE Readmissions for seizures are fortunately rare, but are important to minimize given morbidity and mortality. Most seizure readmissions occurring within 30 days postpartum were coded as eclampsia rather than convulsions or pre-existing epilepsy. These findings suggest that early identification of women with pre-eclampsia and eclampsia may play a role in the prevention of postpartum seizures. Women with these risk factors should be identified to optimize care and monitored closely for seizure-associated complications.
Parallelism in Flower Evolution and Development

Flower evolution is characterized by widespread repetition, with adaptations to pollinator environment evolving in parallel. Recent studies have expanded our understanding of the developmental basi...
Shear localization in molecular crystal cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine (β-HMX): Constitutive behavior of the shear band

The energetic molecular crystal cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine (HMX) is used in plastic bonded explosives, and reaction initiation and detonation are usually triggered by plastic deformation. However, the mechanism of plastic deformation in β-HMX, which is the HMX phase stable in ambient conditions, is still a matter of debate. A recent observation that pressure developing under shock conditions inhibits dislocation activity, leaves shear localization as the main deformation mechanism in this crystal at high pressures and strain rates. In this work, the steady state shear band viscosity is evaluated as a function of the applied pressure, temperature, and shear strain rate using atomistic models of the HMX crystal. The viscosity of a fully formed shear band decreases as a power function of the strain rate and decreases linearly with increasing temperature, demonstrating shear thinning and non-Arrhenius behavior. The viscosity increases with increasing pressure. The fully formed band behavior is independent of the crystallographic orientation. It is shown that viscosity can be expressed exclusively in terms of the density of the non-crystalline material in the band, and hence the results can be explained in terms of the excess free volume theory developed for shear bands in other material systems, e.g., metallic glasses. The stress required to nucleate a shear band from a straight pre-existing dislocation is reported as a function of the applied pressure, temperature, and strain rate.
Structural validation of a thermoplastic composite wind turbine blade with comparison to a thermoset composite blade

Abstract Reactive infusible thermoplastics have the potential to be advantageous for wind turbine blade composites because they are recyclable at end of life, can have reduced manufacturing costs, enable thermal joining and have similar, and in some cases better, structural properties than traditional thermoset epoxy composites. However, these materials are new to the wind industry and there is risk to investing in a material that has not been validated at a blade scale. Industry cannot adopt a new material such as this without large-scale validation and demonstration of system-level advantages in cost and/or performance. This paper presents structural characterization of a 13-m thermoplastic composite wind turbine blade compared to an identical geometry thermoset epoxy blade. The results of this comparison showed that the flatwise structural static performance and the fatigue performance of the two blades were similar, but the thermoplastic composite blade had increased damping compared to the epoxy blade, which may result in reduced operational loads.
Motion tracking in 3D ultrasound imaging based on Markov-like deep-learning-based deformable registration

Ultrasound imaging during or prior to radiation therapy offers a great potential in terms of safety, cost and real time imaging capacity. However, this task is challenging for tumors of abdominal such as liver cancer due to respiratory motion. In this work, we proposed an unsupervised deep-learning-based method to track the respiratory motion for 3D ultrasound (US) liver imaging. A Markov-like network, which extract features from consistent 3D US frames, was utilized to estimate a sequence of deformation vector fields (DVFs) that register tracked frame with landmark to match the coming untracked frames without landmark. Then, the landmarks of the coming frames were tracked by moving landmark position of tracked frame to the coming frames based on DVFs. The Markov-like network aims to consider motion consistency between each two frames and is implemented via a generative adversarial network (GAN). The proposed method was evaluated on the MICCAI CLUST 2015 challenge dataset. A retrospective study was performed with a total of 8 sets of 3D US sequence, and each 3D sequence has 4-96 frames marked with landmarks. We used a leave-one-out experiment to test our tracking method. Quantitative evaluation was performed by calculating the tracking error between estimated landmarks and the ground truth landmarks on each frame. Results of the proposed method showed a mean tracking error of 2.01±1.06 mm for 3D liver US images. We proposed a deep learning-based approach for 3D US liver motion tracking. This method reduces the processing time for tracking respiratory motion significantly, which can reduce the delivery uncertainty.
Coordinate posttranscriptional regulation of cancer genes by the RNA binding protein HuR

176 Due to the poor correlation between steady state mRNA levels and protein products, traditional microarray analysis may miss many genes which are regulated primarily at the level of mRNA stability and translation. Posttranscriptional gene regulation is becoming increasingly recognized as an important form of cellular control. Whereas our understanding of transcriptional regulation is advanced, in contrast this area remains largely unexplored. Yet, increasingly, the importance of microRNAs and RNA binding proteins (RBPs) is now beginning to be better appreciated. We study the elav (embryonic lethal abnormal vision) family of RBPs, which are paraneoplastic antigens, over-expressed in a variety of malignancies, including breast cancer. Antibodies against elav family members are believed to be cancer-protective. The elav family of RBPs binds to the AU-rich elements (AREs) found in the 3’ untranslated regions (UTRs) of many early-response genes, including proto-oncogenes and cell cycle regulators. HuR, the ubiquitously expressed family member, has recently been described to play a role in cancer progression. HuR stabilizes and translationally up regulates the expression of its target mRNAs. Elevated levels of cytoplasmic HuR directly correlate with increased invasiveness of malignancy and poor prognosis for many cancers, including those of the breast. HuR has been described to control the expression of genes in all six different areas of transformation originally described by Hanahan and Weinberg. Hence, it has been recently suggested that HuR may serve as a tumor maintenance gene which allows for cancers, once they are established, to proliferate. Therefore, it is of interest to discover in vivo HuR targets, as these genes may play vital roles in transformed cells. We have developed methods which enable us to identify en masse, in vivo targets of RBPs such as HuR from cell lines and now for the first time, solid tissues as well. We call this ribonomic analysis, in which we immunoprecipitate subsets of ribonuclear particles (RNPs), exact the mRNA and then apply to microarrays. This technique, in which no cross linking is used, allows one to en masse identify different in vivo mRNA targets which different RBPs interact with. Using a combination of HuR immunoprecipitation and RNA interference, we have been able to identify HuR in vivo targets which may play important roles in tumor maintenance. Furthermore, we present evidence of cross talk amongst stabilizer and de-stabilizer RBPs which can potentially regulate the expression of multiple cancer targets. These techniques have the potential to better delineate genes whose steady state mRNA levels may not significantly change, but which are translationally active inside cancer cells. Potentially the identification of such genes may offer novel therapeutic targets to inhibit cancer growth.
Boosting OLTP Performance Using Write-Back Client-Side Caches.

We present a comprehensive evaluation of client-side caches to enhance the performance of MySQL for online transaction processing (OLTP) workloads. We focus on TPC-C benchmark and the write-back policy of the client-side cache. With this policy, the cache processes all application writes and propagates them to its data store asynchronously. We observe with 1 TPC-C warehouse, the cache enhances performance of MySQL InnoDB by 70%. The cache scales horizontally as a function of the number of warehouses and servers to boost TPC-C’s tpm-C by factors as high as 25 folds with 100 warehouses and 20 servers. The main limitation of the cache is its requirement for an abundant amount of memory. We extend the cache with a transaction processing storage manager (Berkeley DB, BDB) to minimize its amount of required memory, quantifying its impact on TPC-C’s tpm-C. We detail two variants, Async-BDB and Sync-BDB. The slowest variant, Sync-BDB, continues to scale horizontally to boost TPC-C performance by more than 13 folds with 100 TPC-C warehouses.
A study of calculus students’ difficulties, approaches and ability to solve multivariable optimization problems

This study used task-based interviews to examine students’ reasoning about multivariable optimization problems in a volume maximization context. There are four major findings from this study. First...
Correlates of perceptions of police legitimacy: Do perceptions of neighborhood crime matter?

Police legitimacy promotes trust and cooperation between members of the public and the police. Because the police require cooperation from the public to prevent and solve crimes, having high levels...
Quaternion orders and ternary quadratic forms

In this chapter, we classify orders over a Dedekind domain in terms of ternary quadratic forms; this is the integral analogue to what we did over fields in Chapter.
Micelle-Encapsulated Quantum Dot-Porphyrin Assemblies as in Vivo Two-Photon Oxygen Sensors.

Micelles have been employed to encapsulate the supramolecular assembly of quantum dots with palladium(II) porphyrins for the quantification of O2 levels in aqueous media and in vivo. Forster resonance energy transfer from the quantum dot (QD) to the palladium porphyrin provides a means for signal transduction under both one- and two-photon excitation. The palladium porphyrins are sensitive to O2 concentrations in the range of 0–160 Torr. The micelle-encapsulated QD-porphyrin assemblies have been employed for in vivo multiphoton imaging and lifetime-based oxygen measurements in mice with chronic dorsal skinfold chambers or cranial windows. Our results establish the utility of the QD-micelle approach for in vivo biological sensing applications.
Reproductive function and feedlot performance of beef heifers actively immunized against GnRH1.

Two trials were conducted to examine reproductive function and feedlot performance by heifers after active immunization against GnRH. In trial 1, heifers were not immunized or were immunized with one of three doses of a GnRH-KLH (keyhole limpet hemocyanin) conjugate in Freund's complete adjuvant. Antibodies against GnRH were not detectable in non-immunized heifers (n = 9). However, antibodies against GnRH were noted in all immunized animals (n = 30) within 8 wk of primary immunization; anti-GnRH antibody concentrations were at a maximum 16 to 20 wk after immunization. This increased anti-GnRH titer was associated with a decreased serum concentration of progesterone. Ovarian and uterine weight and tissue concentrations of LH and GnRH receptor were reduced (P less than .05) by immunoneutralization of GnRH. Similarly, immunization against GnRH reduced (P less than .05) weight gain during feedlot confinement. In trial 2, feedlot performance after insertion of anabolic steroid implants (Synovex H) was evaluated in non-immunized heifers (n = 15), heifers actively immunized against GnRH-KLH (n = 15) or KLH alone (n = 15), or non-immunized heifers treated with melengestrol acetate (MGA; n = 15). Serum concentrations of progesterone were depressed in anti-GnRH and MGA-fed groups, but ovarian and uterine weights were depressed (P less than .05) only in heifers immunized against GnRH. Total weight gain and gain during the final 4 wk of confinement did not differ (P greater than .05) among groups with steroid implants. The GnRH-KLH conjugate is an effective immunogen in heifers, leading to suppression of reproductive activity. The depression of weight gain that attends development of anti-GnRH titers may be reversed by use of implants that contain anabolic steroids.
Indicators of the Alcohol Recovery Process

Abstract This study analyzed endorsement of the Koss-Butcher and the Lachar-Wrobel Critical Item sets from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2, Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) by individuals and couples in alcoholism recovery. This exploratory investigation was a secondary analysis of data obtained from the Family Recovery Project conducted at the Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto, California. Gender, relationship to alcohol (alcoholic or co-alcoholic), and time in recovery were the independent variables. Fifty-two couples comprised the sample. The results of this study indicate that as recovery progresses, the experience becomes more similar for male and female alcoholics and co-alcoholics.
Analytic Hierarchy Process

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a theory of relative measurement of intangible criteria. With this approach to relative measurement, a scale of priorities is derived from pairwise comparison measurements only after the elements to be measured are known. The ability to do pairwise comparisons is our biological heritage and we need it to cope with a world where everything is relative and constantly changing and thus, there are no fixed standards to measure things on. In traditional measurement, one has a scale that one applies to measure any element that comes along that has the property the scale is for, and the elements are measured one by one, not by comparing them with each other. In the AHP, paired comparisons are made with judgments using numerical values taken from the AHP absolute fundamental scale of 1 to 9. A scale of relative values is derived from all these paired comparisons and it also belongs to an absolute scale that is invariant under the identity transformation like the system of real numbers. The AHP is useful for making multicriteria decisions involving benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks. The ideas are developed in stages and illustrated with examples of real-life decisions. The subject is transparent and easy to understand why it is done the way it is along the lines discussed here. The AHP has a generalization to dependence and feedback; the Analytic Network Process (ANP) is not discussed here. Keywords: analytic hierarchy process; decision making; prioritization; benefits; costs; complexity
Corporate and Organizational Communication

The sections in this article are 1 Overview of Corporate and Organizational Communication 2 Key Corporate Communication Functions Listed Alphabetically 3 Corporate Communication—Meeting the Challenge of the Future Keywords: advertising; change communications; communication process; communication with the media; corporate citizenship; corporate culture; corporate policy; correspondence; crisis management; ethics; executive communication issues; meeting the press; mission statement; negotiation; public relations; TQM
The future of space-division multiplexing and its applications

Space-division multiplexing (SDM) has attracted significant attention in recent years. The enabling technologies for SDM have been developed at a rapid pace and ushered in a new trajectory in single-fiber capacity growth for optical communication. This talk will describe the latest developments and the future prospects for SDM.
Australian Trans Men: Development, Sexuality, and Mental Health

The aim of the study reported in this article was to gain an understanding of the experiences, developmental trajectories, and mental health status of Australian trans men. Participants were 279 trans men. The majority preferred to identify as “male”; from an early age, they had experienced their gender identity as different from that normatively expected of their natally assigned sex and had undertaken practices so as to facilitate their presentation as male in accordance with their gender identity. A majority reported a diagnosis of depression or anxiety within the last 12 months and attributed suicidal ideation and self-harm and attempted suicide to personal issues with gender identity. Going through a masculinisation process and coming out reportedly led to improved mental health. The findings highlight the need to educate mental health and health care professionals on trans issues.
An Optimist’s Guide to Supernovae

There are some hints that a satisfactory agreement between observations and models is developing in several areas of supernova research. The light curves and spectra of Type I supernovae look so much like the models that they may well have their origin in the synthesis of 56Ni in the explosion of a compact star. Type II supernovae are found where massive stars form, have light curves that correspond to 1051 ergs suddenly deposited inside a red supergiant, and may in fact be the explosions of massive stars. Some young supernova remnants, such as Cas A,show abundance patterns that bear a striking resemblance to those seen deep inside models of massive stars on the verge of destruction. Observations of old supernova remnants provide energy estimate of 1051 ergs — just the amount needed for the models of the outbursts. While the usual cheerful anarchy still prevails, something must be right with the general picture.
Electrical anomalies on spacecraft due to hypervelocity impacts

One of the main challenges in satellite design is dealing with the threat from the space environment. Numerous spacecraft anomalies are reported on a regular basis and in most of these cases, it is extremely difficult to diagnose the cause of these anomalies/failures. Hypervelocity impacts from meteoroids and orbital debris has recently emerged as possible catalysts for electrical anomalies observed on spacecraft. In this paper, we present a case study and statistical analysis of hypervelocity impact-induced electrical anomalies. We present data showing anomalous currents in the power distribution system on the JASON-1 satellite following a hypervelocity impact. A statistical analysis is carried out using 2413 anomalies from the Ascend satellite anomaly database and 5033 anomalies from the anomaly database maintained in the 1990s by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). We find that there is no correlation between the flux of shower meteoroids and incidence of anomalies. For geostationary satellites, we use NASA's Meteoroid Engineering Model to calculate the flux of sporadic meteoroids at different locations in the orbit and find that the incidence rate of anomalies is significantly higher in regions with high average meteoroid flux. These results serve as a strong indicator of electrical damage caused by electromagnetic emissions from meteoroid impacts.
The Skeleton in Frege’s Cupboard: The Standard Versus Nonstandard Distinction

Anyone who uses higher-order logic faces a momentous choice concerning the interpretation of higher-order quantifiers. Let us consider as an example a second-order quan-tifier that involves a one-place class or predicate variable, say, X. Its values can be taken to be either classes of ndividuals or properties (concepts) of individuals. In either case, the same dilemma confronts a higher-order logician, even if its horns look different on the two interpretations.
Legal Limits to Technology Use

This entry describes the efforts by some states to limit citizens' use of digital communication technologies. The entry details five common characteristics of these limits to use. The first characteristic deals with limits placed on citizens' access to certain forms of content through digital communication technologies. The second details how certain categories of citizens are singled out and how their use of digital communication technologies is restricted. The third and fourth characteristics illustrate the ways that states may restrict use based on time and place. Finally, the last characteristic illustrates the different technological and legal means by which citizens' use is limited. This entry concludes by suggesting that many future technologies will face limits to use with similar characteristics. Keywords: information and communication technology; innovation; law, regulation; limits of use; policy