cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neural Networks for Combined Control of Capacitor Banks and Voltage Regulators in Distribution Systems

A neural network for controlling shunt capacitor banks and feeder voltage regulators in electric distribution systems is presented. The objective of the neural controller is to minimize total I/sup 2/R losses and maintain all bus voltages within standard limits. The performance of the neural network for different input selections and training data is discussed and compared. Two different input selections are tried, one using the previous control states of the capacitors and regulator along with measured line flows and voltage which is equivalent to having feedback and the other with measured line flows and voltage without previous control settings. The results indicate that the neural net controller with feedback can outperform the one without. Also, proper selection of a training data set that adequately covers the operating space of the distribution system is important for achieving satisfactory performance with the neural controller. The neural controller is tested on a radially configured distribution system with 30 buses, 5 switchable capacitor banks and a nine tap line regulators to demonstrate the performance characteristics associated with these principles. Monte Carlo simulations show that a carefully designed and relatively compact neural network with a small but carefully developed training set can perform quite well under slight and extreme variation of loading conditions.
Heart of the Matter: Discovering the Consensus of Multiple Clustering Results

Clustering is widely used by genomics researchers to discover functional patterns in data. The inherent subjectivity and hardness of the clustering task often lead researchers to explore multiple clustering results of the same data, using different algorithms and parameter settings. This further necessitates a method to automatically summarize multiple clustering results. A natural question to ask about several clustering results is "what is the structure they all have in common?" This work presents a computational method to answer this question. We provide a precise formulation of the problem of computing the consensus of several clusterings, examine its computational complexity and find the problem to be NP-hard. We describe a greedy heuristic to solve the problem, and assess its performance on synthetic data. We demonstrate several applications of this algorithm on genomics data. Our program will be freely available for download.
Characterization of the Digestive-Tract Microbiota of Hirudo orientalis, a European Medicinal Leech

FDA-approved, postoperative use of leeches can lead to bacterial infections. In this study, we used culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches to characterize the digestive-tract microbiota of Hirudo orientalis. Surprisingly, two Aeromonas species, A. veronii and A. jandaei, were cultured. Uncultured Rikenella-like bacteria were most similar to isolates from Hirudo verbana.
Site-related influences on cone-borne inoculum and asymptomatic persistence of Diplodia shoot blight fungi on or in mature red pines

The shoot blight and canker pathogens Diplodia pinea and D. scrobiculata sporulate abundantly on cones of many pine hosts. Variation in incidence and abundance of potential inoculum from cones and frequency of asymptomatic persistence on or in shoots was examined for mature red pines in sites differing in dominant presettlement vegetation and soil type in Bayfield and Douglas counties in northern Wisconsin. Collections were made in each county from 6 plantations, 3 each in areas historically vegetated with jack pine and soils mapped as sands and three in areas historically vegetated with red pine with soils mapped as loamy sands. At each site, 5 cones were collected from each of 5 red pines and 10 shoots were collected from up to 5 red pines. Conidia from cones were quantified with a water wash and filtration technique. Diplodia species were cultured from surface-disinfested asymptomatic shoots. A species-specific PCR assay was used to identify the Diplodia species from cones and shoots. Although cones and asymptomatic shoots from each county yielded D. pinea and D. scrobiculata, D. pinea was detected more frequently. More conidia were obtained from cones from Douglas Co., where there is a history of severe shoot blight damage, than cones from Bayfield Co. In Douglas Co., more conidia were obtained from cones from plantations in areas of more sandy soil and presettlement jack pine dominance than cones from plantations in areas of less sandy soil and presettlement red pine dominance. The numbers of conidia and frequencies of cultural detection of Diplodia species from asymptomatic shoots at a site were positively correlated. These results provide evidence for site-related influences on abundance of pathogen inoculum and asymptomatic persistence on or in red pine crowns that may contribute to differences in frequency and severity of damage from Diplodia shoot blight.
On three-dimensional flow of nanofluids past a convectively heated deformable surface: A numerical study

Abstract This paper is concerned with the three-dimensional rotating flow of nanofluid induced by a convectively heated deformable surface. The base fluid is treated as water while three different types of nanoparticles namely copper oxide-CuO, copper-Cu and silver-Ag are analyzed. Two different models for effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids are employed. A self-similar form of the governing differential system is formulated via adequate transformations. Shooting approach combined with fifth order Runge–Kutta method is used to determine the velocity and temperature distributions above the sheet. Our computations reveal that skin friction coefficient has direct relationship with the volume fraction of nanoparticles. Further the surface heat transfer rate is an increasing function of the solid volume fraction of nanoparticles. Sketch for three-dimensional streamlines is also obtained and discussed for a particular case.
Key Reactions in Developing Uses for Condensed Tannins: An Overview

Possibilities for the commercial use of condensed tannins as specialty chemicals are increasing rapidly with the increased focus of research on the reactions of polyflavanoid polymers. The past 5 years have seen considerable effort to define reactions of the A-ring primarily to assist in understanding the regioselectivity of interflavanoid bond locations in natural proanthocyanidins and to obtain more information on cross-linking reactions for use of tannins as adhesives. The interflavanoid bond has also received quite a lot of study, and some novel approaches to the use of tannins as adhesives and biocides have resulted from this work. Rearrangement reactions, both of the phloroglucinolic A-ring in pro­cyanidins and of the pyran ring in profisetinidins, have been important in defining the properties of commericial tannin extracts. More interest is beginning to surface involving the B-ring; here, copper complexes of tannins have been shown to be effective fungicides. A summary of reac­tions that seem interesting from the author’s perspective is presented.
Patient-Reported Social, Psychological, and Urologic Outcomes After Adult Buried Penis Repair

Objective To assess changes in hygiene, urination, and sexual activity after surgery for adult-acquired buried penis. Materials and Methods The study included men who underwent buried penis repair from 2011 to 2015. Patients were asked pre- and postoperative questions on hygiene, urinary difficulties, sexual difficulties, and difficulties with activities of daily living (modified Post-Bariatric Surgery Quality of Life Questionnaire). Postoperative satisfaction was assessed at a minimum of 6 months. Pre- and postoperative data were compared with chi-squared analyses. Results Of 14 eligible patients, 12 completed postoperative questionnaires. Buried penis repair required debridement of penile skin with split-thickness skin grafting to penis (n = 11; 92%), escutcheonectomy (n = 12; 100%) and abdominoplasty (n = 10; 83%), scrotoplasty (n = 7; 59%), and securing the supra-penile dermis to the pubic dermal or periosteal tissue (n = 12, 100%). The average length of follow-up was 31 months (±20 months). Mean age was 50 (±10.5 years) and mean body mass index was 55 (±13.7 kg/m 2 ). Wound complications (all Clavian Grade 1) occurred in 9 of 12 patients. Patients reported improvement in hygiene (100%), urination (91%), and sexual function (41%); 92% of patients reported they would choose to have the surgery again; and 83% felt that surgery had led to a positive change in their lives. The ability to perform most activities of daily living, as assessed by the Post-Bariatric Surgery Quality of Life Questionnaire, improved significantly. Over 90% of men had lost additional body weight at last clinical follow-up. Conclusion Buried penis repair positively impacts social, psychological, and functional outcomes for patients. Wound complications should be expected but are easily managed.
Counseling by primary care physicians of patients who disclose psychosocial problems.

BACKGROUND Most descriptive studies of psychosocial counseling by US primary care physicians (PCPs) have relied on the PCPs' recollections rather than researchers' observations of actual visit content. The latter approach should yield more accurate measurement of counseling frequency and duration. METHODS Our sample consisted of 308 patients whose scores signified psychological distress on the 28-item General Health Questionnaire. Their visits to 69 community-based PCPs had been audiotaped for an earlier study of the benefits of communication skills training for PCPs. Using those tapes, we identified the disclosure of psychosocial problems by patients and subsequent counseling and psychotropic drug prescribing by their PCPs. We timed counseling and visit lengths. Effects of patient and PCP variables on visit duration and on counseling occurrence and duration were assessed using generalized estimating equations to accommodate the correlation among patients who shared PCPs. RESULTS After adjusting for the effects of the communication skills training, we found that PCPs counseled 60% of patients who disclosed psychosocial problems. Given disclosure, counseling probability was lowest for new patients (P <.001); among patients with previous visits, counseling probability was inversely related to the number of visits (P <.001). When provided, counseling had a mean duration of 5.2 minutes. Counseling was associated with a 28% (95% confidence interval, 9%-49%) increase in visit duration after adjustment for the effects of other significant variables. PCPs prescribed psychotropic medications in 30% of visits with disclosure. CONCLUSIONS PCPs treated psychosocial problems with brief counseling twice as often as with medication. Brief counseling interventions caused small but significant increases in visit durations.
Testing the Models: Large-Sample Results

Chapter 3 presented the terminology and concepts for loglinear model fitting. In the present chapter, the emphasis changes from defining models to testing the model fit using the power-divergence goodness-of-fit statistic.
Role of serotonin and serotonin antagonist on pulmonary hemodynamics and microcirculation in hemorrhagic shock.

Previous studies showed that pulmonary pathological changes after hemorrhagic shock are similar to those after continuous (2 hours) serotonin infusion. Both conditions produce congestive atelectasis, interstitial and intra-alveolar edema and hemorrhage, and red cell aggregation. Studies in 25 dogs compared pulmonary hemodynamics during 2 hours of hemorrhagic hypotension (40 mm. Hg) with methysergide (serotonin antagonist), without methysergide, and with serotonin (75 mcg. per kilogram per minute) alone. During serotonin infusion in normovolemia, both pulmonary artery (PA) and pulmonary vein wedge (PVW) pressure rose. The pulmonary arteriolar and small pulmonary venous (SPV) constriction were statistically and physiologically significant. Pretreatment with methysergide prior to hypovolemia prevented the SPV pressure rise. Lung changes, grossly, microscopically, and by cinemicroscopy, were greatly reduced by administration of methysergide. These results suggest that serotonin—possibly released by the hypoxic intestine, hypoxic brain, or unstable platelets—plays a significant role in the pulmonary changes secondary to hypovolemic hypotension.
Introducing the Date and Acquaintance Rape Avoidance Scale.

We present the Date and Acquaintance Rape Avoidance Scale (DARAS). The DARAS is a measure of a woman's behaviors used to avoid date and acquaintance rape. Three factor structures were possible. The DARAS may have measured several factors related to alcohol and drug use, self-defense, and date behaviors; 2 factors related to behaviors to avoid acquaintance versus date rape; or a single factor that represented general vigilance. The data revealed a highly reliable, 63 item single factor that was correlated with stranger rape avoidance, rejection of rape myths, hostile sexist beliefs about men, and benevolent sexist beliefs about women. The creation of the DARAS adds to the growing body of research on rape avoidance. The DARAS is key to understanding the behaviors women employ to avoid date rape. Rather than placing the responsibility for rape on the victim, the DARAS was developed as a theoretical and applied tool that can be used to improve theory and construct rape education and prevention programs. Language: en
Three-dimensional retinal organoids from mouse pluripotent stem cells mimic in vivo development with enhanced stratification and rod photoreceptor differentiation.

Purpose The generation of three-dimensional (3D) organoids with optic cup–like structures from pluripotent stem cells has created opportunities for investigating mammalian retinal development in vitro. However, retinal organoids in culture do not completely reflect the developmental state and in vivo architecture of the rod-dominant mouse retina. The goals of this study were to develop an efficient protocol for generating retinal organoids from stem cells and examine the morphogenesis of rods in vitro.
Nature and Marriage: Emile or On Education

Having previously addressed the nature of man by looking at his primitive origins, Rousseau’s most ambitious book reopens the question of human nature through a fictional education of an ordinary child in a modern society. Taking Locke and Plato as foils, Rousseau imagines that a wise teacher could follow nature by very artfully arranging for a boy’s moral or social passions to emerge in a different order than they do in actual societies. The greatest challenge, which requires the most art, is to guide the boy into marriage. Deeper and more disturbing than the Letter to d’Alembert, this fiction illuminates the complexity and fragility of the happiness that can be found in traditional family life.
Immune Hemolysis and Aseptic Meningitis after Intravenous Immunoglobulin

INTRODUCTION Human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) products are generally considered safe and are used for the treatment of a variety of autoimmune and pro-inflammatory states. However, controlled trials involving IVIG have been of small size with limited power and described only the most common adverse effects [1]. IVIG related hemolysis is a rare adverse effect and is usually self-limited, rarely requiring blood transfusions. A few case reports have also described aseptic meningitis after IVIG use. We describe a patient who developed severe hemolytic anemia and aseptic meningitis after IVIG use. CASE PRESENTATION A 54 year old woman was admitted with severe head ache, dark colored urine and shortness of breath twenty four hours after receiving IVIG. She was diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) a month ago and was started on IVIG. Physical exam was unremarkable. Laboratory tests showed severe anemia with a hemoglobin of 6.1 g/dl (baseline 13 g/dl), indirect hyper-bilirubinemia, low haptoglobin, elevated LDH and hemoglobinuria confirming hemolysis. Hematological testing revealed a positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT), DAT IgG, DAT CD3 and eluate testing were also positive. A lumbar puncture showed neutrophil pleocytosis but no bacteria. A diagnosis of IVIG induced hemolysis and aseptic meningitis was made. O negative packed red blood cells were transfused for severe symptomatic anemia and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were given for headache. Steroids were deferred since the source of antibodies causing hemolysis was extrinsic. She improved clinically and blood counts returned to baseline in three weeks. DISCUSSION Pooled IVIG is extracted from at least 1000 individuals and contains highly purified polyvalent IgG [2]. Hemolysis after IVIG is thought to be secondary to donor antibodies against host red blood cell antigens and resolves once IVIG is stopped. Risk factors for hemolysis include non-O blood types and the use of high dose IVIG. The patient described was of AB Rh positive blood type but did not receive high dose IVIG. Aseptic meningitis is another rare adverse effect that has been postulated to be related to antibodies in the IVIG that mimic antineutophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) which activate neutrophils causing neutrophilic pleocytosis [3]. One must be aware of these two rare complications of a commonly used drug. REFERENCES [1] Risks associated with the use of intravenous immunoglobulin. Pierce LR et al. Transfus Med Rev. 2003 Oct;17(4):241-51. [2] Appropriate uses of human immunoglobulin in clinical practice: memorandum from an IUIS/WHO meeting. Bull World Health Organ. 1982;60(1):43. [3] Intravenous immunoglobulins contain naturally occurring antibodies that mimic antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and activate neutrophils in a TNF alpha-dependent and Fc-receptor-independent way. Jarius et al. Blood. 2007;109(10):4376. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Revolutionary Activities and Hostile Propaganda

It is a fairly well established legal proposition that subversive activities or revolutionary propaganda stemming from official sources is an international delinquency and, thus, redressable under international law.1 However, an area of controversy is entered when dealing with revolutionary activities or hostile propaganda proceeding from private individuals. The preliminary problem thus arises of adequately imposing international responsibility on the state for hostile acts committed by private persons under the protection of its territorial sovereignty and directed against the peace and security of a foreign state. While it is generally agreed that revolutionary acts of private persons are liable to be punished by the criminal law of the state against which they are directed under the so-called protective jurisdiction principle,2 international law becomes equally involved when the menaced state is unable to punish such activities thereby frustrating its possibilities of maintaining internal peace.3 It is the purpose of this chapter to explore the position of international law on this subject.
Abstract B085: Combining transcriptomic profiling and genome engineering to dissect regulation of tumor immunology

There is great interest in understanding the dysfunctional state of T-cells during uncontrolled tumor growth, particular regarding the molecular pathways that regulate this functional state for development of potential therapeutic approaches. Here we apply systematic transcriptomic profiling and analysis to dissect the molecular regulation of dysfunctional CD8+ tumor-filtrating lymphocytes (TILs) in a mice melanoma model. We identified key putative regulators and, through combination with precise genome perturbation, established their causal role in driving the dysfunctional phenotype of CD8+ TILs. Citation Format: Le Cong, Meromit Singer, Chao Wang, John Kwon, Ana Anderson, Orit Rozenblatt-Rosen, Vijay Kuchroo, Aviv Regev. Combining transcriptomic profiling and genome engineering to dissect regulation of tumor immunology [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; 2016 Sept 25-28; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B085.
Transplant-Mediated Recovery of Innervation and Function: The Habenulo-Interpeduncular System of the Rat

Transplants of fetal cells into host brains can be used to examine the development of specific afferent projections and can also provide a means of repairing brain damage and thereby restoring function after injury. Restoration of function mediated by transplanted tissue provides compelling evidence that the implanted cells have integrated functionally in the host brain. We have used transplants of fetal tissue into host brains whose interpeduncular nuclei have been denervated by bilateral lesions to the fasciculus retroflexus, firstly to examine some of the features regulating innervation of the interpeduncular nucleus in the rat and, secondly, to characterize the functional organization of this system.
A decomposition approach to the design of a multiferroic memory bit

The objective of this paper is to present a methodology for the design of a memory bit to minimize the energy required to write data at the bit level. By straining a ferromagnetic nickel nano-dot by means of a piezoelectric substrate, its magnetization vector rotates between two stable states defined as a 1 and 0 for digital memory. The memory bit geometry, actuation mechanism and voltage control law were used as design variables. The approach used was to decompose the overall design process into simpler sub-problems whose structure can be exploited for a more efficient solution. This method minimizes the number of fully dynamic coupled finite element analyses required to converge to a near optimal design, thus decreasing the computational time for the design process. An in-plane sample design problem is presented to illustrate the advantages and flexibility of the procedure.
Evaluating Evidence Regarding Relationships With Criteria

ABSTRACTAn overview of standards related to demonstrating evidence regarding relationships with criteria as it pertains to instrument development was presented, along with heuristic examples. Additional measures and a comprehensive design are necessary to establish evidence related to the use and interpretation of test scores for the validation of a measure.
Fluctuating extended target detection in clutter environment compressed sensing MIMO radar

This paper extends previous work for extended target detection via Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) bistatic radar using a compressed sensing (CS) approach by considering the detection of multiple fluctuating targets in the presence of transmit waveform dependent clutter. Detection waveforms and receiver filter are designed jointly using an algorithm that minimizes the mutual coherence of the transmit waveform and receive filter matrix product. Different from previous work, which required knowledge of the target impulse response (TIR), this paper relaxes this key assumption and studies detection of multiple extended Swerling type I targets. Results indicate that the designed waveforms outperform benchmark waveforms in terms of false alarm and detection rates for Swerling targets with unknown impulse responses.
Similarities and differences in churn and annular flow regimes in steady-state and oscillatory flows in a long vertical tube

Abstract This study investigates the effects of induced-low-frequency flow oscillations on gas–liquid two-phase flows using a 42-m long, 0.048-m ID vertical pipe system. This work uses the experimental data set from a previous study on the effect of forced flow oscillations on churn and annular flow. However, in this previous study, the similarities and differences between flows in steady-state and under induced-low-frequency oscillations were not discussed. The time variation of liquid holdup, frequency of large liquid structures, and pressure gradient were analyzed under two superficial liquid velocities (0.017 and 0.3 m/s), and superficial gas velocities ranging from 4 to 21 m/s. The impact of flow oscillations in two-phase flow regime transitions is also investigated. The observations of flow regimes under oscillatory flow showed significant differences compared to the ones expected in steady-state flow under similar conditions. For higher pressures and oscillatory flow, churn flow regime was observed, when annular flow regime is expected in steady-state flow. Annular flow regime was not observed for higher superficial liquid velocities and high inlet pressure for oscillatory conditions. Surprisingly, the pressure gradient for oscillatory flow is significantly lower than in steady-state flow. However, this lower pressure gradient effect is only observed for low superficial gas and liquid velocities at the pipe inlet and outlet. This experimental observation is attributed to the formation of large liquid waves at the pipe inlet, which is a consequence of the induced-low-frequency flow oscillations.
FOWLP: Chip-Last or RDL-First

Since 2006, NEC Electronics Corporation (now Renesas Electronics Corporation) has been developing a novel SMAFTI (SMArt chip connection with feedthrough interposer) packaging technology for inter-chip wideband data transfer, 3D stacked memory integrated on logic devices, system in wafer-level package (SiWLP), and “RDL-first” fan-out wafer-level packaging. In this chapter, three RDL (redistribution layer) fabrication methods for ﻿chip-last FOWLP (fan-out wafer-level packaging) are briefly mentioned.
Can health care engineering fix health care

Health care engineering, if applied to medicine, can transform the health care system for the better. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Characterizing emotional overeating among patients with and without binge-eating disorder in primary care

Abstract Objective Emotional overeating and loss-of-control eating are associated with poorer weight-related and psychiatric outcomes, yet our understanding of the relationship between these variables is limited, particularly among individuals in primary care. This study examined the frequency of emotional overeating and relationship with loss-of-control eating among patients with and without binge-eating disorder (BED) seeking weight loss treatment in primary care. Method Participants were 131 adults (n = 105 female) with overweight/obesity seeking weight loss treatment in primary care. Participants completed the Eating Disorder Examination (semi-structured interview) and Yale Emotional Overeating Scale, which measures emotional overeating episodes. Height and weight were measured. Mean age and BMI were 47.60 years and 35.31 kg/m2, respectively. BED criteria were met by n = 35 (26.7%) participants. Results Participants with BED endorsed more frequent emotional overeating episodes compared to those without BED. While total emotional overeating scores were not associated with loss-of-control eating, discrete types of emotional overeating episodes (e.g., loneliness) were associated with loss-of-control eating. Emotional overeating was most often reported in response to loneliness, boredom, or anxiety, which varied by BED status. Conclusions Most participants endorsed recent episodes of emotional overeating; those with BED endorsed more frequent episodes. Future research examining the impact of emotional overeating on weight loss treatment outcomes is warranted.
Chemical Method for Evaluating Catalytic Turnover Frequencies (TOF) of Moderate to Slow H2 Oxidation Electrocatalysts

Hydrogen has emerged as a long-term option for storing energy from renewable resources and has led the scientific community to develop enzyme-inspired catalysts for hydrogen oxidation and production. One of the most productive families of catalysts for H2 oxidation is the pendant amine containing bis(diphosphine)nickel catalysts. Many derivatives of these nickel complexes have been prepared with varying peripheral functionalities to understand their structure–function relationship. Electrocatalysis is currently utilized as the primary tool to measure the catalytic turnover frequencies (TOFs) of these complexes; however, it does not allow accurate determination of TOFs for slow (<1 s–1) to moderately active (∼1–10 s–1) catalysts, and for the slowest catalysts, it can be difficult to determine if they are turning over at all. Further, it does not allow the determination of the TOF in bulk solution. In this work, we demonstrate that a redox chemical procedure involving a change between ferrocenium cation and...
A Relational Framework for Integrating the Study of Empathy in Children and Adults

The development of empathy is central to positive social adjustment. However, issues remain with integrating empathy research conducted with children, adolescents, and adults. The current article (...
Impact of graph technologies in K-12 science and mathematics education

Abstract Graph technologies are now widely available in K-12 science and mathematics classrooms. These technologies have the potential to impact the learning of science and mathematics, especially by supporting student investigations. We use meta-analysis to analyze 42 design and comparison studies involving data from 7699 students spanning over 35 years. In these studies, graphing technologies include computer software such as simulations; online tools such as graph utilities; and sensors such as temperature probes. We characterize the assessments used to measure graphing. We describe the investigative activities that graphing supports including generating hypotheses or predictions, collecting data, analyzing or interpreting data, and reflecting. Studies show that graphing technologies impact learning of mathematics and science topics as well as graphing itself. These technologies are especially advantageous for learning complex topics where students need to conduct investigations to interpret change over time or position such as functions, kinematics, and thermodynamics. Recent studies take advantage of logs of student interactions to study the design of automated guidance for graphing. We discuss the implications of these findings for instruction at the K-12 level.
Numerical Investigation on Electrical Contact Resistance of NiPdAu-Plated CPU Package Pad and NiAu-Plated Second-Level Interconnect Socket Contact Interface

High performance electronic package requires good control of electrical contact resistance at the package pad and second level interconnect (SLI) socket contact interface for power delivery and thermal management. In this paper, a modeling framework incorporating electrical contact theories is developed to investigate contact resistance of the given multi-layer plating system. The effects of some potential electrical contact resistance variation contributing factors are studied and quantified. The parameters studied include contact normal force, microhardness and thickness of constituent plating layers, phosphorus content percentage in electroless plated Ni layer, metallic nanofilm size effect, and existence of NiO contaminant film.
Tackling build failures in continuous integration

In popular continuous integration(CI) practice, coding is followed by building, integration and system testing, pre-release inspection, and deploying artifacts. This can reduce integration risk and speed up the development process. But large number of CI build failures may interrupt the normal software development process. So, the failures need to be analyzed and fixed quickly. Although various automated program repair techniques have great potential to resolve software failures, the existing techniques mostly focus on repairing source code. So, those techniques cannot directly help resolve software build failures. Apart from that, a special challenge to fix build failures in CI environment is that the failures are often involved with both source code and build scripts. This paper outlines promising preliminary work towards automatic build repair in CI environment that involves both source code and build script. As the first step, we conducted an empirical study on software build failures and build fix patterns. Based on the findings of the empirical study, we developed an approach that can automatically fix build errors involving build scripts. We plan to extend this repair approach considering both source code and build script. Moreover, we plan to quantify our automatic fixes by user study and comparison between fixes generated by our approach and actual fixes.
Role of B cells and the aging brain in stroke recovery and treatment

As mitigation of brain aging continues to be a key public health priority, a wholistic and comprehensive consideration of the aging body has identified immunosenescence as a potential contributor to age-related brain injury and disease. Importantly, the nervous and immune systems engage in bidirectional communication and can exert profound influence on each other. Emerging evidence supports numerous impacts of innate, inflammatory immune responses and adaptive T cell-mediated immunity in neurological function and diseased or injured brain states, such as stroke. Indeed, a growing body of evidence supports key impacts of brain-resident immune cell activation and peripheral immune infiltration in both the post-stroke acute injury phase and the long-term recovery period. As such, modulation of the immune system is an attractive strategy for novel therapeutic interventions for a devastating age-related brain injury for which there are few readily available neuroprotective treatments or neurorestorative approaches. However, the role of B cells in the context of brain function, and specifically in response to stroke, has not been thoroughly elucidated and remains controversial, leaving our understanding of neuroimmune interactions incomplete. Importantly, emerging evidence suggests that B cells are not pathogenic contributors to stroke injury, and in fact may facilitate functional recovery, supporting their potential value as novel therapeutic targets. By summarizing the current knowledge of the role of B cells in stroke pathology and recovery and interpreting their role in the context of their interactions with other immune cells as well as the immunosenescence cascades that alter their function in aged populations, this review supports an increased understanding of the complex interplay between the nervous and immune systems in the context of brain aging, injury, and disease.
Smart treatment strategies for alleviating tauopathy and neuroinflammation to improve clinical outcome in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disease leading to progressive loss of memory that mainly affects people above 60 years of age. It is one of the leading causes of deaths in the USA. Given its inherent heterogeneity and a still-incomplete understanding of its pathology, biomarkers, and targets available for therapy, it is a challenge to design an effective therapeutic strategy. Several hypotheses have been proposed to understand the disease and to identify reliable markers and targets for treatments. However, none have resulted in strong support from clinical trials. In this review, we objectively discuss the various therapeutic strategies and mechanistic approaches to improve the current clinical outcome of AD therapy.
Social Work Practice with Homeless Veterans and Resource Dependence Theory

The plight of homeless military veterans is a salient, pervasive, and a public health problem. Since the 1980s the visibility and percentages of homeless veterans have reduced but endure as a socie...
Appendicitis in an Appendicostomy.

A 25-year-old man presented with right lower quadrant abdominal wall erythema, a punctum of purulence, and localized pain at the site of a previous appendicostomy. Cross-sectional imaging revealed ...
Differential Analysis of N-glycopeptide Abundance and N-glycosylation Site Occupancy for Studying Protein N-glycosylation Dysregulation in Human Disease

Protein N-glycosylation plays a vital role in diverse cellular processes, and dysregulated N-glycosylation is implicated in a variety of human diseases including neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. With recent advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry-based glycoproteomics technologies enabling large-scale N-glycoproteome profiling of disease and control samples, analysis of the large datasets has become a challenge. Here, we provide a protocol for the systems-level analysis of in vivo N-glycosylation sites on N-glycosylated proteins and their changes in human disease, such as Alzheimer's disease. The protocol includes quantitation and differential analysis of N-glycopeptide abundance, in addition to integrative N-glycoproteome and proteome data analyses, to determine disease-associated changes in N-glycosylation site occupancy and identify differentially N-glycosylated proteins in human disease versus control samples. This protocol can be modified and applied to study proteome-wide N-glycosylation alterations in response to different cellular stresses or pathophysiological states in other organisms or model systems.
Regulation of stem cell identity by miR-200a during spinal cord regeneration

Axolotls are an important model organism for multiple types of regeneration, including functional spinal cord regeneration. Remarkably, axolotls can repair their spinal cord after a small lesion injury and can also regenerate their entire tail following amputation. Several classical signaling pathways that are used during development are reactivated during regeneration, but how this is regulated remains a mystery. We have previously identified miR-200a as a key factor that promotes successful spinal cord regeneration. Here, using RNA-seq analysis, we discovered that the inhibition of miR-200a results in an upregulation of the classical mesodermal marker brachyury in spinal cord cells after injury. However, these cells still express the neural stem cell marker sox2. In vivo lineage tracing allowed us to determine that these cells can give rise to cells of both the neural and mesoderm lineage. Additionally, we found that miR-200a can directly regulate brachyury via a seed sequence in the 3UTR of the gene. Our data indicate that miR-200a represses mesodermal cell fate after a small lesion injury in the spinal cord when only glial cells and neurons need to be replaced.
A timed activity protocol to address sleep-wake disorders in home dwelling persons living with dementia: the healthy patterns clinical trial.

Sleep-wake disorders occur in most persons living with dementia and include late afternoon or evening agitation, irregular sleep-wake rhythms such as daytime hypersomnia, frequent night awakenings, and poor sleep efficiency. Sleep-wake disorders pose a great burden to family caregivers, and are the principal causes of distress, poor quality of life, and institutionalization. Regulating the sleep-wake cycle through the use of light and activity has been shown to alter core clock processes and suggests that a combination of cognitive, physical, and sensory-based activities, delivered at strategic times, may be an effective mechanism through which to reduce sleep-wake disorders. A definitive Phase III efficacy trial of the Healthy Patterns intervention, a home-based activity intervention designed to improve sleep-wake disorders and quality of life, is being conducted using a randomized two-group parallel design of 200 people living with dementia and their caregivers (dyads). Specific components of this one-month, home-based intervention involve 4 in-home visits and includes: 1) assessing individuals’ functional status and interests; 2) educating caregivers on environmental cues to promote activity and sleep; and 3) training caregivers in using timed morning, afternoon, and evening activities based on circadian needs across the day. The patient focused outcomes of interest are quality of life, measures of sleep assessed by objective and subjective indicators including actigraphy, subjective sleep quality, and the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Caregiver outcomes of interest are quality of life, burden, confidence using activities, and sleep disruption. Salivary measures of cortisol and melatonin are collected to assess potential intervention mechanisms. The results from the ongoing study will provide fundamental new knowledge regarding the effects of timing activity participation based on diurnal needs and the mechanisms underlying timed interventions which can lead to a structured, replicable treatment protocol for use with this growing population of persons living with dementia. Clinicaltrials.gov # NCT03682185 at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ ; Date of clinical trial registration: 24 September 2018.
Line intersect sampling: Ell-shaped transects and multiple intersections

The probability of selecting a population element under line intersect sampling depends on the width of the particle in the direction perpendicular to the transect, as is well known. The consequence of this when using ell-shaped transects rather than straight-line transects are explicated, and modifications that preserve design-unbiasedness of Kaiser's (1983) conditional and unconditional estimators are presented. A case against treating multiple intersections as multiple probabilistic events is argued on the basis, also, of preserving design-unbiased estimation.
The Form and Function of Political Theorizing: Toward an 'Episodic' Political Theory

Though we often think in terms of 'big names' who write 'big books,' political theory has always appeared in many guises. The philosophical treatise stands alongside the political oration, the prison letter, the petition, the novel, the satirical send-up, the drama: all of these different prose forms (not to mention poetry, song, and visual media) have been used to communicate fundamental ideas about political legitimacy; the nature of liberty, authority, justice, and obligation; and the multifaceted relationship between individuals and the communities they inhabit. This paper, accordingly, explores the relationship between form (the genre in which a work of political theory appears), function (the theorist’s aim or intention in producing that work), and content (the political commitments or principles the author attempts to communicate in political theory; and, after doing so, attempts to sketch out an alternate way of studying the history of political thought that follows from that multifaceted relationship.
The water-equivalence of phantom materials for 90Sr-90Y beta particles.

Intravascular brachytherapy requires that the dose be specified within millimeters of the source. High dose gradients near brachytherapy sources require that the source-detector distance be accurately known for dosimetry purposes. Solid phantoms can be designed to accommodate these stringent requirements. This study reports dosimeter readings from 90 Sr– 90 Y sources measured in water, A150, polystyrene and in an epoxy-based water-equivalent plastic. Measurements showed that while A150 and the epoxy-based plastic agreed well with water when the surface of the source contacted the detector housing, the relative response in the phantoms decreased with increasing depth in phantom, falling to ∼0.55 those of water at a depth of 5 mm. Readings in polystyrene were within 4% of those in water between 1 and 2 mm depth. However, while polystyrene followed water more closely than the other two materials, at greater depths the relative response in polystyrene to water varied from 0.65 to 1.34. When the density of the materials is accounted for, the relative response in A150 is nearly constant with increasing areal density. Furthermore, the response in A150 shows the closest agreement with that in water of any of the solid materials for higher areal densities. For values below 0.3 g/cm 2 , polystyrene shows the closest agreement with water.
The Emergence of Autoclitic Frames in Atypically and Typically Developing Children as a Function of Multiple Exemplar Instruction.

In two experiments, we tested the effect of multiple exemplar instruction (MEI) for training sets on the emergence of autoclitic frames for spatial relations for novel tacts and mands. In Experiment 1, we used a replicated pre- and post-intervention probe design with four students with significant learning disabilities to test for acquisition of four autoclitic frames with novel tacts and mands before and after MEI. The untaught topographies emerged for all participants. In Experiment 2, we used a multiple probe design to test the effects of the MEI procedures on the same responses in four typically developing, bilingual students. The novel usage emerged for all participants. In the latter experiment, the children demonstrated untaught usage of mand or tact frames regardless of whether they were taught to respond in either listener or speaker functions alone or across listener and speaker functions. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of MEI in the formation of abstractions.
Reconstructing an inversion history in the Anopheles gambiae complex

The phylogenetic relationships among the members of species complexes can be inferred from the distribution of fixed inversions if outgroup arrangements are known. The Anopheles gambiae complex consists of seven African mosquito species that can be differentiated based on ten fixed inversions. However, the phylogenetic relationships among the members remain unclear. This paper demonstrates that physical maps of the outgroup species A. funestus and A. stephensi can be used for determining ancestral chromosome arrangements in the A. gambiae complex. Gene order comparisons have been performed using the Multiple Genome Rearrangements (MGR) and Sorting Permutation by Reversals and block-INterchanGes (SPRING) programs. The analysis has identified the chromosomal arrangements which are likely to be the ancestral in the complex.
Next-generation sequencing

Next-generation sequencing (also known as massively parallel sequencing) technologies are revolutionising our ability to characterise cancers at the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic levels. Cataloguing all mutations, copy number aberrations and somatic rearrangements in an entire cancer genome at base pair resolution can now be performed in a matter of weeks. Furthermore, massively parallel sequencing can be used as a means for unbiased transcriptomic analysis of mRNAs, small RNAs and noncoding RNAs, genome-wide methylation assays and high-throughput chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Here, I discuss the potential impact of this technology on breast cancer research and the challenges that come with this technological breakthrough.
The Use of Principal Component Analysis for Interpreting Ground Water Hydrographs

Principal component analysis was used to define patterns in water table hydrographs at four small, lake-watershed research sites in the United States. The analysis provided insights into (1) characteristics of ground water recharge in different parts of the watersheds; (2) the effect of seepage from lakes on water table fluctuations; and (3) the effect of differences in geologic properties on water table fluctuations. At two sites where all of the water table wells were completed in permeable deposits, glacial out-wash in Minnesota and dune sand in Nebraska, the patterns of water table fluctuation primarily reflected timing and magnitude of recharge. The water table had more frequent and wider ranges in fluctuations where it was shallow compared with where it was deep. At two sites where the water table wells were completed in sand or till, a glaciated mountain valley in New Hampshire and stagnation moraine in North Dakota, the patterns of water table fluctuations were strongly related to the type of geologic unit in which the wells are completed. Furthermore, at the New Hampshire site, the patterns of water table fluctuations were clearly different for wells completed in sand downgradient of a lake compared with those completed in sandy terraces on a mountain-side. The study indicates that principal component analysis would be particularly useful for summarizing large data sets for the purpose of selecting index wells for long-term monitoring, which would greatly reduce the cost of monitoring programs.