cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
QCD effects in the B0-B-bar 0 system

We consider QCD effects on the /ital B//sup 0/-/ital B/bar // /sup 0/ system for /ital m//sub /ital t///sup */approx.m/sub W/ and /ital m//sub /ital t///sup *//much gt/m/sub W/, where /ital m//sub /ital t///sup */ and /ital m//sub /ital W// are top-quark and /ital W/-boson masses. The role of the external-quark kinematics in producing ''hybrid'' logarithms generated in the momentum range ..mu../sup 2//lt/p/sup 2//lt/m/sub Q//sup 2/ is also examined, where ..mu.. is the binding energy of the /ital B/ meson and /ital m//sub /ital Q// is the mass of the heavy external quark.
Dialectical Materialism and the Quantum Theory

THE DISCUSSION, or even the mere description, of procedures and events in a society whose basic principles are not generally accepted is always a touchy matter. Too often the difficulties of the subject described and the quite natural errors made by those developing it further are projected onto the unloved ideology and are regarded as clear proofs of its weakness and insufficiency. Studies of the historical development of dialectical materialism and attempts to evaluate the influence of this philosophy invariably suffer from this effect. They also suffer from the ignorance of their authors in scientific matters and from their rather primitive philosophy of science. There are not many writers in the field today who are as well acquainted with contemporary science as was Lenin with the science of his time, and no one can match the philosophical intuition of that astounding author.' Wetter's book is full of interesting information; it is a good starting point. But it fails completely because of Wetter's rather primitive ideas concerning the manner in which science might influence ideology and might in turn be influenced by it. The same applies to Bochen'ski. Occasionally an author admits his shortcomings, as does Lukacs in the preface to his Zerstdrung der Vernunft. The need for a presentation that takes the sciences into account is only emphasized thereby. Mr. Graham's interesting, well informed, clear, and straightforward narration of an important episode in the history of science goes a long way toward fulfilling this need. However, a purely descriptive account2 such as his cannot suffice. It may be read as a further example of the restriction of freedom which scientists must suffer in some countries, of the irrelevant and timeconsuming debates they are involved in, and as an indirect plea for leaving pure science entirely to itself. It may lead to overlooking3 the subtle relation that exists between what one is pleased to call pure science and ideology, on the one hand, and between science and politics, on the other. For one might want to say that the ideas introduced by modern science, especially by the founders of the quantum theory, are too important and too far-reaching to be left in the hands of a few specialists and that a more
Sol-gel prepared Ni-alumina composite materials

The microstructure of sol-gel prepared Ni-alumina ceramic-metal composites containing up to 50% Ni has been studied with X-ray diffraction, the scanning electron microscope and the transmission electron microscope. The influence of processing temperature upon the size distribution of Ni was established. It was found that increasing the total amount of Ni increases only the number of micrometre-size Ni inclusions in the alumina, whereas the hot-pressing temperature determines the size distribution of Ni. When temperatures much higher than the melting temperature of Ni are used, a large number of Ni inclusions of the order of 10 nm can be found mainly within alumina grains; only a few are formed in grain boundaries and in triple points. When a temperature close to the melting point is used, there are fewer nanometre-size Ni inclusions and a larger number of Ni inclusions of the order of ∼ 100 nm to 1 μm. In this case, the large (∼ 100 nm) and small (∼ 10 nm) Ni inclusions are found in grain boundaries and triple points.
The Microtubule-Associated Protein Lis1 Regulates T Lymphocyte Homeostasis and Differentiation

The microtubule-associated protein lissencephaly 1 (Lis1) is a key regulator of cell division during stem cell renewal and differentiation. In this study, we examined the role of Lis1 in T lymphocyte homeostasis and fate diversification in response to microbial infection. T cell-specific deletion of Lis1 resulted in depletion of the peripheral CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocyte pool owing to a loss of homeostatic, cytokine-induced proliferation. In contrast, cognate Ag-triggered proliferation was much less affected, enabling Lis1-deficient CD8(+) T cells to differentiate into terminal effector cells in response to microbial infection. Strikingly, however, the specification of Lis1-deficient long-lived memory CD8(+) T lymphocytes was impaired due, in part, to an apparent failure to differentiate appropriately to IL-15. Taken together, these findings suggest that Lis1 plays an important role in T cell homeostasis and the generation of memory T lymphocytes.
Novel Method for Radiolabeling and Dimerizing Thiolated Peptides Using (18)F-Hexafluorobenzene.

Hexafluorobenzene (HFB) reacts with free thiols to produce a unique and selective perfluoroaromatic linkage between two sulfurs. We modified this chemical reaction to produce dimeric 18F-RGD-tetrafluorobenzene (TFB)-RGD, an integrin αvβ3 receptor ligand. 18F-HFB was prepared by a fluorine exchange reaction using K18F/K2.2.2 at room temperature. The automated radiofluorination was optimized to minimize the amount of HFB precursor and, thus, maximize the specific activity. 18F-HFB was isolated by distillation and subsequently reacted with thiolated c(RGDfk) peptide under basic and reducing conditions. The resulting 18F-RGD-TFB-RGD demonstrated integrin receptor specific binding, cellular uptake, and in vivo tumor accumulation.18F-HFB can be efficiently incorporated into thiol-containing peptides at room temperature to provide novel imaging agents.
Multiscale analysis of linear evolution equations with applications to nonlocal models for heterogeneous media

The method of two scale convergence is implemented to study the homogenization of time-dependent nonlocal continuum models of heterogeneous media. Two integro-differential models are considered: the nonlocal convection-diffusion equation and the state-based peridynamic model in nonlocal continuum mechanics. The asymptotic analysis delivers both homogenized dynamics as well as strong approximations expressed in terms of a suitable corrector theory. The method provides a natural analog to that for the time-dependent local PDE models with highly oscillatory coefficients with the distinction that the driving operators considered in this work are bounded.
Challenges of DRAM and flash scaling - potentials in advanced emerging memory devices

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and Flash nonvolatile memory (NVM) continue lo be scaled down to sub-90nm dimensions, a trend expected to extend through the next few generations. Difficulties, however, arise in both device and process technology for sub-65nm geometries in both types of memory. This paper analyzes these challenges and presents emerging device candidates with their potentials for high volume realization and opportunities for research and development in this area.
A Composed “Rhetoric” in Place: A Material-Epistemic Reading of Plato’s Phaedrus

New insights emerge in rereading Plato’s Phaedrus using a material-epistemic methodology. From this perspective one discovers how the material conditions of Plato’s time, discursively composed, specifically outline constructed beliefs about the world. As a result, this analysis exposes how the setting and the myths shared play an active role in how the three speeches unfold, which reframes how one observes Plato’s version of rhetoric. Beyond the Phaedrus, this methodology opens up new questions to consider with both historic and contemporary texts—questions that address how our everyday signifying practices are influenced by historically situated material conditions.
EEG SLEEP AS BIOLOGICAL MARKERS IN DEPRESSION

ABSTRACT The notion of biological markers should include at least two types of markers - episodic (state) markers and trait markers. EEG sleep characteristics found consistently in the depressive episode can minimally be considered episodic markers. Such changes include sleep continuity disturbances, delta sleep reductions, shortened REM latency, and alterations in phasic REM activity. These types of sleep abnormalities present both in depressed inpatients and outpatients and are reversible during clinical remission in many individuals. However, there is increasing evidence that some patients with recurrent depression continue to demonstrate residual changes in shortened REM latency, increased REM activity in the first half of the night, and sleep continuity disturbance even in the remission phase. Only longitudinal studies will lead to the separation of state and trait EEG sleep markers in depression.
Women’s interest development and motivations to persist as college students in STEM: a mixed methods analysis of views and voices from a Hispanic-Serving Institution

The constructs of interest and motivation are often identified as factors that contribute to the persistence of undergraduate college women in physics, mathematics, engineering, engineering technology, and computer science. A review of the literature regarding interest development and motivation as related to women as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learners in diverse communities is presented. The goal of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences women credited for influencing the development of their career interest goals and the sources of motivation they attribute to success in their academic course outcomes in their fields of study. A mixed methods research approach was used to collect student perceptions related to interest and motivation by collecting data through the use of questionnaires and conducting focus groups. Results indicated that students identify early participation in STEM activities and family socializing behavior as ones that contributed the most towards influencing their interest in STEM and motivated them to persist in their studies and pathways as future STEM professionals. This study is unique in that the participant groups included a substantial representation of Latina and African American women’s voices as relayed through the collected quantitative data as well as through the use of focus groups that encouraged women to freely identify experiences they felt contributed to their persistence success. These women identify interest development at various points in their lives as affected by family and school experiences, and family support was identified as having greater importance in their decision to persist.
Numerical study of partial slip effects on MHD flow of nanofluids near a convectively heated stretchable rotating disk

Abstract In this paper, von Karman swirling flow problem is extended for the situation where the space above the disk is equipped with water based nanofluid comprising three different types of nanoparticles namely magnetite-Fe3O4, copper-Cu and silver-Ag. It is further assumed that the disk stretches circumferentially in the radial direction and its surface admits partial slip. Further, heat transfer mechanism is modeled through more realistic convective type conditions. The flow field is subjected to the axial magnetic field. A shooting method with high accuracy is opted to solve the governing problem. For verification purpose, the results are also obtained through the collocation method based MATLAB package bvp4c. The solutions predict that velocity components decrease while temperature increases for increasing values of nanoparticle fraction ϕ. The usefulness of nanofluids in terms of heat transfer enhancement is also justified through rigorous analysis. Improvement in cooling rate, which has special value in some applications, is accomplished through the radial stretch phenomenon. Torque required maintaining disk in steady rotation is minimum for Fe3O4 − water nanofluid. Also, heat transfer rate has the maximum value for a nanofluid containing Fe3O4 nanoparticles.
An AI System for Coaching Novice Programmers

We inhabit a century where every job will be technical. In the 21st century, learning to program a computer is empowerment. Programming instruction teaches procedural and functional thinking, project management and time management, skills that are essential components of an empowered individual. Programming is the power to create, the power to change and the power to influence. Today’s students regardless of their field of study or need this fundamental knowledge.
Role of placental function in mediating conceptus growth and survival

Conceptus mortality is a significant factor limiting reproductive efficiency of livestock. In both singlet(i.e., cattle) and litter(i.e., pigs and sheep) bearing species, investigations of conceptus mortality have focused on the period immediately preceding and throughout the attachment phase, around the time of maternal recognition of pregnancy. Recently, data have emerged leading to the suggestion that conceptus loss later in gestation is also significant and that variation in placental size and function may play a very important part in determining whether a conceptus survives. In the pig, the number of conceptuses present after the initial period of loss that survive to term appears to be influenced by the total amount of placental mass present, such that litters containing individuals with relatively small placentae have a greater potential for a large litter size when compared with litters containing similar numbers of individuals with relatively large placentae. In ruminants, recent evidence supports the time of placental development and initial vasculari
Ski Loading and Flexure on a Groomed Snow Surface

The American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines the bending stiffness of a ski by its deflection under a given load placed on the ski at its midpoint when the ski is supported at its tip and tail contact points. For a casual comparison of ski flexure values, the values obtained in this manner may be adequate. To determine a ski’s loading distribution and flexure in a real snow bed, we need to consider the distribution of the ski’s bending stiffness, which may be described by the relationships associated with the mechanics of a nonuniform beam in flexure [1]. A similar set of relations applies for analyzing the torsional stiffness of a ski; however, in this discussion we consider coupled bending and torsional deflections only qualitatively. We address the specific problem of predicting the edge loading on a ski when it bends to contact the packed and groomed surface of an alpine ski slope.
Driver Behavior as a Function of Ambient Light and Road Geometry

OBJECTIVES To determine how ambient light (day versus night) and road geometry affect driving behavior,especially the speeds that drivers choose when not constrained by lead vehicles.METHODSRecently, it has become technically easier to observe how people drive b offering them longtermuse of highly instrumented vehicles. Much of this type of work has been done in connectionwith large-scale field operational tests (FOTs) of various innovative vehicle systems. Theinformation obtained is in many ways complementary to information from observation of traffic.Traffic observation often provides information about a large number of drivers, but at a relativelycoarse level and in a spatially and temporally limited context (i.e., observing how a large numberof drivers negotiate a particular intersection). In contrast, long-term use of highly instrumentedvehicles is more restricted in terms of how many drivers can be observed, although the feasiblenumbers are now reasonably high. On the positive side, data from instrumented vehicles canoffer very detailed information about driving behavior over many miles and many days.In this paper, we present results from a database of driving behavior that was derived from arecent FOT for an adaptive cruise control (ACC) system (although the data used here are all fromphases of the study that involved only normal vehicle equipment). The FOT involved tenidentical cars that were instrumented for a variety of types of data. The most important data forpresent purposes were: speed, yaw rate, location from the Global Positioning System (GPS), andpresence or absence of a lead vehicle within about 100 m based on the forward-looking sensorsof the ACC system. The instrumented cars were driven by a total of 108 participants, each ofwhom was given a car to use as his or her own vehicle in normal driving for either two or fiveweeks. The participants were sampled from licensed drivers in southeastern Michigan, andrepresented a wide range of age and driving experience.RESULTSResults will be reported in terms of speed as a function of horizontal road curvature in light anddark conditions, and as a function of driver age and gender, all for situations in which there is nolead vehicle within about 100 m. CONCLUSIONSCurrent evidence about headlighting suggests that drivers’ ability to see and negotiate theroadway is virtually unaffected by differences in ambient light, although their ability to perceiveand avoid objects on the road, such as pedestrians, is greatly reduced when headlamps are themain source of light. There is also evidence that drivers do not markedly reduce their speed inconditions of low ambient light. The current analysis allows us to determine how drivers react tospecific road geometries in light and dark conditions. This has implications for how well drivers’perceptual abilities match their driving behavior, and also for assessing the potential benefit of avariety of innovative headlighting systems that are currently being designed to adapt in variousways to vehicle speed and road geometry.
Three Layer Game Theoretic Decision Framework for Cyber-Investment and Cyber-Insurance

Cyber-threat landscape has become highly complex, due to which isolated attempts to understand, detect, and resolve cybersecurity issues are not feasible in making a time constrained decisions. Introduction of cyber-threat information (CTI) sharing has potential to handle this issue to some extent, where knowledge about security incidents is gathered, exchanged across organizations for deriving useful information regarding the threat actors and vulnerabilities. Although, sharing security information could allow organizations to make informed decision, it may not completely eliminate the risks. Therefore, organizations are also inclined toward considering cyber-insurance for transferring risks to the insurers. Also, in networked environment, adversaries may exploit the information sharing to successfully breach the participating organizations. In this paper, we consider these players, i.e. organizations, adversary, and insure, to model a three layer game, where players play sequentially to find out their optimal strategies. Organizations determine their optimal self-defense investment to make while participating in CTI sharing and cyber-insurance. The adversary looks for an optimal attack rate while the insurer targets to maximize its profit by offering suitable coverage level to the organizations. Using backward induction approach, we conduct subgame perfect equilibrium analysis to find optimal strategies for the involved players. We observe that when cyber-insurance is not considered, attacker prefers to increase its rate of attack. This motivates the organizations to consider cyber-insurance option for transferring the risks on their critical assets.
Effectiveness of β-Lactam Monotherapy vs Macrolide Combination Therapy for Children Hospitalized With Pneumonia.

Importance β-Lactam monotherapy and β-lactam plus macrolide combination therapy are both common empirical treatment strategies for children hospitalized with pneumonia, but few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of these 2 treatment approaches. Objective To compare the effectiveness of β-lactam monotherapy vs β-lactam plus macrolide combination therapy among a cohort of children hospitalized with pneumonia. Design, Setting, and Participants We analyzed data from the Etiology of Pneumonia in the Community Study, a multicenter, prospective, population-based study of community-acquired pneumonia hospitalizations conducted from January 1, 2010, to June 30, 2012, in 3 children’s hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee; Memphis, Tennessee; and Salt Lake City, Utah. The study included all children (up to 18 years of age) who were hospitalized with radiographically confirmed pneumonia and who received β-lactam monotherapy or β-lactam plus macrolide combination therapy. Data analysis was completed in April 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures We defined the referent as β-lactam monotherapy, including exclusive use of an oral or parenteral second- or third-generation cephalosporin, penicillin, ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, amoxicillin, or amoxicillin-clavulanate. Use of a β-lactam plus an oral or parenteral macrolide (azithromycin or clarithromycin) served as the comparison group. We modeled the association between these groups and patients’ length of stay using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression. Covariates included demographic, clinical, and radiographic variables. We further evaluated length of stay in a cohort matched by propensity to receive combination therapy. Logistic regression was used to evaluate secondary outcomes in the unmatched cohort, including intensive care admission, rehospitalizations, and self-reported recovery at follow-up. Results Our study included 1418 children (693 girls and 725 boys) with a median age of 27 months (interquartile range, 12-69 months). This cohort was 60.1% of the 2358 children enrolled in the Etiology of Pneumonia in the Community Study with radiographically confirmed pneumonia in the study period; 1019 (71.9%) received β-lactam monotherapy and 399 (28.1%) received β-lactam plus macrolide combination therapy. In the unmatched cohort, there was no statistically significant difference in length of hospital stay between children receiving β-lactam monotherapy and combination therapy (median, 55 vs 59 hours; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.74-1.01). The propensity-matched cohort (n = 560, 39.5%) showed similar results. There were also no significant differences between treatment groups for the secondary outcomes. Conclusions and Relevance Empirical macrolide combination therapy conferred no benefit over β-lactam monotherapy for children hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia. The results of this study elicit questions about the routine empirical use of macrolide combination therapy in this population.
The One-Minute Cranial Nerve Examination

Reading aloud for testing visual acuity involves nearly all of the cranial nerves. As a screening examination performed within few seconds, it provides irrefutable evidence that small images – letters – are seen and synthesized into words. These functions are then integrated into language and spoken skills requiring highly complex assimilation of motor function. Expressing the meaning of what was just read reflects memory and requires a high level of integrated thought.
INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL PRACTICES ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS' STARTUPS

Social support of female entrepreneurs' startups is critical for the sustainable development of female entrepreneurship in a country. This study empirically tests how nine cultural practices, inclu...
Tree it: a tangible user interface for constructing the sample space

UPDATED---April 30, 2018. In math curriculum, probability is one of the most difficult concepts for students to understand [7]. With the intention of making abstract math concepts more concrete, we designed Tree It to facilitate third and fourth grade students' construction of the sample space for probabilistic events through the visualization of a tree diagram. With a constructionist perspective in mind, our design incorporates a tangible user interface (TUI) along with customizable tangibles and activities. This gives learners the ability to explore concepts of permutations through systematic enumeration by moving tangible objects.
Abiotic hydroxylamine nitrification involving manganese- and iron-bearing minerals.

Abstract Hydroxylamine (NH2OH) undergoes biotic and abiotic transformation processes in soil, producing nitrous oxide gas (N2O(g)). Little is known about the magnitude of the abiotic chemical processes in the global N cycle, and the role of abiotic nitrification is still neglected in most current nitrogen trace gas studies. The abiotic fate of NH2OH in soil systems is often focused on transition metals including manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe), and empirical correlations of nitrogen residual species including nitrite (NO2−), nitrate (NO3−), and N2O(g). In this study, abiotic NH2OH nitrification by well-characterized manganese (Mn)- and iron (Fe)-bearing minerals (pyrolusite, amorphous MnO2(s), goethite, amorphous FeOOH(s)) was investigated. A nitrogen mass balance analysis involving NH2OH, and the abiotic nitrification residuals, N2O(g), N2O(aq), NO2−, NO3−, was used, and specific reactions and mechanisms were investigated. Rapid and complete NH2OH nitrification occurred (4–5 h) in the presence of pyrolusite and amorphous MnO2(s), achieving a 95–96% mass balance of N byproducts. Conversely, NH2OH nitrification was considerably slower by amorphous FeOOH(s) (14.5%) and goethite (1.1%). Direct reactions between the Mn- and Fe-bearing mineral species and NO2− and NO3− were not detected. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area and energy dispersive X-ray measurements for elemental composition were used to determine the specific concentrations of Mn and Fe. Despite similar specific concentrations of Mn and Fe in crystalline and amorphous minerals, the rate of NH2OH nitrification was much greater in the Mn-bearing minerals. Results underscore the intrinsically faster NH2OH nitrification by Mn minerals than Fe minerals.
Keeping CEOs Awake At Night. Innovation auf dem globalen Markt.

Die wirtschaftliche Makrodynamik der Globalisierung zwingt CEOs zur radikalen Anderung, wenn nicht gar Neuerfindung ihrer Unternehmen. Zunehmender Wettbewerbsdruck im Inland einerseits und enorme Chancen in den Wachstumsmarkten andererseits bestimmen dabei den Handlungsrahmen. Dank zunehmend vernetzter und leistungsfahiger IT-Infrastruktur migriert Arbeit an den Ort ihrer optimalen Erledigung. Wohin, das regeln die Marktfaktoren Wirtschaftlichkeit, verfugbarer Erfahrungsschatz und Offenheit. Der Schlussel fur die Nutzung der aus der Globalisierung resultierenden Chancen ist die konsequente Ausrichtung auf Innovation. Echte Innovation geschieht am Schnittpunkt von Erfindung und der Erfahrung, wie und wo sie in Differenzierung im Markt und wirtschaftlichen Erfolg umgesetzt werden kann. Dabei kooperieren mehr und mehr CEOs mit Dritten, mit Partnern, Zulieferern und Kunden. Nur in dieser Besinnung auf gemeinsame Starken liegt eine Chance fur den Wirtschaftsstandort Deutschland.
From Intelligence to the Microchemistry of the Human Cerebral Cortex

The chasm in current knowledge between phenomena that emerge from the human brain in action for which the languages of psychology and psychopathology are required, and events at the level of brain molecules and electrolytes that are correlates in the physical domain, is vast both in conceptual and practical terms. In the biological sphere alone, the interactive hypercomplexities of anatomical substructure and biophysical function virtually defy definitive analysis, although seemingly providing commensurate degrees of freedom for the manifestations called “mind”. Given the still rudimentary state of knowledge in human neurosciences, it is clear that understanding of the exact nature of cerebral events that translate into cognition, affect and behavior (rational or otherwise) remains a distant goal, even without invocation of more recondite issues in logic and epistemology that, in the author’s view, are inescapable for any comprehensive consideration of these perplexing but transcendingly challenging matters.1
Non-fatal opioid-related overdoses among adolescents in Massachusetts 2012-2014.

Abstract Background Opioid-related overdoses and deaths among adolescents in the United States continue to increase, but little is known about adolescents who experience opioid-related non-fatal overdose (NFOD). Our objective was to describe (1) the characteristics of adolescents aged 11–17 who experienced NFOD and (2) their receipt of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in the 12 months following NFOD, compared with adults. Methods We created a retrospective cohort using six Massachusetts state agency datasets linked at the individual level, with information on 98% of state residents. Individuals entered the cohort if they experienced NFOD between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014. We compared adolescents to adults experiencing NFOD, examining individual characteristics and receipt of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD)—methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone. Results Among 22,506 individuals who experienced NFOD during the study period, 195 (0.9%) were aged 11–17. Fifty-two percent (102/195) of adolescents were female, whereas only 38% of adults were female (P Conclusion Among individuals experiencing NFOD, adolescents were more likely to be female and less likely to have been prescribed opioids in the year prior. Few adolescents received MOUD before or after NFOD. Non-fatal overdose is a missed opportunity for starting evidence-based treatment in adolescents.
Noise sources and their limitations on the performance of compound semiconductor hard radiation detectors

Abstract We report on the measurement of frequency dependent noise spectra of photoconductive ternary compounds Cs3Sb2I9, Rb3Sb2I9, Hg3Se2I2, and TlSn2I5 for hard radiation detectors. The major sources of noise in these detectors are attributed to pickup noise, white noise, and frequency related 1/ f noise. At low frequencies, the noise spectral density function exhibited 1/ f α behavior where α is less than or equal to one. For those samples with α equal to one, radiation detection performances of the detectors, in terms of spectral measurements, have been reported in previous publications. The origin of 1/f noise of those samples is attributed to carrier fluctuations associated with deep centers/trapped holes. For those samples with α less than one, the origin of the deviation from a linear 1/f dependence is unknown and currently under investigation. However, this deviation is correlated with higher background white noise and lowered detector performance, and thus indicates that the material needs to be further optimized. Noise measurements are a useful indicator for screening prospective materials and samples for detectors.
Loopy SAM

Smoothing approaches to the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) problem in robotics are superior to the more common filtering approaches in being exact, better equipped to deal with non-linearities, and computing the entire robot trajectory. However, while filtering algorithms that perform map updates in constant time exist, no analogous smoothing method is available. We aim to rectify this situation by presenting a smoothingbased solution to SLAM using Loopy Belief Propagation (LBP) that can perform the trajectory and map updates in constant time except when a loop is closed in the environment. The SLAM problem is represented as a Gaussian Markov Random Field (GMRF) over which LBP is performed. We prove that LBP, in this case, is equivalent to Gauss-Seidel relaxation of a linear system. The inability to compute marginal covariances efficiently in a smoothing algorithm has previously been a stumbling block to their widespread use. LBP enables the efficient recovery of the marginal covariances, albeit approximately, of landmarks and poses. While the final covariances are overconfident, the ones obtained from a spanning tree of the GMRF are conservative, making them useful for data association. Experiments in simulation and using real data are presented.
Abstract PD8-01: Microscopic extracapsular extension in sentinel lymph nodes does not mandate axillary dissection in Z0011-eligible patients

Background In ACOSOG Z0011 and AMAROS, matted nodes with gross extracapsular extension (ECE)—a risk factor for locoregional recurrence—were an indication for axillary dissection (ALND), but the effect of microscopic ECE (mECE) in the sentinel nodes (SLNs) on recurrence was not examined. Methods Between 2010-2017, 815 patients with cT1-2N0 breast cancer and SLN metastasis were prospectively managed according to Z0011 criteria, with ALND for those with >2 positive SLNs. Management of mECE was not specified. Here we report outcomes of patients with 1-2 positive SLNs treated with SLN biopsy alone (n=685) and evaluate the impact of mECE on nodal recurrence. Outcomes of the 118 patients treated with ALND, of which 70% had >2 positive SLNs, are provided for comparison. Results Median patient age was 58 years and median tumor size was 1.7 cm. In the SLN group, 210 (31%) had mECE. Patients with mECE were older, had larger tumors, were more likely to be hormone receptor positive (HR+) and HER2-, have 2 positive SLNs, and to receive nodal radiation (Table). At a median follow-up of 41 months, no isolated axillary failures were observed. There were 11 nodal recurrences; 2 isolated, 4 synchronous with breast, and 5 with distant failure. The 5-year rate of any nodal recurrence was 1.6% and did not differ by mECE (2.3% vs 1.3%, p=0.84). No differences were observed in local (0% mECE vs. 1.9% no mECE, p=0.08) or distant (1.2% mECE vs. 4.6% no mECE, p=0.31) recurrence rates by mECE status. In comparison, in the 118 patients having ALND, 101 (86%) had mECE, and 1 combined nodal and distant recurrence was seen. Conclusions In Z0011-eligible patients, rates of nodal recurrence in patients with mECE are low after treatment with SLN biopsy alone, even in the absence of routine nodal radiation. The presence of mECE should not be considered a routine indication for ALND. Citation Format: Barrio AV, Downs-Canner S, Cody HS, Van Zee KJ, Gemignani ML, Pilewskie M, Plitas G, El-Tamer M, Kirstein L, Capko D, Patil S, Morrow M. Microscopic extracapsular extension in sentinel lymph nodes does not mandate axillary dissection in Z0011-eligible patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD8-01.
Edge-Direct Visual Odometry.

In this paper we propose an edge-direct visual odometry algorithm that efficiently utilizes edge pixels to find the relative pose that minimizes the photometric error between images. Prior work on exploiting edge pixels instead treats edges as features and employ various techniques to match edge lines or pixels, which adds unnecessary complexity. Direct methods typically operate on all pixel intensities, which proves to be highly redundant. In contrast our method builds on direct visual odometry methods naturally with minimal added computation. It is not only more efficient than direct dense methods since we iterate with a fraction of the pixels, but also more accurate. We achieve high accuracy and efficiency by extracting edges from only one image, and utilize robust Gauss-Newton to minimize the photometric error of these edge pixels. This simultaneously finds the edge pixels in the reference image, as well as the relative camera pose that minimizes the photometric error. We test various edge detectors, including learned edges, and determine that the optimal edge detector for this method is the Canny edge detection algorithm using automatic thresholding. We highlight key differences between our edge direct method and direct dense methods, in particular how higher levels of image pyramids can lead to significant aliasing effects and result in incorrect solution convergence. We show experimentally that reducing the photometric error of edge pixels also reduces the photometric error of all pixels, and we show through an ablation study the increase in accuracy obtained by optimizing edge pixels only. We evaluate our method on the RGB-D TUM benchmark on which we achieve state-of-the-art performance.
Smart Greedy Distributed Allocation in Microgrids

We consider a microgrid that consists of N providers and B consumers. Each provider has a certain supply and each consumer has a certain demand. The efficiency of transmitting energy between providers and consumers is modeled using a bipartite graph G. Our goal is to maximize the amount of utilized energy using a distributed algorithm that each provider runs locally. We propose a non-cooperative energy allocation game, and adopt the best-response dynamics for this game as our distributed algorithm. We prove that the best-response dynamics converge in no more than N steps to one of at most N! pure Nash equilibria of our game. Despite the fact that some of these Nash equilibria are suboptimal, we are able to prove that our algorithm achieves near-optimal performance in &#x201C;almost all&#x201D; games. We do so by analyzing the best-response dynamics in a random game, where the network is generated using a random model for the graph G. We prove that the ratio between the utilized energy of our algorithm and that of the optimal solution converges to one in probability as B increases (and N is any function of B). Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that our asymptotic analysis is valid even for B &#x003D; 10 consumers.
Alimentación suspensívora oportunista del gasterópodo intermareal Olivella columellaris y sus implicaciones en la regulación de las migraciones mareales

El gasteropodo Olivella columellaris habita las playas arenosas del Pacifico Oriental Tropical. Estos caracoles suelen realizar migraciones mareales ya que se alimentan de particulas en suspension en la zona de resaca que se mueve con la marea. Aunque este comportamiento posiblemente este regulado por un reloj endogeno que sigue los ritmos mareales, O. columellaris facilmente puede modificarlo. Por ejemplo, cuando se crean pequenos canales que drenan el agua de las pozas (naturales o artificiales) generadas en marea baja, la alimentacion suspensivora conti nua mientras el agua este corriendo, retras andose asi la migracion ma real. Dicha plasticidad en el comportamiento cuestiona la importancia de los ritmos endogenos en la regulacion de las migraciones mareales de O. columellaris
A Qualitative Investigation of College Student Perceptions of Their Nutrition Environment: Recommendations for Improvement

ABSTRACTBackground: College is the first environment in which students are responsible for making all decisions relating to their eating and exercise behaviors. Of all contributing factors to overw...
Abstract A05: Chromatin dynamics in vivo reveal a complex cell fate transition and master regulators of the development of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia

Pancreatic cancer initiation features a hallmark preneoplastic event wherein the acinar cell acquires a “duct-like” phenotype. Despite this transition in cell fate, little is known about the chromatin specification of pancreatic cell types and the epigenetic dysregulation of normal acinar cells in tumor initiation. To address these questions, we employed a lineage-traced autochthonous mouse model (Mist1-CreERT2 LSL-TdTomato +/- LSL-KrasG12D) to examine systematically perturbed acinar cells that give rise to early PanIN (PanIN 1); in addition, we sorted islet and ductal cell populations and describe the novel generation of Ptf1a-TdTomato mice to reliably sort pancreatic progenitors at e10.5. We observe in our system that Kras activation alone does not disturb acinar cell chromatin nor the histologic appearance of the pancreas. By contrast, caerulein alters chromatin significantly in metaplasia and even in regeneration, with putative enhancers derepressed despite normal histology. In the context of Kras activation and caerulein administration, we find a broad and stable reorganization of chromatin, reflecting cooperativity between oncogenic stress and an inflammatory insult. The chromatin of the reprogrammed acinar cell bears few, if any, ductal, progenitor, or islet features and instead reflects a largely novel cell fate. Detailed analysis of these acinar-derived cells in PanIN1 reveals unexpected features of the newly acquired cell state. First, we find robust induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) gene-proximal enhancer chromatin that is not reflected in the EMT-related transcriptional state. Second, we find evidence of a derepression of a foregut/gastric transcriptional program, not otherwise evident in normal cell types of the adult mouse pancreas. Finally, our genome-wide chromatin accessibility and transcriptome data nominate the pioneer transcription factor Foxa1 as a master regulator of the complex cell fate transition from acinar cell to PanIN. Together, our findings suggest that (1) the acquired acinar cell fate reflects neither true metaplasia nor transdifferentiation nor dedifferentiation events, (2) a gastric/foregut transcript program is unveiled, (3) the process of EMT begins in ADM, and finally (4) that Foxa1 appears to coordinate the change in cell fate. Our data thus demonstrate that histologic appearance does not adequately reflect cellular identity, highlighting the complex spectrum of features acquired in the transition to neoplasia and identifying a putative coordinator of the PanIN cell fate. Citation Format: Rohit Chandwani, Alexa Osterhoudt, Richard Koche, Steven D. Leach. Chromatin dynamics in vivo reveal a complex cell fate transition and master regulators of the development of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care; 2019 Sept 6-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(24 Suppl):Abstract nr A05.
Neurophysiological indices of the transfer of cognitive training gains to untrained tasks.

Abstract Targeted training of working memory (WM) may improve performance and modulate brain function in untrained cognitive modalities. Demanding cognitive training protocols that do not target WM may also improve performance on untrained cognitive tests, but the delineation between transfer effects that are unique to WM training and effects that are shared among different cognitive training modalities has not been well-established. To address this, we examined the effects of twenty sessions of either WM training (visual n-back task with letter stimuli) or selective attention training (visual search task with letter array stimuli) on brain function during untrained WM and cognitive control tasks. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained at baseline (pretest) and after the training period (posttest) for two untrained tasks – a Spatial 3-back task measuring spatial WM, and a Go/NoGo Flanker task measuring cognitive control. The n-back training group had more pronounced pretest-to-posttest performance improvements on the Spatial 3-back task compared to the search training group. N-back training was also associated with pretest-to-posttest enhancement of N1 amplitude and reduced N2 latency on trials of the task in which where there was a stimulus match, as well as enhancement of a late positive potential (550–750 msec post-stimulus) for all trials of the task. These ERP effects suggest that n-back training resulted in enhancement of attention to spatial locations, earlier onset of conflict monitoring processes, and changes in the engagement of neural activity during the retention interval, respectively. Both groups had faster reaction time on Go trials of the Go/NoGo Flanker task at posttest compared to pretest. Relatively subtle training-related effects were observed for N2 amplitude on this task, in line with the notion that training (particularly n-back training) was associated with improved conflict monitoring. Further, search training resulted in earlier onset of P2 and P3 latency at posttest compared to pretest. Taken together, the ERP findings for both tasks identify specific cognitive processes that are associated with transfer to untrained tasks after distinct forms of cognitive training.
Reconstitution of the host holobiont in germ-free rats acutely increases bone growth and affects marrow cellular content

In recent years there has been growing evidence regarding the effect of microbiota on the skeletal growth and homeostasis. Here we present, for the first time, accelerated longitudinal and radial bone growth in young (7-week-old) germ-free male rats after short-term exposure to a newly established gut microbiota. Changes in bone mass and structure were analyzed after 10 days following the onset of colonization through cohousing with conventional rats and revealed unprecedented acceleration of bone accrual in cortical and trabecular compartments, increased bone tissue mineral density, improved proliferation and hypertrophy of growth plate chondrocytes, bone lengthening, and preferential deposition of periosteal bone in tibia diaphysis. In addition, the number of small-in-size adipocytes increased, while the number of megakaryocytes decreased, in the bone marrow of conventionalized germ-free rats. The observed changes in bone status were paralleled with a positive shift in microbiota composition towards short chain fatty acids (SCFA)-producing microbes, which reflected a dramatic increase in cecal concentration of SCFA, specifically butyrate. Further, reconstitution of the host holobiont increased hepatic expression of IGF-1 and its circulating levels, implicating an involvement of the somatotropic axis. Increased serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and alkaline phosphatase pointed toward an active process of bone formation. The acute stimulatory effect on bone growth occurred independently of body mass increase and resembled reversal of dysbiosis in adolescence, which is marked by rapid skeletal expansion. These findings may help in developing microbiota-based therapeutics to combat bone related disorders resulting from hormonal defects and/or malnutrition in children and adolescence.
Relationship between DiaSorin Liaison Treponema pallidum antibody indices and confirmatory assay results in the reverse syphilis testing algorithm.

Abstract Published studies show that >99% of sera reactive in the reverse syphilis testing algorithm (RSTA) screening assay with an index above an assay-specific threshold confirm as reactive, with either a rapid plasma reagin-reactive (RPRR) or RPR-nonreactive/Treponema pallidum particle agglutination-reactive (TPPAR) result. However, the relationship between screen indices and confirmatory patterns has not been characterized. We thus assessed confirmatory testing results for 577 sera submitted for RSTA testing and a screen-reactive result in the DiaSorin Liaison assay. The median screen index was significantly higher for RPRR samples than TPPAR samples (55.6 versus 10.4), and the proportion with indices >28.3 (median for all 577 samples) was significantly higher for RPRR versus TPPAR samples (82% versus 26%). However, RPRR titers did not significantly correlate with screen indices (R2 = 0.02). These findings demonstrate a significant relationship between RSTA screen indices and confirmatory assay results. The clinical utility of this relationship requires further study.