cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE AND 121Sb HYPERFINE FIELDS IN THE HEUSLER ALLOYS Ni1-xCuxMnSb

At 4.2 K the magnetic hyperfine field, Hn, at Sb in the Clb structure alloys Ni1-xCuxMnSb, 0 < x < 1, increases from 296 kG at x = 0 to 504 kG at x = 0.6. For x < 0.7, Hn decreases rapidly and is characterized by a broad Gaussian distribution. For example, at x = 0.8 the average Hn is 327 kG and the width of the distribution, σHn, 130 kG. Using the recent model of Blandin and Campbell based on the RKKY interaction, the increase of Hn with x for x < 0.7 can be shown to arise primarily from the increase in electron concentration. A similar explanation might also apply to the 600 kG Hn at Sb in Pd2MnSb if it is assumed that Pd contributes 0.25 electron to the conduction band. The large hyperfine fields at Sb in the above alloy systems appear to be consistent with the predictions of extant theoretical models.
STRATEGIC ORIENTATION, STRATEGIC PLANNING SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS AND PERFORMANCE*

This article examines the differences in strategic planning system characteristics such as planning implementation, market research competence, key personnel involvement, degree of assistance provided by the planning staff and innovativeness of strategies between the Prospector and Defender strategic archetypes. the study also tests whether deviations from a defined ideal profile of strategic planning system characteristics has implications for performance within each strategic archetype. the findings reveal significant differences in strategic planning system characteristics between Prospectors and Defenders, as well as suggest negative performance implications for deviating from a defined ideal profile of strategic planning system characteristics among Prospector organizations.
Direct Multi-Step Time Series Prediction Using TD(λ)

This paper explores the application of Temporal Difference (TD) learning (Sutton, 1988) to forecasting the behavior of dynamical systems with real-valued outputs (as opposed to game-like situations). The performance of TD learning in comparison to standard supervised learning depends on the amount of noise present in the data. In this paper, we use a deterministic chaotic time series from a low-noise laser. For the task of direct five-step ahead predictions, our experiments show that standard supervised learning is better than TD learning. The TD algorithm can be viewed as linking adjacent predictions. A similar effect can be obtained by sharing the internal representation in the network. We thus compare two architectures for both paradigms: the first architecture ("separate hidden units") consists of individual networks for each of the five direct multi-step prediction tasks; the second ("shared hidden units") has a single (larger) hidden layer that finds a representation from which all five predictions for the next five steps are generated. For this data set we do not find any significant difference between the two architectures.
Allergies and Adult Gliomas: Cohort Results Strengthen Evidence for a Causal Association

The evidence for an association between a history of allergies and a reduced risk of glioma has been emerging (1). In this issue of the Journal, Calboli et al. (2) analyze associations between prediagnostic plasma immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and the risk of adult glioma by combining data from four large prospective cohort studies. The pooled data resulted in a modest number of 169 glioma cases, but for a rare disease, this is a substantial contribution to the literature. A statistically significant protective association with borderline elevated levels of total IgE (25–100 kU/L) relative to clinically normal levels ( 100 kU/L) was not observed. The findings are somewhat perplexing, but further our understanding of the biological underpinnings of the protection that allergies appear to provide in the development of brain tumors. The results of Calboli et al. (2) are consistent with one other cohort study that reported a statistically significant inverse associ ation between risk of glioma and borderline elevated levels of IgE, but inconsistent associations with elevated IgE levels (3). This study (2) estimated an odds ratio (OR) near unity at elevated total IgE levels, whereas Schlehofer et al. (3) reported a protective association with elevated levels of respiratory allergen–specific IgE. They observed that the higher the level of respiratory allergen– specific IgE, the stronger was the association, and an increased association was statistically significant in patients with high grade glioma (3). Together, these studies point to an association between prediagnosis IgE level and risk of glioma, but the biological mechanism underlying this association is still unclear. The suggestion that allergies may be associated with a reduced risk of developing of brain tumors was made in the early 1990s (4). Since then, 10 case–control and two cohort studies have investigated this association using self-reported data on the history of allergic conditions. Results showed an inverse association of glioma risk with any allergic conditions compared with nonallergic conditions (pooled estimated OR = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.52 to 0.69) (1). The association was statistically significant when limited to asthma, eczema, and hay fever as a group, and the association remained when consideration of proxy reporting was introduced in the analysis (1). These estimates based on self-report of allergies are similar to that observed by Calboli et al. (2) (total IgE 25–100 vs <25 kU/L, OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.42 to 0.93).
Presynthesis test generation using VHDL behavioral fault models

This paper discusses generation of test vectors for digital components from their VHDL behavioral models, prior to synthesis into specific gate level implementations. This allows test planning to proceed in parallel with the development process, rather than waiting until the design is complete. The test vectors are generated from behavioral fault models based on generalized functional faults that have been abstracted into the behavioral domain. The result is improved gate level fault coverage over previous behavioral fault models.
HARVEST PLANNING UNDER UNCERTAIN EXTINCTION TIME

. Harvesting a targeted commercial species results in impacts on an endangered species which may have no direct market value but may need protection as mandated by environmental laws. A vigorous harvest path might drive the endangered species to extinction. This paper studies harvest planning when the endangered species is subject to an uncertain extinction time. It is shown that the optimal static harvest level under certainty can be used as an upper bound for the entire dynamic harvest time path under uncertainty. The paper also develops an explicit upper bound for the entire harvest path under uncertain extinction time of the endangered species. It is demonstrated that an increase in the hazard rate of the endangered species will shift down the upper bound for the entire harvest path, whereas an increase in the growth rate of the commercial species will shift up the upper bound for the entire harvest path.
Prediabetes and prehypertension in disease free obese adults correlate with an exacerbated systemic proinflammatory milieu.

Obesity is a pro-inflammatory state frequently associated with widespread metabolic alterations that include insulin resistance and deregulation of blood pressure (BP). This cascade of events in some measure explains the susceptibility of obese adults for co-morbid conditions like diabetes mellitus and hypertension. We hypothesized that an elevated systemic proinflammatory burden correlates with dysglycemia and deregulated blood pressure. We analyzed the screening anthropometric and laboratory measures from healthy disease free obese adults (n = 35; women (W) 27, men (M) 8) in a weight loss study. Healthy obese normoglycemic (fasting serum glucose: FSG <100 mg/dL) women and men compared with healthy obese with prediabetes (FSG 100-125 mg/dL) had no significant differences for age (Mean ± SD: 52 ± 12 vs. 56 ± 9 y), weight (95 ± 11 vs. 99 ± 13 kg), or waist circumference (108 ± 10 vs. 108 ± 11 cm). Normoglycemic group (n = 24; W = 19, M = 5) had normal FSG 92 ± 4 mg/dL, HbA1c 5.4 ± 0.3%, BP 118/75 mm Hg, but had elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs CRP) 3.7 ± 3 mg/L and fibrinogen 472 ± 76 mg/dL. The group with prediabetes (n = 11; W = 8, M = 3) with significantly higher FSG (106 ± 3 mg/dL; p < 0.0001), HbA1c (5.9 ± 0.5%; p < 0.002), had prehypertension (BP: 127/80 mm Hg) and significantly higher hs CRP (16.9 ± 9 mg/; p < 0.0001) and fibrinogen (599 ± 95 mg/dL; p < 0.0002). In otherwise healthy disease free obese adults, a higher degree of systemic inflammation is associated with prediabetes and prehypertension.
Gender Effects in Peer Nominations for Aggression and Social Status.

Little prior research has examined children’s interpersonal perceptions of peers from a social relations model framework. This study examines the degree of actor and partner variances, as well as generalised and dyadic reciprocities, in a sample of 351 sixth graders’ peer nominations of different forms and functions of aggression and aspects of social status. Gender differences in these nominations are also explored. Results indicate significant actor and partner variances for all measures, and generalised reciprocity in social status perceptions. Clear gender differences were noted in rates of nominations, such that more same-sex than cross-sex nominations were generally given for both positive and negative aspects; however, we found mixed evidence of gender differences in the variance partitioning and reciprocity correlation estimates.
Universal Design of Research: Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Mainstream Biomedical Studies

Although persons with disabilities of all kinds have as wide a range of health conditions as the general population, they are profoundly underrepresented in mainstream health research. Such underrepresentation might contribute to the health disparities in this population. We propose the concept of Universal Design of Research (UDR), which would promote routine inclusion of persons with disabilities in mainstream biomedical and psychosocial studies, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Elements of UDR include the use of multisensory formats for recruiting participants, presenting research instruments and interventions, and data gathering from participants and should promote the inclusion of participants with a wide range of abilities, thus enhancing the generalizability of results.
Sentinel lymph node detection ex vivo using ultrasound-modulated optical tomography

We apply ultrasound-modulated optical tomography (UOT) to image ex-vivo methylene-blue-dyed sentinel lymph nodes embedded in 3.2-cm-thick chicken breast tissues. The UOT system is implemented for the first time using ring-shaped light illumination, intense acoustic bursts, and charge-coupled device (CCD) camera-based speckle contrast detection. Since the system is noninvasive, nonionizing, portable, relatively cost effective, and easy to combine with photoacoustic imaging and single element ultrasonic pulse-echo imaging, UOT can potentially be a good imaging modality for the detection of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer staging in vivo.
Evaluation of Luminex xTAG Fungal Analyte-Specific Reagents for Rapid Identification of Clinically Relevant Fungi

Invasive fungal infections (IFI) remain a serious threat to immunocompromised hosts. Current diagnostic methods, including fungal culture and antigen detection, are slow and often lack specificity. Rapid diagnostic tools with increased sensitivity and specificity could improve the care of patients with IFI. Recently, Luminex Molecular Diagnostics (Toronto, Canada) developed 23 analyte-specific reagents (ASRs) for the detection of the most common clinically relevant fungi. This study's objective was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a subset of these ASRs for fungal isolates and clinical specimens. Previously characterized fungal and bacterial isolates (n = 110), blood culture specimens (n = 34), and respiratory specimens (n = 44) were tested using either a Candida 7-plex panel (Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, Candida lusitaniae, Candida guilliermondii, and Candida krusei) or a mold 11-plex panel (Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, Scedosporium prolificans, Scedosporium apiospermum, Fusarium oxysporum/Fusarium solani, Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizopus microsporus, Mucor indicus, and Cunninghamella bertholletiae). The Candida 7-plex panel correctly identified all Candida isolates as confirmed by fungal culture and biochemical tests, for a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. The mold 11-plex panel correctly identified all mold isolates tested except for A. niger. Fungal isolates of Rhizopus and Mucor species were not detected, either, although they could represent species other than those targeted by the ASRs. Further evaluation will be necessary to confirm the sensitivities of some of the mold ASRs. Implementation of these ASRs will allow same-day detection of fungal DNA in clinical specimens.
Spector Second Order Classes and Reflection

The purpose of this paper, which grew out of a series of lectures (short course) delivered at the Oslo Conference, is to give a survey of the theory of reflection in the context of Spector second order classes. We have mainly aimed at presenting a global view of a rather extensive part of definability theory and at the same time illustrate how the main concepts and results to be presented below unify a large number of diverse areas in this theory and also clarify many of its important aspects.
Nutrition risk screening characteristics of rural older persons: relation to functional limitations and health care charges.

This study was intended to characterize a rural population of older persons through nutrition screening and relate screening items to functional limitations and health care charges. There were 5373 participants (2522 males and 2851 females, mean age 71 y) screened over a 22-mo period by using a self-administered questionnaire adapted from the Nutrition Screening Initiative. Height and weight and cholesterol and albumin concentrations were measured, and health care claims data were obtained. The most frequent screening items reported were use of > or = 3 medications (41%) and food group intakes below recommended frequencies (> 50%). There were significant (P 27. Stepwise modeling procedures were used to identify screening items with the ability to predict self-reported functional limitation (logistic regression) and monthly average recorded health care charges (linear regression on logged charges). Age > or = 75 y, use of > or = 3 medications, and an albumin concentration 27, cholesterol concentration 6.21 mmol/L, and functional limitation were significant predictors of health care charges only. These findings suggest that selected screening items may have be useful in the identification of subjects at potential risk for these outcomes.
Mesoscopic modeling of transport and reaction in microporous crystalline membranes

Abstract A mesoscopic framework, derived from first principles via a rigorous coarse-graining of an underlying master equation, has proven to be a powerful tool in bridging the disparate scales between atomistic simulations and practical applications involving diffusion of interacting species through microporous films. This mesoscopic framework is validated here via gradient continuous time Monte Carlo (G-CTMC) simulations for realistic boundary conditions in the limit of thin, single crystal membranes. It is shown that intermolecular forces have a non-Arrhenius effect on the permeation flux, and a stationary concentration pattern develops for strong repulsive interactions. It is found that diffusion through complex multiple site lattices, such as those encountered in diffusion of benzene in Na–Y zeolite films, exhibits strongly nonlinear behavior even in the absence of interactions between molecular species. Finally, the mesoscopic framework is applied to diffusion/reaction systems, where excellent agreement between G-CTMC and mesoscopic solutions is demonstrated for the first time.
Three-dimensional hindlimb kinematics of water running in the plumed basilisk lizard (Basiliscus plumifrons).

Much of what is known about tetrapod locomotion is based upon movement over solid surfaces. Yet in the wild, animals are forced to move over substrates with widely varying properties. Basilisk lizards are unique in their ability to run across water from the time they hatch to adulthood. Previous studies have developed mechanical models or presented theoretical analyses of running across water, but no detailed kinematic descriptions of limb motion are currently available. The present study reports the first three-dimensional kinematic descriptions of plumed basilisk lizards (Basiliscus plumifrons) running across water, from hatchling (2.8 g) to adult (78 g) size range. Basilisks ran on a 4.6 m-long water track and were filmed with two synchronized high-speed cameras at 250 frames s(-1) and 1/1250 s shutter speed. All coordinates were transformed into three dimensions using direct linear transformation. Seventy-six kinematic variables and six morphological variables were measured or calculated to describe the motion of the hindlimb, but only 32 variables most relevant to kinematic motion are presented here. Kinematic variation among individuals was primarily related to size differences rather than sprint speed. Although basilisk lizards applied some of the same strategies to increase running velocity across water as other tetrapods do on land, their overall kinematics differ dramatically. The feet exhibit much greater medio-lateral excursions while running through water than do those of other lizards while running on land. Also, whereas the hindlimb kinematics of other lizards on land are typically symmetrical (i.e. limb excursions anterior to the hip are of similar magnitude to the limb excursions aft of the hip), basilisks running through water exhibit much greater excursions aft than they do anterior to the hip. Finally, ankle and knee flexion in early stance is a defining feature of a tetrapod step during terrestrial locomotion; yet this characteristic is missing in aquatic basilisk running. This may indicate that the basilisk limb acts primarily as a force producer - as opposed to a spring element - when locomoting on a highly damping surface such as water.
Internal Audit Professionalism and Section 404 Compliance: The View of Chief Audit Executives from Northeast Ohio

This study explores the notion that the recently heightened regulation over United States public company reporting limits the amount of professional judgment required by internal auditors, and in the long run may reduce the overall value and professionalism of the internal audit group. Our assessment is based on face-to-face interviews conducted with Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) from 17 publicly listed companies located in Northeast Ohio, United States, and is in general agreement with the extant literature on the topic. We find that despite several short-term benefits from the Section 404 work for the individual auditor (e.g., increased pay and job security), the compliance work may indeed be a threat to the long-term reputation of the internal audit profession. Based on the existing literature and the CAEs’ responses, the Section 404 work does appear to be driving the internal audit profession down a new path.
Association between Physical Performance and All-Cause Mortality in CKD

In older adults, measurements of physical performance assess physical function and associate with mortality and disability. Muscle wasting and diminished physical performance often accompany CKD, resembling physiologic aging, but whether physical performance associates with clinical outcome in CKD is unknown. We evaluated 385 ambulatory, stroke-free participants with stage 2-4 CKD enrolled in clinic-based cohorts at the University of Washington and University of Maryland and Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare systems. We compared handgrip strength, usual gait speed, timed up and go (TUAG), and 6-minute walking distance with normative values and constructed Cox proportional hazards models and receiver operating characteristic curves to test associations with all-cause mortality. Mean age was 61 years and the mean estimated GFR was 41 ml/min per 1.73 m(2). Measures of lower extremity performance were at least 30% lower than predicted, but handgrip strength was relatively preserved. Fifty deaths occurred during the median 3-year follow-up period. After adjustment, each 0.1-m/s decrement in gait speed associated with a 26% higher risk for death, and each 1-second longer TUAG associated with an 8% higher risk for death. On the basis of the receiver operating characteristic analysis, gait speed and TUAG more strongly predicted 3-year mortality than kidney function or commonly measured serum biomarkers. Adding gait speed to a model that included estimated GFR significantly improved the prediction of 3-year mortality. In summary, impaired physical performance of the lower extremities is common in CKD and strongly associates with all-cause mortality.
On Optimal Screening Ages

Abstract Several chronic diseases are characterized by an initial asymptomatic stage during which, if detected by screening, they can be cured in a more effective way. This article considers two statistical design problems in screening for chronic disease: the choice of examination ages and the choice of the part of the population to be screened. One main goal is capturing the trade-off between the costs of examination and the losses due to late detection, while accounting for the effects of age on the incidence of the disease, on mortality, and on the relative advantages of early detection. The problem is posed in a decision theoretic way. The model adopted considers a single individual, whose history relative to the disease is represented by a discrete-valued stochastic process. The transition structure is general, but known. The decision space includes all sequences of examination times, as well as no examination. The optimality criterion accounts for the cost of examinations and, in a general way, for...
The potential role of ectomycorrhizal fungi in determining Douglas-fir resistance to defoliation by the western spruce budworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).

Abstract There is phenotypic variation among individual trees of interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca [Beissn.] Franco) in their resistance to defoliation by the western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman). We evaluated the potential role of ectomycorrhizal fungi in determining this resistance using half-sib seedlings derived from parent trees that are resistant versus susceptible to budworm defoliation in the field. The seedlings were inoculated with Laccaria bicolor ectomycorrhizal fungi, fertilized, or untreated. Approximately 48 d after treatment, late-instar larvae from a nondiapausing laboratory colony of C. occidentalis were allowed to feed on pairs of resistant versus susceptible seedlings for 1 wk. Chemical analyses of current-year shoots for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), and zinc (Zn) indicated that the fungus increased foliar concentrations of P and Mg in resistant seedlings, but it did not increase their growth rate. However, L. bicolor had no...
Cell-free DNA as a novel marker in cancer therapy

Advances in next-generation sequencing have provided new insights and new therapeutic options for patients with cancer. However, assessment of genomic aberrations, which is required for precision medicine, has been challenging because of the difficulties in capturing intratumoral heterogeneity and in real-time assessment of tumors. Recent advances in technology have enabled detection and analysis of cell-free DNA in cancer patients, which provides real-time assessment of tumor evolution. Here, we review the recent advances in our understanding of the clinical utility of cell-free DNA and the future directions for its use in cancer management.
A Comparison of the Impact of Teaching Events Upon the Experience of Entry-Level Agricultural Education Teachers

The convergence of pressures from global competition, an aging American work force, sliding student achievement scores, high teacher attrition rates, and an imminent mass retirement of our most experienced public school teachers has caused policy makers, state department of education leaders, school administrators, researchers, and teacher educators to examine and revise the practices of preparing and retaining teachers (Carnegie Task Force on the Future of Teaching,1986; Holmes Group,1986; National Commission on Teaching and America's Future,1996; Darling-Hammond, Chung, & Frelow,2002; Darling-Hammond,2002; National Commission on Teaching and America's Future,2003). Despite the limited supply of some types of teachers (e.g., technology education, agricultural education, specials needs, mathematics, science), Americans still want teachers in the classrooms who can teach. This sentiment reflects research findings that show that student achievement and performance levels are higher when taught by well-prepared and experienced classroom teachers (Hawk, Coble, & Swanson,1985; Monk,1994; Sanders & Rivers,1996; Darling-Hammond,1997,2000a,2000b,2000c,2002; Goldhaber & Brewer,2000; Darling-Hammond, Berry, & Thoreson,2001; Darling-Hammond, Chung & Frelow,2002). Unfortunately, many students, especially students from rural and urban settings, do not benefit from the expertise of quality teachers (Ingersoll,1999,2001). Instead, they see a steady stream of teachers coming and going due to a variety of events that affected their initial teaching experience and decision to leave the profession.
Beyond Library Space and Place: Creating a Culture of Community Engagement Through Library Partnerships

Academic library faculty and staff can be active partners in campus initiatives for community engagement. This article documents the development and operations of a Center for Service-Learning within the Library at Indiana University East, a medium size regional campus of a major public university in the Midwest. It provides information that may be useful to assist academic libraries in transitioning into expanded service roles within their constituent communities.
Extreme Markup: The Fifty US Hospitals With The Highest Charge-To-Cost Ratios

Using Medicare cost reports, we examined the fifty US hospitals with the highest charge-to-cost ratios in 2012. These hospitals have markups (ratios of charges over Medicare-allowable costs) approximately ten times their Medicare-allowable costs compared to a national average of 3.4 and a mode of 2.4. Analysis of the fifty hospitals showed that forty-nine are for profit (98 percent), forty-six are owned by for-profit hospital systems (92 percent), and twenty (40 percent) operate in Florida. One for-profit hospital system owns half of these fifty hospitals. While most public and private health insurers do not use hospital charges to set their payment rates, uninsured patients are commonly asked to pay the full charges, and out-of-network patients and casualty and workers’ compensation insurers are often expected to pay a large portion of the full charges. Because it is difficult for patients to compare prices, market forces fail to constrain hospital charges. Federal and state governments may want to consi...
Dispersion Modeling in Time and Two Dimensions

A two-dimensional model describing dispersion process has been developed. The final form of the model is made relatively easy to use by introducing a Taylor series expansion and an asymptotic expansion during the mathematical development. These two approximations allow integrals appearing in the describing equations to be written in closed form. Three applications of the model are given: prediction of concentration profiles arising from vinyl chloride dispersing from a chemical plant; prediction of the extent of groundwater pollution caused by underground coal gasification; and the evaluation of a deep-well disposal facility at an industrial site. The model is compared with results of a laboratory dispersion study and is found to be a good representation of reality.
Ethyl 3-(10-bromo-anthracen-9-yl)-5-methyl-1,2-oxazole-4-carboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C21H16BrNO3, the mean planes of the anthracene tricycle and isoxazole ring are inclined to each other at a dihedral angle of 72.12 (7)°. The carb­oxy group is slightly out of the isoxazole mean plane, with a maximum deviation of 0.070 (5) A for the carbonyl O atom. In the crystal, pairs of weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into dimers, and weak C—H⋯N inter­actions further link these dimers into corrugated layers parallel to the bc plane.
Binding of HIV-1 gp120 Glycoprotein to Silica Nanoparticles Modified with CD4 Glycoprotein and CD4 Peptide Fragments

An important step in human immunodeficiency virus infection involves the interaction between the viral envelope glycoprotein gp120 and the human host cell surface receptor CD4. Herein, we describe a CD4-functionalized mesoporous silica-based system to selectively capture HIV-gp120 with high binding efficiency. Using a protection-deprotection strategy developed recently by our group, the external surface of the mesoporous particles was selectively functionalized with soluble CD4 ("sCD4") or an 18-peptide fragment mimicking the gp120 binding region. Confocal microscopy confirmed the CD4 locations and showed that the internal pores can be made accessible after external modification in a controlled manner. An evaluation of the ability of an 18-peptide CD4 fragment versus amide-immobilized sCD4 and sCD4 immobilized through its glycosidic group indicated that while all peptides were selective, the latter method was clearly best, with nearly complete removal of whole gp120 from solution. This study shows, for the first time, that sCD4 bound to mesoporous silica particles actively recognizes and retains high binding affinity for HIV-gp120. It is anticipated that, by proper modification of the accessible internal pores, our methodology can be adopted to develop porous platforms for HIV diagnosis, imaging, drug delivery, and vaccine development.
Real-time tracking of neuronal network structure using data assimilation

A nonlinear data assimilation technique is applied to determine and track effective connections between ensembles of cultured spinal cord neurons measured with multielectrode arrays. The method is statistical, depending only on confidence intervals, and requiring no form of arbitrary thresholding. In addition, the method updates connection strengths sequentially, enabling real-time tracking of nonstationary networks. The ensemble Kalman filter is used with a generic spiking neuron model to estimate connection strengths as well as other system parameters to deal with model mismatch. The method is validated on noisy synthetic data from Hodgkin-Huxley model neurons before being used to find network connections in the neural culture recordings.
Multi-Objective Optimization of Resource Scheduling in Construction Projects

Resource allocation and leveling techniques have been widely used to consider the impact of resource availability and minimize undesirable resource fluctuations. These techniques and existing models deal with two distinct problems in a sequential manner rather than simultaneously. This paper presents the development of a robust multi-objective optimization model for optimizing resource allocation and leveling simultaneously. Two innovative resource leveling metrics, namely Release and ReHire (RRH) and Resource Idle Days (RID), are incorporated in the model to directly measure and minimize the negative impact of resource fluctuations on construction productivity and cost. An application example is analyzed to illustrate the use of the model and demonstrate its capabilities in generating optimal tradeoffs between resource utilization efficiency and project duration.
Development of a Next-Generation Pulse Burst Laser System for Time-Resolved Fluid Dynamics and Combustion Measurements

In this paper we will describe recent advances made in our laboratory in the development of next-generation pulse burst laser system (PBLS) for turbulent fluid dynamics/combustion and high-speed flow measurements. We will discuss important changes made from previous PBLS systems in an effort to optimize laser performance at repetition rates in the tens of kilohertz regime. The new PBLS is designed to produce a unique combination of high pulse energies (~1 J/pulse at 532 nm), high repetition rates (> 10 kHz), and long pulse burst durations (> 25 ms). The system has been designed to target high-repetition rate laser diagnostic methods such as PLIF, Rayleigh scattering, and Raman scattering imaging that require high laser pulse energies and are not possible with commercial (“diode-pumped”) high-speed laser systems. Results using an existing PBLS at OSU demonstrate the utility of such systems and an initial assessment of the performance of the new PBLS is discussed. Specifically, we discuss the fundamental changes in the new, next-generation system which include (1) narrow-linewidth pulsed oscillator as the system’s master oscillator, (2) a parallel path design to delay gain saturation, (3) spatial filtering/relay imaging optics to mitigate thermal lensing and preserve beam quality, and (4) the addition of new flashlamp power supplies to significantly extend burst durations and hence record lengths.
Notes on Neotropical Parathesis (Myrsinaceae)

Parathesis costaricensis, P glendae, and P longipedicellata are described and illustrat- ed, and their phylogenetic relationships are dis- cussed. A key is provided to separate the new spe- cies. In addition, a new combination is made for Parathesis sinuata (from Colombia), and P ama- zonica Mez is lectotypified. The genus Parathesis J. D. Hooker contains 100 species distributed from northern Mexico to Pana- ma, the Caribbean, and throughout the Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. The genus is defined by the unique glandular papillae of the calyx and corolla lobes, and bright yellow anthers. In preparation for our treatment of the genus Parathesis for Flora Me- soamericana, three new species from Costa Rica were discovered and are described herewith. A new combination from Colombia is also made, and Par- athesis amazonica is lectotypified.
Variability in Institutional Screening Practices Related to Collegiate Student-Athlete Mental Health.

Context: Universal screening for mental health concerns, as part of the preparticipation examination in collegiate sports medicine settings, can be an important and feasible strategy for facilitating early detection of mental health disorders. Objective: To assess whether sports medicine departments at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member colleges have policies related to identifying student-athlete mental health problems, the nature of preparticipation examination screening related to mental health, and whether other departmental or institutional screening initiatives are in place. I also aimed to characterize the variability in screening by institutional characteristics. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: College sports medicine departments. Patients or Other Participants: Team physicians and head athletic trainers at NCAA member colleges (n = 365, 30.3% response rate). Main Outcome Measure(s): Electronic survey of departmental mental health screening activities. Results: A total ...
High Resolution Sonography in Diagnosing Testicular Neoplasms: Clinical Significance of False Positive Scans

AbstractWe describe the use of high resolution real-time ultrasound to evaluate scrotal masses. From August 1980 to September 1984, 249 patients underwent scrotal ultrasound using high resolution real-time scanners with 10mHz. transducers to evaluate scrotal abnormalities. The ultrasound diagnosis was consistent with a testicular neoplasm in 20 patients. Pathological and surgical confirmation was available in all 20 patients. Only 10 of 20 patients had malignant tumors, whereas 10 had benign lesions (false positive rate of 50 per cent). Testicular lesions producing false positive studies were principally hypoechoic in 8 patients and hyperechoic in 2. Testicular neoplasms characteristically were hypoechoic with or without focal hyperechoic areas. There was 1 false negative ultrasound study. Our results suggest that radical orchiectomy should not be performed indiscriminately in all patients with testicular lesions that are sonographically suspicious for neoplasm. In selected cases with hyperechoic sonograp...
The Second-Order Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis Methodology for Nonlinear Systems—I: Theory

The use of adjoint methods for computing first-order sensitivities (i.e., functional derivatives) of results (responses) produced by a computational model to the model’s parameters was initiated in...
Abstract 1609: The epithelial to mesenchymal transition regulates the expression of E-selectin ligands on breast cancer cell lines

Breast cancer cells garner invasive and stem-like characteristics through the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Consequently, the EMT has been implicated in cancer metastasis. While many of the effects of the EMT have been elucidated, it is currently unknown how the EMT modifies the expression of E-selectin ligands on breast cancer cells. These ligands are often sialofucosylated glycans that mediate cell adhesion with E-selectin molecules presented by endothelial cells lining the blood vessel walls at the metastatic site, which is commonly bone marrow. Although E-selectin is widely recognized for its role in promoting adhesion during tumor cell extravasation, it also maintains the quiescence of hematopoietic stem cells in the vascular niche of the bone marrow. Thus in this investigation, we studied the effects of the EMT on the E-selectin ligand activities of breast cancer cell lines and their behavior in an E-selectin rich environment. The EMT was induced in breast cancer cell lines by ectopic expression of either the Snail or Twist transcription factors. Through the EMT breast cancer cells upregulated the expression of vimentin and N-cadherin, yet reduced the expression of CD24, E-cadherin, and E-selectin ligands. Breast cancer cell lines were assayed for E-selectin ligand activity using laminar flow assays, flow cytometry, qPCR, and were cultured on E-selectin-coated tissue culture plates. In laminar flow assays breast cancer cells were perfused over E-selectin substrates using physiological flow conditions. Breast cancer cells expressing Snail or Twist adhered to E-selectin from the free fluid stream in significantly fewer numbers and demonstrated fewer E-selectin ligands in flow cytometry than the vector controls. Additionally, qPCR revealed that in comparison to vector controls breast cancer cells expressing Snail or Twist downregulated the expression of α-(1,3) fucosyltransferase and α-(1,4) fucosyltransferase, which catalyze terminal fucosylations necessary for E-selectin ligand function. Interestingly, on E-selectin coated plates breast cancer cells expressing Snail or Twist avoided prolonged exposure to E-selectin by forming mammospheres, yet vector controls did not. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the EMT regulates the expression of E-selectin ligands on breast cancer cells, and causes the cells to become sensitive to culture in an E-selectin rich environment. Citation Format: Grady Earl Carlson, Venktesh Shirure, Alexander O. Ostermann, Emily A. Blaha, Louis F. Delgadillo, David F.J. Tees, Fabian Benencia, Monica Burdick. The epithelial to mesenchymal transition regulates the expression of E-selectin ligands on breast cancer cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1609.
Detecting Cryptic Neoplastic B-Cells: Flow Cytometric Analysis of B-Cell Lymphoma Concealed in Polyclonal B-Cells and Other Intense Reactive Components, with Emphasis on Large B-Cell Lymphoma in Fine Needle Aspirate (FNA)/ Body Fluid (BF).

Abstract Flow cytometry is widely used in the diagnosis of lymphoma. In B-cell lymphoma, light chain restriction (LCR) is especially useful for distinguishing B-cell malignancy from a reactive lymphoid proliferation. Usually the neoplastic B-cell population predominates, and monoclonality is conspicuous as demonstrated by distinct LCR. However, if the specimen contains a large reactive component, especially polyclonal B-cells, a small number of neoplastic B-cells will be buried in the background, thus creating a diagnostic challenge. We retrospectively analyzed three/four-color flow cytometry by examining 12 cases of B-cell lymphoma with a small proportion of neoplastic B-cells hidden in polyclonal B-cells and other intense reactive components. These 12 cases (9 FNA, 1 BF, 2 tissues) comprised 7% of specimens diagnostic or suspicious for lymphoma by flow cytometry at our institution. Eight cases were diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (18.6% of DLBCL and 27.6% of DLBCL in FNA/BF) while four were lymphoma of other types (3% of non-DLBCL). In all the cases, LCR was obscured by polyclonal B-cells (8/12) or absence of surface immunoglobulin (sIg) in neoplastic B-cells (4/12), and morphology resembled a reactive picture. The clues by flow cytometry prompting further analysis included increased forward angle light scatter(FSC)/side angle light scatter(SSC) (12/12), brighter CD20 (6/12), dim CD20 (1/12), absence of sIg (4/12), and a distinct population of B-cells co-expressing CD10 (2/12), CD5 (1/12), CD2 (1/12), CD23 (4/12) or CD38 (1/12). By backgating/regating suspected subpopulations, the concealed neoplastic B-cells were demonstrated by enriched LCR (5 to10 fold) or tight clustering on FSC/SSC. In conclusion, cryptic neoplastic B-cells, especially diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in FNA/BF, can be extracted, according to their altered immunophenotypic features, from background polyclonal B-cells and reactive T-cells via manipulation of gating strategies.
Filtered spreading sequences for interference avoidance

Due to the scarcity of available spectrum, it may be convenient to overlay a DS-spread spectrum system on a band already sparsely occupied by narrowband users. The processing gain of the spread system serves to reduce the cross-interference between the spread and narrowband systems. However, much further isolation can be gained by passing the spreading sequence through a short FIR filter at the transmitter, before spreading. The authors investigate the benefit of doing this, and give numerical results for a specific system. >
Power-constrained performance scheduling of data parallel tasks

This paper explores the potential benefits to asynchronous task-based execution to achieve high performance under a power cap. Task-graph schedulers can flexibly reorder tasks and assign compute resources to data-parallel (elastic) tasks to minimize execution time, compared to executing step-by-step (bulk-synchronously). The efficient utilization of the available cores becomes a challenging task when a power cap is imposed. This work characterizes the trade-offs between power and performance as a Pareto frontier, identifying the set of configurations that achieve the best performance for a given amount of power. We present a set of scheduling heuristics that leverage this information dynamically during execution to ensure that the processing cores are used efficiently when running under a power cap. This work examines the behavior of three HPC applications on a 57 core Intel Xeon Phi device, demonstrating a significant performance increase over the baseline.
PETRAS: Performance, Energy and Thermal Aware Resource Allocation and Scheduling for Heterogeneous Systems

Many computing systems today are heterogeneous in that they consist of a mix of different types of processing units (e.g., CPUs, GPUs). Each of these processing units has different execution capabilities and energy consumption characteristics. Job mapping and scheduling play a crucial role in such systems as they strongly affect the overall system performance, energy consumption, peak power and peak temperature. Allocating resources (e.g., core scaling, threads allocation) is another challenge since different sets of resources exhibit different behavior in terms of performance and energy consumption. Many studies have been conducted on job scheduling with an eye on performance improvement. However, few of them takes into account both performance and energy. We thus propose our novel Performance, Energy and Thermal aware Resource Allocator and Scheduler (PETRAS) which combines job mapping, core scaling, and threads allocation into one scheduler. Since job mapping and scheduling are known to be NP-hard problems, we apply an evolutionary algorithm called a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to find an efficient job schedule in terms of execution time and energy consumption, under peak power and peak temperature constraints. Experiments conducted on an actual system equipped with a multicore CPU and a GPU show that PETRAS finds efficient schedules in terms of execution time and energy consumption. Compared to performance-based GA and other schedulers, on average, PETRAS scheduler can achieve up to a 4.7x of speedup and an energy saving of up to 195%.
Effects of horizontal distance between perches on perching behaviors of Lohmann Hens

Abstract Perching is a highly-motivated natural behavior of laying hens that has been considered as one of the essential welfare requirements. The objective of the study was to evaluate perching behaviors of laying hens as affected by horizontal distance (HD) between parallel perches. A total of 48 Lohmann white hens in three groups (16 hens/group) were used, 68 weeks of age at the experiment onset. For each group, hens were housed in an enriched wire-mesh floor pen (120 cm L × 120 cm W × 120 cm H) equipped with two round galvanized tube perches (120 cm long × 32 mm diameter, an average of 15 cm perch space/hen). HD was varied sequentially at 60, 40, 30, 25, 20 and 15 cm and then in reverse order. A real-time monitoring system was developed to continuously record hen’s perching behaviors. The number or proportion of perching hens, perching duration, and perching trip and frequency were analyzed using an automated VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) program developed in Microsoft Excel. Heading direction of the perching hens and pattern of the perch occupancy were determined manually by video observation. Results showed that reduction of HD to 25 cm did not restrain hens’ perching behaviors, whereas HD of 20 or 15 cm restrained perching to some extent. Specifically, at HD of 25 cm, hens perched interlacing with one another to maximize use of the perches during the dark period. As a result, the proportion of perching hens and perching duration for HD of 25 cm were not reduced as compared to HD of 30–60 cm. However, the proportion of perching hens was significantly reduced at HD of 15 cm (P = 0.001–0.025). HD of 15 and 20 cm also significantly reduced daily perching time of the hens. In contrast, perching trip or frequency and heading direction of the perching hens were not influenced by HD (15–40 cm) except for HD of 60 cm. The results suggest that although 30 cm is the recommended minimum HD, 25 cm may be considered for situations where additonal perches are necessary to meet all hens’ perching needs.