cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
3D scene reconstruction from multi-sensor EO-SAR data

3D scene reconstruction provides an improved representation from which features of critical objects or targets may be extracted. Both electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors have been exploited for this purpose, but each modality possesses issues resulting in different sources for reconstruction errors. Reconstruction from EO data is limited by frame rate and can be blurred by moving targets or optical distortions in the lens, which leads to errors in the 3D model. Meanwhile, SAR offers the opportunity to correct from some of these errors through its capacity for making range measurements, even under clouds or during nighttime, when EO data would not be available. Conversely, SAR imagery lacks the texture offered by optical images and is more sensitive to perspective, while moving targets can likewise result in reconstruction errors. This work aims at exploiting the strengths of both modalities to reconstruct 3D scenes from multi-sensor EO-SAR data. In particular, we consider the fusion of multi-pass Gotcha SAR data with a modeled EO-data for the particular scene. We propose a framework that fuses 2D image maps acquired from airborne EO data as well as airborne SAR, which leverages the range information of SAR and object shape information of EO imagery. From an initial 2D image of the scene, with each additional sources of sensor data (EO or SAR), a 3D reconstruction is formed that is iteratively improved. This approach allows for the potential to achieve robust and real-time 3D representations as a basis for 4D surveillance.
Anthropometric study of emergency medical services providers (EMSP) in the United States

Abstract Introduction: Design of next-generation ambulance patient compartment requires up-to date anthropometric data of emergency medical service providers (EMSP). Currently, no such data exist in the U.S. A large-scale anthropometric study of EMSP in the U.S. were conducted. This report provided the summary statistics (means, standard deviation, and percentiles) of the study’s results and examined the anthropometric differences between the EMSP dataset and the U.S. general population, and between the EMSP dataset and U.S. military personnel dataset, respectively. Method: An anthropometric study of 471 male and 161 female EMSP from across the continental US was conducted, using a sampling strategy that took into account age, sex, and race strata. Results: On average, male EMSP were found to be 18 mm taller and 7 kg heavier than US male general population, and 19 mm taller and 11 kg heavier than US male military personnel. Female EMSP were found to be 25 mm taller than US female general population, and 10 kg heavier than US female military personnel. Conclusions: These results showed that it would be inappropriate to apply general population or military data to the design of next-generation ambulance patient compartment. This new dataset provided the most recent and accurate EMSP anthropometric measurements available in the US. Practical Application: Data from this study provided an invaluable resource for the design of next-generation ambulances in the US.
Oncologic Safety and Surveillance of Autologous Fat Grafting following Breast Conservation Therapy.

Background Autologous fat grafting is a useful adjunct following breast reconstruction. The impact of autologous fat grafting on oncologic safety and surveillance remains questionable, particularly following breast conservation therapy. Methods The authors performed a retrospective review of patients who underwent delayed fat grafting following breast conservation therapy between 2006 and 2016. A control group of conservatively managed patients without grafting was matched for cancer stage, age, body mass index, and follow-up. Outcomes included locoregional recurrence and oncologic surveillance. Results Seventy-two patients were identified per cohort. There were no differences in median age (50 years versus 51 years; p = 0.87), body mass index (28.2 kg/m versus 27.2 kg/m; p = 0.38), or length of follow-up (61.9 months versus 66.8 months; p = 0.144) between controls and grafted patients, respectively. Overall, four patients in each cohort experienced recurrence (5.6 percent; p = 1.00) with similar cumulative incidence estimates observed (log-rank test, p = 0.534). There were no significant differences in palpable mass (9.7 percent versus 19.4 percent; p = 0.1), fat necrosis (34.7 percent versus 33.3 percent; p = 0.86), calcifications (37.5 percent versus 34.7 percent; p = 0.73), or indication for breast biopsy (15.3 percent versus 22.2 percent; p = 0.23) between breast conservation and breast conservation therapy plus autologous fat grafting cohorts, respectively. Conclusions Overall, the authors found no difference in recurrence rates after breast conservation with or without delayed fat grafting. Furthermore, there were no differences in the rates of fat necrosis, palpable mass, and abnormal radiographic findings. This study represents the longest follow-up to date in in a large matched study of autologous fat grafting with breast conservation therapy demonstrating oncologic safety and no interference with follow-up surveillance. Clinical question/level of evidence Therapeutic, III.
Fulfilling the Promise of Mobile Device Crowds (PerCrowd 2020 Keynote Paper)

Mobile devices today possess an incredible amount of processing power and storage. They are increasingly ubiquitous and tend to be present in clusters or crowds. These crowds can be made up of a small number of devices when, for example, one considers the devices an individual may carry on their person or may have in their home. Alternatively, the device crowds can be made up of a large number of devices as, for example, one might find in a classroom, coffee shop or university campus. Within each crowd the devices can communicate with each other as well as with entities outside the crowd. It has been observed that one can leverage these device crowds to provide meaningful compute capability for applications from within and outside the crowd. In this talk I will provide a taxonomy for device crowds that will help emphasize the diversity of contexts in which they may operate. I will then summarize our work on a number of device crowd-based systems, such as Serendipity and FemtoCloud. This work aims to understand the processing capability that can be provided with mobile device crowds in various settings. Finally I will discuss some of the challenges that remain to be addressed for device crowds to fulfil their promise.
Gender Differences in Psychological Responses to Recovery After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Before Return to Sport.

Context Female patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) are less likely to return to sport than males. Psychological readiness predicts successful return to sport, but it is unclear if psychological experiences differ between males and females during recovery. Objective To explore gender differences in psychological readiness factors of return to sport after ACLR. Design Qualitative study. Setting Laboratory. Patients or other participants A total of 12 male (months since surgery = 6.2 ± 1.2) and 13 female (months since surgery = 6.4 ± 1.3) high school athletes with a history of ACLR. Data collection and analysis Participants were interviewed before physician clearance to return to activity. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using deductive thematic coding of 5 themes identified from previous research (psychological distress, self-efficacy, locus of control, athletic identity, and fear of reinjury) and inductive secondary subthematic coding. Gender comparisons were generated within primary themes and secondary subthemes. Results All deductive themes were consistently reinforced. Male and female participants reported fear of movement, loss of athletic identity, and motivational mindsets for return to sport and self-improvement. Males reported a stronger sense of internal locus of control using positive internal reinforcement, whereas females described balancing internal and external control and valuing external support systems. Male participants described mood changes influenced by physical and social limitations. Female participants closely monitored their emotions throughout recovery and were influenced by rehabilitation fluctuations. Conclusions Male and female high school athletes described different psychological factors related to return to sport and locus of control as well as psychological distress. Gender-specific psychological interventions may be warranted to overcome psychological barriers after ACLR.
Curcumin steers THP-1 cells under LPS and mTORC1 challenges toward phenotypically resting, low cytokine-producing macrophages.

Abstract The persistent activation of intestinal mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) triggered by mucosal stress has been linked to deregulation of the gut immune response resulting in intestinal inflammation and cell death. The present study investigated the regulatory properties of food-derived mTORC1 modulators, curcumin, and piperine, toward the polarization of stimulated macrophages and the differentiation of monocytes at two mTORC1 activity levels (baseline and elevated). To that end, we created stable human THP-1 monocytes exhibiting normal or constitutively active mTORC1. Curcumin or its combination with piperine, but not piperine alone, suppressed mTORC1 kinase activity, curtailed lipopolysaccharide-mediated inflammatory response of THP-1 macrophages, and repressed macrophage activation by inhibiting signaling pathways involved in M1 (mTORC1) and M2 (mTORC2 and cAMP response element binding protein) polarization. The effects of piperine in the curcumin/piperine combination were modest overall, indicating it was curcumin that modulated differentiating monocytes into acquiring a M0 macrophage phenotype characterized by low inflammatory cytokine output.
Evaluation of Animal Drug Residue Detection Methods

Animal drug residues in milk have been a major source of concern in the United States for several years. Many new methods to detect various residues at low levels have been introduced, revised or improved. At present the only "official" method approved by federal regulatory officials is for the detection of beta-lactam type antibiotics and is the Bacillus Stearothermophilus disc assay. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) HPLC (High Pressure Liquid Chromatography) procedure is the "official" confirmatory method. A study was undertaken to evaluate 14 detection methods with 24 animal drug residues in milk to determine the sensitivity of each method and its ability to detect a residue at the FDA "recommended violative" level. No method tested is quantitative but give only a positive or negative indication of the presence of the drug. Milk samples were contaminated or "spiked" with known amounts of commonly available antimicrobial agents in 3 to 6 concentration levels. Fifteen replicates of each milk preparation were tested with applicable methods. The data revealed a total of 13 methods capable of detecting 23 drug residues at their respective levels of concern. Therefore, it would appear there exists adequate methodology for supplementation of the Bacillus stearothermophilus disc assay in regulatory milk testing.
Chain Galaxies in the Tadpole Advanced Camera for Surveys Field

Colors and magnitudes were determined for 69 chain galaxies, 58 other linear structures, 32 normal edge-on galaxies, and all of their large star formation clumps in the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys field of the Tadpole galaxy. Redshifts of 0.5-2 are inferred from comparisons with published color-evolution models. The linear galaxies have no red nuclear bulges like the normal disk galaxies in our field, but the star formation clumps in each have about the same colors and magnitudes. Light profiles along the linear galaxies tend to be flat, unlike the exponential profiles of normal galaxies. Although the most extreme of the linear objects look like beaded filaments, they are all probably edge-on disks that will evolve to late Hubble type galaxies. The lack of an exponential profile is the result of either a dust scale height that is comparable to the stellar scale height or an intrinsically irregular structure. Examples of galaxies that could be face-on versions of linear galaxies are shown. They have an irregular clumpy structure with no central bulge and with clump colors and magnitudes that are comparable to those in the linear galaxies. Radiative transfer solutions to the magnitudes and surface brightnesses of inclined dusty galaxies suggest that edge-on disks should become more prominent near the detection limit for surface brightness. The surface brightness distribution of the edge-on galaxies in this field confirm this selection effect. The star formation regions are much more massive than in modern galaxies, averaging up to ~109 M☉ for kiloparsec scales.
The plasminogen activating system in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Dementia is a clinical syndrome that affects approximately 47 million people worldwide and is characterized by progressive and irreversible decline of cognitive, behavioral and sesorimotor functions. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) accounts for approximately 60–80% of all cases of dementia, and neuropathologically is characterized by extracellular deposits of insoluble amyloid-β (Aβ) and intracellular aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau. Significantly, although for a long time it was believed that the extracellular accumulation of Aβ was the culprit of the symptoms observed in these patients, more recent studies have shown that cognitive decline in people suffering this disease is associated with soluble Aβ-induced synaptic dysfunction instead of the formation of insoluble Aβ-containing extracellular plaques. These observations are translationally relevant because soluble Aβ-induced synaptic dysfunction is an early event in AD that precedes neuronal death, and thus is amenable to therapeutic interventions to prevent cognitive decline before the progression to irreversible brain damage. The plasminogen activating (PA) system is an enzymatic cascade that triggers the degradation of fibrin by catalyzing the conversion of plasminogen into plasmin via two serine proteinases: tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Experimental evidence reported over the last three decades has shown that tPA and uPA play a role in the pathogenesis of AD. However, these studies have focused on the ability of these plasminogen activators to trigger plasmin-induced cleavage of insoluble Aβ-containing extracellular plaques. In contrast, recent evidence indicates that activity-dependent release of uPA from the presynaptic terminal of cerebral cortical neurons protects the synapse from the deleterious effects of soluble Aβ via a mechanism that does not require plasmin generation or the cleavage of Aβ fibrils. Below we discuss the role of the PA system in the pathogenesis of AD and the translational relevance of data published to this date.
Communication between patients and health care professionals about opioid medications

Abstract Prescription opioids contribute to 40% of opioid overdose deaths in the United States. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play an important role in mitigating the prescription opioid epidemic by appropriate opioid prescribing and patient education. Yet, little empirical literature addresses pharmacist (and other HCP) communication with patients related to risks of opioid use associated with dependence, misuse, and overdose. Nor is there much research on the barriers and facilitators which affect whether and how much opioid-related information is discussed. This commentary, based on an extensive literature search, seeks to inform future communication, education, and research agendas by describing (1) topics commonly discussed or excluded from opioid medication counseling, (2) patient and HCP perceptions regarding opioid medication communication, and (3) barriers and facilitators to opioid risk communication. Based on this literature, recommendations are provided for opioid counseling practices, pharmacist education, and research agendas.
Understanding and Improving Sleep for Children with FASD

We know that sleep problems affect 20–30% of all children during childhood and that disturbed or poor sleep affects many aspects of daytime functioning. Poor sleep is known to affect memory consolidation, cognitive function, academic achievement, daytime behaviour and even levels of obesity [1]. This section briefly describes the physiology of sleep, a guide to considerations to include when undertaking sleep work, gives information about good sleep hygiene and suggests behavioural approaches to sleep relevant for children with FASD.
A Comparison of HIV-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors among Adolescents Living in Rural and Urban Areas of a Southern State

Abstract The purpose of this study was to compare the level of HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and risk behaviors among teens in a southern state. A 40-item instrument, developed by the Division of Adolescent and School Health, Centers for Disease Control, that assessed HIV-related knowledge, attitudes and risk behaviors was administered to rural and urban teens (N = 180)in a southern state, Spring, 1990. Data were analyzed using the t-test for independent means. No significant differences existed when comparing rural and urban teens' mean knowledge and behavior scores. Additionally, no significant differences were found when controlling for gender. Data analysis did reveal a significant difference in the attitude scores of rural and urban teens. Urban teens had a lower mean score, indicating more positive HIV-related attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and communication experiences. Overall, the study population exhibited a high degree of HIV-related knowledge, yet engaged in sexual behaviors that put the...
A pseudo-concurrent 0.18 /spl mu/m multi-band CMOS LNA

A novel multi-band LNA, which can switch between standards GSM800 MHz/GSM1.8 GHz or GSM800 MHz/WCDMA2.1 GHz, is presented. The LNA provides 22.4 dB gain at 800 MHz and 14.1 dB at 1.8 GHz. The device selects between GSM1.8 GHz/WCDMA2.1 GHz by means of a simple PMOS switch. The LNA is fabricated in 0.18 /spl mu/m technology using only CMOS transistors. Post-layout simulation results indicate a noise figure below 1.6 dB in all bands while drawing 8.5 mA from a 1.8 V power supply. To save die area, the input matching circuit is partially off-chip.
Management of Napkin Dermatitis

The choice of topical therapeutics in napkin dermatitis should be based on standardized measures and the relevant underlying aetiological factors. Napkin dermatitis only occurs in those wearing napkins: infants who and incontinent older children and adults. Napkin dermatitis is very common among those who wear napkins. Jordan et al. observed a napkin dermatitis frequency of 50% in a series of 1089 napkin-wearing children. This chapter provides a review of the evidence supporting the various modalities used to manage napkin dermatitis.
Scheduling Multi-task Agents

We present a centralized and a distributed algorithm for scheduling multi-task agents in a distributed system with the objective of minimizing the overall application completion time. Each agent consists of multiple tasks that can be executed on multiple machines which correspond to resources. The machine speeds and link transfer rates are heterogeneous. Our centralized algorithm has an upper bound on the overall completion time and is used as a module in the distributed algorithm. Extensive simulations show promising results of the algorithms, especially for scheduling communication-intensive multi-task agents.
Dielectric Materials for Microelectronics

Dielectrics are an important class of thin-film electronic materials for microelectronics. Applications include a wide swathe of device applications, including active devices such as transistors and their electrical isolation, as well as passive devices, such as capacitors. In a world dominated by Si-based device technologies, the properties of thin-film dielectric materials span several areas. Most recently, these include high-permittivity applications, such as transistor gate and capacitor dielectrics, as well as low-permittivity materials, such as inter-level metal dielectrics, operating at switching frequencies in the gigahertz regime for the most demanding applications.
A CONDITIONALLY PARAMETRIC PROBIT MODEL OF MICRODATA LAND USE IN CHICAGO

Spatial data sets pose challenges for discrete choice models because the data are unlikely to be independently and identically distributed. A conditionally parametric spatial probit model is amenable to very large data sets while imposing far less structure on the data than conventional parametric models. We illustrate the approach using data on 474,170 individual lots in the City of Chicago. The results suggest that simple functional forms are not appropriate for explaining the spatial variation in residential land use across the entire city.
Hospital Transfer Network Structure as a Risk Factor for Clostridium difficile Infection.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of interhospital patient sharing via transfers on the rate of Clostridium difficile infections in a hospital. DESIGN Retrospective cohort. METHODS Using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project California State Inpatient Database, 2005–2011, we identified 2,752,639 transfers. We then constructed a series of networks detailing the connections formed by hospitals. We computed 2 measures of connectivity, indegree and weighted indegree, measuring the number of hospitals from which transfers into a hospital arrive, and the total number of incoming transfers, respectively. Next, we estimated a multivariate model of C. difficile infection cases using the log-transformed network measures as well as covariates for hospital fixed effects, log median length of stay, log fraction of patients aged 65 or older, and quarter and year indicators as predictors. RESULTS We found an increase of 1 in the log indegree was associated with a 4.8% increase in incidence of C. difficile infection (95% CI, 2.3%–7.4%) and an increase of 1 in log weighted indegree was associated with a 3.3% increase in C. difficile infection incidence (1.5%–5.2%). Moreover, including measures of connectivity in our models greatly improved their fit. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest infection control is not under the exclusive control of a given hospital but is also influenced by the connections and number of connections that hospitals have with other hospitals. Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;36(9):1031–1037
Human serum carotenoid concentrations are related to physiologic and lifestyle factors.

We examined the concentrations of five carotenoids in the serum and diet of a population-based sample of 400 individuals to determine what physiologic and lifestyle factors were related to serum carotenoid concentrations, how these relationships differed among the carotenoids, and if these relationships reflected differences in carotenoid intake. Lower serum concentrations of α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and lutein + zeaxanthin generally were associated with male gender, smoking, younger age, lower non-HDL cholesterol, greater ethanol consumption and higher body mass index. Serum lycopene generally was not related to these factors, but lower lycopene levels were associated with older age and lower non-HDL cholesterol. Only the hydrocarbon carotenoids (α- and β-carotene and lycopene) were directly associated with HDL cholesterol. The associations of some factors (gender, age, smoking, and ethanol intake) with serum carotenoids were similar to the associations of these factors with levels in the diet, indicating that serum carotenoids may reflect the influence of these factors on carotenoid intake. Consistent with this notion, correlations between serum and dietary carotenoids did not differ between smokers and nonsmokers. Other factors (HDL and non-HDL cholesterol and body mass index) associated with carotenoids in the serum were not associated with carotenoid intake, indicating that physiologic conditions that affect the absorption, storage, and utilization of carotenoids may influence these associations. These physiologic and behavioral correlates of carotenoids could explain or modify associations of carotenoids with chronic diseases.
A case study on compiler optimizations for the Intel® Core™ 2 duo processor

The complexity of modern processors poses increasingly more difficult challenges to software optimization. Modern optimizing compilers have become essential tools for leveraging the power of recent processors by means of high-level optimizations to exploit multi-core platforms and single-instruction-multiple-data (SIMD) instructions, as well as advanced code generation to deal with microarchitectural performance aspects. Using the Intel®Core™2 Duo processor and Intel Fortran/C++ compiler as a case study, this paper gives a detailed account of the sort of optimizations required to obtain high performance on modern processors.
The dendritic morphology of pyramidal neurons in the rat hippocampal CA3 area. I. Cell types

Abstract Pyramidal neurons from the hippocampal CA3 area of hooded rats were qualitatively and quantitatively described from Golgi-stained tissue. The most numerous of the pyramidal neurons, those with a single apical shaft, fell into two categories. One category, termed short-shaft pyramidal neurons, is characterized by short apical shafts, a large number of thorny excrescences, and densely branched apical and basilar trees. The second category, long-shaft pyramidal neurons, is characterized by a long apical shaft, a small number of thorny excrescences and relatively less dendritic branching in both the apical and basilar trees. The somata of short-shaft pyramidal neurons tend to be located higher in stratum pyramidale than the somata of long-shaft neurons. Quantitative measurements, which included both analysis of dendritic branching and the distribution of dendritic material sampled at 10% intervals from the cell body, confirmed the qualitative observation that short-shaft neurons had more total dendritic length than long-shaft neurons. The difference in the total dendritic length observed between long- and short-shaft pyramidal neurons could be an indication that each type receives a different number of synapses per neuron. The less commonly observed variants of pyramidal neurons were briefly described but not quantified. This study demonstrates that CA3 pyramidal neurons are not a homogenous group but that their heterogeneous characteristics fall into two major categories.
Indirect dark matter searches with AMS-02

AMS-02 is the main phase of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment and is to be installed on the International Space Station for a three-year exposure. I will review the experiment, focusing on indirect dark matter detection capabilities.
Statistical power analysis of health, physical education, and recreation research.

(1977). Statistical Power Analysis of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Research. Research Quarterly. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 204-208.
The preparation of some reactive 1,6-disubstituted perfluorohexanes

Abstract Reactive 1,6-disubstituted perfluorohexanes have been prepared via the reaction of 1,6- bis (dimethylhydrosilyl)-perfluorohexanes with alkyllithium and Grignard reagents. The resulting species may be derivatized in the same manner as organolithium reagents, but are appreciably more stable than the 1,6-dilithioperfluorohexane which is presumably generated by the halogen-metal exchange between an alkyllithium reagent and Br(CF2)6Br. 1,6-bis(Bromomagnesium)-perfluorohexane was also prepared in good yield by a halogen-metal exchange reaction.
The search for phosphinoboranes: a matrix isolation study

Abstract Merged jet copyrolysis reactions of diborane, B2H6, with PH3, (CH3) 3P and PF3 were attempted, followed by trapping into argon matrices. Contrary to previous studies of the reactions of B2H6 with nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur bases, only the H3B · P (CH3)3 adduct was observed, with no further elimination products. The lack of observation of the H3B · PH3 and H3B ·PF3 adducts under these conditions indicates that the equilibrium constant for adduct formation is very small at room temperature. The absence of H2 or HF elimination products (e.g. H2BPH2) provides indirect support for the previously proposed reaction mechanism involving initial adduct formation.
Eliminating disparity in evaluation for abuse in infants with head injury: use of a screening guideline.

Abstract Purpose Minority and disadvantaged children are evaluated for nonaccidental trauma (NAT) at higher rates than other children. At our institution, we implemented a guideline to perform skeletal surveys to screen for occult fractures in all infants with unwitnessed head injury (UHI). The goal was to determine if this guideline decreased disparities in the screening of African American (AA) and uninsured children. Patients and Methods For 54 months, rates of skeletal surveillance and abuse determination were compared between AA and white infants admitted with UHI before and after implementation of our guideline. Logistic regression was used to control for confounders. Results Before the guideline, AAs underwent skeletal surveillance more than whites (n = 208; 90.5% vs 69.3%; P = .01), with 20% of screened infants determined to be probable victims of NAT. Whites with private insurance were less likely to be screened compared to those without private insurance (50.0% vs 88.1%; P P = 1.0), with 22% found to be probable cases of NAT. Conclusions This is the first report of a successful policy-based intervention to decrease disparity in care. The maintenance of a stable rate of NAT determination despite increased screening suggests more victims of abuse may be identified with guideline use, and therefore, this may be an additional benefit of the guideline.
Physical Impairments as Risk Factors for the Development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

The case-control method, a retrospective design useful in studying the etiology of rare diseases, was utilized to examine the relative risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among individuals with six types of traumatic physical impairments. Odds ratios and associated confidence intervals were calculated for each impairment in a group of 45,320 veterans receiving medical services. Four of the six impairments were found to be risk factors for PTSD. Implications for rehabilitation counseling and research are discussed.
Sparse Components of Images and Optimal Atomic Decompositions

Recently, Field, Lewicki, Olshausen, and Sejnowski have reported efforts to identify the ``Sparse Components'' of image data. Their empirical findings indicate that such components have elongated shapes and assume a wide range of positions, orientations, and scales. To date, sparse components analysis (SCA) has only been conducted on databases of small (e.g., 16 by 16) image patches and there seems limited prospect of dramatically increased resolving power. In this paper, we apply mathematical analysis to a specific formalization of SCA using synthetic image models, hoping to gain insight into what might emerge from a higher-resolution SCA based on n by n image patches for large n but a constant field of view. In our formalization, we study a class of objects \cal F in a functional space; they are to be represented by linear combinations of atoms from an overcomplete dictionary, and sparsity is measured by the l p -norm of the coefficients in the linear combination. We focus on the class \cal F = \sc Star α of black and white images with the black region consisting of a star-shaped set with an α -smooth boundary. We aim to find an optimal dictionary, one achieving the optimal sparsity in an atomic decomposition uniformly over members of the class \sc Star α . We show that there is a well-defined optimal sparsity of representation of members of \sc Star α ; there are decompositions with finite l p -norm for p > 2/(α+1) but not for p < 2/(α+1) . We show that the optimal degree of sparsity is nearly attained using atomic decompositions based on the wedgelet dictionary. Wedgelets provide a system of representation by elements in a dyadically organized collection, at all scales, locations, orientations, and positions. The atoms of our atomic decomposition contain both coarse-scale dyadic ``blobs,'' which are simply wedgelets from our dictionary, and fine-scale ``needles,'' which are differences of pairs of wedgelets. The fine-scale atoms used in the adaptive atomic decomposition are highly anisotropic and occupy a range of positions, scales, and locations. This agrees qualitatively with the visual appearance of empirically determined sparse components of natural images. The set has certain definite scaling properties; for example, the number of atoms of length l scales as 1/l , and, when the object has α -smooth boundaries, the number of atoms with anisotropy \approx A scales as \approx A α-1 .
Phase I/II Trial of Vinorelbine and Sorafenib in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Abstract Purpose We investigated the efficacy and toxicity of sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase, in combination with vinorelbine therapy in a phase I/II trial in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Patients and Methods We enrolled 11 patients in the phase I portion to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of the combination, followed by 35 extra patients treated at the MTD in phase II. The median age of patients was 54 years old (range, 31-72 years old). Tumors were estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor (ER/PR) positive in 54% (22/54) of patients, and triple negative (ER − , PR − , HER2 − ) in 41% (17/54) of patients. Of all patients, 22% received sorafenib and vinorelbine as first-line therapy, 37% as second-line therapy, and 41% as third-line therapy. Results In total, 41 patients were treated at the MTD (6 during phase I; 35 in phase II). The observed 44% 4-month progression-free survival rate was similar to the estimated historical rate of 43% with vinorelbine treatment. The combination was tolerated with expected toxicities. Patients treated at the MTD who had received prior bevacizumab treatment received a median of 1.5 cycles (range, 1-10 cycles) compared with a median of 5 cycles (range, 2-12 cycles) for patients without prior bevacizumab treatment. Conclusion Further evaluation of vinorelbine and sorafenib in bevacizumab-naive patients may be of interest if specific biomarkers guiding patient selection can be identified.
Optimization of the ion-exchange analysis of organic acids from fermentation

Abstract A method using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described to quantify 13 organic acids commonly found as products of fermentation. The isocratic method uses a 30 cm sulfonated polystyrene divinyl benzene column with ultraviolet detection at 210 nm to quantify acetic, butyric, citric, formic, fumaric, isobutyric, α-ketoglutaric, lactic, malic, propionic, pyruvic, succinic, and uric acids. Since all 13 acids are rarely found together in a single sample from a fermentation medium, a method is described to select the optimal temperature and eluent concentration for a given subset of these organic acids. This simple chromatographic optimization is applied to select conditions for the quantification of fermentation products of two anaerobic microorganisms, Fibrobacter succinogenes and Clostridium coccoides .
Impact of variations in physical parameters on glow curves for planchet heating of TL dosimeters

Abstract This study consists of a theoretical analysis of the directional planchet heating of Thermoluminescent Dosimeters (TLD) with an emphasis on influence of radiation field type, TL material properties, and heating scheme parameters on the resulting glow curve. Computer software is developed to simulate the thermal conduction and TL production processes in a planchet-heated TLD chip. The results of the simulation are benchmarked to previous experimental findings for a LiF TLD and excellent agreement is obtained. The system thermophysical parameters and initial depth-dose distribution in the TLD are varied and the position of the main glow peak and integral glow are examined. A demonstration is given of how a set of thermophysical parameters may provide information about the depth-dose distribution in the TLD and how variation in the values of these parameters may limit the reconstruction of this depth-dose information.
Maternal vitamin use and reduced risk of neuroblastoma.

Background. Previous studies have suggested that maternal vitamin use during pregnancy may reduce the incidence of childhood brain tumors. Using data from a large North American study, we conducted an analysis to investigate maternal vitamin use and neuroblastoma in offspring. Methods. Cases were children diagnosed with neuroblastoma over the period 1 May 1992 to 30 April 1994 at Children's Cancer Group and Pediatric Oncology Group institutions throughout the United States and Canada. One matched control was selected for each case using random-digit dialing. We obtained vitamin use information during specific periods before and during pregnancy from 538 case and 504 control mothers through telephone interviews. Results. Daily vitamin and mineral use in the month before pregnancy and in each trimester was associated with a 30–40% reduction in risk of neuroblastoma. For example, daily use in the second trimester had an odds ratio of 0.6 (95% confidence interval = 0.4–0.9). We were unable to isolate the effects of specific vitamins or minerals. Neither age at diagnosis nor MYCN oncogene amplification status materially altered the results. Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that vitamin use during pregnancy might reduce incidence of neuroblastoma, consistent with findings for other childhood cancers.
Beyond Slavery: Overcoming Its Religious and Sexual Legacies

Beyond Slavery: Overcoming Its Religious and Sexual Legacies EDITED BY BERNADETTE J. BROOTEN New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010 Pp. 358, $95.00 (hbk), $29.00 (pbk), ISBN 978 0 2301 0017 6 Historian...
A Review of Transfusion Therapy: Clinical Principles and Practice, 3rd edition

The Third edition of Transfusion Therapy: Clinical Principles and Practice picks up where previous editions have left off. It also continues in the book's tradition as a easily-readable and facile reference for the critical care provider who need to use blood component therapy in the care of their patients. This work, edited by Paul D. Mintz, a pathologist-expert in blood banking from The University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia, USA), provides clear, evidence-based, reference material regarding this rapidly evolving topic of investigation. Neither a pocket clinical handbook nor a dense basic textbook, the 3rd Edition serves as a true clinical reference designed to guide the practicing clinician who needs the most up- to-date information in transfusion therapy.
1H-NMR imaging study of molecular mobility in carbon black-filled, TBBS–sulfur-vulcanized cis-polyisoprene

The distributions of the T 2 relaxation times in carbon black filled, TBBS-Sulfur vulcanized cis-polyisoprene were were studied using 1 H NMRI spin-echo experiments. It has been reported that more than two T 2 relaxation times are observed in carbon black-filled rubbers, reflecting the existence of the hard regions adjacent to the crosslinks or filler particle and soft regions distant from such rigid components. Our current concern is how the amount and distribution of the T 2 times are affected by the filler incorporation in the rubber compounds. A decrease in the T 2 relaxation times with an increasae in carbon black content is observed. The average T 2 time, , drops from 11.38 ms with no carbon black to 10.05 ms with 15 phr carbon black. The further decreases when the black loading level is increased form 15 to 30 phr and 30 to 50 phr, but the magnitude of the changes in the s are not as large as in the initial loading (0 to 15 phr). The observations of the s suggest inhomogeneities are induced in the network structure by the black incorporation. The distribution of the T 2 relaxation times becomes narrower as the black loading level increases. There are at least four factors governing the intensity of the images in the swollen, filled rubber vulcanizates as well as the NMR parameters (T 1 , T 2 , T R , and T E : (1) 1 H spin density, (2) inhomogeneity of the network structure, (3) degree of swelling in the sampling solvent, and (4) displacement effect of the carbon black.
The New York Times looks at one block in Harlem: Narratives of race in journalism

Using discourse and narrative analysis, this study examines a three‐part series in the New York Times, portraying life on a single block in Harlem. The series appears to meet critics’ calls for in‐depth coverage of everyday life in minority communities written by minority reporters. However, the systematic use of personalization—the technique of representing social life through individual portraits‐has the unfortunate consequences of reproducing stereotypes and suppressing evidence of cooperative social activity in the neighborhood that would counter stereotypes. Consequently, this study suggests that the project of enriching news narratives of minority life requires increased editorial appreciation of the underlying narrative and ideological frames within which “facts” of social life are presented.
Divas of the Wassoulou Sound: Transformations in the Matrix of Cultural Production, Globalization, and Identity

This paper examines the role of popular music performance in a context of urban change, globalization, and gender. Through an in-depth examination of the Malian music style Wassoulou and its reigning star Oumou Sangare, issues of gender, interpretation, and cultural production are discussed. Ethnographic data presented indicate that wassoulou performance provides much needed space for Malian youth to negotiate changing notions of identity and community without openly challenging the status quo of women and youth in traditional Mande social hierarchy. These new identities convey multiple and sometimes paradoxical symbolic meaning for Malian and world-music listeners. Viewing vocal performance in Mali as a verbal mode of communication and social display, wassoulou divas are particularly excellent sites for the study of emergent identities in the context of globalization.
Trends in training: focus on emergency medicine.

A research project was developed to study the process of professional socialization in graduate medical education by describing and analyzing the development of emergency medicine residencies in comparison to those of surgery and internal medicine. Based on the assumption that residency programs have a profound impact on the quality, distribution, and career patterns of physicians, researchers surveyed residents and residency directors in the three specialty groups to determine the following: characteristics of founders of the programs, factors influencing physicians to enter a specialty, variations in residency program organization and structure, and career patterns of physicians entering the specialty. Implications are drawn from the data and applied to the development of residency training.
A Priori Error Estimates for Numerical Methods for Scalar Conservation Laws Part III: Multidimensional Flux-Splitting Monotone Schemes on Non-Cartesian Grids

This paper is the third of a series in which a general theory of a priori error estimates for scalar conservation laws is constructed. In this paper, we consider multidimensional flux-splitting monotone schemes defined on non-Cartesian grids. We identify those schemes which are consistent and prove that the $L^\infty(0,T;L^1(\Bbb{R}^d))$-norm of the error goes to zero as $(\Delta x)^{1/2}$ when the discretization parameter $\Delta x$ goes to zero. Moreover, we show that nonconsistent schemes can converge at optimal rates of $(\Delta x)^{1/2}$ because (i) the conservation form of the schemes and (ii) the so-called consistency of the numerical fluxes allow the regularity properties of the approximate solution to compensate for their lack of consistency.
Web Paradigms for Searching and Understanding Mission Data

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have both been in operation on Mars for over 6 years. Hundreds of thousands of images and other pieces of scientific data has been generated by or for each rover during that time. The Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) is expected to produce even more data then its predecessors; future missions will dwarf Curiosity and so on. It is necessary to build tools that will scale with the increased data associated with a mission and allow the human operator to make informed decisions based on all available data. Companies such as Amazon and Google thrive on making large amounts of data accessible to their customers. This paper discusses how we have borrowed the paradigms of such web search and e-commerce sites and applied them to interactions with mission data.
Multi-Echelon Assembly Systems with Nonstationary Demands: Heuristics and Worst Case Performance Bounds

In a multi-echelon assembly system, each production stage has inputs from a number of preceding stages, and supplies at most one succeeding stage. The product of the final stage is used to satisfy external demand in discrete time. There are fixed setup costs and linear inventory holding costs at each stage. The objective is to minimize the cost of operating the system over a finite time horizon. We consider the common case of nonstationary demands, and propose an extremely fast and simple single-pass approximation algorithm for this problem. We prove that in the worst case the performance of the algorithm is uniformly bounded.
A Theory on the Mechanics of Axisymmetric Extrusion through Conical Dies

For axisymmetric extrusion through conical dies, an admissible velocity field without discontinuities was obtained by superposition of basic flow patterns. Based on this velocity field, the upper bound to the average forming pressure and the detailed mechanics were calculated for the extrusion of a rod with a semi-cone angle of 45° and a reduction of 75 per cent in area.Three different friction conditions along the die were considered and their influence on the deformation characteristics was discussed. Flow lines, velocity components, grid distortion, strain-rate components, effective strain rate, effective strain, and stress components were plotted. A comparison of the present results with those obtained experimentally (visioplasticity) shows good agreement.
Infectious Outcomes of Nephrostomy Drainage before Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy Compared to Concurrent Access

Purpose: We hypothesized that establishing percutaneous nephrostomy drainage and treating with renal urine culture specific antibiotics would lead to a decreased sepsis rate in patients at increased risk for infection. We analyzed the experience of a single surgeon with sepsis after percutaneous nephrolithotomy following prior nephrostomy drainage compared to percutaneous nephrolithotomy with concurrent percutaneous renal collecting system access.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Pertinent collected data included patient infection history, preoperative urine cultures, renal calculi burden size, renal urine/stone cultures, length of stay and sepsis/systemic inflammatory response syndrome events.Results: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy was performed in 219 patients between September 2007 and June 2012. Of the patients 67 (30.6%) had preplaced nephrostomy drainage (group 1) while 152 (69.4%) had concurrent percutaneous renal ac...
Korean unification: Learning from the German experience

(1996). Korean unification: Learning from the German experience. Journal of Contemporary Asia: Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 59-80.