cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genomic Island 2 of Brucella melitensis Is a Major Virulence Determinant: Functional Analyses of Genomic Islands

Brucella genomic islands (GIs) share similarities in their genomic organization to pathogenicity islands from other bacteria and are likely acquired by lateral gene transfer. Here, we report the identification of a GI that is important for the pathogenicity of Brucella melitensis. The deletion of GI-1, GI-5, or GI-6 did not affect bacterial growth in macrophages as well as their virulence in interferon regulatory factor 1-deficient (IRF-1(-/-)) mice, suggesting that these islands do not contribute to Brucella virulence. However, the deletion of GI-2 resulted in the attenuation of bacterial growth in macrophages and virulence in IRF-1(-/-) mice. The GI-2 mutant also displayed a rough lipopolysaccharide (LPS) phenotype indicated by acriflavin agglutination, suggesting that in vitro and in vivo attenuation is a result of LPS alteration. Further, systematic analysis of the entire GI-2 revealed two open reading frames (ORFs), BMEI0997 and I0998, that encode hypothetical sugar transferases and contribute to LPS alteration, as the deletion of either of these ORFs resulted in a rough phenotype similar to that of the GI-2 mutant. Complementation analyses indicated that in addition to I0997 and I0998, I0999 is required to restore the smooth LPS in the GI-2 mutant as well as its full in vitro and in vivo virulence. The I0999 sequence analysis suggested that it might function as a transporter to help facilitate the transport or linking of the O antigen to the LPS. Our study also indicated that the rough LPS resulting from the GI-2 deletion may affect pathogen-associated molecular pattern recognition by Toll-like receptors.
End‐to‐End Continuous Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals: Integrated Synthesis, Purification, and Final Dosage Formation

A series of tubes: The continuous manufacture of a finished drug product starting from chemical intermediates is reported. The continuous pilot-scale plant used a novel route that incorporated many advantages of continuous-flow processes to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients and the drug product in one integrated system.
The Association of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Environment With Quality of Life in Assisted Living Residents With Dementia

Purpose: We conducted this study to determine whether neuropsychiatric symptoms and environmental characteristics are associated with quality of life in assisted living residents with dementia. Design and Methods: We used a cross-sectional study of 134 residents from 22 facilities and employed the Alzheimer’s DiseaseRelated Quality of Life Scale and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. A scale was developed to capture the homelike climate of each facility. Linear regression analyses were used to estimate the relationship of neuropsychiatric symptoms and homelike climate with quality of life, controlling for sociodemographics, cognition, functional dependence, and physical health. Exploratory analyses and graphical techniques were employed to test for environmental-level moderating effects. Results: Agitation, depression, apathy, and irritability were significant predictors of quality of life, explaining 29% of the variance. Neither facility size nor homelike environment was significantly associated with quality of life in univariate analyses. Size of facility moderated the relationship between agitation and quality of life. Implications: Neuropsychiatric symptoms impair quality of life in residents with dementia. Further re
Liquid metal corrosion of 316L, Fe3Al, and FeCrSi in molten Zn-Al baths

Corrosion tests of 316L and two intermetallic compounds Fe3Al and FeCrSi in industrial Galvanizing (Zn-0.18Al), GALFAN (Zn-5Al), GALVALUME (Zn-55Al), and Aluminizing (Al-8Si) baths and lab-scale static baths were conducted. In on-line tests in industrial hot-dip baths, 316L steel shows better corrosion resistance than Fe3Al in Galvanizing, GALFAN, and GALVALUME baths. The corrosion resistance of 316L and Fe3Al is similar in Aluminizing bath. In static tests, FeCrSi shows the best corrosion resistance in pure Zn, Zn-55Al, and Al-8Si baths. The corrosion resistance of 316L is better than that of Fe3Al. In Zn-5Al bath, 316L shows no thickness loss after the test. For the same bath composition, the corrosion rates of the alloys in industrial baths are higher than those in static baths. Bath temperature and chemical composition play important roles in corrosion and intermetallic layer formation. Increasing bath temperature accelerates the corrosion process and changes the nature of intermetallic layers. A small amount of aluminum reduces the corrosion process by reducing the activity of Zn and forming inhibition layer. However, after aluminum content reaches the critical point, the dominant corrosion process changes from Zn-Fe reaction to Al-Fe reaction, and, consequently, the corrosion process accelerates by increasing aluminum content in the bath.
A Complete Infinitary Logic

This paper is concerned with the proof theoretic development of certain infinite languages. These languages contain the usual infinite conjunctions and disjunctions, but in addition to homogeneous quantifiers such as ∀ x 0 x 1 x 2 … and ∃ y 0 y 1 y 2 …, we shall investigate particular subclasses of the dependent quantifiers described by Henkin [1]. The dependent quantifiers of Henkin can be thought of as partially ordered quantifiers defined by a function from one set to the power set of another set. This function assigns to each existentially bound variable, the set of universally bound variables on which it depends. The natural extension of Gentzen's first order predicate calculus to an infinite language with homogeneous quantifiers results in a system that is both valid and complete, and in which a cut elimination theorem can be proved [2]. The problem then arises of devising, if possible, a logical system dealing with general dependent quantifiers that is valid and complete. In this paper a system is presented that is valid and complete for an infinite language with homogeneous quantifiers and dependent quantifiers that are anti-well-ordered, for example, … ∀ x 2 ∃ y 2 ∀ x 1 ∃ y 1 ∀ x 0 ∃ y 0 . Certain notational conventions will be employed in this paper. Greek letters will be used for ordinal numbers. The ordinal ω is the set of all natural numbers, and 2 ω is the set of all ω -sequences of elements of 2 = {0,1}. The power set of S is denoted by P ( S ). μ α [ A ( α )] stands for the smallest ordinal α such that A ( α ) holds.
Depressive and Posttraumatic Symptoms Among Women Seeking Protection Orders Against Intimate Partners: Relations to Coping Strategies and Perceived Responses to Abuse Disclosure

This investigation examined the relationship of abuse-specific coping strategies and perceived responses to abuse disclosure to symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress among 131 women seeking a protection order against an intimate partner. Disengagement, denial, and self-blame coping strategies, as well as blaming of the participant by others, were associated with greater depressive and posttraumatic symptoms. None of the strategies of coping or responses to abuse disclosure were negatively related to depressive or posttraumatic stress symptoms. Findings suggest that mental health providers may find it useful to address these negative styles of coping while public education campaigns should target victim blaming.
A prospective study of the adverse effects of midazolam on withdrawal in critically ill children

Fifty-three critically ill infants and children received midazolam as sedation in a regional intensive care unit. Assessment of the level of sedation was carried out at regular intervals on withdrawal of midazolam. Forty-nine patients were fully alert within 4 h of midazolam being stopped. Four patients took from 6 h to 1 week to become fully alert. Four patients had abnormal behaviour highly suggestive of midazolam withdrawal. The onset of abnormal behaviour was within 12 h of discontinuation of midazolam. The duration of the abnormal behaviour ranged from 3 h to 1 week. One child had a paradoxical reaction to midazolam. The overall incidence of adverse effects to midazolam in the patients studied was 17%. No adverse effects were observed in infants; all adverse effects were observed in children. We have shown that it is possible to prospectively study the toxicity of sedatives in critically ill infants and children.
Modeling and simulation of bioremediation of contaminated soil

A mathematical model has been developed for in situ biodegradation of contaminants in a soil bed. The model equations comprise three convection-dispersion partial differential equations and one ordinary differential equation. Dimensional analysis of the model equations has been performed, and solution of these equations has been conducted by the newly-developed three-point backward finite difference method. The effects of insufficient oxygen supply, growth of biomass and resistance to contaminant migration on the rate of biodegradation have been examined by numerically simulating the dynamic behavior of in situ biodegradation processes. The results of numerical simulation indicate that the rate of biodegradation of contaminants in soil may be constrained not only by insufficient oxygen supply, but also by resistance to contaminant migration within the pore network. The effect of recycling the unreacted contaminants from the bottom of the bed to the top has been examined through simulation, showing that biodegradation takes place mainly in the upper part of the bed.
New design strategy for improving hardware Trojan detection and reducing Trojan activation time

Hardware Trojans in integrated circuits and systems have become serious concern to fabless semiconductor industry and government agencies in recent years. Most of the previously proposed Trojan detection methods rely on Trojan activation to either observe a faulty output or measure side-channel signals such as transient current or charge. From the authentication stand point, time to trigger a hardware Trojan circuit is a a major concern. This paper analyzes time to (i) generate a transition in functional Trojans and (ii) fully activate them. An efficient dummy flip-flop insertion procedure is proposed to increase Trojan activity. Depending on authentication time and circuit topology, a transition probability threshold is selected so that inserted dummy flip-flops would moderately impact area overhead. The simulation results on s38417 benchmark circuit demonstrate that, with a negligible area overhead, our proposed method can significantly increase Trojan activity and reduce Trojan activation time.
THE FINE STRUCTURE OF ACOUSTIC GANGLIA IN THE RAT

Nerve cell bodies in the spiral and vestibular ganglia of the adult rat are surrounded by thin (about ten lamellae) myelin sheaths which differ in several respects from typical axonal myelin. In some instances lamellae surrounding perikarya appear as typical major dense lines, and in others as thin Schwann cell sheets in which cytoplasm persists. Discontinuities and irregularities appear in the structure of perikaryal myelin. Lamellae may terminate anywhere within the sheaths; they may bifurcate; they may reverse their direction; or they may merge with each other. The number of lamellae varies from one part of a sheath to another. In addition, the myelin of a single perikaryal sheath may receive contributions from more than one Schwann cell, which overlap and interleave with each other. The ganglion cells are of two types: those which are densely packed with the usual cytoplasmic organelles but have few neurofilaments (granular neurons), and those which exhibit large areas containing few organelles but have a high concentration of neurofilaments (filamented neurons). The latter cell type is ensheathed by myelin which is generally more compact that that surrounding the former. The formation and the physiologic significance of perikaryal myelin are discussed.
Structure of Offshore Flow

Abstract The horizontal and vertical structure of the mean flow and turbulent fluxes are examined using aircraft observations taken near a barrier island on the east coast of the United States during offshore flow periods. The spatial structure is strongly influenced by the surface roughness and surface temperature discontinuities at the coast. With offshore flow of warm air over cool water, the sea surface momentum flux is large near the coast and decreases rapidly with increasing offshore distance or travel time. The decrease is attributed to advection and decay of turbulence from land. The rate of decrease is dependent on the characteristic timescale of the eddies in the upstream land-based boundary layer that are advected over the ocean. As a consequence, the air–sea momentum exchange near the coast is influenced by upstream conditions and similarity theory is not adequate to predict the flux. The vertical structure reveals an elevated layer of downward momentum flux and turbulence energy maxima over ...
Effects of childhood experiences of family violence on adult partner violence: A meta‐analytic review.

This meta-analysis examined the association between being raised in a physically violent home and becoming an adult victim or perpetrator of physical intimate partner violence (IPV). We also explored the effects of sex of child victim and sex of parent perpetrator. In total, 124 studies, which reported 288 effect sizes measuring the association between witnessing interparental violence and/or experiencing child abuse and adult IPV, were included. Results revealed small effect sizes, with stronger effect sizes for perpetration than for victimization. The relationship between experiencing family-of-origin violence and subsequent IPV perpetration was significantly stronger for males than for females. The relationship between experiencing family-of-origin violence and subsequent IPV victimization was significantly stronger for females than for males.
Real-time delay estimation in call centers

We use computer simulation to study the performance of alternative real-time delay estimators in heavily loaded multiserver queueing models. These delay estimates may be used to make delay announcements in call centers and related service systems. We consider the classical delay estimator based on the queue length, QLs, which multiplies the queue length plus one times the mean interval between successive service completions, ignoring customer abandonment. We show that QLs has a superior performance in the GI/M/s model, but that there is a need to go beyond it in the GI/GI/s + GI model, allowing abandonment. To this end, we propose new, simple and effective, delay estimators based on the queue length. We also consider a delay estimator based on recent customer delay history in the system: the delay of the last customer to enter service, LES.
Extracellular vesicles round off communication in the nervous system

Functional neural competence and integrity require interactive exchanges among sensory and motor neurons, interneurons and glial cells. Recent studies have attributed some of the tasks needed for these exchanges to extracellular vesicles (such as exosomes and microvesicles), which are most prominently involved in shuttling reciprocal signals between myelinating glia and neurons, thus promoting neuronal survival, the immune response mediated by microglia, and synapse assembly and plasticity. Such vesicles have also been identified as important factors in the spread of neurodegenerative disorders and brain cancer. These extracellular vesicle functions add a previously unrecognized level of complexity to transcellular interactions within the nervous system.
Reason and Duty

Before beginning my final attempt to find an alternative to moral skepticism, perhaps I should stipulate the requirements that any theory of moral knowledge must meet, if it is to be successful. Two are essential. First, it must enable us to make some statement asserting a moral obligation, whose truth we can justify without committing the deductive fallacy. To do this we must seek, in the manner of Prichard and the intuitionists, some moral proposition whose truth we can demonstrate to be self-evident. In demonstrating the self-evidence of this moral proposition, however, we must use a method that avoids begging any crucial questions, a feat which intuitionism is incapable of performing.
Material Ecosystems: Theorizing (Digital) Technologies in Socioeconomic Development

This article presents a material ecosystemic approach as a theoretical grounding for understanding digital technologies as potential catalysts of socioeconomic development. Through such an approach, talk of “technology” is replaced by talk of the “material.” Material is understood as inclusive of the human-made as well as the natural, of humanrelationships, human bodies, and words spoken. And the social is always necessarily materialized. These elements provide some clues as to how to move toward an improved ethic of design. The case of mobile phone use for financial practices among low- and lower-middle-income urban Ugandans is offered as a substantive case. The particular assumptions of modernization underlying calls for “financial inclusion” and the distinction between informal and formal are reconsidered through the lens of material ecosystemic analysis.
A study of local anesthetics in respect to their antiseptic properties

An inquiry into the antiseptic properties of local anesthetics is interesting for two reasons: Firstly, in relation to the healing of post-operative wounds and secondly in connection with genito-urinary practice, where these drugs are introduced into the bladder cavity and may thus directly influence its bacterial flora. The following local anesthetics were studied by the authors: cocain, novocain, alpha-eucain, beta-eucain, stovain, holocain, alypin, apothesine and benzyl alcohol. Bacteriological tests were made in three ways. Firstly, the growth of bacteria in bouillon containing small amounts of the anesthetics was studied. Secondly, bacteria were suspended in weak solutions of the anesthetics for definite periods of time, then washed, and planted in various media in order to determine whether they will grow or not. Thirdly, bacteria were planted on agar impregnated with the various drugs and their growth in this medium was noted.It was found that some local anesthetics possess definite antiseptic prop...
Acute Arsenic Overdose

Arsenic is commonly used in herbicides, insecticides, and rodenticides, as well as in the manufacturing of glass, wood preservatives, and paint.1 The ubiquity of this element in the environment has resulted in frequent overdoses. Among the causes of arsenic poisoning, the most common are unintentional ingestion by children and suicide attempts by adults.2 Acute overdose of arsenic can cause gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms. In severe cases, renal failure, cardiac failure, and circulatory collapse may ensue. We report a case of acute arsenic poisoning in a patient who ingested approximately 1.2 g of arsenic during a suicide attempt. Despite the extremely high urinary arsenic concentration, 10,000 μg/L (<100 μg/L in healthy individuals), the patient survived after treatment with dimercaprol (BAL). Decreases in the hemoglobin and hematocrit values were the only sequelae possibly associated with the arsenic overload.
Isolation and use of a new natural substrate for the diagnosis of MPS VII

Mucopolysaccharidosis Type VII is characterized by a severe deficiency of the enzyme β-D-glucuronidase. As with other mucopolysaccharidoses, this inherited enzyme disorder results in a wide range of phenotypes. from extremely mild to severe. Diagnosis of the enzyme deficiency has usually been made using artificial substrates such as 4-methylumbelliferyl-β-D-glucuronide (MuGlcUA), and p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucuronide. We now report the isolation of a tritium-labelled disaccharide, namely glucuronosyl anhydromannitol 6-sulphate (GMs) derived from the controlled degradation of heparin. Under optimal assay conditions for normal skin fibroblast homogenates, this natural substrate gives β-D-glucuronidase activities of 0-2.4, 9 17 and 38 56 pmol/min/mg protein for homozygote affected, heterozygote and normal cell lines, respectively. Compared with the artificial substrate MuGlcUA, normal activity measured with GMs demonstrates a similar pH profile and time course, but a changed response to protein levels, greater heat sensitivity, and also lower K m and V max values. GMs has a similar structure to iduronosyl anhydromannitol 6-sulphate (IMs), a natural substrate of α-L-iduronidase. However, in contrast to α-L-iduronidase, β-D-glucuromdase is inhibited only slightly by SO 4 2 or Cu 2+ ions; while NaCl is a much more effective inhibitor at lower pH values. This suggests that β-D-glucuronidase may-lack the specific SO 4 2 and Cu 2+ binding sites postulated for α-L-iduronidase.
Immunology: JAK3 inhibition—is it sufficient?

A highly selective JAK3 inhibitor with subnanomolar potency has been used to identify two waves of STAT5 phosphorylation in response to IL-2. This reveals a biphasic role for JAK3 catalytic activity in IL-2-mediated signaling that has therapeutic implications.
Factors Associated with Recent HIV Testing among Heterosexuals at High Risk for HIV Infection in New York City.

Background. The CDC recommends persons at high-risk for HIV infection in the United States receive annual HIV testing to foster early HIV diagnosis and timely linkage to health care. Heterosexuals make up a significant proportion of incident HIV infections (>25%), but test for HIV less frequently than those in other risk categories. Yet factors that promote or impede annual HIV testing among heterosexuals are poorly understood. The present study examines individual/attitudinal-, social-, and structural-level factors associated with past-year HIV testing among heterosexuals at high-risk for HIV. Methods. Participants were African American/Black and Hispanic heterosexual adults (N=2307) residing in an urban area with both high poverty and HIV prevalence rates. Participants were recruited by respondent-driven sampling (RDS) in 2012-2015 and completed a computerized structured assessment battery covering background factors, multi-level putative facilitators of HIV testing, and HIV testing history. Separate logistic regression analysis for males and females identified factors associated with past-year HIV testing. Results. Participants were mostly male (58%), African American/Black (75%), and 39 years old on average (SD = 12.06 years). Lifetime homelessness (54%) and incarceration (62%) were common. Half reported past-year HIV testing (50%) and 37% engaged in regular, annual HIV testing. Facilitators of HIV testing common to both genders included sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing or STI diagnosis, peer norms supporting HIV testing, and HIV testing access. Among women, access to general medical care and extreme poverty further predicted HIV testing, while recent drug use reduced the odds of past-year HIV testing. Among men, past-year HIV testing was also associated with lifetime incarceration and substance use treatment. Conclusions. The present study identified gaps in rates of HIV testing among heterosexuals at high-risk for HIV, and both common and gender-specific facilitators of HIV testing. Findings suggest a number of avenues for increasing HIV testing rates including increasing the number and types of settings offering high-quality HIV testing; promoting STI as well as HIV testing; better integrating STI and HIV testing systems; implementing peer-driven social/behavioral intervention approaches to harness the positive influence of social networks and reduce unfavorable shared peer norms; and specialized approaches for women who use drugs.
Earthquake Message Triggered Dam Real-time Monitoring System Based on Reliable UDP Communication

Hydropower plants located in active seismic region have the actual management demand for dam safety monitoring while earthquake happens,but due to different industry standards and management system,the seismic monitoring systems and dam safety monitoring systems run independently,which causes difficulty to achieve real-time dam safety monitoring and analysis while strong earthquake occurs.The necessity and feasibility of real-time dam monitoring when earthquake occurs are discussed.And the idea of earthquake message real-timely triggering dam measurement system based on strong earthquake monitoring system with reliable UDP communication is proposed.Finally,combining with strong motion system and dam safety information management system,a design implementation of the system is given,which has been applied in Ertan Hydropower Station.Practice shows that operation of this system is stable and reliable.It is effective for engineering projects.
Gastroscopic and histopathological features of abdominal type Henoch purura in children

Objective: To investigate appearance of gastroscope and histopathological of stomach in the abdominal type Henoch purpura in children and improve the diagnostic level.Methods: Retrospective review was made on the gastroscopic and histopathological features of 39 cases of children with Henoch purpura abdominal type.Results: The oesophageal mucous was nomal.The gastroscope appearance of stomach and duodenal mucous were congestive,swelling,dissipated and even ulcer.Pathology study showed inflommation of blood capillary.Conclusion: Gastroscope is useful for diagnosis of the abdominal type Henoch puepuea.
Political Lexicographer: William Safire's Voice

When George Orwell composed his essay "Politics and the English Language" in 1946, William Safire was only 16 years old and studying at the Bronx High School of Science, the last educational institution from which he would graduate. Political language, wrote Orwell, had come "to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness." Politicians and political writers turned "instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms," ready-made phrases that could "construct your sentences for you -- even think your thoughts for you, to a certain extent -- and at need they will perform the important service of partially concealing your meaning even from yourself." So it was that "the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts" and to succumb to such thoughts in the political realm.Safire never ceased identifying and analyzing the creative locutions that entered our political lexicon. Of all the pundits, thumbsuckers, spinmeisters, talking heads and the panjandrums of the opinion mafia who formed the chattering classes, Safire focused most intently on the words and catch phrases that governed American political life.
Association of Recorded Estimated Fetal Weight and Cesarean Delivery in Attempted Vaginal Delivery at Term

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the association between documentation of estimated fetal weight, and its value, with cesarean delivery.METHODS:This was a secondary analysis of a multicenter observational cohort of 115,502 deliveries from 2008 to 2011. Data were abstracted by trained and certified study person
Size- and temperature-dependent Hamaker constants for heterogeneous systems of interacting nanoparticles

Hamaker-Lifshitz constants are used to calculate van der Waals interaction forces between small particles in solution. Typically, these constants are size-independent and material specific. According to the Lifshitz theory, the Hamaker-Lifshitz constants can be calculated by taking integrals that include the dielectric permittivity, as a function of frequency, of the interacting particles and the medium around particles. The dielectric permittivity of interacting metal nanoparticles can be calculated using the free-electron Drude model for metals. For bulk metals, the Drude model does is size independent. However, the conducting electrons in small metal nanoparticles exhibit surface scattering, which changes the complex dielectric permittivity function. Additionally, the Drude model can be modified to include temperature dependence. That is, an increase in temperature leads to thermal volume expansion and increased phonon population, which affect the scattering rate of the electrons and the plasma frequency. Both of these terms contribute significantly to the Drude model for the dielectric permittivity of the particles. In this work, we show theoretically that scattering of the free conducting electrons inside noble metal nanoparticles with the size of 1 – 50 nm leads to size-dependent dielectric permittivity and Hamaker-Lifshitz constants. In addition, we calculate numerically the Hamaker-Lifshitz constants for a variety of temperatures. The results of the study might be of interest for understanding colloidal stability of metal nanoparticles.
Data Preservation in Base Station-Less Sensor Networks: A Game Theoretic Approach

We aim to preserve the large amount of data generated inside base station-less sensor networks with minimum energy cost, while considering that sensor nodes are selfish. Previous research assumed that all the sensor nodes are cooperative and designed a centralized minimum-cost flow solution. However, in a distributed setting wherein energy- and storage-constrained sensor nodes are under different control, they could behave selfishly, only to maximize their own benefit. In this paper, we take a game theoretic approach and design a computationally efficient data preservation game. We show that in our game, individual sensor nodes, motivated solely by self-interest, achieve good system-wide data preservation solution.
Causality within the Euro Area? : Trade Surplus in the North versus Public Debt in the South

The United States subprime mortgage crisis began to spread to Europe in 2008. The worst affected were periphery countries that experienced drastic declines in international competitiveness and thus accumulated large public debts. High public debt drove countries such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, and Spain to the verge of economic collapse. This study examines whether trade imbalances led to high public indebtedness in the periphery euro area countries. To investigate the impact of northern euro area countries’ trade surpluses on southern euro area countries’ public debt, we estimated bivariate and trivariate Vector Error Correction Models. We then employed these estimated models to test for Granger causality between trade imbalances and public debt. We found that trade surpluses in the northern euro area countries caused an increase in public debt in the periphery countries. However, only limited evidence for reverse causality was found.
Deep contextual recurrent residual networks for scene labeling

Abstract Designed as extremely deep architectures, deep residual networks which provide a rich visual representation and offer robust convergence behaviors have recently achieved exceptional performance in numerous computer vision problems. Being directly applied to a scene labeling problem, however, they were limited to capture long-range contextual dependence, which is a critical aspect. To address this issue, we propose a novel approach, Contextual Recurrent Residual Networks (CRRN) which is able to simultaneously handle rich visual representation learning and long-range context modeling within a fully end-to-end deep network. Furthermore, our proposed end-to-end CRRN is completely trained from scratch, without using any pre-trained models in contrast to most existing methods usually fine-tuned from the state-of-the-art pre-trained models, e.g. VGG-16, ResNet, etc. The experiments are conducted on four challenging scene labeling datasets, i.e. SiftFlow, CamVid, Stanford background and SUN datasets, and compared against various state-of-the-art scene labeling methods.
Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging of the Renal and Adrenal Glands

DWI with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements potentially provides a noninvasive method for discriminating benign from malignant renal and adrenal lesions using molecular criteria. The potential applications of DWI in the evaluation of focal renal masses are lesion detection, and alternative to contrast-enhanced MRI, monitoring response to treatment and differentiation of simple hydronephrosis from pyonephrosis. Malignant lesions tend to show lower ADC values than benign solid and cystic lesions. Furthermore, DWI can be used to differentiate solid renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) from oncocytomas and characterize the histologic subtypes of RCC. Besides, a significant difference between the diffusion properties of clear cell and nonclear cell RCCs has been achieved, which is important in the therapeutic management. The different characteristics and microstructure of the different components of renal parenchyma have been explored with DTI, allowing for accurate differentiation of renal cortex and medulla. There is evidence of reduced ADC values in cases of diffuse renal disease as acute and especially renal chronic failure, ischemia, infection, and inflammatory conditions. Besides, DWI has potential to characterize benign from malignant adrenal lesions by means of ADC measurements. Nevertheless, in the limited available series, there are contradictory results in the capabilities of DWI in the characterization of adrenal masses, with more data favoring the absence of a significant difference between the adenomas and malignant lesions.
System Scaling With Nanostructured Power and RF Components

The emergence of smartphones and other smart systems is driving new trends in electronics scaling that goes beyond transistors or active devices, to include all the system components such as packaging substrates, passive components, thermal structures, power sources, and the system interconnections. Current system components are at milliscale, creating a $10^{3}$ to $10^{6}$ scaling gap with the packaging interfaces at microscale, and transistors at nanodimensions. With current microstructured materials, component miniaturization also degrades performance metrics such as efficiency, tolerance or precision, thermal and frequency stability. Nanostructured materials and processes can potentially miniaturize these system components, while simultaneously enhancing the performance. These nanostructured components are assembled close to the active devices, resulting in ultraminiaturized and ultrathin systems with 3-D integration of passives with actives. This paper shows the impact of nanostructured materials toward enhancing the performance and miniaturization of power and radio-frequency (RF) passive components in emerging smart systems. Opportunities for nanostructured materials in improving the power density and efficiency of capacitors and inductors in power-supply modules are reviewed in the first part of the paper. The impact of nanostructured magnetic, dielectric and magneto-dielectric films on emerging RF subsystems is illustrated in the last part of the paper.
Vertical electrical impedance testing of a concrete bridge deck using a rolling probe

Abstract The speed of vertical electrical impedance testing of a concrete bridge deck using a new rolling probe was demonstrated in this research to be 190 m2/h, which is more than six times faster than the speed at which data were collected using the static probe utilized in earlier research. Furthermore, with impedance measurements obtained at a longitudinal spacing of approximately 0.1 m, the spatial resolution was 12 times greater than that of the static probe. Vertical electrical impedance testing was performed together with half-cell potential testing, chaining, cover depth, and chloride concentration testing, and an interpretation of these data sets was developed that synergistically incorporated the deck maintenance history.
Ignorance of law: A philosophical inquiry

Douglas Husak's book is an intelligent, wide-ranging exploration of the legal principle ‘ignorance of law is no excuse’. This principle is one of the few pieces of legal doctrine known by many regu...
A Profile of Entrepreneurship Research Centers: Orientations, Interests, Activities, and Resources:

One indication of progress in the field of entrepreneurship is its growing number of research centers. Their potential to hasten and guide the field's development warrants scholars’ attention to th...
Reoperative complications following pediatric liver transplantation.

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to describe the incidence and impact of reoperation following pediatric liver transplantation, as well as the indications and risk factors for these complications. Methods All primary pediatric liver transplants performed at our institution between January 2012 and September 2016 were reviewed. A reoperative complication was defined as a complication requiring return to the operating room within 30 days or the same hospital admission as the transplant operation, excluding retransplantation. Results Among the 144 pediatric liver transplants performed during the study period, 9% of the recipients required reoperation. The most common indications for reoperation were bleeding and bowel complications. There was no significant difference in the graft survival of patients with a reoperation and those without a reoperation (p = 0.780), but patients with a reoperation had a significantly longer hospital length of stay (median of 39 days vs. 11 days, p = 0.001). Variant donor arterial anatomy, transplant operative time, intraoperative blood loss, transfusion volume of packed red blood cells or cell saver per weight, and transfusion with fresh frozen plasma, platelets, or cryoprecipitate were significantly associated with reoperation upon univariable logistic regression, but none of these risk factors remained statistically significant upon multivariable regression. Conclusion At our institution, reoperation did not significantly impact graft survival. We identified variant donor arterial anatomy, transplant operative time, intraoperative blood loss, transfusion volume of packed red blood cells or cell saver per weight, and transfusion with fresh frozen plasma, platelets, or cryoprecipitate as risk factors for reoperation, although none of these risk factors demonstrated independent association with reoperation in a multivariable model. Type of study Prognosis Study. Level of evidence Level III.
Experience-based auditory map formation and the perceptual magnet effect

The perceptual magnet effect (e.g., Kuhl, 1991, 1995) is one of the most actively discussed topics in the recent speech perception literature. The effect is characterized by a warping of perceptual space such that acoustic patterns near phonemic category centers are perceived as closer together than equally spaced acoustic patterns that are further away from phonemic category centers. This language-specific effect is evident in infants by six months of age and is maintained through adulthood (Kuhl, 1991). In this paper we propose an explanation for the perceptual magnet effect using a self-organizing feature map neural network (e.g., von der Malsburg, 1973; Kohonen, 1982). This model is a component of a larger computational modeling framework of speech development, perception, and production called DIVA (Guenther, 1995).
No, It Isn’t: A Response to Law on Evil Pleasure

In this paper, I engage with Law's (2007) paper 'Evil Pleasure Is Good For You!' I argue that, although his criticism of hedonistic utilitarianism may hold some weight, his analysis of the goodness of pleasure is overly simplistic. I highlight some troubling results which would follow from his analysis and then outline a new account which then remedies these problems. Ultimately, I distinguish between Law's 'evil pleasures' and, what I call, 'virtuous pleasures' and show how we can accept the goodness of virtuous pleasures without being forced to say that evil pleasures are good for us.
Hierarchical Fully Convolutional Network for Joint Atrophy Localization and Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis Using Structural MRI

Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) has been widely used for computer-aided diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders, e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD), due to its sensitivity to morphological changes caused by brain atrophy. Recently, a few deep learning methods (e.g., convolutional neural networks, CNNs) have been proposed to learn task-oriented features from sMRI for AD diagnosis, and achieved superior performance than the conventional learning-based methods using hand-crafted features. However, these existing CNN-based methods still require the pre-determination of informative locations in sMRI. That is, the stage of discriminative atrophy localization is isolated to the latter stages of feature extraction and classifier construction. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical fully convolutional network (H-FCN) to automatically identify discriminative local patches and regions in the whole brain sMRI, upon which multi-scale feature representations are then jointly learned and fused to construct hierarchical classification models for AD diagnosis. Our proposed H-FCN method was evaluated on a large cohort of subjects from two independent datasets (i.e., ADNI-1 and ADNI-2), demonstrating good performance on joint discriminative atrophy localization and brain disease diagnosis.
Effect of Isometric Exercise on Standing Broad Jumping Ability

Abstract This study attempted to determine if a maximum iosmetric exercise program would improve standing broad jumping ability. Seventy-six male eighth-grade junior high school students were tested in the standing broad jump. The subjects were then paired according to broad jumping ability into two groups. The experimental group participated in an isometric program consisting of a 15-sec. maximum contraction in an inverted leg press once a day, five days a week for six weeks. Both groups were retested at the end of the six weeks program. The data were treated statistically and neither the experimental nor the control group improved significantly in standing broad jumping ability.
When Allah meets Ganesha: Developing supernatural concepts in a religiously diverse society

Abstract Belief in supernatural beings is widespread across cultures, but the properties of those beings vary from one culture to another. The supernatural beings that are part of Hinduism, for instance, are represented as human-like, whereas those that are part of Islam are represented more abstractly. Here, we explore how children exposed to both types of representations conceptualize the relevant beings. We administered several measures of anthropomorphism to Hindu and Muslim children ( n = 124) from a religiously-diverse community in India. Participants consistently anthropomorphized fictional beings (ghosts and fairies) and Hindu beings (Ganesha and Krishna) but varied in their anthropomorphization of Islamic beings (Muhammad, Allah). Younger participants (aged 8 to 11) anthropomorphized Islamic beings more than older participants (aged 12 to 15), and Hindu participants anthropomorphized them more than Muslim participants. These findings suggest that children initially anthropomorphize supernatural beings but can learn to conceptualize them more abstractly if encouraged by cultural input. They also suggest that abstract conceptions of divine agents are not a universal endpoint in the development of religious cognition.
Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus miRNAs suppress CASTOR1-mediated mTORC1 inhibition to promote tumorigenesis

Cytosolic arginine sensor for mTORC1 subunits 1 and 2 (CASTOR1 and CASTOR2) inhibit the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) upon arginine deprivation. mTORC1 regulates cell proliferation, survival, and metabolism and is often dysregulated in cancers, indicating that cancer cells may regulate CASTOR1 and CASTOR2 to control mTORC1 signaling and promote tumorigenesis. mTORC1 is the most effective therapeutic target of Kaposi sarcoma, which is caused by infection with the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). Hence, KSHV-induced cellular transformation is a suitable model for investigating mTORC1 regulation in cancer cells. Currently, the mechanism of KSHV activation of mTORC1 in KSHV-induced cancers remains unclear. We showed that KSHV suppressed CASTOR1 and CASTOR2 expression to activate the mTORC1 pathway. CASTOR1 or CASTOR2 overexpression and mTOR inhibitors abolished cell proliferation and colony formation in soft agar of KSHV-transformed cells by attenuating mTORC1 activation. Furthermore, the KSHV-encoded miRNA miR-K4-5p, and probably miR-K1-5p, directly targeted CASTOR1 to inhibit its expression. Knockdown of miR-K1-5p and -K4-5p restored CASTOR1 expression and thereby attenuated mTORC1 activation. Overexpression of CASTOR1 or CASTOR2 and mTOR inhibitors abolished the activation of mTORC1 and growth transformation induced by pre-miR-K1 and -K4. Our results define the mechanism of KSHV activation of the mTORC1 pathway and establish the scientific basis for targeting this pathway to treat KSHV-associated cancers.
Correlation analysis between BCR-ABL fusion gene and chronic myeloid leukemia

Objective To explore the value of BCR-ABL fusion gene in the diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and clinical staging. Methods The clinical data of 59 children with CML admitted to our hospital in recent years were analyzed retrospectively. The mutation rates of BCR-ABL fusion gene and BCR-ABL mutation rates in different stages were compared between CML and healthy children. Results The mutation rate of BCR-ABL in the observation group was 89.8%, while that in the control group was negative (P<0.01); the mutation rates of BCR-ABL in chronic phase, remission phase, acceleration phase, and acute phase were 96.8%, 25.0%, 85.7%, and 100.0% respectively. Conclusion BCR-ABL fusion gene can be used as an important marker for the diagnosis and staging of CML, and has positive value for clinical diagnosis and treatment according to clinical staging. Key words: BCR-ABL fusion gene; Chronic myeloid leukemia; Diagnosis; Staging
Rapid N-Glycan Profiling of Serum and Plasma by a Novel Slide-Based Imaging Mass Spectrometry Workflow

Changes in the levels and compositions of N-glycans released from serum and plasma glycoproteins have been assessed in many diseases across many large clinical sample cohorts. Assays used for N-glycan profiling in these fluids currently require multiple processing steps and have limited throughput, thus diminishing their potential for use as standard clinical diagnostic assays. A novel slide-based N-glycan profiling method was evaluated for sensitivity and reproducibility using a pooled serum standard. Serum was spotted on to an amine-reactive slide, delipidated and desalted with a series of washes, sprayed with peptide N-glycosidase F and matrix, and analyzed by MALDI-FTICR or MALDI-Q-TOF mass spectrometry. Routinely, over 75 N-glycan species can be detected from one microliter of serum in less than 6.5 h. Additionally, endoglycosidase F3 was applied to this workflow to identify core-fucosylated N-glycans and displayed the adaptability of this method for the determination of structural information. This method was applied to a small pooled serum set from either obese or nonobese patients that had breast cancer or a benign lesion. This study confirms the reproducibility, sensitivity, and adaptability of a novel method for N-glycan profiling of serum and plasma for potential application to clinical diagnostics.