cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the effects of normalization in adaptive MRF hierarchies

In this paper, we analyze the effects of energy normalization in adaptive-hierarchy-based energy minimization methods. Adaptive hierarchies provide a convenient multi-level abstraction of the underlying MRF. They have been shown to both accelerate computation and help avoid local minima. However, the standard recursive way of accumulating energy throughout the hierarchy causes energy terms to grow at different rates. Consequently, the faster-growing term, typically the unary term, dominates the overall energy at coarser level nodes, which hinders larger-scale energy/label change from happening. To solve the problem, we first investigate the theory and construction of adaptive hierarchies, then we analyze the theoretical bounds and expected values of its energy terms. Based on these analyses, we design and experimentally analyze three different energy-normalizing schemes. Our experiments show that properly normalized energies facilitate better use of the hierarchies during optimization: we observe an average improvement in the speed by 15% with the same accuracy.
HOTL: a higher order theory of locality

The locality metrics are many, for example, miss ratio to test performance, data footprint to manage cache sharing, and reuse distance to analyze and optimize a program. It is unclear how different metrics are related, whether one subsumes another, and what combination may represent locality completely.This paper first derives a set of formulas to convert between five locality metrics and gives the condition for correctness. The transformation is analogous to differentiation and integration used to convert between higher order polynomials. As a result, these metrics can be assigned an order and organized into a hierarchy.Using the new theory, the paper then develops two techniques: one measures the locality in real time without special hardware support, and the other predicts multicore cache interference without parallel testing. The paper evaluates them using sequential and parallel programs as well as for a parallel mix of sequential programs.
THE MARFAN SYNDROME AND PREGNANCY.

Abstract This is a study of 12 cases of the Marfan syndrome associated with pregnancy. One case is presented in detail and the other cases tabulated in an attempt to describe the syndrome and its relationship to pregnancy. The syndrome exists more frequently than appreciated. By constantly keeping the syndrome in mind, with thoughtful history taking and careful physical examinations, more cases will be uncovered. The typical histopathological lesion of the Marfan syndrome consists of a cystic medionecrosis of the blood vessel walls. This is enhanced by pregnancy and leads to aortic aneurysm and eventual dissection. The average age of dissection is 30 years, therefore, pregnancy, if advised at all, should be undertaken in the late “teens” and early “twenties.”
Students' Spiraling Silence and Willingness to Communicate about Religion in the United States: An Exploration of the Media's Role in Stigmatizing Religion

The spiral of silence effect describes individuals’ tendency to silence minority opinions, whilst using the media to gauge majority opinion. While the spiral of silence effect has been explored in controversial political contexts, the phenomenon has not been scrutinized in its relation to religious communication. The current study applies this concept to further the current understanding of communication as it applies to religion. A questionnaire was distributed electronically to 94 students at a large university in the southeastern United States. Using survey methods, this paper finds that religiosity is positively correlated to willingness to communicate about religion. This paper also finds that media exposure is not related to either willingness to communicate about religion or religiosity.
Perinatal chronic hypoxia induces cortical inflammation, hypomyelination, and peripheral myelin-specific T cell autoreactivity

pCH is an important risk factor for brain injury and long-term morbidity in children, occurring during the developmental stages of neurogenesis, neuronal migration, and myelination. We show that a rodent model of pCH results in an early decrease in mature myelin. Although pCH does increase progenitor oligodendrocytes in the developing brain, BrdU labeling revealed a loss in dividing progenitor oligodendrocytes, indicating a defect in mature cell replacement and myelinogenesis. Mice continued to exhibited hypomyelination, concomitant with long-term impairment of motor function, weeks after cessation of pCH. The implication of a novel neuroimmunologic interplay, pCH also induced a significant egress of infiltrating CD4 T cells into the developing brain. This pCH-mediated neuroinflammation included oligodendrocyte-directed autoimmunity, with an increase in peripheral myelin-specific CD4 T cells. Thus, both the loss of available, mature, myelinproducing glial cells and an active increase in autoreactive, myelin-specific CD4 T cell infiltration into pCH brains may contribute to early pCH-induced hypomyelination in the developing CNS. The elucidation of potential mechanisms of hypoxia-driven autoimmunity will expand our understanding of the neuroimmune axis during perinatal CNS disease states that may contribute to long-term functional disability. J. Leukoc. Biol. 99: 21–29; 2016.
Beware the Soothsayer: From Attack Prediction Accuracy to Predictive Reliability in Security Games

Interdicting the flow of illegal goods (such as drugs and ivory) is a major security concern for many countries. The massive scale of these networks, however, forces defenders to make judicious use of their limited resources. While existing solutions model this problem as a Network Security Game (NSG), they do not consider humans’ bounded rationality. Previous human behavior modeling works in Security Games, however, make use of large training datasets that are unrealistic in real-world situations; the ability to effectively test many models is constrained by the time-consuming and complex nature of field deployments. In addition, there is an implicit assumption in these works that a model’s prediction accuracy strongly correlates with the performance of its corresponding defender strategy (referred to as predictive reliability). If the assumption of predictive reliability does not hold, then this could lead to substantial losses for the defender. In the following paper, we (1) first demonstrate that predictive reliability is indeed strong for previous Stackelberg Security Game experiments. We also run our own set of human subject experiments in such a way that models are restricted to learning on dataset sizes representative of real-world constraints. In the analysis on that data, we demonstrate that (2) predictive reliability is extremely weak for NSGs. Following that discovery, however, we identify (3) key factors that influence predictive reliability results: the training set’s exposed attack surface and graph structure.
Linear and nonlinear traveling edge waves in optical honeycomb lattices

Traveling unidirectional localized edge states in optical honeycomb lattices are analytically constructed. They are found in honeycomb arrays of helical waveguides designed to induce a periodic pseudomagnetic field varying in the direction of propagation. Conditions on whether a given pseudofield supports a traveling edge mode are discussed; a special case of the pseudofields studied agrees with recent experiments. Interesting classes of dispersion relations are obtained. Envelopes of nonlinear edge modes are described by the classical one-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation along the edge. Nonlinear states termed edge solitons are predicted analytically and are found numerically.
Abstract 374: Development of tumor-targeted near infrared dyes for fluorescence guided surgery

Surgical resection of malignant disease is currently one of the most common and effective cancer treatments. Unfortunately, quantitative tumor resection is limited by a surgeon9s ability to distinguish diseased tissue from adjacent healthy tissue. Fluorescence guided surgery has emerged as a tool to aid surgeons in the identification and removal of malignant tissue. While non-targeted fluorescent dyes injected near the primary tumor mass have been shown to passively accumulate in tumors and lymph nodes, the resulting tumor to background ratios are often poor and boundaries between malignant and normal tissue difficult to define. To circumvent these problems, our lab has developed high affinity tumor-specific ligands that can bind to either the prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) or the folate receptor (FR); i.e. cell surface molecules that are over-expressed on a number of cancers. In this study, we link these tumor targeting ligands to near infrared (NIR) dyes and explore their use in fluorescence guided surgery. In vitro, all FR and PSMA targeted NIR dyes were found to have binding affinities in the low nanomolar range. Binding was quantitatively blocked with 100-fold excess of free ligand. Upon injection into mice with metastatic disease, the targeted NIR dyes allowed clear distinction of tumor tissue from adjacent healthy tissue. Surgical resection could be conducted until all fluorescent tissue was removed. All resected fluorescent lesions were later confirmed by histology to be malignant. Of the NIR dyes tested, the 800 nm dyes were found to have the greatest fluorescence intensity through porcine tissue, indicating their superior ability to reveal buried tumor nodules. Collectively, these tumor-specific NIR dyes demonstrate significant potential for use in fluorescent guided surgery by aiding in the complete resection of diseased tissue. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 374. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-374
Solvent Diffusion in Selected Polyimide Films

The absorption of several solvents including methylene chloride (MC), methyl chloroform (MCF), gamma-butyrolactone (BLO), dibromomethane (DBRO), 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE), and 1,2-dichloropropane (DCP) in Kapton H*, Upilex S**, and Upilex R** polyimide film was measured gravimetrically. A significant difference in the rate and amount of absorption of these chemicals by the various films was observed. Complimentary Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) measurements provided additional information regarding the amount of solvent absorbed and mode of transport.
Pelvic recurrence of stage 1a well-differentiated endometrial carcinoma after 13 years: A case report

A great majority of endometrial carcinoma recurrences are observed in high-risk patients and within the first 3 years of treatment. The relapse of endometrial carcinoma occurring more than 10 years after initial treatment has rarely been described. Initially diagnosed and treated for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage 1a, grade 1 adenocarcinoma, our patient presented 13 years later with an isolated pelvic recurrence, demonstrating, to our knowledge, the longest disease-free interval with recurrence in the pelvis reported in literature. After surgical resection, the patient is being considered for enrollment in a clinical trial. Despite favorable prognostic features, it is possible to observe the recurrence of endometrial carcinoma even 5 years after surveillance and remission. Successful salvage therapies are available but may depend upon early diagnosis.
Transport measurements of the normal state and superconducting properties of fulleride superconductors

The intrinsic, reproducible temperature dependent functional forms of the resistivity for high quality K and Rb intercalated single crystals of C60 are obtained. Important parameters of normal and superconducting states have been obtained through transport and magnetotransport measurements. Extremely sharp transition width ~0.2K and pure 3-D superconducting fluctuation conductivity observed in these crystals have further guaranteed that the measured normal and superconducting properties are intrinsic. These results have put stringent experimental constrains on various models of the superconductivity. The effects of intercalation induced imperfection, such as 0-D fluctuation effect and upper critical field enhancement, are discussed.
To Promote the Development of Higher Vocational Colleges by Evaluation and Construction

Nowadays,China's vocational education is in the period of two-way rapid development causing split both from outside and inside.This split brings tremendous challenges to vocational education together with unprecedented opportunities.The author puts forward some points of views and thoughts upon ongoing hot discussion about evaluation and construction,awards-winning campaign combined with vocational college's circumstances.These opinions are focused on cultivation prospective concerning vocational education,practical teaching method,field study(exporiment) and teaching mode innovation.Hopefully,the thesis will give some inspiration to vocational education's developments.
THE NEUROLOGICAL EXAMINATION

Our presentation in this chapter of a general outline by which one might ap­proach the neurologic examination is somewhat artificial in that the, examina­tion is discussed in isolation from the neurologic history. In practice, history and examination are dynamically related. One gets a sense from the clinical history of what might be wrong, and the hierarchy of these possibilities is then measured against the examination. After the examination, the “odds ratios” for various structural and functional abnormalities of the nervous system are adjusted, and further diagnostic testing is selected or postponed. We have cho­sen to focus this chapter on the examination as opposed to the clinical history and interview, because psychiatric clinicians are usually excellent at the latter and clumsy at the former. We have not forgotten, however, that the clinical history directs and focuses the examination, and salient historical issues are discussed in the separate chapters with the various disease syndromes.
Associations between Social Determinants of Health and Pregnancy among Young People: A Systematic Review of Research Published during the Past 25 Years

Objective.Major health disparities exist in pregnancy among young people. Although social determinant of health (SDH) approaches in interventions are promoted to reduce these disparities, little re...
Modeling of managed resources in a location aware smart building

We model the performance of the resources in a smart or intelligent building, such as a library or future museum, which relies on advanced localization, complex sensing and actuating, and possibly higher level cognitive modeling or artificial intelligence. Our focus is on establishing a quantitative link between the localization accuracy and the customer quality of service from their interaction with such an intelligent space. We describe a quantitative service model for the intelligent interaction between users and smart IT resources, which is directly affected by the localization accuracy. We provide stochastic simulation results which quantify this interplay between localization resolution and overall smart system performance (or user “quality of experience”).
Biology of Renal Cell Carcinoma (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Mammalian Target of Rapamycin, Immune Aspects)

The current approach of targeted therapies for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is centralized on two pathways largely responsible for the progression of RCC. This chapter will explore the biology of RCC, the effects of disrupting conserved pathways in advanced RCC, and a look into the current targeted therapies for these main regulatory pathways. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma pathophysiology is largely characterized by loss of the tumor suppressor von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) gene and the subsequent disruption of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway. It is the regulation and delicate balance of proper gene induction and protein expression that maintains a normal physiological state in the kidney; this chapter will explore the regulation of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathways as well as what perturbations stemming from VHL loss or mutation can result in advanced RCC. Finally, we will touch on the immunologic monitoring of RCC and the opportunities related to manipulating the immune system for treating patients with advanced RCC.
Interface cloning and sharing: Interaction designs for conserving labor and maintaining state across 24X7 sensor operations teams

Processing remote sensing data is the epitome of computation, yet real-time collection systems remain human-labor intensive. Operator labor is consumed by both overhead tasks (cost) and value-added production (benefit). In effect, labor is taxed and then lost. When an operator comes on-shift, they typically duplicate setup work that their teammates have already performed many times. “Pass down” of state information can be difficult if security restrictions require total logouts and blank screens - hours or even days of valuable history and context are lost. As work proceeds, duplicative effort is common because it is typically easier for operators to “do it over” rather than share what others have already done. As we begin a major new system version, we are refactoring the user interface to reduce time and motion losses. Working with users, we are developing “click budgets” to streamline interface use. One basic function is shared clipboards to reduce the use of sticky notes and verbal communication of data strings. We illustrate two additional designs to share work: window copying and window sharing. Copying (technically, shallow or deep object cloning) allows any system user to duplicate a window and configuration for themselves or another to use. Sharing allows a window to have multiple users: shareholders with read-write functionality and viewers with read-only. These solutions would allow windows to persist across multiple shifts, with a rotating cast of shareholders and viewers. Windows thus become durable objects of shared effort and persistent state. While these are low-tech functions, the cumulative labor savings in a 24X7 crew position (525,000 minutes/year spread over multiple individuals) would be significant. New design and implementation is never free and these investments typically do not appeal to government acquisition officers with short-term acquisition-cost concerns rather than a long-term O and M (operations and maintenance) perspective. We share some successes in educating some officers, in collaboration with system users, about the human capital involved in operating the systems they are acquiring.
Climate Change, Managed Relocation, andthe Risk of Intra-Continental Plant Invasions: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration Relative To the Flora of New England

abstract The high rate of anthropogenic climate change projected for coming decades and evidence of low migration ability for many species have led researchers to warn of a looming extinction crisis. This threat is expected to be most acute for small-ranged endemic species, which could see novel climatic conditions develop rapidly across the entirety of their limited geographic ranges. To avoid extinctions, some conservationists have proposed that climate-imperiled species might be candidates for “assisted colonization” or “managed relocation” to new regions, outside their historical ranges. One major concern related to managed relocation is the possibility that some relocated species could later become problematic invasives where they are introduced. In this review, we consider how these emerging conservation challenges might unfold for the flora of New England. A range of evidence suggests that most plant species native to New England might be resilient to immediate extinction risk from climate change, ...
Breast cancer risk and variants in DNA base excision-repair, BRCA1 interacting, and growth factor genes

4073 Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes coding for highly conserved cellular pathways may cause subtle functional deficiencies (or proficiencies) in those pathways that could increase (or decrease) susceptibility to breast cancer. In a nested case-control study of 839 prevalent breast cancer cases and 1040 controls (frequency matched to cases on year of birth in 5-year strata), we evaluated 19 SNPs in eight genes coding for base excision repair (BER), BRCA1 interacting proteins and growth regulatory pathways for associations with breast cancer risk. The cases and controls were identified from a cohort of 83,748 female US radiologic technologists who responded to a postal survey in either the mid-1980s or the mid-1990s; updated cancer risk factor and family cancer history information was collected from all cases and controls at the time of blood collection by telephone interview. For most SNPs, subjects were genotyped using Taqman 5’-nuclease assays. Assuming a dominant mode of inheritance, multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations (odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI)) between genotypes and breast cancer risk, controlling for race, age at menarche and age at first live birth. After adjustment for multiple comparisons (by controlling the false discovery rate), one variant was significantly associated with decreased breast cancer risk: BRCA2 N289H (HN and HH vs NN, OR=0.6; 95% CI 0.4-0.8). No statistically significant associations with breast cancer were observed for: XRCC1 R194W, R280H and R399Q; APEX Q51H and D148E; POLD1 R119H; BRCA2 N372H and T1915M; BRIP -64 G>A and P919S; ZNF350 L66P, S472P, R501S and 1845 C>T; TGFβ1 L10P, P25R and T263I; and IGFBP3 -202 A>C. These results seem to suggest that a SNP in the BRCA2 gene may act as a low penetrance breast cancer risk allele. When variants were grouped by pathway, breast cancer risk appeared to decrease as the number of variant SNPs carried by individuals increased. For BRCA1 interacting proteins and BER genes, the p-values for trend were 0.008 and 0.09, respectively. No such relation was found for the growth regulatory factors (p-trend = 0.94). These analyses suggest a genetic complexity that may be under estimated when SNPs in single genes are analyzed or when pathway coverage is incomplete.
Projected hydrological changes in the North Carolina piedmont using bias-corrected North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) data

Abstract Study region The Haw River basin in the North Carolina Piedmont. Study focus Simulation of hydrologic change by projected CO 2 and climate using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model. Biases of climate output from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) were corrected using the LOCal Intensity (LOCI) scaling method for precipitation and Fourier functions for temperature. New hydrological insights for the region Evapotranspiration (ET) and water yield (WY) with projected CO 2 , precipitation, and temperature during 2044–2070 were affected by each climate factor separately and synergistically. Increasing CO 2 to 600 ppm only scenario resulted in an ET decrease (5–17%) which led to WY increase (17–36%). With projected temperature increases (1–5 °C) only scenarios, ET was projected to increase noticeably (12–112%) especially in winter and spring. The amount of projected ET increase was reduced by a CO 2 increase to 600 ppm due to decreased stomatal conductance. Projected WY varied due to the high variability of future precipitation patterns (−54% to 33%) but generally increased when solely precipitation projections were applied. However, WY with combined effects of CO 2 , precipitation, and temperature did not show significant changes compared with the historical WY. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate interactions of precipitation, temperature, and CO 2 to simulate future water availability in the North Carolina Piedmont.
Effects of multiple simulated birth traumas on urethral continence function in rats.

Multiple vaginal parities have been reported to be an important risk factor for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Simulated birth trauma with single vaginal distention (VD) has been used to induce...
Some Remarks on the Mossin Theorem

We establish several new results regarding the Mossin Theorem under both non-random initial wealth and random initial wealth. For the non-random initial wealth case, we show that the Mossin Theorem holds for any constrained class of insurance contracts whose maximum coverage provides full coverage of the potential loss. This result not only settles an open conjecture, but also provides a unified treatment for extant varieties of the Mossin Theorem. For the random initial wealth case, we give a thorough study of the upper-limit insurance. In particular, we show that (i) for a fair premium, the Generalized Mossin Theorem for coinsurance, does not hold for upper-limit insurance, and (ii) for an unfair premium, partial insurance will always be optimal, regardless of the risk preference of the individual and the dependence structure between the random loss and the random initial wealth.
Stereotactic EEG-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective To determine the outcomes of combined stereo-electroencephalography-guided and MRI-guided stereotactic laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) in the treatment of patients with drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). Methods We prospectively assessed the surgical and neuropsychological outcomes in 21 patients with medically refractory mTLE who underwent LITT at the University of Chicago Medical Center. We further compared the surgical outcomes in patients with and without mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS). Results Of the 21 patients, 19 (90%) underwent Invasive EEG study and 11 (52%) achieved freedom from disabling seizures with a mean duration of postoperative follow-up of 24±11 months after LITT. Eight (73%) of 11 patients with MTS achieved freedom from disabling seizures, whereas 3 (30 %) of 10 patients without MTS achieved freedom from disabling seizures. Patients with MTS were significantly more likely to become seizure-free, as compared with those without MTS (P=0.002). There was no significant difference in total ablation volume and the percentage of the ablated amygdalohippocampal complex between seizure-free and non-seizure-free patients. Presurgical and postsurgical neuropsychological assessments were obtained in 10 of 21 patients. While there was no group decline in any neuropsychological assessment, a significant postoperative decline in verbal memory and confrontational naming was observed in individual patients. Conclusions MRI-guided LITT is a safe and effective alternative to selective amygdalohippocampectomy and anterior temporal lobectomy for mTLE with MTS. Nevertheless, its efficacy in those without MTS seems modest. Large multicentre and prospective studies are warranted to further determine the efficacy and safety of LITT.
What is “Logical” in Husserl’s Logical Investigations? The Copenhagen Interpretation

In Wim Wenders’s 1987 film Himmel Uber Berlin (Wings of Desire in the English subtitle version), an angel moves silently among mortals, listening to their thoughts as they read in the Berlin public library. In this spirit, assume that Husserl is listening to our readings today of his Logical Investigations (1900–01).1
Evidence for Metrical Prominence Asymmetries in Medʉmba

Headedness has played a crucial role in the characterization of metrical structure since the earliest proposals for its existence, with definitions of headedness typically relying on the notion of relative syllable prominence: heads are said to bear relatively greater prominence than nonheads. But what counts as prominent for the sake of headedness varies widely across languages, particularly where evidence for stress is weak or absent. The present work seeks to look beyond acoustic evidence for headedness by conceptualizing metrical prominence in terms of its coordinative role in speech timing. Here, we examine timing of metrically-prominent syllables in Med ʉ mba, a Grassfields Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. Med ʉ mba has no phonetic evidence of stress, but displays evidence of metrical prominence asymmetries at the word level. We use the speech cycling paradigm (Cummins & Port 1998) to compare results regarding the timing of metrically prominent syllables in Med ʉ mba with those from previous work on stressed syllables in English and accented syllables in Japanese and Korean, showing that a unified notion of metrical prominence can be applied across languages.
Lectin- and Saccharide-Functionalized Nano-Chemiresistor Arrays for Detection and Identification of Pathogenic Bacteria Infection

Improvement upon, and expansion of, diagnostic tools for clinical infections have been increasing in recent years. The simplicity and rapidity of techniques are imperative for their adoption and widespread usage at point-of-care. The fabrication and evaluation of such a device is reported in this work. The use of a small bioreceptor array (based on lectin-carbohydrate binding) resulted in a unique response profile, which has the potential to be used for pathogen identification, as demonstrated by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The performance of the chemiresistive device was tested with Escherichia coli K12, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus mutans, and Salmonella typhi. The limits of detection, based on concanavalin A (conA) lectin as the bioreceptor, are 4.7 × 103 cfu/mL, 25 cfu/mL, 7.4 × 104 cfu/mL, and 6.3 × 102 cfu/mL. This shows that the detection of pathogenic bacteria is achieved with clinically relevant concentrations. Importantly, responses measured in spiked artificial saliva showed minimal matrix interference. Furthermore, the exploitation of the distinctive outer composition of the bacteria and selectivity of lectin-carbohydrate interactions allowed for the discrimination of bacterial infections from viral infections, which is a current and urgent need for diagnosing common clinical infections.
Ca2+regulation of the cardiac thin filament

The physiological role of calcium in a cardiac myocyte is demonstrated in the coupling of excitation and contraction. Small extracellular calcium signals are amplified in the cardiac myocyte through calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This amplified calcium signal is sensed by the thin filament heterotrimeric troponin complex. This is then transduced through a concerted series of inter- and intra-molecular conformational changes to ultimately allow the force generation required for the maintenance of normal cardiac pump function. This chapter seeks to delve into the biochemistry and biophysics that dictate the cellular physiology of the myofilaments.
The holothurinogenins—II : Methoxylated neo-holothurinogenins

Abstract Holothurin A, on hydrolysis in methanol-HCl (O·2N; 50°) yielded the methoxylated neo-holothurinogenins: 12β-methoxy-7,8-dihydro-22,25-oxidoholothurinogenin (III), its desoxy analog (IV), 12β-methoxy-7,8-dihydro-24,25-dehydro (V), 12β-dimethoxy-7,8-dihydro (VI), and 12p-methoxy-22-hydroxy-7,8-dihydroholothurinogenin (VII). Their structures and relationships to the neo-holothurmogenins, the aglycone moieties as they exist in holothurin A, and the holothurinogenins, obtained on strong acid hydrolysis of holothurin A, are discussed. The NMR spectra of the methoxylated neo-holothurinogenins in benzene, chloroform and pyridine are reported.
Transcriptional Control of the Expression of a Degradative Plasmid in Pseudomonas

Considerable attention has recently been directed toward studying the genetic basis of nutritional versatility in Pseudomonas. Unlike the enterobacteria, which grow on a limited number of complex organic compounds, the genus Pseudomonas is known for its ability to derive its carbon and energy from the dissimilation of a large number of organic compounds of varying complexities (1). The genetic and physiological regulation, the enzymology, and the biochemistry of a large number of catabolic pathways have therefore been extensively studied in this genus (2). The ability of the pseudomonads to degrade a number of complex organic compounds has been recently shown to be due to their possession of extrachromosomal elements that specify the entire enzyme complements of a particular degradative pathway. Thus the genes specifying enzymes responsible for the degradation of salicylate in a strain of Pseudomonas putida R1 are not part of the bacterial chromosome but are borne on extrachromosomal elements which are transmissible among a number of Pseudomonas species (3). Similarly, the camphor degradative pathway, comprised of a set of 15-20 inducible enzymes, is specified by genes that are also part of a transmissible plasmid (4). Another set of genes that code for enzymes responsible for the metabolism of octane is carried on yet another transmissible plasmid (5). We have proposed to term these naturally occurring plasmids “degradative plasmids” because of the selective nutritional advantage they offer to the host cells harboring them (6).
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE IN A SUPERPOSITION. AND WHY

This paper attempts an interpretation of Everett's relative state formulation of quantum mechanics that avoids the commitment to new metaphysical entities like ‘worlds’ or ‘minds’. Starting from Everett's quantum mechanical model of an observer, it is argued that an observer's belief to be in an eigenstate of the measurement (corresponding to the observation of a well-defined measurement outcome) is consistent with the fact that she objectively is in a superposition of such states. “Subjective states” corresponding to such beliefs are constructed. From an analysis of these subjective states and their dynamics it is argued that Everett's pure wave mechanics is subjectively consistent with von Neumann's classical formulation of quantum mechanics. It follows from the argument that the objective state of a system is in principle unobservable. Nevertheless, an adequate concept of empirical reality can be constructed.
Is splenectomy after trauma an endangered species

Nonoperative management of splenic trauma is now the most common treatment modality for splenic injuries and splenectomy has almost disappeared in some trauma centers. Splenectomy for cancer staging is infrequently performed suggesting that the indications for splenectomy continue to evolve. We evaluated a state database to assess a communitywide experience with splenic surgery. International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes were used to determine the indication for splenic surgery. Indications for splenic surgery were listed as trauma (injury codes), medical (hematological diseases, neoplasms, or procedures in which the spleen might be removed contiguously like distal pancreatectomy), or incidental (noncontiguous procedures). Splenectomies for medical indications (n = 607, 43%) were more common than splenectomies for trauma (n = 518, 37%) or incidental splenectomies (n = 276, 20%). Splenectomy for medical reasons was associated with hematologic disease in 56 per cent, neoplastic disease in 34 per cent, and other diagnoses in 10 per cent of cases. Incidental splenectomies were most commonly associated with operations on the esophagus/stomach (32%) and colon (30%). Mortality rate and length of stay were greatest for incidental (14.4 +/- 0.9 days, 10.9% mortality) compared with trauma (11.0 +/- 0.5 days, 7.7% mortality) or medical (9.7 +/- 0.4 days, 4.8% mortality) splenectomies (all P < 0.05 versus incidental). Our results suggest that in the era of nonoperative management of splenic injuries, medical indications now represent the most common reason for splenectomy. As laparoscopic techniques for elective splenectomy become more common, the changing indication for splenectomy has important ramifications for surgical education and training.
Beta Decay of F 17 and C 11

The beta decay of ${\mathrm{F}}^{17}$ and ${\mathrm{C}}^{11}$ has been investigated with a magnetic lens spectrometer. The positron spectrum of ${\mathrm{F}}^{17}$ consists of one component of maximum energy 1.748\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.006 Mev. The ground-state transition, comparative half-life $ft=2420$ sec, has the allowed shape down to 570 kev. Beta-ray branching to the first excited state of ${\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ at 874 kev, if present, has a relative intensity of less than one percent, corresponding to a comparative half-life $\mathrm{ft}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ sec. The positron spectrum of ${\mathrm{C}}^{11}$ consists of one component of maximum energy 968\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}8 kev. The ground-state transition, comparative half-life $ft=4170$ seconds, has the allowed shape down to 255 kev.
Energetics of Cu adsorption and intercalation at graphite step edges

To assess the energetics of Cu intercalation on defective graphite, the chemical potentials and binding energies for Cu at graphite step edges are calculated for three main configurations: an isolated atom, a chain, and an atom attached to a chain. As expected, for Cu interacting directly with a graphite step edge, the strength of interaction depends on the stability of the step, with Cu binding more strongly at a less-stable step. However, the relationship is reversed when considering binding of a Cu atom attached to a chain. Taken together, these trends mean that if the graphite step is less stable, as for the zigzag step, then decorating the step with a Cu chain facilitates intercalation by additional Cu atoms (which are less strongly bound to the decorated step). For more stable steps, intercalation is optimal without decoration. We also calculate the diffusion barrier for atomic Cu on top of the graphite terrace and, in the uppermost gallery, find values of 0.008 and 0.021 eV, respectively. These values are very small, indicating that the minimum barrier for a Cu atom to detach from a step and move to a terrace or gallery is dominated by the difference in binding energies. For intercalation, this minimum barrier is 1.4 to 3.1 eV and depends strongly on step configuration.
Sinophile Consumption: Chinese Restaurants and Consumer Culture in Turn-of-the-Century American Cities

The “chop suey craze,” the moment at the turn of the twentieth century when Chinese restaurants enjoyed unprecedented mainstream popularity in the United States, has received much attention in the ...
Beauty in Black and White? Race, Beauty, and the 1926 Fox Film Photogenic Beauty Contest in Brazil

In 1926, the Fox Film Corporation held a “Masculine and Feminine Photogenic Beauty Contest” to find Hollywood’s newest “Latin” star in Brazil and other countries. North American film representatives asked for contestants who were “white with Latin blood.” The exotic allure of this racialized category contradicted Brazilian elites’ preference for eugenic, chaste, white beauty. Brazilian film critics, advertisers, and beauty contestants negotiated transnational standards of beauty as they sought faces, bodies, and sexual appeal that would conquer Hollywood. Ultimately, Brazilian films intellectuals forged their own meanings of “white with Latin blood” even as they upheld the supremacy of white beauty. However, the contest demonstrates how the transnational contours of cinema offered a liminal space for competing standards of racialized beauty in Brazil. Resumen Em 1926, para descobrir um novo astro “Latin,” a Fox Film Corporation lancou no Brasil e em outros paises “O Concurso da Belleza Photogenica Feminina e Varonil.” Os representantes norte-americanos pediram que os concorrentes fossem “brancos com sangue latino.” O encanto exotico dessa categoria racializada ia contra a preferencia das elites brasileiras pela beleza eugenica, pura e branca. Cinefilos, anunciantes e concorrentes negociaram padroes transnacionais de beleza enquanto buscavam rostos e corpos atraentes que conquistariam o Hollywood. No final, cinefilos brasileiros construiram seus proprios sentidos de “branco com sangue latino,” ainda que reforcando a supremacia da beleza branca. No entanto, o concurso revela como o aspecto transnacional do cinema oferecia um espaco temporario dos padroes contraditorios da beleza racializada no Brasil.
Improving access to courts and access to justice in cross-border litigation: Lessons from EU experiences

textabstractSeeking to guarantee both citizens and companies the possibility to defend and enforce their rights in a Europe of open borders, a number of EU legal instruments have been adopted to support access to justice in cross-border litigation. Several years into their application, key questions remain to be answered. Do these instruments actually facilitate parties’ access to courts and justice? What are the problems encountered in practice and which are the envisaged solutions? What are the reasons why European procedural instruments are rarely used? Through quantitative and qualitative data, the paper explores the legal practitioners’ experience with European instruments, and their perception of the usefulness and usability of these instruments dedicated to cross-border litigation. Furthermore, the analysis seeks to determine whether these instruments succeed in facilitating parties’ access to courts in a transnational setting, and looks into the use of information and communication technology as an additional means contributing to achieving justice
Investigation and Reduction of Near Electric Field Emitted from a Power Helical Inductor

With wide bandgap devices adopted in the power electronics industry, the switching frequencies and power density become higher and higher. However, with the increased power density, components are very close to each other, increasing the concerns of near field coupling. In this paper, the near electric field is first identified as an important noise source in power converters. The major electric field contributor of a Buck converter is identified as the inductor. The electric field from the inductor is modeled with three antennae. The parameters of the winding structure influencing the electric field are identified as winding terminal dimensions and winding height. Techniques are proposed to reduce the electric field based on the analysis. Concentric winding structure with reduced winding height and optimized terminal dimensions are two effective solutions to reduce the electric field from an inductor. Shielding is very effective but with increased cost and size. Both simulations and experiments were conducted to validate the developed theory and techniques.
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Role of Cardiac Sonographers.

Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography - Sous presse. Epreuves corrigees par l'auteur. Disponible en ligne depuis le jeudi 17 decembre 2020
Mosquito borne illness in a Floridian hiker.

Chikungunya is an arboviral infection that manifests as an acute viral illness associated with an inflammatory arthritis. It was first described during an outbreak in Tanzania in 1952 and, until 2013, outbreaks had been limited in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In late 2013, the first local transmission of Chikungunya was identified in Caribbean countries with subsequent spread throughout Central and South America. In 2019, the CDC reported 171 travel-associated cases of Chikungunya in the United States. As of October 2020, the CDC records 17 travel-associated cases of Chikungunya in six states including California, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. This is the first reported case of Chikungunya acquired in Florida with no international travel history.
Multi-parametric approach to predict prosthetic valve size using CMR and clinical data: insights from SAVR.

The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the CMR and clinical parameters that correlate to prosthetic valve size (PVS) determined at SAVR and develop a multi-parametric model to predict PVS. Sixty-two subjects were included. Linear/area measurements of the aortic annulus were performed on cine CMR images in systole/diastole on long/short axis (SAX) views. Clinical parameters (age, habitus, valve lesion, valve morphology) were recorded. PVS determined intraoperatively was the reference value. Data were analyzed using Spearman correlation. A prediction model combining imaging and clinical parameters was generated. Imaging parameters had moderate to moderately strong correlation to PVS with the highest correlations from systolic SAX mean diameter (r = 0.73, p < 0.0001) and diastolic SAX area (r = 0.73, p < 0.0001). Age was negatively correlated to PVS (r = − 0.47, p = 0.0001). Weight was weakly correlated to PVS (r = 0.27, p = 0.032). AI and bicuspid valve were not predictors of PVS. A model combining clinical and imaging parameters had high accuracy in predicting PVS (R2 = 0.61). Model predicted mean PVS was 23.3 mm (SD 1.1); actual mean PVS was 23.3 mm (SD 1.3). The Spearman r of the model (0.80, 95% CI 0.683–0.874) was significantly higher than systolic SAX area (0.68, 95% CI 0.516–0.795). Clinical parameters like age and habitus impact PVS; valve lesion/morphology do not. A multi-parametric model demonstrated high accuracy in predicting PVS and was superior to a single imaging parameter. A multi-parametric approach to device sizing may have future application in TAVR.
COVID-Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis in the United States: Is It Rare or Have We Missed the Diagnosis?

While the incidence of COVID-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU in Europe is widely published (incidence up to 30%) (1), data on CAPA from the United States is lacking or has not been well described (2, 3).….
Flow Chemistry-Enabled Divergent and Enantioselective Total Syntheses of Massarinolin A, Purpurolides B, D, E, 2,3-Deoxypurpurolide C, and Structural Revision of Massarinolin A

Massarinolin A and purpurolides are bioactive bergamotane sesquiterpenes condensed with a variety of synthetically challenging ring systems: a bicyclo[3.1.1]heptane, an oxaspiro[3.4]octane, and a dioxaspiro[4.4]nonane (oxaspirolactone). Herein, we report the first enantioselective total syntheses of massarinolin A, purpurolides B, D, E, and 2,3-deoxypurpurolide C. Our synthesis and computational analysis also led to a structural revision of massarinolin A. The divergent approach features an enantioselective organocatalyzed Diels-Alder reaction to install the first stereogenic center in high ee, a scalable flow photochemical Wolff rearrangement to build the key bicyclo[3.1.1]heptane, a furan oxidative cyclization to form the oxaspirolactone, a late-stage allylic C-H oxidation, and a Myers' NBSH-promoted sigmatropic elimination to install the exo methylene group of massarinolin A.
A study of tones and tempo in continuous Mandarin digit strings and their application in telephone quality speech recognition.

Prosodic cues (namely, fundamental frequency, energy and duration) provide important information for speech. For a tonal language such as Chinese, fundamental frequency (F0) plays a critical role in characterizing tone as well, which is an essential phonemic feature. In this paper, we describe our work on duration and tone modeling for telephone-quality continuous Mandarin digits, and the application of these models to improve recognition. The duration modeling includes a speaking-rate normalization scheme. A novel F0 extraction algorithm is developed, and parameters based on orthonormal decomposition of theF0 contour are extracted for tone recognition. Context dependency is expressed by “tri-tone” models clustered into broader classes. A 20.0% error rate is achieved for four-tone classification. Over a baseline recognition performance of 5.1% word error rate, we achieve 31.4% error reduction with duration models, 23.5% error reduction with tone models, and 39.2% error reduction with duration and tone models combined.