cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Problem of the Preterm Lung: Definitions, History, and Epidemiology

Survival of the preterm infant has improved dramatically over the past several decades. Access to neonatal intensive care units (NICU), improved nutrition, exogenous surfactant, advances in respiratory support, and minimally invasive surgical techniques have all contributed to an improvement in survival (Stoll et al. JAMA 314(10):1039–1051, 2015 [1]). Nevertheless, morbidity and mortality remains high, particularly in the extremely low birth weight infant. Worldwide, preterm birth was the leading cause of childhood mortality in 2013, accounting for 965,000 deaths out of the 6.3million deaths among children who died prior to 5 years of age (Liu et al. Lancet 385(9966):430–440, 2015) [2]. In 2014, 9.6 % of live births in the United States were considered preterm (i.e., born at <37 weeks gestation) (Martin et al. NCHS Data Brief 216:1–8, 2015; Hamilton et al. Natl Vital Stat Syst 64(12):1–64, 2015) [3, 4]. Many of these preterm infants developed pulmonary sequelae, ranging from mild respiratory symptoms that resolve over time to chronic respiratory failure requiring tracheostomy placement and mechanical ventilation. Although the lung parenchymal and small airways disease of bronchopulmonary dysplasia is one of the more common complications of prematurity, pulmonary sequelae in preterm infants can encompass virtually every part of the respiratory system. Since all aspects of the respiratory system can be affected, preterm infants may present with a variety of respiratory phenotypes, which in turn can lead to significant variation in care and outcomes (Guaman et al. Am J Perinatol32(10):960–967, 2015; Lapcharoensap et al. JAMA Pediatr 169(2):e143676, 2015) [5, 6]. In this chapter, we describe common pulmonary complications of prematurity and their epidemiology, including prevalence and risk factors, where known.
Hysteresis of KcsA potassium channel's activation-deactivation gating is caused by structural changes at the channel's selectivity filter

Mode-shift or hysteresis has been reported in ion channels. Voltage-shift for gating currents is well documented for voltage-gated cation channels (VGCC), and it is considered a voltage-sensing domain's (VSD) intrinsic property. However, uncoupling the Shaker K+ channel's pore domain (PD) from the VSD prevented the mode-shift of the gating currents. Consequently, it was proposed that an open-state stabilization of the PD imposes a mechanical load on the VSD, which causes its mode-shift. Furthermore, the mode-shift displayed by hyperpolarization-gated cation channels is likely caused by structural changes at the channel's PD similar to those underlying C-type inactivation. To demonstrate that the PD of VGCC undergoes hysteresis, it is imperative to study its gating process in the absence of the VSD. A back-door strategy is to use KcsA (a K+ channel from the bacteria Streptomyces lividans) as a surrogate because it lacks a VSD and exhibits an activation coupled to C-type inactivation. By directly measuring KcsA's activation gate opening and closing in conditions that promote or halt C-type inactivation, we have found (i) that KcsA undergoes mode-shift of gating when having K+ as the permeant ion; (ii) that Cs+ or Rb+, known to halt C-inactivation, prevented mode-shift of gating; and (iii) that, in the total absence of C-type inactivation, KcsA's mode-shift was prevented. Finally, our results demonstrate that an allosteric communication causes KcsA's activation gate to "remember" the conformation of the selectivity filter, and hence KcsA requires a different amount of energy for opening than for closing.
Photodynamic therapy effective for the treatment of actinic keratosis and basal cell carcinoma in bullous pemphigoid patients

Treating skin cancers and extensive actinic keratosis in patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP) can be challenging. Treatment options pose unique risks in these patients as surgical wounds can have delayed wound healing and photodynamic therapy (PDT) may exacerbate their blistering disease. We report the successful use of PDT to treat actinic keratosis and skin cancers in two patients with BP, both of whom had excellent response to PDT and tolerated treatment without any bullous disease flares. Carefully selected patients with skin cancers and stable, well controlled BP can be safely considered for treatment using PDT.
"For Justice, Just Us, or Just Unions? A New Look at the Evidence on Worker Consciousness"

The question of why workers support unions is one of the most fundamental in industrial relations and associated disciplines. Although centuries of theorizing and decades of empirical research have produced answers to this question, we believe that a more coherent understanding is possible and needed. We begin by considering the issue of worker consciousness as theorized by founders of the field, and specifically how workers view unions and how these views relate to current trends in public opinion toward unions. We review models of "unionism" – models that seek to explain union voting, joining, commitment, participation, and approval/disapproval – using Ajzen’s (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework to examine antecedents of these unionism indicators. Ajzen’s framework helps us to idenfity common elements in these union attitudes and behavior literatures, with particular emphasis on the role of motivation stemming from self-interest compared to more pro-social motivations such as altruism. We c...
Fine Mapping of qFIS1-2 , a Major QTL for Kernel Fissure Resistance in Rice

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) kernel fissuring causes breakage during milling and thereby decreases the value of rice. This study employed molecular gene-tagging methods to fine map a fissure resistance (FR) locus in ‘Cybonnet’, a semidwarf tropical japonica cultivar, as well as to transfer this trait to rice genotypes of non-semidwarf stature that are better adapted to some rice production systems. Three quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for FR were previously reported, with the FR locus linked with the semidwarf sd-1 locus on chromosome 1 having the strongest effect. For fine mapping, F₂ progeny were produced from a cross between US breeding line RU1201108, having non-semidwarf height (Sd-1/Sd-1) and poor milling quality, and Cybonnet (sd-1/sd-1), having semidwarf height and containing multiple FR loci. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to select F₂ plants that both retained at least one copy of the Sd-1 allele and showed evidence of genetic recombination in the region of chromosome 1 known to contain Sd-1 and qFIS1-2, a QTL for FR. Progeny from three F₂ individuals with desirable recombination at the qFIS1-2 were phenotyped for kernel FR. Marker-trait linkages observed in the three populations indicated that the qFIS1-2 locus resides on chromosome 1 distal to RM1068 at 38.44 Mb, but anterior to RM3482 at 39.72 Mb, placing it ∼6 to 10 cM distal to sd-1 on chromosome 1. The recombination documented in this study verifies that the previously identified qFIS1-2 is not pleiotropic with nor reliant on sd-1 and can be recombined with Sd-1 to increase the FR of non-semidwarf rice cultivars.
Conventional SAR imaging

In this chapter, we explain the fundamental principles of SAR data collection and image formation, i.e., inversion of the received data. Synthetic aperture radar uses microwaves for imaging the surface of the Earth from airplanes or satellites. Unlike photography which generates the picture by essentially recoding the intensity of the light reflected off the different parts of the target, SAR imaging exploits the phase information of the interrogating signals and as such can be categorized as a coherent imaging technology.
Is My Software Consistent with the Real World

The actions taken by software should be consistent with relevant constraints arising in the real world. For example, computations should not mix values that are understood as being expressed in incompatible physical units. To enable checking of such consistency our previous work introduced: (a) a new structure, the interpreted formalism, that is a software analog of the notion of an informal interpretation from classical logic, and (b) a practical implementation of the concept in the form of real-world type systems. We reported preliminary results of the value of interpreted formalisms in improving software dependability. In this paper, we present details of a new case study, the results of which indicate that: (a) interpreted formalisms can be applied to large systems, and (b) the fault-detection potential is substantial.
Relationship between CD4 Regulatory T Cells and Anergy In Vivo.

Selective suppression of effector CD4 + T cell functions is necessary to prevent immune cell–mediated damage to healthy tissues. This appears especially true during pregnancy or in individuals predisposed to autoimmunity. Foxp3 + regulatory T (T reg ) cells and induction of anergy, an acquired state of T cell functional unresponsiveness in Foxp3 − cells, have both been implicated as mechanisms to suppress dangerous immune responses to tissue-restricted self-Ags. Anergic CD4 + T cells and T reg cells share a number of phenotypic and mechanistic traits—including the expression of CD73 and folate receptor 4, and the epigenetic modification of T reg cell signature genes—and an interesting relationship between these two subsets has recently emerged. In this review, we will compare and contrast these two subsets, as well as explore the role of anergy in the generation of peripheral T reg cells.
Assessing Spatial Relationships between Race, Inequality, Crime, and Gonorrhea and Chlamydia in the United States.

Incidence rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea reached unprecedented levels in 2015 and are concentrated in southern counties of the USA. Using incidence data from the Center for Disease Control, Moran’s I analyses assessed the data for statistically significant clusters of chlamydia and gonorrhea at the county level in 46 states of the USA. Lagrange multiplier diagnostics justified selection of the spatial Durbin regression model for chlamydia and the spatial error model for gonorrhea. Rates of chlamydia (Moran’s I = .37, p < .001) and gonorrhea (Moran’s I = .38, p < .001) were highly clustered particularly in the southern region of the USA. Logged percent in poverty (B = .49, p < .001 and B = .48, p < .001) and racial composition of African-Americans (B = .16, p < .001 and B = .40, p < .001); Native Americans (B = .12, p < .001 and B = .20, p < .001); and Asians (B = .14, p < .001 and B = .09, p < .001) were significantly associated with greater rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea, respectively, after accounting for spatial dependence in the data. Logged rates of rates violent crimes were associated with chlamydia (B = .053, p < .001) and gonorrhea (B = .10, p < .001). Logged rates of drug crimes (.052, p < .001) were only associated with chlamydia. Metropolitan census designation was associated with logged rates of chlamydia (B = .12, p < .001) and gonorrhea (B = .24, p < .001). Spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea provide important insights for strategic public health interventions in the USA and inform the allocation of limited resources for the prevention of chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Blockade of surface-bound TGF-β on regulatory T cells abrogates suppression of effector T cell function in the tumor microenvironment

Regulatory T cells (T regs ) suppress antitumor immunity by inhibiting the killing of tumor cells by antigen-specific CD8 + T cells. To better understand the mechanisms involved, we used ex vivo three-dimensional collagen-fibrin gel cultures of dissociated B16 melanoma tumors. This system recapitulated the in vivo suppression of antimelanoma immunity, rendering the dissociated tumor cells resistant to killing by cocultured activated, antigen-specific T cells. Immunosuppression was not observed when tumors excised from T reg -depleted mice were cultured in this system. Experiments with neutralizing antibodies showed that blocking transforming growth factor–β (TGF-β) also prevented immunosuppression. Immunosuppression depended on cell-cell contact or cellular proximity because soluble factors from the collagen-fibrin gel cultures did not inhibit tumor cell killing by T cells. Moreover, intravital, two-photon microscopy showed that tumor-specific Pmel-1 effector T cells physically interacted with tumor-resident T regs in mice. T regs isolated from B16 tumors alone were sufficient to suppress CD8 + T cell–mediated killing, which depended on surface-bound TGF-β on the T regs . Immunosuppression of CD8 + T cells correlated with a decrease in the abundance of the cytolytic protein granzyme B and an increase in the cell surface amount of the immune checkpoint receptor programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). These findings suggest that contact between T regs and antitumor T cells in the tumor microenvironment inhibits antimelanoma immunity in a TGF-β–dependent manner and highlight potential ways to inhibit intratumoral T regs therapeutically.
Knowledge and beliefs regarding cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination among urban and rural women in León, Nicaragua

BACKGROUND In Nicaragua, cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death for women ages 15-44, yet access to the HPV vaccine is limited to those with financial resources to pay for it. Cervical cytology is provided free of charge in public clinics; however, only 10% of women receive Pap smears at the nationally recommended frequency. Previous studies have not investigated how beliefs regarding cervical cancer screening may differ for urban and rural populations in Nicaragua. Furthermore, no investigation has assessed Nicaraguan women's beliefs about a potential HPV immunization campaign. Given beliefs' influence on health behavior, we investigated the structural, sociocultural, and knowledge-based factors influencing women's beliefs regarding cervical cancer screening among urban and rural women in Leon, Nicaragua, and assessed acceptance of a potential HPV immunization program. METHODS Our sequential explanatory mixed-methods study consisted of two phases: (1) a close-ended questionnaire, followed by (2) a qualitative, in-depth interview. Our quantitative sample contained 117 urban and 112 rural participants aged 18-49. We assessed beliefs regarding cervical cancer screening using a 22-item scale, with higher scores indicating screening-promoting beliefs in simple linear and multiple linear regressions. Twenty qualitative interviews, exploring the sociocultural dimensions of knowledge and attitudes indicated by our quantitative findings, were conducted with a sample of 13 urban and 7 rural women aged 19-46. RESULTS The multiple linear regression indicates that greater knowledge of Pap smears, HPV, and cervical cancer is significantly associated with screening-promoting beliefs after adjusting for other relevant factors. There was no significant difference in screening knowledge and beliefs for urban and rural women. Four recurrent themes representing determinants of knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding cervical cancer screening arose from interviews and built on quantitative findings: (1) women's embarrassment due to the intimate nature of the Pap smear and male gender of exam provider discourages screening; (2) women believe Pap smears and cervical cancer are associated with sexual promiscuity, and this association stigmatizes women with the disease; (3) knowledge of cervical cancer prevention is limited to those who regularly attend health centers; and (4) women find screening inconvenient, believing understaffed clinics increase patient wait time, limit time patients spend with clinicians, and delay Pap results. A fifth theme indicates (5) participants' acceptance of a potential HPV immunization program. DISCUSSION Future interventions should focus on increasing access to information about cervical cancer prevention for women who do not regularly attend health centers. Furthermore, our results suggest that if funding were allocated to make the HPV vaccine accessible in Nicaragua, it would be well received.
Free-Radical Mediated Actions on Endothelial Cells of the Intact Lung

In addition to their crucial role in maintaining fluid balance, endothelial cells of the lung microvasculature manifest an array of metabolic and biosynthetic functions that can form the basis for regulating local blood flow, systemic vascular tone and inflammatory and immunological responses to injury. (Furchgott, 1984; Gillis, 1986; Pober,1990). Among these processes (see Figure 1) are: a) the selective removal and/or degradation of biogenic amines (e.g. serotonin [5-HT]), nucleotides and kinins and b) the biosynthesis of molecules that dilate or constrict vascular smooth muscle and regulate blood cell interactions with the luminal endothelial membrane. It is clear that the delicate pulmonary endothelial vascular lining is severely compromised by a variety of drugs and by hyperoxia, endotoxemia and radiation (Gillis, 1986; Brigham, 1987; Fanburg and Deneke, 1989); in man, such injury can lead to the Adult Respiratory Disease Syndrome (ARDS). Each of these experimental injury models as well as ARDS involves the generation of free radicals of oxygen (Fanburg and Deneke, 1989). The purpose of this chapter is to describe effects of free radicals or radical-generating treatments on the above mentioned lung endothelial functions and to explore functional consequences of the former.
Solving MaxSAT with Bit-Vector Optimization

We explore the relationships between two closely related optimization problems: MaxSAT and Optimization Modulo Bit-Vectors (OBV). Given a bit-vector or a propositional formula F and a target bit-vector T, Unweighted Partial MaxSAT maximizes the number of satisfied bits in T, while OBV maximizes the value of T. We propose a new OBV-based Unweighted Partial MaxSAT algorithm. Our resulting solver–Mrs. Beaver–outscores the state-of-the-art solvers when run with the settings of the Incomplete-60-Second-Timeout Track of MaxSAT Evaluation 2017. Mrs. Beaver is the first MaxSAT algorithm designed to be incremental in the following sense: it can be re-used across multiple invocations with different hard assumptions and target bit-vectors. We provide experimental evidence showing that enabling incrementality in MaxSAT significantly improves the performance of a MaxSAT-based Boolean Multilevel Optimization (BMO) algorithm when solving a new, critical industrial BMO application: cleaning-up weak design rule violations during the Physical Design stage of Computer-Aided-Design.
What motivates people use social tagging

Motivation for tagging is one of the topics in the research of social tagging systems. Most studies on motivations have focused on tag creators without consideration of tag consumers. In this study, we tried to address this issue with a survey. The survey was conducted through several tagging sites aiming to study the usage of tags on the internet, including why and how people use tags, as well as their perspectives of the existing tagging websites. The results revealed that most frequent tag creators use the tags very often. However, there are users who use others' tags frequently without bothering creating tags by their own. The results also indicate that search is the primary motivation of creating tags as well as using tags. Besides searching, more than half of the respondents selected other types of motivations like "organizing" and "navigation".
In Search of the Chemical Revolution: Interpretive Strategies in the History of Chemistry

In recent years the Chemical Revolution has become a renewed focus of interest among historians of science. This interest isshaped by interpretive strategies associated with the emergence anddevelopment of the discipline of the history of science. The disciplineoccupies a contested intellectual terrain formed in part by thedevelopment and cultural entanglements of science itself. Threestages in this development are analyzed in this paper. Theinterpretive strategies that characterized each stage are elucidatedand traced to the disciplinary interests that gave rise to them. Whilepositivists and whigs appropriated the history of science to thejustificatory and celebratory needs of science itself, postpositivistslinked it to philosophical models of rationality, and sociologists ofknowledge sought its sociological reconstruction. Since none of thesestrategies do justice to the complexity of historical events, a modelof the Chemical Revolution is outlined which upholds the autonomyand specificity of history and the methods used to study it.
Deoxyribose and deoxysugar derivatives from photoprocessed astrophysical ice analogues and comparison to meteorites.

Sugars and their derivatives are essential to all terrestrial life. Their presence in meteorites, together with amino acids, nucleobases, amphiphiles, and other compounds of biological importance, may have contributed to the inventory of organics that played a role in the emergence of life on Earth. Sugars, including ribose (the sugar of RNA), and other sugar derivatives have been identified in laboratory experiments simulating photoprocessing of ices under astrophysical conditions. In this work, we report the detection of 2-deoxyribose (the sugar of DNA) and several deoxysugar derivatives in residues produced from the ultraviolet irradiation of ice mixtures consisting of H2O and CH3OH. The detection of deoxysugar derivatives adds to the inventory of compounds of biological interest that can form under astrophysical conditions and puts constraints on their abiotic formation pathway. Finally, we report that some of the deoxysugar derivatives found in our residues are also newly identified in carbonaceous meteorites. Sugars are known to form from the UV photoprocessing of ices under astrophysical conditions. Here, the authors report the detection of deoxyribose, the sugar of DNA, and other deoxysugars from the UV photoprocessing of H2O:CH3OH ice mixtures, which are compared with materials from carbonaceous meteorites.
Activated rat neutrophils. A sequential quantitative assay for aggregation and NBT reduction.

We present here a rapid, sensitive, and convenient approach for the analysis of activated Lewis rat PMNs based on detecting separately, or in tandem, PMN aggregation and PMN reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT). These responses are quantitated using an ELISA scanner which can rapidly measure optical densities of cell cultures in microtiter plates. Aggregation induced by as little as 0.005 (Μg/ml of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), 0.01 Μg/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or a 1∶160 dilution of lymphokine-containing rat serum can be detected employing this approach. NBT reduction was induced by as little as 0.01 Μg/ml PMA. Blocking studies employing 2-deoxyglucose, iodoacetamide, and polymyxin B gave the expected results and confirmed that these assays detect cellular responses to soluble stimuli. Using this technology the effects of PMA and LPS on rat peritoneal exudate PMNs were evaluated. Rat PMNs appeared less sensitive to LPS than human PMNs and also reduced NBT more slowly following stimulation with PMA. Because of the slowness in NBT reduction following stimulation, NBT reduction can be evaluated, in tandem, after measuring aggregation. The simplicity of this system, coupled with the speed with which large numbers of mirocultures can be read and the low number of cells required, make this approach for studying responses especially attractive.
Trends in the use of proton beam therapy among newly diagnosed cancer patients in the United States.

6551Background: Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) is a potentially superior radiotherapy technology for tumors with complex anatomy surrounded by sensitive tissues and for childhood cancers where sparing s...
Passive RFID tags for Metallic Environments Using Phased Array Reader Antennas

In this study, we consider the operation of radio frequency identification (RFID) tag antennas in metallic environments. Phased array is built using 2 RFID reader antennas for electronic beam steering and improving overall read range of the RFID antenna tags. The performance of RFID tag antenna is known to degrade in metallic environments. RFID tag antenna with ground plane is designed to improve the performance in harsh metallic environments. In this study, we use double slit antennas with ground plane for tags radiating in challenging metallic environments to achieve a 30 feet read range.
Time-Frequency Analysis of Unimodal Sensory Processing In Autism Spectrum Disorder

This work summarizes the results of a time-frequency analysis of sensory processing in young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder via continuous wavelet transform. The sensory tasks consisted of two blocks of unimodal sensory stimuli of the same type (i.e., auditory-auditory or visual-visual). A total of 12 autistic and 15 neurotypical subjects, all between 18-30 years, were analyzed. The 60 electrodes were grouped into 14 regions of interest to identify time-locked elicited brain activity. The power within three selected time-frequency windows for each block was compared between groups, showing significant differences in the first window of the second block of the visual-visual task, with the neurotypicals displaying higher power, suggesting an augmented brain activity in visual processing.
Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus increases risk of infection in patients with advanced cirrhosis.

Abstract Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is common in patients with cirrhosis and is associated with increased risk of infection. Aim To analyze the impact of uncontrolled DM on infection and mortality among inpatients with advanced cirrhosis. Methods This study utilized the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 1998 to 2014. We defined advanced cirrhosis using a validated ICD-9-CM algorithm requiring a diagnosis of cirrhosis and clinically significant portal hypertension or decompensation. The primary outcome was bacterial infection. Secondary outcomes included inpatient mortality stratified by elderly age (age≥70). Multivariable logistic regression analyzed outcomes. Results 906,559 (29.2%) patients had DM and 109,694 (12.1%) were uncontrolled. Patients who had uncontrolled DM were younger, had less ascites, but more encephalopathy. Bacterial infection prevalence was more common in uncontrolled DM (34.2% vs. 28.4%, OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.29–1.37, p Conclusions Uncontrolled DM is associated with increased risk of infection, and when combined with elderly age is associated with increased risk of inpatient mortality. Glycemic control is a modifiable target to improve morbidity and mortality in patients with advanced cirrhosis.
Multi-View Incremental Segmentation of 3-D Point Clouds for Mobile Robots

Mobile robots need to create high-definition three-dimensional (3-D) maps of the environment for applications such as remote surveillance and infrastructure mapping. Accurate semantic processing of the acquired 3-D point cloud is critical for allowing the robot to obtain a high-level understanding of the surrounding objects and perform context-aware decision making. Existing techniques for point cloud semantic segmentation are mostly applied on a single frame or offline basis, with no way to integrate the segmentation results over time. This letter proposes an online method for mobile robots to incrementally build a semantically rich 3-D point cloud of the environment. The proposed deep neural network, MCPNet, is trained to predict class labels and object instance labels for each point in the scanned point cloud in an incremental fashion. A multi-view context pooling (MCP) operator is used to combine point features obtained from multiple viewpoints to improve the classification accuracy. The proposed architecture was trained and evaluated on ray-traced scans derived from the Stanford 3-D Indoor Spaces dataset. Results show that the proposed approach led to 15% improvement in pointwise accuracy and 7% improvement in normalized mutual information compared to the next best online method, with only a 6% drop in accuracy compared to the PointNet-based offline approach.
A 5-min Cognitive Task With Deep Learning Accurately Detects Early Alzheimer's Disease.

Introduction: The goal of this study was to investigate and compare the classification performance of machine learning with behavioral data from standard neuropsychological tests, a cognitive task, or both. Methods: A neuropsychological battery and a simple 5-min cognitive task were administered to eight individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), eight individuals with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 41 demographically match controls (CN). A fully connected multilayer perceptron (MLP) network and four supervised traditional machine learning algorithms were used. Results: Traditional machine learning algorithms achieved similar classification performances with neuropsychological or cognitive data. MLP outperformed traditional algorithms with the cognitive data (either alone or together with neuropsychological data), but not neuropsychological data. In particularly, MLP with a combination of summarized scores from neuropsychological tests and the cognitive task achieved ~90% sensitivity and ~90% specificity. Applying the models to an independent dataset, in which the participants were demographically different from the ones in the main dataset, a high specificity was maintained (100%), but the sensitivity was dropped to 66.67%. Discussion: Deep learning with data from specific cognitive task(s) holds promise for assisting in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, but future work with a large and diverse sample is necessary to validate and to improve this approach.
Efficient Hierarchical Post-Silicon Validation and Debug

Post-silicon validation and debug is an extremely time consuming process due to various challenges, such as bug localization, signal selection, trace buffer management, and trace data bandwidth. Among all these challenges, the trace data bandwidth requirement is often overlooked, despite being one of the major bottlenecks when it comes to debugging critical problems in real time. To address this important issue, in this paper, we propose a method to validate and debug complex design bugs that require large trace bandwidths by dividing the problem into multiple hierarchies. The proposed method is based on a two-prong approach. The first phase implements a coarse-grain selection of important signals, while the second phase subsequently zooms into the problematic circuit parts. This hierarchical method allows to root cause the problem with limited trace data bandwidth. This leads to a significant reduction in the trace data volume. Experiments conducted on commercial microprocessors and Systems on Chips (SoCs) demonstrate the efficiency of our method.
Leveraging Natural Language Processing to Understand Public Outlook Towards the Influenza Vaccination

Understanding public outlook in healthcare management is important in the study of the various diseases. With respect to vaccinations, which play a major role in combating vaccine-preventable diseases, the study on their acceptance or rejection by the public becomes useful. In particular to the influenza vaccine, studies on the public opinion and views is ongoing. Social media platforms like Twitter help us to leverage thoughts and attitudes related to the flu vaccine. The data set used for our analysis contained tweets related to vaccines which were collected using vaccine-related keywords over a period of twelve months from February, 2018 to January, 2019. Out of these tweets, we filtered out the tweets specific to the flu vaccine and generated our corpus for further study. By using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we identified eighteen topics comprising six major themes which best represented our corpus. In this paper, we discuss these six themes and subsequently analyze the trend observed in these themes over a period of twelve months. The themes identified covered various aspects related to the flu vaccine. Among the six major themes, four showed a distinctive temporal trend with respect to the annual flu season.
Using attentive gated neural networks to quantify the impact of non-coding variants on transcription factor binding affinity

A large proportion of non-coding variants are present within binding sites of transcription factors(TFs), which play a significant role in gene regulation. Thus, deriving the impact of non-coding variants on TF binding is the first step towards unravelling their regulatory roles within their associated disease traits. Most of the modern algorithms used for this purpose are based on convolutional neural network(CNN) architectures. However, these models are incapable of capturing the positional effect of different sub-sequences within the TF binding sites on the binding affinity. In this paper, we utilize the attentive gated neural network(AGNet) architecture to build a set of TF-AGNet models for predicting in vivo TF binding intensities in the GM12878 lymphoblastoid cells. These models have novel layers capable of deriving the impact of relative positions of different DNA sub-sequences, within a binding site, on TF binding affinity, and of extracting the most relevant prediction features. We show that the TF-AGNet models are able to outperform conventional CNNs for predicting continuous values of TF binding affinity. We also train additional TF-AGNet models for 20 TFs using data from 4 other cell-lines to assess the generalizability of their prediction accuracy. Lastly, we show that the TF-AGNet based models more accurately classify non-coding variants that significantly affect TF binding compared to models based on 7 variant annotation tools. This accuracy can be leveraged to derive gene regulatory roles of millions of non-coding variants across the genome to further examine their mechanistic associations with complex disease traits.
Interstitial Carbides, Structure and Composition

The refractory carbides consist of two structurally different types: the interstitial carbides and the covalent carbides. This chapter provides a general review of the structural characteristics of interstitial carbides. Interstitial carbides are crystalline compounds of a host metal and carbon. The host-metal atoms are generally arranged in a close-packed structure and the carbon occupies specific interstitial sites in that structure. Such a model sets size restrictions on the two elements for the carbon atom to fit into the available sites, and the population of these sites determines the stoichiometry of the carbide. The interstitial carbides have several important characteristics in common like they fully meet the refractory criteria; their interstitial structures lead to a combination of metallic, covalent, and ionic bonds; they are primarily non-stoichiometric phases and ordering of the carbon atoms is common; they combine the physical properties of ceramics and the electronic properties of metals—i.e., high hardness and strength with high thermal and electrical conductivities; they have the highest melting points of any group of materials; and they have high thermal and chemical stability.
L5178Y asparagine-dependent cells and independent clonal sublines. Toxicity of 5-diazo-4-oxo-L-norvaline.

Abstract Sublines of the asparagine-dependent L5178Y mouse lymphoblastic leukemia cells have been obtained by single-step clonal selection in asparagine-free medium. These sublines grow equally well with or without this amino acid in the medium. Inhibition of the growth of L5178Y cells in culture by the l -asparagine analog, 5-diazo-4-oxo- l -norvaline ( l -Donv), can be attributed to two different mechanisms. Both the l and d -stereoisomers of DONV inhibited the growth of the parent L5178Y line in Fischer's medium (with asparagine) as well as the growth of the asparagine-independent cells in the presence of asparagine. In a medium devoid of asparagine, however, l -Donv caused a more immediate cessation of growth of the asparagine-independent cells than in the medium normally supplemented with this amino acid. The toxicity of d -Donv was not enhanced by omission of asparagine. Evaluation of the effects of the analogs by cell cloning revealed a rapid loss of viability of both dependent and independent cells in the presence or absence of asparagine. These results indicate that l -Donv acts as an l -asparagine analog to inhibit the growth of cells dependent on endogenous asparagine synthesis, but that an additional cytotoxic effect of either stereoisomer of the analog exists.
The Institutional Cost of Being a Faculty of Color: A Critical Personal Reflection

Drawing on critical race theory, auto-ethnography, and resistant narratives, this article examines systemic forms of oppression that professors of color teaching at predominantly white institutions have been facing. The author incorporates in his analysis his experience as a faculty of color battling multiple forms of micro-aggression (Solorzano, 1998). He situates his professional and lived experiences with institutional racism in a larger educational and political context and goes on to analyze the ways and the degree to which this form of racism has affected other professors of color.
Some Microeconomics of Fiscal Deficit Reductions: The Case of Tax Expenditures

This paper considers the merits of reducing or eliminating some specific tax expenditure measures currently in force in the United States with a view to reducing the federal fiscal deficit. The paper starts from the observation that savings decisions in the United States are distorted and that therefore government borrowing to finance current expenditures results in significant welfare losses. It is possible by reducing or eliminating individual tax expenditures to reduce the fiscal deficit while at the same time enhancing economic efficiency. However, tax expenditures are heterogeneous so changes to the range of tax expenditures should be selective.
Spinach Ferredoxin II. TRYPTIC, CHYMOTRYPTIC, AND THERMOLYTIC PEPTIDES, AND COMPLETE AMINO ACID SEQUENCE

The complete amino acid sequence of spinach ferredoxin was determined by analyses of tryptic, chymotryptic, and thermolytic digests of various derivatives of the protein. There are 97 amino acid residues in the molecule. These include 19 different amino acids. Methionine is not a member of the major sequence, but it is suggested that another species of ferredoxin, containing methionine, might exist. Spinach ferredoxin has 5 cysteine residues, 3 of which are near the center of the molecule. The distribution of the cystein residues in spinach ferredoxin differs from that in nonphotosynthetic bacterial ferredoxins, and this suggested some distinctive features in the mechanisms of electron transfer and in the molecular surroundings of iron atoms. Spinach ferredoxin contains a region similar to the known bacterial ferredoxins, extending over a distance of 19 consecutive amino acid residues. This suggests a common archetype for plant and bacterial ferredoxins. An internal repetition of 9 residues occurs in the molecule of spinach ferredoxin.
Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Intracranial Abnormalities in Unprovoked Seizures.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Prospective data are lacking to determine which children might benefit from prompt neuroimaging after unprovoked seizures. We aimed to determine the prevalence of, and risk factors for, relevant intracranial abnormalities in children with first, unprovoked seizures. METHODS: We conducted a 6-center prospective study in children aged >28 days to 18 years with seemingly unprovoked seizures. Emergency department (ED) clinicians documented clinical findings on a standardized form. Our main outcome was the presence of a clinically relevant intracranial abnormality on computed tomography (CT) or MRI, defined as those that might change management, either emergently, urgently, or nonurgently. RESULTS: We enrolled 475 of 625 (76%) eligible patients. Of 354 patients for whom cranial MRI or CT scans were obtained in the ED or within 4 months of the ED visit, 40 (11.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.0–14.6%) had clinically relevant intracranial abnormalities, with 3 (0.8%; 95% CI: 0.1–1.8%) having emergent/urgent abnormalities. On logistic regression analysis, a high-risk past medical history (adjusted odds ratio: 9.2; 95% CI: 2.4–35.7) and any focal aspect to the seizure (odds ratio: 2.5; 95% CI: 1.2–5.3) were independently associated with clinically relevant abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: Clinically relevant intracranial abnormalities occur in 11% of children with first, unprovoked seizures. Emergent/urgent abnormalities, however, occur in
Enhancement of performance in porous bead-based microchip sensors: effects of chip geometry on bio-agent capture

Measuring low concentrations of clinically-important biomarkers using porous bead-based lab-on-a-chip (LOC) platforms is critical for the successful implementation of point-of-care (POC) devices. One way to meet this objective is to optimize the geometry of the bead holder, referred to here as a micro-container. In this work, two geometric micro-containers were explored, the inverted pyramid frustum (PF) and the inverted clipped pyramid frustum (CPF). Finite element models of this bead array assay system were developed to optimize the micro-container and bead geometries for increased pressure, to increase analyte capture in porous bead-based fluorescence immunoassays. Custom micro-milled micro-container structures containing an inverted CPF geometry resulted in a 28% reduction in flow-through regions from traditional anisotropically-etched pyramidal geometry derived from Si-111 termination layers. This novel "reduced flow-through" design resulted in a 33% increase in analyte penetration into the bead and twofold increase in fluorescence signal intensity as demonstrated with C-Reactive Protein (CRP) antigen, an important biomarker of inflammation. A consequent twofold decrease in the limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) of a proof-of-concept assay for the free isoform of Prostate-Specific Antigen (free PSA), an important biomarker for prostate cancer detection, is also presented. Furthermore, a 53% decrease in the bead diameter is shown to result in a 160% increase in pressure and 2.5-fold increase in signal, as estimated by COMSOL models and confirmed experimentally by epi-fluorescence microscopy. Such optimizations of the bead micro-container and bead geometries have the potential to significantly reduce the LODs and reagent costs for spatially programmed bead-based assay systems of this type.
Interaction of a bacterially expressed peptide from the receptor binding domain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pili strain PAK with a cross-reactive antibody: conformation of the bound peptide.

The C-terminal receptor binding region of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pilin protein strain PAK (residues 128−144) has been the target for the design of a vaccine effective against P. aeruginosa infectio...
A technique for the chronic implantation of multiple movable micro-electrodes.

Abstract A technique is described for the chronic implantation of multiple movable micro-electrodes. This method permits study of the activity of single or multiple units in the unrestrained animal over long periods of time.
miR181a protects against angiotensin II-induced osteopontin expression in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Objective Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional protein found in abundance in atherosclerotic plaques. Angiotensin II (Ang II) promotes atherosclerosis by inducing adhesion and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical regulators of protein expression. However, the relationship between Ang II, miRNAs and OPN has yet to be fully explored.
Performance of a single lookup table (LUT) for displaying chest CT images1

Abstract Rationale and objectives To evaluate the ability to view mediastinal and lung information on one window setting by processing images with a bilinear lookup table (LUT). Materials and methods Chest computed tomography (CT) studies were obtained from 32 consecutive adult patient studies, which included 7 iodine contrast studies. From each CT examination, four sections were selected containing the suprasternal notch, carina, right inferior pulmonary vein, and the dome of the lower hemidiaphragm. Each image was processed with a bilinear LUT in addition to the lung setting (window width 1500 & window level −500) and mediastinal setting (window width 450 & window level 50) normally used. Seven radiologists compared the quality of the bilinear LUT with the corresponding lung and mediastinum display settings. A five-point scale was used to assess image quality, with a score of 5 being equivalent to the corresponding lung (or mediastinum) display, 3 being acceptable, and 1 being unacceptable. Results The average score of the bilinear LUT for all images and readers was 3.90 ± 0.93 for lung information and 3.17 ± 1.00 for mediastinum information. Use of the bilinear LUT resulted in unacceptable images in 0.3% cases for lung information and 5.9% for mediastinum information. Chest CT images that contained iodinated contrast resulted in a higher score than those obtained without contrast, but these differences did not achieve statistical significance. Conclusion Use of a bilinear LUT has the potential to significantly improve operational efficiency with acceptable image quality for most chest CT images.
Demonstration of a microwave trap for cesium atoms

Abstract We report on the first realization of a microwave trap for neutral atoms, as proposed originally for use with spin-polarized hydrogen [1]. This trap is advantageous for attaining Bose condensation because it can contain strong or weak field seekers, while static magnetic traps contain only the less-stable weak-field seeking states. In this experiment, Cs atoms were confined in the microwave field of a room-temperature spherical resonator (Q≈5500) whose TE 110 mode is tuned to the blue of the ground state hyperfine splitting (9.2 GHz). Using up to 83 W of microwave power, the trap is shallow (≤100μK), large (≈1 cm) and cannot, by itself, hold Cs atoms up against gravity. We levitate atoms in the trapping state ( F=4, m F =4 ground state) with a static magnetic field gradient. The trap is loaded with atoms cooled to 5 μK in optical molasses. To detect the atoms, we either release them from the trap and detect their fluorescence as they fall through a probe laser beam, or we observe them with a ccd camera as we illuminate them with laser pulses. Plans for applying this technique to spin-polarized hydrogen will be discussed in a separate presentation [2].
Chronic Constriction Injury Reduces Cannabinoid Receptor 1 Activity in the Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex of Mice

The present studies examined the effect of chronic neuropathic pain on cannabinoid receptor density and receptor-mediated G-protein activity within supraspinal brain areas involved in pain processing and modulation in mice. Chronic constriction injury (CCI) produced a significant decrease in WIN 55,212-2-stimulated [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding in membranes prepared from the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) of CCI mice when compared to sham-operated controls. Saturation binding with [(3)H]SR 141716A in membranes of the rACC showed no significant differences in binding between CCI and sham mice. Analysis of levels of the endocannabinoids anandamide (AEA) or 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) in the rACC following CCI showed no significant differences between CCI and sham mice. These data suggest that CCI produced desensitization of the cannabinoid 1 receptor in the rACC in the absence of an overall decrease in cannabinoid 1 receptor density or change in levels of AEA or 2-AG. These data are the first to show alterations in cannabinoid receptor function in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex in response to a model of neuropathic pain.