cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Wave energy systems for recharging AUV energy supplies

This paper describes ocean wave energy resources and characterizes their global distribution and temporal variability. It presents an overview of wave energy conversion devices that have progressed beyond the laboratory wave tank and have been proven at sea, and which lend themselves to miniaturization and packaging in a configuration suitable for recharging AUV power supplies from a docking station base. Finally, it describes a wave-powered docking station concept that takes advantage of ocean engineering developments in rapidly deployed mooring systems and artificial, submerging seafloors to provide a relocatable AUV dock that also can serve as a sustainable "gateway" platform for undersea observatories.
The single pixel GPS: learning big data signals from tiny coresets

We present algorithms for simplifying and clustering patterns from sensors such as GPS, LiDAR, and other devices that can produce high-dimensional signals. The algorithms are suitable for handling very large (e.g. terabytes) streaming data and can be run in parallel on networks or clouds. Applications include compression, denoising, activity recognition, road matching, and map generation.We encode these problems as (k, m)-segment mean problems. Formally, we provide (1 + e)-approximations to the k-segment and (k, m)-segment mean of a d-dimensional discrete-time signal. The k-segment mean is a k-piecewise linear function that minimizes the regression distance to the signal. The (k,m)-segment mean has an additional constraint that the projection of the k segments on Rd consists of only m ≤ k segments. Existing algorithms for these problems take O(kn2) and nO(mk) time respectively and O(kn2) space, where n is the length of the signal.Our main tool is a new coreset for discrete-time signals. The coreset is a smart compression of the input signal that allows computation of a (1 + e)-approximation to the k-segment or (k,m)-segment mean in O(n log n) time for arbitrary constants e,k, and m. We use coresets to obtain a parallel algorithm that scans the signal in one pass, using space and update time per point that is polynomial in log n. We provide empirical evaluations of the quality of our coreset and experimental results that show how our coreset boosts both inefficient optimal algorithms and existing heuristics. We demonstrate our results for extracting signals from GPS traces. However, the results are more general and applicable to other types of sensors.
Generation and Propagation of Single Event Transients in 0.18- $\mu{\rm m}$ Fully Depleted SOI

Single event transients were characterized experimentally in fast logic circuits fabricated in 0.18-mum FDSOI CMOS process using laser-probing techniques. We show that the transient pulse widens as it propagates; the widening is largely eliminated by the body contact. Good agreement is observed between pulsed-laser and heavy ion testing.
Scavenger community response to the removal of a dominant scavenger

Th e alteration of scavenging communities can reduce basic ecosystem services and increase risks to human and wildlife health. Recent work demonstrated that scavenging communities in agricultural landscapes are extremely effi cient: superabundant mesopredators sequestered system energy by dominating scavenging activity. To explore how the disturbance of these communities aff ects the stability of carrion removal as an ecosystem function, we experimentally manipulated a scavenging community within an agricultural landscape by reducing the abundance of the dominant scavenger, raccoons Procyon lotor . We then monitored the fates of 676 mouse Mus musculus carcasses placed in 13 control and 13 removal woodlots from June 2007 – May 2008. Th e diversity of vertebrate scavengers did not change between control and removal woodlots and scavenging by invertebrates was unaff ected by our experiment. Although Virginia opossums Didelphis virginiana and other scavengers exhibited a functional response when raccoons were reduced in abundance, the increases did not change the proportional allocation of carcasses among scavengers. Finally, the reduced abundance of a major scavenger aff ected system effi ciency. More carcasses remained un-scavenged at the end of trials in removal woodlots than in control woodlots. Th is experiment demonstrates the vulnerability of a critical ecosystem service, carrion removal, to perturbations of the scavenging community and serves to highlight the method by which scavenger communities may respond to perturbations.
Measuring Memory in Large Group Settings Using a Continuous Recognition Test

Memory function generally deteriorates with age, and memory impairments are a common symptom of serious illness such as dementia. Although screening tests are widely used throughout Medicine, they are not yet commonly used to detect memory impairments. The objective of this study was to characterize an audience-based memory test suitable for administration to a large number of individuals simultaneously. A continuous recognition test was developed to assess memory function in audiences using a slide-show in which 50 images were presented, of which 25 were repeated. Audience members responded by recording if an image was a repetition. The test was administered to a total of 1018 participants at 25 sites with an average audience size of 41 individuals (range = 9-142). A total of 868 individuals aged 40-97 y completed the test appropriately and provided their age, education level, and gender. Recognition memory as measured by discriminability (d') showed a significant decline with age (40-49 y old, d' = 3.51; 90-99 y old, d' = 1.95, p < 0.001) together with a greater than three-fold increase in variability. Individuals with less than 13 y of education had lower scores than those with more education (d' = 2.13 vs. 2.88, respectively, p < 0.001). These results are consistent with the known effects of age and education on memory. There were no significant effects of gender on test performance. Such memory tests represent a practical and novel approach to screen for the signs of early dementia.
Cross-cutting Social Networks: Testing Democratic Theory in Practice

Recent social and political theory has elevated political conversation among democratic citizens to new heights. Political talk is central to most current conceptions of how democracy functions (Schudson 1997). According to many prominent social theorists, democracy has a future only if “citizens come back out of their bunkers and start talking” (Gray 1995, 1; see also Elshtain 1995; Lasch 1995). The quantity and quality of political conversation have become “a standard for the accomplishment of democracy” (Sanders 1997, 347). Theorists extol the virtues of political talk, foundations spend millions of dollars to encourage it, and civic journalists and others plan special meetings to foster more of it. Yet what do we really know about beneficial outcomes of political talk as it occurs in day to day life? For the most part, arguments for the centrality of political discussion among ordinary Americans have been highly theoretical in nature. In other words, the contributions to democratic ends that political conversations are supposed to make depend critically on whether such talk reaches the standards necessary to be deemed “deliberation,” “discourse,” or, in Habermas’ (1989) terms, an “ideal speech situation.” It is one thing to claim that political conversation has the potential to produce beneficial outcomes if it meets a whole variety of as yet unrealized criteria, and yet another to argue that political conversations, as they actually occur, produce meaningful benefits for citizens (Conover and Searing 1998). Because the list of requirements for deliberation tends to be quite lengthy, 1 it is difficult, if not impossible, to test theories of this kind empirically.
Role of plasma-aided manufacturing in semiconductor fabrication

A brief review is presented of the application of plasma-aided manufacturing to semiconductor fabrication. Emphasis is placed on current state-of-the-art techniques for which plasma physics plays a significant role and on current problems that remain to be solved.
Activation of Focal Adhesion Kinase by Hepatitis B Virus HBx Protein: Multiple Functions in Viral Replication

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein (HBx) is a multifunctional regulator of cellular signal transduction and transcription pathways and has a critical role in HBV replication. Much of the cytoplasmic signal transduction activity associated with HBx expression and its stimulation of viral replication is attributable to HBx-induced activation of calcium signaling pathways involving Pyk2 and Src tyrosine kinases. To further characterize upstream signal transduction pathways that are required for HBx activity, including activation of Src and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades, we determined whether focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a known regulator of Src family kinases and the other member of the Pyk2/FAK kinase family, is activated by HBx. We report that HBx activates FAK and that FAK activation is important for multiple HBx functions. Dominant inhibiting forms of FAK blocked HBx activation of Src kinases and downstream signal transduction, HBx stimulation of NF-κB and AP-1-dependent transcription, and HBV DNA replication. We also demonstrate that HBx-induced activation of FAK is dependent on cellular calcium signaling, which is modulated by HBx. Moreover, prolonged expression of HBx increases both FAK activity and its level of expression. FAK activation may play a role in cellular transformation and cancer progression. HBx stimulation of FAK activity and abundance may also be relevant as a potential cofactor in HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.
Determinants of Female Orgasm

The subject of orgasm in women has always been a topic of great interest to sex researchers. Although orgasmic dysfunction is quite rare in men (under 1%) it is the most common dysfunction in women (Kinsey reported about 11% of women are totally inorgasmic even after ten years of marriage).
Olfactory Stimuli and Oviposition in the Blowfly, Phormia Regina Meigen

1. The work described attempts to elucidate the sensory mechanisms involved in the act of oviposition. 2. A brief account of the morphology of the ovipositor and the distribution of the various sensilla on it is given. 3. Behavioural experiments have shown unequivocally that receptors on the anal leaflets of the ovipositor are olfactory and can mediate oviposition. Flies are able to discriminate when antennal, palp and labellar receptors are blocked, but not when the ovipositor pegs are waxed over as well. A method for waxing the latter is described. 4. Sensilla on the antennae, labellum and ovipositor perceive the olfactory stimuli which are important in inducing oviposition. Possibly there are olfactory receptors at other sites which mediate other types of behaviour. 5. Tactile stimuli perceived mainly through sensilla on the ovipositor can play an important role in egg distribution and a minor role, possibly, in inducing oviposition. 6. All the evidence suggests the pegs are the olfactory receptors on the ovipositor which mediate oviposition. 7. A summary of factors known or suspected to influence oviposition is given.
The Prolonged Bleeding Time in Hemophilia A: Comparison of Two Measuring Technics and Clinical Associations

The authors simultaneously performed the Ivy (IBT) and the Simplate® I (SBT) bleeding time in 17 volunteers with classic hemophilia A to determine whether a prolonged Simplate bleeding time was indeed indicative of impaired primary he-mostasis, as has been postulated recently, or whether the technic itself accounted for the observed changes. They also assessed platelet function and Factor VIII–related activities on blood drawn that day. The SBT was prolonged in 11 patients, while the IBT was consistently normal. The platelet aggregation studies and the levels of Factor VIII–related antigen (VIII R:Ag) and ristocetin cofactor (VIII R:Rc) were normal, providing no evidence of von Willebrand’s disease. The patients with a prolonged SBT were all younger than 20 years of age, bled two to three times more often than those with a normal SBT, and consumed more Factor VIII concentrate. A prolonged SBT with depressed VIII:C therefore is not indicative of von Willebrand’s disease but is shared by a substantial proportion of hemophiliacs, who may be at greater risk of bleeding.
Abstract C92: HCI-2577 inhibits LSD1 and modulates histone marks in Ewing's sarcoma models

Lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1/AOF2/KDM1A) is a flavin-dependent histone demethylase that catalyzes the posttranslational oxidative demethylation of mono- and dimethylated lysines on histones. Methylation of lysine residues on histones can signal transcriptional activation or repression depending on the specific residue involved. H3K4me2 is a transcription-activating mark, and demethylation of this mark by LSD1 prevents expression of tumor suppressor genes important in human cancer. Whereas, H3K9 methylation is a repressive mark and LSD1 activity has been shown to upregulate tumor promoting pathways. This makes LSD1 emerge as an important target for the development of novel antitumor inhibitors. The compound HCI-2577 was identified as a potent reversible inhibitor of LSD1 enzymatic activity, with an IC50 of 7nM. In a diverse cell screen panel for cellular viability, Ewing9s sarcoma was identified as being sensitive to HCI-2577. Here we show that HCI-2577 is efficacious in in vivo models of Ewing9s sarcoma as a single agent with a favorable drug profile. In conclusion, HCI-2577 is a novel LSD-1 inhibitor with therapeutic potential in Ewing9s sarcoma demonstrating promising activity in biochemical, cell-based and in vivo assays. Citation Format: Jared J. Bearss, Adrianne Neiss, Xiao-Hui Liu, Hariprasad Vankayalapati, Sunil Sharma. HCI-2577 inhibits LSD1 and modulates histone marks in Ewing9s sarcoma models. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2015 Nov 5-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(12 Suppl 2):Abstract nr C92.
Reducing Read Latency in MLC PCM

Multi-level-cell (MLC) phase-change memory (PCM) provides higher storage density at the cost of slower reads and writes. Since reads are latency critical, this paper propose a simple and effective bit mapping scheme, called Mapping Critical Word to MSBs (MCWM), to address slow reads in MLC. MCWM takes advantage of fast read speed of most-significant-bits (MSBs) of MLC cells and strips a cache line among MLC cells at the bit level. Taking 2- bit MLC as an example, MCWM stores the first half of each cache line at most-significant-bits (MSBs) of MLC cells, and the second half at least-significant-bits (LSBs). This design leverages the observation that most critical words are located within the first half of a cache line. Upon a cache miss, the critical word can be fetched at the same speed as single-level cell (SLC) PCM, thus reducing processor stall time. Experimental results under 4-cores SPEC CPU 2006 workloads show that MCWM can reduce memory read latency by 27.5% and IPC by 13.7% on average, compared with conventional PCM. In addition, MCWM outperforms recently proposed Striped PCM (SPCM) by 12.5% in latency and 6.1% in IPC on average. Additionally, MCWM is complementary to write optimizations. MCWM can reduce read latency of Write Pause by 25% and increase IPC by 11.7% on average.
Determinants of Acute and Late Pulmonary Vein Reconnection in Contact Force-Guided Pulmonary Vein Isolation: Identifying the Weakest Link in the Ablation Chain.

Background—Pulmonary vein reconnection (PVR) still determines recurrences of atrial fibrillation after contact force (CF)–guided pulmonary vein isolation. We studied whether acute PVR (adenosine an...
Comparing Pulmonary Nodule Location During Electromagnetic Bronchoscopy With Predicted Location on the Basis of Two Virtual Airway Maps at Different Phases of Respiration

Background Electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (ENB) is guided bronchoscopy to pulmonary nodules (PN) that relies on a preprocedural chest CT to create a three-dimensional (3D) virtual airway map. The CT is traditionally done at a full inspiratory breath hold (INSP), but the procedure is performed while the patient tidal breaths, when lung volumes are closer to functional residual capacity. Movement of a PN from INSP to expiration (EXP) has been shown to average 17.6 mm. Therefore, the hypothesis of this study is that preprocedural virtual maps built off a CT closer to physiological lung volumes during bronchoscopy may better represent the actual 3D location of a PN. Methods Consecutive patients with a PN needing a histological diagnosis were enrolled. A preprocedure INSP and EXP CT scan were obtained to create two virtual maps. During the airway inspection, the system tracked the sensor probe to collect 3D points that were reconstructed into the lumen registration map. This map is thought to best represent the patient's airways during bronchoscopy. Predicted PN location on an EXP and INSP map was compared with lumen registration. Results Twenty consecutive PN underwent ENB. The predicted PN location, compared with lumen registration, was significantly closer on EXP vs INSP (4.5 mm ± 3.3 mm vs 14.8 mm ± 9.7 mm; p Conclusions Predicted 3D nodule location using an EXP scan for ENB is significantly closer to actual nodule location when compared with an INSP scan, but whether this leads to increased yields needs to be determined.
“They Give Teachers a Hard Time”: Symbolic Violence and Intersections of Race and Class in Interpretations of Teacher-student Relations:

A number of studies identify racial and class differences in disciplinary actions and teacher-student interactions; however, scholars place less emphasis on how race and class intersect to shape cl...
Photoacoustic microscopy enables multilayered histological imaging of human breast cancer without staining

In 2016, an estimated ~250,000 new cases of invasive and non-invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in US women. About 60–75% of these cases were treated with breast conserving surgery (BCS) as the initial therapy. To reduce the local recurrence rate, the goal of BCS is to excise the tumor with a rim of normal surrounding tissue, so that no cancer cells remain at the cut margin, while preserving as much normal breast tissue as possible. Therefore, patients with remaining cancer cells at the cut margin commonly require a second surgical procedure to obtain clear margins. Different approaches have been used to decrease the positive margin rate to avoid re-excision. However, these techniques are variously ineffective in reducing the re-operative rate, difficult to master by surgeons, or time-consuming for large specimens. Thus, 20-60% of patients undergoing BCS still require second surgeries due to positive surgical margins. The ideal tool for margin assessment would provide the same information as histological analysis, without the need for processing specimens. To achieve this goal, we have developed and refined label-free photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) for breast specimens. Exploiting the intrinsic optical contrast of tissue, ultraviolet (UV) laser illumination can highlight cell nuclei, thus providing the same contrast as hematoxylin labeling used in conventional histology and measuring features related to the histological landscape without the need for labels. We demonstrate that our UV-PAM system can provide label-free, high-resolution, and histology-like imaging of fixed, unprocessed breast tissue.
Counter-Point: Staying Honest When Policy Changes Backfire.

Despite the good intentions of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), many drug warnings are ineffective or have unintended consequences, particularly if the media exaggerates the messages and scares the public. The controversial 2003 to 2004 FDA warnings on youth suicidality associated with antide
Implications of Density Dependence in the Effective Interaction for the Excitation of Spin Modes

A substantial fraction of the research efforts dedicated to intermediate energy nucleon scattering has sought to ascertain the quantitative accuracy of a description of these phenomena in terms of one-body operators. Several important components of such a description are: 1) the properties of the free two-nucleon interaction; 2) the modifications of this interaction in the nuclear environment; and 3) the structure of the target nucleus. For the present discussion, we assume that the relevant aspects of the structure of the target are accurately known by independent means, such as electron scattering. We shall concentrate on the sensitivity of nucleon inelastic scattering and charge exchange to the properties of the free two-nucleon interaction and the modifications due to the nuclear density.
Infection Prevention in Pediatric Oncology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients

Pediatric patients with malignancies and transplant recipients are at high risk of infection-related morbidity and mortality. Children at the highest risk for infections are those with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients (HSCT). These patients are at high risk for life-threatening bacterial, viral, and fungal infections which are associated with prolonged hospital stay, poor quality of life, and increased healthcare cost and death. Recognition of risk factors which predisposes them to infections, early identification of signs and symptoms of infections, prompt diagnosis, and empiric/definitive treatment are the mainstay in reducing infection-related morbidity and mortality. Infection control and prevention programs also play a crucial role in preventing hospital-acquired infections in these immunosuppressed hosts.
The Settlers of “Catanbinatorics”

Catan is a dynamic property-building and trading board game in which players build a new board every time they play by arranging tiles, number tokens, and port markers. In this paper, we count the ...
Akanthomycin, a new antibiotic pyridone from the entomopathogenic fungus Akanthomyces gracilis.

Organic extracts of the entomopathogenic fungus Akanthomyces gracilis ARS 2910 contained antibiotics active against Staphylococcus aureus. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the CH2Cl2 extract yielded the antibacterial compound akanthomycin as a mixture of atropisomers along with the closely related compounds 8-methylpyridoxatin and cordypyridone C. Akanthomycin was characterized using X-ray crystallography and NMR.
Omnichannel Assortment Decisions in a Fashion Retailing Supply Chain

Product assortment is of significance importance to omnichannel fashion products vendors. These vendors must make assortment decisions well ahead of their selling season and across channels that face distinct types of demand and comprise different fulfillment capabilities. Because of differences in operational costs and margins across channels, assortment decisions are likely to affect vendors’ top and bottom lines, ultimately affecting their profitability. In this book chapter, we use data from an omnichannel fashion product vendor to empirically assess the likelihood and the sales volume of a product according to its characteristics in two channels, wholesale and dropshipping. Establishing demand profiles based on fashion product characteristics allows vendors to evaluate jointly channel choice and stocking decisions for assortment integration across multiple channels.
Origin of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride thermoelectric nanocomposites

Anisotropy and inhomogeneity are ubiquitous in spark plasma sintered thermoelectric devices. However, the origin of inhomogeneity in thermoelectric nanocomposites has rarely been investigated so far. Herein, we systematically study the impact of inhomogeneity in spark plasma sintered bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric nanocomposites fabricated from solution-synthesized nanoplates. The figure of merit can reach 1.18, which, however, can be overestimated to 1.88 without considering the inhomogeneity. Our study reveals that the inhomogeneity in thermoelectric properties is attributed to the non-uniformity of porosity, textures and elemental distribution from electron backscatter diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy characterizations. This finding suggests that the optimization of bulk material homogeneity should also be actively pursued in any future thermoelectric material research.
Thermal Conductivity of Gold–Phenylethanethiol (Au144PET60) Nanoarrays: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Solvated nanoarrays of Au144 nanoparticles capped with 60 phenylethanethiol (PET) moieties were studied using reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (RNEMD) simulations. The thermal conductiviti...
Novel Method to Flag Cardiac Implantable Device Infections by Integrating Text Mining With Structured Data in the Veterans Health Administration's Electronic Medical Record.

Importance Health care–associated infections (HAIs) are preventable, harmful, and costly; however, few resources are dedicated to infection surveillance of nonsurgical procedures, particularly cardiovascular implantable electronic device (CIED) procedures. Objective To develop a method that includes text mining of electronic clinical notes to reliably and efficiently measure HAIs for CIED procedures. Design, Setting, and Participants In this multicenter, national cohort study using electronic medical record data for patients undergoing CIED procedures in Veterans Health Administration (VA) facilities for fiscal years (FYs) 2016 and 2017, an algorithm to flag cases with a true CIED-related infection based on structured (eg, microbiology orders, vital signs) and free text diagnostic and therapeutic data (eg, procedure notes, discharge summaries, microbiology results) was developed and validated. Procedure data were divided into development and validation data sets. Criterion validity (ie, positive predictive validity [PPV], sensitivity, and specificity) was assessed via criterion-standard manual medical record review. Exposures CIED procedure. Main Outcomes and Measures The concordance between medical record review and the study algorithm with respect to the presence or absence of a CIED infection. CIED infection in the algorithm included 90-day mortality, congestive heart failure and nonmetastatic tumor comorbidities, CIED or surgical site infectionInternational Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) diagnosis codes, antibiotic treatment ofStaphylococci, a microbiology test of a cardiac specimen, and text documentation of infection in specific clinical notes (eg, cardiology, infectious diseases, inpatient discharge summaries). Results The algorithm sample consisted of 19 212 CIED procedures; 15 077 patients (78.5%) were White individuals, 1487 (15.5%) were African American; 18 766 (97.7%) were men. The mean (SD) age in our sample was 71.8 (10.6) years. The infection detection threshold of predicted probability was set to greater than 0.10 and the algorithm flagged 276 of 9606 (2.9%) cases in the development data set (9606 procedures); PPV in this group was 41.4% (95% CI, 31.6%-51.8%). In the validation set (9606 procedures), at predicted probability 0.10 or more the algorithm PPV was 43.5% (95% CI, 37.1%-50.2%), and overall sensitivity and specificity were 94.4% (95% CI, 88.2%-97.9%) and 48.8% (95% CI, 42.6%-55.1%), respectively. Conclusions and Relevance The findings of this study suggest that the method of combining structured and text data in VA electronic medical records can be used to expand infection surveillance beyond traditional boundaries to include outpatient and procedural areas.
Treatment of Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Review of Family Factors and Family Therapy

In order to more fully prepare clinicians for the challenging individual and familial dynamics inherent in non-suicidal self-injury cases, this article reviews the literature concerning family fact...
Total Transcatheter Stage 1: A Word of Caution.

For patients with single ventricle physiology, being able to initially establish systemic blood flow and control pulmonary blood flow is critical to their long-term health. Recently, there have been descriptions in achieving this by a purely transcatheter approach with stenting of the ductus arteriosus and implanting pulmonary flow restrictors, a very appealing prospect. We review a case series of 6 patients who underwent a percutaneous modified stage 1 approach using modified Microvascular plugs (MVP) at our center between September 2019 and December 2019. The initial procedure was technically successful in all patients with single-stage ductal stenting and placement of bilateral modified MVP via femoral access. Four patients underwent repeat cardiac catheterization prior to subsequent surgery that demonstrated elevated Qp:Qs (> 2:1) in 3 of the 4 patients with an elevated mean distal PA pressure > 20 mmHg in all patients. In some patients, the device migrated into the distal right pulmonary artery. One patient after Glenn shunt was found to have significant LPA stenosis requiring stenting. While the percutaneous modified stage 1 approach is a promising approach, we offer a word of caution against widespread adoption of this technique with the currently available devices.
Pathophysiology of Brain Injury and Neurological Outcome in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Scoping Review of Preclinical to Clinical Studies.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been associated with secondary acute brain injury (ABI). However, there is sparse literature on the mechanism of lung-mediated brain injury and prevalence of ARDS-associated secondary ABI. We aimed to review and elucidate potential mechanisms of ARDS-mediated ABI from preclinical models and assess the prevalence of ABI and neurological outcome in ARDS with clinical studies. We conducted a systematic search of PubMed and five other databases reporting ABI and ARDS through July 6, 2020 and included studies with ABI and neurological outcome occurring after ARDS. We found 38 studies (10 preclinical studies with 143 animals; 28 clinical studies with 1175 patients) encompassing 9 animal studies (n = 143), 1 in vitro study, 12 studies on neurocognitive outcomes (n = 797), 2 clinical observational studies (n = 126), 1 neuroimaging study (n = 15), and 13 clinical case series/reports (n = 15). Six ARDS animal studies demonstrated evidence of neuroinflammation and neuronal damage within the hippocampus. Five animal studies demonstrated altered cerebral blood flow and increased intracranial pressure with the use of lung-protective mechanical ventilation. High frequency of ARDS-associated secondary ABI or poor neurological outcome was observed ranging 82–86% in clinical observational studies. Of the clinically reported ABIs (median age 49 years, 46% men), the most common injury was hemorrhagic stroke (25%), followed by hypoxic ischemic brain injury (22%), diffuse cerebral edema (11%), and ischemic stroke (8%). Cognitive impairment in patients with ARDS (n = 797) was observed in 87% (range 73–100%) at discharge, 36% (range 32–37%) at 6 months, and 30% (range 25–45%) at 1 year. Mechanisms of ARDS-associated secondary ABI include primary hypoxic ischemic injury from hypoxic respiratory failure, secondary injury, such as lung injury induced neuroinflammation, and increased intracranial pressure from ARDS lung-protective mechanical ventilation strategy. In summary, paucity of clinical data exists on the prevalence of ABI in patients with ARDS. Hemorrhagic stroke and hypoxic ischemic brain injury were commonly observed. Persistent cognitive impairment was highly prevalent in patients with ARDS.
A Scalable Massive MIMO Uplink Baseband Processing Generator

This paper describes a scalable, highly portable, and power-efficient generator for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) uplink baseband processing. This generator is written in Chisel, and produces hardware instances for the distributed processing in a scalable massive MIMO system. The generator is parameterized in both the MIMO system and hardware datapath elements. The performance of several generator instances with different parameter values are validated by emulation on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), demonstrating both functionality and scalability, and operation up to 6.4Gb/s data throughput.
Genetic parameters of calf morbidity and stayability for US organic Holstein calves.

ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters of calf health in organic US Holstein calves. Calves were born on farms across the United States from 2006 to 2019. Three calf health traits were evaluated in the study: calf respiratory disease until 365 d of age, calf scours until 60 d of age, and heifer stayability until 365 d of age. For respiratory disease and scours, animals were assigned a phenotype of 0 if they were healthy and a phenotype of 1 if they were diseased. For stayability, animals were assigned a phenotype of 0 if they were removed from the herd by 365 d of age and 1 if they remained in the herd at 365 d of age. Genetic parameters were estimated from threshold models that included the fixed effects of mean, year-season of birth, and dam age (respiratory disease and scours only) as well as the random effects of herd-year of birth and additive genetics. Heritability estimates were 0.100, 0.075, and 0.085 for respiratory disease, scours, and stayability, respectively. Solutions for estimated breeding values for respiratory disease and scours were transformed from disease risk to disease resistance by reversing the signs before calculating genetic correlations such that higher values of scours, respiratory disease, and stayability were favored. There was a moderate favorable genetic correlation estimate between respiratory disease resistance and stayability of 0.675. However, genetic correlation estimates between respiratory disease resistance and scours resistance (0.148) and between scours resistance and stayability (0.165) were low. Estimated breeding value correlations between calf health traits and other traits evaluated nationally were generally low in magnitude. The strongest correlation estimates were with longevity, particularly between stayability and heifer livability (0.217) and between stayability and cow livability (0.288); respiratory disease resistance was also favorably correlated with heifer (0.190) and cow (0.178) livability. Correlations with cow health traits were generally low and unfavorable. Linear models including the random effect of herd-by-sire indicated that herd-by-sire accounted for approximately 2% of phenotypic variance for scours and stayability, which may indicate a genotype by environment interaction effect for these traits. In conclusion, there is significant genetic variation in organic calf health, and there was evidence of genotype by environment interaction.
MAP-CSI: Single-site Map-Assisted Localization Using Massive MIMO CSI

This paper presents a new map-assisted localization approach utilizing Chanel State Information (CSI) in Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. Map-assisted localization is an environment-aware approach in which the communication system has information regarding the surrounding environment. By combining radio frequency ray tracing parameters of the multipath components (MPC) with the environment map, it is possible to accomplish localization. Unfortunately, in real-world scenarios, ray tracing parameters are typically not explicitly available. Thus, additional complexity is added at a base station to obtain this information. On the other hand, CSI is a common communication parameter, usually estimated for any communication channel. In this work, we leverage the already available CSI data to propose a novel map-assisted CSI localization approach, referred to as MAP-CSI. We show that Angle-of-Departure (AoD) and Time-of-Arrival (ToA) can be extracted from CSI and then be used in combination with the environment map to localize the user. We perform simulations on a public MIMO dataset and show that our method works for both line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios. We compare our method to the state-of-the-art (SoA) method that uses the ray tracing data. Using MAP-CSI, we accomplish an average localization error of 1.8 m in LOS and 2.8 m in mixed (combination of LOS and NLOS samples) scenarios. On the other hand, SoA ray tracing has an average error of 1.0 m and 2.2 m, respectively, but requires explicit AoD and ToA information to perform the localization task.
The Effect of Textual Aesthetics on Information Retrieval

Examines the effects of orthography on information retrieval (IR). IR systems use white-space normalization to produce graphic, or orthographic words, from text. The punctuation in graphic words is treated idiosyncratically by different database vendor systems. This two-step process produces the index terms that IR users must match when formulating IR queries. The argument advanced by this essay is that these index terms are often unpredictable and therefore difficult to match. In this manner textual aesthetics impedes IR. The textual aesthetics of the space, the hyphen, the apostrophe stopwords are discussed. Examples are given for the commercial database vendor systems of DIALOG, DataStar and OCLC EPIC. Implications are drawn for the manipulation of written language on the World Wide Web.
Detection of the Sulfhydryl Group in Proteins by Raman Scattering Spectroscopic Method

Detection of the sulfhydryl group in proteins has previously been difficult. However, the group can be detected quite easily by Raman spectroscopy due to its distinct vibrational band at 2560-2580 cm−1 region. This region is free of interference from other vibrational bands of protein. Detection of SH in tobacco mosaic virus coat protein and two sea snake neurotoxins was made to illustrate the application of Raman spectroscopy.
Abstract 11637: Physical Activity and Atrial Fibrillation: Results From the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Introduction: Prior studies have raised the question of whether an association exists between physical activity (PA) and atrial fibrillation (AF), with mixed results. We sought to use the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) database to examine the association between PA and AF in a diverse population without clinically recognized prevalent cardiovascular disease (CVD). Hypothesis: Increased exercise will have a protective influence on AF incidence. Methods: MESA participants (N=5793) with a completed baseline PA survey and complete covariate data were included. Incident AF events were determined based on hospital discharge ICD-9 codes and Medicare inpatient claims. Total intentional exercise (TIE), defined as a sum of walking for exercise, dance/sport, and conditioning, was used as our independent variable of interest. The MESA population was stratified based on whether they reported participation in any vigorous physical activity (VPA), which was defined as “heavy effort” expended in household c...
Empirical evaluation of timing and power in resonant clock distribution

Resonant clocking is an attractive alternative to conventional clock distribution due to its significant potential for reducing clocking power. Typically, resonant clock systems rely on sinusoidal clock signals to synchronize flip-flops. Understanding clock skew and power is particularly important in these systems, because unlike their conventional counterparts, resonant clock networks do not use any buffers. We have performed a simulation study of clock skew and power in resonant H-shape clock distribution networks with sinusoidal waveforms. Focusing on the impact of width, spacing, and loading on clock skew, our study suggests practical design guidelines for low-skew resonant clocking. Our results show that compared to conventional clocking, properly designed resonant clocking yields comparable or better skew. Furthermore, simultaneous improvements in skew and power of resonant clock are possible through width scaling. Our experiments also confirm the theoretical prediction that energy dissipation in resonant clock networks scales with RC/T, where RC is the load of the network, and T is the clock period.
Maternal smoking and infant respiratory distress syndrome.

The relationship between maternal smoking and infant respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) was investigated among 550 premature (36 weeks or less) births delivered at the University of Washington Hospital from 1977 to 1980. Forty-five percent of the mothers were smokers. To avoid bias due to the reduced birth weight of infants of smokers, infants of smokers and nonsmokers were compared within small gestational age categories (two-week intervals) and not by birth weight categories. Infants of mothers who smoked had a reduced incidence of RDS for their gestation compared with infants of nonsmokers. The probability of RDS (adjusted for gestational age and method of delivery) was 25% for the infants of smokers versus 38% for the infants of nonsmokers (odds ratio = 0.55, P = .005), equivalent to approximately a 1.5-week acceleration in lung maturity for infants of smokers. The smoking effect was not explained by demographic differences between smokers and nonsmokers, nor by differences in the incidence of pregnancy complications between the two groups. This study adds support to the theory that adverse pregnancy conditions may lead to an acceleration in pulmonary maturity to allow earlier extrauterine adaptation.
The "Library of America" and the Welter of American Books

vaudeville routine on the pages of the New York Review of Books that spring. Instead, it was the apprehension, which now seems a bit quaint against the larger violence of the era, that a preacher of freedom like Ralph Waldo Emerson was being incarcerated within the cruel gridwork of modern scholarly editing. Mumford argued that Emerson's latest editors, impelled by a pseudo-scientific literalism, were subjecting their victim to "ruthless typographic mutilation," thus pushing him out of reach of the ordinary reader. It was not just a jail the editors prepared for him after his torture: it was a "concentration camp" of apparatus, a compound marked by "technological extravagance and human destitution."2 It was a time of extravagant public rhetoric and almost instantaneous fight-picking, whatever the topic, and the bitter tone Mumford chose for his review of the Harvard edition of Emerson's Journals soon was matched by the answering anger of those whom he had attacked. It would be hard, on the basis of style alone, to distinguish the little literary war which en sued on the pages of the Review from those more overtly political ones which then were raging, in adjacent columns, on the Vietnam debacle of President Johnson, the connivance of Vice-president Humphrey in it, the atrocities of Mayor Daley's "gestapo," and the like. But it would be wrong to see Mumford's eruption, or the other ones which it caused in friend and foe alike, as merely a spillage of those polluted social waters into the heretofore more genteel literary arena. For one thing, Mumford had good reason to be angry. He was simple enough to believe that books had been made for reading, and reading by
Prospects for obtaining an r process from Gamma Ray Burst Disk Winds

We discuss the possibility that r -process nucleosynthesis may occur in the winds from gamma ray burst accretion disks. This can happen if the temperature of the disk is sufficiently high that electron antineutrinos are trapped as well as neutrinos. This implies accretion disks with greater than a solar mass per second accretion rate, although lower accretion rates with higher black hole spin parameters may provide viable environments as well. Additionally, the outflow from the disk must either have relatively low entropy s ∼ 10 or the initial acceleration of the wind must be slow enough that it is neutrino and antineutrino capture as opposed to electron and positron capture that set the electron fraction.
Differential suppression of endometrial prostaglandin F2alpha by the equine conceptus

Prostaglandin F2alpha secretion by the uterine endometrium between Days 13 and 14 postovulation causes luteal regression in mares. A mechanism involving interruption or suppression of this secretion causes pregnancy to be maintained. The present study was designed to determine the age of the conceptus when maximal suppression of PGF2alpha secretion occurs. Mares were examined daily during estrus with ultrasonography (day 0 = day of ovulation). Conceptus tissues were recovered nonsurgically on Days 9 (n = 7), 12 (n = 5), 13 (n = 5), and 16 (n = 7) and uterine biopsies on Day 14. Both uterine and conceptus tissues were washed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) with 100 units penicillin G/ml + 100 microg streptomycin/ml, pH 7.4. Endometrial tissue (approximately 200 mg) plus conceptus tissues were incubated in 15 ml of tissue culture medium 199 (M199) + 10% fetal calf serum and 10 units penicillin G/ml and 10 microg streptomycin/ml at 37 degrees C under 5% CO(2): 5% O(2) : 90% N(2). Samples were taken at 4, 8, and 24 h. Two plates that contained only endometrial tissue and two additional plates with 25 mg flunixin meglumine added along with endometrial tissue were also included in the incubations. Concentrations of PGF2alpha were measured in all samples using radioimmunoassay. There was a trend toward suppression of PGF2alpha secretion by conceptus tissues, regardless of age. However, Day 12 concepti significantly suppressed PGF2alpha secretion compared with that of endometrial tissue incubated alone (P = 0.03).
What can we learn from the phenomenon of preferential lymph node metastasis in carcinoma

Lymph nodes are the most common and earliest site of malignancies arising in epithelia. However, the reason for this pattern of preferential metastasis is not clear. This article reviews features of the metastatic process and lymph node microenvironment which might potentiate lymph node metastases. There is intriguing evidence that preferential lymph node metastasis is due to (1) the efficiency of lymph nodes as filters of the tumor cells which arrive there, and (2) the probability that adhesive interactions, normally governing the generation of different T-cell immune responses, are responsible for this efficiency and may also promote invasion and proliferation of tumor cells in the lymph node. Manipulation of the cytokine environment in a lymph node draining a primary epithelial tumor may alter both the expression of cell adhesion molecules within the node and the subsequent metastatic ability of the tumor cells arriving at it.