cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
False alarm rate estimation for information-theoretic-based source enumeration methods

The Tracy-Widom distribution is used to determine the false alarm rate of information theoretic methods that statistically estimate the number of sources in a multichannel receiver input. The Tracy-Widom distribution is the limiting distribution for the largest eigenvalue of a covariancematrix having a central whiteWishart distribution. Such covariance matrices are produced by the output of multi-channel receivers whose signals can be characterized as zero-mean Gaussian processes. The Tracy-Widom distribution is used to estimate the false alarm rate of the Akaike Information Criterion and Minimum Description Length methods when no external sources are present. The Tracy-Widom distribution along with the eigenvalue inclusion principle is used to obtain an upper bound on the false alarm rate of the Akaike Information Criterion and Minimum Description Length when one external source is present. Monte-Carlo simulations were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of both methods for cases where both the array and data sample sizes are small.
The case of the entitled resident: a composite case study of a resident performance problem syndrome with interdisciplinary commentary.

Background: Residents with performance problems create substantial burden on programs and institutions. Understanding the nature and quality of performance problems can help in learning to address performance problems.Aim: We sought to illuminate the effects of resident performance problems and the potential solutions for those problems from the perspectives of people with various roles in health care.Methods: We created a composite portrait from several residents who demonstrated a cluster of common performance characteristics and whose chronic or serious maladaptive behavior and response to situations created problems for themselves, for their clinical colleagues, and for faculty of their residency program. The composite was derived from in-depth interviews of program directors and review of resident records. We solicited practitioners from multiple fields to respond to the portrait by answering a series of questions about severity, prognosis, and how and whether one could reliably remediate a person wi...
Disturbance to wintering western snowy plovers

In order to better understand the nature ofdisturbances to wintering snowy plovers, I observed snowy plovers and activities that might disturb them at a beach near Devereux Slough in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Disturbance (activity that caused plovers to move or fly) to wintering populations ofthreatened western snowy plovers was 16 times higher at a public beach than at protected beaches. Wintering plovers reacted to disturbance at halfthe distance ( � 40 m) as has been reported for breeding snowy plovers ( � 80 m). Humans, dogs, crows and other birds were the main sources ofdisturbance on the public beach, and each snowy plover was disturbed, on average, once every 27 weekend min and once every 43 weekday min. Dogs off leash were a disproportionate source of disturbance. Plovers were more likely to fly from dogs, horses and crows than from humans and other shorebirds. Plovers were less abundant near trail heads. Over short time scales, plovers did not acclimate to or successfully find refuge from disturbance. Feeding rates declined with increased human activity. I used data from these observations to parameterize a model that predicted rates ofdisturbance given various management actions. The model f that prohibiting dogs and a 30 m buffer zone surrounding a 400 m stretch of beach provided the most protection for plovers for the least amount of impact to beach recreation. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
A note on the reflection of diffuse radiation by the sea surface

Measurements of the reflection of diffuse solar radiation from the sea surface under a cloud cover are somewhat higher than Judd's theoretical value of 6.6 per cent for reflection of diffuse radiation by a flat water surface. Schmidt's usually accepted theoretical value of 17 per cent does not apply, and when his derivation is re-examined it leads to the same value as Judd's.
The relative effectiveness of managed care penetration and the healthcare safety net in reducing avoidable hospitalizations.

Abstract: Avoidable hospitalizations represent a key indicator for access to, and the quality of, primary care. Therefore, understanding their behavior is essential in terms of management of healthcare resources and costs. This analysis examines the affect of 2 healthcare strategies on the rate of avoidable hospitalization, managed care and the healthcare safety net. The avoidable hospitalizations definition developed by Weissman et al. (1992) was used to identify relevant inpatient episodes. A 2-stage simultaneous equations multivariate regression model with instrumental variables was used to estimate the relative influence of HMO penetration and the composition of local hospital markets on the rate of avoidable hospitalizations. Control variables in the model include healthcare supply and demand, demographic, socioeconomic, and health status characteristics. Increased market presence of public hospitals significantly reduced avoidable hospitalizations. HMO penetration did not influence the rate of avoidable hospitalizations. The results suggest that public investments in healthcare facilities and infrastructure are more effective in reducing avoidable hospitalizations.
PULSATINGSTORE: An Analytic Framework for Automated Storage Management

Self-management of large information technology components, such as DBMSs, has emerged as one important problem in the area of autonomic computing. In particular, automated storage management is critical for most data-intensive applications. The reason is that the storage maintenance cost manifests one of the biggest factors in the overall operational cost. At the same time, due to the interactive nature of most applications, users typically pose the QoS constraints on IO access performance. Hence it is crucial to ensure that the applications are not underprovisioned (giving rise to the risk of QoS violation) or over-provisioned (resulting in high operational costs). Such issue gets further complicated when the application workload keeps changing. In this paper, we present a novel analytic framework, PULSATINGSTORE, for autonomically managing the storage to balance the cost and performance in an online manner. In particular, given the workload characteristics of an application and storage QoS requirement, our PULSATINGSTORE framework is capable of scheduling the up-migration (in the case of under-provisioning) or down-migration (in the case of over-provisioning) with the optimal or near-optimal cost while still maintaining the QoS constraint.
Rhodopsin from the fish, Astyanax: role of tyrosine 261 in the red shift.

Purpose To isolate and characterize the rhodopsin cDNA from the fish, Astyanax fasciatus, and to determine the effect of tyrosine 261 on its spectral tuning. Methods The rhodopsin cDNA was cloned using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction amplification and then sequenced. A mutant, Y261F, was generated by site-directed mutagenesis. Both wild type and mutant were transiently expressed in COS-1 cells, regenerated with 11-cis retinal, and purified by immunoaffinity chromatography. Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry was used to determine wavelength of maximum absorption. Results A fasciatus rhodopsin cDNA exhibits 80% amino acid identity with bovine rhodopsin. In contrast to all known rhodopsins, this rhodopsin contains a tyrosine instead of a phenylalanine at amino acid position 261. Indeed, this particular amino acid replacement has been implicated in the long wavelength absorption of the red cone pigment. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to change the Astyanax amino acid 261 to phenylalanine (Y261F). Expression of the Y261F mutant in COS-1 cells showed an absorbance maximum of 496 nm, compared to 504 nm for the wild type pigment. Conclusions A naturally occurring fish rhodopsin is red shifted about 8 nm due to one critical amino acid substitution.
Abundance, age structure, and spatial distribution of lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, in the St Clair System

−Historically, the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair supported an abundant lake sturgeon population. Since the early 1900s, the status of lake sturgeon populations within these waters has been unknown, largely due to the demise of the commercial fishery. We initiated a study in 1996 to determine the spawning locations, abundance, age structure, and spatial distribution of lake sturgeon in the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair. One spawning site was identified in the North Channel of the St. Clair River. The site was unusually deep, 9 to 12 m, with a substrate of coal cinders. A total of 1,238 lake sturgeon were captured with trap nets, setlines, trawls, and gill nets. Nearly all the fish captured were tagged and released. Fifty-six tag recoveries were recorded for all sources (assessment, sport fishing, and commercial fishing). Seven fish were recaptured twice, providing more details on individual movements and growth. Tag recoveries documented movement into southern Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Factors such as the open nature of the St. Clair system, unknown level of fishing mortality, tag loss, and individual fish behavior deterred efforts to use mark-recapture data to estimate population size. Age structure, based on interpretation of pectoral fin ray sections, indicated consistent recruitment during the 1970s and 1980s, but low recruitment prior to 1973 and after 1994. Trawling and sidescan sonar analysis documented an area of consistently high lake sturgeon density in the lake near the St. Clair River delta. We used sidescan sonar to estimate the abundance of lake sturgeon in a 255-ha section of that area of the lake at over 29,000 fish in 1999 and about 5,000 fish in 2000. Results of this study indicate the St. Clair system supports a large number of sturgeon with some movement into Lakes Huron and Erie. During summer, sturgeon are densely aggregated in a small geographic area of Lake St. Clair. This dense aggregation likely represents fish from several different spawning locations, including the one identified on the North Channel of the St. Clair River. Gaining an understanding of the characteristics that make that area a preferred location may enhance environmental protection efforts and assist in habitat restoration efforts in other Great Lakes connecting waters. Lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens is the only species of sturgeon endemic to the Laurentian Great Lakes. Within the last century, lake sturgeon populations have been dramatically reduced or extirpated from much of their native range (Harkness and Dymond 1961; Brousseau 1987; Hay-Chmielewski and Whelan 1997). Life history traits, such as long life span,
Optical Coherence Tomography: Principles and Applications

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emerging technology for performing high-resolution cross-sectional imaging. OCT is analogous to ultrasound, except that it uses light instead of sound to generate images of tissue with micron-scale resolution. OCT can be used as a type of “optical biopsy, ” because it provides images of tissue pathology in situ and in real time, without the need to excise and process specimens, as it is done in conventional excisional biopsy and histopathology. OCT promises applications in a wide range of clinical situations: to image tissue where standard excisional biopsy is hazardous or impossible, to guide surgical procedures, and to reduce sampling errors associated with excisional biopsy. This article reviews the principles and applications of OCT.
Comparison of IKONOS and QuickBird images for mapping mangrove species on the Caribbean coast of Panama

Mangrove stands of differing species composition are hard to distinguish in conventional, coarse resolution satellite images. The new generation of meter-level satellite imagery provides a unique opportunity to achieve this goal. In this study, an IKONOS Geo bundle image and a QuickBird Standard bundle image were acquired for a study area located at Punta Galeta on the Caribbean coast of Panama. The two images cover the same area and were acquired under equivalent conditions. Three comparison tests were designed and implemented, each with separate objectives. First, a comparison was conducted band by band by examining their spectral statistics and species by species by inspecting their textural roughness. The IKONOS image had a higher variance and entropy value in all the compared bands, whereas the QuickBird image displayed a finer textural roughness in the forest canopy. Second, maximum likelihood classification (MLC) was executed with two different band selections. When examining only multispectral bands, the IKONOS image had better spectral discrimination than QuickBird while the inclusion of panchromatic bands had no effect on the classification accuracy of either the IKONOS or QuickBird image. Third, first- and second-order texture features were extracted from the panchromatic images at different window sizes and with different grey level (GL) quantization levels and were compared through MLC classification. Results indicate that the consideration of image texture enhances classifications based on the IKONOS panchromatic band more than it does classifications based on comparable QuickBird imagery. An object-based classification was also utilized to compare underlying texture in both panchromatic and multispectral bands. On the whole, both IKONOS and QuickBird images produced promising results in classifying mangrove species.
Radial Differential Mobility Analyzer for One Nanometer Particle Classification

We present details on the design, construction, and calibration of a radial differential mobility analyzer suitable for sizing aerosol nanoparticles with mobility diameters as small as one nanometer. Design improvements targeted decreasing the residence time with a concomitant reduction in particle agglomeration and diffusional losses to walls. Calibration was performed using aerosolized monodisperse molecular ions. Instrument resolution was found to increase with applied voltage as V 1/2 , indicating that diffusion is broadening the transfer function and reaching a value of ∼7 for the largest molecular ion measured (mobility diameter of 1.47 nm). The mobilities of three molecular ions in the tetra-alkyl ammonium halide homologous series are also reported.
Experimental determination of dominant scattering mechanisms in scaled InAsSb quantum well

Antimonide based compound semiconductors have gained considerable interest in recent years due to their superior electron and hole transport properties [1]. A Mixed anion InAs y Sb 1−y quantum well heterostructure with high electron mobility of 13,300 cm2/Vs has already been demonstrated at a sheet carrier density of 2×1012 /cm2, albeit for a thick EOT quantum well (QW) structure [2]. A thin EOT structure is desired for improving short channel effects while maintaining the high electron mobility in the QW. In this paper, we study the low field electron transport properties in the high mobility InAs 0.8 Sb 0.2 quantum well as we scale the QW heterostructure. Fig. 1(a),(b) show the schematic of the thick (T QW =12nm) and scaled (T QW =7.5nm) quantum well FET structure using InAs 0.8 Sb 0.2 as channel material, In 0.2 Al 0.8 Sb barrier layer and an ultra-thin GaSb surface layer for avoiding surface oxidation of Al in the barrier [2]. Fig. 2(a),(b) show the simulated energy band diagram of the two structures using self-consistent Schrodinger-Poisson simulation, indicating strong electron confinement in the QW. The effect of nonparabolicity on thick QW with T QW =12nm has already been studied and an effective mass (m*) of 0.043m 0 has been extracted experimentally [3]. For scaled QW the subband spacing was adjusted in order to achieve electron sheet charge density as a function of temperature, and the extracted density of states m*=0.05m 0 was correlated to the transport effective mass. Experimental work to verify the obtained effective mass for scaled QW is underway.
Jumping: Mashaw on Due Process in the Administrative State

Television documentaries reporting the current state of our knowledge about the universe, creation, atomic physics, and the like occasionally include a graphic sequence that fascinates me. The camera moves from the smallest imagined particles outward through the physical world we experience in daily life to planets, the solar system, galaxies, and the universe itself. Sometimes the sequence moves down (or in) instead of up (or out). This depiction of the way things I experience through my senses connect with those things I can only imagine increases my trust of the universe I inhabit. Jerry Mashaw's Due Process in the Administrative State attempts to accomplish the same result in much the same manner. He connects and integrates our political aspirations with the observable features of modern administrative life by jumping outward to the abstractions of liberal-democratic theory, postrelativist philosophy, and economic analysis. He creates for his audience a vision of a doctrinally coherent due process jurisprudence because he depicts the observable and the imagined with equal clarity. Mashaw describes how the experiment with participatory policy making in the Consumer Product Safety Commission failed virtually every test of efficacy. He knows the effects of Goldberg v. Kelly1 were mixed at best. He is very concerned about the high costs of adjudicatory due process and of the persistent threat of lawsuits, which discourage aggressive administrative problem solving. But he takes equally seriously our imagined moral world: the antinomic world in which our commitment to liberal-democratic theory often pits the value of majority rule against the value of individual dignity.
Robot path planning using voronoi classifiers

This paper details the development of a minimal set of locally distributed navigation beacons that can provide new waypoints in dense obstacle fields. The 'beacons' provide direction and magnitude inputs for the robot to use for its next waypoint. The beacons are placed in such a manner that all locations within a bounded playing field can reach a goal area in a desired number of steps. This guarantee of total coverage comes only with tuning the magnitudes and directions of each beacon (as well as their position in the field). Key to this approach is the underlying 'color map'. The color map assigns a color to regions of the playing field based on whether the region terminates at the goal ('green'); leaves the playing field and doesn't return ('red'); or doesn’t leave the playing field but does not terminate at the goal (within a fixed number of steps)-also know as 'stagnation' ('yellow'). Changes in the placement of the beacons and their associated parameters result in changes to the color map. A software tool has been developed to allow a user to see the instantaneous changes in the color map when changes are made to the beacons. This paper will also describe how the beacons are related to both Voronoi diagrams and nearest neighbor classifiers-thus generating the final name for the navigation beacons; Voronoi Classifiers. Future work is detailed including the development of color maps for other cost metrics (such as distance traveled, power consumed or terrain trafficabilty) and efforts in developing an algorithm to find the infimum solution (minimize the maximum steps, distance, etc.).
Multilevel Modeling for Binary Data

We review some of the work of the past ten years that applied the multilevel logit model. We attempt to provide a brief description of the hypothesis tested, the hierarchical data structure analyzed, and the multilevel data source for each piece of work we have reviewed. We have also reviewed the technical literature and worked out two examples on multilevel models for binary outcomes. The review and examples serve two purposes: First, they are designed to assist in all aspects of working with multilevel models for binary outcomes, including model conceptualization, model description for a research report, understanding of the structure of required multilevel data, estimation of the model via a generally available statistical package, and interpretation of the results. Second, our examples contribute to the evaluation of the approximation procedures for binary multilevel models that have been implemented for general public use.
Pollution prevention research for organic air emissions

Publisher Summary The organics control branch (OCB) of the U.S. environmental protection agency's (EPA's) air and energy engineering research laboratory (AEERL) is charged with developing and assessing pollution prevention (P2) techniques and add-on control technologies for reducing emissions of organic compounds to air—volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and air toxics. This chapter provides a brief overview of OCB's P2 research in three areas: 1) surface coating; 2) solvent cleaning; and 3) consumer/commercial products, including traditional consumer products and non-process solvent use in commercial operations. Each of the industries with which OCB is working has concerns about emissions from these areas. Most of these industries use surface coatings, solvents (to prepare surfaces for coating or to clean equipment), and a wide variety of prepackaged commercial products in their facilities. Generally, projects in each of the technical areas can be divided into four categories or types: (1) scoping studies that characterize an industry or process and its emissions and identify P2 opportunities to reduce those emissions, (2) technology assessment and development projects which evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of specific coating technologies or P2 techniques, (3) demonstration projects that investigate methods of reducing emissions in cooperation with industrial partners, and (4) technology transfer is an important project activity in OCB.
Wireless synchronization of mm-wave arrays in 65nm CMOS

This paper presents the first wireless synchronization of a mm-wave array, eliminating the need for connecting wires between the array elements. Wireless injection locking is successfully demonstrated and a 3dB bandwidth of 400Hz at a carrier frequency of 50GHz is achieved (frequency stability of 8ppb). The chip includes two on-chip antennas, a power amplifier, a phase-shifter, buffer amplifiers, and a VCO. The chip is fabricated in a 65nm CMOS process and occupies an area of 1.7mm × 3.8mm.
Think the High Court is Pro-Corporate? Not Here; Companies Unable to Remove State Brought Consumer Protection Cases to Federal Court

Commentary and analysis of the Supreme Court’s January 14, 2014 decision in Mississippi ex rel. Hood v. AU Optronics, in which the Court held that this Mississippi state parens patriae consumer action did not constitute a “mass action” removable to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. The decision embodies a victory for states’ attorneys general in their efforts to keep state parens patriae actions in their own courts, and represented a setback for corporate defendants seeking to remove such cases, as pseudo-class actions, into federal court. The Court determined that the state parens patriae action was not a CAFA “mass action” because it did not satisfy the threshold criteria for a mass action in CAFA. The underlying litigation involved an action by the Mississippi state Attorney General against the manufacturers of liquid crystal display panels, for artificially driving up the cost of LCD panels, to the detriment of consumers. The state action was brought pursuant to Mississippi antitrust and consumer protection statutes, and requested injunctive relief as well as restitutionary damages.
ADPKD Channels: The Polycystins

The initial members of the polycystin family were first described and characterized as the proteins mutated in a common genetic disease, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Over the past few decades, these proteins, polycystins 1 and 2 (PC1, PC2), have been found to have a variety of cellular functions in multiple intracellular locations. In addition, other homologous proteins have been identified and linked to the transient receptor potential family of channels. PC1 and PC2 or homologous family members form mechanosensitive Ca2+ channels in the primary cilia. Elsewhere in the cell, the PCs may form Ca2+ channels that are gated by other stimuli and each of the PCs appears to play a variety of functional roles in multiple cellular pathways. While much is currently known about the polycystins and their roles in ADPKD initiation and progression, the tissue-specific binding partners and the interactions that modulate the normal physiological functions of all the polycystins are still emerging.
The Role of the Nervous System in the Pathophysiology of Psoriasis: A Review of Cases of Psoriasis Remission or Improvement Following Denervation Injury

As most efforts in the last decade have focused on the immunologic basis of inflammatory skin disease, there has been less emphasis on the role of the nervous system in the disease process of psoriasis. Evidence in support of the neurocutaneous pathway has come from observations of patients experiencing unilateral improvement and even complete remission following nerve damage in the affected dermatomal region. The aim of this review was to investigate the role of neuropeptides in the intricate pathophysiology of psoriasis. The PubMed database was searched for individual case reports or case series that reported clearance or significant improvement in psoriatic disease in patients following documented nerve injury. A total of 11 cases were found that reported improvement of psoriatic lesions in areas afflicted by central or peripheral nerve injury. The most common causes of denervation were inadvertent surgical interruption, cerebrovascular accident, and poliomyelitis. In four cases the patients eventually regained neurologic function, which was associated with a recurrence of skin lesions. In cases of permanent nerve damage, there was remission of psoriasis. The cases reported in the literature to date provide clinical evidence that absence of neural input leads to psoriasis improvement, suggesting a crucial role of the nervous system in the pathophysiology of psoriatic disease. In fact, neuropeptides such as nerve growth factor, substance P, calcitonin gene-related peptide, and vasoactive intestinal peptide may be important contributors of psoriatic disease and potential targets for future therapies.
Effects of Organizational Structure of Marketing Planning on Credibility and Utilization of Plan Output

The authors investigate the effects of the organizational structure used for marketing planning on the credibility and utilization of marketing plans. Data on 53 organizations were obtained from mu...
Investigation on Emotional Intelligence and Its Influencing Factors of Head Nurses in Shanghai

Objective To identify the emotional intelligence(EI) of head nurses in Shanghai and its related factors.Methods Totally 440 head nurses in Shanghai were surveyed by using "Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale"(WLEIS).Results The EI score of head nurses was(15.68 ± 1.75),while the dimension of "Self Emotional Appraisal" got the highest score(4.17 ± 0.53),and "Regulation of Emotion" got the lowest score(3.80 ± 0.67).Statistically,having children or not,education and work experience were related factors of head nurses' EI.Conclusion There is still room for head nurses in Shanghai to improve their emotional intelligence.Some demographic factors such as having children or not,education and work experience can affect head nurse's EI.
Is mesenteric adenitis a benign condition? Ischemic colitis secondary to mesenteric adenitis in a 12 year old

Abstract Mesenteric adenitis is an inflammation and enlargement of the mesenteric lymph nodes often secondary to an infection. Symptoms often mimic many of the common causes of right lower quadrant abdominal pain and it is usually a benign, self-limited disease. We report a case of a 12 year old girl with mesenteric adenitis in which enlarged lymph nodes obstructed blood flow to her ascending colon, causing venous and arterial thrombosis and ischemic colitis, requiring a right hemi-colectomy. Ischemic colitis should be included on the wide differential for right lower quadrant pain and quickly identified to provide the best outcome for the patient.
Examining National Trends in Educational Placements for Students With Significant Disabilities

Using the least restrictive environments (LRE) data from annual Reports to Congress, this study examined national trends in placement between 2000 and 2014 for school-aged students considered to ha...
Atlas-Based Segmentation of Temporal Bone Anatomy

To develop a time-efficient automated segmentation approach that could identify critical structures in the temporal bone for visual enhancement and use in surgical simulation software. An atlas-based segmentation approach was developed to segment the cochlea, ossicles, semicircular canals (SCCs), and facial nerve in normal temporal bone CT images. This approach was tested in images of 26 cadaver bones (13 left, 13 right). The results of the automated segmentation were compared to manual segmentation visually and using DICE metric, average Hausdorff distance, and volume similarity. The DICE metrics were greater than 0.8 for the cochlea, malleus, incus, and the SCCs combined. It was slightly lower for the facial nerve. The average Hausdorff distance was less than one voxel for all structures, and the volume similarity was 0.86 or greater for all structures except the stapes. The atlas-based approach with rigid body registration of the otic capsule was successful in segmenting critical structures of temporal bone anatomy for use in surgical simulation software.
Blood–Brain Barrier and Stroke

Stroke disintegrates communications within a highly dynamic and regulated ensemble of cells that constitutes the blood–brain barrier (BBB), endothelial cells, astrocytic end feet that surround blood vessels, the basement membrane (BM)/extracellular matrix (ECM), and pericytes, inducing and propagating injury. We discuss the effects of experimental stroke on individual cell constituents of the BBB and how these changes affect structural and functional integrity of the BBB in relation to acute injury and repair. The age at the time of stroke, from the newborn period to adulthood and older, can markedly affect the particulars of deregulation, processes that we also discuss in this chapter.
Abstract 110: Noncoding RNAs: A Possible "Linc" to Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common cardiac arrhythmia, is associated with a 2-fold increased risk of mortality and a ~5- fold increased risk of stroke. Genome wide association studies have identified a locus on chromosome 4q25 that has the strongest association with AF. The SNPs in this locus most strongly associated with AF are located in an intergenic region that is 78 to 157 kb distal to the closest gene PITX2. PITX2 is a candidate gene for AF, due to its role in left/right patterning during heart development and expression found only in the left vs. right atrium. Our lab performed RNA-seq on human atria and identified a long intergenic non-coding RNA (linc-RNA) adjacent to PITX2 that is expressed with the same left/right atrial asymmetry as PITX2. We hypothesized that there may be functional genetic variants in the 4q25 region that directly affect expression of PITX2 or the linc-RNA adjacent to PITX2. Further, we hypothesized that the linc-RNA may control in trans the expression of genes that can alter cellular electrophysiology and lead to AF susceptibility. First we used qPCR to determine whether the expression of PITX2 and this linc-RNA were correlated in 199 human left atria samples. We found the expression of these genes to be highly and positively correlated with an r2 value of 0.47 (p
A Portrait of the Three North-Eastern Districts of Milan

The three north-eastern districts are an interesting portrayal of the general paradigm of urban planning in the city of Milan. They show us three different models of interpretation of the city and its neighbourhoods, focusing on the most stimulating urban situations and their impact on the previous theoretical framework for terrorism prevention and management.
Effects of Cognitive Tasks on Drivers' Eye Behavior and Performance

Safe driving involves obtaining and using required visual information. Recent studies have shown that this information acquisition is compromised as a driver performs other mental tasks. We conducted an experiment, inspired by Recarte and Nunes (2000), to investigate the effect of cognitive tasks on drivers’ eye behavior and performance in a single monitor, PC-based driving simulator. The eye behavior (i.e., gaze direction and duration) and driving performance (i.e., lane keeping and speed control) of twelve college students were recorded as they drove in three environments (i.e., highway, rural, urban) under three secondary task conditions (none, verbal task, spatial-imagery task). The results confirmed Recarte and Nunes (2000) observation that such tasks greatly reduce the time and frequency of such safety-related behaviors as checking the speedometer and rear view mirrors, with the spatial-imagery task having the largest effect. Pupil diameter increases significantly when performing secondary tasks, confirming the usefulness of that measure as an indicator of processing load. In contrast, these secondary tasks have no effect on lane-keeping accuracy, though they do increase variation in speed. From the perspective of multiple resource theory (Wickens, 2002; Wickens & Hollands, 2000), this suggests that lane keeping, speed control and other safety-monitoring activities (i.e., checking mirrors and speedometer) all require attentional resources, and that when resources must be given to some new task, there is a prioritization of the remaining tasks. Lane-keeping, the failure of which would produce the most apparent driving failures, is given the highest priority, with other safetymonitoring activities given lower priority. The method employed here can be used to examine the effect of driver activities and devices on their monitoring of safety-related information.
Bone Stress Injuries

Bone stress injuries (BSI) are a common overuse injury in active individuals. The injury is particularly common in athletes participating in land-based sports including running. The cause of BSI is often multifactorial from a combination of biological, biomechanical, and anatomical risk factors. Initial management includes off-loading the affected bone to eliminate pain and facilitate healing, addressing risk factors, and ensuring adequate nutrition, followed by gradual loading program and physical therapy. Injury prevention strategies include addressing deficits in running mechanics, optimizing nutrition and sleep, and early sports participation in sports that optimize bone health, including ball sports.
On-chip microelectrode array and in situ transient calibration for measurement of transient concentration gradients near surfaces of 2D cell cultures

Abstract Amperometric microelectrode arrays (MEAs) interrogate the concentration at multiple positions simultaneously and with sufficient sampling rates, thus being able to capture fast transient gradients. However, sensitivity variability issues in amperometric MEAs degrade the reliability of the measurements, particularly at the small concentration scales found in physiological studies. This paper describes the development of on-chip platinum amperometric MEAs and in situ transient calibration for reliable measurement of physiological transient concentration gradients. The designed MEA geometry facilitates positioning near a 2D cell culture setup, and the proposed in situ transient calibration minimizes the effects of sensitivity variability, thus allowing for calculation of gradients based on concentration differences between closely spaced electrodes. The effectiveness of the MEA and the in situ transient calibration was evaluated by measuring controllably-generated gradients, and then calculating the difference between experimental and simulated data using normalized time analysis. Gradients generated by periodic uptake intervals as fast as 150 ms followed by recovery intervals of 60 s were measured over a spatial range of 70 μm, with spatial resolution of 35 μm, and sampling time and measurement time of 10 ms. Transient gradients of hydrogen peroxide were also measured above the surface of a 2D cell culture of human astrocytes, thus demonstrating the approach in actual physiological measurements.
1735a Archiving key historical documents: choices and platforms

Introduction The History of Prevention of Occupational and Environmental Diseases project highlights an important challenge facing the occupational safety and health community. As the web archive states, ‘The history of occupational and environmental medicine is rich, but has largely been relegated to passing notice or ignored altogether, even by specialists in the field.’ On the rare occasion occupational and environmental disease history is mentioned, it is most often limited to biographical sketches and references—not complete profiles of individuals who have made significant contributions nor the actual documentation and/or publication of their work. Thus, the extraordinary evolution and influence of history upon contemporary science and practice may not be fully appreciated and could potentially be lost to future generations of workplace health and safety researchers and practitioners. Methods Join us as we explore this phenomenon and engage one another in identifying key resources and platforms for the selection, archival, and preservation of the essential historical resources connecting our past to the present day. In this workshop, we will reflect on the merits of establishing a centralised database for historical documents, share choices in personal archival methodology and technology, fully explore The History of Prevention of Occupational and Environmental Diseases web archive project, and provide practical hand-on experience in the archival of one’s own content. In preparation, workshop participants are urged to bring three pieces of informational content (i.e., paper documents or electronic publications) to contribute to the archive. Results This workshop will highlight the significance of historical preservation and impart methodology, technology, and best practices for the archival of historical documents. Through practical experience in contributing content to a centralised platform, participants will learn the steps necessary to establish one’s own strategy for archival. Conclusion Our goal is to reintroduce historic research into the occupational safety and health community—saving valuable time and resources spent to rediscover historical significance. A concerted effort to preserve and share accrued knowledge will afford current and future generations with the opportunity to more fully explore historic ‘windows of influence’ and lessons learned, providing foundational elements upon which to discover future avenues for the reduction of harmful occupational exposures and improved worker protection across the U.S. and around the world.
Association of mildly insufficient sleep with symptoms of anxiety and depression

Abstract Objective/Background Sleep disorders are common among people with depression and anxiety. This study examines the independent association of mild sleep insufficiency and symptoms of anxiety and depression among adults. Design/Methods Data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a cross-sectional nationwide telephone-administered survey were used. Participants reported how often in the past month they felt nervous, hopeless, restless/fidgety, depressed, the number of days their mental health was “not good”, and the number of hours of sleep they received per day. Covariates included age, sex, race, education, BMI, marital status, exercise, employment and household income. Linear and ordinal logistic regression analyses included survey weighting procedures. Results Data were examined for 20,851 participants (mean ± SE age = 47.47 ± 0.18 years; 49.64% men). Each additional hour of sleep was associated with decreased odds (OR; 95% CI) of depression (0.77; 0.73–0.80), hopelessness (0.79; 0.76–0.82), nervousness (0.80; 0.77–0.82), and feeling restlessness/fidgety (0.75; 0.72–0.77) controlling for other covariates. Sleep duration was inversely associated with number of poor mental health days (β = −1.06 ± 0.07 SE). One hour less than optimum sleep duration was associated with 60–80% higher odds of depression, hopelessness, nervousness, and feeling restless/fidgety (p Limitations Temporality of these associations cannot be inferred due to the cross-sectional study design. Conclusions Sleep duration and mental health symptoms were strongly associated in this nation-wide, representative sample. Providers should be aware that even minor sleep insufficiency is associated with these symptoms.
Applications of Diamond-Like Carbon in Computer Technology

Abstract Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited by plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) are characterized by nanolevel smoothness, high hardness, and extremely high resistance to wear and to chemical attack. They also have very high electrical resistivity and good optical transmittance in the visible and infrared. The properties of the DLC films make them attractive candidates for protective coatings, especially at submicron thickness, and as a dielectric material. However, DLC films are characterized by very high internal stresses, and their usefulness is thus dependent upon achieving strong adhesive bonds to the substrate on which they have to be deposited. This paper details the properties of DLC films deposited by PECVD using acetylene, ways to improve their adhesion to a variety of substrate materials, and resultant tribological behavior. Applications of DLC are presented, those being as a protective coating for magnetic recording media, electrical insulation for chip cooling, and protective coatings for photolithographic masks.
Clouding Big Data: Information Privacy Considerations

Advances in data storage and mining technologies have brought increasing attention to cloud computing and Big Data. One of the foci of this attention has been in the areas of privacy. The ubiquitous collection and analysis of data that enable predictions about human behavior and states is threatening our traditional notion of privacy, and bringing into question the notion of anonymity by aggregating data. This paper argues that a legalistic approach might not be sufficient to address the emerging privacy issues, and that we might consider looking at ethics as an additional avenue to arrive at some solutions.
Sequence Organization in Animal DNA’s

Recent efforts in our laboratory have been focused on the or­ganization of repetitive and nonrepetitive sequences in animal DNA, and the representation of these sequences in RNA. A new chapter in these studies began recently with observations that lead to the conclusion that middle-repetitive DNA sequences are interspersed in an orderly way amongst nonrepetitive sequence elements. I will begin by summarizing some of these recent experiments on sequence organization in the DNA’s of Xenopus and the sea urchin, and then proceed to describe some new findings on the sequence constitution of sea urchin messenger RNA.
Normal sexual dimorphism in theory of mind circuitry is reversed in Schizophrenia

ABSTRACTThe ability to mentalize, or theory of mind (ToM), is sexually dimorphic in humans and impaired in schizophrenia. This sex-stratified study probed cognitive (indexed by intelligence) and af...
Characterization of Ribbed Mussel Geukensia demissa (Dillwyn, 1817) Habitat in Relation to Tidal Elevation and Salinity in a South Carolina Estuary

The distribution of sessile intertidal organisms depends on many different environmental and biological variables. Of these, elevation and salinity are particularly relevant, especially for organisms that occur in salt marsh–dominated estuaries in the Southeastern United States. The ribbed mussel Geukensia demissa is a mytilid bivalve, which is an ecologically important foundation species. Despite experiencing commercial harvesting pressure in South Carolina, G. demissa currently lacks speciesspecific regulations in terms of minimum harvest size and harvest limits. Furthermore, the distribution of G. demissa within its habitat, although well described in the Northeastern United States, has not been studied in South Carolina. The goal of the present study was to develop a methodology that could be used to characterize the distribution of G. demissa using elevation and salinity data to improve the understanding of the distribution of this species at the landscape scale and to support consideration of improved management measures. Transect grid surveys for the presence or absence of G. demissa were performed at stations along a salinity gradient in the Ashley River, a tributary of the Charleston Harbor, SC, in the spring of 2017. The presence or absence of G. demissa was explained by both elevation and salinity data using a logistic regression model, and G. demissa was predicted to be most likely to occur at a high position in the intertidal zone (0.17mbelow mean high water) and at an intermediate salinity of 18. In addition, the tidal inundation period for G. demissa in this study ranged from 45 min to 6 h, and averaged 3.5 h per high tide, highlighting the physiological challenges of its typical habitat distribution.
Drivers of preventable high health care utilization: a qualitative study of patient, physician and health system leader perspectives:

ObjectivesA small percentage of patients account for the bulk of population health care utilization and costs in many countries including the United States (US). In the US, 5% of the population has...
Introduction to Digital Media for Learning

In this chapter, we provide an overview of elements that make up digital media/multimedia, along with the common tools used to create them and the description of digital media solutions. We also include the competencies expected of someone developing multimedia. We then discuss best practices for developing digital media, including the use of development models. We conclude with a summary of benefits and challenges of integrating digital media for learning.
Is It Discrimination, or Fair and Deserved? How Beliefs about Work, Family, and Gender Shape Recognition of Family Responsibilities Discrimination:

Why do some label employers’ actions discrimination, while others do not? We explore whether beliefs about work, family, and gender are associated with labeling an employer’s denial of a promotion ...
Photoacoustic Detection of Ammonia and Hydrogen Using Plasmonic Absorption in Pt Functionalized GaN Microcantilevers

III-Nitride heterostructures have attracted significant research interest in recent years because of their multitude of utilities in microwave communications, power electronics and in sensing various toxic gases and volatile organic compounds. In particular, AlGaN/GaN heterostructure Field Effect Transistors (HFETs), when embedded at the base of a GaN microcantilever, can transduce ultra-low displacements with much higher Gauge Factor (GF) compared to their Si counterparts utilizing their unique piezoelectric properties, which can then be utilized in highly sensitive photoacoustic (PA) detection of analytes. [1] The detection sensitivity can be further enhanced using plasmonic absorption in metal Nanoparticles (NPs) deposited on the cantilevers.[2] In this work, we have investigated plasmonically enabled PA detection of NH 3 and H 2 using Pt NP functionalized GaN microcantilevers.