cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Post-chemotherapy robotic retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RRPLND) in testicular cancer

We report here on the safety and feasibility of using robotic surgery for the excision of residual retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis in patients with non-seminomatous germ cell testicular tumors (NSGCT) post-chemotherapy (PC). Two men (age 20 and 21 years, respectively) with residual PC retroperitoneal disease underwent robotic assisted retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RRPLND). The primary testicular tumor was on the right testicle in one patient and on the left testicle in the other patient. Both patients had a history of testicular NSGCT and bulky retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis and had received chemotherapy. The technique, feasibility, and safety of the RRPLND procedure are reported. RRPLND was safely accomplished in both patients. A right-side approach was performed in one patient; a left-side approach was utilized in the other patient. In both patients, the field of dissection was an ipsilateral template for lymph node dissection, including excision of the residual mass. No intraoperative or postoperative complications were encountered. Pathology showed mature teratomatous elements in both patients. We demonstrate here the safety and feasibility of performing template RRPLND in patients with PC residual masses. Further reports are needed to compare this procedure to its other approaches, namely, standard open and laparoscopic RPLND.
Neuroanatomic substrates of semantic memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease: Patterns of functional MRI activation

Impairment in semantic processing occurs early in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and differential impact on subtypes of semantic relations have been reported, yet there is little data on the neuroanatomic basis of these deficits. Patients with mild AD and healthy controls underwent 3 functional MRI auditory stimulation tasks requiring semantic or phonological decisions (match–mismatch) about word pairs (category–exemplar, category–function, pseudoword). Patients showed a significant performance deficit only on the exemplar task. On voxel-based fMRI activation analyses, controls showed a clear activation focus in the left superior temporal gyrus for the phonological task; patients showed additional foci in the left dorsolateral prefrontal and bilateral cingulate areas. On the semantic tasks, predominant activation foci were seen in the inferior and middle frontal gyrus (left greater than right) in both groups but patients showed additional activation suggesting compensatory recruitment of locally expanded foci and remote regions, for example, right frontal activation during the exemplar task. Covariance analyses indicated that exemplar task performance was strongly related to signal increase in bilateral medial prefrontal cortex. The authors conclude that fMRI can reveal similarities and differences in functional neuroanatomical processing of semantic and phonological information in mild AD compared to healthy elderly, and can help to bridge cognitive and neural investigations of the integrity of semantic networks in AD.
An annular Malmberg-Penning trap with neoclassical transport

Summary form only given. A modified Penning trap is described with an annular confinement region and a biased center conductor which carries current creating a toroidal magnetic field. A non-neutral electron plasma is confined axially by an electrostatic field and, in the radial direction, particles are constrained to lie within a small drift distance of a cylindrical flux surface. Drift orbits of all particles are banana-shaped and collisions cause neoclassical transport. Simulations of single particle motion including collisions with background neutrals have been made and these show transport arising from both electric mobility and banana diffusion. A toroidal electric field ("ohmic heating") creates a Ware drift which may be used to counteract the mobility drift thus making banana diffusion the dominant transport mechanism.
Isothermal Cold Start of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Experimental procedures, aimed at elucidating fundamentals of polymer electrolyte fuel cell startup from subzero temperatures, are reported. A method of equilibrium purge using partially humidified gas with well-controlled relative humidity is introduced to effectively control initial water distribution inside a cell prior to cold start. Isothermal cold start, in which single cells with sufficiently large thermal mass are used to fix the cell temperature constant at the startup ambient temperature, is proposed to study intrinsic cold start capability of the membrane-electrode assembly. The proton conductivity of membranes with low water content and at subzero temperatures is measured in situ. The cumulative product water in mg/cm 2 has been used to quantify performance of isothermal cold start and is shown to exhibit a nonlinear relationship with the membrane water uptake potential, defined as the difference between the membrane hydration water content and initial value prior to cold start. It is found that the membrane is a key component to enhance the intrinsic capability of isothermal cold start from 30°C. Finally, when the current density is high, the pore volume of the cathode catalyst layer is not fully utilized for ice storage, thereby decreasing cold start performance.
Process Pad: a multimedia multi-touch learning platform

This paper introduces Process Pad, an interactive, low-cost multi-touch tabletop platform designed to capture students' thought process and facilitate their explanations. The goal of Process Pad is to elicit students' think-aloud narratives that would otherwise be tacit, in other words, "learn to explain," and "explain to learn." Our focus is on identifying and understanding key design factors in creating opportunities for students to externalize and represent their mental models using multimodal data. From our user observations, we gleaned four design principles as essential criteria based upon which we refined our design: flexibility, tangibility, collaboration and affordability.
To Arms: Changing Military Roles and the Military-Industrial Complex

In order to identify key historical factors in the creation of the military-industrial complex, relevant theories of social change and their interrelationships are examined. Four major periods of historical change are related to variations in types of warfare and processes of political development. A theory of changing military roles in both democratic and nondemocratic societies is formulated. The militarization of modern society is seen as a result of evolutionary processes of change, rather than as a consequence of plots, cabals, coups, or a return to earlier periods of capture of the political process by military elites. Possible directions for future changes, which could modify and attenuate the power and influence of military complexes, are suggested.
An animal model of functional electrical stimulation: evidence that the central nervous system modulates the consequences of training.

An animal model of functional electrical stimulation: evidence that the central nervous system modulates the consequences of training
U.S. Commercial Banking: A Historiographical Survey

In this wide-ranging essay, a banking historian surveys the major debates in the historiography of U.S. commercial banking. Touching on various controversies in the field—old, new, and brewing, from financing the Revolution to the savings and loan crisis—the article serves as a guide to the parameters of debate and provides an introductory bibliography to acquaint interested readers with banking literature from colonial times to the present.
Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of salvinorin A analogues : Effect of configuration at C(2) and substitution at C(18)

Abstract κ-opioid receptor ligands have raised interest for their apparent effects on mood. The potent and selective κ-agonist salvinorin A has short-lasting (15 min) depressive-like effects in rats in behavioral models used to study mood disorders. Two series of salvinorin derivatives modified at C(2) and C(18), respectively, were synthesized and their κ-opioid receptor affinities, potencies, and efficacies were evaluated using in vitro receptor binding and biochemical functional assays. Modification at C(2) yielded potent κ-agonists that are predicted to have improved metabolic stability (14a, 15a) or increased water solubility (10b). Our preliminary SAR study at C(18) suggested that this part of the molecule interacts with a tight lipophilic pocket of the κ-receptor.
Software Process Tailoring: An Empirical Investigation

A well-defined software process is critical for success in software projects. Software process tailoring refers to the activity of tuning a standardized process to meet the needs of a specific project. We conducted two case studies that address the research question: How is a software process tailored to suit its context? This study identifies process tailoring as a key mechanism to address the challenges faced by a project and develops a model that describes how a process is tailored to resolve these challenges. The model identifies a set of environmental factors, challenges, project goals, process tailoring strategies, and their influences on each other. Specifically, the findings demonstrate the duality of the software process, showing how the project context (i.e., project goals, environmental factors, and challenges) and tailoring decisions dynamically interact with each other and construct the context in which the project is developed and the process is tailored.
Siva-1 promotes K-48 polyubiquitination of TRAF2 and inhibits TCR-mediated activation of NF-kappaB.

The proapoptotic protein Siva-1 plays an important role in some of the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis signaling pathways in cancer cells. Previously, we showed that Siva-1 inhibited the activity of the prosurvival transcription factor NF-κB. In the present study, upon TCR cross-linking of Jurkat T leukemia cells, we demonstrated that the inhibitory target of Siva-1 is upstream of the IKK complex in the NF-κB signaling pathway. Additionally, Siva-1 also suppressed the activity of another crucial transcription factor AP-1, and a common mediator of both these pathways is the adaptor protein TRAF2. Further, we observed that Siva-1 indeed interacted with TRAF2 and negatively regulated its activity by promoting K48-linked polyubiquitination. Siva-1 specifically interacted with the ring finger domain of TRAF2, which is essential for its E3 ligase activity and its ability to subsequently activate NF-κB. TCR cross-linking of Jurkat T cells that lacked Siva-1 revealed significantly lowered K48- but elevated K63-ubiquitinated TRAF2 levels upon TCR cross-linking, suggesting that the differential pattern of ubiquitination in these cells essentially contributed to a robust and sustained activation of NF-κB. The above results demonstrated an important role for endogenous Siva-1 in negatively regulating NF-κB activation by targeting TRAF2.
Lifting Transonic Flows of Pressurized Gases

We present a summary of lifting transonic flows at pressures high enough to require corrections to the ideal gas equation of state. The flows considered are steady, two-dimensional, and inviscid and the airfoil section is a NACA 0012. The equation of state is the well known Martin-Hou model. Particular attention is paid to Bethe-ZePdovich-Thompson (BZT) fluids which are known to be associated with extremely large critical Mach numbers. Results of interest include lifting, shock-free configurations at a Mach number of 0.97, the occurrence of multiple shocks and sonic points on a conventional airfoil, and limitations on the strength of compression shocks in supercritical flows.
Fast and Accurate DPPM Computation Using Model Based Filtering

Defective Parts Per Million (DPPM) is an important quality metric that indicates the ratio of defective devices shipped to the customers. It is necessary to estimate and minimize DPPM in order to meet the desired level of quality. However, DPPM estimation requires statistical simulations, which are computationally costly if traditional methods are used. In this work, we propose an efficient DPPM estimation method for analog circuits that greatly reduces the computational burden. We employ a model based approach to selectively simulate only consequential samples in DPPM estimation. We include methods to mitigate the effect of model imperfection and robust model fitting to guarantee a consistent and efficient estimation. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves 10xto 25x reduction in the number of simulations for an RF receiver front-end circuit.
Creditsmart© Research: A Study of Consumer Financial Knowledge and Implications for Social Marketing

This paper describes a corporate-sponsored research effort whose goal was to help consumers obtain and maintain good credit through consumer education. Freddie Mac in collaboration with five historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and three national nonprofit consumer organizations sponsored this initiative, known as CreditSmart©, which involves research, curriculum development, and outreach. In order to inform the curriculum and outreach, the authors evaluate the effectiveness of learning about finances through formal, informal, and experiential sources. They also examine whether there are ethnic or cultural differences in these effects. The proposed model of consumer financial knowledge was tested using the 1999 Consumer Credit Survey (CCS) data collected from approximately 12,000 consumers. This dataset includes a variety of questions about childhood experiences with money, financial knowledge, attitudes, and experiences, as well as assets, debts, and demographic characteristics.Findings s...
Jackknifed multiple-window spectra and coherence applied to seismic data

Examines the variance of power spectra and magnitude squared coherences determined from local earthquake seismograms recorded synchronously on a small aperture seismic array. The multiple taper algorithm is used to calculate the spectra and coherences. Variances of these estimates are calculated with the jackknife technique, after transforming to a more normal distribution, and are compared with expected theoretical values. Due to the normalizing process the jackknife 95% confidence limits for the coherences and the spectra are slightly biased compared to theoretical values. The distribution of the jackknife error estimates has a large variance which is most likely caused by the non-stationarity of the original time series. >
Fatty Acid and Ketone Metabolism during Hemorrhage and Shock in the Rat.

Summary1. Sublethal hemorrhage in the normal fasted rat without a significant rise in plasma amino nitrogen is followed by a prompt suppression of fasting ketosis but is without effect on the increase in blood ketones consequent to a 30-minute intravenous infusion of sodium octanoate. 2. Hemorrhagic shock with rising plasma amino nitrogen levels is associated with a significant and progressive hypoketonemia and an inhibition of the rise in blood ketones ordinarily seen after sodium octanoate infusion. 3. Adrenalecto-mized rats exhibit the same decline in blood ketone levels during hemorrhage and shock as do normal rats. 4. The significance of these results with respect to effects of hemorrhage and shock on ketone production and utilization in the rat is discussed.
Colorectal Emergencies and Related Complications: A Comprehensive Imaging Review—Imaging of Colitis and Complications

OBJECTIVE. Colorectal emergencies are a common presentation in the emergency medicine setting and their timely diagnosis plays a crucial role in avoiding dreaded complications. The quintessential role of a radiologist lies in identifying the cause, narrowing the differential diagnosis according to imaging features, and, most importantly, identifying the associated complications. CONCLUSION. This review focuses on imaging features of the spectrum of colitides and the complications related to colitides.
On the Optimality of Linear Multiuser MIMO Beamforming for a Two-User Two-Input Multiple-Output Broadcast System

The asymptotic optimality of a jointly optimized linear multiuser beamforming system with two transmit and many receive antennas for the fading multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Gaussian broadcast channel is investigated. We derive the asymptotic sum capacity of the independent and identically-distributed (i.i.d.) MIMO broadcast channel and the asymptotic sum rate of a linear multiuser beamforming system with respect to the number of receive antennas per user, where two users are served with a zero inter-user interference constraint. Based on this result, we show that linear multiuser beamforming with many receive antennas can asymptotically achieve the sum capacity of the two-user i.i.d. MIMO broadcast channel even without opportunistic scheduling gain. Numerical results confirm that as the number of receive antennas increases the sum rate of linear multiuser beamforming system converges to the sum capacity.
The molecular perspective: c-Abl tyrosine kinase.

The Oncologist 2005;10:758–759 www.TheOncologist.com Correspondence: David S. Goodsell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. Telephone: 858-784-2839; Fax: 858-784-2860; e-mail: goodsell@scripps.edu; Website: http://www.scripps.edu/pub/goodsell Received August 18, 2005; accepted for publication August 18, 2005. ©AlphaMed Press 10837159/2005/$12.00/0 Phosphate groups are widely used for transmitting signals inside cells. Phosphate has a number of advantages in molecular signaling. With its strong charge and numerous opportunities for hydrogen bonding, it is particularly easy to recognize. Phosphate groups are also readily added to and removed from signaling molecules, using the cell’s ready supply of ATP to power the process. Phosphate groups may be added to small molecules to create characteristic molecules like cyclic AMP. They may also be added to proteins, changing their surface features or even modulating the activity of an enzyme. As you can imagine, however, one phosphate group looks much like every other one. To be useful in signaling, the phosphate groups must be attached in the proper place and at the proper time. To perform this function, our cells have more than 500 different protein kinases, each designed to add phosphates to a different set of proteins. These many kinases are involved in a complex, interconnected network of signaling, requiring careful control so that each kinase is activated only when its particular signal is needed. The c-Abl tyrosine kinase, shown in Figure 1, transmits messages about the adhesion of cells to their neighbors and messages indicating when it is time to grow or move to a new location. Like other members of the src family of protein kinases, c-Abl uses a complex conformational change to turn its kinase activity on and off. It is comprised of several domains connected by flexible linkers, including two small regulatory domains, a larger kinase domain, and several additional domains that bind to DNA and actin. In the inactive form, the protein folds into Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 hour of AMA PRA category 1 credit at CME.TheOncologist.com CME The Molecular Perspective: c-Abl Tyrosine Kinase
A soluble 60 kiloDalton antigen of Chlamydia spp. is a homologue of Escherichia coli GroEL

Two major 60 kD protein species can be separated by differential detergent extraction in Chlamydia spp. A Sarkosyl-soluble 60 kD protein is (i) structurally and antigenically distinct from the previously characterized 60 kD Omp2 outer membrane protein; and (ii) antigenically related to a bacterial common antigen of similar molecular weight which includes a 65 kD mycobacterial antigen and the GroEL heat-shock protein of Escherichia coli. Among GroEL homologues, the chlamydial protein (chl-GroEL) uniquely displays affinity towards immobilized thiol groups. The significance of this property is discussed with respect to the synthesis and assembly of the chlamydial disulphide-rich cell wall late in the growth cycle. Chl-GroEL is identical to the Triton X-100-soluble, ocular delayed-type hypersensitivity agent (Morrison et al., 1989), an essential component in the development of blinding trachoma. An autoimmune mechanism for chronic chlamydial diseases based on chl-GroEL homology to host proteins is hypothesized.
The Neuroanatomy of Remote Memory

In humans and experimental animals, damage to the hippocampus or related medial temporal lobe structures severely impairs the formation of new memory but typically spares very remote memory. Questions remain about the importance of these structures for the storage and retrieval of remote autobiographical memory. We carried out a detailed volumetric analysis of structural brain images from eight memory-impaired patients. Five of the patients had damage limited mainly to the medial temporal lobe. These patients performed normally on tests of remote autobiographical memory. Three patients had medial temporal lobe damage plus significant additional damage to neocortex, and these patients were severely impaired. These findings account for previously reported differences in the recollective ability of memory-impaired patients and demonstrate that the ability to recollect remote autobiographical events depends not on the medial temporal lobe but on widely distributed neocortical areas, especially the frontal, lateral temporal, and occipital lobes.
Plant Fe, Al and Cr concentrations in vegetables as influenced by soil inclusion

Soil entrapment by plant tissue is often ignored when the tissue is analyzed. This leads to errors in interpretation of results. Plant tissue samples were taken from vegetables grown in experimental field plots in Norfolk, VA, Riverhead, NY, and Geneva, NY. At harvest, plant tissues were washed with deionized water, cut into small pieces, oven dried (VA) or freeze dried (NY), ground to pass a 0.0841-cm stainless steel screen and stored in glass bottles. The surface 15 cm of each soil was sampled. Subportions of tissue and soil were analyzed for a number of elements by inductively coupled argon plamsa emission spectrometry (ICP-ES) and electrothermal atomic absorption (ETAA). Titanium (Ti) concentrations in the soil and plant tissue were used as a measure of soil inclusion. As much as 76% of the Al, 100% of the Cr, and 70% of the Fe in the vegetable samples could be accounted for by soil particulate inclusion by the plant tissue during its growth.
Towards Completely Decentralized Mustering for StarCraft

We study decentralized agent coordination with performance guarantees by developing a primitive for mustering teams of agents of minimum acceptable team sizes for StarCraft using randomization to accurately estimate the size of the team.
The Roles of Family, Friends, and Romantic/Sexual Partners in the Body Image of Sexual Minority Men

The purpose of this study was to explore the roles of family, friends, and romantic/sexual partners in the body image development of sexual minority men. Data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research methodology. Romantic/sexual partners, family, and friends were all found to play influential roles in body development, with romantic/sexual partners being the most significant and friends being the least significant. Implications for counselors and counselor educators, as well as suggestions for future research, are provided.
Cultural Competence in Health Care Systems: A Case Study

This study studied cultural competence training needs in a health services system in California. Results indicated that the major training needs were related to (1) cultural factors that affect consumers’ access to services, (2) ethnic and cultural beliefs, traditions, and customs, (3) training for interpreters, and (4) crosscultural communication. Significant differences were found in regard to administrator and staff participation in cultural awareness activities, perception of the work environment as culturally competent, perception of culturally-related barriers, and perceived training needs. The findings support the importance of a continuous assessment of the educational needs of employees regarding cultural competence.
A time for exercise: the exercise window

in 1982, a team of Canadian scientists reported in the American Journal of Physiology how exercise affected blood glucose levels ([20][1]). The exercise was a moderately paced treadmill walk that started 30 min postmeal and lasted for 45 min. Although the focus of the study lay elsewhere, the
Gödel’s Argument, Background

There are many directions from which people have tried to prove the existence of God. There have been arguments based on design: a complex universe must have had a designer. There have been attempts to show that the existence of an ethical sense implies the existence of God. There have been arguments based on causality: trace the chain of effect and cause backward and one must reach a first cause. Ontological arguments seek to establish the existence of God based on pure logic: the principles of reasoning require that God be part of ones ontology.
The impact of perceptual load on natural and synthetic speech perception

Previous work has shown that the availability and the weighting of different types of information (e.g., lexical, segmental/subsegmental, and metrical prosody) for speech segmentation are gradiently affected by perceptual and cognitive load. Specifically, it has been shown that severe energetic masking increases reliance on the acoustic, sub-segmental, context-dependent coarticulation information and decreases reliance on lexical information (e.g., Mattys et al., 2009). In this study, the effects of energetic masking on the intelligibility of synthetic and natural speech (controlled for lexical and metrical prosody) will be compared. Since fine acoustic detail linked to coarticulation is lacking in synthetic speech in comparison to naturally produced speech, energetic masking should result in greater reliance on lexical information than coarticulatory information on synthetic speech processing while the opposite will be true for natural speech. Reference Mattys, S. L., Brooks, J., & Cooke, M. (2009). Reco...
KPP Fronts in Random Media

In this chapter, we discuss KPP fronts in space and/or time random flows by a combination of PDE and probabilistic methods. We first consider fronts in spatial random shear flows in a channel domain with finite width L. Here randomness appears in the transverse direction of the front. The variational principle (2.52) under zero Neumann boundary condition applies to each random speed, and allows a combined PDE-probabilistic analysis and a computational study of the speed ensemble. We identify new random phenomena such as the resonance in speed dependence on correlation length of the flows, speed slowdown due to temporal decorrelation of random flows, and speed divergence due to extreme behavior of random media. For example, for channel domain width L1, front speed diverges due to unbounded running maxima of the shear flow, which shares the same source of divergence as stochastic homogenization of Hamilton-Jacobi equations in Chapter 4. We shall present front growth or decay laws in random media, in comparison with those of periodic media in Chapter 3. Finally, we outline a recent breakthrough in solving the turbulent front speed problem for the KPP model, and study related speed bounds.
Refinements of Monte Carlo Calculations for BNCT at the Brookhaven Medical Reactor

The Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR) and its epithermal neutron filter have been modeled in detail for the Monte-Carlo code MCNP1 as a part of the Stony Brook neutron capture therapy planning system (SBNCT-Plan).
How Collective Engagement Creates Competitive Advantage for Organizations

We present a process model for the creation of competitive advantage for organizations via collective engagement. Using the strategy literature, we argue that collective engagement can serve as a s...
Bacterial Foraging Algorithm Based on Reinforcement Learning for Continuous Optimizations

Inspired by the adaptive learning and foraging behaviors of the bacteria colony, this paper proposes a re-structured bacterial colony foraging optimizer (RBCFO) based on reinforcement learning (RL) and self-adaptive search strategy for continuous optimizations. The algorithm aims to enhance the individual search efficiency during the evolution process via exploiting the RL mechanism in the multi-operations decision level and the adaptive search strategy in the single-operation level. Specifically, in the multi-operations decision level, the operation of each bacterium is determined by RL in an optimal manner. In the single-operation level (i.e., chemotaxis), each bacterium adaptively varies its own run-length unit and exchange information (i.e., cell-to-cell crossover) to dynamically balance exploration and exploitation during the search process. Then the proposed algorithm is evaluated against several state-of-the-art algorithms on a set of continuous benchmark instances. Experimental results verify the significant superiority of the proposed algorithm.
Investigation of a Serratia Marcescens bacteremia Cluster in a Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CICU) Utilizing Whole Genome Sequencing

BACKGROUND Serratia bacteremia is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU). In August 2018 we identified 5 cases in our CICU, prompting an investigation for patient risk factors, exposures, and environmental sources. METHODS To ascertain common exposures among the cases, patient demographic and mortality data, unit length of stay, room location, infection, and surgical histories were collected by chart review. Medication histories were obtained from pharmacy records and the potential for drug diversion was explored. Environment of care rounds were conducted in both the CICU and the Cardiac operating rooms. Environmental culturing was considered. Four case isolates along with 21 non-cluster Serratia blood isolates from the same facility were analyzed for relatedness by whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis. RESULTS The case age range was 30-80 years with 80% male gender. Mortality rate among cases was 60%. The investigation did not reveal any common risk factors or exposures among cases either in the CICU or the operating room. Environmental cultures were not collected. No evidence of drug diversion or medication contamination was identified. WGS analysis did not show any close genotypic relationship among the patients’ isolates. CONCLUSIONS WGS was used to investigate Serratia bacteremia isolates which were clustered in time, clinical service and location. The WGS results, however, indicated that these cases did not arise from a common source nor from cross-infection. WGS provides an unprecedented level of specificity for outbreak investigations permitting infection prevention resources to be used appropriately and cost-efficiently.
Sub-optimally solving actuator redundancy in a hybrid neuroprosthetic system with a multi-layer neural network structure

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) has recently been proposed as a supplementary torque assist in lower-limb powered exoskeletons for persons with paraplegia. In the combined system, also known as a hybrid neuroprosthesis, both FES-assist and the exoskeleton act to generate lower-limb torques to achieve standing and walking functions. Due to this actuator redundancy, we are motivated to optimally allocate FES-assist and exoskeleton torque based on a performance index that penalizes FES overuse to minimize muscle fatigue while also minimizing regulation or tracking errors. Traditional optimal control approaches need a system model to optimize; however, it is often difficult to formulate a musculoskeletal model that accurately predicts muscle responses due to FES. In this paper, we use a novel identification and control structure that contains a recurrent neural network (RNN) and several feedforward neural networks (FNNs). The RNN is trained by supervised learning to identify the system dynamics, while the FNNs are trained by a reinforcement learning method to provide sub-optimal control actions. The output layer of each FNN has its unique activation functions, so that the asymmetric constraint of FES and the symmetric constraint of exoskeleton motor control input can be realized. This new structure is experimentally validated on a seated human participant using a single joint hybrid neuroprosthesis.
Did ice-charging generate volcanic lightning during the 2016–2017 eruption of Bogoslof volcano, Alaska?

The 2016–2017 shallow submarine eruption of Bogoslof volcano in Alaska injected plumes of ash and seawater to maximum heights of ~ 12 km. More than 4550 volcanic lightning strokes were detected by the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) and Vaisala’s Global Lightning Dataset (GLD360) over 9 months. Lightning assisted monitoring efforts by confirming ash-producing explosions in near-real time, but only 32 out of the 70 explosive events produced detectable lightning. What led to electrical activity within some of the volcanic plumes, but not others? And why did the lightning intensity wax and wane over the lifetime of individual explosions? We address these questions using multiparametric observations from ground-based lightning sensors, satellite imagery, photographs, acoustic signals, and 1D plume modeling. Detailed time-series of monitoring data show that the plumes did not produce detectable lightning until they rose higher than the atmospheric freezing level (approximated by − 20 °C temperatures). For example, on 28 May 2017 (event 40), the delayed onset of lightning coincides with modeled ice formation in upper levels of the plume. Model results suggest that microphysical conditions inside the plume rivaled those of severe thunderstorms, with liquid water contents > 5 g m−3 and vigorous updrafts > 40 m s−1 in the mixed-phase region where liquid water and ice coexist. Based on these findings, we infer that ‘thunderstorm-style’ collisional ice-charging catalyzed the volcanic lightning. However, charge mechanisms likely operated on a continuum, with silicate collisions dominating electrification in the near-vent region, and ice charging taking over in the upper-level plumes. A key implication of this study is that lightning during the Bogoslof eruption provided a reliable indicator of sustained, ash-rich plumes (and associated hazards) above the atmospheric freezing level.
Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Self-compassion in Health Care Professionals: a Meta-analysis

Health care professionals have elevated rates of burnout and compassion fatigue which are correlated with poorer quality of life and patient care, and inversely correlated with self-compassion. Primary studies have evaluated the extent to which mindfulness-based interventions increase self-compassion with contradictory findings. A meta-analytic review of the literature was conducted to quantitatively synthesize the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on self-compassion among health care professionals. Twenty-eight treatment outcome studies were identified eligible for inclusion. Five cumulative effect sizes were calculated using random-effects models to evaluate differences of changes in self-compassion for treatment and control groups. Within and between group comparisons were evaluated. Sub-group and moderator analyses were conducted to explore potential moderating variables. Twenty-seven articles (k = 29, N = 1020) were utilized in the pre-post-treatment meta-analysis. Fifteen samples (52%) included health care professionals and fourteen (48%) professional health care students. Results showed a moderate effect size between pre-post-treatment comparisons (g = .61, 95% CI = .47 to .76) for self-compassion and a strong effect size for pre-treatment to follow-up (g = .76, 95% CI = .41 to 1.12). The effect size comparing post-treatment versus post-control was moderate. One exploratory moderator analysis was significant, with stronger effects for interventions with a retreat component. Findings suggest mindfulness-based interventions improve self-compassion in health care professionals. Additionally, a variety of mindfulness-based programs may be useful for employees and trainees. Future studies with rigorous methodology evaluating effects on self-compassion and patient care from mindfulness-based interventions are warranted to extend findings and explore moderators.
Identification and characterization of differentially expressed genes in Caenorhabditis elegans in response to pathogenic and nonpathogenic Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging nosocomial pathogen that causes infection in immunocompromised patients. S. maltophilia isolates are genetically diverse, contain diverse virulence factors, and are variably pathogenic within several host species. Members of the Stenotrophomonas genus are part of the native microbiome of C. elegans, being found in greater relative abundance within the worm than its environment, suggesting that these bacteria accumulate within C. elegans. Thus, study of the C. elegans-Stenotrophomonas interaction is of both medical and ecological significance. To identify host defense mechanisms, we analyzed the C. elegans transcriptomic response to S. maltophilia strains of varying pathogenicity: K279a, an avirulent clinical isolate, JCMS, a virulent strain isolated in association with soil nematodes near Manhattan, KS, and JV3, an even more virulent environmental isolate. Overall, we found 145 genes that are commonly differentially expressed in response to pathogenic S. maltophilia strains, 89% of which are upregulated, with many even further upregulated in response to JV3 as compared to JCMS. There are many more JV3-specific differentially expressed genes (225, 11% upregulated) than JCMS-specific differentially expressed genes (14, 86% upregulated), suggesting JV3 has unique pathogenic mechanisms that could explain its increased virulence. We used connectivity within a gene network model to choose pathogen-specific and strain-specific differentially expressed candidate genes for functional analysis. Mutations in 13 of 22 candidate genes caused significant differences in C. elegans survival in response to at least one S. maltophilia strain, although not always the strain that induced differential expression, suggesting a dynamic response to varying levels of pathogenicity. Variation in observed pathogenicity and differences in host transcriptional responses to S. maltophilia strains reveal that strain-specific mechanisms play important roles in S. maltophilia pathogenesis. Furthermore, utilizing bacteria closely related to strains found in C. elegans natural environment provides a more realistic interaction for understanding host-pathogen response.
Research and Teaching Qualifications for Faculty Positions in Psychology at 4-Year Colleges and Universities:

Standards for the evaluation of candidates for faculty positions in psychology differ by institution and applicants’ career level, but no research has attempted to quantify these variations. This s...
Clinical and vital sign changes associated with late-onset sepsis in very low birth weight infants at 3 NICUs.

BACKGROUND In premature infants, clinical changes frequently occur due to sepsis or non-infectious conditions, and distinguishing between these is challenging. Baseline risk factors, vital signs, and clinical signs guide decisions to culture and start antibiotics. We sought to compare heart rate (HR) and oxygenation (SpO2) patterns as well as baseline variables and clinical signs prompting sepsis work-ups ultimately determined to be late-onset sepsis (LOS) and sepsis ruled out (SRO). METHODS At three NICUs, we reviewed records of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants around their first sepsis work-up diagnosed as LOS or SRO. Clinical signs prompting the evaluation were determined from clinician documentation. HR-SpO2 data, when available, were analyzed for mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, and cross-correlation. We used LASSO and logistic regression to assess variable importance and associations with LOS compared to SRO. RESULTS We analyzed sepsis work-ups in 408 infants (173 LOS, 235 SRO). Compared to infants with SRO, those with LOS were of lower GA and BW, and more likely to have a central catheter and mechanical ventilation. Clinical signs cited more often in LOS included hypotension, acidosis, abdominal distension, lethargy, oliguria, and abnormal CBC or CRP(p < 0.05). HR-SpO2 data were available in 266 events. Cross-correlation HR-SpO2 before the event was associated with LOS after adjusting for GA, BW, and postnatal age. A model combining baseline, clinical and HR-SpO2 variables had AUC 0.821. CONCLUSION In VLBW infants at 3-NICUs, we describe the baseline, clinical, and HR-SpO2 variables associated with LOS versus SRO.
The non-adiabatic nanoreactor: towards the automated discovery of photochemistry

The ab initio nanoreactor has previously been introduced to automate reaction discovery for ground state chemistry. In this work, we present the nonadiabatic nanoreactor, an analogous framework for excited state reaction discovery. We automate the study of nonadiabatic decay mechanisms of molecules by probing the intersection seam between adiabatic electronic states with hyper-real metadynamics, sampling the branching plane for relevant conical intersections, and performing seam-constrained path searches. We illustrate the effectiveness of the nonadiabatic nanoreactor by applying it to benzene, a molecule with rich photochemistry and a wide array of photochemical products. Our study confirms the existence of several types of S0/S1 and S1/S2 conical intersections which mediate access to a variety of ground state stationary points. We elucidate the connections between conical intersection energy/topography and the resulting photoproduct distribution, which changes smoothly along seam space segments. The exploration is performed with minimal user input, and the protocol requires no previous knowledge of the photochemical behavior of a target molecule. We demonstrate that the nonadiabatic nanoreactor is a valuable tool for the automated exploration of photochemical reactions and their mechanisms.
Advising the Public About the Severe Weather Risk

Many variables must be considered when attempting to assess the probability of severe convective weather associated with fronts, thunderstorms, lightning, and tornadoes. This chapter provides an overview of how various severe weather indices are computed and how they can be interpreted to provide guidance on the likelihood of severe weather in the mid-latitude coastal environment. The distinguishing features between “watches” vs. “warnings” for the various forms of severe weather are covered, along with the US offices that are responsible for issuing each. The chapter concludes with a discussion of wake lows, heat bursts, and interfacial waves, including gravity waves, that can pose significant risks in coastal zones.
Use of Hyperspectral Reflectance Indices for Estimation of Gross Carbon Flux and light use Efficiency Crossdiverse Vegetation Types

Current remote sensing based models of vegetation carbon exchange are complex and require a large number of input parameters that can not be determined directly from remote sensing. Models based entirely on remote sensing data would simplify the estimation of vegetation carbon fluxes and potentially reduce errors associated with estimation of ground based parameters. We used hyperspectral image data from the AVIRIS sensor and vegetation carbon exchange data from eddy covariance towers in the Ameriflux network to explore relationships between spectral reflectance indices and either gross carbon flux or the light use efficiency (LUE) of photosynthesis. Indices related to the greenness of the vegetation proved to be the best predictors of both gross flux and LUE. The enhanced vegetation index (EVI), which has greater sensitivity to variation in greenness of dense canopies than does NDVI, was most strongly correlated with both gross flux and LUE. The photochemical reflectance index (PRI), which has shown promise as a predictor of LUE in other studies, did not show a consistent relationship across all the vegetation types. The relationships between spectral indices and either gross flux or LUE were just as good when the flux data were averaged over one week as they were for flux data specific to the time of the spectral data collection. Consequently, these relationships appear to be useful for estimation of 8-day composites, as is done with MODIS. Work is continuing using MODIS satellite data to test these relationships across a wider range of sites.
Studies of metabolism in embryonic development: VII. Changes of RNA and protein synthesis in mitochondria of trout eggs after fertilization effects of ethidium bromide

Abstract Whole rainbow trout eggs and mitochondria isolated before and after fertilization were incubated with [5-3H]uridine and with [14C]leucine. Two 3H-labelled high mol. wt fractions of RNA corresponding to approx. 16S and 12S were isolated from the mitochondria of both unfertilized and 1-day-old fertilized eggs. In mitochondria of unfertilized eggs, ethidium bromide (EB) inhibited the incorporation of undine into two high mol. wt RNA fractions (16S and 12S) and the incorporation of leucine into two membrane protein fractions of approx. 60 000 and 40 000 mol. wt. In mitochondria of fertilized eggs, the rates of incorporation of precursors into the RNA and protein fractions were low and not further reduced by EB. The decreased rates of mitochondrial RNA (mitRNA) and protein synthesis 1 day after fertilization suggest a temporary shut-down of mitochondrial transcription after fertilization.
On the problems of statistical modeling in marketing and advertising research

This issue is focused on the marketing and advertising research statistical modeling. Statistics in these areas has a long history of its applications – see a review of the year 1916 [1]. Of course, several papers cannot cover a broad range of various methods developed from that time to solve complicated problems of socio-economics nature of human activities in a market. But the selected works written by several recognized experts help to see some main directions of statistical thought in this field. Dr. D. Kuznetsov considers so called “word-of-mouth” transferring impact that defines a marketing behavior, and uses a unique technique of stochastic partial differential equations developed in the mediaphysics. Drs. M. Prince and M.A. Davies’s paper is devoted to the classic problem of brand prestige and its solution in the latent class analysis. Dr. V. Ladyzhets describes special kinds of mortgages’ financial market and various modern techniques for their adequate modeling and forecasting. Dr. Ewa Nowakowska attacks the problem of the robust cluster analysis, which is important far beyond marketing research in any data segmentation and data mining areas. Dr. I. Mandel discusses methodological and philosophical aspects of statistical modeling, its place and role in a more general frame of the possible wider description of the socio-behavioral phenomena, and the specifics of solving market mix problems. And last but not least, below are some quotations on mathematical and statistical modeling, most of which were taken from Shaw [2]: