cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is this a dax which I see before me? Use of the logical argument disjunctive syllogism supports word-learning in children and adults

Many authors have argued that word-learning constraints help guide a word-learner's hypotheses as to the meaning of a newly heard word. One such class of constraints derives from the observation that word-learners of all ages prefer to map novel labels to novel objects in situations of referential ambiguity. In this paper I use eye-tracking to document the mental computations that support this word-learning strategy. Adults and preschoolers saw images of known and novel objects, and were asked to find the referent of known and novel labels. Experiment 1 shows that adults systematically reject a known distractor (e.g. brush) before mapping a novel label (e.g. "dax") to a novel object. This is consistent with the proposal that participants worked through a Disjunctive Syllogism (i.e. Process-of-Elimination) to motivate the mapping of the novel label to the novel object. Experiment 2 shows that processing is similar for adults performing an implicit Disjunctive Syllogism (e.g. "the winner is the dax") and an explicit Disjunctive Syllogism (e.g. "the winner is not the iron"). Experiment 3 reveals that similar processes govern preschoolers' mapping of novel labels. Taken together, these results suggest that word-learners use Disjunctive Syllogism to motivate the mapping of novel labels to novel objects.
Prenatal diagnosis of aneurysm of the arterial duct: postnatal management and literature review

Aneurysm of the arterial duct is well described when presenting in infants and children. The case we present were detected by fetal echocardiogram in late pregnancy, indicating the congenital nature of this lesion and excluding widely accepted explanations of the pathogenesis. Spontaneous closure may occur more frequently than the literature suggests. We recommend a conservative approach in asymptomatic patients.
A 65 μW, 1.9 GHz RF to digital baseband wakeup receiver for wireless sensor nodes

A complete 1.9 GHz receiver, with BAW resonator-referenced input matching network, is designed as a wakeup receiver for wireless sensor networks. The 90 nm CMOS chip includes RF amplifier, PGA, ADC, and reference generation, while consuming 65 μW from a single 0.5 V supply. The input RF bandwidth of the receiver is 7 MHz, while the maximum data rate is 100 kbps. When detecting a 31-bit sequence, the receiver exhibits -56 dBm sensitivity for 90% probability of detection.
Programming Abstractions for Data Intensive Computing on Clouds and Grids

MapReduce has emerged as an important data-parallel programming model for data-intensive computing – for Clouds and Grids. However most if not all implementations of MapReduce are coupled to a specific infrastructure. SAGA is a high-level programming interface which provides the ability to create distributed applications in an infrastructure independent way. In this paper, we show how MapReduce has been implemented using SAGA and demonstrate its interoperability across different distributed platforms – Grids, Cloud-like infrastructure and Clouds. We discuss the advantages of programmatically developing MapReduce using SAGA, by demonstrating that the SAGA-based implementation is infrastructure independent whilst still providing control over the deployment, distribution and runtime decomposition. The ability to control the distribution and placement of the computation units (workers) is critical in order to implement the ability to move computational work to the data. This is required to keep data network transfer low and in the case of commercial Clouds the monetary cost of computing the solution low. Using data-sets of size up to 10GB, and upto 10 workers, we provide detailed performance analysis of the SAGA-MapReduce implementation, and show how controllingthe distribution of computation and the payload per worker helps enhance performance.
Multiplexed supramolecular self-assembly for non-viral gene delivery

Recently, there has been success in applying a semi-rational approach to non-viral gene delivery vector development using a combinatorial/parallel synthesis approach to construct libraries of materials with unique molecular structures. In this approach, it is hoped that the random incorporation of various hydrophobic and hydrophilic domains in the library will yield candidates with the appropriate balance of DNA binding strength and endosomolytic properties to yield efficient gene delivery. Herein we describe a library approach to gene delivery vector development that relies on the supramolecular self-assembly of individual components instead of chemical reaction. Each component in the described system is capable of performing a single and well-defined purpose--DNA binding (dioleylspermine), membrane permeation (oligoarginine) or targeting (folic acid). A combination of electrostatic attraction and the hydrophobic effect is used to bring the individual groups together to form nanoscale complexes with DNA. Because the components responsible for DNA binding, membrane permeation and targeting are separate, it is possible to alter the balance between hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups by varying the relative amounts in the final formulation. By doing so, we can readily identify cell-specific formulations that have greater transfection efficiency than the individual components and have superior transfection efficiency to lipofectamine 2000 under similar conditions.
Numerical study of ribbon-induced transition in Blasius flow

The early three-dimensional stages of transition in the Blasius boundary layer are studied by numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. A finite-amplitude two-dimensional wave and low-amplitude three-dimensional random disturbances are introduced. Rapid amplification of the three-dimensional components is observed and leads to transition. For intermediate amplitudes of the two-dimensional wave the breakdown is of subharmonic type, and the dominant spanwise wavenumber increases with the amplitude. For high amplitudes the energy of the fundamental mode is comparable to the energy of the subharmonic mode, but never dominates it; the breakdown is of mixed type. Visualizations, energy histories, and spectra are presented. The sensitivity of the results to various physical and numerical parameters is studied. The agreement with experimental and theoretical results is discussed.
Genetic control of geographic variation for cannibalism in the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella

The southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella Dyar, is a subtropical insect whose range has expanded northward within this century. Geographic variation exists between populations at the extremes of the range for a suite of morphological and behavioral characters, including cannibalism. Laboratory colonies established from a Missouri population (37°N lat.) with a high cannibalism rate and a Mexican population (19°N lat.) with a low cannibalism rate were used to examine the genetic basis of cannibalism by means of a controlled breeding design. When larvae were held in pairs on artificial diet in 30 ml plastic cups at 30 °C 16L:8D, the highest incidence of cannibalism in both Missouri and Mexican populations was found in larvae 15 to 18 days-of-age (5th and 6th instars). Under these conditions, cannibalism was expressed in 33 % of the pairs formed from Missouri larvae and 11 % of the pairs formed from Mexican larvae. First and second generation crosses between Missouri and Mexican populations showed an intermediate level of cannibalism, whereas backcrosses to the parental generations showed a regression to the parental phenotypes. These results indicate that cannibalism is under additive genetic control. Larvae from the Missouri parental population were more likely to consume their victim (i.e., cannibalize) once intraspecific killing had occurred than were larvae from the Mexican parental population or from any of the crosses, and female larvae were cannibals more often than were males. Under the conditions employed, no advantage was detected for cannibalism over instraspecific killing for larval weight gain or growth rate.
Minimum variance estimator design for systems with quadratic nonlinearities

In this paper, we consider the state estimation problem for a class of nonlinear systems with second degree polynomial nonlinearities with noisy measurements. This class of nonlinearities is chosen based on the fact that they may lead to chaotic behavior for possible later use on chaotic communications applications. An unbiased state estimator is proposed having a quadratic structure and a parametric optimization problem is solved to obtain the minimum error variance. Another unbiased suboptimal estimator having a much simpler structure is proposed to provide an error performance bound on the minimum variance estimator. The performance results of these two minimum variance estimators are shown to be clearly superior to those of the extended Kalman filter for some scalar chaotic systems.
A time series analysis of gonorrhea surveillance data

Gonorrhea is the most frequently reported communicable disease in the United States. In response to rapidly rising rates in the late 1960s, the Public Health Service instituted a gonorrhea control programme. An important component of the programme is the screening of women for gonococcal infections. We use a time series intervention model to estimate the initial increase in reporting of cases in women associated with the control programme. From the middle 1970s to the middle 1980s, a regular seasonal pattern in the data is conspicuous. We use a second time series model to quantify the seasonal variation during this period and to construct forecasts.
Effect of HCV, HIV and coinfection in kidney transplant recipients: Mate kidney analyses

Reports of kidney transplantation (KTX) in recipients with hepatitis C virus (HCV+), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV+) or coinfection often do not provide adequate adjustment for donor risk factors. We evaluated paired deceased-donor kidneys (derived from the same donor transplanted to different recipients) in which one kidney was transplanted into a patient with viral infection (HCV+, n = 1700; HIV+, n = 243) and the other transplanted into a recipient without infection (HCV− n = 1700; HIV− n = 243) using Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients data between 2000 and 2013. On multivariable analysis (adjusted for recipient risk factors), HCV+ conferred increased risks of death-censored graft survival (DCGS) (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.24, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04–1.47) and patient survival (aHR 1.24, 95% CI 1.06–1.45) compared with HCV−. HIV+ conferred similar DCGS (aHR 0.85, 95% CI 0.48–1.51) and patient survival (aHR 0.80, 95% CI 0.39–1.64) compared with HIV−. HCV coinfection was a significant independent risk factor for DCGS (aHR 2.33; 95% CI 1.06, 5.12) and patient survival (aHR 2.88; 95% CI 1.35, 6.12). On multivariable analysis, 1-year acute rejection was not associated with HCV+, HIV+ or coinfection. Whereas KTX in HIV+ recipients were associated with similar outcomes relative to noninfected recipients, HCV monoinfection and, to a greater extent, coinfection were associated with poor patient and graft survival.
Application-specific foreign-interface generation

A foreign interface (FI) mechanism to support interoperability with libraries written in other languages (especially C) is an important feature in most high-level language implementations. Such FI mechanisms provide a Foreign Function Interface (FFI) for the high-level language to call C functions and marshaling and unmarshaling mechanisms to support conversion between the high-level and C data representations. Often, systems provide tools to automate the generation of FIs, but these tools typically lock the user into a specific model of interoperability. It is our belief that the policy used to craft the mapping between the high-level language and C should be distinct from the underlying mechanism used to implement the mapping.In this paper, we describe a FI generation tool, called FIG (for Foreign Interface Generator) that embodies a new approach to the problem of generating foreign interfaces for high-level languages. FIG takes as input raw C header files plus a declarative script that specifies the generation of the foreign interface from the header file. The script sets the policy for the translation, which allows the user to tailor the resulting FI to his or her application. We call this approach application-specific foreign-interface generation. The scripting language uses rewriting strategies as its execution model. The other major feature of the scripting language is a novel notion of composable typemaps that describe the mapping between high-level and low-level types.
Strong's objections to the future of value account

According to Carson Strong, the future of value account of the wrongness of killing is subject to counterexamples. Ezio Di Nucci has disagreed. Their disagreement turns on whether the concepts of a future of value and a future like ours are equivalent. Unfortunately, both concepts are fuzzy, which explains, at least in part, the disagreement. I suggest that both concepts can be clarified in ways that seem plausible and that makes them equivalent. Strong claims that better accounts of the wrongness of killing exist. I show that those alternative accounts are unsatisfactory.
Chemical Migration by Contact Metamorphism between Pegmatite and Country Rocks: Natural Analogs for Radionuclide Migration

Comparison of trace element signatures of country rocks as a function of distance from the contact with two pegmatites, Tin Mountain and Etta, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, suggests that some elements such as K, Li, Rb, Cs, As, Sb, Zn and Pb, have migrated to distances of 4 to 40 meters during contact metamorphism. The relative degree of migration varies depending on the element. On the other hand, there is virtually no migration of rare earth elements (REE), Al, Sc, Cr, Hf, U, and Th. Biotite and muscovite are effective trace element traps for Li, Rb and Cs. Biotite has a greater affinity for Rb, Cs and Li than muscovite.
Alternative Career Opportunities for the Neighborhood Worker

1 If Is Imperative, the author thinks, to provide new career opportunities now for neighborhood workers In Community Action Programs so that they will be able to use the skills they have learned and will not be cut off from participation In society. The author reviews the present nature of the neighborhood worker's job, cites Impediments to developing career lines as well as present efforts to devise them, and suggests five major alternatives to be considered as possible career opportunities for these workers. ■
Bringing Medicine to the Digital Age via Hackathons and Beyond

Health care technology and innovation is a rapidly growing industry with great potential. Hackathons have become an increasingly popular venue for institutions to generate ideas and enthusiasm for innovation. These events can inspire change and eventual improvement in medical systems. However, alongside developers and business-savvy entrepreneurs, the ongoing participation by health care providers and researchers is essential for the careful development, implementation and evaluation of any technological intervention.
Solving 3D mazes with Machine Learning and Humanoid Robots

In this paper, we present a system that integrates computer vision with machine learning to enable a humanoid robot to accurately solve any 3 dimensional maze that has not been previously given to it. The robot can construct the optimum path policy based on previous iterations and does not require any specialized programming. The experimental setup includes a constructed 3D maze with a start and end point. The robot solves the maze using a red-colored ball. The robot can physically tilt the base of the maze with its hand so that the ball can roll into the desired region. The robot would begin tilting the maze only if a path exists between the start and the end point. If none exists, the robot would remain idle. This work is important and novel for a couple of reasons. The first is to determine if constant repetition of a task leads to gradually increasing performance and eventual mastery of a skill. If yes, can that skill be adapted to a generic ability (Fleishman, 1972)? Also, can a robot’s performance match or exceed that of an average human in the acquired ability?
Impact of fertility treatment on severe maternal morbidity

Objective To determine if fertility treatment is associated with increased risk of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) compared with spontaneous pregnancies. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Academic medical center. Patient(s) In 2012, 6,543 women delivered live births >20 weeks gestation at our center. Women were categorized based on mode of conception: in vitro fertilization (IVF), non-IVF fertility treatment (NIFT), or spontaneous pregnancies. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) The main outcome was presence of true SMM, such as eclampsia, respiratory failure, and peripartum hysterectomy. Deliveries were screened with the use of: 1) International Classification of Diseases 9 codes; 2) prolonged postpartum stay; 3) maternal intensive care unit admissions, and 4) blood transfusion. The charts of women meeting the screening criteria were reviewed to identify true SMM based on a previously validated method, recognizing that medical record review is the criterion standard. Result(s) Of the 6,543 deliveries, 246 (3.8%) were IVF conceptions and 109 (1.7%) NIFT conceptions. Sixty-nine cases of true SMM were identified (1.1%). In multivariate analyses, any fertility treatment (IVF + NIFT) was associated with increased risk of SMM compared with spontaneous conceptions. In a subset analysis of singletons only, the association between any fertility treatment (IVF + NIFT) and SMM was not statistically significant. Conclusion(s) Overall, fertility treatment increased risk for SMM events. Given the limited sample size, the negative finding with singleton gestations is inconclusive. Larger multicenter studies with accurate documentation of fertility treatment and SMM cases are needed to further clarify the risk associated with singletons.
Exploring Verbal Shadowing as an Effective Method of Enrolling in a Speech Recognition System

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of using verbal shadowing as a method of enrolling in a speech recognition system. Verbal shadowing refers to a task whereby a person, while listening to a continuous message, repeats the message aloud word for word. Typically the enrollment process involves users reading an enrollment script aloud and the system processes the speech output to create a personalized acoustic model which increases recognition accuracy. Exploring the feasibility of a non-visually based enrollment technique addresses important human factors issues - accessibility by users with visual impairments or educational limitations. This study found that read enrollments reduced mean recognition errors by 24.70% and shadowed enrollments reduced recognition errors by a mean of 24.64% - a difference of only 0.06%. While this was statistically significantly different, for all practical purposes, shadowing as a method of enrollment proved to be as effective as reading.
Jacques Ellul: Toward Understanding His Political Thinking

Th e accepted reference point1 for most contemporary American understanding of Jacques Ellul's thinking is a lengthy interpretive essay called The Technological Society, and indeed this may be Ellul's great work, but the obsessive attention paid to it in the United States has contributed to a distorted perception of Ellul's thinking.2 The virtue of The Technological Society is that it offers a sustained and detailed portrayal of the cultural triumph of material technologies. Insofar as this is its message, it relates in four hundred somewhat tedious pages nothing more essential than that which Karl Marx stated in one dense paragraph in the preface to the 1859 Critique of Political Economy.3 This, perhaps, is why Ellul has been paid such short shrift as a contemporary political theorist. Something is amiss, however, in the facile interpretation of the book and its author as offering nothing more than another theory of technological determinism. The book's title, for example, is a poor
Iron Metabolism and Hallervorden-Spatz Syndrome

Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome (HSS) and iron metabolism are reviewed in a scientific workshop sponsored by the NIH and HSS Association in Bethesda, MD.
Persistent homology in graph power filtrations.

The persistence of homological features in simplicial complex representations of big datasets in Rn resulting from Vietoris–Rips or Cech filtrations is commonly used to probe the topological struct...
Early Predictors of Fetal Hemoglobin Response to Hydroxyurea in Sickle Cell Disease.

We investigated the kinetics of hematologic change in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD, HbSS, n=6) or SC disease (HbSC, n=1) who had been newly started on hydroxyurea (HU), with the intention of identifying early correlates to fetal hemoglobin (HbF) responsiveness. We found that HbF increased in all patients on HU, and that the half-maximal degree of HbF response could be estimated by 2 months, in patients’ whose MCVs had risen ≥ 10% above baseline. All 7 patients were treated with HU and followed closely for 6 months or more, until hematologic stability. Hematologic stability was apparent by ≥ 5 months. White blood cell count (WBC), absolute neutrophil count (ANC), reticulocyte (retic) count, % HbF, and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were examined at bi-weekly intervals. Baseline values (1 or 2 values averaged) were compared with mean values obtained during weeks 2 to 8 (3 or 4 values averaged). As expected, by 2 months WBC and ANC had fallen 30 +/− 8% and 26 +/− 8%, respectively. Change in total hemoglobin (5.8 +/−6.7%), total platelet count (less 11 +/− 10.8%), and LDH (5.3 +/− 8.7%) was not consistent during this two month interval. By eight weeks after initiation of HU, retic counts had dropped in all six SS patients, from 15 to 52% less than baseline while MCV rose 9–21% above baseline; in general, rise in MCV preceded the rise in HbF. Overall, by the time of hematologic stability, all patients had increased their percent HbF, at between 3–8.5-fold relative to baseline; baseline percent HbF of total hemoglobin (Hgb) ranged from 0.7 to 8.3% and, after stabilization, from 5.2% to 24.9%. Maximal percentage of Hgb that was accounted for by HbF at stabilization was arbitrarily set at 100; at 8 weeks, all patients had achieved ≥ 42% of their maximal HbF level, mean 55 +/− 9.4% of maximum HbF. Two additional patients in whom extensive lab data were available, but who were suspected to be non-compliant or sub-therapeutically treated, had a >10% rise in MCV that was temporally associated with an inflection upward for HbF. Patient 8 had mean bi-weekly MCVs of 94, 91, 93, and, after a family conference, 102 (p=.003); Concurrent HbF was 7, 6, 6 and then 10 (p=.046). Patient 9 had mean bi-weekly MCVs on low-dose HU of 97, 96, and, after dose adjustment, 109(p=.003); HbF was 2%, 3%, and then 5 (p=.0094). We speculate that, in many patients, an increase in MCV above baseline of ≥ 10% is a marker of adequate HU dosing, and that HbF levels at that time approximate half-maximal response. A larger series will be necessary to confirm this relationship; a predictive model, correlating MCV and HbF responsiveness, could be used to determine sufficiency of, and compliance to, HU therapy, and to early identify patients who are at high-risk from SCD (e.g. with pulmonary hypertension) whose HbF responsiveness may not be adequate from HU alone.
Use of whole genome sequencing to identify novel mutations in distinct subgroups of medulloblastoma.

9518 Background: Medulloblastoma is a malignant childhood brain tumor comprising four discrete subgroups (SHH-subgroup, WNT-subgroup, subgroup-3 and subgroup-4). The genetic alterations that drive ...
Did Geography Influence the United States

Regional gaps in income dating back to the pre–Civil War era still persist in the United States. This chapter reviews evidence by economic historians of the United States and traces those disparities to differences in geography, including climate, ecology and natural endowments. Arguments are presented to view the economies of the pre-1940s southern states, along with their climate and geography, as being comparable to that of contemporary developing countries. The empirical investigation which follows shows that geography (location and climate) as well as institutions have shaped the economic success of regions within the United States although the effects have dissipated over time, largely due to the provision of federal policies and aid which aided the transformation of the southern states.
Draft Genome Sequences of Extended-Spectrum-Beta-Lactamase-Producing Morganella morganii Strains AA1 and AV1, Isolated from a Freshwater Lake and Eicchorniacrassipes Roots.

ABSTRACT Two strains of Morganella morganii, AA1 and AV1, were isolated from freshwater and Eicchornia crassipes roots, respectively. Here, we report their draft genome sequences, which are ~3.6 Mb and have 51% G+C content. The predicted coding sequences (3,259 for strain AA1 and 3,345 for strain AV1) encode beta-lactamases, transpeptidases, and penicillin-binding proteins.
Production of levoglucosenone and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from cellulose in polar aprotic solvent–water mixtures

We demonstrate a process to produce levoglucosenone (LGO) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from cellulose in up to 65% carbon yield using sulfuric acid as catalyst and a solvent consisting of a mixture of tetrahydrofuran (THF) with water. In pure THF, LGO is the major product of cellulose dehydration, passing through levoglucosan as an intermediate. Increasing the water content (up to 5 wt%) results in HMF as the major product. HMF is formed both by glucose dehydration and direct dehydration of LGA. The maximum combined yield of LGO and HMF (∼65 carbon%) is achieved in the presence of 1–2.5 wt% H2O, such that comparable amounts of these two co-products are formed. THF gave the highest total yields of LGO and HMF among the solvents investigated in this study (i.e., THF, diglyme, tetraglyme, gamma-valerolactone (GVL), cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME), 1,4-dioxane, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)). Furthermore, the rate of LGO and HMF degradation in THF was lower than in the other solvents. LGO/HMF yields increased with increased strength of the acid catalyst (H2SO4 > H3PO4 > HCOOH), and HMF was produced more selectively than LGO in the presence of hydrochloric acid. Techno-economic analysis for LGO and HMF production from cellulose shows that the lowest LGO/HMF production costs are less than $3.00 per kg and occur at a cellulose loading and water content of 2–3% and 1.5–2.5% respectively.
Discrete item-based and continuous configural representations in visual short-term memory

Both discrete item-based and global configural information can be stored in visual short-term memory (VSTM). To characterize their contribution, the present study developed a dual-trace signal dete...
Extracellular Acid-Base Balance and Ion Transport Between Body Fluid Compartments

Clinical assessment of acid-base disorders depends on measurements made in the blood, part of the extracellular compartment. Yet much of the metabolic importance of these disorders concerns intracellular events. Intracellular and interstitial compartment acid-base balance is complex and heterogeneous. This review considers the determinants of the extracellular fluid pH related to the ion transport processes at the interface of cells and the interstitial fluid, and between epithelial cells lining the transcellular contents of the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts that open to the external environment. The generation of acid-base disorders and the associated disruption of electrolyte balance are considered in the context of these membrane transporters. This review suggests a process of internal and external balance for pH regulation, similar to that of potassium. The role of secretory gastrointestinal epithelia and renal epithelia with respect to normal pH homeostasis and clinical disorders are considered. Electroneutrality of electrolytes in the ECF is discussed in the context of reciprocal changes in Cl- or non Cl- anions and [Formula: see text].
The diagnostic accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in inpatient stroke rehabilitation.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a commonly used screening measure for cognitive impairment; however, the diagnostic accuracy and optimal cutoff points in inpatients with mild stroke severity is unknown. We examined the diagnostic accuracy of the MoCA in an acute inpatient stroke rehabilitation unit (N = 95). The criterion neuropsychological assessment was the 30-minute National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke-Canadian Stroke Network battery, modified to include the Symbol-Digit Modalities Test and Trail Making Test A & B. The MoCA had moderately strong diagnostic accuracy in receiver operating curve analyses, with areas under the curve ranging from .80 to .89 depending on the threshold for defining cognitive impairment. Sensitivity ranged from .72 to .87, and was generally greater than specificity, which ranged from .60 to .81. The optimal cutoff on the MoCA for detecting mild or greater cognitive impairment was <25/30. The optimal cutoff using more conservative definitions of cognitive impairment ranged from <23-24/30. Exploratory analyses of MoCA subgroups ("normal," "mildly impaired," and "functionally impaired") differed in the frequency and magnitude of impairment on the criterion neuropsychological assessment. These findings inform the clinical use of the MoCA in individuals with mild stroke in an inpatient rehabilitation setting.
Optimization of Pin-Fin Arrays for Helium-Cooled Finger-Type Divertor

The helium-cooled modular divertor concept with integrated pin array developed by the Karlsruhe Research Center (FZK) is unusual among helium-cooled tungsten divertor designs in that it relies upon an array of pin fins on the back of the cooled surface, instead of jet impingement, to cool the plasma-facing surface. The Georgia Tech group experimentally studied a similar design constructed of brass which combined jet impingement with an array of identical cylindrical pin fins using air at nondimensional coolant mass flow rates, i.e. Reynolds numbers, which spanned the range expected under prototypical conditions. The results suggested that the pin-fin array, at least for the particular geometry studied, provides little, if any, additional cooling beyond that provided by jet impingement. Given that this earlier study considered only one pinfin array geometry, however, a numerical study was performed to investigate whether changes in the array geometry could improve performance. Specifically, numerical simulations using the commercially available computational fluid dynamics software package ANSYS 14.0 was used to examine how varying the pitch-todiameter ratio for the fin array and the aspect ratio of the fins affected average pressure boundary temperature and the pressure drop across the divertor. These results can, with appropriate experimental validation, be used to determine whether pin-fin arrays can be used to improve the thermal performance of a variety of helium-cooled tungsten divertors.
Acceleration of phenological advance and warming with latitude over the past century

In the Northern Hemisphere, springtime events are frequently reported as advancing more rapidly at higher latitudes, presumably due to an acceleration of warming with latitude. However, this assumption has not been investigated in an analytical framework that simultaneously examines acceleration of warming with latitude while accounting for variation in phenological time series characteristics that might also co-vary with latitude. We analyzed 743 phenological trend estimates spanning 86 years and 42.6 degrees of latitude in the Northern Hemisphere, as well as rates of Northern Hemisphere warming over the same period and latitudinal range. We detected significant patterns of co-variation in phenological time series characteristics that may confound estimates of the magnitude of variation in trends with latitude. Notably, shorter and more recent time series tended to produce the strongest phenological trends, and these also tended to be from higher latitude studies. However, accounting for such variation only slightly modified the relationship between rates of phenological advance and latitude, which was highly significant. Furthermore, warming has increased non-linearly with latitude over the past several decades, most strongly since 1998 and northward of 59°N latitude. The acceleration of warming with latitude has likely contributed to an acceleration of phenological advance along the same gradient.
A method for multimodal optimization with application to signal processing

The paper presents a novel algorithm for the solution of Multimodal Optimization problems. The proposed method is hybrid of Nelder Mead algorithm and gradient method. The algorithm has direct application to problems encountered in the area of signal processing. The proposed method is applied for the estimation of taps in the design of adaptive filters. The convergence of the proposed algorithm is compared with the convergence trajectories of Steepest Descent method and found to be superior. The algorithm is presented for second order optimization problem and was applied for the design of three tap Wiener filter.
Chest x-ray generation and data augmentation for cardiovascular abnormality classification

Medical imaging datasets are limited in size due to privacy issues and the high cost of obtaining annotations. Augmentation is a widely used practice in deep learning to enrich the data in data-limited scenarios and to avoid overfitting. However, standard augmentation methods that produce new examples of data by varying lighting, field of view, and spatial rigid transformations do not capture the biological variance of medical imaging data and could result in unrealistic images. Generative adversarial networks (GANs) provide an avenue to understand the underlying structure of image data which can then be utilized to generate new realistic samples. In this work, we investigate the use of GANs for producing chest X-ray images to augment a dataset. This dataset is then used to train a convolutional neural network to classify images for cardiovascular abnormalities. We compare our augmentation strategy with traditional data augmentation and show higher accuracy for normal vs abnormal classification in chest X-rays.
Comeback of the Fungus That Gave Name to Trichothecenes

The investigation of mycotoxins is the topic of current concern in food production at present, when the food quality is often replaced by only quantitative criteria of production. Special attention attracts the potential use of mycotoxins in terrorist attacks. In contrast, some of the compounds can find interesting pharmaceutical use. The paper is dedicated to the 55th anniversary of discovery of trichothecenes, which were first found in the Trichothecium roseum fungus appearing as a natural contaminant in some agricultural commodities.
Maturation and Aging are Associated with Decrements in Ubiquitin-Protein Conjugation Capability: Plausible Involvement of Impaired Proteolytic Capabilities in Cataract Formation

The eye lens is composed of about 40% (by weight) proteins, the remainder being water. Protein turnover in the lens occurs at only marginal rates (1), particularly in the older lens tissue (2). Older tissue is found in the lens nucleus, whereas younger, less developed and newly elaborated tissue is found in the outer lens tissue layers, also called cortex and epithelium as illustrated in Figure 1. Due to this segregation of tissue the lens is a useful tissue in which to study aspects of protein metabolism as it is affected by development and aging.
The Crossbred Sire: Experimental Results for Cattle

Results comparing crossbred bulls relative to straightbred bulls for various reproduction traits (such as puberty, sperm concentration, pregnancy rate and weaning rate) and progeny growth traits (birth and weaning weight) were summarized separately for Bos taurus X Bos taurus (Bt X Bt) and Bos indicus X Bos taurus (Bi X Bt) crosses. The Bt X Bt and Bi X Bt crossbred bulls were 1.8 and 5.0% younger, respectively, at puberty than straightbred bulls. Also, sperm concentration of Bt X Bt and Bi X Bt crossbred bulls was greater than straightbred bulls by 36.4 and 56.0%, respectively. Pregnancy rate and weaning rate of cows exposed to straightbred and crossbred bulls indicated advantage values of .2 and 4.0%, respectively, for Bt X Bt crossbred bulls. Corresponding advantage values for Bi X Bt crossbred bulls over straightbred bulls were 1.4 and 3.7%, respectively, for these two traits. Birth and weaning weights were similar for calves sired by straightbred and Bt X Bt crossbred bulls as well as for calves sired by straightbred and Bi X Bt crossbred bulls.
Physical–Chemical Processes for Phosphorus Removal and Recovery

Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for maintaining life. As a result, the natural sources of phosphorus are being exploited at an unsustainable pace. However, the release of phosphorus from wastewater effluent has been one of the major causes of eutrophication in receiving water bodies. Consequently, it has become increasingly compelling to remove and recover phosphorus from wastewater. This chapter reviews various conventional and emerging physical–chemical technologies for the removal and recovery of phosphorous, including chemical precipitation, crystallization, ligand exchange, adsorption, magnetic separation, and nanotechnologies. The principle, effectiveness, and applications of the process are discussed.
The Role of CO2 Reduction Catalysis in Carbon Capture

In addition to the algae-mediated process discussed in Chap. 7, to generate hydrocarbon-based fuels and useful chemicals from CO2, it is also possible to use electrochemical and photocatalytic processes to carry out CO2 reduction. As previously mentioned in Chap. 7, today, an even stronger policy driver than climate change is the expansion of alternatives to crude oil for transportation fuels. Another driver for advancing electrochemical and photocatalytic reduction of CO2 is that it may allow for the storage of stranded energy from resources such as wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal in the form of chemical energy within the bonds of hydrocarbons.
Attention-Cognition Spectrum Syndromes: Delirium, Dementia, Impulse Control Syndromes, ADHD, Antisocial Personality, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Traits, Obsessive-Compulsive Syndrome

Included in this spectrum of conditions are Global Dysregulation of Meme Processing: Delirium and Dementia; Dysregulation of Infrastructure for Meme Processing: Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADHD), Impulse and Aggression Dyscontrol, Antisocial Personality; Dysregulation of Meme-Processing Loop: Preoccupations, Obsessions, Compulsions. There are normal degrees of attention and inattention depending on the nature and amount of external and internal stimuli, physiologic state, and the amount of internal processing of data that may require attention. Cognition is greatly affected by attention and arousal, as well as by emotions. With the rapid growth of the neocortex with hominids that parallels the development and multiplication of memes, our brain’s activity has become increasingly that of cognition. With ever increasing influx of memes in the form of language and information, the brain is challenged with the need for ever increasing efficiency in meme processing that we call cognition. Global dysregulation of meme processing occurs when there is a metabolic or toxic dysfunction of the brain as a whole. Various gene × meme × environment interactions are discussed in ADHD, impulse control, and aggression. An evolutionarily important event was the development of romantic love, which serves as an example of memetic preoccupation, obsession, and compulsion, usually but not always within normal range. Specific neural circuits are involved in romantic love and obsessive compulsive syndromes. Tourette’s syndrome is an example of brain dysfunction that involves dysregulation of both meme processing and motoric function illuminating the role of the basal ganglia in both. Symptoms of OCD may also occur because the meme representing the thought may be particularly strong because it is fed by energies from related preexisting memes in the brain. The memetic approach to preoccupations, obsessions, and compulsions should involve an analysis of the memetic content of the thoughts and their memetic connections (and vehicles) such as the visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile associations. Gene- and meme-oriented therapies are discussed for attention-cognition spectrum syndromes.
Efficacy of Feedback on Running Gait Retraining in Patients With Patellofemoral Pain: A Critically Appraised Topic

Clinical Question: Is it beneficial to utilize feedback motion retraining in improving gait biomechanics, pain, and self-reported function on patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP)? Clinical Botto...
Thyroid dysfunction from inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptor

Background Thyroid dysfunction has not been previously reported in clinical trials of selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitors including AZD4547. Herein, we report a case of worsening hypothyroidism in a patient with advanced urothelial cancer treated with AZD4547.
Using the genetic characteristics of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains with decreased susceptibility to cefixime to develop a molecular assay to predict cefixime susceptibility

Background: In the last two decades, gonococcal strains with decreased cefixime susceptibility and cases of clinical treatment failure have been reported worldwide. Gonococcal strains with a cefixime minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≥0.12 µg mL−1 are significantly more likely to fail cefixime treatment than strains with an MIC <0.12 µg mL−1. Various researchers have described the molecular characteristics of gonococcal strains with reduced cefixime susceptibility, and many have proposed critical molecular alterations that contribute to this decreased susceptibility. Methods: A systematic review of all published articles in PubMed through 1 November 2018 was conducted that report findings on the molecular characteristics and potential mechanisms of resistance for gonococcal strains with decreased cefixime susceptibility. The findings were summarised and suggestions were made for the development of a molecular-based cefixime susceptibility assay. Results: The penicillin-binding protein 2 (PBP2) encoded by the penA gene is the primary target of cefixime antimicrobial activity. Decreased cefixime susceptibility is conferred by altered penA genes with mosaic substitute sequences from other Neisseria (N.) species (identifiable by alterations at amino acid position 375–377) or by non-mosaic penA genes with at least one of the critical amino acid substitutions at positions 501, 542 and 551. Based on this review of 415 international cefixime decreased susceptible N. gonorrhoeae isolates, the estimated sensitivity for an assay detecting the aforementioned amino acid alterations would be 99.5% (413/415). Conclusions: Targeting mosaic penA and critical amino acid substitutions in non-mosaic penA are necessary and may be sufficient to produce a robust, universal molecular assay to predict cefixime susceptibility.
Giant gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the proximal ileum

ABSTRACT The gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are rare and consist in mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract, which may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, and is more frequent in stomach. We report a case of a 65-years-old male patient who presented a mass in the proximal ileum found by exploratory laparotomy. The patient underwent a segmental enterectomy with total resection of the tumor and free surgical margins with the pathological diagnosis of GIST, confirmed by immunohistochemistry (CD117).
REVISITING THE NF-KAPPAB AXIS IN MLL-REARRANGED LEUKEMIA

NF-κB has been broadly implicated in the survival of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) through distinct mechanisms. MLL fusion oncoprotein (MLL-FP) leukemia is thought to require NF-κB activity based on several publications. First, RelA collaborates with MLL1/MLL-FPs to sustain leukemogenic genetic programs. Second, the IL-1/IRAK signaling axis has been connected to a mechanism of MLL1/MLL-FP competition. Third, our recent data shows that NFκB-dependent target genes are globally reduced by MLL1/MLL2 deletion in murine and human AML. To address the role of the NF-κB pathway in MLL-FP-driven AML, we pursued several orthogonal approaches. Pharmacologic inhibition of IRAK1/4 activity reduces MLL-FP AML proliferation and delays leukemia progression in mice. Inhibiting IRAK1/4 blocks phosphorylation of the ubiquitin ligase UBE2O, preventing degradation of WT MLL1 protein. Stabilization of MLL1 is then thought to impede genome-wide MLL-FP chromatin occupancy and activation of oncogenic programs. To address the ability of MLL1 to compete with MLL-FP in AML, we developed a doxycycline-dependent MLL1 inducible model. Increasing WT MLL1 during MLL-AF9-driven leukemogenesis did not affect disease phenotype, latency, or penetrance. Furthermore, WT MLL1 levels did not affect the sensitivity of murine or human MLL-FP cells to IRAK1/4 inhibition. Ongoing experiments focus on the survival role of IL1/IRAK/UBE2O signaling in MLL1-deficient AML. Furthermore, to investigate the potential of MLL2 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy in AML and to study the connection to NF-κB, we expressed a series of peptides designed to hinder MLL2’s chromatin occupancy. The impact and specificity of these peptides was compared to MLL2 loss in several systems. These approaches collectively aim to identify the most effective strategy for targeting survival pathways in MLL-rearranged AML.
Analysis of Millimeter-wave Radar for Monitoring Mountain Fire in Power Grid

When a mountain fire accident occurs in the transmission corridor, the light causes the tripping of the transmission line, the heavy damage causes the burning of the iron tower, and causes a long period of unrecoverable major electric power accident. It is of great practical significance to monitor the mountain fire of transmission line and find out the dynamic state of the mountain fire in time. At present, there are many problems in the existing monitoring technology, which leads to poor results in field application. This paper analyzes that the power grid real-time fire monitoring technology of millimeter wave radar can effectively improve the accuracy of fire monitoring based on the realization of the automatic discovery, automatic positioning, automatic alarm, fire caused by tripping due to reduce accident rate, ability can effectively improve the transmission line against the mountain fire disaster.
Building Resilience: Using BRiTE with Beginning Teachers in the United States

The most recent data available on beginning teacher attrition in the United States estimates that 17.3% of teachers leave the profession within their first five years teaching. Most efforts to improve this focus on implementing mentoring and induction programs. However, improving beginning teachers’ resilience may be an additional strategy, as it develops individual protective factors independent of working conditions. This chapter describes a series of professional development workshops, rooted in the BRiTE modules, presented to two groups of beginning teachers in the southeastern United States during the 2017–2018 school year. All teacher participants were K-12 teachers in their first three years teaching, most teaching in a rural setting. Strategies that have been successfully implemented will be shared along with participant feedback that demonstrates value of the modules for supporting beginning teachers.