cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanoregulation of Angiogenesis in Wound Healing

Significance: Mechanical forces are important regulators of cell and tissue function. Endothelial cells proliferate in response to tissue stretch and the mechanical properties of the environment direct capillary sprouting and growth. As the vascular network is a key factor in physiology and disease, control of the vascularity by means of mechanical forces could lead to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. Recent Advances: Increased understanding of mechanobiology has stimulated translational research and allowed the development and optimization of clinical devices that exploit mechanical forces for the treatment of diseases, in particular in the field of wound healing. Stretching in distraction osteogenesis and tissue expansion induces neogenesis of well-vascularized tissues. In micro-deformational wound therapy, micro-mechanical distortions of the wound bed stimulate cell proliferation and angiogenesis by stretching resident cells to improve healing of difficult wounds. Relief from tension antagonizes proliferation and angiogenesis in primarily closed wounds allowing for better scar quality. Critical Issues: The integration of mechanobiology into traditional cell biology and pathophysiology in general is not yet complete and further research is needed to fill existing gaps, in particular in the complexity of in vivo conditions. Future Directions: Still largely unexplored approaches based on mechanical perturbation of the micro-/macro-environment can be devised to overcome the limits of current strategies in a broad spectrum of clinical conditions.
Visualization of wide area measurement information from the FNET system

Analysis of power system dynamics helps to understand the operation of a power system. Therefore, it is significant to design and develop advanced visualization tools to interpret frequency, voltage magnitude, and phase angle information so that it can be presented to the operators in an intuitive manner. On the basis of the measurement data collected by widely-distributed frequency disturbance recorders (FDRs), visualization tools have been implemented for the FNET system. A number of FNET visualization tools are discussed in this paper, including real-time visualization, animated event replay, visualization of oscillation mode analysis and visualization of propagation effects in two dimensional systems. These tools correlate the FDR measurements with their corresponding geographical information, and transform the combined matrices into different graphic formats using various computer techniques and programming languages. The graphics generated by these tools facilitate power system operation by allowing an operator to monitor power system dynamics, perform post-event analysis and identify modal oscillations more efficiently.
Validation of the Cough Quality-of-Life Questionnaire in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background Cough is a pervasive and disabling symptom of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and is an independent predictor of disease progression. The Cough Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (CQLQ) is a validated measure of cough-specific quality of life that could be used as an outcome measure in therapeutic trials for IPF. This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the CQLQ in individuals with IPF. Methods The CQLQ was administered as an outcome within a previously published 27-week, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of thalidomide for cough in IPF. Participants were adults with IPF and chronic cough. A cough visual analog scale (VAS) and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were administered to establish concurrent validity of the CQLQ. Results Internal consistency was high (Cronbach α > .70) for the CQLQ total and four of six subscale scores. The CQLQ total score demonstrated concurrent validity through significant correlations with scores on the cough VAS and SGRQ total and subscale scores ( r range, 0.63-0.81; P Conclusions This study supports the use of the CQLQ as a valid and reliable instrument in IPF and should be used to assess cough-specific quality of life in therapeutic trials.
Ultra-thin cobalt films on Mo(110): overlayer growth and chemisorption of CO and D2

The overlayer growth of cobalt on Mo(ll0) and the adsorption of CO and deuterium on Co/Mo(llO) have been studied by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Co grows layer by layer on Mo(ll0) at a sample temperature of 115 K. Annealing multilayers of Co on Mo(ll0) to > 400 K results in the formation of three-dimensional (3D) Co clusters. The TPD spectra of Co from Mo(ll0) reveal two desorption peaks, & and &, with activation energies of 82 and 85 kcat/mol, corresponding to desorption from 3D Co clusters and the first uniform Co overlayer, respectively. Submonolayer Co (( 0.75 ML, where 1 ML corresponds to the atomic density of the Co(OOOl) surface) is believed to form a pseudomorpbic layer on Mo(ll0) upon annealing to 400 K. Co coverages from 0.75 to multilayers, annealed to 500 K, exhibit the following LEED patterns: a 9 X 2 structure, a hexagonal structure, and a 2 X 2 structure. The 9 X 2 and hexagonal structures are interpreted to correspond to a distorted lattice of Co(OOO1) and to 3D Co clusters on Mo(llO), respectively. The TPD spectra of CO or Dz on Co overlayers show desorption features with lower activation energies than the analogous desorption features from bulk Co@OO1).
Predicting location of recurrence using FDG, FLT, and Cu-ATSM PET in canine sinonasal tumors treated with radiotherapy.

Dose painting relies on the ability of functional imaging to identify resistant tumor subvolumes to be targeted for additional boosting. This work assessed the ability of FDG, FLT, and Cu-ATSM PET imaging to predict the locations of residual FDG PET in canine tumors following radiotherapy. Nineteen canines with spontaneous sinonasal tumors underwent PET/CT imaging with radiotracers FDG, FLT, and Cu-ATSM prior to hypofractionated radiotherapy. Therapy consisted of 10 fractions of 4.2 Gy to the sinonasal cavity with or without an integrated boost of 0.8 Gy to the GTV. Patients had an additional FLT PET/CT scan after fraction 2, a Cu-ATSM PET/CT scan after fraction 3, and follow-up FDG PET/CT scans after radiotherapy. Following image registration, simple and multiple linear and logistic voxel regressions were performed to assess how well pre- and mid-treatment PET imaging predicted post-treatment FDG uptake. R2 and pseudo R2 were used to assess the goodness of fits. For simple linear regression models, regression coefficients for all pre- and mid-treatment PET images were significantly positive across the population (P < 0.05). However, there was large variability among patients in goodness of fits: R2 ranged from 0.00 to 0.85, with a median of 0.12. Results for logistic regression models were similar. Multiple linear regression models resulted in better fits (median R2 = 0.31), but there was still large variability between patients in R2. The R2 from regression models for different predictor variables were highly correlated across patients (R ≈ 0.8), indicating tumors that were poorly predicted with one tracer were also poorly predicted by other tracers. In conclusion, the high inter-patient variability in goodness of fits indicates that PET was able to predict locations of residual tumor in some patients, but not others. This suggests not all patients would be good candidates for dose painting based on a single biological target.
A family with iridoschisis, narrow anterior chamber angle, and presenile cataract.

Familial iridoschisis is a rare ocular disease and is probably transmitted as an autosomal dominant trait. The underlying abnormalities are not understood. Family members should be screened for this “condition as well as for associated ocular abnormalities”, namely presenile cataracts and narrow anterior chamber angle.
On the Stability of Equilibrium of a Mixed Distributed and Lumped Parameter Control System

ABSTRACT In this paper the stability problem associated with a particular class of mixed distributed and lumped parameter feedback control systems is considered. These systems are in the form of a parabolic partial differential equation coupled with a non-linear ordinary differential equation. Sufficient conditions for stability and asymptotic stability of equilibrium are derived using a weak maximum principle for parabolic equations. The application of the main results is illustrated by an example.
ISOPERIMETRIC FUNCTIONS OF GROUPS ACTING ON Lδ-SPACES

A finitely generated group acting properly, cocompactly, and by isometries on an L δ -metric space is finitely presented and has a sub-cubic isoperimetric function.
Athletic Training Accreditation – “Affectively” Debilitating?

Editor's Note: As one who has conducted self-studies and hosted peer reviewers for 4 entry-level (now professional) and 5 graduate (now post-professional) accreditation visits, and as one who has provided sympathetic consolation to numerous program directors undergoing the process, I found myself alternately nodding in agreement and laughing at the astute observations of Dr. Claiborne. Although we doubt this essay will decrease the fears of educators going through the process, we hope at least they will know that many before them have experienced similar fears and frustrations. – kk
Big Data Analysis with Signal Processing on Graphs

Analysis and processing of very large datasets, or Big Data, poses a significant challenge. Massive datasets are collected and studied in numerous domains, from engineering sciences to social networks, biomolecular research, commerce and security. Extracting valuable information from Big Data requires innovative approaches that efficiently process large amounts of data as well as handle and, moreover, utilize their structure. This article discusses a paradigm for large-scale data analysis based on the discrete signal processing on graphs (DSPG). DSPG extends signal processing concepts and methodologies from the classical signal processing theory to data indexed by general graphs. Big Data analysis presents several challenges to DSPG, in particular, in filtering and frequency analysis of very large datasets. We review fundamental concepts of DSPG, including graph signals and graph filters, graph Fourier transform, graph frequency and spectrum ordering, and compare them with their counterparts from the classical signal processing theory. We then consider product graphs as a graph model that helps extend the application of DSPG methods to large datasets through efficient implementation based on parallelization and vectorization. We relate the presented framework to existing methods for large-scale data processing and illustrate it with an application to data compression.
Krebs, C. J. 2013. Population Fluctuations in Rodents. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, ix + 306 pp. ISBN 978-0-226-01035-9, price (hardbound), $55.00

C. J. Krebs, 2013. Population Fluctuations in Rodents. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, ix + 306 pp. ISBN 978-0-226-01035-9, price (hardbound), $55.00. Charles Krebs has been a leader in the study of the population dynamics of small mammals for decades, and this book presents both his analyses of specific hypotheses and syntheses of general patterns. The book summarizes a vast literature and will serve as an admirable introduction to population dynamics for its target audience, advanced undergraduates and graduate students and ecologists outside the field. Krebs makes clear that he is concerned with population fluctuations in general, not just population cycles, but most of the book is devoted to results for arvicoline rodents (lemmings and voles), a group that provides several classic examples of population cycling. Krebs has strong ideas regarding the proper approach to population ecology. As he sees it, there are 2 problems regarding changes in population densities, 1 spatial and 1 temporal. The spatial problem involves shifts in average density of rodents across different habitats, differences that he believes usually reflect different availability of resources, particularly food and cover (protection from predation). The temporal problem, which consumes most of the book, concerns changes in density through time within a habitat, which is the traditional realm of population dynamics. He argues that one should attack the latter problem by finding environmental factors that strongly influence rates of population change and not density per se, a stance that may underemphasize the interaction of environmental factors with density. Krebs provides background in the first 2 chapters by considering different ways to classify population change, including time-series analysis, and geographical shifts in patterns of population dynamics, particularly those that change with latitude. …
Leukemia inhibitory factor promotes EMT through STAT3-dependent miR-21 induction

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a multi-function cytokine. Its role in cancer is not well-understood. Recent studies including ours show that LIF is frequently overexpressed in many types of human tumors and promotes the progression and metastasis of tumors. However, the underlying mechanism of LIF's promoting effects on tumor progression and metastasis is poorly defined. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in tumor metastasis. This study reports that LIF promotes EMT in human tumor cells. Overexpression of LIF promotes tumor cells to acquire mesenchymal features, including morphological changes of cells from epithelial-like to mesenchymal-like, increased expression levels of mesenchymal markers and decreased expression of epithelial markers. Knockdown of endogenous LIF reverses EMT in cancer cells. We further identified that LIF induces the expression of microRNA-21 (miR-21), which in turn mediates the promoting effect of LIF on EMT. LIF induces miR-21 expression through the activation of STAT3. Importantly, blocking miR-21 function greatly abolished the promoting effect of LIF on EMT and the migration ability of cancer cells. Taken together, results from this study identified an important function and a novel underlying mechanism of LIF in EMT and tumor metastasis.
Long-Term Successional Trends Following Western Juniper Cutting

Abstract Western juniper ( Juniperus occidentalis spp. occidentalis Hook.) expansion into sagebrush steppe plant communities in the northern Great Basin has diminished shrub-steppe productivity and diversity. Chainsaw cutting of western juniper woodlands is a commonly applied practice for removing tree interference and restoring understory composition. Studies reporting understory response following juniper cutting have been limited to early successional stages. This study assessed successional dynamics spanning 13 years following tree cutting. Total herbaceous standing crop and cover increased significantly in the CUT. Total standing crop was 10 times greater in the CUT vs. WOODLAND. Herbaceous standing crop and cover, and densities of perennial grasses in the CUT did not change between 1996 and 2004 indicating that by the 5th year after cutting, remaining open areas had been occupied. In the early successional stages, perennial bunchgrasses and Sandberg’s bluegrass were dominant. By the 5th year after treatment, cheatgrass had supplanted Sandberg’s bluegrass and was codominant with perennial bunchgrasses. In 2003 and 2004, perennial bunchgrasses dominated herbaceous productivity in the CUT, representing nearly 90% of total herbaceous standing crop. A pretreatment density of 2–3 perennial bunchgrasses m −2 appeared to be sufficient to permit natural recovery after juniper control. Perennial bunchgrass density peaked in the 6th year after treatment and the results suggested that 10–12 plants m −2 were sufficient to fully occupy the site and dominate herbaceous composition in subsequent years. In the CUT, juniper rapidly reestablished from seed and from the presence of seedlings not controlled in the initial treatment. The shifts in herbaceous composition across years suggests that long term monitoring is important for evaluating plant community response to juniper control and to develop appropriate post treatment management to promote continued site improvement.
Certifying separability in symmetric mixed states of N qubits, and superradiance.

Separability criteria are typically of the necessary, but not sufficient, variety, in that satisfying some separability criterion, such as positivity of eigenvalues under partial transpose, does not strictly imply separability. Certifying separability amounts to proving the existence of a decomposition of a target mixed state into some convex combination of separable states; determining the existence of such a decomposition is ``hard.'' We show that it is effective to ask, instead, if the target mixed state ``fits'' some preconstructed separable form, in that one can generate a sufficient separability criterion relevant to all target states in some family by ensuring enough degrees of freedom in the preconstructed separable form. We demonstrate this technique by inducing a sufficient criterion for ``diagonally symmetric'' states of $N$ qubits. A sufficient separability criterion opens the door to study precisely how entanglement is (not) formed; we use ours to prove that, counterintuitively, entanglement is not generated in idealized Dicke model superradiance despite its exemplification of many-body effects. We introduce a quantification of the extent to which a given preconstructed parametrization comprises the set of all separable states; for ``diagonally symmetric'' states our preconstruction is shown to be fully complete. This implies that our criterion is necessary in addition to sufficient, among other ramifications which we explore.
The Opportunities and Challenges of School-Based Research for Social Marketers:

Children and adolescents are often the primary target audience of social marketing campaigns and interventions. The prevalence of youth-directed campaigns has risen dramatically in the past decade,...
Characterization of fragment C and tetanus toxin binding to rat brain membranes.

The binding characteristics of 125I-labeled tetanus toxin and 125I-labeled fragment C to rat brain membranes have been studied. Fragment C is a proteolytically derived portion of the holotoxin. Tetanus toxin is slightly more potent than fragment C in displacing 125I-labeled tetanus toxin bound to rat brain membranes. Conversely, fragment C is more effective than toxin in displacing bound 125I-labeled fragment C. However, the binding curves for the two compounds are in both cases parallel, suggesting that they compete for the same site. The equilibrium affinity constants for the binding of tetanus toxin and fragment C as obtained by both direct and indirect binding experiments were found to be in the nanomolar range (2-12 nM). This relatively high affinity is in contrast with the large number of binding sites (estimated as 2-9 nmoles/mg of protein). This concentration is consistent with the reported content of the gangliosides, GT1 and GD1b, in rat brain. The specificity of the toxin binding site has been tested; a number of putative neurotransmitters as well as inhibitors of axonal transport were unable to affect the binding at concentrations several orders of magnitude higher than the toxin or fragment C. The anticonvulsant drug diazepam, reported useful in the treatment of human tetanus, was equally inactive in displacing 125I-labeled tetanus toxin binding. The possible pharmacological relevance of the binding site for tetanus toxin and this fragment is discussed.
Synthetic Auxotrophs with Ligand-Dependent Essential Genes for a BL21(DE3) Biosafety Strain

Synthetic auxotrophs are organisms engineered to require the presence of a particular molecule for viability. They have potential applications in biocontainment and enzyme engineering. We show that these organisms can be generated by engineering ligand-dependence into essential genes. We demonstrate a method for generating a Synthetic auxotroph based on a Ligand-Dependent Essential gene (SLiDE) using 5 essential genes as test cases: pheS, dnaN, tyrS, metG, and adk. We show that a single SLiDE strain can have a 1 × 10(8)-fold increase in viability when chemically complemented with the ligand benzothiazole. The optimized SLiDE strain engineering protocol required less than 1 week and $100 USD. We combined multiple SLiDE strain alleles into the industrial Escherichia coli strain BL21(DE3), yielding an organism that exceeds the biosafety criteria with an escape frequency below the limit of detection of 3 × 10(-11).
Molecular cloning of mtp70, a mitochondrial member of the hsp70 family.

Abstract We have isolated a gene from the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that encodes a previously unidentified member of the 70-kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp70) family. Among all the eucaryotic hsp70 proteins described to date, this trypanosome protein, mtp70, is uniquely related in sequence and structure to the hsp70 of Escherichia coli, DnaK, which functions in the initiation of DNA replication. This relationship to DnaK is especially relevant in view of the intracellular location of the protein. Within the trypanosome, mtp70 is located in the mitochondrion, where it associates with kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), the unusual mitochondrial DNA that distinguishes this order of protozoa. Moreover, mtp70 is located in the specific region of the kinetoplast in which kDNA replication occurs. In view of the known functions of DnaK, the localization of mtp70 to the site of kDNA replication suggests that mtp70 may participate in eucaryotic mitochondrial DNA replication in a manner analogous to that of DnaK in E. coli.
Analysis of the clinical effects of PHOTIFED-M child cough syrup on the respiratory tract infections of children

Objective: To evaluate the clinical therapeutic effects of PHOTIFED-M child cough syrup in eliminating sputum and stoping coughing.Methods: 100 patients with coughing and expectorating caused by acute respiratory tract infections were randomly divided into treatment group(50 cases) and control group(50 cases).The treatment course was designed to be 3 days and χ2 test was used to compare the total effectiveness rates between the two groups.Results: The total effective rate of PHOTIFED-M,observed at the 3th day of the treatment course,was superior to the control group.The effective rates were respectively 82% and 54%(P0.01) and it's compliance was higher(P0.05).Conclusions: The PHOTIFED-M child cough syrup has good efficacy and safety,and is an available expectorant-cough suppressant for children.
Musculoskeletal infections in adolescents.

Abstract Musculoskeletal infections are uncommon disorders in adolescents and represent unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to the clinician. The pathogenesis, treatment, and prognosis of many musculoskeletal infections vary markedly in children compared to adults based in part on behavioral differences, bone growth, and changing vascularity patterns. Since adolescents can exhibit manifestations of infection common to either age range, a familiarity with the differences is essential for successful management. This article reviews common musculoskeletal infections affecting normal adolescent population, but also includes special considerations. Hematogenous osteomyelitis and suppurative arthritis are reviewed in detail, including pathogenesis, etiology, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, laboratory tests, radiologic imaging, and treatment. Also discussed are contiguous osteomyelitis with and without vascular insufficiency, puncture wound osteomyelitis, vertebral osteomyelitis, osteomyelitis with sickle cell disease, chronic osteomyelitis, pyomyositis, acute bacterial myositis, and nonstreptococcal myonecrosis.
Deciphering fact from artifact when using reporter assays to investigate the roles of host factors on L1 retrotransposition

The Long INterspersed Element-1 (L1, LINE-1) is the only autonomous mobile DNA element in humans and has generated as much as half of the genome. Due to increasing clinical interest in the roles of L1 in cancer, embryogenesis and neuronal development, it has become a priority to understand L1-host interactions and identify host factors required for its activity. Apropos to this, we recently reported that L1 retrotransposition in HeLa cells requires phosphorylation of the L1 protein ORF1p at motifs targeted by host cell proline-directed protein kinases (PDPKs), which include the family of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Using two engineered L1 reporter assays, we continued our investigation into the roles of MAPKs in L1 activity. We found that the MAPK p38δ phosphorylated ORF1p on three of its four PDPK motifs required for L1 activity. In addition, we found that a constitutively active p38δ mutant appeared to promote L1 retrotransposition in HeLa cells. However, despite the consistency of these findings with our earlier work, we identified some technical concerns regarding the experimental methodology. Specifically, we found that exogenous expression of p38δ appeared to affect at least one heterologous promoter in an engineered L1 reporter, as well as generate opposing effects on two different reporters. We also show that two commercially available non-targeting control (NTC) siRNAs elicit drastically different effects on the apparent retrotransposition reported by both L1 assays, which raises concerns about the use of NTCs as normalizing controls. Engineered L1 reporter assays have been invaluable for determining the functions and critical residues of L1 open reading frames, as well as elucidating many aspects of L1 replication. However, our results suggest that caution is required when interpreting data obtained from L1 reporters used in conjunction with exogenous gene expression or siRNA.
Facial Nerve Injury

Minimizing risk to the integrity of the facial nerve is a critical measure of surgical success in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) surgeries. The surgeon must have a keen understanding of the regional anatomy combined with a planned dissection to protect the facial nerve in their approach to the joint [1]. Facial nerve injury may have devastating effects on the patient esthetically and functionally due to impairment of the frontalis and/or orbicularis oculi muscles. According to Liu et al., the most current review of the literature reveals that the incidence of facial nerve injury in conjunction with open TMJ surgery ranges from 12.5 to 32% [2]. The chapter will provide a review on the anatomy of the facial nerve, procedures leading to potential injury, recognition of injury, and multiple methods of management.
Instrumented balance and walking assessments in persons with multiple sclerosis show strong test-retest reliability

There is a need for objective movement assessment for clinical research trials aimed at improving gait and balance in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Wireless inertial sensors can accurately measure numerous walking and balance parameters but these measures require evaluation of reliability in PwMS. The current study determined the test-retest reliability of wireless inertial sensor measures obtained during an instrumented standing balance test and an instrumented Timed Up and Go test in PwMS. Fifteen PwMS and 15 healthy control subjects (HC) performed an instrumented standing balance and instrumented Timed Up and Go (TUG) test on two separate days. Ten instrumented standing balance measures and 18 instrumented TUG measures were computed from the wireless sensor data. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to determine test-retest reliability of all instrumented standing balance and instrumented TUG measures. Correlations were evaluated between the instrumented standing balance and instrumented TUG measures and self-reported walking and balance performance, fall history, and clinical disability. For both groups, ICCs for instrumented standing balance measures were best for spatio-temporal measures, while frequency measures were less reliable. All instrumented TUG measures exhibited good to excellent (ICCs > 0.60) test-retest reliability in PwMS and in HC. There were no correlations between self-report walking and balance scores and instrumented TUG or instrumented standing balance metrics, but there were correlations between instrumented TUG and instrumented standing balance metrics and fall history and clinical disability status. Measures from the instrumented standing balance and instrumented TUG tests exhibit good to excellent reliability, demonstrating their potential as objective assessments for clinical trials. A subset of the most reliable measures is recommended for measuring walking and balance in clinical settings.
Effect of composition of coke deposited in delayed coker furnace tubes on on-line spalling

Abstract Delayed coking is one of the most widely used residue upgradation process in crude oil refining where vacuum residue is thermally cracked and converted into distillates and petroleum coke. During heating of vacuum residue in coker furnace, coke is continuously deposited in furnace tubes which is removed at regular intervals by one of the three methods namely (i) pigging, (ii) steam air decoking or (iii) online spalling (OLS). OLS is one of the preferred methods of coke removal from coker furnace tubes. We have noticed very effective as well as “not so effective” OLS in a commercial delayed coker furnace. In present article, the changes in composition and properties of furnace coke during effective and ineffective OLS were systematically analyzed by various analytical tools such as Dilatometer, TGA, HRSEM, SEM-EDX and XRD. Based on these analyses, it was found that inorganic deposits such as iron sulphides and tube metal corrosion products play a major role in failure of OLS. Higher total acid number (TAN) of vacuum residue may be promoting the formation of iron sulfide deposits in furnace tube.
Planfulness: A Process-Focused Construct of Individual Differences in Goal Achievement

Goal pursuit outcomes are partly caused by the way people think about goals. Specific patterns of thought can increase the likelihood of goal achievement, such as generating heuristics to automate goal-related decision making, orienting present-moment attention to the future to increase the salience of a distal goal, and contrasting the anticipated enjoyment of an achieved goal with the progress required to complete it. However, it is unknown whether there are stable individual differences in the tendency to deploy particular meta-cognitions during goal pursuit. A tool to assess such differences would help to identify and intervene on personal barriers to goal progress. Here, we define a new construct within the conscientiousness domain—planfulness—that captures a person’s proclivity to adopt efficient goal-related cognition in pursuit of their goals. We hypothesize that planfulness consists of three interrelated facets representing distinct mental processes, temporal orientation (TO), cognitive strategies (CS), and mental flexibility (MF), and that planfulness predicts goal achievement on an individual basis. We developed a 30-item Planfulness Scale with three subscales tested and refined across 5 studies and 10 samples (total unique N = 4,318) using iterative exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis on data collected from both student and on-line samples. The Planfulness Scale demonstrated both convergent and discriminant validity when compared to other measurements, and scale scores predicted goal progress in a longitudinal study. We find that planfulness is a useful new construct for self-regulation research, and the 30-item Planfulness Scale to be a valid and reliable measurement of real-world goal achievement.
THE STUDY OF THE STRUCTURE OF ADSORBED MOLECULES ON SOLID SURFACES BY HIGH RESOLUTION ELECTRON ENERGY LOSS SPECTROSCOPY AND LOW ENERGY ELECTRON DIFFRACTION

Abstract The scattering of low energy electrons is an ideal probe of the structure of surfaces because of their high cross section for both elastic and inelastic scattering. The elastically scattered fraction is utilized in low energy electron diffraction (LEED) to determine the structure of clean solid surfaces and of monolayers of adsorbates, atomic or molecular. The loss of electron energy to the vibrational modes of atoms and molecules can also be used to determine the surface structure of atoms and molecules. This technique is known as high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). We shall focus on the structures of small molecules, CO, and several olefins that were recently determined by both LEED and HREELS studies. When adsorbed on metal (Pt and Rh) crystal surfaces, several binding states of CO have been uncovered that fill up as a function of coverage. Acetylene, ethylene, propylene, methylacetylene, and butenes all undergo transitions as a function of temperature and are accompanied by drastic changes in bonding. The most stable molecular arrangement appears to be the alkylidyne structure with the C-C bond axis perpendicular to the metal surface and the molecule anchored to a 3-fold surface site. Increased temperatures lead to sequential bond breaking fragmentation. The CH and C 2 H fragments appear to be the active species present on transition metal surfaces during catalytic reactions. The vibrational spectra obtained on single crystal and dispersed rhodium particle surfaces will be compared.
An Approximation Theorem for Certain Sequential Experiments

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate passages to the limit for a restricted class of sequential experiments. We consider experiments which, if they were stopped by a nonrandom variable, would be approximable by Gaussian or Koopman—Darmois families.
Decision Analytic Techniques and Other Decision Processes

Clinical decision making is complex and guided by a number of factors including medical evidence, personal experience and intuition. “Decision analysis” is a process that provides a framework for examining the clinical scenario, synthesizing the available evidence, and providing a recommendation for action. Decision analysis techniques are increasingly used in clinical medicine to develop health policy, clinical algorithms, and for cost-effectiveness analysis. An overview of the techniques, interpretation, and application of decision analysis is presented here.
Correlated Neuronal Activity and Behavior

Short-term correlations among neurons have been observed in different animals and brain regions. In a series of anatomically and physiologically based simulations of neuronal networks we have explored the emergence and the temporal dynamics of such correlations, and we have suggested potential functional roles for correlated neural activity in visual perception. A main focus of this paper is the role of short-term correlations in the control of behavior. Several examples of behavior that depend on the presence of a pattern of correlations among modeled neurons are discussed.
Targeting Type 1 Diabetes: Selective Approaches for New Therapies.

The clinical onset of type 1 diabetes is characterized by the destruction of the insulin-producing β cells of the pancreas and is caused by autoantigen-induced inflammation (insulitis) of the islets of Langerhans. The current standard of care for type 1 diabetes mellitus patients allows for management of the disease with exogenous insulin, but patients eventually succumb to many chronic complications such as limb amputation, blindness, and kidney failure. New therapeutic approaches now on the horizon are looking beyond glycemic management and are evaluating new strategies from protecting and regenerating endogenous islets to treating the underlying autoimmunity through selective modulation of key immune cell populations. Currently, there are no effective treatments for the autoimmunity that causes the disease, and strategies that aim to delay or prevent the onset of the disease will play an important role in the future of diabetes research. In this review, we summarize many of the key efforts underway tha...
Paclobutrazol Effects on Bedding Plants During Production, Shipping, and the Retail Environment When Applied in Production

Abstract Foliar sprays of 10, 15, or 20 ppm paclobutrazol followed by a second application of 50 ppm were applied to ‘Bravo Lavender’ and ‘Celebrity Blue’ petunias and ‘Salvador Red’ and ‘Vista Red...
1D and 2D materials, and flexible substrates

This paper reviews two of the primary research topics pursued by the EH Yang Research Group at Stevens Institute of Technology. Chemical vapor deposition is used to synthesize single crystalline or polycrystalline monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), including MoS2, WS2, WSe2 and MoSe2, as well as their heterostructures. This research could have a significant impact on the future research and commercialization of TMD-based optoelectronics and nanoelectronics. Flexible electrodes and energy storage technologies are developed toward wearable and multifunctional electronics. A facile fabrication technique is developed utilizing vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, which enables the fabrication of flexible supercapacitors with a stable charge/discharge under varied strains. Lastly, smart polymer membranes are investigated and utilized to demonstrate a novel in situ control of droplet pinning on the polymer surface, enabling the control of droplet adhesion from strongly pinned to extremely slippery (and vice versa), presenting great potential for manipulation and control of liquid droplets for various applications including oil separation.
Optical Fiber-Tip Monolithic Silicon Pressure Sensors

Fiber-tip interferometric pressure sensors offer high resolution over broad frequency and dynamic ranges with minimal device footprint. We fabricate a $100~\mu \text{m}$ wide monolithic silicon pressure-sensing diaphragm and reference cavity as a unit on the wafer-scale, simplifying the packaging. The $1.0~\mu \text{m}$ thick diaphragm and $1~\mu \text{m}$ thick cavity form a pressure-sensitive optical resonator which we interrogate over an optical fiber with a polished turning mirror. Our sensors function at pressures up to 3.5 atm, and have tunable dynamic ranges and sensitivities through choice of operational wavelength. We demonstrate 0.002 atm resolution over a 0.9 atm dynamic range using 1544 nm light for atmospheric pressure testing. We introduce an optical model for fiber-tip Fabry-Perot sensors with diffraction-loss and show good agreement with experimental results. We test the devices in a wind-tunnel environment and demonstrate broad-bandwidth operation and resolution competitive with standard micro-electromechanical sensors.
Speak Up! Studying the Interplay of Individual and Contextual Factors to Physiological-Based Models of Public Speaking Anxiety

Public speaking is key to effectively exchanging ideas, persuading others, and making tangible impact. Yet, public speaking anxiety ranks as a top social phobia in the U.S., especially among first generation college students, and those who belong to underrepresented or minority groups. This paper uses physiological signals captured from wearable devices to detect self-reported state-based anxiety during a real-life public speaking encounter. Individual and contextual factors moderating the association between physiological reactivity and state-based public speaking anxiety are taken into account. Such factors include indices of trait-based anxiety, level of preparation, and gender. Results highlight the significance of including such factors for detecting public speaking anxiety and indicate that the proposed approach can yield up to 0.79 (p<0.01) Spearman's correlation measures between the actual and estimated state-based anxiety scores. Implications of these results will enable researchers to better understand antedecedents and causes of public speaking anxiety contributing to behavioral interventions.
Using Machine Learning to Detect Anomalies in Embedded Networks in Heavy Vehicles

Modern automobiles have more than 70 electronic control units (ECUs) and 100 million lines of code to improve safety, fuel economy, performance, durability, user experience, and to reduce emissions. Automobiles are becoming increasingly interconnected with the outside world. Consequently, modern day automobiles are becoming more prone to cyber security attacks. Towards this end, we present an approach that uses machine learning to detect abnormal behavior, including malicious ones, on embedded networks in heavy vehicles. Our modular algorithm uses machine learning approaches on the internal network traffic in heavy vehicles to generate warning alarms in real-time. We tested our hypothesis on five separate data logs that characterize the operations of heavy vehicles having different specifications under varying driving conditions. We report a malicious detection rate of 98–99% and a mean accuracy rate of 96–99% across all experiments using five-fold cross-validation. Our analysis also shows that with a small subset of hand-crafted features, the complex dynamic behavior of heavy vehicle ECUs can be predicted and classified as normal or abnormal.
Designing a Turing-complete cellular automata system using quantum-dot cellular automata

The quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) computing paradigm is used to implement Rule 110, a unique one-dimensional cellular automata (CA) that has been proven to be Turing complete. A Turing complete architecture is capable of universal computing, which means that it could be used to implement any arbitrary computation. The optimized design of a single Rule 110 cell is presented, first using Boolean algebra and then by the use of QCA cells. This is followed by simulations to verify the correct behavior of the device and a method for efficiently filling a two-dimensional region with a one-dimensional CA device.
A FPGA-Pipelined, High-Throughput Approach to Coarse-Grained Simulation of HPC Systems

Although previous studies have accelerated discreteevent simulation with various parallelization strategies, total simulation time remains prohibitive for certain use cases that require many independent simulations (e.g., design-space exploration, Monte Carlo simulation). In this paper, rather than focus solely on improved execution time for an individual simulation, we introduce an FPGA-accelerated approach that potentially sacrifices simulation latency to greatly increase throughput by many orders of magnitude. In this approach, the simulation design space is converted to an intermediate dataflow graph representation and ultimately mapped to a simulation pipeline by a custom-built compiler. We describe the design and implementation of our approach. Additionally, we present a resourcesharing strategy that greatly increases design scalability at the cost of slightly reduced simulation throughput. Although not applicable in all scenarios, we demonstrate that this approach can accelerate total simulation time for design-space exploration of HPC algorithmic/architectural co-design by up to 6 orders of magnitude when compared to the same exploration performed with a parallel software simulator.
Male survival advantage on the Baja California peninsula.

A consistent finding from contemporary Western societies is that women outlive men. However, what is unclear is whether sex differences in survival are constant across varying socio-ecological cond...
Autoregressive modeling and diagnostics for qPCR amplification

MOTIVATION Current methods used to analyze real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) data exhibit systematic deviations from the assumed model over the progression of the reaction. Slight variations in the amount of the initial target molecule or in early amplifications are likely responsible for these deviations. Commonly used 4- and 5-parameter sigmoidal models appear to be particularly susceptible to this issue, often displaying patterns of autocorrelation in the residuals. The presence of this phenomenon, even for technical replicates, suggests that these parametric models may be misspecified. Specifically, they do not account for the sequential dependent nature of the amplification process that underlies qPCR fluorescence measurements. RESULTS We demonstrate that a Smooth Transition Autoregressive (STAR) model addresses this limitation by explicitly modeling the dependence between cycles and the gradual transition between amplification regimes. In summary, application of a STAR model to qPCR amplification data improves model fit and reduces autocorrelation in the residuals. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION R scripts to reproduce all the analyses and results described in this manuscript can be found at: https://github.com/bhsu4/GAPDH.SO. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Individualized Prediction of Brain Network Interactions using Deep Siamese Networks

Resting-state brain networks (RSNs) have been recently used extensively for different tasks such as age prediction and patient classification. These networks are identified through analysis of synchronous low-frequency fluctuations in blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signals obtained from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. A significant majority of studies published so far involve time series analysis of fMRI signals to identify their endpoint of interest and less research has analyzed the connection between spatial networks of the brain to discover novel biomarkers. In this study, we show, for the first time, that the interaction between RSNs can uniquely characterize individual subjects. We propose a novel approach called BrainNet, a deep Siamese-based 3D convolutional neural network that learns to compare subjects by capturing the interactions between brain networks. We show that, our trained model can accurately discriminate subjects using pairs of networks as input and that it generalizes to the unseen cases. We also show the proposed model captures age-and gender-rich features in characterizing patterns of network-network interactions notwithstanding any supervision.
Transgender mutation and the canon: Christine de Pizan’s Livre de la Mutacion de Fortune

This essay challenges the normative textual readings bequeathed by the construct of the medieval literary canon and affirms the existence of a wide range of non-canonical Middle Ages. The transgender Middle Ages – which I theorize as a cross-temporal engagement, mobilizing the viewpoint of the modern trans subject to elucidate the traces of transgender subjectivity that inhere in certain medieval narratives – is one such non-canonical Middle Ages. Using the example of Christine de Pizan’s Livre de la Mutacion de Fortune [Book of Fortune’s Transformation] (1403), I demonstrate how the weight of the canon operates to preclude the possibility of trans readings of medieval texts, going so far as to selectively negate narrative elements in order to produce a hegemonic interpretation. The Mutacion’s narrator declares repeatedly that he is a man, yet this assertion is typically undermined by the critical viewpoint that, since narrator and author are both named Christine, they must be one and the same. The emphasis on metaphor within the text is also commonly employed in criticism to hold transness at bay, reducing it to a rhetorical flourish. I demonstrate in this essay, however, that metaphor and truth are not mutually exclusive. Further, I indicate metaphor’s deep connection to transness, and thus the way that metaphor can function not to negate but to make manifest trans identity and embodiment. This essay reclaims and celebrates complex and shifting transgender textual possibilities in all their monstrous mutability.