cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Positive and negative ultrasonic social signals elicit opposing firing patterns in rat amygdala.

Abstract Rat ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are ethologically-essential social signals. Under natural conditions, 22 kHz USVs and 50 kHz USVs are emitted in association with negative and positive emotional states, respectively. Our first experiment examined freezing behavior elicited in naive Sprague-Dawley rats by a 22 kHz USV, a 50 kHz USV, and frequency-matched tones. None of the stimuli elicited freezing, which is the most commonly-used index of fear. The second experiment examined single-unit responses to these stimuli in the amygdala (AM), which is well-known for its role in innate and acquired fear responses. Among 127 well-discriminated single units, 82% were auditory-responsive. Elicited firing patterns were classified using a multi-dimensional scheme that included transient (phasic) responses to the stimulus onsets and/or offsets as well as sustained (tonic) responses during the stimulus. Tonic responses, which are not ordinarily evaluated in AM, were 4.4-times more common than phasic responses. The 22 kHz stimuli tended to elicit tonic increases in the firing rates, whereas the 50 kHz stimuli more often elicited tonic decreases in firing rates. These opposing tonic responses correspond with the ethological valence of USVs in the two frequency bands. Thus, a relatively-small sample of single-unit responses in AM furnished a more sensitive index of emotional valence than freezing behavior. Latency analysis suggested that stimuli in the two frequency bands are processed through different pathways to AM. One possible interpretation is that phasic responses in AM reflect the detection of a stimulus change, whereas tonic responses indicate the valence of the detected stimulus.
Abiotic constraints on the activity of tropical lizards

Summary 1. Many tropical ectotherms are considered vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change because they have evolved to become thermal specialists. Indeed, several recent studies have suggested that even small increases in mean operative temperature may lead to a reduction in activity and the subsequent extinction of populations. Within the tropics, lizards are considered particularly vulnerable due to the potential for climate change to directly impact physiology and alter community interactions. However, models usually focus on the effects of mean operative temperature at the expense of other climate variables that may also affect lizard physiology. 2. We used daily variation in operative temperature, humidity and wind speed to examine how changes in climate influence activity in two species of lizards from the island of Cayo Menor, Honduras. Anolis lemurinus is a forest species, whereas A. allisoni is an open-habitat species. We conducted daily surveys for active lizards in habitat typical to each species, while simultaneously measuring operative thermal environments with physical models. The effects of the thermal environment were considered in the context of the thermal sensitivity of locomotor performance for each species and compared with the effects of the hydric (humidity) and convective (wind) environments. 3. When all surveys were combined into a single analysis, the activity of the forest species Anolis lemurinus was positively correlated with wind speed, the spatial heterogeneity of operative temperature, and the mismatch between mean operative temperature and the optimal temperature for sprint performance. Mean operative temperature did significantly affect Anolis lemurinus activity, but only when it was above their thermal optimum. Activity of the openhabitat species A. allisoni was negatively correlated with wind speed, but was not related to any other climate variable. 4. Whereas the mismatch between mean operative temperature and the thermal optimum for performance predicted the activity level of the forest species in ways partially consistent with its use in models for the response of lizards to climate change, the effects of the abiotic environment were habitat dependent. Our results suggest that successfully predicting the biological impacts of climate change will require holistic models that account for more than changes in mean temperature alone.
Transient response analysis for temperature-modulated chemoresistors

This article presents a sensor excitation and signal processing approach that combines temperature modulation and transient analysis to enhance the selectivity and sensitivity of metal-oxide gas sensors. A staircase waveform is applied to the sensor heater to extract transient information from multiple operating temperatures. Four different transient analysis techniques, Pade–Z-transform, multi-exponential transient spectroscopy (METS), window time slicing (WTS) and a novel ridge regression solution, are evaluated on the basis of their ability to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor array. The techniques are validated on two experimental databases containing serial dilutions and mixtures of organic solvents. Our results indicate that processing of the thermal transients significantly improves the sensitivity of metal-oxide chemoresistors when compared to the quasi-stationary temperature-modulated responses. # 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Incidence of atrial fibrillation in relation to changing heart rate over time in hypertensive patients: the LIFE study.

Background— Onset of atrial fibrillation (AF) has been linked to changes in autonomic tone, with increasing heart rate (HR) immediately before AF onset in some patients suggesting a possible role o ...
2013 Best Paper Award

The Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering is pleased to announce that the Editorial Board has chosen “Wave Runup and Overtopping at Seawalls Built on Land and in Very Shallow Water,” by Hajime Mase, Takashi Tamada, Tomohiro Yasuda, Terence S. Hedges, and Maria T. Reis, published in the September 2013 issue (Vol. 139, No. 5, pp. 346–357), as the 2013 Best Paper. The Editorial Board appreciated the careful nature of the study and its direct applicability to engineering practice. The selection process for the best paper has resulted in five finalists being recognized as 2013 Outstanding Papers: • “Method for Estimating Future Hurricane Flood Probabilities and Associated Uncertainty,” by Jennifer L. Irish and Donald T. Resio (Vol. 139, No. 2, pp. 126–134); • “Is the Intensifying Wave Climate of the U.S. Pacific Northwest Increasing Flooding and Erosion Risk Faster Than Sea-Level Rise?” by Peter Ruggiero (Vol. 139, No. 2, pp. 88–97); • “Boat-Wake Statistics at Jensen Beach, Florida,” by Alex Sheremet,UriahGravois, andMiaoTian (Vol. 139,No. 4, pp. 286–294); • “Backfilling of a Scour Hole around a Pile inWaves andCurrent,” by B. Mutlu Sumer, Thor U. Petersen, Luca Locatelli, Jorgen Fredsoe, RosariaE.Musumeci, andEnricoFoti (Vol. 139,No.1, pp.9–23); and • “Advective Diffusion of Contaminants in the Surf Zone,” by Patricio Winckler, Philip L.-F. Liu, and Chiang C. Mei (Vol. 139, No. 6, pp. 437–454). The Editorial Board congratulates these authors and thanks them for their submissions. Assistant Editor Andrew Kennedy has led the selection process. TheBest PaperAward andOutstanding Papers are selected annually from all Technical Papers, Technical Notes, and Case Studies published in a calendar year.
The natural history of non-human GB virus C in captive chimpanzees.

GB virus C (GBV-C) is a common, non-pathogenic human virus that infects lymphocytes. Persistent GBV-C infection of humans with coexistent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with prolonged survival, and GBV-C replication inhibits HIV replication in vitro. A GBV-C virus variant was identified in chimpanzees in 1998 and was named GBV-Ctrog or GBV-Ccpz. The prevalence and natural history of GBV-C in chimpanzees remains uncharacterized. We examined the sera from 235 captive chimpanzees for the presence of GBV-C viraemia, viral persistence and clearance, E2 antibody kinetics and RNA sequence diversity. Sequences from six isolates shared more sequence identity with GBV-Ccpz than with human GBV-C. The prevalence of GBV-Ccpz viraemia and E2 antibody in chimpanzees (2.5 and 11 %, respectively) was similar to human GBV-C prevalence in healthy human blood donors (1.8 and 9 %, respectively). Persistent GBV-Ccpz infection occurred in two of the six viraemic animals and was documented for 19 years in one animal. Host subspecies troglodyte GBV-C isolates and published verus GBV-C isolates shared a high degree of sequence identity, suggesting that GBV-C in chimpanzees should be identified with a chimpanzee designation (GBV-Ccpz). The prevalence and natural history of chimpanzee GBV-C variant (GBV-Ccpz) appears to be similar to human GBV-C infection. The chimpanzee could serve as an animal model to study HIV–GBV-C co-infection.
The transcription factor ATF2 promotes melanoma metastasis by suppressing protein fucosylation

Melanoma is one of the most lethal skin cancers worldwide, primarily because of its propensity to metastasize. Thus, the elucidation of mechanisms that govern metastatic propensity is urgently needed. We found that protein kinase Ce (PKCe)-mediated activation of activating transcription factor 2 (ATF2) controls the migratory and invasive behaviors of melanoma cells. PKCe-dependent phosphorylation of ATF2 promoted its transcriptional repression of the gene encoding fucokinase (FUK), which mediates the fucose salvage pathway and thus global cellular protein fucosylation. In primary melanocytes and cell lines representing early-stage melanoma, the abundance of PKCe-phosphorylated ATF2 was low, thereby enabling the expression of FUK and cellular protein fucosylation, which promoted cellular adhesion and reduced motility. In contrast, increased expression of the gene encoding PKCe and abundance of phosphorylated, transcriptionally active ATF2 were observed in advanced-stage melanomas and correlated with decreased FUK expression, decreased cellular protein fucosylation, attenuated cell adhesion, and increased cell motility. Restoring fucosylation in mice either by dietary fucose supplementation or by genetic manipulation of murine Fuk expression attenuated primary melanoma growth, increased the number of intratumoral natural killer cells, and decreased distal metastasis in murine isograft models. Tumor microarray analysis of human melanoma specimens confirmed reduced fucosylation in metastatic tumors and a better prognosis for primary melanomas that had high abundance of fucosylation. Thus, inhibiting PKCe or ATF2 or increasing protein fucosylation in tumor cells may improve clinical outcome in melanoma patients.
Lego and Law: Linking the Gilded Age and Today

The Supreme Court of the United States may be skeptical about the emotional capacity of an incorporated entity, but the Green Bag has no doubts about its own passion for Lego. This sentiment has manifested itself only rarely and recently in print, but it has long been deeply felt. Our focus in this Almanac on the 1887 Constitutional Centennial in Philadelphia provides a nice opportunity to again express our love of Lego, because the Supreme Court-related Centennial festivities provide an obvious choice for a new plastic-brick structure.
Reversible Disassembly-Assembly of Octa Acid-Guest Capsule in Water Triggered by a Photochromic Process.

Octa acid (OA), a calixarene-based cavitand, forms a 1:2 capsular assembly with neutral 1,3,3-trimethyl-6′-nitrospiro[2H-1]benzopyran-2,2′-indoline and 1:1 cavitandplex with its open zwitterionic merocyanine form. Photochromic interconversion between the spiropyran and merocyanine leads to unprecedented reversible capsular disassembly and assembly. OA provides stability to the merocyanine in both the ground and excited states. The photochemically controlled disassembly and assembly process established here points toward the opportunity of using the OA capsule in delivering small molecules at the desired locations.
First-Principles Calculation of the Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbI3–xClx

Hybrid halide perovskites exhibit nearly 20% power conversion efficiency, but the origin of their high efficiency is still unknown. Here, we compute the shift current, a dominant mechanism of the bulk photovoltaic (PV) effect for ferroelectric photovoltaics, in CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbI3–xClx from first-principles. We find that these materials give approximately three times larger shift current PV response to near-IR and visible light than the prototypical ferroelectric photovoltaic BiFeO3. The molecular orientations of CH3NH3+ can strongly affect the corresponding PbI3 inorganic frame so as to alter the magnitude of the shift current response. Specifically, configurations with dipole moments aligned in parallel distort the inorganic PbI3 frame more significantly than configurations with near-net-zero dipole, yielding a larger shift current response. Furthermore, we explore the effect of Cl substitution on shift current and find that Cl substitution at the equatorial site induces a larger response than doe...
Highly sensitive immunoassay based on controlled rehydration of patterned reagents in a 2-dimensional paper network.

We have demonstrated a multistep 2-dimensional paper network immunoassay based on controlled rehydration of patterned, dried reagents. Previous work has shown that signal enhancement improves the limit of detection in 2-dimensional paper network assays, but until now, reagents have only been included as wet or dried in separate conjugate pads placed at the upstream end of the assay device. Wet reagents are not ideal for point-of-care because they must be refrigerated and typically limit automation and require more user steps. Conjugate pads allow drying but do not offer any control of the reagent distribution upon rehydration and can be a source of error when pads do not contact the assay membrane uniformly. Furthermore, each reagent is dried on a separate pad, increasing the fabrication complexity when implementing multistep assays that require several different reagents. Conversely, our novel method allows for consistent, controlled rehydration from patterned reagent storage depots directly within the p...
Stratigraphy and formation of clays, sulfates, and hydrated silica within a depression in Coprates Catena, Mars

We investigate the morphology, mineralogy, and stratigraphy of light-toned layered deposits within a trough of Coprates Catena, centered at −15°N, 300°E. One of the deposits in the eastern portion of the trough contains numerous hydrated minerals, including Al-phyllosilicates, Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates, hydrated silica, hydrated sulfates, jarosite and acid alteration products characterized by a spectral doublet between 2.2 and 2.3 µm, and weakly hydrated materials. The Al-phyllosilicates are observed both stratigraphically above and below the Fe/Mg-phyllosilicate unit, which is a rare and perhaps unique association on Mars. Most of the western light-toned layered deposit underlies a terraced fan. This deposit contains hydrated materials, including Al-phyllosilicates and Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates. Dip measurements indicate that both the eastern and western deposits dip toward the center of the trough, indicating that they postdate formation of the trough and are consequently Late Hesperian or younger in age. Volcanic ash, most likely erupted during formation of the pit crater in the eastern portion of the trough, seems to best explain our observations for several of the units. Valleys sourced from water along the plateau may have flowed into the trough and altered the sediments, with changing aqueous chemistries over time resulting in the diverse range of mineralogies now observed in the eastern light-toned deposit. Our results reveal a complex sedimentary and aqueous history within the Coprates Catena trough, indicating that localized habitable conditions were possible relatively late in Martian history at a time when colder, drier conditions likely dominated the majority of the planet.
The G-bordism groups

Given a pair (X, A) of spaces, consider all maps f:(B n , \(\dot B^n \)) → (X, A), where B n is a compact oriented differentiable manifold with boundary \(\dot B^n \). We introduce a relation of the bordism type on the class of all such f, arriving in § 4 at the set Ω n (X, A) of equivalence classes. These groups constitute a generalized homology theory; it is shown in § 5 that the Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms are satisfied except for the dimensional axiom. In § 12 we give a homotopy interpretation for Ω n (X, A). It is shown that Ω n (X, x 0), X a CW complex with base point x 0∈ X, is given by the homotopy group π n+k (X ∧ MSO (k)); here MSO (k) is the Thorn space and k ≧ n + 2. In § 13 the dual generalized cohomology theory is sketched; this is due to Atiyah [1]. We try to fill in along the way some of the background material of differential topology.
Planning for Private Consumption and Collective Beauty Regulating Outdoor Advertising in Los Angeles, 1881–2014

Outdoor advertising proliferation and the development of land use regulations in Los Angeles illustrate the complicated nature of balancing the economic and physical aspects of urban development. R...
Present Status and Traceability System of Safety of Cereal Foods in China

With the rapid development of cereal processing industry in China,safety of cereal foods has been giving more and more prominence these years.And the cereal traceability system has been the most key to constitute the policy of safety.This paper summarized present status of safety of cereal foods,the food chain,the system of international criterion to provid reference for our country cereal processing.
Threonine 89 Is an Important Residue of Profilin-1 That Is Phosphorylatable by Protein Kinase A

Objective Dynamic regulation of actin cytoskeleton is at the heart of all actin-based cellular events. In this study, we sought to identify novel post-translational modifications of Profilin-1 (Pfn1), an important regulator of actin polymerization in cells. Methodology We performed in vitro protein kinase assay followed by mass-spectrometry to identify Protein Kinase A (PKA) phosphorylation sites of Pfn1. By two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-GE) analysis, we further examined the changes in the isoelectric profile of ectopically expressed Pfn1 in HEK-293 cells in response to forskolin (FSK), an activator of cAMP/PKA pathway. Finally, we combined molecular dynamics simulations (MDS), GST pull-down assay and F-actin analyses of mammalian cells expressing site-specific phosphomimetic variants of Pfn1 to predict the potential consequences of phosphorylation of Pfn1. Results and Significance We identified several PKA phosphorylation sites of Pfn1 including Threonine 89 (T89), a novel site. Consistent with PKA’s ability to phosphorylate Pfn1 in vitro, FSK stimulation increased the pool of the most negatively charged form of Pfn1 in HEK-293 cells which can be attenuated by PKA inhibitor H89. MDS predicted that T89 phosphorylation destabilizes an intramolecular interaction of Pfn1, potentially increasing its affinity for actin. The T89D phosphomimetic mutation of Pfn1 elicits several changes that are hallmarks of proteins folded into alternative three-dimensional conformations including detergent insolubility, protein aggregation and accelerated proteolysis, suggesting that T89 is a structurally important residue of Pfn1. Expression of T89D-Pfn1 induces actin:T89D-Pfn1 co-clusters and dramatically reduces overall actin polymerization in cells, indicating an actin-sequestering action of T89D-Pfn1. Finally, rendering T89 non-phosphorylatable causes a positive charge shift in the isoelectric profile of Pfn1 in a 2D gel electrophoresis analysis of cell extracts, a finding that is consistent with phosphorylation of a certain pool of intracellular Pfn1 on the T89 residue. In summary, we propose that T89 phosphorylation could have major functional consequences on Pfn1. This study paves the way for further investigation of the potential role of Pfn1 phosphorylation in PKA-mediated regulation of actin-dependent biological processes.
The State and Economic Adjustment Strategies

By the early 1990s, the international creditor regime successfully has adapted to the rising risks of non-payment, declines in the value of their assets, and the threat from international financial instability. As debt negotiations continue into the 1990s, the regime’s continued success will depend on the creditors’ capacity to act collectively while preempting collective action by debtors, the ability to share the risks of lending with international institutions and creditor governments, the ability to protect themselves from default, and the leverage gained through control of future credits.1
Integrity Preserving Belief Update for Recursive Bayesian Tracking with Non-ideal Sensors

The theory of belief functions offers a framework for modeling and reasoning with epistemic uncertainties. While epistemic uncertainties are not well characterized, the Bayesian approaches, such as the recursive bayesian filtering methods (e.g., Kalman filter) utilize a sequence of noisy measurements for recursively ‘tracking’ the behavior of a dynamic system. While tracking performance is often defined by the estimation accuracy, the latter in turn depends heavily on what’s being measured by the sensors and how accurately these measurements are modeled. Characterizing system states and observations solely via a measurement model may turn out to be inadequate in applications that involve ‘non-ideal’ sensors that introduce epistemic uncertainties into the measurement process, mainly due to the difficulties associated with capturing highly uncertain, imperfect and subjective nature of these environments. In this paper, we present a novel approach to utilize belief theoretic notions to conveniently and accurately model such epistemic uncertainties that are originated by the use of non-ideal sensors. We are motivated by the well-understood connection from belief theory to Bayesian probability to develop this hybrid approach that enables the utilization of “best of both worlds.”
High volume web service resource consumption

In this paper we investigate the problem of providing consistency, availability and durability for Web Service transactions that consume anonymous and attribute based resources. We show that the availability of the popular lazy replica update propagation method can be achieved while increasing it's durability and consistency. Our approach is based on an extension to the Buddy System, requiring that updates are preserved synchronously in two replicas, called buddies. Our system provides a new consistency constraint, Capacity Constraint, which allows the system to guarantee that resources are not over consumed and also allows for higher distribution of the consumption. Our method provides 1.) higher availability through the distribution of element master's by utilizing all available clusters, 2.) consistency by performing the complete transaction on a single set of clusters, and 3.) a guaranteed durability by updating two clusters synchronously with the transaction.
Optimizing Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging for a Focal Therapy Practice: Quality Improvement

Prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used for three decades, though it has only recently reached sufficient levels of quality to be reliably used in clinical applications. The main difference between the prostate MRI of yesterday and the prostate MRI of today is the multiparametric nature of the technique, consisting of high-resolution anatomical T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and at least two functional parameters—most commonly diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) sequences. This new form of prostate multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) can play multiple roles throughout the process of a patient receiving focal therapy: the initial diagnosis and evaluation for candidacy for focal therapy, image guidance for targeted biopsy and/or focal therapy, and follow-up imaging to detect treated tissue, potential residual disease, or disease recurrence. There are opportunities for the incorporation of quality improvement at each of these steps, which will be discussed further in this chapter.
Nanostructured Single-Ion-Conducting Hybrid Electrolytes Based on Salty Nanoparticles and Block Copolymers

We report on the synthesis and characterization of a series of microphase-separated, single-ion-conducting block copolymer electrolytes. Salty nanoparticles comprising silsesquioxane cores with covalently bound polystyrenesulfonyllithium (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (PSLiTFSI) chains were synthesized by nitroxide-mediated polymerization. Hybrid electrolytes were obtained by mixing the salty nanoparticles into a microphase-separated polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (SEO) block copolymer. Miscibility of PSLiTFSI and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) results in localization of the nanoparticles in the PEO-rich microphase. The morphology of hybrid electrolytes was determined by scanning transmission electron microscopy. We explore the relationship between the morphology and ionic conductivity of the hybrid. The transference number of the electrolyte with the highest ionic conductivity was measured by dc polarization to confirm the single-ion-conducting character of the electrolyte. Discharge curves obtained from...
Gut symbiotic microbes imprint intestinal immune cells with the innate receptor SLAMF4 which contributes to gut immune protection against enteric pathogens.

Background Interactions between host immune cells and gut microbiota are crucial for the integrity and function of the intestine. How these interactions regulate immune cell responses in the intestine remains a major gap in the field. Aim We have identified the signalling lymphocyte activation molecule family member 4 (SLAMF4) as an immunomodulator of the intestinal immunity. The aim is to determine how SLAMF4 is acquired in the gut and what its contribution to intestinal immunity is. Methods Expression of SLAMF4 was assessed in mice and humans. The mechanism of induction was studied using GFP tg bone marrow chimaera mice, lymphotoxin α and TNLG8A-deficient mice, as well as gnotobiotic mice. Role in immune protection was revealed using oral infection with Listeria monocytogenes and Cytobacter rodentium . Results SLAMF4 is a selective marker of intestinal immune cells of mice and humans. SLAMF4 induction occurs directly in the intestinal mucosa without the involvement of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Gut bacterial products, particularly those of gut anaerobes, and gut-resident antigen-presenting cell (APC) TNLG8A are key contributors of SLAMF4 induction in the intestine. Importantly, lack of SLAMF4 expression leads the increased susceptibility of mice to infection by oral pathogens culminating in their premature death. Conclusions SLAMF4 is a marker of intestinal immune cells which contributes to the protection against enteric pathogens and whose expression is dependent on the presence of the gut microbiota. This discovery provides a possible mechanism for answering the long-standing question of how the intertwining of the host and gut microbial biology regulates immune cell responses in the gut.
WHOSE WORLD, WHICH LAW?

This essay was presented as the 2015 McDonald Distinguished Scholar Lecture at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University.
3-D axon structure extraction and analysis in confocal fluorescence microscopy images

In this paper, we propose a highly automated 3D centerline extraction tool to assist 3D microscopy image analysis to extract morphological features of the neuronal structures. For this project, the most difficult part is that, some axons are overlapping to each other that the boundaries distinguishing them are hardly visible. Our approach combines 3D Dynamic Programming (DP) technique and marker controlled watershed algorithm to solve this problem. The approach consists of tracking and updating along the navigation directions of multiple axons simultaneously. The experimental results show that, the proposed method can rapidly and accurately extract multiple axon centerlines and can handle complicated axon structures such as cross-over sections and overlapping objects.
Posterior Scleritis with Choroidal Effusion Secondary to Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus.

ABSTRACTPurpose: To describe a case of posterior scleritis with serous choroidal detachment that occurred as an acute complication of herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO).Methods: Retrospective case report.Results: A 75-year-old female presented with 3 days of painful, decreased vision in her left eye 1 week after being diagnosed with HZO. She had unilateral crusted vesicular lesions in the V1 dermatomal distribution and corneal pseudodendrites. Funduscopic examination demonstrated a large choroidal detachment in her left eye. B-scan ultrasonography revealed unilaterally thickened sclera consistent with posterior scleritis. She was treated with oral prednisone and a 2-week course of intravenous acyclovir. Two weeks after the initiation of treatment, her vision had improved and she demonstrated complete resolution of her pseudodendrites, posterior scleritis, and choroidal detachment.Conclusions: Prompt recognition and treatment of this unique combination of clinical manifestations of HZO resulted in significan...
Sunset for the American Dream

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present and explore the deleterious socioeconomic consequence of six interrelated trends upon the sustainability of the personal portion of America’s social contract. Design/methodology/approach Neoclassical economic growth theory is used to frame the discussion of the trends in significant variables. This paper is a general review and draws on widely available data and academic insights of scholars. Findings This detailed examination leads to rejection of ergodicity and concludes that the existing social contract is unrealizable and unsustainable in present form for all but a shrinking minority of citizens. Research limitations/implications The conclusion is robust but tentative since the trends reviewed are not fixed and may deviate from existing trend lines given undetermined government policies and unforeseeable technological developments. Originality/value The paper examines the origins and implications of six adverse systemic trends, highlighting the fact that existing policy prescriptions lack understanding of – and/or scale to comprehensively address – a growing existential threat to the Liberal Tradition’s entrenched social contract.
Environmental Risk Factors Link Autism to Many Other Outcomes

Research has found no support for the belief that unloving mothers caused autism, or for the belief that vaccines or their preservatives caused autism. However, many other environmental risk factors have been found in association with autism symptoms including age of the parents, parent autoimmune disorders, season of conception and birth, sociodemographic status of the parents, spacing of pregnancies, birth order, and fertility treatments. Other environmental risk factors for autism include multiple fetuses, bleeding during pregnancy, a mother's infections, diet, medications, exposure to alcohol or drugs, and lack of vitamin use. Autism symptoms have also been found with prematurity, infant hypoxia during delivery, cesarean section delivery, lower birth weight, and low Apgar scores at birth. Evidence indicates that none of the known prenatal, perinatal, epigenetic, immune system, risk factors for autism cause only autism. Thus, autism is one of many outcomes of environmental risk factors.
Performance and Power-Efficient Design of Dense Non-Volatile Cache in CMPs

In this paper, we present a novel cache design based on Multi-Level Cell Spin-Transfer Torque RAM (MLC STT-RAM) that can dynamically adjust the set capacity and associativity to efficiently use the full potential of MLC STT-RAM technology. We exploit the asymmetric nature of the MLC storage scheme to build cache lines featuring heterogeneous performances, that is, half of the cache lines are read-friendly, while the other half are write-friendly. Furthermore, we propose to opportunistically deactivate cache ways in underutilized sets to convert MLC to Single-Level Cell (SLC) mode, which features overall better performance and lifetime. Our ultimate goal is to build a cache architecture that combines the capacity advantages of MLC and performance/energy advantages of SLC. Our experimental evaluations show an average improvement of 43 percent in total numbers of conflict misses, 27 percent in memory access latency, 12 percent in system performance, and 26 percent in L3 access energy, with a slight degradation in lifetime (about 7 percent) compared to an SLC cache.
Determination of Lentiviral Infectious Titer by a Novel Droplet Digital PCR Method

Lentivirus is one of the best vehicles in delivering exogenous genes for therapeutics. Prior to application, it is very important to determine the infectious titer, which measures only mature virus capable of infecting target cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting are commonly used for determination of infectious titer. This study introduces a new method based on Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR), a recently developed PCR technology that quantifies the absolute amount of target DNA in the reaction. In this study, the dynamic range, Limit of Quantification (LOQ), and data acceptance criteria for ddPCR are defined against lentiviral sequence. ddPCR performance is also compared to established FACS and qPCR methods. This work not only demonstrates the feasibility of ddPCR in determining lentiviral infectious titer, but provides a detailed method that can be easily adapted by the scientific community.
Dither-Enhanced Lidar

We present the design of a subtractively-dithered time-correlated single photon counting ranging system, resulting in improved depth resolution.
The Affective Response to Exercise

An affective response (AR) can be defined as the general psychological state of an individual, including but not limited to emotions and mood, within a given situation. In its most basic context, AR is used to describe an individual’s subjective experience (i.e., intrapersonal or experiential core) of all valenced responses; i.e., those that involve the potential for both positive and negative dimensions. Similar to RPE and exercise-induced muscle pain responses, individuals can rate the AR to exercise and PA by selecting a number from a range of numerical categories (both positive and negative) displayed on an affect scale. Scales designed to measure AR, such as the Feeling Scale (FS), include verbal descriptors placed in juxtaposition to numerical categories representing the range of affective responsiveness from the most negative feelings to the most positive feelings regarding the exercise situation. The Feeling Scale has been used to assess the range of overall feelings an individual may experience before, during and after PA. In addition, scales have been designed to measure specific affective domains, such as enjoyment during PA. The measurement of AR and enjoyment during exercise, along with perceived exertion, may be crucial to identifying the types of exercise programs that provide health-fitness benefits and promote psychological well-being.
Emerging Diseases: Overview

Emerging infectious diseases are diseases that are either new, are newly recognized, or are increasing in prevalence in new areas. Resurgent diseases are also usually grouped in this category, as is antimicrobial resistance. These diseases have been given formal recognition in the past two decades, although a historical outlook demonstrates that the phenomenon has probably been persistent, although largely undetected, through recorded history. Emergence has accelerated recently, driven by factors such as demographic change, land use change, increased rapidity and frequency of intercontinental transportation, and other mostly social trends. Continued infectious disease emergence poses, and will continue to pose, significant challenges for public health and for basic science.
A Deontological Approach to the Rationality of Science

How are we to characterize the rationality of science? It is usual to suggest that science, like many human enterprises, has an aim and that the activities of its practitioners are rational to the extent that they promote the realization of this aim. Scientific methodology, on this account, involves determining how this aim is to be optimally pursued. Whatever distinguishes science from other human activities lies in the peculiar nature of the aim of this activity. For insofar as it is rational, its rationality is just the instrumental rationality that is familiar in other contexts — and consists, in particular, in the adaptation of the means adopted to the aim pursued. This view is very widespread. I reject this view. Following up a hint by John Harsanyi, I aim to develop here an alternative to the instrumental account of the rationality of science which has for so long prevailed unchallenged. Adapting some insights from contemporary political theory, I aim to develop a deontological account of the rationality of science. I begin by considering some possible attitudes to the existence of disagreement — for it is, in my view, in response to the fact of disagreement that the need for a method of science in fact makes itself felt. I consider relativistic, dogmatic, and ‘liberal’ attitudes to disagreement, and I try to show that the liberal attitude is the only rational attitude to adopt in the face of disagreement. I then consider the responses to disagreement which are appropriate for those who have, rationally, adopted a liberal attitude to it.
Regularity and structure

We present an approach to unsupervised concept fonnation, based on accumulation of partial regularities. Using an algorithmic complexity framework, we defme regularity as a model that achieves a compressed coding of data. We discuss induction of models. We present induction of finite automata models for regularities of strings, and induction of models based on vector translations for sets of points. The concepts we develop are particularly appropriate for natural spaces - structures that accept a decomposition into recurrent, recognizable parts. They are usually hierarchical and suggest that a vocabulary of basic constituents can be learned before focussing on how they are assembled. We define and illustrate: Basic regularities as algorithmically independent building blocks of structures. They are identifiable as local maxima of compression as a function of model complexity. Stepwise induction consists in finding a model, using it to compress the data, then applying the same procedure on the code. It is a way to induce, in polynomial time, structures whose basic components have bound complexity. Libraries are sets of partial regularities, a theoretical basis for clustering and concept formation. Finally, we use the above concepts to present a new perspective on explanation based generalization. We prove it to be a language independent method to specialize the background knowledge.
Estimates of Solutions to Nonlinear Evolution Equations

Consider the equation u’(t) = A (t, u (t)), u(0)= U0 ; u' := du/dt (1). Under some assumptions on the nonlinear operator A(t,u) it is proved that problem (1) has a unique global solution and this solution satisfies the following estimate ||u (t)|| < µ (t) -1 for every t belongs to R+ = [0,infinity). Here µ(t) > 0, µ belongs to C1 (R+), is a suitable function and the norm ||u || is the norm in a Banach space X with the property ||u (t) ||’ <= ||u’ (t) ||.
Ultra-low-dose CT image denoising using modified BM3D scheme tailored to data statistics

PURPOSE It is important to enhance image quality for low-dose CT acquisitions to push the ALARA boundary. Current state-of-the-art block-matching three-dimensional (BM3D) denoising scheme assumes white Gaussian noise (WGN) model. This study proposes a novel filtering module to be incorporated into the BM3D framework for ultra-low-dose CT denoising, by accounting for its specific power spectral properties. METHODS In the current BM3D algorithm, the Wiener filtering is applied in the transform domain to a post-thresholding signal for enhanced denoising. However, unlike most natural/synthetic images, low-dose CTs do not obey the ideal Gaussian noise model. Based on the specific noise properties of ultra-low-dose CT, we derive the optimal transform-domain coefficients of Wiener filter based on the minimum mean-square-error (MMSE) criterion, taking the noise spectrum and the signal/noise cross spectrum into consideration. In the absence of ground-truth signal, the hard-thresholding denoising module in the previous stage is used as a plug-in estimator. We evaluate the denoising performance on thoracic CT image datasets containing paired full-dose and ultra-low-dose images simulated by a well-validated clinical engine (or pipeline). We also assess its clinical implication by applying the denoising methods to the emphysema quantification task. Our modified BM3D method is compared with the current one, using peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and emphysema scoring results as evaluation metrics. RESULTS The noise in ultra-low-dose CT presented distinct non-Gaussian characteristics and was correlated with image intensity. Performance evaluation showed that the current Wiener filter in basic BM3D algorithm yielded little denoising enhancement on ultra-low-dose CT images. In contrast, the proposed Wiener filter achieved (1.46, 1.91) dB performance gain in mean and median peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) for 5%-dose image denoising and (0.93, 0.95) dB improvement for 10% dose. A paired t-test of the PSNRs between denoising using the current and the proposed Wiener filters demonstrated statistically significant improvement, yielding P-values of 1.45E-12 and 1.34E-7 on 5% and 10%-dose images, respectively. In addition, emphysema quantification on the denoised images using the modified BM3D method also had statistically significant advantage over that using the current BM3D scheme, resulting in a P-value of 6.30E-5 with the commonly used measure. CONCLUSIONS This work tailors the Wiener filter in BM3D algorithm to data statistics and demonstrates statistically significant performance improvement on ultra-low-dose CT image denoising and a subsequent emphysema quantification task. Such performance gain is more pronounced with a lower dose level. The development and rationale are generally enough for other image denoising tasks when the WGN assumption is violated.
Atypical longitudinal development of functional connectivity in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is consistently associated with alterations in brain connectivity, but there are conflicting results as to where and when individuals with ASD display increased or reduced functional connectivity. Such inconsistent findings may be driven by atypical neurodevelopmental trajectories in ASD during adolescence, but no longitudinal studies to date have investigated this hypothesis. We thus examined the functional connectivity of three neurocognitive resting-state networks-the default mode network (DMN), salience network, and central executive network (CEN)-in a longitudinal sample of youth with ASD (n = 16) and without ASD (n = 22) studied during early/mid- and late adolescence. Functional connectivity between the CEN and the DMN displayed significantly altered developmental trajectories in ASD: typically developing (TD) controls-but not youth with ASD-exhibited an increase in negative functional connectivity between these two networks with age. This significant interaction was due to the ASD group displaying less negative functional connectivity than the TD group during late adolescence only, with no significant group differences in early/mid-adolescence. These preliminary findings suggest a localized age-dependency of functional connectivity alterations in ASD and underscore the importance of considering age when examining brain connectivity. Autism Research 2019, 12: 53-65. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Brain connectivity may develop differently during adolescence in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We looked at changes in brain connectivity over time within individuals and found that, for some brain regions, adolescents with ASD did not show the same changes in brain connectivity that typically developing adolescents did. This suggests it is important to consider age when studying brain connectivity in ASD.
National Policies and the Role of English in Higher Education

Past research and debate on the use of English in higher education has mostly focused on northern European countries, as they were among the first to consider using English as a language of instruction. This paper seeks to broaden the topic by focusing on a diverse group of countries including Brazil, France, Malaysia, South Africa, and Spain. The two key aspects discussed here concern existing national policies regarding language in higher education in the target countries and the role of English in their respective higher education systems.
Can positivity promote safety? Psychological capital development combats cynicism and unsafe behavior

Abstract This study examines the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap), cynicism, and unsafe behavior in the workplace, and tests the effectiveness of a PsyCap development intervention in increasing PsyCap and reducing cynicism and unsafe behavior through a quasi-experimental, pre-post, control group design. Utilizing social cognitive theory (SCT; Bandura, 2001) as an overarching theoretical framework, the study proposes cynicism as a mediator of the relationship between PsyCap and unsafe behavior. Results support the effectiveness of the PsyCap development intervention. Furthermore, multi-group analyses support the hypothesized mediation model, with cynicism as a full a mediator of the relationship between PsyCap and unsafe behavior, in the treatment group, but not the control group, even after accounting for pre-intervention levels of PsyCap, cynicism, and unsafe behavior. Implications for research and practice are presented.
Relatives of Registered Sex Offenders: Considering the Costs of Providing Family Support

Although it is widely recognized that many convicted criminal offenders and former prisoners experience considerable setbacks in communities after convictions and incarcerations that make their lives more arduous.
Intracellular Staining for Analysis of the Expression and Phosphorylation of Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs) in NK Cells

Cytokines stimulate biological responses by activating intracellular signaling pathways. We have been adapting flow cytometric techniques to measure the levels of expression and activation of signaling molecules within mixed populations containing NK cells and to characterize their differences within NK cell subpopulations. Approaches for evaluating the total levels of the signal transducers and activators of transcription STAT1 and STAT4, of STAT1 in cells expressing IFNgamma, and of the type 1 interferon (type 1 IFN) activation by phosphorylation, i.e., induction of pSTAT1 and pSTAT4, have been developed. The results of experiments using these techniques have demonstrated that an unusual feature of NK cells is high basal expression of STAT4 but reduced STAT1 levels. The condition predisposes for pSTAT4 activation by type 1 IFNs. The work has also shown, however, that total STAT1 levels are induced during viral infections as a result of IFN exposure, and that this change acts to promote the activation of STAT1 but limit both the activation of STAT4 and IFNgamma expression. The intracellular staining approaches used for the studies described here have utility in characterizing other mechanisms regulating cytokine-mediated signaling, and defining additional pathways shaping cellular responses to cytokines.