cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Continuous and discrete variable-structure controls for parallel three-phase boost rectifier

We describe three nonlinear control schemes for a parallel three-phase boost rectifier consisting of two modules. The basic idea, however, can be extended to a system with N modules. All of the control schemes are developed in a synchronous frame. Moreover, each of the closed-loop power-converter modules operates asynchronously without any communication with the other module. Based on the dynamical equations of the parallel converter, we find that independent control of both of the modules on the DQ axes is not necessary and possible. Consequently, we develop control schemes that stabilize the dq axes and limit the zero-axis disturbance by preventing the flow of the pure zero-sequence current. One of the control schemes is developed purely in the discrete domain. It combines the space-vector modulation scheme with a variable-structure control, thereby keeping the switching frequency constant and achieving satisfactory dynamic performance. The performances of the other control schemes are also satisfactory.
Influence of Hydrogen and Alkali Impurities on the High‐Temperature Indentation Hardness of Natural Quartz Crystals

The indentation hardness of a natural quartz crystal was measured from 25° to 1000°C. The concentrations of alkali ions and hydrogen were varied by annealing and electrolysis; hydrogen content was determined from infrared absorption. The untreated crystal was soft from 500° to 850°C; there was evidence of transformation beneath the indenter to a phase of silica denser than quartz. When the crystal was annealed to remove alkali ions and hydrogen, it remained hard throughout the temperature range of the tests. Injection of hydrogen by electrolysis into previously annealed specimens reduced the strength slightly; injection of lithium by electrolysis produced a greater reduction in hardness. Only the untreated samples and those doped with lithium appeared to have transformed to a denser phase. Thus, trace impurities can influence the hardness of quartz by acting as “mineralizers” to promote densification and by facilitating normal deformation mechanisms involving dislocations.
Social Information Processing in News Aggregation

Social media sites underscore the Web's transformation to a participatory medium in which users collaboratively create, evaluate, and distribute information. Innovations in social media have led to social information processing, a new paradigm for interacting with data. The social news aggregator Digg exploits social information processing for document recommendation and rating. Additionally, via mathematical modeling, it's possible to describe how collaborative document rating emerges from the independent decisions users make. Using such a model, the author reproduces observed ratings that actual stories on Digg have received.
7-Hydroxytropolone: an inhibitor of aminoglycoside-2"-O-adenylyltransferase.

Abstract Aminoglycoside-2"-O-adenylyltransferase was inhibited by 7-hydroxytropolone. Inhibition was competitive with respect to the cosubstrate ATP and appeared to require the unique vicinal arrangement of oxygens found in 7-hydroxytropolone. Combinations of 7-hydroxytropolone plus the appropriate aminoglycoside substrates were active against resistant bacteria possessing the adenylyltransferase. No potentiation was observed against other aminoglycoside-resistant or -susceptible strains. The fact that the inhibition of an aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme overcomes the poor uptake of aminoglycosides in resistant strains points to the singular importance of the inactivating enzyme as a determinant of resistance.
The Use of Sep‐Pak™ C18 Cartridges During the Isolation of Gangliosides

The use of Sep-Pak C18 reverse-phase cartridges to adsorb gangliosides from aqueous solutions was studied. When upper phases formed from chloroform-methanol tissue extracts or aqueous salt solutions containing gangliosides are rapidly passed through the cartridges, the lipids are retained and the non-lipid components can be washed through. Gangliosides and other retained lipids can subsequently be eluted with methanol or chloroform-methanol
Effect of Sodium Tripolyphosphate in the Presence and Absence of Calcium Chloride and Sodium Chloride on Water Retention Properties and Shear Resistance of Chicken Breast Meat

Abstract The effects of sodium tripolyphosphate (TP) in the presence and absence of calcium chloride (CaCl2) and sodium chloride (NaCl) on water retention and shear resistance characteristics of postrigor chicken breast meat were evaluated. The TP and especially TP + NaCl increased the water-holding capacity and protein solubility of ground tissue. Calcium chloride reduced these effects if NaCl was absent. Intact muscle pieces that were marinated in TP or TP + NaCl absorbed more marinade than those that were marinated in H2 O. Pieces that were marinated in TP solution had a greater cooked yield than those that were not. The TP-treated pieces were also more tender than those that were not treated with TP, but the differences were probably not great enough to be of practical significance. These data may be of benefit to food processors interested in using polyphosphates to improve the quality of poultry products.
Distributed Data Aggregation for Sparse Recovery in Wireless Sensor Networks

We consider the approximate sparse recovery problem in multi-hop Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) using Compressed Sensing/Compressive Sampling (CS). The goal is to recover the n-dimensional data values by querying only m ≪ n sensors based on some linear projection of sensor readings. To solve this problem, a distributed compressive sparse sampling (DCSS) algorithm is proposed based on sparse binary CS measurement matrix. Each sensor first samples the environment independently, then the fusion center (FC), acting as a pseudo-sensor, samples the sensor network to select a subset of sensors (m out of n) that respond to the FC through shortest path for data recovery purpose. The sparse binary matrix is designed using the unbalanced expander graph which achieves the state-of-the-art performance for CS schemes. This binary matrix can be interpreted as a sensor selection matrix whose fairness is analyzed. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and real data sets show that by querying only the minimum amount of m sensors using the DCSS algorithm, the CS recovery accuracy outperforms existing sparse random matrices and can be as good as those using random dense measurement matrices but using much less number of sensors. We also show that the sparse binary measurement matrix works well on compressible data which has the closest recovery result to the known best k-term approximation. The recovery is robust against noisy measurements and does not require regular WSN deployments (e.g., grids). The sparsity and binary properties of the measurement matrix contribute, to a great extent, the reduction of the in-network communication cost as well as the computational burden.
Simulation of passenger screening for pandemic influenza at U.S. airport ports of entry

We present a stochastic discrete event simulation that was developed to model the screening of international airline passengers arriving at U.S. airport ports of entry for pandemic influenza. The simulation begins with the generation of international aircraft arrival patterns to the United States. Based on assumed prevalence rates in their origin countries, passengers are randomly assigned to one of three infected states in the simulation -- not infected, infected with pandemic influenza, infected with other respiratory illness. Passengers then pass through various screening layers and ultimately exit the system. We track the declared outcome of each passenger over time as they exit the screening process, with a special emphasis on false negatives as they pose the most significant threat to our nation as they will exit the system and unknowingly further spread the pandemic virus throughout the United States. Extensions to DoD environment will also be discussed.
Replication in Overlay Networks: A Multi-objective Optimization Approach

Recently, overlay network-based collaborative applications such as instant messaging, content sharing, and Internet telephony are becoming increasingly popular. Many of these applications rely upon data-replication to achieve better performance, scalability, and reliability. However, replication entails various costs such as storage for holding replicas and communication overheads for ensuring replica consistency. While simple rule-of-thumb strategies are popular for managing the cost-benefit tradeoffs of replication, they cannot ensure optimal resource utilization. This paper explores a multi-objective optimization approach for replica management, which is unique in the sense that we view the various factors influencing replication decisions such as access latency, storage costs, and data availability as objectives, and not as constraints. This enables us to search for solutions that yield close to optimal values for these parameters. We propose two novel algorithms, namely multi-objective Evolutionary (MOE) algorithm and multi-objective Randomized Greedy (MORG) algorithm for deciding the number of replicas as well as their placement within the overlay. While MOE yields higher quality solutions, MORG is better in terms of computational efficiency. The paper reports a series of experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
Piezoelectric power generation interface circuits

New power conversion circuits are presented that interface to a piezoelectric power generator. Measured results are presented for a synchronous rectifier with voltage doubler connected to the piezoelectric membrane. The power efficiency is 88% and the output power is 2.5 /spl mu/W with a 100 k/spl Omega/, 100 nF load. An improved circuit based on the synchronous rectifier achieves 1.4 V, 20 /spl mu/W and more than 90% efficiency.
O(3) nonlinear sigma model and the topological distinction between integer- and half-integer-spin antiferromagnets in two dimensions.

It is shown that the O(3) nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ model derived from the quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet in two spatial dimensions, under the assumption that the N\'eel field $\stackrel{^}{\ensuremath{\Omega}}(\mathbf{r},t)$ is well defined at all points in (2+1)D space-time, has no Hopf term, in contradiction to recent speculation. However, the amplitudes for tunneling between configurations with different spatial topologies reveal a difference between integer and half-integer, and between even- and odd-integer, spins.
Transcription goes digital

Transcription is a complex process that integrates the state of the cell and its environment to generate adequate responses for cell fitness and survival. Recent microscopy experiments have been able to monitor transcription from single genes in individual cells. These observations have revealed two striking features: transcriptional activity can vary markedly from one cell to another, and is subject to large changes over time, sometimes within minutes. How the chromatin structure, transcription machinery assembly and signalling networks generate such patterns is still unclear. In this review, we present the techniques used to investigate transcription from single genes, introduce quantitative modelling tools, and discuss transcription mechanisms and their implications for gene expression regulation.
Decongestive lymphatic therapy for patients with breast carcinoma-associated lymphedema. A randomized, prospective study of a role for adjunctive intermittent pneumatic compression.

BACKGROUND Disruption of the lymphatic circulation through breast carcinoma-associated axillary lymph node dissection, with or without radiation therapy, reportedly is the most common cause of lymphedema in developed countries. There is no cure for breast carcinoma-associated lymphedema. Although intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) has been acknowledged as a potential component of the multidisciplinary therapeutic strategy in the treatment of patients with breast carcinoma-associated lymphedema, prospective study of its adjunctive safety and efficacy is required. METHODS IPC was assessed as a component of the initial therapeutic regimen for newly treated patients with breast carcinoma-associated lymphedema. Twenty-three patients who had not previously been treated for lymphedema were randomized to receive either decongestive lymphatic therapy (DLT) alone or DLT with daily adjunctive IPC. Patients with stable, treated, breast carcinoma-associated lymphedema also were assessed in the maintenance phase of therapy. Twenty-seven patients were randomized either to DLT alone or to DLT coupled with daily IPC. In both studies, objective assessment included serial measurement of volume by water displacement, tissue tonometry to assess elasticity of the skin, and goniometry to measure joint mobility. RESULTS During initial treatment, the addition of IPC to standard DLT yielded an additional mean volume reduction (45.3% vs. 26%; P < 0.05). During maintenance DLT alone, there was a mean increase in volume (32.7 ± 115.2 mL); with DLT and IPC, there was a mean volume reduction (89.5 ± 195.5 mL; P < 0.05). In both studies, IPC was tolerated well without detectable adverse effects on skin elasticity or joint range of motion. CONCLUSIONS When IPC is used adjunctively with other, established elements of DLT, it provides an enhancement of the therapeutic response. IPC is well tolerated and remarkably free of complications. Cancer 2002;95:2260–7. © 2002 American Cancer Society. DOI 10.1002/cncr.10976
Knowledge of and attitudes toward population growth and the environment: university students in Costa Rica and the United States

A clear understanding of human population growth, consumption patterns, and their effects on the environment, particularly amongst our future leaders, is essential for proper allocation of conservation efforts. We report on the results of a written questionnaire assessing the knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate university students majoring in a range of disciplines in the United States of America (USA) and in Costa Rica (CR) regarding population- and environment-related issues. Our results indicated limited knowledge about human population growth and the environment, with USA students and male students more often responding correctly to factual questions on demography and global environmental change than CR students, who nonetheless were generally more pessimistic about environmental quality and the carrying capacity of the planet. USA students, however, more often recognized the link between human population size and environmental quality. Education on population and environmental issues will be improved if: (1) linkages between population size, consumption, and environmental quality are taught; (2) the effects of individual actions on environmental quality are emphasized; and (3) environmental education is tailored to local issues.
Endoscopic Ultrasound-Fine Needle Aspiration versus Core Biopsy for the Diagnosis of Subepithelial Tumors

Subepithelial lesions are frequently encountered and remain a diagnostic challenge. Imaging of subepithelial lesions using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) can be helpful in narrowing the differential diagnosis of the lesion; however, definitive diagnosis typically requires tissue. Many methods for acquiring tissue exist including EUS-guided fine needle aspiration, Trucut biopsy, and fine needle biopsy. Obtaining adequate tissue is important for cytologic and histologic exams including immunohistochemical stains, thus a great deal of effort has been made to increase tissue acquisition in order to improve diagnostic yield in subepithelial lesions.
CRITICAL NOTICE: CAUSALITY BY JUDEA PEARL

This is a wonderful book; indeed, it is easily one of the most important and creative books I have ever read on the subject of causation and causal inference. Causality is impressive on many levels and should be of great interest to many different audiences. Philosophers will find of particular interest Pearl's defense of what might be described as a broadly manipulationist or interventionist treatment of causation: Causal claims have to do with what would happen under ideal, suitably surgical experimental manipulations (‘interventions’). But Pearl moves far beyond philosophical generalities on this theme: He makes the case for the approach that he favors by developing a formal apparatus (‘a calculus of interventions’, as he calls it) for talking about interventions and how they relate to causation and information about probabilities that is at once both intuitively compelling and genuinely useful for purposes of calculation and estimation. He also actively engages the philosophical literature on causation at many points – for example, there are illuminating discussions of evidential decision theory, of probabilistic theories of causation of the sort favored by Eells and Cartwright, of Lewisian counterfactual theories of causation, and of the relationship between so-called type and token causal claims, as well as a quite novel treatment of the latter.
Bench-Stable, Substrate-Activated Cobalt Carboxylate Pre-Catalysts for Alkene Hydrosilylation with Tertiary Silanes

High-spin pyridine diimine cobalt(II) bis(carboxylate) complexes have been synthesized and exhibit high activity for the hydrosilylation of a range of commercially relevant alkenes and tertiary silanes. Previously observed dehydrogenative silylation is suppressed with the use of sterically unencumbered ligands, affording exclusive hydrosilylation with up to 4000 TON. The cobalt precatalysts were readily prepared and handled on the benchtop and underwent substrate activation, obviating the need for external reductants. The cobalt catalysts are tolerant of epoxide, amino, carbonyl, and alkyl halide functional groups, broadening the scope of alkene hydrosilylation with earth-abundant metal catalysts.
Effect of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Source Materials and Soil Components on Partitioning and Dermal Uptake

The bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils can be influenced by the source material they are emitted within, the properties of the receiving soil, weathering processes, and the concentration of PAHs. In this study 30 contaminated soils were constructed with common PAH sources (fuel oil, soot, coal tar based skeet particles) and direct spike with a solvent added to different types and contents of soil organic matter and minerals to achieve PAH concentrations spanning 4 orders of magnitude. Source material had the greatest impact on PAH partitioning. Soils containing skeet generally exhibited the highest KD values, followed by soot, fuel oil, and solvent spiked soils. Among all soil compositions, the presence of 2% charcoal had the largest enhancement of KD. Partitioning behavior could not be predicted by an organic carbon and black carbon partitioning model. Including independently measured partitioning behavior of the soil components and PAH sources allowed better prediction b...
Pain and Sedation in the NICU

Recognition and treatment of procedural pain and discomfort in the neonate remain a challenge. Procedural sedation and control of pain and discomfort are frequently managed together, often by using the same intervention. Therefore, although this article focuses on sedation, separating sedation from pain control is not always possible or wise. Despite significant progress in the understanding of human neurodevelopment, pharmacology, and more careful attention to how we care for sick infants, we still have much to learn. Protecting and comforting our fragile patients requires us to use poorly validated tools to assess and intervene to minimize distress, often applying data derived from adult patients to infants. Our first priority should be to minimize pain and distress. Further exploration of nonpharmacologic methods of procedural pain and distress control are needed. When pharmacologic intervention is necessary for procedural pain control and sedation, we need to use the least amount of drug that controls the pain and distress for the shortest period of time. As newer techniques and medications are introduced to clinical practice, we must demonstrate that such additions achieve their goal of sedation or pain control, and are safe over the lifetimes of our patients. Clinicians should identify appropriately the need for and use of sedatives and analgesics in the neonate.
Molecular Orientation of Factor VIIIa on the Phospholipid Membrane Surface Determined by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer

F (Factor) VIIIa binds to phospholipid membranes during formation of the FXase complex. Free thiols from cysteine residues of isolated FVIIIa A1 and A2 subunits and the A3 domain of the A3C1C2 subunit were labelled with PyMPO maleimide {1-(2-maleimidylethyl)-4-[5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-oxazol-2-yl]pyridinium methanesulfonate} or fluorescein (fluorescence donors). Double mutations of the A3 domain (C2000S/T1872C and C2000S/D1828C) were also produced to utilize Cys(1828) and Cys(1872) residues for labelling. Labelled subunits were reacted with complementary non-labelled subunits to reconstitute FVIIIa. Octadecylrhodamine incorporated into phospholipid vesicles was used as an acceptor for distance measurements between FVIII residues and membrane surface by fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The results of the present study indicate that a FVIII axis on a plane that intersects the approximate centre of each domain is orientated with a tilt angle of ~30-50° on the membrane surface. This orientation predicted the existence of contacts mediated by residues 1713-1725 in the A3 domain in addition to a large area of contacts within the C domains. FVIII variants where Arg(1719) or Arg(1721) were mutated to aspartate showed a >40-fold reduction in membrane affinity. These results identify possible orientations for FVIIIa bound to the membrane surface and support a new interaction between the A3 domain and the membrane probably mediated in part by Arg(1719) and Arg(1721).
Studies on ecological adaptability of brazil upland rice

The arrangement of sowing stage is a very important step for agricultural production.Comparative experiments on different sowing stages of two Brazil upland rice were applied,the results showed:The best sowing stage of Brazil upland rice was May 10,and the yield was maximal.LAI and chlorophyll of functional leaves in full head stage was maximal among different sowing stages,then them declined along with the aging of vegetation.Root vigorous declined along with the delay of sowing stage after full heading stage,and the difference of root vigorous in full head stage was not significant among different sowing stages,but it was significant in the subsequent stages.The lower of full spikelets per panicle and seed setting rate were the limitative factors on yield
Use of Large Sample Sizes and Multiple Evaluation Methods in Human-Robot Interaction Experimentation.

This paper presents details on planning and designing human studies for Human-Robot Interaction. There is a discussion of the importance of using large sample sizes to better represent the populations being investigated in order to have a better chance of obtaining statistically significant results for small to medium effects. Coverage of the four primary methods of evaluation are presented: (1) self-assessments, (2) behavioral observations, (3) psychophysiological measures, and (4) task performance metrics. The paper discusses the importance of using multiple methods of evaluation in order to have reliable and accurate results and to obtain convergent validity. Recommendations for planning and designing a large-scale, complex human study are detailed as well as lessons learned from a recent study that was conducted using 128 participants, four methods of evaluation, and a high fidelity, simulated disaster site.
Severe Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Modern-day primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) usually presents as mild hypercalcemia and is often asymptomatic. Severe PHPT can present with pathologic fracture related to underlying associated bone disease (osteitis fibrosa cystica) that can often be mistaken for malignancy. Severe, long-standing hypocalcemia with a normal or increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) level, hungry bone syndrome, more commonly occurs after parathyroidectomy in the setting of severe, long-standing PHPT and in the presence of associated bone disease. Treatment with calcium and calcitriol may be required for months following surgery.
Boundary Type Quadrature Formulas with Algebraic Precision

First, in Section 1, we will show that a DRE can be made an effective tool for constructing BTQFs with preassigned algebraic precision. Section 2 will discuss the construction of BTQFs with homogeneous precision. General Hermite formulas and a class of BTQFs that has the highest possible degrees of algebraic precision will also be given. In Section 3, we will show a general process to construct quadratures for boundary integrals by using periodic wavelets and the sampling theorem. Finally, several applications of DREs and BTQFs will be given in Section 5.
695 Reduce road traffic injuries of children riding motorcycles

Background Almost 5 million motorcycles are on our roads today. Over 400,000 more are added each year. With 23 Million children (14 years below) in elementary schools, many are transported by motorcycles, often without helmets and using unsafe practices. As of 2014, over 1/3 of fatal crashes involve motorcycles and there are no laws covering children riders. Methods Safe Kids Worldwide Philippines, supported by Safe Kids Worldwide, developed a pilot Safe School Zone Project in 2014. First, the public elementary school was selected. The school chosen had the largest student population fronting the most dangerous highway in the country. Mobilisation and organisational activities proceeded covering the parents/teachers association, school principal/teacher- coordinators and the student leaders; followed with the village and the city government officials and finally the regional and national officials. Implemented a baseline study, then periodic project update meetings. A parallel program for the enactment of the essential City Ordinance and National Legislation was undertaken. To support the implementation of the law, the Safe Kids Helmet Program was launched in 3 cities of Metro Manila covering 17 schools. Results With SKWP’s active support, Quezon City enacted in April 2015 the landmark ordinance “Regulating the transport of children by means of a motorcycle”. A parallel Senate bill was approved in May 2015, with the National law Republic Act No.10666 “Children’s Safety on Motorcycles Act of 2015” signed by the President on July 21, 2015. SKWP then launched the Safe Kids Helmet program in the 3 cities of Metro Manila covering 17 schools. Conclusions With the active collaboration of the key stakeholders and an aggressive advocacy, a seemingly unreachable goal of enacting a National law for Children Safety was achieved. An effective dissemination and implementation program is now essential for a successful Safe Kids Helmet Program.
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict: Effects on youth adjustment, available interventions, and future research directions

Abstract A large number of children are exposed to on-going political violence around the world. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the longest on-going conflicts in the world and its documented negative effects on the health, development, and well-being of children and youth are profound. The aim of the present manuscript is to provide an updated review of research on children and youth in Israel and Palestine including both basic and treatment research. Results indicated that rates of psychopathology in children exposed to political violence are high, but fluctuate greatly depending on the sample and timing of data collection. Palestinians and Palestinian–Israelis evidence higher rates of exposure and distress, indicating that considerations of elements of the social context (e.g., stigma, access to resources) are important to evaluate in conceptualizing children's reactions to political violence. Identified gaps include a lack of focus on resilient outcomes, a dearth of longitudinal work resulting in an incomplete assessment of mediators and moderators of change, and a relatively small number of treatment studies. Suggested future directions include longitudinal studies that incorporate contextual (e.g., social ecological) and theoretically-based (e.g., emotional security theory) directions for understanding children's functioning after exposure to political violence and the development of translational treatment paradigms also including these elements.
Formal Assurance for Cognitive Architecture Based Autonomous Agent

Autonomous systems are designed and deployed in different modeling paradigms. These environments focus on specific concepts in designing the system. We focus our effort in the use of cognitive architectures to design autonomous agents to collaborate with humans to accomplish tasks in a mission. Our research focuses on introducing formal assurance methods to verify the behavior of agents designed in Soar, by translating the agent to the formal verification environment Uppaal.
First Use of a Brief 60-second Mindfulness Exercise in an Orthopedic Surgical Practice; Results from a Pilot Study.

Background: Mindfulness based interventions may be useful for patients with musculoskeletal conditions in orthopedic surgical practices as adjuncts to medical procedures or alternatives to pain medications. However, typical mindfulness programs are lengthy and impractical in busy surgical practices. We tested the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effect of a brief, 60-second mindfulness video in reducing pain and negative emotions in patients presenting to an orthopedics surgical practice. Methods: This was an open pilot study. Twenty participants completed the Numerical Rating Scale to assess pain intensity, the State Anxiety subscale of the State Trait Anxiety Scale to assess state anxiety, and emotional thermometers to assess distress, anxiety, anger and depression immediately prior to and following the mindfulness video exercise. At the end of the exercise patients also answered three questions assessing satisfaction with the mindfulness video. Results: Feasibility of the mindfulness video was high (100%). Usefulness, satisfaction and usability were also high. Participants showed improvements in state anxiety, pain intensity, distress, anxiety, depression and anger after watching the video. These changes were both statistically significant and clinically meaningful, when such information was available. Conclusion: People with musculoskeletal pain seeking orthopedic care seem receptive and interested in brief mindfulness exercises that enhance comfort and calm.
Repeated Administrations of Cardiac Progenitor Cells Are Superior to a Single Administration of an Equivalent Cumulative Dose.

BackgroundWe have recently found that 3 repeated doses (12×106 each) of c‐kitPOS cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) were markedly more effective than a single dose of 12×106 cells in alleviating posti...
Sickle cell disease, fat embolism syndrome, and “starfield” pattern on MRI

A 45-year-old man with history of hemoglobin sickle cell disease (SCD) was admitted to the medical intensive care unit from an outside hospital with a several-day history of progressive chest and extremity pain, fever, tachycardia, tachypnea, and hypoxemia, and underwent red cell exchange for acute chest syndrome. He concomitantly developed progressive decline in mental status over several hours. His examination was notable for Glasgow Coma Scale 5 with no motor response to pain, and he was subsequently intubated.
Is there an auditory identification ``pop-out'' for moving speech targets?

Stationary visual targets are often far more salient when the target moves against an otherwise static background—the so-called “pop out” effect. In the first of two experiments, we tested for a similar effect in the auditory domain. Listeners were asked to identify a single word, spoken by a female, in the midst of two or four masking words spoken by males. Listener performance was estimated in terms of percentage of correct responses and compared between conditions where target and maskers were co-located or located at different locations. For some conditions, the target word was amplitude-panned across the loudspeaker array and in others the target remained stationary. Results showed a spatial release from masking for all conditions where the target and maskers were at different locations. The presentation of a stationary versus moving target stimulus yielded no statistically significant difference in identification performance, suggesting that the visual “pop-out” effect may not have a direct corollar...
Antenatal care satisfaction in a developing country: a cross-sectional study from Nigeria.

Utilization of Antenatal Care (ANC) is very low in Nigeria. Self-reported patient satisfaction may be useful to identify provider- and facility-specific factors that can be improved to increase ANC satisfaction and utilization. Exit interview data collected from ANC users and facility assessment survey data from 534 systematically selected facilities in four northern Nigerian states were used. Associations between patient satisfaction (satisfied, not-satisfied) and patient ratings of the provider’s interactions, care processes, out-of-pocket costs, and quality of facility infrastructure were studied. Of 1336 mothers, 90% were satisfied with ANC. Patient satisfaction was positively associated with responsive service (prompt, unrushed service, convenient clinic hours and privacy during consultation, AOR 2.42, 95% CI 2.05–2.87), treatment-facilitation (medical care-related provider communication and ease of receiving medicines, AOR 2.03, 95% CI 1.46–2.80), equipment availability (AOR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01–1.21), staff empathy (AOR 1.82, 95% CI 1.03–3.23), non-discriminatory treatment regardless of patient’s socioeconomic status (AOR: 1.87, 95% CI 1.09–3.22), provider assurance (courtesy and patient’s confidence in provider’s competence, AOR 1.48, 95% CI 1.26–1.75), and number of clinical examinations received (AOR 1.28, 95% CI 1.10–1.50). ANC satisfaction was negatively impacted by out-of-pocket payment for care (vs. free care, AOR 0.44, 95% CI 0.23–0.82). ANC satisfaction in Nigeria may be enhanced by improving responsiveness to clients, clinical care quality, ensuring equipment availability, optimizing easy access to medicines, and expanding free ANC services.
The Natural Immune System in Autoimmune and Neurological Disease

Since Erlich’s first hypothesis of “horror autotoxicus” and the established paradigm that the immune response does not or should not react to self, immunologists have been made increasingly aware of instances where autoimmunity is neither a rare nor a harmful event. Recognition of modified self seems essential for the removal of virus-infected cells, and idiotype-antiidiotype networks may be regulators of the humoral immune response. Nonetheless, there are numerous autoimmune diseases in which regulation of natural immunity seems to have gone awry. The unanswered question is whether this is in primary association with the disease process or the secondary result of the chronicity of an aberrant immune response. Organ-specific autoimmune diseases include acquired immune hemolytic disorders such as hemolytic anemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, or idiopathic neutropenia; diseases of the nervous system or neuromuscular tissue such as multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis; diseases of exocrine and endocrine systems such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves’ disease, pernicious anemia, Addison’s disease, and diabetes mellitus; and diseases of other organs like pemphigus, bullous pemphigoid, biliary cirrhosis, ulcerative colitis, and uveitis. Systemic diseases that are non-organ-specific include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Goodpasture’s syndrome, and Sjogren’s syndrome.
Familial Colorectal Cancer Type X

© Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 In 1991, the International Collaborative Group on Hereditary NonPolyposis Colon Cancer published what became known as the Amsterdam I criteria (AC-I) for the definition of HNPCC (Vasen et al. 1991). The AC-I are fulfilled if all four of the following conditions are met: (1) three cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) in which two of the affected individuals are first-degree relatives of the third; (2) CRCs occurring in two generations; (3) one CRC diagnosed before the age of 50 years; and (4) familial adenomatous polyposis not diagnosed in the family. Prior to discovery of the molecular basis of Lynch Syndrome or hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC), Dr. Henry Lynch and others, had already defined this as a syndrome with autosomal dominant inheritance, characterized by greatly increased risks for colorectal carcinoma (CRC) that tended to occur two decades younger and was more likely to be located in the right colon than nonfamilial CRC. In addition, it was recognized that risks for the following carcinomas were also increased: endometrium, stomach, small intestine, hepatobiliary tract, kidney, ureter, and ovary. Application of the stringent AC-I to colorectal cancer patients and families facilitated the identification of the genetic lesions underlying HNPCC: a germline mutation in one of several DNA mismatch-repair genes (see Chap. 6 for details). Following this major discovery, the term “HNPCC” began to be used inconsistently in the medical literature: multiple papers continued to use HNPCC to mean probands who had pedigrees that fulfilled AC-I, regardless of molecular findings; others began to use HNPCC to refer only to families with hereditary DNA mismatchrepair deficiency; lastly, there began to be papers containing the implicit assumption that if a pedigree fulfilled the AC-I, then a DNA mismatch-repair defect must be present in that pedigree, and this too, was called HNPCC. This confusion existed despite that fact that research had already showed that fulfillment of AC-I was not equivalent to having a hereditary DNA mismatch-repair gene mutation (Bisgaard et al. 2002; Wijnen et al. 1998 and others). For example, Wijnen et al. (1998), reported on 184 probands of which 92 had family histories that met AC-I. Mutations in MLH1 or MSH2 were found in only 45% of those meeting the criteria. Note that Chapter 8.2 Familial Colorectal Cancer Type X
The Term Structure with Credible and Semi-Credible Targeting

The actions of the monetary authority are seldom taken into account in continuous-time arbitrage pricing models of the term structure of interest rates. This is likely to be problematic in many economies. In the U.S., for example, the Federal Reserve sets targets for interest rates which it enforces through direct market intervention. In this paper we show how to apply arbitrage pricing principles to such "controlled" processes. We also develop a model under which the target is not entirely credible because market participants know that the monetary authority may change the target in response to market pressure. We term this a semi-credible target and show how to apply arbitrage pricing in this case as well. We also present empirical evidence that this model explains term structure movements quite well.
Anything but a Walk in the Park: Framing Analysis of the Adirondack State Park Land Classification Conflict

State and national park land management is rife with conflict, be it either over how land is managed within the park or how it affects adjacent private lands. The Adirondack Park in upstate New York is an especially interesting case due to its unique mix of public and private lands within the boundaries of the park, often referred to as the Blue Line. A recent land acquisition by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the resultant land classification process is the most recent conflict in the region in a long line of land use/land designation conflicts. In the wake of recent attempts for greater collaboration, we explored this conflict by conducting a framing analysis of both stakeholders’ online presence (i.e., websites and blogs) and local news media coverage of the classification process. Primary stakeholders included local town residents, sportsmen groups, NYSDEC, Adirondack Park Agency, local government, and environmental groups. We found that stakeholder groups’ online materials utilized frames to describe their objectives based on different values. Dominant frames included a “reasonable access” frame used by residents and town officials to highlight rights to accessible use. Environmental groups heavily used an “environmental protection” frame, highlighting the ecologically important wetlands and opportunity to increase lands designated as “Wilderness”. In news media articles, the dominant frame was the “conflict frame”, portraying the decision-making process as riddled with tension and incompatibility. These frames indicate that the conflict over land classification stems from different values of accessibility and strong wilderness protection as well as being communicated as intractable by the media.
The Role of Fallibility and Defeasibility in Moderate Foundationalism

Foundationalism is now widely held in epistemology. In some version or other, it has been presupposed by many philosophers, including some who would not describe their view using the term ‘foundationalism’ or any equivalent. The view was set forth in some detail by Aristotle, with his version of the epistemic regress argument presented in Posterior Analytics 72b (and, what is less widely recognized, in Book One of Nicomachaen Ethics as applied to motivation). My Architecture of Reason (2001) discusses these matters in detail). Since at least the late 1970s, I have argued that epistemological foundationalism can be moderate in not requiring foundational beliefs to be infallible or even indefeasibly justified. For Muller and Seidel, at least, it appears that further clarification is needed.
Improving autonomous vehicle safety—The use of convolutional neural networks for the detection of warning sounds

In cities across the world everyday, people use and process acoustic alerts to safely interact in and amongst traffic. With the advent of autonomous vehicles (AVs), the manner in which these new vehicles can use these acoustic cues to supplement their decision making process is unclear. This will be especially important during the prolonged period of mixed vehicles sharing the road. One solution may lie in the advancement of machine learning techniques; it has become possible to "teach" a machine (or a vehicle) to recognize certain sounds. This paper reports on an ongoing project with the objective of identifying emergency vehicles sirens in traffic and alerting the vehicle to take rapid evasive action. In particular, we report on the use of a deep layer Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) trained to recognize emergency sirens. We retrained a CNN (AlexNet) to recognize sirens in real time. To utilize this network, samples from the ESC-50 dataset for environmental sound classification were processed and each converted to a spectrogram. This CNN can be used in conjunction with a microphone array to accurately recognize sirens in traffic and identify the direction from which the emergency vehicle is approaching.
Blurring the Line Between Structure and Learning to Optimize and Adapt Receptive Fields.

The visual world is vast and varied, but its variations divide into structured and unstructured factors. We compose free-form filters and structured Gaussian filters, optimized end-to-end, to factorize deep representations and learn both local features and their degree of locality. Our semi-structured composition is strictly more expressive than free-form filtering, and changes in its structured parameters would require changes in free-form architecture. In effect this optimizes over receptive field size and shape, tuning locality to the data and task. Dynamic inference, in which the Gaussian structure varies with the input, adapts receptive field size to compensate for local scale variation. Optimizing receptive field size improves semantic segmentation accuracy on Cityscapes by 1-2 points for strong dilated and skip architectures and by up to 10 points for suboptimal designs. Adapting receptive fields by dynamic Gaussian structure further improves results, equaling the accuracy of free-form deformation while improving efficiency.
Effect of a Responsiveness-Based Support Intervention on Smokeless Tobacco Cessation: The UCare-ChewFree Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction Partner behaviors and attitudes can motivate or undermine a tobacco user's cessation efforts. We developed a multimedia intervention, UCare (Understanding-CAring-REspect) for women who wanted their male partner to quit smokeless tobacco (ST), based on perceived partner responsiveness-the empirically based theory that support is best received when the supporter conveys respect, understanding, and caring. Methods One thousand one hundred three women were randomized to receive either immediate access to the UCare website and printed booklet (Intervention; N = 552), or a Delayed Treatment control (N = 551). We assessed supportive behaviors and attitudes at baseline and 6-week follow-up, and the ST-using partner's abstinence at 6 weeks and 7.5 months (surrogate report). Results For partners of women assigned to Intervention, 7.0% had quit all tobacco at 7.5 months, compared with 6.6% for control (χ2 (1, n = 1088) = .058, p = .810). For partners of women completing the intervention, 12.4% had quit all tobacco at 7.5 months, compared with 6.6% for Delayed Treatment (χ2 (1, n = 753) = 6.775, p = .009). A previously reported change in responsiveness-based behaviors and instrumental behaviors at 6 weeks mediated 7.5-month cessation, and change in responsiveness-based attitudes mediated the change in responsiveness-based behaviors, indirectly increasing cessation. Conclusions A responsiveness-based intervention with female partners of male ST users improved supportive attitudes and behaviors, leading to higher cessation rates among tobacco users not actively seeking to quit. The study demonstrates the potential for responsiveness as a basis for effective intervention with supporters. This approach may reach tobacco users who would not directly seek help. Implications This study demonstrates the value of a responsiveness-based intervention (showing respect, understanding, and caring) in training partners to provide support for a loved one to quit ST. In a randomized clinical trial, 1,103 women married to or living with a ST user were randomized to receive the UCare-ChewFree intervention (website + booklet) or a Delayed Treatment control. Women completing the intervention were more likely to improve their behaviors and attitudes, and change in behaviors and attitudes mediated cessation outcomes for their partners, who had not enrolled in the study and may not have been seeking to quit. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01885221.
Wilks’ formula applied to computational tools: A practical discussion and verification

Abstract Wilks’ non-parametric method for setting tolerance limits using order statistics has recently become popular in the nuclear industry. The method allows analysts to predict a desired tolerance limit with some confidence that the estimate is conservative. The method is popular because it is simple and fits well into established regulatory frameworks. A critical analysis of the underlying statistics is presented in this work, including a derivation, analytical and statistical verification, and a broad discussion. Possible impacts of the underlying assumptions for application to computational tools are discussed. An in-depth discussion of the order statistic rank used in Wilks’ formula is provided, including when it might be necessary to use a higher rank estimate.