cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Hitting Time Theorem Revisited

This note presents a very short and simple combinatorial proof of the classical hitting time theorem, or equivalently, the ballot theorem. © The Mathematical Association of America.
Conflict with a consultant.

This scenario presents two main issues. The first issue involves the evidence for or against the use of cerclage to prevent second-trimester pregnancy loss. The second issue is the way family physicians should interact with consultants.
Towards minimizing pair incompatibilities to help retain under-represented groups in beginning programming courses using pair programming

Pair programming usually consists of two people collectively programming under prescribed rules. Pair programming has been shown to help students in beginning programming courses learn material and be retained in computing fields (especially for under-represented minorities). However, an open question remains: what are the best methods for choosing pairs to try to avoid incompatibility in introductory programming classes to help retain under-represented groups? This paper compares pairing incompatibilities between two types of academic pairings. Preliminary results show academic pairings based on pair programming lab performance may be more promising than academic pairings based on individual test performance.
Unique Reversible but Serious Adverse Events in Very Young Infants Undergoing Unrelated Donor Umbilical Cord Blood Transplantation for Non-Malignant Conditions: Increased Autoimmune Cytopenias and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Between September 1998 and June 2004, 15 young infants, 50% donor chimerism. Two patients died 3 and 5 years post transplant from respiratory failure (1 patient with MPS II and incomplete chimerism) and progressive Tay Sachs Disease, respectively. Grafts were mismatched at 1 (n = 8) or 2 (n = 7) HLA loci and 8/15 donor/recipient pairs were ABO mismatched. Nine patients developed mild to moderate acute GvHD. Within 6–10 months of transplant, six of the 15 patients developed autoimmune cytopenias (autoimmune hemolytic anemia +/− ITP), diagnosed clinically by Coombs positivity and antiplatelet antibodies respectively. They required therapy with steroids, imuran, dacluzimab, rituximab, and in one patient, splenectomy. There was no correlation with ABO or HLA matching or GvHD and the incidence of autoimmune disease. All patients recovered within 3–24 months. Eight of the 15 newborns developed concentric cardiomyopathy while on solumedrol and either cyclosporine or FK506 for GvHD treatment and/or prophylaxis. One patient required intubation and prolonged mechanical ventilation. The others remained relatively asymptomatic. Over time and with weaning of steroid therapy, their left ventricular hypertrophy resolved and heart function returned to normal. Both autoimmune cytopenias and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occur in higher frequency in very young infants undergoing unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation. The etiology of the autoimmune disease is not currently known while the cardiac disease is a result of therapies used to treat and prophylax against GvHD.
Five Decades of Remarkable but Slowing Change in U.S. Women's Economic and Social Status and Political Participation

The last fifty years of women’s social and economic progress have been lauded as the “grand gender convergence,” the “second demographic transition,” and the “rise of women”—terms pointing to the remarkable transformation in women’s social and economic roles since the 1960s. Many metrics document these changes.
Performance Characterization of Random Proximity Sensor Networks

In this paper, we characterize the localization performance and connectivity of sensors networks consisting of binary proximity sensors using a random sensor management strategy. The sensors are deployed uniformly at random over an area, and to limit the energy dissipation, each sensor node switches between an active and idle state according to random mechanisms regulated by a birth-and-death stochastic process. We first develop an upper bound for the minimum transmitting range which guarantees connectivity of the active nodes in the network with a desired probability. Then, we derive an analytical formula for predicting the mean-squared localization error of the active nodes when assuming a centroid localization scheme. Simulations are used to verify the theoretical claims for various localization schemes that operate only over connected active nodes.
Longing for Laputa

Recent loony events in Washington have led Robert P Crease to wonder whether scientists shouldn't rule after all.
Teleproctoring in Surgery

Telecommunication allows interaction over distances to overcome logistical constraints. High band-width technology has allowed impressive feats of long-distance mentoring, proctoring, and remote procedures. Feasibility has been shown in controlling robotic arms or providing consultation between continents, between ship and land, and between air and land. However, the exact role of telecommunication in everyday medical practice remains unclear. Providing expert consultation where none is available is a clear need that telemedicine can fill. However, as minimally invasive surgical techniques rapidly grow, trainee work hours shorten, and demand for quality patient care heightens, a greater role for telesurgery, teleproctoring, and telementoring may come to the forefront. This will make defining, simulating, and studying the outcomes of telemedical applications an important area of discourse and research in the next several years.
Dearomatization Approach to 2-Trifluoromethylated Benzofuran and Dihydrobenzofuran Products.

A mild dearomatization enabled ortho-selective replacement of an aromatic C–H bond with a hexafluoroacetylacetone (hfacac) substituent has been developed. This reaction is dependent on a hypervalent iodine generated phenoxonium intermediate, a critical choice of solvent, and reagent addition order. The fluorinated dihydrobenzofuran product can be transformed into dihydrobenzofuran and benzofuran products decorated with a 2-trifluoromethyl group. The 3-trifluoromethylacyl substituted benzofurans rapidly form hydrates, which can be reduced to the corresponding alcohols.
Development of an Uncertainty Propagation Equation for Scalar Fields

ABSTRACTThe uncertainty of a scalar field is essential structuring information for any estimation problem. Establishing the uncertainty in a dense gridded product from sparse or random uncertainty-attributed input data is not, however, routine. This manuscript develops an equation that propagates the uncertainty of individual observations, arbitrarily distributed in , to a common estimation location at which they can be used to determine the composite uncertainty of the output field. The equation includes the effect of the distance between the observation and estimation locations, the field and horizontal uncertainty of the observation, and user-parameters to control the expected variability in the field as a function of distance. Two computational versions of the equation, a lower cost conservative approach and a higher cost mean-distance approach, are developed and evaluated for computational cost and resulting accuracy in numerical experiments over simulated bathymetric data. The mean-distance approach...
Si Complies with GaN to Overcome Thermal Mismatches for the Heteroepitaxy of Thick GaN on Si

Heteroepitaxial growth of lattice mismatched materials has advanced through the epitaxy of thin coherently strained layers, the strain sharing in virtual and nanoscale substrates, and the growth of thick films with intermediate strain-relaxed buffer layers. However, the thermal mismatch is not completely resolved in highly mismatched systems such as in GaN-on-Si. Here, geometrical effects and surface faceting to dilate thermal stresses at the surface of selectively grown epitaxial GaN layers on Si are exploited. The growth of thick (19 µm), crack-free, and pure GaN layers on Si with the lowest threading dislocation density of 1.1 × 107 cm-2 achieved to date in GaN-on-Si is demonstrated. With these advances, the first vertical GaN metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistors on Si substrates with low leakage currents and high on/off ratios paving the way for a cost-effective high power device paradigm on an Si CMOS platform are demonstrated.
Biological Applications: Sample Preparation and Quantitation

The most common source of uncertainty in the use of electron beam analytical techniques with biological materials is the preparation technique: the steps that intervene between the normal in vivo condition of the sample and the state in which it is analyzed. Generally, these steps involve removing material from an aqueous, atmospheric pressure environment to one that is dry and at relatively high vacuum, and may also include sectioning, sawing, or fracturing in order to expose the portions of interest. During this treatment, material must not be lost, redistributed, or gained, and the original structural relationships of the material must be conserved. These are quite restrictive requirements, and are usually satisfied only in part. Indeed, establishing the degree to which they are met is often a major problem in itself. There may be no universally satisfactory preparation technique, although some of the freezing techniques approach this. Thus it is usually the responsibility of each analyst to establish criteria for the problem of interest. In general, the properties of the sample determine which preparative techniques can be employed. Thus, if one wishes to analyze tissue fluids, crystalline inclusions, or cell organelles, it is likely that different methods will be useful. A brief survey of some of the methods that are available follows, along with some suggestions about their advantages as well as the hazards that are likely to be associated with them. A general overview was given by Coleman and Terepka.(1)
What it takes to get retweeted: An analysis of software vulnerability messages

Abstract A large body of research has examined the public disclosure of software vulnerability, but little attention has been paid to sharing software vulnerability information on social media. Sharing software vulnerability messages on Twitter indicates that particular messages are perceived by the public valuable enough to share with others. Building on hazard communication and terse messaging literature, this study analyzes the factors impacting the retweeting of software vulnerability related messages. Particularly, this study has two goals: 1) to identify the major content categories contained in software vulnerability related tweets and 2) to understand the impact of tweet content, tweet source, technical features of tweets, as well as software vulnerability features on retweeting the software vulnerability messages. Our analysis suggested five content categories are referred in the tweets: alerts, patch, advisory, exploit, and root-cause. Using a negative binomial regression, we found that several factors jointly influence the retweeting of software vulnerability messages. The findings could be useful for planning about effective message design for communicating the publicly disclosed software vulnerability information to end-users.
News Engagement on Social Media and Democratic Citizenship: Direct and Moderating Roles of Curatorial News Use in Political Involvement:

Social media allow users not only to read news, but also to evaluate, reconstruct, and share it. This study conceptualizes curatorial news use via social media as an important news use behavior, which involves evaluating the existing news, adding new values by reconstructing it, and then sharing it with other social media users. An analysis of survey data from 650 South Korean adults shows that curatorial news use on social media has a significantly positive association with political knowledge, internal political efficacy, and offline and online political participation. The interaction of social media news use and curatorial news use is also significantly associated with high levels of political knowledge and political participation.
Pendant/bridged/mesoporous silsesquioxane nanoparticles: Versatile and biocompatible platforms for smart delivery of therapeutics

Abstract Silsesquioxane nanoparticles are composed of repetitive organosilica fragments in their frameworks and are now recognized to have outstanding functional fertility. Depending on the organosilane and the synthetic pathways, silsesquioxane NPs can be pendant, bridged, dense or porous. Recently the diverse functionalities of mesoporous silsesquioxane nanoparticles have been exploited for the sake of drug-related biomedicine. Fine-tuning the silsesquioxane nanoparticles characteristics allow not only a superior retention capacity of therapeutics without the need of any further modification, but also a controlled release through various environmentally-stimulated triggers. The main focus of the present review is to highlight the different types of silsesquioxane nanoparticles and their exceptional features focused on controlled delivery of drugs, proteins, antibodies and DNA through pH, redox or light stimuli.
Local Latent Space Models for Top-N Recommendation

Users' behaviors are driven by their preferences across various aspects of items they are potentially interested in purchasing, viewing, etc. Latent space approaches model these aspects in the form of latent factors. Although such approaches have been shown to lead to good results, the aspects that are important to different users can vary. In many domains, there may be a set of aspects for which all users care about and a set of aspects that are specific to different subsets of users. To explicitly capture this, we consider models in which there are some latent factors that capture the shared aspects and some user subset specific latent factors that capture the set of aspects that the different subsets of users care about. In particular, we propose two latent space models: rGLSVD and sGLSVD, that combine such a global and user subset specific sets of latent factors. The rGLSVD model assigns the users into different subsets based on their rating patterns and then estimates a global and a set of user subset specific local models whose number of latent dimensions can vary. The sGLSVD model estimates both global and user subset specific local models by keeping the number of latent dimensions the same among these models but optimizes the grouping of the users in order to achieve the best approximation. Our experiments on various real-world datasets show that the proposed approaches significantly outperform state-of-the-art latent space top-N recommendation approaches.
Data Base Standards

Standards are rules and procedures established by an authority in an attempt to measure the quantity or quality of some object or process. In data processing, standards are promulgated by edp management to measure the quality of data processing systems and their operation. The variety of standards that may be developed for a data processing installation cover the full range of systems activities(1) Standards may exist for system development (including project management and the specification of system components, such as backup and recovery procedures), for data and file definition, for program coding, for all aspects of system documentation (including manual procedures and user training), for system test and conversion, and finally for system operation (including the specification of the hardware/software environment of the installation itself).
Toward Measuring and Maintaining the Zone of Proximal Development in Adaptive Instructional Systems

Intelligent tutoring Systems (ITSs) adapt content and activities with the goals of being both effective and efficient instructional environments. They have goals for students to be challenged and guided in an optimal way-- without being too overwhelmed with difficult material or too bored with easy or repetitive material. We propose a particular definition of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as a general way to describe what all ITSs try to do, and we propose a foundational analysis of instructional adaptivity, student modeling, and system evaluation in terms of the ZPD. We give an operational definition of the ZPD and give an example of its use, and summarize how instructional methods such as scaffolding can be used to maintain ZPD-learning. We also explain how our definition of the ZPD can lead to a more complete model for efficient and effective instruction than common mastery learning criteria.
Considerations and Protocols for the Synthesis of Custom Protein Labeling Probes

Chemists and biologists have long recognized small molecule probes as powerful tools for functional genomics and proteomics studies. The possibility of specifically attaching chemical probes to individual proteins with spatial and temporal resolution has greatly improved our ability to visualize and characterize proteins in their native environment. The continued development of novel molecular probes for protein labeling is, therefore, of fundamental importance to gain new insights into biological processes in living cells and organisms. Several excellent approaches for the site-specific labeling of fusion proteins with chemical probes exist. Herein I discuss the design and generation of chemical probes for the SNAP-tag and CLIP-tag systems. The first part of this chapter is dedicated to reviewing the principles of the SNAP-tag technology, followed by a section dedicated to the development of chemical probes for unique applications, such as super-resolution imaging, protein trafficking and recycling, protein-protein interactions, and biomolecular sensing. The last part of the chapter contains experimental protocols and technical notes for the synthesis of selected SNAP-tag substrates and labeling of SNAP-tag fusion proteins in vitro and in living cells.
In vitro covalent modification of serum albumin by acrolein

Abstract Amino acid analyses of human serum albumin treated with acrolein under in vitro conditions showed disappearance of lysine and histidine residues with concomitant appearance of four new peaks upon amino acid analyses. The first three peaks emerged just prior to histidine, while the fourth emerged between ammonia and arginine. Model compound (polyhistidine) treated with acrolein and subjected to amino acid analyses provided three peaks which eluted at the same positions as the first three peaks found in the acrolein-treated albumin. This provided tentative identification of the first three peaks as possible histindine-acrolein adducts. Likewise, model compound polylysine treated under the same conditions yielded a peak which corresponded to the fourth peak observed in the acrolein-treated albumin. There is a direct proportional increase in the adducts formed with increasing concentrations of acrolein. The chemical caused substantial increase in the absorbance of albumin at 280 nm indicating unfolding of the protein. Covalent modifications of the lysine and histidine residues by acrolein do not have any effect on the binding of palmitic acid or bromcresol green to albumin.
A Note on Infinite Series with Recursively Defined Terms

In this note we study the convergence of recursively defined infinite series. We explore the role of the derivative of the defining function at the origin (if it exists), and develop a comparison t...
Myeloid growth factor(s) regulation of ornithine decarboxylase: effects of antiproliferative signals interferon-gamma and cAMP.

Colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) stimulate the activation and steady- state mRNA accumulation of an important regulatory enzyme for macromolecular synthesis, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC). Cloned murine CSF-dependent cell lines exhibited a rapid activation of ODC enzyme activity, detectable within ten minutes of stimulations with either interleukin-3 (IL-3), GM-CSF, or G-CSF. This early phase of enzyme activation did not require early protein or mRNA synthesis. The subsequent protracted rise in ODC activity occurring four to six hours after CSF treatment was dependent on increases in steady-state ODC mRNA accumulation and de novo protein synthesis. CSF, therefore, modulates both posttranslational activation of preexisting ODC and stabilization and accumulation of ODC mRNA. Antiproliferative signals, such as cAMP or interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), effectively inhibited the CSF-directed increase in steady-state ODC mRNA. Cotreatment of the murine NSF 60.8 cell line with IFN-gamma and GM-CSF decreased steady-state ODC mRNA greater than 80% as compared with GM-CSF-treated cells alone. IFN treatment did not cause any appreciable destabilization of mature ODC mRNA, suggesting that its major effect may be at the level of ODC mRNA transcription or posttranscriptional processing. These data indicate that the ODC gene-protein system is an important molecular locus of the effects of myeloid proliferative and antiproliferation signals.
Lumbar Spine MRI: Missed Opportunities for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Detection

ABSTRACT Purpose The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends 1-time sonographic screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) in male smokers ages 65-75 and other selected individuals in this age group based on risk factors. Patients in this age range are frequent utilizers of lumbar spine MRI, in which the abdominal aorta is typically fully imaged. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential detection rate of AAAs on lumbar spine MRI performed in the USPSTF screening age range with systematic aortic measurement and the frequency with which AAAs are currently reported in practice. Materials and Methods All consecutive lumbar spine MRI exams performed without contrast at a single academic tertiary care center over a 1-year period (4/1/2016-3/31/2017) in patients ages 65-75 were retrospectively reviewed. Maximal anteroposterior, and transverse dimensions of the abdominal aorta were measured using axial T2-weighted images, supplemented with sagittal T2-weighted images if assessment was limited by field-of-view or artifact. The detection rate of AAA, defined as dilation of the aorta to a diameter of ≥3 cm, size of AAAs detected, and frequency with which AAAs were reported, were assessed. Differences in aortic diameters and aneurysm detection rates between genders were compared with the unpaired 2-sample t test. Results Three hundred and ninety-five lumbar spine MRIs were reviewed, 240 (60.8%) in women and 155 (39.2%) in men, with mean ± standard deviation (SD) age of 70.2 ± 3.2 years. AAAs were detected in 38/395 (9.6%) cases, most (33/38, 86.8%) of which were Conclusion Lumbar spine MRI performed in the USPSTF AAA screening age range, especially in men, facilitates frequent detection of AAA when the aorta is systematically measured. However, in typical lumbar spine assessment, AAAs are often underreported, particularly for smaller aneurysms.
Impact of EGFR amplification status in newly diagnosed glioblastoma treated with Stupp protocol.

e13569Background: Standard post-surgical glioblastoma (GBM) treatment, per Stupp protocol, includes six-weeks of concurrent Temozolomide chemoradiation followed by at least six cycles of adjuvant-T...
Rehospitalization and resource use after inpatient admission for extracorporeal life support in the United States.

Abstract Background With increasing dissemination and improved survival after extracorporeal life support, also called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, the decrease in readmissions after hospitalization involving extracorporeal life support is an emerging priority. The present study aimed to identify predictors of early readmission after extracorporeal life support at a national level. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study using the Nationwide Readmissions Database. All patients ≥18 years who underwent extracorporeal life support from 2010 to 2015 were identified. Patients were stratified into the following categories of extracorporeal life support: postcardiotomy, primary cardiogenic shock, cardiopulmonary failure, respiratory failure, transplantation, and miscellaneous. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of 90-day rehospitalization after extracorporeal life support admission. A multivariable logistic regression model was developed to predict the odds of unplanned 90-day readmission. Kaplan-Meier analyses were also performed. Results An estimated 18,748 patients received extracorporeal life support with overall mortality of 50.2%. Of the patients who survived hospitalization, 30.2% were discharged to a skilled nursing facility, and 21.1% were readmitted within 90 days after discharge. After adjusting for patient and hospital characteristics, cardiogenic shock was associated with the greatest odds of mortality (adjusted odds ratio 1.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.09–1.46; C-statistic, 0.64). The cohort with respiratory failure had decreased odds of readmission (adjusted odds ratio 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.58–0.99). Discharge to skilled nursing facility (adjusted odds ratio 1.64; 95% confidence interval, 1.36–1.97) was independently associated with readmission. Cardiac and respiratory-related readmissions comprised the majority of unplanned 90-day rehospitalizations. Conclusion In this large analysis of readmissions after extracorporeal life support in adults, 21% of extracorporeal life support survivors were rehospitalized within 90 days of discharge. Disposition to a skilled nursing facility, but not advanced age nor female sex, was associated with readmission.
Multivariate analysis identifies factors that affect survival after stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases

11500 Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has become a standard for the treatment of brain metastases. We attempted to determine if specific tumor- or patient-related factors in our populat...
Comparison of the pH-dependent formation of His and Cys heptapeptide complexes of nickel(II), copper(II), and zinc(II) as determined by ion mobility-mass spectrometry

The analog methanobactin (amb) peptide with the sequence ac-His1 -Cys2 -Gly3 -Pro4 -Tyr5 -His6 -Cys7 (amb5A ) will bind the metal ions of zinc, nickel, and copper. To further understand how amb5A binds these metals, we have undertaken a series of studies of structurally related heptapeptides where one or two of the potential His or Cys binding sites have been replaced by Gly, or the C-terminus has been blocked by amidation. The studies were designed to compare how these metals bind to these sequences in different pH solutions of pH 4.2 to 10 and utilized native electrospray ionization (ESI) with ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) which allows for the quantitative analysis of the charged species produced during the reactions. The native ESI conditions were chosen to conserve as much of the solution-phase behavior of the amb peptides as possible and an analysis of how the IM-MS results compare with the expected solution-phase behavior is discussed. The oligopeptides studied here have applications for tag-based protein purification methods, as therapeutics for diseases caused by elevated metal ion levels or as inhibitors for metal-protein enzymes such as matrix metalloproteinases.
Characterizing the Two-photon Absorption Properties of Fluorescent Molecules in the 680-1300 nm Spectral Range

Two-photon laser scanning microscopy (2PLSM) is a state-of-the-art technique used for non-invasive imaging deep inside the tissue, with high 3D resolution, minimal out-of-focus photodamage, and minimal autofluorescence background. For optimal application of fluorescent probes in 2PLSM, their two-photon absorption (2PA) spectra, expressed in absolute cross sections must be characterized. Excitation at optimum wavelength will make it possible to reduce the laser power and therefore minimize photodamage. Obtaining 2PA spectra and cross sections requires correcting the two-photon excited fluorescence signals for a combination of laser properties, including the beam spatial profile, pulse duration, and absolute power, at each wavelength of the tuning range. To avoid such tedious day-to-day laser characterization required in the absolute measurement method, a relative method based on independently characterized 2PA reference standards is often used. By carefully analyzing the available literature data, we selected the most reliable standards for both the 2PA spectral shape and cross section measurements. Here we describe a protocol for measuring the 2PA spectral shapes and cross sections of fluorescent proteins and other fluorophores with the relative fluorescence method using these reference standards. Our protocol first describes how to build an optical system and then how to perform the measurements. In our protocol, we use Coumarin 540A in dimethyl sulfoxide and LDS 798 in chloroform for the spectral shape measurements to cover the range from 680 to 1300 nm, and Rhodamine 590 in methanol and Fluorescein in alkaline water (pH 11) for the absolute two-photon cross section measurements.
Evaluating protected species bycatch in the U.S. Southeast Gillnet Fishery

Abstract Incidental capture or ‘bycatch’ of non-targeted species is a global fisheries issue that threatens ocean ecosystems and the conservation and recovery of protected species. Many protected species are at a high risk of incidental capture and mortality in commercial fisheries, which could have an impact on already decreasing populations. From 1998 to 2017, U.S. federal fisheries observers aboard fishing vessels in the U.S. Southeast Gillnet Fishery collected data on captures of encountered protected species. Data collected by the observers were used to describe protected species incidental capture within this fishery. A generalized linear zero-inflated negative binomial two-part model (GLM-ZINB) was applied to determine which environmental and fishing characteristic factors influence the probability of incidental capture of protected species including leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea, and loggerhead, Caretta caretta, sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, and giant manta ray, Manta birostris. While a variety of factors were considered in our models, no one single factor was found to influence all protected species. Incidental capture of leatherback turtles was influenced by season, depth, and gillnet depth, while loggerhead turtles were influenced by season, sea surface temperature, and target species of the fishery. Bottlenose dolphin bycatch was most influenced by soak duration, gear type, and season, while giant manta ray captures were influenced by soak duration, gear type, and depth. Environmental factors and fishing characteristics associated with incidental capture of protected species can be used to help guide fishery managers as to what species-specific regulations could be implemented to help mitigate capture.
Power, Hegemony, and World Society Theory: A Critical Evaluation:

World society theory has been one of the better published theoretical paradigms of the past 30 to 40 years. But despite its publishing successes, world society theory and research are beset by a nu...
Technical Note—A Note on the Equivalence of Upper Confidence Bounds and Gittins Indices for Patient Agents

This note gives a short, self-contained proof of a sharp connection between Gittins indices and Bayesian upper confidence bound algorithms. I consider a Gaussian multiarmed bandit problem with disc...
Advanced Green Building Technology

An advanced sustainable mechanism is being described to fulfill the complete need of energy for a building that can be created by the building itself. To meet the complete energy demand for a building, the domestic biowaste including human feces is suggested to be executed into converting process in situ where separated sludge is to be collected into an anaerobic shut-tank bioreactor (BR) into the basement, facilitating to form biogas (CH4) by methanogenesis in order to convert biogas into electricity energy to power the entire building. Then, the discharged wastewater is to be stored in another detention tank in situ in order to conduct a complete treatment process of primary, secondary, tertiary, and UV application to utilize the treated wastewater for gardening. Execution of this technology indeed shall be an inventive field of green building science where a building can form electricity by itself to satisfy its total energy need without any connection with the utility companies which is benevolent to environment.
Breast cancer differential diagnosis using diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging and regression with z-score normalized data

Significance: Current imaging paradigms for differential diagnosis of suspicious breast lesions suffer from high false positive rates that force patients to undergo unnecessary biopsies. Diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging (DOSI) noninvasively probes functional hemodynamic and compositional parameters in deep tissue and has been shown to be sensitive to contrast between normal and malignant tissues. Aim: DOSI methods are under investigation as an adjunct to mammography and ultrasound that could reduce false positive rates and unnecessary biopsies, particularly in radiographically dense breasts. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 212 subjects with suspicious breast lesions who underwent DOSI imaging. Physiological tissue parameters were z-score normalized to the patient’s contralateral breast tissue and input to univariate logistic regression models to discriminate between malignant tumors and the surrounding normal tissue. The models were then used to differentiate malignant lesions from benign lesions. Results: Models incorporating several individual hemodynamic parameters were able to accurately distinguish malignant tumors from both the surrounding background tissue and benign lesions with area under the curve (AUC) ≥0.85. Z-score normalization improved the discriminatory ability and calibration of these predictive models relative to unnormalized or ratio-normalized data. Conclusions: Findings from a large subject population study show how DOSI data normalization that accounts for normal tissue heterogeneity and quantitative statistical regression approaches can be combined to improve the ability of DOSI to diagnose malignant lesions. This improved diagnostic accuracy, combined with the modality’s inherent logistical advantages of portability, low cost, and nonionizing radiation, could position DOSI as an effective adjunct modality that could be used to reduce the number of unnecessary invasive biopsies.
High-contrast grating mirror embedded in acoustic shield for optomechanics

By enabling high reflectivity from a single layer of dielectric, high-contrast gratings (HCGs) provide an exciting platform for optomechanics. In the interest of enhancing the mechanical quality factor of such devices, we have combined photonic and phononic engineering to fabricate HCG mirrors within a structure containing phononic bandgaps. In this way, we realize optomechanical devices that simultaneously exhibit high reflectivity, ultralow mass, and ultrahigh mechanical quality factors. Our initial devices are designed to trade off optimal acoustic and optical performance. We have incorporated these devices into optical cavities, which we probe in order to determine their optical and mechanical properties.
Ruminations on Twenty-Five Years of Animal Law

In this Article, the author tracks the ‘progress’ of the animal law movement over the past twenty-five years, focusing on the perennial ambiguity in the property status of animals and the kinds of harm to animals the law is, and is not, willing to condone, and the power of the media to shed light on these harms. The author also explains how her own work, concentrating on the question of the ‘value’ of the animals, has contributed to the field of animal law. In particular, she highlights her work on the problem of legal valuation of companion animals for damages claims, the struggle to recognize the ‘intrinsic’ value of companion animals in the debate around ‘no kill’ shelters and trap, neuter, release (TNR) programs, and the ‘problem’ of feral cats. Overall, the author concludes that her experience in animal law has been a positive one, reflecting fondly on finding her home among a community of like-minded, passionate individuals who care about sentient beings.
Evaluation of Oncology Hospital at Home: Unplanned Health Care Utilization and Costs in the Huntsman at Home Real-World Trial

PURPOSEPatients with cancer experience high rates of morbidity and unplanned health care utilization and may benefit from new models of care. We evaluated an adult oncology hospital at home program...
Regional gastric emptying scintigraphy reveals a spectrum of normal through delayed fundal emptying in patients with moderate gastroparesis.

1209 Objectives: Gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES) is used to quantify overall gastric emptying in patients with dyspeptic symptoms including nausea, vomiting, post-prandial fullness, and early satiety. The contribution of regional abnormalities to disorders of gastric motility is not routinely assessed by scintigraphy. We analyzed fundal and whole-stomach gastric emptying in patients with moderately-delayed gastric emptying on standard GES. A cohort of patients with normal gastric emptying on standard GES was used to define normal fundal and whole-stomach emptying values which were then used to analyze the gastroparesis (GP) group. Defining subgroups of patients with GP may be instrumental in tailoring therapies to fit specific mechanisms of dysfunction. Methods: IRB approval was obtained. By review of nuclear medicine reports, we retrospectively identified a convenience sample of 40 patients who underwent standard GES which demonstrated moderately-delayed gastric emptying (gastric retention of 15-35% at 4-hrs). 25 patients were selected with normal emptying at GES by SNMMI guidelines. Using a commercial software package, a ‘fundal’ ROI was assigned by visually bifurcating the stomach in equal portions. Clearance from the fundal and entire ROIs was modeled by fitting an exponential curve to the geometric mean of decay- and background-corrected counts (Excel, version 2011, Microsoft Corporation) and deriving fundal and entire stomach clearance T½s. Normal values for fundal and whole-stomach emptying were developed based on measurement of the normal cohort and applied to the GP cohort. Results: Normal half-times of emptying (hours) were 0.81 ± 0.36 for whole stomach and 0.64 ± 0.35 for the fundus. In the GP group, the average whole-stomach (2.67 ± 0.83) and fundal (1.61 ± 0.88) half-times (hours) were significantly greater (Table) (p<<0.001). Based on an upper value of 1.53 hour for whole stomach and 1.34 hour for fundus, 1 (2.5%) of the 40 GP patients demonstrated normal whole stomach emptying rates while fully 17 (42%) of patients with GP had normal T½ fundal emptying. Discussions/Conclusions: There is regional information inherent in GES beyond a unidimensional value of total gastric emptying which we have exploited in our analysis of fundal vs. whole-gastric emptying. This can be used to develop an improved understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of gastric dysfunction. Over 40% of GP patients demonstrated normal fundal emptying in spite of abnormally-delayed whole-stomach emptying, suggesting a pyloric rather than generalized motility disorder. Our findings strengthen the relevance of regional motility measurements with implications for choosing optimal therapy in differing subsets of patients and demonstrates the role that scintigraphy can play in defining patient groups.
Lossless Compression of Climate Data

In this paper, we address the problem of lossless, offline compression of climate data. We propose a technique for compression of climate data using combination of differential encoding and Huffman coding. This technique gives lossless data compression and reduces the number of bits required to encode a set of symbols,thereby leading to high compression. Performance of this method is measured using the compressed file sizes and finding the compression ratio. Our data set consists of three parameters from the Nevada climate data portal – solar radiation, photo synthetically active radiation, and data logger power system voltage.
Differential regulation of the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 enhancer in monocytes at various stages of differentiation

We have demonstrated that stimulation of the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) enhancer in T cells is dependent upon at least four cis-acting elements, including two purine-rich binding sites, PuB1 and PuB2, which are capable of binding members of the ets family of proto-oncogenes, the pets (peri-ets) site, which lies just upstream of the PuB2 site, and a single kappa B site (D. M. Markovitz, M. Smith, J. M. Hilfinger, M. C. Hannibal, B. Petryniak, and G. J. Nabel, J. Virol. 66:5479-5484, 1992). In this study, we examined the regulation of the HIV-2 enhancer in cells of monocytic lineage. We found that in immature monocytic cell lines, the HIV-2 enhancer is markedly induced by phorbol esters and that all four cis-acting elements are required for activation. In mature monocytic cells, constitutive activity is high, with only modest stimulation following phorbol ester treatment. Mutation of any of the four cis-acting elements resulted in greatly reduced basal expression in mature monocytes. This is in contrast to HIV-1, in which developmentally controlled expression of the enhancer in monocytes is mediated largely through the kappa B sites alone [G. E. Griffin, K. Leung, T. M. Folks, S. Kunkel, and G. J. Nabel, Nature (London) 339:70-73, 1989]. Further, we demonstrated that although both Elf-1, an ets family member with significant similarity to the drosophila developmental regulatory protein E74, and Pu.1, a monocyte- and B-cell-specific member of the ets family, bind the purine-rich enhancer region, Elf-1 is the protein which binds predominantly in vivo. A nuclear factor(s) which binds the pets site, an element which has been described only in HIV-2, was detected in extracts of all of the monocytic cells tested. These findings indicate that the mechanism by which cellular factors regulate HIV-2 enhancer function in monocytic cells differs significantly from that of HIV-1 and may offer a partial explanation for the differences in the biological and clinical characteristics of the two viruses.
Eosinophils and IgE receptors: a continuing controversy.

DURING THE PAST 2 decades, considerable new information has been obtained about the functions of the eosinophil and its roles in human disease. Presently, the eosinophil is recognized as a proinflammatory granulocyte implicated in protection against parasitic infections and believed to play a major
Land Use and Land Cover Effects on Runoff Processes: Urban and Suburban Development

Urban and suburban development alters watershed imperviousness and connectivity, resulting in alterations to the hydrologic and hydraulic runoff response. Stormwater conveyance devices have been incorporated into most development to address the goal of floodwater removal for protection of life and property. Urban and suburban development laws generally consider the stormwater drainage system as part of the basic infrastructure and leave right of way and space to locate the component parts. Drainage systems are designed to protect life, enable vehicular access, extend pavement life cycle, control the volume and velocity of stormwater runoff along curbs and gutters, and convey stormwater runoff to natural or human constructed drainage ways and receiving waters. Engineering equations have been developed to design construction for optimal runoff behavior, such as timing, volume, and rate, into, through, and from conveyance devices. Design equations are also utilized for assessing the performance of constructed environments, to ascertain whether stormwater devices need rehabilitation or expansion. New frontiers in stormwater include model spatially distributed development that incorporates high-density elevation maps, radar rainfall, and details of remotely sensed infrastructure as well as ecological restoration simulation, including groundwater and river remediation for wildlife and recreation. Keywords: heat island; impervious area; gutter flow; drainage inlet; depression storage; stormsewer system; infiltration and inflow; time of concentration; overland flow; hydraulic and hydrologic routing; stormwater management; receiving water
Poorer Graft Survival in African-American Transplant Recipients Cannot Be Explained by HLA Mismatching

African-American kidney-transplant recipients have exhibited a higher rate of graft failure than whites and other patient groups. Many have attributed this discrepancy to disparities in HLA matching against a predominantly white donor pool. We compared the relative risks of cadaveric and living-related graft failure in African-American, white, Hispanic, and Asian transplant recipients, adjusting for a variety of demographic and clinical covariates. The relative risks of graft failure were increased by 44% and 73% in African-American recipients of cadaveric and living-related organs, respectively. Although Asians were subject to a comparable degree of HLA mismatching, cadaveric graft survival in Asian recipients was superior to that in whites. These results suggest that other variables not captured by registry data account for the increase in graft failure observed in African-Americans. More focused investigation into the causes and prevention of graft failure in African-Americans is required.
COSMOGENIC NUCLIDE DATING | Landscape Evolution

The measurement of cosmogenic nuclides produced in mineral grains has revolutionized the study of landscape evolution by providing methods to measure rates of erosion, soil production, and river incision over time scales ranging from thousands to millions of years. For example, cosmogenic nuclides at the soil–bedrock interface show that soil production rates depend strongly on soil depth. Cosmogenic nuclides in stream sediments show that basin-wide erosion rates are controlled more strongly by tectonics than by climate. Cosmogenic nuclides on river terraces and in caves measure river incision and glacial valley lowering rates and can reveal responses to either climate or tectonics. Cosmogenic nuclides in glaciated areas not only give the timing of deglaciation, but also indicate where ice has eroded bedrock and where it has not. In these ways and more, cosmogenic nuclides can contribute both to quantifying the rates of surface processes and establishing the timing of landscape response to important events in climate, tectonics, or drainage history.
Space Size and Accuracy of Second and Third Grade Students' Cursive Handwriting

AbstractA comparison was made of the accuracy of transitional cursive letter strokes on large-spaced paper and normal-spaced paper of second and third grade students. Results indicate that both second and third grade students produce more accurate letter strokes with large-spaced paper (space size 1.11 cm). Third graders produced significantly more correct cursive letter strokes than second graders. These data revealed no significant differences between letter formation of girls and boys. The results support the continued use of large-spaced paper with students writing transitional cursive letters.
The Stroke and Neurovascular Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital

The Stroke and Neurovascular Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital, in Milwaukee, is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary center for stroke medicine. The program encompasses an acute stroke team, a neuro-intensive care unit, a stroke care unit, and a stroke rehabilitation program. The staff includes specialists with fellowship training in stroke, neurocritical care, neurointerventional therapy, vascular neurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology, and stroke rehabilitation. Fellowships are offered in interventional neurology, neurocritical care, and vascular neurology. In addition to clinical service and education, the faculty are actively engaged in research. The program is certified by the Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center.