cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Beyond Simple Truths: The Human‐Internet Interaction

The Internet is only 10 years old, but it has already had a great impact on the world. In its "early " days, it was both heralded as a liberating force for the spread of democracy and condemned as a grave threat to the social fabric. However, as the present articles indicate, our knowledge of the Internet across a variety of social science perspectives has now accumulated to where we have a good initial picture of how the Internet really is (or isn't) affecting social life One theme stands out: These effects depend on how the unique qualities of Internet communication modes interact with the particular characteristics and goals of the individuals, groups, and communities using them.
The potential application of cyclo-oxygenase type 2 inhibitors to Alzheimer’s disease

In recent years, dramatic progress has been made in the understanding of the neurogenetics and neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A great deal of experimental evidence has accumulated to support the hypothesis that inflammatory mechanisms are involved in the pathophysiology of AD. In addition, epidemiological studies have revealed that anti-inflammatory medications reduce the risk of developing AD. However, long-term use of conventional anti-inflammatory drugs is associated with significant toxicity which limits their potential application to the treatment or prevention of AD. It is believed that the inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase type-1 (COX-1) causes much of this toxicity, while inhibition of COX type-2 (COX-2), which is induced by inflammatory stimuli, may confer the anti-inflammatory effect. COX-2 is also constitutively expressed in brain regions preferentially affected in Alzheimer’s disease and may be directly involved in neuronal cell death. Therefore, selective COX-2 inhibitors represent a p...
Screening for Alcoholism Among Medical Inpatients: How Important Is Corroboration of Patient Self-Report?

Little Is known about the utility of collateral reports in substantiating self-report for individuals assessed in nonalcoholism treatment contexts. This study examined the concordance of 581 pairs of medical patient and collateral responses to a commonly used alcohol screening instrument, the CAGE Questions, as well as to reports of the patient's drinking consequences and alcohol consumption. Results demonstrated that patientkollateral concordance was marginal, but acceptable, on CAGE cut-off scores and, that similar to reports from alcoholism treatment settings, patients generally repofied more drinking consequences than collaterals. Patient and collateral reports of the patient's alcohol consumption did not differ significantly. This pattern of patient and collateral reporting of alcohol consequences and consumption was found for both men and women, as well as for patients with a DSM-Ill-R diagnosis of alcohol dependence. The findings support the validity of patient self-report on alcoholism screening measures in medical settings. Furthermore, results demonstrated that the addition of collateral reports to information directly obtained from patients only modestly improved the Identification of alcohol dependence. The overall findings indicate
An International Comparison of Stakeholder Motivation to Implement Liver Cancer Control

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization offers clear guidance on the development of national cancer control programmes based on a country's level of resources, yet the motivation to implement such programmes may be driven by factors other than resources. OBJECTIVES To compare stakeholder motivation to implement a national liver cancer control programme and assess if variation in motivation was associated with stakeholder characteristics or with national indicators of need and resources. METHODS Relevant stakeholders were purposively selected from 13 countries (Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and USA) to participate in a structured survey on liver cancer control. Respondents included 12 individuals working in clinical, 5 in policy and 3 in advocacy roles from each country. Stakeholders' motivation was measured using a scale grounded in expectancy theory and knowledge gained during previous qualitative interviews. Comparisons across countries and respondent characteristics were conducted using hierarchical regression. Country level motivation scores, holding constant individual level covariates, were correlated with indicators of need and resources and tested using Pearson's correlation coefficients. RESULTS In total, 260 stakeholders, equally drawn from the study countries, completed the survey (45% response rate). At the national level, motivation was highest in Nigeria, Thailand and China (P < 0.001), and lowest in Italy (P < 0.001) and Germany (P = 0.003). Higher motivation was observed among stakeholders working at the international level relative to the local level (P = 0.017). Motivation was positively associated with a country's relative burden of liver cancer (P = 0.015) and negatively associated with their level of resources (P = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS This study provides the first empirical evidence on the motivation of stakeholders to implement national cancer control programmes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that motivation is more clearly associated with a country's cancer control needs rather than resources.
Determination of amino acid residues that are accessible from the ligand binding crevice in the seventh transmembrane-spanning region of the human A(1) adenosine receptor.

The substituted-cysteine accessibility method (SCAM) was applied to transmembrane span seven of the human A1 adenosine receptor (hA1AR) to reveal a subset of amino acids that are exposed to the ligand-binding crevice. The SCAM approach involved a systematic probe of receptor structure by individual substitutions of residues K265 (7.30) to R296 (7.61) with cysteine. In most cases, hA1AR substituted-cysteine mutant membranes displayed antagonist dissociation binding constants that did not differ significantly from wild-type (WT). Radioligand binding assays were used to compare cell membranes that were treated with hydrophilic, sulfhydryl-specific methanethiosulfonate derivatives with control cell membranes. Position H278 was previously reported to be required for A1AR ligand binding; however, that report did not establish that H278 represents a contact point for ligands. Cysteine-substitution at H278 yields membrane preparations with greatly decreased receptor density compared with WT membranes from cells in the same transfection experiment. However, H278C membranes retain a measurable fraction of antagonist binding. This observation allows for the investigation of binding-crevice accessibility at position 278 and suggests that H278 may not be required for binding of antagonist ligands. Our data reveal the binding-crevice accessibility of residues T270 (7.35), A273 (7.38), I274 (7.39), T277 (7.42), H278 (7.43), N284 (7.49), and Y288 (7.53) in the hA1AR. These data are consistent with the high-resolution structure of bovine rhodopsin that features three a-helical turns in this region that are interrupted by an elongated, nonhelical structure from positions 7.43 to 7.48 in the primary amino acid sequence.
Time-Resolved Spectroscopy Of Evanescent-Wave Excited Fluorescence

An experimental proof of principle system for making time-resolved spectrographic measurements of laserinduced fluorescence in organics undergoing shock wave loading has been developed. The source of excitation is a flashlamp-pump dye laser and the detector is a 0.2m spectrograph coupled to an Imacon 500 streak camera. The sample, in liquid solution, is excited in an evanescent-wave geometry, which results in only a very thin (≈ 1000 A) layer of sample being excited. Excitation of such a thin layer is required to obtain high time resolution in samples undergoing shock wave loading, which is the intended application for this technique. Optical time resolution of 100 psec has been achieved, and shorter time scales appear within easy reach.
Image reconstruction and enhancement for subsurface radar imaging using wavefield statistics

Frequency modulated, continuous wave (FM-CW) radar has many applications toward NDE of civil structures, as well as the imaging of buried objects. We first introduce the theory behind the operation of stepped chirp FM-CW subsurface radar, and then present an image enhancement technique based on the wavefield statistics. The technique uses the second order statistics of the frequency domain representation of each point in the output to clarify target peaks and reduce the magnitude of surrounding areas. Experimental results using FM-CW ground penetrating radar on buried targets of varying depths are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of stepped chirp radar and the enhancement technique. >
Scalability and Design-Space Analysis of a 1T-1MTJ Memory Cell for STT-RAMs

We present a design-space feasibility region, as a function of magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) characteristics and target memory specifications, to explore the design margin of a one-transistor-one-magnetic-tunnel-junction (1T-1MTJ) memory cell for spin-transfer torque random access memories (STT-RAMs). Data from measured devices are used to model the statistical variation of an MTJ's critical switching current and resistance. The sensitivity of the design space to different design parameters is also analyzed for the scaling of both the MTJ and the underlying transistor technology. A design flow, using a sensitivity-based analysis and an MTJ switching model based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, is proposed to optimize design margins for gigabit-scale memories. Design points for improved yield, density, and memory performance are extracted from MTJ-compatible complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies for 90-, 65-, 45-, and 32-nm processes. Predictive technology models are used to explore the future scalability of STT-RAMs in upcoming 22- and 16-nm technology nodes. Our analysis shows that, to achieve Flash-like densities ( <; 6F2) in advanced CMOS technologies, aggressive scaling of the critical switching current density will be required.
A pipelined Kalman filter architecture

Presented in the paper is a hardware-efficient pipelined Kalman filter architecture for recursive least-squares (RLS) identification. The proposed architecture is developed via the relaxed look-ahead technique. This technique results in an extremely low hardware overhead at the expense of a slightly degraded performance. The hardware overhead due to pipelining consists of only the pipelining latches and is therefore negligible. Convergence analysis and simulations indicate that the adaptation accuracy of the pipelined and serial architectures are identical. Speed-up of up to 15 is demonstrated via simulations. Finally, a folded architecture for a pipelined Kalman filter is presented. This folded architecture reduces the number of computational elements by half while still achieving substantial speed-up. >
Anoxia-Induced Changes in Pyridine Nucleotide Redox State in Cortical Neurons and Astrocytes

NAD(P)H autofluorescence was used to verify establishment of metabolic anoxia using primary cultures of cortical neurons and astrocytes. Cells on cover slips were placed in a chamber and O(2) was displaced by continuous infusion of argon. Perfusion with medium at PO(2) < 0.4 mm Hg caused an increase in NAD(P)H fluorescence, albeit to levels lower than that obtained with cyanide. Addition of the nitric oxide-generating agent DETA-NO to the hypoxic medium further increased fluorescence to the level with cyanide. Fluorescence under anoxia remained high in the presence of glucose, but declined in neurons and not in astrocytes when glucose was substituted with 2-deoxyglucose. Reoxygenation of neurons resulted in a decline in fluorescence and a loss in fluorescent gradient between fully reduced and fully oxidized (plus respiratory uncoupler). We conclude that (1) DETA-NO is useful for generating metabolic anoxia in the presence of argon (2) Exogenous glucose is necessary to maintain NAD(P)H in a reduced state during metabolic anoxia in neurons but not astrocytes (3) Neurons undergo a partially irreversible decline in NAD(P)H fluorescence during metabolic anoxia and reoxygenation that could contribute to prolonged metabolic failure.
A virtual environment for simulated rat dissection: a case study of visualization for astronaut training

Animal dissection for the scientific examination of organ subsystems is a delicate procedure. Performing this procedure under the complex environment of microgravity presents additional challenges because of the limited training opportunities available that can recreate the altered gravity environment. Traditional astronaut crew training often occurs several months in advance of experimentation, provides limited realism, and involves complicated logistics. We have developed an interactive virtual environment that can simulate several common tasks performed during animal dissection. In this paper, we describe the imaging modality used to reconstruct the rat, provide an overview of the simulation environment and briefly discuss some of the techniques used to manipulate the virtual rat.
Aesthetically Warranted Emotion and Composed Expressive Trajectories in Music

Theorists of music and emotion have come to recognise a wide range of aesthetic and non-aesthetic situations in which music serves as a vehicle, or a trigger, or a catalyst, for emotional experience. In this essay I focus on aesthetically warranted emotions (AWEs) as real, measurable emotions that are directly motivated by stylistically competent interaction with composed expressive trajectories (CETs). Through a close interpretation of the exposition of the second movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata in F, K. 533, I explore five central issues: (1) the role of marked musical gestures and stylistically unmarked alternatives in reconstructing and interpreting CETs; (2) the affordance of prior emotional experience for an individual's complete cognitive understanding of CETs; (3) whether or not one need actually experience AWEs in order to cognitively understand and appreciate CETs; (4) whether emotional engagement need always be congruent with, or isomorphically constrained by, CETs in order to qualify as AWEs; and (5) the status of AWEs, and our cognition of them, as multi-levelled and integrative, synthetic and emergent, and varying in intensity.
Detecting Species Boundaries and Hybridization in Camassia quamash and C. leichtlinii (Agavaceae) Using Allozymes

Abstract The ranges of great camas (Camassia leichtlinii) and small camas (C. quamash) overlap extensively in the western United States. Previous systematic treatments of the genus are inconclusive, as a recent flora classifies C. leichtlinii as a subspecies of C. quamash. We investigated species boundaries and putative hybrid zones at multiple sites in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and in allopatric populations ranging as far north as British Columbia. Genotypic inferences from allozyme electrophoresis of 218 individuals yielded 12 resolvable loci across three buffer systems. Lower mean Nei's genetic identity (I) in interspecific pairwise comparisons (0.76) than in intraspecific comparisons (0.91 for C. quamash and 0.89 for C. leichtlinii) indicates that these taxa are readily distinguishable using allozymes. Furthermore, four alleles uniquely characterize either C. leichtlinii or C. quamash and five additional alleles are common in one species but rare in the other. In different, sympatric populations...
Neutrophil chemotactic activity generation by alveolar macrophages after bleomycin injury.

Saline lavage was performed on rat lungs after the intratracheal injection of saline or bleomycin. An increase (p < 0.025) in total cells recovered, an increase (p < 0.001) in neutrophils, and an increase (p < 0.001) in albumin concentration were noted in lavage fluid recovered from rats subsequent to bleomycin injury. At 5, 10, 15, and 20 days after injury, macrophages recovered from bleomycin-treated rats generated increased (p < 0.05) amounts of neutrophil chemotactic activity in vitro compared with macrophages recovered from saline-treated rats. The chemotactic activity was attributable to a factor or factors of low molecular weight and hydrophobic in nature, characteristics similar to previously described alveolar macrophage-derived neutrophil chemotactic factors. The generation of neutrophil chemotactic activity was suppressed (p < 0.025) by hydrocortisone and 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid (ETYA), suggesting that the neutrophil chemotactic activity generation is dependent upon the lipoxygenase pat...
Inverse uncertainty quantification of input model parameters for thermal-hydraulics simulations using expectation–maximization under Bayesian framework

Quantification of uncertainties in code responses necessitates knowledge of input model parameter uncertainties. However, nuclear thermal-hydraulics code such as RELAP5 and TRACE do not provide any information on input model parameter uncertainties. Moreover, the input model parameters for physical models in these legacy codes were derived under steady-state flow conditions and hence might not be accurate to use in the analysis of transients without accounting for uncertainties. We present a Bayesian framework to estimate the posterior mode of input model parameters' mean and variance by implementing the iterative expectation–maximization algorithm. For this, we introduce the idea of model parameter multiplier. A log-normal transformation is used to transform the model parameter multiplier to pseudo-parameter. Our analysis is based on two main assumptions on pseudo-parameter. First, a first-order linear relationship is assumed between code responses and pseudo-parameters. Second, the pseudo-parameters are...
A Methodology for Quantifying and Mapping Ecosystem Services Provided by Watersheds

Watershed processes – physical, chemical, and biological – are the foundation for many benefits that ecosystems provide for human societies. A crucial step toward accurately representing those benefits, so they can ultimately inform decisions about land and water management, is the development of a coherent methodology that can translate available data into the ecosystem services (ES) produced by watersheds. Ecosystem services (ES) provide an instinctive way to understand the tradeoffs associated with natural resource management. We provide a synthesis of common terminology and explain a rationale and framework for distinguishing among the components of ecosystem service delivery, including: an ecosystem’s capacity to produce a service; societal demand for the service; ecological pressures on this service; and flow of the service to people. We discuss how interpretation and measurement of these components can differ among provisioning, regulating, and cultural services and describe selected methods for quantifying ES components as well as constraints on data availability. We also present several case studies to illustrate our methods, including mapping capacity of several water purification services and demand for two forms of wildlife-based recreation, and discuss future directions for ecosystem service assessments. Our flexible framework treats service capacity, demand, ecological pressure, and flow as separate but interactive entities to better evaluate the sustainability of service provision across space and time and to help guide management decisions.
Amino-Acid-Dependent Shift in tRNA Synthetase Editing Mechanisms

Many aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases prevent mistranslation by relying upon proofreading activities at multiple stages of the aminoacylation reaction. In leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LeuRS), editing activities that precede or are subsequent to tRNA charging have been identified. Although both are operational, either the pre- or post-transfer editing activity can predominate. Yeast cytoplasmic LeuRS (ycLeuRS) misactivates structurally similar noncognate amino acids including isoleucine and methionine. We show that ycLeuRS has a robust post-transfer editing activity that efficiently clears tRNALeu mischarged with isoleucine. In comparison, the enzyme’s post-transfer hydrolytic activity against tRNALeu mischarged with methionine is weak. Rather, methionyl-adenylate is cleared robustly via an enzyme-mediated pre-transfer editing activity. We hypothesize that, similar to E. coli LeuRS, ycLeuRS has coexisting functional pre- and post-transfer editing activities. In the case of ycLeuRS, a shift between the two editing pat...
Development of MoSi2-Based Composites

MoSi2-based composites reinforced with particles, whiskers and continuous fibers are fabricated using hot pressing and hot isostatic pressing techniques. The microstructure, interface compatibility, mechanical properties and failure behavior of the resulting composites are discussed.
CD4 receptor is a key determinant of divergent HIV-1 sensing by plasmacytoid dendritic cells

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) are innate immune cells that sense viral nucleic acids through endosomal Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/9 to produce type I interferon (IFN) and to differentiate into potent antigen presenting cells (APC). Engagement of TLR7/9 in early endosomes appears to trigger the IRF7 pathway for IFN production whereas engagement in lysosomes seems to trigger the NF-κB pathway for maturation into APC. We showed previously that HIV-1 (HIV) localizes predominantly to early endosomes, not lysosomes, and mainly stimulate IRF7 rather than NF-κB signaling pathways in pDC. This divergent signaling may contribute to disease progression through production of pro-apoptotic and pro-inflammatory IFN and inadequate maturation of pDCs. We now demonstrate that HIV virions may be re-directed to lysosomes for NF-κB signaling by either pseudotyping HIV with influenza hemagglutinin envelope or modification of CD4 mediated-intracellular trafficking. These data suggest that HIV envelope-CD4 receptor interactions drive pDC activation toward an immature IFN producing phenotype rather than differentiation into a mature dendritic cell phenotype.
Environment and Resources Law Research in Contemporary China

The article analyses the general development situation and introduces the key fields of environment and resources law research in contemporary China,and sums up the experiences and characteristics of environment and resources law research as well as brings forward the major issues of future environment and resources law research in China.
Clearer roentgenographic visualization of the colon. A study of a conveniently packaged kit for preparing the colon, and its effect on electrolyte balance.

The standard preparation for barium enemas with castor oil and cleansing enemas often results in unsatisfactory roentgen studies, particularly in institutions where large numbers of elderly or debilitated patients are cared for. The evaluation of a newly available commercial “kit” for preparation of patients was conducted using an investigator blind control situation, and the results were compared with the usual and standard preparation. In addition, possible electrolyte disturbances with the use of this kit was also studied. A review of the results and their evaluation leads us to the opinion that the kit type of preparation utilizing large quantities of fluids and a bowel evacuant of magnesium citrates, citric acid, and sodium citrate, followed by phenolphthalein tablets, and potassium bitartrate and sodium bicarbonate suppositories, resulted in considerably improved barium enema studies, was more readily accepted by patient and nursing staff than the standard preparation, resulted in a smaller percentage of repeat examinations, and had no adverse effect on the alteration of serum electrolytes.
Development of an Epithelial Tissue Culture Line from Human Prostatic Adenocarcinoma

AbstractThe development of a tissue culture line of human prostatic adenocarcinoma is described. The culture (HPC-36), derived from tumor tissue explants, is a pure epithelial culture with characteristics of neoplastic cells, including a large nuclear size relative to the amount of cytoplasm, multiple nucleoli within the nucleus, many mitotic figures, the formation of multinucleated giant cells and the loss of contact inhibition. The cells also stained positively for acid phosphatase and have been grown in monolayer and suspension cultures. The HPC-36 cells presently are being studied to determine whether they are true descendants of the cancer cells.
Pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome I: Lessons from a Pragmatic Explanatory with Repository Clinical Trial

This article reports results from a multicenter pragmatic study, with explanatory components and also with a repository, the Pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome I study (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00068861), which we label with the acronym PERCT. This was a study conceived and conducted by the Steering Committee of the Reproductive Medicine Network. We discuss the publication structure from the study, including concept, protocol baseline, primary and secondary outcome papers, as well as ancillary papers related to studies conducted using biosamples from the study repository. We demonstrate that the primary outcome paper remains far and away the most impactful publication from this study. However, we note also that other related publications, including the baseline paper and some papers related to secondary hypotheses, such as prediction models, can still be relatively impactful. However, the most impactful ancillary publications arose from utilizing specimens in the repository to test post hoc hypotheses. Therefore, establishing a repository of serum and DNA samples, and potentially other biological specimens (i.e., semen, urine, biome samples, etc.) and making these specimens and data available to investigators may provide further meaningful productivity to a large pragmatic multicenter trial known here as PERCT.
Library Service Design: A LITA Guide to Holistic Assessment, Insight, and Improvement

User experience studies in libraries have burgeoned over the last decade, driven by assessment needs as well as a broader interest in user experience in libraries. These studies have often focused ...
Development of the Attitudes Toward Feminist Issues Scale

The 120 resolutions of the 1970 national convention platform of the National Organization for Women were paraphrased to form items for the nine subscales of the Attitudes Toward Feminist Issues Sca...
Abstract 298: Pluripotent Stem Cell Microrna-294 as a Mediator of Cardiac Proliferative Response After Myocardial Injury

Rationale: Embryonic heart is characteristic of rapidly dividing cardiomyocytes required to build a working myocardium. In contrast, cardiomyocytes retain some proliferative capacity in the neonates but lose most of it in adulthood. Embryonic stem cell cycle (ESCC) miRs are a class of microRNAs regulating the unique cell cycle of ESCs and their characteristic pluripotency. Nevertheless, expression of miR-294, a member of the ESCC miRs is lost during developmental transitions from the ESCs to mature cells. Effect of miR-294 to induce cardiac proliferation and heart function has not been previously studied. Objective: To determine whether miR-294 drives cardiac proliferative response leading to augmentation of cardiac function after myocardial infarction. Methods and Results: miR expression analysis in the heart during development revealed elevated levels of miR-294 in the prenatal stages while the expression was lost in the neonates and adults as confirmed by qRT-PCR. Neonatal ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVMs) treated with miR-294 mimic to showed elevated mRNA levels of cell cycle markers ( E2F family and cyclins ) concurrent with increased expression of p-histone 3, Ki67 and Aurora B kinase (G2/M) as confirmed by immunocytochemistry compared to control cells. Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) engineered with miR-294 lentivirus led to increased proliferation and metabolic activity. An inducible cardiac specific AAV-9 carrying miR-294 was administered in mice subjected to myocardial infarction. Increased cardiac function in mice receiving AAV-miR-294 was observed 8 weeks after injury. Increase myocyte proliferation was observed in the heart after miR-294 treatment as analyzed by BrdU uptake, p-Histone 3 and Aurora B expression by immunostaining. Concurrently, a decrease in infarct size along with decreased apoptosis was observed in the miR-294 hearts compared to the control. Furthermore, increased c-kit+ CPCs activation and proliferation was observed in the miR-294 receiving hearts. Conclusion: Ectopic expression of miR-294 recapitulates embryonic signaling and enhances cardiomyocyte ability to proliferate together with CPC activation and expansion leading to augmented cardiac function in mice after myocardial infarction.
A FETI-DP Algorithm for Incompressible Stokes Equations with Continuous Pressures

A FETI-DP algorithms is proposed for solving the system of linear equations arising from the mixed finite element approximations of incompressible Stokes equations with continuous pressure discretizations. A preconditioned conjugate gradient method is used in the algorithm with either a lumped or a Dirichlet preconditioner, and scalable convergence rates are proved. Numerical experiments of solving a two-dimensional incompressible Stokes problem demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm.
Edge Grouping for Detecting Salient Boundaries with Sharp Corners.

The Gestalt law of continuity, or smoothness, is an important factor in guiding the edge grouping. In practice, however, the boundaries of many salient structures of interest may not be smooth everywhere and may contain some sharp corners. This paper presents a globally optimal edge-grouping method that can detect perceptually salient boundaries with sharp corners. In this method, a set of straight-line fragments are first detected from an image by classical edge detection and line approximation. Then a modified ratio-contour method is applied to detect the most salient closed boundary by identifying and connecting a subset of these line fragments into a closed curve. The major contribution comes from the introduction of corner information into the boundarysaliency definition. The corner information is derived from the image by the widely used Harris corner detector. Experiments on some real images show that the proposed method performs better than the original ratio-contour method, when the boundaries of the salient structures of interest in the image contain some sharp corners.
Proceedings of the 2004 ACM workshop on Next-generation residential broadband challenges

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 1st ACM Workshop on Next-Generation Residential Broadband Challenges - NRBC 2004. This is the first workshop held in conjunction with the ACM Multimedia conference that provides a forum for the presentation of research results and vision papers on leading edge issues related to next-generation residential broadband deployment. These emerging networks allow very high speed home and business connectivity at prices not much above current broadband levels. The mission of the workshop is to share ideas and identify new directions for future research and development that arise out of this new communications paradigm. For example, we may envision future home gateways that will interconnect digital media devices within a residence, allowing shared media access within the home and from outside. Most probably, these home networks will be operated by unsophisticated users. Topics such as security, usability, network topologies and configuration, quality of service, access control, and wireless connectivity, will either require novel designs or need to be revisited for this environment. Additionally, high-speed connectivity allows new, innovative types of applications. The NRBC 2004 workshop gives researchers and practitioners a unique opportunity to share their perspectives with others interested in the various aspects of residential broadband networks and their application. The call for papers attracted submissions from many countries around the world. The program committee accepted eight papers that cover a variety of topics, including characterizing residential user behavior, network and quality of service techniques, and scalable streaming solutions. In addition, one of the highlights of the program is the keynote speech by Nan Chen on the Developments and Directions in Residential Broadband Networks. We hope that these proceedings will serve as a valuable reference for residential broadband researchers and developers.
A new strategy to efficiently cleave and form C-H bonds using proton-coupled electron transfer.

Oxidative activation and reductive formation of C–H bonds are crucial in many chemical, industrial, and biological processes. Reported here is a new strategy for these transformations, using a form of proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET): intermolecular electron transfer coupled to intramolecular proton transfer with an appropriately placed cofactor. In a fluorenyl-benzoate, the positioned carboxylate facilitates rapid cleavage of a benzylic C–H bond upon reaction with even weak 1 e − oxidants, for example, decamethylferrocenium. Mechanistic studies establish that the proton and electron transfer to disparate sites in a single concerted kinetic step, via multi-site concerted proton-electron transfer. This work represents a new elementary reaction step available to C–H bonds. This strategy is extended to reductive formation of C–H bonds in two systems. Molecular design considerations and possible utility in synthetic and enzymatic systems are discussed.
Engaging elementary students

You have a challenge. You've been asked to speak to a group of elementary students to encourage them to consider computing as a future career. What do you do? How do you structure an activity that will engage the students but at the same time demonstrate the complexity of the field. I designed a maze activity that can be adapted to students of various ages from kindergarten through high school. The foundation of the activity is a 10 foot square vinyl checkerboard that was purchased on-line for approximately $75. On it, acrylic paints were used to mark a series of progressively more challenging pathways. To facilitate remember the progression, they are in rainbow order (Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue-Indigo-Violet) although the students don't know that. The red pathway is quite simple, with only a few turns. The violet pathway has several dead ends, loops, and other complexities.
Algorithms for the generalized independent set problem based on a quadratic optimization approach

This paper presents two algorithms—a construction heuristic and an exact solution method—for the generalized independent set problem. Both methods take advantage of a nonlinear formulation of this problem and are based on optimization of a quadratic function over a hypersphere. Heuristic solutions are constructed by exploring stationary points of a surrogate problem of this form. The exact method is a combinatorial branch-and-bound algorithm that uses a spherical relaxation of the original feasible region in its pruning subroutine. We show competence of the proposed methods through computational experiments on benchmark instances.
Transpacific Resonances and Affiliations in Leanne Dunic’s to Love the Coming End and Ruth Ozeki’s the Tale for the Time Being

This article examines methods of tracing affiliations across transpacific critiques through a reading of Leanne Dunic’s To Love the Coming End and Ruth Ozeki’s The Tale for the Time Being. The article proposes that, rather than reproducing a nation-bound framing of the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku that envisions it as a solely Japanese crisis, Dunic’s and Ozeki’s works explore what it would mean to read the earthquake and its aftermath as a transpacific event. It argues that these works facilitate new relations between national cultures and the global, suggesting that, by narrating the earthquake and recovering its transpacific resonances, both works recover and write transcultural links that are obscured in nation-bound narratives of events. By self-reflexively commenting on this process of creative forms of transpacific intimacy, Dunic’s and Ozeki’s works directly address the potential for literary narratives to implicate individuals from disparate nations in a global, historical, narrative of events
African American Female Entrepreneurs: What keeps them Successful?

Female entrepreneurs contribute to society significantly. According to data gathered by National Association of Women Business Owners (2017), “More than 9.4 million firms are owned by women, employing nearly 7.9 million people, and generating $1.5 trillion in sales as of 2015”. This increase is expected to continue in the United States more than half of the 9.72 million new jobs created in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector by 2018 will be created by women owned- SMEs. Among African American female entrepreneurs, according to National Association of Women Business Owners, “2.9 million firms are majority-owned by women of color in the U.S. and these firms employ 1.4 million people and generate $226 billion in revenues annually. It is therefore essential to understand the underpinning causes that encourage female entrepreneurship among African-Americans, but also those factors that are somehow limiting and restrictive of their growth. This review discusses the impact of factors such as spousal emotional support, faith, work life balance and mentorship on African American female entrepreneurship.
The Efficacy of Modafinil as a Cognitive Enhancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Animal models and human studies have identified the potential of modafinil as a cognitive enhancing agent, independent of its effects on promoting wakefulness in sleep-deprived samples. Given that single-dose applications of other putative memory enhancers (eg, D-cycloserine, yohimbine, and methylene blue) have shown success in enhancing clinical outcomes for anxiety-related disorders, we conducted a meta-analytic review examining the potential for single-dose effects for modafinil on cognitive functioning in non-sleep-deprived adults. METHODS A total of 19 placebo-controlled trials that examined the effects of single-dose modafinil versus placebo on the cognitive domains of attention, executive functioning, memory, or processing speed were identified, allowing for the calculation of 67 cognitive domain-specific effect sizes. RESULTS The overall positive effect of modafinil over placebo across all cognitive domains was small and significant (g = 0.10; 95% confidence interval, 0.05-0.15; P < 0.001). No significant differences between cognitive domains were found. Likewise, no significant moderation was found for modafinil dose (100 mg vs 200 mg) or for the populations studied (psychiatric vs nonpsychiatric). CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the available evidence indicates only limited potential for modafinil to act as a cognitive enhancer outside sleep-deprived populations.
Enabling Catalyst Discovery through Machine Learning and High-Throughput Experimentation

Machine learning is an avenue to unravel multidimensional relationships present in catalytic systems. We describe a novel framework that incorporates machine learning algorithms with experimental h...
Medication use evaluation of the financial and clinical implications of ixazomib compared to bortezomib in the outpatient setting

In the past decade, several new therapies have been approved for use in multiple myeloma, including the novel oral agent, ixazomib. Ixazomib, like bortezomib and carfilzomib, is a proteasome inhibitor, a class of agents that are a mainstay of treating multiple myeloma in both the frontline and relapsed settings. Ixazomib is administered orally and offers many potential advantages over the subcutaneous or intravenous administration of bortezomib. In this single-center, retrospective medication use evaluation, adult patients with multiple myeloma receiving either ixazomib or bortezomib in the outpatient setting were assessed to evaluate financial implications and tolerability. A total of 28 patients were included. The total wholesale acquisition cost for one cycle of ixazomib was $9942, and $6412 for bortezomib. Average reimbursement per cycle was $9205 for ixazomib and $5664 for bortezomib. Secondarily, the incidence of interruption in therapy was evaluated. Ixazomib was associated with a slightly higher incidence of interruption compared to bortezomib, 42.9% and 35.7%, respectively. It is notable that ixazomib has similar drug reimbursement rates to bortezomib, but slightly higher rates of interruption in therapy. In conclusion, if tolerable for the patient, ixazomib may offer a financially acceptable alternative for the treatment of multiple myeloma.
Muon g-2 and EDM experiments as muonic dark matter detectors

The detection of ultralight dark matter through interactions with nucleons, electrons, and photons has been explored in depth. In this work we propose to use precision muon experiments, specifically muon g-2 and electric dipole moment measurements, to detect ultralight dark matter (DM) that couples predominantly to muons. We set direct, terrestrial limits on DM-muon interactions using existing g-2 data, and show that a time-resolved reanalysis of ongoing and upcoming precession experiments will be sensitive to dark matter signals. Intriguingly, we also find that the current muon g-2 anomaly can be explained by a spin torque applied to muons from a pseudoscalar dark matter background that induces an oscillating electric dipole moment for the muon. This explanation may be verified by a time-resolved reanalysis.
Patterns of racial/ethnic disparities in baseline health-related quality of life and relationship with overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer

Racial disparities are evident in colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis with black patients experiencing worse outcomes than Hispanics and whites, yet mediators of these disparities are not fully known. The aim of this study is to identify variables that contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and overall survival in CRC. Using SF-12 questionnaires, we assessed HR-QoL in 1132 CRC patients by calculating their physical (PCS) and mental composite summary (MCS) scores. Associations between poor PCS/MCS and sociodemographic factors were estimated and survival differences were identified by race/ethnicity. Hispanic patients who never married were at greater risk of poor PCS (OR 2.69; 95% CI 1.11–6.49; P = 0.028) than were currently married patients. College education was associated with a decreased risk of poor PCS in Hispanic and white, but not black, patients. Gender was significantly associated with poor MCS among white patients only. CRC patients who reported a poor PCS or MCS had poor survival, with differences in median survival times (MSTs) by race. The effect of PCS was strongest in white CRC patients with a difference in overall MST of > 116 months between those with favorable versus poor physical HR-QoL. Black patients who reported poor Physical and Mental HR-QoL showed significant risk of a poor outcome. These findings suggest that racial/ethnic disparities in CRC survival may be related to differences in HR-QoL. Identified mediators of HR-QoL could supplement current CRC management strategies to improve patients’ survival.
Modeling reductions in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and hospital burden achieved by prioritizing testing using a clinical prediction rule

Prompt identification of cases is critical for slowing the spread of COVID-19. However, many areas have faced diagnostic testing shortages, requiring difficult decisions to be made regarding who receives a test, without knowing the implications of those decisions on population-level transmission dynamics. Clinical prediction rules (CPRs) are commonly used tools to guide clinical decisions. We used data from electronic health records to develop a parsimonious 5-variable CPR to identify those who are most likely to test positive, and found that its application to prioritize testing increases the proportion of those testing positive in settings of limited testing capacity. To consider the implications of these gains in daily case detection on the population level, we incorporated testing using the CPR into a compartmentalized disease transmission model. We found that prioritized testing led to a delayed and lowered infection peak (i.e. 'flattens the curve'), with the greatest impact at lower values of the effective reproductive number (such as with concurrent social distancing measures), and when higher proportions of infectious persons seek testing. Additionally, prioritized testing resulted in reductions in overall infections as well as hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) burden. In conclusion, we present a novel approach to evidence-based allocation of limited diagnostic capacity, to achieve public health goals for COVID-19.
Intravascular fasciitis presenting as recurrent deep venous thrombosis.

Abstract Intravascular fasciitis is a rare variant of nodular fasciitis, a benign process that results from proliferation of myofibroblasts in the soft tissues. Nodular fasciitis occurs most often in the upper extremities but can also develop in the head, neck, trunk, and lower extremities of young patients. The intravascular variant occurs within small- and medium-size vessels. We have described a case of femoral vein intravascular fasciitis presenting as recurrent deep venous thrombosis.
Impact of School Reopening on Pandemic Spread: A Case Study using an Agent-Based Model for COVID-19

This article examines the impact of partial/full reopening of school/college campuses on the spread of a pandemic using COVID-19 as a case study. The study uses an agent-based simulation model that replicates community spread in an urban region of U.S.A. via daily social mixing of susceptible and infected individuals. Data representing population demographics, SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology, and social interventions guides the models behavior, which is calibrated and validated using data reported by the government. The model indicates a modest but significant increase (8.15 %) in the total number of reported cases in the region for a complete (100%) reopening compared to keeping schools and colleges fully virtual. For partial returns of 75% and 50%, the percent increases in the number of reported cases are shown to be small (2.87% and 1.26%, respectively) and statistically insignificant. The AB model also predicts that relaxing the stringency of the school safety protocol for sanitizing, use of mask, social distancing, testing, and quarantining and thus allowing the school transmission coefficient to double may result in a small increase in the number of reported infected cases (2.14%). Hence for pandemic outbreaks from viruses with similar characteristics as for SARS-CoV-2, keeping the schools and colleges open with a modest campus safety protocol and in-person attendance below a certain threshold may be advisable.
Real-time ultrasound-guided lumbar puncture in the neonatal intensive care unit

To determine the rates of traumatic lumbar puncture (LP) and overall success rates using the real-time ultrasound-guided technique when performed by a neonatal point-of-care ultrasound provider. Retrospective observational study of 17 infants in the neonatal intensive care unit who underwent a real-time ultrasound-guided LP between March 2015 and November 2016. Spearman’s correlation was calculated. The first attempt and overall success rates were 65% and 100%, respectively. The rate of nontraumatic LP was 69%. CSF RBC count was inversely correlated with both PMA (Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rs) = −0.74, p = 0.0017) and weight (rs = −0.74, p = 0.0015) at the time of LP. This study is the first to provide evidence of high success rates with real-time ultrasound-guided LP when performed by a neonatologist. Our data demonstrate feasibility in neonates over a broad range of weights, including premature infants as small as 750 g.