cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SPECIATION IN BUTTERFLIES OF THE PAPILIO GLAUCUS GROUP. I. MORPHOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS AND HYBRIDIZATION

Speciation is represented by the spectrum of events that occur during the establishment of sexual isolation between populations. This reproductive isolation may be actual or only potential depending on whether the populations are, respectively, sympatric or allopatric in the true biological sense. Thus if populations of two or more animals co-occur in space and in time so that at least some individuals from each intermingle without intermating, then there is actual sexual isolation. But when populations which have been named as distinct species solely on the basis of their morphological discontinuity do not co-occur in this manner, then it is assumed that there is potential sexual isolation such that they would not freely hybridize should they meet in nature. Moreover, in order for closely related but sexually isolated populations to enter the range of each other, there must be little or no competition for the same environmental resources because this would almost inevitably lead to the survival of only one species through differential reproduction. With these considerations in mind, it was decided to investigate the ecological and phylogenetic relationships of the tiger swallowtail butterflies comprising the Papilio glaucus group. These butterflies form a morphologically compact group of closely related species limited to North America with representatives occurring from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific and from Alaska to southern Mexico (see fig. 1). The purpose of this paper is to present new findings on the morphologi-
African Americans Have Better Outcomes for Five Common Gastrointestinal Diagnoses in Hospitals With More Racially Diverse Patients

African Americans Have Better Outcomes for Five Common Gastrointestinal Diagnoses in Hospitals With More Racially Diverse Patients
Packaging and performance of 980nm broad area semiconductor lasers

High power broad area semiconductor lasers have found increasing applications in pumping of solid state laser systems and fiber amplifiers, frequency doubling, medical systems and material processing. Packaging including the assembly design, process and thermal management, has a significant impact on the optical performance and reliability of a high power broad area laser. In this paper, we introduce the package structures and assembling process of 980nm broad area lasers and report the performances including output power, thermal behavior and far fields. We will report two types of high power broad area laser assemblies. One is a microchannel liquid cooled assembly and the other is a conduction cooled CT-mount assembly. Optical powers of 15W and 10W were achieved from a 980nm broad area laser with a 120 m stripe width in a microchannel liquid cooled assembly and conduction cooled CT-mount assembly, respectively. Furthermore, a high power of 6.5W out of fiber was demonstrated from a pigtailed, fully packaged butterfly-type module without TEC (thermoelectric cooler). The measurement results showed that thermal management is the key in not only improving output power, but also significantly improving beam divergence and far field distribution. The results also showed that the die attach solder can significant impact the reliability of high power broad area lasers and that indium solder is not suitable for high power laser applications due to electromigration at high current densities and high temperatures.
A review of nursing shift system in China

This paper summarized the types,principles and methods of nursing shift system in China,and indicated that there were various methods of nurs- ing shifts,scientific scheduling should be based on the flexibility in clinical practice,breaking the unified scheduling by hospital,practicing a wide variety of scheduling means,developing and applying nurses scheduling information systems to improve the utilization of nursing manpower resources,so as to a- chieve the best nursing effect.
The Renin–Angiotensin System and the Heart

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the role of rennin–angiotensin system (RAS) in the functions of heart. As in all biological systems, the integration of the components of various hormonal systems is required for the proper assessment of physiological and pathophysiological functions. The RAS is no exception. The regulation of the cardiac RAS is likely not independent of the circulation, although its various components can undoubtedly exert direct effects on the tissue itself, nor possibly does the cardiac RAS operate independently of other tissues, as a very recent report showed that renal angiotensin receptors were required for the development of cardiac hypertrophy. In order for an organ to have a complete RAS, it must possess all of the necessary components, including the genes leading to the expression of the precursor protein angiotensinogen, as well as all of the processing enzymes that determine which biologically active peptides will be produced. Using these criteria, the heart does indeed possess a complete RAS.
Atrial fibrillation post coronary artery bypass surgery: is there still a role for perioperative statins after STICS?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). It is estimated to occur in about one-third of the patients post-CABG (1-3). In a prospective observational study of 1,878 consecutive patients undergoing CABG, post-CABG AF was associated with a four-fold increased risk of disabling stroke and a three-fold increased risk of cardiovascular mortality (1).
Securities Services: Improper Banking

It is possible that the press, public, and perhaps the Congress were so outraged by what they perceived to be serious abuses by commercial banks and bankers, that legislation forbidding commercial banks from offering most kinds of securities services was enacted. One reason that the Pecora Hearings may have had such a strong impact was the prior belief, shared by several important senators and some writers, that mixing commercial and investment banking inevitably results in abuses. Senator Glass in particular was convinced that bank lending, and to a lesser extent securities underwriting and sales, had fuelled rampant speculation that had perverted and endangered the banking system and the Federal Reserve.
The British Mission and the Postwar Nuclear Culture

Because it could never be put in absolute terms, the impact of the British Mission to Los Alamos has been hard to characterize. Most historians who have dealt with the theme have fallen back on generalities. Stephane Groueff, for example, termed the British/American Los Alamos collaboration “perfect,” and the overall British Mission contribution “inestimable.”1 Andrew Pierre suggested that their main contribution lay in “uncommensurables,” such as providing secondary opinions, special equipment, and special talents that the Americans lacked.2 Hewlett and Anderson have noted that the Mission “lent an international atmosphere” to Los Alamos.3 Peter Malone has confessed that their contribution was “difficult to assess.”4
The Comparative Safety of Multiple Alternative Agents in Refractory Chronic Urticaria Patients

Background Patients who have failed traditional treatment of chronic urticaria may require trials of alternative medications. Safety profiles, continuous laboratory monitoring, and physician comfort are often barriers to treatment. Objectives To evaluate the safety of alternative agents used in chronic urticaria. Methods A retrospective chart review of electronic medical records from a single-center allergy and immunology clinic in a major academic hospital was conducted. One hundred twenty-six charts of patients with chronic urticaria treated with alternative agents were reviewed. Results Adverse effects were reported in 39 of 73 (53%) patients on dapsone, 19 of 47 (40%) patients on sulfasalazine, 15 of 36 (42%) patients on tacrolimus, 7 of 45 (16%) patients on hydroxychloroquine, 9 of 27 (33%) patients on mycophenolate, 6 of 8 (75%) patients on cyclosporine, and 3 of 24 (4%) patients on omalizumab. Most of these adverse effects were mild, did not require discontinuation of the medication, and resolved after stopping the medication or decreasing the dose. Conclusions The use of alternative agents for the treatment of chronic urticaria angioedema is generally safe when proper laboratory and clinical monitoring is observed.
Activation of the Keap1/Nrf2 stress response pathway in autophagic vacuolar myopathies

Nrf2 (nuclear factor [erythroid-d﻿erived 2]-like 2﻿;﻿ the transcriptional master regulator of the antioxidant stress response) is regulated through interaction with its cytoplasmic inhibitor Keap1 (Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1), which under basal conditions targets Nrf2 for proteasomal degradation. Sequestosome 1﻿ ﻿(SQSTM1)/p62–a multifunctional adapter protein that accumulates following autophagy inhibition and can serve as a diagnostic marker for human autophagic vacuolar myopathies (AVMs)–was recently shown to compete with Nrf2 for Keap1 binding, resulting in activation of the Nrf2 pathway. In this study, we used 55 human muscle biopsies divided into five groups [normal control, hydroxychloroquine- or colchicine-treated non-AVM control, hydroxychloroquine- or colchicine-induced toxic AVM, polymyositis, and inclusion body myositis (IBM)] to evaluate whether Keap1-SQSTM1 interaction led to increased Nrf2 signaling in human AVMs. In toxic AVMs and IBM, but not in control muscle groups or polymyositis, Keap1 antibody labeled sarcoplasmic protein aggregates that can be used as an alternate diagnostic marker for both AVM types; these Keap1-positive aggregates were co-labeled with the antibody against SQSTM1 but not with the antibody against autophagosome marker LC3 (microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3). In human AVM muscle, sequestration of Keap1 into the SQSTM1-positive protein aggregates was accompanied by an increase in mRNA and protein levels of Nrf2 target genes; similarly, treatment of differentiated C2C12 myotubes with autophagy inhibitor chloroquine led to an increase in the nuclear Nrf2 protein level and an increase in expression of the Nrf2-regulated genes. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that Nrf2 signaling is upregulated in autophagic muscle disorders and raise the possibility that autophagy disruption in skeletal muscle leads to dysregulation of cellular redox homeostasis.
Distributed frequency regulation in the presence of communication failure

This paper proposes a resilient architecture for distributed frequency regulation (DFR) during communication failures. The DFR algorithm relies on the communication network for exchanging information between prosumers and obtaining stabilizing control actions, which can bring overall frequency deviations to nominal. Failures in the communication network can jeopardize the functionality of DFR and lead to frequency stability problems. This paper explores the connection between system-wide frequency stability and communication failures and identifies certain topological conditions on the cyber-physical network itself, under which DFR can restore frequency stability through a stressed communication network. The proposed architecture is simulated on a practical power grid and the results indicate that it is indeed resilient under the single communication failure scenario.
Use of Unannounced Telephone Pill Counts to Measure Medication Adherence Among Adolescents and Young Adults Living With Perinatal HIV Infection.

Objective To examine unannounced telephone pill counts as a measure of adherence to antiretroviral therapy among adolescents and young adults living with perinatal HIV infection. Methods Participants were recruited from an ongoing longitudinal study to complete four monthly, unannounced telephone pill counts. Detailed notes concerning participants' medication habits surrounding adherence were recorded. Results Two-thirds of 102 eligible participants aged 18-27 years participated; 57% were female, 69% were Black. Blacks and participants with viral loads >40 and >1,000 copies/ml were less likely to participate. Average adherence across calls was 77%. Those who completed all calls averaged significantly higher adherence scores than those who did not. Calls revealed adherence barriers at individual (e.g., medication disorganization), social (e.g., limited support), and system (e.g., pharmacy problems) levels. Conclusions Despite challenges, this procedure can be implemented with this population and can help identify adherence barriers important for interventions that address medication-taking behaviors.
Effect of Pt:Pd ratio on CO and hydrocarbon oxidation

Abstract For several reasons, typical diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) contain a mixture of Pt and Pd and in this study, the effect of the Pt:Pd ratio on a DOC’s ability to oxidize CO and different hydrocarbon types was investigated. The concentrations and types of pollutant species were used to simulate those found in low temperature combustion (LTC) engine exhaust. Representative hydrocarbon species were selected; C2H4 (short-chain alkene), C2H6 (short-chain alkane), C6H14 (long-chain alkane) and C7H8 (aromatic). Two types of experiments were performed, one in which the oxidation of each hydrocarbon or CO reactant was examined individually (simple feed conditions), and the second in which all reactants were added together (full feed conditions). Under the simple feed conditions, CO and C2H6 oxidation increased with increasing Pd content, while C2H4 and C6H14 oxidation improved with higher Pt content. When the full mixture of CO and hydrocarbons was used, hydrocarbon oxidation light off consistently followed that of CO, regardless of the Pt:Pd ratio, due to strong inhibition by CO. The best CO oxidation activity was observed over the Pd-only catalyst, and performance over the bimetallic samples was a function of both CO inhibition and Pt:Pd ratio. More specifically, as Pd content increased, CO inhibition was dampened, and as Pt content increased its inherent activity toward alkene oxidation became significant. Since inhibition is a function of the Pt/Pd content and the individual metals have different inherent activities toward the oxidation of different hydrocarbons, results obtained from the experiments with the simple feed could not be directly correlated to those from the experiments with the mixture of hydrocarbons.
Application of current prognostic models for primary myelofibrosis in the setting of post polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis

Application of current prognostic models for primary myelofibrosis in the setting of post-polycythemia vera or post-essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis
Defined Sensing Mechanisms and Signaling Pathways Contribute to the Global Inflammatory Gene Expression Output Elicited by Ionizing Radiation

Summary Environmental insults are often detected by multiple sensors that activate diverse signaling pathways and transcriptional regulators, leading to a tailored transcriptional output. To understand how a tailored response is coordinated, we examined the inflammatory response elicited in mouse macrophages by ionizing radiation (IR). RNA-sequencing studies revealed that most radiation-induced genes were strongly dependent on only one of a small number of sensors and signaling pathways, notably the DNA damage-induced kinase ATM, which regulated many IR-response genes, including interferon response genes, via an atypical IRF1-dependent, STING-independent mechanism. Moreover, small, defined sets of genes activated by p53 and NRF2 accounted for the selective response to radiation in comparison to a microbial inducer of inflammation. Our findings reveal that genes comprising an environmental response are activated by defined sensing mechanisms with a high degree of selectivity, and they identify distinct components of the radiation response that might be susceptible to therapeutic perturbation.
Parametric measurements of optic flow by humans

Motion pervades the visual world (Marr, 1982). This is so not only because images in nature are unlikely to be static, but also because motion constitutes a rich source of information to understand those images. The strategy that the brain uses to measure motion in images has been extensively studied and many theories have been proposed. The challenge has been to design a biologically plausible theory that will predict all motion phenomena and work on real images. With this approach, Yuille and Grzywacz (1998) have proposed a theoretical framework for visual motion that accounts for most existing psychophysical and physiological experiments. The theory proposes that the visual system fits internal models to the incoming retinal data, selecting the best models and their parameters. The fit begins with a measurement stage that performs local estimates of motion, such as local velocity (Bravo & Watamaniuk, 1995). These local estimates, which are noisy (Shadlen & Newsome, 1998) and sometimes ambiguous (Movshon et al., 1985), are then clustered (in a space of measurement variables) into regions whose boundaries correspond to motion boundaries. This clustering is performed by a number of competitive processes corresponding to different motions. The theory proposes that different types of tests can compete to perform this clustering. For example, the grouping can be done by either parametric or non-parametric tests. The former test will try to detect familiar motions defined by prior statistics-of-natural-scenes models, while the latter will allow the visual system to deal with general types of motion that may never have been seen before.
Utilizing Volunteers to Enhance Informal Social Networks

A framework for utilizing volunteers as direct-service tools to enhance certain socially isolated clients' informal social networks is presented. The client-worker and client-volunteer relationship...
Prediction of Optimal Facial Electromyographic Sensor Configurations for Human–Machine Interface Control

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is a promising computer access method for individuals with motor impairments. However, optimal sensor placement is a tedious task requiring trial-and-error by an expert, particularly when recording from facial musculature likely to be spared in individuals with neurological impairments. We sought to reduce the sEMG sensor configuration complexity by using quantitative signal features extracted from a short calibration task to predict human–machine interface (HMI) performance. A cursor control system allowed individuals to activate specific sEMG-targeted muscles to control an onscreen cursor and navigate a target selection task. The task was repeated for a range of sensor configurations to elicit a range of signal qualities. Signal features were extracted from the calibration of each configuration and examined via a principle component factor analysis in order to predict the HMI performance during subsequent tasks. Feature components most influenced by the energy and the complexity of the EMG signal and muscle activity between the sensors were significantly predictive of the HMI performance. However, configuration order had a greater effect on performance than the configurations, suggesting that non-experts can place sEMG sensors in the vicinity of usable muscle sites for computer access and healthy individuals will learn to efficiently control the HMI system.
Abstract 2345: Do the 10 PSC Measures Improve Outcome in Stroke Patients

Background and Purpose- While many healthcare systems are currently attempting to achieve Primary Stroke Center (PSC) certification, no study has evaluated the impact of the 10 PSC measures on long...
Creating a medical profession in the United States: The first Code of Ethics of the American medical association

In 1846, a group of about 100 American doctors convened in New York City a national convention to change medical education, to produce a body of standards that would demarcate the ideals of the “regular” medical profession from that of sectarians (such as homeopaths) who threatened its hegemony, and to restore a luster that abuses of education and practice had tarnished. These reforms were proposed as the most significant policies of the organization being founded then to carry them out — the American Medical Association (AMA).
The Illusory Right to Counsel

No symposium designed to address crises in the legal profession would be complete without a discussion of our systematic failure to provide competent legal representation to criminal defendants. In these symposium remarks, I analyze each stage of the criminal process from the trial to direct appeal, through the state post-conviction process, and into federal habeas corpus proceedings and explain how, at each stage, criminal defendants routinely face the threat of incarceration (or continued incarceration) without the aid of competent counsel. In addition to failing to provide effective representation, I demonstrate how the criminal justice system essentially prevents defendants from ever being able to challenge their counsels’ ineffective performance, thus rendering the right to effective counsel a right without a remedy. Finally, I offer some possible suggestions for ways to reform the criminal justice system so as to restore meaning to the fundamental right to counsel.
The Immune Response to Glycine-Rich Sequences of Epstein-Barr Nuclear Antigen-1 (EBNA-1) in Autoimmunity: B and T Cell Epitopes

B cells latently infected with Epstein-Barr virus(EBV) express at least 5 nuclear antigens (EBNA) (1, 2) and a membrane protein (IMP) (3). The EBNA-1 molecule has a large glycine-alanine repeat, which carries the major epitope(s) for IgM anti-EBNA-1 antibodies that develop during infectious mononucleosis (IM) (4). The repeat is also the major epitope for IgG antibodies that occur post EBV infection (4). Some autoimmune sera have elevated IgG levels to EBNA-1; these antibodies are in part directed to the glycine-alanine repeating sequence (5). However, the prevalence of antibodies to possible epitope(s) located outside the glycine-alanine region is not known.
Facilitating the Informed Consent Process Using Teleconsent: Protocol for a Feasibility and Efficacy Study.

Background: Informed consent is among the biggest challenges in recruiting participants for clinical research studies. Researchers face many challenges in conducting clinical trials, some of which include budgetary restrictions, lack of trained personnel, and difficulty recruiting study participants—particularly minorities and participants from rural communities. Objective: The objective of this study is to utilize telemedicine to improve the informed consent process for clinical trials and studies. We aim to assess the feasibility and efficacy of the teleconsent intervention among residents in urban and rural settings. Methods: This study will be conducted separately yet concurrently at two institutions, the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to compare results within and across institutions. Results: Enrollment for Phase 1 began in March of 2018 and concluded in May 2018. Data transcription and analysis will be conducted through June and September of 2018. Conclusions: In this paper, we present a novel approach for conducting informed consent using a new telemedicine modality, namely, teleconsent. Teleconsent presents the ability to conduct a live interaction among clinical research coordinators and potential participants while synchronously presenting the consent form on the screen and obtaining participant’s signature through doxy.me, the teleconsent system. Teleconsent provides potential to improve obtaining informed consent from potential clinical trial participants. Registered Report Identifier: RR1-10.2196/11239
Stabilization and manipulation of multispin states in quantum-dot time crystals with Heisenberg interactions

A discrete time crystal is a recently discovered nonequilibrium phase of matter that has been shown to exist in disordered, periodically driven Ising spin chains. In this phase, if the system is initially prepared in one of a certain class of pure multispin product states, it periodically returns to this state over very long timescales despite the presence of interactions, disorder, and pulse imperfections. Here, we show that this phase occurs in GaAs quantum dot spin arrays containing as few as three quantum dots, each confining one electron spin, for naturally occurring levels of nuclear spin noise and charge noise. Although the physical interaction in these arrays is a nearest-neighbor Heisenberg exchange interaction, we show that this can be effectively converted into an Ising interaction by applying additional pulses during each drive period. We show that by changing the rotation axis of these pulses, we can select the direction of the Ising interaction and, consequently, the quantization axis of the stabilized multispin states. Moreover, we demonstrate that it is possible to perform coherent rotations of the stabilized states while remaining in the time-crystal phase. These findings open up the intriguing possibility of using time-crystal phases to extend the lifetime of quantum states for information applications.
On the utility of model learning in HRI

Fundamental to robotics is the debate between model-based and model-free learning: should the robot build an explicit model of the world, or learn a policy directly? In the context of HRI, part of the world to be modeled is the human. One option is for the robot to treat the human as a black box and learn a policy for how they act directly. But it can also model the human as an agent, and rely on a "theory of mind" to guide or bias the learning (grey box). We contribute a characterization of the performance of these methods under the optimistic case of having an ideal theory of mind, as well as under different scenarios in which the assumptions behind the robot's theory of mind for the human are wrong, as they inevitably will be in practice. We find that there is a significant sample complexity advantage to theory of mind methods and that they are more robust to covariate shift, but that when enough interaction data is available, black box approaches eventually dominate.
The Synthesis, Structure, and H/D Exchange Reactions of Water-Soluble Half-Sandwich Ruthenium(II) Hydrides of Indenyl and Dihydropentalenyl

Two new water-soluble ruthenium hydrides Cp′Ru(PTA)2H, Cp′ = C9H7– (Ind, 1) or C8H9– (Dp, 2), along with IndRu(PTA)2Cl (3) have been synthesized. DpRu(PTA)2H was synthesized by refluxing DpRu(PTA)2Cl with NaCO2H in methanol. IndRu(PTA)2H was unable to be generated in a similar manner due to complications in the synthesis of IndRu(PTA)2Cl. IndRu(PTA)2H was synthesized by conversion of the mixed-phosphine ruthenium complex IndRu(PTA)(PPh3)Cl into IndRu(PTA)(PPh3)H followed by ligand substitution of PPh3 with 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (PTA). Complexes 1 and 2 are stable and moderately soluble in water (S25°C = 16 mg/mL for 1 and ∼20 mg/mL for 2). The Ru hydrides react with chlorinated solvents, in the case of 1 yielding the challenging synthesize IndRu(PTA)2Cl (3) (S25°C = 17 mg/mL). The synthesis, isolation, and reactivity of 1–3 are described including crystal structures of 1, 2, 3, and [IndRu(PTA)3](Cl). H/D exchange reactions of 1 with D2O were monitored by 31P NMR spectroscopy as a function of te...
Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Incidence and Mortality Trends in the United States, 1973-2013.

Importance The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing by 3% annually. This increase is often thought to be attributable to overdiagnosis in adults. A previous study reported a 1.1% annual increase in the incidence of pediatric thyroid cancer. However, the analysis was limited to the period from 1973 to 2004 and was performed in a linear fashion, which does not account for changes in incidence trends over time. Objective To analyze trends in pediatric thyroid cancer incidence based on demographic and tumor characteristics at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study included individuals younger than 20 years who had a diagnosis of thyroid cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) 9 database from 1973 to 2013. Cases of thyroid cancer were identified using theInternational Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Third Editionand were categorized by histologic type, stage, and tumor size. Main Outcomes and Measures Annual percent change (APC) in the incidence rates was calculated using joinpoint regression analysis. Results Among 1806 patients included in the analysis, 1454 (80.5%) were female and 1503 (83.2%) were white; most patients were aged 15 to 19 years. The overall incidence rates of thyroid cancer increased annually from 0.48 per 100 000 person-years in 1973 to 1.14 per 100 000 person-years in 2013. Incidence rates gradually increased from 1973 to 2006 (APC, 1.11%; 95% CI, 0.56%-1.67%) and then markedly increased from 2006 to 2013 (APC, 9.56%; 95% CI, 5.09%-14.22%). The incidence rates of large tumors (>20 mm) gradually increased from 1983 to 2006 (APC, 2.23%; 95% CI, 0.93%-3.54%) and then markedly increased from 2006 to 2013 (APC, 8.84%; 95% CI, 3.20%-14.79%); these rates were not significantly different from incidence rates of small (1-20 mm) tumors. The incidence rates of regionally extended thyroid cancer gradually increased from 1973 to 2006 (APC, 1.44%; 95% CI, 0.68%-2.21%) and then markedly increased from 2006 to 2013 (APC, 11.16%; 95% CI, 5.26%-17.40%); these rates were not significantly different from the incidence rates of localized disease. Conclusions and Relevance The incidence rates of pediatric thyroid cancer increased more rapidly from 2006 to 2013 than from 1973 to 2006. The findings suggest that there may be a co-occurring increase in thyroid cancer in the pediatric population in addition to enhanced detection.
I Saw That: Being Observed Reduces Race-based Shoot Decisions

Abstract. The shooter bias effect reveals that individuals are quicker to “shoot” armed Black (vs. White) men and slower to “not shoot” unarmed Black (vs. White) men in a computer task. In three st...
Controlling heterogeneity within the lymphatic target volume for dose painted treatment of prostate cancer

Abstract Introduction: For patients with high risk prostate cancer, conventionally fractionated treatment of the pelvic lymphatics and hypofractionated treatment to the prostate can be delivered simultaneously with dose painting. The purpose of this technical note is to highlight unexpected hot spots within the low dose lymphatic target volume as a clinical problem that we have observed with dose painting, and to describe a simple approach to account for this during treatment planning. Summary: We describe the creation of a control structure that can be incorporated into the optimization objective function. An upper constraint objective can be placed on the control structure such that heterogeneity within the plan is limited to the area near the high dose target volume and better emulates the dosimetry of a conventionally fractionated sequential boost plan.
Panorama of Optimization, Control, and Learning Algorithms for Interdependent SWEET (Societal, Water, Energy, Economic, and Transportation) Networks

In this chapter, I first introduce a high level overview of Interdependent SWEET Networks, including societal networks as a pivot in smart cities, water network, energy networks (e.g., power systems and gas network), economic networks that facilitate financial transactions among entities in other networks, and transportation networks. I then explain how optimization, learning, and data analytic can improve the interdependent operation of these networks. This chapter also provides an overview of this book and its two main parts: theoretical algorithms and real-world applications.
A case of neonatal lipoprotein lipase deficiency caused by novel compound heterozygous variants of LPL gene

Objective To explore the genetic basis for a Chinese neonate with lipoprotein lipase deficiency. Methods Targeted capture and next-generation sequencing (NGS) were carried out to detect variants of genes associated with inborn errors of metabolism. Suspected variants were validated by Sanger sequencing. Results Genetic testing revealed novel complex heterozygous variants, namely c. 347G>C(p.Arg116Pro) and c. 472T>G(p.Tyr158Asp), of the LPL gene, which were respectively inherited from his father and mother. Conclusion Compound heterozygous variants c. 347G>C and c. 472T>G of the LPL gene probably underlie the lipoprotein lipase deficiency in this child. Key words: Lipoprotein lipase deficiency; LPL gene; Novel variant; Neonate
Non-uniform Sampled Motion Planning for Continuous-time STL.

This paper presents an offline motion planner for linear cyber-physical systems that satisfy a continuous-time Signal Temporal Logic (STL) specification, in which controls are applied in a Zeroth-order Hold (ZOH) manner. The motion planning problem is formulated as a Mixed-integer Program (MIP) with nonuniform control updates. We develop a novel method to obtain bounds of Control Barrier Functions (CBF) and linear predicates to render both spatial and temporal requirements. The theoretical results are validated in numerical examples.
Housing price appreciation and economic integration in a transition economy: Evidence from Kazakhstan

Abstract This paper explores patterns of real estate price movements in an emerging upper-middle income economy, Kazakhstan. The country experienced an explosive, 11-fold increase in real housing prices in urban areas between 2000 and 2007, followed by a sharp decline and stabilization. This paper traces the movements across different regions, types of housing, unit size categories, and neighborhood types. We find that prices moved together closely, implying a linked, if not unified housing market, along with wealth effects that were felt broadly throughout the urban economy.
Can Innovative Technologies Overcome HbA1c Disparity for African-American Youth with Type 1 Diabetes?:

Achieving normal or near-normal glycemic control as reflected by HbA1c levels in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is important for preventing the development and progression of chronic complications. Despite delineation and dissemination of HbA1c management targets and advances in insulin pharmacology, insulin delivery systems, and glucose monitoring, the majority of children with T1D do not achieve HbA1c goals. In particular, African Americans are more likely not to reach HbA1c goals and have persistently higher HbA1c than Non-Hispanic Whites. Availability of pumps and other technology has not eliminated the disparity in HbA1c. Multiple factors play a role in the persisting racial disparity in HbA1c outcome. The carefully designed application and deployment of new technology to help the patient/family and facilitate the supportive role of the diabetes management team may be able to overcome racial disparity in glycemic outcome and improve patient quality of life.
Fairies and Fairness:: The Aesthetic of White Femininity in Jane Eyre

The traditional association of whiteness with fairies warrants a closer examination, as this mythological yearning for a specific childlike realm reveals an idealization of a white past. Indeed, the likening of women to a pure, infantile domain reveals an elevation of whiteness, which, by default, degrades people of color as lesser. While there has been considerable scholarship on the racialization of Charlotte Bronte’s Haitian character Bertha Mason, the construction of whiteness in conjunction with Jane Eyre’s character has remained largely unexplored. I explore these themes of the construction of whiteness through fairies and the romanticization of a white past through a close analysis of humanity in Jane Eyre. I first investigate Victorian and Edwardian fairy visuals, moving on to demonstrate how Jane’s individuality and feminism gains autonomy with her religious spiritualism. I also show, however, how the faerie language in the novel serves to override and disregard Jane’s position as a human being with agency due to Mr. Rochester’s aesthetic of white femininity. Through close readings of the supernatural in Jane Eyre, I scrutinize how the use of fairy language creates a power imbalance where the dehumanization of women and minorities creates a male fantasy directly opposed to the theme of the individual. I discuss how the sexualization and racialization of women as supernatural beings bolsters the self-serving, problematic construct of the ‘human’ which continuously labels women and minorities as less than. Therefore, to restructure this racism and misogynistic thought, I propose a decentering of humanity from a white male perspective, seeing women and minorities not as a monolithic “Other,” almost supernatural beings, but as equally human and worth of respect and dignity.
Influence of processing parameters on permeability and infiltration of compression molded discontinuous carbon fiber organosheet composites

Abstract The thermoplastic resin infiltration process in compression molded recycled/repurposed carbon fiber organosheet composites was studied experimentally to develop an understanding of optimal processing conditions for improved cycle time and infiltration quality. A custom permeameter employing highly viscous polydimethylsiloxane fluid to mimic a thermoplastic melt was built, and the measured permeability was compared to water and air measurements. The infiltrating fluid played a significant role in the measurement. A novel x-ray radiographic imaging system and measurement protocol were developed to evaluate the in-situ infiltration behavior during compression molding. Dual-scale permeability was observed as the highly viscous thermoplastic melt preferentially infiltrated interbundle spaces before filling intrabundle regions. Optical microscopy showed that infiltration pressure strongly impacts the microstructure of organosheets. Despite the decrease in infiltration time resulting from increased molding pressure, it was found that moderate pressures were preferable, yielding lower void content and a largely homogeneous fiber volume fraction.
Dissolved Oxygen and Other Gases

Concentrations of atmospheric gases in water at saturation vary with the partial pressures and solubilities of the gases, and the temperature and salinity of the water. Dissolved oxygen is used to illustrate the principles of gas solubility. Concentrations of dissolved oxygen at saturation decrease with greater elevation (lower barometric pressure), higher salinity, and rising temperature. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in water may be expressed in milligrams per liter, but it also can be reported in milliliters per liter, percentage saturation, oxygen tension, or other units. The rate of diffusion of dissolved oxygen into water bodies is related to various factors, but the most important are the concentration of the dissolved oxygen already in the water, the area of contact between the air and water, and the amount of wind-driven or other turbulence in the water. Oxygen will diffuse into the air from oxygen-supersaturated water bodies. Dissolved oxygen is of utmost importance in water quality, because it is essential for aerobic respiration. Absorption of oxygen by fish and other aquatic animals is controlled by the pressure of oxygen in the water rather than the dissolved oxygen concentration in milligrams per liter. Low oxygen pressure can stress or even kill aquatic organisms. Excessive dissolved gas (including oxygen) concentrations in water can lead to gas bubble trauma in fish and other aquatic animals.
Zone-bit-recording-enhanced video data layout strategies

Rapid progress in high speed networking and mass storage technologies has made it possible to provide video-on-demand (VOD) services, that deliver movies to viewers' homes on request. In this paper, we present a family of novel video data layout strategies, called zone-bit-recording-enhanced (ZBRE) layout schemes, which take into account the multiple-zone-recording feature of modern disk drives. Simulation results show that, by carefully laying out popular movies in the outer zones and aggregating "hot" movies together, disk performance can be improved significantly, with an up to 23% higher throughput than by randomly laying out data on disks. More importantly, these performance benefits are obtained without incurring any extra hardware cost.
Compartment-specific transcription in Bacillus subtilis: identification of the promoter for gdh.

Abstract Glucose dehydrogenase beings to accumulate in the forespore between 2 and 3 h after the onset of endospore formation in Bacillus subtilis. The promoter for the structural gene for glucose dehydrogenase (gdh) was shown to be located 800 base pairs upstream from the coding sequence by examining the effects of integrating plasmids into the gdh region of the chromosome. The location of the gdh promoter was confirmed by primer extension analysis and by the identification of two single-base substitutions in the gdh promoter that prevented its function. The results of cell fractionation experiments with a strain that contained a transcriptional fusion of the gdh promoter and lacZ indicated that the forespore-specific accumulation of glucose dehydrogenase during sporulation is probably due to forespore-specific transcription of gdh.
Rights Offerings Can Be Costly: Intraday Evidence from Non-Underwritten Rights Offerings

We study the trading dynamics associated with a sample of non-underwritten rights offerings by issuers that are effectively precluded from using an underwriter when issuing seasoned equity. Market microstructure evidence is consistent with shareholders and brokers actively intermediating these offerings using short selling strategies. Large negative returns during the offering period, wealth transfers from non-participating shareholders to intermediaries, and difficulties associated with shareholder intermediation may make the non-underwritten rights method relatively more costly and highly impractical for widely held firms.
Physics and behavior of asymmetrically recessed InP-based MODFET's fabricated with an electron beam resist process

Despite their superior high frequency performance, InAlAs/InGaAs modulation-doped field effect transistors (MODFETs) consistently exhibit high output conductances and low gain-to-drain breakdown voltages. Two main cap designs have been used when fabricating these devices to improve these characteristics. The first design is the use of an undoped or depleted cap which has the adverse effect of increasing both the drain and the source resistances. In order to preserve the high frequency characteristic of these devices, an alternate design, often called a "double-recess" design, may be used. This design features a wide recess trench in a doped cap which extends farther on the drain side of the gate than on the source side and is therefore asymmetric about the gate. This has the advantage of preserving a low source resistance while increasing the drain resistance to the desired value. However, this design often requires a separate lithography step to define the asymmetric recess trench. Previously, a unique electron beam process was developed and presented which is to date the only reported process which enables both the asymmetric recess to be made and a submicron T-shaped gate to be metallized in a single lithography step. The process, which utilizes multiple layers of electron beam resist, allows a great deal of control of the extent of the cap recess on the drain side of the gate without the need for an alignment between two separate lithography steps. In this paper, MODFETs are fabricated on OMVPE-grown InAlAs/InGaAs structure both with and without the use of this electron beam resist process in order to investigate the effects of asymmetric recess on device performance. The DC and high frequency characteristics of these devices are reported as a function of the extent of the gate recess toward the drain. Values for the small-signal equivalent circuit model elements extracted from high frequency S-parameter measurements are also presented. >
CAM auf der Basis von IBM PS/2 im lokalen Netz - ein praktisches Beispiel

Das Losungs-Szenario wurde gemeinsam von sechs Softwarehausern und der IBM erstellt, um darzustellen, wie man mit verschiedensten Partnern kundenindividuelle, masgeschneiderte Problemlosungen im CAM-Bereich realisiert. Das vorgestellte Konzept zeigt auch, welch zentrale Rolle eine Datenbank im Netzwerk spielt.
NEUTRON SPECTRA AND FLUX CALCULATION IN THERMALIZING REGIONS IN LIQUID-METAL REACTORS

There is a problem in the neutron flux calculation in regions with a strong spectral transition from epithermal toward thermal. Space-dependent group constants are developed for the thermal range t...
Comparison of case retrieval times: film versus PACS

One of the advantages which a picture archiving and communications system (PACS) is supposed to provide over film-based operation is improved performance in retrieving images. While is seems self-evident that this should be so, we wanted to verify this, and provide some time comparisons for the two methods. The experiment consisted of randomly selecting ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT) cases and determining how long it took to retrieve them at one of our PACS workstations, and to retrieve them in person from the film room. To simulate actual retrieval volumes, a total of 40 cases from current to six months old, 20 cases from the past year, and 10 cases over one year old, was selected. Results indicate that indeed, PACS retrieval can be faster than file room retrieval. However, the difference is less for recent cases than for older cases. For cases six or fewer months old, the workstation retrieval was about two and one-half minutes faster per case than the film file room. This time difference increased markedly when extended to the one year and over one year groups. This paper details the results of this study, and will also provide information about the reliability of the two archives.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Creating Group-Level Functionally-Defined Atlases for Diagnostic Classification

In this paper we introduce a method to produce a subdivision of an anatomical atlas by taking into account the similarity of resting state functional MRI time series within anatomically-defined regions of interest. This method differs from others in that the resulting atlases are comparable across subjects, making group analyses possible. Finally, we show that the functional connectivity matrices obtained with this method can be used in a diagnostic classification task and that they enhance a classifier's ability to extract relevant information from the data, leading to more interpretable prediction models in the process.
Ultimate intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio in MRI

A method to calculate the ultimate intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in a magnetic resonance experiment for a point inside an arbitrarily shaped object is presented. The ultimate intrinsic SNR is determined by body noise. A solution is obtained by optimizing the electromagnetic field to minimize total power deposition while maintaining a constant right-hand circularly polarized component of the magnetic field at the point of interest. A numerical approximation for the optimal field is found by assuming a superposition of a large number of plane waves. This simulation allowed estimation of the ultimate intrinsic SNR attainable in a human torso model. The performance of six coil configurations was evaluated by comparing the SNR of images obtained by the coils with the ultimate values. In addition, the behavior of ultimate intrinsic SNR was investigated as a function of main field strength. It was found that the ultimate intrinsic SNR increases better than linearly with the main magnetic field up to 10 T for our model. It was observed that for field strengths of 4 T or higher, focusing is required to reach the ultimate intrinsic SNR.