cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Classifier Architectures for Online Neural Spike Sorting

High-density, intracranial recordings from micro-electrode arrays need to undergo Spike Sorting in order to associate the recorded neuronal spikes to particular neurons. This involves spike detection, feature extraction, and classification. To reduce the data transmission and power requirements, on-chip real-time processing is becoming very popular. However, high computational resources are required for classifiers in on-chip spike-sorters, making scalability a great challenge. In this review paper, we analyze several popular classifiers to propose five new hardware architectures using the off-chip training with on-chip classification approach. These include support vector classification, fuzzy C-means classification, self-organizing maps classification, moving-centroid K-means classification, and Cosine distance classification. The performance of these architectures is analyzed in terms of accuracy and resource requirement. We establish that the neural networks based Self-Organizing Maps classifier offers the most viable solution. A spike sorter based on the Self-Organizing Maps classifier, requires only 7.83% of computational resources of the best-reported spike sorter, hierarchical adaptive means, while offering a 3% better accuracy at 7 dB SNR.
Parents find medical errors and safety incidents that hospitals miss

• Parents of hospitalized children often catch and report medical errors and adverse events that are not reported in hospital safety surveillance systems.
Photo-induced force measurements with femtosecond pulses (Conference Presentation)

Raman spectroscopy can provide useful chemical information of nanostructures and molecules. We combine Raman spectroscopy with atomic force microscopy, through dual color photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM). In this modality, images with Raman contrast can be generated with a spatial resolution well below 10 nm at ambient temperature and pressure. Here we utilize this technique to visualize molecules on surfaces with high spatial and temporal resolution. Compared to previous Raman sensitive PiFM measurements, we employ femtosecond pulses and show that this technique is highly sensitive to the stimulated Raman scattering interaction in the molecule.
EVAR Using the AFX Endovascular AAA System (Endologix)

Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) with the AFX Endovascular AAA system is performed for symptomatic or asymptomatic aortic aneurysm greater than 5.5 cm in men and 5 cm in women with suitable anatomy. This chapter describes indications, essential steps, variations, and complications of this procedure. It provides a detailed template operative note for the procedure.
Staying after the storm: How transformational leadership relates to follower turnover intentions in extreme contexts

Abstract While largely untested, theorizing concerning transformational leadership has suggested that its effects will vary depending on the extremity of the context in which this leadership style is exercised. Further, knowing how to retain employees after they are exposed to the stresses and trauma of extreme events remains a challenge for organizations to address. In this study, we examined the transformational leadership of U.S. Army unit leaders operating within the extreme context of combat to test a multi-level model. Our results show that transformational leadership had an indirect effect on reducing follower turnover intentions via increases in followers' on-the-job embeddedness. This effect was moderated by the unit's level of exposure to extreme events, such that transformational leadership reduced followers' turnover intentions via embeddedness only when the unit experienced a high degree of extreme context exposure. These results have implications for advancing theory related to both leadership and turnover, as well as for advancing the practice of leadership and retention of employees, particularly in extreme contexts.
Component Dynamics in Polymer/Polymer Blends: Role of Spatial Compositional Heterogeneity

The segmental relaxation times τA and τB of the A and B components, respectively, of an A/B polymer/polymer blend typically exhibit dissimilar temperature dependences and can differ by orders of magnitude, thereby manifesting the influence of spatial compositional heterogeneity. We show that for weakly miscible A/B blends the relaxations of the faster A component occur via separate and distinct mechanisms. In the melt state, τA increases in a nonlinear manner as temperature T decreases toward blend glass transition temperature Tg(blend) (or toward the local effective glass transition temperature of its component Tg(A)); this is the typical α relaxation process. For temperatures below the transition, 1/τA exhibits an Arrhenius temperature dependence; this is identified as the α′ process. A third relaxation process, a so-called α0 process, also occurs in the melt state; it is slower than the α process and exhibits a significantly stronger dependence on temperature. Each relaxation process, characterized by ...
Charting the genotype-phenotype map: lessons from the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel.

Understanding the genetic architecture (causal molecular variants, their effects, and frequencies) of quantitative traits is important for precision agriculture and medicine and predicting adaptive evolution, but is challenging in most species. The Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) is a collection of 205 inbred strains with whole genome sequences derived from a single wild population in Raleigh, NC, USA. The large amount of quantitative genetic variation, lack of population structure, and rapid local decay of linkage disequilibrium in the DGRP and outbred populations derived from DGRP lines present a favorable scenario for performing genome-wide association (GWA) mapping analyses to identify candidate causal genes, polymorphisms, and pathways affecting quantitative traits. The many GWA studies utilizing the DGRP have revealed substantial natural genetic variation for all reported traits, little evidence for variants with large effects but enrichment for variants with low P-values, and a tendency for lower frequency variants to have larger effects than more common variants. The variants detected in the GWA analyses rarely overlap those discovered using mutagenesis, and often are the first functional annotations of computationally predicted genes. Variants implicated in GWA analyses typically have sex-specific and genetic background-specific (epistatic) effects, as well as pleiotropic effects on other quantitative traits. Studies in the DGRP reveal substantial genetic control of environmental variation. Taking account of genetic architecture can greatly improve genomic prediction in the DGRP. These features of the genetic architecture of quantitative traits are likely to apply to other species, including humans. WIREs Dev Biol 2018, 7:e289. doi: 10.1002/wdev.289 This article is categorized under: Invertebrate Organogenesis > Flies
Dynamic Oxidized Phospholipid Composition within the Liver Plays a Role in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Progression

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic manifestation of cardio-metabolic syndrome, affects up to 25% of individuals within the USA. NAFLD is a progressive pathology initiating with accumulation of fat within the liver (hepatic steatosis) followed by inflammation (steatohepatitis) and liver fibrosis. Currently, drivers of NAFLD progression are poorly understood. Recently, it was shown that fatty acid-induced metabolic dysregulation of hepatocytes results in succinate release. Hepatic stellate cells, the primary instigators of liver fibrosis, have been shown to be activated by succinate, via GPR91, a putative succinate receptor. Here we show that products of phospholipid oxidation increase succinate levels within bone marrow-derived macrophages. Furthermore, using immunohistochemistry with E06, an antibody that recognizes oxidized phospholipids (OxPL), we found increased E06 staining of carbon tetrachloride treated livers, a model of liver damage, compared to control. To determine the composition of OxPL present within steatotic liver, we developed a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method to quantify 14 products of 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (PAPC) oxidation in whole liver tissue. Using this method, we find a change in OxPL composition between high fat diet-fed livers compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, we see a change in OxPL composition in murine whole blood from animals on high fat diet compared to chow. Taken together, OxPL in steatotic liver may play a role in stellate cell activation and subsequent fibrosis.
A GPS Phase-Locked Loop Performance Metric Based on the Phase Discriminator Output

We propose a novel GPS phase-lock loop (PLL) performance metric based on the standard deviation of tracking error (defined as the discriminator's estimate of the true phase error), and explain its advantages over the popular phase jitter metric using theory, numerical simulation, and experimental results. We derive an augmented GPS phase-lock loop (PLL) linear model, which includes the effect of coherent averaging, to be used in conjunction with this proposed metric. The augmented linear model allows more accurate calculation of tracking error standard deviation in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) as compared to traditional linear models. The standard deviation of tracking error, with a threshold corresponding to half of the arctangent discriminator pull-in region, is shown to be a more reliable/robust measure of PLL performance under interference conditions than the phase jitter metric. In addition, the augmented linear model is shown to be valid up until this threshold, which facilitates efficient performance prediction, so that time-consuming direct simulations and costly experimental testing can be reserved for PLL designs that are much more likely to be successful. The effect of varying receiver reference oscillator quality on the tracking error metric is also considered.
The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages

In The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, Geraldine Heng questions the common assumption that the concepts of race and racisms only began in the modern era. Examining Europe's encounters with Jews, Muslims, Africans, Native Americans, Mongols, and the Romani ('Gypsies'), from the 12th through 15th centuries, she shows how racial thinking, racial law, racial practices, and racial phenomena existed in medieval Europe before a recognizable vocabulary of race emerged in the West. Analysing sources in a variety of media, including stories, maps, statuary, illustrations, architectural features, history, saints' lives, religious commentary, laws, political and social institutions, and literature, she argues that religion - so much in play again today - enabled the positing of fundamental differences among humans that created strategic essentialisms to mark off human groups and populations for racialized treatment. Her ground-breaking study also shows how race figured in the emergence of homo europaeus and the identity of Western Europe in this time.
Teledermatology and teledermatopathology as educational tools for international dermatology: a virtual grand rounds pilot curriculum.

Background Teledermatology may improve dermatologic care access in underserved areas and expand the clinical experience of dermatologists-in-training. The potential for teledermatology to supplement global health curricula in dermatology residency education has not been explored. Methods An international virtual grand rounds (VGR) curriculum was created based on teledermatology cases from Kabul, Afghanistan. The learning objectives included understanding the diagnosis and management of skin diseases in unfamiliar resource-limited settings and highlighting socioeconomic, cross-cultural, and ethical issues. A 17-item, Likert scale questionnaire was used to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum, including specific Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies, as well as interest in global health and teledermatology. Results The survey was completed by 85 of 118 VGR attendees (72% response rate). Most respondents considered the curriculum valuable to their education (mean 4.5 on a 5-point Likert scale; standard deviation, 0.5), learned more about diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases in international settings (4.5; 0.6) and in the US (4.1; 0.8), and learned more about socioeconomic, cultural, and ethical issues in skin health (4.6; 0.5). The majority also reported being more interested in global dermatology (4.1; 0.8) and would recommend VGR to a colleague (4.5; 0.6). Conclusion This pilot curriculum provided an innovative platform to enhance undergraduate and graduate medical education in international dermatology. International teledermatology education may be used to address multiple ACGME core competencies and increase resident awareness of sociocultural determinants of skin health.
Desktop Publishing: The Effects of Computerized Formats on Reading Speed and Comprehension.

This study investigated the effects of two desktop publishing features, run-around and wrap-around text, on students’ reading speed and comprehension. A secondary purpose was to determine the feasibility of developing guidelines for placing graphics within electronic text. Ninety students participated in the study. Four sets of reading materials with identical content were administered. The text of the reading materials was varied by format: run-around, wrap-around, single and double column. Results indicated a significantly faster reading speed and better comprehension for wrap-around text (text fitted tightly around the graphic) than for run-around text (text boxed around the graphic). There was no significant difference for column format.
Fresh and Fermented Fruit and Vegetable Products

The microbial biota of land-grown vegetables may be expected to reflect that of the soils in which grown although exceptions occur. In Table 2–1 (Chapter 2) are listed bacteria and protozoa that are common in agricultural soils, along with another list of those that attach to plants and become part of the biota of fresh plant products. The actinomycetes (gram-positive branching forms) are the most abundant bacteria in stable soils, yet they are rarely reported on vegetable products. On the other hand, the lactic acid bacteria are rarely found in soil per se, but they are significant parts of the bacterial biota of plants and plant products (29). The overall exposure of plant products to the environment provide many opportunities for contamination by microorganisms. The protective cover of many fruits and vegetables and the possession by some of pH values below which many organisms cannot grow are important factors in the microbiology of these products.
Detecting Endotoxin Contamination of Ophthalmic Viscosurgical Devices : Intracameral versus Intravitreal Assays in Rabbits

Objective To compare the sensitivities of intracameral and intravitreal assays in the rabbit model to determine the relative adequacy of these methods in detecting bacterial endotoxin contamination of ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVDs). Design Experimental, randomized animal study. Participants Twenty New Zealand white rabbits. Methods Rabbits were randomized into 4 groups to receive a cohesive or a dispersive OVD via intracameral or intravitreal injection. All 40 treated eyes (10 eyes of 5 animals in each group) received bilateral injection of OVD spiked with bacterial endotoxin at 7.0 endotoxin units/ml. All eyes were evaluated by slit-lamp biomicroscopy for inflammatory response at 3, 6, 9, 24, 48, and 72 hours after exposure. Eyes that received intravitreal injection were also dilated at 24, 48, and 72 hours and were re-examined by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and by indirect ophthalmoscopy. Main Outcome Measures Conjunctival inflammation, anterior chamber (AC) flare, cells and fibrin, vitreous haze and cells, iridal hyperemia, corneal clouding, lens opacities, and onset times. Results Intracamerally injected eyes frequently showed conjunctival congestion, AC cells and flare, iridal hyperemia, and fibrin within 6 hours. Up to 80% showed AC cells and flare at 9 hours, and up to 70% showed fibrin at 24 hours. These signs diminished within 48 hours. Fibrin and cells also were seen on the lens surface of most of the eyes. Intravitreally injected eyes showed no signs of inflammation within 24 hours, other than some conjunctival inflammation. After the 24-hour time point, in addition to some conjunctival inflammation, some other signs of inflammation were observed infrequently in the intravitreally injected eyes, including minor vitreous cell reaction in 2 eyes. Although there was 1 dispersive OVD–treated eye with cells and fibrin on the lens capsule at 48 hours, no aqueous cells or flare were seen in the AC of any intravitreally injected eyes at any time during the course of the study. Conclusions The rabbit intravitreal assay, when limited to 72 hours, does not seem to have adequate sensitivity to detect endotoxin reliably in OVDs. Financial Disclosure(s) The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
Social Factors in Decision-making: How Relationships, Context, and Emotions Impact Group Decisions

This symposium presents results that suggest that there is something social in cognitive groups’ decision-making. Four presentations highlight the impact of social relationships (Presentations 1 an...
Defending the Defender: Gerald Winrod and the Great Sedition Trial

The Rev. Dr. Gerald B. Winrod, an evangelist based in Wichita, Kansas, viewed himself and his followers as defenders. He came to call his media and ministry organization the Defenders of the Faith and its flagship magazine, The Defender . From Winrod’s view, the Defenders provided a moral bulwark against Darwinists, saloon keepers, women who wore revealing clothes, Catholics—sometimes, Jews, and especially Communists. At times, Winrod used very thin evidence to apply these labels to those he viewed as threats to American morality. For example, Winrod widely promoted his assertion that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was both a Jew and a Communist. 1
Colliculoreticular Organization in the Oculomotor System

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes saccadic eye movement-related discharge in superior colliculus (SC) neurons and in median pontomedullary reticular formation (RF) neurons and reviews the organization of colliculoreticular pathways, particularly with a view towards clarifying the mechanisms involved in controlling saccadic eye movements in primates. New data on the functional type of SC input to the RF are presented. A new interpretation is placed on the possible role played in saccadic generation by a class of neurons called quasi-visual cells. Saccade-related discharge of brain stem reticular formation neurons is discussed and comparisons are made between presaccadic activity in neurons in SC and RF. Studies showing the existence and nature of synaptic input from the SC to specific functional types of RF cells are reviewed and new preliminary results indicating the functionally identified type of SC neuron supplying at least a portion of these connections are shown. The possible role played by the neurons and synaptic connections described in these two anatomic structures is hypothesized in the form of saccadic control model.
The role of titanium-oxo clusters in the sulfate process for TiO2 production

TiO2 is manufactured for white pigments, solar cells, self-cleaning surfaces and devices, and other photocatalytic applications. The industrial synthesis of TiO2 entails: (1) the dissolution of ilmenite ore (FeTiO3) in aqueous sulfuric acid which precipitates the Fe while retaining the Ti in solution, followed by (2) dilution or heating the Ti sulfate solution to precipitate the pure form of TiO2. The underlying chemistry of these processing steps remains poorly understood. Here we show that the dissolution of a simple TiIV-sulfate salt, representative of the industrial sulfate process for the production of TiO2, immediately self-assembles into a soluble Ti-octadecameric cluster, denoted as {Ti18}. We observed {Ti18} in solution by small-angle X-ray scattering and Ti extended X-ray absorption fine structure (Ti-EXAFS) analysis, and ultimately crystallized it for absolute identification. The {Ti18} metal-oxo cluster was previously reported as a polycation; but shown here, it can also be a polyanion, dependent on the number of sulfate ligands it carries. After immediate self-assembly, the {Ti18}-cluster persists until TiO2 precipitates, with no easily identified structural intermediates in the solution or solid state, despite the fact that the atomic arrangement of {Ti18} differs vastly from that of titania. The evolution from solution phase {Ti18} to precipitated TiO2 nanoparticles was detailed by X-ray scattering and Ti-EXAFS. We offer a hypothesis for the key mechanism of complete separation of Fe from Ti in the industrial sulfate process. These findings also highlight the emerging importance of the unusual Ti(Ti)5 pentagonal building unit, featured in {Ti18} as well as other early d0 transition metal-oxo clusters including Nb, Mo and W. Finally, this study presents an example of crystal growth mechanisms in which the observed “pre-nucleation cluster” does not necessarily predicate the structure of the precipitated solid.
Oligomerization of Silyl Ketene: Favoring Chain Extension over Backbiting

Silyl ketenes provide an interesting class of molecules to be used as building blocks for highly functional molecules and materials, including as monomers in chain growth polymerizations, whereas p...
Rethinking harmony in international relations

Harmony is a generally agreed-upon idea in international and diplomatic discourse. A common theme in multiple traditions of thought, Platonist and Confucian among others, it underlies today’s signi...
Machina.NET: A Library for Programming and Real-Time Control of Industrial Robots

Machina is a .NET library for programming and control of industrial robots. It is designed to build applications that interface with robotic devices in real time. The library features a high-level API of simple, device-agnostic action verbs to issue motion requests to robots, and translates them to device-specific instructions using low-level communication protocols and managing priority queues. It also features a set of execution-related events to notify users of changes in the asynchronous state of the robot, fostering programming styles that are reactive rather than prescriptive. These features promote an enactive approach to robotics, and provide an immediate and intuitive entry point to real-time robot control, making Machina particularly suitable for controlling systems that require concurrent responsiveness to sensory or user input. While Machina currently supports mostly six-axis industrial robotic arms, it can be easily extended to any actuable device that moves in three-dimensional space, such as 3D printers, CNC machines, drones, robotic toys, etc. Machina is geared towards users in the creative fields, like designers, artists, makers and creative coders, and promotes features such as interactivity, intuitiveness, feedback, concurrency and cross-platform compatibility, over performance or feature-fullness. We hope this framework will help ease access for novice users to the field of robotics.
Repetitive negative thinking following exposure to a natural stressor prospectively predicts altered stress responding and decision-making in the laboratory

Abstract Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) represents a transdiagnostic risk factor for affective disorders, and stress is theorized to exacerbate this vulnerability. One mechanism by which stress may influence individual differences in psychiatric symptoms is through altered decision-making, and loss aversion in particular. The present study uses multiple methods to investigate the relationships between RNT, stress, and decision-making. We measured RNT in young adults (N = 90) recently exposed to a natural stressor, Hurricane Irma, and tested the influence of RNT on changes in affect, cortisol, and decision-making during a laboratory stress induction two months later. Post-hurricane RNT predicted greater increases in loss averse decision-making (β = 0.30 [0.14, 0.47], p
Incidence and extent of sinus procedures in treatment of pediatric orbital cellulitis.

Abstract Introduction It is unknown the optimal extent of sinus surgery in pediatric patients with orbital cellulitis. Our aim was to determine the nationwide incidence of sinus procedures used to treat pediatric orbital cellulitis. Additionally, we sought to identify patient-factors that influence a multi-procedural approach. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of 15,260 cases of primary pediatric orbital cellulitis identified in the Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2012. Cases were included if they contained a primary diagnosis code of orbital cellulitis. Frequency of sinus procedures in relation to pediatric age cohort were noted (≤8 years versus 9–20 years). Comorbidities, cost, and length-of-stay were compared between age cohorts. Multivariate models investigated patient-factors associated with multiple sinus procedures and patient-factors that affected hospital costs and length-of-stay. Results Children ≤8 years of age constituted 67% of cases (n = 10,290). 1103 cases (7.2%) were treated with at least one defined sinus procedure; and, 712 of these cases documented more than one sinus procedure. The younger cohort (≤8 years) exhibited fewer sinus procedures and a lower rate of reoperation (4.6% vs 12.8%, p 8 years had similarly increased odds of a multi-procedural approach (OR = 1.333, p = .049; OR = 1.367, p = .032, respectively). Multivariate analysis of cost and length-of-stay found that patients >8 years incurred 14% longer hospital stays and an increase in costs of 9% compared to younger patients (p = .001, p = .039; respectively). The secondary diagnosis with the largest effect on length-of-stay and cost was an intracranical abscess (OR = 2.352, p Conclusion In a nationwide population of pediatric patients with primary orbital cellulitis there was an incidence of sinus surgery in 7.2% of cases - with patients over 8 years having a 2.8-fold increase compared to younger patients. Additionally, nearly two-thirds of patients treated with sinus surgery had multiple sinus procedures. The high incidence of multiple sinus procedures suggests that further prospective studies are needed to elucidate the extent of drainage associated with the best patient outcomes.
Search for Charged Higgs in t$\bar{t}$ Decay Products from Proton-Antiproton Collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV

This dissertation reports the results of a search for charged Higgs bosons in the decays of t{bar t} pairs produced in p{bar p} collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The search is performed on a data sample recorded by the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 193 pb{sup -1}. The search is based on the relative rates of events in the different t{bar t} decay channels. Results are obtained in the context of different models. In the context of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM), for which they fully account for radiative and Yukawa coupling corrections, regions in the (m{sub H{sup {+-}}}, tan ({beta})) plane are excluded. In the Tauonic Higgs Model in which the charged Higgs is assumed to decay exclusively to {bar {tau}}, the BR(t {yields} H{sup +}b) is constrained to be less than 0.4 at 95% C.L. If no assumption is made on the charged Higgs decay, the BR(t {yields} H{sup +}b) is constrained to be less than 0.90 at 95% C.L. No evidence for charged Higgs production is found.
Abstract IA02: Slide-seq: A platform for understanding cellular circuits in tissue

The precise spatial localization of molecular signals within tissues richly informs the mechanisms of tissue formation and function. Here we introduce Slide-seq, a technology which enables transcriptome-wide measurements with near-single cell spatial resolution. We’ll describe recent experimental and computational advances to enable Slide-seq in biological contexts in biological contexts where high detection sensitivity is important. More broadly, we’ll discuss the promise and challenges of spatial transcriptomics for tissue genomics. Citation Format: Fei Chen. Slide-seq: A platform for understanding cellular circuits in tissue [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Tumor Heterogeneity: From Single Cells to Clinical Impact; 2020 Sep 17-18. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(21 Suppl):Abstract nr IA02.
Structure formation and the matter power-spectrum in the R_h=ct universe

Inflation drives quantum fluctuations beyond the Hubble horizon, freezing them out before the small-scale modes re-enter during the radiation dominated epoch, and subsequently decay, while large-scale modes re-enter later during the matter dominated epoch and grow. This distinction shapes the matter power spectrum and provides observational evidence in support of the standard model. In this paper, we demonstrate that another mechanism, based on the fluctuation growth in the R_h=ct universe, itself an FLRW cosmology with the added constraint of zero active mass (i.e., rho+3p=0), also accounts very well for the observed matter power spectrum, so this feature is not unique to LambdaCDM. In R_h=ct, the shape of the matter power spectrum is set by the interplay between the more rapid decay of the gravitational potential for the smaller mode wavelengths and the longer dynamical timescale for the larger wavelengths. This combination produces a characteristic peak that grows in both amplitude and mode number as a function of time. Today, that peak lies at k approx 0.02 Mpc^-1, in agreement with the Ly-alpha and Planck data. But there is no need of an inflationary expansion, and a complicated epoch dependence as one finds in LambdaCDM.
CHESS Users Meeting Goes Virtual in 2020

On June 9, 2020, the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) held its very first all-virtual Users Meeting. CHESS welcomed more than 300 registered participants, setting a new record for the...
Modeling and control of MMC with capacitive filtering devices

Abstract Setting a capacitive filtering device on the passive network can play a role of smoothing AC voltage waveform, supporting AC voltage, etc. In this paper, the positive-sequence and negative-sequence equivalent models of the MMC station which connected to the capacitive filtering device on the passive network, is given by derivation of equation. Then, according to the requirement, the conventional double closed-loop controller containing an inner current loop and an outer voltage loop is adopted. Further, the decoupling control strategy of the MMC station connected to the capacitive filtering device is proposed, through the analysis of the coupling relationship between the d-axis component and q-axis component. Simulation studies are carried out under different operation conditions, such as load change, AC voltage drop, system frequency decline and unbalanced load, through the MMC-HVDC simulation system built in PSCAD/EMTDC. The simulation results indicate that the designed controller can satisfy the requirement of fast control, and has good steady accuracy and transient response characteristics.
Sugar beets as an energy source in diets of gestating, growing, and finishing beef cattle

ABSTRACT Objective The objective was to evaluate sugar beets as an energy source for gestating beef cows and growing and finishing calves. Materials and Methods In Exp. 1, mature gestating cows were used in a completely randomized design. Treatment diets contained sugar beets (SB) or corn (CON) as the energy source. In Exp. 2, crossbred steers (n = 270; 293 ± 1.4 kg) were assigned to treatments arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial. The factors were growing treatment (0 or 44% SB, DM basis; GRW 0 and GRW 44, respectively) and finishing treatment (0, 15, or 30% SB, DM basis; FIN 0, FIN 15, and FIN 30, respectively). Results and Discussion In Exp. 1, performance was not different (P ≥ 0.22) for SB or CON. In Exp. 2, final BW and ADG for the growing period were not different (P > 0.20), and DMI was less (P 0.12). Implications and Applications Sugar beet inclusion can result in similar ADG to corn in gestating cow and growing calf diets but may reduce performance and carcass characteristics when included in finishing diets.
Four positive equilibria in a model for sterile and wild mosquito populations

Abstract A well proposed ODE system that models the interactive dynamics of sterile and wild mosquito populations with a saturated release rate of sterile mosquitoes can have up to four positive equilibria, but only two positive equilibria have been confirmed to exist in the literature. In this note we establish that for a range of parameters this system does have four positive equilibria. We also obtain the stability of these equilibria.
Editorial Commentary: Suspensory Fixation of Displaced Tibial Posterior Cruciate Ligament Avulsions: A Novel Application of a Familiar Technique

Isolated tibial posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fractures, although rare, are becoming increasingly common in regions of the world with frequent 2-wheel motor vehicle accidents. Arthroscopic-assisted suture fixation has become a popular fixation method for these injuries. Suspensory metal button fixation of tibial posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fractures, although commonly used for other applications, has until recently been limited to isolated reports of a few patients.
Art as Human Practice: An Aesthetics by Georg W. Bertram

A book review of Georg W. Bertram, Art as Human Practice: An Aesthetics. Translated by Nathan Ross. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019, x + 240 pp. ISBN 978-1-3500-6314-3.
Evidence for pigment epithelium-derived factor receptors in the neural retina.

PURPOSE. The neurotrophic activity of pigment epithelium‐ derived factor (PEDF), an extracellular factor present in the retina, is mediated by binding to cell-surface receptors in responsive cell cultures. In the present study, the expression of PEDF receptors in native neural retinas from adult steers was examined. METHODS. Binding reactions were performed with 125 I-PEDF and fluoresceinated PEDF using plasma membranes, detergentsoluble membrane proteins, or cryosections of retina from adult bovine eyes. Radioligand-binding and competition analyses were performed with a computer-assisted program. Ligand blot analysis of detergent-soluble membrane proteins was performed with 125 I-PEDF followed by autoradiography. Ligandaffinity column chromatography of detergent-soluble membrane proteins was performed with PEDF-coupled resin followed by SDS-PAGE. Binding of fluoresceinated PEDF to retina cryosections was detected by confocal microscopy. RESULTS. Radioligand-binding assays showed that 125 I-PEDF bound in a specific and saturable fashion to one class of sites on retina membranes (Kd 5 2.5‐ 6.5 nM; maximum binding [Bmax] 5 1‐ 48 3 10 10 sites/retina). A peptide of 44 amino acids (44-mer), identified as the receptor-binding region of PEDF, competed efficiently for 125 I-PEDF binding to retina membranes with kinetics similar to the full-length PEDF. Ligand blot analysis and ligand‐affinity chromatography revealed a specific and high-affinity PEDF-binding protein of ;85 kDa in retina plasma membranes. Confocal microscopy showed that fluorescein-conjugated PEDF stained exclusively the inner segments of photoreceptors and cells of the ganglion cell layer in retinal cryosections. CONCLUSIONS. Altogether, these data conclusively demonstrate the existence of PEDF receptors discretely distributed on the surface of cells from the adult neural retina of bovine eyes. Furthermore, they provide evidence for the direct action of PEDF on photoreceptor and ganglion cell neurons and an anatomic basis for studies to assess PEDF neurotrophic effects on the adult retina. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2001;42: 3287‐3293)
Case report: unilateral negative pressure pulmonary edema - a complication of endobronchial intubation.

Purpose: We describe an unusual presentation of a case of fulminant unilateral pulmonary edema caused by unrecognized right endobronchial intubation that occurred during patient movement at the end of surgery. We review factors which may predispose to this complication. Clinical features: During emergence from anesthesia at the conclusion of bariatric surgery, a 27-yr-old patient (163 kg, body mass index 61.5 kg·m−2) became hypoxemic despite vigorous spontaneous ventilatory efforts through a 7.0 mm endotracheal tube with 100% oxygen. Right mainstem endobronchial tube malposition was detected by auscultation. The tube was re-positioned, followed by copious pink frothy pulmonary edema abruptly issuing from the tracheal tube. Chest radiography revealed dense left lung infiltrates, consistent with unilateral negative pressure pulmonary edema, caused by brief, but forceful, inspiratory efforts against an obstructed left bronchus. This condition resolved over the following 24 hr. The patient’s trachea was then extubated, and the remainder of her recovery was unremarkable. Conclusions: A high degree of airway anatomic variation, common tracheal tube insertion practices, unreliability of tube position detection methods, and the effects of patient positioning may all contribute to endotracheal tube malposition, including partial endobronchial intubation. Several modifications in airway management may help to prevent such complications of tracheal tube malposition.
Water Transport by Epithelia

Water transport in epithelia can occur down an established concentration gradient, in which case it is indisputably osmotic. In other epithelia, water transport occurs in the absence of or even against differences in the osmolalities of the adjacent solutions. In the latter case, water flow is in the same direction as the net solute flux and in near-isosmotic proportions. The pathways and mechanisms of water transport in this class of epithelia remain controversial, but the prevailing views are that water flow is largely transcellular, via both water pores (aquaporins, AQP) and the phospholipid bilayer, with little contribution of other membrane proteins. In addition, solute–solvent flux coupling is not a molecular, but a thermodynamic phenomenon, i.e. water transport is driven by small differences in osmolality between epithelial fluid compartments created by solute transport. Paracellular water flow is likely to be small relative to transcellular water flow. Keywords: epithelium; water transport; osmosis; aquaporin
Molecular heterogeneity in adjacent cells in triple-negative breast cancer

PURPOSE: This study interrogates the molecular status of individual cells in patients with triple-negative breast cancers and explores the molecular identification and characterization of these tumors to consider the exploitation of a potential-targeted therapeutic approach. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Hyperspectral immunologic cell by cell analysis was applied to touch imprint smears obtained from fresh tumors of breast cancer patients. RESULTS: Cell by cell analysis confirms significant intratumoral molecular heterogeneity in cancer markers with differences from polymerase chain reaction marker reporting. The individual cell heterogeneity was recognized in adjacent cells examined with panels of ten molecular markers in each single cell and included some markers that are considered to express "stem-cell" character. In addition, heterogeneity did not relate either to the size or stage of the primary tumor or to the site from within the cancer. CONCLUSION: There is a very significant molecular heterogeneity when "adjacent cells" are examined in triple-negative breast cancer, thereby making a successful targeted approach unlikely. In addition, it is not reasonable to consider that these changes will provide an answer to tumor dormancy.
A Descriptive Bibliography of Art Music by Israeli Composers: Revised and Expanded Edition, with Listings of Nearly 6,000 Works by 103 Composers by Alice Tischler

In the compilation of this second edition, Tischler aims for the most comprehensive bibliographic resource on music by Israeli composers. The first edition, which treated the works of 63 composers,...
Genotype-phenotype correlations in hereditary muscle diseases. Implications for diagnosis and treatment.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses muscular dystrophies to explore the current understanding of phenotype–genotype correlations in the family of progressive, genetic muscle diseases. Duchenne dystrophy (DMD) is the most common of the muscular dystrophies affecting one in 3,500 male children. This X-linked disease and its milder phenotype Becker dystrophy (BMD) was the first of the muscular dystrophies to be defined by molecular genetic strategies. The dystrophinopathies include a spectrum of muscle diseases caused by mutations in the gene. The DMD gene is the largest known human gene spanning 2.4 mb of DNA and comprising 79 exons. Mutations of the DMD gene that lead to lack of translation of dystrophin usually produce the severe DMD phenotype. Atleast 30% of these mutations are sporadic, and they ensure that DMD would haunt future generations of patients and parents. The Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) phenotype is similar to but milder than the DMD phenotype. Because the BMD patient is more active than the DMD patient, symptoms of congestive heart failure are more commonly described and death from dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is common.
Sensitivity of Limited-Area Hybrid Variational-Ensemble Analyses and Forecasts to Ensemble Perturbation Resolution

AbstractDual-resolution (DR) hybrid variational-ensemble analysis capability was implemented within the community Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model data assimilation (DA) system, which is designed for limited-area applications. The DR hybrid system combines a high-resolution (HR) background, flow-dependent background error covariances (BECs) derived from a low-resolution ensemble, and observations to produce a deterministic HR analysis. As DR systems do not require HR ensembles, they are computationally cheaper than single-resolution (SR) hybrid configurations, where the background and ensemble have equal resolutions.Single-observation tests were performed to document some characteristics of limited-area DR hybrid analyses. Additionally, the DR hybrid system was evaluated within a continuously cycling framework, where new DR hybrid analyses were produced every 6 h over ~3.5 weeks. In the DR configuration presented here, the deterministic backgrounds and analyses had 15-km horizontal grid spacin...
Brevianamides A and B Are Formed Only After Conidiation Has Begun in Solid Cultures of Penicillium brevicompactum.

Abstract In cultures of Penicillium brevicompactum grown on Czapek-Dox agar or on circles of dialysis membrane placed on Czapek-Dox agar, brevianamides A and B first appeared after conidiation had begun. The presence of these brevianamides imparted a yellow-green fluorescence to the penicilli and to the upper section of the conidiophores of actively conidiating cultures. Experiments with replacement cultures indicated that medium nutrient levels had little direct effect on brevianamide production. If P. brevicompactum was grown between two circles of dialysis membrane, no aerial hyphae were formed, and brevianamide production was not observed. Three brevianamide-minus mutants of P. brevicompactum were isolated.
Communicating with Patients on Treatment Options for Advanced Disease

A diagnosis of advanced cancer is devastating to patients and their families. The cancer care team has typically been ineffective in communicating honestly but sensitively on issues of concern, including treatment options, prognosis, and factors that affect quality-of-life. In a presentation at the NCCN 18th Annual Conference, palliative care experts Dr. Anthony Back and Ms. Lillie D. Shockney discussed the challenge of communicating about advanced disease, offered a new paradigm, and described approaches that can make physicians and nurses more comfortable and more effective in this role.
Intensifying Global Dependency: Foreign Debt, Structural Adjustment, and Third World Underdevelopment

Dependency-oriented arguments have not focused sufficient attention on the growing international debt crisis. This omission is unfortunate because foreign debt has introduced several important dyna...
"Enhancement Factor" for Positrons in Sodium

Experimental data from positron annihilation in sodium single crystals show (a) that the Fermi surface is spherical and (b) that the momentum dependence of the "enhancement factor" of the polarization of the electron sea by the positron agrees with calculations.
PRESSOR RESPONSES TO NOXIOUS STIMULI IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS: EFFECTS OF GUANETHIDINE SULFATE AND ALPHA METHYLDOPA.

The pressor and pulse rate responses to several standardized stimuli were determined in hypertensive patients receiving guanethidine sulfate or alpha methyldopa in therapeutic doses. Despite differences between the two compounds in their mode of action, both demonstrated functionally sympatholytic effects. Both drugs produced a greater blood pressure fall in the erect posture than in the supine and impaired the pressor response to the cold pressor test. The pressor reactivity to intravenous angiotensin, however, persisted. Responses to psychophysiologic stimuli were decreased. The implications of these findings for both therapy and for understanding of physiologic mechanisms of pressor reactivity are discussed.
Pu.1 Is essential for p47(phox) promoter activity in myeloid cells

Expression of the phagocyte cytosolic protein p47(phox), a component of NADPH oxidase, is restricted mainly to myeloid cells. To study the cis-elements and trans-acting factors responsible for its gene expression, we have cloned and characterized the p47(phox) promoter. A predominant transcriptional start site was identified 21 nucleotides upstream of the translation initiation codon. To identify the gene promoter sequences, transient transfections of HL-60 human myeloid cells were performed with a series of 5'-deletion p47(phox)-luciferase reporter constructs that extended as far upstream as -3050 bp relative to the transcriptional start site. The -224 and -86 constructs had the strongest p47(phox) promoter activity, whereas the -46 construct showed a major reduction in activity and the -36 construct a complete loss of activity. DNase I footprint analysis identified a protected region from -37 to -53. This region containing a consensus PU.1 site bound specifically both PU.1 present in nuclear extracts from myeloid cells and PU.1 synthesized in vitro. Mutations of this site eliminated PU.1 binding and abolished the ability of the p47(phox) promoter to direct expression of the reporter gene. The p47(phox) promoter was active in all myeloid cell lines tested (HL-60, THP-1, U937, PLB-985), but not in non-myeloid cells (HeLa, HEK293). Finally, PU.1 trans-activated the p47(phox)-luciferase constructs in HeLa cells. We conclude that, similar to certain other myeloid-specific genes, p47(phox) promoter activity in myeloid cells requires PU.1.
A special case of positivity (II)

In this note we prove the following special case of Serre's conjecture on Intersection Multiplicity: Let (R,m) be a regular local ring and let P, Q be two prime ideals such that (R/(P + Q)) < oo, dim R/P + dim R/Q = dim R and dimension of G m (R/P) ⊗ Gm(R) G m (R/Q) < 2. Then X(R/P,R/Q) ≥ e m (R/P)e m (R/Q); here e m (T) denotes the Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity for any finitely generated module T with respect to m.