cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Semantic Parsing for Text to 3D Scene Generation

We propose text-to-scene generation as an application for semantic parsing. This is an application that grounds semantics in a virtual world that requires understanding of common, everyday language. In text to scene generation, the user provides a textual description and the system generates a 3D scene. For example, Figure 1 shows the generated scene for the input text “there is a room with a chair and a computer”. This is a challenging, open-ended problem that prior work has only addressed in a limited way. Most of the technical challenges in text to scene generation stem from the difficulty of mapping language to formal representations of visual scenes, as well as an overall absence of real world spatial knowledge from current NLP systems. These issues are partly due to the omission in natural language of many facts about the world. When people describe scenes in text, they typically specify only important, relevant information. Many common sense facts are unstated (e.g., chairs and desks are typically on the floor). Therefore, we focus on inferring implicit relations that are likely to hold even if they are not explicitly stated by the input text. Text to scene generation offers a rich, interactive environment for grounded language that is familiar to everyone. The entities are common, everyday objects, and the knowledge necessary to address this problem is of general use across many domains. We present a system that leverages user interactionwith 3D scenes to generate training data for semantic parsing approaches. Previous semantic parsing work has dealt with grounding text to physical attributes and relations (Matuszek et al., 2012; Krishnamurthy and Kollar, 2013), generating text for referring to objects (FitzGerald et al., 2013) and with connecting language to spatial relationships (Golland et al., 2010; Artzi and Zettlemoyer, 2013). Semantic parsing methods can also be applied to many aspects of text to scene generation. Furthermore, work on parsing instructions to robots (Matuszek et al., 2013; Tellex et al., 2014) has analogues in the context of discourse about physical scenes. In this extended abstract, we formalize the text to scene generation problem and describe it as a task for semantic parsing methods. To motivate this problem, we present a prototype system that incorporates simple spatial knowledge, and parses natural text to a semantic representation. By learning priors on spatial knowledge (e.g., typical positions of objects, and common spatial relations) our system addresses inference of implicit spatial constraints. The user can interactively manipulate the generated scene with textual commands, enabling us to refine and expand learned priors. Our current system uses deterministic rules to map text to a scene representation but we plan to explore training a semantic parser from data. We can leverage our system to collect user interactions for training data. Crowdsourcing is a promising avenue for obtaining a large scale dataset.
Impact of PET/CT on ovarian cancer diagnosis, staging, and management care

2224 Objectives Assess the influence of Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) imaging on Ovarian Cancer diagnosis, staging, and management care. Methods Twenty-nine Ovarian Cancer patients were randomly selected for our study at Northshore University HealthSystem from May 2006 to December 2008. Prior to our study, patient imaging indication was categorized by: diagnosis, staging, monitoring, restaging, and suspected recurrence for Ovarian Cancer. Patient current working stage was categorized by: no evidence of disease/remission, localized, or metastatic. Patient management care was categorized by: observation, additional imaging, tissue biopsy, surgery, and treatment. Post-studies were grouped using the same five management care criteria; observing changes resulting from PET/CT. Results Overall, patient management care changed post-study in eighteen out of twenty-nine patients (62.1%). Patient management care prior to the study was: treatment (44%), additional imaging (32%), surgery (14%), observation (5%), and tissue biopsy (5%). Patient management care post-study was: treatment (31%), observation (26%), tissue biopsy (17%), surgery (13%), and additional imaging (13%). Of these eighteen cases, Ovarian Cancer staging was modified as follows: two patients (11.1%) were degraded to a lower stage; eight patients (44.4%) were enhanced to a higher stage; and eight patients (44.4%) were unaltered. Conclusions In the post-study patient group, the patient management care and staging changed significantly. Our study demonstrates PET/CT scans are essential to diagnose, stage, and assess management care for Ovarian Cancer.
A Common Variant in the SETD7 Gene Predicts Serum Lycopene Concentrations

Dietary intake and higher serum concentrations of lycopene have been associated with lower incidence of prostate cancer and other chronic diseases. Identifying determinants of serum lycopene concentrations may thus have important public health implications. Prior studies have suggested that serum lycopene concentrations are under partial genetic control. The goal of this research was to identify genetic predictors of serum lycopene concentrations using the genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach among a sample of 441 Old Order Amish adults that consumed a controlled diet. Linear regression models were utilized to evaluate associations between genetic variants and serum concentrations of lycopene. Variant rs7680948 on chromosome 4, located in the intron region of the SETD7 gene, was significantly associated with serum lycopene concentrations (p = 3.41 × 10(-9)). Our findings also provided nominal support for the association previously noted between SCARB1 and serum lycopene concentrations, although with a different SNP (rs11057841) in the region. This study identified a novel locus associated with serum lycopene concentrations and our results raise a number of intriguing possibilities regarding the nature of the relationship between SETD7 and lycopene, both of which have been independently associated with prostate cancer. Further investigation into this relationship might help provide greater mechanistic understanding of these associations.
A Multi-layer Technology for Biocompatible Polymer Microsystems with Integrated Fluid and Electrical Functionality

A method to fabricate biocompatible polymer microfluidic systems with integrated electrical and fluid functionality has been established. The process flow utilizes laser ablation, microstenciling, and heat staking as the techniques to realize multi-layered polyimide based microsystems with microchannels, thru and embedded fluid / electrical vias, and metallic electrodes and contact pads. As an application of the fabrication technology, a six layer multi-functional cellular analysis system has been demonstrated. The electrophysiological analysis system contains fluid microchannel / via networks for cell positioning and chemical delivery as well as electrical detectors and electrodes for impedance spectroscopy and patch clamping studies. Multiple layers of 50.8µm thick Kapton® sheets with double-sided polyimide adhesive layers were used as the primary material-of-construction. Microchannels with widths of 400µm as well as thru hole vias with 3.71µm diameters (aspect ratios of over 12:1) were laser ablated through the polyimide sheets using an excimer laser and a CO2 laser. Electrical traces and contact pads with features down to 20µm were defined on the flexible polyimide sheets using microstenciling. The patterned layers were bonded using heat staking at a temperature of 350°C, a pressure of 1.65MPa for 60 minutes. This multi-layer technology can be used to create microfluidic devices for many application areas requiring biocompatibility, relatively high temperature operation, or a flexible substrate material.
Phenology and Heat Accumulation as Field Guides for the Seasonal History of the Western Pine Shoot Borer (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae)

Survey and control measures are available for the western pine shoot borer, Eucosma sonomana Kearfott, but timing is a problem because of the cryptic nature of the insect in the field. In central Oregon, key features of the insect’s seasonal history were related to heat accumulation (degree-days [DD] above 5.5°C) and phenological characteristics of one of its hosts, ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex Laws., and eight other associated shrubs and forbs. These relationships permit the status of the shoot borer’s seasonal history, such as the egg-laying period, to be established indirectly from local temperature records or by observations of some obvious phenological characteristics of its host and associated plants.
A New Record of a Trichogramma Species Parasitizing the Cereal Leaf Beetle

A biological control program against a foreign pest of cereal crops, Oulema melanopus (L.), was initiated in 1966 by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. One phase of this program was a survey for existing natural enemies that may have become adapted to this new pest. In 1967 a Trichogramma species emerged from field-collected eggs of O. melanopus in Berrien County, Michigan. Subsequently, parasitized eggs and adult parasites were collected in 2 additional counties. The Trichogramma first was identified as T. evanescens West wood. However, results of crossing tests and developmental time studies show that it is not this species. Consideration is being given to improvement of acceptance of O. melanopus as a host by selective breeding of the parasite.
Patient and Staff Dose Optimization in Nuclear Medicine Diagnosis Methods

The implementation of the Basic Safety Standards (BSS) Directive 96/29 on the protection of workers and general population against the danger arising from ionizing radiation [1] and the Directive 97/43 on health protection of individuals against dangers of ionizing radiation in relation to medical exposure, known as the Medical Exposure Directive (MED) [2], they started in Poland some years ago with the Polish Atomic Law [3] and executive orders published by the Polish Government and Polish Health Minister [4]. Poland’s Government has applied for several years transitory period to complete implementation of the Directive 97/43/EURATOM because of the technical, organizing and economical problems related with this p rocedure.
Regional Integration in Latin America

This paper assesses the welfare effects of integration in Latin America. It estimates trade creation and diversion of: 1) integration of the four Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and...
A cyclic pattern of sexual dysfunction in the infertility investigation.

The incidence of sexual dysfunction in 51 infertility couples was evaluated at the time of postcoital testing. All of the male partners had normal semen analyses according to standard criteria. Of the 51 couples, 23 (45%) had a 2-hour postcoital test (PCT) and the remaining 28 (55%) had overnight PCTs. There was no significant difference by X 2 analysis in the incidence of sexual dysfunction between the two groups (P > 0.05). Of the 51 couples, 11 (20%) had negative or equivocal results after the first PCT. These 11 couples had a second test scheduled for the following month. Of the second PCTs, four were normal, one couple failed to keep the appointment, and six (11% of the 51 couples) were negative (no sperm in the vaginal pool or motile sperm in the cervical mucus). Of the six couples with repeat negative studies, five gave histories of acute midcycle sexual dysfunction in the male partner. Four of the five reported normal sexual intercourse during the interval between the first and second study. In none of the five couples was male sexual dysfunction present prior to an awareness of their "infertility" problem. Several factors were identified which contributed to midcycle stress in the male partner. It is concluded from this study that a cyclic pattern of acute male sexual dysfunction may constitute an important factor in the infertility investigation of some couples.
Research on Formulation of Environmental Policies for Boosting up Construction of Priority Zones in Anhui Province

As the branch of the research on a package of policies for planning of priority zones in Anhui Province, the sub-project is aimed to provide reference information for formulating the environmental policies which go with planning of priority zones. The essay puts forward the road map and framework for planning of the desirable environmental policies to better build up the Anhui priority zones; besides, the separate elaborations on general direction and vigor of the implementation of various environmental policies in different priority zones are also made so that the specific guidance serving as guarantee mechanism for different situations is provided. Scientific advice for framing of environmental policies has been proposed in the final part of the article in order to fast boost up construction of Anhui priority zones.
Analysis on water quality monitoring of rural drinking water safety projects in Yongding County of Fujian Province from 2011-2012

[Objective]To understand the sanitary situation of water quality of rural drinking water safety projects in Yongding County of Fujian Province,explore the construction and health management strategies of rural drinking water safety project.[Methods]The water quality of rural drinking water safety projects was monitored continuously for 2 years.The detection was conducted according to GB/T 5750-2006,and the results were evaluated according to GB 5749-2006.[Results]For the source of water in drinking water safety projects,the surface water accounted for 66.7%,and the ground water accounted for 33.3%(19.0% were spring water).11.9% were treated completely,59.5% were treated with sedimentation and filtration,and 28.6% have not been treated.The total qualified rate of water samples in 2 years was 26.8%,while the qualified rate of ground water(41.1%) was higher than that of surface water(χ2=17.48,P0.01).The main over-standard items were microbiological indicators.The low qualified rate of water samples was caused by lack of disinfection treatment.[Conclusion]The microbiological indicators of rural drinking water safety projects in Yongding County exceed the standards greatly,and there are the latent dangers of water-borne infection disease.It is recommended to strengthen the water source protection and drinking water disinfection,improve the supervision of water supply projects and daily health management,and enhance the health monitoring of water quality.
Preoperative assessment and hand therapy for elective microvascular surgery.

SUMMARY The special reconstructive needs of elective microsurgical candidates present a formidable challenge for the restoration of functional capacity. This article provides an overview of current hand rehabilitation procedures available for preoperative and postoperative management. The need for preoperative assessment is stressed and specific measurement variables and techniques are provided. Treatment principles and methods are shared and preferred splint design features are identified. The uniqueness of each individual case is emphasized, as it necessitates ongoing communication among the members of the treatment team who strive to define and achieve successful outcomes.
High-Frequency-Link Power-Conversion Systems for Next-Generation Smart and Micro Grid

Photovoltaic, wind, and fuel-cell energy are the front-runner renewable- and alternate-energy solutions to address and alleviate the imminent and critical problems of existing fossil fuel-energy systems. There will be severe voltage spikes and ringing across the switches during turnoff. They are caused by the transformer and other parasitic leakage inductances combined with a very high current reverse going through the transformer primary side. A key aspect of these renewable- or alternative-energy systems is an inverter that feeds the energy available from the energy source to application load and/or grid. There will be severe voltage spikes and ringing across the switches during turnoff. They are caused by the transformer and other parasitic leakage inductances combined with a very high current reverse going through the transformer primary side. The leakage inductance of the high-frequency transformer enhances the zero-voltage switching range of the DC-AC converter but reduces the duty ratio of the converter, which increases the conduction loss.
Leonardo da Vinci and Franz Reuleaux: Machine Engineers

The 21st century has been called the Information Age, a term that evokes images of cell phones, laptop computers, pagers and cell towers. Television and public flat panel screens in stadiums and airports confront us with flashing images, fantastic color shapes and ciphers offering information and visual promotions as if in some ethereal science fantasy world without need of energy or inertia. However behind the virtual worlds of the Internet, machines are still with us, often hidden behind shiny plastic and chrome or under the basement, closeted, silent and sentinel. Contrary to post millennium hype about the dominance of information technology, or IT, in the new millennium, our lives continue to be dependent on machines to transport us, cool and heat our homes, provide light and manufacture the very symbols of the IT Age.
Completing Our Streets: The Transition to Safe and Inclusive Transportation Networks

Barbara McCann’s purpose in writing Completing Our Streets: The Transition to Safe and Inclusive Transportation Networks was no less than to thoroughly change transportation planning practices in t...
Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction at Nanostructured Gold, Copper, and Alloy Materials

Mitigating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is one of today's most important scientific challenges. Electrochemical conversion of CO2 into industrially relevant chemicals is a leading strategy because it would allow sustainable production of commodity chemicals. In this review, we outline the current progress in nanostructuring gold, copper, and alloy catalysts for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction. In general, Au catalysts show structure and voltage dependent CO selectivity alongside the H2 evolution reaction. The ability to tune CO to H2 product distributions is appealing for downstream processing into a variety of industrially relevant chemicals. Cu catalysts produce a wider range of products, and current efforts focus on controlling the product distribution by tuning the catalyst size, structure, oxidation state, and crystallographic orientation. Finally, we discuss the emerging field of computational electrocatalysis with emphasis on the computational hydrogen electrode method. The combination of experiment and computation is important because it provides fundamental insight into chemical processes driving catalytic CO2 conversion. Continued work will help to tune catalyst structure and create next-generation materials with high catalytic activity and desirable product selectivity.
Factors impacting the diagnosis of stage IV melanoma: A National Cancer Database (NCDB) analysis.

e17627 Background: Stage IV melanoma carries a poor prognosis, with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 15-20%. The purpose of this study is to use the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to evalua...
IMF By effects on ground magnetometer response to increased solar wind dynamic pressure derived from global MHD simulations

During sudden solar wind dynamic pressure enhancements, the magnetosphere undergoes rapid compression resulting in a reconfiguration of the global current systems, most notably the field-aligned currents (FACs). Ground-based magnetometers are traditionally used to study such compression events. However, factors affecting the polarity and magnitude of the ground-based magnetic perturbations are still not well understood. In particular, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By is known to create significant asymmetries in the FAC patterns. We use the University of Michigan Block Adaptive Tree Roe Upwind Scheme (BATS'R'US) magnetohydrodynamic code to investigate the effects of IMF By on the global variations of ground magnetic perturbations during solar wind dynamic pressure enhancements. Using virtual magnetometers in three idealized simulations with varying IMF By, we find asymmetries in the peak amplitude and magnetic local time of the ground magnetic perturbations during the preliminary impulse (PI) and the main impulse (MI) phases. These asymmetries are especially evident at high-latitude ground magnetometer responses where the peak amplitudes differ by 50 nT at different locations. We show that the FACs related with the PI are due to magnetopause deformation, and the FACs related with the MI are generated by vortical flows within the magnetosphere, consistent with other simulation results. The perturbation FACs due to pressure enhancements and their magnetospheric sources do not differ much under different IMF By polarities. However, the conductance profile affected by the superposition of the preexisting FACs and the perturbation FACs including their closure currents is responsible for the magnitude and location asymmetries in the ground magnetic perturbations.
Intravenous Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients with Thrombocytopenia.

Objective To determine the safety of intravenous (IV) recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) who had a platelet count Methods We reviewed the charts of all patients who received IV rtPA for AIS during a 9.6-year period at our stroke center. Those with platelets Results A total of 835 patients received IV rtPA for AIS during this period. A total of 5 patients were identified to have a platelet count Conclusion IV rtPA for AIS might be safe in patients with platelet count
Escherichia coli transfer from simulated wildlife feces to lettuce during foliar irrigation: A field study in the Northeastern United States

Abstract Wildlife intrusion has been associated with pathogen contamination of produce. However, few studies have examined pathogen transfer from wildlife feces to pre-harvest produce. This study was performed to calculate transfer coefficients for Escherichia coli from simulated wildlife feces to field-grown lettuce during irrigation. Rabbit feces inoculated with a 3-strain cocktail of non-pathogenic E. coli were placed in a lettuce field 2.5–72 h before irrigation. Following irrigation, the E. coli concentration on the lettuce was determined. After exclusion of an outlier with high E. coli levels (Most Probable Number = 5.94*10 8 ), the average percent of E. coli in the feces that transferred to intact lettuce heads was 0.0267% (Standard Error [SE] = 0.0172). Log-linear regression showed that significantly more E. coli transferred to outer leaves compared to inner leaves (Effect = 1.3; 95% Confidence Interval = 0.4, 2.1). Additionally, the percent of E. coli that transferred from the feces to the lettuce decreased significantly with time after fecal placement, and as the distance between the lettuce and the feces, and the lettuce and the sprinklers increased. These findings provide key data that may be used in future quantitative risk assessments to identify potential intervention strategies for reducing food safety risks associated with fresh produce.
Green Products Recognition, Understanding, and Preference: The Case of Coffee Eco-Labels

We conducted a survey to gauge consumer awareness, understanding, and preferences for coffee eco-labeling. The survey covers the following labels: Rainforest Alliance Certified, Fair Trade Certified, USDA Organic, Bird Friendly and UTZ. The results, based on more than 800 responses, show that the USDA Organic label was the most recognized, followed by Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Bird Friendly, and lastly UTZ. Rainforest Alliance, Bird Friendly, and UTZ were the least understood eco-labels. Respondents were given definitions of each eco-label and then asked how appealing certain components of the coffee certification are. They rated each component on a scale of 1 (not appealing) to 7 (very appealing). “Environmental sustainability” had the highest average response, followed by “no pesticides”, “social justice”, “animal welfare”, “birds”, and lastly “third-party certification.” The descriptions of the Fair Trade and USDA Organic labels had a positive effect on respondents’ willingness to make future purchases of coffee products displaying these labels. The description of the UTZ label had the least enthusiastic response. Generally, the majority of respondents reacted favorably, indicating they were likely, very likely, or extremely likely to purchase coffee from any of the five labels after having read a description of what the labels represent. Participants were also asked about their attitudes towards the environment and their perceived altruism using the New Economic Paradigm (NEP) and the Altruism (ALT) scales.
Towards Greater Expressiveness, Flexibility, and Uniformity in Access Control

Attribute-based access control (ABAC) is a general access control model that subsumes numerous earlier access control models. Its increasing popularity stems from the intuitive generic structure of granting permissions based on application and domain attributes of users, subjects, objects, and other entities in the system. Multiple formal and informal languages have been developed to express policies in terms of such attributes. The utility of ABAC policy languages is potentially undermined without a properly formalized underlying model. The high-level structure in a majority of ABAC models consists of sets of tokens and sets of sets, expressions that demand that the reader unpack multiple levels of sets and tokens to determine what things mean. The resulting reduced readability potentially endangers correct expression, reduces maintainability, and impedes validation. These problems could be magnified in models that employ nonuniform representations of actions and their governing policies. We propose to avoid these magnified problems by recasting the high-level structure of ABAC models in a logical formalism that treats all actions (by users and others) uniformly and that keeps existing policy languages in place by interpreting their attributes in terms of the restructured model. In comparison to existing ABAC models, use of a logical language for model formalization, including hierarchies of types of entities and attributes, promises improved expressiveness in specifying the relationships between and requirements on application and domain attributes. A logical modeling language also potentially improves flexibility in representing relationships as attributes to support some widely used policy languages. Consistency and intelligibility are improved by using uniform means for representing different types of controlled actions---such as regular access control actions, administrative actions, and user logins---and their governing policies. Logical languages also provide a well-defined denotational semantics supported by numerous formal inference and verification tools.
Systems Thinking, Mapping, and Modeling in Group Decision and Negotiation

The use of systems modeling and simulation contributes an endogenous dynamic perspective to group negotiations and decision making. In the field of system dynamics, group (participatory) model building has a rich history and growing literature. This chapter provides an introduction. It discusses the roles required to handle the intricacies of facilitation and group modeling and identifies the tension inherent in models as “microworlds” or “boundary objects” (see the chapter by Ackermann and Eden, this volume). It overviews the group model building process and focuses most extensively on an accumulating body of scripts (see the chapter by Lewis, this volume) for group modeling, including scripts for introducing model concepts, initiating systems mapping, eliciting system feedback structure (see the chapter by Hujala and Kurttila, this volume), formulating formal models with client groups, and using them to help build a negotiated consensual view of their shared mental models (see the chapter by Ackermann and Eden, this volume). The keys to the success of group modeling building efforts appear to be engaging stakeholders, sharing mental models formally, assembling and managing complexity, using simulation to test scenarios and support or refute hypotheses, working toward alignment, and empowering people to have confidence in the strategies that emerge.
Phonon Emission and Absorption by Holes in the HOMO Bands of Duplex DNA

This paper focuses on the role of phonon absorption and emission in hole transport in duplex DNA. In these phonon emission and absorption calculations, carrier-phonon optical-deformation potential interactions in a quantum wire are modeled for hole-phonon interactions in duplex DNA.
The time course of light adaptation in vertebrate retinal rods.

The photoresponse of a rod wanes over time in steady illumination, as light loses its efficacy in generating the response. Such desensitization is adaptive because it extends the range of ambient light levels over which the rod signals changes in light intensity by several orders of magnitude. Adaptation begins to unfold rapidly after the onset of light with a time constant of —1 s, causing the rod’s sensitivity to steady light to decrease by nearly two log units. Thereafter, a much slower phase of adaptation evolves with a time constant of 9 s. During this phase the rod’s sensitivity decreases by an additional log unit. Both phases are dependent upon the light-induced fall in intracellular Ca2+. The fast phase of light adaptation can be attributed to Ca2+feedback processes regulating the lifetime of photoactivated rhodopsin, cGMP synthesis and sensitivity of the cGMP-gated channel to cGMP. Although the mechanism(s) of the slow phase is not yet known, it appears to include further regulation of the lifetime of photoactivated rhodopsin.
Prevention of Corrosion by the Application of Inhibitors

The treatment of public water supplies to prevent corrosion offers a most interesting and difficult problem. The subject seems to divide itself naturally into two parts the handling of waters which are naturally corrosive arid the handling of waters which become corrosive after water purification or water softening. It is not the intent of this article to go into the research aspects of the subject, but to portray to the water works operators some of the problems that are of interest to them, especially where treatment of the public water supply is practiced. Consideration will therefore be given to the second phase of the problem almost entirely, namely, the handling of corrosion which is the result of water purification or water softening treatment.
Musculoskeletal Effects of Therapy in Patients Treated for Hematological Malignancies

Considerable progress has been made in therapy for hematological malignancies over the past few decades, particularly for pediatric patients (Bleyer 1990). The increasing number of childhood cancer survivors underscores the need to screen for late adverse effects of therapy that could affect up to one- half of the survivors (Meadows and Hobbie 1986), and the need for radiologists to become familiar with them. The effects of radiation therapy on the musculoskeletal system resulting from interrupted bone growth surface after a latent period are typically permanent and visible radiographically. Musculoskeletal sequelae of chemotherapy, while seemingly less obvious, also exist. Recent studies have dispelled the notion that there are few late effects associated with the prolonged use of anticancer drugs (Fauroux et al. 1996; Gardner 1999, Hockman et al. 1999).
Arbitrary phase shifting in diffraction common path interferometry

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) has made a tremendous contribution to microbiology and medicine. Recently, QPI has been used for in-vitro fertilization optimization, and cell culture monitoring, among others. These accomplishments have been made using phase measurements. QPI is based on well-known optical metrology techniques. The challenge in QPI is developing phase measuring systems that can be used in the medical or microbiological environment. For such applications, two-beam interferometers are not suitable. In this context, we propose a common path interferometric system that provides quantitative phase measurements. The method combines the diffraction phase microscopy with the arbitrary phase shifting technique. The phase-shifted images are obtained by means of a shifted diffraction grating and an amplitude filter that allows interference between the undiffracted light and the first spatial frequency at the Fourier plane. The results show a reduction in the noise of the resultant phase when using the arbitrary phase shifting technique. This system can potentially be used to quantify nanoscale motions in living cells.
Capillary-Enhanced Filmwise Condensation in Porous Media.

Condensation is prevalent in various industrial and heat/mass transfer applications, and improving condensation heat transfer has a direct effect on process efficiency. Enhancing condensation performance has historically been achieved via the use of low surface energy coatings to promote the efficient dropwise mode over the typical filmwise mode of condensation. However, low surface tension fluids condense on these coatings in the filmwise mode, and low surface energy coatings are generally not robust at thicknesses required to enhance condensation heat transfer. We present a robust and scalable condensation enhancement method where a high heat transfer coefficient is achieved by leveraging capillary forces within a high thermal conductivity porous wick to promote condensate removal. The capillary pressure is supported by a pump to sustain steady condensate removal, and the high thermal conductivity of the wick decreases the overall thermal resistance. This technique has the potential to enhance condensat...
Proceedings of the forty-third annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing

The papers in this volume were presented at the 43rd ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC), held June 6-8, 2011 in San Jose, California, as part of the fifth Federated Computing Research Conference (FCRC). STOC is sponsored by the ACM Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory (SIGACT). The papers at STOC were selected by the program committee from among 304 submissions received by November 4, 2010 (5 of which were withdrawn by authors during the review process). The committee did its work by a combination of extensive electronic discussion and a physical meeting of the entire committee in San Francisco on January 26-27, 2011. These proceedings contain the 84 papers that were accepted to STOC, one of which is a merge of two related submissions. Three pairs of papers having similar results shared presentation slots at the conference, for a total of 81 talks. All submissions received careful consideration, but they were not refereed in a formal sense. Authors are encouraged to submit full versions of their papers to journals for a complete review and archival publication. The committee selected two papers for a Best Paper Award: "Electrical Flows, Laplacian Systems, and Faster Approximation of Maximum Flow in Undirected Graphs," by Paul Christiano, Jonathan A. Kelner, Aleksander Madry, Daniel A. Spielman, and Shang-Hua Teng, and "Subexponential Lower Bounds for Randomized Pivoting Rules for the Simplex Algorithm," by Oliver Friedmann, Thomas Dueholm Hansen, and Uri Zwick. The committee selected "Analyzing Network Coding Gossip Made Easy" by Bernhard Haeupler for the Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award. STOC was preceded by an FCRC plenary talk on June 5 given by Leslie Valiant as recipient of the 2011 ACM Turing Award for his transformative contributions to the theory of computation, including the theory of probably approximately correct (PAC) learning, the complexity of enumeration and of algebraic computation, and the theory of parallel and distributed computing. At the conference, the 11th Knuth Prize was awarded to Ravi Kannan for his work on algorithmic techniques that have fundamentally contributed to computational complexity, discrete mathematics, geometry, and operations research. He presented the Knuth Prize Lecture as an FCRC plenary talk on the morning of June 7. The program committee also decided to add a Poster Session, held on the evening of June 6, to increase the opportunities for disseminating and discussing research at the conference. Posters were not refereed; any registered FCRC attendee could present a poster on research in any aspect of theoretical computer science.
Genetic basis of voluntary water consumption in two divergently selected strains of inbred mice

Background Inbred mouse strains with normal renal function show a substantial difference in daily water consumption across strains. This study uses two strains of inbred mice C57BR/CDJ (BR), which are high consumers, and C57BL/10J (BL), which are low consumers, their reciprocal F1 crosses, inter se bred F2 s and backcrosses produced by breeding high consuming F2 animals to the low consumer parent strain and low consuming F2 animals to the high consuming parent strain. Consumption was corrected for body weight prior to analysis. Methods The effective number of genes controlling water consumption was estimated using the Castle-Wright estimator. Additive and dominance genotypic values as well as the degree of dominance were calculated using estimated strain means. Results According to Castle-Wright, a minimum of 10 factors were estimated to affect the difference in consumption across the two strains. Between seven and eight are expected to be high effect factors. Using the Zeng adjustment, it was determined that 30-40 factors potentially affect the difference in consumption. Conclusions These numbers were surprising but may be related to several sources of variation present in the BR strain. A negative degree of dominance indicated the BL strain has more dominant factors.
Comfort: Context for the Study Abroad Faculty Role:

Universities are increasingly undertaking student study abroad programs led by nursing faculty. The authors launched an inaugural study abroad nursing course. They proposed that the significance of...
Caveats to the use of MTT, neutral red, Hoechst and Resazurin to measure silver nanoparticle cytotoxicity.

Abstract The extensive use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in manufactured products will inevitably increase environmental exposure, highlighting the importance of accurate toxicity assessments. A frequent strategy to estimate AgNP cytotoxicity is to use absorbance or fluorescent-based assays. In this study we report that AgNPs – with or without surface functionalizations (polyvinyl pyrrolidone or gum arabic), and of different sizes (2–15 nm) – can interfere with the spectrometric quantification of different dyes commonly used in cytotoxicity assays, such as 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), neutral red (NR), Hoechst, and Resazurin. Some AgNP types caused more interference than others, which was dependent on the assay. Overall most AgNPs caused the direct reduction of MTT, as well as Hoechst and NR fluorescence quenching, and absorbed light at the same wavelength as NR. None of the AgNPs tested caused the direct reduction of Resazurin; however, depending on AgNP characteristics and concentration, they may still promote fluorescence quenching of this dye. Our results show that AgNPs with different size and coatings can interfere with spectroscopy-based assays to different degrees, suggesting that their cytotoxicity may be underestimated or overestimated. We suggest that when using any spectroscopy-based assay it is essential that each individual nanoparticle formulation be tested first for potential interferences at all intended concentrations.
Synthetic psychoactive cathinones: hypothermia and reduced lethality compared to methamphetamine and methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

Abstract Rationale Synthetic psychoactive cathinones (SPCs) are drugs with psychostimulant and entactogenic properties like methamphetamine (MA) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Despite clinical reports of human overdose, it remains to be determined if SPCs have greater propensity for adverse effects than MA or MDMA. Objectives To determine whether the SPCs cathinone (CAT), methcathinone (MCAT), mephedrone (MMC), and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) have lower LD50 values than MA or MDMA. Methods Male and female C57Bl/6J mice received single injections of one of 6 doses of a test drug (0–160 mg/kg IP). Temperature and behavioral observations were taken every 20 min for 2 h followed by euthanasia of surviving mice. Organs were weighed and evaluated for histopathological changes. Results LD50 values for MA and MDMA, 84.5 and 100.9 mg/kg respectively, were similar to previous observations. The LD50 for MMC was 118.8 mg/kg, but limited lethality was observed for other SPCs (CAT, MCAT, MDPV), so LD50 values could not be calculated. For all drugs, death was associated with seizure, when it was observed. Rather than hyperthermia, dose-dependent hypothermia was observed for MMC, MDPV, CAT, and MCAT. Contrary to initial expectations, none of the SPCs studied here had LD50 values lower than MA or MDMA. Conclusions These data indicate that, under the conditions studied here: (1) SPCs exhibit less lethality than MA and MDMA; (2) SPCs impair thermoregulation; (3) effects of SPCs on temperature appear to be independent of effects on lethality.
A 75-Year-Old Man With Organizing Pneumonia Presenting With Worsening Dyspnea

Case Presentation A 75-year-old man was referred to our institution for worsening dyspnea, decreased activity tolerance, myalgias, and an increase in oxygen requirement. Nine months before the initial referral, the patient presented to an outside hospital for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure requiring a right-sided video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) lung biopsy that disclosed organizing pneumonia (OP). He was treated with a prolonged steroid course starting at 1 mg/kg daily and tapered over 6 months to a baseline of 20 mg of prednisone daily and continuous oxygen (2 L/min). Prior attempts to further reduce prednisone resulted in worsening dyspnea, fevers, and myalgias. Despite optimal medical treatment for 3 months, he presented to our institution with progressive dyspnea, an increased oxygen requirement to 6 L/min, fatigue, and muscle weakness.
Treatment of pediatric diabetes mellitus

Treatment of pediatric diabetes mellitus includes:diet control,exercise,drug therapy,prevention of complications and diabetic education.Insulin dosage is different for new patients and DKA,metformin is the choice of type 2 diabetic children.Treatment of neonatal diabetes is diffenrent according to different gene mutation:sulfonylurea or insulin. Key words: Pediatric diabetes mellitus; Insulin; Complication
Morbidity After Metal Allergy to a Total Ankle Implant.

Metal allergy to total ankle arthroplasty is rare but can be both an unpredictable and devastating complication. Current literature describing metal allergy in orthopaedics is limited with there be...
How Many Samples is a Good Initial Point Worth in Low-rank Matrix Recovery?

Given a sufficiently large amount of labeled data, the non-convex low-rank matrix recovery problem contains no spurious local minima, so a local optimization algorithm is guaranteed to converge to a global minimum starting from any initial guess. However, the actual amount of data needed by this theoretical guarantee is very pessimistic, as it must prevent spurious local minima from existing anywhere, including at adversarial locations. In contrast, prior work based on good initial guesses have more realistic data requirements, because they allow spurious local minima to exist outside of a neighborhood of the solution. In this paper, we quantify the relationship between the quality of the initial guess and the corresponding reduction in data requirements. Using the restricted isometry constant as a surrogate for sample complexity, we compute a sharp threshold number of samples needed to prevent each specific point on the optimization landscape from becoming a spurious local minimum. Optimizing the threshold over regions of the landscape, we see that for initial points around the ground truth, a linear improvement in the quality of the initial guess amounts to a constant factor improvement in the sample complexity.
Hybrid wave front sensor for partially coherent beacons

Wavefront sensor (WFS) design typically focuses on reference sources at the two extremes of spatial coherence: –spatially coherent natural guide stars (NGS) and spatially incoherent laser guide stars (LGS). We propose a hybrid WFS architecture for sources that fall between those two extremes such as might be achieved with an uplink corrected LGS source. This architecture uses a lenslet array to segment the pupil plane, but the subaperture size is based on the coherence area of the reference source, and a separate WFS technique behind each lenslet is used to achieve the desired spatial sampling of the wavefront. The initial concept presented here is a hybrid Shack-Hartmann Pyramid WFS, though the concept can be applied to other WFS techniques.
Emergency Medicine Influencers' Twitter Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-methods Analysis.

Author(s): Leibowitz, Maren K.; Scudder, Michael R.; McCabe, Meghan; Chan, Jennifer L.; Klein, Matthew R.; Trueger, N. Seth; McCarthy, Danielle M. | Abstract: Introduction: The objective of this study was to analyze the messages of influential emergency medicine (EM) Twitter users in the United States (US) during the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic by characterizing the themes, emotional tones, temporal viewpoints, and depth of engagement with the tweets.Methods: We performed a retrospective mixed-methods analysis of publicly available Twitter data derived from the publicly available “Coronavirus Tweet IDs” dataset, March 3, 2020–May 1, 2020. Original tweets and modified retweets in the dataset by 50 influential EM Twitter users in the US were analyzed using linguistic software to report the emotional tone and temporal viewpoint. We qualitatively analyzed a 25% random subsample and report themes.Results: There were 1315 tweets available in the dataset from 36/50 influential EM Twitter users in the US. The majority of tweets were either positive (455/1315, 34.6%) or neutral (407/1315, 31%) in tone and focused on the present (1009/1315, 76.7%). Qualitative analysis identified six distinct themes, with users most often sharing news or clinical information.Conclusions: During the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, influential EM Twitter users in the US delivered mainly positive or neutral messages, most often pertaining to news stories or information directly relating to patient care. The majority of these messages led to engagement by other users. This study underscores how EM influencers can leverage social media in public health outbreaks to bring attention to topics of importance.n