cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contrast-sensitive perceptual grouping and object-based attention in the laminar circuits of primary visual cortex.

Recent neurophysiological studies have shown that primary visual cortex, or V1, does more than passively process image features using the feedforward filters suggested by Hubel and Wiesel. It also uses horizontal interactions to group features preattentively into object representations, and feedback interactions to selectively attend to these groupings. All neocortical areas, including V1, are organized into layered circuits. We present a neural model showing how the layered circuits in areas V1 and V2 enable feedforward, horizontal, and feedback interactions to complete perceptual groupings over positions that do not receive contrastive visual inputs, even while attention can only modulate or prime positions that do not receive such inputs. Recent neurophysiological data about how grouping and attention occur and interact in V1 are simulated and explained, and testable predictions are made. These simulations show how attention can selectively propagate along an object grouping and protect it from competitive masking, and how contextual stimuli can enhance or suppress groupings in a contrast-sensitive manner. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of inertial load and cervical-spine orientation on a head-tracking task in the alert cat.

Simultaneous video-fluoroscopic and neck muscle EMG data were recorded from one cat performing €15� sinusoidal (0.25 Hz) head-tracking movements in the sagittal plane in a standing body posture with two initial neck orientations and four inertial loads. Radio- opaque markers were inserted into the anterior/posterior and lateral aspects of the occipital ridge and C1-C7 to measure vertebral displacement. Kinematic data were analyzed, and a computer model was applied to the data to characterize the limits of movement in the cervical spine and to estimate the moment arms of the neck muscles at different orientations of head-neck movement. For each initial neck orientation, the cat utilized a distinct set of vertebral alignments, relative joint movements, and muscle-activation patterns to achieve the same movement outcome. As inertial load increased, vertebral alignments and relative joint movements were constant with a vertically oriented neck but differed when the neck was more horizontally oriented. Different muscle-activation patterns were used to maintain the same kinematic pattern with increased inertial loads. Some muscle EMG response gains (rectus capitis major and splenius capitis) increased with increasing mass, while others (biventer cervicis and occipitoscapularis) demonstrated an initial increase and then a plateau. EMG phases were not affected by changing the mass of the system but were affected by changing neck orientation. The model predicted that muscle moment arms would vary little for the different vertebral alignments, suggesting a robust biomechanical system minimally compensates for small changes in task geometry.
The classification of low dimensional estimation algebras

In this paper we prove the Mitter (1979) conjecture that if the estimation algebra is finite dimensional with maximal rank, then all the observation terms h/sub 1/(x),/spl middot//spl middot//spl middot/,h/sub m/(x) are necessarily polynomials of degree at most one. We also continue the previous project and study the case for state space dimension at most 4. In particular we give a classification of all possible quadratic forms that can appear in the finite dimensional estimation algebras. >
Manufacturing and reliability improvements in metal-oxide-metal capacitors-MOMCAPs

Metal-oxide-metal capacitors (MOMCAPs) have historically demonstrated less than optimal leakage and breakdown characteristics and yields. Additionally, the C/sub pk/ for capacitance is low. Any previous work done to improve the dielectric uniformity has resulted in further degradation of the capacitor characteristics. In this paper, we show that the parametric and reliability characteristics are very dependent on the bottom plate material. Our standard Ti bottom plate interacts with the capacitor dielectric, resulting in degraded performance. That interaction renders a more uniform dielectric film unusable. We have developed a MOMCAP using TiW as the bottom plate electrode, which minimizes those interactions and improves the capacitor characteristics.
Expression of the mouse hepatitis virus receptor by central nervous system microglia

Detection of the mouse hepatitis virus receptor within the central nervous system (CNS) has been elusive. Receptor expression on microglia was reduced during acute infection and restored following immune-mediated virus control. Receptor down regulation was independent of neutrophils, NK cells, gamma interferon, or perforin. Infection of mice devoid of distinct inflammatory cells revealed CD4 + T cells as the major cell type influencing receptor expression by microglia. In addition to demonstrating receptor expression on CNS resident cells, these data suggest that transient receptor down regulation on microglia aids in establishing persistence in the CNS by assisting virus infection of other glial cell types.
Code development for next-generation high-intensity large acceptance fragment separators

A suite of nuclear and atomic physics codes for computing a variety of quantities relevant for heavy-ions over a wide energy range passing through material were implemented in the DA-based beam optics code COSY Infinity. As extensions to COSY we also developed a limited fission model, map computation for beam-material interactions, and a hybrid map-Monte-Carlo mode that allows relatively fast and accurate fragment separator design, end-to-end modeling and simulations, and performance optimization. Some results are briefly mentioned; details will be published elsewhere.
Sodium channels accumulate at the tips of injured axons.

The axolemmal distribution of voltage-gated sodium channels largely determines the regions of axonal electrical excitability. Using a wellcharacterized anti–sodium channel antibody, we examined peripheral nerve fibers focally injured by exposure to the neurotoxic agent, potassium tellurite (K2TeO3). Immunocytochemical and radioimmunoassay data showed a focal accumulation of sodium channels within the tips of injured axons. The major increase in sodium channel concentration occurred between 7 and 11 days after toxin exposure; however, immunocytochemically, excess sodium channels persisted in several axonal endings for a much longer time. The accumulation of sodium channels at injured axonal tips may be responsible, in part, for ectopic axonal excitability and the resulting abnormal sensory phenomena (especially pain and paresthesias) which frequently complicate peripheral nerve injury in humans. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Clui: a platform for handles to rich objects

On the desktop, users are accustomed to having visible handles to objects that they want to organize, share, or manipulate. Web applications today feature many classes of such objects, like flight itineraries, products for sale, people, recipes, and businesses, but there are no interoperable handles for high-level semantic objects that users can grab. This paper proposes Clui, a platform for exploring a new data type, called a Webit, that provides uniform handles to rich objects. Clui uses plugins to 1) create Webits on existing pages by extracting semantic data from those pages, and 2) augmenting existing sites with drag and drop targets that accept and interpret Webits. Users drag and drop Webits between sites to transfer data, auto-fill search forms, map associated locations, or share Webits with others. Clui enables experimentation with handles to semantic objects and the standards that underlie them.
In situ synthesis of lithium sulfide–carbon composites as cathode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries

Lithium–sulfur batteries are among the most promising candidates for next-generation rechargeable lithium batteries in view of recent progress on sulfur–carbon composite cathodes. However, further progress on such batteries is hampered by their concomitant need for a metallic lithium anode, which introduces new challenges associated with uneven electrodeposition and lithium dendrite formation. Here we report a method of creating lithium sulfide–carbon composites as cathode materials, which can be paired with high-capacity anodes other than metallic lithium. Lithium sulfide is dispersed in a porous carbon matrix, which serves to improve its electrical conductivity and provides a framework for sequestration of sulfur and lithium polysulfides. The in situ synthesis approach allows facile, scalable synthesis of lithium sulfide–carbon composite materials that exhibit improved electrochemical properties. We also investigate the effect of lithium polysulfides dissolved in the electrolyte on the stability and cycling behavior of Li2S–carbon composite cathodes.
Incoherence and negative entropy in the quantum 1/f effect of BAW and SAW quartz resonators

The application of the quantum 1/f theory to bulk acoustic wave (BAW) and surface acoustic wave (SAW) quartz resonators has so far been limited to the case of very high Q resonators in which the phonons are coherent throughout the resonator volume. Here the quantum 1/f theory is applied to the general case of an arbitrary coherence length of the phonons, which may be large or small compared with the size of the quartz resonator. This allows to extend the theory for the first time to low-and resonators in which the phonons are localized in a part of the resonator volume. The theory is also extended to include defect scattering along with the phonon scattering case exclusively published so far. The author's recent application of the new Quantum Information Theory Approach (QIT, developed 1996) to Infra Quantum Physics (IQP) explains for the first time the apparent lack of unitarity caused by the entropy increase in the Quantum 1/f Effect (Q1/fE). Indeed, a more rigorous proof of the conventional Q2/fE is offered in this paper, which shows that actually there is pro resultant entropy increase and therefore unitarity is not violated. His new proof involves the concept of von Neumann Quantum Entropy, including the negative conditional entropy concept for quantum entangled states. The Q1/fE was applied to many high-tech systems, in particular to ultra-small electronic devices. The present paper explains how the additional entropy implied by the Q1/fE arises in spite of the entropy-conserving evolution of the system.
MDS array codes with independent parity symbols

A new family of maximum distance separable (MDS) array codes is presented. The code arrays contain p information columns and r independent parity columns, each column consisting of p-1 bits, where p is a prime. We extend a previously known construction for the case r=2 to three and more parity columns. It is shown that when r=3 such extension is possible for any prime p. For larger values of r, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for our codes to be MDS, and then prove that if p belongs to a certain class of primes these conditions are satisfied up to r/spl les/8. One of the advantages of the new codes is that encoding and decoding may be accomplished using simple cyclic shifts and XOR operations on the columns of the code array. We develop efficient decoding procedures for the case of two- and three-column errors. This again extends the previously known results for the case of a single-column error. Another primary advantage of our codes is related to the problem of efficient information updates. We present upper and lower bounds on the average number of parity bits which have to be updated in an MDS code over GF (2/sup m/), following an update in a single information bit. This average number is of importance in many storage applications which require frequent updates of information. We show that the upper bound obtained from our codes is close to the lower bound and, most importantly, does not depend on the size of the code symbols.
New Records of Leptogium rivale and Peltigera hydrothyria in the US Pacific Northwest

Abstract. Using a random sampling scheme, we surveyed mountain streams of western Washington, western Oregon, and northern California for Leptogium rivale and Peltigera hydrothyria We report 36 new records for L. rivale and 10 new records of P. hydrothyria
Renegotiating Feminist Praxis in the Arabian Gulf

In countries where there is an absence of social activism and formal civil society, and where overt demands for women's citizenship rights are met with suspicion and resistance, what alternative strategies are available to mobilize women and induce social and legal reform toward gender equity? One strategy that has demonstrated effectiveness is to use legitimate, state-sanctioned institutions as vehicles for change. Due to the Gulf states' firm commitment and increasing investment in women's education, it would seem that integrating gender studies into research and pedagogy within academic institutions in the Gulf would be an obvious avenue for women's empowerment. Drawing on theories of the trans-formative potential of education for social change, weaving gender issues into popular education may offer an effective conduit for consciousness-raising among today's youth. Whether taught as separate, stand-alone programs or integrated into various (more traditional) disciplines, gendering curricula fosters li...
Partitioning and mass-balance relations in lherzolites

Abstract The dependence of mineral composition on modal amounts in lherzolites is examined using mass-balance equations coupled with inter-phase partition coefficients. The composition of clinopyroxene changes dramatically as its modal abundance approaches zero because clinopyroxene strongly concentrates incompatible elements compared with orthopyroxene and olivine. Compositional variables for clinopyroxene such as element concentrations (La), element ratios (La/Yb) and interpolated concentrations (Nb/Nb★) are not representative of bulk-rock composition when clinopyroxene weight fraction
Differential Expression of DF3 Antigen between Papillary Carcinomas and Benign Papillary Lesions of the Breast

Murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) DF3, prepared against a membraneenriched fraction of breast carcinoma metastasis, has previously shown differential reactivity to breast carcinoma cells and normal or benign breast epithelial cells. Using the avidin-biotin peroxidase complex immunohistochemical method, we have examined cytoplasmic DF3 antigen expression in breast papillary lesions to define whether the MAb DF3 distinguishes papillary carcinomas from benign papillary lesions. MAb DF3 reacted with antigen in the cytoplasm in 17 of 19 papillary carcinomas, 12 (63%) of which demonstrated significant levels of cytoplasmic DF3 expression (≥20% of carcinoma cells reactive). In contrast, none of the benign lesions examined demonstrated more than 10% of epithelial cells reactive in the cytoplasm. Specimens containing a spectrum of lesions from benign papilloma through atypical hyperplasia to carcinoma showed a corresponding general increase in DF3 antigen expression in the cytoplasm with the transition of papilloma to carcinoma. These results suggest that papillary carcinomas express DF3 antigen in the cytoplasm, and this may help to distinguish them from benign papillary lesions on the basis of cytoplasmic reactivity.
A Lattice-Fluid Equation of State for Associating CO2 + Polymer Systems

A new associated lattice-fluid equation of state is derived for CO2 + polymer mixtures by incorporating complex formation in the Guggenheim–Huggins–Miller lattice-fluid partition function. The equation contains mixture parameters that must be obtained from experimental data but are independent of the temperature and pressure. Moreover, one of the parameters may be obtained via in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared measurements. The solubilities of CO2 in several polymers were correlated over a wide range of temperatures and pressures using only one adjustable parameter. The extent of swelling of the polymers due to the addition of CO2 could then be predicted without any additional parameters.
Fecal short-chain fatty acids of very-low-birth-weight preterm infants fed expressed breast milk or formula.

Objectives In preterm infants, the metabolic responses of gastrointestinal (GI) bacteria to different diets are poorly understood despite the possible effects on GI health. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that diet influences bacterial metabolism by measuring short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in stool samples from very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) preterm infants without GI disorder as surrogate biomarkers of bacterial metabolism. Methods Ion chromatography was used to measure fecal SCFAs (acetate, formate, propionate, butyrate, and isobutyrate), lactate, and chloride in fresh stool samples collected from 32 preterm infants (without major congenital anomalies, GI disorders, or a recent history of antibiotic administration and on full feed of either expressed maternal breast milk [EBM; n = 13] or a formula for preterm infants [Similac Special Care Formula; preterm formula, PTF; n = 19]). Results The mean birth weight was 972 g, the mean gestational age was 27 weeks, and the mean postnatal age at first stool sample was 36 days. When adjusted for gestational age, the stools of EBM infants had higher concentrations (micromoles per gram of stool) of total SCFA (128 vs 68; P = 0.002), acetate (41 vs 13; P = 0.005), propionate (15.1 vs 4.4; P = 0.003), and chloride (21,814 vs 10,652; P = 0.02). Interactions between postnatal age and diet were detected for lactate (P = 0.05), propionate (P = 0.03), and butyrate (P = 0.03). Conclusions Diets fed to VLBW preterm infants influence fecal SCFA profiles, and hence the metabolism of the GI bacteria, and potentially the health of preterm infants. The responses of bacterial metabolism to diet are influenced with postnatal age and gestational age at birth.
Two-Tier Box Trap Catches Chrysops atlanticus and C. fuliginosus (Diptera: Tabanidae) near a Georgia Salt Marsh

A new two-tier box trap designed for collecting Chrysops was tested on St. Simons Island, GA. The bottom box was constructed of plywood 1.2 m wide with the sides painted flat black on the outside and glossy off-white on the interior. The upper box was of similar construction, but painted glossy off-white. The bottom edge of the lower box was 0.6 m above the ground, and the bottom edge of the upper box was 1.8 m above the ground (0.6 m above the top of the lower box). In some trials, a glossy black beach ball was suspended below the center of the box and 1-octen-3-ol was dispensed midway between the boxes. Significantly more Chrysops fuliginosus Wiedemann and C. atlanticus Pechuman were collected in the upper box than in the lower box. A glossy spherical target and the presence of 1-octen-3-ol increased the catch of C. atlanticus in the upper box.
Lessons Learned from the OCO-2 Mission

The OCO-2 mission was launched on July 2nd 2014 on the first of the last set of Delta II rockets to be launched from Vandenberg Air force Base. It is currently operating in the Atrain and collecting data that will help scientists to understand the global carbon cycle. As with all NASA missions the OCO-2 mission gathered lessons from all of the engineers, scientists and managers that worked on bringing the mission to fruition. The OCO-2 team has learned a great deal in the process of building and testing this spacecraft, the details of some of those lessons will be discussed as follows: The first lesson from OCO-2 is that rebuilding a mission does not necessarily mean that it will be cheaper. While some cost savings may be gained by using a previous design, many other factors can affect the construction of the new mission that can drive the cost up. Heritage designs need to be fully understood by the implementing team. While this may seem obvious, there is a strong push when implementing a heritage design to focus on implementing it and not spending time on understanding it, just because a design exists does not mean it is flawless. High software heritage assumptions should be reviewed in detail & watched closely. A high software heritage assumption, requires that nothing change about any other aspect of the design project in question, and while this might be an ideal, it rarely occurs in practice. In this paper we will present a detailed discussion of these and other lessons that were learned by OCO-2 team and outline suggestions on how best to take them into account on future missions. INTRODUCTION One of the objectives in the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 is to provide for “The improvement of the usefulness, performance, speed, safety, and efficiency of aeronautical and space vehicles” [1]. In order to do this the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) throughout the years have collected lessons from both successful and unsuccessful missions. Consistent with this an OCO-2 document containing formulation and implementation lessons learned through launch was prepared. This paper will not go into the same level of detail as that document, but will focus on some of the more pivotal lessons learned from the OCO-2 mission development.
A Review of Vorticity Waves in Lakes

Long-period wave motion in lakes may be of two types, either internal gravity waves or vorticity waves. Internal gravity waves have long been identified as an important component of long-period motion in large stratified lakes. Less attention has been given to the identification of vorticity waves which may theoretically exist in unstratified as well as stratified lakes. So far vorticity waves have only been convincingly identified only in Lake Michigan. Here we examine some elementary models of vorticity waves in channels and rectangular basins. The characteristics of vorticity waves in these idealized models are discussed to provide guidance for a search in Lake Champlain for these waves.
The profile and analyses of statins application in China

Objective: To introduce and analyze the profile of application and approval of statins in China.Methods: The application and approval data of statins from information database of Center for Drug Evaluation of State Food and Drug Administration were collected by retrospective analytical method.Results: ① The ratio of statins applications in total applications of lipid-modifying drugs is 90.14%.② The primary applications and approval of statins are generic drug.And the application and approval ratio of simvastatin among them are 47.98%(285/594) and 46.57%(229/492)respectively.③ Most of the new products applications and approval of statins,including new drug,new indication,new combination drug,are from foreign companies.Conclusion: The profile of application and evaluation of statins is similar to the total status of application and evaluation of drug in China.It should be paid more attention to new products of statins.The new ideas should be based on the latest study progress and clinical request.
Study on Cultivation Techniques for Super-high Yield of Super Rice II Youhang 2

Through designing the nitrogen ratio of basal-tiller fertilizer to panicle fertilizer,the cultivation techniques for super-high yield of super rice Ⅱ Youhang 2 were studied.The results indicated that: ⑴ In super-high-yielding cultivation,the increase of total spikelets was mainly dependent on the increase of grains per spike,the significant increase of yield was mainly attributed to the significant enlargement of the sink size;⑵ Ineffective tillers and ineffective leaf area were decreased under the cultivation for super-high yield of rice,which contributed to the coordination between sink and source;⑶ Root activity and photosynthetic capacity of rice at booting and full heading stages under super-high-yielding cultivation were significantly higher than those under normal-high-yielding cultivation.Super-high-yielding cultivation was benefit to the accumulation of organic matter at the middle and later growth stages of rice.So the main approaches to realize super-high yield of super rice were summarized as follows: ⑴ Enlarging sink size through increasing the grains per spike on the basis of stabling spikes per unit area;⑵ Coordinating source-sink relationship through cultivating healthy and strong individual plants,decreasing ineffective tillers,and increasing the percentage of productive tillers and grain-leaf ratio;⑶ Increasing root activity and net photosynthetic rate.
Computer-based patient education: a progress report.

Computer-based teaching can help patients make informed decisions and protect both patients and physicians from the serious consequences of poor communication. This article discusses the benefits of computer-based patient education and its role in the emerging field of "patient informatics."
NEIGHBORHOOD‐LEVEL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND CRIME

ABSTRACTTheories of criminology suggest that neighborhood‐level economic activity affects the conditions that make crime more likely. However, most studies on neighborhoods and crime focus solely on residential characteristics and ignore the commercial ones. In this article, we estimate the effect of neighborhood‐level economic activity on crime holding residential characteristics constant. To do so, we use crime and census data combined with a detailed data set on establishments in Washington, DC from 2000 to 2010 to create a comprehensive measure of neighborhood‐level economic activity. We exploit the panel nature of the data to identify the directionality of the results by removing unobserved heterogeneity and estimating lags and leads of economic activity. Results indicate that increases in economic activity are associated with reductions in property crime, but that the reduction in property crime occurs before the growth in economic activity and rises afterward. Violent crime declines the same year a...
Brain tumor segmentation using holistically nested neural networks in MRI images

Purpose Gliomas are rapidly progressive, neurologically devastating, largely fatal brain tumors. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a widely used technique employed in the diagnosis and management of gliomas in clinical practice. MRI is also the standard imaging modality used to delineate the brain tumor target as part of treatment planning for the administration of radiation therapy. Despite more than 20 years of research and development, computational brain tumor segmentation in MRI images remains a challenging task. We are presenting a novel method of automatic image segmentation based on holistically-nested neural networks that could be employed for brain tumor segmentation of MRI images. Methods Two preprocessing techniques were applied to MRI images. The N4ITK method was employed for correction of bias field distortion. A novel landmark-based intensity normalization method was developed so that tissue types have a similar intensity scale in images of different subjects for the same MRI protocol. The holistically-nested neural networks (HNN), which extend from the convolutional neural networks (CNN) with a deep supervision through an additional weighted-fusion output layer, was trained to learn the multi-scale and multi-level hierarchical appearance representation of the brain tumor in MRI images and was subsequently applied to produce a prediction map of the brain tumor on test images. Finally, the brain tumor was obtained through an optimum thresholding on the prediction map. Results The proposed method was evaluated on both the Multimodal Brain Tumor Image Segmentation (BRATS) Benchmark 2013 training data sets, and clinical data from our institute. A dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and sensitivity of 0.78 and 0.81 were achieved on 20 BRATS 2013 training data sets with High Grade Gliomas (HGG), based on a two-fold cross-validation. The HNN model built on the BRATS 2013 training data was applied to 10 clinical data sets with HGG from a locally developed database. DSC and sensitivity of 0.83 and 0.85 were achieved. A quantitative comparison indicated that the proposed method outperforms the popular fully convolutional network (FCN) method. In terms of efficiency, the proposed method took around 10 hours for training with 50,000 iterations, and approximately 30 seconds for testing of a typical MRI image in the BRATS 2013 data set with a size of 160×216×176, using a DELL PRECISION workstation T7400, with an NVIDIA Tesla K20c GPU. Conclusions An effective brain tumor segmentation method for MRI images based on a HNN has been developed. The high level of accuracy and efficiency make this method practical in brain tumor segmentation. It may play a crucial role in both brain tumor diagnostic analysis and in the treatment planning of radiation therapy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Android® Programming with OLLOBOT SDK

In late Summer of 2016, ROBOTIS released for beta tests the OLLOBOT kit (see Fig. 12.1) and its OLLOBOT SDK (https://github.com/ROBOTIS-GIT/OLLOBOT). And similarly to the R+m.PLAY700 app, the OLLOBOT SDK turned out to be adaptable to all Firmware 2.0 controllers with appropriate modifications to the original code for each situation. It was released as an Eclipse project for the Android OS, and as it would be a while before a wider audience can access this kit, the author’s goal for this Chapter was to explore the application of this SDK to various Firmware 2.0 systems, in particular, CM-50, CM-150 and OpenCM-9.04C as they would be available to a wider community at present (Spring 2017).
Secure multi-party data communications in cloud augmented IoT environment

In concert with advances of wireless technologies in facilitating internet connectivity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, mobile edge computing can provision and distribute computing resources at the cloudlets to efficiently process a high volume of IoT data. Among the IoT applications, multi-party data sharing among IoT devices, wireless access nodes and cloudlets is becoming increasingly critical, not only because the data collected by each single IoT device will often stay unmined, but also because of the security concern. As IoT applications' dependence on the cloud environment grows, the rich resources at cloudlets often become the attack targets, and the IoT data that are stored or processed using the cloud resources will be jeopardized. For the internet of important things, we have investigated how to efficiently and securely share the data among multi-party. In particular, for a group of cooperative IoT devices, by leveraging the cloud resources available at the wireless access points, a secure cache site with fast data uploading rate is chosen for each user. To minimize the overall data downloading time, the multi-party multi-path data delivery scheme is also designed such that each user can efficiently retrieve the data belonging to other parties.
Sensory Trick in a Patient with Cervical Dystonia: Insights from Magnetoencephalography

Background: The proposed mechanisms for the sensory trick include peripheral sensory feedback to aid in correcting abnormal posture or movement. Case report: A 53-year-old woman with cervical dystonia underwent magnetoencephalography pre- and post-botulinum toxin injection and sensory trick, which was described as yawning. Study revealed connectivity between the left frontal and inferior frontal gyrus before yawning, which changed to the visual cortex and right middle frontal gyrus with yawning. Beta frequencies reduced and gamma frequencies increased after yawning. Discussion: The increase in gamma frequency bands may indicate increased GABAergic activity. Increase in connectivity in the right cerebellar region underscores the importance of cerebellum in pathogenesis of dystonia.
The Power of Gametophyte Transformation

A simple, reliable, and efficient transgenesis method is essential for the establishment of any model organism. Mosses and liverworts, non-seed plants, have a dominant gametophyte generation. As the haploid generation is preferred for transgenesis, multiple methods have been developed to transform gametophytes of the model species Physcomitrella patens and Marchantia polymorpha, firmly establishing them as models of nonvascular, non-seed plants. Only recently, transgenesis has been made possible in vascular non-seed plants, the ferns. Reliable methods of transforming both the sporophyte and the gametophyte generations have been developed. Although the fern sporophyte generation, as in seed plants, is the dominant generation, the gametophytes are free-living, independent entities. This life cycle offers an opportunity for developing gametophyte transgenesis methods. Simple, reliable, and efficient methods for transient and stable Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of gametophytes have been developed for the diploid fern Ceratopteris richardii, long-promoted as a model fern. The ability to transform the gametophyte has greatly facilitated the study of candidate genes functioning in promoting apogamy—a form of asexual alternation of generations. It is our great hope that this method will stimulate further development of C. richardii into a model organism. It is also our hope that this method be adapted for transforming other fern species.
Skin ischemia and ulceration as a complication of inferior phrenic artery embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract Nontarget embolization from transarterial liver-directed therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma is a rare complication. We present a case of flank skin ulceration after embolization of the inferior phrenic artery supplying tumor. This complication of inferior phrenic artery embolization underscores caution when using small particles to embolize extrahepatic supply to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Steroid-Protein Interactions Revisited

There are two types of association complexes between steroid hormones and proteins. One group of proteins bind the steroids in such a way that their biological activity is suppressed; only the free, unbound form of the hormone is active. These binders are represented by the steroid-binding serum proteins as the best known examples. The second kind of protein is found in, or possibly on, the target cells for the hormones; they are called receptor proteins. They have the opposite effect on the biological potency: they mediate the hormonal action. The binding of the steroid hormone to the receptor protein is a necessary step for the manifestation of the biological effects.
Phylogenomic analysis using Bayesian congruence measuring

Phylogenomic analysis of large sets of molecular characters, primarily DNA and proteins, provides great opportunities to estimate and understand important evolutionary processes. However, molecular phylogenies inferred from individual loci often differ. This incongruence among phylogenies can be the result of systematic error, but can also be the result of different evolutionary histories. We propose a new method, based on Bayesian hierarchical clustering and posterior probability, to measure congruence between genes and to identify sets of congruent loci within which the genes or proteins share identical evolutionary history. We demonstrate the method on a sequence data of 10 nuclear genes from 20 ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii) species.
Abstract A116: Lipid control of DNA-stimulated innate immunity

Type I interferon (IFN) plays essential roles in both spontaneous and iatrogenic tumor immunogenicity. Tumor-derived DNA is recognized by 2’,3’-cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS) that is important in tumor immunogenicity. Upon DNA binding, cGAS produces the endogenous second messenger cGAMP that binds to and activates stimulator of IFN genes (STING), a signaling adaptor. cGAMP binding triggers STING trafficking from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to perinuclear compartments, with simultaneous activation of serine/threonine-protein kinase TBK1 that in turn phosphorylates the transcription factor IRF3, leading to upregulation of type I interferons. However, where and how TBK1 is activated by STING upon cGAMP stimulation is unclear. Our study focuses on the regulation of cGAMP-stimulated STING trafficking and activation by lipid messengers with essential roles in subcellular protein/membrane trafficking and signaling. Through in vitro signaling reconstitution, we identified a cellular lipid as an essential factor of STING signaling. We found both STING and TBK1 were lipid effectors. Lipid binding not only promotes STING trafficking but also stimulates TBK1 activation. These results reveal a new component of the STING-TBK1 complex that controls cytosolic DNA-stimulated innate immune signaling. Citation Format: Xiaojun Tan, Conggang Zhang, Zhijian J. Chen. Lipid control of DNA-stimulated innate immunity [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; Sept 30-Oct 3, 2018; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2019;7(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A116.
Modeling R&D Investments

Financial data from 91 of the top 100 U.S. companies that invested in R&D during 2004 and 2003 were examined, including the relationship between these companies' sales, profits, growth rates, capit...
The convergence test to the application in a multi-term recurrence relation of a linear ODE

The recursive relation starts to appear by putting a function $y(x)=\sum_{n=0}^{\infty }d_n x^n$ into a linear ordinary differential equation (ODE). There can be $d$-term of sequences in the recurrence relation of a power series where $d\geq 2$. We discuss the absolute convergence test to the $d$-term recurrence relation with non-constant coefficients of a linear ODE.
Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects:

Background:Experiences of having an encounter with seemingly autonomous entities are sometimes reported after inhaling N,N-dimethyltryptamine.Aim:The study characterized the subjective phenomena, i...
On the use of operations research for decision making with uncertainty for IoT devices in battlefield situations: simulations and outcomes

As the dependence on IoT devices which support teams of humans and agents increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide information to teams in a multi-domain battle. Numerous challenges are present and there are several sources of data needed and utilized in these operations, including internet of things (IoT). Some of the critical challenges include the dependence and inter-dependence of IoT devices and the uncertainty of information (UoI) obtained from these devices. Uncertainty of information significantly affects the decision-making process and humans rely on underlying reasons for uncertainty in making decisions that rely on devices and data from these devices. In this paper, the novel method called the LRM (Lott, Raglin, and Metu) Method is utilized in the construction of various scenarios for decision making involving IoT devices. The LRM method incorporates several sources of uncertainty and their relationship to taxonomies deemed important to humans in support of military relevant conditions. Each scenario provides supporting information that the uncertainty of information significantly affects the decision making process when tasks are performed.
Factors Associated with Pathological Node Negativity in Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Are There Patients Who May be Candidates for a De-Escalation of Axillary Surgery?

Modified radical mastectomy (MRM), which includes axillary dissection, is the standard of care for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). While more limited axillary staging after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in clinically node-positive non-IBC has been increasingly adopted, the impact of these techniques in IBC is not clear. To inform patient selection for further study of limited axillary surgery, we aimed to describe the frequency and factors associated with pathological node-negativity (ypN0) in IBC. Patients with IBC who received NAC and MRM were identified from a prospective institutional database (2004–2019). Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with ypN0. Of 453 patients, 189 (41.7%) had a post-NAC clinical nodal stage (ycN stage) of N0 (ycN1: 150, 33.1%; ycN2: 4, 0.9%; ycN3: 47, 10.4%; unknown: 63, 13.9%); 156 (34%) were ypN0. On multivariable analysis, higher tumor grade was not associated with ypN0 (odds ratio [OR] 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.90–2.81, p =0.11). Compared with hormone receptor (HR)-negative/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative tumors (n =113, 24.9%), HR-positive/HER2-negative tumors (n =169, 37.3%) had a trend toward less ypN0 (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.29–1.02, p =0.06); HR-positive/HER2-positive tumors (n =79, 17.4%) were similar to HR-negative/HER2-negative tumors (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.35–1.48, p =0.37); and HR-negative/HER2-positive tumors (n =92, 20.3%) were associated with increased ypN0 (OR 4.82, 95% CI 2.41–9.63, p <0.001). As ycN stage increased, the likelihood of ypN0 decreased compared with ycN0 patients (ycN1/2: OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.32–0.89, p =0.02; ycN3: OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.13–0.67, p =0.004). One-third of patients with IBC who received NAC and MRM had pathologically negative nodes. Factors associated with ypN0 included ycN0 status and HR-negative/HER2-positive subtype. Large, prospective studies are needed to investigate the feasibility of alternative nodal evaluation strategies in IBC, with consideration to these subgroups.
Suicidal Ideations and Attempts in Patients With Isolated Dystonia.

Objective: To evaluate the hypothesis that individuals with isolated dystonia are at an increased risk for suicidal behavior, we administered an anonymous electronic survey to patients with dystonia, asking them about their history of suicidal ideations and suicide attempt. Methods: A total of 542 patients with dystonia completed an online 97-question survey, which captured the demographics of suicidal behavior and major psychiatric disorders in these patients. Statistical analyses examined the prevalence of suicidal behavior in patients with dystonia compared to the prevalence of suicidal ideations and attempt in the general global population and assessed the significance of risk associations between suicidality and psychiatric history in these patients. Results: Overall, 32.3% of patients with isolated dystonia reported a lifetime history of suicidal behavior, which was significantly different from the reported rates of suicidal ideation (9.2%) and attempt (2.7%) in the general global population. The prevalence of suicidality was higher in patients with multifocal/segmental and generalized forms of dystonia (range of 46%-50%) compared to patients with focal dystonias (range of 26.1%-33.3%). The highest suicidal ideation-to-attempt ratio of 4:1 was found in patients with generalized dystonia. Suicidality in patients with focal dystonia was significantly associated with their history of depression and anxiety disorders. Conclusion: Patients with isolated dystonia have an increased, albeit unrecognized, prevalence of suicidal behavior compared to the general global population. The screening for suicidal risk should be incorporated as part of the clinical evaluation of patients with dystonia to prevent their suicide-induced injury and death.
Abstract WMP82: Inhibition of Thioredoxin Interacting Protein Attenuates Tissue Plasminogen Activator Induced Brain Damage Under Acute Hyperglycemia in Murine Stroke Model

Background and Hypothesis: Acute hyperglycemia (AHG) worsens stroke outcome and increases the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage after tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment, independent of pre...
A Novel Ultrasonic Phased Array for the Nondestructive Evaluation of Concrete Structures

The porous, inhomogeneous, and attenuative nature of concrete requires the use of low frequency ultrasonic nondestructive methods for the purpose of condition assessment due to the disturbed wave characteristics in the medium. Current ultrasound techniques are limited by a small aperture width, resulting in minimal resolution and static directivity. In order to overcome such deficiencies, a novel low-frequency ultrasonic phased array has been developed and its feasibility was tested for the assessment of concrete and other cementitious materials.
Analysis of discrete-time charge-domain complex bandpass filter with accurately tunable center frequency

This paper proposes a new discrete-time complex bandpass (DT CBP) filter topology in charge domain, only using switches, capacitors, input transconductors and non-overlapping 2-phase clock scheme. The proposed DT filter features better power-efficiency, reduced complexity and easier process-scaling compared to the conventional topologies. It has an inherent anti-aliasing sinc characteristic due to the windowed integration of input voltage to current/charge during each phase. The center frequency is only determined by the capacitors ratio and sampling frequency, insensitive to PVT variations. The practical non-idealities, such as finite output impedance of input g m -stage, output impedance of source follower, non-zero switch resistance, etc. are mainly analyzed in this paper and compared with the simulated results. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed DT topology is quite robust to those non-idealities.
A hybrid method solution of scattering by conducting cylinders (TM case)

The finite element or finite difference techniques are well known for the solution of Maxwell's equation in the differential form. But terminating the mesh accurately at a finite distance from the body in the case of an open problem is a major challenge. The method of Sadiku (see Numerical Techniques in Electromagnetics, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, 1992) is applied for only the electrostatic problem. This hybrid method is applied for the TM scattering problem and the results are documented in this paper. This new approach, as in the electrostatic case, allows for the terminating surface to encapsulate the body very tightly. As before, the finite element technique is used for open region problems whereas the integral equation solution approach using Green's function is applied to enforce the radiation condition. At each iteration cycle, the induced currents on the conducting cylinder are evaluated and their scattered field at the terminating surface is calculated. Using this method for the TM case, the computational efficiency of the finite element method can be increased. It can be generalized for the case of inhomogeneous and nonlinear media, for static and dynamic fields. Numerical results are presented for the solution of Helmholtz's equation to illustrate the accuracy of the technique.
Development of the Mouse Inner Ear and Origin of Its Sensory Organs

The molecular mechanisms dictating the morphogenesis and differentiation of the mammalian inner ear are largely unknown. To better elucidate the normal development of this organ, two approaches were taken. First, the membranous labyrinths of mouse inner ears ranging from 10.25 to 17 d postcoitum (dpc) were filled with paint to reveal their gross development. Particular attention was focused on the developing utricle, saccule, and cochlea. Second, we used bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and lunatic fringe (Fng) as molecular markers to identify the origin of the sensory structures. Our data showed that BMP4 was an early marker for the superior, lateral, and posterior cristae, whereas Fng served as an early marker for the macula utriculi, macula sacculi, and the sensory portion of the cochlea. The posterior crista was the first organ to appear at 11.5 dpc and was followed by the superior crista, the lateral crista, and the macula utriculi at 12 dpc. The macula sacculi and the cochlea were present at 12 dpc but became distinguishable from each other by 13 dpc. Based on the gene expression patterns, the anterior and lateral cristae may share a common origin. Similarly, three sensory organs, the macula utriculi, macula sacculi, and cochlea, seem to arise from a single region of the otocyst.