cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Association Between Body Mass Index and Presenting Symptoms in African American Women with Ovarian Cancer

Abstract Background: Ovarian cancer, the most lethal gynecologic malignancy, typically comes to clinical attention due to nonspecific gastrointestinal or pelvic symptoms. African Americans with ovarian cancer have a greater mortality burden than whites and are also much more likely to be obese. The objective of this study is to explore whether the presentation and duration of symptoms differ by body mass index (BMI) in African Americans with ovarian cancer. Methods: We conducted a case-only analysis using data from a multicenter population-based study of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer in African American women. Information on risk factors and symptoms leading to diagnosis was obtained in a telephone interview. Frequency and duration of symptoms by BMI categories were compared using logistic regression and linear regression analyses. Results: Of the 326 women, ∼60% was obese (BMI ≥30), with 30.8% having a BMI ≥35 kg/m2. Ninety-four percent of women reported ≥1 symptom during the year before diagnosis. ...
Border Lookout: Enhancing Tuberculosis Control on the United States–Mexico Border

We evaluated the use of federal public health intervention tools known as the Do Not Board and Border Lookout (BL) for detecting and referring infectious or potentially infectious land border travelers with tuberculosis (TB) back to treatment. We used data about the issuance of BL from April 2007 to September 2013 to examine demographics and TB laboratory results for persons on the list (N = 66) and time on the list before being located and achieving noninfectious status. The majority of case-patients were Hispanic and male, with a median age of 39 years. Most were citizens of the United States or Mexico, and 30.3% were undocumented migrants. One-fifth had multidrug-resistant TB. Nearly two-thirds of case-patients were located and treated as a result of being placed on the list. However, 25.8% of case-patients, primarily undocumented migrants, remain lost to follow-up and remain on the list. For this highly mobile patient population, the use of this novel federal travel intervention tool facilitated the detection and treatment of infectious TB cases that were lost to follow-up.
Sparse Non-Negative Matrix Factorization for Mesh Segmentation

In this paper, we present a method for 3D mesh segmentation based on sparse non-negative matrix factorization (NMF). Image analysis techniques based on NMF have been shown to decompose images into semantically meaningful local features. Since the features and coefficients are represented in terms of non-negative values, the features contribute to the resulting images in an intuitive, additive fashion. Like spectral mesh segmentation, our method relies on the construction of an affinity matrix which depends on the geometric properties of the mesh. We show that segmentation based on the NMF is simpler to implement, and can result in more meaningful segmentation results than spectral mesh segmentation.
Representation of Function, Behavior, Structure and Interrelationships at Different Abstract Levels of Product Information

To foster an effective collaboration during product lifecycle activities, product information must include data on geometry and topology, assembly constraints and associations, design and product processes, the functions and behaviors of the product, and the design intent. A product has many associations among its parts in terms of assembly, function, behavior, tolerance, kinematics, etc. These associations need to be represented in a consistent way, so that they will not conflict with each other. There have been many efforts to connect function and behavior to structure, but there exists no complete, consistent method yet. It is especially critical in the conceptual development of a product, as well as during its evaluation. The work described in this paper should help people make intelligent decisions by allowing them to manage product lifecycle activities from different perspectives (i.e., function, structure, etc.) using the knowledge of how the product information is interconnected, and how artifacts affect each other.In this study, functional and behavioral models have been developed to represent assembly-related product knowledge. These models connect functions, behaviors and structures — through the parts of artifacts using input/outputs and artifacts’ functional associations (i.e. spatial and design relations/requirements) at different abstract levels of product information. A planetary gearbox has been used as a case study to show how the functional/structural model can be implemented.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
BEE FLOWERS: A HYPOTHESIS ON FLOWER VARIETY AND BLOOMING TIMES

In arctic (Kevan, 1972), temperate (Lovell, 1903), and tropical regions, the flowers of different species of plants in a given habitat at any one time usually exhibit a variety of colors, scents, morphologies, and blooming times. Bees are the primary pollinators of many of them (Baker and Hurd, 1968). Adaptations of given species of plants to specific pollinators (MMuller, 1881; Knuth, 1909; van der Pijl, 1961; van der Pijl and Dodson, 1966; Grant and Grant, 1965; Faegri and van der Pijl, 1971), to an array of generalized pollinators, or to differences in pollinator behavior (Macior, 1970, 1971) probably do not account for all of the extraordinary array of forms, colors and scents of the bee-pollinated flowers in a given habitat. Those commonly visited by bumblebees alone may be white, red, yellow, purple, ultraviolet, green, or blotched and streaked with a variety of colors. The flowers may be zygomorphic (Werth, 1949), platformshape, or equipped with varying numbers of lobed and unlobed petals. The key to the evolution of different types of flowers is usually considered to reside in the preferences and the flowerconstancy of the pollinators. The flowerconstancy of bees, and its probable impact on plant speciation has been discussed (Grant, 1949; Grant, 1950; Manning, 1956a; Free, 1966). However, little is known about the selective pressures producing the variety of flowers upon which flower-constancy is based. It is rarely possible to witness selection, but inferences of differential selection exerted by pollinators can sometimes be made from careful studies of the interactions of flower-visitors and plants in a given area. The studies of Clarkia bees of the western United States (MacSwain et al., 1973) and of bumblebees on Pedicularis in the Rocky Mountains (Macior, 1970, 1971) serve as good examples. It is necessary to determine what affects flower choice and flower fidelity of the foragers in the presence of numerous species of sympatric plants. This paper concerns the functional significance in the variety and in the assortment of flowers visited primarily by bumblebees in one habitat in Maine. The observations from this area may serve as a model applicable to other plant assemblages and pollinators.
Exploring Configurable Non-Volatile Memory-based Caches for Energy-Efficient Embedded Systems

Non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies have recently emerged as alternatives to traditional SRAM-based cache memories, since NVMs offer advantages such as non-volatility, low leakage power, fast read speed, and high density. However, NVMs also have disadvantages, such as high write latency and energy, which necessitate further research into robust optimization techniques. In this paper, we propose and evaluate configurable non-volatile memories (configNVM) as a viable NVM optimization technique, and show that configNVMs can reduce the cache's energy consumption by up to 60%, with minimal performance degradation. We describe the knowledge gaps that must be filled to enable configNVMs, and show that configNVMs offer new opportunities for energy efficient caching in embedded systems.
The pharmacological specificity of beta-1 and beta-2 adrenergic receptors in rat heart and lung in vitro.

The potency and selectivity of a variety of agonists and antagonists were determined for β-1 and β-2 adrenergic receptors on membranes prepared from rat ventricular muscle and lung. Activation or inhibition of β-adrenergic receptor stimulated adenylate cyclase activity and inhibition of specific (125I)-iodohydroxybenzylpindolol binding were used as in vitro measurements of receptor occupancy. With both assays the relative potencies of isoproterenol, epinephrine and norepinephrine with cardiac membranes was approximately 1:10:10, indicating a population of mainly β-1 adrenergic receptors. With membranes from lung the order of potency of these compounds was approximately 1:10:100, indicating a population mainly of β-2 adrenergic receptors. Several drugs previously reported to be β-2 selective agonists (salbutamol, soterenol, salmefamol, zinterol and fenoterol) activated adenylate cyclase in the lung but not in the heart. These compounds turned out to be partial agonists and isoproterenol-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity was inhibited by them in both tissues. Several compounds previously reported to be either β-1 (dobutamine) or β-2 (terbutaline and metaproterenol) selective agonists had similar potencies for stimulation of adenylate cyclase from both tissues. A series of compounds reported to be β-1 selective antagonists were also investigated. Metoprolol and practolol were 10-fold, and atenolol was 3-fold more potent in the heart than the lung. Butoxamhe, a β-2 antagonist, was 2-4 fold more potent in the lung than the heart, while H35/25 showed no specificity. The ability of antagonists to inhibit [125I]-iodohydroxybenzylpindolol binding to membranes prepared from the heart and lung agreed well with their effects on adenylate cyclase. The β-2 selective agonists zinterol and salmefamol also showed a 10-50 fold greater potency in inhibiting [125I]-iodohydroxybenzylpindolol binding in the lung than the heart. However salbutamol, soterenol and fenoterol, which selectively activated adenylate cyclase in the lung, inhibited [125I]-iodohydroxybenzylpindolol binding in the two tissues with equal potency. This apparent discrepancy appears to be due to the fact that these drugs which are partial agonists in the lung are competitive antagonists in the heart, and that the Ki values in the heart are very similar to the K act values in the lung.
Social analytics for personalization in work environments

A user's context in work environments, or work context, provides finegrained knowledge on the user's skills, projects, and collaborators. Such work context is valuable to personalize many web applications, such as search and various recommendation tasks. In this paper, we explore the use of work contexts derived from users' various online social activities, such as tagging and blogging, for personalization purposes. We describe a system for building user work context profiles, including methods for cleaning source data, integrating information from multiple sources, and performing semantic enrichment on user data. We have evaluated the quality of the created work-context profiles through simulations on personalizing two common web applications, namely tag recommendation and search, using real-world data collected from large-scale social systems.
Atmospheric corrosion and chloride deposition on metal surfaces

Atmospheric corrosion and chloride deposition on metal surfaces was studied at an unpolluted coastal (marine) site, an unpolluted rural inland site, and a polluted urban site. Chloride deposition by both wet (precipitation) and dry deposition processes over a multi-year period was measured using ion chromatography analysis of incident precipitation and precipitation runoff from the surface of metal samples. Chloride deposition was measured on zinc, copper, lead, mild steel, and non-reactive blank panels, as well as two panels coated with thermal-sprayed zinc alloys. Chloride deposition measured by runoff chemistry was compared with chloride deposition measurements made by the ASTM wet candle technique. Corrosion mass loss as a function of distance from the ocean is presented for copper and mild steel in bold exposures on the west coast.
Green Bacteria: The Light-Harvesting Chlorosome

Chlorosomes are the main light-harvesting structure of green filamentous bacteria and green sulfur bacteria and are filled with aggregated bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c , d , or e . BChl a is associated with a small protein in the envelope of the chlorosome, whereas the other BChls are organized in rod-like structures located in the interior of the chlorosome and contain little or no protein. Chlorosomes are appressed to the cytoplasmic side of the cytoplasmic membrane, and the main path of excitation energy transfer can be written as BChl c , d , or e ( chlorosome ) → BChl a ( chlorosome ) → BChl a ( Fenna – Matthews – Olson , FMO or membrane proteins ) → BChl a ( reaction center , RC )
Organometallic Iridium Complex Containing a Dianionic, Tridentate, Mixed Organic–Inorganic Ligand

A pentamethylcyclopentadienyl–iridium complex containing a tricyclic, dianionic, tridentate, scorpionate (facial binding), mixed organic–inorganic ligand was synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, as well as polynuclear NMR, UV–vis, and IR spectroscopies. The central cycle of the tridentate ligand consists of a modified boroxine in which two of the boron centers are tetrahedral, anionic borates. The complex is stable to hydrolysis in aqueous solution for >9 weeks at 25 °C but reacts with a 50 mM solution of sodium periodate within 12 s to form a periodate-driven oxygen evolution catalyst that has a turnover frquency of >15 s–1. However, the catalyst is almost completely deactivated within 5 min, achieving an average turnover number of ca. 2500 molecules of oxygen per atom of iridium. Nanoparticles were not observed on this time scale but did form within 4 h of catalyst activation under these experimental conditions. The parent complex was modeled using density functional th...
Src Family Kinase Links Insulin Signaling to Short Term Regulation of Na,K-ATPase in Nonpigmented Ciliary Epithelium.

Insulin has been shown to elicit changes of Na,K-ATPase activity in various tissues. Na,K-ATPase in the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium (NPE) plays a role in aqueous humor secretion and changes of Na,K-ATPase activity impact the driving force. Because we detect a change of NPE Na,K-ATPase activity in response to insulin, studies were carried out to examine the response mechanism. Ouabain-sensitive rubidium (Rb) uptake by cultured NPE cells, measured as a functional index of Na,K-ATPase-mediated inward potassium transport, was found to increase in cells exposed for 5 min to insulin. The maximally effective concentration was 100 nM. An intrinsic increase of Na,K-ATPase activity evident as a >2-fold increase in the rate of ouabain-sensitive ATP hydrolysis in homogenates obtained from cells exposed to 100 nM insulin for 5 min was also observed. Insulin-treated cells exhibited Akt, Src family kinase (SFK), ERK1/2, and p38 activation, all of which were prevented by a pI3 kinase inhibitor LY294002. The Rb uptake and Na,K-ATPase activity response to insulin both were abolished by PP2, an SFK inhibitor which also prevented p38 and ERK1/2 but not Akt activation. The Akt inhibitor MK-2206 did not change the Na,K-ATPase response to insulin. The findings suggest insulin activates pI3K-dependent Akt and SFK signaling pathways that are separate. ERK1/2 and p38 activation is secondary to and dependent on SFK activation. The increase of Na,K-ATPase activity is dependent on activation of the SFK pathway. The findings are consistent with previous studies that indicate a link between Na,K-ATPase activity and SFK signaling. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 1489-1500, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The evolution of tumour phylogenetics: principles and practice

The use of phylogenetics in cancer genomics is increasing owing to a growing appreciation of the importance of evolutionary theory to cancer progression. The authors provide guidance on the design and analysis of tumour phylogeny studies by surveying the range of phylogenetic methods and tools available to the cancer researcher and discussing their key applications and the unsolved problems in the field.
Efficient Light Extraction of Organic Light-Emitting Diodes on a Fully Solution-Processed Flexible Substrate

A flexible, nanocomposite substrate for maximizing light outcoupling efficiencies of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is introduced. In depth investigation is performed on designing the integrated strategy based on considerations of surface conductivity, microcavity tuning, and internal light scattering. The resulting nanocomposite substrate consists of silver nanowires as the electrode and a high-index polymer layer and a light-scattering layer for light extraction. It is able to outcouple both the waveguide and the substrate modes, two modes accounting for significant losses in OLED device efficiency. With enhanced light outcoupling, white OLEDs subsequently fabricated on the nanocomposite substrates demonstrate performance metrics of 107 lm W−1 power efficiency and 49% external quantum efficiency at 1000 cd m−2. The nanocomposite substrate is fabricated by solution processes at low temperatures for potentially low manufacturing cost.
Relational communication and illusionary loyalty: Moderating role of self-construal

Abstract In this research we demonstrate how various facets of communication influence customer loyalty in a B2B selling environment. Palmatier, Scheer, and Steenkamp (2007) show that salesperson owned loyalty (customers' loyalty specific to the salesperson) can be differentiated from customers' overall loyalty to the firm. We demonstrate how various facets of communication differentially influence salesperson owned loyalty and loyalty to the firm. We find that greater bidirectional flow of communication enhances both salesperson owned loyalty and customers' loyalty to firm. However, greater frequency of communication enhances only salesperson owned loyalty. Formality in communication negatively influences salesperson owned loyalty and positively influence customers' loyalty to firm. In addition, we find an interesting moderation effect of these relationships by customers' self-construal. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.
Theory-Based Analysis of Interest in an HIV Vaccine for Reasons Indicative of Risk Compensation Among African American Women.

Licensure of an HIV vaccine could reduce or eliminate HIV among vulnerable populations. However, vaccine effectiveness could be undermined by risk compensation (RC), defined by an increase in risky...
GENOME-WIDE METHYLATION CHANGES IN THE DORSAL MOTOR NUCLEUS OF THE VAGUS CONTRIBUTE TO THE RISK OF PARKINSON DISEASE (P1.106)

Objective: To investigate whether there are significant differences in DNA methylation between Parkinson Disease (PD) cases and controls in three brain regions affected in PD. Background: Environmental exposures have been shown to affect the risk of PD. Because DNA methylation states are known to be affected by environment causes, we investigated whether this could be a contributor to PD. As DNA methylation is known to be both tissue and tissue-region specific, we used three regions for the analysis. The dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV), recognized to be one of the earliest regions affected in PD, the substantia nigra (SN), the primary area of neurodegeneration, and the cingulate gyrus (CG), which is affected in the later stages of PD. Design/Methods: DNA methylation patterns with PD were investigated by performing a genome-wide screen of DNA methylation using the Illumina 450 methylation beadchip on 12 autopsy-confirmed PD and 11 autopsy-confirmed controls. Results: 9,621 CpG sites were found to be differentially methylated between PD and controls at FDR Conclusions: The DMV is a nucleus with potential environmental exposure via the vagus nerve and the gastrointestinal tract. Further, it has repeatedly been found to be an area demonstrating the earliest PD pathology. Our data suggest that methylation changes occur in the DMV and are affecting genes involved in neurotransmission and neurodegenerative pathways. This supports methylation as a likely factor in early PD. Study Supported by: NIH/NINDS P50NS071674 Disclosure: Dr. Vance has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Neurology Genetics. Dr. Vance9s institution has received royalty payments from Athena Diagnostics. Dr. Sivasankaran has nothing to disclose. Dr. Wang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mehta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Davis has nothing to disclose. Dr. Belle has nothing to disclose. Dr. Dykxhoorn has nothing to disclose. Dr. Beecham has nothing to disclose. Dr. Martin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mash has nothing to disclose. Dr. Scott has nothing to disclose. Dr. young has nothing to disclose.
Competitive ability, not tolerance, may explain success of invasive plants over natives

When entering a new community, introduced species leave behind members of their native community while simultaneously forming novel biotic interactions. Escape from enemies during the process of introduction has long been hypothesized to drive the increased performance of invasive species. However, recent studies and quantitative syntheses find that invaders often receive similar, or even more, damage from enemies than do native species. Therefore, invasives may be those more tolerant to enemy damage, or those able to maintain competitive ability in light of enemy damage. Here, we investigate whether tolerance and competitive ability could contribute to invasive plant success. We determined whether invasive plants were more competitive than native or noninvasive exotic species in both the presence and absence of simulated herbivory. We found competition and herbivory additively reduced individual performance, and affected the performance of native, invasive, and noninvasive exotic species’ to the same degree. However, invasives exerted stronger competitive effects on an abundant native species (Elymus canadensis) in both the presence and absence of herbivory. Therefore, while invasive species responded similarly to competition and simulated herbivory, their competitive effects on natives may contribute to their success in their introduced range.
Interrupted versus continuous fascial closure in patients undergoing emergent laparotomy: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND The optimal method of fascial closure, interrupted fascial closure (IFC) versus continuous fascial closure (CFC) has never been studied exclusively in the setting of emergency surgery. We hypothesized that IFC decreases postoperative incisional hernia development following emergent laparotomies. METHODS Between August 2008 and September 2015, patients undergoing emergent laparotomies were consented and randomly assigned to either IFC or CFC. Patients were followed up postoperatively for at least 3 months and assessed for incisional hernia, dehiscence, or wound infection. We excluded those with trauma, elective surgery, mesh in place, primary ventral hernia, previous abdominal surgery within 30 days, or those not expected to survive for more than 48 hours. Our primary endpoint was the incidence of postoperative incisional hernias. RESULTS One hundred thirty-six patients were randomly assigned to IFC (n = 67) or CFC (n = 69). Baseline characteristics were similar between the groups. No difference was noted in the length of the abdominal incision, or the peak inspiratory pressure after the closure. The median time needed for closure was significantly longer in the IFC group (22 minutes vs. 13 minutes, p < 0.001). Thirty-seven (55.2%) IFC and 41 (59.4%) CFC patients completed their follow-up visits. There was no statistically significant difference in baseline and intraoperative characteristics between those who completed follow-ups and those who did not. The median time from the day of surgery to the day of the last follow-up was similar between IFC and CFC (233 days vs. 216 days, p = 0.67), as were the rates of incisional hernia (13.5% versus 22.0%, p = 0.25), dehiscence (2.7% vs. 2.4%, p = 1.0), and surgical site infection (16.2% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.75). CONCLUSION There was no statistically detectable difference in postoperative hernia development between those undergoing IFC versus CFC after emergent laparotomies. However, this may be due to the relatively low sample size. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic/Care Management Study, level III.
Teaching Clinical Science to Medical Students

Medical student recruitment into anesthesiology in the United States has fluctuated over the past 20 years in part because undergraduate medical education exposure to our specialty remains limited. The practice of anesthesiology is high intensity, so learning this clinical science can be stressful for novice learners. Our practice of perioperative medicine necessitates that a solid foundation of medical knowledge be applied in the clinical setting, along with technical skills, effective interpersonal/communication skills, and professionalism. Clinical teachers are faced with teaching this vast content of academic and practical knowledge and skills to medical students during the anesthesiology clerkship.
Emotionally Related Organ Donation

A 45 year old medically well marine sergeant, the life-long friend of a 48 year old attorney who has a 42 year old wife on maintenance hemodialysis due to hypertensive kidney disease, offers his kidney for transplantation. The potential donor declines payment — in any form — stating that giving his “spare kidney” will make him feel fulfilled. Tissue typing and pre-transplant screening indicate that donor and recipient share two antigens and have no circulating factors which might injure the transplanted kidney. On the day of transplant surgery, the anesthesiologist refuses to participate on the grounds that what is proposed is a possibly lethal assault on an otherwise healthy human being.
Iterating the Literature: An Early Annotated Bibliography of Design-Thinking Resources:

As discussed throughout this special issue, interest in design thinking as a process, a set of mind-sets and practices, and also a potential addition to writing studies and technical and profession...
From Mediated Fieldwork to Co-Constructed Partnerships: A Framework for Guiding and Reflecting on P-12 School–University Partnerships:

An essential component of teacher preparation is clinical practice that allows teacher candidates (TCs) to observe, reflect upon, test their ideas, and adjust and improve their methods in classroom...
Supercapacitor to Provide Ancillary Services With Control Coordination

This paper proposes a dynamic frequency support scheme of a supercapacitor energy storage system (SCESS) in coordination with run-of-the-river-based pumped storage hydropower (PSH) to enhance the short-term frequency stability in a power system that has a high penetration of renewable energy. To achieve this, the proposed coordinated frequency controller (CFC) enables the SCESS and PSH plant to provide the frequency response. The CFC scheme employs a dynamic droop characteristic in parallel with an integral controller and a distribution function. The dynamic droop characteristic determines the power production for frequency regulation employing a variable gain, which varies with the total capacity of the frequency control units and magnitude of the system frequency error with time; the gain increases with the frequency error, and thereby, arresting the frequency nadir at a higher level than in the conventional droop characteristic. In addition, the distribution function dispatches the power from the dynamic droop and integral controller to the control units in proportion to their headrooms; furthermore, the distribution function considers a sudden loss of generation from an SCESS by its operational constraint during the frequency support. Thus, the proposed dynamic frequency support scheme can enhance the short-term frequency stability for a frequency event.
Characterization of Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) Spawning Habitat in the Lower Missouri River

Acipenseriformes (sturgeons and paddlefish) globally have declined throughout their range due to river fragmentation, habitat loss, overfishing, and degradation of water quality. In North America, pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) populations have experienced poor to no recruitment, or substantial levels of hybridization with the closely related shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorynchus). The Lower Missouri River is the only portion of the species’ range where successful reproduction and recruitment of genetically pure pallid sturgeon have been documented. This paper documents spawning habitat and behavior on the Lower Missouri River, which comprises over 1,300 km of unfragmented river habitat. The objective of this study was to determine spawning locations and describe habitat characteristics and environmental conditions (depth, water velocity, substrate, discharge, temperature, and turbidity) on the Lower Missouri River. We measured habitat characteristics for spawning events of ten telemetry‐tagged female pallid sturgeon from 2008–2013 that occurred in discrete reaches distributed over hundreds of kilometers. These results show pallid sturgeon select deep and fast areas in or near the navigation channel along outside revetted banks for spawning. These habitats are deeper and faster than nearby river habitats within the surrounding river reach. Spawning patches have a mean depth of 6.6 m and a mean depth‐averaged water‐column velocity of 1.4 m per second. Substrates in spawning patches consist of coarse bank revetment, gravel, sand, and bedrock. Results indicate habitat used by pallid sturgeon for spawning is more common and widespread in the present‐day channelized Lower Missouri River relative to the sparse and disperse coarse substrates available prior to channelization. Understanding the spawning habitats currently utilized on the Lower Missouri River and if they are functioning properly is important for improving habitat remediation measures aimed at increasing reproductive success. Recovery efforts for pallid sturgeon on the Missouri River, if successful, can provide guidance to sturgeon recovery on other river systems; particularly large, regulated, and channelized rivers.
Flat cholesteric liquid crystal polymeric lens with low f-number

We use a simple photoalignment method to fabricate four reflective cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) polymeric lenses with diameter D=2.45 cm and low f-numbers (f/2, f/0.9, f/0.45, f/0.33) at 550 nm. Such a flat CLC lens can be converging or diverging, depending on the handedness and direction of the incident light. Our CLC lenses can achieve ∼85% diffraction efficiency for a designated polarization state and manifest decent imaging ability.
Elastic Depths for Detecting Shape Anomalies in Functional Data

We propose a new family of depth measures called the elastic depths that can be used to greatly improve shape anomaly detection in functional data. Shape anomalies are functions that have considera...
Terrain Classification with a Reservoir-Based Network of Spiking Neurons

Terrain classification is important for outdoor path planning, mapping, and navigation. We developed a reservoir-based spiking neural network (r-SNN) to classify three terrain types (i.e. grass, dirt, and road) in a botanical garden. It included a recurrent layer and a supervised layer. The input spike trains to the recurrent layer were generated from linear accelerometer and gyroscope sensor signals as well as camera frames from an Android smartphone that controlled a ground robot. Compared to a Support Vector Machine (SVM) model and a 3-layer (3L) logistic regression model, our r-SNN method generated better prediction accuracy without reliance on a time window of data. Using both images and sensors as input, the test accuracy of the r-SNN was over 95%, which was significantly better than the SVM and the 3L logistic regression. Because the r-SNN is compatible with neuromorphic hardware, our proposed method could be part of a biologically-inspired power-efficient autonomous robot navigation system.
Comparison of mechanical cardiopulmonary support strategies during lung transplantation.

Lung transplantation outcomes are influenced by the intraoperative mechanical cardiopulmonary support strategy used. This surgery was historically done either on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) or off...
Shared Decision Making in Opioid Prescribing in Gynecologic Surgery: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

Study Objective To determine the impact of shared-decision making in postsurgical opioid prescribing in women who underwent minimally-invasive (MIS) hysterectomy. Design Randomized controlled trial. Setting Single tertiary care center. Patients or Participants Women aged ≥18 years who had a planned MIS hysterectomy. Interventions Participants were assigned either to a standard arm (30 tablets) or patient-directed arm (0–30 tablets) of oxycodone 5 mg. Women in the patient-directed arm participated in shared-decision making. Measurements and Main Results Seventy-three (36 standard, 37 patient-directed) were enrolled between January 15, 2019–April 24, 2020. There were 5 screen failures after enrollment (3 standard, 2 patient-directed). There were 2 patients lost to follow-up (1 in each arm), and 1 patient in the patient-directed arm who withdrew from the study. 16.9% (11/65) of the procedures were completed laparoscopically, 38.5% (25/65) robotically, and 44.6% (29/65) vaginally. The median number of oxycodone prescribed in the patient-directed arm was 15 (mean 16.8±8.9 tablets). The patient-directed arm utilized a greater percentage of oxycodone (38.4%) than the standard (26.7%, p Conclusion Shared-decision making significantly increased percent of oxycodone utilization but did not decrease the total number of oxycodone used. Patients used on average 20 tablets less than the standard 30 tablets prescribed, and gynecologic surgeons should consider prescribing less opioids after MIS hysterectomy.
Non-adaptive factors determine which equally effective regulatory motif evolves to generate pulses

Transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) are enriched for certain subnetworks or "motifs". Motif usage is commonly interpreted as the result of adaptive evolution. But network motifs can also differ in how easy it is to evolve them. Here, we simulated the de novo evolution of motifs within TRNs under selection to produce a short, sharp pulse of an effector protein. In agreement with past work in the field, two network motifs, type 1 incoherent feed-forward loops (I1FFLs) and negative feedback loops (NFBLs), evolved as the primary solutions. Different selection conditions changed the relative frequencies of the two solutions, but this was not due to the superior performance of one; under all conditions, either motif can achieve similar top performance. I1FFLs generally evolve more often than NFBLs, unless we selected for a particularly tall pulse. This result suggests that I1FFLs are evolutionary more accessible than NFBLs. When NFBLs do evolve, it is usually from a conjugate containing both I1FFL and NFBL. In contrast, I1FFLs can evolve via a greater variety of trajectories. This difference potentially explains NFBL9s lower evolutionary accessibility. To agreement with our simulation results, we found that in the real yeast TRN, output genes of NFBLs had higher expression levels than those of I1FFLs, i.e. selection for taller pulses. These results suggest that evolutionary accessibility, and not relative functionality, shape which networks motifs evolve in TRNs, and do so as a function of the expression levels of particular genes.
Life Sentences and Perpetual Confinement

The past 40 years have been a time of great change in life sentencing, during which the use of life sentences has dramatically grown and the quality of life sentences has markedly hardened. The ris...
0033 Using social media to disseminate injury prevention content: is a picture worth a thousand words?

Statement of purpose Social media (SM) is ubiquitous and offers an opportunity to disseminate reliable and accurate safety recommendations to parents who are frequent social media users, yet little is known about the reach and impact of these messages on safety knowledge and behavior adoption. Methods/Approach Parents of children ( Results A total of 580 parents completed the survey. Most were female (58.6%) with high eHealth literacy (84.5%). Low eHealth literate parents used SM more frequently than high eHealth literate parents for safety information (p Conclusion Injury professionals can use SM to create and share reliable and accurate injury prevention information to large, global audiences. Using matching imagery and text helps to facilitate parental understanding of safety recommendations, regardless of eHealth literacy level of the audience. Identifying gaps in the content of SM messaging and parental understanding of messages will allow injury professionals to create and disseminate safety information to more effectively facilitate parental understanding of recommendations.
Predicting Support for Affirmative Action in Educational Admissions

The present study examines predictors of support for ethnicity-based affirmative action (AA) in college admissions. There is considerable work focused on predicting support for AA policies in employment, but there is comparative dearth of knowledge about reactions to AA in education. This work applies existing models of support for AA that include beliefs about AA policies (fairness, merit, diversity valuation, and prevalence of discrimination) and individual characteristics (sex, political orientation, and self-interest). White (n = 413) and Hispanic (n = 343) college students completed measures of the model predictors and reactions to a general AA policy and several specific policies (e.g., recruitment of minority applicants, different standards for admission). Regarding the general policy, those who more strongly valued diversity in educational setting and believed discrimination still existed indicated stronger support for general AA policy. Surprisingly, fairness, merit, gender, and political orientation did not uniquely predict support in either sample. Self-interest related to greater support for Hispanic participants only. Across specific policy applications, diversity valuation and recognition of ongoing discrimination were the also most consistent predictors. Findings highlight that models of support for AA in hiring may not be wholly applicable in predicting support for AA in educational admissions.
Spatial Independent Range Sampling

Thanks to the wide adoption of GPS-equipped devices, the volume of collected spatial data is exploding. To achieve interactive exploration and analysis over big spatial data, people are willing to trade off accuracy for performance through approximation. As a foundation in many approximate algorithms, data sampling now requires more flexibility and better performance. In this paper, we study the spatial independent range sampling (SIRS) problem aiming at retrieving random samples with independence over points residing in a query region. Specifically, we have designed concise index structures with careful data layout based on various space decomposition strategies. Moreover, we propose novel algorithms for both uniform and weighted SIRS queries with low theoretical cost and complexity as well as excellent practical performance. Last but not least, we demonstrate how to support data updates and trade-offs between different sampling methods in practice. According to comprehensive evaluations conducted on real-world datasets, our methods achieve orders of magnitude performance improvement against baselines derived by existing works.
Weeding Out Hunger: A Community Garden and Food Pantry Approach to Address Medical Student Food Insecurity

This project’s objective was to build a community garden and a food pantry to ease food insecurity among medical students attending the University of Utah. Medical students planted and maintained a...
Intraoperative Optical Imaging with Distance-Aware RGB-Fluorescence Image Registration

The wide adoption of fluorescence imaging in various surgical subspecialties has led to the rapid development of fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) in recent years. Due to the intrinsic nature of Near-Infrared imaging as a functional imaging modality, structural features and details are often degraded or largely lacking in NIR fluorescence images. Accurate and robust registration of color and fluorescence imageries is key for integrated functional/structural surgical guidance. In this study, we have demonstrated the feasibility of dynamic distance-aware RGB-fluorescence image registration across different working distances. Different from conventional feature-based registration methods, our method does not rely on mutual features across different optical imaging modalities. Compared to conventional optics-based methods, the proposed system facilitates wearable imaging systems and handheld imaging applications in surgical settings. We have demonstrated the potential of this method in intraoperative imaging in a biological model.
Combined nanopore adaptive sequencing and enzyme-based host depletion efficiently enriched microbial sequences and identified missing respiratory pathogens.

BACKGROUND Enzyme-based host depletion significantly improves the sensitivity of clinical metagenomics. Recent studies found that real-time adaptive sequencing of DNA molecules was achieved using a nanopore sequencing machine, which enabled effective enrichment of microbial sequences. However, few studies have compared the enzyme-based host depletion and nanopore adaptive sequencing for microbial enrichment efficiency. RESULTS To compare the host depletion and microbial enrichment efficiency of enzyme-based and adaptive sequencing methods, the present study collected clinical samples from eight children with respiratory tract infections. The same respiratory samples were subjected to standard methods, adaptive sequencing methods, enzyme-based host depletion methods, and the combination of adaptive sequencing and enzyme-based host depletion methods. We compared the host depletion efficiency, microbial enrichment efficiency, and pathogenic microorganisms detected between the four methods. We found that adaptive sequencing, enzyme-based host depletion and the combined methods significantly enriched the microbial sequences and significantly increased the diversity of microorganisms (p value < 0.001 for each method compared to standard). The highest microbial enrichment efficiency was achieved using the combined method. Compared to the standard method, the combined method increased the microbial reads by a median of 113.41-fold (interquartile range 23.32-327.72, maximum 1812), and the number of genera by a median of 70-fold (interquartile range 56.75-86.75, maximum 164). The combined method detected 6 pathogens in 4 samples with a median read of 547, compared to 5 pathogens in 4 samples with a median read of 4 using the standard method. CONCLUSION The combined method is an effective, easy-to-run method for enriching microbial sequences in clinical metagenomics from sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples and may improve the sensitivity of clinical metagenomics for other host-derived clinical samples.
Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis and Autoimmune Disease

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses experimental autoimmunity using experimental allergic encephalomyelitis as a prototype. This experimental disease makes possible a firsthand presentation both of its well-established facets, such as the production of the disease and the source and character of the antigen, and also of the still outstanding questions relating to the nature of the immunological mechanisms that produce the pathological lesions. There is reason to believe that experimental autoimmune diseases of the type discussed in this chapter represent promising model systems for probing an enormous array of questions and problems. It ranges from clinical areas into the heart of cellular biology. There is a clear need not to discover more models and new experimental diseases but to find new information and meaning within the ones close at hand and awaiting further dissection. Freund's adjuvant, the isolation and characterization of the tissue antigens, and the interplay of sensitized cell and antibody and their combination with antigenic determinants are some of the issues awaiting intensive investigation. The characterization and localization of encephalitogenic antigen; transfer of allergic encephalomyelitis to lymphoid cells; “target systems” for study of cytotoxic antibrain antibodies, complement-fixing antibodies, and protection against allergic encephalomyelitis; and modification and prevention of allergic encephalomyelitis are also discussed in the chapter.
A novel ectropy-based control scheme for a dfig driven by a wind turbine with an integrated energy storage

Double-Fed Induction Generators (DFIG's) driven by wind turbines are today the state of the art wind generators and are required to provide advanced functionalities in order to support the grid and comply with technical regulations. In this paper, we propose a novel control scheme for a wind turbine driven DFIG with an integrated energy storage. The control scheme is based on nonlinear control methods and provides three functionalities: a) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) during low range of wind speed conditions, b) power ouput smoothing (alleviating the effect of intermittency into the grid) and c) constant power output during variations of the mean wind speed and tracking of the committed power reference. Our approach involves first expressing the control objectives into asymptotic stability guarantees of desired equillibrium points and then mapping these guarantees to asymptotic stability of energy-level equilibrium points. We establish equivalence between the two, and then use shifted ectropy functions as Control Lyapunov Functions (CLF) to design the corresponding controllers. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed control scheme under critical scenarios on a 3-bus power system.
Global and local distortion inference during embedded zerotree wavelet decompression

Summary form only given. Local distortion inference is proposed as an alternative to assuming a spatially uniform error for image compression applications requiring careful error analysis. This paper presents an algorithm for inferring estimates of the L/sub 2/-norm distortion (root-mean-square or RMS error) for the embedded zerotree wavelet (EZW) algorithm while maintaining its good rate-distortion performance. A small amount of both rate and computational burden is required of the encoder to calculate and transmit sums of wavelet coefficient energies. A greater computational burden is added to the decoder, mainly by an "error-propagation transform" of equal complexity to the inverse hierarchical wavelet transform. The asymmetry of the compression system with distortion inference is ideal for space-based data gathering applications where computation capacity may be limited in the encoder but virtually unlimited in the decoder. Global distortion inference is accomplished by maintaining error energy estimates of the wavelet coefficients separately for the subordinate and dominant lists. An equal reduction of error energy per significant bit is found to accurately interpolate the operational rate-distortion curve, which is explicitly transmitted prior to each dominant pass. Because of the orthogonality of the wavelet transform, the rate-distortion curve also applies to reconstructed images in the spatial domain.