cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
OMWare: a tool for efficient assembly of genome-wide physical maps

Physical mapping of DNA with restriction enzymes allows for the characterization and assembly of much longer molecules than is feasible with sequencing. However, assemblies of physical map data are sensitive to input parameters, which describe noise inherent in the data collection process. One possible way to determine the parameter values that best describe a dataset is by trial and error. Here we present OMWare, a tool that efficiently generated 405 de novo map assemblies of a single datasets collected from the cotton species Gossypium raimondii. The assemblies were generated using various input parameter values, and were completed more efficiently by re-using compatible intermediate results. These assemblies were assayed for contiguity, internal consistency, and accuracy. Resulting assemblies had variable qualities. Although highly accurate assemblies were found, contiguity and internal consistency metrics were poor predictors of accuracy.
Understanding and Moving beyond Labels

Carla was a second-year fourth grade teacher enrolled in our MS in Literacy Program. She has been enjoying her work with older learners in a predominately monolingual classroom. At her school, she felt she had a handle on her fourth grade curriculum and was especially proud of her ability to prepare her students for their state exams. Yet Carla was anxious about her responsibility to tutor a struggling reader in her tutoring practicum course. Almost sheepishly she admitted, “I can spend a day with 28 fourth graders. But I am slightly terrified of working one to one with a little boy!”
How to Improve Care for Older Patients in the Intensive Care Unit

A large proportion of hospital days are spent in the intensive care unit (ICU). Growing numbers of this critically ill patient population are elderly, and have baseline vulnerabilities putting them at an increased risk of having poor short- and long-term outcomes. Use of interdisciplinary collaboration in the care of elderly ICU patients is of utmost importance. This chapter reviews the unique needs of elderly ICU patients, methods for applying interdisciplinary Acute Care for Elders (ACE) interventions into ICU practice, and specific nursing considerations for elder care in the ICU. The chapter also reviews end-of-life needs and strategies for improved transitions of care for critically ill elderly patients.
Expression of Soluble Syndecan-1 or Heparanase by Myeloma Cells Enhances Levels of Angiogenic Growth Factors Present in Endothelial Cells.

Multiple myeloma is a devastating cancer with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Our previous in vivo studies demonstrate that both shed syndecan-1 and heparanase can promote myeloma tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis. To examine the mechanism underlying this enhanced angiogenesis, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were cocultured with cells of the CAG myeloma cell line (vector-only controls, CAG control ) or CAG cells engineered to express high levels of either soluble syndecan-1 ectodomain (CAG ssyn1 ) or heparanase ( CAG HPSE ). After coculture for 48 hours, levels of angiogenic growth factors present in the endothelial cells were examined. The goal was to determine if expression of either soluble syndecan-1 or heparanase by CAG myeloma cells altered growth factor levels relative to those present when control CAG cells were used. Co-culture with CAG ssyn1 or CAG HPSE cells did not enhance endothelial levels of FGF-2, while levels of hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were elevated in endothelia growing in the presence of CAG ssyn1 cells but not CAG HPSE cells or CAG control cells. However, VEGF levels present in endothelial cells were substantially enhanced by the presence of CAG ssyn1 (1.9-fold increase) or CAG HPSE cells (1.6-fold increase). Surprisingly, levels of VEGF in conditioned media of cocultures containing either CAG ssyn1 or CAG HPSE cells was low. In contrast, when cultured in the absence of HUVECs, VEGF levels were elevated in conditioned media of both CAG ssyn1 and CAG HPSE cells. Addition of this conditioned media containing high levels of VEGF to HUVECs growing in the absence of CAG cells did not result in an elevation of VEGF levels in the endothelial cells. Together, these experiments suggest that VEGF expression is upregulated in CAG cells expressing high levels of shed syndecan-1 or heparanase and that VEGF becomes associated with the endothelial cells only when they are cultured in the presence of the myeloma cells. This cross-talk between myeloma and endothelial cells may lead to the enhanced angiogenesis that occurs in vivo in tumors formed by myeloma cells producing high levels of shed syndecan-1 and/or heparanase.
Crystal structure of trirubidium citrate from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data and DFT comparison

The crystal structure of trirubidium citrate, 3Rb+·C6H5O73−, has been solved and refined using laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data, and optimized using density functional techniques. The two independent Rb+ cations are seven- and eight-coordinate, with bond-valence sums of 0.99 and 0.92 valence units. The coordination polyhedra share edges and corners to form a three-dimensional framework. The only hydrogen bond is an intra­molecular one between the hy­droxy group and the central carboxyl­ate, with graph set S(5). The hydro­phobic methyl­ene groups lie in pockets in the framework.
Dying a fiery death: pyroptosis in MDS.

In this issue of Blood, Basiorka et al have challenged how we think about cell death in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), proposed an explanation for the shared morphologic changes that are seen despite genetic heterogeneity, and identified a new target for therapeutic intervention.1
Incorporating a stochastic data-driven inflow model for uncertainty quantification of wind turbine performance

Incorporating uncertainty in wind turbine analysis and design is very necessary based on the fact that inherent variability exists in wind turbine systems. Examples of these uncertainties include fluctuations in material properties across turbine blades, variable structure parameters and stochasticity in the inflow—which is considered to be a critical factor affecting the reliability of wind turbines. However, it has been difficult to construct a low-dimensional yet accurate representation of the stochastic inflow, which precludes rigorous uncertainty propagation and quantification. Recently, we have developed a comprehensive data-driven approach [called temporal–spatial decomposition (TSD)] for constructing a stochastic, low-dimensional model that accurately represents stochastic inflow data. We leverage this approach to construct distributional forecasts of key wind turbine performance indicators. To this end, we integrated the stochastic wind model created by the TSD framework with the wind turbine solver FAST. Uncertainty propagation is performed using an adaptive sparse grid collocation approach. We investigate how the order of approximation of the stochastic model affects the quality of the predicted distribution. We observe that the probability distributions of key indicators are not necessarily Gaussian, which has implications for reliability analysis and for failure prediction. Furthermore, the distributions are sensitive to only the first few eigenmodes of the inflow wind model, which indicates that comprehensive uncertainty quantification can potentially be accomplished with moderate computational effort. The approach suggested in this paper enables seamless integration of uncertainty quantification into current deterministic codes for wind turbine simulation and has implications for the design of the next generation of wind turbines including offshore turbines. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Management of an asymptomatic patient with the apical variant of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Healthcare professionals are faced with challenging decisions regarding patient evaluation and management on a daily basis. Once a diagnosis is made, additional challenges include how to proceed with the management. Here, we present an eighty-two-year-old female who was incidentally diagnosed with the apical variant of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy on a transthoracic echocardiogram. She was found to have newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation, but was otherwise asymptomatic from a cardiomyopathy standpoint. No specific guidelines exist for this patient population. Therefore, how does one proceed with the management of an asymptomatic patient with the apical variant of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
Facilitating the Search for Partners on Matching Platforms: Restricting Agent Actions

Two-sided matching platforms, such as those for labor, accommodation, dating, and taxi hailing, can control and optimize over many aspects of the search for partners. To understand how the search for partners should be designed, we consider a dynamic model of search by strategic agents with costly discovery of pair-specific match value. We find that in many settings, the platform can mitigate wasteful competition in partner search via restricting what agents can see/do. For medium-sized screening costs (relative to idiosyncratic variation in utilities), the platform should prevent one side of the market from exercising choice (similar to Instant Book on Airbnb), whereas for large screening costs, the platform should centrally determine matches (similar to taxi hailing marketplaces). Surprisingly, simple restrictions can improve social welfare even when screening costs are small, and agents on each side are ex-ante homogeneous. In asymmetric markets where agents on one side have a tendency to be more selective (due to smaller screening costs or greater market power), the platform should force the more selective side of the market to reach out first, by explicitly disallowing the less selective side from doing so. This allows the agents on the less selective side to exercise more choice in equilibrium.When agents are vertically differentiated, forcing one side of the market to propose results in a significant increase in welfare even in the limit of vanishing screening costs. Furthermore, a Pareto improvement in welfare is possible in this limit: the weakest agents can be helped without hurting other agents. In addition, in this setting the platform can further boost welfare by hiding quality information.
Difficult Situations During the Surgery for Sigmoid Diverticulitis

Whether performed via an open or minimally invasive approach, surgery for diverticulitis can pose many technical challenges for the surgeon. These challenges can occur either during primary surgery for initial disease or during surgery for restoration of intestinal continuity following a sigmoid resection, colostomy, and Hartmann procedure.
Microscopy with ultraviolet surface excitation for rapid slide-free histology

Histologic examination of tissues is central to the diagnosis and management of neoplasms and many other diseases, and is a foundational technique for preclinical and basic research. However, commonly used bright-field microscopy requires prior preparation of micrometre-thick tissue sections mounted on glass slides, a process that can require hours or days, that contributes to cost, and that delays access to critical information. Here, we introduce a simple, non-destructive slide-free technique that within minutes provides high-resolution diagnostic histological images resembling those obtained from conventional haematoxylin-and-eosin-histology. The approach, which we named microscopy with ultraviolet surface excitation (MUSE), can also generate shape and colour-contrast information. MUSE relies on ~280-nm ultraviolet light to restrict the excitation of conventional fluorescent stains to tissue surfaces, and it has no significant effects on downstream molecular assays (including fluorescence in situ hybridization and RNA-seq). MUSE promises to improve the speed and efficiency of patient care in both state-of-the-art and low-resource settings, and to provide opportunities for rapid histology in research.
Drugs and scaffold that inhibit cytochrome P450 27A1 in vitro and in vivo

Cytochrome P450 27A1 (CYP27A1) is a ubiquitous enzyme that hydroxylates cholesterol and other sterols. Complete CYP27A1 deficiency owing to genetic mutations is detrimental to human health, whereas 50% of activity retention is not and does not affect the whole body cholesterol levels. CYP27A1 is considered a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer and age-related neurodegenerative diseases; however, CYP27A1 inhibition should be ≤50%. Herein, 131 pharmaceuticals were tested for their effect on CYP27A1-mediated cholesterol 27-hydroxylation by in vitro enzyme assay. Of them, 14 drugs inhibited CYP27A1 by ≥75% and were evaluated for in vitro binding to the enzyme active site and for inhibition constants. All drugs except one (dasatinib) elicited a spectral response in CYP27A1 and had Ki values for cholesterol 27-hydroxylation either in the submicromolar (clevidipine, delavirdine, etravirine, felodipine, nicardipine, nilotinib, and sorafenib) or low micromolar range (abiratone, candesartan, celecoxib, dasatinib, nilvadipine, nimodipine, and regorafenib). Clevidipine, felodipine, nicardipine, nilvadipine, and nimodipine have the same 1,4-dihydropyridine scaffold and are indicated for hypertension. We used two of these antihypertensives (felodipine and nilvadipine) for administration to mice at a 1-mg/kg of body weight dose, daily, for 7 days. Mouse 27-hydroxycholesterol levels in the plasma, brain, and liver were reduced, whereas tissue levels of total cholesterol were unchanged. Structure-activity relationships within the 1,4-dihydropyridine scaffold were investigated, and features important for CY27A1 inhibition were identified. We confirmed our previous finding that CYP27A1 is a druggable enzyme and found additional drugs as well as the scaffold with potential for partial CYP27A1 inhibition in humans.
Reform or Professional Responsibility as Usual: Whither the Institutions of Regulation and Discipline?

This article predicts five institutional changes that are likely to occur in the professional responsibility area in the twenty-first century. First, the enforcement of professional ethics will likely become more nationalized. Lawyers should expect a more uniform system of professional regulation and a greater degree of negotiation among the states and federal government concerning the types of regulation that are appropriate. Second, the article suggests that disciplinary systems will become more transparent, particularly with respect to policy-making in the disciplinary process and enforcement. Opening the process will enhance respect for the rules and improve enforcement techniques. Third, local bar associations will reevaluate the functions they perform and acknowledge the multiplicity, and occasional inconsistency, of the goals they seek to achieve. As a result, local bars will rely more on other regulators to restrain lawyer misconduct. They will shift their priorities towards functions, including lawyer assistance, that bar associations are uniquely suited to fulfilling. Fourth, the article predicts changes in the licensing and admission of lawyers. A system of specialty examination and licensing will provide official methods of differentiating among lawyers. At the same time, redefinition of the practice of law will result in a decrease in some forms of licensing. Greater recognition of the interrelationship between legal and nonlegal work will open the door to negotiation among the professions regarding who may provide services tangential to law. Sanctioning lay-providers may also be a necessary reaction to the growing, unsatisfied need of the poor and middle classes for law-related services.
Generating causal explanation from a cardio-vascular simulation

In this paper, we present QUALEX, a system and algorithm for generating first-order qualitative causal graphs for tutorial purposes based on de Kleer and Brown's qualitative modeling theory. QUALEX is embedded in a constructive simulation environment called Heart Works which teaches hydraulics principles about the cardio-vascular system to first year college biology students.
Defining Traumatic Injury as a Disease

Traumatic injuries induce a complex response that disrupts physiological and immune system homeostasis. Trauma-induced loss of homeostasis can predispose people to infections and other complications such as coagulopathy, organ dysfunction, and metabolic disturbance. The response to injuries varies considerably by type and severity as well as by individual variables such as age, sex, and genetics. These variables make trauma research a challenging area of investigation. Nevertheless, advances have been made in understanding how injuries influence the immune system and other vital organs. This article provides an overview of current knowledge about how traumatic injuries induce disease by affecting host immune system function. The idea that traumatic injuries induce a unique host response that may be triggered by a combination of danger signals including danger-associated molecular pattern molecules, self-antigens, and cytokines is presented and discussed. Additionally, we present potential treatment approaches that might be useful strategies for restoring immune system and physiological homeostasis following traumatic injuries.
Serving information needs in business process consulting

Business Process Consulting is a knowledge-intensive activity that requires consultants to be aware of all available process variants and best practices to implement the most effective business transformation. Typically, during a business-consulting engagement, a large amount of unstructured documentation is produced that captures not only the processes implemented, but also information such as the requirements addressed, the business benefits realized, and the organizational changes impacted. Consulting organizations archive these documents in internal knowledge repositories to leverage the information in future engagements. Our analysis of one such repository in the IBM Global Services' SAP practice indicates that although there is tremendous scope for information reuse, the true potential of reuse is not being fully realized using existing search technology. We present a novel search technique to serve the information needs of consultants as they script various pieces of design information. The proposed system auto-formulates fat semantic queries based on the context of the design activity and runs the queries on a semi-structured knowledge repository to return a ranked set of search results. Our empirical studies show that our approach can outperform--often, significantly--a conventional keyword-based search technique in terms of both relevance and precision of search results.
Significado de la fe pública en la prueba por medio de documentos públicos

This paper contains an explanation of public trust as an element of public documentary evidence, which can be characterized by the presence of a group of legal provisions that regulate the elaboration process of documents in order to guarantee their authenticity. We understand public trust as a legal institution that seeks to give certainty in trading and that acts in the evidentiary field through legal valuation rules. Based on the aforementioned regarding evidence in civil proceedings, we conclude that a distinction must be made between two kinds of public documents: those that are provided of public trust and those that are a result of the exercise of public functions. Considering the higher guarantees that surround the elaboration process of documents that are provided with public trust, we contend that these must have more probative value than those documents elaborated as a consequence of the exercise of public functions.
G protein signaling-biased agonism at the κ-opioid receptor is maintained in striatal neurons.

Biased agonists of G protein–coupled receptors may present a means to refine receptor signaling in a way that separates side effects from therapeutic properties. Several studies have shown that agonists that activate the κ-opioid receptor (KOR) in a manner that favors G protein coupling over β-arrestin2 recruitment in cell culture may represent a means to treat pain and itch while avoiding sedation and dysphoria. Although it is attractive to speculate that the bias between G protein signaling and β-arrestin2 recruitment is the reason for these divergent behaviors, little evidence has emerged to show that these signaling pathways diverge in the neuronal environment. We further explored the influence of cellular context on biased agonism at KOR ligand–directed signaling toward G protein pathways over β-arrestin–dependent pathways and found that this bias persists in striatal neurons. These findings advance our understanding of how a G protein–biased agonist signal differs between cell lines and primary neurons, demonstrate that measuring [35S]GTPγS binding and the regulation of adenylyl cyclase activity are not necessarily orthogonal assays in cell lines, and emphasize the contributions of the environment to assessing biased agonism.
A cyanide-bridged di-manganese carbonyl complex that photochemically reduces CO 2 to CO

Manganese(I) tricarbonyl complexes such as [Mn(bpy)(CO)3L] (L = Br, or CN) are known to be electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to CO. However, due to their rapid photodegradation under UV and visible light, these monomeric manganese complexes have not been considered as photocatalysts for CO2 reduction without the use of a photosensitizer. In this paper, we report a cyanide-bridged di-manganese complex, {[Mn(bpy)(CO)3]2(μ-CN)}ClO4, which is both electrocatalytic and photochemically active for CO2 reduction to CO. Compared to the [Mn(bpy)(CO)3CN] electrocatalyst, our CN-bridged binuclear complex is a more efficient electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction using H2O as a proton source. In addition, we report a photochemical CO2 reduction to CO using the dimanganese complex under 395 nm irradiation.
Mimicry, Hegel Interpretation, and Mimetic Theory of Language

This chapter is concerned with critically analyzing Homi Bhabha’s notion of mimicry in the colonial, racially hierarchical context. He develops Fanon’s psychological analysis in terms of the ambivalence of mimicry, but its psychological limitation lies in discarding Fanon’s discussion of Hegel’s theory of master and slave. In theological context, Moltmann utilizes Hegel’s notion of death of God for his political theology of theologia crucis in a trinitarian sense. But my concern is to reinterpret Hegel’s notion of religion in terms of unhappy consciousness and elaborate his linguistic, critical dimension for the postcolonial political theology. I seek to revisit Hegel’s dialectical theory and his critique of religion (in reference to Nietzsche) in terms of labor, recognition, and discourse of resistance in order to cut through the psychological confinement. Moreover, a notion of mimicry can be renewed in reference to a critical theory of mimesis in Adorno and Benjamin. It is substantial to take into account Benjamin’s mimetic theory of language and a messianic history of materialism as an alternative to a psychological notion of mimicry. This perspective reinforces the political theology and its discourse ethics of responsibility and the Other (Levinas).
Radiotherapy, Lymphopenia, and Host Immune Capacity in Glioblastoma: A Potentially Actionable Toxicity Associated With Reduced Efficacy of Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is cytotoxic to tumor cells and is therefore a critical component of therapy for many malignancies, including glioblastoma (GBM). We now appreciate the value of the immunomodulatory effects of radiation that may be important to overall therapeutic success in some patients with this primary brain tumor. Although potentially beneficial immune-stimulating properties of radiotherapy treatment have been the focus of recent study, this modality is actually at the same time associated with the depletion of lymphocytes, which are crucial to the defense against neoplastic development and progression. In this review, we describe the association of systemic lymphopenia with poor tumor outcome, present evidence that radiotherapy is an important contributing cause of lymphodepletion, describe the systemic immune context of tumor and brain injury that contributes to immunosuppression, describe other contributing factors to lymphopenia including concomitant medications and treatments, and speculate about the role of the normal physiologic response to brain injury in the immunosuppressive dynamics of GBM. Radiotherapy is one significant and potentially actionable iatrogenic suppressor of immune response that may be limiting the success of therapy in GBM and other tumor types. Altered strategies for radiotherapy more permissive of a vigorous antineoplastic immune response may improve outcome for malignancy.
Dynamic Racial Triangulation: Examining the Racial Order Using an Experiment on Discrimination by White Millennials

Scholars argue that the traditional binary racial order model of the U.S. is outdated and acknowledge that racial systems can shift in response to demographic, political, and economic changes. In the coming years, White Millennials will exert ever-greater political and economic power in shaping the racial order. However, we have limited empirical evidence on the racial attitudes and race-based actions of this group. Our overarching goals in this paper are to uncover the racial order currently taking shape among White Millennials and to understand links between racial valorization, cultural inclusion/exclusion, and discriminatory actions among this group. To do so, we simulate a previous housing correspondence audit and conduct an online survey experiment with 4,462 White Millennials gauging respondents’ actions toward and views of White, Black, Hispanic, Indian, and Chinese-origin individuals. We find that White Millennial respondents express less acceptance of Blacks than members of other groups. Second, Blacks and Latinx are penalized on dimensions of valorization (i.e. responsibility, courteousness, and financial stability). Third, all groups other than Whites and “Americanized” Latinx are penalized on cultural inclusion, though the extent varies by signals of assimilation. Our findings indicate some support for racial triangulation theory but also show that insights from this perspective should be synthesized with those of racial formation theory. We suggest that rather than conform to any existing theory, White Millennials enact an emerging racial order rooted in what we call dynamic racial triangulation.
Detection of Nonhematologic Neoplasms by Routine Flow Cytometry Analysis.

Objectives We investigated the ability of routine flow cytometry (FC) to detect nonhematologic neoplasms (non-HN) using antibody panels routinely used for the diagnosis of hematologic neoplasms. Methods FC analyses of 4,000 various diagnostic samples were retrospectively reviewed to identify cases in which an aberrant, viable CD45-negative, nonhematologic neoplastic population was detected by FC panels designed to evaluate hematologic neoplasms. Results A total of 57 (1.4%) diverse non-HNs were identified, representing neuroendocrine tumors (33/57) and carcinomas (9/57), as well as other malignancies (15/57) such as sarcoma and melanoma. The majority of neoplasms were positive for at least one antibody, typically CD56 (43/51, 84.3%), followed by CD117 (15/34, 44.1%) and CD138 (6/33, 18.2%). Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of carefully inspecting CD45-negative events to identify non-HNs by routine FC analysis. This can help expedite further downstream immunophenotypic analysis of specimens and triage samples for appropriate genetic and molecular studies.
U L 26 Attenuates IKKβ-Mediated Induction of Interferon-Stimulated Gene (ISG) Expression and Enhanced Protein ISGylation during Human Cytomegalovirus Infection.

Viruses must negotiate cellular antiviral responses in order to replicate. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a prevalent betaherpesvirus that encodes a number of viral gene products that modulate cellular antiviral signaling. The HCMV UL26 gene has previously been found to attenuate cytokine-activated NF-κB signaling, yet the role that UL26 plays in modulating the host cell's global transcriptional response to infection is not clear. Here, we find that infection with a UL26 deletion virus (ΔUL26) induces a proinflammatory transcriptional environment that includes substantial increases in the expression of cytokine signaling genes relative to wild-type HCMV. These increases include NF-κB-regulated genes as well as interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), such as ISG15 and bone marrow stromal cell antigen 2 (BST2). The ΔUL26 mutant-mediated induction of ISG15 expression was found to drive increases in global protein ISGylation during ΔUL26 mutant infection. However, short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and CRISPR-mediated targeting of ISG15 indicated that its induction does not restrict HCMV infection. In contrast, shRNA-mediated targeting of BST2 demonstrated that BST2 restricts HCMV cell-to-cell spread. In addition, the increased expression of both of these ISGs and the global enhancement in protein ISGylation were found to be dependent on the activity of the canonical inhibitor of NF-κB kinase beta (IKKβ). Both CRISPR-based and pharmacologically mediated inhibition of IKKβ blocked the induction of ISG15 and BST2. These results suggest significant cross-talk between the NF-κB and interferon signaling pathways and highlight the importance of IKK signaling and the HCMV UL26 protein in shaping the antiviral response to HCMV.IMPORTANCE Modulation of cellular antiviral signaling is a key determinant of viral pathogenesis. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a significant source of morbidity in neonates and the immunosuppressed that contains many genes that modulate antiviral signaling, yet how these genes contribute to shaping the host cell's transcriptional response to infection is largely unclear. Our results indicate that the HCMV UL26 protein is critical in preventing the establishment of a broad cellular proinflammatory transcriptional environment. Further, we find that the host gene IKKβ is an essential determinant governing the host cell's antiviral transcriptional response. Given their importance to viral pathogenesis, continuing to elucidate the functional interactions between viruses and the cellular innate immune response could enable the development of therapeutic strategies to limit viral infection.
Learning Maps for Object Localization Using Visual-Inertial Odometry

Abstract. Objects follow designated path on maps, such as vehicles travelling on a road. This observation signifies topological representation of objects’ motion on the map. Considering the position of object is unknown initially, as it traverses the map by moving and turning, the spatial uncertainty of its whereabouts reduces to a single location as the motion trajectory would fit only to a certain map trajectory. Inspired by this observation, we propose a novel end-to-end localization approach based on topological maps that exploits the object motion and learning the map using an recurrent neural network (RNN) model. The core of the proposed method is to learn potential motion patterns from the map and perform trajectory classification in the map’s edge-space. Two different trajectory representations, namely angle representation and augmented angle representation (incorporates distance traversed) are considered and an RNN is trained from the map for each representation to compare their performances. The localization accuracy in the tested map for the angle and augmented angle representations are 90.43% and 96.22% respectively. The results from the actual visual-inertial odometry have shown that the proposed approach is able to learn the map and localize objects based on their motion.
Sacrificial Materials and Release Etchants for Metal MEMS That Reduce or Eliminate Hydrogen-Induced Residual Stress Change

Metal microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) provide attractive properties such as high reflectivity and high conductivity. They are typically processed using an organic sacrificial layer that is removed by an oxygen ash. This enables low-temperature processing but presents other problems. For example, ashing is not applicable to metals that are susceptible to oxidation. However, if an inorganic sacrificial silicon dioxide is used, its removal commonly involves acids, exposure to which can be detrimental to metals. For example, metallic films are susceptible to hydrogen incorporation, resulting in large compressive stress. In recent work with structural tantalum and sacrificial silicon dioxide as a model system, we demonstrated that hydrogen injected during the release process can induce 1200 MPa compressive stress. This work explores AlN and Cu as alternative sacrificial materials in which release etching of structural Ta by AZ 400K developer and FeCl3 solution, respectively, is hydrogen free. Isotropic release etching is observed for Cu at room temperature and for AlN above 60 °C. In comparison with 1200 MPa, the uniaxial stress change after structure release is 80 MPa compressive with Cu and is unchanged after AlN sacrificial etch. [2021-0005]
A Multifunctional Full-Polarization Reconfigurable 28 GHz Staggered Butterfly 1-D-Beam Steering Antenna

A novel multifunctional staggered $8\,\,\times12$ Butterfly phased array antenna is proposed at Ka -band (28 GHz) for 5G communications with key features of full-polarization reconfigurability, flexible radiation pattern, and wide-angle 1-D-beam steering performance. The unit cell of the proposed array is a two Butterfly radiating antennas separated by $2\lambda \text{g}$ ( $\lambda \text{g}\,\,=$ effective wavelength) with two ports, where each Butterfly is a sequentially rotated series-fed microstrip patch antennas. Full-polarization reconfiguration (right-hand circular polarization (RHCP), left-hand circular polarization (LHCP), Linear-X, and Linear-Y polarization) is achieved by suitable excitation of the ports to realize increased system capacity. Flexible radiation pattern with dynamic 3 dB gain-beamwidth from 16° to 90° is achieved to realize a variable cellular range, angle, and gain requirements. The proposed staggered planar array configuration reduces the spacing between the adjacent series-fed linear array to $0.45\lambda _{0}$ , where $\lambda _{0}$ is the free-space wavelength at 28 GHz. The proposed array size of $8\,\,\times12$ Butterfly provides beam steering up to ±63° without any grating lobes. Analytical study using a periodic leaky-wave antenna (LWA) theory is included to provide insights into the radiation characteristics of the Butterfly series-fed linear array antenna. The beam steering characteristics were verified by using measured patterns of the individual branches and by applying the computed array factor. The full-polarization reconfiguration and flexible radiation patterns with sidelobe reduction are implemented and experimentally verified with a 16-channel Analog Devices ADMV4821 RFIC Ka -band beamformer.
Automated Cyclers for Peritoneal Dialysis

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) has evolved remarkably over the decades proving itself to be a competitive alternate to hemodialysis (HD). In 1962, Norman Lasker designed the first PD cycler featuring four 2-liter glass containers of PD solution to obtain a reservoir of 8 liters, connected to pre-sterilized disposable tubing and bags. The concept of the semiautomatic machine was applied to many other cyclers, and most were modeled after Lasker’s, the forerunner of all modern cyclers. Starting toward the end of the 1980s, PD cyclers underwent progressive improvement in terms of hardware components and layout, making continuous cycler peritoneal dialysis (CCPD), also known as automated peritoneal dialysis (APD), safer, quieter, and less bulky. Continuous progress in the hardware component of cyclers led to the availability of portable cyclers suitable for home treatment.
Photonic Slot Routing

Chapters 2 through 7 are devoted to various issues related to the wavelengthrouted WDM networks. An emerging alternative to the wavelength-routed WDM network is a WDM network based on optical packet switching. One recently proposed approach to optical packet switching is Photonic Slot Routing (PSR) [97, 98]. In PSR, time is slotted, and data is transmitted in the form of photonic slots which are fixed in length and span across all wavelengths in the network. Each wavelength in the photonic slot may contain a single packet, and all packets in the photonic slot are destined to the same node. By requiring the packets to have the same destination, the photonic slot may be routed as a single integrated unit without the need for demultiplexing individual wavelengths at intermediate nodes. Thus, wavelength-insensitive components may be used at each node, resulting in less complexity, faster routing, and lower network cost [97,99].
Detection and Quantitation of HCV-RNA in Immune Globulins Produced by Cohn-Oncley Fractionation of Human Plasma

The partitioning of hepatitic C virus (HCV) during immune globulin production by cold ethanol fractionation was studied by utilizing a plasma pool comprising 186 anti-c100-3-reactive donations. In addition, various commercial immune globulin preparations made from either an anti-c100-3 screened pool (2887 negative donations) or unscreened pools were analyzed for the presence of HCV-RNA. Detection and quantitation of HCV-RNA were accomplished by a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at limiting dilution. One PCR unit (PCR U) was defined as the minimum quantity of HCV-RNA from which an amplified product could be visualized by ethidium bromide staining. Although fractionation to obtain immune globulin reduced the level of HCV-RNA by a factor of 4.7 X 104 compared to the starting plasma, a small amount of HCV-RNA partitioned into Cohn fraction II yielded an immune globulin preparation containing 880 PCR U/g of IgG. HCV-RNA was detected in several lots of intravenous immune globulin prepared by one manufacturer, with levels ranging from 10 to 250 PCR U/g of IgG. Other immune globulin products also contained detectable HCV-RNA. Thus, our findings indicate that HCV may not be completely removed from immune globulins during plasma fractionation. The reason for the apparent safety of immune globulins with respect to HCV transmission remains to be elucidated.
Chattering-free sliding mode control with unmodeled dynamics

Sliding mode control systems are valued for their robust accommodation of uncertainties and their ability to reject disturbances. In this paper, a design methodology is proposed to eliminate the chattering phenomenon affecting sliding mode controlled plants with input unmodeled actuator dynamics of second order or greater. The proposed controller design is based on the relative degrees of the plant and the unmodeled actuator dynamics and ranges of the uncertainties of the plant and actuator. The controller utilizes the pass filter characteristics of the physical actuating device to provide a smoothing effect on the discontinuous control signal rather than introducing any artificial dynamics into the controller design thus eliminating chattering in the system's output response.
California's Estate Tax Dilemma

As a consequence of the Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001 (2001 Tax Act), the federal government eliminated the estate tax credit for state death taxes paid after 2004. Due to an anomaly in California constitutional law, the legislature is prohibited from imposing a California estate tax as it had in the past because the California Estate Tax was tied to the federal death tax credit. The authors discuss the details of the problem and suggest alternatives to overcome the significant loss of revenue from wealthy estates.
DNA Binding Properties of Simian Virus 40 Temperature-Sensitive A Proteins

Wild-type simian virus 40 A protein (large T antigen) bound to three tandem regions of simian virus 40 DNA. The binding regions were defined by the ability of A protein to protect simian virus 40 DNA from digestion with limited (footprint assay) or excess (fragment assay) amounts of DNase I. At low concentrations, protein first bound to region I, which maps 30 to 45 base pairs to the early side of the origin of replication. At higher concentrations, A protein also protected region II and then region III. Region II spanned approximately 65 base pairs and corresponded in location to the functional origin of replication that contains a unique BglI site along with an adjacent adenine-thymine-rich region. Region III was adjacent to the late boundary of region II, but its distal limit was not well defined. Twelve distinct temperature-sensitive (ts) A proteins were purified and examined for their ability to bind in regions I to III. Three classes of tsA protein were defined on the basis of thermal stability. Class I tsA protein displayed wild-type binding either with or without a heat shock. Unheated class II tsA protein exhibited wild-type binding, but after a heat shock bound very poorly to the origin of replication. Class III tsA protein was defective in its binding even without a heat shock and only protected region I. Classes II and III were coded by mutants mapping in two distinct regions of the genome. For all of the tsA proteins examined, there was a positive correlation between the thermolability of origin binding in vitro and the temperature sensitivity of these mutants for DNA replication and transcriptional autoregulation in vivo. This correlation adds support to the essential role of origin binding by A protein in viral DNA replication and early transcription repression.
Multispectral integration for segmentation of chromosome images

This paper presents a methodology and results for multispectral integration in chromosome images by learning disparate models from each channel for pixel classification. The objective is the classification of pixels to identify each of the individual chromosomes. The methodology is based on a modular structure consisting of multiple classifiers, each of which solves the problem independently based on its input observations. Each classifier module is trained to detect distinct regions and a higher order decision integrator collects evidence from each of the modules to delineate a final region. A Bayesian realization of the framework is developed, where each classifier module represents the conditional probability density function. Results of classification on a public database are presented.
Information Systems Success and Technology Acceptance within Government Organization

Numerous models of IS success and technology acceptance their extensions have been proposed and applied in empirical. This study continues this tradition and extends the body of knowledge on the topic of IS success by developing a more comprehensive model for measuring IS success and technology acceptance within a government organization. The proposed model builds upon three established IS success and technology acceptance frameworks namely the DeLone and McLean (2003), Venkatesh et al.'s (2003) unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), and Wixom and Todd (2005). The findings from this study provide not only a comprehensive IS success assessment model but also insights into whether and how IS success models are influenced by application variables as applied within a government organization. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed for instrument refinement and validity test of the existing and proposed models. Using data from employees of a local government municipal, the comprehensive model explained 32 percent variance. Four of the hypothesis were fully supported five were not supported, and four were partially supported. In addition, the results suggest that behavioral intention may not be the best predictor of technology acceptance in a mandatory environment.
Intravenous fluid therapy for infants and children. Physiologic principles and a practical regimen with examples of application.

The physiologic basis, culled from the germane literature, and the practical application of a simple program of parenteral fluid therapy are presented. A polyionic solution is described whose salt and sugar concentrations are such that administration of a volume sufficient to meet the water requirement of a patient simultaneously provides adequate electrolytes and calories. The advantages of basing calculations for fluid therapy on body surface area are discussed. The program has been found to be effective for many types of metabolic disturbance and a variety of morbid conditions.
Strand exchange protein 1 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A novel multifunctional protein that contains DNA strand exchange and exonuclease activities.

Strand exchange protein 1 (Sep1) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae catalyzes the formation of heteroduplex DNA molecules from single-stranded circles and homologous linear duplex DNA in vitro. Previously, Sep1 was purified as a 132,000-Da species; however, DNA sequence analysis indicates that the SEP1 gene is capable of encoding a 175,000-Da protein (Tishkoff, D.X., Johnson, A.W., and Kolodner, R.D. (1991) Mol. Cell. Biol. 11, 2593-2608). The SEP1 gene was cloned into a GAL10 expression vector and expressed in a protease-deficient yeast strain. Intact Sep1, which migrated as a Mr-160,000 polypeptide during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was purified to apparent homogeneity and shown to have activities similar to those of the originally purified Mr = 132,000 fragment. We report here that, in addition to strand exchange activity, Sep1 contains an intrinsic exonuclease that is active on single- and double-stranded DNA with a severalfold preference for single-stranded DNA. The nuclease was induced in crude extracts upon induction with galactose, it co-purified with the strand exchange activity of Sep1, and the nuclease and strand exchange activities of Sep1 showed the same kinetics of heat inactivation. Sep1 nuclease, which requires Mg2+, can be functionally separated from the strand exchange activity by the substitution of Ca2+ for Mg2+. Under these conditions, the nuclease is inactive, and strand exchange activity is dependent on prior resection of the DNA ends by an exogenous exonuclease. Thus, the nuclease is necessary for synapsis but not strand exchange. Electron microscopic analysis revealed that true strand exchange products, alpha molecules and nicked double-stranded circular molecules, were formed. In addition, strand transfer proceeded to similar extents on 5'-resected and 3'-resected DNA. This result suggests that the polarity of strand transfer by Sep1 is determined by the polarity of its intrinsic nuclease.
Neutron scattering and the 30 S ribosomal subunit of E. coli

Ribosomes are nucleoprotein enzymes which catalyze the formation of polypeptide chains under mRNA control, using aminoacyl tRNAs as substrates—for reviews see Nomura et al. (22) and Chambliss et al. (2). While our knowledge of what these particles do in protein synthesis is satisfactory, our understanding of how they do it is minimal. We still have no idea, for example, what there is about the mechanism of protein synthesis that requires all ribosomes, whatever their source, to be two-subunit enzymes. It is most unlikely that mechanistic questions of even this simple kind will be answered until much more is known about the three-dimensional structure of these particles than is known today.