cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A knowledge-based tutoring system for SQL programming

This paper presents the design of a knowledge-based tutoring system (KBTS) for teaching students to write SQL programs. After analyzing the underlying control mechanism in a tutoring process, we propose a novel architecture to support the process. Our system has many features such as the use of a uniform control flow strategy, the employment of a graph-based scheme to represent global knowledge, and the allowing of multiple teaching sequences and multiple viewpoints for a teaching goal. We argue that these features are essential for not only SQL tutoring systems, but also KBTSs in other domains. Thus, the paper establishes a generic framework for developing the various KBTSs. We also report some implementation considerations for the proposed system. >
Syncytium-Inhibiting Monoclonal Antibodies Produced against Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1-Infected Cells Recognize Class II Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecules and Block by Protein Crowding

Four new monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that inhibit human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-induced syncytium formation were produced by immunizing BALB/c mice with HTLV-1-infected MT2 cells. Immunoprecipitation studies and binding assays of transfected mouse cells showed that these MAbs recognize class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. Previously produced anti-class II MHC antibodies also blocked HTLV-1-induced cell fusion. Coimmunoprecipitation and competitive MAb binding studies indicated that class II MHC molecules and HTLV-1 envelope glycoproteins are not associated in infected cells. Anti-MHC antibodies had no effect on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) syncytium formation by cells coinfected with HIV-1 and HTLV-1, ruling out a generalized disruption of cell membrane function by the antibodies. High expression of MHC molecules suggested that steric effects of bound anti-MHC antibodies might explain their inhibition of HTLV-1 fusion. An anti-class I MHC antibody and a polyclonal antibody consisting of several nonblocking MAbs against other molecules bound to MT2 cells at levels similar to those of class II MHC antibodies, and they also blocked HTLV-1 syncytium formation. Dose-response experiments showed that inhibition of HTLV-1 syncytium formation correlated with levels of antibody bound to the surface of infected cells. The results show that HTLV-1 syncytium formation can be blocked by protein crowding or steric effects caused by large numbers of immunoglobulin molecules bound to the surface of infected cells and have implications for the structure of the cellular HTLV-1 receptor(s).
Novel role of Egr-1 in nicotine-related neointimal formation

Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms by which nicotine increases vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and post-injury neointimal formation. Methods and results Vascular injury was inflicted in the right iliac artery of nicotine-treated and control rats. Nicotine increased post-injury VSMC proliferation (Ki67+ cells) and neointimal formation (neointima/media ratio, 0.42 ± 0.23 vs. 0.14 ± 0.07, P = 0.02). To determine the mechanisms by which nicotine exacerbates VSMC proliferation, cultured cells were exposed to nicotine, and signalling pathways leading to cell proliferation were studied. Nicotine activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The blockade of this signalling axis abolished nicotine-mediated proliferation. Functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and Ca2+ influx were necessary for ERK1/2 activation and nicotine-induced mitogenesis in VSMCs. Downstream to ERK1/2, nicotine induced the phosphorylation of Ets-like gene 1 in a timely co-ordinated manner with the up-regulation of the atherogenic transcription factor, early growth response 1 (Egr-1). The treatment of balloon-injured arteries with a lentivirus vector carrying a short hairpin RNA against Egr-1 abolished the deleterious effect of nicotine on vascular remodelling. Conclusion Nicotine acts through its receptors in VSMC to activate the ERK–Egr-1 signaling cascade that induces cell proliferation and exacerbates post-injury neointimal development.
Apoptosis-linked gene-2 connects the Raf-1 and ASK1 signalings

Raf-1 plays important roles in cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. However, the unique and essential function of Raf-1 is anti-apoptotic. The molecules that mediate Raf-1's anti-apoptotic function are not known. In the course of identifying new substrates of Raf-1, we found that the Raf-1 kinase domain interacted with apoptosis-linked gene-2 (ALG-2) in yeast two-hybrid system. Our further studies showed that Raf-1 phosphorylated ALG-2 in an in vitro kinase assay. We also found that apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) strongly phosphorylated ALG-2. Importantly, Raf-1 blocks the ASK1-dependent ALG-2 phosphorylation. Since ALG-2 associates with ASK1, and both ASK1 and ALG-2 are involved in apoptosis, our observations indicate that Raf-1 may mediate its anti-apoptotic function by interrupting ASK1-dependent phosphorylation of ALG-2.
Management and follow-up of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia treated by CO2 laser vaporization method

Forty-four patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II and 31 patients with CIN III were followed up for up to 6 months after cervical cone vaporization with carbon dioxide laser. In addition to colposcopy and pap smear, all patients underwent cervical biopsies as part of their follow-up. This protocol permitted a diagnosis of persistent disease in the presence of normal colposcopy and pap smear.
Experimental Model of Warfarin-Associated Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose— Future demographic changes predict an increase in the number of patients with atrial fibrillation. As long-term anticoagulation for the prevention of ischemic strokes become...
LTCC in microelectronics, microsystems, and sensors

Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) is one of the most significant developments in microelectronics, microsystems, and sensors integration. The formerly-flat board technology involves a materials and process suite that lends itself to shaped and stacked 3D packaging and, within the board, enclosed unfilled volumes and unconventional components. The documentation of LTCC microsystem and sensor applications is growing rapidly in the literature. This paper will discuss accomplishments at Sandia in RF, microfluidics, gas handling, microsystems, and sensor applications. Highlighted areas include Radar MCMs, biological microsystems, smart channels, and new sensor geometries including rolled ceramic tubular substrates. Unconventional processing techniques for creating unfilled open volumes such as SVMs, screeding, and use of inserts with and without prior cavity definition will be discussed. New applications, such as the use of magnetic bead capture, incorporated smart channels, microthrusters, micro-NMR devices, radiation detectors, IMS drift tubes, optical microphones and optical switch packaging and improved performance from Full Tape Thickness Features (FTTF) will also be discussed.
A CMOS quaternary latch

A CMOS current-mode quaternary threshold logic latch circuit is proposed. This circuit accepts and requantizes quaternary logical currents during a setup clock mode and latches the input value during the hold clock mode. Using logical current increments of 10 mu A, the quaternary latch has been simulated to have a worst-case, three-logical-level transition, total setup and hold time of about 40 ns, and a single-level transition total setup and hold time of about 10 ns. >
Design and evaluation of a decision support system in a water balance application

Abstract Visualization has become a vital tool for representing the results of scientific models in decision support applications. Both the raw data and the models from which these visualizations are derived usually have considerable uncertainty associated with them. Decision-makers are typically presented with results from these models with little or no insight as to the reliability of the information shown. For effective decisions to be made, a decision support system should allow collaborative participation from scientists and decision-makers, and it should display the locations, magnitudes, and sources of uncertainty in the results. This research work discusses a software application for visualizing the results of a water balance model and its associated uncertainty. The effectiveness of the application and its visual presentation methods were incrementally tested and improved through usability engineering principles.
Rigidity in Cinema Seen From the Front Row, Side Aisle

Pictures and cinema seen at a slant present the optics of virtual objects that are distorted and inconsistent with their real counterparts. In particular, it should not be possible for moving objects on slanted film and television screens to be seen as rigid, at least according to rules of linear perspective. Previous approaches to this problem have suggested that some process (perhaps cognitive) rectifies the optics of objects in slanted pictures to derive true shape and preserve shape constancy. The means for this rectification is usually thought to be based on recovery of true screen slant. In three experiments I show that this account is unnecessary and insufficient to explain the perception of rotating, rectangular objects in slanted cinema. I present data in favor of an alternate view, one in which the information is sufficient for perceivers to determine rigidity in an object on slanted screens, at least for parallel projections. In the human visual system, local measurements of objects are apparently made according to projective geometry; in those measurements, small amounts of certain distortions in projection are tolerated. Stimuli that appear nonrigid are ones that violate certain local principles, known as Perkins's laws, of projections of rectangular solids.
New directions in male reproductive microsurgery

During the past decade, microsurgery has become a urologic subspecialty. Historically, vascular and vasal anastomosis have formed the foundation of genitourinary microsurgery. With the advent of improved instrumentation and the interest of devoted urologic microsurgeons, a multitude of new applications of microsurgery in urology have developed. In this paper, we discuss some of the new directions in male reproductive microsurgery.
A direct algebraic approach to observer design under switching measurement equations

Based on the algebraic transformation of a switched linear measurement equation into a nonlinear, yet deterministic, equation, an asymptotic state observer is constructed for discrete-time linear systems whose observations are generated according to randomly switching measurement modes. The observer, which combines the algebraic transformation with a Newton observer applied to the resulting nonlinear measurement equation, is shown to be locally exponentially convergent under arbitrary mode sequences.
Wideband injection-locked frequency divider based on a process and temperature compensated ring oscillator

The authors propose a ring-based injection-locked frequency divider (ILFD) incorporating a novel process and temperature compensation technique. The core of the ILFD consists of a process and temperature compensated ring oscillator based on modified symmetric load delay elements. Measurement results show that the natural frequency of oscillation of the ring oscillator varies only 4.4% across six different chips and for a temperature range of 0–80°C. The ILFD possesses a wide locking range over process corners as well as a wide temperature range because of the proposed compensation technique and the incorporation of the delay cell architecture in the design. A calibration circuitry can be used to further enhance the locking range. Measurement results show that the proposed ILFD functions as a divide-by-4 for an input frequency range of 1.8–3.2 GHz for an input power level as low as −3 dBm. The worst-case power consumption was approximately 2 mW from a 1.8 V power supply. The proposed ILFD can be used as a low-power prescaler for multi-band applications.
Symmetries of Gromov-Witten Invariants

The group (Z=nZ) 2 is shown to act on the Gromov-Witten invariants of the complex ag manifold. We also deduce several corollaries of this result.
Isoniazid for the Tuberculin Reactor: Take It or Leave It

The management of the adult tuberculin reactor who has no other risk factors for the development of active tuberculosis is controversial. We performed a decision analysis to address the issue of whether adults 20 to 80 yr of age should take isoniazid to prevent the development of active disease. The analysis uses a Markov simulation, a regression model to calculate the risk of developing tuberculosis at any given time after the discovery of a positive skin test, and estimates from the literature for other probabilities.The analysis favors withholding INH for all age groups, but by only 4 to 17 days of life expectancy, depending on the age of the patient. Quality adjusting and discounting change neither the preferred strategy nor the closeness of the outcome. Sensitivity analyses also underscore the narrowness of the margin.Our analysis reaches different conclusions from previously published analyses. More important than the actual strategy preferred is the minute difference in expected utilities between a...
Extracting problematic API features from forum discussions

Software engineering activities often produce large amounts of unstructured data. Useful information can be extracted from such data to facilitate software development activities, such as bug reports management and documentation provision. Online forums, in particular, contain extensive valuable information that can aid in software development. However, no work has been done to extract problematic API features from online forums. In this paper, we investigate ways to extract problematic API features that are discussed as a source of difficulty in each thread, using natural language processing and sentiment analysis techniques. Based on a preliminary manual analysis of the content of a discussion thread and a categorization of the role of each sentence therein, we decide to focus on a negative sentiment sentence and its close neighbors as a unit for extracting API features. We evaluate a set of candidate solutions by comparing tool-extracted problematic API design features with manually produced golden test data. Our best solution yields a precision of 89%. We have also investigated three potential applications for our feature extraction solution: (i) highlighting the negative sentence and its neighbors to help illustrate the main API feature; (ii) searching helpful online information using the extracted API feature as a query; (iii) summarizing the problematic features to reveal the “hot topics” in a forum.
An In-depth Examination of Farmers’ Perceptions of Targeting Conservation Practices

Watershed managers have largely embraced targeting of agricultural conservation as a way to manage strategically non-point source pollution from agricultural lands. However, while targeting of particular watersheds is not uncommon, targeting farms and fields within a specific watershed has lagged. In this work, we employed a qualitative approach, using farmer interviews in west-central Indiana to better understand their views on targeting. Interviews focused on adoption of conservation practices on farmers’ lands and identified their views on targeting, disproportionality, and monetary incentives. Results show consistent support for the targeting approach, despite dramatic differences in farmers’ views of land stewardship, in their views about disproportionality of water quality impacts, and in their trust in conservation programming. While the theoretical concept of targeting was palatable to all participants, many raised concerns about its practical implementation, pointing to the need for flexibility when applying targeting solutions and revealing misgivings about the government agencies that perform targeting.
Relation of Cardiac Dysfunction to Rhythm Abnormalities in Patients With Duchenne or Becker Muscular Dystrophies

The association between systolic cardiac dysfunction and arrhythmia development in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) or Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is generally assumed but has not been extensively studied. The purpose of this study was to describe arrhythmias in patients with DMD and BMD in the present era and determine whether arrhythmia development is associated with cardiac dysfunction. This is a single-center retrospective review of 237 Holters from 91 patients with DMD (mean = 17 ± 4 years, range 3 to 27 years) and 64 Holters from 21 patients with BMD (mean = 18 ± 7 years, range 4 to 31 years) with corresponding echocardiography. Holters were stratified by age of patient at the time of study and ejection fraction: normal (≥55%), mild ( 10/hr), couplets, and runs of supraventricular and ventricular tachycardias. Arrhythmias occurred in 44% of DMD and 57% of BMD patients and were significantly associated with decrease in cardiac function. Clinically significant arrhythmias (supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia) occurred in 10% of all Holters obtained in patients with DMD and 25% of all Holters obtained in patients with BMD. Subgroup analysis of Holters from patients with DMD demonstrated that arrhythmias increased with decreasing ejection fraction regardless of age, but that age was also a significant predictor of arrhythmia development. In conclusion, among patients with DMD or BMD, arrhythmias increase with development of cardiac dysfunction.
Pulmonary hemodynamics at birth: effect of acute cyclooxygenase inhibition in lambs

The effect of acute cyclooxygenase (CYO) inhibition on the cardiopulmonary adjustments at birth was examined in chronically instrumented, unanesthetized, term lambs before, during, and after cesarean section (spontaneous respiration). One of three infusions was started 20 min before birth: saline control (C, n = 6), indomethacin (I, n = 6), or meclofenamate (M, n = 3). The stable metabolite of prostacyclin, plasma 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha (6-keto-PGF1 alpha, aorta), was measured by radioimmunoassay as an index of CYO activity. Indomethacin blocked the rise of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha observed in control lambs after birth and indomethacin-treated lambs exhibited an attenuation of the postnatal decrease in mean pulmonary arterial pressure. Pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) was 53 +/- 2 and 47 +/- 2 Torr (mean +/- SE) at 15 min and 40 +/- 3 and 34 +/- 2 Torr at 120 min in I and C groups, respectively. There were no serial or group differences in cardiac output and cardiac right to left shunt (indicator dilution) from 15 to 120 min after birth. Arterial PO2 (PaO2) was not different between groups: 37 +/- 4 Torr at 15 min and 47 +/- 5 min at 120 min after birth (control lambs). The results for I and M were similar for all measurements.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Teaching Two Skills at Once: Strengthening Federal Legislative History and Treaty Interpretation Skills in an Advanced Legal Research Course in International Law

Law schools today increasingly devote more of their resources to international legal studies, including study abroad program and international legal institutes or center, and international legal issues are often examined in substantive legal subjects, such as contracts, torts, environmental law, and antitrust. As a result, many law schools have developed international legal research curriculums and even require or recommend international legal research as a course. A very difficult topic for students in an advanced legal research course in international law is the use of travaux preparatoires and treaty interpretation as articulated in the Vienna Convention. Because the processes and controversies surrounding statutory interpretation and treaty interpretation are very similar in the United States and abroad, it makes sense to introduce them at the same time in an international legal research course and strengthen students’ understanding of both topics.
Solutions for Reclined Seating in Office Workstation Design

A critical factor for comfortable and safe office work is trunk support from a slightly reclined posture. Frequently, however, workstation arrangements prevent workers from using this posture. Through the Ergonomics Program at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a comprehensive approach for workstation design was developed that encourages innovative applications of basic ergonomic principles for maximizing worker comfort. Without the constraints of a preconceived arrangement, holistic solutions were developed that often looked far different from the classical computer workstation, but were better fits for the worker and work area.
Abstract A32: The RNA-binding protein DDX1 promotes primary microRNA maturation and inhibits ovarian tumor progression

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by repressing translation and/or promoting degradation of their target mRNAs. Aberrant dysregulation of mature miRNAs is commonly observed in many human cancers and can have a causative function in tumorigenesis. In the nucleus, primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) are first processed by the microprocessor containing RNaseIII enzyme Drosha and its cofactor DGCR8. Although the efficiency of Drosha-mediated process is crucial for determining miRNA abundance, the mechanisms for dynamic and specific regulation of miRNA biogenesis in the Drosha microprocessor are poorly understood. A better understanding of miRNA regulation is required to determine how aberrant miRNA activity mechanistically contributes to tumorigenesis and to predict therapeutic target miRNAs. Increasing evidence has shown that regulatory RNA-binding proteins may confer the specificity on the core components (Drosha and DGCR8) in the Microprocessor for recruiting and processing premature pri-miRNAs. Here, we identified a RNA-binding protein, DEAD-box RNA helicase 1 (DDX1) as a key regulatory component in the Drosha complex, which promotes the processing of a subset of miRNAs including miR-200 family (miR-200a, -200b, -200c, -141, -429). A suppressive role of miR-200s in cancer metastasis has been well known in several cancer types such as ovarian, kidney renal and lung cancer. Inhibiting DDX1 promotes tumor burden in the previous syngeneic ovarian mouse models. Consistent with, low level of DDX1 is associated with poor clinical outcome in patients with serous ovarian cancer and kidney renal clear cell carcinoma. Interestingly, DDX1-dependent miR-200a and miR-200b were also induced after DNA damage and this induction is facilitated by the ATM-mediated phosphorylation of DDX1. These findings suggest that DDX1 may be a key modulator in miRNA maturation in response to cellular signaling pathway and that alteration of level/function of DDX1 may play an important role in tumor progression through dysregulated microRNA pathway. Citation Format: Cecil Han, Xiongbin Lu, Xinna Zhang. The RNA-binding protein DDX1 promotes primary microRNA maturation and inhibits ovarian tumor progression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Noncoding RNAs and Cancer: Mechanisms to Medicines ; 2015 Dec 4-7; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(6 Suppl):Abstract nr A32.
Urinary excretion of methadone in man

The renal elimination of methadone and its mafor metabolite by subfects on a methadone maintenance program was studied quantitatively. The concentrations of unchanged drug and metabolite in random urine samples were dose dependent. Urinary excretion was found to constitute the mafor excretory pathway at daily doses in excess of 55 mg. Excretion of methadone was markedly enhanced by acidification of the urine, while the metabolite was less affected by changes in urine pH. A sex difference in the pattern of excretion of methadone and its metabolite was found; it may be related to the rate of biotransformation of the drug.
Trends in the Allocation of Resources in Secular Growth

This paper probes at the following problem: how shall we go about analysing the relation between economic growth in general and economic growth in particular sectors of an economy? This problem translates itself into a consideration of the relation between the overall rate of growth in (say) real income, or real income per capita, and the pattern of current and past investment outlays.
Panama Canal expansion and its impact on East and Gulf coast ports of U.S.A.

This paper focuses on the Panama Canal expansion and its impact on American port infrastructure for the attention of academic researchers in maritime transportation and supply chain management (SCM). First, it provides a comprehensive background based on a review of pertinent practitioner as well as academic publications. This is followed by a summarization of the impact of this expansion on the infrastructure of the major East and Gulf Coast (EGC) ports, since these stand to be the most affected. Then it presents a categorization scheme for these EGC ports that capture their likelihood of attracting the expected increase in cargo traffic engendered by the expansion; this is preliminarily supported by the latest data on growth in container traffic. The policy implications of this categorization are then discussed and the paper ends by identifying key SCM research problems exposed by the above.
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF HYPOGLYCEMIAIN END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE PATIENTS: A REVIEW.

ABSTRACT Objective: This review focuses on hypoglycemia in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). It discusses the pathophysiology of glucose metabolism in the kidney, the impact of dialysis on glucose and insulin metabolism, and the challenges of glucose monitoring in ESRD. The clinical relevance of these changes is reviewed in relation to altered blood glucose targets and modification of antidiabetes therapy to prevent hypoglycemia. Based on current data and guidelines, recommendations for the outpatient and inpatient setting are provided for diabetes management in ESRD. Methods: PubMed, OVID, and Google Scholar were searched to identify related articles through May 2016 using the following keywords: “glucose metabolism,” “kidney,” “diabetes,” “hypoglycemia,” “ESRD,” and “insulin” in various combinations for this review. Results: In ESRD, a combination of impaired insulin clearance, changes in glucose metabolism, and the dialysis process make patients vulnerable to low blood glucose levels. Hypoglycemia accounts for up to 3.6% of all ESRD-related admissions. At admission or during hospitalization, hypoglycemia in ESRD has a poor prognosis, with mortality rates reported at 30%. Several guidelines suggest a modified hemoglobin A1c (A1c) goal of 7 to 8.5% (53 to 69 mmol/mol) and an average blood glucose goal of 150 to 200 mg/dL. Noninsulin antidiabetes agents like dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors, repaglinide, and glipizide in appropriate doses and reduction of insulin doses up to 50% may help decrease hypoglycemia. Conclusion: Patients with ESRD are at high risk for hypoglycemia. Increased awareness by providers regarding these risks and appropriate diabetes regimen adjustments can help minimize hypoglycemic events. Abbreviations: ADA = antidiabetes agent BG = blood glucose CKD = chronic kidney disease DPP-4 = dipeptidyl peptidase 4 eGFR = estimated glomerular filtration rate ESRD = end-stage renal disease GFR = glomerular filtration rate HD = hemodialysis NPH = neutral protamine Hagedorn PD = peritoneal dialysis SA = short acting SU = sulfonylurea
The Advertising Strategies of Early E-cigarette Brand Leaders in the United States.

Objectives We examined differential advertising strategies used by 4 major United States e-cigarette companies with differential affiliations with the traditional tobacco industry (ie, Njoy - independent, Blu - acquired, Vuse and MarkTen - launched by cigarette companies) over time. Methods We conducted a mixed-methods study regarding e-cigarette adspend, adspend per media channel (eg, TV, print), and advertising messaging strategies among these 4 top e-cigarette brands from January 2013 through December 2015. Results E-cigarette adspend increased from $59 million in 2013 to $91 million in 2014, followed by a sharp decline to $37 million in 2015. These companies showed distinct spending trajectories overall and across media channels, with Njoy and Vuse spending a higher proportion of their dollars on TV and Blu and MarkTen spending more on print. Marketing messages were also different by company. Key themes included switching from cigarettes (particularly by Njoy and Blu), circumventing smoke-free policies (particularly by Blu), and technological advancement (particularly by Vuse and MarkTen). Conclusions These e-cigarette brands have shifted their adspend, use of media channels, and advertising messaging strategies over time. Some differing strategies may reflect the different affiliations of each brand to the traditional cigarette industry.
Evaluating the Path Integral

This chapter explains the evaluation of the various forms of the path integral. The basic types of approach for evaluating the path integral form of the transition amplitude can be broken into two groups: discrete methods and continuum methods. The chapter describes how the free-particle propagator is calculated from the corresponding form and shown to be the exact result founded by the operator approach. The chapter also discusses how the free particle is given a time-dependent driving force and referred to as a “source.” The resulting form can be combined with functional derivatives to analyze time-ordered products of the Heisenberg picture position operator. The chapter further discusses how the harmonic oscillator is analyzed using quasi-continuous methods and how an analysis of the Jacobian associated with the change of variables is made. Using Poisson resummation techniques, the path integral for a particle on the ring is analyzed to reveal its underlying topological structure.
Deep Count: Fruit Counting Based on Deep Simulated Learning

Recent years have witnessed significant advancement in computer vision research based on deep learning. Success of these tasks largely depends on the availability of a large amount of training samples. Labeling the training samples is an expensive process. In this paper, we present a simulated deep convolutional neural network for yield estimation. Knowing the exact number of fruits, flowers, and trees helps farmers to make better decisions on cultivation practices, plant disease prevention, and the size of harvest labor force. The current practice of yield estimation based on the manual counting of fruits or flowers by workers is a very time consuming and expensive process and it is not practical for big fields. Automatic yield estimation based on robotic agriculture provides a viable solution in this regard. Our network is trained entirely on synthetic data and tested on real data. To capture features on multiple scales, we used a modified version of the Inception-ResNet architecture. Our algorithm counts efficiently even if fruits are under shadow, occluded by foliage, branches, or if there is some degree of overlap amongst fruits. Experimental results show a 91% average test accuracy on real images and 93% on synthetic images.
Moving in Time: Legislative Party Switching as Time-Contingent Choice

Why would a sitting legislator leave the party on whose label she has won election and join another parliamentary party? The premise of this paper is that a politician's calculus on party affiliation involves not only what she stands to gain or lose, but also when the potential gains or losses likely occur. The theoretical model here demonstrates that an MP times a shift in party allegiance so as to minimize losses and maximize gains. The empirical illustrations bearing on our predictions afford variation on the key parameter of electoral laws and drive home the importance of timing in mp partisan strategy. Our theoretical and empirical findings on when incumbents switch party during a legislative term shed new light on why they switch.
Early Integration of Pediatric Participation in Health Care as Preventive Ethics.

Olszewski and Goldkind (2018) correctly point out that including children in medical decision making ought to be the default position for clinicians. Recognizing the challenges this position poses,...
Evaluating State Space Forecasts of Soybean Complex Prices

A multivariate state space time series model is fitted to monthly data on six series, soybeans, meal, and oil prices in both the spot and futures markets. These are highly volatile series that are difficult to forecast accurately. The usual statistical criteria are applied to evaluate model performance on the 155 months in sample, and on 47 months out of sample. The model’s root mean squared errors and other summary statistics (including graphs of the actual, forecast, and error) indicate that the model fits very well, both in sample and out. However, a small root mean squared error is not enough to guarantee even a profit, let alone a gain in risk-adjusted utility, from using the model forecasts in actual trading. For example, small errors with random signs can make even a relatively accurate model a financial disaster, as can a few ill-timed large errors. It is very difficult to evaluate the usefulness of model forecasts for financial decisionmaking, where both the direction and magnitude of risky strategies combine to produce success or failure for investors whose well-being not only depends on the mean returns, but also the associated variances. We examine a number of nonstandard methods for evaluating forecasts. For example, a nonparametric test is applied to examine the null hypothesis of randomness in the price direction forecasts, with the result that the randomness hypothesis is rejected in general. Even if the direction forecasts are right on average, however, there is no assurance that a risk averse investor would choose to employ the model given the risk levels involved. To investigate this issue, a particular utility function, logarithmic, is applied to the model moments to calculate the expected utility from a naive speculation rule utilizing the model forecasts, and then realized utility is computed for the 47 months out of sample. We find that the model performs well, earning risk-adjusted utility for a hypothetical logarithmic utility investor. In the course of evaluating the forecasts from the soybean complex model, several important issues in financial model evaluation are raised.
Psychological Functioning in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Preliminary Study of Relations With Smoking Status and Disease Impact.

Introduction Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a tobacco-related disease associated with several comorbid conditions, including elevated rates of depression and anxiety. Psychological factors that commonly underlie nicotine dependence, depression, and anxiety may represent novel treatment targets, but have not yet been examined among patientswith COPD. We assessed three psychological factors-anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of anxiety-related sensations), distress intolerance (DI; inability to withstand distressing states), and anhedonia (Anh; diminished sense of pleasure or interest)-in relation to smoking status, COPD symptom impact, and negative response to COPD symptoms. Methods We conducted a single-session laboratory assessment with 37 patients with COPD (17 current daily smokers and 20 former smokers). All participants completed self-report measures of psychological factors, COPD symptom impact, response to COPD symptoms, and anxiety and depression symptoms. Results Current versus former smokers with COPD reported higher levels of AS, DI, and Anh. In univariate regression models, AS, DI, and Anh were each associated with greater COPD symptom impact and breathlessness catastrophizing. Only AS remained a significant predictor of COPD symptom impact and breathlessness catastrophizing after adjusting for general depression and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Our preliminary study is the first to assess AS, DI, and Anh among patients with COPD. These psychological factors were elevated among current smokers and associated with more negative disease impact, suggesting their potential utility as treatment targets within this clinical population. Implications While elevated rates of anxiety and depression among patients with COPD have been wellcharacterized, few studies have specifically addressed the causal, modifiable psychological factors that may underlie these disorders. Our preliminary findings demonstrate associations of three psychological factors-AS, DI, and Anh-with smoking status, COPD symptom impact, and negative reaction to symptoms. Cognitive-behavioral interventions targeted to these psychological factors may improve smoking cessation outcomes and disease adjustment among patients with COPD.
Integrated primary health care in low- and middle-income countries: a double challenge.

The lack of primary healthcare integration has been identified as one of the main limits to programs’ efficacy in low- and middle-income countries. This is especially relevant to the Millennium Development Goals, whose health objectives were not attained in many countries at their term in 2015. While global health scholars and decision-makers are unanimous in calling for integration, the objective here is to go further and contribute to its promotion by presenting two of the most important challenges to be met for its achievement: 1) developing a “crosswise approach” to implementation that is operational and effective; and 2) creating synergy between national programs and interventions driven by non-State actors. The argument for urgently addressing this double challenge is illustrated by drawing on observations made and lessons learned during a four-year research project (2011–2014) evaluating the effects of interventions against malaria in Burkina Faso. The way interventions were framed was mostly vertical, leaving little room for local adaptation. In addition, many non-governmental organizations intervened and contributed to a fragmented and heteronomous health governance system. Important ethical issues stem from how interventions against malaria were shaped and implemented in Burkina Faso. To further explore this issue, a scoping literature review was conducted in August 2016 on the theme of integrated primary healthcare. It revealed that no clear definition of the concept has been advanced or endorsed thus far. We call for caution in conceptualizing it as a simple juxtaposition of different tasks or missions at the primary care level. It is time to go beyond the debate around selective versus comprehensive approaches or fragmentation versus cohesion. Integration should be thought of as a process to reconcile these tensions. In the context that characterizes many low- and middle-income countries today, better aid coordination and public health systems strengthening, as promoted by multisectoral approaches, might be among the best options to sustainably and ethically integrate primary healthcare interventions.
International Trade in an Interdependent World

November 6, 2011: Flood waters are rising in Thailand, the result of heavy rains, deforested hillsides and missteps by dam operators. Families are gathering their most cherished possessions and scrambling to higher ground. The royal palace in Bangkok is suffering water damage. Meanwhile, around the world, manufacturers are wondering if vital parts shipments will be cut off. For instance, a single factory in the flood-threatened region produces one-fourth of the world’s supply of an essential component of computer hard drives, and Toyota had built facilities nearby to produce parts for its global auto production network. A flood in southeast Asia was threatening producers of computers and cars around the world.
Sources of Foreign Compounds

Organisms are constantly exposed to foreign compounds, which are either naturally occurring or man-manufactured, and are not normally produced in living cells. Some of these compounds are acutely or potentially toxic, or become toxic and exhibit long-term effects after metabolic conversion. Since their presence in the body could cause a variety of disease conditions, it is essential that the metabolisms catalyzed by phase I enzymes and phase II enzymes maintain these toxic substances at minimum levels. General descriptions of the sources of foreign compounds are presented here, including food, pharmaceuticals, smoking, household and industrial products, and environmental chemicals from the air and water pollution. Potential harmful chemicals that are specifically present in these sources are also discussed below.
The Role of the Chemokine GRO-1 in the Development of Vertebrate CNS Glial Cells

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses recent data suggesting that the chemokine GRO-1 CXCL1 plays critical roles in regulating local oligodendrogenesis in both development and disease. Overexpression of GRO-1 in oligodendrocytes induced neutrophil invasion and astrogliosis. Similarly, leukocyte infiltration and blood–brain barrier breakdown occurred following overexpression of a CXC-chemokine by astrocytes. Recently, it has become clear that GRO-1 also acts directly on neural cell lineages in the developing central nervous system (CNS). While it has been clear for several years that chemokines and their receptors play critical roles in inflammatory responses in the CNS, it is only recently that direct influences of these molecules on the cells of the CNS have been described. Analyses of CXCR4-deficient animals indicate that this receptor and its ligand play an important role in regulating the migration of granule cells in the developing cerebellum. As understanding of the roles of chemokines in the development and functioning of the vertebrate CNS becomes clearer, the participation of pleiotropic molecules in a variety of normal and pathological activities will be identified. Such identification will open new avenues for potential therapeutic intervention during CNS trauma and disease.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018 7:35 AM–9:00 AM ePosters: P74. Clinic satisfaction tool improves communication and provides real-time feedback

BACKGROUND CONTEXT Patient-reported assessments of the clinic experience are increasingly important for improving the delivery of care. The Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG-CAHPS) survey is the current standard for evaluating patients’ clinic experience, but its format gives 2-month delayed feedback on a small proportion of patients in clinic. Furthermore, it fails to give specific actionable results on individual encounters. PURPOSE We developed and assessed the impact of a single-page clinic satisfaction tool (CST) to demonstrate real-time feedback, individualized responses, interpretable and actionable feedback, improved patient satisfaction and communication scores, increased physician buy-in, and overall feasibility. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING This study was performed as a pre-post intervention design which included all physicians in our institution's multidisciplnary spine clinic who had a full year of CG-CAHPS baseline scores. PATIENT SAMPLE Physicians were included in the analysis if they were in: neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, or physiatry; outpatient practice at the spine center from January 2015 to December 2016; and active practice for the majority of the two years observed. All patients who presented for a visit within the spine center received a CST. OUTCOME MEASURES For each physician, monthly CG-CAHPS reports from January 2015 to December 2016 were collected, including global rating and physician communication subscores. The patient volume, the number of CSTs returned, the proportion of CSTs which were marked yes for satisfaction and questions answered, the number of comments, and the types of comments (positive, negative, not applicable) were calculated for each physician on a monthly basis. METHODS We assessed CST use for 12 months and compared patient-reported outcomes to the year prior. We assessed all clinic encounters for patient satisfaction, all physicians for CG-CAHPS global rating and physician communication scores, and evaluated the physician experience 1 year after implementation. RESULTS During implementation, 14,690 patients were seen by 12 physicians, with a 96% overall CST utilization rate. Physicians considered the CST superior to CG-CAHPS in providing immediate feedback. CG-CAHPS global scores trended towards improvement and were predicted by CST satisfaction scores (p CONCLUSIONS The CST is a low-cost, high-yield improvement to the current method of capturing the clinic experience, improves communication and satisfaction between physicians & patients and provides real time feedback to physicians.
Field Conservation of Skeletal Remains: Stabilization Treatment Techniques and Implications for Future Analysis

The information potential of human skeletal remains—as for any excavated material—is impacted by the conditions of archaeological burial, and the environments and actions experienced during subsequent excavation, laboratory processing, study, and storage. A conservation approach emphasizes the mitigation of threats to material stability and integrity, which for excavated collections are often most critical at the point of archaeological exposure and recovery. Conservation techniques involving application of modern synthetic materials for stabilizing skeletal remains in the field are discussed, using case examples primarily from terrestrial archaeological projects in Mesoamerica. The potential effects of the use of various conservation materials on results of biomolecular instrumental analysis are included.
Oxygenic Photosynthesis in Prokaryotes

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae, blue-greens) are prokaryotic organisms that contain a photosynthetic apparatus similar in structure and function to that present in the chloroplast of the phototrophic eukaryotes (Stanier, 1977). They differ from Prochloron, a prokaryote that contains chlorophyll b instead of phycobiliproteins as light-harvesting pigments. They differ from the purple and green bacteria, particularly because they carry out oxygenic photosynthesis, but also because of differences in the ultrastructure, in the chemical composition of the photosynthetic apparatus, and in nutritional requirements and growth physiology. The mechanism of cyanobacterial photosynthesis is identical to that of photosynthetic eukaryotes. Accordingly, in this discussion of oxygenic prokaryotic photosynthesis, only those areas where cyanobacteria played a role in the understanding of the process or only those details which are characteristic of blue-greens will be reviewed.
New MnIIMnIII8 and MnII2MnIII10MnIV2 clusters from the reaction of methyl 2-pyridyl ketone oxime with [Mn12O12(O2CR)16(H2O)4]

Abstract The syntheses, crystal structures and magnetic properties of two mixed-valence Mn clusters [MnIIMnIII8O6(mpko)3(O2CMe)11] (1) and [MnII2MnIII10MnIV2O12(mpko)6(O2CPh)12(H2O)2] (2) are reported. They were obtained from the corresponding reactions in MeCN of [Mn12O12(O2CR)16(H2O)4] (R = Me (3), Ph (4)) with eight equivalents of methyl(pyridine-2-yl)ketone oxime (mpkoH). The cores of 1 and 2 are structurally related: 1 possesses a [Mn9(µ3-O)6]14+ core with an unusual topology comprising a near-planar MnIII-centered MnIII6 hexagon with additional MnII and MnIII ions above and below the plane. Complex 2 possesses a [Mn14(µ4-O)2(µ3-O)10]18+ core that can be described as a dimer of two Mn7 incomplete-cores of 1. It is also a rare example of a Mn cluster containing three Mn oxidation states. Fits of variable-temperature, solid-state dc magnetic susceptibility data collected in a 0.1 T field in the 5.0–300 K range established that 1 and 2 possess ground state spins of S = 3/2 and S = 1, respectively, which were confirmed by ac in-phase susceptibility data.