cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recent Progress, Trends, and Developments in Island and Coastal Archaeology

ABSTRACTIn the first issue of the Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology published 10 years ago, Erlandson and Fitzpatrick (2006) outlined eight topics which demonstrated why island and coastal archaeology were relevant to understanding a host of issues related to human cultural and biological evolution across time and space. Here, we evaluate recent trends and developments in island and coastal archaeology and discuss how research over the last decade has changed and continued to illuminate the antiquity of maritime adaptations, human dispersals, historical ecology, and many other issues on a global scale. With rising seas and marine erosion threatening island and coastal archaeological sites around the world, archaeologists face urgent challenges in the coming decades as we continue to promote research and conservation of the global island and coastal archaeological record.
In vitro comparison of glistening formation among hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses

Abstract Purpose: To compare glistening formation induced by temperature stressing in vitro among hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses (IOLs) available in the United States. Setting: John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Methods: Wagon Wheel (WW) packaged 1-piece AcrySof® IOLs (Alcon), WW-packaged 3-piece AcrySof IOLs, and Sensar® IOLs (Allergan Medical Optics) were analyzed in vitro for 5 consecutive days. Ten IOLs of each type were inserted into viewing chambers filled with balanced salt solution, maintained at 37°C, and evaluated every 24 hours at 37°C and then, after a 2-hour cooling, at room temperature. The IOLs were examined by slitlamp to quantify glistenings and by digital photography to determine glistening size. Results: The glistening quantity was minimal and did not differ among IOL types at 37°C. The glistenings were smallest in the 1-piece AcrySof IOLs ( P P P P = .007). Cooling nearly doubled the size of the Sensar glistenings, which were the largest at room temperature, 21.7 μm ( P Conclusions: Glistening quantity varied among hydrophobic acrylic IOLs and was temperature dependent. Sensar IOLs were more stable than the 2 other IOL types. The glistening phenomenon must be studied further to eliminate the problem.
Efficient Lagrangian scalar tracking method for reactive local mass transport simulation through porous media

SUMMARY Mass transfer in the presence of chemical reactions for flows through porous media is of interest to many disciplines. The Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is particularly attractive in such cases due to the ease with which it handles complicated boundary conditions. However, useful Lagrangian information (such as solute survival distance, effective diffusivity, collision frequency) is challenging to obtain from the LBM. In this paper, we present a straightforward and efficient Lagrangian methodology (Lagrangian scalar tracking, LST) for performing solute transport simulations in the presence of heterogeneous, first-order, irreversible reactions, based on a velocity field obtained from LBM. The hybrid LST/LBM technique tracks passive mass markers that have two contributions to their movement: convective (obtained through interpolation of a previously obtained velocity field) and Brownian. Various Schmidt number solutes and different solute release modes can be modeled with a single solvent flow field using this method. Moreover, the mass markers can have a range of reaction rate coefficients. This allows for the exploration of the whole spectrum of first-order heterogeneous reaction rates with just a single simulation. In order to show the applicability of the LST/LBM scheme, results from a case study are presented in which the consumption of oxygen and/or nutrients within a porous bone tissue engineering scaffold is modeled under flow perfusion culturing conditions. Although the reactive LST methodology described in this paper compliments the LBM, it can also be used with any other flow simulation that can generate the velocity field. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Do States’ Interpretations of Nexus Activities Align with States’ Policy Adoptions of Economic Nexus?

While the 1992 Supreme Court case Quill vs. North Dakota, 112 S.Ct. 1904 (1992), re-affirmed a bright-line, physical presence nexus standard for sales and use tax purposes, the court case explicitly left open the question of whether the same nexus standard applied to state corporate income taxes. The state taxation literature has extensively examined state corporate income tax characteristics and revenue implications; however, little research has focused on which types of corporate activities result in a state asserting nexus. Using data from the BNA Survey of State Tax Departments, this study investigates 95 nexus-creating activities as reported by states from 2002-2010 and their association with states’ adoption of economic nexus. In other words, we seek to better understand which nexus-creating activities of businesses drive the corporate income tax economic nexus adoption by states. Through a unique use of both behavioral survey data and archival data, we provide a rich picture of how state policy adoptions of economic nexus align with state interpretations or perceptions. Results show that economic nexus adoptions are more common in states that perceive investment in pass-through entities, licensing intangibles, engaging in financial activities, or inspecting installation as creating nexus within the state, and are less likely in states that view attending trade shows or checking customer inventories as creating nexus. These results contribute to the state taxation literature by providing evidence of the primary activities that contribute to the economic nexus standard, which have implications for state tax researchers and policymakers alike.
Latency reduction techniques in chip multiprocessor cache systems

Single-chip multiprocessors (CMPs) solve several bottlenecks facing chip designers today. Compared to traditional superscalars, CMPs deliver higher performance at lower power for thread-parallel workloads. In this thesis, we consider tiled CMPs, a class of CMPs where each tile contains a slice of the total on-chip L2 cache storage, and tiles are connected by an on-chip network. Two basic schemes are currently used to manage L2 slices. First, each slice can be used as a private L2 for the tile. Private L2 caches provide the lowest hit latency but reduce the total effective cache capacity because each tile creates a local copy of any block it touches. Second, all slices are aggregated to form a single large L2 shared by all tiles. A shared L2 cache increases the effective cache capacity for shared data, but incurs longer hit latencies when L2 data is on a remote tile. In practice, either private or shared works better for a given workload. We present two new policies, victim replication and victim migration, both of which combine the advantages of private and shared designs. They are variants of the shared scheme which attempt to keep copies of local L1 cache victims within the local L2 cache slice. Hits to these replicated copies reduce the effective latency of the shared L2 cache, while retaining the benefits of a higher effective capacity for shared data. We evaluate the various schemes using full-system simulation of single-threaded, multi-threaded, and multi-programmed workloads running on an eight-processor tiled CMP. We show that both techniques achieve significant performance improvement over baseline private and shared schemes for these workloads. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Calcium deprivation alters gustatory-evoked activity in the rat nucleus of the solitary tract.

Calcium-deprived rats develop a compensatory appetite for substances that contain calcium. To investigate the role of gustatory factors in calcium appetite, we recorded the extracellular activity of single neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract of calcium-deprived and replete rats. The activity evoked by a broad array of taste stimuli was examined in 51 neurons from replete rats and 47 neurons from calcium-deprived rats. There were no differences between the groups in the responses of all neurons combined. However, neurons with sugar-oriented response profiles gave significantly larger responses to 3, 10, and 100 mM CaCl2in the calcium-deprived group than did corresponding cells in the replete group. This difference in taste-evoked responding may underlie an increase in the palatability of CaCl2 and, in turn, contribute to the expression of calcium appetite.
Software development in antagonistic and dynamic operational environments: experiences with digital governments

Software systems for governmental organizations are mostly defined by procedures and policies that are, in some contexts, dynamic, seldom formally defined or even documented. Furthermore, changes in policy can be rapid and frequently antagonistic to those previously defined. Current development methods are not resilient or adaptive under change and software systems developed in dynamic and antagonistic environments exhibit significant problems that cannot be prevented using traditional software engineering methods. Software for governmental organizations needs to be secure and security, in its most general definition, can only be provided when the logic used for the requirements analysis matches closely that of the logic in place by the time the software is deployed. In this paper we show that during the implementation of the ASYCUDA++ system in the Bolivian National Customs Agency, we found that current software development practices, though technologically sound per se, are not tightly integrated with effective mechanisms for identification of potential dynamic and antagonistic environments and argue that, at least, software development models should provide mechanisms for adapting the software development cycle to shifts in global goals.
Where is the leak in the pipeline? Investigating gender differences in academic promotion at an academic medical centre

Background Women are still under-represented in the senior ranks of academic medicine. As local surveys represent a critical initial step in addressing the challenges of gender disparities in academic promotion within institutions, we surveyed faculty at an academic medical centre to identify factors to improve the academic advancement of women.
The preparation and use of library manpower.

Abstract Trends in library education and manpower utilization in general are briefly surveyed, with special reference to the official ALA Policy on Library Education and Manpower approved in July 1970. The trends are marked by general upgrading of standards and content of library education, resulting in a longer period of formal education with more room for intensive specialization; different kinds of preparation for different levels of responsibility; and a serious exploration of the ways in which paraprofessional or supportive staff can be utilized to release the librarian for more professional responsibilities. The Policy Statement is analyzed to show its support of most of these developments. A key concept is that the demands of the position should be the test of professional quality, and not the diploma held by the applicant. The hope is that the changes suggested will improve the quality of library service and the preparation for it and that this general improvement will be applicable also to such special fields as medical librarianship.
Rapid and Submerged Growth of Mycobacteria in Liquid Media

SummaryAddition to Long's synthetic medium of small amounts of phosphatides and of long chain fatty acids esters of polyhydric alcohols permits submerged and rapid growth of tubercle bacilli; the different groups of mycobacteria appear to exhibit differential optima with reference to these two types of substances.
Decline of corticosteroid secretion following hypophysectomy.

SummaryThe rates of secretion of 17-hydroxycorticosterone and corticosterone prior to and following hypophysectomy have been determined. The rates of secretion of these steroids decline after hypophysectomy, reaching a low and apparently constant level after 3 hours.
Hierarchical semantic parsing for object pose estimation in densely cluttered scenes

Densely cluttered scenes are composed of multiple objects which are in close contact and heavily occlude each other. Few existing 3D object recognition systems are capable of accurately predicting object poses in such scenarios. This is mainly due to the presence of objects with textureless surfaces, similar appearances and the difficulty of object instance segmentation. In this paper, we present a hierarchical semantic segmentation algorithm which partitions a densely cluttered scene into different object regions. A RANSAC-based registration method is subsequently applied to estimate 6-DoF object poses within each object class. Part of this algorithm includes a generalized pooling scheme used to construct robust and discriminative object representations from a convolutional architecture with multiple pooling domains. We also provide a new RGB-D dataset which serves as a benchmark for object pose estimation in densely cluttered scenes. This dataset contains five thousand scene frames and over twenty thousand labeled poses of ten common hand tools. We show that our method demonstrates improved performance of pose estimation on this new dataset compared with other state-of-the-art methods.
Microwave-assisted Extraction of Flavonoids from Cordyceps militaris

Flavonoids are well known for their anti-inflammatory,antiviral,anti-allergic and anticarcinogenic effects on health.Cordyceps militaris,a parasitic ascomycetous fungus,has been used in Chinese medicine to treat numerous illnesses.A technology using microwave energy as an assistant during extraction of flavonoids from Cordyceps militaris was developed.14.69 mg flavonoids could be extracted from 1 g fruit body of Cordyceps miliaris when the technological parameters were set as:1 g material through 60-mesh sieve,water as solvent,microwave power of 120 W,toal 10 min of duration for 3-times extractions,and 25 ml ∶1 g of extractant(ethanol)to fruit body of Cordyceps militaris.
Food Contamination by Enterobacter Sakazakii in A City

[Objective]To understand the contamination degree and Enterobacter Sakazakii count in 10 kinds of food in markets so as to evaluate its riskiness. [Methods]The samples were tested in accordance with the national standard and teal-time fluorescence PCR method,then the results were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. [Results]Fifty four samples of 7 kinds of food were detected Enterobacter sakazakii from 850 samples of 10 kinds.The detection rate was 6.4%.Thirty nine samples(72.3%) were contaminated with concentration range under MPN/100 g(ml);15 samples(27.7%) were over 30 MPN/100 g(ml). [Conclusion]Small portion of candy cake,ice cream,chocolate,nuts and other foods are contaminated highelevels of Enterobacter sakazakii,That lead to the risk of illness.Therefore,the supervision and management should be strengthen to the point.
Enantiomeric Recognition of Racemic 4‐Aryl‐1,4‐dihydropyridine Derivatives via Chiralpak AD‐H Stationary Phases

The chromatographic chiral resolution of two new series of racemic 4-substituted-1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives was studied on a commercial Chiralpak AD-H column. Analytes without 5,5-dimethyl substituents (1–15) are more efficiently resolved than analytes with 5,5-dimethyl groups (16–30). The AD-H column discriminated between enantiomers through both hydrogen bonding attractions and π–π interactions. This interpretation is in accord with plots of the logarithm of separation factors, log(α), versus σ (Hammett–Swain substituent parameter) and σ+ (Brown substituent constant) plots. By elucidating the effects of the remote substituents on these chiral separations, it was shown that the influence of π–π interaction forces increase when steric bulk effects act to decrease the hydrogen bonding attractive forces on the AD-H column. Chirality 24:854–859, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Teaching Tip: When a Matrix and Its Inverse Are Stochastic

A stochastic matrix is a square matrix with nonnegative entries and row sums 1. The simplest example is a permutation matrix, whose rows permute the rows of an identity matrix. A permutation matrix...
Spatial Aspects of the American Fertility Transition in the Nineteenth Century

The American fertility transition is unusual in comparison with historical transitions in other currently developed nations. The decline came very early, dating from about 1800 and took place from very high levels of fertility, a crude birth rate of 55 and a total fertility rate of about 7.0 for the white population in 1800. Further, the fertility transition began long before the sustained decline in mortality, dating from approximately the 1870s. Finally, the transition occurred in a predominantly agrarian and rural nation, although birth rates declined in both rural and urban places. Using a new database that supplements basic population census measures with other demographic, agricultural and manufacturing data, age-specific child-woman ratios can be calculated at the county level files for 1800 to 1860. This chapter examines patterns of geographic dispersion of white child-woman ratios, estimates structural spatial regression models and assesses spatial autocorrelation and clustering. Spatial autocorrelation was significant for variation by longitude (east-west) but not latitude (north-south). Low fertility counties were clustered in 1,800 and 1,810, while high fertility counties were more often found together later. Finally, fertility was less spatially patterned in longer settled and newly settled counties than in transitional areas.
The War Against the Budworm

In most years the spruce budworm is hard to find in the evergreen forests of New Brunswick—in one study (Morris, 1963), a thousand samples of treetop foliage yielded only ten budworm larvae in that Canadian province east of Maine. However, in an outbreak year, with its population swollen to as much as one thousand times that minimum level, budworm can devour all the new needles produced by a forest of balsam fir and ultimately can kill 80% of the mature trees in the forest. Such outbreaks have destroyed mature forests of balsam fir and damaged white, black and red spruce in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States every 30 to 70 years since at least the early 1700’s.
Statistical Investigation of the Surface Profile of Rogue Waves in 2D Non-Breaking Seas

Rogue waves or freak waves are very large amplitude waves compare to the ambient waves in a given sea state. There are very few recording of such waves and therefore, despite years of research, very little is known about their properties. Here we invoke a statistical approach to find out about the typical shape of these giant waves. We consider different sea states and unidirectional vs crossing seas and study how each environment affects the morphology of oceanic rogue waves.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Fast Low-Rank Approximation for Covariance Matrices

Computing an efficient low-rank approximation of a given positive definite matrix is a ubiquitous task in statistical signal processing and numerical linear algebra. The optimal solution is well known and is given by the singular value decomposition; however, its complexity scales as the cube of the matrix dimension. Here we introduce a low-complexity alternative which approximates this optimal low-rank solution, together with a bound on its worst-case error. Our methodology also reveals a connection between the approximation of matrix products and Schur complements. We present simulation results that verify performance improvements relative to contemporary randomized algorithms for low-rank approximation.
Automated Relative Orientation of UAV-Based Imagery in the Presence of Prior Information for the Flight Trajectory

Abstract uav -based 3D reconstruction has been used in various applications. However, mitigating the impact of outliers in automatically matched points remains to be a challenging task. Assuming the availability of prior information regarding the uav trajectory, this paper presents two approaches for reliable estimation of Relative Orientation Parameters ( rop s) in the presence of high percentage of matching outliers. The first approach, which assumes that the uav platform is moving at a constant flying height while maintaining the camera in a nadirlooking orientation, provides a two-point closed-form solution. The second approach starts from prior information regarding the flight trajectory to define a linearized model, which is augmented with a built-in outlier removal procedure, to estimate a refined set of rop s. Experimental results from real datasets demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approaches in providing reliable rop s from uav -based imagery in the presence of a high percentage of matching outliers (up to 90 percent).
Anterior regeneration in the polychaete Marenzelleria viridis (Annelida: Spionidae)

The objective of this study was to examine the regeneration capacity of the spionid polychaete Marenzelleria viridis from Long Island, New York. In the field, ~7% of the worms exhibited regeneration of the anterior end. In the laboratory, worms were ablated at the 10th–50th chaetiger and their regeneration documented. Anterior morphogenesis was similar to that previously reported for spionids, with wound healing, blastema formation, differentiation of segments, and formation of feeding and sensory structures (mouth, palps, nuchal organs) occurring within 14 d. Unlike in some spionids, the segments do not appear to all form simultaneously from the blastema; rather, external differentiation of segments was observed from posterior to anterior on the regenerate. The number of segments replaced was equal to the number ablated for up to 10 segments. A maximum of 17 segments were replaced when 20–30 chaetigers were ablated, and the number replaced decreased to 14 when 40–50 chaetigers were ablated. Survival and normal growth of the worms decreased with more chaetigers ablated; a significantly higher number of worms died or grew abnormally with ≥30 chaetigers ablated, compared to worms with ≤20 chaetigers ablated. Members of M. viridis could be valuable model organisms in the study of the cellular mechanisms involved in regeneration, and further research on regeneration in the field should be completed.
A note on general quadratic forms of nonstationary stochastic processes

In this paper, general quadratic forms of nonstationary, α-mixing time series are considered. Under mixing and moment assumptions, asymptotically normality of these forms are derived. These results...
Evidence-Based Approaches to Sexuality Education: A Global Perspective.

Evidence-Based Approaches to Sexuality Education presents 22 chapters on the topic of sexuality education written by a diverse group of academic researchers and practitioners. Sexuality education i...
Approximate equivalence of group actions

We consider several weaker versions of the notion of conjugacy and orbit equivalence of measure preserving actions of countable groups on probability spaces, involving equivalence of the ultrapower actions and asymptotic intertwining conditions. We compare them with the other existing equivalence relations between group actions, and study the usual type of rigidity questions around these new concepts (superrigidity, calculation of invariants, etc).
SURVEY OF CLASSICAL AND BAYESIAN APPROACHES TO THE CHANGE-POINT PROBLEM: FIXED SAMPLE AND SEQUENTIAL PROCEDURES OF TESTING AND ESTIMATION

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses fixed sample and the sequential procedures of testing and estimation and describes classical and Bayesian approaches to the change-point problem. It presents Bayesian and maximum likelihood estimation of the location of the shift points. The Bayesian approach is based on modeling the prior distribution of the unknown parameters, adopting a loss function and deriving the estimator, which minimizes the posterior risk. The chapter discusses this approach with an example of a shift in the mean of a normal sequence. The estimators obtained are generally nonlinear complicated functions of the random variables. From the Bayesian point of view, these estimators are optimal. The maximum likelihood estimation of the location parameter of the change point is an attractive alternative to the Bayes estimators. Regression relationship can change at unknown epochs, resulting in different regression regimes that should be detected and identified.
Early Intervention to Enhance Female Interest in Computing Sciences (Abstract Only)

It is well-known that females are underrepresented in STEM fields -- especially in the computing sciences. Bias, stereotypes, and negative experiences can be realized early in a girl's life. Research suggests that early intervention is necessary to encourage female participation in the computing sciences as a possible educational and career choice. While there are many catalysts that attribute to low interest and participation of females in computing, this research addresses five known causes: a lack of exposure to computing at a young age, a shortage of positive role models in the field, negative stereotypes, unappealing approaches to learning computing, and uncomfortable learning environments. In this research, Pre-K girls, as early as four years of age, were introduced to eight computer-related games and activities. The girls learned about algorithms, computer programming, circuits, and robots in a hands-on, exploratory environment. Age-appropriate surveys were conducted to compare the girls' affinity towards the computer-related activities before and after the study. The results of the study are encouraging as the girls demonstrated increased positive attitudes towards computer-based activities after participating in the study. In addition, the results of the study also demonstrated that the participating girls were able to successfully learn computing concepts at a young age. The presentation of the study will be accompanied by a hand-out including descriptions of the activities and associated equipment for those who would like to explore the topics independently. The presenters will also demonstrate a few of the more portable activities used in the study.
Putting Two Heads Together to Build a Better Brain

3D organoids enable in vitro human brain development models, but they have not yet recapitulated some essential features of brain circuit formation. Recently, several studies appearing in Nature, Nature Methods, and Cell Stem Cell generated fused organoid models of inhibitory and excitatory neuron development, which can now achieve functional circuit integration.
Clinical Features and Management of Acquired Resistance to PD-1 Axis Inhibitors in 26 Patients With Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract Introduction With expanding indications for programmed death 1 (PD-1) axis inhibitors in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), acquired resistance (AR) to these therapies is increasingly being encountered. We sought to characterize clinical patterns of AR to PD-1 axis inhibitors in patients with advanced NSCLC, and evaluate subsequent outcome and management strategies for such patients. Methods Patients with NSCLC who developed AR to PD-1 axis inhibitor therapy initiated between December 2009 and February 2016 at one institution were identified and examined by clinical and radiographic features. AR was defined as progressive disease after initial response by either Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors v1.1 or immune-related response criteria. Results Twenty-six patients with AR to PD-1 axis inhibitor therapy were identified and evaluated. Median time to AR was 313 days; the 2-year survival rate from AR was 70% (95% confidence interval: 0.53–0.92). Twenty patients (77%) experienced AR in lymph nodes (LNs), including 11 patients with LN-only progression. Twenty-three (88%) patients had recurrence limited to one (54%) or two (35%) sites of disease. Fourteen patients (54%) continued PD-1 axis inhibitor therapy beyond progression. Three patients were re-challenged with the same PD-1 axis inhibitor after holiday from and progression off therapy, 2 again responded. Fifteen patients (58%) received local therapy to site(s) of AR, 11 continued respective PD-1 axis inhibitor after local therapy. The 2-year survival rate from AR among these 15 patients was 92% (95% confidence interval: 0.77–1). Conclusions Acquired resistance to PD-1 axis inhibitors is often limited to one or two sites when local therapy and continuation of PD-1 axis inhibitor therapy can result in prolonged benefit. LN metastases appear to be particularly susceptible sites to AR. When progression of disease following response occurs after holiday from PD-1 axis inhibitor, re-challenge can again lead to tumor regression.
Towards Foundations of Fuzzy Utility: Taking Fuzziness into Account Naturally Leads to Intuitionistic Fuzzy Degrees

The traditional utility-based decision making theory assumes that for every two alternatives, the user is either absolutely sure that the first alternative is better, or that the second alternative is better, or that the two alternatives are absolutely equivalent. In practice, when faced with alternatives of similar value, people are often not fully sure which of these alternatives is better. To describe different possible degrees of confidence, it is reasonable to use fuzzy logic techniques. In this paper, we show that, somewhat surprisingly, a reasonable fuzzy modification of the traditional utility elicitation procedure naturally leads to intuitionistic fuzzy degrees.
TIME DEPENDENT, SPACE INDEPENDENT NEUTRON THERMALIZATION

The time dependent thermalization following a burst of fast neutrons is analyzed in the space independent case. The spectrum is decomposed in an asymptotic and a transient part, and the latter is expanded in a series of Laguerre polynomials. The argument of the polynomials is proportional to the time after the burst and the coeffi cients of the expansion are linear combinations of the transient time moments. (auth)
The Bishop–Phelps Theorem

What follows is a history of the Bishop-Phelps theorem on the density of support functionals, together with a sketch of its proof This is followed by descriptions of a number of extensions and applications, plus two basic open questions.
Ultrasound with Doppler evaluation of congenital hepatic vascular shunts

Congenital aberrant hepatic vascular communications result from intrahepatic or extrahepatic errors in vascular development or involution during the transition from fetal to newborn hepatic circulation. These hepatic vascular shunts can be fortuitously discovered and asymptomatic, or can cause symptoms of varying severity, often presenting diagnostic dilemmas. Some hepatic vascular shunts resolve spontaneously while others require interventional radiologic or surgical closure. Affected patients are often first studied with real-time and Doppler ultrasound, so radiologists should familiarize themselves with the expected ultrasound findings of these vascular shunts for effective diagnosis, triage and management. In this review, the authors focus on ultrasound and Doppler findings of hepatic vascular shunts with underlying embryology, clinical features and management strategies. Broadly, these aberrant hepatic vascular communications include portosystemic venous shunts (which can be intra- or extrahepatic and include persistent patent ductus venosus), arterioportal, arteriovenous or mixed shunts.
Fertilizer Applications for Container-Grown Ornamental Tree Production

Better management of nutrient applications during a growing season is needed to economically produce marketable container-grown ornamental shade trees. Fertilizer practices were used to test the growth of Acer rubrum ‘Red Sunset’ trees in two commercial nursery fields (each containing four plots) that were irrigated with either city or pond water. In each field, the same 16 treatments were replicated. Two slow-release granular fertilizers (18-5-12 and 12-0-42) were applied separately or together by incorporation, topdress or both to a potting mix for trees grown in 26 liter (7 gal) containers and placed above or below ground. Trees irrigated with pond water also received supplemental liquid nutrients throughout the growing season along with nitric acid to lower the pH of the potting substrate. Tree growth was assessed by stem diameter (caliper), height, canopy size, leaf color and root measurements. Significant higher caliper increases occurred in trees treated with 18-5-12 fertilizer and irrigated with e...
A Peer Based Tutoring and Mentoring Model for First Year Computer Science Courses Based on Strategies Used by Songbirds for Learning

Effective tutoring is not limited to humans alone. A significant amount of research in songbird learning has shown that birds' songs are not coded in the DNA like other behavioral features but learned over time through one-on-one tutoring involving experimentation, error detection and adaptation. Like students, juvenile songbirds use active listening to learn a tutor's song that is repeated multiple times. The songbird first divides the complex song into short syllables and later uses trial and error to match the syllables sequence to the tutor's song. Birds learn more effectively when listening to an adult bird from the same species. We draw a parallel to bird learning in humans by implementing one-on-one peer-based tutoring of first-year students by senior students, who share the same culture. This poster presents a successful ongoing mentoring and tutoring model used at the Computer Systems Technology department of New York City College of Technology (CUNY) for over five years. This peer-based model utilizes strategies shared by both first-year students and young birds involving social interaction, active learning and problem decomposition. Furthermore, the tutors hired were trained to use the same strategies observed in songbirds tutoring. This project has shown an increase in first-year student retention rate of 83% for students who participated in this program as compared to 61% retention for students who did not. The tutoring program impact demonstrated that the students' academic performance increased significantly (mixed model anova F(1, 247) = 29.11, p
Leukocyte integrin signaling regulates FOXP1 gene expression via FOXP1-IT1 long non-coding RNA-mediated IRAK1 pathway

Leukocyte integrin-dependent downregulation of the transcription factor FOXP1 is required for monocyte differentiation and macrophage functions, but the precise gene regulatory mechanism is unknown. Here, we identify multi-promoter structure (P1, P2, and P3) of the human FOXP1 gene. Clustering of the β2-leukocyte integrin Mac-1 downregulated transcription from these promoters. We extend our prior observation that IL-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK1) is physically associated with Mac-1 and provide evidence that IRAK1 is a potent suppressor of human FOXP1 promoter. IRAK1 reduced phosphorylation of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) via inhibiting phosphorylation of calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II delta (CaMKIIδ), thereby promoting recruitment of HDAC4 to P1 chromatin. A novel human FOXP1 intronic transcript 1 (FOXP1-IT1) long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), whose gene is embedded within that of FOXP1, has been cloned and found to bind directly to HDAC4 and regulate FOXP1 in cis manner. Overexpression of FOXP1-IT1 counteracted Mac-1 clustering-dependent downregulation of FOXP1, reduced IRAK1 downregulation of HDAC4 phosphorylation, and attenuated differentiation of THP-1 monocytic cells. In contrast, Mac-1 clustering inhibited FOXP1-IT1 expression with reduced binding to HDAC4 as well as phosphorylation of CaMKIIδ to activate the IRAK1 signaling pathway. Importantly, both IRAK1 and HDAC4 inhibitors significantly reduced integrin clustering-triggered downregulation of FOXP1 expression in purified human blood monocytes. Identification of this Mac-1/IRAK-1/FOXP1-IT1/HDAC4 signaling network featuring crosstalk between lncRNA and epigenetic factor for the regulation of FOXP1 expression provides new targets for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.
MODELING. ANALYSIS, AND IMPLEMENTATION OF LOGIC CONTROLLERS FOR MACHINING SYSTEMS USING PETRI NETS AND SFC

The logic control for high-volume machining systems, such as the transfer lines commonly used in the automotive manufacturing industry, must achieve multiple functions in distinct control modes, and thus is quite complex. A methodology for constructing the logic controller using Petri nets is outlined. Each operation in the machining system is assigned either a reversible or irreversible operation module, and an algorithm for connecting these modules to form the control logic is presented. The resulting logic controller is guaranteed to be live, safe, and reversible. The logic controller can be implemented in SFC.
Vibrational properties of uranium fluorides

Abstract Multiphase mixtures of the uranium fluoride compounds UFx with x = 3, 4, 4.5, 5, whose local U–F bonding geometry is conserved, may result from UF6 reduction. One method for identifying multiphase mixtures is optical vibrational spectroscopy, but experimental Raman and IR spectra for UFx compounds are difficult to obtain. To supplement those experimental measurements, we use density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) with the on-site Coulomb correction (Hubbard + U) to calculate the phonon normal modes, their IR intensity, and their Raman activity for UF3, UF4, U2F9, and UF5. In addition, we use neutron spectroscopy to measure the phonon density of states of the most stable UF4. Our measurements on the Wide-Angular Range Chopper Spectrometer at the Spallation Neutron Source indicate that UF4 has a broad phonon spectrum centered at about 30 meV, but modeling of this spectrum indicates significant multiphonon scattering is present. DFPT calculations for U2F9, which shares structural features with UF4 and UF5, suggest a dynamic instability and we speculate that previous crystallographic measurements of this compound were possible only in multiphase mixtures. Analysis of the detailed atomic motions of phonons in UF5 indicate that a series of high energy modes (between 69 and 75 meV) are described by motion of single-coordinated F atoms (bonded to only one U atom). These single-coordinated F atoms are unique to the UF5 structure and those modes could be used to distinguish UF5 in a multiphase mixture using optical spectroscopy.
The Ant Swarm Neuro-Evolution Procedure for Optimizing Recurrent Networks.

Hand-crafting effective and efficient structures for recurrent neural networks (RNNs) is a difficult, expensive, and time-consuming process. To address this challenge, we propose a novel neuro-evolution algorithm based on ant colony optimization (ACO), called ant swarm neuro-evolution (ASNE), for directly optimizing RNN topologies. The procedure selects from multiple modern recurrent cell types such as Delta-RNN, GRU, LSTM, MGU and UGRNN cells, as well as recurrent connections which may span multiple layers and/or steps of time. In order to introduce an inductive bias that encourages the formation of sparser synaptic connectivity patterns, we investigate several variations of the core algorithm. We do so primarily by formulating different functions that drive the underlying pheromone simulation process (which mimic L1 and L2 regularization in standard machine learning) as well as by introducing ant agents with specialized roles (inspired by how real ant colonies operate), i.e., explorer ants that construct the initial feed forward structure and social ants which select nodes from the feed forward connections to subsequently craft recurrent memory structures. We also incorporate a Lamarckian strategy for weight initialization which reduces the number of backpropagation epochs required to locally train candidate RNNs, speeding up the neuro-evolution process. Our results demonstrate that the sparser RNNs evolved by ASNE significantly outperform traditional one and two layer architectures consisting of modern memory cells, as well as the well-known NEAT algorithm. Furthermore, we improve upon prior state-of-the-art results on the time series dataset utilized in our experiments.
EDAS Procedure for Sickle Cell Anemia with Stroke: Report of Four Cases.

Children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and stroke receive chronic transfusions to prevent a recurrent stroke. Despite transfusions, 10–20% have a recurrent stroke and 43% develop moyamoya changes. One treatment option for moyamoya changes is encephaloduroarteriosynangiosis (EDAS) procedure. We report four children with SCA and stroke who have undergone EDAS procedure for progressive clinical and/or imaging findings. Case 1. Five -year-old female with SCA presented with left sided weakness. MRI showed acute infract in the right frontal and parietal areas. She was treated with chronic transfusions. Two years later MRI/MRA showed stenosis in bilateral supraclinoid internal carotid arteries (ICA) and bilateral M1 segments. Patient underwent bilateral EDAS procedures 6 months apart. She tolerated both procedures well and is clinically stable 6 months post second surgery. Case 2. 5-year-old female with SCA presented with right-sided weakness. MRI showed acute infarct in the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) distribution. She was treated with monthly transfusions. Twenty-two months after the initial stroke she presented with left sided weakness. MRI/MRA showed an acute infarct in the right frontal lobe with significant stenosis in bilateral ICA’s, and left MCA. She was started on Hydroxyurea in addition to transfusions. She underwent EDAS on the right side. Patient tolerated procedure well. She is one year post surgery and is clinically stable. MRI done 10 months post surgery showed no new infarcts. Case 3. Four year old male with SCA presented with right facial palsy and right-sided weakness. MRI/MRA showed an infarct in the left frontal area and left MCA stenosis. He developed multiple alloantibodies after the initial partial exchange transfusion and was started on Hydroxyurea. His HbF increased to 20%. Repeat MRI/MRA 3 years after the initial stroke showed occlusion of the left MCA and prominent transganglionic collaterals. He underwent EDAS procedure on the left side. Five years after the initial stroke patient had a repeat MRI/MRA that showed occlusion of bilateral posterior cerebral arteries. He was still on Hydroxyurea with HbF level at 35%. He underwent EDAS procedure on the right side. He is clinically doing well one month after the second procedure. Case 4. Five-year-old male with HbSS disease presented with seizures and right-sided weakness. An MRI showed right parietal infarct, and occlusion of the supraclinoid ICA’s bilaterally. He was treated with monthly transfusions. Despite being compliant with transfusion therapy, he had a repeat stroke 26 months after the initial stroke. MRI revealed marked stenosis of the bilateral ICA’s, middle and anterior cerebral arteries. Patient underwent a left sided EDAS procedure. He is on chronic transfusions along with Hydroxyurea. He is clinically stable 6 months post surgery. In summary, we report 4 cases of sickle cell anemia with stroke, who have undergone EDAS procedure. All patients tolerated the procedure well. However, the effect of this procedure on long-term neuropsychological outcome remains to be seen.
Regulation of neutrophil function by selective targeting of glycan epitopes expressed on the integrin CD11b/CD18

Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) play a critical role in the innate immune response to invading pathogens. However, dysregulated mucosal trafficking of PMNs and associated epithelial tissue damage is a pathological hallmark of numerous inflammatory conditions including inflammatory bowel disease. The glycoprotein CD11b/CD18 plays a well-described role in regulating PMN transepithelial migration and PMN inflammatory functions. Previous studies have demonstrated that targeting of the N-linked glycan Lewis X on CD11b blocks PMN transepithelial migration (TEpM). Given evidence of glycosylation-dependent regulation of CD11b/CD18 function, we performed MALDI TOF Mass Spectrometry (MS) analyses on CD11b/CD18 purified from human PMNs. Unusual glycan epitopes identified on CD11b/CD18 included high Mannose oligosaccharides recognized by the Galanthus Nivalis lectin and biantennary galactosylated N-glycans recognized by the Phaseolus Vulgaris erythroagglutinin lectin. Importantly, we show that selective targeting of glycans on CD11b with such lectins results in altered intracellular signaling events that inhibit TEpM and differentially affect key PMN inflammatory functions including phagocytosis, superoxide release and apoptosis. Taken together, these data demonstrate that discrete glycan motifs expressed on CD11b/CD18 such as biantennary galactose could represent novel targets for selective manipulation of CD11b function and reduction of PMN-associated tissue damage in chronic inflammatory diseases.
Optical Neuroimaging of Speech Perception in Listeners with Cochlear Implants

Neural correlates of speech perception is poorly understood in listeners with Cochlear implants (CIs) due to contraindications with fMRI. Here, we measure cortical activity during speech perception in CI recipients using high-density diffuse optical tomography.
Restoring the Severed Breast and Chest following Seat Belt Trauma.

Seat belts have been shown to reduce the risk of serious injury to passengers and automobile drivers by >50% and the risk of fatal injury by 63%–67%.1,2 Unlike passive forms of restraints such as airbags, 3-point lap-diagonal seat belts dynamically hold individuals in their seats, thereby preventing them from catapulting forward and sustaining fatal injuries. However, due to the nature of the blunt force they can deliver to the neck, chest, or abdomen, seat belts injuries—when they occur—have been associated to specific laceration and contusion patterns and morbidity. Here, we discuss 2 cases of seat belt–related breast/chest injuries referred to our plastic surgery clinic for treatment, as well as a brief overview of the spectrum of deformity and morbidity associated with 3-point lap-diagonal seat belts.
Distributed Approximate Newton's Method Robust to Byzantine Attackers

There is a recent surge of interest in the design of the first-order and the second-order distributed machine learning algorithms. However, distributed algorithms are sensitive to Byzantine attackers who can send falsified information to prevent the convergence of algorithms or lead the algorithms to converge to value of the attackers’ choice. Some recent works have proposed algorithms that can defend against Byzantine attackers for the first-order methods. In this paper, we design two algorithms that can deal with Byzantine attackers for the second-order methods. The main idea of the first algorithm, named median-based approximate Newton's method (MNM), is to ask the parameter server to aggregate gradient information and approximate Newton's direction from all workers by geometric median. We show that MNM can converge when up to half of the workers are Byzantine attackers. To deal with the case with an arbitrary number of attackers, we then propose a comparison-based approximate Newton's method (CNM). The main idea of CNM is to ask the server to randomly select a small clean dataset and compute noisy gradient and Newton's direction using this small dataset. These noisy information will then be used as an approximation of the ground truth to filter out bad information from Byzantine attackers. We show that CNM can converge to the neighborhood of the population minimizer even when more than half of the workers are Byzantine workers. We further provide numerical examples to illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithms.
Medical Error, Adverse Events, and Complications in Interventional Radiology: Liability or Opportunity?

This review suggests that there is a critical need to renew understanding of adverse events and complications within interventional radiology and to redefine a robust commitment to patient safety a...