cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endonuclease G plays a role in immunoglobulin class switch DNA recombination by introducing double-strand breaks in switch regions

Immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch DNA recombination (CSR) is the crucial mechanism diversifying the biological effector functions of antibodies. Generation of double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs), particularly staggered DSBs, in switch (S) regions of the upstream and downstream CH genes involved in the specific recombination process is an absolute requirement for CSR. Staggered DSBs would be generated through deamination of dCs on opposite DNA strands by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), subsequent dU deglycosylation by uracil DNA glycosylase (Ung) and abasic site nicking by apurinic/apyrimidic endonuclease. However, consistent with the findings that significant amounts of DSBs can be detected in the IgH locus in the absence of AID or Ung, we have shown in human and mouse B cells that AID generates staggered DSBs not only by cleaving intact double-strand DNA, but also by processing blunt DSB ends generated in an AID-independent fashion. How these AID-independent DSBs are generated is still unclear. It is possible that S region DNA may undergo AID-independent cleavage by structure-specific nucleases, such as endonuclease G (EndoG). EndoG is an abundant nuclease in eukaryotic cells. It cleaves single and double-strand DNA, primarily at dG/dC residues, the preferential sites of DSBs in S region DNA. We show here that EndoG can localize to the nucleus of B cells undergoing CSR and binds to S region DNA, as shown by specific chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Using knockout EndoG(-/-) mice and EndoG(-/-) B cells, we found that EndoG deficiency resulted in a two-fold reduction in CSR in vivo and in vitro, as demonstrated by reduced cell surface IgG1, IgG2a, IgG3 and IgA, reduced secreted IgG1, reduced circle Iγ1-Cμ, Iγ3-Cμ, Iɛ-Cμ, Iα-Cμ transcripts, post-recombination Iμ-Cγ1, Iμ-Cγ3, Iμ-Cɛ and Iμ-Cα transcripts. In addition to reduced CSR, EndoG(-/-) mice showed a significantly altered spectrum of mutations in IgH J(H)-iEμ DNA. Impaired CSR in EndoG(-/-) B cells did not stem from altered B cell proliferation or apoptosis. Rather, it was associated with significantly reduced frequency of DSBs. Thus, our findings determine a role for EndoG in the generation of S region DSBs and CSR.
ESC: Energy Synchronized Communication in sustainable sensor networks

With advances in energy harvesting techniques, it is now feasible to build sustainable sensor networks (SSN) to support long-term applications. Unlike battery-powered sensor networks, the objective of sustainable sensor networks is to effectively utilize a continuous stream of ambient energy. Instead of pushing the limits of energy conservation, we are aiming at energy-synchronized designs1 to keep energy supplies and demands in balance. Specifically, this work presents the Energy Synchronized Communication (ESC) as a transparent middle-ware between the network layer and data link layer that controls the amount and timing of RF activity at receiving nodes. In this work, we first derive a delay model for cross-traffic at individual nodes, which reveals an interesting stair effect in low-duty-cycle networks. This effect allows us to design a localized energy synchronization control with O(1) time complexity that shuffles or adjusts the working schedule of a node to optimize cross-traffic delays in the presence of changing duty-cycle budgets. Under different rates of energy fluctuations, shuffle-based and adjustment-based methods have different influences on logical connectivity and cross-traffic delay, due to the inconsistent views of working schedules among neighboring nodes before schedule updates. We study the trade-off between them and propose methods to update working schedules efficiently. To evaluate our work, ESC is implemented on MicaZ nodes with two state-of-the-art routing protocols. Both test-bed experiment and large scale simulation results show significant performance improvements over randomized synchronization controls.
Thermal behavior of polyethyloxazoline

Polyethyloxazoline (PEOx) is a new water-soluble, thermoplastic polymer. It has a glass temperature of 56°C which increases to about 72°C on storage at room temperature. This increase is a manifestation of physical aging, and it occurs relatively fast with PEOx in comparison to other polymers. Also, the extent of this aging, as measured by the amount of enthalpy relaxation, is high for PEOx. It was shown that PEOx can be brought to 320°C without reduction of glass temperature, indicating an exceptional thermal stability.
Input Impedance, Wave Travel, and Reflections in the Human Pulmonary Arterial Tree: Studies Using an Electrical Analog

An electrical model of the human pulmonary arterial tree has been developed using modern oscillatory flow theory. By comparison with corresponding in vivo measurements of 1) pressure and flow waveshapes, 2) input impedance, and 3) apparent phase velocity, this passive, multisegmental, linear delay line model is shown to bear a close resemblance to reality.
On the Wyner-Ziv problem with two sources

This paper studies the rate-distortion region for the Wyner-Ziv problem with two sources having side information. The inner and outer bounds to this region is presented.
The Synthesis of Some t- Alkylnaphthalenes

Abstract Alkylation of aromatics with olefins using boron trifluoride-phosphoric acid has been reported to give high yields of monoalkylates with a minimum of side reactions.1 However, much of this previous work was carried out without the use of modern techniques to separate and identify various fractions. Relatively little, in general, is known about the products resulting from the reaction of naphthalene with olefins using acidic catalysts.1,2,3 This is probably because of the difficulty involved in separating the various isomers. The relatively mild and non-destructive properties reported for boron trifluoride-phosphoric acid catalyst suggested that it might be suitable for the preparation of 2-t-alkyl naphthalene derivatives in high yield and with little isomerization. This proved to be true and below are reported t- alkylnaphthalenes prepared from olefins using this catalyst.
A rapid molecular weight determination for linear polyethylene

Abstract : The molecular weight of polymers of over 100,000 can be determined by using the 10 second Gehman Modulus at 150 C. This method is not absolute but is both rapid and convenient. Experiments were conducted on linear polyethylene. (Author-PL).
Idle Hands: Community Employment Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated Youth

In this study, the authors examined the facility-to-community transition experiences—focusing specifically on employment—of 531 incarcerated youth following their release from Oregon's juvenile correctional system. They gathered data on the sample while these youth were still in custody and then every 6 months through phone interviews to describe the participants' community work, educational, and living and social experiences of the study participants.The authors documented the participants' return to the juvenile correctional system and entry into the adult correctional system from extant state databases. In this study, being employed at 6 months postexit was related in a marginally statistically significant manner ( p = .07) to remaining in the community and out of the correctional system at that same point in time. Generally,young men, participants without special education disabilities, those youth committed to the juvenile correctional system for person-related crimes, and individuals who were not ga...
Co-culture of rabbit one-cell embryos with rabbit oviduct epithelial cells.

Rabbit 1-cell embryos were co-cultured with rabbit oviduct epithelial cells (ROEC) to determine if ROEC can enhance embryo development in vitro. Primary ROEC were cultured in serum-free media at 39°C in a 5% CO2:95% air environment. In experiment 1, 1-cell embryos were co-cultured in Ham's F10 with freshly collected or 4-d-old cultures of ROEC seeded in plastic culture wells or on collagen membranes. One-cell embryos cultured without ROEC served as controls. After 65 h in culture, embryos were stained with Hoechst 33342 to determine the number of cells per embryo. Cell numbers were higher (P<0.035) in all co-culture treatments when compared to controls. Optimal development was obtained by co-culture with 4-d-old ROEC grown on plastic (P<0.003). In experiment 2, Ham's F10, Medium 199, and CZB with glucose medium were compared for their ability to support embryo development in the presence or absence of 4-d-old ROEC growth on plastic. Cell number and the percentage of embryos becoming blastocysts were significantly (P<0.002) higher for embryos cultured in Medium 199 compared to the other media tested. In Medium 199, co-culture with ROEC resulted in only a slight, nonsignificant increase in cell number over culture in Medium 199 alone (110 vs. 96 cells). However, the percentage of embryos reaching the blastocyst stage when co-cultured in Medium 199 with ROEC (49%) was nearly twice (P=0.01) that of embryos in Medium 199 without ROEC (26%). In experiment 3, transfer of embryos cultured in Medium 199 with or without ROEC of 24 or 48 h resulted in no significant differences in posttransfer development. These data indicate a beneficial effect of ROEC on blastogenesis and a salvage effect of ROEC on cell proliferation in embryos grown in a less supportive medium such as Ham's F10.
Genomic outlier profile analysis: mixture models, null hypotheses, and nonparametric estimation

In most analyses of large-scale genomic data sets, differential expression analysis is typically assessed by testing for differences in the mean of the distributions between 2 groups. A recent finding by Tomlins and others (2005) is of a different type of pattern of differential expression in which a fraction of samples in one group have overexpression relative to samples in the other group. In this work, we describe a general mixture model framework for the assessment of this type of expression, called outlier profile analysis. We start by considering the single-gene situation and establishing results on identifiability. We propose 2 nonparametric estimation procedures that have natural links to familiar multiple testing procedures. We then develop multivariate extensions of this methodology to handle genome-wide measurements. The proposed methodologies are compared using simulation studies as well as data from a prostate cancer gene expression study.
Antagonism of Intravenous Cocaine Lethality in Nonhuman Primates

(1980). Antagonism of Intravenous Cocaine Lethality in Nonhuman Primates. Clinical Toxicology: Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 499-508.
Stability of mitomycin C in different infusion fluids: Compatibility with heparin and glucocorticosteroids:

Introduction: Mitomycin C (Mutamycin) stability and compatibility was analyzed by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Methods: The drug was reconstituted in sterile water for injection USP, 0.9% sodium chloride for injection USP, 5% dextrose injection USP and lactated Ringer's injection USP. Samples were stored for vari ous times at —20°C, 4°C and 25°C in both glass and plastic (polyvinyl chloride) containers.Results: Mitomycin C was shown to be stable (> 90% remaining for 5 to 7 days at room temperature in nondextrose containing infusion fluids. Greater stability was noted at drug concentrations ≥ 0.4 μg/mL and at reduced temperatures. In 5% dextrose solutions, stability was highly dependent upon pH: 3.4 hours at pH 4.7 and slightly over 24 hours at pH 5.5. Non-linear decomposition in dextrose was due to a slow increase in solution pH after adding mitomycin C. There were no stability differences for glass or plastic containers. Mitomycin was shown to be stable for prolonged period...
Business Ethics, Organization Ethics and Systems Ethics for Health Care

One evening John Worthy, age forty-seven, brought home information about the new health insurance plans his employer, Factory Inc., was offering. Factory had decided to offer a choice of health plans: GoodCare, a managed care plan, or GoodCare Prime, which had a point of service option. Those who wanted to pay more for it themselves could stay with the company’s old indemnity insurance.
Passive Suicidal Ideation: A Clinically Relevant Risk Factor for Suicide in Treatment-Seeking Veterans

Passive suicidal ideation is an important indicator of suicide risk because it is associated with significantly high levels of depression and suicidality, comparable to individuals experiencing act...
Examples with N Parameters

The mathematical technique developed in the last chapter is used to find analytical solutions to seven problems. The first three are purely mathematical problems, and the last four are problems related to turbulence.
Hybridising of Oats Utilising Chemical Hybridising Agents

Data pertaining to the performance of F1 oat (Avena spp.) hybrids compared to commercial cultivars or parental lines are limited. Almost all oat heterosis studies have been based on small numbers of space-planted F1 hybrid plants grown from hand-crossed seeds. Space-planted experiments probably do not give realistic estimates of heterosis, since parents and hybrids may not perform as they would in competitive stands. It is likely that heterosis estimates will be somewhat ‘inflated’ in space-planted tests, since environmental constraints to high yield on a per-plant basis are minimised. It also is likely that the relative contribution of various grain-yield components would be very different for space-planted and ‘full-stand’ trials. For example, it is certain that ‘spaced’ plants of winter-type oats produce a much higher number of functional tillers than plants grown in full stands. Hybrids having outstanding tillering capacity might exhibit most of their grain yield heterosis in terms of this yield component in space-planted tests. However in full-stand trials, this yield component likely would be expressed more moderately, and the other yield components might account for a larger proportion of heterosis for grain yield.
Managing care for people with chronic conditions: an overview of evidence and experiences

Background The rising prevalence of chronic illness poses considerable challenges to health systems globally. Part of this challenge is that chronic conditions create a spectrum of needs that require multifaceted responses over extended periods from a range of professionals as well as active patient engagement. The need to develop coordinated or integrated approaches to service delivery has been widely recognised but it has been difficult to …
New Theoretical Results for the Mach Effect Thruster

Einstein believed that his general relativity theory contained the essence of Mach’s ideas. That a mass is determined by the rest of the mass-energy content of the universe. Inertia here arises from mass-energy there. The latter, an opinion shared by John Wheeler. Einstein believed that to be fully Machian, gravity would need a radiative component, an action-at-a-distance character, so that gravitational influences from far away could be felt immediately by a particle. Hoyle and Narlikar in the 1960’s developed such a theory which was a gravitational version of the Absorber theory derived by Wheeler–Feynman for classical electrodynamics. Hawking in 1965 showed that the mass, from the advanced wave integral in the Hoyle Narlikar theory, was divergent. It can be shown that the advanced wave integral is finite when the cosmic event horizon, due to the acceleration of the universe, is taken into consideration. The HNtheory is directly related to the mass fluctuation equations in the Woodward Mach effect thruster theory. The connection between the theories will be made clear, also presented is new experimental data from the past 6 months.
Pyrethroid resistance in Phytoseiulus macropilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae): cross-resistance, stability and effect of synergists

Phytoseiulus macropilis Banks (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is an effective predator of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). The objectives of this research were to study the stability of fenpropathrin resistance and the cross-resistance relationships with different pyrethroids, and also to evaluate the effect of synergists [piperonyl butoxide (PBO), diethyl maleate (DEM) and S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate (DEF)] on fenpropathrin resistant and susceptible strains of this predaceous mite. The stability of fenpropathrin resistance was studied under laboratory conditions, using P. macropilis populations with initial frequencies of 75 and 50% of resistant mites. The percentages of fenpropathrin resistant mites were evaluated monthly for a period of up to 12 months. A trend toward decreased resistance frequencies was observed only during the first 3-4 months. After this initial decrease, the fenpropathrin resistance was shown to be stable, maintaining constant resistance frequencies (around 30%) until the end of the evaluation period. Toxicity tests carried out using fenpropathrin resistant and susceptible strains of P. macropilis indicated strong positive cross-resistance between fenpropathrin and the pyrethroids bifenthrin and deltamethrin. Bioassays with the synergists DEM, DEF and PBO were also performed. The maximum synergism ratio (SR = LC50 without synergist/LC50 with synergist) detected for the three evaluated synergists (PBO, DEM, DEF) was 5.86 (for DEF), indicating low influence of enzyme detoxification processes in fenpropathrin resistance.
Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Corneal Ectasia: Management and a Case for Association.

Purpose To report the occurrence of corneal ectasia (ECT) in patients with history of Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), and to make the case for an association between these 2 diagnoses. We also report the impact of prosthetic replacement of the ocular surface ecosystem (PROSE) treatment on visual acuity (VA) in these patients. Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods A manufacturing database of PROSE patients from 2002 to 2014 at Boston Foundation for Sight (BFS), a single-center clinical practice, was reviewed to identify patients with diagnoses of both SJS and ECT. Results Nine patients were identified with diagnoses of both SJS and ECT. In each case, review of the medical record revealed that diagnosis of SJS preceded that of ECT. The prevalence of ECT in this population exceeded that in the general population ( P P Conclusions ECT occurs at a higher-than-expected rate in patients with a history of SJS. PROSE treatment improves VA in these patients. The basis of the association between SJS and ECT is considered, as well as the role of plausible contributory factors such as corneal microtrauma and matrix metalloproteinases.
Opportunities for Implementing Media Literacy Education as an Obesity Prevention Strategy in China

This chapter discusses the importance of incorporating media literacy into school and nonschool settings to combat childhood obesity in China. This chapter begins with an introduction of the obesity epidemic and the rising medical costs associated with obesity-related illnesses. The author then explains how food marketing contributes to childhood obesity by discussing food advertising expenditures, types of food advertising, and persuasive tactics used in food marketing to attract children’s attention.
Analogy and Truth

I show how metaphors have non-trivial logical truth-conditions. Section 2 sets out non-trivial truth-conditions for assertions of analogy. Section 3 explains how utterances have both literal and metaphorical meanings. Section 4 develops intensional (possible worlds) truth-conditions for metaphors based on the existence of counterparts in analogous situations (parts of possible worlds).1 Appendix 7.1 lays out some of the formal extended predicate calculus (XPC) machinery for the analogical truth-conditions of section 4. It’s an appendix because it’s technical and depends on the discussion in Appendix 2.1.
Multimodality in the Classroom: An Introduction

As a methodological approach that studies naturally occurring social interaction in various settings, conversation analysis (CA) uncovers how social actions are organized in the moment-by-moment details of interaction and how participants as Members make sense of each other in situ (Psathas, 1995; ten Have, 2007). Due to technological limitations, early CA research largely relied on audio recordings of telephone conversations (see Lerner [2004] for a collection of first-generation studies on topics including turn-taking and sequence organization). From the 1970s, as video recordings became a possibility, CA pioneers also started to turn their attention to the interactional details and multimodal resources visibly accessible in face-to-face interaction. Issues addressed in their seminal work include how listenership can be displayed through gaze and other embodied behaviors, and how mutual orientation is established through gestures and other embodied resources (Goodwin, 1981; Heath, 1986). Overall, such work on multimodality views social interaction as Members’ practical actions organized by and accomplished through concerted talk and embodied actions, and investigates interactional resources available through the visual, auditory, and haptic channels as made relevant by participants of an interaction.
Marker expression of cancer stem cells (CSC) in malignant pleural effusion (MPE)

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA 5426 The Cancer Stem Cell (CSC) hypothesis states that tumors arise from progenitor or stem cells which sustain the growth and spread of tumor. Various cell markers and differences in phenotype (e.g.: cytotoxic drug resistance, mesenchymal type morphology and behavior) are purported to distinguish CSCs from the other tumor cells within epithelial malignancies. We have begun to evaluate the putative CSC-marker profile in tumor cells fractionated from MPE, using flow cytometry. We show that the fractional and temporal expression of the putative CSC and/or the tumor progression markers (CD44, CD166, cMET, MDR1, uPAR) in primary MPE-derived lung cancer specimens. Whereas only 20-30% of primary isolates are CD44+ by immuno-histochemistry upon removal from subjects, 90-95% of the tumor cells cultured in medium enriched with autologous effusion cells are CD44+ after one week of culture in vitro . Of the CD44+ fraction, 60% of the cultured cells also express cMET, and approximately 50% also co-express CD166, uPAR, or MDR1. When evaluated for CD44 receptor variants, 35% of the total cells express variant v4/5 and are negative for other variants such as v6, v7/8. Lastly, the cells were also evaluated for Adenoviral entry receptors (CAR, avb3, avb5) for consideration of targeted gene-therapy. Remarkably, over 80% of the CD44+ cells cultured from MPE also co-expressed CAR and avb5, but not avb3. These results suggest that processes utilized for MPE-specimen fractionation, isolation and primary culture alter the CSC-marker profiles. Additionally, if CD44+ cells are truly enriched for CSCs, our results indicate that this population may well be susceptible to targeted adenoviral gene-delivery/therapy by virtue of their differential expression of Ad-entry receptors. Study fuded by VA Medical Research Funds to RKB.
Relativistic distorted-wave collision strengths and oscillator strengths for the 45 Δn = 0 transitions with n = 2 in the 85 Be-like ions with 8 ≤ Z ≤ 92

Abstract Relativistic distorted-wave collision strengths have been calculated for the 185 Δ n = 0 transitions with n = 2 in the 67 C-like ions with nuclear charge number Z in the range 26 ≤ Z ≤ 92 . The calculations were made for the six final, or scattered, electron energies E ′ = 0.03 , 0.08 , 0.20 , 0.42 , 0.80 , and 1.40 , where E ′ is in units of Z eff 2 Ry with Z eff = Z − 4.17 . In addition, electric dipole oscillator strengths are provided. In the present collision-strength calculations, an improved “top-up” method, which employs relativistic plane waves, was used to obtain the high partial-wave contribution for each transition, in contrast to the partial-relativistic Coulomb–Bethe approximation used in previous work by Zhang and Sampson [H.L. Zhang, D.H. Sampson, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 63 (1996) 275]. In that earlier work, collision strengths were also provided for the same 185 Δ n = 0 transitions in C-like ions, but for the more limited list of 46 ions with Z in the range 9 ≤ Z ≤ 54 . The collision strengths covered in the present work, particularly those for optically allowed transitions, should be more accurate than the corresponding data given by Zhang and Sampson [H.L. Zhang, D.H. Sampson, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 63 (1996) 275] and are presented here to replace those earlier results.
Sexual Health, Mental Health, and Beliefs About Cancer Treatments Among Women Attending a Gynecologic Oncology Clinic

Abstract Introduction Sexual health is an important, yet overlooked, aspect of quality of life for gynecologic oncologic patients. Although patients with gynecologic cancer frequently report sexual health concerns, there are limited efforts to address these problems. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship between mental health and sexual health needs to be prioritized. Aim To examine multiple components of sexual health in patients with gynecologic cancer. Methods For the present study, sexual health concerns (ie, sexual frequency, desire, response, and satisfaction; orgasm; and pain during sex; independent variables), beliefs about cancer treatments affecting sexual health (dependent variable), and mental health (ie, anxiety and depressive symptoms; dependent variables) of patients at a US gynecologic oncology clinic were assessed. Main Outcome Measures Demographics; cancer diagnosis; positive screening results for cancer; sexual health histories including sexual frequency, desire, pain, orgasm, responsiveness, and satisfaction; and mental health including depression and anxiety symptoms. Results Most women reported experiencing at least one sexual health concern, and half the women screened positive for experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Forty-nine percent of participants reported having no or very little sexual desire or interest in the past 6 months. Further, in mediation analyses, pain during sex was significantly and positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = 0.42, P P Conclusion Findings emphasize the need to further address and incorporate sexual and mental health into standard care for patients attending gynecologic oncology clinics. Screening women for whether and to what extent they perceive cancer treatments affecting their sexual health could provide a brief, easily administrable, screener for sexual health concerns and the need for further intervention. Intervention development for patients with gynecologic cancer must include mental health components and addressing perceptions of how cancer treatments affect sexual health functioning. Eaton L, Kueck A, Maksut J, et al. Sexual Health, Mental Health, and Beliefs About Cancer Treatments Among Women Attending a Gynecologic Oncology Clinic. Sex Med 2017;5:e175–e183.
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma mimicking a mucocele (ranula) in the floor of the mouth

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common salivary gland malignancy. The submandibular gland is rarely involved, about less than 10% of all other major salivary glands. We report a case of a 49-year-old female who presented with a mass on the left side of the floor of the mouth. She was complaining of neck pain for the last 2-3 days and had noticed the mass growing in size and becoming tender to palpation. There was no exacerbation of pain during eating, drinking, or opening of mouth. A multidetector CT scan was made. The radiographic examination revealed a mostly well-defined hypodense area suggestive of mucocele (ranula), which was thought to be corroborated by the clinical findings. The treatment of choice was the complete excision of the mucocele and the left submandibular salivary gland. The histopathological examination surprisingly revealed a low-grade MEC. No further treatment was recommended; however, a follow up was scheduled in 4 months. This atypical location of MEC in the floor of the mouth simulated the clinical and radiographic features of a mucocele. This case highlights the value and importance of using all the available diagnostic tools and modalities for optimal patient management, as the histopathological analysis played an important role to confirm the diagnosis.
Human factors engineering for mobile health applications

Childhood asthma has effectively doubled since 1980 and currently affects about 8% of the U.S. childhood population. Efficiently analyzing quality of air data, which would ultimately improve the information available to parents with children suffering from asthma, is crucial to reduce the likelihood of a serious attack. In order to accomplish this task, the use of low-cost, wearable, environmental sensors contribute to construct a live “air-care” pollution map. Creating an alpha prototype application to gauge how well participants interact with and interpret healthcare information utilizing a “Wizard of Oz” paradigm becomes an important component in the research.
Nonprofit Cultural Alliances: Initiatory Qualitative and Empirical Examinations of an Emergent U.S. Phenomenon

This study examines the recent spontaneous emergence of nonprofit cultural alliance organizations in the U.S. Cultural alliances are community-based associations, formed by arts/cultural organizati...
Effect of operator and optical defocus on the variability of pattern electroretinogram optimized for glaucoma detection (PERGLA)

Purpose:To evaluate the e!ect of operator and optical defocus on the variability of pattern electroretinogram optimized for glaucoma detection (PERGLA). Methods:Two di!erent operators obtained 2 PERGLA recordings each from 10 healthy participants (5 women, mean age 32.1±10.3y). In addition, one of the operators obtained recordings in which corrective lenses of various diopters (±0.5, ±1, ±2, and ±3) were used to generate optical defocus in both eyes. The e!ect of operator on PERGLA amplitude and phase variability was determined using a single nested variance components’ analysis model and by using Bland-Altman plots. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the e!ect of optical defocus on amplitude and phase. Results:Di!erences in measurements between operators accounted for approximately 26.6% and 18.2% of the total variance for amplitude and phase, respectively. Results were confirmed by the use of Bland-Altman plots. ANOVA identified a significant e!ect of defocus on mean amplitude (F=2.65,P=0.01), but not phase (F=1.02,P=0.42). Conclusions:Measurements obtained by di!erent operators can result in significant di!erences in PERGLA amplitude. In addition, although optical defocus leads to a decrease in PERGLA amplitude by reducing visual acuity, this can be avoided by obtaining J1 or better vision before testing.
Hardware design in smart home applications: rapid prototyping and embedded systems

Research advances in smart home technologies are highly diverse and innovative[1,2,3]. Some of these novel ideas involve in creating new hardware to perform distinct functionality. In this paper, we present two effective methods for transforming these ideas and concepts into actual hardware: rapid prototyping and embedded systems. These two methods used in combination have the benefits of high fidelity, formal documentation (thus can be successively improved), quick turnaround time and low cost. To illustrate these benefits, we demonstrate two prototypes developed in our Smart Home Lab: a physical monitoring and logging device and a smart lamp. Since these two methods are applicable in creating wide varieties of prototypes, our discussion and demonstration should inspire other researchers in smart home areas to use similar methods to create new prototypes and products. To improve overall usability, some design principals and issues are also discussed.
Laminar-Turbulent Transition in a Laminar Separation Bubble: Influence of Disturbance Amplitude on Bubble Size and Bursting

Direct numerical simulations of a short laminar separation bubble and its bursting are carried out. The bubble is developing on a flat plate due to an externally imposed pressure gradient. Laminar-turbulent transition is triggered by small disturbance input with fixed frequency to keep the bubble short. The short bubble reaches a statistically steady state, while switching off disturbance input yields a growing separation bubble. This phenomenon is denoted as bubble-bursting process. Disturbance input does not only prevent bursting, but can also serve to control the short bubble. Bubble size decreases with increased disturbance amplitude. Performance data on a NEC SX-8 super computer are compared for two different resolutions.
Stasis Dermatitis: Differentiation from Other Common Causes of Lower Leg Inflammation and Management Strategies

Stasis dermatitis is an inflammatory dermatosis of the lower extremities that most commonly occurs in elderly patients with underlying chronic venous insufficiency. In this article, we review the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnostic approach, differential diagnosis, and management strategies of stasis dermatitis. Stasis dermatitis can be confused with a variety of cutaneous disorders, including cellulitis, allergic contact dermatitis, pigmented purpuric dermatoses, and lymphedema; therefore, dermatology consultation of patients with lower extremity rash can help improve outcomes and decrease costs. Treatment of stasis dermatitis focuses on correction of the underlying venous insufficiency with compression or minimally invasive venous procedures and management of symptoms and skin changes with emollients and topical steroids. Stasis dermatitis is an important disease with which clinicians should be familiar. Prompt recognition and treatment of stasis dermatitis can be important in the prevention of complications, such as venous ulcerations.
Selena Sloan Butler (1872–1964)

This chapter highlights the accomplishments and historical significance of Selena Sloan Butler, the founder and first president of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers Association, which later became the National Parent Teacher Association. The chapter also offers a critical analysis of the role Ms. Butler had in contributing to the growth and development of education in the African American community, especially as it relates to education policies and practices during reconstructionism through the civil rights movement in America.
ALERA: Accelerated Reinforcement Learning Driven Adaptation to Electro-Mechanical Degradation in Nonlinear Control Systems Using Encoded State Space Error Signatures

The successful deployment of autonomous real-time systems is contingent on their ability to recover from performance degradation of sensors, actuators, and other electro-mechanical subsystems with low latency. In this article, we introduce ALERA, a novel framework for real-time control law adaptation in nonlinear control systems assisted by system state encodings that generate an error signal when the code properties are violated in the presence of failures. The fundamental contributions of this methodology are twofold—first, we show that the time-domain error signal contains perturbed system parameters’ diagnostic information that can be used for quick control law adaptation to failure conditions and second, this quick adaptation is performed via reinforcement learning algorithms that relearn the control law of the perturbed system from a starting condition dictated by the diagnostic information, thus achieving significantly faster recovery. The fast (up to 80X faster than traditional reinforcement learning paradigms) performance recovery enabled by ALERA is demonstrated on an inverted pendulum balancing problem, a brake-by-wire system, and a self-balancing robot.
A Model of Adaptive Reinforcement Learning

We develop a model of learning that extends the classic models of reinforcement learning to a continuous, multidimensional strategy space. The model takes advantage of the recent approximation methods to tackle the curse of dimensionality inherent to a traditional discretization approach. Crucially, the model endogenously partitions strategies into sets of similar strategies, and allows agents to learn over these sets which speeds up the learning process. We provide an application of our model to predict which memory-1 mixed strategies will be played in the inde nitely repeated Prisoner's Dilemma game. We show that despite allowing the mixed strategies, strategies close to the pure strategies always defect, grim trigger, and tit-for-tat emerge -- a result that qualitatively matches recent strategy choice experiments with human subjects.
Demonstrating the value of postgraduate fellowships for physicians in quality improvement and patient safety

Background Academic fellowships in quality improvement (QI) and patient safety (PS) have emerged as one strategy to fill a need for physicians who possess this expertise. The authors aimed to characterise the impact of two such programmes on the graduates and their value to the institutions in which they are housed. Methods In 2018, a qualitative study of two US QIPS postgraduate fellowship programmes was conducted. Graduates’ demographics and titles were collected from programme files,while perspectives of the graduates and their institutional mentors were collected through individual interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Results Twenty-eight out of 31 graduates (90%) and 16 out of 17 (94%) mentors participated in the study across both institutions. At a median of 3 years (IQR 2–4) postgraduation, QIPS fellowship programme graduates’ effort distribution was: 50% clinical care (IQR 30–61.8), 48% QIPS administration (IQR 20–60), 28% QIPS research (IQR 17.5–50) and 15% education (7.1–30.4). 68% of graduates were hired in the health system where they trained. Graduates described learning the requisite hard and soft skills to succeed in QIPS roles. Mentors described the impact of the programme on patient outcomes and increasing the acceptability of the field within academic medicine culture. Conclusion Graduates from two QIPS fellowship programmes and their mentors perceive programmatic benefits related to individual career goal attainment and institutional impact. The results and conceptual framework presented here may be useful to other academic medical centres seeking to develop fellowships for advanced physician training programmes in QIPS.
Design, implementation and experimental characterisation of a high sensitivity GMI gradiometer with an interference compensation system

The giant magneto-impedance (GMI) effect has been, since its discovery, one of the most promising technologies in the development of magnetic sensors. Features such as high sensitivity, stability and low cost are the main reasons for the development of this type of magnetometers. This study reports the design, implementation and experimental characterisation of a high sensitivity GMI gradiometer, aimed at measuring low-intensity magnetic fields. A first-order gradiometer was designed, based on the impedance phase characteristics of two Co 70 Fe 5 Si 15 B 10 amorphous ribbon-shaped sensors connected to an electronic circuit that converts the magnetic field into an output voltage. The developed prototype can operate not only as gradiometer but also as two separate magnetometers, which allows it to incorporate a compensation system against deviations in the biasing field of the GMI sensors. The experimental results for the gradiometer showed a sensitivity of 99 mV/μT, a measuring range of ±30 μT, a magnetic noise of 5 nT Hz -1/2 at 5 Hz and a resolution of 40 nT within a 500 Hz bandwidth. The compensation system has shown a settling time of 1.6 s for perturbations in the range ±10 μT with a steady-state error <;0.02%. All experiments were performed in an unshielded environment.
A Statistical Approach To Classify The Leukemia Patients From Generic Gene Features

Classifying the Leukemia patient is very important in clinical diagnosis and further treatment. Leukemia cancer is classified based on how fast it is spreading and has four different types. A gene is the most vital physical and functional factor of the human body. Genes are formed up of DNA. It differs in size for individuals from a few hundred Chromosome bases to higher than 2 million bases. Every person has two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent. Most of them are same in human, but a small number of genes about 1 percent of the total are a bit different. The study of Gene feature series of the different patient helps to understand the risk that is associated with the various types of cancer. In this paper, we used the classification algorithm, Naive Bayes, to classify the Leukemia patient from gene feature and predicting if a patient is positive or negative. We used NCBI GEO dataset and normalized the data set using our proposed methodology. Which works based on similarity score to find the fuzzy table. Then using the graph approach and our statistical model we were able to successfully predict the result which matches our actual data set with a high accuracy rate.
She Persisted: Gender, Electoral Loss, and the Decision to Run Again:

Losing elections is a political reality for most candidates. While much fanfare was made of the historic number of women who won in 2018, three times as many women ran and lost. And although we kno...
Active Antennas Radiated Spurious

This paper describes the analysis of radiated spurious performance of active antennas. It outlines an analysis methodology and presents radiated spurious performance of selected beam layouts for Direct Radiating Array (DRA) and Array Fed Reflector (AFR) active antennas.
Tissue engineering: from the bedside to the bench and back to the bedside

The field of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine has evolved rapidly over the past thirty years. This review will summarize its history, current status and direction through the lens of clinical need, its progress through science in the laboratory and application back into patients. We can take pride in the fact that much effort and progress began with the surgical problems of children and that many surgeons in the pediatric surgical specialties have become pioneers and investigators in this new field of science, engineering, and medicine. Although the field has yet to fulfill its great promise, there have been several examples where a therapy has progressed from the first idea to human application within a short span of time and, in many cases, it has been applied in the surgical care of children.
Qualitative research study on addressing barriers to healthy diet among low-income individuals at an urban, safety-net hospital

Background Some American households experience food insecurity, where access to adequate food is limited by lack of money and other resources. As such, we implemented a free 6-month Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program within a large urban safety-net hospital . Methods 32 participants completed a baseline and postintervention qualitative evaluation about food-related behaviour 6 months after study completion. Deductive codes were developed based on the key topics addressed in the interviews; inductive codes were identified from analytically reading the transcripts. Transcripts were coded in MAXQDA V.12 (Release 12.3.2). Results The information collected in the qualitative interviews highlights the many factors that affect dietary habits, including the environmental and individual influences that play a role in food choices people make. Participants expressed very positive sentiments overall about their programme participation. Conclusions A multifaceted intervention that targets individual behaviour change, enhances nutritional knowledge and skills, and reduces socioeconomic barriers to accessing fresh produce may enhance participant knowledge and self-efficacy around healthy eating. However, socioeconomic factors remain as continual barriers to sustaining healthy eating over the long term. Ongoing efforts that address social determinants of health may be necessary to promote sustainability of behaviour change.
Highly multiplexed immunofluorescence imaging of human tissues and tumors using t-CyCIF and conventional optical microscopes

The architecture of normal and diseased tissues strongly influences the development and progression of disease as well as responsiveness and resistance to therapy. We describe a tissue-based cyclic immunofluorescence (t-CyCIF) method for highly multiplexed immuno-fluorescence imaging of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens mounted on glass slides, the most widely used specimens for histopathological diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. t-CyCIF generates up to 60-plex images using an iterative process (a cycle) in which conventional low-plex fluorescence images are repeatedly collected from the same sample and then assembled into a high dimensional representation. t-CyCIF requires no specialized instruments or reagents and is compatible with super-resolution imaging; we demonstrate its application to quantifying signal transduction cascades, tumor antigens and immune markers in diverse tissues and tumors. The simplicity and adaptability of t-CyCIF makes it an effective method for pre-clinical and clinical research and a natural complement to single-cell genomics.
A K-Band 12.1-to-16.6GHz Subsampling ADPLL with 47.3fs rms Jitter Based on a Stochastic Flash TDC and Coupled Dual-Core DCO in 16nm FinFET CMOS

The demand for massive MIMO, digital beamforming, and increased bandwidth communication dramatically increases the complexity of the remote radio head in future cellular base-stations. This complexity issue can be addressed by RF transceiver SoCs incorporating multiple direct RF radio transceivers, which have clear advantages over conventional architectures and are enabled by high-performance digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). However, the sampling clock for these high-performance data converters must fulfill very stringent in-band and out-of-band spectral mask requirements, which are hard to meet with RF frequency synthesizers integrated on the SoC. All digital PLLs (ADPLLs) utilize the advantages of scaled nodes and rely on advanced digital signal-processing techniques to boost performance. Sub-sampling ADPLLs (SS-ADPLL) enable the usage of an energy-efficient time-to-digital converter (TDC) since the TDC noise is multiplied by a smaller factor [1]. This work presents a sub-sampling ADPLL with stochastic-flash TDC (SFTDC) and coupled dual-core DCO achieving 47.3fs rms jitter performance in 16nm FinFET CMOS.