cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Redtail and red colobus monkeys show intersite urinary cortisol concentration variation in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

*Non-invasive measurement of urinary cortisol is a proven method of evaluating the impact of environmental stressors on wild primates. Variation in cortisol concentrations can reflect physiological stress, and prolonged elevation of circulating cortisol can significantly affect individual and population-level health. In a previous study, we found that urinary cortisol concentrations in grey-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena) were higher at a highly disturbed site (Mainaro) in Kibale National Park, Uganda compared with a minimally disturbed site (Ngogo) in the same habitat. Here, we expand on this research, reporting on cortisol concentrations in two other cercopithecid monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius and Piliocolobus rufomitratus) at the same two sites. We hypothesized that C. ascanius would show no difference between sites, given its pref erence for secondary forests, while P. rufomitratus would have higher cortisol concentrations at the disturbed site. Contrary to expectations, both species exhibited significantly higher cortisol concentrations at Ngogo (minimally disturbed) com pared with Mainaro (disturbed). We suggest that these results may be caused by inter- or intragroup social dynamics, intersite differences in predation rate, fruit/food availability and chemistry, or a combination of these factors. These initial evaluations of urinary cortisol concentrations provide testable hypotheses on habitat disturbance and Kibale primate ecophysiology.
The Historical and Philosophical Significance of Hume’s Theory of the Self

The aim of this paper is to rescue Hume’s theory of the self from the distortions to which it has been subjected by Hume’s analytic readers. This will permit us to rediscover some fundamental insights about the self, philosophy, and temporality.
Evaluation of high-latitude boreal forest growth using satellite-derived vegetation indices

Vegetation in northern high-latitudes plays an important role in energy exchange and carbon dynamics, thereby influencing regional and global climate. Vegetation indices derived from the space-borne Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRR) have suggested decreased photosynthetic activity during recent decades within some continental regions of the pan-arctic boreal forests. The purpose of this research was to determine associations between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), as derived by both AVHRR and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS), and inter-annual variations in radial stem growth in high-latitude coniferous forests. During 2008 and 2009, tree core samples were collected at 12 sites in northeast Russia and at 10 sites in northwest Canada. Ring-width indices (RWI; n = 27) were generated for larch, spruce, and pine genera and these were correlated with summer NDVI derived from the AVHRR sensors over the 1982 to 2008 period. The correlations between NDVI and RWI were then examined between 2000 and 2008 using both MODIS and AVHRR. The sensors showed similar abilities to proxy radial growth and NDVI-RWI correlations appeared mostly insensitive to changes in MODIS grain sizes between 250 m and 24 km. Over the 27 year period RWI and NDVI showed positive, though variable, correlations (r = 0.43 ± 0.19, n = 27). For pine and spruce, both evergreen conifers, the annual rate of radial growth was significantly correlated with growth during previous years, as was canopy development, as proxied by NDVI. Larch, however, did not show year to year persistence in either radial growth or canopy development, a finding that points to differences in growth patterns between functionally-distinct tree genera. These findings suggest that negative trends in NDVI may reflect decreased radial growth at some locations and that attempts to model tree growth and carbon uptake using NDVI need to take into account multi-year persistence in tree growth. Additionally, the work shows similarities between AVHRR and MODIS, suggesting potential to bridge the historical AVHRR record with the newer and finer resolution MODIS record.
The Temporal Dynamics of Cooperation.

Parties in real-world conflicts often attempt to punish each other’s behavior. If this strategy fails to produce mutual cooperation, they may increase punishment magnitude. The present experiment investigated whether delay-reduction – potentially less harmful than magnitude increase – would generate mutual cooperation as interactions are repeated. Participants played a prisoner’s dilemma game against a computer that played a tit-for-tat strategy, cooperating after a participant cooperated, defecting after a participant defected. For half of the participants, the delay between their choice and the computer’s next choice was long relative to the delay between the computer’s choice and their next choice. For the other half, long and short delays were reversed. The tit-for-tat contingency reinforces the other player’s cooperation (by cooperating) and punishes the other player’s defection (by defecting). Both rewards and punishers are discounted by delay. Consistent with delay discounting, participants cooperated more when the delay between their choice and the computer’s cooperation (reward) or defection (punishment) was relatively short. These results suggest that, in real-world tit-for-tat conflicts, decreasing delay of reciprocation or retaliation may foster mutual cooperation as effectively as (or more effectively than) the more usual tactic of increasing magnitude of reciprocation or retaliation.
Improving Design Thinking Through Collaborative Improvisation

Over the last 2 years, we have been following an improvisational approach to physical interaction design research. It emphasizes the use of exploratory lab and field experiments as a way to (a) source novel ideas about how people might interact with expressive objects such as robots and active spaces, (b) appraise the performance of our prototypes of these technologies, and (c) build frameworks to understand users’ mental models and develop new insights into interaction. We have focused, in particular, on staging environments—whether in public settings or recreated in our workspace—where we can provoke discussion about what behaviors and emotions would be desirable or natural. This paper describes how we design and run experiments to evaluate how people interact with expressive robots built from everyday objects, including a mechanical ottoman, emotive dresser drawers and roving trash barrel.
Abstract 985: Design of a model for the development of cisplatin resistance in H526 human small cell lung cancer xenografts.

Treatment of Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) often fails due to the rapid development of resistance to chemotherapy drugs. Reversal of resistance has proven to be difficult to achieve; thus, we have suggested an alternative strategy - prevention of its development [Frenkel & Caffrey, Current Pharmaceutical Design, (2001) 7: 1595-1614]. In order to investigate this possibility we previously designed a model of the development of cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer xenografts, which mimics the development of clinical resistance in ovarian cancer patients [Caffrey & Frenkel, Cancer Chemotherapy Pharmacology (2000) 46: 74-78]. We used this model to identify compounds which are able to prevent resistance; these are being further investigated in a Phase I clinical trial. We have now designed an analogous model of the development of resistance in SCLC xenografts. Mice were injected sc with H526 SCLCL cells. Those bearing visible tumors were injected i.p. with a single “pretreatment” dose of cisplatin ranging from 0.75 - 3.0 mg/kg. On the 3rd, 5th or 7th day after this pretreatment, mice were injected i.p. with a single “high” dose of cisplatin (3.0 mg/kg). This high dose decreased the growth rate of control (PBS pretreated) tumors by 40%. Tumors whose growth curve was decreased by less than 40% were considered resistant. Our results indicated that several potential models resulted in a low incidence of resistance. However, pretreatment with 1.5 mg/kg followed seven days later by high dose treatment of 3.0 mg/kg consistently resulted in the development of cisplatin-resistant tumors. This model can be used to screen a variety of agents for their ability to prevent the induction of platinum resistance in SCLC tumors. Supported by a grant from the PA State System of Higher Education. Citation Format: Paula B. Caffrey, Gerald D. Frenkel. Design of a model for the development of cisplatin resistance in H526 human small cell lung cancer xenografts. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 985. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-985
Hypothesis on Potential Energy Conversion of Population Migration in Theory:Re-interpretion of the push-pull migration laws

We put forward the hypothesis of migration potential energy conversion through the analysis about the process of migration flows,combined with the famous formula of behavior.We point out that the migration is a function of migration individuals,the environment and the middle channel.The push-pull power put forward by push-pull theory is in effect a potential.Whats more,the judgment of the push-pull power should have a reference.When the reference is difference,the push-pull powers between the regions are difference.
Porphyria-inducing drugs: comparative effects on nuclear ribonucleic acid polymerases in rat liver.

Changes in δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthetase activity, endogenous nuclear RNA polymerase activities (nucleolar and nucleoplasmic), and the availability of chromatin DNA to serve as template for RNA synthesis in rat liver in response to treatment with two porphyria-producing compounds, allylisopropylacetamide (AIA) and 3,5-dicarbethoxy-1,4-dihydrocollidine (DDC), were determined. The alterations observed were compared with changes produced by two compounds that do not cause porphyria, phenobarbital (PB) and 3-methylcholanthrene (MC). Only AIA and DDC caused marked induction of ALA synthetase activity; PB caused a slight increase, and MC, no increase, in ALA synthetase. All four compounds caused some change in nuclear RNA synthesis in comparison with results in control animals given vehicle alone. AlA, DDC, and PB caused increased levels of RNA polymerase I (nucleolar) activity at time points later than 2 hr after injection, whereas MC resulted in a decreased level of RNA polymerase I activity at 8 and 12 hr. DDC, PB, and MC also caused prominent modulations in RNA polymerase II (nucleoplasmic) activity, the values 8 hr after injection being considerably greater than in control livers. An elevation in endogenous polymerase II activity persisted at 12 hr only in the DDC- and MC-treated animals. These alterations in polymerase II activity for the most part can be explained by changes in chromatin template capacity. DNA-dependent RNA synthesis using excess bacterial polymerase roughly paralleled the changes in polymerase II activity caused by DDC, PB, and MC treatment. Conversely, AIA caused only minimal changes in either polymerase II or chromatin template capacity. These data and those from other laboratories suggest that AIA and DDC may have different primary sites of action in the induction of excessive quantities of ALA synthetase, the first and rate-limiting enzyme in heme biosynthesis.
Convergence of intrapersonal and interpersonal processes across group meetings

ABSTRACTRecent research has addressed the extent to which group communication exhibits intrapersonal and interpersonal characteristics. The most defensible and reasonable view appears to be that group interaction exhibits characteristics that fall somewhere in between, with group interaction revealing evidence of both individual- and group-level processes. Latent group and multilevel approaches were utilized to examine the use of functional communication in product design teams, across a series of tasks. The findings provided additional evidence for this middle road, or convergence approach, in that group members’ roles, as well as the function of discussion contributions, significantly varied across time, and at both levels of analysis.
Coupling digital image correlation and finite element analysis to determine constitutive parameters in necking tensile specimens

Abstract A general framework is described for coupling digital image correlation (DIC) with finite element analysis to determine material parameters from measurements of nonuniform displacement fields in a specimen. The approach is to minimize the difference between measured and computed displacement fields and external forces applied to the specimen by repeatedly correcting the material parameters in a chosen constitutive model. The minimization can be accomplished analytically, and the resulting nonlinear system of equations solved using a Newton–Raphson procedure that integrates naturally with standard nonlinear finite element computations. As a representative application, the method is applied to measure the flow behavior of tensile specimens beyond uniform elongation. The results of a series of tensile tests on tapered HSLA 590FB steel specimens show that the effective stress-strain behavior can reliably be extracted to a strain of 60%, well beyond the limits of 20% commonly achieved using traditional engineering analyses on straight-gauge specimens.
Long-Term Climatological Cycles and Population Changes in a River-Dominated Estuarine System

River flow and rainfall patterns in the Apalachicola drainage system were analyzed by time-series methods, and a preliminary comparison was made with commercial harvests and trawl-tow collections of organisms taken during a long-term sampling program. Spectral analysis revealed long-term (5–7 year) cycles in river flow ranging over 25% of the mean flow figures. Cross- spectral analysis indicated that these cycles were somewhat correlated with local (Florida) rainfall but were strongly related to upstream (Georgia) rainfall. A two-parameter model gave a satisfactory fit to the monthly series of annual river flow changes. Dam construction and filling did not appear to be related to long-term cyclic patterns, but weekly cycles in river flow, evident during periods of low water, appeared after dam installations were made. A preliminary comparison of annual river flows with commercial harvests showed strong correlations with oyster and crab catches in associated coastal areas. River flow was weakly correlated with shrimp and crab numbers obtained from a long-term sampling program. There were indications that while long-term river fluctuations were closely associated with commercial landings, such correlations should be carefully scrutinized for possible influence of economic and sociological conditions. Cyclic biological changes driven by key climatological factors may be complicated by highly individualistic species strategies which tend to mask direct phase relationships. However, long-term periodic changes in climatological features of drainage systems need to be considered if the biological variability of such areas is to be explained. There are indications that such cycles may differentially influence population changes at various levels of biological organization.
Effects of copper loading on NH3-SCR and NO oxidation over Cu impregnated CHA zeolite

Cu/CHA catalysts with various Cu loadings (0.5 wt%–6.0 wt%) were synthesized via incipient wetness impregnation. The catalysts were applied to the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3 and NO oxidation reaction. XRD and N2 adsorption-desorption data showed that CHA structure was maintained with the incorporation of Cu, while specific surface areas decreased with increasing Cu loading. At intermediate Cu loading, 4 wt%, the highest NH3-SCR activity was observed with ∼98% N2 selectivity from 150 °C to 300 °C. Small amounts of water, 2%, slightly increased NO conversion in addition to the remarkable N2O and NO2 reduction at high temperature. Water effects are attributed to the improved Cu ion reducibility and mobility. NO oxidation results provided no relation between NO2 formation and SCR activity. Physicochemical properties, NO conversion, N2 selectivity, and activation energy data showed that impregnated samples’ molecular structure and catalytic activity are comparable to the conventional ion-exchanged (IE) samples’ ones.
The Revenge of the Nerds: Uncovering Practices of E-Sports and Fantasy Sports: An Abstract

In recent years marketplaces around the world experienced a boom in several unconventional competitive events in online environments. E-sports and fantasy sports are two of the popular current examples. Not only there is a growing number in these competitive events, but they are also becoming culturally and financially very attractive. Media houses are seeking collaboration with these events, for example, ESPN is now televising E-Sports tournaments, as does TBS and Twitch, a website that works as a central platform for streaming E-sports events and has a viewership of about 43 million a month, acquired by Amazon for $930 million in August 2014. The phenomenon became so popular that some of the universities in the USA offer athletic scholarship for E-sports players. Recently, the NBA started its own E-sports league with the goal for each NBA “real” team to own an E-Sports team and compete in a virtual NBA championship. This paper discusses some of the explanation behind the popularity of the aforementioned trends from a practice theory perspective. Practice theory is an appropriate lens in this research, as it takes the performative character of social life if foregrounded and it privileges its analysis. We specifically focus on fantasy sports and E-sports.
Detection and variability of combustion-derived vapor in an urban basin

Abstract. Water emitted during combustion may comprise a significant portion of ambient humidity (> 10 %) in urban areas, where combustion emissions are strongly focused in space and time. Stable water vapor isotopes can be used to apportion measured humidity values between atmospherically transported and combustion-derived water vapor, as combustion-derived vapor possesses an unusually negative deuterium excess value (d-excess, d = δ2H − 8δ18O). We investigated the relationship between the d-excess of atmospheric vapor, ambient CO2 concentrations, and atmospheric stability across four winters in Salt Lake City, Utah. We found a robust inverse relationship between CO2 excess above background and d-excess on sub-diurnal to seasonal timescales, which was most prominent during periods of strong atmospheric stability that occur during Salt Lake City winter. Using a Keeling-style mixing model approach, and assuming a molar ratio of H2O to CO2 in emissions of 1.5, we estimated the d-excess of combustion-derived vapor in Salt Lake City to be −179 ± 17 ‰, consistent with the upper limit of theoretical estimates. Based on this estimate, we calculate that vapor from fossil fuel combustion often represents 5–10 % of total urban humidity, with a maximum estimate of 16.7 %, consistent with prior estimates for Salt Lake City. Moreover, our analysis highlights that changes in the observed d-excess during periods of high atmospheric stability cannot be explained without a vapor source possessing a strongly negative d-excess value. Further refinements in this humidity apportionment method, most notably empirical validation of the d-excess of combustion vapor or improvements in the estimation of the background d-excess value in the absence of combustion, can yield more certain estimates of the impacts of fossil fuel combustion on urban humidity and meteorology.
Hierarchical Coupling of First-Principles Molecular Dynamics with Advanced Sampling Methods

We present a seamless coupling of a suite of codes designed to perform advanced sampling simulations, with a first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) engine. As an illustrative example, we discuss results for the free energy and potential surfaces of the alanine dipeptide obtained using both local and hybrid density functionals (DFT), and we compare them with those of a widely used classical force field, Amber99sb. In our calculations, the efficiency of first-principles MD using hybrid functionals is augmented by hierarchical sampling, where hybrid free energy calculations are initiated using estimates obtained with local functionals. We find that the free energy surfaces obtained from classical and first-principles calculations differ. Compared to DFT results, the classical force field overestimates the internal energy contribution of high free energy states, and it underestimates the entropic contribution along the entire free energy profile. Using the string method, we illustrate how these differences ...
Finding the Nuance in Eldercare Measurement: Latent Profiles of Eldercare Characteristics

There has historically been little consensus around the measurement of the eldercare construct. While authors most frequently employ a dichotomous operationalization of eldercare, there is likely greater nuance to the caregiver experience that goes uncaptured and can serve to explain inconsistencies in eldercare findings. The current study takes a person-centered approach to eldercare in order to assess how different caregiving characteristics manifest within individuals. Using an archival data source, we conduct a latent profile analysis of 840 employed caregivers to detect patterns within eldercare experiences and relate these contexts to various work-related and psychological outcomes. Overall, we find that the latent profiles are primarily driven by three eldercare variables: (1) the amount of time spent attending to eldercare responsibilities, (2) the living situation of the care recipient, and (3) the impairment of the care recipient. We also discovered that one of the profiles (characterized by long-term, in-home eldercare for a care recipient with a physical or mental disability) exhibited significantly higher family-to-work conflict relative to other profiles. Our comparisons of eldercare profiles serve to illustrate the scenarios in which eldercare is most influential. Additionally, the person-centered approach revealed various caregiving contexts that were otherwise not captured by the variable-centered approach, supporting the use of latent profile analysis in the work-family domain. The findings have implications for the future operationalization of the eldercare construct, as well as for organizational eldercare policies and interventions.
Exploring relationships between medical college rankings and performance with big data

It is important to examine the cost-effectiveness of medical education. The public wants to know how government spending is being utilized to train doctors. There are very few studies that examine national data to understand the relationships between medical education and outcomes. We used Big Data analytics with open health data to explore answers. We joined physician data and hospital total performance score data reported by Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), containing information for nearly 600,000 practitioners and performance scores from three thousand hospitals in the United States. We combined this data medical college costs from the American Association of Medical Colleges and medical school rankings. We used Mullan’s social mission to compare medical schools. We also computed the correlation between the rankings of 4-year baccalaureate colleges in the US published by the Wall Street Journal, and the in-state tuition at these colleges in the Integrated Post-secondary Education System database. We found a statistically significant but negligible correlation (Spearman rank correlation − 0.04, p-value < 0.0001) between the rank of a medical school and the total performance score of the hospitals that their graduates practiced in. We found a statistically significant and high correlation (Spearman rank correlation of − 0.903, p-value = 0.003) between the averaged rank of medical schools and average number of graduates produced by these schools associated with CMS hospitals. Similar results were obtained for the social mission score. In contrast, the correlation between the ranking of 4-year colleges and (a) their tuition was − 0.34 and (b) their outcomes was − 0.86 (p-value < 10− 5). Our results suggest that US medical education is robust and produces satisfactory performance outcomes. Higher tuition is not correlated with higher ranks or better outcomes. Hence, the public needs to question what they are getting in return for higher tuition. We also suggest that it may be better to produce more graduates from existing medical schools than opening new schools.
Anomalous superior oblique muscles and tendons in congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles

Purpose To evaluate the finding of anomalous superior oblique muscles in congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles (CFEOM), a feature not previously emphasized in this condition. Methods The medical records of all patients clinically or genetically diagnosed with CFEOM at Boston Children's Hospital between 2010 and 2018 were reviewed retrospectively. Those who underwent strabismus surgery during the study period were included in the analysis. Baseline patient characteristics, type of CFEOM, results of genetic testing, and intraoperative features of the superior oblique muscle or tendon were recorded. Results Of 24 patients identified (age range, 1 month to 62 years), 10 (42%) had genetically confirmed CFEOM, and 22 underwent strabismus surgery, 14 (64%) involving the superior oblique muscle. Of these, 7 (50%) had anomalously inserted tendons (most commonly attached nasal to the superior rectus muscle), whereas 7 (50%) had increased superior oblique muscle tension. Conclusions Half of CFEOM patients who underwent superior oblique surgery had abnormally inserted superior oblique tendons, and 50% had tight muscles or abnormally thin tendons, findings that have not been well-characterized in this condition. The findings suggest that abnormal insertion of the superior oblique muscles and tendons are additional features of the disease process in CFEOM that have not been described previously. These features may contribute to the severe upgaze limitation in CFEOM and highlight the importance of superior oblique tenotomy in surgical management.
The Pleasuremeter: exploring the links between sexual health, sexual rights and sexual pleasure in sexual history-taking, SRHR counselling and education.

Health professionals do not generally receive adequate training to address the sexual concerns of their clients,1 provide sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) counselling and education ...
To be or not to be your authentic self? Catering to others’ preferences hinders performance

Abstract When approaching interpersonal first meetings (e.g., job interviews), people often cater to the target’s interests and expectations to make a good impression and secure a positive outcome such as being offered the job (pilot study). This strategy is distinct from other approaches identified in prior impression management research (Studies 1A, 1B and 1C), and does not produce the benefits people expect. In a field study in which entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to potential investors (Study 2), catering harmed investors’ evaluations, while being authentic improved them. People experience greater anxiety and instrumentality when they cater to another person’s preferences than when they behave authentically (Studies 3A and 3B). Compared to behaving authentically or to a control condition, catering harms performance because trying to anticipate and fulfill others’ preferences feels instrumental and increases anxiety (Studies 4 and 5). Taken together, these results suggest that although people believe using catering in interpersonal first meetings will lead to successful outcomes, the opposite is true: catering creates undesirable feelings of instrumentality for the caterer, increases anxiety, and ultimately hinders performance.
Benjamin J. Pauli, Flight Fights Back: Environmental Justice and Democracy in the Flint Water Crisis

This book tells a story that starts long before Flint, Michigan became an international symbol of environmental injustice. Flint was a General Motors company town whose residents at one point enjoy...
Controversial Conversations: The Emotions Evoked by Anti-Terrorism Advertising

This report presents an exploratory study that compares the emotional response outcomes to anti-terrorism messages when the attributed source is manipulated (for-profit, not-for-profit, and governm...
Systematic errors in connectivity inferred from activity in strongly recurrent networks.

Understanding the mechanisms of neural computation and learning will require knowledge of the underlying circuitry. Because it is difficult to directly measure the wiring diagrams of neural circuits, there has long been an interest in estimating them algorithmically from multicell activity recordings. We show that even sophisticated methods, applied to unlimited data from every cell in the circuit, are biased toward inferring connections between unconnected but highly correlated neurons. This failure to ‘explain away’ connections occurs when there is a mismatch between the true network dynamics and the model used for inference, which is inevitable when modeling the real world. Thus, causal inference suffers when variables are highly correlated, and activity-based estimates of connectivity should be treated with special caution in strongly connected networks. Finally, performing inference on the activity of circuits pushed far out of equilibrium by a simple low-dimensional suppressive drive might ameliorate inference bias. The authors demonstrate that strongly recurrent circuits inferred from neural activity, even with unlimited data from every neuron, are biased. Synapses are inferred between unconnected but correlated neurons. Inference based on non-equilibrium activity may help remedy this.
Disrupted Eye Gaze Perception as a Biobehavioral Marker of Social Dysfunction: An RDoC Investigation.

Social dysfunction is an intractable problem in a wide spectrum of psychiatric illnesses, undermining patients’ capacities for employment, independent living, and maintaining meaningful relationships. Identifying common markers of social impairment across disorders and understanding their mechanisms are prerequisites to developing targeted neurobiological treatments that can be applied productively across diagnoses and illness stages to improve functional outcome. This project focuses on eye gaze perception, the ability to accurately and efficiently discriminate others’ gaze direction, as a potential biomarker of social functioning that cuts across psychiatric diagnoses. This premise builds on both the monkey and human literatures showing gaze perception as a basic building block supporting higher-level social communication and social development, and reports of abnormal gaze perception in multiple psychiatric conditions accompanied by prominent social dysfunction (e.g., psychosis-spectrum disorders, autism-spectrum disorders, social phobia). A large sample (n = 225) of adolescent and young adult (age 14–30) psychiatric patients (regardless of diagnosis) with various degrees of impaired social functioning, and demographically-matched healthy controls (n = 75) will be recruited for this study. Participant’s psychiatric phenotypes, cognition, social cognition, and community functioning will be dimensionally characterized. Eye gaze perception will be assessed using a psychophysical task, and two metrics (precision, self-referential bias) that respectively tap into gaze perception disturbances at the visual perceptual and interpretation levels, independent of general deficits, will be derived using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. A subset of the participants (150 psychiatric patients, 75 controls) will additionally undergo multimodal fMRI to determine the functional and structural brain network features of altered gaze perception. The specific aims of this project are three-fold: Aim (1) Determine the generality of gaze perception disturbances in psychiatric patients with prominent social dysfunction; (2) Map behavioral indices of gaze perception disturbances to dimensions of psychiatric phenotypes and core functional domains; and (3) Identify the neural correlates of altered gaze perception in psychiatric patients with social dysfunction. Successfully completing these specific aims will identify the specific basic deficits, clinical profile, and underlying neural circuits associated with social dysfunction that can be used to guide targeted, personalized treatments, thus advancing NIMH’s Strategic Objective 1 (describe neural circuits associated with mental illnesses and map the connectomes for mental illnesses) and Objective 3 (develop new treatments based on discoveries in neuroscience and behavioral science).
Autodiagnositcs for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems

Ensuring safety flight of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) is complex problem due to of mass this kind of object. The RPAS increase operate in the airspace and they create a threat for general aviation. The detection of RPAS damages has important influence for a safety flight of this objects. The detection of damage before flight reduces dangerous of crash and a threat for people. In the Air Force Institute of Technology was performed work connected to Health Usage Monitoring Systems dedicated to Manned aviation especially to helicopters. Due to developing the branch relevant with Remote Piloted Aircraft Systems AFIT have started works with HUMS for RPAS. In this paper will be presented a solution based on CAN BUS solution dedicated for autodiagnostics of RPAS.
Premium Processing or Processing Premiums? The Role of Selective Persistence in Regulatory Outcomes

Organizations often employ indirect and circuitous strategies to shape regulatory outcomes in their favor. This said, key regulatory programs increasingly allow regulated organizations to directly ...
Global cerebrospinal fluid as a zero-reference regularization for brain quantitative susceptibility mapping

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The objective ofthis study was to demonstrate a global cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) method for a consistent and automated zero referencing of brain quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). METHODS Whole brain CSF mask was automatically segmented by thresholding the gradient echo transverse relaxation ( R2∗) map, and regularization was employed to enforce uniform susceptibility distribution within the CSF volume in the field-to-susceptibility inversion. This global CSF regularization method was compared with a prior ventricular CSF regularization. Both reconstruction methods were compared in a repeatability study of 12 healthy subjects using t-test on susceptibility measurements, and in patient studies of 17 multiple sclerosis (MS) and 10 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients using Wilcoxon rank-sum test on radiological scores. RESULTS In scan-rescan experiments, global CSF regularization provided more consistent CSF volume as well as higher repeatability of QSM measurements than ventricular CSF regularization with a smaller bias: -2.7 parts per billion (ppb) versus -0.13 ppb (t-test p<0.05) and a narrower 95% limits of agreement: [-7.25, 6.99] ppb versus [-16.60, 11.19 ppb] (f-test p<0.05). In PD and MS patients, global CSF regularization reduced smoothly varying shadow artifacts and significantly improved the QSM quality score (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The proposed whole brain CSF method for QSM zero referencing improves repeatability and image quality of brain QSM compared to the ventricular CSF method.
Role of cell cycle control and cyclin-dependent kinases in breast cancer.

The regulation of cell cycle and proliferation has been extensively studied in the last few years and a consensus paradigm of cell cycle regulation has been developed [1,2]. According to this paradigm, the master switch of the cell cycle is the Rb family of proteins. Proliferation is turned on by phosphorylation of these proteins by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) (Fig. 1) [1]. These kinases are activated by D-type cyclins (D1, D2, and D3) and cyclin E, and inhibited by two families of CDK inhibitors (CKIs), the Ink (p16, p15, p18, p19) and Cip/Kip families (p21, p27 and p57) [1,2]. pRb proteins are pocket proteins that sequester E2F transcription factors preventing them from activating critical genes in cell proliferation. In addition, Rb/E2F binds to histone deacetylase to form complexes that act as transcriptional repressors [3,4]. After Rb phosphorylation by CDK4 and/or CDK6 complexes during G1 phase and CDK2 at G1/S interphase, E2F proteins are released and promote the transcription of genes essential for the transition to S phase of cell cycle [5,6]. CDK4,6/D-type cyclins therefore execute their critical functions during mid-to-late G1 phase, as cells cross a G1 restriction point and become independent of mito-
SU-E-T-228: Coupling Database Search with Atlas-Based Segmentation: Application to Esophageal Delineation

Purpose: Atlas segmentation is a popular method of warping a pre-segmented template to a new patient anatomy, however for anatomy in the thorax and abdomen large inter-patient variations exists, and a single template does not provide the required clinical accuracy. With the proposed method the CT dataset to be segmented is matched to a similar case in a database of pre-segmented templates. Method: The key aspect of the approach is to search in a database of images and associated segmentations for a case with similar anatomy. A set of 29 previous cases have been pre-registered to a common reference and cropped to the esophageal region to construct a compact representation of the database through quantification with a principal component analysis algorithm that is designed to find similar cases by direct comparison of the eigenvectors for ranking database cases according to the similarity with the query case. Once a similar case at image level is identified in the database, an affine registration is performed to transfer the pre-segmentations from the database to the images to be segmented. Results: The algorithm was applied for segmenting the esophageal region on 12 test cases and the conformity between the atlas and manual segmentations were measured using the Dice coefficient and the Euclidian distance. Dice coefficients ranged between (0.60, 0.87) with mean of 0.78 and standard deviation of 0.09. Mean distance ranged between (0.18,1.66) mm mean of 0.82 mm, SD of 0.51. Once registered to the database, searching in the database takes seconds as it does not compare the images directly but just the components of the PCA vectors, adding little overhead to the overall delineation algorithm. Conclusions: Selection of a similar atlas from a database can be achieved with little computational overhead by using a PCA-based similarity metric as demonstrated for esophageal segmentation.
Analytic asymptotic expansions of the Reshetikhin--Turaev invariants of Seifert 3-manifolds for SU(2)

We calculate the large quantum level asymptotic expansion of the RT-invariants associated to SU(2) of all oriented Seifert 3-manifolds X with orientable base or non-orientable base with even genus. Moreover, we identify the Chern-Simons invariants of flat SU(2)-connections on X in the asymptotic formula thereby proving the so-called asymptotic expansion conjecture (AEC) due to J. E. Andersen for these manifolds. For the case of Seifert manifolds with base $S^2$ we actually prove a little weaker result, namely that the asymptotic formula has a form as predicted by the AEC but contains some extra terms which should be zero according to the AEC. We prove that these `extra' terms are indeed zero if the number of exceptional fibers n is less than 4 and conjecture that this is also the case if n is greater than 3. For the case of Seifert fibered rational homology spheres we identify the Casson-Walker invariant in the asymptotic formula. Our calculations demonstrate a general method for calculating the large r asymptotics of a finite sum $\Sigma_{k=1}^{r} f(k)$, where f is a meromorphic function depending on the integer parameter r and satisfying certain symmetries. Basically the method, which is due to L. Rozansky, is based on a limiting version of the Poisson summation formula together with an application of the steepest descent method from asymptotic analysis.
An efficient algorithm for rational transformation on polynomials

An efficient and simple algorithm is developed for arbitrary polynomial transformation using a polynomial interpolation technique. The new algorithm is compared with the existing ones for number of multiplications and additions. The new algorithm is superior in terms of both number of calculations and memory requirement. It is also shown how one can extend this algorithm to the multivariable case. >
A fully integrable insulated gate bipolar transistor with a trench gate structure

A novel, fully integrable insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with a trench gate structure, called the 3D IGBT, is described. The 3D IGBT uses selective epitaxial silicon to form a top-contacted anode and still retain the cellular structure of vertically oriented devices. It is fabricated using a self-aligned process that permits an increase in channel density by reducing the trench width. Two-dimensional computer simulations of 3D IGBTs with a unit cell width of 15 mu m have been performed and show an increase in channel density by a factor of more than eight over the lateral IGBT. >
Modeling the Void H I Column Density Spectrum with Subgalactic Halos

The equivalent width distribution function (EWDF) of H I absorbers specific to the void environment has been recently derived (Manning). The findings revealed void line densities d/dz 500 at equivalent widths ≥ 15.8 mA (N 2.6 × 1012 cm-2). I show that the void absorbers cannot be diffuse (or so-called filamentary) clouds, expanding with the Hubble flow, as suggested by N-body/hydro simulations. Absorbers are here modeled as the baryonic remnants of subgalactic perturbations that have expanded away from their dark halos in response to reionization at z ≈ 6.5. A one-dimensional Lagrangian hydro/gravity code is used to follow the dynamic evolution and ionization structure of the baryonic clouds for a range of halo circular velocities. The simulation products at z = 0 can be combined according to various models of the halo velocity distribution function to form a column density spectrum that can be compared with that which is observed (Manning). To explain the observations with these models requires a search of parameter space somewhat beyond the envelope of convention. For a given circular velocity, a halo model more massive than the Navarro, Frenk, & White halo is required to reproduce the observed line density of absorbers. A more massive, nonsingular isothermal halo is used with a more favorable outcome. I find that such clouds may explain the observed EWDF if the halo velocity distribution function is as steep as that advanced by Klypin et al. Observations are best explained when individual halos have subhalos that occupy the flanks of the "parent." A picture emerges in which growth by accretion of subhalos is possible. Further analysis suggests that the mass distribution around a cloud may extend significantly farther than the virial radius. Accounting for the total void mass density remains an outstanding problem.
Anticipating the higher generations of quarks from rephasing invariance of the mixing matrix

Abstract We show that the number of invariant CP violating parameters X CP jumps from the unique universal one in three generations to nine in the four-generation case, saturating the parameter space for generation numbers higher than three. This can lead to drastically different consequences in CP -violating phenomena. We give the quark mass matrices in the three-generation case and speculate for higher generations. We also give some invariant definitions of “maximal” CP violation.
Resource utilization for ovarian cancer patients at the end of life: How much is too much?

Abstract Objective. End-of-life (EOL) medical care consumes 10–12% of national health care expenditures and 27% of Medicare dollars annually. Studies suggest that hospice services decrease EOL expenditures by 25–40%. The goal of this study was to compare the total cost of hospital-based resources utilized in ovarian cancer patients during their last 60 days of life for those enrolled in hospice versus those not on hospice. Methods. Study eligibility included patients who expired from ovarian cancer from 1999 to 2003. Medical records were reviewed for demographic data as well as treatment, response and recurrence rates, histologic type, grade and stage. Billing records were analyzed for costs of inpatient and outpatients visits, including radiologic, laboratory and pharmacy charges. Total cost of hospital resources was compared between patients managed on hospice for >10 days (hospice group) versus U , Kruskal–Wallis and Student's t tests. Overall survival was compared using Kaplan–Meier statistics. Results. Of the 84 patients analyzed, 67 (79.8%) were in the non-hospice group and 17 (20.2%) were in the hospice group. Demographic, histologic and staging characteristics as well as platinum sensitivity were similar between the two groups before the last 60 days of life. Mean number of chemotherapy cycles before the study period was also similar (20.4 and 21.0, respectively). However, during the study period, the mean total cost per patient in the non-hospice group was $59,319 versus $15,164 in the hospice group ( P = 0.0001). A significant difference in cost was noted for mean inpatient days ($6584 vs. $1629, P = 0.0007), radiology ($6063 vs. $2343, P = 0.003), laboratory ($12,281 vs. $2026, P = 0.0004) and pharmacy charges ($13,650 vs. $4465, P = 0.0017) as well as for treating physician per patient ($112,707 vs. $34,677, P = 0.04). Overall survival for the two groups was the same. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate that there is a significant cost difference with no appreciable improvement in survival between ovarian cancer patients treated aggressively versus those enrolled in hospice at the EOL. These data suggest that earlier hospice enrollment is beneficial. Furthermore, cost variations between physicians and patients imply that education may be an important variable.
Cardiac allograft vasculopathy in pediatric heart transplant recipients.

Summary Metabolic parameters for coronary allograft vasculopathy (CAV) have not been well defined in children. CAV (by angiography or autopsy) was studied in 337 heart recipients on a cyclosporine-based steroid-sparing regimen. Freedom from CAV for all was 79% at 10 years. Fifty-nine patients (18%) developed CAV at a mean of 6.5 ± 3 years post-transplant. First year rejections were significantly higher in CAV, mean 2.3 vs. 1.4, P = 0.003, odds ratio (OR) 1.8. Rejection with hemodynamic compromise beyond 1 year post-transplant was associated with CAV, P < 0.001, OR 8.4. There was no significant correlation among human leukocyte antigen DR (HLA DR) mismatch, pacemaker use or homocysteine levels and the development of CAV. Maximum cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were not significantly different. Neither diabetes nor hypertension was significant predictors of CAV on multivariate logistic regression analysis. In conclusion, frequent and severe rejection episodes may predict pediatric CAV. Neither glucose intolerance nor lipid abnormalities appeared to alter risk for CAV in this population.
Asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulator with a waveguide geometry

Modulation characteristics of a dual waveguide structure consisting of a polymer ridge waveguide coupled to a semiconductor resonator containing quantum wells are described. The intensity of light transiting the polymer waveguide is modulated when the absorption of the quantum wells is varied by the Stark effect. Intensity modulation occurs since increased absorption broadens the resonance. A 2V change in bias results in a contrast ratio of 20 over a few Angstrom wavelength-range.