cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Have Green - A Visual Analytics Framework for Large Semantic Graphs

A semantic graph is a network of heterogeneous nodes and links annotated with a domain ontology. In intelligence analysis, investigators use semantic graphs to organize concepts and relationships as graph nodes and links in hopes of discovering key trends, patterns, and insights. However, as new information continues to arrive from a multitude of sources, the size and complexity of the semantic graphs will soon overwhelm an investigator's cognitive capacity to carry out significant analyses. We introduce a powerful visual analytics framework designed to enhance investigators' natural analytical capabilities to comprehend and analyze large semantic graphs. The paper describes the overall framework design, presents major development accomplishments to date, and discusses future directions of a new visual analytics system known as Have Green.
Aetiology and pathogenesis of mood disorders.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) was originally described as a syndrome in which depression developed during autumn or winter and remitted the following spring or summer.1,,2 Since then two subtypes of SAD have been defined in the scientific literature: winter SAD and summer SAD, the former being by far the more frequent.2,,3 Most winter SAD patients have ‘atypical’ depressive symptoms such as increased sleep duration, increased appetite and weight, and carbohydrate craving. Patients with winter SAD may experience a reversal of their winter symptoms in summer: mild hypomania, elevated mood, increased libido, social activity and energy, and decreased sleep requirements, appetite and weight. Seasonality, the tendency to experience seasonal changes in mood and behaviour, can be viewed as a dimension, ranging from those who show no seasonal changes to those who show more extreme changes with the seasons. Seasonal changes of mood and behaviour are common throughout the population.4–,6 A survey in the Washington area found that approximately 4% of the population have winter SAD and over 10% more have sub‐syndromal winter SAD.4 Some 27% of respondents reported that changes with the seasons were a problem for them. Another survey, in New York City, indicated approximately 6% with potential clinical severity, 18% reporting milder symptoms that were bothersome, and 35% noting symptoms but without complaint.6 Thus, many people experience mild analogues of winter SAD. A considerable number of studies by researchers around the world have demonstrated that light therapy (daily scheduled exposure to artificial light) is an effective treatment for winter SAD.1,6–,10 An internal pacemaker that matches internal rhythms to the 24‐h day drives circadian rhythms.9–,13 In humans, the master circadian pacemaker is the bilaterally paired suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the anterior hypothalamus. …
Space shuttle main propulsion system anomaly detection: A case study

The space shuttle main engine (SSME) is part of the Main Propulsion System (MPS) which is an extremely complex system containing several sub-systems and components, each of which must work precisely in order to achieve a successful mission. A critical component under study is the flow control valve (FCY) which controls the pressure of the gaseous hydrogen between the SSME and the external fuel tank. The FCV has received added attention since a Space Shuttle Mission in November 2008, where it was discovered during the mission that an anomaly had occurred in one of the three FCV's. Subsequent inspection revealed that one FCV cracked during ascent. This type of fault is of high criticality because it can lead to potentially catastrophic gaseous hydrogen leakage. A supervised learning method known as Virtual Sensors (VS), and an unsupervised learning method known as the Inductive Monitoring System (IMS) were used to detect anomalies related to the FCV in the MPS. Both algorithms identify the time of the anomaly in a multi-dimensional time series of temperatures, pressures, and control signals related to the FCV. This discovery corroborates the results of the inspection and also reveals the time at which the anomaly likely occurred. The methods were applied to data obtained from the March 2009 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery to determine whether an anomaly occurred in the same sub-system. According to our models, the FCV sub-system showed nominal behavior during ascent.
Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase subunit isoform pattern modification by mitogenic insulin concentration in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes

When 3T3 preadipocyte cell lines are induced to differentiate to the adipocyte phenotype, the expression of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase isoforms changes. Some disparities have been noted by investigators who used different hormonal conditions to stimulate adipocyte conversion, however. In the present report we investigated the effect of high concentrations of insulin on the 3T3-L1 cell line, to determine whether it affected Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase expression separately from its ability to promote phenotypic conversion. The effect of insulin was compared with that of dexamethasone and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine. Changes in Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase subunit expression were seen regardless of the hormonal stimulus. Induction of alpha 2-mRNA and reduction of beta 1-mRNA were always observed. At the protein level, too, induction of alpha 2-protein was noted; alpha 1-protein levels were not markedly affected. The change in alpha-isoform protein and mRNA levels did not correspond quantitatively with the fraction of cells that were morphologically converted, suggesting that it is an early event in differentiation.
Trends in the Care of Diabetic Macular Edema: Analysis of a National Cohort.

Purpose To evaluate how the monitoring and treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME) has changed in a national sample. Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods Setting: Administrative medical claims data from a large, national U.S. insurer. Study population: Beneficiaries of a U.S. insurance company. Observation procedures: All incident cases of DME were found. Those in years 2002/3, 2006 and 2010 were followed for a 2-year observation period and those from 2009, 2010 and 2011 for a 1-year observation period. Main Outcome Measures: Types and frequencies of treatment were tallied and compared over each of the cohorts. Results Two-year cohorts had 233, 251 and 756 patients in 2002/3, 2006 and 2010 respectively. One-year cohorts had 1002, 1119 and 1382 patients in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. Both percentage of patients receiving therapy and number of treatments given increased across the 2-year cohorts for both focal laser and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) (p<0.001). The highest use of anti-VEGF agents in any of the cohorts was in the 2011 1-year group that only averaged 3.78 injections. Focal laser was used 2.5x as frequently as anti-VEGF injections in the most recent cohorts with only a high of 14.0% of DME patients receiving anti-VEGF therapy in any of the cohorts. Conclusion Regardless of treatment modality (laser or injection) DME patients received vastly fewer treatments than patients in randomized control trials. Despite the proven superior visual outcomes of anti-VEGF agents over focal laser in DME, focal laser was still used more frequently.
The Political Structure of the Federal Reserve System

Public policy is not self-generating; it emerges from institutions. Foremost among the institutions charged with monetary and credit policy formation—an area, like fiscal policy, that has not received from political scientists the attention accorded to micro-economic regulation of particular firms or industries—is the Federal Reserve System. The purpose of this paper is to examine the “fit” of the System's formal structure to (1) the policy functions and the informal policy-forming mechanisms of the “Fed,” and (2) the pattern of interests and values affected by monetary policy. Its thesis is that a substantial gap has developed between these elements. A brief sketch of the formal structure of authority and the historical development of System functions is needed to begin with; this is followed by analysis of the formal and the effective roles of each component of the System along with the internalized interest representation at each level. Then the linkage between the Federal Reserve System and general economic policy is explored. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the findings and suggests briefly how formal structure and policy functions might be brought into closer, more effective alignment.
Providing and Receiving Sexual Assault Disclosures Findings From a Sexually Diverse Sample of Young Adults

This study utilized a sample of primarily lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ)-identified young adults from across the United States to pilot test a new instrument, the Reactions Provided to Disclosures Questionnaire (RPDQ), and assess the disclosure experience for both those who provide and those who receive disclosures of sexual assault. Results indicate that the experience of sexual assault disclosure in the LGBQ community is similar to the heterosexual community in that most victims disclose their assaults, most often to a friend, and were most likely to receive the reaction Emotional Support. Victims were also likely to receive the reaction Victim Blaming, especially if they disclosed to formal sources, such as law enforcement, medical, or religious personnel. This study also examined the relationship between the types of assault experienced and disclosure reactions received. Experiencing an anal assault was significantly associated with Victim Blaming reactions. A central aim of this study was t...
Recorder for Automatically Monitoring Tethered-insect Flight

A device for tethered-flight studies based on the principle that insects displace air during flight is described. A microphone, placed directly behind a flying insect, transmits an oscillating signal that is converted to a continuous pulse by a dual monostable multivibrator. Uses of this method for monitoring static flight activity are discussed.
Life Cycle of Piggotia Fraxini, Causing Leaf Disease of Ash

A fungus commonly identified as Piggotia Fraxinli Berk. & Curt. is among those most commonly and most widely found on the foliage of ashes throughout the United States. It appears appropriate herein to designate it Piggotia leaf disease of ash, since this stage of the causal fungus is most prominent and is best known to collectors. This disease is especially prevalent in nurseries and on small trees in the forest, but occurs also on large forest and shade trees. All of the more common species of ash are subject to attack, including white ash, Fraximi.s americaina L. (identical with F. acuminata Lam. and F. lanceolata Borkh. in some of the older collections) ; green ash, F. pennsylvanica Marsh. var. lanceolata (Borkh.) Sarg. (identical with F. viridis Michx.) ; Oregon ash, F. oregona Nutt.; and black ash, F. nigra Marsh. (identical with F. sambucifolia Lam.). During the past few years our contacts with those interested in forest-tree nursery diseases and our examination of collections in herbaria show that this leaf disease occurs in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Furthermore, a consideration of pertinent mycological studies shows that the taxonomy of the pathogen is in a confused
Glucose Polymer Ingestion during Ultraendurance Bicycling

(1983). Glucose Polymer Ingestion during Ultraendurance Bicycling. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport: Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 411-414.
Parallels of Gray in E. M. Forster's HOWARDS END

The color gray in E. M. Forster's Howards End lingers in the background like a mist. It both obscures and illuminates the landscape and the characters, and creates a sad refrain that parallels the ...
Thrombin stimulates PDGF production and monocyte adhesion through distinct intracellular pathways in human endothelial cells.

Thrombin stimulates multiple functions in cultured endothelial cells (EC), including an increase in cell surface adhesion sites for monocytes and the production of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). We have initiated studies to define the intracellular signaling pathways involved in these two thrombin-induced EC functions by focusing on the possible roles of the Na(+)-H+ antiporter and guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins). Amiloride suppressed thrombin-stimulated PDGF production by human aortic EC without affecting either basal PDGF production or overall protein synthesis. The steady-state mRNA levels of PDGF-A and PDGF-B chain were not reduced by amiloride. In replicate EC cultures, amiloride had no effect on thrombin-stimulated monocyte adhesion. In addition, thrombin induction of PDGF production, but not monocyte adhesion, was abrogated in the absence of extracellular sodium. Thrombin stimulation of both monocyte adhesion and PDGF production appeared to involve a pertussis toxin-insensitive G protein. Thrombin induced an increase in [35S]guanosine 59-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP gamma S) binding to human EC membranes. GTP gamma S, in the presence of a suboptimal concentration of thrombin, caused maximal stimulation of both monocyte adhesion and PDGF production. The effect of GTP gamma S on PDGF production was at the level of transcription. These results indicate that the EC is capable of responding to a pluripotent agonist such as thrombin through multiple signaling pathways, which converge and diverge to achieve differential cellular responses.
Effect of “heat shock” treatments on QPX disease and stress response in the hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria

Abstract The hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, is one of the most valuable commercial mollusk species along the eastern coast of the United States. Throughout the past 2 decades, the hard clam industry in the Northeast was significantly impacted by disease outbreaks caused by a lethal protistan parasite known as Quahog Parasite Unknown (QPX). QPX is an opportunistic pathogen and the infection has been shown to be a cold water disease, where warmer conditions (above 21 °C) lead to disease reduction and clam healing. In vitro studies also showed a sharp reduction in parasite growth and survivorship at temperatures exceeding 27 °C. In this study, we evaluated the effect of short-term exposures to high temperatures on QPX disease dynamic and clam recovery. Infected clams were collected from an enzootic site and subsequently submitted to one of ten “heat shock” treatments involving a gradient of temperatures and exposure times. QPX prevalence was compared before and 10 weeks after heat shock to assess the effect of each treatment on disease progress. Expression of several stress-related genes was measured 1 and 7 days after heat shock using qPCR to evaluate the effect of each treatment on clam physiology. Anti-QPX activity in clam plasma was also measured in an attempt to link changes in defense factors to thermal stress and disease progress. Our results suggest that brief exposures to moderate high temperatures promote the greatest remission while imposing the mildest stress to clams. These results are discussed with the aim of providing the industry with possible strategies to mitigate QPX disease.
The complex relationship between olivine abundance and thermal inertia on Mars

We examine four olivine-bearing regions at a variety of spatial scales with TIR, VNIR, and visible imagery data to investigate the hypothesis that the relationship between olivine abundance and thermal inertia (i.e., effective particle size) can be used to infer the occurrence of olivine chemical alteration during sediment production on Mars. As in previous work, Nili Fossae and Isidis Planitia show a positive correlation between thermal inertia and olivine abundance in TES and THEMIS data, which could be interpreted as indicating olivine chemical weathering. However, geomorphological analysis reveals that relatively olivine-poor sediments are not derived from adjacent olivine-rich materials, and therefore chemical weathering cannot be inferred based on the olivine-thermal inertia relationship alone. We identify two areas (Terra Cimmeria and Argyre Planitia) with significant olivine abundance and thermal inertias consistent with sand, but no adjacent rocky (parent) units having even greater olivine abundances. More broadly, global analysis with TES reveals that the most typical olivine abundance on Mars is ~5-7% and that olivine-bearing (5-25%) materials have a wide range of thermal inertias, commonly 25-600 J · m-2 · K-1 · s-1/2. TES also indicates that the majority of olivine-rich (>25%) materials have apparent thermal inertias less than 400 J · m-2 · K-1 · s-1/2. In summary, we find that the relationship between thermal inertia and olivine abundance alone cannot be used in infer olivine weathering in the examined areas, that olivine-bearing materials have a large range of thermal intertias, and therefore, that a complex relationship between olivine abundance and thermal inertia exists on Mars.
Abstract 3301: Breast cancer subtypes have distinct microbial and immune cytolytic transcriptomic signatures

Background: The role of genetic mutations in breast cancer is well documented and has formed the basis for novel therapies. However, the impact of viral and bacterial infection in the pathogenesis of breast cancer is not well understood. Methods: We analyzed RNA sequencing (RNASeq) data generated by the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) from over 900 pairs of breast tumor and adjacent normal tissues, using our pathogen discovery tool, PathSeq. We developed a novel metric for quantifying and normalizing microbial sequence abundance from RNASeq data by correcting for both the sequencing coverage and relative genome sizes of bacteria in the dataset. We also performed linear discriminant analyses (LDA) to test the hypothesis that the differences between the canonical breast cancer subtypes can be modeled on microbial abundance data. In addition, we interrogated the human gene expression data derived from the RNASeq dataset to determine the relationships between the breast cancer subtypes and immune cytolytic activity (CYT index; defined as the geometric mean of the expression levels of perforin and granzyme). Results: Viral sequences were rare but we identified bacterial sequences to varying degrees of abundance. Intriguingly, we demonstrated that microbial abundance data can be used to recapitulate the well-established PAM50 gene expression-based subsets. Comparison of tumors and adjacent normal tissues also revealed subtype-associated microbial profiles. In addition, we observed that the basal and Her2 subtypes of breast cancer had a higher frequency of tumors with high CYT index compared with luminal A and B subtypes. Conclusion: This study has revealed that the various breast cancer subtypes have unique microbial transcriptomic signatures as well as differential immune cytolytic activity profiles. These data suggest the potential for differential responses of breast cancer subsets to immunotherapy. Citation Format: Chandra Sekhar Pedamallu, Matthew Meyerson, Akinyemi Ojesina. Breast cancer subtypes have distinct microbial and immune cytolytic transcriptomic signatures. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3301.
Conceptions and correlates of openness to experience.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the openness which cannot be understood as the culture that is acquired through education or good breeding, not as intellect or any other cognitive ability. Openness must be viewed in both structural and motivational terms. Openness is seen in the breadth, depth, and permeability of consciousness and in the recurrent need to enlarge and examine experience. Openness also suggests a passive or uncritical receptivity, which is clearly inappropriate. Open people actively seek out experience and are apt to be particularly reflective and thoughtful about the ideas they encounter. A structural account of openness may be necessary, but it does not seem to be sufficient. Open people are not the passive recipients of a barrage of experiences they are unable to screen out; they actively seek out new and varied experiences. Openness involves motivation, needs for variety cognition sentience, and understanding. The heritability of openness might be explained by the heritability of intelligence. Psychologists have spent more time and effort studying intelligence, than any other trait by adopting the term “Intellect.” Personality psychologists could claim this vast literature as their own. Openness could be construed as intelligence itself or as the reflection of intelligence in the personality sphere.
Development of a novel technique for bilateral rectus sheath nerve blocks under laparoscopic-guidance.

Abstract Background Bilateral rectus sheath blocks have proven to be superior to local anesthetic infiltration for umbilical incisions and have been gaining popularity for the treatment of perioperative pain in children. We aim to develop a technique of surgeon performed rectus sheath blocks under laparoscopic-guidance alone. Methods In phase I, we observed the laparoscopic appearance of a rectus sheath block. The pain management team performed an ultrasound-guided rectus sheath nerve block as we visualized the posterior rectus sheath with the laparoscope. In phase II, after completion of the laparoscopic procedure, we performed a rectus sheath nerve block. Ultrasound was used to identify where the local anesthetic had been injected. Results Nineteen patients were included in this study, accounting for 38 rectus sheath blocks. In phase I, we observed with the laparoscope the delivery of ten ultrasound-guided rectus sheath blocks. In phase II, 28 laparoscopic-guided rectus sheath blocks were completed with immediate ultrasound confirmation of correct placement. Conclusions We have demonstrated that the rectus sheath nerve block can be performed reliably under laparoscopic-guidance alone. The efficacy of the laparoscopic-guided nerve block compared to the ultrasound-guided approach will need further study in a prospective, randomized trial. Type of study Retrospective review. Level of evidence 3.
A New Parallel Research Kernel to Expand Research on Dynamic Load-Balancing Capabilities

The Parallel Research Kernels (PRK) are a tool to study parallel architectures and runtime systems from an application perspective. They provide paper and pencil specifications and reference implementations of elementary operations covering a broad range of parallel application patterns. Most of the current PRK are trivially statically load-balanced. In a prior study we described a novel PRK that requires dynamic load balancing, and demonstrated its effectiveness to assess automatic dynamic load balancing capabilities of runtimes. While useful, it did not fully represent the problem of greatest interest to researchers of extreme scale computing systems, namely the occurrence of localized, discrete, transient disturbances (system noise). For that purpose we introduce a new PRK, inspired by Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) applications, which provides a proxy for the most detrimental property of noise, namely abrupt and discrete change of local system load. We give a detailed specification of the new PRK, highlighting the challenges and corresponding design choices that make it compact, arbitrarily scalable and self-verifying. We also present an implementation of the AMR PRK in MPI, with application-specific load balancing, as well as one in Adaptive MPI that leverages the MPI version, but adds runtime orchestrated dynamic load balancing, along with a set of performance results. These show that for applications that can be load balanced statically, but experience occasional local changes in computational load, automatic dynamic load balancing typically does not offer an advantage.
Predicting Students’ Disengaged Behaviors in an Online Meaning-Generation Task

In an intelligent tutoring system (ITS), it can be useful to know when a student has disengaged from a task and might benefit from a particular intervention. However, predicting disengagement on a trial-by-trial basis is a challenging problem, particularly in complex cognitive domains. In the present work, data-driven methods were used to address two aspects of this problem: identification of predictive features at the single-trial level, and selection of accurate and robust models. Experiment data were collected in a middle-school classroom using a vocabulary training ITS. On each trial, the ITS presented a low-frequency (Tier 2 or frontier) word and prompted students to type in the word's meaning. Single-trial measures—including the orthographic and semantic accuracy of each response, and context-sensitive measures such as interaction patterns across trials—were computed throughout the task. There were two key findings. First, as expected, different features predicted when a student was likely to be more engaged (e.g., high semantic accuracy) or less engaged (e.g., repetition of same or similar words across consecutive trials). Second, there was added value in representing context-sensitive information, which captures patterns of performance over time, as well as trial-specific information. These findings provide useful insights into effective methods for representing and modeling temporal patterns of student engagement in an ITS, especially those related to language learning. Such models may be useful in the design and implementation of adaptive tutors in complex cognitive domains like language learning.
Gastroparesis: Medical and Therapeutic Advances

Gastroparesis is a chronic, bothersome, and often disabling neuromuscular disorder of the upper gastrointestinal tract. The most frequently reported symptoms of gastroparesis include nausea, vomiting, epigastric pain, early satiety, and unintentional weight loss. Etiologies of gastroparesis include diabetes, connective tissue disorders, prior infection, mesenteric ischemia, and post-surgical complications. The largest category of gastroparesis patients is comprised of those in whom no definitive cause can be identified (idiopathic gastroparesis). The individual and societal burden of gastroparesis is substantial. It considerably reduces patients' quality of life accompanied by a significant negative impact to the healthcare system. The current treatments of gastroparesis are less than ideal. Dietary modification may improve symptoms in patients with mild disease. Metoclopramide is the only medication currently approved for the treatment of gastroparesis; however, it is associated with adverse effects in a sizable proportion of patients. Other medications are frequently employed to treat symptoms of nausea and vomiting, although technically all are used off-label since they are not FDA approved for the treatment of gastroparesis. These data highlight the need to identify novel, more effective treatment options for this disabling disease. This review will provide a brief synopsis on the epidemiology, etiology, and impact of gastroparesis, discussing new therapeutic advances.
Extending Mextram for wide temperature range compact modeling of SiGe HBTs

This paper presents an overview of recent developments in extending the temperature range capability of Mextram, an industry standard bipolar transistor compact model.
Cancer as a disorder of patterning information: computational and biophysical perspectives on the cancer problem

The current paradigm views cancer as arising clonally from a degradation of genetic information in single cells. A complementary perspective, originating at the dawn of modern developmental biology, is that cancer is the result of a system disorder of algorithms that normally orchestrate individual cell activities toward specific anatomical structures and away from tumorigenesis. A view of cancer as a disease of geometry focuses on the pathways that allow cells to cooperate to build and maintain large-scale anatomical patterning. Cancer may result when cells stop maintaining higher-order structures and reduce the boundary of their computational selves to a single-cell level, reverting to a unicellular lifestyle in which the rest of the organism is merely part of the environment at the expense of which all living things survive. While this view has been widely discussed, little progress has been made in providing a quantitative, mechanistic framework within which this perspective's specific and unique implications for treatment strategies can be tested and biomedically exploited. Here, we highlight two recent areas of progress which may facilitate much-needed progress on the cancer problem. First, we review the roles that endogenous bioelectrical networks, operating across many tissues in vivo, play as a medium of information processing in tumor suppression, progression, and reprogramming. Second, we provide a primer to the development of computational theory and tools for quantifying the information and causal control structures in cancer and other complex biological systems. Rigorous mathematical formalisms now exist to measure and analyze the extent to which "a whole is more than the sum of its parts", applications of which could lead to new strategies for cancer reprogramming. Here, we review the basic landscape of these related subfields, and sketch specific ways in which a synthesis of novel integrative biophysics and mathematical analysis may contribute to novel ways to understand and address cancer in vivo.
Evaluation of low-salinity waterflooding in Middle East carbonate reservoirs using a novel, field-representative coreflood method

Abstract Low-salinity waterflooding attempts to improve recovery by reducing the salinity of the injection water, where the wettability alteration towards more water-wet state of the reservoir rock is believed to be the leading mechanism. This technology has received significant interest and a rich body of unsteady-state coreflooding test data has been reported in the past few years. However, capillary end-effect driven artifacts in conventional unsteady-state coreflooding could hinder proper understanding and interpretation of the measured results. We have developed a modified steady-state fractional-flow method to minimize capillary end effects. The fractional-flow analysis and simulation illustration of the new method has been published earlier by Gupta et al. (2015). In this work, we applied this new method to several Middle East carbonate reservoirs where slight changes in relative permeability consistent with a change in wettability can be observed but the overall uplift in recovery was very small. In addition, the results from the new method and the conventional coreflooding method were compared in selected cases to demonstrate the benefit of the new method in minimizing capillary end effect artifacts. Overall, this work demonstrates an improved laboratory screening methodology for low-salinity waterflood and similar EOR methods. The results of this work highlight the potential as well as challenges in low-salinity waterflooding in carbonates as a practical EOR technology.
The benefits of data warehousing at Whirlpool

At Whirlpool, data warehousing is providing important support in all of these critical areas (see Table 1). To illustrate, Whirlpoolâ€™s data warehouse enables quality engineers to easily track the performance of component parts. This allows the engineers to assess new components that are being field tested, to quickly detect problems with particular parts, and to identify the high and low quality suppliers. From a different perspective, suppliers can check on the performance of the parts they supply and, consequently, can manage proactively the quality provided to Whirlpool. Purchasing managers have parts information from around the world so that they can find the lowest-cost, highest quality part available on a global basis. This case study briefly describes Whirlpool, the business need that suggested a data warehouse, the approval process, and the data warehouse that was built. It describes how the data warehouse is accessed, how users are trained and supported, and the major applications and benefits. The lessons learned also are described to benefit those companies that are implementing or thinking about implementing data warehousing.
Pregnancy intentions, pregnancy attitudes, and the use of prenatal care in Missouri.

Objectives: This study uses data from 2378 mothers of live-born infants from the NICHD/Missouri Maternal and Infant Health Survey to examine the relationship between pregnancy intention and adequacy of prenatal care. Methods: Pregnancy intention was measured using traditional classifications of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies as well as additional measures of women's attitudes about their pregnancies. Odds ratios for inadequate prenatal care and its component parts (initiation of care and receipt of services) were calculated using multiple logistic regression in separate models and in a combined model for the measures of intention and attitude. Results: Women's attitudes about their pregnancies were associated with inadequate prenatal care, including both inadequate initiation of care and inadequate receipt of services. Traditional measures of intendedness were significantly related only to inadequate initiation of care. Women who were unhappy about the pregnancy (OR = 1.44), unsure that they wanted to be pregnant (OR = 2.81), or denied their pregnancies (OR = 4.82) were more likely to have inadequate prenatal care than women who did not have these attitudes. Women who were unhappy about being pregnant (OR = 1.86), unsure that they wanted to be pregnant (OR = 3.44), or who denied the pregnancy (OR = 6.69) were more likely to have inadequate initiation of care. Women who were unsure that they wanted to be pregnant (OR = 1.95) or who denied their pregnancies (OR = 2.47) were more likely to have received inadequate care once they had entered care. Conclusions: This study suggests that attitudes about pregnancy may be a psychosocial barrier to women obtaining early and continuous prenatal care. Pregnancy attitudes should be assessed and appropriate services provided to improve women's utilization of prenatal care. New measures of pregnancy attitude, beyond the traditional intention measures, can be useful in assessing pregnancy wantedness and identifying women to target for these services.
Structured light on the nanoscale (Conference Presentation)

Structured light and structured matter are two fascinating branches of modern optics that recently started having a significant impact on each other. The synergy of complex beams, such as the beams carrying an orbital angular momentum, with nanostructured engineered media is likely to bring new dimensions to the science and applications of structured light, ranging from fundamentally new regimes of spin-orbit interaction to novel ways of information encoding for the future optical communication systems. We will discuss fundamental optical phenomena at the interface of singular and nonlinear optics in engineered optical media and show that the unique optical properties of optical nanostructures open unlimited prospects to “engineer” light itself.
From Open Doors to Closed Gates: Intragenerational Reverse Incorporation in New Immigrant Destinations

Existing paradigms of immigrant incorporation fruitfully describe immigrants’ upward or downward mobility across generations. Yet we know very little about intragenerational change. Drawing on a ca...
Association of systemic antimicrobials with the expression of beta-lactamases in bacteria cultured from urological patients

Abstract Background Patients with abnormalities of the genitourinary tract are at high risk for infections with antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Methods All urine cultures ordered by members of the Division of Urology from four quarterly one-week periods were included. All gram-negative bacilli isolated were analyzed using the Check-Points Check-MDR CT103XL assay to identify the presence of genes associated with resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. Association between the days of antibiotics and the presence of an ESBL-producing organism was determined. Results One hundred eleven positive cultures were included in this analysis, of which 5 (4.5%) contained ESBL-producing species. Days of systemic antibiotics within 30 days of urine culture was associated with an increased risk of isolating an ESBL-producing pathogen. Conclusion The overall prevalence of ESBL-producing organisms is low in this cohort. The number of days of systemic antibiotics within 30 days of a urine culture was significantly associated with increased risk of isolating an ESBL-producing organism.
Impact of Non-Ideal Characteristics of Resistive Synaptic Devices on Implementing Convolutional Neural Networks

Emerging non-volatile memory (eNVM) based resistive synaptic devices have shown great potential for implementing deep neural networks (DNNs). However, the eNVM devices typically suffer from various non-ideal effects which may degrade the performance of the system. Based on a representative convolutional neural network (CNN) model for CIFAR-10 dataset, this paper comprehensively investigates the impact of those non-ideal characteristics, such as nonlinearity and asymmetry of conductance tuning, variations, endurance and retention, on the training/inference accuracy. The compact models of the device non-ideal effects are incorporated into the TensorFlow framework. Our simulation results suggest that 1) the training accuracy is more sensitive to the asymmetry of conductance tuning than the nonlinearity; 2) the conductance range variation does not degrade the training accuracy, instead, a small variation can even reduce the accuracy loss introduced by asymmetry; 3) device-to-device variation can also remedy the accuracy loss due to asymmetry while cycle-to-cycle variation leads to significant accuracy degradation; 4) the accuracy degradation will not be noticeable if the endurance cycles are more than 7,000 cycles; and 5) different drifting modes affect the inference accuracy differently, and the best case is where the conductance is drifting up/down randomly.
Blood proteome profiling using aptamer-based technology for rejection biomarker discovery in transplantation

Face transplantation is a promising solution for patients with devastating facial injuries who lack other satisfactory treatment options. At the same time, this type of transplantation is accompanied with high risks of acute transplant rejection. The limitations of traditional skin biopsy and the need to frequently monitor the condition of face transplant call for less invasive biomarkers to better diagnose and treat acute rejection. Discovery of peripheral serum proteins accurately reflecting the transplant status would represent a reasonable solution to meet this demand. However, to date, there is no clinical data available to address the feasibility of this approach. In this study, we used the next generation aptamer-based SOMAscan proteomics platform to profile 1305 proteins of peripheral blood serum in twenty-four samples taken from 6 patients during no-rejection, nonsevere rejection, and severe rejection episodes. Also, we provide a detailed description of biosample processing and all steps to generate and analyze the SOMAscan dataset with hope it will assist in performing biomarker discovery in other transplantation centers using this platform.
Utility of Esophagogastroduodenoscopy in the Evaluation of Uncomplicated Abdominal Pain in Children

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is commonly performed for abdominal pain in children, and in the presence of alarm symptoms, the diagnostic yield of this procedure is high. The aim of this study w...
DEADLY PULMONARY HYPERTENSION CURED WITH A SINGLE PROCEDURE

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) can lead to debilitating symptoms, and if untreated, can result in high morbidity and mortality. A 77 year old female with PH, venous insufficiency, and severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD) presented for evaluation. Echocardiography showed normal left ventricular
Chapter 10 – Nutrition Intervention: Lessons From Clinical Trials

This chapter discusses dietary interventions in clinical trials. It provides examples of important components of clinical trials, including study design, recruitment, and intervention designs. Methods used to ensure fidelity to prescribed dietary interventions are presented. Specific descriptions of long-term, randomized clinical trials with dietary interventions with a motivational interviewing example are described.
Chapter 9 – Deformable MR Prostate Segmentation via Deep Feature Learning and Sparse Patch Matching

Automatic and reliable segmentation of the prostate is an important but difficult task for various clinical applications such as prostate cancer radiotherapy. The main challenges for accurate MR prostate localization lie in two aspects: (i) inhomogeneous and inconsistent appearances around the prostate boundary, and (ii) large variation of the prostate shapes across different patients. To tackle these two problems, we propose a new deformable MR prostate segmentation method by unifying deep feature learning with sparse patch matching. First, instead of directly using handcrafted features, we propose to learn the latent feature representation from prostate MR images by the stacked sparse auto-encoder (SSAE). Since the deep learning algorithm learns feature hierarchy from data, the learned features are often more concise and effective than the handcrafted features in describing the underlying data. To improve the discriminability of learned features, we further refine the learned feature representation in a supervised fashion. Second, based on the learned features, a sparse patch matching method is proposed to infer a prostate likelihood map by transferring the prostate labels from multiple atlases to the new prostate MR image. Finally, a deformable segmentation is used to integrate the sparse shape model with the prostate likelihood map for achieving the final segmentation. The proposed method has been extensively evaluated on the dataset containing 66 T2-wighted prostate MR images. Experimental results show that the deep-learned features are more effective than the handcrafted features in guiding MR prostate segmentation. Moreover, our method shows superior performance compared to other state-of-the-art segmentation methods.
SOD2 deficiency-induced oxidative stress attenuates steroidogenesis in mouse ovarian granulosa cells.

Abstract This study investigated the effects of SOD2 (MnSOD)-deficiency-induced excessive oxidative stress on ovarian steroidogenesis in vivo and isolated and cultured granulosa cells using WT and Sod2+/- mice. Basal and 48 h eCG-stimulated plasma progesterone levels were decreased ~50% in female Sod2+/- mice, whereas plasma progesterone levels were decreased ~70% in Sod2+/- mice after sequential stimulation with eCG followed by hCG. Sod2+/- deficiency caused about 50% reduction in SOD2 activity in granulosa cells. SOD2-deficiency also caused a marked reduction in progestins and estradiol in isolated granulosa cells. qRT-PCR measurements indicated that the mRNA expression levels of StAR protein and steroidogenic enzymes are decreased in the ovaries of Sod2+/- mice. Further studies showed a defect in the movement of mobilized cytosolic cholesterol to mitochondria. The ovarian membrane from Sod2+/- mice showed higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. These data indicates that SOD2-deficiency induced oxidative stress inhibits ovarian granulosa cell steroidogenesis primarily by interfering with cholesterol transport to mitochondria and attenuating the expression of Star protein gene and key steroidogenic enzyme genes.
Age-Related Chromosomal Aberrations in Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma

Abstract Background: In diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), where the mean age of diagnosis is 70, it has been demonstrated that certain chromosomal and genetic aberrations are known to increase with advancing age. Additionally, younger patients (pts) with DLBCL have aberrations associated with a better prognosis. Our study aims to determine if there are other genetic aberrations associated with DLBCL based on age. Methods: The National Cancer Institute's Mitelman Database of Chromosome Aberrations and Gene Fusions was used to identify pts with DLBCL. Pts with DLBCL chromosomal aberration analysis results were divided into 4 groups based on age (0-30, 31-50, 51-70, >71) and examined by chi square analysis for trend. Mantel-Cox log-rank test was used for survival analysis. All p-values were two sided and a value of less than 0.05 was used for significance. Results: 1004 DLBCL pts were identified, 541 men and 459 women (1.179 male to female) with a median age (ma) of 61. These pts were divided into four categories: 71(242). 7 aberrations were found to have significant age-related differences within this population: Trisomy 19p13 (ma 72, p=0.0021), polysomy 18 (ma 66, p=0.0418), t8;14 (ma 54, p=0.0003), t11;14 (ma 69.5, p=0.0185), t2;3(ma 50.5, p=0.001), t2;5(ma 10.5 p=0.0001), and t14;18(ma 65, p=0.0003). Each translocation localized to a specific age category, most in middle age. t2;5 translocations were exclusively increased in pts under 18. Survival differences were non-significant (p=0.1459) between these aberrations, with an average overall survival of 14 months. 19p13 addition had the shortest median survival (7 months), while the t(2;3) translocation was associated with the longest survival (20 months). Conclusions: Genetic aberrations in DLBCL were associated with significant age-related accumulations. This suggests that pts who develop DLBCL are more likely to accumulate different translocations depending on their age at the time of DLBCL development. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The Price of Otologic Procedures: Variation in Markup by Surgical Procedure and Geography in the United States.

OBJECTIVE To characterize and analyze variation in price markup of seven common otologic surgeries by procedure and geographic region. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective Analysis of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services database of 2017 Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Public File. SETTING Inpatient and outpatient centers delivering Medicare-reimbursed services. PATIENTS Full sample of patients undergoing procedures with Medicare fee-for-service final action claims during 2017. INTERVENTIONS Seven procedures (myringotomy, tympanoplasty, mastoidectomy, tympanomastoidectomy stapedotomy/stapedectomy, cochlear implant, bone-anchored hearing aid). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Markup ratio (MUR) is defined as the ratio of total charges to Medicare-allowable-costs; Variation in MUR was measured using coefficient of variation (CoV). RESULTS Among all providers, the median MUR was 2.4 (interquartile range: 1.9-3.1). MUR varied significantly by procedure, from 2.3 for myringotomy to 8.7 for mastoidectomy (p < 0.01). MUR also varied significantly within procedure, with the least variation found in myringotomy (CoV = 0.46), and the greatest in cochlear implants (CoV = 0.92). Using the national average as baseline, MUR varied 71% between states, ranging from 1.75 to 6.24. Within the same state, significant variation was also noted, varying by 4% (CoV = 0.04) in Montana compared with 138% (CoV = 1.38) in Pennsylvania. MUR was not significantly correlated with patient comorbidity or Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services risk scores. CONCLUSIONS There was significant variation in the price of otologic surgery across geographic regions and procedures. The MUR for otology is lower or comparable to that reported in other surgical fields.