cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 2622: A LC-MS/MS method to quantify specific dietary isothiocyanates in human urine for epidemiological studies

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between the intake of cruciferous vegetables and risk of cancers. The protective effects may be attributed to glucosinolates and glucobrassicins in these vegetables. While glucosinolates and glucobrassicins are not chemopreventive, their metabolites, isothiocyanates (ITCs), indole-3-carbinol (I3C), and 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM), have been shown to inhibit tumorigenesis in rodent models. In the past studies the total ITCs intake was estimated through food frequency questionnaires and/or urinary total ITC by a HPLC-based method. Self-reported intake of cruciferous vegetables has inherent limitations in estimating the intake of ITCs because of differences in the contents of their precursors present in different kinds of cruciferous vegetables, different locations and methods of cultivation, or different methods of food preparation. Animal and cell culture studies have shown that different types of ITCs have different anticancer properties and potency, suggesting that they are not equal in protecting against the development of cancers. The lack of a reliable method to quantify specific ITCs derived from dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables hinders the investigation of the role of specific ITCs against the development of cancer in human populations. To address this deficiency, we developed a flexible, highly sensitive, fast and reliable quantitative liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method (LC-MS/MS) for detecting and quantifying common dietary ITCs plus DIM in human urine. Urinary ITCs are measured as mercapturic acid conjugates (ITCs-NAC), predominant metabolite of ITCs, using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) technique and deuterated [2H3]-ITCs-NAC as internal standards. DIM is quantified in separate experiment using [2H2]-DIM internal standard. The method was validated by a small set of previously analyzed samples from Singapore Chinese Health Study. We found an excellent correlation between previously reported total ITCs levels and sum of ITCs detected by newly developed method. The combination of minimal sample preparation, ultra-performance liquid chromatography, and highly sensitive mass spectrometer resulted in a method that is fast (below 10 min for ITCs and 12 min for DIM) and sensitive (low femtomolar LOQ) amenable to population studies. Citation Format: Marcin Dyba, Jian-Min Yuan, Jennifer Adams-Haduch, Fung-Lung Chung. A LC-MS/MS method to quantify specific dietary isothiocyanates in human urine for epidemiological studies. [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 2622.
Selfish evolution of cytonuclear hybrid incompatibility in Mimulus.

Intraspecific coevolution between selfish elements and suppressors may promote interspecific hybrid incompatibility, but evidence of this process is rare. Here, we use genomic data to test alternative models for the evolution of cytonuclear hybrid male sterility in Mimulus . In hybrids between Iron Mountain (IM) Mimulus guttatus × Mimulus nasutus , two tightly linked M. guttatus alleles ( Rf 1 /Rf 2) each restore male fertility by suppressing a local mitochondrial male-sterility gene (IM-CMS). Unlike neutral models for the evolution of hybrid incompatibility loci, selfish evolution predicts that the Rf alleles experienced strong selection in the presence of IM-CMS. Using whole-genome sequences, we compared patterns of population-genetic variation in Rf at IM to a neighbouring population that lacks IM-CMS. Consistent with local selection in the presence of IM-CMS, the Rf region shows elevated F ST, high local linkage disequilibrium and a distinct haplotype structure at IM, but not at Cone Peak (CP), suggesting a recent sweep in the presence of IM-CMS. In both populations, Rf 2 exhibited lower polymorphism than other regions, but the low-diversity outliers were different between CP and IM. Our results confirm theoretical predictions of ubiquitous cytonuclear conflict in plants and provide a population-genetic mechanism for the evolution of a common form of hybrid incompatibility.
THE SANITARIAN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT1,2

The thrust of this paper is the contention that the sanitarian because of the ecological systems framework within which he works has the opportunity to extend this framework to the citizen and thus help him better understand the challenges and opportunities of community development.
Endocardial Device Leads in Patients with Patent Foramen Ovale: Echocardiographic Correlates of Stroke/TIA and Mortality

BACKGROUND Echocardiographically detected patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been associated with stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). We sought to evaluate the relationship between echocardiographic characteristics and risk of stroke/TIA and mortality in CIED patients with PFO. METHODS In 6,086 device patients, PFO was detected in 319 patients. A baseline echocardiogram was present in 250 patients, with 186 having a follow-up echocardiogram. RESULTS Of 250 patients with a baseline echocardiogram, 9.6% (n = 24) had a stroke/TIA during mean follow-up of 5.3 ± 3.1 years; and 42% (n = 105) died over 7.1 ± 3.7 years. Atrial septal aneurysm, prominent Eustachian valve, visible shunting across PFO, baseline or change in estimated right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP)/tricuspid regurgitation (TR), or maximum RVSP were not associated with postimplant stroke/TIA (P > 0.05). An exploratory multivariate analysis using time-dependent Cox models showed increased hazard of death in patients with increase in TR ≥2 grades (hazard ratio [HR] 1.780, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.447-2.189, P 10 mm Hg (HR 2.018, 95% CI 1.593-2.556, P < 0.0001), or maximum RVSP in follow-up (HR 1.432, 95% CI 1.351-1.516, P < 0.0001). A significant increase (P < 0.001) in TR was also noted during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS In patients with CIED and PFO, structural and hemodynamic echocardiographic markers did not predict future stroke/TIA. However, a significantly higher TR or RVSP was associated with higher mortality.
Parenting Self-Efficacy Among Japanese Mothers

International comparisons find that Japanese mothers are generally effective in supporting their children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. Yet, many appear to lack a sense of efficac...
Low- Molecular Weight Heparins (LMWH) Versus Vitamin K Antagonists (VKAs) in the Treatment and Secondary Prevention of Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism (VTE): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)

Abstract Introduction: Cancer-associated thrombosis accounts for about 20% of all cases of VTE. VTE increases not only mortality but also morbidity in cancer patients. LMWH is currently recommended over VKAs by major consensus guidelines and it is primarily based on a single, large RCT (CLOT trial) and some smaller studies. However, recently published CATCH trial, which enrolled 900 cancer patients with acute VTE, did not detect a statistically significant reduction in recurrent VTE between tinzaparin and warfarin groups. Hereby, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs to determine the efficacy and safety of LMWH versus VKA in the treatment and secondary prevention of cancer-associated VTE. Methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched through June 30, 2016. All potential studies and their references were evaluated for any additional relevant studies. The RCTs which compare LMWH vs VKA in the treatment of VTE were incorporated in the analysis. Mantel-Haenszel method was used to calculate the estimated pooled risk ratio (RR), and risk difference (RD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Fixed effects model was applied. Results: A total of 2196 cancer patients with acute VTE from 6 RCTs and a subgroup of another 2 RCTs were eligible for analysis. Enoxaparin, dalteparin, tinzaparin and nadroparin were used on LMWH group and warfarin or acenocoumarol were used on VKA group. The treatment duration was from 3 to 6 months. The VTE incidence was 77 (6.832%) in LMWH group vs 128 (11.973%) in VKA group with a RR of 0.572 (95% CI: 0.436 to 0.750, P Conclusions: Our meta-analysis confirms that LMWHs significantly decrease recurrent VTE events compared to VKAs without increasing MB in patients with cancer-associated VTE. LMWH therapy appears to have less CRNM and minor bleeding events compared to VKAs. Download : Download high-res image (159KB) Download : Download full-size image Download : Download high-res image (128KB) Download : Download full-size image Download : Download high-res image (175KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures Oo: Daiichi Sankyo: Research Funding.
Women Benefit More Than Men in Response to College-based Meditation Training

Objectives: While recent literature has shown that mindfulness training has positive effects on treating anxiety and depression, there has been virtually no research investigating whether effects differ across genders— despite the fact that men and women differ in clinically significant ways. The current study investigated whether college-based meditation training had different effects on negative affect for men and women. Methods: Seventy-seven university students (36 women, age = 20.7 ± 3.0 years) participated in 12-week courses with meditation training components. They completed self-report questionnaires of affect, mindfulness, and self-compassion before and after the course. Results: Compared to men, women showed greater decreases in negative affect and greater increases on scales measuring mindfulness and self-compassion. Women’s improvements in negative affect were correlated to improvements in measures of both mindfulness skills and self-compassion. In contrast, men showed non-significant increases in negative affect, and changes in affect were only correlated with ability to describe emotions, not any measures of experiential or self-acceptance. Conclusions: These findings suggest that women may have more favorable responses than men to school-based mindfulness training, and that the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions may be maximized by gender-specific modifications.
To what extent does current scientific research and textbook content align? A methodology and case study

Recent calls for reform in education recommend science curricula to be based on central ideas instead of a larger number of topics and for alignment between current scientific research and curricula. Because alignment is rarely studied, especially for central ideas, we developed a methodology to discover the extent of alignment between primary literature (a proxy for current research) and textbooks (a common curricular resource that often drives curriculum). We illustrated the use of this methodology by applying it to the discipline of animal behavior based on the central ideas identified by Tinbergen (1963, Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie 20:410–433): causation, ontogeny, survival value, and evolution. We utilized deductive content analysis (both manual and automated) to collect data on how often these four ideas are addressed in animal behavior journal articles and the four most commonly used textbooks in the United States, identified by syllabi collected via a stratified random sample of U.S. post-secondary institutions (n = 99). We observed an overall alignment between primary literature and textbooks in the use of the four central ideas—which suggests that the authors of animal behavior textbooks are meeting the suggestions provided by recent calls for reform that curriculum portrays current research. This paper illustrates the use of a methodology for evaluating the extent to which central ideas employed in primary research within a discipline are reflected within curricular resources. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:1097–1118, 2017
Gastric Diospyrobezoar Dissolution with Ingestion of Diet Soda and Cellulase Enzyme Supplement

Diospyrobezoars are a subtype of phytobezoars caused by excessive consumption of persimmons, which contain large amounts of tannins. In contrast to phytobezoars, diospyrobezoars have a harder consistency than other bezoars, making them more difficult to break up both chemically and endoscopically. We have previously reported successful dissolution of phytobezoars with diet soda and cellulase. A review of the literature found low efficacy of soda in dissolving diospyrobezoars compared to other phytobezoars. We report a case of successful dissolution of a diospyrobezoar after a failed attempt with diet soda alone.
Neuroprotective Actions of Dietary Choline

Choline is an essential nutrient for humans. It is a precursor of membrane phospholipids (e.g., phosphatidylcholine (PC)), the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and via betaine, the methyl group donor S-adenosylmethionine. High choline intake during gestation and early postnatal development in rat and mouse models improves cognitive function in adulthood, prevents age-related memory decline, and protects the brain from the neuropathological changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and neurological damage associated with epilepsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, and inherited conditions such as Down and Rett syndromes. These effects of choline are correlated with modifications in histone and DNA methylation in brain, and with alterations in the expression of genes that encode proteins important for learning and memory processing, suggesting a possible epigenomic mechanism of action. Dietary choline intake in the adult may also influence cognitive function via an effect on PC containing eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids; polyunsaturated species of PC whose levels are reduced in brains from AD patients, and is associated with higher memory performance, and resistance to cognitive decline.
Sparse representation classification based linear integration of ℓ 1 -norm and ℓ 2 -norm for robust face recognition

Sparse representation based classification (SRC) has been introduced as a new algorithm for face recognition classification instead of the classical gradient-based algorithms. However, there are some limitations that influence the robustness properties in SRC. One of the most effective parameters that impacts the SRC performance is the directory of training samples. It should contain enough samples to represent the test image with significant features that can achieve high classification rates. To overcome this limitation, we propose a new technique that utilizes SRC with least square and takes the advantages of regularization parameters with both l1-norm for sparsity and l2-norm for holding the correlation between the samples. By integrating l1-norm and l2-norm with regularized regression method, the SRC classifier improves the face recognition accuracy. The performance evaluation of the proposed algorithm is conducted on several publicly available databases and observed promising recognition rates compared to a set of state-of-the-art techniques.
Driving Chemical Reactions in Plasmonic Nanogaps with Electrohydrodynamic Flow

Nanoparticles from colloidal solution—with controlled composition, size, and shape—serve as excellent building blocks for plasmonic devices and metasurfaces. However, understanding hierarchical driving forces affecting the geometry of oligomers and interparticle gap spacings is still needed to fabricate high-density architectures over large areas. Here, electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow is used as a long-range driving force to enable carbodiimide cross-linking between nanospheres and produces oligomers exhibiting sub-nanometer gap spacing over mm2 areas. Anhydride linkers between nanospheres are observed via surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. The anhydride linkers are cleavable via nucleophilic substitution and enable placement of nucleophilic molecules in electromagnetic hotspots. Atomistic simulations elucidate that the transient attractive force provided by EHD flow is needed to provide a sufficient residence time for anhydride cross-linking to overcome slow reaction kinetics. This syn...
SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND CHALLENGES FACED BY TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY(A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY IN TAMIL NADU)

Indian society is been stratified based on religion, caste, education, class, language and it interconnects with gender too. Social exclusion based on these stratifications occurs in the society largely. Mostly, Indians accept, respect and tolerate a wide range of differences in cultures, religions, languages, and customs. Despite Indian society's general ambiance of acceptance and tolerance, there appears to be limited public knowledge and understanding of same-sex sexual orientation and people whose gender identity and expression are dissimilar with their biological sex. Majority of the people think of gender as a kind of inalienable property of individuals, as something we either are or have. Hence, when gender non-conformity is evident in a person, exclusion of that person is being practiced even in their family of orientation. Although transgender community has recognition in Hindu society to some extent, in contemporary context, their gender non-conformity makes them socially excluded. Therefore, this article will analyze and discuss on social exclusion of transgender community with special reference to Tamil Nadu. This article aims to: Highlight the extent of social exclusion and corresponding problems faced by transgender community of Tamil Nadu. Address the challenges faced by the transgender community of Tamil Nadu. Identify the solutions to the problems and challenges faced by the transgender community. The article explores contemporary research studies on transgender community, for instance, while transsexual studies was focused mostly on male-to-female transsexual perspective, this article also includes female-to-male transsexual and transgender community. This article is complied with case studies as primary sources and the secondary data available in the field of sociology along with some of the inputs from other disciplines such as history, economics and psychology. This article also reveals current trends of sociological inquiry in the area of transgender community in Tamil Nadu as a discussion of sociology’s possible contributions towards transgender community.
Devising Law: On the Philosophy of Legal Emblems

Early modern lawyers, civilian and common alike, developed their very own ars iuris or art of law. A variety of legal disciplines had always relied in part upon the use of visual representations, upon images and statuary to convey authority and sovereign norm. Military, religious, administrative and legal images found juridical codification and expression in collections of signs of office (notitia dignitatum), in heraldic codes, in genealogical devises (impresa) and then finally in the juridical invention in the mid-sixteenth century of the legal emblem book. This chapter traces the complex lineage of the emblem book and argues that the visual depiction of authority and norm that it promulgated so successfully laid down an early modern structure and implicit regulation of vision. The mens emblematica of the humanist lawyers was also the inauguration of a visiocratic regime that continues in significant part into the present and multiple technologies of vision.
Modelling of Continuing Damage for Damage Tolerance Analysis

This paper presents and compares two continuing damage modelling approaches: a simplified approach, which approximately models diametrical cracks as two independent radial cracks, and an improved approach that accurately models the interaction between the cracks. Stress intensity factor closed-form solutions were developed for the improved approach to accurately model continuing damage growth in a structure. Through several examples, it was shown that the simplified approach, commonly used by the aircraft industry, always resulted in smaller continuing damage sizes and shorter fatigue lives compared to the improved approach. For the tested cases, the continuing damage sizes calculated using the simplified approach were underestimated by up to 24 times and the fatigue lives were overestimated by up to 1.4 times.
Specifying and Forecasting Space Weather Threats to Human Technology

Adverse space weather is one of the principal threats to modern human technology. Solar coronal mass ejections, large solar flares, and high-speed solar wind streams often lead to sequences of damaging disturbances within the Earth’s magnetosphere, in the atmosphere, and even on the Earth’s surface. Powerful geomagnetic storms can develop following solar disturbances and enhancements of energetic particle populations throughout the outer terrestrial radiation zone can subsequently result. High-energy particles can damage satellite solar power panels, confuse optical trackers, and deposit harmful charges into sensitive electronic components. Extreme solar, geomagnetic and solar wind conditions are often observed by a large array of international satellites and ground-based sensors. We discuss several of the types of space weather-related problems that have been identified in recent years. We present examples of space weather-induced spacecraft anomalies and failures. Recently developed models for specifying and forecasting high-energy electron enhancements throughout the Earth’s radiation belts are discussed. Present models can be used to specify accurately the electron population anywhere in the outer radiation zone and can also provide several-day prediction of this dangerous environmental hazard. An important component of the present community effort has been to establish an NSF-sponsored Science and Technology Center called CISM (Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling). This Center will develop coupled models from the sun to the Earth’s atmosphere.
Nephrologist Leadership in Advocacy and Public Policy

As a specialty and profession, nephrology has deep roots in the arenas of advocacy and public policy, with nephrologists playing a significant role in garnering legislative attention on the needs of patients with end-stage renal disease. The depth of experiences and unique perspectives of nephrologists and sharing our positions with legislators, regulators, and decision makers are central to achieving the Triple Aim for patients with kidney disease. Advocacy and public policy are conducted externally as well as internally to the House of Medicine and shape the future of kidney care and nephrology practice. This article explores the impact of nephrology leadership on government decision making and the important role of the nephrologist in advocacy and public policy at the Federal, state, and regional levels.
Regressive effects of regulation

Regulation of health and safety has placed an unacknowledged burden on low-income households and workers. Billions of dollars are spent every year on regulations that seek to reduce life-threatening risks that arise from auto travel, air travel, air and water pollution, food, drugs and construction; the list goes on. Today, some form of regulation affects nearly every aspect of our lives (Shleifer, in: Kessler (ed) Regulation vs. litigation: perspectives from economics and law, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2010). All of the regulatory rules ostensibly intend to make consumers or workers better off, but the cost of regulation usually is borne by the same consumers and workers, reducing their ranges of choice; it therefore crowds out private spending. The crowding out effect can be particularly detrimental for low-income households. This special issue explores the various ways in which regulation may have such regressive effects as well as the political determinants of how regulation, despite its unfavorable consequences for low-income households, may come about.
Comparison of the psychosocial benefits of augmentation and reduction mammaplasty in women. Retrospective study of 122 women

Plastic surgery procedures are being increasingly used on the female mammae. Our study involved procedures for reduction or augmentation of breast size in 83 and 39 noncancer patients, respectively. In order to answer the question of whether more psychosocial benefits are to be expected in reduction or augmentation operations, the following aspects were explored in patient interviews: social, personality/psychological, sexual satisfaction, professional and leisure time, and honest evaluation of the results. These data should have bearing on focussing the preoperative explanation of the operation to the patient.
Designing a Middle School Science Curriculum that Integrates Computational Thinking and Sensor Technology

This experience report describes two iterations of a curriculum development process in which middle school teachers worked with our research team to collaboratively design and enact instructional units where students used sensors to investigate scientific phenomena. In this report, we examine the affordances of using a sensor platform to support the integration of disciplinary learning and computational thinking (CT) aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and the CT in STEM Taxonomy developed by Weintrop and colleagues. In the first unit, students investigated the conditions for mold growth within their school using a custom sensor system. After analyzing implementation experiences and student interest data, our team engaged in another round of co-design to develop a second instructional unit. This unit uses a different sensor system (the micro:bit) which supports additional CT in STEM practices due to its block-based programming interface and its real time data display. For the second unit we selected a different phenomenon: understanding and designing maglev trains.
Polarizable potentials for metals: The density readjusting embedded atom method (DR-EAM)

In simulations of metallic interfaces, a critical aspect of metallic behavior is missing from the some of the most widely used classical molecular dynamics force fields. We present a modification of the embedded atom method (EAM) which allows for electronic polarization of the metal by treating the valence density around each atom as a fluctuating dynamical quantity. The densities are represented by a set of additional fluctuating variables (and their conjugate momenta) which are propagated along with the nuclear coordinates. This ``density readjusting EAM'' (DR-EAM) preserves nearly all of the useful qualities of traditional EAM, including bulk elastic properties and surface energies. However, it also allows valence electron density to migrate through the metal in response to external perturbations. We show that DR-EAM can successfully model polarization in response to external charges, capturing the image charge effect in atomistic simulations. DR-EAM also captures some of the behavior of metals in the presence of uniform electric fields, predicting surface charging and shielding internal to the metal. We further show that it predicts charge transfer between the constituent atoms in alloys, leading to novel predictions about unit cell geometries in layered $\mathrm{L}{1}_{0}$ structures.
Molecular structures of the human Slo1 K+channel in complex with beta 4.

Slo1 is a Ca2+- and voltage-activated K+ channel that underlies skeletal and smooth muscle contraction, audition, hormone secretion and neurotransmitter release. In mammals, Slo1 is regulated by auxiliary proteins that confer tissue-specific gating and pharmacological properties. This study presents cryo-EM structures of Slo1 in complex with the auxiliary protein, β4. Four β4, each containing two transmembrane helices, encircle Slo1, contacting it through helical interactions inside the membrane. On the extracellular side, β4 forms a tetrameric crown over the pore. Structures with high and low Ca2+ concentrations show that identical gating conformations occur in the absence and presence of β4, implying that β4 serves to modulate the relative stabilities of 'pre-existing' conformations rather than creating new ones. The effects of β4 on scorpion toxin inhibition kinetics are explained by the crown, which constrains access but does not prevent binding.
Space Use by Prairie Warblers in Regenerating Mixed-oak Forests of Central Pennsylvania

Setophaga discolor (Prairie Warbler) is a Nearctic–Neotropical migratory songbird that is experiencing long-term population declines. A potentially important driver behind these decreases is the loss of shrubland and early successional forest communities in the eastern United States. Central to conservation for species like the Prairie Warbler is an understanding of breeding habitat requirements at the scale of the home range. Despite the Prairie Warbler being identified as a species of continental conservation concern, few studies have explicitly quantified habitat conditions within its home ranges. We used radio telemetry to quantify Prairie Warbler use of space during the breeding season as well as associated vegetation data across 3 study sites in north-central Pennsylvania from May to June 2016. We radio-tracked 11 adult male Prairie Warblers. Using the telemetry locations, we estimated kernel densities and classified minimum convex polygons around kernel densities to define males' home ranges and core-use areas. The average home range (95% kernel) was 6.4 ha, and the average core-use area (50% kernel) was 0.73 ha. Prairie Warbler core-use areas contained more shrubs and lower tree count than peripheral portions of home ranges. To this end, management activities that promote a dense shrub layer across early successional communities should benefit Prairie Warblers. Results from this study serve as baseline data that can be used to help direct future studies at the home-range scale of Prairie Warbler breeding-season ecology.
A New Capacity-Approaching Scheme for General 1-to- K Broadcast Packet Erasure Channels With ACK/NACK

The capacity region of 1-to- K broadcast packet erasure channels with ACK/NACK is well known for some scenarios, e.g., $ {K}\leq 3$ , etc. However, existing achievability schemes either require knowing the target rate $\vec {{R}}$ in advance, and/or have a complicated description of the achievable rate region that is difficult to prove whether it matches the capacity or not. This work proposes a new network coding scheme with the following features: (i) its achievable rate region is identical to the capacity region for all the scenarios in which the capacity is known; (ii) its achievable rate region is much more tractable and has been used to derive new capacity rate vectors; (iii) it employs sequential encoding that naturally handles dynamic packet arrivals; (iv) it automatically adapts to unknown packet arrival rates $\vec {{R}}$ ; (v) it is based on $\mathsf {GF}({q})$ with ${q}\geq {K}$ . In addition to analytically characterizing the achievable rate region of the proposed scheme, numerical simulation has been used to verify its queue length and delay performance.
Giga-Hertz ultrasonic microscopy: Getting over the obscurity- A short review on the biomedical applications

Abstract Scanning acoustic microscopy in the gigahertz regime (GHz-SAM) has long been a versatile and complementary micro and nanoscopic imaging and analysis tool. Nevertheless, it remained obscured to some extent, compared to its counterparts, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), despite its unique capability of subsurface analysis. Some current research in our lab at Georgia Tech Lorraine is devoted to the use of the subsurface imaging of GHz-SAM in biological tissues, which has been restricted, mostly, to very stiff materials, in terms of acousto-mechanical impedance, such as metals. The feasibility, degrees of complexity, the different techniques, and future fates of (GHz-SAM) are discussed with particular focus on those most used in the biological applications, such as the combined phase and magnitude contrasts acoustic microscopy. This paper gives a general overview of SAM, the peculiarities of GHz-SAM with emphasis on the restrictions that led to the semi-obscurity of GHz-SAM so far, and reveals some recent research developments in this field in our laboratory.
Hydrothermal corrosion behavior of CVD SiC in high temperature water

Abstract The hydrothermal corrosion of polished and as-cut high purity chemical vapor deposited (CVD) SiC was studied in a constantly refreshing water loop. Light water reactor (LWR) conditions were simulated at 288, 320, and 350 °C with dissolved gas concentrations between 0.15 and 3 ppm H2 or between 1 and 4 ppm O2. In hydrogenated water, the rate of material loss was low, calculated to be ∼1.3 μm of recession after 5 years of service in 320 °C water. Moreover, there was no observed localized attack at any temperature. In oxygenated conditions, the corrosion rate was higher, with a calculated material loss >10 μm after 5 years of service in 1 ppm O2, 320 °C water. Mass loss significantly increased when grain fallout became significant (as early as 200h with 4 ppm O2 at 350 °C or after 1000–2000h with 2 ppm O2 at 288 °C). Grain fallout more than doubled the corrosion rate and a steady state corrosion rate in the grain fallout regime was not observed but expected to eventually occur once large grains begin to be removed. Polished specimens had lower mass loss than unpolished coupons. A kinetic analysis of the data in this work suggests that the corrosion rates are controlled by a single activation step in both oxygenated and deoxygenated conditions, with the reaction order with respect to oxygen being 1. A resulting reaction rate equation to predict corrosion of SiC (in mg/cm2s) in high purity water from 288 to 350 °C and up to 4 ppm O2 was constructed: Rate = 0.1458 1 + SA T ( 1.09 ( 1 − 10 − 3 T ) [ O 2 ] e − 1.275 x 10 4 T + 7.91 x 10 − 6 e − 7.39 x 10 3 T ) .
Enhancing MR imaging driven Alzheimers disease classification performance using generative adversarial learning

Abstract Background Generative adversarial networks (GAN) can generate images of improved quality but their ability to augment image-based classification tasks is not fully explored. Purpose We evaluated if a modified GAN can learn from MRI scans of multiple magnetic field strength to enhance Alzheimer’s disease (AD) classification performance. Materials and methods T1-weighted brain MRI scans from 151 participants of the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), who underwent both 1.5 Tesla (1.5T) and 3 Tesla imaging at the same time were selected to construct a GAN model. This model was trained along with a three-dimensional fully convolutional network (FCN) using the generated images (1.5T*) as inputs to predict AD status. Quality of the generated images was evaluated using signal to noise ratio (SNR), Blind/Referenceless Image Spatial Quality Evaluator (BRISQUE) and Natural Image Quality Evaluator (NIQE). Data from the Australian Imaging, Biomarker & Lifestyle Flagship Study of Ageing (AIBL, n=107), and the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC, n=565) was used for model validation. Results The mean quality of the generated (1.5T*) images was consistently higher than the 1.5T images, as measured using SNR, BRISQUE and NIQE on the validation datasets. The 1.5T*-based FCN classifier performed better than the FCN model trained using the 1.5T scans. Specifically, the mean area under curve increased from 0.907 to 0.932, from 0.934 to 0.940 and from 0.870 to 0.907 on the ADNI test, AIBL and NACC datasets, respectively. Conclusion This study demonstrates that GAN frameworks can be constructed to simultaneously improve image quality and augment classification performance. Key points Our proposed generative adversarial network used 1.5 and 3 Tesla MR scans of the brain to generate images of improved quality, as estimated using no-reference image quality algorithms. Classification models of Alzheimer’s disease risk developed using the generated images had higher classification performance than the models developed using the original 1.5 Tesla scans.
Evaluating a No Hit Zone program and provider interventions at an urban academic pediatric practice

Abstract Background Very few analyses of the effectiveness of No Hit Zone (NHZ) programs have been done to date. Prior research has demonstrated the negative impacts of corporal punishment (CP) as well as the positive role healthcare providers can play in providing information on disciplinary techniques. The Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) set up a NHZ program to address these needs. Objectives To determine the effect of a fully-implemented No Hit Zone program and provider intervention on caregiver beliefs around discipline. To determine how effectively the program was implemented. Participants and setting Those surveyed were 244 parents or guardians of children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years at the General Academic Pediatrics (GAP) clinic at CHKD. Methods Participants were approached in their individual exam rooms. Once consent was obtained, participants were given a survey with questions investigating demographics, discipline use, NHZ awareness, and intervention effectiveness. Results Analyses revealed about half of all participants reported having previously used corporal punishment to discipline their child at least once. Only 30% of participants reported having heard about the NHZ. Among those who had, self-reported viewpoint change about discipline style use had been significantly affected by the NHZ education and discussion with their pediatrician (p Conclusions Provider interventions and establishment of a NHZ was found to be significantly associated with self-reported changes in attitudes about the use of discipline by caregivers. Areas of improvement include the dissemination of NHZ materials and applying the education interventions with more families.
Role of lipocalin-2 in extracellular peroxiredoxin 2-induced brain swelling, inflammation and neuronal death.

Abstract Peroxiredoxin-2 (PRX-2) is known to be released from erythrocytes and induce brain damage after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH); lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) is involved in neuroinflammation following ICH. This study examined the role of LCN-2 in PRX-2 induced brain injury and involved three parts. In the first part, adult male C57BL/6 wild-type (WT), LCN-2 heterozygous (LCN-2 HET), and LCN-2 knockout (LCN-2 KO) mice received either an intracaudate injection of recombinant PRX-2 or saline. In the second part, adult male C57BL/6 WT and male LCN-2 KO mice received recombinant PRX-2 with either recombinant mouse LCN-2 protein or control. In the third part, adult female C57BL/6 WT, LCN-2 HET, and LCN-2 KO mice received recombinant PRX-2. Behavioral tests, and T2- and T2*- weighted magnetic resonance imaging was obtained for all mice. Mice were then euthanized, and their brains used for Western blotting, histology and immunohistochemistry. Intracerebral PRX-2 injections resulted in increased expression of LCN-2 protein. PRX-2-induced brain swelling, neutrophil infiltration, microglia/macrophage activation, neuronal cell death, and neurological deficits were reduced in male LCN-2 HET and LCN-2 KO mice (P In conclusion, intracerebral injection of PRX-2 upregulates LCN-2, and LCN-2 is crucial in the effects of PRX-2 on neutrophil infiltration and microglia/macrophage activation, and ultimately brain damage.
Reflective long period grating based temperature sensor

We experimentally demonstrate a reflective long period grating based temperature sensor with a temperature sensitivity coefficient of 0.046 nm/°C in the range between 23°C and 200°C. Compared to traditional metal coating methods, such as evaporation, we used a cost-effective brush coating method to coat silver on both the end facet and a 60cm long tail end of the fiber beyond a long period grating (LPG) to realize a reflection mode LPG. The measured optical spectrum of the fabricated reflective LPG completely mimics the transmitted spectrum with reduced intensity. This cost-effective method for coating metal will pave the way for inexpensive LPG and other optical fiber sensor manufacturing and widespread utilization.
Articulatory Comparison of L1 and L2 Speech for Mispronunciation Diagnosis

This paper compares the difference in articulation patterns between native (L1) and non-native (L2) Mandarin speakers of English, for the purpose of providing an understanding of mispronunciation behaviors of L2 learners. Consensus transcriptions from the Electromagnetic Articulography Mandarin Accented English (EMA-MAE) corpus are used to identify commonly occurring substitution errors for consonants and vowels. Phoneme level alignments of the utterances produced by speech recognition models are used to extract articulatory feature vectors representing correct and substituted sounds from L1 and L2 speaker groups respectively. The articulatory features that are significantly different between the two groups are identified along with the direction of error for the L2 speaker group. Experimental results provide information about which types of substitutions are most common and which specific articulators are the most significant contributors to those errors.
Anterolateral intervertebral disc herniation presenting as visceral pain in a patient with renal keratinising desquamative squamous metaplasia

We report the case of a 70-year-old man who presented to the clinic with back pain and presumed chronic kidney pain from renal keratinising desquamative squamous metaplasia, in which he would intermittently pass keratin plugs in urine. The pain had a visceral-sounding component that was inconsistent with renal colic. MRI of the spine revealed anterolateral disc bulges, which were likely irritating the anterolateral sympathetic nerves of the intervertebral disc, mimicking visceral pain. Transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) was performed at the levels of the disc bulges. He had no pain during passage of keratin plugs for 6.5 months after the TFESI which could be attributed to the expected duration of symptoms relief after a properly done TFESI.
Acoustic tracking of surface waves

Doppler sensitive probe signals, transmitted in a bi-static geometry, can be used to localize and track moving surface waves that are acting as reflectors.
A latent profile analysis to assess physical, cognitive and emotional symptom clusters in women with breast cancer.

Current research on the physical and psychological functioning of breast cancer survivors often takes an approach where symptoms are studied independently even though they often occur in clusters T...
On mobility-capacity-delay trade-off in wireless ad hoc networks

We show that there is a trade off among mobility, capacity, and delay in ad hoc networks. More specifically, we consider two schemes for the mobility of nodes in ad hoc networks. We divide the entire network into cells whose sizes can vary with the total number of nodes or whose size is independent of the number of nodes. By restricting the movement of nodes within these cells, we calculate throughput and delay for randomly chosen pairs of source-destination nodes, and show that mobility is an entity that can be exchanged with capacity and delay. We also investigate the effect of directional antennas in a static network in which packet relaying is done through the closest neighbor, and verify that this approach attains better throughput than static networks employing omnidirectional antennas.
A Nonvariational Consistent Hybrid Ensemble Filter

AbstractA consistent hybrid ensemble filter (CHEF) for using hybrid forecast error covariance matrices that linearly combine aspects of both climatological and flow-dependent matrices within a nonvariational ensemble data assimilation scheme is described. The CHEF accommodates the ensemble data assimilation enhancements of (i) model space ensemble covariance localization for satellite data assimilation and (ii) Hodyss’s method for improving accuracy using ensemble skewness. Like the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF), the CHEF is computationally scalable because it updates local patches of the atmosphere independently of others. Like the sequential ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), it serially assimilates batches of observations and uses perturbed observations to create ensembles of analyses. It differs from the deterministic (no perturbed observations) ensemble square root filter (ESRF) and the EnKF in that (i) its analysis correction is unaffected by the order in which observations are assimila...
Rural, Poverty-Level Mothers: A Comparative Study of Those with and without Children Who Have Special Needs.

A study of low-income rural mothers in four states investigated the differences in demographics, school experience, social support, and school involvement for mothers with children with and without...
Effects of dietary fat on metabolic disorders and reproductive performance of dairy cattle

Improved reproductive performance and reduced incidence of metabolic disorders have been postulated to be benefits of feeding supplemental fat to dairy cows. Increased plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations during fat supplementation may result from incomplete tissue uptake of fatty acids after lipoprotein lipase hydrolysis of very-low-density lipoprotein triglyceride; however, evidence suggests that net adipose tissue triglyceride hydrolysis may be increased during fat supplementation. Plasma 3-OH-butyrate concentrations remain relatively constant during fat supplementation but may have a tendency to be reduced if fat is supplemented to cows having relatively high basal plasma 3-OH-butyrate concentrations. Because plasma ketone levels usually increase when nonesterified fatty acid concentrations are elevated, it is hypothesized that potential antiketogenic effects of added fat are due to a glucose sparing effect. Supplemental fat does not seem to reduce hepatic lipid infiltration near the time of calving. Potential mechanisms by which supplemental fat may improve reproductive performance include stimulation of prostaglandin F2 a synthesis and secretion and enhanced utilization of blood cholesterol for progesterone synthesis. Days postpartum until first ovulation and luteal function of dairy cattle have been related to energy balance during the first 3 wk postpartum. Energy balance data for early lactation cows fed supplemental fat are not plentiful; however, slight but statistically nonsignificant increases have been observed when feeding fat. Cows fed supplemental fat that experience improved energy balance may begin to cycle sooner because of enhanced follicular growth and development. Applied studies examining the effects of supplemental fat on reproductive performance have provided inconsistent results.
A study of intact classes.

(1969). A Study of Intact Classes. Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 632-634.