cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two-dimensional simulator for propagation in urban environments

A new two-dimensional (2-D) ray-tracing simulator for electromagnetic (EM) propagation prediction in an urban environment is described. The new features are that no practical restrictions are imposed on the profile of the cross section connecting the transmitter to the receiver and that each surface is characterized by its own value for the surface impedance; also, second-order diffraction coefficients for impedance wedges are used to allow for arbitrary values of the heights of both antennas. Comparisons with other methods and numerical results are presented.
Do minority leaders affect corporate practice? Analyzing the effect of leadership composition on governance and product development

This study examines the effect of racial/ethnic minority CEOs and diverse corporate boards on corporate governance and product development. We test an author-constructed dataset of corporate practices, CEO race/ethnicity, and board racial/ethnic composition in Fortune 500 firms from 2001 to 2010. Findings suggest that diverse boards are positively associated with effective corporate governance practices and product development. Moreover, an interactive effect occurs between a diverse board and the race/ethnicity of the CEO in that corporate governance strengths and product innovation for the firm are increased when a White CEO operates with a diverse board. Thus, while promoting individual minority leaders is important, board diversity is paramount for achieving corporate benefits.
Interracial Dating Evidence From Personal Advertisements

Caste and exchange theories predict that Whites who enter into interracial relationships seek to trade their racial status for relational capital (i.e., physical attractiveness, financial security). Racial minorities, on the other hand, are likely to trade such assets for higher racial status. However, previous research concerning interracial relationships has concentrated on couples who are already established; thus, the existing literature is of limited use in examining the initial decisions of individuals choosing to date interracially. In this article, content analysis of personal advertisements is reported. It was found that race is insignificant as to whether the advertisers desired or sought physical attractiveness or financial security. Increased availability, not factors predicted by caste and exchange theories, is more explanatory as to why individuals enter into interracial relationships.
Morphometric studies of chloroquine-induced changes in hepatocytic organelles in the rat

The autophagic process is thought to occur both normally and at an accelerated rate in response to many types of stress. The clinical drug chloroquine was a potent inducer of this process when administered intraperitoneally to adult, male rats. Morphometric analysis was used to quantitate the number and volume of autophagic vacuoles, mitochondria, peroxisomes, and lysosomes within hepatocytes of unexposed and drug-exposed rats. Within 2 hr of chloroquine treatment, the number of autophagic vacuoles reached an incidence more than 600 times that observed in controls. In these same hepatocytes, the numbers and volumes of the mitochondria, peroxisomes, and lysosomes also varied from controls and could be correlated with the autophagic process. The results established that the subcellular organelle pattern changed within 6 hr after chloroquine exposure and suggested that the autophagic vacuole
miR-20a encoded by the miR-17-92 cluster increases the metastatic potential of osteosarcoma cells by regulating Fas expression

Findings provide insights into the means by which bone cancers gain access to the lung, by modulating expression of a microRNA program that permits cancer cell survival in the lung microenvironment.
ACUTE MYOCARDITIS IN THE ADULT.

Summary o 1.This review concerns acute nonspecific or viral myocarditis in the adult human being. Rheumatic myocarditis is excluded from discussion. 2.Acute myocarditis, either nonspecific or viral in type, wherein death results from simple deterioration of cardiac function, is so rare an event in the adult human being as to rank as a medical curiosity. A few reported cases which appear to satisfy criteria of limited specificity are identified. 3.Relationship between acute myocarditis and the chronic forms of primary myocardial disease defies convincing definition. Chronic pernicious myocarditis is an evident exception. 4.Acute myocarditis may precipitate fatal cardiac arrhythmias, but the proof of such a causal relationship is not clear nor the therapeutic implications evident. 5.Postinfectious asthenia is a common clinical problem which usually occurs unassociated with convincing evidence of acute myocarditis. Accumulation of such convincing evidence is made difficult by the limited means available for its accomplishment. 6.Some degree of inflammation of the superficial layers of the myocardium probably is a well nigh universal component of acute idiopathic pericarditis. To emphasize this myocardial element by indiscriminate designation of acute idiopathic pericarditis as, "myopericarditis", would entail sacrifice of clear and established clinical concepts in the cause of morphologic and semantic purity. 7.The adult human heart appears to be remarkably tolerant of the acute effects of the myocardial inflammatory process which, in greater or lesser degree, attends many acute infectious diseases.
Data mining and data visualization: Position paper for the second IEEE workshop on database issues for data visualization

The government, corporate, and industrial communities are faced with an ever increasing number of databases. These databases need not only to be managed, but also explored. The first requires secure access to distributed heterogeneous multimedia databases with rich metadata and having to meet timing constraints. The second requires exploratory tools supporting the identification of domain and mission critical elements such as patterns in data access (e.g., security breach determinations), patterns in data (e.g., marketing and clustering), or for patterns in transactions (e.g., data compression), to site a few. Knowledge Discovery in Databases is a relatively new research area that employs a variety of tools to explore and identify structure and patterns in these large databases. Often the data is preprocessed to facilitate such computations (data warehousing). The data is then mined for specific rules that are built incrementally and often steered by users with a specific set of goals in mind.
Molecular transport in collagenous tissues measured by gel electrophoresis

Molecular transport in tissues is important for drug delivery, nutrient supply, waste removal, cell signaling, and detecting tissue degeneration. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate gel electrophoresis as a simple method to measure molecular transport in collagenous tissues. The electrophoretic mobility of charged molecules in tissue samples was measured from relative differences in the velocity of a cationic dye passing through an agarose gel in the absence and presence of a tissue section embedded within the gel. Differences in electrophoretic mobility were measured for the transport of a molecule through different tissues and tissue anisotropy, or the transport of different sized molecules through the same tissue. Tissue samples included tendon and fibrocartilage from the proximal (tensile) and distal (compressive) regions of the bovine flexor tendon, respectively, and bovine articular cartilage. The measured electrophoretic mobility was greatest in the compressive region of the tendon (fibrocartilage), followed by the tensile region of tendon, and lowest in articular cartilage, reflecting differences in the composition and organization of the tissues. The anisotropy of tendon was measured by greater electrophoretic mobility parallel compared with perpendicular to the predominate collagen fiber orientation. Electrophoretic mobility also decreased with increased molecular size, as expected. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that gel electrophoresis may be a useful method to measure differences in molecular transport within various tissues, including the effects of tissue type, tissue anisotropy, and molecular size.
A Model for Direction Sensing in Dictyostelium discoideum: Ras Activity and Symmetry Breaking Driven by a Gβγ-Mediated, Gα2-Ric8 -- Dependent Signal Transduction Network

Chemotaxis is a dynamic cellular process, comprised of direction sensing, polarization and locomotion, that leads to the directed movement of eukaryotic cells along extracellular gradients. As a primary step in the response of an individual cell to a spatial stimulus, direction sensing has attracted numerous theoretical treatments aimed at explaining experimental observations in a variety of cell types. Here we propose a new model of direction sensing based on experiments using Dictyostelium discoideum (Dicty). The model is built around a reaction-diffusion-translocation system that involves three main component processes: a signal detection step based on G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) for cyclic AMP (cAMP), a transduction step based on a heterotrimetic G protein Gα2βγ, and an activation step of a monomeric G-protein Ras. The model can predict the experimentally-observed response of cells treated with latrunculin A, which removes feedback from downstream processes, under a variety of stimulus protocols. We show that [Formula: see text] cycling modulated by Ric8, a nonreceptor guanine exchange factor for [Formula: see text] in Dicty, drives multiple phases of Ras activation and leads to direction sensing and signal amplification in cAMP gradients. The model predicts that both [Formula: see text] and Gβγ are essential for direction sensing, in that membrane-localized [Formula: see text], the activated GTP-bearing form of [Formula: see text], leads to asymmetrical recruitment of RasGEF and Ric8, while globally-diffusing Gβγ mediates their activation. We show that the predicted response at the level of Ras activation encodes sufficient 'memory' to eliminate the 'back-of-the wave' problem, and the effects of diffusion and cell shape on direction sensing are also investigated. In contrast with existing LEGI models of chemotaxis, the results do not require a disparity between the diffusion coefficients of the Ras activator GEF and the Ras inhibitor GAP. Since the signal pathways we study are highly conserved between Dicty and mammalian leukocytes, the model can serve as a generic one for direction sensing.
Ultrasound Evaluation of Pulmonary Embolism and Heart Strain

Considerable morbidity and mortality is associated with a massive pulmonary embolism (PE), and this diagnosis must be considered in the setting of chest pain, shortness of breath, or nonspecific symptoms in the hemodynamically unstable patient. Ultrasound can be used as part of an initial assessment within the emergency department, specifically evaluating for right ventricular enlargement or dysfunction. It has the added benefit of screening for other critical conditions, such as cardiac tamponade, that can mimic PE.
Frequency-Dependent Viability in Mutant Strains of Drosophila melanogaster

We investigated the effects of genotypic frequencies on egg-to-adult viabilities in pairwise combinations of four strains of Drosophila melanogaster. The experiments involved mixture of a total of 42,000 eggs in varying proportions under controlled densities and observation of surviving adults. Viabilities were found to depend on frequencies in several genotypic combinations. In the most extreme case, the absolute viability of cn;bw females increased monotonically from 54% when common to 70% when rare. The results illustrate several statistical and methodological problems that might explain why some experiments have failed to detect frequency-dependent viabilities. These problems include heterogeneity between replications, sex differences in susceptibility to competition, and strong dependence of the experimental outcome on the choice of competitor genotypes.
Abstract A63: Inhibition of ROCK signaling prevents breast cancer metastasis to human bone

ROCK signaling plays a fundamental role in regulating cell morphology, adhesion and motility. Aberrant expression of ROCK is related to tumor metastases and correlates with poor clinical outcome. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for ROCK‐mediated effects and the potential utility of ROCK inhibition as a therapeutic target have not been fully investigated. Here, we show that ROCK expression is increased in metastatic human breast cancer (BrCa) cell lines and clinical mammary tumors compared to non‐metastatic cell lines and tumors. Inhibition of ROCK activity, either by a specific ROCK inhibitor (Y27632) or ROCK‐targeted siRNAs, reduces BrCa cell migration and proliferation in vitro. We evaluated the effect of ROCK inhibition on metastasis to bone in vivo using a novel “human BrCa metastasis to human bone” mouse model. Metastases to human bone cores (hBCs) were inhibited in Y27632‐treated mice (5 out of 14, 36%) compared to control mice (8 out of 12, 67%), based on luminescent imaging. The overall frequency of metastasis to mouse skeleton in Y27632‐treated mice was reduced by 36% compared to controls. Moreover, the mass of metastatic tumors in the mouse skeleton was diminished by 77% (P in vivo . Collectively, these findings suggest that augmented ROCK signaling contributes to BrCa metastasis in at least 3 ways, by 1) regulating the actin cytoskeleton and actin‐myosin‐dependent contractility; 2) targeting mRNAs controlled by the transcription factor c‐Myc to potentiate cell growth and viability; and 3) modulating the expression of certain miRNAs, such as the c‐Myc‐regulated oncogenic miR‐17‐92 cluster. Inhibition of ROCK‐mediated signaling appears to be a promising and potentially specific approach to suppress the occurrence of bone metastases in BrCa. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(23 Suppl):A63.
Progress on Mapping and Cloning Genes for Leaf Architecture in Rice( Oryza sativa. L)

Leaf architecture,which plays important role on determining grain yield potential in rice,was characterized as leaf length,leaf width,leaf thinness,leaf area,leaf rolling and leaf erect ability. Recently,significant progress has been made in mapping and isolating leaf architecture related QTLs and genes by studies for segregating populations and mutants. This review,therefore,aims to summarize the progress on mapping and cloning genes related to leaf architecture,understanding of their function and trying to elucidate their association with grain yield. The molecular mechanism about formation of leaf rolling and erect ability was also discussed.
TU-H-206-04: An Effective Homomorphic Unsharp Mask Filtering Method to Correct Intensity Inhomogeneity in Daily Treatment MR Images

Purpose: The daily treatment MRIs acquired on MR-IGRT systems, like diagnostic MRIs, suffer from intensity inhomogeneity issue, associated with B1 and B0 inhomogeneities. An improved homomorphic unsharp mask (HUM) filtering method, automatic and robust body segmentation, and imaging field-of-view (FOV) detection methods were developed to compute the multiplicative slow-varying correction field and correct the intensity inhomogeneity. The goal is to improve and normalize the voxel intensity so that the images could be processed more accurately by quantitative methods (e.g., segmentation and registration) that require consistent image voxel intensity values. Methods: HUM methods have been widely used for years. A body mask is required, otherwise the body surface in the corrected image would be incorrectly bright due to the sudden intensity transition at the body surface. In this study, we developed an improved HUM-based correction method that includes three main components: 1) Robust body segmentation on the normalized image gradient map, 2) Robust FOV detection (needed for body segmentation) using region growing and morphologic filters, and 3) An effective implementation of HUM using repeated Gaussian convolution. Results: The proposed method was successfully tested on patient images of common anatomical sites (H/N, lung, abdomen and pelvis). Initial qualitative comparisons showed that this improved HUM method outperformed three recently published algorithms (FCM, LEMS, MICO) in both computation speed (by 50+ times) and robustness (in intermediate to severe inhomogeneity situations). Currently implemented in MATLAB, it takes 20 to 25 seconds to process a 3D MRI volume. Conclusion: Compared to more sophisticated MRI inhomogeneity correction algorithms, the improved HUM method is simple and effective. The inhomogeneity correction, body mask, and FOV detection methods developed in this study would be useful as preprocessing tools for many MRI-related research and clinical applications in radiotherapy. Authors have received research grants from ViewRay and Varian.
Molecular Pharmacology of Estrogen and Progesterone Receptors

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an update on the mechanisms of action of estrogen and progesterone. Particularly important concepts include nongenomic effects, receptor isoforms that affect agonist/antagonist actions, and the role of coactivators and corepressors in various tissues. The steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone are low-molecular weight, lipophilic hormones that through their action as modulators of distinct signal transduction pathways, are involved in the regulation of reproductive function. These hormones are also important regulators in bone, the cardiovascular system, and the central nervous system. Despite their different roles in these systems, it has become apparent that estrogens and progestins are mechanistically similar. Insights gleaned from the study of each hormone have advanced the understanding of this class of molecules as a whole. Some of the recent mechanistic discoveries that have occurred in the field are highlighted and the subsequent changes in our understanding of the pharmacology of this class of steroid hormones are explored.
Activism as a pathway to global citizenship

Abstract We examined the influence of prior work with activist issues on the antecedents, identification, and outcomes of global citizenship. Participants rated their engagement with activist issues and measures related to global citizenship identification antecedents and outcomes. The results showed that engagement with activist issues predicted global citizenship through the perceptions of one’s normative environment and global awareness. Activism also indirectly predicted prosocial values and behaviors related to global citizen identity through antecedents and global citizenship identification. The results highlight the prosocial outcomes of participation in activist movements.
The Geometry of Doubly-Coupled Bigravity

The existence of a consistent bimetric theory raises an intriguing question: which is the physical metric? In Chaps. 3 and 4 we chose to couple only one of the two metric, \(g_{\mu \textit{v}}\), directly to matter, while the other dynamical metric, \(f_{\mu \textit{v}}\), only interacts with matter fields indirectly through its interactions with \(g_{\mu \nu }\).
Metabolomic applications in radiation biodosimetry: exploring radiation effects through small molecules.

Purpose: Exposure of the general population to ionizing radiation has increased in the past decades, primarily due to long distance travel and medical procedures. On the other hand, accidental expo...
Microglial complement receptor 3 regulates brain Aβ levels through secreted proteolytic activity

Recent genetic evidence supports a link between microglia and the complement system in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we uncovered a novel role for the microglial complement receptor 3 (CR3) in the regulation of soluble β-amyloid (Aβ) clearance independent of phagocytosis. Unexpectedly, ablation of CR3 in human amyloid precursor protein-transgenic mice results in decreased, rather than increased, Aβ accumulation. In line with these findings, cultured microglia lacking CR3 are more efficient than wild-type cells at degrading extracellular Aβ by secreting enzymatic factors, including tissue plasminogen activator. Furthermore, a small molecule modulator of CR3 reduces soluble Aβ levels and Aβ half-life in brain interstitial fluid (ISF), as measured by in vivo microdialysis. These results suggest that CR3 limits Aβ clearance from the ISF, illustrating a novel role for CR3 and microglia in brain Aβ metabolism and defining a potential new therapeutic target in AD.
The Future of Housing Policy: Fungibility of Rental Housing Programs to Better Fit With Market Need

The nation pursues a dual strategy to resolve the housing affordability problems of poor renter households. The dual strategy consists of a supply-side approach and a demand-side approach. The supp...
Developing an Integrated, Brief Biobehavioral HIV Prevention Intervention for High-Risk Drug Users in Treatment: The Process and Outcome of Formative Research.

To date, HIV prevention efforts have largely relied on singular strategies (e.g., behavioral or biomedical approaches alone) with modest HIV risk reduction outcomes for people who use drugs (PWUD), many of whom experience a wide range of neurocognitive impairments (NCI). We report on the process and outcome of our formative research aimed at developing an integrated bio-behavioral approach that incorporates innovative strategies to address the HIV prevention and cognitive needs of high risk PWUD in drug treatment. Our formative work involved first adapting an evidence-based behavioral intervention - guided by the ADAPT-ITT model - and then combining the behavioral intervention with an evidence-based biomedical intervention for implementation among the target population. This process involved eliciting data through structured focus groups with key stakeholders – members of the target population (n=20) and treatment providers (n=10). Analysis of focus group data followed a thematic analysis approach utilizing several qualitative data analysis techniques, including inductive analysis and cross-case analysis. Based on all information, we integrated the adapted Community-friendly Health Recovery Program (CHRP) – a brief evidence-based HIV prevention behavioral intervention – with the evidence-based biomedical component (i.e., pre-exposure prophylaxis: PrEP), an approach that incorporates innovative strategies to accommodate individuals with NCI. This combination approach – now called the Bio-Behavioral Community-friendly Health Recovery Program (CHRP-BB) – is designed to address HIV-related risk behaviors and PrEP uptake and adherence as experienced by many PWUD in treatment. This study provides a complete example of the process of selecting, adapting, and integrating the EBIs – taking into account both empirical evidence and input from target population members and target organization stakeholders. The resultant brief evidence-based bio-behavioral approach could significantly advance primary prevention science by cost-effectively optimizing PrEP adherence and HIV risk reduction within common drug treatment settings.
High resolution wire spark chamber

Abstract A wire spark chamber has been constructed with a wire spacing of eight wires per mm and a 1.2 mm gap. Operated at a pressure of 15 atm of a neon-helium mixture, it has been found to give a track position accuracy of better than 75 μm.
Peritumoral cuffing by T-cell tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes distinguishes HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma from oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

Background It is unclear why human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has improved clinical behavior compared to HPV-negative HNSCC. We sought to better characterize the immune microenvironment of tongue cancers by examining the CD3 and CD8 TIL pattern in HPV-positive and -negative tumors. Methods Histologic sections from 40 oral tongue and oropharyngeal cases were analyzed (n= 21 HPV DNA-positive, n= 19 HPV DNA-negative). CD3 and CD8 T cell immunostaining was performed on whole slide sections to quantify tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) density and assess its morphology. Results A subset of cases (HPV-positive), displayed a unique TIL pattern consisting of circumferential peritumoral population T cells, which was absent in the HPV-negative cases. The presence of peritumoral cuffing was strongly predictive of improved recurrence free survival compared to cases that lacked this morphologic pattern of immune infiltrate. Four HPV-positive cases lacked the pattern, including two cases with disease recurrence. Conclusions For the first time, we show an architectural pattern of immune infiltrate in HNSCC is seen exclusively in HPV-positive patients with improved recurrence free survival and suggests an organized host immunological response contributes to disease control. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Effect of Prophylactic Fentanyl Buccal Tablet on Episodic Exertional Dyspnea: A Pilot Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract Context Episodic dyspnea is one of the most common, debilitating, and difficult-to-treat symptoms. Objective We conducted a pilot study to examine the effect of prophylactic fentanyl buccal tablet (FBT) on exercise-induced dyspnea. Methods In this parallel, double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial, opioid-tolerant patients were asked to complete a six-minute walk test (6MWT) at baseline and then a second 6MWT 30 minutes after a single dose of FBT (equivalent to 20–50% of their total opioid dose) or matching placebo. We compared dyspnea Numeric Rating Scale (NRS, 0–10, primary outcome), walk distance, vital signs, neurocognitive function, and adverse events between the two 6MWTs. Results Among 22 patients enrolled, 20 (91%) completed the study. FBT was associated with a significant within-arm reduction in dyspnea NRS between 0 and six minutes (mean change −2.4, 95% CI −3.5, −1.3) and respiratory rate (mean change −2.6, 95% CI −4.7, −0.4). Placebo was also associated with a nonstatistically significant decrease in dyspnea (mean change −1.1). Between-arm comparison of dyspnea scores in the second 6MWT favored FBT, albeit not statistically significant (estimate −0.25, P = 0.068). Global impression revealed more patients in the FBT group than placebo group reporting their dyspnea was at least "somewhat better" in the second 6MWT (4 of 9 vs. 0 of 11, P = 0.03). The other secondary outcomes did not differ significantly between arms. Conclusions This study supports that prophylactic FBT was associated with a reduction of exertional dyspnea and was well tolerated. Our findings support the need for larger trials to confirm the therapeutic potential of rapid-onset opioids.
Arsenic-induced Metabolic Reprogramming: A Role for Autophagy, NRF2, and OGlcNAcylation

Metabolic reprogramming, originally used in the context of a cancer cell's ability to utilize glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation to support rapid growth, refers to a shift away from normal homeostatic metabolism. This metabolic shift can arise from a number of sources, including genetic mutations, aging, or exposure to environmental factors. For example, prolonged exposure to environmental toxicants, such as the heavy metal arsenic, has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, type II diabetes, and certain types of cancer. While arsenic is known to increase the risk of developing these diseases, the exact mechanisms underlying arsenic-related pathogenesis remain unclear. Previous work in our lab has shown that arsenic exposure results in inhibition of the autophagy-lysosome pathway, resulting in prolonged activation of the critical antioxidant transcription factor NRF2, a process termed non-canonical activation of NRF2. Both autophagy inhibition and sustained activation of NRF2 can significantly alter not only the overall redox state of the cell, but also the manner in which key metabolites and metabolic pathways are utilized. Interestingly, our results indicate that along with autophagy inhibition and increased activation of NRF2, arsenic treatment also results in increased global protein OGlcNAcylation, alterations to mitochondrial structure and function, changes in oxidative phosphorylation and glycolytic flux, as well as decreased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, these phenotypes, coupled with non-canonical activation of NRF2, could significantly contribute to the metabolic reprogramming seen in diseases associated with prolonged exposure to arsenic. Whether or not these phenotypes are a result of prolonged autophagic dysfunction, sustained activation of NRF2 and its downstream targets, or other contributing factors is an area of active interest in our lab.
Perceptions of Intellectual Diversity Among Religious/Conservative Undergraduate Seniors at Highly Selective US Universities: Is the University a Liberal Hegemony?

ABSTRACTIn the past decade, issues of intellectual diversity at elite universities in the United States have resurfaced after years of dormancy. Leading the charge as been the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), which argues that ideologically left-leaning elite universities in the United States inhibit conservative thought. Using data from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) College Senior Survey of universities ranked as high and very high selectivity (N = 5587), this study explored the questions of whether religious/socially conservative undergraduate seniors at elite universities systematically perceive a campus climate that is less respectful of diverse beliefs than their less religious/socially conservative counterparts, and how religious/social conservatism is related to the perception of intellectual diversity. A Rasch model helped evaluate the religious/social conservatism construct. Students who scored high on the religious/social conservative scale perceived their univer...
Rhombohedral Twinning in Aluminum Oxide

A model is presented for the atom movements and structure of rhombohedral \( \{ \bar 1101\} \) type twins in aluminum oxide. The oxygen lattice twinning is the same as \( \{ 11\bar 22\} \) type twins in hcp metals. The aluminum lattice has the correct twin orientation but is faulted at the boundary and is not a true reflection across the twin plane.
Chaotic behavior of renal sympathetic nerve activity: effect of baroreceptor denervation and cardiac failure.

Nonlinear dynamic analysis was used to examine the chaotic behavior of renal sympathetic nerve activity in conscious rats subjected to either complete baroreceptor denervation (sinoaortic and cardiac baroreceptor denervation) or induction of congestive heart failure (CHF). The peak interval sequence of synchronized renal sympathetic nerve discharge was extracted and used for analysis. In control rats, this yielded a system whose correlation dimension converged to a low value over the embedding dimension range of 10–15 and whose greatest Lyapunov exponent was positive. Complete baroreceptor denervation was associated with a decrease in the correlation dimension of the system (before 2.65 ± 0.27, after 1.64 ± 0.17; P < 0.01) and a reduction in chaotic behavior (greatest Lyapunov exponent: 0.201 ± 0.008 bits/data point before, 0.177 ± 0.004 bits/data point after, P < 0.02). CHF, a state characterized by impaired sinoaortic and cardiac baroreceptor regulation of renal sympathetic nerve activity, was associate...
Overview of the Superfund Program

Beginning in the nineteenth century, modern science and industry introduced compounds into the environment not found in nature but useful for their new properties, such as persistence and ability to control pests. Unfortunately, these same properties make these materials potential hazardous contaminants. As industrial processes in the United States grew in size and began to use greater amounts of hazardous substances, contemporary waste management practices, described as “cheap and casual” by Andrews (1999: 245), were applied to hazardous materials as well. However, the effects of hazardous substances could be very different from those of traditional wastes, for which odor and infectious disease were the principal problems, so these practices resulted in significant potential health and environmental risks (Hays 1987, Ch. 6). Up through the 1960s, the lack of awareness of the potential risks of hazardous wastes resulted in many abandoned hazardous waste sites (Hird 1994).
Pseudo-Almost Periodic Solutions to Some Third-Order Differential Equations

Motivated by the recent work by Diagana [49, 52, 61], in this chapter using the Schauder fixed-point theorem (Theorem 1.98), the Banach fixed-point principle (Theorem 1.96), and the dichotomy techniques, we study the problem which consists of the existence of pseudo-almost periodic (respectively, weighted pseudo-almost periodic) solutions to the nonautonomous third-order differential equations $$\displaystyle\begin{array}{rcl} \frac{d} {dt}\Big[{u}^{{\prime\prime}} + g(t,Bu(t))\Big] = w(t)Au(t) + f(t,Cu(t)),\ \ t \in \mathbb{R}& &{}\end{array}$$ (10.1)
Intraoperative OCT Features and Postoperative Ellipsoid Mapping in Primary Macula-Involving Retinal Detachments from the PIONEER Study.

Purpose Intraoperative OCT (iOCT) has enabled visualization of subtle structural details during surgical interventions, including retinal detachment repair. The purpose of this study was to evaluate iOCT findings during retinal detachment repair and to assess their impact on anatomic and functional outcomes, including outer retinal integrity. Design The PIONEER Intraoperative and Perioperative OCT Study is a prospective cohort, institutional review board-approved study. Participants Participants in the PIONEER undergoing surgical repair for primary macula-involving retinal detachment. Methods This was a post hoc analysis of all eyes in the PIONEER undergoing surgical repair with primary macula-involving retinal detachments. Inclusion criteria included iOCT after perfluorocarbon liquid (PFO) placement, visualization of the foveal center on iOCT, and images of sufficient quality for quantitative assessment of submacular fluid volume. Exclusion criteria included recurrent retinal detachment, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, and a lack of postoperative OCT data after gas bubble resolution. Subretinal fluid volume on iOCT imaging was quantified. Qualitative review of iOCT images was performed for visualization of outer retinal bands, fluid, and retinal corrugations. Postoperative OCT images were analyzed using an ellipsoid zone (EZ) mapping platform to evaluate and quantify outer retinal metrics. Postoperative OCT images also were reviewed qualitatively for persistent subretinal fluid. Associations between various anatomic and functional outcomes were assessed. Main Outcome Measures Presence of intraoperative subretinal fluid under PFO tamponade, postoperative persistent subretinal fluid, postoperative visual acuity at 1 year, and EZ integrity at 1 year. Results Fifteen eyes of 15 patients were analyzed. All 15 eyes (100%) showed subretinal fluid on iOCT. All eyes demonstrated spontaneous fluid resolution on follow-up OCT imaging. Increased intraoperative subretinal fluid volume under PFO tamponade trended toward significantly worse visual acuity outcome (P = 0.07). Postoperative quantitative EZ integrity at 12 months directly correlated with visual outcome (P = 0.01). Conclusions Intraoperative subretinal fluid persists under PFO tamponade with high frequency in eyes undergoing retinal detachment repair, but this fluid does not seem to be associated with persistent postoperative subretinal fluid. Postoperative EZ integrity is associated with visual acuity outcome, and intraoperative subretinal fluid volume under PFO tamponade also may be linked to visual outcomes.
Crowdsourced Assessment of Inanimate Biotissue Drills: A Valid and Cost-Effective Way to Evaluate Surgical Trainees

OBJECTIVE Providing feedback to surgical trainees is a critical component for assessment of technical skills, yet remains costly and time consuming. We hypothesize that statistical selection can identify a homogenous group of nonexpert crowdworkers capable of accurately grading inanimate surgical video. DESIGN Applicants auditioned by grading 9 training videos using the Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) tool and an error-based checklist. The summed OSATS, summed errors, and OSATS summary score were tested for outliers using Cronbach's Alpha and single measure intraclass correlation. Accepted crowdworkers then submitted grades for videos in 3 different compositions: full video 1× speed, full video 2× speed, and critical section segmented video. Graders were blinded to this study and a similar statistical analysis was performed. SETTING The study was conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pittsburgh, PA), a tertiary care academic teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-six premedical students participated as crowdworker applicants and 2 surgery experts were compared as the gold-standard. RESULTS The selected hire intraclass correlation was 0.717 for Total Errors and 0.794 for Total OSATS for the first hire group and 0.800 for Total OSATS and 0.654 for Total Errors for the second hire group. There was very good correlation between full videos at 1× and 2× speed with an interitem statistic of 0.817 for errors and 0.86 for OSATS. Only moderate correlation was found with critical section segments. In 1 year 275hours of inanimate video was graded costing $22.27/video or $1.03/minute. CONCLUSIONS Statistical selection can be used to identify a homogenous cohort of crowdworkers used for grading trainees’ inanimate drills. Crowdworkers can distinguish OSATS metrics and errors in full videos at 2× speed but were less consistent with segmented videos. The program is a comparatively cost-effective way to provide feedback to surgical trainees.
CARNA - A Compact Glass Proton Imager

Protons deposit the majority of their energy at the end of their lifetimes, characterized by a Bragg peak. This makes proton therapy a viable way to target cancerous tissue while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. However, in order to utilize this high precision treatment, greater accuracy in tumor imaging is needed. An approximate uncertainty of ±3% exists in the current practice of proton therapy due to conversions between x-ray and proton stopping power. An imaging system utilizing protons has the potential to eliminate that inaccuracy. This study focuses on developing a proof of concept proton-imaging detector built with a high-density glass scintillator.
Central Nervous System Effects of Oral Propranolol for Infantile Hemangioma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Concerns about the effects of propranolol on the central nervous system (CNS) in the infantile hemangioma (IH) population have been raised. We conducted a meta-analysis of the CNS and sleep-related effects of oral propranolol in IH patients. PubMed, Embase, Cochrance, Web of Science, and Clinicaltrials.gov were searched for relevant studies. We included clinical trials that compared oral propranolol with other treatments among IH patients under 6 years old and monitored and reported any adverse events. Study characteristics, types and number of adverse events were abstracted. Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool was used to assess risk of bias. Our main outcomes were CNS and sleep-related effects. Random-effects models were used to estimate the pooled risk ratio. We did not observe statistically significant associations between oral propranolol and CNS or sleep-related effects. Oral propranolol appeared to have a safer profile of CNS effects than corticosteroids (RR = 0.27, 95% CI 0.02⁻3.00), but had an increased risk versus non-corticosteroids (for CNS effect, RR = 1.40, 95% CI 0.86⁻2.27; for sleep-related effects, RR = 1.63, 95% CI 0.88⁻3.03). Despite no statistically significant associations, there were suggestive findings of increased CNS effects and sleep-related risk of propranolol versus non-corticosteroids. In practice, CNS and sleep-related events should be monitored more closely among IH patients treated with oral propranolol.
Setting Up a CEM Program

Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) is an imaging tool that is increasingly being used to evaluate for breast cancer. It is important for breast groups to understand how this system works and its impact on clinical workflow prior to implementation to ensure a smooth transition. In this chapter, we will review the equipment, physical space, and data storage requirements; the most common indications for use and the patient selection process; how CEM images are acquired and the steps involved in planning and performing the exam; the necessary staff training; and lastly strategies for marketing your new CEM system.
gem5-Approxilyzer: An Open-Source Tool for Application-Level Soft Error Analysis

Modern systems are increasingly susceptible to soft errors in the field and traditional redundancy-based mitigation techniques are too expensive to protect against all errors. Recent techniques, such as approximate computing and various low-cost resilience mechanisms, intelligently trade off inaccuracy in program output for better energy, performance, and resiliency overhead. A fundamental requirement for realizing the full potential of these techniques is a thorough understanding of how applications react to errors. Approxilyzer is a state-of-the-art tool that enables an accurate, efficient, and comprehensive analysis of how errors in almost all dynamic instructions in a program's execution affect the quality of the final program output. While useful, its adoption is limited by its implementation using the proprietary Simics infrastructure and the SPARC ISA. We present gem5-Approxilyzer, a re-implementation of Approxilyzer using the open-source gem5 simulator. gem5-Approxilyzer can be extended to different ISAs, starting with x86 in this work. We show that gem5-Approxilyzer is both efficient (up to two orders of magnitude reduction in error injections over a naive campaign) and accurate (average 92% for our experiments) in predicting the program's output quality in the presence of errors. We also compare the error profiles of five workloads under x86 and SPARC to further motivate the need for a tool like gem5-Approxilyzer.
Two types of possessive passives in Japanese

Abstract Many East Asian languages have possessive passives, whose subjects are interpreted as the possessor of the direct object. This paper investigates Japanese Possessive Passives (JPPs) and proposes that there are two types of possessive passives in Japanese: one with a ‘by-phrase’ headed by ni (ni JPPs) and the other with a ‘by-phrase’ headed by ni yotte (ni yotte JPPs). While previous studies assumed that JPPs are a sub-type of indirect passive, I propose that such an analysis is untenable. Instead, JPPs exhibit the same dichotomy as ni-passives and ni yotte-passives exhibit (Kuroda 1979, Kitagawa & Kuroda 1992): While subjects of ni JPPs are base-generated like ni-passives, subjects of ni yotte JPPs undergo NP movement like ni yotte-passives.
Cancer Susceptibility Mutations in Patients With Urothelial Malignancies

PURPOSEUrothelial cancers (UCs) have a substantial hereditary component, but, other than their association with Lynch syndrome, the contribution of genetic risk factors to UC pathogenesis has not b...
Programmable Daisychaining of Microelectrodes for IP Protection in MEDA Biochips

As digital microfluidic biochips (DMFBs) make the transition to the marketplace for commercial exploitation, security and intellectual property (IP) protection are emerging as important design considerations. Recent studies have shown that DMFBs are vulnerable to reverse engineering aimed at stealing biomolecular protocols (IP theft). The IP piracy of proprietary protocols may lead to significant losses for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The micro-electrode-dot-array (MEDA) is a next-generation DMFB platform that supports real-time sensing of droplets and has the added advantage of important security protections. However, real-time sensing offers opportunities to an attacker to steal the biochemical IP. We show that the daisychaining of microelectrodes and the use of one-time-programmability in MEDA biochips provides effective bitstream scrambling of biochemical protocols. To examine the strength of this solution, we develop a SAT attack that can unscramble the bitstreams through repeated observations of bioassays executed on the MEDA platform. Based on insights gained from the SAT attack, we propose an advanced defense against IP theft. Simulation results using real-life biomolecular protocols confirm that while the SAT attack is effective for simple instances, our advanced defense can thwart it for realistic MEDA biochips and real-life protocols.
A Programmable Robotic Phantom to Simulate the Dynamic Respiratory Motions of Humans for Continuous Identity Authentication

Non-contact continuous identity authentication using microwave Doppler radar has shown great promises in security and surveillance applications and yet not mature. Reported results for unobtrusive identity authentication system are focused on dynamic segmentation which produces false classification when inhale/exhale area ratio becomes closer. For testing the efficacy of the proposed identity authentication system, many different respiratory patterns must be examined repetitively, and with consistency between experiments for reliable algorithm development. Since it is not practical to have humans repeat measurements in an exact, specified manner, a programmable respiratory phantom mover has been developed. We have tested the hypothesis that such a phantom mover system can be programmed to accurately simulate the distinct human respiratory patterns needed for research on respiratory pattern separation and identity authentication algorithms. The phantom incorporates a remotely programmable Arduino microcontroller driving a compact high-speed linear actuator. Comparison with real and/or simulated patterns have been successful for algorithm development. The impact of this research could result in new tools for medical diagnostics, security/surveillance and continuous identification.
Network Nature: The Place of Nature in the Digital Age: by Richard Coyne, London, Bloomsbury Academic, 2018, 245 pp., $35.96 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-350-02952-1

Yes, we can be suspicious of digital technologies, but not because of the myriad changes in practices they require of us. Nor because they encourage “brain overload,” diminish authentic social inte...
Trumped by Trump? Public Support for Vote By Mail Voting in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

How much is support for vote by mail (VBM) impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, partisanship, and recent efforts by partisan elites to politicize discussions about expanding the use of VBM in November 2020? Using surveys of registered voters conducted in April and May 2020 we characterize how changing concerns about COVID 19 and increased partisan messaging affects public support for VBM. We show that the bipartisan support for VBM in April 2020 falls sharply after just six weeks because: Republicans became less worried about catching COVID-19, and unconcerned Republicans also became more opposed to VBM. The pandemic originally increased public support for expanding VBM to help combat the spread of COVID-19 - creating a relative unique opportunity to examine the public’s willingness to reconsider how elections are administered - but decreasing COVID-19 concerns among Republicans and increased opposition among unconcerned Republicans (perhaps due to increased partisan messaging) has combined to increase partisan divisions in otherwise historically high levels of public support for VBM.