cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
New kits on the blot--can we microarray the future of atherosclerosis?

See article by Martinet et al. [19] in this issue . Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have a long track record, reaching pandemic proportions with the industrialization of the world. Current estimates of the World Health Organization project that, in less than 7 years from now, CVD will become the leading cause of death in developing countries and that, in less than 13 years from now, 25 million people will die from CVD on a global scale each year [1]. A major proportion of these CVD deaths will be related to atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) and, particularly, to its complication stage [2]. Hence, there is a strong call to the cardiovascular research community to identify pivotal mediators of atherosclerotic lesion formation and complication which at some point may turn into therapeutic targets. What may be considered as searching for a needle in a haystack has been tremendously facilitated by the availability of the microarray technique. This technique, which allows the detection of labeled RNA hybridizing to DNA molecules attached to a solid surface, evolved in a number of steps in the 1960s and 1970s and was finally moved to high capacity in the 1990s [3,4]. Microarray plates with a density of >250,000 oligonucleotides or >10,000 cDNA per cm2 currently serve as a versatile screening probe in genomics research, and it will not be long until arrays become available that allow the screening of the entire genome on one chip for less than one cell and 1 μg of tissue [5,6]. With regard to cardiovascular medicine, DNA microarray assays have already identified a three-digit number of genes potentially involved in atherosclerosis [7–16]. As marvelous as these assays are, they are not without concern. Indeed, a number of potential pitfalls to these kinds of genomic studies have been reported, … *Tel.: +1-507-255-1296; fax: +1-507-255-1824. Email address: herrmann.joerg{at}mayo.edu
Costly Acquisition of (Differentiated) Information

Consumers' choices among many different types of information sub-σ-fields are examined in a large, perfectly competitive pure exchange economy in which information serves as a consumption good as well as a device to aid in the maximization of state-dependent utility. Analysis of derived preferences over information and wealth (and the resulting value of information function) implies that individual demands for information are well defined and upper hemicontinuous even though these correspondences fail to be convex valued. Sufficient conditions are given for the consistency of information acquisition decisions so that there exist equilibrium price vectors for physical goods and continuous equilibrium price functions for information in a general equilibrium model.
Permeability to liquids of polyethylene and irradiated polyethylene

Permeability constants at four temperatures for twelve organic solvents in three polyethylenes and one electron-irradiated polyethylene are reported, together with some swelling data, and compared with data on N2, O2, CO2, and CH3Br. Irradiation appears to increase permeability and solubility coefficients for large penetrants at low temperatures, decreases the permeability coefficients of small penetrants at all temperatures, has little effect on the solubility coefficients of small penetrants, and tends to decrease both permeability and solubility coefficients of large penetrants at high temperatures. In almost every case irradiation decreased both Ep and P0 and there exists a temperature, T(inversion) = ΔEp/R(Δ ln P0) at which the permeability constants of a penetrant in polyethylene and irradiated polyethylene are equal. These inversion temperatures tend to increase with increasing polarity of the penetrant. To account for these observations, it seems sufficient to assume that irradiation decreases crystallinity and increases crosslinking, that an increase in polymer crystallinity is accompanied by an increase in the quasicrystalline-like character of amorphous regions, and that small penetrants may dissolve, and diffuse, through the crystalline regions of polyethylene. It is postulated that activated diffusion in polyethylene induces structural changes in the polymer not unlike local melting. An explanation is given for the observation that flexible molecules tend to have small frequency factors compared to rigid molecules of similar activation energy. And a simple, particle-in-a-box model is proposed for diffusion of small penetrants in a crosslinked polymer. This model predicts that irradiation should leave Ep unchanged, and should decrease P0, by nearly the same factor for all penetrants at all temperatures, very much as observed for N2, O2, and CO2.
Altered profile of human gut microbiome is associated with cirrhosis and its complications

Background & Aims The gut microbiome is altered in cirrhosis; however its evolution with disease progression is only partly understood. We aimed to study changes in the microbiome over cirrhosis severity, its stability over time and its longitudinal alterations with decompensation. Methods Controls and age-matched cirrhotics (compensated/decompensated/hospitalized) were included. Their stool microbiota was quantified using multi-tagged pyrosequencing. The ratio of autochthonous to non-autochthonous taxa was calculated as the cirrhosis dysbiosis ratio (CDR); a low number indicating dysbiosis. Firstly, the microbiome was compared between controls and cirrhotic sub-groups. Secondly, for stability assessment, stool collected twice within 6months in compensated outpatients was analyzed. Thirdly, changes after decompensation were assessed using (a) longitudinal comparison in patients before/after hepatic encephalopathy development (HE), (b) longitudinal cohort of hospitalized infected cirrhotics MELD-matched to uninfected cirrhotics followed for 30days. Results 244 subjects [219 cirrhotics (121 compensated outpatients, 54 decompensated outpatients, 44 inpatients) and 25 age-matched controls] were included. CDR was highest in controls (2.05) followed by compensated (0.89), decompensated (0.66), and inpatients (0.32, p vs. 0.86, p =0.45). In patients studied before/after HE development, dysbiosis occurred post-HE (CDR: 1.2 to 0.42, p =0.03). In the longitudinal matched-cohort, microbiota were significantly different between infected/uninfected cirrhotics at baseline and a low CDR was associated with death and organ failures within 30days. Conclusions Progressive changes in the gut microbiome accompany cirrhosis and become more severe in the setting of decompensation. The cirrhosis dysbiosis ratio may be a useful quantitative index to describe microbiome alterations accompanying cirrhosis progression.
Synthesis of Insulin or a Similar Peptide in the Pituitary Gland and in Retinal Muller Cells

Insulin or insulin-like peptides have been reported to be present in, and may be synthesized by, organisms that do not have pancreatic beta cells (LeRoith, et al., 1980, 1981, 1983; Falkner, et al., 1975; Meneses and Oritz, 1975; Duve and Thorpe, 1979; Yuri, et al., 1980)., Similar reports have appeared claiming localization and possible synthesis of insulin in the extrapancreatic tissues of vertebrates (Hendricks, et al.,1983). Proposed extrapancreatic sites of insulin synthesis in mammalian species have including the brain (Havrankova, et al., 1978; Raizada, et al., 1979; Bernstein, et al., 1980; Rosenzweig, et al.,1980; Stevenson, 1982; Raizada, et al., 1983; Lee, et al., 1984; Clarke, et al., 1986), rodent and human pituitary (Hatfield, et al., 1981; Budd, et al., 1986; Budd, et al., 1987), rodent and human retina (Das et al., 1984, 1985), human retinoblastoma cells (Pansky, et al., 1986),, yolk sac (Muglia and Locker, 1984), human placenta (Liu, et al., 1985) and mouse seminal vesicle (Stahler et al., 1986, 1987).
Cortical Connections of the Caudal Portion of Posterior Parietal Cortex in Prosimian Galagos

Posterior parietal cortex (PPC) of prosimian galagos includes a rostral portion (PPCr) where electrical stimulation evokes different classes of complex movements from different subregions, and a caudal portion (PPCc) where such stimulation fails to evoke movements in anesthetized preparations ( Stepniewska, Fang et al. 2009). We placed tracer injections into PPCc to reveal patterns of its cortical connections. There were widespread connections within PPCc as well as connections with PPCr and extrastriate visual areas, including V2 and V3. Weaker connections were with dorsal premotor cortex, and the frontal eye field. The connections of different parts of PPCc with visual areas were roughly retinotopic such that injections to dorsal PPCc labeled more neurons in the dorsal portions of visual areas, representing lower visual quadrant, and injections to ventral PPCc labeled more neurons in ventral portions of these visual areas, representing the upper visual quadrant. We conclude that much of the PPCc contains a crude representation of the contralateral visual hemifield, with inputs largely, but not exclusively, from higher-order visual areas that are considered part of the dorsal visuomotor processing stream. As in galagos, the caudal half of PPC was likely visual in early primates, with the rostral PPC half mediating sensorimotor functions.
PET/MR Imaging: Advances in Instrumentation and Quantitative Procedures

in ic s. co m This is an exciting time for hybrid imaging, where the success of the combination of molecular information provided by PET and structural information provided by radiographic computed tomography (CT) motivated the combination of PET with other imaging modalities, such as MR imaging, ultrasound, optical imaging, and a few other diagnostic imaging techniques. There are some interesting lessons to be learned from the history of multimodality imaging. A number of pioneers in radiological sciences realized very early (during the 1950s to 1960s) the potential and both technical and clinical benefits of combined emission and transmission imaging. In most of the situations, the clinical demand triggered technical developments of softwareand hardware-based integration of various imaging modalities to respond to this need to address clinical questions. This fact explains the widespread adoption of image coregistration software, particularly in brain imaging, and integrated whole-body PET-CT scanners, which replaced stand-alone PET scanners, in clinical oncology. The rapid pace of hybrid imaging technology has been inspired by the desire of radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians to improve over existing state-of-the-art single-modality techniques in terms of clinical diagnosis, staging and restaging, therapy response monitoring, and radiation therapy treatment planning. The history of PET/MR imaging was an exception in the sense that the emergence of this hybrid imaging modality was driven by technology and
Plesiomonas shigelloides: An Opportunistic food and waterborne pathogen

Plesiomonas shigelloides is an oxidase-positive, gram-negative rod that has been implicated as an agent of human gastroenteritis for almost 40 years. Reports of gastroenteritis associated with Plesiomonas have been increasing in recent years, although inadequacies in isolation techniques and recognition procedures have undoubtedly resulted in the underreporting of this organism in the past. Existing information indicates that P. shigelloides , while mainly an aquatic species, is widely distributed in the environment. Recent outbreaks of gastroenteritis associated with consumption of oysters contaminated with P. shigelloides have resulted in an increased awareness of this organism by public health officials.
Reflection Properties of Curves and Surfaces

(1992). Reflection Properties of Curves and Surfaces. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 65, No. 3, pp. 147-157.
Novel Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Techniques for Revascularizing Chronically Occluded Giant Coronary Aneurysms in a Patient with Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki disease is a self-limiting vasculitis presenting in childhood that can lead to aneurysms of the coronary arteries. Patients who develop giant coronary aneurysms have a high incidence of coronary stenoses and occlusions resulting in myocardial ischemia. The mainstay of treatment for these lesions is surgical bypass due to complex coronary anatomy and a high rate of chronic total occlusions precluding traditional percutaneous coronary intervention techniques. We report the first successful percutaneous revascularization of two chronically occluded giant coronary aneurysms using the Hybrid Interventional Strategy for approaching chronic total occlusions. Both antegrade and retrograde dissection-reentry techniques were employed to fully revascularize two major epicardial arteries. Despite procedural success, longer-term vessel patency was not maintained following stent deployment highlighting the difficulty in maintaining durable results with percutaneous coronary intervention in this patient population.
Ray pulse matrices for dispersive optical systems

We present a new formalism for the analysis of dispersive optical systems. This method represents a ray by a four-component vector whose coordinates give the position, slope, frequency, and time, much as a ray is represented by its position and slope in an ABCD matrix analysis. Four by four matrices which describe the propagation of these rays then give a canonical description of the optical system. Applications for these matrices include prism beam expanders, dispersion compensation systems, and cavity design for femtosecond laser systems.
Purposes of Political Disobedience

The purposes of political disobedience can be most usefully categorised by reference to whether they are directed towards securing changes in the operation of the law or policy of the government, the law or policy itself, a change of government, an alteration of the political system, or a transformation of society. These purposes are not necessarily exclusive of each other, since one purpose may well include another or lead on to another. But problems of a quite different order are raised by political disobedience directed solely against a particular law or its application on the one hand, and disobedience directed against the government or the political or social system on the other. Since in the former case the authority of the government, as the body responsible for dealing with acts of political disobedience, is not in question, it is possible for the government if it so wishes to discuss the law-breakers’ demands and even to make concessions rather than resort to force and oppression. In the second case what we have is an open declaration of war on the government or the system supporting it which can only be settled by capitulation or suppression. Much depends on the form of political disobedience undertaken and the nature of the government and political system one is dealing with.
Differences in expertise and values: Comparing community and expert assessments of a transportation project

Abstract Transportation projects contain many tradeoffs between environmental, social, and economic benefits and costs that affect different groups of stakeholders, each with different priorities and values. Transportation project sponsors are therefore faced with an incredibly difficult decision making task. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) provides a flexible framework for considering a wide array of potential impacts that may be used as a supplement of substitute for cost benefit analysis or unstructured decision making. In this study, we evaluate the outcome of two MCDAs, one conducted with input from technical experts and the other with input from a sample of community members for a proposed highway project in Tehran, Iran. We explore how various criteria now commonly considered in urban transportation projects are viewed by these two groups that differ in their technical expertise and values. We find that experts score the project poorly while the community scores it favorably. The results demonstrate that the outcome of seemingly objective analysis tools commonly used in the transportation field depends on who provides critical technical assessments and value judgments and therefore the importance of community involvement.
Artificial magnetism via nanoantennas under azimuthally polarized vector beam illumination

We show enhancement of magnetic near-field using symmetrical nanoantennas illuminated by azimuthally E-polarized beams. In particular a circular cluster nanoantenna is shown emphasizing enhanced magnetic field with high resolution in a magnetic dominant region.
Active and Stable Ir@Pt Core–Shell Catalysts for Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction

Electrochemical oxygen reduction is an important reaction for many sustainable energy technologies, such as fuel cells and metal–air batteries. Kinetic limitations of this reaction, expensive electrocatalysts, and catalyst instability, however, limit the commercial viability of such devices. Herein, we report an active Ir@Pt core–shell catalyst that combines platinum overlayers with nanostructure effects to tune the oxygen binding to the Pt surface, thereby achieving enhanced activity and stability for the oxygen reduction reaction. Ir@Pt nanoparticles with several shell thicknesses were synthesized in a scalable, inexpensive, one-pot polyol method. Electrochemical analysis demonstrates the activity and stability of the Ir@Pt catalyst, with specific and mass activities increasing to 2.6 and 1.8 times that of commercial Pt/C (TKK), respectively, after 10 000 stability cycles. Activity enhancement of the Ir@Pt catalyst is attributed to weakening of the oxygen binding to the Pt surface induced by the Ir core.
Schiller: Bicentenary Lectures. Ed. F. Norman: London: University of London Institute of Germanic Languages and Literatures, 1960. Pp. ix, 168.

(1961). Schiller: Bicentenary Lectures. Ed. F. Norman. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 157-158.
How Should Therapeutic Decisions about Expensive Drugs Be Made in Imperfect Environments

Clinicians can balance patient advocacy and stewardship by helping patients make prudent financial choices about their care or by seeking policy change.
Transfusion (Tx) Practices in the Management of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) among Florida Physicians.

Limited data exist on Tx prescribing preferences in the management of SCD. To assess current Tx practices, we conducted a survey of Florida hematologists/oncologists from fall of 2005 through spring 2006. The 31-item survey addressed practice and SCD patient population characteristics, practice guidelines, Tx settings, indications/techniques, RBC phenotype specifications/modifications, iron overload, and educational resource utilization. A total of 150 physicians (75% adult-oriented, 25% pediatrics) completed the survey. Practices were primarily private (76%), with 24% in academic settings. Pediatric practices had more SCD patients (97% with 21 or more) than adult practices (83% had 10 or fewer). The majority of pediatric practices had specific Tx guidelines (61%), in contrast to adult practices (8%),(P Management of SCD monograph (53%), only 27% of adult practice respondents used it (P
Multifunctional smart composites with integrated carbon nanotube yarn and sheet

Multifunctional smart composites (MSCs) are materials that combine the good electrical and thermal conductivity, high tensile and shear strength, good impact toughness, and high stiffness properties of metals; the light weight and corrosion resistance properties of composites; and the sensing or actuation properties of smart materials. The basic concept for MSCs was first conceived by Daniel Inman and others about 25 years ago. Current laminated carbon and glass fiber polymeric composite materials have high tensile strength and are light in weight, but they still lack good electrical and thermal conductivity, and they are sensitive to delamination. Carbon nanotube yarn and sheets are lightweight, electrically and thermally conductive materials that can be integrated into laminated composite materials to form MSCs. This paper describes the manufacturing of high quality carbon nanotube yarn and sheet used to form MSCs, and integrating the nanotube yarn and sheet into composites at low volume fractions. Various up and coming technical applications of MSCs are discussed including composite toughening for impact and delamination resistance; structural health monitoring; and structural power conduction. The global carbon nanotube overall market size is estimated to grow from $2 Billion in 2015 to $5 Billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 20%. Nanotube yarn and sheet products are predicted to be used in aircraft, wind machines, automobiles, electric machines, textiles, acoustic attenuators, light absorption, electrical wire, sporting equipment, tires, athletic apparel, thermoelectric devices, biomedical devices, lightweight transformers, and electromagnets. In the future, due to the high maximum current density of nanotube conductors, nanotube electromagnetic devices may also become competitive with traditional smart materials in terms of power density.
"Personal Social Dashboard": A Tool for Measuring Your Social Engagement Effectiveness in the Enterprise

Social media platforms have become popular in many enterprises. Employees build their social eminence by effectively engaging on these platforms. Becoming socially eminent in the organization is a personal journey and many employees need guidance to succeed. In this paper, we describe a tool called Personal Social Dashboard deployed within our enterprise. The tool provides feedback to employees on how effectively they engage in the enterprise social network by maintaining a set of scores covering different aspects of one's social role, such as Activity, Network, Reaction, and Eminence. We provide a description of the tool with a subsequent study of its use within the company and effect on employees' behavior in the company's social network.
Skin photoreceptors in the leopard frog

The light-evoked electrical response from frog skin has two components, the fast skin photovoltage (FSP) and the slower electrodermogram (EDG). The EDG has been our prime focus. It is mediated by at least a two-state system; more than two states might be resolved at lower temperatures. Judging by the spectral sensitivities, stimulation and concurrent adaptation are mediated by a yellow pigment absorbing maximally at about 385 nm. The action of light causes a variation of the skin potential, associated with the conversion of 385-pigment to 500-pigment. The purple 500-pigment is converted back to 385-pigment with the recovery action of yellow light. The system sensitivity is then adapted when the level of 500-pigment is high and restored when the level of 385-pigment is high.
Privacy Issues for Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network

Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks are networks of communication between vehicles and roadside units. These networks have the potential to increase safety and provide many services to drivers, but they also present risks to privacy. Researching mechanisms to protect privacy requires two key ingredients: 1. a precise definition of privacy that reflects citizens’ concerns and perceptions, and 2. an understanding of the type of attacks in VANETs. In this research, we formulate a workable definition of privacy, and focus on tracking attacks, which we found to be lacking. Although considerable research has been performed in tracking none of the published solutions ensures full protection. We propose to combine a set of published solutions, namely: Mix Zones, Silent Periods, and Group Signatures in order to improve the privacy of drivers. Vehicles enter a region where, vehicles change their pseudonyms (Mix Zone) as well as network addresses; next enter the silent period, and then use one group key for communication. It could help make tracking more difficult and increase the safety and confidence of drivers using VANETs.
Tools for Sediment Management in Rivers

Sediment management, including supply and continual redistribution of sediments for channel maintenance and channel forming, is critical for effective environmental water programs. Many tools have been developed to more effectively manage sediment in rivers for ecosystem maintenance and improvement. This chapter reviews some of these tools, including sediment mobilization theory, environmental water requirements for geomorphic maintenance, and complementary options. Sediment mobilization theory addresses entrainment, transport, and deposition of sediment particles. Environmental flows assessment approaches that support geomorphic processes include threshold-based approaches, field/laboratory methods, and holistic methods. Complementary options for sediment management include catchment-scale conceptual models and budgets for sediment, basin land management (e.g., reforestation, better agriculture practices, etc.), sediment management through dams, and sediment augmentation below dams. These complementary options often have cobenefits with other management objectives. The chapter emphasizes that sediment management is generally complex, such that continual research is needed, ranging from improved sediment mobilization models to large-scale river experiments.
Case report: pembrolizumab-induced Type 1 diabetes in a patient with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background Immune checkpoint inhibitors are novel cancer therapies associated with numerous autoimmune toxicities, some of which are only now being appreciated. Case presentation A 67-year old female with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma and no prior history of diabetes was treated with leucovorin, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin and pembrolizumab. After eight cycles, she developed new onset type 1 diabetes mellitus with positive glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody titers. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of PD-1 inhibitor associated Type 1 diabetes mellitus in a patient with cholangiocarcinoma and supports others' experiences that PD-1 inhibition can cause a spectrum of autoimmune adverse events that require clinical monitoring and periodic screenings.
Search for unity: Will the real practicing sociologist please stand up?

In this presidential address given at the Unity 2000 Meeting held in Bethesda, Maryland, I briefly identify and define various types of “applied side sociologists.” My objective was twofold. First, I wanted to express my appreciation for the necessity of organizational cooperation. Second, I wanted to demonstrate that diversity among practitioners and by association representative organizations is a strength not a weakness. I conclude by identifying six collaborative paths these representative organizations could take to promote unity.
Analysis of Story Recall in Military Veterans With and Without Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Preliminary Results.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether detailed analysis of story recall performance reveals significant differences between veterans with and without history of mild traumatic ...
Principles of the analytic hierarchy process

Cognitive psychologists have classified thinking into two types. This division has gone by many names. Aristotle referred to it as active versus passive reason [35]; Freud [10] as secondary versus primary process thinking; and Hobbes [14] as thought with or without “designe.” More recently the division has been referred to as directed versus autistic thinking [4] and operant versus respondent thought [16]. The terms Varendinck [33] uses for the division may be most familiar to the layman. He noted the classification as one between conscious and foreconscious or affective thought. Adopting this familiar terminology, conscious thought appears to differ from affective thought in that it is directed, checked against feedback, evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in advancing specific goals, and protected from drift by deliberately controlled attention by the thinker [16].
Repair and mutagenesis in lower eukaryotes: a summary and perspective.

The impetus for the research reviewed in the session “Repair and Mutagenesis in Lower Eukaryotes” came in part from related research in Escherichia coli and other prokaryotes. Mutants that are more sensitive than wild type to the killing activity of a mutagen (mutagen-sensitive strains) were reported in Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in 1967-three years after the first reports of the enzymatic removal of thymine dimers from DNA (nucleotide excision repair) in E. coli by Setlow and Carrier and by Boyce and Howard-Flanders, two years after Clark and Margulies reported results with recombination-deficient mutants of E. coli that indicated an association between recombination and DNA repair, and in the same year that Witkin proposed that UV-induced DNA lesions in E. coli were repaired by mutation-proof and mutation-prone pathways. The early investigators of DNA repair in eukaryotes were interested in whether the repair mechanisms being elucidated in prokaryotes would occur in eukaryotes, and they also suspected that the mechanisms for repair would be more complex in eukaryotes than in prokaryotes. The lower eukaryotes S. cerevisiae and N. crassa became the objects of a great deal of the research on DNA repair in eukaryotes. It was thought that the increase in complexity of the DNA repair mechanisms would be less for the lower eukaryotes than for higher eukaryotes and, therefore, that these mechanisms would be somewhat simpler to elucidate in yeast and Neurospora than in higher eukaryotes. Both of these lower eukaryotes generally have the advantage of ease-of-handling of prokaryotic microbes, and there is a large body of literature on their genetics and biochemistry. Moreover, the structures in which radiation or chemicals cause lesions—and in which those lesions may be repaired—are eukaryotic chromosomes, which undergo mitosis and meiosis. Therefore, researchers on DNA repair in Neurospora and yeast thought that the mechanisms of repair they were elucidating might be applicable, at least in a general way, to higher eukaryotes, including humans.
Towards a Reusable SoC Design Methodology

As industry generates and adopts complex methodologies for managing and designing system-on-a-chip (SoC) products, new challenges arise for effective knowledge transfer. This paper describes the specific challenges in developing the form and structure of a large information set. The information must be accessible and reusable for future development and delivery to other audiences. We present examples from our experience producing and transferring an SoC design methodology for an academic audience in a project with Scottish universities called Project Alba. We also discuss the tradeoffs and opportunities involved in a reuse approach to documenting and transferring information.
The Work of George Andrews: A Madison Perspective

In his own contribution to this volume, George Andrews has touched on a number of themes in his research by looking at the early influences on him of Bailey, Fine, MacMahon, Rademacher and Ramanujan.
Wimpy nodes with 10GbE: leveraging one-sided operations in soft-RDMA to boost memcached

Recently, various key/value stores have been proposed targeting clusters built from low-power CPUs. The typical network configuration is that the nodes in those clusters are connected using 1 Gigabit Ethernet. During the last couple of years, 10 Gigabit Ethernet has become commodity and is increasingly used within the data centers providing cloud computing services. The boost in network link speed, however, poses a challenge to the cluster nodes because filling the network link can be a CPU-intensive task. In particular for CPUs running in low-power mode, it is therefore important to spend CPU cycles used for networking as efficiently as possible. In this paper, we propose a modified Memcached architecture to leverage the one-side semantics of RDMA. We show how the modified Memcached is more CPU efficient and can serve up to 20% more GET operations than the standard Memcached implementation on low-power CPUs. While RDMA is a networking technology typically associated with specialized hardware, our solution uses soft-RDMA which runs on standard Ethernet and does not require special hardware.
Sex Differences in Graphic Warning Label Ratings by Addictions Clients.

Author(s): Campbell, Barbara K; Le, Thao; Yip, Deborah; Griffin, Kayla B; Gubner, Noah R; Guydish, Joseph R | Abstract: ObjectivesResearch on sex differences in responses to cigarette graphic warning labels (GWLs) has been limited despite tobacco-related, health disparities for women. We examined whether women had stronger responses to certain labels than to others, whether this pattern differed from men's, and whether there were overall sex ratings differences.MethodsSmokers (N = 881) in 24, addictions treatment programs rated 3 of 9 Food and Drug Administration-developed labels on credibility, message reactance, quit motivation, and negative emotions. Participants rated one label depicting a woman and/or baby, and 2 depicting tobacco-related disease or male images.ResultsWomen's (n = 432) ratings of labels depicting women/babies versus other labels did not differ from men's (n = 449) ratings. Women had higher ratings than men across all labels combined on credibility (p l .001), quit motivation (p = .007), and negative emotions (p l .001). Individual labels were analyzed for sex differences. Women's ratings were higher on credibility for 3 of 9 labels, and on negative emotions for 7 of 9 labels.ConclusionsFemale smokers in addictions treatment had generally stronger responses to GWLs than men, supporting GWL implementation in the United States to help close the sex gap in smoking cessation.
Operationalizing resilience and resistance concepts to address invasive grass-fire cycles

Plant invasions can affect fuel characteristics, fire behavior, and fire regimes resulting in invasive plant-fire cycles and alternative, self-perpetuating states that can be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. Concepts related to general resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive plants provide the basis for managing landscapes to increase their capacity to reorganize and adjust following fire, while concepts related to spatial resilience provide the basis for managing landscapes to conserve resources and habitats and maintain connectivity. New, spatially explicit approaches and decision-tools enable managers to understand and evaluate general and spatial resilience to fire and resistance to invasive grasses across large landscapes in arid and semi-arid shrublands and woodlands. These approaches and tools provide the capacity 2 to locate management actions strategically to prevent development of invasive grass-fire cycles and maintain or improve resources and habitats. In this review, we discuss the factors that influence fire regimes, general and spatial resilience to fire, resistance to invasive annual grasses, and thus invasive grass-fire cycles in global arid and semi-arid shrublands and woodlands. The Cold Deserts, Mediterranean Ecoregion, and Warm Deserts of North America are used as model systems to describe how and why resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive annuals differ over large landscapes. The Cold Deserts are used to illustrate an approach and decision tools for prioritizing areas on the landscape for management actions to prevent development of invasive grass-fire cycles and protect high value resources and habitats and for determining effective management strategies. The concepts and approach herein represent a paradigm shift in the management of these ecosystems, which allows managers to use geospatial tools to identify resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive plants in order to target conservation and restoration actions where they will provide the greatest benefits.
Symbol Detection and Channel Estimation using Neural Networks in Optical Communication Systems

In optical wireless communication (OWC) systems, channel estimation and detection of the transmitted symbols have been conventionally performed using analytical methods assuming that the optical channel follows a certain model, e.g., free-space model, input-dependent noise model, or Poisson model. In practical OWC systems, channels do not necessarily follow a specific model. Hence, it is difficult, if not impossible, to derive analytical models that provide optimal performance in realistic optical channels. Motivated by the success of neural networks in estimation and classification in various fields, we propose a neural network-based methodology for detection and estimation for OWC that does not rely on a channel model. Simulation results show that the proposed learning-based estimation and detection schemes achieve the optimal performance of the maximum likelihood detector under different channel state information assumptions.
Are double-hit lymphoma patients being adequately evaluated for CNS disease?

e19036Background: Double hit lymphoma (DHL) is a high-grade lymphoma with a propensity to involve the central nervous system (CNS) compared to the typically less aggressive diffuse large B cell lym...
Complex Combination Pharmacotherapy for Bipolar Disorder: Knowing When Less Is More or More Is Better.

This overview presents the varied symptoms of psychopathology for which patients with bipolar disorder are prescribed medications so that practitioners can devise complementary, nonredundant, purpo...
The Development of Young Children’s Early Number and Operation Sense and its Implications for Early Childhood Education

In recent years, though, attitudes toward teaching mathematics to young children, including preschoolers, again has changed dramatically. For example, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) concluded that “the foundation for children’s mathematical development is established in the earliest years” (p. 73), and, along with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), now takes the position that “high-quality, developmentallyappropriate mathematics education for children 3-6 is vital” (Clements, Copple, & Hyson, 2002, p. 1; see also http://www. naeyc.org/resources/position).
Nasal Influenza Vaccines

Abstract Influenza is caused by the infection of Influenza virus to the upper respiratory system. Epidemics and pandemics of influenza are caused by frequent mutations in the virus genome and occasional exchange of genetic segments between virus strains. Vaccines for influenza have already been developed and used worldwide. However, most vaccines are now administered intramuscularly or subcutaneously, and little is known about the role of local mucosal responses that lead prevention of infection. Local mucosal immunity, including immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses, is important in the prevention of infection, and IgA responses in mice and humans are also involved in cross-protection. Studies designed to improve vaccine efficacy by changing the route of vaccine administration have been conducted. In contrast to the current injectable vaccines, nasal vaccines are unique in that its administration route mimics natural influenza virus infection. Nasal vaccines are expected to confer protection against a broad spectrum of influenza virus strains in vaccine recipients by inducing the mucosal immune response represented by secretory IgA antibodies. In this chapter, the history of nasal influenza vaccine research and development, as well as clues to overcome remaining issues that impede more efficacious and next-generation influenza vaccine development, will be introduced and discussed.
Barriers to implementing communication education in the PK-12 schools

I am a preservice teacher with a double major in Communication-Theater and English Teaching. When I chose my majors, I did so because I believed communication and theater offered the opportunity to...
An experimental study of uncertainty considerations associated with predicting auto-ignition timing using the Livengood-Wu integral method

Abstract The application of the Livengood-Wu (LW) integral method as a tool to estimate knock onset in spark ignited (SI) engines and combustion phasing in advanced compression ignition (ACI) engines has been demonstrated through simulations several times. In this study, the effect of uncertainties associated with parameters required for the LW integral method, when used as a tool for model based control of ignition timing in an ACI engine, were experimentally studied using five full boiling range gasoline fuels. As a first step, the method was applied to experimental data from a rapid compression machine and it was found that the ability of the LW integral method to predict ignition timing was very sensitive to the performance of the chemical kinetic model of each fuel. The method was subsequently applied to experimental data from a single-cylinder gasoline engine with simple approximations for the LW integral input parameters, and it was found that the predicted time of ignition was significantly different from the actual start of combustion. Systematic evaluation of various parametric uncertainties conducted thereafter showed that the uncertainty in cylinder charge temperature has the greatest influence. Improved methods of estimating cylinder charge temperature are proposed to account for the previously determined corrections, to enable the use of the LW integral method for model based control of ignition timing.
Using Community Artifacts to Support Novice Math Teacher Educators in Teaching Prospective Teachers

Despite the centrality of math teacher educators (MTEs) in teacher education, we know little about the nature of professional learning opportunities for MTEs to develop and enhance the knowledge needed to teach prospective teachers. Existing models for supporting MTEs in developing their knowledge and practice do not address how to prepare novice MTEs in initially learning to teach prospective teachers. We present a professional learning model we have been pursuing for supporting novice MTEs and the generation of and role for community artifacts, namely lesson plans, in that model. We outline the process by which we implement, analyze, and collectively revise lesson plans so that they are continually improved over time to serve as artifacts that better instantiate what members of the local community are learning about how to support novice MTEs through identification of their problems of practice. Finally, we problematize the model we are investigating and propose implications of this model and questions raised by our work with the goal of inviting further discussion about supporting novice MTEs.
Task Analysis on Yoga Poses Toward a Wearable Sensor-based Learning System for Users with Visual Impairment:

People with visual impairments may experience difficulties in learning new physical exercises due to a lack of visual feedback. Learning and practicing yoga is especially challenging for this popul...
Model-based Task Analysis and Large-scale Video-based Remote Evaluation Methods for Extended Reality Research

In this paper, we introduce two remote extended reality (XR) research methods that can overcome the limitations of lab-based controlled experiments, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) a predictive model-based task analysis and (2) a large-scale video-based remote evaluation. We used a box stacking task including three interaction modalities - two multimodal gaze-based interactions as well as a unimodal hand-based interaction which is defined as our baseline. For the first evaluation, a GOMS-based task analysis was performed by analyzing the tasks to understand human behaviors in XR and predict task execution times. For the second evaluation, an online survey was administered using a series of the first-person point of view videos where a user performs the corresponding task with three interaction modalities. A total of 118 participants were asked to compare the interaction modes based on their judgment. Two standard questionnaires were used to measure perceived workload and the usability of the modalities.
Shock Tube Study on the Thermal Decomposition of n-Butanol

Dilute concentrations of normal-butanol has been decomposed in single pulse shock tube studies in the presence of large quantities of a chemical inhibitor that suppresses contributions from chain decomposition. Reaction temperatures and pressures are in the range of [1126-1231] K and [1.3-6.5] bar. Ethylene and 1-butene are the only products. The mechanism of the initial decomposition steps involves direct elimination of water and C-C bond cleavage. The fundamental high pressure unimolecular decomposition rate expressions are k(C(4)H(9)OH → CH(3) + CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)OH) = 10(16.4±0.4) exp(42410 ± 800 [K]/T) s(-1); k(C(4)H(9)OH → CH(3)CH(2) + CH(2)CH(2)OH) = 10(16.4±0.4) exp(-41150 ± 800 [K]/T) s(-1); k(C(4)H(9)OH → CH(3)CH(2)CH(2) + CH(2)OH) = 10(16.4±0.4) exp(-41150 ± 800 [K]/T) s(-1); and k(C(4)H(9)OH → CH(3)CH(2)CH═CH(2) + H(2)O) = 10(14.0±0.4) exp(-35089 ± 800 [K]/T) s(-1), where the rate expressions for C-C bond cleavage are based on assumptions regarding the relative rates of the three processes derived from earlier studies on the effect of an OH group on rate expressions. All reactions are in the high pressure limit and suggest that the step size down in the presence of argon is at least 1300 cm(-1). These rate expressions are consistent with the following H-C bond dissociation energies: BDE(H-CH(2)CH(2)CH(2)OH) = 417.2 ± 7 kJ/mol, BDE(H-CH(2)CH(2)OH) = 419.2 ± 7 kJ/mol, and BDE(H-CH(2)OH) = 401.7 ± 9 kJ/mol, with an estimated uncertainty of 6 kJ/mol. The kinetics and thermodynamic results are compared with estimates used in the building of combustion kinetics databases.
Pseudocapacitive charge storage in layered oxides SrLaFe1−xCoxO4−δ (x = 0–1)

Abstract Pseudocapacitive energy storage has been demonstrated for three materials belonging to a family of layered oxides. This work is the first report on the observation of charge-storage properties in this family of materials that feature 2-dimensional layers, consisting of MO6 units (M = transition metal). The spaces between layers are occupied by alkaline-earth or rare-earth metals. Systematic trends have been demonstrated, where the charge-storage properties are enhanced as a function of Co-concentration, structural distortion and oxygen-deficiency in SrLaFe1−xCoxO4−δ. Symmetric pseudocapacitor cells based on these materials show substantial specific capacitance, energy density and power density. They are also remarkably stable and retain their charge storage capacity even after 1000 cycles of charge-discharge. The observation of pseudocapacitive charge-storage properties in these materials indicates the potential of this class of layered oxides for utilization in energy storage.