cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Increased Adherence and Expression of Virulence Genes in a Lineage of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Commonly Associated with Human Infections

Background Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7, a food and waterborne pathogen, can be classified into nine phylogenetically distinct lineages, as determined by single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping. One lineage (clade 8) was found to be associated with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure and death in some cases, particularly young children. Another lineage (clade 2) differs considerably in gene content and is phylogenetically distinct from clade 8, but caused significantly fewer cases of HUS in a prior study. Little is known, however, about how these two lineages vary with regard to phenotypic traits important for disease pathogenesis and in the expression of shared virulence genes.
Tumor shedding and coagulation

Three syngeneic carcinomas from two species shed plasma membrane vesicles when cultured in vitro or grown in the ascites tumor form in vivo. Shed vesicles carry procoagulant activity that can account for the activation of the clotting system and the fibrin deposition associated with these and many other types of malignancy in animals and man.
Reduced hippocampal neurogenesis and skill reaching performance in adult Emx1 mutant mice

Mammalian homeobox gene Emx family is involved in the development of the rostral brain. Loss-of-function studies suggest that, despite the agenesis of corpus callosum, the Emx1 mutants display relatively modest defects compared to the Emx2 mutants. However, the role of the Emx1 in neurogenesis and brain function has never been explored. We used unbiased stereology to determine the number of proliferating progenitors and immature neurons in the adult neurogenic zones. Although previous studies have established that the formation of the dentate gyrus (DG) requires Emx2, we found that the adult Emx1 mutants also exhibited a smaller DG, reduced number of proliferating progenitor cells and immature neurons in the DG, in contrast to the indistinguishable level of neurogenesis in the subventricular zone when compared to the wild type mice. In view of the involvement of callosal projection neurons in mediating interhemispheric crosstalk and spatial coupling between the limbs, and the importance of DG in hippocampus-dependent function in learning and memory, we assessed motor and cognitive functions. Emx1 deletion impaired performance on a forelimb skill reaching task and attenuated training induced hippocampal neurogenesis, but it did not affect motor activity or basic motor function as evaluated in the open field, wire hanging and rotor rod tests. Unexpectedly, the adult Emx1 mutant mice did not exhibit impairment in spatial learning and memory in the Barnes maze test. Our data suggest that deletion of the Emx1 gene reduces hippocampal neurogenesis and affects higher motor function that requires extensive learning.
Loading and Coupling Effects of Standing-Wave Detectors

When measuring impedances on transmission lines, insensitive standing-wave detectors have the effect of yielding lower standing-wave ratios than the true values. Double-hump distribution curves are shown to be the result of very tight coupling of the detector. Detectors than can be represented by a susceptance component may indicate unsymmetrical distribution curves. Sensitive detectors used on transmission lines having low power levels can introduce tight coupling effects. Conditions are given for a loosely coupled detector.
Biological plasticity: the future of science in neurosurgery.

THE FUTURE OF neurosurgery is intimately related to the future of neuroscientific research. Although the field of neuroscience is immense and not subject to brief review, it is clear that certain trends have become critical to future thinking regarding neurosurgery. An important theme that recurs in much of the current research and that will become more prominent in the future is the concept of plasticity. This refers not only to the changes in cortical representation that can occur after a variety of perturbations but also to a wide variety of neurologically relevant biological processes. In this review, we describe three areas of plasticity, i.e., the response of the brain to ischemia, cortical representational changes, and the potential for stem cell biological processes to allow us to manipulate plasticity. We posit that these trends will be crucial to the future of our specialty.
Models and solutions for radio irregularity in wireless sensor networks

In this article, we investigate the impact of radio irregularity on wireless sensor networks. Radio irregularity is a common phenomenon that arises from multiple factors, such as variance in RF sending power and different path losses, depending on the direction of propagation. From our experiments, we discover that the variance in received signal strength is largely random; however, it exhibits a continuous change with incremental changes in direction. With empirical data obtained from the MICA2 and MICAZ platforms, we establish a radio model for simulation, called the Radio Irregularity Model (RIM). This model is the first to bridge the discrepancy between the spherical radio models used by simulators and the physical reality of radio signals. With this model, we investigate the impact of radio irregularity on several upper layer protocols, including MAC, routing, localization and topology control. Our results show that radio irregularity has a relatively larger impact on the routing layer than the MAC layer. It also shows that radio irregularity leads to larger localization errors and makes it harder to maintain communication connectivity in topology control. To deal with these issues, we present eight solutions to deal with radio irregularity. We evaluate three of them in detail. The results obtained from both the simulations and a running testbed demonstrate that our solutions greatly improve system performance in the presence of radio irregularity.
Two-potential electrochemical probe for study of DNA immobilization.

A two-potential electrochemical method is applied to study DNA immobilization, by the simultaneous characterization of capture probe DNA self-assembled monolayers and hybridized target DNA molecule...
A quality control algorithm for filtering SNPs in genome-wide association studies

Motivation: The quality control (QC) filtering of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is an important step in genome-wide association studies to minimize potential false findings. SNP QC commonly uses expert-guided filters based on QC variables [e.g. Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, missing proportion (MSP) and minor allele frequency (MAF)] to remove SNPs with insufficient genotyping quality. The rationale of the expert filters is sensible and concrete, but its implementation requires arbitrary thresholds and does not jointly consider all QC features. Results: We propose an algorithm that is based on principal component analysis and clustering analysis to identify low-quality SNPs. The method minimizes the use of arbitrary cutoff values, allows a collective consideration of the QC features and provides conditional thresholds contingent on other QC variables (e.g. different MSP thresholds for different MAFs). We apply our method to the seven studies from the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium and the major depressive disorder study from the Genetic Association Information Network. We measured the performance of our method compared to the expert filters based on the following criteria: (i) percentage of SNPs excluded due to low quality; (ii) inflation factor of the test statistics (λ); (iii) number of false associations found in the filtered dataset; and (iv) number of true associations missed in the filtered dataset. The results suggest that with the same or fewer SNPs excluded, the proposed algorithm tends to give a similar or lower value of λ, a reduced number of false associations, and retains all true associations. Availability: The algorithm is available at http://www4.stat.ncsu.edu/~jytzeng/software.php Contact: jytzeng@stat.ncsu.edu Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Ascorbic Acid Enhances Endothelial Nitric-oxide Synthase Activity by Increasing Intracellular Tetrahydrobiopterin

Ascorbic acid enhances NO bioactivity in patients with vascular disease through unclear mechanism(s). We investigated the role of intracellular ascorbic acid in endothelium-derived NO bioactivity. Incubation of porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAECs) with ascorbic acid produced time- and dose-dependent intracellular ascorbic acid accumulation that enhanced NO bioactivity by 70% measured as A23187-induced cGMP accumulation. This effect was due to enhanced NO production because ascorbate stimulated both PAEC nitrogen oxide (NO(2)(-) + NO(3)(-)) production and l-arginine to l-citrulline conversion by 59 and 72%, respectively, without altering the cGMP response to authentic NO. Ascorbic acid also stimulated the catalytic activity of eNOS derived from either PAEC membrane fractions or baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells. Ascorbic acid enhanced bovine eNOS V(max) by approximately 50% without altering the K(m) for l-arginine. The effect of ascorbate was tetrahydrobiopterin (BH(4))-dependent, because ascorbate was ineffective with BH(4) concentrations >10 microm or in PAECs treated with sepiapterin to increase intracellular BH(4). The effect of ascorbic acid was also specific because A23187-stimulated cGMP accumulation in PAECs was insensitive to intracellular glutathione manipulation and only ascorbic acid, not glutathione, increased the intracellular concentration of BH(4). These data suggest that ascorbic acid enhances NO bioactivity in a BH(4)-dependent manner by increasing intracellular BH(4) content.
Student Technology Use in the Information-Seeking and Information-Gathering Process: A Critical Incident Approach for Benchmarking Performance

This article is an exploratory study of student behavior using online tools to do project- based work for a library science course at a mid-sized Midwestern public university. The population was 22 net generation students aged 18-24, who were enrolled in an Introduction to Information Resources course. The study was designed to better understand challenges students face when performing online computer-mediated information work. The critical incident technique was used to describe and categorize problems encountered with technology use and information seeking and gathering relative to established information literacy and technology competency standards. The findings support that net generation students have differing levels of ability when using technology to find and display information, and that all students require training in the use of technology applications and search strategies in order to perform course-based information work effectively.
Multistep Quantum Master Equation Theory for Response Functions in Four Wave Mixing Electronic Spectroscopy of Multichromophoric Macromolecules

This work provides an alternative derivation of third order response functions in four wave mixing spectroscopy of multichromophoric macromolecular systems considering only single exciton states. For the case of harmonic oscillator bath linearly and diagonally coupled to exciton states, closed form expressions showing all the explicit time dependences are derived. These expressions can provide more solid physical basis for understanding 2-dimensional electronic spectroscopy signals. For more general cases of system-bath coupling, the quantum master equation (QME) approach is employed for the derivation of multistep time evolution equations for Green function-like operators. Solution of these equations is feasible at the level of 2nd order non-Markovian QME, and the new approach can account for inter-exciton coupling, dephasing, relaxation, and non-Markovian effects in a consistent manner.
Scaling with Ohm's Law; Wired vs. Wireless Photoelectrochemical Cells

Ohm's law is used to evaluate the scalability of wired and wireless photoelectrochemical cells. Simple but comparable geometries show clearly that the wired device is far superior to wireless devices.
Power and the Ruling Classes in Northeast Brazil: Juazeiro and Petrolina in Transition

List of tables and figures Preface Part I. The Traditional Sertao: 1. The background 2. The structure of power and the ruling class 3. Juazeiro: cohesion and factionalism 4. Petrolina: patriarchy and family dominance 5. The ruling class and the polity 6. The ruling class and the economy 7. The ruling class in civic and social life 8. Ideology 9. Development and underdevelopment 10. Participation, mobilization, and conflict Part II. The Sertao Revisited: 11. Political challenge to traditional hegemony 12. State intervention and the prospects for capitalist accumulation Appendix Bibliography Index.
User Cooperation in the Absence of Phase Information at the Transmitters

In this paper, a multiuser communication system in which wireless users cooperate to transmit information to a base station is considered. The proposed scheme can significantly enlarge the achievable rate region, provided that the wireless connections between pairs of cooperating users are stronger than the connection from every user to the base station. The gains in transmission rate remain substantial even when the channel phase information is only available at the receivers, not at the transmitters. In the proposed scheme, a transmission period is divided into two time intervals. During the first time interval, wireless users send data to the base station and to the neighboring users simultaneously using a broadcast channel paradigm. During the second time interval, the users cooperate to transmit information to the base station. The achievable rate region corresponding to this paradigm is characterized under a random phase channel model for a two-user system. Results are then generalized to a multiple-user scenario. For fixed system parameters, the achievable rate region is strictly larger than that of the traditional multiple-access channel, thereby allowing a fair distribution of the wireless resources among users. Numerical analysis suggests that cooperating with a single partner is enough to achieve most of the benefits associated with cooperation.
Using machine learning to design and interpret gene-expression microarrays

Gene-expression microarrays, commonly called gene chips, make it possible to simultaneously measure the rate at which a cell or tissue is expressing--translating into a protein--each of its thousands of genes. One can use these comprehensive snapshots of biological activity to infer regulatory pathways in cells; identify novel targets for drug design; and improve the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning for those suffering from disease. However, the amount of data this new technology produces is more than one can manually analyze. Hence, the need for automated analysis of microarray data offers an opportunity for machine learning to have a significant impact on biology and medicine. This article describes microarray technology, the data it produces, and the types of machine learning tasks that naturally arise with these data. It also reviews some of the recent prominent applications of machine learning to gene-chip data, points to related tasks where machine learn-Lug might have a further impact on biology and medicine, and describes additional types of interesting data that recent advances in biotechnology allow biomedical researchers to collect.
Using time-divisioning to improve the performance of bit-loading algorithms

We show that significant performance improvements are obtained by introducing time-divisioning in the bit-loading algorithms for discrete multitone (DMT) systems. DMT modulation is used in both wired and wireless multiuser, multicarrier systems. Allocation of power among the different users and subchannels, so as to optimize the user data rates, is an important problem. Existing algorithms allow users to transmit together in a given subchannel even when the users are strongly coupled in that subchannel. We propose to use time-divisioning to separate the transmissions of users in subchannels in which they are heavily coupled, while allowing them to transmit together in subchannels where they are lightly coupled. We show that significant improvements in system performance are possible using the proposed scheme, especially at higher values of coupling coefficients.
Cries over Spilled Holy Water: “Complex” Responses to a Traditional Thai Religious Practice

Casual observers of Thai Buddhism may see the monkhood or sangha as a rather homogeneous group. Slightly varying shades of saffron-coloured robes walk the streets and village lanes on morning alms-rounds, and then retreat to their respective temples. The news only rarely mentions debates between religious figures or doctrinal differences; instead, high-ranking monks often appear opening shops or banks, or christening new navy ships or jet airliners for Thai international. If only viewed from this level, everything appears as if it is “business as usual”. If, however, we peel back the ochre veneer covering sangha affairs, many people might be surprised by what lies beneath. If the casual observer becomes more curious and persistent in his inquiries, a number of ongoing issues and a certain amount of disagreement come to light.
Middle Tertiary marsupials (Mammalia) from North America

All species of North American marsupials from the Chadronian through Hemingfordian are reviewed. Most North American species of didelphids previously referred to Peratherium are allocated to Herpetotherium. Five species of Herpetotherium are recognized.The Chadronian Peratherium donahoei Hough is synonymized with Herpetotherium valens (Lambe). The Orellan species Herpetotherium stevensoni Cope is resurrected and referred, along with the Chadronian Peratherium titanelix Matthew, to a new genus, Copedelphys. Both Copedelphys and Herpetotherium can be derived from known Duchesnean species of Peratherium from North America.Two genera of peradectids are recognized, Nanodelphys McGrew and Didelphidectes Hough. Nanodelphys minutus is synonymized with “Herpetotherium” hunti Cope and a second species of Nanodelphys is recognized from the Arikareean, though not named.
Woody plant encroachment, and its removal, impact bacterial and fungal communities across stream and terrestrial habitats in a tallgrass prairie ecosystem

Woody plant encroachment has become a global threat to grasslands and has caused declines in aboveground richness and changes in ecosystem function; yet we have a limited understanding on the effects of these phenomena on belowground microbial communities. We completed riparian woody plant removals at Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas and collected soils spanning land-water interfaces in removal and woody vegetation impacted areas. We measured stream sediments and soils for edaphic variables (C and N pools, soil water content, pH) and bacterial (16S rRNA genes) and fungal (ITS2 rRNA gene repeat) communities using Illumina MiSeq metabarcoding. Bacterial richness and diversity decreased with distance from streams. Fungal richness decreased with distance from the stream in wooded areas, but was similar across landscape position while Planctomycetes and Basidiomycota relative abundance was lower in removal areas. Cyanobacteria, Ascomycota, Chytridiomycota and Glomeromycota relative abundance was greater in removal areas. Ordination analyses indicated that bacterial community composition shifted more across land-water interfaces than fungi yet both were marginally influenced by treatment. This study highlights the impacts of woody encroachment restoration on grassland bacterial and fungal communities which likely subsequently affects belowground processes and plant health in this ecosystem.
Everyone Else's Jeremy Lin

There is no way in which Asian American Studies has tended to fix its fortune to lost causes. This isn't to dismiss the subjects of our scrutiny, nor is it to deny the fluid and complex relationship between the margin and the mainstream. But the stakes of academic work, steadfast in its refusal of market forces and the lures of the present, have always been amorphous. Within Asian American Studies, we have trained our focus on subculture and representation, unlikely affinities and obscure juxtapositions, the margin of the margin. There are more theses being written on DICTEE than Joy Luck Club, greater interest in overlooked corners of the Asian diaspora or radical political legacies than, say, the privileged church-going suburbs of Silicon Valley. Recently, this scrutiny has turned inward. Accelerated by the flash-commentary of social networking and dovetailing with broader, culture-wide questions about the usefulness of academic work, scholars have begun thinking aloud about what it is we actually do.
Upward Mobility of Low-Paid Workers: A Multivariate Model for Occupational Changers

This study investigates the upward mobility of low-paid workers. It uses an approach that generates clear and simple statistics which help describe inequality by race and sex. Merging the three one-in-a-hundred samples from the 1970 Census, it first defines a "low-paid stratum" and a "mainstream" stratum. These categories are then used to determine rates of advancement for groups defined by sex, race, and industrial sector. A model of the probability of upward mobility is fitted to the data, and it is used to adjust the rates of advancement for differences in age, education, and particular low-paid occupations. Both the actual and the adjusted rates of advancement show that sex is highly consequential and that race is also important. In addition, a low-paid worker's likelihood of moving up is dependent on his or her specific occupation. The core/periphery industrial distinction is found to be an important determinant of the mobility chances of black men.
172 ACTIVATION OF THE ADENOSINE MONOPHOSPHATE-ACTIVATED KINASE BY THE ANTIDIABETES DRUG METFORMIN IMPROVES NITRIC OXIDE BIOACTIVITY IN VIVO.

Metformin, one of the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of type II diabetes, improves vascular endothelial functions and reduces cardiovascular events in patients with type II diabetes although its mechanisms remain unknown. The present study was aimed to elucidate how metformin improves endothelial functions. Exposure of cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells to clinically relevant concentrations of meformin (50 to 500 μM) dose-dependently increased the serine 1179 phosphorylation (equal to human serine 1177) of eNOS as well as its association with heat shock protein (hsp) 90, resulting in increased activation of eNOS and NO bioactivity (cyclic GMP, cGMP). These effects of metformin were mimicked or completely abrogated by adenoviral overexpression of a constitutively active AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) mutant or a kinase-inactive AMPKa, respectively. Further, administration of metformin as well as AICAR, an AMPK agonist, significantly increased eNOS serine 1179 phosphorylation, NO bioactivity, and co-immunoprecipitation of eNOS with hsp-90 in the wild-type C57BL6 mice but not AMPK-a1 knockout mice, suggesting that AMPK is required for metformin-enhanced eNOS activation in vivo. Finally, incubation of BAEC with clinically relevant concentrations of metformin dramatically attenuated high glucose (30 mM)-induced reduction in the association of hsp90 with eNOS, which resulted in increased NO bioactivity with a reduction in overexpression of adhesion molecules and endothelial apoptosis caused by high glucose exposure. Taken together, our results indicate that metformin might improve vascular endothelial functions in diabetes by increasing AMPK-dependent, hsp90-mediated eNOS activation.
Visual Tooling Schedule in Parts Development Application

Examples in this paper illustrates that how to track the process made in the components development and find out the risk in time by using Visual Tooling Schedule in the development of parts.Then through effective status report monitoring points focus on timing and issues required special attention,take recovery measures to the problems in risk to meet the schedule of home-plant.The application of Visual Tooling Schedule in the development of N300 rear-frame welding assembly promotes the progress of project orderly and also provides clear parts development status for program management.
Research of Vacuum Test Calibration Instrument of 12 kV Vacuum Interrupter

Vacuum degree measurement of vacuum interrupter based on magnetron discharge method has been used extensively in the power system,and the precision has been paid more and more attention.In this paper,a vacuum calibration instrument was studied.Firstly,the measurement principles and design was described,and its four parts including vacuum interrupter choice,vacuum pumping system,insulation consideration and measurement of vacuum degree were presented.The control method of the instrument was also given.Via the experiment and test,the vacuum pumping time,relation curve of typical ionic current and vacuum degree,and repetitive measurement problem were presented.It can be found that the test instrument of vacuum interrupter can be used for the calibration.
Protein Side-Chain Translocation Mutagenesis via Incorporation of Peptoid Residues

For the last few decades, chemistry has played an important role in protein engineering by providing a variety of synthetic tools such as chemoselective side-chain modifications, chemical conjugation, incorporation of non-natural amino acids, and the development of protein-mimetic heteropolymers. Here we study protein backbone engineering in order to better understand the molecular mechanism of protein function and to introduce protease stable, non-natural residues into a protein structure. Using a combination of genetic engineering and chemical synthesis, we were able to introduce peptoid residues (N-substituted glycine residues) at defined positions into bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A. This results in a side-chain translocation from the Cα carbon to the neighboring backbone nitrogen atom. To generate these peptoid substitutions, we removed the N-terminal S-peptide of the protein by proteolysis and chemically conjugated synthetic peptide-peptoid hybrids to the new N-terminus. A triple peptoid mutant co...
False-positive antibody tests for human immunodeficiency virus in transplant patients with antilymphocyte antibodies.

Ces resultats «faux-positifs» sont souvent dus a la presence d'anticorps contre des antigenes de membranes des cellules utilisees pour la culture du virus. Discussion de 5 cas de resultats positifs chez des malades exempts de SIDA: 2 atteints de lupus erythemateux dissemine et 3 ayant recu une transplantation
Quality of life and cytokines in oncological therapy

The development of the hematopoietic growth-factors had a major influence on the treatment of malignant diseases. Quality of Life gets increasingly important in the setting of high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and erythropoietin (EPO) are two of the most important hematopoietic growth-factors, which contribute to the amelioration of the complications of the malignant disease and the side-effects of the cytostatic treatment. G-CSF reduces the median time of neutrophil recovery, the rate of severe infections and the length of hospitalization. Erythropoietin has a beneficial impact on the quality of life of cancer patients by improving the chronic anemia of cancer, leading to a higher level of physical and social activity, brighter mood, improvement of appetite and general sense of well-being.
Old dog, new tricks: treating co-occurring anxiety and alcohol use disorders

Both the symptom of anxiety and anxiety disorders are common in individuals with alcohol and drug use disorders. Controlled studies as well as clinical observations support the fact that untreated ...
Refashioning the epic past

During his banquet, Trimalchio tells a peculiar story about the origins of Corinthian bronze (50.5–6): cum Ilium captum est, Hannibal, homo vafer et magnus stelio, omnes statuas aeneas et aureas et argenteas in unum rogum congessit et eas incendit; factae sunt in unum aera miscellanea, ita ex hac massa fabri sustulerunt et fecerunt catilla et paropsides 〈et〉 statuncula. sic Corinthea nata sunt, ex omnibus in unum, nee hoc nee illud. When Troy was captured, Hannibal, a crafty man and a great slippery character, piled up all of the statues, bronze, gold, and silver, into one heap and set them alight; they were melded together into a bronze mixture. So craftsmen took pieces out of this lump and made small bowls and serving dishes and statuettes. Corinthian bronzes were produced this way from metals all mixed together, neither one kind nor another. Trimalchio's tale operates against a background of Roman connoisseurship of authentic Corinthian bronze. So, for example, Velleius Paterculus (1.13) uses Corinthian bronze as an index of the difference between two conquering generals, Scipio Aemilianus, whom he describes as cultured ( elegans ), and Mummius, whom he calls uncultured ( rudis ): Mummius was so uncultured that when he brought back bronzes from Corinth he had his shippers promise that if the bronzes were lost in transit they would replace them with new ones.
Adsorption-induced swelling of porous media

Abstract This paper studies deformation and swelling of porous media induced by sorption of fluids, and in particular carbon dioxide. The phenomena are significant, not only to the capacity of porous formations for storing CO2, but also to the effect that they have on the mechanical properties of the formations and microseismic events that they might possibly trigger. To study the phenomena we formulate the problem by energy consideration in which the Hamiltonian (total energy) of a porous medium and its fluid content is represented as the sum of the elastic energy of the system, and the energies associated with the interactions between the adsorbates and between them and the medium's solid matrix. The gas phase is described by a density functional theory, while the solid matrix can be either linearly or nonlinearly elastic. The model provides predictions for the sorption isotherms, the dependence of the strain on the bulk pressure, and the change in the porosity. The change in the strain is anisotropic due to the deformation of the solid, as well as the difference between the stiffness of the matrix and the fluid phase. During desorption the strain is also released and, similar to the sorption isotherms, exhibits hysteresis. This opens up the possibility of using mechanical measurements during sorption experiments to gain insight into the structure of a porous medium. When the model was applied to sorption of CO2 in clay particles, all the reported experimental features of the phenomena were reproduced.
High-performance terahertz detectors based on plasmonic nano-antennas

We present a novel photoconductive terahertz detector based on a 2D plasmonic nano-antenna array. We experimentally demonstrate that this terahertz detector offers high responsivity with high signal-to-noise ratio over bandwidths exceeding 5 THz. Such a high-performance detector can be very important for the next generation compact terahertz timedomain spectroscopy systems.
The Racial College Completion Gap: Evidence From Texas

ABSTRACTThis analysis focuses on the college completion gap between underrepresented minority students and White students, or the Hispanic -White and Black -White racial college completion gaps, given the unprecedented demographic growth of these populations in the United States as well as the nation's public K -12 schools and postsecondary institutions. Using a variance decomposition method, we find that precollege characteristics (a combination of individual and high school context factors) contribute upward of 61% of the total variance for both Hispanic and Black students as compared with their White student counterparts. That is, more than half of the completion gap is explained by precollege characteristics. Postsecondary factors explained approximately 35% of the total variance. Additional analyses accounting for attending Hispanic-Serving Institution or an Historically Black College or University are also provided. The data suggest that college completion and accountability analyses should be appro...
Presence of nurse mandatory overtime regulations and nurse and patient outcomes

Working overtime among nurses is a prevalent practice used to control chronic understaffing and a common method used to handle normal variations in the patient census. The underlining mechanism of the relationship of nurse overtime to nurse injuries and adverse patient events is that when nurses work overtime or long hours, it contributes to nurses' fatigue and sleep so their alertness and vigilance are impaired in both their regular shift and overtime shift. The associations between mandatory overtime regulations and nurse and patient outcomes were examined among a sample of 173 nurses in North Carolina and West Virginia. Findings indicated mandatory nurse overtime regulation did not have any association with nurse injuries. There were statistically significant associations found between the regulations and adverse patient events. However, these associations should be interpreted with caution because the regulations were not related to nurse overtime or long work hours.
Promoting Gratitude and Positive Feelings About Learning Among Young Adults

Universities are increasingly offering positive psychology courses; however, very few studies have been conducted to see if they enhance positive psychology outcomes for students. This study, conducted at a Western university in the U.S., examined the effects of a semester long positive psychology course on 26 undergraduate students’ gratitude and emotions toward studying. The course included broad aspects of positive psychology, such as gratitude, mindfulness, autonomy supportive communication, intrinsic life goals, intrinsic learning goals, acts of kindness, and identifying strengths. Using a retrospective pretest-posttest design, paired sample t tests revealed that students improved significantly on both gratitude and homework feelings. The effect size (Cohen’s d) for homework feelings was 1.03, indicating that students experienced a strong improvement in positive emotions toward studying and homework. The effect size for gratitude was .76, indicating a moderate to large positive effect on thankfulness. Percentage of classes attended was moderately positively associated with pre- to post-course improvement in gratitude and emotions, indicating that students with higher attendance were more likely to experience greater personal growth. Students of minority background (e.g., Latino) improved more than European American students on gratitude, whereas they improved equally well on positive emotions. Implications for universities, professors, and others interested in the positive psychological development of young adults are discussed.
Risk factors associated with outcomes following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy prior to esophagectomy in patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.

186Background: The study was conducted to evaluate risk factors associated with treatment outcomes following concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and esophagectomy in patients diagnosed with resectab...
Hilbert Spaces and Fourier Series

Suppose u and v are in C, the space of continuous complex-valued periodic functions. The inner product of u and v is the number (u,v) defined by $$\left( {u,v} \right) = \frac{1}{{2\pi }}\int_0^{2\pi } {u(x)v(x)*dx.}$$ (1)
Bildungs standards und Literaturunterricht

In diesem Beitrag werden die Schwierigkeiten erortert, die sich bei der Formulierung und Uberprufung von Bildungsstandards zum literarischen Verstehen ergeben. Es werden die Grenzen bisheriger Kompetenzmodelle (PISA, IGLU, DESI u.a.) gezeigt, die der Vieldeutigkeit literarischer Texte, der Vorstellungsbildung beim Lesen und der subjektiven Involviertheit des Textrezipienten nicht gerecht werden. Hingewiesen wird auch auf die fach uberschreitenden Kompetenzen wie das psychologische Verstehen, die Vorstellungsfahigkeit und die asthetische Sensibilitat, zu denen Literaturunterricht beitragt, die jedoch in den Bildungsstandards kaum berucksichtigt sind.
Geographic Knowledge. Paradigm of Society 5.0

Thanks to the Digital Revolution, Geographic Knowledge (Geoknowledge) has enhanced its capacity andtechnologies, thus becoming a source of value creation in the ecosystem of knowledge. Through the developmentof ESRI technologies, which allow the integration of WebGIS with Artificial Intelligence, the Internetof Things and aerospace Big Data, the Science of Where is defining new ways of designing and experiencingthe environment and the city. In this initial phase of the Digital Revolution it is essential to affirmthe paradigm of a society, called “Society 5.0”, capable of responding to the challenges of its owntime, balancing economic progress with solutions to social problems. The enabling factor of this paradigmis the Science of Where and the thesis that the Science of Where is the enabling factor of the paradigm thatimplements Society 5.0 is fascinating, but has to be demonstrated. In order to prove this thesis, holistic experimentationis necessary, which involves all the actors present in the theater of society in order to demonstratethe benefits of this philosophy in this field through the exercise of good practices. For this reason,ESRI Italia recently set up a laboratory to conduct experiments at its regional office in Cagliari (Italy). Theexperimentation is scheduled in a project called Sardinia 5.0. The Laboratory is equipped with all the infrastructures,technologies and data necessary for specialists to perform the assessment of the social impact ofexisting initiatives and the construction of scenarios for a possible future.
Chapter 19 Empirical studies of exchange rates: Price behavior, rate determination and market efficiency

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of empirical results concerning recent exchange rate behavior. Alternative valuation measures, time series, and distributional properties have been covered in the chapter, along with estimates of transaction costs in the foreign exchange market. The chapter reviews empirical tests of specific models of exchange rate determination. It tests a particular model of exchange rate determination to forecast exchange rates or to examine the effect of other economic policies on exchange rates and vice versa. The chapter discusses the simple monetary approach, where exchange rates are determined by the relative demand for two moneys, and then proceeds to a portfolio balance approach that introduces bonds. It presents tests of foreign exchange market efficiency. Finally, the chapter provides an overview of efficient market theory, a review of evidence on the efficiency of markets in removing risk-free opportunities, and the evidence of the efficiency of markets in removing risky profit opportunities. It includes the evidence on the relationship between the forward rate and future spot rate.
MRI texture features and outcomes to immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma brain metastases.

2069Background: Brain metastases (BM) in patients (pts) with melanoma historically portend a dismal prognosis, but immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are associated with durable responses in a subs...
Particle clustering effects on damage mechanisms in elastomeric syntactic foams

Abstract To elucidate the damage mechanisms in syntactic foams with hollow glass microballoon (GMB) reinforcement and elastomer matrices, in situ X-ray computed tomography mechanical testing was performed on syntactic foams with increasing GMB volume fraction. Image processing and digital volume correlation techniques identified very different damage mechanisms compared to syntactic foams with brittle matrices. In particular, the prevailing mechanism transitioned from dispersed GMB collapse at low volume fraction to clustered GMB collapse at high volume fraction. Moreover, damage initiated and propagated earlier in closely-packed GMBs for all specimens. Both of these trends were attributed to increased interaction between closely-packed GMBs. This was confirmed by statistical analysis of GMB damage, which identified a consistent, inverse relationship between the probability of survival and the local coordination number ( N n e i g h b o r ) across all specimens.
Ryū revisited: printf floating point conversion

Ryū Printf is a new algorithm to convert floating-point numbers to decimal strings according to the printf %f, %e, and %g formats: %f generates ‘full’ output (integer part of the input, dot, configurable number of digits), %e generates scientific output (one leading digit, dot, configurable number of digits, exponent), and %g generates the shorter of the two. Ryū Printf is based on the Ryū algorithm, which converts binary floating-point numbers to the shortest equivalent decimal floating-point representation. We provide quantitative evidence that Ryū Printf is between 3.8 and 55 times faster than existing printf implementations. Furthermore, we show that both Ryū and Ryū Printf generalize to arbitrary number bases. This finding implies the existence of a fast algorithm to convert from base-10 to base-2, as long as the maximum precision of the input is known a priori.
Banquets, Politics, and Representation in Nineteenth-Century Colombia

This essay analyzes the representation in several nineteenth-century Colombian periodicals of banquets as political events and argues that journalists and others depicted occasions of public eating in order to communicate particular messages about current political, social and cultural events. Banquet organizers took advantage of the perception of meals as shared spaces of community and commonality in order to advance their own agendas, and subsequent newspaper accounts likewise spread those agendas, and those of the journalists, to a wider audience than the original group of diners.
A Short Proof of the Rook Reciprocity Theorem

Rook numbers of complementary boards are related by a reciprocity law. A complicated formula for this law has been known for about fifty years, but recently Gessel and the present author independently obtained a much more elegant formula, as a corollary of more general reciprocity theorems. Here, following a suggestion of Goldman, we provide a direct combinatorial proof of this new formula.
A two-stage machine learning framework to predict heart transplantation survival probabilities over time with a monotonic probability constraint

Abstract The overarching goal of this paper is to develop a modeling framework that can be used to obtain personalized, data-driven and monotonically constrained probability curves. This research is motivated by the important problem of improving the predictions for organ transplantation outcomes, which can inform updates made to organ allocation protocols, post-transplantation care pathways, and clinical resource utilization. In pursuit of our overarching goal and motivating problem, we propose a novel two-stage machine learning-based framework for obtaining monotonic probabilities over time. The first stage uses the standard approach of using independent machine learning models to predict transplantation outcomes for each time-period of interest. In the second stage, we calibrate the survival probabilities over time using isotonic regression. To show the utility of our framework, we applied it on a national registry of U.S. heart transplants from 1987 to 2016. The first stage produces an area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) between 0.60 and 0.71 for years 1–10. While the 1-year prediction AUC result is comparable to the reported results in the literature, our 10-year AUC of 0.70 is higher than the current state-of-the-art results. More importantly, we show that the application of isotonic regression to calibrate the survival probabilities for each patient over the 10-year period guarantees monotonicity, while capitalizing on the data-driven and individualized nature of machine learning models. To promote future research, our code and analysis are publicly available on GitHub. Furthermore, we created a web app titled “H-TOP: Heart Transplantation Outcome Predictor” to encourage practical applications.
THE USE OF WAVE GYMNASTICS TO INCREASE THE LEVEL OF HEALTH OF STUDENTS

The use of innovative means in the process of physical education of higher education students, on the onehand, should not make it difficult to organize training sessions, and on the other, the use of new methods andmeans of their implementation designed to improve the efficiency of the process of formation and preservationof students ‘ health. In this context, we have experimentally established that the correction of previously usedtechniques of using Agashin simulators significantly enhances the effects of biomechanical resonance providedby wave mechanical action.
Impact of cannabis on non-medical opioid use and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder: a nationwide longitudinal VA study.

Multiple states have authorized cannabis as an opioid substitution agent and as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).This study sought to investigate the relationship between cannab...
Predicting National Basketball Association Players Performance and Popularity: A Data Mining Approach

Basketball is known for the vast amounts of statistics that are collected for each player, team, game, and season. As a result, basketball is an ideal domain to work on different data analysis techniques to gain useful insights. In this study, we reviewed some important factors to predict players’ future performance and being selected in an All-Star game, one of most prestigious events, of National Basket Association league. Our result showed gradient boosting machine is more qualified to predict NBA players’ future performance, and balanced under-sampling random forest has better predictive ability compared to other algorithms for All-Star prediction. Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM) methodology is chosen as backbone of the project to tackle this data mining problem and provide a systematic process.
Spatial Generalized Linear Models with Non-Gaussian Translation Processes

It is not generally feasible to pick any given marginal distribution and assume there will be a way to apply a link function to add fixed and random effects in a spatial generalized linear model. We introduce an adjustment to spatial copula processes called a non-Gaussian translation process that will allow for the specification of any marginal distribution with a closed-form density function in a single unified framework. While translation processes do not preserve the exact marginal structure, they allow for fixed effects to be included in a non-Gaussian spatial model without needing to define a link function, as well as providing a number of other computational and modeling benefits. Non-Gaussian translation processes are compared theoretically and via simulation with traditional link function approaches and spatial copula processes and are shown to perform similarly in cases where all three models can effectively be used. A daily precipitation data set is analyzed with elevation as a predictor variable that includes a majority of observations being 0. Out-of-sample predictions are evaluated, and it is determined that the model is effective when compared to a two-stage prediction model and a Bayesian power truncated normal model.