cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Toxoplasma gondii isolates from free-ranging chickens from the United States.

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in chickens is a good indicator of the strains prevalent in their environment because they feed from ground. The prevalence of T. gondii was determined in 118 free-range chickens from 14 counties in Ohio and in 11 chickens from a pig farm in Massachusetts. Toxoplasma gondii antibodies (≥1:5) were found using the modified agglutination test (MAT) in 20 of 118 chickens from Ohio. Viable T. gondii was recovered from 11 of 20 seropositive chickens by bioassay of their hearts and brains into mice. The parasite was not isolated from tissues of 63 seronegative (≤1:5) chickens by bioassay in cats. Hearts, brains, and muscles from legs and breast of the 11 chickens from the pig farm in Massachusetts were fed each to a T. gondii–negative cat. Eight cats fed chicken tissues shed oocysts; the 3 cats that did not shed oocysts were fed tissues of chickens with MAT titers of 1:5 or less. Tachyzoites of 19 isolates of T. gondii from Ohio and Massachusetts were considered avirulen...
Inflammation and hyperglycemia mediate Deaf1 splicing in the pancreatic lymph nodes via distinct pathways during type 1 diabetes

Peripheral tolerance is partially controlled by the expression of peripheral tissue antigens (PTAs) in lymph node stromal cells (LNSCs). We previously identified a transcriptional regulator, deformed epidermal autoregulatory factor 1 (Deaf1), that can regulate PTA expression in LNSCs of the pancreatic lymph nodes (PLNs). During the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D), Deaf1 is spliced to form the dominant-negative isoform Deaf1-Var1. Here we show that Deaf1-Var1 expression correlates with the severity of disease in NOD mice and is reduced in the PLNs of mice that do not develop hyperglycemia. Inflammation and hyperglycemia independently drive Deaf1 splicing through activation of the splicing factors Srsf10 and Ptbp2, respectively. Inflammation induced by injection of activated splenocytes increased Deaf1-Var1 and Srsf10, but not Ptbp2, in the PLNs of NOD.SCID mice. Hyperglycemia induced by treatment with the insulin receptor agonist S961 increased Deaf1-Var1 and Ptbp2, but not Srsf10, in the PLNs of NOD.B10 and NOD mice. Overexpression of PTBP2 and/or SRSF10 also increased human DEAF1-VAR1 and reduced PTA expression in HEK293T cells. These data suggest that during the progression of T1D, inflammation and hyperglycemia mediate the splicing of DEAF1 and loss of PTA expression in LNSCs by regulating the expression of SRSF10 and PTBP2.
An architecture for operating system support of distributed multimedia systems

Distributed multimedia applications introduce new design challenges at all systems levels from network protocols and operating systems to application support platforms. The paper describes an object-oriented architecture integrating network services with the operating system to support distributed multimedia systems. The architecture, called Dynamic Object Architecture (DOA), is based on Open Distributed Processing (ODP), the international standard on distributed system and client-server architecture. DOA utilizes object-oriented technology to address the requirements of distributed multimedia systems such as continuous media, natural synchronization, dynamic Quality of Service (QoS) and group communication. The architecture also provides a path using mature industry standards to develop new applications while retaining compatibility of old applications.
The Neurology in Shakespeare

• William Shakespeare's 37 plays and poetry contain many references of interest for almost all of the medical specialties. To support that the Bard could be considered a Renaissance neurologist, the following important neurological phenomena have been selected from his repertoire for discussion: tremors, paralysis and stroke, sleep disturbances, epilepsy, dementia, encephalopathies, and the neurology of syphilis.
Influence of supplemental phytase on performance of broilers four to six weeks of age

Abstract The influence of dietary phytase on phytate P availability was investigated using Ross x Hubbard male broiler chicks. A randomized complete block design with a factorial arrangement of 2 x 3 was used with eight replicates (n = 2,400; 50 chicks per replicate) per treatment. Diets were formulated to contain two levels of nonphytate P (NPP; 0.225 and 0.325%) and three levels of phytase [0, 300, and 600 phytase units (FTU)/kg] with 0.75% Ca. An additional diet with 0.425% NPP and 0.85% Ca was used as a positive control (n = 400). Prior to assigning treatments, all chicks were fed a commercial starter mash adequate in all nutrients until 3 wk of age. Neither performance nor bone strength was significantly influenced by a reduction of NPP to 0.325% and Ca to 0.75% as compared to the positive control. However, when NPP was reduced to 0.225% and Ca to 0.75%, significant negative impacts on body weight, feed consumption, feed efficiency, and bone strength were observed. Phytase significantly increased BW at the lower NPP level but not at the higher NPP level. A significant NPP by phytase interaction occurred in bone criteria and livability. Phytase (300 FTU/kg) had greater influence on bone mineral content, bone density, bone breaking strength, and livability in broilers fed 0.225% NPP than in broilers fed 0.325% NPP. This study indicates that supplementing phytase in grower diets containing reduced levels of NPP and Ca significantly improved performance and bone strength of broilers. In diets containing marginal to deficient levels of either NPP or Ca or both, the addition of microbial phytase at 300 to 600 FTU/kg feed prevents P deficiency symptoms. Increasing phytase levels from 300 to 600 FTU/kg feed provided no additional benefit.
Deglacial history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Weddell Sea embayment: Constraints on past ice volume change: COMMENT

Boundaries along valley or mountain slopes separating fresh, largely unweathered glacial deposits or bedrock below from more highly weathered deposits or bedrock above (weathering zones) have long been used to constrain vertical ice limits in Scandinavia ([Dahl, 1966][1]) and the Canadian Arctic ([
The utilization of palliative care in gynecologic oncology patients near the end of life.

Abstract Background Palliative and supportive care services provide excellent care to patients near the end of life. It is estimated that enrollment in such services can reduce end-of-life costs; however, there is limited data available regarding the impact of palliative services in end-of-life care in gynecologic oncology patients. We examined the use of palliative services in gynecologic oncology patients during the last six months of life. Methods After IRB approval, a retrospective chart review of patients with a diagnosis of a gynecologic malignancy who died between June 2007 and June 2010 was performed. Abstracted data included demographics, admission and procedural history, use of anti-cancer therapy, and palliative care utilization during the last six months of life. Results 268 patients were identified. Most patients were white (76.9%) and had ovarian cancer (56.7%). During the last six months of life, 155 (57.8%) patients underwent anti-cancer therapy with chemotherapy, 19 (7.1%) patients were treated with radiation therapy, and 17 patients (6.3%) underwent treatment with both. 218 patients (81.3%) had at least one admission during this time (range 0–14). The most common reason for admission was gastrointestinal complaints (37.1%), followed by admissions for procedures (18.3%). The median time between the last admission and death was 32days. 157 patients (58.6%) underwent at least one procedure during the last six months of life (range 0–11). The most common procedure performed was paracentesis (22.6%). 198 (73.9%) patients died at home or in a palliative care unit. 189 (70.5%) patients were referred to hospice or palliative care. 3.2% underwent a procedure or treatment with chemotherapy or radiation after hospice enrollment. The median time between hospice enrollment and death was 22days. 55% of patients were enrolled in hospice less than 30days before death. Of the 79 patients not referred to hospice, only 16.5% had documentation of refusing hospice services. Conclusions During the last six months of life, the majority of gynecologic oncology patients receive anticancer therapy and many have repeated hospital admissions. While the majority of patients are referred for palliative care, it appears that most patients spend less than 30days on hospice. Earlier referral could decrease the number of hospital admissions and procedures while providing invaluable support during this end of life transition.
Cabibbo haze in lepton mixing

Abstract Quark–lepton unification suggests Cabibbo-sized effects in lepton mixings, which we call Cabibbo haze. We give simple examples and explore possible Wolfenstein-like parametrizations of the MNSP matrix which incorporate leptonic Cabibbo shifts. We find that the size of the CHOOZ angle is not always correlated with the observability of CP violation.
Pattern recognition of geminal proton nonequivalence and second-order coupling in 13C single-frequency off-resonance decoupled spectra. Assignment criteria and structure elucidation

13C n.m.r. single-frequency off-resonance decoupled (sford) CH multiplet resonance which deviate from normally assumed, isolated AnX spin descriptions have been characterized. Methylene carbons whose appended protons are nonequivalent generate doublets of doublets in sford spectra provided the proton chemical shift difference exceeds c. 3 × (Jgem). The isolated moiety–CHH′–closely approximates an AMX spin system. The strong chemical shift nonequivalence of geminal aminomethylene protons induced by the nitrogen lone pair in some N-substituted piperidine derivatives is accompanied by preferential modification of the one-bond CH coupling constants of the α-amino protons. In N-methyl-4-t-butylpiperidine the natural coupling constants were shown to differ by 6–12 Hz. The 13C sford resonances of protonated carbons display varying degrees of second-order coupling depending on the coupling strength of a carbon's appended protons with a strongly coupled spin set, the number of nuclei in the spin set, and the magnitude of the carbon's residual one-bond splitting. Qualitative criteria that allow the classification of degrees of second-order coupling have been established and utilized in signal assignment and structure analysis.
Deterministic nanowire fanout and interconnect without any critical translational alignment

Interfacing the nanoworld with the microworld represents a critical challenge to fully integrated nanosystems. Solutions to this problem have generally required either nanoprecision alignment or stochastic assembly. A design is presented that allows complete and deterministic fanout of regular arrays of wires from the nano- to the microworld without the need for any critical translational alignment steps. For example, deterministically connecting 10-nm wires directly to 3-mum wires would require a translational alignment to within only about 6 mum. The design also allows for nanowire interconnect and is independent of the technology used to fabricate the nanowires, enabling technologies for which alignment remains very challenging. The impact of potential fabrication errors is analyzed and a structure is fabricated that demonstrates the feasibility of such a design
Distancing oneself from God: relationships with borderline personality symptomatology

Self-harm behaviour traditionally has been associated with borderline personality disorder. In this study, we examined the relationship between borderline personality symptomatology and intentionally distancing oneself from God as self-punishment, based on the assumption that such self-punishment may represent a form of self-harm behaviour. Data from four previous samples of primary care outpatients collected over a two-year period were combined (N = 1511). Borderline personality was assessed with two measures: the borderline personality scale of the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 (PDQ-4) and the Self-Harm Inventory (SHI). Point-biserial correlation coefficients revealed that those who endorsed distancing oneself from God as punishment scored relatively higher on both the PDQ-4 (r = 0.40, p < 0.001) and the SHI (r = 0.46, p < 0.001). Similarly, when compared to respondents who denied ever having distanced themselves from God as punishment, those who did were more likely to exceed the clinical cut-...
Seeing the City The Filming of West Side Story

When West Side Story moved from stage to screen, the story became further enmeshed in the city of its setting. The filmmakers Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise used the cinematic elements of color, light, and camera angle to build a believable—but magical—place in which lovers sang and gang members danced. In the process, though, they also captured New York in the midst of urban renewal. The broad international distribution of the film spread an image of urban life that conveyed the abstract, aerial views of urban planners such as Robert Moses alongside the dynamic, street-level action of Jane Jacobs. While the filmmakers did not make pronouncements about urban theories, they visualized urban renewal in its grandeur and detail, animating cold concrete streets with dance and pitting vitality against human tragedy at the core of urban life.
Sharp lipschitz estimates for operator\(\bar \partial _M \) on aq-pseudoconcave CR manifoldon aq-pseudoconcave CR manifold

We construct integral operators Rr and Hr on a regular q-pseudoconcave CR manifoldM such that $$f = \bar \partial _M R_r (f) + R_{r + 1} (\bar \partial _M f) + H_r (f),$$ for f∈C(0,r)∞(M) and prove sharp estimates in a special Lipschitz scale.
Influence of Temperature and Humidity on Development and Survival of Telenomus reynoldsi (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) Parasitizing Geocoris punctipes (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) Eggs

Telenomus reynoldsi Gordh & Coker parasitizing Geocoris punctipes (Say) eggs, and nonparasitized G. punctipes eggs, were reared at eight constant temperatures (15-35°C) and six relative humidities (25-100% RH) to determine the influence of temperature and humidity on survival and developmental time. Parasitoid survival was significantly reduced by low and high temperatures at all humidities. Survival was highest between 50 and 85% RH. Survival of nonparasitized G. punctipes eggs was reduced by low and high temperatures at 25 and 50% RH and by high temperatures at 60% RH, but was independent of temperature above 75% RH. Male T. reynoldsi emerged earlier than females at most temperature and humidity combinations. Mean rate of development for T. reynoldsi and G. punctipes eggs increased linearly between 18 and 30°C, with optimal development at 33°C for T. reynoldsi and at 33-35°C for G. punctipes eggs. Mean developmental time of both parasitoid and host decreased with increasing humidity. Estimates of lower developmental thresholds were 14.4°C for T. reynoldsi and 15.1°C for G. punctipes eggs. Estimates of average thermal requirements for male and female parasitoids and nonparasitized hosts were 157, 163, and 107 Celsius degree days, respectively.
Mechanisms of Surface-Mediated DNA Hybridization

Single-molecule total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy was employed in conjunction with resonance energy transfer (RET) to observe the dynamic behavior of donor-labeled ssDNA at the interface between aqueous solution and a solid surface decorated with complementary acceptor-labeled ssDNA. At least 100 000 molecular trajectories were determined for both complementary strands and negative control ssDNA. RET was used to identify trajectory segments corresponding to the hybridized state. The vast majority of molecules from solution adsorbed nonspecifically to the surface, where a brief two-dimensional search was performed with a 7% chance of hybridization. Successful hybridization events occurred with a characteristic search time of ∼0.1 s, and unsuccessful searches resulted in desorption from the surface, ultimately repeating the adsorption and search process. Hybridization was reversible, and two distinct modes of melting (i.e., dehybridization) were observed, corresponding to long-lived (∼15 s) ...
Comparison of Extracellular Polysaccharide Produced by 17 Virulent Strains of Pseudomonas solanacearum

The extracellular polysaccharides produced by 17 virulent strains of Pseudomonas solanacearum collected from Japan and USA were compared in terms of wilt-inducing activity on tomato cuttings, sugar compositions, amino sugar content and degree of N-acetylation of the amino sugar. It was found that all polysaccharides investigated had wilt-inducing activity on tomato cuttings and that they were composed mainly of N-acetylgalactosamine residue.
Simultaneous determination of 19 trace elements in examined water samples by ICP-AES

[Objective]To establish a method for simultaneous determination of Al,Sb,As,Ba,Be,B,Cd,Cr,Cu,Fe,Pb,Mn,Mo,Ni,Se,Ag,Tl,V and Zn in examined sample by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry(ICP-AES)[Methods]The experimental conditions were optimized based on the improvement of signal to noise ratio,avoiding spectral interference between the elements.The water samples were direct analyzed,which were diluted by 0.5% nitric acid according to the examined requirements.[Results] The results showed good linearity of 19 kinds of trace elements ranged from 0-2.0 μg/ml.The lowest determination limits were 0.3-6.3 μg/L.The recovery and the RSD of the method were 89.0-105.1% and 0.18-4.3%,respectively.[Conclusion]This method is rapid,sensitive and accuracy,which can meet the demand for 19 kinds of trace elements simultaneous determination in examined samples.
Study on condition optimization of preparation method of 5-HMF with acetic acid catalytic fructose by response surface method(RSM)

5-HMF was prepared with acetic acid catalytic fructose.The effects on the 5-HMF yield of catalytic,reaction time and reaction temperature were discussed.Quadratic regression model was set up by response surface method(RSM) to optimized preparation method of 5-HMF.The results showed that the optimal conditions were as follows: Reaction temperature was 120℃,Reaction time was 220 min and Catalyst concentration was 0.46 mol/L,Under this condition,5-HMF yield could reach to 58.53%.
Estimation of HIV type 1 incidence with BED-CEIA among high-risk populations in Henan,2009

Objective To estimate human immunodeficiency virus type 1(HIV-1) incidence with BED-capture enzyme immunoassay(BED-CEIA)among men who have sex with men(MSM),drug users,male STD clinic attenders and people who have HIV infected spouses/sexual partners.Methods We tested 534,1 757,4 767 and 11 468 individuals of MSM,drug users,male STD clinic attenders and having HIV infected spouses/sexual partners for HIV infection in 2009.HIV-1 antibody was tested by ELISA and Western blot.Anti-HIV positive samples were confirmed with BED-CEIA.HIV-1 incidence rates were estimated with the testing results.Results HIV-1 incidence rates were 4.50%,0.46% and 0.13% for MSM,drug users and male STD clinic attenders respectively in 2009.HIV-1 incidence was 0.39% for people who have HIV infected spouses/sexual partners.Conclusions MSM population had a high incidence rate of HIV-1 infection and people who have HIV infected spouses/sex partners had varied incidence rates among different areas.
Using effective connectivity analyses to understand processing architecture: Response to commentaries by Samuel, Spivey and McQueen, Eisner and Norris.

In Gow and Olson (2015b), we used a powerful new effective connectivity technique to tackle long-standing issues about the role of interactive processes in speech perception. As commentaries by Spi...
Design of Reliable and Secure Devices Realizing Shamir's Secret Sharing

Shamir's secret sharing scheme is an effective way to distribute secret to a group of shareholders. The security of the unprotected sharing scheme, however, can be easily broken by cheaters or attackers who maliciously feed incorrect shares during the secret recovery stage or inject faults into hardware computing the secret. In this paper, we propose cheater detection and identification schemes based on robust and algebraic manipulation detection (AMD) codes and m-disjunct matrices (superimposed codes). We present the constructions of codes for cheater detection and identification and describe how the cheater identification problem can be related to the classic group testing algorithms based on m-disjunct matrices. Simulation and synthesis results show that the proposed architecture can improve the security level significantly even under strong cheating attack models with reasonable area and timing overheads.
Identification of the minimum pharmacophore of lipid-phosphatidylserine (PS) binding peptide-peptoid hybrid PPS1D1.

Abstract We previously reported a unique peptide–peptoid hybrid, PPS1 that specifically recognizes lipid–phosphatidylserine (PS) and a few other negatively charged phospholipids, but not neutral phospholipids, on the cell membrane. The dimeric version of PPS1, i.e., PPS1D1 triggers strong cancer cell cytotoxicity and has been validated in lung cancer models both in vitro and in vivo. Given that PS and other negatively charged phospholipids are abundant in almost all tumor microenvironments, PPS1D1 is an attractive drug lead that can be developed into a globally applicable anti-cancer agent. Therefore, it is extremely important to identify the minimum pharmacophore of PPS1D1. In this study, we have synthesized alanine/sarcosine derivatives as well as truncated derivatives of PPS1D1. We performed ELISA-like competitive binding assay to evaluate the PS-recognition potential and standard MTS cell viability assay on HCC4017 lung cancer cells to validate the cell cytotoxicity effects of these derivatives. Our studies indicate that positively charged residues at the second and third positions, as well as four hydrophobic residues at the fifth through eighth positions, are imperative for the binding and activity of PPS1D1. Methionine at the first position was not essential, whereas the positively charged Nlys at the fourth position was minimally needed, as two derivatives that were synthesized replacing this residue were almost as active as PPS1D1.
Meaning, Medicine, and the “Placebo Effect”: Psychotherapy: placebo effect or meaning response?

In the next two chapters, I will look closely at two areas where meaning is particularly effective: psychotherapy and physical pain. Everyone has won and all must have prizes Psychotherapy is a complex and contested business. Few doubt its effects, but many (at least many outside the field) are unsure of how to think about its effectiveness. Indeed, some have argued that psychotherapy is “only” the placebo effect. I will argue that this is good reason both to stop using the concept of the placebo effect in such a way, and to start thinking about the meaning response. How does psychotherapy work? The simple answer is, “No one knows” (Dawes 1994:61-2). This is quite surprising and seems at variance with experience. Anyone who has ever peeked behind the surface of any sort of psychotherapy knows that practitioners have very strong views of how and why their practice works. Don't psychoanalysts know how their therapy works? Surely the behaviorists know what they are about and how things work. Of course they do, in some sense. But the problem is that both of these systems work, they seem to work more or less equally well, and they work equally well for the same sorts of problems. There are huge differences in the attitudes, approaches, and theories underlying the different therapeutic schools - Freudian psychoanalysis and Skinnerian behavior therapy are about as different as one might imagine two approaches could possibly be when addressing, say, compulsive hand washing.
Pragmatic, Precision Medicine Approaches for Dialysis Vascular Access Dysfunction: Challenges and Opportunities

Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) nonmaturation is currently the Achilles heel of dialysis vascular access ([1][1]), with two large National Institutes of Health–funded studies showing that 60% of surgically created AVFs in the United States either undergo primary failure or require an intervention to
A Role for Nuclear F-Actin Induction in Human Cytomegalovirus Nuclear Egress

ABSTRACT Herpesviruses, which include important pathogens, remodel the host cell nucleus to facilitate infection. This remodeling includes the formation of structures called replication compartments (RCs) in which herpesviruses replicate their DNA. During infection with the betaherpesvirus, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), viral DNA synthesis occurs at the periphery of RCs within the nuclear interior, after which assembled capsids must reach the inner nuclear membrane (INM) for translocation to the cytoplasm (nuclear egress). The processes that facilitate movement of HCMV capsids to the INM during nuclear egress are unknown. Although an actin-based mechanism of alphaherpesvirus capsid trafficking to the INM has been proposed, it is controversial. Here, using a fluorescently-tagged, nucleus-localized actin-binding peptide, we show that HCMV, but not herpes simplex virus 1, strongly induced nuclear actin filaments (F-actin) in human fibroblasts. Based on studies using UV inactivation and inhibitors, this induction depended on viral gene expression. Interestingly, by 24 h postinfection, nuclear F-actin formed thicker structures that appeared by super-resolution microscopy to be bundles of filaments. Later in infection, nuclear F-actin primarily localized along the RC periphery and between the RC periphery and the nuclear rim. Importantly, a drug that depolymerized nuclear F-actin caused defects in production of infectious virus, capsid accumulation in the cytoplasm, and capsid localization near the nuclear rim, without decreasing capsid accumulation in the nucleus. Thus, our results suggest that for at least one herpesvirus, nuclear F-actin promotes capsid movement to the nuclear periphery and nuclear egress. We discuss our results in terms of competing models for these processes. IMPORTANCE The mechanisms underlying herpesvirus nuclear egress have not been fully determined. In particular, how newly assembled capsids move to the inner nuclear membrane for envelopment is uncertain and controversial. In this study, we show that HCMV, an important human pathogen, induces actin filaments in the nuclei of infected cells and that an inhibitor of nuclear F-actin impairs nuclear egress and capsid localization toward the nuclear periphery. Herpesviruses are widespread pathogens that cause or contribute to an array of human diseases. A better understanding of how herpesvirus capsids traffic in the nucleus may uncover novel targets for antiviral intervention and elucidate aspects of the nuclear cytoskeleton, about which little is known.
Styx and Sarcoma

> > From where I waited, > > > > the River Styx looked like an ocean. > > > It stretched beyond the sandy banks where I stood, > > > > weaving its way …
Malignant Spinal Cord Compression: Adapting Conventional Rehabilitation Approaches

Spinal tumors are classically grouped into 3 categories: extradural, intradural extramedullary, and intradural intramedullary. Spinal tumors may cause spinal cord compression and vascular compromise resulting in pain or neurologic compromise. They may also alter the architecture of the spinal column, resulting in spinal instability. Oncologic management of spinal tumors varies according to the stability of the spine, neurologic status, and presence of pain. Treatment options include surgical intervention, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormonal manipulation. When combined with this management, rehabilitation can serve to relieve symptoms, improve quality of life, enhance functional independence, and prevent further complications in patients.
What Can the Alabama Mississippians Teach Us About Human Evolution and Behavior

It is an exciting time in the scientific study of humans and our evolution. The archaeology of Alabama provides particularly powerful insights and empirical evidence adding much to this study. The “new human sciences” are maturing at an ever-accelerating rate from a series of relatively isolated disciplines (including psychology, biology, paleontology, archaeology, anthropology, economics, and history) into a single powerfully insightful “human” science. Moreover, this growing clarity and confidence, in turn, allows us to choose specific opportunities for fruitful study—and Alabama offers an especially elegant case.
Characterization of Particulate Fume and Oxides Emission from Stainless Steel Plasma Cutting

Plasma cutting is a metal fabrication process that employs an electrically conductive plasma arc to cut metals. The metal fume emitted from stainless steel plasma cutting may consist of hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), which is a carcinogen, and other toxicants. Overexposure to plasma cutting fume may cause pulmonary toxicity and other health effects. This study was to evaluate the effects of operation parameters (arc current and arc time) on the fume formation rates, Cr6+ and other oxides concentrations, particle size distributions (PSD), and particle morphology. A fume chamber and high-volume pump were used to collect fume produced from cutting ER308L stainless steel plates with arc currents varying between 20 and 50 A. The amount of fume collected on glass fiber filters was gravimetrically determined and normalized to arc time. Cr6+ and other oxides in the fume were analyzed using ion chromatography. PSD of the fume was examined using a scanning mobility particle sizer and an aerodynamic particle sizer for fine and coarse fractions, respectively. The particle morphology was imaged through a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Total fume generation rate increased with arc current and ranged from 16.5 mg min-1 at 20 A to 119.0 mg min-1 at 50 A. Cr6+ emissions (219.8-480.0 µg min-1) from the plasma cutting were higher than welding fume in a previous study. Nitrogen oxides level can be an indicator of oxidation level and Cr6+ formation (R = 0.93). Both PSD measurement and TEM images confirmed a multimodal size distribution. A high concentration of a fine fraction of particles with geometric mean sizes from 96 to 235 nm was observed. Higher arc current yielded more particles, while lower arc current was not able to penetrate the metal plates. Hence, the worker should optimize the arc current to balance cut performance and fume emission. The findings indicated that arc current was the dominant factor in fume emission from plasma cutting. Appropriate ventilation and respiratory protection should be used to reduce workers' exposure.
IceCube in the era of multimessenger astrophysics

IceCube has discovered a flux of cosmic neutrinos with energies ranging from 10 TeV to 10,000 TeV. These are predominantly extragalactic in origin. The photons accompanying them represent an energy density that is similar to that of photons detected by astronomical telescopes.
Computational intelligence-based optimization of maximally stable extremal region segmentation for object detection

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithms (GAs) are two optimization techniques from the field of computational intelligence (CI) for search problems where a direct solution can not easily be obtained. One such problem is finding an optimal set of parameters for the maximally stable extremal region (MSER) algorithm to detect areas of interest in imagery. Specifically, this paper describes the design of a GA and PSO for optimizing MSER parameters to detect stop signs in imagery produced via simulation for use in an autonomous vehicle navigation system. Several additions to the GA and PSO are required to successfully detect stop signs in simulated images. These additions are a primary focus of this paper and include: the identification of an appropriate fitness function, the creation of a variable mutation operator for the GA, an anytime algorithm modification to allow the GA to compute a solution quickly, the addition of an exponential velocity decay function to the PSO, the addition of an ”execution best” omnipresent particle to the PSO, and the addition of an attractive force component to the PSO velocity update equation. Experimentation was performed with the GA using various combinations of selection, crossover, and mutation operators and experimentation was also performed with the PSO using various combinations of neighborhood topologies, swarm sizes, cognitive influence scalars, and social influence scalars. The results of both the GA and PSO optimized parameter sets are presented. This paper details the benefits and drawbacks of each algorithm in terms of detection accuracy, execution speed, and additions required to generate successful problem specific parameter sets.
Cancer Cells in the Blood: Incidence and Importance to Prognosis and Treatment

One of the most devastating events to take place in the natural history (or altered natural history) of many types of malignant tumours is the development of hematogenous metastases. This type of dissemination places cancer cells beyond the confines of primary surgical resection. Although it is true that the vast majority of cancer cells in the circulating blood are probable destroyed within vascular channels, the frequent occurrence of hematogenous metastases following resection of “favorable” lesions is ample proof that some cancer cells in the bloodstream are quite viable and capable of forming distant metastases. Although surgical excision, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy have resulted in apparent long-term control of disseminated disease. in some cases, the occurrence of blood-borne metastases is still a factor that is usually lethal. Accordingly, this route of dissemination deserves intensive study.
Pathfinding-Foresight and Systems Thinking

Listening and foresight are the driving aptitudes for the emergence of a Servant-consciousness. Leading requires practicing pathfinding-foresight, the greatest of the creative skills (Greenleaf, Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press, 1977). An aware healing and creative learning dynamic is presented and explained as the heart of learning pathfinding-foresight. Pathfinding-foresight is not only about learning from the future but also about creating changes in ourselves and in our collective systems. Servant-leaders learn to use their pathfinding capacity at any time during their work and life experiences. The U journey is a pragmatic process for practicing and developing pathfinding-foresight and for building capacity for a micro, meso, macro, mundo global systems framework. Systems thinking is integral to using strategy and servant-stewardship for 2nd Tier, Stage IV development.
A Genome-Wide Epstein-Barr Virus Polyadenylation Map and Its Antisense RNA to EBNA.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous human pathogen associated with Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Although the EBV genome harbors more than a hundred genes, a full transcription map with EBV polyadenylation profiles remains unknown. To elucidate the 3′ ends of all EBV transcripts genome-wide, we performed the first comprehensive analysis of viral polyadenylation sites (pA sites) using our previously reported polyadenylation sequencing (PA-seq) technology. We identified that EBV utilizes a total of 62 pA sites in JSC-1, 60 in Raji, and 53 in Akata cells for the expression of EBV genes from both plus and minus DNA strands; 42 of these pA sites are commonly used in all three cell lines. The majority of identified pA sites were mapped to the intergenic regions downstream of previously annotated EBV open reading frames (ORFs) and viral promoters. pA sites lacking an association with any known EBV genes were also identified, mostly for the minus DNA strand within the EBNA locus, a major locus responsible for maintenance of viral latency and cell transformation. The expression of these novel antisense transcripts to EBNA were verified by 3′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and Northern blot analyses in several EBV-positive (EBV+) cell lines. In contrast to EBNA RNA expressed during latency, expression of EBNA-antisense transcripts, which is restricted in latent cells, can be significantly induced by viral lytic infection, suggesting potential regulation of viral gene expression by EBNA-antisense transcription during lytic EBV infection. Our data provide the first evidence that EBV has an unrecognized mechanism that regulates EBV reactivation from latency. IMPORTANCE Epstein-Barr virus represents an important human pathogen with an etiological role in the development of several cancers. By elucidation of a genome-wide polyadenylation landscape of EBV in JSC-1, Raji, and Akata cells, we have redefined the EBV transcriptome and mapped individual polymerase II (Pol II) transcripts of viral genes to each one of the mapped pA sites at single-nucleotide resolution as well as the depth of expression. By unveiling a new class of viral lytic RNA transcripts antisense to latent EBNAs, we provide a novel mechanism of how EBV might control the expression of viral latent genes and lytic infection. Thus, this report takes another step closer to understanding EBV gene structure and expression and paves a new path for antiviral approaches.
Information-Theoretic Security and Energy Efficiency for Information and Power Transfer in Two-Hop Wireless Relay Networks

In this paper, we study the problem of power allocation to maximize the transmission energy efficiency (TEE), while satisfying the security requirements in a wireless relay network. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that jointly consider the energy efficiency and security requirements in two-hop wireless secure communication. A linear relaxation method and iterative algorithm are proposed to solve this optimization problem and obtain approximation of the optimal solution. We perform simulations to investigate the TEE performance under different power allocation and antennas deployment strategies. The numerical results verify the effectiveness of our optimization.
Radiation-induced changes of vacancy-type defects in ferroelectric capacitors as revealed by Doppler broadening positron annihilation spectroscopy

Thin film ferroelectric capacitors of composition Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 were exposed to Fe3+ radiation (1011 to 1013 ions/cm2), and the change in the defect structure was investigated by Doppler broadening positron annihilation spectroscopy and other characterization techniques. As the radiation fluence increases, a systematic drop of the S parameter of the positron annihilation photopeak is observed and attributed to an increase in the Zr- and Ti-site related vacancies relative to the Pb-sites. The results demonstrate that the radiation has a more significant influence on the Zr- and Ti-sites relative to the Pb-sites. It is also observed that the S parameter of the Mn-doped samples is higher than the undoped counterparts. Coupled with ferroelectricity measurements and X-ray diffraction, the results suggest that the Mn dopant modifies the initial structure of the material and leads to a different functional response.Thin film ferroelectric capacitors of composition Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 were exposed to Fe3+ radiation (1011 to 1013 ions/cm2), and the change in the defect structure was investigated by Doppler broadening positron annihilation spectroscopy and other characterization techniques. As the radiation fluence increases, a systematic drop of the S parameter of the positron annihilation photopeak is observed and attributed to an increase in the Zr- and Ti-site related vacancies relative to the Pb-sites. The results demonstrate that the radiation has a more significant influence on the Zr- and Ti-sites relative to the Pb-sites. It is also observed that the S parameter of the Mn-doped samples is higher than the undoped counterparts. Coupled with ferroelectricity measurements and X-ray diffraction, the results suggest that the Mn dopant modifies the initial structure of the material and leads to a different functional response.
A detector for shielded fission sources

Abstract In recent years, a great deal of attention has been given to the passive detection of fissile material by detecting spontaneously emitted neutrons. Neutron detection schemes generally rely on low-density detection media with high neutron-gamma discrimination capability. However, such detectors generally suffer from low efficiency for high energy (>1.00 MeV) neutrons and usually are constructed with moderating material built into the detector package to compensate for that. But when the source is highly shielded by hydrogenous materials, the moderating material surrounding the detector actually decreases the detector efficiency (Rees and Czirr, 2012). This problem is further compounded if the source is shielded with borated material, significantly reducing the number of emerging neutrons. We have built, tested, and modeled a simple neutron detector that uses a large block of plastic scintillator fitted with a removable cadmium foil. This detector is sensitive to fission gammas, gammas emitted from neutron capture in shielding, gammas emitted from neutron capture in the plastic scintillator, and gammas produced by neutron capture in the cadmium foil. We demonstrate that by applying suitable data analysis, we can detect a shielded californium source with a very small chance of false positives from typical gamma sources . When boron is added to the shielding, we also use the 477 keV gammas emitted when neutrons capture in boron. This process is enhanced by using an auxiliary NaI gamma detector . Although the detection method flies in the face of currently promoted detectors, it is a simple technique that could be applied to a variety of detection applications.
Uncertainty quantification in large Bayesian linear inverse problems using Krylov subspace methods

For linear inverse problems with a large number of unknown parameters, uncertainty quantification remains a challenging task. In this work, we use Krylov subspace methods to approximate the posterior covariance matrix and describe efficient methods for exploring the posterior distribution. Assuming that Krylov methods (e.g., based on the generalized Golub-Kahan bidiagonalization) have been used to compute an estimate of the solution, we get an approximation of the posterior covariance matrix for `free.' We provide theoretical results that quantify the accuracy of the approximation and of the resulting posterior distribution. Then, we describe efficient methods that use the approximation to compute measures of uncertainty, including the Kullback-Liebler divergence. We present two methods that use preconditioned Lanczos methods to efficiently generate samples from the posterior distribution. Numerical examples from tomography demonstrate the effectiveness of the described approaches.
Supervising Unsupervised Open Information Extraction Models

We propose a novel supervised open information extraction (Open IE) framework that leverages an ensemble of unsupervised Open IE systems and a small amount of labeled data to improve system performance. It uses the outputs of multiple unsupervised Open IE systems plus a diverse set of lexical and syntactic information such as word embedding, part-of-speech embedding, syntactic role embedding and dependency structure as its input features and produces a sequence of word labels indicating whether the word belongs to a relation, the arguments of the relation or irrelevant. Comparing with existing supervised Open IE systems, our approach leverages the knowledge in existing unsupervised Open IE systems to overcome the problem of insufficient training data. By employing multiple unsupervised Open IE systems, our system learns to combine the strength and avoid the weakness in each individual Open IE system. We have conducted experiments on multiple labeled benchmark data sets. Our evaluation results have demonstrated the superiority of the proposed method over existing supervised and unsupervised models by a significant margin.
Activity Recognition from Sensor Fusion on Fireman's Helmet

Recognizing human activities in emergency situations is critical for first responders to ensure their safety and well-being. In many cases, the thick smoke in a burning building impairs computer vision algorithms for activity recognition. Here we present a helmet-based sensor fusion method with IMU and time-of-fly laser distance sensor. We use a Decision Tree to as a classifier and select the most significant features. Our test shows that the method can recognize over seven activities: walking, running, crawling, duck walking, standing, walking upstairs and downstairs, with an accuracy between 81.7%• and 93.6%. With limited training data and a lightweight requirement for implementation on the fireman's helmet the Decision Tree provided an accurate and reliable result. The use of the 1-D Lidar, which is not feasible in typical activity recognition application but essential for the helmet, combined with the 10-DOF IMU sensors improved the robustness of the classifier. We found this sensor fusion approach needs much less training data, compared to methods such as Deep Learning. Once implemented on the helmet the activity recognition is executed in real-time at sampling rate at 50 Hz within a 2-second window.
An exposition on the applications of Locality Aware Scheduling algorithms

The present study analyses the various applications of the Locality aware scheduling algorithms, focusing the effectiveness and efficiency of these algorithms. Locality-Aware Scheduling algorithms (LAS) is observed having various applications in the field of computer science. It has been observed that the locality is a universal behavior in all the computational fields and it is observed that these tend to refer repeatedly among various subsets of the resources within various time intervals. It is observed that the execution of each computation basically generates a reference to the objects within the memory such as the memory pages, memory sectors, database records and the web pages. Through the analysis of various locality aware scheduling algorithms, it is observed that the locality aware scheduling works more effectively as compared to the other scheduling algorithms. Among these various systems, it has been observed that the locality aware scheduling is the most effective and efficient technique for the scheduling of the processes. The concept of locality aware scheduling is to make the data parallel applications run more efficiently with less data loss or data inconsistency. Analyzing the effectiveness of LAS it is clearly identifiable that the LAS is achieving this purpose with high effectiveness as compared to the other scheduling algorithms. For future considerations, LAS can be point of interest for the researchers due to its effective results.