cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Did I Do That? Abnormal Predictive Processes in Schizophrenia When Button Pressing to Deliver a Tone

Motor actions are preceded by an efference copy of the motor command, resulting in a corollary discharge of the expected sensation in sensory cortex. These mechanisms allow animals to predict sensations, suppress responses to self-generated sensations, and thereby process sensations efficiently and economically. During talking, patients with schizophrenia show less evidence of pretalking activity and less suppression of the speech sound, consistent with dysfunction of efference copy and corollary discharge, respectively. We asked if patterns seen in talking would generalize to pressing a button to hear a tone, a paradigm translatable to less vocal animals. In 26 patients [23 schizophrenia, 3 schizoaffective (SZ)] and 22 healthy controls (HC), suppression of the N1 component of the auditory event–related potential was estimated by comparing N1 to tones delivered by button presses and N1 to those tones played back. The lateralized readiness potential (LRP) associated with the motor plan preceding presses to deliver tones was estimated by comparing right and left hemispheres’ neural activity. The relationship between N1 suppression and LRP amplitude was assessed. LRP preceding button presses to deliver tones was larger in HC than SZ, as was N1 suppression. LRP amplitude and N1 suppression were correlated in both groups, suggesting stronger efference copies are associated with stronger corollary discharges. SZ have reduced N1 suppression, reflecting corollary discharge action, and smaller LRPs preceding button presses to deliver tones, reflecting the efference copy of the motor plan. Effects seen during vocalization largely extend to other motor acts more translatable to lab animals.
Pulmonary Arteriole Hypertrophy in Broilers with Pulmonary Hypertension Syndrome (Ascites)

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of low ventilation or cool temperature environments on pulmonary arteriole hypertrophy. Male broilers were maintained under control or low ventilation conditions in Experiment 1, whereas male broiler breeder by-product chicks were exposed to cool temperature conditions in Experiment 2. Birds were randomly selected for histological evaluation of lung tissue in both experiments. In Experiment 1, birds that had pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS+) exhibited a greater degree of inflammation of lung tissue at 5 and 7 wk of age than controls or birds that did not have PHS (PHS-). These PHS+ birds also had higher numbers of cartilaginous osseous nodules at 3 and 7 wk of age than controls. Morphometric analyses revealed that PHS+ birds in Experiment 1 had a thicker medial layer associated with 100 to 200 microns diameter pulmonary arterioles at 7 wk of age, and 50 to 100 microns arterioles at 3 and 7 wk of age than PHS- or control birds. In Experiment 2, PHS+ birds exhibited a thicker medial layer in pulmonary arterioles at 7 wk of age than did PHS- birds, but there were no differences in medial layer thickness at 5 wk of age nor were there differences in the degree of inflammation or amount of osseous nodule formation between PHS+ and PHS- birds at 5 and 7 wk of age. Thus, pulmonary arteriole hypertrophy was observed in birds having PHS in response to both low ventilation and cool temperature environments and this hypertrophy occurred with or without a coincident inflammatory response in lung tissue.
Modular data centers: how to design them?

There has been a recent interest in modularized shipping containers as the building block for data centers. However, there are no published results on the different design tradeoffs it offers. In this paper we investigate a model where such a container is never serviced during its deployment lifetime, say 3 years, for hardware faults. Instead, the hardware is over-provisioned in the beginning and failures are handled gracefully by software. The reasons vary from ease of accounting and management to increased design flexibility owing to its sealed and service-free nature. We present a preliminary model for performance, reliability and cost for such service-less containerized solutions. There are a number of design choices/policies for over-provisioning the containers. For instance, as a function of dead servers and incoming workload we could decide which servers to selectively turn on/off while still maintaining a desired level of performance. While evaluating each such choice is challenging, we demonstrate that arriving at the best and worst-case design is tractable. We further demonstrate that projected lifetimes of these extreme cases are very close to each other, often no more than 10% different. One way to interpret this number is, from a reliability perspective the utility of keeping machines as cold spares within the container, in anticipation of server failures, is not too different than starting out with all machines active. So as we engineer the containers in sophisticated ways for cost and performance, we can arrive at the associated reliability estimates using a simpler more-tractable approximation. We demonstrate that these bounds are robust to general distributions for failure times of servers. We hope that this paper stirs up a number of research investigations geared towards understanding these next generation data center building blocks. This involves both improving the models and corroborating them with field data.
Taste and see: The eucharist and the eyes of faith in the fourth century

Whenever Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, stood before newly baptized Christians on Easter week, his task seemed straightforward: to explain the meaning of the initiations they had recently undergone. His explanations, however, were peppered with dialogue, as he thought aloud about the impression these rites had made on the new converts. He recounted the previous days' events in these words: “You went, you washed, you came to the altar, you began to see what you had not seen before.” This promise of novel sights, however, could not dispel the neophytes' lingering doubts. Aloud, he imagined their questions: “Is this that great mystery which the eye has not seen nor the ear heard … ? I see waters which I used to see daily; are these able to cleanse me?” Ambrose wondered if the baptism lacked sufficient majesty, such that a catechumen might ask, “‘Is this all?’” Ambrose already knew what he would reply, “Yes, this is all, truly all.” Baptism, the rite often timed to coincide with Easter, might disappoint as much as it inspired awe.
Description of the data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) and single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping for Genetic Analysis Workshop 14

The data provided to the Genetic Analysis Workshop 14 (GAW 14) was the result of a collaboration among several different groups, catalyzed by Elizabeth Pugh from The Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) and the organizers of GAW 14, Jean MacCluer and Laura Almasy. The DNA, phenotypic characterization, and microsatellite genomic survey were provided by the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), a nine-site national collaboration funded by the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) with the overarching goal of identifying and characterizing genes that affect the susceptibility to develop alcohol dependence and related phenotypes. CIDR, Affymetrix, and Illumina provided single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping of a large subset of the COGA subjects. This article briefly describes the dataset that was provided.
Contributions of Muscles to Terminal-Swing Knee Motions Vary with Walking Speed

Many children with cerebral palsy walk with diminished knee extension during terminal swing, at speeds much slower than unimpaired children. Treatment of these gait abnormalities is challenging because the factors that extend the knee during normal walking, over a range of speeds, are not well understood. This study analyzed a series of three-dimensional, muscle-driven dynamic simulations to determine whether the relative contributions of individual muscles and other factors to angular motions of the swing-limb knee vary with walking speed. Simulations were developed that reproduced the measured gait dynamics of seven unimpaired children walking at self-selected, fast, slow, and very slow speeds (7 subjects x 4 speeds=28 simulations). In mid-swing, muscles on the stance limb made the largest net contribution to extension of the swing-limb knee at all speeds examined. The stance-limb hip abductors, in particular, accelerated the pelvis upward, inducing reaction forces at the swing-limb hip that powerfully extended the knee. Velocity-related forces (i.e., Coriolis and centrifugal forces) also contributed to knee extension in mid-swing, though these contributions were diminished at slower speeds. In terminal swing, the hip flexors and other muscles on the swing-limb decelerated knee extension at the subjects' self-selected, slow, and very slow speeds, but had only a minimal net effect on knee motions at the fastest speeds. Muscles on the stance limb helped brake knee extension at the subjects' fastest speeds, but induced a net knee extension acceleration at the slowest speeds. These data--which show that the contributions of muscular and velocity-related forces to terminal-swing knee motions vary systematically with walking speed--emphasize the need for speed-matched control subjects when attempting to determine the causes of a patient's abnormal gait.
Speculative optimization using hardware-monitored guarded regions for java virtual machines

Aggressive dynamic optimization in high-performance Java Virtual Machines can be hampered by language features like Java's exception model, which requires precise detection and handling of program-generated exceptions. Furthermore, the compile-time overhead of guaranteeing correctness of code transformations precludes many effective optimizations from consideration. This paper describes a novel approach for circumventing the optimization-crippling effects of exception semantics and streamlining the implementation of aggressive optimizations at run time. Under a hardware-software hybrid model, the runtime system delineates guarded regions of code and specifies a contract--in the simplest case, one that requires exception-free execution--that must be adhered to in order to ensure that the aggressively optimized code within that region will behave as the programmer expects. The contracted runtime condition is assumed to be true, and code within a guarded region is aggressively optimized based on this assumption. Hardware monitors for exceptions throughout the region execution, and undoes the effects of the guarded region if an exception occurs, re-executing the region with a conventionally optimized version. Since exceptions are very rare, code can be optimized as if optimization-crippling conditions did not exist, leading to compile time reduction, code quality improvement, and potential performance improvement up to 67.7% and averaging 15.9% in our limit study of a set of Java benchmarks.
Wildland fire limits subsequent fire occurrence

Several aspects of wildland fire are moderated by site- and landscape-level vegetation changes caused by previous fire, thereby creating a dynamic where one fire exerts a regulatory control on subsequent fire. For example, wildland fire has been shown to regulate the size and severity of subsequent fire. However, wildland fire has the potential to influence other properties of subsequent fire. One of those properties – the extent to which a previous wildland fire inhibits new fires from igniting and spreading within its perimeter – is the focus of our study. In four large wilderness study areas in the western United States (US), we evaluated whether or not wildland fire regulated the ignition and spread (hereafter occurrence) of subsequent fire. Results clearly indicate that wildland fire indeed regulates subsequent occurrence of fires ≥ 20 ha in all study areas. We also evaluated the longevity of the regulating effect and found that wildland fire limits subsequent fire occurrence for nine years in the warm/dry study area in the south-western US and over 20 years in the cooler/wetter study areas in the northern Rocky Mountains. Our findings expand upon our understanding of the regulating capacity of wildland fire and the importance of wildland fire in creating and maintaining resilience to future fire events.
Discrete versus syncytial tissue behavior in a model of cardiac stimulation. I. Mathematical formulation

This paper presents a model describing the steady-state response of a two-dimensional (2-D) slice of myocardium to extracellular current injection. The model incorporates continuous representation of the multicellular, syncytial cardiac tissue based on the bidomain model. The classical bidomain model is modified by introducing periodic conductivities to better represent the electrical properties of the intracellular space. Thus, junctional discontinuity between abutting myocytes is reflected in the macroscopic representation of cardiac tissue behavior. Since a solution to the resulting coupled differential equations governing the intracellular and extracellular potentials in the tissue preparation is not computationally tractable when traditional numerical approaches, such as finite element or finite difference methods are used, spectral techniques are employed to reduce the problem to the solution of a set of algebraic equations for the transform of the bidomain potentials. Further, the solution to the "periodic" bidomain problem in the Fourier space is decomposed into two separate solutions: one for the classical-bidomain potentials where it is assumed that the intracellular conductivity values along and across cells incorporate the average contribution from cytoplasm and junction, and another for the junctional potential component. The decomposition of the total solution allows to approximately solve for the junctional component thus achieving high overall computational efficiency. The results of simulation are presented in an accompanying paper (see ibid., vol. 43, no. 12, p. 1141-50, 1996).
Symposium Foreword: David Fischer, the Fox

This essay recognizes the seminal scholarship of Professor David Fischer. The piece notes that scholars in modern tort theory are either splitters or lumpers. Referring to Isaiah Berlin’s dichotomy, they are either hedgehogs or foxes. Fischer is a fox (a splitter) in a world of hedgehogs (lumpers). Fischer does the hard analytical work on the interior of the law that uncovers problems and dilemmas for courts as they go about ascribing responsibility for wrongful acts. The piece shows this by reference to two interior tort problems: (1) liability for lost chances, and (2) causation in over-determined cases.
Can a Robot Learn Language as a Child Does

This paper gives a brief retrospective of a research project begun in 1987 and continuing to the present on the topic of language acquisition by an autonomous humanoid robot. We recount the motivations for, theoretical bases of and experimental results on this subject. Important results include novel models and algorithms resulting in interesting linguistic function of our robots.
Flavin mononucleotide: the coenzyme of reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide dehydrogenase.

From the particulate reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (DPNH) oxidase of beef heart, Mackler (3) has obtained a soluble DPNH dehydrogenase which was estimated to be approximately 90 to 95% homogenous when examined electrophoretically.l Similarly, when the enzyme was chromatographed on diethylaminoethyl cellulose with phosphate buffer, pH 7.5, in a gradient elution method (0.001 M to 0.01 M), only a single, symmetrical peak with respect to protein and flavin was observed in the elution profile (4). The enzyme contains bound flavin and nonheme iron in the ratio of 1: 2. The minimal molecular weight, calculated from the flavin content, is 100,000 which is in general agreement with a value of 80,000 to 90,000 obtained by sedimentation in the ultracentrifuge.’ The activity of the enzyme with 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol as an electron acceptor is 40 pmoles of DPNH oxidized per minute per mg of protein. With ferricyanide and cytochrome c as acceptors, the DPNH oxidizing activities are 40 and 3, respectively, in the same units. Although this enzyme is similar to other DPNH dehydrogenases described previously (5-ll), it is difficult to compare the properties (molecular weight, pH optimum, turnover number, specificity for electron acceptors, etc.) of these various enzymes since, even when prepared from the same tissue, different methods of solubilization have been used. One of the principal discrepancies between the various DPNH dehydrogenases is the nature of the flavin component. It has been reported that only FAD is found in a soluble DPNH dehydrogenase obtained by treatment of beef heart electron transport particle with Naja nuja venom (7, 9), and FAD has also been identified in a lipoflavoprotein DPNH dehydrogenase from beef heart (12). Earlier, Mahler et al. (5) had reported that the prosthetic group of the soluble DPNH-cytochrome c reductase from pig heart is a flavin dinucleotide not identical with FAD. On the other hand, we have reported in preliminary communications (1, 2) that FMN2 is the flavin component of the soluble DPNH dehydrogenase prepared from DPNH osidase, and King3 has reached
Understanding Growth of Pollen Tube in Video

Pollen tubes are tube-like structures that are an important part of the sexual reproductive cycle in plants. They deliver sperm to the ovary of the plant where fertilization occurs. The growth of the pollen tube is the result of complex biochemical interactions in the cytoplasm (protein–protein, ions, and cellular bodies) that lead to shape deformation. Current tube growth models are focused on capturing these internal dynamics and using them to show changes in tube length/area/volume. The complex nature of these models makes it difficult for them to be used to verify tube shapes seen in experimental videos. This chapter presents a method of verifying the shape of growing pollen tubes obtained from experimental videos using video bioinformatics techniques. The proposed method is based on a simplification of the underlying internal biological processes and their impact on cell morphogenesis. Experiments are conducted using videos of growing pollen tubes to show the model’s performance.
Gaps and future directions in mobile security research

The ease with which security flaws in today’s mobile devices can be exploited underscores the need for mobile security research. The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) increases the need for robust security mechanisms that can withstand a range of attacks. This paper analyzes the current state of the mobile security research related to supporting the IoT. We survey existing approaches and identify gaps that motivate future research.
Treatment of pediatric cerebral radiation necrosis: a systematic review

Cerebral radiation necrosis (CRN) is a toxicity of radiation therapy that can result in significant, potentially life-threatening neurologic deficits. Treatment for CRN has included surgical resection, corticosteroids, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), and bevacizumab, but no consensus approach has been identified. We reviewed the available literature to evaluate efficacy of treatment approaches. Using methods specified in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines when possible, we conducted searches of Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and Pubmed to identify studies reporting on outcomes for children (≤21 years old) with CRN. Eligible studies from 1990 to 2014 describing central nervous system (CNS) radiation necrosis with details of both treatment and outcomes were included. Eleven studies meeting criteria were identified. Of the nine studies with total patient denominators, 37 of 806 patients developed CRN (incidence = 4.6 %). Patients received treatment courses of steroids alone (n = 13), steroids with bevacizumab (n = 11) or HBOT (n = 12). Patients who failed to respond to steroids were more likely to be older than steroid-responsive patients (p = 0.009). With the exception of steroid-related adverse events, there was only one report of an adverse event (brainstem stroke) potentially attributable to intervention (bevacizumab). Those who received proton beam RT were both younger (p = 0.001) and had a shorter time to development of CRN (p = 0.079). The most common treatment following steroid initiation was addition of bevacizumab or HBOT, with good success and minimal toxicity. However, randomized controlled trials are needed to establish a definitive treatment algorithm that can be applied to children affected by CRN.
Examining binge-eating disorder and food addiction in adults with overweight and obesity

Objective To compare four subgroups of adults with overweight/obesity: those with binge-eating disorder (BED) only, food addiction (FA) only, both BED + FA, and neither. Methods For this study, 502 individuals with overweight/obesity (body mass index >25 kg/m2) completed a Web-based survey with established measures of eating and health-related behaviors. Most were female (n = 415; 83.2%) and White (n = 404; 80.8%); mean age and body mass index were 38.0 (SD = 13.1) years and 33.6 (SD = 6.9) kg/m2, respectively. Results Among 502 participants with overweight/obesity, 43 (8.5%) met BED criteria, 84 (16.6%) met FA criteria, 51 (10.1%) met both BED + FA criteria, and 328 (64.8%) met neither (control). The three groups with eating pathology (BED, FA, and BED + FA) had significantly greater disturbances on most measures (eating disorder psychopathology, impulsivity, and self-control) than the control group, while the FA and BED + FA groups reported significantly higher depression scores relative to the control group. The three eating groups did not differ significantly from each other. Conclusions In this online survey, of those with overweight/obesity, nearly one third met criteria for BED, FA, or BED + FA, and these forms of disordered eating were associated with greater pathology relative to individuals with overweight/obesity without BED and FA. Future research should examine whether the presence of BED, FA, or co-occurring BED + FA requires tailored interventions in individuals with overweight or obesity.
Interactions among vegetation, climate, and herbivory control greenhouse gas fluxes in a subarctic coastal wetland

High-latitude ecosystems are experiencing the most rapid climate changes globally, and in many areas these changes are concurrent with shifts in patterns of herbivory. Individually, climate and herbivory are known to influence biosphere-atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange; however, the interactive effects of climate and herbivory in driving GHG fluxes have been poorly quantified, especially in coastal systems that support large populations of migratory waterfowl. We investigated the magnitude and the climatic and physical controls of GHG exchange within the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska across four distinct vegetation communities formed by herbivory and local microtopography. Net CO2 flux was greatest in the ungrazed Carex meadow community (3.97 ± 0.58 [SE] µmol CO2 m−2 s−1), but CH4 flux was greatest in the grazed community (14.00 ± 6.56 nmol CH4 m−2 s−1). The grazed community is also the only vegetation type where CH4 was a larger contributor than CO2 to overall GHG forcing. We found that vegetation community was an important predictor of CO2 and CH4 exchange, demonstrating that variation in regional gas exchange is best explained when the effect of grazing, determined by the difference between grazed and ungrazed communities, is included. Further, we identified an interaction between temperature and vegetation community, indicating that grazed regions could experience the greatest increases in CH4 emissions with warming. These results suggest that future GHG fluxes could be influenced by both climate and by changes in herbivore population dynamics that expand or contract the vegetation community most responsive to future temperature change.
Molecular Testing in Emerging Infectious Diseases

It was widely believed in the late 1960s that infectious diseases had been conquered by vaccines and antibiotics and humans were no longer under threat by microbial pathogens. Yet, since that time more than 60 pathogens have been discovered that can cause serious emerging infectious diseases. Molecular methods have played critical roles in the discovery, monitoring, and clinical diagnostics of emerging pathogens. In this chapter, we present well-recognized emerging pathogens. We provide examples of the utility of molecular assays in research and clinical care of emerging infectious diseases. We also discuss some theoretical and practical limitations of molecular tests and the future prospects of expanding molecular diagnostics for emerging pathogens based on new advances of knowledge and technologies.
Physics of direct-contact ultrasonic cloth drying process

Abstract Existing methods of drying fabrics involve energy-intensive thermal evaporation of moisture from clothes. Drying fabrics using high-frequency vibrations of piezoelectric transducers can substantially reduce drying time and energy consumption. In this method, vibrational energy generates instability on the liquid-air interface and mechanically ejects water from a wet fabric. Here, for the first time, the physics of the ultrasonic fabric drying process in direct-contact mode is studied. The kinematic and thermal responses of water droplets and fabrics on piezoelectric crystal transducers and metal mesh–based transducers are studied. The results suggest that on piezoelectric crystal transducers, the response of a droplet subjected to ultrasonic excitation is dictated by the relative magnitude of the surface tension and the ultrasonic excitation forces. The drying process for a fabric on the studied transducers consists of two regimes—vibrational and thermal. When the water content is high, the vibrational forces can eject bulk water rapidly. But the more strongly bound water within the smaller fabric pores evaporates by the thermal energy generated as a result of the viscous losses. This study finds that a metal mesh–based transducer is more suitable for dewatering fabrics, as it facilitates the ejection of water from the fabric–transducer interface to the opposite side of the mesh. A demonstration unit developed consumes 10–20% of the water latent heat energy at water contents greater than 20%.
Speculative paging for future NVM storage

The quest for greater performance and efficiency has driven modern cloud applications towards "in-memory" implementations, such as memcached and Apache Spark. Looking forward, however, the costs of DRAM, due to its low area density and high energy consumption, may make this trend unsustainable. Traditionally, OS paging system mechanisms were intended to bridge the gap between expensive, under-provisioned DRAM and inexpensive, dense storage, however, in the past twenty years the latency of storage, relative to DRAM became too great to overcome without significant performance impact. Recent NVM storage devices, such as Intel Optane drives and aggressive, 3D flash SSDs, may dramatically change the picture for OS paging. These new drives are expected to provide much lower latency compared to the existing flash-based SSDs or traditional HDDs. Unfortunately, even these future NVM drives are still much too slow to replace DRAM, since the access latency of fast NVM storage is expected on the order of tens of microseconds, and they often require block-level access. Unlike traditional HDDs, for which the baseline OS paging policies are designed, these new SSDs place no penalty for "random" access and their access latency promises to be significantly less than traditional SSDs, thus arguing for a rearchitecting of the OS paging system. In this paper, we propose SPAN (Speculative PAging for future NVM storage), a software-only, OS swap-based, page management and prefetching scheme designed for emerging NVM storage. Unlike the baseline OS swapping mechanism, which is highly optimized for traditional spinning disks, SPAN leverages the inherent parallelism of NVM devices to proactivley fetch a set of pages from NVM storage to the small and fast main DRAM. In doing so, SPAN yields a speedup of ~18% versus swapping into the NVM with the baseline OS (~50% of the performance lost by the baseline OS versus placing the entire working set in DRAM memory). The proposed technique thus enables the utilization of such hybrid systems for memory-hungry applications, lowering the memory cost while keeping the performance comparable to the DRAM-only system.
Comparing and transforming PROMIS utility values to the EQ-5D.

Summarizing patient-reported outcomes (PROs) on a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) scale is an essential component to any economic evaluation comparing alternative medical treatments. While multiple studies have compared PRO items and instruments based on their psychometric properties, no study has compared the preference-based summary of the EQ-5D-3L and Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-29) instruments. As part of this comparison, a major aim of this manuscript is to transform PROMIS-29 utility values to an EQ-5D-3L scale. A nationally representative survey of 2623 US adults completed the 29-item PROMIS health profile instrument (PROMIS-29) and the 3-level version of the EQ-5D instrument (EQ-5D-3L). Their responses were summarized on a health utility scale using published estimates. Using regression analysis, PROMIS-29 and EQ-5D-3L utility weights were compared with each other as well as with self-reported general health. PROMIS-29 utility weights were much lower than the EQ-5D-3L weights. However, a correlation coefficient of 0.769 between the utility values of the two instruments suggests that the main discordance is simply a difference in scale between the measures. It is also possible to map PROMIS-29 utility weights onto an EQ-5D-3L scale. EQ-5D-3L losses equal .1784 × (PROMIS-29 Losses).7286. The published estimates of the PROMIS-29 produce lower utility values than many other health instruments. Mapping the PROMIS-29 estimates to an EQ-5D-3L scale alleviates this issue and allows for a more straightforward comparison between the PROMIS-29 and other common health instruments.
Minimum Mean Squared Error Estimation of the Radius of Gyration in Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering Experiments

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a technique that yields low-resolution structural information of biological macromolecules by exposing a large ensemble of molecules in solution to a powerful...
Best-first AND/OR search for graphical models

The paper presents and evaluates the power of best-first search over AND/OR search spaces in graphical models. The main virtue of the AND/OR representation is its sensitivity to the structure of the graphical model, which can translate into significant time savings. Indeed, in recent years depth-first AND/OR Branch-and-Bound algorithms were shown to be very effective when exploring such search spaces, especially when using caching. Since best-first strategies are known to be superior to depth-first when memory is utilized, exploring the best-first control strategy is called for. In this paper we introduce two classes of best-first AND/OR search algorithms; those that explore a context-minimal AND/OR search graph and use static variable orderings, and those that use dynamic variable orderings but explore an AND/OR search tree. The superiority of the best-first search approach is demonstrated empirically on various real-world benchmarks.
Gene-based evaluation of low-frequency variation and genetically-predicted gene expression impacting risk of keloid formation.

Keloids are benign dermal tumors occurring approximately 20 times more often in individuals of African descent as compared to individuals of European descent. While most keloids occur sporadically, a genetic predisposition is supported by both familial aggregation of some keloids and large differences in risk among populations. Despite Africans and African Americans being at increased risk over lighter-skinned individuals, little genetic research exists into this phenotype. Using a combination of admixture mapping and exome analysis, we reported multiple common variants within chr15q21.2-22.3 associated with risk of keloid formation in African Americans. Here we describe a gene-based association analysis using 478 African American samples with exome genotyping data to identify genes containing low-frequency variants associated with keloids, with evaluation of genetically-predicted gene expression in skin tissues using association summary statistics. The strongest signal from gene-based association was located in C15orf63 (P-value = 6.6 × 10-6 ) located at 15q15.3. The top result from gene expression was increased predicted DCAF4 expression (P-value = 5.5 × 10-4 ) in non-sun-exposed skin, followed by increased predicted OR10A3 expression in sun-exposed skin (P-value = 6.9 × 10-4 ). Our findings identify variation with putative roles in keloid formation, enhanced by the use of predicted gene expression to support the biological roles of variation identified only though genetic association studies.
Classification of metabelian 2-groups G with Gab ≃ (2,2n),n ≥ 2, and rank d(G′)=2; Applications to real quadratic number fields

Abstract We characterize all finite metabelian 2-groups G whose abelianizations G ab are of type ( 2 , 2 n ) , with n ≥ 2 , and for which their commutator subgroups G ′ have rank = 2 . This is given in terms of the order of the abelianizations of the maximal subgroups and the structure of the abelianizations of those normal subgroups of index 4 in G. We then translate these group theoretic properties to give a characterization of number fields k with 2-class group Cl 2 ( k ) ≃ ( 2 , 2 n ) , n ≥ 2 , such that the rank of Cl 2 ( k 1 ) = 2 where k 1 is the Hilbert 2-class field of k. In particular, we apply all this to real quadratic number fields whose discriminants are a sum of two squares.
Measuring the effectiveness of programmingland

ProgrammingLand, as a resource for Computer Science instruction, continues to evolve and improve. ProgrammingLand delivers content, monitors student activities, contains a variety of educational exercises and may make assignments. Certain facilities of Learning Management Systems (LMS) are now incorporated into the system. The existing and new features were used in an experiment with two sections of the same course. One of these used a standard textbook and LMS, while the other one used ProgrammingLand, without either a textbook or another LMS. The results of this experiment favor continued development of the system.
The San Mateo County California Gis Project for Predicting the Consequences of Hazardous Geologic Processes

San Mateo County, California adjoining San Francisco has several hazardous geologic processes, including movement of the San Andreas fault and associated ground failures, landsliding, flooding, and coastal erosion. In the early 1970’s, county planners requested help from the U.S. Geological Survey in determining the location and severity of the most hazardous processes, and in preparing maps that would help them deal with the problems. Maps were prepared showing the location of fault zones and the most recently active fault traces, areas subject to flooding, and an inventory of past and recently active landslides. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques were used to make a map of landslide susceptibility, but the analysis was done by hand.
Post-World War Disappointment

In August 1944, about the time Brazilian troops were being sent to Europe, the United States began negotiating the basis of post-war collaboration. The Brazilians were mainly concerned with having a superior military position over Argentina. Such a goal could be achieved by continuing the alliance with the Americans. The two militaries held detailed staff discussions about the structures, armaments and equipping, stationing, missions, and cooperative arrangements with the Brazilian armed forces after the war. The Americans believed that “Brazil was willing and anxious to become a southern partner of the United States in a military sense.” The Brazilian navy hoped to obtain capital ships that would make it unquestionably the strongest navy in South America. The air force too was to be significantly expanded. The new American Ambassador Adolf A. Berle was a negative voice analyzing the reports of the staff discussions. This was the crucial moment in setting the tone of post-war relations. What the Brazilians took as American promises would not be kept. Roosevelt’s death in April 1945 created a huge gap in Brazilian hopes and dreams regarding American assistance. The American military was divided between supporters of Brazil first and those who favored equal treatment for all of Latin America. Brazil’s decision not to participate in the European occupation likely hurt its standing among the allies and its post-war status. Brazil became involved in the Pacific War but only diplomatically and historians have paid slight attention to the matter. Likely, the military overthrow of Getulio Vargas in October 1945 deflected historians from analysis of relations between the two countries. The actions of Ambassador Berle have been remembered as American intervention in Brazil’s internal affairs.
In Situ Simulation to Improve Management of In-Hospital Strokes: Unexpected Challenges

Abstract Background In-hospital strokes are life-threatening emergencies that require prompt and skillful treatment to prevent poor patient outcomes. Currently, however, a national gap in care exists for patients who experience an in-hospital stroke. Methods Multidisciplinary team training programs have been shown to effectively improve health care provider skills for management of emergency situations, and in situ simulation (ISS) has effectively improved individual, team, and organizational learning. Results However, ISS can be challenging to execute in the actual inpatient environment when hospital census is high. Conclusion This discussion focuses on the challenges and benefits of ISS mock in-hospital stroke codes, as well as of alternative methods for improving the management of acute in-hospital strokes.
Electrostatically Enhanced Phosphoric Acids and Their Applications in Asymmetric Friedel–Crafts Alkylations

A series of electrostatically enhanced phosphoric acid catalysts were synthesized and studied. These compounds possess two positively charged N-octylpyridinium or triarylphosphonium ion centers at the 3,3'-positions of the (R)-BINOL backbone to enhance reactivity and provide needed steric bulk for enantioselective transformations. Catalytic activities for Friedel-Crafts alkylations of indoles with trans-β-nitrostyrenes were studied. Both types of catalysts accelerate reaction conversions relative to noncharged analogues, and good enantioselectivities up to 90% ee are observed with the phosphonium-ion-tagged phosphoric acids. This transformation also can be scaled up to synthetically useful amounts, affording >250 mg of product without losing any reactivity or selectivity.
Tumours pick the path to cancer inflammation.

Tumours elicit an immune attack that can stifle their growth, but they can also recruit inflammatory immune cells that suppress this response. A new study identifies distinct immune subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer with two different inflammatory cell types: macrophages or neutrophils. The immune subtype dictates the response to immunotherapy.
Pediatric Pedestrian Facial Fracture Patterns and Management Following Motor Vehicle Collisions.

Purpose Pedestrian trauma due to motor vehicle crashes can be especially destructive to the pediatric population as the facial skeleton is immature and developing. Almost half of crashes resulting in pedestrian death involved alcohol consumption, and children are often victims of irresponsible driving. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of facial fractures in this patient population in order to analyze management strategies that optimize functional recovery. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed for all facial fractures resulting from motor vehicle collisions with pedestrians in the pediatric population at a level 1 trauma center in an urban environment (University Hospital in Newark, NJ). Patient demographics were collected, as well as location of fractures, concomitant injuries, and surgical management strategies. Results During the time period examined, 55 patients were identified as 18 years of age or younger and having sustained a facial fracture as the result of being struck by a motor vehicle. The mean age was 11.3 (range 1-18) years, with a male predominance of 69.0%. There were a total of 125 fractures identified on radiologic imaging via CT or X-ray. The most common fractures were those of the orbit (20.0%), mandible (19.2%), and nasal bone (10.4%). The mean Glasgow Coma Scale on arrival was 12.1 (range 4-15). Fifteen patients were intubated on, or prior to, arrival to the trauma bay. The most common concomitant injuries were intracranial hemorrhage, long bone fractures, and cervical spine fractures. The mean operative time was 216.9 (range 63-515) minutes. Surgery was required in 36 patients, with most undergoing open reduction and internal fixation with titanium plates and screws. Two patients required resorbable plates, and one required Medpor implants. The mean hospital length of stay was 9.9 (range 1-59) days. Two patients expired. Conclusions There is currently a dearth of literature regarding the management and patterns of injury for pediatric pedestrian injuries due to motor vehicle collisions. The impact of these injuries can be devastating with concomitant life-threatening complications, and may influence the future development of the facial skeleton after healing of the bone and soft tissue. The authors hope this study can provide insight and further investigation regarding prevention and management.
A Comparative Study of Different CNN Encoders for Monocular Depth Prediction

Depth estimation of an observed scene is an important task for many domains such as mobile robotics, autonomous driving, and augmented reality. Traditionally, specialized sensors such as stereo cameras and structured light (RGB-D) ones are used to obtain depth along with color information of the environment. However, extending typical monocular cameras with the ability to infer depth information is an attractive solution. In this paper, we will demonstrate a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) in an encoder-decoder architecture to perform monocular depth prediction. Additionally, we will evaluate and compare different CNN encoders’ performance.
Oil recovery from fractured porous media with/without initial water saturation by using 3-pentanone and its aqueous solution

Abstract This paper presents an application of 3-pentanone, a symmetric dialkyl ketone, to enhance the water imbibition in coreflooding of fractured carbonate cores. 3-Pentanone was tested in two ways: 1.1- wt% 3-pentanone solution in reservoir brine (3pRB) and pure 3-pentanone (3p) as a miscible solvent. It was presented previously that 3p is a mutual solvent for oil and water, and can rapidly change the rock wettability to strongly water-wet with its electron-rich oxygen atom through the oil and water phases. The main objective of this research is to investigate how the initial water saturation (Swi) in the matrix affects the imbibition of 3pRB or 3p from the fracture and the resulting recovery of oil from the matrix. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of material balance (mass and volume) with simplifying assumptions. This analysis enabled to estimate how much of the injected components were imbibed into the surrounding matrices from the fracture and the relative contribution of the injected components to displacing oil in the matrix. Results for the 3pRB and 3p injections indicate collectively that 3-pentanone was more effective in enhancing oil recovery when an aqueous phase was initially present in the matrix.
Health Factors as Potential Mediators of the Longitudinal Effect of Loneliness on General Cognitive Ability

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE Higher levels of loneliness in older adulthood predict cognitive decline, but research on mediating mechanisms is sparse. We examine multisystemic physiological risk, functional ability, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and social participation as mediating processes for the association between loneliness and general cognitive ability over a 10-year follow-up in an older adult sample. METHODS Three waves of data from 3,005 individuals (mean intake age: 69.30 (SD: 7.85) years; female = 51.61%) recruited during Wave 1 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project were used to test whether hypothesized mediators collected at the 5-year follow-up explained effects of baseline loneliness on 10-year general cognitive ability. RESULTS The relationship between baseline loneliness and 10-year general cognitive ability was not mediated by multisystemic physiological risk. Functional ability (b = −0.24, SE = 0.05, p DISCUSSION Loneliness may influence cognitive ability indirectly, signaling waning physical and psychiatric health more proximally correlated with cognitive ability. These mechanisms may serve as targets of intervention for cognitive maintenance in lonely older adults.
Peer Victimization and Mental Health Outcomes for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Youth: A Latent Class Analysis.

Background Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) adolescents are at increased risk of poor mental health due to minority stress, a chronic stress associated discrimination, social rejection, and victimization brought on by prejudicial attitudes towards LGBQ individuals. To improve understanding of the differential impact of various kinds of victimization on mental health outcomes for LGBQ adolescents, we analyzed data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for victimization and mental health symptom clusters and associations high school youth and compared by sexual orientation and gender. Methods Separate Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify profiles of both victimization and mental health symptoms for participants (N = 15,624). Subsequently, stratified weighted logistic regression models were used on an eligible analytic sample of 11,458 to assess differences in the association of victimization and mental health between LGBQ and heterosexual high school students. Results In each LCA, participants were assigned to one of 3 classes for victimization (minimal, 81.3%; bullying, 12.5%; or physical/sexual violence, 6.2%) and 1 of 2 classes for mental health symptoms (minimal, 81.2%; severe, 18.8%). LGBQ participants were overrepresented in physical/sexual violence and bullying victimization profiles. Both bullying and physical/sexual violence profiles were associated with almost 5 times the odds of endorsing severe mental health symptoms. Conclusions This study expands our understanding of the relationship between types and effect of peer victimization for LGBQ and heterosexual youth with implications for school health and prevention efforts through increased positive school climate for LGBQ students.