cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cognition, Behavior, and Respiratory Function in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Objective. To examine the relationship between respiratory functioning and neuropsychological performance, mood, and frontal-lobe-mediated behaviors in ALS patients. Methods. Forty-four patients with probable or definite ALS (El Escorial criteria) completed comprehensive pulmonary and neuropsychological assessments as part of their baseline neurological evaluation. Based on their full vital respiratory capacity, 24 and 20 patients were classified as having impaired or intact respiration, respectively. Results. Comparable demographic characteristics, neuropsychological performance, and self-reported mood symptoms were found between ALS patients with intact versus impaired respiration. However, more respiratory-impaired patients were reported by their caregivers as having clinically significant impairments in frontal-lobe-mediated behaviors. Nevertheless, declines in behavior were evidenced from pre- to post-ALS symptom onset for both respiratory groups, and exploratory analyses revealed greater executive functioning deficits in patients with bulbar versus limb onset as well as respiratory-impaired patients not receiving pulmonary interventions versus those utilizing such interventions at the time of testing. Conclusions. Results suggest that the respiratory insufficiency of ALS patients may potentially produce irreversible deficits in executive functioning; yet once treated, impairments in more basic cognitive abilities may be less evident.
Nuclear aberrations of cells of the human buccal mucosa. A cytology study.

Abstract The incidence and type of nuclear aberrations found in Papanicolaou smears of the buccal mucosa of anaemic patients was investigated. The epithelial nuclei of the buccal mucosa of 25 anaemic individuals were compared with the smears of 25 controls. No correlation was found between the diagnosis of anaemia and the number or type of nuclear aberrations. Nuclear aberrations were found to occur consistently as to type and frequency in any one individual.
Spatial patterning in nocturnal prosimians: a review of methods and relevance to studies of sociality.

Patterns of home range overlap between individuals are key parameters used in discussions of sociality in nocturnal prosimians. Despite the importance of space use variables in defining social structure in nocturnal prosimians, researchers have yet to reach a consensus concerning the most reliable techniques for measuring patterns of home range use. In this paper, we review the methods used in 27 studies of nocturnal prosimian ranging behavior published since 1977. We discuss the usefulness and limitations of the various methods of data collection (radio tracking, trap mark, and identification of sleeping site locations) and data analysis (minimum convex polygon method, minimum concave polygon method, and quadrat analysis) used in these studies. We conclude that the most effective method for gathering data on individual movements and social interactions is direct observation of individual radio tagged animals during all-night follows. In those cases where radio tracking and/or all-night follows are not possible, trap mark techniques can be used, although they tend to greatly underestimate home range size. We recommend that data collected on nocturnal prosimian ranging behavior be analyzed using the minimum convex polygon method, quadrat analysis, and, perhaps, one other of the more mathematically sophisticated techniques popular in studies of non-primate mammals. Finally, we urge researchers to employ standardized methods of data collection and data analysis in future studies of range use in nocturnal prosimians. Without standardization of methods, quantitative comparisons of the findings from different studies are biologically meaningless and prevent cross-species comparisons of space use and its relation to sociality. Am. J. Primatol. 51:3–19, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Social Interaction and L2 Classroom Discourse

Second language (L2) classroom discourse (CD) refers to the interactional practices employed in teaching language in instructed learning contexts. Since language is both the medium and the content, the teacher plays a central role in the L2 classroom context (Walsh, 2006). Specifically, the teacher uses language to provide comprehensible input, model appropriate pragmatic competence, and effectively facilitate student participation. In his book, Olcay Sert claims it is possible to understand the pedagogical and epistemic phenomena of L2 classroom interaction by applying micro-analytic research methods; therefore, he sets out to familiarize readers with Conversation Analysis (CA) and show its usefulness in studying L2 classroom discourse. This is done by first providing an overview of the framework, followed by utilizing it to analyze his data set of 16 hours of video-recordings from two English language classrooms in Luxembourg.
Dharma, Maryada, and Law in Early British Malabar: Remarks on Words for 'Law' in the Tellicherry Records

This article analyzes the key legal vocabulary contained in the Tellicherry Records, a set of official correspondence between British officials and their colonial subjects in the region of South India called Malabar (now Kerala) from 1796-1800. More than 1500 records are preserved in Malayalam, the language of the region. Three key terms - kalpana, maryada, nyayam - are in focus and provide insight into the legal consciousness of Kerala (and perhaps India) at the moment of transition to colonial rule.
Intermittent enhancement in chronic nodular calcified neurocysticercosis

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the most common cause of new onset seizures and epilepsy in the developing and tropical world. There has been a marked increase in domestic cases of diseases traditionally associated with developing countries, and now NCC should be high on a radiologist's differential diagnosis list for a patient with seizures. Radiologic findings of NCC correlate with the parasite's life cycle within the host. The calcified granulomas signify the final stage (nodular calcified) as nonenhancing punctate calcifications on imaging and are traditionally known to remain without enhancement. Here we describe a unique case of intermittent enhancement of a cortical calcified nodule secondary to NCC that was followed for over 10 years. Radiologists must challenge the traditionally accepted progression of imaging findings and accept that calcified nodules of chronic NCC may intermittently enhance.
Abstract 130: Childhood and adolescent body size and risk of fatal breast cancer.

Background: Body size early in life is inversely associated with incidence of pre and postmenopausal breast cancer, but its relationship with fatal breast cancer is unclear. We prospectively examined the association between childhood and adolescent body size and risk of fatal breast cancer. Methods: Study participants include 76,261 women from Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and 112,388 from Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II). Self-reported body size at ages 5, 10 and 20 years was assessed with a validated 9-figure drawing in 1988 (NHS) and 1989 (NHSII). The outcome was defined as invasive breast cancer that led to breast cancer death. Cause of death was obtained from death certificates. We observed 922 cases of incident fatal breast cancer over 20 years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and confidence intervals (CI) for body size at each age, average childhood (ages 5 & 10) and adolescent (ages 10 & 20) body size, and change in body size up to age 20. Fatal and non-fatal cases were censored at the date of diagnosis. Results: Women who were largest at age 5 were 32% less likely to develop fatal breast cancer as compared to women that were leanest (HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.91; p-trend 0.15) or fatal vs. non-fatal (p-heterogeneity >0.20). Conclusion: Larger body size at ages 5, 10 and 20 is associated with lower risk of fatal breast cancer in adulthood independent of current BMI. The association does not appear to be driven by estrogen-related mechanisms. Citation Format: Erica T. Warner, A. Heather Eliassen, Wendy Y. Chen, Michelle D. Holmes, Walter C. Willett, Rulla M. Tamimi. Childhood and adolescent body size and risk of fatal breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 130. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-130
State Estimation Techniques for Axial Piston Pump Health Monitoring

Catastrophic failures of hydraulic pumps can lead to significant machine downtime. In the mining and quarry sector this can lead to losses in the tens of thousands of dollars per hour. Predicting pump failures before they occur could lead to substantial savings for equipment owners. This work focuses on developing a pump health strategy using physics-based models of a load sense steering system typically found on off-highway machines. State observers are developed that estimate pump swashplate position in order to determine a theoretical pump flow. Pump efficiency is predicted using actual flow estimates based on measured cylinder velocities and compared to the estimated theoretical pump flow. The typical Kalman filter (KF) is implemented and compared to that of a Sequential Monte Carlo method, the Particle Filter. Observability is examined to determine the feasibility of the KF. The Particle Filter algorithm is considered for its ability to deal nicely with non-linear models with non-Gaussian noise terms. Results show that the system is observable using a limited number of measurements, for example, only pressure measurements. The two methods of estimating states give comparable results when applied to the simulated model. A leakage fault is introduced to the system. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is used to estimate volumetric efficiency with the unknown change in leakage coefficient using state and parameter estimation. The KF was found to be unable to accurately estimate the changes in volumetric efficiency with the leakage.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Tunneling Spectroscopy of short atomic chains.

In this paper we present results on transmission-energy and current-voltage curves for a Scanning Tunneling Microscopy probe in the presence of an atomic chain, operating in spectroscopy mode. We compare the results with independently calculated density of sates. Finally, we propose algorithms to process this experimental information to obtain chemical specificity and position of impurities in the chain.
Temporal and Spatial Distribution of the Greenbug (Homoptera: Aphididae) on Sorghum in Relation to Water Stress

Greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), populations differed in both distribution on the plant and reproduction when reared on water-stressed and well-watered sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, in an outdoor, caged-plant study. Greenbug populations on water-stressed plants were distributed toward the top of the plant, with 28.0% of the population found above midplant, 57.3% at midplant, and 14.7% below midplant. Populations on well-watered plants had a downward distribution, with 19.3% found above midplant, 33.6% at midplant, and 47.1% below midplant. Greenbug reproduction was reduced on water-stressed plants compared with populations on well-watered plants when the water potential of the stressed plants fell below −0.3 MPa. No evidence was found that greenbugs modified or maintained specific leaf water and osmotic potentials.
Molecular Mechanism of Insulin Resistance in Offspring of Obese Fathers

Parental diet and increased BMI are correlated with abnormal metabolic profile of offspring, often as a result of inherited differences in epigenetic marks. Much work has been done to investigate the effect of maternal metabolic abnormalities, such as increased BMI, or protein restriction with pregnancy, on offspring. However fewer studies have been done to investigate the effect of paternal metabolic status on offspring metabolism and disease susceptibility. Hypothesis of our study is insulin resistance developed in offspring is affected by paternal obesity via epigenetic route. Our present goals are 1) to establish the correlation between the paternal obesity induced by high fat diet (HFD) and insulin resistance in offspring; and 2) to investigate the synthesis and trafficking of GLUT4, as this insulin responsive glucose transporter greatly affects the glucose uptake by muscle and adipose cells. To achieve our objectives, male C57B/6 mice were placed on either LFD (Gr1) or HFD (Gr2) for 12 weeks, and th...
Purge-and-trap gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of benzene in denture adhesives

A purge-and-trap gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric procedure is presented for determination of trace levels of benzene in denture adhesives and their raw materials. The limit of quantitation is 10 ppb, reproducibility is +/- 10%, and recoveries of d6-benzene are 70-85%. Results of a nationwide survey of 109 finished products and their raw materials representing 32 brand name products from 17 manufacturers are reported.
Effect of Nanoclay on Natural Fiber/Polymer Composites

Nanoclays play a significant role to improve composite performance by enhancing their properties such as thermal stability, mechanical strength, and barrier properties. Some of the important parameters contribute most to modify the properties of a variety of composites include the content, shape, size, and the affinity towards matrix material. With their enhanced performance, nanoclay filled polymer matrix based nanocomposites have drawn much attention in the materials industry. In this book chapter, the authors provide an overview of the effect of nanoclay on natural fiber/polymer composites, including the rheological properties, mechanical and thermal properties, morphological and structural properties, modeling of mechanical and rheological properties of nanoclay on natural fiber/polymer composites.
Human herpesvirus multiplex ddPCR detection in brain tissue from low- and high-grade astrocytoma cases and controls.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a fatal CNS malignancy, representing 50 % of all gliomas with approximately 12–18 months survival time after initial diagnosis. Recently, the human herpesvirus cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been suggested to have an oncogenic role, yet this association remains controversial. In addition, human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have also been associated with low-grade gliomas, but few studies have examined HHV-6 and EBV in glioblastomas. Droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is a highly precise diagnostic tool that enables the absolute quantification of target DNA. This study examines the association between multiple human herpesviruses and astrocytomas. This study analyzed 112 brain tissue specimens, including 45 glioblastoma, 12 astrocytoma grade III, 2 astrocytoma grade II, 4 astrocytoma grade I, and 49 controls. All brain tissue samples were de-identified and pathologically confirmed. Each tissue block was sectioned for DNA extraction and CMV, EBV, HHV-6A and HHV-6B, and a cellular housekeeping gene were amplified by ddPCR. Neither CMV nor HHV-6A were detected in any of the astrocytoma samples. However, HHV-6B (p = 0.147) and EBV (p = 0.049) had a higher positivity frequency in the GBM compared to the controls. The undetectable CMV DNA in the astrocytoma cohort does not support the observation of an increased prevalence of CMV DNA in GBM, as reported in other studies. EBV has a significantly higher positivity in the GBM cohort compared to the controls, while HHV-6B has a higher but not statistically significant positivity in the case cohort. Whether these viruses play an oncogenic role in GBM remains to be further investigated.
SparkGIS: Efficient Comparison and Evaluation of Algorithm Results in Tissue Image Analysis Studies

Algorithm evaluation provides a means to characterize variability across image analysis algorithms, validate algorithms by comparison of multiple results, and facilitate algorithm sensitivity studies. The sizes of images and analysis results in pathology image analysis pose significant challenges in algorithm evaluation. We present SparkGIS, a distributed, in-memory spatial data processing framework to query, retrieve, and compare large volumes of analytical image result data for algorithm evaluation. Our approach combines the in-memory distributed processing capabilities of Apache Spark and the efficient spatial query processing of Hadoop-GIS. The experimental evaluation of SparkGIS for heatmap computations used to compare nucleus segmentation results from multiple images and analysis runs shows that SparkGIS is efficient and scalable, enabling algorithm evaluation and algorithm sensitivity studies on large datasets.
Financing Sports Facilities

Introduction There is a wide array of sports facilities: bowling alleys, golf courses, tennis courts, multiuse athletic fields, parks, public school facilities, and, of course, the professional venues. Some of these facilities are privately financed, and many others are publicly financed. In the vast majority of cases, privately owned facilities are privately funded. For example, privately owned bowling alleys, golf courses, racquetball courts, health and fitness centers, and tennis clubs are financed by the owners of those facilities with private debt and equity. Similarly, governmentally owned facilities are publicly funded. For example, municipal golf courses, community swimming pools, high school athletic facilities, and parks are publicly financed through bonds and taxes. This, of course, makes perfect sense: facilities for private use are privately owned and privately financed, and those for public use are governmentally owned and publicly financed. When it comes to professional team sports, however, we often have public ownership and private use. For the most part, the stadium, ballpark, or arena is at least partially funded by local and/or state government, which then leases the facility to the professional club on very favorable terms. These “sweetheart” deals are designed to attract pro teams to a city and to keep them there. In this chapter, we begin with some principles of sound investment decisions. We examine the case for public subsidies of privately owned facilities and explore some political realities. Then we turn our attention to the nature and extent of public funding for the benefit of professional clubs. We also examine some issues of fairness as they relate to paying for sports facilities that are used by few people in the community that is paying for them. Along the way, we analyze the ways in which state and local governments can raise the money necessary to pay for sports facilities. As we will see, local governments often use eminent domain to acquire the needed land, and that imposes added costs on some members of the community.
Establishing Logistics Service Strategies That Increase Sales

While the linkage between logistics performance and firm performance has received attention in the literature, typically firm performance is measured as customer satisfaction and customer loyalty rather than share of business or other measures that translate into a financial benefit. Thus logistics executives continue to be judged primarily on cost and asset reductions. Only one study has documented how logistics performance affects customer satisfaction and the percentage of business allocated to the suppliers as well as the differences in outcomes between firms identified as primary and secondary suppliers (Leuschner et al. 2012). In this research, we use samples in the motion picture and video production industry, and the plastic materials and resins industry to investigate the impact of the Marketing Mix on customer satisfaction and share of business. Our results differ from Leuschner et al. (2012) regarding the impact of product, price, and promotion on customer satisfaction, but we confirm the impact of logistics performance on customer satisfaction and the relationship between customer satisfaction and share of business for primary and secondary suppliers combined. Finally, we provide a framework to identify logistics service strategies based on a customer's current profitability, potential growth, and the share of a customer's purchases obtained.
Responsibility for Patients after the Handoff

Even if handoffs are skillfully done, a hospital culture that forbids an off-duty attending physician from commenting on the care of a patient will jeopardize the quality of care.
Morphologic and structural analysis of material-tissue interfaces relevant to dental reconstruction

Abstract Adhesive bonding to the tooth may be more difficult than anticipated, due to the different morphology and structure of dentin and enamel at various locations within the tooth cavity preparation. Bonding to enamel is the “gold standard” when the adhesive is bonded to the ends of enamel rods. Adhesive bonding to the ends of enamel rods yields greater adhesive bond strengths than bonding to the sides of the enamel rods. Successful adhesive bonding to enamel located at the cervical or gingival cavosurface margin of class II resin composite preparations is more difficult than bonding to enamel in the occlusal third of the tooth preparation. Variables that can impact the bond to the dentin include the orientation of the dentin tubules. For example, bonding to the sides of the dentin tubules, which are arranged in a parallel direction, will yield greater adhesive bond strengths when compared with bonding to dentin, which is oriented in a direction perpendicular to the exposed dentin tubules. The perpendicular orientation is found at the gingival wall of class II resin composite preparations. This chapter will address the morphological and structural differences of dentin and enamel within the cavity preparation and the effect that these differences have when restoring a tooth. These morphologic and structural differences may impact the quality of the adhesive bond formed at the composite/tooth interface, and indeed, results from clinical studies have indicated that the gingival margin is particularly vulnerable to failure. Understanding the morphologic and structural differences in the tooth and the impact of these differences on the adhesive bond offers the dentist insight into variables that must be considered when restoring teeth with adhesive and resin composite materials.
Recovering Spheres from 3D Point Data

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is involved in developing standard protocols for the performance evaluation of 3D imaging systems, which include laser scanners and LADARs (laser detection and ranging). A LADAR is an optical device that typically yields voluminous 3D "point clouds" by scanning scenes. In many applications, a model of an object which is present in the scene has been specified, and the task amounts to recovering this object from scan data. Specifically, the recovery of spheres from point clouds will be addressed, aiming at estimating the location of their centers and, if not known beforehand, their radii. This information can be used, for instance, to "register "LADAR data to a specified coordinate frame. Two experiments recovering spheres based on best-fitting data points are reported. Sphere fitting based on orthogonal least squares is compared to a novel approach, minimizing instead the squares of range errors incurred in the direction of the scan.
Treatment of a chemoresistant neuroblastoma cell line with the antimalarial ozonide OZ513

Evaluate the anti-tumor activity of ozonide antimalarials using a chemoresistant neuroblastoma cell line, BE (2)-c. The activity of 12 ozonides, artemisinin, and two semisynthetic artemisinins were tested for activity against two neuroblastoma cell-lines (BE (2)-c and IMR-32) and the Ewing’s Sarcoma cell line A673 in an MTT viability assay. Time course data indicated that peak effect was seen 18 h after the start of treatment thus 18 h pre-treatment was used for all subsequent experiments. The most active ozonide (OZ513) was assessed in a propidium iodide cell cycle flow cytometry analysis which measured cell cycle transit and apoptosis. Metabolic effects of OZ513 in BE (2)-c cells was evaluated. Western blots for the apoptotic proteins cleaved capase-3 and cleaved PARP, the highly amplified oncogene MYCN, and the cell cycle regulator CyclinD1, were performed. These in-vitro experiments were followed by an in-vivo experiment in which NOD-scid gamma immunodeficient mice were injected subcutaneously with 1 × 106 BE (2)-c cells followed by immediate treatment with 50–100 mg/kg/day doses of OZ513 administered IP three times per week out to 23 days after injection of tumor. Incidence of tumor development, time to tumor development, and rate of tumor growth were assessed in DMSO treated controls (N = 6), and OZ513 treated mice (N = 5). It was confirmed that five commonly used chemotherapy drugs had no cytotoxic activity in BE (2)-c cells. Six of 12 ozonides tested were active in-vitro at concentrations achievable in vivo with OZ513 being most active (IC50 = 0.5 mcg/ml). OZ513 activity was confirmed in IMR-32 and A673 cells. The Ao peak on cell-cycle analysis was increased after treatment with OZ513 in a concentration dependent fashion which when coupled with results from western blot analysis which showed an increase in cleaved capase-3 and cleaved PARP supported an increase in apoptosis. There was a concentration dependent decline in the MYCN and a cyclinD1 protein indicative of anti-proliferative activity and cell cycle disruption. OXPHOS metabolism was unaffected by OZ513 treatment while glycolysis was increased. There was a significant delay in time to tumor development in mice treated with OZ513 and a decline in the rate of tumor growth. The antimalarial ozonide OZ513 has effective in-vitro and in-vivo activity against a pleiotropic drug resistant neuroblastoma cell-line. Treatment with OZ513 increased apoptotic markers and glycolysis with a decline in the MYCN oncogene and the cell cycle regulator cyclinD1. These effects suggest adaptation to cellular stress by mechanism which remain unclear.
Glottic Closing Force Versus Laryngeal Adductory Pressure in the Canine Larynx.

Introduction:The strength of glottic closure with recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) stimulation has been indirectly measured experimentally by determining the squeezing pressure on a balloon inserted between the vocal folds, termed laryngeal adductory pressure (LAP). In this study, we sought to measure glottic closing force (GCF) directly and compare these results to LAP measures obtained with identical stimulation parameters.Methods:In canines, a method for measuring GCF was developed in which a suture was looped through a lateral thyrotomy hole, around the vocal process and back, then attached to a force gauge. The RLN was maximally stimulated and GCF recorded. The LAP was then measured as previously described, using the same stimuli. This process was repeated at 9 stimulation frequencies in 10-Hz intervals from 20 to 100 Hz. The GCF and LAP were compared using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (PCC).Results:Both sides were measured in 16 dogs, resulting in 32 data sets. The LAP measures were obtained at ...
The Re-birth of Soviet Criminal Law in Post-Soviet Russia

Unlike some other Soviet Codes, first acts of the Bolshevist Criminal law were not modeled after the pre-revolutionary imperial codes. In the early Soviet criminal legislation, key juridical categories were replaced by sociological categories. The Marxist-Leninist principle of supremacy of interests of the state over the interests of an individual was envisaged on the legislative level and became a fundamental principle of the Soviet criminal law: crimes against the state were made the gravest ones, and the punishment for these crimes was much heavier than for all other crimes. The principle of analogy allowed criminal prosecution even in the cases, where the offence was not stipulated in the Criminal Code. In 1930s, the trend towards criminal repression intensified. Big changes, including the restoration of the traditional vocabulary of criminal law, the limitation of the doctrine of analogy, the careful analysis of crime in terms of subject and object, took place in the Soviet criminal legislation in 1960, when the new Criminal Code of the RSFSR was adopted. 1990s saw the long-awaited humanization and modernization of Russian criminal law, but situation started to change after the turn of the millennium. Certain cases as well as recently passed pieces of the Russian legislation show the sings of old Soviet attitudes in contemporary Russian criminal law and law enforcement.
An Analysis of Automated Visual Analysis Classification: Interactive Visualization Task Inference of Cancer Genomics Domain Experts

We show how mouse interaction log classification can help visualization toolsmiths understand how their tools are used “in the wild” through an evaluation of MAGI - a cancer genomics visualization tool. Our primary contribution is an evaluation of twelve visual analysis task classifiers, which compares predictions to task inferences made by pairs of genomics and visualization experts. Our evaluation uses common classifiers that are accessible to most visualization evaluators: $k$ -nearest neighbors, linear support vector machines, and random forests. By comparing classifier predictions to visual analysis task inferences made by experts, we show that simple automated task classification can have up to 73 percent accuracy and can separate meaningful logs from “junk” logs with up to 91 percent accuracy. Our second contribution is an exploration of common MAGI interaction trends using classification predictions, which expands current knowledge about ecological cancer genomics visualization tasks. Our third contribution is a discussion of how automated task classification can inform iterative tool design. These contributions suggest that mouse interaction log analysis is a viable method for (1) evaluating task requirements of client-side-focused tools, (2) allowing researchers to study experts on larger scales than is typically possible with in-lab observation, and (3) highlighting potential tool evaluation bias.
Structural characterization of the bent metallocenes, [C5H3(SiMe3)2]2Sm and [C5H3(CMe3)2]2Ln (Ln = Eu, Sm), and the mono(cyclopentadienyl) tetraphenylborate complex, [C5H3(CMe3)2]Eu(μ-η6:η1-Ph)2BPh2

Abstract Efforts to generate Ln2+ precursors suitable for reduction to Ln1+ compounds have provided the X-ray crystal structures of Cp″2Sm, 1-Sm, and Cptt2Ln, 2-Ln [Ln = Eu, Sm; Cp″ = C5H3(SiMe3)2; Cptt = C5H3(CMe3)2], allowing direct comparisons of these similar cyclopentadienyl rings in Ln2+ complexes. In the solid state, these complexes exhibit extensive intermolecular interactions. Bridging cyclopentadienyl ligands are found with both types of ligands and the Cp″ ligand engages in silyl-methyl-metal interactions. The compounds display bent metallocene structures with (ring centroid)–Ln–(ring centroid) angles ranging from 110.0° to 147.9°. Complex 2-Eu reacts with [HNEt3][BPh4] to form the mono(cyclopentadienyl) tetraphenylborate complex, (η5-Cptt)Eu(μ-η6:η1-Ph)2BPh2, 3-Eu, in which the Eu2+ ion is coordinated by three carbocyclic ligands in a nearly trigonal planar geometry.
Opportunistic Scheduling with Deadline Constraints in Wireless Networks

The main idea of opportunistic scheduling in wireless networks is to exploit the temporal and/or spatial variations of the wireless channel by transmitting more data when the channel between the sender and receiver is in a “good” state, and less data when the channel is in a “bad” state. Doing so increases system throughput and reduces total energy consumption. However, in such opportunistic transmission scheduling problems, it is often the case that the transmission scheduler has competing Quality of Service (QoS) interests. In this chapter, we focus on delay-sensitive applications. For example, in a multimedia streaming application, if packets do not arrive before a certain deadline, the end user may experience playout interruptions or poor playout quality. After a brief introduction to opportunistic scheduling in wireless networks, we examine stochastic modeling issues common to such applications, such as ways to model the wireless channel, the data, the system performance objectives, and the system resource constraints. We then review the formulations of a few key stochastic optimization problems featuring deadline constraints, and present the structures of their optimal transmission scheduling policies. We elucidate the role of the deadline constraints by comparing these problems in dierent ways. Finally, we relate these wireless communication problems to models from inventory theory.
Standing-wave-decomposition Gaussian process

We propose a standing-wave-decomposition (SWD) approximation to Gaussian process (GP) regression. GP involves a costly matrix inversion operation, which limits applicability to large data analysis. For an input space that can be approximated by a grid and when correlations among data are short ranged, the kernel matrix inversion can be replaced by analytic diagonalization using the SWD. We show that this approach applies to uni- and multidimensional input data, extends to include longer-range correlations, and the grid can be in a latent space and used as inducing points. Through simulations, we show that our approximate method applied to the squared exponential kernel outperforms existing methods in predictive accuracy per unit time in the regime where data are plentiful. Our SWD-GP is recommended for regression analyses where there is a relatively large amount of data and/or there are constraints on computation time.
Vermögensverwaltung mit nachhaltigen Kapitalanlagen – für Pensionskassen eine Erfolg versprechende Strategie

Das gesetzliche wie auch regulatorische Rahmenwerk, welches die Vermogensverwaltung von deutschen Pensionskassen bestimmt, hat sicherzustellen, dass betriebliche Altersvorsorgeeinrichtungen ihre Zahlungsverpflichtungen gegenuber den Beitragsempfangern erfullen konnen. Im Beitrag wird untersucht, wie auf dieser Grundlage nachhaltige Kapitalanlagestrategien integriert werden konnen. Der Autor hat daran seine wissenschaftlichen Analysen zur sog. Performancefragen fokussiert ausgerichtet. Daher kommt seinen Ergebnissen eine besondere praxisrelevante Bedeutung zu. Er kommt auf der Grundlage unterschiedlicher Anlagestrategien und unter Beachtung der vielfaltigen deutschen Regulierungsanforderungen zu keinem Beleg, dass nachhaltige Kapitalanlagen zu einer Verschlechterung des Rendite/Risiko-Ergebnisses fur Pensionskassen fuhren. Aufgrund seiner Erkenntnisse ist sogar eher das Gegenteil der Fall – eine leichte Outperformance durch nachhaltige Kapitalanlagen.
Silicon-on-insulator-based high-voltage, high-temperature integrated circuit gate driver for silicon carbide-based power field effect transistors

Silicon carbide (SiC)-based field effect transistors (FETs) are gaining popularity as switching elements in power electronic circuits designed for high-temperature environments like hybrid electric vehicle, aircraft, well logging, geothermal power generation etc. Like any other power switches, SiC-based power devices also need gate driver circuits to interface them with the logic units. The placement of the gate driver circuit next to the power switch is optimal for minimising system complexity. Successful operation of the gate driver circuit in a harsh environment, especially with minimal or no heat sink and without liquid cooling, can increase the power-to-volume ratio as well as the power-to-weight ratio for power conversion modules such as a DC-DC converter, inverter etc. A silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-based high-voltage, high-temperature integrated circuit (IC) gate driver for SiC power FETs has been designed and fabricated using a commercially available 0.8--m, 2-poly and 3-metal bipolar-complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-double diffused metal oxide semiconductor (DMOS) process. The prototype circuit-s maximum gate drive supply can be 40-V with peak 2.3-A sourcing/sinking current driving capability. Owing to the wide driving range, this gate driver IC can be used to drive a wide variety of SiC FET switches (both normally OFF metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistormore » (MOSFET) and normally ON junction field effect transistor (JFET)). The switching frequency is 20-kHz and the duty cycle can be varied from 0 to 100-. The circuit has been successfully tested with SiC power MOSFETs and JFETs without any heat sink and cooling mechanism. During these tests, SiC switches were kept at room temperature and ambient temperature of the driver circuit was increased to 200-C. The circuit underwent numerous temperature cycles with negligible performance degradation.« less
COMPRESSION OF STEREO VIDEO STREAMS

Direct application of monocular compression schemes to stereo video streams is suboptimal. This is because these techniques do not take advantage of the high correlation between the left and right stereo image pairs. This paper introduces new still and motion stereo compression schemes that are far efficient than monocular compression schemes in compressing stereo image streams. 1. “worldline” borrowed from the field of special relativity, means the path of an object in 4-dimensional space - time. 2. Includes zero time offset 3. Matching for a block of pixels of the right image achieved similarly with appropriate changes. 4. Redundancy defined according to some similarity criterion. 5. Zero offset included.
Glial Fibrillary Acid Protein Immunoglobulin G (GFAP-IgG) Related Myelitis: Characterization and Comparison with Aquaporin-4-IgG Myelitis (S13.006)

Objective: To compare myelitis accompanying GFAP-IgG astrocytopathy to myelitis of aquaporin-4-IgG seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Background: We recently reported GFAP-IgG as a novel biomarker of a meningo-encephalo-myelitis or limited forms thereof. This has since been replicated independently by other investigators in other regions of the world. Both aquaporin-4-IgG seropositive NMOSD and GFAP-IgG can be associated with longitudinally-extensive (≥3 vertebral segments) T2-hyperintense lesions (LETM) on spinal MRI. Design/Methods: We retrospectively identified 14 GFAP-IgG seropositive patients with myelitis seen at Mayo Clinic (2000–2017). GFAP-IgG was detected in serum, CSF or both by tissue-based and cell-based immunofluorescence assays; all 14 were negative for AQP4-IgG. We compared these patients to 41 aquaporin-4-IgG seropositive NMOSD myelitis (by tissue-based immunofluorescence or cell-based assay [fixed or live]); all 41 seronegative for GFAP-IgG. Results: GFAP-IgG myelitis generally presented more insidiously (>6 weeks) than NMOSD (9/14[64%] vs 1/38[3%]; p p On MRI, LETM predominated in both GFAP-IgG (8/11[73%]) and AQP4-IgG (29/33[86%]). T2-signal was often fainter and less well-demarcated in GFAP-IgG myelitis with more frequent conus involvement (7/11[64%] vs 1/24[4%]; p p p Conclusions: In contrast to myelitis with aquaporin-4-IgG seropositive NMOSD, myelitis accompanying GFAP-IgG presents more insidiously and is typically accompanied by meningo-encephalitis manifestations. Disclosure: Dr. Sechi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Morris has nothing to disclose. Dr. McKeon has received research support from Medimmune, Euroimmun, Grifols and Alexion. Dr. Pittock has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hinson has nothing to disclose. Dr. Weinshenker has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Novartis, Alexion, MedImmune, Caladrius Biosciences, Brainstorm Therapeutics. Dr Aksamit has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jolliffe has nothing to disclose. Dr. Zekeridou has nothing to disclose. Dr. Wingerchuk has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Caladrius and MedImmune. Dr Flanagan has nothing to disclose.
Long-term persistence in patients with osteoporosis receiving denosumab in routine practice: 36-month non-interventional, observational study.

Persistence rates over 36 months with denosumab in patients diagnosed with osteoporosis in a real-world setting were examined, along with baseline patient characteristics predictive of persistence. This study represents the longest observational period with denosumab persistence and shows higher persistence rates when compared to bisphosphonates. The study objective was to describe long-term persistence with denosumab among patients treated for osteoporosis in a real-world setting. We also sought to examine patient characteristics predictive of persistence. Lastly, this study attempted to place the results in context by conducting a literature review of published persistence data for denosumab. This retrospective, non-interventional study analyzed 1158 patients from a specialty community private practice to assess patient persistence with denosumab in routine care. Persistence was defined as receiving seven denosumab injections, using an 8-week permissible gap, over 36 months. Non-persistent patients were further investigated retrospectively to identify reasons for discontinuation, when available. Demographic analysis showed a population of 1158 patients with mean age 68.4 years old and baseline T-score − 2.7; nearly half of which experienced a prior osteoporosis-related fracture. In a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, 36-month persistence overall was 50.7%. Net persistence, as defined by receiving seven injections in the allowable time frame, was 64.2% of the cohort. In a multivariate analysis, prior vertebral fractures and recent osteoporosis therapy were associated with higher persistence; age greater than 75 years was associated with non-persistence. Reasons for discontinuation were available in 91.6% of non-persistent patients and categorized to include the ten most common explanations. This study to our knowledge represents the longest continuous observational period providing data on denosumab persistence in a real-world setting. The total persistence noted is quite robust when compared to bisphosphonates and is within the upper range of prior published studies of denosumab with shorter observation periods.
High‐Resolution Photoelectron Imaging of IrB3−: Observation of a π‐Aromatic B3+ Ring Coordinated to a Transition Metal

In a high-resolution photoelectron imaging and theoretical study of the IrB3 - cluster, two isomers were observed experimentally with electron affinities (EAs) of 1.3147(8) and 1.937(4) eV. Quantum calculations revealed two nearly degenerate isomers competing for the global minimum, both with a B3 ring coordinated with the Ir atom. The isomer with the higher EA consists of a B3 ring with a bridge-bonded Ir atom (Cs , 2 A'), and the second isomer features a tetrahedral structure (C3v , 2 A1 ). The neutral tetrahedral structure was predicted to be considerably more stable than all other isomers. Chemical bonding analysis showed that the neutral C3v isomer involves significant covalent Ir-B bonding and weak ionic bonding with charge transfer from B3 to Ir, and can be viewed as an Ir-(η3 -B3 + ) complex. This study provides the first example of a boron-to-metal charge-transfer complex and evidence of a π-aromatic B3 + ring coordinated to a transition metal.
Adjö — My Patient’s Prolonged Good-Bye

Adjo “Do you know how to say au revoir in Swedish?” the patient asks. Smiling, the physician pretends she’s answering for the first time. She can’t help but compare the life of this lonely 95-year-...
Biomarkers of Infection and Inflammation

Biomarkers, or biological markers, have been tested in the clinical laboratory for decades. More recently, there has been a surge in research studies aimed at identifying biomarkers of infection and inflammation. One of the foremost motivators in this expansion of research is the quest to find ideal biomarkers for sepsis. Traditional, yet still relevant, laboratory markers of infection and inflammation consist of the white blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein. Newer biomarkers that are currently available in the clinical laboratory and used for the evaluation of sepsis include lactate and procalcitonin, while two promising emergent biomarkers for the evaluation of sepsis, pentraxin 3 and presepsin, are presented. Beyond sepsis, promising emergent biomarkers for chronic wound infections, pneumonia, and invasive fungal infections are also discussed.
2.03 – Sensory Memory

Sensory memory is a mental representation of how environmental events look, sound, feel, smell and taste. It includes a long-term component useful for such activities as recognizing a color or a familiar voice. However, most vivid details of sensory memory seem to fade quickly. Based on a long history of research, this chapter examines defining characteristics of sensory memory, reasons to study it, techniques to examine it, and theories of sensory memory forgetting. This memory is especially important for a scientific understanding of consciousness, for an understanding of individual differences, and as a control in understanding conceptual aspects of memory.
Making Sense of Oversensing

A 55-year-old woman with a single chamber pacemaker presents to clinic for her 1-month post-implant visit. She has a history of coronary artery disease and presented to an outside facility with complete heart block 5 weeks ago in the setting of an acute coronary syndrome. Her escape rhythm at the time consisted of an accelerated junctional rhythm at 65 bpm. She underwent a four vessel coronary artery bypass grafting with implantation of a 4951 RV epicardial pacing lead and Medtronic Sigma™ single-chamber pacemaker generator. She reports persistent exercise intolerance despite an uneventful post-op course and compliance with cardiac rehabilitation. Testing reveals almost no ventricular paced events and shows primarily ventricular sensed events in a wide spectrum of rates up to 130 bpm. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.
Bone metastasis in extremity soft tissue sarcomas: risk factors and survival analysis using the SEER registry

While lung is the most common site of metastasis, bone metastasis of soft tissue sarcoma is a part of the natural history affecting the prognosis of these patients. To date, no studies have analyzed the histologic subtypes more likely to metastasize to bone, the risk factors for bone metastasis at initial presentation, or the effect that bone metastasis has on the survival of these patients. Patients were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database with primary extremity STS between 2010 and 2015. Risk factors for early bone metastasis, survival based on different sites of metastasis, and prognostic factors of survival were analyzed. Among 8,234 STS, 2.2% (n = 180) presented with skeletal metastasis. Bone metastasis was more likely when regional lymph nodes were involved (OR = 4.48, p = 0.008). Deep and moderate or high-grade sarcomas had 5–12-fold tendency to present with bone and lung metastasis (p = 0.046, 0.006, 0.030, respectively). The 5-year survival rate was 41.2% (26.9–54.9%) for isolated bone metastasis and 32.9% (21.2–45.1%) for patients with bone and lung metastasis. Resection of the primary sarcoma was the only significant predictor of survival (HR = 0.44, p = 0.021) for patients with bone metastasis. High tumor grade, deep location to fascia and regional lymph node metastasis are significant risk factors for skeletal metastasis at diagnosis of an extremity STS. While neither systemic chemotherapy nor radiotherapy of the primary sarcoma has a significant influence on survival in the presence of bone metastasis, radical resection of the primary STS is associated with increased survival.