cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of particle size and feed form on broiler performance

SUMMARY A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feed form and corn particle size on broiler performance. Previously, broilers had an improvement in feed conversion when fed pelleted (P) diets as compared with mash (M) diets, but results for the effects of particle size were not as clear. This experiment was a 2 × 2 factorial design of feed form (P and M) and corn particle size (300 and 600 μm). Each of 8 replicate pens had 16 males and 16 females for each of the 4 interactions. The corn and soybean meal starter P diet was crumbled, whereas the grower and finisher P diets were fed as pellets. The average corn particle size in the 300 and 600 treatment diets was 267 and 570 μm, respectively. Pellet durability index of the P300 diets and P600 diets, produced with a hammermill equipped with either a 1.6- or 7.9-mm screen, averaged 88 and 84%, respectively. The chicks fed the P300 diet exhibited a significantly higher BW to 21 d, but the difference diminished thereafter. The 44-d BW of broilers in the P treatment was higher and FCR was better than for those fed M diets, as expected. No significant difference was observed in the FCR of birds fed the P300 (1.88) or P600 (1.85) diets at 44 d. On the basis of these results, broilers performed better when fed the P diets, and they demonstrated a positive BW response to feeding finer particles up to 21 d.
The Genetics of Allergy

Allergic disorders exhibit a familial prevalence. Coca and Cooke observed similarities among the allergic diseases exhibited by family members and defined this predisposition as atopy (Cooke and Vander Veer, 1916; Coca, 1920; Coca and Cooke, 1923). Anaphylaxis, hay fever, asthma, angioedema, certain gastrointestinal disorders, and hypersensitivity reactions associated with infection are all included among the atopic diseases. Coca and Cooke (1923) suggested that an innate predisposition toward hypersensitiveness might be involved. A familial prevalence of atopy has been confirmed in many epidemiological studies of allergic disease (Ratner and Silberman, 1952). These findings suggest that an inherited capacity to respond to allergens may contribute to the pathogenesis of the atopic diseases.
Semantic paging on intelligent discs

In order to apply Artificial Intelligence techniques like inferencing to large (109-1012 bit) data bases, an intelligent secondary memory is proposed that is capable of extracting a subgraph from a graph stored in it for further processing in a conventional or special purpose computer. The "pointer transfer" technique developed for CASSM is used to efficiently mark and output a subgraph stored in one file, and a simple technique is proposed to link parts of the subgraph stored on different files. Besides proposing a useful secondary memory system for applying Artificial Intelligence techniques to large data bases, this paper attacks one of the most difficult problems in distributed data base systems, which is the generation of "homomorphic query fragments" that automatically carry the query from one file to other files needed to resolve the query.
A juvenile–adult population model: climate change, cannibalism, reproductive synchrony, and strong Allee effects

We study a discrete time, structured population dynamic model that is motivated by recent field observations concerning certain life history strategies of colonial-nesting gulls, specifically the glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens). The model focuses on mechanisms hypothesized to play key roles in a population's response to degraded environment resources, namely, increased cannibalism and adjustments in reproductive timing. We explore the dynamic consequences of these mechanics using a juvenile-adult structure model. Mathematically, the model is unusual in that it involves a high co-dimension bifurcation at [Formula: see text] which, in turn, leads to a dynamic dichotomy between equilibrium states and synchronized oscillatory states. We give diagnostic criteria that determine which dynamic is stable. We also explore strong Allee effects caused by positive feedback mechanisms in the model and the possible consequence that a cannibalistic population can survive when a non-cannibalistic population cannot.
Metal Sequestration: An Important Contribution of Antimicrobial Peptides to Nutritional Immunity

First-row transition elements are essential for all forms of life. During infection invading microbes must obtain these nutrients from their host. Vertebrates take advantage of this fact to combat invaders by sequestering essential nutrients, a defense known as nutritional immunity. The most well-characterized aspect of this defense is the iron-withholding response. Advances in elemental imaging have revealed that zinc and manganese are also sequestered during infection. The importance of nutritional immunity to host defense is emphasized by the increased susceptibility to infection when levels of these metals are elevated. This chapter will discuss iron, zinc, and manganese availability during infection, the impact of withholding these metals from invading pathogens, and the antimicrobial peptides utilized by the host to restrict the availability of these essential nutrients.
HTN planning for the composition of stream processing applications

Goal-driven automated composition of software components is an important problem with applications in Web service composition and stream processing systems. The popular approach to address this problem is to build the composition automatically using AI planning. However, it is shown that some of these planning approaches may neither be feasible nor scalable for many large-scale flow-based applications. Recent advances have proven that the automated composition problem can take advantage of expert knowledge describing the many ways in which different reusable components can be composed. This knowledge can be represented using an extensible composition template or pattern. In prior work, a flow pattern language called Cascade and its corresponding specialized planner have shown the best performance in these domains. In this paper, we propose the use of Hierarchical Task Network (HTN) planning for the composition of stream processing applications. To this end, we propose an automated approach of creating an HTN-based problem from the Cascade representation of the flow patterns. The resulting technique not only allows us to use the HTN planning paradigm and its many advantages including added expressivity but also enables optimization and customization of composition with respect to preferences and constraints. Further, we propose and develop a lookahead heuristic and show that it significantly reduces the planning time. We have performed extensive experimentation with stream processing applications and evaluated applicability and performance of our approach.
Fibrin clot retraction by human skin fibroblasts: effects of ADP and thrombin.

SummaryThrombin stimulated human skin fibroblasts to retract fibrin clots. When Bothrops marajoensis thrombinlike enzyme was substituted for thrombin, no retraction occurred. Fibroblasts were found to contain 12 nmole of ATP and 3.6 nmole of ADP/mg of protein, a value closely resembling that of nonmetabolic adenine nucleotides in platelets. Thrombin caused neither release of adenine nucleotides from the suspension of fibroblasts harvested enzymatically nor did addition of ADP stimulate fibroblasts to retract fibrin clots.The authors wish to thank Drs. H. Holmsen and G. J. Stewart for helpful discussions, and Ms. Elena Moer-man and Ms. Maxine Millman for technical assistance.
Nematodes as a Natural Food for Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Acarina: Macrochelidae), a Predator of the House Fly Egg

During a 2-year ecological study of macrochelid mites in their natural habitat, the manure pile, free-living nematodes were found in close association with them. Field populations of Macrocheles muscaedomesticae (Scopoli) were highest in winter and spring, when freeliving nematodes evidently are most prevalent; emerging house flies transport these mites to other oviposition sites during the fly season. The exact food habits of the macrochelid Glyptholaspis confusa (Foa), another regular inhabitant of the manure pile, remain relatively unknown. Of the three nematode species cultured in the laboratory, namely Diplogaster sp., Panagrolaimus sp., and Rhabditella leptura, R. leptura proved the most easily reared and the best food for M. muscaedomesticae . The adult mites, given equal choice, preferred house fly eggs over nematodes, while proto- and deutonymphs under the same conditions preferred the nematodes. Standard fly larva rearing media (new, fermented, and used) were tested as substrates to replace steer manure in an effort to sustain a food chain of bacteria, nematodes, and mites within one culture. The highest mite reproduction rate (23.11±5.58 progeny per female per day) was achieved on used media (recovered after rearing fly larvae) with both house fly eggs and nematodes added as food. Nematodes alone returned 12.11±1.42 progeny per female per day. On fermented fly larval media, progeny return was as high on nematodes alone as with both nematodes and house fly eggs added. Cultures pre-seeded with nematodes 2 days before the introduction of mites were selfsustaining.
When People Whistle

The shrill, high-pitched musical sound produced when air is forced through a small opening or against a thin edge is called whistling. This paper treats whistling as a special form of human communication. A simpler form of communication than speech, it requires less training in the production and perception of sounds. Yet whistling is more difficult than noise-making, whose sounds are by-products of unskilled movements like eating or breathing and are universally understood. In terms of its history and in connection with the experiences of the whistler and the listener, whistling provides interesting information about the psychology of sound. A study of whistling therefore belongs in the analysis of human behaviour.
State of the Art for Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy in Movement Disorders: A Clinical and Technological Perspective

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is a widely used brain surgery that can be applied for many neurological and psychiatric disorders. DBS is American Food and Drug Administration approved for medication refractory Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. Although DBS has shown consistent success in many clinical trials, the therapy has limitations and there are well-recognized complications. Thus, only carefully selected patients are ideal candidates for this surgery. Over the last two decades, there have been significant advances in clinical knowledge on DBS. In addition, the surgical techniques and technology related to DBS has been rapidly evolving. The goal of this review is to describe the current status of DBS in the context of movement disorders, outline the mechanisms of action for DBS in brief, discuss the standard surgical and imaging techniques, discuss the patient selection and clinical outcomes in each of the movement disorders, and finally, introduce the recent advancements from a clinical and technological perspective.
Comparison of IGBT modules focus on high power systems

Power demand of modern systems can be very high. A very reliable power electronic component largely present in today's high power system is the IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor). However, for very high power systems, a series or parallel connection is required either to obtain a higher voltage blocking capability or to be able to handle high output current demands. In addition, a series or parallel connection may also be used for a better design (to improve project cost, reduce power loss, etc.). This paper provides the reader background information on IGBTs, its functionality, and the two different types of packaging. Furthermore, this paper provides information on comparison of the losses of series connection of lower rated modules to a higher rated module, and a simulation of parallel connection of lower rated IGBT modules to a single higher rated module. Moreover, a simulation comparing different frequency operations is also provided along with IGBTs costs study for a better scope of overall design projects considerations.
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and the Approach to Clinical Trial Design: Lessons Learned From Graft Versus Host Disease

Mesenchymal stromal cells have shown enormous promise as a prototypic cellular therapy for a number of diverse indications including regeneration of damaged connective tissue, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary diseases, neurologic disorders, and immune-mediated disorders. Despite the broad interest in this promising therapy, translational development of mesenchymal stromal cells is proving to be difficult. Focusing on graft versus host disease, which is the indication closest to clinical approval, this review will discuss some of the challenges facing clinical approval and development. Ultimately, deeper understanding of the underlying mechanism of action will allow us to choose the most potent and effective product or by-product for the next generation of studies.
Glacial to Holocene changes in trans-Atlantic Saharan dust transport and dust-climate feedbacks

Saharan mineral dust exported over the tropical North Atlantic is thought to have significant impacts on regional climate and ecosystems, but limited data exist documenting past changes in long-range dust transport. This data gap limits investigations of the role of Saharan dust in past climate change, in particular during the mid-Holocene, when climate models consistently underestimate the intensification of the West African monsoon documented by paleorecords. We present reconstructions of African dust deposition in sediments from the Bahamas and the tropical North Atlantic spanning the last 23,000 years. Both sites show early and mid-Holocene dust fluxes 40 to 50% lower than recent values and maximum dust fluxes during the deglaciation, demonstrating agreement with records from the northwest African margin. These quantitative estimates of trans-Atlantic dust transport offer important constraints on past changes in dust-related radiative and biogeochemical impacts. Using idealized climate model experiments to investigate the response to reductions in Saharan dust's radiative forcing over the tropical North Atlantic, we find that small (0.15°C) dust-related increases in regional sea surface temperatures are sufficient to cause significant northward shifts in the Atlantic Intertropical Convergence Zone, increased precipitation in the western Sahel and Sahara, and reductions in easterly and northeasterly winds over dust source regions. Our results suggest that the amplifying feedback of dust on sea surface temperatures and regional climate may be significant and that accurate simulation of dust's radiative effects is likely essential to improving model representations of past and future precipitation variations in North Africa.
Feasibility of Implementing a Patient-Centered Postoperative Wound Monitoring Program Using Smartphone Images: A Pilot Protocol

Background: Surgical site infections (SSI) represent a significant public health problem as the most common nosocomial infection and a leading cause of unplanned hospital readmissions among surgical patients. Many develop following hospital discharge and often go unrecognized by patients. Telemedicine offers the opportunity to leverage the mobile technology to remotely monitor wound recovery in the transitional period between hospital discharge and routine clinic follow-up. However, many existing telemedicine platforms are episodic, replacing routine follow-up, rather than equipped for continued monitoring; they include only low-risk patient populations and those who already have access to and comfort with the necessary technology; and transmit no visual information. Objective: Drawing upon the Coleman model for care transitions and the Proctor model for implementation, we propose a protocol of postoperative wound monitoring using smartphone digital images. In this study, we will establish the feasibility of such a program, both for patients and for the clinical care team. Methods: We will recruit 40 patients or patient/caregiver pairs from our inpatient vascular surgery service. Eligible patients will be English-speaking, 18 years of age or older, and have an incision at least 3 cm in length. Participants will receive a training session, during which they will learn to use the device and the wound monitoring smartphone app. Following hospital discharge, they will submit digital images of their wound and responses to a survey about their recovery for 14 days. Experienced health care providers on the vascular surgery inpatient service will review transmitted data daily and contact patients for any concerning findings. Results: Primary outcomes will include participant adherence to the protocol, time required for providers to review submissions, time from submission to provider review, and participant satisfaction. Secondary outcomes will include SSI detection and hospital readmission. Conclusions: Health systems are increasingly dedicating efforts to transitional care improvement programs. This feasibility trial will confirm whether patients and their caregivers can learn to use a postdischarge wound monitoring smartphone app and will assess patient and provider satisfaction. This protocol will provide preliminary evidence for a shift in the delivery of postdischarge care in a patient-centered and cost-effective manner. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02735525; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02735525 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6oIvN4Mab) [JMIR Res Protoc 2017;6(2):e26]
Geometric calibration for a next-generation digital breast tomosynthesis system

A method for geometric calibration of a next-generation tomosynthesis (NGT) system is proposed and tested. The NGT system incorporates additional geometric movements between projections over conventional DBT. These movements require precise geometric calibration to support magnification DBT and isotropic SR. A phantom was created to project small tungsten-carbide ball bearings (BB’s) onto the detector at four different magnifications. Using a bandpass filter and template matching, a MATLAB program was written to identify the centroid locations of each BB projection on the images. An optimization algorithm calculated an effective location for the source and detector that mathematically projected the BB’s onto the same locations on the detector as found on the projection images. The average distance between the BB projections on the image and the mathematically computed projections was 0.11 mm. The effective locations for the source and detector were encoded in the DICOM file for each projection; these were then used by the reconstruction algorithm. Tomographic image reconstructions were performed for three acquisition modes of the NGT system; these successfully demonstrated isotropic SR, magnified SR, and oblique reconstruction.
Prior-independent multi-parameter mechanism design

In a unit-demand multi-unit multi-item auction, an auctioneer is selling a collection of different items to a set of agents each interested in buying at most unit. Each agent has a different private value for each of the items. We consider the problem of designing a truthful auction that maximizes the auctioneer's profit in this setting. Previously, there has been progress on this problem in the setting in which each value is drawn from a known prior distribution. Specifically, it has been shown how to design auctions tailored to these priors that achieve a constant factor approximation ratio [2, 5]. In this paper, we present a prior-independent auction for this setting. This auction is guaranteed to achieve a constant fraction of the optimal expected profit for a large class of, so called, "regular" distributions, without specific knowledge of the distributions.
Europäische Identität und intellektueller Diskurs. Eine historische Perspektive

Die Annahme einer dauerhaften Identitat, die die einzelnen Ereignisse und Zustande des Bewusstseins ubergreift und keiner weiteren Begrundung bedarf, ist eine konstitutive Fiktion des individuellen Handelns. Wir konnen nur handeln, wenn wir dieses Handeln auf ein Subjekt, auf uns selbst zuruckfuhren und wenn wir diesem Selbst sowohl Autonomie als auch eine die einzelnen Handlungen uberschreitende Kontinuitat zuschreiben. Ohne eine solche Voraussetzung ware weder Erinnerung des Vergangenen noch Planung des zukunftigen Handelns moglich.
INVITED EDITORIAL: Information Arrival and the Oil Price Collapse

1. Bradford Cornell 1. is visiting professor of financial economics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. (bcornell{at}hss.caltech.edu) Between late July 2014 and March 2015, the price of West Texas intermediate crude oil (WTI) fell by almost 60%. It is hardly surprising
“It’s like Taking Your Man Card Away”: Male Victims’ Narratives of Male-to-Male Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a serious organizational problem. Despite the burgeoning of research over the past 30 years, there has been less attention provided to male victim voices. The current study qua...
Modeling with Exponential Decay Function

Understanding rates of change sets the foundations for differential equations that are central to modeling dynamic phenomena in science and engineering. While modeling with a constant rate of change is well understood, modeling an exponential change requires a more detailed approach due to a diversity of its computing. An exponential model can be characterized by a constant ratio of change of the quantity, a constant percent rate, decay or growth factor, decay or growth rate, and so forth. The purpose of this STEM activity was to create a STEM environment that would enable the learners to discover a constant ratio as a departing block to construct an exponential model. An experiment of investigating maximum heights of a bouncing ball was used as a scientific context. This phenomenon was selected due to providing observable and measurable data. A pretest analysis was used to identify students’ weaknesses, and the posttest analysis has been used to discuss students’ changes of perception on modeling exponential behavior. The STEM context has disclosed that the commonly applied term decay denoting a decreasing exponential function did not adequately describe the virtue of decaying processes. Conclusions and suggestions for further studies are discussed.
RIPK1-dependent mitophagy: A novel mechanism to eliminate cells detached from the extracellular matrix

For cancer cells to survive during extracellular matrix (ECM)-detachment, they must inhibit anoikis and rectify metabolic deficiencies that lead to the induction of non-apoptotic cell death. Here, we highlight and discuss our recent study implicating receptor-interacting protein kinase-1 (RIPK1) in the induction of mitophagy, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the consequent elimination of ECM-detached cells.
Relationship of brain blood flow and oxygen consumption to perfusion flow rate during profoundly hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass: An experimental study

A study was made of the relation of brain blood flow and oxygen consumption to changes in perfusion flow rate during cardiopulmonary bypass at 20 degrees C in nine cynomolgus monkeys. Four perfusion flow rates varying from 0.25 to 1.75 L X min-1 X m-2 were randomly instituted, each for a 10 minute period. At the end of each period, brain arteriovenous oxygen content difference was measured and 15 mu radioactive microspheres were injected into the arterial perfusion line. The brain was then removed and section into anatomic regions and radioactivity was counted. Regional and total brain blood flows were calculated, as was whole brain oxygen consumption. Brain perfusion continued in all areas at all perfusion flow rates. Whole brain blood flow decreased (p less than 0.0001) as perfusion flow rate was reduced (45 +/- 6.5, 41 +/- 7.9, and 23 +/- 2.8 ml X min-1 X 100 gm-1 at 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5 L X min-1 X m-2, respectively). The proportion of the total perfusion delivered to the brain increased (p = 0.003) with decreasing perfusion flow rates (5.4% +/- 0.78%, 7.1% +/- 1.24%, and 8.2% +/- 1.11% at 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5 L X min-1 X m-2, respectively). Brain blood flow resistance remained unchanged (p = 0.4) while that of the remaining body increased (p less than 0.0001). There was a greater reduction of blood flow in the cortical white matter (p = 0.01) than in other regions of the brain. Brain oxygen consumption was the same (p = 0.5) at all perfusion flow rates, related to an increasing percent oxygen extraction with decreasing perfusion flow rate (p less than 0.0001). The data indicate that all areas of the brain remain perfused, even at low perfusion flow rates, during profoundly hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass, and that brain oxygen consumption is maintained in part by increased oxygen extraction and in part by redistribution of the perfusate from the remaining body to the brain.
“But, I’m Not Reading Out Loud!” Reading as Social Work

In the past few chapters we’ve leaned in and listened to the boys writing lives and the ways that they use their writing to transform and validate their relationships. Examining the shifting power dynamics in the writing workshop demonstrated the boys social maneuvering as they negotiated their places in their literacy clubs (Carrington & Luke, 1997; Dyson, 1997; Luke, 2004).
The Therapeutic Use of Plasma Components and Derivatives

Plasma, plasma derivatives, and recombinant proteins of plasma coagulation factors are used to treat patients with acute bleeding, inherited and acquired bleeding disorders, and immune-based disorders. The most common use of plasma is for correction of multiple abnormal coagulation tests, with or without evidence of bleeding. Specific clotting factor (F) concentrates (plasma-derived or recombinant) are available for FVIII, FIX, FVIIa, von Willebrand factor, fibrinogen, FXIII, protein C, and antithrombin. Prothrombin complex concentrates contain the vitamin K-dependent factors. Depending on the prevalence of the disorder, varying amounts of data exist to guide treatment with plasma and factor concentrates. Immunoglobulin preparations for intravenous infusion are extracted from plasma pools and are used for a variety of immune-mediated disorders. Rh immunoglobulin preparations are used to prevent immunization to the RBC D antigen in individuals who are D antigen-negative and, at higher doses, to treat immune thrombocytopenia. Additional plasma proteins are used in therapy for a wide variety of conditions.
Codes for Distributed Finite Alphabet Matrix-Vector Multiplication

Recent work has developed coding theoretic approaches to add redundancy to distributed matrix-vector multiplications with the goal of speeding up the computation by mitigating the straggler effect in distributed computing. In this paper, we consider the case where the matrix comes from a small (e.g., binary) alphabet, where a variant of a popular method called the “Four-Russians method” is known to have significantly lower computational complexity as compared with the usual matrix-vector multiplication algorithm. We develop novel code constructions that are applicable to binary matrix-vector multiplication via a variant of the Four-Russians method called the Mailman algorithm. Specifically, in our constructions, the encoded matrices have a low alphabet that ensures lower computational complexity, as well as good straggler tolerance. We also present a trade-off between the communication and computation cost of distributed coded matrix-vector multiplication for general, possibly non-binary, matrices.
Photoluminescence of a Porous Vycor Glass; Surface-Enhanced Photocatalyzed Conversion of CO2 to CH4

Removing water from porous Vycor glass resolves the near-IR (NIR) spectrum revealing that the emissivity of nanoporous silicas derives from two energetically distinct silanol, SiOH(H2O)x, and siloxane, SiOSi(H2O)y, surface sites. The occurrence of isosbestic points and emission lifetimes independent of a water content implies that these sites do not randomly interact with water but are associated with a specific number of water molecules on the silica surface. Integer relationships between NIR absorptions that are overtones of the SiOH(H2O)x and SiOSi(H2O)y vibrations and the excitation spectra of the SiOH(H2O)x and SiOSi(H2O)y fluorescence indicate a facile exchange of electronic and vibrational energy with the majority of the excitation energy stored as O–H vibrational energy in a 14–15 A layer of water on the silica surface. CO2 quenches the SiOH(H2O)x, and SiOSi(H2O)y excited states by a proton transfer mechanism which initiates the CO2/CH4 conversion. Although individual O–H vibrations do not have su...
Deep learning for seismic event detection of earthquake aftershocks

We design a system based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) for event detection and event time picking, and apply it to continuous recordings during aftershocks of the 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake. The system detects 97% of the labeled seismic phases in a standard catalog. Off-line training of the CNN remains successful at 95% accuracy after reducing the training set size by a factor of ten to a few thousand training samples. When applied to a continuous aftershock dataset, the CNN-based method achieves accurate detection of manually labeled phases, precise arrival times of picked phases, as well as discovering many weak events not listed in the given seismic catalog. On-line processing of a 31-day recording takes less than 12 hours on a single GPU.
Pros: Should Sperm DNA Fragmentation Testing Be Used in Men with Varicocele?

Varicocele repair (VR) has been a mainstay of treatment for male factor infertility for decades. Many males have varicoceles but identifying those who would benefit most from varicocele repair is challenging. This challenge has become more significant with the advent of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), when patients readily proceed to intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), even with suboptimal semen parameters. In this chapter, we argue that infertile couples with a male partner having a varicocele will benefit from varicocele repair, prior to proceeding to any form of ART. VR may eliminate the need for ART in some couples, and for those couples who still require ART after VR, repair improves success rates by improving sperm counts and quality and is cost-effective.
On supporting efficient snapshot isolation for hybrid workloads with multi-versioned indexes

Modern data-driven applications require that databases support fast analytical queries while undergoing rapid updates---often referred to as Hybrid Transactional Analytical Processing (HTAP). Achieving fast queries and updates in a database management system (DBMS) is challenging since optimizations to improve analytical queries can cause overhead for updates. One solution is to use snapshot isolation (SI) for multi-version concurrency control (MVCC) to allow readers to make progress regardless of concurrent writers.In this paper, we propose the Parallel Binary Tree (P-Tree) index structure to achieve SI and MVCC for multicore in-memory HTAP DBMSs. At their core, P-Trees are based on pure (immutable) data structures that use path-copying for updates for fast multi-versioning. They support tree nesting to improve OLAP performance while still allowing for efficient updates. The data structure also enables parallel algorithms for bulk operations on indexes and their underlying tables. We evaluate P-Trees on OLTP and OLAP benchmarks, and compare them with state-of-the-art data structures and DBMSs. Our experiments show that P-Trees outperform many concurrent data structures for the YCSB workload, and is 4--9 x faster than existing DBMSs for analytical queries, while also achieving reasonable throughput for simultaneous transactional updates.
Correlations in population dynamics in multi-component networks

This is a theoretical study of correlations in spiking activity between neuronal populations. We focus on the spike firing of entire local populations without regard to the identities of the neurons that fire the spikes, and show that such a population-level metric is more robust than correlations between pairs of neurons. Between any source and target populations, there is an intrinsic response time characterized by the phase-shift that maximizes the correlation between their spiking. We find that the alignment of gamma-band rhythms contributes significantly to the positive correlations between populations. Hence, the correlation metric sheds light on the transference of gamma rhythms between populations; the effectiveness of such transference has been hypothesized to be connected to communication between brain regions. We investigate the dependence of correlations on connectivity and degree of synchrony, and consider multi-component network motifs with configurations known to occur in real cortex, studying the correlations between components that are directly or indirectly connected, by single or multiple pathways, with or without feedback. Mechanistic explanations are offered for many of the phenomena observed.
Adaptations of the Common Cuttlefish Sepia officinalis L. to Cold Water Reproduction in the English Channel

The English Channel population of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis is the northernmost stock among the entire family Sepiidae. It is characterized by the largest eggs among the species (8.5–12.2 mm in length and 221–533 mg in weight). The potential fecundity is of 3,200–13,000 eggs and actual fecundity up to 3,000 eggs. Size of postovulatory follicles in June was similar to those in March, indicating similar spawning history of sampled animals. Females that lay eggs during the entire reproductive season from the beginning to the end probably are very rare. Despite cold climate and shorter “window” available for reproduction, the female cuttlefish still exhibits the same intermittent spawning as in more southern areas, although individuals release eggs in relatively short periods of time.
WireWalker Experiences with Two Navy-Funded Systems Utilizing Iridium Communications

The WireWalker wave-powered profiler system was designed by the Ocean Physics Group at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) University of California San Diego over 16 years ago [1]. The WireWalker system uses an ingenious ratcheting system to walk down a wire rope due to the wave action acting on a surface buoy, with a wire attached below the buoy and weights at the end of the wire for tautness. A rubber stopper attached to the wire rope at the desired depth trips the ratcheting mechanism to allow for a free-floating clean profile of data on ascent, while an upper stopper trips the mechanism to allow ratcheting down again. The Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation supported further development of these systems over the years. In 2016, the successful technology transition allowed for the formation of Del Mar Oceanographic, LLC to manufacture the WireWalker systems under license from the University of California San Diego. In 2017, the Navy funded the Multiscale Ocean Dynamics Group at SIO to provide two WireWalker systems with inductive modems and Iridium Router-Based Unrestricted Digital Internetworking Connectivity Solutions (RUDICS) communications for near-real-time data collection. The requirements of these two WireWalker systems were for transmission of conductivity, temperature, pressure, optical backscatter, chlorophyll a, irradiance, and radiance (along with system health) and for a Nortek Signature 1000 Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler to collect water current data and record the data internally. Within these WireWalkers, RBR Global in Canada integrated its conductivity-temperature-depth recorders with multiple channels and modem capability to transmit data inductively through the wire rope to the surface buoy. RBR Global also provided electronic integration for the surface buoy to transmit data through Iridium satellites utilizing RUDICS. Training at SIO [2] and onboard the R/V Robert Gordon Sproul in September 2017 will be discussed. Details of field experiences in February, September, and October 2018 and January-February 2019 will also be discussed. Technical problems encountered in the field and troubleshooting allowed Naval Oceanographic Office scientists to quickly learn the system and determine its deficiencies. This work helped to further debug and refine the WireWalker real-time system development and technical information required to ensure successful field operations by novice users of the WireWalker system.
Dirt: Theoretical Perspectives

The role dirt can play is immense: “(F)ilth represents a cultural location at which the human body, social hierarchy, psychological subjectivity, and material objects converge. Even just the thought of dirt has an immediate emotional and (often) also physical impact on us, expressed typically as aversion: “our dislike of dirt (…) is so strong that we tend to avoid touching, tasting, smelling, looking at, or even speaking or writing about, dirt and dirty things”. At the same time, dirt in various forms often evokes an ambivalent appeal and fascination even, again with a potentially strong impact on our emotions.
Cell Cycle Regulation Meets Tumor Immunosuppression

Reciprocal interactions between tumor cells and immune cells shape the tumor microenvironment. Recent studies indicate that enhanced cell cycle activity in cancer cells suppresses antitumor immunity. Herein we discuss potential mechanisms by which cell cycle programs intrinsic to tumor cells are coupled to immune behavior, with consequences for immunotherapy.
Spaceflight medical countermeasures: a strategic approach for mitigating effects from solar particle events.

NASA was recently charged with returning humans to the lunar surface within the next five years. This will require preparation for spaceflight missions of longer distance and duration than ever per...
Autophagy goes nuclear

Sirtuins are highly conserved enzymes with key roles in life extension in multiple organisms. A study now describes selective autophagic degradation of nuclear SIRT1 in senescent cells. These observations suggest that blocking sirtuin degradation could be a potential approach for anti-ageing therapies.
Planning for untangling: predicting the difficulty of merge conflicts

Merge conflicts are inevitable in collaborative software development and are disruptive. When they occur, developers have to stop their current work, understand the conflict and the surrounding code, and plan an appropriate resolution. However, not all conflicts are equally problematic---some can be easily fixed, while others might be complicated enough to need multiple people. Currently, there is not much support to help developers plan their conflict resolution. In this work, we aim to predict the difficulty of a merge conflict so as to help developers plan their conflict resolution. The ability to predict the difficulty of a merge conflict and to identify the underlying factors for its difficulty can help tool builders improve their conflict detection tools to prioritize and warn developers of difficult conflicts. In this work, we investigate the characteristics of difficult merge conflicts, and automatically classify them. We analyzed 6,380 conflicts across 128 java projects and found that merge conflict difficulty can be accurately predicted (AUC of 0.76) through machine learning algorithms, such as bagging.
A Comparison of the Foraging Biology of Two Tropical Gecko Species in Disturbed Areas

The traditional foraging mode dichotomy in lizards has been one of ambush predators vs. wide ranging predators. Each mode has been associated with its own suite of other complementary characteristics, including metabolic rates, sensory capacities, as well as predator and prey species. While foraging mode within lizard families is often consistent, few studies have compared the foraging modes of sympatric members of a clade in which one species is nocturnal and the other diurnal. Hemidactylus frenatus, an introduced, nocturnal house gecko, and Gonatodes albogularis, a native, diurnal species, inhabit disturbed habitats in Costa Rica. Using traditional movement-based indices, moves per minute (MPM) and percent time spent moving (PTM), we found H. frenatus to move significantly less (MPM = 0.47) and spend significantly less time moving (PTM = 0.74%) than G. albogularis (MPM = 0.97, PTM = 3.94%) during peak activity times. One reason for this difference in activity level could be the beneficial effects of artificial lighting in attracting arthropods to H. frenatus foraging areas.
Outcomes of Open, Laparoscopic, and Percutaneous Drainage of Infected Walled-Off Pancreatic Necrosis: A Nationwide Inpatient Sample Study

Background Walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN) represents an encapsulated collection of necrotic pancreatic or peripancreatic tissue that tends to develop four weeks after the onset of acute necrotizing pancreatitis. When infected, it is managed initially by antibiotic therapy before drainage by endoscopic, percutaneous, or surgical means. This study aims to describe the morbidity, mortality, length of stay (LOS), and cost of care associated with open surgical, laparoscopic, and radiology-guided percutaneous drainage in adult patients with infected WOPN. Methods Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), patients aged 18 years and older discharged with the diagnosis of WOPN between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016 who underwent open, laparoscopic, or percutaneous drainage were included. Patients' characteristics including age, gender, and body mass index were reported. The primary endpoints were the mortality rate as well as length and cost of stay in each group. The secondary endpoint was the rate of procedural complications in each arm. Endpoints were reported and compared with studies assessing similar outcomes. Statistical Analysis System (SAS) statistical software (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) was used to perform the analysis. Results A total of 229 patients with the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis with infected necrosis were identified. Of these 229 patients, 27, 15, and 20 underwent open, laparoscopic, and percutaneous drainage, respectively. A total of eight studies were used for comparison of outcome variables. Mortality rate was found to be similar among comparison studies. LOS and costs varied widely among studies. There were significantly fewer pancreatic fistula and significantly more multi-organ failure complications as a result of open necrosectomy in the NIS study sample. Conclusion Overall, in analyzing the outcomes of patients undergoing intervention for infected WOPN through the 2016 NIS database, it appears that the database is representative of the majority of outcomes seen in similar clinical trials.
A novel multimeric IL15/IL15Rα-Fc complex to enhance cancer immunotherapy.

The role of T cells in controlling human cancers is well known. Their success requires continued persistence in vivo and efficient trafficking to tumor sites, requirements shared by other effectors...
Experience of treating biliary atresia with laparoscopic-modified Kasai and laparoscopic conventional Kasai: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND Complete mobilization of the left and right portal veins had been seldom utilized in the laparoscopic Kasai procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of the key technique in detail. METHODS A total of 82 patients with type III biliary atresia were operated by laparoscopic Kasai at our hospital during January 2012 to October 2019. Forty-two patients underwent modified laparoscopic Kasai (group 1), and 40 patients of control group underwent general laparoscopic Kasai (group 2). The clinical data between the two groups were compared. RESULTS The early clearance of jaundice was significantly higher for group 1 (88.1%) versus group 2 (68.4%) (P < 0.05), the incidence of repeated cholangitis was significantly lower in group 1 (11.9%) versus group 2 (31.6%) (P < 0.05). The native liver survival rate was (85.7%) in group1 versus in group 2 (65.8%) (P < 0.05). In addition, there were no significant differences regarding the resumption oral intake and the post-operative hospital stay in the two groups. CONCLUSION The key technique of the complete mobilization of the left and right portal veins would improve the outcome of biliary atresia treated by laparoscopic Kasai.
Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome impairs mouse skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise.

There is emerging evidence of a gut microbiome-skeletal muscle axis. The purpose of this study was to determine if an intact gut microbiome was necessary for skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise. Forty-two 4-month-old female C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to untreated (U) or antibiotic-treated (T) non-running controls (CU or CT, respectively) or progressive weighted wheel running (PoWeR, P) untreated (PU) or antibiotic-treated (PT) groups. Antibiotic treatment resulted in disruption of the gut microbiome as indicated by a significant depletion of gut microbiome bacterial species in both CT and PT groups. The training stimulus was the same between PU and PT groups as assessed by weekly (12.35 ± 2.06 vs. 11.09 ± 1.76 km/week, respectively) and total (778.9 ± 130.5 vs. 703.8 ± 112.9 km, respectively) running activity. In response to PoWeR, PT showed less hypertrophy of soleus type 1 and 2a fibres and plantaris type 2b/x fibres compared to PU. The higher satellite cell and myonuclei abundance of PU plantaris muscle after PoWeR was not observed in PT. The fibre-type shift of PU plantaris muscle to a more oxidative type 2a fibre composition following PoWeR was blunted in PT. There was no difference in serum cytokine levels among all groups suggesting disruption of the gut microbiome did not induce systemic inflammation. The results of this study provide the first evidence that an intact gut microbiome is necessary for skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise. KEY POINTS: Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome caused by continuous antibiotic treatment did not affect running activity. Continuous treatment with antibiotics did not result in systemic inflammation as indicated by serum cytokine levels. Gut microbiome dysbiosis was associated with blunted fibre type-specific hypertrophy in the soleus and plantaris muscles in response to progressive weighted wheel running (PoWeR). Gut microbiome dysbiosis was associated with impaired PoWeR-induced fibre-type shift in the plantaris muscle. Gut microbiome dysbiosis was associated with a loss of PoWeR-induced myonuclei accretion in the plantaris muscle.
Silvopasture for Food Security in a Changing Climate

Globally, the human population is expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050, resulting in a rapidly growing demand for animal products and increased pressure on food security. This chapter draws on examples from across the globe to highlight the many contributions of silvopasture—the intensively managed integration of trees, forages, and livestock—to improving food security. We compare silvopasture and conventional grazing from different regions of the world and highlight scenarios where silvopasture may be the preferred approach. We discuss silvopasture’s contribution to several direct and indirect indicators of food supply and conclude by addressing problems of modern-day animal agriculture and how silvopasture may play a critical role in the sustainable intensification of livestock production systems in the future.