cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Campanian–Miocene tectonostratigraphy, depocenter evolution and basin development of Colombia and western Venezuela

Abstract The position of the central axis of deposition over Colombian and Venezuelan continental crust has varied markedly through time. The axis migrated from west to east from Late Cretaceous to Oligocene but at times, secondary drainage divides were established by local uplift events. In Oligocene times with initial inversion of the Eastern Cordillera the central axis of deposition was divided into two main axes, the proto-Magdalena and the proto-Orinoco systems. The west to east migration of the central axis of deposition had a tectonic origin and it occurred in combination with tectonically driven changes in accommodation space. Depocenter evolution can be divided as follows. (1) The axis of the Campanian and early Maastrichtian depocenter was located few km east of the present position of the Central Cordillera of Colombia; it migrated east with gradual uplift of the Central Cordillera. (2) The central axis of late Maastrichtian deposition is positioned approximately over the present-day western foothills of the Eastern Cordillera, possibly crosses the Eastern Cordillera over the Santander Massif and continues into the Maracaibo Lake in western Venezuela. Accommodation space decreased from Campanian to Maastrichtian times. In Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary times parts of the eastern margin of the Eastern Cordillera were uplifted by an initial phase of inversion of deeply rooted Jurassic and Early Cretaceous normal faults. (3) In Paleocene times the central axis of deposition was located along the spine of the Eastern Cordillera and extended into the Maracaibo Basin, and accommodation space continued to decrease. (4) In latest Paleocene times the central axis of deposition shifted to eastern regions of the Eastern Cordillera and accommodation space decreased. (5) The Early Eocene central axis of deposition was located along the present-day eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera; accommodation space continued to decrease and the regional Middle Eocene unconformity began to develop. In Middle Eocene times a regional unconformity developed, marking the climax of the pre-Andean Orogeny. Deposition during these times was dominant in the Maracaibo Basin area where large amounts of sediment derived from vast exposed areas accumulated. (6) The Late Eocene central axis of deposition was confined to the present position of the Llanos foothills. Late Eocene deposition reflects a regional increase in accommodation space. In Oligocene times the initial uplift of the Eastern Cordillera divided the main depocenter into two central axes. Accommodation space diminished in uplifted regions but continued to increase in the depocenters allowing sporadic marine ingressions into the present position of the Llanos foothills. As uplift of the Eastern Cordillera continued, the eastern depocenter axis (proto-Orinoco) migrated east and the western depocenter axis (proto-Magdalena) migrated west. This process continued through the rest of the Cenozoic.
Spacecraft Relative Motion Estimation using Visual Sensing Techniques

Precise relative navigation between an unmanned vehicle and a target, which could be a stationary or a second moving vehicle, is an important capability. Possible applications include formation operations, as well as autonomous rendezvous and docking of either spacecraft or aircraft. A test bed setup is described where unmanned ground vehicles are used to simulate the physical motion of aerospace vehicles, and provide the attached sensor packages with realistic relative motion in both indoor and outdoor environments. Using an unmanned robotic ground vehicle, the visual servoing problem is investigated and simulated using actual hardware in real world test conditions. A simple camera and an onboard computer running a color statistical pressure snake algorithm are employed to track a visual target within the camera images in real time. The images are used to estimate the relative position and motion between the vehicle and the target. The effectiveness of the nonlinear visual servoing algorithm is demonstrated through experimental hardware tests.
España y su razón eugenésica: El falangista vencido y desarmado de Andrés Sorel

El presente articulo propone leer criticamente una novela de Andres Sorel, El falan-gista vencido y desarmado (2006) a fn de abordar la relacion entre la violencia discur-siva del franquismo (los discursos eugenesicos y raciales que sustentaron su aparato represivo) y la materialidad de dicha violencia (esos discursos ya puestos en prac-tica). La trama cuenta la relacion sentimental entre Enrique y Silvia, dos sujetos que personifcan alegoricamente a las dos Espanas enfrentadas (el es falangista y ella republicana). Una de las contribuciones de esta novela es que no solo recrea la campana de violencia desatada durante la Guerra Civil espanola y la posguerra fran-quista sino que, ademas, la enlaza criticamente con el entramado ideologico que le subyacia. Desde este entendimiento, este ensayo examina el proyecto ‘medico’ del franquismo a partir de los personajes de Sorel y analiza como la fccion subvierte simbolicamente dicho proyecto.
A novel learning-based switching median filter for suppression of impulse noise in highly corrupted colour images

A novel switching median filter integrated with a learning-based noise detection method is proposed for suppression of impulse noise in highly corrupted colour images. Noise detection employs a new machine learning algorithm, called margin setting (MS), to detect noise pixels. MS detection is achieved by classifying noise and clean pixels with a decision surface. MS detection yields very high detection accuracy, i.e. a zero miss detection rate and a fairly low over detection rate for a wide range of noise levels. After noise detection, a new filter scheme called the noise-free two-stage (NFTS) filter is triggered. NFTS corrects the noise pixels using the median of the noise-free pixels in two stages. The results of experiments have demonstrated that the MS based NFTS (MSN) filter is superior to the support vector machine and neural network for denoising highly corrupted images, in terms of noise suppression and detail preservation.
Volumetric laser endomicroscopy can target neoplasia not detected by conventional endoscopic measures in long segment Barrett's esophagus.

Methods and study aims: The incidence of esophageal cancer is rising despite increased surveillance efforts. Volumetric laser endomicroscopy (VLE) is a new endoscopic imaging tool that can allow for targeted biopsy of neoplasia in Barrett’s esophagus. We report a series of 6 patients with long-segment Barrett’s esophagus ( > 3 cm), who underwent a session of endoscopy with volumetric laser endomicroscopy, after a separate prior session of standard high-definition endoscopy with narrow band imaging (NBI) and random biopsies that did not reveal neoplasia. In all six patients, the first endoscopy was the index endoscopy diagnosing the Barrett’s esophagus. All VLE exams were performed within 6 months of the previous endoscopy. In five patients, VLE-targeted biopsy resulted in upstaged disease/diagnosed dysplasia that then qualified the patient for endoscopic ablation therapy. In one patient, VLE localized a focus of intramucosal cancer that allowed for curative endoscopic mucosal resection. This case series shows that endoscopy with VLE can target neoplasia that cannot be localized by high-definition endoscopy with NBI and random biopsies.
Effect of Substrate Orientation on CdTe Film Growth by OMVPE

Most CdTe epilayers grown by OMVPE have been deposited on two low index orientations: {111}Te and {100}. In this study we have examined the OMVPE of CdTe as a function of deposition temperature on CdTe substrates having the four low index orientations ({111}Te, P111}Cd, {110}, and {100}) and on the {211}Te and {211}Cd orientations. Results are presented for deposition rate, surface morphology, and structural quality of the epilayers.
The Psychology of Computer-Mediated Communication: Four Classroom Activities:

The purpose of this paper is to describe four classroom activities constructed to demonstrate various psychological issues associated with computer-mediated communication (CMC). The first exercise ...
Multiqubit entanglement in bidirectional-chiral-waveguide QED

We study the generation of transient entanglement induced by a single-photon Gaussian wave packet in multiatom bidirectional-waveguide QED. In particular, we investigate the effect of increasing the number of atoms on the average pairwise entanglement. We demonstrate, by selecting smaller decay rates and in chiral-waveguide settings, that both entanglement survival times and maximum generated entanglement can be increased by at least a factor of $\ensuremath{\sim}3/2$, independent of the number of atoms. In addition, we analyze the influence of detuning and delays on the robustness of the generated entanglement. There are potential applications of our results in entanglement-based multiqubit quantum networks.
Impact of urologist density and county rurality on the practice of retroperitoneal lymph node dissection and cancer specific death in patients with non seminomatous germ cell tumors.

e16061Background: Patient’s access to service providers is strongly associated with treatment choices. We investigated the impact of rural status and urologist density on the practice of retroperit...
Introducing Health Promotion Agenda-Setting for Health Education Practitioners

Health professionals must continuously address health promotion issues using the latest strategies and research. Currently in health care, too often an underdeveloped and under supported agenda prioritizes problems, issues, and solutions. Further, an ongoing competition exists among issues due to an undocumented agenda-setting process to gain the attention of media, public, and policy makers. Agendasetting is based on the belief that the media influence what we talk about, rather than controlling what we think, and how often an issue appears in the media influences the policy agenda (Dearing & Rogers, 1996). If an issue is “salient” and receives frequent or expansive coverage by media, audience members will talk more about that issue than one that is not as salient. A Health Promotion Agenda-Setting approach works to specify and prioritize problems and alternative solutions for increasing media exposure and setting agendas for “sustained” courses of action, (Kozel et al., 2003). The crucial link between agenda-setting and the process of establishing effective legislation, policy, and programs has been researched. However, many health practitioners do not understand what agenda setting is, nor how to apply agenda setting within the field of health education. Professional development in Health Promotion Agenda-Setting offers health education practitioners new knowledge, skills, methods, and opportunities to strengthen practices that influence the public health agenda and transform health promotion leadership.
The Language, Tone and Prosody of Emotions: Neural Substrates and Dynamics of Spoken-Word Emotion Perception

Rapid assessment of emotions is important for detecting and prioritizing salient input. Emotions are conveyed in spoken words via verbal and non-verbal channels that are mutually informative and unveil in parallel over time, but the neural dynamics and interactions of these processes are not well understood. In this paper, we review the literature on emotion perception in faces, written words, and voices, as a basis for understanding the functional organization of emotion perception in spoken words. The characteristics of visual and auditory routes to the amygdala – a subcortical center for emotion perception – are compared across these stimulus classes in terms of neural dynamics, hemispheric lateralization, and functionality. Converging results from neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and lesion studies suggest the existence of an afferent route to the amygdala and primary visual cortex for fast and subliminal processing of coarse emotional face cues. We suggest that a fast route to the amygdala may also function for brief non-verbal vocalizations (e.g., laugh, cry), in which emotional category is conveyed effectively by voice tone and intensity. However, emotional prosody which evolves on longer time scales and is conveyed by fine-grained spectral cues appears to be processed via a slower, indirect cortical route. For verbal emotional content, the bulk of current evidence, indicating predominant left lateralization of the amygdala response and timing of emotional effects attributable to speeded lexical access, appears more consistent with an indirect cortical route to the amygdala. Top-down linguistic modulation may play an important role for prioritized perception of emotions in words. Understanding the neural dynamics and interactions of emotion and language perception is important for selecting potent stimuli and devising effective training and/or treatment approaches for the alleviation of emotional dysfunction across a range of neuropsychiatric states.
Cueing Employability in the Gig Economy: Effects of Task-Relevant and Task-Irrelevant Information on Fiverr:

When evaluating an applicant online, individuals are often concurrently exposed to a diverse cross-section of self- and other-generated information with varying relevance to the candidate’s actual ...
Pecan Varietal Differences in Hemipteran Kernel Damage

Pecan, Carya illinoensis Wangenh. (K. Koch), is susceptible to feeding by leaffooted bugs (Hemiptera: Coriedae) and stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) from fruit set to post harvest. These hemipterans are difficult to control with insecticide sprays. We found that 33 pecan varieties had consistent and significant differences in the incidence of hemipteran kernel damage indicating that host plant resistance may help solve this problem. The rank of varieties for average incidence of damage over 4 yrs, from highest to lowest was: ‘USDA 53-11-139’, ‘USDA 57-7-22’, ‘Shawnee’, ‘Moreland’, ‘USDA 40-9-266’, ‘USDA 49-20-112’, ‘Linberger’, ‘Cape Fear’, ‘Robinson’, ‘Shoshoni’, ‘USDA 64-11-17’, ‘USDA 55-12-17’, ‘Caddo’, ‘USDA 62-5-8’, ‘Sioux’, ‘Melrose’, ‘Tejas’, ‘Pawnee’, ‘Forkert’, ‘Kiowa’, ‘Owens’, ‘Candy’, ‘Gloria Grande’, ‘USDA 49-1-182’, ‘Western Schley’, ‘Creek’, ‘USDA 53-3-36’, ‘USDA 41-19-20’, ‘Maramec’, ‘Sumner’, ‘GraBohls’, ‘Kanza’, and ‘USDA 53-9-1’. Many of the more tolerant varieties have desirable ke...
Use of Pathogen-Produced Toxins in Genetic Engineering of Plants and Pathogens

Certain bacterial and fungal plant pathogens produce extracellular toxins that are known to be causally involved in disease. Some of these are required for pathogenicity (pathogenicity factors) whereas others contribute to virulence (virulence factors) of the producing organism. Both types of toxin are potentially useful in pest control. First, disease-resistant plants or cells can be efficiently selected both in vitro and in vivo. If a pathogenicity factor is used, a high level of resistance is expected; if a virulence factor is used an intermediate level of resistance is expected. Either level can be economically valuable. Toxins that have not been shown to be causally involved in disease are not expected to select any disease-resistance at all. Second, pathogen-produced toxins may provide an effective approach to pest control. For example, a gene or set of genes that controls production of a nonspecific toxin might be transferred to and expressed in a pathogen that is specific for a certain pest, such as a weed or an insect, making the pathogen capable of reducing the pest population to a low level. Before pathogens can be genetically engineered in this way, genes that control toxin production must be isolated and cloned. The isolation of most genes of this type will require complementation of toxinless recipient cells with a library of DNA fragments from a toxin-producing strain (these toxins are synthesized constitutively and no abundant mRNA is likely to be found). However, the genes in question will probably not function in easily transformable organisms such as E. coli or yeast. Therefore, genetic transformation systems must be developed for toxin-producing bacterial and fungal pathogens so that they can serve as hosts for the isolation of their own genes. Recent advances in several laboratories indicate that the technology for cloning pathologically important genes from bacteria is now available. Fungi are less tractable than bacteria, but a transformation system for the toxin-producing fungal pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus is under development. It is based on complementation of adenine-requiring fungal protoplasts with a cloned ADE gene from yeast. To date all transformants have aborted; efforts to construct a cloning vector that can be maintained indefinitely by Cochliobolus cells are in progress.
Aristotle on the Vices and Virtue of Wealth

Drawing primarily on the Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV, Chapter 1 disquisition of the virtue of Liberality, Aristotle's account of the vices of virtue of wealth is discussed in detail. Historical differences between Aristotle's post-Periclean and modern post-industrial ideas of ownership, finance and trade organizations are introduced so to evaluate the relevance of Aristotle's approach to current investigations in business ethics. It is concluded that the lasting value of Aristotle's approach lies in its capacity to incorporate wealth into a comprehensive ordering of human goods.
Kinetics of repair of O6-methylguanine in dna by O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in vitro and in vivo.

Abstract The demethylation of O6-methylguanine in double stranded DNA catalyzed by rat liver O6-methylguanine-DNA transmethylase was found to proceed much more rapidly when the DNA substrate was methylated to a high extent. When the content of O6-methylguanine in DNA was equal to 1 in 2000 guanines, the reaction was 90% complete within 2 min, but when the content was 1 in 500,000 it required 27 min at 37°C. These results suggest that the repair protein either moves along the DNA substrate or else has little selectivity for binding specifically to the sites containing O6-methylguanine rather than to the normal DNA. The repair of O6-methylguanine in rat liver in , vivo occurred at rates comparable to those seen in , vitro with the substrates alkylated to low extents and was virtually complete within 3 hours. These results provide strong evidence that this protein is the factor responsible for O6-methylguanine removal in , vivo and explain the wide variation in time courses reported in the literature since substrates methylated to greatly different extents have been used for such experiments.
Photoelastic analysis of an orthotropic plate on a nonlinear foundation

Frozen-stress techniques were used to analyze an orthotropic plate on a continuous, nonlinear foundation. A long-range objective of the investigation was to provide experimental results to compare with a future finite-element analysis of the same type problem. Data were presented to illustrate principal stress magnitudes and directions. Close agreement of a static equilibrium check of the nonlinear foundation with the applied load experimentally verified the procedure used for calculation of external pressure on the model-foundation interface.
Hormonal contraception, breastfeeding and bedside advocacy: the case for patient-centered care.

Abstract Postpartum contraceptive decision making is complex, and recommendations may be influenced by breastfeeding intentions. While biologically plausible, concerns about the adverse impact of hormonal contraception on breast milk production have not been supported by the clinical evidence to date. However, the data have limitations, which can lead providers with different priorities around contraception and breastfeeding to interpret the data in a way that advances their personal priorities. Discrepancies in interpretations can lead to divergent recommendations for individual women and may cause conflict. Furthermore, providers must recognize that decision making about contraception and breastfeeding takes place in complex cultural, historical and socioeconomic contexts. Implicit bias may influence a provider's counseling. Unrecognized biases toward one patient or another, or one practice or another, may influence a provider's counseling. It is crucial for providers to strive to recognize their own biases. Providers need to respectfully recognize each patient's values and preferences regarding hormonal contraception and breastfeeding. Developing a patient-centered decision tool or implementing patient-centered interview techniques specifically around breastfeeding and contraception could help to minimize provider-driven variability in care.
Perinatal bereavement and palliative care offered throughout the healthcare system

The aims of this article are twofold: (I) provide a general overview of perinatal bereavement services throughout the healthcare system and (II) identify future opportunities to improve bereavement services, including providing resources for the creation of standardized care guidelines, policies and educational opportunities across the healthcare system. Commentary is provided related to maternal child services, the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), prenatal clinics, operating room (OR) and perioperative services, emergency department (ED), ethics, chaplaincy and palliative care services. An integrated system of care increases quality and safety and contributes to patient satisfaction. Physicians, nurses and administrators must encourage pregnancy loss support so that regardless of where in the facility the contact is made, when in the pregnancy the loss occurs, or whatever the conditions contributing to the pregnancy ending, trained caregivers are there to provide bereavement support for the family and palliative symptom management to the fetus born with a life limiting condition. The goal for respectful caregiving throughout an entire hospital system is achievable and critically important.
Association between intravenous acetaminophen and reduction in intraoperative opioid consumption during transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors

Background and Aims: Pain during and after transsphenoidal surgeries originates from stimulation of branches of the trigeminal cranial nerve that supply the inner aspect of the nose cavity and dura mater. Thereby, patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery may require moderate-to-large amounts of analgesics including opioids. Intravenous acetaminophen provides analgesia and reduces opioid consumption for a wide variety of surgeries. We hypothesized that the use of intravenous acetaminophen is associated with a reduction in intraoperative opioid consumption and provides significant analgesia during and after transsphenoidal surgery. Material and Methods: This retrospective study included 413 patients who underwent transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenomas. The primary outcome of this study was intraoperative opioid consumption. Secondary outcomes included pain intensity, Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale scores, and nausea and vomiting upon arrival to postoperative anesthesia care unit. Patients were divided into two groups based on the intraoperative acetaminophen use. A prospensity score matching analysis was used to balance for important variables between the two groups of treatment. Regression models were fitted after matching the covariates. A P Results: After matching, 126 patients were included in each group of treatment. Patients in the acetaminophen group required significantly less amount (a decrease by 14.9%) of opioids during surgery than those in the non-acetaminophen group. Postoperative pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and sedation scores were not significantly different between patients who received intravenous acetaminophen and those who did not. Conclusion: Intravenous acetaminophen is associated with a reduction in intraoperative opioids during transsphenoidal pituitary surgery.
Predictors of Change in Mitral Regurgitation Severity after Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation

Purpose Right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) and mitral regurgitation (MR) are associated with poor outcomes after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation, and residual MR post-implantation may be associated with poor RV outcomes. We sought to assess predictors of change in MR in patients implanted with continuous flow (CF) LVADs. Methods 286 patients implanted with CF-LVADs between Jan 2011 - Dec 2015 were analyzed. Demographic, laboratory, clinical and hemodynamic data were obtained from electronic records. Echocardiograms within 3-months prior to and within 3-months after surgery were reviewed. A total of 35 potential predictors of change in MR severity pre and post LVAD underwent initial univariable analysis. Variables with p Results Mean age was 57 (± 12) years, 84% were male, bean LVEF was 17 (± 6.4) %, and indexed left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDVi) was 130 (± 61) ml/m2. For changes in MR post-op, age, LVEDVi, indexed left atrial volume, degree of pre-op MR, diabetes mellitus, CKD, INTERMACS level, cardiac output, cardiac index, RV stroke work index, sphericity index, average mitral annular diameter, tenting area and coaptation length were identified. On multivariable analysis, LVEDVi and degree of pre-op MR were significant predictors (p = 0.010 and Conclusion For changes in degree of MR, higher pre-operative LVEDVi was associated with worse MR post-surgery, and more severe pre-op MR was associated with improvement in degree of MR post-operatively. These findings suggest pre-implant echocardiographtic assessment of LV size and MR severity can identify patients at increased risk of post-LVAD significant MR. Further analysis is needed to verify the findings of this exploratory study and to determine the effect on clinical outcomes.
A Note on Incremental Equilibrium Equations and Approximate Constitutive Relations in Large Inelastic Deformations

The derivation of incremental equilibrium equations from virtual work considerations is reviewed. The mathematical structure of these equations in the most common modes of description is discussed, and their feasibility for numerical applications is evaluated. The out-of-balance loading terms are included, and the effect of neglecting nonsymmetric stiffness terms originating from nonconservative loading is given. Then the use of exact and approximate constitutive laws for large inelastic deformation is discussed in the context of finite element applications. Emphasis is given to the various levels of approximations and assumptions in the latter type of relations and to their importance in the choice of mode of descriptions for problems with material and geometrical nonlinearities.
Genetic investigation of childhood vascular tumor biology reveals pathways for therapeutic intervention

Vascular tumors are neoplasms of endothelial cells, a significant number of which present in childhood. Recent studies have examined the mutational landscape of many subtypes of vascular tumors, identifying mutations primarily within the Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and providing a unique opportunity to consider targeted therapeutics. This review will summarize the current understanding of childhood vascular tumor pathobiology.
Assessing trends, morbidity, and mortality in ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm repair with 9 years of data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.

Abstract Background The American College of Surgeons' National Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database can be used to assess trends and outcomes of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) repair. The purpose of this study is to examine the morbidity and mortality for ruptured endovascular (rEVAR) and ruptured open (rOPEN) aneurysm repair compared with elective endovascular (EVAR) and elective open (OPEN) aneurysm repair. Methods Ruptured and nonruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms were identified from the NSQIP database between 2008 and 2016. Data regarding demographics and comorbidities, 30-day mortality, and postoperative complications were collected for rEVAR, rOPEN, EVAR, and OPEN cases. Results There were 43,105 AAAs, 34,177 (79.28%) EVARs, and 8928 (20.71%) OPENs. There were 3806 rAAAs, 1843 (48.42%) rEVARs, and 1963 (51.58%) rOPENs. The incidence of rEVAR repair lagged behind EVAR considerably. Mortality for rOPEN was 575 (29.29%) and 344 (18.66%) for rEVAR. No difference between the ratio of men to women in rOPEN vs rEVAR was noted. There was a significant increase in mortality for women vs men undergoing rEVAR (P = .0362). No difference in mortality existed between women vs men undergoing rOPEN (P = .0639). There was no difference in the percentage of hypotensive cases undergoing rEVAR vs rOPEN (P =.1873). For all rAAAs with hypotension, rOPEN had an increased mortality compared to rEVAR (P = .0004). There were 20 (3.11%) rEVAR and 40 (8.00%) rOPEN cases with lower extremity ischemia. rOPEN conferred a significant increase in lower extremity ischemia (P = .0002). There were 46 (7.15%) rEVAR and 60 (12.00%) rOPEN cases of ischemic colitis. rOPEN had a significant increase in ischemic colitis (P = .0052). Conclusions NSQIP data, over 9 years, demonstrate an increased morbidity and mortality associated with open vs endovascular repair of rAAAs. A great disparity exists between the proportion of rEVAR and rOPEN to EVAR and OPEN. The lagging use of endovascular repair of rAAAs must be further explored.
Improving teacher comfort and self-efficacy in asthma management.

Background: Asthma is common among urban school-age children. Though teachers should be prepared to assist children during an asthma attack, studies show they lack self-efficacy in managing asthma....
A Measurement Study on Edge Computing for Autonomous UAVs

The ability to execute complex signal processing and machine learning tasks in real-time is the core of autonomy. In airborne devices such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), the hardware limitations imposed by the weight constraint make the continuous execution of these algorithms challenging. Edge and fog computing can mitigate such limitations and boost the system and mission-level performance of the UAVs. However, due to the UAVs motion characteristics and complex dynamics of urban environments, the performance of pipelines using interconnected, rather than onboard, resources can quickly degrade. Motivated by the development of Hydra, an architecture for the establishment of flexible sensing-analysis-control pipelines over autonomous airborne systems, this paper reports a preliminary measurement study on the performance of computing task offloading on available network technologies in this class of applications and systems.
Hispanic race and outcome of metastatic (MET) colorectal cancer (CRC): Biology or health care (HC) setting?

e17559 Background: Hispanics (H) have lower CRC related mortality compared to Whites (W). However, over the past decade H have appreciated less improvement in CRC mortality. Given that treatments (...
An intravital window to image the colon in real time

Intravital microscopy is a powerful technique to observe dynamic processes with single-cell resolution in live animals. No intravital window has been developed for imaging the colon due to its anatomic location and motility, although the colon is a key organ where the majority of microbiota reside and common diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, functional gastrointestinal disorders, and colon cancer occur. Here we describe an intravital murine colonic window with a stabilizing ferromagnetic scaffold for chronic imaging, minimizing motion artifacts while maximizing long-term survival by preventing colonic obstruction. Using this setup, we image fluorescently-labeled stem cells, bacteria, and immune cells in live animal colons. Furthermore, we image nerve activity via calcium imaging in real time to demonstrate that electrical sacral nerve stimulation can activate colonic enteric neurons. The simple implantable apparatus enables visualization of live processes in the colon, which will open the window to a broad range of studies. Performing intravital imaging of the colon in mouse models is challenging due to the colon’s anatomic location and motility. Here, the authors develop a murine colonic window for intravital chronic imaging that maximises long-term animal survival and minimises motion artefacts.
Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective

Natural selection has operated as strongly or more so on the early stages of the lifespan as on adulthood. One evolved feature of human childhood is high levels of behavioral, cognitive, and neural plasticity, permitting children to adapt to a wide range of physical and social environments. Taking an evolutionary perspective on infancy and childhood provides a better understanding of contemporary human development, predicting and understanding adult behavior, and explaining how changes in the early development of our ancestors produced contemporary Homo sapiens.
Health Insurance Programs, Extended Social History Taking, and Resources to Overcome Health Care Barriers: Introduction for Medical Students.

Introduction Recognizing social determinants of health and addressing barriers to health care are an essential part of medical practice for which students' formal training is inadequate. The majori...
Physician Perspective and Key Satisfaction Indicators with Rapid Telehealth Adoption During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Background: Physician satisfaction with telehealth during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is a strong indicator for future use. Validated surveys can guide improvement and future expansion of telehealth programs. Introduction: This study examines physician and advanced practice provider perspectives and satisfaction using telehealth at UPMC Pinnacle and to assess key predictors of future use in ambulatory care. Methods: A web-based Likert scale survey of UPMC Pinnacle physicians and advanced practice providers was conducted in May-June 2020. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure the survey's internal consistency. Crosstab analysis and multivariate regression were used to analyze the interrelationships between variables. Results: A significant majority (64%) of physicians responded positively that they enjoyed telehealth video visits. A majority (65%) felt that the physician-patient relationship was unimpaired during telehealth visits, but only 29% of the respondents felt they were able to examine the patients properly. Providers who experienced good video and audio quality were 3.68 times more likely to enjoy telehealth visits (p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval 2.05-6.61) than those with less-than-optimal video and audio quality. Logistic regression shows a strong correlation between the audio and image quality and respondents' satisfaction with telehealth. Discussion: The key barriers for patients when using telehealth are perceived to be the ability to use a smartphone app, password management, or video/microphone features. For clinicians, barriers include problems with seeing and hearing on the platform. Conclusions: Patient education and improvement of audio and image quality are essential for improving telehealth usage and satisfaction.
Advanced magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy in a case of neurocysticercosis from North America

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a parasitic infection caused by Cysticercus cellulosae, the metacestode of pork tapeworm (Taenia solium). NCC is one of the most common public health problems worldwide. We present a patient harboring a bilobed ring-enhancing lesion with a presumed diagnosis of brain metastasis, who returned to the USA after traveling to an endemic region. The diagnosis of NCC was established based on a characteristic resonance of succinate on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Also, higher mean diffusivity and lower fractional anisotropy along with relative cerebral blood volume were observed from the lesion compared to contralateral normal brain regions. Multiparametric analysis may improve the differential diagnosis of ring-enhancing intracranial lesions such as NCC.
From Local Algorithms to Global Results: Human-Machine Collaboration for Robust Analysis of Geographically Diverse Imagery

Modern deep learning-based semantic segmentation models and traditional pattern matching segmentation methods demonstrate similar failure modes in mapping land cover from diverse satellite/aerial imagery. The key problem is that these models mostly respond to textures and colors which, locally, do tend to have consistent land cover labels, but may resemble very different labels in imagery acquired farther away, with a different sensor, or under new imaging conditions. One way to resolve this issue is to endow the algorithms with higher-level, human-like reasoning abilities - e.g., an awareness that houses are connected to roads with driveways, that roads connect towns, and that bridges cast shadows - and the mechanism for tracking such objects across larger areas in order to resolve ambiguity. We propose an alternative approach of human-machine collaboration for creating land cover maps, motivated by the fact that a large amount of human labor is necessary even in seemingly automated land cover mapping solutions. We build spatial ensembles of land cover models with weak supervision and treat them as a hypothesis space. Then, we build an interface where humans, aware of the higher-level structure in imagery, can act to select, apply, and refine these models locally, with the goal of minimizing the labor required to create a land cover map.
Role of Ca2+ in Adrenocorticotropic Hormone-stimulated Lipolysis in the Perifused Fat Cell System

Abstract The role of Ca2+ in adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-stimulated lipolysis in rat adipocytes was investigated using perifused fat cells. With this system, it is possible to monitor minute-to-minute changes in glycerol release from adipocytes during both the activation and inactivation phases of hormone-induced lipolysis. The lipolytic response to ACTH was dose-dependent and 0.1 unit per ml of ACTH produced the maximal lipolytic response. Unlike the response observed with other lipolytic polypeptide hormones and with catecholamines, cessation of ACTH infusion did not result in a return of lipolysis to the basal value, rather, maximal rates of lipolysis were maintained. During this period of maintained lipolytic response after the termination of ACTH administration, the infusion of EGTA (1 mm), or the perifusion with Ca2+-free buffer caused the lipolytic rate to return to basal value. When the lipolytic response was tested in Ca2+-free buffer, the maximal rate of ACTH-stimulated lipolysis was decreased 45% and the rate returned to the basal value after the termination of ACTH infusion. On the basis of the present findings it is speculated that a part of the ACTH-stimulated lipolysis in rat adipocytes may be Ca2+-independent and that Ca2+ exerts a role in the binding of ACTH to its membrane receptor.
The Exterior Potential and the Electrocardiogram

This chapter analyzes the small electrical potential produced outside a nerve or muscle fiber. Far from the fiber, we often describe this potential using a multipole approximation. We then review the electrical behavior of the heart, leading to a model for the electrocardiogram based on a current-dipole source. Different features of the electrocardiogram are related to various heart pathologies. The bidomain model is a more advanced description of the anisotropic electrical properties of cardiac tissue. We analyze the electrical stimulation of nerves and muscle, including the strength-duration curve, and we apply these ideas to the implantable cardiac pacemaker. The chapter ends by discussing the electroencephalogram: the electrical potential produced by the brain.
RNase H activity associated with reverse transcriptase from feline immunodeficiency virus.

Reverse transcription of retroviral genomes requires the action of an RNase H for template switching and primer generation. In this report, we compare enzymatic properties of the RNase H associated with the reverse transcriptase (RT) from feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and that from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Both enzymes displayed substrate preference for poly[3H](rG) . poly(dC) hybird over poly[3H](rA) . poly(dT) and cation preference for Mg2+ over Mn2+. Activity of the FIV RNase H upon poly(rG) . poly(dC) produced hydrolysis products from 1 to 6 nucleotides in length, similar to that reported for HIV. Dextran sulfates were effective inhibitors of both the FIV and HIV RNase H and RT activities. Nearly identical inhibition constants (0.12 nM) were obtained for all enzyme activities with dextran sulfate 500,000, while different inhibition constants were observed with dextran sulfate 8,000. Our results suggest that FIV and HIV RTs contain a conserved region that is sensitive to the larger dextran sulfate and that dextran sulfate 8,000 may interact at a different site or by a different mechanism.
Global convergence of a primal-dual interior-point method for nonlinear programming

Many recent convergence results obtained for primal-dual interior-point methods for nonlinear programming, use assumptions of the boundedness of generated iterates. In this paper we replace such assumptions by new assumptions on the NLP problem, develop a modification of a primal-dual interior-point method implemented in software package LOQO and analyze convergence of the new method from any initial guess.
A method for controlling complex confounding effects in the detection of adverse drug reactions using electronic health records.

Objective Electronic health records (EHRs) contain information to detect adverse drug reactions (ADRs), as they contain comprehensive clinical information. A major challenge of using comprehensive information involves confounding. We propose a novel data-driven method to identify ADR signals accurately by adjusting for confounders. Materials and methods We focused on two serious ADRs, rhabdomyolysis and pancreatitis, and used information in 264 155 unique patient records. We identified an ADR using established criteria, selected potential confounders, and then used penalized logistic regressions to estimate confounder-adjusted ADR associations. A reference standard was created to evaluate and compare the precision of the proposed method and four others. Results Precision was 83.3% for rhabdomyolysis and 60.8% for pancreatitis when using the proposed method, and we identified several drug safety signals that are interesting for further clinical review. Discussion The proposed method effectively estimated ADR associations after adjusting for confounders. A main cause of error was probably due to the nature of the dataset in that a substantial number of patients had a single visit only and, therefore, it was not possible to determine correctly the appropriate sequence of events for them. It is likely that performance will be improved with use of EHR data that contain more longitudinal records. Conclusions This data-driven method is effective in controlling for confounding, resulting in either a higher or similar precision when compared with four comparators, has the unique ability to provide insight into confounders for each specific medication–ADR pair, and can be easily adapted to other EHR systems.
Jewish Israelis in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, ou vivent environ 26 000 Israeliens auto-identifies, est une des plus dynamiques communautes d’emigrants israeliens. Cela inclut une economie ethnique tres active et un grand nombre d’institutions tournees vers les besoins des emigrants. Le climat mediterraneen de la ville, son importance comme centre de media, les caracteristiques socio-economiques des immigrants, la diversite des communautes juives contribuent a la reussite sociale de ces emigrants et aux bonnes relations entre les migrants israeliens et leurs co-religionnaires americains. Cet article reposant sur des enquetes de terrain examine les motivations de depart vers Los Angeles et les conditions de vie des immigrants israeliens. Il s’acheve par une caracterisation du transnationalisme israelien, processus par lequel les Israeliens de Los Angeles maintiennent les liens sociaux, economiques et identitaires entre la Californie du Sud et leur pays d’origine.
Spatial and temporal multipath diversity for DS/CDMA system

Spatial diversity commonly used to mitigate the effect of fading in mobile cellular communication systems is analyzed in this paper. Closed form analytical expressions of the bit error rate and outage probability are derived for three fading conditions namely: (a) independent and identically distributed (iid) fading; (b) independent but not identical distributed fading; and (c) correlated fading. The derived expressions are for the generalized binary detection schemes including binary phase shift keying and frequency shift keying. Analysis of results indicate that spatial diversity combined with temporal multipath diversity can achieve significant system improvements. When the diversity channels are correlated, more channels are necessary to achieve similar gains.
Chapter 94 Three-way Experimental Election Results: Strategic Voting, Coordinated Outcomes and Duverger's Law

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses here all used plurality voting. Thus, subjects could cast the vote vectors (1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1) and (0, 0, 0) for the candidates “O,” “G” and “B,” respectively. After each election, the candidate with the most votes was declared the winner and subjects were paid accordingly. If a tie occurred between two or more candidates, the winner was selected randomly with the tied candidates having equal probabilities of being selected. After each election, subjects were informed of the number of votes received by each candidate, the election winner and their payoffs. The equilibria are based on expectations about (1) which candidates will be in contention in a close race (conditional tie probabilities) and (2) the values voters place on breaking ties in their favor. For these payoffs, only the relative strengths of candidates O and G matter in selecting the equilibrium. When O is perceived strong while G is weak, all majority voters vote for O.
Activation of cerebellar climbing fibers increases cerebellar blood flow: role of glutamate receptors, nitric oxide, and cGMP.

Background —The mechanisms regulating the cerebellar microcirculation during neural activity are poorly understood. One of the major neural inputs to the cerebellar cortex is the climbing fiber (CF), a pathway that uses excitatory amino acids, including glutamate, as a transmitter. We studied whether CF activation increases cerebellar blood flow (BFcrb) and, if so, we investigated the role of glutamate receptors, nitric oxide (NO) and cGMP, in the response. Methods —The CF were activated by harmaline administration (40 mg/kg, IP) in halothane-anesthetized rats with a cranial window placed over the cerebellar vermis. BFcrb was monitored by a laser-Doppler probe, and arterial pressure and blood gases were controlled. Results —With Ringer superfusion, harmaline produced sustained increases in BFcrb that peaked 20 minutes after administration (+115±13%; n=6; P .05; n=5). The response was attenuated by the nonselective NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor nitro-l-arginine (1 mmol/L; −73±5%; n=6) or by 7-NI (50 mg, IP; −71±5%; n=5), a relatively selective neuronal NOS inhibitor. The soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor 1H-1,2,4oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (100 μmol/L) attenuated the response to harmaline (−73±5; P .05; n=5) or 8-bromo–cGMP ( P >.05; n=5). Conclusions —Activation of the CF system increases BFcrb. The response depends on activation of glutamate receptors and is in large part mediated by NO via stimulation of soluble guanylyl cyclase. Glutamate receptors NO and cGMP are important factors in the mechanisms of functional hyperemia in cerebellar cortex.