cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
MAXIMUM STANDARDIZED UPTAKE VALUE FROM STAGING FDG-PET/CT DOES NOT PREDICT TREATMENT OUTCOME FOR EARLY-STAGE NON-SMALL-CELL LUNG CANCER TREATED WITH STEREOTACTIC BODY RADIOTHERAPY

Purpose To perform a retrospective review to determine whether maximum standardized uptake values (SUV max ) from staging 2-deoxy-2- [ 18 F] fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) studies are associated with outcomes for early-stage non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Methods and Materials Seventy-two medically inoperable patients were treated between October 17, 2003 and August 17, 2007 with SBRT for T1-2N0M0 NSCLC. SBRT was administered as 60 Gy in 3 fractions, 50 Gy in 5 fractions, or 50 Gy in 10 fractions using abdominal compression and image-guided SBRT. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to determine whether PET SUV max and other variables influenced outcomes: mediastinal failure (MF), distant metastases (DM), and overall survival (OS). Results Biopsy was feasible in 49 patients (68.1%). Forty-nine patients had T1N0 disease, and 23 had T2N0 disease. Median SUV max was 6.55 (range, 1.5–21). Median follow-up was 16.9 months (range, 0.1–37.9 months). There were 3 local failures, 8 MF, 19 DM, and 30 deaths. Two-year local control, MF, DM, and OS rates were 94.0%, 10.4%, 30.1%, and 61.3%, respectively. In univariate analysis, PET/CT SUV max , defined either as a continuous or dichotomous variable, did not predict for MF, DM, or OS. On multivariable analysis, the only predictors for overall survival were T1 stage (hazard ratio=0.331 [95% confidence interval, 0.156–0.701], p = 0.0039) and smoking pack-year history (hazard ratio=1.015 [95% confidence interval, 1.004–1.026], p = 0.0084). Conclusions Pretreatment PET SUV max did not predict for MF, DM, or OS in patients treated with SBRT for early-stage NSCLC.
Modeling and tracking clocks with time-varying skews using information criteria

Synchronizing clocks is important to guarantee reliable and efficient network functionality for precise coordination among different nodes or components. Clock synchronization becomes more challenging for networks with low-cost devices such as sensors, because these nodes are equipped with unreliable clocks which are vulnerable to noises and environmental changes. With the drastic increase in the use of sensors, modeling and tracking clocks are becoming critical. In this paper, we develop a stochastic clock model using information criteria which follows the principle of Occam's razor. The model is optimized in terms of the number of parameters and validated by real measurements on low-powered micro-controllers. Based on our model, we show that Kalman filter tracks the clock uncertainty well with a fairly short training. We further evaluate our clock modeling and tracking methods by considering missing observations.
Indicators of Persistence for Hispanic Undergraduate Achievement: Toward an Ecological Model.

By examining Hispanic students both currently and formerly enrolled at a private, Hispanic-serving Institution located in the Southwestern region of the United States, this study attempts to understand the factors that lead to Hispanic undergraduate persistence to graduation. Adapting Bronfenbrenner’s theoretical approach, this study explores three dimensions that are critical to understanding Hispanic undergraduate persistence to graduation: (a) the role of the student context (b) the role of the university context in the student’s decision to persist; and (c) the interaction between the two contexts.
Phylogeography of the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) Based on mtDNA Sequences

Abstract The Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is beset by a variety of conservation problems, including habitat loss and persecution. Effective management plans require an understanding of rangewide population structure and intraspecific evolutionary subdivisions. Northern and southern populations have been recognized as distinct subspecies, but this classification remains controversial. A proposed alternative arrangement recognizes southern, northern, and western morphotypes. To resolve intraspecific partitions, we examined a 319 base-pair (bp) fragment of mtDNA cytochrome b in 123 specimens of C. horridus. Neighbor-joining and parsimony analyses reveal a shallow gene genealogy (dmax = 0.024) and sharing of haplotypes among putative subspecies. Analysis of molecular variance demonstrates that traditional subspecific divisions explain only 3.5% of variation, whereas the alternative geographic classification (southern, northern, and western regions) explains 18.6% of genetic variation. The superior p...
Co-expression of phenylalanine hydroxylase variants and effects of interallelic complementation on in vitro enzyme activity and genotype-phenotype correlation

Abstract Background In phenylketonuria (PKU) patients, the combination of two phenylalanine hydroxylase ( PAH ) alleles is the main determinant of residual enzyme activity in vivo and in vitro . Inconsistencies in genotype-phenotype correlations have been observed in compound heterozygous patients and a particular combination of two PAH alleles may produce a phenotype that is different from the expected one, possibly due to interallelic complementation. Methods A dual eukaryotic vector system with two distinct PAH proteins N-terminally fused to different epitope tags was used to investigate the co-expression of PAH alleles reported in patients with inconsistent phenotypes. PAH variant proteins were transiently co-transfected in COS-7 cells. PAH activity was measured by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS-MS), and protein expression was measured by Western blot. Genotypes were compared with predicted PAH activity from the PAH locus-specific database ( PAH vdb) and with phenotypes and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH 4 ) responsiveness from more than 10,000 PKU patients (BIOPKU database). Results Through the expression and co-expression of 17 variant alleles we demonstrated that interallelic interaction could be both positive and negative. The co-expressions of p.[I65T];[R261Q] (19.5% activity; predicted 43.5%) and p.[I65T];[R408W] (15.0% vs. 26.8% activity) are examples of genotypes with negative interallelic interaction. The co-expressions of p.[E178G];[Q232E] (55.0% vs. 36.4%) and p.[P384S];[R408W] (56.1% vs. 40.8%) are examples of positive subunit interactions. Inconsistencies of PAH residual enzyme activity in vitro and of PKU patients' phenotypes were observed as well. The PAH activity of p.[R408W];[A300S] is 18.0% of the wild-type activity; however, 88% of patients with this genotype exhibit mild hyperphenylalaninemias (MHPs). Conclusion The co-expression of two distinct PAH variants revealed possible dominance effects (positive or negative) by one of the variants on residual PAH activity as a result of interallelic complementation.
Epileptic morbidity: psychiatric sequelae in the family--a case study

Psychiatric complications associated with the epileptic patient have often been referred to in the literature; however, psychiatric sequelae occurring in the family of an epileptic patient have received far less attention. In this case study, the author presents such an example and suggests that neuropsychiatrists treating the epileptic patient be aware that significant psychiatric sequelae may exist in the family.
Increased plasma 17-ketosteroid concentration in congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

SummaryMeasurements of peripheral plasma 17-ketosteroids were made in 15 normal men and in 4 children with untreated congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The 4 children showed plasma values equal to or in excess of the values shown by the men. When one of the children was treated with cortisone, plasma 17-ketosteroid concentration fell to values far below the adult level.
Formation of Vesicular-Arbuscular Mycorrhizae in Atriplex Gardneri (Chenopodiaceae): Seasonal Response in a Cold Desert

Arbuscules and total VA mycorrhizal colonization in Atriplex gardneri were observed during the spring and summer of 1982. Arbuscules were observed in April (25% of secondary and tertiary root length intercepts) but were not found in June. Total VA mycorrhizal colonization was 78% of fine root length intercepts in April, 28% in June, and 3% by July. The phenology of the fungus was correlated with that of the plant; rainfall and temperature dictated periods of active growth, nutrient uptake, and senescence in the symbionts.
Understanding Spurious Message Forwarding in VANET Beaconless Dissemination Protocols: An Analytical Approach

Message dissemination is a key component of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). It enables the capability of intelligent transportation systems to support safety and infotainment services for vehicles and people on travel. Dissemination in VANETs typically relies on the intelligent election of selected vehicles to act as relay nodes (RNs), which is a critical element that serves to avoid broadcasting storm issues. This paper presents an analytical model for evaluating the performance of a class of distributed beaconless dissemination protocols in a linear VANET (e.g., a highway). NS-2-based simulations are employed to validate the model. The results are used to gain insight into the spurious forwarding problem, which accompanies the use of timer-based VANET networking protocols. We characterize the impact of this phenomenon on the achievable level of the system's broadcast throughput capacity rate. Resolution approaches are proposed and analyzed.
Crystal Structure, Packing Analysis, and Structural-Sensitivity Correlations of Erythritol Tetranitrate

The explosive erythritol tetranitrate (ETN) has been known since 1849 and has applications as a vasodilator; however, little is known about its structure and bonding. Here we present the X-ray crystal structure of erythritol tetranitrate (ETN), along with characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), infrared spectroscopy (IR), elemental analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Crystal packing and morphology are discussed in relation to explosive handling sensitivity (impact, spark, and friction testing). We compare the structure and property relationship to a closely related common nitrate ester, pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN).
A Mechanical Type of Pneumatic Mark-making Device on Sucker Rods

A type of mechanical mark-making device on sucker rods, which is pneumatically driven, is introduced from respects of principle scheme and structural design.
The effect of octreotide on hepatic regeneration in rats

The effect of the long-acting somatostatin analog octreotide on liver regeneration was studied in rats in vitro and in vivo. The effect of continuous subcutaneous octreotide infusion on regenerative liver weight and relative DNA synthesis was examined in rats that had undergone 70% hepatectomy. Administration of octreotide resulted in a 33% reduction of regenerating liver weight at 72 hours and a 67% reduction of regenerative hepatocellular hyperplasia at 24 hours. This effect was reversed within 12 hours after withdrawal of the drug. The mechanism for the inhibitory effect of octreotide appears to be indirect, because experiments in hepatocyte cultures did not demonstrate a direct inhibitory effect on serum-free or epidermal growth factor-induced regenerative hepatocyte proliferation. Because insulin levels were suppressed by octreotide in the in vivo experiments, suppression of hepatotrophs may be the mechanism by which octreotide inhibits liver regeneration.
Late Recurrence of Mycobacterium Bovis Genitourinary Tuberculosis: Case Report and Review of Literature

AbstractA patient is described in whom Mycobacterium bovis genitourinary tuberculosis occurred initially 25 years after childhood scrofula and then recurred 29 years later despite apparently successful therapy. A review of the literature indicated that this 29-year interval between successive bouts of clinical genitourinary tuberculosis is among the longest described. This case also is a reminder that, although rare, Mycobacterium bovis infection and genitourinary tuberculosis still occur. To avoid nonrecognition of this disease and its potentially serious consequences, clinicians should remain vigilant for tuberculosis even in unusual clinical circumstances.
God and Reason in the Middle Ages: Reason in Action: Natural Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts

N ATURAL PHILOSOPHY, OR NATURAL SCIENCE AS IT WAS SOMETIMES called, was the most widely taught discipline at the medieval university. For more than four centuries, virtually all students who obtained the master of arts degree had studied natural philosophy, and most undergraduates were exposed to significant aspects of it. What was natural philosophy for university students in the late Middle Ages? WHAT IS NATURAL PHILOSOPHY? In the broadest sense, natural philosophy was the study of change and motion in the physical world. In Chapter 3, we saw that it was one of Aristotle's three subdivisions of theoretical knowledge, or knowledge for its own sake. Natural philosophy was concerned with physical bodies that existed independently and were capable of motion, and therefore subject to change. In truth, Aristotle's natural philosophy was also concerned with bodies in motion that were themselves unchanging, as was assumed for all celestial bodies. In general, Aristotle's natural philosophy was concerned with separately existing animate and inanimate bodies that undergo change and possess an innate source of movement and rest. Because the domain of natural philosophy was the whole of nature, as the name suggests, it did not represent any single science, but could, and did, embrace bits and pieces of all sciences. In this sense, natural philosophy was “The Mother of All Sciences.”
Reduced nicotine content cigarettes, e-cigarettes and the cigarette end game

The reduced nicotine content cigarette and the emergence of non-combusted nicotine products like e-cigarettes should be viewed not as alternatives but as complementary components of regulatory interventions that could virtually end combusted tobacco use.
Nonlinear Suppression of High‐Frequency S Waves by Strong Rayleigh Waves

Strong Rayleigh waves are expected to bring the shallow subsurface into frictional failure. They may nonlinearly interact with high‐frequency S waves. The widely applied Drucker and Prager (1952) rheology predicts that horizontal compression half‐cycle of strong Rayleigh waves will increase the strength of the subsurface for S waves and predicts that S waves with dynamic accelerations >1 g will reach the surface. We did not observe this effect. Rather, we observed that strong high‐frequency S waves arrived at times of low Rayleigh‐wave particle velocity. Physically, high‐frequency S waves cause failure on horizontal fractures in which Rayleigh waves do not change the normal traction. Failure then may depend on the ratio of the shear invariant to the ambient vertical stress. The shear invariant is the square root of the sum of the squares of terms proportional to the resolved horizontal velocity from Rayleigh waves and to the resolved high‐frequency dynamic acceleration from S waves. That is, an ellipse should bound resolved dynamic acceleration versus resolved particle velocity. Records from seven stations from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and El Pedregal station during the 2015 Coquimbo Chilean earthquake exhibit this expected effect of this nonlinear interaction.
Liberation From Renal Replacement Therapy After Cadaveric Liver Transplantation.

Background Renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) is common in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) and is associated with worse outcomes following liver transplantation (LT). We investigated the factors associated with liberation from posttransplant RRT and studied the impact of RRT on patient and graft outcomes. Methods A 5-year retrospective study of ESLD patients who received pretransplant RRT was conducted. Variables associated with liberation from RRT at 30 days and at 1-year posttransplant were analyzed. We used propensity matching to compare patient and graft outcomes in the study cohort to those of a control group who underwent LT but not pretransplant RRT. Results Sixty-four patients were included in the study. Twenty-four (38%) were liberated from RRT at 30 days posttransplant. Duration of pretransplant RRT (odds ratio [OR], 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89-0.98) and severe postreperfusion syndrome (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.08-0.87) were significantly associated with continued RRT at 1-month posttransplant. At one year, 34 (53%) patients were liberated from RRT. Age was significantly associated with lack of liberation from RRT (OR, 0.933; 95% CI, 0.875-0.995). Compared with propensity matched controls, patients who received RRT pretransplant had worse graft and patient survival at 1 year (52% vs 82%; P = 0.01, and 53% vs 83%; P = 0.003, respectively). Conclusions In ESLD patients who received pretransplant RRT, one third were liberated from RRT at 1 month, and half at 1 year. Longer duration of pretransplant RRT, postreperfusion syndrome, and older age were associated with lower likelihood of liberation from RRT. Patients who required pretransplant RRT had worse graft and patient survivals compared to matched patients who did not require RRT. Patients who were liberated from RRT post-LT had similar outcomes to patients who never required pre-LT RRT.
Directional isotope identification using 3-D semiconductor gamma-ray-imaging spectrometers

Using three-dimensional-position-sensitive semiconductor detectors, our research group has demonstrated the ability to record multiple interaction locations and associated energy depositions due to incident gamma-rays in a pixellated CdZnTe (CZT) detector. These interaction locations and energies can be used to reconstruct a 4π image of radiation sources around the detector. We have previously demonstrated gamma-ray imaging techniques which provide an estimate of the incident spectrum in each direction. One can use these spectra for directional identification of the source present in each direction. The performance of identification for two different simultaneous sources in different directions will be shown as a function of source intensity.
Regional Variations in Health Disparities : A Cross-Regional Comparison of Self-Rated Health Determinants in Reform-era China

It is well documented that higher socioeconomic status is associated with favorable health status. Given regional variations in the pace and consequence of economic reform in China, this relationship may differ cross-regionally. Building upon the theoretical notion about distinct stratification system under state-socialism versus market economy, as well as the fundamental causes of health disparities, this study compares the association of education and cadre status with self-rated health across geographical regions (e.g., provinces) in reform-era China. Analyses of data pooled from the 1991-2000 China Health and Nutrition Survey reveal that the association between education and self-rated health is stronger in a more marketized region. Health benefits associated with a cadre status tend to decline in a more marketized region, which however fails to reach a statistical significance. The findings highlight the role regional contexts play in shaping health disparities in reform-era China.
Adult Daughters as Parental Caregivers: Rational Actors Versus Rational Agents

Using logistic regression analyses on a sub-sample (n = 611) of the National Longitudinal Survey, Young Women's Cohort, the study found that inheritance-related factors added no explanatory power to other factors influencing the likelihood of adult daughters providing personal care or doing household chores for their aging parents, suggesting the motivational primacy of adherence to social norms. The study also found that inheritance-related factors increased the likelihood of providing financial assistance beyond that of other factors, suggesting the primacy of self-interest when money transactions are concerned. This is an important study because it offers insights into developing and implementing public and private incentives and policies to ensure an adequate supply of informal caregivers as baby boomers enter their twilight years.
Passing epigenetic silence to the next generation

Almost every cell in an organism contains the same DNA, but only a subset of genes is expressed in each cell type. DNA is packaged into chromatin, the core component of which is the nucleosome. During development and cell differentiation, histone constituents of nucleosomes are modified by the methylation, acetylation, or phosphorylation of specific amino acids. Different modifications are associated with active or silenced genes. Repressive chromatin marks are thought to constitute the epigenetic memory of the silenced transcriptional state. How are silent chromatin domains maintained through DNA replication and cell division to the next generation? On pages 41, 85, and 88 of this issue, Coleman and Struhl ( 1 ), Laprell et al. ( 2 ), and Wang and Moazed ( 3 ), respectively, reveal that long-term stable transmission of the silenced state requires sequence-specific recruitment of histone-modifying enzymes.
Supervised non-negative tensor factorization for automatic hyperspectral feature extraction and target discrimination

Hyperspectral imaging provides a highly discriminative and powerful signature for target detection and discrimination. Recent literature has shown that considering additional target characteristics, such as spatial or temporal profiles, simultaneously with spectral content can greatly increase classifier performance. Considering these additional characteristics in a traditional discriminative algorithm requires a feature extraction step be performed first. An example of such a pipeline is computing a filter bank response to extract spatial features followed by a support vector machine (SVM) to discriminate between targets. This decoupling between feature extraction and target discrimination yields features that are suboptimal for discrimination, reducing performance. This performance reduction is especially pronounced when the number of features or available data is limited. In this paper, we propose the use of Supervised Nonnegative Tensor Factorization (SNTF) to jointly perform feature extraction and target discrimination over hyperspectral data products. SNTF learns a tensor factorization and a classification boundary from labeled training data simultaneously. This ensures that the features learned via tensor factorization are optimal for both summarizing the input data and separating the targets of interest. Practical considerations for applying SNTF to hyperspectral data are presented, and results from this framework are compared to decoupled feature extraction/target discrimination pipelines.
Stability of decentralized model predictive control of graph-based power flow systems via passivity

Abstract This work presents a passivity-based stability guarantee for the decentralized control of nonlinear power flow systems. This class of systems is characterized using a graph-based modeling approach, where vertices represent capacitive elements that store energy and edges represent power flow between these capacitive elements. Due to their complexity and size, these power flow systems are often decomposed into dynamically coupled subsystems, where this coupling stems from the exchange of power between subsystems. Each subsystem has a corresponding model predictive controller that can be part of a decentralized, distributed, or larger hierarchical control structure. By exploiting the structure of the coupling between subsystems, stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed by augmenting each model predictive controller with a local passivity constraint.
An Agent-Based Model to Study the Spread and Control of Epidemics

AN AGENT-BASED MODEL TO STUDY THE SPREAD AND CONTROL OF EPIDEMICS By Ashley Dawn Fuller, M.S. A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mathematics at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008 Thesis Advisor: Dr. David M. Chan Assistant Professor, Mathematical Sciences The world continues to face outbreaks of disease due to natural causes as well as the threat of biological warfare. Mathematical modeling provides an avenue by which to predict and ultimately prevent widespread outbreaks. A wide variety of modeling tools have been used in the study of the spread of diseases, including Ordinary Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations, and Difference Equations. In this study, an agent-based model is used to study the spread and control of epidemics and is based on
A Highly Accurate and Reliable Data Fusion Framework for Guiding the Visually Impaired

The world has approximately 253 million visually impaired (VI) people according to a report by the world health organization (WHO) in 2014. Thirty-six million people are estimated to be blind. According to WHO, 217 million people are estimated to have moderate to severe visual impairment. An important factor that motivated this research is the fact that 90% of VI people live in developing countries. Several systems were designed to improve the quality of the life of VI people and support their mobility. Unfortunately, none of these systems are considered to be a complete solution for VI people and these systems are very expensive. We present in this paper an intelligent framework for supporting VI people. The proposed work integrates sensor-based and computer vision-based techniques to provide an accurate and economical solution. These techniques allow us to detect multiple objects and enhance the accuracy of the collision avoidance system. In addition, we introduce a novel obstacle avoidance algorithm based on the image depth information and fuzzy logic. By using the fuzzy logic, we were able to provide precise information to help the VI user in avoiding front obstacles. The system has been deployed and tested in real-time scenarios. An accuracy of 98% was obtained for detecting objects and 100% accuracy in avoiding the detected objects.
Posterior Cervical Arthrodesis in Children

Posterior arthrodesis for pediatric cervical spine problems may be done for deformity or instability that is related to a wide variety of pathologic processes, from trauma to congenital anomalies to connective tissue disorders. Arthrodesis technique has evolved from fusion in situ without instrumentation, to the use of wiring technique, to modern screw-rod constructs. Disorders of the cervical spine in children and adolescents are commonly subdivided based on etiology and anatomic region, into atlanto-occipital disorders and those disorders affecting the subaxial cervical spine. This chapter reviews surgical options available for surgeons treating occipital-cervical and subaxial cervical spine disorders in children and adolescents. Detailed descriptions of the most contemporary surgical techniques are discussed, with practical instructions provided to improve results and avoid complications. Published treatment results are discussed, providing surgeons with the best available evidence used in clinical decision-making.
Regulation of superoxide dismutase by Cdc-like-kinase (LAMMER kinase) in Drosophila Melanogaster and human tumor cells

1748 The antioxidant defense enzyme, superoxide dismutase (SOD), plays a critical role in the prevention of damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS). The in vitro activation of SOD can increase cell differentiation, decrease cell proliferation and in Drosophila melanogaster increase life span. In the fission yeast, S. pombe, SOD expression is regulated by the yeast Lkh1 gene, a homolog of Cdc-2-like kinases (CLKs) or LAMMER kinases. CLKs are a family of ubiquitously expressed dual-specificity kinases involved in pre-mRNA splicing, and the splicing associated activity of CLK1 has been successfully targeted by the CLK inhibitor TG003. We examined the regulation of the SOD by CLKs in Drosophila melanogaster and human tumor cells and found that CLKs negatively regulate SOD protein and activity. We have observed that loss of function mutations in the Drosophila CLK gene, Darkener of apricot (Doa) increase mitochondrial SOD (Mn-SOD) and cytoplasmic SOD (CuZn-SOD) activity approximately 2 fold in adult Drosophila. In addition, this increase in activity corresponds with an increase in the protein levels of both Mn-SOD and CuZn-SOD. Since an increase in SOD activity is expected to increase resistance to oxidative stress, we asked if loss of CLK function in Drosophila can increase resistance to oxidative stress by determining if Doa mutants were more resistant to the ROS generator, paraquat, as compared to wild type flies. We found flies heterozygous for a loss of function allele of Doa showed an increased survival in the presence of paraquat when compared to wild-type flies. In HeLa and MCF7 human cancer cell lines we have found that treating cells with the CLK inhibitor TG003 leads to an increase in SOD activity. To confirm that CLK is responsible for the increase in SOD activity seen when cells are treated with TG003 we tested siRNAs targeted against CLK1, CLK2, and CLK3. We show that knock down of CLK2 and CLK3 has no significant effect on SOD activity but that knock down of CLK1 leads to a significant increase in CuZn-SOD activity, transcript and protein. Thus, the data suggest that SOD is negatively regulated by CLKs in Drosophila and human cancer cell lines affecting the response to ROS and that this regulation may be conserved during evolution.
Adaptive Informative Sampling for Active Learning.

Many approaches to active learning involve periodically training one classifier and choosing data points with the lowest confidence, but designing a confidence measure is nontrivial. An alternative approach is to periodically choose data instances that maximize disagreement among the label predictions across an ensemble of classifiers. Many classifiers with different underlying structures could fit this framework, but some ensembles are more suitable for some data sets than others. The question then arises as to how to find the most suitable ensemble for a given data set. In this work we introduce a method that begins with a heterogeneous ensemble composed of multiple instances of different classifier types, which we call adaptive informative sampling. The algorithm periodically adds data points to the training set, adapts the ratio of classifier types in the heterogeneous ensemble in favor of the better classifier type, and optimizes the classifiers in the ensemble using stochastic methods. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs consistently better than homogeneous ensembles. Comparison with random sampling and uncertainty sampling shows that the algorithm effectively draws informative data points for training.
Abstract 258: Mir-155 Mitigates Acute Oscillatory Shear Stress (OSS)-Induced Vascular Inflammation and Barrier Dysfunction Through Down Regulation of the AT1R-ETS1 Pathway

Introduction: Shear stress forces play an integral role in dictating the vascular wall response to changes in blood flow, induction of pro-inflammatory response and hence development of atherosclerosis. Previously, our group and others have identified an inverse relationship between microRNA-155 (miR-155) and AT1R expression and/or activity in atheroprone areas of chronic low magnitude oscillatory shear stress (OSS) in vasculature and in-vitro. Hypothesis: we hypothesized that acute induction of OSS mediates vascular inflammation and dysfunction, via activation of the AT1R-ETS1 pathway and dysregulation of miR-155. Methods: 12-week old C57B/6J mice were subjected to abdominal aortic coarctation (AAC), a unique model of acute induction of acute OSS, for 3 days. Downstream segments of acute OSS were compared to upstream unidirectional shear stress (USS) segments of the thoracic aorta using RT-PCR, western blot analysis and unpaired student t-test. Results: Acute OSS resulted in vascular inflammation evidenced by upregulation of the AT1R-ETS1 pathway and several of its downstream targets including phosphorylated ERK2, MCP-1 and VCAM-1 in OSS segments compared with USS. This was associated with loss of EC barrier function as evaluated by extravasation of Evans-blue dye assay along with increased expression of MMP3 and MMP9 in in OSS segments compared with USS. However, vascular miR-155 expression was also higher in OSS segments compared with USS (n=6-12, P Conclusions: Despite the early upregulation of the shear-sensitive miR-155, our data suggest that it could serve as a negative feedback regulator to acute OSS-induced upregulation of the pro-inflammatory AT1R-ETS1 pathway. Further studies are in progress to evaluate the effect of exogenous miR-155 on OSS-induced oxidative stress and vascular dysfunction, which can serve as the basis for developing novel miRNA-based therapeutic modalities.
Comparison of the effects of a sulfuric acid environment on traditionally manufactured and additive manufactured stainless steel 316L alloy

Abstract The effects on the surface and mechanical properties of stainless steel AISI316L dogbones created using either traditional manufacturing (TM) or laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) exposed to 0.75 M sulfuric acid solution over 2184 h were studied. General corrosion was not a major form of corrosion, based on surface feature changes, surface roughness, and mass loss for either method. No change to the mechanical properties occurred for the TM samples. Both tensile stress and strain decreased for the LPBF samples. The decrease was caused by hydrogen embrittlement, due to the formation of large brittle particles, as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy.
A Mixed-Signal Binarized Convolutional-Neural-Network Accelerator Integrating Dense Weight Storage and Multiplication for Reduced Data Movement

We present a 65nm CMOS mixed-signal accelerator for first and hidden layers ofbinarized CNNs. Hidden layers support up to 512, 3 ×3 ×512 binary - input filters, and first layers support up to 64, 3×3 ×3 analog-input filters. Weight storage and multiplication with input activations is achieved within compact hardware, only 1.8 × larger than a 6T SRAM bit cell, and output activations are computed via capacitive charge sharing, requiring distribution of only a switch-control signal. Reduced data movement gives energy-efficiency of 658 (binary) / 0.95 TOPS/Wand throughput of 9438 (binary) / 10.64 GOPS for hidden / first layers.
Effects of platinum-based anticancer drugs on the trace element profile of liver and kidney tissue from mice.

Abstract Background Platinum-based anticancer drugs are relatively successful chemotherapeutic agents, which can cause significant elemental changes in key organs and are known for undesirable side effects, such as nephrotoxicity (damage to the kidneys). Objectives and methods Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and traditional statistical tools such as two-sample Student’s t-test and Pearson’s correlation analysis are used to evaluate the effects of different investigational Pt-based anticancer drugs on the elemental constitution of kidneys and liver of mice. Principal component analysis is used to uncover relationships in element concentration and potential correlations between those and clinical effects. Random forest importance is used to identify elements most associated with the drug’s maximum tolerated doses (MTDs). Results Strong negative correlations between Pt and both Cu (−0.814) and Zn (−0.784) in kidneys were observed for one of the Pt-acridine anticancer agents evaluated (Drug C). Strong positive correlations were observed between Cu in both kidneys (0.834) and liver (0.756) with Zn in liver for the same compound. Cisplatin administration correlates to higher concentrations of Ca, Cu, Rb and Zn in liver. Calcium and Mo in kidneys and Pt and Zn in liver are the features most associated with MTDs. Conclusions The results indicate that the Pt-based agents investigated are major modulators of ion homeostasis in excretory organs, which most likely contributes to their systemic toxicity and limits their efficacy. A better understanding of subtle patterns and correlations among elements in key organs may provide deeper insights into the mechanisms of action and ultimately contribute for better, safer drugs. To achieve this goal, researchers involved in cancer drug development may leverage the high sensitivity and high sample throughput of ICP-MS, and the capabilities of modern statistical tools to extract relevant information from a large dataset.
Chapter 9 – Filters in Control Systems

Publisher Summary This chapter considers filters from the point of view of control systems. The controller makes the most extensive use of filters. They are used to remove noise, reduce aliasing, and calm resonances. The characteristics of filter can either be fixed or can be adjusted as part of a tuning procedure. Most control system filters are low-pass filters that are designed to reduce high-frequency noise. Electrical resonance commonly occurs in current and voltage controllers—inductances and capacitances, either from components or from parasitic effects, combine to form L–C circuits that have little resistive damping. Low-pass filters are also used in the controller to prevent aliasing in an analog command or feedback signal. Feedback devices can include both explicit and implicit filters. Some physical processes act like filters. For example, many temperature sensors, such as thermistors, have thermal inertia. When the object being measured changes temperature, it takes time for the sensor's thermal mass to change.
Charge-transfer biexciton annihilation in a donor–acceptor co-crystal yields high-energy long-lived charge carriers

Organic donor–acceptor (D–A) co-crystals have attracted much interest due to their important optical and electronic properties. Co-crystals having ⋯DADA⋯ π-stacked morphologies are especially interesting because photoexcitation produces a charge-transfer (CT) exciton, D˙+–A˙−, between adjacent D–A molecules. Although several studies have reported on the steady-state optical properties of this type of CT exciton, very few have measured the dynamics of its formation and decay in a single D–A co-crystal. We have co-crystallized a peri-xanthenoxanthene (PXX) donor with a N,N-bis(3-pentyl)-2,5,8,11-tetraphenylperylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (Ph4PDI) acceptor to give an orthorhombic PXX–Ph4PDI ⋯DADA⋯ π-stacked co-crystal with a CT transition dipole moment that is perpendicular to the transition moments for Sn ← S0 excitation of PXX and Ph4PDI. Using polarized, broadband, femtosecond pump–probe microscopy, we have determined that selective photoexcitation of Ph4PDI in the single co-crystal results in CT exciton formation within the 300 fs instrument response time. At early times (0.3 ≤ t ≤ 500 ps), the CT excitons decay with a t−1/2 dependence, which is attributed to CT biexciton annihilation within the one-dimensional ⋯DADA⋯ π-stacks producing high-energy, long-lived (>8 ns) electron–hole pairs in the crystal. These energetic charge carriers may prove useful in applications ranging from photovoltaics and opto-electronics to photocatalysis.
Maximising Energy Yield Using Global Maximum Power Point Tracking of Reconfigurable Photovoltaic Panel Array

Global maximum power point tracking is one of the most effective control based methods for maximising energy capture of fixed PV arrays and has been an active research since last decade. PV reconfiguration, on the other hand, is an upcoming area of research, which relies on the real time changing of hardware connections among PV panels in an array to maximise the energy output. However, there is no direct combination of these two methods in the existing literature, until this present work. Partial shading, quantified in terms of shading factor, highlights the benefits of the combination, which is quantified in terms of the increased energy yield versus shading factor graphs for a PV array with series-parallel panel connections.
Learning to Set Prices

We empirically examine how firms learn to set prices in a new market. The 2012 privatization of off-premise liquor sales in Washington State provided a unique opportunity to observe how retailers learn to price from the point at which the learning process begins. Tracking this market as it evolved through time, we demonstrate that firms do learn to set more profitable prices, that observed prices increasingly reflect demand fundamentals, and that prices ultimately converge to levels consistent with (static) profit maximization. We further demonstrate that initial pricing mistakes are largest for products whose demand patterns differ the most from existing (already privatized) markets, that retailers with previous experience in these markets are initially better-informed, and that learning is faster for products with more precise sales information. Our findings indicate that behavior converges to rational models of firm conduct, but also reveal that the convergence to such fully-informed behavior takes time to unfold and plays out differently for different firms, indicating important roles for both firm learning and heterogeneous firm capabilities.
Pharyngoesophageal motility reflex mechanisms in the human neonate: importance of integrative cross-systems physiology.

Swallowing is a critical function for survival and development in human neonates and requires cross-system coordination between neurological, airway, and digestive motility systems. Development of ...
Coping with the transition to remote instruction: Patterns of self-regulated engagement in a large post-secondary biology course

The COVID-19 disruption presented considerable challenges for university students, requiring the sudden need for increased engagement in remote learning environments and the ability to cope with academic and familial demands. To examine how students self-regulated their learning during the disruption, we surveyed undergraduates (n = 226) enrolled in four sections of a large biology course once during the first week of the semester, immediately after the disruption, and through the end of the semester. The results indicated significant decreases in student motivation, increases in students' perceived costs, and quadratic changes in self-reported coping strategies and mental depletion during disrupted learning. In a final model, students' self-efficacy and perceptions of cost, as well as feelings of anger and personal responsibility for family combined to form a parsimonious set of predictors that explained variance in course performance.
Sex-specific pharmacological differences

Abstract In 1977 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that females of childbearing potential be excluded from Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, which led to a substantial underrepresentation of females in clinical pharmacology research studies. Despite major efforts from the FDA and National Institutes of Health to encourage female representation, drug dosing still fails to reflect clinically relevant pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences between the sexes. Consequently, females are often overmedicated and more likely to experience adverse drug reactions. Many studies during the last few decades have strived to elucidate these differences and provide recommendations and guidances for medication use. This chapter focuses on key findings from these studies and how they influence clinical decision making in females versus males, then concludes with a brief discussion of the inclusion of transgender individuals in clinical pharmacology studies.
Accretion and ablation in deformable solids with an Eulerian description: examples using the method of characteristics:

Accretion and ablation, i.e., the addition and removal of mass at the surface, are important in a wide range of physical processes, including solidification, growth of biological tissues, environme...
Incidence of Serious Infections among Patients with ALS in a U.S. Health Insurance Claims Database (P07.086)

OBJECTIVE: This study estimated the risk of serious infections in patients with ALS compared to controls in the i3 InVision Data Mart Multiplan database. BACKGROUND: Respiratory infections are common in ALS. Literature on other types of infections in patients with ALS is limited. DESIGN/METHODS: Two cohorts of patients ≥ 18 years of age were included in this analysis: ALS patients (any patient with 1 inpatient or 2 outpatient medical claims containing ICD-9 code 335.20) and controls (n=65,000 randomly selected patients with no medical claims for ALS or other motor neuron diseases). Serious infections (bacteremia, cellulitis, encephalitis, endocarditis, meningitis, pneumonia, and pyelonephritis) were selected and defined using previously validated medical claims algorithms and inpatient claims. After excluding patients with previous history of an outcome within 60 days of the index date, each analysis included 65,000 controls and approximately 3260 ALS patients (min=3256, max=3265). Poisson regression was used to calculate incidence rates while Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR). RESULTS: Age- and gender-adjusted incidence rates in ALS and controls, respectively (per 100,000 person-years): bacteremia 392.48 and 44.48; cellulitis 143.36 and 78.36; pneumonia 303.95 and 7.54; and pyelonephritis 68.41 and 15.07. Age- and gender-adjusted HRs in patients with ALS: bacteremia 8.7 (95% CI: 5.1, 14.8); cellulitis 1.8 (95% CI: 0.9, 3.4); pneumonia 39.8 (95% CI: 12.9, 123.2); and pyelonephritis 4.5 (95% CI: 1.0, 19.3). No cases of encephalitis, endocarditis, or meningitis were identified in ALS patients. Further results for other infections will be presented at conference. CONCLUSIONS: The present analysis found an increased risk of select serious infections requiring hospitalization among ALS patients relative to the general population. Clinicians should be vigilant for signs of infection in ALS patients. Supported by: Biogen Idec. Disclosure: Dr. Williams has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee. Dr. Williams holds stock and/or stock options in Biogen Idec. Dr. Kerr has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee and holds stock options in Biogen. Dr. Farwell has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec as an employee.
Challenges and Advances in Image-Based Geometric Modeling and Mesh Generation

Image-based geometric modeling and mesh generation play a critical role in computational medicine and biology. This paper presents challenges and advances in this area along with a comprehensive computational framework for analysis-suitable geometric modeling and mesh generation, which integrates image processing, geometric modeling, mesh generation and quality improvement with multi-scale analysis at molecular, cellular, tissue and organ scales. The input imaging data are passed through an image-processing module where the image quality is improved. The improved images are then fed to an in-house meshing software, LBIE-Mesher (Level-set Boundary Interior and Exterior Mesher), to construct 2D or 3D finite element meshes. Given geometry or atomic resolution data in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), we first construct volumetric density map using a signed distance function or a summation of Gaussian Kernel functions, and then use LBIE-Mesher to generate various kinds of meshes. Furthermore, the constructed unstructured meshes can be used as control meshes to construct high-order elements such as volumetric T-splines. In addition, a skeleton-based sweeping method is used to generate hexahedral control meshes and solid NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline) or cubic Hermite for cardiovascular system. Different from other existing methods, the presented framework supports five important features: multiscale geometric modeling, automatic mesh generation for heterogeneous domains, all-hexahedral mesh generation with sharp feature preservation, robust quality improvement for non-manifold meshes, and high-order element construction.