cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology of stuttering: 21st century advances.

Epidemiological advances in stuttering during the current century are reviewed within the perspectives of past knowledge. The review is organized in six sections: (a) onset (b) incidence (c) prevalence (d) developmental paths, (e) genetics and (f) subtypes. It is concluded that: (1) most of the risk for stuttering onset is over by age 5, earlier than has been previously thought, with a male-to-female ratio near onset smaller than what has been thought, (2) there are indications that the lifespan incidence in the general population may be higher than the 5% commonly cited in past work, (3) the average prevalence over the lifespan may be lower than the commonly held 1%, (4) the effects of race, ethnicity, culture, bilingualism, and socioeconomic status on the incidence/prevalence of stuttering remain uncertain, (5) longitudinal, as well as incidence and prevalence studies support high levels of natural recovery from stuttering, (6) advances in biological genetic research have brought within reach the identification of candidate genes that contribute to stuttering in the population at large, (7) subtype-differentiation has attracted growing interest, with most of the accumulated evidence supporting a distinction between persistent and recovered subtypes.
Asymptotic phase, asymptotic modulus, and Titchmarsh-Weyl coefficient for a Dirac system

Abstract This paper studies a series representation for the Jost function associated with a Dirac system. Under suitable hypotheses the series yields the asymptotic form of the Titchmarsh-Weyl coefficient, valid not only in sectors of the upper halfplane but also the real axis. The asymptotic form of the spectral function, higher derivatives of the Jost function, and the limiting form of the asymptotic phase are also considered. Extensions of certain scattering formulas known in the Schrodinger case are given for the Dirac system.
Compressive Sensing for Radar Sensor Networks

Motivated by recent advances on Compressive Sensing (CS) and high data redundancy among radars in radar sensor networks, we study CS for radar sensor networks. We demonstrate that the sense-through- foliage UWB radar signals are very sparse, which means CS could be applied to radar sensor networks to tremendously reduce the sampling rate. We propose to apply SVD-QR and maximum likelihood algorithms to CS for radar sensor networks. SVD-QR could vastly reduce the number of radar sensors, and CS is applied to the selected radar sensors for data compression. Simulations are performed and our compression ratio could be 192:1 overall.
Blind source separation for groundwater pressure analysis based on nonnegative matrix factorization

The identification of the physical sources causing spatial and temporal fluctuations of aquifer water levels is a challenging, yet a very important hydrogeological task. The fluctuations can be caused by variations in natural and anthropogenic sources such as pumping, recharge, barometric pressures, etc. The source identification can be crucial for conceptualization of the hydrogeological conditions and characterization of aquifer properties. We propose a new computational framework for model-free inverse analysis of pressure transients based on Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) method for Blind Source Separation (BSS) coupled with k-means clustering algorithm, which we call NMFk. NMFk is capable of identifying a set of unique sources from a set of experimentally measured mixed signals, without any information about the sources, their transients, and the physical mechanisms and properties controlling the signal propagation through the subsurface flow medium. Our analysis only requires information about pressure transients at a number of observation points, m, where m≥r, and r is the number of unknown unique sources causing the observed fluctuations. We apply this new analysis on a data set from the Los Alamos National Laboratory site. We demonstrate that the sources identified by NMFk have real physical origins: barometric pressure and water-supply pumping effects. We also estimate the barometric pressure efficiency of the monitoring wells. The possible applications of the NMFk algorithm are not limited to hydrogeology problems; NMFk can be applied to any problem where temporal system behavior is observed at multiple locations and an unknown number of physical sources are causing these fluctuations.
Automatic detection of unsafe component loadings

Dynamic loading of software components (e.g., libraries or modules) is a widely used mechanism for improved system modularity and flexibility. Correct component resolution is critical for reliable and secure software execution, however, programming mistakes may lead to unintended or even malicious components to be resolved and loaded. In particular, dynamic loading can be hijacked by placing an arbitrary file with the specified name in a directory searched before resolving the target component. Although this issue has been known for quite some time, it was not considered serious because exploiting it requires access to the local file system on the vulnerable host. Recently such vulnerabilities started to receive considerable attention as their remote exploitation became realistic; it is now important to detect and fix these vulnerabilities.In this paper, we present the first automated technique to detect vulnerable and unsafe dynamic component loadings. Our analysis has two phases: 1) apply dynamic binary instrumentation to collect runtime information on component loading (online phase); and 2) analyze the collected information to detect vulnerable component loadings (offline phase). For evaluation, we implemented our technique to detect vulnerable and unsafe DLL loadings in popular Microsoft Windows software. Our results show that unsafe DLL loading is prevalent and can lead to serious security threats. Our tool detected more than 1,700 unsafe DLL loadings in 28 widely used software and discovered serious attack vectors for remote code execution. Microsoft has opened a Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) case on our reported issues and is working with us and other affected software vendors to develop necessary patches.
Parameter estimation in the canine cardiovascular system

A new method of parameter estimation has been developed to estimate a newly chosen group of eight parameters of the canine arterial system. These parameters, which are physically meaningful, include arterial radii, Young's modulus for the aortic wall, aortic length, and peripheral resistances. The method is model-based, and depends upon minimization of a criterion which combines weighted integrals of absolute values of pressure and flow with errors in certain average and peak values of waveforms. A minimization algorithm which is a modification of the Hooke and Jeeves pattern search method was used. The entire scheme was implemented on a hybrid computer. This method of parameter estimation was developed and checked by use of model-to-model studies. Then dog-to-model parameter estimation runs were made, using data recorded in a dog experiment. Estimated parameters were found to check direct measurements where these were possible, and variations in estimated parameters from data obtained after various drug interventions were found to fall into expected patterns. Future applications of the methods developed would appear to have promise for obtaining rapid estimates of human parameters from noninvasive measurements made in clinical situations.
Prevalence of multiple antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria on bagged, ready-to-eat baby spinach

In this study, multiple antibiotic-resistant (MAR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) were isolated from triple-washed, bagged, ready-to-eat (RTE) baby spinach. Biochemical identification of randomly selected bacterial colonies showed the predominance of cytochrome oxidase-positive Pseudomonas species. Among the GNB, a higher prevalence of resistance was observed against cefoxitin (93.1%) followed by ampicillin (79.4%), chloramphenicol (72.6%), ceftizoxime (65.7%), aztreonam (64.9%), cefotaxime (53.6%), imipenem (38.3%), ceftazidime (33.5%), gentamicin (32.6%), tetracycline (22.2%), and ciprofloxacin (19.8%). Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) linked to two or more antibiotics was found in 95.3% of isolates, and resistance was transferable in the strains tested. These findings confirm the presence of MAR bacteria on RTE baby spinach and suggest that human consumption of this produce would amplify the MAR gene pool via conjugal transfer of MAR genes to commensal gut microflora and bacterial pathogens.
Secondary Malignant Tumors of the Pericardium

Among 13,314 necropsies following death from neoplastic and nonneoplastic diseases performed at the Mayo Clinic from 1942 through 1958, 189 cases of secondary malignant lesions of the pericardium were demonstrated, an incidence of 1.42 per cent. Carcinoma of the lung and breast, the lymphomas, and leukemia constituted the large majority of the primary malignant lesions that caused the pericardial metastasis. Fifty-five of the 189 patients were adjudged to have had some impairment of cardiac function as a consequence of the pericardial metastasis and the following conclusions concern this group. 1. In 47 patients (86 per cent), the lesions were either the immediate or a contributory cause of death. 2. The most common mechanism whereby metastatic lesions in the pericardium interfered with cardiac function was by the development of pericardial effusion. Next in frequency was effusion combined with myocardial invasion and then cardiac constriction by tumor. Combinations of these processes with malignant encro...
Medulloblastoma: long-term results for patients treated with definitive radiation therapy during the computed tomography era

Abstract Purpose: We performed a retrospective evaluation of the patterns of failure and outcome for medulloblastoma patients treated with craniospinal irradiation therapy during the conputed tomography (CT) era. Materials and Methods: The records of 100 patients treated at Memorial Sloak-Kettering Cancer Center between 1979 and 1994 were reviewed. CT scans or magnetic resonance imaging were used to guide surgical intervention and evaluated the extent of resection postoperatively. All patients were treated with conventional fractionation (1.8 Gy/day) and the majority received full-dose neuraxis radiation therapy and > 50 Gy to the primary site. Results: With a median follow-up of 100 months, the median, 5-year, and 10-year actuarial overall survival for the entire group were 58 months, 50%, and 25%, respectively. The median, 5- and 10-year actuarial disease-free survivals were 37 months, 41%, and 27%, respectively. Patients with localized disease (no evidence of disease beyond the primary site) had significantly improved overall ( p p n = 68, local failure as any component of first failure occurred in 32% (22 of 68) and in 18% (12 of 68) as the only site. A multivariate analysis showed that M stage was the only prognostic factor to influence overall survival. For disease-free survival, M stage and the extent of resection were prognostic factors. Ventriculoperitoneal shunting and the use of chemotherapy were associated with a poor outcome; however, these results were confounded by the positive impact of chemotherapy in decreasing the risk of extraneural metastases and the use of these therapies in the more advanced patients.
America, A Proselytizing Society

Americans have a history of sharing and being generous. If we find something good in life, we want to tell others about it so that they can share in the goodness. We are constantly bombarded with advice and recruiting by our family, friends, business colleagues, and others. This proselytizing is simply part and parcel of American discourse.
Towards a User-Friendly Brain-Computer Interface: Initial Tests in ALS and PLS Patients

Abstract Objective Patients usually require long-term training for effective EEG-based brain–computer interface (BCI) control due to fatigue caused by the demands for focused attention during prolonged BCI operation. We intended to develop a user-friendly BCI requiring minimal training and less mental load. Methods Testing of BCI performance was investigated in three patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and three patients with primary lateral sclerosis (PLS), who had no previous BCI experience. All patients performed binary control of cursor movement. One ALS patient and one PLS patient performed four-directional cursor control in a two-dimensional domain under a BCI paradigm associated with human natural motor behavior using motor execution and motor imagery. Subjects practiced for 5–10 min and then participated in a multi-session study of either binary control or four-directional control including online BCI game over 1.5–2 h in a single visit. Results Event-related desynchronization and event-related synchronization in the beta band were observed in all patients during the production of voluntary movement either by motor execution or motor imagery. The online binary control of cursor movement was achieved with an average accuracy about 82.1 ± 8.2% with motor execution and about 80% with motor imagery, whereas offline accuracy was achieved with 91.4 ± 3.4% with motor execution and 83.3 ± 8.9% with motor imagery after optimization. In addition, four-directional cursor control was achieved with an accuracy of 50–60% with motor execution and motor imagery. Conclusion Patients with ALS or PLS may achieve BCI control without extended training, and fatigue might be reduced during operation of a BCI associated with human natural motor behavior. Significance The development of a user-friendly BCI will promote practical BCI applications in paralyzed patients.
GOLPH2 and MYO6: putative prostate cancer markers localized to the Golgi apparatus

BACKGROUND Malignant transformation is often accompanied by morphological and functional alterations in subcellular organelles. The Golgi apparatus is a subcellular structure primarily involved in modification and sorting of macromolecules for secretion and transport to other cellular destinations. Molecular alterations associated with the Golgi apparatus may take place during prostate carcinogenesis but such alterations have not been documented. METHODS To demonstrate that the Golgi apparatus undergoes alterations during prostate carcinogenesis, we examined the expression and localization of two candidate molecules, Golgi phosphoprotein 2 (GOLPH2) and myosin VI (MYO6), both overexpressed in prostate cancer as initially identified by expression microarray analysis. RESULTS Elevated GOLPH2 expression in prostate cancers was validated through real-time RT-PCR, Western blot, and tissue microarray analysis, and its Golgi localization in surgical prostate cancer tissues confirmed using two-color immunofluorescence. In addition, distinctive juxtanuclear MYO6 staining pattern consistent with Golgi localization was observed in surgical prostate cancer tissues. Two-color immunofluorescence revealed intensive Golgi-specific staining for both GOLPH2 and myosin VI in prostate cancer cells but not in the adjacent normal prostate epithelium. CONCLUSIONS We show that the Golgi apparatus in prostate cancer cells differs from the normal Golgi by elevated levels of two molecules, GOLPH2 and MYO6. These results for the first time demonstrated consistent cancer cell-specific alterations in the molecular composition of the Golgi apparatus. Such alterations can be explored for discovery of novel prostate cancer biomarkers through targeted organellar approaches. Prostate 68: 1387–1395, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The UAVSAR Transmit / Receive Module

This paper describes the L-band transmit/receive (T/R) modules of the UAVSAR phased array antenna. UAVSAR (uninhabited aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar) is an airborne, repeat-pass, polarimetric radar interferometer instrument that is being developed at JPL and NASA Dryden. The instrument has demanding requirements for phase stability over temperature and the antenna components, particularly the T/R modules, are key to meeting these requirements. The UAVSAR T/R modules have a bandwidth of more than 80 MHz centered at 1257.5 MHz and support dual receivers for full quad polarization measurements. Phase and amplitude are controlled by a 7- bit phase shifter and a 5-bit attenuator, respectively. Custom microwave integrated circuits were developed and fabricated for the low noise amplifier (LNA) and phase shifter circuits. The receiver noise figure is 2.25 dB at OC including all front-end losses. The transmitter power amplifiers use silicon bipolar junction transistors that typically generate 162 W peak into a nominal 50 ohm load. The modules have an overall efficiency of 32% at the peak operating duty cycle of 5%. Module mass and dimensions are 567 g and 16 cm times 12 cm times 3 cm, respectively. Fifty four of these T/R modules were fabricated for integration into two antennas. System architecture and performance data for this ensemble of modules are discussed.
A study of slip ratios for the flow of steam‐water mixtures at high void fractions

A technique employing the impulse plate principle was developed whereby the ratio of the average vapor-to-liquid velocities (slip ratio) for flowing two-phase mixtures could be measured accurately at high vapor volume fractions. Data were collected for steam-water mixtures flowing adiabatically in a horizontal ½-in. tube. Flow conditions were in the spray annular and dispersed flow regimes and covered a pressure range of 30 to 80 lb.f/sq.in.abs., flow rates of 200 to 800 lb.m/(sec.)(sq.ft.), and steam qualities of 0.02 to 0.8. The experimental slip ratios, ranging between 1 and 3.5, decreased with increasing quality and pressure and increased with increasing mass velocity and pressure gradient. A theoretical analysis in which an idealized dispersed flow model was used indicated that the observed average slip ratios were caused largely by local slip between vapor and entrained droplets and that high local slip ratios may be attained near critical flow rates due to the simultaneously occurring steep pressure gradients. The total pressure gradients, computed by adding the Martinelli-Nelson frictional pressure drop prediction to the acceleration pressure gradients calculated by the use of an empirical correlation of the slip ratio data, deviated from the experimental values by an average of only 14%.
Effects of race on mortality and use of hospital services in Maryland, 1998.

Abstract This study analyzes administrative data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission to compare differences by race in the use of 17 major procedures performed in hospitals and the corresponding mortality rates. African Americans discharged from Maryland hospitals were less likely than whites to have received most of these procedures while hospitalized. The largest differences were seen for “referral sensitive surgeries” such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, total knee replacement, and total hip replacement. In contrast, African Americans were found to have substantially higher rates than white patients in the use of four procedures performed in the hospital: amputation of part of the lower limb, surgical debridement, arteriovenostomy, and bilateral orchiectomy. The types of procedures for which African American hospital patients have higher rates raise questions about whether there is a need for more comprehensive and continuous...
Reducing the Excess Burden of Cervical Cancer Among Latinas: Translating Science into Health Promotion Initiatives.

Purpose: Although deaths from cervical cancer are declining, Latinas are not benefiting equally in this decline. Incidence of invasive cervical cancer among Los Angeles’, California Latinas is much higher than among non-Latina Whites (14.7 versus 8.02 per 100,000). This paper examines cervical cancer screening among Latinas. Methods: Ninety-seven women of Mexican origin participated in 12 focus groups exploring barriers to screening. Saturation was reached. Results: All participants knew what a Pap test was and most knew its purpose. More acculturated participants understood the link between HPV and cervical cancer. More recent immigrants did not. There was confusion whether women who were not sexually active need to be screened. Most frequently mentioned barriers were lack of time and concern over missing work. Lower income and less acculturated women were less likely to be aware of free/lowcost clinics. Older and less acculturated participants held more fatalistic beliefs, were more embarrassed about getting a Pap test, were more fearful of being perceived as sexually promiscuous, and were more fearful of receiving disapproval from their husbands. Conclusions: Latinas are informed regarding cervical cancer screening; rather they encounter barriers such as a lack of time, money and support. Health promotion interventions can be enhanced via peer-to-peer education, by addressing barriers to cervical cancer screening with in-language, culturally tailored interventions, and working with clinics on systemic changes, such as extended clinic hours.
Privacy-Preserving Multiparty Collaborative Mining with Geometric Data Perturbation

In multiparty collaborative data mining, participants contribute their own data sets and hope to collaboratively mine a comprehensive model based on the pooled data set. How to efficiently mine a quality model without breaching each party's privacy is the major challenge. In this paper, we propose an approach based on geometric data perturbation and data mining service-oriented framework. The key problem of applying geometric data perturbation in multiparty collaborative mining is to securely unify multiple geometric perturbations that are preferred by different parties, respectively. We have developed three protocols for perturbation unification. Our approach has three unique features compared to the existing approaches: with geometric data perturbation, these protocols can work for many existing popular data mining algorithms, while most of other approaches are only designed for a particular mining algorithm; both the two major factors: data utility and privacy guarantee are well preserved, compared to other perturbation-based approaches; and two of the three proposed protocols also have great scalability in terms of the number of participants, while many existing cryptographic approaches consider only two or a few more participants. We also study different features of the three protocols and show the advantages of different protocols in experiments.
Preservice Mathematics Teachers' Solutions to Problems: Conversions within the Metric System

This paper reports on the results of a preliminary investigation to determine if preservice mathematics teachers solve conversion problems within the metric system in multiple ways. Here, four metric conversion problems of escalating difficulty were administered within a mathematics methods course at a comprehensive state university in the Northeastern United States. Results show that preservice teachers solved the problems in the same way that they were taught in high school, and that in high school they were only taught one way.
Smart Home Strategies for User-Centered Functional Assessment of Older Adults

Successful aging, independence and capacity for aging in place involves the maintenance and preservation of individuals’ physical, mental and social well-being. Elderly people need to maintain the capacity to perform both activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Advances in Smart Home technologies are increasingly able to provide embedded assessments of an individual’s functional ability in his/her home on a moment-to-moment, daily, and longitudinal basis. To date, in-situ functional assessment systems and research have focused to a greater extent on the advancement of technologies rather than the multi-faceted needs and experiences of users, however the success of any technology depends more on the users than the technology itself. This paper presents strategies for user-centric approaches to identify the technical and design challenges of developing, deploying, and using functional assessment systems in homes occupied by senior citizens. Case studies involved 4 healthy older adults (aged 65+), and examined the home deployment of smart home systems and interfaces aimed at assessment of a combination of ADL and IADL activities. Pre- and post-activity interviews were used to better understand issues related to desire, privacy, technological acceptance, suitability, and need fulfillment/support. The results inform strategies for user-centered functional assessment and assistive technology design and implementation, providing information capture, analysis, and delivery of in-home functional assessment that has the potential to support aging in place.
Multi-camera vision systems: pose estimation and plenoptic imaging

A method is introduced to track the object's motion and estimate its pose directly from 2D image sequences. Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) is used to extract corresponding feature points from image sequences. We demonstrate that pose estimation from the corresponding feature points can be formed as a solution to Sylvester's equation. We then extend this method to estimate the object's pose from multiple cameras. We first demonstrate that centralized pose estimation from the collection of corresponding feature points in the 2D images from all cameras can be obtained as a solution to a generalized Sylvester's equation. We subsequently derive a distributed solution to pose estimation from multiple cameras and show that it is equivalent to the solution of the centralized pose estimation based on Sylvester's equation. We also present a general framework for analyzing plenoptic sampling by investigating the spectral analysis of plenoptic imaging. The proposed framework provides a unified representation that generalizes several existing methods for plenoptic sampling, including lightfield and concentric mosaic.
Outpatient management of a child with bidirectional Glenn shunts supported with implantable continuous-flow ventricular assist device.

Outpatient management of a child with bidirectional Glenn shunts supported with implantable continuous-flow ventricular assist device Iki Adachi, MD, Aamir Jeewa, MD, Sarah Burki, MD, E. Dean McKenzie, MD, and Charles D. Fraser Jr, MD From the Congenital Heart Surgery, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas; Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Pediatric Cardiology, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, Texas; and the Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
Recognizing quality : A web evaluation tutorial in the chemistry curriculum

Students' lack of judgment in evaluating Web resources is often decried by their instructors. A librarian and a chemistry professor designed a Web tutorial to teach this process to students in the class “Chemistry in Daily Life.” The literature surrounding Web tutorials and students' online behavior is also examined.
Effect of Low Doses of Gamma Irradiation on Reproduction of Male Pink Bollworms and Their F 1 Progeny

When adult male Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) less than 24 hours old were irradiated with 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, or 12.5 krad of gamma irradiation and caged with virgin untreated females, the ability of the treated males to mate and transfer eupyrene sperm appeared to be unaffected, but fertility was reduced. Survival of the immature stages of the F1 progeny was significantly decreased at all doses to P1 males, and the sex ratio of the F1 generation was significantly skewed in favor of males except at the lowest dose. When adult F1 males and females were outcrossed to untreated mates or crossed with unrelated F1 adults, the F1 males mated but often failed to transfer normal quantities of eupyrene sperm; this effect was related to the dose received by the P1 male. Thus, fertility of the F1 males and females was significantly less than that of the controls, at all doses to the P1 male above 2.5 krad. At doses of 7.5 krad and above, the F1 males mated more often than the controls. In control programs that produced partial sterility in irradiated males, thus introducing conditional lethal mutations into native population, doses below 7.5 krad should be considered, because at higher doses lack of sperm transfer and lower fertility of the F1 males would not favor the incorporation of the released genotype into the native population.
Clinical observation of recombinant human activated protein C in the treatment of pediatric septic shock

Objective: To investigate the recombinant human activated protein C(rhAPC)treatment in children with septic shock. Methods: 60 cases of septic shock patients in our hospital pediatric and intensive care unit from 2011 January to 2014 year in March admitted, were randomly divided into control group(n=30) and rhAPC group(n=30), the control group was given conventional treatment, the rhAPC group in the conventional treatment combined with rhAPC intravenous injection, 24 μg/(kg·h), continuous administration of 4 day, review two group coagulation, infl ammation factor IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α and extracellular signal regulated protein kinase levels. Results: After the treatment, the rhAPC group of plasma fi brinogen and D- dimer level in two and infl ammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α were signifi cantly lower than the control group, while the expression of extracellular signal regulated protein kinase levels were higher than the control group, the differences were statistically signifi cant(P0.05). Conclusion rhAPC can signifi cantly inhibit the infl ammatory response in pediatric septic shock, decreased blood hypercoagulability.
Thermal Considerations for Supercapacitors

Energy loss in the form of heat generation is inevitable in supercapacitors because coulombic efficiencies are always less than 100 %. The rate of heat generation depends on structural design, power profiles (e.g., charge/discharge rates), and other factors such as voltage imbalances among individual cells within a module. This heat generation causes a temperature rise within the cells. For instance, voltage imbalances can occur in a series string of supercapacitor modules, resulting in temperature differences among the cells. Reliability issues arise when some cells with higher temperatures fail sooner than others, since high temperature generally causes shorter life for the cells. Thus thermal management of supercapacitor systems is important for practical applications. This chapter provides a general discussion of thermal management in supercapacitors, including different practical applications, thermophysical properties of supercapacitor components, thermal transport mechanisms, thermal characterization techniques, performance metrics, and cooling systems. This chapter paves the way for the following chapters that address thermal influences on supercapacitor components and performance.
Clinical significance of a false positive glucose challenge test in patients with a high body mass index.

OBJECTIVE To determine if there is an increased maternal or neonatal morbidity in overweight and obese patients with a false positive glucose challenge test (GCT). METHODS Patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥25.0 at registration were included in this prospective 36-month study. The study cohort consisted of patients with a false positive (FP) GCT, with two comparison cohorts: those with a (1) screen negative (SN) GCT result and (2) true positive (TP) GCT result. Risks were reported as odd ratios with 95% confidence intervals, with a P<0.05 considered as significant. RESULTS There were 60 patients in the FP cohort, 106 in the SN cohort, and 64 in the TP cohort. When the BMI of the FP cohort was compared with either the SN cohort or TP cohort, differences were non-significant (SN 32.3 vs. FP 33.3 kg/m2, P=0.067) and (FP 33.3 vs. TP 34.4 kg/m2, P=0.303). When comparing the FP cohort to the SN cohort, patients in the FP group had significantly more gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia. There was a trend towards delivering large for gestational weight infants and an infant ≥4000 g in the FP cohort, but this fell short of reaching statistical significance. When comparing the FP to TP cohorts, rates of gestational hypertension, pre-eclampsia, and infants ≥4000 g were similar; however, neonatal morbidity was increased in the TP group. CONCLUSIONS Overweight and obese patients with a FP glucose challenge screen are more likely to have adverse maternal outcomes. Neonatal morbidity was not increased.
30 Capacity development for injury prevention

Background Internet and mobile connectivity have increased exponentially around the globe over the last decade. Consequently, technological advances have made a diverse range of options available for multimedia consumption, and led to the development of a variety of platforms for distance education. While other disciplines have taken advantage of these platforms to expand the reach of training and capacity development programs, this has not been the case for the field of injury prevention and control. Methods We established the first free online and on-demand program on Road Traffic Injury Prevention and Control in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (RTIP). The program is comprised of six educational modules spanning the very basics of RTI prevention, key concepts, risk factors for RTIs, injury surveillance systems, evaluation design for RTI prevention programs and how to influence public policy. Although specifically designed with a foundation in public health approaches to the problem of RTIs, the program is applicable to many contexts – especially for persons without formal training in research methods as is the case in many LMICs. The program is self-paced – participants must complete pre- and post-evaluations to advance between the modules in the program’s sequence. Results RTIP was launched in April 2013, and since then has had 1,542 enrolments from 132 countries. Among those who advance from the first module, 43% go on to complete the program. 63% are male, with the majority of participants being between the ages of 20–49 years. Most of the participants have either a Bachelors or Masters degree (69%), and 73% are either working professionals, students, or government officials. Only 16% of the participants identified themselves as researchers. A wide range of disciplines are represented by the participants with the top 5 being Public Health (23%), Engineering (14%), Transportation (9%), Social Sciences (8%), and other health sciences (7%). Conclusions As seen from the RTIP program online platforms present a remarkable opportunity for the field of injury prevention to expand the reach of capacity development programs—to persons in resource poor settings who may not have access to formal training programs, or those who may be interested in continuing education.
Molecular Pathology: Predictive, Prognostic, and Diagnostic Markers in Uterine Tumors.

This article focuses on the diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive molecular biomarkers in uterine malignancies, in the context of morphologic diagnoses. The histologic classification of endometrial carcinomas is reviewed first, followed by the description and molecular classification of endometrial epithelial malignancies in the context of histologic classification. Taken together, the molecular and histologic classifications help clinicians to approach troublesome areas encountered in clinical practice and evaluate the utility of molecular alterations in the diagnosis and subclassification of endometrial carcinomas. Putative prognostic markers are reviewed. The use of molecular alterations and surrogate immunohistochemistry as prognostic and predictive markers is also discussed.
A reliable system design for nondeterministic adaptive controllers in small UAV autopilots

Despite the tremendous attention Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have received in recent years for applications in transportation, surveillance, agriculture, and search and rescue, as well as their possible enormous economic impact, UAVs are still banned from fully autonomous commercial flights. One of the main reasons for this is the safety of the flight. Traditionally, pilots control the aircraft when complex situations emerge that even advanced autopilots are not able to manage. Artificial Intelligence based methods and Adaptive Controllers have proven themselves to be efficient in scenarios with uncertainties; however, they also introduce another concern: nondeterminism. This research endeavors to find a solution on how such algorithms can be utilized with higher reliability. Our method is based on using an adaptive model to verify the performance of a control parameter — proposed by a nondeterministic adaptive controller or AI-based optimizer — before it is deployed on the physical platform. Furthermore, a backup mechanism is engaged to recover the drone in case of failure. A Neural Network is employed to model the aircraft, and a Genetic Algorithm is utilized to optimize the PID controller of a quadcopter. The initial experimental results from test flights indicate the feasibility of this method.
Phosphorylation Induced Global Structural Destabilization of a Small Protein Domain

Protein phosphorylation at a single or multiple sites is utilized to regulate protein functional outcomes and overall cellular activities through signaling pathways. At a molecular level, the addition of a phosphoryl group may alter the function of a protein through distinct and versatile mechanisms. These include allosteric structural and dynamic changes, direct positive or negative modulation of affinities, masking or unmasking of cofactor binding sites, autoinhibition and local disorder-to-order or order-to-disorder transitions. Here we present evidence from NMR spectroscopy and other biophysical techniques that protein phosphorylation may lead to a global domain destabilization. Upon phosphorylation a small protein domain acquires a molten globule state, where at least two stable folding intermediates exist in equilibrium with a heterogeneous conformational ensemble. This conformational transition modulates in turn the affinity for protein partners but also permits rapid domain refolding upon removal of the phosphoryl group.
High-Speed High-Security Public Key Encryption with Keyword Search

Data privacy is one of the main concerns for clients who rely on cloud storage services. Standard encryption techniques can offer confidentiality; however, they prevent search capabilities over the encrypted data, thereby significantly degrading the utilization of cloud storage services. Public key Encryption with Keyword Search (PEKS) schemes offer encrypted search functionality to mitigate the impacts of privacy versus data utilization dilemma. PEKS schemes allow any client to encrypt their data under a public key such that the cloud, using the corresponding trapdoor, can later test whether the encrypted records contain certain keywords. Despite this great functionality, the existing PEKS schemes rely on extremely costly operations at the server-side, which often introduce unacceptable cryptographic delays in practical applications. Moreover, while data outsourcing applications usually demand long-term security, existing PEKS schemes do not offer post-quantum security.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions following Conversion of a Reclaimed Minesoil to Bioenergy Crop Production

This study provides a comparative assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when converting a reclaimed minesoil that was previously under meadow to miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) and maize (Zea mays L.) land uses in Ohio, USA. Additionally, effluent from an anaerobic digester at rates of 0, 75, 150, and 225 kg N ha−1 rates was also assessed for C and nutrient fertilization. Results from the study show that land use conversion to maize had the highest net release of GHG equivalent of 6·6 Mg CO2equ ha−1 y−1, on average, across effluent application rates. Under miscanthus land use with no and high effluent application rates, net GHG equivalent on average was 4·3 Mg CO2equ ha−1 y−1, which was larger when compared with that under the meadow land use (1·6 Mg CO2equ ha−1 y−1). Miscanthus land use under medium rates of effluent application had similar net GHG equivalent (7·1 Mg CO2equ ha−1 y−1) to the maize land use. The application of effluent did increase CO2–C and N2O–N emissions; but increases in above-ground–below-ground biomass production (1·6 Mg C ha−1) in the meadow land use and C input from effluent retained in the soil in the miscanthus and maize land uses offset most of the effluent-induced GHG equivalent emissions. Contribution of cumulative N2O–N to GHG equivalent emissions in general was 11% when no effluent was applied and 22% when effluent was applied across land uses. Findings from this study show that land use changes from antecedent meadow to maize and miscanthus during the first year of establishment would result in net increase of GHG emissions. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA
Prescribing Boundary and Loading Conditions to Corresponding Nodes

Abstract In previous chapters we utilized boundary and loading conditions that are directly applied at nodes. In this chapter we further classify boundary and loading conditions, including various types of nodal constraints, prescribed nodal motions, and applied forces and moments. Next we illustrate the manner in which these conditions are mathematically implemented in finite element (FE) solutions. Finally, we describe the method for converting physical loads to the appropriate nodal degrees of freedom (DOFs). For a static FE problem, the governing simultaneous global stiffness equations are written as [K]{u} = {f}, where [K] is the global stiffness matrix, {u} is the set of nodal displacement vectors, and {f} is the set of externally applied nodal loads. As previously mentioned, the global stiffness matrix is a singular matrix, and hence it is not possible to obtain solutions unless proper boundary and loading conditions are applied. This chapter addresses the methods used to prescribe boundary and loading conditions that are not directly applied at the nodes.
Recognition and management of idiopathic systemic capillary leak syndrome: an evidence-based review.

Introduction Idiopathic systemic capillary leak syndrome (SCLS) is a unique disorder characterized by episodes of massive systemic leak of intravascular fluid leading to volume depletion and shock. A typical attack of SCLS consists of prodromal, leak and post-leak phases. Complications, such as compartment syndrome and pulmonary edema, usually develop during the leak and post-leak phases respectively. Judicious intravenous hydration and early use of vasopressors is the cornerstone of management in such cases. Areas covered: The purpose of the present review is to provide an up-to-date, evidence-based review of our understanding of SCLS and its management in the light of currently available evidence. Commentary Idiopathic SCLS was first described in 1960 and, since then, more than 250 cases have been reported. A large number of cases have been reported over the past one decade, most likely due to improved recognition. In the acute care setting, most patients with SCLS are managed as per the Surviving Sepsis guidelines and receive aggressive volume resuscitation - which is not the optimal management strategy for such patients. There is a need to raise awareness amongst physicians and clinicians in order to improve recognition of this disorder and ensure its appropriate management.
A Utility-Driven Approach to Question Ranking in Social QA

We generalize the task of finding question paraphrases in a question repository to a novel formulation in which known questions are ranked based on their utility to a new, reference question. We manually annotate a dataset of 60 groups of questions with a partial order relation reflecting the relative utility of questions inside each group, and use it to evaluate meaning and structure aware utility functions. Experimental evaluation demonstrates the importance of using structural information in estimating the relative usefulness of questions, holding the promise of increased usability for social QA sites.
Recognizing and Managing the Oral Clues That Point to Sjögren's Syndrome.

Sjogren's syndrome (SS), a chronic autoimmune exocrinopathy, occurs mainly after age 40. Most SS patients--80% to 90%--are women. SS is characterized by dry eyes and mouth due to lacrimal and salivary gland lymphocytic infiltration. It may be primary or secondary in association with a connective tissue disease, usually rheumatoid arthritis. Lymphoproliferation may produce extraglandular manifestations in pulmonary, cardiac, genitourinary, vascular, and/or nervous systems. The risk of lymphoma is increased 40-fold among SS patients. Dry mouth, or xerostomia, hinders eating, speaking, and swallowing. A thorough patient history, serum analysis, and salivary function tests are essential to determine the genesis of the xerostomia. Insufficient salivary protection can cause rampant dental destruction and soft-tissue mycosis in the mouth. A biopsy of the minor salivary gland from the lower lip is used to detect hallmark inflammatory changes that confirm the diagnosis of SS. Therapy is symptomatic. Regardless of the cause of xerostomia, therapy has 3 fundamental aspects: preventive dental care, dietary counseling (reduction of sugar intake to avoid caries), and moisture replacement (including artificial salivas, frequent sips of water, and room humidifiers). Women taking xerostomic medications may need to lower the dose or substitute them with less xerogenic drugs if possible. Salivation can be stimulated by chewing gum, mints, or paraffin. Cracked lips are treated with petroleum. Dental flossing, supplemental fluoride, and dental appointments every 3 to 4 months are essential to control caries. Pilocarpine, a parasympathomimetic drug that increases salivation, has been found to reduce the severity of xerostomia from radiotherapy; multicenter trials in SS patients are ongoing.
Marihuana and Human Cognition: A Review of Laboratory Investigations

Beginning with the elegant characterization of hashish intoxication on human mental functioning by Moreau in 1845, interest in cannabis preparations and their behavioral manifestations has waxed and waned over many decades. However, at the present time, the elucidation of behavioral alterations produced by cannabis remains a scientific as well as a social concern mainly because of its widespread use in our society. The use of cannabis has burgeoned at such a rate that it is doubtful that research efforts will keep pace with the discovery of new social consequences concerning its abuse. In addition, political and moral considerations have in some instances clouded the issue of determining in a systematic and objective manner the effects of cannabis not only on human behavior but its medical consequences. Specious conclusions concerning the actions of cannabis become magnified as proponents for or against its legalization seize upon early data returns to support their contentions. When vacuous scientific findings become publicized, they are also more scrutinized and hence confusing to the public. It is the job of scientists to wade through the morass of conflicting opinions both social and scientific. Perhaps the moderating social climate toward cannabis use or at least reduced criminal penalties will contribute to this goal.
Pheromone Mimicry in Garter Snakes

Female mimicry is found in many diverse taxa including insects and most vertebrate classes (Weldon and Burghardt, 1984) and occurs in two forms. In several species, males assume a female-like morphology or color pattern (Dominey, 1980; Gross, 1979), whereas in others, males mimic female behavior patterns (Arnold, 1976; Thornhill, 1979). In some species males mimic both female morphology and behavior (Gross, 1983).
Algebras of Undirected Wiring Diagrams

The main purpose of this chapter is to provide a finite presentation theorem for algebras over the operad of undirected wiring diagrams. As examples, we apply the finite presentation theorem to the relational algebra and the typed relational algebra.