cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DGPS-Based Vehicle-to-Vehicle Cooperative Collision Warning: Engineering Feasibility Viewpoints

The vehicle collision warning system (CWS) is an important research and application subject for vehicle safety. Most of this topic's research focuses on autonomous CWSs, where each vehicle detects potential collisions based entirely on the information measured by itself. Recently, an alternative scenario has arisen. This scenario is known as cooperative driving, where either the vehicle or the infrastructure can communicate its location, intention, or other information to surrounding vehicles or nearby infrastructure. Since installing a low-cost global-positioning-system (GPS) unit is becoming a common practice in vehicle applications, its implications in cooperative driving and vehicle safety deserve closer investigation. Furthermore, the future trajectory prediction may lead to a straightforward approach to detect potential collisions, yet its effectiveness has not been studied. This paper explores the engineering feasibility of a future-trajectory-prediction-based cooperative CWS when vehicles are equipped with a relatively simple differential GPS unit and relatively basic motion sensors. The goals of this paper are twofold: providing an engineering argument of possible functional architectures of such systems and presenting a plausible example of the proposed future-trajectory-based design, which estimates and communicates vehicle positions and predicts and processes future trajectories for collision decision making. In this paper, common GPS problems such as blockage and multipath, as well as common communication problems such as dropout and delays, are assumed. However, specific choices of GPS devices and communication protocol or systems are not the focus of this paper
The micro-angiographic fluoroscope (MAF) in High Definition (HD) mode for improved contrast-to-noise ratio and resolution in fluoroscopy and roadmapping

During image guided interventional procedures, superior resolution and image quality is critically important. Operating the MAF in the new High Definition (HD) fluoroscopy mode provides high resolution and increased contrast-to-noise ratio. The MAF has a CCD camera and a 300 micron cesium iodide x-ray convertor phosphor coupled to a light image intensifier (LII) through a fiber-optic taper. The MAF captures 1024 × 1024 pixels with an effective pixel size of 35 microns, and is capable of real-time imaging at 30 fps. The HD mode uses the advantages of higher exposure along with a small focal spot effectively improving the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the spatial resolution. The Control Acquisition Processing and Image Display System (CAPIDS) software for the MAF controls the LII gain. The interventionalist can select either fluoroscopic or angiographic modes using the two standard foot pedals. When improved image quality is needed and the angiography foot-pedal is used for HD mode, the x-ray machine will operate at a preset higher exposure rate using a small focal spot, while the CAPIDS will automatically adjust the LII gain to achieve proper image brightness. HD mode fluoroscopy and roadmapping are thus achieved conveniently during the interventional procedure. For CNR and resolution evaluation we used a bar phantom with images taken in HD mode with both the MAF and a Flat Panel Detector (FPD). It was seen that the FPD could not resolve more than 2.8 lp/mm whereas the MAF could resolve more than 5 lp/mm. The CNR of the MAF was better than that of the FPD by 60% at lower frequencies and by 600% at the Nyquist frequency of the FPD. The HD mode has become the preferred mode during animal model interventions because it enables detailed features of endovascular devices such as stent struts to be visualized clearly for the first time. Clinical testing of the MAF in HD mode is imminent.
Nonlinear Regulation of Unitary Synaptic Signals by CaV2.3 Voltage-Sensitive Calcium Channels Located in Dendritic Spines

Summary The roles of voltage-sensitive sodium (Na) and calcium (Ca) channels located on dendrites and spines in regulating synaptic signals are largely unknown. Here we use 2-photon glutamate uncaging to stimulate individual spines while monitoring uncaging-evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials (uEPSPs) and Ca transients. We find that, in CA1 pyramidal neurons in acute mouse hippocampal slices, CaV 2.3 voltage-sensitive Ca channels (VSCCs) are found selectively on spines and act locally to dampen uncaging-evoked Ca transients and somatic potentials. These effects are mediated by a regulatory loop that requires opening of CaV 2.3 channels, voltage-gated Na channels, small conductance Ca-activated potassium (SK) channels, and NMDA receptors. Ca influx through CaV 2.3 VSCCs selectively activates SK channels, revealing the presence of functional Ca microdomains within the spine. Our results suggest that synaptic strength can be modulated by mechanisms that regulate voltage-gated conductances within the spine but do not alter the properties or numbers of synaptic glutamate receptors.
Interaction of stimulus dimensions in concept and choice processes

Abstract Four major types of interaction of stimulus dimensions based on perceptual research are described: integral, configural, separable, and asymmetric separable. Implications of these interactions for concept and choice processes are discussed. With regard to concept learning, it is argued that integral or configural interactions are desirable within the set of relevant and within the set of irrelevant dimensions used to generate stimuli, but that relevant dimensions should be separable from irrelevant dimensions. With regard to choice processes, integral or configural dimensions produce choices based on ordinary distance relations or equivalent parallel processing of dimensions. With separable dimensions, however, serial processing is at least possible; and such processing can lead to choices in which the subset of stimuli and the order of processing of dimensions affects the choice outcomes.
Automating assessment of lifestyle counseling in electronic health records

Background Numerous population-based surveys indicate that overweight and obese patients can benefit from lifestyle counseling during routine clinical care. Purpose To determine if natural language processing (NLP) could be applied to information in the electronic health record (EHR) to automatically assess delivery of weight management–related counseling in clinical healthcare encounters. Methods The MediClass system with NLP capabilities was used to identify weight-management counseling in EHRs. Knowledge for the NLP application was derived from the 5As framework for behavior counseling: Ask (evaluate weight and related disease), Advise at-risk patients to lose weight, Assess patients' readiness to change behavior, Assist through discussion of weight-loss methods and programs, and Arrange follow-up efforts including referral. Using samples of EHR data between January 1, 2007, and March 31, 2011, from two health systems, the accuracy of the MediClass processor for identifying these counseling elements was evaluated in postpartum visits of 600 women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared to manual chart review as the gold standard. Data were analyzed in 2013. Results Mean sensitivity and specificity for each of the 5As compared to the gold standard was at or above 85%, with the exception of sensitivity for Assist , which was 40% and 60% for each of the two health systems. The automated method identified many valid Assist cases not identified in the gold standard. Conclusions The MediClass processor has performance capability sufficiently similar to human abstractors to permit automated assessment of counseling for weight loss in postpartum encounter records.
Geriatric Obesity: Evaluating the Evidence for the Use of Flavonoids to Promote Weight Loss

Obesity is a rapidly growing epidemic that now affects approximately 30% of the adult population in the United States. The prevalence of obesity in the geriatric population makes it one of the fastest growing groups due to aging baby boomers. Because of the limited number of available treatments for obese adults, they often turn to supplements and alternative medicine sources to help them lose weight. One such group of supplements contains plant metabolites flavonoids, which includes catechins from tea, quercetin from fruits and vegetables, and isoflavones from soy products. Some flavonoids such as catechins and soy isoflavones can modestly reduce weight. This review examined the clinical evidence for catechins, quercetin, and soy isoflavones for the treatment of obesity and explored the mechanisms of action as related to obesity. Furthermore, flavonoids were evaluated for the treatment of obesity in geriatric populations as well as for safety concerns.
The effects of ringer‐locke or blood infusions on the lateral intercellular spaces of the rat proximal tubule

Diuresis and natriuresis follow volume expansion by intravenous infusion of either blood or saline. However, the mechanisms underlying the renal responses seem different for the two types of expansion. It has been suggested that the response to saline expansion is due to changes in physical factors with alterations in the morphology of the lateral intercellular space (LIS). The present study examines the width of the LIS of the proximal tubule after a Ringer-Locke (1%, 2.3%, or 7% body weight) or whole blood (2.3% body weight) infusion and in nonexpanded control. After Ringer-Locke infusion, a significant widening of the LIS of the proximal tubule is seen at all levels of expansion. There is a linear relationship between the level of the Ringer-Locke infusion and the degree of expansion of the LIS. In contrast, after blood volume expansion, the width of the LIS is the same as nonexpanded controls. These studies are consistent with the view that the renal response to saline expansion is mediated at least in part by physical factors affecting the proximal tubule.
Effect of stress on the superconducting transition temperature of SrTiO3

The superconducting transition temperatures of several specimens of reduced SrTiO3 and of Nb-doped SrTiO3 have been investigated as functions of hydrostatic and uniaxial compressive stresses up to 1.8 kbars. Decreases inTc as large as 0.12 K have been observed in specimens under hydrostatic pressure. Because of the lowTc and small compressibility of SrTiO3, Δ(lnTc)/ΔP and Δ(lnTc)/Δ(lnV) are orders of magnitude greater than the corresponding effects in elemental superconductors. The effect of uniaxial stress onTc varied with the direction of stress. Compression along a [111] direction caused large decreases inTc, while both small increases and small decreases inTc have been observed for [100] compression. It is believed that the present results reveal the presence of a sensitive volume dependence in one or more of the parameters important to superconductivity in SrTiO3, and that no significant electron-transfer effects occurred in the range of stresses of this experiment.
Antithrombin and heparin antithrombin patterns in pre-thrombosis and thrombosis.

An antithrombin assay (AA) and an antithrombin assay modified by the addition of heparin (H-AA) were performed using sera from healthy subjects, patients predisposed to thrombosis, and patients with thromboembolic disease. Characteristic AA and H-AA patterns were found in each group. Normal controls and four of 39 “pill” patients (10%) had normal AA and H-AA findings (Pattern A). Normal AA, with “decreasing” H-AA (Pattern B) was found in sera of 31 of 39 “pill” patients (80%) and three patients who had non-embolic arterial occlusive disease. Low AA and “decreasing” H-AA (Pattern C) occurred in sera of four “pill”-takers (10%) and one patient who had an arterial embolus. Low AA and low H-AA (Pattern D) developed in sera of eight patients with thrombophlebitis and seven patients with pulmonary embolus. It is concluded that the AA and H-AA assays help to identify thrombosis-prone (Pattern C) and thrombotic (Pattern D) individuals for whom antiplatelet (aspirin; dipyridamole) or anticoagulant therapy might be beneficial.
Resistance in Tobacco to the Green Peach Aphid

Nicotiana tabacum L. entries were evaluated in the field for resistance to Myzus persicae (Sulzer). Thirty-three were reported as resistant to aphids. Some entries were highly resistant, but the source of resistance was not known. Many of these lines could be used in a breeding program to develop an acceptable cultivar with aphid resistance.
Correlation ananlysis on high-risk pregnancy and fetomaternal transfusion

Objective To investigate the correlation between KB value of maternal blood and fetal hemoglobin.Methods We monitored the KB value of the 297 predelivery women in our hospital and tested fet-al hemoglobin(Hb) within 24 hours after born.The women were divided into normal and high-risk gestational group and the KB value was analyzed respectively.The correlation between the hemoglobin value of newborn and KB value of mother were analyzed by statistic methods.Results Fetal red blood cells could be detected in 234 cases among the blood from 297 pregnant women(162 cases of normal gestation and 135 cases of high-risk gestation),and the KB value was 0.01%～ 5.2%.The positive rate of fetal red-blood-cell detection was 78.79% in all the women who were monitored.The KB value of high-risk gestation group was much higher than that of normal gestation group( 0.001).According to one-way analysis of variance(One-way ANOVA),the ma-ternal KB value and the Hb level of newborn is not significantly related.However,through the hiearchical ob-servation of the maternal KB,using KB≥0.4% as the dividing point,the newborn's Hb value is siginificantly differntly between two groups(≥0.4% group and 0.4% group).Conclusion Part of high-risk gestation was related with fetomaternal transfusion.KB value monitoring during pregnancy has some value in the selec-tion and monitoring of high-risk pregnant women and newborn with fetomaternal transfusion.
The Influence of Distributed Capacity on the Measurement of Electric Energy

Based on the analyses of several typical cases,this essay analyzes the influence of the reactive charging power caused by distributed power on the measurement of electric energy.This essay discusses about two issues in the hot spare operation of the line:one is the phenomenon of active forward and reverse measurement of the electric energy meter,the other is a lower value of cosφ on the light load line than that stipulated in 《Power Factor Adjustment to the Tariff Measures》.Finally,the essay gives relevant solutions to the two issues above.
Conflict of Folk Festival from the Perspective of City and Town——A Review of Enshi Customs of "Lady Party" in Hubei

"Lady party" is one of the cultural name cards Enshi government endeavor to make,it remained some basic elements such as "Going to town","Blind date" and "Singing in pairs".When shaping the symbolic name cards,the government should not deviate it from its original taste,stress the recovery and construction of original ruins and orientate precisely and explore properly.
Coherent Cerenkov radiation produced by a bunched electron beam traversing a plasma and ferrite medium

A somewhat surprising feature [1] of past work on the Cerenkov effect is that it is almost all theoretical with a restricted amount of numerical analysis. The limited experimental work has undoubtedly contributed to the belief that the Cerenkov interaction is weak and hence a high efficiency device could not be achieved using this effect.
Vitamin D and the Cardiovascular System

Publisher Summary Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol, is a secosteroid hormone that is either consumed in the diet or generated de novo through the interaction of ultraviolet light with precursor sterols in the basal layers of the epidermis. The vitamin D receptor (VDR) and ligand-generating 1α (OH)ase are found throughout the cardiovascular tree and appear to be regulated by physiologically (and pathophysiologically) relevant stimuli. The liganded VDR promotes vasorelaxation through effects in the vascular endothelium. It also inhibits angiogenesis and suppresses vascular inflammation. The VDR plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of cardiac structure. Lack of VDR signaling leads to cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis. Cardiac abnormalities induced by vitamin D deficiency can be reversed by treatment with 1,25(OH)2D3 and its less hypercalcemic analogs. 25(OH)D3 deficiency has been linked to a variety of cardiovascular (as well as noncardiovascular) diseases including hypertension, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and heart failure. However, studies carried out to date have not demonstrated a clear beneficial role for vitamin D, its metabolites, or analogs in managing these disorders. Clinical trials designed to address these questions are planned or under way.
Anaerobic and Aerobic Treatment for AOX Removal

A two-year study has focused on AOX removal from bleaching wastewaters in anaerobic and aerobic biological treatment, using bench scale bioreactors operated in parallel and in series. Significantly higher removals have been found in anaerobic than in aerobic treatment. Earlier work with dilute kraft bleaching wastes has been extended in additional laboratory tests and at a nearby kraft mill. 50-75% fractions of bleaching wastes were treated. Toxicity in the anaerobic process was encountered at 85% bleach waste fractions. Total AOX removal experienced in aerobic treatment is 30-35%, in anaerobic treatment 40-45%, and in an anaerobic/aerobic sequence 50-55%. Percentage removals were not sensitive to the fraction of bleaching wastewater. Several process modifications were attempted to try to obtain higher removals with only marginal success. Studies at a kraft mill confirmed the AOX removals that had been found in lab studies. AOX removal occurs by several mechanisms. There is a very significant chemical or abiotic degradation that occurs after neutralization, perhaps enhanced by reductants or other inorganic salts. Biological processes are much more significant in anaerobic than in aerobic treatment. Anaerobic reductive dehalogenation affects specific chlorinated compounds and catalyzed AOX degradation is facilitated by reduced coenzymes that are produced by bacteria. Removal by sorption or insolubilization is relatively minor in aerobic and anaerobic processes.
Estimate of adolescent alcohol use in China: a meta-analysis

A profile of adolescent alcohol use for China that specified gender, school type and a consistent definition of alcohol use. A total of 1,646 papers were identified in the Chinese- and English-language literature published 2007–2015 that reported Chinese adolescent drinking rates. Selection criteria were established a priori. Thirty-two papers met all the selection criteria. Five papers were eliminated because they were found to be duplicate reports of the same data. The resulting sample included 26 papers—24 in Chinese and two in English, 20 describing middle school students, 12 describing high school students, and six describing vocational high school students. Eleven papers described students in more than one type of school. Last 30 day use of alcohol was, as expected, highest among vocational high school students (44.7 % males, 28.8 % females) and drinking rates were higher for high school students (36.5 % males, 21.2 % females) than for middle school students (23.6 % males, 15.3 % females). Meta-regression identified factors associated with differences in drinking rates reported in individual studies as the definition of a drink and whether data were collected by trained personnel. Location appeared important, but its effects were inconsistent across different populations, which suggests that national estimates likely blur regional differences in patterns of alcohol use. Rates derived from this meta-analysis provide a useful reference for scholars interested in China, alcohol use, adolescents, and patterns of use. The meta-regression analysis suggested practical ways to improve adolescent alcohol surveys in China.
New evidence for the Wigner crystal

A classical system of electrons will form a crystalline state at zero temperature. A quantum system of electrons, on the other hand, is generally expected to form a uniform-density electron gas at zero temperature because of the kinetic energy cost of localising electrons onto lattice sites required by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. In 1934, Wigner predicted that an electron gas would crystallise into a solid at low temperatures and low densities even if quantum effects were important. The classical 'Wigner crystal' has been observed for electrons trapped on the surface of liquid helium but searches for its quantum cousin in doped bulk semiconductors and in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed in semiconductor inversion layers have not previously yielded definitive results. (Quantum effects become important when the temperature falls below the Fermi (degeneracy) temperature of the gas.)
Reactive Carbonyl Species Scavengers-Novel Therapeutic Approaches for Chronic Diseases.

Purpose of the Review The purpose of this review is to summarize recent evidence supporting the use of reactive carbonyl species scavengers in the prevention and treatment of disease.
Does Surgical Teaching Take Time? Resident Participation in Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer.

Abstract Study Objective To determine the association between resident involvement and operative time for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for endometrial cancer. Design A retrospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). Setting An integrated health care system in Northern California. Patients A total of 1433 women who underwent MIS for endometrial cancer and endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia from January 2009 to January 2014. Interventions Resident participation in 430 of 688 laparoscopic cases (62%) and 341 of 745 robotic cases (46%). Measurements and Main Results The primary outcome was the impact of resident involvement on surgical time. When residents were involved in laparoscopic and robotic surgery, there was an increase of 61 minutes (median operative time, 186 vs 125 minutes; p Conclusion The presence of a resident was associated with a 32% increase in operative time for minimally invasive cases in gynecologic oncology for endometrial cancer. Because of the retrospective nature, we cannot infer causality of operative outcomes because residents were also involved in more high-risk patients and complex cases. For health care systems using surgical metrics, there may be a need to allocate more time for resident involvement.
Measurements of Intelligence in sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives Gathered from Research in Mali

One of the most controversial debates around intelligence testing regards how tests are used to measure intelligence among non-Western populations. Studies conducted since the 1930’s consistently indicate significant sub-average intelligence among African populations. The purpose of this study is to examine whether commonly used intelligence tests such as the Ravens Progressive Matrices are valid indices of cognitive functioning among children in Mali, Africa. Participants in the current study were 206 children from Mali attending French-language schools. The Woodcock-Johnson II math assessment was used to measure participants’ academic achievement. The Vineland II- Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS) was used to indicate their adaptive functioning level. In this study, tests of IQ were compared against adaptive functioning and academic achievement, to examine whether IQ scores measured among African populations are artificially low or are an accurate measure of performance. IQ scores as measured by the Ravens were discrepant with standardized scores on math achievement and adaptive functioning. Results indicate that use of the Ravens may substantially underestimate the intelligence of children in Mali. This can be particularly problematic when comparisons are made across cultures using the same test and norms. . It is recommended that tests developed with local normative samples be used to assess for IQ.
McSweeney, K., & Kavanagh, J. (Eds.). (2016).

Reviewed by Karen KnutsonUniversity of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USACollaboration, co-creation, community, relevance, and participation: wonderful inspirational words for museum work. This large vo...
Ponceammina Vancouveringi, N. Gen., N. Sp., (Ponceamminidae, Foraminiferida) From the Early Miocene of Puerto Rico

The new agglutinated foraminiferid genus Ponceammina (type species: P. vancouveringi) is characterized by an asymmetrical planispiral to low trochospiral test, which may exhibit unequally inflated uncoiling chambers with a terminal slit-like aperture. The new taxon has been retrieved from southwestern Puerto Rico upper bathyal, Early Miocene strata.
Citizen review panels in child protection: Misunderstood, neglected, and underutilized

Abstract More than 340 Citizen Review Panels (CRPs) continue to engage thousands of volunteers across the United States to improve their state and local child protection services (CPS) systems. Despite sharing a common federal mandate, they differ widely across states in their structure and function. Very little is known about their effectiveness. Available evidence points to persistent challenges of capacity to fulfill their mandate, and difficult relationships with their respective CPS systems. This paper outlines the actions at the federal level in the development of CRPs, and argues that the mandate is largely misunderstood, the panels are neglected as institutions, and consequently, severely underutilized. Recommendations to improve their relevance and effectiveness are suggested.
Application of a Theoretical Model Toward Understanding Continued Food Insecurity Post Hurricane Katrina

Objective Disaster recovery efforts focus on restoring basic needs to survivors, such as food, water, and shelter. However, long after the immediate recovery phase is over, some individuals will continue to experience unmet needs. Ongoing food insecurity has been identified as a post-disaster problem. There is a paucity of information regarding the factors that might place an individual at risk for continued food insecurity post disaster. Methods Using data from a sample (n=737) of households severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina, we estimated the associations between food insecurity and structural, physical and mental health, and psychosocial factors 5 years after Hurricane Katrina. Logistic regression models were fit and odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI estimated. Results Nearly one-quarter of respondents (23%) reported food insecurity 5 years post Katrina. Marital/partner status (OR: 0.7, CI: 0.42, 0.99), self-efficacy (OR: 0.56, CI: 0.37, 0.84), sense of community (OR: 0.7, CI: 0.44, 0.98), and social support (OR: 0.59, CI: 0.39, 0.89) lowered the odds of food insecurity and explained most of the effects of mental health distress on food insecurity. Social support, self-efficacy, and being partnered were protective against food insecurity. Conclusions Recovery efforts should focus on fostering social-support networks and increased self-efficacy to improve food insecurity post disaster. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:47–56)
HLP@UPenn at SemEval-2017 Task 4A: A simple, self-optimizing text classification system combining dense and sparse vectors

We present a simple supervised text classification system that combines sparse and dense vector representations of words, and generalized representations of words via clusters. The sparse vectors are generated from word n-gram sequences (1-3). The dense vector representations of words (embeddings) are learned by training a neural network to predict neighboring words in a large unlabeled dataset. To classify a text segment, the different representations of it are concatenated, and the classification is performed using Support Vector Machines (SVM). Our system is particularly intended for use by non-experts of natural language processing and machine learning, and, therefore, the system does not require any manual tuning of parameters or weights. Given a training set, the system automatically generates the training vectors, optimizes the relevant hyper-parameters for the SVM classifier, and trains the classification model. We evaluated this system on the SemEval-2017 English sentiment analysis task. In terms of average F1-score, our system obtained 8th position out of 39 submissions (F1-score: 0.632, average recall: 0.637, accuracy: 0.646).
Enhanced Sampling of Intrinsic Structural Heterogeneity of the BH3-Only Protein Binding Interface of Bcl-xL

Antiapoptotic Bcl-xL plays central roles in regulating programed cell death. Partial unfolding of Bcl-xL has been observed at the interface upon specific binding to the pro-apoptotic BH3-only protein PUMA, which in turn disrupts the interaction of Bcl-xL with tumor suppressor p53 and promotes apoptosis. Previous analysis of existing Bcl-xL structures and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have suggested that substantial intrinsic structure heterogeneity exists at the BH3-only protein binding interface of Bcl-xL to facilitate its conformational transitions upon binding. In this study, enhanced sampling is applied to further characterize the interfacial conformations of unbound Bcl-xL in explicit solvent. Extensive replica exchange with solute tempering (REST) simulations, with a total accumulated time of 16 μs, were able to cover much wider conformational spaces for the interfacial region of Bcl-xL. The resulting structural ensembles are much better converged, with local and long-range structural features that are highly consistent with existing NMR data. These simulations further demonstrate that the BH3-only protein binding interface of Bcl-xL is intrinsically disordered and samples many rapidly interconverting conformations. Intriguingly, all previously observed conformers are well represented in the unbound structure ensemble. Such intrinsic structural heterogeneity and flexibility may be critical for Bcl-xL to undergo partial unfolding induced by PUMA binding, and likely provide a robust basis that allows Bcl-xL to respond sensitively to binding of various ligands in cellular signaling and regulation.
UMBC at SemEval-2018 Task 8: Understanding Text about Malware

We describe the systems developed by the UMBC team for 2018 SemEval Task 8, SecureNLP (Semantic Extraction from CybersecUrity REports using Natural Language Processing). We participated in three of the sub-tasks: (1) classifying sentences as being relevant or irrelevant to malware, (2) predicting token labels for sentences, and (4) predicting attribute labels from the Malware Attribute Enumeration and Characterization vocabulary for defining malware characteristics. We achieved F1 scores of 50.34/18.0 (dev/test), 22.23 (test-data), and 31.98 (test-data) for Task1, Task2 and Task2 respectively. We also make our cybersecurity embeddings publicly available at https://bit.ly/cybr2vec .
From Barriers to Assets: Rethinking factors impacting advance care planning for African Americans

ObjectiveWe aimed to explore multiple perspectives regarding barriers to and facilitators of advance care planning (ACP) among African Americans to identify similarities or differences that might have clinical implications.MethodQualitative study with health disparities experts (n = 5), community members (n = 9), and seriously ill African American patients and caregivers (n = 11). Using template analysis, interviews were coded to identify intrapersonal, interpersonal, and systems-level themes in accordance with a social ecological framework.ResultParticipants identified seven primary factors that influence ACP for African Americans: religion and spirituality; trust and mistrust; family relationships and experiences; patient-clinician relationships; prognostic communication, care preferences, and preparation and control. These influences echo those described in the existing literature; however, our data highlight consistent differences by group in the degree to which these factors positively or negatively affect ACP. Expert participants reinforced common themes from the literature, for example, that African Americans were not interested in prognostic information because of mistrust and religion. Seriously ill patients were more likely to express trust in their clinicians and to desire prognostic communication; they and community members expressed a desire to prepare for and control the end of life. Religious belief did not appear to negate these desires.Significance of resultsThe literature on ACP in African Americans may not accurately reflect the experience of seriously ill African Americans. What are commonly understood as barriers to ACP may in fact not be. We propose reframing stereotypical barriers to ACP, such as religion and spirituality, or family, as cultural assets that should be engaged to enhance ACP. Although further research can inform best practices for engaging African American patients in ACP, findings suggest that respectful, rapport-building communication may facilitate ACP. Clinicians are encouraged to engage in early ACP using respectful and rapport building communication practices, including open-ended questions.
Purification and Characterization of an Immunoreactive Thymosin α1 from Human Blood

Thymosin α1 was first isolated from bovine thymus gland (Goldstein et al., 1977; Low et al., 1979). It is composed of 28 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 3108 and an isoelectric point of 4.2. This peptide can stimulate lymphocytes to produce macrophage inhibitory factor (Thurman et al., 1981), interferon (Huang et al., 1981), and T-cell growth factor (Zatz et al., 1984). Thymosin α1 also modulates the expression of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) in vivo and in vitro (Hu et al., 1981; Goldschneider et al., 1981).
Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among English-Speaking Asian Americans

Introduction English-speaking non-Hispanic Asians (Asians) in the U.S. include populations with multiple geographic origins and ethnicities (e.g., Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese). Health behaviors and outcomes can differ widely among Asian ethnicities, and highlight the importance of subgroup analysis. Aggregating Asians may mask differences in influenza vaccination across various ethnicities. Methods Combined data from 2013 to 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a population-based, telephone survey of the non-institutionalized, U.S. population aged ≥18years, were analyzed in 2017 to assess influenza vaccination among Asians. Weighted proportions were calculated. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine independent associations between sociodemographic factors and receipt of influenza vaccination. Results Influenza vaccination varied widely among Asian ethnicities, both nationally and by state. Overall, 42.1% of Asians reported having received an influenza vaccine, similar to vaccination among whites (42.4%). Coverage ranged from 36.1% among Koreans to 50.9% among Japanese. Factors independently associated with influenza vaccination among some or all Asian ethnicities included age (≥50 years), female, never married, high school or higher education, annual household income ≥$75,000, possession of medical insurance and personal healthcare provider, routine checkup in the previous year, and presence of certain chronic conditions. Conclusions Though Asians and whites had similar overall influenza vaccination coverage, differences existed between Asian ethnicities, both nationally and by state. This information may help community-based, state-level, and national-level public health agencies to support targeted approaches for outreach to these populations, such as improving cultural and linguistic access to care, to improve influenza vaccination.
THE LIFESAVING ROLE OF BIVENTRICULAR MECHANICAL SUPPORT IN A YOUNG FEMALE WITH ACUTE MYOCARDITIS

Cardiogenic shock remains a challenging entity to treat and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Management with medical and ionotropic therapy is often inadequate in providing circulatory support. Clinicians can escalate to mechanical support devices that have been shown to improve
Public Displays of Children’s Work in Early Learning and Elementary School Settings as Documentation of Children’s Learning Experiences

This paper reports findings from a qualitative investigation that documented the exhibition of children’s work in public spaces within early learning centers and elementary schools. An iterative, photo-documentation methodology was used to document the student work on display using photographs taken in 20 public elementary schools and four early learning child care centers in the Southeastern United States on four occasions over the course of an academic year. Five overarching themes in the public documentation and display of children’s work were identified in the data: Holidays; Audience Engagement; Preschool Children as Media; Integrated Content and Creative Understandings; and Thinking in Action. In PreKindergarten and Kindergarten classrooms, it seemed that children often created works based upon teacher-provided models, but the displays of children’s work conveyed little information about children’s learning in these classrooms. Overall, the data indicated that teachers especially in the early years of schooling could provide greater opportunities to promote observability of children’s learning and individuality in displayed works and opportunities to intentionally engage viewers to interaction with these displays.
Standardization of Inpatient CPR Status Discussions and Documentation Within the Division of Hematology-Oncology at UPMC Shadyside: Results From PDSA Cycles 1 and 2.

PURPOSE:In December 2016, 49% of patients admitted to inpatient oncology services at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside Hospital had cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) status discus...
Correlations from Ion Pairing and the Nernst-Einstein Equation

We present a new approximation to ionic conductivity well suited to dynamical atomic-scale simulations, based on the Nernst-Einstein equation. In our approximation, ionic aggregates constitute the elementary charge carriers, and are considered as noninteracting species. This approach conveniently captures the dominant effect of ion-ion correlations on conductivity, short range interactions in the form of clustering. In addition to providing better estimates to the conductivity at a lower computational cost than exact approaches, this new method allows us to understand the physical mechanisms driving ion conduction in concentrated electrolytes. As an example, we consider Li^{+} conduction in poly(ethylene oxide), a standard solid-state polymer electrolyte. Using our newly developed approach, we are able to reproduce recent experimental results reporting negative cation transference numbers at high salt concentrations, and to confirm that this effect can be caused by a large population of negatively charged clusters involving cations.
A grouped, selectively weighted false discovery rate procedure.

False discovery rate (FDR) control in structured hypotheses testing is an important topic in simultaneous inference. Most existing methods that aim to utilize group structure among hypotheses either employ the groupwise mixture model or weight all p-values or hypotheses. Thus, their powers can be improved when the groupwise mixture model is inappropriate or when most groups contain only true null hypotheses. Motivated by this, we propose a grouped, selectively weighted FDR procedure, which we refer to as "sGBH". Specifically, without employing the groupwise mixture model, sGBH identifies groups of hypotheses of interest, weights p-values in each such group only, and tests only the selected hypotheses using the weighted p-values. The sGBH subsumes a standard grouped, weighted FDR procedure which we refer to as "GBH". We provide simple conditions to ensure the conservativeness of sGBH, together with empirical evidence on its much improved power over GBH. The new procedure is applied to a gene expression study.
Determinants of medical specialty competitiveness

Background Although the concept of medical specialty competitiveness may seem intuitive, there are very little existing empirical data on the determinants of specialty competitiveness in USA. An understanding of the determinants of specialty competitiveness may inform career choices among students and their advisors. Specialty competitiveness correlates with availability and appeal. Methods This narrative review examines 2019 National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) data and the existing literature to define the determinants of specialty competitiveness. A statistical analysis of key elements of the 2019 NRMP data was performed. Results Using US senior applicant fill rate as a measure of competitiveness, medical specialty competitiveness follows general principles of supply and demand. The demand, or appeal, of a specialty correlates with several factors, including salary, prestige and lifestyle. Salary correlates strongly with US senior fill rate (r=0.78, p=0.001). Relatively few positions are available for the most competitive specialties in the NRMP match. The negative correlation between US senior fill rate and position availability is also strong (r=−0.85; p Conclusion A ‘competitive specialty’ correlates strongly with high earnings potential and limited position availability. In an ideal world, a student’s pursuit of a medical specialty should be guided by interest, qualifications and ability to succeed in that field. However, students must contend with the realities of competition created by the residency matching system.
Comparison of the glucagon-like-peptide-1 receptor agonists dulaglutide and liraglutide for the management of diabetes in solid organ transplant: A retrospective study

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are gaining popularity in the management of diabetes in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. There are no studies available comparing the two GLP-1RAs dulaglutide and liraglutide in SOT. We performed a retrospective chart review to assess the safety and effectiveness of these agents in adult SOT with diabetes at 6, 12 and 24 months. There were 63 and 25 recipients on dulaglutide and liraglutide, respectively. There was a sustained reduction in primary endpoints of weight, BMI and insulin requirement with dulaglutide when compared to liraglutide. Decrease in weight was 2%, 4% and 5.2% with dulaglutide and 0.09%, 0.87% and 0.89% with liraglutide at 6, 12 and 24 months respectively. BMI reduction followed the same trend in the two groups. The percentage reduction for insulin was 26% with dulaglutide and 3.6% with liraglutide. There was a 10% reduction in creatinine and a 15% increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at the end of 24 months with dulaglutide. However, there was an increase in creatinine by 7% and an 8% decrease in eGFR at the end of 24 months with liraglutide.
White-box regression (elastic net) modeling of earth pressure balance shield machine advance rate

Abstract This paper addresses the elastic net modeling of earth pressure balance shield machine (EPBM) advance rate for which there is no published physical model. Elastic net polynomial regression is employed to model the advance rate using data collected during the excavation of Sound Transit Northgate Link tunnels (N125) in Seattle, Washington, USA. The EPBM data was partitioned based on the geological profile to examine the influence of the soil type through which the EPBM was tunneling. The feature set for regression analyses included net thrust force, cutterhead rotation speed, conditioning foam flow rate, cutterhead torque, screw conveyor torques, as well as depths below ground surface and groundwater table. Third order polynomial models were able to model over 75% of the advance rate response on independent test data with normalized RMSE less than 20%. Using stratified sampling, only 10% of the EPBM data is required for model training to achieve these levels of accuracy and efficacy. Advance rate models were found to be considerably different across soil units indicating the soil type plays a significant role in EPBM response. The most influential parameters varied across soil types. Conditioning foam flow rate was the most important parameter in three of five soil units, while net thrust force and screw conveyor torque were the most influential features in two of five soil units. Partial dependence and individual conditional expectation analysis revealed that advance rate is positively related (increasing advance rate with increasing parameter value) and/or negatively related (decreasing advance rate with increasing parameter value) to varying degrees as a function of parameter value, all of which is strongly soil dependent.
Nonsecondary origin of cosmic ray positrons

We investigate the possibility of secondary production as the source of cosmic ray (CR) positrons, taking into account observed electron and antiproton spectra and allowing that the reported steepening in the AMS-02 positron spectrum may be due to radiative losses. Using a simple argument based on the antiproton spectrum, we show that positrons cannot be purely secondary. Namely, the antiproton to positron ratio requires that positrons be uncooled up to a few hundred GeV. This requirement implies that CR protons escape from the Galaxy too quickly to reproduce the observed antiproton flux. We further show that this result rules out also more complex secondary production scenarios such as reacceleration and the Nested Leaky Box. Thus, we conclude that, while antiprotons can be produced exclusively in secondary interactions, a primary source of CR positrons---be it dark matter or pulsars---is required to explain their spectrum.
Understandings and advances of diagnosing and treating cloacal malformations

Cloacal malformation is defined as a joint opening of rectum, vagina and urethra in a perineal cavity. Both stool and urine are discharged by a common opening. As a rare and severe congenital anorectal malformation, it is commonly found in neonatal girls. Its treatment is extremely difficult due to a shortage of clinical experiences. A standard guideline is missing. There are many problems of poor surgical efficacy and multiple complications with a low survival rate. Thus this paper reviews the advances of its diagnosis and treatment over the last decade so as to guide clinical practices. Key words: Cloacal deformity; Congenital ano-rectal malformation; Treatment; Progression
Synthesis and Characterization of SrFexMn1-x(O,F)3-δ Oxide (δ = 0 and 0.5) and Oxyfluoride Perovskite Films.

We report the synthesis and characterization of as-grown SrFexMn1-xO2.5 epitaxial films, which were also subjected to postgrowth oxidation and topotactic fluorination to obtain SrFexMn1-xO3 and SrFexMn1-xO2.5-δFγ films. We show how both the B-site cation and anion composition influence the structural, electronic, and optical properties of this family of perovskite materials. The Fe substitution of Mn in SrMnO2.5 gradually expands the c-axis parameter, as indicated by X-ray diffraction. With increasing x, the F content incorporated under identical fluorination conditions increases, reaching its maximum in SrFeO2.5-δFγ. In the compounds with mixed B-site occupation, the Fe 2p photoemission peaks are shifted upon fluorination, while the Mn 2p peaks are not, suggesting inductive effects lead to asymmetric responses in how F alters the Mn and Fe bonds. Electronic transport measurements reveal all compounds are insulators, with the exception of SrFeO3, and demonstrate that fluorination increases resistivity for all values of x. Optical absorption spectra in the SrFexMn1-xO2.5 and SrFexMn1-xO3 films evolve systematically as a function of x, consistent with a physical scenario in which optical changes with Fe substitution arise from a linear combination of Mn and Fe 3d bands within the electronic structure. In contrast, the F incorporation induces nonlinear changes to the optical response, suggesting a more complex impact on the electronic structure in materials with concurrent B-site and anion site substitution.