cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A systematic benchmark method for analysis and comparison of IMRT treatment planning algorithms.

Abstract Tools and procedures for evaluating and comparing different intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) systems are presented. IMRT is increasingly in demand and there are numerous systems available commercially. These programs introduce significantly different software to dosimetrists and physicists than conventional planning systems, and the options often seem initially overwhelmingly complex to the user. By creating geometric target volumes and critical normal tissues, the characteristics of the algorithms may be investigated, and the influence of the different parameters explored. Overall optimization strategies of the algorithm may be characterized by treating a square target volume (TV) with 2 perpendicular beams, with and without heterogeneities. A half-donut (hemi-annulus) TV with a “donut hole” (central cylinder) critical normal tissue (CNT) on a CT of a simulated quality assurance phantom is suggested as a good geometry to explore the IMRT algorithm parameters. Using this geometry, the order of varying parameters is suggested. First is to determine the effects of the number of stratifications of optimized intensity fluence on the resulting dose distribution, and selecting a fixed number of stratifications for further studies. To characterize the dose distributions, a dose-homogeneity index (DHI) is defined as the ratio of the dose received by 90% of the volume to the minimum dose received by the “hottest” 10% of the volume. The next step is to explore the effects of priority and penalty on both the TV and the CNT. Then, choosing and fixing these parameters, the effects of varying the number of beams can be looked at. As well as evaluating the dose distributions (and DHI), the number of subfields and the number of monitor units required for different numbers of stratifications and beams can be evaluated.
Industry Influences On Organizational Slack

The purpose of this study is to identify and examine differences in organizational slack across multiple industries. Using a sample of 353 US publicly traded firms, eight measures of organizational slack were examined across six 2-digit SIC industry groupings. The author’s analyses revealed significant differences across industries in each of the slack measures examined. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.
Dopamine D3 Receptor Antagonist (GSK598809) Potentiates the Hypertensive Effects of Cocaine in Conscious, Freely-Moving Dogs

The chronic and relapsing nature of addiction presents unique challenges for ensuring the safety of a potential medication. A patient may use cocaine, for example, while taking the medication or take more medication than prescribed. Thus, a potential medication must be safe and not exacerbate the effects of cocaine. Multiple published studies support antagonism of brain dopamine D3 receptor function as a potential mechanism of action for an anti-addiction medication. Dopamine D3 receptors are widely distributed outside the central nervous system, however; for example, dopamine D3 receptors in the kidneys are implicated in regulating blood pressure. The selective dopamine D3 receptor antagonist GSK598809 [1-(2-fluoro-4-trifluoromethyl-phenyl)-3-{3-[4-methyl-5-(4-methyl-oxazol-5-yl)-4H-[1,2,4]triazol-3-ylsulfanyl]-propyl}-3-aza-bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane] has been proposed as a medication to treat cocaine and other substance use disorders. The US Food and Drug Administration has established guidelines recommending safety studies to investigate potential undesirable pharmacodynamic effects of a substance in relation to exposure in the therapeutic range and above. Hence, we assessed the interaction between this selective dopamine D3 receptor antagonist and cocaine on hemodynamics and cardiac function in freely-moving, telemetered dogs before conducting a clinical trial. GSK598809 increased the hemodynamic effect of cocaine in this model. Thus, the increase in blood pressure after intravenous cocaine was greater in animals that had been pretreated with GSK598809 compared with vehicle. This finding suggests that GSK598809 in particular, and perhaps dopamine D3 receptor antagonists as a class, may produce unacceptable cardiovascular risks as medications to treat cocaine use disorder.
Generalized Differentiation in Banach Spaces

In this chapter we define and study basic concepts of generalized differentiation that lies at the heart of variational analysis and its applications considered in the book. Most properties presented in this chapter hold in arbitrary Banach spaces (some of them don’t require completeness or even a normed structure, as one can see from the proofs). Developing a geometric dual-space approach to generalized differentiation, we start with normals to sets (Sect. 1.1), then proceed to coderivatives of set-valued mappings (Sect. 1.2), and then to subdifferentials of extended-real-valued functions (Sect. 1.3).
Diagnosis and Management of Stage II Endometrial Cancer

Current staging guidelines define stage II endometrial carcinoma as a tumor that invades the cervical stroma but does not extend beyond the uterus. If the patient is deemed medically operable, surgical management remains the primary treatment modality with the goal of removing all gross disease. Pathologic evaluation of the surgical specimen can help tailor adjuvant chemotherapy. Previously, adjuvant radiation was a mainstay of treatment, but controversies exist about this modality given the lack of data to support improved overall survival. High-risk histologic subtypes (serous, clear cell, carcinosarcoma, high-grade endometrial sarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma) should receive adjuvant chemotherapy with or without tumor-directed radiation.
Differential responses of grain yield, grain protein, and their associated traits to nitrogen supply in soft red winter wheat

Increased application of nitrogen fertilizers has significantly raised grain yield and protein concentration in wheat. However, only 30–50% of applied fertilizer nitrogen are usually utilized by the plant. In this study, four soft red winter wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L., IL07-4415, MD05W10208-11-8, OH06-150-57 and Sisson) were grown under three different nitrogen regimes (high, medium, and low) in a greenhouse, and grain yield, grain protein concentration, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and their associated traits were evaluated. Among the four genotypes, a high-yielding cultivar, Sisson, exhibited superior performance in terms of grain weight plant−1 and NUE for yield (NUEY) at low nitrogen due to maintained grain number spike−1 and harvest index. Significant yield losses due to nitrogen limitation were attributable to reduced spike number plant−1 and grain number spike−1 in the other genotypes. Interestingly, a linear relationship between NUEY and NUE for grain protein (NUEP) was detected at high (R2 = 0.67) and low (R2 = 0.42) nitrogen; both of these traits were positively correlated with grain number spike−1, 1000-seed weight, and harvest index under nitrogen-limited conditions (R2 = 0.35–0.48). These results suggest that simultaneous improvement of NUEY and NUEP could be achieved through the selection of the three yield components (grain number spike−1, 1000-seed weight, and harvest index) at low nitrogen.
A phase II study of enzalutamide (Enz) with dutasteride (Dut) or finasteride (Fin) in men ≥ 65 years with hormone-naive systemic prostate cancer (HNSPCa).

179Background: Older men are at a high risk for adverse events (AEs) from androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). In prior studies, peripheral androgen blockade with bicalutamide and Fin was better tolerated but less efficacious than ADT in HNSPCa. The potential syngerism of Enz (a potent antiandrogen) and Dut/Fin (5-a reductase inhibitors for conversion of testosterone [T] to dihydrotestosterone [DHT]) provided the rationale for this Phase II study that examined the clinical efficacy and safety of Enz with Dut/Fin in men > 65 years with HNSPCa. Methods: Eligible patients were > 65 years (y) ; at a high risk of AE from ADT by comprehensive geriatric assessment or treating physicians; had metastatic (M1) or biochemical recurrent (M0) HNSPCa with a PSA doubling time 50ng/dl. They received Enz (160mg daily) and Dut (0.5mg daily) or Fin (5mg daily) until disease progression according to the Prostate Cancer Working Group 2 guidelines. The primary study endpoint is time to PSA progression. T...
Social Contact in the Desegregated Classroom

As indicated in the first chapter, underlying the hopes and beliefs of most proponents of desegregation is the implicit assumption that the minority child will be accepted socially into the classroom of the receiving school. More than simply deriving the benefits of the supposed better curriculum and instruction in the receiving school, it is assumed that the minority child, through the medium of close contact with his Anglo peers, will come to adopt their achievement-related values (Katz, 1968) and will also come to view his own capabilities more positively (Katz, 1967).
Production of D-arabitol from D-xylose by the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides IFO0880.

The sugar alcohol d-arabitol is one of the Department of Energy’s top twelve bio-based building block chemicals. In this study, we found that the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides IFO0880 produces d-arabitol during growth on xylose in nitrogen-rich medium. Efficient xylose utilization was a prerequisite for extracellular d-arabitol production. During growth in complex media, R. toruloides produced 22 ± 2, 32 ± 2, and 49 ± 2 g/L d-arabitol from 70, 105, and 150 g/L xylose, respectively. In addition, we found that R. toruloides could potentially be used for the co-production of lipids and d-arabitol from xylose. These results demonstrate that R. toruloides can be used to produce multiple value-added chemicals from xylose.
Hypoxia Triggers SENP1 (Sentrin-Specific Protease 1) Modulation of KLF15 (Kruppel-Like Factor 15) and Transcriptional Regulation of Arg2 (Arginase 2) in Pulmonary Endothelium.

Objective— KLF15 (Kruppel-like factor 15) has recently been shown to suppress activation of proinflammatory processes that contribute to atherogenesis in vascular smooth muscle, however, the role of KLF15 in vascular endothelial function is unknown. Arginase mediates inflammatory vasculopathy and vascular injury in pulmonary hypertension. Here, we tested the hypothesis that KLF15 is a critical regulator of hypoxia-induced Arg2 (arginase 2) transcription in human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMEC). Approach and Results— Quiescent HPMEC express ample amounts of full-length KLF15. HPMECs exposed to 24 hours of hypoxia exhibited a marked decrease in KLF15 protein levels and a reciprocal increase in Arg2 protein and mRNA. Chromatin immunoprecipitation indicated direct binding of KLF15 to the Arg2 promoter, which was relieved with HPMEC exposure to hypoxia. Furthermore, overexpression of KLF15 in HPMEC reversed hypoxia-induced augmentation of Arg2 abundance and arginase activity and rescued nitric oxide (NO) production. Ectopic KLF15 also reversed hypoxia-induced endothelium-mediated vasodilatation in isolated rat pulmonary artery rings. Mechanisms by which hypoxia regulates KLF15 abundance, stability, and compartmentalization to the nucleus in HPMEC were then investigated. Hypoxia triggered deSUMOylation of KLF15 by SENP1 (sentrin-specific protease 1), and translocation of KLF15 from nucleus to cytoplasm. Conclusions— KLF15 is a critical regulator of pulmonary endothelial homeostasis via repression of endothelial Arg2 expression. KLF15 abundance and nuclear compartmentalization are regulated by SUMOylation/deSUMOylation—a hypoxia-sensitive process that is controlled by SENP1. Strategies including overexpression of KLF15 or inhibition of SENP1 may represent novel therapeutic targets for pulmonary hypertension.
Eosinophilic Esophagitis Through the Flexible Endoscope and the Lens of a Photographer in the Amazon

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a disorder that has been identified recently, thus knowledge about it, its pathogenesis, and potential etiologies has spread in an era where the medical community and the public are receiving the information and discussing it as it appears in the medical literature. Because physiology, pathology, and pathophysiology are difficult to explain in layman terms, the author has used photographs taken in remote areas of the Amazon to create visual similes within a narrative that brings the scientific and medical concepts of the knowledge on EoE to a level that allows both medical and non-medical persons to grasp and discuss their significance. This set of photographs when presented to audiences has generated interest in the disorder as well as in the Amazon and its natural flora and fauna. The author hopes that this pictorial introduction sets the stage for the multiple novel topics reviewed and presented in this issue.
Numerical Evaluation of Semicircular Bending Test Variability

AbstractThe semicircular bending (SCB) test has received significant attention as a fracture test for asphalt concrete (AC) mixtures. This study focuses on the variability of the SCB test, consider...
The Development of Radio Astronomy Research at the Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR

The history of the development of radio astronomy in the Ukraine is described. The construction of unique radio telescopes and radio interferometers operating at decameter wavelengths is of special interest. The results of important studies of the Sun, planets and Galactic sources at these wavelengths are presented. The importance of detecting atomic line radio emission is underscored.
X-Ray Imaging System With Continuous Time Resolution

A monochromatic x-ray imaging system based on the Bragg reflection from spherically curved crystals 1,2 has been successfully used on the NRL Nike KrF laser for the past five years 3,4,5. Compared to other x-ray imaging techniques like pinholes, Kirpatrik-Baez microscopes, and Fresnel lenses, a curved crystal imager has several advantages. It is a high throughput, high spatial resolution and, by nature, monochromatic diagnostic technique all at the same time. At NRL, a curved crystal imager has been used in combination with a framing camera to provide sequences of high-spatial-resolution still images taken with a time resolution of 200 ps3. Up to four snap shots that correspond to four different times were available to study such fast process as Rayleigh- Taylor (RT) growth of mass perturbations in ablatively driven targets6–8.
Soil nutrients indirectly influence intraspecific plant selection in white-tailed deer.

Abstract Few attempts have been made to determine how soil productivity influences diet selection in herbivores, likely because environmental characteristics known to influence diet selection such as plant community structure and herbivore nutritional demands are often confounded with changes in soil productivity. We designed a soil-amendment experiment to isolate the effects of soil productivity on diet selection by manipulating soil productivity and quantifying intraspecific plant selection within a population of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We hypothesized soil productivity would indirectly influence deer plant selection by directly affecting plant tissue chemistry. Soil productivity indeed influenced diet selection indirectly because soil amendments only affected deer plant selection when palatable plants were present. Soil amendments increased plant phosphorus concentrations, and plant phosphorus concentrations explained 47% of the variation in diet selection. Thus, our data indicate plant nutritional quality mediates the indirect effects of soil productivity on herbivore diet selection. Previous research demonstrating differential influences of herbivory on plant communities across a soil productivity gradient may in part be explained by indirect effects of soil productivity on diet selection.
Effects of Auricular Acupressure on Pain Management: A Systematic Review

Abstract Objective Nearly half of hospitalized patients in the United States have reported experiencing pain even while undergoing treatment for pain. Analgesic use is the most common type of treatment for pain management. Many patients who experience pain seek nonpharmacologic interventions to manage their pain, including forms of complementary or alternative medicine such as auricular acupressure (AA). Design This study conducted the first systematic review of the studies that have evaluated the effect of AA as an adjunct on pain management. Data Sources We searched PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Google Scholar, and Wiley for randomized controlled trials on AA. Review/Analysis Methods The pain outcomes were pain severity and analgesic consumption. Methodologic quality was also evaluated. Fifteen randomized controlled trials were included in this analysis. Results Twelve studies reported statistically significant improvement in the pain outcomes of AA treatment compared with the sham or standard care groups. When methodologic quality was assessed, the selected studies had medium quality, but there was a lack of high quality. This supports that the use of AA for patients may enhance self-management for their pain. However, the small number of studies and the lack of consistent rigorous methodology across the studies preclude definitive statements regarding the effectiveness of AA. Conclusion The nursing implications based on this review is that education about AA and complementary or alternative medicine therapies for health care providers may assist them in providing pain control for their patients. In addition, we need to continue research to build on evidence on the effect of AA on pain management.
"Do Internal Due Process System Permit Adequate Political and Moral Space for Ethics Voice, Praxis, and Community?"

Internal due process systems are the formal mechanisms thatmany organizations use to address and resolve ethics conflicts.Problematical due process systems such asinvestigation-punishment and grievance-arbitration systemsnarrowly constrain the political and moral space needed formeaningful ethics voice, praxis, and community. The relativelyuncommon employee board and mediator-counselor types of systemscan help solve such problems. The employee board andmediator-counselor systems permit questioning not only of guiltwith respect to policy violations but also the appropriateness ofthe policies as well as potential biases in an organization'sembedded tradition-system that may be contributing to unethicalbehavior. Theoretical implications for organization ethics,praxis, community, and integrative social contracts theories areexplored. Several case examples are discussed.
Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures in Children with Epilepsy

The occurrence of psychogenic seizures in a proportion of children with epilepsy has been well described. The diagnosis of simultaneous existence of nonepileptic and epileptic seizures is often challenging as the clinical features of these conditions may overlap. However, they differ significantly in terms of the underlying pathophysiology as well as management strategies. Timely recognition can prevent harmful treatments and potentially improve patient outcome. In this article, we focus on the epidemiology, clinical features as well as management of psychogenic seizures in children with epilepsy.
A Compact Continuous non-Invasive Glucose Monitoring System with Phase-Sensitive Front End

A working prototype of a wearable continuous noninvasive glucose monitoring system based on near infra-red (NIR) illumination at 940nm has been implemented and demonstrated with a phase-sensitive analog detector front-end and digital backend. The proposed design is capable of tracking the naturally weak NIR interactions in both transmissive (absorbance) and reflective (diffused reflectance) mode, depending on the optical head design. The front-end of the high-fidelity lock-in detection system is implemented using purely analog components consisting of a pre-amplifier integrated with the photo-sensor and an analog single-chip CMOS lock-in-amplifier, which enhances signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), thus reducing the need for an aggressive signal processing (i.e. power consumption) in the digital backend. Following the discrete measurements using transmissive NIR illumination that confirmed the viability of the proposed analog front-end design, continuous measurements of both transmissive absorbance and diffused NIR reflectance were recorded. Oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) have been performed on fasting human subjects by the intake of 50 gm glucose solution or tablets. Concurrent measurements of the proposed non-invasive techniques and conventional invasive blood pricking were executed to provide a control for comparison. The temporal trend observed on the same OGTT protocol from the proposed continuous compact glucometer and control measurements strongly correlates, validating the clinical significance of the proposed prototype.
Enhancing robot learning with human social cues

Imagine a learning scenario between two humans: a teacher demonstrating how to play a new musical instrument or a craftsman teaching a new skill like pottery or knitting to a novice. Even though learning a skill has a learning curve to get the nuances of the technique right, some basic social principles are followed between the teacher and the student to make the learning process eventually succeed. There are several assumptions or social priors in this communication for teaching: mutual eye contact to draw attention to instructions, following the gaze of the teacher to understand the skill, the teacher following the student's gaze during imitation to give feedback, the teacher demonstrating by pointing towards something she is going to approach or manipulate and verbal interruptions or corrections during the learning process [1], [2]. In prior research, verbal and non-verbal social cues such as eye gaze and gestures have been shown to make human-human interactions seamless and augment verbal, collaborative behavior [3], [4]. They serve as an indicator of engagement, interest and attention when people interact face-to-face with one another [5], [6].
On the difficulty of proving P equals NP in ZFC

Harvey Friedman, in his remarkable paper Finite functions and the necessary use of large cardinals, Ann. Math. 148:803-893, 1998 and in a technical report, Applications of large cardinals to graph theory, Ohio State University, 1997, presents numerous combinatorial statements with clear geometric meaning that are proved using large cardinals and shown to require them. By slightly extending some of Friedman's results, we construct an infinite class of structurally similar theorems which can be proved using the same large cardinals but also can be proved using the statement "subset sum is solvable in polynomial time." This curious connection between the P vs. NP problem and the theory of large cardinals seems to suggest that either P=NP is false or otherwise not provable in ZFC.
Determining the caregivers' burden in caregivers of patients with mental illness.

Objective: To examine the factors associated with caregivers’ burden in individuals providing care to family members suffering from serious mental illness. Methods: This Cross Sectional Study was carried out at Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health, Rawalpindi, from May 2015 to December 2015. A purposive sample of 120 family caregivers (60 males and 60 females, age range= 18-65) who were taking care of patients with serious mental illness (i.e. Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder & Schizophrenia) for at least one year were recruited from the hospital and assessed through Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and Brief COPE inventory. The decline in functional status, and diminished physical capacity compromising the independent living of the care recipient was assessed through Katz Index of Independence in Activities of daily living (ADL) and Lawton Instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Results: The results suggest that the longer the duration of illness (F=25.71, p < 0.01), with increased impairments of care-recipients, (decline in functional status, F=21.33, p < 0.001; diminished physical capacity F =32.41, p < 0.001) the more the burden experienced by the caregivers. Moreover, caregivers who were married (t=-2.98, p < 0.01), less educated (t =5.48, p < 0.01), lived in rural area (t = -7.99, p < 0.01), had lower monthly income (t = -4.95, p < 0.01) provide longer hours of caregiving (F=19.12, p < 0.001) and used avoidant coping behavior (F= 56.37, p < 0.001) reported significantly higher caregiver burden than caregivers who were unmarried, more educated, lived in urban area and had better income. Conclusion: The results of study demonstrate that caring for family members with serious mental illness impacts the caregivers’ wellbeing. It, therefore, highlights the need for support and counseling services for the caregivers to reduce the burden of caring. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.720 How to cite this:Siddiqui S, Khalid J. Determining the caregivers’ burden in caregivers of patients with mental illness. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(5):1329-1333. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.5.720 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Medicinal plants/herbal supplements as female aphrodisiacs: Does any evidence exist to support their inclusion or potential in the treatment of FSD?

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Female Sexual Dysfunction is a complex condition with biopsychosocial origins. Plants traditionally used as aphrodisiacs may be promising as routes to develop therapeutic options which are lacking. Aim To distinguish the plants commonly used in (AP) on the market in the United States, and to evaluate their ethnobotanical and clinical evidence as a basis for their inclusion. Methods This study is a narrative review of 53 species commonly found in AP on the market in the United States. Most species listed have anecdotal use as aphrodisiacs throughout history; therefore, a systematic search was done for clinical evidence. The primary outcome assessed is the clinical efficacy of plants in the treatment of libido desire disorders. Results There is little to no evidence from the literature to substantiate claims of plants currently on the market as AP for female libido desire disorders. Conclusions The biggest problem in the literature is the lack of botanical verification and consistency in material across studies. Any botanical, commercial or otherwise must be tested for chemical markers exhibited by individual species; however, if no markers exist, work must first be done to determine these. Appropriate analytical techniques for this would include high pressure liquid chromatography, and mass spectroscopy. It would also be sufficient to taxonomically authenticate species provided the plant material. Further research should aim to standardize plant material and extraction methods utilized in order to compare studies effectively and allow for reproducibility to draw conclusions. While clear interest into investigation the aphrodisiac potential of plants exists, a translatable in vivo animal model does not. Clinical trials rely on patient reported outcomes to determine efficacy but cost and length of such trials deem a necessity for development of an animal model to first screen botanicals. We suggest development of screening tools utilizing the evident neurobiological underpinnings of FSD as the first step. In general, studies of plants currently used as ingredients for AP are severely lacking, and even so the evidence that exists is weak.
Novel Gastroretentive Floating Pulsatile Drug Delivery System Produced via Hot-Melt Extrusion and Fused Deposition Modeling 3D Printing

This study was performed to develop novel core-shell gastroretentive floating pulsatile drug delivery systems using a hot-melt extrusion-paired fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing and direct compression method. Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) and ethyl cellulose (EC)-based filaments were fabricated using hot-melt extrusion technology and were utilized as feedstock material for printing shells in FDM 3D printing. The directly compressed theophylline tablet was used as the core. The tablet shell to form pulsatile floating dosage forms with different geometries (shell thickness: 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, and 2.0 mm; wall thickness: 0, 0.8, and 1.6 mm; and % infill density: 50, 75, and 100) were designed, printed, and evaluated. All core-shell tablets floated without any lag time and exhibited good floating behavior throughout the dissolution study. The lag time for the pulsatile release of the drug was 30 min to 6 h. The proportion of ethyl cellulose in the filament composition had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the lag time. The formulation (2 mm shell thickness, 1.6 mm wall thickness, 100% infill density, 0.5% EC) with the desired lag time of 6 h was selected as an optimized formulation. Thus, FDM 3D printing is a potential technique for the development of complex customized drug delivery systems for personalized pharmacotherapy.
Review visual attention and spatial memory in building inspection: Toward a cognition-driven information system

Abstract With the increasing complexity of modern buildings, it is becoming more challenging for the professionals in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry to effectively digest complex engineering and design information and develop an accurate spatial memory that is critical to their daily tasks. As emerging visualization technologies, such as Virtual Reality, are considered as a promising solution, there is a pressing need to understand the mechanism by which different information visualization methods affect AEC task performance. Cognition literature has discovered a strong relationship between attention and memory development, but little has been done to understand how the visual attention patterns during the design documents review affect the effectiveness of spatial memory in AEC tasks. To fill the knowledge gap, this paper presents a human-subject experiment (n = 63) to test how spatial knowledge is acquired in a building inspection task and how the different visual attention patterns affect the development of spatial memory. Participants were asked to review the design information of a real building on campus. To trigger different attention patterns, they were randomly assigned to one of the three groups based on the forms of information given in the review session, including 2D, 3D, and VR groups. After a brief review session, participants were asked to go to the real building to identify discrepancies (based on memory) that were intentionally inserted by the authors. The inspection performance was used to evaluate the spatial memory development. The results indicate that in general there is a positive relationship between test subjects’ visual attention (fixation time) and spatial memory, but the increasing rate varies across the three groups, suggesting that visual context plays a critical role in the development efficiency of spatial memory. The findings also indicate that the visual attention – spatial memory relationship may be mediated by the use of different spatial knowledge acquisition strategies. This study is expected to contribute to the construction information technology literature by setting the cornerstone of a cognition-driven information system that tailors into the spatial cognitive process of AEC professionals.
Quantifying Library Engagement: Aligning Library, Institutional, and Student Success Data.

To determine which engagement factors correlate with student success at a large, public, research university in the southeastern United States, the university library, along with representatives from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and other academic and support units across campus are collaborating in the alignment and analysis of student engagement and success data. Findings suggest there is a significant, positive relationship between engagement in library, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities and student success. The model developed for this study is one that is easily transferable to other organizations. These data are being used to develop a repository that enables longitudinal study.
ESSENCE, the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics

ABSTRACT The Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (ESSENCE) is a secure web-based tool that enables health care practitioners to monitor health indicators of public health importance for detection and tracking of disease outbreaks, consequences of severe weather, and other events of concern. The ESSENCE concept began in an internally funded project at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), advanced with funding from the State of Maryland, and broadened in 1999 as a collaboration with the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research. Versions of the system have been further developed by JHU/APL in multiple military and civilian programs for timely detection and tracking of health threats. Features of ESSENCE include spatial and temporal statistical alerting, custom querying, user-defined alert notifications, geographical mapping, remote data capture, and event communications. These features allow ESSENCE users to gather and organize the resulting wealth of information into a coherent view of population health status and communicate findings among users. The resulting broad utility, applicability and adaptability of this system led to adoption of ESSENCE by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), numerous state and local health departments, and the Department of Defense (DOD) both nationally and globally. With emerging high-consequence communicable diseases and other health conditions, the continued user-requirements-driven enhancements of ESSENCE demonstrate an adaptable disease surveillance capability focused on the everyday needs of public health. The challenge of a live system for widely distributed users with multiple different data sources and high throughput requirements has driven an novel, evolving architecture design.
Evaluating different spatial scales of forage item availability to determine diet selection of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Diet selection by a species is determined by comparing the consumption (i.e., use) and abundance (i.e., availability) of prey within their area of occupancy. Because individuals commonly use only a portion of habitat available to them (e.g., a 10-ha home range within a 1000-ha foraging habitat), it is important to quantify forage availability within individuals’ home ranges and core areas, and include these availabilities when calculating diet selection. However, studies of diet selection often consider prey availability across the entire foraging habitat of a species and not within individual home ranges/core areas. Here, we explore how spatial variability in prey availability may influence the results of diet selection for juvenile green turtles, Chelonia mydas, foraging in Bimini, Bahamas. Stable isotope analysis was used to determine prey use and satellite telemetry to infer movements and forage availability for each turtle. Forage availability was assessed at three spatial scales: (1) the full extent of the foraging area (2) across each respective individual’s 95% utilization distribution (UD), or home ranges, and (3) across each individual’s 50% UD, or core areas. Further, we compared potential differences in diet selection by using three selection indices (Ivlev’s, Johnson’s and Chesson’s). Diet selection results varied among individuals and were influenced by the spatial scale of forage items available and the index used. Diet selection variability was observed at various spatial scales and in all indices. Our results highlight the need for careful consideration of the diet selection index and the spatial scale at which prey/forage availability is considered when determining a species’ diet selection. Selecting a more sensitive index will help identify priority resources and/or habitats that are important to species, which in turn carries conservation and management implications.
Hyperbolic Fourier coefficients of Poincaré series

Poincare (Ann Fac Sci Toulouse Sci Math Sci Phys 3:125–149, 1912) and Petersson (Acta Math 58(1):169–215, 1932) gave the now classical expression for the parabolic Fourier coefficients of holomorphic Poincare series in terms of Bessel functions and Kloosterman sums. Later, in 1941, Petersson introduced hyperbolic and elliptic Fourier expansions of modular forms and the associated hyperbolic and elliptic Poincare series. In this paper, we express the hyperbolic Fourier coefficients of Poincare series, of both parabolic and hyperbolic type, in terms of hypergeometric series and Good’s generalized Kloosterman sums. In an explicit example for the modular group, we see that the hyperbolic Kloosterman sum corresponds to a sum over lattice points on a hyperbola contained in an ellipse. This allows for numerical computation of the hyperbolic Fourier coefficients.
Electrosprays of highly conducting liquids: A study of droplet and ion emission based on retarding potential and time-of-flight spectrometry

Electrosprays of highly conducting liquids operated in the cone-jet mode produce charged nanodroplets of controllable size and molecular ions. The study of this electrospraying regime is challenging because of the lack of experimental techniques for probing these nanometric systems. An experimental technique based on time-of-flight and retarding potential analysis is presented for measuring the velocity and potential of the jet at its breakup, and it uses this information to rationalize the physics of both the droplet formation and the emission of ions from cone-jets of highly conducting liquids.
Home-based virtual reality therapy for hand recovery after stroke.

BACKGROUND Many stroke survivors experience arm and hand weakness, but there are only limited efficacious options for arm therapy available. OBJECTIVE To assess the feasibility of unsupervised home-based use of a virtual reality device (Smart Glove) for hand rehabilitation post stroke. DESIGN Prospective single-arm study consisting of a 2-week run-in phase with no device use followed by an 8-week intervention period. SETTING Participants were recruited at the Stanford Neuroscience Outpatient Clinic. PARTICIPANTS Twenty chronic stroke patients with upper extremity impairment. INTERVENTIONS Participants were instructed to use the Smart Glove 50 minutes per day, 5 days per week for 8 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The following outcomes were measured: (1) compliance, (2) patients' impression of the intervention, and (3) efficacy using the upper extremity Fugl-Meyer (UE-FM), the Jebsen-Taylor hand function test (JTHFT), and the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS). RESULTS Of 20 participants, seven (35%) met target compliance of 40 days use, and six (30%) used the device for 20-39 days. Eighty-five percent of participants were satisfied with the therapy, with 80% reporting improvement in hand function. During the run-in phase there were no improvements in hand function. During the intervention, patients improved by a mean of 26.6 ± 48.8 seconds on the JTHFT (P = .03), by 16.1 ± 15.3 points on the hand-domain of the SIS (P < .01) and there was a trend toward improvement on the UE-FM (2.2 ± 5.5 points, P = .10). CONCLUSIONS Unsupervised use of the Smart Glove in the home environment may improve hand/arm function in subacute/chronic stroke patients. A randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm these results.
Does Lawyering Matter? Predicting Judicial Decisions from Legal Briefs, and What That Means for Access to Justice

This study uses linguistic analysis and machine learning techniques to predict summary judgment outcomes from the text of the parties’ briefs. We test the predictive power of textual characteristics, stylistic features, and citation usage, and find that citations to precedent – their frequency, their patterns, and their popularity in other briefs – are the most predictive of a summary judgment win. This suggests that good lawyering may boil down to good legal research. However, good legal research is expensive, and the primacy of citations in our models raises concerns about access to justice. Here, our citation-based models also suggest promising solutions. We propose a freely available, computationally-enabled citation identification and brief bank tool, which would extend to all litigants the benefits of good lawyering and open up access to justice.
The Socio-Cultural Dimension of Globalization

This chapter describes the movement of person globally, largely by migration. It defines the several categories of migrants and their legal status. The chapter describes former President Trump’s nativism and the many ways he and his administration sought to reduce and even prevent immigration. It discusses how immigration has declined despite the positive role immigration plays in creating soft power and the impact of demographic changes that increased the need for immigrants. The chapter focuses on how events in the Middle East created large numbers of Muslim refugees and the growth and impact of Islamophobia in America and Europe, especially in countries that are dominated by nationalist-populists. The flood of Muslim migrants in 2015 and terrorist incidents, produced deep political divisions both within and among countries in Europe. The chapter climaxes by describing the flood of refugees from Central America and the efforts of the Trump administration to deter and/or prevent Latinos from seeking asylum in the U.S., including family separation and Trump’s effort to build a wall on the Mexican border.
Integrating thousands of PTEN variant activity and abundance measurements reveals variant subgroups and new dominant negatives in cancers

PTEN is a multi-functional tumor suppressor protein regulating cell growth, immune signaling, neuronal function, and genome stability. Experimental characterization can help guide the clinical interpretation of the thousands of germline or somatic PTEN variants observed in patients. Two large-scale mutational datasets, one for PTEN variant intracellular abundance encompassing 4112 missense variants and one for lipid phosphatase activity encompassing 7244 variants, were recently published. The combined information from these datasets can reveal variant-specific phenotypes that may underlie various clinical presentations, but this has not been comprehensively examined, particularly for somatic PTEN variants observed in cancers. Here, we add to these efforts by measuring the intracellular abundance of 764 new PTEN variants and refining abundance measurements for 3351 previously studied variants. We use this expanded and refined PTEN abundance dataset to explore the mutational patterns governing PTEN intracellular abundance, and then incorporate the phosphatase activity data to subdivide PTEN variants into four functionally distinct groups. This analysis revealed a set of highly abundant but lipid phosphatase defective variants that could act in a dominant-negative fashion to suppress PTEN activity. Two of these variants were, indeed, capable of dysregulating Akt signaling in cells harboring a WT PTEN allele. Both variants were observed in multiple breast or uterine tumors, demonstrating the disease relevance of these high abundance, inactive variants. We show that multidimensional, large-scale variant functional data, when paired with public cancer genomics datasets and follow-up assays, can improve understanding of uncharacterized cancer-associated variants, and provide better insights into how they contribute to oncogenesis.
Epica y soledad en " el otono del patriarca "

Se realiza un comentario de la novela El Otono del Patriarca de Gabriel Garcia Marquez en dos niveles: contenido y forma. La primera parte trata la naturaleza del mito y la soledad como se puede ver en la figura del dictador. En la segunda parte se examinan rasgos esteticos de la novela, especialmente, en su relacion con la tradicion de la epoca en la literatura occidental.
Military maternal weight trends and perinatal outcomes.

ABSTRACTObjective: Obesity is epidemic in the United States and the prevalence is increasing. We sought to determine if the prevalence of obesity in women eligible for health care at military treatment facilities, specifically, active duty (AD) women, is increasing similar to national trends. Methods: Our retrospective cohort study evaluated selected outcomes in women delivering in 1999 and 2006. Women delivering living, singleton, term, nonanomalous neonates in 1999 and 2006 were eligible. Prepregnancy weight and weight gain during pregnancy were compared between the two populations, and data were stratified by AD status, age, and ethnicity. Obstetric outcomes were evaluated based on body mass index (BMI). Results: There were 1,543 and 1,745 mother–infant pairs available, respectively, for analysis. Prepregnancy BMI for all women evaluated increased significantly from 1999 to 2006 (25.0 vs. 25.6, p < 0.05). Prepregnancy BMI increased significantly for AD women between 1999 and 2006 (24.3 vs. 25.4, p < 0....
Long-Term Maintenance of gp120-Specific Immune Responses by Genetic Vaccination with the HIV-1 Envelope Genes Linked to the Gene Encoding Flt-3 Ligand

DNA vaccines target dendritic cells (DC) to induce Ag-specific immune responses in animals. Potent HIV-specific immunity could be achieved by efficient priming of the immune system by DNA vaccines. We investigated a novel DNA vaccine approach based on the role of growth factors in DC expansion and differentiation. To this end, we constructed chimeric genes encoding the HIV envelope glycoproteins physically linked to the extracellular domain of Fms-like tyrosine kinase receptor-3 ligand (FLex; a DC growth factor; both mouse (m)FLex and human (h)FLex). These chimeric gene constructs synthesized biologically active, oligomeric FLex:gp120 fusion proteins and induced DC expansion (CD11c(+)CD11b(+)) when injected i.v. into mice. This DC expansion is comparable to that achieved by FLex DNA encoding native FLex protein. When delivered intramuscularly as DNA vaccines, hFLex:gp120 induced high frequencies of gp120-specific CD8(+) T cells in the presence or absence of FLex DNA-induced DC expansion, but gp120 and mFLex:gp120 elicited only low to moderate levels of Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells. In contrast, mFLex:gp120 induced high levels of anti-gp120 Abs under identical conditions of DNA vaccination. However, the Ab levels in mice immunized with DNA vaccines encoding hFLex:gp120 and gp120 proteins were low without DC expansion, but reached high levels comparable to that elicited by mFLex:gp120 only after the second boost in the presence of DC expansion. Importantly, the gp120-specific CD8(+) T cells persisted at high frequency for 114 days (16 wk) after a booster injection. These experiments provide insight into the importance of modulating DC function in vivo for effective genetic vaccination in animals.