cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-order medium frequency micromechanical electronic filters

Third order, high-Q, micromechanical bandpass filters comprised of three ratioed folded-beam resonators coupled by flexural mode springs are demonstrated using an integrated circuit compatible, doped polycrystalline silicon surface-micromachining technology. A complete design procedure for multiresonator micromechanical filters is presented and solidified via an example design. The use of quarter-wavelength coupling beams attached to resonators at velocity-controllable locations is shown to suppress passband distortion due to finite-mass and process mismatch nonidealities, which become increasingly important on this microscale. In addition, low-velocity coupling methods are shown to greatly alleviate the lithographic resolution required to achieve a given percent bandwidth. Ratioed folded-beam micromechanical resonators are introduced as the key impedance transforming components that enable the needed low-velocity coupling. Using these design techniques, balanced three-resonator microscale mechanical filters with passband frequencies centered around 340 kHz are demonstrated with percent bandwidths of 0.1%, associated insertion losses as small as 0.1 dB, 20-dB shape factors as low as 1.5, and stopband rejections greater than 64 dB. Measurement and theory are rigorously compared and important limitations, such as thermal susceptibility, the need for passband tuning, and inadequate electromechanical coupling, are addressed.
The Kerf toolkit for intrusion analysis

We consider the problem of intrusion analysis and present the Kerf toolkit, whose purpose is to provide an efficient and flexible infrastructure for the analysis of attacks. The Kerf toolkit includes a mechanism for securely recording host and network logging information for a network of workstations, a domain-specific language for querying this stored data, and an interface for viewing the results of such a query, providing feedback on these results, and generating new queries in an iterative fashion. We describe the architecture of Kerf in detail, present examples to demonstrate the power of our query language, and discuss the performance of our implementation of this system.
Mechanisms of Action and Resistance of Older and Newer Fluoroquinolones

The fluoroquinolones interact with 2 bacterial targets, the related enzymes DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV, both of which are involved in DNA replication. Quinolones form complexes of these enzymes with DNA, complexes that block movement of the DNA-replication fork and thereby inhibit DNA replication. Many older quinolones differ in their relative activities against gyrase and topoisomerase IV in a bacterial cell, having greater potency against gyrase than against topoisomerase IV in many gram-negative bacteria and greater potency against topoisomerase IV than against gyrase in many gram-positive bacteria. Several newer quinolones appear to have more closely balanced activity against these enzymes. Resistance to fluoroquinolones occurs as a result of mutational amino acid substitutions in the subunits of the more sensitive (or primary-target) enzyme within the cell. If, however, both enzymes are similarly susceptible to a fluoroquinolone, then the level of resistance caused by a primary-target mutation may be low and may be limited by the sensitivity of the secondary target. Fluoroquinolones also differ in the extent to which common bacterial multidrug efflux pumps affect their activity, with some compounds being unaffected by resistance mechanisms because of overexpression of such pumps. Newer fluoroquinolone interaction with dual targets and avoidance of efflux-resistance mechanisms may each contribute to the lower frequencies of selection of resistant mutants in the laboratory.
PTHrP treatment fails to rescue bone defects caused by Hedgehog pathway inhibition in young mice

The advent of molecular targeted therapies offers the hope of therapeutic advance in the fight against cancer. However, this hope is tempered by recent findings that certain targeted therapies may have unique side effects. The Hedgehog (HH) pathway is a potential target for treatment of several cancers, including basal cell carcinoma and a subset of medulloblastoma. Recent clinical trials in adults have shown responses to HH pathway inhibition in both basal cell carcinoma and medulloblastoma. However, concerns have been raised about the use of HH pathway inhibitors in children because of the role the HH pathway plays in development. Indeed, young mice treated with the HH pathway inhibitor HhAntag developed severe bone defects, including premature differentiation of chondrocytes, thinning of cortical bone, and fusion of the growth plate. In an effort to lessen the severity of bone defects caused by HhAntag, we treated young mice simultaneously with HhAntag and parathyroid hormone–related protein (PTHrP), which functions downstream of Indian Hedgehog to maintain chondrocytes in a proliferative state. The results show that whereas treatment with PTHrP causes a significant increase in trabecular bone, it does not prevent fusion of the growth plate induced by HhAntag.
Tenderizing spent fowl meat with calcium chloride. 4. Improved oxidative stability and the effects of additional aging

Abstract The goal of these experiments was to determine the effects of CaCl2 and NaCl injections on spent fowl meat tenderness and oxidative stability. Two hundred spent Leghorn hens were used in this two-part study. In the first experiment, breast fillets from 160 spent Leghorn hens were harvested immediately after death, injected with 0.3 M CaCl2 or H2O, vacuum tumbled, and either cooked immediately after tumbling or aged at 1 C for 23 h prior to cooking. Although the CaCl2 injection reduced shear values without aging, additional tenderization occurred during the aging period. In the second experiment, breast fillets from 40 spent Leghorn hens were harvested immediately after death, injected with 0.3 M CaCl2, 0.6 M NaCl, 0.15 M CaCl2 + 0.3 M NaCl, or H2O, vacuum tumbled, and then aged at 1 C for 23 h before cooking. The three salt injection treatments reduced shear values to a similar extent, but the sarcomeres were significantly longer for the NaCl treatment than the CaCl2 or combination treatments. Panelists preferred the CaCl2 + NaCl fillets over the CaCl2 fillets. Replacing some of the CaCl2 with NaCl maintained the tenderizing effect, and panelist comments indicated that the slight aftertaste of the 0.3 M CaCl2 treatment was reduced. The sodium contribution of the 0.6 M NaCl treatment would also be reduced by the CaCl2 + NaCl treatment.
Is 505(b)(2) filing a safer strategy: avoiding a known risk?

505(b)(2) application is one of the three established types of regulatory submission and may be advantageous for pharmaceutical sponsors. The 505(b)(2) regulatory submission is defined in FFDC act as an NDA containing investigations of safety and effectiveness, mostly relied upon by the applicant for approval of such NDA but were not conducted by or for the applicant and for which the applicant has not obtained a right of reference. In most 505(b)(2) cases, safety and efficacy information of the (RLD), both in terms of non-clinical and clinical portion, are relied upon, while minute additional data required to establish comparability with the RLD, are worked out. The present paper is an analysis on how 505(b)(2) submissions by developing different alternatives, and are considered as an effective, safer filing route in terms obtaining a approval in shorter duration, avoiding known possible risk and facilitating early launch possibility with a lower cost.
An Independent Press Working Against Famine: the Nigerian Experience

The proposition that an independent press can play an extremely positive role in focusing attention on, and directing a response to, a food-crisis situation has been put forth by Amartya Sen, who has attempted to explain differential successes in preventing famines partly on this basis,1 supported convincingly in the Indian context by N. Ram,2 editor of the influential newspaper, The Hindu (Madras). As a contribution to the evidence in favour of this proposition, and its relevance to Africa, this article examines the contribution made by one newspaper during 1973–1974 in mediating the public and governmental response to the famine which struck the north of Nigeria.
Vestibulo-Ocular Responses Evoked Via Bilateral Electrical Stimulation of the Lateral Semicircular Canals

We investigated the vestibulo-ocular responses (VORs) evoked by bilateral electrical stimulation of the nerves innervating horizontal semicircular canals in squirrel monkeys and compared these responses to those evoked by unilateral stimulation. In response to sinusoidal modulation of the electrical pulse rate, the VOR for bilateral stimulation roughly equals the addition of the responses evoked by unilateral right ear and unilateral left ear stimulation; the VOR time constants were about the same for bilateral and unilateral stimulation and both were much shorter than for normal animals. In response to individual pulse stimulation, the VOR evoked by bilateral stimulation closely matches the point-by-point addition of responses evoked by unilateral right ear and unilateral left ear stimulation. We conclude that, to first order, the VOR responses evoked by bilateral stimulation are the summation of the responses evoked by unilateral stimulation. These findings suggest that-from a physiologic viewpoint-unilateral and bilateral vestibular prostheses are about equally viable. Given these findings, one possible advantage of a bilateral prosthesis is higher gain. However, at least for short-term stimulation such as that studied herein, no inherent advantage in terms of the response time constant (ldquovelocity storagerdquo) was found.
Laser Spectroscopy of Positronium and Muonium

The laser spectroscopy of leptonic atoms is of interest because of the simplicity of the atoms. Leptons possess no known structure. Unlike the hydrogen atom with its complicated and poorly understood proton, the behavior of leptonic atoms should in principle be calculable to much greater precision. In the case of muonium, the theoretical uncertainty will be limited by our knowledge of fundamental constants such as m μ /mp and α. Given the 72 kHz linewidth of the 1S state due to the 2.2μsec lifetime of the muon, one can ultimately expect a measurement of the 1S–2S splitting better than Δν/ν < 103 Hz/1015 Hz = 10−12. In the case of positronium, the 140 nsec lifetime should lead to an ultimate precision of Δν/ν = 10−11. Thus, this system provides a unique opportunity for the precise study of a purely leptonic two-body system, and QED corrections to that system. In addition to QED tests, the laser excitation of these atoms could provide thermal, sub-thermal, and eventually cryogenic sources of positrons and muons that can be used in a variety of applications.
The Relationship between Race/Ethnicity and Perceptions of Mental Health Care

Although there is a vast amount of literature on differences in perceptions of general health care among different racial/ethnic groups, few studies have examined the relationship between race/ethnicity and perceptions of mental health care. The purpose of this study was to determine whether blacks and Hispanics had more negative (or less positive) perceptions of the mental health treatment they receive compared to whites. Data were from the 1998-2006 Florida Health Services Surveys. The findings indicated that blacks and Hispanics were less likely than whites to have favorable perceptions of the mental health care services they received, even after adjusting for demographic and health status variables. Interventions should be designed to address disparities in mental health treatment and the perceptions of such treatment.
The relationship between nasal resistance to airflow and the airspace minimal cross-sectional area

The relationship between nasal resistance (R) and airspace minimal cross-sectional area (mCSA) remains unclear. After the introduction of acoustic rhinometry, many otolaryngologists believed that mCSA measurements would correlate with subjective perception of nasal airway obstruction (NAO), and thus could provide an objective measure of nasal patency to guide therapy. However, multiple studies reported a low correlation between mCSA and subjective nasal patency, and between mCSA and R. This apparent lack of correlation between nasal form and function has been a long-standing enigma in the field of rhinology. Here we propose that nasal resistance is described by the Bernoulli Obstruction Theory. This theory predicts two flow regimes. For mCSA>Acrit, the constriction is not too severe and there is not a tight coupling between R and mCSA. In contrast, when mCSA Acrit (estimated to be 0.37cm(2)), this theory suggests that airway constrictions are rarely an exclusive contributor to nasal resistance, which may explain the weak correlation between mCSA and subjective nasal patency.
Treatment of Autoimmune Myasthenia Gravis

A treatment protocol for autoimmune myasthenia gravis (MG), patients sero-positive for AChR antibodies, is proposed from the University of California, Davis, CA.
Structural phase transition and phonon instability in Cu 12 Sb 4 S 13

In this study, a structural phase transition has been discovered in the synthetic tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13 at approximately 88 K. Upon cooling, the material transforms from its known cubic symmetry to a tetragonal unit cell that is characterized by an in-plane ordering that leads to a doubling of the unit cell volume. Specific heat capacity measurements demonstrate a hysteresis of more than two degrees in the associated anomaly. A similar hysteresis was observed in powder x-ray diffraction measurements, which also indicate a coexistence of the two phases, and together these results suggest a first-order transition. This structural transition coincides with a recently-reported metal-insulator transition, and the structural instability is related to the very low thermal conductivity κ in these materials. Inelastic neutron scattering was used to measure the phonon density of states in Cu12Sb4S13 and Cu10Zn2Sb4S13, both of which possess a localized, low-energy phonon mode associated with strongly anharmonic copper displacements that suppress κ. In Cu12Sb4S13, signatures of the phase transition are observed in the temperature dependence of the localized mode, which disappears at the structural transition. In contrast, in the cubic Zn-doped material, the mode is at slightly higher-energy but observable for all temperatures, though it softens upon cooling.
Micromachined Silicon Acoustic Delay Lines with 3D Printed Micro Linker Structures for Real-Time Photoacoustic Tomography

Micromachined silicon acoustic delay lines with 3D printed micro linker structures have been developed. They can provide an effective solution to achieve the multichannel time-delayed ultrasound receiver system for real-time photoacoustic tomography.
A Critical Review of the Evolving Trends (Chapter 5 of 'Forging Accounting Principles in Five Countries: A History and an Analysis of Trends')

This is the final chapter from the book 'Forging Accounting Principles in Five Countries: A History and an Analysis of Trends'. You can view the foreword and preface of the book, table of contents, and the other chapters:Foreword/Preface/Table of Contents:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2045708Chapter 1 (Great Britain):http://ssrn.com/abstract=2045714Chapter 2 (Mexico):http://ssrn.com/abstract=2046059Chapter 3 (United States):http://ssrn.com/abstract=2046087Chapter 4 (Canada):http://ssrn.com/abstract=2046062
Climate-Growth Relationships Along a Black Spruce Toposequence in Interior Alaska

ABSTRACT Despite its wide geographic distribution and important role in boreal forest fire regimes, little is known about the climate-growth relationships of black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.). We used site- and tree-level analyses to evaluate the radial growth responses to climate of black spruce growing on a north-facing toposequence in interior Alaska for the period A.D. 1949–2010. At the site level, correlations between growth and climate were negative for temperature and positive for precipitation. The signs and strengths of these correlations varied seasonally and over time. These site-level differences probably arise from tree interactions with non-climatic factors that vary with topography and include active layer thickness, soil temperature, solar radiation, microsite, and tree architecture. We infer that black spruce suffers from drought stress during warm, dry summers and that the causes of this moisture stress relate to topography and the seasonality of drought. Tree-level analyses re...
Efficient solution algorithms for multiaxial probabilistic elasto-plastic constitutive simulations of soils

Summary A Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov (FPK) equation approach has recently been developed to probabilistically solve any elastic-plastic constitutive equation with uncertain material parameters by transforming the nonlinear, stochastic constitutive rate equation into a linear, deterministic partial differential equation (PDE) and thereby simplifying the numerical solution process. For an uniaxial problem, conventional numerical techniques, such as the finite difference or finite element methods, may be used to solve the resulting univariate FPK PDE. However, for a multiaxial problem, an efficient algorithm is necessary for tractability of the numerical solution of the multivariate FPK PDE. In this paper, computationally efficient algorithms, based on a Fourier spectral approach, are presented for solving FPK PDEs in (stress) space and (pseudo) time, having space-independent but time-dependent coefficients and both space- and time-dependent coefficients, that commonly arise in probabilistic elasto-plasticity. The algorithms are illustrated by probabilistically simulating 2 common laboratory constitutive experiments in geotechnical engineering, namely, the unconfined compression test and the unconsolidated undrained triaxial compression test.
Density functional theory molecular dynamics simulations and experimental measurements of a-HfO 2 /a-SiO/SiGe(001) and a-HfO 2 /a-SiO 2 /SiGe(001) interfaces

To determine the optimal interface between a-HfO 2 igh-K oxide and Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 (001), density functional theory molecular dynamics (DFTMD) simulations of several amorphous stoichiometric and sub-stoichiometric SiOxNy interlayers were performed. The stack with oxygen deficient a-SiO interlayer demonstrated superior electric properties because it avoided all dangling bond formation. Experimental studies confirmed that a nearly pure SiOx interface between a-HfO2 and SiGe(001) could be formed which correlated with a low interface state density.
Universality and correlations in individuals wandering through an online extremist space

The "out of the blue" nature of recent terror attacks and the diversity of apparent motives highlight the importance of understanding the online trajectories that individuals follow prior to developing high levels of extremist support. Here we show that the physics of stochastic walks, with and without temporal correlation, provides a unifying description of these online trajectories. Our unique data set comprising all users of a global social media site reveals universal characteristics in individuals' online lifetimes. Our accompanying theory generates analytical and numerical solutions that describe the characteristics shown by individuals that go on to develop high levels of extremist support and those that do not. Going forward, it is conceivable that a deeper understanding of these temporal and many-body correlations may eventually contribute to the important task of better countering the spread of radical propaganda online.
Epitaxial growth of cobalt oxide phases on Ru(0001) for spintronic device applications

Cobalt oxide films are of technological interest as magnetic substrates that may support the direct growth of graphene, for use in various spintronic applications. In this work, we demonstrate the controlled growth of both Co_3O_4(111) and CoO(111) on Ru(0001) substrates. The growth is performed by Co molecular beam epitaxy, at a temperature of 500 K and in an O_2 partial pressure of 10^(−4) Torr for Co_3O_4(111), and 7.5 × 10^(−7) Torr for CoO(111). The films are distinguished by their dissimilar Co 2p x-ray photoemission (XPS) spectra, while XPS-derived O/Co stoichiometric ratios are 1.33 for Co3O4(111) and 1.1 for CoO(111). Electron energy loss (EELS) spectra for Co_3O_4(111) indicate interband transitions at ~2.1 and 3.0 eV, while only a single interband transition near 2.0 eV is observed for CoO(111). Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) data for Co_3O_4(111) indicate twinning during growth, in contrast to the LEED data for CoO(111). For Co_3O_4(111) films of less than 20 A average thickness, however, XPS, LEED and EELS data are similar to those of CoO(111). XPS data indicate that both Co oxide phases are hydroxylated at all thicknesses. The two phases are moreover found to be thermally stable to at least 900 K in UHV, while ex situ atomic force microscopy measurements of Co_3O_4(111)/Ru(0001) indicate an average surface roughness below 1 nm. Electrical measurements indicate that Co_3O_4(111)/Ru(0001) films exhibit dielectric breakdown at threshold voltages of ~1 MV cm^(−1). Collectively, these data show that the growth procedures yield Co_3O_4(111) films with topographical and electrical characteristics that are suitable for a variety of advanced device applications.
Role of hypocretin/orexin receptor blockade on drug-taking and ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) associated with low-effort self-administration of cathinone-derived 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) in rats.

Synthetic psychostimulant abuse, including cathinone-derived 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), continues to increase in many countries. Similar to cocaine but with greater potency, MDPV elicits a transient sympathomimetic response by blocking cellular uptake of dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE)—administration in some users is reported as euphoria-inducing much like cocaine and amphetamine. Pharmacological agents that disrupt excitatory transmission onto midbrain DA-producing neurons, including hypothalamic hypocretin/orexin (hcrt/ox) receptor antagonists, present attractive targets to aide abstinence maintenance by reducing psychostimulant-associated reward and reinforcement. The present study sought to assess the degree to which suvorexant, a dual hcrt/ox receptor antagonist, influences drug-taking as well as ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) associated with MDPV self-administration. Rats were trained to self-administer MDPV (~0.03 mg/kg/inf, 3-s) for 14 days under a fixed-ratio 1 schedule of reinforcement, and effects of suvorexant (0, 3, 10, 30 mg/kg, i.p.) on drug-taking was assessed. USVs were recorded during a 30-min pre-lever period as well as during 2-h of MDPV self-administration. We observed that suvorexant modestly suppressed the number of MDPV infusions earned. Notably, we observed that suvorexant reduced 50-kHz USVs associated with pre- and post-lever time-points but did not noticeably alter call type profiles. Upon comparison of the two measures, we observed trending positive associations between suvorexant-induced changes in drug-taking and 50-kHz USVs. Results from this exploratory study provide support for the following: (1) studying how suvorexant may provide benefit to humans with stimulant use disorders, (2) identifying a potential role for orexin transmission in cathinone abuse, and (3) further interrogating the potential utility of rat USVs to predict drug consumption in preclinical models of substance use disorders.
Unit Dose Radiochemical Stability of Commonly Used Technetium-99m Radiopharmaceuticals

The use of radiopharmaceuticals as unit doses that may be prepared several hours before injection prompted this analysis of the radiochemical purity of radiopharmaceuticals held in plastic syringes versus glass vials. Four of the five radiopharmaceuticals studied maintained > 90% binding up to and in some cases exceeded the manufacturer's stated expiration time in both plastic and glass containers. In all cases the radiochemical purity was higher in the glass vial than the plastic syringe for up to 24 hr after preparation.
Internet of Things security: Are we paranoid enough?

Security has become a critical design challenge for modern electronic hardware. With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) regime that promises exciting new applications from smart cities to connected autonomous vehicles, security has come to the forefront of the system design process. Recent discoveries and reports on numerous security attacks on microchips and circuits violate the well-regarded concept of hardware trust anchors. It has prompted system designers to develop wide array of design-for-security and test/validation solutions to achieve high security assurance for electronic hardware. At the same time, emerging security issues and countermeasures have also led to interesting interplay between security, verification, and interoperability. Verification of hardware for security and trust at different levels of abstraction is rapidly becoming an integral part of the system design flow. The global economic trend that promotes outsourcing of design and fabrication process to untrusted facilities coupled with the prevalent practice of system on chip design using untrusted 3rd party IPs, has given rise to the critical need of trust verification of IPs, system-on-chip design, and fabricated chips. The talk will also cover spectrum of security challenges for IoTs and describe emerging solutions in creating secure trustworthy hardware that can enable IoT security for the mass.
Distributed center and coverage region estimation in wireless sensor networks using diffusion adaptation

A fully distributed algorithm for estimating the center and coverage region of a wireless sensor network (WSN) is proposed. The proposed algorithm is useful in many applications, such as finding the required power for a certain level of connectivity in WSNs and localizing a service center in a network. The network coverage region is defined to be the smallest sphere that covers all the sensor nodes. The center and radius of the smallest covering sphere are estimated. The center estimation is formulated as a convex optimization problem using soft-max approximation. Then, diffusion adaptation is used for distributed optimization to estimate the center. After all the sensors obtain the center estimates, max consensus is used to calculate the radius distributively. The performance analysis of the proposed algorithm is provided, as a function of a design parameter controls the trade-off between the center estimation error and the convergence speed of the algorithm. Simulation results are provided.
How Web Analytics Works

Google Analytics is a web analytics tool that works by page tagging—that is, adding a piece of JavaScript to the HTML of a website. This code sends information about the page to a database that assembles the data. Page tagging tools won’t capture every single page load, but they are consistent enough that we can still find web analytics data useful for analyzing trends. More importantly, they are much easier to set up and use than tools that pull data from web server logs. Data about users and visits are captured as metrics and dimensions—metrics are aspects of users’ behavior that can be measured as numbers, such as how many pages they look at, and dimensions are attributes of users and their visits that can be used to categorize users, such as what keyword they searched for or whether they are new or returning.
A conceptual parser for natural language

This paper describes an operable automatic parser for natural language. It is a conceptual parser, concerned with determining the underlying meaning of the input utilizing a network of concepts explicating the beliefs inherent in a piece of discourse.
Strep septic hip following tonsillectomy: An unusual culprit

Abstract Septic arthritis of the hip is not a complication frequently associated with adenotonsillectomy. Literature describing septic arthritis after oral procedures are available and frequently discuss the gram-negative bacteria Fusobacterium. We present a unique case of septic hip following adenotonsillectomy by Streptococcus pyogenes.
Nonlocal Microdamage Constitutive Model for High Energy Impacts

During highly dynamic and ballistic loading processes, large inelastic deformation associated with high strain rates leads, for a broad class of heterogeneous materials, to degradation and failure by localized damage and fracture. However, as soon as material failure dominates a deformation process, the material increasingly displays strain softening and the finite element predictions of ballistic response are considerably affected by the mesh size. This gives rise to non-physical description of the ballistic behavior and mesh-dependent ballistic limit velocities that may mislead the design of ballistic-resistant materials. This study is concerned with the development and numerical implementation of a novel coupled thermo-hypoelasto-viscoplastic and thermoviscodamage constitutive model within the laws of thermodynamics in which an intrinsic material length scale parameter is incorporated through the nonlocal gradient-dependent damage approach. It is shown through simulating plugging failure in ballistic penetration of high-strength steel targets by blunt projectiles that the length scale parameter plays the role of a localization limiter allowing one to obtain meaningful values for the ballistic limit velocity independent of the finite element mesh density. Therefore, the proposed nonlocal damage model leads to an improvement in the modeling and numerical simulation of high velocity impact related problems.
Convolutional Experts Constrained Local Model for 3D Facial Landmark Detection

Constrained Local Models (CLMs) are a well-established family of methods for facial landmark detection. CE-CLM, the newest member of CLMs, brings CLMs back to state of the art performance. This is done through CE-CLMs ability to model the very complex individual landmark appearance that is affected by expression, illumination, facial hair, makeup, and accessories. A crucial component of CE-CLM is a novel local detector - Convolutional Experts Network (CEN) - that brings together the advantages of neural architectures and mixtures of experts in an end-to-end framework. In this paper we use CE-CLM to learn position of dense 84 landmark positions. To achieve best performance on the Menpo3D dense landmark detection challenge, we use two complementary networks alongside CE-CLM: a network that maps the output of CE-CLM to 84 landmarks called Adjustment Network, and a Deep Residual Network called Correction Networks that learns dataset specific corrections for CE-CLM.
A Modular Endoscopy Simulation Apparatus (MESA) for Robotic Medical Device Sensing and Control Validation

Much of ongoing robotic endoscope research is focused on locomotion, with only limited exploration into feedback control and autonomy in the unconventional and dynamic in vivo environment. This letter presents a modular endoscopy simulation apparatus (MESA) to quickly, affordably, and repeatedly test novel robotic endoscope control schemes in a synthetic colon at an accessible scale. The MESA allows for replication of many common physiologic barriers for current medical robotics, such as disturbances, patient positional changes, angulation of the colon, and a dynamic visual environment. The MESA will allow research teams to quickly and repeatedly validate new control strategies to minimize the effect of these physiological barriers before testing in costly in vivo procedures. The MESA platform and synthetic colon described in this letter have shown successful replication of colon geometry, visual appearance, peristaltic wave speeds and pressures, and disturbances from patient movement. The mold for the synthetic colon was built in sections to allow for geometry changes for future molds and has shown marked similarity to in vivo images from colonoscopies. The actuators chosen for the various controllable stages have proven ample power to produce maximum-case disturbances expected during procedures, and the stages are modular in structure to allow for a variety of testing scenarios. Inflatable rubber tubes and electronic solenoid valves are used to produce contractile forces, and have shown excess capability to reproduce physiological motility. The simulator presented here will aid in future feedback control, localization, and autonomy development for robotic endoscopes.
It's time to stop saying "the mind is unaffected" in ALS.

When Professor Stephen Hawking died in March 2018 after living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for 55 years, the obituaries rightly celebrated a brilliant mind trapped in a failing body. Unfortunately, this shorthand description of ALS (found throughout the medical and lay literature alike) is firmly contradicted by a research base that finds frontotemporal dementia in 10% to 15% of cases and subtle cognitive deficits in 33% to 50%.1 In this issue of Neurology ®, Crockford et al.2 report a large and carefully controlled study of 161 patients with ALS across 3 centers with 80 matched healthy controls to address a question that has puzzled the field for 40 years: are the cognitive and behavioral symptoms in ALS more prevalent at more advanced stages of disease?
Polymicrobial sepsis influences NK-cell-mediated immunity by diminishing NK-cell-intrinsic receptor-mediated effector responses to viral ligands or infections.

The sepsis-induced cytokine storm leads to severe lymphopenia and reduced effector capacity of remaining/surviving cells. This results in a prolonged state of immunoparalysis, that contributes to enhanced morbidity/mortality of sepsis survivors upon secondary infection. The impact of sepsis on several lymphoid subsets has been characterized, yet its impact on NK-cells remains underappreciated–despite their critical role in controlling infection(s). Here, we observed numerical loss of NK-cells in multiple tissues after cecal-ligation-and-puncture (CLP)-induced sepsis. To elucidate the sepsis-induced lesions in surviving NK-cells, transcriptional profiles were evaluated and indicated changes consistent with impaired effector functionality. A corresponding deficit in NK-cell capacity to produce effector molecules following secondary infection and/or cytokine stimulation (IL-12,IL-18) further suggested a sepsis-induced NK-cell intrinsic impairment. To specifically probe NK-cell receptor-mediated function, the activating Ly49H receptor, that recognizes the murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) m157 protein, served as a model receptor. Although relative expression of Ly49H receptor did not change, the number of Ly49H+ NK-cells in CLP hosts was reduced leading to impaired in vivo cytotoxicity and the capacity of NK-cells (on per-cell basis) to perform Ly49H-mediated degranulation, killing, and effector molecule production in vitro was also severely reduced. Mechanistically, Ly49H adaptor protein (DAP12) activation and clustering, assessed by TIRF microscopy, was compromised. This was further associated with diminished AKT phosphorylation and capacity to flux calcium following receptor stimulation. Importantly, DAP12 overexpression in NK-cells restored Ly49H/D receptors-mediated effector functions in CLP hosts. Finally, as a consequence of sepsis-dependent numerical and functional lesions in Ly49H+ NK-cells, host capacity to control MCMV infection was significantly impaired. Importantly, IL-2 complex (IL-2c) therapy after CLP improved numbers but not a function of NK-cells leading to enhanced immunity to MCMV challenge. Thus, the sepsis-induced immunoparalysis state includes numerical and NK-cell-intrinsic functional impairments, an instructive notion for future studies aimed in restoring NK-cell immunity in sepsis survivors.
Mobile media use by infants and toddlers

Abstract This study examined mobile media (MM) use patterns by infants and toddlers (36 months old and younger, N = 326) from a family media ecology perspective. Parents' frequency of MM use, their motives for child's use, and child's age predicted children's total MM use. Parents with stronger educational motivations were more likely to use MM together with their child and less likely to have the child use MM alone. Less parent education, more non-educational motivations and greater child behavioral dysregulation predicted greater child use of MM alone. Parents with predominantly non-educational motivations were likely to provide higher levels of child MM use alone when their children had greater behavioral dysregulation. Results suggest family media ecology relates to the amount and the social context of young children's MM use; i.e., as a teaching tool together with a parent, or as a parenting tool to cope with children's more challenging behavior.
THE RISK OF SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH AMONG HEART FAILURE PATIENTS WITH HIV

Heart failure (HF) is associated with an increased risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD), and persons living with HIV (PHIV) are at increased risk of HF. The study aim was to analyze the incidence of SCD among PHIV with HF and the risk factors associated with it. This was a retrospective study of 2,
Shorter time to achieve endoscopic eradication is not associated with improved long-term outcomes in Barrett's esophagus.

Quality indicators have been proposed for endoscopic eradication therapy of Barrett's esophagus (BE). One such measure suggests that complete eradication of intestinal metaplasia (CE-IM) should be achieved within 18 months of starting treatment. The aim of this study was to assess whether achievement of CE-IM within 18 months is associated with improved long-term clinical outcomes. This was a retrospective cohort study of BE patients who underwent endoscopic eradication. Time to CE-IM was recorded and categorized as ≤ or > 18 months. The main outcome measures were recurrence of IM and of dysplasia after CE-IM, defined as a single endoscopy without endoscopic evidence of BE or histologic evidence of intestinal metaplasia. Recurrence was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariable Cox proportional hazards modeling. A total of 290 patients were included in the analyses. The baseline histology was high-grade dysplasia or intramucosal carcinoma in 74.2% of patients. CE-IM was achieved in 85.5% of patients, and 54.1% of the cohort achieved CE-IM within 18 months. Achieving CE-IM within 18 months was not associated with reduced risk of recurrence of IM or dysplasia in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses. In this cohort, older age and increased BE length were associated with IM recurrence, and increased hiatal hernia size was associated with dysplasia recurrence. Compared to longer times, achieving CE-IM within 18 months was not associated with a reduced risk of recurrence of IM or dysplasia. Alternative evidence-based quality metrics for endoscopic eradication therapy should be identified.
The Disenchanted Self: Anthropological Notes on Existential Distress and Ontological Insecurity Among ex-Mormons in Utah.

This paper describes a pervasive form of psychological distress occurring among people undergoing a sudden and acute collapse of faith in the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka LDS, or Mormon Church). Drawing on 18 months of fieldwork in Utah, I trace the cultural–historical etiology of this unique form of psycho-existential trauma, focusing on ex-Mormons’ narratives of ‘world collapse’—in which the all-encompassing symbolic-existential framework of reality once provided by religion disintegrated once they lost faith in the Mormon Church. Although marked by symptoms resembling depression, anxiety, dissociation and paranoia, this condition is however unlike mental health disorders described in psychiatric diagnostic manuals, and has thus been largely overlooked within the mental health professions. I thereby discuss the extent to which the distress of religious disenchantment constitutes a unique form of ‘cultural syndrome’ (Hinton and Lewis-Fernandez in Cult Med Psychiatry 34(2):209–218, 2010), reflective of complex historical, cultural, and religious transformations occurring within contemporary Utah Mormonism.
Practical Correlated Topic Modeling and Analysis via the Rectified Anchor Word Algorithm

Despite great scalability on large data and their ability to understand correlations between topics, spectral topic models have not been widely used due to the absence of reliability in real data and lack of practical implementations. This paper aims to solidify the foundations of spectral topic inference and provide a practical implementation for anchor-based topic modeling. Beginning with vocabulary curation, we scrutinize every single inference step with other viable options. We also evaluate our matrix-based approach against popular alternatives including a tensor-based spectral method as well as probabilistic algorithms. Our quantitative and qualitative experiments demonstrate the power of Rectified Anchor Word algorithm in various real datasets, providing a complete guide to practical correlated topic modeling.
Befriending Foucault as a Way of Life

This chapter utilizes Foucault’s interview, “Friendship as a Way of Life” to make an argument for the value of schooling as a site for building fleeting, visiting friendships. The idea is not to lionize friendship, as such, but to suggest that the malleability present in the learning-of-friendship that can happen in schooled spaces might be of value in a rethinking of relationality not only between students and teachers, but also how students access or are taught implicitly and explicitly about relationships. Can homosexuality as it tends toward friendship offer models of relationality that extend beyond the normalized models of relationality, notably marriage or celibacy, taught in schools? And if we can, what exactly might that mean for the educational project as it creates opportunities for becoming a subject? It is Foucault’s curious interest in friendship that helps us think through this changing twenty-first-century school landscape, a landscape and institutional space that still grapples with the problems experienced by LGBTQ youth and the problems LGBTQ youth raise for schools. If we’re to reconsider the ways in which schools might become sites of resistance, persistence, and reinvention in becoming a sexual subject, then we’d do well to reconsider the possibility of friendship as a concept open among students and teachers to malleably become a self amid others.
Using changes in speciation in a dynamic combinatorial library as a fingerprint to differentiate the methylation states of arginine

Herein we describe the development of a sensor array that utilizes the complex response of a dynamic combinatorial library (DCL) to discriminate all of the methylation states of Arg, previously unreported in a sensor array, as well as the methylation states of Lys. We find that the use of all species in the DCL, not just those that bind, allows for discrimination of analytes that are otherwise indistinguishable, demonstrating the value of utilizing a complex network of species for differential sensing.
A Phase II Randomized Clinical Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Intravenous Umbilical Cord Blood Infusion for Treatment of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objective To evaluate whether umbilical cord blood (CB) infusion is safe and associated with improved social and communication abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Study design This prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study included 180 children with ASD, aged 2-7 years, who received a single intravenous autologous (n = 56) or allogeneic (n = 63) CB infusion vs placebo (n = 61) and were evaluated at 6 months postinfusion. Results CB infusion was safe and well tolerated. Analysis of the entire sample showed no evidence that CB was associated with improvements in the primary outcome, social communication (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-3 [VABS-3] Socialization Domain), or the secondary outcomes, autism symptoms (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory) and vocabulary (Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test). There was also no overall evidence of differential effects by type of CB infused. In a subanalysis of children without intellectual disability (ID), allogeneic, but not autologous, CB was associated with improvement in a larger percentage of children on the clinician-rated Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale, but the OR for improvement was not significant. Children without ID treated with CB showed significant improvements in communication skills (VABS-3 Communication Domain), and exploratory measures including attention to toys and sustained attention (eye-tracking) and increased alpha and beta electroencephalographic power. Conclusions Overall, a single infusion of CB was not associated with improved socialization skills or reduced autism symptoms. More research is warranted to determine whether CB infusion is an effective treatment for some children with ASD.
Failure Analysis of Pot Bearings in a Curved Viaduct

AbstractThis paper presents a failure analysis of pot-type bearings on the West 8th Avenue viaduct in Denver, Colorado, and aims at determining the causes of guide bar fracture, polytetrafluoroethy...
On Becoming a Culturally Competent School Psychologist

This is the professional journey of Dyana Vukovich, a trained bilingual school psychologist who remained a practitioner her entire career, but was also able to conduct research, lead a staff of school psychologists, and teach in a university setting. Her story outlines the significant changes in the profession over the last 40 years, including influential court cases which directly impacted school psychologists and the transition from “leisurely” to “frenetic” school psychology. Along the way, she had to confront her own biases that had led to unfortunate outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse families. This resulted in an effort to acquire knowledge about the hidden cultural values that are embedded in IDEA and to work to improve the way in which these diverse students are assessed for Special Education. Although her journey has its ups and downs, she fortuitously ended her career in a school district where she could practice “Zen school psychology.”
Pregnancy duration with use of 17-α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate in a retrospective cohort at high risk of recurrent preterm birth.

Background The use of 17-α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate for the prevention of recurrent spontaneous preterm birth has become widespread, yet there are conflicting data regarding its efficacy. Objective We sought to determine whether administration of 17-α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate was associated with pregnancy prolongation in women at a high risk of recurrent spontaneous preterm birth. Study Design This is a retrospective cohort study of women with singleton pregnancies and a history of spontaneous preterm birth at Results Of 861 women included in the study, 570 (66.2%) reported non-Hispanic black racial identity, 237 (27.5%) lived in zip codes with a high infant mortality rate (≥12.1/1000 infants), 287 (33.3%) had more than 1 previous spontaneous preterm birth, 372 (43.2%) had previous spontaneous preterm birth at ≤32 weeks’ gestation, and 242 (28.1%) were smokers. Here, 152 pregnancies (17.6%) were complicated by spontaneous preterm birth at Conclusion The risk profile of our cohort is similar to that of women enrolled in the landmark trial that led to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of 17-α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate. Despite the high-risk nature of the pregnancies examined, we found no association between use of the medication in daily clinical practice and pregnancy prolongation up to 35 weeks. This finding adds to the mounting evidence that calls into question the drug’s efficacy in reducing the risk of recurrent spontaneous preterm birth.