cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Hormone Test for Pregnancy

The function of the ductless glands may be investigated by two principal methods. The first method may be illustrated by the effects of the loss of the gland by disease, experimental removal, or extirpation, in which case the resulting symptoms are assumed to be the result of a hypoactivity of the gland, or of its absence. The second method consists essentially in the introduction of the gland, or of its extracts or secretions into the body of an experimental animal in order to produce reactions, which may be comparable to those brought about by an exaggeration of the glandular activity. The function of the secretion of the anterior lobe of the pituitary body has been investigated by both of these methods. However, it is only in recent years, that the technique of the experimental investigation has been sufficiently perfected to allow one to make any very definite conclusions in regard to the functions of the gland. Besides the difficulty of the technical procedures, the problem has also been complicated by the effect of the hormone of the anterior hypophysis on other glands, especially the gonads, whose modes of functioning were also incompletely understood. Furthermore it would now seem that there is not one hormone secreted by the anterior lobe of the hypophysis, but three or possibly four. As far as we have been able to ascertain, Horsley was the first to publish regarding the experimental removal of the pituitary gland. He stated that he had removed the pituitary body from two dogs which were sacrificed at the end of five and six months respectively and that hypophysectomy led to no disturb-
Recognition of Hairy Cell Leukemia in a Spleen of Normal Weight: The Contribution of Immunohistoiogic Studies

A 68-year-old man with known hairy cell leukemia (HCL) underwent splenectomy; the spleen weighed only 140 g. Microscopic examination of the spleen revealed no clear diagnostic evidence of HCL, but there was an unusual and suspicious subendothelial lymphoid infiltration of the trabecular veins. Cell suspension studies also were not diagnostic because a monoclonal B-cell population could not be defined. Alternatively, when we focused on the subendothelial infiltrate in the frozen sections prepared for immunohistochemical studies, the findings indicated that the subendothelial cells were monoclonal B-cells (IgG, kappa). Staining with monoclonal antibodies disclosed the phenotype Tac+, Leu-14+, Leu-M5+, B2-, BA-1-, and BA-2-, a phenotype characteristic of HCL. In this case, an unusual but nondiagnostic morphologic finding provided guidance for the correlative immunophenotypic analysis of the same site in frozen sections and thereby allowed a definitive diagnosis.
Reproductive Factors Affecting Responses of the Screwworm Fly, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae), to an Attractant of Bacterial Origin

Attraction of screwworm flies, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), to steam distillate of culture medium inoculated with the bacterium, Providencia rettgeri (Hadley, Elkins, and Caldwell), was studied in laboratory olfactometer assays conducted with 0- to 12-d-old males and nulliparous females. Males, and females with previtellogenic ovaries, were not attracted. Those with vitellogenic ovaries demonstrated only a trace response. Females became gravid as early as 4-5 d, but the percentage of gravid females attracted increased linearly with age up to 10 d. Insemination significantly enhanced responsiveness without affecting the rate of ovarian development. Gravid mated females 10-12 d old were the most strongly attracted. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that bacterial metabolites contribute to the attractiveness of wounds on screwworm host animals.
A Holistic View of Employee Coaching Longitudinal Investigation of the Impact of Facilitative and Pressure-Based Coaching on Team Effectiveness

This study uses regulatory focus theory to take a holistic perspective on employee coaching. The contrasting effects of facilitative versus pressure-based coaching on changes in team effectiveness were examined over a 54-month period of time. Results of growth curve analysis on a sample of 714 managers and their teams indicated that facilitative and pressure-based coaching had opposing direct and indirect effects on long-term changes in team performance, with team commitment playing a critical role in this process. Specifically, facilitative coaching positively influenced team commitment and, in turn, team effectiveness. In contrast, pressure-based coaching hindered team functioning by negatively influencing team commitment through heightened levels of tension within the team. Limitations and areas for future research are discussed.
Application of MB40 iPLC to the Analog Excitation for Small Hydropower Stations

Introduced is the alteration of the synthetical automation system in the Guanyang Hydropower Station.Intelligent programmable logic controller(iPLC) is applied to the realization of inspection,voltage regulation and droop control of analog excitation equipment.MB40 series iPLC is used to realize the functions of data sampling,calculation,regulation and output.Tests and analysis prove that the new excitation equipment with iPLC can satisfy the requirement of generators.
An empirical assessment of employee cyberslacking in the public sector: The social engineering threat

Employees spend time during work hours on non-work related activities including visiting ecommerce Websites, managing personal email accounts, and engaging in e-banking. These types of actions in the workplace are known as cyberslacking. Cyberslacking affects employees’ productivity, presents legal concerns, and undermines the security of the employer’s network. This research study addressed the problem of cyberslacking in the public sector, by assessing the ethical severity of cyberslacking activities, as well as how employees perceived that the frequency of such activities occurred by their co-workers. Participants from public sector agencies were asked to report about their amount of time spent and frequency of cyberslacking, what they report about their co-workers’ amount of time spent and frequency of cyberslacking, as well as their perceived ethical severity of cyberslacking in the workplace. Comparisons of the measures were also conducted. Results from 183 participants indicate that employees report their co-workers to engage in cyberslacking significantly higher than what they reported about themselves, while ethical severity of cyberslacking was not considered to be high. Discussions and implications for future research are provided.
Students’ use of cell phones in class for off-task behaviors: the indirect impact of instructors’ teaching behaviors through boredom and students’ attitudes

ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to determine how various teaching behaviors influence students’ emotional and cognitive experiences in class, and how these experiences relate to students’ use of cell phones while considering contextual factors that might influence this outcome. Two hundred and seventy-four students responded to questions regarding their instructors’ teaching behaviors, their experiences of boredom in class, and their attitudes toward using cell phones for off-task activities. Results indicated that, after controlling for students’ general cell phone involvement and course policies regarding cell phone use in class, students’ decisions to engage with their cell phones during course lessons were influenced by their attitudes toward using these devices. Importantly, our results indicated that students’ attitudes regarding using their cell phones for off-task activities in class were a function of their instructors’ teaching behaviors and the experiences of boredom these behaviors produced.
Questionnaire-based assessment of executive functioning: Psychometrics

ABSTRACTThe psychometric properties of the Learning, Executive, and Attention Functioning (LEAF) scale were investigated in an outpatient clinical pediatric sample. As a part of clinical testing, the LEAF scale, which broadly measures neuropsychological abilities related to executive functioning and learning, was administered to parents of 118 children and adolescents referred for psychological testing at a pediatric psychology clinic; 85 teachers also completed LEAF scales to assess reliability across different raters and settings. Scores on neuropsychological tests of executive functioning and academic achievement were abstracted from charts. Psychometric analyses of the LEAF scale demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency, parent-teacher inter-rater reliability in the small to large effect size range, and test–retest reliability in the large effect size range, similar to values for other executive functioning checklists. Correlations between corresponding subscales on the LEAF and other behavior c...
In Situ Preparation of Metal Halide Perovskite Nanocrystal Thin Films for Improved Light-Emitting Devices

Hybrid organic–inorganic halide perovskite semiconductors are attractive candidates for optoelectronic applications, such as photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes, and lasers. Perovskite nanocrystals are of particular interest, where electrons and holes can be confined spatially, promoting radiative recombination. However, nanocrystalline films based on traditional colloidal nanocrystal synthesis strategies suffer from the use of long insulating ligands, low colloidal nanocrystal concentration, and significant aggregation during film formation. Here, we demonstrate a facile method for preparing perovskite nanocrystal films in situ and that the electroluminescence of light-emitting devices can be enhanced up to 40-fold through this nanocrystal film formation strategy. Briefly, the method involves the use of bulky organoammonium halides as additives to confine crystal growth of perovskites during film formation, achieving CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals with an average crystal size of 5.4 ...
Inviscid linear stability analysis of two vertical columns of different densities in a gravitational acceleration field

We study the inviscid linear stability of a vertical interface separating two fluids of different densities and subject to a gravitational acceleration field parallel to the interface. In this arrangement, the two free streams are constantly accelerated, which means that the linear stability analysis is not amenable to Fourier or Laplace solution in time. Instead, we derive the equations analytically by the initial-value problem method and express the solution in terms of the well-known parabolic cylinder function. The results, which can be classified as an accelerating Kelvin–Helmholtz configuration, show that even in the presence of surface tension, the interface is unconditionally unstable at all wavemodes. This is a consequence of the ever increasing momentum of the free streams, as gravity accelerates them indefinitely. The instability can be shown to grow as the exponential of a quadratic function of time.
Cochlear Nonlinearities Reflected in Inner Hair Cell Responses

The growth pattern of spectral components in a system’s output with increases in its input is revealing of its internal structure. Inferences about various properties of the peripheral auditory system from the harmonic structure of its various responses have been made since the days of Helmholtz. In contemporary work the focus has been on magnitude functions recorded for a variety of variables at differing peripheral sites. Thus basilar membrane displacement, gross cochlear potentials, inner and outer hair cell responses and discharge rates of auditory nerve fibers have all been considered. Here we study some properties of intracellular potentials recorded from inner hair cells of guinea pigs in the low frequency region of the cochlea.
Chapter 2 – Digging Deeper Into Python

In this chapter we use Python to solve numerical problems. We demonstrate two simple methods for solving a nonlinear equation, exhaustive enumeration and bisection. These serve as a numerical Hello World. The iteration toolbox is then extended to include the use of “for” loops to iterate a fixed number of times. These loops are used to introduce the concept of a Monte Carlo estimate. Additionally, containers of data, namely tuples and lists, are introduced. Using these the concept of mutability is introduced. Finally, we give examples where floating point numbers behave differently than real numbers and give particular advice for dealing with them.
Characterizing Predictors and Severity of Vasoplegia Syndrome After Heart Transplantation

Background Vasoplegia is characterized as a severe vasodilatory shock after cardiac surgery, and can be associated with substantial morbidity. Increased systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, often related to prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass times, anesthesia, or mechanical circulatory support have been shown to be associated with the development of vasoplegia. We sought to identify risk factors and the impact of various degrees of vasoplegia after heart transplantation. Methods A retrospective review was conducted of 244 consecutive patients who underwent heart transplantation over a 3-year period. Patients were divided into three groups: no vasoplegia, mild vasoplegia (requiring one vasopressor), and moderate/severe vasoplegia (more than two vasopressors). One-year survival, freedom from rejection, and postoperative complication rates were assessed. Risk factors for vasoplegia subgroups were retrospectively identified. Results Vasoplegia syndrome was observed in 34.3% of patients after heart transplantation (mild, 74.1%; moderate/severe, 25.9%). Cardiopulmonary bypass time was significantly longer and pretransplant creatinine was significantly higher in the moderate/severe vasoplegia group. There was a strong trend toward greater use of mechanical circulatory support among moderate/severe vasoplegia patients compared with mild and no vasoplegia patients. After heart transplantation, 1-year survival, freedom from rejection, and need for hemodialysis were not significantly different between groups. Conclusions Vasoplegia syndrome is common after heart transplantation. Risk factors for increased severity include longer cardiopulmonary bypass times and elevated preoperative creatinine. Although higher rates of mortality or graft rejection were not detected, vasoplegia was associated with prolonged intubation, greater blood product usage, and lengthened hospital stay. Further studies involving larger cohorts are warranted.
How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything

The central claim of “How Everything Became War” – that global technological, political, and legal changes in the past fifty years have collapsed all meaningful distinction between “war” and “peace” – has potentially profound implications for the law of war (also called the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law). The application of this body of law, much litigated in the United States in the years since 9/11, turns centrally on the expectation that it is legally possible (and normatively wise) to distinguish between circumstances amounting to “armed conflict,” to which a special set of rules applies, and circumstances that do not. Among the differences between the rules, when “armed conflict” exists as a matter of law, deliberate, lethal targeting, without regard to particular self-defensive need or anything more than group membership, is permitted as a first resort. When “armed conflict” does not exist, it is not. If it is really no longer possible to make such distinctions, then the law must quickly set about rethinking when and under what circumstances it should be permissible to kill in the name of state security. Yet while Brooks is certainly right that technology and politics have changed the nature of global security threats, it is far from apparent how those changes render the legal line between war and peace categorically harder to apply than it has ever been. Nor is it possible to discern from Brooks’ analysis how some other standard for killing might be more clear, or more normatively attractive, as a substantive rule of law. One is rather left with the concern, here as with other recent critiques of the law of armed conflict in the modern age, that it is the hard – and still unique – case of the United States post-9/11 that has turned what should be a difficult debate about how to manage such threats as a matter of international security policy into an easier, but ultimately misguided, debate about the future of international security law.
Now or Later? Understanding Timing of Dialysis Initiation beyond IDEAL

“When will I need dialysis?” For older patients with advanced CKD, the decision to start dialysis is one that is often fraught with uncertainty. For the physician approaching an individual clinic encounter, a complex set of variables goes into the clinical decision to start dialysis, including a
Effectiveness of an Upper Extremity Exercise Device Integrated With Computer Gaming for Aerobic Training in Adolescents With Spinal Cord Dysfunction

AbstractBackground/Objective: To determine whether a new upper extremity exercise device integrated with a video game (GameCycle) requires sufficient metabolic demand and effort to induce an aerobic training effect and to explore the feasibility of using this system as an exercise modality in an exercise intervention.Design: Pre-post intervention.Setting: University-based research facility.Subject Population: A referred sample of 8 adolescent subjects with spina bifida (4 girls, 15.5 ± 0.6 years; 4 boys, 1 7.5 ± 0.9 years) was recruited to participate in the project. All subjects had some level of mobility impairment that did not allow them to participate in mainstream sports available to their nondisabled peers. Five subjects used a wheelchair full time, one used a wheelchair occasionally, but walked with forearm crutches, and 2 were fully ambulatory, but had impaired gait.Main Outcome Measures: Peak oxygen uptake, maximum work output, aerobic endurance, peak heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, and...
GUERRILLA BROADCASTERS AND THE UNNERVED COLONIAL STATE IN ANGOLA (1961–74)

This article explores the relationship between Angolan guerrilla broadcasts and their effects on the Portuguese counterinsurgency project in their war to hold on to their African colonies. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA's Angola Combatente) and National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA's Voz de Angola Livre) broadcasts allowed these movements to maintain a sonic presence in the Angolan territory from exile and to engage in a war of the airwaves with the Portuguese colonial state with whom they were fighting a ground war. First and foremost, it analyzes the effects of these rebel broadcasts on listeners, be they state or non-state actors. A reading of the archives of the state secret police and military exposes the nervousness and weakness of the colonial state even as it was winning the war.
Investigation of p-type Ca2Fe2O5 as a Photocathode for Use in a Water Splitting Photoelectrochemical Cell

Ca2Fe2O5 is a p-type oxide that has not been previously investigated as a photocathode for use in a water splitting photoelectrochemical cell. In this study, Ca2Fe2O5 was synthesized as a polycrystalline electrode, and its properties relevant to photoelectrochemical hydrogen production were investigated. Ca2Fe2O5 electrodes were prepared by thermally annealing electrodeposited FeOOH films with a solution of Ca(NO3)2 drop-casted onto the electrode surface. The bandgap energy, band edge positions, flatband potential, photocurrent generation, and chemical and photoelectrochemical stabilities of Ca2Fe2O5 were examined. The results showed that Ca2Fe2O5 has an ideal bandgap and band positions that can enable the utilization of visible light for overall solar water splitting. Photocurrent–time measurements were also performed and the changes in morphology, crystallinity, and composition of the Ca2Fe2O5 electrodes before and after the photocurrent measurement were investigated. This made it possible to examine th...
10-Bit Flash ADCs and Beyond: An Automated Framework for TIQ Flash ADCs Design

In this work we introduce the flash ADC design automation (FADA) framework. It aims to reduce the design time of the threshold inverter quantization (TIQ) flash ADCs and optimizes the selected TIQ comparators of the flash ADC for differential nonlinearity (DNL), integral nonlinearity (INL), analog voltage range, power consumption and comparator noise values. We performed a survey study on flash ADCs published in the last two decades and compared them to our 10-bit single-channel TIQ flash ADC. Further, it took FADA < 6 h to design the 10-bit TIQ flash ADC compared to few weeks of manual design. Accordingly, FADA selected TIQ comparators set for the 10-bit TIQ flash ADC with DNL and INL values less than 0.17 LSB and 0.16 LSB, respectively, when designed in the ibm65n CMOS technology. The 10-bit TIQ flash ADC has simulated signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) and spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) values of 57.2 dBs and 61 dBs, respectively. It consumes 1.67 mW of power and operates at 1.57 GSample/s. FADA provides TIQ models to optimize for high-performance versus low-noise TIQ flash ADCs designs.
Torture and Love: Wives of Chinese Gay Men and Their Cyber Communities

It is estimated that there are at least 14 million women in China who are married to gay men. Called tongqi (同妻) these women often have unknowingly entered into such marriages, with their dreams of a happily family life crushed. For many gay men, these marriages become a useful camouflage that protect them from social pressure and discrimination. While sustaining their heterosexual marriages, they also maintain relationships with gay partners. The women, on the other hand, live tortured lives. They are filled with anger and feel they have been cheated and trapped in their marriages. They are also frightened of the social stigma that they might have contracted HIV from their husbands. With the proliferation of ICTs, especially smartphones, in China, the tongqis are now increasingly afforded the ability to form cybercommunities, which serve as both their social network as well as their political network. This chapter examines the posts and comments of tongqis on open online platforms such as Tianya Luntan and Tongqi Ba. Using this data set, I argue that ICTs, particularly in mobile platforms, allow tongqis to find and build community as well as to educate the public and advocate for social and political change. I also point out, however, the limits of what such technologies can allow tongqis to do, given how laws and societal attitudes about intimate relationships in China have yet to change.
Accelerating the Construction of Boundaries of Feasibility in Three Classes of Robot Design Problems

This paper aims to improve the practical scalability of automated tools to assist in designing robots. Such problems rapidly become intractable because the underlying design space is immense. We consider a specific type of design tool addressed in prior work, which constructs a representation of the destructiveness boundary in the space of robot designs. This prior work showed that a legible representation, specifically a decision tree, of this boundary can illuminate which elements of a sensing or actuation system are most important for enabling the robot to complete its task. In that context, the robot’s interaction with the world is represented as procrustean graph, and the space of robot designs is represented by the space of label maps that rewrite the labels on that graph. In this paper, we expand upon those results by showing how domain knowledge can enable such tools to find solutions to more complex problems within a reasonable time frame. Specifically, we propose three different scenarios, expressed as constraints on the p-graph and on the label maps, under which the learning algorithm to identify the destructiveness boundary can converge quickly to high accuracy results for problems at larger scales than the prior, general-purpose algorithm. The conditions for each of these scenarios are easily verifiable and the set of problems that fall under each is rich enough to encompass several interesting problems. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.
Changes in Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program Brain CT Efficiency Performance, 2013 to 2018.

Abstract Background and Purpose Inefficient imaging practices merit renewed attention in preparation for full implementation of the Appropriate Use Criteria Program. This study’s purpose is to quantify changes in outpatient brain CT imaging efficiency from 2013 to 2018, including changes in relative efficiency by hospital category. Materials and Methods Imaging efficiency data were obtained from the Medicare Hospital Compare website. Summary statistics were calculated for rates of unnecessarily combined brain and sinus CT scans from 2013 to 2018. Relative performance was compared by hospital Medicare payment structure, type of ownership, and affiliation with a radiology residency program. The predictive value of these hospital characteristics on brain CT efficiency was determined using linear regression analysis. Results From 2013 to 2018, the mean frequency of unnecessarily combined brain and sinus CT scans decreased by 1.82% (95% confidence interval, 1.74%-1.90%). Proprietary and physician-owned hospitals exhibited a higher mean frequency of combined scans than other hospitals in 2013 (P Conclusion Recent changes in hospitals’ relative brain CT efficiency suggest category-specific differences in responsiveness to quality improvement efforts and may foreshadow similar trends under forthcoming initiatives.
Arte Povera as a Tool in Critical Italian-Language Pedagogy

Visual arts are culturally and historically significant to Italy and a reason why many people study the Italian language. This significance is visible in Italian-language classes, from mentions of high art in beginner-level textbooks to entire courses taught in advanced-level Italian devoted to these arts and their respective movements. The importance of these works to art history and to humanity at large cannot be denied relative to learning about Italian culture in the classroom. However, as presented in this literature review, it may be useful to reevaluate how these more traditional teaching subjects can be considered neutral, with a heavy emphasis on instruction as well as a subconscious perpetuation of racist, sexist, and capitalist ideals. By instead drawing upon the contemporary Italian Arte Povera movement a tool of critical pedagogy from beginner to advanced Italian-language courses, Italian art culture and language can be taught by using a more political, multidimensional approach focused on the learners’ contexts and histories. Thus, students may better understand themselves through Italian language and foster critical thinking, in addition to ultimately acquiring the language.
Thomas Aquinas on Tyrannicide

With this Article, I have completed a trilogy of studies on the jurisprudence of Thomas Aquinas. In “Thomas Aquinas: Definitions and Vocabulary in His Treatise on Law,” I conducted a careful examination of Thomas’ juristic language to conclude that Aquinas viewed law rather as a senior administrator might. In “Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274),” I reviewed the main lines of Aquinas’ constitutional thought. In this Article, I focus intensely on a narrow but compelling theme: Thomas’ thought on the legitimacy of tyrannicide. I conclude that Thomas justifies tyrannicide while trying at the same time to preserve good order. The touchstone of his analysis throughout is the common good. If the ruler breaks faith the common good, the ruler has thereby committed sedition and appropriate action might be taken by private citizens and public authorities.
The Chicago School and City Planning

While sociology and urban planning might seem respectively to represent the theory and the practice of knowledge about cities, their relation has usually been distant. British sociology and urban planning were closely related before 1914, but largely because sociology was not a bounded specialty: community investigation methods were common throughout the British reform world, finding particular and successful application via city planning’s focus on housing and industrial location. In the United States, by contrast, sociology early became a clearly-defined academic discipline, and sociological empirical methods, although widely shared, supported only generalized reform demands, because local planning of housing and industry was politically impossible outside industrial communities. Most prewar city planning aimed at middle-class and aesthetic values rather than socially ameliorative community design. Between the wars, British academic sociology continued to develop slowly, and community sociological investigation fell largely to the rapidly developing profession of city planning, whose success and power culminated in the masterful plans for postwar London. In the United States, by contrast, sociology rapidly evolved towards national survey analysis, distancing itself even further from practical application in city planning. In general, then, the theory and practice of knowledge about cities remained separate in the first half of the twentieth century in Britain and the United States.
Effect of Xiaozhong Sanyu pills on brain edema in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage

Objective To observe the effect of Xiaozhong Sanyu pills(XZSY) on neurological severity score(NSS),brain water content and expression level of water channel aquaporin 4(AQP4) in rats with intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH).Methods ICH model was reproduced by Rosenberg method in 150 SD rats,then the animals were randomly divided into model group(n=50),XZSY high dose group(n=50,40 mg/kg of XZSY suspension was given by intragastric administration,bid) and XZSY low dose group(n=50,20 mg/kg of XZSY suspension was given by intragastric administration,bid),and the latter two groups were further randomly divided into 12-h and 1-,3-,7-,and 10-d subgroups.The differences in NSS,brain water content and expression level of AQP4 among 3 groups were analyzed.Results Compared with control group,the NSS,brain water content and expression level of AQP4 were lowered at 3,7 and 10 d in XZSY low dose group,and lowered at 1,3,7 and 10 d in XZSY high dose group(P0.05,P0.01).Compared with XZSY low dose group,the NSS and brain water content were lowered on 7 and 10 d,and expression level of AQP4 was lowered at 3,7 and 10 d in XZSY high dose group(P0.05,P0.01).Conclusion Early administration of XZSY could reduce the expression of AQP4 after cerebral hemorrhage,and accordingly alleviate the intracellular edema and improve the prognosis of ICH.
Paradigms of frustration in superionic solid electrolytes.

Superionic solid electrolytes have widespread use in energy devices, but the fundamental motivations for fast ion conduction are often elusive. In this Perspective, we draw upon atomistic simulatio...
Improving Pre-trained Vision-and-Language Embeddings for Phrase Grounding

Phrase grounding aims to map textual phrases to their associated image regions, which can be a prerequisite for multimodal reasoning and can benefit tasks requiring identifying objects based on language. With pre-trained vision-and-language models achieving impressive performance across tasks, it remains unclear if we can directly utilize their learned embeddings for phrase grounding without fine-tuning. To this end, we propose a method to extract matched phrase-region pairs from pre-trained vision-and-language embeddings and propose four fine-tuning objectives to improve the model phrase grounding ability using image-caption data without any supervised grounding signals. Experiments on two representative datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our objectives, outperforming baseline models in both weakly-supervised and supervised phrase grounding settings. In addition, we evaluate the aligned embeddings on several other downstream tasks and show that we can achieve better phrase grounding without sacrificing representation generality.
Childhood stress and midlife depression in women: the influence of diet quality.

Objective How does diet quality (DQ) moderate associations between serious childhood stress exposures and adult depression? Methods We analyzed a cohort of Californian women at midlife (N=382; age 36-42). Serious childhood stress was defined as high perceived stress during childhood or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and/or household substance abuse. Women were dichotomized by current depression risk (high/low). The Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 and Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)-2010 measured current DQ from 3-day food records. Interactions between childhood stress exposures and DQ indices were tested one-by-one in multivariable Poisson regression models. Results Depression risks associated with endorsing all 3 ACEs differed by HEI and AHEI scores, as did risks associated with endorsing high perceived stress, physical abuse, and sexual abuse by AHEI. Where DQ moderated stress-depression associations, predicted prevalences of high depression risk did not vary with DQ among women endorsing the particular childhood stressors. However, among non-endorsing women, predicted high depression risk prevalences were significantly lower with higher DQ compared to in their stress-exposed counterparts - e.g. at the 90th AHEI percentile, depression prevalences were ∼20% among 'non-childhood-stressed' women versus 48.8% (high perceived stress, sexual abuse), 52.0% (physical abuse), and 73.0% (3 ACEs) in 'childhood-stressed' women. Conclusions Higher current DQ, particularly as aligned with chronic disease prevention guidelines, predicts lower depression risk in women with low childhood adversity. DQ did not buffer depression risk in women with high childhood stress. Further research is warranted to examine persistent pathways of depression risk and diet's role within.
Constraint-Based Approach for Analysis of Hybrid Systems

This paper presents a constraint-based technique for discovering a rich class of inductive invariants (boolean combinations of polynomial inequalities of bounded degree) for verification of hybrid systems. The key idea is to introduce a template for the unknown invariants and then translate the verification condition into an i¾? i¾? constraint, where the template unknowns are existentially quantified and state variables are universally quantified. The verification condition for continuous dynamics encodes that the system does not exit the invariant set from any point on the boundary of the invariant set. The i¾? i¾? constraint is transformed into i¾? constraint using Farkas lemma. The i¾? constraint is solved using a bit-vector decision procedure. We present preliminary experimental results that demonstrate the feasibility of our approach of solving the i¾? i¾? constraints generated from models of real-world hybrid systems.
Bulgaria in the First World War

The importance of Southeastern Europe in the events leading up to and during the First World War is often limited in contemporary historiography to the question of the degree of culpability of Serb...
Quasi-Static Deep Penetration in Clays

Deformations caused by the steady-state penetration of a rigid rough wedge in clay are compared with theoretical predictions. It is found that the mechanism of sharp wedge penetration was consistent with the cutting process assumed by the theory. However, the larger the apex wedge angle the less accurate are the theoretical predictions. The mechanism of blunt wedge penetration is one of compression in which a rigid region of clay moves with the wedge, so that the deformation patterns are difficult to interpret. Measured penetration resistance is in reasonable agreement with the theory. The suitability of plasticity theory to resolve penetration problems is assessed and its deficiencies identified.
Utility of sample rejection rate as a quality indicator in developing countries

Background: The present study aimed at assessing the sample rejection rate during the 1 st year of implementation of the quality management system in the laboratory of a tertiary care medical center in the developing world. Materials and Methods: Retrospective analysis of data relating to rejections of the request forms and samples sent for hematological and biochemistry investigations from inpatients departments after 1-year of implementation of laboratory management system (ISO 15189; 2007) was done. The mean rejection rate was calculated. It was compared with rejection rates reported by various laboratories. The criteria followed for rejection in our laboratory were compared with those laid down by laboratories in previous studies. Descriptive statistics was used in the study. Results: Of the 54,603 request forms and samples received during the study period, 3936 (7.2%) were rejected. Issues related to request forms and issues related to the sample, each accounted for nearly 50% rejections. Among the issues related to request from, the most common reason was incomplete form leading to 50% rejection. The most common reason for rejection of the sample was clotted sample (27.1%). When rejection rates as well as criteria followed by our laboratory were compared with other laboratories, it was found that 32 different criteria for rejections were followed across various laboratories. However, only one criterion (inadequate volume) was followed by all except one study (90%), suggesting a lack of uniformity over rejection criteria across studies. Conclusions: We found that the rejection rates among various laboratories in developing and developed countries differ. Moreover, the rates differ among various laboratories in developing countries. And the criteria that were followed for rejection differed across studies.
Evf2 lncRNA/BRG1/DLX1 interactions reveal RNA-dependent inhibition of chromatin remodeling.

Transcription-regulating long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have the potential to control the site-specific expression of thousands of target genes. Previously, we showed that Evf2, the first described ultraconserved lncRNA, increases the association of transcriptional activators (DLX homeodomain proteins) with key DNA enhancers but represses gene expression. In this report, mass spectrometry shows that the Evf2-DLX1 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) contains the SWI/SNF-related chromatin remodelers Brahma-related gene 1 (BRG1, SMARCA4) and Brahma-associated factor (BAF170, SMARCC2) in the developing mouse forebrain. Evf2 RNA colocalizes with BRG1 in nuclear clouds and increases BRG1 association with key DNA regulatory enhancers in the developing forebrain. While BRG1 directly interacts with DLX1 and Evf2 through distinct binding sites, Evf2 directly inhibits BRG1 ATPase and chromatin remodeling activities. In vitro studies show that both RNA-BRG1 binding and RNA inhibition of BRG1 ATPase/remodeling activity are promiscuous, suggesting that context is a crucial factor in RNA-dependent chromatin remodeling inhibition. Together, these experiments support a model in which RNAs convert an active enhancer to a repressed enhancer by directly inhibiting chromatin remodeling activity, and address the apparent paradox of RNA-mediated stabilization of transcriptional activators at enhancers with a repressive outcome. The importance of BRG1/RNA and BRG1/homeodomain interactions in neurodevelopmental disorders is underscored by the finding that mutations in Coffin–Siris syndrome, a human intellectual disability disorder, localize to the BRG1 RNA-binding and DLX1-binding domains.
JUVENILE COURT FOR YOUNG ADULTS? HOW ONGOING COURT INVOLVEMENT CAN ENHANCE FOSTER YOUTHS' CHANCES FOR SUCCESS

States wishing to extend foster care supports to young adults under the Fostering Connections to Success Act are required to meet all the requirements of Title IV-E, which include regular reviews that have traditionally been conducted in juvenile courts. For some, this requirement of ongoing judicial involvement is a reason to forgo this significant source of new federal dollars. Others are seeking ways to minimize ongoing court involvement while still complying with federal requirements. This article argues that these views are misguided. Designed properly, juvenile court reviews can play a unique and important role in helping young adults begin to take responsibility for their own futures.
An energy efficient wireless sensor network based on human neurons communication

Most applications dealing with wireless sensor networks need a strategy to reduce energy usage. Each node in a wireless sensor network has a certain amount of battery, in which in some applications is crucial for a system to have stable nodes with the ability of working properly. One of the recent algorithm to have an energy efficient topology is to use human's cells regeneration procedure as an inspiration of a wireless sensor network models. Here we proposed a new energy efficient topology based on how human's brain cells (neurons) will participate in doing a task while a group of these cells might be deactivated. There are around 10 billion neurons that can be considered as nodes of a very large wireless sensor network. How these neurons or nodes work together to perform a task while we know brain uses a small amount of energy, is an interesting inspiration used in our proposed energy efficient wireless sensor network.
Neighborhood search heuristics for selecting hierarchically well-formulated subsets in polynomial regression

The importance of subset selection in multiple regression has been recognized for more than 40 years and, not surprisingly, a variety of exact and heuristic procedures have been proposed for choosing subsets of variables. In the case of polynomial regression, the subset selection problem is complicated by two issues: (1) the substantial growth in the number of candidate predictors, and (2) the desire to obtain hierarchically well-formulated subsets that facilitate proper interpretation of the regression parameter estimates. The first of these issues creates the need for heuristic methods that can provide solutions in reasonable computation time; whereas the second requires innovative neighborhood search approaches that accommodate the hierarchical constraints. We developed tabu search and variable neighborhood search heuristics for subset selection in polynomial regression. These heuristics are applied to a classic data set from the literature and, subsequently, evaluated in a simulation study using synthetic data sets. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010
The “Eyes” Have it: An Examination of Feature-Centering in Photographic Portraiture

Relative to other features, the human eye is consistently placed in the center of history's successful oil painting portraits (Tyler, 1998). In the present study, I examined whether this phenomenon generalizes to the medium of photography, and whether this phenomenon is dependent upon the rotation or placement of the head. Results reveal a clear hierarchy of feature-centering dominance: The eye is consistently placed at the center-most position of the frame, followed by the nose-bridge, nose-tip, ear, and hand. Further, regression analyses reveal that the predictive strength of the horizontal center decreases as the pictured subject's head rotation approximates the classic 3/4 pose. The eye is found most frequently at the center of the frame when the head is in a fully front-facing pose. Possible explanations for this cross-historical, cross-medium compositional tendency are discussed.
Distortion-invariant filters for foliage-penetration (FOPEN) synthetic aperture radar

New distortion-invariant filters are considered for object detection and clutter rejection in ultra-wideband synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. Because of the foliage penetration (FOPEN) ability of this SAR sensor, the data is attractive for automatic target recognition. We detail the first use of 2D distortion-invariant filters for object detection in FOPEN data. Since FOPEN imagery of a particular target is dependent upon the foliage obscuring the object, we use filters designed using targets in an open area and test them on objects in foliage. Initial results indicate attractive distortion-invariant detection and low false alarm rates.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Suppression of the Josephson current through a narrow, mesoscopic, semiconductor channel by a single impurity

We study the Josephson current through a ballistic, normal, one-dimensional quantum channel in contact with two superconducting electrodes. A single point impurity having reflection coefficient R is placed in the normal conductor. The impurity couples the Andreev energy levels of forward and reverse moving electrons inside the junction, opening energy gaps in the quasiparticle level spectrum versus superconducting phase difference \ensuremath{\varphi}. These ``Andreev'' energy gaps suppress the Josephson current in much the same way as disorder suppresses the magnetic flux driven currents in a normal mesoscopic ring. Finite-temperature ``energy averages'' the contribution of Andreev levels above the Fermi energy with those below \ensuremath{\mu}, further suppressing the Josephson current. The portion of the Josephson current carried by scattering states outside the superconducting gap is similarly suppressed by disorder and finite temperature.
Factors affecting the risk of infection with pseudorabies virus in Illinois swine herds

Abstract A case-control study of pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection in Illinois swine herds was conducted to identity risk factors associated with PRV infection. Factors identified as being associated with increased risk of PRV infection included percentage of herd in total confinement (adjusted OR (aOR)=19.7, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.3–117.2) and having two or more PRV positive herds in the township (aOR=3.2, 95% CI: 1.0–10.2). A protective factor identified in the study included using one's own vehicle to transport pigs to market rather than hiring truckers (aOR=0.2, 95% CI: 0.07–0.6). A protective factor for producers who used their own vehicle for transporting pigs was cleaning the truck after off-site trips (aOR=0.09, 95% CI: 0.03–0.2). Management factors which can be most easily altered by producers who wish to prevent PRV infection in their herd include purchasing one's own vehicle for transport of pigs, and cleaning out this vehicle carefully after off-site visits. Total confinement herds and herds in areas where PRV is endemic appear to be at higher risk of becoming infected with PRV, and managers should be especially aware of herd security measures.
A 32-Gb MLC NAND Flash Memory With Vth Endurance Enhancing Schemes in 32 nm CMOS

Novel program and read schemes are presented to break barriers in scaling of NAND flash memory such as threshold voltage endurance from floating gate interference, and charge loss tolerance. To enhance threshold voltage endurance and charge loss tolerance, we introduced three schemes; MSB Re-PGM scheme, Moving Read scheme and Adaptive Code Selection scheme. Using the MSB Re-PGM scheme, threshold voltage distribution width is improved about 200 mV. The PGM throughput is enhanced from 1500 μs to 1250 μs. With the Moving Read scheme about half order of UBER is improved with 10 bit ECC. Also, Adaptive Code Selection scheme are used to decrease a current consumption. There is 5.5% current reduction. With these techniques, 32-Gb MLC NAND flash memory has been fabricated using a 32 nm CMOS process technology. Its program throughput reaches 13.0 MB/s at a multi-plane program operation with cache operation keeping a desirable threshold voltage distribution.