cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Aggressive and investigative behaviors of two sympatric species of echimyid rodents, Proechimys semispinosus and Hoplomys gymnurus, in Central Panama

An understanding of the mechanisms that allow ecologically similar species to coexist is critical in making effective conservation and restoration decisions. This understanding is especially important when considering species that play critical roles in forest regeneration. Small mammals influence Neotropical forest regeneration following disturbance through their actions as seed dispersers and seed predators. In Panama, the Central American spiny rat (Proechimys semispinosus) and the armored rat (Hoplomys gymnurus) persist sympatrically despite a similar diet and seasonal food resource limitation. To study the relationship between these species, we conducted behavioral arena trials to analyze interspecific and intraspecific interactions. Our goal was to determine whether behavioral dominance between H. gymnurus and P. semispinosus exists, potentially reducing the intensity of aggressive competition and allowing the two species to coexist sympatrically. Aggression data were analyzed using a zero-inflated ...
Speech disturbances in a schizophrenic adolescent. Case report and spectrographic study.

A 15 year old boy had a history of behavioral deviations and epileptiform convulsions but no structural defect of the speech tract. Sound spectrograms showed dyscontrol over speech functions, lack of distinctive phonetic features in words, and a propensity for noisemaking and for fusing linguistic with prelinguistic behavior. Organic and psychologic elements causing this speech disturbance are discussed, with emphasis on maternal deprivation and damage to the temporal lobe.
Taxonomic Knowledge of Children With and Without Cochlear Implants

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the taxonomic vocabulary knowledge and organization of children with cochlear implants to (a) children with normal hearing matched for age, and (b) children matched for vocabulary development. Method Ten children with cochlear implants, 10 age-matched children with normal hearing, and 10 vocabulary-matched children with normal hearing participated in this study. The children completed 2 experimental tasks: a forced-choice taxonomic sorting task, and a naming task requiring the children to use labels at multiple taxonomic levels. Results In the first task, the children in the cochlear implant group sorted pictures with accuracy consistent with the age-matched group. In the second task, the children with cochlear implants demonstrated delayed knowledge of superordinate relations as compared with the age-matched group, similar to the vocabulary-matched group. However, the children with cochlear implants did not demonstrate delayed knowledge of basic or subordi...
Financial Risk Tolerance

This chapter provides an overview of the important role financial risk tolerance plays in shaping consumer financial decisions. A review of normative and descriptive models of risk tolerance is provided. Additional discussion regarding the measurement of risk tolerance is also presented. The chapter includes the presentation of a conceptual model of the principal factors affecting financial risk tolerance with recommendations designed to enhance the consumer finance field’s knowledge of risk tolerance. The chapter concludes with a summary of additional research needed to better understand the multidimensional nature of risk tolerance.
SnapShot: Transcription Elongation

Transcription elongation is a key regulatory step in gene expression that is controlled by many proteins, and mechanisms, ranging from RNA Polymerase II pausing to cotranscriptional histone modifications.
Limitations of AESA's on monopulse beamforming

This paper discusses the limitations of controlling sidelobes with Monopulse Beamforming Networks in Active Electronically Scanned Antenna Arrays (AESA's). Uniform, Taylor, split Taylor and Bayliss amplitude weightings are presented from a system level perspective, when balancing the need for sidelobe control versus Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWAP-C).
A.1. Phrynichos beim Gewährsmann und beim Abschreiber Ammians

The article examines and finds wanting a recent thesis according to which a source used by Ammianus Marcellinus knew that Phrynichos produced his play on the sack of Miletos only after Athens had been sacked; then it proceeds to ask whether the chronological information vainly sought in the source of Ammianus has been preserved from another source by a copyist of Ammianus.
Novel Roles for the Homeobox Gene, HoxA1, and Its Truncated Form, HoxA1-T, in the Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal.

There is increasing evidence that homeobox (Hox) genes play critical roles in the regulation of hematopoiesis. We found that both forms of the earliest HoxA gene, HoxA1 and its alternatively spliced transcript, HoxA1-T, which lacks the homeobox domain, are expressed in immature populations of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and progenitor cells. In more mature bone marrow cell (BM) populations the levels of HoxA1-T increases relative to HoxA1 with both transcripts absent in mature peripheral blood (PB) cells. Roles for either of these Hox transcripts in hematopoiesis have not yet been described. We overexpressed either HoxA1 or HoxA1-T in BM using a modified GFP-containing MSCV vector (MXIE). Overexpression of either HoxA1 transcript did not affect expression levels of other Hox genes relative to control (empty vector). Overexpression of HoxA1-T significantly reduced the numbers of colony-forming cells (CFCs) produced by 500 GFP+ BM compared to control GFP+ BM (mean±SEM control 73±6.4; HoxA1 57±6.8; HoxA1-T 26.7±5.4; n=6; P 75% donor cells (CD45.1+, GFP+/−) in their PB at 3 months post-transplant. The average %GFP+ cells in recipients were similar for control (24.5±7.0%) and HoxA1 cells (20.8±2.5%). Strikingly, HSCs overexpressing HoxA1-T had markedly reduced repopulating ability (3.5±0.6% GFP+, P <0.05 HoxA1-T vs. control or HoxA1). Poisson statistics were used to quantitate HSC frequency in secondary transplant recipients. Mice were injected with 5x103, 5x104, 2x105 or 1x106 BM from control or HoxA1 primary recipients together with 2x105 congenic CD45.2+ BM (n=10/group). The frequency of HSCs was markedly higher (~32-fold) in the HoxA1 cells (~1 HSC per 1.8x105 BM) compared to control (~1 HSC per 5.8x106 BM; P <0.001). Although secondary recipients injected with 1x106 HoxA1-T BM showed donor (CD45.1+) contribution (15.3±1.8%), none of the 10 recipients had GFP+ donor cell reconstitution. These data therefore suggest that HoxA1 enhances HSC self-renewal whereas HoxA1-T rapidly promotes HSC differentiation. These novel findings highlight important roles for the two HoxA1 transcripts in the regulation of HSCs, the mechanisms of which are currently being assessed.
A comparison of problem identification interviews conducted face-to-face and via videoconferencing using the consultation analysis record

School psychologists who experience challenges delivering face-to-face consultation may utilize videoconferencing to facilitate their consultation activities. Videoconferencing has been found to be an effective method of service delivery in related fields and emerging research suggests that it may be effective for providing teacher training and support in school settings. In this exploratory investigation, we used the Consultation Analysis Record (Bergan & Tombari, 1975) and its four indices to assess the effectiveness of conducting problem identification interviews via videoconferencing versus face-to-face. Overall, findings indicated significant differences across these two conditions, with videoconference interviews coded as having higher indices of content relevance, process effectiveness, and message control, but lower content focus, compared to face-to-face interviews. As these indices have been positively associated with favorable consultation outcomes, the results provide initial support for the effectiveness of consultation delivered via videoconferencing.
Physiological Phase Detection of Batch Bioprocesses with Unequal Run Lengths

Abstract Most batch bioprocesses progress through various phases. Determination of landmarks for phase change points is useful for process behavior analysis and monitoring. Conventional on-line process monitoring techniques and an adaptive hierarchical principal component analysis technique have been proposed for on-line monitoring. This study considers techniques for determination of landmarks and adjustment of batch data lengths to match landmarks of phases during the progress of the batch.
Favorable Impact on Stress-Related Behaviors by Modulating Plasma Butyrylcholinesterase

In the last decade, it has become clear that the neuropeptide “ghrelin” and its principal receptor have a large impact on anxiety and stress. Our recent studies have uncovered a link between plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and ghrelin. BChE actually turns out to be the key regulator of this peptide. This article reviews our recent work on manipulating ghrelin levels in mouse blood and brain by long term elevation of BChE, leading to sustained decrease of ghrelin. That effect in turn was found to reduce stress-induced aggression in group caged mice. Positive consequences were fewer bite wounds and longer survival times. No adverse effects were observed. Further exploration may pave the way for BChE-based treatment of anxiety in humans.
In Situ XPS Investigation of Transformations at Crystallographically Oriented MoS2 Interfaces

Nanoscale transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials, such as MoS2, exhibit promising behavior in next-generation electronics and energy-storage devices. TMDCs have a highly anisotropic crystal structure, with edge sites and basal planes exhibiting different structural, chemical, and electronic properties. In virtually all applications, two-dimensional or bulk TMDCs must be interfaced with other materials (such as electrical contacts in a transistor). The presence of edge sites vs basal planes (i.e., the crystallographic orientation of the TMDC) could influence the chemical and electronic properties of these solid-state interfaces, but such effects are not well understood. Here, we use in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to investigate how the crystallography and structure of MoS2 influence chemical transformations at solid-state interfaces with various other materials. MoS2 materials with controllably aligned crystal structures (horizontal vs vertical orientation of basal planes) were fabricated, and in situ XPS was carried out by sputter-depositing three different materials (Li, Ge, and Ag) onto MoS2 within an XPS instrument while periodically collecting photoelectron spectra; these deposited materials are of interest due to their application in electronic devices or energy storage. The results showed that Li reacts readily with both crystallographic orientations of MoS2 to form metallic Mo and Li2S, while Ag showed very little chemical or electronic interaction with either type of MoS2. In contrast, Ge showed significant chemical interactions with MoS2 basal planes, but only minor chemical changes were observed when Ge contacted MoS2 edge sites. These findings have implications for electronic transport and band alignment at these interfaces, which is of significant interest for a variety of applications.
Conserved Molecular Mechanism of TyrA Dehydrogenase Substrate Specificity Underlying Alternative Tyrosine Biosynthetic Pathways in Plants and Microbes

L-Tyrosine (Tyr) is an aromatic amino acid synthesized de novo in plants and microbes. In animals, Tyr must be obtained through their diet or synthesized from L-phenylalanine. In addition to protein synthesis, Tyr serves as the precursor of neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine and epinephrine) in animals and of numerous plant natural products, which serve essential functions in both plants and humans (e.g., vitamin E and morphine). Tyr is synthesized via two alternative routes mediated by a TyrA family enzyme, prephenate, or arogenate dehydrogenase (PDH/TyrAp or ADH/TyrAa), typically found in microbes and plants, respectively. Although ADH activity is also found in some bacteria, the origin of arogenate-specific TyrAa enzymes is unknown. We recently identified an acidic Asp222 residue that confers ADH activity in plant TyrAs. In this study, structure-guided phylogenetic analyses identified bacterial homologs, closely-related to plant TyrAs, that also have an acidic 222 residue and ADH activity. A more distant archaeon TyrA that preferred PDH activity had a non-acidic Gln, whose substitution to Glu introduced ADH activity. These results indicate that the conserved molecular mechanism operated during the evolution of arogenate-specific TyrAa in both plants and microbes.
Applying mathematical reasoning throughout the CS curriculum

Is it possible to excite students about learning the mathematical principles that underlie high-quality software? Can we teach them to apply these principles using modern, internet-based software tools? Can this be accomplished without displacing existing content? The purpose of this workshop is to explore these questions in the context of what our students need to know about mathematical reasoning. Those who attend will examine pedagogical principles, teaching tools, and classroom exercises that have been tried and shown to work in a variety of courses. We will take a hands-on approach to the preparation of materials to use at various levels of the curriculum in order to promote the application of mathematical reasoning to the design and creation of correct software. For beginning level courses we will look at exercises that encourage students to reason about what values the variables in their programs should have at various states. The exercises promote careful design and precise description of what programs are supposed to do so that it is possible to reason about whether those programs satisfy their requirements. We will use a collaborative approach to the application of mathematical reasoning so that students will participate first in a small group or pair and then at the class level thereby learning how to express their ideas and to understand those of others. For upper level courses we will stress modular design and development, showing the importance of being able to establish the correctness of individual components that can be combined to build larger programs. Most importantly, we use exercises to show that once a component has been certified correct, that component can be used in larger programs using only the specifications for that component and that the larger program can be reasoned about without the need to know implementation details for the smaller component(s). These modular reasoning principles are especially important in software engineering and for principles of programming languages. We will provide materials to be used as part of existing courses, rather than proposing a single new course. The workshop is not intended to simply deal with discrete math concepts, but rather to talk about how mathematical reasoning can be used throughout the CS curriculum. In particular we will see examples of how reasoning can be used in beginning programming courses, such as CS 1, as well as intermediate CS2 classes. We have specific suggestions for Software Engineering and Theory of Programming Languages among upper level courses.
One Question: Can You Attend Full-Time, One Time?

• Researchers have studied enrollment patterns and examined the impact on persistence, retention, and completion.• Community colleges are putting into place practices that facilitate and incentiviz...
Optimal Edge Detection in Cellular Textures

Because edges represent a powerful description of images, detecting edges is an important preliminary process in many image analysis systems. This paper proposes a general procedure for detecting edges in cellular textures. This procedure is based on a class of one-dimensional edge detectors and involves peak selection among above threshold values of the edge detector. This paper also investigates the effect of different parameters on the performance of the edge detection process.
Second Messenger Receptors in the Phosphoinositide Cycle

Abundant evidence suggests that the phosphoinositide (PI) system is a prominent and prevalent second messenger system. In addition to mediating short term changes in humoral transmission, the PI cycle may regulate long term alterations evoked by growth factors, hormones and in learning and memory, as is exemplified by long term potentiation. The PI cycle influences cellular function through the generation of diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol trisphosphate (IP3) as well as other inositol phosphates. DAG stimulates protein kinase C (PKC), whereas the primary function of IP3 is to release calcium from intracellular stores. It is easy to conceptualize how IP3-induced release of calcium would activate short term alterations such as neuronal firing or muscle contraction. One of the challenges of PI research is to determine mechanisms whereby growth, differentiation and synaptic plasticity might be modulated by this Second messenger system. Another challenge is to explain how discrete processing of information can be handled by a single second messenger system which is responsive to so many different primary messengers. Neurotransmitters achieve their selectivity, in part, by acting at subtypes of receptors. Accordingly, one might expect heterogeneity among the various enzymes and binding proteins involved in the PI cycle (for a comprehensive review of the PI system, see Berridge 1987).
Altered excitation-contraction coupling in hypertension: role of plasma membrane phospholipids and ion channels.

Established hypertension is characterized by an elevation of peripheral resistance (Frohlich, 1973). A variety of in vivo studies in human as well as animal models of hypertension have demonstrated augmented responsiveness of arterial smooth muscle to contractile agents (Triggle, 1989). However, identification of the cellular mechanisms responsible for this increased responsiveness has proven elusive. Most older in vitro studies of maximum contractile responses as well as of the sensitivity of isolated vascular smooth muscle to agonists failed to reveal augmented responses in hypertensive arteries (Cox, 1989; Mulvany, 1989; Triggle, 1989). Folkow proposed the hypothesis that increased arterial wall thickness which impinged on the lumen was responsible for an increased geometric component of peripheral resistance as well as the augmented in vivo smooth muscle responsiveness to agonists in hypertension (Folkow, 1973). The latter was thought to be the result of an amplifying effect of the increased wall thickness being translated into augmented resistance responses to smooth muscle activation (Folkow, 1973). This hypothesis was generally accepted as a reconciliation of the results reported up to the mid 1970s.
Pieces of a Puzzle

Who am I? I am a mom, wife, daughter, teacher, and chemist. These roles play a part in making up Sherri. At certain times, some roles are more important than others, especially my family. So, I married a man who shared the same family values, as well as the importance of putting church and family first.
Service Management of Blockchain Networks

Business interest in blockchain technology is increasing due the potential for change that it offers. Large scale adoption in enterprise IT environments brings about a need for service management and DevOps processes for blockchain deployments. Nodes in the network may fail or be taken down for maintenance requiring visibility across hybrid, traditional, cloud enabled and cloud native deployments. Service management is necessary to ease deployment woes for those looking to install code within their own data centers on-premises or on dedicated cloud servers and further to handle the life cycle of the deployments that includes security patches, critical updates, upgrades, change management and restarting services. In this paper, we provide a mechanism to optimally perform such operations with no disruption to the consensus and transactions for such emerging blockchain applications.
DBS Revision Surgery: Indications and Nuances

Deep brain stimulation surgery has become the treatment of choice for appropriately selected patients with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. Despite the significant risk associated with minimally invasive brain surgery, the risk-to-benefit ratio for DBS surgery is quite favorable, and the overwhelming majority of patients derive substantial improvement in their motor function and quality of life from well-executed DBS therapy. A nonnegligible number of movement disorders patients, however, report unsatisfactory outcomes after DBS surgery. If we define “DBS failure” as any case in which the patient and her/his caregivers are dissatisfied with the outcome of DBS surgery, then potential causes of DBS failure include failure to set appropriate expectations preoperatively, inappropriate patient selection, failures of postoperative device programming and medical management, in addition to various surgical and device-related complications including suboptimal lead placement, hardware failures, and rare instances of procedure-related brain injury resulting in permanent neurologic impairment. In this chapter, we focus on the various causes of DBS failure that are potentially correctable through surgical intervention. We review methods for evaluating patients presenting with DBS failure to identify appropriate candidates for various surgical salvage procedures, and we present successful decision-making strategies and surgical techniques for carrying out these operations.
ECMO Use in the Pediatric Immunocompromised Hematology/Oncology Patient

The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has expanded dramatically since its introduction in the late 1970s. While hematologic or oncologic comorbidities were considered near absolute contraindications to ECMO only a decade ago, recent successful case reports and database reviews have indicated that ECMO has been and can be used successfully in this patient population. In this chapter we provide an introduction to ECMO with some of the important considerations regarding the circuitry/application. This is followed by a review of the current available literature regarding the use of ECMO in immunocompromised/oncology/hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. Finally, we propose a process by which a clinician may approach the decision as to whether ECMO should be considered given the complex nature of each individual patient.
Rural Latino health and the built environment: a systematic review.

Objective: This study systematically reviewed literature examining the influence of the rural built environment on Latinos’ health outcomes and behaviour in the United States. A secondary aim of th...
Holiday Discharges Are Associated with Higher 30-Day General Internal Medicine Hospital Readmissions at an Academic Medical Center.

Objective Academic medical centers face unique challenges in educating physician trainees in effective discharge practices to prevent readmissions. Meanwhile, residents must handle high workloads coupled with frequent rotations to different services. This study aimed to determine whether daily service census, service turnover, time of discharge, and day of discharge increase the risk of 30-day readmission. Methods All of the discharges from two academic general internal medicine teaching services between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014 were included in this observational data analysis. Variables were fit to a 30-day, all-cause readmission outcome using multiple logistic regression with inverse probability of treatment weighting and multiple imputations with chained equations. The following potential confounding variables were included in the model: health system utilization, demographics, laboratory values, and comorbidities. Results Among 1935 total discharges, 258 patients (13.3%) were readmitted within 30 days of the index discharge. Turnover, service census, weekend discharge, and time of discharge were not significantly associated with the risk of readmission. Patients discharged during holiday periods had higher odds of readmission (odds ratio 2.56, 95% confidence interval 2.01-3.25), whereas patients discharged on an intern switch day had lower odds of readmission (odds ratio 0.33, 95% confidence interval 0.27-0.41). Conclusions Patients who are discharged during holiday periods are at a higher risk of readmission after adjusting for potential confounders. These results also suggest that discharge on an intern switch day had a protective effect on readmission. Further work is needed to examine whether these findings can be replicated, and, if confirmed, to determine to what extent these associations are causal.
Federal and State Expenditures for Working-Age People With Disabilities in Fiscal Year 2014:

Working-age people with disabilities are a large and growing segment of the U.S. population. Expenditures for a variety of federal and state safety-net programs to support these individuals—such as...
Mechanoresponsive Polymerized Liquid Metal Networks

Room-temperature liquid metals, such as nontoxic gallium alloys, show enormous promise to revolutionize stretchable electronics for next-generation soft robotic, e-skin, and wearable technologies. Core-shell particles of liquid metal with surface-bound acrylate ligands are synthesized and polymerized together to create cross-linked particle networks comprising >99.9% liquid metal by weight. When stretched, particles within these polymerized liquid metal networks (Poly-LMNs) rupture and release their liquid metal payload, resulting in a rapid 108 -fold increase in the network's conductivity. These networks autonomously form hierarchical structures that mitigate the deleterious effects of strain on electronic performance and give rise to emergent properties. Notable characteristics include nearly constant resistances over large strains, electronic strain memory, and increasing volumetric conductivity with strain to over 20 000 S cm-1 at >700% elongation. Furthermore, these Poly-LMNs exhibit exceptional performance as stretchable heaters, retaining 96% of their areal power across relevant physiological strains. Remarkable electromechanical properties, responsive behaviors, and facile processing make Poly-LMNs ideal for stretchable power delivery, sensing, and circuitry.
How We Make Impact

Nobel laureate, Herb Simon described design as changing existing situations into preferred situations. But Simon did not specify a medium by which we must design. As a technologist tackling challenges, I often over-rely on technology as my medium and limit my potential for impact. We can design technology, but we can also design services, processes, and organizations and much more. By more broadly understanding the media by which we can design, we can more systematically build the future in which we want to live.
Ejaculatory Hood-Sparing Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate vs Bipolar Button Plasma Vaporization of the Prostate in the Surgical Management of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Introduction and Objectives: After transurethral prostatectomy, erectile dysfunction and ejaculatory dysfunction are significant concerns for patients. We compared ejaculatory hood-sparing techniqu...
Diagnostic differences in the pharmacologic response to cholecystokinin and amyl nitrite in patients with absent contractility vs type I Achalasia.

Background Absent esophageal contractility (AC) is distinguished from type 1 achalasia (ACH1) during high-resolution manometry (HRM) on the basis of normal or elevated deglutitive integrated relaxation pressure (IRP) values. However, IRP measurements are subject to pressure recording error. We hypothesized that distinctive responses to pharmacologic provocation using amyl nitrite (AN) and cholecystokinin (CCK) could reliably distinguish AC patients from those with ACH1. Aim To compare esophageal response with AN and CCK in a well-defined cohort of ACH1 and AC patients. Method All available clinical, radiographic, endoscopic, and manometric information in 34 patients with aperistalsis was reviewed to determine the final diagnosis of ACH1 and AC. The differences in response to provocative challenges with the rapid drink challenge (RDC) test and administration of AN and CCK were compared between these two groups. Results Eighteen patients were diagnosed with ACH1 and sixteen with AC. While IRP values were significantly higher in ACH1, the standard criterion value misclassified four AC patients as having ACH1 and five ACH1 patients as having AC. IRP values on the RDC did not accurately segregate AC from ACH1, but we were able to identify AN and CCK esophageal motor response criteria that allowed correct classification of ACH1 and AC patients. Conclusions Nearly a quarter of AC and ACH1 patients may be misdiagnosed based on manometric IRP criteria alone. Differences in the esophageal motor responses to AN and CCK have the potential to facilitate the correct diagnosis in these challenging patients.
National trends in the management of patients with positive surgical margins at radical prostatectomy.

Purpose To evaluate practice patterns of planned post-operative radiation therapy (RT) among men with positive surgical margins (PSM) at radical prostatectomy. Methods We identified 43,806 men within the National Cancer Database with pathologic node-negative prostate cancer diagnosed in 2010 through 2014 with PSM. The primary endpoint was receipt of planned (RT) within a patient's initial course of treatment. We examined post-RP androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with RT as a secondary endpoint. We evaluated patterns of post-operative management and characteristics associated with planned post-prostatectomy RT. Results Within 12 months of RP, 87.0% received no planned RT, 8.5% RT alone, 1.3% ADT alone, and 3.1% RT with ADT. In a multivariable logistic regression model, planned RT use was associated with clinical and pathologic characteristics as estimated by surgical Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA-S) category (intermediate versus low, OR = 2.87, 95% CI 2.19-3.75, P Conclusion The use of planned post-prostatectomy RT remained stable among patients with PSM and appears driven primarily by the presence of other adverse pathologic features.
Causal inference of brain connectivity from fMRI with $ψ$-Learning Incorporated Linear non-Gaussian Acyclic Model ($ψ$-LiNGAM)

Functional connectivity (FC) has become a primary means of understanding brain functions by identifying brain network interactions and, ultimately, how those interactions produce cognitions. A popular definition of FC is by statistical associations between measured brain regions. However, this could be problematic since the associations can only provide spatial connections but not causal interactions among regions of interests. Hence, it is necessary to study their causal relationship. Directed acyclic graph (DAG) models have been applied in recent FC studies but often encountered problems such as limited sample sizes and large number of variables (namely high-dimensional problems), which lead to both computational difficulty and convergence issues. As a result, the use of DAG models is problematic, where the identification of DAG models in general is nondeterministic polynomial time hard (NP-hard). To this end, we propose a $\psi$-learning incorporated linear non-Gaussian acyclic model ($\psi$-LiNGAM). We use the association model ($\psi$-learning) to facilitate causal inferences and the model works well especially for high-dimensional cases. Our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method is more robust and accurate than several existing ones in detecting graph structure and direction. We then applied it to the resting state fMRI (rsfMRI) data obtained from the publicly available Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (PNC) to study the cognitive variance, which includes 855 individuals aged 8-22 years. Therein, we have identified three types of hub structure: the in-hub, out-hub and sum-hub, which correspond to the centers of receiving, sending and relaying information, respectively. We also detected 16 most important pairs of causal flows. Several of the results have been verified to be biologically significant.
Stratified Abstraction of Access Control Policies.

The shift to cloud-based APIs has made application security critically depend on understanding and reasoning about policies that regulate access to cloud resources. We present stratified predicate abstraction, a new approach that summarizes complex security policies into a compact set of positive and declarative statements that precisely state who has access to a resource. We have implemented stratified abstraction and deployed it as the engine powering AWS’s IAM Access Analyzer service, and hence, demonstrate how formal methods and SMT can be used for security policy explanation .
Toenail metal concentrations and age at menopause: A prospective study.

Background Menopause timing is related to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mortality. Lead has been associated with an earlier age at menopause, but no study has considered exposure to other metals or multiple metals simultaneously. Methods At baseline, we measured toenail concentrations of 16 metals for 903 premenopausal women in the Sister Study (2003-2009). Age at menopause was ascertained through follow-up questionnaires. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between individual metals and age at menopause. We used quantile-g-computation to examine the association between age at menopause and the joint effect of a simultaneous increase in (1) all metals and for subgroups of metals categorized as (2) essential or (3) non-essential. Results For individual metals, we observed negligible associations except for an interquartile range increase in lead which was modestly associated with an earlier age at menopause (HR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.05). In the mixture analyses, a quartile increase in all metals was associated with a later age at menopause (HR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.64, 1.02). The metals with the largest negative contributions (i.e., associated with a later age at menopause) were chromium and nickel. The joint effect for the essential metals remained inverse (HR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.64, 1.07), but was attenuated for nonessential metals (HR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.76, 1.24). Conclusions Although no individual metal was strongly associated with age at menopause, our joint effect analysis suggests that having low levels of essential metals could be associated with an earlier age at menopause.
Non-universal Casimir effect in saturated superfluid 4He films at Tλ

Measurements of Casimir effects in 4He films in the vicinity of the bulk superfluid transition temperature Tλ have been carried out, where changes in the film thickness and the superfluid density are both monitored as a function of temperature. The Kosterlitz-Thouless superfluid onset temperature in the film is found to occur just as the Casimir dip in the film thickness from critical fluctuations becomes evident. Additionally, a new film-thickening effect is observed precisely at Tλ when the temperature is swept extremely slowly. We propose that this is a non-universal Casimir effect arising from the viscous suppression of second sound modes in the film.
Native Youth Participating in the Together on Diabetes 12-Month Home-Visiting Program Reported Improvements in Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 Diet Quality Domains Likely to Be Associated With Blood Pressure and Glycemic Control

Abstract Background The Together on Diabetes (TOD) intervention was a home-visiting diabetes prevention and management program for Native youth. Objectives (1) Examine the impact of the TOD program on diet quality using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010); (2) determine association between diet quality and cardiometabolic health. Design The TOD program was conducted from October 2012 to June 2014 and was evaluated using a pretest-posttest study design from baseline to 12 months. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Participants/setting There were 240 participants between 10 and 19 years of age from 4 reservation-based, rural tribal communities in the southwestern United States that had been diagnosed with T2DM or prediabetes or were identified as at risk based on body mass index and a qualifying laboratory test. Intervention Youth were taught a 12-lesson curriculum on goal setting, nutrition, and life skills education. Main outcome measures Behavioral and physiologic outcomes related to diabetes. Statistical analysis Changes in AHEI-2010 score and associations with cardiometabolic measures were tested, over time, using adjusted longitudinal linear mixed-effects models. Results The study sample reported an average energy intake of 2016 kcal/d (±1260) and AHEI-2010 score of 47.4 (±7.4) (range: 0-110, higher = better diet quality), indicating low diet quality at baseline. At 12 months’ follow-up, there was a reduction in kilocalories (mean = −346 kcal/d; P Conclusions Despite stable AHEI-2010 scores during follow-up, there were improvements in diet quality domains likely to be associated with cardiometabolic health. Home-visiting programs like TOD are promising interventions for decreasing dietary intake of poor-quality foods.
Implementation of a Clinical Prediction Model Using Daily Postnatal Weight Gain, Birth Weight, and Gestational Age to Risk Stratify Rop

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of preventable blindness in children, but detection involves subjecting at-risk infants to physically stressful, resource-intensive and costly, serial diagnostic eye exams. Risk of ROP is currently assessed using birth weight and gestational age dichotomized cut off levels, but these criteria have poor specificity for identifying severe ROP (Type 1 ROP). Our objective in this …
Theoretical and experimental investigation of disodium carboxymethyl trithiocarbonate in Cu-Mo flotation

Abstract As ore grades in the mineral industry decrease and ores become more complex and polymetallic, froth flotation becomes increasingly important in separating and producing a saleable product. In the chalcopyrite-molybdenite flotation industry, depressants are critical in achieving the necessary metal separation. NaHS is the predominant reagent used to depress copper and iron sulfides and thereby enable molybdenum flotation recovery and grade. However, these inorganic reagents have increasing regulations governing their use and have high consumption rates collectively meaning that the use of alternative reagents, especially organic depressants, is needed. Disodium Carboxymethyl Trithiocarbonate (Orfom® D8) is one such organic depressant. This study will report on research conducted with Orfom® D8 including bench-scale flotation as well as simple kinetic test (SKT) flotation of bulk chalcopyrite-molybdenite concentrate obtained from an operating North American process. Density Function Theory (DFT) molecular modeling and zeta potential measurements of pure chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and molybdenite (MoS2) samples were used to help corroborate the flotation results.
Some observations on autocorrelated patterns within computational meter identification

The computational approach of autocorrelation relies on recurrent patterns within a musical signal to identify and analyze the meter of musical passages. This paper suggests that the autocorrelatio...
Improving dose calculation accuracy in preclinical radiation experiments using multi-energy element resolved cone beam CT

Cone-beam CT (CBCT) in modern pre-clinical small-animal radiation research platforms provides volumetric images for image guidance and experiment planning purposes. In this work, we implemented multi-energy element-resolved (MEER) CBCT using three scans with different kVps on a SmART platform (Precision X-ray Inc.) We performed comprehensive calibration tasks achieve sufficient accuracy for this quantitative imaging purpose. For geometry calibration, we scanned a ball bearing phantom and used an analytical method together with an optimization approach to derive gantry-angle specific geometry parameters. Intensity calibration and correction included the corrections for detector lag, glare, and beam hardening. The corrected CBCT projection images acquired at 30, 40 and 60 kVp in multiple scans were used to reconstruct CBCT images using the Feldkamp-Davis-Kress reconstruction algorithm. After that, an optimization problem was solved to determine images of relative electron density (rED) and elemental composition (EC) that are needed for Monte Carlo-based radiation dose calculation. We demonstrated effectiveness of our CBCT calibration steps by showing improvements in image quality and successful material decomposition in cases with a small animal CT calibration phantom and a plastinated mouse phantom. It was found that artifacts induced by geometry inaccuracy, detector lag, glare and beam hardening were visually reduced. CT number mean errors were reduced from 19\% to 5\%. In the CT calibration phantom case, median errors in H, O, and Ca fractions for all the inserts were below 1\%, 2\%, and 4\% respectively, and median error in rED was less than 5\%. Compared to standard approach deriving material type and rED via CT number conversion, our approach improved Monte Carlo simulation-based dose calculation accuracy in bone regions. Mean dose error was reduced from 47.5\% to 10.9\%.
Effect of Yeast Supplement on Performance of Steer Calves

The effect of Prosponse® yeast supplement fed to newly arrived steers was evaluated at the ISU Armstrong Research Farm near Lewis, Iowa. Four pens of approximately 32 head were fed similar diets with 2 pens receiving yeast supplement and 2 pens not. Calves were weighed on delivery to the feedlot and allocated on weight and sire. Calves were on test 34 days. There was no effect on daily gain or feed to gain. Dry matter intake trended higher for the yeast supplemented calves (P=.10). These data suggest that yeast supplement may improve dry matter intake in newly arrived feedlot calves.
On the ubiquity of Sidon sets

A Sidon set is a set A of integers such that no integer has two essentially distinct representations as the sum of two elements of A. More generally, for every positive integer g, a B 2[g]-set is a set A of integers such that no integer has more than g essentially distinct representation-s as the sum of two elements of A. It is proved that almost all small subsets of {1, 2,…, n} are B 2[g]-sets, in the sense that if B 2 [g](k, n) denotes the number of B 2[g]-sets of cardinality k contained in the interval {1,2,…, n}, then $$ \lim _{n \to \infty } B_2 \left[ g \right]\left( {k,n} \right)/\left( {\frac{n} {k}} \right) = 1 if k = 0 \left( {n^{g/(2g + 2)} } \right). $$ .
On cavity nucleation under time-dependent stress concentration and solute segregation

The numerical values of effective surface energy required to understand cavity nucleation are considerably lower than those values, macroscopically homogeneous and at thermodynamic equilibrium, customarily used for cavity growth analyses. Inhomogeneity and anisotropy of interfacial energies and diffusivities, respectively, and their changes due to solute segregation may be important factors in cavity nucleation and early growth. According to a quasi-steadystate nucleation model, the cavity density resulting from a single stress pulse is not dependent on self-diffusivity directly, indicating no segregation effect on the kinetics of cavity formation via the grain-boundary diffusivity. The stochastic process of localized stress concentrations and hence the overall cavity nucleation rate will, however, depend on the grain-boundary diffusivity and on the solute segregation effect on it. More details on quasi-steadystate nucleation, time-dependent nucleation, cavity stability, and continuous cavity nucleation will be discussed further elsewhere.
Prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Testing and Associated Risk Factors in College Students

AbstractObjective: This study documents the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in a sample of college students and examines associated demographic and behavioral characteristics. Participants: College students aged 18 or older were randomly selected to participate in a health behavior survey at a southeastern university in September 2011. Methods: Only sexually active students were included (N = 905). Relationships between demographic and sexual behavior characteristics were explored using logistic regression and classification regression tree (p ≤.05). Results: Only 36.2% reported having been tested for HIV. Age was the most significant factor associated with testing. Factors associated with those least likely to be tested were race and anal sexual activity. Unsafe sexual behaviors were also associated with lower rates of HIV testing. Conclusions: Findings support the need for targeted HIV interventions on college campuses. Such interventions need to be tailored for at-risk students...
Late Cretaceous to Miocene phosphatic sediments in the Georges Bank Basin, U.S. North Atlantic outer continental shelf

Abstract Phosphorite and phosphatic sediments are present in the Georges Bank Basin in marine, Late Cretaceous to Miocene strata equivalent to the Dawson Canyon Formation and Banquereau Formation of offshore Nova Scotia. The Late Cretaceous to Paleocene phosphorite occurs predominantely as sand- and gravel-sized pellets and as cement in conglomeratic aggregates. The Eocene and Miocene phosphate occurs mainly as fine-very fine sand-size spheroidal-avoidal pellets in unconsolidated clayey silts. The older phosphorites form intraformational conglomerates that are the result of a winnowed finer-grained matrix, leaving lag deposits of phosphorite. We present evidence that most of the Eocene and Miocene phosphate is primary and formed during marine trangressions. Our observations extend the geographic and temporal limits of the major phosphogenic system of the Western North Atlantic northward and through time. However, compared to the well-known phosphorite deposits along the southeastern margin of the U.S.A., these northern deposits are not of commercial scale due to a high terrigenous input and the lack of a mechanism capable of driving persistant upwelling.
1H NMR detection of immobilized water molecules within a strong distal hydrogen-bonding network of substrate-bound human heme oxygenase-1

Solution 1H NMR is used to probe the environments of the donor protons of eight strong hydrogen bonds on the distal side of the heme substrate in the cyanide-inhibited, substrate-bound complex of human heme oxygenase, hHO. It is demonstrated that significant magnetization transfer from the bulk water signal to the eight labile protons does not result from chemical exchange, but from direct nuclear Overhauser effect due to the dipolar interaction of these labile protons with "ordered" water molecules. The enzyme labile proton to water proton distances are estimated at approximately 3 A. It is proposed that the role of the strong hydrogen-bonding network is to immobilize numerous water molecules which both stabilize the activated hydroperoxy species and funnel protons to the active site.