cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Radiation Therapy: Brachytherapy

Prostate brachytherapy is an interventional procedure that is highly safe and effective for the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Brachytherapy offers equivalent to superior biochemical outcomes when compared to external beam radiation therapy and radical prostatectomy but offers an attractive toxicity prolife, improved quality of life, and preservation of sexual function when compared to these modalities. Modern prostate brachytherapy has benefitted significantly from the integration of advanced radiologic technologies, which have led to significant advances in the diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer, in the intraoperative imaging and placement of radioactive sources, and in the dosimetric assessment and toxicity management of patients undergoing prostate brachytherapy.
Flow cytometric analysis of DNA content of bone marrow cells in patients with plasma cell myeloma: clinical implications

DNA content analysis by flow cytometry was performed in 32 patients with plasma cell myeloma and 3 patients with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia to determine the biologic and potential clinical usefulness of this technique. Hyperdiploid tumor DNA content was found in 23 myeloma patients (72%) during the course of illness, including 16/28 at presentation, but in none of 3 patients with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. There was no significant association of aneuploidy in myeloma patients with age, sex, race, or M-protein class. Myeloma patients with aneuploid tumor cells were more likely to have advanced stage (p = 0.032) than patients with diploid plasma cells, and all patients with renal failure had aneuploid tumors. Pretreatment factors significantly associated with survival included stage (p = 0.01), serum creatinine (p = 0.003), and tumor DNA content (p = 0.005). Multivariate analysis using the Cox life table regression procedure indicated that the significant relation of tumor DNA content with survival remained after adjusting for stage (p less than 0.005). Myeloma patients with diploid tumors at diagnosis frequently had aneuploid plasma cells at the time of relapse, indicating a possible relationship of chromosomal alterations in the tumor to clinical drug resistance. We conclude that aneuploid tumor cells at the time of diagnosis of myeloma are of independent prognostic significance, and the development of aneuploidy is a frequent occurrence at clinical relapse, suggesting the change in DNA content are of biologic and clinical significance.
Developmental toxicity of Clarified Slurry Oil applied dermally to rats.

Clarified Slurry Oil (CSO), the heavy residual fraction from the fluidized catalytic cracker, was applied to the shaven backs of groups of 10 pregnant rats at doses of 0, 4, 8, 30, 125, and 250 mg/...
Abstract 295: Serum Sodium-Potassium ratio as a predictor of long-term Heart Failure morbidity.

Background: Electrolyte abnormalities particularly hyponatremia and hypokalemia are known to be associated with poorer outcomes in heart failure (HF). Some other studies have also suggested that the Sodium-Potassium ratio (Na/K) could serve as a prognostic marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, most of these studies relate mainly to the intake of the electrolytes as opposed to the serum concentrations, suggesting that decreasing sodium intake and increasing potassium intake could reduce CVD risk. Less is known about the relationship between the serum Na/K ratio and outcomes in HF. Given that serum electrolytes are routinely monitored during HF management in the hospital, we sought to retrospectively examine any prognostic impact of the admission and discharge Sodium-Potassium ratios on outcomes. Methods: Outcomes (HF admissions, Length of stay & cardiac admissions, non-cardiac admissions, and emergency room visits) were assessed for 331 HF patients from the Meharry Heart Failure Registry- a comprehensive retrospective HF database comprised of patient care data from January 2006 to December 2008. The database population consists of 72% African-American (AA), 19% Caucasian, and 9% other. The mean age of the cohort is 61 years (age range of 25-98) 37% of whom are females. Normal serum sodium and potassium levels were defined per the laboratory standards (i.e. normal serum Sodium range of 135mmol/L-145mmol/L and Potassium 3.5mmol/L-4.5mmol/L respectively). The individual admission and discharge serum Sodium-Potassium ratios were calculated and the relationship with heart failure outcomes determined using the Spearman correlation and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. Results: Our study showed no significant correlation between admission and or discharge serum Na/K ratio and HF outcomes (P value 0.339 - 0.987 with admission ratios and 0.101 - 0.699 with discharge ratios). These findings were consistent even in subgroup analysis (gender, Preserved versus reduced EF and Age > versus < 60). Conclusions: Our study suggests that there is no relationship between either the admission and or discharge Sodium-Potassium ratio and heart failure morbidity. These findings may be because most of the subjects had normal serum Sodium and Potassium levels therefore minimizing any differences. There is also the inherent biases associated with retrospective studies making it difficult to control for various contributing factors. A larger prospective study might be helpful in elucidating this further.
Synchronous Reference Frame PLL

The synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (SRF-PLL) avoids the double-frequency error problem of single-phase standard PLL. It has a relatively simple structure that offers ease of parameter tuning and robust features for digital implementation. This chapter presents an overview of the commonly used three-phase SRF-PLL. The structure, linear analysis, and numerical results are discussed. The representation of the SRF-PLL in the stationary frame shows that the three-phase SRF-PLL does not really need to have three input signals to operate. It can operate if it is supplied by phase-a signal and its orthogonal version that is its 90o phase shifted version. The chapter explains the correspondence between SRF-PLL and single-phase EPLL. The impact of unbalance, direct current (DC), and harmonics on SRF-PLL is discussed.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in human follicular fluid and in vitro fertilization outcomes, a pilot study

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are ubiquitously distributed among the U.S. population and adversely impact human reproduction. These compounds have been detected in human ovarian follicular fluid (FF), where they directly contact a developing oocyte. As a pilot investigation, we measured 43 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and its persistent metabolite p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) in residual FF collected from 32 women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). We identified significant inverse associations between higher levels of PCB congeners and indicators of ovarian reserve (e.g., antral follicle count), follicular response to administered gonadotropins (e.g., peak estradiol, number of oocytes retrieved, endometrial thickness), intermediate IVF endpoints (e.g., oocyte fertilization and embryo quality), and clinical IVF outcomes (e.g., embryo implantation and live birth), after adjusting for body mass index, cigarette smoking, race, and age. Our results suggest that ongoing exposure to POPs impacts IVF and merit confirmation in a larger and more definitive future study.
Acral Melanoma and Mechanical Stress on the Plantar Surface of the Foot

A Mayo Clinic analysis of melanoma distribution showed a high frequency of lesions on the heel and fewer lesions on the front of the foot than shown in a Japanese study that indicated that melanomas may be most common in weight-bearing areas of the plantar surface.
Adolescent Mothers in Foster Care: Relational Ethics, Depressive Symptoms and Health Problems Through a Contextual Therapy Lens

This is the first study that provides empirical support for the importance of contextual theory notions of relational ethics for the well-being of adolescent mothers in the foster care system. Data came from a sample of 42 adolescent mothers in kinship and non-kinship foster families and included self-reports on the Relational Ethics Scale. As it was hypothesized, adolescent mothers in kinship placement reported a significantly higher degree of relational ethics (perception of trust, fairness and loyalty) in their foster family and lower levels of depressive symptoms than adolescent mothers in non-kinship placement. Regardless of the placement type, family relational ethics correlated negatively with a level of depressive and physical health symptoms. Findings support an idea that relational ethics may be particularly relevant to clinical work with adolescents in the foster care system because the duality of having biological and foster families may create feelings of injustice and split loyalty.
Hegel and Honneth’s Theoretical Deficit: Education, Social Freedom and the Institutions of Modern Life

The accounts of social freedom offered by G. W. F. Hegel and Axel Honneth identify the normative demands on social institutions and explain how individual freedom is realized through rational participation in such institutions. While both offer normative reconstructions of the market economy, public sphere and family, they both derive the norms of educational institutions from education’s role in preparing people for participation in other institutions. We argue that this represents a significant defect in their accounts of social freedom because they both fail to account for the distinctive aims and norms of education. Only educational institutions bring individuals into a both shared and autonomous standpoint necessary for participation in social life. We thus argue both that Hegel’s and Honneth’s accounts are empirically inadequate and that they neglect the normative demands on schools to contribute to individual moral and intellectual development.
Formation and structure of H' centers

Abstract The theoretically predicted cross-sections for the formation of H '-centers out of H-centers in KCl and KBr and for the trapping of H-centers at Na impurities are in good agreement with the values obtained experimentally by Itoh. Two H-centers joined along a[110] direction can have nine possible configurations. Their energies have been calculated using a somewhat simplified model with the result that in the lowest state the two H-centers are perpendicular to each other and lie in a (001) plane. In the highest state they are co-linear.
What is Contagious? Exploring why content goes viral on Twitter: A case study of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

This study employs Berger's 2013 STEPPS (social currency, triggers, emotion, practical value, public, and stories) framework for assessing the messaging factors that influence eWOM in the nonprofit sector. Thus, the authors first operationalize the key principles for the nonprofit sector, then examine viral content (1,000 tweets and linked videos) to demonstrate the applicability of these principles for theory building and practice. Our content analysis reveals that some principles (e.g., social currency, triggers, high-arousal emotion, or public) are more prevalent than other principles (e.g., practical value or story). This study also explores the relationships between the 6 principles and the level of online engagement, revealing interesting results about what people post initially versus what they pass along from others in their network.
Casting youth/Developing identity: Casting and racial and ethnic identity development

This essay explores how casting in youth-based applied theatre coincides with an important period of racial and ethnic identity development for adolescents and young adults. Using theory from devel...
An initial assessment of a SMAP soil moisture disaggregation scheme using TIR surface evaporation data over the continental United States

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission is dedicated toward global soil moisture mapping. Typically, an L-band microwave radiometer has spatial resolution on the order of 36-40 km, which is too coarse for many specific hydro-meteorological and agricultural applications. With the failure of the SMAP active radar within three months of becoming operational, an intermediate (9-km) and finer (3-km) scale soil moisture product solely from the SMAP mission is no longer possible. Therefore, the focus of this study is a disaggregation of the 36-km resolution SMAP passive-only surface soil moisture (SSM) using the Soil Evaporative Efficiency (SEE) approach to spatial scales of 3-km and 9-km. The SEE was computed using thermal-infrared (TIR) estimation of surface evaporation over Continental U.S. (CONUS). The disaggregation results were compared with the 3 months of SMAP-Active (SMAP-A) and Active/Passive (AP) products, while comparisons with SMAP-Enhanced (SMAP-E), SMAP-Passive (SMAP-P), as well as with more than 180 Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) stations across CONUS were performed for a 19 month period. At the 9-km spatial scale, the TIR-Downscaled data correlated strongly with the SMAP-E SSM both spatially (r = 0.90) and temporally (r = 0.87). In comparison with SCAN observations, overall correlations of 0.49 and 0.47; bias of −0.022 and −0.019 and unbiased RMSD of 0.105 and 0.100 were found for SMAP-E and TIR-Downscaled SSM across the Continental U.S., respectively. At 3-km scale, TIR-Downscaled and SMAP-A had a mean temporal correlation of only 0.27. In terms of gain statistics, the highest percentage of SCAN sites with positive gains (>55%) was observed with the TIR-Downscaled SSM at 9-km. Overall, the TIR-based downscaled SSM showed strong correspondence with SMAP-E; compared to SCAN, and overall both SMAP-E and TIR-Downscaled performed similarly, however, gain statistics show that TIR-Downscaled SSM slightly outperformed SMAP-E.
Talking about tobacco on Twitter is associated with tobacco product use.

Abstract Tobacco-related content appears on social media in the form of advertising and messages by individuals. However, little is known about associations between posting social media messages and tobacco product use among adolescents and young adults. Self-reports of tobacco product use were obtained from the Children's Health Study of young adults in Southern California. Among the 1486 respondents in the most recent wave of the cohort (2016–2017), 284 provided tobacco product use data and their Twitter user names to access publicly available Twitter account data (mean age = 20.1 yrs. (SD = 0.6), 54% female, 49% Hispanic). We obtained the tweets that those respondents posted on Twitter, searched the tweets for 14 nicotine- and tobacco-related keywords, and coded these statements as positive or negative/neutral. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine whether respondents who posted positive tobacco-related tweets were more likely to report tobacco product use, relative to those who did not post any positive tobacco-related tweets. Respondents who posted any positive messages about tobacco had significantly higher odds of reporting past month use of cigarettes (OR = 3.15, 95% CI = 1.36, 7.30) and any tobacco product (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.16, 5.01), relative to respondents who did not post about tobacco. This is the first study to establish an empirical link between adolescents' and young adults' tobacco-related Twitter activity and their tobacco product use. Health communications about the risks of tobacco use could target adolescents who post positive messages about tobacco products on Twitter.
DNA methylation of imprinted genes in Mexican-American newborn children with prenatal phthalate exposure.

Aim Imprinted genes exhibit expression in a parent-of-origin-dependent manner and are critical for child development. Recent limited evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to phthalates, ubiquitous endocrine disruptors, can affect their epigenetic dysregulation. Materials & methods We quantified DNA methylation of nine imprinted gene differentially methylated regions by pyrosequencing in 296 cord blood DNA samples in a Mexican-American cohort. Fetal exposure was estimated by phthalate metabolite concentrations in maternal urine samples during pregnancy. Results Several differentially methylated regions of imprinted genes were associated with high molecular weight phthalates. The most consistent, positive, and false discovery rate significant associations were observed for MEG3. Conclusion Phthalate exposure in utero may affect methylation status of imprinted genes in newborn children.
Generating supercontinuum in dispersion varying As2S3 waveguides

We simulate supercontinuum generation for various shapes of a dispersion varying As2S3 waveguides on MgF2 substrate with air cladding. The supercontinuum generation is simulated for pulses of 2000 W peak power and 50 fs pulse width centered at 1.55 μm wavelength. For a uniform waveguide the generated spectrum is considerably narrower than that for a non-uniform waveguide. This is because the non-uniform waveguide allows a continuous phase matching of the generated waves through nonlinear interaction. We have demonstrated that a high coefficient of nonlinear refractive index is necessary for generating supercontinuum with large bandwidths. Larger supercontinuum bandwidth is predicted for waveguides with increasing As2S3 thickness along the propagation direction.
Automatic speech and singing classification in ambulatory recordings for normal and disordered voices

Ambulatory voice monitoring is a promising tool for investigating phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction (PVH), associated with the development of vocal fold lesions. Since many patients with PVH are professional vocalists, a classifier was developed to better understand phonatory mechanisms during speech and singing. Twenty singers with PVH and 20 matched healthy controls were monitored with a neck-surface accelerometer–based ambulatory voice monitor. An expert-labeled ground truth data set was used to train a logistic regression on 15 subject-pairs with fundamental frequency and autocorrelation peak amplitude as input features. Overall classification accuracy of 94.2% was achieved on the held-out test set.Ambulatory voice monitoring is a promising tool for investigating phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction (PVH), associated with the development of vocal fold lesions. Since many patients with PVH are professional vocalists, a classifier was developed to better understand phonatory mechanisms during speech and singing. Twenty singers with PVH and 20 matched healthy controls were monitored with a neck-surface accelerometer–based ambulatory voice monitor. An expert-labeled ground truth data set was used to train a logistic regression on 15 subject-pairs with fundamental frequency and autocorrelation peak amplitude as input features. Overall classification accuracy of 94.2% was achieved on the held-out test set.
Android App Update Timing: A Measurement Study

Over the past decade the pace of software publication has increased dramatically. Thanks to the advent of "app markets" software distribution on mobile devices is centralized and software updates are, by default, fully automated. In this work we study the pace of software updates on Android smart mobile devices. Specifically, we measure the rate at which users experience software updates, and the delay between the time an app update is made available, and when it is actually installed. Our data shows that, of the top 12 most popular apps in our dataset, over 10 of them are updated more frequently than once every two weeks. On average users install an update for at least one app every 56hrs.
Altering rat sexual behavior to teach hormonal regulation of brain imprinting

In this teaching laboratory, students design and perform an experiment to determine estrogen’s role in imprinting the brain of neonatal rats to express either male or female sexual behavior. A disc...
A spherical harmonic transform approach to the indexing of electron back-scattered diffraction patterns.

Abstract A new approach is proposed for the indexing of electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) patterns. The algorithm employs a spherical master EBSD pattern and computes its cross-correlation with a back-projected experimental pattern using the spherical harmonic transform (SHT). This approach is significantly faster than the recent dictionary indexing algorithm, but shares the latter’s robustness against noise. The underlying theory is presented, followed by example applications, one on a series of Ni EBSD data sets recorded with decreasing signal-to-noise ratio, the other on a large shot-peened Al data set. The dependence of indexing speed and memory usage on the SHT bandwidth is explored. The speed gains of the new algorithm are achieved by executing real-valued Fast Fourier Transforms, explicitly incorporating crystallographic symmetry in the cross-correlation computation, and using efficient loop ordering to improve the caching behavior. The algorithm produces a cross-correlation array in the zyz Euler space; an orientation refinement procedure is proposed based on analytical derivatives of the Wigner d functions. The new approach can be applied to any diffraction modality for which the scattered intensity can be represented on a spherical surface.
Diffraction gratings with two orders of magnitude-enhanced dispersion rate for sub-meV-resolution soft x-ray spectroscopy (Conference Presentation)

Large angular dispersion rate of the diffraction gratings is essential for the high spectral resolution of the grating spectrometers. The greatest challenge is achieving the desired performance of the diffraction gratings at short wavelengths. Here we show that crystals can function as high-reflectance soft x-ray diffraction gratings with dispersion rates at least two orders of magnitude larger than what is presently possible with state-of-the-art man-made gratings. This may open up new opportunities in designing and implementing soft x-ray resonant inelastic scattering (RIXS) spectrometers with spectral resolution improved by up to two orders of magnitude, which may further advance a very dynamic filed of the RIXS spectroscopy.
Time Is Not Money: Income Is More Important Than Lifestage for Explaining Patterns of Residential Yard Plant Community Structure and Diversity in Baltimore

Plant biodiversity is affected by limiting resources such as water, nutrients, and sunlight. In urban settings, such as residential yards, however, limiting resources may also include the social factors of time and money spent on yard care. To examine the role that these precious human resources play in determining plant community structure and diversity, we surveyed homeowners and their yards in 12 neighborhoods across Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Maryland, visiting a total of 96 residential properties. We chose neighborhoods based on residents’ median income (a proxy for money) and lifestage (a proxy for time) as determined by ESRI's Tapestry dataset [older (>65 and most likely retired with more free time) versus younger (<65 and most likely working with less free time)]. At each residential yard, we studied four major plant types: lawn species, flowering herbaceous plants (excluding grasses), trees, and invasive species. For the flowering plants, we documented the number, size, and color of flowers, and calculated total floral area. We found that residential yards harbored high plant diversity with 89 tree species, 82 lawn species, and 80 flowering plant genera. Lawn richness was not related to the neighborhood-level lifestage of the residents or their income,; rather, all lawns were equally weedy. Consistently, we found that yards in higher income neighborhoods and larger yards had greater abundance of plants and greater diversity of flowering herbaceous plants, trees, and invasive species, whereas lifestage was rarely associated with plant diversity. Additionally, we found front yards had greater floral area than back yards, while back yards had greater tree abundance and tree diversity than front yards. Finally, we found that residents who spent more time doing yard work had more flowering plants, flower colors, and floral genera. Overall, yards in highincome neighborhood, and large yards had the greatest plant biodiversity, indicating that money is the more precious human resource for creating and maintaining biodiverse residential yards.
E-073 Impact of diabetes with complications on short-term in-hospital outcomes in patients undergoing spinal fusion procedures

Background Spinal fusion is a surgical procedure utilized to treat or alleviate several spinal diagnoses including: tumor, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, and spondylolisthesis. Previous studies have explored clinical outcomes for this intervention. This study aims to further investigate short-term outcomes of patients after spinal fusion by looking at the impact of diabetes with complications. Methods This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) to identify adult patients (18+) from 2012–2015 who underwent spinal fusion. ICD-9 codes identified these patients; specifically patients diagnosed with diabetes and associated complications. Any patients missing important clinical identifiers (age, gender, cause of death) and patients without spinal fusion intervention were excluded. Data analyses assessed hospital length of stay (LOS), inpatient charges, average age of admission and mortality rate. Results Of the 290,752 patients that underwent spinal fusion procedure, 1,092 had the diagnosis of diabetes with complications (DMCx). Mean mortality rate of patients was significantly increased (1.8%, DMCx vs. 0.6%, without DMCx, p = 0.0001) LOS in patients with DMCx who underwent spinal fusion was significantly increased (7.44 days, DMCx vs. 4.01 days, no DMCx p = 0.0001) Total hospital charges were significantly increased ($135,783.00, DMCx vs. $98,231.18, no DMCx, p = 0.0001) Mean age of patients at admission was increased (63.6, DMCx vs. 57.67, no DMCx, p = 0.0001) Conclusion Patients with complicated diabetes who undergo a spinal fusion procedure suffer from increased mortality rate, LOS, total hospital charges, and age at admission. This study aims to provide physicians with information in the management of patients with complicated diabetes that undergo spinal fusion procedures. Peri-procedural patient optimization could provide a potential avenue to lower LOS, total in-hospital charges, and mortality in patients. Disclosures T. Colburn: None. D. Schirmer: None. Z. Rose-Reneau: None. B. Wright: None.
Fast, Simple, Student Generated Augmented Reality Approach for Protein Visualization in the Classroom and Home Study

Facile visualization of biomolecules is an essential component of the undergraduate biochemistry curriculum. In the past, a number of tools have been used to display biomolecules. More recently, the advent of greater accessibility to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) programs has created a new mechanism to visualize biomolecules. However, creation of VR and AR programs often requires extensive coding experience. In order to expand the utility of AR programs in visualization of biomolecules, we enabled undergraduate students to create their own AR protein visualization tool using an off-the-shelf program running in multiplatform smartphones or tablets to enhance student inclusivity. Assessment of this program shows that students can create their own biomolecule models, were enthusiastic about doing so, and found that their learning was enhanced when this AR module was inserted into their upper level biochemistry class. This activity could be readily adapted for remote and online learning.
Safety and Efficacy of Locoregional Treatment during Immunotherapy with Nivolumab for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study of 41 Interventions in 29 Patients.

Abstract Purpose To assess the safety of locoregional treatment (LRT) combined with nivolumab for intermediate and advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods A single-center retrospective review included 29 patients undergoing 41 LRTs—transarterial chemoembolization or yttrium-90 transarterial radioembolization—60 days before or concurrently with nivolumab. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory values and adverse events were reviewed before and after nivolumab initiation and after each LRT. Treatment response and time to progression were assessed using Modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Clinical events, including nivolumab termination, death, and time of last follow-up, were assessed. Results Over a median nivolumab course of 8.1 months (range, 1.0–30) with a median of 14.2 2-week cycles (range, 1–53), predominantly Child–Pugh A (22/29) patients—12 Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) B and 17 BCLC C—underwent 20 transarterial chemoembolization and 21 transarterial radioembolization LRTs at a median of 67 days (range, 48–609) after nivolumab initiation. Ten patients underwent multiple LRTs. During a median follow-up of 11.5 months (range, 1.8–35.1), no grade III/IV adverse events attributable to nivolumab were observed. There were five instances of grade III/IV hypoalbuminemia or hyperbilirubinemia within 3 months after LRT. There were no nivolumab-related deaths, and 30-day mortality after LRT was 0%. Conclusions LRTs performed concurrently with nivolumab immunotherapy demonstrate an acceptable safety profile in patients with intermediate and advanced HCC.
Towards the detection of neuropeptide Y at nanomolar level by a SiN microring resonator

We design and fabricate silicon-nitride (SiN) microring-resonator-based sensor for detecting neuropeptide Y protein, commonly associated with human body stress. We experimentally show the extension of detection into nanomolar concentration levels in regular assay system with 0.1 nm/(µg/mL) of sensitivity.
Comparative analysis of methods for cloud segmentation in ground-based infrared images

Abstract The increasing penetration of photovoltaic systems in the power grid makes it vulnerable to cloud shadow projection. Real-time cloud segmentation in ground-based infrared images is important to reduce the noise in intra-hour global solar irradiance forecasting. We present a comparison between discriminative and generative models for cloud segmentation. The performances of supervised and unsupervised learning methods in cloud segmentation are evaluated. The discriminative models are solved in the primal formulation to make them feasible in real-time applications. The performances are compared using the j-statistic. Infrared image preprocessing to remove stationary artifacts increases the overall performance in the analyzed methods. The inclusion of features from neighboring pixels in the feature vectors leads to a performance improvement in some of the cases. Markov Random Fields achieve the best performance in both unsupervised and supervised generative models. Discriminative models solved in the primal yield a dramatically lower computing time along with high performance in the segmentation. Generative and discriminative models are comparable when preprocessing is applied to the infrared images.
An Automated Screening Technique to Identify At-Risk Auxiliary Spillways: Modified Approach in WinDAM

AbstractDam operators often do not know whether an auxiliary spillway will fail until it is loaded, which can be infrequent. Such failures have the potential to result in overall dam failure, leadi...
Targeting of a fixed bacterial immunogen to Fc receptors reverses the anti-inflammatory properties of the gram negative bacterium, Francisella tularensis, during the early stages of infection (VAC8P.1055)

Production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by innate immune cells at the early stages of bacterial infection is important for host protection. Many intracellular bacteria, such as Francisella tularensis , utilize the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 to evade the host immune response, mainly by suppressing antigen presentation. In the current study, we hypothesized that F. tularensis polarizes antigen presenting cells during the early stages of infection towards an anti-inflammatory status characterized by increased synthesis of IL-10, and decreased production of IL12p70 and TNFa, in an IFN-γ-dependent fashion. In addition, F. tularensis drives the alternative activation of alveolar macrophages at the early stages of infection, thus allowing the bacterium to avoid protective immunity. Furthermore, for the first time, we demonstrate that targeting inactivated F. tularensis (iFt) to Fcγ receptors via intranasal immunization with mAb-i Ft complexes, reverses the anti-inflammatory effects of the bacterium on macrophages by down-regulating production of IL-10. More specifically, we observed that targeting of i Ft to FcγRs enhances the classical activation of macrophages in the respiratory mucosa, as well as systemically, at the early stages of infection. These results provide important insight for further understanding the protective immune mechanisms generated when targeting immunogens to Fc receptors.
Intertemporal Cournot and Walras Equilibrium

In an intertemporal general equilibrium framework, we compare a Cournot equilibrium to the Walras equilibrium. The Cournot agents trade and invest less than the Walras agents. This generates an ineffciency which does not vanish as the number of Cournot agents tends to infinity. A larger number of strategic Cournot agents implies that the amount of trade (relative to their aggregate consumption) increases (i.e., moving towards the Walrasian amount), but their investment (relative to the stock) decreases (i.e., moving away from the Walrasian amount).
Heterozygous mutation in the G+5 position of intron 33 of the pro-alpha 2(I) gene (COL1A2) that causes aberrant RNA splicing and lethal osteogenesis imperfecta. Use of carbodiimide methods that decrease the extent of DNA sequencing necessary to define an unusual mutation

Cultured skin fibroblasts from a proband with osteogenesis imperfecta were found to synthesize normal and shortened alpha 2(I) chains of type I procollagen. A cDNA library was prepared using mRNA isolated from the proband's fibroblasts. Partial nucleotide sequencing of five clones demonstrated that two clones lacked the 54 base pairs (bp) of coding sequences found in exon 33 of the pro-alpha 2(I) gene (COL1A2). To reduce the amount of nucleotide sequencing required, heteroduplexes were prepared from two of the clones, one normal and the other lacking exon 33, and reacted with a water-soluble carbodiimide under conditions in which nonbase-paired G and T nucleotides are specifically modified by the reagent. Analysis of the heteroduplexes by immunoelectron microscopy suggested that the sequence variation near the codons of exon 33 was the only sequence difference in the cDNA clones. Amplification of cDNA from the proband by polymerase chain reaction gave products of two sizes, one of the expected size for the normal sequence and the other of the expected size for a product lacking the 54 bp in exon 33. To define the mutation in genomic DNA, a 1.6-kilobase region spanning exons 32 and 34 was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and DNA heteroduplexes were prepared from the products. The heteroduplexes were treated with a water-soluble carbodiimide and then used as templates for primer extension under conditions in which extension terminates at the site of a carbodiimide-modified base. The results suggested a mismatch near the exon-intron boundary of exon 33 and a second mismatch near the 3' end of intron 33. Nucleotide sequencing of the polymerase chain reaction products revealed a single-base substitution in one allele that changed the moderately conserved G at position +5 of the 5' splice site of intron 33 to an A. In addition, there was an apparently neutral single-base substitution that placed both a G and T at position +661 of intron 33. The results provide only the third example of a mutation in the G at the +5 position of an intron that causes aberrant RNA splicing. Also, the results demonstrate that use of techniques involving carbodiimide modification of DNA heteroduplexes can reduce the amount of nucleotide sequencing necessary to define mutations in large and complex genes.
A 2-18 GHz non-blocking active 2*2 switch

A novel, nonblocking active 2*2 switch composed of distributed-amplifier-based splitters and combiners has been developed. The distributed amplifier architecture yields a broadband, compact, nonblocking switch that has greater than 0 dB insertion gain from 2 to 18 GHz. The conventional approach to nonblocking switching requires considerably higher circuit complexity and size to achieve the same level of performance. >
Reflective Practice in Legal Education: The Stages of Reflection

Experiential legal education programs include reflection as an explicit learning outcome. Although many teachers and students have seen the value of reflection, few have studied the process of reflection. Drawing from research in the fields of cognitive development, reflective judgment, and moral reasoning, this article presents an organizational model for teaching reflection in six stages. The Stages of Reflection model provides teachers and students with a deeper understanding of the process of reflection, and creates a pathway for the development of reflective practice.
The Effects of Instructional Stimulus Loading on the Recall of Abstract and Concrete Prose

This study examined the effect that systematically loading story presentations with criterion information has on the recall of abstract and concrete prose. Results indicated that aal plus picture presentations were most effective for the learning of both abstract and concrete content. Furthermore, the loading of additional detail into visual presentations resulted in greater recall than with simple pictures and also provided a greater supplementary effect to oral prose.
Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Findings in Myotonic Dystrophy. (P2.289)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate retinal involvement in a cohort of patients affected by Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1). BACKGROUND: DM1, the most common muscular dystrophy in the adulthood, is characterized by multisystem involvement including the eye. Ocular manifestations commonly include premature cataract and hypotony: retinal abnormalities have also been described but their frequencies and characterization are still undefined. DESIGN/METHODS: Sixty-one eyes of 31 genetically proven DM1 patients and forty eyes of 20 healthy age- and gender- matched subjects were enrolled. All patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examination including best-corrected visual acuity, fundoscopy, fundus autofluorescence, infrared imaging and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with central macular thickness (CMT) measurement. Macular findings and CMT were compared between the two study groups. RESULTS: DM1 patients showed statistically significant higher CMT values than controls (p 45 years)(p<0.0002 and p<0.05 respectively). No association was found among the prevalence of ERM or RPE dystrophy and MIRS, CTG expansion or disease duration. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the RPE changes, DM1 also presents an increased prevalence ERM, resulting in CMT increase. RPE dystrophy is often mild with sparing of foveal photoreceptors. Both inner and outer retinal alterations were associated with increasing age but not with the severity of the disease suggesting that DM1 may cause a premature aging of the retina. SD-OCT is a useful tool for diagnose and characterize retinal lesions in DM1. Study Supported by: Disclosure: Dr. Bianchi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Abed has nothing to disclose. Dr. D9Amico has nothing to disclose. Dr. Masciullo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Silvestri has nothing to disclose.
Homeostatic Responses to Acute Cold Exposure: Thermogenic Responses in Birds and Mammals

The sections in this article are: 1 Nonshivering vs. Shivering Pathways 1.1 Definitions and Distribution 1.2 Neural Control and Intracellular Sites of Heat Production 1.3 Contributions of NST Effectors and Shivering to Cold-Induced Thermogenesis in Mammals and Birds 2 Sympathetic Activation of Brown Adipose Tissue 2.1 Alpha-Adrenergic and Beta-Adrenergic Involvement 2.2 Cellular Events Associated with Cold-Induced Activation of Brown Adipocytes 3 Cold-Induced Modification of NST by Agents Other than Catecholamines 3.1 Direct Effects on Thermogenic Mechanisms 3.2 Altered Release of Norepinephrine 3.3 Altered Delivery of Substrate/Oxygen 4 Summary and Future Directions
Dating topography of the Sierra Nevada, California, using apatite (U–Th)/He ages

The upward motion of rock masses relative to the Earth's surface has been documented for most of the main mountain belts using thermochronological and petrological techniques. More fundamental to the physical processes of mountain building, however, is the motion of the Earth's surface itself, which remains elusive. Here we describe a technique for estimating the age of topographic relief by mapping the low-temperature thermal structure imparted by river incision using the ages of apatites determined from their uranium, thorium and helium contents. The technique exploits horizontal variations in temperature in the shallow crust that result from range-normal river drainages, because cooling beneath ancient river valleys occurs earlier than beneath intervening ridges. Our results from the Sierra Nevada, California, indicate that two of the modern transverse drainages, the Kings and the San Joaquin, had developed deep canyons by the Late Cretaceous period, suggesting that the high topography of the range is ~50–60 million years older than generally thought.
Increasing the effectiveness of palliative care through integrative modalities: conceptualizing the roles of animal companions and animal-assisted interventions

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses how palliative care is being extended to relieve the disease symptoms, side effects, and associated burdens that can beset a patient at many points along the course of an illness. The addition of integrative modalities is helpful in enabling palliative care to be very successfully applied well beyond its historical roots in end-of-life care. It presents a successful demonstration of how the principles and practices of integrative palliative care can outperform palliative care that lacks integrative modalities in terms of both the range of service provided and the degree of patient satisfaction. This chapter also addresses the special challenges facing medical researchers when designing experiments to understand subjective human responses to caring—either from animals, from other humans, or from one's self. The caring stimulus, the variety of situational factors, and the subjective response are all complex, and the research strategy must be designed to capture complex data. Two examples of highly successful research program strategies that made excellent use of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies are described, along with the application of combined methodologies in the current research on psycho-socio-spiritual healing. Finally, this chapter suggests ways in which animal companions and animal-assisted intervention may be incorporated into the practice of palliative care.
The Evolution of Health Care Advance Planning Law and Policy

Context: The legal tools of health care advance planning have substantially changed since their emergence in the mid-1970s. Thirty years of policy development, primarily at the state legislative level addressing surrogate decision making and advance directives, have resulted in a disjointed policy landscape, yet with important points of convergence evolving over time. An understanding of the evolution of advance care planning policy has important implications for policy at both the state and federal levels. Methods: This article is a longitudinal statutory and literature review of health care advance planning from its origins to the present. Findings: While considerable variability across the states still remains, changes in law and policy over time suggest a gradual paradigm shift from what is described as a “legal transactional approach” to a “communications approach,” the most recent extension of which is the emergence of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST. The communications approach helps translate patients’ goals into visible and portable medical orders. Conclusions: States are likely to continue gradually moving away from a legal transactional mode of advance planning toward a communications model, albeit with challenges to authentic and reliable communication that accurately translates patients’ wishes into the care they receive. In the meantime, the states and their health care institutions will continue to serve as the primary laboratory for advance care planning policy and practice.
Genetic organization, size, and complete sequence of early region 3 genes of human adenovirus type 41.

The complete nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequences for open reading frames (ORFs) of the human adenovirus type 41 (Ad41) early region 3 (E3) gene have been determined. The sequence of the Ad41 E3 gene (map units 74 to 83.9) consists of 3,373 nucleotides and has one TATA box and two polyadenylation signals (AATAAA). Analysis of the nucleotide sequence reveals that the E3 gene can encode six ORFs, designated RL1 to RL6. These are all expressed at the mRNA level, as determined by reverse transcription-PCR analysis of AD41-infected cell RNA. When compared with known E3 sequences of most other human adenoviruses deposited in GenBank, the sequences of RL1 to RL3 were found to be unique to subgroup F adenoviruses (Ad40 and Ad41). They encode putative proteins of 173 amino acids (19.4 kDa) and 276 amino acids (31.6 kDa) in one reading frame as well as a 59- amino-acid (6.7 kDa) protein in an overlapping reading frame. RL4 encodes a 90-amino-acid protein (10.1 kDa) with 40% homology to the Ad2 E3 10.4-kDa protein, which induces degradation of the epidermal growth factor receptor and functions together with the Ad2 E3 14.5-kDa protein to protect mouse cell lines against lysis. RL5 encodes a protein of 107 amino acid residues (12.3 kDa) and is analogous to the Ad E3 14.5-kDa protein. RL6 codes for a protein of 122 amino acids (14.7 kDa) that is analogous to the Ad2 14.7-kDa protein, which functions to protect Ad-infected cells from tumor necrosis factor-induced cytolysis. This finding of three unique (RL1 to RL3) E3 gene ORFs may explain why subgroup F adenoviruses differ substantially from other human adenoviruses in their host range; i.e., they replicate predominantly in the host's gastrointestinal rather than respiratory tract. A recent phylogenetic study that compared subgroup F Ad40 DNA sequences with representatives of subgroups B (Ad3), C (Ad2), and E (Ad4) reached a similar conclusion about the uniqueness of RL1 and RL2.
Capital Investment Effects of Dividend Imputation

We examine the effects of dividend imputation on corporate capital investment in New Zealand and Australia. The empirical findings indicate that: (1) dividend imputation stimulated corporate capital investment in both countries; (2) the positive impact of dividend imputation on capital investment overshadowed any negative effects arising from the new capital gains tax imposed in Australia; and (3) the dividend imputation effects on capital investment are most pronounced for highdividend‐paying firms. In summary, we demonstrate the positive impact of dividend imputation on corporate capital investment. Our findings support the conclusions of the U.S. Treasury that the “traditional” double tax on corporate distributions increases the cost of equity capital to the corporate sector and creates a bias against investment by the corporate sector.