cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Taxonomy of Global Optimization Methods Based on Response Surfaces

This paper presents a taxonomy of existing approaches for using response surfaces for global optimization. Each method is illustrated with a simple numerical example that brings out its advantages and disadvantages. The central theme is that methods that seem quite reasonable often have non-obvious failure modes. Understanding these failure modes is essential for the development of practical algorithms that fulfill the intuitive promise of the response surface approach.
Teeth-Number Synthesis of a Multispeed Planetary Transmission Using an Estimation of Distribution Algorithm

The gear-teeth number synthesis of an automatic planetary transmission used in automobiles is formulated as a constrained optimization problem that is solved with the aid of an Estimation of Distribution Algorithm. The design parameters are the teeth number of each gear, the number of multiple planets and gear module, while the objective function is defined as the departure between the imposed and the actual transmission ratios, constrained by teeth-undercut avoidance, limiting the maximum overall diameter of the transmission and ensuring proper spacing of multiple planets. For the actual case of a 3+1 speed Ravigneaux planetary transmission, the design space of the problem is explored using a newly introduced hyperfunction visualization technique, and the effect of various constraints highlighted. Global optimum results are also presented.
A diagnostic methodology for Alzheimer's disease

Like all other neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains a very challenging and difficult problem for diagnosis and therapy. For many years, only historical, behavioral and psychiatric measures have been available to AD cases. Recently, a definitive diagnostic framework, using biomarkers and imaging, has been proposed. In this paper, we propose a promising diagnostic methodology for the framework. In a previous paper, we developed an efficient SVM (Support Vector Machine) based method, which we have now applied to discover important biomarkers and target networks which provide strategies for AD therapy. The methodology selects a number of blood-based biomarkers (fewer than 10% of initial numbers on three AD datasets from NCBI), and the results are statistically verified by cross-validation. The resulting SVM is a classifier of AD vs. normal subjects. We construct target networks of AD based on MI (mutual information). In addition, a hierarchical clustering is applied on the initial data and clustered genes are visualized in a heatmap. The proposed method also performs gender analysis by classifying subjects based on gender. Unlike other traditional statistical analyses, our method uses a machine learning-based algorithm. Our method selects a small set of important biomarkers for AD, differentiates noisy (irrelevant) from relevant biomarkers and also provides the target networks of the selected biomarkers, which will be useful for diagnosis and therapeutic design. Finally, based on the gender analysis, we observe that gender could play a role in AD diagnosis.
Storage of 1000 holograms with use of a dual-wavelength method

We demonstrate the storage of 1000 holograms in a memory architecture that makes use of different wavelengths for recording and readout to reduce the grating decay while retrieving data. Bragg-mismatch problems from the use of two wavelengths are minimized through recording in the image plane and using thin crystals. Peristrophic multiplexing can be combined with angle multiplexing to counter the poorer angular selectivity of thin crystals. Dark conductivity reduces the effectiveness of the dual-wavelength method for nonvolatile readout, and constraints on the usable pixel sizes limit this method to moderate storage densities.
Social Networking Information Disclosure and Continuance Intention: A Disconnect

This paper tests a privacy calculus model for Facebook users. The model posits that both the costs and benefits related to privacy will influence users' information disclosure and their usage continuance intention. In a sample of business college students, we find that the privacy calculus model is not well-supported. Instead, two factors (privacy concern and information sensitivity) that are costs to controlling access to personal information predict information disclosure. Technology trusting beliefs also predict information disclosure, but in the opposite direction as that proposed. We also find that while enjoyment and perceived usefulness predict Facebook usage continuance intention, information sensitivity and privacy concern do not. Thus, the predictors of continuance intention are completely different from the predictors of information disclosure. This means users display a clear disconnect between their reasons to disclose on Facebook and their reasons to continue to use Facebook.
Communication based proactive link power management

As the number of cores in CMPs increases, NoC is projected to be the dominant communication fabric. Increase in the number of cores brings an important issue to the forefront, the issue of chip power consumption, which is projected to increase rapidly with the increase in number of cores. Since NoC infrastructure contributes significantly to the total chip power consumption, reducing NoC power is crucial. While circuit level techniques are important in reducing NoC power, architectural and software level approaches can be very effective in optimizing power consumption. Any such technique power saving technique should be scalable and have minimal adverse impact on performance. We propose a dynamic, communication link usage based, proactive link power management scheme. This scheme, using a Markov model, proactively manages communication link turn-ons and turn-offs, which results in negligible performance degradation and significant power savings. We show that our prediction scheme is about 98% accurate for the SPEC OMP benchmarks and about 93% over all applications experimented. This accuracy helps us achieve link power savings of up to 44% and an average link power savings of 23.5%. More importantly, it incurs performance penalties as low as 0.3% on average.
Receipt of Evidence-Based Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy Among Children and Adolescents With New Diagnoses of Depression.

Objective:Little is known about utilization rates of the various depression treatment options available in the private sector for children and adolescents. For privately insured youths, this study examined the utilization frequency of six treatment options for depression with varying degrees of empirical support.Methods:A nationally representative administrative claims database of privately insured individuals (Truven Analytics database, 2008–2010) was used to construct a cohort of 61,599 youths (ages six to 17 years) with depression. Multivariable logistic regression controlling for insurance type, region, and illness severity and complexity assessed, by physician specialty, the likelihood of receiving six different depression treatments (medication combined with psychotherapy, first-line medication, second-line medication, non–evidence-based medication, second-generation antipsychotics, and psychotherapy alone).Results:Only 58.4% of depressed youths received at least one type of depression treatment; 33...
Introduction: Urban Development

This book is the second volume of a two-volume festschrift in honor of Professor Baleshwar Thakur – titled “Spatial Diversity and Dynamics in Resources and Urban Development.” The volume is intended to provide an opportunity for specialists in urban development who utilize urban development processes to understand urban practices, policy, and politics both in the metropolitan and peripheral regions of the world. The volume recognizes that the locus of urban development now lies in the transforming of peripheral regions of the world, which has caused a paradigm shift in regional and local decision making. Given this overview of urban development, this volume revisits our understanding of interdependencies between places and among scales. Beyond the applied nature of chapters, this volume engages with dynamic issues of urban development that can be approached from diverse perspectives. Consequently, contributions use cutting-edge theories and spatial techniques to examine dramatic changes in issues such as: urban growth in developing and transforming regions, infrastructure growth as an urban land shaper, proliferation of housing and squatter settlements, our changing perceptions and quality of urban life, impact of rural to urban migration on land use dynamics, impact of spatial division of labor on ethnicity in cities, the impact of locational decisions at the local and regional scales on metropolitan retail and wholesale space and structure, and the cumulative impact of all of this on future urban planning regulations.
Special Gas Heater for the TESLA Test Facility

A special heater has been designed and is under construction at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for use at the TESLA test facility at the Deutches Electronen Synchrotron (DESY). This heater is used to warm up the 2.2 K helium gas coming from a dewar which is being pumped down to a pressure of 1600 Pa in order to keep the liquid in the test dewar in the superfluid state. This heater must warm the gas from 2.2 K to 300 K and must have a sufficiently low flow restriction that the pressure drop is less than 100 Pa across the unit with a flow of 10 grams/second. The heating element is constructed of 304 SS tubes with diameter .0127 m and wall thickness 0.254 mm. Each tube is 1 meter long and there are 648 tubes arranged in a square bundle. The tubes are heliarc welded to 3.176 mm thick stainless bars which make the electrical connections to the tubes. The gas is heated primarily inside the tubes with electrical current. The tubes are in a series parallel electrical arrangement which requires a power supply current of 500 amperes. A test has been performed which determines the performance of a single tube for a family of values flow and heating which bring helium gas from 77 K to 300 K. The results of the test will be compared with a computer simulation of the performance of a single tube.
Permeability Prediction Using Pressure and Microseismic Data: A Laboratory Experiment

We describe a method of determining enhanced permeability from hydraulic fracturing. This method depends on the analysis of the transient pressure after shutin and integrating it with microseismic derived fracture geometry. We present an example of permeability prediction using a laboratory data set from the University of Oklahoma. In this laboratory experiment, a tight sandstone sample is hydraulically fractured. Acoustic emission data during hydraulic fracturing is recorded and sources relocated. Permeability of the sample is measured before and after the fracturing. Predicted permeability using the described method matches reasonably well with the laboratory measured permeability of the post fractured sample.
Evaluating and improving push based video streaming with HTTP/2

The sever-initiated push mechanism is one of the most prominent features in the next generation HTTP/2 protocol, having shown its capability on saving network traffic and improving the web page retrieval latency. Our prior work has investigated the server push-based mechanism for HTTP video streaming and proposed a k-push scheme, where the server pushes k video segments following the response to a request. In this study, we further conduct an analysis and evaluation of the k-push scheme in HTTP streaming. Our results uncover that the push mechanism can efficiently increase the network utilization (under certain conditions) compared to regular HTTP streaming. However the results also show that the k-push scheme deteriorates network adaptability and leads to the "over-push" problem, in which the pushed video content waste network resources due to user abandonment behaviors. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new " adaptive-push" scheme, which dynamically adjusts the parameter k to adapt to the runtime environment. To evaluate the performance of adaptive-push, we implemented a prototype system. The experimental results show that compared to k-push, adaptive-push can improve the network adaptability. Furthermore, our real-world trace based simulation results show that adaptive-push can effectively alleviate the over-push problem.
Behavior isolation in enterprise systems

A barrier to creating the platform-independent services envisioned by middleware-based development infrastructures is the level of performance robustness of the distributed applications created with them, in lieu of unpredictable variations in application behavior or in the resources available for satisfying user requests. Our goal is to improve the behavior locality of distributed applications and to prevent performance (mis-)behaviors from spilling across certain boundaries, since such spillage weakens behavior diagnoses and/or weakens or disables the effects of locally applied control or management methods. Toward these ends, we develop a novel software abstraction, termed isolation points (I-points), which can be used to isolate application components or subsystems from each other. The main contributions of this work are Isolation Points, which are software abstractions for monitoring and understanding dynamic runtime behaviors to better isolation application components hence creating more robust distributed applications. Two concrete artifacts using I-points also developed in this thesis are: I(solation)-RMI and I(solation)-Queue. I-RMI demonstrates the utility of isolation points in J2EE's RMI-IIOP domain. I(solation)-Queue applies isolation points to message passing systems.
Some Experiments on Indicators of Parsing Complexity for Lexicalized Grammars

In this paper, we identify syntactic lexical ambiguity and sentence complexity as factors that contribute to parsing complexity in fully lexicalized grammar formalisms such as Lexicalized Tree Adjoining Grammars. We also report on experiments that explore the effects of these factors on parsing complexity. We discuss how these constraints can be exploited in improving efficiency of parsers for such grammar formalisms.
Adaptable power supply for superconductive magnetic energy storage system

A new power supply which permits the independent regulation of the active and reactive power of a superconductive magnetic energy storage (SMES) system is discussed. The power supply consists of 20 units connected in parallel. Each unit contains a 24-pulse bridge converter, a thyristor switched capacitor bank. An SMES system using the power supply is capable of improving power system stability and oscillation damping, as well as performing load leveling. The power supply can be built with commercially available components using well-proven technology. >
Distributed adaptive spectral and spatial sensor fusion for super-resolution classification

A distributed architecture for adaptive sensor fusion (a multisensor fusion neural net) is introduced for 3D imagery data that makes use of a super-resolution technique computed with a Bregman-Iteration deconvolution algorithm. This architecture is a cascaded neural network, which consists of two levels of neural networks. The first level consists of sensor networks: two independent sensor neural nets, namely, a spatial neural net and spectral neural net. The second level is a fusion neural net, which contains a single neural net that combines the information from the sensor level. The inputs to the sensor networks are obtained from unsupervised spatial and spectral segmentation algorithms that can be applied to the original imagery or imagery enhanced by a proposed super-resolution process. Spatial segmentation is obtained by a mean-shift method and spectral segmentation is obtained by a Stochastic Expectation Maximization method. The decision outputs from the sensor nets are used to train the fusion net to a specific overall decision. The overall approach is tested with an experiment involving a multi-sensor airborne collection of LIDAR and Hyperspectral data over a university campus in Gulfport MS. The success of the system in utilizing sensor synergism for an enhanced classification is clearly demonstrated. The final class map contains the geographical classes as well as the signature classes.
Re-healable polyimine thermosets: polymer composition and moisture sensitivity

Moisture sensitivity of polyimines is systematically studied by incorporating various diamine moieties into the polymer networks. Significant variations in moisture responsiveness and property changes were observed. Hydrophilic polyimines can be re-healed at ambient conditions, whereas more hydrophobic polyimines require heat to be healed.
mTORC1 and mTORC2 regulate cell proliferation in Glioblastoma multiforme

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA 2354 Human malignant glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) develops as the resultof stepwise accumulations of multiple genetic alterations. The PI3K/PTEN-AKT/mTOR signaling pathway plays a critical role in oncogenesis due to the loss of tumor suppressor PTEN. The downstream signaling kinase, mammalian target of Rapamycin (mTOR), controls cell survival, growth, and motility through two distinct multiprotein complexes, mTORC1 (a mammalian counterpart of TORC1) and mTORC2 (a mammalian counterpart of TORC2). Rapamycin (RAPA), an mTOR inhibitor, and its analogs are considered potential candidates for the treatment of GBM. We hypothesize that the contribution of the two complexes are interdependent, resulting in uncontrolled GBM growth and dissemination while providing a molecular basis for therapeutic intervention. The interplay of mTORC1 and mTORC2 was studied in cell lines LN18, U87, and U373. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated activated AKT (pAKT) expression in 55% of GBMs. The cells were treated with one of the following, RAPA, LY 294002 (LY), PDGF-BB, or fibronectin (FN), alone or in combination. Levels of phosphorylated AKT, p70S6K, S6K, STAT3, and RhoA, downstream components in the PI3K/PTEN pathway, were assessed by immunoblotting. Treatment with RAPA noticeably reduced activation of AKT at Ser473 by 61% and 72% at 1 and 3 h, respectively, and demonstrated enhanced activation from the baseline thereafter. Pre-treatment with RAPA or LY diminished PDGF-BB or FN stimulation of p70S6K at Thr389. RAPA treatment resulted in sustained suppression of phospho-S6K at Ser 235/236 through a 24h period. A combined treatment with RAPA and LY completely blocked the activation of S6K. Cell survival and growth by PDGF or FN was achieved via the modulation of STAT3; either RAPA or LY alone inhibit this induction, while combined treatment totally abolished PDGF-BB or FN induced phosphorylation of STAT3. Timed treatment with RAPA altered activation of RhoA, a downstream component of the mTORC 2 complex. Cellular motility was determined using radial monolayer cell migration and proliferation was assessed by MTT assay. Cell growth was suppressed 76% and 32% by treatment with LY and RAPA, respectively. Also, pre-treatment with LY plus RAPA reduced PDGF-BB induced cell proliferation. GBM cell migration was reduced by LY treatment but not by RAPA. The results of this study indicate that mTORC1 RAPA-dependent S6K phosphorylation regulates cell proliferation. Activation of mTORC2 is decreased initially but activated by prolonged RAPA treatment, which inhibits downstream S6K that acts as a negative feedback modulator of IRS-1, in turn promoting upstream pAKT signaling. Thus, combining PI3K/AKT and mTORC2 inhibitors in conjunction with RAPA treatment may provide novel targets for GBM therapy.
Optimized Clinical Preparation of DOTA-JR11 with No-Carrier Added 177Lu

1103 Objectives The objective of this study was to determine the maximum possible radionuclide incorporation of no-carrier added (N.C.A) 177Lu versus 177Lu (containing ≤0.020% 177mLu, an impurity created by the neutron bombardment of 176Lu target) to ≤100 µg of DOTA-JR11 (Fani et al., J Nucl Med. 2012, 53,1481-9), in order to minimize peptide mass and adhere to FDA IND microdose regulations. Methods DOTA-JR11 (≤100 µg) was radiolabeled with either N.C.A 177Lu (iTG, Germany) or 177Lu/177mLu (purchased from a US commercial supplier) under identical reaction conditions. The reaction conditions involved incubation at 80°C for 20 min in 0.57M ascorbic acid buffer (pH 4.5) followed by C-18 Sep-Pak® purification and formulation in 5% ethanol: normal saline solution. Various starting activities, ranging from 100 mCi (3.7 GBq) to 360 mCi (13.1 GBq) were used and percent decay-corrected yields were calculated at the end of synthesis. Results A total of six validation studies were performed: three with N.C.A 177Lu and three with 177Lu/177mLu. The initial radiolabeling of the peptide with 300 mCi (11.1 GBq) of 177Lu/177mLu yielded 113 mCi (4.2 GBq) of the final radiolabeled product, a 37.7% yield. Two more 177Lu/177mLu reactions with 100 mCi (3.7 GBq) and 200 mCi (7.4 GBq) starting activity yielded 80 mCi (3.0GBq) and 94.5 mCi (3.5 GBq) of the radiolabeled product, 80% and 47.3% yields, respectively. Then, 275 mCi (10.2 GBq) of N.C.A 177Lu starting activity was used and yielded 161 mCi (6.0 GBq) of the final radiolabeled product, a 58.5% yield. Two additional N.C.A 177Lu radiolabelings with 360 mCi (13.1 GBq) starting activity yielded 315 mCi (11.7 GBq) and 326 mCi (12.1 GBq) of the final radiolabeled product, 87.5% and 89.8% yields, respectively. Conclusions Radiolabeling of ≤100 µg of DOTA-JR11 with 177Lu/177mLu yields the maximum possible radiolabeled peptide activity of 80-113 mCi (3.0-4.2 GBq), regardless of the starting excess activity, possibly due to 177mLu competing for the limited number of DOTA binding sites. Radiolabeling the same amount of peptide under the same conditions with N.C.A 177Lu allows for production of at least 325 mCi (12.0 GBq) of the radiolabeled peptide. Based on the results we can conclude that the incorporation of N.C.A 177Lu is superior to that of 177Lu/177mLu. With this labeling efficiency we are able to conform to the FDA IND microdosing regulations (using less than 100 micrograms per patient administration) and producing therapeutic doses of more than 300 mCi (11.1 GBq) per dose. RESEARCH SUPPORT: The MSKCC Radiochemistry & Molecular Imaging Probes Core is supported in part by NIH Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA008748-48.
Development of a Web-Based Surgical Booking and Informed Consent System to Reduce the Potential for Error and Improve Communication

Article-at-a-Glance Background The decision to perform an elective procedure often originates during an office visit between surgeon and patient. Several administrative tasks follow, including scheduling or "booking" of the case and obtaining informed consent. These processes require communicating accurate information regarding diagnosis, procedure, and other patient-specific details necessary for the safe and effective performance of an operation. Nonstandardized and paper-based consents pose difficulty with legibility, portability, and consistency, thereby representing a source of potential error and inefficiency. There are numerous barriers to efficiently booking elective surgical procedures and obtaining a legible, complete, and easily retrievable informed consent. An integrated Web-based booking and consent system was developed at a multisite university-affiliated community hospital system to improve the speed and quality of work flow, as well as communication with both the patients and staff. Methods A booking and consent system was developed and made available over the intranet. This customized system was created by leveraging existing information systems. Results The electronic consent system uses surgeon-specific templates and allows for a consistent approach to each procedure. A printed consent form can be generated at any time from any of the health care system's three campuses and is commonly stored in the electronic medical record. Integration into our perioperative system allows for coordination with the operating room staff, administrative personal, financial coordinators, and central supply. Total systems expenditure for development was estimated at $40,000 (US). Conclusions Organizations considering standardizing their own consent and operating room booking processes can review this experience in making their own "make or buy" decision for their own settings.
Evaluating Changes in Ocular Redness Using a Novel Automated Method.

PURPOSE To evaluate interobserver concordance in measured ocular redness among a group of raters using an objective computer-assisted method (ocular redness index [ORI]) and a group of clinicians using an ordinal comparative scale. METHODS We conducted a prospective study to evaluate ocular redness in clinical photographs of 12 patients undergoing pterygium surgery. Photographs were acquired preoperatively, and at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively. One group of clinicians graded conjunctival redness in the photographs using an image-based comparative scale. A second group applied the ORI to measure redness in the same photographs. We evaluated redness change between time points, level of agreement among raters, and assessed redness score differences among observers within each group. RESULTS Interobserver agreement using the image-based redness scale was 0.458 (P < 0.001). Interobserver agreement with the ORI was 0.997 (P < 0.001). We observed statistically significant differences among clinicians' measurements obtained with the image-based redness scale (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences among measurements obtained with the ORI (P = 0.27). We observed a significant change in redness between baseline and follow-up visits with all scoring methods. Detailed analysis of redness change was performed only in the ORI group due to availability of continuous scores. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that the ORI scores provide higher consistency among raters than ordinal scales, and can discriminate redness changes that clinical observers often can miss. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE The ORI may be a reliable alternative to measure ocular redness objectively in the clinic and in clinical trials.
Creating Organizational Change Through The Pain Resource Nurse Program

Article-at-a-Glance Background Unrelieved pain remains a critical problem in health care. Barriers to improving the state of pain control include lack of education of health care professionals. Traditional quality improvement (QI) strategies directed toward educational interventions are rarely sufficient to change pain-related practice. Pain Resource Nurse (PRN) Program The PRN program consists of a two-day course, quarterly in-services, regular newsletters, a listserv, individual meetings with PRNs and their managers to plan and conduct quality initiatives appropriate to their unit, as well as an optional clinical experience. Results Significant improvements were seen in knowledge and attitude of the participants, along with reduced turnover, improved patient satisfaction with pain control, a reduction in the prevalence of pain, and a greater percentage of patients who remembered speaking with a doctor or nurse about their pain (93% versus 89%). Discussion Establishing a PRN program entails conquering a number of management challenges common to any organizationwide QI project. The single most important step is building a shared priority among all those who must participate for success—in this case, nursing management. Summary The PRN program is an effective strategy in creating organizational change to improve the state of pain control.
Estimating Lithium-ion Battery State of Charge and Health with Ultrasonic Guided Waves Using an Efficient Matching Pursuit Technique

This paper presents a novel guided-wave-based framework for estimating state of charge (SoC) and state of health (SoH) of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. The guided waves are propagated and sensed using low-profile, surface-mounted piezoelectric transducers on off-the-shelf Li-ion pouch cells. Special emphasis is given to the development of an efficient feature extraction strategy based on the Matching Pursuit (MP) technique. The proposed method decomposes complex waveforms into constituent ‘atoms’, allowing the time-frequency information of the signals to be mined. The descriptive parameters of the decomposed atoms can be extracted to show strong and meaningful correlations with SoC and SoH. Statistical prediction models for estimating SoC/SoH are built using the atom parameters as predictive features in conjunction with the traditional voltage data. It is shown that the atom parameters can augment the voltage data and statistically improve the prediction of SoC by two-fold and, in particular, of SoH by twenty-fold. The results signify the importance of encapsulating proper signal processing and feature extraction into future guided-wave-based SoC/SoH prediction frameworks.
A Case Study of Integer Sum Reduction using Atomics

This paper presents the implementations of integer sum reduction using atomic functions on FPGA, CPU, and GPU platforms. We explain the implementations and optimizations of the kernel using an OpenCL-based highlevel synthesis flow for an FPGA. In addition, we describe the optimizations of the reduction using directives for a multi-core CPU and a GPU. The experimental results show that the reduction on an Nvidia K80 GPU is 3.4X and 6.7X faster than an Intel Xeon 16-core CPU and an Arria 10 GX1150 FPGA, respectively. However, the FPGA consumes 4.4X and 2.3X less power than the CPU and GPU, respectively. The performance per watt on the FPGA is 2.2X higher than that on the CPU and 2.9X lower than that on the GPU.
Extending the Least Squares Vector ARMA Electromechanical Mode Estimation Algorithm

Developed as a an alternative to subspace electromechanical mode estimators, the Least Squares Vector Autoregres-sive Moving Average (LS-VARMA) mode meter has been previously shown to estimate modes from multiple synchrophasors. This paper extends the LS-VARMA mode meter beyond modal estimation to include spectral estimation, generalized magnitude squared coherence (GMSC) analysis, and a modal significance metric. It is shown through extensive Monte Carlo simulations of the miniWECC system that the VARMA power spectra can be used as a model order validation technique and the VARMA GMSC spectrum can be used to indicate the presence of a forced oscillation (FO). Finally, it is shown that in the presence of a FO the LS-VARMA mode meter produces heavily biased estimates unless the model order is increased, which has the side effect of introducing spurious modes. The significance metric is shown to be a useful tool for distinguishing between estimates of system modes and those that arise due to the model order increase.
Isolated Single Stage AC-DC Converter Topologies with Regenerative Snubber Circuit for EV Application

Electric vehicle (EV) battery charging application requires power converters with higher efficiency and power density. Soft-switched single stage power converters can be suitable for this application as they require lesser number of active and passive components compared to the conventional two stage converters. This paper presents two isolated single phase single stage AC-DC converter topologies for EV application. These converters operate under zero current switching (ZCS) condition. A regenerative flyback based snubber circuit is also presented to mitigate voltage spikes resulted due to the leakage inductor of the high frequency link transformer. A detailed analysis of converter operation is presented in this paper. Key experimental results are shown to validate the performance of these converters in a 1 kW prototype.
Hydrodynamic Cavitation Technologies: A Pathway to More Sustainable, Healthier Beverages, and Food Supply Chains

Abstract The capabilities of technologies based on controlled hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) processes of enhancing energy efficiency and yield of industrial processes dealing with liquid substances is arising in several fields. Large benefits are expected for the beverage industry, where HC processes can achieve fine crushing of solid particles, food-grade microbiological safety, homogenization, removal of undesired volatile, and extraction of bioactive compounds, at a fraction of the current cost. In the application of HC processes to beer brewing, along with large advantages in terms of yield, energy efficiency, processing time, and shelf life, the chance has arisen to produce gluten-free beer starting from traditional recipes, as well as to boost the content of valuable bioactive and antioxidant compounds. As well, HC processes have been shown able to brew up to 100% raw unmalted grains, with the use of exogenous enzymes, further proving their applicability to the production of cereal-based vegetable beverages. In this chapter, it is shown that how HC-based technologies could substantially contribute to the sustainability of food supply chains, with their strengths in the acceleration of food processing steps, the reduction and valorization of waste streams, as well as in the superior efficiency in resource use, energy consumption, process yield, and exergy balance. It is argued that the combination of the urgent challenge to increase the sustainability of food supply chains, dictated by severe, intertwined threats to global economy, societies, and environment, as well as by continuing undernourishment in poor countries, and spreading of noncommunicable diseases in more affluent countries, along with the respective socioeconomic burdens, concur to make potential technological breakthroughs, such as promised by the emerging HC-based technologies, quite attractive, with their potential to transform the food processing sector and, consequently, the food supply chains and the quality of the human diets, toward advanced sustainability targets.
Using Protein Interaction Profile Sequencing (PIP-seq) to Identify RNA Secondary Structure and RNA–Protein Interaction Sites of Long Noncoding RNAs in Plants

From the moment of transcription, RNA molecules are continuously bound by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). While the majority of research has focused on how these RBPs regulate posttranscriptional gene regulation of messenger RNAs (mRNAs), the majority of cellular RNAs do not code for proteins, such as ribosomal RNAs, transfer RNAs, and microRNAs. Since these RNAs do not code for protein, their function is mainly determined by their interactions with RBPs as well as their intramolecular base pairing, or RNA secondary structure. One class of noncoding RNAs termed long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently become the subject of intense research interest. To study the function of lncRNAs in eukaryotic cells, it is important to examine both their interactions with RBPs as well as their RNA secondary structure. Protein interaction profile sequencing (PIP-seq) is a genome-wide method that uses structure-specific ribonucleases (RNases) to identify regions of double-stranded and single-stranded RNA as well as regions that are protected from these RNases, which represent sites of RBP binding. This method is a very powerful way to examine RNA-protein interactions and RNA secondary structure of all lncRNAs expressed in cells and tissues and can reveal cell-type-specific or tissue-specific patterns of these RNA features. Here, we give a step-by-step account of performing this technique for comprehensively analyzing RNA-protein interactions and RNA secondary structure in plant transcriptomes.
Pollen Limitation and Self-Compatibility in Three Pine Savanna Herbs

There is substantial interest in the restoration of the Pinus palustris (Longleaf Pine) savannas in the southeastern US Coastal Plain, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world and also home to a diverse plant assemblage. Better understanding of the pollination ecology of these plants is necessary for their successful conservation and restoration. In this study, we assessed the rates of self-compatibility and pollen limitation in Carphephorus bellidifolius (Sandywoods Chaffhead), Liatris squarrulosa (Appalachian Blazing Star), and Aristida beyrichiana (Wiregrass)—3 perennial understory herbaceous species of conservation interest. We measured self-compatibility with a pollination-exclusion–bag experiment and pollen limitation with a pollen-supplementation experiment within South Carolina populations. We found no evidence of pollen limitation in any of these 3 species. This result is surprising given the high incidence of pollen limitation typically found in other study systems. Our pollination-exclusion bag experiment showed that Sandywoods Chaffhead likely requires out-cross pollen for successful pollination, whereas both Appalachian Blazing Star and Wiregrass appear to exhibit at least low levels of self-compatibility. Taken together, our results may indicate that the active management of the Longleaf Pine ecosystem with prescribed fire and overstory tree removal has supported sufficient pollination in these plant populations.
Effects of light intensity on mating of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens, Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

The irradiance (W/m2) of light to which groups of black soldier fly adults were exposed in screen cages was manipulated by varying the distance between the cages and a 100 W, white light-emitting d...
Parenting, self-regulation, and treatment adherence in pediatric chronic headache: A self-determination theory perspective.

This study examined parenting factors associated with children’s self-regulation and physician-rated treatment adherence using a self-determination theory framework in pediatric chronic headache. P...
Activism as Occupation: Promoting Health in Marginalized Communities

Date Presented 04/05/19 This presentation will highlight the current national context for activism in marginalized communities and summarize the findings of a scoping review examining its impact on the health and well-being of people who engage in activism. Finally, this session will provide strategies for OTs to apply these findings in their daily practice. Primary Author and Speaker: Jenny Martinez Additional Authors and Speakers: Loralei Bingamon
Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis in Adults with Prothrombotic Conditions: A Systematic Review and a Case from Our Institution.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare condition characterized by elevated intracranial pressure due to impaired cerebral venous drainage, potentially leading to life-threatening consequences. We searched the PubMed electronic database for 'cerebral venous sinus thrombosis' and 'prothrombotic' cases reported in adults (19+ years) and conducted a systematic review for the published literature in the English language pooled with a case from our institution. Data were analyzed regarding patient demographics, risk factors, clinical features, treatment modalities, and outcomes when available. Thirty cases of CVST were identified (29 case reports, of whom two were described in a case series, and the one case from our institution). The patients' mean age was 39 years (range: 19 - 65). The male: female ratio was 1.14:1. The majority (73.3%) had at least one preexisting risk factor, with prescription drug use being the most common risk factor (33.3%) shared among all patients. Most patients (83.3%) presented with at least two symptoms. The most common presenting symptoms were headache (70%), gastrointestinal disturbance (50%), and seizures (40%). Focal deficits (36.7%), vision disturbances (30%), and altered consciousness (20%) were the remaining presenting complaints. Twelve cases (40%) commented on papilledema, with 10 (83.3%) having papilledema present. Anticoagulation abnormalities were examined in 26 cases (86.7%), out of which four cases (15.4%) had isolated protein S (PS) deficiency, three cases (11.5%) had isolated antithrombin III (ATIII) deficiency, and one case (3.8%) had isolated protein C (PC) deficiency. The most common initial imaging modality (22 cases, 73.3%), and most commonly used overall (23 cases, 76.7%), was computed tomography (CT). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was the second most common imaging modality for initial use (five cases, 16.7%), diagnosis or confirmation of CVST (eight cases, 26.7%), and overall (21 cases, 70%). Heparin treatment was involved in the treatment of 18 cases (60%), and warfarin treatment was used in 10 cases (33.3%). Heparin-warfarin combination treatment was utilized in eight cases (26.7%). Most patients survived (28 cases, 93.3%), while the two remaining patients died secondary to brain death from the CVST (6.7%). The findings from this study highlight the clinical characteristics of CVST. Therefore, this study aims to increase awareness of this rare entity. Physicians should maintain a high index of suspicion in order to diagnose patients presenting in the proper clinical context, given this case shares various forms of presentations with other common clinical conditions but requires long-term anticoagulation.
Telemedicine During COVID-19 for Outpatient Sports and Musculoskeletal Medicine Physicians.

INTRODUCTION: The global pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in an expansion of telemedicine. Measures of quality and barriers for rapid use by patients and physicians are not well described. OBJECTIVE: To describe results from a quality improvement initiative during a rapid adoptive phase of telemedicine during the pandemic. DESIGN: Patient and physician satisfaction with synchronous audiovisual telemedicine visits was measured during the early adoptive phase (6 April 2020-17 April 2020) within the division of sports medicine in an academic Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) department. Patients were invited to participate in a quality improvement initiative by completing an online survey at the end of a telemedicine visit. Physicians completed a separate survey. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient measures included visit type, duration of encounter, quality, and satisfaction. Physicians reported on experiences performed telemedicine. RESULTS: Surveys were completed by 119 patients (293 telemedicine encounters, response rate 40.6%) and 14 physiatrists. Telemedicine was utilized primarily for follow-up visits (n = 74, 70.6%), and the most common duration was 15 to 29 minutes. Patients rated their telemedicine visit as "excellent" or "very good" across measures (91.6%-95.0%) including addressing concerns, communication, developing a treatment plan, convenience, and satisfaction. Value of completing a future telemedicine visit was measured at 84.9%. Most reported estimated travel time saved was in excess of 30 minutes. Rate of no-show was 2.7%. Most physicians (57.1%) had no prior experience with telemedicine visits, and most were comfortable performing these visits after completing 1 to 4 sessions (71%). Nearly all physicians (92.9%) rated their telemedicine experience as very good or excellent. The key barrier identified for telemedicine was technical issues. All physicians reported plans to perform telemedicine visits if reimbursement continues. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, rapid expansion of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic was well-received by a majority of patients and physicians. This suggests feasibility in rapid expansion of telemedicine for other outpatient sports medicine practices.
Identification of FGFR2 as a novel melanoma oncogene

2588 Melanoma is the eighth most common malignancy in the United States, and its incidence has been increasing over the last two decades. One of the hallmarks of melanocytic transformation is a change from paracrine growth factor stimulation via ectopic expression of growth factors and/or receptors by melanoma cells. FGF signaling has been implicated in melanoma progression for many years through evidence of an autocrine loop involving FGF2 and FGFR1. In normal skin, melanocytes do not express FGF2; it is provided by the keratinocytes. However the majority of melanomas do express FGF2, with expression levels increasing with tumor progression. In vitro skin models have implicated FGF2 in mediating proliferation, survival and migration in the dermis. Although FGF2 has been shown to bind to all four FGFRs, the only FGFR that has been extensively studied regarding its role in melanoma progression is FGFR1. Abrogation of FGFR1 expression either by antisense oligonucleotides or the use of dominant negative expression constructs in both melanocytes and melanomas has been shown to result in inhibition of growth and induction of apoptosis in both in vitro and in vivo model systems. Based on these and other data implicating FGF signaling in melanoma progression, we sequenced all four FGFRs in a panel of 47 melanoma cell lines as part of a candidate gene mutation screen to identify novel RTKs mutated in melanoma. Somewhat surprisingly, we identified mutations in FGFR2, but not FGFR1, in 12% of melanoma cell lines. This mutation analysis has now been expanded, and over 20 novel FGFR2 mutations have been identified in 14/113 (12%) cell lines and 3/26 (12%) metastatic tumors. In addition, approximately 80% of the FGFR2 coding sequence has been assessed in a panel of 83 primary tumors and to date, mutations have been identified in 7/83 (8%) tumors. These mutations occur predominantly in the IgII, IgIII and kinase domains of FGFR2. Mutation data from the cell line panel shows that FGFR2 and PTEN mutations demonstrate mutual exclusivity, suggesting that the PI3K/AKT pathway as an important downstream signaling pathway. Analysis by IHC of FGFR1 and FGFR2 has been performed on two melanoma progression arrays, and shows that expression of FGFR2 clearly increases with disease progression. The novel FGFR2 mutations we have identified are predicted to result in receptor activation via several mechanisms, including ligand-independent receptor dimerization and kinase activation, and data on the functional significance of these mutations will be presented.
Intrinsic excitability mechanisms of neuronal ensemble formation

ABSTRACT The scarcity of embryonic/foetal material as a resource for direct study means that there is still limited understanding of human retina development. Here, we present an integrated transcriptome analysis combined with immunohistochemistry in human eye and retinal samples from 4 to 19 post-conception weeks. This analysis reveals three developmental windows with specific gene expression patterns that informed the sequential emergence of retinal cell types and enabled identification of stage-specific cellular and biological processes, and transcriptional regulators. Each stage is characterised by a specific set of alternatively spliced transcripts that code for proteins involved in the formation of the photoreceptor connecting cilium, pre-mRNA splicing and epigenetic modifiers. Importantly, our data show that the transition from foetal to adult retina is characterised by a large increase in the percentage of mutually exclusive exons that code for proteins involved in photoreceptor maintenance. The circular RNA population is also defined and shown to increase during retinal development. Collectively, these data increase our understanding of human retinal development and the pre-mRNA splicing process, and help to identify new candidate disease genes.
Modeling Measurement Errors of the Exogenous Composites From Congeneric Measures in Interaction Models.

We investigated the performance of two single indicator methods: latent moderated structural equation (LMS) and reliability-adjusted product indicator (RAPI) methods, on testing interaction effects...
Monogamy as Public Policy for STD Prevention: In Theory and in Practice:

Monogamy is current public policy for preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). To evaluate whether monogamy is serving its intended purposes, the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) defin...
"Is This Your Baby?": Gay Fathered Families' Experiences Navigating Heteronormativity in the United States.

Little research has directly analyzed the ways in which gay fathered families navigate experiences stemming from the fact that their family type stands out and challenges heteronormative family ide...