cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 1872: Plasma carotenoids and breast cancer risk in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort

Background: Several plasma carotenoids have been inversely associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk in large cohort studies and a pooled analysis. Whether associations differ by tumor or participant characteristics is unclear. We investigated the associations of plasma carotenoids with postmenopausal breast cancer risk overall and by estrogen receptor (ER) status, tumor stage, smoking status and body mass index in a case-control study nested in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort. Methods: A total of 561 breast cancer cases diagnosed between blood draw in 1998-2001 and June 30, 2007 and matched 1:1 with controls on race, birth date and blood draw date were included. Multivariable-adjusted conditional and unconditional logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Plasma α-carotene was inversely associated with breast cancer risk even after adjustment for total fruit and vegetable intake (4th vs. 1st quartile OR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.40, 0.85, P-trend = 0.03). This inverse association was stronger among ever smokers (P-interaction Conclusions: These results suggest that higher plasma α-carotene is associated with lower risk of breast cancer, and this association was even stronger in smokers and obese women. Citation Format: Ying Wang, Susan M. Gapstur, Mia M. Gaudet, Jeremy D. Furtado, Hannia Campos, Marjorie L. McCullough. Plasma carotenoids and breast cancer risk in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1872. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1872
The Welfare Effects of Entry and Strategies for Maintaining the USO in the Postal Sector

The debate on entry policies in the postal sector has centered on how to continue to provide Universal Service without undermining the financial viability of the incumbent Postal Operator (PO). The debate continues as the European Commission conducts a prospective study, as required by the Postal Service Directive, to assess the impact on universal service of complete liberalization in 2009 for each member state. However, several member states have already entered a very clear path leading to full liberalization ahead of this date.1 This presents a potentially serious problem in that unless the Universal Service Obligation (USO) is eliminated, POs will still have to satisfy the USO without the traditional reserved area. In addition, incumbent POs will face continuing challenges in setting the terms of access offered to entrants. Pricing and contracting will become much more competitive, and access policies will have to take into account increasingly important competitive concerns with the revenue required to maintain the USO. Finding a workable solution to these problems is critical since if inappropriate policy choices are made, the changes that are then ushered in could be extremely costly to undo.
Calibration of a Rabbit Embolic Stroke Model: A Practical Alternative for Stroke Therapy Development (P07.243)

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this presentation is to evaluate the utility of the rabbit small clot embolic stroke model (RSCEM). For this, we will review the efficacy and failure of therapeutic strategies studied in the model. BACKGROUND: The RSCEM was developed to incorporate stroke population heterogeneity and a clinical rating endpoint based upon NIHSS. Subjects are rated for clinical function, and a quantal analysis method is used to correlate clot burden in brain with behavior. A P50 value (mg), neurologic dysfunction in 50% of a group of animals is generated and compared with control. A statistically significant increase in P50, compared to control is indicative of clinical improvement. DESIGN/METHODS: All methods used for the screening of proposed "neuroprotective" drugs and "devices" have been described in detail (references 2 and 3). RESULTS: In the RSCEM, tPA and NXY-059 improve clinical function when given 1-1.5 hours following embolization (1-3) and up to 1 hour after a stroke (3) , respectively. In patients rt-PA is effective within 3-4.5 hours after stroke onset. [tPA, 3-fold difference in therapeutic window (TW) between species], and in the SAINT II trial, NXY-059 was not efficacious when given within 3.76 hours. The presentation will also present correlative data for transcranial laser therapy, as well as other strategies studied in both the RSCEM and patients (3) . CONCLUSIONS: Correlative data for diverse "neuroprotective" strategies suggests that efficacy observed 1-1.5 hour post-embolization in the RSCEM may represent 2.5-3 hours in stroke patients. Using a conservative TW ratio between the RSCEM and stroke patients, a minimum threshold of 1.5 hours in the RSCEM would allow for translation of a novel neuroprotective therapy in AIS patients when administered ≥3 hours. Currently, the RSCEM is the only translational model where a TW correlation exists. (1)NEJM 333, 1581-1587,1995); (2)Science, 230, 1289-1292,1985); (3)Translational Stroke Research: From Target Selection to Clinical Trials. Springer, Chapter 27, p.541-84,2012. Supported by: NS060685. Disclosure: Dr. Lapchak has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Journal of Neurology and Neurophysiology as Editor-in-Chief.
Restoration of the CD4+CD25bright Regulatory Cell Subset in Patients with Crohn’s Disease Following Autologous Non-Myeloablative Stem Cell Transplantation (NST).

Regulatory CD4+CD25 bright cells are a distinct population of T cells which modulate Th1 and Th2 mediated immune responses and have a preventive role in the development of autoimmune diseases including Crohn’s disease. Using flow cytometry we analyzed the percentage and absolute number of CD4+CD25 bright cells in the peripheral blood of Crohn’s disease (CD) patients before and following non-myeloablative stem cell transplantation. All patients (N=14) survived the NST procedure and showed marked clinical and histological improvements in disease severity. Prior to NST, both the frequency and absolute number of CD4+CD25 bright cells in CD patients were reduced compared to healthy volunteers (p bright cell subset. When these patients were excluded from analysis, the difference between pre and post NST measurements increased (p bright regulatory T cells which may contribute to the restoration of immunological homeostasis and remission of disease.
REVIEW OF PAIN ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS AVAILABLE FOR OLDER ADULTS

Pain is common among older adults, and is often underreported because it is considered as part of the normal physiological changes that come with aging. Since self-report of pain is the gold standard in research and practice, it is important to use the appropriate pain assessment tools to facilitate self-report. Little is known which self-report pain assessment tools are most appropriate to use in cognitively intact older adults. Thus, the purpose of this review is to identify which tools have been recognized as appropriate tools for this population. A systematic search was conducted through indexed databases from January 1990 to December 2015. Two raters independently evaluated 35% of abstracts based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. A final set of 43 full articles was reviewed. There were 23 self-reported pain assessment tools including non-dimensional, unidimensional, and multidimensional tools. In this review, the Iowa Pain Thermometer, the 6-point Verbal Descriptor Scale, and the 11-point Verbal Numeric Rating Scale, the short form Brief Pain Inventory and the Geriatric Pain Measure were recognized as more suitable tools than any other tools in cognitively intact older adults across different settings. Only the Geriatric Painful Event Inventory and the Geriatric Pain Measure were developed specifically for older adults. Since 80% of older adults have at least one chronic disease, multidimensional tools such as the Geriatric Pain Measure may be more appropriate. More studies are needed to evaluate the psychometric tests of the Geriatric Pain Measure in different settings, racially diverse populations and diseases or clinical conditions.
Detailed measurements of local thickness changes for U-7Mo dispersion fuel plates with Al-3.5Si matrix after irradiation at different powers in the RERTR-9B experiment

Abstract The Materials Management and Minimization program is developing fuel designs to replace highly enriched fuel with fuels of low enrichment. Swelling is an important irradiation behavior that needs to be well understood. Data from high resolution thickness measurements performed on U-7Mo dispersion fuel plates with Al-Si alloy matrices that were irradiated at high power is sparse. This paper reports the results of detailed thickness measurements performed on two dispersion fuel plates that were irradiated at relatively high power to high fission densities in the Advanced Test Reactor in the same RERTR-9B experiment. Both plates were irradiated to similar fission densities, but one was irradiated at a higher power than the other. The goal of this work is to identify any differences in the swelling behavior when fuel plates are irradiated at different powers to the same fission densities. Based on the results of detailed thickness measurments, more swelling occurs when a U-7Mo dispersion fuel with Al-3.5Si matrix is irradiated to a high fission density at high power compared to one irradiated at a lower power to high fission density.
The Performance Paradox: Government Funding of Nonprofit Organizations

The relationship between government and nonprofit organizations has been documented by researchers. Government wants to make sure that public dollars used for their intended purpose by those nonpro...
Induced pluripotent stem cells to generate skin tissue models

Abstract Human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be differentiated into a wide spectrum of multiple, isogenic, patient-specific cell types that offer an important new source of cells for the construction of 3-D skin tissue models. iPSCs have been differentiated to specific cell lineages, including fibroblasts, keratinocytes, melanocytes, and endothelial cells that can be incorporated into skin tissue models that support the development of a tissue microenvironment with a well-differentiated, stratified squamous epithelium. When incorporated into 3-D skin tissues, these iPSC-derived cell types display cellular behaviors that mimic their in vivo functions. Further development of skin tissues constructed with iPSC-derived cells will generate versatile models to study the pathogenesis of skin disease processes and to test the safety and efficacy of new products and drugs designed to treat these diseases.
A self-powered IoT SoC platform for wearable health care

This talk will focus on an IoT Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) presented as an example of IoT work in the UAE and as part of the UAE SRC (Semiconductor Research Corp) Center of Excellence on Energy Efficient Electronic Systems (aka ACE4S http://www.src.org/program/grc/ace4s/) involving researchers from 5 UAE Universities looking at developing new technologies aiming at innovative self-powered wireless sensing and monitoring SoC platforms. The research targets applications in self-powered chip sets for use in public health, ambient intelligence, safety and security and IoT. ACE4S is the first SRC center of excellence outside the US. One such application, which we will discuss in details, is a ground breaking self-powered IoT SoC platform for wearable health care. More specifically we will present a novel fully integrated ECG signal processing system for the prediction of ventricular arrhythmia using a unique set of ECG features extracted from two consecutive cardiac cycles. Two databases of the heart signal recordings from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the MIT PhysioNet were used as training, test and validation sets to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. The system achieved an accuracy of 99%. The ECG signal is sensed using a flexible, dry, Graphene-based technology and the system is powered up by harvesting human thermal energy. The system architecture is implemented in Global foundries' 65 nm CMOS process, occupies 0.112 mm2 and consumes 2.78 micro Watt at an operating frequency of10 KHz and from a supply voltage of 1.2V. To our knowledge, this is the first SoC implementation of an ECG-based processor that is capable of predicting ventricular arrhythmia hours before the onset and with an accuracy of 99%.
Exploring the impacts of a first-year engineering study abroad program on subsequent college experiences

The Rising Sophomore Abroad Program (RSAP) is a program for first-year engineering students that combines a spring semester global engineering course with a two-week international module in May immediately following the semester. RSAP has been running for 10 years, and a variety of assessments have demonstrated benefits for students participating in the program. However, the goals of RSAP extend beyond the immediate learning outcomes of the experience. The program seeks to influence students' interests and participation in global activities throughout their college experience and into their engineering careers. This study assessed these mid-term goals by administering a survey of open-ended questions to RSAP alumni during their senior year to learn how RSAP influenced their time in college. Students reported an increased interest in travel and global topics, and all had traveled abroad since completing RSAP. They also described attitudes, knowledge, and skills that they learned from the program and have since been able to apply. Looking toward graduation, many reported a sustained interest in pursuing a career where they could work abroad. These results represent a unique contribution to the literature on global engineering programs in their exploration of the mid-term impacts of a short-term engineering study abroad program.
Overview and Pathology of Gastric Cancer

For most of the twentieth century, gastric cancer was the major cancer burden worldwide. Its etiology and pathogenesis were obscure. Several events have changed that outlook, and currently, it ranks in the second place of mortality from cancer, after lung cancer. A gradual decline in the incidence of gastric cancer has been taking place for several decades, first seen in more affluent societies and then in other countries. The reasons for this decline are not entirely clear. However, it has coincided with several societal changes. Improvement in economic parameters in many populations was reflected in better home sanitation and better general nutrition. Fresh fruits and vegetables became available year round because of new technologies in home refrigeration and transportation. Other changes in dietary practices, such as the decrease in the intake of salt may also be linked to the decrease in gastric cancer incidence. Another relevant event was the development of the technology of the flexible fiberoptic endoscopy and its gradual generalization in the practice of medicine. This instrument allowed the scrutiny and early management of precancerous lesions identified in gastric biopsies. The major precancerous lesions had been previously identified by pathologists, based on autopsy studies and gastrectomy specimens. These observations clearly established the fact that there were changes in the gastric mucosa that preceded the clinical diagnosis of cancer by several decades. Another major event was the gradual recognition that an infectious agent, namely, Helicobacter pylori, is intimately associated with gastric cancer development. In 1994, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified H. pylori infection as a class I carcinogen (IARC, 1994). That decision was based entirely on epidemiologic observations, without support in experimental studies. Soon after that, cancer development was documented in Mongolian gerbils infected with H. pylori (Watanabe et al. 1998). Since then, the importance of infectious agents as potential carcinogens has been recognized. Agents that induce chronic active inflammation are of special interest. A major research focus at the present time explores the role of inflammation in cancer causation. This research opens the way to the identification of events that may either lead to or prevent a neoplastic outcome, possibly leading to cancer prevention strategies.
Test-Retest Reproducibility of Adult-Reported High School Diet Varies among Racially and Ethnically Diverse US Men and Women.

Background Adolescent diet is thought to play an important role in future chronic disease risk. However, few studies have examined the reproducibility of adult-reported adolescent diet, and evidence for possible differences in reproducibility by demographic characteristics is limited. Objective We assessed the ability of adults to consistently report past high school diet over a 1-y period and examined differences in reproducibility by selected demographic characteristics. Methods By using age-adjusted partial Spearman (ρ) or Pearson (r) correlations, we assessed 1-y reproducibility for 33 line items, 20 food groups, and 2 dietary patterns of high school diet reported in adulthood via a questionnaire completed by 742 participants in the Cancer Prevention Study 3 (CPS-3) Diet Substudy. Results Participants' median age was 53 y (range: 31-70 y), 65.2% were women, 59.8% were non-Hispanic white, 24.8% were non-Hispanic black, and 15.4% were Hispanic. The mean Spearman correlation assessing reproducibility across the 33 line items was 0.60 and ranged from 0.44 to 0.72, with no differences in mean correlations by age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, or body mass index (BMI). Reproducibility was similar across food groups (ρ = 0.62; range: 0.44-0.68), with differences by sex, ethnicity, age, or BMI observed for some food groups (e.g., sugar-sweetened beverages). Pearson correlations for the reproducibility of 2 major eating patterns, "fast food" and "whole food," were 0.73 and 0.72, respectively. Conclusion These results show good 1-y reproducibility of assessed high school diet, as reported from memory in adulthood, by line item, food group, and dietary pattern, with noted differences by demographic characteristics.
Survivability of Mesh Networks

The general concept of fault tolerance can be quantified in various different metrics, reflecting different needs, concerns and perceived risks. We start with a short primer on the general concept of survivability, and introduce some of these metrics. We argue that availability and performability are useful metrics to reflect the goal of service continuity for the emerging uses of the mesh paradigm. After discussing the issue of component failures and topological resilience, we discuss the problems of availability and performability, and discuss approaches in the literature. The literature in this area is still evolving, and we identify useful open research problems in performability oriented design of mesh networks.
Combining Signals for Cross-Lingual Relevance Feedback

We present a new cross-lingual relevance feedback model that improves a machine-learned ranker for a language with few training resources, using feedback from a better ranker for a language that has more training resources. The model focuses on linguistically non-local queries, such as [world cup] and [copa mundial], that have similar user intent in different languages, thus allowing the low-resource ranker to get direct relevance feedback from the high-resource ranker. Our model extends prior work by combining both query- and document-level relevance signals using a machine-learned ranker. On an evaluation with web data sampled from a real-world search engine, the proposed cross-lingual feedback model outperforms two state-of-the-art models across two different low-resource languages.
Bringing Life Where There Is No Light: A Low-Cost Movie Projection and Data Collection Solution for Underserved Areas

Limited access to electricity in rural Africa impedes the human and economic development in these areas by restricting access to information. In addition, data collection in this region remains a costly and time consuming endeavor. However, recent developments in solar energy and the fast adoption of mobile phones present new opportunities to reach people living in African villages. In this paper, we present an innovative solution that combines a relatively inexpensive, solar-powered movie projection kit with a simple USSD based mobile application to provide entertainment in villages, while collecting data in a cost effective, real-time manner. The results from a pilot project in 8 villages where we deployed this solution highlight the possibility of obtaining detailed and instantaneous market data for advertisers, whilst simultaneously entertaining audiences with high quality content. We also discuss additional possible uses for the solution in other sectors such as health and education.
Determinants of Generic Drug Substitution in the United States

Background:Some classes of drugs have lower than optimal uptake of generic products. We aimed to understand the determinants of generic drug substitution across classes.Methods:We conducted a cross...
A Study on Curriculum Planning and Its Relationship with Graduation GPA and Time To Degree

In recent years, several data-driven methods have been developed to help undergraduate students during course selection and sequencing. These methods tend to utilize the whole set of past course registration data, regardless of the past students' graduation GPA and time to degree (TTD). Though some previous work has shown through the results of their developed models that students of different GPA tend to take courses in different sequence, the actual analysis of the degree plans and how/if they relate to the students' graduation GPA and time-to-degree has not received much attention. This study analyzes how the student's academic level when they take different courses, as well as the pairwise degree similarity between pairs of students relate to the students' graduation GPA and TTD. Our study uses a large-scale dataset that contains 25 majors from different colleges at the University of Minnesota and spans 16 years. The analysis shows that TTD is highly correlated with both the timing and ordering of courses that students follow in their degree plans, while the correlation between graduation GPA and the course timing and ordering is not as high. We also perform a case study that uses course timing and ordering features to predict whether the student at each semester will graduate on-time or overtime. The results show that careful curriculum planning is needed to improve graduation rates in universities.
Working memory improves developmentally as neural processes stabilize

Working memory performance is a key indicator of cognitive and developmental status. While recent evidence indicates that stabilizing neural gain supports the stabilization of working memory during adolescence, the computational mechanisms linking neural stabilization to behavior are poorly understood. We develop a mechanistic account of behavior during the memory-guided saccade task based on a stochastic accumulator framework. Results indicate that a specific balance of independent gain signals affecting working memory representations and oculomotor response thresholds can account for a peculiar U-shaped feature of the speed-accuracy relationship. Additionally, aspects of behavioral variability and mean behavioral performance, as well as subtle shifts in the shape of the speed-accuracy relationship across development, can be accounted for by the stabilization of these two sources of variability. Thus, the stabilization of neural variability can, in part, account for developmental improvements in behavioral variability as well as some improvement in mean behavioral performance.
Preemergent Bittercress Control in Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata)

Abstract Preemergent herbicides that effectively control hairy bittercress are not labeled for use on creeping phlox. Studies were conducted to determine preemergent herbicide injury to creeping ph...
Clouded Views and Silver Linings: Learning to Teach Literacy in Cooperating Teachers’ Classrooms

This paper explores Megan’s – a preservice teacher’s – learning around teaching literacy while enrolled in a social justice-oriented teacher education program and student teaching in poverty-impact...
Analysis of Security of Split Manufacturing Using Machine Learning

This paper is the first to analyze the security of split manufacturing using machine learning (ML), based on data collected from layouts provided by industry, with eight routing metal layers and significant variation in wire size and routing congestion across the layers. Many types of layout features are considered in our ML model, including those obtained from placement, routing, and cell sizes. Since the runtime cost of our basic ML procedure becomes prohibitively large for lower layers, we propose novel techniques to make it scalable with little sacrifice in the effectiveness of the attack. Moreover, we further improve the performance in the top routing layer by making use of higher quality training samples and by exploiting the routing convention. We also propose a validation-based proximity attack procedure, which generally outperforms our recent prior work. In the experiments, we analyze the ranking of the features used in our ML model and show how features vary in importance when moving to the lower layers. We provide comprehensive evaluation and comparison of our model with different configurations and demonstrate dramatically better performance of attacks compared to the prior work.
The effects of age on the severity of joint damage and intra-articular inflammation following a simulated medial meniscus injury in 3, 6, and 9 month old male rats.

ABSTRACTPurpose: Aging is a known risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA). Several transgenic rodent models have been used to investigate the effects of accelerated or delayed aging in articular joints...
Oxygen In-Diffusion and Out-Diffusion in Single Crystal Yba2Cu3O7-δ

Isothermal resistance measurements were used to monitor oxygen indiffusion and out-diffusion in single crystal YBa2Cu3O7-δ from 600-780°C. Measurements on single crystals reveal that oxygen out-diffusion is intrinsically faster than in-diffusion, which is contrary to the rates observed in other studies for polycrystalline ceramics. Oxygen out-diffusion measurements suggest two different mechanisms, one above and one below ∼680°C, which have activation energies of 1.57±0.06eV and 1.00±0.04eV, respectively. Calculation of relaxation times for oxygen in-diffusion into initially tetragonal YBa2Cu3O7-δ suggest a single mechanism from 600-780°C with an activation energy of 1.16±0.06eV.
Government information and documents and technical reports

Abstract The increased reliance, development, and access policies, programs, and services related to digital, full-text, online access to all forms of Government Documents and reports literature continues. The presence of online catalogues of libraries’ holdings is nearly universal and aggregating them in databases, such as WorldCat (in all of its formats), is commonplace.
Onboard Autonomous Sense and Avoid of Non-Conforming Unmanned Aerial Systems

NASA's UAS Traffic Management (UTM) concept proposes a federated, service-based traffic management system for small UAS operating at altitudes below 400 feet. Under this concept, private entities operate UTM Service Suppliers (USS) and are responsible for approval, coordination, and deconfliction of flight plans submitted by mission operators. Due to unforeseen factors, any number of off-nominal conditions could force a participating vehicle to stray from the approved flight plan and become non-conforming. NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) conducted a series of flight tests referred to as Pathfinder 1 to demonstrate the use of onboard autonomy-enabling technologies in scenarios where a non-conforming UAS flies through the assigned airspace of another vehicle while trying to reach an emergency landing site. Two test vehicles were equipped with an onboard autonomy software developed at NASA LaRC referred to as ICAROUS (Independent Configurable Architecture for Reliable Operation of Unmanned Systems). ICAROUS's autonomous sense and avoid (SAA) and geofence conformance capabilities were tested and demonstrated in the Pathfinder 1 flight tests. In these flight tests, the two aircraft initially follow flight plans that have been previously approved by a USS and determined to be conflict-free. During the flight, a scripted emergency scenario is triggered, requiring one vehicle to make an emergency landing using an onboard application named Safe2Ditch to select the best landing site. A straight-line path to the landing site would cause the UAS to become non-conforming and cross directly through the airspace of the other UAS, creating an elevated risk of collision. Two methods of autonomous onboard conflict resolution were tested to resolve this scenario and prevent collision. In the first method, the nonconforming vehicle flew directly to the landing site, passing through the airspace of the conforming vehicle. The conforming vehicle used ICAROUS's SAA capability to autonomously deviate from its flight plan to maintain a well-clear distance of 500 feet then returned to the flight plan once the conflict had passed. In the second resolution method, a keep-out geofence was placed 500 feet around the flight plan of the conforming vehicle. The non-conforming vehicle used ICAROUS to plan a route to the landing site that respected the geofence and thus maintained a safe separation from the airspace of the conforming vehicle. This paper also reports on the use of FLARM (Flight Alarm), a vehicle-to-vehicle position communication technology that transmits on 915 MHz, to provide traffic vehicle position data for onboard SAA.
Racism and Racial/Cultural Identity Development Model

This paper examines the face of racism in the United States of America (USA) based on selfreflections. The dynamics of oppression and discrimination resulting from racism will be analyzed against the backdrop of empowerment theory. The paper also suggests the use of Racial/Cultural Identity Development model (or conceptual framework) developed by Sue and Sue (1990, 1999) in understanding the stages of development the oppressed people experience as they struggle to understand themselves and the dominant culture. The role social workers could play in improving relations between the racial minority culture and the dominant culture is also discussed.
FPGA Acceleration of Fluid-Flow Kernels

Adding heterogeneity to high-performance systems has the potential to meet the increasing performance demands of applications beyond the era of Moore's Law speedup. In this paper we design and evaluate an FPGA pipeline to accelerate the CMT-bone-BE physics application, which is highly scalable, but performance bound by compute-heavy fluid-flow kernels. For the targeted kernels, a single instance of our FPGA pipeline shows a speedup of up to 9.4x over a CPU core. For the entire application workload, this kernel acceleration provides an average 1.5× speedup over a CPU core, while also outperforming a GPU. With even mid-range FPGAs providing enough resources to replicate our pipeline over 8 times, we project that the FPGA accelerator can add and/or replace 12 equivalent cores with a low-power alternative, with additional time-sharing optimizations potentially increasing that amount significantly.
Interactive Floor Mapping with Depth Sensors.

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms have been growing popular in indoor navigation and mapping. However, it often fails in many real-world environments, such as low-lighting, fast motion, featureless walls, and large buildings. There are also usability issues with the 3D point clouds for actual indoor localization and mapping for humans and autonomous robots. In this study, we use depth sensor to generate 3D point cloud and then register that to the 2D building floor plan or footprint. We extract the ground plane from the point cloud and create a 2D point cloud and contours to be registered to the map. The experiments show that 2D map is more intuitive than 3D point cloud. Furthermore, the contour map reduces computational time in orders of magnitude. We also developed a graphical user interface to enable the user to register the 2D point cloud interactively. It is a new way to use SLAM data. Our case studies in large office buildings demonstrate that this approach is simple, intuitive, and effective to enhance the localization and mapping in the real-world.
An Empirical Evaluation of the t-SNE Algorithm for Data Visualization in Structural Engineering.

A fundamental task in machine learning involves visualizing high-dimensional data sets that arise in high-impact application domains. When considering the context of large imbalanced data, this problem becomes much more challenging. In this paper, the t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) algorithm is used to reduce the dimensions of an earthquake engineering related data set for visualization purposes. Since imbalanced data sets greatly affect the accuracy of classifiers, we employ Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) to tackle the imbalanced nature of such data set. We present the result obtained from t-SNE and SMOTE and compare it to the basic approaches with various aspects. Considering four options and six classification algorithms, we show that using t-SNE on the imbalanced data and SMOTE on the training data set, neural network classifiers have promising results without sacrificing accuracy. Hence, we can transform the studied scientific data into a two-dimensional (2D) space, enabling the visualization of the classifier and the resulting decision surface using a 2D plot.
42 – HEMATOLOGY: COAGULATION PROBLEMS

Lupus anticoagulants (LACs) are immunoglobulins that interfere with in vitro phospholipid-dependent coagulation tests. Initially recognized in the context of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), LACs are now known to occur frequently in patients with other disorders, as well as in individuals with no apparent underlying disease. It is now recognized that LACs and anti-cardiolipin antibodies (ACAs) are separate entities, but both are members of a diverse group of immunoglobulins that bind to phospholipid-bound proteins including, but not limited to, β2-glycoprotein-I (β2GPI) and prothrombin. LACs and ACAs are both associated with a high risk of arterial and venous thromboembolicevents, although the mechanism of this thrombotic risk is still unknown. In this chapter the term “anti-phospholipid antibody (APL)” is used to denote the presence of a LAC and/or ACA. The chapter discusses the diagnosis of LACs, the possible thrombotic mechanisms associated with APLs, and the treatment of thrombosis in patients with APLs.
Fetal crown-rump length and biparietal diameter in the second trimester of pregnancy

This study examines the relationships between fetal size (biparietal diameter and crown-rump length) and gestational age among subjects aborted by hypertonic saline in the second trimester of pregnancy. With a confidence of 90 per cent, biparietal diameter can be used to predict gestational age within plus or minus 2 weeks, and crown-rump length can be used to predict gestational age within plus or minus 3 weeks.
Asymptotic Evaluation of the Probabilities of Misclassification by Linear Discriminant Functions

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an asymptotic evaluation of the probabilities of misclassification by linear discriminant functions. The problem of classifying an observation into one of two multivariate normal populations with a common covariance matrix might be called the classical classification problem. Fisher's linear discriminant function serves as a criterion when samples are used to estimate the parameters of the two distributions. When the parameters are unknown and there is available a sample from each population, the mean of each population is estimated by the mean of the respective sample and the common covariance matrix of the populations is estimated by using deviations from the respective means in the two samples. The classification function W, proposed by T. W. Anderson, is obtained by replacing the parameters in the linear function resulting from the Neyman–Pearson Fundamental Lemma by the estimates; the substitution for parameters has been called plugging-in estimates. The Studentized W statistic is W less the estimate of its limiting mean divided by the estimate of its limiting standard deviation. If a statistician wants to set his cut-off point to achieve a specified probability of misclassification, he can use this Studentized W.
Sustaining the Si revolution: challenges and opportunities

Continual advances in planar process technology enabled MOSFET gate lengths to reach below 100 nm in integrated circuits produced at the turn of the century, and will likely support MOSFET scaling into the sub-10 nm regime within the next 10 years. Gains in circuit performance will not be as straightforward to achieve as had been in the past, however, due to fundamental issues such as statistical dopant fluctuations, parasitic resistance and capacitance, and carrier velocity limits. This paper will first describe how these issues can be mitigated to allow transistor scaling to reach the quantum-mechanical limit. It will then discuss alternative approaches to achieving gains in system performance and cost as the era of transistor scaling draws to a close. Opportunities for research will be described.
Activity of azacitidine in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

BACKGROUND: Hypomethylating drugs are useful in the management of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Two of these drugs, azacitidine and decitabine, have received FDA approval for the treatment of MDS and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). However, phase 2 and 3 studies that assessed these agents in MDS included only a small number of patients with CMML. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of azacitidine in the treatment of CMML. METHODS: The records of thirty-eight patients diagnosed with CMML and treated with azacitidine at our institution were reviewed. Azacitidine was administered at 75 mg/m2/day for 7 days or 100 mg/m2/day for 5 days every 4 weeks. Patients who received at least 1 cycle of the drug were considered evaluable for response. RESULTS: Response was assessed by the modified International Working Group (IWG) criteria. The overall response rate was 39% (14 of 36); complete response (CR) rate was 11% (4 of 36); partial response (PR) rate was 3% (1 of 36); hematologic improvement (HI) was 25% (9 of 36). The median overall survival was 12 months. There was a statistically significant overall survival advantage in responders compared with nonresponders: 15.5 months versus 9 months, respectively (P = .04). Treatment was generally well tolerated. One of 2 patients had complete resolution of a skin rash that was due to monocytic infiltration. CONCLUSIONS: Azacitidine is active in the treatment of CMML. The therapy-associated toxicity is acceptable. Our results support further investigation of azacitidine in CMML, particularly in combination with other agents. Cancer 2011;. © 2010 American Cancer Society.
Invariant natural killer T cells in lupus patients promote IgG and IgG autoantibody production

IgG autoantibodies, including antibodies to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), are pathogenic in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but the mechanisms controlling their production are not understood. To assess the role of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells in this process, we studied 44 lupus patients. We took advantage of the propensity of PBMCs from patients with active disease to spontaneously secrete IgG in vitro. Despite the rarity of iNKT cells in lupus blood (0.002-0.05% of CD3-positive T cells), antibody blockade of the conserved iNKT TCR or its ligand, CD1d, or selective depletion of iNKT cells, inhibited spontaneous secretion of total IgG and anti-dsDNA IgG by lupus PBMCs. Addition of anti-iNKT or anti-CD1d antibody to PBMC cultures also reduced the frequency of plasma cells, suggesting that lupus iNKT cells induce B-cell maturation. Like fresh iNKT cells, expanded iNKT-cell lines from lupus patients, but not healthy subjects, induced autologous B cells to secrete antibodies, including IgG anti-dsDNA. This activity was inhibited by anti-CD40L antibody, as well as anti-CD1d antibody, confirming a role for CD40L-CD40 and TCR-CD1d interactions in lupus iNKT-cell-mediated help. These results reveal a critical role for iNKT cells in B-cell maturation and autoantibody production in patients with lupus.
Postreplication repair of ultraviolet damage in Haemophilus influenzae.

The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesized following ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of wild-type (Rd) and recombination-defective strains of Haemophilus influenzae has been analyzed by alkaline sucrose gradient sedimentation. Strain Rd and a UV-resistant, recombination-defective strain Rd(DB117) rec− are able to carry out postreplication repair, i.e., close the single-strand gaps in the newly synthesized DNA; in the UV-sensitive, recombination-defective strain DB117, the gaps remain open. The lack of postreplication repair in this strain may be the result of degradation of the newly synthesized DNA.
Bounding the suboptimality of reusing subproblems

We are interested in the problem of determining a course of action to achieve a desired objective in a non-deterministic environment. Markov decision processes (MDPs) provide a framework for representing this action selection problem, and there are a number of algorithms that learn optimal policies within this formulation. This framework has also been used to study state space abstraction, problem decomposition, and policy reuse. These techniques sacrifice optimality of their solution for improved learning speed. In this paper we examine the suboptimality of reusing policies that are solutions to subproblems. This is done within a restricted class of MDPs, namely those where non-zero reward is received only upon reaching a goal state. We introduce the definition of a subproblem within this class and provide motivation for how reuse of subproblem solutions can speed up learning. The contribution of this paper is the derivation of a tight bound on the loss in optimality from this reuse. We examine a bound that is based on Bellman error, which applies to all MDPs, but is not tight enough to be useful. We contribute our own theoretical result that gives an empirically tight bound on this suboptimality.
Hyaluronan mediates airway hyperresponsiveness in oxidative lung injury.

Chlorine (Cl2) inhalation induces severe oxidative lung injury and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) that lead to asthmalike symptoms. When inhaled, Cl2 reacts with epithelial lining fluid, forming ...
Morphological characterization of cluster microforms

A field study was conducted on two mountain streams in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State on the morphological characterization of cluster microforms. Morphological characterization of clusters is presented in terms of: (i) cluster shape; (ii) cluster geometric properties; and (iii) the spatial arrangement of clusters in the horizontal plane. Clusters were differentiated from other microtopography features such as reticulate structures and transverse ribs, and identified clusters were categorized by shape as being of pebble, line, comet, heap or ring type. The complex spatial arrangement of clusters at the sites was characterized by using a two-dimensional correlation function, which allowed for measurement of the average cluster-spacing properties. For the rivers examined, pebble-shaped clusters were the most frequently observed cluster shape. Cluster geometric properties were found to be controlled by particles of the largest size fraction in the bed and the projected frontal width of the cluster – with cluster length being linearly related to cluster width for cluster width-to-height ratios <3·5. Results of the cluster-spacing analysis suggest that cluster spacing increases with cluster size and decreases with local slope. Application of this principle to the available spacing data shows that cluster spacing λ scales with the ratio of S/d0 such that λS/d0 = constant, where S is the local slope and d0 the diameter of the largest particle in the cluster.
Nonviral interferon inducers

Interferon production can be stimulated by a great variety of microbial and nonmicrobial agents other than viruses. The nonmicrobial inducers can be divided into polyanions, mitogens, and a miscellaneous category including the various endotoxins and antibiotics. The polyanions appear to require a stable, high molecular weight backbone and a high density of free anionic groups whether they are polynucleotides, plastics, or polysaccharides. Mitogen-induced interferon appears to be but one of a constellation of substances produced following lymphocyte transformation. The process of transformation can be stimulated either by specific immune recognition or non-specifically by phytohemagglutinin. Synthetic polynucleotide inducers are active; the thermostable, double-stranded RNA's are much more active than the double-stranded DNA's or 1-, 3-, or 4-stranded RNA's. Some success has been obtained with potentiation of nucleotide inducers through the use of polycationic substances, complexing with a polysaccharide, concurrent administration of a metabolic antagonist, or substitution of phosphate by thiophosphate in the polynucleotide backbone. The stages in the interaction of interferon stimulating RNA and cells can be divided into three steps: first, binding to cell surface, next, a temperature dependent "recognition" step, and finally, degradation and utilization of monomers in cellular RNA synthesis; the critical recognition site has not yet been determined. The vast majority of cell-associated polynucleotide remains at the surface of the cell. Information from animal models resembling human diseases suggests that certain of these nucleotide inducers may have clinical usefulness in therapy or prophylaxis.
Comparison of hand laid-up tape and filament wound composite cylinders and panels with and without impact damage

The results of this experimental comparison of filament wound control (unimpacted) cylinders loaded to failure in axial compression indicates that one fiber cross-over location has no effect on the failure mode or strain in thick walled filament wound graphite-epoxy specimens with stacking sequence (plus or minus 45/90) sub 3s. A comparison between filament wound and hand laid-up tape control cylinders indicates that there is little or no difference in the response of cylinders constructed by using two different fabrication methods, however, unimpacted panels with many fiber cross-overs fail at up to 15 percent lower strains than panels with no fiber cross-overs. A comparison of samples subjected to low speed impact damage prior to compressive loading indicates that impact damage reduces the strain at failure by over 60 percent in tape and filament wound graphite-epoxy cylinders and in tape flat panels. The presence of fiber cross-overs was observed to reduce the strength of filament wound impact-damaged panels, but to have no significant effect on the strength of filament wound impact-damaged cylinders.