cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Robust normal estimation and region growing segmentation of infrastructure 3D point cloud models

Modern remote sensing technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) laser scanners and image-based 3D scene reconstruction are in increasing demand for applications in civil infrastructure design, maintenance, operation, and as-built construction verification. The complex nature of the 3D point clouds these technologies generate, as well as the often massive scale of the 3D data, make it inefficient and time consuming to manually analyze and manipulate point clouds, and highlights the need for automated analysis techniques. This paper presents one such technique, a new region growing algorithm for the automated segmentation of both planar and non-planar surfaces in point clouds. A core component of the algorithm is a new point normal estimation method, an essential task for many point cloud processing algorithms. The newly developed estimation method utilizes robust multivariate statistical outlier analysis for reliable normal estimation in complex 3D models, considering that these models often contain regions of varying surface roughness, a mixture of high curvature and low curvature regions, and sharp features. An adaptation of Mahalanobis distance, in which the mean vector and covariance matrix are derived from a high-breakdown multivariate location and scale estimator called Deterministic MM-estimator (DetMM) is used to find and discard outlier points prior to estimating the best local tangent plane around any point in a cloud. This approach is capable of more accurately estimating point normals located in highly curved regions or near sharp features. Thereafter, the estimated point normals serve a region growing segmentation algorithm that only requires a single input parameter, an improvement over existing methods which typically require two control parameters. The reliability and robustness of the normal estimation subroutine was compared against well-known normal estimation methods including the Minimum Volume Ellipsoid (MVE) and Minimum Covariance Determinant (MCD) estimators, along with Maximum Likelihood Sample Consensus (MLESAC). The overall region growing segmentation algorithm was then experimentally validated on several challenging 3D point clouds of real-world infrastructure systems. The results indicate that the developed approach performs more accurately and robustly in comparison with conventional region growing methods, particularly in the presence of sharp features, outliers and noise.
Improvements in Contraception for Adolescents

Improved contraceptive use has been cited as the main contributor to the dramatic decrease in adolescent pregnancy and birth in the USA. This review will explore empirical literature that underlies the recent trends in contraceptive use for adolescents. Three major categories of findings were identified in our review. First, formal contraceptive practice recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention remove some barriers to contraceptive care that may be particularly relevant for adolescents. The most important of these (1) indicates that the use of any contraceptive should not be limited to age or parity alone and (2) supports immediate initiation when appropriate. Implementation of these recommendations into clinical care is variable, and barriers to adopting evidence-based practices are complex. Second, a substantial body of literature has accumulated around the use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) in adolescents. Adolescents have high acceptance of LARC when it is offered, high continuation, and high satisfaction. Interventions that improved adolescent contraception with increased LARC use have resulted in decreased teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion. Third, emerging research focuses on innovations regarding approach and location of contraceptive service delivery for adolescents, including non-primary care clinical settings, school-based settings, and over-the-counter. Improved contraception for adolescents has been multifactorial and impactful. Dissemination and implementation of these recent findings as well as ongoing study of innovations that meet the unique needs of adolescents will continue this trend.
Cognitive Styles and Word versus Spirit Orientations among Christians

Christian college students classified as either Word or Spirit-oriented through a questionnaire were tested with the Rod and Frame Apparatus. Word-oriented subjects were found to be field-independent and Spirit-oriented subjects to be field-dependent in their perceptual style. No sex difference on field-dependence or independence was found within either the Word-oriented or the Spirit-oriented groups, but a significant difference in sex distribution of Word or Spirit-orientation was found. Socialization and sex role expectation effects in the churches and implications for these findings and further studies were discussed.
Hybrid and Supra-hybrid: Complex and Conflicting Identities of Immigrant Youth in the Canadian Nation-State

This research analyses the question of identity formation with regard to an understudied ethnic group, Turkish immigrant youth, in Canada. The empirical data draw upon a critical ethnographic study with fourteen first- and second-generation immigrant youth between 15 and 25 years old. The findings of the study indicate that cultural practices, social institutions and emotional attachments are significant reference points of the cultural identity formation of minority youth. The study suggests that young people, particularly second-generation immigrant youth, are supra-hybrid; they have the ability to live in-between lives; the capacity to switch between different settings; and the capability to liberate themselves from ideological impasses and religious orthodoxy in both their home and host countries.
Las posibilidades de la traducción pedagógica en la enseñanza del español como segunda lengua

En las ultimas decadas, la traduccion ha ganado una creciente atencion positiva como herramienta didactica en la ensenanza de lenguas. Numerosos investigadores afirman que la traduccion pedagogica tiene el potencial de facilitar el desarrollo de habilidades linguisticas y conocimientos extralinguisticos (Carreres & Noriega Sanchez, 2011; Cook, 2010; Gonzalez Davies, 2004; Widdowson, 2003; Colina, 2002; Malmkjaer, 1998; Duff, 1989). El objetivo de este trabajo es investigar las posibilidades didacticas de la traduccion en la ensenanza del espanol como segunda lengua. Primero, se ofrecera una breve introduccion teorica a la traduccion pedagogica; segundo, se hara referencia a las practicas pedagogicas de un curso avanzado de espanol y se presentara un analisis cualitativo y cuantitativo del impacto del uso de la traduccion en dicho curso. Por ultimo, se aportaran recomendaciones pedagogicas para integrar la traduccion en la ensenanza del espanol como segunda lengua.
Reasoning about when to start Acting

Faced with a complicated task, some initial planning can significantly increase the likelihood of success and increase efficiency, but planning for too long before starting to act can reduce efficiency. This paper explores the question of when to begin acting for a resource bounded agent. Limitations of an idealized algorithm suggested in the literature arc presented and illustrated in the context of a robot courier. A revised, idealized algorithm is given and justified. The revised idealized algorithm is used as a basis for developing a new "step choice" algorithm for making on-the-fly decisions for a simplified version of the robot courier task. A set of experiments are used to illustrate the relative advantage of the new strategy over always act, always compute and anytime algorithm based strategies for deciding when to begin execution.
Eliciting, Measuring and Predicting Affect via Physiological Measures for Emotional Design

Emotional design plays an important role in the development of products and services towards high value-added user satisfaction and performance enhancement. One critical challenge in emotional design is the measurement and prediction of affect. Most current measurement and prediction methods are affected by many biases and artifacts. For example, verbal reports only represent the sheer reflection of consciously experienced feelings. This study aimed to evaluate affect via physiological measures. Specifically, standardized affective stimuli in both visual and auditory forms were used to elicit different affective states (7 types of affect for the visual stimuli and 6 for the auditory ones). Each affective stimulus was presented for 6 s and a wide range of physiological signals were measured, including facial electromyography (EMG) (zygomatic and corrugator muscle activity), respiration rate, electroencephalography, and skin conductance response (SCR). Subjective ratings were also recorded immediately after stimulus presentation. The physiological measures show a relatively high differentiating ability in postulating affect via statistical tests and data mining-based prediction, with highest mean recognition rates of 91.47 and 71.13 % for the visual stimuli, and 91.36 and 80.66 % for the auditory stimuli, for valence- and affect-based predictions, respectively. This technological and methodological advancement offers a great potential for the development of emotional design.
Ir(III)-catalyzed ortho C–H alkylations of (hetero)aromatic aldehydes using alkyl boron reagents

Transition-metal-catalyzed C–H alkylation reactions directed by aldehydes or ketones have been largely restricted to electronically activated alkenes. Herein, we report a general protocol for the Ir(III)-catalyzed ortho C–H alkylations of (hetero)aromatic aldehydes using alkyl boron reagents as the coupling partner. Featuring aniline as an inexpensive catalytic ligand, the method was compatible with a wide variety of benzaldehydes, heterocyclic aldehydes, potassium alkyltrifluoroborates as well as a few α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. An X-ray crystal structure of a benzaldehyde ortho C–H iridation intermediate was also successfully obtained.
Phrenic motoneuron structural plasticity across models of diaphragm muscle paralysis.

Structural plasticity in motoneurons may be influenced by activation history and motoneuron-muscle fiber interactions. The goal of this study was to examine the morphological adaptations of phrenic motoneurons following imposed motoneuron inactivity while controlling for diaphragm muscle inactivity. Well-characterized rat models were used including unilateral C2 spinal hemisection (SH; ipsilateral phrenic motoneurons and diaphragm muscle are inactive) and tetrodotoxin phrenic nerve blockade (TTX; ipsilateral diaphragm muscle is paralyzed while phrenic motoneuron activity is preserved). We hypothesized that inactivity of phrenic motoneurons would result in a decrease in motoneuron size, consistent with a homeostatic increase in excitability. Phrenic motoneurons were retrogradely labeled by ipsilateral diaphragm muscle injection of fluorescent dextrans or cholera toxin subunit B. Following 2 weeks of diaphragm muscle paralysis, morphological parameters of labeled ipsilateral phrenic motoneurons were assessed quantitatively using fluorescence confocal microscopy. Compared to controls, phrenic motoneuron somal volumes and surface areas decreased with SH, but increased with TTX. Total phrenic motoneuron surface area was unchanged by SH, but increased with TTX. Dendritic surface area was estimated from primary dendrite diameter using a power equation obtained from three-dimensional reconstructed phrenic motoneurons. Estimated dendritic surface area was not significantly different between control and SH, but increased with TTX. Similarly, TTX significantly increased total phrenic motoneuron surface area. These results suggest that ipsilateral phrenic motoneuron morphological adaptations are consistent with a normalization of motoneuron excitability following prolonged alterations in motoneuron activity. Phrenic motoneuron structural plasticity is likely more dependent on motoneuron activity (or descending input) than muscle fiber activity.
Erenumab: A First-in-Class Monoclonal Antibody for Migraine Prevention:

Objective: To review the pharmacology, efficacy, and safety of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitor erenumab for migraine preventive therapy. Data Sources: A MEDLINE/PubMed search (January 2000 to January 2019) was conducted using the keywords erenumab-aooe, erenumab, migraine, migraine prophylaxis, migraine prevention, and chronic migraine. Additional articles were identified by hand from references. Study Selection and Data Extraction: We included English-language articles (excluding poster presentations) evaluating erenumab pharmacology, efficacy, or safety in humans for migraine prevention. Data Synthesis: Erenumab is a CGRP inhibitor that inhibits vasodilation in response to acute migraines, which decreases pain perception during the migraine. Erenumab efficacy and safety has only been compared with placebo, but its reduction in monthly migraine days (MMDs) and medication response (≥50% reduction in MMDs) are comparable to current recommended off-label therapies for migraine prevention in short-term treatment studies. Additionally, erenumab is associated with low adverse event burden with no difference found compared with placebo per published clinical trials. Relevance to Patient Care and Clinical Practice: Erenumab is the first medication approved in the United States for the prevention of migraines in adults. No head-to-head data are available, but existing data suggest that erenumab is at least as effective as current off-label products and with reduced adverse effects. Conclusion: Erenumab is an effective once-monthly injectable agent for migraine prevention in patients with chronic or episodic migraine. It is also effective for patients who have previously failed migraine preventive therapy. Erenumab has a favorable adverse effect profile, which may improve patient adherence.
Paying for a Name? Comparing the Performance of Franchised Real Estate Brokerage Firms

This paper compares the relative performance of franchised and independent real estate brokerage firms. One problem that arises when comparing the performance of two different brokerage types is that agents may self-select into a particular type. The empirical methods used control for potential self-selection by using within-agent variation in franchise affiliation for agents who have worked for both types of brokerage firms. The results suggest that agents self-select into particular real estate brokerage types and firms. Thus, failing to account for self-selection can lead to substantial bias.
Abstract 562: Impaired Transcriptional Regulation of Nrf2 and Antioxidant Signaling in Vascular Tissue of Aging Mice

Background: Chronic oxidative stress and dysregulation of vascular system are tightly linked to cardiac structure-function anomalies. We hypothesized that nuclear erythroid-2 like factor-2 (Nrf2), ...
The Evolution of Demographic Changes in Greek Society and Proposed Administrative Management Model

The nature of family has changed over time creating new trends, that run through all the European countries. Within this framework the four main trends associated with the family are late marriage, postponement of childbirth, involvement of men in care activities and economic independence of women, which can be formulated in a family policy pattern. Τhe Greek society and economy in the current context of fiscal consolidation addresses the consequences of a demographic switch, the most determinant of which is the decline in birth rates, the ageing population and a social protection system under risk. The aim of this study is to portray the current demographic switch in Greece, the risk faced by the family as the structural element of demographic policy and to suggest community-based interventions in order to empower family and strengthen demographic policy. Although, the search was not exhaustive, it is hoped that it contributes as a comprehensive resource in the demographic evolution research. The literature review was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane library and Scopus in April–May 2018. Also, data were obtained and elaborated from the Eurostat and OECD databases, and Hellenic Statistical Authority as well. The study highlighted the urgent need of maternity protection, and work-life balance as essentials to increase birth rates, to sustain the social protection system, to acknowledge the key role of local community, to promote gender equality at work, promote decent work for both genders, primarily for the groups of people in need.
Making in the classroom: Longitudinal evidence of increases in self-efficacy and STEM possible selves over time

1. Abstract Making refers to the hands-on practice of creating technology-based artifacts that typically involves things like electronics, programming, and 3D printing. Practices in Making have been spearheaded by the rise of the Maker movement, resulting in the spread of Makerspaces for both young people and adults worldwide. However, Making is also being increasingly incorporated into school settings. This is despite the fact that little research has evaluated the potential consequences of Making in schools. We present a two-year longitudinal study investigating the effects of integrating Making into existing school curricula at a public elementary school that primarily serves students from underrepresented groups in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). We focused on whether engaging in Making led to changes in self-efficacy, interest, and identification with both Making and science. We further examined more distal potential changes in STEM career interest and STEM possible selves. Results showed that students exposed to a Making-based science curriculum evidenced significant increases in four of the eight dependent variables tested (Making self-efficacy, science self-efficacy, science identity, and STEM possible selves). These findings demonstrate the utility of curriculum-aligned Making, particularly in terms of fostering self-efficacy, science identity, and possible selves among students from underrepresented groups.
MR characteristics of unruptured intracranial arteriovenous malformations associated with seizure as initial clinical presentation.

Background Patients with intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are at increased risk of seizures. Objective To identify MRI characteristics of unruptured intracranial AVMs associated with seizures at presentation. Materials and methods A retrospective review was completed of patients diagnosed with unruptured intracranial AVMs on MRI between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2016. Two blinded reviewers assessed demographics, lesion locality, and imaging and architectural characteristics of AVMs and surrounding parenchyma, including, but not limited to, AVM location, venous drainage pattern, venous varix, thrombosed venous varix, long draining vein, AVM-related gliosis, peri-AVM edema, and peri-AVM T2* signal. Findings were statistically analyzed for correlation with seizure using Student’s t-test for continuous variables and Χ2 test for categorical variables. Results Of 165 included patients, 57/165 (34.5%) patients were imaged as part of an investigation for seizures. Patients with seizures more commonly had peri-AVM edema (36.8%, compared with 11.1% of non-seizure patients, p Conclusions Certain MRI characteristics of unruptured intracranial AVMs are associated with seizures. Such correlations may assist in identifying the pathophysiological mechanisms by which AVMs cause seizures.
A Review of “Education in the Age of Biocapitalism: Optimizing Educational Life for a Flat World”

The neoliberal project of restructuring education in the United States has been extensively critiqued over the past three decades. As public schooling is forcibly privatized, curriculum and pedagog...
Optimal Management of a Pregnant Patient with Rheumatic Heart Disease.

Rheumatic heart disease remains the number one worldwide cause of maternal cardiac complications in pregnancy.1 Since symptoms of rheumatic fever typically do not present until the fourth or fifth decade, the pathophysiologic changes associated with pregnancy may cause as many as 25% of these women to first experience symptoms during pregnancy. For this reason, it is important that obstetric anesthesiologists remain aware of the disease, its complications, and management of valvular lesions throughout the birthing process. The normal physiologic changes of pregnancy cause unique problems to the mother with underlying cardiac disease.2 Intravascular volume and cardiac output (CO) increase while systemic vascular resistance (SVR) decreases to preserve normal mean arterial pressure (MAP). During labor, each uterine contraction results in an auto transfusion of blood, resulting in even higher CO.3 Likewise, pain and apprehension can lead to sympathetically mediated increases in SVR, heart rate (HR), and CO causing further stress.2 Yet, the greatest stress comes immediately after delivery when uterine contraction and involution can increase CO by as much as 80% above third trimester values.3 With all these changes, one must realize how valvular disease is affected during pregnancy. In general, regurgitant lesions are tolerated better due to the increase in intravascular volume and the decrease in SVR, thus improving forward flow of blood through the valves.2,3 In contrast, stenotic lesions are tolerated poorly due to the inability to increase CO through a stenotic valve in the setting of increased intravascular volume and increased preload.2 In patients with rheumatic heart disease, mitral stenosis is the most common heart lesion.1 When these patients become pregnant, the hypervolemia and increased HR can increase the transmitral pressure gradient, leading to increased left atrial volume and pressure. Pressure can be transmitted to the pulmonary vasculature, resulting in pulmonary edema and in severe cases pulmonary hypertension, a significant risk during pregnancy as it can cause right heart failure.4 Further, the chronically dilated left atrium has a propensity to disrupt the cardiac conducting system and cause supraventricular tachycardia, 1 a detrimental event in patients with mitral stenosis who rely on the atrial kick to augment preload. Overall, these factors often cause the previously undiagnosed and asymptomatic patient to develop symptoms during pregnancy, and, in severe cases, experience profound cardiac decompensation.
Sparse Regression for Extreme Values

We study the problem of selecting features associated with extreme values in high dimensional linear regression. Normally, in linear modeling problems, the presence of abnormal extreme values or outliers is considered an anomaly which should either be removed from the data or remedied using robust regression methods. In many situations, however, the extreme values in regression modeling are not outliers but rather the signals of interest; consider traces from spiking neurons, volatility in finance, or extreme events in climate science, for example. In this paper, we propose a new method for sparse high-dimensional linear regression for extreme values which is motivated by the Subbotin, or generalized normal distribution. This leads us to utilize an $\ell_p$ norm loss where $p$ is an even integer greater than two; we demonstrate that this loss increases the weight on extreme values. We prove consistency and variable selection consistency for the $\ell_p$ norm regression with a Lasso penalty, which we term the Extreme Lasso. Through simulation studies and real-world data data examples, we show that this method outperforms other methods currently used in the literature for selecting features of interest associated with extreme values in high-dimensional regression.
PDE6C: Novel Mutations, Atypical Phenotype, and Differences Among Children and Adults

Purpose Genetic variation in PDE6C is associated with achromatopsia and cone dystrophy, with only a few reports of cone-rod dystrophy in the literature. We describe two pediatric and two adult patients with PDE6C related cone and cone-rod dystrophy and the first longitudinal data of a pediatric patient with PDE6C-related cone dystrophy. Methods This cohort of four patients underwent comprehensive ophthalmologic evaluation at the National Eye Institute's Ophthalmic Genetics clinic, including visual field testing, retinal imaging and electroretinogram (ERG). Next-generation sequencing-based genetic testing was performed and subsequent analysis of the variants was done through three-dimensional protein models generated by Phyre2 and Chimera. Results All cases shared decreased best-corrected visual acuity and poor color discrimination. Three of the four patients had a cone-rod dystrophy, presenting with an ERG showing decreased amplitude on both photopic and scotopic waveforms and a mild to moderately constricted visual field. One of the children was diagnosed with cone dystrophy, having a preserved peripheral field. The children had none to minor structural retinal changes, whereas the adults had clear macular dystrophy. Conclusions PDE6C-related cone-rod dystrophy consists of a severe phenotype characterized by early-onset nystagmus, decreased best-corrected visual acuity, poor color discrimination, progressive constriction of the visual field, and night blindness. Our work contributes with valuable information toward understanding the visual prognosis and allelic heterogeneity of PDE6C-related cone and cone-rod dystrophy.
Deproteinized young bone reveals a continuous mineral phase and its contribution to mechanical properties with age

Abstract Bone is composed of mineral (apatite crystals) phase, organic (proteins, mainly collagen, and other organics) phase, and water at the nanoscale. Mineral contributes to elastic modulus and strength while organics and water give bone its toughness. Changes in the mineral composition and arrangement with age during development, and the resulting mechanical properties, are of high scientific and clinical interests. The mineral phase can be studied by removing the organic phase from bone using sodium hypochlorite (NaClO). This process is called deproteinization (DP). In this paper, four age groups (3-week, 4-week, 16-week, and 24-week) were compared in both untreated and DP bone states. We find that the deproteinized bone samples from all these age groups are self-standing. Thus, the mineral phase forms a continuous structure, even in the 3-week bone. Micro-computed tomography imaging displays a significant porosity decrease with the increase in age. Raman spectroscopy reveals increases in both the carbonate-to-phosphate ratio and the mineral crystallinity with age. Compression test results show that the elastic modulus and strength of the mineral phase alone are positively related to age. The elastic modulus of DP bone is less affected by age than that of the untreated bone. Overall, the mechanical properties of the mineral phase increase with age due to a decrease in porosity and an increase in the mineral content.
Two kinds of polar knowledge

Outreach and communication with the public have substantial value in polar research, in which studies often find changes of global importance that are happening far out of sight from the majority o...
COVID-19 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: lessons learned from the inflammatory disease.

As the world navigates the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there is a growing need to assess its impact in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Patients with SLE are a unique population when considering the risk of contracting COVID-19 and infection outcomes. The use of systemic glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants, and underlying organ damage from SLE are potential susceptibility factors. Most patients with SLE have evidence of high type I interferon activity, which may theoretically act as an antiviral line of defense or contribute to the development of a deleterious hyperinflammatory response in COVID-19. Other immunopathogenic mechanisms of SLE may overlap with those described in COVID-19, thus, studies in SLE could provide some insight into immune responses occurring in severe cases of the viral infection. We reviewed the literature to date on COVID-19 in patients with SLE and provide an in-depth review of current research in the area, including immune pathway activation, epidemiology, clinical features, outcomes, and the psychosocial impact of the pandemic in those with autoimmune disease.
Results and Molecular Correlates from a Pilot Study of Neoadjuvant Induction FOLFIRINOX Followed by Chemoradiation and Surgery for Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinomas.

Purpose: We performed a NCI-sponsored, prospective study of neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX followed by chemoradiation with carboplatin/paclitaxel followed by surgery in patients with locally advanced gastric or gastroesophageal cancer. Patients and Methods: The primary objective was to determine completion rate of neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX × 8 followed by chemoradiation. Secondary endpoints were toxicity and pathologic complete response (pCR) rate. Exploratory analysis was performed of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to treatment response. Results: From October 2017 to June 2018, 25 patients were enrolled. All patients started FOLFIRINOX, 92% completed all eight planned cycles, and 88% completed chemoradiation. Twenty (80%) patients underwent surgical resection, and 7 had a pCR (35% in resected cohort, 28% intention to treat). Tumor-specific mutations were identified in 21 (84%) patients, of whom 4 and 17 patients had undetectable and detectable ctDNA at baseline, respectively. Presence of detectable post-chemoradiation ctDNA (P = 0.004) and/or postoperative ctDNA (P = 0.045) were associated with disease recurrence. Conclusions: Here we show neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX followed by chemoradiation for locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer is feasible and yields a high rate of pCR. ctDNA appears to be a promising predictor of postoperative recurrence. See related commentary by Catenacci, p. 6281
Giant electrostrictive coefficient in rapidly cooled nanodisordered KTa1−xNbxO3 lead-free single crystals

The temperature dependent electrostrictive effect, with respect to increasing the cooling rate to a cooling temperature, was quantitatively investigated in potassium tantalate niobate (KTN) lead-free single crystals above and near Curie temperature (TC). High work-function Pt electrodes are used to minimize the effect of charge injection, and the electric field induced displacement was measured with Michelson interferometry. It was found that a giant electrostrictive coefficient of 696 × 10−16 m2/V2 could be obtained at a high cooling rate of 0.75 °C/s to a temperature of TC + 4.5 °C due to the evolution of polar nano-regions, which is one order of magnitude larger than the previously reported value in KTN crystals. This strengthens the realization of replacing toxic lead-based electrostrictive materials with environmentally friendly KTN materials in real world applications.
THE GENUS VEILLONELLA I. General Cultural, Ecological, and Biochemical Considerations

Rogosa, M. (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.). The genus Veillonella. I. General cultural, ecological, and biochemical considerations. J. Bacteriol. 87:162–170. 1964.—Arguments are presented for excluding Veillonella discoides, V. reniformis, V. orbiculus, and V. vulvovaginitidis from the genus, and for restricting it to aerogenic organisms such as V. parvula and V. alcalescens. The genus Veillonella thus would comprise species which are anaerobic and nonmotile; are small, spherical, gram-negative cocci appearing as pairs, masses, and short chains; and are cytochrome-oxidase- and benzidine-negative. Veillonella would be further characterized in that glucose or any other carbohydrate is not fermented; indole is not produced; gelatin is not liquefied; nitrate is reduced; H2S is produced; propionic and acetic acids, CO2, and H2 are produced from lactate during growth; and pyruvic, oxaloacetic, malic, fumaric, and succinic acids are metabolized by resting cells, but citric, isocitric, and malonic acids are not. In addition to the above, a number of cultural, ecological, and biochemical characteristics are described. At present, V. parvula (the type species) and V. alcalescens would be retained as valid species. Errors in the descriptions of V. parvula and V. alcalescens are corrected by amended statements. These species are differentiated serologically. Also, V. alcalescens differs from V. parvula in having an absolute requirement for putrescine or cadaverine and in decomposing H2O2.
Why Racial Stereotyping Doesn’t Just Go Away: The Question of Honesty and Work Ethic

One of the most persistent stereotypes about blacks concerns honesty and work ethic. These characteristics are also central to employers' evaluation of prospective and current workers; employers say that these traits matter more than skills. However, honesty and work ethic are difficult to observe and assess, placing them squarely in the terrain of statistical discrimination theory. One common criticism of this theory is that employers should be able to collect enough information on prospective workers to render race irrelevant, and that high-quality workers have incentives to signal their productivity to employers regardless of race. As a result, inefficient stereotypes should erode over time. In contrast, I argue that there are many reasons for inefficient stereotypes about honesty and work ethic to persist, and I investigate the empirical evidence for these theories.
A supervised growing neural gas algorithm for cluster analysis

In this paper, a prototype-based supervised clustering algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm, called the Supervised Growing Neural Gas algorithm (SGNG), incorporates several techniques from some unsupervised GNG algorithms such as the adaptive learning rates and the cluster repulsion mechanisms of the Robust Growing Neural Gas algorithm, and the Type Two Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ2) technique. Furthermore, a new prototype insertion mechanism and a clustering validity index are proposed. These techniques are designed to utilize class labels of the training data to guide the clustering. The SGNG algorithm is capable of clustering adjacent regions of data objects labeled with different classes, formulating topological relationships among prototypes and automatically determining the optimal number of clusters using the proposed validity index. To evaluate the effectiveness of the SGNG algorithm, two experiments are conducted. The first experiment uses two synthetic data sets to graphically illustrate the potential with respect to growing ability, ability to cluster adjacent regions of different classes, and ability to determine the optimal number of prototypes. The second experiment evaluates the effectiveness using the UCI benchmark data sets. The results from the second experiment show that the SGNG algorithm performs better than other supervised clustering algorithms for both cluster impurities and total running times.
Assessment of appalachian region pediatric hearing healthcare disparities and delays

Objectives/Hypothesis The purpose of this study was to examine the timing of diagnostic and therapeutic services in cochlear implant recipients from a rural Appalachian region with healthcare disparity. Study Design Retrospective analysis. Methods Cochlear implant recipients from a tertiary referral center born with severe congenital sensorineural hearing loss were examined. Rural status and Appalachian status of their county of origin were recorded. A log-rank test was used to examine differences in the distributions of time to definitive diagnosis of hearing loss, initial amplification fitting, and cochlear implantation in these children. Correlation analysis of the rural status of each county and the timing of services was assessed. Results A total of 53 children born with congenital hearing loss were included in the study (36 from rural counties and 17 from urban/suburban counties). The distribution of weeks after birth to diagnosis (P = .006), amplification (P = .030), and cochlear implantation(P = .002) was delayed in rural children compared with urban children. An analysis factoring in the effect of implementation of mandatory infant hearing screening in 2000 demonstrated a similar delay in rural children for weeks to diagnosis (P = .028), amplification (P=.087), and cochlear implantation (P < .0001). Conclusions Children with severe hearing loss in very rural areas, such as Appalachia, may have significant delays in diagnostic and rehabilitative services. Further investigation is warranted to assess causative factors in delays of cochlear implantation and to develop interventions to promote timely diagnosis and care. Level of Evidence 3b. Laryngoscope, 124:1713–1717, 2014
Studies on the nucleotide arrangement in deoxyribonucleic acids. 13. Frequency and composition of purine isostichs in calf-thymus deoxyribonucleic acid.

Abstract Several preparations of the apyrimidinic acid of calf-thymus DNA were subjected to hydrolysis by alkali under a variety of conditions. The purine isostichs of the general structure d(Punpn+1), and of length 1 to 8 were separated by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and their relative frequencies determined. The results were compared with those obtained with the pyrimidine isostichs released similarly from apurinic acid. Although apyrimidinic acid poses several special problems, the results obtained with the two partial degradation products of DNA were in satisfactory agreement, especially when balances based on ultraviolet-light absorbance were compared. The various purine oligonucleotides comprising isostichs 1 to 5 were separated into groups of sequence isomers having the same total composition, and their relative frequencies were estimated and compared with the corresponding pyrimidine fractions. The results are in agreement with the suggestion that the base-pairing complementarities characteristic of the intact DNA also apply to those individual purine and pyrimidine sequences that can be studied. The findings also support the previous demonstration that the two DNA strands of calf-thymus DNA are antiparallel.
Residue number conversion

This paper describes an algorithm for converting a number in Residue Number System (RNS) to its equivalent in Binary Weighted System using Chinese Remainder Theorem. The Proposed linear algorithm uses binary addition to compute a conversion from a residue representation with n moduli to a binary representation in (n) time steps. However, if the algorithm is to be implemented, we can take advantage of parallelism at the architecture level through a tree structured network of processing elements. Each processing element can perform one step of the algorithm to compute the conversion in (log n) time steps. Furthermore, we show that we can achieve parallelism at the computation level by using carry-save addition instead of binary addition. The advantages of this approach are twofold: (1) it simplifies the detection of overflow in our computations, and (2) it reduces the addition delay to a constant time, making the design highly suitable for very large integers.
Acute Pancreatitis as Initial Presentation of Cocaine-Induced Vasculitis: A Case Report

Context Levamisole-contaminated cocaine is an increasingly reported cause of vasculitis and immunologic abnormalities in cocaine abusers. The systemic effects of vasculitis are commonly seen in the dermatologic, hematologic and renal systems but rarely the gastrointestinal system. Case report We present an atypical case of cocaine-induced vasculitis presenting initially as an acute pancreatitis and then rapidly progressing to involve multi-organ systems over the next couple of weeks. Conclusion Internists should recognize that acute pancreatitis can present as an atypical and rare initial systemic manifestation of cocaine-induced vasculitis. Image: Segmental glomerular necrsosis.
Entropy, fragility, “landscapes”, and the glass transition

The focus of this meeting is on a subject which I have had the privilege of watching grow over some three and a half decades from a passing interest of a few physicists, to the preoccupation of many. The glass transition, and the peculiar slow dynamics and ergodicity breaking that the term now implies, seems to be of very broad occurrence in nature. In my opinion its best known example, the liquid-to-glass transition (now called the "structural" glass case (as opposed to "spin" glass, "vortex" glass, etc.) is also its most challenging case, mainly because of the existence of the entropy paradox which does not arise in most other cases. It is the phenomenology of this case or, rather, of a key part of it, on which I will concentrate in this lecture. An account of the phenomenology of glass formation from cooling liquids and solutions requires consideration of two major problem areas which can be summarized by the two questions: 1. Why do certain metastable liquids fail to generate crystals, the thermodynamically stable state, during cooling at reasonable rates?. 2. Why do liquids, in which crystals fail to form during cooling, quite abrupt ly become non-diffusive, hence britle, at temperatures of roughly 2/3 of the expected (or observed) melting points? Here I will only address the second of these questions. Some detailed attention to the first is given in the proceedings of two 1996 summer shcool proceedings [1], to which those interested in this aspect of the problem are referred. Some deep questions about crystal lattice stabilities and liquid mixing relation are involved.
CHAPTER 2 – Human Aging at the Millennium

This chapter discusses the proposed reasons for aging, with focus on skeletal aging in humans. Age-related bone loss, which is etiologically heterogeneous, differs by skeletal site with respect to the time of onset and rates of bone loss. Rates of bone loss and the propensity to fracture are influenced by a host of factors, including gender, genetic and racial/ethnic background, estrogen and medication status, dietary intakes of calcium and vitamin D and other nutrients, levels of physical activity, body weight, and changes in weight. In addition to trauma, bone mineral density, and other skeletal factors, the risk of hip fractures is influenced by nonskeletal factors such as the risk of falls, the ability to rise from a chair without using one's arms (which reflects balance and muscle strength), and visual acuity. Aging is associated with progressive reductions in functional reserve, which is the ability to successfully respond or adapt to physiologic and physical perturbations or stresses. Decline in immune function with aging portends an increasing incidence of infections and associated morbidity and mortality in old age, as well as an increased risk of malignancies. Some of the most commonly cited age-related endocrine changes include those involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism by insulin; the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis; the secretion of parathyroid hormone; and in women, the striking reduction in ovarian hormones following menopause.
(In)Fidelity: What the Resistance of New Teachers Reveals about Professional Principles and Prescriptive Educational Policies

In this article, Betty Achinstein and Rodney Ogawa examine the experiences of two new teachers who resisted mandated "fidelity" to Open Court literacy instruction in California. These two case stud...
Expression of a 91-kilodalton PEA3-binding protein is down-regulated during differentiation of F9 embryonal carcinoma cells.

Abstract Proteins binding to the PEA3 enhancer motif (AGGAAG) activate the polyomavirus early promoter and help comprise the viral late mRNA initiator element (W. Yoo, M. E. Martin, and W. R. Folk, J. Virol. 65:5391-5400, 1991). Because many developmentally regulated cellular genes have PEA3 motifs near their promoter sequences, and because Ets family gene products activate the PEA3 motif, we have studied the expression of PEA3-binding proteins and Ets-related proteins during differentiation of F9 embryonal carcinoma cells. An approximately 91-kDa protein (PEA3-91) was identified in F9 cell nuclear extracts by UV cross-linking to a radiolabeled PEA3 oligonucleotide probe, and expression of PEA3-91 was down-regulated after differentiation of F9 cells to parietal endoderm. The c-ets-1 gene product binds to a sequence in the murine sarcoma virus long terminal repeat that is similar to the PEA3 motif (cGGAAG), but PEA3-91 was not cross-linked to this Ets-1-binding motif, nor did antiserum which recognizes murine c-ets-1 and c-ets-2 proteins have any effect on PEA3-binding activity in mobility shift assays. Furthermore, c-ets-1 mRNA was not detected in undifferentiated or differentiated F9 cells, and c-ets-2 mRNA levels remained high after differentiation. Antiserum against the Drosophila Ets-related E74A protein, however, recognized an approximately 92-kDa protein in F9 cells whose expression during differentiation varied in a manner identical to that of PEA3-91. These data suggest that PEA3-91 is not the product of the ets-1 or ets-2 genes but is likely to be the product of a murine homolog of the Drosophila E74 gene.
Fast thermal reversal of magnetic particles

Abstract In several physical systems the experimental thermal decay from an initial metastable state to a final stable state is frequently logarithmic over a few decades in time. The quantity plotted is the probability of not reaching the final stable state, or an equivalent variable. Logarithmic slopes locally higher than ln(10)/ e ⋍ 0.85 are shown to rule out two frequent explanations for these processes: thermal activation over a single barrier with Arrhenius exponential decay, or decay through parallel processes of Arrhenius type occurring at different rates. We present a model of thermal decay that can show these high logarithmic decay rates or fast relaxation, as here defined. A downward cascade of metastable states is assumed between the initial and final states, and the evolution of the probability distribution is described by a Master equation. ‘Fast’ relaxation is obtained for consecutive states separated by equal direct and equal reverse barriers, the latter being much higher. These solutions correspond to almost degenerate decay rates, and to low relative dispersion of switching times. The results of this model may explain measurements of `fast' thermal relaxation of the magnetization of single magnetic particles near the coercive field.
Toughening Effect of Continuous Fiber Bundles

In a continuous fiber reinforced brittle matrix composite, the transverse fracture is often dominated by the crack trapping and bridging effects as well as the fiber breakage. In this article, the toughening effect of flat fiber bundles with the cross-sectional aspect ratio, ranging from 0.05 to 5 is discussed in the context of energy analysis. With a constant size/spacing ratio of the fiber bundles, the fracture resistance increases monotonically with, primarily due to the influences on the crack front behavior. The elastic properties of matrix and the crack length have little effect on the critical energy release rate.
Direct detection of hole gas in Ge-Si core-shell nanowires by enhanced Raman scattering.

We report the direct detection of hole accumulation in the core of Ge−Si core−shell nanowire heterostructures by a Fano resonance between free holes and the F2g mode in Raman spectra. Raman enhancements of 10−10 000 with respect to bulk were observed and explained using finite difference time domain simulations of the electric fields concentrated in the nanowire. Numerical modeling of the radial carrier concentration revealed that the asymmetric line-shape is strongly influenced by inhomogeneous broadening.