cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recent Advances in the Emerging Field of Paleotempestology

Roughly 35 % of the world’s 7.4 billion people are in the path of tropical cyclones, and coastal populations are expected to increase in the coming century. To understand the future damage that tropical cyclones could impose on an ever-growing coastal population, it is critically important to better understand the relationships between tropical cyclones and climate. Large-scale features of the climate system have been shown to affect tropical cyclone activity, for example, the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has been shown to influence tropical cyclone frequency in all oceanic basins on seasonal, yearly, and decadal timescales. However, the relatively short observational record (<160 years) is inadequate for identifying the climatic influences on tropical cyclones over centennial to millennial timescales. Paleotempestology, a relatively new science, helps to resolve this issue by extending the instrumental record back several thousands of years. Over the past two decades, the number of paleotempestology records has increased substantially for sites along the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, the South Pacific Ocean, and the Northwest Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. The most obvious characteristic of these records is that they reveal extended alternating periods of either greater or lesser tropical cyclone activity over centennial and millennial timescales. In these studies, researchers have shown that large-scale climatic features such as ENSO, sea surface temperatures (SSTs), the latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are likely driving the alternating long-term behavior of tropical cyclones in global oceanic basins. This review paper will focus on recent paleotempestology studies from multiple global sites and endeavor to synthesize the results and interpretations.
Beginning with the System: Using Meditative Dialogue to Help Couples Develop Compassion and Empathy for Themselves and for Each Other

This chapter offers an overview of selected literature on mindfulness and couple’s therapy. It describes a simple and innovative Meditative Dialogue practice that can help couples to develop compassion and empathy for themselves and for each other as they work to strengthen and heal their relationships from the inside out.
To Be or Not To Be T4: Evidence of a Complex Evolutionary Pathway of Head Structure and Assembly in Giant Salmonella Virus SPN3US.

Giant Salmonella phage SPN3US has a 240-kb dsDNA genome and a large complex virion composed of many proteins for which the functions of most are undefined. We recently determined that SPN3US shares a core set of genes with related giant phages and sequenced and characterized 18 amber mutants to facilitate its use as a genetic model system. Notably, SPN3US and related giant phages contain a bolus of ejection proteins within their heads, including a multi-subunit virion RNA polymerase (vRNAP), that enter the host cell with the DNA during infection. In this study, we characterized the SPN3US virion using mass spectrometry to gain insight into its head composition and the features that its head shares with those of related giant phages and with T4 phage. SPN3US has only homologs to the T4 proteins critical for prohead shell formation, the portal and major capsid proteins, as well as to the major enzymes essential for head maturation, the prohead protease and large terminase subunit. Eight of ~50 SPN3US head proteins were found to undergo proteolytic processing at a cleavage motif by the prohead protease gp245. Gp245 undergoes auto-cleavage of its C-terminus, suggesting this is a conserved activation and/or maturation feature of related phage proteases. Analyses of essential head gene mutants showed that the five subunits of the vRNAP must be assembled for any subunit to be incorporated into the prohead, although the assembled vRNAP must then undergo subsequent major conformational rearrangements in the DNA packed capsid to allow ejection through the ~30 A diameter tail tube for transcription from the injected DNA. In addition, ejection protein candidate gp243 was found to play a critical role in head assembly. Our analyses of the vRNAP and gp243 mutants highlighted an unexpected dichotomy in giant phage head maturation: while all analyzed giant phages have a homologous protease that processes major capsid and portal proteins, processing of ejection proteins is not always a stable/defining feature. Our identification in SPN3US, and related phages, of a diverged paralog to the prohead protease further hints toward a complicated evolutionary pathway for giant phage head structure and assembly.
Statistical User Simulation for Spoken Dialogue Systems: What for, Which Data, Which Future?

There has been a lot of interest for user simulation in the field of spoken dialogue systems during the last decades. User simulation was first proposed to assess the performance of SDS before a public release. Since the late 90's, user simulation is also used for dialogue management optimisation. In this position paper, we focus on statistical methods for user simulation, their main advantages and draw-backs. We initiate a reflection about the utility of such methods and give some insights of what their future should be.
Shape anisotropy in patterned ferromagnetic GaMnAsP films with perpendicular anisotropy

Abstract We investigate the effects of physical dimensions on the behavior of magnetic anisotropy in lithographically-fabricated nanoscale squares of the ferromagnetic semiconductor GaMnAsP using SQUID magnetometry and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). Both measurements show that perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is strongly affected by the size of the ferromagnetic nano-scale elements, while their Curie temperature and their in-plane anisotropy remain unchanged in the range studied. In addition to uniform-mode FMR, we observe a series of spin-wave resonances, whose analysis suggests that surface anisotropy plays an important role in determining the properties of nanoscale magnets.
The effect of insurance type on access to inguinal hernia repair under the Affordable Care Act.

Abstract Background The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act extended coverage to any individual with an income up to 138% of the federal poverty level. Our study of surgeon practice management investigated the impact of the type of insurance on access to elective inguinal hernia repair and the disparities in access between Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states. Methods Practices of 240 hernia repair surgeons across 8 states were randomly selected from the American College of Surgeons Find a Surgeon Database. Investigators posed as simulated patients seeking an evaluation for an inguinal hernia. Physician offices were contacted using a standardized script on separate occasions to assess appointment success rates and waiting periods for 3 different insurance types (BlueCross, Medicaid, Medicare). Results Of 240 surgical practices contacted, 75.4% scheduled appointments for Medicaid patients, compared to 98.8% for Medicare patients and 98.3% for those with private insurance. In states that expanded Medicaid, fewer offices accepted Medicaid patients compared to those in nonexpanded states. No differences in wait times between expanded and nonexpanded states were observed. Surgeons in either solo practices or urban settings were less likely to accept Medicaid patients than those in either group practices or non-urban offices. Conclusions Simulated Medicaid patients were less successful at scheduling appointments for surgical consultation than BlueCross or Medicare patients. Fewer surgical practices in expansion states accepted Medicaid patients despite increased coverage due to Medicaid expansion. These findings should be further investigated amidst future changes in Medicaid to understand their impact on access to surgical care.
Abstract 1917: ABO-Incompatible Heart Transplantation in Infants: Analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing Database

Introduction : ABO-incompatible heart transplantation, traditionally contraindicated because of the risk of hyperacute rejection, has been used selectively in recent years. Infants have limited production of isohemagglutinins, which may lower the risk of hyperacute rejection. We analyzed the impact of ABO-incompatibility on outcomes after heart transplantation in infants. Methods : Heart transplant recipients <1 year of age reported to the United Network for Organ Sharing from 1999–2007 were divided according to donor-recipient ABO-incompatibility or compatibility. Outcomes included Kaplan-Meier survival and hyperacute rejection. Propensity-adjusted Cox regression modeling was used to identify predictors of mortality. Results : 591 infants underwent heart transplantation: 35 (6%) received allografts from ABO-incompatible donors. ABO-incompatible recipients trended toward more congenital heart disease (71 vs 66%; p =0.06) and were less likely to have dilated cardiomyopathy (11 vs 29%; p =0.02). One ABO-incompatible infant had hyperacute rejection requiring re-transplantation. No ABO-incompatible infant and 2 ABO-compatible infants died from hyperacute rejection. Survival was similar at 3 years (Figure[⇓][1]). Propensity-adjusted Cox regression analysis demonstrated that ABO-incompatibility did not predict mortality (HR 3.61; 95% CI 0.26–49.0; p =0.33). Conclusion : ABO-incompatible heart transplantation can be performed safely in infants with a low incidence of hyperacute rejection. ABO-incompatible heart transplantation should be considered in infants to maximize donor organ utilization and reduce mortality among infants on the waiting list. ![][2] [1]: #graphic-1 [2]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Imaging Techniques for Corneal Disorders

Corneal imaging has dramatically increased our abilities to effectively evaluate and treat patients with complex corneal disorders that, in decades past, were very difficult to manage without direct ex vivo evaluation, whether by culture or by pathologic evaluation. Even now, confocal microscopy, anterior segment optical coherence tomography, and specular microscopy allow us to evaluate normal anatomy and postsurgical results while also allowing the evaluation of pathologic conditions such as atypical infectious keratitis, corneal dystrophies, and postsurgical complications.
Forcing Variables: Sea Level and Isostasy

Chapter 7 describes the interaction of landscape with sea-level change and isostatic adjustment. Sea level has varied considerably over the course of Earth history. A rise in sea level is equivalent with worldwide subsidence of land and could result in inland floods. A drop in sea level is equivalent with worldwide uplift of land and could result in river incision. Isostasy is the rising or settling of a portion of the Earth’s lithosphere that occurs when weight is removed or added in order to maintain equilibrium between buoyancy forces that push the lithosphere upward and gravity forces that pull the lithosphere downward. When these two forces balance, the lithosphere is said to be at isostatic equilibrium . Isostasy is responsible for the preservation of high mountains long after tectonic uplift has ceased and for erosional exhumation of deeply buried rocks. Isostatic uplift can be on the order of feet per 100 years, but uplift occurs over too broad an area and cannot be sustained long enough to create mountains from sea level.
Detection of Important Diagnostic Markers of HCV Infection

The identification and characterization of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) was accomplished by the application of molecular methods by Choo et al. in 1989 using high titered acute phase sera obtained from an experimentally infected chimpanzee.1 Over the ensuing years, important aspects of the epidemiology, molecular virology, pathogenesis, and natural history of HCV have been elucidated. In addition, specific and sensitive assays for the detection of important markers of infection have been developed. These tests have been used in various settings including the clinical diagnostic laboratory to diagnose infection, the blood transfusion services to virtually eliminate the occurrence of post-transfusion HCV and, in the therapeutic setting, to monitor the effect of various treatment modalities.
Predictión of Man’s Performance in Space Using Flight Simulators and Balloon-Borne Systems

The ability of space crews to carry out useful missions and tasks has until now been a matter of speculation, based mainly on extrapolation of aviation experience, philosophical reasoning, and fragmentary research. This paper proposes the development of advanced forms of ground-based flight simulators and the use of long-endurance high altitude manned balloon flights to measure and determine the capability of men to perform in space. By comparing these measurements with corresponding data on the ability of automatic equipment to do the same, it will be possible to specify and predict those tasks which can be achieved better by manned than by unmanned space systems. The characteristics of these simulators and balloon operations will be described in some detail, together with the role each will play in determining optimum instrumentation, data displays, and cockpit layout for manned space vehicles. Their application to the effective training of space crews will also be briefly discussed.
The use of paraprofessionals in crisis intervention. Evaluation of an innovative program.

Single-session crisis services by paraprofessionals (graduate students and community volunteers) in the emergency room of a community hospital were offered to 293 clients. These clients were followed-up 6 to 12 months after their last contact and asked about: (1) the effectiveness of the service, (2) their use of referrals, (3) the major source of change in their crisis situation, and (4) their rating of improvement for their presenting problem. There were 104 clients who completed the follow-up. The results support the interpretation that timely intervention by paraprofessionals may have long-lasting results in specific problem areas. A model emphasizing the use of service deliverers as researchers is proposed. Language: en
Assessment of spray combustion models in large-eddy simulations of a polydispersed acetone spray flame

Abstract Spray combustion is of practical importance to various applications. To study spray flames, benchmark cases were investigated both experimentally and numerically. Previous numerical studies of these flames have identified sensitivities to gas-phase combustion models and the description of the droplet evaporation. The objective of this work is to examine effects of combustion models on the structure of an acetone spray flame. To this end, three different combustion models are examined, namely a finite-rate chemistry model, a flamelet/progress variable model, and a flame prolongation of intrinsic low dimensional manifold model. In the two flamelet approaches, effects of spray evaporation are considered in the limit of small Stokes number. By examining radial profiles and employing a doubly-conditioned analysis on gaseous mixture fraction and liquid-to-gas mass ratio, it is shown that both flamelet models show differences in the evaporation and subsequent gas phase combustion and temperature field. The use of a finite-rate combustion model in conjunction with a reduced chemical mechanism provide improved predictions of heat release and spray-flame structure.
Invited Review: Current state of wearable precision dairy technologies in disease detection

ABSTRACT Purpose The primary objective of this review article is to provide insight into the role of wearable precision dairy technologies (WPDT) in detection of lameness, mastitis, metabolic disorders, and metritis. Sources This review is separated into 3 sections: overview of technology development; WPDT behavioral variables linked to disease; and WPDT detection of disease and disorders. Through Web of Science, Google Scholar, and SPAC (Searchable Proceedings of Animal Conferences, ADSA), 99 publications were identified that discuss WPDT that can be used for disease detection and associated similar abnormal behaviors. Synthesis Precision dairy technology is the real-time monitoring of animals through behavior monitoring, milk constituents, milk yield, video analysis, record analysis, and physiological monitoring. Technologies can be wearable, incorporated into the milking system, stand alone, or part of the management software. Real-time monitoring has the potential to improve individual cow management and overall farm efficiency. Wearable precision dairy technologies reside on or within the cow for some amount of time. These WPDT currently can measure an individual cow’s time spent at the feed bunk, rumination time, eating time, lying time, standing time, walking time, activity, lying-to-standing transitions, temperature, and rumen pH and provide a cow’s location. Recently, WPDT marketed for estrus detection were adapted for disease detection. Conclusions and Applications Potential does exist for WPDT disease detection. Technologies can identify changes in behavior associated with disease or disorders, although no technologies currently provide disease-specific alerts. Future studies should focus on incorporating multiple behavior, physiological, and herd records with machine-learning techniques to create timely, disease-specific alerts.
Case 64: Endobronchial Foreign Body

You are on a medical mission to a small African country. You have just arrived. In the emergency room, you watch a stream of patients coming to be seen. The doctor on call happens to be an elderly gentleman, who does everything himself. The main reason that he does everything is that he is the only doctor in the hospital. A 16-month-old boy is admitted with increasing wheezing and stridor over the past 4 h. The child has had a history of asthma for 3–4 months, which has not got better with medical treatment. The mother accompanying the child says this is the worst he has been. Chest exam exhibits the classical asthma signs. He is frightened and distressed. You hear him wheezing with each forced exhalation. He does not look cyanosed. There is no pulse oximeter in the emergency room. He is using accessory muscles and there is decreased air entry to the right lung. The chest X-ray shows some evidence of atelectasis in the lower right lobe. Your new friend, the doctor in the emergency department, diagnoses a possible foreign body aspiration.
Effect of diazoalkane structure on the stereoselectivity of rhodium(II) (S)-N-(arylsulfonyl)prolinate catalyzed cyclopropanations

Abstract Rhodium(II) (S)-N-(arylsulfonyl)prolinate catalyzed decomposition of diazoalkanes containing a methyl ester and either a vinyl or a phenyl group in the presence of alkenes results in highly diastereoselective and enantioselective cyclopropanations.
Anisotropy and residual stress in B4C-ZrB2 eutectic

Abstract Microstructure texturing in eutectic composites is known for contributing to anisotropic materials properties. Although B4C-ZrB2 eutectic has long been discovered, very little is known about how the highly textured microstructure and the crystallographic orientation of the constituent phases affect the mechanical properties of the composite. In this study, B4C-ZrB2 eutectic is prepared via arc melting to investigate the hardness and toughness anisotropy due to microstructure texturing and crystallographic orientations. In addition, residual stresses responsible for the observed toughening mechanisms were elucidated using the theoretical model and Raman stress mapping.
Joint Inventory and Revenue Management with Removal Decisions

We study the problem of a retailer that maximizes profit through joint replenishment, pricing and removal decisions. This problem is motivated by the observation that retailers usually retain rights to remove inventory from their network either by returning it to the suppliers or through liquidation in the face of random demand and capacity constraints. We develop a tractable dynamic program by leveraging the concept of L-natural-concavity that allows us to partially characterize the structure of optimal policies. Different modes of return rights are considered, and we explore extensions that consider lead-time, perishability and temporal demand dependency under capacity constraints. We additionally present illustrative numerical results.
Maxillary ameloblastoma in an 8-year-old child: A case report with a review of the literature

Ameloblastoma is a benign locally invasive tumor with a high tendency to recur. It is considered rare in the pediatric population, with most cases diagnosed in the third to fifth decades of life. Approximately 80% of ameloblastomas occur in the molar and ramus region of the mandible, while 20% of cases occur in the maxillary posterior region. This report presents a case of plexiform ameloblastoma in an uncommon location in an 8-year-old child. The lesion was initially thought to be a dentigerous cyst, based on its location and radiographic appearance. The clinical and radiographic features, histopathology, and treatment of solid, plexiform, maxillary ameloblastoma are reviewed, with an added emphasis on a literature review of ameloblastoma in children. This report emphasize the importance of long-term follow-up, since recurrence may occur many years after initial tumor removal.
Filtering Coherent Signal from Thermal Noise by Photon-Number Thresholding

We filter low photon-number using photon-number-resolving detector, for improving the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) of rangefinders and lidars. We investigate the technique properties and show where it surpasses the classical SNR.
An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Community Participation, Recovery, and Quality of Life of Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses

Background Recovery and quality of life are key outcomes emphasized in mental health systems around the world. This study explores the extent to which efforts to facilitate community participation may enhance these outcomes. Methods Six hundred and six individuals with serious mental illnesses completed measures of participation, recovery and quality of life. Results Small, but statistically significant positive relationships between community participation and recovery and quality of life were found. Additional analyses identified specific participation areas that, if they are important and done sufficiently from the perspective of the respondent, resulted in higher levels of recovery and quality of life. Limitations Correlational analyses do not allow for causal explanations. Conclusions Results suggest that a greater emphasis on community participation, especially in specific areas that are important to the person and done sufficiently, may facilitate recovery and quality of life in community mental health systems. Implications and possible directions for policies and practices, especially within the context of Psychiatric Rehabilitation services, are offered.
Overview of the US Department of Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program

The Department of Energy’s Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS Program) is being carried out to enhance the safe, efficient, and economical performance of US nuclear power plants and extend the operating lifetimes of this reliable source of electricity. It has two facets with respect to long-term operations: (1) manage the aging of plant systems, structures, and components (SSCs) so that nuclear power plant lifetimes can be extended and the plants can continue to operate safely, efficiently, and economically; and (2) provide science-based solutions to the industry to implement technology to exceed the performance of the current labor-intensive business model.
Positive Impacts of a Sport Intervention on Male Students of Color and School Climate.

A positive school climate is strongly associated with enhanced student outcomes. With the disengagement of Black and Latinx youth living in poverty being at an all-time high, participation in sport...
Battery-Less Wireless Chipless Sensor Tag for Subsoil Moisture Monitoring

Inefficient soil management is a hindrance to food productivity and a contributing factor to the degradation of soil quality. Despite decades of research confirming the benefits of using sensors in effective soil management and crop yield, they are still not widely used in farms for several reasons including high cost, difficulty in large area deployment, and requirement of labor-intensive wiring. In this paper, we report a low-cost battery-less chipless wireless sensor tag that can be batch-manufactured for large-scale agricultural surveillance. The sensor tag works based on backscattering techniques for the wireless measurements of the volumetric water content (VWC) of the soil. The sensor tag consists of shorted dipole resonators whose resonance frequencies are dependent on the effective permittivity of the VWC of its surrounding soil. The resonant frequency of the sensor tag is measured by an orthogonally polarized reader antenna that observes the peak in the backscattered spectrum. As a proof-of-concept, a sensor tag with two resonators of length 10 cm and 9 cm, is buried at a depth of 10 cm in the soil and is wirelessly read from a free-space distance of 50 cm, to demonstrate its capability to measure the changes in VWC. The resonators of length 10 cm and 9 cm have demonstrated a linear change of −3.92 MHz/VWC and −4.85 MHz/VWC, respectively, within the VWC range 4-27%. By changing the functional passivation layers on the demonstrated sensor tag, this concept can be applied to a wide range of low-cost subsoil sensors for precision agriculture applications.
Electrostatics, Charge Transfer, and the Nature of the Halide-Water Hydrogen Bond.

Binary halide-water complexes X-(H2O) are examined by means of symmetry-adapted perturbation theory, using charge-constrained promolecular reference densities to extract a meaningful charge-transfer component from the induction energy. As is known, the X-(H2O) potential energy surface (for X = F, Cl, Br, or I) is characterized by symmetric left and right hydrogen bonds separated by a C2v-symmetric saddle point, with a tunneling barrier height that is <2 kcal/mol except in the case of F-(H2O). Our analysis demonstrates that the charge-transfer energy is correspondingly small (<2 kcal/mol except for X = F), considerably smaller than the electrostatic interaction energy. Nevertheless, charge transfer plays a crucial role determining the conformational preferences of X-(H2O) and provides a driving force for the formation of quasi-linear X··· H-O hydrogen bonds. Charge-transfer energies correlate well with measured O-H vibrational redshifts for the halide-water complexes and also for OH-(H2O) and NO2-(H2O), providing some indication of a general mechanism.
Mitigating Quantization Lobes in Reconfigurable Reflective Surfaces

We present a method for the reduction of quantization lobes in single/multi-bit reconfigurable reflective surfaces (e.g. reflectarrays and large intelligent surfaces). As such, we introduce random physical phase delays on each antenna element of the reflective surface, thus randomizing quantization errors, decreasing the level of the undesired quantization lobes. In this work, we explain our method and present results of a proof-of-concept 275 GHz linear 1-bit reconfigurable reflective surface. Finally, leveraging the proposed method, we achieve a reduction of quantization lobes up to 10 dB for single-bit configurations.
A level-wise spine registration framework to account for large pose changes

Accurate and efficient spine registration is crucial to success of spine image guidance. However, changes in spine pose cause intervertebral motion that can lead to significant registration errors. In this study, we develop a geometrical rectification technique via nonlinear principal component analysis (NLPCA) to achieve level-wise vertebral registration that is robust to large changes in spine pose. We used explanted porcine spines and live pigs to develop and test our technique. Each sample was scanned with preoperative CT (pCT) in an initial pose and rescanned with intraoperative stereovision (iSV) in a different surgical posture. Patient registration rectified arbitrary spinal postures in pCT and iSV into a common, neutral pose through a parameterized moving-frame approach. Topologically encoded depth projection 2D images were then generated to establish invertible point-to-pixel correspondences. Level-wise point correspondences between pCT and iSV vertebral surfaces were generated via 2D image registration. Finally, closed-form vertebral level-wise rigid registration was obtained by directly mapping 3D surface point pairs. Implanted mini-screws were used as fiducial markers to measure registration accuracy. In seven explanted porcine spines and two live animal surgeries (maximum in-spine pose change of 87.5 mm and 32.7 degrees averaged from all spines), average target registration errors (TRE) of 1.70 ± 0.15 mm and 1.85 ± 0.16 mm were achieved, respectively. The automated spine rectification took 3–5 min, followed by an additional 30 secs for depth image projection and level-wise registration. Accuracy and efficiency of the proposed level-wise spine registration support its application in human open spine surgeries. The registration framework, itself, may also be applicable to other intraoperative imaging modalities such as ultrasound and MRI, which may expand utility of the approach in spine registration in general.
Adaptation of an artificial bait to an automated aerial delivery system for landscape-scale brown treesnake suppression

Dead neonatal mice are currently used as bait for delivery of toxin to invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) on Guam; once deployed in the field the mice are highly attractive to the snakes but only for about four days. An artificial bait containing a mixture of fats mimicking those in skin of the mice is also highly attractive to the snakes and remains attractive 2–3 times longer. The artificial bait, however, costs more than the mice, and is more difficult to attach to the capsules of a novel aerial bait delivery system. This paper describes a reformulation of the bait which reduced the ingredient cost to 11% of its former value, without compromising its attractiveness to free-ranging snakes. Three lipid formulations using different source materials to produce the same fatty acid profile target were tested along with two levels of pork fat to yield six test formulations. No differences in bait disappearance were noted in field testing of the baits, indicating that decisions regarding bait formulation could be made on the basis of cost without sacrificing efficacy. Separately, testing of 17 commercially available adhesives identified five for field testing. Among these, two demonstrated strong, weather-resistant bonds between the oily surface of the artificial baits and the bait capsules as evidenced by only 13.4% and 4.5% of baits falling off suspended capsules. Importantly, neither of these adhesives impacted bait removal by snakes in field trials in comparison to baits with no adhesive.. The results represent an advance in technology development for landscape-scale suppression of brown treesnake populations.
Abstract 14783: Association of Daily Step Count and Resting Heart Rate With Right Ventricular Function in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Introduction: Remote activity monitoring may provide new insight into behavioral choices and exercise capacity in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Here, we report baseline data from a randomi...
App Designs and Interactive Features to Increase mHealth Adoption: User Expectation Survey and Experiment.

Background: Despite the ubiquity of smartphones, there is little guidance for how to design mobile health apps to increase use. Specifically, knowing what features users expect, grab their attention, encourage use (via predicted use or through positive app evaluations), and signal beneficial action possibilities can guide and focus app development efforts. Objective: We investigated what features users expect and how the design (prototypicality) impacts app adoption. Methods: In a web-based survey, we elicited expectations, including presence and placement, for 12 app features. Thereafter, participants (n=462) viewed 2 health apps (high prototypicality similar to top downloaded apps vs low prototypicality similar to research interventions) and reported willingness to download, attention, and predicted use of app features. Participants rated both apps (high and low) for aesthetics, ease of use, usefulness, perceived affordances, and intentions to use. Results: Most participants (425/462, 92%) expected features for navigation or personal settings (eg, menu) in specific regions (eg, top corners). Features with summary graphs or statics were also expected by many (395-396 of 462, 86%), with a center placement expectation. A feature to “share with friends” was least expected among participants (203/462, 44%). Features fell into 4 unique categories based on attention and predicted use, including essential features with high (>50% or >231 of 462) predicted use and attention (eg, calorie trackers), flashy features with high attention but lower predicted use (eg, links to specific diets), functional features with modest attention and low use (eg, settings), and mundane features with low attention and use (eg, discover tabs). When given a choice, 347 of 462 (75%) participants would download the high-prototypicality app. High prototypicality apps (vs low) led to greater aesthetics, ease of use, usefulness, and intentions, (for all, P<.001). Participants thought that high prototypicality apps had more perceived affordances. Conclusions: Intervention designs that fail to meet a threshold of mHealth expectations will be dismissed as less usable or beneficial. Individuals who download health apps have shared expectations for features that should be there, as well as where these features should appear. Meeting these expectations can improve app evaluations and encourage use. Our typology should guide presence and placement of expected app features to signal value and increase use to impact preventive health behaviors. Features that will likely be used and are attention-worthy—essential, flashy, and functional—should be prioritized during app development.
CONTRIBUCION AL CONOCIMIENTO DE LA FLORA FANEROGÁMICA SILVESTRE DE VICENTE GUERRERO, DURANGO, MÉXICO.

A preliminary list of 506 species in 335 genera, from 86 families of the phanerogamic flora is presented, derived from taxonomic determination of the collected material in Vicente Guerrero, Durango. The type of plant community is also briefly described. It is concluded that the family Asteraceae is the best represented, as well as it’s inventory is practically complete.
Nonparametric Topological Layers in Neural Networks.

Various topological techniques and tools have been applied to neural networks in terms of network complexity, explainability, and performance. One fundamental assumption of this line of research is the existence of a global (Euclidean) coordinate system upon which the topological layer is constructed. Despite promising results, such a \textit{topologization} method has yet to be widely adopted because the parametrization of a topologization layer takes a considerable amount of time and more importantly, lacks a theoretical foundation without which the performance of the neural network only achieves suboptimal performance. This paper proposes a learnable topological layer for neural networks without requiring a Euclidean space; Instead, the proposed construction requires nothing more than a general metric space except for an inner product, i.e., a Hilbert space. Accordingly, the according parametrization for the proposed topological layer is free of user-specified hyperparameters, which precludes the costly parametrization stage and the corresponding possibility of suboptimal networks.
Contracts in the Real World: Stories of Popular Contracts and Why They Matter

Contracts, the foundation of economic activity, are both vital and misunderstood. Contracts in the Real World, 2nd edition corrects common misunderstandings through a series of engaging stories involving such notable individuals as Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Lady Gaga, and Donald Trump. Capturing the essentials of this subject, the book explores recurring issues in contracting and shows how age-old precedents and wisdom still apply today and how contract law's inherent dynamism cautions against exuberant reforms. The accessible yet rigorous approach will appeal to the general reader and specialists alike, and to both teachers and students of contracts.
Formulation of Geriatric Organic Syndromes

Biobehavioral disorders associated with advanced age have received scant systematic attention in the behavior therapy literature. Although the feasibility of a behavioral approach to the unique problems of later life has been supported and demonstrated repeatedly (Barnes, Sack, & Shore, 1973; Cautela, 1966, 1969; Cohen, 1967; Hoyer, 1973; Hoyer, Mishara, & Riedel, 1975), these proposals have been embraced by only a handful of clinical scientists. Even today, O. R. Lindsley’s important treatise, Geriatric Behavioral Prosthetics, published in 1964, remains generally unknown to the scientific community. Behaviorally oriented writers such as Cautela and Mansfield (1977) and Richards and Thorpe (1978) later attempted to organize efforts in the geriatric domain, but, as was the case with earlier endeavors, their impact on the field of behavior therapy was modest at best.
Construction of Escherichia coli amber suppressor tRNA genes. II. Synthesis of additional tRNA genes and improvement of suppressor efficiency.

Using synthetic oligonucleotides, we have constructed 17 tRNA suppressor genes from Escherichia coli representing 13 species of tRNA. We have measured the levels of in vivo suppression resulting from introducing each tRNA gene into E. coli via a plasmid vector. The suppressors function at varying efficiencies. Some synthetic suppressors fail to yield detectable levels of suppression, whereas others insert amino acids with greater than 70% efficiency. Results reported in the accompanying paper demonstrate that some of these suppressors insert the original cognate amino acid, whereas others do not. We have altered some of the synthetic tRNA genes in order to improve the suppressor efficiency of the resulting tRNAs. Both tRNACUAHis and tRNACUAGlu were altered by single base changes, which generated -A-A- following the anticodon, resulting in a markedly improved efficiency of suppression. The tRNACUAPro was inactive, but a hybrid suppressor tRNA consisting of the tRNACUAPhe anticodon stem and loop together with the remainder of the tRNAPro proved highly efficient at suppressing nonsense codons. Protein chemistry results reported in the accompanying paper show that the altered tRNACUAHis and the hybrid tRNACUAPro insert only histidine and proline, respectively, whereas the altered tRNACUAGlu inserts principally glutamic acid but some glutamine. Also, a strain deficient in release factor 1 was employed to increase the efficiency of weak nonsense suppressors.
Prolonged Production of TNF-α Exacerbates Illness during Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection

CD8+ CTL are the main effector cells responsible for resolving viral infections. However, the CTL response to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in mice facilitates viral clearance at the expense of significant immunopathology. Previous reports have shown a strong correlation between the mechanism of CTL activity and the severity of RSV-induced illness. Furthermore, experiments in perforin knockout mice revealed that antiviral cytokine production temporally correlated with RSV-induced illness. In the current study, we show that TNF-α is the dominant mediator of RSV-associated illness, and it is also important for clearance of virus-infected cells during the early stages of infection. We also demonstrate that IFN-γ plays a protective role in conjunction with perforin/granzyme-mediated killing. Preliminary experiments in gld mice that express nonfunctional Fas ligand (FasL) revealed that RSV-induced illness is significantly reduced in the absence of FasL-mediated killing. Antiviral cytokine production was not elevated in the absence of FasL, suggesting a possible link between FasL and antiviral cytokine activity. This work shows that multiple phenotypic subsets of CD8+ CTLs respond to RSV infection, each with varying capacities for clearance of virus-infected cells and the induction of illness. In addition, the revelation that TNF-α is the principal mediator of RSV-induced illness means that administration of TNF receptor antagonists, in combination with antiviral therapy, may be an effective method to treat RSV infections.
Preserved mitochondrial calcium retention capacity in summer-active Arctic ground squirrels undergoing normothermic myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (663.9)

Arctic Ground Squirrels (AGS) exhibit a high degree of endogenous resistance against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury compared to the best protected rat strain (Brown Norway, BN). We tested if this species-specific myocardial protection is associated with increased mitochondrial calcium retention capacity (CRC). Isolated hearts from BN (n=15) and summer-active AGS (n=11) underwent 45 min global cardioplegic ischemia and 60 min reperfusion with Krebs solution containing 7.5 mM glucose or 1% Intralipid in addition. Left ventricular pressure was measured isovolumetrically. Cardiac mitochondria were isolated and CRC was measured by spectrofluorometry of calcium green at 503/532 nm excitation/emission for complex I and II substrates in response to intermittent calcium boluses. While multiple regression analysis revealed intralipid, female gender and species (AGS) as predictors of better myocardial function following IR, predictors of improved CRC were AGS and mitochondrial substrate only. These resu...
Do Pharmaceutical Firms Invest More Heavily in Countries with Data Exclusivity

Countries may choose various methods of data protection in order to comply with the TRIPS Agreement. Policymakers should consider the effects of data exclusivity on prices and investment relative to other types of data protection. The data presented here suggest there is no relationship between whether or not a country has data exclusivity, and the amount of investment in the country by the pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand, empirical evidence in previous papers has shown that data exclusivity does drive prices higher.
Gene Therapy for Severe Haemoglobin Disorders

Sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassaemia result from inherited mutations that cause structural abnormality or deficient synthesis of adult haemoglobin. Palliative therapies improve the quality/duration of life for many, but side effects result from long-term use. Bone marrow transplantation can be curative, but is limited to individuals with a matched donor. Thus, gene delivery into the patient's haematopoietic stem cells is a desirable therapy. Lentiviral vectors encoding for erythroid-specific expression of either γ- or β-globin genes have been developed for this purpose. These vectors have been used to cure SCD and β-thalassaemia in mouse models with positive results emerging from clinical trials. Concurrently, innovative strategies intending to reactivate endogenous γ-globin expression or correct β-globin mutations at the genome level are showing promise for the future. Ultimately, clinical utility of all these approaches depend on safety and efficacy so that a cure can be consistently achieved. Key Concepts: Sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassaemia are the most common single gene disorders, and a worldwide health concern. The switch from foetal to adult haemoglobin production after birth marks the onset of disease. Haematopoietic stem cell transplant is curative, but available to only a limited number of patients making gene therapy a highly desirable alternative. Lentiviral vectors made possible the delivery of complex, erythroid-specific globin expression cassettes into haematopoietic stem cells. Mouse models of SCD and β-thalassaemia have been cured with lentiviral vectors encoding for high-level, erythroid specific expression of γ- and β-globin genes. The first adult β-thalassaemia major patient treated with a β-globin lentiviral vector remains transfusion-independent and in good health 6 years after therapy. Keywords: sickle cell disease; β-thalassaemia; bone marrow transplant; haematopoietic stem cells; β-globin; γ-globin; retrovirus; lentivirus; gene therapy
Risks and Benefits of Text-Message-Delivered and Small-Group-Delivered Sexual Health Interventions Among African American Women in the Midwestern United States

Interventions to decrease acquisition and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases among African American women using text messages versus small group delivery modalities pose distinct research risks and benefits. Determining the relative risk-benefit ratio of studies using these different modalities has relied on the expertise of investigators and their institutional review boards. In this study, African American women participated in focus groups and surveys to elicit and compare risks and benefits inherent in these two intervention delivery modalities, focusing on issues such as convenience, privacy, and stigma of participation. Some risk/benefit variables were implicated in willingness to participate the two intervention modalities.
Development and validation of limited sampling models for topotecan lactone pharmacokinetic studies in children

Purpose: To develop and validate a pharmacokinetic limited sampling model (LSM) for intravenous and oral topotecan pharmacokinetic studies in children. Methods: Topotecan lactone concentration-time data from five trials were used to develop and validate LSM for intravenous and oral topotecan. Based on full sampling from one intravenous study (30 patients; 195 studies), a LSM for intravenous topotecan was determined using a modification of the D-optimality algorithm. For oral topotecan we used full sampling data from one oral topotecan study (27 patients; 47 studies) to develop an LSM. Accuracy and bias of each LSM were determined relative to the full sampling method. Predictive performance of the LSM was validated using additional data and Monte–Carlo simulations based on these data. Results: LSM for intravenous topotecan includes: 5 min, 1.5, and 2.5 h after the end of the 30 min infusion. The median accuracy (absolute predicted error) and bias (predicted error) are ≤8% and ≤6.1%, respectively. For oral topotecan, the optimal LSM includes: 15 min, 1.5, and 6 h. The median accuracy and bias are 6% and 4%, respectively. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the optimal sampling times for the intravenous LSM for topotecan in children consist of: predose, and 5 min, 1.5, and 2.5 h after the end of infusion. For oral topotecan the sample times are predose, 15 min, 1.5, and 6 h after dose administration. These LSM are invaluable to children receiving topotecan because it minimizes inconvenience and blood collection.
The Evolution of Diesel Engine Performance Prediction

Thermodynamic system performance modeling has become an integral part of the engine development process. The modeling tools used for this type of analysis have evolved from fairly simple calculations of limited scope into detailed simulations with ever-increasing complexity. These analytical tools are based on the combination of basic concepts, physical phenomena and experimental correlations. As with other categories of analysis, their evolution has also been closely coupled with the advances in computer technology.This document provides a historic view of thermodynamic system simulation and revisits some of the developments in modeling techniques, engine measurements, data acquisition systems and computer hardware that have contributed to the understanding of engine performance prediction.© 2014 ASME