cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multilevel LDPC-Coded High-Speed Optical Systems: Efficient Hard Decoding and Code Optimization

We consider a multilevel coding scheme employing low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and high-order modulations for high-speed optical transmissions, where the coherent receiver performs either parallel independent decoding (PID) or multistage decoding (MSD). To meet the severe complexity constraint imposed by the ultrahigh data rate of the emerging optical transmission systems, we focus on hard-decision decoding of LDPC codes. A new LDPC hard decoding method is developed, which is equivalent to the Gallager decoding algorithm B, but is more efficient in terms of circuit implementation, since no variable node degree information is needed. Two variants of this decoder is also proposed, which offers significant performance gain for finite-length codes. We optimize the system by allocating rates and designing profiles for component codes. Both numerical evaluations and simulation results show that the optimized multilevel coding systems with either PID or MSD substantially outperform the optimized single-level LDPC-coded system.
Charcot-Marie-tooth syndrome

Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome (CMT) is a group of genetically determined symmetric distal polyneuropathies. The CMT loci are known to map to chromosome 1 (CMT1B), chromosome 17 (CMT1A), the X chromosome (CMTX), and two additional unknown autosomes (CMT1C and CMT2). The most prevalent form is CMT1A, an autosomal dominant demyelinative disorder caused either by a tandem duplication in band p11.2-12 of chromosome 17 (17p11.2-12) with trisomic expression of the peripheral myelin protein-22 (PMP-22) gene or, less frequently, by a missense mutation of PMP-22. Missense mutations in PMP-22 are also responsible for two forms of demyelinative polyneuropathy in mice, trembler and trembler. Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by recurrent focal neuropathy. In all families thus far studied, patients with HNPP have been found to be monosomic for a segment of chromosome 17p11.2-12. The duplication in CMT1A and deletion in HNPP map to the same region in 17p11.2-12 and are both likely to be consequences of unequal crossing over during germ cell meiosis.
Processes Affecting Distribution and Dispersal of Suspended Matter in Columbia River Effluent System: ABSTRACT

The sources of the suspended particulate matter derived from the summer mixing of Columbia River and ocean waters are river-borne particles, phytoplankton growing in the ocean near the river, and resuspended particles. The Columbia River contributes most of the particulate (>= 0.45µ) matter (8 to 40 mg/l) which consists of lithogenous particles (85-95 percent) and biogenous particles--primarily freshwater phytoplankton with lesser amounts of detritus. Biogenous matter, primarily phytoplankton and detritus ( Positive vertical gradients in particle concentrations are maintained in the low-salinity surface layers near the river mouth by vertical water movements (>= 1 m/day) and by the relatively greater turbulence of the low-salinity surface layers. The upward component of the water movements is sufficient to retain lithogenous matter (3 to 104 m/day). Concentrations and modal particle diameters (10 to 30µ) of river-borne lithogenous particles, which differ with the rate of river discharge, decrease seaward by progressive mixing with ocean waters with less suspended matter ( 4µ) suspended load. End_of_Article - Last_Page 464------------
The enforcement–exploitation trade-off in international cooperation between weak and powerful states

According to the imperative of enforcement, states must threaten defectors with sanctions or reciprocal suspension of international cooperation. I show that in international cooperation between the...
Utility of Whole-Genome Sequencing in Characterizing Acinetobacter Epidemiology and Analyzing Hospital Outbreaks

Acinetobacter baumannii frequently causes nosocomial infections and outbreaks. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is a promising technique for strain typing and outbreak investigations. We compared the performance of conventional methods with WGS for strain typing clinical Acinetobacter isolates and analyzing a carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) outbreak. We performed two band-based typing techniques (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and repetitive extragenic palindromic-PCR), multilocus sequence type (MLST) analysis, and WGS on 148 Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-A. baumannii complex bloodstream isolates collected from a single hospital from 2005 to 2012. Phylogenetic trees inferred from core-genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) confirmed three Acinetobacter species within this collection. Four major A. baumannii clonal lineages (as defined by MLST) circulated during the study, three of which are globally distributed and one of which is novel. WGS indicated that a threshold of 2,500 core SNPs accurately distinguished A. baumannii isolates from different clonal lineages. The band-based techniques performed poorly in assigning isolates to clonal lineages and exhibited little agreement with sequence-based techniques. After applying WGS to a CRAB outbreak that occurred during the study, we identified a threshold of 2.5 core SNPs that distinguished nonoutbreak from outbreak strains. WGS was more discriminatory than the band-based techniques and was used to construct a more accurate transmission map that resolved many of the plausible transmission routes suggested by epidemiologic links. Our study demonstrates that WGS is superior to conventional techniques for A. baumannii strain typing and outbreak analysis. These findings support the incorporation of WGS into health care infection prevention efforts.
What Causes Correlations of Equity Returns to Change Over Time? A Study of the US and the Russian Equity Markets

This paper addresses the changing nature of the correlations between the equity returns of the U.S. and Russian markets and the factors that cause these correlations to change. Correlations were estimated using the “Dynamic Conditional Correlation Model.” The sovereign credit risk of Russia, changes in exchange rates and changes in world energy prices were significant factors that affected the correlations of equity returns.
Landmark Detection Using Submodular Functions

Abstract We present a method for detecting a large number of anatomical structures, or landmarks, in a provably efficient way. A trivial solution is to search for each landmark independently. This is computationally expensive and cannot scale to a large number of landmarks. We devise a greedy algorithm that detects landmarks one by one, with the goal of minimizing the total computational cost. While this objective function is provably hard to solve, we prove that the greedy algorithm achieves near optimal results. The system is validated on a database of 2500 computed tomography volumes and shows significant speedup over traditional methods.
Regional variability of atherosclerotic disease in various anatomic segments of aorta as revealed by FDG-PET/CT imaging

1677 Objectives The aim of this study was to demonstrate the regional variability of atherosclerosis quantification in different segments of aorta (infradiaphragmatic vs supradiaphragmatic). Methods Thirty two patients, who underwent PET/CT imaging for lung cancer, were included in this study. Each patient underwent multiple-time-point PET/CT imaging at 1, 2 and 3 hours following the administration of FDG. Atherosclerotic plaque FDG-uptake, quantified as weighted average SUVmean [wA-SUVmean = ∑ (SUVmean x surface area x thickness) / ∑volume], was determined by placing ROIs around the arterial wall from the cardiac origin of the aorta down to the level of the aortic bifurcation. Infradiaphragmatic and supradiaphragmatic atherosclerosis were compared using paired t-test. Results Preliminary data of 32 patients with a mean age of 65 ± 14 showed that wA-SUVmean was higher in infra-diaphragmatic aorta compared to the supra-diaphragmatic aorta at all three time-points; however the difference was significant only in 3 hour time-point images (wA-SUVmean = 1.27, 1.47 in supra- and infradiaphragmatic aorta, respectively, P Conclusions The preliminary data show increased FDG uptake in the infradiaphragmatic aorta compared to the supradiaphragmatic aorta. This effect reaches statistical significance only in PET images acquired 3 hours following the administration of FDG. Two phenomena, the delayed accumulation of FDG in atherosclerotic plaques and the declining levels of FDG in the blood pool, could account for this important observation. These data support the benefit of delayed-time-point imaging in assessing atherosclerotic plaque activity in any setting and its capabilities in the assessment of new treatment. Research Support Supported in part by VISN 4 CPPF grant.
Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry of Anions: Part 2. Assessing Charge Site Location and Isotope Scrambling

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) coupled with gas-phase hydrogen deuterium exchange (HDX)-mass spectrometry (MS) and molecular dynamic simulations (MDS) has been used for structural investigation of anions produced by electrospraying a sample containing a synthetic peptide having the sequence KKDDDDDIIKIIK. In these experiments the potential of the analytical method for locating charge sites on ions as well as for utilizing collision-induced dissociation (CID) to reveal the degree of deuterium uptake within specific amino acid residues has been assessed. For diffuse (i.e., more elongated) [M - 2H](2-) ions, decreased deuterium content along with MDS data suggest that the D4 and D6 residues are charge sites, whereas for the more diffuse [M - 3H](3-) ions, the data suggest that the D4, D7, and the C-terminus are deprotonated. Fragmentation of mobility-selected, diffuse [M - 2H](2-) ions to determine deuterium uptake at individual amino acid residues reveals a degree of deuterium retention at incorporation sites. Although the diffuse [M - 3H](3-) ions may show more HD scrambling, it is not possible to clearly distinguish HD scrambling from the expected deuterium uptake based on a hydrogen accessibility model. The capability of the IMS-HDX-MS/MS approach to provide relevant details about ion structure is discussed. Additionally, the ability to extend the approach for locating protonation sites on positively-charged ions is presented.
Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponents and Lagrangian Coherent Structures in Uncertain Unsteady Flows

The objective of this paper is to understand transport behavior in uncertain time-varying flow fields by redefining the finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE) and Lagrangian coherent structure (LCS) as stochastic counterparts of their traditional deterministic definitions. Three new concepts are introduced: the distribution of the FTLE (D-FTLE), the FTLE of distributions (FTLE-D), and uncertain LCS (U-LCS). The D-FTLE is the probability density function of FTLE values for every spatiotemporal location, which can be visualized with different statistical measurements. The FTLE-D extends the deterministic FTLE by measuring the divergence of particle distributions. It gives a statistical overview of how transport behaviors vary in neighborhood locations. The U-LCS, the probabilities of finding LCSs over the domain, can be extracted with stochastic ridge finding and density estimation algorithms. We show that our approach produces better results than existing variance-based methods do. Our experiments also show that the combination of D-FTLE, FTLE-D, and U-LCS can help users understand transport behaviors and find separatrices in ensemble simulations of atmospheric processes.
A possible relationship between viruses of St. Louis encephalitis and epidemic keratoconjunctivitis.

SummaryEvidence has been presented which confirms Ruchman's observations that the viruses of St. Louis encephalitis and epidemic keratoconjunctivitis are closely related. The importance of careful study of current outbreaks of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis as a means of assessing the significance of these findings is stressed.
A Proof of Quadratic Reciprocity

This paper gives an alternative proof of the law of quadratic reciprocity that hinges on some well-known facts about Euler's criterion, the existence of primitive roots, and basic properties of the...
Clyde Warrior: Tradition, Community, and Red Power. New Directions in Native American Studies Series. By Paul R. McKenzie-Jones.

Clyde Warrior: Tradition, Community, and Red Power. New Directions in Native American Studies Series. By Paul R. McKenzie-Jones. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2015. xxii + 234 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $29.95.) Clyde Warrior (1939–1968) has long deserved a full-length biography, and we can now thank Paul R. McKenzie-Jones for providing one. Warrior was one of the leading young American Indian activists of the 1960s, in part due to his role as founder and leader of the National Indian Youth Council, established in 1961. Along with contemporaries during the red power era, Warrior challenged the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and other Indian leaders and organizations he found overly cautious and conciliatory to non-Indians. Warrior was … jlagrand{at}messiah.edu
Molecular mechanisms underlying resistance to androgen deprivation therapy in prostate cancer

// Kristine M. Wadosky 1 and Shahriar Koochekpour 1,2 1 Department of Cancer Genetics, Center for Genetics and Pharmacology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA 2 Department of Urology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA Correspondence to: Shahriar Koochekpour, email: // Keywords : prostate cancer; androgen receptor; castrate-recurrent; ADT; splice variant Received : June 06, 2016 Accepted : July 19, 2016 Published : July 28, 2016 Abstract Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most widely diagnosed male cancer in the Western World and while low- and intermediate-risk PCa patients have a variety of treatment options, metastatic patients are limited to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). This treatment paradigm has been in place for 75 years due to the unique role of androgens in promoting growth of prostatic epithelial cells via the transcription factor androgen receptor (AR) and downstream signaling pathways. Within 2 to 3 years of ADT, disease recurs—at which time, patients are considered to have castration-recurrent PCa (CR-PCa). A universal mechanism by which PCa becomes resistant to ADT has yet to be discovered. In this review article, we discuss underlying molecular mechanisms by which PCa evades ADT. Several major resistance pathways center on androgen signaling, including intratumoral and adrenal androgen production, AR-overexpression and amplification, expression of AR mutants, and constitutively-active AR splice variants. Other ADT resistance mechanisms, including activation of glucocorticoid receptor and impairment of DNA repair pathways are also discussed. New therapies have been approved for treatment of CR-PCa, but increase median survival by only 2-8 months. We discuss possible mechanisms of resistance to these new ADT agents. Finally, the practicality of the application of “precision oncology” to this continuing challenge of therapy resistance in metastatic or CR-PCa is examined. Empirical validation and clinical-based evidence are definitely needed to prove the superiority of “precision” treatment in providing a more targeted approach and curative therapies over the existing practices that are based on biological “cause-and-effect” relationship.
"Con Café, Compañerismo, y Calidad": Latina Women Fashioning a Writing Group into a Space of Praxis and Belonging.

ABSTRACTThis article explores the spatial practices through which a group of Mexican immigrant women, participants in a school-based writing workshop I facilitated for four years, molded and gave meaning to our weekly writing routine to foster inclusivity as the basis for collective teaching and learning—creating what I refer to as a space of praxis and belonging. Integrating the insights of Latina feminist ethnography with dialectical and dialogical approaches to spatial production, I consider how workshop participants’ attention to the material, aesthetic, and affective dimensions of the workshop were central to the creation of a space for writing and discussing stories that respected writers’ differences, dignified their life experiences, and encouraged them to consider new ways of envisioning and enacting their lives.
Neutrophil extracellular traps enhance early inflammatory response in Sendai virus-induced asthma phenotype

Paramyxoviral infection in childhood has been linked to a significant increased rate of asthma development. In mice, paramyxoviral infection with the mouse parainfluenza virus type I, Sendai virus (Sev), causes a limited bronchiolitis followed by persistent asthma traits. We have previously shown that the absence of cysteine protease dipeptidyl peptidase I (DPPI) dampened the acute lung inflammatory response and the subsequent asthma phenotype induced by Sev. Adoptive transfer of wild type neutrophils into DPPI-deficient mice restored leukocyte influx, the acute cytokine response, and the subsequent mucous cell metaplasia that accompanied Sev-induced asthma phenotype. However, the exact mechanism by which DPPI-sufficient neutrophils promote asthma development following Sev infection is still unknown. We hypothesize that neutrophils recruited to the alveolar space following Sev infection elaborate neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) that propagate the inflammatory cascade, culminating in the eventual asthma phenotype. Indeed, we found that Sev infection was associated with NET formation in the lung and release of cell-free DNA complexed to myeloperoxidase (MPO) in the alveolar space and plasma that peaked on day 2-post infection. Absence of DPPI significantly attenuated Sev-induced NET formation in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, concomitant administration of DNase 1, which dismantled NETs, or inhibition of peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4), an essential mediator of NET formation, suppressed the early inflammatory responses to Sev infection. Lastly, NETs primed bone marrow derived cells to release cytokines that can amplify the inflammatory cascade.
Where do food desert residents buy most of their junk food? Supermarkets.

Objective To examine where residents in an area with limited access to healthy foods (an urban food desert) purchased healthier and less healthy foods. Design Food shopping receipts were collected over a one-week period in 2013. These were analysed to describe where residents shopped for food and what types of food they bought. Setting Two low-income, predominantly African-American neighbourhoods with limited access to healthy foods in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Subjects Two hundred and ninety-three households in which the primary food shoppers were predominantly female (77·8 %) and non-Hispanic black (91·1 %) adults. Results Full-service supermarkets were by far the most common food retail outlet from which food receipts were returned and accounted for a much larger proportion (57·4 %) of food and beverage expenditures, both healthy and unhealthy, than other food retail outlets. Although patronized less frequently, convenience stores were notable purveyors of unhealthy foods. Conclusions Findings highlight the need to implement policies that can help to decrease unhealthy food purchases in full-service supermarkets and convenience stores and increase healthy food purchases in convenience stores.
Record-low Quantum Defect Operation of the Eye-safe Er-doped Laser

Several new laser transitions in resonantly-pumped Er3+:YVO4 have been demonstrated. Laser operation with a QD as low as 0.8 % has been obtained, which is believed to be the lowest QD for an eye-safe laser.
Initial growth and coalescence of acoustically vaporized perfluorocarbon microdroplets

Acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) is a technique whereby liquid droplets are vaporized into gas bubbles using ultrasound. This process and the resulting bubbles have been proposed for embolization, drug delivery, aberration correction, and bubble-enhanced high intensity focused ultrasound. To increase the efficacy of these applications, high-speed photography was used to study the initial phase-transition process. One-hundred and seven albumin-stabilized dodecafluoropentane droplets with diameters ranging from 3 to 20 mum were vaporized in a 100 mum inner-diameter polyethylene tube. Sixteen optical full-frame images and an optical streak image were obtained to record the vaporization, using a water immersion microscope (12 pixels per micron resolution). Framing rates were up to 13 MHz and streak speeds were up to 64 lines per microsecond. First, the impact of two- versus thirteen-cycle vaporization pulses was analyzed. It was found that with a two-cycle vaporization pulse only a portion of the droplet phase transitioned, whereas with a thirteen-cycle vaporization pulse the entire droplet phase transitioned. Using thirteen-cycle vaporization pulses, it was then observed that the bubbles all grew to approximately the same diameter within the first 2 mus. It was additionally observed that as neighboring bubbles grew in the first 15 mus, they could coalesce.
Rac1 Regulates Migration of Yolk Sac Hematopoietic Progenitors into the Blood, a Process Essential for Subsequent Seeding of Fetal Liver Hematopoiesis.

Abstract Hematopoiesis originates in the mouse embryo at gastrulation with the formation of an initial wave of primitive erythrocytes in the yolk sac (YS) of the extra embryonic tissue. During embryonic development the anatomic site of hematopoiesis changes and hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are postulated to migrate and seed successive embryonic sites. The origin of definitive hematopoiesis, which has been postulated to be either the YS or the PAS/AGM region, remains controversial, and both sites have previously been shown to contribute to the seeding of HSC/P to the fetal liver (FL). We utilized a genetic approach to study molecular pathways involved in the migration of definitive hematopoietic progenitor cells between the YS and the embryo (AGM and FL). We have recently shown that Rac1 regulates the engraftment phenotype of adult HSC/P (Cancelas et al. Nat Med 2005). In the present study, we induced deletion of Rac1 in a hematopoietic tissue-specific manner by crossing Rac1 flox/null mice with a Vav1-Cre transgenic mouse (Croker B et al. Immunity 2004). Using RosaLacZ reporter mice, we first documented the presence of Vav1Cre-induced recombination in mice in the extraembryonic tissue as early as E 7.5, and in an anatomical distribution concordant with emergence of primitive hematopoiesis. Flow cytometric analysis of single cells derived from the embryo body and from the YS of E 9.5 double transgenic (RosaGFP, Vav1Cre) embryos demonstrated complete recombination in definitive hematopoietic progenitors defined as CD41hiFlk1dim. These data demonstrate that Vav1Cre transgene can induce recombination of genomic flox sequences in both primitive as well as definitive hematopoietic cells early in embryonic development. In crosses of Vav1Cre, Rac1null/wt and Rac1flox/wt mice, no triple transgenic (Vav1Cre, Rac1flox/null) mice survived past E14.5 (0/29, p These data demonstrate that Rac1 regulates the migration of HSC/P from the YS into the blood and suggest that this migration is essential for subsequent seeding of both the embryo proper and the FL. Tissue Genotype E9.5 E10.5 E11.5 E12.5 YS control 1024±298 719±167 - - TgRac1 flox/null 1011±257 722±178 - - Blood control - 459±116 - - TgRac1 flox/null - 253±74 * - - FL control - 432±112 7496±2096 12889±2512 TgRac1 flox/null - 39±32 * 235±103 * 103±125 * Embryo proper control - 825±214 - - TgRac1 flox/null - 74±62 * - - Data are presented as mean±SD, * - p
Semidefinite programming formulation of linear-scaling electronic structure theories

We present a linear-scaling approach based on semidefinite programs (SDPs) to compute the density matrix for effective one-electron theories. Traditional methods constrain the density matrix to represent a Slater determinant and hence rely on parameterization or purification. We eliminate the need for such a constraint by performing an energy minimization over all the convex combinations of density matrices representing Slater determinants. By not relying on purification, the SDP approach not only eliminates accumulation error present in some methods but also reduces the amount of truncation error. Sparsity in the Hamiltonian can be exploited to make the SDP approach scale linearly with system size. Crossovers in computational time with a cubically scaling algorithm are demonstrated for one-dimensional hydrogen chains ranging from ${\text{H}}_{50}$ to ${\text{H}}_{1500}$.
Do voluntary disclosures of bad news improve liquidity

Abstract Can managers improve market liquidity and lower the cost of capital by providing voluntary earnings guidance? This study examines the impact of profit warnings on market liquidity and finds that voluntary disclosure of bad news actually improves market liquidity. By conducting an empirical study over the period 1995–2010 on NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX listed firms, we find that firms that issue profit warnings show enhanced market liquidity during the post-announcement period. We show that profit warnings reduce information asymmetry and lower bid-ask spreads and increase trading volumes. These results are invariant to daily (short run) and monthly (long run) data after controlling for firm specific attributes. The results have major corporate policy implications. By voluntarily disclosing negative earnings guidance by managers, firms will experience significant improvement in market liquidity, thereby lowering the cost of capital. Our results are even more profound for firms that release bad news with extremely negative stock market impact. In other words, voluntary disclosure of bad news is good for market liquidity.
Kinematic Cartography and the Efficiency of Viscous Swimming

The apparent “distance” between two configurations of a system and the “length” of trajectories through its configuration space can be significantly distorted by plots that use “natural” or intuitively selected coordinates. This effect is similar to the way that a latitude–longitude plot of the Earth distorts the size and shape of the continents. In this paper, we explore how ideas from cartography can be used to identify system parameterizations that better reflect the effort costs of changing configuration. We then apply these new parameters to provide geometric insight about two aspects of moving in dissipative environments such as low Reynolds number fluids: The shape of the optimal gait cycle for a three-link swimmer and the fundamentally superior efficiency of a serpenoid swimmer as compared to the classic three-link system.
Radiation belt electron dynamics at low L (<4): Van Allen Probes era versus previous two solar cycles

Long term (>2 solar cycles) measurements reveal that MeV electron fluxes, solar wind speed, and geomagnetic activity have been extremely low during this current solar cycle, including years before and during the Van Allen Probes era. This study examines solar wind speed, the geomagnetic storm index (Dst), >2 MeV electrons at geostationary orbit, and ~2 MeV electrons across various L-shells measured by Solar Anomalous Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) in low Earth orbit (LEO) and by the Van Allen Probes/Relativistic Electron and Proton Telescope (REPT) in a geo-transfer-like orbit; the latter measurements are normalized to LEO based on comparison with Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE)/Relativistic Electron and Proton Telescope integrated little experiment (REPTile) measurements in LEO. The average ratio of REPTile/REPT varies in a systematic manner with L, ~16% at L = 2.7, decreasing with L and reaching ~0.7% at L = 4.7, and increasing again with L though with greater uncertainty. We show that there have been no ~2 MeV electron enhancements inside L ~ 2.6 since 2006, prior to which numerous penetrations of ~2 MeV electrons into L < 2.5 were measured during periods of stronger solar wind conditions (in terms of high speed solar wind, magnitude of interplanetary magnetic field, B, and a sustained southward Bz) and thus stronger geomagnetic activity. We conclude that results from the Van Allen Probes, which have been providing the finest measurements but in operation during a quiet solar activity period, may not be representative of radiation belt dynamics, particularly for the inner edge of the outer belt, during other solar cycle phases.
Biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials

Inadequate drug concentrations in target tissues can lead to treatment failure and/or selection of drug-resistant organisms. Additionally, altered pharmacokinetics in diseased patients may elevate tissue drug levels leading to organ toxicity or failure. A major advantage of PET-based bioimaging is its ability to measure in situ biodistribution of antimicrobials in real time and simultaneously in multiple organ system/compartments in live animals, with relatively unaltered physiology. This technology overcomes some fundamental limitations of current methodologies and could provide detailed preclinical data for appropriate dosing of new and existing antimicrobials. Such tracers could also enable the first-in-human clinical (phase 0) studies that are recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration to support Investigational New Drug Applications (FDA, Guidance for Industry, Investigators, and Reviewers: Exploratory IND Studies, http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Guidances/ucm078933.pdf, 2012). Human subject safety may be improved by using a PET tracer microdosing approach in early drug development which could eliminate the development of drugs with an unfavorable pharmacokinetic profiles and potential toxicities at higher doses. The approach can be extended to drug-drug interaction studies and to vulnerable populations, such as hepatically or renally impaired patients. Finally, PET tracers could also be adapted to study pharmacogenetics or personalized medicine approaches in the practice of medicine.
Estimates of Wildland Fire Emissions

Wildland fire missions can significantly affect regional and global air quality, radiation, climate, and the carbon cycle. A fundamental and yet challenging prerequisite to understanding the environmental effects is to accurately estimate fire emissions. This chapter describes and analyzes fire emission calculations. Various techniques (field measurements, empirical relations, modeling, and remote sensing) to obtain fuel and fire properties are first reviewed. A calculation of fire emissions across the continental U.S. is then illustrated. In this calculation, an approach recently developed based on high-resolution fuel types from satellite remote sensing is used for fuel loading factors. The burning information is obtained from a historical fire dataset collected by multiple U.S. governmental agencies. The U.S. fire emissions show large spatial and temporal variability. Finally, uncertainties in fire emission estimates are examined by comparing with another method using the traditional AP-42 Table approach for fuel loading. Emissions with the satellite remote sensing approach are mostly reduced in the western U.S., but increased in the eastern coastal regions. A perspective on future fire emission research is given.
Scalable Top-n Local Outlier Detection

Local Outlier Factor (LOF) method that labels all points with their respective LOF scores to indicate their status is known to be very effective for identifying outliers in datasets with a skewed distribution. Since outliers by definition are the absolute minority in a dataset, the concept of Top-N local outlier was proposed to discover the n points with the largest LOF scores. The detection of the Top-N local outliers is prohibitively expensive, since it requires huge number of high complexity k-nearest neighbor (kNN) searches. In this work, we present the first scalable Top-N local outlier detection approach called TOLF. The key innovation of TOLF is a multi-granularity pruning strategy that quickly prunes most points from the set of potential outlier candidates without computing their exact LOF scores or even without conducting any kNN search for them. Our customized density-aware indexing structure not only effectively supports the pruning strategy, but also accelerates the $k$NN search. Our extensive experimental evaluation on OpenStreetMap, SDSS, and TIGER datasets demonstrates the effectiveness of TOLF - up to 35 times faster than the state-of-the-art methods.
YouTube for Good: A Content Analysis and Examination of Elicitors of Self‐Transcendent Media

Despite the increased attention to eudaimonic media experiences, to date scholars have paid little attention to the specific portrayals responsible for those experiences. Study 1 of this project reports the first systematic content analysis of self-transcendent media—a particular type of eudaimonic media—using a sample of 100 “inspirational” YouTube videos. The presence of 20 specific elicitors associated with self-transcendent emotions was examined and reported. In Study 2, respondents provided real-time self-transcendent emotional reactions while viewing 3 “inspirational” videos. As expected, ratings significantly increased immediately following exposure to each specific elicitor. Thus, this project reports the first empirical evidence directly linking specific representations to content identified as “inspirational” and directly linking those representations to self-transcendent emotional reactions.
The Impact of Strain on Self-Control: A Longitudinal Study of Korean Adolescents:

The main purpose of this study is to broaden our understanding of the predictors of self-control. We test how two types of strain variables (bullying victimization and grade dissatisfaction) influe...
Preparation of Thick, Uniform Foils for Range and Range Straggle Measurements

Thick, uniform targets were needed for part of a study of the range and range straggle of energetic (E ≥ 1 MeV/amu) heavy ions. This paper will discuss a method for producing these targets by vacuum evaporation, with a geometry chosen to yield highly uniform targets. Thickness is determined by weighing, and uniformity is measured by comparing the energy loss of alpha particles through different portions of the target. Cu, Ag, and Pb targets have been prepared, with thicknesses up to 9 microns (~ 10 mg/cm2) and uniformities ≤ ± 1%.
Isthmic ectopic pregnancy: segmental resection as the treatment of choice

We reviewed the records of 12 patients who were admitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital between February 1979 and January 1983 with the diagnosis of isthmic ectopic pregnancy. All pregnancies were unruptured. Two patients were managed by salpingectomy. Ten patients were treated conservatively. Of the women managed by conservative surgery, four had a linear salpingostomy and none of the four conceived. Three of these four patients demonstrated occlusion of the operated tube by hysterosalpingogram (HSG). The other six patients were managed by segmental resection and delayed microsurgical anastomosis. Four of the six patients conceived. Three pregnancies were intrauterine and one was an ectopic pregnancy in the conserved tube. Three patients conceived before an HSG could be done. The remaining three patients had HSGs 3 to 4 months after anastomosis, and the operated tube was patent in all three. From these data and a review of the literature, we conclude that segmental resection with either immediate or delayed anastomosis appears preferable to linear salpingostomy for the conservative management of unruptured isthmic ectopic pregnancy.
Mechanical Characterization and Modeling of Electrolyte Membranes in Electrolyte-Supported SOFCs

Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are made up of repeating sequences of thin layers of energy producing ceramics, seals, and current collectors. For electro-chemical reasons it is best to keep the ceramic layers as thin as possible, which also means that the cells are more susceptible to damage during production, assembly, and operation. The latest-generation electrolyte-supported SOFCs have a honeycomb-type support structure. The electrolyte membranes, which are much smaller in thickness than they are in area, require a two-scale approach for finite element modeling; the smaller scale focuses on analyzing a representative area of the cell, while the larger scale examines the cell as a whole. To provide the material data for the models, an array of experimental techniques are needed. The small scale model requires bulk elastic properties of the electrolyte material, which are measured over a range of temperatures using a sonic resonance technique. This model then outputs “effective” properties for the large scale, which must be experimentally validated using four-point bend tests on representative samples. Additionally, a series of compression tests are performed on cells for validate the performance of electrolytes in the context of a stack.
Early stage lung cancer survival after wedge resection and stereotactic body radiation

Background: The comparative effectiveness of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and wedge resection in the treatment of early stage lung cancer is still under debate. This meta-analysis compares the 5-year overall survival (OS) of wedge resection and SBRT in patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Original research articles published between 1995 and 2017 were identified through the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health PubMed database and through the reference lists of reviewed articles. Data were processed and analyzed in R (version 3.4.2) and a summary estimate that accounted for the sample size of each study was calculated. The combined percent survival was calculated using random effect models. Funnel plots were used to assess publication bias. Heterogeneity was tested using the Q statistic and the I 2 statistic. Results: There were 16 studies totaling 1,984 patients with stage I NSCLC treated with wedge resection. The meta-estimate was 74% (95% CI, 66–81%), with significant heterogeneity across studies (Q =172.46, P<0.0001; I 2 =91.30%). Thirty-six studies including 3,309 patients with stage I NSCLC treated with SBRT/SABR produced a meta-estimate of 44% (95% CI, 38–50%), with significant heterogeneity (Q =423.55, P<0.0001; I 2 =91.74%). Two articles directly comparing stage I NSCLC patients treated with wedge resection to patients treated with SBRT both reported higher 5-year OS after wedge resection. Conclusions: SBRT is a treatment option reserved to medically inoperable patients, but could be an alternative to surgery in medically operable patients who prefer a less invasive treatment. More standardized methods for data collection and reporting are necessary to allow better comparisons across published studies.
Long-Term Survival of Patients With Melanoma With Active Brain Metastases Treated With Pembrolizumab on a Phase II Trial.

PurposePembrolizumab is active in melanoma, but activity in patients with untreated brain metastasis is less established. We present long-term follow-up of pembrolizumab-treated patients with new or progressing brain metastases treated on a phase II clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02085070).Patients and MethodsWe enrolled 23 patients with melanoma with one or more asymptomatic, untreated 5- to 20-mm brain metastasis not requiring corticosteroids; 70% of patients had prior systemic therapy. Pembrolizumab was administered for up to 24 months. Brain metastasis response, the primary end point, was assessed by modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). Pretreatment tumors were analyzed for T-cell infiltrate and programmed death ligand 1.ResultsSix patients (26%) had a brain metastasis response. Eight patients (35%) did not reach a protocol evaluation scan and were unevaluable for brain metastasis response as a result of progression or need for radiation. Brain metastasis ...
Safety, the Preface Paradox and Possible Worlds Semantics

This paper contains an argument to the effect that possible worlds semantics renders semantic knowledge impossible, no matter what ontological interpretation is given to possible worlds. The essential contention made is that possible worlds semantic knowledge is unsafe and this is shown by a parallel with the preface paradox.
Smartphone localization inside a moving car for prevention of distracted driving

This paper discusses a novel algorithm to automatically identify the position of a smartphone inside a moving vehicle, so as to detect whether it is being used by the driver or just a passenger of ...
IMMUNE CHECK POINT INHIBITOR MYOCARDITIS MIMICKING ACS

Myocarditis is a rare but life-threatening complication of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). We report a case of ICI myocarditis which was misdiagnosed as ACS. A 71-year-old gentleman was transferred for acute shortness of breath for 2 days. He had dynamic ST-segment elevation in inferior leads
Stability of Measures of Pain Catastrophizing and Widespread Pain Following Total Knee Replacement

OBJECTIVE Pain catastrophizing and widespread pain are predictors of pain chronicity/severity. Gaps remain in our understanding of the extent to which each is a stable (trait) or dynamic (state) variable. We undertook this study to assess the stability of each variable from before to after total knee replacement (TKR) and whether changes are explained by pain improvements. METHODS We used data from a prospective study of TKR recipients ages ≥40 years. Questionnaires included body pain diagrams assessing widespread pain, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale. We divided subjects into widespread pain groups (0 versus 1-2 versus ≥3 pain regions) and into low and high PCS score groups (<16 versus ≥16). We assessed changes in group membership from pre-TKR to 12 months post-TKR, then compared these changes between subjects with most and least WOMAC pain improvement. RESULTS A total of 176 subjects completed scales at both time points; 64% were female, the mean age was 66 years, and baseline median WOMAC pain score was 40. In all, 71% of subjects in the high PCS score group improved to join the low PCS score group at follow-up. While 73 subjects (41%) changed widespread pain group, they were similarly likely to worsen and to improve. We found a statistically significant positive association of improvement in WOMAC pain score with improvement in PCS score (r = 0.31), but not widespread pain (r = -0.004). CONCLUSION The PCS score reflects state-like aspects of catastrophizing that diminish along with pain. In contrast, widespread pain scores worsened and improved equally often, regardless of knee pain relief. The findings urge caution in interpreting PCS score and widespread pain as trait measures in musculoskeletal research.
RESEARCH ARTICLE: Training students on the Pharmacist Patient Care Process using an electronic health record and simulations

Objective: To measure the impact of an electronic health record (EHR) and simulated physician encounters on student knowledge and skills related to the implementation phase of the Pharmacist Patient Care Process (PPCP). Secondary objectives were to measure students’ self-perceived abilities. Methods: Students enrolled in a therapeutics course worked-up patient cases within an EHR. Students entered orders/ prescriptions into the computerised provider order entry (CPOE) platform. Faculty graded student work using a rubric. Students completed an instructor-developed pre-post attitudes survey and knowledge quiz. Results : Two hundred students participated in this study and worked-up seven cases. Scores ranged from 67.7% to 88.2% on the case work-ups and 78.6% to 91.1% on the order/prescription-entry components. Individual scores on the quiz improved from 15.3/20 to 17.3/20 ( p <0.001). Aggregate ratings on the attitudes survey increased from 23.2 to 31.0 ( p <0.001). Conclusion: Use of an EHR coupled with simulation was well-received and improved student understanding of the PPCP.
Selecting Traits for Drought Tolerance Screening in Rice

Drought is one of major constrains for rice production in Indonesia. Development of drought tolerant rice variety is believed as an efficien and effective strategy to face the challange. Nevertheless, drought is a complex trait thus many approach had been implemented in the selection of drought tolerant rice genotypes. This study aimed to search traits correlated with drought tolerance in rice plant. Two screening methods, i.e. seedling box and mini pot methods was conducted into 60 rice genotypes. The experiments were conducted during dry season 2016. The results showed that based on % recovery, TIL24 had the highest (82.5 %) while number of green leaves had strong positive correlation with root length, root number in zone 1 (horizontal), 2 (medium), and 3 (vertical), total root number, leaf rolling, and plant recovery. Nevertheless, proportion of root in zone 3 negatively correlated with shoot length, green leaf number, root number in zone 1 and 2, total root number, and plant recovery. It seem that proportion of vertical root compensate with other traits in developing drought tolerance, while number of green leaf under stress and root number in zone 2 correlated more with traits supporting drought tolerant in rice.
Prehabilitation could save lives in a pandemic.

Let’s use best practice prehabilitation to improve patients’ health before the upcoming “battle”
The Mainstreaming of Marx: Measuring the Effect of the Russian Revolution on Karl Marx’s Influence

Today, Karl Marx is considered one of the preeminent social scientists of the last two centuries, and ranks among the most frequently assigned authors in university syllabi. However in Marx’s time, many competing sociological traditions and socialist political movements espoused similar ideas from different origin points. How did Marx emerge as preeminent? We hypothesize that the 1917 Russian Revolution is responsible for elevating Marx’s fame and intellectual following above his contemporary competitors. Using the synthetic control method and Google Ngram data, we construct a synthetic counterfactual for Marx’s citation patterns. This allows us to predict how often Marx would have been cited if the Russian Revolution had not happened. We find a significant treatment effect, meaning that Marx’s intellectual influence may be partly due to political accidents.
On the -invariant of the cyclotomic derivative of a Katz p -adic -function

When the branch character has root number , the corresponding anticyclotomic Katz -adic -function vanishes identically. For this case, we determine the -invariant of the cyclotomic derivative of the Katz -adic -function. The result proves, as an application, the non-vanishing of the anticyclotomic regulator of a self-dual CM modular form with root number . The result also plays a crucial role in the recent work of Hsieh on the Eisenstein ideal approach to a one-sided divisibility of the CM main conjecture.
The forgotten contribution: Murray rothbard on socialism in theory and in practice

This paper documents and articulates Murray N. Rothbard’s contribution to our understanding of the theory and practice of socialism. We summarize his theoretical contributions and then turn to his explanation of the operation of socialism in the Soviet Union. Moreover, we make and support the conjecture that Rothbard, writing in the 1950s and 60s, anticipated all the major subsequent developments in the economic analysis regarding the problems of the Soviet economy and all the major works in comparative political economy for real-existing socialism in the Soviet Union. [T]he extent of socialism in the present-day world is at the same time underestimatated in countries such as the United States and overestimated in Soviet Russia. It is underestimated because the expansion of government lending to private enterprise in the United States has been generally neglected, and we have seen that the lender, regardless of his legal status, is also an entrepreneur and part owner. The extent of socialism is overestimated because most writers ignore the fact that Russia, socialist as