cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Activation of the fusiform gyrus when individuals with autism spectrum disorder view faces

Prior imaging studies have failed to show activation of the fusiform gyrus in response to emotionally neutral faces in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [Critchley et al., Brain 124 (2001) 2059; Schultz et al., Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 57 (2000) 331]. However, individuals with ASD do not typically exhibit the striking behavioral deficits that might be expected to result from fusiform gyrus damage, such as those seen in prosopagnosia, and their deficits appear to extend well beyond face identification to include a wide range of impairments in social perceptual processing. In this study, our goal was to further assess the question of whether individuals with ASD have abnormal fusiform gyrus activation to faces. We used high-field (3 T) functional magnetic resonance imaging to study face perception in 11 adult individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 10 normal controls. We used face stimuli, object stimuli, and sensory control stimuli (Fourier scrambled versions of the face and object stimuli) containing a fixation point in the center to ensure that participants were looking at and attending to the images as they were presented. We found that individuals with ASD activated the fusiform face area and other brain areas normally involved in face processing when they viewed faces as compared to non-face stimuli. These data indicate that the face-processing deficits encountered in ASD are not due to a simple dysfunction of the fusiform area, but to more complex anomalies in the distributed network of brain areas involved in social perception and cognition.
On the effectiveness of secure overlay forwarding systems under intelligent distributed DoS attacks

In the framework of a set of clients communicating with a critical server over the Internet, a recent approach to protect communication from distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks involves the usage of overlay systems. SOS, MAYDAY, and I3 are such systems. The architecture of these systems consists of a set of overlay nodes that serve as intermediate forwarders between the clients and the server, thereby controlling access to the server. Although such systems perform well under random DDoS attacks, it is questionable whether they are resilient to intelligent DDoS attacks which aim to infer architectures of the systems to launch more efficient attacks. In this paper, we define several intelligent DDoS attack models and develop analytical/simulation approaches to study the impacts of architectural design features of such, overlay systems on the system performance in terms of path availability between clients and the server under attacks. Our data clearly demonstrate that the system performance is indeed sensitive to the architectural features and the different features interact with each other to impact overall system performance under intelligent DDoS attacks. Our observations provide important guidelines in the design of such secure overlay forwarding systems
A FLOUR FROM FERMENTED COWPEAS: PROPERTIES, COMPOSITION AND ACCEPTABILITY

A fermented cowpea flour was prepared by fermenting dehulled beans in three volumes of water at 38°C for 48 h. After fermentation the beans were washed, dried then ground it into flour. The flour was acidic, and slightly greenish white in color. The composition was 21% protein, 2.5% oil, 1.6% ash and 66.6% carbohydrate. It also contained 35 LU. beta-carotene, 1.28 mg ascorbic acid, 1.03 mg thiamin and 0.64 mg pyridoxine. Nitrogen solubility index, water absorption, and viscosity became greater after fermentation. Two products; bread and chips, were prepared using unfermented and fermented cowpea flour as an ingredient. The products containing unfermented cowpea flour were scored higher than the ones containing unfermented cowpea flour. African panelists gave higher scores than American panelists.
Airfoil longitudinal gust response in separated vs. attached flows

Airfoil aerodynamic loads are expected to have quasi-steady, linear dependence on the history of input disturbances, provided that small-amplitude bounds are observed. We explore this assertion for the problem of periodic sinusoidal streamwise gusts, by comparing experiments on nominally 2D airfoils in temporally sinusoidal modulation of freestream speed in a wind tunnel vs. sinusoidal displacement of the airfoil in constant freestream in a water tunnel. In the wind tunnel, there is a streamwise unsteady pressure gradient causing a buoyancy force, while in the water tunnel one must subtract the inertial load of the test article. Both experiments have an added-mass contribution to aerodynamic force. Within measurement resolution, lift and drag, fluctuating and mean, were in good agreement between the two facilities. For incidence angle below static stall, small-disturbance theory was found to be in good agreement with measured lift history, regardless of oscillation frequency. The circulatory component of fluctuating drag was found to be independent of oscillation frequency. For larger incidence angles, there is marked departure between the measured lift history and that predicted from Greenberg's formula. Flow visualization shows coupling between bluff-body shedding and motion-induced shedding, identifiable with lift cancellation or augmentation, depending on the reduced frequency. Isolating the buoyancy effect in the wind tunnel and dynamic tares in the water tunnel, and theoretical calculation of apparent-mass in both cases, we arrive at good agreement in measured circulatory contribution between the two experiments whether the flow is attached or separated substantiating the linear superposition of the various constituents to total lift and drag, and supporting the idea that aerodynamic gust response can legitimately be studied in a steady freestream by oscillating the test article.
Hurricane Climatic Fluctuations. Part II: Relation to Large-Scale Circulation

Abstract Correlations are computed between interannual fluctuations of hurricane incidence in the Atlantic basin and large-scale patterns of seasonally-averaged sea-level pressure (SLP; 1899–1978), sea-surface temperature (SST; 1899–1967), and 500 mb heights (Z500; 1946–1978). Dominant modes of interannual variability in average August–September–October (ASO) hurricane incidence are used as measures of overall activity and shifts in activity from region to region. These uncorrelated modes are derived using an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, as described in Shapiro (1982). The hurricane modes are related to dominant modes of variability in seasonal SLP, SST and Z500, also derived using an EOF analysis. Correlations between the amplitudes of the EOF modes are tested for significance using a measure of artificial skill. May–June–July (MJJ) large-scale SLP anomalies have predictive skill for ASO hurricane activity, significant at the 1.0% level. The correlation predicts about 17% of the variance...
Von den idealen Sozialordnungen

Die bisherigen Untersuchungen behandelten die idealen Ordnungen uberhaupt sowie die ethischen Ordnungen im besonderen. Sie umspannten in gleicher Weise soziale wie ausersoziale Ordnungsgebilde, soweit sie eben an den allgemeinen Ordnungsstrukturen teilhaben. Im folgenden wird das Untersuchungsfeld einen Schritt weiter eingeengt, und zwar auf die spezifisch sozialen Ordnungen. Darunter seien hier solche ideale Ordnungen verstanden, die sich auf die Beziehungen einer Person zu anderen beziehen, die mit ihr in sozialem Kontakt stehen. Ausersoziale Ordnungen sind dann alle sonstigen (allgemeine oder ethische) Ordnungen; sie konnen sich sowohl auf personale wie impersonale Substrate beziehen.
OVIPOSITION AND LARVAL SURVIVAL OF DIAPREPES ABBREVIATUS (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE) ON SELECT HOST PLANTS

In a preliminary survey in four commercial ornamental nurseries in south Florida (1998), Diaprepes abbreviatus (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) egg masses, feeding damage, or adults occurred on numerous field-grown ornamental plant species. Live oak (Quercus virginiana Mill.), silver buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus L. variety sericeus Fors. Ex DC), and black olive (Bucida buseras L.) had the highest percentage of plants with egg masses. Adult feeding damage was found on all examined plants of dahoon holly (Ilex cassine L.), cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco L.), black olive, live oak, Bauhinia sp., and Cassia sp. Oviposition of D. abbreviatus was evaluated in no-choice, two-choice, three-choice and multiple-choice caged tests. In no-choice tests, silver buttonwood had the highest mean number of egg masses. In two-choice tests, egg masses were laid on all plant species tested but there were significantly more egg masses on silver buttonwood than the alternate choice. The number of egg masses in the three-choice tests was low and there were no significant differences among the plant species tested. As in the no-choice and two-choice tests, significantly more egg masses were found on silver buttonwood in multiple-choice tests. Survival of larvae and their effect on plant growth was examined on several commonly grown plant species in southern Florida. Larval survival was highest on silver buttonwood and Sorghum sudanense Pers (sorghum-sudan) compared with other plant species. Root and/or total biomass was significantly reduced on green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), silver buttonwood, Tahiti lime (Citrus aurantifolia), and sorghum-sudan.
The Market for Political Information: How the Consumption of Information Affects Citizens’ Decisions

Many scholars study the effects of political information, but few political science experiments incorporate 1) multiple types of information, 2) choices about which type(s) of information to receive, and 3) opportunity costs. I conduct experiments that incorporate these aspects of real-world political markets for information. The results show that although subjects seek information when they need it most (when they are unsophisticated and when decisions are difficult), their information searches are far from optimal. Specifically, subjects choose information that is clearly inferior to other available information, consume less information than they theoretically should, and make worse decisions as a result. These findings indicate that experiments exposing all subjects to information (instead of allowing them to choose) may overstate the effects of political information. They also suggest lessons for political elites seeking to influence citizens.
Combined spectroscopic and computational analysis of the vibrational properties of vitamin B12 in its Co3+, Co2+, and Co1+ oxidation states.

While the geometric and electronic structures of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin, CNCbl) and its reduced derivatives Co2+cobalamin (Co2+Cbl) and Co1+cobalamin (Co1+Cbl–) are now reasonably well established, their vibrational properties, in particular their resonance Raman (rR) spectra, have remained quite poorly understood. The goal of this study was to establish definitive assignments of the corrin-based vibrational modes that dominate the rR spectra of vitamin B12 in its Co3+, Co2+, and Co1+ oxidation states. rR spectra were collected for all three species with laser excitation in resonance with the most intense corrin-based π → π* transitions. These experimental data were used to validate the computed vibrational frequencies, eigenvector compositions, and relative rR intensities of the normal modes of interest as obtained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Importantly, the computational methodology employed in this study successfully reproduces the experimental observation that the frequencie...
Pathway Network Analyses for Autism Reveal Multisystem Involvement, Major Overlaps with Other Diseases and Convergence upon MAPK and Calcium Signaling

We used established databases in standard ways to systematically characterize gene ontologies, pathways and functional linkages in the large set of genes now associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). These conditions are particularly challenging—they lack clear pathognomonic biological markers, they involve great heterogeneity across multiple levels (genes, systemic biological and brain characteristics, and nuances of behavioral manifestations)—and yet everyone with this diagnosis meets the same defining behavioral criteria. Using the human gene list from Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) we performed gene set enrichment analysis with the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Pathway Database, and then derived a pathway network from pathway-pathway functional interactions again in reference to KEGG. Through identifying the GO (Gene Ontology) groups in which SFARI genes were enriched, mapping the coherence between pathways and GO groups, and ranking the relative strengths of representation of pathway network components, we 1) identified 10 disease-associated and 30 function-associated pathways 2) revealed calcium signaling pathway and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction as the most enriched, statistically significant pathways from the enrichment analysis, 3) showed calcium signaling pathways and MAPK signaling pathway to be interactive hubs with other pathways and also to be involved with pervasively present biological processes, 4) found convergent indications that the process “calcium-PRC (protein kinase C)-Ras-Raf-MAPK/ERK” is likely a major contributor to ASD pathophysiology, and 5) noted that perturbations associated with KEGG’s category of environmental information processing were common. These findings support the idea that ASD-associated genes may contribute not only to core features of ASD themselves but also to vulnerability to other chronic and systemic problems potentially including cancer, metabolic conditions and heart diseases. ASDs may thus arise, or emerge, from underlying vulnerabilities related to pleiotropic genes associated with pervasively important molecular mechanisms, vulnerability to environmental input and multiple systemic co-morbidities.
An effect analysis on water improvement in the past ten years in the 13 division of Xinjiang production and construction corps

Objective:To study and appraisal the effect on water improvement in the past ten years in the 13 division of Xinjiang production and construction corps.Methods:According to the army corps drinking water implementation investigation plan,we choose the representative samples,based on "Drinking Water Testing Standard 2001" and "the Criterion of the Countryside Implementing Drinking Water Health Standard",we test and evaluate the water.Results:Through the ten years water improvement,the rate of centralism water supply is 98.4%,100% qualified the second level of security drinking water sanitation standard.There is an inverse correlation between the growth rate of benefit population and the incidence rate of the water intestinal tract infectious disease( r=-0.6559,P0.05).Conclusion:The hygiene condition of drinking water got a significant enhancement.The incidence rate of the intestinal tract infectious disease reduced obviously.The water improvement in the past ten years made the remarkable hygienic progress.
Human immunodeficiency virus infection confronts the law, ethics and society

The full panorama of the AIDS problem is filled with contradictions. There are those who consider the AIDS sufferers--primarily gays and intravenous drug abusers--as "the bad group". Yet, there are also innocent victims: recipients of blood and blood products and the unknowing sex partners. Regardless of the circumstances under which they contracted the disease, many AIDS sufferers are hated because they are perceived as menaces. Such feelings are triggered by raw emotions, hysteria, anxiety, insecurity, fear, even phobias and paranoia in those who do not have, and who often do not understand the disease. This frequently results in discrimination and bias that may be aggravated by scientific and societal ignorance. Education of those who do and do not have AIDS is hampered by underlying economic problems: poverty, indigence and low social status, as well as taboos regarding discussion of sex and contraception. No disease in this country has created a greater dilemma among the public or the professions concerned with and involved in its care and management, as AIDS. A study of the magnitude of the problem and its impact reveals that it is beset by a "damned if you do, and damned if you don't" result, with the bottom line ultimately involving the benefit versus risk rule. An overview of the AIDS problem reveals particular areas of medical, societal, legal and ethical-moral concern that frequently overlap.
Optimization of sepsis risk assessment for ward patients

Sepsis is the systemic response to infection complicated by organ dysfunction. It is a leading cause of in-hospital mortality, with an observed mortality of 20–40%, and is associated with significantly high costs. Furthermore, patients who survive sepsis are more likely to have permanent organ damage, cognitive impairment and physical disability. Survival from sepsis is dependent on early and targeted treatment. Accepted methods for identifying and predicting sepsis have typically been based on intensive care unit (ICU) patients and founded upon a limited and outdated definition of sepsis based on systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria — one which is not clinically validated and shown to miss at least 1 out of 8 cases. Recently updated consensus guidelines on sepsis have been published and offer the possibility of improved EWS and predictive models. Our goal was to identify non-ICU ward patients with sepsis earlier and more accurately using the newly established sepsis definition and improved predictive models. Using multivariate logistic regression and routinely available physiological and laboratory data from electronic health records (EHRs), we derived an EWS that identifies at-risk ward patients 12–24 hours prior to sepsis onset with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) result of 74%. This model, when applied on a separate ICU population, achieved an AUC curve result of 56%, indicating the model has worse performance in this setting.
Automated aerosol Raman spectrometer for semi-continuous sampling of atmospheric aerosol

Abstract Raman spectroscopy (RS) is useful in characterizing atmospheric aerosol. It is not commonly used in studying ambient particles partly because automated instrumentation for aerosol RS has not been available. Battelle (Columbus, Ohio, USA) has developed the Resource Effective Bioidentification System (REBS) for automated detection of airborne bioagents based on RS. We use a version of the REBS that measures Raman spectra of one set of particles while the next set of particles is collected from air, then moves the newly collected particles to the analysis region and repeats. Here we investigate the use of the REBS as the core of a general-purpose automated Aerosol Raman Spectrometer (ARS) for atmospheric applications. This REBS-based ARS can be operated as a line-scanning Raman imaging spectrometer. Spectra measured by this ARS for single particles made of polystyrene, black carbon, and several other materials are clearly distinguishable. Raman spectra from a 15 min ambient sample (approximately 35–50 particles, 158 spectra) were analyzed using a hierarchical clustering method to find that the cluster spectra are consistent with soot, inorganic aerosol, and other organic compounds. The ARS ran unattended, collecting atmospheric aerosol and measuring spectra for a 7 hr period at 15-min intervals. A total of 32,718 spectra were measured; 5892 exceeded a threshold and were clustered during this time. The number of particles exhibiting the D-G bands of amorphous carbon plotted vs time (at 15-min intervals) increases during the morning commute, then decreases. This data illustrates the potential of the ARS to measure thousands of time resolved aerosol Raman spectra in the ambient atmosphere over the course of several hours. The capability of this ARS for automated measurements of Raman spectra should lead to more extensive RS-based studies of atmospheric aerosols.
The IJzerwake: A Different Memory of the Great War

After World War II ended, many of the Flemish wished to forget the history of collaboration. Those who had family members who collaborated were often ashamed of this history and, in general, there was a palpable loathing directed toward those who collaborated with the Nazi Party, no matter how altruistic those individuals believed their actions to be. But, for a particular group of nationalists, as more French-speakers vilified the collaborators, the myths of persecution grew eventually serving to strengthen the political platforms on the right. Novels such as Gerard Walschap’s Zwart en wit (Black and White, 1948) accused the Catholic teachers of brainwashing students to support overt nationalist thinking. These types of novels continued to be published into the 1980s including Hugo Claus’s Het verdriet van Belgie (The Sorrow of Belgium, 1983) and Louis-Paul Boon’s Hij was een zwarte (He Was a Collaborator, 1986). After the forced dissolution of the Vlaams Blok, the Vlaams Belang, finding a voice in these novels in the vocal group of like-minded individuals, used as the foundations of the party the grievances of those who were persecuted at the end of World War II. Groups espousing a separatist platform framed within a fascist rhetoric that supported, and even lauded, the collaborators were banned from attending the IJzer Pilgrimage.
The FDA in the 21st Century: How Is the FDA Responding to the New World? A Focus on Heart Failure Devices.

Regulatory decisions to approve or deny marketing applications for new drugs and devices for heart failure (HF) care often garner significant publicity and highlight the impact of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on HF care. However, there are a number of other activities and discussions
Phase I/II Study of Bortezomib in Combination with Liposomal Doxorubicin and Melphalan in Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma.

Phase I/II studies using either liposomal doxorubicin (D) or oral melphalan (M) in combination with the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (V) have found favorable efficacy and tolerance in patients with relapsed and refractory MM. Since these drugs have different mechanisms of action and toxicity profiles, we initiated a phase I/II study to examine the safety and efficacy of combining all three agents (DMV) in relapsed or refractory myeloma. Study Aims: Starting at 25–50% of the doses used in the two drug combination studies, the objective of this dose escalation study was to evaluate the safety/tolerability of DMV until the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and dose limiting toxicity (DLT) could be identified. Efficacy was also evaluated. Methods: Patients with relapsed/refractory MM and progressive disease requiring treatment were enrolled in the study. Dose level 1 consisted of D 10 mg/m2 and M 5 mg/m2 given IV on day 1 with V given by IV push on days 1, 4, 8, and 11. Cycles were repeated every 28 days up to a maximum of 6 cycles. Dose levels of D, M, V (mg/m2) in the subsequent three cohorts were (10, 10, 0.7), (20, 10, 0.7), and (20, 10, 1.0) respectively. Once the MTD has been identified, an additional 17 patients will be enrolled at this dose level in the phase II portion of the study. Results: 5 patients (2 males, median age 65, range 33–79) have been enrolled in the study thus far. The myeloma subtypes include 2 IgG, 1 IgA, and 2 with light chains only. In this heavily pretreated population (range 2–7 prior therapies), 4 patients received prior autologous stem cell transplantation, 2 had a prior nonmyeloablative allogenic transplant, 4 prior VAD, 1 prior bortezomib, 2 prior oral melphalan, 3 prior thalidomide, 2 prior CC-5013, and 2 prior spinal radiation. The first dose cohort has been completed without any DLT. One patient had 3 days of Grade 3 neutropenia. All other toxicities were Grade 1–2 including asthenia, vomiting, thrombocytopenia, and headache. Of note, a patient with baseline Grade 2 peripheral neuropathy and on hemodialysis remained stable. A patient with Grade 2 chronic graft versus host disease also remained stable. Four patients have been enrolled at dose level one. One patient, who had progressive disease after an autologous and a nonmyeloablative allogenic transplant as well as CC5013, had a near CR (IFE+) after the second cycle of DMV. Two patients have had stable disease. One had disease progression after one cycle and subsequently died. The patient on dose level two is too early to evaluate. Conclusion: Thus far, DMV appears to be well tolerated and no DLT has been observed even in elderly patients with significant comorbidities. The finding of a near CR and SD at only dose level 1 is encouraging particularly since the patients were significantly pretreated. Dose escalation continues to determine the MTD.
Cell dynamics in tumour environment after treatments.

Most cancer treatments cause necrotic cell deaths in the tumour microenvironment. Necrotic cells send signals to immune cells to start the wound healing process in the tissue. Therefore, we assume after stopping treatments there is a wound that needs to be healed. We develop a simple computational model to investigate cell dynamics during the wound healing process after treatments. The model predicts that the involvement of high-fitness cancer cells in the wound healing leads to fast relapse, and cancer cells outside of the wound can cause a slow recurrence of the tumour. Therefore, the absence of relapse after treatments may imply a slow-developing tumour that might not reach an observable size in the patients' lifetime. Additionally, the model indicates that the location of remaining cancer cells after treatments is an important factor in the recurrence time. The fastest recurrence happens when high-fitness cancer cells remain inside of the wound. However, the longest time to recurrence corresponds to c...
Recurrence of Thrombin-Injected Pseudoaneurysms Under Ultrasound Guidance: A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis

Objectives Ultrasound-guided thrombin injection has become standard treatment for extremity pseudoaneurysms. Our specific aims were to determine the procedural success rate, the procedural complication rate, and the factors associated with pseudoaneurysm recurrence. Methods A total of 262 consecutive cases of ultrasound-guided thrombin repair of pseudoaneurysms were identified between January 1, 2006, and March 20, 2016. The procedural and follow-up ultrasound studies were reviewed. Outcomes of interest included procedural success (defined as complete thrombosis at the time of injection and on a follow-up examination), incomplete pseudoaneurysm thrombosis, and postprocedural recurrence. Postprocedural pseudoaneurysm recurrences were compared to procedural successes with regard to patient demographics, pseudoaneurysm characteristics, amount of thrombin injected, and periprocedural laboratory values. Results Procedural success occurred in 85.7% of cases. Complications occurred in 3.0% of cases. The mean patient age ± SD was 72.3 ± 11.3 years. The median amount of thrombin injected was 500 U (interquartile range, 400 U). The median follow-up time was 1 day (interquartile range, 0 days). A pseudoaneurysm size of 2 cm or larger and thrombocytopenia were significant independent predictors of pseudoaneurysm recurrence (P = .003 and .03, respectively). The odds ratios for pseudoaneurysm recurrence were 2.29 for pseudoaneurysm size of 2 cm or larger (P = .03) and 1.04 for thrombocytopenia (P = .04). Conclusions Thrombin injection of pseudoaneurysms is an off-label procedure with few complications and a high success rate. Follow-up imaging is recommended in all pseudoaneurysms that are 2 cm or larger and in patients with thrombocytopenia.
Facile synthesis and in situ transmission electron microscopy investigation of a highly stable Sb2Te3/C nanocomposite for sodium-ion batteries

Abstract Sb-based anode materials attract a great deal of attention recently due to their high capacity. However, large volume change during sodiation and desodiation leads to poor cyclic performance. Introduction of inactive element would improve the cyclic performance but reduce the capacity significantly. In this work, Na-active Te was introduced and Sb2Te3/C nanocomposite has been successfully prepared by a high energy ball mill method. The Sb2Te3 nanocrystals with a size of about 20 nm embedded in the carbon matrix are produced. The as-obtained Sb2Te3/C exhibits specific capacity of 360 mA h g–1 with capacity retention of 93% after 400 cycles at 1 A g–1. In situ transmission electron microscopy study was carried out to investigate the origin of the high capacity retention. The synergetic effects of carbon matrix and nanosized particles can release stress efficiently during large volume change and suppress the aggregation of the pulverized nanoparticles.
Temporal coding of sensory information

The neural coding problem—how populations of neurons represent and convey information—is fundamental to understanding how the brain works as an information-processing system. Three independent aspects of any time-varying signal are the physical channel through which the signal is transmitted, its internal temporal structure (e.g. its Fourier spectrum), and its absolute time of arrival. Any of these aspects of a signal can be used to convey what kind of distinction is being conveyed, be it a pitch, or a color, or a smell. Correspondingly, neural spike codes can be classified into “connectivity-based codes” in which the meaning of a spike train depends upon which specific neuron produced it (e.g. “place” or “labelled line” codes) and “temporal codes” in which meaning depends upon specific timings of spikes. “Temporal codes” can be further subdivided into “time-of-arrival codes” (e.g. latency and synchrony codes) vs. “temporal pattern codes” (e.g. interspike interval and higher-order pattern codes).6,53 Since these aspects of spike codes are complementary, combinations of these primitive coding strategies are also possible (Fig. 1). While some evidence for temporal coding exists in each sensory modality, relatively few attempts have been made to gather together existing physiological and psychophysical evidence to search for common temporal coding strategies.2 5,6,10.48,49,53.60,67,76
A categorial grammar for music and its use in automatic melody generation

Like natural language, music can be described as being composed of various parts, which combine together to form a set-theoretic or logical entity. The conceptualized parts are more basic than the music seen on a page; they are the musical objects subject to music-theoretic analysis, and can be described using the language of functional programming and lambda calculus. This paper introduces the types of musical objects seen in tonal and modern music, as well as the combinators that allow them to combine to create other musical objects. We propose a method for automatically generating melodies by searching for combinations of musical objects which together produce a valid program corresponding to a melody or set of melodies.
Curing kinetics of bio-based epoxy-anhydride thermosets with zinc catalyst

The kinetics of curing of epoxidized sucrose soyate with a cycloaliphatic anhydride was studied using differential scanning calorimetry. Epoxidized sucrose soyate (ESS), a novel bio-based resin with high epoxy functionality, can be used to produce thermoset polymers for structural applications. ESS was cross-linked with methyl hexahydrophthalic anhydride using a zinc-based catalyst. Differential scanning calorimetry studies indicated that the reaction kinetics was influenced by the formulation variables, i.e., anhydride-to-epoxy molar ratio and catalyst amount. Multiple exothermic peaks suggest the presence of several different reaction mechanisms of the epoxy-anhydride reaction using metal complex catalyst, based on the formulation variables. All of the reaction rate data can be fitted into both n-th order and autocatalytic kinetic models. Based on the value of reaction order in the n-th order and autocatalytic kinetic model, the curing process is more dominated by non-autocatalytic reaction and less controlled by the autocatalytic process. This kinetic model observation suggested that the presence of hydroxyl groups or carboxylic acid pendant chains in the ESS molecule or as the product of side reactions did not autocatalyze the reaction, and the reaction is initiated solely from the metal complex.
Assessing the direct and indirect effects of food provisioning and nutrient enrichment on wildlife infectious disease dynamics

Anthropogenic resource supplementation can shape wildlife disease directly by altering the traits and densities of hosts and parasites or indirectly by stimulating prey, competitor or predator spec...
Long-term nutrient addition increases respiration and nitrous oxide emissions in a New England salt marsh.

Salt marshes may act either as greenhouse gas (GHG) sources or sinks depending on hydrological conditions, vegetation communities, and nutrient availability. In recent decades, eutrophication has emerged as a major driver of change in salt marsh ecosystems. An ongoing fertilization experiment at the Great Sippewissett Marsh (Cape Cod, USA) allows for observation of the results of over four decades of nutrient addition. Here, nutrient enrichment stimulated changes to vegetation communities that, over time, have resulted in increased elevation of the marsh platform. In this study, we measured fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO 2), methane (CH 4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in dominant vegetation zones along elevation gradients of chronically fertilized (1,572 kg N ha-1 year-1) and unfertilized (12 kg N ha-1 year-1) experimental plots at Great Sippewissett Marsh. Flux measurements were performed using darkened chambers to focus on community respiration and excluded photosynthetic CO 2 uptake. We hypothesized that N-replete conditions in fertilized plots would result in larger N2O emissions relative to control plots and that higher elevations caused by nutrient enrichment would support increased CO 2 and N2O and decreased CH 4 emissions due to the potential for more oxygen diffusion into sediment. Patterns of GHG emission supported our hypotheses. Fertilized plots were substantially larger sources of N2O and had higher community respiration rates relative to control plots, due to large emissions of these GHGs at higher elevations. While CH 4 emissions displayed a negative relationship with elevation, they were generally small across elevation gradients and nutrient enrichment treatments. Our results demonstrate that at decadal scales, vegetation community shifts and associated elevation changes driven by chronic eutrophication affect GHG emission from salt marshes. Results demonstrate the necessity of long-term fertilization experiments to understand impacts of eutrophication on ecosystem function and have implications for how chronic eutrophication may impact the role that salt marshes play in sequestering C and N.
Hodgkin's specific cells in bone marrow aspirations; a brief review and report of two cases.

The literatutre concerning the observations of Sternberg-Reed cells in smears of bone marrow aspirate has been briefly reviewed and the cytology of node imprint preparations has been noted. Two cases of Hodgkin’s disease in which Sternberg-Reed cells were observed in marrow smears are recorded with accompanying photomicrographs. No such cells were seen in the course of routine examination of more than six thousand, five hundred other bone marrow smears or in a special review of thirty cases of proved Hodgkin’s disease.
The pebbling number of C 5 × C 5

Abstract Chung has defined a pebbling move on a graph G to be the removal of two pebbles from one vertex and the addition of one pebble to an adjacent vertex. The pebbling number f(G) of a connected graph is the least number of pebbles such that any distribution of f(G) pebbles on G allows one pebble to be moved to any specified, but arbitrary vertex. Graham conjectured that for any connected graphs G and H , f ( G × H )⩽ f ( G ) f ( H ). We show that Graham's conjecture holds when G = H = C 5 .
Electrocardiographic screening in psychiatric patients.

Background Present recommendations vary regarding the use of screening ECGs in psychiatric patients; therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the utility of routine screening electrocardiograms (ECGs) in hospitalized psychiatric patients. Method Twelve-lead ECGs were obtained on 1006 consecutive admissions to an academic freestanding 250-bed public psychiatric hospital over a period of 2 years. Results Tracings were read as normal in 765 of 1006 cases. Tracings of 148 patients were considered to be equivocal, mainly due to nonspecific T wave abnormalities seen in 118 patients. In 29 patients, no ostensible cause for the T wave abnormalities was found. Among the remaining 80 instances, abnormalities were attributed to drug abuse. Especially prevalent was recent cocaine abuse, often with concurrent alcohol abuse (N = 30); recent alcohol abuse alone (N = 10); or concurrent psychotherapeutic drugs (lithium, N = 19; thioridazine, N = 9; and miscellaneous drugs, N = 12). Subclinical hypothyroidism was found in 5 and borderline hypokalemia in 4 patients. Ninety-three tracings were definitely abnormal; one half of these were among patients over 50 years of age. Only 5 of 162 tracings in patients under 20 years of age were abnormal; one of these (incomplete right bundle branch block) might have mattered had the patient been considered for treatment with drugs that lengthen intraventricular conduction times, such as tricyclic antidepressants or thioridazine. Conclusion Routine screening ECGs done on psychiatric patients yielded relatively few abnormalities except in those over the age of 50 years, confirming the experience with such surveys in the general population. The prevalence of abnormalities among these patients was frequent enough to merit routine screening. For other patients regardless of age, ECGs are indicated whenever a history or physical findings suggest cardiovascular disease or whenever it is proposed to treat these patients with psychotherapeutic drugs known to increase cardiac conduction times or otherwise alter cardiac function.
Neuroprotection following focal cerebral ischaemia with the NMDA antagonist dextromethorphan, has a favourable dose response profile

Although N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) antagonists protect against focal cerebral ischaemia, there is concern that the high doses necessary for neuroprotection may cause unacceptable adverse effects. We studied the dose response characteristics of the clinically available NMDA antagonist dextromethorphan in a rabbit model of transient focal ischaemia. Thirty-three anaesthetized rabbits underwent occlusion of the left internal carotid and anterior cerebral arteries for 1 h followed by 4.5 h of reperfusion. One hour after the onset of ischaemia, they were treated with an i.v. infusion of varying doses of dextromethorphan or normal saline. Seventeen additional unanaesthetized, nonischaemic rabbits received similar infusions of dextromethorphan to correlate brain with blood levels and to evaluate adverse effects. Rabbits with plasma dextromethorphan levels 500-1500 ng ml-1 had a 64% reduction in ischaemic neuronal damage (p 1500 ng ml-1 showed 92% attenuation of neuronal damage and 65% decrease in ischaemic oedema (p 2500 ng ml-1 demonstrated severe gait ataxia. These results demonstrate that systemic treatment with dextromethorphan after 1 h of focal ischaemia can significantly protect against cerebral damage if adequate plasma and brain levels are achieved. Dextromethorphan was concentrated 7-30 x in brain compared with plasma, and brain levels were highly correlated with plasma levels (r = 0.89). Neuroprotective doses of dextromethorphan were tolerated with only transient side effects.
That's right! Language comprehension beyond the left hemisphere

This scientific commentary refers to ‘How right hemisphere damage after stroke can impair speech comprehension', by Gajardo-Vidal et al. (doi: 10.1093/brain/awy270 ).
Detection of Predictive Biomarkers Using Liquid Biopsies

Liquid biopsies have emerged as tools to predict response to therapy in real time, detect genomic alterations, and monitor disease resistance and tumor evolution in peripheral blood. The most well-studied components of liquid biopsies include circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). These highly dynamic biomarkers reflect cellular and genetic information from multiple primary and metastatic sites and are detected after tumors undergo necrosis, apoptosis, or via active secretion mechanisms. CTCs have demonstrated considerable promise as prognostic tools, and early evidence suggests the potential for monitoring micrometastatic disease. ctDNA can serve as a quantitative measure of tumor burden, reflect minimal residual disease, and enable serial monitoring of genomic alterations. Advances in CTC isolation techniques and next-generation sequencing have dramatically improved the detection of these components in blood. Future studies will utilize these assays to understand genetic and functional characteristics of single tumor cells and to explore the potential for liquid biopsies for early cancer detection.
Whole-body control of anticipated and unanticipated sidestep manoeuvres in female and male team sport athletes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of sex and planning time on spatial and temporal aspects of the whole-body centre of mass (CoM) mechanics during sidestepping performance....
Suicidal behaviour and non-suicidal self-injury in children and adolescents seen at an Italian paediatric emergency department

Introduction : Increasing rates of non-fatal self-harm amongst adolescents represent growing concern. The objective of the study is to describe non-fatal self-harm – including suicidal behaviour (SB), suicidal ideation (SI) and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) – observed at an Italian paediatric emergency department (ED). Methods : Retrospective analysis of the clinical records of patients admitted to ED from 2011 to 2016, who underwent child psychiatry consultation (CPc). We analyzed: rates of CPc for SB, SI and NSSI; risk factors for SB and SI in patients admitted to the hospital’s Child Psychiatry Unit after a CPc; and, correlations between NSSI and SB/SI. Results : The rate of CPc for SB, SI and NSSI switched from 7.7% in 2011 to 19% in 2016, with a statistically significant increase over the years (p< 0.001), a 2.2:1 female/male ratio, and an average age of 15.5±1.8 years. SB consisted mainly in drug poisoning (53%), with a significant prevalence in female. Mood disorder was identified in 82.5% of patients hospitalized for SB or SI. Substance abuse was more frequently found in patients admitted for SB when compared to the SI group. Almost half (48%) of the patients admitted for SB or SI reported a current or lifelong history of NSSI. In patients admitted for SB or SI, 3 factors were significantly and independently associated with NSSI: being female, substance abuse, and more severe depressive symptoms. Conclusions : Between 2011 and 2016, there was a significant growing need for CP consultations for suicidal behaviours, mainly in female adolescents. The subjects admitted for SI or SB, who also presented NSSI, were mainly substance abusers, and presented with more severe depressive symptoms.
Hybrid Sliding Mode/H-Infinity Control Approach for Uncertain Flexible Manipulators

In this article, a hybrid control approach combining sliding mode and H-infinity is proposed for an uncertain single-link flexible manipulator. The sliding mode controller stabilizes the nonlinear manipulator system, while the H-infinity controller enhances the noise rejection capability of the system by reducing the total system nonlinearity. The proposed hybrid controller is designed with the goal of rejecting external noises, hence providing a higher system performance, compared to a pure sliding mode controller. To avoid unintentional consequences of switching between the sliding mode and H-infinity controller, a fuzzy neural network weighting method is designed providing a smooth synthesis of both controller outputs. The neuro-fuzzy method applies a weighted combination of the two controller outputs to the manipulator system. In addition, a novel fuzzy estimation method is used to characterize the unstructured nonlinear disturbances in manipulator systems. The proposed hybrid control approach along with the fuzzy estimator is capable of providing a versatile means to stabilize flexible manipulator systems while maintaining a precise reference trajectory tracking in presence of unstructured uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics, as demonstrated by simulation results.
A randomized phase II trial of cabozantinib combined with PD-1 and CTLA-4 inhibition in metastatic soft tissue sarcoma.

TPS11583Background: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare malignancies with poor prognosis in the metastatic setting. Current standard therapy includes anthracycline based chemotherapy. Cabozantinib ...
Mental Models, Semantical Games and Varieties of Intelligence

In the study of intelligence as exhibited in logical reasoning, one of the most popular tools has recently been the notion of mental model. For instance, Philip Johnson-Laird has used this term as the title of an entire treatise on the cognitive psychology of logical reasoning.1 It is not my purpose here to discuss particular prior uses of the concept of mental model in the literature. Instead, I shall analyze the nature of the very idea of mental model. What precisely is meant by this term? What can be meant by it?
Intrinsic Riemannian geometry of surfaces

Definition. Let M be an oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension 2. Let T(M) denote the tangent bundle of M. Let \(S(M) = [(m,v) \in T(M); = 1]\).
Benefits from Asia-Pacific Mutual Fund Investments with Currency Hedging

This study presents empirical evidence on the efficiency and effectiveness of hedging U.S.-based international mutual funds with an Asia-Pacific investment objective. The case for active currency risk management is examined for a passive and a selective hedge, which is constructed with currency futures in the major currencies. Both static and dynamic hedging models are used to estimate the risk-minimizing hedge ratio. The results show that currency hedging improves the performance of internationally diversified mutual funds. Such hedging is beneficial even when based on prior optimal hedge ratios. Further, efficiency gains from hedging, as measured by the percent change in the Sharpe Index, are greatest under a selective portfolio strategy that is implemented with an optimal constant hedge ratio.
Towards a common system of systems vocabulary

It is becoming apparent through research into the emerging field of system of systems engineering (SoSE) that definitions and descriptions commonly used in system engineering create confusion when applied in system of systems (SoS) research. This paper extends the definition of common terms used in traditional systems engineering to SoS research. A tripartite analysis approach provides: (1) the commonly accepted definition, (2) the manner in which the definition is extrapolated to the system engineering discipline, and (3) its potential use in system of systems engineering. It is proposed that these terms, when applied to a SoS, establish a terminology framework, independent of systems engineering, that will assist the engineer in understanding, discussing, and designing complex systems.