cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A surgical case of supravalvular aortic stenosis with severe hypoplastic ascending aorta (diffuse type) in Williams-Beuren syndrome

We report a six-year-old boy who underwent ascending aortic reconstruction for supravalvular aortic stenosis of diffuse type associated with Williams-Beuren syndrome. The diagnosis was first made at the age of six months. Because of progressive left ventricular hypertrophy, cardiac catheterization was performed at the age of five years and showed left ventricular pressure of 200 mmHg, the ascending aortic pressure of 202 mmHg, the descending aortic pressure of 115 mmHg, and left ventricular end-diastolic volume of 33.5 ml (90% of normal). Whole ascending aorta except sinus Valsalva was severely hypoplastic, so called diffuse type of supravalvular aortic stenosis. The ascending aorta was only 6.3 mm in diameter, whereas the diameter of the aortic annulus was 20.6 mm. The ascending aortic reconstruction of Doty's type was performed from the aortic root to the distal aortic arch with a equine pericardium reinforced by Dacron velour using selective perfusion to the right bracheocepharic artery, the left common carotid artery and the right femoral artery to avoid circulatory arrest. Postoperative course was uneventful and post operative catheterization revealed left ventricular pressure of 128 mmHg, the ascending aortic pressure of 126 mmHg and the descending aortic pressure of 90 mmHg. Mild residual pressure gradient was probably due to hypoplastic descending aorta. In conclusion, patch aortic reconstruction for ascending aorta under selective cerebral perfusion for a six-year old boy can be performed without postoperative neurological complication.
The Development of Mother-Infant and Father-Infant Attachments in the Second Year of Life.

Twenty infants were observed at home interacting with their mothers, fathers, and an unfamiliar investigator, when they were 15, 18, 21, and 24 months of age. The infants showed significant preferences for their fathers over their mothers in the display of attachment and affiliative behaviors. Both parents were preferred to the investigator on attachment behavior measures, though when the relative activity of the adults was taken into account, the infants directed more affiliative behaviors to the investigator than to their parents. Over the year, there were declines in the occurrence of most attachment and affiliative behaviors. Fathers were far more active in interaction with sons than with daughters. At 24 months, the infants were observed in a laboratory playroom with their parents. In this situation, the infants showed no preference for either parent in the display of attachment and affiliative behaviors. They interacted far more with each parent when alone with her/him than when both parents were present. A stranger's presence had a similar effect on affiliative interaction within each parent-infant dyad, though the stranger effect was differentiated by intensificati on of the attachment behavior system. While the emergence and development of attachment relations are regarded as the major features of social development in the first few years of life, researchers have devoted comparatively little attention to the explicitly developmental aspects of attachment, with a notable absence of research on the second year of life. The primary goal of the present investigation, accordingly, was
Pseudoscalar-pseudovector equivalence in relativistic mean-field theory of nuclear structure

Abstract In the Dirac-Hartree-Fock treatment of pion-exchange in symmetric nuclear matter, it has long been known that the pseudoscalar πNN coupling leads to crystallization at an unphysically low value of the nuclear density. For this reason, it has been generally accepted that the pseudovector πNN coupling is the correct prescription. In a chirally-symmetric theory like the linear σ-model the two should be equivalent. Earlier work showed this is the case for pion emission or absorption, to O( g 3 ); in the present paper it is shown that the pion mean field (virtual pions) can be taken as pseudovector-coupled, to all orders in g .
Relative effectiveness of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award categories

This study fills a critical research gap by assessing the effectiveness of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) model within a government organisation and by comparing the effectiveness of the categories within the MBNQA model in government to the effectiveness of the categories of the MBNQA model in different industries. This study examines the relative effectiveness of each Baldrige category in the MBNQA 2013–2014 framework to results using data from a municipal government. We tested the hypothesised research model employing partial least squares (structural equation modelling). The results validate the effectiveness of the Baldrige categories and quantitatively support the theoretical foundations of the Baldrige model. Drawing on contingency theory, we explore the commonalities and differences of the effectiveness of Baldrige categories across different industries. The comparisons provide evidence that the Baldrige model has experienced the appropriate adaptations over years. This work d...
Congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasis sequence: a rare, heterogeneous, and lethal etiology for prenatal pleural effusion.

Objective Case report and literature review for congenital pulmonary lymphangiectasis (CPL) Case Report Male fetus with bilateral pleural effusion, thoracoamniotic shunt, preterm delivery, and prolonged neonatal course with neonatal death at 3 months. Autopsy-identified CPL. Discussion Review of pathology, clinical course, and genetics of CPL. Conclusion This postnatal diagnosis of CPL/Hennekam syndrome must be considered with prenatal counseling regarding a fetus with bilateral pleural effusions. This pathological entity is autosomal recessive and has a significant risk of lethality. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Maternal Antibody Transfer in Baboons and Mice Vaccinated with a Group B Streptococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate

Two animal models were used to study maternal transfer of antibody to a group B Streptococcus (GBS) type III polysaccharide‐tetanus toxoid (III-TT) conjugate. The III-TT vaccine protected all 27 mouse pups born to vaccinated dams against a GBS challenge. In a separate study of vaccinated mouse dams and pups, maternal sera contained all 4 subclasses of polysaccharide-specific IgG, with IgG1 accounting for 83% of total IgG. Specific IgG subclass distribution ( ) in newborn pups closely resembled that in their IgG1 11 IgG2a = IgG2b = IgG3 mothers. Seven of 9 female baboons given the III-TT vaccine had 5- to 36-fold increases in specific antibody from baseline levels; they transferred 26%‐185% of specific antibody to their offspring. Matched maternal and neonatal sera obtained at delivery were functionally equivalent in an in vitro opsonophagocytosis assay. These preclinical studies provide further evidence for effective immunogenicity of GBS conjugate vaccine and efficient transport of functionally active maternal antibody. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of bacteremia and meningitis among neonates in the United States. Early-onset GBS disease occurs within 7 days of birth, with most cases manifesting in the first 24 h [1]. Late-onset GBS disease develops after age 1 week, with a declining frequency of cases by age 3 months. Although the factors increasing the risk for late-onset GBS disease are not well understood, earlyonset GBS disease is acquired during the birthing process from mothers who are genitally or rectally colonized with GBS. The unique susceptibility of the neonate to GBS disease provided the rationale for the development of a maternal vaccine. We hoped that the administration of an effective vaccine to pregnant women at the beginning of the third trimester would elicit high levels of functional, type-specific IgG that would cross the placenta and protect neonates from disease. Indeed, a GBS polysaccharide vaccine administered to pregnant women at 31 weeks of gestation, although not optimally immunogenic, resulted in transfer of polysaccharide-specific functional IgG to their newborns [2].
Validating a Learning Progression in Mathematical Functions for College Readiness

Current college admissions tests inadequately predict college success (Geiser & Studley, 2002) and provide insufficient information for students and teachers regarding college readiness at earlier stages of students' academic careers (Olson, 2006). This article reports on the creation and validation of a more informative test rooted in college readiness standards in mathematics. Items and scoring guides were created using mixed-methods of assessment design, and assessment results were analyzed and validated using item response theory, student interviews, and teacher evaluations of test items. This research shows how an innovative measurement approach can be used for more accurately assessing college readiness, and reveals one possible means of providing better measures along a central strand of mathematical knowledge required for students entering college.
Understanding the Semantic Structure of Noun Phrase Queries

Determining the semantic intent of web queries not only involves identifying their semantic class, which is a primary focus of previous works, but also understanding their semantic structure. In this work, we formally define the semantic structure of noun phrase queries as comprised of intent heads and intent modifiers. We present methods that automatically identify these constituents as well as their semantic roles based on Markov and semi-Markov conditional random fields. We show that the use of semantic features and syntactic features significantly contribute to improving the understanding performance.
Stochastic Voyages into Uncharted Chemical Space Produce a Representative Library of All Possible Drug-Like Compounds

The “small molecule universe” (SMU), the set of all synthetically feasible organic molecules of 500 Da molecular weight or less, is estimated to contain over 1060 structures, making exhaustive searches for structures of interest impractical. Here, we describe the construction of a “representative universal library” spanning the SMU that samples the full extent of feasible small molecule chemistries. This library was generated using the newly developed Algorithm for Chemical Space Exploration with Stochastic Search (ACSESS). ACSESS makes two important contributions to chemical space exploration: it allows the systematic search of the unexplored regions of the small molecule universe, and it facilitates the mining of chemical libraries that do not yet exist, providing a near-infinite source of diverse novel compounds.
Module assignment for low power

We investigate the problem of minimizing the total power consumption during the binding of operations to functional units in a scheduled data path with functional pipelining and conditional branching for data intensive applications. We first present a technique to estimate the power consumption in a functionally pipelined data path and then formulate the power optimization problem as a max cost multi commodity flow problem and solve it optimally. Our proposed method can augment most high level synthesis algorithms as a post processing step for reducing power after the optimizations for area or speed have been completed. An average power savings of 28% has been observed after we apply our method to pipelined designs that have been optimized using conventional techniques.
Carbon Emission Modeling for Green Building: A Comprehensive Study of Methodologies

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claimed that greenhouse gases generate impact large enough to change global climate. Some industries are beginning to reduce carbon emissions from their designs and manufacturing processes in order to comply with IPCC recommendations around the world. According to statistics, the construction industry generates the greatest environmental impacts among all the other industries. Green building designs and standards are developed to improve building operation energy and embodied energy efficiencies, and minimize energy and wastes. The most common approach for green building certifications is to rate the compliance of each green building standard through a point rating system. No green building system has yet correlated its rating to the level of “greenness” of buildings. The level of certification does not reflect corresponding reduction in environmental impact and carbon emission. This paper establishes the framework to correlate green building standards with equivalent carbon emissions by, first, reviews the criteria of direct and indirect carbon emission measurement, second, identifies the focal point of carbon emission modeling, and finally, identifies the variables for carbon emission modeling of buildings.
Integrated results for dual low voltage IC based high and low side gate drive

An IC design for high and low side gate drive is presented based on use of two identical low voltage ICs that provide a low cost alternative to existing high voltage IC drivers. The approach uses a single external coupling capacitor between the two ICs with on-chip circuitry to provide charge pump power supply and on/off signaling. Design details are given for each of the core blocks of a custom IC prototype fabricated in a 15 V, 0.8 mum CMOS process. Experimental results are presented demonstrating successful drive of a 200 V half-bridge with an LCC electronic ballast and 32 W linear fluorescent lamp (LFL) load
Viral Genotypes as Determinants of Autoimmune Expression in Chronic Hepatitis C

Objective To correlate viral genotypes with the immune manifestations of chronic hepatitis C and evaluate the effect of immune features on disease expression and response to antiviral treatment. Design We undertook a retrospective analysis of 67 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Material and Methods Patients were selected for study if they had been screened for autoantibodies and concurrent immune diseases and if viral genotyping had been performed or was possible. Concurrent immune manifestations and responses to interferon therapy were determined. Results Of the 67 patients, 18 (27 % ) had one or more immune features. Immune manifestations occurred as commonly in patients with genotype 1 as in those with other genotypes (30% versus 14%; P = 0.3). Concurrent immune features did not distinguish patients, and responses to interferon therapy were similar between patients with and those without immune manifestations. None of the 14 patients with concurrent immune diseases or high-titer autoantibodies (serum titers, 1:320 or more) entered remission during interferon treatment. In contrast, 6 of 53 patients without concurrent immune diseases and no or low-titer autoantibodies had treatment-related remission. These differences, however, were not statistically significant (0% versus 11 %; P = 0.3). Conclusion Autoantibodies and concurrent immune diseases are not associated with a particular viral genotype, clinical profile, or treatment outcome. Larger studies are necessary for complete assessment of the influence of prominent immune manifestations on treatment response.
Seismic imaging with the generalized Radon transform: a curvelet transform perspective *

A key challenge in the seismic imaging of reflectors using surface reflection data is the subsurface illumination produced by a given data set and for a given complexity of the background model (of wave speeds). The imaging is described here by the generalized Radon transform. To address the illumination challenge and enable (accurate) local parameter estimation, we develop a method for partial reconstruction. We make use of the curvelet transform, the structure of the associated matrix representation of the generalized Radon transform, which needs to be extended in the presence of caustics and phase linearization. We pair an image target with partial waveform reflection data, and develop a way to solve the matrix normal equations that connect their curvelet coefficients via diagonal approximation. Moreover, we develop an approximation, reminiscent of Gaussian beams, for the computation of the generalized Radon transform matrix elements only making use of multiplications and convolutions, given the underlying ray geometry; this leads to computational efficiency. Throughout, we exploit the (wave number) multi-scale features of the dyadic parabolic decomposition underlying the curvelet transform and establish approximations that are accurate for sufficiently fine scales. The analysis we develop here has its roots in and represents a unified framework for (double) beamforming and beam-stack imaging, parsimonious pre-stack Kirchhoff migration, pre-stack plane-wave (Kirchhoff) migration and delayed-shot pre-stack migration.
Oral Care Across Ages: A Review

Mouth cleaning is performed to prevent diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis, and periodontitis. Bacteria, present since birth, form complex biofilms that attach to oral surfaces. These florae...
A TRACE FORMULA FOR A FAMILY OF JACOBI OPERATORS

In this paper, we compute the leading term in the asymptotic expansion of the trace of a family of Jacobi matrices as their order gets arbitrarily large. We then apply this formula to compute the density of states of the zeros of a class of polynomials associated with the Heun differential equation.
MEDAL: A coMpact event description and analysis language for wireless sensor networks

Event detection plays an important role in wireless sensor network (WSN) applications such as battlefield surveillance and habitat monitoring. However, effective approaches for specifying events in a sensor network remain a challenge. In this paper we present MEDAL, a formal event description language. MEDAL is a modified Petri net which provides a more compact formal language than its predecessor SNEDL. As a system analysis tool, MEDAL can capture the structural, spatial, and temporal properties of a complex event detection system, which can be used to assist system designers in identifying inconsistencies and potential problems. MEDAL can also perform case-specific analyses that can make the debugging phase easier. We present a case study as an example illustrating the features and effectiveness of MEDAL. We also describe an approach for simultaneous detection of multiple events in a single WSN.
In-field operations to deliver biomass to a biorefinery

This study shows how "Satellite Storage Locations" (SSLs) can be sized and located to balance in-field hauling cost to the SSL and load-haul cost from the SSL to a biorefinery. This analysis used an in-field bale wagon to deliver bales of switchgrass to the SSL and year-round hauling from SSLs to a biorefinery with commercial equipment. An average productivity of 12 Mg h -1 was assumed for the in-field bale wagon. Based on average operating time to haul bales from a 16 ha field, the allowable in-field to SSL haul distance was 3.2 km. The mobilization cost to move equipment to the SSL for commercial load and haul operations is a factor in minimizing total cost, in-field hauling plus highway hauling. Analysis showed that mobilization cost is not as important as limiting in-field hauling cost. This result suggests that a large number of smaller SSLs may be the desired organization as compared to a fewer number of larger SSLs.
The interactome of the amyloid β precursor protein family members is shaped by phosphorylation of their intracellular domains

Brain tissue from patients with Alzheimer's disease has shown an increase of phosphorylation of Tyr-682, located on the conserved Y682ENPTY motif, and Thr-668 residues, both in the intracellular domain (AID) of amyloid β precursor protein (APP), although the role of these two residues is not yet known. Here, we report that the phosphorylation status of Tyr-682, and in some cases Thr-668, shapes the APP interactome. It creates a docking site for SH2-domain containing proteins, such as ShcA, ShcB, ShcC, Grb7, Grb2, as well as adapter proteins, such as Crk and Nck, that regulate important biological processes, cytosolic tyrosine kinases, such as Abl, Lyn and Src, which regulate signal transduction pathways, and enzymes that control phosphatidylinositols levels and signaling, such as PLC-γ. At the same time, it either reduces (like for JIP1, NUMB, NUMBL and ARH) or abolishes (like for Fe65, Fe65L1 and Fe65L2) binding of other APP interactors. Phosphorylation of Thr-668, unlike Tyr-682, does not seem to affect APP's ability to interact with the various proteins, with Pin1 and X11 being the exclusions. We also found that there are some differences between the interactions to AID and to ALID1 and ALID2, its two homologues. Our data indicates that APP can regulate diverse cellular processes and that, vice versa, a network of signaling events can impact APP processing. Our results also suggest that phosphorylation of the APP Intracellular Domain will dramatically shape the APP interactome and, consequently, will regulate APP processing, APP transport and APP/AID-mediated functions.
Rice Water Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Indirect Flight Muscle Development and Spring Emergence in Response to Temperature

Overwintering rice water weevils, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel, were held at different temperatures with and without food to determine the response of indirect flight muscle regeneration. Flight muscle regeneration has a temperature threshold of ca. 18°C. The rate of regeneration is greater at higher temperatures and when adults feed. Emergence of adult weevils from overwintering sites was monitored with sticky traps for 4 years near Stuttgart, Ark., and for 2 years near Crowley, La. The date adults emerged in the spring is closely related to springtime temperatures.
Dynamics of transcription and mRNA export

Understanding the different molecular mechanisms responsible for gene expression has been a central interest of molecular biologists for several decades. Transcription, the initial step of gene expression, consists of converting the genetic code into a dynamic messenger RNA that will specify a required cellular function following translocation to the cytoplasm and translation. We now possess an in-depth understanding of the mechanism and regulations of transcription. By contrast, an understanding of the dynamics of an individual gene's expression in real time is just beginning to emerge following recent technological developments.
Carbon monoxide therapy protects against hepatic microvascular injury in a mouse model of murine hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of inhaled carbon monoxide (CO) as an adjunct to resuscitation on hepatic microvascular and endothelial integrity in a murine model of hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation (HSR). Others and ourselves have previously demonstrated that CO can protect against organ injury in experimental models of HSR [1]. Additionally, CO can prevent tissue hypoxia during hemorrhage. Based upon this we hypothesized that CO prevents hepatic injury and prevents hepatic hypoxia by maintaining endothelial integrity and the hepatic microvascular circulation.
Exploring infection prevention: Policy implications from a qualitative study

Health care–associated infections (HAIs) are common and costly patient safety problems that are largely preventable. As a result, numerous policy changes have recently taken place including mandatory reporting and lack of reimbursement for HAIs. A qualitative approach was used to obtain dense description and gain insights about the current practice of infection prevention in California. Twenty-three in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted at six acute care hospitals. Content analysis revealed 4 major interconnected themes: (a) impacts of mandatory reporting; (b) impacts of technology on HAI surveillance; (c) infection preventionists’ role expansion; and (d) impacts of organizational climate. Personnel reported that interdisciplinary collaboration was a major facilitator for implementing effective infection prevention, and organizational climate promoting a shared accountability is urgently needed. Mandatory reporting requirements are having both intended and unintended consequences on HAI prevention. More research is needed to measure the long-term effects of these important changes in policy.
Human Dimensions of Small-Scale and Traditional Fisheries in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Asia-Pacific region is home to a diversity of coastal cultures that are highly reliant on the ocean and its resources for sustenance, livelihoods, and cultural continuity. Small-scale fisheries account for most of the livelihoods associated with fisheries, produce about as much fish as industrialized fisheries, and contribute substantially to the economies of countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region. Yet these resource systems and their human communities face numerous local and global threats, and social vulnerability to these pressures places at risk the livelihoods, food security, well-being, and traditional lifestyles of coastal communities and cultures of the Asia-Pacific region. This article and special issue provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities for small-scale and traditional fisheries and the role of human dimensions research in the sustainable governance of these resource systems. It is increasingly clear that sufficient understanding of the social, economic, and cultural aspects of these linked social-ecological systems is critical in determining pathways toward sustainability.
Toxicity, repellency, and transfer of chlorfenapyr against western subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

Chlorfenapyr is a slow-acting insecticide against western subterranean termite, Reticulitermes hesperus Banks, when applied to sand. The LD50 at day 7 for workers is 29.98 ng per termite and considerably higher than that of chlorpyrifos (14.01), cypermethrin (3.21), and fipronil (0.16). Brief exposures to sand treated with chlorfenapyr resulted in dose-dependent mortality over a broad range of concentrations. Brief 1-h exposures to > or =75 ppm provided >88% kill of termites at day 7. Chlorfenapyr deposits did not repel termites, even at 300 ppm. Termites tunneled from 0.1 to 1.8 cm into sand treated with 10- to 300-ppm chlorfenapyr deposits, resulting in > or =70% mortality. Within 1 h after being exposed to 50 ppm chlorfenapyr, approximately 17% of the termites exhibited impaired responses to synthetic trail pheromone. By 4 h, nearly 60% of the workers were not able to follow a 10 fg/cm pheromone trail. There was a direct linear relationship of the uptake of [14C]chlorfenapyr as concentration and duration of exposure increased. The percentage of chlorfenapyr transferred to recipients varied from 13.3 to 38.4%. Donors exposed for 1 h transferred a greater percentage of chlorfenapyr than did donors exposed for 4 h. A 1-h exposure on 100-ppm deposits provided sufficient uptake to kill 100% of the donors and sufficient transfer to kill 96% of the recipients. There was not enough transfer for recipients to serve as secondary donors and kill other termites. Horizontal transfer is limited to contact with the original donor and by the decreased mobility of workers within 4-8 h after exposure to treated sand. The effectiveness of chlorfenapyr barrier treatments is primarily due to its nonrepellency and delayed toxicity.
On Preserving the Robustness of Optimal Control System with Observers

A new, simple, and general method is proposed in this paper to preserve the robustness of the LQ control system which involves state estimators. The method is to minimize the estimator gain to the system input by selecting the estimator poles, while the existing method is to maximize the estimator gain to the system output by introducing additional noise in the input noise description. An example demonstrates that the stability margin of the feedback system with the estimator designed by this method is even better than that of a system without the estimators.
Comparison of flattened Blastozoan echinoderms: Insights from the new Early Ordovician Eocrinoid Haimacystis rozhnovi

Abstract A new, flattened, eocrinoid-grade, blastozoan echinoderm Haimacystis rozhnovi new genus and species is described from the uppermost Lower Ordovician Wah Wah Limestone of western Utah. Although apparently most similar in morphology to the rhipidocystids, Haimacystis differs in its plane of thecal flattening, lack of one-piece marginals, and ambulacral system development. A comparison of overall morphology and plane of thecal flattening is presented for flattened blastozoans. Haimacystis was a streamlined suspension feeder attached to the sea floor by a holdfast at the end of a relatively short stem and bent over in the water column in moderate currents.
Role of adenosine A2B receptor stimulation in ischaemic postconditioning: dawn of a new paradigm in cardioprotection

This editorial refers to an article by S. Philipp et al . [16][1] published in Cardiovascular Research in 2006. It is accompanied by a retrospective editorial by two authors of that original article, J.M. Downey and M.V. Cohen (doi:10.1093/cvr/CVS214), as part of this Spotlight on Landmark Papers in Cardiovascular Research . Adenosine has a long and storied history in the field of cardioprotection. A wealth of evidence accrued over three decades has demonstrated the ability of adenosine-based pharmacological strategies (and, in some instances, adenosine per se ) to attenuate multiple facets of myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury.1–15 It is equally well established that the favourable effects of adenosine and adenosine agonists are receptor-mediated and initiated by the stimulation of one or more of the family of four adenosine receptor subtypes (A1, A3, A2A, A2B; reviewed in1–3). Initial attention focused on the A1 subtype, with a host of studies reporting that pre-treatment with A1 receptor agonists significantly attenuated post-ischaemic contractile dysfunction and reduced the myocardial infarct size. Subsequent studies utilized both pharmacological and genetic approaches to interrogate the A1, A2A, and A3 receptors, and, in particular, the potential role of these receptor subtypes in the endogenous cardioprotection afforded by ischaemic preconditioning, postconditioning, and remote conditioning.1– … [1]: #ref-16
A hybrid architectural approach to understanding and appropriately generating indirect speech acts

Current approaches to handling indirect speech acts (ISAs) do not account for their sociolinguistic underpinnings (i.e., politeness strategies). Deeper understanding and appropriate generation of indirect acts will require mechanisms that integrate natural language (NL) understanding and generation with social information about agent roles and obligations, which we introduce in this paper. Additionally, we tackle the problem of understanding and handling indirect answers that take the form of either speech acts or physical actions, which requires an inferential, plan-reasoning approach. In order to enable artificial agents to handle an even wider-variety of ISAs, we present a hybrid approach, utilizing both the idiomatic and inferential strategies. We then demonstrate our system successfully generating indirect requests and handling indirect answers, and discuss avenues of future research.
Harmonic multivariate Ostrowski and Grüss type inequalities for several functions

Here we derive very general multivariate Ostrowski and Gruss type inequalities for several functions by involving harmonic polynomials. Estimates are with respect to all basic norms. We give applications. 2010 AMS Subject Classi cation: 26B20, 26B40, 26D10, 26D15.
Precise and Concise: The Class Daily Briefing (CDB) Exercise

This article will describe, theoretically situate, and analyze five years of implementation of the Class Daily Brief (CDB) exercise in law classes at Georgetown and Ohio State. The CDB trains students to be simultaneously precise and concise in written and oral briefings to clients, principals, supervisors, and other busy and demanding senior leaders. Precision and concision are in tension: be highly descriptive and you write too long, but if you write too short you can lose content. By using the right words and only those words, precision and concision can reinforce each other. The written brief is strictly limited to one or two pages. The oral brief is delivered under variable, realistic, often uncomfortable informal practice conditions -- wherever in real life one might find themselves briefing someone important. These informal practice settings range from a traditional conference room or classroom setting to the telephone, skype, in the hallway, walking down the stairs, in a taxi, a noisy public setting, or outdoors in the elements (we've made good use of rain, snow, wind, and heat). The time available (ranging from 30 seconds to 30 minutes), location of the discussion, and the identity and personality of the person to be briefed varies without warning. Recipients of the briefing have included U.S. Senators, presidential advisors, agency senior leaders, law firm partners, judges, policy experts, lobbyists, reporters, and generals and admirals, in addition to law faculty. The substantive grist for the mill is the latest real world developments related to the course's focus, since the last iteration of the CDB was delivered. Over its five year life in three different classes at two law schools, the CDB's focus has ranged from federal legislation, to national security, to Ohio law and policy. The CDB builds skills in writing, speaking, editing, issue spotting, prioritization, analysis, resilience under aggressive questioning, adaptation, responsiveness, integrity and error correction, and follow-up. The exercise builds teamwork by requiring two students who have different substantive responsibilities to collaborate on the written and oral portions and produce a single product for which they are jointly responsible in full. The skills the CDB develops are transferable to any practice setting, legal or non-legal. Students receive both formative and summative feedback and evaluation. They receive a numerical score and 1-3 pages of tailored written feedback and evaluation promptly after each briefing. This allows iterative improvement over the course of two to seven briefings per student throughout term. Students describe the CDB as both stressful and some of the best training they receive in law school. A frequent recipient of the briefing praised the briefing in a recent article (James E. Baker, Process, Practice, and Principle: Teaching National Security Law and Knowledge that Matters Most, 27 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 163, 175 (2014)).
Resupinate Hydnaceous Fungi of North America V. Type Studies of Species Described by Berkeley and Curtis

(1965). Resupinate Hydnaceous Fungi of North America V. Type Studies of Species Described by Berkeley and Curtis. Mycologia: Vol. 57, No. 6, pp. 845-871.
Correction to Electrophoretic Extraction of Low Molecular Weight Cationic Analytes from Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Containing Sample Matrices for Their Direct Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

While the use of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in separation buffers allows efficient analysis of complex mixtures, its presence in the sample matrix is known to severely interfere with the mass-spectrometric characterization of analyte molecules. In this article, we report a microfluidic device that addresses this analytical challenge by enabling inline electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) of low molecular weight cationic samples prepared in SDS containing matrices. The functionality of this device relies on the continuous extraction of analyte molecules into an SDS-free solvent stream based on the free-flow zone electrophoresis (FFZE) technique prior to their ESI-MS analysis. The reported extraction was accomplished in our current work in a glass channel with microelectrodes fabricated along its sidewalls to realize the desired electric field. Our experiments show that a key challenge to successfully operating such a device is to suppress the electroosmotically driven fluid circulations gen...
Inflammatory mechanisms in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with chronic inflammation affecting predominantly the lung parenchyma and peripheral airways that results in largely irreversible and progressive airflow limitation. This inflammation is characterized by increased numbers of alveolar macrophages, neutrophils, T lymphocytes (predominantly TC1, TH1, and TH17 cells), and innate lymphoid cells recruited from the circulation. These cells and structural cells, including epithelial and endothelial cells and fibroblasts, secrete a variety of proinflammatory mediators, including cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and lipid mediators. Although most patients with COPD have a predominantly neutrophilic inflammation, some have an increase in eosinophil counts, which might be orchestrated by TH2 cells and type 2 innate lymphoid cells though release of IL-33 from epithelial cells. These patients might be more responsive to corticosteroids and bronchodilators. Oxidative stress plays a key role in driving COPD-related inflammation, even in ex-smokers, and might result in activation of the proinflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), impaired antiprotease defenses, DNA damage, cellular senescence, autoantibody generation, and corticosteroid resistance though inactivation of histone deacetylase 2. Systemic inflammation is also found in patients with COPD and can worsen comorbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Accelerated aging in the lungs of patients with COPD can also generate inflammatory protein release from senescent cells in the lung. In the future, it will be important to recognize phenotypes of patients with optimal responses to more specific therapies, and development of biomarkers that identify the therapeutic phenotypes will be important.
What Happens After Health Coaching? Observational Study 1 Year Following a Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE Health coaching is effective for chronic disease self-management in the primary care safety-net setting, but little is known about the persistence of its benefits. We conducted an observational study evaluating the maintenance of improved cardiovascular risk factors following a health coaching intervention. METHODS We performed a naturalistic follow-up to the Health Coaching in Primary Care Study, a 12-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing health coaching to usual care for patients with uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. Participants were followed up 24 months from RCT baseline. The primary outcome was the proportion at goal for at least 1 measure (hemoglobin A1c, systolic blood pressure, or LDL cholesterol) that had been above goal at enrollment; secondary outcomes included each individual clinical goal. Chi-square tests and paired t-tests compared dichotomous and continuous measures. RESULTS 290 of 441 participants (65.8%) participated at both 12 and 24 months. The proportion of patients in the coaching arm of the RCT who achieved the primary outcome dropped only slightly from 47.1% at 12 to 45.9% at 24 months (P = .80). The proportion at goal for hemoglobin A1c dropped from 53.4% to 36.2% (P = .03). All other clinical metrics had small, nonsignificant changes between 12 and 24 months. CONCLUSIONS Results support the conclusion that most improved clinical outcomes persisted 1 year after the completion of the health coaching intervention.
Understanding the relativistic overdensity of galaxy surveys

The main goal of galaxy surveys is to map the distribution of the galaxies, for the purpose of understanding the properties of this distribution and its implications for the content and evolution of the universe. However, in order to realise the potential of these surveys, we need to ensure that we are using the correct analysis: the relativistic analysis, which has been widely studied recently. In this work, the known relativistic overdensity of galaxy surveys is re-examined. Subtle, yet crucial parameters which appear to have been missed by previous works are uncovered. The possible implication of these parameters on the observed galaxy power spectrum is demonstrated for a generic survey, in the cosmological concordance model. The results show that these parameters can alter the predictions of galaxy clustering on all scales; hence, the relativistic effects (on ultra-large scales). In particular, the results show that ignoring these parameters - as in the analysis in previous works - will lead to a false overestimation of the galaxy clustering strength in structure formation.
Molecular genetics of acoustic tumors.

A defect in 1 of the 100, 000 or so human genes—the NF2 gene—results in the formation of an acoustic neuroma (AN). This article reviews the molecular genetics of AN with an emphasis on the location, function, and regulation of the gene that causes AN. The clinical applications of molecular genetic research are discussed, including prenatal or presymptomatic diagnosis and gene therapy.
Hardness-Aware Truth Discovery in Social Sensing Applications

This paper develops a new principled frameworkto solve a hardness-aware truth discovery problem in socialsensing applications. Social sensing has emerged as a new applicationparadigm where a large crowd of social sensors (humansor devices on their behalf) are recruited to or voluntarily reportobservations about the physical environment at scale. Theseobservations may be either true or false, and hence are viewedas binary claims. A fundamental problem in social sensingapplications lies in ascertaining the correctness of claims andthe reliability of data sources. We refer to this problem astruth discovery. Significant efforts were made to address thetruth discovery problem, but an important dimension of theproblem has not been fully exploited: hardness of claims (howchallenging a claim is to be made). A common assumptionmade in the previous work is that they assumed all claims areof the same degree of hardness. However, in real world socialsensing applications, simply ignoring the hardness differencesbetween claims could easily lead to suboptimal truth discoveryresults. In this paper, we develop a new hardness-aware truthdiscovery scheme that explicitly considers different hardnessdegrees of claims into a rigorous analytical framework. The newtruth discovery scheme solves a maximum likelihood estimationproblem to determine both the claim correctness and the sourcereliability. We compare our hardness-aware scheme with thestate-of-the-art baselines through three real world case studies(Baltimore Riots, Paris Attack and Oregon Shootings, all in2015) using Twitter data feeds. The evaluation results showedthat our new scheme outperforms all compared baselines andsignificantly improves the truth discovery accuracy in socialsensing applications.
Robust Neuron Counting Based on Fusion of Shape Map and Multi-cue Learning

Automatic counting of neurons in fluorescently stained microscopic images is increasingly important for brain research when big imagery data sets are becoming a norm and will be more so in the future. In this paper, we present an automatic learning-based method for effective detection and counting of neurons with stained nuclei. A shape map that reflects the boosted edge and shape information is generated and a learning problem is formulated to detect the centers of stained nuclei. The method combines multiple cues of edge gradient, shape, and texture during shape map generation, feature extraction and final count determination. The proposed algorithm consistently delivers robust count ratios and precision rates on neurons in mouse and rat brain images that are shown to be better than alternative unsupervised and supervised counting methods.
NeuroGFX: a graphical functional explorer for fruit fly brain circuits

Recently, multiple focused efforts have resulted in substantial increase in the availability of connectome data in the fruit fly brain. Elucidating neural circuit function from such structural data calls for a scalable computational modeling methodology. We propose such a methodology that includes i) a brain emulation engine, with an architecture that can tackle the complexity of whole brain modeling, ii) a database that supports tight integration of biological and modeling data along with support for domain specific queries and circuit transformations, and iii) a graphical interface that allows for total flexibility in configuring neural circuits and visualizing run-time results, both anchored on model abstractions closely reflecting biological structure. Towards the realization of such a methodology, we have developed NeuroGFX and integrated it into the architecture of the Fruit Fly Brain Observatory (http://fruitflybrain.org). The computational infrastructure in NeuroGFX is provided by Neurokernel, an open source platform for the emulation of the fruit fly brain, and NeuroArch, a database for querying and executing fruit fly brain circuits. The integration of the two enables the algorithmic construction/manipulation/revision of executable circuits on multiple levels of abstraction of the same model organism. The power of this computational infrastructure can be leveraged through an intuitive graphical interface that allows visualizing execution results in the context of biological structure. This provides an environment where computational researchers can present configurable, executable neural circuits, and experimental scientists can easily explore circuit structure and function ultimately leading to biological validation. With these capabilities, NeuroGFX enables the exploration of function from circuit structure at whole brain, neuropil, and local circuit level of abstraction. By allowing for independently developed models to be integrated at the architectural level, NeuroGFX provides an open plug and play, collaborative environment for whole brain computational modeling of the fruit fly.
Syntax in A Dynamic Brain

Proponents of the language of thought (LOT) thesis are realists when it comes to syntactically structured representations, and must defend their view against instrumentalists, who would claim that syntactic structures may be useful in describing cognition, but have no more causal powers in governing cognition than do the equations of physics in guiding the planets. This paper explores what it will take to provide an argument for LOT that can defend its conclusion from instrumentalism. I illustrate a difficulty in this project by discussing arguments for LOT put forward by Horgan and Tienson. When their evidence is viewed in the light of results in connectionist research, it is hard to see how a realist conception of syntax can be formulated and defended.
Per capita caps in medicaid - Lessons from the past

Analysis of U.S. experience with a pre-Medicaid financing system suggests that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s proposal for per capita caps in Medicaid would result in restrictions on coverage and benefits rather than state innovations to reduce program costs.
Policy Failure and Policy Learning: Examining the Conditions of Learning after Disaster

The policy learning literature indicates that governments can and do learn after a policy failure but not always. The purpose of this study is to examine the conditions under which policy failure leads to policy learning. It asks two questions. First, is policy failure associated with policy learning? Second, if policy is associated with policy learning, does the failure initiate different types of learning? Using the policy failure and learning literatures as an organizing framework, this paper analyzes three comparative cases of policy failure revealed by tornados in Greensburg, Kansas (2007); Joplin, Missouri (2011); and Moore, Oklahoma (2013). It finds that failure of the policy process in agenda setting is associated with instrumental policy learning. It also finds that there are two types of failure of decision making: failure to make a timely decision and failure to make any decision. The two types of decision-making failure are associated with different types of policy learning. In addition, the contextual factors underpinning the link between policy failure and learning are prior experience with the policy problem and capacity to learn.