cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Public Health Nutrition workforce and its future challenges: the US experience.

Objectives: To describe the US public health nutrition workforce and its future social, biological and fiscal challenges. Design: Literature review primarily for the four workforce surveys conducted since 1985 by the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors. Setting: The United States. Subjects: Nutrition personnel working in governmental health agencies. The 1985 and 1987 subjects were personnel in full-time budgeted positions employed in governmental health agencies providing predominantly population-based services. In 1994 and 1999 subjects were both full-time and part-time, employed in or funded by governmental health agencies, and provided both direct-care and population-based services. Results: The workforce primarily focuses on direct-care services for pregnant and breast-feeding women, infants and children. The US Department of Agriculture funds 81?7% of full-time equivalent positions, primarily through the WIC Program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). Of those personnel working in WIC, 45% have at least 10 years of experience compared to over 65% of the non-WIC workforce. Continuing education needs of the WIC and non-WIC workforces differ. The workforce is increasingly more racially/ethnically diverse and with 18?2% speaking Spanish as a second language. Conclusions: The future workforce will need to focus on increasing its diversity and cultural competence, and likely will need to address retirement within leadership positions. Little is known about the workforce’s capacity to address the needs of the elderly, emergency preparedness and behavioural interventions. Fiscal challenges will require evidence-based practice demonstrating both costs and impact. Little is known about the broader public health nutrition workforce beyond governmental health agencies.
Changes in nurses' decision making during a 12-h day shift.

Background Although shift work is necessary in many health-care settings, research suggests that it can have detrimental effects on performance in health-care providers. Aims To determine if a change in decision-making occurred across a 12-h day shift in a sample of registered nurses. Methods The participants were nurses working a 12-h day shift (7 a.m.–7 p.m.) at a large hospital in the south-eastern USA. Participants completed a policy-capturing questionnaire, examining their likelihood of calling a physician in response to specific patient symptoms, at the beginning and end of the shift. They also completed self-report surveys on alertness, stress and sleepiness. Results Sixty-five nurses completed the study, an overall response rate of 41%. Participants significantly changed their decision-making policies from the beginning to the end of the work shift and also became significantly less alert and more stressed. However, there was no correlation between decision-making and reported alertness and stress. Conclusions These results suggest that medical judgment in registered nurses changed from the beginning to the end of a 12-h day shift. One possible underlying mechanism responsible for the changes seen across the shift could be the ability to maintain attention, as suggested by the Controlled Attention Model. The current results expand upon previous research, indicating there are a variety of negative outcomes associated with shift work.
Absent Husbands, Single Wives: Success, Domesticity, and Seminuclear Families in the Nineteenth-Century Great Lakes World:

The industrial and transportation revolutions of nineteenth-century America separated work from home (at least for the growing middle class) and intensified the development of masculine and feminine spheres devoted to success and domesticity, respectively. This development tended to reduce the husband's traditional patriarchal roles to that of provider only, while leaving the wife and mother with enhanced authority over household management and child rearing, a development with consequences for feminism. This article examines two extreme cases of separation of work from home: absent husbands, respected professional men, who left their wives alone for months or years and, while they provided financial support, surrendered all household authority to "single" wives.
Establishment of a successful donor embryo program : medical, ethical, and policy issues

Abstract Objective: To determine how couples prefer to dispose of their extra embryos and to establish a donor embryo program for the treatment of infertile couples. Design: Cohort study. Setting: University-based IVF program. Patient(s): Patients (n = 365) with cryopreserved embryos in storage for >2 years and eight patients who desired donated embryos for transfer. Intervention(s): An IVF ethics committee was formed to discuss the ethical and policy issues involved in starting an embryo donation program and to establish program guidelines. Couples with embryos cryopreserved for ≥2 years were contacted to determine their desires for disposition of embryos. Potential recipients of donated embryos were identified in our clinic, and donated embryos were transferred to these patients. Main Outcome Measure(s): Desires for embryo disposition and pregnancy rates. Result(s): Most couples elected either to continue storage of their embryos for future use (44%) or to discard their embryos (34%). A minority elected to donate their embryos either to infertile couples (11%) or for research (10%). Eight couples have had donated embryos transferred, and four have conceived ongoing pregnancies. Conclusion(s): Although only a small percentage of couples are willing to donate their embryos, the resulting number of embryos for use is substantial. Transfer of donated embryos results in a high pregnancy rate and is a cost-effective treatment of infertility.
Silent Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection: A Rare Occurrence in a High-Risk Heterosexual Population

A group of 58 heterosexual female partners (FP) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-seropositive hemophiliacs was studied by conventional diagnostic methods such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analysis to examine whether any had acquired HIV-1 infection through sexual transmission. A subset of 29 FP were asked to answer a detailed questionnaire concerning their health, use of “safer sex” techniques, and other risk factors for HIV-1 infection. They also had additional blood drawn for CD4 cell analysis, viral cultures, nef, gag, and env immunoblots, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to assess the occurrence of “silent” HIV-1 infection in a high-risk seronegative population. Among the 58 FP, three were found to be HIV-1-seropositive on first testing, with no new seroconversions occurring with subsequent testing in the remaining 55. Two seropositive FP had the additional testing and were found to have positive viral cultures, as well as positive PCR results. All of the seronegative FP (n = 24) who had additional testing were negative in viral culture, had negative immunoblots, and had no HIV-1 nucleic acid sequences detected by PCR. Thus, in this population, silent HIV-1 infection appears to be a rare occurrence and antibody testing seems to correlate with the more sensitive techniques of PCR and viral cultures.
Scheme for phase-locking a local oscillator in submillimetre-wave receiver

A technique for phase-locking a low-power fundamental local oscillator in a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junction submillimetre-wave receiver is described. The arrangement uses the low-noise SIS mixer itself to downconvert the local oscillator signal from a Josephson junction or quantum well oscillator. A high-frequency phase-locked reference tone is required but for a typical SIS receiver the tone power is less than 10 nW. Even at terahertz frequencies this could easily be generated using a simple multiplier. >
Impaired autophagy in mouse embryonic fibroblasts null for Krüppel-like Factor 4 promotes DNA damage and increases apoptosis upon serum starvation.

Autophagy is a major cellular process by which cytoplasmic components such as damaged organelles and misfolded proteins are recycled. Although low levels of autophagy occur in cells under basal conditions, certain cellular stresses including nutrient depletion, DNA damage, and oxidative stress are known to robustly induce autophagy. Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is a zinc-finger transcription factor activated during oxidative stress to maintain genomic stability. Both autophagy and KLF4 play important roles in response to stress and function in tumor suppression. To explore the role of KLF4 on autophagy in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), we compared wild-type with Klf4 deficient cells. To determine the levels of autophagy, we starved MEFs for different times with Earle’s balanced salts solution (EBSS). Rapamycin was used to manipulate mTOR activity and autophagy. The percentage of cells with γ-H2AX foci, a marker for DNA damage, and punctate pattern of GFP-LC3 were counted by confocal microscopy. The effects of the drug treatments, Klf4 overexpression, or Klf4 transient silencing on autophagy were analyzed using Western blot. Trypan Blue assay and flow cytometry were used to study cell viability and apoptosis, respectively. qPCR was also used to assay basal and the effects of Klf4 overexpression on Atg7 expression levels. Here our data suggested that Klf4 −/− MEFs exhibited impaired autophagy, which sensitized them to cell death under nutrient deprivation. Secondly, DNA damage in Klf4-null MEFs increased after treatment with EBSS and was correlated with increased apoptosis. Thirdly, we found that Klf4 −/− MEFs showed hyperactive mTOR activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that rapamycin reduced the increased level of mTOR in Klf4 −/− MEFs, but did not restore the level of autophagy. Finally, re-expression of Klf4 in Klf4 deficient MEFs resulted in increased levels of LC3II, a marker for autophagy, and Atg7 expression level when compared to GFP-control transfected Klf4 −/− MEFs. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that KLF4 plays a critical role in the regulation of autophagy and suppression of mTOR activity. In addition, we showed that rapamycin decreased the level of mTOR in Klf4 −/− MEFs, but did not restore autophagy. This suggests that KLF4 regulates autophagy through both mTOR-dependent and independent mechanisms. Furthermore, for the first time, our findings provide novel insights into the mechanism by which KLF4 perhaps prevents DNA damage and apoptosis through activation of autophagy.
Adaptive control of a colleague-like multi-robot system handling a common unknown object

The authors present a technique for controlling a multi-robot system handling an unknown object (payload). It is shown that, when several robots grasp a common object, the resultant coupled dynamic behaviour is irregular in that some well-known properties do not apply. This fact complicates the direct application of existing strategies derived for the control of a single robot. By using model transformation and decomposition, the combined model is regularized and a novel control scheme is proposed in which the payload's unknown dynamic effects are explicitly considered. The stability of the control strategy is addressed by the generalized energy integral method. It turns out that the control law not only produces the required control torque, but also provides certain internal forces and torques, an essential condition for preventing damage to the workpiece. >
AUV Observations of the Diurnal Surface Layer in the North Atlantic Salinity Maximum

AbstractAutonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) surveys of temperature, salinity, and velocity in the upper 10 m of the ocean were carried out in low-wind conditions near the North Atlantic surface salinity maximum as part of the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS) project. Starting from a well-mixed state, the development, deepening, and decay of a warm salty diurnal surface layer was observed at <1-h resolution. The evaporation rate deduced from the freshwater anomaly of the layer corroborates measurements at a nearby flux mooring. Profiles within a few hundred meters of the stationary research vessel showed evidence of mixing, highlighting the effectiveness of AUVs for collecting uncontaminated time series of near-surface thermohaline structure. A two-dimensional horizontal subsurface survey within the diurnal warm layer revealed coherent warm and cool bands, which are interpreted as internal waves on the diurnal thermocline.
The effect of hybridization of Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes on transmission of West Nile virus

Background Culex pipiens L. complex mosquitoes have a global distribution and are primary vectors of pathogens of public health significance. In the U.S., Cx. pipiens bioformes, Cx. pipiens form pipiens and Cx. pipiens form molestus, as well as Cx. quinquefasciatus, are primary vectors of West Nile virus (WNV; Flaviviridae, Flavivirus). These mosquitoes reside in distinct but overlapping ecological niches and readily hybridize in areas where they coexist. Although species and population-specific differences in vector competence of Culex mosquitoes for WNV have been identified, the extent to which hybridization within this complex alters WNV transmission potential has not been well characterized.
Similarity of Scalar Fields in the Convective Boundary Layer

Abstract The paper investigates similarity of scalar fields in a horizontally homogeneous, cloud-free, shearless, convective mixed layer. The concept of the “bottom-up” and “top-down” decomposition is verified for both passive and active scalars, based on a number of large eddy simulations. The bottom-up diffusion is not confirmed to be countergradient. The top-down scaling, based on the values of entrainment fluxes, is found to be inefficient. Alternative sets of scales are proposed and validated for mean values of scalars. For the bottom-up process, the“free-convective” scaling is applied. For the top-down processes, new scales are based on the maximum values of scalar gradients in the interfacial layer. The bottom-up and top-down similarity functions for passive and active scalars are found equal.
The Power of Community: How Foster Parents, Teachers, and Community Members Support Academic Achievement for Foster Youth

ABSTRACTFoster children have been identified as one of the most high-risk groups for academic failure in schools today. However, a small number of foster youth are beating the odds by achieving academically. How are they able to overcome tremendous barriers and succeed? This phenomenological study reports the findings of former foster youth and their P-12 education experience. In-depth interviews are shared, offering a rare glimpse into the challenging lives of foster youth and revealing the supports that contributed to their success. The significance of each support entity identified by the participants must be broadly shared. The support entities are family, school, community, and self-reliance. The insights of the foster youth show how family, teachers, and community can work together to support the academic achievement of foster youth.
Sch-28080 depletes intracellular ATP selectively in mIMCD-3 cells

Two H+-K+-ATPase isoforms are present in kidney: the gastric, highly sensitive to Sch-28080, and the colonic, partially sensitive to ouabain. Upregulation of Sch-28080-sensitive H+-K+-ATPase, or “g...
Duration of the preclinical phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia: a case report

The molecular events that allow for clonal expansion of the malignant population in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) are poorly understood. Recent experiments in transgenic mice suggest a close temporal relationship between expression of the aberrant protein and manifestation of a hematologic neoplasm that resembles CML; tracing the same phenomenon in humans has not been possible. We studied a patient who underwent autologous bone marrow harvest after completion of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for advanced stage Hodgkin9s disease. At the time of harvest his peripheral blood counts and bone marrow were morphologically normal. Sixteen months later he developed the clinical manifestations of CML. Detailed molecular evaluation of the harvested marrow showed that a small number of cells contained the Philadelphia chromosome. The time interval required for expansion of the malignant clone, as suggested by this particular patient, was at least 16 months although it is recognized that this figure may be variable.
Finding its Niche: Community Development Venture Capital

Underserved urban and rural areas have found venture capital support via U.S. Community Development Venture Capital institutions, which numbered 68 and managed $870 million as of 2008. Suitable for MBA, undergraduate, and executive learners studying venture capital, urban development, and private equity, this stand-alone backgrounder is also an excellent companion to cases about specific venture capital organizations. CDVCs face challenges unique in the field of private equity, including where they operate and how much lower their rates of return and compensation are.
Worker Selection for Reliably Crowdsourcing Location-Dependent Tasks

Obtaining accurate information about specific locations is of great importance to today’s many crowdsourced smartphone applications. To verify information about a location, smartphone users are selected to go to the location and answer a yes/no question about the location. Our research focuses on the location-aware worker selection problem, which is the problem of selecting a group of workers who, together, can give the most accurate answer to the location-based question. We define the location-aware worker selection problem, mathematically formulate it, and then show that an optimal solution is exponential in time complexity. We present our heuristic solutions that take into account both the reliability of the users and the level of convenience for each user to complete the task. We evaluate and compare our approaches to three other heuristic algorithms via simulation.
Carbofuran Persistence in Cornfield Soils

Field and laboratory studies showed that soil moisture is a very important factor in carbofuran persistence when this insecticide is used for control of larva] corn rootworms. Carbofuran rapidly disappeared from the surface soil layer of two cornfields after the first large rainfall; this disappearance occurred within 2 and 10 weeks after application, respectively. No carbofuran was detected below the 7.5-cm soil layer 22 weeks after application. In the laboratory, carbofuran applied as Furadan 10G to high-moisture soils also disappeared rapidly, suggesting degradation rather than leaching to lower soil layers. Carbofuran disappearance was slightly slower in one of four soils tested, and all the soils showed a 5- to 7-day lag time that strongly indicated microbial degradation. The rate of carbofuran (as Furadan 10G) disappearance in laboratory experiments increased with higher soil moisture levels. A laboratory study showed that carbofuran does leach through soil, but carbofuran from the formulated product was less susceptible to leaching than the technical material.
Induction of autoantibodies by human immunodeficiency virus infection and their significance.

SUMMARY Although many of the changes in HIV and AIDS appear to be global, on closer investigation the defects are specific and can be explained by recognized mechanisms. Despite a demonstrated concurrent polyclonal B-cell activation, studies fail to show any evidence to date of significant dysregulation of the immune system leading to serologic or clinical autoimmunity.
320 ERROR AND ADVERSE EVENTS REPORTING: AN ANALYSIS OF 266,224 REPORTS COMPARING PHYSICIAN AND NURSE TRENDS.

Objective To improve of the delivery, effectiveness, and safety of the health care system, clinicians must report adverse events. Improved reporting requires an understanding of current reporting practices concerning medical errors, near misses, and adverse events. This study compared the reporting practices of physicians and nurses. Design Descriptive study of reported events using a secure, standardized, Web-based reporting system. SETTING 29 acute care nonfederal U.S. hospitals and one long term care facility that implemented an electronic error reporting system, available to all employees, between August 2000 and December 2005. Methods Events were classified by impact level on the patient using a standard classification scheme. Both ANOVA and chi-square testing were performed to analyze the significance. Results 266,224 events were reported over 7.3 million inpatient-days or 1 event per 27.5 days. Physicians reported 1.1%, nurses 45.3%, and other hospital employees 53.6% of total events. There was no significant difference between academic and nonacademic settings. In academic hospitals, physicians-in-training had a lower reporting rate than did attending physicians (p Conclusions Physicians report fewer and a narrower spectrum of events than nurses; physician reporting rates increase as the impact of the event on the patient increases but decrease for fatal events; nurse rates remain stable across impact levels. Differences exist between how nurses and physicians report events, and it is necessary to understand the underlying reasons behind these variations.
Chromatin Structure, Histone Modifications and the Cell Cycle

Credit for the recent major advances in our understanding of chromatin structure must be attributed largely to the finding by Hewish and Burgoyne (1) that Ca++ activated endogenous nucleases preferentially cleaved the DNA in rat liver chromatin at sites separated by about 200 base pairs (bp)(2). This led to their proposal that chromatin was a simple repeating subunit structure. It also led to the research industry that has built up on the uses of different nucleases as biochemical probes of chromatin structure and on the additional use of staphylococcal(s.) nuclease in biochemical procedures for the preparation of large amounts of the chromatin subunit, the nucleosome, oligomers of nucleosomes and large pieces of chromatin.
Cost-effectiveness of pharmacist-provided treatment of adult pharyngitis.

BACKGROUND There are over 12 million ambulatory care visits for acute pharyngitis annually in the United States. Current guidelines recommend diagnosis through culture or rapid antigen detection test (RADT) and relatively straightforward treatment. Community pharmacists may provide cost-effective care for disease states such as group A streptococcus (GAS) pharyngitis. OBJECTIVES The objective of this research is to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a community pharmacist-as-provider program for the diagnosis and treatment of pharyngitis caused by GAS as compared with standard of care. METHODS A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted to compare treatment for adult pharyngitis patients. In addition to 5 physician-provided treatment strategies, the episodic costs and benefits of treatment provided by pharmacists using RADT and walk-in clinics using RADT were also considered. Model parameters were derived through a comprehensive review of literature and from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services physician fee schedule. Utilities were expressed in quality-adjusted life-days (QALDs) to account for the relatively short duration of most cases of pharyngitis. RESULTS Using a cost-effectiveness threshold of $137 per QALD, GAS treatment provided by a pharmacist was the most cost-effective treatment. Pharmacist treatment dominated all of the other methods except physician culture and physician RADT with follow-up culture. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for physician culture was $6042 per QALD gained and $40,745 for physician RADT with follow-up culture. CONCLUSIONS This model suggests that pharmacists may be able to provide a cost-effective alternative for the treatment of pharyngitis caused by GAS in adult patients.
Exploring the correlations between emerging adulthood, Dark Triad traits, and aggressive behavior

Abstract In the current study, we test the precursors to the Dark Triad traits, as well as the role that the Dark Triad traits have on predicting aggression. Participants (N = 599, age range = 18–83 years) completed measures of the Dark Triad traits, emerging adulthood facets, and reactive and proactive aggression. In support of our theoretical model, (a) participant's age was related to all emerging adulthood facets except other and self-focused, (b) aggression was predicted by all the Dark Triad traits, and (c) several emerging adult facets predicted various Dark Triad traits. These findings were further substantiated by mediation tests that confirmed our theoretically derived adult developmental pathways from participant age to aggression. Specifically, results showed that feeling in-between, negativity, and identity exploration were the key emerging adult variables that served as mediators from age to aggressive behavior by predicting at least one Dark Triad trait(s). Overall, the Dark Triad traits are an important precursor to aggressive behavior, but also likely develop as a function of adult developmentally relevant predictors.
Analogical reconstruction of the probability knowledge of Zimbabwean female secondary school students

Abstract Analogies were used to facilitate reconstructing the probability knowledge of 54 culturally diverse, female, Zimbabwean secondary school students in cases where there were misconceptions in their comprehension of probability. Ten contextually appropriate misconception‐prone target situations were generated, together with their conceptually analogous counterparts, known as source or anchoring situations. The source analogues were designed to draw out those areas where student beliefs agreed with accepted mathematical theory. Students’ responses to the target situations indicated that probability misconceptions were common and that the source analogues were effective in providing anchors for mathematically correct ideas. The participants were interviewed and knowledge reconstruction was attempted using the source analogues. A success rate of 0.88 was achieved. Testing after one month indicated a stability rate of 0.82 for the reconstructed probability knowledge.
The Impact of Precision Medicine in Diabetes: A Multidimensional Perspective

In his State of the Union address on 20 January 2015, President Barack Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative. Although the concept of “precision medicine” has been present for nearly a decade, many interpretations of precision medicine exist. At its core, precision medicine is a model that proposes the custom delivery of health care, with medical practices, testing, decisions, and treatments tailored to the individual patient level (1). Diagnostic tests and therapies are selected on the basis of not only the specific ‘omics signature (e.g., genomics, transcriptomics, methylomics, proteomics, methylomics) but also the specific risk factor profile and health history obtained from the electronic health record. In March 2015, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Collins established a working group to develop a plan for creating and managing a collection of 1 million volunteers to comprise a precision medicine research cohort. On 17 September 2015, Dr. Collins accepted the framework that would establish the Precision Medicine Initiative, which includes providing the support to build the infrastructure for recruitment of the cohort, collection of the health data, banking of specimens, and launching research. This initial effort for precision medicine represents a major commitment of funds from the NIH. In this regard, President Obama allocated $215 million in fiscal year 2016 to support the initiative, and $130 million alone was targeted for the research participant cohort. Clearly, the Precision Medicine Initiative ushers in a paradigm change in the way we approach patient care. Specifically, it launches a new era of research, technology, and policy in this area, one in which the participant, the health care practitioner, and research merge into an individual-level relationship focused on the maintenance of health and the prevention and treatment of common human diseases. But, given that the editorial team at Diabetes Care desires to provide the most …
Low cost embedded weather station with intelligent system

This paper presents an embedded design of a low cost weather station. Three weather parameters; wind speed, wind directions and temperature are measured. The measured parameters are used to measure the wind chill temperature and dressing index through calculation and a build-in intelligent system. Only basic types sensors were used (a reflective optical sensor, potentiometer and a temperature sensor) so that the cost of this design is reduced. A small scale neural network was planted into the microcontroller for the post-processing. Taking the three measured data as inputs, the system gave out the dressing index as an output. All of the data were displayed on the LCD and also sent to computer from the serial port.
Proactive Approach to Engineering and Design Deliverables Quality Enhancement

AbstractThis paper presents research findings by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) Research Team (RT) 320, Definition and Measurement of Engineering/Design Deliverable Quality, to manage th...
A Whole-Transcriptome Approach to Evaluating Reference Genes for Quantitative Gene Expression Studies: A Case Study in Mimulus.

While quantitative PCR (qPCR) is widely recognized as being among the most accurate methods for quantifying gene expression, it is highly dependent on the use of reliable, stably expressed reference genes. With the increased availability of high-throughput methods for measuring gene expression, whole-transcriptome approaches may be increasingly utilized for reference gene selection and validation. In this study, RNA-seq was used to identify a set of novel qPCR reference genes and evaluate a panel of traditional “housekeeping” reference genes in two species of the evolutionary model plant genus Mimulus. More broadly, the methods proposed in this study can be used to harness the power of transcriptomes to identify appropriate reference genes for qPCR in any study organism, including emerging and nonmodel systems. We find that RNA-seq accurately estimates gene expression means in comparison to qPCR, and that expression means are robust to moderate environmental and genetic variation. However, measures of expression variability were only in agreement with qPCR for samples obtained from a shared environment. This result, along with transcriptome-wide comparisons, suggests that environmental changes have greater impacts on expression variability than on expression means. We discuss how this issue can be addressed through experimental design, and suggest that the ever-expanding pool of published transcriptomes represents a rich and low-cost resource for developing better reference genes for qPCR.
The Summertime Great Plains Low Level Jet And The Effect of Its Origin On Moisture Transport

Radiosonde data from six stations in Kansas and Oklahoma for the period of June 16–24, 1993 indicate that a low-level jet (LLJ) occurred almost every day except on the 20th. Major characteristics of these LLJs are documented in this paper. The maximum wind speed (the jet speed) varied from 13 to 32 m s-1 and heights ranged from 167 to 910 m. All the jets were southerly except the one on June 19 which changed its direction dramatically from a southerly to a northerly direction in about three hours although its intensity did not change appreciably. Thermal stability of the boundary layer during these LLJ occurrences ranged from near-neutral to highly stable. All the low-level jets exhibited significant diurnal variations. Analyses show that relatively weak large-scale forcing existed for the LLJs on June 21 and June 22, while strong forcing was present on other days. Analyses also show that moisture transport by the LLJ from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Plains depends on the location of the LLJ origin. In the two weeks of June 13–19 and 20–26, 1993, powerful storms swept through the central United States, accompanied by tornadoes, strong wind, large hail and heavy rainfall. The analyses indicate that these weather events could be a result of the interactions of the LLJs with synoptic-scale flow.
Going beyond linear dependencies to unveil connectivity of meshed grids

Partial correlations (PCs) are well suited for revealing linearly dependent (un)mediated connections in a graph when measurements (e.g., time courses) are available per node. Unfortunately, PC-based approaches to identifying the topology of a graph are less effective if nonlinear dependencies between given nodal measurements are present. To bypass this hurdle, nonlinear PCs relying on the l 2 -norm regularized multi-kernel ridge regression (MKRR) have been recently proposed for brain network connectivity analysis. However, l 2 -norm regularization limits the flexibility in combining kernels, which can compromise performance. For this reason, the present paper broadens the nonlinear PC approach to account for general l p -norm regularized MKRR, in which the user-selected parameter p ≥ 1 is attuned to the problem at hand. Aiming at a scalable algorithm, the Frank-Wolfe iterations are invoked to solve the l p -norm based MKRR, which not only features simple closed-form updates, but it is also fast convergent. The end result is a novel scheme that leverages nonlinear dependencies captured by the generalized PC model to identify the topology of not only radial but also meshed autonomous energy grids. Improved performance is achieved at affordable computational complexity relative to existing alternatives. Simulated tests showcase the merits of the proposed schemes.
Cycle Sequencing of Filamentous Phage DNA Using a Biotinylated Primer and ΔTaq DNA Polymerase

We describe a rapid nonradioactive, double-stranded phage DNA sequencing method using ΔTaq DNA polymerase in cycle reaction for phage peptide-display library screening. This procedure is specific, rapid, sensitive and safe for the sequencing of large numbers of phage peptide-display colonies. In addition, thermal cycle sequencing with this chemiluminescent image detection protocol provides an inexpensive method for completing a large amount of sequencing reactions. Consequently, this method is especially useful for those extensively working on peptide mimics using phage display libraries.
Research on Data Mining in Remote Learning System of Party History Information

After analyzing the insufficiency which existed in current most of long-distance education Websites, this paper introduces Data Mining technology, which is widely used in the field of the electronic commerce and so on, into the remote learning system of party history information. A kind of system model based on agent is proposed, and how to construct a multi-dimensional data cube to evaluate the studies of students is introduced, which can be realized by OLAP Analysis Service tools provided by Microsoft SQL Server.
Chapter 4 Primary hyperalgesia and nociceptor sensitization.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes hyperalgesia as the enhanced pain sensitivity that often occurs after injury, inflammation or certain diseases. It is characterized by a leftward shift of the stimulus–response function that relates magnitude of pain to stimulus intensity. Hyperalgesia is a common complaint when tissue is injured and/or inflamed. It also reviews nociceptor sensitization as the neurophysiological correlate of hyperalgesia. Nociceptor sensitization is characterized by a lowered threshold for activation, an enhanced response to suprathreshold stimuli, and spontaneous discharge. The chapter focuses on the features of primary hyperalgesia and sensitization of primary afferent nociceptors. After a cutaneous injury, hyperalgesia can be found in the area of injury called “primary hyperalgesia” and also in a large, uninjured area surrounding the injury site called “secondary hyperalgesia.” Primary hyperalgesia is characterized by enhanced pain to both heat and mechanical stimuli and is thought to be because of sensitization of primary afferent nociceptors. Secondary hyperalgesia is characterized by enhanced pain to mechanical, but not heat, stimuli and is thought to be because of sensitization in the central nervous system.
Personalentwicklung in Dienstleistungsunternehmen: Vom Knowledge Management zum Learning Management

Personalentwicklung sollte in einem wissensintensiven Umfeld noch mehr Gewicht auf die Steuerung des internen Kompetenzpotentials legen. Gefragt in der Praxis ist vor allem Effektivitat im Einsatz der Mittel und in der professionellen Prozessbegleitung. Wissensverwaltung und „informatisches“ Kompetenzenmanagement haben eine unterstutzende Funktion bei dieser Aufgabe, doch die schnellen Veranderungen in Gesellschaft und Okonomie erfordern vor allem ein strategisch orientiertes Management des Lernprozesses.Personnel development must strive to empower people’s competencies as knowledge becomes even more of a competitive advantage. In practice effectiveness of means and processes is important; therefore administration of knowledge alone doesn’t fit the needs of most service-oriented companies. Learning management as strategic monitoring and moderation of the internal learning process provides the organisation with the skills required for customer satisfaction and innovation at the right time.
Visionary memories : William Huggins and the origins of astrophysics

L'Astronome William Huggins est a l'origine de l'astrophysique au XIX e siecle permettant ainsi d'analyser les proprietes chimiques et physiques des corps celestes
Sensors based on quantum hyper-entanglement: efficiency and performance in the presence of other photon sources

An atmospheric imaging system based on quantum hyper-entanglement has been developed. Hyper-entanglement refers to entanglement in more than one degree of freedom, e.g. polarization, energy-time and orbital angular momentum (OAM). The system functions at optical or infrared frequencies. Only the signal photon propagates in the atmosphere, the ancilla photon is retained within the detector. This results in loss being essentially classical, giving rise to stronger forms of entanglement. Bell state generation and Bell state measurement, i.e. the ability to distinguish the various Bell states is discussed. A mathematical representation of Bell state generation and the Bell state analyzer, including a projection operator describing the measurement process is provided. Signatures for unique detection of the various Bell states are developed. A method and design for creating states hyper-entangled in polarization, energy-time, OAM and the radial quantum number is examined. Hermite-Gaussian (HG) modes, Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes, OAM dependence of the LG modes and a method of mode conversion are discussed. A projection operator that represents the combined measurements between the different degrees of freedom is provided. A model of generation and detection efficiencies for the different degrees of freedom and the implications for signal to noise ratio (SNR), signal to interference ratio (SIR), the quantum Cramer-Rao lower bound, and the measurement time are provided in closed form. A formula describing how hyper-entanglement greatly improves the maximum detection range of the system is derived. The formalism permits random noise and entangled or non-entangled sources of interference to be modeled.
Scaling the Poisson GLM to massive neural datasets through polynomial approximations

Recent advances in recording technologies have allowed neuroscientists to record simultaneous spiking activity from hundreds to thousands of neurons in multiple brain regions. Such large-scale recordings pose a major challenge to existing statistical methods for neural data analysis. Here we develop highly scalable approximate inference methods for Poisson generalized linear models (GLMs) that require only a single pass over the data. Our approach relies on a recently proposed method for obtaining approximate sufficient statistics for GLMs using polynomial approximations [Huggins et al., 2017], which we adapt to the Poisson GLM setting. We focus on inference using quadratic approximations to nonlinear terms in the Poisson GLM log-likelihood with Gaussian priors, for which we derive closed-form solutions to the approximate maximum likelihood and MAP estimates, posterior distribution, and marginal likelihood. We introduce an adaptive procedure to select the polynomial approximation interval and show that the resulting method allows for efficient and accurate inference and regularization of high-dimensional parameters. We use the quadratic estimator to fit a fully-coupled Poisson GLM to spike train data recorded from 831 neurons across five regions of the mouse brain for a duration of 41 minutes, binned at 1 ms resolution. Across all neurons, this model is fit to over 2 billion spike count bins and identifies fine-timescale statistical dependencies between neurons within and across cortical and subcortical areas.
Industry Involvement in Otolaryngology: Updates from the 2017 Open Payments Database.

ObjectiveTo characterize drug and device industry payments to otolaryngologists in 2017 and compare them with payments from 2014 to 2016.Study DesignRetrospective cross-sectional analysis.Setting20...
Evidence for C II Diffuse Line Emission at Redshift z∼2.6

C II is one of the brightest emission lines from star-forming galaxies and is an excellent tracer for star formation. Recent work measured the C II emission line amplitude for redshifts 2 < z < 3.2 by cross-correlating Planck High Frequency Instrument emission maps with tracers of overdensity from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Sky Survey, finding I(CII)=6.6(sup +5.0, sub −4.8×10(exp 4) Jy/sr at 95per cent confidence level. In this paper, we present a refinement of this earlier work by improving the mask weighting in each of the Planck bands and the precision in the covariance matrix. We report a detection of excess emission in the 545 GHz Planck band separate from the cosmic infrared background (CIB) present in the 353–857 GHz Planck bands. This excess is consistent with redshifted C II emission, in which case we report b(CII)I(CII)=2.0(sup +1.2, sub −1.1×10(exp 5) Jy/sr at 95 per cent confidence level, which strongly favours many collisional excitation models of C II emission. Our detection shows strong evidence for a model with a non-zero C II parameter, though line intensity mapping observations at high spectral resolution will be needed to confirm this result.
Influence of Prediabetes on the Effects of Intensive Systolic Blood Pressure Control on Kidney Events.

BACKGROUND More than one-third of US adults have prediabetes, which is typically accompanied by hypertension. METHODS We examined whether prediabetes modified the effects of intensive systolic blood pressure (SBP) lowering on the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI) events in a post-hoc analysis of the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). Diabetes was a SPRINT exclusion criterion. We defined normoglycemia and prediabetes as fasting plasma glucose <100 mg/dl and ≥100 mg/dl, respectively. RESULTS Of the 9,323 participants included in this analysis, 3,898 (41.8%) had prediabetes and the rest (5,425) had normoglycemia. In participants with baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2, incident CKD was defined as a ≥30% decline in eGFR to below 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 with repeat confirmation. AKI events were identified clinically. In the non-CKD participants (n = 6,678), there were 164 incident CKD events. The hazard ratios (HRs) for incident CKD for intensive SBP goal (<120 mm Hg) vs. standard SBP goal (<140 mm Hg) in the normoglycemia (HR: 3.25, 95% CI: 2.03, 5.19) and prediabetes (HR: 3.90, 95% CI: 2.17, 7.02) groups were similar (interaction P value 0.64). In the entire analytic cohort (N = 9,323), there were 310 AKI events. AKI HRs for intensive vs. standard SBP in the normoglycemia (HR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.17, 2.15) and prediabetes (HR: 1.74, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.48) groups were also similar (interaction P value 0.71). CONCLUSIONS Prediabetes was highly prevalent, but there was no evidence that prediabetes modified the effects of SPRINT intervention on kidney events.CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATIONNCT01206062.
Identifying Configurational Abnormalities in Alzheimer’S Disease Progression Using Multi-View Structure Connectome

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and while scientists know that AD involves progressive neuronal cell loss, the reason why this occurs is still not known. As AD exerts a systems-level impact on the brain, therefore the brain structural connectome, derived from whole-brain tractography using diffusion-weighted MRI, has the potential to study the systems-level changes associated with the AD progression. Traditionally, structural connectome is reconstructed based on one single tractography algorithm and commonly involves the comparison of summary graph-theoretical metrics, which could be biased and also discard important informative graph structure. In this paper, we proposed to study the AD effect on brain structural connectome using a multi-view approach. Our results supported multi-view structural connectomics improved power in detecting early changes associated with AD disease progression.
Species-diagnostic SNP markers for the black basses (Micropterus spp.): a new tool for black bass conservation and management

Black basses (genus Micropterus) are apex predators in North American streams, rivers, and lakes and important game fishes. Translocation and introductions for angling, accompanied by intrinsically weak genetic barriers, have led to widespread introgressive hybridization and genetic swamping. Species-diagnostic (fixed allele) SNP markers have been utilized successfully in salmonids to monitor hybridization and genetic integrity. Here, we developed similar resources for black basses through initial genotyping-by-sequencing, followed by validation in additional samples using two panels of 64 SNPs. Results from > 1300 genotyped bass indicated that the developed panels robustly and clearly delineate fifteen species and their hybrids among black basses. The panels represent a flexible, rapid turnaround (~ 1 day), and cost-effective tool that should augment ongoing efforts toward black bass conservation and management.
Finite Time Stable Attitude and Angular Velocity Bias Estimation for Rigid Bodies With Unknown Dynamics

This paper presents a nonlinear finite-time stable attitude estimation scheme for a rigid body with unknown dynamics. Attitude is estimated from a minimum of two linearly independent known vectors measured in the body-fixed frame, and the angular velocity vector is assumed to have a constant bias in addition to measurement errors. Estimated attitude evolves directly on the special Euclidean group SO(3), avoiding any ambiguities. The constant bias in angular velocity measurements is also estimated. The estimation scheme is proven to be almost globally finite time stable in the absence of measurement errors using a Lyapunov analysis. For digital implementation, the estimation scheme is discretized as a geometric integrator. Numerical simulations demonstrate the robustness and convergence capabilities of the estimation scheme.