cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessment of vascular function in low socioeconomic status preschool children: a pilot study.

Abstract Elevated brachial blood pressure (BP) in childhood tracks into adulthood. Central BP and measures of arterial stiffness, such as aortic augmentation index (AIx) and pulse wave velocity (PWV), have been associated with future cardiovascular disease. This pilot study assessed the feasibility of noninvasively measuring these parameters in preschool children and explored factors that may be associated with elevated BP in this age group. Brachial BP was measured using an electronic oscillometric unit (Dinamap PRO 100) and defined as elevated when systolic BP (SBP) and/or diastolic BP (DBP) was ≥ the 90th percentile for age, gender, and height. Central BP, AIx, and PWV were measured using applanation tonometry (SphygmoCor). C-reactive protein (CRP) was measured in serum samples. Sixteen African-American preschool children were recruited (4.4 ± 0.8 years, 69% males), 6 (38%) of whom had an elevated brachial BP (110 ± 10/69 ± 4 vs. 96 ± 8/55 ± 6 mm Hg, Cohen's d = 2.2). Children with elevated brachial BP had higher central SBP (d = 1.6) and DBP (d = 1.96) (97 ± 6/68 ± 4 vs. 85 ± 8/57 ± 6 mm Hg), AIx (d = 0.88) (31 ± 8 vs. 18 ± 16%, standardized to heart rate), and CRP (3.1 [2.3–6.3] vs. 0.1 [0.1–0.3] mg/dL, d = 2). There was no significant difference in PWV between groups (d = 0.26). CRP and SBP (Spearman r = 0.70), DBP (r = 0.68), central SBP (r = 0.58), and central DBP (r = 0.71) were positively correlated. Wide confidence intervals for the estimated effect sizes indicated a large degree of uncertainty about all estimates due to the small sample size. Noninvasive assessment of central BP and arterial stiffness is feasible in preschool children. Vascular inflammation may be an important factor that influences BP at an early age. Further studies in preschool children are needed to elucidate mechanisms of early onset hypertension.
Dendritic Cell Immune Responses in HIV-1 Controllers.

Purpose of Review Robust HIV-1-specific CD8 T cell responses are currently regarded as the main correlate of immune defense in rare individuals who achieve natural, drug-free control of HIV-1; however, the mechanisms that support evolution of such powerful immune responses are not well understood. Dendritic cells (DCs) are specialized innate immune cells critical for immune recognition, immune regulation, and immune induction, but their possible contribution to HIV-1 immune defense in controllers remains ill-defined.
Learning Process Behavioral Baselines for Anomaly Detection

Intrusion resilience is a protection strategy aimed at building systems that can continue to provide service during attacks. One approach to intrusion resilience is to continuously monitor a system's state and change its configuration to maintain service even while attacks are occurring. Intrusion detection, through both anomaly detection (for unknown attacks) and signature detection (for known attacks) is thus a crucial part of that resilience strategy. In this paper, we introduce KOBRA, an online anomaly detection engine that learns behavioral baselines for applications. KOBRA is implemented as a set of cooperative kernel modules that collects time-stamped process events. The process events are converted to a discrete-time signal in the polar space. We learn local patterns that occur in the data and then learn the normal co-occurrence relationships between the patterns. The patterns and the co-occurrence relations model the normal behavioral baseline of an application. We compute an anomaly score for tested traces and compare it against a threshold for anomaly detection. We evaluate the baseline by experimenting with its ability to discriminate between different processes and detect malicious behavior.
Concordance between self-reported STI history and biomedical results among men who have sex with men in Los Angeles, California.

Objectives HIV studies and risk assessments among men who have sex with men (MSM) frequently use self-reported STI history as a proxy for true STI history. The objective of our study was to assess the validity of self-reported STI history through comparison with laboratory-confirmed biomedical results. Methods Data were analysed for MSM attending the Los Angeles LGBT Center (the Center) from August 2011 to July 2015. We identified 10 529 unique MSM who received testing for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and/or syphilis and had a later visit in which they self-reported their STI history to a clinic counsellor during a risk assessment. Results MSM who had an STI in the past year self-reported their STI history with 51%–56% accuracy, and MSM who had an STI more than a year ago self-reported their STI history with 65%–72% accuracy. Among MSM with any positive STIs at the Center, black/African-American and Hispanic MSM were more likely to inaccurately self-report their positive results for gonorrhoea (adjusted OR (aOR): 1.48, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.01; aOR: 1.39, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.70). Additionally, HIV-positive MSM were more likely to inaccurately self-report their positive results for gonorrhoea (aOR: 1.63, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.18) and/or syphilis (aOR: 2.19, 95% CI 1.08 to 4.47). Conclusions This is the first study that attempts to evaluate the validity of self-reported STI history among MSM. We found that self-reported STI history may not be an appropriate proxy for true STI history in certain settings and minority populations. Clinical guidelines and research studies that rely on self-reported STI history will need to modify their recommendations in light of the limited validity of these data.
Sea-level change and superstorms; geologic evidence from the last interglacial (MIS 5e) in the Bahamas and Bermuda offers ominous prospects for a warming Earth

Abstract Geological observations from last interglacial (LIG; MIS 5e, Eemian) carbonate landscapes in the Bahamas and Bermuda reveal a turbulent climate transition at the close of the peak interglacial. The interval is associated with rapid, multi-meter shifts in sea level as major ice sheets melted and/or collapsed. Sedimentary evidence from the eastern Bahamas includes wave-transported megaboulders, lowland chevron storm ridges, and hillside runup deposits. This “trilogy” collectively provides direct geological evidence of frequent, intense storms generating sustained long-period waves from the northeast Atlantic Ocean. Penecontemporaneous with wave deposits is the subtidal production and flux of a massive volume of ooid sediments associated with amplified winds and storminess during the latter half of MIS 5e that resulted in exponential island growth. Steeper temperature and pressure gradients were evident in the North Atlantic Ocean, while the Southern Ocean appears to have had a major role in affecting atmospheric CO2, as warming of the Southern Ocean drives ventilation of the deep ocean. CO2 in turn, acts as a tight control knob on global climate. The dramatic oceanographic and island building events of late MIS 5e are unique among other interglacial periods of the past half million years. The LIG record reveals that strong climate forcing is not required to yield major impacts on the ocean and ice caps. Antarctic ice cores document that LIG atmospheric CO2 was ~ 275 ppm, while global temperature was In terms of Lyellian uniformitarian principles, the trilogy of coeval deposits of MIS 5e described herein do not translate to our modern climate parameters, and further cannot be explained by coincidental megatsunami. In our industrial world, rapidly increasing atmospheric CO2 rates (> 2 ppm/yr) have surpassed 408 ppm, levels not achieved since the Pliocene 3 Ma ago, while global temperature increased ~ 1 °C since the 1870s. With greatly increased CO2 forcing at unmatched rates, except perhaps during global extinction events, dramatic change is certain. In the interest of our future world, we must seek to understand the complex set of linked natural events and field observations that are revealed in the geology of past warmer climates.
Variation in early cognitive development by maternal immigrant documentation status

Abstract Children of Latino immigrants − including children of undocumented Latino immigrants − are among the fastest-growing demographic subgroups in the U.S. Although they possess great strengths and diversity, studies have identified gaps in early reading and math scores between preschool-age children of Latino immigrants and their peers. Little is known about how these early cognitive gaps and suspected predictors vary by maternal immigrant documentation status. The current study explores these unanswered questions using 2001 survey data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhoods Study. We test for differences in 3–5 year old children’s reading and math scores according to maternal immigrant documentation status (undocumented Latina; documented Latina; citizen Latina; non-Latina citizen White). We also examine whether associations between an extensive set of family, child, and neighborhood covariates and the reading and math scores of these children vary by maternal immigrant documentation status. Consistent with prior research, findings show a gap in reading and math scores between Latino children regardless of documentation status, and the children of non-Latina White mothers. Yet our findings reveal nuance not detected in prior studies. Specifically, children of undocumented Latina mothers face greater socioeconomic hardships and have the lowest cognitive scores. Results suggest increasing cognitive stimulation in the home and participation in formal non-parental care may help close early learning gaps between Latino children with different documentation statuses and their peers with non-Latino citizen parents.
On the exact distribution of Wald’s SPRT for the negative exponential model

ABSTRACTIn this article, we derive the joint Laplace transform of the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) and the resulting stopped random walk process for the negative exponential model. The Laplace transform is derived by solving a related difference equation. This technique is novel because it only takes advantage of the Markov structure and does not rely on the typical martingale methods used for deriving the Laplace transform of other SPRTs. The joint Laplace transform provides the joint distribution of the SPRT and the associated stopped process, which is a new result. Even the marginal distributions were hitherto unknown.
An algorithm with applications in ranked-set sampling

A mixture of order statistics is a random variable whose distribution is a finite mixture of the distributions for order statistics. Such mixtures show up in the literature on ranked-set sampling a...
So Much More Than a Job: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Healthcare Work

This paper explores the utility of psychoanalysis for understanding the underlying meaning of healthcare work. At times deeply fulfilling, while at other times demanding and thankless, the provision of healthcare takes a unique toll on the psyche. Psychoanalysis is particularly suited for highlighting the paradoxical character of healthcare work because of its focus on the unconscious, emotional and irrational aspects of psychic life. Exploring the latent meaning of healthcare work, as well as the complex interplay between work and worker, allows for deeper insight into contemporary issues of healthcare management and organization.
Applying Student-Centered Learning Concepts to a Doctoral, Introductory, Interdisciplinary Public Affairs Course

Public Affairs is a rapidly growing field and continues to be taught using a variety of pedagogical approaches. To improve methods of enhancing pedagogy in diverse, introductory-level, Public Affai...
Is There a Function for Protein Carboxylmethylation in the Nervous System

The functional aspects of protein carboxylmethylation in eucaryotic cells have remained enigmatic. Some of the major issues which obscure the possible role of this enzyme are 1) the nature and specificity of relevant in vivo protein substrates; 2) the stoichiometry of protein carboxylmethylation and 3) the rapid hydrolysis of carboxylmethylesters under conditions of neutral and basic pH (Billingsley and Lovenberg, 1985). Thus, two major schools of thought have arisen which attempt to address these issues-the functionalists, who look for revelant substrates which may be regulated by rapid carboxylmethylation, and the structuralists, who suggest that protein carboxylmethylation recognizes and/or repairs either reacemized aspartyl (Terwilliger and Clarke, 1981; McFadden and Clarke, 1982; Murray and Clarke, 1984) or beta isopeptide links (Aswad, 1984; O’Connor, et al., 1984) in a wide range of substrates. We will present evidence which suggests a possible functional role for protein-0-carboxylmethyltransferase (PCM; E.C.2.1.1.24) in nervous tissue based on the following findings.
History of Bile Duct Stenting: Rigid Prostheses

Plastic biliary stents were developed for the palliative treatment of malignant bile duct obstruction. Drainage depends on the shape and size and to some extent the material used to make the stent. Plastic stents provide biliary decompression and drainage and are effective in improving the biochemical and clinical condition of patients with malignant obstructive jaundice. Biliary stent placement has also been used to treat benign biliary strictures and in patients with acute cholangitis and large, nonextractable bile duct stones. Long-term complications of biliary stent placement include blockage by bacterial biofilm and biliary sludge. Thus, routine stent exchange to avoid recurrent jaundice and cholangitis is generally recommended.
The Implications of Surface Technology in the Sawing of Wood

The forest products industry could benefit substantially from modern surface technology. Substantial loss of material (wood) and productivity are experienced because of saw tooth wear. This paper reviews the current status of saw technology and the processes presently being used to improve wear properties of the tooth area. In addition, the development of a new saw material of the Invar type is described. This material, because of its low thermal expansivity, creates a smaller cut, hence minimizes “kerf” loss. The widening of the cut is attributed to “snaking” of the blade resulting from a temperature rise at the outer circumference. While this age-hardenable Fe-Ni alloy possesses adequate mechanical properties, it lacks sufficient wear resistance. Methods are proposed by which the saw tooth wear characteristics of this alloy can be improved. Implications of these developments in the forest products industry are also discussed.
A Standardized Disk Method for Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing for Anaerobes; Four Years of Antibiotic Data

In vitro antibiotic susceptibility testing of aerobes and facultative bacteria has been a service provided by the clinical laboratory since the 1940’s. However, little effort was made to standardize susceptibility tests until 1966 when investigators at the University of Washington in Seattle developed a technique which became known as the Kirby-Bauer technique. The standardized technique employed Mueller-Hinton agar as the test medium and a single high-content disk with a standard concentration of antimicrobic; adjusting the density of the inoculum before inoculating the plate, and the development of interpretive standards based on growth inhibition zone diameters around the disk. These interpretive standards were developed by determining the relationship between zone diameters and the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and relating this information to the achievable serum levels of the antibiotic after the usual dose was administered to the patient. The Kirby-Bauer technique has been the generally accepted technique throughout the United States for testing rapidly growing aerobes and facultative bacteria.
Ensuring inclusive environments for students with disabilities: school leaders play a linchpin role

ABSTRACTInclusion refers to the practice of educating students with disabilities in the general education setting. This concept stems from the seminal United States Congressional legislation PL 94-...
Novel Method of Atrial Fibrillation Case Identification and Burden Estimation Using the MIMIC-III Electronic Health Data Set:

Background:Atrial fibrillation (AF) portends poor prognoses in intensive care unit patients with sepsis. However, AF research is challenging: Previous studies demonstrate that International Classif...
Entrepreneurial narratives and concept teaching and learning

Entrepreneurship education (EE) is facing a tension between practical valence and academic institutionalization. As a consequence, we know very little about how story-based pedagogy is implemented ...
V.I.P. care: Ethical dilemmas and recommendations for nurses:

Background:Not all patients are considered equal. For patients who are considered to be “very important persons,” care can be different from that of other patients with advantages of greater access...
Multi-label classification and knowledge extraction from oncology-related content on online social networks

This study aims at automatic processing and knowledge extraction from large amounts of oncology-related content from online social networks (OSN). In this context, a large number of OSN textual posts concerning major cancer types are automatically scraped and structured using natural language processing techniques. Machines are trained to assign multiple labels to these posts based on the type of knowledge enclosed, if any. Trained machines are used to automatically classify large-scale textual posts. Statistical inferences are made based on these predictions to extract general concepts and abstract knowledge. Different approaches for constructing document feature vectors showed no tangible effect on the classification accuracy. Among different classifiers, logistic regression achieved the highest overall accuracy (96.4%) and $$\overline{F1}$$ (73.4) in a 13-way multi-label classification of textual posts. The most common topic was seeking or providing moral support for cancer patients, followed by providing technical information about cancer causes and treatments. The most common causes and treatments of different types of cancer on OSN are also automatically detected in this study. Seeking or providing moral support for cancer patients shared the largest overlap with other topics, i.e. moral support tends to be present even in OSN posts which focus on other topics. On the other hand, providing technical information about cancer diagnosis or prevention were the most isolated topics, where OSN posts tend not to allude to other topics. OSN posts which seek financial support only overlap with the moral support topic, if any. Our methodology and results provide public health professionals with an opportunity to monitor what topics and to which extent are being discussed on OSN, what specific information and knowledge are being disseminated over OSN, and to assess their veracity in close to real time. This helps them to develop policies that encourage, discourage, or modify the consumption of viral oncology-related information on OSN.
Deriving Interpretable Rules for IoT Discovery Through Attention

Due to their high vulnerability, IoT has become a primary target for cybercriminals (e.g., botnets, network infiltration). As a result, many solutions have been developed to help users and administrators identify IoT devices. While solutions based on deep learning have been shown to outperform traditional approaches in other domains, their lack of explanation and their inference latency present major obstacles for their adoption in network traffic analysis, where throughputs of Gbps are typically expected. Extracting rules from a trained neural network presents a compelling solution, but existing methods are limited to feedforward networks, and RNN/LSTM. In contrast, attention-based models are a more recent architecture, and are replacing RNN/LSTM due to their higher performance. In this paper, we therefore propose a novel efficient algorithm to extract rules from a trained attention-based model. Evaluations on actual packet traces of more than 100 IoT devices demonstrate that the proposed algorithm reduces the storage requirements and inference latency by 4 orders of magnitude while still achieving an average f1-score of 0.995 and a fidelity score of 98.94%. Further evaluation on an independent dataset also shows improved generalization performance: The extracted rules achieve better performance, especially thanks to their inherent capability to identify unknown devices.
Retrospective comparison of focused shockwave therapy and radial wave therapy for men with erectile dysfunction

Background Low-intensity shockwave therapy (SWT) is an emerging treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED). Devices used for SWT include focused shockwave therapy (fSWT) or radial wave therapy (rWT), which differ in how the waves are generated, their tissue penetration, and the shape of their pressure waves. Most studies of SWT for ED to date have utilized fSWT. Although widely used, the efficacy of rWT for ED is unknown. Our objective is to compare the efficacy of rWT and fSWT for ED at our institution. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed to identify all men with ED treated by fSWT or rWT. Men with history suggesting non-vasculogenic ED were excluded. All men received 6 consecutive weekly treatments. The fSWT group received 3,000 shocks per treatment at 0.09 mJ/mm2. The rWT group received 10,000 shocks per treatment at 90 mJ and 15 Hz. Pre-treatment and 6-week post-treatment Sexual Health Inventory in Men (SHIM) scores were measured. Treatment response was categorized on a scale of 1-3 (1 if no improvement, 2 if erections sufficient for intercourse with phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i), or 3 if sufficient erections without PDE5i). Primary endpoint was self-reported improvement score of 2 or greater. Results A total of 48 men were included: 24 treated by fSWT and 24 by rWT. There were no significant differences in age, duration of ED, pre-treatment PDE5i use, or pre-treatment SHIM scores between the groups. Following treatment with rWT, the mean SHIM score improved from 9.3 to 16.1 (P<0.001). The mean SHIM following fSWT improved from 9.3 to 15.5 (P<0.001). The mean improvement in SHIM score did not differ between rWT (6.8) and fSWT (6.2) (P=0.42). 54% of men treated by fSWT experienced a significant clinical improvement (≥ grade 2 response) compared to 75% in the rWT group (P=0.42). There were no reported side effects with either device. Conclusions In our patient population, both fSWT and rWT were moderately effective treatments for arteriogenic ED with no observable difference in efficacy between the two modalities.
Putting local on the MAP: A model for engaging foreign language students with local cultures

Culture in the teaching and learning of foreign languages tends to be stereotypical and monolithic, marginalizing the diversity of local cultures and practices and resulting in a monocultural and monolingual bias. Expanding on the ACTFL Cultures and Comparisons Standards, the current article presents the MAPS model for Exploring Local Cultures aimed at engaging students with local products, practices, and perspectives through the creation, exchange, and analysis of digital artifacts of local cultures. The article demonstrates how a complex pedagogical model can be constructed from existing research and theory as well as how to implement it: in addition to presenting the model and its underlying literature, the article details its implementation in two classes.
Variation cascades: resource pulses and top-down effects across time scales.

Top-down and bottom-up theories of trophic control have been fundamental to our understanding of community dynamics and structure. However, most ecological theories have focused on equilibrium dynamics and do not provide predictions for communities' responses in temporally fluctuating environments. By deriving the frequency response of populations in different trophic communities, we extend the top-down and bottom-up theories of ecology to include how temporal fluctuations in potential primary productivity percolate up the food chain and are re-expressed as population variability. Moreover, by switching from a time-based representation into the frequency domain, we provide a unified method to compare how the time scale of perturbations determines communities' responses. At low frequencies, primary producers and secondary consumers have the highest temporal variability, while the primary consumers are relatively stable. Similar to the Exploitation Ecosystem Hypothesis, top-down effects drive this alternating pattern of variability. We define the top-down effect of consumers on the variability of lower trophic levels as a variation cascade. However, at intermediate frequencies, variation cascades can amplify temporal variation up the food chain. At high frequencies, variation cascades weaken, and fluctuations are attenuated up the food chain. In summary, we provide a novel theory for how communities will respond to fluctuations in productivity, and we show that indirect species interactions play a crucial role in determining community dynamics across the frequency spectrum.
Mesenchymal stem cells and exosomes in tissue regeneration and remodeling: characterization and therapy

Abstract There are increasing reports on adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vivo and in vitro studies that have provided new insights for MSC potential clinical applications in tissue regeneration and remodeling. MSCs are ubiquitous component of tissue stroma, which constitute the intrinsic structural barriers onto parenchyma of tissues and organs. The recent paradigm on biology of MSCs suggests that they can also employ/express/implement diverse mechanisms to mediate remodeling of the stroma and parenchyma in response to stress and/or damage. Currently, many clinical trials are ongoing. This review includes these advances, ranging from the context of characterizing MSCs, self-renewal for tissue repair, recovery after diseases, to the possible use of exosomes. In human clinical cases and experimental animal models, MSCs have been widely characterized and exhibited mitigation and therapy on different diseases. MSC-based technologies for treating various diseases alone or in combination with adjuvants are under studies. There are challenges in MSC therapy including the need to overcome cell purity, bioengineering difficulties for tissue structures, optimal MSC sources, optimal MSC administration protocols, termination of MSC activation after repair and regeneration accomplished, and safety of long-term presence of MSCs in the body. Exosomes derived from MSCs are studied extensively and demonstrate equal efficacy as MSCs. Treatment with exosomes may avoid the concerns mentioned above.
Shoaling of Waves Under Ice

In winter, ice is often present along the shores of water bodies. The vertical motions of such ice can affect winter coastal dynamics and structures supported by offshore pilings. These motions are often due to waves generated offshore, in the ice-free area, and propagating shoreward. Then the shoaling of waves under a shore bound ice sheet is of some interest. The results may also provide insight to ice cracking and to variations in sediment motion and scouring under ice.
Impact of the English Advanced Placement (AP) Program on College Grade Point Average among Rural Appalachian Students

This study explored the impact of the English Advanced Placement (AP) program on college success among rural Appalachian students attending four private colleges in central and eastern Kentucky: Alice Lloyd College, Georgetown College, Lindsey Wilson College, and University of the Cumberlands. A Pearson Product-Moment Correlation r and an independent-samples t-test were conducted. With respect to rural Appalachian students, statistical analyses revealed that the English ACT score is a better predictor of first-semester college grade point average than the English AP score. Analyses also revealed no statistically significant difference between first-semester college GPAs of rural Appalachian students with English AP credit and rural Appalachian students without AP credit. The study results are helpful for students, parents, administrators, and policymakers evaluating the English AP program at local high schools and colleges.
Segmenting the Brain Surface from CT Images with Artifacts Using Dictionary Learning for Non-rigid MR-CT Registration

This paper presents a dictionary learning-based method to segment the brain surface in post-surgical CT images of epilepsy patients following surgical implantation of electrodes. Using the electrodes identified in the post-implantation CT, surgeons require accurate registration with pre-implantation functional and structural MR imaging to guide surgical resection of epileptic tissue. In this work, we use a surface-based registration method to align the MR and CT brain surfaces. The key challenge here is not the registration, but rather the extraction of the cortical surface from the CT image, which includes missing parts of the skull and artifacts introduced by the electrodes. To segment the brain from these images, we propose learning a model of appearance that captures both the normal tissue and the artifacts found along this brain surface boundary. Using clinical data, we demonstrate that our method both accurately extracts the brain surface and better localizes electrodes than intensity-based rigid and non-rigid registration methods.
An introduction to rights

Part I. The First Expansionary Era: 1. The prehistory of rights 2. The rights of man: The Enlightenment 3. 'Mischievous nonsense'? 4. The nineteenth century: Consolidation and retrenchment 5. The conceptual neighborhood of rights: Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld Part II. The Second Expansionary Era: 6. The universal declaration and a revolt against utilitarianism 7. The nature of rights: 'choice' theory and 'interest' theory 8. A right to do wrong? Two conceptions of moral rights 9. The pressure of consequentialism 10. What is interference? 11. The future of rights 12. Conclusion.
Human computer intelligent interaction using augmented cognition and emotional intelligence

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has mostly developed along two competing methodologies: direct manipulation and intelligent agents. Other possible but complementary methodologies are those of augmented cognition and affective computing and their adaptive combination. Augmented cognition harnesses computation to exploit explicit or implicit knowledge about context, mental state, and motivation for the user, while affective computing provides the means to recognize emotional intelligence and affects human-computer interfaces and interactions people are engaged with. Most HCI studies elicit emotions in relatively simple settings, whereas augmented cognition and affective computing include bodily (physical) embedded within mental (cognitive) and emotional events. Recognition of affective states currently focuses on their physical form (e.g., blinking or face distortions underlying human emotions) rather than implicit behavior and function (their impact on how the user employs the interface or communicates with others). Augmented cognition and affective computing are examined throughout this paper regarding design, implementation, and benefits. Towards that end we have designed an HCII interface that diagnoses and predicts whether the user was fatigued, confused, frustrated, momentarily distracted, or even alive through non-verbal information, namely paralanguage, in a virtual reality (VR) learning environment.
Toward a semantics for an agent communications language based on speech0-acts

Systems based on distributed agent architectures require an agent communications language having a clearly defined semantics. This paper demonstrates that a semantics for an agent communications language can be founded on the premise that agents are building, maintaining, and disbanding teams through their performance of communicative acts. This view requires that definitions of basic communicative acts, such as requesting, be recast in terms of the formation of a joint intention - a mental state that has been suggested underlies team behavior. To illustrate these points, a semantics is developed for a number of communication actions that can form and dissolve teams. It is then demonstrated how much of the structure of popular finite-state dialogue models, such as Winograd and Flores' basic conversation for action, follows as a consequence of the logical relationships that are created by the redefined communicative actions.
Single-injection thoracic paravertebral block and postoperative analgesia after mastectomy: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background The treatment of postoperative pain after mastectomy is an area of increasing interest, as this treatment option is now considered a standard of care for those affected by breast cancer. Thoracic paravertebral nerve block (tPVB) using local anesthetics administered before mastectomy can theoretically provide postoperative analgesia, thereby facilitating a more comfortable and shorter hospitalization. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, we aimed to determine the duration and degree to which tPVB provides postoperative analgesia in patients who underwent either unilateral or bilateral mastectomy (n = 182). We retrospectively examined the numeric rating scale (NRS) for pain scores recorded by nursing staff throughout individual patient hospitalizations, looking specifically at the following time points: arrival from the postanesthesia care unit to the surgical wards, noon on postoperative day 1 (POD1), and discharge. We also examined the number of days until patients were discharged from the hospital. Results Our results revealed a statistically significant decrease in NRS in pain scores for patients who had received a tPVB (n = 92) on arrival from the postanesthesia care unit to the surgical wards (mean NRS decrease of 1.9 points; 99% confidence interval [CI], −3.0 to −0.8; P P = .43) or at discharge (mean NRS decrease of 0.1 point at discharge, P = .65). Moreover, use of tPVB did not have an impact on time until discharge (average decrease of 0.5 hours; 95% CI, −6 to +5 hours, P = .87). Conclusions Single-injection tPVB appears to provide meaningful postoperative analgesia in the immediate postoperative period after mastectomy but not after the first day of surgery.
El énfasis en la técnica de Juan Ramón Jiménez

El triunfo tecnico en la trayectoria de Juan Ramon Jimenez lo marca sin duda la publicacion de los Sonetos espirituales (1914-1915) en 1917 y los libros inmediatamente posteriores. El Diario de un poeta recien casado (1916), publicado en el mismo ano, atestigua una madurez intelectual y humana que ha llevado a algunos criticos a querer usarlo para indicar un principio de periodo en la obra continua de Jimenez.
Testing the Swerdlow/Koob model of schizophrena pathophysiology using positron emission tomography

Commentaires d'un article consacre a l'implication des fonctions encephaliques dopaminergiques dans la pathophysiologie de divers desordres psychiatriques et neurologiques
Interactions of fungi with phagocytes

Recent advances have broadened our knowledge of the unique role that dendritic cells, macrophages and neutrophils play in protecting the host against fungal infections and the mechanisms by which fungal pathogens attempt to subvert phagocytic defenses. In this article, the interplay between phagocytes and fungi is reviewed.
A Temperature-Shift Strategy in Batch Monascus Yellow Pigments Fermentation

According to the results of the single temperature on Monascus anka mutant growth and monascus yellow pigments production in this paper, two stages in the fermentation temperature control strategy has been operated as following: the temperature was 34°C to improve the Monascus growth before culture 48 hour and then 32°C was carried out to improve theItalic text yellow pigments production. The results demonstrated that two stages temperature control at 96 hours, the yield of monascus yellow pigments can arrive 164.51 OD units, it was 180.35%, 2165.48%, 107.66%, 5.76%, 33.23%, 36.74% higher than that of 26°C, 28°C, 30°C, 32°C, 34°C, 36°C fermentation, respectively. The maximum specific growth rate(µ) and the maximum specific production rate of yellow pigments( qy) could arrive 0.0528 h-1 and 0.404 OD.g-1.h-1, and it was 5.30% and 3.22% higher than that of 34°C and 32°C, respectively. The specific production rate of yellow pigments was varied from 0.2 OD.g-1.h-1 to 0.4 OD.g-1.h-1 in whole fermentation. Two stage temperature control strategy could improve the yellow pigments production, increase µ and and short the culture time.
Stark dynamics of two-electron atoms probed by scaled energy spectroscopy

Orbital dynamics in two-electron alkaline earth atoms in a static electric field are studied using scaled-energy recurrence spectroscopy. Photoabsorption spectra for Ba and Ca Rydberg atoms are measured as continuous functions of static electric field and energy. In both Ba and Ca the laser excitation proceeds through the singly excited $nd$ series which is strongly perturbed by doubly excited valence configurations. Clear signatures of the two-electron dynamics associated with these perturbing configurations are identified.
Experimental Osteomyelitis. III. Treatment with Cephaloridine

Levels of cephaloridine in normal and osteomyelitic bone of rabbits were measured, and the efficacy of this agent in the treatment of osteomyelitis was evaluated. Proportionately more cephaloridine was found in bone in relation to levels in serum than had previously been detected with cephalothin. Treatment with cephaloridine for 42 days was effective in sterilizing diseased bone and in reducing the severity of osteomyelitis.
Bound To Shock: Protection from Lethal Endotoxemic Shock by a Novel, Nontoxic, Alkylpolyamine Lipopolysaccharide Sequestrant

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or endotoxin, a structural component of gram-negative bacterial outer membranes, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of septic shock, a syndrome of severe systemic inflammation which leads to multiple-system organ failure. Despite advances in antimicrobial chemotherapy, sepsis continues to be the commonest cause of death in the critically ill patient. This is attributable to the lack of therapeutic options that aim at limiting the exposure to the toxin and the prevention of subsequent downstream inflammatory processes. Polymyxin B (PMB), a peptide antibiotic, is a prototype small molecule that binds and neutralizes LPS toxicity. However, the antibiotic is too toxic for systemic use as an LPS sequestrant. Based on a nuclear magnetic resonance-derived model of polymyxin B-LPS complex, we had earlier identified the pharmacophore necessary for optimal recognition and neutralization of the toxin. Iterative cycles of pharmacophore-based ligand design and evaluation have yielded a synthetically easily accessible N(1),mono-alkyl-mono-homologated spermine derivative, DS-96. We have found that DS-96 binds LPS and neutralizes its toxicity with a potency indistinguishable from that of PMB in a wide range of in vitro assays, affords complete protection in a murine model of LPS-induced lethality, and is apparently nontoxic in vertebrate animal models.
Spinal monoamine mediation of stimulation-produced antinociception from the lateral hypothalamus

Stimulation-produced antinociception can be evoked from a wide variety of sites in the brain, including the lateral hypothalamus (LH). The present study, in rats lightly anesthetized with pentobarbital, examined descending inhibition of the nociceptive tail flick (TF) reflex produced by focal electrical stimulation in the LH and the neurotransmitter(s), at the level of the lumbar enlargement, mediating the inhibition. Systematic tracking studies demonstrated that stimulation in the diencephalon dorsal to the hypothalamus did not reliably inhibit the TF reflex. Inhibition of the TF reflex was produced, however, throughout the hypothalamus at intensities of stimulation typically between 50 and 200 microA. The area requiring low intensities of stimulation (50-100 microA) to inhibit the TF reflex was a diffuse region of the LH, inferior to the mammillothalamic tract and internal capsule, medial to the supraoptic decussation and including the medial forebrain bundle. Microinjections of S-glutamate (100 mM, 0.5 microliter) in the LH did not inhibit the TF reflex, suggesting that activation of fibers of passage by stimulation was responsible for inhibition of the TF reflex produced from the LH. The intrathecal administration of pharmacologic antagonists (15-30 micrograms; naloxone, methysergide, phentolamine, prazosin or yohimbine) revealed that the alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists phentolamine and yohimbine produced the greatest increases in stimulation thresholds in the LH for inhibition of the TF reflex (83.7% and 89.8%, respectively). The intrathecal administration of methysergide produced a lesser, but statistically significant 11% increase in the stimulation threshold for inhibition of the TF reflex. These results indicate that spinal alpha 2-adrenoceptors primarily mediate the descending inhibition of the TF reflex produced by electrical stimulation in the LH.
A brief review of JPL's electric propulsion technology activities

Near-term objectives and recent technological progress of JPL's electric propulsion program are discussed. Particular attention is given to accomplishments for ion, magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD), electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR), and arcjet thrusters. Xenon ion thruster erosion tests indicate a 15-fold reduction in tantalum baffle erosion when nitrogen is added to the xenon propellant and steady-state cylindrical MPD thruster tests at powers up to 72 kW show distinct self-constricted and diffuse discharge modes. An ECR thruster was operated at up to 7 kW with plasma acceleration at energies up to 7 kW; there was plasma acceleration at energies approaching 100 electron volts.
PMU placement and error control using belief propagation

The placement of phasor measurement units (PMUs) is of particular importance in supervising the health of the grid. The optimal placement of PMUs is a well-known integer program (IP) and is thus known to be hard to solve. This paper studies a linear integer program formulation of the PMU placement problem, and demonstrates that it can be solved efficiently and in a distributed manner using an affinity propagation (AP) framework. In other words, when the AP algorithm converges, it results in a local optima for the original PMU placement problem. Further, for PMUs that suffer from measurement error, this paper develops a placement mechanism with built-in redundancy to perform error detection and correction. A distributed algorithm to perform error control over the grid is presented. In effect, local communication between nodes in the power grid can be used to verify the correctness of PMU measurements, thus detecting and isolating PMUs that are reporting erroneous values. Performance of our algorithms for several IEEE bus systems is presented.
Elimination of stored material from the seminal vesicles of the guinea pig following castration

Experiments were carried out to determine what factors are involved in the disappearance of stored secretion from the seminal vesicles of the giunea pig and in the concurrent decline in weight of these glands following castration. Seminal vesicles of sexually mature males were unilaterally ligated, and the males were either castrated or left testes intact for a 14-day period. At necropsy, the seminal vesicles were removed and weighed, and biopsies were collected for histological inspection. The weight of nonligated vesicles from castrated males declined to less than half that of ligated sides. In testes-intact males, the weight of ligated vesicles was nearly double that of nonligated vesicles. Epithelial cell heights remained unchanged during the study. The rapid decline in weight of the guinea pig seminal vesicles following castration was attributed to the elimination of stored secretion by way of the urethra rather than by absorption.
Impact of Intrafraction and Residual Interfraction Effect on Prostate Proton Pencil Beam Scanning

Purpose To quantitatively evaluate the impact of interplay effect and plan robustness associated with intrafraction and residual interfraction prostate motion for pencil beam scanning proton therapy. Methods and Materials Ten prostate cancer patients with weekly verification CTs underwent pencil beam scanning with the bilateral single-field uniform dose (SFUD) modality. A typical field had 10-15 energy layers and 500-1000 spots. According to their treatment logs, each layer delivery time was Results The clinical target volume (CTV) coverage was degraded because of both effects. The CTV D 99 (percentage dose to 99% of the CTV) varied up to 10% relative to the initial plan in individual fractions. However, over the entire course of treatment the total dose degradation of D 99 was 2%-3%, with a standard deviation of Conclusions Both intrafraction and residual interfraction prostate motion degrade CTV coverage within a clinically acceptable level. One-field-per-day SFUD delivered twice is as robust as the bilateral SFUD plan treated daily over the course of treatment.
[CI] 370 µm and CO (7-6) and (6-5) Observations of ULIRGs with ZEUS

We have begun a survey of the [CI] 370 μ m fine structure line and of mid-J CO line emission from ULIRGs and starburst galaxies using our grating spectrometer ZEUS on the CSO. Here we present observations from six ULIRGs: Mrk 231, Zw 049.057, NGC 6240, Arp 299, Arp 220, and IRAS 17208. The CO (6-5)/FIR ratio in ULIRGs appears to be lower for ULIRGs than for LIRGs. Comparing the CO SEDs of the ULIRGs shows the necessity of obtaining CO rotational transitions up to at least J = 7 to properly constrain LVG models.
Assessment of correlation between in vitro CD3+ T cell susceptibility to EAV infection and clinical outcome following experimental infection.

Abstract In a recent study, we demonstrated that the virulent Bucyrus strain (VBS) of EAV could infect in vitro a small population of CD3 + T lymphocytes from some but not all horses. Furthermore, we have shown that a common haplotype is associated with this in vitro CD3 + T cell susceptibility/resistance phenotype to EAV infection. In this study, we investigated whether the differences in the susceptibility or resistance of CD3 + T cells in vitro correlate with the outcome and severity of clinical signs in vivo . Thus, horses were divided into two groups based on their CD3 + T cell susceptible or resistant phenotype. Following experimental inoculation with the recombinant VBS of EAV, horses were assessed for presence and severity of clinical signs, duration and magnitude of virus shedding, as well as production of proinflammatory and immunomodulatory cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The data showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups of horses in terms of cytokine mRNA expression and evidence of increased clinical signs in horses possessing the in vitro CD3 + T cell resistant phenotype. This is the first study to provide direct evidence for a correlation between variation in host genotype and phenotypic differences in terms of the extent of viral replication, presence and severity of clinical signs and cytokine gene expression caused by infection with virulent EAV.
Chemical scent constituents in urine of wolf (Canis lupus) and their dependence on reproductive hormones.

The volatile components of castrated male and ovariectomized female wolf urine were investigated and correlated with the administration of testosterone or estradiol and progesterone. The results indicate that testosterone induces in the castrated male the formation of some compounds typically associated with the intact male, while reducing the levels of some compounds associated with castrated male and female. The production of some of the “male” compounds was also induced in the ovariectomized female, although at lower levels. Changes in hormone levels during treatment of females are reflected in the composition of the urinary volatiles. Consequently, many of these compounds could be used to communicate gender as well as reproductive status.