cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A smart sensor with hyperspectral/range fovea and panoramic peripheral view

We propose an adaptive and effective multimodal peripheral-fovea sensor design for real-time targets tracking. This design is inspired by the biological vision systems for achieving real-time target detection and recognition with a hyperspectral/range fovea and panoramic peripheral view. A realistic scene simulation approach is used to evaluate our sensor design and the related data exploitation algorithms before a real sensor is made. The goal is to reduce development time and system cost while achieving optimal results through an iterative process that incorporates simulation, sensing, processing and evaluation. Important issues such as multimodal sensory component integration, region of interest extraction, target tracking, hyperspectral image analysis and target signature identification are discussed.
Hemodynamic and sympathetic effects of fenoldopam and sodium nitroprusside.

Background: Fenoldopam is a novel dopamine-1 receptor selective agonist that can be used as a vasodilator perioperatively to treat hypertension and to produce induced hypotension. We were interested to find out whether there were any differences between fenoldopam (FM) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), one of the most popular vasodilators, in their effects on hemodynamics and sympathetic outflow using not only neuraxis intact but also baro-denervated animal models. Methods: A total of 60 New Zealand white rabbits were divided into two groups of 30 each: the neuraxis-intact group and the totally baro-denervated group. Each group was further divided into three groups of 10 each to receive SNP 10 μg · kg−1, FM 10 μg · kg−1 or FM 20 μg · kg−1, respectively. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) were recorded before and after intravenous (i.v.) administration of each agent. In addition, cardiac and sympathetic baroreflex sensitivity were assessed in the neuraxis-intact animals. Results: In the neuraxis-intact groups, although RSNA was increased to a similar extent in all three groups (P<0.01), the reduction of MAP with FM groups was significantly greater than with SNP (P<0.05). HR was increased only in the SNP group. Cardiac (HR) and sympathetic barosensitivity were significantly attenuated with FM 20 μg · kg−1 as compared to the SNP group. In the baro-denervated groups, there were significant and similar degrees of reduction of MAP in all three group up to 1 min (P<0.01). MAP remained significantly decreased in the FM groups for 10 min (only 2 min with SNP) in both animal models. Conclusions: Unlike sodium nitroprusside, fenoldopam attenuates both cardiac (heart rate) and sympathetic baroreflex sensitivity, which may explain the lack of rebound hypertension with fenoldopam. The offset of hypotensive effects of fenoldopam is a significantly slower process as compared to nitroprusside, and this may be an unfavorable feature of fenoldopam should overshoot of hypotension occur.
Titration of KATP channel expression in mammalian cells utilizing recombinant baculovirus transduction

A variety of transfection approaches have been used to deliver plasmids encoding ion channel genes into cells. We have used the baculovirus transduction system, BacMam, to demonstrate transient expression of multi-subunit KATP channels in CHO-K1 and HEK-293 EBNA cells using sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR), SUR2A, SUR2B, and KIR 6.2 genes. [3H]-glyburide binding, patch clamp, and DiBAC4(3) measurements of membrane potential changes were used to monitor channel expression. BacMam delivery of each SUR isoform with KIR6.2 was demonstrated based on its pharmacological profiles. Expression levels of SUR1 and KIR6.2 were titrated by varying the viral concentration or time of virus addition, with functional activity measured in as little as 4-6 hours posttransduction. Further increases in BacMam virus induced sufficient KATP expression to dominate membrane potential without pharmacological opening of the channel. Independently altering treatment with virus containing either the SUR1 or KIR6.2 gene revealed interactions among subunits during formation of functional channels in the plasma membrane. This study demonstrates the utility and versatility of BacMam as a valuable gene delivery tool for the study of ion channel function.
Architecture and Clock Programmable Baseband of an 800 MHz-6 GHz Software-Defined Wireless Receiver

A software-defined radio receiver is designed from a low power ADC perspective, exploiting programmability of windowed integration sampler and clock-programmable discrete-time analog filters. To cover the major frequency bands in today use a wideband RF front-end, including the low noise amplifier and a wide tuning-range synthesizer, spanning over 800 MHz-6 GHz is designed. The entire receiver circuits are implemented in 90 nm CMOS technology. Programmability of the receiver is tested for GSM and 802.11g standards
Laying hen behavior 2. Cage type preference and heterophil to lymphocyte ratios

Abstract Studies were conducted to determine hen preference for and stress response to cage type. By using a plywood (1.25 cm) test apparatus with open- and solid-sided compartments and a plexiglass divider at the entrance for controlling passage, birds (n = 20) were evaluated as to their choice of compartment after training and acclimation. For each test, after training, an individual bird was placed in the start box and given 1 min to acclimate before making a choice. The experiment was repeated after rotating the apparatus 180 degrees. In Experiment 1, the open-sided compartment was chosen by 45% of the hens, and the solid-sided compartment by 25% (P = 0.02); 30% chose neither. In Experiment 2, the compartment with open sides was chosen by 70% of the hens, and that with solid sides was chosen by 15% (P = 0.004); 15% chose neither. The length of time required to choose one compartment over the other did not differ in either experiment (P = 0.29; P = 0.76). In Experiment 3, tests were videotaped from 0830 h to 1330 h, and tapes were scored for time spent in each compartment. Birds were observed to spend more time in open- compared with solid-sided compartments (P = 0.02). To assess stress level of birds exposed to each type of enclosure, blood was collected from 24 commercial Hy-Line W36 hens housed long-term in either open (n = 12) or solid (n = 12) cages, and heterophil:lymphocyte (H:L) ratios were determined. Birds in solid cages had higher H:L ratios than did birds in open cages (P = 0.02), indicating a greater stress response. These data would suggest that hens may prefer greater visual access to their surroundings afforded by open cages.
The Effect of Ovariectomy and Estrogen on Penetrating Brain Arterioles and Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability

AbstractObjective: We investigated the effect of estrogen replacement on the structure and function of penetrating brain arterioles (PA) and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability.Materials and Methods: Female ovariectomized Sprague-Dawley rats were replaced with estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3) (OVX + E; N=13) and compared to ovariectomized animals without replacement (OVX; N=14) and intact controls (CTL, proestrous; N=13). Passive and active diameters, percent tone, and passive distensibility of pressurized PA were compared. In addition, BBB permeability to Lucifer Yellow, a marker of transcellular transport, was compared in cerebral arteries.Results: Ovariectomy increased myogenic tone in PA, compared to CTL, that was not ameliorated by estrogen treatment. Percent tone at 75 mmHg for CTL vs. OVX and OVX + E was 44±3% vs. 51±1% and 54±3% (P<0.01 vs. CTL for both). No differences were found in passive diameters or distensibility between the groups. BBB permeability increased 500% in OVX vs. CTL animals; h...
PRAXIS Practice Test Items Over-Simplify Reading Issues.

This essay discusses the author's encounter with PRAXIS II test preparation questions that distort and misrepresent complex reading processes. Three sample test items are presented and discussed.
Temperature Sensitive Fabric for Monitoring Dermal Temperature Variations

Electronic fabrics and smart textiles are advancing biomedical research for use in a variety of ambulatory, diagnostic, and therapeutic devices. New materials and technologies are making it possible to continuously monitor important parameters for health and wellness applications. This chapter will discuss a resistive, fabric-based temperature sensor that can determine temperature between 25oC and 45oC by monitoring variations in the material’s electrical resistance. The measured resistance of the material decreases with increasing temperature, indicating that this fabric sensor has a negative temperature coefficient of resistance, or α and sometimes called the TCR, which is approximately -0.228 ± 0.03%/oC averaged over three separate sensors. These results indicate that this material’s electronic conductivity behaves analogous to semiconductor materials and would classify this device as a thermistor.
TNF-α induces proliferation or apoptosis in human saphenous vein smooth muscle cells depending on phenotype

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α is implicated in development of restenotic and atherosclerotic vascular lesions, which are pathological processes involving both proliferation and apoptosis of vascula...
TiNy threads: a thread virtual machine for the Cyclops64 cellular architecture

This paper presents the design and implementation of a thread virtual machine, called TNT (or TiNy-Threads) for the IBM Cyclops64 architecture (the latest Cyclops architecture that employs a unique multiprocessor-on-a-chip design with a very large number of hardware thread units and embedded memory) - as the cornerstone of the C64 system software. We highlight how to achieve high efficiency by mapping (and matching) the TNT thread model directly to the Cyclops ISA features assisted by a native TNT thread runtime library. Major results of our experimental study demonstrate good efficiency, scalability and usability of our TNT model/implementation.
Flow field imaging through sharp-edged atomic and molecular 'notch' filters

Sharp cut-off atomic and molecular notch filters simultaneously provide high spectral resolution and allow imaging by collecting light over a wide field of view. Many important properties of flow fields can be observed by imaging light elastically scattered from small particles, molecules or electrons. In order to extract information about the flow field from elastic scattering, the spectrum of the scattering must be resolved and the background scattering must be suppressed. Very high resolution, on the order of a few tens of megahertz, is usually required. The spectrum of the scattered light is broadened and shifted by the motion of the scatterers. For particles, which have relatively little thermal or acoustic motion, the spectral shift is only a function of the velocity. For molecules, the scattering spectrum is a function of the temperature, velocity and pressure of the gas as well as its composition. For electrons, the spectrum is a function of the electron temperature and electron number density in a plasma. In this paper, sharp edged notch filters made of rubidium, iodine or mercury vapour are used to image shock wave and boundary layer structure by Rayleigh scattering from particles, to image gas pressure, velocity and temperature by molecular Rayleigh scattering, and to measure electron temperature and electron number density by Thomson scattering. For molecular scattering, filter transmission is generally a function of velocity, temperature and pressure, but, under some circumstances, it is a function of only one or two variables, so a notch filter can provide single-pulse images of a specific flow field parameter.
CYSTEINE AS AN INHIBITOR OF POLYPHENOL OXIDASE

The effect of L-cysteine on mushroom polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity was investigated using three spectrophotometric assays. The formation of pigment (melanin), o-phenylquinone and cysteine-quinone adduct from catechol were each assayed under similar conditions. Cysteine had two effects; first, a lag phase was seen when melanin formation was measured, and secondly, the rate of browning was decreased after the lag phase. The lag phase was not observed when the formation of cysteine-quinone adduct rather than melanin formation was measured. This suggests that the lag phase observed in melanin formation is due to adduct formation and not quinone reduction. The velocity of adduct formation was similar to the velocity of o-phenylquinone and melanin formation without cysteine suggesting that reduction of o-phenylquinone to catechol was not significant. The structure of the adduct formed between cysteine and o-phenylquinone was synthesized and unequivocally determined by NMR spectroscopy to be S-(2,3-dihydroxyphenyl)cysteine.
Multiple attenuation in complex geology with a pattern-based approach

Primaries (signal) and multiples (noise) often exhibit different kinematics and amplitudes (i.e., patterns) in time and space. Multidimensional prediction-error filters (PEFs) approximate these patterns to separate noise and signal in a least-squares sense. These filters are time-space variant to handle the nonstationarity of multioffset seismic data. PEFs for the primaries and multiples are estimated from pattern models. In an ideal case where accurate pattern models of both noise and signal exist, the pattern-based method recovers the primaries while preserving their amplitudes. In the more general case, the pattern model of the multiples is obtained by using the data as prediction operators. The pattern model of the primaries is obtained by convolving the noise PEFs with the input data. In this situation, 3D PEFs are preferred to separate (in prestack data) the multiples properly and to preserve the primaries. Comparisons of the proposed method with adaptive subtraction with an l2 norm demonstrate that...
NON-O GROUP 1 VIBRIO CHOLERAE : A LOOK AT THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF AN OCCASIONAL PATHOGEN

Non-O1 V. cholerae is a ubiquitous environmental isolate. It is a common contaminant of shellfish, and in the developing world, it is frequently isolated from food and water. Asymptomatic carriage rates approaching 4 percent have been described among persons involved in high-risk activities, such as eating oysters in New Orleans or going on pilgrimage to Mecca. The actual occurrence of disease appears to be much less common. This is an "occupational" pathogen which may be responsible for outbreaks or a high frequency of isolation in certain areas at specific times but which generally ranks as a minor cause of diarrheal disease. While host susceptibility and infectious dose may help explain the relatively infrequent occurrence of non-O1 V. cholerae-associated disease, it also appears likely that only a small minority of strains carry the necessary virulence factors to cause gastroenteritis. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a single mechanism by which these organisms cause diarrhea; it is likely that we will find a heterogeneous pattern of virulence mechanisms, similar to the heterogeneity seen among diarrheagenic E. coli. As our understanding of these pathogenic mechanisms improves, there should be a corresponding refinement in our understanding of the epidemiology of these widely distributed organisms.
Imaging Hoover Dam: The Making of a Cultural Icon. By Anthony F. Arrigo.

Imaging Hoover Dam: The Making of a Cultural Icon . By Anthony F. Arrigo. (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2014. xiv + 297 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $39.95.) Hoover Dam (called Boulder Dam from 1933 through 1947) is among the world’s best-known engineering landmarks. At 726 feet tall and containing more than 3 million cubic yards of concrete, the massive curved gravity structure stands (in tandem with Grand Coulee Dam) as the greatest symbol of techno-cultural accomplishment in the twentieth-century American West. Anthony F. Arrigo, an English professor, writes about Hoover Dam through the lens of visual cultural studies, wherein he seeks to explore “how the visual culture of the project worked to establish the … jacksond{at}lafayette.edu
Small and Adaptive Antennas and Arrays for GNSS Applications

This paper reviews Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) antennas and arrays for robust coverage in presence of interference signals with a focus on antenna design aspects. A number of small antenna designs are presented that cover multiple current and future GNSS frequency bands (1150–1610 MHz) with sizes as small as 1 in (25 mm) in diameter. Several arrays are presented with a size as small as 3.5 in (8.9 cm) in diameter and approximately 0.5 in (13 mm) thick as compared to commercially available apertures 14 in (35.6 cm) and 5.5 in (14.0 cm) in diameter. These small arrays are shown to satisfy the gain requirements of GNSS receivers while simultaneously offering four to six antenna elements for adaptive interference suppression.
Examination of a Regressive Prompt-Delay Procedure for Improving Sight-Word Reading.

The current two-experiment study examined the effects of a regressive prompt-delay procedure on sight-word reading of four elementary school students. In contrast to traditional progressive prompt-delay procedures in which the latency of prompts is increased, the regressive prompt-delay latency is decreased over time. Data indicate that participants learned sight words quickly and maintained responding at high levels when instruction was withdrawn across both regressive and progressive prompt-delay conditions. Results are discussed in context of empirically supported prompting strategies and possible motivating operations that might be introduced when the learner is instructed to respond more quickly than the experimenter in regressive prompt delay (e.g., a game-like activity that potentially makes the activity educational, engaging, and enjoyable for students).
Propagule quality mediates invasive plant establishment

Propagule pressure is commonly considered a primary driver of invasive plant establishment and spread. However, the physical size or condition (i.e., quality) of propagules may also affect establishment, particularly under unfavorable habitat conditions such as low light environments. We used an outdoor mesocosm experiment to test the relative contribution of propagule size (number of individuals introduced) and quality (number of rhizome nodes) to the establishment and performance of the highly invasive cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) under experimental sun and shade treatments. We found that the introduction of higher quality propagules (rhizome segments ≥3 nodes in length) significantly enhanced establishment across both light treatments, and increased final tiller count in the sun treatment. The sun treatment also enhanced rhizome growth, an effect that could increase spread rates and invasion success. Thus, while cogongrass is likely to establish in both sun and shade, introductions of large propagule sizes or large rhizomes in high light environments likely poses the greatest threat to native habitats. Our results demonstrate that propagule quality promoted both establishment and performance of a highly invasive grass species and suggest that propagule quality may play an important but underappreciated role in the invasion process.
The Constructor Metacognitive Architecture.

A true human-level learner should be able to deliberately construct its own knowledge, its processes of reasoning resulting in a new knowledge, its system of values and goals, and the scenario of its cognitive growth. These capabilities require a cognitive architecture of a new kind that supports metacognition, self-awareness and self-regulation. An example architecture design called Constructor is described in this work. The main distinguishing feature of this architecture is its virtually unlimited self-regulated cognitive growth ability. Other features include metacognition, self-awareness, and an intrinsic embodiment in virtual reality that is used, e.g., for active construction of cognitive and learning processes.
De-faced America: The Great Gatsby and The Crying of Lot 49

In recent history, the acceleration of radical change has been so great that it has become ever harder to create intelligible links between oneself and the past. Extremely rapid change implies a series of breaks in historical sequence; episodes of contemporary life seem anomalous, lacking a past against which to measure them, and every event seems a crisis. The victim (or perpetrator) of such radical change can try to wipe out the past and to deny it, in which case the repressed elements torture themselves into potential neurosis. Alternatively, one can analyze the past, searching for key elements with which to explain change, in which case prolonged retrospection invades and shapes--according to the patterns of the past--the "new" present that had been so fervently craved.
Computer-assisted therapeutic drug monitoring.

The computer can be used to control, monitor, and educate members of the medical care team for more efficient and effective therapeutic drug monitoring. In discussing the computer-assisted therapeutic drug monitoring program at the Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, the author describes the roles of the computer, the physician, the nurse, the phlebotomist, the technologist, the laboratory senior staff member, and the report.
Robust \(\mathcal{H}_{\infty }\) Switching Control of Polytopic Parameter-Varying Systems via Dynamic Output Feedback

The problem of designing a globally optimal robust output-feedback controller for time-varying polytopic uncertain systems is a well-known non-convex optimization problem. In this paper, new sufficient conditions for robust \(\mathcal{H}_{\infty }\) output-feedback control synthesis are proposed in terms of a special type of bilinear matrix inequalities (BMIs), which can be solved effectively using linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization plus a line search. In order to reduce the conservatism of robust output-feedback control methods based on single quadratic Lyapunov function, we utilize multiple Lyapunov functions. The associated robust output-feedback controller is constructed as a switching-type full-order dynamic output-feedback controller, consisting of a family of linear subcontrollers and a min-switching logic. The proposed approach features the important property of computational efficiency with stringent performance. Its effectiveness and advantages have been demonstrated through numerical studies.
Versatile real-time traffic monitoring system using wireless smart sensors networks

Real-time traffic surveillance is essential in today's intelligent transportation systems. This paper reports on the design of a novel, cost-effective, and intelligent real-time traffic monitoring systems using wireless smart sensor networks. Reliable and computationally efficient algorithms were developed for vehicle counting and speed estimation. The integration of system components and distinctive algorithms is discussed in detail. A preliminary experimental study composed of various scenarios conducted under highway conditions resulted in 99.95% counting accuracy and 96.11% speed estimation accuracy. Estimated cost of a single sensor node is less than $40.
Engineering Student’s Ethical Awareness and Behavior: A New Motivational Model

Professional communities are experiencing scandals involving unethical and illegal practices daily. Yet it should not take a national major structure failure to highlight the importance of ethical awareness and behavior, or the need for the development and practice of ethical behavior in engineering students. Development of ethical behavior skills in future engineers is a key competency for engineering schools as ethical behavior is a part of the professional identity and practice of engineers. While engineering educators have somewhat established instructional methods to teach engineering ethics, they still rely heavily on teaching ethical awareness, and pay little attention to how well ethical awareness predicts ethical behavior. However the ability to exercise ethical judgement does not mean that students are ethically educated or likely to behave in an ethical manner. This paper argues measuring ethical judgment is insufficient for evaluating the teaching of engineering ethics, because ethical awareness has not been demonstrated to translate into ethical behavior. The focus of this paper is to propose a model that correlates with both, ethical awareness and ethical behavior. This model integrates the theory of planned behavior, person and thing orientation, and spheres of control. Applying this model will allow educators to build confidence and trust in their students' ability to build a professional identity and be prepared for the engineering profession and practice.
Public Confidence in the Redistricting Process: The Role of Independent Commissions, State Legislative Polarization, and Partisan Preferences

This study examines the determinants of public confidence in the honesty and integrity of state redistricting processes by analyzing responses to the 2011 and 2012 Cooperative Congressional Electio...
THE EVOLUTION AND CURRENT STATE OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS AND STANDARDS IN THE NONBUSINESS SECTOR

This article presents a condensed history of significant post 1900 developments in nonbusiness financial accounting practices and standards, and highlights some of the major issues in the recent increase in interest and activity in nonbusiness accounting. It includes consideration of federal, state, and local government units along with various types of nongovernmental nonbusiness entities. The initial section of the article traces both the development of fund accounting techniques and the discovery of their inadequacies. Next, the article discusses developments in standard-setting and the search for a sound theoretical foundation. Finally, it presents a current profile of nonbusiness accounting. The article implies that nonbusiness accounting can no longer be treated as a secondary consideration. The nonbusiness sector is a major component of the environment that requires sound financial accounting and reporting standards and practices.
Engaging Religion to Promote Female Empowerment and Health: Case Studies in Hinduism and Islam

In South Asia, numerous health-related issues, such as unsafe abortions, sex-selective abortions, lack of access to contraceptives, and domestic violence, continue unabated. Rather than recycle decades-old arguments citing "human rights" violations, this article examines motifs of autonomy, equality, and empowerment within the Indian and Pakistani cultures, focusing on Hinduism and Islam, respectively, to promote female empowerment. In doing so, the article highlights opportunities for cultural engagement -- rather than examples of legal derogation -- to support communities in a diaspora where the separation of church and state is hardly rigid and socioreligious dialogue can be utilized to enhance gender parity.
Assigning hatchlings to eggs: Is relative mass assignment an accurate method?

Accurately assigning hatchlings to the eggs from which they hatched is a prerequisite to understanding how the composition and environment of eggs affect the growth and survival of nestlings. Correctly assigning hatchlings to their eggs can be a challenging endeavor, however, because multiple eggs within the same clutch can hatch at essentially the same time. Egg and hatchling mass are highly correlated in most bird species, and thus assigning eggs to hatchlings using their relative mass (e.g., matching the heaviest hatchling to the heaviest candidate egg) could prove extremely useful. To assess its potential utility, I applied relative mass assignment (RMA) retrospectively to a dataset of 133 Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) nests in which all egg-hatchling dyads were determined unequivocally. I found that RMA correctly assigned approximately 90% of hatchlings to their eggs when 2‒4 hatchlings were present between checks. The number of nests in which hatchlings could not be assigned to their egg, however, increased monotonically from 13 to 46 to 78% for nests containing 2, 3, and 4 hatchlings, respectively, due to the greater likelihood that the mass of hatchlings or their candidate eggs was identical. Although RMA correctly identified the vast majority of egg-hatchling dyads, researchers should use this method with caution, because it will always inflate positive egg-size effects and thus could potentially result in erroneously reporting significant effects.
Profile of sacubitril/valsartan in the treatment of heart failure: patient selection and perspectives

With an estimated prevalence of 5.8 million in the USA and over 23 million people worldwide, heart failure (HF) is growing in epidemic proportions. Despite the use of guideline-directed medical therapies such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-adrenergic blockers, angiotensin receptor blockers, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists for chronic systolic HF for almost two decades, HF remains a leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditures. The Prospective Comparison of Angiotensin Receptor-Neprilysin Inhibitor with Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure (PARADIGM-HF) trial provided compelling evidence for the cardiovascular and mortality benefit of sacubitril/valsartan when compared to enalapril in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Sacubitril/valsartan performed better than enalapril across various HFrEF patient characteristics and showed substantial benefit in patients with other common comorbidities. Following the trial, the US Food and Drug Administration approved this drug for the treatment of HF. Various international HF consensus guidelines endorse sacubitril/valsartan as a class I recommendation for the management of symptomatic HFrEF. Although this high-quality clinical study is the largest and the most globally represented trial in HFrEF patients, concerns have been raised regarding the generalizability of the trial results in real-world HF population. The gaps in US Food and Drug Administration labeling and guideline recommendations might lead to this medication being used in a larger population than it was studied in. In this review, we will discuss the current role of sacubitril/valsartan in the management of HF, concerns related to PARADIGM-HF and answers, shortcomings of this novel drug, effects on patient characteristics, real-world eligibility, and the role of ongoing and further investigations to clarify the profile of sacubitril/valsartan in the management of HF.
Snow covered forest channel modeling for near-ground Wireless Sensor Networks

Through an intensive measurement campaign, this paper investigates propagation loss on snow covered terrain for near ground Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Here, we measure near ground path-loss and shadowing effects in a dense forest accumulated with snow of 60cm thickness at 2.45 GHz center frequency. These effects were studied by placing antennas at three different heights: 0 cm (buried inside the snow and on ground surface), 35 cm (partially buried in the snow), and 60 cm (located on the top of snow surface). Measurements were repeated for line-of-sight (LOS) and non-LOS (NLOS) scenarios.
MYTHONYMICAL SPACE PECULIARITIES IN FOREIGH FANTASY LITERATURE (BASED ON LITERARY WORKS BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN AND G.R.R. MARTIN)

В статье рассматриваются отличительные черты мифонимического пространства в произведениях Дж. Толкина «Властелин Колец: Хранители Кольца» и Дж. Мартина «Песнь льда и пламени: Игра Престолов». В работе анализируется понятие «мифоним», систематизируются различные подходы к классификации мифонимических единиц. В результате исследования разработана тематическая классификация мифонимических единиц из текстов Дж. Толкина и Дж. Мартина. Сделан вывод о роли мифонимов в литературе жанра фэнтези.
Favoring Some at the Expense of Others: Seat Biases

Seat biases are quantitative measures assessing the deviation of the number of seats apportioned to a party from the party’s ideal share of seats. Seat bias formulas for stationary divisor methods are calculated when parties are ordered by their vote strengths. The formulas are rather telling, and entail manifold consequences. The divisor method with standard rounding emerges as the unique stationary divisor method treating all parties in an unbiased fashion. In the presence of party alliances the seat bias formulas prove puzzling. It is virtually impossible to predict whether it is advantageous or disadvantageous for a party to join an alliance.
A regulatory science viewpoint on botanical–drug interactions

There is a continued predisposition of concurrent use of drugs and botanical products. Consumers often self-administer botanical products without informing their health care providers. The perceived safety of botanical products with lack of knowledge of the interaction potential poses a challenge for providers and both efficacy and safety concerns for patients. Botanical-drug combinations can produce untoward effects when botanical constituents modulate drug metabolizing enzymes and/or transporters impacting the systemic or tissue exposure of concomitant drugs. Examples of pertinent scientific literature evaluating the interaction potential of commonly used botanicals in the US are discussed. Current methodologies that can be applied to advance our efforts in predicting drug interaction liability is presented. This review also highlights the regulatory science viewpoint on botanical-drug interactions and labeling implications.
Lectures on:Classical Proofs as Programs

In the 1970’s the idea of using constructive proofs of theorems as programs was advocated and studied theoretically [6, 24]. In the 1980’s the computer science community started to experiment with this concept [5, 29], and today there are several prototype systems that enable us to write programs in this way [10, 22, 7, 29, 12]. So for instance, from a constructive proof of the Intermediate Value Theorem, a system like Nuprl [10] can extract a program which computes the intermediate value to any precision required [8].
Canine cyclic hematopoiesis: effects of chronic endotoxin administration

Endotoxin was given to grey collie dogs to investigate the mechanism of cyclic hematopoiesis. Over prolonged periods of daily administration, low doses of endotoxin (0.1 microgram/kg/day) failed to change the cycling of blood neutrophils or reticulocytes. However, higher doses of endotoxin maintained at a plateau level (5 microgram/kg/day) eliminated the cyclic changes in neutrophils and stabilized the reticulocyte and platelet counts in the normal range. Administration of endotoxin at this dose also eliminated the cyclic marrow differential count fluctuations characteristic of this disease. We infer from these results that endotoxin ameliorates the cyclical changes in blood cell counts by regulating hematopoietic proliferative activity at the stem cell level.
Examples of Auslander–Reiten Quivers

We have already pointed out in Sect.1.5 that Auslander–Reiten quivers provide a threefold information about the representation theory of the quiver, namely the indecomposable representations, the irreducible morphisms, and the almost split sequences—these in turn should be thought of the building blocks of arbitrary representations, morphisms, and short exact sequences, respectively.
Fostering Undergraduate Research with a Nontraditional Student Population

Involvement in undergraduate research experiences influences a student’s confidence and identity as a scientist. At traditional undergraduate institutions, undergraduate research requires a large commitment of a student’s time. For summer research experiences, students are often required to dedicate the entirety of their time during the duration of the program and are restricted from working or taking classes. Metropolitan State University, of St. Paul, Minnesota, serves primarily older students (mean age of approximately 31) with diverse backgrounds. A large majority (63%) of our population attends part-time due to employment and familial responsibilities. Undergraduate research opportunities have been designed to better accommodate our students’ more restrictive schedules. The independent study course has been limited to two credits, which equates to 60 hours of laboratory time per semester. The course has been designed to maximize the experience for students, through incorporation of essential soft ski...
Positive predictive value of biopsy of palpable masses following mastectomy.

Determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of biopsy of palpable masses following mastectomy (MX). Determine if there are patient characteristics, tumor, or imaging features more predictive of cancer. IRB-approved retrospective review of 16 396 breast ultrasounds June 2008-December 2015 identified patients with MX presenting with palpable masses. Medical records and imaging studies were reviewed. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher's exact test. 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. In all, 117 patients presented with palpable masses on the MX side. 101/117 patients who had a palpable mass on physical examination had a true sonographic mass to correlate with the clinical findings. 91/101 (90%) underwent biopsy: 19/91 (21%, 95% CI; 13-31) biopsies were malignant. 72/91 (79%) were benign. All 19 cancers were on the original cancer side. Recurrences ranged from 0.4 to 4.5 cm maximum diameter, mean 1.3 cm. Prophylactic vs therapeutic mastectomy was very statistically significant (P = .01). The use of tamoxifen or an AI was also statistically significant (P = .04). Patient age (P = 1.0), radiation therapy (P = 1.05), chemotherapy (P = .2), immediate breast reconstruction (P = .2), or implant vs flap (P = .2) had no statistically significant association with finding cancer on biopsy. Lesion shape (irregular vs oval/round) was highly statistically significant (P = .0003) as was non-parallel orientation on ultrasound (P = .008). Circumscribed vs non-circumscribed margins was also statistically significant (P = .008). The PPV of biopsy of palpable masses on the side of MX was 21% (95% CI; 13-31). All recurrences were on the original cancer side and this was very statistically significant.
Amorphization as a Pathway to Fast Charging Kinetics in Atomic Layer Deposition-Derived Titania Films for Lithium Ion Batteries

Safe, reliable materials with fast charging kinetics are required to increase the power density of batteries in electric vehicles. One potential avenue for improving kinetics involves disturbing th...
Do we have the ACHD physician resources we need to care for the burgeoning ACHD population

Background Delivery of care to the adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) population has been limited by a shortage in the ACHD physician resources. There is limited data regarding the adequacy of the ACHD physician resources in the United States and our population estimates are extrapolated from Canadian data. Therefore, we proposed to evaluate the adequacy of ACHD physician: patient ratios in the United States at both national and regional levels. Methods Data from the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) website along with metropolitan area and statewide population data from 2016 US Census Bureau estimates were analyzed. Physicians listed on the ACHA website were cross-referenced with ABIM to verify ACHD board certification status. Results There are 115 self-identified ACHD programs and 418 self-identified ACHD physicians listed in the ACHA website. There are 320 board-certified ACHD cardiologists in the United States today, including 161 not listed in the ACHA website. Regarding ratios of ACHD-certified physicians to patients, the best served metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is Raleigh-Cary, NC, and the worst served MSA is Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA. The best served State is Washington, DC, and the worst served State is Indiana. Conclusions The ACHD population continues to grow, and the looming national physician shortage is likely to greatly affect the ability to meet the complex needs of this growing population. In order to bring the ACHD patient: physician ratio to 1000:1, a minimum of 170 additional ACHD board-certified physicians are needed now.
B cell checkpoints in autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

B cells have important functions in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune rheumatic diseases. In addition to producing autoantibodies, B cells contribute to autoimmunity by serving as professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs), producing cytokines, and through additional mechanisms. B cell activation and effector functions are regulated by immune checkpoints, including both activating and inhibitory checkpoint receptors that contribute to the regulation of B cell tolerance, activation, antigen presentation, T cell help, class switching, antibody production and cytokine production. The various activating checkpoint receptors include B cell activating receptors that engage with cognate receptors on T cells or other cells, as well as Toll-like receptors that can provide dual stimulation to B cells via co-engagement with the B cell receptor. Furthermore, various inhibitory checkpoint receptors, including B cell inhibitory receptors, have important functions in regulating B cell development, activation and effector functions. Therapeutically targeting B cell checkpoints represents a promising strategy for the treatment of a variety of autoimmune rheumatic diseases. B cells contribute to the pathogenesis of many rheumatic diseases. Targeting immune checkpoints that control the activation and effector function of B cells represents a promising therapeutic avenue.
Comparative effectiveness of treatments for recurrent ovarian cancer.

e16551 Background: Traditionally, recurrent ovarian cancer has been treated with chemotherapy. However, increasingly, secondary cytoreductive surgery (SCS) is being performed. We undertook this stu...
Laboratory Performance Evaluation of Fine and Coarse-Graded Asphalt Concrete Mix

AbstractDuring the last 20 years, Superpave pavements were built using mostly coarse-graded mixes as opposed to fine-graded mixes. This is because coarse mix requires less asphalt binder than a fin...
Singing the Fronde: Placards, Street Songs, and Performed Politics

The Fronde generated vast amounts of ephemeral printed media that circulated polemical information and shaped public discourse. Pamphlets, street songs, and placards, known as mazarinades, survive ...
Food allergy in at-risk adolescents with asthma: A key area for focus

Abstract Background Asthma affects more than 6.2 million children in the United States and is a major source of chronic disease burden. Concurrent food allergy (FA) may be a risk factor for worse asthma outcomes. Objective To estimate the prevalence of FA among a cohort of adolescents with persistent asthma and assess whether FA is an independent risk factor for asthma morbidity. Methods We included 342 adolescents aged 12 to 16 years with persistent asthma from the Rochester city school district who participated in the School-Based Asthma Care for Teens trial between 2014 and 2018. Multivariable models were used to estimate the association between FA and asthma morbidity. Results Overall, 29% of adolescents with asthma reported having a FA. Although there were no statistically significant differences in daytime asthma symptoms, teens with FA had higher fractional exhaled nitric oxide (47.5 vs 33.9 P = .002) and reported more days with activity limitation owing to asthma (3.1 vs 2.3 days/2 weeks, P = .03) compared with teens without FA. Less than half (42%) of adolescents with FA had an epinephrine autoinjector. Conclusion This study found FA to be common among this cohort of adolescents with asthma. Although FA was not related to asthma symptom severity, adolescents with FA had higher fractional exhaled nitric oxide and more activity limitation, and most did not have epinephrine autoinjectors. A history of FA and lack of epinephrine autoinjector may increase near-fatal outcomes in adolescents with asthma. Preventive measures in addition to standard asthma treatments are warranted for these teens.
Markers of Follicular Helper T Cells Are Occasionally Expressed in T-Cell or Histiocyte-Rich Large B-Cell Lymphoma, Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma, and Atypical Paracortical HyperplasiaA Diagnostic Pitfall For T-Cell Lymphomas of T Follicular Helper Origin.

Objectives Follicular helper T cell (TFH) markers are expressed in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and peripheral T-cell lymphoma of the TFH phenotype (PTCL-TFH). However, differential expression and coexpression of these markers in benign and other malignant lymphoid proliferations have not been well studied. Methods We performed programmed death-1 (PD-1), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13), inducible costimulator (ICOS), CD10, and B-cell lymphoma 6 protein (BCL-6) immunohistochemistry on AITL, PTCL not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS), PTCL-TFH, T-cell or histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma (THRLBCL), classic Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL), atypical paracortical hyperplasia (PCH), progressive transformation of germinal centers (PTGC), and reactive follicular hyperplasia (RFH). Results CXCL13 and ICOS were more sensitive but less specific for AITL than PD-1, CD10, and BCL-6. Moreover, 74% of AITL (none of PTCL-NOS or PTCL-TFH) coexpressed more than 2 TFH markers. In background T cells of THRLBCL, 70% of cases coexpressed more than 1 marker. The background T cells of CHL expressed all TFH markers except CD10 in all cases. In addition, 13% of PCH cases coexpressed more than 1 marker. In RFH and PTGC, all markers were expressed mainly in germinal centers with rare extrafollicular staining. Conclusions AITL, PTCL-NOS, and PTCL-TFH show differential expression of TFH markers. AITL frequently coexpresses more than 2 TFH markers. TFH markers can be expressed in PCH and in background T cells of THRLBCL and CHL. Consequently, caution should be used before a diagnosis of AITL is established, particularly with limited samples.
Solid-state Fermentation in the Bioavailability of Nutrients in Rice Bran

Rice bran, a co-product from grain processing, is rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds. However, rice bran has some limitations for its application, such as the activity of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes, median digestibility and antinutritional factors. However, fermentative processes are promising to minimize these effects efficiently. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the advantages that fermentation has on the composition of nutrients and benefits of rice bran for human consumption. With recent studies in the literature, the benefits of fermentation are evident in increasing the bioavailability of nutrients, mitigating antinutritional factors, increasing digestibility making biomass a promising alternative in human nutrition.
Fifth sound in superfluid 4 He below 1 K

Fifth-sound propagation has been studied in He II adsorbed on large-diameter alumina (${\mathrm{Al}}_{2}$${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$) powder grains below 1 K. The velocity of the fifth-sound mode in $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ remains in good agreement with the theoretical value ${c}_{5}^{2}=(\frac{{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}}{\ensuremath{\rho}}){c}_{2}^{2}$. Using tabulated values for $\frac{{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n}}{\ensuremath{\rho}}$, values of the second-sound velocity are obtained.