cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PHILOSOPHY, CA. 950―CA. 1050

The leading conception of “Philosophy” in the period 950–1050 distinguishes it from the discipline as understood either in the Carolingian period or the later eleventh and twelfth centuries. This essay takes issue with current opinion on the subject, which tends to give particular stress to the cultivation of Aristotelian logic, mediated above all by Boethius. The focus of the consensus view is fixed on Benedictine monasteries. However, the imperial court and the cathedral schools which arose in the second half of the tenth century received and developed a conception of philosophy based on Cicero’s ethical philosophy that is based on the Roman reduction of ancient Stoicism to an ethic of state service. This philosophy was not speculative. Dialectic played a part, but as a handmaiden of the language arts leading to public oratory. Witnesses to this development include Ruotger, the biographer of Bruno of Cologne; Gerbert of Aurillac; and a host of clerical writers in letters, poems and biographies from the ...
Modeling of Damaged Mosfets

It has already been pointed out in the previous chapters that the performance degradation of MOSFET devices due to hot-carrier effects leads to the degradation of circuit performance over time. The extent of the hot-carrier damage each transistor experiences is determined by its terminal voltage waveforms, i.e., by the operating conditions of the circuit. Consequently, the mechanism of hot-carrier induced device degradation must be examined within the context of circuit simulation.
Utility of a Clinical Swallowing Exam for Understanding Swallowing Physiology

A clinical swallowing examination (CSE) is generally believed to be inadequate for making judgments regarding swallowing physiology compared to objective assessments. A large volume of studies has heavily focused on identifying aspiration using a CSE and research addressing physiologic information gathered from a CSE is sparse. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the CSE for assessing physiology compared to videofluoroscopic swallowing studies (VFSS). Data were derived from a prior investigation of sixty adult patients post-stroke tested with CSE and VFSS. The CSE included an examination of historical measures, oral motor/speech/voice, and trial swallows. The VFSS consisted of swallows of controlled portions of thin, thick, puree, and solid boluses. Previous results from these patients demonstrated significant accuracy in making binary estimates of aspiration and the presence of dysphagia. This analysis of data focused on physiologic measures, as well as overall dysphagia severity and diet recommendations. Significant associations between CSE and VFSS ratings were observed for hyolaryngeal elevation, overall swallowing severity, and diet recommendations. These findings were specific for certain bolus consistencies. These data suggest that the CSE may not provide significant physiological information other than hyolaryngeal excursion. This does not preclude the fact that the CSE is important in providing substantial information about overall dysphagia severity. It appears that the CSE is more powerful than simply a "screening" tool. More prospective research designs are warranted to substantiate the strengths of the CSE.
Configuration Coordinate Curves for F -Centers in Alkali Halide Crystals

Measurements have been made of the $F$-center absorption band in KCl, KBr, KI, NaCl, and LiF in the range from 4\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K to 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. Analysis of these data shows that the important ionic vibrational frequency influencing the $F$-center is considerably lower than that of the lattice, indicating that a configuration coordinate curve model may be the appropriate one to use, rather than the continuous dielectric model. Using the peak of the $F$-center emission bands as determined by Botden, van Doorn, and Haven, and the present absorption data, configuration coordinate curves are computed for the ground and excited state curves of $F$-centers in KCl, KBr, KI, and NaCl. Using these curves, predictions of the emission band-widths are found to be in agreement with experiment except for the case of KCl. The low efficiency of $F$-center luminescence may be understood by applying the criterion for luminescence proposed by Dexter, Klick, and Russell to these configuration coordinate curves.
Optimierung des Screenings auf Mangelernährung im Krankenhaus durch „Bottom-up“- und „Top-down“-Strategien – das Krefelder Projekt

Mangelernahrung findet sich haufig in deutschen Krankenhausern. Obwohl die Mangelernahrung fur die Prognose von Erkrankungen und die okonomischen Auswirkungen eine immense Bedeutung hat, sind nur in wenigen deutschen Krankenhausern qualifizierte Ernahrungsteams vorhanden. Die systematische Fortbildung der Mitarbeiter mit Beteiligung aller Berufgruppen erscheint zur systematischen Erfassung von Mangelernahrung zwingend erforderlich. Diese „Bottom-up“-Strategie beinhaltet die systematische Schulung der Mitarbeiter und die validierte Erfassung der Mangelernahrung bereits bei der Aufnahme des Patienten mittels eines EDV-implementierten validierten Fragebogens und nachfolgender Weiterbetreuung durch das Ernahrungsteam nach standardisierten Vorgaben. Die Zuweisung verpflichtender Verantwortungsbereiche an die beteiligten Berufsgruppen durch den Kliniktrager (Dienstanweisung, „Top-down“-Strategie) erscheint fur die flachendeckende Erfassung und effektive Bearbeitung der Mangelernahrung hilfreich.
Secreted Frizzled-related protein 2 as a target in antifibrotic therapeutic intervention

Progressive fibrosis is a pathological hallmark of many chronic diseases responsible for organ failure. Although there is currently no therapy on the market that specifically targets fibrosis, the ...
Strategizing Strategic Human Resource Management

The trend toward approaching human resource management practice from a strategic perspective has slowly continued to increase in popularity in organizations. Human resource management education continues to attempt to develop courses and meaningful learning experiences that allow students to understand the nature of strategic HR, largely in tandem with continued criticism over the relevance of management education in general. This article presents a field-based learning experience that allows students to investigate and analyze an organization’s HR practices and policies from an integrated and strategic perspective.
Formula feeding of infants in the first months.

Almost all babies do well on a formula prepared from any one of the three dozen or so infant-feeding products available. Feeding problems usually arise from difficulties with formula preparation and administration. True intolerance of a formula is not common.
Asymptotic normalization coefficients and radiative widths

The asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) is an important quantity in the calculation of radiative width amplitudes, providing limits on the radiative width. Here we present some examples showing the connection between the ANC and radiative width. In particular, the radiative width of the $E1$ transition $^{17}\text{F}(1/{2}^{\ensuremath{-}},\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{E}_{x}=3.104\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV})$ to $^{17}\mathrm{F}(1/{2}^{+},{E}_{x}=0.495\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV})$ reported by Rolfs [Nucl. Phys. A 217, 29 (1973)] is $(1.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ eV. Meanwhile the ANC for the first excited state in $^{17}\text{F}$ puts a lower limit on the radiative width, which is $(3.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.50)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$ eV. Such a strong disagreement between the measured radiative width and the lower limit imposed by the ANC calls for a new measurement of this radiative width. Other examples are also considered.
Immunoblastic Sarcoma of the Bladder

We describe the first case of immunoblastic sarcoma of the bladder. Urologists should be aware of this entity arising in organs that are prone to chronic antigenic stimulation. Treatment consists of radiotherapy for localized lesions and combination chemotherapy for more advanced disease.
Wide bandwidth optical signals for high range resolution measurements in water

Measurements with high range resolution are needed to identify underwater threats, especially when two-dimensional contrast information is insufficient to extract object details. The challenge is that optical measurements are limited by scattering phenomena induced by the underwater channel. Back-scatter results in transmitted photons being directed back to the receiver before reaching the target of interest which induces a clutter signal for ranging and a reduction in contrast for imaging. Multiple small-angle scattering (forward-scatter) results in transmitted photons being directed to unintended regions of the target of interest (spatial spreading), while also stretching the temporal profile of a short optical pulse (temporal spreading). Spatial and temporal spreading of the optical signal combine to cause a reduction in range resolution in conventional laser imaging systems. NAVAIR has investigated ways in which wide bandwidth, modulated optical signals can be utilized to improve ranging and imaging performance in turbid water environments. Experimental efforts have been conducted to investigate channel effects on the propagated frequency content, as well as different filtering and processing techniques on the return signals to maximize range resolution. Of particular interest for the modulated pulses are coherent detection and processing techniques employed by the radar community, including methods to reduce sidelobe clutter. This paper will summarize NAVAIR’s work and show that wideband optical signals, in combination with the CLEAN algorithm, can indeed provide enhancements to range resolution and 3D imagery in turbid water environments.
"I'm Not Mentally Ill": Identity Deflection as a Form of Stigma Resistance

Mental illness identity deflection refers to rebuffing the idea that one is mentally ill. Predictors of identity deflection and its consequences for well-being were examined for individuals with mental disorders in the National Comorbidity Study-Replication (N = 1,368). Respondents more often deflected a mental illness identity if they had a nonsevere disorder, had low impairment in functioning, had no treatment experience, viewed possible treatment as undesirable, and held multiple social roles, consistent with theory about stigma resistance. Persons who deflected a mental illness identity had lower distress and more positive affect than those who accepted it, even net of disorder severity, impairment level, and treatment experience. Among those who had ever been in treatment, deflection buffered the negative effects of serious impairment but exacerbated the effects of having a severe disorder on well-being, suggesting more complex consequences of formal labeling (greater stigma but helpful services), consistent with previous research.
Named-entity recognition and data visualization techniques to communicate mission command to autonomous systems

As robotic systems are integrated into mission operations, they provide key benefits over traditional manned systems such as increased endurance, versatility, and risk reduction for personnel. In order for robotic systems to become fully integrated into United States Army missions, they will need to gain a level of autonomy that is closer to that of human personnel. Under Mission Command, the current system of issuing orders, an Operational Order (OPORD) contains the information required to execute a mission. The structure allows for authors of OPORDs to leave many details of the operation open to the discretion of the reader, making task interpretation and execution difficult for an autonomous system. The goal of this project, and one step of many in the process of automating systems to read OPORDs, is to show how OPORDs can be annotated with relevant information (such as locations, coordinates, and organizations) using the natural language processing techniques of tokenization and named-entity recognition (NER). Using A-fold cross validation of a Conditional Random Field (CRF) sequence model on 9 OPORDs containing 38,551 tokens, we were able to extract entities with an overall precision of 0.702, recall of 0.478, and F-measure of 0.569.
Rates of Secretion and Metabolism of Hormones Estimated from Specific Activities of Urinary Metabolites

The original methods to measure secretory rates were based on the concept that the daily production of a hormone could be estimated from the amount of one of its metabolites excreted in urine during 24 hours if the relation that exists between the rate of release of the hormone into circulation and the rate of excretion of the metabolite were known. This relation can be determined by administering a known dose of the hormone and measuring the total amount of the metabolite in urine in excess over the basal level of excretion.
Merchant capital in neoliberal capitalism: A mere appendage to industrial capital or a determining force?:

After the advent of industrial capitalism in the eighteenth century, it has generally been understood that commercial capital plays a supporting role in the overall capitalist accumulation. The ris...
Enhanced autophagy in pulmonary endothelial cells on exposure to HIV-Tat and morphine: Role in HIV-related pulmonary arterial hypertension

Intravenous drug use is one of the major risk factors for HIV-infection in HIV-related pulmonary arterial hypertension patients. We previously demonstrated exaggerated pulmonary vascular remodeling with enhanced apoptosis followed by increased proliferation of pulmonary endothelial cells on simultaneous exposure to both opioids and HIV protein(s). Here we hypothesize that the exacerbation of autophagy may be involved in the switching of endothelial cells from an early apoptotic state to later hyper-proliferative state. Treatment of human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) with both the HIV-protein Tat and morphine resulted in an oxidative stress-dependent increase in the expression of various markers of autophagy and formation of autophagosomes when compared to either Tat or morphine monotreatments as demonstrated by western blot, transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence. Autophagy flux experiments suggested increased formation rather than decreased clearance of autolysosomes. Inhibition of autophagy resulted in a significant increase in apoptosis and reduction in proliferation of HPMECs with combined morphine and Tat (M+T) treatment compared to monotreatments whereas stimulation of autophagy resulted in opposite effects. Significant increases in the expression of autophagy markers as well as the number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes was observed in the lungs of SIV-infected macaques and HIV-infected humans exposed to opioids. Overall our findings indicate that morphine in combination with viral protein(s) results in the induction of autophagy in pulmonary endothelial cells that may lead to an increase in severity of angio-proliferative remodeling of the pulmonary vasculature on simian and human immunodeficiency virus infection in the presence of opioids.
Western Europe: The Politics of Judgment

Despite a long history of democracy and religious toleration, the Jews of the Netherlands experienced one of the highest victimization rates in Western Europe (67%). Despite higher levels of antisemitism and the notorious collaboration of the Vichy regime, France lost only 25% of its Jewish population to the Holocaust. In this chapter, Hollander explains that the Jews of France did not survive despite Vichy collaboration, but because of it. By helping Nazi Germany in military and economic affairs, Vichy France could negotiate for assurances that foreign Jews would be deported first, and Jews with French citizenship, temporarily spared. After refusing to negotiate with Germany, the Dutch government was powerless to stop the imposition of a very direct form of German hierarchy, one that allowed Germany to implement the Final Solution in that country without limits. Hollander also explains Belgium’s ‘moderate’ victimization rate (53%) compared to the Netherlands and France.
Desire for predictive testing for Alzheimer's disease and impact on advance care planning: a cross-sectional study.

It is unknown whether older adults in the United States would be willing to take a test predictive of future Alzheimer’s disease, or whether testing would change behavior. Using a nationally representative sample, we explored who would take a free and definitive test predictive of Alzheimer’s disease, and examined how using such a test may impact advance care planning. A cross-sectional study within the 2012 Health and Retirement Study of adults aged 65 years or older asked questions about a test predictive of Alzheimer’s disease (N = 874). Subjects were asked whether they would want to take a hypothetical free and definitive test predictive of future Alzheimer’s disease. Then, imagining they knew they would develop Alzheimer’s disease, subjects rated the chance of completing advance care planning activities from 0 to 100. We classified a score > 50 as being likely to complete that activity. We evaluated characteristics associated with willingness to take a test for Alzheimer’s disease, and how such a test would impact completing an advance directive and discussing health plans with loved ones. Overall, 75% (N = 648) of the sample would take a free and definitive test predictive of Alzheimer’s disease. Older adults willing to take the test had similar race and educational levels to those who would not, but were more likely to be ≤75 years old (odds ratio 0.71 (95% CI 0.53–0.94)). Imagining they knew they would develop Alzheimer’s, 81% would be likely to complete an advance directive, although only 15% had done so already. In this nationally representative sample, 75% of older adults would take a free and definitive test predictive of Alzheimer’s disease. Many participants expressed intent to increase activities of advance care planning with this knowledge. This confirms high public interest in predictive testing for Alzheimer’s disease and suggests this may be an opportunity to engage patients in advance care planning discussions.
CXCL12 Enhances Survival of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells Via a RAF-Dependent Pathway That Can Be Inhibited by Sorafenib

Abstract 2445 The cellular microenvironment is critical for the survival of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) cells. CLL cells die rapidly in vitro unless they receive survival signals from stromal cells or “nurse-like” cells (NLCs). CLL cell survival is in part mediated by the stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1alpha, designated as CXCL12), which is expressed by NLCs. CXCL12 is a highly conserved chemokine that can promote CLL-cell survival through its receptor CXCR4. Prior studies showed that treatment of CLL cells with CXCL12 induced activation of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase (ERK). In this study, we examined CXCL12 signaling in CLL cells to characterize the mechanism (s) accounting for its ability to enhance CLL-cell survival. For this we examined CLL cells with high- or low- level expression of the zeta-associated protein of 70 kD (ZAP-70), a tyrosine kinase that is expressed by CLL cells of patients who have an increased risk for early disease progression and short survival. We found that CXCL12 induced a robust intracellular Ca2+ flux in ZAP-70+ CLL cells but only modest-to-poor Ca2+ flux in ZAP-70-negative CLL cells. Furthermore, ZAP-70+ CLL cells (n=10) responded to CXCL12 stimulation with increased and prolonged phosphorylation of ERK and MEK compared to ZAP-70-negative CLL cells (n=9). To investigate the underlying mechanism for MEK activation in ZAP-70+ CLL, we used small molecule inhibitors and found that CXCL12-induced phosphorylation of ERK and MEK could be blocked by sorafenib, a small molecule inhibitor of RAF. The role of RAF was further supported using KG5, a kinase inhibitor of RAF signaling through B-RAF and C-RAF in addition to platelet-derived-growth-factor-receptor (PDGFR) alpha and beta, Flt3, and Kit. As a control, we used a kinase inhibitor that targets all of these kinases except B- and C-RAF (KG1) and found it could not inhibit MEK activation. The involvement of Raf was further substantiated using GW5074, an inhibitor of B-RAF and C-RAF. Both KG5 and GW5074 could inhibit CXCL12-induced MEK activation in ZAP-70+ CLL samples. CXCL12-induced activation of MEK/ERK was not affected by sunitinib, an inhibitor of non-RAF kinases that also are inhibited by sorafenib, including VEGFR, PDGFR, Flt3, and c-Kit. Sorafenib not only inhibited MEK/ERK activation but also caused apoptosis of CLL cells whereby ZAP-70+ CLL cells showed incresed sensitivity to lower doses of sorafenib. Consistent with these results we found that ZAP-70+ CLL cells had a greater responsiveness to CXCL12 for survival in vitro than did ZAP-70-negative CLL cells. We conclude that CXCL12 can enhance survival particularly of ZAP-70+ CLL cells via a RAF dependent pathway, which can be targeted by the kinase inhibitor sorafenib. As such, sorafenib might be effective in blocking the protective influence of the microenvironment on CLL cells, suggesting that this drug could have activity in the treatment of patients with this disease. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Degradation of a fluoroquinolone antibiotic in an urbanized stretch of the River Tiber

Abstract The widespread detection of antibiotics in terrestrial and aquatic systems has engendered significant scientific and regulatory concern. Overall, knowledge concerning the ecotoxicology and sub-lethal effects in water is scarce, but some experimental studies show that antibiotics can induce pathogen resistance and they can also have detrimental effects on natural microbial communities and their key functions. The main aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of the biodegradation and photodegradation processes of the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin (CIP) in the River Tiber waters, in a stretch highly impacted from human pressure. Two set of microcosms consisting of river water containing the natural microbial community and treated with 500 μg/L of CIP in absence or presence of UV-light were performed. Moreover, some microcosms were filled with river water previously sterilized and then treated with the antibiotic. The combined experimental set made it possible to evaluate if the antibiotic CIP could be photodegraded and/or biodegraded. CIP residual concentrations were measured over time by using HPLC coupled to fluorescence detection (FLD) and the effects of the antibiotic on the natural microbial community were assessed in terms of live cell abundance. The key role of light in CIP disappearance was confirmed, but also its biodegradation in natural river water was demonstrated. In fact, differently from other experiments we found a higher degradation rate (DT 50 = 10.4 d), in presence of both light and the natural river bacterial populations than in the same sterilized river water (DT 50 = 18.4 d). Moreover, even in the dark, a partial CIP biodegradation was also observed (DT 50 = 177 d). The overall results were supported by the increase in live cell numbers with the decrease of CIP concentrations both in the dark and light condition.
Protein-protein binding before and after photo-modification of albumin

Bioeffects of directed-optical-energy encompass a wide range of applications. One aspect of photochemical interactions involves irradiating a photosensitizer with visible light in order to induce protein unfolding and consequent changes in function. In the past, irradiation of several dye-protein combinations has revealed effects on protein structure. Beta lactoglobulin, human serum albumin (HSA) and tubulin have all been photo-modified with meso-tetrakis(4- sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TSPP) bound, but only in the case of tubulin has binding caused a verified loss of biological function (loss of ability to form microtubules) as a result of this light-induced structural change. The current work questions if the photo-induced structural changes that occur to HSA, are sufficient to disable its biological function of binding to osteonectin. The albumin-binding protein, osteonectin, is about half the molecular weight of HSA, so the two proteins and their bound product can be separated and quantified by size exclusion high performance liquid chromatography. TSPP was first bound to HSA and irradiated, photo-modifying the structure of HSA. Then native HSA or photo-modified HSA (both with TSPP bound) were compared, to assess loss in HSA’s innate binding ability as a result of light-induced structure modification.
Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Residue

Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) residue is produced when SOx and NOx are removed from gases produced during the combustion of coal. This by-product is becoming increasingly significant with more stringent air quality standards, and increasing fossil fuel consumption. FGD residues vary widely in their composition; ranging from products composed mainly of gypsum to materials which contain large quantities of fly ash. Factors that influence the final composition of the material include the source of the parent coal, and the type of FGD system used. With more advanced FGD systems sulfur removal is more efficient, and the material is of a higher purity. Older techniques frequently produce materials that are contaminated with fly ash. FGD residue does not contain significant quantities of heavy metals; contamination or mixing with fly ash contributes trace elements such as boron, arsenic and selenium to the material making their disposal a potential environmental risk. While many construction-based re-use avenues are being explored, the potential use of FGD as a soil amendment remains the most promising. Gypsum-containing materials have been used in the amelioration of physical soil problems such as water holding capacity and subsurface acidity. The production, reuse and environmental effects of FGD are discussed in detail in this chapter. A greenhouse-based pot study and a large scale mesocosm experiment indicate that while concerns about heavy metal leaching are not without basis, concentrations of B, Se and As do not exceed drinking water standards, and do not accumulate significantly in any of the plant species tested. Furthermore, FGD addition produced an increase in the dry matter production of cotton, corn, soybean and radish crops. Strict observance of safe upper limits for FGD application (approximately 100 t ha−1 in this study), and careful consideration of the site topography are necessary for the safe use of FGD material, and should follow careful characterization of the material for the extent of fly ash contamination.
Temperature dependence of the band gap in CdTe

Abstract The temperature dependence of the direct band gap in CdTe is investigated theoretically. The available experimental data shows that the band edges vary as T 2 at low temperatures. The calculations indicate the band shifts are due to hole interactions with acoustical phonons; the temperature dependent shifts in the conduction band are negligible. Good agreement between predicted and measured band edge shifts are obtained when the degeneracy and p -symmetry of the valence band are considered. This allows the influence of TA phonons to be included, which provide the major contribution to the hole self energies.
The Use of Transthoracic Echocardiography in Diagnosing Brachiocephalic-Subclavian Artery Stenosis.

Subclavian artery stenosis is commonly caused by atherosclerotic disease. Clinical manifestations include ipsilateral arm claudication, arm numbness, vertebrobasilar symptoms, and cardiac ischemia secondary to coronary steal (in patients with left internal mammary artery bypass graft).1 Diagnosis has been traditionally made using duplex ultrasound and confirmed using computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, echocardiography can be useful in detecting ostial and proximal brachiocephalic, left subclavian, and left carotid disease, although this utility has been underappreciated. We present the case of a female patient with a history of right arm numbness and dizziness with recent unremarkable carotid arterial Doppler findings who was diagnosed with right brachiocephalic arterial stenosis incidentally found on transthoracic echocardiography.
DOA estimation with k-times extended co-prime arrays

Sparse arrays such as co-prime arrays, nested arrays and minimum redundancy arrays (MRAs) can achieve larger number of degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) with fewer sensors by exploring their difference co-arrays. Co-prime arrays become more attractive, as there exist no exact expressions of MRA configurations for an arbitrary number of sensors and the nested arrays suffer greatly from mutual coupling. However, in order to achieve a large number of DoFs, traditional extended co-prime arrays have a large array aperture compared to the DoFs gained. In this paper, we propose a novel advanced co-prime array geometry that can not only further reduce the number of required sensors but also significantly reduce the array aperture while achieving the same number of DoFs. On the other hand, it has better performance than nested arrays in the presence of mutual coupling. Simulation results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed array geometry in achieving higher quality direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation.
Abstract 142: Latino Stroke Survivors More Likely to Experience Depression

Background: Literature suggests that White Americans experience more depression in general, and post-stroke depression than non-White Americans, but depression disparities have not been well-explor...
Significance of the Chronobiological Approach in Carrying Out Aging Studies

Chronobiology is the branch of science that explores mechanisms of biological time structure, including important rhythmic manifestations of life.
The Prognostic Impact of KRAS Mutation in Patients Having Curative Resection of Synchronous Colorectal Liver Metastases

m-KRAS has been recently reported to be a significant prognostic factor in patients undergoing resection of colorectal liver metastases. This is due to the lack of response to monoclonal epithelial growth factor receptor antibodies, and potentially as a result of a more aggressive tumor biology. The National Cancer Database was queried to identify patients with known KRAS status presenting with colorectal cancer and liver metastases who underwent resection of the primary tumor and metastatic disease between 2010 and 2015. A total of 2655 patients were identified of which 1116 (42%) had m-KRAS. Tumor size, lymph node involvement rates, and margin status of the primary tumor were similar between patients with m-KRAS and wild-type KRAS (wt-KRAS). In the multivariable analysis, African-American race and right-sided colon cancers were independently associated with m-KRAS (both p < 0.001). m-KRAS patients had a significantly lower overall survival (OS) than those with wt-KRAS, with a 3- and 5-year OS of 51 vs. 64% and 31 vs. 42%, respectively (p < 0.001). After adjustment for available prognostic confounders, factors independently associated with worse OS were increasing age, receipt of monoagent chemotherapy, tumor size, positive lymph node, and resection margin status of the primary tumor, right-sided cancers, and m-KRAS. m-KRAS is associated with worse OS in patients presenting with colorectal cancer and liver metastases undergoing resection of the primary tumor and metastatic disease. Right-sided lesions and African-American race were associated with m-KRAS. However, while right-sided remained an independent prognostic factor for OS, race did not.
Robust desynchronization of Parkinson’s disease pathological oscillations by frequency modulation of delayed feedback deep brain stimulation

The hyperkinetic symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) are associated with the ensembles of interacting oscillators that cause excess or abnormal synchronous behavior within the Basal Ganglia (BG) circuitry. Delayed feedback stimulation is a closed loop technique shown to suppress this synchronous oscillatory activity. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) via delayed feedback is known to destabilize the complex intermittent synchronous states. Computational models of the BG network are often introduced to investigate the effect of delayed feedback high frequency stimulation on partially synchronized dynamics. In this study, we develop a reduced order model of four interacting nuclei of the BG as well as considering the Thalamo-Cortical local effects on the oscillatory dynamics. This model is able to capture the emergence of 34 Hz beta band oscillations seen in the Local Field Potential (LFP) recordings of the PD state. Train of high frequency pulses in a delayed feedback stimulation has shown deficiencies such as strengthening the synchronization in case of highly fluctuating neuronal activities, increasing the energy consumed as well as the incapability of activating all neurons in a large-scale network. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose a new feedback control variable based on the filtered and linearly delayed LFP recordings. The proposed control variable is then used to modulate the frequency of the stimulation signal rather than its amplitude. In strongly coupled networks, oscillations reoccur as soon as the amplitude of the stimulus signal declines. Therefore, we show that maintaining a fixed amplitude and modulating the frequency might ameliorate the desynchronization process, increase the battery lifespan and activate substantial regions of the administered DBS electrode. The charge balanced stimulus pulse itself is embedded with a delay period between its charges to grant robust desynchronization with lower amplitudes needed. The efficiency of the proposed Frequency Adjustment Stimulation (FAS) protocol in a delayed feedback method might contribute to further investigation of DBS modulations aspired to address a wide range of abnormal oscillatory behavior observed in neurological disorders.
Flat Subwavelength Grating Achromatic Lens Over Whole Visible Bandwidths

One of the major challenges for emerging planar subwavelength micro lens is the significant chromatic behavior due to phase mismatch of subwavelength phase shifters. In this work, the achromatic micro grating lens covering the whole visible wavelength is demonstrated by utilizing relatively low index contrast gratings. Based on the unique chromatic phase shift behavior of polymer nano structure, we have designed and fabricated a broadband subwavelength achromatic micro lens that can cover 250 nm of visible bandwidths (from 435 nm to 685 nm) with focal shift less than 5%. Our works also represent the first time to design, fabricate and characterize micro grating lens (7 microns in size) promising for compact integrated nanophotonic devices on chip. In addition, there are more advantages of using a polymer based micro lens such as easy fabrication on flexible substrate and potential applications including imaging, spectroscopy, lithography, laser fabrication and future integrated wearable devices.
FUTURES-DPE: towards dynamic provisioning and execution of geosimulations in HPC environments

Geosimulations using computer simulation models provideGI scientists an effective way to study complex geographic phenomena and predict future outcomes. Typically, geosimulations are developed to execute in an HPC environment with parallel and distributed execution capabilities. However, traditional HPC environments limit these simulations to a static runtime environment, where resources for execution must be decided before execution. Traditional simulation approaches such as a data parallel approach assigns fixed computing resources on every unit of data (e.g., a tile or a county). However, in many practical situations, a user may want to assign additional computing resources to speedup or perform more computation in a specific region. For example, in an urban growth model (UGM) simulation, to explore the outcomes of changes due to urban policy in a tile or a group of tiles at a given time-step, an urban geographer may want to assign more computing resources to those group of tiles to quickly determine impacts of policy on urbanization. In the absence of a dynamic resource allocation mechanism, the utility of a geosimulation to explore what-if scenarios on-the-fly is limited to pre-allocated computing resources. Thus, to effectively leverage existing resources, we first design a co-scheduling approach for geosimulations in a resource constrained HPC environment. We then present a second design for a geosimulation which allows dynamic provisioning of resources in an HPC environment based on run-time users' demands. Finally, to demonstrate the utility of the two approaches we modify the FUTURES geosimulation to support computationally expensive high-resolution simulation in regions of interest (ROIs) as specified by a user using the FUTURES-DPE framework.
The Transcript of a Continuing Conversation: David Zarefsky and Public Address

This essay examines David Zarefsky's contributions to the research, teaching, and practice of public address, arguing that his career exemplifies the thorough intertwining of these variant forms of...
Nanophotonics Based Residue Number System

Here we design a nanophotonic RNS arithmetic by spatially shifting the input waveguides relative to the routers’ outputs, where the moduli are represented by the number of waveguides under 10’s ps computational execution time, which can be used for functional analysis of convolutional neural networks.
Combustion of a Single Wood Log Under Furnace Conditions

This paper presents the results of experimental combustion studies of large particle (>10 cm) thermally thick woody biomass under conditions representative of packed bed combustion. The combustion rate of thermally thick yellow poplar and paper birch tree segments (12 cm to 21 cm in diameter by 1.5 m long) in a typical combustion environment was measured in a special test furnace using load cells to measure mass versus time. Test conditions included a temperature range of 950°C to 1340°C and a variety of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor concentrations. Both green and dry woods were tested. The time to consume 90% of the mass of the wood ranged from 13 min to 55 min depending on wood and furnace conditions. The thickest char layer observed during these studies was 2 cm. A simple relationship for the buildup of the char layer within the range of conditions studied was developed. A numerical model to determine the combustion rate of single logs within the kiln, for the range of experimental values was developed using global reaction rates for combustion and gasification. Agreement between the numerical model and the experimental values is within 30% for nearly all of the 72 data points.
Chapter 11 – Correlation and Regression: Measuring and Predicting Relationships

In this chapter you will learn how to recognize and work with the various types of structure we find in bivariate data: a linear (straight-line) relationship, no relationship, a nonlinear relationship, unequal variability, clustering, and outliers. By exploring your data using a scatterplot, you can gain additional insights beyond the conventional statistical summaries. There are two basic approaches to summarizing bivariate data: correlation analysis summarizes the strength of the relationship between the two factors, while regression analysis shows you how to use that relationship to predict or control one of the variables using the other. There are two measures of the performance of a regression analysis: the standard error of estimate will tell you the typical size of the prediction errors, while the coefficient of determination (equal to the square of the correlation r) tells you the percentage of the variability of the Y variable that is “explained by” the X variable. Statistical inference in regression analysis uses the linear model to produce confidence intervals in the usual way for the estimated effects based on their standard errors. Inference also leads to hypothesis testing which takes a closer look now at the relationship that appears to exist in the data and helps you decide either that the relationship is significant (and worth your managerial time) or that it could reasonably be due to randomness alone.
Modeling Vowel Quantity Scales in Q Theory

A growing body of research suggests that vowels vary in degree of strength. These strength differences are borne out in the degree to which these segments undergo or trigger phonological processes such as stress assignment or harmony. Traditionally, this variability has been accounted for through binary differences in phonological representations, such as presence or absence of a segment in the underlying representation, presence or absence of a phonological feature, and moraicity or non-moraicity of the relevant segment. While distinctions in underlying status and moraic structure are an effective tool for capturing some of the observed differences in vowel strength, they do not capture all attested differences. In this paper, we offer evidence supporting a four-point strength scale to which faithfulness and markedness constraints can refer. This model allows for strength differences among underlying and inserted vowels, and within monomoraic and bimoraic vowels as well, subject to scalar implications. We argue that Q-Theoretic representations offer the necessary representational tool to capture the full range of vowel strength.
Publicly Evaluatable Perceptual Hashing

Perceptual hashing allows the computation of a robust fingerprint of media files, such that the fingerprint can be used to detect the same object even if it has been modified in perceptually non-significant ways (e.g., compression). The robustness of such functions relies on the use of secret keys both during the computation and the detection phase. We present examples of publicly evaluatable perceptual hash functions which allow a user to compute the perceptual hash of an image using a public key, while only the detection algorithm will use the secret key. Our technique can be used to encourage users to submit intimate images to blacklist databases to stop those images from ever being posted online – indeed using a publicly evaluatable perceptual hash function the user can privately submit the fingerprint, without ever revealing the image.
Advance Care Planning and End-Of-Life Communications: Practical Tips for Oncology Advanced Practitioners

Advance care planning discussions ensure patients' values and goals of care, including the freedom to choose their place of death, are respected. The benefits of advance care planning and early end-of-life care discussions are often delayed, as these discussions are not initiated early in patients' cancer trajectories. As a result, patients' wishes often remain unknown until the last phase of their life. Evidence suggests that many patients inappropriately receive aggressive treatment near the end of life, which leads to higher resource utilization, decreased quality of life, and increased cost. The purpose of this article is to provide practical tips to the oncology advanced practitioner on initiating advance care planning and end-of-life care discussions with patients and their families or caregivers.
Mechanism for the Regulated Control of Transcription Termination by a Universal Adapter Protein

NusG/Spt5 proteins are the only transcription factors utilized by all cellular organisms. In enterobacteria, NusG antagonizes the transcription termination activity of Rho, a hexameric helicase and functional analog of eukaryotic Sen1, during transcription of ribosomal and actively translated mRNAs. Paradoxically, NusG helps Rho act on untranslated transcripts, including non-canonical antisense RNAs or those arising from translational stress; how NusG fulfills these disparate functions is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that NusG activates Rho by assisting helicase isomerization from an open-ring, RNA-loading state to a closed-ring, catalytically-active translocase. A crystal structure of closed-ring Rho in complex with NusG reveals the physical basis for this activation, and further explains how Rho is excluded from translationally-competent RNAs. This study demonstrates how a universally conserved transcription factor acts to modulate the activity of a ring-shaped ATPase motor, and establishes how the innate sequence-bias of a termination factor can be modulated to silence pervasive, aberrant transcription.
Broadening Our Understanding of Farm Children's Risk Exposure by Considering Their Parents' Farming Background.

While farm safety researchers have seldom considered the association between farm parents’ background and their children’s safety, researchers who have compared first- and multi-generation farmers have found differences that may shape safety outcomes. We draw on the farm safety and family farm bodies of literature and a survey of 203 United States farm parents to assess the role of farming background in farm children risk exposure. Exploratory in nature, the bivariate analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between first- and multi-generation farmers in children injury, agricultural safety perceptions, knowledge, and practices but revealed differences in key demographic characteristics and parenting styles. A range of factors likely explain these findings with meso- and macro-level factors likely impacting farm parents’ ability to adopt safety practices. In contrast to the emphasis on knowledge and behaviors, we call for the integration of lived realities in farm safety research and to do so in a way that connects realities and choices to larger contexts. We also call on the need to expand the toolkit of interventions to address meso- and macro-level factors. A shift towards addressing social and economic conditions in agriculture could reduce farm children’s injuries while supporting the sustainability of farm labor systems.
Protein Engineering for Molecular Imaging

Abstract Protein engineering offers a powerful, straightforward, and efficient approach for modifying the structure and function of proteins, with broad applications in the field of molecular imaging. Recombinant approaches can be used to isolate protein-based probes with desired specificity, based on antibodies or small protein scaffolds. Further modifications to enhance utility for imaging applications can include humanization, modulation of pharmacokinetics, production of fusion proteins, and facilitation of site-specific labeling. Engineering can also be used to adapt proteins for use as reporter genes, placing them in expression vectors for intracellular or cell-surface expression, and improving properties such as substrate specificity, brightness and wavelength of emission (for optical imaging reporters), stability, and humanization for reduction of potential immunogenicity. Thoughtful manipulation of proteins has led to expanding applications as molecular imaging probes and reporter genes, with clear pathways to broader development and implementation in biomedical research and clinical settings.
Sanitation and parasitism at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

One focus of historical archaeology at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia, is tracing the development of sanitation at the town through the 1800s and 1900s. Historical documentation indicates that there was a degree of resistance to the modernization of village sanitation. This study attempts to verify this resistance through examination of privy soils for parasites indicative of fecal-borne disease, specifically the helminth species Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura. The presence of these parasites in the early 1900s would indicate that fecal-borne disease due to poor sanitation continued to be an aspect of town life. The analysis revealed the eggs of both species in all three privies, indicating that resistance to modern sanitation resulted in the maintenance of fecal-borne disease.