cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extending quantum error correction: new continuous measurement protocols and improved fault-tolerant overhead

Quantum mechanical applications range from quantum computers to quantum key distribution to teleportation. In these applications, quantum error correction is extremely important for protecting quantum states against decoherence. Here I present two main results regarding quantum error correction protocols. The first main topic I address is the development of continuous-time quantum error correction protocols via combination with techniques from quantum control. These protocols rely on weak measurement and Hamiltonian feedback instead of the projective measurements and unitary gates usually assumed by canonical quantum error correction. I show that a subclass of these protocols can be understood as a quantum feedback protocol, and analytically analyze the general case using the stabilizer formalism; I show that in this case perfect feedback can perfectly protect a stabilizer subspace. I also show through numerical simulations that another subclass of these protocols does better than canonical quantum error correction when the time between corrections is limited. The second main topic is development of improved overhead results for fault-tolerant computation. In particular, through analysis of topological quantum error correcting codes, it will be shown that the required blowup in depth of a noisy circuit performing a fault-tolerant computation can be reduced to a factor of O(log log L), an improvement over previous results. Showing this requires investigation into a local method of performing fault-tolerant correction on a topological code of arbitrary dimension.
Methylation Status of CpG Islands Flanking a cAMP Response Element Motif on the Protein Phosphatase 2Acα Promoter Determines CREB Binding and Activity

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a major serine/threonine protein phosphatase in eukaryotic cells and is involved in many essential aspects of cell function. The catalytic subunit of the enzyme (PP2Ac), a part of the core enzyme, has two isoforms, alpha (PP2Ac alpha) and beta (PP2Ac beta), of which PP2Ac alpha is the major form expressed in vivo. Deregulation of PP2A expression has been linked to several diseases, but the mechanisms that control the expression of this enzyme are still unclear. We conducted experiments to decipher molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of the PP2Ac alpha promoter in human primary T cells. After preparing serially truncated PP2Ac alpha promoter luciferase constructs, we found that the region stretching around 240 bases upstream from the translation initiation site was of functional significance and included a cAMP response element motif flanked by three GC boxes. Shift assays revealed that CREB/phosphorylated CREB and stable protein 1 could bind to the region. Furthermore, we demonstrated that methylation of deoxycytosine in the CpG islands limited binding of phosphorylated CREB and the activity of the PP2Ac alpha promoter. In contrast, the binding of stable protein 1 to a GC box within the core promoter region was not affected by DNA methylation. Primary T cells treated with 5-azacitidine, a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, showed increased expression of PP2Ac alpha mRNA. We propose that conditions associated with hypomethylation of CpG islands, such as drug-induced lupus, permit increased PP2Ac expression.
Insects Captured in Light Traps With and Without Baffles

For several years the writer has studied the effects of variations in insect light trap designs on the species and numbers of insects captured. Among these variations are the value of baffles. During the summer of 1957 two traps were operated adjacent to each other in State College. The positions of these traps were alternated every other night. One trap, which has been designated as the Pennsylvania insect-light trap with four interesting baffles, 5 × 20 inches, a 12-inch funnel and a 15-watt black-light fluorescent lamp, was used. The other trap was similar except the baffles were omitted and the trap was held together by means of four small wires.
Customizable Business Process Composition with Query Optimization

One of the challenges in SOA is to provide an efficient and effective way to select compatible Web service(s) and compose them into a functional service process that satisfies a user's needs. Moreover, the Web services(s) selected may be integrated with structures such as branches and merges to fulfill a task. This paper describes our system architecture and strategies on Web services composition based on semantic matching. Our strategies include customizable and adaptive composition strategy, query optimization, and heuristic prioritization.
A projection framework for near-potential games

Potential games are a special class of games that admit tractable static and dynamic analysis. Intuitively, games that are “close” to a potential game should enjoy somewhat similar properties. This paper formalizes and develops this idea, by introducing a systematic framework for finding potential games that are close to a given arbitrary strategic-form finite game. We show that the sets of exact and weighted potential games (with fixed weights) are subspaces of the space of games, and that for a given game, the closest potential game in these subspaces (possibly subject to additional constraints) can be found using convex optimization. We provide closed-form solutions for the closest potential game in these subspaces, and extend our framework to more general classes of games. We further investigate and quantify to what extent the static and dynamic features of potential games extend to “near-potential” games. In particular, we show that for a given strategic-form game, we can characterize the approximate equilibria and the sets to which better-response dynamics converges, as a function of the distance of the game to its potential approximation.
Identifying Unusual Days

Pervasive applications such as digital memories or patient monitors collect a vast amount of data. One key challenge in these systems is how to extract interesting or unusual information. Because users cannot anticipate their future interests in the data when the data is stored, it is hard to provide appropriate indexes. As location-tracking technologies, such as global positioning system, have become ubiquitous, digital cameras or other pervasive systems record location information along with the data. In this paper, we present an automatic approach to identify unusual data using location information. Given the location information, our system identifies unusual days, that is, days with unusual mobility patterns. We evaluated our detection system using a real wireless trace, collected at wireless access points, and demonstrated its capabilities. Using our system, we were able to identify days when mobility patterns changed and differentiate days when a user followed a regular pattern from the rest. We also discovered general mobility characteristics. For example, most users had one or more repeating mobility patterns, and repeating mobility patterns did not depend on certain days of the week, except that weekends were different from weekdays.
A Comprehensive Study of Isoskeletal Analogs of Dibenzo(a,clanthracene**

While reviewing the chemistry of cyclopentadienone derivatives and aza isoskeletal analogs of dibenzo(a,c)anthracene, additional molecular orbital (MO) and spectroscopic results and insights are presented. The MO tendency for coplanarity ofphenyl substituents on benzenoids is demonstrated. Perpendicularly oriented phenyl substituents resulting from steric interactions strongly shield appro- priately situated protons in NMR spectra. The principles of alternating polarity and parallel cor- respondence in conjunction with MO methods are used to relatively order aza arene isoskeletal analogs according to their chemical properties. Since less than 1.87% of the isoskeletal analogs of benzo(a,c)-anthracene have been reported, this summary work will help one to forecast the major chemical properties of those not yet synthesized.
Biological Determinants Linking Infant Weight Gain and Child Obesity: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Childhood obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions. Excessive weight gain in infancy is associated with persistence of elevated weight status and later obesity. In this review, we make the case that weight gain in the first 6 mo is especially predictive of later obesity risk due to the metabolic programming that can occur early postpartum. The current state of knowledge regarding the biological determinants of excess infant weight gain is reviewed, with particular focus on infant feeding choice. Potential mechanisms by which different feeding approaches may program the metabolic profile of the infant, causing the link between early weight gain and later obesity are proposed. These mechanisms are likely highly complex and involve synergistic interactions between endocrine effects and factors that alter the inflammatory and oxidative stress status of the infant. Gaps in current knowledge are highlighted. These include a lack of data describing 1) what type of infant body fat distribution may impart risk and 2) how maternal metabolic dysfunction (obesity and/or diabetes) may affect milk composition and exert downstream effects on infant metabolism. Improved understanding and management of these early postnatal determinants of childhood obesity may have great impact on reducing its prevalence.
Contribution of intersubunit bridges to the energy barrier of ribosomal translocation

In every round of translation elongation, EF-G catalyzes translocation, the movement of tRNAs (and paired codons) to their adjacent binding sites in the ribosome. Previous kinetic studies have shown that the rate of tRNA–mRNA movement is limited by a conformational change in the ribosome termed ‘unlocking’. Although structural studies offer some clues as to what unlocking might entail, the molecular basis of this conformational change remains an open question. In this study, the contribution of intersubunit bridges to the energy barrier of translocation was systematically investigated. Unlike those targeting B2a and B3, mutations that disrupt bridges B1a, B4, B7a and B8 increased the maximal rate of both forward (EF-G dependent) and reverse (spontaneous) translocation. As bridge B1a is predicted to constrain 30S head movement and B4, B7a and B8 are predicted to constrain intersubunit rotation, these data provide evidence that formation of the unlocked (transition) state involves both 30S head movement and intersubunit rotation.
Quantifying Landscape Spatial Pattern: What Is the State of the Art?

Landscape ecology is based on the premise that there are strong links between ecological pattern and ecological function and process. Ecological systems are spatially heterogeneous, exhibiting considerable complexity and variability in time and space. This variability is typically represented by categorical maps or by a collection of samples taken at specific spatial locations (point data). Categorical maps quantize variability by identifying patches that are relatively homogeneous and that exhibit a relatively abrupt transition to adjacent areas. Alternatively, point-data analysis (geostatistics) assumes that the system property is spatially continuous, making fewer assumptions about the nature of spatial structure. Each data model provides capabilities that the other does not, and they should be considered complementary. Although the concept of patches is intuitive and consistent with much of ecological theory, point-data analysis can answer two of the most critical questions in spatial pattern analysis: what is the appropriate scale to conduct the analysis, and what is the nature of the spatial structure? I review the techniques to evaluate categorical maps and spatial point data, and make observations about the interpretation of spatial pattern indices and the appropriate application of the techniques. Pattern analysis techniques are most useful when applied and interpreted in the context of the organism(s) and ecological processes of interest, and at appropriate scales, although some may be useful as coarse-filter indicators of ecosystem function. I suggest several important needs for future research, including continued investigation of scaling issues, development of indices that measure specific components of spatial pattern, and efforts to make point-data analysis more compatible with ecological theory.
Remark on the intrinsic local time

The intrinsic local time is a semimartingale in the excursion filtration. We indicate, inter alia, a new proof of the fact that its martingale part generates an orthogonal martingale measure in the sense of Walsh. The calculations avoid explicit use of excursion theory, relying instead on stochastic calculus in the space variable.
Cyclic Sedimentation in Middle and Upper Holder (Upper Pennsylvanian) Formation, New Mexico: ABSTRACT

The Middle and Upper Holder Formation (Upper Pennsylvanian), Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico, comprises terrigenous and carbonate facies that accumulated on a narrow open-marine to restricted-marine shelf. Differential subsidence of the shelf combined with eustatic sea level changes caused cyclic deposition. Deposition began with a varying supply of terrigenous sediments from shifting delta lobes. Several carbonate facies, lateral equivalents of the terrigenous strata, are distinguished on the basis of their allochemical constituents. Bioclastic wackestones to grainstones with cortoids and oncoids characterize open-marine intervals. Laminoid-fenestral mudstones and wackestones with oncoids were common in restricted-marine intervals. Fusulinids and algal and peloidal grainstones are common marginal-marine facies. Restricted-marine sediments were deposited after clastic influxes and during marine transgressions. The division between the Middle and Upper Holder members can be placed beneath a channel conglomerate an unconformity that developed on a restricted platform. Deposition of predominantly restricted-marine sediments with erosional clastic influxes characterize the Upper Holder. The upward increase both in reworked and encrusted allochems might End_Page 541------------------------------ reflect regional changes in paleogeography that caused progressive exposure of the platform. Rates of sea level rise were high and punctuated by periods of decreased rates or near stillstand as indicated by restricted-marine and clastic deposition with unconformities. The duration of these stable periods of relative sea level increased through time. End_of_Article - Last_Page 542------------
Induction of gene expression by heat shock versus osmotic stress

Elevated temperature rapidly increases expression of genes for heat shock proteins (HSP), including HSP-70. The response is presumably triggered by denaturation of cell proteins and helps in their renaturation. Hypertonicity may also denature proteins, but the protective response, which is accumulation of compatible organic osmolytes [including betaine and inositol in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells], apparently differs and is slow. Recently, hypertonicity was found also to increase expression of HSP-70 in MDCK cells, a response proposed to provide protection until organic osmolytes can accumulate. Our purpose was to examine whether 1) a gene involved in accumulation of organic osmolytes also responds to heat stress and 2) whether accumulation of organic osmolytes affects expression of HSP-70. We find that 1) the betaine transporter mRNA, which is greatly increased by hypertonicity (515 vs. 315 mosmol), is unaffected by high temperature (42 degrees C vs. 37 degrees C); 2) hypertonicity-induced increases in HSP-70 and betaine transporter mRNA are much greater when the medium (and cell) contain no betaine and no inositol than when high concentrations of these are present; and 3) high betaine greatly inhibits the increase in HSP-70 mRNA at high temperature. We conclude the following. 1) Although heat shock and betaine transporter genes both respond to hypertonicity, the betaine transporter is not a HSP. 2) Accumulation of organic osmolytes attenuates the HSP-70 response to hypertonicity, as it might if the HSP-70 expression were a temporizing response. 3) Betaine inhibits HSP-70 response to elevated temperature, presumably by its known effect of stabilizing proteins.
Vergebung der Aufträge

Alle Auftrage auf Lieferung von Eisenkonstruktionen werden auf Grund von Lieferungsvertragen ausgefuhrt. Es ist ublich, das zunachst mehrere Eisenbauanstalten vom anfragenden Bauherrn aufgefordert werden, Vorschlage oder Angebote mit Entwurfszeichnungen oder Skizzen einzureichen. Der Lieferungstermin wird durchgangig im voraus festgelegt, ebenso die bei der Vergebung in Anwendung kommende Verrechnungsweise.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and sluggish cognitive tempo throughout childhood: temporal invariance and stability from preschool through ninth grade

Background: Although multiple cross-sectional studies have shown symptoms of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to be statistically distinct, studies have yet to examine the temporal stability and measurement invariance of SCT in a longitudinal sample. To date, only six studies have assessed SCT longitudinally, with the longest study examining SCT over a 2-year period. The overall goals of this study were to assess the 10-year longitudinal stability and interfactor relationships of ADHD and SCT symptoms among a community sample of children. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the temporal invariance of ADHD and SCT symptoms in a large population-based longitudinal sample (International Longitudinal Twin Study of Early Reading Development) that included children assessed at preschool and after kindergarten, first, second, fourth, and ninth grades (n = 489). Latent autoregressive models were then estimated to assess the stability of these constructs. Results: Results demonstrated invariance of item loadings and intercepts from preschool through ninth grades, as well as invariance of interfactor correlations. Results further indicated that both ADHD and SCT are highly stable across these years of development, that these symptom dimensions are related but also separable, and that hyperactivity/impulsivity and SCT are both more strongly correlated with inattention than with each other and show differential developmental trajectories. Specifically, even in the presence of latent simplex analyses providing support for the developmental stability of these dimensions, linear comparisons indicated that that mean levels of hyperactivity/impulsivity decreased with time, inattentive ratings were generally stable, and SCT tended to increase slightly across development. Conclusions: This study adds to the current literature by being the first to systematically assess and demonstrate the temporal invariance and stability of ADHD and SCT across a span of 10 years. Keywords: ADHD; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; sluggish cognitive tempo; sluggish tempo; inattention; hyperactivity; stability; temporal invariance; measurement invariance.
The Nomination and Confirmation of Federal Judges: An Integrated Approach

Despite a voluminous literature on the factors affecting the time to confirmation for judicial nominees, and a smaller but robust literature on the time to nomination, scholars have seldom treated the process of filling a federal court vacancy as an integrated one. Although our understanding of institutional interactions has been advanced by evaluating the factors that influence the time to a President’s nomination or the time to Senate confirmation, looking individually at the two steps needed to fill the vacancy necessarily ignores the interconnected and dynamic nature of the process. Here we argue for a new and unified approach to the nomination and confirmation process. One of the advantages of this perspective is the ability to evaluate whether or not the president and Senate fill vacancies on busier courts faster than on courts with smaller caseloads. We find some evidence that caseloads matter for vacancies, suggesting that district court nomination and confirmation battles are more than merely opportunities for political posturing by the executive and legislature.
Advanced Multi-Cup Fuel Injector Technology for Environmentally Responsible Aviation Gas Turbine Engines

Participating in NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project, Parker Hannifin built and tested multipoint Lean Direct Injection (LDI) fuel injectors designed for NASA’s N+2 55:1 Overall Pressure-Ratio (OPR) gas turbine engine cycles. The injectors are based on Parker’s earlier three-zone injector (3ZI) which was conceived to enable practical implementation of multipoint LDI schemes in conventional aviation gas turbine engines. The new injectors offer significant aerodynamic design flexibility, excellent thermal performance, and scalability to various engine sizes.The injectors built for this project contain 15 injection points and incorporate staging to enable operation at low power conditions. Ignition and flame stability were demonstrated at ambient conditions with ignition air pressure drop as low as 0.3% and fuel-to-air ratio (FAR) as low as 0.011. Lean Blowout (LBO) occurred at FAR as low as 0.005 with air at 460 K and atmospheric pressure. A high pressure combustion testing campaign was conducted in the CE-5 test facility at NASA Glenn Research Center at pressures up to 250 psi and combustor exit temperatures up to 2,033 K (3,200 °F). The tests demonstrated estimated LTO cycle emissions that are about 30% of CAEP/6 for a reference 60,000 lbf thrust, 54.8-OPR engine. This paper presents some details of the injector design along with results from ignition, LBO and emissions testing.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Variation in sum scoring for a population with abnormal SPECT myocardial perfusion

1707 Objectives For automated SPECT myocardial perfusion (MPI) quantification, normal exams are included to formulate databases for voxel-wise comparison. In order to determine if sum scoring is clinically reproducible for a population with perfusion defects, we only apply abnormal MPI to quantitative database analysis. Methods 20 abnormal single isotope 99mTechnetium Tetrofosmin and 19 abnormal dual isotope 99mTechnetium Tetrofosmin-201Thallium rest-stress myocardial perfusion studies (63yrs±13, 55%male) scanned with a Siemens T2 or T6 SPECT-CT were selected for gender and technique (tracer, reconstruction) specific quantitative database comparison using Corridor4DM. All exams were processed twice and compared to the original qualitative and quantitative clinical read. To characterize agreement in sum difference scoring (SDS), binary classification tests were employed with the criteria in Table 1, using ischemia severity categories of 5-15%, 15-25%, and >25%. For any significant change, SDS had to differ by 4 or more. Results For single and dual isotope exams misclassification occurred 35% and 68% of the time and sensitivity and specificity for accurate quantification was 19%/96% and 27%/38%, respectively. Likewise, negative and positive predictive values were 64%/75% and 43%/27%. Conclusions For automated quantification of single isotope MPI, mischaracterization of perfusion defects can occur up to 35% of the time, underscoring the importance of visual interpretation over automated methods for diagnosis. Automated database comparison with dual isotopes may not be advisable. Research Support Supported by the NIH intramural research program and the Imaging Sciences Training Program (ISTP).
Two English fabliaux : Chaucer's Merchant's Tale and Shipman's Tale and Italian novelle

Two of Chaucer’s comic tales, assumed to have French fabliaux sources, the “Shipman’s Tale” and the “Merchant’s Tale,” indicate the influence of the Italian novella, most especially the trecento novellas of Boccaccio’s “Decameron.” The novellas should be given the same status, as sources or close analogues, as the French fabliaux.
The role of contingencies in the control of behavior

A systematic replication of Herrnstein’s (1966) procedure demonstrated that non-contingent consequation is not sufficient to maintain a previously stable response rate acquired and maintained by either a Fl 11 sec or a Fl 60 sec contingency. The temporal relationship between a response and its consequences appears to be a crucial variable in the maintenance of behavior.
Characterization of human adipose-derived stem cells using flow cytometry

One of the hallmark characteristics of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) is their ability to differentiate into cells of mesenchymal lineages. It is also becoming apparent that ASCs can mediate a therapeutic benefit through cytokine, paracrine-driven mechanisms influencing apoptosis, angiogenesis, and potent anti-inflammatory responses. Although there is still no clear consensus on the antigen expression pattern that will define hASCs, a protocol is also presented for the flow cytometric analysis utilizing a series of antibody panels. The analysis of these surface epitope patterns can aide in the isolation and characterization of hASCs. Moreover, using this standardized antibody panel, direct comparisons can be made between ASCs isolated from various tissue sources, which will benefit the field by providing uniformity to the comparison process.
The Rental Car Problem

(1996). The Rental Car Problem. The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 374-378.
A Test of Gastroesophageal Sphincter Competence. The Common Cavity Test

Gastroesophageal manometrics, using continuously perfused polyvinyl tubes, and acid reflux (pH test) were studied prospectively in 13 patients with, and 14, without symptoms and/or signs of gastroesophageal reflux. Pressures were recorded simultaneously from stomach, gastroesophageal sphincter and distal esophagus at rest and during gradual abdominal compression to 80 mm Hg. Neither the mean resting pressures nor the mean increase in gastric or sphincter pressures, during abdominal compression, were significantly different (P>0.10). Sphincteric yield pressures did not separate the 2 groups. However, the mean esophageal pressure rise was significantly greater (P<0.001) in the symptomatic patients (34±4.5 vs 9.9±3.2 mm Hg). The mean pressure in the stomach, sphincter and esophagus became almost identical in the symptomatic patients—a “common cavity” occurred between stomach and esophagus. Two symptomatic patients had negative pH but positive common cavity tests. No asymptomatic patient had evidence of either reflux or a positive common cavity test.
Efficient Design of Multi-stage Cascade Waveband Separator

We propose a cascade system of filters for realizing a non-uniform waveband separation for optical networks. The use of such separation is required at the DEMUX stage in a optical OXC switching wavebands. The design of the system is based on optimized balanced tree, which minimizes the overall optical loss.
A software toolkit for sharing and accessing corpora over the Internet

This paper describes the Translational English Corpus (TEC) and the software tools developed in order to enable the use of the corpus remotely, over the internet. The model underlying these tools is based on an extensible client-server architecture implemented in Java. We discuss the data and processing constraints which motivated the TEC architecture design and its impact on the efficiency and scalability of the system. We also suggest that the kind of distributed processing model adopted in TEC could play a role in fostering the availability of corpus linguistic resources to the research community.
Myosin isoforms in neonatal rat extensor digitorum longus, diaphragm, and soleus muscles

The postnatal elimination of embryonic and neonatal myosin isoforms in the rat extensor digitorum longus, diaphragm, and soleus muscles was compared using electrophoresis and immunohistochemical techniques. Electrophoresis of native myosin showed that neonatal bands were present in all three muscles on day 4 but were absent from the day 21 extensor digitorum longus muscle that exhibited its adult electrophoretic pattern. Mature electrophoretic banding patterns were present on days 60 and 125 in the diaphragm and soleus muscles, respectively. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that embryonic myosin heavy chain was present in all day 4 samples but absent by day 21. Quantitative evaluation determined that the rate of elimination of neonatal myosin heavy chain (MHCneo) was faster in the extensor digitorum longus muscle than in the diaphragm, with the soleus muscle having the slowest rate of elimination of this isoform. Embryonic myosin light chain was detected by two-dimensional electrophoresis through day 8 in each of the muscles. These data indicate that postnatal elimination of MHCneo is tissue specific and time dependent but not governed by either activity level or rostral-caudal position.
SemQuest: University of Houston's Semantics-based Question Answering System.

This work presents, SemQuest, a questionanswering system used in the TAC 2011 guided summarization task based on semantics and extensions of a previous-developed single-document extractor. Our overall methodology includes: a data cleaning step, linguistic preprocessing among category articles, and a sentence extraction phase. A maximal marginal relevance technique, proposed by Carbonell et al., is also used in SemQuest to reduce redundancy and save space to answer as many category aspects as possible within a short summary extract.
Regulation of urinary bladder capacity by endogenous opioid peptides.

AbstractNaloxone administered to chloralose or ketamine anesthetized cats reduced urinary bladder capacity. Successive cystometrograms revealed that naloxone in doses of 0.5μg./kg. to 15μg./kg. i.v. reduced the volume necessary to evoke micturition by 10 to 50 per cent, respectively. The effect was maximal within a few minutes, remained constant for about ½ hour and returned to control values over the next 2 to 3 hours. Following return to control, subsequent doses of naloxone produced no further effect on capacity. In chloralose anesthetized animals naloxone also increased the frequency and amplitude of low amplitude pressure waves on the tonus limb of the cystometrogram. Intrathecal administration of naloxone to the sacral spinal cord did not significantly reduce the volume necessary to evoke micturition even at large doses, but did increase the amplitude of micturition contractions. These data, along with previous reports, suggest that mu receptors in the brainstem alter urinary bladder capacity, while...
The Blood Picture in Pneumonia: With Special Reference to Pathological Changes in the Neutrophils

(1) Leukocytosis is present in the majority of pneumonia cases. (2) Leukopenia often indicates a fatal prognosis. (3) A possible relationship exists between the number of leukocytes, temperature, and area involved. (4) In the majority of cases, a transitory rise in the number of leukocytes appears during the early period of crisis, followed by a diminution. (5) Temperature reaches a normal level several days before the return of leukocytes to normal. (6) Delayed resolution and complications are accompanied by an increase in the number of leukocytes. (7) A steady rise in the number of leukocytes prognosticates a fatal ending.
Nonligamentous Problems of the Athlete’s Knee

Acute and chronic nonligamentous problems of the athlete's knee are outlined, emphasizing diagnosis and treatment. Most such problems can be managed by the family physician or general practitioner, and recommendations are made for the referral of more complex problems.
Experience of General Surgery Residents in the Creation of Small Bowel and Colon Anastomoses

Background With the introduction of stapling devices (SDs), the proportion of hand-sewn (HS) intestinal anastomoses (IAs) has declined. As more IAs are constructed with SDs, there are fewer opportunities for general surgery residents (GSRs) to acquire the skills for HS techniques during their training. Study Design Data for this study were extracted from an existing database of all IAs performed at the Department of Surgery of the Morristown Medical Center since 2003. For the purposes of this study, a 5.5-year timeframe was used between July 2006 and 2011, which contained 1659 IA operations on adult patients with resident involvement. GSRs of the 5-year general surgery residency program were grouped by postgraduate year (PGY) for further analysis. Results The number of all IAs created by each resident during the 5-year training was 67.2 on average. Most of these operations were done in the last 2 years of the training: 45.1% of all IAs in PGY5 and 37.3% of all IAs in PGY4. Of all, 1659 IAs performed in the study period, 711 (42.9% of total) were done laparoscopically and 948 (57.1% of all IAs) were done as open operations. Laparoscopic operations had a proportionally higher rate of SD use when compared to open cases (90.9% vs 82.4%). On average, each resident constructed 9.4 HS IAs (13.98% of all IAs) and 57.8 SD IAs (86.02% of total). Out of all anastomoses, ostomy reversals (30.7%) had the highest percentage of HS suturing followed by right colectomies (27.5%), ileal pouch-anal anastomoses and total colectomies and proctocolectomies (23.3%), small bowel resection (17.0%), and left colectomies (5.5%). Regardless of the location of the operation, stapled and sutured anastomoses had similar outcomes measured by the rate of anastomotic leaks. Residents used significantly more SDs in the creation of anastomoses than HS suturing in the PGY3, PGY4, and PGY5 years. We also documented that attending surgeons who are older more often used HS suturing than their younger colleagues when creating IAs. Conclusions The experiences of GSRs in IA operations are heavily weighted toward the use of SDs. There are select cases, however, when HS suturing can have an advantage over stapler use in anastomosis creation. Therefore, we believe that GSRs should continue learning, perfecting, and using the both techniques.
Decision-Making Tools: University Technology Transfer Effectiveness

Academic knowledge and technology transfer has been growing in importance both in academic research and practice. A critical question in managing this activity is how to evaluate its effectiveness. The literature shows an increasing number of studies done to address this question; however, it also reveals important gaps that need more research. One novel approach is to evaluate the effectiveness of this activity from an organizational point of view, which is to measure how much knowledge and technology transfer from a university fulfills the mission of the institution. This research develops a hierarchical decision model to measure the contribution values of various knowledge and technology transfer mechanisms to the achievement of the mission. The performance values obtained from the university under investigation are applied to the model to develop a Knowledge and Technology Transfer Effectiveness Index for that university. The Index helps an academic institution assess the current performance of its knowledge and technology transfer with respect to its mission. This robust model also helps decision makers discover areas where the university is performing well, or needs to pay more attention. In addition, the university can benchmark its own performance against its peers in order to set up a roadmap for improvement. It is proved that this is the first index in the literature which truly evaluates the effectiveness of university knowledge and technology transfer from an organizational perspective. Practitioners in the area of academic technology transfer can also apply this evaluation model to quantitatively evaluate the performance of their institutions for strategic decision-making purposes.
1.1.1 Space Observations of the Zodiacal Light

A listing and discussion are given of balloon, rocket, satellite, and space probe observations of the zodiacal light. The paucity of space observations in several critical areas (e.g., in the ultraviolet and near the sun) is noted and suggestions are made for experiments to meet these needs.
13. Parieto-occipital mapping-demonstrative cases

In this presentation, I will give an overview of how we can map different eloquent regions of parietal and occipital lobes. I will start with the anatomy with different cytoarchitecture and thus different functions of distinctive regions of these lobes. I will then present several neurophysiologic techniques that can be used for functional mapping, such as somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) for intraoperative mapping and monitoring somatosensory cortex, visual evoked potentials (VEPs) for mapping striate cortex, direct electrical cortical stimulation for positive and negative cortical mapping. I will present specific tasks to be used during awake craniotomies for mapping of parietal functions. I will also present a case of visual mapping using VEPs and electrical stimulation in a case of intractable lesional epilepsy (from a parieto-occipital stroke). I will conclude with a case of mapping the sensorimotor cortex using exclusively median SSEPs recorded via a multicontact subdural grid electrode and in the absence of visual cortical inspection, in a patient with intractable lesional epilepsy from an extensive neurodevelopmental lesion in the pericentral regions.
Characterizing viral videos

A framework for modeling on-line video views.A definition of "viral videos" based upon relative function performance and fitted function parameters.Analysis of video views with respect to video categories and time scale granularities.A means of analyzing on-line video channels.Applications to marketing decision support systems. It is estimated that the online video advertising market will be worth $8 billion by 2016, up from $4 billion by 2013. Consequently, there is a need for metrics to help analyze and understand this rapidly growing market. This paper helps fill this need by describing a framework for modeling online video behavior, which is based on growth curve modeling. Different categories of video behavior are defined, including "delayed viral" behavior and "initial viral" behavior. The framework described in this paper can be used to analyze online video behavior, categorize videos based upon growth patterns, and predict future views. In associated empirical work, video views are analyzed for four different datasets. The first is an empirical video set, compiled from media lists of viral videos. The second is a "population" sample of videos, selected randomly from YouTube. The third is a dataset measured at different levels of time scale granularity. The forth is a set of videos released for specific YouTube channels. Managerial uses for the framework are described and specific scenarios are given for both content design and revenue prediction for online advertising.
Spinocerebellar Ataxia 8 (SCA8)

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview on phenotype, gene function, and diagnosis of spinocerebellar ataxia 8 (SCA8). Spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (SCA8) patients have a slowly progressive, predominantly cerebellar disease involving dysarthria, limb and gait ataxia, impaired smooth pursuit, and nystagmus. A broad range of other clinical symptoms are also reported, including tremor, spasticity, and various kinds of cognitive impairment. Although this clinical picture is not clearly distinguishable from that of other forms of inherited ataxia, SCA8 is unique among this group of diseases in many ways. The inheritance pattern for SCA8 in particular is the most complicated of all of the inherited spinocerebellar ataxias. SCA8 is caused by a CTG expansion mutation that has been shown to vary widely in size between generations. The SCAB CTG repeat is transcribed as part of a natural, untranslated antisense RNA, but the precise molecular pathogenic mechanism through which this repeat expansion causes disease is currently unknown.
Occult Cortical Dysplasia and Focal Status

Four patients, ages 4, 6, 13, and 21 years, with life-threatening focal motor status epilepticus, normal pre-operative MRI, and focal cortical dysplasia defined only in the surgical specimens obtained by corticectomies, are reported from the Montreal Neurological Institute; Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Australia; University of California, San Francisco; and Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Sleep Issues in Medical Rehabilitation

Sleep disturbances, including insomnia in particular, are common concerns among hospitalized patients and can have a significant impact on duration of hospital admissions, recovery time, and rehabilitation efforts. As such, the following chapter provides practical tips for preventing, assessing, and treating sleep disturbances among inpatients in order to reduce healthcare costs and maximize patient outcomes. Specifically, healthcare providers can reduce sleep disturbances by minimizing noise and light in the inpatient environment, standardizing the timing of vital sign assessments to reduce sleep fragmentation, and educating patients about healthy sleep habits. Moreover, assessing common causes and consequences of sleep disturbance, such as pain and depression, can help to identify patients at risk for developing disturbed sleep and provide additional targets for intervention. Increased awareness and education about the causes, consequences, and approaches to treating sleep issues among inpatient medical and rehabilitation patients is key to improving patient outcomes.
Whole-body motion planning for humanoid robots with heuristic search

The task of whole-body motion planning for humanoid robots is challenging due to its high-DOF nature, stability constraints, and the need for obstacle avoidance and movements that are efficient. Over the years, various approaches have been adopted to solve this problem such as bounding-box models and jacobian-based techniques. More commonly though, sampling-based algorithms are employed for this task since they perform admirably well in high-dimensional spaces. As an alternative, search-based planners offer improvements in terms of optimality and consistency of the solution. However, they are normally considered impractical for high-dimensional motion planning. In this paper, we present a heuristic search-based motion planning framework for humanoid robots that circumvents the drawbacks traditionally associated with search-based planners while catering to the specific requirements of humanoid motion planning. This is achieved primarily through a combination of informative yet computationally inexpensive heuristics, carefully crafted motion primitives as atomic actions, and a whole body inverse kinematics solver for achieving desired end effector orientations. The experimental results show the ability of our framework to perform complex motion planning tasks quickly and efficiently.
Hepatitis E virus ORF3 is a functional ion channel required for release of infectious particles.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the leading cause of enterically transmitted viral hepatitis globally. Of HEV’s three ORFs, the function of ORF3 has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that via homophilic interactions ORF3 forms multimeric complexes associated with intracellular endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived membranes. HEV ORF3 shares several structural features with class I viroporins, and the function of HEV ORF3 can be maintained by replacing it with the well-characterized viroporin influenza A virus (IAV) matrix-2 protein. ORF3’s ion channel function is further evidenced by its ability to mediate ionic currents when expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Furthermore, we identified several positions in ORF3 critical for its formation of multimeric complexes, ion channel activity, and, ultimately, release of infectious particles. Collectively, our data demonstrate a previously undescribed function of HEV ORF3 as a viroporin, which may serve as an attractive target in developing direct-acting antivirals.
Achieving perfect location privacy in Markov models using anonymization

Our previous work [1] defined the notion of perfect location privacy for location-based services (LBS) and demon­strated how it can be achieved under basic user models. In this paper, we extend our work by studying perfect location privacy within a more complex scenario in which a user's movements are dependent upon the time domain. We model a mobile user's path using Markov chains and show that perfect location privacy is achievable for the user if her pseudonym is changed before o(n 2/|E|-r) observations by the adversary, where |E| is the number of edges in the Markov model and r is the number of all possible locations. We support our results with simulations.
Hepatitis C virus-induced CCL5 secretion from macrophages activates hepatic stellate cells.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-mediated chronic liver disease is a serious health problem around the world and often causes fibrosis/cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanism of liver disease progression during HCV infection is still unclear, although inflammation is believed to be an important player in disease pathogenesis. We previously reported that macrophages including Kupffer cells exposed to HCV induce proinflammatory cytokines. These secreted cytokines may activate hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) toward fibrosis. In this study, we examined crosstalk between macrophages and HSCs following HCV infection. Primary human HSCs and immortalized HSCs (LX2 cells) were incubated with conditioned medium derived from HCV-exposed human macrophages. Expression of inflammasome and fibrosis-related genes in these cells was examined, with increased expression of inflammatory (NLR family pyrin domain containing 3, interleukins 1β and 6, and cysteine-cysteine chemokine ligand 5 [CCL5]) and profibrogenic (transforming growth factor β1, collagen type 4 alpha 1, matrix metalloproteinase 2, and alpha-smooth muscle actin) markers. Further investigation suggested that CCL5, secreted from HCV-exposed macrophages, activates inflammasome and fibrosis markers in HSCs and that neutralizing antibody to CCL5 inhibited activation. Conclusion Together, our results demonstrate that human macrophages exposed to HCV induce CCL5 secretion, which plays a significant role in hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. (Hepatology 2017;66:746-757).
Majoritarian values and women’s rights: police and judicial behavior in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan

AbstractThis paper analyzes judicial and police behavior in dealing with cases of family violence and divorce in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. Police and judges deliberately violate existing legal provisions to prevent women from divorcing or filing charges against their husbands in cases of domestic violence. While the law does not recognize religious marriages in Tajikistan, judges often rule to protect women’s living space after the dissolution of such unions. Drawing on rich interview and archival data, this behavior is explained by showing that judicial and police behavior reflects their biases, which in turn are a reflection of majoritarian norms in these countries. Since current laws are derived from Soviet codes, which were never internalized by the population, police and judges bend them to fit their understanding of social justice.