cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Growth scaling for the early dynamics of HIV/AIDS epidemics in Brazil and the influence of socio-demographic factors.

Abstract The early dynamics of an infectious disease outbreak can be affected by various factors including the transmission mode of the disease and host-specific factors. While recent works have highlighted the presence of sub-exponential growth patterns during the early phase of epidemics, empirical studies examining the contribution of different factors to early epidemic growth dynamics are lacking. Here we aim to characterize and explain the early incidence growth patterns of local HIV/AIDS epidemics in Brazil as a function of socio-demographic factors. For this purpose, we accessed annual AIDS incidence series and state-level socio-demographic variables from publicly available databases. To characterize the early growth dynamics of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we employed the generalized-growth model to estimate with quantified uncertainty the scaling of growth parameter (p) which captures growth patterns ranging from constant incidence ( p = 0 ) to sub-exponential (0 p = 1 ) at three spatial scales: national, regional, and state levels. We evaluated the relationship between socio-demographic variables and epidemic growth patterns across 27 Brazilian states using mixed-effect regression analyses. We found wide variation in the early dynamics of the AIDS epidemic in Brazil, displaying sub-exponential growth patterns with the p parameter estimated substantially below 1.0. The mean p was estimated to be 0.81 at the national level, with a range of 0.72–0.85 at the regional level, and a range of 0.28–0.96 at the state level. Our findings support the notion that socio-demographic factors contribute to shaping the early growth dynamics of the epidemic at the local level. Gini index and socio-demographic index were negatively associated with the parameter p, whereas urbanicity was positively associated with p. The results could have theoretical significance in understanding differences in growth scaling across different sexually transmitted disease systems, and have public health implications to guide control.
Passive and active antibody studies in primates to inform HIV vaccines.

Introduction: Prevention of infection remains the ultimate goal for HIV vaccination, and there is compelling evidence that antibodies directed to Envelope are necessary to block infection. Generati...
Correction to: The sTOF, a Favorable Geometry for a Time-of-Flight Analyzer

In the article “The sTOF, a Favorable Geometry for a Time-of-Flight Analyzer”, the electric sectors in the prototype analyzer used to generate the data in Figure 4 were mistakenly listed as having a radius of 165 mm. The correct size is a diameter of 165 mm.
County-Level Trends in Suicide Rates in the U.S., 2005–2015

Introduction Understanding the geographic patterns of suicide can help inform targeted prevention efforts. Although state-level variation in age-adjusted suicide rates has been well documented, trends at the county-level have been largely unexplored. This study uses small area estimation to produce stable county-level estimates of suicide rates to examine geographic, temporal, and urban–rural patterns in suicide from 2005 to 2015. Methods Using National Vital Statistics Underlying Cause of Death Files (2005–2015), hierarchical Bayesian models were used to estimate suicide rates for 3,140 counties. Model-based suicide rate estimates were mapped to explore geographic and temporal patterns and examine urban–rural differences. Analyses were conducted in 2016–2017. Results Posterior predicted mean county-level suicide rates increased by >10% from 2005 to 2015 for 99% of counties in the U.S., with 87% of counties showing increases of >20%. Counties with the highest model-based suicide rates were consistently located across the western and northwestern U.S., with the exception of southern California and parts of Washington. Compared with more urban counties, more rural counties had the highest estimated suicide rates from 2005 to 2015, and also the largest increases over time. Conclusions Mapping county-level suicide rates provides greater granularity in describing geographic patterns of suicide and contributes to a better understanding of changes in suicide rates over time. Findings may inform more targeted prevention efforts as well as future research on community-level risk and protective factors related to suicide mortality.
The role of the hippocampus in the Morris water maze

The Morris water maze consists of a submerged platform placed somewhere within a pool of water made opaque with milk or chalk. Normal rats quickly learn the location of the platform: if the platform is removed, the rats search at the place where the platform had been [6]. We suggest that the hippocampus plays two roles allowing rats trained on the Morris water maze to find the hidden platform: Upon re-entry into the environment, the animal must determine its location relative to the platform (self-localization). From this information, it can determine the direction it needs to swim in order to reach the platform. When the animal travels along a specific path, routes are stored in the recurrent connections of CA3. During sleep, the recent routes are replayed because, when primed with noise, the hippocampal formation settles to a stable representation of a location which then drifts along the routes stored in the CA3 recurrent connections (route-replay).
Triangulations and Secondary Polytopes

In this chapter we discuss a combinatorial framework for discriminants and resultants related to toric varieties. The main construction introduces a certain class of polytopes, called secondary polytopes, whose vertices correspond to certain triangulations of a given convex polytope. These polytopes will play a crucial role later in the study of the Newton polytopes of discriminants and resultants. The constructions in this chapter are quite elementary.
A β-Adrenergic Receptor of the Turkey Erythrocyte II. CHARACTERIZATION AND SOLUBILIZATION OF THE RECEPTOR

Abstract The stability of the catechol-specific β-adrenergic receptor of turkey erythrocytes was tested with certain physical and chemical agents. The receptor for the catechol function was stable at high temperatures or to treatment with ultrasound. Phospholipase, Pronase, trypsin, Triton X-100, sodium lauryl sulfate, or Lubrol-PX destroyed the catecholamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase but not catecholamine-specific binding. Exposure to trypsin or Lubrol-PX released the catechol-specific receptor from the membrane. The solubilized material did not sediment at 100,000 x g and showed properties virtually identical with the receptor on the cell membrane. Association and dissociation rates, stability to physical and chemical agents, and Km for catecholamine binding were all similar for the particulate and the solubilized receptor. It was concluded that the binding material released by trypsin or Lubrol-PX represents the solubilized catechol-specific fraction of the β-adrenergic receptor site.
Stochastic Approximation in Bootstrap and Bayesian Approaches to Interval Estimation in Hierarchical Models

The empirical Bayes approach to shrinkage estimation does not extend easily to interval estimation because it neglects error in the prior. One method of obtaining valid intervals is to calibrate them to provide the desired coverage in bootstrap samples. A stochastic approximation algorithm is proposed that accomplishes the necessary integration by nesting an easy numerical integration inside a Monte Carlo integration. Examining sensitivity to the specification of the bootstrap distribution leads naturally to a Bayesian approach, via the assumption of a (hyper) prior over a family of bootstrap distributions. If the posterior distribution is intractable, the imputation-posterior algorithm of Tanner and Wong can be used. The use of a (hyper) prior obviates the need for an ad-hoc calibration parameter, and allows computation of intervals for population parameters as well as individuals.
Examining the inclusion of diverse participants in cognitive behavior therapy research for youth with autism spectrum disorder and anxiety.

Results of randomized controlled trials have demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety symptoms following cognitive behavior therapy participation. Although promising, the extent to which prev...
Insurance Coverage Predicts Mortality in Patients Transferred Between Hospitals: a Cross-Sectional Study

Patients transferred between hospitals are at high risk of adverse events and mortality. The relationship between insurance status, transfer practices, and outcomes has not been definitively characterized. To identify the association between insurance coverage and mortality of patients transferred between hospitals. We conducted a single-institution observational study, and validated results using a national administrative database of inter-hospital transfers. Three ICUs at an academic tertiary care center validated by a nationally representative sample of inter-hospital transfers. The single-institution analysis included 652 consecutive patients transferred from 57 hospitals between 2011 and 2012. The administrative database included 353,018 patients transferred between 437 hospitals. Adjusted inpatient mortality and 24-h mortality, stratified by insurance status. Of 652 consecutive transfers to three ICUs, we observed that uninsured patients had higher adjusted inpatient mortality (OR 2.67, p = 0.021) when controlling for age, race, gender, Apache-II, and whether the patient was transferred from an ED. Uninsured were more likely to be transferred from ED (OR 2.3, p = 0.026), and earlier in their hospital course (3.9 vs 2.0 days, p = 0.002). Using an administrative dataset, we validated these observations, finding that the uninsured had higher adjusted inpatient mortality (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.13–1.36, p < 0.001) and higher mortality within 24 h (OR 1.33 95% CI 1.11–1.60, p < 0.002). The increase in mortality was independent of patient demographics, referral patterns, or diagnoses. This is an observational study where transfer appropriateness cannot be directly assessed. Uninsured patients are more likely to be transferred from an ED and have higher mortality. These data suggest factors that drive inter-hospital transfer of uninsured patients have the potential to exacerbate outcome disparities.
Optical parametric amplification of gated confocal reflectance microscopy signals in scattering media

We apply optical parametric amplification to amplify weak ballistic photons and suppress the multiple-scattering background. Single-photon pulses of the reflectance imaging signal are amplified with over 50 dB gain. Improvements in imaging depth are demonstrated.
A Programmable Heterogeneous Microprocessor Based on Bit-Scalable In-Memory Computing

In-memory computing (IMC) addresses the cost of accessing data from memory in a manner that introduces a tradeoff between energy/throughput and computation signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, low SNR posed a primary restriction to integrating IMC in larger, heterogeneous architectures required for practical workloads due to the challenges with creating robust abstractions necessary for the hardware and software stack. This work exploits recent progress in high-SNR IMC to achieve a programmable heterogeneous microprocessor architecture implemented in 65-nm CMOS and corresponding interfaces to the software that enables mapping of application workloads. The architecture consists of a 590-Kb IMC accelerator, configurable digital near-memory-computing (NMC) accelerator, RISC-V CPU, and other peripherals. To enable programmability, microarchitectural design of the IMC accelerator provides the integration in the standard processor memory space, area- and energy-efficient analog-to-digital conversion for interfacing to NMC, bit-scalable computation (1–8 b), and input-vector sparsity-proportional energy consumption. The IMC accelerator demonstrates excellent matching between computed outputs and idealized software-modeled outputs, at 1b TOPS/W of 192|400 and 1b-TOPS/mm2 of 0.60|0.24 for MAC hardware, at $V_{DD}$ of 1.2|0.85 V, both of which scale directly with the bit precision of the input vector and matrix elements. Software libraries developed for application mapping are used to demonstrate CIFAR-10 image classification with a ten-layer CNN, achieving accuracy, throughput, and energy of 89.3%|92.4%, 176|23 images/s, and $5.31\mid 105.2~\mu \text{J}$ /image, for 1|4 b quantization levels.
Everything New Is Old Again

ABSTRACT: For more than thirty years, John Wennberg and his colleagues have been documenting variations in patterns of health care use from one community to the next, which are not explained by ill...
Mechanical behavior of nanocomposites

While initial interest in nanocomposites was to explore size effects in mechanical behavior, current research is focused around the new paradigm of interface-dominated/enabled mechanical behavior. The use of advanced computational tools to accelerate the discovery, design, and fundamental understanding of behavior is highlighted along with novel synthesis and in situ nanomechanical characterization tools. Designed interfaces can be used as building blocks to create new forms of hierarchical composites with unprecedented mechanical and physical behavior. New frontiers in the field of mechanical behavior of nanocomposites involving metallic, nanocarbon, bioinspired, and biomaterials are reviewed.
Simple Image Classifiers

There are two problems that lie at the core of image understanding. The first is image classification , where we decide what class an image of a fixed size belongs to. It’s usual to work with a collection of images of objects. These objects will be largely centered in the image, and largely isolated. Each image will have an associated object name, using a taxonomy of classes provided in advance. You should think of catalog images of clothing or furniture. Another possible example is mugshot photos or pictures of people on websites (where the taxonomy is names). Judging by the amount of industry money pouring into image classification research, there are valuable applications for solutions.
Comparison of detection methods for Salmonella enterica shedding among reptilian patients at a veterinary teaching hospital.

In the United States, ~1.4 million sporadic human Salmonella enterica infections occur annually, with an estimated 6% attributable to reptile exposure. Detection of Salmonella in reptiles can be ch...
Dropout vs. batch normalization: an empirical study of their impact to deep learning

Overfitting and long training time are two fundamental challenges in multilayered neural network learning and deep learning in particular. Dropout and batch normalization are two well-recognized approaches to tackle these challenges. While both approaches share overlapping design principles, numerous research results have shown that they have unique strengths to improve deep learning. Many tools simplify these two approaches as a simple function call, allowing flexible stacking to form deep learning architectures. Although their usage guidelines are available, unfortunately no well-defined set of rules or comprehensive studies to investigate them concerning data input, network configurations, learning efficiency, and accuracy. It is not clear when users should consider using dropout and/or batch normalization, and how they should be combined (or used alternatively) to achieve optimized deep learning outcomes. In this paper we conduct an empirical study to investigate the effect of dropout and batch normalization on training deep learning models. We use multilayered dense neural networks and convolutional neural networks (CNN) as the deep learning models, and mix dropout and batch normalization to design different architectures and subsequently observe their performance in terms of training and test CPU time, number of parameters in the model (as a proxy for model size), and classification accuracy. The interplay between network structures, dropout, and batch normalization, allow us to conclude when and how dropout and batch normalization should be considered in deep learning. The empirical study quantified the increase in training time when dropout and batch normalization are used, as well as the increase in prediction time (important for constrained environments, such as smartphones and low-powered IoT devices). It showed that a non-adaptive optimizer (e.g. SGD) can outperform adaptive optimizers, but only at the cost of a significant amount of training times to perform hyperparameter tuning, while an adaptive optimizer (e.g. RMSProp) performs well without much tuning. Finally, it showed that dropout and batch normalization should be used in CNNs only with caution and experimentation (when in doubt and short on time to experiment, use only batch normalization).
The Minimum Wage and Infant Mortality

Interest in the non-economic impact of minimum wage laws have led to a growing literature examining how population health measures respond to state minimum wage increases in the US. These studies rely on the canonical two-way fixed effect estimator, which is an unreliable method to infer causal effects with spatially heterogeneous populations. In this paper, I study the impact of minimum wage differences across states and within-state ordinances on infant mortality rates. I isolate the causal effect of the minimum wage by employing a spatial regression discontinuity design using neighboring counties in different states that are contiguous to a common state border as local treatment and control populations. I find that a 10 percent increase in local cost-of-living adjusted minimum wage reduces infant mortality rates by 3.2 percent among lower-educated mothers — a group more likely affected by minimum wage changes. I find that reductions in infant mortality is concentrated in the post-neonatal period. I also demonstrate that the traditional empirical approach employed in this literature will produce lower estimates of the health impact of the minimum wage. My findings provide robust evidence that minimum wage increases are causally linked with improved infant health.
Influence of Soil Saturation on Survival and Growth of Bottomland Oaks Six and Fourteen Years after Planting

Bottomland oak restoration projects have been marginally successful because professionals often recommend conventional tree-planting procedures that prove problematic in hydric soils. A reliable method of matching oak species to bottomland sites is needed prior to planting. To address the issue, we planted 8 different species of oak seedlings into previously farmed hydric soil in West Tennessee in 2004. We took measurements after 6 and 14 growing seasons to ascertain survival and growth trends based on soil mottling and the depth to gleyed matrix. The later measurements mostly supported early findings that Quercus lyrata (Overcup Oak), Q. texana (Nuttall Oak), Q. palustris (Pin Oak), and Q. phellos (Willow Oak) are most tolerant of poorly drained soil and that as soil drainage improves, species diversity may expand.
When a spoon is not a spoon: Examining the role of executive function in young children's divergent thinking.

Abstract Background Research with adults suggests that executive function (EF) might play a role in the development of divergent thinking, a key component of creativity, by helping children override canonical knowledge. Procedure We examined this possibility in two experiments, by manipulating the familiarity of objects used in the Alternate Uses test of divergent thinking both between-participants (Experiment 1: N = 53 4-year-olds and 50 6-year-olds) and within-participants (Experiment 2: N = 74 5-year-olds). Findings We found evidence that younger children generated more and/or more original ideas for novel than familiar objects. However, this effect disappeared with age and did not depend on child EF. Further, EF was inversely associated with divergent thinking, controlling for age, intelligence, and income. Significance These results call into question a simple executive account of children's divergent thinking and suggest that, among predominantly White, socioeconomically advantaged 4–6-year-olds, divergent idea-generation might be a primarily bottom-up process that can be hindered by top-down thinking.
Explaining Off-Policy Actor-Critic From A Bias-Variance Perspective.

Off-policy Actor-Critic algorithms have demonstrated phenomenal experimental performance but still require better explanations. To this end, we show its policy evaluation error on the distribution of transitions decomposes into: a Bellman error, a bias from policy mismatch, and a variance term from sampling. By comparing the magnitude of bias and variance, we explain the success of the Emphasizing Recent Experience sampling and 1/age weighted sampling. Both sampling strategies yield smaller bias and variance and are hence preferable to uniform sampling.
The National Climate Program

The objective of achieving “a better understanding of the processes that determine the system of world climate” was included in the 1961 NAS/CAS report and in the U.N. resolutions that led directly to the World Weather Watch and GARP. And two objectives were stated in the 1969 agreement between WMO and ICSU that launched GARP—the first, “increasing the accuracy of forecasting over periods from one day to several weeks”—and the second, “better understanding of the physical basis of climate.” Although the first objective received nearly exclusive attention throughout most of the 1960s, by late in the decade the second objective began to gain attention, stimulated especially by Keeling’s evidence that atmospheric carbon dioxide was increasing inexorably. As noted in chapter 10, the 1970 NAS/CAS summer study at Friday Harbor recommended that “increased efforts should be directed toward understanding the dynamics of climate” (NAS/CAS 1971). Later that same summer I participated in the Williams College summer study of long-term environmental problems, organized by Carroll L. Wilson of MIT. After the study the leaders concluded that climate change is probably the most threatening of the long-term environmental problems resulting from human actions [Study of Critical Environmental Problems (SCEP) 1970]. This led to a study of man’s impact on climate in 1971 and to the 1972 U.N. Conference on the Human Environment, both held in Stockholm, Sweden, under international auspices. Drought in the Soviet Union and in the African Sahel, also in 1972, resulted in rise in grain prices and disrupted the world grain market; and climate change suddenly snapped into the line of sight of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the Nixon White House.59 Although the intense attention was short-lived, climate research began to receive increased support by NSF, NOAA, and other agencies. The U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP) was established. In 1974 under the NAS Committee for GARP the Panel on Climate Variation issued a report that helped to establish climate change as a tractable and stimulating scientific endeavor and strongly influenced subsequent developments (U.S. Committee for GARP 1975).
Plato’s Tribute to Socrates

Socrates’s thoughts about the proper way to search for knowledge are a crucial part of the intellectual background against which Plato came to believe that the Forms are substances.1 Plato presents these thoughts in the early definitional dialogues in the passages in which his character presses the “What is F?” question in his search for knowledge. Plato presents a history of these thoughts in the passage in the Phaedo in which his character gives an autobiographical account of his dispute with the natural scientists.2 Plato takes Socrates’s side in this dispute, and Plato shows himself to conclude that the leading assumptions in Socrates’s method of intellectual inquiry are inconsistent with a conception of reality in which the Forms are not substances.
The Acute Spectral Structure of Single-Domain YBa2Cu3O6.9

Extraordinarily sharp spectral features at binding energies near leV have been observed in the photoemission spectra of untwinned, single crystal YBa2Cu3O6.9. This is the first observation of such distinctive electronic structure away from the near-Fermi Energy regime. It suggests that the entire valence band electronic structure, not merely the Fermiology, may provide insight into the nature of high temperature superconducting cuprates.
An association study of 20 candidate genes with cryptorchidism in Siberian Husky dogs.

Summary Cryptorchidism (CO) as a common developmental defect in purebred dogs causes health concerns of reduced fertility and increases risk of testicular malignancies. A total of 49 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) discovered from 20 candidate genes was investigated to analyse their associations with CO in Siberian Huskies. The sibling-transmission disequilibrium test on 38 discordant full-sibs revealed seven SNPs in the collagen type II α 1 (COL2A1) gene were significantly (p < 0.05) or suggestively (p < 0.10) associated with CO. Further analyses showed that only one SNP (rs23358342) in this gene remained suggestively significant (p < 0.1) on a data set of full-sibs with additional related dogs, but not significant on all 156 Siberian Huskies. Based on the statistical results and the involvement of COL2A1 in the testicle development and descent, we could not exclude COL2A1 as a potential candidate gene for CO in Siberian Huskies. Further studies are necessary to clarify these results from our relatively small sample size.
Simulation-based electrical safety training

Electrical safety has rapidly risen in prominence in industrial applications due to increased awareness of hazards and risks. There are numerous occupational health and safety organizations around the world that now mandate practices and procedures to maximize electrical safety in the workplace. Training workers to meet these requirements typically follows the standard methods based on seminars and short courses which have been widely used for many years. Maximizing electrical safety, however, cannot be achieved by simply memorizing facts or procedures taught in this environment. The critical aspect of electrical safety lies in the actions of the worker in the workplace—what people do in certain situations when given particular information is based on their higher-level thought process and their sequential decisions and actions. It is not possible to fully train workers in this skillset in advance, and the needs in this area are normally addressed on the job by direct observation and personal interaction. In this paper, a simulation-based electrical safety training module is described that allows the participant to move through a simulated environment while making observations and decisions and taking actions. The ability of the participant to recognize key facts and take appropriate actions when faced with simulated electrical safety scenarios can be scored and evaluated in the same manner as a typical computer game with the total score based on the accumulated choices of the participant. A score threshold can then be used to indicate the level to which the participant has mastered the training scenarios. Determining such a total score is exemplary of the necessary changes in assessment required when using virtual learning environments for training purposes.
15 Interlopers, translators, scribes, and seers: anthropology, knowledge representation and Bayesian statistics for predictive modelling in multidisciplinary science and engineering projects

Multidisciplinary projects often lack integrated representations to support a diverse community's problem-solving process. In this chapter, we discuss an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge elicitation, representation and transformation developed in the Statistical Sciences Group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. This approach is called information integration technology (IIT), and it meshes techniques from cultural anthropology, the AI community, and Bayesian statistics to address the complexities of multidisciplinary research. Specifically, we use elicitation techniques derived from cultural anthropology to elicit tacit problem-solving structures from the “natives”—generally, the scientists and engineers collaborating on difficult R&D problems. The elicited information, in turn, is used to develop ontologies that both represent the problem space in the “native language” of the research team, but which are more mathematically tractable to AI and statistical communities. Iterative cycles of representational refinement and quantification lead to the emergence of predictive statistical models that make intuitive sense to all parties: the engineers, elicitation experts, knowledge modellers and statisticians. This method can be used in many types of problems including reliability quantification as shown here.
Analysis of learning recurrent neural networks: connective stability and equilibrium manifold

Stability analysis of recurrent neural networks with a learning rule based on the concept of an equilibrium manifold is considered. Recurrent neural networks with learning rules have changing equilibria during the learning process. The authors design a learning rule that enables the recurrent neural network to store a desired pattern based on the concept of the equilibrium manifold. A stability criterion for the learning neural network is established and is a function of the learning rate, a sigmoid function and the upper bound of the interconnection strength. >
Quality and speed trade-offs in manufacturing systems

A methodology for modeling quality-speed tradeoffs in manufacturing systems is discussed. This is done by approximating the quality characteristic achieved as normally distributed with the standard deviation of the process being a convex increasing function with respect to speed. For a single-stage system, it is shown that the profit rate function is quasi-concave and there is a unique maximum. The optimum speed obtained by maximizing profit rate is shown to be greater than the optimum minimum cost speed. A numerical example is presented. >
Statistical shape model for automatic skull-stripping of brain images

Presents a statistical shape model for automatic skull stripping of MR brain images. A surface model of the brain boundary is hierarchically represented by a set of overlapping surface patches, each of which has elastic properties and a deformation range that is learned from a training set. The model's deformation is hierarchical which adds robustness to local minima. Moreover, the deformation of the model is constrained and guided by global shape statistics. The model is deformed to the brain boundary by a procedure that matches the local image structures and evaluates the similarity in the whole patch rather than on a single vertex. The experimental results show high agreement between automatic and supervised skull-stripping results.
Stress During Labor and Delivery Is Associated with Delayed Onset of Lactation among Urban Guatemalan Women

A delayed onset of lactation (OL) is likely to have a negative influence on breast-feeding outcomes. Thus, it is important to identify risk factors for delayed OL. We examined prospectively the association between stress during labor and delivery and OL in a cohort of urban Guatemalan women. Healthy women (n = 136) were recruited during the first stage of labor in the labor unit of a social security hospital in Guatemala City. Women provided salivary samples for cortisol determinations 3.2 +/- 3.2 h before birth and 1.7 +/- 1.9 h and 17.1 +/- 4.7 h after delivery. At the same time points women were asked to respond to a 17-item psychosocial stress and anxiety questionnaire. Women were called daily until OL occurred. Primiparous women had higher antepartum and early postpartum cortisol levels that were twice as high as those among multiparous women (P < 0.05). The parity differential in salivary cortisol concentrations vanished with time. General linear model multivariate analysis indicate that multiparous women (n = 77), irrespective of mode of delivery, had an earlier OL (P < 0.05) than primiparae who underwent emergency cesarean section deliveries (n = 11) (adjusted mean +/- SEM, 2.5 +/- 0.1 vs. 3.4 +/- 0.3 d postpartum, respectively). OL took longer to occur among multiparous women with prenatal salivary cortisol levels above (vs. below) the 40th percentile [3 +/- 0.2 (n = 28) vs. 2.4 +/- 0.2 d postpartum (n = 38), respectively; P = 0.02]. Thus, stress during labor and/or delivery is likely to be a significant risk factor for delayed OL in urban Guatemala.
In vitro evaluation of thermal frontally polymerized thiol-ene composites as bone augments

Because of the large number of total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries conducted per year, and with projections of increased demand to almost a million primary TKR surgeries per year by 2030 in the United States alone, there is a need to discover more efficient working materials as alternatives to current bone cements. There is a need for surgeons and hospitals to become more efficient and better control over the operative environment. One area of inefficiency is the cement steps during TKR. Currently the surgeon has very little control over cement polymerization. This leads to an increase in time, waste, and procedural inefficiencies. There is a clear need to create an extended working time, moldable, osteoconductive, and osteoinductive bone augment as a substitution for the current clinically used bone cement where the surgeon has better control over the polymerization process. This study explored several compositions of pentaerythritol-co-trimethylolpropane tris-(3-mercaptopropionate) hydroxyapatite composite materials prepared via benzoyl peroxide-initiated thermal frontal polymerization. The 4:1 acrylate to thiol ratio containing augment material shows promise with a maximal propagation temperature of 160°C ± 10°C, with mechanical strength of 3.65 MPa, and 111% cytocompatibility, relative to the positive control. This frontally polymerized material may have application as an augment with controlled polymerization supporting cemented implants. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 104B: 1152-1160, 2016.
A Bayesian model of heart rate to reveal real-time physiological information

The human heart rate is influenced by different internal systems of the body and can reveal valuable information about health and disease conditions. In this paper, we analyze the instantaneous heart rate signal using a Bayesian method, inferring in real time a probabilistic distribution that approximates the real distribution of this signal. The best model is chosen after an experimental analysis of real data collected within our framework. The parameters of this distribution can reveal interesting insights on the influences of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in real time.
Polyphenols suppress hydrogen peroxide‐induced oxidative stress in human bone‐marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are considered a highly promising candidate cell type for cell-based tissue engineering and regeneration because of their self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation characteristics. Increased levels of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) are associated with tissue injury and inflammation, impact a number of cellular processes, including cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation, and have been linked to cellular senescence in MSCs, potentially compromising their activities. Naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds (polyphenols), epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), and curcumin, block ROS/RNS and are potent inflammation-modulating agents. However, their potential protective effects against oxidative stress in hMSCs have not been examined. In this study, we carried out a systematic analysis of the effects of polyphenols on hMSCs in their response to oxidative stress in the form of treatment with H(2)O(2) and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), respectively. Parameters measured included colony forming activity, apoptosis, and the levels of antioxidant enzymes and free reactive species. We found that polyphenols reversed H(2)O(2) -induced loss of colony forming activity in hMSCs. In a dose-dependent manner, polyphenols inhibited increased levels of ROS and NO, produced by H(2)O(2) or SNAP, respectively, in MSCs. Notably, polyphenols rapidly and almost completely blocked H(2)O(2) -induced ROS in the absence of significant direct effect on H(2)O(2) itself. Polyphenols also protected the antioxidant enzymes and reduced apoptotic cell death caused by H(2)O(2) exposure. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that EGCG and curcumin are capable of suppressing inducible oxidative stress in hMSCs, and suggest a possible new approach to maintain MSC viability and potency for clinical application.
Critical ultracentrifugal and viscosity studies on bovine fibrinogen

Abstract Ultracentrifugal studies have been carried out on bovine fibrinogen at various temperatures using 0.2 M NaCl and 0.1 M Na 2 HPO 4 as solvents for the protein. Viscosity studies have been carried out on bovine fibrinogen at various temperatures using 0.1 M Na 2 HPO 4 as the solvent. Ultracentrifugal studies on fibrinogen dissolved in 0.1 M Na 2 HPO 4 have been carried out using three different speeds. Significant differences in the values of S 20 at zero concentration were observed when the determinations were carried out at various temperatures and corrected by the conventional formula to 20°C. and water as the solvent. There were differences in the slopes of the lines of regression as well. These differences are explained for the most part by the changes in viscosity of the fibrinogen solution with change in temperature. The incorporation of the viscosity of the fibrinogen solution into the correction formula rather than the viscosity of the solvent seemed to give a better correction factor. Differences were observed in the properties of the lines of regression for S 20 on concentration when fibrinogen was ultracentrifuged at various speeds. This observation indicates orientation of the fibrinogen molecule—greater orientation, the higher the speed. The fact that the fibrinogen molecule has a tendency to orient indicates that it is a rigidly asymmetric molecule.
Submicron high-aspect-ratio silicon beam etch

High aspect ratio beam/trench arrays are etched into silicon substrates using a Surface Technology Systems (STS) deep reactive ion etch (RIE) tool. Process input parameters are varied using high/low values for etch cycle time, passivation cycle time, RF power, and SF6 flow rate. The silicon etch process is characterized using photo-resist masked trench arrays varied from 1.5micrometers through 6micrometers in both width and spacing. A design of experiments (DOE) approach is used to model the following measured outputs: 1) trench depth (R2=0.985), 2) lateral trench etch (R2=0.852), 3) trench sidewall angle (R2=0.815), and 4) aspect ratio dependent etch (R2=0.942), where R2 represents the correlation between actual and model predicted values. The presented characterization models are employed to form beams as small as 300nm wide beams etched to a depth >15micrometers with near vertical sidewalls using standard photolithography equipment. In addition, the provided models are exploited to produce a dual re-entrant/tapered beam etch release process. Released silicon beams are demonstrated over 1200micrometers long and 30micrometers thick with a base width of 300nm.
The Almost Homeless

A recent report by the U. S. Conference of Mayors noted that "Homelessness is the greatest single problem facing poor children in New York City" (Daily News, Oct. 28, 1988). As more about the report was made public, it became evident that the poor face problems other than homelessness. These involve problems with child care, drugs, school dropout, jobs, and teenage pregnancy. But these same problems are experienced by many people with shelter, and this makes homelessness only one part of a much larger social problem. This essay will focus on the "almost homeless," low-income and working class neighborhoods of New York City. People living in such neighborhoods are related to the homeless in several ways. Some of the residents of such areas stand the risk of becoming homeless themselves, and the residents of these areas often object strongly to any proposed housing project that would benefit the homeless. Any solution to the problem of homelessness must confront and improve the living conditions in these ma...
Recent Infrared Detector Developments for Future Remote Sensor Applications

Molecular beam epitaxy has been applied as a technique for growing low carrier concentration, single crystal thin films of lead-tin-telluride suitable for fabrication of infrared detect-ors in the wavelength region of 3 to 14 um. Lead-tin-tellur-ide photodiode detectors with background-limited performance in the 8 to 14 pm band at 77°K have been fabricated. Twenty-five element linear arrays of lead-tin-telluride detect-ors have been fabricated and flip-chip bonded to an alumina substrate.
The Geochemical Characteristics of Constant Elements of Red Mudstones in the Lower Part of the Fourth Member of Shahejie Formation in Dongying Depression

The statistical analysis of constant elements of red mudstones in the lower part of the fourth member of Shahejie Formation (S4) in Dongying Depression shows that the red mudstones in the lower S4 of Dongying Depression can be classified into three major types based on the characteristics of their constant elements, which is closely relevant to the sedimentary structures of red mudstones. Among the three types of red mudstones, two types originate from one single source area while the other type embraces the characteristics of multi-sources.
An active power bandpass filter

This paper describes a new approach to the realization of an active 60 hz bandpass power filter. The system uses power switching to minimize attenuation losses and negative feedback to obtain narrowband filtering with a high degree of attenuation, without using large inductors and capacitors.
Modulation of circulating cell–endothelial cell interaction by erythropoietin in lean and obese mice with cecal ligation and puncture

Abstract Objective: Septic shock related morbidity is increased further in obese patients. Obese mice have exaggerated inflammatory response compared to lean mice when exposed to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). The current study employs use of erythropoietin (EPO), an anti-inflammatory agent in obese and lean mice with CLP to study inflammation. Method: Intravital videomicroscopy was used to quantify CLP-induced platelet (PA) and leukocyte (LA) adhesion in cerebral microcirculation of WT (C57Bl/6) and ob / ob (B6.V- Lepob /J) mice with or without EPO (500units/kg) treatment. P-selectin expression (P-sel) in various tissues, blood–brain barrier (BBB) and behavioral function and serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels were quantified in these animals. LA, PA, BBB function and P-sel were measured in TNF monoclonal antibody (mAb) pre-treated ob / ob mice. Results: EPO attenuated the LA, PA, BBB and behavioral dysfunctions and serum TNF levels 4h after CLP in both WT and ob / ob mice, and P-sel in ob / ob CLP mice. Furthermore, TNF mAb and EPO decreased the LA, PA, BBB dysfunction and P-sel in the ob / ob CLP animals to the same degree. Conclusion: EPO exerts significant anti-inflammatory actions in obese and lean septic mice. Modulation of P-selectin expression via attenuation of TNF production is a suggested underlying mechanism.
Blue-light reflectance imaging of macular pigment in infants and children.

Purpose While the role of the macular pigment carotenoids in the prevention of age-related macular degeneration has been extensively studied in adults, comparatively little is known about the physiology and function of lutein and zeaxanthin in the developing eye. We therefore developed a protocol using a digital video fundus camera (RetCam) to measure macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and distributions in premature infants and in children. Methods We used blue light reflectance to image the macular pigment in premature babies at the time of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening and in children aged under 7 years who were undergoing examinations under anesthesia for other reasons. We correlated the MPOD with skin carotenoid levels measured by resonance Raman spectroscopy, serum carotenoids measured by HPLC, and dietary carotenoid intake. Results We enrolled 51 infants and children ranging from preterm to age 7 years. MPOD correlated significantly with age (r = 0.36; P = 0.0142), with serum lutein + zeaxanthin (r = 0.44; P = 0.0049) and with skin carotenoid levels (r = 0.42; P = 0.0106), but not with dietary lutein + zeaxanthin intake (r = 0.13; P = 0.50). All premature infants had undetectable macular pigment, and most had unusually low serum and skin carotenoid concentrations. Conclusions Our most remarkable finding is the undetectable MPOD in premature infants. This may be due in part to foveal immaturity, but the very low levels of serum and skin carotenoids suggest that these infants are carotenoid insufficient as a consequence of low dietary intake and/or severe oxidative stress. The potential value of carotenoid supplementation in the prevention of ROP and other disorders of prematurity should be a fruitful direction for further investigation.
Abnormalities of the cortico-geniculate pathway in siamese cats†

The cortico-geniculate pathways of normally-pigmented and Siamese cats have been studied by autoradiography following injections of 3H proline into cortical area 17. Normal Siamese cats and Siamese cats that were raised with one eye sutured or removed have been compared with normally-pigmented cats treated in the same manner. The cortico-geniculate projection from area 17 passes to all parts of the lateral geniculate nucleus in normal cats and distributes to all geniculate layers (Updyke, '76). This distribution was essentially unaffected by an early monocular suture or enucleation. In Siamese cats, the cortico-geniculate projection to lamina A and to the lateral normal segment of lamina A1 was normal, but little or no label was seen in the abnormal segment of lamina A1. The interlaminar zones adjacent to the abnormal segment of lamina A1 were densely filled with label, as though the cortico-geniculate axons avoid this segment. Unilateral enucleation or lid-suture did not affect this distribution, suggesting that it does not depend upon visual experience. These Siamese cats were all identified by electrophysiological studies as having a normal topography of the geniculo-cortical pathways. That is, they were “Midwestern” cats.
Management as Usual... Not! Emerging Trends and Recommended Management Competencies

The late Kenneth Boulding advised those who would prepare for the future to prepare to be surprised. Five emerging trends promise to do that for corporate leaders and to blindside those least well prepared. Over the next decade or two, America and every other advanced industrial nation will reconsider how much time adults are willing to cede to paid work versus subsidized leisure. They will struggle to accommodate an absolute loss in available jobs as "smart" steel-collar equipment boosts productivity and displaces human workers as never before. They will come to terms with new workplace partners, a species of smarter-than-human "thoughtware" programs. They will confront an unprecedented widening of the gap between two overriding social classes, the Information Haves and the Information Have Nots. And they will find it necessary to recast a bright new national vision superior to the Orwellian vision that otherwise beckons. Although formidable, these five trends are not "laws" and can be revised, altered, ...