cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Time-synchronization in mobile sensor networks from difference measurements

We examine distributed time-synchronization in mobile ad-hoc and sensor networks. The problem is to estimate the skews and offsets of clocks of all the nodes with respect to an arbitrary reference clock. Pairs of nodes that can communicate with each other can obtain noisy measurements of the relative skews and offsets between them. We propose a distributed algorithm with which each node can estimate its offset/skew from these noisy relative measurements by communicating only with its neighbors. The algorithm is simple and easy to implement. We model the change in the communication network due to the moving nodes as a Markov chain whose state space is the set of graphs that can occur. Using tools from Markov Jump Linear Systems, we provide a sufficient condition for the mean square convergence of the estimation error. A conjecture on mean square convergence under weaker conditions is discussed. Monte Carlo simulations are provided that corroborate the predictions and justify the conjecture.
Analytical investigation of various regimes of retrograde trafficking of neurotropic viruses in axons

A model of retrograde axonal transport of neurotropic viruses is developed. The model accounts for active viral transport by dynein motors as well as for passive transport by diffusion; the destruction of the virus as it propagates toward the neuron soma is modeled utilizing a first-order decay rate process. The effect of a limited time during which the axonal synapse is exposed to the virus is incorporated. An analytical solution is obtained. The obtained solution makes it possible to identify four different regimes of viral transport in the axon that correspond to the following situations: (1) Small viral diffusivity and small rate of viral destruction; (2) Large viral diffusivity and small rate of viral destruction; (3) Small viral diffusivity and large rate of viral destruction; (4) Large viral diffusivity and large rate of viral destruction. Characteristic features of these regimes are discussed.
Initial three-dimensional low-thrust trajectory design

Abstract This paper presents a method for rapid generation of three-dimensional low-thrust trajectories that utilizes Fourier series for shaping the position vector. The generated trajectories are feasible with respect to the given thrust acceleration constraints. An objective function is defined representing the overall mission cost, i.e. minimum Δ V . Four missions from Earth to Mars, the near Earth asteroid 1989ML, comet Tempel 1 and asteroid Dionysus are considered for assessing the performance of the algorithm. The selected missions present a range of various difficulties with different levels of thrust acceleration constraints. The Fourier series technique is flexible in generating various shapes rather than using one global shape. The proposed method is capable of rapid generation of sub-optimal feasible trajectories that are totally different from and comparable to the solutions of the state-of-the-art three-dimensional shape-based methods. This feature is quite favorable at the preliminary stages of low-thrust mission designs where various trajectory alternatives are required. The results also show that the obtained trajectories can be used as initial guesses for high fidelity optimal control tools.
Stabilities and defect-mediated lithium-ion conduction in a ground state cubic Li3N structure.

A stable ground state structure with cubic symmetry of Li3N (c-Li3N) is found by an ab initio initially symmetric random-generated crystal structure search method. Gibbs free energy, calculated within quasi-harmonic approximation, shows that c-Li3N is the ground state structure for a wide range of temperatures. The c-Li3N structure has a negative thermal expansion coefficient at temperatures lower than room temperature, mainly due to two transverse acoustic phonon modes. This c-Li3N phase is a semiconductor with an indirect band gap of 1.90 eV within hybrid density functional calculations. We also investigate the migration and energetics of native point defects in c-Li3N, including lithium and nitrogen vacancies, interstitials, and anti-site defects. Lithium interstitials are found to have a very low migration barrier (∼0.12 eV) and the lowest formation energy among all possible defects. The ionic conduction in c-Li3N is thus expected to occur via an interstitial mechanism, in contrast to that in the well-known α-Li3N phase which occurs via a vacancy mechanism.
Adaptation from Sparse Observations through Detection and Correction of Model Anomalies

To make intelligent decisions, robots often use models of the effects of their actions on the world. Unfortunately, it is often infeasible to have the perfect knowledge and computational resources required to create globally accurate models. This may lead to divergence between planned and actual execution, often resulting in suboptimal task performance. We propose an execution monitoring approach that enables robots to detect unmodeled modes of the system and correct their models accordingly. In particular, we address the problem of finding and adapting to regions of a state-action feature space in which outcomes of actions observed during execution deviate from the stochastic expectations used to select those actions. We evaluate our approach in the adversarial domain of autonomous robot soccer.
Alleviation of Disk I/O Contention in Virtualized Settings for Data-Intensive Computing

Steady growth in storage and processing capabilities has led to the accumulation of large-scale datasets that contain valuable insight into the interactions of complex systems, long-and short-term trends, and real-world phenomena. Converged infrastructure, operating on cloud deployments and private clusters, has emerged as an energy-efficient and cost-effective means of coping with these computing demands. However, increased collocation of storage and processing activities often leads to greater contention for resources in high-use situations. This issue is particularly pronounced when running distributed computations (such as MapReduce applications), because overall execution times are dependent on the completion time of the slowest task(s). In this study, we propose a framework that makes opinionated disk scheduling decisions to ensure high throughput for tasks that use I/O resources conservatively, while still maintaining the average performance of long-running batch processing operations. Our solution does not require modification of client applications or virtual machines, and we illustrate its efficacy on a cluster of 1,200 VMs with a variety of datasets that span over 1 Petabyte of information, in situations with high disk interference, our algorithm resulted in a 20% improvement in MapReduce completion times.
Marking the southern pine beetle (Coleoptera : Scolytidae) with rubidium within loblolly pine for dispersal studies

Studies were conducted to improve techniques for the use of elemental marking in dispersal studies of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann. Tissues from host loblolly pines, Pinus taeda L., having diameters at breast height ranging from 15 to 46 cm and the emerging D. frontalis were marked successfully by injection of rubidium (Rb) concentrations based on estimates of bole surface area. A stem-well infusion technique, which is less labor intensive than pressure injections, was found to mark emerging beetles successfully. Use of dimethysulfoxide (DMSO) in RbCI solution did not significantly increase Rb concentration in P. taeda phloem samples or percentage of Rb-marked D. frontalis. Rb was rapidly eliminated by Rb-marked D. frontalis adults when allowed to feed on nonRb-enhanced host tissue, but Rb concentrations remained relatively constant in Rb-marked beetles held without feeding. While this loss of Rb by colonizing D. frontalis would effect use of the elemental labeling technique for subsequent tracking of reemerging adults, it would be relatively unimportant for typical short duration mark-recapture experiments. Rb-marked D. frontalis were successfully recaptured in pheromone-baited traps at distances as far as 1 km from the point of emergence. Recaptures in four cardinal directions indicated a random dispersal pattern. Adirect comparison of fluorescent powder and Rb-marking showed both are equally effective. Selection of method will depend on the objectives and experimental design.
Effects of Subclinical Mycobacterium chelonae Infections on Fecundity and Embryo Survival in Zebrafish

Mycobacteriosis is the second most common infectious disease in zebrafish research colonies, and most often this is caused by Mycobacterium chelonae. The infection is characterized by multiple granulomas in the kidney, coelomic cavity, particularly the ovary. However, most fish still appear clinically normal. Developmental genetics remain a primary area of research with the zebrafish model, and hence, an important use of adult zebrafish is as brood fish to produce embryos. We investigated the effects of experimentally induced M. chelonae infections on fecundity. A total of 480 5D wild-type zebrafish were divided into four groups: controls, males infected, females infected, and both sexes. Exposed fish developed high prevalence of infection, including many females with ovarian infections. Fish were then first subjected to four separate group spawns with four replicate tanks/group. Then, a third of the fish were subjected to pairwise spawns, representing 20 pairs/group, and then the pairs were evaluated by histopathology. Overall, the group and pairwise spawns resulted numerous eggs and viable embryos. However, we found no statistical correlations between infection status and number of eggs or viability. In contrast to Egg Associated Inflammation and Fibroplasia, lesions in infected ovaries were more localized, with large regions of the ovary appearing normal.
The effects of percentile versus fixed criterion schedules on smoking with equal incentive magnitude for initial abstinence

Incentives have been successfully used to reduce smoking in hard-to-treat (HTT) smokers by progressively reinforcing lower levels of breath carbon monoxide (CO). When compared with schedules only providing incentives for smoking abstinence, using a progressive (percentile) criterion facilitates longer periods of smoking abstinence. However, participants receiving incentives for lower breath CO levels on percentile schedules typically earn more for their first abstinent breath CO sample relative to participants receiving incentives only for smoking abstinence. Many studies show that larger incentive magnitude increases abstinence rates. The present study tested the effects of different incentive schedules on rates of abstinence maintenance while holding the initial incentive magnitude constant for 93 HTT smokers to eliminate initial abstinence incentive magnitude as a potential confound. Smokers were randomized to percentile, fixed criterion, or random incentive schedules. The incentive magnitude for the first abstinent breath CO sample (<3 ppm) was $5 for percentile and fixed criterion incentive participants, and then increased by $0.50 for each consecutive abstinent breath CO sample. All groups had similar patterns of meeting the abstinence criterion for at least 1 visit. However, once this abstinence criterion was met, abstinence was more likely to be maintained by fixed criterion incentive participants. Unlike previous studies comparing percentile and fixed criterion schedules, percentile incentive schedules were not associated with longer periods of abstinence relative to fixed criterion incentive schedules. Further studies that manipulate initial incentive magnitude are needed to test whether the difference between the current and previous studies was due to initial incentive magnitude.
Quality control for building libraries from electrospray ionization tandem mass spectra.

Electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry coupled with liquid chromatography is a routine technique for identifying and quantifying compounds in complex mixtures. The identification step can be aided by matching acquired tandem mass spectra (MS2) against reference library spectra as is routine for electron ionization (EI) spectra from gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). However, unlike the latter spectra, ESI MS2 spectra are likely to originate from various precursor ions for a given target molecule and may be acquired at varying energies and resolutions and have characteristic noise signatures, requiring processing methods very different from EI to obtain complete and high quality reference spectra for individual analytes. This paper presents procedures developed for creating a tandem mass spectral library that addresses these factors. Library building begins by acquiring MS2 spectra for all major MS1 peaks in an infusion run, followed by assigning MS2 spectra to clusters and creat...
Regulation of early gestational corpus luteum function in spontaneous and follicular stimulated conceptions.

Objective To determine the regulatory role of hCG on P secretion in normal and abnormal (abortive and ectopic) first trimester pregnancies. Study Design The number of doublings of hCG per day (1/DT; reciprocal of hCG doubling time) was correlated with serum P using linear and nonlinear models in normal intrauterine pregnancies, spontaneous abortions, and ectopic pregnancies (EPs) conceived spontaneously or after clomiphene citrate (CC). Results Linear correlations between P and 1/DTs of hCG were poor. In contrast, nonlinear modeling with a hyperbolic curve fit the data well and allowed all of the data to be included for analysis regardless of the pregnancy type. Furthermore, this model could be used to explain the differential P concentrations seen in normal and abnormal first trimester pregnancies. The nonlinear hyperbolic model demonstrated that follicular events determine the maximal P production during early gestation. Human chorionic gonadotropin 1/DTs approximately equal to 0.5 sustain maximal P production. Progesterone production is then sustained by the rate of change of hCG. Conclusion Nonlinear correlation analysis suggests that P production in early gestations is regulated by prior follicular events and the rate of hCG production.
Ribo-Proteomics Approach to Profile RNA–Protein and Protein–Protein Interaction Networks

Characterizing protein-protein and protein-RNA interaction networks is a fundamental step to understanding the function of an RNA-binding protein. In many cases, these interactions are transient and highly dynamic. Therefore, capturing stable as well as transient interactions in living cells for the identification of protein-binding partners and the mapping of RNA-binding sequences is key to a successful establishment of the molecular interaction network. In this chapter, we will describe a method for capturing the molecular interactions in living cells using formaldehyde as a crosslinker and enriching a specific RNA-protein complex from cell extracts followed by mass spectrometry and Next-Gen sequencing analyses.
An introduction to using theory in social work practice, by J. A. Forte

The purpose of this book is to provide a guide for social workers in using multiple frameworks for application to work with clients in their environment. The author, James A. Forte, makes argument ...
Thermal Properties of Magnetic Multilayers and Nanostructures: Applications to Static and Dynamic Behavior

Abstract The chapter discusses thermal effects on magnetic multilayers and nanoparticles. It presents a simple, numerically fast method to calculate thermal effects for equilibrium configurations and magnetic dynamics as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. Many types of behavior are illustrated, including exchange spring systems, surface phase transitions, thermal hysteresis, and superparamagnetism.
Virtual Tools for the Evaluation of Breast Imaging: State-of-the Science and Future Directions

The beginning of this century saw the development of simulation methods for the evaluation of breast imaging, motivated by the limitations of conventional clinical trials. This has led to the formation of AAPM Task Group on Virtual Tools for the Validation of 3D/4D X-ray Breast Imaging Systems TG234, gathering researchers from academia, industry, and government, interested in the development, testing, and adoption of these tools. TG234 is currently finalizing its report. The report has been designed as an experiential guide through the steps of simulating breast anatomy, image acquisition, image interpretation, and analysis. TG234 activities include disseminating the idea of virtual clinical trials through numerous focused conference sessions and AAPM annual meeting symposia. This paper reflects our desire to initiate wider discussion about the future directions in the development of virtual tools for the design and evaluation of novel breast imaging systems.
Temporal patterns of microarthropods population densities in fluff grass (Erioneuron pulchellum) litter. Relationship in subterranean termites

The colonization sequence and seasonal changes in size and composition of the fauna of decomposing fluff grass litter in the Chihuahuan desert of New Mexico, U.S.A., were examined. The effects of elimination of subterranean termites on the microarthropod populations were also documented. Tydeids pygmephorids, and the cryptostigmatic Passalozetes sp. and Joshuella sp. mites were the initial colonizers of the grass litter
A Genetic Algorithm for Learning Parameters in Bayesian Networks using Expectation Maximization

Expectation maximization (EM) is a popular algorithm for parameter estimation in situations with incomplete data. The EM algorithm has, despite its popularity, the disadvantage of often converging to local but non-global optima. Several techniques have been proposed to address this problem, for example initializing EM from multiple random starting points and then selecting the run with the highest likelihood. Unfortunately, this method is computationally expensive. In this paper, our goal is to reduce computational cost while at the same time maximizing likelihood. We propose a Genetic Algorithm for Expectation Maximization (GAEM) for learning parameters in Bayesian networks. GAEM combines the global search property of a genetic algorithm with the local search property of EM. We prove GAEM’s global convergence theoretically. Experimentally, we show that GAEM provides significant speed-ups since it tends to select more fit individuals, which converge faster, as parents for the next generation. Specifically, GAEM converges 1:5 to 7 times faster while producing better log-likelihood scores than the traditional EM algorithm.
The relationship between therapist-rated function and patient-reported outcome measures.

Abstract Study Design Prospective cohort study. Introduction Some third-party payers require hand therapists to rate patient's functional disability based on patient self-rating using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), objective measurements of impairment, and observation of functional tasks—hand therapist–rated function (HTRF). Purpose of the Study To test the correlation between HTRF and PROMs (upper limb functional index [ULFI] and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System upper extremity [PROMIS UE]) and its association with psychological factors. Methods In 2014, 100 new patients with upper extremity illness presenting to hand therapists were asked to participate in an observational cross-sectional study. Demographic-, condition-related, and psychological factors were obtained in addition to PROMs and HTRF. Results HTRF correlated moderately with PROMIS UE ( r = −0.49, P r = −0.56, P r = 0.78, P Conclusions Hand therapists' ratings of patient function correlate less strongly with PROMs than PROMs correlate with one other. The discrepancy between HTRF and PROMs may offer an opportunity to address stress, distress, or ineffective coping strategies that can interfere with recovery—an opportunity for therapists and patients to collaborate and develop goals and for future research to develop effective and feasible strategies for hand therapists. Level of Evidence Level II, diagnostic study.
Regulation of Homocysteine Transport in Vascular Cells.

Increased levels of plasma homocysteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has cell-type distinct proatherosclerotic effects on vascular cells. In this study, we characterized L- homocysteine transport in cultured human aortic endothelial and aortic smooth muscle cells. L-homocysteine was transported into vascular cells in a time-dependent fashion. L-homocysteine transport activity was about 2-fold higher in aortic smooth muscle cells. In addition, L-homocysteine transport in both cell types was mediated by sodium-dependent and independent carrier systems. Competition studies revealed that the neutral amino acids cysteine, glycine, serine, tyrosine, alanine, leucine, and methionine, and inhibitors of the cysteine transport systems inhibited L-homocysteine uptake in both cell types, but the inhibition was greater in endothelial cells. Eadie-Hofstee plots demonstrated that L-Hcy transport in endothelial cells had a Michaelis constant (Km) of 79mM and a maximum transport velocity (Vmax) of 873 pmol/mg protein/min. In contrast, homocysteine transport in aortic smooth muscle cells had a lower affinity (Km=212mM) but a higher transport capacity (Vmax=4192 pmol/mg protein/min). Interestingly, increases in pH (pH 6.5–8.2) only inhibited L-homocysteine uptake in endothelial cells. Moreover, L-homocysteine transport in endothelial cells was partially inhibited by lysosomal inhibitors. Our studies indicate that L-homocysteine shares transporter systems with cysteine and can be inhibited for transport by multiple neutral amino acids in vascular cells, and that L-homocysteine transport involves lysosomal transport in endothelial cells. The specific lysosomic feature of L-homocystein transport in endothelial cells may contribute to cell type specific growth inhibitory effects and therefore play a role in homocysteine atherogenic potential.
Designing policy incentives for cleaner technologies: Lessons from California's plug-in electric vehicle rebate program

Abstract We assess the performance of alternative rebate designs for plug-in electric vehicles. Based on an innovative vehicle choice model, we simulate the performance of rebate designs that vary in terms of vehicle technologies, consumer income eligibility, and caps on the price of vehicles eligible for subsidies. We compare these alternatives in terms of 1) the number of additional plug-in electric vehicles purchased, 2) cost-effectiveness per additional vehicle purchase induced, 3) total program cost, and 4) the distribution of rebate funding across consumer income classes. Using the status quo rebate policy in California as a reference case, we identify two alternative types of designs that are superior along all four performance criteria.
The association between educational parameters and a cognitive screening measure in older blacks.

ABSTRACTBackground:To expand on prior literature by examining how various education parameters (performance-based reading literacy, years of education, and self-rated quality of education) relate to a cognitive screening measure's total and subscale scores of specific cognitive abilities. Methods Black adults (age range: 55-86) were administered self-rated items years of education and quality of education, and a measure of performance-based reading literacy. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to screen for overall cognitive functioning as well as performance on specific cognitive abilities. Results Sixty-nine percent of the sample had reading grade levels that were less than their reported years of education. Lower years of education and worse reading literacy are associated with poorer MMSE performance, particularly on the attention and calculation subscales. Conclusions Years of education, a commonly used measure for education, may not be reflective of Black adults' educational experiences/qualities. Thus, it is important to account for the unique educational experiences of adults that could influence their MMSE performance. Incorporating quality and quantity of education will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the individual's performance on cognitive measures, specifically as it relates to sociocultural differences.
A Multipronged Intervention for Treatment of Psychotic Symptoms from Post-football Traumatic Brain Injury in an Adolescent Male: A Case Report

Introduction Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common in adolescents. TBI can result in impaired cognitive functioning and mood disturbance. In some cases, TBI results in psychotic symptoms. There is little documentation for treatment of psychotic symptoms resulting from TBI. Case presentation The present case study reviews an adolescent male who was seen in an outpatient behavioral health clinic, following a football-related TBI. The TBI resulted in postconcussive syndrome including psychotic symptoms (i.e., visual and auditory hallucinations) and increased anxiety. Management and Outcome The adolescent underwent 12 individual sessions of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and 7 sessions of family therapy for his anxiety and psychotic symptoms. He also underwent Vestibulo-Ocular Therapy. At the end of treatment, the patient's anxiety symptoms and those related to post-concussive syndrome were in remission with no hallucinations experienced for >6 months. Discussion The results provide encouragement for systematic randomized controlled trials of individual and family behavioral interventions as part of an integrated treatment approach for mild TBI.
Degree of twisting and duration of symptoms are prognostic factors of testis salvage during episodes of testicular torsion

Background: Testicular torsion is surgical emergency. Prompt diagnosis and treatment of testicular torsion is essential for testicular viability. At surgical exploration, the spermatic cord is seen twisted a variable number of times around its longitudinal axis. There is scant data regarding the degree of twisting and its association with testis outcomes. The purpose of our study is to explore how the degree of torsion factors into testicular outcome using follow-up data. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of adolescent males who presented with testicular torsion to our institution, looking at duration of pain symptoms, degree of torsion documented in the operative note, procedure performed (orchiopexy versus orchiectomy), and follow-up clinic data for whether testicular atrophy after orchiopexy was present. A non-salvageable testis was defined as orchiectomy or atrophy. Receiver operator characteristics (ROC), multivariate, and logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the probability of a non-salvageable torsed testis based on time and degree of twisting. Results: Eighty-one patients met our study criteria, with 55 testes deemed viable and 26 non-salvageable. We found a 25.7% atrophy rate after orchiopexy. Cut-off values of 8.5 h and 495 degrees of torsion would provide sensitivities of 73% and 53%, respectively, with specificity of 80% for both. Only duration and age were correlated with the risk of non-salvage on multivariate analysis. Logistic regression generated linear probability formulas of 4 + (3 × hours) and 7 + (0.05 × degrees) in calculating the probability of non-salvage with strong correlation. Conclusions: We were able to derive separate formulas to determine the viability of the torsed testis based on symptom duration and degrees of twisting. Fifteen h of symptoms and 860 degrees of torsion gives testes a 50% salvage rate. Interestingly, we also found that about 1 out of every 4 testes undergoes atrophy after orchiopexy.
Reducing Effects of Bad Data Using Variance Based Joint Sparsity Recovery

Much research has recently been devoted to jointly sparse (JS) signal recovery from multiple measurement vectors using $$\ell _{2,1}$$ regularization, which is often more effective than performing separate recoveries using standard sparse recovery techniques. However, JS methods are difficult to parallelize due to their inherent coupling. The variance based joint sparsity (VBJS) algorithm was recently introduced in Adcock et al. (SIAM J Sci Comput, submitted). VBJS is based on the observation that the pixel-wise variance across signals convey information about their shared support, motivating the use of a weighted $$\ell _1$$ JS algorithm, where the weights depend on the information learned from calculated variance. Specifically, the $$\ell _1$$ minimization should be more heavily penalized in regions where the corresponding variance is small, since it is likely there is no signal there. This paper expands on the original method, notably by introducing weights that ensure accurate, robust, and cost efficient recovery using both $$\ell _1$$ and $$\ell _2$$ regularization. Moreover, this paper shows that the VBJS method can be applied in situations where some of the measurement vectors may misrepresent the unknown signals or images of interest, which is illustrated in several numerical examples.
Artifacts in Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry in Electron Beam Instruments. Are Things Getting Any Better?

Energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry is subject to artifacts of the measurement process that distort the recorded spectrum from the true x-ray spectrum that is generated in the specimen. Artifacts can be classified as physically inevitable or experimentally reducible or avoidable. Physically inevitable artifacts include absorption in window and detector materials, peak broadening, incomplete charge collection, distortion on the low energy side of a peak, and silicon escape peaks. Artifacts that are reducible/avoidable include stray radiation, direct entry of electrons into the detector, dead time, pulse pileup, microphony/electromagnetic interference, and ground loops. First-principles spectrum generation provides a powerful tool to assess the presence of artifacts and their impact on qualitative and quantitative applications of EDS.
Elevation and volume changes on the Harding Icefield, Alaska

Airborne surface elevation profiles of the Harding Icefield, south-central Alaska, were made in 1994 and 1996. Thirteen glaciers were profiled, along with the upper region of the icefield. The profiles were compared to U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps made in the 1950s, to obtain elevation and volume changes. Comparison of the changes for the different glaciers shows no significant correlation between volume change and the type of glacier or characteristics such as location, aspect, size, slope or terminus changes. Estimated total volume change for this ∼43 year period is about -34 km 3 , which corresponds to an area-average elevation change of -21 m. The estimated error in this elevation change of 5 m is mainly due to errors in the maps at higher elevations. Our measurements provide an accurate baseline against which future determinations of volume change can be made.
It Takes an E-Village: Supporting African American Mothers in Sustaining Breastfeeding Through Facebook Communities.

Background:Lack of breastfeeding support is a common barrier reported by African American mothers, whose breastfeeding rates remain significantly below the national average. Despite mothers’ report...
A predictive model for increased hospital length of stay following geriatric hip fracture.

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors that are significantly associated with hospital length of stay (LOS) following geriatric hip fracture and to use these significant variables to develop a LOS calculator. Materials and methods This was a retrospective study examining 614 patients treated for geriatric hip fracture between January 2000 and December 2009 at an urban, Level 1 trauma center. A negative binomial regression analysis was used to identify perioperative variables associated with hospital LOS. Results 614 patients met the inclusion criteria, presenting with a mean age of 78 (±10) years. The most common pre-operative comorbidity was hypertension, followed by diabetes and COPD. After controlling for all collected comorbidities as well as demographics and operative variables, hypertension (IRR: 1.10, p = 0.029) and disseminated cancer (IRR: 1.24, p = 0.007) were found to be significantly associated with LOS. In addition, two demographic/presenting variables, admission to the medicine service (IRR: 1.48, p Conclusions This study identified several comorbidity and perioperative variables that were significantly associated with LOS following geriatric hip fracture surgery. The resulting LOS model may have utility in the risk stratification of orthopaedic trauma patients presenting with hip fracture.
Effects of ciprofloxacin on metabolic activity and algal biomass of urban stream biofilms.

Abstract Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), such as the commonly prescribed antibiotic ciprofloxacin, are present and persistent in freshwaters, yet their effects on aquatic ecosystem functions at environmentally-relevant concentrations are rarely explored. Stream biofilms provide multiple functions in stream ecosystems, but their functional response to PPCP contaminants such as ciprofloxacin is unclear. To establish the effect of ciprofloxacin on aquatic biofilms, we colonized biofilms in situ on tiles (n = 80) at four sites along an urban stream in Gainesville, Florida, including two sites above and two sites below a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). We then incubated the tiles and associated biofilms in the laboratory for 6 d exposing biofilms to either 0, 0.01, 0.1, or 1.0 μg/L (target concentrations) of ciprofloxacin. At the end of the 6 d laboratory exposure, we quantified gross primary production (GPP), respiration (R), and biomass (as chlorophyll a) of biofilms, and calculated response ratios for each response. All response metrics were significantly differed across sites (p 0.05). These results indicate that chronic exposure to ciprofloxacin through WWTP effluent can alter ecosystem functions performed by biofilms, which can have consequences for higher trophic levels and stream processes. By quantifying biofilm metabolic responses to ciprofloxacin exposure, this study supports the concept that pharmaceuticals and personal care products can induce sub-lethal effects on ecological processes at environmentally-relevant concentrations.
Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors Undergoing Cancer Treatment: A Case for Trauma-Informed Integrated Care

Patients in medical settings with more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as sexual abuse, demonstrate reduced treatment adherence and greater relational difficulties with providers, potent...
Foodways and The Ethnicization of Yemeni Identity in Israel

The transformation of Yemeni food practices in Israel illustrates two contradictory processes. Yemeni Jewish immigrants used food in the process of becoming Israeli, but also to reimagine and preserve Yemeni-ness. To do both, they had to negotiate western stereotypes and pressure to assimilate into “modern” Israeli culture, while creating a single, homogenous Yemeni ethnic identity. Additionally, Yemeni food narratives evince a critique of Israeli absorption policies, and challenge aspects of Zionist ideology, while at the same time calling for inclusion in Israeli society and declaring their Zionism.
Never ending learning

We will never really understand learning or intelligence until we can build machines that learn many different things, over years, and become better learners over time. This talk describes our research to build a Never-Ending Language Learner (NELL) that runs 24 hours per day, forever, learning to read the web. Each day NELL extracts (reads) more facts from the web, and integrates these into its growing knowledge base of beliefs. Each day NELL also learns to read better than yesterday, enabling it to go back to the text it read yesterday, and extract more facts, more accurately. NELL has been running 24 hours/day for over two years now. The result so far is a collection of 15 million interconnected beliefs (e.g., servedWtih(coffee, applePie), isA(applePie, bakedGood)), that NELL is considering at different levels of confidence, along with hundreds of thousands of learned phrasings, morphoogical features, and web page structures that NELL uses to extract beliefs from the web. Track NELL's progress at http://rtw.ml.cmu.edu.
Practical computer vision application to detect hip fractures on pelvic X-rays: a bi-institutional study

Background Pelvic X-ray (PXR) is a ubiquitous modality to diagnose hip fractures. However, not all healthcare settings employ round-the-clock radiologists and PXR sensitivity for diagnosing hip fracture may vary depending on digital display. We aimed to validate a computer vision algorithm to detect hip fractures across two institutions’ heterogeneous patient populations. We hypothesized a convolutional neural network algorithm can accurately diagnose hip fractures on PXR and a web application can facilitate its bedside adoption. Methods The development cohort comprised 4235 PXRs from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH). The validation cohort comprised 500 randomly sampled PXRs from CGMH and Stanford’s level I trauma centers. Xception was our convolutional neural network structure. We randomly applied image augmentation methods during training to account for image variations and used gradient-weighted class activation mapping to overlay heatmaps highlighting suspected fracture locations. Results Our hip fracture detection algorithm’s area under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.98 and 0.97 for CGMH and Stanford’s validation cohorts, respectively. Besides negative predictive value (0.88 Stanford cohort), all performance metrics—sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, accuracy, and F1 score—were above 0.90 for both validation cohorts. Our web application allows users to upload PXR in multiple formats from desktops or mobile phones and displays probability of the image containing a hip fracture with heatmap localization of the suspected fracture location. Discussion We refined and validated a high-performing computer vision algorithm to detect hip fractures on PXR. A web application facilitates algorithm use at the bedside, but the benefit of using our algorithm to supplement decision-making is likely institution dependent. Further study is required to confirm clinical validity and assess clinical utility of our algorithm. Level of evidence III, Diagnostic tests or criteria.
Study on Deriving Common Factory Test Platform Requirements Using Historical Test Data

Businesses that produce many complex products inevitably have disparate test requirements. Over time test solutions diverge despite having similarities contributing to increases in test cost. Mergers and acquisitions further complicate having common, well-understood, low-cost test platforms. By comparing the population of parameters tested across all products insight can be gained as to what groupings of parameters could have shared, common test platforms. The method described in this paper, in use today, describes a data mining and statistical approach to identify groups of test capability by testing ranges and limits, leveraging decades of historical testing data across a wide range of commercial products to design common test equipment at a large aerospace manufacturing organization. Clustering methods were used and evaluated to determine common factory test platform requirements, and compare them against existing test platform vendor capabilities. In conclusion, the construction of a database of historical testing data has become a foundational tool to develop a design for a common test platform.
EV Cargo Sorting in Therapeutic Development for Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Thus, therapeutic interventions to circumvent this growing burden are of utmost importance. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) actively secreted by most living cells, play a key role in paracrine and endocrine intercellular communication via exchange of biological molecules. As the content of secreted EVs reflect the physiology and pathology of the cell of their origin, EVs play a significant role in cellular homeostasis, disease pathogenesis and diagnostics. Moreover, EVs are gaining popularity in clinics as therapeutic and drug delivery vehicles, transferring bioactive molecules such as proteins, genes, miRNAs and other therapeutic agents to target cells to treat diseases and deter disease progression. Despite our limited but growing knowledge of EV biology, it is imperative to understand the complex mechanisms of EV cargo sorting in pursuit of designing next generation EV-based therapeutic delivery systems. In this review, we highlight the mechanisms of EV cargo sorting and methods of EV bioengineering and discuss engineered EVs as a potential therapeutic delivery system to treat cardiovascular disease.
Tupananchiskama/Until We Meet Again: Research Ethics and Bodily Vulnerability in the Time of COVID‐19

Summary As anthropologists, we face ethical dilemmas even during “normal” times. But the pandemic has forced us to face yet another important question: Do we know when to stop? Bodily vulnerability and in‐situ ethics were brought into stark relief when the outbreak of COVID‐19 found me, a graduate student researcher, in a small Andean community in the department (state) of Cusco, Peru, where I had been researching healing and the ethics of ayni, or reciprocal care. Given the quickly changing circumstances and increasing vulnerabilities as the pandemic started, staying to continue research seemed drenched in the imperialist “will to know”—the conceit that my need for information was more important than my safety and the care my friends and kin had shown me. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Anthropology & Humanism is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Retinoid effects in purified cultures of chick embryo retina neurons and photoreceptors.

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of retinoic acid, retinol, and 11-cis retinaldehyde on proliferation, differentiation, and survival of cultured embryonic chick neural retina cells; to describe the metabolic transformations of these retinoids by the cultured cells. METHODS Retinoids were added to glia-free, low-density cultures of neural retina cells, which underwent subsequent examination to determine the numbers of neurons and photoreceptors that differentiated and survived under differing conditions. Cells and conditioned medium were extracted to identify and quantify retinoid metabolic products by high pressure liquid chromatography. RESULTS Retinoid treatment resulted in dose-dependent increases in the number of differentiated photoreceptors present in the cultures after 6 days; smaller increases in nonphotoreceptor neurons were also observed. Retinoids were more effective when added at culture onset than at later times, but they did not stimulate cell proliferation. The order of potency was retinol > 11-cis retinaldehyde > retinoic acid. Exogenous retinoic acid was recovered unmodified after a 24-hr incubation period; retinol was also stable and unmetabolized, except for the formation of a small quantity of retinyl acetate. 11-cis retinaldehyde was less stable, and was metabolized into both retinoic acid and retinol. CONCLUSIONS Retinol, 11-cis retinaldehyde, and retinoic acid can promote the survival (and possibly differentiation) of cultured embryonic retina neurons and photoreceptors in the absence of glia and retinal pigment epithelium. Although retinoic acid is likely to function by interacting with one of the known nuclear receptors for this retinoid, the effectiveness of retinol in the absence of metabolic transformation into retinoic acid suggests the possible existence of a distinct, yet undiscovered receptor.
Newly identified natural high-oleate mutant from Arachis hypogaea L. subsp. hypogaea

Natural genetic variation exists in animals and plants. Mining and utilizing this variation may provide benefits for new breed/cultivar development. From screening over 4000 cultivated peanut germplasm accessions, we identified two natural mutant lines (PI 342664 and PI 342666) with 80 % oleic acid by gas chromatography analysis. It is known that FAD2A and FAD2B are the two major genes involved in the conversion of oleic to linoleic acid in peanuts by fatty acid desaturase. Functional mutations in one or both genes can alter the oleate level. By sequencing the coding region of these two genes, we identified a substitution of G448A in FAD2A and a substitution of C301G in FAD2B for both mutant lines. The substitution in FAD2A is the same as a previously identified one, resulting in a missense amino acid substitution of D150N, but the substitution in FAD2B is a new one, resulting in H101D. The new amino acid substitution on FAD2B is located in the first histidine box (one of the active sites) of the fatty acid desaturase and may significantly decrease its activity. Our mutants did not have flowers on the main stem (subspecies hypogaea), but F435 (a previously identified natural high-oleate mutant) had flowers on the main stem (subspecies fastigiata). Therefore, we identified a class of natural mutants from the subspecies hypogaea and provided new additional genetic resources for breeders to use. Our results also demonstrate a good example of the importance and usefulness for preserving natural genetic diversity and utilizing plant germplasm collections.
Breast Imaging and Diagnosis

First page of article Keywords: breast imaging; breast masses; microcalcifications; nipple discharge; percutaneous core needle biopsy; screening; staging
Nuclear transport and gene expression (238.3)

Nuclear export is an essential step in the expression of every eukaryotic mRNA. However, it remains poorly understood how mRNAs are unidirectionally transported across the nuclear envelope and how ...
Critical feminist theory, rape, and hooking up

iii Chapter 1. Overview 1 Chapter 2. Review of Literature 3 Women, Sex, and Rape 6 Critical Feminist Theory 8 Chapter 3. Methods and Procedures 12 Participants 12 Procedure 13 Data Analysis 15 Researcher Positionality and Validity 16 Chapter 4. Results 20 Introduction 20 Men‟s Traditional Beliefs about Hookups 24 (Lack of) Verbal Consent during Hookups 25 Alcohol Use during Hookups 27 Perceptions of the Possibility of Rape 29 Chapter 5. Discussion 32 Findings and Contributions to the Literature 32 Suggestions for Rape Policy and Sexual Assault Prevention Programs 36 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research 40 References 42 Appendix 53