cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two-Color Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence Using Gold Slotted Nanogratings

We demonstrate enhanced fluorescence from multiple types of fluorescent molecules on a single metal enhancing fluorescence (MEF) substrate. Two fluorescent molecules were simultaneously enhanced using gold wire nanogratings. MEF substrates support two mechanisms of fluorescence enhancement: enhanced excitation of the fluorescent molecules and an increase in the quantum yield through a reduction in excited state lifetime. Gold wire nanogratings with a period of 500 nm were fabricated such that they supported a range of surface plasmon wavelengths that spanned the visible spectrum. The fluorescent molecules were chosen such that their absorption and emission spectrum overlapped minimally. The fluorescent molecules were excited with different excitation lasers and both showed enhanced emission consistently over a broad range of wavelengths. Because of the periodicity of the gratings, the enhanced fluorescence beamed out of the sample at angles determined by the wavelength dependent dispersion relationship for the surface plasmons, potentially simplifying fluorescence detection. Both molecules showed similar enhancements, despite different excitation efficiencies.
Human-Autonomy Teaming and Agent Transparency

We developed the user interfaces for two HRI tasking environments based on the Situation awareness-based Agent Transparency (SAT) model: dismounted infantry interacting with a ground robot (Autonomous Squad Member) and human interacting with an intelligent agent to manage a team of heterogeneous robotic vehicles (IMPACT). User testing showed that as agent transparency increased, so did human operator performance and trust calibration effectiveness. The expanded SAT model, which includes Teamwork Transparency, is also briefly described.
A theoretical analysis of square versus rectangular component multipliers in recursive multiplication

Previous discussions of recursive multiplication in the literature focus on how/why the scheme works and how a multiplier of a desired size can be built from given component multipliers or multiply-add modules. The form factors (square versus rectangular) for the component multipliers and the one to be synthesized, and how they affect the performance and cost of the resulting multiplier, have not been contemplated. We remedy this shortcoming by dealing with the general problem of synthesizing a possibly non-square k χ l multiplier from b × c component multipliers or multiply-add modules, demonstrating that in many cases, the use of rectangular components leads to speed and cost benefits.
PROS: A self-guided process for assignment completion and meaningful learning

Abstract In this chapter, a framework is provided to guide students in developing a consistent approach to completing assignments. Not only does the framework provide a study structure, but it also suggests technologies to support students as they manage, monitor, and adapt their learning strategies. The framework is applicable across the curriculum and enables students to approach coursework with an organized plan and reflection. While the aim is to support self-directed and autodidactic learners, we recognize that instructors still play a powerful role in guiding learning. We suggest that instructors introduce the framework and provide feedback, if needed, but the intention is for this to be a tool in a self-directed learner’s toolbox.
Astrocytes in (Patho)Physiology of the Nervous System

Astrocytes in (Patho)Physiology of the Nervous System - Libros de Medicina - Biologia molecular y celular - 134,99
Cascades of emotional support in friendship networks and adolescent smoking

Social support from peers and parents provides a key socialization function during adolescence. We examine adolescent friendship networks using a Stochastic Actor-Based modeling approach to observe the flow of emotional support provision to peers and the effect of support from parents, while simultaneously modeling smoking behavior. We utilized one school (n = 976) from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (AddHealth) Study. Our findings suggest that emotional support is transacted through an interdependent contextual system, comprised of both peer and parental effects, with the latter also having distal indirect effects from youths' friends' parents.
Neural network based nonlinear model reference adaptive controller for an unmanned aerial vehicle

This paper presents a neural network based model reference adaptive controller (MRAC) for the control of a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). An adaptive neural network is trained using the error between the UAV response and the desired response as given by the reference model. The design of a suitable reference model for the desired aircraft performance is investigated and developed. Unknown nonlinearities of the vehicle dynamics not accounted by the reference model are compensated in real-time by the adaptive neural network approximation, which also provides online adaptation during off-nominal flight conditions. The nonlinear dynamics of a twin-engine UAV are modeled in Simulink to test the controller in a software-in-the-loop simulation environment. Simulation results of maneuvers show the feasibility and performance of the proposed controller.
Collagen XI mutation lowers susceptibility to load-induced cartilage damage in mice†

Interactions among risk factors for osteoarthritis (OA) are not well understood. We investigated the combined impact of two prevalent risk factors: mechanical loading and genetically abnormal cartilage tissue properties. We used cyclic tibial compression to simulate mechanical loading in the cho/+ (Col11a1 haploinsufficient) mouse, which has abnormal collagen fibrils in cartilage due to a point mutation in the Col11a1 gene. We hypothesized that the mutant collagen would not alter phenotypic bone properties and that cho/+ mice, which develop early onset OA, would develop enhanced load-induced cartilage damage compared to their littermates. To test our hypotheses, we applied cyclic compression to the left tibiae of 6-month-old cho/+ male mice and wild-type (WT) littermates for 1, 2, and 6 weeks at moderate (4.5N) and high (9.0N) peak load magnitudes. We then characterized load-induced cartilage and bone changes by histology, microcomputed tomography, and immunohistochemistry. Prior to loading, cho/+ mice had less dense, thinner cortical bone compared to WT littermates. In addition, in loaded and non-loaded limbs, cho/+ mice had thicker cartilage. With high loads, cho/+ mice experienced less load-induced cartilage damage at all time points and displayed decreased matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 levels compared to WT littermates. The thinner, less dense cortical bone and thicker cartilage were unexpected and may have contributed to the reduced severity of load-induced cartilage damage in cho/+ mice. Furthermore, the spontaneous proteoglycan loss resulting from the mutant collagen XI was not additive to cartilage damage from mechanical loading, suggesting that these risk factors act through independent pathways. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Control of Roughleaf Dogwood with Tebuthiuron Pellets in Pottawatomie County, Kansas

Roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii C.A. Mey.) is one of the most problematic native woody plants in rangelands of Kansas. Lack of prescribed burning due to drought and urban encroachment has contributed to its spread. Herbicides have commonly been used for control of roughleaf dogwood, and tebuthiuron pellets (Spike 20P) are often recommended. Baseline measurements of density and cover were taken on October 15, 2004. Treatments of 4.4 kg ai/ha (3/4 oz per 100 square feet) tebuthiuron pellets were applied in December 2004. Paired plots, treated and untreated, were 5 by 10 meters in size and were replicated eight times. Live dogwood stem counts were taken along a 0.5 by 10-m belt transect within each plot. A total of five individual, 0.1-m2 frames per plot were used to estimate woody plant cover using the Daubenmire Canopy Coverage method. Woody plant cover and roughleaf dogwood density were taken again on August 24, 2006. A visual estimate of control indicated tebuthiuron reduced dogwood cover by 65% com...
THE ROLES OF ISOZYMES IN ADAPTATION TO VARYING TEMPERATURES

ABSTRACT. Enzyme variants may serve an adaptive role (1) by providing the correct vectorial properties for the metabolism of a tissue or an organelle; or (2) by broadening the environmental tolerance range of an organism. To determine the importance of multiple locus isozymes and allelic isozymes (allozymes) in adaptation to temperature, we examined the electrophoretic and kinetic properties of enzymes from teleost fishes adapted (1) to widely different temperatures and (2) to thermal regimes which varied greatly in stability. Fishes from stable and highly variable thermal regimes did not differ in the extent of enzyme polymorphism. No isozyme changes were observed during seasonal acclimitization or laboratory acclimation, except in the tetraploid rainbow trout. Thus, with one exception, no correlation was observed between environmental (thermal) variability and genetic-protein variability. Kinetic studies revealed that eurythermal fishes possess enzymes capable of functioning over very broad ranges of temperature, relative to the homologous enzymes of stenothermal fishes. Recent tetraploids such as the rainbow trout differ from most fishes in having an additional set of genes added to an already established family of isozyme loci. This additional genetic information may provide the raw material for evolution of environmentally-specific isozymes.
The Unfinished Idea of Man

If there were only a grain of veracity in the functionalization between ideas and experience in reality, one could still ask a vital question concerning such a theory. The question is whether or not all sketches in our lives happen by pure fortuity and pure chance. It does not seem that they do: human history, and our own personal lives as well, are always “one” history and “one” life, respectively, showing in each case a continuous sense and meaning that cannot be an outcome of chance, much as chances do occur everywhere.
A Quantitative Analysis of Cavity Formation in Superplastic Yttria-Stabilized Tetragonal Zirconia

Polycrystalline ceramics have the capability of pulling out in tension to elongations of several hundreds of per cent. However, this deformation generally leads to the development and growth of internal cavities within the material. Although internal cavitation is a well documented phenomenon in superplastic metals,1, 2 there is only limited information at present available on the factors influencing the development of cavities during superplastic-like flow in ceramics.
Dredging Intensity: A Spatio-Temporal Indicator for Managing Marine Resources

The sustainability of offshore sand reserves and the impact of their exploitation for coastal resilience can be assessed by resource managers via GIS. The GIS model to do this requires monitoring of the dredger location (including speed and displacement, if available). The designated borrow area is divided into grid cells, in this example, 100 × 100 m. The aggregate count of positions in each cell can be displayed in a graphic image called a “heat map” (or “density map” or “timeprint”) where various intensities of colors represents the number vessel locations in each designated cell over the entire time period of interest as a surrogate for dredging intensity. Because sand dredging using a trialing hopper dredge is done at slow speeds, the aggregate time that a dredger spends in each cell can be modified by dredger speed to discriminate time spent actually removing sand from time spent in transit. If vessel displacements is also monitored, increases in displacement will also identify times and locations of active extraction. In this way, areas of disturbed benthic habitat can be identified, even if changes in bathymetry are not resolved.
Tobacco product use among workers in the construction industry, United States, 2014-2016

Background Although cigarette smoking has declined among U.S. workers, smoking remains high among construction workers. This study assessed tobacco product use among U.S. construction workers. Methods The 2014-2016 National Health Interview Survey data for U.S. working adults were analyzed. Results Of the 10.2 (6.3% of working adults) million construction workers, 35.1% used any tobacco product; 24.4% were cigarette smokers, 8.3% were cigar, cigarillo, pipe or hookah smokers, 7.8% were smokeless tobacco users, 4.4% were e-cigarette users, and 7.6% used ≥2 tobacco product users. Tobacco use varied by worker characteristics, with highest tobacco use (>35%) among those reporting ≤5 years on the job, temporary work status, job insecurity, or an unsafe workplace. Construction workers had higher odds of tobacco product use than non-construction workers. Conclusions Over one-third of U.S. construction workers use tobacco products and disparities exist across sub-groups. Workplace tobacco control strategies could reduce tobacco use among this population.
Complement Targets Newborn Retinal Ganglion Cells for Phagocytic Elimination by Microglia.

Microglia play important roles in shaping the developing CNS, and at early stages they have been proposed to regulate progenitor proliferation, differentiation, and neuronal survival. However, these studies reveal contradictory outcomes, highlighting the complexity of these cell–cell interactions. Here, we investigate microglia function during embryonic mouse retina development, where only microglia, progenitors, and neurons are present. In both sexes, we determine that microglia primarily interact with retinal neurons and find that depletion of microglia via conditional KO of the Csf1 receptor results in increased density of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Pharmacological inhibition of microglia also results in an increase in RGCs, with no effect on retinal progenitor proliferation, RGC genesis, or apoptosis. We show that microglia in the embryonic retina are enriched for phagocytic markers and observe engulfment of nonapoptotic Brn3-labeled RGCs. We investigate the molecular pathways that can mediate cell engulfment by microglia and find selective downregulation of complement pathway components with microglia inhibition, and further show that C1q protein marks a subset of RGCs in the embryonic retina. KO of complement receptor 3 (CR3; Itgam), which is only expressed by microglia, results in increased RGC density, similar to what we observed after depletion or inhibition of microglia. Thus, our data suggest that microglia regulate neuron elimination in the embryonic mouse retina by complement-mediated phagocytosis of non-apoptotic newborn RGCs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Microglia are emerging as active and important participants in regulating neuron number in development, during adult neurogenesis, and following stem cell therapies. However, their role in these contexts and the mechanisms involved are not fully defined. Using a well-characterized in vivo system, we provide evidence that microglia regulate neuronal elimination by complement-mediated engulfment of nonapoptotic neurons. This work provides a significant advancement of the field by defining in vivo molecular mechanisms for microglia-mediated cell elimination. Our data add to a growing body of evidence that microglia are essential for proper nervous system development. In addition, we elucidate microglia function in the developing retina, which may shed light on microglia involvement in the context of retinal injury and disease.
Youth and young adult dating relationship dynamics and subsequent abusive outcomes.

Abstract Introduction In order to prevent youth and young adult partner abuse, it is necessary to have a better understanding of dating relationship dynamics as the context for potential abusive interactions. Methods Youth and young adults (ages 10–18 at baseline) were surveyed along with a matched parent/caregiver. Data, including parent and youth responses (n = 437 youth/parent dyads), are drawn from the nationally representative Survey on Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (STRiV). Results Applying latent class analytic techniques with seven different positive and problematic descriptors of dating relationships, this study found four classes of relationship dynamics representing healthy, unhealthy, intense, and disengaged relationships. The intense relationship dynamic class exhibits the strongest associations with reports of any youth and young adult partner abuse, as well as distinctly with the subtypes of psychological, physical, and sexual victimization and perpetration. Conclusions Results demonstrate the importance of clinicians, parents and other responsible adults attending to an array of youth and young adult dating relationship dynamics rather than single indicators, to assess youth and young adult risk for involvement in abusive relationships.
The Effect of Coefficient of Restitution in Modeling of Sand Granular Flow for Core Making: Part I Free-Fall Experiment and Theory

Coefficient of restitution (COR) is known to be lower for liquid-coated wet particles than dry particles due to higher inelastic effect caused by cohesion force of liquid layer. The attempt is made in this two-part article to reproduce different granular sand flows in two-fluid modeling (TFM) by changing the COR value. Instead of the original definition as a vector of the ratio between impact and rebound velocity in particle–particle collision microscopically, COR works as a scalar degree in continuum model to focus on its ability to represent the energy dissipation for granular sand flows with different characteristics attributed from the particle properties and wetting conditions macroscopically. Based on this, COR is measured and compared for industrial-grade sand in a free-fall experiment by tracking the movement of particles in the stream. Its transient explanation is illustrated in 2D TFM simulation accordingly. Comparison is made for sand materials with different impact velocity, grain properties, content level of binder and additive. The experiment result shows that in the tested velocity range COR value measured from liquid-coated sand with 1.2 wt% binder is 0.70 ± 0.05, while that for dry sand ranges from 0.88 to 0.98. The simulation also demonstrates the significant difference in sand flow performance due to the variation in COR, which is of great importance for modeling of core-making process in foundry industry. The analysis using 1D simple approach with equation similar to Bernoulli’s model on the flow path indicates that theoretically COR can have either positive or negative correlation with granular temperature. The correlation of COR and sand mixing condition as well as the flow performance is further verified in parametric study on lab core shooter at a given blow pressure using a customized test box, which is reported in Part II of this two-part article.
Treatment of volumetric muscle loss in mice using nanofibrillar scaffolds enhances vascular organization and integration

Traumatic skeletal muscle injuries cause irreversible tissue damage and impaired revascularization. Engineered muscle is promising for enhancing tissue revascularization and regeneration in injured muscle. Here we fabricated engineered skeletal muscle composed of myotubes interspersed with vascular endothelial cells using spatially patterned scaffolds that induce aligned cellular organization, and then assessed their therapeutic benefit for treatment of murine volumetric muscle loss. Murine skeletal myoblasts co-cultured with endothelial cells in aligned nanofibrillar scaffolds form endothelialized and aligned muscle with longer myotubes, more synchronized contractility, and more abundant secretion of angiogenic cytokines, compared to endothelialized engineered muscle formed from randomly-oriented scaffolds. Treatment of traumatically injured muscle with endothelialized and aligned skeletal muscle promotes the formation of highly organized myofibers and microvasculature, along with greater vascular perfusion, compared to treatment of muscle derived from randomly-oriented scaffolds. This work demonstrates the potential of endothelialized and aligned engineered skeletal muscle to promote vascular regeneration following transplantation.
Insulinoma-Associated-1: From Neuroendocrine Tumor Marker to Cancer Therapeutics

Insulinoma-associated-1 (IA-1 or INSM1) encodes a zinc-finger transcription factor, which was isolated from a human insulinoma subtraction library, with specific expression patterns, predominantly in developing neuroendocrine tissues and tumors. INSM1 is key in early pancreatic endocrine, sympatho-adrenal lineage, and pan-neurogenic precursor development. Insm1 gene ablation results in impairment of pancreatic β cells, catecholamine biosynthesis, and basal progenitor development during mammalian neocortex maturation. Recently, INSM1 has emerged as a superior, sensitive, and specific biomarker for neuroendocrine tumors. INSM1 regulates downstream target genes and exhibits extranuclear activities associated with multiple signaling pathways, including Sonic Hedgehog, PI3K/AKT, MEK/ERK1/2, ADK, p53, Wnt, histone acetylation, LSD1, cyclin D1, Ascl1, and N-myc. Novel strategies targeting INSM1-associated signaling pathways facilitate the suppression of neuroendocrine tumor growth. In addition, INSM1 promoter-driven reporter assay and/or suicide gene therapy are promising effective therapeutic approaches for targeted specific neuroendocrine tumor therapy. In this review, the current knowledge of the biological role of INSM1 as a neuroendocrine tumor biomarker is summarized, and novel strategies targeting multiple signaling pathways in the context of INSM1 expression in neuroendocrine tumors are further explored. IMPLICATIONS: Neuroendocrine transcription factor (INSM1) may serve as a neuroendocrine biomarker for the development of novel cancer therapeutics against neuroendocrine tumors.
Immunomodulatory Effects of TGF-β Family Signaling within Intestinal Epithelial Cells and Carcinomas

TGF-β superfamily signaling is responsible for many critical cellular functions including control of cell growth, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and apoptosis. TGF-β appears to be critical in gastrulation, embryonic development, and morphogenesis, and it retains pleiotropic roles in many adult tissues and cell types in a highly context-dependent manner. While TGF-β signaling within leukocytes is known to have an immunosuppressive role, its immunomodulatory effects within epithelial cells and epithelial cancers is less well understood. Recent data has emerged that suggests TGF-β pathway signaling within epithelial cells may directly modulate pro-inflammatory chemokine/cytokine production and resultant leukocyte recruitment. This immunomodulation by epithelial TGF-β pathway signaling may directly impact tumorigenesis and tumor progression through modulation of the epithelial microenvironment, although causal pathways responsible for such an observation remain incompletely investigated. This review presents the published literature as it relates to the immunomodulatory effects of TGF-β family signaling within intestinal epithelial cells and carcinomas.
Clinical and prognostic implications of HLA B8 in corticosteroid-treated severe autoimmune chronic active hepatitis

To assess the clinical and prognostic implications of human leukocyte antigen B8 in corticosteroid-treated severe autoimmune chronic active hepatitis, 81 consecutive patients were tested for histocompatibility antigens on the A and B loci, treated with corticosteroids, and followed prospectively for 111 +/- 8 mo. The 47 patients with HLA-B8 were younger (38 +/- 2 yr vs. 48 +/- 2 yr; p less than 0.01), had higher serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (658 +/- 60 U/L vs. 465 +/- 49 U/L; p = 0.02) and bilirubin (7 +/- 1 mg/dl vs. 2.8 +/- 0.4 mg/dl; p = 0.003), and more commonly had histologic features of bridging necrosis, multilobular necrosis, and cirrhosis (85% vs. 56%; p less than 0.01) at presentation than the 34 patients without HLA-B8. Remission (79% vs. 71%), relapse after drug withdrawal (76% vs. 71%), treatment failure (13% vs. 6%), progression to cirrhosis (46% vs. 32%), and death from liver failure (6% vs. 3%) occurred as frequently in patients with and without HLA-B8. Importantly, HLA-B8-negative patients with HLA-A1 relapsed less frequently than HLA-B8-positive patients with and without HLA-A1- and HLA-B8-negative counterparts without HLA-A1. It is concluded that HLA-B8-positive patients are younger and have more severe disease at presentation than HLA-B8-negative patients. The HLA-B8 phenotype does not influence the response to corticosteroid therapy. HLA-B8-negative patients with HLA-A1 relapse less frequently than other phenotypes.
Cochlear implantation after traumatic brain injury without otic capsule fracture: A case report and literature review.

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to report a case of cochlear implantation (CI) for a patient with an otic capsule-sparing traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to review the relevant literature. Methods A patient with history of TBI received a CI for bilateral profound hearing loss. A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify and compare similar cases. Results A 36-year-old male with a history of hearing loss from right acute labyrinthitis was referred for bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) after a fall with associated injury to the central auditory nervous system (CANS) including the brainstem. On the right, behavioral acoustic threshold measurements were in the profound range with absent OAEs. On the left, testing revealed no measurable behavioral acoustic thresholds and variable physiologic measures. A right unilateral cochlear implant was performed with most recent follow-up demonstrating speech awareness thresholds of 25 dB HL with excellent detection of all 6 Ling sounds. However, the patient also continues to suffer from other neurologic sequelae related to his TBI, which challenge his ability to demonstrate objective and subjective benefit. A systematic review of the literature demonstrates variable outcomes for patients with TBI and SNHL. Conclusions Patients with profound SNHL and TBI present a distinct rehabilitative challenge for clinicians. CI may provide meaningful benefit in this population, though care should be taken in patient selection and counseling.
Moisture sorption behaviors, water activity-temperature relationships, and physical stability traits of spices, herbs, and seasoning blends containing crystalline and amorphous ingredients.

Abstract Spices, herbs, and seasoning blends containing both crystalline and amorphous ingredients are common throughout the food industry but may exhibit unwanted clumping or caking during storage. Crystalline and amorphous ingredients are known to respond differently to increases in relative humidity (RH) and temperature. The aim of this study was to better characterize what happens to moisture sorption behaviors, water-solid interactions, and physical stability when crystalline and amorphous ingredients are co-formulated in seasoning blends. Spices, herbs, and seasoning blends, 25 in total, were studied individually and in blends of increasing complexity (binary, ternary, and quaternary) with sucrose, salt, and maltodextrin. The effects of increasing temperature and RH on moisture content, moisture sorption profiles, water activity (aw), glass transition temperature (Tg), including Gordon-Taylor modeling, physical appearance, and degree of clumping were measured. Crossover points, the temperature at which the aw of the amorphous ingredient(s) and the deliquescence RH of the crystalline ingredient(s) in a blend intersect, were also calculated. Caking was observed when storage conditions (RH and/or temperature) exceeded the Tg of a blend or the deliquescence RH of a crystalline ingredient in the blend. When amorphous and crystalline ingredients were blended, synergistic moisture sorption and increased caking was observed. When multiple crystalline ingredients were present, mutual deliquescence further increased the sensitivity of the blend to moisture. When environmental conditions exceeded the crossover temperature, degree of caking increased, and physical appearance was altered due to the induced deliquescence of the crystalline ingredient(s) by the aw of the amorphous ingredient(s). In general, as complexity of blends increased, sensitivity to moisture also increased, and physical stability of the blends decreased. The results of this study provide valuable information for increasing the physical stability of complex seasoning blends based on moisture sorption behaviors.
Combinatorial-Probabilistic Trade-Off: Community Properties Test in the Stochastic Block Models

In this paper, we propose an inferential framework testing the general community combinatorial properties of the stochastic block model. Instead of estimating the community assignments, we aim to test the hypothesis on whether a certain community property is satisfied. For instance, we propose to test whether a given set of nodes belong to the same community or whether different network communities have the same size. We propose a general inference framework that can be applied to all symmetric community properties. To ease the challenges caused by the combinatorial nature of communities properties, we develop a novel shadowing bootstrap testing method. By utilizing the symmetry, our method can find a shadowing representative of the true assignment and the number of assignments to be tested in the alternative can be largely reduced. In theory, we introduce a combinatorial distance between two community classes and show a combinatorial-probabilistic trade-off phenomenon in the community properties test. Our test is honest as long as the product of combinatorial distance between two communities and the probabilistic distance between two assignment probabilities is sufficiently large. On the other hand, we shows that such trade-off also exists in the information-theoretic lower bound of the community property test. We also implement numerical experiments on both the synthetic data and the protein interaction application to show the validity of our method.
condLSTM-Q: A novel deep learning model for predicting Covid-19 mortality in fine geographical Scale.

Predictive models with a focus on different spatial-temporal scales benefit governments and healthcare systems to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we present the conditional Long Short-Term Memory networks with Quantile output (condLSTM-Q), a well-performing model for making quantile predictions on COVID-19 death tolls at the county level with a two-week forecast window. This fine geographical scale is a rare but useful feature in publicly available predictive models, which would especially benefit state-level officials to coordinate resources within the state. The quantile predictions from condLSTM-Q inform people about the distribution of the predicted death tolls, allowing better evaluation of possible trajectories of the severity. Given the scalability and generalizability of neural network models, this model could incorporate additional data sources with ease, and could be further developed to generate other useful predictions such as new cases or hospitalizations intuitively.
Lookup or Exploratory: What is Your Search Intent?

Search query specificity is broadly divided into two categories - Exploratory or Lookup. If a query specificity can be identified at the run time, it can be used to significantly improve the search results as well as quality of suggestions to alter the query. However, with millions of queries coming every day on a commercial search engine, it is non-trivial to develop a horizontal technique to determine query specificity at run time. Existing techniques suffer either from lack of enough training data or are dependent on information such as query length or session information. In this paper, we show that such methodologies are inadequate or at times misleading. We propose a novel methodology, to overcome these limitations. First, we demonstrate a heuristic-based method to identify Exploratory or Lookup intent queries at scale, classifying millions of queries into the two classes with a high accuracy, as shown in our experiments. Our methodology is not dependent on session data or on query length. Next, we train a transformer-based deep neural network to classify the queries into one of the two classes at run time. Our method uses a bidirectional GRU initialized with pretrained BERT-base-uncased embeddings and an augmented triplet loss to classify the intent of queries without using any session data. We also introduce a novel Semi-Greedy Iterative Training approach to fine-tune our model. Our model is deployable for real time query specificity identification with response time of less than one millisecond. Our technique is generic, and the results have valuable implications for improving the quality of search results and suggestions.
Gene therapy of neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury

Abstract Neuropathic pain (NPP) following spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused by damage to or dysfunction of the nervous system. Despite years of research, this type of neurological disorder remains refractory to treatment and persists for decades. Moreover, many spinal cord injury victims suffer from life-threatening side effects of traditional pharmacologic treatments—including addiction to multiple prescription drugs—in an attempt to alleviate neuropathic pain. In recent years, considerable research bodies have been dedicated to the discovery and understanding of neuropathic pain mechanisms that gave impetus for advances in treatment. Gene therapy is designed for genetic improvement through the correction of altered (mutated) genes or site-specific modifications that target therapeutic treatment. This chapter presents an overview of the currently available gene therapy strategies against neuropathic pain induced by spinal cord injury.
One-Dimensional Transient Heat Flow in a Multilayer Slab

(P ~ Po)/Po = (yMo/VMo 1) (d80*/dx) = [(yMQz/2x/MQ* 1) (AV'C/VRTL)] VL/x (5) The boundary-layer perturbation, due to the self-induced pressure gradient, is of the order of the coefficient of s/L/x in Eq. (5). The effect of free-stream vorticity on compressible laminar boundary-layer development can be found by using a Howarth transformation. The perturbation parameter can be expressed as WQL\/C/(UQ y/Rei) (see reference 6). The ratio of the freestream vorticity effect to the self-induced pressure gradient effect is, roughly,
Time-Resolved Raman Studies of Electron-Optical Phonon Interactions in GaAs-AlAs Multiple Quantum Well Structures

The subject of electron-phonon interactions in multiple quantum well structures (MQWS) and superlatticies has recently attracted considerable amount of attention[1–13]. This is because electronic properties such as the cooling of photoexcited carriers, carrier tunneling and the mobility of high-speed heterostructure devices are primarily controlled by the carrier interactions with phonons. Since the presence of heterointerface gives rise to confinement of optical phonons in the layers as well as interface modes which are localized in the vicinity of interfaces[14], it is expected that electron-optical phonon interactions in MQWS can be quite different from those in the corresponding bulk materials. So far, at least three macroscopic and one microscopic models have been proposed for the electron-optical phonon interaction in MQWS. One model proposed by Fuchs and Kliewer1 in which MQWS is treated as three dielectric layers, is known as the “ dielectric continuum model ”. Another model, which is also referred to as the “ mechanical model ”, was proposed by Babiker[3], where the phonons are treated like vibrations on a string fixed at both ends. The third model proposed by Huang and Zhu[7]( HZ model ) uses simple-cubic nearest-neighbor lattice dynamics to simulate phonon properties in MQWS. A comprehensive study of the electron-phonon interaction which relies on a fully microscopic ab initio calculation of the phonon spectra in two-dimensional semiconductors has recently been carrierd out by Rucker et al.[11]. “The general features predicted from HZ model and the model of Rucker et al. are very similar”.
Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine

The Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine presently includes six board certified maternal-fetal specialists. They are: Kimberly K. Leslie, MD (Department Head), Stephen K. Hunter, MD, PhD., (Division Director), Jennifer R. Niebyl, MD, Asha Rijhsinghani, MD, Kristi Borowski, MD, and Mark Santillan, MD. Dr. Roger A. Williamson, double boarded in Genetics and Obstetrics, is also an Emeritus member of the Division.
Relationship between self-reported adherence, antiretroviral drug concentration measurement and self-reported symptoms in patients treated for HIV-1 infection

Background: The aim of the study was to explore relationships between self-reported adherence, antiretroviral drug concentration measurement (TDM) and self-reported symptoms. Methods: We systematically administered to human immunodeficiency (HIV)-infected outpatients a questionnaire evaluating measures of self-reported adherence (missing doses during last week, deviations from the prescribed timing of therapy, self-initiated discontinuations for > 24 or 48 h, exhausting drugs and present sense of how patients are taking therapy) and a panel of referred symptoms (a symptom score was built summing self-reported scores for each listed symptom). We selected patients who completed the questionnaire and also had a TDM (mainly reflecting adherence in the past few days or weeks), thus comparing these two tools as measures of adherence. Results: A total of 130 patients (64.6% males, median age 44 years, 76.2% with HIV RNA < 50 copies/ml, median CD4 540 cells/μl) were included. Mean self-reported adherence (on a 0–...
African Governance and Political Cultures.

In this essay, I contend that African countries will continue to be racked by conflicts unless they develop political cultures consonant with their own traditions and accept the norm of distributing their countries' resources equitably. Dictates about “liberal democracy” only lead to disemia, a process by which African leaders pay lip service to hegemonies, but manipulate elections, or worse. Anthropologists are encouraged to challenge the prescriptions of political scientists and the biases of many others. They are also encouraged to use their greater knowledge of African societies to join the debate about how these societies can best deal with what are becoming global realities.
Case studies in the use of ROC curve analysis for sensor-based estimates in human computer interaction

Applications that use sensor-based estimates face a fundamental tradeoff between true positives and false positives when examining the reliability of these estimates, one that is inadequately described by the straightforward notion of accuracy. To address this tradeoff, this paper examines the use of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, a method that has a long history but is under-appreciated in the human computer interaction research community. We present the fundamentals of ROC analysis, the use of the A' statistic to compute the area under an ROC curve, and the equivalence of A' to the Wilcoxon statistic. We then present several case studies, framed in the context of our work on human interruptibility, demonstrating how ROC analysis can yield better results than analyses based on accuracy. These case studies compare sensor-based estimates with human performance, optimize a feature selection process for the area under the ROC curve, and examine end-user selection of a desirable tradeoff.
Intracranial complications of leukemia in children.

Pathologic findings in the brain and meninges in untreated patients with leukemia have been reviewed. Involvement of the meninges and cerebral parenchyma were not unusual and occurred in acute and chronic disease regardless of cell type. Despite the frequency of intracranial involvement in untreated patients with leukemia, resultant clinical symptoms were infrequently noted. In the English literature only nine published reports suggestive of increased intracranial pressure in the patient with untreated disease could be found. A number of leukemic children who have received adrenal steroid hormones and chemotherapy have developed signs of increased intracranial pressure. Approximately one-fourth of the children with leukemia followed at this hospital in the last 18 months have developed this complication. Symptoms and signs are variable but usually include irritability, headache, vomiting, papilledema, separation of sutures, increase in circumference of the head, increased pressure and concentration of protein in the spinal fluid and normal or low concentration of sugar. In rare instances children with this sydrome have also developed hypertension, increased appetite with resultant obesity and various neurologic abnormalities. The pathogenesis of this syndrome is unknown. The available evidence suggests that such agents as 6-mercaptopurine and Methotrexate® which are known to cross the blood-brain barrier in greatly reduced amounts fail to control the intracranial progression of leukemia even though the disease may be under fair control elsewhere in the body. The most effective treatment for this complication at the present time is therapy with roentgen rays to the entire skull. Usually a total of 250 to 500 r given in 7 to 10 days will cause symptoms to disappear and spinal fluid findings to improve without adversely affecting the course of the disease in general. There is also some evidence that oral therapy with adrenal steroid hormones is also effective if resistance to this type of therapy has not already developed.
Comment on "Air Emissions Due to Wind and Solar Power" and Supporting Information

Comment on “Air Emissions Due to Wind and Solar Power” Andrew Mills, ∗ , † Ryan Wiser, † Michael Milligan, ‡ and Mark O’Malley ¶ Energy Analysis Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA;, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO;, and School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland E-mail: ADMills@lbl.gov Katzenstein and Apt (1) investigate the important question of pollution emission reduction beneﬁts from variable generation resources such as wind and solar. Their methodology, which couples an individual variable generator to a dedicated gas plant to produce a ﬂat block of power, is, however, inappropriate. For CO 2 , the authors conclude that variable generators “achieve ~80% of the emission reductions expected if the power ﬂuctuations caused no additional emissions.” They ﬁnd even lower NO x emission reduction beneﬁts with steam injected gas turbines and a 2-4 times net increase in NO x emissions for systems with dry NO x control unless the ratio of energy from natural gas to variable plants is greater than 2:1. A more appropriate methodology, however, would ﬁnd a signiﬁcantly lower degradation of the emissions beneﬁt than suggested by Katzenstein and Apt. As has been known for many years, models of large power system operations must take into account variable demand and the unit-commitment and economic dispatch functions that are prac- † Berkeley ‡ National Lab Renewable Energy Lab ¶ University College Dublin
The Effect of OSM on MC3T3-E1 Osteoblastic Cells in Simulated Microgravity with Radiation

Bone deterioration is a challenge in long-term spaceflight with significant connections to patients experiencing disuse bone loss. Prolonged unloading and radiation exposure, defining characteristics of space travel, have both been associated with changes in inflammatory signaling via IL-6 class cytokines in bone. While there is also evidence for perturbed IL-6 class signaling in spaceflight, there has been scant examination of the connections between microgravity, radiation, and inflammatory stimuli in bone. Our lab and others have shown that the IL-6 class cytokine oncostatin M (OSM) is an important regulator of bone remodeling. We hypothesize that simulated microgravity alters osteoblast OSM signaling, contributing to the decoupling of osteolysis and osteogenesis in bone homeostasis. To test this hypothesis, we induced OSM signaling in murine MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast cells cultured in modeled microgravity using a rotating wall vessel bioreactor with and without exposure to radiation typical of a solar particle event. We measured effects on inflammatory signaling, osteoblast activity, and mineralization. Results indicated time dependent interactions among all conditions in the regulation of IL-6 production. Furthermore, OSM induced the transcription of OSM receptor s, IL 6 receptor α subunits, collagen α1(I), osteocalcin, sclerostin, RANKL, and osteoprotegerin. Measurements of osteoid mineralization suggest that the spatial organization of the osteoblast environment is an important consideration in understanding bone formation. Taken together, these results support a role for altered OSM signaling in the mechanism of microgravity-induced bone loss.
Galileo and Spinoza: The Science of Naturalizing Scripture

In their respective examination of the relation between science and religion, both Galileo and Spinoza use Joshua 10:12–14 and Isaiah 38:7–8 as proof-texts to support their Scriptural hermeneutics,...
EFFECT OF NUTRITION ON THE RESPIRATORY VIRULENCE OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES

Friedman, Mischa E. (U. S. Army Chemical Corps, Frederick, Md.) and Donald A. Kautter, Effect of nutrition on the respiratory virulence of Listeria monocytogenes. J. Bacteriol. 83:456-462. 1962.-The respiratory virulence for the mouse and guinea pig of two strains of Listeria monocytogenes grown in a rich nonsynthetic medium may be increased four to ninefold by decreasing the glucose concentration from 1.0 to 0.6% or by including 0.1% l-cysteine in the medium. This effect, not observed in intraperitoneal challenge of mice, is not due to selection of a more virulent population. Cultures demonstrating lowered virulence at 16 hr increase in virulence if incubated beyond 50 hr. The presence of 1.0% fructose or cellobiose results in the same growth and virulence characteristics as when glucose is used; however, cultures in media with 1.0% maltose are of decreased cell yield but increased virulence. Strain A4413 grown in media of low glucose concentration or in the presence of cysteine has greater oxidative activity than when grown in a medium of high glucose content. Other strains of lesser respiratory virulence, when grown in a low concentration of glucose, contain glucose dehydrogenase systems equal in activity with that of strain A4413.
Charpy Impact Toughness of Martensitic Steels Irradiated in FFTF: Effect of Heat Treatment

Charpy tests were made on plates of 9Cr-1MoVNb and 12Cr-1MoVW steels given four different normalizing-and-tempering treatments. One-third-size Charpy specimens from each steel were irradiated to 7.4-8 {times} 10{sup 26} n/m{sup 2} (about 34--37 dpa) at 420C in the Materials Open Test Assembly of the Fast Flux Test Facility. Specimens were also thermally aged to 20000 h at 400C to determine the effect of aging during irradiation. Previous work on these steels irradiated to 4--5 dpa at 365C in MOTA were reexamined in light of the new results. The tests indicated that prior austenite grain size, which was varied by different normalizing treatments, had an effect on impact behavior of the 9Cr-1MoVNb but not on the 12Cr-1MoVW. Tempering treatment had relatively little effect on the shift in DBTT for both steels. conclusions are presented on how heat treatment can be used to optimize properties.