cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Arthritis: roles of radiography and other imaging techniques in evaluation.

Imaging studies are performed on patients with arthritis for a variety of reasons: to determine whether an arthritic condition is present; to establish the specific diagnosis; to determine the extent of disease; to assess the activity of disease; to detect complications of disease; to evaluate progression of disease; to judge the efficacy of drug treatment; to help in selection of surgical candidates; to aid in the choice of surgical procedures; to size, design, or fabricate prostheses; and to identify complications of surgery. Conventional radiography is still the mainstay of all examinations in arthritic patients. Arthrography is best applied to evaluate complications of disease and of surgery, although it may be useful in disease detection and in determining the specific diagnosis. Nuclear medicine studies are best used to identify complications of surgery and may also be useful to assess disease activity or extent. Ultrasound is useful to detect dissecting synovial cysts and deep venous thrombosis. Th...
The Regulation of Insider Trading in the European Community

The European Community (EC), as part of its mandate under the Treaty of Rome to create a single internal market by 1992, has enacted an EC-wide prohibition on insider trading. The EC’s “Council Directive Coordinating Regulations on Insider Dealing” is a mandatory model act setting forth the minimal regulatory prohibition that must be implemented by national legislation in all EC member states. The directive prohibits two defined groups of persons, referred to as primary and secondary insiders, from taking advantage of nonpublic, price-sensitive information relating to issuers or their securities; it prohibits primary insiders from disclosing that information to others; and it mandates prompt public disclosure of all price-sensitive information by firms whose securities are publicly traded in a regulated market. It is intended to level the playing field for market participants and to promote investor confidence in the newly integrated securities markets of the member states. However, the EC does not fully succeed in these purposes. The directive merely assists the EC in its promotion of a dangerous imagery of regulation: the directive’s denunciation of insider trading conveys the false impression of a comprehensively-regulated marketplace. Given the historical complacency toward insider trading against which this directive was implemented, the Insider Trading Directive faces a set of widely-held attitudes that likely will prove resistant to behavioral modification.This article focuses first on the legislative background of the Insider Trading Directive, from its origins in the European Code of Conduct to the several drafts from which it emerged. Then, it examines the doctrinal basis underlying the directive’s adoption. After discussing the directive’s legislative development, the article provides a detailed analysis of the directive’s substantive prohibitions on trading and tipping, with particular emphasis on the definitions of “insider information” and “primary” and “secondary insiders.” The analysis also focuses on the other elements of, as well as the various exclusions from, the trading and tipping offenses. Then, the issues of penalties, enforcement and multistate cooperation are addressed. Finally, the article reiterates the primary strength of the directive, as well as its deficiencies, as the EC continues its quest for a harmonized securities regime for the common market.
Science and Language for English Language Learners in Relation to Next Generation Science Standards and with Implications for Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics

The National Research Council (2011) released “A Framework for K–12 Science Education” that is guiding the development of the Next Generation Science Standards, which are expected to be finalized in early 2013. This article addresses language demands and opportunities that are embedded in the science and engineering practices delineated in the Framework. By examining intersections between learning of science and learning of language, the article identifies key features of the language of the science classroom as students engage in these language-intensive science and engineering practices. We propose that when students, especially English language learners, are adequately supported to “do” specific things with language, both science learning and language learning are promoted. We highlight implications for Common Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics.
Cell wall integrity MAPK pathway is essential for lipid homeostasis.

The highly conserved yeast cell wall integrity mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway regulates cellular responses to cell wall and membrane stress. We report that this pathway is activated and essential for viability under growth conditions that alter both the abundance and pattern of synthesis and turnover of membrane phospholipids, particularly phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine. Mutants defective in this pathway exhibit a choline-sensitive inositol auxotrophy, yet fully derepress INO1 and other Opi1p-regulated genes when grown in the absence of inositol. Under these growth conditions, Mpk1p is transiently activated by phosphorylation and stimulates the transcription of known targets of Mpk1p signaling, including genes regulated by the Rlm1p transcription factor. mpk1Δ cells also exhibit severe defects in lipid metabolism, including an abnormal accumulation of phosphatidylcholine, diacylglycerol, triacylglycerol, and free sterols, as well as aberrant turnover of phosphatidylcholine. Overexpression of the NTE1 phospholipase B gene suppresses the choline-sensitive inositol auxotrophy of mpk1Δ cells, whereas overexpression of other phospholipase genes has no effect on this phenotype. These results indicate that an intact cell wall integrity pathway is required for maintaining proper lipid homeostasis in yeast, especially when cells are grown in the absence of inositol.
An improved wavelet correction for zero shifted accelerometer data

Accelerometer data from shock measurements often contains a spurious DC drifting phenomenon known as zero shifting. This erroneous signal can be caused by a variety of sources. The most conservative approach when dealing with such data is to discard it and collect a different set with steps taken to prevent the zero shifting. This approach is rarely practical, however. The test article may have been destroyed or it may be impossible or prohibitively costly to recreate the test. A method has been proposed by which wavelets may be used to correct the acceleration data. By comparing the corrected accelerometer data to an independent measurement of the acceleration from a laser vibrometer this paper shows that the corrected data, in the cases presented, accurately represents the shock. A method is presented by which the analyst may accurately choose the wavelet correction parameters. The comparisons are made in the time and frequency domains, as well as with the shock response spectrum.
Preferred methods of excess hair removal in pediatric patients with lung transplantation

Background Hypertrichosis is common among recipients of lung transplantation taking cyclosporine and it poses a special psychosocial problem in children. Children and parents frequently inquire about methods of hair removal. Objective We sought to determine preferred methods of hair removal in this population. Methods We distributed a questionnaire to 104 pediatric recipients of lung transplantation. A total of 56 questionnaires (54%) were completed. Results Of respondents, 91% (51 of 56) experienced hypertrichosis, 75% (38 of 51) of whom attempted treatment. Depilatory cream was the most common hair removal technique (79%, 30 of 38). Shaving, particularly with an electric razor, received the highest ratings of both satisfaction and likelihood of future use. Limitations Generalizability is limited by the response rate. Preferred methods according to different hair locations were not evaluated. Conclusion In our pediatric transplantation population, depilatory cream was the most commonly used treatment for hypertrichosis whereas electric shaving had the highest ratings of satisfaction and future use.
Practical, distributed network coordinates

Vivaldi is a distributed algorithm that assigns synthetic coordinates to internet hosts, so that the Euclidean distance between two hosts' coordinates predicts the network latency between them. Each node in Vivaldi computes its coordinates by simulating its position in a network of physical springs. Vivaldi is both distributed and efficient: no fixed infrastructure need be deployed and a new host can compute useful coordinates after collecting latency information from only a few other hosts. Vivaldi can rely on piggy-backing latency information on application traffic instead of generating extra traffic by sending its own probe packets.This paper evaluates Vivaldi through simulations of 750 hosts, with a matrix of inter-host latencies derived from measurements between 750 real Internet hosts. Vivaldi finds synthetic coordinates that predict the measured latencies with a median relative error of 14 percent. The simulations show that a new host joining an existing Vivaldi system requires fewer than 10 probes to achieve this accuracy. Vivaldi is currently used by the Chord distributed hash table to perform proximity routing, replica selection, and retransmission timer estimation.
Fractal Structure and Fractal Time in Silica Sol-Gels

Near the gel point, light scattering studies of silica sol-gels reveal fractal clusters whose size diverges as a power law, in accord with the predictions of percolation theory. More surprising is the appearance of a fractal time description of the dynamics of these clusters. This novel dynamics has recently been revealed by quasielastic light scattering from the density fluctuations that occur at the sol-gel transition. Since the relaxation of fluctuations in these branched polymer systems is self-similar, decay processes occur on all time scales (fractal time), and average decay times diverge. An interpretation of this observation will be presented that relies on a length-scale-dependent viscosity and the geometrical self-similarity of the sol-gel transition. The scattering theory is extended to the calculation of time- and frequency-dependent viscoelastic properties, as well as mechanical properties such as the shear modulus, steady state creep compliance, and viscosity. The viscoelastic predictions are found to be in good agreement with experimental data.
Design and analysis of annular photonic crystal and Bragg resonators by coupled waves approach

This study proposes and analyzes a new type of disk/ring resonator based on radial Bragg/photonic crystal reflectors. This work also proposes and demonstrates a novel analytic design approach for such resonators which is based on coupled wave formalism.
Determinants of endogenous calcium entry into the gut

Background: In addition to food sources, calcium enters the gut by way of digestive secretions and shed mucosa. In health, such entry is as large as or larger than urinary calcium excretion. Because calcium absorption is inefficient, most of this endogenous intestinal calcium is excreted. Objective: Our aim was to determine the dietary, anthropometric, and physiologic determinants of calcium entering the digestive stream from endogenous sources. Design: Multiple regression modeling of intake and excretion data was used with 553 metabolic balance and kinetics studies performed in 190 midlife, white women. Results: Endogenous intestinal calcium averaged 3.29 0.83 mmol/d. Multiple regression models explaining variation in this endogenous intestinal calcium were developed with use of dietary intake, anthropometric, and serum mineral variables. All 3 groups of predictor variables individually explained up to 22% of the variation in measured values for endogenous intestinal calcium. A composite model, incorporating all 3 groups explained 29% of the variation, with phosphorus and meat protein intakes, height, weight, and serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations all independently entering the model. Phosphorus intake dominated over all the other predictors, explaining 20% of the variance all by itself, with endogenous intestinal calcium rising by 0.037 mmol for every 1 mmol of phosphorus ingested. Meat protein (but not nonmeat protein) was the only other significant dietary contributor, exhibiting a negative coefficient. Conclusion: As a first approximation, the amount of endogenous calcium entering the digestive stream rises with body size and with the amount of phosphorus-rich food consumed. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:919 –23.
Label-free Single Molecule Detection Using Microtoroid Optical Resonators.

Detecting small concentrations of molecules down to the single molecule limit has impact on areas such as early detection of disease, and fundamental studies on the behavior of molecules. Single molecule detection techniques commonly utilize labels such as fluorescent tags or quantum dots, however, labels are not always available, increase cost and complexity, and can perturb the events being studied. Optical resonators have emerged as a promising means to detect single molecules without the use of labels. Currently the smallest particle detected by a non-plasmonically-enhanced bare optical resonator system in solution is a 25 nm polystyrene sphere1. We have developed a technique known as Frequency Locking Optical Whispering Evanescent Resonator (FLOWER) that can surpass this limit and achieve label-free single molecule detection in aqueous solution2. As signal strength scales with particle volume, our work represents a > 100x improvement in the signal to noise ratio (SNR) over the current state of the art. Here the procedures behind FLOWER are presented in an effort to increase its usage in the field.
A Middle Pennsylvanian Nodule Flora from Carterville, Illinois

As early as 1875 the occurrence of small, irregularly-shaped nodules of pyritiferous clay in which fossil plants could be found, had been reported in the roof shales of the Herrin (No. 6) Coal at Carterville, Illinois. Active collection of these plant bearing nodules began nearly 15 years ago, and at present over 2500 specimens are curated in the Southern Illinois University paleobotanical collection. The impression-compression ironstone concretion flora is Middle Pennsylvanian in age, assigned to the Carbondale Formation, Kewanee Group. The completed floristic survey encompasses 1,475 specimens delegated to 24 genera and 52 species. Specimens not able to be placed in a taxonomic rank were assigned to form status. The flora is dominated (44% of all specimens assignable to a generic status) by Filicalean and Marattialean elements of the genus Pecopteris Brongniart. Medullosan pteridosperm taxa, Neuropteris (Brongniart) Sternberg, Alethopteris Sternberg, Odontopteris Sternberg, and Callipteridium Weiss compose nearly 25% of the flora. Few Lyginopterid elements have been encountered. Calamitean components are relatively abundant in the forms of Annularia Sternberg, Asterophyllites Brongniart, and Calamites Suckow, while Sphenophyllalean taxa are rare. Isolated sporophylls dominate the Lepidodendralean aspect of the flora. The assemblage exhibits an abundance of Upper Allegheny and Lower Conemaugh plants, and has been equated to the Upper Kittanning Coal of the Appalachian Region.
Rezension zu: Lily Tonger-Erk: Actio. Körper und Geschlecht in der Rhetoriklehre. Berlin: De Gruyter 2012.

Lily Tonger-Erk beschaftigt sich mit Rhetorik als Korperbildungsmacht, indem sie die geschlechtliche Konstruktion der Actio , der korperlichen Dimension des Redeauftritts in der rhetorischen Lehre, in drei fur die Geschichte der Rhetorik bedeutsamen historischen Momenten von der klassischen Antike uber das 18. bis zum spaten 20. Jahrhundert analysiert. Dabei gelingt ihr ein ausgezeichneter Bruckenschlag zwischen detailreicher und epochenubergreifender Rhetorikgeschichte und einer analytischen Genderperspektive. Diese Untersuchung der Redner_innenbildung als rhetorischer Korperbildung (im Doppelsinne von Erziehung und Subjektivierung) legt einen wichtigen Grundstein fur weitere Studien zur rhetorischen Produktion von Geschlecht und Korper.
Platonic & Freirean Interpretations of W. E. B. Du Bois's, “Of The Coming of John”

In the current Neoliberal climate of educational reform, the enlightenment project in education is more susceptible than ever to the machinations of historical amnesia. The notion that education can be transformative in a positive sense represents a moral ideal that teachers in the foundations of education find increasingly difficult to integrate into their pedagogies. As an antidote to this cultural forgetting, the article makes the case that W. E. B. Du Bois's lone fictionalized chapter in The Souls of Black Folk, “Of the Coming of John,” can be used in classrooms to reinvigorate students’ thinking not only about the enlightenment project in education in a general sense, but more specifically, about the paradoxical and tragic dimensions that accompany this project and tradition. I argue that Du Bois's bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, can be most fruitfully interpreted when read alongside Plato's “turning around of the soul” (periagoge) and Paulo Freire's concept conscientization. When these 3 enli...
Transgenic Potato Expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis CryIA(c) Gene Effects on the Survival and Food Consumption of Phthorimea operculella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) and Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Second generation transgenic potatoes were grown from tubers of transgenic plants expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis CryIA(c) gene. Leaf disks from transgenic and untransformed potato plants were tested against the tubermoth Phthorimea operculella (Zeller), a major pest of potato, and European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), which can use potato as an alternative host. Ten percentage of mortality of first-instar P. operculella was observed after 48 h of feeding on leaf disks from transgenic plants. Bioassays also showed that second-instar P. operculella is slightly less capable of surviving on leaf disks from transgenic plants than on untransformed plants after 240 h of feeding. The amount of feeding of P. operculella larvae was also less, as indicated by lighter weight of the dried frass. Bioassay showed that second-instar European corn borer is less capable of surviving on leaf disks from transgenic plants than those from untransformed plants. Preference tests showed that leaf disks from transgenic plants were less preferred than those from untransformed plants by third-ins tar corn borer after 24 h of exposure. Prolonged exposure showed that leaf disks from transgenic and untransformed plants were equally preferred by corn borer larvae. These transgenic plants can be used together with untransformed plants or transgenic plants (or both) expressing high quantity of B. thuringiensis insecticidal protein to devise insect resistance management strategies.
Effects of Ion Implantation on Crystallization of Amorphous CoSi2

The effects of Si and Kr ion implantation on the crystallization kinetics of amorphous COSi 2 have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and in situ sheet resistance measurement. Without ion implantation, the crystallization of coevaporated COSi 2 is characterized by three dimensional growth from preexisting nuclei. When the as-deposited COSi 2 is implanted with Si or Kr ions at liquid nitrogen temperature, the kinetics of the subsequent crystallization is significantly altered. A 180 keV 5×10 15 cm −2 Si ion implantation increases the crystallization temperature by 34°C. When the Si dose is below 1×10 15 cm −2 , ion implantation causes a sharp decrease in the crystallization kinetic parameter defined by the Avrami equation. The amount of decrease is shown to scale with the deposited nuclear energy. At higher doses, the kinetic parameter continues to decrease with increasing dose but at a much reduced rate.
FRI0399 Improved survival in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSC)-related pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) treated with aggressive use of pah therapy.

Background The two leading causes of death in SSc are PAH and ILD. Historically, survival is worse in patients with combined PAH-ILD compared with isolated PAH (1), and there may not be any survival benefit with using PAH-medications in patients with PAH-ILD (2). Objectives To investigate the effects of aggressive PAH therapy on survival in SSc-PAH patients with and without ILD, and to determine which factors predict mortality. Methods All UCLA SSc patients who had a right heart catheterization diagnostic for PAH (mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) ≥25 mm Hg, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure ≤15 mm Hg, pulmonary vascular resistance ≥240 dynesxsecond/cm 5 ), between 2001-2012 were enrolled. ILD was defined as a forced vital capacity Results At baseline, patients with isolated PAH (n=41) and combined PAH-ILD (n=59) were similar for ethnicity, comorbidities, SSc type and duration, mean mPAP (PAH: 42; PAH-ILD: 39; p=NS). Patients with isolated PAH were older (mean 60 vs. 54 yrs in PAH-ILD, p=0.03), and had a greater percentage of women (93% vs. 68% in PAH-ILD, p=0.003). Mean follow up time was 30 and 27 months for the PAH and PAH-ILD groups, respectively, p=NS. There were no significant group differences in use of a systemic prostacyclin (PAH: 29%, PAH-ILD: 32%), use of a second PAH agent (61% in each group), or use of third PAH agent (PAH: 35%, PAH-ILD: 34%) during the study period. The 1-, 2-, 3-year survival estimates were 80%, 64%, 54%, and 74%, 64%, 56%, for the PAH and PAH-ILD groups, respectively, p=NS. In a multivariate model of the entire cohort (with the following covariates: mPAP, ILD, age, gender, ethnicity, body mass index, SSc type and duration, use of immunosuppression, hemoglobin T≤11 gm/dL), age was the only significant risk factor for mortality. Conclusions Compared with historical series (1, 2), long-term survival in SSc patients with both isolated PAH and PAH-ILD has improved, perhaps partly due to aggressive use of PAH therapy. References Condliffe R, et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2009;179:151. Le Pavec J, et al. Arthritis Rheum 2011;63:2456. Disclosure of Interest None Declared
Principles of Postoperative Shoulder Rehabilitation in Throwing Athletes

The rehabilitation of the overhead throwing athlete is a complex and often lengthy process. After completion of the intial phases of rehab involving strength and motion recovery, sports specific throwing rehabilitation and graduated return to throwing are required. Safe and timely return to throwing following shoulder surgery in baseball players requires sophisticated coordination and communication between clinicians, coaches, and players. Strict adherence to underlying principles of an interval throwing program would afford players the best chance of successfully returning to his or her preinjury level of performance. Open and constant communication between players, trainers, and coaches would ensure that any soreness or pain experienced by the player would be reported and assessed in a timely manner. Such reporting would minimize the chance of delaying progress through the interval throwing program.
Application Research on Internet of Things in Environment Monitoring and Protection

With the rapid development of Communications and information technology and the breakthrough of key technologies of Internet of Things(IOT), IOT has been used widely in many fields. This paper introduces IOT applied in the field of environmental protection, then studies the basic organization structure, IOT key technology development, its application in the filed of environmental protection, and the problems with IOT development.
Photonic reagents for concentration measurement of flu-orescent proteins with overlapping spectra

By exploiting photonic reagents (i.e., coherent control by shaped laser pulses), we employ Optimal Dynamic Discrimination (ODD) as a novel means for quantitatively characterizing mixtures of fluorescent proteins with a large spectral overlap. To illustrate ODD, we simultaneously measured concentrations of in vitro mixtures of Enhanced Blue Fluorescent Protein (EBFP) and Enhanced Cyan Fluorescent Protein (ECFP). Building on this foundational study, the ultimate goal is to exploit the capabilities of ODD for parallel monitoring of genetic and protein circuits by suppressing the spectral cross-talk among multiple fluorescent reporters.
Platelet Count Is a Sensitive Predictor of Bone Marrow Reserve and Autologous Peripheral Blood Progenitor Cell Mobilization.

Background: Previous studies have proposed combination of various factors that predict poor mobilization after GCSF stimulation. However, there is no single clinical or laboratory test that reliably correlates with bone marrow reserve and PBPC mobilization. Peripheral blood CD34+ cell count (pCD34) reliably correlates with PBPC mobilization and yield but only after GCSF administration. Methods: We have prospectively followed 36 autologous PBPC transplant candidates, from the time of initial evaluation to transplant, to evaluate factors the correlate with bone marrow reserve and autologous PBPC mobilization. Results: The patients median age was 63 (range 26 – 76). 21 of the 36 patients were diagnosed with dysproteinemia, primarily multiple myeloma, 10 patients had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma while the remaining 5 had other form of hematological malignancies. Our evaluation shows baseline platelet count prior to growth factor administration significantly correlate with total CD34+ cell yield (spearman: r = 0.64, p Conclusion: Baseline platelet count is a sensitive predictor of bone marrow reserve and can be used prior to growth factor administration to predict poor mobilization.
Couple Time: Marital Quality and the Timing of Fatherhood

Marriage is the domain most studied in investigations of the transition to parenthood. Change in marital quality, often defined as marital satisfaction, conflict, and coalition (Erel & Burman, 1995), has been the focus of numerous empirical investigations in psychology and sociology. LeMasters’ (1957) study and subsequent journal article, “Parenthood as a crisis,” seems to have been news indeed and inspired a cascade of research investigations, including numerous dissertations (Cowan, Cowan, Heming, Garrett, Coysh, Curtis-Boles, & Boles, 1985). The shift from husband-wife dyad to family triad exposes the spousal relationship to challenges as domestic and work roles are ripe for change and opportunities for interaction — and conflict — increase. But, is decline in marital quality inevitable as couples become parents? In 1963, Dyer countered LeMasters’ declaration of parenthood as a “crisis” or “critical event.” The conclusions reached after several decades of research that commenced in the 1950s strongly suggested that parenthood is a very real challenge for some couples, but that not all couples became more dissatisfied with their marriage because of the baby (Cowan & Cowan, 1988). For a non-trivial proportion of couples, the advent of parenthood is associated with either stability in marital satisfaction or increased satisfaction (e.g., Feldman, 1971; Cowan & Cowan, 1995).
Mel-140 and TBI vs Mel-200 Prior to Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation for Multiple Myeloma - a Single Institution Experience.

Between 1991–98, twenty-nine patients with myeloma received Mel-140 and TBI (960 cGy) followed by Cytoxan mobilized autologous PBSCT. Between 1998 and April, 2004, 41 patients received Mel-200 alone followed by autologous PBSCT. The two groups were comparable regarding age, gender, stage, number of prior regimens and s2 microglobulin at diagnosis. However, the Mel-200 group had greater proportion of patients with IgG myeloma (78% vs 38%) and shorter time from diagnosis to transplant (301 days vs 581 days). Results: Neutrophil engraftment was similar in the two groups. However, platelet engraftment, transfusion requirements, length of stay and number of days on antibiotics were worse in the Mel-TBI group. The complete and very good partial responses were high in both groups Mel TBI 58.6% vs Mel-200 56% (p=0.81). Median overall survival (OS) was 3.5 years and 3.8 years for Mel TBI and Mel-200 groups, respectively (p=0.75). Event-free survival (EFS) was 1.9 years and 2.3 years, respectively (p=0.88). Survival after relapse post-PBSCT was short, median 1.1 and 1.8 years, respectively. We present here the results of two groups of myeloma patients treated consecutively in a single institution. The Mel-200 patients had a higher proportion of IgG myeloma and were transplanted earlier in the phase of their disease. As expected, regimen-related toxicities were higher in the Mel-TBI group. The response rates, OS, and EFS were similar. These results are in keeping with published reports of prospective randomized studies. Mel-200 is now the standard conditioning regimen for autologous transplant for myeloma.
Personality and motivation

When discussing personality factors it is critical not to lump performing artists into a larger category such as “artists.” Although some personality traits may be shared, performing artists display great individual differences. Likewise, motivation in performing artists is a complex synergy of intrinsic, extrinsic, approach-avoidance, master-performance achievement, and obligatory factors and is augmented or compromised by harmonious or obsessional passion. Both personality and motivation are key factors that identify performing artists. Ultimately, early desires to explore music, acting, dance, or singing are promoted by these variables and are key ingredients in forming and internalizing a performing artist self-identity.
Non-myopic target tracking strategies for non-linear systems

We study the problem of devising a closed-loop strategy to control the position of a robot that is tracking a possibly moving target. The robot is capable of obtaining noisy measurements of the target's position. The key idea in active target tracking is to choose control laws that drive the robot to measurement locations that will reduce the uncertainty in the target's position. The challenge is that measurement uncertainty often is a function of the (unknown) relative positions of the target and the robot. Consequently, a closed-loop control policy is desired which can map the current estimate of the target's position to an optimal control law for the robot. Our main contribution is to devise a closed-loop control policy for target tracking that plans for a sequence of control actions, instead of acting greedily. We consider scenarios where the noise in measurement is a function of the state of the target. We seek to minimize the maximum uncertainty (trace of the posterior covariance matrix) over all possible measurements. We exploit the structural properties of a Kalman Filter to build a policy tree that is orders of magnitude smaller than naive enumeration while still preserving optimality guarantees. We show how to obtain even more computational savings by relaxing the optimality guarantees. The resulting algorithms are evaluated through simulations.
Sensor fused three-dimensional localization using IMU, camera and LiDAR

Estimating the position and orientation (pose) of a moving platform in a three-dimensional (3D) environment is of significant importance in many areas, such as robotics and sensing. In order to perform this task, one can employ single or multiple sensors. Multi-sensor fusion has been used to improve the accuracy of the estimation and to compensate for individual sensor deficiencies. Unlike the previous works in this area that use sensors with the ability of 3D localization to estimate the full pose of a platform (such as an unmanned aerial vehicle or drone), in this work we employ the data from a 2D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor, which can only estimate the pose in a 2D plane. We fuse it in an extended Kalman filter with the data from camera and inertial sensors showing that, despite the incomplete estimation from the 2D LiDAR, the overall estimated 3D pose can be improved. We also compare this scenario with the case where the 2D LiDAR is replaced with a 3D LiDAR with similar characteristics, but the ability of complete 3D pose estimation.
Superatoms: Electronic and Geometric Effects on Reactivity

ConspectusThe relative role of electronic and geometric effects on the stability of clusters has been a contentious topic for quite some time, with the focus on electronic structure generally gaining the upper hand. In this Account, we hope to demonstrate that both electronic shell filling and geometric shell filling are necessary concepts for an intuitive understanding of the reactivity of metal clusters. This work will focus on the reactivity of aluminum based clusters, although these concepts may be applied to clusters of different metals and ligand protected clusters. First we highlight the importance of electronic shell closure in the stability of metallic clusters. Quantum confinement in small compact metal clusters results in the bunching of quantum states that are reminiscent of the electronic shells in atoms. Clusters with closed electronic shells and large HOMO–LUMO (highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) gaps have enhanced stability and reduced reactivity with O...
Accounting for Multidimensionality in Item Responses in Patient-Centered and Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement

Background: More robust and rigorous psychometric models, such as Item Response Theory (IRT) models, have been advocated for applications measuring health sciences outcomes. However, there are challenges to the use of IRT models with health assessments. In particular, item responses from measuring health-related outcomes are typically determined by multiple traits or dimensions. This multidimensionality can be caused by various factors including designed multidimensional structure to the instrument, heterogeneity in item content, and from other sources such as differential item functioning in subpopulations and individual differences in response styles to survey items and rating scales. Objectives: This paper discusses different extensions to IRT models that can be used to account for different types of multidimensionality as well as the use of Bayesian methods with person-centered medicine research. Methods: Use of the SAS PROC MCMC platform for implementing Bayesian analyses is illustrated to estimate and analyze IRT applications to health-related assessments. Results: PROC MCMC involves a straightforward translation of the response probability model along with specifications of the model parameters and prior distributions for the model parameters. Conclusions: Bayesian analysis of multidimensional IRT models is more accessible to researchers and scale developers in measuring health sciences outcomes for person-centered medicine research.
Mesothelin promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and tumorigenicity of human lung cancer and mesothelioma cells

Lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma are two of the most deadly forms of cancer. The prognosis of lung cancer and mesothelioma is extremely poor due to limited treatment modalities and lack of understanding of the disease mechanisms. We have identified mesothelin as a potentially unique therapeutic target that as a specific advantage appears nonessential in most cell types. Mesothelin (MSLN), a plasma membrane differentiation antigen, is expressed at a high level in many human solid tumors, including 70% of lung cancer and nearly all mesotheliomas. However, the role of MSLN in the disease process and underlying mechanisms is largely unknown. ShRNA knockdown and overexpression of MSLN were performed in human cancer cell lines and corresponding normal cells, respectively. Tumorigenic and metastatic effects of MSLN were examined by tumor sphere formation, migration, and invasion assays in vitro, as well as xenograft tumor assay in vivo. EMT and CSCs were detected by qPCR array, immunoblotting and flow cytometry. MSLN plays a key role in controlling epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stem properties of human lung cancer and mesothelioma cells that control their tumorigenicity and metastatic potential. Firstly, MSLN was found to be highly upregulated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient tissues and in lung carcinoma and mesothelioma cell lines. Secondly, genetic knockdown of MSLN significantly reduced anchorage-independent cell growth, tumor sphere formation, cell adhesion, migration and invasion in vitro, as well as tumor formation and metastasis in vivo. Thirdly, ectopic overexpression of MSLN induced the malignant phenotype of non-cancerous cells, supporting its role as an oncogene. Finally, mechanistic studies revealed that knockdown of MSLN reversed EMT and attenuated stem cell properties, in addition to inhibiting tumor growth and metastasis. These results indicate an essential role of MSLN in controlling EMT and stem cell properties of human lung cancer and mesothelioma cells. Since EMT is an important process in tumor progression and metastasis, and MSLN is nonessential in most normal tissue, our findings on MSLN may provide new insights into the disease mechanisms and may aid in the development of novel targeted therapy for lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Explaining variation in ventral and inguinal hernia repair outcomes: A population-based analysis.

Background No study has evaluated the relative importance of patient, surgeon, and hospital-level factors on surgeon and hospital variation in hernia reoperation rates. This population-based retrospective cohort study evaluated factors associated with variation in reoperation rates for recurrence after initial ventral hernia repair and inguinal hernia repair. Methods The Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System identified initial ventral hernia repairs and inguinal hernia repairs in New York state from 2003–2009. Mixed-effects Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed assessing factors associated with surgeon/hospital variation in 5-year reoperation rates for hernia recurrence. Results Among 78,267 ventral hernia repairs and 124,416 inguinal hernia repairs, the proportion of total variation in reoperation rates attributable to individual surgeons compared with hospitals was 87% for ventral hernia repairs and 92% for inguinal hernia repairs. In explaining variation in ventral hernia repair reoperation between surgeons, 19% was attributable to patient-level factors, 4% attributable to mesh placement, and 10% attributable to surgeon volume and type of board certification. In explaining variation in inguinal hernia repair reoperation between surgeons, 1.1% was attributable to mesh placement and 10% was attributable to surgeon volume and years of experience. However, 67% of the variation between surgeons for ventral hernia repair and 89% of the variation between surgeons for inguinal hernia repair remained unexplained by factors in the models. Conclusion The majority of variation in hernia reoperation rates is attributable to surgeon-level variation. This suggests that hernia recurrence may be an appropriate surgeon quality metric. While modifiable factors such as mesh placement and surgeon characteristics play roles in surgeon variation, future research should focus on identifying additional surgeon attributes responsible for this variation.
3-D palmprint modeling for biometric verification

Palmprint is a very unique and distinctive biometric trait because of features such as a person's inimitable principal lines, wrinkles, delta points, and minutiae. These constitute the main reasons why palmprint verification is considered as one of the most reliable personal identification methods. However, a clear majority of the research on palm-prints are concentrated on 2-D palmprint images irrespective of the fact that the human palm is a 3D-surface. While 2-D palmprint recognition has proved to be efficient in terms of verification rate, it has some essential downsides. These restrictions can adversely affect the performance and robustness of the palmprint recognition system. One of the possible solutions to resolve the limitations associated with 2-D palm print authentication systems is (i) to use a 3-D scanning system and to produce high quality 3-D images with depth information; (ii) to map 3-D palm-print images into 2-D images which may support the usage of 3-D images with both biometric palmprint 2-D image databases and 2-D palmprint recognition tools. The bloom of 3-D technologies has made it easier to capture and store 3-D images. The problem of a direct mapping approach is that a large section of the palm is hard-pressed on the scanner surface during 2-D based acquisition. This paper proposes a novel technique to unravel/map 3-D palm images to its equivalent 2-D palm-print image. This image can be then used to perform efficient and accurate 2-D identification/ verification. Experimental results and discussions will also be presented.
Nucleus Decompositions for Identifying Hierarchy of Dense Subgraphs

Finding dense substructures in a graph is a fundamental graph mining operation, with applications in bioinformatics, social networks, and visualization to name a few. Yet most standard formulations of this problem (like clique, quasi-clique, densest at-least-k subgraph) are NP-hard. Furthermore, the goal is rarely to find the “true optimum” but to identify many (if not all) dense substructures, understand their distribution in the graph, and ideally determine relationships among them. Current dense subgraph finding algorithms usually optimize some objective and only find a few such subgraphs without providing any structural relations.We define the nucleus decomposition of a graph, which represents the graph as a forest of nuclei. Each nucleus is a subgraph where smaller cliques are present in many larger cliques. The forest of nuclei is a hierarchy by containment, where the edge density increases as we proceed towards leaf nuclei. Sibling nuclei can have limited intersections, which enables discovering overlapping dense subgraphs. With the right parameters, the nucleus decomposition generalizes the classic notions of k-core and k-truss decompositions.We present practical algorithms for nucleus decompositions and empirically evaluate their behavior in a variety of real graphs. The tree of nuclei consistently gives a global, hierarchical snapshot of dense substructures and outputs dense subgraphs of comparable quality with the state-of-the-art solutions that are dense and have non-trivial sizes. Our algorithms can process real-world graphs with tens of millions of edges in less than an hour. We demonstrate how proposed algorithms can be utilized on a citation network. Our analysis showed that dense units identified by our algorithms correspond to coherent articles on a specific area. Our experiments also show that we can identify dense structures that are lost within larger structures by other methods and find further finer grain structure within dense groups.
Spinal Arteriolosclerosis Is Common in Older Adults and Associated With Parkinsonism

Background and Purpose— There are few studies of spinal microvascular pathologies in older adults. We characterized spinal cord microvascular pathologies and examined their associations with other spinal and brain postmortem indices and parkinsonism in older adults. Methods— We documented 3 features of microvascular pathologies in spinal cord and brain specimens from 165 deceased older participants. We also measured spinal white matter pallor. Parkinsonian signs were assessed with a modified version of the motor section of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. We examined the associations of spinal arteriolosclerosis with other spinal and brain postmortem indices and parkinsonism proximate to death using regression models which controlled for age and sex. Results— Microinfarcts and cerebral amyloid angiopathy were not observed within the spinal cord parenchyma. Spinal arteriolosclerosis was observed at all spinal levels (C7, T7, L4, S4) examined and was more severe posteriorly than anteriorly (posterior: 4.3, SD=0.72 versus anterior: 3.9, SD=0.74; t =14.58; P t =10.39; P r =0.47; P Conclusions— Although the regional distribution of microvascular pathologies varies within the central nervous system, spinal arteriolosclerosis is common and may contribute to the severity of spinal white matter pallor and parkinsonism in older adults.
Post-Extrasystolic Potentiation as a Predictor of Recovery of Left Ventricular Dysfunction After Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation

Abstract Objectives This study hypothesizes that post-extrasystolic potentiation reflects left ventricle contractile reserve and therefore may predict an improvement of premature ventricular contraction (PVC)-induced cardiomyopathy after PVC ablation. Background Post-extrasystolic potentiation is a physiologic phenomenon of blood pressure accentuation after a PVC beat. Methods We performed a retrospective study of patients with a PVC burden of ≥10% PVC/24 h and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of Results Sixty-one patients (age 68 ± 11 years, 98% male) were studied: 30 with preserved and 31 with reduced LVEF. During median follow-up of 9.4 months, the LVEF of 17 of 31 reduced EF patients improved (reversible) but 14 did not (irreversible). The post-PVC beat systolic blood pressure ([SBP], mm Hg) increase ranged from 12.1 in control subjects (LVEF >50%) to 11.5 in reversible patients to 5 in irreversible patients. In multivariate analysis, the independent predictors of reversible LV function were post-PVC SBP rise (odds ratio [OR]: 4.61; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.45 to 15.83 per 5-mm Hg increase; p Conclusions In patients with LV dysfunction and frequent PVC, post-PVC SBP accentuation may be a marker for subsequent recovery of LVEF after ablation in presumed PVC-induced cardiomyopathy.
Predicting mucositis risk associated with cytotoxic cancer treatment regimens: rationale, complexity, and challenges.

Purpose of review The goals of this review are to describe the complexity of factors influencing the risk of cancer regimen-related mucosal injury (CRRMI), to evaluate the contribution of the innate immune response to CRRMI risk, to compare the concordance of genome analytics in describing mechanism and risk, and to determine if common biological pathways are noted when CRRMI is compared to a disease with a similar phenotype. Recent findings The pathogenesis of and risk for CRRMI are complex and influenced by multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors. It is incumbent on analyses to recognize the likelihood that the interplay and cross-talk of synergistically expressed factors is critical and that the contributing weights of these factors is not uniform from patient to patient. Genomically derived analyses imply final common pathways are implicit in phenotype expression. Summary The identification of specific factors (both genomic and otherwise) which contribute to CRRMI risk represents an important opportunity to apply principles of precision medicine to the management of regimen-related toxicities.
Photocarrier Transfer across Monolayer MoS2–MoSe2 Lateral Heterojunctions

In-plane heterojuctions formed from two monolayer semiconductors represent the finest control of electrons in condensed matter and have attracted significant interest. Various device studies have shown the effectiveness of such structures to control electronic processes, illustrating their potentials for electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, information about the physical mechanisms of charge carrier transfer across the junctions is still rare, mainly due to the lack of adequate experimental techniques. Here we show that transient absorption measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution can be used to directly monitor such transfer processes. We studied MoS2–MoSe2 in-plane heterostructures fabricated by chemical vapor deposition and lithographic patterning followed by laser-generated vapor sulfurization. Transient absorption measurements in reflection geometry revealed evidence of exciton transfer from MoS2 to MoSe2. By comparing the experimental data with a simulation, we extracte...