cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neuronal tracing for connectomic studies

Reconstruction of the complete wiring diagram, or connectome, of a neural circuit provides an alternative approach to conventional circuit analysis. One major obstacle of connectomics lies in segmenting and tracing neuronal processes from the vast number of images obtained with optical or electron microscopy. Here I review recent progress in automated tracing algorithms for connectomic reconstruction with fluorescence and electron microscopy, and discuss the challenges to image analysis posed by novel optical imaging techniques.
Individuality of handwriting: a validation study

Motivated by several rulings in United States courts concerning expert testimony in general and handwriting testimony in particular, we undertook a study to objectively validate the hypothesis that handwriting is individualistic. Handwriting samples of 1500 individuals, representative of the US population with respect to gender, age, ethnic groups, etc., were obtained. Analyzing differences in handwriting was done by using computer algorithms for extracting features from scanned images of handwriting. Attributes characteristic of the handwriting were obtained, e.g., line separation, slant, character shapes, etc. These attributes, which are a subset of attributes used by expert document examiners, were used to quantitatively establish individuality by using machine learning approaches. Using global attributes of handwriting and very few characters in the writing, the ability to determine the writer with a high degree of confidence was established. The work is a step towards providing scientific support for admitting handwriting evidence in court. The mathematical approach and the resulting software also have the promise of aiding the expert document examiner.
Vitamin to Creatinine Ratios Variability in Separate Voidings of Urine of Adolescents During a 24 Hour Period

E XCRETIONS of thiamine and riboflavin from casual urine samples expressed as micrograms of vitamin per gram of creatinine have been widely used in survey work to estimate nutritional status with respect to these vitamins. However, although convenient and practical, it is acknowledged that more should be knowm1 about this parameter of vitamin excretion. The procedure of relating urinary excretions of vitamins to creatinine assumes that creatimiine excretion is relatively constant for short-term collection periods. This tends to mininlize the effect of incompleteness of urine collections or the inaccuracy in the timing of collection periods. If this ratio from a random specimen is to serve as a biochemical index, one might question how constam1t this ratio is from one voiding to the next throughout a 24 hour period and consequently how representative such a random sample might be. The present study was undertaken to investigate the variability of thiamine and riboflavin to creatinine ratios caused by variation in creatinine excretion and also the fluctuation due to the rapid excretion
Child Regulation of Negative Emotions and Depressive Symptoms: The Moderating Role of Parental Emotion Socialization

Research indicates that parents’ methods of emotion socialization impact the development of their children’s emotion expressivity, which, in turn, is implicated in the emergence of internalizing symptoms. Relatively little research, however, has examined the emotion socialization behaviors that mothers and fathers use to socialize their children’s emotion regulation with respect to how these behaviors may differentially predict depressive symptoms in their sons and daughters. In the current study, the relations among these three variables were investigated by having mothers and fathers report on their children’s dysregulation and regulation coping of anger and sadness. Sons and daughters reported on their perceived receipt of parents’ responses to their anger and sadness expressivity, as well as their own depressive symptoms. Correlational analyses revealed that unsupportive responses to emotional expressivity were related to greater child emotion dysregulation, poorer emotion coping, and depressive symptoms. Moderation analyses revealed that, for both mothers and fathers, at high levels of unsupportive responses to emotions, children were perceived to have more anger dysregulation, less anger coping, less sadness coping, and more depressive symptoms. Regression analyses indicated that mothers’ unsupportive responses to sadness and fathers’ unsupportive responses to anger are associated with their children’s depressive symptoms. These findings support the notion that mothers and fathers play unique roles in children’s emotion regulation skills and subsequent risk for depression.
A numerical investigation of the effect of boundary motion on viscous channel flow

The steady, laminar, incompressible flow past a moving boundary in the entry region of a two-dimensional channel is considered. The formation of a separated region during the upstream motion of a section of the lower boundary is of particular interest. The size of the separated region depends on the Reynolds number, and on the velocity and length of the moving boundary as well. A numerical solution is obtained from the continuity and the complete Navier-Stokes equations, subject to the appropriate boundary conditions. The describing equations are expressed in terms of the vorticity and the stream function. The alternating-direction implicit method is used to solve the vorticity equation while the successive over-relaxation method is used to solve the stream function equation
Paretic Propulsion and Trailing Limb Angle Are Key Determinants of Long-Distance Walking Function After Stroke.

Background. Elucidation of the relative importance of commonly targeted biomechanical variables to poststroke long-distance walking function would facilitate optimal intervention design. Objectives...
Nodulation gene regulation in Bradyrhizobium japonicum: a unique integration of global regulatory circuits.

Intercellular communication via diffusible chemical signals is well described for bacteria and functions to modulate a number of cellular processes. The perception and interpretation of these signals enables bacteria to sense their environment, leading to the coordinate expression of genes. The
Mediator-lipidomics: databases and search algorithms for PUFA-derived mediators

Lipid mediators (LMs) derived from PUFAs play important roles in health and disease. Databases and search algorithms are crucial, but currently unavailable, for accurate and prompt analysis of LMs via liquid chromatography-ultraviolet-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-UV-MS/MS). A novel algorithm and databases, cognoscitive-contrast-angle algorithm and databases (COCAD), were developed for the identification of LMs based on the integration of standard MS/MS spectra with chromatograms and UV spectra. Segment naming and empirical fragmentation rules were introduced to determine MS/MS ion identities, along with ion intensities used by COCAD in matching the unknown to those of authentic standards. The structures of potential LMs without synthetic and/or authentic products as standards were identified by developing theoretical databases and algorithms based on virtual LC-UV-MS/MS spectra and chromatograms. The performance of these databases and algorithms was tested by identifying LMs in murine tissues. These results indicate that COCAD has many advantages for profiling and identification of LMs compared with the conventional dot-product algorithm.
The Spatio-Temporal Structure of Force Variability in Static Grasp Suggests a Continually Active Neural Controller

Fingertip forces during simple and static tripod grasp exhibit a surprisingly rich dynamics [1]. Here we explore the hypothesis that, even for this apparently simple manipulation task, these fluctuations are shaped by a neural controller rather than by signal-dependent motor noise. We fed band-limited noise processes scaled to mean force level into a 21-muscle model of 3finger grasp, and compare model output with experimental force recordings. We find that the spatial and spectral characteristics of simulated force fluctuations differed greatly from those observed in actual static tripod grasp. In light of current literature [2], we propose that a continually active neural controller is at work even for this simplest example of multifinger manipulation.
Lung transplantation in very young infants.

Abstract Introduction: Established successes with adult lung transplantation have laid the foundation for extension of this therapeutic modality to infants and children dying of end-stage pulmonary disease. The purpose of this report is to convey our experience with 19 infants undergoing lung transplantation before the age of 6 months. Methods: Six patients with predominantly pulmonary vascular disease and 13 patients with primarily pulmonary parenchymal disease have undergone bilateral sequential lung transplantation at our institution since 1990. Mean age at transplant was 104 ± 44 days, and mean weight was 4.9 ± 1.6 kg. Results: Although early mortality (32%, 6/19) was higher than that previously reported for older pediatric age groups, long-term survival was similar (44% at a maximum follow-up of 6 years). Although anastomotic complications and infections occurred at a rate approximating that seen in older pediatric age groups, episodes of acute rejection appear to occur with decreased frequency. Similarly, at a mean follow-up of 3 years, only 2 (15%) of 13 long-term survivors have evidence of bronchiolitis obliterans. The functional residual capacity, as measured on infant pulmonary function tests, has gradually increased as the children have grown, suggesting that lung growth is occurring. Conclusions: Bilateral lung transplantation is a viable alternative in infants dying of end-stage pulmonary disease. Efforts directed toward avoiding the complications that lead to early posttransplant mortality combined with the seemingly lower incidence of early and late rejection may provide long-term results better than those in other age groups. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1999;118:796-804)
Turbulent newtonian flow in annuli

In recent years there have been quite a few experimental studies on turbulent flow in annuli. In this paper a Prandtl mixing-length approach is applied to give a friction factor vs. Reynolds number expression for annuli [see Equation (22) and Table 1]; this expression describes tube flow and slit flow as special cases. No new adjustable constants appear in the final result other than those determined earlier for tube flow. The final expression is found to predict friction factors within the accuracy of the existing experimental data. The mixing-length friction-factor expression is thus substantially more accurate than the usual hydraulic-radius procedure and of comparable accuracy to other recent annulus friction-factor treatments.
Discussion: An estimate of the science-wise false discovery rate and application to the top medical literature

It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to comment on this contribution by Jager and Leek (2013), perhaps the first broad-based empirical attempt to examine the now 8-year-old claim that most conclusions in the medical literature are false (Ioannidis, 2005). The latter paper has had considerable traction, reportedly being the most downloaded article in the history of PLoS Medicine. Its potential positive impact was more wariness about blithely accepting the results of published studies, better understanding of the factors that lead to misleading research, and more awareness of the domain of meta-research. The potential negative impact of the claim was an unwarranted degree of skepticism, hopefully not cynicism, about truth claims in medical science. So, exploring that hypothesis further using empirical data was much needed. But before commenting on Jager and Leek’s contribution, it is useful to understand the assumptions and methodology that supported the original claim, outlined in detail in 2007 (Goodman and Greenland, 2007). Ioannidis’s argument was based on simple Bayesian mathematics, the same kind used in diagnostic studies. However, two elements were incorporated that had the mathematical effect of nullifying research evidence. First, the information from an experiment used in his model was simply P <0.05, not the exact P-value. Thus, an epidemiologic study generating a main finding with a P <0.0001 was treated in that model identically to one with P =0.04. Quantitatively, for a study with 80% power, this reduced the maximum Bayes factor—the degree to which an experiment raises the prior odds of the alternative hypothesis— from infinity to 16.
Feasibility of “Subjective” Engineering Assessments of Road Safety Improvements: Bayesian Analysis Development:

Regional safety program managers face a daunting challenge in the attempt to reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses that result from motor vehicle crashes. This difficult mission is complicated by the combination of a large perceived need, small budget, and uncertainty about how effective each proposed countermeasure would be if implemented. A manager can turn to the research record for insight, but the measured effect of a single countermeasure often varies widely from study to study and across jurisdictions. The challenge of converting widespread and conflicting research results into a regionally meaningful conclusion can be addressed by incorporating "subjective" information into a Bayesian analysis framework. Engineering evaluations of crashes provide the subjective input on countermeasure effectiveness in the proposed Bayesian analysis framework. Empirical Bayes approaches are widely used in before-and-after studies and "hot-spot" identification; however, in these cases, the prior information was typically obtained from the data (empirically), not subjective sources. The power and advantages of Bayesian methods for assessing countermeasure effectiveness are presented. Also, an engineering evaluation approach developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology is described. Results are presented from an experiment conducted to assess the repeatability and objectivity of subjective engineering evaluations. In particular, the focus is on the importance, methodology, and feasibility of the subjective engineering evaluation for assessing countermeasures.
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND STOCK RETURNS

We examine relations between sustainable growth and stock returns over 1964–2007. Findings indicate that high sustainable growth firms tend to have low default risk, low book-to-market ratios, and low subsequent returns. Of the four sustainable growth components, we find that the net profit margin is the major determinant of subsequent returns. Results persist after controlling for asset growth and capital expenditure growth. Additional tests indicate that the sustainable growth effect is attributable to risk and not to mispricing.
ADC estimation of lesions in diffusion-weighted MR images: A maximum-likelihood approach

In recent years, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of lesions obtained using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWMRI) has emerged as a potentially novel non-invasive imaging bio-marker for prediction and monitoring of anti-cancer therapy response. However, the motion in visceral organs and different variances in DWMRI measurements at different magnetic diffusion gradient values can make ADC estimation a challenging task. We propose a maximum-likelihood method for ADC estimation of lesions in DWMRI. We show through simulations that our method outperforms the standard linear-least-squares and diffusion-map methods.
Anti-NMDAR encephalitis, a mimicker of acute infectious encephalitis and a review of the literature

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis has become an increasingly recognized etiology of acute psychosis in young patients. The diverse constellation of symptoms allows for misdiagnosis as an infectious, psychological, or toxicological entity resulting in delays in treatment with increasing morbidity. We describe a case of anti-NMDAR encephalitis that was a particular challenge to diagnose. Practitioners should maintain a high index of suspicion for anti-NMDAR and related neuroautoimmune syndromes, especially in young patients that present with acute mental status decline or dyskinesia.
A case for Wafer-scale interconnected memory arrays

The author describes a novel memory architecture, wafer-scale interconnected memory array (WIMA), that is intended to replace ultradensity monolithic DRAM (dynamic random access memory) ICs. This architecture employs the high-performance high-density interconnects provided by the multichip module technology, cache-embedding, and prime-degree interleaving to expose the internal parallelism not exploited by monolithic DRAMs. Using WIMA modules as the basic building blocks, a high-bandwidth, low-latency, and low-cost main memory system is proposed that could support the parallelism among multiple vector access streams. A novel indexing mechanism for prime-degree interleaving is developed which delivers fast and predictable memory access latency with modest hardware requirements. >
Calibration and simulation of a coded aperture neutron imaging system

Coded aperture neutron imaging detectors have the potential to be a powerful tool for the detection of special nuclear material at long range or under heavy shielding, using the signature of fast neutrons from spontaneous fission. We are building a prototype system using liquid scintillator cells, measuring 20" × 2.5" × 2.5" each, in a reconfigurable arrangement. A cross-calibration of the observed detector data with the output of Monte Carlo simulation can both improve the sensitivity of the detector to fast neutron sources and increase the simulation accuracy, allowing the study of next-generation detector designs. Here we describe the tools and procedures developed to calibrate and simulate the detector response, including energy scale and resolution, interaction position, and gamma-neutron separation using pulse shape discrimination. Detector data and simulation are in good agreement for a test configuration.
Toward social-technical code search

With the vast amount of source code that is publicly available today, searching for code has become an integral part of the programming experience. While a few dedicated code search engines are available, we contend in this paper that they have not nearly reached their full potential. Particularly, we believe that it is necessary for code search engines to not merely index code, but also construct a rich network of social-technical information that surrounds that code. With such information, much richer queries can be issued and novel interfaces can be built through which the results of such queries can be explored more intuitively. We make the case for social-technical code search, introduce six categories of social-technical information and how it would enhance search, and briefly introduce CodeExchange, our prototype platform we are developing to explore social-technical code search.
Conspicuously Absent: Lesbians in Professional Social Work

The social work profession, in its efforts to maintain legitimacy and secure its status in the marketplace, perpetuates heteronormative customs that support the suppression of its own lesbian presence. This article describes some of the traditions that have marginalized groups, particularly lesbians, within the profession and calls for a revision of these practices. Recommendations emphasize broadening the theoretical base of the curriculum of professional studies as early as the undergraduate level.
Unregulating Online Harassment

This short essay was written as part of the “Cyber Civil Rights: New Challenges for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in our Networked Age” symposium sponsored by the University of Denver Law Review in November 2009. The essay offers a few reasons why Cyber Civil Rights advocates should not seek to amend 47 USC § 230, the statutory immunity that protects websites from being liable for user content.
Introduction to BOXES Control

The first version of the BOXES paradigm that Michie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Michie, Accessed September 12, 2011) introduced appeared using the acronym MENACE which stands for Machine Educable Noughts And Crosses Engine. Using a simple array of matchboxes, it was possible to play noughts and crosses using no other strategy than to add or remove colored beads in each matchbox based on the outcome of each game. In order to move away from board games and focus on real-time control, a paradigm shift is necessary. Instead of the player selecting a position on the board, the state variables of the real-time system are encoded into a system integer that corresponds with the board position. The algorithm uses this integer to look up a control value from a signature table and returns it for direct application to the system’s control mechanism. The methodology behind the BOXES algorithm as it is applicable to system control falls into five essential components: defining the game board; identifying the game pieces; establishing legal values for those pieces; creating an end game detection mechanism; and finally, enforcing strategies for optimality and eventual winning. The BOXES algorithm operates in two phases: reactive in which real-time closed loop control is achieved; and reflective in which modifications to the signature table values are made based on past performance statistics.
Selective variant growth of coherent precipitate under external constraints

An anisotropic distribution of coherent precipitate variants may result in anisotropic behavior of a two-phase material. The distribution of the coherent precipitate variants can be controlled using constrained aging. This article reports our experimental and computational studies of the stress effect on the spatial arrangement of coherent precipitate variants. The research demonstrates that the anisotropic elastic coupling between applied stress/strain and the local strain caused by the lattice mismatch between different phases makes the growth of differently oriented phase variants selective. Ti11Ni14 precipitation in a Ti-51.5at.%Ni alloy was investigated as a particular example. It was demonstrated that the constrained aging strongly affected the distribution of Ti11Ni14 precipitate variants. The resulting selective variant growth of Ti11Ni14 precipitates can be predicted based on the symmetry analysis and the elastic energy calculation.
The Strict Rules of Charitable Split Interest Gifts

When giving both to your family and to your charity, you must follow the rules carefully to qualify for a charitable deduction. The article discusses the recent Tamulis case, other split interest charitable deduction cases, and the doctrine of substantial compliance.
Secondary use of electronic clinical data: barriers, facilitators and a proposed solution

The increasing adoption of electronic medical records is producing a massive accumulation of routinely collected electronic clinical data (ECD). This data can be used not only for direct patient care but for secondary purposes such as clinical research, quality improvement, and public health. However, using clinical data collected for one purpose does not necessarily render it usable for secondary purposes. This dissertation seeks to explore (1) researchers' data needs and whether ECD is fit for use for research purposes, (2) the barriers and facilitators to secondary use faced by clinical researchers, and (3) to propose a solution to help address one of the barriers identified. To do this, this dissertation is composed of three different but interrelated studies. The first one consists of a Delphi process to develop a tool to systematically assess the fitness for use of ECD for research and its subsequent application to a set of clinical data requests. The second study is a qualitative inquiry into the barriers and facilitators to secondary use of clinical data experienced by researchers at the University of Washington, Group Health Research Institute and the Veterans Affairs' Northwest Center for Outcomes Research in Older Adults. The third study describes the development of a system to query clinical relational databases based on temporal abstractions and patterns, which could enable researchers to identify high-level concepts from clinical databases. The results of this dissertation make contributions that should allow us to improve the reutilization of ECD for research purposes.
An) orexigenic hypothalamic neuropeptides are differentially expressed in high and low feed efficient quail lines

The livestock and poultry industry is facing numerous challenges to keep up with the increasing demand for high quality animal protein due to the continuously increasing global human population, severe drought conditions around the world, and grains being used for ethanol production. Since feed costs are the majority of the total cost required to produce a live bird, feed efficiency (FE) is a trait of importance. It is beneficial to develop a more deep molecular understanding of the mechanisms that determine feed efficiency. Recently, this study used Japanese quail that were divergently selected for high and low feed efficiency as a model to determine the differential expression of several feeding-related hypothalamic neuropeptides.
Berit Berg, Torunn Fladstad og Kirsten Lauritsen: Kvinneliv i eksil

Boken Kvinneliv i eksil er portretter av seks kvinner med flyktningebakgrunn som bor i Norge. Det er skrevet mye om flyktningers situasjon i Norge, bl.a. av forfatterne av denne boken. Likevel er det en viktig bok fordi den viser at flyktningekvinners erfaringer er svaert forskjellige, men likevel med de felles trekk eksilet gir. Boken bidrar til a vise hvem noen av disse flyktningene er som mennesker, ikke bare som flyktninger, med sine erfaringer pa godt og ondt. En viktig side ved boken er at den viser at kvinner med bakgrunn som flyktninger kan leve videre med sarene og mestre sine liv. Som et empirisk bidrag til den norske migrasjonslitteraturen lykkes den i a sette studenter inn i et tungt felt pa en lettlest mate. AÂ ...
Fibrinolytic activity of human tissues and dog mast cell tumors.

Since Erhlich" discovered the mast cell, much has been written concerning its morphology, distribution, and chemical composition. There is now rather convincing evidence that the mast cell, like the platelet, is a storehouse of pharmacologically important substances (histamine, heparin, and possibly hyaluronic acid). The mast'cells of some species have also been reported to contain 5-hydroxytryptamine. Undoubtedly, there are probably other important substances that remain to be discovered in this unusual cell. While investigating the fibrinolysis of tissues we observed considerable lytic activity in the spleen of a patient with splenic mastocytosis. We later encountered a similar substance in mast cell tumors of a dog. Recently, Benditt and Arase 8 described appreciable quantities of an unidentified proteolytic enzyme in mast cells. According to these workers, the enzyme possesses properties similar to that of the alpha chymotrypsin enzyme. This unique proteolytic activity of the mast cell and our findings mentioned above prompted an investigation of the fibrinolysis of various tissues that have been demonstrated to contain large numbers of mast cells. To our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature dealing with the fibrinolytic properties of this cell.
Effects of Oxygen Stoichiometry on The Magnetic Ordering of La2Ni1-YCuY04+δ

Annealing and quenching experiments in a thermogravimetric analysis apparatus are used to vary the oxygen content in La2Ni1-yCuy04+δ, followed by magnetic susceptibility and x-ray diffraction experiments. These studies show that for certain δ, transition to antiferromagnetism occurs with TN < 20 K. The effect of Cu doping (y = 0.01 and 0.05) on TN is negligible.
Ultrafast Charge Transfer Dynamics in Polycrystalline CdSe/TiO2 Nanorods Prepared by Oblique Angle Codeposition

Ultrafast exciton dynamics of aligned polycrystalline nanorod arrays composed of CdSe or CdSe/TiO2 grown on conductive glass substrates using oblique angle deposition/codeposition have been studied...
Automatic Assignment of Non-Leaf MeSH Terms to Biomedical Articles

Assigning labels from a hierarchical vocabulary is a well known special case of multi-label classification, often modeled to maximize micro F1-score. However, building accurate binary classifiers for poorly performing labels in the hierarchy can improve both micro and macro F1-scores. In this paper, we propose and evaluate classification strategies involving descendant node instances to build better binary classifiers for non-leaf labels with the use-case of assigning Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to biomedical articles. Librarians at the National Library of Medicine tag each biomedical article to be indexed by their PubMed information system with terms from the MeSH terminology, a biomedical conceptual hierarchy with over 27,000 terms. Human indexers look at each article's full text to assign a set of most suitable MeSH terms for indexing it. Several recent automated attempts focused on using the article title and abstract text to identify MeSH terms for the corresponding article. Despite these attempts, it is observed that assigning MeSH terms corresponding to certain non-leaf nodes of the MeSH hierarchy is particularly challenging. Non-leaf nodes are very important as they constitute one third of the total number of MeSH terms. Here, we demonstrate the effectiveness of exploiting training examples of descendant terms of non-leaf nodes in improving the performance of conventional classifiers for the corresponding non-leaf MeSH terms. Specifically, we focus on reducing the false positives (FPs) caused due to descendant instances in traditional classifiers. Our methods are able to achieve a relative improvement of 7.5% in macro-F1 score while also increasing the micro-F1 score by 1.6% for a set of 500 non-leaf terms in the MeSH hierarchy. These results strongly indicate the critical role of incorporating hierarchical information in MeSH term prediction. To our knowledge, our effort is the first to demonstrate the role of hierarchical information in improving binary classifiers for non-leaf MeSH terms.
PREDICT: Instituting an Educational Time Out in the Operating Room.

Systematic time outs have been widely adopted in and outside the operating room (OR) to verify team preparedness, and review the details of planned procedures. These have been geared toward safety, which is paramount in every clinical encounter. In academic settings there is an added critical focus on education. As duty hour limits have reduced the time spent in the OR, and the complexity of surgical care has increased, maximizing the educational opportunities presented is imperative. A time out is an efficient platform for testing residents’ knowledge and facilitating faculty teaching. We developed the ‘‘Educational Time Out’’ (ETO), modeled after the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘‘surgical time out,’’ as a simple intervention before the start of a surgical case to review and assess trainees’ understanding of indications for surgery, the surgical plan, and technical considerations. This framework focuses learners’ attention and promotes the teaching experience at the outset of the case so that each moment forward has a high learning yield.
Infrared target segmentation method with multiscale MRF based on data distribution deduced from KLFCV

A new infrared target segmentation method based on infrared multiband images is proposed.First,8-14 μm waveband is subdivided into four bands by light filter,and the single band image is substituted by multi-band′s order to increase the image information.Then,based on the KLFCV fuzzy chuster model,a new data distribution used as likelihood distribution of multi-scale MRF is presented.Finally,the corresponding parameter estimation is given by using EM algorithm.From the result of the experiments on artifact data and real scene image segmentation and comparison with the traditional method,the proposed method displays certain improvement in segmentation integrity and noise reduction.
Clinical observation of short-term oral testosterone undecanoate treatment for 46,XY DSD Chinese boys with small penis:a self-comparison study

Objective To assess the short-term efficacy and safety of oral testosterone undecanoate(TU) treatment for 46,XY DSDs boys with small penis.Methods It was a prospective and self-comparison design including consecutive cases treated with oral TU at a dose of 2-3 mg·kg-1·d-1 for 3 months as a duration.All cases were treated with no more than 2 durations.Penile lengths(PLs) were measured at the end of each duration with Feldman method.Testicular volume was measured with PARADA Testicular-model comparison method.Bone age(BA) was calculated by one investigator according to G-P method.Growth-related parameters and other side effects were observed.Results PLs of 50 cases increased from(1.4±0.8) cm to(2.9±0.7) cm(P= 0.00),△PL standard deviation score(SDS) was(2.9±1.3)(P= 0.00) at the end of the 1st duration.68%(34/50) boys achieved the target(PL≥-2.5s,another 1 case combined with hypospadias reached the surgery condition.The rest of 15 cases entered the second duration and 11 patients completed treatment.△PLs were(0.6±0.4) cm,△PL-SDS was(1.1±0.8).72.7%(8/11) and achieved the goal,27.3%(3/11) cases received operation.Among the cases who completed 2 durations of treatment,the increment of PLs in the first duration was significantly greater than that in the second duration(P0.05).48% patients whose PL were longer than-4 SDS needed the second duration while 100% patients whose PL were shorter than-4SDS needed.All patients and/or their parents were satisfied with the outcome.The biomarkers were in normal range and the average BA/CA was 1.Conclusions This study shows that TU treatment in small penis improves the penis length.The first duration treatment improves more increment of PL.The longer the PL is at baseline,the greater possibility the patient reaches the goal at the first duration.The effect of TU on growth and bone maturation is acceptable and this medication obtains a good adherence and satisfaction.The dosage of TU in this study is proper.
Disorders of Potassium Metabolism

Hypokalemia and hyperkalemia are electrolyte abnormalities that confront the emergency physician daily. The morbidity and mortality of these two conditions result from alterations in neuromuscular function and cardiac conduction, which if untreated may culminate in paralysis and cardiac arrest. This article outlines recognition and treatment of these potentially life-threatening conditions.
Quantitative PCR for Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus Loads in Cancer Diagnostics

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the causative agent of infectious mononucleosis and is associated with posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD), Hodgkin's lymphoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and HIV-related lymphomas. It infects nearly all humans and then persists for the life of the host in a small proportion of benign B lymphocytes. EBV reactivation, usually in the setting of immunosuppression, is the main risk factor for development of EBV-associated malignancies. EBV reactivation can be detected in tissue specimens using EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization (ISH), which is routinely used for diagnosis of PTLD and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, EBER ISH cannot be routinely used for screening asymptomatic or monitoring posttreatment outcome due to difficulty in obtaining tissue specimens for testing and the nonquantitative nature of the assay. Recent studies have shown that EBV genomic DNA can be detected in blood of patients with EBV-associated diseases, and that monitoring of EBV viral load in blood could be an effective method of distinguishing disease-associated EBV reactivation from incidental EBV present in benign B lymphocytes, and could be used for diagnostic screening and monitoring of EBV-associated diseases. In this chapter we discuss a protocol for quantitative plasma EBV DNA analysis.
Advances in osteogenin and related bone morphogenetic proteins in bone induction and repair

Bone matrix is a repository of growth and differentiation factors as demonstrated by the induction of local cartilage and bone formation in rats. The bone inductive activity, termed osteogenin, can be dissociatively extracted, and it was isolated by heparin affinity, hydroxyapatite and molecular sieve chromatography. Osteogenin has been purified to homogeneity from bovine bone matrix and the sequences of several tryptic peptides have been determined. The sequences were similar to portions of the amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA clone of bone morphogenetic protein-3 (BMP-3). The carboxyl-terminal quarter of osteogenin has sequence identity to the corresponding regions of two related proteins BMP-2A and BMP-2B. The bone inductive proteins are members of the TGF-beta superfamily, by virtue of the location of the highly conserved cysteines in their carboxyl-terminal region. Osteogenin and related BMPs initiate cartilage and bone formation in vivo. The study of the mechanism of action of these proteins will add considerable new information on the molecular signals controlling endochondral bone formation. In vitro data indicate that osteogenin stimulates the expression of the osteogenic and chondrogenic phenotypes. Our results demonstrate their profound influence on proteoglycan synthesis and degradation in bovine cartilage explant cultures. High affinity specific binding sites have been identified in both MC3T3 cells and articular chondrocytes. In vivo experiments demonstrate the efficacy of primate osteogenin in restoring large calvarial defects in adult baboons, establishing a primary role for osteogenin in therapeutic initiation and promotion of osteogenesis.
Computing Planarity in Computable Planar Graphs

A graph is computable if there is an algorithm which decides whether given vertices are adjacent. Having a procedure for deciding the edge set might not help compute other properties or features of the graph, however. The goal of this paper is to investigate the extent to which features related to the planarity of a graph might or might not be computable. We propose three definitions for what it might mean for a computable graph to be computably planar and for each build a computable planar graph which fails to be computably planar. We also consider these definitions in the context of highly computable graphs, those for which there is an algorithm which computes the degree of a given vertex.
American Peanuts V. Ukrainian Cigarettes: Dangers of White-Collar Overcriminalization and Undercriminalization

Does an optimal model of criminal policy exist? This Article considers this question by comparatively exploring two criminalization phenomena: overcriminalization in the United States and undercriminalization in Ukraine. Both phenomena are capable of ruining major principles of criminal liability while at the same time destroying public confidence in criminal justice. This Article considers the deficiencies of these criminalization policies, specifically in the area of white-collar crime. It analyzes existing definitions of overcriminalization and undercriminalization as they are known in the United States and in Ukraine. This Article then examines the concepts of overcriminalization and undercriminalization from different perspectives (legislation, prosecution, judicial interpretation, academic research, and public calls for action) and critically compares several white-collar-crime cases in two countries from the criminalization standpoint. The final part of the Article theorizes on how best to identify the proper criminalization balance and on how to achieve that balance.
The postmodern aesthetic of Chinese online comment cultures

The traditional configuration of content on top and comments on the bottom on most websites often dismiss comments as of secondary importance to content. This article looks at how comment culture(s) in China operate outside of the top-bottom dichotomy where comments are increasingly supplanting content as the main form of consumable media. Through case studies of two types of Chinese comment cultures—gailou culture and danmu culture—I explore how user-generated comments can work to subvert established hierarchies in a highly visible and public manner. I invoke traditional Chinese aesthetic perspectives to visualize the multiple layers of interactions that enable the reconfiguration of the temporal/spatial order contesting the unitary narrative. In doing so, I seek to shed light on not only these distinct modes of commenting practices but also the creation of a new aesthetic of consumption that is inseparable from the formation of the Chinese postmodern subjectivity.
Draft Genome Sequence of Deep-Sea Alteromonas sp. Strain V450 Isolated from the Marine Sponge Leiodermatium sp.

ABSTRACT The proteobacterium Alteromonas sp. strain V450 was isolated from the Atlantic deep-sea sponge Leiodermatium sp. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of this strain, with a genome size of approx. 4.39 Mb and a G+C content of 44.01%. The results will aid deep-sea microbial ecology, evolution, and sponge-microbe association studies.
Abstract 537: Segment-specific Intrathecal Injection of Metformin Protects Against High Fat Diet-induced Impairment in Afferent Renal Nerves and Renal Function

Metformin (Met), a drug for treating type 2 diabetes by suppressing glucose production and increasing insulin sensitivity, may possess neuroprotective and neurogenesis effects. We test the hypotheses 1) that high fat diet (HFD) intake impairs afferent renal nerves expressing transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels, leading to increased efferent renal nerve activity (ERNA), decreased renal function, and hypertension; and 2) that Met given intrathecally (i.t.) to segments (T8-L3) supplying the kidney prevents HFD-induced impairment in afferent renal nerves, renal function, and hypertension. Met (1 ng/kg, i.t. daily) or vehicle was given to rats fed a HFD or normal fat diet (Con) for 8 weeks. Glucose or insulin tolerance was impaired to the same degree between rats fed HFD with and without Met treatment. HFD decreased renal TRPV1 expression, plasma levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide, and afferent renal nerve activity (ARNA, Con: 126±11, Met: 136±14, HFD: 77±7, HFD+Met: 121±8, p
Clinical Impact of Custodiol Cardioplegic Solution on Patients Undergoing Complex Cardiac Surgery With Mild to Moderate Impairment of Left Ventricular Systolic Function

Background: The Bretschneider HTK solution is used widely for multiorgan preservation for transplantation, as well as a cardioplegic agent that allows single dose administration which is an attractive option for lengthy complex cardiac surgery. It was proved that it is simple to use, safe and practical. Moreover, it is considered to confer sufficient myocardial protection for more than 2 h of cardiac arrest. We undertook this descriptive study to analyze the performance of HTK solution in patients undergoing complex cardiac surgery with mild to moderate impairment of left ventricular systolic function. Patients and methods: A total of 50 patients underwent different complex cardiac surgery at national heart institute from January 2015 to November 2016 using single dose Custodiol cardioplegia as the primary and sole cardioplegic agent, their data was prospectively collected and their hospital outcome was analyzed as regards to ten study endpoints namely Prolonged ventilation, return to theatre for bleeding, renal failure, stroke, 30 days mortality, postoperative MI, need for inotropes, time on inotropes, ICU stay and hospital stay. Pre- and postoperative echocardiography was done to compare and evaluate the change of LV function using the parameters of End Systolic Dimension, End Diastolic Dimension, Fraction Shortening and Ejection Fraction of the left ventricle. Results: Half of the patients were males. Their age ranged between 16 – 65 years with a mean (standard deviation) of 47.46(11.10). preoperative ejection fraction ranged from 30 % to 49% with a mean (standard deviation) of 41.8 (6.32), the majority of them (64%) had NYHA class of 3 and half of them had CCS of 3. all patients were done electively. The most common procedure done was redo DVR 24% (12 patients) followed by Bentall operation 22%(11 patients). This is followed by CABG + MVR 7 patients (14%), then an equal number of 6 patients (12%) who underwent redo MVR post-infective endocarditis and CABG+ MVrep. The repair of tricuspid valve was done for 14 patients (28%) either with MVR or DVR. 4 patients (8%) had CABG +AVR for their combined lesions and another equal number of two patients (4%) underwent redo CABG and AVR + conduit (valve separate tube graft operation). prolonged ventilation occurred in 20% of the cases. An equal percentage of 6% of the patients had to return to the operative room and had postoperative MI. Renal failure occurred in 4% of the patients and as far as 30-day mortality is concerned, a similar 4% of patients died within this period. EF and FS were very similar when compared together (41.8 ± 6.32 %, 20.8 ± 2.35 % preoperatively compared to 41.92 ± 7.49%, 20.85 ± 3.25% postoperatively). P value was insignificant (0.937 and 0.929) respectively. Conclusion: A single dose of an HTK cardioplegic solution provides good myocardial protection in complex cardiac surgery with mild to moderate impairment of LV function and has a good immediate postoperative outcome.
Efficient Charge Transport in Disordered Conjugated Polymer Microstructures

A new class of conjugated polymers with high charge mobilities exhibits the apparently conflicting morphological features of increased order at the molecular scale while lacking long-range order and crystallinity. To exploit their unique properties, mechanistic insights for charge transport events taking place from the molecular to the device scale must be uncovered. Thus, a central contributor to the continued progress in conjugated optoelectronic materials will be the development of advanced characterization tools, particularly those targeted to measuring the charge-transfer processes in heterogeneous, anisotropic, and hierarchically structured materials. This feature article describes the morphological properties that make partially ordered polymers an intriguing materials system to explore connections between chemical identity, solid-phase microstructure, and hierarchical charge transport. To this end, recent directions in materials development and new opportunities for characterization are discussed.