cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
María Martínez Sierra: hacia una lectura de su vida y obra

Maria Martinez Sierra’s vital and literary career is studied. The author is studied as writer, thinker, businesswoman, feminist activist, socialist militant and deputy. The authorship of the works signed Gregorio Martinez Sierra is analysed through some autobiographic texts like Una mujer por los caminos de Espana (A woman through Spanish routes) (1952) and Gregorio y yo: medio siglo de colaboracion (Gregorio and me: a fifty-year collaboration) (1953). Her career as theatre writer and essayist is described along with her significance in the struggle for women self-determination and modernization.
Hazard and Risk Assessment of Workplace Exposure to Engineered Nanoparticles: Methods, Issues, and Carbon Nanotube Case Study

This chapter provides an update on the state of the science of hazard and risk assessment of nanomaterials, focusing on pulmonary and cardiovascular endpoints of relevance to workers. Toxicology and toxicokinetic studies that provide quantitative dose and response data are used to characterize the potential health hazard and estimate the risk of airborne exposure to nanomaterials in the workplace. Standard risk assessment methods are described and applied to case study examples of carbon nanotubes. The data used are from subchronic inhalation studies in rats and include estimated lung doses and observed pulmonary responses of inflammation and fibrosis. Considerations in the application of these data and methods to derive occupational exposures limits (OELs) are discussed, and the influence of alternative methods and assumptions on the derived OELs is described. Future research needs include the evaluation of possible adverse effects beyond the lungs and the development of predictive models using alternative experimental systems.
Differences in abortion attitudes by policy context and between men and women in the World Values Survey.

ABSTRACTWe explored whether abortion attitudes differed by respondents’ sex and country-level abortion policy context. Data were collected between 2010 and 2014 from 69,901 respondents from 51 countries. Abortion attitudes were scored on a ten-point Likert scale (1 = “never justifiable”; 10 = “always justifiable”). Country-level abortion policy context was dichotomized as “less restrictive” or “more restrictive.” We conducted linear regression modeling with cluster effects by country to assess whether respondents’ sex and abortion policy context were associated with abortion attitudes, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. On average, women had more supportive abortion attitude scores than men (Mean = 3.38 SD = 2.76 vs. Mean = 3.24 SD = 2.82, p < .001). Respondents in countries with more restrictive policy contexts had less supportive attitudes than those in less restrictive contexts (Mean = 2.55 SD = 2.39 vs. Mean = 4.09 SD = 2.96, p < .001). In regression models, abortion attitudes were more...
Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA)

Transposition of the great arteries is a congenital heart malformation that involves ventriculoarterial discordance (D-TGA) or both atrioventricular and ventriculoarterial discordance (L-TGA). Associated lesions determine the complexity of repair. This section will review the physiology of this cardiac lesion and the anesthetic considerations in parturients with TGA.
Optimal Penetration of Combined Wind DG and VAR Compensation for Voltage Stability Improvement

Integration of wind based Distributed Generation (DG) into the power grid has become a major concern for power system engineers today. Voltage stability is a key factor to achieve a successful integration of wind power into power grid that needs to be addressed and analyzed. The level of voltage stability/instability depends, amongst other factors, on the penetration level of wind generation and on level of parallel reactive power (VAR) compensation. Therefore, it becomes imperative to determine the optimal penetration level of wind DGs as well as optimal VAR compensation when integrated into a weak power grid. This paper presents an optimization algorithm to determine the optimal penetration level of combined large-scale wind DG and VAR compensation to minimize total investment cost considering the voltage stability limit as the main technical constraint. In addition, variation of wind capacity factor due to wind speed uncertainty has been considered in this study. Simulation results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.
We Welcome Refugees? Understanding the Relationship between Religious Orientation, Religious Commitment, Personality, and Prejudicial Attitudes toward Syrian Refugees

Approximately 5 million refugees have been displaced since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. In 2016, the refugee crisis reached deadly proportions, causing many Syrians to flee th...
Improving emergence location estimates for Argos pop-up transmitters

Recent advances in satellite tagging technologies for marine animals have provided opportunities to investigate the spatial ecology of pelagic species including at-sea behavior and predator–prey interactions. Implantable Life History Transmitters (LHX tags) provide postmortem data on location and causes of mortalities from tagged individuals. Following a mortality event and extrusion of the tag from within an animal, varying amounts of time may elapse between the onset of satellite transmissions, the first successful uplinks to the Argos satellite system and the first location estimate obtained from multiple uplinks. Externally attached pop-up archival transmitters (PAT tags) also only commence transmissions following pre-programmed detachment from a host. The amount of delay for both types of tags may vary with programming, sea state (e.g., wind, waves, currents and tides) tag exposure and satellite coverage. Thus, actual emergence locations for LHX and other pop-up satellite transmitters are hard to accurately determine. Larger errors (~ 10–50 km) may be associated with emergence locations than the errors inherent in the Argos system. Here we present a new approach based on a time-reversed state-space model to improving emergence location estimates and quantifying their uncertainty for pop-up satellite transmitters, using data from 24 LHX tags deployed at known locations in the Gulf of Alaska. Between May and June 2017, we deployed 12 LHX tags in two locations in Resurrection Bay and 12 tags in two locations in Prince William Sound, Alaska. When tracking models included all successful uplinks that resulted in Argos locations immediately after deployments, the emergence location could be predicted to within 3 km, on average. However, increasing transmission delays up to 16 h progressively reduced the accuracy to 6–12 km, and for delays of 24 h or longer, the actual emergence locations were outside of the 95% isopleth of estimates. Emergence locations for pop-up satellite transmitters can be estimated by a time-reversed state-space model. The area confined by 95% isopleth of model output is an effective way to characterize an emergence location with an associated uncertainty. Our findings illustrate the importance of programming tags to enhance satellite uplinks to provide immediate and high-quality locations.
Extremum estimation and numerical derivatives

Abstract Finite-difference approximations are widely used in empirical work to evaluate derivatives of estimated functions. For instance, many standard optimization routines rely on finite-difference formulas for gradient calculations and estimating standard errors. However, the effect of such approximations on the statistical properties of the resulting estimators has only been studied in a few special cases. This paper investigates the impact of commonly used finite-difference methods on the large sample properties of the resulting estimators. We find that first, one needs to adjust the step size as a function of the sample size. Second, higher-order finite difference formulas reduce the asymptotic bias analogous to higher order kernels. Third, we provide weak sufficient conditions for uniform consistency of the finite-difference approximations for gradients and directional derivatives. Fourth, we analyze numerical gradient-based extremum estimators and find that the asymptotic distribution of the resulting estimators may depend on the sequence of step sizes. We state conditions under which the numerical derivative based extremum estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal. Fifth, we generalize our results to semiparametric estimation problems. Finally, we demonstrate that our results apply to a range of nonstandard estimation procedures.
Periphyton nutrient limitation and other potential growth-controlling factors in Lake Okeechobee, U.S.A.

Periphyton nutrient limitation was assessed in Lake Okeechobee, a large, shallow, eutrophic lake in the southeastern U.S.A. Nutrient assays were performed to determine if the same nutrients that limit phytoplankton also limit periphyton growth in the lake. Nutrient diffusing clay substrates containing agar spiked with nitrogen, phosphorus, or both, along with nutrient-free controls, were incubated at four sites in the lake. Three sites were located in a pelagic–littoral interface (ecotone) and one site was located in the interior littoral region. Incubations lasted for 20–26 days, and were repeated on a quarterly basis between 1996 and 1997, to incorporate seasonal variability into the experimental design. The physical and chemical conditions at each site also were measured. Periphyton biomass (chlorophyll a and ash-free dry mass) was highest at the littoral and northern ecotone sites. At the littoral site, nitrogen limited biomass in four of five incubations, although the largest biomass differences between the treatments and controls (≤3 μg cm−2 as chl) were probably not ecologically significant. Periphyton biomass at the western and southern ecotone sites was low compared to the other two sites. Increases in water column depth and associated declines in light penetration strongly correlated with periphyton growth and suggested that they may have limited growth most often at all three ecotone sites. Nitrogen also was found to limit periphyton growth approximately 20% of the time at the ecotone sites and phosphorus was found to limit growth once at the west site.
Does Deprescribing Improve Quality of Life? A Systematic Review of the Literature

Deprescribing has been shown to reduce potentially inappropriate or unnecessary medications; however, whether these benefits translate into improved quality of life (QOL) is uncertain. The objective of this study was to isolate the impact of deprescribing on patient or designated representative reported QOL; satisfaction with care (SWC) and emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations were also investigated to further explore this question. This systematic review searched the Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), MEDLINE, and EMBASE from database inception until November 2017. Randomized controlled trials and non-randomized prospective studies of older adults (> 65 years or older) and older persons with life-limiting conditions were included. Two reviewers independently assessed the search results and performed risk of bias assessments. Data on QOL, SWC, and ED visits and hospitalizations were extracted from all identified studies. Risk of bias of individual studies was assessed using measures recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. Screening of 6543 eligible records identified 12 studies within 13 articles. In ten studies investigating the reduction of at least one medication deprescribed, compared with usual care, all but two found no difference in QOL. To date there has only been one study examining the impact of deprescribing on SWC, which was found to be not statistically significant. Four studies exploring the impact of deprescribing on ED visits and hospitalizations also found no significant difference. However, many studies were found to have a higher performance, detection, or other bias. We found considerable heterogeneity in patient populations, targeted medications for deprescribing, and QOL measurements used in these studies. Based on a limited number of studies with varying methodological rigor, deprescribing may not significantly improve QOL or SWC; however, it may not contribute to additional ED visits and hospitalizations. Future controlled studies are needed.
Use of Combined Do-Not-Resuscitate/Do-Not Intubate Orders Without Documentation of Intubation Preferences: A Retrospective Observational Study at an Academic Level 1 Trauma Center Code Status and Intubation Preferences.

Background Combining orders for do-not-resuscitate (DNR) for cardiac arrest with do-not-intubate (DNI) orders into a DNR/DNI code status is not evidence-based practice and may violate patient autonomy and informed consent when providers discuss intubation only in the context of CPR. Research Question How often do providers refer to patients with a DNR order as “DNR/DNI” without documentation of refusal of intubation for non-arrest situations? Methods Retrospective observational study of adults (18 years of age or older) hospitalized in a Level 1 trauma/academic hospital between July 2017 and June 2018 inclusive with DNR orders placed during hospitalization. Results Of 422 hospitalized adults with DNR orders, 261 (61.9%) had code status written in progress notes as DNR/DNI. Providers’ use of the term DNR/DNI in progress notes was significantly (OR, 2.21; 99% CI, 1.12-4.37) more common on medical hospital services (hospitalist, family medicine, internal medicine) than on nonmedical ward services (medical/surgical ICUs, surgery, psychiatry, neurology services). Of 261 “DNR/DNI” patients, providers did not document informed refusal of intubation for nonarrest situations for 68 (26.0%) of patients. By comparison, of 161 patients for whom providers documented code status in progress notes as DNR alone, 69 (42.9%) did have documentation of refusal of intubation for nonarrest events. Therefore, if a DNR/DNI code status was used in a nonarrest emergency to determine whether to intubate a patient, 68 (16.1%) of 422 patients could inappropriately be denied intubation without informed refusal (or despite their informed acceptance), and 69 (16.4%) could inappropriately be intubated despite their documented refusal of intubation. Conclusions Conflation of DNR and DNI into DNR/DNI does not reliably distinguish patients who refuse or accept intubation for indications other than cardiac arrest, and thus may inappropriately deny desired intubation for those who would accept it, and inappropriately impose intubation on patients who would not.
Attending Physicians in the Neurocritical Care Unit

An observed four-decade increase in the size and number of intensive care units (ICUs) in the US has not been accompanied by a similar increase in the critical care physician workforce, raising concerns that intensivists are becoming overwhelmed by workload. This is especially critical in academic institutions where attending intensivists must couple teaching and academic duties with patient care.
Intraspecific and interspecific investigations of skeletal DNA methylation and femur morphology in primates

Objectives Epigenetic mechanisms influence the development and maintenance of complex phenotypes and may also contribute to the evolution of species-specific phenotypes. With respect to skeletal traits, little is known about the gene regulation underlying these hard tissues or how tissue-specific patterns are associated with bone morphology or vary among species. To begin exploring these topics, this study evaluates one epigenetic mechanism, DNA methylation, in skeletal tissues from five nonhuman primate species which display anatomical and locomotor differences representative of their phylogenetic groups. Materials and methods First, we test whether intraspecific variation in skeletal DNA methylation is associated with intraspecific variation in femur morphology. Second, we identify interspecific differences in DNA methylation and assess whether these lineage-specific patterns may have contributed to species-specific morphologies. Specifically, we use the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip to identify DNA methylation patterns in femur trabecular bone from baboons (n = 28), macaques (n = 10), vervets (n = 10), chimpanzees (n = 4), and marmosets (n = 6). Results Significant differentially methylated positions (DMPs) were associated with a subset of morphological variants, but these likely have small biological effects and may be confounded by other variables associated with morphological variation. Conversely, several species-specific DMPs were identified, and these are found in genes enriched for functions associated with complex skeletal traits. Discussion Overall, these findings reveal that while intraspecific epigenetic variation is not readily associated with skeletal morphology differences, some interspecific epigenetic differences in skeletal tissues exist and may contribute to evolutionarily distinct phenotypes. This work forms a foundation for future explorations of gene regulation and skeletal trait evolution in primates.
The function of alliteration in the prosaic and poetic accounts of the Deborah cycle

This article analyzes the use of alliteration in the narrative and poetic texts of the Deborah cycle (Judges 4-5) and seeks to show how the rhetorical function of alliteration in each account is di...
Sequentially rotating co-leadership and membership: a multi-level model of creativity and innovation for organisations

In fluctuating economic and technological times, leadership is vital to fostering creativity and innovation for organisational prosperity. Researchers have illustrated how the particular form of co-leadership has been associated with the development of novel products and services, yet they have not elucidated how it can be applied for multi-level organisational creativity and innovation. This conceptual article contributes a new multi-level model of sequentially rotating co-leadership and membership to advance organisational and management theory by filling in theoretical gaps and challenging conceptions with its proposition of a reverse progression of steps from convergence to divergence for expediting group creativity and innovation to enhance organisational financial growth and societal comfort.
Association between procalcitonin levels and duration of mechanical ventilation in COVID-19 patients.

Background Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 frequently require mechanical ventilation. Knowledge of laboratory tests associated with the prolonged need for mechanical ventilation may guide resource allocation. We hypothesized that an elevated plasma procalcitonin level (>0.1 ng/ml) would be associated with the duration of invasive mechanical ventilation. Methods Patients diagnosed with COVID-19, who were admitted to any of our health system's hospitals between March 9th-April 20th, 2020 and required invasive mechanical ventilation, were eligible for this observational cohort study. Demographics, comorbidities, components of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, and procalcitonin levels on admission were obtained from the electronic health record. The primary outcome was the duration of mechanical ventilation; secondary outcomes included 28-day mortality and time to intubation. Outcomes were assessed within the first 28 days of admission. Baseline demographics and comorbidities were summarized by descriptive statistics. Univariate comparisons were made using Pearson's chi-square test for binary outcomes and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous outcomes. A multiple linear regression was fitted to assess the association between procalcitonin levels and the duration of mechanical ventilation. Results Patients with an initial procalcitonin level >0.1 ng/ml required a significantly longer duration of mechanical ventilation than patients with a level of ≤0.1 ng/ml (p = 0.021) in the univariate analysis. There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality or time to intubation between the two groups. After adjusted analysis using multivariable linear regression, the duration of mechanical ventilation was, on average, 5.6 (p = 0.016) days longer in patients with an initial procalcitonin level >0.1 ng/ml. Conclusion In this cohort of 93 mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients, we found an association between an initial plasma procalcitonin level >0.1 ng/ml and the duration of mechanical ventilation. These findings may help to identify patients at risk for prolonged mechanical ventilation upon admission.
Effect of Additives on Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Polysaccharides

We investigated the effect of added K2CO3 (alkali) and HCOOH (acid) on the product yields and compositions from isothermal and fast hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of polysaccharides abundant in fo...
The Levels and Trends in Deep and Extreme Poverty in the United States, 1993–2016

Recently, there has been tremendous interest in deep and extreme poverty in the United States. We advance beyond prior research by using higher-quality data, improving measurement, and following leading standards in international income research. We estimate deep (less than 20% of medians) and extreme (less than 10% of medians) poverty in the United States from 1993 to 2016. Using the Current Population Survey, we match the income definition of the Luxembourg Income Study and adjust for underreporting using the Urban Institute's TRIM3 model. In 2016, we estimate that 5.2 to 7.2 million Americans (1.6% to 2.2%) were deeply poor and 2.6 to 3.7 million (0.8% to 1.2%) were extremely poor. Although deep and extreme poverty fluctuated over time, including declines from 1993 to 1995 and 2007 to 2010, we find significant increases from lows in 1995 to peaks in 2016 in both deep (increases of 48% to 93%) and extreme poverty (increases of 54% to 111%). We even find significant increases with thresholds anchored at 1993 medians. With homelessness added, deep poverty would be 7% to 8% higher and extreme poverty 19% to 23% higher in 2016, which suggests that our estimates are probably lower bounds. The rise of deep/extreme poverty is concentrated among childless households. Among households with children, the expansion of SNAP benefits has led to declines in deep/extreme poverty. Ultimately, we demonstrate that estimates of deep/extreme poverty depend critically on the quality of income measurement.
A Cautiously Pessimistic Appraisal of Trends in Toxics Regulation

David Adelman’s article provides an overview of (at the time the article was written) recent scientific developments and their implications for toxics regulation. Adelman advocates that the Environmental Protection Agency and National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences invest modestly in toxicogenomic research. The final part of the Article examines promising opportunities to improve the regulation of toxic substances, which is the subject of renewed interest in Congress and rising support from a broad cross-section of stakeholders.
Api driven on-demand participant id pseudonymization in heterogeneous multi-study research

OBJECTIVES To facilitate clinical and translational research, imaging and non-imaging clinical data from multiple disparate systems must be aggregated for analysis. Study participant records from various sources are linked together and to patient records when possible to address research questions while ensuring patient privacy. This paper presents a novel tool that pseudonymizes participant identifiers (PIDs) using a researcher-driven automated process that takes advantage of application-programming interface (API) and the Perl Open-Source Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine Archive (POSDA) to further de-identify PIDs. The tool, on-demand cohort and API participant identifier pseudonymization (O-CAPP), employs a pseudonymization method based on the type of incoming research data. METHODS For images, pseudonymization of PIDs is done using API calls that receive PIDs present in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) headers and returns the pseudonymized identifiers. For non-imaging clinical research data, PIDs provided by study principal investigators (PIs) are pseudonymized using a nightly automated process. The pseudonymized PIDs (P-PIDs) along with other protected health information is further de-identified using POSDA. RESULTS A sample of 250 PIDs pseudonymized by O-CAPP were selected and successfully validated. Of those, 125 PIDs that were pseudonymized by the nightly automated process were validated by multiple clinical trial investigators (CTIs). For the other 125, CTIs validated radiologic image pseudonymization by API request based on the provided PID and P-PID mappings. CONCLUSIONS We developed a novel approach of an ondemand pseudonymization process that will aide researchers in obtaining a comprehensive and holistic view of study participant data without compromising patient privacy.
Using diffusion MRI data acquired with ultra-high gradients to improve tractography in routine-quality data

The development of scanners with ultra-high gradients, spearheaded by the Human Connectome Project, has led to dramatic improvements in the spatial, angular, and diffusion resolution that is feasible for in vivo diffusion MRI acquisitions. The improved quality of the data can be exploited to achieve higher accuracy in the inference of both microstructural and macrostructural anatomy. However, such high-quality data can only be acquired on a handful of Connectom MRI scanners worldwide, while remaining prohibitive in clinical settings because of the constraints imposed by hardware and scanning time. In this study, we first update the classical protocols for tractography-based, manual annotation of major white-matter pathways, to adapt them to the much greater volume and variability of the streamlines that can be produced from today9s state-of-the-art diffusion MRI data. We then use these protocols to annotate 42 major pathways manually in data from a Connectom scanner. Finally, we show that, when we use these manually annotated pathways as training data for global probabilistic tractography with anatomical neighborhood priors, we can perform highly accurate, automated reconstruction of the same pathways in much lower-quality, more widely available diffusion MRI data. The outcomes of this work include both a new, comprehensive atlas of WM pathways from Connectom data, and an updated version of our tractography toolbox, TRActs Constrained by UnderLying Anatomy (TRACULA), which is trained on data from this atlas. Both the atlas and TRACULA are distributed publicly as part of FreeSurfer. We present the first comprehensive comparison of TRACULA to the more conventional, multi-region-of-interest approach to automated tractography, and the first demonstration of training TRACULA on high-quality, Connectom data to benefit studies that use more modest acquisition protocols.
Electrographic Seizure Detection by Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit Nurses via Bedside Real-Time Quantitative EEG

Objective Our primary objective was to determine the performance of real-time neuroscience intensive care unit (neuro-ICU) nurse interpretation of quantitative EEG (qEEG) at the bedside for seizure detection. Secondary objectives included determining nurse time to seizure detection and assessing factors that influenced nurse accuracy. Methods Nurses caring for neuro-ICU patients undergoing continuous EEG (cEEG) were trained using a 1-hour qEEG panel (rhythmicity spectrogram and amplitude-integrated EEG) bedside display. Nurses9 hourly interpretations were compared with post hoc cEEG review by 2 neurophysiologists as the gold standard. Diagnostic performance, time to seizure detection compared with standard of care (SOC), and effects of other factors on nurse accuracy were calculated. Results A total of 109 patients and 65 nurses were studied. Eight patients had seizures during the study period (7%). Nurse sensitivity and specificity for the detection of seizures were 74% and 92%, respectively. Mean nurse time to seizure detection was significantly shorter than SOC by 132 minutes (Cox proportional hazard ratio 6.96). Inaccurate nurse interpretation was associated with increased hours monitored and presence of brief rhythmic discharges. Conclusions This prospective study of real-time nurse interpretation of qEEG for seizure detection in neuro-ICU patients showed clinically adequate sensitivity and specificity. Time to seizure detection was less than that of SOC. Trial Registration Information Clinical trial registration number NCT02082873. Classification of Evidence This study provides Class I evidence that neuro-ICU nurse interpretation of qEEG detects seizures in adults with a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 92% compared with traditional cEEG review.
Migration of a Dexamethasone Intravitreal Implant to the Anterior Chamber in a Patient with a Intra-Scleral Haptic Fixated Intraocular Lens.

Purpose To report a case of posterior to anterior migration of a dexamethasone (Ozurdex) implant in a case of scleral-fixated intraocular lens (SFIOL) via Yamane technique. Methods/patients Single case report. Results Dexamethasone implant was successfully removed in the operating room. The patient had improved confrontational visual field and did not develop corneal edema nor intraocular pressure elevation. Conclusion In the presence of a stable SFIOL via Yamane technique, posterior chamber implants may migrate to the anterior chamber. Clinicians may wish to exercise additional caution in injecting posterior chamber steroid implants in this patient population.
Generalizing the template polyhedral domain

Template polyhedra generalize weakly relational domains by specifying arbitrary fixed linear expressions on the left-hand sides of inequalities and undetermined constants on the right. The domain operations required for analysis over template polyhedra can be computed in polynomial time using linear programming. In this paper, we introduce the generalized template polyhedral domain that extends template polyhedra using fixed left-hand side expressions with bilinear forms involving program variables and unknown parameters to the right. We prove that the domain operations over generalized templates can be defined as the "best possible abstractions" of the corresponding polyhedral domain operations. The resulting analysis can straddle the entire space of linear relation analysis starting from the template domain to the full polyhedral domain. We show that analysis in the generalized template domain can be performed by dualizing the join, post-condition and widening operations. We also investigate the special case of template polyhedra wherein each bilinear form has at most two parameters. For this domain, we use the special properties of two dimensional polyhedra and techniques from fractional linear programming to derive domain operations that can be implemented in polynomial time over the number of variables in the program and the size of the polyhedra. We present applications of generalized template polyhedra to strengthen previously obtained invariants by converting them into templates. We describe an experimental evaluation of an implementation over several benchmark systems.
Local circular scanning for autonomous feature tracking in AFM

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a powerful imaging tool able to measure surface topology at the nanometer scale that is particularly well-suited to biological applications. Despite advances that have pushed imaging speeds of the fastest instruments to on the order of 10 frames/second, there remains a need for even faster speeds. In addition, there is a large installed base of standard, slower instruments and techniques that can increase imaging rate without signifiant alterations to the equipment can have a large impact on the scientific capabilities of many labs. In this paper we describe and demonstrate the local circular scan, a novel feature-tracking procedure that uses the imaging data in real time to steer the probe of the AFM. Imaging rates are increased by reducing the total imaging area, focusing on the features of interest. The technique simplifies an earlier algorithm of one of the authors by reducing overall computational complexity and improving overall robustness. The technique is demonstrated through experimental results on calibration gratings.
Tradeoff between travel speed and olfactory food detection in ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua)

The distance at which an animal can detect food has important ramifications for foraging behavior. Although some studies have investigated the factors which affect visual food detection, very little is known about what influences olfactory food detection abilities in wild animals. The food discovery behavior of ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua) was studied using experimental fruit plots. Coatis primarily used olfaction to detect these new food sources, and visual food discovery appeared plausible in only five of 148 trials. Coatis detected the fruit from longer distances when traveling compared with when foraging for invertebrates in the leaf litter. Travel speed had a negative effect on discovery distance. Coatis traveling slowly detected the fruit plots from further away, which demonstrated a tradeoff between speed and food detection. If this tradeoff is biologically important, slower groups should have visited more fruit trees per day, so data taken during full-day coati group follows were analyzed to determine whether this pattern occurred. Slower moving groups visited more fruit trees than faster groups once confounding factors such as daily travel distance, group identity, group spread, and year were controlled for. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that coatis exhibit a speed-accuracy tradeoff for olfactory food detection. This tradeoff appears to be an important factor influencing the movement ecology of animal groups.
Guided Wave Tuning Principles for Defect Detection in Tubing

Dispersion diagrams for longitudinal modes and several flexural modes are given. A partial loading oblique incidence technique was introduced for non-axisymmetric guided wave generation. Acoustic fields for partially loaded generation of guided waves were obtained along a sample Inconel steam generator tube surface. The axial field and the circumferential fields were non uniform. Even though the acoustic field was much more complicated than in the case of axisymmetric modes, the study of non-axisymmetric mode cannot be avoided; excitation of a single symmetric mode is often difficult due to limited access and transducer efficiency and there is also mode conversion after scattering from defects. For 100% inspection coverage of tubing and piping, three dimensional tuning (distance, frequency, and incident angle tuning), was employed. A single combination of incident angle, position, and frequency may miss defects in “blind spots”. However, complete inspection coverage of a whole cross sectional area over a certain distance of tubing was successfully demonstrated through a multi crack detection experiment by using the three dimensional tuning concepts. Also, the use of non-axisymmetric guided waves for a large distance inspection capability was successfully demonstrated.
Ciliated Protists from the Nepheloid Layer and Water Column of Sites Affected by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract Benthic marine protists have been well documented from shallow marine benthic habitats but remain understudied in deeper habitats on continental shelves and slopes, particularly in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico (NEGOM). This region was affected by a deep water oil well failure (BP-Deepwater Horizon, 2010). The combination of a lack of information on deep sea microbenthic communities and the potential for benthic microbial petroleum mineralization prompted this investigation. Water column and nepheloid layer samples were obtained via Niskin bottles and a multicorer respectively at stations across the NEGOM to: (1) determine whether nepheloid and water column communities are distinct and (2) assess benthic species richness relative to sediment PAH contamination. Phylum specific 18S rRNA gene amplification was used to construct clone libraries of ciliate assemblages. BLAST searches in the NCBI database indicated that a majority (~75%) of the clone sequences corresponded (94–100% similarity) with listed, yet unclassified sequences. Several putative species were common at most site locations and depths. Many known benthic ciliates, such as Uronychia transfuga, Uronychia setigera, and Spirotrachelostyla tani, were common in the nepheloid layer samples and not recovered in water column samples. Ciliated protist species richness increased with PAH levels found in surface sediments, suggesting a positive microbial response to petroleum enrichment of the benthos. The presence of previously unknown microbenthic communites in the nephaloid layer over oceanic clay–silt muds alters our view of microbial processes in the deep sea and merits investigation of the microbial processes and rates of microbial mineralization and biomass production important to global biogeochemistry.
Laparoscopic repair of iatrogenic diaphragmatic hernia following radiofrequency ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is commonly used for treating unresectable hepatic malignancies. Some commonly associated complications of RFA include fever, symptomatic pleural effusion, abscess, hepatoma and hepatic insufficiency. Here, we report a case of diaphragmatic hernia in a patient following RFA for hepatic malignancy with cirrhosis.
The Uses and Abuses of the History of Topos Theory

AbstractThe view that toposes originated as generalized set theory is a figment of set theoretically educated common sense. This false history obstructs understanding of category theory and especia...
Evidence for the coalescence of cavities in nickel irradiated with 500 keV 4He+ ions

Abstract Transition electron microscopy has been used to study the effect of dose on the depth distribution of cavities (voids or bubbles) and dislocation damage in nickel irradiated at 500°C, with 500 keV 4 He + ions. The diameter, number density and volume fraction of cavities were measured as a function of depth from micrographs taken from samples sectioned parallel to the direction of the incident beam. The results for the dose range 2 × 10 19 to 1 × 10 21 ions/m 2 show an increase in the average cavity diameter, number density, and volume fraction with increasing dose. A further increase in dose from 5 × 10 21 to 1 × 10 22 ions/m 2 shows a significant decrease in the number density (a factor of ∼40) and a corresponding increase in the average diameter (a factor of ∼8) of the cavities in the peak volume-swelling region. This observation is interpreted as evidence for the coalescence of cavities. The peak in the volume-swelling distribution occurs at depths ∼10% deeper than the calculated average projected- range of 500 keV 4 He + ions in nickel.
Integrated receiver operating characteristic and confidence error metrics for assessing the performance of automatic target recognition systems

The ability of certain performance metrics to quantify how well target recognition systems under test (SUT) can correctly identify targets and non-targets is investigated. The SUT assigns a score between zero and one which indicates the predicted probability of a target. Sampled target and non-target SUT score outputs are generated using representative sets of Beta probability densities. Two performance metrics, Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AURC) and Confidence Error (CE) are analyzed. AURC quantifies how well the target and non-target distributions are separated, and CE quantifies the statistical accuracy of each assigned score. CE and AURC are generated for many representative sets of beta-distributed scores, and the metrics are calculated and compared using continuous methods as well as discrete (sampling) methods. Close agreement in results with these methods for AURC is shown. Also shown are differences between calculating CE using sampled data and calculating CE using continuous distributions. These differences are due to the collection of similar sampled scores in bins, which results in CE weighting proportional to the sum of target and non-target scores in each bin. A method for an alternative weighted CE calculation using maximum likelihood estimation of density parameters is identified. This method enables sampled data to be processed using continuous methods.
Osteogenic sarcoma. Malignant fibrous histiocytoma subtype

A distinctly different entity from the now well-delineated malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of bone is the MFH histopathologic subtype of osteogenic sarcoma. Although uncommon, recently the authors have encountered six cases of this neoplasm, in each of which the soft tissue component was devoid of bone elements and was microscopically indistinguishable from MFH of bone or soft tissue. Neoplastic osteoid and woven bone were present in the osseous component of each tumor, however. Radiologically, the lesions generally were osteoblastic but focally osteolytic with features typical of osteogenic sarcoma. Pain was the most common presenting symptom. There was no age or sex predilection. Immunocytochemical staining showed strong positivity with alpha-1-antichymotrypsin within malignant bizarre giant cells and occasional neoplastic osteoblasts in five cases. The biological behavior followed a very aggressive course. Four of the six patients developed pulmonary metastases 6 to 12 months after initial surgery; one patient presented initially with pulmonary metastases. Adequate tumor sampling as well as optimal correlation with clinical and radiographic information are required to distinguish the MFH subtype of osteogenic sarcoma from MFH of bone, both being high-grade neoplasms, however.
The role of barnacles in the recruitment and subsequent survival of the brown alga, Fucus gardneri (Silva)

Abstract Barnacles enhance recruitment of fucoid algae by reducing either herbivore pressure or desiccation stress, but no study has evaluated subsequent survival of algae recruiting onto barnacles. This study examined the substratum use patterns of small ( 10 cm) Fucus gardneri (Silva) plants in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Germlings were found growing on barnacles in either equal or greater proportions than the abundance of barnacles suggests. Plants large enough to be reproductive, however, were found almost exclusively in crevices or on smooth rock substrata. The effects of tidal level and wave exposure on the habitat use by Fucus were relatively minor compared to the effect of plant size. Fucus plants recruiting onto barnacles suffer higher mortality compared to those on rock. Marked young plants on barnacles had about 20% lower survival compared to similar sized plants growing on rock surfaces over one summer. In addition, the breaking strength of plants growing on rocks was about three times greater compared to plants growing on barnacles. Despite the initial positive effects of barnacles on fucoid recruitment, germlings growing on barnacles have a high probability of dislodgement before reaching reproductive age.
Negative differential resistance in nanotube devices

Carbon nanotube junctions are predicted to exhibit negative differential resistance, with very high peak-to-valley current ratios even at room temperature. We treat both nanotube $p\ensuremath{-}n$ junctions and undoped metal-nanotube-metal junctions, calculating quantum transport through the self-consistent potential within a tight-binding approximation. The undoped junctions in particular may be suitable for device integration.
Reproducibility in M&S research: issues, strategies and implications for model development environments

As the use of computer simulation is increasingly becoming central to scientific enterprise, lack of proper documentation, validation and distribution of models and experiments may hamper reproducibility and hence cause a credibility gap. Building on prior research requires ability to reproduce simulation experiments and to further extend models to address increasingly challenging problems. In this article, we delineate three dimensions of reproducible research. For each dimension, issues, strategies and implications for simulation model development are identified. From a technical infrastructure point of view, we introduce the e-Portfolio concept, which is an ensemble of integrated active documents that interweave published manuscript, computer code, data and scientific workflow specification. From the process point of view, strategies and potential mechanisms are delineated to enable authors, publishers, funding agencies, journals and the broader scientific community to cooperate and establish a sustain...
Thermoreflectance of LiF between 12 and 30 eV

The thermoreflectance spectrum of LiF between 12 and 30 eV was measured and several of the structures interpreted. The absorption-edge region is interpreted in terms of a Wannier exciton series converging to the fundamental band gap ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{15}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{1}$. Structure associated directly with the band gap is not manifest, so the ${\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{15}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{1}$ energy is determined indirectly to be 14.2 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 0.2 eV. The $n=1$ exciton state generates the first strong structure in $\ensuremath{\Delta}\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}$ and we suggest that the exciton-phonon interaction, along with a central-cell correction, can give a significant contribution to its binding energy. Structures at higher energy have been associated with the interband transitions $L_{3}^{}{}_{}{}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{L}_{1}$ and $L_{2}^{}{}_{}{}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{L}_{1}$ between the crystal-field-split valence band at $L$ and the lower conduction band. The strong electron-hole interaction modifies the expected line shape and a hyperbolic exciton, associated with the transitions at $L$, may exist as an antiresonance in the continuum. A strong feature at 22.2 eV in $\ensuremath{\Delta}\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}$ is associated with excitonic transitions at $X$ involving the second $d$-like conduction band. The corresponding peak at 26.4 eV in $\ensuremath{\Delta}[\mathrm{Im}(\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}})]$ overlaps the "valence-band" plasmon at 24.6 eV. No evidence for double excitations is found around 25 eV in either $\ensuremath{\Delta}\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}$ or $\ensuremath{\Delta}[\mathrm{Im}(\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}})]$. The $\ensuremath{\Delta}[\mathrm{Im}(\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}})]$ spectrum shows for the first time which structures in the energy-loss function are generated by longitudinal excitons and which by plasmons.
Designing and optimizing large-scale multimedia mining applications in distributed processing environments

In this tutorial, we will present the fundamental principles of large-scale adaptive multimedia stream mining, describe state-of-the-art in terms of systems and algorithms, and include recent theoretical and experimental results. We will also discuss how we can construct different cooperative and non-cooperative games to model, analyze, optimize, and shape these applications in different system or connectivity scenarios and under various constraints.