cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nutrient intake among US adults with disabilities

Background Physical, mental and financial barriers among persons with disabilities limit their access to healthier diet. The present study investigated the relationship between disabilities and nutrient intake among US adults. Methods Data originated from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2008 and 2009–2010 waves (n = 11 811). Five disability categories include activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), leisure and social activities (LSAs), lower extremity mobility (LEM) and general physical activities (GPAs). Nutrient intakes from food and dietary supplements were calculated from 24-h dietary recalls. Adherence to dietary reference intakes and dietary guideline recommendations was compared between people with and without disabilities and across disability categories in the statistical analysis. Results GPAs, IADLs, LSAs, LEM and ADLs occupied 24.5%, 13.3%, 9.9%, 9.2% and 9.2% of US adults, respectively (not mutually exclusive). Only 42.3%, 11.3%, 63.8%, 47.7%, 48.7%, 9.7%, 48.7%, 90.7%, 21.7% and 4.7% of adults had saturated fat, fibre, cholesterol, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, iron, sodium and potassium intakes from food within recommended levels, respectively. Dietary supplement use moderately improved vitamin C, vitamin D and calcium intakes. People with disabilities were less likely to meet recommended levels on saturated fat, fibre (except GPAs), vitamin A (except GPAs), vitamin C (except GPAs), calcium and potassium intakes than persons without disability. Nutrient intake differed across disability categories, with ADLs least likely to meet recommended intakes. Conclusions Interventions targeting persons with disabilities through nutrition education and financial assistance are warranted to promote healthy diet and reduce disparities.
Scoured Mohair Fiber Diameter by Air-Flow Testing

The average fiber diameter of scoured mohair determined by a Port-Ar2 air-flow instrument was compared with that obtained by the short fiber measurement (microprojection) method. Samples from 52 lots of scoured mohair representing eight grades and ranging from 23.55 μ to 38.50 μ in average fiber diameter were tested. The over-all correlation coefficient between the average fiber diameter of the Port-Ar and the short fiber methods was r = + 0.98. However, when seg mented into groups ranging 4 μ in average fiber diameter, the correlation coefficients were: 23.1-27.0 μ, r = + 0.94; 27.1- 31.0 μ, r = + 0.94; 31.1-35.0 μ, r = + 0.85; and 35.1-39.0 μ, r = + 0.77.
Visible Humour — Seeing P.D.Q. Bach’s Musical Humour Devices in The Short-Tempered Clavier on the Spiral Array Space

We explore the use of the Spiral Array spatial visualization of tonal evolution through time for the visual analysis of P.D.Q. Bach’s The Short-Tempered Clavier. In particular, we analyze situations in which we can see some of the humour devices abstracted in an earlier study by David Huron. We conclude that although we can see a good number of Schickele’s humour devices — such as incongruent styles, musically improbable tonality and harmony shifts, and excessive repetition — we do not yet have sufficient information to form a robust computer-based method for detecting musical humour.
Isolation of Murine Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells using Twist2 Cre Transgenic Mice

While human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are of great interest for their potential therapeutic value, their murine equivalent remains an important basic research model that can provide critical insights into the biology of this progenitor cell population. Here we present a novel transgenic strategy that allowed for the selective identification and isolation of murine BMSCs at the early stages of stromal cell culture. This strategy involved crossing Twist2 -Cre mice with Cre reporter mice such as Z/EG or Ai9, which express EGFP or Tomato fluorescent protein, respectively, upon Cre mediated excision of a stop sequence. Using this approach, we identified an adherent fluorescent protein+cell population (T2C+) that is present during the earliest stages of colony formation and by day 5 of culture represents ~20% of the total cell population. Cell surface profiling by flow cytometry showed that T2C+cells are highly positive for SCA1 and CD29 and negative for CD45, CD117, TIE2, and TER119. Isolation of T2C+cells by FACS selected for a cell population with skeletal potential that can be directed to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, or chondrocytes. We also demonstrated in a calvarial bone defect model that T2C+cells retain a strong efficacy for osteogenic repair and can support a hematopoietic environment. Collectively, these studies provide evidence that the Twist2-Cre x Cre reporter breeding strategy can be used to positively identify and isolate multipotent murine BMSCs.
Dopamine Modulates Synaptic Transmission Between Rat Olfactory Bulb Neurons in Culture

The glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb (OB) contains synaptic connections between olfactory sensory neurons and OB neurons as well as connections among OB neurons. A subpopulation of external tufted cells and periglomerular cells (juxtaglomerular neurons) expresses dopamine, and recent reports suggest that dopamine can inhibit olfactory sensory neuron activation of OB neurons. In this study, whole cell electrophysiological and primary culture techniques were employed to characterize the neuromodulatory properties of dopamine on glutamatergic transmission between rat OB mitral/tufted (M/T) cells and interneurons. Immunocytochemical analysis confirmed the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme for dopamine synthesis, in a subpopulation of cultured neurons. D2 receptor immunoreactivity was also observed in cultured M/T cells. Dopamine reduced spontaneous excitatory synaptic events recorded in interneurons. Although the D1 receptor agonist SKF38393 and the D2 receptor agonist bromocriptine mesylate mimicked this effect, evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) recorded from monosynaptically coupled neuron pairs were attenuated by dopamine and bromocriptine but not by SKF38393. Neither glutamate-evoked currents nor the membrane resistance of the postsynaptic interneuron were affected by dopamine. However, evoked calcium channel currents in the presynaptic M/T cell were diminished during the application of either dopamine or bromocriptine, but not SKF38393. Dopamine suppressed calcium channel currents even after nifedipine blockade of L-type channels, suggesting that inhibition of the dihydropyridine-resistant high-voltage activated calcium channels implicated in transmitter release may mediate dopamine's effects on spontaneous and evoked synaptic transmission. Together, these data suggest that dopamine inhibits excitatory neurotransmission between M/T cells and interneurons via a presynaptic mechanism.
Biologically Inspired Intelligent Robots

From the Publisher: Advances in biologically inspired technologies, such as artificial intelligence and artificial muscles, are making the possibility of engineering robots that look and behave like humans a closer reality. The multidisciplinary issues involved in the development of these robots include materials, actuators, sensors, structures, functionality, control, intelligence, and autonomy. This book reviews various aspects ranging from the biological model to the vision for the future.
Max Weber's Liberalism

There are a variety of possible approaches to Weber's political thought. One can emphasize his class-conscious attack upon the new East Elbian agrarian capitalists, or his commitment to a politics of responsibility, in which the probable consequences of political proposals are explicitly assessed and announced. Wolfgang Mommsen has focused upon Weber's nationalism, almost to the exclusion of other aspects of his work. Jurgen Habermas has suggested that Weber tended to reduce ultimate value choices to essentially gratuitous, purely personal decisions. The emphasis in the present essay, however, is upon Weber's liberal pluralism, which anticipated a principled value pluralism, and which was a profound and persistent theme in his political commentaries.
Genetic Analysis of Mouse t Haplotypes Using Mutations Induced by Ethylnitrosourea Mutagenesis: The Order of T and qk Is Inverted in t Mutants

The t region of mouse chromosome 17 exhibits recombination suppression with wild-type chromatin. However, the region has resisted classical genetic dissection because of a lack of defined variants. Mutations induced by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) at the Brachyury (T), quaking (qk), and tufted (tf) loci of the mouse tw5 haplotype have now allowed the analysis of crossovers between two complete t haplotypes. A classical breeding analysis of the complete t haplotypes, tw5 and t12, utilizing the newly induced markers, reveals two inversions in t chromatin: one involving T and qk, and one involving tf and the H-2 complex. Moreover, the recombination frequency between the loci of T and qk is reduced compared to the frequency reported in normal chromatin. These two inversions are a sufficient explanation for the recombination inhibition with normal chromatin exhibited by t haplotypes isolated from the wild. Furthermore, the reduced recombination frequency between T and qk may indicate that the proximal gene rearrangement is not a simple inversion.
Beam transformation techinques for ultrasonic medical imaging

Data acquisition rates in pulsed ultrasound scanners are limited by the speed of sound in the human body. This poses severe limitations to the design of future ultrasound equipment, such as 3-D imaging scanners. The authors describe a technique for higher data acquisition rates based on the simultaneous transmission of multiple beams. By using a linear combination of the received beams, interbeam interference due to the sidelobe energy of the transmitting beams can be significantly reduced. The transformation coefficients are found by using a least squares minimization criterion. A simulation environment used for the evaluation of the authors' methodologies and various simulation results are presented. >
Optimal Storage by Crop Producers

When post-harvest marketing strategies are restricted by disallowing speculative purchases, sales out of storage becomes an irreversible decision and the dynamic marketing problem becomes analogous to the optimal exercise of a financial option. The optimal marketing strategy is to hold at low prices and to sell at high prices with a cutoff price function marking the boundary between low and high prices. A method for estimating the cut-off price function is developed and applied to Illinois soybean prices. The decision rule is demonstrated to result in substantial gains from storage. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
Effects of adding small quantities of aureomycin (Aurofac) to the starter of calves.

Summary Twenty-four Guernsey and Holstein calves raised under a limited whole milk system were assigned to one of three starters supplemented with 0, 2.5, and 5.0 lb. of Aurofac 2A per ton. Starter intake was limited to 3 and 4 lb. daily for Guernseys and Holsteins, respectively. Chopped timothy-clover hay was fed ad lib. There were no significant differences among levels in regard to the following growth criteria at either 49 or 91 days of age: gain in weight, increase in height at withers, heart girth, or barrel circumference. Starter consumption was not different among levels at 49 or 91 days. The 0-level calves consumed significantly more hay and somewhat more TDN through 91 days than did the aureomycin calves. Efficiency of gain was significantly higher from 7 through 49 days of age for the calves receiving starter containing 5 lb. Aurofac 2A per ton, but this greater efficiency did not persist when the data through 91 days of age were considered. The presence of aureomycin in the starter did not significantly influence the incidence of scours.
Mechanical properties of polypropylene/crosslinked rubber blends

Mechanical properties of rubber-modified polymers are not single-valued functions of rubber/matrix type and rubber content, but also vary with processing conditions. The variations in mechanical properties with processing conditions arise mainly from changes in rubber-phase dispersion. In our past work, by lightly crosslinking the rubbers to increase their melt tenacity and strength, we have succeeded in producing fine and consistent dispersions despite diverse processing conditions. In this study, mechanical properties of polypropylene/lightly crosslinked rubber blends are compared with those of polypropylene/uncrosslinked rubber blends. The results indicate that, like dispersion, mechanical properties of polypropylene/crosslinked rubber blends also appear to be consistent and independent of process variables. The influences on mechanical behavior of degree of crosslinking, rubber content, and rubber/matrix type are also discussed.
Unique Profile of Visuo-Perceptual Skills in a Genetic Syndrome

Abstract Williams syndrome (WS) and Down syndrome (DS) are genetic disorders with characteristic neuropsychological profiles. Subjects with WS show surface similarities to subjects with right hemisphere damage (RHD) in their relative preservation of linguistic skills, their poor visuo-constructive skills, and their hierarchical processing biases. Ten adolescents and young adults with WS acid nine matched subjects with DS were administered a battery of visuospatial perceptual tasks to test whether the profile of performance in WS would resemble that in RHD. It was found instead that the WS subjects showed a distinctive clustering of skills, with particular preservation of facial discrimination, but impairment of other perceptual skills. Subjects with DS showed a more homogeneous profile. The WS profile may map onto the functional dichotomy between ventral and dorsal visual pathways in the cerebral cortex.
Non-convexity of the optimal exercise boundary for an American put option on a dividend-paying asset

In this thesis, we prove that the optimal exercise boundary of the American put option is not convex when the dividend rate of the underlying assetwhich follows a geometric Brownian motion, is slightly larger than the risk-free interest rate. We show that the non-convex region occurs very near the expiry time. Numerical evidence is also provided which suggests that the convexity of the optimal exercise boundary is restored when the dividend rate is sufficiently larger than the interest rate. In addition we provide the near-expiry and far-from-expiry behavior of the boundary. To complete the rigorous proofs, we also show that the optimal exercise boundary has $C^infty$ regularity.
Comparative Effectiveness of Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer.

PurposeDespite the potential benefits of minimally invasive hysterectomy for uterine cancer, population-level data describing the procedure’s safety in unselected patients are lacking. We examined the use of minimally invasive surgery and the association between the route of the procedure and long-term survival.MethodsWe used the SEER-Medicare database to identify women with stage I-III uterine cancer who underwent hysterectomy from 2006 to 2011. Patients who underwent abdominal hysterectomy were compared with those who had minimally invasive hysterectomy (laparoscopic and robot-assisted). Perioperative morbidity, use of adjuvant therapy, and long-term survival were examined after propensity score balancing.ResultsWe identified 6,304 patients, including 4,139 (65.7%) who underwent abdominal hysterectomy and 2,165 (34.3%) who underwent minimally invasive hysterectomy; performance of minimally invasive hysterectomy increased from 9.3% in 2006 to 61.7% in 2011. Robot-assisted procedures accounted for 62.3% o...
Priorities for Advancing the Concept of New Ruralism

Civic expansion and land use migrations to urban peripheries can accelerate the conversion of agricultural land uses. Widespread trepidation concerning urban sprawl has led to innovative frameworks for conserving or enhancing farmland. New Ruralism is one such framework, linking farmland preservation with developmental plans to reduce farmland conversion and low density development. Although the concept is still evolving, recent support for New Ruralism has grown. One of the most important factors in creating a New Ruralism-based development is coherent policy for permanent agricultural preserves. These preserves require the simultaneous, careful planning of land preservation balanced with the location of future development. This paper discusses the current condition of farmland loss and reviews issues and challenges associated with farmland preservation with existing New Ruralism developments. The goal is to synthesize this information into recommendations for increasing farmland preservation opportunities in New Ruralism-based developments. A more comprehensive definition for New Ruralism is presented, accompanied by several priorities for maximizing the economic, environmental, and cultural viability of New Ruralism-based farmland preserves.
Response to Gwynn Nettler

Although we believe a careful reading of our paper will provide adequate justification for the work, we will nevertheless respond further to each of Nettler's points. First, there is no a priori reason to believe self-reports to be any less reliable than other indicators of criminal behavior. In fact, given the widely known deficiencies of offical statistics, and the impossibility of constant surveillance of large numbers of people without reactivity and without selective perception by the observer, there is some reason to believe that "interrogation" is more reliable. Indeed, in a forthcoming paper we show that over the past four decades the average results of self-report studies concerning social class and criminality have remained more stable and show less variability from study to study than the results of research using official statistics. Second, establishing the validity of a measure of anything requires some knowledge of the "true" variable. But if "true" measures were available, then proxies like self-reports, observation, or official statistics would be unnecessary. The fact is, validity of almost any measure used in sociology can never be established. For example, if we reported that interrogation of convicted felons reveals more self-reported crime than interrogation of average citizens-something which could be demonstrated from past research by the first author-there would be critics who would say that such validation by known groups (a method apparently favored by Nettler) was ridiculous because the results were obvious, and there would be other critics who would dispute it because the criminals and noncriminals were not really different, given the inherent biases in criminal justice processing. Actually, all that can be done is to show that a measure is plausible. We do show in a variety of ways, not solely by comparison with FBI data, that these measures are reasonable (see pages 479-81). Moreover, other tests of self-report validity (i.e., by comparison with other kinds of indicators) suggest that respondent data are no less valid than other alternatives (see Clark and Tifft; Gold). In any case, we do not agree that research should be delayed until the validity of all measures is established. If that dictum were widely followed, social science would cease. Nor do we agree that observation necessarily produces valid measures (even if it were practical for this problem), or that other types of data need
What Shall We Do about Advertising

Everybody considers himself an advertising expert, certainly an expert critic. The real experts are very few. Indeed, that may well be one of the principal handicaps of advertising today. Here is a...
The Impact of Pediatric Feeding Disorders on the Family

Pediatric feeding disorders are common, especially among developmentally delayed children. The consequences of having these disorders can be severe: children could suffer from growth failure, chronic illness, and even death. In addition, these disorders have been reported to affect members of the entire family. While some interventions have been implemented to help families with children with these disorders, these studies are limited by small sample sizes and the lack of long-term follow-up visits. Moreover, there is a lack of a standardized system to classify children with these disorders, which directly impacts the diagnoses of children with these disorders. This paper reviews the relevant literature on the impact on the family of these feeding disorders and the current classification systems and interventions used to help children with these feeding disorders. It also recommends further research to create a more standardized classification system and to test the efficacy of current interventions, with the aim of improving accuracy of diagnoses and developing treatments tailored to children's special needs. 1
The Chromatin Signature of Pluripotency: Establishment and Maintenance.

The revolutionary discovery that somatic cells can be reprogrammed by a defined set transcription factors to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) changed dramatically the way we perceive cell fate determination. Importantly, iPSCs, similar to embryo-derived stem cells (ESCs), are characterized by a remarkable developmental plasticity and the capacity to self-renew “indefinitely” under appropriate culture conditions, opening new avenues for personalized therapy and disease modeling. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms that maintain, induce, or alter stem cell identity is crucial for a deeper understanding of cell fate determination and potential translational applications. Intense research over the last 10 years exploiting technological advances in epigenomics and genome editing has unraveled many of the mysteries of pluripotent identity enabling novel and efficient ways to manipulate it for biomedical purposes. In this review, we focus on the chromatin and epigenetic characteristics that distinguish stem cells from somatic cells and their dynamic changes during differentiation and reprogramming.
A Behaviorally Specific, Empirical Alternative to Bullying: Aggravated Peer Victimization

Abstract Purpose To test a behaviorally specific measure of serious peer victimization, called aggravated peer victimization (APV), using empirically derived aggravating elements of episodes (injury, weapon, bias content, sexual content, multiple perpetrators, and multiple contexts) and compare this measure with the conventional Olweus bullying (OB) measure, which uses repetition and power imbalance as its seriousness criteria. Methods The data for this study come from The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence 2014, a study conducted via telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample. This analysis uses the 1,949 youth ages 10–17 from that survey. Results The APV measure identified twice as many youth with serious episodes involving injury, weapons, sexual assaults, and bias content as the OB measure. In terms of demographic and social characteristics, the groups were very similar. However, the APV explained significantly more of the variation in distress than the OB (R 2 = .19 vs. .12). Conclusions An empirical approach to identifying the most serious incidents of peer victimization has advantages in identifying more of the youth suffering the effects of peer victimization. Moreover, its behaviorally specific criteria also bypass the difficult challenge of trying to reliably assess what is truly bullying with its ambiguous definitional element of power imbalance.
Phosphorylation of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors in drug addiction and translational research

Protein phosphorylation is an important posttranslational modification of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1 and mGluR5 subtypes) which are widely distributed throughout the mammalian brain. Several common protein kinases are involved in this type of modification, including protein kinase A, protein kinase C, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase. Through constitutive and activity-dependent phosphorylation of mGluR1/5 at specific residues, protein kinases regulate trafficking, subcellular/subsynaptic distribution, and function of modified receptors. Increasing evidence demonstrates that mGluR1/5 phosphorylation in the mesolimbic reward circuitry is sensitive to chronic psychostimulant exposure and undergoes adaptive changes in its abundance and activity. These changes contribute to long-term excitatory synaptic plasticity related to the addictive property of drugs of abuse. The rapid progress in uncovering the neurochemical basis of addiction has fostered bench-to-bed translational research by targeting mGluR1/5 for developing effective pharmacotherapies for treating addiction in humans. This review summarizes recent data from the studies analyzing mGluR1/5 phosphorylation. Phosphorylation-dependent mechanisms in stimulant-induced mGluR1/5 and behavioral plasticity are also discussed in association with increasing interest in mGluR1/5 in translational medicine.
Roles of transient receptor potential channels in regulation of vascular and epithelial barriers

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are a ubiquitously expressed multi-family group of cation channels that are critical to signaling events in many tissues. Their roles have been documented in many physiologic and pathologic conditions. Nevertheless, direct studies of their roles in maintain barrier function in endothelial and epithelia are relatively infrequent. This seems somewhat surprising considering that calcium ion concentrations are known to regulate barrier function. This short review provides an introduction to TRP channels and reviews some of the work in which investigators directly studied the role of TRP channels in endothelial permeability to electric current, solute, or leukocytes during the inflammatory response.
Teaching Parents About Responsive Feeding Through a Vicarious Learning Video: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial:

The American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization recommend responsive feeding (RF) to promote healthy eating behaviors in early childhood. This project developed and tested a vicarious learning video to teach parents RF practices. A RF vicarious learning video was developed using community-based participatory research methods. Fifty parents of preschoolers were randomly assigned to watch Happier Meals or a control video about education. Knowledge and beliefs about RF practices were measured 1 week before and immediately after intervention. Experimental group participants also completed measures of narrative engagement and video acceptability. Seventy-four percent of the sample was White, 90% had at least a college degree, 96% were married, and 88% made >$50,000/year. RF knowledge increased ( p = .03) and positive beliefs about some unresponsive feeding practices decreased ( ps < .05) more among experimental than control parents. Knowledge and belief changes were associated with video engagement ( ps < .05). Parents perceived Happier Meals as highly relevant, applicable, and informative. Community-based participatory research methods were instrumental in developing this vicarious learning video, with preliminary evidence of effectiveness in teaching parents about RF. Happier Meals is freely available for parents or community health workers to use when working with families to promote healthy eating behaviors in early childhood.
Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency: a form of non-obese fatty liver disease (NOFLD)

ABSTRACTIntroduction: With the growing obesity epidemic, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is rapidly becoming one of the leading causes of liver disease worldwide. Although obesity is a main risk factor for the development of NAFLD, it can also develop in lean subjects and can be encountered in different clinical setting and in association with an array of genetic, metabolic, nutritional, infectious and drug-induced disorders.Areas covered: This article discusses causes of fatty liver in non-obese subjects focusing on Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D), a commonly overlooked disorder reviewing its prevalence, genetics, pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis and treatment. It will also review other causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which can be encountered in the absence of obesity and metabolic syndrome.Expert commentary: Although the prevalence of LAL-D has been estimated in the range of 1 in 40,000 and 1 in 300,000, this estimate is much more than the identified cases report...
Challenges of Drug Design

Computational drug design is highly dependent on the model being used for docking and fitting of structure. Those models are derived mainly from X-ray structures and hopefully represent the physiologically relevant form of the protein in solution. And here is the conundrum: the conditions from which the crystals are derived are usually far from physiological in terms of ionic strength, pH, identity of salts, and presence of other additives, and temperature at which the data were acquired. Even with a molecule bound, the conformations observed may not be the correct ones, partly because of adjustment of the proteins to a molecule not representative of substrate, and partly because there are too many structures of complexes in which the small molecule has been fitted incorrectly. So far, there has been some progress on all of these issues and we can explore ways to address them further, partly at the experimental level and partly at the computational level.
Field Evaluation of Transgenic Corn Containing a Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner Insecticidal Protein Gene Against Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Twelve independently transformed lines of transgenic corn (Zea mays L.) expressing the CryIA(b) insecticidal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki were field tested to evaluate their re...
First prospectively identified case of Candida auris in the United States

Abstract Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant fungus associated with high mortality rates. With a predilection for immunocompromised patients, C. auris has been reported to be the cause of several nosocomial outbreaks. Conventional biochemical methods are inaccurate in identifying this species of Candida . We report the first prospectively identified case in the United States of a patient presenting with a colonization of C. auris in the ear. Due to the limited nature of clinical data and treatment results, our experience may provide insight for otolaryngologists in the identification, treatment and proper precautions with regards to C. auris .
CircGR: Interactive Multi-Touch Gesture Recognition using Circular Measurements

CircGR is a multi-touch non-symbolic gesture recognition algorithm, which utilizes circular statistic measures to implement linearithmic (O(n log n)) template-based matching. CircGR provides a solution to gesture designers, which allows for building complex multi-touch gestures with high-confidence accuracy. We demonstrated the algorithm and described a user study with 60 subjects and over 12,000 gestures collected for an original gesture set of 36. The accuracy is over 99% with the Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.95. In addition, early gesture detection was successful in CircGR as well.
Human papillomavirus and nasopharyngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND There are no existing high-volume studies characterizing human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). METHODS The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for NPC with known HPV (2004-2013). Logistic regression ascertained factors associated with HPV-positivity. Kaplan-Meier overall survival (OS) was evaluated between HPV-positive and HPV-negative cohorts; Cox proportional hazards modeling assessed factors associated with OS. Patients with nonmetastatic disease receiving definitive chemoradiotherapy underwent propensity-matched OS analysis. RESULTS Altogether, 956 patients were analyzed (32% HPV-positive and 68% HPV-negative). Median follow-up was 23 months (range 0-67 months). The patients with HPV-positive disease were younger, less likely to be uninsured, lived in more educated areas, and presented with more advanced T (but not N/overall) classification. Median OS for HPV-positive and HPV-negative groups were 50 and 43 months, respectively (P = .171). The HPV status did not independently predict for OS (P = .183). No OS differences were observed after propensity matching (P = .734). CONCLUSION In what we believe as the only large study of HPV-associated NPC, HPV neither correlates with nor predicts survival in NPC. Owing to the difficulty of addressing causality in database studies, further work must corroborate the findings herein.
Patterns of Organic Carbon Exchange between Coastal Ecosystems

The role played by individual ecosystems as components of the earth’s biosphere is a fundamental ecological question. With respect to organic material, in addition to knowing the rate of carbon fixation and respiration within the ecosystem, it is equally important to know how the ecosystem interacts with its adjacent ecosystems. Is it autotrophic and subsidizing adjacent regions or is it heterotrophic and dependent on allochthonous organic inputs from surrounding areas? Questions such as these have constituted a central theme for much research conducted over the past thirty years in tidally coupled coastal systems.
Epileptic seizure detection using dynamical preprocessing (STLmax)

The long-term properties of the Short-term largest Lyapunov exponents (STLmax) of EEG have been used successfully in epilepsy seizure prediction. STLmax profiles also show short-term patterns characterizing seizures that can be used for detection purposes. In this paper, we explore two such properties shown by the STLmax data during seizures and develop and compare automatic seizure detection algorithms on over 1,000 hours of data.
Eye Movements Interfere With Limb Motor Control in Stroke Survivors

Background. Humans use voluntary eye movements to actively gather visual information during many activities of daily living, such as driving, walking, and preparing meals. Most stroke survivors have difficulties performing these functional motor tasks, and we recently demonstrated that stroke survivors who require many saccades (rapid eye movements) to plan reaching movements exhibit poor motor performance. However, the nature of this relationship remains unclear. Objective. Here we investigate if saccades interfere with speed and smoothness of reaching movements in stroke survivors, and if excessive saccades are associated with difficulties performing functional tasks. Methods. We used a robotic device and eye tracking to examine reaching and saccades in stroke survivors and age-matched controls who performed the Trail Making Test, a visuomotor task that uses organized patterns of saccades to plan reaching movements. We also used the Stroke Impact Scale to examine difficulties performing functional tasks...
Are Borderline Personality Symptoms and Psychopathy Differentially Related to Drinking Motives of Former Jail Inmates

This study assessed whether psychopathy and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms are differentially related to three drinking motives: coping, enhancement, and social. Participants were 170 inmates (74% male) initially held on felony charges in a suburban jail. The Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; Hart, Cox, & Hare, 1995) and Borderline Features scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) were administered at the outset of incarceration. In a follow-up interview 4 to 6 years postincarceration, participants completed the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (DMQ; Cooper, Russell, Skinner, & Windle, 1992) assessing drinking motives. Controlling for drinking frequency, when compared to Factor 1 psychopathy, BPD symptoms had a stronger positive relationship with coping and enhancement drinking motives. No difference was observed for social motives for drinking. Individuals high in BPD symptoms may benefit from therapy emphasizing adaptive coping mechanisms and alternative means of seeking positive emotional states.
A New Method for the Segmentation of Algae Images Using Non-Uniform Background Improvement and Support Vector Machine

Algae growth is a natural occurrence in many areas including: freshwater lakes, ponds, gulfs and other bodies of water. The algae can benefit the environment they live in or damage it when a harmful algal bloom takes place. For this reason, the rapid and accurate classification of algae in micro-image samples taken from freshwater bodies becomes highly desirable before an actual bloom proliferates. This paper explores a new method designed to increase the quality of algae micro-images and its segmentation, thus improving two important steps involved in the automatic recognition and classification of algae in images. First, the algae image quality was enhanced through the use of a non-uniform background improvement method. This method enhances an image by adjusting the background to a chosen intensity. Then, the algae in the improved quality image is segmented from the background using a support vector machine.
Structural Optimization of Cross-laminated Timber Panels in One-way Bending

Abstract In the United States, Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) panels are gaining considerable attention as designers focus on building more ecological and sustainable cities. These panels, which are surface elements made from layers of orthogonally bonded layers of dimensional lumber, can speed up construction on site due to their high degree of prefabrication, and consequently, CLT is deployed for slab systems, walls and composite systems in modern buildings. However, the structural use of material is inefficient in CLT panels used in bending. The core of the material does not contribute much to the structural behavior and acts merely as a spacer between the outer layers. This research offers an alternative design of an optimized CLT panel with the goal of reducing material consumption and increasing the efficiency of this building component, which can help it become more ubiquitous and cost-effective in building construction. In this paper, two theoretical models for the behavior of optimized CLT panels in one-way bending action are developed, and these models are compared with physical load tests. The results demonstrate that the theoretical models accurately predict physical behavior. Furthermore, around 20% of material can be saved without major changes in the structural behavior. The reduced material consumption and cost of the proposed optimized CLT panels can help mitigate the ecological impact of the construction industry, while offering a new competitive building product to the market.
The landscape protection: the cultural roots of an idea

This article aims at inquiring the beginnings of protection of landscape in historical and comparative perspective. The laws and the official acts, that have been approved by different countries, are intended as a reliable framework on the basis of which it would be possible to point out historical and geographic contexts for the development of landscape protection. The French, British and Italian contexts will be analyzed, in period between the year 1864, when the law for protection of the Yosemite Valley was approved in the USA, and year 1906, when the first law was approved in France, in order to specifically and exclusively protect the landscape. Questo contributo intende affrontare il tema della nascita della tutela del paesaggio in prospettiva storica e comparativa. Le leggi e gli atti ufficiali sono la fonte primaria di analisi, attraverso le quali si tenta di costruire una intelaiatura generale che consenta di inviduare epoche e situazioni storiche in cui il paesaggio ha cominciato ad essere percepito, nelle sua varie sfumature, come un bene collettivo meritevole di protezione. I contesti analizzati sono Francia, Regno Unito, Italia e Stati Uniti a cavallo del Novecento, tra la norma istitutiva della protezione per la Yosemite Valley (1864) e l’approvazione della legge francese del 1906, la prima legge europea esclusivamente e appositamente dedicata alla tutela del paesaggio.
Transcriptome-scale super-resolved imaging in tissues by RNA seqFISH

Imaging the transcriptome in situ with high accuracy has been a major challenge in single-cell biology, which is particularly hindered by the limits of optical resolution and the density of transcripts in single cells1-5. Here we demonstrate an evolution of sequential fluorescence in situ hybridization (seqFISH+). We show that seqFISH+ can image mRNAs for 10,000 genes in single cells-with high accuracy and sub-diffraction-limit resolution-in the cortex, subventricular zone and olfactory bulb of mouse brain, using a standard confocal microscope. The transcriptome-level profiling of seqFISH+ allows unbiased identification of cell classes and their spatial organization in tissues. In addition, seqFISH+ reveals subcellular mRNA localization patterns in cells and ligand-receptor pairs across neighbouring cells. This technology demonstrates the ability to generate spatial cell atlases and to perform discovery-driven studies of biological processes in situ.
Influence of microencapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) on the chloride ion diffusivity of concretes exposed to Freeze-thaw cycles: Insights from multiscale numerical simulations

Abstract Use of phase change materials (PCMs) to tailor the thermal performance of concretes by efficient energy storage and transmission has gained traction in recent years. This study incorporates microencapsulated PCMs as sand-replacement in concrete bridge decks and performs numerical simulation involving multiple interactive length scales to elucidate the influence of PCM-incorporation in concretes subjected to combined freeze-thaw and chloride ingress-induced deterioration. The simulations show significant increase in durability against combined freeze-thaw and chloride ingress-induced deterioration in concretes when microencapsulated PCMs are incorporated. In addition, a reliability-based probabilistic analysis shows significant increase in life expectancy of bridge decks with PCM-incorporation. The numerical approach presented here provides efficient means to develop design strategies to tune dosage and transition temperature of PCMs to maximize durability of concrete structures in regions that experience significant winter weather conditions.
The microstructure of continuously processed Yba2Cu3Oy coated conductors with underlying CeO2 and ion-beam-assisted yttria-stabilized zirconia buffer layers

The microstructural development of YBa2Cu3Oy (Y-123) coated conductors based on the ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) to produce a biaxially textured template is presented. The architecture of the conductors was Y-123/CeO2/IBAD YSZ/Inconel 625. A continuous and passivating Cr2O3 layer forms between the YSZ layer and the Inconel substrate. CeO2 and Y-123 are closely lattice-matched, and misfit strain is accommodated at the YSZ/CeO2 interface. Localized reactions between the Y-123 film and the CeO2 buffer layer result in the formation of BaCeO3, YCuO2, and CuO. The positive volume change that occurs from the interfacial reaction may act as a kinetic barrier that limits the extent of the reaction. Excess copper and yttrium generated by the interfacial reaction appear to diffuse along grain boundaries and intercalate into Y-123 grains as single layers of the Y-247, Y-248, or Y-224 phases. The interfacial reactions do not preclude the attainment of high critical currents (Ic) and current densities (Jc) in these films nor do they affect to any appreciable extent the nucleation and alignment of the Y-123 film.
The Nakedness of Hope: Solastalgia and Soliphilia in the Writings of Yu Yue, Zhang Binglin, and Liang Shuming

This chapter applies Glenn Albrecht’s notions of solastalgia and soliphilia, which he coined to describe the psychosocial impacts of environmental degradation, to an analysis of three eminent figures in early-modern Chinese thought: Yu Yue (1821–1907), Zhang Binglin (1868–1936), and Liang Shuming (1893–1988). It argues that all three of these staunch defenders of the traditional Confucian moral order shared a profound pessimism toward the social and environmental consequences of industrialization. Each articulates a prescient critique of the destructiveness they observed in Western modernity, as well as various spiritual, moral, and economic remedies to address these ills. While their views were criticized as outdated by many of their contemporaries, we today can learn much from their unflinching recognition of ecocidal dangers evident even a century ago.
Biased Attention to Threat: Answering Old Questions With Young Infants:

For decades, researchers have been interested in humans’ ability to quickly detect threat-relevant stimuli. Here, we review recent findings from infant research on biased attention to threat and di...
Lithium leaching recovery and mechanisms from density fractions of an Illinois Basin bituminous coal

Abstract Lithium recovery from the density fractions of Baker (namely West Kentucky No. 13) seam coal was investigated in this study. Proximate and elemental analyses showed that lithium contents in the 1.8–2.2 SG and 2.2 SG sink fractions were 185 ppm and 150 ppm, respectively, which are significantly higher than the average content of coal sources (12 ppm) and coal ashes (66 ppm) worldwide. Moreover, due to the high lithium contents and mass distribution, nearly 90% of the lithium present in the Baker coal sample was distributed in the two density fractions. Direct leaching using a HCl solution resulted in less than 10% lithium recovery, which was due to nearly 90% of the lithium being associated with insoluble solids as determined by the results from sequential extraction tests. Calcination of both density fractions under 600 °C for two hours followed by leaching resulted in recovery increases in the range of 70% to 80%. The pyro-metallurgical pretreatment step converted most of the associated lithium minerals to more easy-to-leach forms such as carbonate and metal oxide. Based on mineralogy characterization and leaching test results, it was concluded that the positive effects of calcination on lithium leachability resulted from the dehydration and disintegration of kaolinite as well as dehydroxylation and expansion of muscovite/illite. An analysis of the leaching kinetics revealed that the leaching rate of lithium was controlled by interface transfer and diffusion across the product layer and was negatively impacted when the calcination temperature exceeded 600 °C due to sintering of the kaolinite.
Mediterranean Returns: Migration and the Poetics of Lamentation

This essay addresses recent poetry of persistent grief for the asylum seekers and migrants who die crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Reading poems by Jehan Bseiso, Warsan Shire, and Aracelis Girmay alongside legal, political, and literary texts, the essay argues that these diasporic poets test the limits of elegiac conventions and the contradictions of humanitarian response. It explores how a poetics of lamentation rework the temporality of migration, refuge, death, and deportation. As a way to rethink the recursive temporality of border crises by Israel, Libya, Italy, and Eritrea, the essay examines multiple conceptions of return in a convergence of poetry and visual art, models of melancholia, theories of antiblackness, ideas of future “return” to “home” countries, and violent state-administered expulsions of so-called “voluntary return.”