cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Supporting Imprecision in Database Systems

A query against incomplete or imprecise data in a database1, or a query whose search conditions are imprecise can both result in answers that do not satisfy the query completely. Such queries can be broadly termed as imprecise queries. Today’s database systems are designed largely for precise queries against a database of precise and complete data. Range queries (e.g., Age BETWEEN 20 AND 30) and disjunctive queries (e.g., Name=“G. W. Bush” OR Name=“George Bush”) do allow for some imprecision in queries. However, these extensions to precise queries are unable to completely capture the expressiveness of an imprecise query. Supporting imprecise queries (e.g., Model like “Camry” and Price around “$15000”) over databases necessitates a system that integrates a similarity search paradigm over structured and semi-structured data. Today’s relational database systems, as they are designed to support precise queries against precise data, use such precise access support mechanisms as indexing, hashing, and sorting. Such mechanisms are used for fast selective searches of records within a table and for joining two tables based on precise matching of values in join fields in the tables. The imprecise nature of the search conditions in queries will make such access mechanisms largely useless. Thus, supporting imprecise queries over existing databases would require adding support for imprecision within the query engine and meta-data management schemes like indexes. Extending a database to support imprecise queries would involve changing the query processing and data storage models being used by the database. But, the fact that databases are generally used by other applications and therefore must retain their behaviour could become a key inhibitor to any technique that relies on modifying the database to enable support for imprecision. For example, changing an airline reservation database will necessitate changes to other connected systems including travel agency databases, partner airline databases etc. Even if the database is modifiable, we would still require a domain expert and/or end user to provide the necessary distance metrics and domain ontology. Domain ontologies do not exist for all possible domains and the ones that are available are far from being complete. Therefore, a feasible solution for answering imprecise queries should neither assume the ability to modify the properties of the database nor require users (both lay and expert) to provide much domain specific information.
The Polar WRF Downscaled Historical and Projected Twenty-First Century Climate for the Coast and Foothills of Arctic Alaska

Climate change is most pronounced in the northern high latitude region. Yet, climate observations are unable to fully capture regional-scale dynamics due to the sparse weather station coverage, which limits our ability to make reliable climate-based assessments. A set of simulated data products was therefore developed for the North Slope of Alaska through a dynamical downscaling approach. The polar-optimized Weather Research & Forecast (Polar WRF) model was forced by three sources: The ERA-interim reanalysis data (for 1979-2014), the Community Earth System Model 1.0 (CESM1.0) historical simulation (for 1950-2005), and the CESM1.0 projected (for 2006-2100) simulations in two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) scenarios. Climatic variables were produced in a 10-km grid spacing and a 3-hour interval. The ERA-interim forced WRF (ERA-WRF) proves the value of dynamical downscaling, which yields more realistic topographical-induced precipitation and air temperature, as well as corrects underestimations in observed precipitation. In summary, dry and cold biases to the north of the Brooks Range are presented in ERA-WRF, while CESM forced WRF (CESM-WRF) holds wet and warm biases in its historical period. A linear scaling method allowed for an adjustment of the biases, while keeping the majority of the variability and extreme values of modeled precipitation and air temperature. CESM-WRF under RCP 4.5 scenario projects smaller increase in precipitation and air temperature than observed in the historical CESM-WRF product, while the CESM-WRF under RCP8.5 scenario shows larger changes. The fine spatial and temporal resolution, long temporal coverage, and multi-scenario projections jointly make the dataset appropriate to address a myriad of physical and biological changes occurring on the North Slope of Alaska.
Testing Tele-Savvy: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

By 2050, almost 16 million Americans may live with dementia and will rely predominantly on informal caregivers for support. In providing this support, caregivers frequently suffer a wide range of adverse consequences. Although established psychoeducation programs benefit caregivers, attending in-person programs is challenging for caregivers who must find time, transportation, and substitute care, all of which come with expenses. To address this challenge, the Savvy Caregiver Program, an evidence-based psychoeducation program with demonstrated effectiveness for caregiving and disease-related outcomes, was transformed into an on-line program, Tele-Savvy. This article describes the rationale for and design of a prospective longitudinal randomized controlled trial (n=270), currently underway. The trial aims to establish Tele-Savvy’s efficacy in (i) reducing the negative effects of caregiving on caregivers; (ii) promoting care recipients’ quality of life; (iii) improving caregiver mastery; and (iv) to explore Tele-Savvy’s efficacy among caregivers of different races/ethnicities. The mediating role of mastery on Aims 1 & 2 outcomes will be assessed. Participants are randomized to the active condition (immediate Tele-Savvy participation), attention control, or usual care. Participants in the two latter conditions complete Tele-Savvy six months post-baseline. Multilevel mixed effects models will be used to examine changes in outcomes and model group by time interactions (months since baseline). The exploratory aim will be addressed using analysis of covariance and qualitatively. This trial’s results may be used by healthcare and community organizations to implement Tele-Savvy into dementia care, increasing caregivers’ access to this evidence-based intervention.
Nonstandard finite difference scheme for a Tacoma Narrows Bridge model

Abstract This paper constructs two dynamically consistent nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) schemes for the model of Tacoma Narrows Bridge using the Mickens methodology. The model consists of nonlinear, coupled, second order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The standard forward Euler fails to capture the correct behavior of the system for a given step size. However, using the same step size, both NSFD schemes correctly approximate the solution to the system.
What lies within: Whiteness as the transcendental norm

In 2009, I had the pleasure of reviewing the first edition of Black Bodies, White Gazes. Eight years later, I am happy to review the second edition. What I find remarkable about Yancy’s book is tha...
Dynamic Longitudinal Mode Spectral Behavior of Laser Diodes Under Direct High-Frequency Modulation

The steady-state longitudinal-mode spectrum of semiconductor lasers has been extensively studied, and major observed features can be understood in terms of modal competition in a common gain reservoir. It was generally agreed that gain saturation in semiconductor lasers is basically homogeneous. Thus, a well-behaved index-guided laser should oscillate predominantly in a single-longitudinal mode above lasing threshold [41, 42]. This has been verified extensively in lasers of many different structures. It was also recognized that a single-mode laser will not remain single-moded during turn-on transients and high-frequency modulation. This can be predicted theoretically from numerical solutions of the multimode rate equations [43]. The optical spectrum of a semiconductor laser during excitation transient has been observed by many researchers [44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50].
1.09 Samarium and Ytterbium Reagents

Reagents based on samarium (Sm) and ytterbium (Yb) are becoming increasingly more important in organic synthesis as an alternative and selective methods for the synthesis of multifunctional targets become more important. Although initially considered esoteric reagents, their recognized importance in organic synthesis is a result of their versatility in mediating numerous, fundamentally important C–X π -bond addition reactions. This chapter is not intended to be a comprehensive review, but an overview of important C–X π -bond addition reactions mediated by Sm and Yb reagents. The chapter is organized by oxidation state and not metal identity since oxidation state establishes the reactivity of each metal-based reagent system. The main focus of work presented in this chapter is on studies carried out since the overview of Yb and Sm reagents written for the first edition of this volume. Only seminal studies before 1990 are presented.
Progress on perfect graphs

A graph is perfect if for every induced subgraph, the chromatic number is equal to the maximum size of a complete subgraph. The class of perfect graphs is important for several reasons. For instance, many problems of interest in practice but intractable in general can be solved efficiently when restricted to the class of perfect graphs. Also, the question of when a certain class of linear programs always have an integer solution can be answered in terms of perfection of an associated graph.
Do Patent Law Suits Target Invalid Patents

One objective of the patent litigation system is to screen meritorious from non-meritorious patents and invalidate the latter. While much of this screening may occur at trial, some amount of targeting may take place at the time of the filing of the suit itself. In this chapter, we assess the targeting efficiency of the patent litigation system at this earlier filing stage. Should the system indeed screen at this stage, one would predict a higher likelihood of patent lawsuits among a set of patents with weaker underlying validity relative to a set of patents with stronger underlying validity. In prior work, we found that as examiners were given less time to review applications, they granted patents at higher rates, with the resulting marginal patents exhibiting greater markers of invalidity and attracting more litigation. An implication of these findings is that patents with more questionable validity — due to the leniency of the examiner — are indeed more likely to wind up in litigation, a finding supportive of filing-stage screening of meritorious claims. Our analysis in this book chapter attempts to generalize these prior findings to sources of examiner leniency beyond time constraints. More broadly, we characterize an examiner’s leniency by their overall grant rate, taking advantage of the fact that applications are effectively randomized across examiners. Consistent with our prior findings, we find that lenient examiners are more likely, on average, to issue patents with markers suggestive of weaker underlying validity and that are more likely to attract litigation. Ultimately, our findings suggest that legally invalid patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office are substantially more likely to be the target of litigation relative to legally valid patents.
Review: Evidence is inconclusive on dual- vs mono-antiplatelet therapy after transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Source Citation Al Halabi S, Newman J, Farkouh ME, et al. Meta-analysis of studies comparing dual- versus mono-antiplatelet therapy following transcatheter aortic valve implantation. Am J Cardiol. ...
Adaptive Interface for Robot Teleoperation using a Genetic Algorithm

The design of User Interfaces (UI) is a vital part of Human Machine Interaction (HMI), which affects the performance during collaboration or teleoperation. Ideally, UIs should be intuitive and easy to learn, but their design is challenging especially for complex tasks involving robots with many degrees of freedom. In this paper, we pose the UI design problem as a mapping between an interface device with M input degrees of freedom that generates commands for driving a robot with N output degrees of freedom. We describe a novel adaptive scheme that can learn the N to M input-output map, such that certain task-related performance measures are maximized. The resulting “Genetic Adaptive User Interface” (GAUI), is formulated and utilized to minimize a cost function related to the user teleoperation performance. This algorithm is an unsupervised learning scheme that does not require any knowledge about the robot, the user, or the environment. To validate our approach, we provide simulation and experimental results with a non-holonomic robot and two control interfaces; a joystick and a Myo gesture control armband. Results demonstrate that the adaptively trained map closely mimics the intuitive commands from the joystick interface, and also learns an easily controllable interface with the unintuitive gesture control armband. Abstract formulation of the method allows for easy modifications to the performance measure and application to other HMI tasks.
The History of Surgical Ethics

The origin of surgical ethics has been ambiguous. Some claim it dates back to the ancient Greeks, but most believe it began at least in part with Gregory and Percival who are credited as the founders of modern medical ethics. Although medical and surgical ethics share common fundamental principles, surgical ethics evolved distinctly from medical ethics due to the unique nature of surgery and the surgeon-patient relationship. The history of surgery as a profession has revolved around ethical issues unique to surgery such as fee splitting, itinerant surgery, informed consent, solid organ transplantation, and surgical innovation. As the field of surgery continues to advance, society will rely on surgeons to guide the future of surgical ethics to ensure that trust is upheld and the focus remains on the patient.
MRSA Keratitis and Conjunctivitis: What Does It Mean Practically?

This paper aims to review the epidemiology and clinical spectrum of two of the most common ophthalmic manifestations of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, conjunctivitis, and keratitis. Recent data on antimicrobial resistance patterns and its clinical implications will be reviewed, as well as strategies for ophthalmologists to adequately treat infections and curtail the progress of resistance. There have been reports that the prevalence of MRSA ocular infections has been increasing and is associated with an increase in resistance to fluoroquinolones based on systemic standards. Notably, with community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) on the rise, colonization and infection with MRSA is no longer exclusive to those with traditional risk factors. Key strategies including culture-directed treatment with potent antimicrobials, effective antimicrobial dosing, empirical treatment based on local trends, and utilization of antiseptic strategies and antibiotic cycling should be utilized by clinicians to limit the spread of MRSA ophthalmic infections.
Modified version of the American College of Cardiology's recommendation for low-dose prothrombin complex concentrate is effective for warfarin reversal.

Abstract Background Dosing of four factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4PCC) for warfarin reversal remains controversial. Recently, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) recommended a low-dose PCC regimen as an option for warfarin reversal in acute major bleeding. We performed a retrospective study evaluating if a modified version of the ACC guideline recommendations was effective for warfarin reversal in acute major bleeds when compared to traditional variable dosing. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who received 4PCC for warfarin reversal in a 12 month period. We included patients that were ≥18 years of age, received 4PCC for warfarin reversal, and had an initial International Normalized Ratio (INR) of >2. Our primary outcome was the number of patients who had a post-4PCC infusion INR of Results A total of 60 patients were included in the final analysis with 30 patients stratified to the traditional dosing and low-dose groups, respectively. Patient demographics were similar between both groups. We found no difference in the number of patients who had a post-4PCC infusion INR Conclusion A modified version of the ACC's low-dose 4PCC option for warfarin reversal achieves similar outcomes for lowering INR values compared to traditional variable dosing regimens.
Analysis of laboratory incident database

Abstract With the growth of academic institutions, the number of labs handling hazardous chemicals has increased. Although the chemicals used in academic institutions are well-known, the dosage, usage, and management of these chemicals pose significant threat to researchers at all levels. As a step towards incident prevention, a laboratory incident database was developed to record incidents at universities and secondary schools. The data consisted of 128 entries occurring during the years 2012–2015. Incidents were classified by institution type, hazard type, consequences, substance type, body parts injured and direct causes. Of 128 incidents, 65% of the incidents were taking place in universities. Chemical spills were observed to be the most recurrent hazard type contributing to 45% of the incidents following by explosions (23%) and fires (21%). The consequence which most frequently occurred in incidents was personal injury and hazmat response contributing to 22% each. It was observed that in 41% of the incidents, the body parts injured in the incident was not known or reported. Of the total 128 incidents, about 50 incidents occurred due to improper storage and handling.
Mild depletion of vitamin B2, B6 and B12 superimposed on mild folate depletion: Effects on DNA methylation, uracil incorporation and gene expression in the mouse colon

3896 Epidemiological and experimental studies suggest that diminished folate status increases the risk of colorectal carcinogenesis, and that this effect may be mediated through the induction of abnormalities in DNA methylation and nucleotide synthesis. Folate’s biochemical functions within one-carbon metabolism are dependent on adequate availability of several other B-vitamins, including vitamin B2, B6 and B12. This study therefore investigated if mild depletion of vitamins B2, B6 and B12 superimposed upon the effects of mild folate depletion would impact on select molecular events in the colonic mucosa relevant to carcinogenesis: genomic DNA methylation, uracil misincorporation and gene expression. Four-month old C57BL/6J mice (n=108) were divided into 6 groups and pair-fed one of six diets for 10 wks: vitamin replete, mild folate (0 mg/kg) depletion alone, or mild folate depletion combined with mild inadequacies of vitamin B2 (0.5 mg/kg), vitamin B6 (0.5 mg/kg), and/or vitamin B12 (0 mg/kg). Genomic DNA methylation, uracil misincorporation and gene expression were measured in colonic DNA by LC/MS, GC/MS and real-time PCR, respectively. Assays of vitamin status in the blood showed that very mild, but significant, inadequacies of vitamins B2, B6 and B12 were successfully induced in the corresponding groups (p ≤ 0.05). Although genomic DNA methylation in the folate-deplete group (1.55+0.13) was not significantly reduced when compared to the folate-sufficient group (1.60±0.28), DNA hypomethylation (0.90±0.18) did occur with mild folate depletion combined with mild inadequacies of B2, B6, and B12 (P ≤ 0.05). Similarly, minor reductions in the expression of the APC and p53 genes produced by mild folate depletion alone were significantly magnified by the combined depletion of all the abovementioned B-vitamins, resulting in a 5-fold and 16-fold reduction in expression, respectively (P ≤ 0.01). Uracil incorporation was not significantly altered by vitamin depletion (P ≥ 0.05). These findings indicate that a mild depletion of folate that is of insufficient magnitude by itself to produce adverse molecular consequences in the colon may produce such effects when present in conjunction with mild inadequacies of other one-carbon nutrients, producing large decreases in the expression of relevant tumor suppressor genes even in the absence of any genetic predisposition to colon carcinogenesis. This underscores the potential impact that ‘subclinical’ B-vitamin depletions may have when they act in concert with one another.
First-principles study of hydrogen behavior near W/WC interfaces

Hydrogen (H) solution, migration, and binding to vacancies near the tungsten/tungsten carbide (W/WC) interfaces based on hcp WC or bcc W (W/WCb and Wb/WC) have been studied by first-principles simulations to provide insights into the effect of C on H behavior in W exposed to C deposition in fusion reactors. The H behavior near the W/WC interfaces is related to the tensile or compressive strain due to the lattice match and interfacial effects. Near the W/WCb interface, the H solution energy in hcp WC increases approaching the interface, while it decreases from the W side to the interface. The configuration change of the W slab significantly decreases the H solution energy but has only a modest effect on the H migration energy barrier in comparison with the values in bcc W. The interface enhances the H binding to vacancies in WC layers. Both the interface and configuration adjustment of the W slab reduce the H binding to vacancies on the W side of the interface. Near the Wb/WC interface, H solution energies in both WC and W slabs weakly decrease approaching the interface. The configuration change of the WC slab significantly increases the H solution energy and binding energy to vacancies but decreases the H migration energy barrier in comparison with the values in hcp WC. The H energetics near the W/WC interfaces indicate the likelihood of H localization and diffusion in the W side of the interface, rather than diffusing through the interface into WC layers.
Views on COVID-19 from Inside Prison: Perspectives of High-security Prisoners

People confined in jail and prison are especially vulnerable to outbreaks of communicable diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Corrections officials across the country have respond...
TensorSVM: accelerating kernel machines with tensor engine

This paper explores the use of Tensor Engines to accelerate nonlinear and linear SVM training. Support Vector Machine(SVM) is a classical machine learning model for classification and regression and remains to be the state-of-the-art model for some tasks such as text classification and bioinformatics. However large scale SVM training is still challenging because of its high computational complexity. This is especially severe for non-linear SVM with kernel tricks. On the other hand, the surging importance of neural networks fuels the emergence of specialized processors called Tensor Units (TensorCore in GPU and Tensor Processing Unit of Google) which are characterized by extreme efficiency and very limited precision and range. This paper proposes a TensorCore GPU based SVM algorithm and software system that is faster and more scalable than state-of-the-art SVM solvers. It includes a fast, accurate low-rank Gram matrix approximation that effectively utilizes the TensorCore in GPU and a primal-dual interior-point method to solve the quadratic program with a fast and predictable convergence rate. The random projection based Gram matrix approximation can be substantially accelerated by TensorCore on GPU. This exploration ends up with a tale of randomized numerical linear algebra, convex optimization, and high performance computing on Tensor Engines. Particularly, this paper suggests that the emerging randomized numerical linear algebra algorithms and Tensor Engines are synergistic in opening up exciting new application areas that include statistical machine learning and the wider scientific/engineering computing.
Quelling moral panics? The case of physician aid in dying in California

Abstract Moral panics are short-term heightened attention that can create long-term social change, especially through the creation of new laws or cultural meanings. Moral panics can by cyclical, repeating over time as old concerns re-emerge. However, the lifecourse of a moral panic is poorly understood, especially in terms of how a concern stops being a moral panic. This article uses newspaper opinion and editorial articles about a new physician aid-in-dying law to show that concerns about aid in dying have ceased to be a moral panic and that policy and medical experts played a role in quelling concerns. Policy and medical experts’ actions may stabilize the moral panic, but their actions also change the larger institutional fields of policy and medicine.
Searching for gravitational waves with strongly lensed repeating fast radio bursts

Since their serendipitous discovery, Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) have garnered a great deal of attention from both observers and theorists. A new class of radio telescopes with wide fields of view have enabled a rapid accumulation of FRB observations, confirming that FRBs originate from cosmological distances. The high occurrence rate of FRBs and the development of new instruments to observe them create opportunities for FRBs to be utilized for a host of astrophysical and cosmological studies. We focus on the rare, and as yet undetected, subset of FRBs that undergo repeated bursts and are strongly gravitationally lensed by intervening structure. An extremely precise timing of burst arrival times is possible for strongly lensed repeating FRBs, and we show how this timing precision enables the search for long wavelength gravitational waves, including those sourced by supermassive black hole binary systems. The timing of burst arrival for strongly lensed repeating FRBs is sensitive to gravitational wave sources near the FRB host galaxy, which may lie at cosmological distances and would therefore be extremely challenging to detect by other means. Timing of strongly lensed FRBs can also be combined with pulsar timing array data to search for correlated time delays characteristic of gravitational waves passing through the Earth.
TSA-Seq reveals a largely “hardwired” genome organization relative to nuclear speckles with small position changes tightly correlated with gene expression changes

Abstract Genome-wide mapping of chromosomal distances relative to nuclear compartments using TSA-Seq suggests a more deterministic relationship between intranuclear gene position and expression as a function of nuclear speckle distance than radial position. Gene activity increases overall with decreasing distance to nuclear speckles, with active chromosomal regions forming the apex of chromosome loops protruding from the nuclear periphery into the interior. Interestingly, genomic distances to the nearest lamina-associated domain are larger for loop apexes mapping very close to nuclear speckles, suggesting the possibility of genomic “hardwiring” and conservation of speckle-associated regions. To facilitate comparison of genome organization relative to nuclear speckles in human K562, HCT116, HFFc6, and H1 cell lines, here we describe reducing the required cell number 10-20-fold for TSA-Seq by deliberately saturating protein-labeling while preserving distance mapping by the still unsaturated DNA-labeling. Surprisingly, in pair-wise cell line comparisons, only ∼10% of the genome shows a statistically significant shift in relative nuclear speckle distances. These modest shifts in nuclear speckle distance, however, tightly correlate with changes in cell-type specific gene expression. Similarly, half of all loci that contain induced heat-shock protein genes appear pre-positioned close to nuclear speckles, with the remaining showing small shifts towards speckles with transcriptional induction. Speckle association together with chromatin decondensation correlates with expression amplification upon HSPH1 activation. Our results demonstrate a largely “hardwired” genome organization and specific genes moving small mean distances relative to speckles during cell differentiation or physiological transition, suggesting an important role of nuclear speckles in gene expression regulation.
Structural and compositional data of maya pottery samples from Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala: Central America

Abstract In this data article, we present the spectroscopic structural data of the pottery samples collected from Peten Itza, Guatemala. Detailed Fourier transmission infrared, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy coupled to electron dispersive X-ray diffraction, and thermal gravimetric analysis/differential thermal gravimetric analysis (FTIR, PXRD, SEM/EDX, and TGA/DTGA) were discussed in the research article titled “Comprehensive Structural and Compositional Investigation of Maya Pottery Sherds from Lake Peten Itza, Guatemala, Central America” (Onchoke et al. 2020 [1] ). The FTIR, XRD profiles and composition of pottery from Peten Itza, Guatemala are presented. This data is important and useful for further understanding of the structural composition of pottery sherds used by Maya people of Guatemala. In addition, the TGA/DTGA profiles provide information on the content of the losses upon heating and offers supportive evidence to the spectroscopic data studied.
Whole-tumor 3D volumetric MRI-based radiomics approach for distinguishing between benign and malignant soft tissue tumors

Our purpose was to differentiate between malignant from benign soft tissue neoplasms using a combination of MRI-based radiomics metrics and machine learning. Our retrospective study identified 128 histologically diagnosed benign (n = 36) and malignant (n = 92) soft tissue lesions. 3D ROIs were manually drawn on 1 sequence of interest and co-registered to other sequences obtained during the same study. One thousand seven hundred eight radiomics features were extracted from each ROI. Univariate analyses with supportive ROC analyses were conducted to evaluate the discriminative power of predictive models constructed using Real Adaptive Boosting (Adaboost) and Random Forest (RF) machine learning approaches. Univariate analyses demonstrated that 36.89% of individual radiomics varied significantly between benign and malignant lesions at the p ≤ 0.05 level. Adaboost and RF performed similarly well, with AUCs of 0.77 (95% CI 0.68–0.85) and 0.72 (95% CI 0.63–0.81), respectively, after 10-fold cross-validation. Restricting the machine learning models to only sequences extracted from T2FS and STIR sequences maintained comparable performance, with AUCs of 0.73 (95% CI 0.64–0.82) and 0.75 (95% CI 0.65–0.84), respectively. Machine learning decision classifiers constructed from MRI-based radiomics features show promising ability to preoperatively discriminate between benign and malignant soft tissue masses. Our approach maintains applicability even when the dataset is restricted to T2FS and STIR fluid-sensitive sequences, which may bolster practicality in clinical application scenarios by eliminating the need for complex co-registrations for multisequence analysis. • Predictive models constructed from MRI-based radiomics data and machine learning–augmented approaches yielded good discriminative power to correctly classify benign and malignant lesions on preoperative scans, with AUCs of 0.77 (95% CI 0.68–0.85) and 0.72 (95% CI 0.63–0.81) for Real Adaptive Boosting (Adaboost) and Random Forest (RF), respectively. • Restricting the models to only use metrics extracted from T2 fat-saturated (T2FS) and Short-Tau Inversion Recovery (STIR) sequences yielded similar performance, with AUCs of 0.73 (95% CI 0.64–0.82) and 0.75 (95% CI 0.65–0.84) for Adaboost and RF, respectively. • Radiomics-based machine learning decision classifiers constructed from multicentric data more closely mimic the real-world practice environment and warrant additional validation ahead of prospective implementation into clinical workflows.
Expression of YKL-40 in Nipple Aspirate Fluid and Serum Is Altered in Breast Cancer: Preliminary Results

652 Background: YKL-40 (cartilage gp-39), is a secreted protein and a growth factor for connective tissue that stimulates the migration of endothelial cells. Preliminary investigations of YKL-40 demonstrated its role in rheumatoid and osteoarthritis (RA and OA), and levels of YKL-40 in serum in RA and OA patients are significantly higher than healthy controls. YKL-40 is secreted by cancer cells and overexpressed in epithelial cancers and gliomas, although its function is unknown. Increased serum YKL-40 in women with breast cancer is associated with a worse prognosis. Nipple aspirate fluid (NAF) is a physiologic fluid secreted from the breast ductal system that contains concentrated proteins secreted from the ductal epithelium. NAF collection is safe, reliable and noninvasive. Our previous studies suggest that NAF analysis may provide a promising noninvasive approach to detect pre and invasive breast cancer. The aims of this study were to 1).compare the concentration of YKL-40 in NAF vs. serum, and 2) assess if expression of YKL-40 in NAF and/or serum was associated with the presence of breast cancer. Materials and Method: 101 NAF (47 from women with breast cancer, 54 without) and 66 (29 with cancer, 37 without cancer) matched serum specimens were analyzed using a commercial ELISA kit (QUIDEL Corporation, San Diego, CA) according to the manufacturer9s protocol. Results: Median YKL-40 levels in NAF were 17,770 and 40,893 ng/mL for subjects with and without breast cancer, respectively. Median serum YKL-40 levels were 67 and 42 ng/mL for subjects with and without breast cancer, respectively. NAF YKL-40 levels in women with cancer were lower (p=0.039) than in women without, whereas serum levels were not significantly different based on cancer status (p=0.10). Conclusion: We observed an inverse correlation between NAF YKL-40 and the presence of breast cancer, and a nonsignificant trend for a direct correlation between serum levels of YKL-40 and breast cancer. Mechanisms to explain this different association with an organ specific vs. a systemic bodily fluid requires further study, as does the possible usefulness of this marker in NAF to determine if a woman has breast cancer.
Wolfhart Pannenberg, Openness to the World, and the Sensus Divinitatis

One of the foundational concepts for Wolfhart Pannenberg’s theological anthropology is his notion of ‘openness to the world.’ Openness to the world, according to Pannenberg, is essential to human i...
Decreased ventricular size and mass mediate the reduced exercise capacity in adolescents and adults born premature.

Abstract Background Premature birth is associated with lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) but the underlying mechanisms responsible remain unclear. This study assessed whether differences in cardiac morphology or function mediate differences in CRF among adolescents and young adults born preterm. Methods Adolescents and young adults born moderately to extremely premature (gestational age ≤ 32 weeks or birth weight Results Individuals born preterm had lower VO2max than those born term (41.7 ± 8.6 v 47.5 ± 8.7, p Conclusions Lower levels of CRF in adolescents and young adults born preterm are mediated by differences in LVEDVi, RVEDVi, and LVMi. This may represent greater risk for long-term cardiac morbidity and mortality in preterm born individuals.
Does Quantum Electrodynamics Explain the Observed Lamb Shift

While so far the success of nonrelativistic quantum theory for systems with finite numbers of degrees of freedom has been astounding, and relativistic quantum theory of electrons has made predictions about spin and about positrons that have well been confirmed by observations, applications of quantum theory to systems with infinite numbers of degrees of freedom suggest that quantum theory in its present form is not yet completely correct. Predictions made by quantum field theory, in particular by quantum electrodynamics, are obtained only by what a mathematician would call “swindles,” like treating divergent renormalizations as small corrections. Physicists so far have accepted these swindles, because they consider it reasonable that at very small distances the present theory would yet require corrections, which, they hope, will in the future lead to finite results that would lie close to the results presently obtained by treating logarithmically divergent integrals as finite quantities.
Adapting BPEL4WS for the semantic web: the bottom-up approach to web service interoperation

Towards the ultimate goal of seamless interaction among networked programs and devices, industry has developed orchestration and process modeling languages such as XLANG, WSFL, and recently BPEL4WS. Unfortunately, these efforts leave us a long way from seamless interoperation. Researchers in the Semantic Web community have taken up this challenge proposing top-down approaches to achieve aspects of Web Service interoperation. Unfortunately, many of these efforts have been disconnected from emerging industry standards, particularly in process modeling. In this paper we take a bottom-up approach to integrating Semantic Web technology into Web services. Building on BPEL4WS, we present integrated Semantic Web technology for automating customized, dynamic binding of Web services together with interoperation through semantic translation. We discuss the value of semantically enriched service interoperation and demonstrate how our framework accounts for user-defined constraints while gaining potentially successful execution pathways in a practically motivated example. Finally, we provide an analysis of the forward-looking limitations of frameworks like BPEL4WS, and suggest how such specifications might embrace semantic technology at a fundamental level to work towards fully automated Web service interoperation.
An alternative characterization of the structured singular value

The size of the smallest, structured, destabilizing perturbation for a linear, time-invariant, system can be calculated via the structured singular value (/spl mu/). It can be bounded above by the solution of a linear matrix inequality (LMI). This paper gives an alternative characterization which is particularly suited to the case when the system (or matrix) is not of full rank. The approach is based on a Cauchy-Binet expansion of the determinant formula. It is used to study the case when the LMI upper bound is not tight. An alternative perturbation analysis framework, based on the Frobenius norm of the perturbation, is introduced. The solution of this problem can be used to bound the /spl mu/ in the low rank case, and in the four block example of Doyle, gives a significantly better upper bound for /spl mu/ than the LMI bound. >
The Death of a Market: Standard Oil and the Demise of 19th Century Crude Oil Exchanges

From the mid-1870s through 1895, a commoditiesmarket in oil existed. Although its organizationwas primitive, it offered the varieties of commoditycontracts familiar today. In 1895, Standard Oilannounced that it would no longer use the OilExchange to set prices offered to producers. Thisraises a fascinating question, why was an efficientmechanism for price discovery discarded in favor ofinternal pricing by Standard Oil? Threepossibilities are explored to explain the market'sdeath: the role of Standard's monopsony power,transactions costs, and Standard's desire toeliminate the threat of crude producers formingcartels.
Parameter estimation for spatial random trees using the EM algorithm

A new class of multiscale multidimensional stochastic processes called spatial random trees was recently introduced in J. Pollak et al. (2003). The model is based on multiscale stochastic trees with stochastic structure as well as stochastic states. In this work, we describe a method for estimating the parameters of the process.
Precision flux density measurements of the giant planets at 8420 MHz

Precision measurements of the 3.56 cm flux densities of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are reported. The results are compared with previously published measurements as a means of: (1) remotely sensing long-term changes in the microwave emission from the atmospheres of these planets; (2) measuring the effects of Saturn's rings on the disk temperature as observed from earth at different ring inclination angles.
Purification and characterization of an estrogen-inducible membrane glycoprotein: evidence that it is a transferrin receptor

A number of N-linked membrane glycoproteins are induced during chick oviduct differentiation. We have purified a major estrogen-inducible glycoprotein (Mr = 91,000) to homogeneity by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Comparison of partial NH2-terminal sequence data with membrane glycoproteins having similar Mr showed a limited homology with human and murine transferrin receptors. We observed that oviduct membranes contain estrogen-inducible transferrin receptor activity (Kd = 2-8 x 10(-8) M). Analytical purification of the putative receptor on an ovotransferrin-Affi-Gel affinity column and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis reveals a protein of Mr, 180,000, which contains two disulfide-linked subunits of Mr 91,000. The receptor reacts very strongly with antibodies prepared against the 91-kDa glycoprotein on Western blots. Western blot analysis confirms that the 91-kDa glycoprotein is induced by estrogen. The protein has 2% total carbohydrate with Man, GlcNAc, Gal, GalNAc, and NeuAc in a molar ratio of 6:4:2:1:1. The protein contains at least one O-linked moiety. Analysis of the O-linked moiety by glycosidase digestions and gel filtration indicates there are sialo tetra- and trisaccharides and a neutral disaccharide(s). Labeled N-linked glycopeptides were prepared by pronase digestion, beta-elimination, and 3H-acetylation. The N-linked oligosaccharides include high mannose and complex neutral nonbisected biantennary types in an approximate ratio of 3:1 as determined by serial lectin affinity chromatography.
Antenatal Detection of Hereditary Disorders, by Henry L. Nadler, MD, Pediatrics, 1968;42:912–918

Amniotic fluid cells obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis at various stages of pregnancy were cultivated successfully. The intrauterine detection of Down syndrome, galactosemia, and mucopolysaccharidosis was established using the cultivated amniotic fluid cells. The use of this procedure increases the precision of genetic counseling and should stimulate the development of new approaches for the intrauterine management of genetic defects. However, until considerably more experience is gained with these techniques, the procedures should be considered experimental.
Theory and experiment on the amplified spontaneous emission from DFB lasers

Summary form only given. In the quest to improve distributed feedback lasers for telecommunication systems, it is critical to be able to characterize these lasers effectively. In this paper, we use out model for the amplified spontaneous emission from DFB lasers coupled with our model for the material gain of strained quantum well lasers to analyze data measured on a 1.55-/spl mu/m InGaAsP-InGaAsP strained quantum well DFB laser in an effort to systematically extract important laser parameters.
Adherence to continuous positive airway pressure treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea: implications for future interventions

Adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a critical problem. Poor adherence (30-60%) to CPAP is widely recognized as a significant limiting factor in treating OSA, reducing the overall effectiveness of the treatment and leaving many OSA patients at heightened risk for co-morbid conditions, impaired function and quality of life. The extant literature examining adherence to CPAP provides critical insight to measuring adherence outcomes, defining optimal adherence levels, and predicting CPAP adherence. This research has revealed salient factors that are associated with or predict CPAP adherence and may guide the development of interventions to promote CPAP adherence. Over the past 10 years, intervention studies to promote CPAP adherence have incorporated a multitude of strategies including education, support, cognitive behavioural approaches, and mixed strategies. This review of the current status of research on CPAP adherence will (i) synthesize the extant literature with regard to measuring, defining, and predicting CPAP adherence; (ii) review published intervention studies aimed at promoting CPAP adherence; and (iii) suggest directions for future empiric study of adherence to CPAP that will have implications for translational science. Our current understanding of CPAP adherence suggests that adherence is a multi-factorial, complex clinical problem that requires similarly designed approaches to effectively address poor CPAP adherence in the OSA population.
The university and community mental health: a new trend?

Community psychiatry is neither a simple social control system nor one that is expanding. Rather, it is a system that may well he retrenching and on a new institutional base, that is, the university campus. This raises questions about the emergence of a new academic medical elite and the subservience of ever larger sectors of the university to the goals of public social welfare.
Demonizing Judaism In The Soviet Union During The 1920s

The Kremlin's efforts to suppress Judaism are well known. During the 1920s the communist regime closed synagogues, frequently transform ing them into workers' clubs; forbade the publication of prayer books and other religious texts; outlawed the teaching of and publishing in He brew; shut the doors of religious schools and rabbinical seminaries; and harassed, hounded, and often arrested rabbis. In addition, the authori ties made it difficult for Jews to observe the Sabbath and other religious holidays, and, to spearhead the campaign against Judaism, they published antireligious works.1 Recent scholarship on the history and culture of Soviet Jewry has ex panded on the work of a previous generation of scholars to provide a fuller picture of the efforts by party and government activists to secularize Soviet Jewish society as a prelude to the building of socialism in the first decade or so of communist rule. Along with coercion and repression, the communist regime also employed "softer" measures such as the printed word and visual imagery to undermine the hold that Judaism had on most of the nearly two and a half million Jews then living under Soviet power. Many people tend to view Soviet Jews of the 1920s as victims of an unre lenting and vicious government program to snuff out their religious life and culture. Yet many Soviet Jews championed the communist cause and ea gerly participated in the campaign against Judaism.2 To use Yuri Slezkine's elegant formulation: "In Soviet Russia, young Jews had, in fact, grabbed the 'rings attached to heaven and earth' and pulled heaven down to earth