cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells from the sand rat: transforming growth factor beta and 3D co-culture with human disc cells stimulate proteoglycan and collagen type I rich extracellular matrix

Adult mesenchymal stem cell therapy has a potential application in the biological treatment of disc degeneration. Our objectives were: to direct adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSC) from the sand rat to produce a proteoglycan and collagen type I extracellular matrix (ECM) rich in known ECM components of the annulus fibrosis of disc; and to stimulate proteoglycan production by co-culture of human annulus cells with AD-MSC. AD-MSC were isolated and characterised by adherence to plastic, appropriate expression of cluster of differentiation (CD) markers, and differentiation to osteoblasts and chondrocytes in vitro. AD-MSC were grown in three-dimensional (3D) culture and treated with or without transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) to direct them to produce annulus-like ECM as determined by proteoglycan content and collagen expression. AD-MSC were co-cultured with human annulus cells and grown in 3D culture. AD-MSC produced a proteoglycan and collagen type I rich ECM after treatment with TGFβ in 3D culture as confirmed by a 48% increase in proteoglycan content assayed by 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMB), and by immunohistochemical identification of ECM components. Co-culture of human annulus and sand rat AD-MSC in 3D culture resulted in a 20% increase in proteoglycan production compared with the predicted value of the sum of the individual cultures. Results support the hypothesis that AD-MSC have potential in cell-based therapy for disc degeneration.
Gender and Interruptions Individual Infraction or Violation of the Social Order

Does gender affect reactions to violations of expected conversational behavior? This study examined ratings of interactants involved in interruptive exchanges. Audio recordings of two-person interactions that varied in gender composition but were identical in script features were rated by judges on several scales, including the degree to which participants were seen to be argumentative, rude, and assertive. Results showed that interrupter sex did not affect ratings even though interrupters were evaluated differently than those they interrupted. However, gender composition significantly affected two of three derived factors, disrespect and assertiveness, such that when a woman interrupted a man, the pair was rated significantly more disrespectful and assertive than either of the two same-sex pairs. Conversational interruptions that occur among mixed-sex pairs are often interpreted not merely as individual infractions but as an assault on the established power relations.
Evaluation of Partially Described Multiattribute Options

The Universi O' of Michigan Thirty-five subjects rated the satisfactoriness of two sets of 125 profiles of hypothetical university courses. The profiles in one set were all complete, containing indicators of the state of each course on each of four attribute dimensions. Fifty of the profiles in the second set were partial representations of profiles from the first set, reporting that the level of one of the attributes was "unknown." The other 75 profiles were identical to the remaining profiles in the first set. Results indicated that subjects tended to devalue the partial profiles relative to the complete profiles (p < .01). Regression equations characterizing evaluations of the 75 complete profiles presented to subjects in both replications were derived. Regression weights for the dimension that was omitted in partial profiles tended to be larger in the replication in which complete profiles were accompanied by partial profiles. The results are discussed in terms of uncertainty avoidance and attention and cognitive strain effects on evaluation policies.
Electrochemical supercapacitor based on flexible pillar graphene nanostructures

Here we report the fabrication of high conductive and large surface-area 3D pillar graphene nanostructures (PGN) films from assembly of vertically aligned CNT pillars on flexible copper foils and directly employed for the application in electrochemical double layer capacitance (EDLC) supercapacitor. The fabricated supercapacitor based on PGN films with excellent mechanical flexibility and electrical conductivity has high energy storage capability. The PGN films which were one-step synthesized on flexible copper foil (25 um) by CVD process exhibit high conductivity with sheet resistance as low as 1.6 ohm per square and high mechanical flexibility. The fabricated EDLC supercapacitor based on high surface-area PGN electrodes (563m2/g) shows high performance with high specific capacitance of 330F/g and energy density as high as 45.8Wh/kg. All of these make this 3D graphene/CNTs hybrid carbon nanostructures highly attractive material for high performance supercapacitor and other energy storage material.
Hilbert envelope based features for robust speaker identification under reverberant mismatched conditions

It is well known that MFCC based speaker identification (SID) systems easily break down under mismatched training and test conditions. One such mismatch occurs when a SID system is trained on anechoic speech data, while test is carried out using reverberant data collected via a distant microphone. In this study, a new set of feature parameters based on the Hilbert envelope of Gammatone filterbank outputs is proposed to improve SID performance in the presence of room reverberation. Considering two distinct perceptual effects of reverberation on speech signals, i.e., coloration and long-term reverberation, two different compensation strategies are integrated within the feature extraction framework to effectively suppress the effects of reverberation. Experimental evaluation is performed using speech material from the TIMIT, four different measured room impulse responses (RIR) from Aachen impulse response (AIR) database, and a GMM-based SID system. Obtained results indicate significant improvement over the baseline system with MFCCs plus cepstral mean subtraction (CMS), confirming the effectiveness of the proposed feature parameters for SID under reverberant mismatched conditions.
Use of Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem Scleral Lenses in Patients with Ocular Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of prosthetic replacement of the ocular surface ecosystem (BostonSight PROSE, Boston Foundation for Sight, Needham, MA) treatment, utilizing customized scleral devices, on visual acuity, visual function, and ocular surface changes in patients with ocular chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). A retrospective analysis was performed on 79 eyes of 40 patients with cGVHD referred to the University of Southern California department of ophthalmology between November 2009 and July 2013 for PROSE treatment. This analysis included an assessment of ocular symptoms and visual function before and after treatment using the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) survey. Pre- and post-treatment visual acuity and clinical data were also compared. Twenty-eight male patients and 12 female patients were included in this study. The average age was 56.1 years (range, 27 to 74). Of the 79 eyes treated, 71 (90%) showed improved visual acuity with PROSE treatment. Fifty-seven eyes (72%) experienced a 2- or greater line visual acuity improvement and 14 eyes (18%) experienced a 1-line improvement. Average logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution improved from .49 ± .52 to .16 ± .44 (P
Asynchronous Dynamics of Continuous Time Neural Networks

Motivated by mathematical modeling, analog implementation and distributed simulation of neural networks, we present a definition of asynchronous dynamics of general CT dynamical systems defined by ordinary differential equations, based on notions of local times and communication times. We provide some preliminary results on globally asymptotical convergence of asynchronous dynamics for contractive and monotone CT dynamical systems. When applying the results to neural networks, we obtain some conditions that ensure additive-type neural networks to be asynchronizable.
A theory of predicate-complete test coverage and generation

Consider a program with m statements and n predicates, where the predicates are derived from the conditional statements and assertions in a program. An observable state is an evaluation of the n predicates under some state at a program statement. The goal of predicate-complete testing (PCT) is to evaluate all the predicates at every program state. That is, we wish to cover every reachable observable state (at most m × 2n of them) in a program. PCT coverage subsumes many existing control-flow coverage criteria and is incomparable to path coverage. To support the generation of tests to achieve high PCT coverage, we show how to define an upper bound U and lower bound L to the (unknown) set of reachable observable states R. These bounds are constructed automatically using Boolean (predicate) abstraction over modal transition systems and can be used to guide test generation via symbolic execution. We define a static coverage metric as |L|/|U|, which measures the ability of the Boolean abstraction to achieve high PCT coverage.
Fibulin-5 function during tumorigenesis.

Tumorigenesis is the process by which normal cells evolve the capacity to evade and overcome the constraints normally placed upon their growth and survival. During cancer progression, indolent tumors experience an array of genetic and epigenetic events that ultimately coordinate the development of tumor metastasis, which is the most lethal facet of cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death. The therapeutic necessity to combat tumor metastasis continues to drive investigations aimed at identifying novel regulators of this deadly process. Fibulin-5 is a newly described extracellular matrix protein that is important for normal embryonic development and organogenesis. Fibulin-5 expression may also be associated with the suppression of tumor formation through its control of cell proliferation, motility and angiogenic sprouting. Here, the tumor suppressing activities of fibulin-5 are reviewed, and the potential use and targeting of fibulin-5 to combat growth and metastasis of human malignancies is di...
Nrf2 mediates the induction of ferritin H in response to xenobiotics and cancer chemopreventive dithiolethiones.

Ferritin is a ubiquitous intracellular iron storage protein that consists of 24 subunits of the H and L type. The ability to sequester iron from participation in oxygen free radical formation is consistent with a cytoprotective role for ferritin. Here we demonstrate that ferritins H and L are induced in cells treated with β-napthoflavone (β-NF) and chemopreventive dithiolethiones. Induction of ferritin H by β-NF and the dithiolethiones oltipraz and 1,2-dithiole-3-thione (D3T) occurs via a transcriptional mechanism that is mediated by the ferritin H electrophile/antioxidant-responsive element (EpRE/ARE). The murine ferritin H gene contains five potential xenobiotic-responsive element (XRE) sequences in its 5′-promoter region. However, deletion analysis demonstrates that these XRE sequences are not functional in inducing ferritin H in response to β-NF. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrate that the ferritin H EpRE/ARE binds Nrf2. Transfection of chimeric ferritin H reporter genes with Nrf2 expression vectors and Nrf2 dominant-negative mutants indicate that Nrf2 functions at the EpRE/ARE to mediate transcriptional activation of ferritin H. Induction of ferritin H and L was not seen in Nrf2 knockout cells, demonstrating that this transcription factor is required for the induction of ferritin in response to polycyclic aromatic xenobiotics and chemopreventive agents. Nrf2 may also play a role in basal transcription of both ferritin H and L. These results provide a mechanistic link between regulation of the iron storage protein ferritin and the cancer chemopreventive response.
Solution of a differential game formulation of military air operations by the method of characteristics

In this paper, we describe a zero-sum differential game formulation for the control of military air operations. The model consists of a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations for the dynamics of the operations and a suitably chosen quadratic payoff function. Control variables are engagement intensities and velocities, and there are constraints on the controls. The method of characteristics (based on the Pontryagin maximum principle) is used to solve the associated Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The Hamiltonian in this nonlinear formulation can be explicitly optimized with respect to the controls. Numerical simulations study the enforcement of constraints a) by means of penalties in the payoff function or b) explicitly. The numerical results show robustness with respect to various parameters.
Void growth suppression by dislocation impurity atmospheres

A detailed calculation is given of the effect of an impurity atmosphere on void growth under irradiation damage conditions. Norris has proposed that such an atmosphere can suppress void growth. We have found the hydrostatic stress field of a dislocation that is surrounded by an impurity atmosphere and from it have calculated the change in the effective radius of a dislocation line as a sink for interstitials and vacancies. The calculation of the impurity concentration in a Cottrell cloud takes into account the change in hydrostatic pressure produced by the presence of the cloud itself. It is assumed that the hydrostatic pressure field of an impurity atom exists over a radial distance larger than the radius of the impurity atom. It is found that void grdwth is eliminated whenever dislocations are surrounded by a condensed atmosphere of either oversized substitutional impurity atoms or interstitial impurity atoms. A condensed atmosphere will form whenever the average impurity concentration is larger than a critical concentration.
Measuring the War Experience: Ghanaian Soldiers in World War II

During World War II, some 65,000 Ghanaians were under the command of British officers in the Royal West African Frontier Force, and since India was the transit and refuelling station for those en route to Burma, the 30,000 who served there briefly experienced life in both countries. There has been much conjecture about the impact of the war on participating African soldiers,1 and this article focuses on the nature and socio-economic implications of their experience as later revealed by the veterans themselves in two rather overlooked sources of information: oral interviews and locally published materials.
The Electronics Engineer's Design Station

This paper describes a prototype minicomputer interactive graphics system which has been developed for the capture, formatting and dissemination of electronics design information. The principal function of this system is to bring unification to the Design Automation activities at LLL, while incorporating human factors and modern tools into the electronics design process. The Electronics Engineer's Design Station (hereafter referred to as the Design Station) is a minicomputer based system at which LLL's engineers and designers sketch in schematic designs. Once a circuit is formed at the graphics display, the pertinent design information is extracted and used to produce schematic drawings, parts lists, signal lists, parts and signal cross references and assembly drawings as well as inputs to simulators, automated layout tools and fabrication devices. Current fabrication technologies supported include both Wirewrap and Printed Circuit methodologies. This system is designed to expedite the low volume, fast turnaround electronics designs which are typical of LLL's research projects. However, many of the concepts of this system address problems common throughout the electronics industry. The Design Station is now being used on a regular basis by a small number of the design engineers at LLL. Initial indications are that the Design Station has increased the utilization of other DA tools at LLL as well as reducing the elapsed time, introduced errors and documentation costs for our one-of-a-kind designs.
Unusual presentation of B-cell lymphoma as a cutaneous abscess

Cutaneous abscesses can result from many conditions and are primarily managed with incision, drainage and antibiotics, without the need for extensive diagnostic workup. We herein report a case of a B-cell lymphoma manifesting as an abscess on the back of a 67-year-old female. Standard therapies failed to improve her condition, and, by the time of tissue diagnosis, a greater than palm-sized necrotic ulcer eroding through skin and fat, and into the psoas muscle had developed. Primary or secondary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas almost never lead to tissue necrosis but should be entertained in cases of abscesses or ulcers with unusual presentation.
2‐Methyl‐1‐(1‐methylethyl)propyl Chloroformate

[30250-57-8] C8H15ClO2 (MW 178.5) InChI = 1S/C8H15ClO2/c1-5(2)7(6(3)4)11-8(9)10/h5-7H,1-4H3 InChIKey = WDBJMZSPVACLDL-UHFFFAOYSA-N (reagent for the introduction of the Doc protecting group for phenols and amines in peptide synthesis) Alternate Name: 2,4-dimethyl-3-pentyloxycarbonyl chloride (DocCl). Physical Data: bp 90–100 °C,1 33–35 °C / 6 cm Hg,2 nD201.4225.1 Solubility: soluble in chloroform, dichloromethane, ether, THF, and toluene. Analysis of Reagent Purity: IR,1 elemental analysis.1 Preparative Methods: prepared by reaction of 2,4-dimethyl-3-pentanol with phosgene at −78 °C,1 rt,2 or 0 °C.3 Purification: can be purified by distillation.1, 2 Handling, Storage, and Precautions: gradually decomposed by water and alcohol. Stable on storage under argon atmosphere, used in a fumehood.
Non-resonant excitation of relativistic plasma waves using a two-wavelength TW CO/sub 2/ laser pulse

Summary from only given. In our experiment the plasma wave is excited by a two-wavelength CO/sub 2/ laser pulse operating on 10.6 /spl mu/m and 10.3 /spl mu/m. The pulse contains /spl sim/ 100 J of energy in 100 ps and is focussed by an Off-Axis Parabola (OAP). Intensities up to 6 x 10/sup 15/ W/cm/sup 2/ (normalized field amplitude a /spl cong/ 0.6) are obtained and plasmas formed by tunneling ionization in H/sub 2/, Ar, and He are produced.
Anaesthetic management of acute puerperal uterine inversion.

We identified 18 cases of acute puerperal uterine inversion after vaginal delivery out of 65,581 deliveries in two university-affiliated hospitals (an incidence of 1:3643). In all cases manual repositioning of the uterus without tocolysis was attempted. In four cases this was successful. Of the 14 patients requiring tocolysis, a single dose of terbutaline 0.25 mg i.v. was tried in eight and was successful in five cases (success rate of 63%), while in three patients general anaesthesia was required. In six other patients, general anaesthesia was chosen as the initial management. There was no associated maternal mortality or morbidity with the exception of one case of acute postpartum endometritis. We suggest that when tocolysis is required, terbutaline should be used first because of its rapid onset of action, short duration, simplicity, availability in the labour suite and familiarity to the obstetrician, and general anaesthesia, with its inherent dangers, if possible, should be avoided.
Square-root algorithms for the continuous-time linear least squares estimation problem

We present a simple differential equation for the triangular square root of the state error variance of the continuous-time Kalman filter. Unlike earlier methods of Andrews, and Tapley and Choe, this algorithm does not explicitly involve any antisymmetric matrix in the differential equation for the square roots. The role of antisymmetric matrices is clarified: it is shown that they are just the generators of the orthogonal transformations that connect the various square roots; in the constant model case, a similar set of antisymmetric matrices appears inside the Chandrasekhar-type equations for the square roots of the derivative of the error variance. Several square-root algorithms for the smoothing problem are also presented and are related to some well-known smoothing approaches.
A case study of the development and use of a mana-based federation for studying U.S. border operations

A federation approach is used to expand the geographic extent of MANA (Map Aware Non-uniform Automata), a cellular-automaton based agent simulation, in order to support a study of investment strategies for border protection along a portion of the southern U.S. border. The federation is implemented using the Department of Defense (DoD) High Level Architecture (HLA). Federation performance is optimized using HLA Data Distribution Management (DDM) services and through a bypass of the normal HLA mechanisms for ownership transfer. Analysis of the running federation indicates that overhead due to federation processing is minimal - less than 6% of the total federation runtime (94% of the runtime is due to processing in the MANA simulations).
Regulation of Membrane Localization of Sanpodo by lethal giant larvae and neuralized in Asymmetrically Dividing Cells of Drosophila Sensory Organs

In Drosophila, asymmetric division occurs during proliferation of neural precursors of the central and peripheral nervous system (PNS), where a membrane-associated protein, Numb, is asymmetrically localized during cell division and is segregated to one of the two daughter cells (the pIIb cell) after mitosis. numb has been shown genetically to function as an antagonist of Notch signaling and also as a negative regulator of the membrane localization of Sanpodo, a four-pass transmembrane protein required for Notch signaling during asymmetric cell division in the CNS. Previously, we identified lethal giant larvae (lgl) as a gene required for numb-mediated inhibition of Notch in the adult PNS. In this study we show that Sanpodo is expressed in asymmetrically dividing precursor cells of the PNS and that Sanpodo internalization in the pIIb cell is dependent cytoskeletally associated Lgl. Lgl specifically regulates internalization of Sanpodo, likely through endocytosis, but is not required for the endocytosis Delta, which is a required step in the Notch-mediated cell fate decision during asymmetric cell division. Conversely, the E3 ubiquitin ligase neuralized is required for both Delta endocytosis and the internalization of Sanpodo. This study identifies a hitherto unreported role for Lgl as a regulator of Sanpodo during asymmetric cell division in the adult PNS.
Analysis of HF signal power observations on two North American circuits

[1] Observations of HF signal powers on two circuits in North America have been compared with the values predicted by two HF propagation programs, Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program (VOACAP) and Advanced Stand Alone Prediction System (ASAPS). Neither program consistently provided the more reliable predicted signal powers. For the longer circuit considered (2820 km WWV Fort Collins to Hanscom Air Force Base), ASAPS was found to be the more accurate program for the lower frequencies (at night), while VOACAP was the more accurate for the higher frequencies (during the day). The RMS errors ranged from a few decibels to 15 dB. For daytime 7.335 MHz propagation on the 490 km CHU Ottawa to Hanscom Air Force Base circuit, the VOACAP RMS errors (∼4 dB) were less than the ASAPS RMS errors (∼8 dB). The errors for the two programs were very similar for 3.330 MHz propagation, peaking at ∼9 dB just after sunrise and just before sunset and ∼3 dB during the night.
Comparison of sampling methods for determining relative densities of Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) on citrus.

Four sampling methods that included A-Vac, D-Vac, pole-bucket, and beat-net devices were evaluated for estimating relative densities of glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitri- pennis (Germar) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) nymphs and adults on citrus (Citrus spp.) trees. All four methods produced similar temporal and spatial distribution proÞles, although signiÞcant differences in quantities of H. vitripennis adults and nymphs caught by each device were observed. The four sampling methods also showed a consistent male bias in adult populations across a range of densities, suggesting that previously reported male-biased sex ratios in H. vitripennis adult populations are real and not a product of sampling bias. A strong relationship (R 2 0.95) between the monitoring methods we evaluated and yellow sticky trap catches of female H. vitripennis adults suggest that yellow sticky trap catches may provide a good relative index of infestation levels in citrus trees. Based on quantitative analyses examining precision and cost, the pole bucket was the most efÞcient method for sampling nymphs, and it was as efÞcient as the beat-net method for sampling adults and both stages combined. In addition to these analyses, consideration of other sampling characteristics such as added sexibility in sampling and higher sensitivity in detecting infestations within individual trees helped to fortify the conclusion that the pole bucket was the best overall sampling method of those tested.
Construction and validation of an eight-iron approach test.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to construct a golf test which would be usable for assessing the ability to perform an eight-iron approach shot at a distance of 12 yards from the pin. A good approach shot was defined as one which is high enough to avoid potential hazards between the point of contact and the pin and which comes to rest at or near the pin. Pilot studies were conducted to determine target size, number of trials and days of testing, hitting distance, objectivity, and reliability. The revised test was administered to 424 beginning golfers. Reliability estimates determined by analysis of variance procedures and by correlation techniques indicated that the test was reliable for the subjects involved. Logical validity was claimed and was further supported by comparing mean scores of a beginning and an experienced group. The test confidently differentiated the performance of the two groups.
Enterprise Network Monitoring Using Treemaps

Treemaps may provide significant advantages over tabular data in corporate enterprise applications, due to their inherent ability to support users' integration of multiple dimensions of information. This study investigated the usability of treemaps for enterprise system administrators who monitor servers and web applications. Manipulated factors included hierarchy representation, data scale, and comparison with unsorted tables. The treemap hierarchy representations differed significantly in their support of the identification, comparison, and analysis tasks, but were significantly faster and more accurate than tabular data views. Treemap learnability was at least as successful as for tables. Performance differences between treemaps and tables increased with increasing size of datasets. Users' subjective ratings overwhelmingly supported treemaps over tabular data views. These results suggest that treemaps should be included as a standard graphical component in enterprise-level data analysis and monitoring ...
Oviposition by Trichosirocalus horridus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a Biological Control Agent for Carduus Thistles, on Plants Treated with Low Dosages of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid

Oviposition by Trichosirocalus horridus (Panzer) on Carduus thistles treated with low dosages of a commonly used herbicide for thistle control, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), was examined in greenhouse and small-plot field studies. Ovipositing weevils placed in cages in the greenhouse with rosettes treated with 5% of the recommended field dosage (1.68 kg/ha) responded to deteriorating leaf condition as a result of 2,4-D treatment rather than to the presence of the herbicide. Fewer eggs were laid in drying or dead leaves than in healthy leaves. Egg viability and larval mortality were not affected by the herbicide. In field studies, oviposition was not different between thistles sprayed with 15% of the recommended field dosage of 2,4-D and control; musk thistle was preferred over plumeless thistle for oviposition.
Conversion of 15th Carbon of Palmitic Acid to C02 by the Intact Rat.

Summary1. Palmitic acid labeled with C14 in its 15th carbon atom was injected intravenously, in the form of its triglyceride, into fasted rats, and the expired C02 was collected at various time intervals. 2. The amounts of C14O2 expired and the specific activity-time relationships of the expired C02 after the injection of tripalmitin-15-C14 correspond closely to the results reported previously with tripalmitin-1-C14, tripalmitin-6-C14, and tri-palmitin-11-C14. Our present findings thus support our previous postulate that the fasted intact rat, in contrast to certain isolated tissue preparations, converts all carbon atoms of palmitic acid to C02 at practically identical rates. 3. Possible explanations which may account for the differences observed between intact animals and isolated liver preparations are examined.
NEURAL REACTIVITY TO REWARD AS A PREDICTOR OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY RESPONSE IN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a well-established treatment for anxiety and depression; however, response to CBT is heterogeneous across patients and many remain symptomatic after therapy, raising the need to identify prospective predictors for treatment planning. Altered neural processing of reward has been implicated in both depression and anxiety, and improving hedonic capacity is a goal of CBT. However, little is known about how neural response to reward relates to CBT outcomes in depression and anxiety. The current study used the reward positivity (RewP) event-related potential (ERP) component to examine whether neural reactivity to reward would predict CBT response in a sample of patients with anxiety without depression (n = 30) and comorbid anxiety and depression (CAD, n = 22). METHODS: Participants completed a guessing reward ERP paradigm before completing 12 weeks of standard CBT. RESULTS: The majority of the sample (68%; 35 out of 52 patients) responded to treatment, and those with a reduced RewP at baseline were more likely to respond to treatment. A reduced RewP was also associated with a greater pre-to-post CBT reduction in depressive symptoms among individuals with CAD, but not among individuals with pure anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: CBT may be most beneficial in reducing depressive symptoms for individuals who demonstrate decreased reward reactivity prior to treatment. CBT may target reward brain function, leading to greater improvement in symptoms. These effects may be strongest, and therefore most meaningful, for individuals with reward-processing deficits prior to treatment.© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Language: en
Non-linear controller approach for an autonomous battery-assisted photovoltaic system feeding an AC load with a non-linear component

The conventional controller design of the autonomous photovoltaic (PV) energy system feeding a load is usually based on a dual-loop cascade controller structure. The controllers are designed based on the small signal equations of the non-linear system. However, most of the elements comprising the energy system are non-linear in nature such that controllers based on small signal models are not effective in all operability regions. Since the PV-battery-assisted energy system has four inputs and five controlled outputs, it is a non-square mult-input–multi-output system as well. To consider the non-linear behaviour of the system, the concept of feedback linearisation control algorithm is used which provides satisfactory performance, ensures input–output decoupled control on each of the outputs and gives the opportunity to achieve any level of dynamic performance through appropriate locations of the closed-loop eigenvalues and zeros. Different modes of operation of the autonomous, battery-assisted PV system and their controls are investigated and their boundaries of operation are determined. The proposed control algorithm is programmed to operate in all the modes of operation and it is shown that for various load demands, solar irradiation levels and the status of the battery, the control system set forth faithfully follows the reference points. These assertions are validated with computer simulation results.
Anaerobic digestate as a nutrient medium for the growth of the green microalga Neochloris oleoabundans

In this study, the microalga Neochloris oleoabundans was cultivated in a sustainable manner using diluted anaerobic digestate to produce biomass as a potential biofuel feedstock. Prior to microalgae cultivation, the anaerobic digestate was characterized and several pretreatment methods including hydrogen peroxide treatment, filtration, and supernatant extraction were investigated and their impact on the removal of suspended solids as well as other organic and inorganic matter was evaluated. It was found that the supernatant extraction was the most convenient pretreatment method and was used afterwards to prepare the nutrient media for microalgae cultivation. A bench-scale experiment was conducted using multiple dilutions of the supernatant and filtered anaerobic digestate in 16 mm round glass vials. The results indicated that the highest growth of the microalga N. oleoabundans was achieved with a total nitrogen concentration of 100 mg N/L in the 2.29% diluted supernatant in comparison to the filtered digestate and other dilutions.
The Genesis of Geometric Algebra: A Personal Retrospective

Even today mathematicians typically typecast Clifford Algebra as the “algebra of a quadratic form,” with no awareness of its grander role in unifying geometry and algebra as envisaged by Clifford himself when he named it Geometric Algebra. It has been my privilege to pick up where Clifford left off—to serve, so to speak, as principal architect of Geometric Algebra and Calculus as a comprehensive mathematical language for physics, engineering and computer science. This is an account of my personal journey in discovering, revitalizing and extending Geometric Algebra, with emphasis on the origin and influence of my book Space-Time Algebra. I discuss guiding ideas, significant results and where they came from—with recollection of important events and people along the way. Lastly, I offer some lessons learned about life and science.
Novel Opening Device for Glass Ampoule

Objective To develop a novel opening device for glass ampoule.Methods This device included a sheath with emery wheel ring.The sheath was constituted of two sections,the anterior part was elastic with emery wheel ring,which could sand the neck body of the glass ampoule;there was a sprinkler pressing switch in the posterior part,which could disinfect the neck of the glass ampoule.Results The sanding of the glass ampoules was achieved,which made the upper neck broken off from the ampoules neatly.The action was coherent so as to prevent the damage to the nursing staff.The front pressing sprinkler could disinfect the neck of the glass ampoule,which ensured that the liquid was not contaminated.Conclusion This novel device can disinfect and quickly open all kinds of glass ampoules because the sheath diameter is variable,so the operation time and damage is obviously decreased.
Synthesis of (2R,8' S,3' E)-δ-tocodienol, a tocoflexol family member designed to have a superior pharmacokinetic profile compared to δ-tocotrienol.

A group of side chain partially saturated tocotrienol analogues, namely tocoflexols, have been previously designed in an effort to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of tocotrienols. (2R,8′S,3′E)-δ-Tocodienol (1) was predicted to be a high value tocoflexol for further pharmacological evaluation. We now report here an efficient eight-step synthetic route to compound 1 utilizing naturally-occurring δ-tocotrienol as a starting material (24% total yield). The key step in the synthesis is oxidative olefin cleavage of δ-tocotrienol to afford the chroman core of 1 with retention of chirality at the C-2 stereocenter.
Empirically identified goals for the management of unexplained symptoms.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Effective management of patients with medically unexplained symptoms may be influenced by physicians' goals. This study's objective was to identify physicians' goals for managing primary care patients with unexplained symptoms. METHODS This was a qualitative study of patients and clinicians from primary care clinics in Iowa and Illinois. Interviews were conducted with 47 patients who had unexplained symptoms and the 36 primary care clinicians who managed them. The interviews were transcribed and coded independently by two investigators. Categories for coding responses were derived from the data and the literature. RESULTS Eleven goals were identified and grouped into four classes based on whether they were disease centered, patient centered, society centered, or clinician centered. The three goals most commonly held by patients were patient centered: clinician support (62%), functional improvement (45%), and patient coping (43%). The most common clinician goals were symptom alleviation (38%), patient coping (32%), and functional improvement (30%). Only one clinician (2%) cited making the patient feel supported as a goal. CONCLUSIONS The goals of clinician support and patient coping appear to have value to patients beyond being means for achieving symptom alleviation. Although receiving physician support is an important goal for patients, it was not a commonly recognized goal by physicians. Clearly identified management goals may improve the care of patients with medically unexplained symptoms and help clinicians achieve greater satisfaction with the management of these patients.
Remineralized dentin lesions induced by glass ionomer demonstrate increased resistance to subsequent acid challenge.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that remineralized dentin lesions induced by glass ionomer are less vulnerable to subsequent acid challenge. Method and Materials: Baseline demineralized (BDe) lesions were created in 50 bovine dentin slices immersed for 3 weeks in acid solution. A resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGI) was applied to the specimens before immersion in salivalike solution to allow remineralization (Re) for 2 weeks (V2W) or 6 weeks (V6W). Resin-modifed glass ionomer was coated to block further ion release before a 3-week immersion in acid solution as a second demineralization (SDe). Control groups (C2W and C6W) were done simultaneously without RMGI. In another group, RMGI was left undisturbed (V2W+) to allow continuous ion release during SDe. Mineral content was converted from microradiographs, after BDe, Re, and SDe steps. Changes in mineral content were calculated and compared between groups. Results: The remineralized surface zone was maintained after SDe, but the lesion body became deeper. Percentage of mineral loss from SDe was not significantly different between V2W and C2W (t test, P > .05). When remineralization was extended to 6 weeks, V6W showed significantly less mineral loss than C6W. Mineral loss was lowest when RMGI was not blocked (V2W+). Conclusion: Dentin lesions remineralized in the presence of RMGI maintained the highly mineralized surface zone when subjected to second demineralization. However, the remineralized surface zone could not prevent advance of the lesion body. The subsequent demineralization was markedly reduced by extending the remineralization period or by leaving the RMGI undisturbed to resume ion release.
Exposure to a PBDE/OH-BDE mixture alters juvenile zebrafish (Danio rerio) development.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and their metabolites (e.g., hydroxylated BDEs [OH-BDEs]) are contaminants frequently detected together in human tissues and are structurally similar to thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones partially mediate metamorphic transitions between life stages in zebrafish, making this a critical developmental window that may be vulnerable to chemicals disrupting thyroid signaling. In the present study, zebrafish were exposed to 6-OH-BDE-47 (30 nM; 15 μg/L) alone, or to a low-dose (30 μg/L) or high-dose (600 μg/L) mixture of PentaBDEs, 6-OH-BDE-47 (0.5-6 μg/L), and 2,4,6-tribromophenol (5-100 μg/L) during juvenile development (9-23 d postfertilization) and evaluated for developmental endpoints mediated by thyroid hormone signaling. Fish were sampled at 3 time points and examined for developmental and skeletal morphology, apical thyroid and skeletal gene markers, and modifications in swimming behavior (as adults). Exposure to the high-dose mixture resulted in >85% mortality within 1 wk of exposure, despite being below reported acute toxicity thresholds for individual congeners. The low-dose mixture and 6-OH-BDE-47 groups exhibited reductions in body length and delayed maturation, specifically relating to swim bladder, fin, and pigmentation development. Reduced skeletal ossification was also observed in 6-OH-BDE-47-treated fish. Assessment of thyroid and osteochondral gene regulatory networks demonstrated significantly increased expression of genes that regulate skeletal development and thyroid hormones. Overall, these results indicate that exposures to PBDE/OH-BDE mixtures adversely impact zebrafish maturation during metamorphosis. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:36-48. © 2016 SETAC.
Stellar properties and spectra

Stars exist in great variety. They are among the most stable, as well as occasionally the most unstable, objects in the Universe. While extremely massive stars have short but very active lifetimes of only millions of years after birth, the oldest stars have estimated ages of up to 14 billion years at the present epoch, not much shorter (though it must be) than the estimated age of the Universe obtained by other means, such as the cosmological Hubble expansion. In fact, the estimates of the age of the Universe are thereby constrained, since the Universe cannot be younger than the derived age of the oldest stars – an obvious impossibility. Stellar ages are estimated using well-understood stellar astrophysics. On the other hand, variations in the rate of Hubble expansion may depend on the observed matter density in the Universe, the gravitational ‘deceleration parameter’, the ‘cosmological constant’, ‘dark’ (unobserved) matter and energy, and other exotic and poorly understood entities. Needless to say, this is an interesting and rather controversial area of research, and is further discussed in Chapter 14. But stars are the most basic astronomical objects, and astronomers are confident that stellar physics is well-understood. This confidence is grounded in over a century of detailed study of stars, with the Sun as the obvious prototype. Most of this knowledge is derived from spectroscopy which, in turn, yields a wealth of information on nearly every aspect of stellar astrophysics; stellar luminosities, colours, temperatures, sizes, ages, composition, etc.
A Protocol for Privately Reporting Ad Impressions at Scale

We present a protocol to enable privacy preserving advertising reporting at scale. Unlike previous systems, our work scales to millions of users and tens of thousands of distinct ads. Our approach builds on the homomorphic encryption approach proposed by Adnostic, but uses new cryptographic proof techniques to efficiently report billions of ad impressions a day using an additively homomorphic voting schemes. Most importantly, our protocol scales without imposing high loads on trusted third parties. Finally, we investigate a cost effective method to privately deliver ads with computational private information retrieval.
Strategy to Detect Bug in Pre-silicon Phase

Bugs still escape to post-silicon despite huge effort has been put into validating the design in pre-silicon phase. This could cost an immediate stepping while some other bugs may have a software workaround. Running more tests may still miss the bugs. Therefore it is necessary to have an effective strategy during pre-silicon phase. This paper will present a strategy to derive the test points from the validation objective, and set the domain to test based on the micro-architecture, before entering simulation environment. This strategy utilized Coverage Based Validation (CVB), with test points and domain coded as coverage points, while the test generator directed the transactions into the domain to test. This provides a comprehensive validation coverage to the design under test.
Supplemental Appendix to: The Incompetence Trap: The (Conditional) Irrelevance of Agency Expertise

This is the supplemental appendix to The Incompetence Trap: The (Conditional) Irrelevance of Agency Expertise.The paper can be accessed here: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2758229.
Carrying asymmetric loads during stair negotiation

Individuals often carry items in one hand instead of both hands during activities of daily living. The combined effects of carrying asymmetric loads and stair negotiation may create even higher demands on the low back and lower extremity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of symmetric and asymmetric loading conditions on L5/S1 and lower extremity moments during stair negotiation. Twenty-two college students performed stair ascent and stair descent on a three-step staircase (step height 18.5cm, tread depth 29.5cm) at preferred pace under five load conditions: no load, 10% body weight (BW) unilateral load, 20% BW unilateral load, 10% BW bilateral load, and 20% BW bilateral load. Video cameras and force platforms were used to collect kinematic and kinetic data. Inverse dynamics was used to calculate frontal plane moments for the L5/S1 and lower extremity. A 20% BW unilateral load resulted in significantly higher peak L5/S1 lateral bending, hip abduction, and external knee varus moments than nearly all other loading conditions during stair ascent and stair descent. Therefore, we suggest potential benefits when carrying symmetrical loads as compared to an asymmetric load in order to decrease the frontal joint moments, particularly at 20% BW load.
Applying behavioral conditioning to identify anticipatory behaviors.

ABSTRACTThe ability to predict regular events can be adaptive for nonhuman animals living in an otherwise unpredictable environment. Animals may exhibit behavioral changes preceding a predictable event; such changes reflect anticipatory behavior. Anticipatory behavior is broadly defined as a goal-directed increase in activity preceding a predictable event and can be useful for assessing well being in animals in captivity. Anticipation may look different in different animals, however, necessitating methods to generate and study anticipatory behaviors across species. This article includes a proposed method for generating and describing anticipatory behavior in zoos using behavioral conditioning. The article also includes discussion of case studies of the proposed method with 2 animals at the San Francisco Zoo: a silverback gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and a red panda (Ailurus fulgens). The study evidence supports anticipation in both animals. As behavioral conditioning can be used with many animals, th...
On the Accessibility Problem in Control Theory

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights accessibility problem in control theory. The Caratheodory's work on the Lagrange variational problem is applicable to the accessibility problem. This is considered that suppose H ⊂ V (M) defines a nonsingular Pfaffian system on M, with D (H) = V (M). Then, for x 0 ∈ M, φ(P (H, x 0 )) = M, that is, every point is accessible from x 0 . This leaves open the stability problem. The chapter states the Chow's theorem and then restates the result of the theorem in forms suggesting generalizations to more general path systems.
Atheroma and Intimal Fibroplasia in Relation to Obesity

Measures of obesity in this study revealed associations with coronary intimai lipid deposition, as reflected in the extent of foam cell infiltration seen in H&E stained paraffin sections. The aging linked fibroplasia had no clear or consistent association with obesity. Whereas the fibroplasia of aging seems to be accelerated by factors such as periodontal disease and hyalinization of renal arterioles, lipid deposition seems to be affected by other factors such as obesity. These two dimensions of atherogenesis sometimes act independently of each other in this data set.