cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synaptic reorganization in the degenerating lateral geniculate nucleus of the rabbit

An investigation of synaptic plasticity in the lateral geniculate nucleus has been carried out in rabbits surviving one day to one year following ipsilateral visual cortex removal. There is extensive retrograde degeneration of LGN neurons, and the altered nucleus thus provides a model for examining reorganization of optic tract axons which have been deprived of their normal postsynaptic membrane. The distribution of synaptic contacts in normal LGN was quantitatively determined. In the animals surviving 1–14 days after cortex ablation, there was extensive cell death and loss of the axodendritic synapses of cortical origin, which constitute the most numerous synaptic type in normal LGN. In animals surviving 4–12 months, there were few remaining neurons and dendrites. The fine structure of the nucleus was characterized by a shift from axodendritic synaptic contacts, as in the normal, to a ten–fold increase in axoaxonal synapses, which became the dominant population. The contribution of optic axons to this synaptic population was determined by contralateral retinal removal. It was found that the synaptic axoaxonal organization in the altered LGN follows the rules of normal organization, in that optic afferents are invariably the presynaptic component in round to flat vesicle axoaxonal synapses. The LGN's undergoing chronic retrograde degeneration shrank to about twothirds the size of the normal nucleus. There was no evidence of reduction in the length of optic tract axons within the nucleus. The evidence indicates that there are new synaptic contacts formed between surviving axons in the degenerating LGN, as a consequence of the loss of postsynaptic dendritic membrane. The new synapse formation is guided by the normal rules of axoaxonal organization, indicating a maintenance of recognition of appropriate membrane for synaptic contact in the reordered LGN. It cannot be stated whether sprouting of axons accompanies the formation of new synapses or whether the new synaptic contacts are exclusively between preexisting synaptic knobs in LGN.
Is Plea Bargaining in the “Shadow of the Trial” a Mirage?

It has been well established that a “plea discount” or “trial penalty” exists, such that defendants who plead guilty receive significant sentencing discounts relative to what they would receive if convicted at trial. Theorists argue that the exact value of this plea discount is determined by bargaining “in the shadow of a trial,” meaning that plea decision-making is premised on the perceived probable outcome of a trial. In trials, the strength of the evidence against defendants greatly impacts the probability of conviction. In the present study, we estimate the probability of conviction at the individual level for those who pled guilty. We find that, contrary to the shadow of the trial model, evidentiary factors either do not impact or negatively impact the probability of conviction, which stands in stark contrast to the impact evidence has at trials. These findings suggest that plea bargain decision-making may not occur in the shadow of the trial.
Biogeography and the Biodiversity Crisis

Clearly one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the next century is the biodiversity crisis and the associated degradation of the Earth’s biosphere. Biogeography can contribute to our understanding of this crisis in several important ways because the mechanisms governing the current mass extinction are partly related to biogeographic phenomena. For example, among the primary causes of the precipitous loss of biological diversity are invasive species (Brown and Lomolino, 1998; Cohen and Carlton, 1998; Eldredge, 1998), i.e., species that are moved by humans, accidentally or intentionally, to new regions. When these new species arrive in endemic areas they sometimes proliferate to the detriment of the taxa already present. There are numerous examples of this phenomenon [see, e.g., Elton (1958) and Cohen and Carlton (1998)], and invasive species are estimated to cost $123 billion a year through their negative effects on crops, human health, and lost commerce (Stolzenburg, 1999). In fact, the problem has become so serious that in February 1999, President Clinton signed an executive order that established the Invasive Species Council to counter it.
Investigating the temporal relationship between individual-level social capital and health in fragile families

The potential for social capital to influence health outcomes has received significant attention, yet few studies have assessed the temporal ordering between the two. Even less attention has been paid to more vulnerable populations, such as low-income women with children. Our objective was to explore how different dimensions of social capital impact future health status among this population. This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being (FFCWB) Study, which has followed a cohort of children and their families born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000 to mostly minority, unmarried parents who tend to be at greater risk for falling into poverty. Four separate measures of social capital were constructed, which include measures of social support and trust, social participation, perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion, and perceptions of neighborhood social control. The temporal effect of social capital on self-reported health (SRH) is investigated using logistic regression and we hypothesize that higher levels of social capital are associated with higher levels of self-rated health. After controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors related to social capital and self-rated health, social support and trust, perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion and control at an earlier point in time were positively associated with higher levels of health four-years later. Social participation was not related to increased health. The empirical results appear robust. Higher levels of social capital are predictive of improved health over a four-year time frame. These results suggest that policy initiatives supporting increasing the social capital available and accessible by low-income, urban, minority women are viable for improving health. Such policies may have the potential to reduce socioeconomic health disparities.
Processing of Unnaturally Ordered Sentences in Comprehending

As I pointed out in Lecture VII, in effect the Listener’s task is to “recover”, via interactions between his operator and his buffer, the naturally ordered cognitive structures from which the Speaker necessarily started. F VIII-II gives the essence of this abstract performance theory as it applies to Listeners’ comprehending sentences that have been unnaturally ordered to satisfy the salience motives of Speakers.
Regulation of Enterotoxin Production in Clostridium perfringens

Publisher Summary The early studies led to investigations into the physiological and genetic basis for enterotoxin production by sporulating C. perfringens cells. Using DS medium, Duncan constructed a fairly precise kinetic analysis of sporulation, enterotoxin synthesis, and release of the mature spore by the mother cell during the growth and sporulation cycle of C. perfringens type A strain NCTC 8798. Genetic evidence in support of the coregulation of sporulation and Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) synthesis was provided by the analysis of spontaneous and chemical sporulation mutants of CPE+ C. perfringens type A strain NCTC 8798. During the sporulation cycle, CPE synthesis appears to be regulated at the transcriptional level. The levels of both cpe mRNA and protein rose rapidly in synchrony, about 1 hour after the cells entered stationary phase, indicating that the increase in CPE expression as cells enter sporulation results from increased transcription of the cpe gene. Expression of CPE in Escherichia coli is useful as a heterologous host system for identifying gene products that regulate cpe expression. CPE expression is detected by the E. coli transformants, even though naturally nonenterotoxigenic C. perfringens transformants carrying the same shuttle plasmid are able to produce significant levels of CPE.
Molecular Evidence for the Systematic Position of Urocynchramus pylzowi

Urocynchramus pylzowi, known variously as Przewalski's Rosefinch, Pink-tailed Rosefinch, and Pinktailed Bunting, is a finch-like bird of uncertain systematic affinities that is endemic to the mountains of western China. In many linear classifications (e.g. Sharpe 1909, Vaurie 1959, Peters 1968, Morony et al. 1975), it is listed next to the Long-tailed Rosefinch (Uragus sibiricus) in the Carduelinae, to which it is similar in size and several plumage characters. Urocynchramus has a much thinner bill than Uragus, but both species have disproportionately long tails compared with the rest of the cardueline finches, and the males are bright pink on the throat, breast, and belly. Females of both species are streaked, sparrow-like, and lack the bright pink coloration. Uragus and Urocynchramus also are exclusively Asiatic and live at high elevations near the center of species diversity of rosefinches in the genus Carpodacus, to which a close relationship with Uragus has never been questioned. The few available accounts of its ecology and behavior (Przewalski 1876 [recounted in Vaurie 1956], Schafer 1938, B. King pers. comm.) state that the habitat associations, patterns of flight, and postures of Urocynchramus are similar to those of Uragus. Despite its resemblance to Uragus, Urocynchramus frequently has been classified as an emberizid bunting (Sharpe 1888, Dresser 1902, Sibley and Monroe 1990). Przewalski (1876), who first collected and described the bird, noted the similarity of its bill structure to that of buntings and regarded its song as similar to that of the bunting Cynchramus (= Emberiza) schoeniclus. Sushkin (1927) considered the external anatomy and structure of the horny palette of Urocynchramus to be most like that of buntings. Zusi (1978) found that features of its interorbital septum were unlike those of cardueline finches, but he could neither confirm nor reject its possible relationship to buntings. The most perplexing aspect of Urocynchramus is the condition of its outer primary (P10), which is about two-thirds the length of P9. Although a welldeveloped P10 such as this is characteristic of many oscine families, all fringillids and emberizids are "nine-primaried" in that P10 is vestigial. Although the nine-primaried condition has been derived often in oscines, no taxon within a nine-primaried group is known to have undergone a character reversal to secondarily derive the "ten-primaried" state (see
Rehabilitation of the elderly crash victim.

In summary, the field of PM&R offers a focused interdisciplinary approach to the person with a disability and specifically to the older adult with functional limitations. The elderly crash victim presents with a multitude of problems that can be managed well in a geriatric rehabilitation setting, following acute management interventions. The importance of early assessment of social supports, living situations, physical abilities, and functional skills cannot be overemphasized. It is also vital to understand the various rehabilitation settings available and which setting is most appropriate to allow the older adult to achieve maximal independence in a variety of functional tasks, including driving. Language: en
Practical Application of Preoperative and Intraoperative Cortical Mapping in Surgery

While anatomical and functional imaging are helpful in localizing the relationship of lesions to eloquent cortical regions, the high temporal and spatial resolution of cortical mapping during resection render this technique the gold standard for ensuring maximal extent of safe resection of intrinsic brain tumors and epileptogenic lesions.
The effects of self-regulated learning training on community college students’ metacognition and achievement in developmental math courses

ABSTRACTThe effects of training in self-regulation on metacognition and math achievement were investigated. The participants were 116 community college students enrolled in developmental math courses. Students enrolled in 16 classrooms were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups. Participants in the treatment group completed four self-regulated learning (SRL) exercises based on Zimmerman’s (2002) cyclical model. The exercises were completed weekly and repeated for a total of 3 weeks. During the last week of class, participants completed a final exam to measure math achievement as well as the metacognitive self-regulation and time/study environment management scales on the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire ([MSLQ], Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991). There were significant differences between the two groups, indicating that training in SRL improved math achievement and metacognitive skills assessed on both MSLQ scales. The findings suggested that training in SRL improv...
Model Reduction for Reaction-Diffusion Systems: Bifurcations in Slow Invariant Manifolds

Slow invariant manifolds (SIM) are calculated for spatially inhomogeneous closed reactive systems to obtain a model reduction. A simple oxygen dissociation reaction-diffusion system is evaluated. SIMs are calculated using a robust method of finding the system’s equilibria and integrating to find heteroclinic orbits. Diffusion effects are obtained by using a Galerkin method to project the infinite dimensional dynamical system onto a low dimensional approximate inertial manifold. This projection rigorously accounts for the coupling of reaction and diffusion processes. An analytic coupling between reaction and diffusion time scales is shown to be a function of length scale. A critical length scale is identified where reaction and diffusion time scales are equal. At this critical length scale, a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation occurs which changes the SIM.
Managing Privacy of User Generated Information in a Web 2.0 World

AbstractWeb 2.0 based social networking services (SNSs) have experienced phenomenal growth in the last several years. The potential economic benefits created by the growth of these SNSs have been accompanied by challenges to managing privacy of user-generated information. As the growth of these SNSs continues organizations struggle to cope with managing privacy of user generated information. This paper identifies three principles that if followed will help an organization ensure that privacy of user generated information on SNSs is managed effectively. Failure to address privacy by SNSs can lead to legal challenges by users, privacy advocacy groups, society and the government. Increased legislation that is harsh and unpopular will limit SNSs from exploiting economic opportunities and users of these applications can end up losing a potential source of sharing data with friends and family.
Host-tree selection by western pine shoot borer (Lepidoptera: Olethreutidae) in ponderosa pine plantations

Eucosma sonomana Kearfott, the western pine shoot borer, damages terminal shoots of pines by mining the pith and stunting growth of infested leaders. A study in central Oregon in a young ponderosa pine plantation showed that those trees with the largest terminal buds also produced the longest leaders. The larger buds were also favored for attack by the shoot borer. As a result, the potentially largest leaders in the plantation are most likely to be infested.
Infantile Status Epilepticus & Mesial TLE

The clinical and EEG characteristics of initial status epilepticus (SE) during infancy were studied in six patients seen in the emergency clinic between 1977 and 1988 at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Japan.
An iterative algorithm for delay-constrained minimum-cost multicasting

The bounded shortest multicast algorithm (BSMA) is presented for constructing minimum-cost multicast trees with delay constraints. The BSMA can handle asymmetric link characteristics and variable delay bounds on destinations, specified as real values, and minimizes the total cost of a multicast routing tree. Instead of the single-pass tree construction approach used in most previous heuristics, the new algorithm is based on a feasible-search optimization strategy that starts with the minimum-delay multicast tree and monotonically decreases the cost by iterative improvement of the delay-bounded multicast tree. The BSMA's expected time complexity is analyzed, and simulation results are provided showing that BSMA can achieve near-optimal cost reduction with fast execution.
Personalized medicine approach confirms a milder case of ABAT deficiency.

ABAT deficiency (OMIM 613163) is a rare inborn error of metabolism caused by recessive variants in the gene 4-aminobutyric acid transaminase (ABAT), which is responsible for both the catalysis of GABA and maintenance of nucleoside pools in the mitochondria. To date, only a few patients have been reported worldwide. Their clinical presentation has been remarkably consistent with primary features of severe psychomotor retardation, encephalopathy, hypotonia, and infantile-onset refractory epilepsy. We report a new case of ABAT deficiency that marks an important departure from previous clinical findings. The patient presented at age 6 months with global developmental delay, hypotonia, hypersomnolence and mild choreiform movements. At age 18 months, the subject’s clinical presentation was still milder than all previously reported patients and, most notably, did not include seizures. Clinical whole exome sequencing revealed two heterozygous ABAT missense variants that are rare and predicted damaging, but never before reported in a patient and were reported as variants of unknown significance. To test the potential pathogenicity of the variants identified in this patient we developed a cell-based system to test both functions of the ABAT protein via GABA transaminase enzyme activity and mtDNA copy number assays. This systematic approach was validated using vigabatrin, the irreversible inhibitor of ABAT, and leveraged to test the functionality of all ABAT variants in previously reported patients plus the variants in this new case. This work confirmed the novel variants compromised ABAT function to similar levels as variants in previously characterized cases with more severe clinical presentation, thereby confirming the molecular diagnosis of this patient. Additionally, functional studies conducted in cells from both mild and severe patient fibroblasts showed similar levels of compromise in mitochondrial membrane potential, respiratory capacity, ATP production and mtDNA depletion. These results illustrate how cell-based functional studies can aid in the diagnosis of a rare, neurological disorder. Importantly, this patient marks an expansion in the clinical phenotype for ABAT deficiency to a milder presentation that is more commonly seen in pediatric genetics and neurology clinics.
Mesenteric Ischemia for the Acute Care Surgeon

Mesenteric ischemia remains one of the most challenging diseases for the acute care surgeon to care for. Identification of the disease process and expedient progression to therapy are the key components of successful management. Depending on etiology, early treatment with revascularization, anticoagulation, resuscitation, antibiotics, and early surgical intervention remain paramount to improve outcomes and prevent disease progression. The mainstays of therapeutic advancement in the recent era have focused on evolution of endovascular techniques. Despite these advancements over the past 30 years, mesenteric ischemia remains a devastating disease with high mortality rates. This chapter describes a multidisciplinary approach to caring for these challenging patients, reviewing classical and novel therapeutic methodologies.
Ranking ultimate teams using a Bayesian score-augmented win-loss model

Ultimate is a field sport played by two teams, each with seven players on the field. USA Ultimate administers nationwide leagues that consist of a regular season and post-season with Sectional, Regional, and National Championship tournaments. USA Ultimate ranks teams by applying an algorithm to the regular season results, and distributes the sixteen bids for the National Championship to the eight regions based on these rankings. Teams then compete at Regionals to earn the bids granted to their region. This article presents a novel score-augmented win-loss model for ranking Ultimate teams and distributing National Championship bids. The proposed approach facilitates predicting the placement of each qualifying team at the 2016 Club National Championships as well. The key innovations are the use of a pseudo-outcome called the win fraction that splits a win between the two teams based on the final score of their match, and a weighted quasi-likelihood function that facilitates discounting older results. The proposed approach is applied to the 2016 Club Division results. Rankings, bid allocations, and predictive placement probabilities are reported, as well as a comparative evaluation with the USA Ultimate algorithm, a win-loss model, and a point-scoring model.
Using TWIG: India's past versus present via topic modeling

In this research, we look at past data collected through a Java programmed web crawler which scrapes the archives of the Indian Express (a leading national newspaper from India) for articles from 2000 until present day, and retrieves them as text files which are then stored in the MongoDB database. In addition, using TWIG (The Web Information Gatherer), we look at current data collected through Twitter and online news sources with RSS Feeds. To this dataset of past and present, we apply topic detection algorithm --- LDA, that allows us to form a generalization of an article which can be used to conclude a general idea about a region during a given time period. The result is visualized as a word cloud for every three years, from 2000 until 2016. This enables us to observe the changes and trends in the topics of interest in India. Similar analysis can be done with countries all over the world. The applications are extremely relevant to the intelligence communities.
Focused ultrasound actuation of shape memory polymers; acoustic-thermoelastic modeling and testing

Controlled drug delivery (CDD) technologies have received extensive attention recently. Despite recent efforts, drug releasing systems still face major challenges in practice, including low efficiency in releasing the pharmaceutical compounds at the targeted location with a controlled time rate. We present an experimentally-validated acoustic-thermoelastic mathematical framework for modeling the focused ultrasound (FU)-induced thermal actuation of shape memory polymers (SMPs). This paper also investigates the feasibility of using SMPs stimulated by FU for designing CDD systems. SMPs represent a new class of materials that have gained increased attention for designing biocompatible devices. These polymers have the ability of storing a temporary shape and returning to their permanent or original shape when subjected to external stimuli such as heat. In this work, FU is used as a trigger for noninvasively stimulating SMP-based systems. FU has a superior capability to localize the heating effect, thus initiating the shape recovery process only in selected parts of the polymer. The multiphysics model optimizes the design of a SMP-based CDD system through analysis of a filament as a constituting base-structure and quantifies its activation under FU. Experimental validations are performed using a SMP filament submerged in water coupled with the acoustic waves generated by a FU transducer. The modeling results are used to examine and optimize parameters such as medium properties, input power and frequency, location, geometry and chemical composition of the SMP to achieve favorable shape recovery of a potential drug delivery system.
Victim Profiles: Direct and Indirect Effects of Anecdotes and Responsibility Attribution on Support for Sex Trafficking Victims

ABSTRACTAnti-sex trafficking advocates often rely on victim stories or profiles to spread awareness and support for sex trafficking victims. Yet little research has examined the effects of these profiles present in media. A 2 (narrative exemplar (anecdote)/non-anecdote) × 2 (victim kidnapped/groomed) between-subjects factorial design experiment with undergraduates (N = 109) examined the impact of victim profiles on mediator variables (i.e., identification, similarity, vulnerability, and victim blaming) and outcome variables (i.e., awareness, support for victim services, and supportive intentions). Significant indirect effects indicated that vulnerability often positively mediated the relationship between profile type and outcome variable, whereas victim blaming negatively mediated that same relationship. This study suggests there may be contexts where unintended effects of victim profiles should be further examined through theoretical lenses and confirms the need to further educate the public about the eq...
Longitudinal Examination of a Bisexual-Specific Minority Stress Process Among Bisexual Cisgender Women:

Bisexual individuals experience increased risk of mental health disorders compared to lesbian, gay, and heterosexual populations. This increased risk is theorized to arise from the stigmatization o...
A Multidisciplinary Team Approach Improves Door to Groin Puncture Time for Endovascular Stroke Therapy in a Comprehensive Stroke Center (P6.010)

Objective: To evaluate the policies and procedures to improve the Door to Groin Puncture (Door-to-Groin) time. We hypothesize that by segmenting the process into three phases: (1) Door to Computed Tomography Angiography performed (Door-to-CTA), (2) CTA performed to Interventional Radiology (IR) suite arrival (CTA-to-IR), and (3) IR arrival to Groin Puncture (IR-to-Groin), will enable the Door-to-Groin goal to be achieved under 70 minutes. Background: Tertiary hospitals are reorganizing to provide more efficient and rapid access to endovascular stroke care. Endovascular interventions are time-sensitive and must be initiated immediately. Process map analysis illustrated that delays in Door-to-Groin time were not due to one specific cause. As guidelines changed, we developed a multidisciplinary collaborative process to encourage departments to avoid working in silos. Design/Methods: A prospective data collection was performed between January 2015 to April 2017 (n=68 patients). The multidisciplinary team discussed endovascular intervention times for every patient. Policies streamlining procedure setup, rapid documentation and patient preparation were introduced to all staff. The intervention involved a parallel process approach that resulted in significant time saving. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results: The Door-to-Groin time decreased by 56% from the first quarter of 2015 (156 minutes, n=3) to the first quarter of 2017 (68.4 minutes, n=18). The average Door-to-Groin time progressively decreased with time [2015 (127 minutes, n=20); 2016 (87.9 minutes, n=30); first quarter of 2017 (68.4 minutes, n=18)]. The streamlined processes aimed at reducing the Door-to-CTA, CTA-to-IR, and IR-to-Groin times, collectively reduced the Door-to-Groin time, thereby, reducing revascularization time. Identifying gaps in communication and performance had a positive impact on patient health outcomes and employee engagement. Conclusions: Complex processes, involving multiple stakeholders, can be streamlined when a targeted improvement process is employed. Utilizing evidence-based medicine to identify appropriate communication and performance gaps yields a reduction in preparation time and directly influences revascularization times. Disclosure: Dr. Wright has nothing to disclose. Dr. Katz has nothing to disclose. Dr. Wright has nothing to disclose. Dr. Setton has nothing to disclose. Dr. Thirunavukkarasu has nothing to disclose.
Activity of Selected Amaryllidaceae Constituents and Related Synthetic Substances Against Medically Important RNA Viruses

RNA viruses comprising the families, Togaviridae, Bunyaviridae, Arenaviridae and Filoviridae cause hemorrhagic, encephalitic or febrile disease and represent significant health hazards to persons living in or traveling through endemic regions of the world. These viruses include: a) Japanese encephalitis (JE), yellow fever (YF) and dengue type 1–4 viruses (flaviviruses); b) Rift Valley fever (RVF), sandfly fever (Sicilian, SF), Hantaan (hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, HFRS) and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) viruses (bunyaviruses); c) Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEE, alphavirus); d) Lassa (LAS) and Junin (JUN) viruses (arenaviruses); and e) Ebola (EBO) and Marburg (MAR) viruses (filoviruses). In general, these viruses are associated with insect (mosquito, tick) or rodent vectors, occur primarily in Asia, Africa or Central/South America, may require an increased level of biohazard protection, and are often referred to as “exotic” viruses in the context of “tropical” medicine (Figure 1). These diseases occur world-wide but the development of appropriate antiviral chemotherapies is not considered economically feasible by the private sector. The drug discovery program of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) seeks to develop antiviral chemotherapeutic agents against several of these viruses. This task is hampered by a limited knowledge of many of the diseases and viruses, the remote location of disease outbreaks with the inherent problems in conducting clinical studies and the requirement for BL3 and BL4 (“spacesuit”) laboratories for biocontainment.
A Force-Directed Layout for Community Detection with Automatic Clusterization

We present a force-directed layout algorithm to detect community ­structure within a network. Our algorithm places nodes in a two-dimensional grid and continuously updates their positions based on two opposing forces: nodes pull connected nodes closer and push non-connected nodes away. To compute the strength of the forces between nodes we make use of two insightful community properties: high-degree nodes contribute more inter-community edges than low-degree nodes and the graph-distance between two nodes is inversely proportional to the probability that they belong to the same community. We present empirical evidence in support of both of these claims. In conjunction, we use a clustering algorithm to monitor and interpret the current community structure. Running our algorithm on well-known social networks, we find that we produce accurate results that avoid some common pitfalls of alternative approaches.
A Story of Her Own: Hester Lynch Piozzi's Autobiography

This essay examines the autobiography of Hester Lynch Piozzi and contextualizes her story within eighteenth-century ideologies of gender and aging. From a narrative understanding of identity, autobiographical writing serves as one of the many stories that constitute an individual's identity. This reading of Piozzi's account finds that it functions both as an act of reminiscing and as an effort to give meaning to life that was often misunderstood. Considering Piozzi as a woman who lived most of her life outside of the social and cultural expectations for a middle class female of her era, this essay suggests the importance of listening to and retelling the stories of others as well as our own.
Digital micromirror control electronics for visible and near-infrared spectroscopy

Digital Micromirror Devices (DMDs) are programmable arrays of up two million tiny mirrors (typically 7 to 14 microns square) that can be tilted into one of two binary states. Typically, they are used to generate video images using digital light modulation, and are most commonly found in DLP projectors, televisions, and more recently 3D printers. In astronomical applications, DMDs can be used as a programmable slit mask in a spectrograph. This paper discusses the development of a new DMD controller, one optimized for near infrared astronomy applications; one that produces static frames, and operates at a much slower data rate with much lower power dissipation, and with fewer signal leads having much longer lengths, sufficient to significantly reduce the thermal load on the DMD.
Crossmodal correspondence between color, shapes, and wine odors

Abstract Crossmodal correspondence is of scientific and commercial interest in regard to the packaging of food and beverages. Research has shown that colors and shapes can be associated with certain aromas, but these interactions have been less extensively studied with authentic visual stimuli (i.e., packaging), or with complex food odors in a matrix. This study investigated odor-color-shape crossmodal interactions with complex odor stimuli (wine odors) and wine labels. The present research used projective mapping with 3D shapes and colors, along with a wine label matching study, to test whether chardonnay odors of different character (buttery, citrus, floral, smoky, and vegetable) were associated with certain colors and shapes. In the projective mapping experiment, most chardonnay odors were grouped similarly; however, the vegetable-forward wine was more associated with sharper shapes. In the label experiment, yellow labels tended to be better matched with all odors, except the vegetable-forward wine, which was matched equally to all colors. These findings indicate that, regardless of odor character, chardonnay is mostly associated with a yellow colored label. Interestingly, results also indicated that not all correspondences aligned with the most common color association of an odor character’s (i.e., vegetative was not strictly associated with green, nor smoky with brown, etc.). Significant correlations were found between stimuli liking and matching scores, speaking to the role of hedonics in correspondences. Overall, the present research demonstrates evidence for odor-color-shape correspondences in complex odors and realistic visual stimuli, but not as strongly as in controlled environments and simplistic stimuli.
Yum-Me: A Personalized Nutrient-Based Meal Recommender System

Nutrient-based meal recommendations have the potential to help individuals prevent or manage conditions such as diabetes and obesity. However, learning people’s food preferences and making recommendations that simultaneously appeal to their palate and satisfy nutritional expectations are challenging. Existing approaches either only learn high-level preferences or require a prolonged learning period. We propose Yum-me, a personalized nutrient-based meal recommender system designed to meet individuals’ nutritional expectations, dietary restrictions, and fine-grained food preferences. Yum-me enables a simple and accurate food preference profiling procedure via a visual quiz-based user interface and projects the learned profile into the domain of nutritionally appropriate food options to find ones that will appeal to the user. We present the design and implementation of Yum-me and further describe and evaluate two innovative contributions. The first contriution is an open source state-of-the-art food image analysis model, named FoodDist. We demonstrate FoodDist’s superior performance through careful benchmarking and discuss its applicability across a wide array of dietary applications. The second contribution is a novel online learning framework that learns food preference from itemwise and pairwise image comparisons. We evaluate the framework in a field study of 227 anonymous users and demonstrate that it outperforms other baselines by a significant margin. We further conducted an end-to-end validation of the feasibility and effectiveness of Yum-me through a 60-person user study, in which Yum-me improves the recommendation acceptance rate by 42.63%.
Platinum ethylene dimerization catalysts: Diphosphine vs. diimine ancillary ligand effects

Abstract Kinetic and mechanistic studies are presented for the (dfepe)Pt(Me)(NC5F5)+ (dfepe = (C2F5)2PCH2CH2P(C2F5)2) ethylene dimerization catalyst system. New labile complexes (dfepe)PtMe(L)+ (L = NC5F5, C6F5CN, C6F5NH2, C6F5NO2) have been prepared. A general extension to a variety of other chelating diphosphine analogues (PP)Pt(Me)(C2H4)+ has been accessed by methyl abstraction from donor (PP)PtMe2 precursors with Ph3C+B(C6F5)4− in the presence of ethylene to cleanly afford (PP)Pt(Me)(C2H4)+ products. Catalysis studies for these more electron-rich diphosphine systems demonstrate moderate dimerization activity which is uniformly higher than reported for (diimine)Pt(Me)(C2H4)+. In several cases allylic catalyst decomposition products (PP)Pt(η3-C3H4Me)+ have been identified. A DFT study of insertion barriers for diimine and diphosphine systems is presented which suggests that weakening of Pt-ethylene ground state binding by strong-field diphosphine ligands is a major contributing factor to the lower ethylene insertion barriers for PP systems.
Playground equipment-related extremity fractures in children presenting to US emergency departments, 2006-2016.

Despite updated playground equipment and improved industry standards, playgrounds remain a common source of childhood injury. Fractures account for 35% of all playground injuries presenting to emergency departments (EDs). We aimed to examine the time trends and epidemiologic patterns of playground equipment-related extremity fractures in children in the United States. We analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Children ≤14 years presenting to US emergency departments from 2006 to 2016 with playground equipment-related injuries were included. We used weighted complex survey analysis to describe the epidemiologic patterns and severity of playground equipment-related extremity fractures and Joinpoint linear weighted regression analysis to determine trends in extremity fractures. An annual average of 72,889 children were treated in US EDs for playground equipment-related extremity fractures, yielding a national annual incidence rate of 119.2 per 100,000 children. Playground equipment-related extremity fractures accounted for 33.9% of ED presentations and 78.7% of hospitalizations for playground equipment-related injuries. Of patients with playground equipment-related extremity fractures, 11.2% had severe fractures requiring hospitalization. The annual rate of ED visits due to playground equipment-related extremity fractures remained stable (annual rate of change = 0.74, p = 0.14) from 2006 to 2016. Adjusted for age, injuries on monkey bars or climbing gyms were associated with significantly increased odds of extremity fractures in comparison to injuries from other playground equipment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.9–2.1). Overall, 49.8% of extremity fractures and 54.7% of severe extremity fractures (i.e. those requiring hospitalization) occurred on monkey bars or climbing gyms. Despite enhanced playground safety standards, national rates of playground equipment-related extremity fractures have remained stable in the US. Extremity fractures remain the most common type of playground injury presenting to EDs and most commonly occur on monkey bars and climbing gyms.
In-Home Floor Based Sensor System-Smart Carpet- to Facilitate Healthy Aging in Place (AIP)

With the rapidly aging population, there is a need to detect elderly’s activity, monitor their health, alert health care personnel, and provide real-time and long-term access to the generated sensor data. With the advances in sensor technologies, communication protocols, computing power, and cloud and edge services, it is now possible to build smart assistive living systems to improve people’s lives. In this research, we present a Context-aware and private real-time reporting aging in place system. The proposed system, we call it smart carpet, consists of a sensor pad placed under a carpet; the electronics reads walking activity to provide an automated health monitoring and alert system. We extended the system’s functionalities to improve its ability to detect falls, measure gait, and count the number of people traversing the carpet (socializing). In an urgent and time-sensitive situation, we need to provide a real-time notification. We propose a cooperative cloudlet model, where the sensors’ data will be sent to the nearest Cloudlet for analysis and extracting real-time decisions in minimal delay. Results showed that our system could assist the elderly in detecting falls with 95% sensitivity and 85% specificity. Measuring and estimating their gait with a mean percentage error difference to GAITRite 1.43% in walking speed; hence, predicting a fall risk and counting people’s plurality socializing with the elderly with an average accuracy of 100%. We evaluated our system’s improvements in a controlled environment. We are looking forward to deploying the system in a nursing home (after the COVID -19 is over) for more data gathering and validations.
Safety Analytics for AI Systems

Growing AI technologies are a threat to safety and security in systems due to its obscurity and uncertainty. This study introduces a prevailing Deep Learning model, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and it’s deep weaknesses through a simple case study of the CNN model based on Keras for handwriting recognition. It reveals that CNN algorithms don’t adapt well to changes. Adding new cases to the training data may improve accuracy, but not to the same level as before. Synthetic training data may improve the accuracy superficially because of the similarity of data distributions between generated data and original data. Prevailing ML models such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) have their limitations such as similarity-addiction and modality collapse. They could be toxic to safety engineering without domain expertise.
Outcomes of status 1 liver transplantation for Budd-Chiari Syndrome with fulminant hepatic failure.

There is a paucity of data on the outcome of liver transplantation (LT) in Budd-Chiari Syndrome (BCS) patients who are listed as status 1. The objective of our study was to determine patient or graft survival following LT in status 1 BCS patients. We utilized United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database to identify all adult patients (> 18 years of age) listed as status 1 with a primary diagnosis of BCS in the United States from 1998 to 2018, and analyzed their outcomes and compared it to non-status 1 BCS patients. Four hundred and forty-six patients with BCS underwent LT between 1998 and 2018, and of these 55 (12.3%) were listed as status 1. There was no difference in long-term post-liver transplant or "intention-to-treat" survival from the time of listing to death or the last day of follow-up between status 1 and non-status 1 groups. Graft and patient survival at 5 years for status 1 patients were 75% and 82%, respectively. Cox regression analysis showed that patients listed as status 1 (aHR: 0.45, p < .02) were associated with a better survival. BCS patients listed as status 1 have excellent survival following emergency LT.
Malnutrition is Associated with Gut Dysbiosis and Perioperative Infections in LVAD Patients

Purpose Malnutrition is common in heart failure (HF) and contributes to poor outcomes. Nutrient metabolism might be influenced by the complex interplay between HF progression, venous congestion, inflammation and gut dysbiosis. We investigated the association between nutritional status and: i) biomarkers of congestion and inflammation; ii) gut microbial diversity; and iii) perioperative infections among HF pts undergoing LVAD. Methods From 8/2016 to 8/2018, hospitalized pts with prospectively collected stool and blood samples prior to LVAD and a nutritional assessment were retrospectively reviewed. Nutritional status was assessed according to current guidelines. Pts were divided into 2 groups: no malnutrition vs malnutrition (≥moderate). Calorie and fiber consumption over 7-day period pre-LVAD was averaged. Serum biomarkers of congestion (NT-proBNP) and inflammation (CRP) were measured. Stool samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing and summarized both at the taxa level, and overall using the Shannon index (a composite metric of gut alpha-diversity). Regression analyses explored differences in Shannon index and individual taxa (via DESeq) by nutritional status. Results 37 pts (56 ±12.6 y, 92% M) were included. 10 (27%) had malnutrition. Malnourished pts had significantly lower Shannon Index (Fig 1A). A positive correlation was found between Shannon index and calorie (r =.36, p=.027) and fiber intake (r= .32, p=.05). We observed n=3 taxa, all with anti-inflammatory properties, to be significantly enriched in pts without malnutrition (Fig 1B). Pre-LVAD levels of NT-proBNP and CRP were similar between groups. Perioperative infections were more prevalent in pts with malnutrition (Fig 1C); specifically, pre-LVAD 50% vs 18% and post-LVAD infections 60% vs 26%, both p=.05. Conclusion Malnutrition is associated with gut dysbiosis and perioperative infections in HF pts undergoing LVAD. Proof of principle trials to increase fiber intake and reduce gut dysbiosis and infection are justified.
Bringing Yang-Mills theory closer to quasiclassics

A deformation of pure Yang-Mills theory by a phantom field similar to the Faddeev-Popov ghost is considered. In this theory an ersatz supersymmetry is identified which results in cancellation of quantum corrections up to two-loop order. A quadruplet built from two complex fields in the adjoint---the Faddeev-Popov ghost ${c}^{a}$ and the phantom ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}}^{a}$, all with the wrong statistics---balances four gauge fields ${a}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}^{a}$. At this level, the instanton measure and the $\ensuremath{\beta}$ function are fully determined by quasiclassics. In a simple ${\ensuremath{\phi}}^{4}$ theory with a phantom added I identify a strictly conserved ersatz supercurrent. In the latter theory unitarity of amplitudes persists despite the presence of the phantom. In deformed Yang-Mills it is likely (although not proven) to persist too in all amplitudes with only gluon external legs. It remains to be seen whether this construction is just a device facilitating some loop calculations or if broader applications can be found.
GoSPA: an energy-efficient high-performance globally optimized sparse convolutional neural network accelerator

The co-existence of activation sparsity and model sparsity in convolutional neural network (CNN) models makes sparsity-aware CNN hardware designs very attractive. The existing sparse CNN accelerators utilize intersection operation to search and identify the key positions of the matched entries between two sparse vectors, and hence avoid unnecessary computations. However, these state-of-the-art designs still suffer from three major architecture-level drawbacks, including 1) hardware cost for the intersection operation is high; 2) frequent stalls of computation phase due to strong data dependency between intersection and computation phases; and 3) unnecessary data transfer incurred by the explicit intersection operation. By leveraging the knowledge of the complete sparse 2-D convolution, this paper proposes two key ideas that overcome all of the three drawbacks. First, an implicit on-the-fly intersection is proposed to realize the optimal solution for intersection between one static stream and one dynamic stream, which is the case for sparse neural network inference. Second, by leveraging the global computation structure of 2--D convolution, we propose a specialized computation reordering to ensure that the activation is only transferred if necessary and only once. Based on these two key ideas, we develop GoSPA, an energy-efficient high-performance Globally Optimized SParse CNN Accelerator. GoSPA is implemented with CMOS 28nm technology. Compared with the state-of-the-art sparse CNN architecture, GoSPA achieves average 1.38X, 1.28X, 1.23X, 1.17X, 1.21X and 1.28X speedup on AlexNet, VGG, GoogLeNet, MobileNet, ResNet and ResNeXt workloads, respectively. Also, GoSPA achieves 5.38X, 4.96X, 4.79X, 5.02X, 4.86X and 2.06X energy efficiency improvement on AlexNet, VGG, GoogLeNet, MobileNet, ResNet and ResNeXt, respectively. In more comprehensive comparison including DRAM access, GoSPA also shows significant performance improvement over the existing designs.