cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Finding the most effective radiopharmaceutical for breast sentinel node studies

2527 Objectives To compare the count statistics on Breast Cancer Sentinel Node studies by evaluating the efficacy of the radiopharmaceutical used. Methods The three different Tc99m radiotracers used for Breast Cancer sentinel node identification are: Unfiltered Sulfur Colloid, Filtered Sulfur Colloid and Tilmanocept. Surgeons use count statistics to identify where the axillary sentinel node is by using a gamma detection system. Count statistics were extrapolated from the surgeon’s final report and the results were compared. No imaging was performed. 30 randomly selected female Breast Cancer patients were evaluated. The patients selected were independent of affected breast and all had zero confirmed metastatic lymph node involvement. Hormone receptors for the groups all were assessed but had varying positivity; therefore no correlations could be made. Patient injections were all a single upper/outer subareolar injection of 500 uCi in 0.3 ml and had an average circulation time of greater than 135 minutes. Results Unfiltered Sulfur Colloid Patient 1= 2300 cts 2= 800 cts 3= 1000 cts 4= None 5= 1000 cts 6= 12000 cts 7= None 8= 40 cts 9= 300 cts 10= 1200 cts Filtered Sulfur Colloid Patient 1= 12500 cts 2= 12000 cts 3= 14000 cts 4= 11000 cts 5= 11000 cts 6= 24000 cts 7= 16000 cts 8= 14000 cts 9= 27000 cts 10= 700 cts Tilmanocept Patient 1= 4500 cts 2= 400 cts 3= None 4= 8000 cts 5= None 6= 1400 cts 7= 600 cts 8= 5000 cts 9= 1900 cts 10= None Conclusions From these data gathered using Tc99m Unfiltered Sulfur Colloid, Tc99m Filtered Sulfur Colloid and Tc99m Tilmanocept, there was a significant difference in counts, or patients that had “hot” nodes. The average count rate was 14220 and the percentage of radioactively “hot” nodes was 100% with Filtered Sulfur Colloid. This was compared to 2330 and 80% respectively using Unfiltered Sulfur Colloid. While Tilmanocept had an average count rate of 2180 and a 70% “hot” node rate. This means that using Unfiltered Sulfur Colloid and Tilmanocept will yield a diminished count rate when compared to Filtered Sulfur Colloid when identifying sentinel lymph nodes in Breast Cancer patients.
Molecular dynamics simulations: insight into molecular phenomena at interfaces.

Molecular dynamics simulations, when aptly devised, can enhance our fundamental understanding of a system, set up a platform for testing theoretical predictions, and provide insight and a framework for further experimental studies. This feature article highlights the importance of molecular dynamics simulations in understanding interfacial phenomena using three case studies involving liquid−liquid and solid−liquid interfaces. After briefly reviewing molecular dynamics methods, we discuss velocity slip at a liquid−liquid interface, the coalescence of liquid drops in suspension and in free space, and the behavior of colloidal nanoparticles at a liquid−liquid interface. We emphasize the utility of simple intermolecular potentials and generic liquids. The case studies exemplify the significant insight gained through the molecular modeling approach regarding the interfacial phenomena studied. We conclude the highlight with a brief discussion illustrating potential shortcomings and pitfalls of molecular dynamic...
Isolated cryptococcuria in a patient with impaired immunity

Abstract Cryptococcus neoformans is an encapsulated yeast that is often associated with serious pulmonary and central nervous system (CNS) infections in immunocompromised hosts. Disseminated cryptococcosis occurs hematogenously. Isolated cryptococcuria has been rarely described in patients without evidence of systemic cryptococcal infection. We describe isolated cryptococcuria in a patient on chronic corticosteroid therapy for sclerosing mesenteritis that was later found to have metastatic adenocarcinoma as well as combined T- and B-cell deficiency.
Coordinated Translanguaging Pedagogy as Distributed Cognition: A Case Study of Two Dual Language Bilingual Education Preschool Coteachers' Languaging Practices during Shared Book Readings.

ABSTRACTThis study examined how a pair of Spanish/English dual language bilingual education (DLBE) preschool teachers enacted their bilingualism while working cohesively and simultaneously toward common instructional goals. We drew on classroom video data, field notes, and other relevant artifacts collected weekly during shared readings of English- and Spanish-language storybooks over the course of one academic year to document coteachers’ book-based interactions with each other and their students. Guided by translanguaging (O. Garcia, 2009a, 2009b; O. Garcia & Wei, 2014) and distributive cognition (Brown & Campione, 1996; Hutchins, 1995) frameworks, findings elucidate how teachers drew on their own and each other’s dynamic bilingualism through both monolingual and bilingual performances, supporting the coordination of instructional targets (e.g., vocabulary, narrative genre) and instructional practices (e.g., translation, explanation). Findings have implications for DLBE program language policy and pract...
Algorithmic advances in anonymous communication over networks

Over the years, researchers have thought extensively about how to communicate anonymously over a network. In this position paper, we first provide an overview of the current research landscape—including a discussion of common communication and anonymity models—and examples of prominent work in this space. In the second half of the paper, we present our thoughts on future directions of interest in this area. In short, we notice an increasing amount of work in the anonymity literature that tackles nearly omnipotent adversaries, which presumably represent the NSA or a similarly powerful surveillance agency. Such strong adversarial models can only be defeated through heavy-handed techniques that may be difficult to scale in practice. We therefore present two guidelines that have guided our own algorithmic problem formulation in this space. These guidelines suggest alternative research directions that (1) exploit surveillance agencies' weaknesses at the physical layer, and (2) consider the many weaker, but still relevant, adversaries who contribute to global censorship and surveillance.
Estimating fuel burn impacts of taxi-out delay with implications for gate-hold benefits

Abstract The aviation community is actively investigating initiatives to reduce aircraft fuel consumption from surface operations, as surface management strategies may face fewer implementation barriers compared with en route strategies. One fuel-saving initiative for the air transportation system is the possibility of holding aircraft at the gate, or the spot, until the point at which they can taxi unimpeded to the departure runway. The extent to which gate holding strategies have financial and environmental benefits hinges on the quantity of fuel that is consumed during surface operations. A pilot of an aircraft may execute the taxi procedure on a single engine or utilize different engine thrust rates during taxi because of a delay. In the following study, we use airline fuel consumption data to estimate aircraft taxi fuel consumption rates during the “unimpeded” and “delayed” portions of taxi time. We find that the fuel consumption attributed to a minute of taxi-out delay is less than that attributed to minute of unimpeded taxi time; for some aircraft types, the fuel consumption rate for a minute of taxi delay is half of that for unimpeded taxi. It is therefore not appropriate, even for rough calculations, to apply nominal taxi fuel consumption rates to convert delayed taxi-out time into fuel burn. On average we find that eliminating taxi delay would reduce overall flight fuel consumption by about 1%. When we consider the savings on an airport-by-airport basis, we find that for some airports the potential reduction from reducing taxi delay is as much as 2%.
Analysis strategy of protein-protein interaction networks

Protein interactions, as well as the networks they formed, play a key role in many cellular processes and the distortion of the protein interacting interfaces may lead to the development of many diseases. In this chapter, we will briefly introduce the background knowledge of the protein-protein interaction, followed by the detailed explanation of varied analysis-from basic to advanced, as well as related tools and databases. VisANT (http://visant.bu.edu)-a free Web-based software platform for the integrative visualization, mining, analysis, and modeling of the biological networks-will be used as a main tool for all examples used in this section.
Controlled Angiogenesis in Peptide Nanofiber Composite Hydrogels

Multidomain peptide (MDP) nanofibers create scaffolds that can present bioactive cues to promote biological responses. Orthogonal self-assembly of MDPs and growth-factor-loaded liposomes generate supramolecular composite hydrogels. These composites can act as delivery vehicles with time-controlled release. Here we examine the controlled release of placental growth factor-1 (PlGF-1) for its ability to induce angiogenic responses. PlGF-1 was loaded either in MDP matrices or within liposomes bound inside MDP matrices. Scaffolds showed expected rapid infiltration of macrophages. When released through liposomes incorporated in MDP gels (MDP(Lipo)), PlGF-1 modulates HUVEC VEGF receptor activation in vitro and robust vessel formation in vivo. These loaded MDP(Lipo) hydrogels induce a high level of growth-factor-mediated neovascular maturity. MDP(Lipo) hydrogels offer a biocompatible and injectable platform to tailor drug delivery and treat ischemic tissue diseases.
Management of Infected Polycystic Kidneys

We report 5 cases of severe uncontrolled infection of polycystic kidneys. Retrograde pyelography antedated infection in 2 of the patients. Difficulty in establishing the diagnosis was demonstrated in all cases. Each patient was treated initially with antibiotics but definitive therapy required an operation in 4 cases.
The Loving Lesson

In this short essay, Professor Hanna reflects upon Loving v. Virginia and how that precedent might help predict the future of same-sex marriage. This essay appears in a special edition of Seven Days, commemorating the recent passage of the Marriage Equality Act in Vermont.
Quality of Life is Similar between Long-term Survivors of Indolent and Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Differences in quality of life (QOL) of long-term survivors of aggressive or indolent subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) have not been frequently evaluated. We assessed these differences by analyzing results of a large QOL survey of long-term NHL survivors. We hypothesized that the incurable nature of indolent NHL would relate to worse QOL in long-term survivors while the potentially cured long-term survivors of aggressive lymphoma would have better QOL. We found that QOL was similar between the two groups. Results suggest that patients with indolent NHL are coping well with their disease, yet experience some overall feelings of life threat.
Stabilization of Gamma Globulin with Copper Complexes: Possible Relevance to the Etiology of Rheumatoid Arthritis

It is proposed that rheumatoid arthritis is due to a deficiency of an endogenous stabilizer of immunoglobulin G. The hypothesis is that this stabilizer is a histidinecystine-copper complex and that the low serum histidine of rheumatoid arthritis produces a decreased level of this complex in serum and synovial fluid. Histidine-cystinecopper inhibits the heat and mechanical aggregation of human IgG in vitro, presumably by blocking specifically those sulfhydryl groups that are sufficiently exposed so as to engage in sulfhydryl-disulfide interchange. The antirheumatic drugs, gold, penicillamine, and chloroquine inhibit denaturation in vitro by the same mechanism. It is proposed that a deficiency of the endogenous stabilizer may contribute to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis by permitting sulfhydryl-dependent, hyaluronate-augmented, mechanical or spontaneous aggregation of synovial fluid IgG. The proposed inflammatory and antigenic pseudoimmune complex thus generated (i.e. aggregated IgG) could theoretically set off a sequence of immunological and enzymatic events leading to rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid factor.
The Heart of Sexual Trauma

Abstract Sexual trauma has a devastating wake that impacts survivors and their intimate relationships. Current couple therapy models address the effects of sexual trauma on individuals and relationships. Many of these models acknowledge the importance of addressing gender inequalities. So far, no model of couple therapy makes patriarchy central to the conceptualization of sexual trauma and treatment. This paper asserts that sexual trauma is one of the most horrific manifestations of patriarchy and therefore is most effectively treated when an understanding of patriarchy is made central to conceptualization and treatment. We propose that inviting couples into conversations about ways in which patriarchy organizes their relationship is liberating for both partners and creates space for more preferred ways of being intimate, doi: 10.1300/ J086vl9n03_02
Profiling the responsiveness of Android applications via automated resource amplification

The responsiveness of the GUI in an Android application is an important component of the user experience. Android guidelines recommend that potentially-expensive operations should not be performed in the GUI thread, but rather in separate threads. The responsiveness of existing code can be improved by introducing such asynchronous processing, either manually or automatically. One simple view is that all potentially-expensive operations should be removed from the GUI thread. We demonstrate that this view is too simplistic, because run-time cost under reasonable conditions may often be below the threshold for poor responsiveness. We propose a profiling approach to characterize response times as a function of the size of a potentially-expensive resource (e.g., shared preferences store, bitmap, or Silt database). By manipulating and "amplifying" such resources automatically, we can obtain a responsiveness profile for each GUI-related callback. The profiling is based on a static analysis to generate tests that trigger expensive operations, followed by a dynamic analysis of amplified test execution. Based on our evaluation, we conclude that many operations can be safely left in the GUI thread. These results highlight the importance of choosing carefully - based on profiling information - the operations that should be removed from the GUI thread, in order to avoid unnecessary code complexity.
Diode-pumped narrow linewidth multi-kW metalized Yb fiber amplifier

We investigate high brightness pumping of a multi-kW Yb fiber amplifier in a bi-directional pumping configuration. Each pump outputs 2 kW in a 200 µm, 0.2 NA multi-mode fiber. Gold-coated specialty gain fibers, with 17 µm MFD and 5-dB/meter pump absorption, have been developed. The maximum fiber amplifier output power is 3.1 kW, limited by multi-mode instability, with 90% O-O efficiency 12 GHz Linewidth and M2 < 1.15.
Why surface chemistry matters for QD–QD resonance energy transfer

Resonance energy transfer (RET) has been shown to occur in films of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) with variation in QD composition and size. When coupled with charge carrier transfer, RET could provide a complementary strategy for light harvesting in QD based solid state photovoltaic devices. Due to a direct dependence on the optical properties of the donor and acceptor, QD surface chemistry plays a drastic role in determining the efficiency of RET. Here, the impact of QD surface chemistry on RET in QD films was investigated using a pair of different sized CdSe QDs spin-cast onto a glass substrate. The effects of QD surface passivation on RET were studied by removing surface ligands through QD washing and adding an insulating ZnS shell. In addition, QD films were subjected to solid state ligand exchanges with thiolated ligands in order to mimic a layer-by-layer deposition method commonly used in the construction of QD photovoltaics. These solid state ligand exchanges exhibit drastic quenching of RET in...
A Miniature Helium Turbo-Expander for Cryogenic Refrigeration Systems

This chapter highlights the features of a miniature helium turbo expander for cryogenic refrigeration systems. The Cryogenic Engineering Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards has investigated the use of small, high speed turbines, supported by gas lubricated journal bearings, in small capacity refrigeration system. Two systems have been studied, one that operates at 4.2 K and another at 30 K. As a result of optimization studies, a 20:1 pressure ratio was used for the 4.2 K system. It is found that although the final low temperature is obtained with an expansion valve, work extraction is necessary for system operation. Refrigeration at 30 K is accomplished by shutting the expansion valve, and leaving the low temperature loop of the system unused. Refrigeration is obtained downstream of the turbine. It is found that for this system, optimization studies indicated best performance at 4:1 pressure ratio. A program was initiated to investigate the performance of a 4:1 pressure ratio turbine for this application. A design goal of 70% was selected from the qualitative reasoning that in larger sizes 80 to 90% was common, but in small machines friction and leakage losses tend to be relatively high.
Pharmacogenomics of Antipsychotic Drugs

Pharmacogenomic research of antipsychotic drug (APD) response continued to produce interesting findings in the past few years. Several genetic markers have been shown to be reliably associated with APD responses including efficacy and drug-induced adverse reactions. For APD treatment response, DRD2 has been shown to predict symptom reduction and APD efficacy. For APD-induced weight gain, a recent meta-analysis supports the associations with HTR2C and MC4R variants, as well as several other genetic markers. For clozapine-induced agranulocytosis, an independent sample has confirmed the association with HLA-DQB1. In addition, a multi-marker combination approach has been studied to increase the predictive power for APD response. However, these markers’ sensitivity and specificity are not high enough to be used in routine clinical practice. They may have some value in certain situations such as treatment refractory cases, and they need to be used in conjunction with other clinical predictors. Due to the polygenetic nature of drug response, the new polygenetic risk score method appears promising in combining many genetic markers in predicting clinical response. The current review focused on pharmacodynamic genes (i.e., drug target), and did not touch upon pharmacokinetic genes such as cytochrome P450 genes (e.g., CYP2D6), which have been shown to influence APD response especially adverse reactions. Future research should use a multi-marker approach to combine both pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic genes, as well as known clinical factors, to increase the predictive power for APD clinical response.
Object tracking using Particle Swarm Optimization and Earth mover's distance

Visual object tracking is an active research field in the area of computer vision. The tracking process usually includes the construction of an object appearance model and the object localization. This paper investigates the use of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) as the object localization method based on the Bayesian tracking framework. The widely adopted particle filter tracking technique, however, suffers from high computational cost due to the approximation requirement of the distribution of particles. Thus, PSO is applied since it can adaptively adjust the computational expenditure according to each frame in the video. Furthermore, a new appearance model based on Earth mover's distance is proposed. The experimental results show that the proposed approach enhances the accuracy of the tracking algorithm significantly compared to the basic particle filter tracking method. Furthermore, the proposed appearance model is more robust than other Earth mover's distance based tracking algorithms.
“Strictly an act of street violence”: intimate publicity and affective divestment in the New Orleans Mother’s Day shooting

ABSTRACTOn May 12, 2013, two men opened fire on a Mother’s Day second line parade in New Orleans’s Seventh Ward. This essay attends to discourses from public officials and news media following the shooting that reified what we describe as affective divestment from the suffering of historically marginalized bodies and communities. Specifically, public discourse characterized the shooting as an episode of “street violence” that did not warrant sustained national attention. Affective divestment is the consequence of rhetorical maneuvers that signal a pushing away from certain bodies by intimate publics—an estrangement at the symbolic level that has naturalized or rationalized the neglect of certain forms of suffering. Such estrangement, we argue, is a function of neoliberal logics that devalue and, at times, necessitate the suffering of disposable populations.
Agricultural electrostatic spray application: a review of significant research and development during the 20th century

Abstract Electrostatic force fields are currently exploited for beneficially increasing the deposition efficiency of finely divided particulate matter used as inputs in the production and processing of food and fiber crops satisfying basic human needs. This paper chronicles the scientific and engineering contributions of numerous researchers throughout the 20th century whose work has established both the fundamental basis and the technical implementation of reliable dust- and spray-charging methods and reviews various systems developed for electrostatic deposition of agricultural particulates. The paper is dedicated to Professor Emeritus Henry D. Bowen of North Carolina State University in recognition of his many years of creative leadership in agricultural electrostatics.
Adherence to antiepileptic drugs in adolescents with epilepsy.

Abstract Introduction The aims of the current study were to identify patterns and predictors of adherence in adolescents with epilepsy over one year, as well as its impact on seizures and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Methods Forty-eight adolescents with epilepsy (Mage = 14.8 + 1.5, 69% female, 73% White: NonHispanic) and their caregivers completed questionnaires assessing demographics, epilepsy knowledge, side effects, adherence barriers, family functioning, and HRQOL at quarterly clinic visits over one year. Adherence was monitored electronically via MEMS TrackCaps. Seizures were determined via chart review. Results Baseline adherence was 86.05% and significantly decreased over 12 months (b = − 2.07, p Conclusions This is the first longitudinal study of objective adherence in adolescents with epilepsy. Given adolescence is a period of vulnerability during development, including declining adherence, caregivers are encouraged to continue collaborating with their adolescents around epilepsy management. Adherence barriers represent an ideal target for intervention and can be implemented in the clinic by frontline providers. Multidisciplinary care can address low SES (social work, financial advocates) and family conflict (psychologists, therapists) in patients with the ultimate goal of optimizing adherence and health outcomes.
Effects of roadside distractors on performance of drivers with and without attention deficit tendencies

Abstract As roadway systems become more complex, with increased visual clutter, new automation technologies, and mixed modes of transportation, it is increasingly important to understand the effects of roadside distractors on driver performance. While driver distraction negatively impacts driver performance and crash rates for all drivers, it is especially important for vulnerable road users who may have an increased risk of distraction. This research was aimed at identifying the influence of roadside distractors on the performance of drivers with and without attention deficit tendencies, and it used a driving simulator to obtain performance metrics in the vicinity of distractors. Overall, the study found that roadside events have statistically significant effects on variability of lane position and speed, and drivers with attention deficit tendencies displayed more lane position variability than control group drivers for all roadway segments examined. Of the distractors tested, billboards and work zones were shown to have the most significant impacts on driver inattention, as evidenced by decreased detection time margins and error rates, respectively. This study is one of the first to examine the effects of roadside distractors on drivers with and without attention deficit disorders, and the results lend insight to the effects that external distractions can have on driver performance.
The low affinity IgE Fc receptor (CD23) participates in B cell activation.

The low affinity IgE Fc receptor (FcɛRII or CD23) is expressed on all mature B lymphocytes (reviewed in 1 and 2). The FcʵRII is a 45 to 49 KD glycoprotein, and is categorized as a class II transmembrane molecule on account of its inverted membrane orientation. In addition to the transmembrane form of the receptor, a soluble form is readily released from B cells, a result of cleavage by a cell surface protease. cDNA cloning has revealed that the FceRII is a member of the hepatic lectin family, a somewhat unusual finding since all other characterized Fc receptors are known to be members of the immunoglobulin (Ig) gene superfamily.
Generalized linear model approach for diagnosis of coronary artery disease in nuclear medicine

82 Objectives This study introduces a generalized linear model (GLM) to construct a logistic equation for mapping the SPECT Bulls-eye into the angiogram space for predicting the stenosis levels (SL) of the main coronary arteries (CA). The proposed model (GLM) creates a logistic map in a probability space using the normalized activities measured in three different anatomical areas (LAD, RCA and LCX) specified in the feature map constructed from rest and stress bulls-eye maps.The proposed model trained by the angiography map can accurately detect the SL of the main CA. Methods The GLM was constructed and tested using experimental data of 32 patients (Mean=58.9 ±12.3 years old, Mean LVEF%=53.6% ±15.7%, 16 for training and 16 for testing) who had both coronary Angiography and myocardial SPECT. All patients had gone through the Angiography procedure no later than three months from the time of their myocardial perfusion (SPECT 99m-Tc-MIBI). A 2D feature map (Feature map = [Rest-Stress]/Rest) was constructed from the rest and stress Bulls-eye maps. All GLM coefficients were estimated and evaluated by the angiography results and the mean activities measured in three different zones (RCA, LAD, and LCX vessels) of the feature maps in 16 patients. Results Results indicate that the GLM is capable of predicting the SL of the main coronary arteries using rest and stress Bulls-eye maps. The GLM adaptively detects the SL of the RCA (r=0.79, p Conclusions A logistic model (GLM) was proposed and constructed using the angiography information as the gold standard to predict the SL of the main coronary arteries from the SPECT images. Results imply that the proposed model (GLM) is adaptive and can accurately detect the SL of the main vessels from the SPECT images
Biological and Medical Applications of Light Scattering Spectroscopy

If a solution of macromolecules is illuminated by a monochromatic beam of light, then the temporal fluctuations in the scattered light intensity contain detailed information on the Brownian movement and the flow velocity of the macromolecules. From the Brownian movement one can deduce the diffusion coefficient, or the distribution of diffusion coefficients, and hence, the size and degree of aggregation of the macromolecules in solution. If the particles in solution are flowing with a single velocity, or a distribution of velocities, the Doppler shifts in the frequency of the scattered light contains detailed information on the velocity distribution of the flowing molecules.
Synthesis and Purification of Homogeneous Lipid-Based Peptide Nanocarriers by Overcoming Phospholipid Ester Hydrolysis

Despite the therapeutic promise of phospholipid-based nanocarriers, a major obstacle to their widespread clinical translation is a susceptibility to fatty acid ester hydrolysis, leading to lack of quality control and inconsistencies in self-assembly formulations. Using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry fragmentation in combination with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry, we have demonstrated a method to detect hydrolysis of one or both of the fatty acid esters in a PEGylated phospholipid, DSPE-PEG, in conditions commonly applied during nanocarrier production. Because such carriers are increasingly being used to deliver peptide-based therapeutics, we further investigated the hydrolysis of phospholipid esters in conditions used for solid-phase peptide synthesis and high-performance liquid chromatography of peptides. We ultimately detail a synthetic strategy to reliably produce pure phospholipid-peptide bioconjugates (peptide amphiphiles), while avoiding unintended or unnoticed hydrolyzed byproducts that could lead to polymorphic nanotherapeutics with dampened therapeutic efficacy. We believe that such an approach could help standardize phospholipid-peptide-based therapeutic development, testing, and clinical translation.
Animal testing

A configuration of unit cubes in three dimensions with integer coordinates is called an animal if the boundary of their union is homeomorphic to a sphere. Shermer discovered several animals from which no single cube may be removed such that the resulting configurations are also animals [14]. Here we obtain a dual result: we give an example of an animal to which no cube may be added within its minimal bounding box such that the resulting configuration is also an animal. We also present two O(n)-time algorithms for determining whether a given configuration of n unit cubes is an animal.
Nature versus nurture in autism

Structural MRI study of twins with autism reveals both genetic and environmental factors contribute to abnormal neural growth patterns.
Effect of heat treatment on true digestibility in the rat, in vitro proteolysis and available lysine content of cottonseed meal protein.

Effects of heating cottonseed meal (CSM) protein were quantitatively assessed by determination of true digestibility (TD), in vitro proteolysis, N solubility and fluorodinitrobenzene (FDNB) available lysine. Flaked, dehulled cottonseed was extracted with hexane and desolventized at 25 C, then autoclaved (121 C, 1.1 kg/cm(2)) for 0, 15, 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes. Free gossypol was subsequently extracted, and TD was determined in weanling rats. Metabolic fecal N (the fecal N excreted by rats fed a basal diet containing 4% casein protein) was 1.84 +/- .10 mg N/g dry matter intake. TD and FDNB-available lysine (percentage of total) were 91 and 89%, respectively, in the unheated meal. TD and FDNB-available lysine were reduced to 84 and 78% after 60 min of autoclaving, and to 71 and 44% after 120 min of autoclaving. The effect of heat treatment on TD was described by the equation: % TD = 100 - 9.28e(.0096t) (r = .998), where t = minutes of autoclaving. This indicated an accelerated decline in TD as heating time increased. No more than 40% of the loss in FDNB-available lysine was attributable to gossypol binding. In vitro release of total amino acids from autoclaved CSM samples during pepsin-pancreatin incubations was highly correlated to TD (r = .996), but N solubility in .02 N NaOH was poorly correlated to TD. In samples of solvent-extracted and screw-pressed CSM, TD (estimated from pepsin-pancreatin incubations) ranged from 80 to 85% and FDNB-available lysine ranged from 73 to 85%, and both were only slightly lower in screw-pressed than in solvent-extracted meals. Intake of FDNB-available lysine was correlated (r = .902) to weight gain in rats fed diets containing the CSM that were more severely autoclaved. Results suggest that heat treatment must be more severe than that which normally occurs in commercial CSM processing to cause substantial, selective loss in lysine availability.
Real-World Evidence on Etanercept Biosimilar SB4 in Etanercept-Naïve or Switching Patients: A Systematic Review

In 2016, SB4 (Benepali®) became the first etanercept (ETN) biosimilar to obtain marketing authorisation in Europe. Despite robust analytical and clinical comparisons, outstanding questions remain on SB4 use in routine practice. A systematic search for publications on real-world evidence of SB4 effectiveness, safety and drug survival was undertaken using search terms (SB4 OR Benepali OR biosimilar etanercept OR innovator etanercept) in the BIOSIS® Toxicology, BIOSIS Previews®, Embase® and MEDLINE® databases up to 17 January 2019. Of 959 articles identified, eight journal articles, two journal letters and 23 congress abstracts were selected on criteria of original real-world evidence with a clinical focus. As expected with real-world evidence, quality scoring showed that the evidence had high external validity but lower internal validity. A total of 13,552 patients were described across nine European countries and all approved SB4 indications: 2499 were ETN-naive and 11,053 switched from reference ETN to SB4 (switchers). Switch acceptance rates (a combination of clinicians offering and patients accepting initiation on SB4) ranged between 51.6% and 99.0%; patient support programmes positively contributed to acceptance. Disease activity was generally similar pre- and post-switch (typically 3-month timeframe). Retention rates across studies were at least 75% (up to 12 months follow-up). No new safety signals were identified. Differences in discontinuation rates versus historic controls reported in some studies may have been influenced by differences in treatment practices, lack of clinician confidence and nocebo effects. Nearly 2500 ETN-naive patients have been initiated on SB4 and outcomes are similar to those patients receiving reference ETN. Overall this systematic review of real-world evidence provides additional reassurance that SB4 is as effective and safe as reference ETN in both switched and naive patients. Biogen International GmbH.
Modified Endoscopic Access for Migrated and Foraminal/Extraforaminal Disc Herniation

Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) is a minimally invasive spinal technique that has several advantages over open discectomy, including less paravertebral muscle injury, preservation of bony structure, and rapid recovery. PELD has gained popularity for removal of herniated disc (HD) material over the past few years since Kambin introduced the percutaneous posterolateral approach in 1983. Remarkable evolution of endoscopic techniques and instrumentation leads to successful outcomes comparable to conventional open surgery. PELD has been applied to various types of disc herniation and the indication has been expanded. I propose various strategies for PELD according to various types of disc herniation.
Using hydrodynamic testing to assess the performance of fouling control coatings

Abstract Static immersion studies are commonly used to assess the performance of fouling control coatings. While these tests provide valuable data, it is also of importance to understand the drag forces associated with the accrued fouling communities and the velocities required for fouling removal. Replicates of five commercially available coatings were deployed at two test sites located along the east coast of Florida. After four months of immersion, the coatings were subjected to known water velocities in a high-speed boat modified for hydrodynamic testing. Hard fouling adhesion measurements were taken to determine the attachment strength of organisms which remained on the panels. The type and extant of fouling varied based on static immersion location, this in turn influenced the fouling removal and the associated drag. While fouling removal was observed on all coatings, the percent removal was related to the coating type and the overall community structure. Those organisms which have a higher profile were easily removed. Lower form foulers, especially those with hard structures, had a minimum removal even at some of the top speeds. The data collected from this series of tests, enabled the fouling control and fouling release properties of each coating to be characterized.
Cervantes: Phallic Mice, a Madman Story, a Folk Song and Two ‘Modern’ Folk Tales

In Cervantes’s El retablo de las maravillas, which is based on the international folk tale known as The Emperor’s New Clothes, the women spectators jump on top of chairs and wrap their skirts tightly around their ankles when the narrator describes a great number of mice that supposedly appear on stage. A Portuguese folk story that I recorded in 1975 from an old lady from Madeira in San Diego, California, confirms that the women are so terrified because mice were seen as being phallic. A second tale, a border joke recorded in 1974 from an immigrant from Tras-os-Montes in Toronto, which tells how a Spaniard and a Portuguese try to inflate an ass in order to sell it for a better price, shows that Cervantes was inspired by a similar story in order to chastise Avellaneda for daring to write a continuation of Part I of Don Quijote. These two stories, of course, help to confirm the importance of the relationship between folklore and literature.
Cirrhotic Patients on Mechanical Ventilation Have a Low Rate of Successful Extubation and Survival

We hypothesized that mechanically ventilated cirrhotic patients not only have poor outcomes, but also that certain clinical variables are likely to be associated with mortality. We aimed to describe the predictors of mortality in these patients. This observational study examined 113 mechanically ventilated cirrhotic patients cared for at our institution between July 1, 2014, and February 28, 2018. We performed bivariate and multivariate analyses to identify risk factors for mortality on mechanical ventilation and created an equation to calculate probability of mortality based on these variables. Seventy percent of patients had a history of a decompensating event. Altered mental status was the most frequently encountered indication for intubation (46%). 53% patients died on mechanical ventilation. After controlling for variables associated with increased mortality, multivariate analysis revealed that vasopressor use was the strongest predictor of mortality on mechanical ventilation (OR = 9.3) followed by sepsis (OR = 4.1). A formula with an area under the curve of 0.85 was obtained in order to predict the probability of mortality for cirrhotic patients on mechanical ventilation (available at https://medweb.musc.edu/mvcp/ ). This model (AUC = 0.85) outperformed the CLIF-SOFA score (AUC = 0.68) in predicting mortality in this cohort. Cirrhotic patients requiring mechanical ventilation have an extremely poor prognosis, and in patients requiring vasopressors, having a history of decompensation, sepsis or low albumin, mortality is higher. Our data points to the clinical variables should be considered in the medical management of these patients and provide physicians with a formula to predict the probability of mortality.
Design of Damping Matrices for Cartesian Impedance Control of Robotic Manipulators

Impedance control of robotic manipulators has been widely used in manipulation tasks for controlling the interaction behavior between a robotic end-effector and the environment. One of the main challenges in the implementation of impedance control schemes (even in “purely” stiffness control) is the choice of appropriate damping factors of the Cartesian damping matrix for the intended task. Although most tasks are described in the end-effector (or task) space, the required torques for the controller must be applied in the robot joint space. Thus, the attempt to control the end effector dynamics gives rise to dynamic behaviors in the joint space. We show that by analyzing the vibratory dynamics of the robot in joint space and planning out the suppression of the vibration modes of each of the robot joints, we can search for the Cartesian damping matrix parameters in a principled manner. Our method is especially useful for redundant robots and the main contribution of this paper is a novel, general, analytical, and practical method to determine the damping factors. We present experimental results on initial implementation of our algorithm on a 7-DoF robot arm.
Automatic Incident Triage in Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System

The Radiotherapy Incident Reporting and Analysis System (RIRAS) receives incident reports from Radiation Oncology facilities across the US Veterans Health Affairs (VHA) enterprise and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). In this work, we propose a computational pipeline for analysis of radiation oncology incident reports. Our pipeline uses machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) based methods to predict the severity of the incidents reported in the RIRAS platform using the textual description of the reported incidents. These incidents in RIRAS are reviewed by a radiation oncology subject matter expert (SME), who initially triages some incidents based on the salient elements in the incident report. To automate the triage process, we used the data from the VHA treatment centers and the VCU radiation oncology department. We used NLP combined with traditional ML algorithms, including support vector machine (SVM) with linear kernel, and compared it against the transfer learning approach with the universal language model fine-tuning (ULMFiT) algorithm. In RIRAS, severities are divided into four categories; A, B, C, and D, with A being the most severe to D being the least. In this work, we built models to predict High (A & B) vs. Low (C & D) severity instead of all the four categories. Models were evaluated with macro-averaged precision, recall, and F1-Score. The Traditional ML machine learning (SVM-linear) approach did well on the VHA dataset with 0.78 F1-Score but performed poorly on the VCU dataset with 0.5 F1-Score. The transfer learning approach did well on both datasets with 0.81 F1-Score on VHA dataset and 0.68 F1-Score on the VCU dataset. Overall, our methods show promise in automating the triage and severity determination process from radiotherapy incident reports.
How Much Thrust, Energy, or Propellant Does it Take to Guide a Natural Celestial Body?

Classical rocket guidance is generalized to the case in which the “rocket” is a massive, natural celestial body. The main qualitative difference with the classical case lies in the gravitational interaction between such a body and the ejected propellant. The achieved thrust for example is zero for ejection speeds less than the escape speed from the celestial body. The theory presented is valid for arbitrary ejection speeds of the propellant. The effective thrust for guiding such a body is worked out thrice. First, for propellant ejection at classical speeds, next, for propellant ejection at the speed of light, and last, for propellant ejection at an arbitrary speed. All three cases result in the same thrust expression. The most general last case examines both gravitational interaction effects and mass loss effects due to conversion into energy using the unifying framework of the Schwarzschild solution of general relativity. Gravitational interaction effects dominate when propellant is ejected at nearly the escape speed, while effects of mass loss due to conversion into energy dominate when propellant is ejected at nearly the speed of light. Next, it is shown that to impart a fixed impulsive velocity change to a celestial body by ejecting part of it—to be optimized—as propellant one needs a, nonzero, minimum amount of energy, if the body is massive enough. This constitutes the most important qualitative difference with classical rocket guidance, in which case the corresponding minimum energy requirement, for the same problem, is a trivial zero. The minimum energy turns out to be proportional to the fourth power of the characteristic length of the celestial body. Thus, for example, delivering a given velocity impulse requires 10,000 times more energy for a 20 km asteroid than for a 2 km asteroid. The symmetric case of minimizing the total mass loss of a celestial body to achieve a fixed impulsive velocity change corresponds to propellant ejection at the speed of light. The reverse question of intercepting a celestial body with “propellant,” is also briefly examined. This refers to colliding an external chunk of mass with a celestial body for the purpose of diverting the latter’s path. The results, applied to two archetypal asteroids with diameters 20 and 2 km, and densities the same as the Moon’s, suggest that the aforementioned gravitational interaction is not negligible and that, given enough warning time, the minimum energy requirements for guiding such objects are achievable.
Supporting Peer Interactions in the Inclusive Preschool Classroom Using Visual Scene Displays

Inclusive preschool classrooms have become increasingly common in recent decades, affording opportunities for children with and without disabilities opportunities to interact and develop positive r...
Initial Evidence on the Association Between Non-Audit Fees and Restated Financial Statements

An increasing number of firms have restated previously issued financial statements in recent years. Legislators, regulators, and others speculate that restatements are associated with fees received by auditors for non-audit services (non-audit fees). The current study provides empirical evidence about the association between firms that restate financial statements and the non-audit service fees received by incumbent auditors during reporting periods that required restatement. We identify a sample of 110 firms that restated financial statements previously filed with the SEC for fiscal years 2000 or 2001, and provided relevant audit and non-audit fee data. We compare the fees paid by the restatement sample with fee data for 3,481 firms that filed proxies with the SEC from February 5, 2001 to August 31, 2001 and develop benchmarks for expected non-audit fees, fee ratio, and total fees. Using these benchmarks, we calculate the unexpected values for these measures and investigate whether restatement firms differ from the control firms. Our findings of no significant differences between the restatement and control samples for unexpected non-audit fees, fee ratios, and total fees do not support concerns that either non-audit fees or total fees inappropriately influence the audit and lead to restatements.
Wave-Plan Analysis of Unsteady Flow in Closed Conduits

An analytical method for computing unsteady flow conditions in liquid-filled fluid systems is developed. The method, termed the wave plan, incorporates distributed parameter and nonlinear effects including the effects of viscous resistance. The wave plan is essentially a solution synthesized from the effects of incremental step pressure pulses. The pressure pulses are generated because of incremental flow-rate changes that originate in a hydraulic system from a variety of sources, including the mechanical motion of the system structure. The pressure pulses propagate throughout the system at sonic velocity and are partly transmitted and reflected at each discontinuity. The velocity change caused by each pressure pulse is obtained from the Joukowsky relationship. Pressure and velocity time histories at any point in the system are obtained by a timewise summation of the contributions of the incremental pressure pulses passing that point.