cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
How does learning and memory shape perceptual development in infancy

Abstract There is a rapid and substantial development in perceptual abilities, in general, and vision, in particular, in the first year of life after birth (0–12 months). At the same time that these changes in perception are occurring, it is now known that young infants are also engaging in sophisticated types of learning and memory suggesting early competency in non-perceptual abilities and availability of neural systems located higher in the cortical hierarchy than perception. Thus, there is a developmental co-occurrence between early visual development and an infant's sophisticated learning and memory abilities. Along with extensive research in adults indicating a role of memory in vision, this developmental co-occurrence suggests that an infant's learning and memory abilities could play a role in supporting and shaping perceptual development. However, the dominant model of perceptual development is exclusively feed-forward/bottom-up and does not include the feedback neuro-anatomical connections that would allow sophisticated learning and memory systems to directly shape perception in a top-down fashion. Thus, the first step toward understanding whether and how learning and memory is involved in perceptual development is to either accept this exclusively feed-forward/bottom-up model or to adopt a top-down model that incorporates feedback from learning and memory systems. Focusing on visual development, the differential commitments of these two types of models of perceptual development are outlined. The current evidence for top-down models is presented and a series of future directions are articulated.
Development and assessment of an academic performance enrichment program for low-performing, first-year pharmacy students

Pharmacy school applications have steadily declined over the past several years. Thus pharmacy schools are not only searching for effective means to increase enrollment of qualified candidates, but...
Progressive supranuclear palsy: Advances in diagnosis and management

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a complex clinicopathologic disease with no current cure or disease modulating therapies that can only be definitively confirmed at autopsy. Growing understanding of the phenotypic diversity of PSP has led to expanded clinical criteria and new insights into etiopathogenesis that coupled with improved in vivo biomarkers makes increased access to current clinical trials possible. Current standard-of-care treatment of PSP is multidisciplinary, supportive and symptomatic, and several trials of potentially disease modulating agents have already been completed with disappointing results. Current ongoing clinical trials target the abnormal aggregation of tau through a variety of mechanisms including immunotherapy and gene therapy offer a more direct method of treatment. Here we review PSP clinicopathologic correlations, in vivo biomarkers including MRI, PET, and CSF biomarkers. We additionally review current pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic methods of treatment, prior and ongoing clinical trials in PSP. Newly expanded clinical criteria and improved specific biomarkers will aid in identifying patients with PSP earlier and more accurately and expand access to these potentially beneficial clinical trials.
Intraoperative Pathologic Margin Analysis and Re-Excision to Minimize Reoperation for Patients Undergoing Breast-Conserving Surgery.

Reoperation rates following breast-conserving surgery (BCS) range from 10 to 40%, with marked surgeon and institutional variation. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with intraoperative margin re-excision, evaluate for any differences in local recurrence based on margin re-excision and determine reoperation rates with use of intraoperative margin analysis. We analyzed consecutive patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or invasive breast cancer who underwent BCS at our institution between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2016. Routine intraoperative frozen section margin analysis was performed and positive or close margins were re-excised intraoperatively. Univariate analysis was used to compare margin status and the Kaplan–Meier method was used to compare recurrence. Multivariable logistic regression was utilized to analyze factors associated with re-excision. We identified 3201 patients who underwent BCS—688 for DCIS and 2513 for invasive carcinoma. Overall, 1513 (60.2%) patients with invasive cancer and 434 (63.1%) patients with DCIS had close or positive margins that underwent intraoperative re-excision. Margin re-excision was associated with larger tumor size in both groups. The permanent pathology positive margin rate among all patients was 1.2%, and the 30-day reoperation rate for positive margins was 1.1%. Five-year local recurrence rates were 0.6% and 1.2% for patients with DCIS and invasive cancer, respectively. There was no difference in recurrence between patients with and without intraoperative margin re-excision (p = 0.92). Both DCIS and invasive carcinoma had similar rates of intraoperative margin re-excision. Although intraoperative margin re-excision was common, the reoperation rate was extremely low and there was no difference in recurrence between those with or without intraoperative re-excision.
Enhancing Safety and Efficiency in Robotic Surgery

This chapter focuses on the unique challenges and inefficiencies associated with robotic surgery. Two cases are depicted and analyzed to demonstrate when the system succeeds or fails in an environment specific to robotic surgery. The authors focus on several key concepts, including situation awareness, operating room turnover, workflow disruptions and team dynamics.
Not in my house!: Children Playing an Online Game with Robots Show Low Trust and Closeness with Ingroup Robots

This paper presents preliminary research on whether children will accept a robot as part of their ingroup, and on how a robot's group membership affects trust, closeness, and social support. Trust is important in human-robot interactions because it affects if people will follow robots' advice. In this study, we randomly assigned 11- and 12-year-old participants to a condition such that participants were either on a team with the robot (ingroup) or were opponents of the robot (outgroup) for an online game. Thus far, we have eight participants in the ingroup condition. Our preliminary results showed that children had a low level of trust, closeness, and social support with the robot. Participants had a much more negative response than we anticipated. We speculate that there will be a more positive response with an in-person setting rather than a remote one.
Natriuretic Peptide Levels and Clinical Outcomes among Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19 Infection

Purpose There is increasing evidence of adverse cardiovascular morbidity associated with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (proBNP) is a biomarker of myocardial stress associated with outcomes in various respiratory and cardiac diseases. We hypothesized that proBNP level would be associated with mortality and clinical outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of hospitalized COVID-19 patients (n=1232) using adjusted logistic and linear regression to assess the association of admission proBNP (analyzed by both categorical cutoff >125 pg/mL and continuous log transformed proBNP) with clinical outcomes. Covariates included age, sex, race, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), diabetes, smoking history, and chronic kidney disease stage (Model 1), with Troponin I added in Model 2. We performed survival analysis by a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model, incorporating log transformed proBNP. We additionally treated BMI, a strong potential confounder of both proBNP levels and COVID-19 outcomes, as an ordinal variable ordered across tertiles. Results Patients were mean age 62.9±17.6, 53.8% male, and 35.9% Black. Preadmission comorbidities were hypertension (57.1%), diabetes (31.6%), CAD (9.0%) and heart failure (HF, 10.6%). In Model 1 and 2, higher proBNP level was significantly associated with death, new HF, length of stay, ICU duration and need for ventilation among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. This significance persisted after ordinal compression of BMI across tertiles. The adjusted hazard ratio of death for log[proBNP] was 1.56 (95% CI: 1.23-1.97; P Conclusion Using a relatively large and racially diverse hospitalized COVID-19 patient cohort, we find that proBNP is associated with adverse clinical outcomes, including mortality and new HF in COVID-19. Further prospective investigation is warranted on the utility of proBNP for clinical prognostication in COVID-19.
Unique role of small satellites in empowering spacecraft formation flying missions

Spacecraft formation flying avails unprecedented means of conducting space missions compared to a single conventional large monolithic platform. Chiefly, formation flying enables sparse and synthes...
Embodied AI-Driven Operation of Smart Cities: A Concise Review

A smart city can be seen as a framework, comprised of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). An intelligent network of connected devices that collect data with their sensors and transmit them using wireless and cloud technologies in order to communicate with other assets in the ecosystem plays a pivotal role in this framework. Maximizing the quality of life of citizens, making better use of available resources, cutting costs, and improving sustainability are the ultimate goals that a smart city is after. Hence, data collected from these connected devices will continuously get thoroughly analyzed to gain better insights into the services that are being offered across the city; with this goal in mind that they can be used to make the whole system more efficient.Robots and physical machines are inseparable parts of a smart city. Embodied AI is the field of study that takes a deeper look into these and explores how they can fit into real-world environments. It focuses on learning through interaction with the surrounding environment, as opposed to Internet AI which tries to learn from static datasets. Embodied AI aims to train an agent that can See (Computer Vision), Talk (NLP), Navigate and Interact with its environment (Reinforcement Learning), and Reason (General Intelligence), all at the same time. Autonomous driving cars and personal companions are some of the examples that benefit from Embodied AI nowadays.In this paper, we attempt to do a concise review of this field. We will go through its definitions, its characteristics, and its current achievements along with different algorithms, approaches, and solutions that are being used in different components of it (e.g. Vision, NLP, RL). We will then explore all the available simulators and 3D interactable databases that will make the research in this area feasible. Finally, we will address its challenges and identify its potentials for future research.
Longitudinal Impact of APRNs on Nursing Home Quality Measures in the Missouri Quality Initiative.

To measure the impact of advanced practice nurses (APRNs) on quality measures (QM) scores of nursing homes (NHs) in the CMS funded Missouri Quality Initiative (MOQI) that was designed to reduce avoidable hospitalizations of NH residents, improve quality of care, and reduce overall healthcare spending. A four group comparative analysis of longitudinal data from September 2013 thru December 2019. NHs in the interventions of both Phases 1 (2012–2016) and 2 (2016–2020) of MOQI (n=16) in the St. Louis area; matched comparations in the same counties as MOQI NHs (n=27); selected Phase 2 payment intervention NHs in Missouri (n=24); NHs in the remainder of the state (n=406). NHs in Missouri Intervention: Phase 1 of The Missouri Quality Initiative (MOQI), a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Innovations Center funded research initiative, was a multifaceted intervention in NHs in the Midwest, which embedded full-time APRNs in participating NHs to reduce hospitalizations and improve care of NH residents. Phase 2 extended the MOQI intervention in the original intervention NHs and added a CMS designed Payment Intervention; Phase 2 added a second group of NHs to receive the Payment. Intervention Only. Eight QMs selected by CMS for the Initiative were falls, pressure ulcers, urinary tract infections, indwelling catheters, restraint use, activities of daily living, weight loss, and antipsychotic medication use. For each of the monthly QMs (2013 thru 2019) an unobserved components model (UCM) was fitted for comparison of groups. The analysis of QMs reveals that that the MOQI Intervention + Payment group (group with the embedded APRNs) outperformed all comparison groups: matched comparison with neither intervention, Payment Intervention only, and remainder of the state. These results confirm the QM analyses of Phase 1, that MOQI NHs with full-time APRNs are effective to improve quality of care.
Comparing Urban and Rural Telecenters Costs

If deployed in both urban and rural areas, telecenters can decrease the gap in social services and economic opportunities that often exist between the two. However, establishing and operating rural telecenters is perceived to be more costly than urban ones. This paper presents a cost comparison of establishing urban and rural telecenter in Costa Rica. It shows that telecenter operations in rural areas disconnected from the power and telecommunication grids may not be significantly more expensive than those of an urban telecenter. Utilization of stand-alone communication and power systems, combined with low-power equipment can bring rural operating costs within range of those of a typical urban telecenter. The analysis is based on the Little Intelligent Communities (LINCOS) telecenter project, an initiative of the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Costa Rica.
Stimulation of pinocytosis in the macrophage by lymphocyte mediators: II. Evidence that the stimulating factor is MAF, and studies on the cellular requirements for response to the mediator

Abstract Partial characterization of a lymphocyte-derived mediator which stimulates macrophage pinocytosis of horseradish peroxidase is described. The mediator elutes with Sephadex G-100 fractions ranging from 25,000–68,000 molecular weight. It is neuraminidase sensitive and has a buoyant density characteristic of glycoproteins. These properties are identical with those of migration inhibitory factor and macrophage-activating factor, suggesting that they may be the same material. Using a variety of inhibitors, certain cellular and metabolic functions of the mediator-induced stimulatory process were investigated. Anaerobic glycolysis is critical to any stimulation, whereas submaximal stimulation can occur in the absence of an intact aerobic respiratory pathway. Protein synthesis is required for stimulation of pinocytosis. However, neither microtubule nor microfilament function appears necessary for the mediator to induce a stimulatory response as assessed by enhancement of pinocytosis.
Musescape: A Tool for Changing Music Collections into Libraries

Increases in hard disk capacity and audio compression technology have enabled the storage of large collections of music on personal computers and portable devices. As an example a portable device with 20 Gigabytes of storage can hold up to 4000 songs in compressed audio format. Currently the only way of structuring these collections is using a file system hierarchy which allows very limited forms of searching and retrieval. These limitations are even more pronounced in the case of portable devices where there is less screen real estate and user attention is limited compared to a personal computer.
Robotic planetary science missions enabled with small NTR engine/stage technologies

The high specific impulse (Isp) and engine thrust-to-weight ratio of liquid hydrogen (LH2)-cooled nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engines makes them ideal for upper stage applications to difficult robotic planetary science missions. A small 15 thousand pound force (klbf) NTR engine using a uranium-zirconium-niobium 'ternary carbide' fuel (Isp approximately 960 seconds at approximately 3025K) developed in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is examined and its use on an expendable injection stage is shown to provide major increases in payload delivered to the outer planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto). Using a single 'Titan IV-class' launch vehicle, with a lift capability to low Earth orbit (LEO) of approximately 20 metric tons (t), an expendable NTR upper stage can inject two Pluto 'Fast Flyby' spacecraft (PFF/SC) plus support equipment-combined mass of approximately 508 kg--on high energy, '6.5-9.2 year' direct trajectory missions to Pluto. A conventional chemical propulsion mission would use a liquid oxygen (LOX)/LH2 'Centaur' upper stage and two solid rocket 'kick motors' to inject a single PFF/SC on the same Titan IV launch vehicle. For follow on Pluto missions, the NTR injection stage would utilize a Jupiter 'gravity assist' (JGA) maneuver to launch a LOX/liquid methane (CH4) capture stage (Isp approximately 375 seconds) and a Pluto 'orbiter' spacecraft weighing between approximately 167-312 kg. With chemical propulsion, a Pluto orbiter mission is not a viable option because c inadequate delivered mass. Using a 'standardized' NTR injection stage and the same single Titan IV launch scenario, 'direct flight' (no gravity assist) orbiter missions to Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are also enabled with transit times of 2.3, 6.6, and 12.6 years, respectively. Injected mass includes a storable, nitrogen tetroxide/monomethyl hydrazine (N2O4/MMH) capture stage (Isp approximately 330 seconds) and orbiter payloads 340 to 820% larger than that achievable using a LOX/LH2-fueled injection stage. The paper discusses NTR technology and mission characteristics, shows NTR stage and payload accommodations within the 26.2 m long Titan IV payload fairing, and discusses NTR stage performance as a function of assumed cryogenic tank technology.
β‐Ethyl‐β‐methylglutaric acid

β-Ethyl-β-Methylglutaric acid intermediate: 280 g. (1.36 moles) of α,α′-dicyano-β-ethyl-β-methylglutarimide product: β-ethyl-β-methylglutaric acid Keywords: condensation, carbonyl-active methylene condensations; cyclization, condensation; hydrolysis, nitriles
Development of a fibrinolytic surface: specific and non-specific binding of plasminogen☆

Abstract Plasminogen is the primary zymogen in the fibrinolytic pathway, and its primary function involves degradation of fibrin. Biomaterials often show adsorption of fibrinogen and subsequent formation of fibrin. Plasminogen's function in vivo could be adapted to facilitate its activation and fibrinolytic function on a biomaterial surface. In order to elucidate plasminogen function adsorbed to a model fibrinolytic surface ligands known to affect plasminogen properties in solution were attached to model silica surfaces to study the effects of immobilized ligands as fibrinolytic activators. Model silica surfaces were synthesized which contained covalently attached lysine moieties (surface I), sulfonate moieties (surface II) or a combination of both (surface III). Lysine moieties on these model surfaces interact specifically with multiple lysine-binding sites of plasminogen and induce a number of changes in conformation and function. Sulfonate moieties interact non-specifically with accessible lysine and arginine residues of plasminogen and also affect the function of plasminogen. Inherent physico-chemical properties monitored following plasminogen adsorption were activation to plasmin, enzymatic activity, fluorescent intensity, and fluorescent polarization, monitored by total internal reflection fluorescence, each of which are affected by plasminogen conformation. Correlations were as follows: increased fluorescent intensity and decreased fluorescent polarization were indicative of plasminogen conformational changes and are correlated to increased enzymatic activity of plasmin. Surfaces I and III showed a 20% increase in fluorescent intensity, and a 25% and 8% decrease in fluorescent polarization, respectively, in comparison to surface II. The specific activity for surfaces I and III was increased 11.3 and 1.8 fold above that found for surface II. Plasminogen incubated with sulfonate groups in solution resulted in no increase in fluorescent intensity and a slight decrease in fluorescent polarization as compared with plasminogen alone and reduced specific activity of plasmin in the presence of sulfonate as compared with plasmin alone. Lysine or ϵ-aminocaproic acid (ACA) incubated with plasmin in solution showed a 30% and 10% increase in fluorescent intensity, a 24% and 5% decrease in fluorescent intensity, and maximum specific activity increased 3.6 and 2.5 fold, respectively, over plasminogen alone. Interactions of plasminogen with ligands for its lysine-binding sites produced dramatic effects both in solution and adsorbed to model fibrinolytic surfaces. The characterization of these interactions along with known fibrin interactions will allow selection of appropriate surface modifications to enhance the fibrinolysis of thrombus formed at a biomaterial interface. These modifications may lead to a native-like surface structure to protein and cellular components of blood and create a more biocompatible surface.
Humanoid Standing Control: Learning from Human Demonstration

A three-dimensional numerical model of human standing is presented that reproduces the dynamics of simple swaying motions while in double-support. The human model is structurally realistic, having both trunk and two legs with segment lengths and mass distributions defined using human morphological data from the literature. In this investigation, model stability in standing is achieved through the application of a high-level, reduced-order control system where stabilizing forces are applied to the model's trunk by virtual spring- damper elements. To achieve biologically realistic model dynamics, torso position and ground reaction force data measured on human subjects are used as demonstration data in a supervised learning strategy. Using Powell's method, the error between simulation data and measured human data is minimized by varying the virtual high-level force field. Once optimized, the model is shown to track torso position and ground reaction force data from human demonstrations. With only these limited demonstration data, the humanoid model sways in a biologically realistic manner. The model also reproduces the center-of-pressure trajectory beneath the foot, even though no error term for this is included in the optimization algorithm. This indicates that the error terms used (the ones for torso position and ground reaction force) are sufficient to compute the correct joint torques such that independent metrics, like center-of-pressure trajectory, are correct.
Status Of Microstructure Fabrication

The present capabilities of microlithography are discussed, with emphasis placed on resolution and pattern distortion. The current limits of optical reduction lithography, electron beam lithography, and optical and x-ray proximity printing are presented. It is shown that currently the major factor limiting resolution in electron beam lithography is electron scattering in the resist and substrate. Recent progress in the theoretical understanding of this scattering limit is discussed, and new techniques for reducing the resolution degradation caused by this scattering are described.© (1982) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Social skills training for drug prevention in high-risk female adolescents.

Abstract Background.The effectiveness of social skills training/social network restructuring in the primary and secondary prevention of drug use was examined in a multiethnic cohort of 296 female adolescents ages 14 to 19 years who were pregnant or parenting and/or at risk for drug use. Methods.Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (a) PALS Skills Training or (b) a control intervention involving no skills training. PALS Skills Training is a combination of cognitive and behavioral techniques to improve social skills and to restructure the teens' social network. All students also participated in a 16-week normative education “Facts of Life” course. Results.The prevalence of alcohol and any drug use increased significantly over the three assessment periods in the PALS Skills group but not in the No Skills group. Teens in the PALS Skills group who reported no drug use at baseline were 2.9 times as likely to be using marijuana than teens in the No Skills group at 3 months postintervention. PALS Skills Training was no more effective in the secondary prevention of drug use than the control intervention. Conclusions.Social skills training was found to be ineffective as a means of primary prevention among non-drug-using high-risk adolescents and may even be counterproductive as a means of primary prevention of marijuana use in this population. When combined with normative information on drug use prevalence, acceptability, and hazards, social skills training is no more effective as a means of secondary prevention than normative education alone.
Quine, Kripke's Wittgenstein, Simplicity, and Sceptical Solutions

Etude de la difference entre Quine et le Wittgenstein de Kripke sur la question de l'utilisation des considerations de simplicite pour justifier le choix entre differentes hypotheses de signification. Defendant une solution sceptique au paradoxe du Wittgenstein de Kripke qui s'avere compatible avec la possibilite du langage prive, l'A. refute les arguments du Wittgenstein de Kripke contre l'utilisation des considerations de simplicite dans le cas du choix des manuels de traduction, d'une part, et dans celui du choix des hypotheses de signification, d'autre part
Influence of marginal opening on microleakage of cemented artificial crowns

This study investigated the relationship between marginal opening and microleakage. Standardized preparations were made on intact human premolars, and copings were cast in a base metal alloy by use of conventional techniques. The castings were randomly assigned to the following luting agent groups: zinc phosphate cement, polycarboxylate cement, glass ionomer cement, phosphate ester composite resin, and a composite resin with a NPG-GMA dentinal bonding agent and were cemented in a standardized manner. The marginal openings between teeth and castings were measured, and microleakage was determined at the same points. Within the confines of the in vitro model used, no significant correlation between marginal opening and microleakage was established for either pooled data or individual luting agent groups.
Self-consistent field calculations of pyridine and mono-substituted benzenes

A modification of the Mataga approach to SCF calculations is introduced and applied to pyridine and some mono-substituted benzenes.
Laser in situ keratomileusis flap suturing to treat recalcitrant flap striae

Abstract Purpose To describe the management of resistant laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) flap striae using interrupted sutures. Setting Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Methods Interrupted sutures were used to treat striae in the LASIK flaps in 7 eyes of 7 patients. The mean interval from LASIK to the time of suturing was 11.8 months (range 3.0 to 29.0 months). The preoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) was 20/20–2 to 20/100. All patients had subjective visual complaints with spectacle correction, and all corneas had obvious macrostriae on slitlamp biomicroscopic examination. Results The mean patient follow-up was 7.0 months (range 1.5 to 14.0 months). Six patients regained a BSCVA of 20/20 or better with resolution of preoperative irregular astigmatism and subjective visual disturbance. In 1 patient, mild central striae recurred. Conclusion Flap suturing was an effective means of treating visually significant flap striae.
Factors influencing the graphic development of a talented young artist

Abstract: The focus of this case study was on the graphic development of a highly talented art student. Retrospective accounts and reactions to his spontaneous artwork done from preschool until he was in the tenth grade were used. The ability to depict the world realistically was viewed as only one indicator of artistic talent. It was concluded that effects of family background, cultural influences, skill mastery, and personal dispositional factors all contributed to the form and content of this student's artistic development.
Computing cryptographic pairing in sensors

In this paper, we present a methodology and preliminary result of computing the Tate Pairing on a supersingular curve over a prime field in the wireless sensors (MICAz Mote). The aim of this work is to study the feasibility of pairing based protocols and applications in sensors with limited computational resources. Tate pairing is the most computationally intensive computation in most pairing-based cryptographic algorithms. Our preliminary results showed that without hardware upgrades (esp. memory) or further optimization of algorithms and parameters, sensors not yet ready for computing pairing-based cryptographic algorithms.
Radiation-induced genomic instability: Are epigenetic mechanisms the missing link?

Purpose: This review examines the evidence for the hypothesis that epigenetics are involved in the initiation and perpetuation of radiation-induced genomic instability (RIGI).Conclusion: In addition to the extensively studied targeted effects of radiation, it is now apparent that non-targeted delayed effects such as RIGI are also important post-irradiation outcomes. In RIGI, unirradiated progeny cells display phenotypic changes at delayed times after radiation of the parental cell. RIGI is thought to be important in the process of carcinogenesis; however, the mechanism by which this occurs remains to be elucidated. In the genomically unstable clones developed by Morgan and colleagues, radiation-induced mutations, double-strand breaks, or changes in messenger RNA (mRNA) levels alone could not account for the initiation or perpetuation of RIGI. Since changes in the DNA sequence could not fully explain the mechanism of RIGI, inherited epigenetic changes may be involved. Epigenetics are known to play an impor...
Wind Energy Conversion System Power Forecasting Using Radial Basis Function Neural Network

An accurate forecasting method for wind power generation of the wind energy conversion system (WECS) can help the power system’s operator to reduce the risk of unreliability of electricity supply. This paper proposed a radial basis function (RBF) neural network method to forecast the wind power generation of WECS. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the method is tested on the practical information of wind power generation of a WECS. The good agreements between the realistic values and forecasting values are obtained; the numerical results show that the proposed forecasting method is accurate and reliable.
The Body Politic of Christ: Theology, Social Analysis, and Bonhoeffer’s Arcane Discipline

As the world moves further into a postmodern era, the church often seems at a loss to articulate its own raison d’etre. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s discussion of the early church’s “arcane discipline” provides a suitable basis for an ecclesiology and modus vivendi that can help Christians respond critically and faithfully to a world come of age as it seeks to sequester the life of the church within its global dispensation. This response takes the concrete form of a distinctive body politic that resembles in many ways the way of life of cultivated by diasporic Judaism.
Microgastrinomas of the duodenum: a cause of failed operations for the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

Gastrinomas are now being detected at an earlier stage than was formerly the case. Furthermore, with the ability to control acid secretion, emphasis has been placed on identifying gastrinoma patients who are potentially curable by tumor resection rather than by palliative gastrectomy. Despites estimates suggesting that 20-40% of sporadic gastrinoma patients can be successfully resected for cure, as many as 40% of such patients have occult tumors that elude detection. In an effort to better localize gastrinomas, we have used percutaneous transhepatic venous (THVS) gastrin sampling over the past 10 years. From 1978 to 1988, THVS was used in 46 patients in whom there was no other evidence of metastatic gastrinoma by conventional studies. Gastrinomas were found at operation in all but one patient. The purpose of this report is to emphasize that occult tumors are most often found in the duodenal wall, and frequently they may be no greater than 2 mm in diameter. Five recent cases illustrate that these small tumors or microgastrinomas may be the sole source of hypergastrinemia and can be cured by local excision. These recent cases emphasize that microgastrinomas are not usually palpable through the duodenal wall. They may be detected only after duodenotomy and meticulous evaluation of the mucosa by eversion and direct palpation. Duodenotomy and intraluminal exploration should be considered an essential component of the operation for patients with extrapancreatic gastrinomas.
Discovering social events through online attention.

Twitter is a major social media platform in which users send and read messages (“tweets”) of up to 140 characters. In recent years this communication medium has been used by those affected by crises to organize demonstrations or find relief. Because traffic on this media platform is extremely heavy, with hundreds of millions of tweets sent every day, it is difficult to differentiate between times of turmoil and times of typical discussion. In this work we present a new approach to addressing this problem. We first assess several possible “thermostats” of activity on social media for their effectiveness in finding important time periods. We compare methods commonly found in the literature with a method from economics. By combining methods from computational social science with methods from economics, we introduce an approach that can effectively locate crisis events in the mountains of data generated on Twitter. We demonstrate the strength of this method by using it to locate the social events relating to the Occupy Wall Street movement protests at the end of 2011.
Noble-metal catalyzed hydrodeoxygenation of biomass-derived lignin to aromatic hydrocarbons

Conversion of biomass derived lignin to liquid fuels has the promising potential to significantly improve carbon utilization and economic competitiveness of biomass refineries. In this study, an aqueous phase catalytic process was developed to selectively depolymerize the lignin polymeric framework and remove oxygen via hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reactions. Efficient methods (ethanol and dilute alkali extraction) for selectively producing reactive lignin oligomers with high yields from corn stover were established. Characteristic structural features of the technical lignins employed for hydrocarbon production were elucidated with the aid of advanced analytical techniques, such as 2D HSQC NMR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Combinations of noble metal catalysts in the presence of various solid acid zeolites were tested for HDO activity of the oligomeric technical lignins predominantly containing 8–O–4′ inter-unit linkages. Results showed 35%–60% conversion of lignin with 65%–70% product selectivity for aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. toluene) under various HDO conditions in the presence of noble metals (Ru, Rh and Pt) over Al2O3 (or C) supports and solid acid zeolites (e.g., NH4+ Z-Y 57277-14-1) catalyst matrices.
Effects of water deprivation on the Mongolian gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus: Absence of Harderian gland involvement

Seven days of water deprivation depressed a number of physiological and behavioral functions in Harderianectomized and intact Meriones unguiculatus. Body weight, food ingestion, general activity, ventral scent gland marking, scent gland size, facial grooms, urination, and defecation were all reduced when water was unavailable. The effects were reversed within 7 days when water was restored. The absence of the Harderian gland does not modify the reactions to dehydration.
Postlingual adult performance in noise with HiRes 120 and ClearVoice Low, Medium, and High

AbstractObjectivesThe study's objectives were to evaluate speech recognition in multiple listening conditions using several noise types with HiRes 120 and ClearVoice (Low, Medium, High) and to determine which ClearVoice program was most beneficial for everyday use.MethodsFifteen postlingual adults attended four sessions; speech recognition was assessed at sessions 1 and 3 with HiRes 120 and at sessions 2 and 4 with all ClearVoice programs. Test measures included sentences presented in restaurant noise (R-SPACETM), in speech-spectrum noise, in four- and eight-talker babble, and connected discourse presented in 12-talker babble. Participants completed a questionnaire comparing ClearVoice programs.ResultsSignificant group differences in performance between HiRes 120 and ClearVoice were present only in the R-SPACETM; performance was better with ClearVoice High than HiRes 120. Among ClearVoice programs, no significant group differences were present for any measure. Individual results revealed most participants...
The effect of complexation on the rates of electron transfer of iron porphyrins

Abstract A study has been made of the heterogeneous rate constants of iron porphyrins with pyridines and other nitrogenous base ligands. A direct relationship between the p K a of the base and the rate constant has been found with a few exceptions. The measurements were by cyclic voltammetry. The larger the p K a the stronger the complex between iron porphyrins and axial ligands. With strong ligands no ligand exchange or spin state change is expected. Both of these actions show the rate in agreement with the rates found in this work.
The deployer's problem: configuring application servers for performance and reliability

Frameworks such as J2EE are designed to simplify the process of developing enterprise applications by handling much of the complexity of concurrency, transaction, and persistence management. An application server that supports such a framework implements these concerns, freeing the application developer to focus on the task of implementing the business logic aspect of the application, In such frameworks, the deployer, the individual(s) who configures the application server to manage concurrency, transaction and persistence correctly and efficiently, plays a central role. A deployer has few tools to assist with performing this complicated task. Incorrect configuration can lead to application failure or severe underperformance. We outline the problems facing the deployer of applications, present a methodology that can assist the programmer with the task of configuring application servers, and present two case studies that validate the usefulness of our methodology.
Relative Effects of Heart Chambers, Lungs, and Mitral Insufficiency on the Shape of Indicator Dilution Curves

The shape of dilution curves obtained by sampling from different sites was studied in dogs following superior vena caval injections of dye. Synchronous sampling from paired sites enabled observations to be made on the separate effects of the right heart, left ventricle and aorta on the dye dilution curves, with and without mitral insufficiency. The results show that tile left ventricle and aorta have little effect on the final slope of a dilution curve across the lungs in dogs with normal hearts. In the presence of mitral incompetence the final slope across both lungs and heart was slower than in the normal, but these changes were related to cardiac output and increase in lung mixing volume rather than primarily to the incompetence of the valve.
Chip-level power-performance optimization through thermally-driven across-chip variation (ACV) reduction

We report a detailed study of the impact of systematic across-chip variation (ACV) on chip level power-performance. We propose a metric to capture impact of ACV on chip-level leakage quantitatively. Product power-performance can be optimized by minimizing systematic ACV. Thermally-driven ACV was identified as a major mechanism in 32nm SOI technology. An optimized thermal anneal process was used to suppress ACV significantly, leading to a dramatic benefit in leakage power-performance trade-off.
Behavioral pharmacology of local anesthetics: Reinforcing and discriminative stimulus effects

The reinforcing properties of several short-acting esteratic local anesthetics were determined in rhesus monkeys experienced in the IV self-administration of cocaine. In addition, the discriminative stimulus properties of these and several other local anesthetics of both the ester and amide class were determined in rats trained to discriminate procaine from saline in a 2-lever operant task. IV delivery of chloroprocaine, dimethylprocaine or dimethocaine maintained responding above vehicle levels in most monkeys while propoxycaine, piperocaine and dimethylaminoethanol (Deanol) failed to maintain self-administration behavior. Thus some, but not all, short-acting esteratic local anesthetics are positive reinforcers in rhesus monkeys. In addition, it is unlikely that the reinforcing effects of dimethylprocaine are mediated by its metabolite dimethylaminoethanol. In rats, all local anesthetics tested except piperocaine and procainamide resulted in responding on the procaine-appropriate lever indicating procaine-like discriminative stimulus effects for these compounds. In addition, injections of d-amphetamine resulted in principally procaine lever responding. All local anesthetics that were self-administered by rhesus monkeys had discriminative stimulus effects in rats that were similar to those of procaine. However, not all local anesthetics that were procaine-like in rats were self-administered by rhesus monkeys. These data may represent a separation of these two stimulus properties for local anesthetics although other variables such as species differences may play a role.
Crossed-delay line detector for ground- and space-based applications

A crossed delay line (CDL) readout for use in conjunction with a z-stack of 40 mm diameter microchannel plates (MCPs) has been designed using standard transmission line theory. The CDL readout was subsequently wound and tested in various configurations to determine if the electrical characteristics followed predicted trends. The agreement was good. The optimized CDL and MCPs were then designed into a sealed tube format which could be manufactured with either a visible or ultraviolet photocathode. The components were assembled into a vacuum system version and tested. The prototype detector displayed 15 micrometers resolution and a maximum deviation from linearity of 180 micrometers over the 40 mm format.
Sclerosing mesenteritis in small bowel transplantation: Possible manifestation of Acute vascular rejection

Abstract Background Acute rejection of human small bowel allografts is characterized by clinical symptoms combined with characteristic morphologic alterations. The typical geographic distribution of acute rejection in the bowel is involvement of the intestinal parenchyma, which can be transmural, particularly when the rejection is more severe. However, little is known concerning the potential for donor-derived soft tissue adjacent to the bowel to become involved by the host alloimmune response. Methods We describe a male patient who, several weeks after combined small bowel and liver transplantation, demonstrated sclerosing mesenteritis with vasculitis and acute rejection of the bowel. Results The vascular lesions in the mesentery demonstrated increased IgG deposition and the patient developed an alloantibody to the donor. Conclusions The changes described herein may represent a novel presentation of acute vascular rejection.
Concurrent Validity of the Beck Depression Inventory as a Measure of Depression

The Beck Depression Inventory was administered, along with measures of anxiety, locus of control, and self-concept, to 211 undergraduates at a major southern institution to test for concurrent validity. Correlations of scores on Beck's scale with other scores provide additional support for Beck's scale as a valid measure of depression.
National Trends in the Initial Hospitalization for Heart Failure

OBJECTIVES: Heart failure is a major health care burden among older adults, but information on recent trends has not been available. We compare rates, sociodemographic characteristics, and discharge outcomes of the initial hospitalization for heart failure in the Medicare populations of 1986 and 1993. DESIGN: Information reported on the Medicare hospital claims record during initial hospitalization for heart failure was compared for patients aged 65 and older hospitalized in 1986 (N = 631,306) and those aged 65 and older hospitalized in 1993 (N = 803,506). RESULTS: Age-standardized hospitalization rates (per 1000 person-years) for any diagnosis of heart failure were higher in 1993 than in 1986 (white: 24.6 vs 22.4, black: 26.1 vs 22.4, respectively). Age-specific results suggested an earlier onset of heart failure in black adults. In 1993, compared with 1986, higher proportions of heart failure patients were discharged to another care facility (white: 23.9% vs 16.8%, black: 17.6% vs 10.5%, respectively) or to health service care at home (white: 11.3% vs 6.0%, black: 12.4% vs 6.5%, respectively). In contrast, in-hospital mortality was lower in 1993 than in 1986 (white: 10.4% vs 13.3%, black: 8.9% vs 11.1%, respectively). CONCLUSION: The increased numbers of hospitalizations for heart failure and the likelihood that these patients will require advanced nursing care after discharge have important implications for future national health care expenditures and resources.
Criterion Bias in Examine Centered Standard Setting: Some Thought Experiments

How can a thought experiment be used to examine issues in the selection and use of criteria in standard setting? How does the selection of a criterion affect the decisions which are made about examinees?
Integrating multiagent coordination with reactive plan execution

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