cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of the HALT-HCC score to predict mortality in liver transplant recipients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective cohort analysis

Summary Background Tumour morphological criteria for determining the appropriateness of liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma poorly estimate post-transplantation mortality. The aim of this study was to develop and assess the utility of a continuous risk score in predicting overall survival following liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods We did a retrospective cohort analysis to develop a continuous multivariable risk score for assessment of overall survival following liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. We used data from 420 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent liver transplantation between Jan 1, 2002, and Oct 31, 2014, at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF), Cleveland, OH, USA. The model we developed (Hazard Associated with Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma; HALT-HCC) assessed the association of the following previously reported variables of interest with overall survival by use of multivariate Cox regression: MELD-sodium (MELD-Na), tumour burden score (TBS), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), year of transplantation, underlying cause of cirrhosis, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio, history of locoregional therapy, and Milan criteria status. Once the risk equation was generated, validation and calibration of risk assessment was done with nationwide data for the same time period from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR; n=13 717). Findings The risk equation was generated as (1·27 × TBS) + (1·85 × lnAFP) + (0·26 × MELD-Na) and the HALT-HCC score ranged from 2·40 to 46·42 in the CCF cohort. In the validation cohort, prognosis worsened with increasing HALT-HCC score (5-year overall survival of 78·7% [95% CI 76·9–80·4] for quartile 1, 74·5% [72·6–76·2] for quartile 2, 71·8% [70·1–73·5] for quartile 3, and 61·5% [59·6–63·3] for quartile 4; p Interpretation The HALT-HCC score might enable clinicians to accurately assess post-transplantation survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma by use of individualised, preoperatively assessed characteristics. However, further studies are needed before adoption. Funding None.
Tropically driven and externally forced patterns of Antarctic sea ice change: reconciling observed and modeled trends

Recent work suggests that natural variability has played a significant role in the increase of Antarctic sea ice extent during 1979–2013. The ice extent has responded strongly to atmospheric circulation changes, including a deepened Amundsen Sea Low (ASL), which in part has been driven by tropical variability. Nonetheless, this increase has occurred in the context of externally forced climate change, and it has been difficult to reconcile observed and modeled Antarctic sea ice trends. To understand observed-model disparities, this work defines the internally driven and radiatively forced patterns of Antarctic sea ice change and exposes potential model biases using results from two sets of historical experiments of a coupled climate model compared with observations. One ensemble is constrained only by external factors such as greenhouse gases and stratospheric ozone, while the other explicitly accounts for the influence of tropical variability by specifying observed SST anomalies in the eastern tropical Pacific. The latter experiment reproduces the deepening of the ASL, which drives an increase in regional ice extent due to enhanced ice motion and sea surface cooling. However, the overall sea ice trend in every ensemble member of both experiments is characterized by ice loss and is dominated by the forced pattern, as given by the ensemble-mean of the first experiment. This pervasive ice loss is associated with a strong warming of the ocean mixed layer, suggesting that the ocean model does not locally store or export anomalous heat efficiently enough to maintain a surface environment conducive to sea ice expansion. The pervasive upper-ocean warming, not seen in observations, likely reflects ocean mean-state biases.
Attention and amplification in the hybrid media system: The composition and activity of Donald Trump’s Twitter following during the 2016 presidential election:

Building on studies of the hybrid media system and attention economy, we develop the concept of amplification to explore how the activities of social media–based publics may enlarge the attention p...
Spirit Birds at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

As they soar into the air and dive below the water's surface, birds inspire awe for their superhuman capacity to pass among earth, air, and water. People often see birds as spirits, or as messenger...
Structural Identification of a Five-Story Reinforced Concrete Office Building in Nepal

This study is focused on system identification, finite element (FE) modeling, and FE model updating of the five-story masonry-infilled reinforced concrete building of the National Society of Earthquake Technology (NSET), located in Kathmandu, Nepal. The structure, shown in Fig. 31.1, was subjected to a series of ground motions during the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and its aftershocks.
Assessment of an E-Training Tool for College Students to Improve Accuracy and Reduce Effort Associated with Reading Nutrition Labels.

Objective: Nutrition labels are often underutilized due to the time and effort required to read them. We investigated the impact of label-reading training on effort, as well as accuracy and motivation. Participants: Eighty college students (21 men and 59 women). Methods: The training consisted of a background tutorial on nutrition followed by three blocks of practice reading labels to decide which of two foods was the relatively better choice. Label-reading effort was assessed using an eye tracker and motivation was assessed using a 6-item scale of healthy food-choice empowerment. Results: Students showed increases in label-reading accuracy, decreases in label-reading effort, and increases in empowerment. Conclusions: The nutrition label e-training tool presented here, whether used alone or as part of other wellness and health programs, may be an effective way to boost students' label-reading skills and healthy food choices, before they settle into grocery shopping habits.
Los niños con trastorno del desarrollo de la coordinación tienen dificultad con la representación de las acciones

Introduccion. El estudio de ninos con trastorno del desarrollo de la coordinacion (TDC) ha emergido como una linea vibrante de investigacion durante las dos ultimas decadas. Las publicaciones medicas indican con bastante claridad que los ninos con TDC manifiestan deficit en una serie de habilidades perceptivomotoras y de la vida diaria. Los movimientos de los ninos con TDC se suelen describir como torpes y descoordinados, y dan lugar a dificultades a la hora de realizar muchas de las actividades de la vida diaria y los deportes que los ninos con un desarrollo normal realizan con facilidad. Desarrollo. Se ha planteado la hipotesis, sobre la base de investigaciones limitadas, de que un problema subyacente es un deficit en la generacion y/o control de una representacion de las acciones, que se llama la hipotesis del deficit de modelado interno. De acuerdo con la hipotesis, los ninos con TDC presentan limitaciones significativas en su capacidad de generar y utilizar con precision modelos internos de planificacion motora y control motor. Conclusion. Esta revision se centra principalmente en uno de los metodos utilizados para examinar la representacion de las acciones-imagenes motoras, que los teoricos sostienen que proporcionan una ventana al proceso de representacion de las acciones. Se incluyen metodos de investigacion y posibles estructuras cerebrales implicadas. Ademas, se describe un paradigma unico en esta poblacion, la estimacion de la accesibilidad (distancia) mediante las imagenes motoras.
High-Performance Dual-Axis Gyroscope ASIC Design

This chapter presents a high-performance dual-axis (pitch and roll) MEMS vibratory gyroscope readout ASIC which converts angular rate information to digital output. Two signal-processing chains surrounding the MEMS sensor are implemented, namely the drive channel and the sense channel. The drive channel drives the sensor to resonate at its resonant frequency, which produces a velocity of the sensor disc to generate the Coriolis force during angular rotation. The sense channel employs a low noise transimpedance amplifier (TIA) followed by a demodulator (DM), which down converts the angular rate input signal from the resonant frequency to baseband. Two switched-capacitor (SC) 2–1 MASH delta-sigma ADCs convert the input angular rate from the pitch and roll arises to digital output. The reference of the ADC is also demodulated from the sensor output to cancel out supply voltage dependence. The whole ASIC, including the high-voltage MEMS sensor driver, digital filter, on-chip regulator, and temperature sensor, is fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology with an area of 7.3 mm2. The design achieves a noise floor of 0.0032°/s/√Hz and 0.0061°/s/√Hz in full-scale input ranges of 500°/s and 2000°/s, respectively, over a 480 Hz signal bandwidth. The bias instability is measured as 2.5°/h at input range of 500°/s. The whole ASIC consumes 7 mA from a 3 V supply.
Evaluation of giant cell tumors by diffusion weighted imaging-fractional ADC analysis.

A single ADC value is used in clinical practice on multi b-value acquisitions. Low b-value acquisitions are affected by intravoxel incoherent motion, which is dependent on perfusion. Giant cell tumors (GCTs) are known to exhibit early arterial enhancement and low ADC values. Mean, minimum and fractional ADC characteristics of osseous and tenosynovial GCTs are systematically evaluated. Tenosynovial and osseous GCTs were included. Each lesion was evaluated on conventional MRI and DWI by two musculoskeletal radiologists. ADC was measured by placing an ROI on the most confluent enhancing portion of the lesion. Fractional and best fit ADC calculations were performed using MATLAB software. No statistically significant difference was found between tenosynovial and osseous lesions’ ADC values. Mean ADC for all lesions was 1.0 × 10−3 mm2/s (SD = 0.2 × 10−3 mm2/s) and minimum ADC was 0.5 × 10−3 mm2/s (SD = 0.3 × 10−3 mm2/s). Average mean ADC value obtained from B50–B400 slope was 1.1 × 10−3 mm2/s (SD = 0.2 × 10−3 mm2/s), and the average mean ADC value obtained from B400–B800 slope was 0.8 × 10−3 mm2/s (SD = 0.1 × 10−3 mm2/s) [p-value <0.01]. Tenosynovial and osseous GCTs demonstrate similar and low ADC values, which become even lower when using high b-value pairs. Our study also supports the theory of intravoxel incoherent motion that becomes apparent at low b values as related to giant cell tumors, which are known to be hyperperfused.
Soil-Geopolymer Mixtures Using Recycled Concrete Aggregates for Base and Subbase Layers

The recycling of concrete aggregates has become a viable venture to investigate particularly its application in road construction. This study was conducted to proffer the feasibility of using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) mixed with soil, flyash and alkali activator as an alternative to soil-cement in road base or subbase applications. The resulting product known as Soil-RCA geopolymer was made by varied mix constituents of flyash, RCA, sodium silicate, and sodium hydroxide. The influence of mixture variables on the mechanical properties of Soil-RCA geopolymer was investigated through an experiment design using two different flyash. Models to predict the unconfined compressive strengths based on mixture parameters were also established for the sensitivity analysis and selection of final mixtures. The results and analysis showed that the Soil-RCA geopolymer mixture exhibited sound strength, stiffness and durability characteristics.
Finding Oneself, Called

This chapter situates Heidegger’s account of moods and affects in its original philosophical and methodological home: his account of disclosing as our original human openness. The dimension of disclosing to which affects belong is finding, or findingness (Befindlichkeit). The chapter argues that to be finding is to be called by vocational projects (e.g., in ground-moods like angst and boredom) and to be called by the solicitings of entities, not only in being mooded but also in sensing and in being normatively responsive (among others). This wider perspective on Heidegger’s thinking of affectivity yields the proper context in which to understand and assess what he says about moods, as well as a powerful framework within which to understand affective disclosing generally, as the phenomenon of finding oneself called.
Performance Limits of 2H-GaN Vertical Superjunction Schottky rectifiers, MOSFETs and HEMTs

In this paper, we have quantitatively evaluated the performance limits of 2H-GaN vertical superjunction Schottky rectifiers, MOSFETs and HEMTs by device scaling. We have demonstrated the $\mathrm{R}_{\mathbf{on},\mathrm{sp}}$ of 2H-GaN vertical conventional p/n superjunction (SJ) devices are limited by channel and JFET region on-resistance up to 10kV. While the $\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{o}\mathbf{n},\mathrm{sp}}$ limits of 2H-GaN vertical natural polarization superjunction (PSJ) devices are limited by channel and JFET region on-resistance up to 100kV. The results show the specific on-resistance of vertical superjunction devices are 10x and 1000x lower than the 2H-GaN 1D limit with breakdown voltage of 1kV and 10kV respectively.
Food, Politics and Society: social theory and the modern food system: by Alejandro Colás, Jason Edwards, Jane Levi and Sami Zubaida, Oakland, University of California Press, 2018, viii + 278 pp., £24.00/$29.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-52029-195-9

How central is food to the big questions that historians and social scientists have debated regarding the major transformations of the modern period? The authors of Food, Politics and Society build...
EXPLORING SUICIDALITY IN OLDER ADULTS USING THE INTERPERSONAL THEORY OF SUICIDE: INITIAL DATA FROM AN INPATIENT SAMPLE

Introduction The World Health Organization estimates that annual deaths due to suicide have reached nearly 800,000 globally. Data suggests that per attempt, older adults are far more likely to complete suicide compared to younger adults. Risk factors for suicide such as prior suicide attempts, physical and psychiatric illness, stressful or traumatic life events, and social isolation have been identified in older adults. However, there is sparse research which examines the unique biopsychosocial challenges faced by older adults and how these might interact with established risk factors to lead to higher lethality of suicidal behavior. Several prior studies of community-dwelling older adults have identified the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) as a plausible framework for this phenomenon. The IPTS posits that the pathway which bridges the gap between suicidal ideation (SI) and lethal suicidal behavior originates from two constructs which precipitate a desire for suicide - thwarted belongingness (TB) and perceived burdensomeness (PB) - combined with the capability for suicide. For older adults who are also diagnosed with personality disorders (PDs) or PD traits, which are well-known to negatively impact psychosocial functioning, this further adds to a “perfect storm” of risk factors likely to lead to completed suicide. This study aims to explore the relationship between these factors and severity of suicidality in an older adult sample on an inpatient psychiatric unit. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited all participants from the inpatient Older Adult Unit at McLean Hospital. For all participants, a chart review was conducted to obtain information regarding medical comorbidities, cognitive status, trauma history, and responses to a suicide risk assessment upon admission. Subjects also completed the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ), Personality Inventory-DSM 5 (PID-5), PROMIS Social Isolation, World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-12 Item, and Personality Assessment Inventory-Sterssors and Nonsupport Subscale at one timepoint. Primary endpoints were suicidality severity and INQ total score. Results Data collection is ongoing for this study. Data analysis will occur prior to poster presentation and results will be presented. Conclusions Data collection is ongoing. Results from this study may help identify unique risk factors contributing to suicidality in older adults and pertinent targets for intervention. This research was funded by: No funding.
Movement pattern biofeedback training after total knee arthroplasty: Randomized clinical trial protocol.

Abstract Introduction Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) reduces joint symptoms, but habitual movement compensations persist years after surgery. Preliminary research on movement training interventions have signaled initial efficacy for remediating movement compensations and restoring knee joint loading symmetry during dynamic functional tasks after TKA. The purpose of this clinical trial is to determine if physical rehabilitation that includes movement training restores healthy movement patterns after TKA and reduces the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) progression in the contralateral knee. Methods/design 150 participants will be enrolled into this randomized controlled trial. Participants will be randomly allocated to one of two dose-equivalent treatment groups: standard rehabilitation plus movement training (MOVE) or standard rehabilitation without movement training (CONTROL). Movement training will promote between-limb symmetry and surgical knee loading during activity-based exercises. Movement training strategies will include real-time biofeedback using in-shoe pressure sensors and verbal, visual, and tactile cues from the physical therapist. The primary outcome will be change in peak knee extension moment in the surgical knee during walking, from before surgery to six months after surgery. Secondary outcomes will include lower extremity movement symmetry during functional tasks, physical function, quadriceps strength, range of motion, satisfaction, adherence, contralateral knee OA progression, and incidence of contralateral TKA. Discussion This study will provide insights into the efficacy of movement training after unilateral TKA, along with mechanisms for optimizing long-term physical function and minimizing negative sequelae of compensatory movement patterns.
Fully electronic silicon-based THz pulse sources and detectors

Radiation and detection of ultra-short terahertz pulses with picosecond duration advance a variety of applications, including imaging, spectroscopy, and wireless communication. Silicon-based integrated circuits can replace bulky, expensive femtosecond lasers with low-cost solutions to generate and detect THz pulses with GHz repetition rates. In this paper, we present laser-free fully electronic THz pulse sources and detectors to radiate and detect broadband frequency combs in mm-wave and terahertz regimes. A THz pulse radiator chip based on the reverse recovery of a PIN diode is presented. This chip radiates pulses with a tunable repetition rate that can go up to 10.5 GHz. In the frequency domain, the radiated pulses generate a frequency comb that extends up to 1.1 THz. The spacing between the THz tones can be tuned by changing the repetition rates of the pulses to cover the desired frequency range. In addition to the THz comb source, a broadband frequency comb detector chip is presented. The detector chip uses a tunable frequency comb as a reference to sense the spectrum over a wide bandwidth. Single-tone measurements were performed using the detector from 50 GHz to 280 GHz. The source and detector technologies are used to implement a dual-comb sensing system, in which the mm-wave/THz frequency components of the radiated combs are compressed to a small bandwidth in the RF regime.
Delayed Diagnosis and Management of Traumatic Cervical Spine Subluxation.

Introduction Traumatic cervical instability, which includes bilateral facet dislocation, unilateral facet dislocation, and bilateral facet perch or subluxation, is generally treated expeditiously. Treatment is focused on providing stability of the cervical spine and mitigating sequelae such as spinal cord injury, nerve injury, cervical deformity, chronic pain, and even death. Surgical stabilization of traumatic bilateral cervical facet subluxation is the norm. There is not much-published literature concerning late treatment of neglected cervical facet subluxations or dislocations. Case report We present the case of a 53-year-old female who sustained cervical spine injury in 2010 after a single car motor vehicle accident. She did not seek immediate medical care but rather self-medicated with heroin, non-prescribed oral opiates and alcohol. She also wore a store-bought soft collar for support. She presented to our office in 2016 with persistent severe neck pain along with neck stiffness, fixed cervical flexion deformity, dysphagia, and left C6 radiculopathy. Plain radiographs demonstrated regional cervical kyphosis from C4 to C6 measuring 50°as well as autofusion at the C5/6 level. Cervical computed tomography (CT) confirmed traumatic ankylosis of C5/6 and anterolisthesis at C4/5. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging revealed multilevel cervical disc degeneration, moderate central stenosis at C4/5, and multilevel foraminal stenosis. We performed circumferential surgery: Anterior C5 and C6 corpectomy, placement of an expandable cage, and anterior C4 to C6 plating. This was followed by posterior decompression, lateral mass instrumentation, and fusion from C4-7. We were able to restore forward gaze, eliminate her dysphagia and the left C6 radiculopathy, and diminish the global neck pain. Conclusions Neglect of unstable cervical injuries portends poor clinical results. In this case, the neglect was self-induced in part from the patient's lifestyle, social situation, and lack of early access to healthcare. Despite the delayed treatment, surgical intervention was able to improve her quality of life and decrease her deformity.
An Ensemble-based Network Intrusion Detection Scheme with Bayesian Deep Learning

Network intrusion detection is the fundamental of the Cybersecurity which plays an important role in preventing the systems away from malicious network traffic. Recent Artificial Intelligence (AI) based intrusion detection systems provide simple and accurate intrusion detection compared with the conventional intrusion detection schemes, however, the detection performance may not be reliable because the models in the AI algorithms must output a prediction result for each incoming instance even when the models are not confident. To tackle the issue, we propose to adopt Bayesian Deep Learning, specifically, Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network, to build intrusion detection models. Moreover, an ensemble-based detection scheme is further proposed to enhance the detection performance. Two open datasets (i.e., NSL-KDD and UNSW-NB15) are used to evaluate the proposed schemes. In comparison, Convolutional Neural Network and Support Vector Machine are implemented as baseline IDS (i.e., CNN-IDS and SVM-IDS). The evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed BCNN-IDS can significantly boost the detection accuracy and reduce the false alarm rate by adopting the proposed T-ensemble detection scheme.
Mouse Sertoli cells isolation by lineage tracing and sorting

Sertoli cells play a key role in spermatogenesis by supporting the germ cells throughout differentiation. The isolation of Sertoli cells is essential to study their functions. However, the close contact of Sertoli cells with other testicular cell types and the high proliferation of contaminating cells are obstacles to obtain pure primary cultures. Current rodent Sertoli cell isolation protocols result in enriched, rather than pure Sertoli cells. Therefore, novel approaches are necessary to improve the purity of Sertoli cell primary cultures. The goal of this study is to obtain pure mouse Sertoli cells using lineage tracing and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). We bred the Amh-Cre mouse line with tdTomato line to generate mice constitutively expressing red fluorescence specifically in Sertoli cells. Primary cultures of Sertoli cells isolated from prepubertal mice showed that 79% of cells expressed tdTomato, as evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry; however, nearly all adherent cells were positive for vimentin. Most of the tomato-negative cells expressed α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a peritubular myoid cell marker, but double-negative populations were also present. These findings suggest that vimentin lacks Sertoli cell-specificity and that α-SMA is not adequate to identify all of the contaminating cells. Upon FACS sorting; however, virtually 100% of the cells were tdTomato positive, expressed vimentin, but not α-SMA. Prepubertal mice yielded a higher number of Sertoli cells compared to adults, but both could be adequately sorted. In conclusion, our study shows that lineage tracing and sorting is an efficient strategy for acquiring pure populations of murine Sertoli cells.
Challenges and Solution for Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity of the USA

The development of Information Technology can make a computer to act and think like humans. AI is an exceptional aspect of information technology that requires the event of a machine that reacts and works as a mind of the human. The artificial intelligence' key features include the human senses' analogy. The system is capable of recognizing touch and speeches as features that are placed within the system for running the normal life situation's potential activities without the assistance of humans. Artificial intelligence, however, is the intelligence' agents' study that takes the environment's condition and achieves its goal successfully. The majority of the systems in the computing World are built for serving the purposes as per the situation's nature with the unique features' application from the human's aspects' natural existing. Artificial intelligence is generally an associate of the humans that apply problem-solving techniques and learning for understanding activities' high levels in operation of the human-inspired elements, decision-making, and emotional cycle. As opposed to human intelligence, artificial intelligence is machine-based intelligence. This research paper is aimed at evaluating the current challenges related to artificial intelligence for cybersecurity in the United States. The research paper will propose the innovative solution for Artificial Intelligence in cybersecurity of the USA.
Multisource Feedback as an Experiential Learning Enabler in Large-Format Management Classes:

An extensive body of literature has examined the benefits and challenges of experiential learning in higher education. At the same time, colleges and universities have increased the utilization of ...
Shorter outpatient wait-times for buprenorphine are associated with linkage to care post-hospital discharge.

Abstract Background Inpatient addiction consult services (ACS) lower barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), however not every patient recommended for MOUD links to outpatient care. We hypothesized that fewer days between discharge date and outpatient appointment date was associated with improved linkage to buprenorphine treatment among patients evaluated by an ACS. Methods We extracted appointment and demographic data from electronic medical records and conducted retrospective chart review of adults diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) evaluated by an ACS in Boston, MA between July 2015 and August 2017. These patients were initiated on or recommended buprenorphine treatment on discharge and provided follow-up appointment at our hospital post-discharge. Multivariable logistic regression assessed whether arrival to the appointment post-discharge was associated with shorter wait-times (0−1 vs. 2+ days). Results In total, 142 patients were included. Among patients who had wait-times of 0−1 day, 63 % arrived to their appointment compared to wait-times of 2 or more days (42 %). There were no significant differences between groups based on age, gender, distance of residence from the hospital, insurance status, co-occurring alcohol use disorder diagnosis, or discharge with buprenorphine prescription. After adjusting for covariates, patients with 0−1 day of wait-time had 2.6 times the odds of arriving to their appointment [95 % CI 1.3–5.5] compared to patients who had 2+ days of wait-time. Conclusion For hospitalized patients with OUD evaluated for initiating MOUD, same- and next-day appointments are associated with increased odds of linkage to outpatient MOUD care post-discharge compared to waiting two or more days.
Applying Cyber Range Concepts of Operation to Disaster Recovery Testing. A Case Study

A critical component of disaster recovery planning is testing, which involves verification of the effectiveness of the DR solutions. Currently, there are several limitations that plagues disaster testing efforts such as the inability to create realistic disaster scenarios and test them in a production environment. Cyber Range Concept of Operations (CONOPS) presents an opportunity for overcoming these challenges. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the application of Cyber Range CONOPS to DR testing. We use a case study approach to observe the development of a disaster recovery program in a large enterprise. We seek to gain an insight into the design and implementation of a disaster recovery program, using the concept of Cyber Range.
Stable distributed scheduling policies for manufacturing systems

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is a network of machines and other elements (e.g. bounded delays, multiplexers, demultiplexers) through which parts of different types with different processing needs flow. The authors analyze the stability properties of the clear a fraction (CAF), clear average oldest buffer (CAOB), and random part selection (RPS) (of which first-come first-serve (FCFS) is a special case) machine part servicing policies for isolated machines. The authors then establish the input-output properties of the isolated machine and the other network elements. Finally, the authors generate conditions under which the isolated machines and other network elements can be interconnected to form a stable FMS. In addition, the authors generate bounds on all buffers in a stable FMS. >
Optimizing Neural Networks for Time Series Prediction

In this paper we investigate the effective design of an appropriate neural network model for time series prediction based on an evolutionary approach. In particular, the Breeder Genetic Algorithms are considered to face contemporaneously the optimization of (i) the design of a neural network architecture and (ii) the choice of the best learning method. The effectiveness of the approach proposed is evaluated on a standard benchmark for prediction models, the Mackey-Glass series.
Effect of Storage of Mueller-Hinton Agar Plates on Zone Sizes for Antimicrobial Testing

The length of time Mueller-Hinton agar plates can be stored at 4 C without affecting the size of zones of inhibition in susceptibility testing by the Bauer-Kirby method was studied. It was found that these plates can be stored for 3 weeks at 4 C without an appreciable affect on zone sizes. Storage of plates in sealed plastic bags did not alter the results significantly. The findings indicate that commercially prepared Mueller-Hinton agar plates, which may be several days old when received at the laboratory, are suitable for use in routine susceptibility tests by the Bauer-Kirby method.
Lunar and Planetary Perspectives on the Geological History of the Earth

During the latter part of the last century, a profound change took place in our perception of the Earth. First, this change was holistic: Plate tectonic theory provided a unifying theme that seems to explain disparate observations about the Earth and how it works, and lets us see the Earth as a planet. Secondly, actually seeing the Earth from the Moon, and exploring the other planets provided additional perspectives on our own home planet and hastened the decline of scientific terracentrism. Thirdly, learning that the uniqueness of the Moon in terms of size and aspects of its chemistry may be due to its derivation from the Earth as the result of a giant impact, provided a concrete filial link. Finally, the geological record revealed by exploration of the Moon and planets has provided us with the missing chapters in the dynamic history of the Earth. We now know that gargantuan impact basins formed in Earth’s formative years and that impact events are likely to be the cause of many punctuations in Earth’s biological evolution. Perspectives on ancient tectonic activity are provided by Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Moon, and show that the Earth has changed considerably since its youth. Widely varying volcanic eruption styles are seen on the planets, providing insight into how puzzling rocks from early Earth history formed. The composition of planetary atmospheres has revealed the unusual nature of Earth’s, and its link to the evolution of life. The atmospheres of the planets have undergone radical changes with time, providing clues to Earth’s history and destiny. Fundamentally different hydrological cycles on Earth, Venus, Europa and Mars, and evidence for significant changes with time, have provided insight into Earth’s history. The probable presence of oceans on Europa and Mars has changed our thinking about the origin and evolution of life on Earth. We no longer think of the Earth in isolation. Instead, Earth is now perceived of as a member of a family of planets, each of which provides important missing information and perspective on the other, and together reveal the fabric of the history of the Solar System. Future exploration and perspectives will place our Solar System in the context of all of the others.
Face Expression Recognition and Analysis: The State of the Art

The automatic recognition of facial expressions has been an active research topic since the early nineties. There have been several advances in the past few years in terms of face detection and tracking, feature extraction mechanisms and the techniques used for expression classification. This paper surveys some of the published work since 2001 till date. The paper presents a time-line view of the advances made in this field, the applications of automatic face expression recognizers, the characteristics of an ideal system, the databases that have been used and the advances made in terms of their standardization and a detailed summary of the state of the art. The paper also discusses facial parameterization using FACS Action Units (AUs) and MPEG-4 Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs) and the recent advances in face detection, tracking and feature extraction methods. Notes have also been presented on emotions, expressions and facial features, discussion on the six prototypic expressions and the recent studies on expression classifiers. The paper ends with a note on the challenges and the future work. This paper has been written in a tutorial style with the intention of helping students and researchers who are new to this field.
Bone and Cartilage

Bone is hard and has a stress-strain relationship similar to many engineering materials. Hence stress analysis in bone can be made in a way similar to the usual engineering structural analysis. Figure 12.1:1 shows the stress-strain relationship of a human femur subjected to uniaxial tension. It is seen that dry bone is brittle and fails at a strain of 0.4%; but wet bone is less so, and fails at a strain of 1.2%.
Abstract 457: N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (Ac-SDKP) Prevents The Development Of Nephritis And Skin Lesions In Mouse Model Of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (MRL/lpr)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by development of auto antibodies against various self-antigens and deposition of immune complexes leading to inflammation, fibrosis and end organ damage. Ac-SDKP is a naturally occurring tetrapeptide that in hypertension and other diseases such as autoimmune myocarditis prevents inflammation and fibrosis in heart, kidney and vasculature. Here we tested the hypothesis that Ac-SDKP in a mouse model of SLE decreases autoimmune responses, thus preventing inflammation and renal damage. To test this, lupus mice were treated with Ac-SDKP for 20 weeks. Ac-SDKP treated lupus mice exhibited significant decrease in 1) macrophage and T cell infiltration, 2) expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, 3) complement system activation and 4) expression of cell adhesion protein ICAM-1. In addition, the lupus mice had a significant improvement in renal function (GFR), decrease in glomerular damage and interstitial collagen deposition. Ac-SDKP also reduced the facial skin lesion. Ac-SDKP did not decrease the production of autoantibodies nor blood pressure. Therefore the protective effect of Ac-SDKP is most likely achieved by modulation of the activation of the complement system, expression of chemokines and ICAM-1, leading to a reduction of innate and adaptive immunity cell infiltration in the kidney ![][1] [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
A NORMAL FORM FOR FIRST-ORDER LOGIC OVER DOUBLY-LINKED DATA STRUCTURES

We use singulary vocabularies to analyze first-order definability over doubly-linked data structures. Singulary vocabularies contain only monadic predicate and monadic function symbols. A class of mathematical structures in any vocabulary can be elementarily interpreted in a singulary vocabulary, while preserving notions of total size and degree. Doubly-linked data structures are a special case of bounded-degree finite structures in which there are reciprocal connections between elements, corresponding closely with physically feasible models of information storage. They can be associated with logical models involving unary relations and bijective functions in what we call an invertible singulary vocabulary. Over classes of these models, there is a normal form for first-order logic which eliminates all quantification of dependent variables. The paper provides a syntactically based proof using counting quantifiers. It also makes precise the notion of implicit calculability for arbitrary arity first-order formulas. Linear-time evaluation of first-order logic over doubly-linked data structures becomes a direct corollary. Included is a discussion of why these special data structures are appropriate for physically realizable models of information.
The nature of the metabolic signal that triggers onset of puberty in female rats

Abstract These experiments examined the effects of different refeeding stimuli on reproductive activity as measured by the onset of first estrus in prepubertal, food-restricted female rats. Such rats were placed on a restricted food intake until day 50 of age to maintain a weight of 80–90 g, and to suppress onset of puberty (normal time of puberty: 37 ± 1.4 days of age). In Experiment 1, rats were refed at different daily caloric intakes from day 50 through day 62. First estrus was observed in all rats, with highest caloric intake after 5.7 ± 0.6 days of refeeding. Progressively fewer rats achieved first estrus, and the time to first estrus increased as the caloric intake per day decreased. These results suggest that the highest caloric intake most closely resembles an ad lib diet in such realimented rats. The second experiment determined the duration of an ad lib food stimulus needed to initiate first estrus. Similarly growth-restricted rats were refed (on Day 50 of age) ad lib meals of 67.2 ± 0.1 kcal, presented for periods of 12, 24, 48, or 72 h. The majority of rats (6 of 7) achieved first estrus when the ad lib meals were presented for 72 h, but progressively fewer rats achieved first estrus when such meals were presented for less time. These data indicate that an extended ad lib food stimulus (72 h) is necessary to cause onset of cycling in the majority of food-restricted, prepubertal female rats.
Using computational modeling to enhance the understanding of the flow of supercritical carbon dioxide in wood materials

Abstract The flow of supercritical carbon dioxide in wood materials was investigated through the development of a computational model based on the viscous flow of a fluid traveling through a porous medium. Douglas-fir specimens were prepared by inserting pressure sensors into the cross-section of a specimen, so that a pressure profile could be measured during supercritical treatment. The computational model was evaluated by comparing the predicted values to the ones measured experimentally. Model performance was also assessed through comparisons with another proposed model with a similar theoretical foundation, which was applied to spruce wood under different test conditions. The model was a relatively accurate predictor of internal pressure development at sub-critical pressures, while a greater disparity was observed at certain pressures above the critical point. These disparities were observed in the prior model as well, but were not as large, and the rationale for these findings is presented. The present study confirmed that the theoretical foundation for the model, viscous flow through a porous substrate using Darcy's Law, is applicable to more than one wood species, and thus possesses the potential to be applied to a variety of wood species and supercritical treatment conditions.
Electromyographic analysis of a human powered stepper cycle during seated and standing riding.

Abstract This study examined the muscular activation patterns produced while riding the Step 'n Go, a tricycle powered by a reciprocating vertical motion and typically used by individuals with cognitive, orthopedic, and neuromuscular conditions. Seven normal, adult subjects were tested at three power levels (75, 100, and 125 W) during seated and standing riding. Eight lower extremity muscles were examined with surface electromyography. Results showed that the major power producing muscles for this device were the gluteus maximus, vastis lateralis and medialis, rectus femoris, and tibialis anterior. At the highest power level, peak and mean muscular activation in these muscles were substantially lower (17–38%) while riding standing compared to seated, and seems to reflect the benefit of body weight for power production while standing. At the lowest power level, the peak and mean muscle activation differences between positions were less remarkable, and in some cases the standing values were greater than seated. This suggests that significant muscular effort was required to maintain standing posture and balance when riding at low power levels. Individuals able to perform vastis lateralis and medialis intensive activities, such as the concentric portion of a squat or using a stepping machine (Stair Master), should be able to comfortably ride the Step 'n Go at low power levels.
Regulation of c-jun mRNA expression by hydroxyurea in human K562 cells during erythroid differentiation

Hydroxyurea (HU) is an antitumor agent which also induces hemoglobinization during erythroid differentiation. In addition, HU stimulates the synthesis of fetal hemoglobin in sickle cell anemia patients. To further understand its mechanism of action, we investigated the effects of HU on regulation of c-jun expression prior to the onset of erythroid differentiation of K562 cells. HU induced a dose-dependent stimulation of c-jun synthesis. The levels of c-jun mRNA was elevated 4 to 7.5-fold by HU within 2 h. This was followed by a gradual decline to the basal level by 24 h. Both nuclear run-on and actinomycin D pulse experiments strongly indicate that HU regulates c-jun mRNA expression by increasing the rate of synthesis as well as stabilizing the c-jun mRNA. In addition, the level of jun protein was elevated by 2 to 5-fold within 4 h in HU treated cells. Furthermore, concentrations of HU below 250 microM slightly increased the 5X AP-1/CAT activity. These results strongly suggest that HU induces both transcriptional and post-transcription regulation of c-jun during erythroid differentiation.
Effects of intratrial stimulus change on fixed-interval performance: The roles of clock and memory processes

In two experiments, pigeons were exposed to differentially cued training trials of fixed interval (FI) 30 and 60 sec. In addition, shift trials were presented in which the cue associated with one FI value was presented for a prearranged duration at trial onset, followed by offset of that cue and presentation of the other cue. Response-contingent reinforcement was scheduled during the second cue. During the first shift phase, the FI 30-sec cue was shifted to the FI 60-sec cue; in a second phase, the order of the cue shift was reversed. Inferences about accumulator and memory functions of the internal clock were based upon behavior during both training trials and shift trials. At the end of both shift phases, test-trial FI functions generally superimposed in a manner consistent with accumulator reset on cue shift. Individual differences in clustering of functions were accommodated by variation in reference-memory storage across subjects. This interpretation was tested in Experiment 2 by constraining reference-memory storage on shift trials. These conditions yielded a decrease in between-subject variability and provided data consistent with accumulator reset and control by a single reference-memory value on shift trials.
Lymphocyte-Rich Gastric Cancer: Associations with Epstein-Barr Virus, Microsatellite Instability, Histology, and Survival

Lymphocyte-rich gastric carcinomas may have a better prognosis than cancers without a pronounced host inflammatory response. Two subsets of gastric cancer-Epstein-Barr virus-positive and microsatellite instability high-have been associated with a lymphocyte-rich phenotype. We assessed relationships between tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, Epstein-Barr virus status, microsatellite instability status, and cancer-specific survival in 110 resected gastric cancers. Seven patients had Epstein-Barr virus-positive cancer, including 4 (3.7%) of 107 consecutive patients. Tumors from 17 patients (16%) were designated microsatellite instability high on the basis of negative immunohistochemical staining for MLH1; all tumors had intact expression of MSH2 and MSH6. Epstein-Barr virus-positive cancers had increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes compared with Epstein-Barr virus-negative cancers (median 450/10 HPF versus 21/10 HPF, P <.001). Microsatellite instability-high cancers also had increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes compared with non-microsatellite instability-high cancers (median 150/10 HPF versus 20/HPF, P <.001). Microsatellite instability-high cancers affected older patients and were more likely to be intestinal in the Lauren classification and expanding in the Ming classification. By univariate analysis, decreased risk of death from gastric cancer was significantly associated with low tumor stage, expanding growth pattern, increasing tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte count, and microsatellite instability-high status. High tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte count and microsatellite instability-high status retained statistical significance as favorable prognostic factors after adjustment for tumor stage in multivariate analysis. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte count retained statistical significance as a favorable prognostic factor after adjustment for microsatellite instability-high status; but microsatellite instability-high status did not remain a significant independent prognosticator after adjustment for tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte count. The association between microsatellite instability-high cancers and high tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte counts may account for the association of microsatellite instability-high gastric cancers with improved survival.