cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Why Citizens Should Vote: A Causal Responsibility Approach*

Why should a citizen vote? There are two ways to interpret this question: in a prudential sense, and in a moral (or quasi-moral) sense. Under the first interpretation, the question asks why—or under what circumstances—it is in a citizen's self-interest to vote. Under the second interpretation, it asks what moral (or quasi-moral) reasons citizens have for voting. I shall mainly try to answer the moral version of the question, but my answer may also, in some circumstances, bear on the prudential question. Before proceeding to my own approach, let me briefly survey alternatives in the field.
Adolescent Varicocele: Influence of Tanner Stage at Presentation on the Presence, Development, Worsening and/or Improvement of Testicular Hypotrophy Without Surgical Intervention

Purpose: Testicular asymmetry in adolescents with varicocele can worsen, remain unchanged or decrease on followup. We determined the incidence of testicular asymmetry at presentation by Tanner stage and the correlation between Tanner stage at presentation and subsequent changes in percent asymmetry (ability for catch-up growth or progressive asymmetry) without surgical intervention.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively studied the records of 115 boys with a mean age of 14.1 years (range 9.2 to 20.0) with grade 2 or 3 left varicocele who underwent testicular volume measurement at 2 visits at least that were a minimum of 6 months apart. Of the patients 92% and 8% underwent Doppler duplex ultrasound and orchidometry, respectively. Patients were divided into 2 groups, including those with less than 15% and those with 15% or greater asymmetry. Catch-up growth was defined as less than 15% asymmetry at any subsequent visit.Results: At presentation 58%, 64%, 67%, 35% and 39% of Tanner 1 to 5 cases showed 15% ...
Kitchen 2.0: Design Guidance for Healthier Cooking Environments

Among stove developers and implementers it has now become common knowledge that it is possible to reduce the amount of fuel, emissions, indoor air pollutants and greenhouse gases produced by traditional cookstoves through introducing improved cookstoves. However, improved cookstove effectiveness has not yet translated into an increase in the health and wellbeing of cookstove users. For this reason, the Kitchen2.0 team set out to investigate an alternative approach to solving the global health impacts of poor indoor air quality due to the use of biomass as cookstove fuel: ventilation. To better understand the role ventilation plays in kitchens with fires and cookstoves, a three-pronged approach was used, including global community surveys, a full-scale physical model, and a computational model. Field agents affiliated with Michigan Technological University helped complete surveys on cooking habits and structures worldwide. Physical testing was conducted in the Kitchen2.0 modular kitchen by running cooking tests with different kitchen structure configurations and stoves. The computational model was developed to simplify the testing of cooking scenarios. Ventilation was found to make a significant difference on the indoor air quality of the cooking environment, reducing carbon monoxide and very small particulate matter by about 50%. While improved cookstoves also improved air quality when paired with ventilation, they worsened air quality 10-30% when used without ventilation. The improved understanding of the impacts of ventilation could help community-based organizations improve indoor air quality, and the lives of billions worldwide.
Leiophron argentinensis Shaw (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): A New Species of Parasitoid from Argentina and Paraguay—Information on Life History and Potential for Controlling Lygus Bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae)

Abstract We discovered an undescribed species of Leiophron parasitizing mirid nymphs in Argentina and Paraguay; this euphorine braconid is described as Leiophron argentinensis Shaw n. sp. Wasps were reared from several mirid species collected on numerous host plants, but most parasitoids (>85%) were reared from Taylorilygus apicalis (Fieber), which was the most abundant mirid. Parasitism rates ranged from 0 to 37% and averaged ≈7% for the entire study. Excluding samples where parasitism was not observed, parasitism rates averaged ≈9%. Parasitism levels were highest in the summer. Host plant species significantly influenced parasitism levels of T. apicalis; nymphs on Conyza spp. suffered ≈16% parasitism, significantly more than nymphs on other host plants. L. argentinensis was collected throughout the study area (≈22–35° S), although the entire geographic range of this species is not yet known. We observed a transition from a male-biased sex ratio in the summer to a female-biased sex ratio in the fall. L. ...
The transcriptional repressor Blimp-1 acts downstream of BMP signaling to generate primordial germ cells in the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus

Segregation of the germ line from the soma is an essential event for transmission of genetic information across generations in all sexually reproducing animals. Although some well-studied systems such as Drosophila and Xenopus use maternally inherited germ determinants to specify germ cells, most animals, including mice, appear to utilize zygotic inductive cell signals to specify germ cells during later embryogenesis. Such inductive germ cell specification is thought to be an ancestral trait of Bilateria, but major questions remain as to the nature of an ancestral mechanism to induce germ cells, and how that mechanism evolved. We previously reported that BMP signaling-based germ cell induction is conserved in both the mouse Mus musculus and the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, which is an emerging model organism for functional studies of induction-based germ cell formation. In order to gain further insight into the functional evolution of germ cell specification, here we examined the Gryllus ortholog of the transcription factor Blimp-1 (also known as Prdm1), which is a widely conserved bilaterian gene known to play a crucial role in the specification of germ cells in mice. Our functional analyses of the Gryllus Blimp-1 ortholog revealed that it is essential for Gryllus primordial germ cell development, and is regulated by upstream input from the BMP signaling pathway. This functional conservation of the epistatic relationship between BMP signaling and Blimp-1 in inductive germ cell specification between mouse and cricket supports the hypothesis that this molecular mechanism regulated primordial germ cell specification in a last common bilaterian ancestor.
KML001 targets telomeres in prostate cancer cells

C240 KML001 (sodium meta arsenite, Kominox) is an orally bioavailable, trivalent arsenic compound that has entered phase I/II clinical trials in prostate cancer. Arsenicals have been described to cause chromosome abnormalities as a result of the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells. Recent studies however, have shown that trivalent arsenicals can specifically alter telomere length, telomerase activity and telomere binding proteins, suggesting that the telomere/telomerase complex might be a direct target of sodium meta arsenite. This study was initiated to investigate whether KML001 targets telomeres and telomerase in prostate cancer cells. The prostate cancer cell lines PC3 and DU145, which have relatively short telomeres (2.5 and 4.2 kb, respectively) were chosen for in vitro experiments. KML001 concentrations needed to inhibit cell growth to 50% (IC 50 ) and 100% (IC 100 ) were determined by MTT assay. The IC 50 for PC3 was found to be 0.23 µM and for DU145 2 µM, the IC100s were 9 µM and 5 µM, respectively; the IC 50 s and IC 100 s were used for all mechanistic analyses. The TeloTAGGG Quantification Kit was employed to measure mRNA expression of the telomerase catalytic subunit hTERT; hTERT protein expression, induction of telomere-associated DNA damage by histone H2AX phosphorylation, and 8-oxodeoxyguanosine formation were studied by immunofluorescence microscopy. Direct binding of KML001 to 59-(TTAGGG) x -39 telomeric sequences was assessed by high resolution MALDI (Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization) mass spectrometry, and by metaphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). KML001 treatment of prostate cancer cells did down-regulate hTERT mRNA expression after 24 hrs of continuous exposure to drug. hTERT protein expression in the nucleus was also reduced and a translocation to the cytoplasm was observed, suggesting the displacement of hTERT from the telomeres. Consistent with these observations, we found that KML001 can bind to telomeric repeat sequences at a ratio of 1 molecule drug per 3 telomeric repeats and that these lesions result in a rapid induction of γ-H2AX, a marker of DNA-damage response and telomere-initiated senescence. H2AX phosphorylation (γ-H2AX) occurred earlier (after 2 hrs) and at lower KML001 (IC 50 ) concentrations compared to the ROS-induced formation of 8-oxodeoxyguanosine, which was not seen prior to 24 hrs and only at the IC 100. Moreover, direct telomere binding by KML001 resulted in a gradual telomere loss with two telomeres per chromosome missing at 48 hrs and a complete telomere loss seen at 72 hrs in IC 100 treated PC3 cells. Our findings indicate that KML001 can specifically target telomeres and telomerase. The latter might provide biomarkers to assess drug response and should be considered in clinical trials of KML001 in prostate and other cancers.
Robust and efficient multiple alignment of unsynchronized meeting recordings

This paper proposes a way to generate a single high-quality audio recording of a meeting using no equipment other than participants’ personal devices. Each participant in the meeting uses their mobile device as a local recording node, and they begin recording whenever they arrive in an unsynchronized fashion. The main problem in generating a single summary recording is to temporally align the various audio recordings in a robust and efficient manner. We propose a way to do this using an adaptive audio fingerprint based on spectrotemporal eigenfilters, where the fingerprint design is learned on-the-fly in a totally unsupervised way to perform well on the data at hand. The adaptive fingerprints require only a few seconds of data to learn a robust design, and they require no tuning. Our method uses an iterative, greedy two-stage alignment algorithm which finds a rough alignment using indexing techniques, and then performs a more fine-grained alignment based on Hamming distance. Our proposed system achieves $>$ 99% alignment accuracy on challenging alignment scenarios extracted from the ICSI meeting corpus, and it outperforms five other well-known and state-of-the-art fingerprint designs. We conduct extensive analyses of the factors that affect the robustness of the adaptive fingerprints, and we provide a simple heuristic that can be used to adjust the fingerprint’s robustness according to the amount of computation we are willing to perform.
A Reappraisal of the Diagnostic Criteria for Primary Aldosteronism

1. Results in 80 patients with primary aldosteronism (70 with tumour, 10 with hyperplasia) who underwent stimulation and suppression tests were analysed to assess the usefulness of several screening techniques. 2. On normal dietary sodium, normokalaemia was found in 27.5% of patients; 12.5% remained so despite 3 days of salt loading. Suppressed plasma renin activity (PRA: less than 1.43 pmol/l after stimulated conditions) gave a false-negative rate of 36%. Thus sole reliance on either hypokalaemia (serum potassium less than 3.5 mmol/l) or suppressed PRA as primary screening tests would have overlooked about a third of the patients in this series. 3. The single best diagnostic test for primary aldosteronism was the measurement of aldosterone excretion rate after 3 days of salt loading. 4. An anomalous postural fall in plasma aldosterone concentration when present, coupled with adrenal venous sampling, provided the best indicators of the presence of an aldosterone-producing adenoma.
Abstract 761: Importance of protein interactions in mediating AF9/MLLT3 function.

AF9/MLLT3, located on chromosome band 9p22, was first identified as a fusion partner of the Mixed Lineage Leukemia (MLL) gene in acute myeloid leukemia. The AF9 protein has been shown to play an important role in erythrocyte/ megakaryocyte development by regulating the expression of genes encoding hematopoietic transcription factors. Moreover, in hematopoietic precursor cells, expression of a chimeric protein comprised of the C-terminus of AF9 fused to the N-terminus of MLL leads to leukemic transformation. Thus AF9 contributes both to normal as well as neoplastic blood cell development. Our lab and others have shown the direct or indirect association of the C-terminus of AF9 with several distinct proteins including activators and repressors of transcription (AF4, pTEFb, DOT1L, CBX8, RING1b, and BCoR), thus suggesting that the function of AF9 can be substantially changed depending upon the nature of molecules that specifically associate with it. We hypothesize that AF9 is an important component of several distinct macromolecular complexes, each of which has a unique function. Specifically, DOT1L is a chromatin modifying enzyme that methylates histone H3 at lysine 79. CBX8 is component of the repressive Polycomb PRC1 complexes. Here, we report that the association of AF9 with CBX8 competes with DOT1L for AF9 binding and alters expression of genes regulated by DOT1L. In this context, CBX8 enhances rather than represses gene expression. Citation Format: Bhavna Malik, Charles S. Hemenway. Importance of protein interactions in mediating AF9/MLLT3 function. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 761. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-761 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.
Problems with Repeated Measures Analysis: Demonstration with A Study of the Diversification and Performance Relationship

This study reviews how repeated measures analysis has been applied and discusses alternative approaches for that type of analysis. A content analysis of 86 repeated measures studies showed a lack o...
A Simple Quantitative Urine Culture Method Using an Internally Coated Plastic Pipette

A novel method of quantitative urine culture is described. The procedure uses disposable pipettes coated internally with solid medium. Comparative bacterial counts of clinical specimens using the pour plate and pipette methods revealed a high degree of agreement. Equivalent results were obtained in 92.4% of 500 cultures. The low cost and simplicity of the pipette method should permit greater ease in performing quantitative urine cultures in hospital practice and screening programs.
Plant Protection in the American Economy: Research—The Foundation

One of the best investments our economy can make today is the exclusion of foreign pests. This exclusion is a fundamental regulatory necessity. We thus appreciate need for immediate and concerted action against dangerous plant-pest introductions.
Tectonic Deformation of a Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track, Indian Wells Valley, California

The Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track (SNORT) located in Indian Wells Valley, California, is being used as a 6.55 km-long tiltmeter and geodetic alignment array. Our scientific usage is a direct result of the track profile and alignment requirements of the rocket powered test sleds used on the track. Data from six surveys during 1952 through 1986 have shown reversible elevation changes of 135 mm and cyclic horizontal changes of 30 mm between subsequent surveys. We attribute the changes to tectonic stress buildup and release associated with earthquakes of about magnitude M = 5, in 1961 and 1982, and to pulsations within a shallow magma body that underlies the SNORT area. Track deformations that occurred between 1984 and 1986 suggest that stress is again building along the nearby and highly active Little Lake fault, which has had three earthquakes of about magnitude 5 since 1938, with recurrence intervals of 21 years. These deformations may be precursors to a moderate-size earthquake that could occur within the next decade, or so.
The Sensitivity of Dynamic Time-Path Typologies

This article describes a procedure for adapting cluster analysis from its usual static, cross-sectional perspective to a dynamic, over-time perspective, and tests the sensitivity of results from us...
Online Detection of Abnormal Data Based on Multilayer Perceptron

This work proposed an online detection method of abnormal data based on multilayer perceptron(MLP) and rolling-learning prediction mechanism.In this method,latest historical data with fixed length of data window is used to train an MLP model,and then a one-step-ahead prediction is obtained with the trained MLP model.Secondly,a confidence interval with probability p is calculated with the help of the one-step-ahead prediction and the model residual.New measurement is identified as normal one,if it falls inside the prediction interval;or an abnormal record when it is located out of the prediction interval.Instead of the real measurement,the prediction value is used to update the historical data if abnormal data occurs.Furthermore,through on-line test of real process data collected from a 300 MW coal-fired power generation unit,the effectiveness of the proposed method was verified.
Medical Students' Knowledge, Familiarity, and Attitudes towards Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation: Stem Cell Donation Behaviors.

Abstract Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment for patients with blood disorders and genetic diseases. Approximately 70% of the HSCTs currently performed in the United States use stems cells from an unrelated donor who donated voluntarily. Medical students (MS) are a young, diverse, influential population whose willingness to engage in altruistic acts, such as donating stem cells, may be correlated with knowledge on the topic. A literature gap exists in MS perspectives towards HSCT and the bone marrow registry (BMR) and prior studies suggest that misconceptions about donation deter MS from participation on the BMR, which may decrease opportunities to educate other potential donors. We performed a cross-sectional survey among the 4-year cohort of MS at Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota. The questionnaire evaluated multiple areas including whether MS were current members of the BMR and/or prior blood donors, MS current knowledge on donor eligibility (DE) and the donation process (DP), MS familiarity with HSCT and the DP, and MS attitudes towards joining the BMR and towards donating stem cells. The responses were analyzed and assessed alongside a self-reported, standardized scale measuring students' altruistic behaviors. There were 99 out of 247 potential respondents (40%), with 45% (n = 44) of MS in preclinical years 1 or 2, 37% (n = 37) in clinical years 3 or 4, and 18% (n = 18) in research or alternative portions of their training, of which 43% (n = 41) in total were current BMR members. BMR status correlated positively with prior blood donation (P = .015) and female sex (P = .014). Respondents had a 57.7% and 63.7% average correct response rate regarding knowledge of DE and DP, respectively, with knowledge of DE not surprisingly higher in BMR members (P
Towards a Definition of Science Fantasy

-SF and fantasy have a locus of intersection, science fantasy. an unstable narrative form which combines features from each genre. A science-fantasy world is one in which the characters or settings or events presuppose at least one clear violation of natural law or scientific necessity, but which explicitly provides an organized or scientific explanation for that violation and which grounds its discourse in a scientific episteme. Science fantasy, like SF, assumes an orderly universe with regular laws, but, like fantasy, contains at least one explicit reversal of current natural law. An examination of two science-fantasy texts, Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife (1953) and Stanislaw Lem's The Investigation (1959), enables us to establish the boundaries and thematic concerns of this narrative form. The types of TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF SCIENCE FANTASY 281 science fantasy can be identified by the nature of the violation of natural law. Four main types involve the time-loop motif, the alternate-present world, the counterscientific world, and the hybridized world. As a subgenre, science fantasy tends to interrogate science by calling into question basic scientific assumptions about the physical world. At the same time it explores fantasy by questioning the unreality of the terrors and desires that haunt the value-laden world of dreams. Like "magic realism," with which it shares some features, science fantasy is experiencing a growing popularity, in part because in its counternatural worlds, the actual and the imaginary, the prosaic and the magical, the scientific and the mythical, can meet and interanimate, in part because these worlds provide us with "such beauty, awe, or terror as the actual world does not supply" (C.S. Lewis). (CM)
The Ghost of the Second Republic? The Structural Weakness of Parliamentary Bicameralism in Japan

In an important sense, Japan’s current political crises accompanied by the bicameral division of the legislature (nejire genshō) evoke old memories of unstable governance during Japan’s early postwar years and the short-lived democratic regime in South Korea known as the Second Republic (1960–1961). Constitutions that combine parliamentalism and bicameralism fail to operate properly when the majority partisan control of the two chambers is divided and the room for coalitional engineering is limited.
Raman microscopy of bladder cancer cells expressing green fluorescent protein

Gene engineering is a commonly used tool in cellular biology to determine changes in function or expression of downstream targets. However, the impact of genetic modulation on biochemical effects is less frequently evaluated. The aim of this study is to use Raman microscopy to assess the biochemical effects of gene silencing on T24 and UMUC-13 bladder cancer cell lines. Cellular biochemical information related to nucleic acid and lipogenic components was obtained from deconvolved Raman spectra. We show that the green fluorescence protein (GFP), the chromophore that served as a fluorescent reporter for gene silencing, could also be detected by Raman microscopy. Only the gene-silenced UMUC-13 cell lines exhibited low-to-moderate GFP fluorescence as determined by fluorescence imaging and Raman spectroscopic studies. Moreover, we show that gene silencing and cell phenotype had a greater effect on nucleic acid and lipogenic components with minimal interference from GFP expression. Gene silencing was also found to perturb cellular protein secondary structure in which the amount of disorderd protein increased at the expense of more ordered protein. Overall, our study identified the spectral signature for cellular GFP expression and elucidated the effects of gene silencing on cancer cell biochemistry and protein secondary structure.
Do you believe happiness can change? An investigation of the relationship between happiness mindsets, well-being, and satisfaction

Three studies (N = 794) examined if beliefs about the malleable nature of happiness (growth mindsets) are associated with well-being and if this well-being had downstream implications for satisfact...
Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy for Biliary Dyskinesia, Cholelithiasis, and Cholecystitis

The prevalence of gallstones in children varies by country, with published rates ranging from 0.13 to 1.9 %. Despite the relative infrequency of gallstone formation, rates of symptomatic gallbladder disease have been rising and can largely be attributed to an increase in nonhemolytic (cholesterol) stones and biliary dyskinesia. Children with biliary colic due to stones usually present with typical symptoms of right upper quadrant or midepigastric pain associated with nausea and vomiting, and the diagnosis can often be confirmed with an ultrasound examination. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the standard of care for children who present with symptomatic cholelithiasis, acute cholecystitis, or biliary dyskinesia, and selective use of intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) has been shown to be safe. Obtaining a critical view of safety prior to clipping and dividing the cystic duct and artery, as in adults, is an important step in avoiding injury to the common bile duct. Reported rates of common bile duct injury are 0.36–0.44 %. Similarly, reported rates of major complications are low (<0.5 %). Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) cholecystectomy offers improved cosmesis over four-port cholecystectomy, but is otherwise similar in regard to outcomes.
Discovery and Development of Polyetherimides

Good morning. It is a pleasure for me to be here and participate in this symposium. I would like to express my thanks to the organizers for the opportunity to talk about an area of polymer chemistry and technology in which I have been involved for a period of over fifteen years.... initially as a synthetic chemist in GE’s Corporate Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York, and more recently in a managerial role in GE’s Plastics Business in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where this work attained commercial status in 1982.
Multivariate methodology for discriminating market segments in urban commuting

Efficient planning operations in the management of public transportation can benefit from more definitive understanding of the market structure of user demand. Market segmentation has been shown to be an effective method to guide the design of transit service offerings that can help transit agencies increase ridership and revenue. This study offers an integration of multivariate methodology for market segmentation in urban work commuting within a high technology corridor that has similarity to other such corridors in the US and worldwide. Adaptive choice conjoint analysis is first used to derive the importance weights of a set of attributes in terms of which service offerings for these commuters can be defined. This methodology allows respondents to more realistically indicate their preferences from full profiles of service offerings. A clustering procedure is then used to explore the grouping of individuals into homogeneous subsets of the sample that approximate market segments. Finally, the combinations of traveler demographics that differentiate clusters are examined with methodology of non-linear discriminant analysis. Access to and use of study methodologies by system analysts and designers is elaborated upon in an online appendix.
Early stage malignant phyllodes tumor case report.

Abstract Introduction Malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast is an extremely rare entity usually presenting with similar clinical features with those of benign fibroadenoma. Due to its scarcity and clinical presentation, it is quite difficult for clinicians to suspect and diagnose the disease at its early stage. There is currently no consensus regarding adjunctive radiotherapy, hormonal therapy and systemic chemotherapy recommended for malignant phyllodes tumors. Presentation of case This report presents a case of early-stage malignant phyllodes tumor treated by lumpectomy only without adjunctive chemoradiation therapy, but with an excellent outcome. Discussion Early diagnosis and staging with high suspicion are crucial in malignant phyllodes tumor patients since they do not only improve the overall outcome of the disease after lumpectomy only but they also decrease morbidity and mortality with adjunctive chemoradiation therapy. This case report has been reported in line with the SCARE criteria (Agha et al., 2016 [ 1 ]).
"Managing the unmanageable" the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1989-1993.

The author served as the 17th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, from March 1, 1989 until January 20, 1993. The department had 250 programs and 38 percent of the expenditures of the federal government ($600.0 billion), the fourth largest budget in the world. The history of the department included the fact that the tenure of previous Secretaries had ranged from only eight months up to 37 months, and had averaged 27.5 months, resulting in the view that the department was unmanageable. The author's tenure as Secretary was 47 months, and, in the author's view, the department was indeed manageable. The United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW) was created as a cabinet agency in 1953, during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Department was formed by bringing together the Social Security Administration (founded in 1935), the United States Commissioner of Education, and the United States Public Health Service (founded in 1798) to serve the United States Merchant Marines). This new cabinet department contained the nation's major domestic programs concerned with income security, public health and education. Oveta Culp Hobby of Texas was the first Secretary of the Department. By 1989, the department's programs had increased to more than 250, including Medicare, Medicaid, Headstart, Welfare, and others. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, the Education programs were separated into a new cabinet agency, the U.S. Department of Education, and the name of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare became the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
An Integrative Review of Empirical Research on Perceptions and Behaviors Related to Prescribed Burning and Wildfire in the United States

Social science research from a variety of disciplines has generated a collective understanding of how individuals prepare for, and respond to, the risks associated with prescribed burning and wildfire. We provide a systematic compilation, review, and quantification of dominant trends in this literature by collecting all empirical research conducted within the U.S. that has addressed perceptions and behaviors surrounding various aspects of prescribed burning and wildfire. We reviewed and quantified this literature using four thematic categories covering: (1) the theory and methods that have been used in previous research; (2) the psychosocial aspects of prescribed burning and wildfire that have been studied; (3) the biophysical characteristics of the fires which have been studied; and (4) the types of fire and management approaches that have been examined. Our integrative review builds on previous literature reviews on the subject by offering new insight on the dominant trends, underutilized approaches, and under-studied topics within each thematic category. For example, we found that a select set of theories (e.g., Protection Motivation Theory, Attribution Theory, etc.) and approaches (e.g., mixed-methods) have only been used sparingly in previous research, even though these theories and approaches can produce insightful results that can readily be implemented by fire-management professionals and decision makers. By identifying trends and gaps in the literature across the thematic categories, we were able to answer four questions that address how future research can make the greatest contribution to our understanding of perceptions and behaviors related to prescribed burning and wildfire.
Motivations and constraints of Airbnb consumers: Findings from a mixed-methods approach

Abstract Airbnb is widely recognized as a disruptive innovation in the tourism industry. While separate studies have examined various factors affecting consumers' adoption of Airbnb, the literature has largely focused on a handful of factors in isolation. Adopting a sequential mixed-methods approach, this study proposes a comprehensive conceptual model integrating the literature and findings of a qualitative study and subsequently tests the model via a national survey. The results suggest that, for motivations, price value, enjoyment, and home benefits significantly explain overall attitude toward Airbnb. As for constraints, distrust is the only factor that significantly predicts overall attitude, while insecurity is directly related to behavioral intentions. Overall attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms, such as social influence and trend affinity, predict behavioral intentions. This study contributes to the literature by simultaneously examining the predictive power of both motivations and constraints of Airbnb consumers in explaining overall attitude and purchase behavior.
Proteolytic Enzymes and Cavitation as Strategies to Enhanced Penetration of Drug Nanocarriers

The poor penetration of drug nanocarriers within tumor tissues is one of the most critical factors which limit their effectiveness Nanomedicine has developed different strategies in order to overcome this important hurdle Some of these strategies are based on the degradation of the highly dense extracellular matrix ECM which is usually present in many solid tumors In this sense one of the most promising approaches consists in the nanoparticle decoration with proteolytic enzymes able to digest the ECM favoring its penetration Other strategy is based on the capacity of ultrasounds to induce cavitation which propels the nanocarriers to deep areas into the tumor Both strategies have demonstrated significant improvement in the penetration of nanocarriers in malignant tissues enhancing their effectivity nbsp
Student contribution to HFOSS: challenges and opportunities

Free and open source software (FOSS) has become a significant segment of the software industry. All the major IT companies have a FOSS strategy and groups of people who work full-time on open source projects. Google has a large and long-standing presence in FOSS communities. Even Microsoft, which for years fought fiercely against FOSS, now supports FOSS including having a marketing campaign with the tag line "Microsoft Loves Linux."
Predictions of the total emissivity of metals at cryogenic temperatures

Due to the rapid growth of cryogenic technology and the accompanying rise in the use of high vacuum insulation, thermal radiation of metais at cryogenic temperatures has become an area of increasing importance. A recent review article [1] of the subject indicates the extent to which the development of experimental as well as theoretical techniques involved in this area has rapidly progressed.
Cytochrome P450 Nomenclature, 2004

Aspects of cytochrome P450 (CYP) nomenclature are addressed. The rules for naming a P450 are outlined, though individuals should not name their own genes. The nomenclature is presented as a unifying principle to enhance communication across disciplines. Because of the historical nature of gene sequencing, sometimes names have to be changed, but this is kept to a bare minimum to avoid confusion in the literature. CYP names have now reached four digits owing to proliferation of CYP families in the fungi and lower eukaryotes. For example, CYP5034A1 is from Ustilago maydis. P450 sequence motifs are described that are useful in making global alignments. CYP clans are defined as clusters of CYP families. The clan names are useful in describing higher-order evolution of the gene superfamily. The nomenclature of orthologs and pseudogenes is also discussed.
PROBLEMS IN NONLINEAR VISCOELASTICITY

Abstract Interest in the behavior of nonlinear viscoelastic materials has remained unabated since it was aroused some two decades ago with the observation of certain “nonlinear” effects in some simple experiments. A wealth of nonlinear theories characterizing materials exhibiting such effects has since been recorded in the literature. Many interesting problems dealing with these materials have been formulated and solved. A brief review is given of the various nonlinear constitutive relations proposed by different investigators, including an enumeration of the other fundamental equations needed in the analysis of specific problems. Some significant mathematical problems are discussed including steady flow of nonlinear viscoelastic fluids, periodic motion, wave propagation, thermomechanical coupled effects and other problems.
Reply to Barnett et al.: Regarding interpretation of Granger causality analyses.

The main points of our work were ( i ) to characterize statistical properties of the traditional computation of Granger–Geweke (GG) causality and ( ii ) to analyze how the dynamics of the system are represented in the GG-causality measure. Barnett et al. (1) point out that the issues with bias and variance in the conditional GG causality can be addressed using a state-space approach and a single-model fit. We certainly agree that this is the case and demonstrated this in the doctoral thesis by Stokes (2). We also acknowledge that the MVGC toolbox uses a single-model fit as described in ref. 3 (a correction has been submitted to address this … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: patrickp{at}nmr.mgh.harvard.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
RNAi inhibition of Ku70 decreases extra-nuclear Ku70, and retards DNA repair

5682 Ku is a heterodimeric protein composed of Ku70 and Ku80. This dimer along with the catalytic subunit, DNA-PKcs, comprises DNA-PK. DNA-PK is necessary for DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair such as that following ionizing radiation. Ku70 is responsible for the initial binding to the DNA. Ku70 also plays a role in the cytoplasm where it interacts with apoptotic proteins. The purpose of our experiments was to examine the effects of Ku70-siRNA on DNA DSB repair in a human tumor cell line.We transfected a human non-small cell lung carcinoma cell line (H1299) with Ku70 siRNA and observed a reduction of non-nuclear levels of Ku70. Non-targeting siRNA was used as a control. To examine the effect of this reduced Ku70 on DNA DSB repair, we exposed cells to ionizing radiation and observed the kinetics of DSB repair by visualizing phospho-gamma-H2AX foci. Equal amounts of DSBs were formed when control and Ku70- siRNA cells were irradiated, however the repair was slowed in Ku70-siRNA cells: 2.6-fold more foci were observed 12 hours following irradiation, and 5-fold more foci remained at 24 hours. To determine if the non-nuclear Ku70 is also involved in DNA repair, we examined nuclear and non-nuclear cell fractions for Ku70 following irradiation. Non-nuclear Ku70 levels were reduced within ten minutes after irradiation and returned to normal levels at two hours. We next examined the amount of Ku70 bound to DNA using an NF-kappa-B oligomer containing a Ku70 binding site. Ku70-siRNA treated cells had less Ku70-DNA binding than controls, with and without radiation treatment. We conclude that non-nuclear Ku70 is involved in DSB repair by migrating to the nucleus following ionizing DNA damage. We were able to retard repair by decreasing the non-nuclear Ku70 pool with a Ku70 siRNA.
4.07 – Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Thyroid Axis

The relationship between clinical thyroid disease and psychiatric symptoms and disorders is well established. The relationship between alterations of thyroid function and primary mood disorders is more complex. While various abnormalities of the thyroid axis have been identified, none is specific for depression and there is no clear evidence that thyroid hypofunction is a significant etiological factor in primary major depression. The literature on thyroid hormone treatment of depression, particularly triiodothyronine use in treatment-resistant major depression, is of interest and requires further investigation. Greater understanding about thyroid–brain relationships may yield important information about the biology of primary major mood disorders.
Types of fiber and fiber arrangement in fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites

Abstract: In fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), as a special type of polymer matrix composite, fibers provide the stiffness and strength while the surrounding plastic matrix transfers the stress between fibers and protects them. In this chapter, the role of fibers in FRP is delineated, their types and properties are discussed and the fabric forms in which they can be formed and used to reinforce FRP are presented. A special focus is given to the effect of the chemical structure of fibers on the stability and the level of anisotropy of their mechanical response. Furthermore, the effect of assembling these fibers into yarns and fabrics on the response of the FRP is presented as basis for further readings.
The Relative Importance of Race Compared to Health Care and Social Factors in Predicting Prostate Cancer Mortality: A Random Forest Approach.

Purpose:There is a differential in prostate cancer mortality between black and white men. Advances in precision medicine have shifted the research focus toward underlying genetic differences. Howev...
CONSEQUENCES: CONstrained SEQUENCE alignmentS With Multiple User Weights

Proteins are sequences of amino acids which can be represented abstractly as words of single letter residue abbreviations such as GAPPM. A variety of pharmaceutical drugs achieve their effects by binding, or interacting with, specific amino acids on a protein's surface. Pharmaceutical companies design medicines to have maximal impact by targeting specific regions of a protein. Because multiple drugs might target different regions of a protein, there may be multiple subsequences in a protein that are of interest. Currently there is no algorithm which allows a user to search the publicly available amino acid sequences in the Protein Data Bank for multiple sequences of varying lengths, each with a different user-specified priority, or weight. We present here a proof-of-concept computation approach, ConSequenceS, for CONstrained SEQUENCE alignmentS, which relies on BLAST and a weighted Levenshtein Distance formula. We demonstrate the utility of ConSequenceS via several case studies, and show that our approach is able to identify matches of protein sequences which tools such as BLAST are not able to find. A web server running the software is available at http://consequences.cs.wwu.edu/
Synergistic effects of APOE and sex on the gut microbiome of young EFAD transgenic mice

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease. APOE4 is the greatest genetic risk factor for AD, increasing risk up to 15-fold compared to the common APOE3. Importantly, female (♀) APOE4 carriers have a greater risk for developing AD and an increased rate of cognitive decline compared to male (♂) APOE4 carriers. While recent evidence demonstrates that AD, APOE genotype, and sex affect the gut microbiome (GM), how APOE genotype and sex interact to affect the GM in AD remains unknown. This study analyzes the GM of 4-month (4 M) ♂ and ♀ E3FAD and E4FAD mice, transgenic mice that overproduce amyloid-β 42 (Aβ42) and express human APOE3+/+ or APOE4+/+. Fecal microbiotas were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons and clustered into operational taxonomic units (OTU). Microbial diversity of the EFAD GM was compared across APOE, sex and stratified by APOE + sex, resulting in 4-cohorts (♂E3FAD, ♀E3FAD, ♂E4FAD and ♀E4FAD). Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) evaluated differences in bacterial communities between cohorts and the effects of APOE + sex. Mann-Whitney tests and machine-learning algorithms identified differentially abundant taxa associated with APOE + sex. Significant differences in the EFAD GM were associated with APOE genotype and sex. Stratification by APOE + sex revealed that APOE-associated differences were exhibited in ♂EFAD and ♀EFAD mice, and sex-associated differences were exhibited in E3FAD and E4FAD mice. Specifically, the relative abundance of bacteria from the genera Prevotella and Ruminococcus was significantly higher in ♀E4FAD compared to ♀E3FAD, while the relative abundance of Sutterella was significantly higher in ♂E4FAD compared to ♂E3FAD. Based on 29 OTUs identified by the machine-learning algorithms, heatmap analysis revealed significant clustering of ♀E4FAD separate from other cohorts. The results demonstrate that the 4 M EFAD GM is modulated by APOE + sex. Importantly, the effect of APOE4 on the EFAD GM is modulated by sex, a pattern similar to the greater AD pathology associated with ♀E4FAD. While this study demonstrates the importance of interactive effects of APOE + sex on the GM in young AD transgenic mice, changes associated with the development of pathology remain to be defined.
Chapter 17 – Pleural Diseases

The pleura is the both the site of primary and secondary benign and malignant disorders. Malignant mesothelioma is perhaps the most characteristic malignant disease of the pleura and is highly associated with asbestos exposure.
CARSS: Client-Aware Resource Sharing and Scheduling for Heterogeneous Applications

Modern hardware accelerators such as GP-GPUs and DSPs are commonly being used in real-time settings such as high-performance multimedia systems and autonomous vehicles. In fact, the throughput of a wide variety of computationally demanding tasks from 3D graphics and rendering to image processing and deep learning can benefit from such specialized hardware. Such heterogeneity can affect the performance of applications running simultaneously on the same accelerator. Prior studies on resource sharing and scheduling on hardware accelerators have not attempted to account for this context. In this work, we provide a portable tagging-based cooperative scheduler and resource monitor for use by heterogeneous applications sharing a single hardware accelerator in a soft real-time environment. We also offer practical insight into how various types of applications use the hardware accelerators differently. We substantiate the feasibility of our approach and evaluate the improvement of various scheduling policies over a proprietary scheduler in several case-studies with real-world applications on 2 NVIDIA platforms: a GeForce GTX 1070 GPU and an Xavier embedded platform1. Although we focus on GPUs in this paper, our underlying observations and framework can also be used for sharing execution on other types of hardware accelerators.1The video demo has been uploaded to https://youtu.be/pziS1btsr9c
Cable Harness Modeling Using MTL Parameters Derived from Integral Equations

A method to calculate equivalent Multiconductor Transmission-Line (MTL) parameters through integral equations is proposed in this paper. In the mixed-potential integral equations (MPIE), the elements of harness part are converted to MTL parameters based on the relations between MTL parameters and partial elements of 1-D wire segments. Then, to include the effects of reference metal plane nearby, the equivalent MTL parameters can be derived from the MPIE equations with modified harness elements by keeping the solutions on harness part the same. The current distributions on wires calculated using the equivalent MTL parameters have good correlations with the results from the original MPIE solver, and the understanding on the behavior of cable harness routing over nonideal reference plane can be analyzed in more detail and accurately with the extracted equivalent MTL parameters.