cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preparation and characterization of graft terpolymers with controlled molecular structure

Segmented terpolymers, poly(alkyl methacrylate)-g-poly(D-lactide)/poly-(dimethylsiloxane) (PLA/PDMS), were prepared with a combination of the grafting through technique (macromonomer method) and controlled/living radical polymerization (atom transfer radical polymerization or reversible addition-fragmentation transfer polymerization). Two synthetic pathways were used. The first was a single-step approach in which a low-molecular-weight methacrylate monomer (methyl methacrylate or butyl methacrylate) was copolymerized with a PLA macromonomer and a PDMS macromonomer. The second strategy was a two-step approach in which a graft copolymer containing one macromonomer was chain-extended by a copolymerization of the second macromonomer and the low-molecular-weight methacrylate. The kinetics of both synthetic approaches were investigated, showing that the polymerizations exhibited a controlled/living behavior. Furthermore, the molecular structure of the terpolymers (composition, molecular weight distribution, and microstructure) was investigated by two-dimensional liquid chromatography. Well-defined terpolymers with controlled branch distribution, composition (F w,PMMA /F w,PLA /F w,PDMS ∼ 50/30/20) molecular weight (M n ∼ 50,000 g mol -1 ), and a narrow molecular weight distribution (M w /M n ∼ 1.3) were prepared via both pathways.
The Formation and Properties of Thin Lipid Membranes from HK and LK Sheep Red Cell Lipids

Lipids were obtained from high potassium (HK) and low potassium (LK) sheep red cells by sequential extraction of the erythrocytes with isopropanol-chloroform, chloroform-methanol-0.1 M KCl, and chloroform. The extract contained cholesterol and phospholipid in a molar ratio of 0.8:1.0, and less than 1% protein contaminant. Stable thin lipid membranes separating two aqueous compartments were formed from an erythrocyte lipid-hydrocarbon solution, and had an electrical resistance of ∼108 ohm-cm2 and a capacitance of 0.38–0.4 µf/cm2. From the capacitance values, membrane thickness was estimated to be 46–132 A, depending on the assumed value for the dielectric constant (2.0–4.5). Membrane voltage was recorded in the presence of ionic (NaCl and/or KCl) concentration gradients in the solutions bathing the membrane. The permeability of the membrane to Na+, K+, and Cl- (expressed as the transference number, Tion) was computed from the steady-state membrane voltage and the activity ratio of the ions in the compartments bathing the membrane. TNa and TK were approximately equal (∼0.8) and considerably greater than TCl (∼0.2). The ionic transference numbers were independent of temperature, the hydrocarbon solvent, the osmolarity of the solutions bathing the membranes, and the cholesterol content of the membranes, over the range 21–38°C. The high degree of membrane cation selectivity was tentatively attributed to the negatively charged phospholipids (phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine) present in the lipid extract.
Receptor recognition mechanisms of coronaviruses – a decade of structural studies

Receptor recognition by viruses is the first and essential step of viral infections of host cells. It is an important determinant of viral host range and cross-species infection and a primary target for antiviral intervention. Coronaviruses recognize a variety of host receptors, infect many hosts, and are health threats to humans and animals. The receptor-binding S1 subunit of coronavirus spike proteins contains two distinctive domains, the N-terminal domain (S1-NTD) and the C-terminal domain (S1-CTD), both of which can function as receptor-binding domains (RBDs). S1-NTDs and S1-CTDs from three major coronavirus genera recognize at least four protein receptors and three sugar receptors and demonstrate a complex receptor recognition pattern. For example, highly similar coronavirus S1-CTDs within the same genus can recognize different receptors, whereas very different coronavirus S1-CTDs from different genera can recognize the same receptor. Moreover, coronavirus S1-NTDs can recognize either protein or sugar receptors. Structural studies in the past decade have elucidated many of the puzzles associated with coronavirus-receptor interactions. This article reviews the latest knowledge on the receptor recognition mechanisms of coronaviruses and discusses how coronaviruses have evolved their complex receptor recognition pattern. It also summarizes important principles that govern receptor recognition by viruses in general.
ADAM-17: A Target to Increase Chemotherapeutic Efficacy in Colorectal Cancer?

Chemotherapy-induced activation of ADAM-17 results in increased growth factor shedding and activation of growth factor receptor-mediated pro-survival response. Enhanced ADAM-17 activity and HER ligand shedding results in resistance to chemotherapy in CRC. Therapies that decrease ADAM-17 activity in conjunction with current treatments may enhance response rates in advanced CRC patients.
Exploring the Gender Gap in Support for a Woman for President

The gender gap in support for a female presidential candidate gathered much media attention with Hillary Clinton as a frontrunner for the 2008 democratic presidential nomination. Two common explanations for this gap are that women have more liberal gender role and political attitudes. We contend that another important, and distinct, factor for heightened support among women is a shared social identity. We tested these three explanations across two studies. In Study 1, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that both attitudes toward women and sex independently predict a significant proportion of the variance in willingness to elect a woman for president. In Study 2, hierarchical regression analyses showed that when entered together, attitudes toward female authority and sex independently predict support, but when political attitudes was entered, only sex and political attitudes predicted support for Clinton. Finally, as expected, when primed with their gender identity, women increased their support for Clinton and men decreased their support, and women perceived her more favorably and men less so. In sum, these studies strongly support the arguments that the gender gap in support for female presidential candidates stems in part from women's more liberal gender role and political attitudes, and also from women sharing the same gender social identity as a female candidate for commander in chief.
The Electoral Implications of Candidate Ambiguity

Candidates often make ambiguous statements about the policies they intend to pursue. In theory, ambiguity affects how voters make choices and who wins elections. In practice, measurement and endogeneity problems have impeded empirical research about the consequences of ambiguity. We conducted survey experiments that overcame these obstacles by manipulating a common form of ambiguity: the imprecision of candidate positions. Our data show that, on average, ambiguity does not repel and may, in fact, attract voters. In nonpartisan settings, voters who have neutral or positive attitudes toward risk, or who feel uncertain about their own policy preferences, tend to embrace ambiguity. In partisan settings, voters respond even more positively to ambiguity; they optimistically perceive the locations of ambiguous candidates from their own party without pessimistically perceiving the locations of vague candidates from the opposition. We further find, through analysis of two additional new data sets, that candidates often take—and voters frequently perceive—ambiguous positions like the ones in our experiments. The pervasive use of ambiguity in campaigns fits with our experimental finding that ambiguity can be a winning strategy, especially in partisan elections.
Commercial MEMS Case Studies: The Impact of Materials, Processes and Designs

Minimizing risk is an important factor in new product planning because high volume breakthrough products require tens of millions of dollars to develop and bring to market. Sometimes risk can be minimized by following the IC model: build new devices on an existing process – just change the mask set. This approach obviously has limits. Adoption of new materials and processes greatly expands the horizon for “disruptive” products. This paper uses a case study approach to examine how changes in masks, materials and unit processes were used, and will continue to be used, to produce MEMS products for high volume applications.
Cholesterol Screening Management of Florida's Pediatric Population

The current cholesterol screening and management of Florida's pediatric population is evaluated utilizing a questionnaire mailed to 1,534 pediatric health care providers. Twenty percent of the physicians responded. Of the respondents, 65% do not routinely screen for the presence of hypercholesterolemia. Only 28% of the respondents obtain serum total cholesterol measurements in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition recommendations. The serum total cholesterol concentration prompting treatment was 240 mg/dL (6.2 mM). Dietary counseling alone, or in combination with exercise, was the initial treatment approach recommended by 98% of the responding physicians. Dietary education for the hypercholesterolemic patient was provided by both dieticians (46%) and physicians (42%). If the initial dietary intervention was unsuccessful, 48% of the physicians would begin medical therapy. The most commonly prescribed medication was a bile acid sequestrant (70%), with the majority (52%) r...
Applications of Maximum Entropy and Bayesian Methods in Neutron Scattering

We report on the use of Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) and Bayesian methods applied to problems in neutron scattering at Los Alamos over the past year. Although the first applications were straight-forward deconvolutions, the work has been extended to make routine use of multi-channel entropy to additionally determine (broad) unknown backgrounds. A more exotic example of the use of MaxEnt involves the study of aggregation in a biological sample using Fourier-like data from small angle neutron scattering. We have also been considering the question of how to optimise instrumental hardware, leading to the derivation of better “figures-of-merit” for spectrometers and moderators, which may result in a far-reaching revision of ideas on the design of neutron scattering facilities.
Evaluation of the Advanced Hurricane WRF Data Assimilation System for the 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season

AbstractReal-time analyses and forecasts using an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the Advanced Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting Model (AHW) are evaluated from the 2009 North Atlantic hurricane season. This data assimilation system involved cycling observations that included conventional in situ data, tropical cyclone (TC) position, and minimum SLP and synoptic dropsondes each 6 h using a 96-member ensemble on a 36-km domain for three months. Similar to past studies, observation assimilation systematically reduces the TC position and minimum SLP errors, except for strong TCs, which are characterized by large biases due to grid resolution. At 48 different initialization times, an AHW forecast on 12-, 4-, and 1.33-km grids is produced with initial conditions drawn from a single analysis member. Whereas TC track analyses and forecasts exhibit a pronounced northward bias, intensity forecast errors are similar to (lower than) the NWS Hurricane Weather Research Model (HWRF) and GFDL forecasts for for...
Nonlinearities in photodetectors

Many microwave and millimeter-wave photonic systems benefit with the use of high-current photodetectors. The use of high photocurrent increases the dynamic range and reduces the loss and noise figure in externally-modulated links and can decrease the complexity of high-bit-rate digital receivers. Increasing the output photocurrent also increases the output RF signal level possible directly from the photodetector. Whether space-charge or thermal effects ultimately limit the maximum photocurrent has yet to be determined, however, thermal effects are important, especially for the long term reliability of photodetectors. This talk will addresses some of the design issues and tradeoffs for high-current photodetectors.
Mental health intervention with children and adolescents with end-stage renal disease.

The increasing number of pediatric patients with end-stage renal disease who undergo dialysis and transplantation have necessitated the development of psychological interventions to lessen the emotional impact of these procedures. This report describes the dilemmas involved in mental health interventions and consultation in a treatment program for end-stage renal disease. Case illustrations of a young child's severe anxiety reaction to dialysis, an adolescent's depression, and a family's withdrawal document the varied patterns of adaptation to treatment for renal failure. Psychotherapeutic approaches are presented to illustrate the flexible use of a number of treatment modalities including brief crisis-oriented intervention which emphasizes the patient's cognitive mastery of procedures. The development of viable mechanisms of professional collaboration improves the quality of patient adaptation by lessening the fragmentation of care and problems of interdisciplinary communication often associated with the...
Plume Avoidance Maneuver Planning Using Mixed Integer Linear Programming

This paper extends a recently-developed path planning method to account for plume impingement, which is a key concern for on-orbit rendezvous and formation flying spacecraft. The approach designs fueloptimal trajectories for multiple vehicles using a combination of linear and integer programming. The vehicles are required to move from an initial dynamic state to a final state without colliding with each other or firing the thrusters in a way that would hit another vehicle. This problem is written as a linear program with mixed integer/linear constraints that prohibit collisions and plume impingements. A key benefit of this approach is that the problem can be readily solved using the AMPL language and CPLEX optimization software with a Matlab interface. Examples are given of this method applied to satellite cluster reconfiguration, ISS remote camera maneuvering and ground vehicle guidance. l
Effects of the fraud triangle on students’ risk assessments

Abstract This study is motivated by Bailey’s [Bailey, C. D. (2004). An unusual cash control procedure. Journal of Accounting Education , 22, 119–129]. A disappointing 89% of Bailey’s 502 students appear to have overestimated the risk of an asset misappropriation. This study presents the results of two quasi-experiments that test whether students’ risk assessments are affected by the type of model presented to them immediately preceding their risk assessments. One group was provided an overview of the widely used Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO), Internal Control—Integrated Framework and the second group was provided a briefing on the Fraud Triangle , a model originally developed by criminologist, Donald R. Cressey (1973). As predicted, students who were provided an overview of the fraud triangle committed fewer Type I and Type II errors than students who were provided an overview of COSO. The results from this study contribute to the literature on risk assessment by demonstrating how the fraud triangle could, in some situations, lead to better risk assessments.
The measurement of atomistic behavior via the stochastic response of quenched microstructures

We clarify the atomistic behavior of a micromechanical structure whose thermally driven stochastic motion has been quenched, using force-feedback techniques. The quenching equipment is observed, via both qualitative and quantitative measurements, to optically clamp one of the vibrational modes of the lever such that the overall body temperature is only reduced slightly. The degree of comprehensive cooling is gauged by examining the reduction in the stochastic vibration of the third vibrational mode of a doubly clamped lever while the first is quenched, to 143 K. The observation of only slight temperature reductions is confirmed by noting the absence of a phase change in condensing water vapor on a cantilever, although the deflection-magnitude of the fundamental vibrational mode is reduced to an effective temperature of 11 K. Finally, the measured stochastic variation rate is consistent with the lever's mechanical properties, not its thermal properties, demonstrating near-room temperature operation. The results thus confirm that each vibrational mode can be reduced to deep sub-Kelvin temperatures independent of the overall thermal state of the lever, thus enabling sub-Brownian sensing in applications such as chemical and radiation detection, and quantum superposition experiments.
Probing Sea Quarks and Gluons: The Electron-Ion Collider Project

The 21st century holds great promise for reaching a new era for unlocking the mysteries of the structure of the atomic nucleus and the nucleons inside it governed by the theory of strong interactions (QCD). In particular, much remains to be learned about the dynamical basis of the structure of hadrons and nuclei in terms of the fundamental quarks and gluons. One of the main goals of existing and nearly completed facilities is to map out the spin flavor structure of the nucleons in the valence region. A future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) would be the world’s first polarized electron-proton collider, and the world’s first e-A collider, and would seek the QCD foundation of nucleons and nuclei in terms of the sea quarks and gluons, matching to these valence quark studies. The EIC will provide a versatile range of kinematics and beam polarization, as well as beam species, to allow for mapping the spin and spatial structure of the quark sea and gluons, to discover the collective effects of gluons in atomic nuclei, and to understand the emergence of hadronic matter from color charge.
Vascular Endothelial-Targeted Therapy Combined with Cytotoxic Chemotherapy Induces Inflammatory Intratumoral Infiltrates and Inhibits Tumor Relapses after Surgery

Surgery is the most effective therapy for cancer in the United States, but disease still recurs in more than 40% of patients within 5 years after resection. Chemotherapy is given postoperatively to prevent relapses; however, this approach has had marginal success. After surgery, recurrent tumors depend on rapid neovascular proliferation to deliver nutrients and oxygen. Phosphatidylserine (PS) is exposed on the vascular endothelial cells in the tumor microenvironment but is notably absent on blood vessels in normal tissues. Thus, PS is an attractive target for cancer therapy after surgery. Syngeneic mice bearing TC1 lung cancer tumors were treated with mch1N11 (a novel mouse chimeric monoclonal antibody that targets PS), cisplatin (cis), or combination after surgery. Tumor relapses and disease progression were decreased 90% by combination therapy compared with a 50% response rate for cis alone (P = .02). Mice receiving postoperative mch1N11 had no wound-related complications or added systemic toxicity in comparison to control animals. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that the effects of mch1N11 were associated with a dense infiltration of inflammatory cells, particularly granulocytes. This strategy was independent of the adaptive immune system. Together, these data suggest that vascular-targeted strategies directed against exposed PS may be a powerful adjunct to postoperative chemotherapy in preventing relapses after cancer surgery.
Social Class in Applied Linguistics, by Sandra Bruce

Outside of a few well-known applied linguists who have suggested socioeconomic stratification as an index in language use (Bernstein, 1971; Bourdieu, 1991; Labov, 1966; Rampton, 2006), social class...
Predicting Interventionists’ Intention to Use Video Self-Modeling: An Investigation of the Intervention Technology Acceptance Model

Technology provides educators with significant advantages in working with today’s students. Video selfmodeling (VSM ) is an evidence-based intervention requiring the use of technology that has been successfully used to address problems that children experience in schools. The present study tested a model of predicting educators’ use of technology-based treatments by accounting for perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and treatment acceptability. Eighty-one interventionists completed a survey designed to measure perceptions of VSM . A factor analysis supported a three-factor model for the data (i.e., usefulness, ease of use, and treatment acceptability). A sequential multiple regression indicated that a significant portion of interventionists’ intention to use VSM can be accounted for by perceptions concerning the usefulness of digital camcorders, the ease of using digital camcorders, and the acceptability of the treatment. Each independent variable accounted for a significant portion of interventionists’ intention to use VSM . Professional development sessions intended to improve intentions to use technology-based treatments such as VSM should specifically target technology variables (i.e., usefulness and ease of use) along with treatment acceptability.
Foundations of the cultural repertoire: Education and social network effects among expectant mothers

Abstract The challenges of operationalizing the cultural repertoire or “toolkit” have long hindered its empirical study. This has limited scholarly knowledge about the development and effects of cultural resources. This paper draws on original survey data to investigate the foundation of individual cultural repertoire diversity. Using a novel, empirically-grounded measure of the variety of interpretive frames known by expectant mothers, I ask (a) whether more privileged respondents “consume” a wider variety of cultural resources than do less privileged individuals, as has been the pattern for the consumption of cultural products like music; and (b) whether this consumption is related to respondents’ social network characteristics, as literature from select sociological subfields would suggest. I find that educational attainment and social network diversity independently predict repertoire diversity, and that these effects are each moderated by the respondent’s status as a new or experienced mother. These analyses reveal a new way in which human and social capital confer cultural resources, while also suggesting that institutional effects and social network resources may reduce such disparities. The survey instrument presented here overcomes a long-standing methodological barrier to studying individual cultural repertoires and can be modified to use in other empirical contexts.
Managerial Decision Making

The article reviews the books “Managerial Decision Making,” by George P. Huber and “Model Building for Decision Analysis,” by Patrick Rivett.
A GPCR Handles Bacterial Sensing in Chemotaxis and Phagocytosis

In this issue of Developmental Cell, Pan et al. (2016) identified in cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that recognizes a chemoattractant secreted by bacteria. This work uncovers a mechanism by which a single GPCR mediates pseudopod extension during cell migration and bacterial engulfment.
Nonelastic Behavior of Bridges under Impulsive Loads

A method for predicting the effects of loads that vary with time on bridges and other structures when deformations extend into the plastic range is presented in this paper. Although such analyses a...
Magnetic storms: Their geometrical and physical analysis, and their classification

В статье обьяснены 3 основных типа вариаций геомагнитного поля: вековые, трансиентные правильные и трансиентные неправильные, из которых наиболее выразительны геомагнитные бури. На основе соображений о разложении и взаимном действии полейM, D, S, иL было подробно проанализировано полеD в течении геомагнитной бури. Для анализа было использовано 350 геомагнитных возмущений записанных на 19 обсерваториях в нериоде от 1902 до 1945 года.
Electronic structure and optical conductivities of 20 MAX-phase compounds

The electronic structure and optical conductivities of 20 so-called MAX phases Ti${}_{3}$AC${}_{2}$ (A $=$ Al, Si, Ge), Ti${}_{2}$AC (A $=$ Al, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Sn, P, As, S), Ti${}_{2}$AlN, M${}_{2}$AlC (M $=$ V, Nb, Cr), and Ta${}_{n}$${}_{+1}$AlC${}_{n}$ ($n$ $=$ 1 to 4) are studied using the first-principles orthogonalized linear combination of atomic orbitals (OLCAO) method. The calculated results include total and partial density of states, effective charge on each atom, and quantitative bond order values. Also calculated are directionally resolved interband optical conductivities. By analyzing such results regarding these phases (that have different atomic compositions and layered structures) several important features on structural stability and electrical conductivities are identified and compared with experimental data. We confirm the trend of increasing $N$(${E}_{f}$) (total density of states at the Fermi level ${E}_{f}$) as the number of valence electrons of the composing elements increases. The local feature of total density of states (TDOS) near ${E}_{f}$ is used to predict structural stability. The calculated effective charge on each atom shows that the M (transition-metal) atoms always lose charge to the X (C or N) atoms, whereas the A-group atoms mostly gain charge but some lose charge. Bond order values are obtained and critically analyzed for all types of interatomic bonds in all the 20 MAX phases.
Genetic evaluation and utilization of INGER rice germplasm

The International Network for Genetic Evaluation of Rice (INGER)is a global partnership between international and national agricultural research institutions. INGER focuses on rice germplasm exchange,evaluation and utilization worldwide with a unique,two-way flow of germplasm and information.China has actively participated in the activities of INGER since 1981.During the pasted 20 years,more than 18000 INGER entries with genetic diversity have been introduced and evaluated by 14 Chinese institu- tions. Among of them,35 INGER elite entries have been directly released as commercial va- rieties,and 28 new hybrids using INGER entries as restorer lines (restorer donors) have been bred to farmers.Many INGER entries were indirectly utilized as cross parents or dis- ease/insect resistant donors in national and provincial ricce breeding programs.On the other hand,304 Chinese rice breeding lines and traditional varieties have been nominated to INGER for global evaluation and utilization.There were,since 1981 in China,about 14.5 cumulated million hectares planted INGER rice varieties,from that 5.44 million tons more of rough rice was received.Therefore,ING~;R cooperation has enriched rice germplasm,facilitated rice breeding,and obtained a great benefit both in economy and so- ciety in China.
Progress in structural biology of RNA silencing

RNA silencing is a conserved gene regulation mechanism with specificity determined by small RNAs of ～21 nt. RNA silencing underlies many fundamental biological processes and has become an important technique for research and therapeutic application. Structural studies of RNA silencing components have revealed molecular details in the processing,transportation,modification and functioning of small RNAs and many unique protein-RNA recognition modes.
Care of the College Student

There are approximately 20 million students in U.S. colleges and universities. Although this population is characterized as having good health, 600,000 students report some form of disability or some type of medical problem, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, psychiatric disorders, and chronic illnesses, among others. Physicians can enhance youth transition to an adult model of health care; the use of self-care skills checklists is one recommended method to assist with the transition. Stimulant medications are effective for treating adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but physicians should use caution when prescribing stimulants to college students because of the high rates of medication diversion in this population. Depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep problems, and eating disorders are common in college students and can significantly impact performance. Emphasis on immunization of students for influenza, meningococcus, and pertussis is necessary because of the low rates of compliance. Screening and interventions for obesity, tobacco use, and substance abuse are important because of the high prevalence of these problems in college students. Screening for alcohol abuse facilitates identification of students with problem drinking behaviors. Students who are war veterans should be monitored for suicidal ideation and posttraumatic stress disorder. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students are at risk of harassment and discrimination. Caution should be exercised when prescribing medications to college athletes to avoid violation of National Collegiate Athletic Association eligibility rules.
PSEUDO-RANDOM SEQUENCES WITH A PRIORI DISTRIBUTION*

This paper introduces a hypergraph-theoretic technique for the synthesis of sequences with prescribed distributions. A positive n-distribution is an assignment of a positive integer to each n-letter word with letters chosen from some fixed finite alphabet. A distribution is atomic if it always assigns the same integer to words that are cyclic shifts of each other. A periodic sequence of letters from the alphabet is said to realize a given distribution if the distribution assigns to each word its frequency of occurrence in a single period of the sequence. Given a positive atomic redistribution, we construct a hypergraph, the subgraphs of which correspond to a family of modified nonlinear feedback shift registers. Each shift register in a family corresponding to a spanning hypertree of the hypergraph will generate a sequence realizing the given distribution.
NADPH Oxidase-induced oxidative stress enhances VEGF synthesis under hyperglycemic condition in ARPE-19 cells.

The increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by hyperglycemia (HG) is thought to be a key event in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. In diabetes, increased vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression is reported to increase ROS. Using a human RPE cell-line (ARPE-19), we investigated whether HG could promote the expression of VEGF independently of Angiotensin II through the prorenin receptor (PRR), via a NADPH oxidase (Nox)-dependent mechanism. HG significantly induced the expression of PRR, Nox2, Nox4, and VEGF. Also, PRR, Nox2/4, and Rac1 siRNAs, but not the control siRNA, significantly reduced the HG-induction of VEGF. Nox4 overexpression significantly potentiated PRR-induced stimulation of VEGF. Inhibitors of Nox significantly abolished HG-induction of VEGF. Both catalase and superoxide dismutase significantly attenuated VEGF induction by HG, indicative of the involvement of Nox-derived O2– and H2O2 signaling in regulation of VEGF regulation. In summary, Nox4-derived ROS signaling is implicated in the HG-induced increase of VEGF expression through PRR. Nox and redox signaling components can be considered as potential therapeutic targets for treatment of angiogenesis-dependent retinal diseases, including diabetic retinopathy.
Performance evaluation of spectrum sensing techniques for cognitive radio systems

With the increase in utilization of portable devices and ever-growing demand for greater data rates in wireless transmission, an increasing demand for spectrum channels was observed since last decade. Currently, radio spectrum channels are assigned for quite long time periods to licensed subscribers who may not constantly use these bands, which leads to an inefficient use of the radio spectrum. The concept of cognitive radio technology was suggested to deal with the problem of spectrum scarcity caused by the underutilization of the radio spectrum. A cognitive radio system is able to sense its functional and geographical surrounding and adjust its operation. Therefore, cognitive radio operation has to be considered with intelligent sensing and smart decision-making methods. The aim of the paper is to examine and evaluate the three most fundamental spectrum sensing techniques i.e. energy detection-based, autocorrelation-based, and matched filter-based sensing. Simulation platforms were developed for each of the approaches using GNU radio and Python language.
The U.S. Carpet Industry: History, Industry Dynamics, and a Simple Model for Short-Term Forecasting

This article presents a simple model that can be used to assess the current situation of the carpet industry and develop a short-term outlook for it. Using quarterly data over the time period 1999:Q1–2016:Q2, we build a regression model of U.S. carpet industry shipments. We find that the recent leveling-off of shipments is likely to persist. While housing recovery will aid the demand for carpeting, increases in income are likely to be offsetting, as the switch to alternative floor coverings will be ongoing.
Oncologic Outcomes for Patients with Residual Cancer at Cystectomy Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: A Pathologic Stage-matched Analysis

Abstract While it has been demonstrated that receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) before radical cystectomy (RC) improves survival compared to RC alone, the driving factor for this benefit may be from patients with ypT0 status at surgery. Meanwhile, the implications of having residual urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (rUCB) at RC after NAC are less clear. We therefore evaluated whether survival differed between patients with rUCB at RC after NAC and stage-matched controls who underwent RC alone. Patients who underwent NAC + RC ( n = 180) were matched to controls who underwent RC alone ( n =324) on the basis of pT and pN stage, margin status, and year of RC. The 5-yr recurrence-free survival (RFS; 90% vs 94%; p =1), cancer-specific survival (CSS; 82% vs 93%; p =0.4), and overall survival (OS; 82% vs 82%; p =0.5) were not significantly different between the NAC and control groups for patients with ypT0N0/pT0N0 disease ( n =103). Conversely, among patients with rUCB at RC ( n =401), patients who received NAC had significantly worse 5-yr RFS (50% vs 63%; p =0.01), CSS (40% vs 59%; p =0.003), and OS (33% vs 48%; p =0.02). On multivariable analysis for patients with rUCB, NAC receipt remained independently associated with worse RFS (hazard ratio [HR] 1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28–2.66; p =0.001), CSS (HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.30–2.52; p p =0.002). Limitations include potential for selection bias owing to the retrospective observational design. Thus, while patients who achieve a complete response to NAC have excellent survival outcomes, those with rUCB after NAC have a worse prognosis compared to stage-matched controls undergoing RC alone. It may be worthwhile considering these patients for clinical trials evaluating the role of additional treatments after RC using newer agents while we await further research on predicting which patients achieve ypT0 status from NAC before RC. Patient summary On surgical removal of the bladder, patients without residual bladder cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy have excellent survival outcomes. However, patients with residual cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery have worse outcomes compared to patients undergoing surgery alone. These patients should therefore be considered for additional treatments after surgery using newer agents while we await further research on predicting which patients will benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy before bladder removal for cancer.
Improving bug reporting, duplicate detection, and localization

Software developers rely on essential textual information from bug reports (such as Observed Behavior, Expected Behavior, and Steps to Reproduce) to triage and fix software bugs. Unfortunately, while relevant and useful, this information is often missing, incomplete, superficial, ambiguous, or complex to follow. Low-quality content in bug reports causes delay and extra effort on bug triage and fixing. Current technology and research are insufficient to support users and developers on providing high-quality content in bug reports. Our research is intended to fill in this gap, as it aims at improving: (1) the quality of natural language content in bug reports, and (2) the accuracy of Text Retrieval (TR)-based bug localization and duplicate detection. To achieve such goals, our research will identify, enforce, and leverage the discourse that reporters use to describe software bugs.
The National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB)

Abstract The National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB), consisting of solar radiation and meteorological data over the United States and regions of the surrounding countries, is a publicly open dataset that has been created and disseminated during the last 23 years. This paper briefly reviews the complete package of surface observations, models, and satellite data used for the latest version of the NSRDB as well as improvements in the measurement and modeling technologies deployed in the NSRDB over the years. The current NSRDB provides solar irradiance at a 4-km horizontal resolution for each 30-min interval from 1998 to 2016 computed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Physical Solar Model (PSM) and products from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), the National Ice Center's (NIC's) Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Modern Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). The NSRDB irradiance data have been validated and shown to agree with surface observations with mean percentage biases within 5% and 10% for global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and direct normal irradiance (DNI), respectively. The data can be freely accessed via https://nsrdb.nrel.gov or through an application programming interface (API). During the last 23 years, the NSRDB has been widely used by an ever-growing group of researchers and industry both directly and through tools such as NREL's System Advisor Model.
Direction-Dependent Power Curve Modeling for Multiple Interacting Wind Turbines

In industrial-scale wind farms, interactions among multiple turbines alter the power generation efficiency of turbines. In general, turbines in downwind rows are impacted by wind deficits, producing less power, compared to upstream turbines. Therefore, the generation performance of multiple turbines differs from one another. Moreover, the power curve of each turbine becomes heterogeneous when changes in wind direction cause some upstream turbines to become downstream turbines. This study proposes an integrative methodology that quantifies the heterogeneous wake effects over a range of wind direction by utilizing the concept of canonical models and similarity functions. We model the direction-dependent multi-turbine power curves in a Bayesian hierarchical framework and validate the performance of the proposed approach with multiple real-world data sets from industrial-scale wind farms.
Encephalitis in US Children

Encephalitis is an uncommon but severe disease characterized by neurologic dysfunction with central nervous system inflammation. Children with encephalitis should receive supportive care and empiric therapies for common and treatable causes while prioritizing diagnostic evaluation for common, treatable, and high-risk conditions. Even with an extensive diagnostic workup, an infectious cause is identified in less than half of cases, suggesting a role for postinfectious or noninfectious processes.
Endangered species diversity ‘hot spots’ in Russia and centers of endemism

Geographic distributions of all 125 endangered and threatened animals and all 70 endangered flowering plant species were compiled and mapped by administrative territory (republics, states, provinces, and districts) of the Russian Federation, based on distributional data in the official Red Data Books of the R.S.F.S.R. [Eliseev et al. (eds) (1985) Red Book of the R.S.F.S.R.: Animals. Rosleskhoz Publishing, Moscow; Golovanov et al. (eds). (1988). Red Book of the R.S.F.S.R.: Plants. Rosagprom Publishing, Moscow]. Territories were ranked using an algorithm that gives highest rank to the single territory with the greatest number of endangered species present, then iteratively assigns the next highest rank to the territory containing the greatest number of species not found in a territory of higher rank. This algorithm minimizes the number of territories necessary to include one population of each endangered species, but may designate very low rank to a territory that holds high numbers of endangered species if many of those species are found in a territory of higher rank. When different sets of species were used to determine territory rank with this algorithm the only significant correlation between rank lists was between ranks generated when all species are used and when only species endemic to single territories were used. Mountainous territories on Russia's southern borders held the greatest numbers of endangered species and were highly ranked whether or not species occurring outside of Russia were excluded from the ranking algorithm. The Maritime state, Krasnodar state, Dagestan republic, Sakhalin province and the Jewish province all are centers of endangered species diversity that together contain 50 or more of endangered species for multiple taxonomic groups; this was the Dobson et al. [(1997) Science 275: 550–553] definition of an endangered species ‘hot spot.’ These are all mountainous territories on Russia's southern border. Precise territorial ranking within the mountainous southern regions of the Southern Far East, Caucasus, and Altai/Sayan regions of southern Siberia was highly influenced by species endemic to single territories.
Outcomes of Endoscopic Therapy for Luminal Strictures in Crohn's Disease

Backgrounds We sought to describe the outcomes of endoscopic therapy of luminal strictures in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) at a large tertiary referral center. Methods All patients who had undergone endoscopic dilation of CD strictures between January 1, 1990 and November 30, 2013 were identified. Demographics, disease characteristics including medication use and history of surgeries, details of endoscopic procedures, and long-term outcomes were analyzed. A successful procedure was defined as ability of the endoscope to pass through the stricture after dilation or effacement of the dilating balloon under fluoroscopy. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards analysis were used. Results For this study 286 index procedures for CD-related stricture dilation were performed in 273 patients (53.8% women) with median age of 45.9 years (range, 14.9-92.2). The most common stricture locations were ileocolonic anastomosis (36.4%) and colon (13.9%). One hundred fourteen (41.8%) patients had a second dilation. The cumulative probability of need for a second dilation following the index procedure was 33.6% at 1 year (95% CI, 25.9%-38.7%), 53.9% at 3 years (45.9%-61.2%), and 60.2% at 5 years (51.4%-67.5%). Six adverse events occurred after the first procedure: 4 perforations, 1 patient with bleeding, and 1 patient with abdominal pain requiring hospitalization. A total of 82 (30%) patients required surgery for their stricture. Conclusions In a large cohort, endoscopic stricture dilation in CD was safe and effective. About 33% of patients required a second dilation at 1 year after the initial dilation; younger age and smaller inner diameter of the index stricture predicted need for a second dilation. 10.1093/ibd/izy049_video1izy049.video15794820307001.
Sera From Children After Cardiopulmonary Bypass Reduces Permeability of Capillary Endothelial Cell Barriers.

Objectives Children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass develop clinically impactful capillary leak of unclear etiology. A widely held hypothesis that exposure of circulating cells to the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit induces the release of inflammatory mediators that act to disrupt intercellular junctions of capillary endothelial cells inducing paracellular capillary leak either directly or through new gene expression. Design Cohort study. Setting Tertiary pediatric hospital. Patients Twenty children undergoing surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass for congenital heart disease. Serum was collected before cardiopulmonary bypass, 2 hours after cardiopulmonary bypass, and 18 hours after cardiopulmonary bypass. Interventions None. Measurements and main results We analyzed the effects of 10% patient sera on the "function, structure, and gene expression" of cultured human dermal and pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells. Changes in barrier "function" were measured using transendothelial electrical resistance. Associations between changes in transendothelial electrical resistance and subject characteristics were analyzed using linear mixed effects model with area under the resistance curve as outcome. Changes in junctional "structure" were assessed by analyzing the organization of the endothelial cell junctional proteins claudin-5 and VE-cadherin using immunofluorescence microscopy. Changes in inflammatory "gene expression" were measured using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. All serum samples induced a transient, 120-minute increase in transendothelial electrical resistance followed by persistent loss of barrier function. Unexpectedly, sera collected postcardiopulmonary bypass-induced significantly less loss of barrier function in both dermal and pulmonary capillary endothelial cell compared with precardiopulmonary bypass sera. Consistent with the transendothelial electrical resistance results, claudin-5 and vascular endothelial-cadherin junctional staining showed less disruption in cultures treated with postcardiopulmonary bypass sera. Expression of genes commonly associated with inflammation was largely unaffected by patient sera. Conclusions Contrary to the hypothesis, sera taken from children after cardiopulmonary bypass induces less capillary barrier disruption relative to sera taken from children before cardiopulmonary bypass, and none of the sera induced significant changes in expression of inflammatory genes.
Influence of the attitudes of Emirati students on their choice of accounting as a profession

The purpose of this paper is to determine the association between Emirati students’ intentions to major in accounting and their attitudes, their subjective norms, and their perceived behavioral con...
The Prime Number Theorem

As already mentioned in Section 1.4, a considerable part of the theory of functions of a complex variable owes its existence to the efforts made to prove the PNT. It was a resounding success when, at the end of the 19th century, these efforts were finally successful. Since then, sporadic attempts have been made to prove the PNT by purely arithmetic reasonings; in fact, the long and complicated analytic proofs of the simple†
Aging and sensory senescence.

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe aging process typically is associated with decline in function for the various senses. A decline in sensory ability may simulate an intellectual decline that is not present. Sensory decline can lead to depression, social isolation, and even to hallucinations.MethodsI reviewed t