cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Treatment of Melanoma with 5-Fluorouracil or Dacarbazine In Vitro Sensitizes Cells to Antigen-Specific CTL Lysis through Perforin/Granzyme- and Fas-Mediated Pathways

Several factors may influence sensitivity of melanoma cells to CTL lysis. One is the avidity of the CTL TCR. A second is that certain cytotoxic drugs have been reported to sensitize cancer cells to CTL lysis through Fas-mediated apoptosis. In this study, we examined whether antineoplastic agents 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and dacarbazine (DTIC) sensitize melanoma cells to lysis of G209 peptide-specific CTL. Our results show that CTL generated from PBMC are HLA-A2 restricted and gp100 specific. Treatment with 5-FU or DTIC sensitized melanoma cells to lysis of G209-specific CTL. Most importantly, 5-FU- or DTIC-treated melanoma cells also became sensitive to low-avidity CTL, which per se are less cytolytic to melanomas. We sought to identify apoptotic pathways mediating this effect. The enhanced cytolysis was mediated through the perforin/granzyme pathway. Although 5-FU up-regulated FasR expression on melanoma cells, sensitization was not blocked by anti-Fas Ab, and the G209-specific CTL was Fas ligand (FasL) negative. However, when G209-specific CTL were stimulated to express FasL, FasL signaling also contributed to enhanced cytolysis. DTIC treatment, which did not increase FasR expression, also sensitized FasL-mediated killing induced by neutralizing anti-Fas Ab. For CD95L-positive G209-specific CTL, the sensitization was primarily mediated through the perforin/granzyme pathway regardless of up-regulation of FasR. The findings demonstrate that cytotoxic drug-mediated sensitization primes both perforin/granzyme and Fas-mediated killing by melanoma-specific CTL. Considering that most of autoreactive antitumor CTL are low avidity, the findings provide experimental basis for understanding cytotoxic and immunologic therapeutic synergy in melanoma.
Seed treatments: phytotoxicity amelioration and tracer uptake

Seed treatments are used globally on a wide range of field, vegetable and ornamental seeds, for efficient early season control of insects and diseases. However, specific seed-treatment compounds may be phytotoxic and this phytotoxicity is most acute in laboratory germination tests. Several strategies have been developed to alleviate seed-treatment phytotoxicity that include spatial separation of the pesticide from the seed. This can be accomplished by the application of the active compounds at the end of pelleting or by using a two-pellet system, termed ‘smart-pill technology’. Another approach is to detoxify or adsorb the agrochemical in a standard germination test by applying a peat medium over the seeds in a roll towel or blotter test. Many new seed-treatment chemicals have systemic activity, and the efficacy of these systemic seed treatments depends on the ability of these applied chemical compounds to be absorbed, and then transported in the developing plant. The present article describes seed-coat permeability to systemic seed treatments, examined by monitoring the movement of fluorescent tracers into intact seeds during imbibition. Two moderately lipophilic, fluorescent tracers have been used – rhodamine (ionic) and coumarin (non-ionic) – which differ mainly in electrical charge. Seed-coat permeabilities of particular species have been grouped into three categories: (1) permeable to both tracers; (2) selectively permeable to only coumarin; and (3) non-permeable to both tracers. The ability of a particular compound to diffuse through the seed coat is related to the chemical nature of the seed-covering tissues and the physico-chemical properties of the compound applied.
Undocumented status as a social determinant of occupational safety and health: The workers’ perspective

BACKGROUND: Undocumented immigration to the United States has grown dramatically over the past 25 years. This study explores undocumented status as a social determinant of occupational health by examining its perceived consequences on workplace safety of Latino immigrants. METHODS: Guided by the Theory of Work Adjustment, qualitative analysis was conducted on transcripts from focus groups and individual interviews conducted with a convenience sample of Latino immigrant workers. RESULTS: Participants reported that unauthorized status negatively impacted their safety at work and resulted in a degree of alienation that exceeded the specific proscriptions of the law. Participants overwhelming used a strategy of disengagement to cope with the challenges they face as undocumented immigrants. CONCLUSION: This study describes the complex web of consequences resulting from undocumented status and its impact on occupational health. This study presents a framework connecting the daily work experiences of immigrants, the coping strategy of disengagement, and efforts to minimize the impact of structural violence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:1127-1137, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Language: en
Democratizing Disability Inquiry

The advent of the disability rights movement poses what some suggest to be a conundrum for disability researchers concerned with issues of community and education services, supports, and policy: Have we, in fact, now entered a brave new world of policy decisions based not on detached science but on the impulsive desires of a decidedly ideological collective? In response, we offer an analysis of two related policy debates, deinstitutionalization and school inclusion. We then apply lessons derived from both controversies to suggest a framework of participatory democracy for proceeding with inquiry at a time when people with disabilities are demanding that their voices be heard in research and policy discussions. This charge to mandate or demand is arising on a multitude of contested fronts, including debates over the use of aversives, access to literacy instruction, and—quite prominently—access to facilitated communication training.
Towards a Pedagogy of Relational Space and Trust: Analyzing Distributed Collaboration Using Discourse and Speech Act Analysis

Distributed work is an increasingly common phenomenon in a number of technical and professional settings, and the complexity of this work requires high degrees of knowledge sharing and integration that move beyond assembly-line approaches to collaboration. Since participants in distributed-work settings rely almost exclusively on written and spoken language to mediate their collaborative relationships, professional communication faculty need educational approaches that empower students with language practices designed specifically to support effective teaming in these complex environments. To address this need, we employ discourse analysis and Speech Act Theory to identify these language practices in a case study of two cohorts of distributed, interdisciplinary, and cross-cultural student teams. The findings show correlations between language practices and successful collaboration. These correlations have significant implications for teaching and practice.
Efficient Coding for Interactive Communication

We revisit the problem of reliable interactive communication over a noisy channel and obtain the first fully (randomized) efficient constant-rate emulation procedure for reliable interactive communication. Our protocol works for any discrete memoryless noisy channel with constant capacity and fails with exponentially small probability in the total length of the protocol. Following a work by Schulman (1993), our simulation uses a tree-code, yet as opposed to the nonefficient construction of absolute tree-code used by Schulman, we introduce a relaxation in the notion of goodness for a tree code and define a potent tree code. This relaxation allows us to construct an efficient emulation procedure for any two-party protocol. Our results also extend to the case of interactive multiparty communication. We show that a randomly generated tree code (with suitable constant alphabet size) is an efficiently decodable potent tree code with overwhelming probability. Furthermore, we are able to partially derandomize this result by means of epsilon-biased distributions using only O(N) random bits, where N is the depth of the tree.
Digital Breast Tomosynthesis guided Near Infrared Spectroscopy: Volumetric estimates of fibroglandular fraction and breast density from tomosynthesis reconstructions.

A multimodality system combining a clinical prototype digital breast tomosynthesis with its imaging geometry modified to facilitate near-infrared spectroscopic imaging has been developed. The accuracy of parameters recovered from near-infrared spectroscopy is dependent on fibroglandular tissue content. Hence, in this study, volumetric estimates of fibroglandular tissue from tomosynthesis reconstructions were determined. A kernel-based fuzzy c-means algorithm was implemented to segment tomosynthesis reconstructed slices in order to estimate fibroglandular content and to provide anatomic priors for near-infrared spectroscopy. This algorithm was used to determine volumetric breast density (VBD), defined as the ratio of fibroglandular tissue volume to the total breast volume, expressed as percentage, from 62 tomosynthesis reconstructions of 34 study participants. For a subset of study participants who subsequently underwent mammography, VBD from mammography matched for subject, breast laterality and mammographic view was quantified using commercial software and statistically analyzed to determine if it differed from tomosynthesis. Summary statistics of the VBD from all study participants were compared with prior independent studies. The fibroglandular volume from tomosynthesis and mammography were not statistically different (p=0.211, paired t-test). After accounting for the compressed breast thickness, which were different between tomosynthesis and mammography, the VBD from tomosynthesis was correlated with (r =0.809, p 0.99, paired t-test), and was linearly related to, the VBD from mammography. Summary statistics of the VBD from tomosynthesis were not statistically different from prior studies using high-resolution dedicated breast computed tomography. The observation of correlation and linear association in VBD between mammography and tomosynthesis suggests that breast density associated risk measures determined for mammography are translatable to tomosynthesis. Accounting for compressed breast thickness is important when it differs between the two modalities. The fibroglandular volume from tomosynthesis reconstructions is similar to mammography indicating suitability for use during near-infrared spectroscopy.
Addressing the needs of the Millennial workforce through equine assisted learning

Purpose – Organizations are striving to stay abreast of the transitions occurring from the influx of Millennials into the workforce. Managers are having trouble building relationships with Millennial employees and understanding what motivates them to be effective workers. Trainings focussed on helping managers work with Millennials can increase retention rates for organizations, saving money as well as building loyalty and buy-in to organizational goals and values. Equine assisted learning (EAL) programs are an effective training tool that many organizations are currently using to bridge this gap between older managers and Millennial employees. These programs would all fulfill the requirements Millennials seek in on-the-job soft skills training. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was conducted on ongoing research and use of EAL in the field of management training and development. Findings – Current research shows that EAL promotes competency developme...
Carbonyl and Acidic Compounds Produced by Acanthocephala granulosa (Hemiptera: Coreidae)

Of the several species of Acanthocephala found in the United States, only one has been previously investigated for the chemistry of the odorous defensive fluid. Blum et al. (1961) reported the presence of trans-2-hexenal in the fluid ejected by A. femorata (F.).
Wear Locations in Stainless Steel Pipe Fittings From the Turbulent Flow of a Liquid-Solid Slurry

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is building a Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) at the DOE Hanford Site in the state of Washington to process stored radioactive wastes for long-term storage and disposal. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is helping resolve technical concerns with the WTP, which are related to piping erosion/corrosion (wear). SRNL is assisting in the design of a flow loop to obtain long term wear rates that will use prototypic simulant chemistry, operating conditions, and materials. The challenge is to accurately measure slurry wear to a pipe wall thickness tolerance of 47 microns/year anywhere in the test flow loop in a timely manner. A first step in such a test is to secure knowledge of high wear locations so that highly sensitive measurement techniques can be incorporated and properly located. Literature exists to help locate such wear locations in pipe and pipe fittings but most of the information deals with slurry flows that have significantly different velocities, different flows steams, e.g., steam, gas-liquid-solids, or made from different materials. To better estimate these high wear rate locations under the WTP conditions a separate pre-test flow loop was constructed and operated. This loop is referred to as the paint loop because it was internally coated with paint, which wears faster than the steel pipe, when a solids-laden slurry is circulated. The test flow conditions were a slurry velocity of 4 m/s in a 0.0762 -m (3-inch) Schedule 40 pipe system, resulting in Reynolds number just above 3 × 105, i.e., turbulent flow at a temperature of 25°C. The slurry was a mixture of water and sand, d50 ∼ 199 microns. This paper describes the test paint loop, its operation, and indicates the high slurry wear locations, as well as a comparison of those locations to existing literature sources.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Robotic Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement Using the Sapien XT in the Setting of Severe Mitral Annular Calcification

We describe the use of the Sapien XT, placed in the mitral position using a totally endoscopic robotic approach in a 76-year-old man with extensive circumferential mitral calcifications and severe stenosis. The patient was at high risk for traditional open surgery and a large mitral valve annulus prevented safe transcatheter deployment due to size mismatch. Our novel approach offered a minimally invasive technique for native mitral valve replacement in a high-risk patient with anatomical constraints prohibitive to conventional approaches. doi: 10.1111/jocs.12737 (J Card Surg 2016;31:303-305).
Simulation Analysis and Optimization for Automobile Seat Strength

A finite element model of an automobile seat strength was established using Hypermesh,and calculation was done with LSDYNA.The distortion and stress distribution were displayed by Hvperview.The model was optimized,while the optimization result was verified by calculations.
Approximate Calculation of Unbalance Protection on Differential Current Bridge of Large Capacity Capacitor Bank

The calculation of protection on differential current bridge of large capacity capacitor bank is simplified in this paper,which makes the calculation formula simple and practical.
The effect of CO2 inhalation on the conjunctival vessels, blood pH, and pCO2 in young diabetic subjects.

Abstract Inhalations of 5 per cent CO 2 for 30 minutes by young diabetic patients produced venular dilation, slowing of erythrocyte velocity, occasional perivenular edema and arteriolar constriction, average arterial blood pH decreases of 0.089 pH units, average plasma bicarbonate content increases of 1.63 mEq./L. and average arterial pCO 2 increases of 11 mm. Hg. The most marked pCO 2 and pH changes occurred in the diabetic subjects with the most degeneration of the small blood vessels.
Massive Retroperitoneal Hemorrhage Owing to a Ruptured Adrenal Cyst

AbstractWe report a rare case of massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage owing to rupture of an adrenal cyst after blunt abdominal trauma. A large retroperitoneal hematoma was evacuated and subtotal adrenalectomy was performed. Convalescence was uneventful. Histology revealed an endotheliallined adrenal cyst suggesting a vascular or lymphatic etiology.
Treatment of endometriosis with danazol: report of a 6-year prospective study

Presented are the results of a 6-year prospective study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of danazol for the treatment of endometriosis. Ninety-six patients completed 6 months of therapy at a dosage of 800 mg daily, and 107 patients completed therapy with 400 mg daily. No difference was reported in the incidence of side effects, regardless of dosage. Gross resolution of disease (as determined by second-look laparotomy or laparoscopy) was evaluated in 110 patients and found to be similar, regardless of dosage. Ovarian endometriosis > 1 cm was observed to respond significantly less well to danazol than peritoneal or ovarian disease Pregnancy rates for 157 patients with no other discernible causes of infertility were slightly higher for the 800-mg danazol regimen than for the 400-mg regimen. In patients with mild disease, the use of danazol alone resulted in pregnancy rates lower than those achieved with conservative surgery alone. Its use preoperatively for all stages of disease resulted in slightly higher pregnancy rates than when conservative surgery alone was employed. Danazol was less effective when used postoperatively. No differences were observed between three classification schemes in their ability to predict subsequent prognosis for conception.
TH-AB-202-08: A Robust Real-Time Surface Reconstruction Method On Point Clouds Captured From a 3D Surface Photogrammetry System

Purpose: Surface photogrammetry (e.g. VisionRT, C-Rad) provides a noninvasive way to obtain high-frequency measurement for patient motion monitoring in radiotherapy. This work aims to develop a real-time surface reconstruction method on the acquired point clouds, whose acquisitions are subject to noise and missing measurements. In contrast to existing surface reconstruction methods that are usually computationally expensive, the proposed method reconstructs continuous surfaces with comparable accuracy in real-time. Methods: The key idea in our method is to solve and propagate a sparse linear relationship from the point cloud (measurement) manifold to the surface (reconstruction) manifold, taking advantage of the similarity in local geometric topology in both manifolds. With consistent point cloud acquisition, we propose a sparse regression (SR) model to directly approximate the target point cloud as a sparse linear combination from the training set, building the point correspondences by the iterative closest point (ICP) method. To accommodate changing noise levels and/or presence of inconsistent occlusions, we further propose a modified sparse regression (MSR) model to account for the large and sparse error built by ICP, with a Laplacian prior. We evaluated our method on both clinical acquired point clouds under consistent conditions and simulated point clouds with inconsistent occlusions. The reconstruction accuracy was evaluated w.r.t. root-mean-squared-error, by comparing the reconstructed surfaces against those from the variational reconstruction method. Results: On clinical point clouds, both the SR and MSR models achieved sub-millimeter accuracy, with mean reconstruction time reduced from 82.23 seconds to 0.52 seconds and 0.94 seconds, respectively. On simulated point cloud with inconsistent occlusions, the MSR model has demonstrated its advantage in achieving consistent performance despite the introduced occlusions. Conclusion: We have developed a real-time and robust surface reconstruction method on point clouds acquired by photogrammetry systems. It serves an important enabling step for real-time motion tracking in radiotherapy. This work is supported in part by NIH grant R01 CA169102-02.
FAK Regulates Progenitor B Cell Growth, Localization and Retention in Bone Marrow Microenvironments

Abstract Abstract 1119 Progenitor B cells are thought to reside in complex bone marrow microenvironments, e.g. niches, where they receive signals for growth and maturation. Here we have conditionally targeted in B cells the non-receptor tyrosine kinase, Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK), because of its function as an integrator of cell extrinsic signals including CXCL12 and VCAM-1. The number of progenitor (pro-, pre- and immature) B cells is reduced by 30–40% in CD19-Cre Fak fl/fl mice compared to wild type mice, and ex vivo cultured, Fak deleted pro-B cells exhibit impaired IL-7 ± CXCL12 mediated proliferation and survival. A novel quantitative laser scanning cytometry approach was used to demonstrate that Fak deletion also disrupts the non-random gradient distribution in femoral bone marrow of progenitor B cells, which normally are preferentially localized in endosteal regions of the metaphyses and to a lesser degree of the diaphysis. Increased numbers of pro-B cells are detected in the periphery of Fak deleted mice, and mobilization of pro-B cells induced by the inflammatory antigen NP-CGG-alum is increased 3-fold in Fak-deleted versus wild type mice. In addition, intravenously transferred Fak deleted pro-B cells have defective homing specifically to the extra-vascular compartment of the bone marrow. Collectively, these studies illustrate the importance of FAK in regulating progenitor B cell homeostasis and maintenance of their spatial distribution in bone marrow niches. Download : Download high-res image (57KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Levels of Ethical Quality of Metaphor in Stock Market Reporting

While many news media organizations offer guidelines about specific journalism practices such as fact checking, attribution, mandatory referrals, etc., to promote quality and integrity of their news products in congruence with the publicly defended principles of journalism ethics such as truthfulness, objectivity, and balance, that news companies of all editorial positions defend, it appears that news media organizations have not benefitted from the more than 30 years of research in Cognitive Linguistics demonstrating how metaphor influences how readers perceive events in the news and how it impacts their attitudes and behavior. Focusing on stock market reporting, this article identifies and explores levels of ethical quality in metaphor production by financial news media providers because improving the ethical quality of specific news reporting mechanisms is one step toward improving the ethical quality of news media organizations as a whole. In this model, high levels of ethical quality, or trustworthiness in metaphor, is the result of achieving high levels of communicative accuracy. Communicative accuracy is the product of metaphorical efficiency, or the lowest ratio of cognitive force—input‐output—needed by financial news consumers to process metaphor in order to stimulate predictable entailments, or limited creative and exploratory thought, resulting in high cognitive efficiency. Low ratios of cognitive force is achieved by using metaphors that reduce domain disparity in semantic fields employing domain concepts that are as familiar to the public or as similar in salient semantic features as possible. In the Appendix, this article provides a step‐by‐step rubric for implementing this model for journalists and editors in the production and editing phases.
Delayed Primary Anastomosis in the Management of Long-Gap Esophageal Atresia

In newborns with long-gap esophageal atresia, the esophageal segments are too far apart to allow primary anastomosis. Spontaneous growth and hypertrophy of the two esophageal segments occur at a rate faster than overall somatic growth in the absence of any form of mechanical stretching. The maximal natural growth arises in the first 8–12 weeks of life. The stimuli are the swallowing reflex and the reflux of gastric contents into the lower esophageal pouch. Therefore, initial gastrostomy and continuous suction of the upper esophageal pouch followed by delayed primary anastomosis is an ideal procedure for the management of newborns with long-gap esophageal atresia and provides good long-term functional results.
The Impact of Altitude on Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Children Dwelling at High Altitude: A Crossover Study.

Study objectives Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is prevalent among children and is associated with adverse health outcomes. Worldwide, approximately 250 million individuals reside at altitudes higher than 2000 meters above sea level (masl). The effect of chronic high-altitude exposure on children with SDB is unknown. This study aims to determine the impact of altitude on sleep study outcomes in children with SDB dwelling at high altitude. Methods A single-center crossover study was performed to compare results of high-altitude home polysomnography (H-PSG) with lower altitude laboratory polysomnography (L-PSG) in school-age children dwelling at high altitude with symptoms consistent with SDB. The primary outcome was apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), with secondary outcomes including obstructive AHI; central AHI; and measures of oxygenation, sleep quality, and pulse rate. Results Twelve participants were enrolled, with 10 included in the final analysis. Median altitude was 1644 masl on L-PSG and 2531 masl on H-PSG. Median AHI was 2.40 on L-PSG and 10.95 on H-PSG. Both obstructive and central respiratory events accounted for the difference in AHI. Oxygenation and sleep fragmentation were worse and pulse rate higher on H-PSG compared to L-PSG. Conclusions These findings reveal a clinically substantial impact of altitude on respiratory, sleep, and cardiovascular outcomes in children with SDB who dwell at high altitude. Within this population, L-PSG underestimates obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea compared to H-PSG. Given the shortage of high-altitude pediatric sleep laboratories, these results suggest a role for home sleep apnea testing for children residing at high altitude.
Heterogeneous integration of thin-film lithium niobate and chalcogenide waveguides on silicon

A heterogeneous platform i s demonstrated by integrating lithiumniobate and chalcogenide glass waveguides on silicon with optical transition through low-loss mode-converting tapers. The method provides an efficient utilization of second- and third-order nonlinearities on t he same chip for applications like stabilized octave-spanning optical combs.
Probabilistic switching circuits in DNA.

A natural feature of molecular systems is their inherent stochastic behavior. A fundamental challenge related to the programming of molecular information processing systems is to develop a circuit architecture that controls the stochastic states of individual molecular events. Here we present a systematic implementation of probabilistic switching circuits, using DNA strand displacement reactions. Exploiting the intrinsic stochasticity of molecular interactions, we developed a simple, unbiased DNA switch: An input signal strand binds to the switch and releases an output signal strand with probability one-half. Using this unbiased switch as a molecular building block, we designed DNA circuits that convert an input signal to an output signal with any desired probability. Further, this probability can be switched between 2^n different values by simply varying the presence or absence of n distinct DNA molecules. We demonstrated several DNA circuits that have multiple layers and feedback, including a circuit that converts an input strand to an output strand with eight different probabilities, controlled by the combination of three DNA molecules. These circuits combine the advantages of digital and analog computation: They allow a small number of distinct input molecules to control a diverse signal range of output molecules, while keeping the inputs robust to noise and the outputs at precise values. Moreover, arbitrarily complex circuit behaviors can be implemented with just a single type of molecular building block.
A large-scale evaluation of automated metadata inference approaches on sensors from air handling units

Abstract Building automation systems provide abundant sensor data to enable the potential of using data analytics to, among other things, improve the energy efficiency of the building. However, deployment of these applications for buildings, such as, fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) on multiple buildings remains a challenge due to the non-trivial efforts of organizing, managing and extracting metadata associated with sensors (e.g., information about their location, function, etc.), which is required by applications. One of the reasons leading to the problem is that varying conventions, acronyms, and standards are used to define this metadata. To better understand the nature of the problem, as well as the performance and scalability of existing solutions, we implement and test 6 different time-series based metadata inference approaches on sensors from 614 air handling units (AHU) instrumented in 35 building sites accounting for more than 400 buildings distributed across United States of America. We infer 12 types of sensors and actuators in AHUs required by a rule-based FDD application: AHU performance and assessment rules (APAR). Our results show that: (1) the average performance of these approaches in terms of accuracy is similar across building sites, though there is significant variance; (2) the expected accuracy of classifying the type of points required by APAR for a new unseen building is, on average, 75%; (3) the performance of the model does not decrease as long as training data and testing data are extracted from adjacent months.
Multi-Body Modeling Effects on the Head-Disk Interface During Operational Shocks in Hard Disk Drives

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the demand of hard disk drives (HDD) used in portable devices. In such applications HDDs are often subjected to mechanical shocks. Hence it is important to study the stability of mobile drives during operational shocks (op-shock) in order to improve their shock performance. Former numerical investigations [1–3] used either detailed structure models and simplified air bearing models or vice versa to understand the HDI response during an opshock event. In 2012, Rai and Bogy [4] proposed a method in which both the HDD components and the air bearing were modeled in detail and were coupled with each other. However, in this model the head actuator assembly (HAA) was assumed to be amounted on a fixed support and hence the flexibility of the base plate and those effects on the HAA were neglected. In this study, we model the HAA as mounted on the base plate to investigate the effects of HDD components on the shock performance of mobile drives.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
What Do Students Know? Facing Challenges of Distance, Context, and Desire in Trying to Hear Children

No task is more fundamental to teaching than figuring out what students are learning. Paradoxically, no endeavour is more difficult. In his well-known sociological analysis of teachers and teaching, Lortie (1975) found that questions about the assessment of student learning evoked significant emotional response from teachers. Although the teachers whom he interviewed believed that good teachers inform their practice by closely monitoring students, many despaired of really knowing about the effects of their teaching.
Advanced Neurosurgical Interventions

There are many etiologies causing the various phenotypic patterns of facial pain, some of which are more likely to be refractory to both medical management and often to first and sometimes second lines of more common surgical interventions. These surgical interventions usually target the peripheral component of the trigeminal nerve from its most distal aspect in the subcutaneous nerve endings of the face, to the location of its cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglion located within Meckel’s cave, to its entry into the brainstem. When these approaches fail to provide relief, or when destructive interventions exacerbate pain, advanced neurosurgical interventions in central nervous system targets should be considered.
Some Emerging Challenges in Electricity Markets

Energy deregulation in the 90s led to the development of power markets in the United States. The Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) in 1978 laid down the early foundations of deregulation. Subsequent legislations included the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct92) and FERC Order No. 888 in 1996. They established the rules to “remove impediments to competition in the wholesale bulk power marketplace” by promoting “non-discriminatory transmission services” [1]. These legislations led to the development of two different market architectures in different parts of the US. In one, utility companies established a bilateral market to transact with independent power producers and/or other utilities. In others, a third-party nonprofit facilitator—an Independent System Operator (ISO) or a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO)—was established to mediate between the buyers and the sellers of power at the wholesale level. Our discussion in this article will primarily revolve around the latter.
Füllerlose Automobil-Lackierung auf dem Vormarsch

Ende Marz 2006 hat die Volkswagen AG beschlossen, im VW-Werk Puebla in Mexiko das so genannte EcoConcept in der Automobil-Serienlackierung einzusetzen, bei dem komplett auf die Fullerschicht verzichtet wird. Die Anwendung dieser Technologie in weiteren Werken ist noch fur 2006 geplant.
A Psychoanalysis of Love: The Patient with Deadly Longing

Freud made some seriously mistaken assumptions about mature love based on his notion about the role unconscious guilt plays in human affairs. Clinical data are presented here about a young man, who...
Distributionally Robust Optimization of Shale Gas Supply Chains under Uncertainty

This paper aims to leverage the big data in shale gas industry for better decision making in optimal design and operations of shale gas supply chains under uncertainty. We propose a two-stage distributionally robust optimization model, where uncertainties associated with both the upstream shale well estimated ultimate recovery and downstream market demand are simultaneously considered. In this model, decisions are classified into first-stage design decisions, which are related to drilling schedule, pipeline installment, and processing plant construction, as well as second-stage operational decisions associated with shale gas production, processing, transportation, and distribution. A data-driven approach is applied to construct the ambiguity set based on principal component analysis and first-order deviation functions. By taking advantage of affine decision rules, a tractable mixed-integer linear programming formulation can be obtained. The applicability of the proposed modeling framework is demonstrated through a case study of Marcellus shale gas supply chain. Comparisons with alternative optimization models are investigated as well.
Prediction Focused Topic Models for Electronic Health Records.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) data can be represented as discrete counts over a high dimensional set of possible procedures, diagnoses, and medications. Supervised topic models present an attractive option for incorporating EHR data as features into a prediction problem: given a patient's record, we estimate a set of latent factors that are predictive of the response variable. However, existing methods for supervised topic modeling struggle to balance prediction quality and coherence of the latent factors. We introduce a novel approach, the prediction-focused topic model, that uses the supervisory signal to retain only features that improve, or do not hinder, prediction performance. By removing features with irrelevant signal, the topic model is able to learn task-relevant, interpretable topics. We demonstrate on a EHR dataset and a movie review dataset that compared to existing approaches, prediction-focused topic models are able to learn much more coherent topics while maintaining competitive predictions.
Intercepting fleeting cyclic allenes with asymmetric nickel catalysis.

Strained cyclic organic molecules, such as arynes, cyclic alkynes and cyclic allenes, have intrigued chemists for more than a century with their unusual structures and high chemical reactivity1. The considerable ring strain (30–50 kilocalories per mole)2,3 that characterizes these transient intermediates imparts high reactivity in many reactions, including cycloadditions and nucleophilic trappings, often generating structurally complex products4. Although strategies to control absolute stereochemistry in these reactions have been reported using stoichiometric chiral reagents5,6, catalytic asymmetric variants to generate enantioenriched products have remained difficult to achieve. Here we report the interception of racemic cyclic allene intermediates in a catalytic asymmetric reaction and provide evidence for two distinct mechanisms that control absolute stereochemistry in such transformations: kinetic differentiation of allene enantiomers and desymmetrization of intermediate π-allylnickel complexes. Computational studies implicate a catalytic mechanism involving initial kinetic differentiation of the cyclic allene enantiomers through stereoselective olefin insertion, loss of the resultant stereochemical information, and subsequent introduction of absolute stereochemistry through desymmetrization of an intermediate π-allylnickel complex. These results reveal reactivity that is available to cyclic allenes beyond the traditional cycloadditions and nucleophilic trappings previously reported, thus expanding the types of product accessible from this class of intermediates. Additionally, our computational studies suggest two potential strategies for stereocontrol in reactions of cyclic allenes. Combined, these results lay the foundation for the development of catalytic asymmetric reactions involving these classically avoided strained intermediates. Asymmetric nickel catalysis is used to intercept transient cyclic allene intermediates to achieve stereocontrol.
The RGG Domain of the Yeast Nucleolin Nsr1 Is Required for the Genome Instability Associated with Co-transcriptionally Formed G4 DNA

ABSTRACT A significant increase in genome instability is associated with the conformational shift of a guanine-run-containing DNA strand into the four-stranded G4 DNA. Until recently, the mechanism underlying the recombination and genome rearrangements following the formation of G4 DNA in vivo has been difficult to elucidate but has become better clarified by the identification and functional characterization of several key G4 DNA-binding proteins. Mammalian nucleolin NCL is a highly specific G4 DNA-binding protein with a well-defined role in the transcriptional regulation of genes with associated G4 DNA-forming sequence motifs at their promoters. The consequence of the in vivo interaction between G4 DNA and nucleolin in respect to the genome instability has not been previously investigated. We show here that G4 DNA-binding is a conserved function in the yeast nucleolin Nsr1. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the Nsr1-G4 DNA complex formation is a major factor in inducing the genome instability associated with the co-transcriptionally formed G4 DNA in the yeast genome. The G4-associated genome instability and the G4 DNA-binding in vivo requires the arginine-glycine-glycine (RGG) repeats located at the C-terminus of the Nsr1 protein. Nsr1 with the deletion of RGG domain supports normal cell growth and is sufficient in in vitro G4 DNA binding as well as protection from the cytotoxicity of a G4 ligand TMPyP4. However, this deletion results in abrogation of in vivo binding to the co-transcriptionally formed G4 DNA and in severe reduction in the G4-assicated genome instability. Our data suggest that the interaction between Nsr1 with intact RGG repeats and G4 DNA impairs genome stability by precluding the access of G4-resolving proteins and obstructing replication.
Metallotherapeutics development in the age of iron-clad bacteria

Drug-resistant infections pose a significant risk to global health as pathogenic bacteria become increasingly difficult to treat. The rapid selection of resistant strains through poor antibiotic stewardship has reduced the number of viable treatments and increased morbidity of infections, especially among the immunocompromised. To circumvent such challenges, new strategies are required to stay ahead of emerging resistance trends, yet research and funding for antibiotic development lags other classes of therapeutics. Though the use of metals in therapeutics has been around for centuries, recent strategies have devoted a great deal of effort into the pathways through which bacteria acquire and utilize iron, which is critical for the establishment of infection. To target iron uptake systems, siderophore-drug conjugates have been developed that hijack siderophore-based iron uptake for delivery of antibiotics. While this strategy has produced several potential leads, the use of siderophores in infection is diminished over time when bacteria adapt to utilize heme as an iron source, leading to a need for the development of porphyrin mimetics as therapeutics. The use of such strategies as well as the inclusion of gallium, a redox-inert iron mimic, are herein reviewed.
Who commits the most to NATO? It depends on how we measure commitment:

Studies of NATO rely heavily on military spending as a fraction of GDP as the key indicator of members’ contribution to the alliance, but a growing number of scholars have challenged this approach....
Diversity, Inclusion and Cultural Competency in Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Programs.

OBJECTIVES The objectives with this study were to describe the current state of Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) fellowship programs with regards to (1) diversity of fellows and programs’ leadership, (2) current diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs and measures of their success, and (3) the state of cultural competency training. METHODS In 2018, fellowship directors of the 35 active PHM fellowship programs were invited to participate in a survey of diversity, inclusion, and cultural competency at PHM fellowship programs. Participants were invited via in-person invitations at the annual PHM fellowship directors meeting and through e-mail invitations from July to September to complete an online survey. RESULTS There was an 89% response rate of the survey. Most fellows, faculty, and program directors in PHM were female (74%, 70%, and 70%, respectively) and white (53%, 67%, and 60%, respectively). There were no African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander program directors. Forty-five percent of programs reported that neither the fellowship program nor their hospital had a strategic plan that addresses D&I. Approximately 61% of programs had cultural competency training for fellows. CONCLUSIONS This is the first survey to report on the state of D&I in PHM fellowship programs. There is lack of racial and ethnic diversity in programs fellows, faculty, and directors. Although most programs have cultural competency training, strategic planning to promote D&I is not widely implemented among PHM fellowship programs.
Satiety and the Effects of Water Intake on Vasopressin Secretion

Two stimuli have been identified in the control of drinking which follows a period of water deprivation. When animals are deprived of water, but not food, extracellular fluid volume decreases and extracellular fluid osmolality rises. In dehydrated dogs, removal of the volume deficit reduces subsequent drinking by 27%, whereas removal of the central osmotic stimulus decreases water intake by 72%.1 Although the proportions may vary, other species show volume and osmotic components in dehydration induced thirst2,3.
Neonatal Cytokine Profiles Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that can be reliably diagnosed at age 24 months. Immunological phenomena, including skewed cytokine production, have been observed among children with ASD. Little is known about whether immune dysregulation is present before diagnosis of ASD. Methods We examined neonatal blood spots from 214 children with ASD (141 severe, 73 mild/moderate), 62 children with typical development, and 27 children with developmental delay as control subjects who participated in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment study, a population-based case-control study. Levels of 17 cytokines and chemokines were compared across groups and in relation to developmental and behavioral domains. Results Interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-4 were independently associated with ASD compared with typical development, although these relationships varied by ASD symptom intensity. Elevated IL-4 was associated with increased odds of severe ASD (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03, 1.91), whereas IL-1β was associated with increased odds of mild/moderate ASD (OR = 3.02, 95% CI, 1.43, 6.38). Additionally, IL-4 was associated with a higher likelihood of severe ASD versus mild/moderate ASD (OR = 1.35, 95% CI, 1.04, 1.75). In male subjects with ASD, IL-4 was negatively associated with nonverbal cognitive ability (β = −3.63, SE=1.33, p = .04). Conclusions This study is part of a growing effort to identify early biological markers for ASD. We demonstrate that peripheral cytokine profiles at birth are associated with ASD later in childhood and that cytokine profiles vary depending on ASD severity. Cytokines have complex roles in neurodevelopment, and dysregulated levels may be indicative of genetic differences and environmental exposures or their interactions that relate to ASD.
The Genetics and molecular biology of α‐synuclein

Publisher Summary This chapter emphasizes that α-Synuclein was implicated in Parkinsonism through the identification of missense mutations, in rare families with autosomal dominant disease. Genomic multiplications of the a-synuclein locus (SNCA) on chromosome 4q21 were subsequently described that encompass between 0.4 and 4.9 Mb of flanking DNA. SNCA triplications result in four functional copies of α -synuclein gene, three in tandem on the mutant allele with a 100% increase in mRNA message and soluble protein production. The chapter explains that SNCA duplications result in three functional copies of α -synuclein gene; carriers manifest with late-onset Parkinsonism in the seventh and eighth decade with a phenotype most consistent with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Cognitive decline and dementia are neither early nor prominent features although autonomic dysfunction may be pronounced. α -synuclein protein is natively unfolded, but in association with lipid, the N-terminal forms an amphipathic helix that lends itself to reversible membrane-surface binding. The chapter also explains that α -synuclein may play a negative role in the maintenance of neurotransmission, controlling dopamine release to ensure a measured response to stimuli occurs, while also ensuring that sufficient stocks of the neurotransmitter are redirected to intracellular vesicular stores awaiting subsequent stimuli.