cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thermal Environmental Stress Screen Optimization

A multi parameter optimization process is created to minimize test time for thermal environmental stress screening (ESS), while meeting the minimum desired strength of screen level. The ESS variables affecting the test time include the maximum and minimum soak temperatures, the maximum and minimum overshoot temperatures, the dwell time at soak temperature, the dwell time at overshoot temperature, the thermal chamber ramp rate, and the number of ESS cycles. Factors affecting the hardware strength of screen include the total temperature range experienced by the hardware, the hardware thermal ramp rate, and the number of ESS cycles. The Matlab based optimization routine includes a two node thermal model to generate a thermal chamber temperature profile and a resulting hardware temperature response given the known time constant of the hardware under test. Additionally, the optimization process also includes custom functions that specify necessary constraints, the most important of which is the desired minimum precipitation efficiency of 88.7%. For the case study presented herein, the optimization process produces a significant reduction in necessary test time while maintaining the desired minimum precipitation efficiency. Actual test time improvements depend on many factors including the hardware time constant, strength of screen requirements, and thermal chamber capabilities. The primary purpose of this study is to demonstrate a process by which thermal environmental stress screening can be optimized.
Quinoline Drug–Heme Interactions and Implications for Antimalarial Cytostatic versus Cytocidal Activities

Historically, the most successful molecular target for antimalarial drugs has been heme biomineralization within the malarial parasite digestive vacuole. Heme released from catabolized host red blood cell hemoglobin is toxic, so malarial parasites crystallize heme to nontoxic hemozoin. For years it has been accepted that a number of effective quinoline antimalarial drugs (e.g., chloroquine, quinine, amodiaquine) function by preventing hemozoin crystallization. However, recent studies over the past decade have revealed a surprising molecular diversity in quinoline-heme molecular interactions. This diversity shows that even closely related quinoline drugs may have quite different molecular pharmacology. This paper reviews the molecular diversity and highlights important implications for understanding quinoline antimalarial drug resistance and for future drug design.
Standard Reticle Slide To Objectively Evaluate Spatial Resolution and Instrument Performance in Imaging Mass Spectrometry.

Spatial resolution is a key parameter in imaging mass spectrometry (IMS). Aside from being a primary determinant in overall image quality, spatial resolution has important consequences on the acquisition time of the IMS experiment and the resulting file size. Hardware and software modifications during instrumentation development can dramatically affect the spatial resolution achievable using a given imaging mass spectrometer. As such, an accurate and objective method to determine the working spatial resolution is needed to guide instrument development and ensure quality IMS results. We have used lithographic and self-assembly techniques to fabricate a pattern of crystal violet as a standard reticle slide for assessing spatial resolution in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) IMS experiments. The reticle is used to evaluate spatial resolution under user-defined instrumental conditions. Edgespread analysis measures the beam diameter for a Gaussian profile and line scans measure an “effective...
A Systematic Database Summary Generation Using the Distributed Query Discovery System

This paper introduces an approach to generate a database summary systematically using the distributed query discovery system, MASSON. Our approach is first to create an object-view and partition the database based on the object-view into clusters with similar properties, and then to generate the summary for each cluster. For this purpose, we propose a data set representation framework and introduce a proper similarity measure framework. The paper also describes the techniques used to generalize the generated primitive summary descriptions by MASSON and to improve the performance of the system using clustered computers and CORBA.
Towards Understanding and Control

We should now have some image in our minds of the patterns and behaviour of the United States economy since 1929, at least in terms of its major components. We still lack a good deal of detail, partly because of deficiencies in the official statistics, but also because the details are more than any mind can manage. We cannot possibly have knowledge of the economic history of every one of the 300 million or so Americans who have lived during this period. It would be even more difficult to visualise the households, firms and other organisations that have existed, and still less could we visualise all the commodities that have been produced and consumed during this period. Nevertheless we do have some image of the aggregates and at least a rough idea of some significant proportions of the economy.
49. Gender Differences In Aortic Neck Morphology In Patients With Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Undergoing EVAR

Introduction and Objectives: Prior studies have alluded to gender differences in aortic neckmorphology resulting in anatomic exclusion of some women from EVAR. The objective of this study is to correlate gender differences in aortic neck morphology and changes in the neck and aneurysm sac after EVAR. Methods: A retrospective review of consecutive EVARs performed for infrarenal AAA was conducted from 2004 to 2013 at a single institution. Preand post-operative imaging studies were utilized to measure aortic neck length and diameter, shape, and angulation, aneurysm sac diameter. Volumetric analysis of neck thrombus burden was performed using TeraRecon . Results: 146 patients met inclusion criteria 21% were women with a mean age of 75.5 (p1⁄40.724) with comparable baseline comorbidities to men. Neck angulation was greater in women 23.9 vs 13.5 (P<0.028). The percent thrombus of the aortic neck was greater in female patients at 35.7% vs 30%(P1⁄40.02). Preoperative AAA diameter
Controlled sensing for sequential estimation

In this paper, we consider the problem of sequential estimation of a random parameter under a controlled setting. Unlike traditional estimation problems, the collected observations depend on the used actions, which control the quality of the sensing process. At each time step, the decision maker has to choose a control from a finite set of controls or decides to stop collecting measurements. The goal is to design an efficient causal control policy and a stopping rule and the efficiency is captured using the notion of asymptotic pointwise optimality (APO). This set-up, in the context of sequential estimation for controlled parameter estimation was first considered in [1] for a special case where the distributions corresponding to different controls depend on uncommon parameters. In this paper, we extend the results in [1] to a more general case wherein the observation models under different controls could depend on common parameters. For this general setting, we propose a procedure, consisting of a control policy and stopping rule, which is shown to be APO. In the process we identify and point out several applications, particularly in the area of active learning.
Simple sequence repeat (SSR)-based marker variation in Brassica nigra genebank accessions and weed populations

Brassica nigra, a weed and minor crop species, may be a source of useful traits for breeders of major Brassica crops. However, little is known about the extent and distribution of genetic variation in B. nigra, and few markers have been developed to describe this variation. In an initial survey of variation in B. nigra, we used five amplified DNA fragment markers based on SSRs to describe variation in 32 entries (genebank accessions and weed populations) from four regions: Europe/North Africa (the species' native range), India, Ethiopia, and North America. Considerable variation was apparent between regions and between entries, but more than half of the total variation was between plants within entries. Ethiopian entries formed the most distinct group. European and North American entries comprised the nost variation and were generally grouped together. Unique variants were present in weed populations from North America (where the species is introduced), but marker variation between the populations was not correlated with geographic distance. In summary, SSR-based markers were informative descriptors of variation in a global sampling of B. nigra germplasm. The patterns of variation appear to be consistent with the species' agricultural history, and they can be used to design further studies and plan strategies for conserving B. nigra genetic resources.
Overview of Arrestin Mediated Signaling with Receptors and Non-receptor Binding Partners

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) classically initiate G protein-dependent signaling in response to extracellular stimulation, which is followed by arrestin-mediated desensitization and receptor internalization. However, non-visual arrestins (arrestin-2 and arrestin-3) are also demonstrated to mediate G protein-independent signaling by serving as adaptors and scaffolds through the assembly of multiprotein complexes. By recruiting various protein partners including trafficking proteins and signaling molecules directly to the GPCR, non-visual arrestins can connect activated receptors to diverse signaling pathways. Particularly, both non-visual arrestins have been demonstrated to scaffold three components of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling modules in order to ensure the fidelity of signaling by regulating their spatial arrangement. As a large family of serine/theronine kinases that includes ERK1/2, JNK and p38 kinases, the MAPKs control many important cellular functions, including cell cycle progression, transcriptional regulation and apoptosis. Therefore, it is of great importance to explore how non-visual arrestins mediate the interaction with different GPCRs, as well as assemble different MAPKs into a signaling complex to regulate different pathways.
Theoretical-applied Aspects of the Composition of Regression Models for Combined Propulsion Complexes Based on Data of Experimental Research

Based on the study into internal properties of components of the ship power plants (SPP) in the combined propulsion complexes (CPC) and considering special features in the construction of equations that characterize energy processes in the specific SPP of the particular CPC, we developed the principles of constructing their regression models according to data from experimental research. The function is defined that connects input variables and the output variable based on data of the experiment with the certain number of common observations of the input and output parameters. The check for adequacy of the obtained model was performed according to the experimental data. Such studies are necessary in order to develop specialized software modeling tools that are used when designing CPC SPP whose structure may vary in certain specified operational limits and situational factors. Similar empirical models also make it possible to improve simulation modeling algorithms involving the use of statistical tests and construction of CPC SPP models based on experimental data. As the result of present research, according to data obtained in the course of experiment, which contained 14 joint observations of the input and output parametric coordinates of the thruster drives (TDs) of CPC of the ship that operates under dynamic positioning mode, we estimated variation in the coefficients of regression equation and determined coefficients b 0 =0.4527; b 1 =–0.1126; b 2 =0.0848; b 3 =–0.0277; b 4 =0.0856, which refine the structure of regression model of SPP of CPC. For different levels of significance and degrees of freedom, the Student's t-criterion was computed for significance level α=0.06 and for the number of degrees of freedom 30 f y =30t(0.06; 30)=t(0.06; 2)=4.823, as well as the Fisher’s F-criterion F e (0.06; 12; 2)=5.43, on the basis of which the conclusion was made that confirms adequacy of the obtained model according to the experimental tests. Based on the constructed regression model, it is possible to adjust the position of CPC TD relative to each other and to the diametrical plane of the ship, as well as directions of TD rotation in the process of optimization of parameters of physical models of control systems of TD electric engines.
Influence of Overweight and Obesity on Circulating Inflammation-Related microRNA.

BACKGROUND Increased cardiovascular disease risk and prevalence associated with overweight and obesity is due, in part, to heightened inflammatory burden. The mechanisms underlying adiposity-related amplification of inflammation are not fully understood. Alterations in regulators of inflammatory processes such as microRNAs (miRs), however, are thought to play a pivotal role. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the influence of overweight and obesity, independent of other cardiovascular risk factors, on circulating expression of miR-34a, miR-126, miR-146a, miR-150 and miR-181b. METHODS Forty-five sedentary, middle-aged (47-64 years) adults were studied: 15 were normal weight (8M/7F; BMI: 23.3 ± 0.3 kg/m2); 15 were overweight (8M/7F; 28.2 ± 0.3 kg/m2); and 15 were obese (7M/8F; 32.3 ± 0.5 kg/m2). All subjects were non-smokers, normotensive and free of overt cardiometabolic disease. Circulating levels of the following inflammation-related miRs: miR-34a, miR-126, miR-146a, miR-150 and miR-181b were determined in plasma using standard RT-PCR techniques. miR expression was normalized to exogenous C. elegans miR-39 and reported as relative expression (AU). RESULTS Circulating miR-34a was ~200% higher (P< 0.05) in the obese as compared with normal weight and overweight groups. Whereas, miR-126, miR-146a and miR-150 were significantly lower (~65%) in both the obese and overweight groups than the normal weight group. There were no significant group differences in circulating expression of miR-181b. miR-34a was positively related (r = 0.43; P< 0.05); whereas, miR-126 (r = -0.48), miR-146a (r = -0.33) and miR-150 (r = -0.43) levels were significantly inversely related to BMI. CONCLUSION Overweight and obesity, independent of other cardiometabolic risk factors, negatively influences circulating inflammation-related miRs. Dysregulation of circulating miRs may contribute mechanistically to the heightened inflammatory state associated with overweight and obesity.
Mass Mapping of Amyloid Fibrils in the Electron Microscope Using STEM Imaging

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in the dark-field mode of operation is a technique regularly used to record high-contrast images from isolated macromolecular assemblies at nanometer resolution. Dark-field STEM images are unique in that they can be readily quantified to provide information on the mass of individual molecular complexes. Importantly, because STEM images contain simultaneous mass and overall molecular shape information, the concept of "mass mapping" can be realized to provide distinctive measurements of the mass per area of planar assemblies or the mass per length of filamentous structures. In this chapter we describe how the STEM technique can be applied to generate characteristic measurements of mass per length from isolated Alzheimer's amyloid fibrils.
Two-Dimensional Variational Mode Decomposition

In this paper we propose a variational method to adaptively decompose an image into few different modes of separate spectral bands, which are unknown before. A popular method for recursive one dimensional signal decomposition is the Empirical Mode Decomposition algorithm, introduced by Huang in the nineties. This algorithm, as well as its 2D extension, though extensively used, suffers from a lack of exact mathematical model, interpolation choice, and sensitivity to both noise and sampling. Other state-of-the-art models include synchrosqueezing, the empirical wavelet transform, and recursive variational decomposition into smooth signals and residuals. Here, we have created an entirely non-recursive 2D variational mode decomposition (2D-VMD) model, where the modes are extracted concurrently. The model looks for a number of 2D modes and their respective center frequencies, such that the bandlimited modes reproduce the input image (exactly or in least-squares sense). Preliminary results show excellent performance on both synthetic and real images. Running this algorithm on a peptide microscopy image yields accurate, timely, and autonomous segmentation - pertinent in the fields of biochemistry and nanoscience.
Diversification Strategy as a Determinant of the Earnings Persistence of U.S. Multinational Firms

This study tests the relationship between diversification strategy and earnings persistence provided by Autoregressive, Integrative, Moving Average (ARIMA) models. When higher-order ARIMA models are used, this study shows the earnings persistence of U.S. Multinational firms to be positively related to size, related diversification and vertical integration, and negatively related to unrelated diversification.
Drug metabolism and signal transduction: Possible role of Ah receptor and arachidonic acid cascade in protection from ethanol toxicity

It has become increasingly clear that the so-called ‘drug-metabolizing enzymes,’ and the receptors controlling them, play a key role in regulating the steady-state levels of ligands important in the transcription of genes involved in cell division, differentiation, apoptosis, homeostasis, and neuroendocrine functions. In this Chapter is presented an example of the possible role of the high-affinity Ah receptor in protection against ethanol-induced inflammation by way of the arachidonic acid cascade. Ethanol consumption is associated with cancer, inflammation, birth defects, and other toxic effects. Ethanol-induced toxicity appears to be mediated by many of the same oxidative stress signal transduction pathways used by other tumor promoters, teratogens, mitogens and comitogens.
Content-area reading comprehension and teachers’ use of instructional time: effects on middle school students’ social studies knowledge

We examined the influence of teachers’ use of instructional time on students’ learning within the context of a randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of a content-area reading comprehension intervention. Participants were 8th grade social studies teachers who had their classes randomly assigned to either Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content through Text (PACT) or business-as-usual (BAU). In both conditions, the same social studies content was the focus of instruction. Thirty-five 8th grade teachers (18 female, 17 male) audio-record instruction in both PACT and BAU classes for the duration of the 6–8 week intervention. Instruction was coded on five dimensions: interactive instruction, teacher silence, noninstructional activities, video usage, and neutral class time. Social studies knowledge acquisition was measured amongst 2786 8th grade students. Findings indicated that teachers spent more time engaged in interactive instruction when delivering content-area instruction in PACT classrooms as compared to BAU classrooms. Further, instructional behaviors were significantly related to changes in content knowledge acquisition in the BAU classes. In the treatment condition, teachers’ instructional behaviors were not significantly related to changes in content acquisition, except for noninstructional activities and non-content related video, which both had negative effects. Our findings suggest that while interactive instructional time remains important, the instructional methods utilized during this time are equally (if not more) impactful on student achievement.
Iliofemoral deep venous thrombosis in kidney transplant patients can cause graft dysfunction

Abstract We present a series of kidney transplant dysfunction secondary to lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT). A 70-year-old man underwent living unrelated kidney transplantation and presented 2 months postoperatively with acute kidney injury (AKI) secondary to external iliac vein thrombosis. Graft function improved after endovascular intervention. A 43-year-old man underwent living unrelated kidney transplantation and presented 3 years postoperatively with AKI secondary to external iliac vein thrombosis. Graft function recovered after thrombolysis. A 42-year-old woman underwent simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplantation. Four weeks postoperatively, she had AKI secondary to common femoral vein DVT. Her graft function improved after common iliac vein stenting. A 67-year-old man underwent living unrelated kidney transplantation and presented a week later with lower extremity DVT and AKI. His graft function improved with anticoagulation. Iliofemoral DVT can cause allograft dysfunction. The cause may be multifactorial. Endovascular intervention is safe and feasible when anticoagulation fails.
Self-Heating in SOI MOSFETs at the 45nm Node

To understand the impact of self-heating in SOI CMOS technologies we have fabricated pairs of 40nm gate length n-channel MOSFETs that share a common source contact and the same active silicon region. One of the MOSFETs is turned on and heats the active silicon, while the other is biased into the subthreshold regime and operates as a local thermometer. Preliminary results show that the MOSFET thermometer temperature increases approximately quadratically with the power dissipated in the MOSFET heater.
Persistent Identity Threats: Emotional and Neurological Responses:

In the past few decades, sociologists have called for the incorporation of biological ideas and methods into sociology as a means of improving our understanding of social behavior. In this vein, re...
Thermal hydraulic performance augmentation by high-porosity thin aluminum foams placed in high aspect ratio ducts

Abstract High porosity metal foams are known for providing high heat transfer rates, however, the concomitant higher-pressure losses have been a concern towards the realization of enhanced thermal hydraulic performance. Present study aims towards developing metal foam-based cooling configurations subjected to forced convection in a channel by employed very thin and high porosity Aluminum foams, where the goal is to achieve maximum foam volume participation in heat dissipation. To this end, a comprehensive experimental study has been carried out to investigate the effect of foam pore density (pores per inch: PPI) and channel aspect ratio (AR) on the thermal hydraulic performance of thin metal foams. High porosity (93%) thin aluminum foams with pore densities of 5, 20 and 40 PPI were studied, where the convective heat transport was facilitated through air forced through the channel. For the 40 ppi foams, three foam heights of 3.175 mm, 6.35 mm and 19 mm were tested, for 20 ppi foams, two foam heights of 6.35 mm and 19 mm were tested, and for the 5 ppi foams, one height of 19 mm was tested. These three different foam heights yielded in channel ARs of 16:1, 8:1 and 8:3, respectively. Heat transfer gain due to metal foams was evaluated against a geometrically identical smooth channel as well as with the Dittus-Boelter correlation for developed turbulent flow in circular ducts. Experimental data reveals that, for a given AR, an increase in pore-density resulted in both, increase in heat transfer as well as pressure drop. Amongst all three channel configurations, the 40 ppi foams had highest heat transfer, where the gain with respect to smooth channel for Re 5000 was ~21, 12 and 9.5 times, for 8:3, 8:1 and 16:1 channels respectively. Increase in channel AR (thinner foams) demonstrated an increase in heat transfer performance for a given pumping power. The thermal hydraulic trends observed for thin and high pore-density foams proved them to be viable candidates for compact electronics cooling.
Exosome Treatment Enhances Anti-Inflammatory M2 Macrophages and Reduces Inflammation-Induced Pyroptosis in Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy

Doxorubicin (Dox) is an effective antineoplastic agent used to treat cancers, but its use is limited as Dox induces adverse cardiotoxic effects. Dox-induced cardiotoxicity (DIC) can lead to heart failure and death. There is no study that investigates whether embryonic stem cell-derived exosomes (ES-Exos) in DIC can attenuate inflammation-induced pyroptosis, pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages, inflammatory cell signaling, and adverse cardiac remodeling. For this purpose, we transplanted ES-Exos and compared with ES-cells (ESCs) to examine pyroptosis, inflammation, cell signaling, adverse cardiac remodeling, and their influence on DIC induced cardiac dysfunction. Therefore, we used C57BL/6J mice ages 10 ± 2 weeks and divided them into four groups (n = 6–8/group): Control, Dox, Dox + ESCs, and Dox + ES-Exos. Our data shows that the Dox treatment significantly increased expression of inflammasome markers (TLR4 and NLRP3), pyroptotic markers (caspase-1, IL1-β, and IL-18), cell signaling proteins (MyD88, p-P38, and p-JNK), pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages, and TNF-α cytokine. This increased pyroptosis, inflammation, and cell signaling proteins were inhibited with ES-Exos or ESCs. Moreover, ES-Exos or ESCs increased M2 macrophages and anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10. Additionally, ES-Exos or ESCs treatment inhibited significantly cytoplasmic vacuolization, myofibril loss, hypertrophy, and improved heart function. In conclusion, for the first time we demonstrated that Dox-induced pyroptosis and cardiac remodeling are ameliorated by ES-Exos or ESCs.
Examining the Design Requirements of Functional Maternity Hospital Gowns Through User-Centered Design

Maternity hospital gowns are usually made according to a one-size-fits-all standard with full back openings which are physically and emotionally uncomfortable, not functional, and revealing. The purpose of this research was to understand the design requirements of patients and practitioners in order to develop a functional and sustainable maternity hospital gown design. The researchers applied user-centered design (UCD) methods to develop a new design based on data from market research and focus group interviews. The researchers created a two-piece stretchy gown with an adjustable waist and a washable nursing breast pad insert system which contributed to the gowns overall fit, mobility, closure access, modesty, and tactile comfort.
Pedagogy in process: engaging micro-decisions about race and gender1

How might cisgender teachers of color who identify as male problematize social norms connected to race and gender? What privileges, limitations, and possibilities may emerge from such a social loca...
The Network Runs the Schools: From a Loose to a Tightly Coupled School District.

This case study explores a central office’s attempt to improve its school performance by shifting from a loosely to a more tightly coupled organization through greater oversight and standardization...
First Call Simulation: Preparing for Acute Patient Decompensation with Facilitated, Peri-Scenario Debriefing

Introduction Medical students may graduate with limited experience in managing acutely decompensating patients independently. As interns they often assume that mantle of responsibility. This first ...
The Interactive Show: A Conversational Companion for Young Children and Childcare Assistant for Parents

Advances in the fields of natural language processing, machine learning and speech recognition have led to the increasing adoption of conversational agents in a variety of domains. However, the use of conversational agents as a childcare assistant for parents of young children has not been realized. We propose the use of conversational agents into children's programs to produce an interactive show, which can be employed as conversational companion for children, and a childcare assistant for parents of young children who have limited access to childcare options. Key features of the interactive show include understanding, responsiveness and maintaining an uninterrupted conversation flow. We argue that having a truly interactive show can engage children for a longer period of time without being distracted, which can give parents some time to attend to their needs in the absence of help.
Analyzing the Critical Success Enablers of Industry 4.0 Using Hybrid Fuzzy AHP–CoCoSo Method

Industry 4.0 has emerged as a valuable solution for tackling the present-day cut-throat competition. This work aims to identify and analyze the Critical Success Enablers (CSEs) which makes the impl...
Feedlot Biosecurity-Security in the Real World:

Biosecurity and security are different production issues, but both are important and must be properly addressed to protect the health oflivestock in an operation. The introduction of disease causing organisms (pathogens) into a livestock operation can either be intentional, as would be the situation with bioterrorism, or unintentional, as is often the case with improper biosecurity application procedures. The biosecurity and security activities will have unique standard operating procedures (SOP) and good management practices (GMP). The security and biosecurity SOP and GMP standards can vary between operations depending on the type and class of cattle raised or produced by the operation, and the operation's biosecurity goals and objectives. The security and biosecurity SOP and GMP outlined in this paper are generic and may not match the needs of different cattle operations. It will be important to evaluate the specific biosecurity and security needs of each production location and make adjustments in the generic checklists included in this paper. The biosecurity and security needs of each production location should be reevaluated on a regularly scheduled basis.
Clinical and Lifestyle-Related Prognostic Indicators among Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Patients Receiving Treatment at a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Purpose: The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has risen substantially in recent decades, while the average 5-year survival remains only ~20%. Disease stage and treatment are the strongest prognostic factors. The role of lifestyle factors in relation to survival remains uncertain, with a handful of studies to date investigating associations with obesity, smoking, physical activity, diet, or medications. Methods: This study included patients diagnosed with primary adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, gastroesophageal junction, or cardia (N = 371) at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center between 2003 and 2019. Leveraging extensive data abstracted from electronic medical records, epidemiologic questionnaires, and a tumor registry, we analyzed clinical, behavioral, and environmental exposures and evaluated stage-specific associations with survival. Survival distributions were visualized using Kaplan–Meier curves. Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for age, sex, stage, treatment, and comorbidities were used to estimate the association between each exposure and all-cause or cancer-specific mortality. Results: Among patients presenting with localized/regional tumors (stages I–III), current smoking was associated with increased overall mortality risk (HR = 2.5 [1.42–4.53], p = 0.002), while current physical activity was linked to reduced risk (HR = 0.58 [0.35–0.96], p = 0.035). Among patients with stage IV disease, individuals reporting pre-diagnostic use of statins (HR = 0.62 [0.42–0.92], p = 0.018) or NSAIDs (HR = 0.61 [0.42–0.91], p = 0.016) had improved overall survival. Exploratory analyses suggested that high pre-diagnostic dietary consumption of broccoli, carrots, and fiber correlated with prolonged overall survival in patients with localized/regional disease. Conclusion: Our data suggest that lifestyle exposures may be differentially associated with EAC survival based on disease stage. Future investigation of larger, diverse patient cohorts is essential to validate these findings. Our results may help inform the development of lifestyle-based interventions to improve EAC prognosis and quality of life.
Foreword: The War on Women

This foreword to Women and the Law highlights the dramatic attacks on women's rights over the past year. It summarizes the articles contained in this annual selection of leading scholarship in the field of women's rights. This "greatest hits" collection pulls together academic research of potential interest to litigators and policymakers on issues of reproductive rights, feminism and the family, violence against women, employment, women's healthcare, and feminist legal theory.
Analysis of Approximate Inverses in Tomography II. Iterative Inverses

This paper continues the analysis of approximate inverses from Part I by concentrating on iterative inverses in linear tomographic applications. The importance of differentiating between the ideal resolution of the operator/matrix to be inverted and the actual or effective resolution obtained by the approximate inverse during an iterative procedure is stressed. Means of obtaining the effective resolution operator for standard iterative procedures such as conjugate gradients, Lanczos, and LSQR are provided, while circumventing the usual need to produce a singular-value decomposition of the operator being inverted. The methods discussed produce very simple results in calculations with infinite precision, but require reorthogonalization of the Krylov vectors/operators produced by the iterative procedures in finite precision. Although this need for reorthogonalization increases the expense of the procedure somewhat, it still produces the desired results much more efficiently than what could be obtained using a full singular-value decomposition of the operator.
Intellectual Virtues: An Essay in Regulative Epistemology

PART ONE: CONTEXTS 1. Epistemology 2. Goods 3. Virtues 4. Faculties 5. Practices PART TWO: INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES 6. Love of Knowledge 7. Firmness 8. Courage and Caution 9. Humility 10. Autonomy 11. Generosity 12. Practical Wisdom
Preconcentration and x-ray fluorescence

Abstract X-ray fluorescence spectrometry after dithiocarbamate preconcentration is described for the determination of vanadium, nickel and iron in residual fuel oils and in small amounts of particulate emissions from oil-fired sources. After the sample has been decomposed by dry ashing or wet digestion, the metal constituents are concentrated as their diethyldithiocarbamates precipitates on a membrane filter for measurement. The method is simple and highly sensitive, and the analytical results are in good agreement with certified values or with the results obtained by solution spectrophotometry.
Cooperating with people: the intelligent classroom

People frequently complain that it is too difficult to figure out how to get computers to do what they want. However, with a computer system that actually tries to understand what its users are doing, people can interact in ways that are more natural to them. We have been developing a system, the Intelligent Classroom, that does exactly this. The Intelligent Classroom uses cameras and microphones to sense a speaker's actions and then infers his intentions from those actions. Finally, it uses these intentions to decide what to do to best cooperate with the speaker. In the Intelligent Classroom, the speaker need not worry about how to operate the Classroom; he may simply go about his lecture and trust the Classroom to assist him at the appropriate moments.
SHOCK COMPRESSION OF LOW-DENSITY MICROCELLULAR MATERIALS

We describe a precise new technique for shock velocity measurements in low-density microcellular materials (LDMM). This optical method uses an image-converter streak camera to record shock arrivals across stepped samples, using the emission of a thin metallic layer as an indicator. Real-time calibration of the sweep allows absolute accuracy of better than 0.5% at the 95% confidence level. The analysis of the data is described. We have applied this method to study the shock compression of a silica (SiO{sub 2}) aerogel LDMM with an initial density of 0.128 g/cm{sup 3}. Further applications of this method, and applications to problems of current interest are briefly discussed. 13 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.
The Variability of Protein Supplements in the Hen’s Diet in Supplying the Unidentified Factor or Factors Essential for Chick Growth

Abstract SEVERAL investigators have shown that a chick’s viability and its storage of the vitamins at hatching time are influenced by the intake of these specific essential nutrients by the parent stock. It is well established that some other as yet unidentified factor (or factors) is transmitted from the hen to the egg and subsequently to the newly hatched chick. When placed on a diet deficient in this constituent, the chick’s ability to grow at a normal rate is dependent upon an adequate storage of this unknown. Bird and associates (1946) found that the viability of chicks was low when hens were fed a soybean oil meal supplemented diet, adequate in all known factors. Mortality of chicks from hens receiving a soybean oil meal diet was 38.0 percent, whereas, hens receiving this diet plus 5.0 percent cow manure or sardine meal produced chicks with a mortality rate of 12.0 and 11.0 . . .
New Collection Records of Psorophora Ciliata (Fabricius), Psorophora Ferox (Humboldt) and Anopheles Earlei Vargas in Connecticut (Diptera: Culicidae)

The purpose of this report is to present new collection records for species of mosquitoes that have not been found in Connecticut for many years. Psorophora ciliata was once regarded as a common pest species (Britton, 1904, Rep. of the Conn. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 253–308), but has not been detected since it was last mentioned in publications by Felton, Barns & Wilson in 1950 (Mosquito News 10 :84–91). Psorophora ferox has long been listed as present in Connecticut (Matheson, 1945, Conn. State Geol., and Nat. Hist. Surv. Bull. 68 : 1–48), but has not been found during the past 2 decades. Anopheles earlei was listed as present in the state 25 years ago (Matheson, loc. cit.), but Carpenter & La Casse (1955, Mosquitoes of North America, 353 p.), indicated that many of the early records of A. occidentalis were probably A. earlei. The present collection represents the first in recent years.
Rapid Activation of Tyrosine Hydroxylase in Response to Nerve Growth Factor

: Nerve growth factor protein (NGF) was found to rapidly promote the activation of tyrosine hydroxylase in cultured rat PC 12 pheochromocytoma cells. PC 12 cultures were exposed to NGF for periods of less than 1 h and the soluble contents of homogenates prepared from the cells were assayed for tyrosine hydroxylase activity. Under these conditions, the specific enzymatic activity was increased by 60 ± 10% (n = 13) in comparison with that in untreated sister cultures. The increase was half maximal by 2–5 min of exposure and at NGF concentrations of about 10 ng/ml (0.36 nM). Antiserum against NGF blocked the effect. Tyrosine hydroxylase activity could also be rapidly increased by NGF in cultures of PC12 cells that had been treated with the factor for several weeks in order to produce a neuron-like phenotype. This was achieved by withdrawing NGF for about 4 h and then readding it for 30 min. The NGF-induced increase of tyrosine hydroxylase activity in PC12 cultures was not affected by inhibition of protein synthesis and therefore appeared to be due to activation of the enzyme. Kinetic experiments revealed that NGF brought about no change in the apparent Km of the enzyme for tyrosine or for co-factor (6-methyltetrahydropteridine), but that it did significantly increase the apparent maximum specific activity of the enzyme. These observations suggest that NGF (perhaps released by target organs) could promote a rapid and local enhancement of noradrenergic transmission in the sympathetic nervous system.
Click traffic analysis of short URL spam on Twitter

With an average of 80% length reduction, the URL shorteners have become the norm for sharing URLs on Twitter, mainly due to the 140-character limit per message. Unfortunately, spammers have also adopted the URL shorteners to camouflage and improve the user click-through of their spam URLs. In this paper, we measure the misuse of the short URLs and analyze the characteristics of the spam and non-spam short URLs. We utilize these measurements to enable the detection of spam short URLs. To achieve this, we collected short URLs from Twitter and retrieved their click traffic data from Bitly, a popular URL shortening system. We first investigate the creators of over 600,000 Bitly short URLs to characterize short URL spammers. We then analyze the click traffic generated from various countries and referrers, and determine the top click sources for spam and non-spam short URLs. Our results show that the majority of the clicks are from direct sources and that the spammers utilize popular websites to attract more attention by cross-posting the links. We then use the click traffic data to classify the short URLs into spam vs. non-spam and compare the performance of the selected classifiers on the dataset. We determine that the Random Tree algorithm achieves the best performance with an accuracy of 90.81% and an F-measure value of 0.913.
Can red shifts turn blue

Red shifts can turn blue and blue shifts can turn red in real astrophysical situations involving magnetic neutron stars. It is also possible for red shifts and blue shifts to be emitted simultaneously from the same object. With this general relativistic effect, the red shift may be arbitrarily large but the blue shift cannot exceed 1/2.
Moment-method analysis of the ground state of discretized bosonic systems.

The eigenvalue moment method for bosonic systems, recently developed by C. R. Handy and D. Bessis (Phys. Rev. Lett 55, 931 (1985)), is extended to discrete quantum mechanics. The relevant formalism is described and applied in the context of the discretized harmonic and sextic anharmonic potentials. Rapidly converging bounds to the associated ground-state energies are obtained for fixed lattice spacing a satisfying a
The catalytic effects of minerals on aquathermolysis of heavy oils

The catalytic effects of minerals on aquathermolysis of heavy oil were studied. The change of viscosity and average molecular weight of heavy oil with temperature, water content and reaction time are discussed in the paper. The results show that heavy oil can undergo aquathermolysis in steam injection condition. The results also show that minerals can accelerate the aquathermolysis of heavy oil and lead the viscosity and average molecular weight to decrease further. The reservoir minerals have the catalytic effects on the aquathermolysis of the heavy oils. The results provide a basic theoretical basis for down-hole catalytic upgrading of heavy oil during steam stimulation for heavy oil recovery.
Glycosylation influences cross‐species formation of protease‐resistant prion protein

A key event in the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) is the formation of aggregated and protease-resistant prion protein, PrP-res, from a normally soluble, protease-sensitive and glycosylated precursor, PrP-sen. While amino acid sequence similarity between PrP-sen and PrP-res influences both PrP-res formation and cross-species transmission of infectivity, the influence of co- or post-translational modifications to PrP-sen is unknown. Here we report that, if PrP-sen and PrP-res are derived from different species, PrP-sen glycosylation can significantly affect PrP-res formation. Glycosylation affected PrP-res formation by influencing the amount of PrP-sen bound to PrP-res, while the amino acid sequence of PrP-sen influenced the amount of PrP-res generated in the post-binding conversion step. Our results show that in addition to amino acid sequence, co- or post-translational modifications to PrP-sen influence PrP-res formation in vitro. In vivo, these modifications might contribute to the resistance to infection associated with transmission of TSE infectivity across species barriers.
Reflex pathways of the crayfish claw

Efferent and sensory axons were monitored near the carpopoditepropodite joint of the crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) cheliped using en passant suction electrodes. Controlled movements were imposed by an electric motor; tactile stimulation was delivered either manually or with electrically controlled mechanical probes. Statistical spike train analysis methods were used to study correlated firing among the observed neurons. We find that individual spikes in proprioceptive afferents have a strong excitatory effect on OI and CE, probably through a monosynaptic connection. These relationships are observed for proprioceptive axons that are active during claw opening or closing, or that are tonically active when the claw is motionless. Conversely, individual OE or OI spikes exert excitatory or inhibitory (respectively) effects on the firing of proprioceptive units sensitive to claw opening. This suggests that individual efferent spikes can produce enough change in claw position to modulate proprioceptive responses. Tactile afferents also excited OI and CE strongly and directly.
Noise Couplings in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO)

The commissioning of LIGO required the mitigation of technical noise couplings to the Gravitational Wave readout. Of particular interest were RF oscillator Phase Noise and Thermal Compensation Laser Intensity Noise. Both couplings were larger than anticipated.
New Components of Drosophila Leg Development Identified through Genome Wide Association Studies

The adult Drosophila melanogaster body develops from imaginal discs, groups of cells set-aside during embryogenesis and expanded in number during larval stages. Specification and development of Drosophila imaginal discs have been studied for many years as models of morphogenesis. These studies are often based on mutations with large developmental effects, mutations that are often lethal in embryos when homozygous. Such forward genetic screens can be limited by factors such as early lethality and genetic redundancy. To identify additional genes and genetic pathways involved in leg imaginal disc development, we employed a Genome Wide Association Study utilizing the natural genetic variation in leg proportionality found in the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel fly lines. In addition to identifying genes already known to be involved in leg development, we identified several genes involved in pathways that had not previously been linked with leg development. Several of the genes appear to be involved in signaling activities, while others have no known roles at this time. Many of these uncharacterized genes are conserved in mammals, so we can now begin to place these genes into developmental contexts. Interestingly, we identified five genes which, when their function is reduced by RNAi, cause an antenna-to-leg transformation. Our results demonstrate the utility of this approach, integrating the tools of quantitative and molecular genetics to study developmental processes, and provide new insights into the pathways and networks involved in Drosophila leg development.