cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of open midline glossectomy in the multilevel surgical management of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

ObjectiveTo analyze the overall success rate of open midline glossectomy with lingual tonsillectomy in the surgical management of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) as well as a subset analysis to determine whether certain patient factors influence clinical outcome.Study DesignCase series with retrospective data collection.SettingPrivate practice with surgeries performed at a single community hospital (St Johns–Riverside Hospital).Subjects and MethodsFifty consecutive patients who had moderate to severe OSAS with Friedman tongue position III or IV and underwent midline glossectomy with lingual tonsillectomy as part of multilevel sleep apnea surgery and had pre- and postsurgery in-laboratory sleep studies performed.ResultsThe overall success rate was 56.0% using success defined as a postoperative apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) less than 20 and a decrease of greater than 50%. Median AHI decreased from 52.0 to 18.3 with a median change of −26.1 (interquartile range, −41.6 and −17.1). Of significance on subs...
Sensitivity of juvenile freshwater mussels (Lampsilis fasciola, Villosa iris) to total and un‐ionized ammonia

This study evaluated the sensitivity of juveniles of two freshwater unionid mussel species (Villosa iris [Lea] and Lampsilis fasciola [Rafinesquel) to un-ionized and total ammonia. Five concentrations of ammonium chloride were tested using 96-h static-renewal toxicity tests at 12 and 20 degrees C. Based on their respective mean 96-h lethal concentration to 50% (LC50s), V. iris (0.11 mg/ L NH3-N) was more sensitive than L. fasciola (0.26 mg/L NH3-N). At 96 h, significant differences in sensitivity to un-ionized ammonia between the two temperatures were not observed for either species. Comparison of LC50s reported for other aquatic organisms to the 96-h LC50s calculated for juvenile L. fasciola and V. iris shows these two mussel species to be among the most sensitive to un-ionized ammonia. Based on reported levels of un-ionized ammonia in the aquatic environment from anthropogenic sources, un-ionized ammonia may be an important limiting toxicological factor to freshwater mussel populations.
ReactionFlow: an interactive visualization tool for causality analysis in biological pathways

Molecular and systems biologists are tasked with the comprehension and analysis of incredibly complex networks of biochemical interactions, called pathways, that occur within a cell. Through interviews with domain experts, we identified four common tasks that require an understanding of the causality within pathways, that is, the downstream and upstream relationships between proteins and biochemical reactions, including: visualizing downstream consequences of perturbing a protein; finding the shortest path between two proteins; detecting feedback loops within the pathway; and identifying common downstream elements from two or more proteins. We introduce ReactionFlow, a visual analytics application for pathway analysis that emphasizes the structural and causal relationships amongst proteins, complexes, and biochemical reactions within a given pathway. To support the identified causality analysis tasks, user interactions allow an analyst to filter, cluster, and select pathway components across linked views. Animation is used to highlight the flow of activity through a pathway. We evaluated ReactionFlow by providing our application to two domain experts who have significant experience with biomolecular pathways, after which we conducted a series of in-depth interviews focused on each of the four causality analysis tasks. Their feedback leads us to believe that our techniques could be useful to researchers who must be able to understand and analyze the complex nature of biological pathways. ReactionFlow is available at https://github.com/CreativeCodingLab/ReactionFlow .
Proximal Subgradients, Marginal Values, and Augmented Lagrangians in Nonconvex Optimization

The Clarke subgradients of a nonconvex function p on Rn are characterized in terms of limits of “proximal subgradients.” In the case where p is the optimal value function in a nonlinear programming problem depending on parameters, proximal subgradients correspond to saddlepoints of the augmented Lagrangian. When the constraint and objective functions are sufficiently smooth, this leads to a characterization of marginal values for a given problem in terms of limits of Lagrange multipliers in “neighboring” problems for which the standard second-order sufficient conditions for optimality are satisfied at a unique point.
Hierarchische Nanofertigung: von geformten Zeolithnanopartikeln zu hochleistungsfähigen Trennmembranen

Seit uber einem Jahrzehnt wird verstarkt an Alternativen zu energieintensiven industriellen Trennungen geforscht, die auf der hochauflosenden Selektivitat dunner Zeolithfilme beruhen. Allerdings haben Membranen aus verwachsenen, orientierten Zeolithkristallen weder eine breite kommerzielle Anwendung gefunden, noch sind sie in Nischenmarkten verbreitet. Ursache dafur sind unbefriedigende Trennleistungen, hohe Kosten und Probleme bei der Masstabsvergroserung. Ein rationales Materialdesign war bis vor kurzem wegen des schwer aufzuklarenden Zeolithwachstumsmechanismus kaum moglich, sodass weitgehend empirisch vorgegangen wurde. Neue Einblicke in das Zeolithwachstum und jungste Fortschritte beim Aufbau von Kristallmikrostrukturen und -morphologien, bei der Konstruktion kristalliner Monoschichten und der Synthese geordneter Filme bieten jedoch gute Ansatze, um auch die strikten Anforderungen industrieller Anwendungen zu erfullen. Im Zusammenspiel mit neuartigen Verarbeitungmoglichkeiten sollte somit die Herstellung industriell nutzbarer Zeolithmembranen in hierarchischen Verfahren moglich werden. Diese Entwicklungen eroffnen vielversprechende Perspektiven nicht nur fur Trennungen, sondern auch fur den Aufbau neuartiger und komplexer Funktionsmaterialien wie molekularer Sensoren, mechanisch stabiler Dielektrika und neuartiger Reaktionsdiffusionssysteme.
Current status of pediatric/neonatal extracorporeal life support: clinical outcomes, circuit evolution, and translational research

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) offers lifesaving mechanical circulatory support for patients afflicted with respiratory and/or cardiac failure. Neonatal respiratory patients have higher survival rates compared to pediatric patients, while, for cardiac cases, pediatric patients are more likely to survive. The indications for ECLS have been expanded due to the improved technology and favorable outcomes. However, the rate of mortality and morbidity for ECLS patients remains significant. Mechanical complications still comprise a large percentage of ECLS complications, leaving definite room for improvement in ECLS circuit technology in the future. As a pre-clinical evaluating tool, translational research will provide more useful information for the selection of ECLS devices, encourage further development of ECLS technology, and, ultimately, benefit the patients.
Biogeochemistry of a temperate forest nitrogen gradient.

Wide natural gradients of soil nitrogen (N) can be used to examine fundamental relationships between plant–soil–microbial N cycling and hydrologic N loss, and to test N-saturation theory as a general framework for understanding ecosystem N dynamics. We characterized plant production, N uptake and return in litterfall, soil gross and net N mineralization rates, and hydrologic N losses of nine Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests across a wide soil N gradient in the Oregon Coast Range (USA). Surface mineral soil N (0–10 cm) ranged nearly three-fold from 0.29% to 0.78% N, and in contrast to predictions of N-saturation theory, was linearly related to 10-fold variation in net N mineralization, from 8 to 82 kg N·ha−1·yr−1. Net N mineralization was unrelated to soil C:N, soil texture, precipitation, and temperature differences among sites. Net nitrification was negatively related to soil pH, and accounted for <20% of net N mineralization at low-N sites, increasing to 85–100% of net N mineralization at intermediate- and high-N sites. The ratio of net : gross N mineralization and nitrification increased along the gradient, indicating progressive saturation of microbial N demands at high soil N. Aboveground N uptake by plants increased asymptotically with net N mineralization to a peak of ∼35 kg N·ha−1·yr−1. Aboveground net primary production per unit net N mineralization varied inversely with soil N, suggesting progressive saturation of plant N demands at high soil N. Hydrologic N losses were dominated by dissolved organic N at low-N sites, with increased nitrate loss causing a shift to dominance by nitrate at high-N sites, particularly where net nitrification exceeded plant N demands. With the exception of N mineralization patterns, our results broadly support the application of the N-saturation model developed from studies of anthropogenic N deposition to understand N cycling and saturation of plant and microbial sinks along natural soil N gradients. This convergence of behavior in unpolluted and polluted forest N cycles suggests that where future reductions in deposition to polluted sites do occur, symptoms of N saturation are most likely to persist where soil N content remains elevated.
Seasonal affective disorders.

Edited by Jacquelyn H. Flaskerud, RN, PhD, FAANUniversity of California—Los Angeles, School of Nursing, Los Angeles, California, USAA young man I know doesn't like summer weather or the length of s...
Storytelling in entity networks to support intelligence analysts

Intelligence analysts grapple with many challenges, chief among them is the need for software support in storytelling, i.e., automatically 'connecting the dots' between disparate entities (e.g., people, organizations) in an effort to form hypotheses and suggest non-obvious relationships. We present a system to automatically construct stories in entity networks that can help form directed chains of relationships, with support for co-referencing, evidence marshaling, and imposing syntactic constraints on the story generation process. A novel optimization technique based on concept lattice mining enables us to rapidly construct stories on massive datasets. Using several public domain datasets, we illustrate how our approach overcomes many limitations of current systems and enables the analyst to efficiently narrow down to hypotheses of interest and reason about alternative explanations.
Fusion of fuzzy logic and PD control for a five-fingered smart prosthetic hand

A hybrid of soft control technique of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and fuzzy logic (FL) and hard control technique of proportional-derivative (PD) for a five-fingered, smart prosthetic hand is presented. The ANFIS is used for inverse kinematics and FL is used for tuning the PD parameters with two input layers (error and error change) using 7 triangular membership functions and 49 fuzzy logic rules. Simulation results with FL-tuned PD controller exhibit superior performance compared to the PD and PID control alone.
Noninvasive imaging of infection after treatment with tumor‐homing bacteria using Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) MRI

Purpose To develop a noninvasive MRI method for determining the germination and infection of tumor-homing bacteria in bacteriolytic cancer therapy using endogenous CEST contrast. Methods The CEST parameters of the anaerobic gram-positive bacterium Clostridium novyi-NT (C. novyi-NT) were first characterized in vitro, then used to detect C. novyi-NT germination and infection in subcutaneous CT26 colorectal tumor-bearing mice (n = 6) after injection of 300 million bacterial spores. Lipopolysacharide (LPS) injected mice were used to exclude that the changes of CEST MRI were due to inflammation. Results CEST contrast was observed over a broad frequency range for bacterial suspensions in vitro, with the maximum contrast around 2.6 ppm from the water resonance. No signal could be detected for bacterial spores, demonstrating the specificity for germination. In vivo, a significant elevation of CEST contrast was identified in C. novyi-NT infected tumors as compared to those before bacterial germination and infection (P 0.05; n = 4). Conclusion Endogenous bacterial CEST contrast (bacCEST) can be used to monitor the germination and proliferation of the therapeutic bacterium C. novyi-NT without a need for exogenous cell labeling probes. Magn Reson Med 70:1690–1698, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A real-time fluorescence polarization activity assay to screen for inhibitors of bacterial ribonuclease P

Ribonuclease P (RNase P) is an essential endonuclease that catalyzes the 5' end maturation of precursor tRNA (pre-tRNA). Bacterial RNase P is an attractive potential antibacterial target because it is essential for cell survival and has a distinct subunit composition compared to the eukaryal counterparts. To accelerate both structure-function studies and discovery of inhibitors of RNase P, we developed the first real-time RNase P activity assay using fluorescence polarization/anisotropy (FP/FA) with a 5' end fluorescein-labeled pre-tRNAAsp substrate. This FP/FA assay also detects binding of small molecules to pre-tRNA. Neomycin B and kanamycin B bind to pre-tRNAAsp with a Kd value that is comparable to their IC50 value for inhibition of RNase P, suggesting that binding of these antibiotics to the pre-tRNA substrate contributes to the inhibitory activity. This assay was optimized for high-throughput screening (HTS) to identify specific inhibitors of RNase P from a 2880 compound library. A natural product derivative, iriginol hexaacetate, was identified as a new inhibitor of Bacillus subtilis RNase P. The FP/FA methodology and inhibitors reported here will further our understanding of RNase P molecular recognition and facilitate discovery of antibacterial compounds that target RNase P.
Effects of macroalgal structural complexity on nearshore larval and post-larval crab composition

Larval and post-larval crab distribution was surveyed in three different habitats in Kachemak Bay, Alaska to determine temporal and spatial variability. Distribution varied temporally and spatially from June 2005 to September 2006. Nine sites of varying habitat complexity were surveyed monthly using scuba surveys and light traps to measure habitat variables and quantify crab zoeae and megalopae. A total of 10,016 crabs belonging to seven families were identified. Four species comprised the majority (97%) of the total crab assemblages and included Cancer oregonensis, Fabia subquadrata, Telmessus cheiragonus, and Pugettia gracilis. Peak abundances occurred in summer but varied on small temporal scales with species. No single bay-wide variable determined the appearance of all species. Depending on species, appearance may be influenced by seasonality of environmental variables. Spatially, highest abundances occurred in habitats with less structural complexity. Spatial differences in crab abundance may have resulted from variability on large scale physical transport mechanisms and not kelp-mediated flow alterations.
Architectural Design Values and Energy Conservation

Problem Focus Adopt architectural design instruction to the problems of the energy crunch. Specifically, design faculty must reorient values to accept the limitations imposed by building concepts requiring maximum energy conservation. Openings, orientation, use of glass, choice of building materials, etc., must all be considered as relevant factors which will significantly influence conservation. A new vocabulary will be the result of a joint effort of architects, engineers, government officials, and building systems manufacturers focusing on the problem.
MIXOTROPHY IN MARINE PLANKTONIC CILIATES: PHYSIOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF PLASTID-RETENTION BY OLIGOTRICHS

Although oligotrichous ciliates (subclass Choreotrichia, order Choreotrichida) are often regarded as strict phagotrophs, deriving their nutrition from the ingestion of other cells, many species contain pigmented bodies which have long been thought to be residues of digestion of algal cells and only recently have been shown to be algal chloroplasts (Kahl 1932, Burkholder et al. 1967, Taylor 1982, McManus and Fuhrman 1986). Transmission electron microscopy has demonstrated that many marine oligotrichs retain isolated chloroplasts derived from phytoplankton (Blackbourn et al. 1973, Laval-Peuto and Febvre 1986, Jonsson 1987, Stoecker and Silver 1987). A substantial proportion of the planktonic oligotrich fauna contains chloroplasts and is probably mixotrophic, deriving nutrition from both phagocytosis and photosynthesis (Laval-Peuto et al. 1986, Stoecker et al. 1987, Laval-Peuto and Rassoulzadegan 1988 ).
An Approximate Monte Carlo Adaptive Importance Sampling Method

It is well known that zero-variance Monte Carlo solutions are possible if an exact importance function is available to bias the random walks. Geometric convergence with iteration has been demonstrated when the importance function estimated on the n'th iteration is used to bias the random walks on the n + 1st iteration, i.e., adaptive importance sampling. Note that geometric convergence with iteration may be less efficient than a nonadaptive Monte Carlo calculation if the time per iteration grows too fast. This paper shows a general method for sampling the zero-variance kernels enabling a Monte Carlo solution that converges inversely with the computer time.
Vestibular Function and Activities of Daily Living Analysis of the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys

Objective: Vestibular dysfunction increases with age and is associated with mobility difficulties and fall risk in older individuals. We evaluated whether vestibular function influences the ability...
Tracking nanometer movements of single motor molecules

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses methods used for tracking nanometer movements of single motor molecules with high precision. General principles are described. Approaches based on video are most convenient; however, improved temporal resolution and spatial sensitivity are achieved by custom photodiode detection systems with custom illumination. In the case of microtubules gliding on motor-coated glass, translocation while pivoting around a nodal point is a strong indicator of motility by a single motor molecule. On the other hand, in the case of bead movements statistical arguments have been used to show that the movements observed are driven by single motors. The use of the optical tweezers in those assays is important to make an unbiased sample of the population of beads. To record the position of particles—moving by single motors—requires a major commitment of resources, either to a specialized system or to a high-quality video-enhanced differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope. The lack of image formation in the photodiode systems is compensated by their greater temporal and spatial resolution. However, in contrast, the video-enhanced DIC systems have lower resolution and give additional information about the microtubule position and allow the use of fiducial marker beads in the system.
Exclusionary Rule Choice of Law

In an increasing number of states, unconstitutional searches and seizures will trigger not only the federal exclusionary rule, but also the state’s more liberal exclusionary rule. This article addresses the issue that arises when the search occurs in one state, but the prosecution takes place in another state. The author posits it as a conflict of laws problem raising a choice of law question.
Review—Nanocarbon-Based Multi-Functional Biointerfaces: Design and Applications

Nanocarbons are promising materials in a growing list of applications due to their unique intrinsic and potentially tunable properties. Carbon nanotubes are one of the most favorable nanocarbons used in biosensors R&D due to their excellent structural and electronic properties. Scaffolding of different functionally active biopolymers on CNTs and their further layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly on the appropriate interfaces allow creation of new insights and concepts for the development of multiple novel technological biointerfaces based on intercalation of CNTs covered with different oppositely charged biopolymers and enzymes. We concentrate on how different enzymes assembled at the same interface by the LbL technique can operate in different modes in the construction of novel bioelectronic applications. In this review we focus on the design of unique multifunctional devices for biomedical, environment and energy applications. This paper reviews the research results of the last several years and summarizes the carbon nanotubes application in biosensors. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0091608jss] All rights reserved.
Role of E-selectin for diagnosing myocardial injury in paediatric patients with mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.

BackgroundsEffects of myocardial injury on E-selectin remain unclear. Thus, we investigated the diagnostic value of E-selectin for myocardial injury in paediatric patients with mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.MethodsIn this prospective and blinded clinical study, plasma E-selectin, cardiac troponin I, creatine kinase isoenzyme MB, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha concentrations were measured in paediatric patients with mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP group, n = 138). The control group comprised 120 healthy children. The definition of cardiac injury was based on cardiac troponin I or CK-MB (with or possibly without abnormal electrocardiogram evidence). Diagnostic value of E-selectin for myocardial injury was determined by analysing receiver operating characteristic curves.ResultsAmong the 138 mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia patients, 40 patients were identified with myocardial injury, while 98 patients were identified without myocardial injury. Plasma E-selectin concentrations were: 40.22...
RNA Polymerase II Trigger Loop Mobility: INDIRECT EFFECTS OF Rpb9.

Rpb9 is a conserved RNA polymerase II (pol II) subunit, the absence of which confers alterations to pol II enzymatic properties and transcription fidelity. It has been suggested previously that Rpb9 affects mobility of the trigger loop (TL), a structural element of Rpb1 that moves in and out of the active site with each elongation cycle. However, a biochemical mechanism for this effect has not been defined. We find that the mushroom toxin α-amanitin, which inhibits TL mobility, suppresses the effect of Rpb9 on NTP misincorporation, consistent with a role for Rpb9 in this process. Furthermore, we have identified missense alleles of RPB9 in yeast that suppress the severe growth defect caused by rpb1-G730D, a substitution within Rpb1 α-helix 21 (α21). These alleles suggest a model in which Rpb9 indirectly affects TL mobility by anchoring the position of α21, with which the TL directly interacts during opening and closing. Amino acid substitutions in Rpb9 or Rpb1 that disrupt proposed anchoring interactions resulted in phenotypes shared by rpb9Δ strains, including increased elongation rate in vitro. Combinations of rpb9Δ with the fast rpb1 alleles that we identified did not result in significantly faster in vitro misincorporation rates than those resulting from rpb9Δ alone, and this epistasis is consistent with the idea that defects caused by the rpb1 alleles are related mechanistically to the defects caused by rpb9Δ. We conclude that Rpb9 supports intra-pol II interactions that modulate TL function and thus pol II enzymatic properties.
Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography.

The combined experience of the authors is presented in review form. Indications, contraindications and technics of percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography are presented. Salient points of radiographic interpretation are illustrated with representative cases of biliary lithiasis, neoplastic disease of the pancreas, ampulla of Vater, gallbladder and hepatic hilus. The important role of percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography in the management of jaundiced patients is discussed.
Detection of Explosives by Millimeter-wave Imaging

Millimeter-wave imaging has emerged over the last several years as an effective method for screening people for non-metallic weapons, including explosives. Millimeter-waves are effective for personnel screening, since the waves pass through common clothing materials and are reflected by the human body and any concealed objects. Completely passive imaging systems have also been developed that rely on the natural thermal emission of millimeter-waves from the body and concealed objects. Millimeter-waves are non-ionizing and are harmless to people at low or moderate power levels. Active and passive imaging systems have been developed by several research groups, with several commercial imaging sensors becoming available recently. These systems provide images revealing concealed items, and as such, do not specifically identify detected materials. Rather, they provide indications of unusual concealed items. The design of practical, effective, high-speed (real-time or near real-time) imaging systems presents a number of scientific and engineering challenges, and this chapter will describe the current state-of-the-art in active and passive millimeter-wave imaging for personnel screening. Numerous imaging results are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the techniques described. The authors have been involved in the development of active wideband millimeter-wave imaging systems at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) since 1991.
Abstract 1909: miR-30c blocks tumor cell homotypic aggregation and promotes anoikis to prevent breast cancer metastasis

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are considered the seeds of distant metastasis, and may be a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with metastatic breast cancers. Compared to single CTCs, clusters of multiple CTCs possess higher metastatic capacity in mouse breast cancer models, indicating that aggregation increases the survival of CTCs in the circulation. However, the molecular mechanisms by which clustered CTCs mediate tumor cell survival are unclear. In this study, we found that miR-30c, which has been identified as an anti-metastatic microRNAs, inhibited primary breast cancer cell homotypic aggregation in vitro by real-time monitoring. Interestingly, only aggregated but not single tumor cells can survive during culture. The death of dissociated primary tumor cells in vitro is caused by anoikis, a form of programmed cell death which is induced by detachment of anchorage-dependent cells from the surrounding extracellular matrix. Therefore, the role of miR-30c in anoikis was determined by culturing breast cancer cells in poly-hema coated plates. We found that miR-30c promoted anoikis, evaluated by Annexin-V staining and caspase3/7 activity. Mechanistic studies indicated that inhibition of Vimentin (Vim), a positive regulator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), was required for miR-30c induced anoikis. In vivo, lung metastasis was inhibited by miR-30c after tail vein injection of miR-30c over-expressed cells. In summary, our findings provide the new insights into the mechanisms of miR-30c-mediated metastasis inhibition and suggest that targeting CTC clusters could be a novel strategy to prevent metastasis. Citation Format: Xia Liu, Beijie Yu, Wenjing Chen, Huiping Liu. miR-30c blocks tumor cell homotypic aggregation and promotes anoikis to prevent breast cancer metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1909.
Abstract LB-018: Loss of function mutations of an ETS repressor expand the ETS positive subset of prostate cancer

Recent genomic profiling of both primary and metastatic prostate cancers has revealed novel loss-of-function point mutations and copy number deletions of the gene ERF, an ETS transcriptional repressor with a nearly identical DNA-binding domain to the TMPRSS2-ERG oncogene product. Furthermore, ERF homozygous loss or point mutations occur exclusive of the ERG upregulation that occurs in 50% of prostate cancers following fusion of androgen-regulated upstream genomic elements of TMPRSS2 to the ERG gene. We characterized the function of ERF, as well as its relationship to ERG using CRISPR and shRNA technology to investigate both normal prostate- and patient tumor-derived organoid cultures, as well as existing TMPRSS2-ERG positive models. In both normal prostate and tumor models lacking upregulated ERG, inhibition of the ERF repressor leads to an expansion of the androgen transcriptome, and recapitulates phenotypic features seen with ERG upregulation. Cistromic analysis reveals that ERF occupies androgen-receptor (AR) associated chromatin, overlapping with potential ERG sites. Accordingly, in the presence of the upregulated ERG oncogene, ERF is now unable to bind any AR associated chromatin, and the AR transcriptome is expanded. CRISPR-mediated loss of ERG in TMPRSS2-ERG positive models leads to a halt of tumor cell growth, but concomitant loss of the ERF repressor partially restores cellular proliferation. We conclude that ERF is an endogenous repressor of androgen signaling in normal prostatic tissue and a potential tumor suppressor in prostate cancer. It occupies chromatin associated with AR-regulated genes and inhibits their transcriptional regulation. Loss of ERF function, either by mutation or more frequently by competition with the TMPRSS2-ERG gene product, leads to an expansion of the androgen transcriptome. Thereby, the ETS positive subtype of prostate cancer, currently defined by an activating ETS fusion event (e.g. TMPRSS2-ERG) should be expanded to encompass genomic loss of a repressive ETS factor. Citation Format: Rohit Bose, Wassim Abida, Wouter Karthaus, Joshua Armenia, Phillip Iaquinta, John Wongvipat, Michael Doran, Haley Hieronymus, Philip Watson, Patrick Sullivan, Yupu Liang, Nikolaus Schultz, Charles Sawyers. Loss of function mutations of an ETS repressor expand the ETS positive subset of prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-018.
Calculation Of Economic Well-Being Using Nonparametric Approach

The aim of this paper is to present the analysis of measurement of economic well-being by the index of economic well-being for selected OECD countries. The report also outlines trends in the four domains of economic well-being that create the index. The domains are consumption, wealth, economic equality, and economic security. Furthermore, the paper offers an analysis of the sensitivity of our results to the choice of weights assigned by means of data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to these four domains and a description of the performance of the index of economic well-being compared to GDP per capita through the most recent recession that caused declines in both, real GDP per capita and the index of economic well-being.
Understanding alternative splicing from the perspectives of regulatory mechanisms and functional consequences

Alternative splicing plays an important role in processes such as development, differentiation, and cancer and is tightly regulated in a tissue-specific manner. The most recent estimate of its prevalence in human was as high as 65%. The much higher prevalence makes it an imperative to produce a comprehensive catalog of all splice variants and develop a better understanding of its regulation and function. In this dissertation, we described the computational algorithms we developed that address the identification of tissue-specific alternative splicing regulatory elements, the prediction of tissue-specific alternative splicing events, and the analysis of the functional consequences of alternative splicing. The most important contribution of this dissertation is the method we developed to train tissue-specific alternative splicing classifiers using tissue-specific regulatory elements and splice site features. It is the first such method we know of to predict alternative splicing events in a tissue-specific manner. The tissue-specific classifier trained on normal nervous system specific cassette exons achieved an ROC score of 0.857. 50% of the top genome-level predictions made by another classifier for more than 14,000 exons were found to be alternatively spliced with support of full-length transcripts. Such classifiers are very useful for biologists interested in investigating tissue-specific alternative splicing events by helping to direct and prioritize their efforts and resources. In addition, they can make valuable contributions toward the creation of a catalogue of all splice variants and their respective tissue distributions. We also identified a number of protein domains disproportionately distributed among alternatively spliced genes and also those that tend to be spliced-out. The proteins having these domains are predominantly involved in the processes of cell communication, signaling, development and apoptosis. They function mostly as enzymes, signal transducers, and receptors. These findings suggest that alternative splicing is an important information processing step. Somewhat surprisingly, 28% of all occurrences of spliced-out domains are not performed by straightforward exclusion of exons coding for the domains but by inclusion or exclusion of other exons to shift the reading frame while retaining the exons coding for the domains in the final transcripts.
Exploring Teacher Concerns of Pre-Collegiate Urban Teaching Academy Students.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to explore whether the concerns of a group of pre-collegiate students enrolled in an urban teaching academy (UTA) program were unique or similar to those found in earlier studies using Fuller's model as a framework for analysis. Using an instrumental case study approach, findings indicated that the UTA students expressed explorative inquiry concerns. These explorative inquiry concerns were primarily based on introspective reflections of the participants attempting to align their personal qualities with those needed of effective teachers. Results of this study emphasize the need for the expansion of Fuller's three stage model to address explorative inquiry concerns of students in pipeline programs such as the UTA.
Automated histologic grading from free-text pathology reports using graph-of-words features and machine learning

Traditional n-gram feature representation of freetext documents often fails to capture word ordering and semantics, thus compromising text comprehension. Graph-of-words, a new text representation approach based on graph analytics, is a superior method overcoming the limitations by modeling word co-occurrence. In this study, we present a novel application of graph-of-words text description for automated extraction of histologic grade from unstructured pathology reports. Using 10-fold cross-validation tests, the proposed approach resulted in substantially higher macro and micro-F1 scores with undirected graph-of-words features, compared to traditional bi-gram text features. Our feasibility study demonstrated that graph-of-words is a highly efficient method of text comprehension for information extraction from free-text clinical documents.
Maintenance-based prognostics of nuclear plant equipment for long-term operation

Abstract While industry understands the importance of keeping equipment operational and well maintained, the importance of tracking maintenance information in reliability models is often overlooked. Prognostic models can be used to predict the failure times of critical equipment, but more often than not, these models assume that all maintenance actions are the same or do not consider maintenance at all. This study investigates the influence of integrating maintenance information on prognostic model prediction accuracy. By incorporating maintenance information to develop maintenance-dependent prognostic models, prediction accuracy was improved by more than 40% compared with traditional maintenance-independent models. This study acts as a proof of concept, showing the importance of utilizing maintenance information in modern prognostics for industrial equipment.
Findings From a Real-World Translation Study of the Evidence-Based “Partners in Dementia Care”

Background and Objectives Numerous non-pharmacological programs for family caregivers and persons with dementia (PWDs) have been found efficacious in randomized controlled trials. Few programs have been tested in translation studies that assess feasibility and outcomes in less-controlled, real-world implementations. This translation study tested the impact of the partnership version of BRI Care Consultation, "Partners in Dementia Care (PDC)," on outcomes for PWDs and their family/friend caregivers. PDC was delivered via partnerships between the Louis Stokes Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Greater East Ohio Alzheimer's Association Chapter and the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging. PDC is a personalized coaching program done by telephone, e-mail, and regular mail. Research Design and Methods For this translation study, the program was implemented in a manner that mirrored a non-research implementation. The study sample included 148 caregivers and 84 PWDs who used PDC for 12 months. Research data came from 2 structured telephone interviews, one before program implementation and a follow-up after program completion. PWDs and caregivers averaged 14 telephone contacts with Care Consultants over the 12-month study period, and 12 behavioral action steps to address problems or concerns. Results Repeated measures ANOVAs showed the use of PDC was related to significant improvements across several outcomes for PWDs and caregivers, with greater benefits in more difficult caregiving situations. Caregivers had decreased levels of isolation, physical health strain, unmet needs; and increased confidence in caregiving capacity, informal helpers, and support service use. PWDs had decreased embarrassment about memory problems and unmet needs; and increased informal support and community service use. Discussion and Implications Overall, improved outcomes for PWDs and caregivers in this translation study were similar to findings from previous randomized trials, and affirmed the value of the program when delivered as a regular service offering by health care and community service organizations.
An integrative data analysis of gender differences in children's understanding of mathematical equivalence.

Abstract This study examined gender as a potential source of variation in children’s formal understanding of mathematical equivalence. The hypothesis was that girls would perform more poorly than boys. An integrative data analysis was conducted with 960 second and third graders across 14 previously conducted studies of children’s understanding of mathematical equivalence. Measures included problem solving, problem encoding, and equal sign definition. Overall, children performed poorly on all measures. As predicted, girls were less likely than boys to solve mathematical equivalence problems correctly, even though there were no gender differences in calculation accuracy. In addition, girls were more likely than boys to use the “add-all” strategy, an incorrect strategy that has been shown to be more resistant to change than other incorrect strategies. There were not statistically significant differences for encoding or defining the equal sign, suggesting that deficits may reflect girls’ tendency to follow taught algorithms.
The Generalization of Mands

The mand is a type of verbal operant whose response form is under control of a motivating operation (MO). It is the first verbal operant to be acquired, directly benefits the speaker, leads to the development of other behaviors, and may serve to replace problem behavior. Even though the topography of the mand is under the functional control of an MO, its occurrence is influenced by a multitude of variables functioning as discriminative stimuli (SDs). Thus, the generalization of mands can occur across both MOs and SDs. Additionally, the same MO may evoke new mand topographies—a form of response generalization. The purpose of this article is to distinguish and describe these types of mand generalization in order to encourage future research and influence practice.
The dissolution behavior of borosilicate glasses in far-from equilibrium conditions

Abstract An area of agreement in the waste glass corrosion community is that, at far-from-equilibrium conditions, the dissolution of borosilicate glasses used to immobilize nuclear waste is known to be a function of both temperature and pH. The aim of this work is to study the effects of temperature and pH on the dissolution rate of three model nuclear waste glasses (SON68, ISG, AFCI). The dissolution rate data are then used to parameterize a kinetic rate model based on Transition State Theory that has been developed to model glass corrosion behavior in dilute conditions. To do this, experiments were conducted at temperatures of 23, 40, 70, and 90 °C and pH (22 °C) values of 9, 10, 11, and 12 with the single-pass flow-through (SPFT) test method. Both the absolute dissolution rates and the rate model parameters are compared with previous results. Rate model parameters for the three glasses studied here are nearly equivalent within error and in relative agreement with previous studies though quantifiable differences exist. The glass dissolution rates were analyzed with a linear multivariate regression (LMR) and a nonlinear multivariate regression performed with the use of the Glass Corrosion Modeling Tool (GCMT), with which a robust uncertainty analysis is performed. This robust analysis highlights the high degree of correlation of various parameters in the kinetic rate model. As more data are obtained on borosilicate glasses with varying compositions, a mathematical description of the effect of glass composition on the rate parameter values should be possible. This would allow for the possibility of calculating the forward dissolution rate of glass based solely on composition. In addition, the method of determination of parameter uncertainty and correlation provides a framework for other rate models that describe the dissolution rates of other amorphous and crystalline materials in a wide range of chemical conditions. The higher level of uncertainty analysis would provide a basis for comparison of different rate models and allow for a better means of quantifiably comparing the various models.
The Impact of Inserting an Additional Mental Process

Pure insertion describes a scenario where a mental process is inserted within a sequence of other processes without altering the other processes. Under the assumption of pure insertion, the duration of the inserted process can be identified by calculating the difference in overall response times when the process is present versus absent (i.e., Donder’s subtraction method). Additionally, under the assumption of pure insertion, brain regions associated with the inserted process can be identified in fMRI studies by contrasting activation when the process is present versus absent. However, the assumption of pure insertion does not hold in many situations. In this study, we adopted a novel approach for identifying the impact of insertion by decomposing the EEG signal into a sequence of latent stages, each with a distinct topographical distribution and duration. Based on these latent stages, it is possible to identify when, and for how long, a process occurred. We crossed two factors in the experiment: whether the trial required substituting a letter with a number from memory and whether the trial required calculating the product of two numbers. By crossing these factors, we could examine whether inserting substitution and calculation processes affected the durations of other mental processing stages. Behavioral data in the form of response latencies, and averaged EEG signal in the form of event-related potentials (ERPs), provided no evidence of violations of pure insertion. However, our analysis of single-trial EEG signal allowed us both to show that inserting substitution or calculation did affect other stages and to understand why.
Can online social support be detrimental in stigmatized chronic diseases? A quadratic model of the effects of informational and emotional support on self-care behavior of HIV patients

Objective We studied the impact of online social support on patient self-care behavior in an online health community for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. We conceptualized emotional and informational support provided by community members into nuanced sub-dimensions. We explored how the direct and interaction effects of these sub-dimensions impact the self-care behavior of a support seeker. Methods We used data from 330 255 posts in 30 050 threads from POZ, an online health community for HIV patients. Our key variables-self-care behaviori, objective informationj, experiential supportj, and emotional tonej-were operationalized using linguistic analysis with self-generated dictionaries and Python libraries. We tested our hypotheses using Tobit regression. Results Out of 6 null hypotheses, 5 were rejected. Objective information and emotional tone had an inverted-U relationship with self-care behavior. Experiential information and community involvement were positively related to self-care behavior. Community involvement amplified the inverted-U relationship between emotional tone and self-care behavior. No significant interaction effect was found between experiential support and objective information. Conclusions Beyond a threshold, both informational and emotional online social support had a deleterious impact on self-care behavior of HIV patients. Our results suggested that caution should be exercised in the use of online health community interventions for HIV patients, and perhaps patients with other stigmatized chronic diseases.
Cell marker analysis in acute monocytic leukemias

Leukemic cells from nine cases of acute monocytic leukemia (AMoL) were characterized by multiple differentiation markers. Cells in most cases were phagocytic, carried an Fc receptor, and stained positively for alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase but negatively for naphthol AS-D chloroacetate esterase. However, subtle differences in marker expression were observed which suggested different degrees of leukemic cellular maturation or activation. Cell marker analysis proved to be a useful adjunct to conventional morphology in confirming the diagnosis and the recognition of the neoplastic cells in AMoL, and may ultimately provide insight into the functional state of these cells.