cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The case for routine use of adjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with a poor prognosis for most patients. Surgical resection remains the cornerstone of treatment, providing the only realistic hope of long-term survival. Even with optimal surgical management, 5-year survival averages 15% to 20% for resectable disease. Progress is being made, however. Currently, the benefits of postoperative therapy for resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma appear clear, and recommendations for such therapy appear to us to be well justified. Additional benefit to patients awaits the development of new agents, molecular targeted drugs, and novel approaches such as immunotherapy. J. Surg. Oncol. 2007;95:597–603. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Kinematics of Robot Fingers with Circular Rolling Contact Joints

This paper examines the kinematics of robot fingers that use RR subassemblies coupled by rolling contact to provide versatile one degree-of-freedom mechanical joints. A three degree-of-freedom robot finger constructed with these joints is a 6R planar chain with the R-joints coupled together in pairs. The focus is on coupling based on pure rolling of circular cylinders which can be realized by friction contact, gearing, or cable tendons. We derive the forward, inverse and rate kinematics for this 3(RR) open chain. We then focus on the two degree-of-freedom 2(RR) case to illustrate the geometry of the system. An example design of a robot finger that incorporates these joints in order to provide compact movement is provided. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
In Vivo Gene Expression Analysis Identifies Genes Required for Enhanced Colonization of the Mouse Urinary Tract by Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Strain CFT073 dsdA

Deletional inactivation of the gene encoding d-serine deaminase, dsdA, in uropathogenic Escherichia coli strain CFT073 results in a hypermotile strain with a hypercolonization phenotype in the bladder and kidneys of mice in a model of urinary tract infection (UTI). The in vivo gene expression profiles of CFT073 and CFT073 dsdA were compared by isolating RNA directly from the urine of mice challenged with each strain individually. Hybridization of cDNAs derived from these samples to CFT073-specific microarrays allowed identification of genes that were up- or down-regulated in the dsdA deletion strain during UTI. Up-regulated genes included the known d-serine-responsive gene dsdX, suggesting in vivo intracellular accumulation of d-serine by CFT073 dsdA. Genes encoding F1C fimbriae, both copies of P fimbriae, hemolysin, OmpF, a dipeptide transporter DppA, a heat shock chaperone IbpB, and clusters of open reading frames with unknown functions were also up-regulated. To determine the role of these genes as well as motility in the hypercolonization phenotype, mutants were constructed in the CFT073 dsdA background and tested in competition against the wild type in the murine model of UTI. Strains with deletions of one or both of the two P fimbrial operons, hlyA, fliC, ibpB, c0468, locus c3566 to c3568, or c2485 to c2490 colonized mouse bladders and kidneys at levels indistinguishable from wild type. CFT073 dsdA c2398 and CFT073 dsdA focA maintained a hypercolonization phenotype. A CFT073 dsdA dppA mutant was attenuated 10- to 50-fold in its colonization ability compared to CFT073. Our results support a role for d-serine catabolism and signaling in global virulence gene regulation of uropathogenic E. coli.
Mutations in the Small Subunit of Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase Increase the Formation of the Misfire Product Xylulose-1,5-Bisphosphate

The small subunit (S) increases the catalytic efficiency of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC 4.1.1.39) by stabilizing the active sites generated by four large subunit (L) dimers. This stabilization appears to be due to an influence of S on the reaction intermediate 2,3-enediol, which is formed after the abstraction of a proton from the substrate ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate. We tested the functional significance of residues that are conserved among most species in the carboxy-terminal part of S and analyzed their influence on the kinetic parameters of Synechococcus holoenzymes. The replacements in S (F92S, Q99G, and P108L) resulted in catalytic activities ranging from 95 to 43% of wild type. The specificity factors for the three mutant enzymes were little affected (90-96% of wild type), but Km(CO2) values increased 0.5- to 2-fold. Mutant enzymes with replacements Q99G and P108L showed increased mis-protonation, relative to carboxylation, of the 2,3-enediol intermediate, forming 2 to 3 times more xylulose-1,5-bisphosphate per ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate utilized than wild-type or F92S enzymes. The results suggest that specific alterations of the L/S interfaces and of the hydrophobic core of S are transmitted to the active site by long-range interactions. S interactions with L may restrict the flexibility of active-site residues in L.
A Comprehensive Understanding of the Efficacy of N-Ring SEE Hardening Methodologies in SiGe HBTs

We investigate the efficacy of mitigating radiation-based single event effects (SEE) within circuits incorporating SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) built with an N-Ring, a transistor-level layout-based radiation hardened by design (RHBD) technique. Previous work of single-device ion-beam induced charge collection (IBICC) studies has demonstrated significant reductions in peak collector charge collection and sensitive area for charge collection; however, few circuit studies using this technique have been performed. Transient studies performed with Sandia National Laboratory's (SNL) 36 MeV 16O microbeam on voltage references built with N-Ring SiGe HBTs have shown mixed results, with reductions in the number of large voltage disruptions in addition to new sensitive areas of low-level output voltage disturbances. Similar discrepancies between device-level IBICC results and circuit measurements are found for the case of digital shift registers implemented with N-Ring SiGe HBTs irradiated in a broadbeam environment at Texas A&M's Cyclotron Institute. The error cross-section curve of the N-Ring based register is found to be larger at larger ion LETs than the standard SiGe register, which is clearly counter-intuitive. We have worked to resolve the discrepancy between the measured circuit results and the device-level IBICC measurements, by re-measuring single-device N-Ring SiGe HBTs using a time-resolved ion beam induced charge (TRIBIC) set-up that allows direct capture of nodal transients. Coupling these measurements with full 3-D TCAD simulations provides complete insight into the origin of transient currents in an N-Ring SiGe HBT. The detailed structure of these transients and their bias dependencies are discussed, together with the ramifications for the design of space-borne analog and digital circuits using SiGe HBTs.
Progressive syntax-rich coding of multichannel audio sources

Being able to transmit the audio bitstream progressively is a highly desirable property for network transmission. MPEG-4 version 2 audio supports fine grain bit rate scalability in the generic audio coder (GAC). It has a bit-sliced arithmetic coding (BSAC) tool, which provides scalability in the step of 1 Kbps per audio channel. There are also several other scalable audio coding methods, which have been proposed in recent years. However, these scalable audio tools are only available for mono and stereo audio material. Little work has been done on progressive coding of multichannel audio sources. MPEG advanced audio coding (AAC) is one of the most distinguished multichannel digital audio compression systems. Based on AAC, we develop in this work a progressive syntax-rich multichannel audio codec (PSMAC). It not only supports fine grain bit rate scalability for the multichannel audio bitstream but also provides several other desirable functionalities. A formal subjective listening test shows that the proposed algorithm achieves an excellent performance at several different bit rates when compared with MPEG AAC.
Quality of life after suprapubic catheter placement in patients with neurogenic bladder conditions

Aims To evaluate quality of life in patients with neurogenic bladder (NGB) conditions who have elected to undergo suprapubic catheterization (SPC), as well as assess adverse events (AEs) related to the procedure. Methods This is a retrospective review from a database of NGB patients from 1/1/2003 to 6/30/2013. Patients who underwent SPC placement were invited to complete a validated, single item Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) questionnaire. Success or positive response was defined as 1 or 2 on a scale of 1–7. All patients were included in the assessment of AEs. Results Of the 128 patients who underwent SPC, 89 patients (54 female, 35 male) met inclusion criteria. Response rate to the PGI-I questionnaire was 65.2% (58/89). Mean age at the time of SPC placement was 54.4 years (± 14.4). The mean time from SPC placement to PGI-I questionnaire was 48.3 months (Range 4.4–128.4). Overall, success was seen in 49/58 patients (84.5%). Only 5.2% (3/58) patients reported a negative PGI-I (score 5/7). There was an 18.8% rate of short term complications, with the majority of these being classified as Clavien I. There was one Clavien IIIb complication (0.8%), which consisted of a small bowel perforation. Conclusions SPC is an effective bladder management in carefully selected NGB patients who have failed other options. Over 80% considered the SPC to have improved their urological quality of life with a mean time to questionnaire of 4 years. Severe AEs are rare, though can be particularly serious in this group of neurologically impaired patients. Neurourol. Urodynam. 35:831–835, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Reduced sinonasal levels of 1α-hydroxylase are associated with worse quality of life in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps

Background Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) have deficiencies in circulating and sinonasal levels of the inactive form of vitamin D3, 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25VD3). Moreover, CRSwNP patients have reduced epithelial cell–specific expression of 1α-hydroxylase; the enzyme responsible for the conversion of 25VD3 to its metabolically active form, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25VD3). The objective of this work was to determine the impact of sinonasal 1α-hydroxylase levels combined from all cellular sources on subjective disease severity and to identify variables influencing its expression. Methods Blood and sinus tissue explants were collected at the time of surgery from control, chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP), CRSwNP, and allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) patients. 1α-Hydroxylase was measured by immunostaining with flow cytometric analysis. Subjective disease severity was measured by the 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test (SNOT-22). 1,25VD3 and 25VD3 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Patients with CRSwNP or AFRS have reduced 1α-hydroxylase and 1,25VD3 compared to controls or CRSsNP. Circulating 1,25VD3 levels were the same among all groups. No differences in sinonasal 1α-hydroxylase or 1,25VD3 were found between CRSwNP and AFRS. Gender, age, race, atopy, and systemic 25VD3 had no impact on sinonasal 1α-hydroxylase levels in any group. However, CRSwNP patients with asthma had higher 1α-hydroxylase than those without asthma. Total 1α-hydroxylase levels inversely correlated with SNOT-22 in CRSwNP, but not CRSsNP. Conclusion Patients with CRSwNP and AFRS both have reduced sinonasal 1α-hydroxylase and 1,25VD3 compared to controls or CRSsNP. Reductions in intracellular 1α-hydroxylase combined from all sinonasal cell types were associated with more severe subjective disease severity in CRSwNP.
Successful Treatment of a Recalcitrant Mondor's Cord Following Breast Augmentation.

Mondor’s disease was first described in 1869 by Fagge, but better characterized by Henri Mondor in 1939.1-2 It is characterized as a superficial thrombophlebitis of the thoracoepigastric veins resulting from incision, usually transversely, across the thoracoabdominal wall. The putative pathophysiology of this clinical phenomenon is venous stasis in these transected veins leading to thrombus formation, inflammation, organization, and eventually recanalization.1-3 The authors report a case of an otherwise healthy 49-year-old woman who presented to dermatology clinic with a 15-month history of bilateral tender inframammary cords that developed rapidly following breast augmentation. Conservative measures, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and expectant management, had failed to resolve one of the cords. The residual cord was 1.5cm in length (Figure 1). The patient was otherwise healthy without a personal history of breast cancer. The authors diagnosed Mondor’s disease, sometimes known as Mondor’s cord. Figure 1 A 49-year-old woman with Mondor’s cord The patient was treated with intralesional triamcinolone acetonide over two treatment sessions spaced three weeks apart. Each injection session consisted of two injections at the 0.5cm and 1.0cm marks (total cord length of 1.5cm), of 0.1mL of triamcinolone acetonide (20mg/mL) into the substance of the cord at the depth of the mid-deep dermis. At follow-up five weeks after her initial presentation (2 weeks after the second treatment session), she had complete resolution of the cords, both to palpation and to visual inspection, with complete symptom resolution (Figure 2). Figure 2 The patient after two treatment sessions of intralesional triamcinolone acetonide The majority of cases of Mondor’s disease arise in the setting of breast surgery, either elective augmentation or related to cancer.3 The prevalence after breast augmentation using an inframammary approach has been reported at one percent.3 Although Mondor’s disease classically affects the inframammary region, a similar condition has been reported in the axilla and penis as well.4-5 Management is usually expectant with most reports suggesting warm compresses, time, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications.6 Some guidelines advocate the use of low molecular weight heparin for both prophylaxis and treatment.6 To the authors’ knowledge, this case represents the first documented use of intralesional triamcinolone to treat this relatively common condition, which had persisted despite conservative management.
Children’s prayers from a Hospital Chapel

Children’s prayers, from prayer books left in the Chapel of a Children’s Hospital between 1998 and 2002, were studied for what the children’s God-talk would reveal about their perceptions of God. Of the 3893 prayers written during this period, 346 were confidently identified as being authored by children. The sample of 346 prayers, which gave rise to 558 expressions of prayer, was explored through a content analysis, used quantitatively to summarise and describe the data, and a thematic analysis, informed by methods from Grounded Theory. The psychological and spiritual significance of the prayers is drawn out, demonstrating the richness and relationality of children’s spirituality. The predominance of prayers written by female writers, suggests that the extent to which relationality is present is related to gender. Questions concerning possible gender-related differences in girls’ and boys’ spirituality are raised and implications for practice are considered.
Cangrelor Bridge Therapy for Gastroduodenal Biopsy

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is the key for secondary prevention of acute coronary syndromes and percutaneous coronary intervention with stent placement. Premature discontinuation of DAPT can result in an increase in cardiac ischemic events and death. If early interruption of DAPT for urgent procedures or surgery is necessary, then ischemic and bleed risks must be balanced with bridging therapy. To date, no medications have a Food and Drug Administration indication for antiplatelet bridge therapy. We present a case of a woman with a history of gastrointestinal bleeding on DAPT for a drug-eluting stent who received cangrelor as bridge therapy prior to gastroduodenal biopsy.
Semen quality and fat accumulation in prepuberal and postpuberal male turkeys as affected by restricted feeding.

Abstract Growth, semen production, and carcass fat distribution were examined in adult male turkeys subjected to feed restriction from 10 to 46 weeks of age. Turkeys were randomly assigned to one of three feeding treatments: control (ad libitum) or restricted-fed to maintain body weight at 80% (80R) or 60% (60R) of the control toms. Feed consumption for the 80R and 60R males was decreased significantly by 27.3 and 50.9%, respectively, when compared with the control males during the 10 to 46-week production period. Feed restriction resulted in a 2-week delay in semen production as evidenced by reduced testis weights and reduced semen volume at 34 weeks of age. Semen production was not affected by feed restriction at 36 or 42 weeks of age. A major change in fat accumulation was found after exposure to a stimulatory lighting regimen. The change was from a uniform weight distribution among the fat stored in the abdominal, clavicular, and back at 28 weeks to a major increase in the clavicular fat depot at 34 weeks of age. Total fat accumulation was decreased significantly by feed restriction of turkey males.
Chemically Treating Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Defects to Improve Bulk Heterojunction Photovoltaics

Defect engineering has been of vital importance to the development of inorganic semiconductors. Here, we report the chemical modification of electrical defects in the prototypical organic semiconductor, regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT. Previously, we have covalently treated defect sites with either a nucleophile or an electrophile, leaving the defects of primarily opposite polarity. Consecutively using both nucleophilic and electrophilic treatments allows us to covalently fix both positively and negatively charged defect sites in a single procedure. Here we describe the effects of treating P3HT first with lithium aluminum hydride, LAH, to decrease the overall defect density, and then with dimethylsulfate, Me2SO4, to eliminate some of the remaining n-type defects (equivalent to a p-type doping process). The resulting polymer, P3HT_LAH_Me2SO4, behaves differently than the polymer obtained when the order of treatments is reversed, P3HT_Me2SO4_LAH. Slightly improved structural and optical difference...
Construction of plant growth system based on Agent

On the basis of the definition and features of Agent and introduction of present virtual plant modeling, introducing Agent theory is an efficient way to solve the limitation of the method that constructing plant growth modeling in the virtual plant research. A new construction of plant growth system is proposed, which is applied in soybean growth system, according to the features of plant growth. It is helpful for simulating the living procedure ofplantpopulations based on the competition and studying plantevolution.
Crisis Management of the Risks in Design Properties of the Design Firms

There are innumerable of cases in the field of design firms caused by plagiarism. There are two major reasons for this. One of them is the temptation of profits,and the other is the lack of knowledge of intellectual property protection. The complete solution of the problem calls for the efforts of the government and society. On the other hand,design firms should take their own responsibilities,such as conducting crisis management of property rights,increasing awareness of property rights,and insisting on design innovation.
Impact of Age on Risk of Recurrence of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: Outcomes of 2996 Women Treated with Breast-Conserving Surgery Over 30 Years

Age is a known risk factor for recurrence in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) treated with breast-conserving surgery (BCS). We explored the relationship between age, other risk factors, and recurrence. Using a prospectively maintained database of DCIS patients undergoing BCS from 1978 to 2010, the association of age and recurrence risk was analyzed using Kaplan–Meier estimates, multivariable analysis, and competing risk multivariable analysis. Overall, 2996 cases were identified. Median follow-up for those without recurrence was 75 months; 732 were followed for ≥10 years, and 363 (12 %) had recurrence [192 (53 %) DCIS, 160 (44 %) invasive, 11 (3 %) unknown]. Risk of recurrence decreased with age, even after adjustment for eight clinicopathologic variables on multivariable analysis [hazard ratios (HR), with <40 years of age as the reference: 40–49 years, 0.82 (p = 0.36), 50–59 years, 0.46 (p = 0.0005), 60–69 years, 0.50 (p = 0.003), 70–79 years, 0.56 (p = 0.02), ≥80 years, 0.21 (p = 0.0015)]. This association persisted for cohorts with and without radiation therapy. Using competing risk multivariable analysis, the effect of age on invasive recurrence was empirically stronger than for DCIS recurrence. Ten-year invasive recurrence was 16 and 6.5 % in women <40 years of age and women ≥40 years of age, respectively. Only 0.6 % of the population ultimately developed distant disease; those <40 years of age constituted 4.7 % (141/2996) of the population, but 21 % (4/19) of those developed distant disease. The risk of recurrence of DCIS decreases with age. This effect is particularly strong at the extremes of age and is independent of other clinicopathologic factors. The oldest women are at low risk of recurrence, while the youngest women have a higher overall, and especially invasive, recurrence rate, although mortality remains low. These findings should be incorporated into risk/benefit discussions of treatment options.
Abstract A85: Concurrent targeting of glutamine and asparagine metabolism produces synergistic inhibition of tumor cell proliferation

One of the best characterized examples of metabolic changes occurring in a wide range of cancer cells is dependence on the non-essential amino acid glutamine. We identified requirements for several other non-essential amino acids, including asparagine, across a panel of glutamine-dependent and –independent breast and lung cancer cell lines. Glutamine and asparagine metabolism are tightly linked. Therefore, we hypothesized that concurrent targeting of the metabolism of these two non-essential amino acids could cooperatively interfere with tumor cell growth. Treatment with a glutaminase inhibitor, BPTES, and concurrent enzymatic depletion of asparagine produced a synergistic antiproliferative effect in many, but not all, cancer cell lines. Mechanistic data suggest that metabolic circuitry gets co-opted to maintain amino acid pools following combined targeting of glutamine and asparagine metabolism, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and redox imbalance. Following combination treatment, alterations in mitochondrial metabolism and cystine influx were observed, but overall amino acid levels remained surprisingly stable. These metabolic changes were reflected in cellular functional readouts as measured by Seahorse analysis and measurement of ROS levels. Importantly, they were also linked to the synergistic antiproliferative phenotype. Our results provide new mechanistic insight into the interplay between glutamine and asparagine metabolism in cancer cells and suggest that dual targeting of metabolically linked non-essential amino acids may be promising as a therapeutic strategy. Citation Format: Cicely L. Schramm, Zhi Xie, Erick Kindt, Wenlin Li, Fang Wang, Valeria R. Fantin. Concurrent targeting of glutamine and asparagine metabolism produces synergistic inhibition of tumor cell proliferation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Metabolism and Cancer; Jun 7-10, 2015; Bellevue, WA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2016;14(1_Suppl):Abstract nr A85.
A bovine-bone mineral block for the treatment of severe ridge deficiencies in the anterior region: a clinical case report.

A bovine-bone mineral block was used to treat a severe horizontal and vertical anterior ridge deficiency. Such a block can be shaped to conform to the defect, and it avoids the need for harvesting autogenous bone or fixation of the block with screws. After a 6-month integration period, an implant was placed. Six months later the implant was restored with a single crown. The case has been followed for 3 years. Slow bone resorption has been observed at the interface between the block and the surrounding bone, but the interproximal bone peaks, important for soft tissue support and esthetics, have been maintained over time. The 3-year follow-up results suggest that bovine-bone mineral blocks may be a suitable bone-replacement material for augmentation of extensive alveolar ridge defects in the anterior region. INT J ORAL MAXILLOFAC IMPLANTS 2008;23:123–128
Epidermotropic metastasis of primary lung adenocarcinoma

Cutaneous metastasis of lung cancer is a rare event and usually portends a grim prognosis. Several cases of lung cancer with cutaneous metastasis have been reported, but these have been largely limited to the dermis. Here we describe a unique case of cutaneous metastatic lung adenocarcinoma largely limited to the epidermis, mimicking Paget's disease or a cutaneous adnexal tumor.
Structural Assessment of Fiber-reinforced Polymer Composite Electric Poles

Abstract Engineers are increasingly tasked with designing and operating structures that incorporate the philosophy of resiliency across a variety of critical infrastructure sectors. Electric distribution and transmission systems are examples of the critical infrastructure sectors. The majority of existing electrical poles supporting electric distribution systems in the United States are made out of wood. It is estimated that up to 3.6 million existing electric wood poles have to be replaced every year. One of the primary hardening strategies is upgrading wooden electric poles and supporting structures with stronger materials that withstand hurricane-force winds. This paper presents finite element analysis of fiber-reinforced polymer composite poles including parametric studies on geometric characteristics, fiber orientation, number of layers, and lamina thickness.
Chromatin Determinants of Origin Selection and Activation

DNA replication is an essential cell cycle-regulated process necessary for the accurate duplication of the genome. DNA replication begins at cis-acting replicator loci (replication origins) that are distributed throughout each of the eukaryotic chromosomes. The first factor to bind to the replicator is the origin recognition complex (ORC). ORC directs the recruitment of the Mcm2-7 helicase complex to form the pre-replication complex (pre-RC), licensing the origin for activation. Origin selection and activation are dependent on both DNA sequence and epigenetic features. The cis-acting sequence elements that function as replicators are well defined in Saccharomyces cerevisiae; in contrast, metazoan replicators are not defined by primary sequence, but rather by secondary structural features like G-quadruplexes. In both yeast and higher eukaryotes, however, cis-acting sequences or G-quadruplexes are not sufficient for origin function, implying the necessity for epigenetic mechanisms in regulating the selection and activation of DNA replication origins. In higher eukaryotes, the chromatin landscape surrounding origins of replication is important for the plasticity of the DNA replication program, allowing it to adapt and respond to developmental and environmental signals. Here we describe the role of chromatin structure and histone modifications in specifying and regulating eukaryotic DNA replication origins.
On the sign of the waveguide invariant

Acoustic propagation in the ocean waveguide is characterized by mutual interference between the multiple ray paths connecting a source-receiver pair. In the Russian literature, these interference effects have been distilled mathematically into a single parameter, the so-called waveguide invariant defined as beta. The conventional wisdom is that the numerical value of beta is negative in deep water and positive in shallow water. In the present work, it is shown how the waveguide invariant can bifurcate and simultaneously have both positive and negative components. When bifurcation occurs, range-frequency mappings of acoustic intensity become fragmented. A method to separate the positive-beta components from the negative is sketched and applied to simulated data. Possible applications are discussed.
Online Faculty Development for Implementation and Use of Student Portfolios

Abstract Introduction Over the past decade, portfolios have gained popularity in medical education as tools to evaluate and provide feedback about learning and completion of professionally authenti...
Competitive interactions between an exotic annual, Halogeton glomeratus, and 10 North American native species

Invasive plant species diminish ecosystem integrity and limit restoration success when they compete with reintroduced native species. The invasive annual forb halogeton ( Halogeton glomeratus (M. Bieb.) C.A. Mey. [Chenopodiaceae]) is increasing in abundance on disturbed lands and energy extraction sites in the Intermountain West. Successful seedings in the presence of halogeton in the past relied on competitive nonnative forage species. Because disturbance increases nutrient availability in otherwise stressful environments, we hypothesized that annual native species may be more competitive at the seedling stage than are perennial natives. We hypothesized that annuals would increase aboveground growth in the presence of the exotic while perennials would increase allocation to root growth. We documented growth and survival of halogeton in the presence of 10 species native to the western North American basin shrublands and in monocultures. Sporobolus cryptandrus (Torr.) A. Gray (Poaceae), Gaillardia aristata Pursh (Asteraceae), and Helianthus annuus L. (Asteraceae) reduced survival of halogeton ( Sporobolus and Gaillardia had greater biomass while Helianthus grew taller in the presence of halogeton than when grown with conspecifics. Halogeton aboveground growth was less when grown with H. annuus and Cleome serrulata Pursh (Capparaceae) (2 annual forbs). Annuals that demonstrated rapid biomass production also limited survival of halogeton. In general, perennials did not differ in aboveground tissue allocation in competition with halogeton. We suggest reclamation seedling establishment may be improved by including native annuals with the potential for rapid aboveground growth on arid land restoration sites where halogeton seedbanks persist.
Static cost estimation for data layout selection on GPUs

Performance modeling provides mathematical models and quantitative analysis for designing and optimizing computer systems. In high performance architectures, high-latency memory accesses often dominate execution time in many classes of applications. Thus, performance modeling for memory accesses of high performance architectures has been an important research topic. In high performance computation, data layout can significantly affect the efficiency of memory access operations. In recent years, the problem of data layout selection has been well studied on various parallel CPU and some GPU architectures. GPUs have memory hierarchies different from multi-core CPUs. While data layout selection on GPUs has been inspected by several existing projects, there is still a lack of a mathematical cost model for data layout selection on GPUs. This motivates us to investigate static cost analysis methods that could better guide future data layout selection work, and perhaps even designing new SIMT architectures.In this paper, we propose a comprehensive cost analysis for data layout selection for GPUs. We build our cost function based on the knowledge of the GPU memory hierarchy, and develop an algorithm which allows researchers to perform compile time cost estimation for a given data layout. Furthermore, we introduce a new vector based representation to represent the estimated cost, which can better estimate the cost of applications with dynamic length loops. We apply our cost analysis to selected benchmarks from past publications on data layout selection. Our experimental results show that our cost analysis can accurately predict the relative costs of different data layouts. Using the cost model presented in this paper, we are developing an automatic data layout selection tool in our ongoing work.
A Bio-Psychosocial Intervention Program for Improving Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Survivors – Final Outcome of a Prospective Randomized Trial

Given the 3.1 million breast cancer survivors in America, quality of life (QoL) is a vital issue. Bio-psychosocial milieu of survivorship is increasingly important. This study assesses the impact of Bio-psychosocial Intervention (BPSI) on the QoL of breast cancer survivors utilizing Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Breast (FACT-B) instrument. A prospective randomized trial was designed; intervention arm included a 4-hour BPSI coping skills class; control arm received standard of cancer and follow-up care (SOC). Women diagnosed within 2 years of study initiation were eligible. Sample size was based on 8-point difference in FACT-B score, 90% power, 5% type I error, and 20% attrition. FACT-B questionnaire was administered to all patients at baseline and at 6-month intervals. SAS 9.3 software was used to analyze data using Chi-square test for categorical and Wilcoxon rank sum for ordinal data; linear mixed modeling was used for longitudinal analysis. One-hundred and three of 120 (86%) patients were available for analysis. Forty-seven patients were in BSPI arm, and 56 received SOC. For BPSI arm versus SOC arm, the median (interquartile) age (60 [52.68] versus 58 [52.68] years, p = 0.9135), cancer-stage (0:1:2:3 = 11%:41%:35%:13% versus 18%:46%:22%:15%, p = 0.4645), and biology (ER+:triple negative:HER2+ = 74%:9%:16% versus 72%:7%:20%, p = 0.8454), respectively, was similar. Median (25th to 75th centile) FACT-B scores in BPSI versus SOC arms at baseline were 109 (95.121) versus 112 (95, 122) (p = 0.6125); mean (SE) change since baseline at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months was: 7.42 (2.22) versus 7.04 (1.97) (p = 0.8862); 17.0 (2.64) versus -6.09 (2.37) (p < 0.0001); 16.03 (2.53) versus 3.58 (2.29) (p = 0.0004), and 15.48 (1.89) versus 16.4 (1.71) (p = 0.7966), respectively. The inter-group differences remained after adjusting for confounding variables at baseline. The p-value for interaction among groups over 2 years remained <0.0001 except for breast cancer specific concerns. BPSI coping skills class significantly improved the QoL of breast cancer survivors by 1 year post-intervention time point; this difference narrowed at 18 months and disappeared at 24 months.
Pancreatic-β-cell survival and proliferation are promoted by protein kinase G type Iα and downstream regulation of AKT/FOXO1

Early studies showed nitric oxide as a pro-inflammatory-cytokine-induced toxin involved in pancreatic β-cell destruction during pathogenesis of type-1 diabetes. However, nitric oxide has both cytotoxic and cytoprotective effects on mammalian cells, depending on concentration and micro-environmental surroundings. Our studies have shown that low/physiological-level nitric oxide selectively activates protein kinase G type Iα isoform, promoting cytoprotective/pro-cell-survival effects in many cell types. In bone marrow-derived stromal/mesenchymal stem cells, protein kinase G type Iα mediates autocrine effects of nitric oxide and atrial natriuretic peptide, promoting DNA-synthesis/proliferation and cell survival. In this study, endothelial nitric oxide synthase/neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor L-NIO (L-N(5)-(1-iminoethyl)ornithine), soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor ODQ (1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3,-a] quinoxalin-1-one), atrial natriuretic peptide-receptor inhibitor A71915 and protein kinase G type Iα kinase activity inhibitor DT-2 all increased apoptosis and decreased insulin secretion in RINm5F pancreatic β-cells, suggesting autocrine regulatory role for endogenous nitric oxide- and atrial natriuretic peptide-induced activation of protein kinase G type Iα. In four pancreatic β-cell lines, Beta-TC-6, RINm5F, INS-1 and 1.1B4, protein kinase G type Iα small-interfering RNA decreased phospho-serine-239-VASP (indicator of endogenous protein kinase G type Iα kinase activity), increased apoptosis and decreased proliferation. In protein kinase G type Iα-knockdown β-cell lines, expressions of phospho-protein kinase B (PKB/AKT) (AKT), phospho-Forkhead box protein O1 (FOXO1) (transcriptional repressor of pancreas duodenum homobox-1) and pancreas duodenum homobox-1 were decreased, suppressing proliferation and survival in pancreatic β-cells. The data suggest autocrine nitric oxide/atrial natriuretic peptide-induced activation of protein kinase G type Iα/p-AKT/p-FOXO1 promotes survival and proliferation in pancreatic β-cells, providing therapeutic implications for development of new therapeutic agents for diabetes.
Application of the Bead Perturbation Technique to a Study of a Tunable 5 GHz Annular Cavity

Microwave cavities for a Sikivie-type axion search are subject to several constraints. In the fabrication and operation of such cavities, often used at frequencies where the resonator is highly overmoded, it is important to be able to reliably identify several properties of the cavity. Those include identifying the symmetry of the mode of interest, confirming its form factor, and determining the frequency ranges where mode crossings with intruder levels cause unacceptable admixture, thus leading to the loss of purity of the mode of interest. A simple and powerful diagnostic for mapping out the electric field of a cavity is the bead perturbation technique. While a standard tool in accelerator physics, we have, for the first time, applied this technique to cavities used in the axion search. We report initial results from an extensive study for the initial cavity used in the HAYSTAC experiment. Two effects have been investigated: the role of rod misalignment in mode localization, and mode-mixing at avoided crossings of TM/TE modes. Future work will extend these results by incorporating precision metrology and high-fidelity simulations.
Endocannabinoid hydrolases in avian HD11 macrophages identified by chemoproteomics: inactivation by small-molecule inhibitors and pathogen-induced downregulation of their activity

The endocannabinoids (eCBs) are endogenous arachidonoyl-containing lipid mediators with important roles in host defense. Macrophages are first-line defenders of the innate immune system and biosynthesize large amounts of eCBs when activated. The cellular levels of eCBs are controlled by the activities of their biosynthetic enzymes and catabolic enzymes, which include members of the serine hydrolase (SH) superfamily. The physiologic activity of SHs can be assessed in a class-specific way using chemoproteomic activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) methods. Here, we have examined avian (chicken) HD11 macrophages, a widely used cell line in host-pathogen research, using gel-based ABPP and ABPP-multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) to profile the changes in SH activities under baseline, chemical-inhibitor-treated, and pathogen-challenged conditions. We identified α/β-hydrolase domain 6 (ABHD6) and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) as the principal SHs responsible for 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2AG) hydrolysis, thereby regulating the concentration of this lipid in HD11 cells. We further discovered that infection of HD11 macrophages by Salmonella Typhimurium caused the activities of these 2AG hydrolases to be downregulated in the host cells. ABHD6 and FAAH were potently inhibited by a variety of small-molecule inhibitors in intact live cells, and thus these compounds might be useful host-directed adjuvants to combat antimicrobial resistance in agriculture. 2AG was further shown to augment the phagocytic function of HD11 macrophages, which suggests that pathogen-induced downregulation of enzymes controlling 2AG hydrolytic activity might be a physiological mechanism to increase 2AG levels, thus enhancing phagocytosis. Together these results define ABHD6 and FAAH as 2AG hydrolases in avian macrophages that can be inactivated pharmacologically and decreased in activity during Salmonella Typhimurium infection.
Indicative Conditionals and Conditional Probability: Reply to Pollock

In ‘Indicative Conditionals and Conditional Probability’ (this volume, pp. 249–252), Pollock constructs an intriguing situation to serve as a counterexample to the ‘Ramsey test’ thesis. Here by the Ramsey test thesis, I mean the thesis that, in whatever ways the acceptability, assertability, and the like of a proposition depend on its subjective probability, the acceptability, assertability, and the like of an indicative conditional A→B depend on the corresponding subjective conditional probability ρ(B/A). (I shall use ‘→’ as a symbol for the indicative conditional connective, and otherwise follow Pollock’s notation. The systematic development of the Ramsey test thesis was the work of Ernest Adams, 1975). I think that I can give an argument to show that in Pollock’s example, contrary to what he judges, if B → D is acceptable before one learns R, it is acceptable after one learns R.
Ancient cosmic spherules

Cosmic spherules form when dust particles hit the Earth, melting the upper atmosphere. Spectacularly well-preserved spherules have now been found in sandstone from Finland that is 1.4 billion years old, providing a new means of tracing long-term changes in our atmosphere, as well as changes in the Solar System's meteoroid population.
The Effect of Growth Hormone on Craniofacial Growth and Dental Maturation in Turner Syndrome

Serial cephalometric and panoramic radiographs from a mixed longitudinal group of 28 subjects with Turner syndrome (TS), age 4.4-19.0 years, were evaluated for annualized growth increments of the craniofacial complex and dental development and were compared with a longitudinal control group from the Burlington growth study. The short and retrognathic face characteristic of the syndrome was due largely to the increased cranial base angle, decreased posterior face height, and decreased mandibular length, all of which were significantly different from the controls. Although increases in statural height occurred in the TS children who were treated with human growth hormone (GH), there was little or no effect on growth of the jaws, particularly in the older subjects, and the characteristic facies of the syndrome persisted. Dental development was advanced in all TS subjects, and GH administration had no effect on the rate of dental development.
‘Retroactive effects’: Ratzel's spatial dynamics and the expansionist imperative in interwar Germany

Abstract This intervention examines the effects of spatial distribution on animal and human life forms as depicted in Ratzel’s Der Lebensraum, and interrogates the reception of Ratzel’s understanding of spatial dynamics in Germany between 1919 and 1939. Primary attention is given not to the often-studied reception of Ratzel by the German Geopolitiker, but to the impact of Ratzel’s emphasis on large spaces in non-academic settings – Herman Sorgel’s visions of Atlantropa, Colin Ross’s aesthetic theorizing, Arthur Dix’s colonialist nostalgia – and in particular to the relationship between Lebensraum and the rise of popular, pseudo-scientific demographic alarmism. The imprecise and often allusive nature of Ratzel’s depiction of the relationship between large spaces and biological well-being, it is argued, endowed his ideas with utility across the interwar German political spectrum.
Coherent γ-ray optics

With the advent of high brightness synchrotron radiation sources, an important new field has been opened up involving coherent nuclear excitations induced by synchrotron radiation pulses traversing a piece of matter. We review the theory of coherent resonant γ-ray optics, including some of the interesting new phenomena which occur when systems of nuclei are excited by synchrotron radiation pulses, such as the creation of nuclear exciton states, superradiant and subradiant decay, spatially coherent quantum beats, and temporal Pendellosung. We also discuss the relation between the nuclear exciton states and multi-photon Dicke superradiance and γ-ray lasers, and comment on neutron phasors and neutron superradiance in resonant neutron optics. The interesting features of coherent enhancement, superradiant decay, and dynamical beats are discussed from the fundamental perspective of the radiative normal modes of a system of nuclear resonators.
Modeling the Relationship between User Comments and Edits in Document Revision.

Management of collaborative documents can be difficult, given the profusion of edits and comments that multiple authors make during a document’s evolution. Reliably modeling the relationship between edits and comments is a crucial step towards helping the user keep track of a document in flux. A number of authoring tasks, such as categorizing and summarizing edits, detecting completed to-dos, and visually rearranging comments could benefit from such a contribution. Thus, in this paper we explore the relationship between comments and edits by defining two novel, related tasks: Comment Ranking and Edit Anchoring. We begin by collecting a dataset with more than half a million comment-edit pairs based on Wikipedia revision histories. We then propose a hierarchical multi-layer deep neural-network to model the relationship between edits and comments. Our architecture tackles both Comment Ranking and Edit Anchoring tasks by encoding specific edit actions such as additions and deletions, while also accounting for document context. In a number of evaluation settings, our experimental results show that our approach outperforms several strong baselines significantly. We are able to achieve a precision@1 of 71.0% and a precision@3 of 94.4% for Comment Ranking, while we achieve 74.4% accuracy on Edit Anchoring.
Metal/BaTiO3/β-Ga2O3 dielectric heterojunction diode with 5.7 MV/cm breakdown field

Wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductors can provide excellent performance due to their high energy bandgap, which leads to breakdown electric fields that are more than an order of magnitude higher than conventional silicon electronics. In materials where p-type doping is not available, achieving this high breakdown field in a vertical diode or transistor is very challenging. We propose and demonstrate the use of dielectric heterojunctions that use extreme permittivity materials to achieve a high breakdown field in a unipolar device. We demonstrate the integration of a high permittivity material BaTiO3 with n-type β-Ga2O3 to enable a 5.7 MV/cm average electric field and a 7 MV/cm peak electric field at the device edge while maintaining forward conduction with relatively low on-resistance and voltage loss. The proposed dielectric heterojunction could enable improved design strategies to achieve theoretical device performance limits in wide and ultrawide bandgap semiconductors where bipolar doping is challenging.