cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Unstable Neck Formation during Initial-Stage Sintering

By observing pairs of single-crystal cubic-faceted small particles of MgO in contact along faces, edges, and corners, it was possible to determine the effects of contact geometry on the stability of neck regions formed during the initial stages of sintering. Changes in the neck morphology were monitored during the sintering process by continuous TEM/ video observations of particles heated in situ between 1100° and 1260°C. Particles in face-to-face contact were found to coalesce in the classic manner to form a single particle, Particles in contact along either cube corners or edges, however, developed unstable necks that initially grew, then shrunk, and eventually broke so that such particle pairs effectively “de-sintered.”
Efficient document retrieval in main memory

Disk access performance is a major bottleneck in traditional information retrieval systems. Compared to system memory, disk bandwidth is poor, and seek times are worse.We circumvent this problem by considering query evaluation strategies in main memory. We show how new accumulator trimming techniques combined with inverted list skipping can produce extremely high performance retrieval systems without resorting to methods that may harm effectiveness.We evaluate our techniques using Galago, a new retrieval system designed for efficient query processing. Our system achieves a 69% improvement in query throughput over previous methods.
Traffic Particles in Ambient Air of a Major US Urban Area: Has Anything Changed over a Decade?

Few studies have addressed the potential changes in particulate matter (PM) exposure occurring in major metropolitan areas over substantial time periods, e.g., 5 or 10 years. The present study examined changes in the PM_(2.5) concentration and elemental composition between two monitoring campaigns carried out in 2002-2005 and 2010-2011 within the Greater Cincinnati area (USA). This area is recognized for high volume of diesel truck traffic (about 10 million trucks annually on regional freeways). The 24-hour filter samples were collected at four sites. General linear models were used to examine differences between the two data sets for elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and EC/OC. The comparison was extended to the concentrations of PM_(2.5) and its relevant elemental constituents. At one site, which was previously identified as a particularly hot spot for traffic/diesel air pollution, the concentrations of most traffic related elements as well as EC and EC/OC ratio significantly decreased (p ＜ 0.05) between the two campaigns. No significant differences between carbon data generated in the two campaigns were observed at the other three monitoring stations. These findings did not depend on whether the comparison model accounted for wind speed and direction. The EC/OC determined in the recent campaign across all sites showed no significant differences between the Summer and Fall data but Winter values were significantly lower. The site with the highest traffic influence revealed no significant seasonal difference in PM_(2.5) but essentially all relevant elements showed significant seasonal variations between the Fall (higher) and Winter (lower). The findings suggest that air quality and engine exhaust control policies implemented between 2005 and 2010 have not produced significant changes in metropolitan traffic air pollution levels. However, the decreasing trends in PM_(2.5), Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Zn, Br, and Pb, EC, OC, and EC/OC may become sustainable over a longer time.
Relation between current egg production and fertility following artificial insemination 1

Synopsis Results from three trials in which 4,810 eggs were incubated showed no relation between current rate of lay and fertility following artificial insemination of the chickens. The correlation coefficients calculated from data on individual pullets were statistically nonsignificant, being +0.071, +0.144 and ‐0.040 for the first, second and third trials, respectively. There was also no significant correlation between current rate of lay and hatchability.
The distribution of polymerized actin in the rat egg and its sensitivity to cytochalasin B during fertilization.

The distribution of polymerized actin in rat eggs fertilized in vitro was determined using NBD-phallacidin (NBD-ph). Unfertilized and fertilized eggs exhibited a 3–5-μm-thick band of fluorescence that encompassed the entire cortical cytoplasm. There was no dramatic increase in the staining of the cortex in association with any component of the fertilizing sperm during its incorporation into the egg. Unfertilized eggs and fertilized eggs obtained at intervals after sperm-egg fusion were treated with cytochalasin B (CB; 5 μg/ml) and subsequently stained with NBD-ph. Unfertilized eggs treated with CB exhibited a continuous ring of cortical staining identical to that seen in untreated eggs. Eggs treated with CB 15 min after sperm-egg fusion exhibited small gaps in the cortical staining pattern, whereas those exposed to CB 1 hr after fusion exhibited larger gaps and the staining pattern appeared punctate. This pattern could be seen throughout the remainder of the 7 hr period of sperm incorporation and for at least 13 hr thereafter. CB-treated fertilized eggs that were washed to remove the drug again exhibited uninterrupted cortical staining on treatment with NBD-ph. CB also induced the resorption of surface elevations that are normally seen on the eggs during sperm incorporation, but it did not affect the morphology of unfertilized eggs. The sensitivity to CB during fertilization coincides with the onset of a variety of egg shape changes that occur during the period of sperm incorporation (Battaglia and Gaddum-Rosse, Gamete Res., 10:107–118, 1984a). It is probable that activation of rat eggs by the fertilizing sperm induces a change in the state of actin assembly, which might be responsible, in part, for the behavior of the egg surface during sperm incorporation and subsequent developmental events.
Investigating the Protective Properties of Milk Phospholipids Against Ultraviolet Light Exposure in a Skin Equivalent Model

Current research on bioactive molecules in milk has documented health advantages of bovine milk and its components. Milk Phospholipids, selected for this study, represent molecules with great potential benefit in human health and nutrition. In this study we used confocal reflectance and multiphoton microscopy to monitor changes in skin morphology upon skin exposure to ultraviolet light and evaluate the potential of milk phospholipids in preventing photodamage to skin equivalent models. The results suggest that milk phospholipids act upon skin cells in a protective manner against the effect of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Similar results were obtained from MTT tissue viability assay and histology.
Partial Reconstitution of Human DNA Mismatch Repair In Vitro: Characterization of the Role of Human Replication Protein A

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is a critical genome-stabilization system. However, the molecular mechanism of MMR in human cells remains obscure because many of the components have not yet been identified. Using a functional in vitro reconstitution system, this study identified three HeLa cell fractions essential for in vitro MMR. These fractions divide human MMR into two distinct stages: mismatch-provoked excision and repair synthesis. In vitro dissection of the MMR reaction and crucial intermediates elucidated biochemical functions of individual fractions in human MMR and identified hitherto unknown functions of human replication protein A (hRPA) in MMR. Thus, one fraction carries out nick-directed and mismatch-dependent excision; the second carries out DNA repair synthesis and DNA ligation; and the third provides hRPA, which plays multiple roles in human MMR by protecting the template DNA strand from degradation, enhancing repair excision, and facilitating repair synthesis. It is anticipated that further analysis of these fractions will identify additional MMR components and enable the complete reconstitution of the human MMR pathway with purified proteins.
Modelling of polarised light interaction with turbid medium

Polarisational properties of light scattered in turbid media are considered in this paper. First approximation of these media is the model of suspension which includes the group of scattering centres with these same optical properties given by a complex refractive index and various sizes characterised by a size distribution. If any turbid medium is lightened by partly polarised beam of light described by the Stokes vector then the light scattered on the centres might be polarised too. Stokes vectors of incident beam together with scattered beam are connected by sixteen elemental scattering matrix. On the assumption that turbid medium fulfils limitations of the Mie theory (spherical and homogeneous particles and lack of absorption of exterior medium) scattering matrix is reduced to four independent elements. The group of algorithms based on the Mie solution which allow to model those four elements of the scattering matrix was created in the MATLAB. The results of this modelling for an oil emulsion in synthetic seawater are presented.
The Work of Teaching and the Challenge for Teacher Education

In this article, the authors argue for making practice the core of teachers’ professional preparation. They set the argument for teaching practice against the contemporary backdrop of a teacher education curriculum that is often centered not on the tasks and activities of teaching but on beliefs and knowledge, on orientations and commitments, and a policy environment preoccupied with recruitment and retention. The authors caution that the bias against detailed professional training that often pervades common views of teaching as idiosyncratic and independently creative impedes the improvement of teachers’ preparation for the work of teaching. They offer examples of what might be involved in teaching practice and conclude with a discussion of challenges of and resources for the enterprise.
The BlueDRAGON - a system for measuring the kinematics and dynamics of minimally invasive surgical tools in-vivo

Minimally invasive surgery involves a multidimensional series of tasks requiring a synthesis between visual information and the kinematics and dynamics of the surgical tools. Analysis of these sources of information is a key step in mastering MIS, but may also be used to define objective criteria for characterizing surgical performance. The BlueDRAGON is a new system for acquiring the kinematics and dynamics of two endoscopic tools synchronized with the visual view of the surgical scene. It includes two four-bar passive mechanisms equipped with position and force torque sensors for measuring the positions and orientations of the two endoscopic tools along with the forces and torques (F/T) applied by the surgeon's hands. The methodology of decomposing the surgical task is based on a fully connected, 28 finite-states Markov model where each states corresponded to a fundamental tool/tissue interaction based on the tool kinematics and associated with unique F/T signatures. The experimental protocol includes seven MIS tasks performed on an animal model by 30 surgeons at different levels of their residency training including expert surgeons. From the preliminary analysis of these data, the major differences between residents at different skill levels are discussed. Systems like surgical robots or virtual reality simulators that inherently measure the kinematics and dynamics of the surgical tool may benefit from inclusion of the proposed methodology for the analysis of efficacy and objective evaluation of surgical skills during training.
Dissecting the heterogeneity of skin gene expression patterns in systemic sclerosis.

Objective To examine the heterogeneity of global transcriptome patterns in systemic sclerosis (SSc) skin in a large sample of patients with SSc and control subjects. Methods Skin biopsy specimens obtained from 61 patients enrolled in the Genetics versus Environment in Scleroderma Outcome Study (GENISOS) cohort and 36 unaffected control subjects with a similar demographic background were examined by Illumina HumanHT-12 bead arrays. Followup experiments using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical analysis were also performed. Results We identified 2,754 differentially expressed transcripts in SSc patients compared with controls. Clustering analysis revealed 2 prominent transcriptomes in SSc patients: the keratin and fibroinflammatory signatures. Higher keratin transcript scores were associated with shorter disease duration and interstitial lung disease, while higher fibroinflammatory scores were associated with diffuse cutaneous involvement, a higher skin score at the biopsy site, and a higher modified Rodnan skin thickness score. A subgroup of patients with significantly longer disease duration had a normal-like transcript pattern. Analysis of cell type–specific signature scores revealed remarkable heterogeneity across patients. Significantly higher scores were calculated for fibroblasts (72% of patients), microvascular cells (61%), macrophages (54%), and dendritic cells (DCs) (49%). The majority of samples with significantly higher fibroblast scores (35 of 44 [80%]) had significantly increased macrophage and/or DC scores. Further analysis and immunohistochemical staining indicated that the keratin signature was not a general marker of keratinocyte activation but was in fact associated with an activation pattern in hair and adnexal structures. Conclusion Prominent fibroinflammatory and keratin signatures are present in SSc skin. Expression profiles of SSc skin show significant heterogeneity, and this finding might be useful for stratifying patients for targeted therapies or predicting the response to immunosuppression.
Protein kinase cascades activated by stress and inflammatory cytokines

Signal transduction pathways constructed around a core module of three consecutive protein kinases, the most distal being a member of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) family, are ubiquitous among eukaryotes. Recent work has defined two cascades activated preferentially by the inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-1-beta, as well as by a wide variety of cellular stresses such as UV and ionizing radiation, hyperosmolarity, heat stress, oxidative stress, etc. One pathway converges on the ERK subfamily known as the "stress activated' protein kinases (SAPKs, also termed Jun N-terminal kinases, JNKs), whereas the second pathway recruits the p38 kinases. Upstream inputs are diverse, and include small GTPases (primarily Rac and Cdc42; secondarily Ras) acting through mammalian homologs of the yeast Ste20 kinase, other kinase subfamilies (e.g. GC kinase) and ceramide, a putative second messenger for certain TNF-alpha actions. These two cascades signal cell cycle delay, cellular repair or apoptosis in most cells, as well as activation of immune and reticuloendothelial cells.
Current Progress in Developing Subunit Vaccines against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli-Associated Diarrhea

Diarrhea continues to be a leading cause of death in children <5 years of age, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is the most common bacterial cause of children's diarrhea. Currently, there are no available vaccines against ETEC-associated diarrhea. Whole-cell vaccine candidates have been under development but require further improvements because they provide inadequate protection and produce unwanted adverse effects. Meanwhile, a newer approach using polypeptide or subunit vaccine candidates focusing on ETEC colonization factor antigens (CFAs) and enterotoxins, the major virulence determinants of ETEC diarrhea, shows substantial promise. A conservative CFA/I adhesin tip antigen and a CFA MEFA (multiepitope fusion antigen) were shown to induce cross-reactive antiadhesin antibodies that protected against adherence by multiple important CFAs. Genetic fusion of toxoids derived from ETEC heat-labile toxin (LT) and heat-stable toxin (STa) induced antibodies neutralizing both enterotoxins. Moreover, CFA-toxoid MEFA polypeptides, generated by fusing CFA MEFA to an STa-LT toxoid fusion, induced antiadhesin antibodies that broadly inhibited adherence of the seven most important ETEC CFAs associated with about 80% of the diarrhea cases caused by ETEC strains with known CFAs. This same antigen preparation also induced antitoxin antibodies that neutralized both toxins that are associated with all cases of ETEC diarrhea. Results from these studies suggest that polypeptide or subunit vaccines have the potential to effectively protect against ETEC diarrhea. In addition, novel adhesins and mucin proteases have been investigated as potential alternatives or, more likely, additional antigens for ETEC subunit vaccine development.
The Taming of God: Revealed Religion and Natural Religion in the Eighteenth-Century Harvard Dudleian Lectures

In the mid–1700s, America's religious leaders feared deism, but by the early 1800s, it had faded from view. The death of its leaders and the rise of pietistic Christianity have been charged with its downfall. At one of its purported hotbeds—Harvard College—another possibility emerges: deism disappeared because, at least in some crucial arenas, it had triumphed, and thus deists were appeased.
High-temperature deformation of Al2O3/Y-TZP particulate composites

Abstract Al 2 O 3 /Y-TZP particulate composites with compositions of between 20 and 80 vol.% Y-TZP were produced by tapecasting, lamination, and sintering. The processing methods employed resulted in fine grain sizes with only small variations between the composites produced. The resulting particulate composites were tested in compression at a temperature of 1350 °C over strain rates from 10 −5 to 3.16×10 −4 s −1 . Microstructural changes during testing were minor. Stress exponents were measured to the range from approximately two to three, which are consistent with published data on similar materials from tensile experiments. Models of composite creep behavior are compared to the experimental data over the full range of compositions studied. A constrained isostrain model is found to provide better predictive capabilities than either an unconstrained model, an isostress model, or a rheological model. Furthermore, the constrained isostrain model provides the most reasonable predictions for creep rates of 100% Al 2 O 3 and 100% Y-TZP materials.
Hepatic encephalopathy: a disorder in glial-neuronal communication.

Publisher Summary The chapter discusses recent progress, concerning the role of astrocytes in hepatic encephalopathy (HE). New concepts regarding the role of second messengers (cyclic AMP and Ca2+) and protein phosphorylation are discussed. Data on glycogen metabolism that are especially pertinent to a potential defect in glial-neuronal communication is presented. Finally, discussion on derangements in cytoskeletal proteins, volume regulation, and the involvement of the peripheral type benzodiazepine receptor is given. HE occurs in two clinical forms: acute or fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) and chronic (portal-systemic encephalopathy, PSE). FHF, generally occurring in the setting of viral or toxic hepatitis, usually presents with the rapid onset of delirium, coma, and seizures. PSE on the other hand, manifests initially with subtle personality changes, confusion, episodic stupor, and when severe with coma.
Performance Characteristics of an Autonomous Airdrop System in Realistic Wind Environments

For airdrop systems, there is normally a large gap between the landing accuracy predicted in simulation and the accuracy observed in flight test. Even with mature systems, the landing accuracies observed in flight test are typically worse by a factor of two to three compared to the accuracy expected from simulation. The current work explores the possibility that this discrepancy can be mitigated by incorporating more realistic models of atmospheric wind into airdrop system simulations. To this end, realistic wind environments are generated by implementing a standard atmospheric wind model from the weather community. A six degree of freedom parafoil and payload model representing a real system is then flown in the wind environment using guidance, navigation, and control algorithms that represent the current state of the art in the airdrop community. Through Monte Carlo simulation, predicted landing accuracies are generated using both the realistic wind environment and simplified wind models common among current airdrop simulations. Results indicate that simulated landing accuracy is decreased by nearly a factor of two when using a realistic wind environment, which may explain the current difference between simulated and flight test accuracy of autonomous airdrop systems.
Difference between dorsal and lateral components of dorsolateral prostrate of rat in ZN65 uptake.

SummaryThe authors reported previously that the dorsolateral prostate of the rat concentrates administered Zn65 from 15–25 times more than any other tissue(1). The present study reveals that this selective uptake of Zn65 is confined to the lateral portion of the dorsolateral prostate, suggesting a functional difference between the two parts of the gland. Histological study also lends evidence to this observation.
Pheromone-Mediated Flight by Male Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Flights and captures of male Plodia interpunctella (Hubner) were observed in a warehouse room containing pheromone traps baited with different doses and blends of ( Z,E )-9,12-tetradecadien-1-ol (ZETOH) and ( Z,E )-9,12-tetradecadien-1-ol acetate (ZETA). Flights were divided into two categories: preapproach and approach flight, the approach being differentiated from preapproach flight by the simultaneous occurrence of increased frequency and angle of turning, decreased net velocity, and net movement toward a trap. Approaches and captures were analyzed with respect to dose and blend. Alone, ZETOH failed to elicit responses significantly different from the control (zero dose), whereas ZETA elicited approaches and landings in traps. Significantly more landings and approaches occurred with blends of ZETOH:ZETA in a 2:8 ratio than with 4:6 or 6:4 blends, but the ratio of captures to approaches did not vary among blends. The frequency of approaches and captures increased with dose but the ratio of captures to approaches decreased when trap release rates exceeded 10 ng/h. Practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.
BIOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL FACTORS INFLUENCING GENETIC DIVERSITY IN THE SCUTELLARIA ANGUSTIFOLIA COMPLEX (LABIATAE).

Studies of genetic diversity at isozyme loci were used to examine the phylogenetic distribution of several frequently reported population-genetic parameters in a putatively monophyletic group of plant species, the Scutellaria angustifolia complex. The influence of taxon-specific differences in habitat preference, breeding system, degree of endemism, and phylogenetic relatedness was examined. Many characters of reproductive morphology traditionally used in phylogenetic inference vary with breeding system. To the extent that reproductive systems are conservative markers of phylogenetic relationships, one would expect the distribution of genetic variation to be similar in closely related taxa. Results showed that closely related taxa may exhibit very different genetic-diversity statistics and that distantly related taxa may exhibit very similar genetic-diversity statistics. This suggests that complex patterns of evolution of breeding systems and morphological characters have occurred in the ten taxa included in the Scutellaria angustifolia complex. Similarity in habitat is not associated with similarity in genetic diversity in this group of species.
Influence of Constructing Hainan International Resort on Crop Winter Breeding

This paper discussed the importance and insubsititutability of Hainan Province as crop winter breeding base in agricultural production during the last decades.On the basis of analyzing the influence brought by constructing an international resort on crop breeding program,the government was suggested to consider the importance of Hainan as "Chinese Agricultural Silicon Valley",especially the role in crop multiplication while making out the plan for international tourist island.It also suggests the government to enact a law or clauses to provide necessary jural protection for the winter breeding bases of all research units in China;to enhance the infrastructure construction of a national crop winter breeding base;and to strengthen financial support for crop multiplication and breeding,so as to ensure the healthy development of "Chinese Agriculture Silicon Valley",to upgrade the strength of agricultural science and technology and to consolidate the national food security system.
A Model for Understanding Collaborative Information Behavior in E-Discovery.

The University of Pittsburgh team participated in the interactive task of Legal Track in TREC 2009. We designed an experiment to investigate into the collaborative information behavior (CIB) of the group of people working on e-discovery tasks provided by Legal Track in TREC 2009. Through the studies, we proposed a model for understanding CIB in e-discovery.
Mechanism and function of heat shock-dependent IkappaBalpha expression.

Heat shock is known to inhibit activation of the NF-κ B pathway. One potential mechanism of this effect is de novo expression of the intracellular NF-κB inhibitor, Iκ Bα. Herein we sought to elucidate the mechanisms by which heat shock induces Iκ Bα gene expression and the functional consequences of heat shock-mediated Iκ Bα gene expression in A549 cells. Nuclear run-on assays demonstrated that heat shock had a small effect on transcription of the Iκ Bα gene relative to the level of steady state Iκ Bα mRNA that is seen following heat shock. Accordingly, we determined the effect of heat shock on Iκ Bα mRNA stability by treating cells with actinomycin D to induce transcriptional arrest. The half-life of IκBα mRNA was 36 ± 7.2 min in control cells and 101 ± 3.7 min in cells subjected to heat shock. These data were consistent with heat shock-mediated increased stability of Iκ Bα mRNA. Heat shock induced activation of p38 MAP kinase and inhibition of p38 MAP kinase substantially reduced heat shock-dependent expression of Iκ Bα mRNA. After a 4 h recovery period from heat shock, there was inhibition of tumor necrosis factor-α-mediated NF-κB activation. The introduction of an Iκ Bα anti-sense oligonucleotide reversed this inhibitory effect of heat shock. We conclude that heat shock increases IκBα gene expression primarily by increasing Iκ Bα mRNA stability and this effect is partially dependent on p38 MAP kinase. The functional consequence of heat shock-mediated Iκ Bα gene expression is inhibition of NF-κB activation.
Chester Barnard's fourth door

Chester Barnard tells us he went through phases in his own life which showed him that the individual can and should grow as a result of belonging to an organization. This article suggests that this is Barnard's most enduring contribution to the study of management.
Estimating the Unmeasured Dynamics of Biological Systems using a Constrained Real-Coded Genetic Algorithm

Optimization is critical in the development and implementation of techniques for estimating the unmeasured dynamics of biological systems. Local-search algorithms present an attractive option for implementing this optimization due to their low complexity. These algorithms can, however, produce sub-optimal results when estimating these unmeasured dynamics using noisy measurements. In this work, we implement a global-search constrained optimization based on real-coded genetic algorithms (RC-GA) to estimate the unmeasured dynamics of the Caspases signal transduction network. We show that RC-GA performs better than gradient-based local search algorithms by providing estimates that more closely match the "true" dynamics of the biological system.
Abstract 3033: Generation of a mouse model of young adult glioblatoma: In vivo expression of mutated IDH1-R132H gene using the sleeping beauty transposase system

Background: Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a malignant primary brain tumor. Genomic analysis of GBMs revealed somatic mutations associated with particular subtypes, which correlate with age at the time of diagnosis. Distinctive features of young adult GBMs include a mutation in Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 1 gene (IDH1-R132H) and mutations in epigenetic regulators, ATRX and H3.3G34, which define an epigenetic and biological subgroup. IDH1-R132H results in gain of an alternative enzymatic function producing an excess of the metabolite 2-hydroxglutarate (2HG) and alterations in histone methylation patterns. Animal models are critical to study and understand disease progression and pathogenesis; therefore we aimed to develop an in vivo model of young adult GBM. Objectives: Generate an animal model of young adult GBM through expression of IDH1-R132H, H3.G34 and ATRX knockdown in neonatal mouse brain using the Sleeping Beauty Transposase system. In this model we will study the effects of these genetic lesions in tumor development and DNA repair mechanisms. Experimental approach: To induce tumors we injected NRAS and shP53 plasmids in the lateral ventricle of C57BL/6 neonatal mice with or without pKT/IDH1-R132H, Pkt/H3.G34 or PT2/shATRX using the sleeping beauty transpose system. The delivery of the plasmid was confirmed by luciferase expression and tumor development was monitored by imaging. The tumors were also used to generate GBM cell for genetic analysis and moribund animals were perfused and analyzed using immunocytochemistry. Results: Pkt-IDH1-R132H expression increases the levels of H3K27me3. Currently we have five groups of animals to asses tumor progression: 1) NRAS/shP53 (n = 7) (median survival (MS) = 88 days post injection (DPI); 2) NRAS/shP53/shATRX (n = 7) (MS = 50 DPI); 3) NRAS/shP53/shATRX/IDH1-R132H (n = 18) (MS = 90 DPI); 4) NRAS/shP53/IDH1-R132H (n = 16) (MS = 100 DPI) and 5) NRAS/shP53/shATRX/H3.G34 (n = 5). Conclusion: Using the Sleeping Beauty System (SB) we expressed mutated IDH1-R132H or mutated H3.G34 together with ATRX knockdown in mice. Genetically engineering mice with IDH1-R132H have increased survival. Mice developed brain tumors harboring key features of young adult GBMs. We aim to determine the impact of these genetic lesions in median survival, tumor progression and DNA repair “in vivo”. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Felipe J. Nunez, Flor M. Mendez, Carl Koschmann, Alexandra Calinescu, Pedro R. Lowenstein, Maria G. Castro. Generation of a mouse model of young adult glioblatoma: In vivo expression of mutated IDH1-R132H gene using the sleeping beauty transposase system. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3033. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3033
Distributed linear prediction in the presence of noise and multipath

We are considering problem of estimating autoregressive signal coefficients over a network of agents. Noise and/or multipath are disturbing reception of the signals in network nodes. The autoregressive signals have different powers and delays at different nodes. Least-mean-square algorithms are used in nodes for the estimation as well as the cooperation strategy based on the adapt-then-combine diffusion. Several combining algorithms are used to implement cooperation and their convergence rates and steady-state levels are compared using mean-square weight deviations. Conditions to get benefits from the cooperations are discussed. Possibilities for performance improvements are supported by numerical experiments.
rqt: an R package for gene-level meta-analysis

Motivation Despite recent advances of modern GWAS methods, it is still remains an important problem of addressing calculation an effect size and corresponding p-value for the whole gene rather than for single variant. Results We developed an R package rqt, which offers gene-level GWAS meta-analysis. The package can be easily included into bioinformatics pipeline or used stand-alone. We applied this tool to the analysis of Alzheimer's disease data from three datasets CHS, FHS and LOADFS. Test results from meta-analysis of three Alzheimer studies show its applicability for association testing. Availability and implementation The package rqt is freely available under the following link: https://github.com/izhbannikov/rqt. Contact ilya.zhbannikov@duke.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A water-soluble DsbB variant that catalyzes disulfide-bond formation in vivo

Escherichia coli DsbB is a transmembrane enzyme that catalyzes the reoxidation of the periplasmic oxidase DsbA by ubiquinone. Here, we sought to convert membrane-bound DsbB into a water-soluble biocatalyst by leveraging a previously described method for in vivo solubilization of integral membrane proteins (IMPs). When solubilized DsbB variants were coexpressed with an export-defective copy of DsbA in the cytoplasm of wild-type E. coli cells, artificial oxidation pathways were created that efficiently catalyzed de novo disulfide-bond formation in a range of substrate proteins, in a manner dependent on both DsbA and quinone. Hence, DsbB solubilization was achieved with preservation of both catalytic activity and substrate specificity. Moreover, given the generality of the solubilization technique, the results presented here should pave the way to unlocking the biocatalytic potential of other membrane-bound enzymes whose utility has been limited by poor stability of IMPs outside of their native lipid-bilayer context.
Real-time implementation of voice activity detector on ARM embedded processor of smartphones

This paper presents the real-time implementation of a previously developed voice activity detector (VAD) on ARM embedded processor of smartphones as an app. The implementation is carried out on both Android and iOS smartphones. The real-time detection rates on smartphone platforms in realistic audio environments are reported. As an application of the developed app, it is used to act as an automatic switch between noise and speech sound signals in a noise adaptive speech enhancement pipeline. Objective measures are considered to examine enhanced speech for the switching done automatically and manually as the ground truth. The results obtained indicate that the automatic switching done by the real-time smartphone VAD app performs identical to the manual switching.
Scaffolding the argument genre in a multilingual university history classroom: Tracking the writing development of novice and experienced writers

Abstract This paper reports on an SFL-based writing intervention in a university global histories course and examines differences in developmental trajectories among students after the intervention. Based on our previous research on writing in this course, we developed three Systemic Functional Linguistics-based workshops to explicitly teach valued linguistic resources necessary for meeting the expectations of writing historical arguments. We examine how student writing developed among nine focal students both quantitatively and qualitatively using an SFL-based rubric that we developed for the purposes of this study. We focus closely on two students, a novice and an experienced writer of academic English, by providing a detailed analysis of how they progressed differently towards incorporating the targeted linguistic resources. Our analysis suggests that explicit disciplinary writing instruction can help close the gap between novice and experienced academic writers; however, experienced writers also showed gains. Given the limited research on how intervention studies affect writing, particularly at the university level, this study can help teachers and researchers respond to the needs of the increasingly linguistically diverse students in higher education.
From the Culture of Migration to the Culture of Remittances: Evidence from Immigrant-Sending Communities in China.

Extending the notion of “the culture of migration,” we propose and elaborate the concept of “the culture of remittances” to examine the flow of remittances in the immigrant-sending province of Fuji...
CHAR-HMM: An Improved Continuous Human Activity Recognition Algorithm Based on Hidden Markov Model

With the rapid development of wearable sensor technology, Human Activity Recognition (HAR) based on sensor data has attracted more and more attentions. The Hidden Markov Model (HMM) with perfect performance in speech recognition has a good effect on HAR. However, almost all these techniques train multiple Hidden Markov Models for different classes of activity. For a given activity sequence with multiple activities, the activity corresponding to the HMM with the maximum generating probability is selected as the recognition result, which is not suitable for continuous HAR with multiple activities. For this problem, we propose an improved Hidden Markov activity recognition algorithm where discriminative model and generative model are utilized. The discriminative model SVM is used to produce the observation sequence of HMM, and the generative model HMM is used to generate the final result. Compared with the traditional Hidden Markov HAR model, our proposal has good performance in terms of precision, recall and F1 score.
Human dosimetry of the PET radioligand [C-11]flumazenil (FMZ)

1846 Objectives Despite the long use of [11C]FMZ in human PET, dosimetry is lacking. Our aim is to measure the whole body distribution of IV injected [11C]FMZ in healthy adults and deduce radiation absorbed doses. Methods Four subjects (2 female, 2 male) were injected with an average 770 MBq dose of FMZ. For each subject, 9 consecutive whole body PET scans, consisting of 7 bed positions were performed. Data were acquired for 15 seconds per bed for scans 1-2, 30 s per bed for scans 3-4, 60 s per bed for scans 5-6, 120 s per bed for scan 7, and 240 s per bed for scans 8-9. Organ regions (brain, cortical bone, liver, gall bladder, lower large intestine, upper large intestine, duodenum, red marrow, heart, lungs, kidneys, bladder) were identified using PET attenuation and emission images. Activity within each organ as a function of time was determined from the sequence of the 9 PET scans. For each subject and each organ, residence times were determined by integrating time-activity curves over time and dividing by the injected dose. Residence time unaccounted for in the 12 sampled organs was assigned to the remainder of the body. Residence times were input to the dosimetry program OLINDA to produce dose estimates, using a nonvoiding bladder model, to organs throughout the body. The program also generates a whole body effective dose (ED) from a weighted average of the organ doses. Results Averaged over 4 subjects, the FMZ whole-body ED per injected activity was 7.1x10-3 mSv/MBq. The organ receiving the highest dose was the urinary bladder wall with an average of 5.2x10-2 mSv/MBq. Conclusions Based on the entirety of the data, the maximum single dose under US regulations for studies performed under a Radiation Drug Research Committee is 960 MBq. Research Support NIH grant NIMHK08MH069697
Fine scale assessment of cross boundary wildfire events in theWestern US

Abstract. We report a fine scale assessment of cross-boundary wildfire events for the western US. We used simulation modeling to quantify the extent of fire exchange among major federal, state, and private land tenures and mapped locations where fire ignitions can potentially affect populated places. We examined how parcel size effects the wildfire transmission and partitioned the relative amounts of transmitted fire between human and natural ignitions. We estimated that almost 90 % of the total predicted wildfire activity as measured by area burned originates from four land tenures (Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, private and State lands) and 63 % of the total amount results from natural versus human ignitions. On average, one third of the area burned by predicted wildfires was non-local, meaning that the source ignition was on a different land tenure. Land tenures with smaller parcels tended to receive more incoming fire on a proportional basis, while the largest fires were generated from ignitions in national parks, national forests, public and tribal lands. Among the 11 western States, the amount and pattern of cross-boundary fire varied substantially in terms of which land tenures were mostly exposed, by whom and to what fire sizes. We also found spatial variability in terms of community exposure among States, and more than half of the predicted structure exposure was caused by ignitions on private lands or within the wildland-urban interface areas. This study addressed gaps in existing wildfire risk assessments, that do not explicitly consider cross-boundary fire transmission and do not identify the sources of fire. The results can be used by State, Federal, and local fire planning organizations to help improve risk mitigation programs.
Is “Human Being” a Moral Concept?

Is “human being” a moral concept? I believe it is, which makes me a speciesist. Speciesism violates a moral principle of equality. Peter Singer defines it as “a prejudice or attitude of bias toward the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species.” He compares it to racism. My goal in this essay is to defend a speciesist attitude or outlook on morality.
Prevalence and Correlates of Overweight and Obesity among Preschool-Aged Children in San Luis Obispo County, 2006-2014

Background and Purpose: National prevalence of overweight and obesity (OW/OB) among children remains high; surveillance of OW/OB at state- and local-levels is needed. This study determines the prevalence and sociodemographic predictors of OW/OB among preschool-age children in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County. Methods: Cross-sectional convenience samples of Head Start, California State, and private preschools were surveyed in 2006 (n=482), 2009/10 (n=559), and 2014 (n=442). At all waves, preschool children aged 3-5 years were measured for height and weight using standardized stadiometer and digital scale protocols. In 2014, parents completed a demographics questionnaire. Results: Children assessed in 2009/10 and 2014 were more likely to be OW/OB than those assessed in 2006 (p=0.016). Unadjusted, bivariate odds ratios illustrated increased risk for OW/OB was associated with Hispanic ethnicity, residing in a lower income household, attending preschool in southern SLO County, and participation in a Head Start preschool. In the adjusted, multivariable model, increased risk for OW/OB was associated with attending preschool in SLO City and participation in a California State or Head Start preschool. Conclusion: OW/OB trends in SLO County are similar to national trends. Programs to continue to monitor and reduce socioeconomic disparity in OW/OB prevalence among young children are needed.
Asparaginase-induced hepatotoxicity: rapid development of cholestasis and hepatic steatosis

l-Asparaginase is a bacterial enzyme used in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In the ongoing U.S. Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) prospective study, standard and pegylated asparaginase were the most frequent cause of liver injury with jaundice among anti-cancer agents (8 of 40: 20%). The unique features of this hepatotoxicity are described. Eight cases from 5 DILIN centers were reviewed for clinical course, laboratory values, imaging, and histopathology. Seven females, aged 29–59 years, and one 8-year-old boy, all with leukemia, developed jaundice within 9–21 days (median 15 days) of starting asparaginase or pegaspargase, during the first (n = 6) or second (n = 2) cycle. Prominent symptoms were jaundice (n = 8), fatigue (6), abdominal pain (6) but rarely pruritus (1). Initial median ALT level was 284 U/L (range 83–1076), Alk P 159 U/L (64–452), and bilirubin 4.4 mg/dL (3.7–8.4). Bilirubin levels rose thereafter in all patients to median peak of 17.5 mg/dL (11.7–25.7), INR rose to 1.1–1.7 and serum albumin fell to 1.5–2.6 g/dL. Hepatic imaging revealed fatty liver in all patients. Liver biopsy showed steatosis but minimal hepatocyte necrosis. One patient restarted on pegaspargase re-developed less severe injury. Asparaginase is a common cause of antineoplastic-induced liver injury with jaundice, typically with short latency, marked steatosis, and prolonged jaundice, which can lead to delays in antileukemic therapy. The cause of injury is likely direct inhibition of hepatic protein synthesis caused by asparagine depletion.
AquaEIS: Middleware Support for Event Identification in Community Water Infrastructures

Real-time event identification is critical in complex distributed infrastructures, e.g., water systems, where failures are difficult to isolate. We present AquaEIS, an event-based middleware tailored to the problem of locating sources of failure (e.g., contamination) in community water infrastructures. The inherent complexity of underground hydraulic systems combined with aging infrastructure presents unique challenges. AquaEIS combines online learning techniques, model-driven simulators and data from limited sensing networks to intelligently guide human participants (e.g., staff) in identifying contaminant sources. The framework integrates the necessary abstractions with event processing methods into a workflow that iteratively selects and refines the set of potential failure points for human-driven grab sampling. The integrated platform utilizes Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based representations along with field reports for event inference; reinforcement learning (RL) methods have also shown promise for further refining event locations and reducing the cost of human engagement. Our approach is evaluated in real-world water systems under a range of distinct events. The results show that AquaEIS can significantly reduce the number of sampling cycles, while ensuring localization accuracy (detected 100% of the failure events as compared to a baseline that can only identify 38% of the events).
Voluntary Shared Leave: An Exploratory Analysis:

Voluntary leave sharing programs allow an employee to donate accumulated leave to a coworker who is experiencing a hardship and has exhausted their leave balance. This study examines a voluntary le...
Disorder of written expression and dysgraphia: definition, diagnosis, and management

Writing is a complex task that is vital to learning and is usually acquired in the early years of life. ‘Dysgraphia’ and ‘specific learning disorder in written expression’ are terms used to describe those individuals who, despite exposure to adequate instruction, demonstrate writing ability discordant with their cognitive level and age. Dysgraphia can present with different symptoms at different ages. Different theories have been proposed regarding the mechanisms of dysgraphia. Dysgraphia is poorly understood and is often undiagnosed. It has a high rate of co-morbidity with other learning and psychiatric disorders. The diagnosis and treatment of dysgraphia and specific learning disorders typically centers around the educational system; however, the pediatrician can play an important role in surveillance and evaluation of co-morbidity as well as provision of guidance and support.
Importance of Extracellular DNA in the Fate and Transport of Antibiotic Resistance Genes Downstream of a Wastewater Treatment Plant

A model is developed to account for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) as both intracellular DNA (iDNA) and extracellular DNA (eDNA) in predicting the fate and transport of ARGs in receiving waters...
Dorinne Kondo, Worldmaking: Race, Performance, and the Work of Creativity

In Worldmaking, Kondo traces racial affect throughout the theatre world and conducts an ethnography of the backstage domain to argue that artists, including Anna Deavere Smith, David Henry Hwang, a...