cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rapid and PCR-free DNA Detection by Nanoaggregation-Enhanced Chemiluminescence.

The aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is known to induce an enhancement of localized surface plasmon resonance due to the coupling of plasmonic fields of adjacent nanoparticles. Here we show that AuNPs aggregation also causes a significant enhancement of chemiluminescence in the presence of luminophores. The phenomenon is used to introduce a rapid and sensitive DNA detection method that does not require amplification. DNA probes conjugated to AuNPs were used to detect a DNA target sequence specific to the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum, causal agent of oak wilt. The hybridization of the DNA target with the DNA probes results in instantaneous aggregation of AuNPs into nanoballs, leading to a significant enhancement of luminol chemiluminescence. The enhancement reveals a linear correlation (R2 = 0.98) to the target DNA concentration, with a limit of detection down to 260 fM (260 × 10-15 M), two orders of magnitude higher than the performance obtained with plasmonic colorimetry and absorption spectrometry of single gold nanoparticles. Furthermore, the detection can be performed within 22 min using only a portable luminometer.
Is "Precision Medicine" Ready to Use in Primary Care Practice? No: It Is Barely Ready for Testing.

Precision medicine is ultimately only a tool, and just as it might be used to facilitate better outcomes, if adopted prematurely, it may paradoxically increase inappropriate care. Therefore, primary care physicians must wait for carefully conducted randomized studies to demonstrate benefits before embracing it.
Serotonergic targets for the treatment of l -DOPA-induced dyskinesia

Dopamine (DA) replacement therapy with L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) continues to be the gold-standard treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite clear symptomatic benefit, long-term L-DOPA use often results in the development of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID), significantly reducing quality of life and increasing costs for PD patients and their caregivers. Accumulated research has demonstrated that several pre- and post-synaptic mechanisms contribute to LID development and expression. In particular, raphe-striatal hyperinnervation and unregulated DA release from 5-HT terminals is postulated to play a central role in LID manifestation. As such, manipulation of the 5-HT system has garnered considerable attention. Both pre-clinical and clinical research has supported the potential of modulating the 5-HT system for LID prevention and treatment. This review discusses the rationale for continued investigation of several potential anti-dyskinetic strategies including 5-HT stimulation of 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors and blockade of 5-HT2A receptors and SERT. We present the latest findings from experimental and clinical investigations evaluating these 5-HT targets with the goal of identifying those with translational promise and the challenges associated with each.
Ecologically unequal exchange, recessions, and climate change: A longitudinal study.

Abstract This study investigates how the ecologically unequal exchange of carbon dioxide emissions varies with economic recessions. I propose a country-specific approach to examine (1) the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions in developing countries and the “vertical flow” of exports to the United States; and (2) the variations of the relationship before, during, and after two recent economic recessions in 2001 and 2008. Using data on 69 developing nations between 2000 and 2010, I estimate time-series cross-sectional regression models with two-way fixed effects. Results suggest that the vertical flow of exports to the United States is positively associated with carbon dioxide emissions in developing countries. The magnitude of this relationship increased in 2001, 2009, and 2010, and decreased in 2008, but remained stable in non-recession periods, suggesting that economic recessions in the United States are associated with variations of ecologically unequal exchange. Results highlight the impacts of U.S. recessions on carbon emissions in developing countries through the structure of international trade.
Exploring Opportunities to Improve Life Cycle Environmental Performance of a Complex Product

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an essential tool for achieving design for life cycle. An LCA examines all stages of a product’s life cycle and gives a quantitative assessment of its potential environmental impact. The results of the LCA help identify priority areas for improvement and ways to reduce environmental impacts. This paper presents a comprehensive LCA approach to quantitative assessment of environmental impact for industrial off-road equipment. This paper describes how LCA can be applied to off-road equipment and how it can be used to improve the environmental performance of a product. Six potential opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of off-road equipment are explored, and sensitivity analyses are presented as a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of those solutions. The LCA approach is demonstrated with the example of a construction machine.
3127 The effect of common genetic variants in the oxytocin receptor gene on oxytocin response.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Previous studies suggest that genetic variants in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) may alter oxytocin dose requirement for labor induction and may increase risk for preterm labor and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, the mechanisms of actions of these variants remain unknown. The goal of this study was to functionally characterize common missense and noncoding variants in OXTR. First, we aimed to determine the effects of missense variants on two major aspects of receptor function: calcium signaling and β-arrestin recruitment. Second, we used allelic expression imbalance assays in an effort to identify regulatory single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in noncoding regions of OXTR that alter OXTR mRNA expression. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We used the Exome Aggregation Consortium database to identify the 12 most prevalent missense single nucleotide variants in OXTR. To determine the functional effects of these variants, we transfected human embryonic kidney cells (a common model system used to study receptor function) with wild type OXTR, variant OXTR, or empty vector control. We used the calcium-sensitive dye Fluo4 to quantify intracellular calcium flux in response to oxytocin treatment, and used bioluminescence resonance energy transfer assays to measure recruitment of the signaling partner β-arrestin to the receptor. To investigate potential effects of noncoding SNPs on OXTR mRNA expression, we quantified allele-specific expression of OXTR in human uterine tissue obtained from participants at the time of Cesarean section. We used next-generation sequencing (Illumina MiSeq) to count alleles of a reporter SNP in OXTR exon 3. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Of the 12 most prevalent missense single nucleotide variants, four were predicted to be deleterious by PolyPhen variant annotation software. We anticipate that these variants will alter receptor signaling through calcium or β-arrestin pathways. We further observed that a reporter SNP in OXTR exon 3 exhibits significant allelic expression imbalance in a subset of our myometrial tissue samples, indicating that OXTR expression may be regulated by a functional SNP. Our current work focuses on discovering the functional SNPs in OXTR responsible for the pattern of allelic expression imbalance seen in mRNA. In the future, we will seek to explore the effects of these variants on uterine function by using genome editing of uterine smooth muscle cells. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our results suggest that both missense and noncoding variants may affect OXTR expression and function. Future studies may suggest that OXTR sequencing, genotyping, or expression analysis would be useful to identify individuals likely to respond or fail to respond to safe doses of oxytocin for labor induction. Personalizing approaches for labor induction in this way would increase the safety of oxytocin and potentially reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.
Correlation Between the Comprehensive NBRC Secured TMC SAE and the TMC Credentialing Exam

Background: Since 2015, the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) has made available a Comprehensive Therapist Multiple-Choice (TMC) Self-Assessment Examination (SAE) for RT educational programs. The contents and difficulty level of the TMC SAE are similar to the actual TMC credentialing exam. For this reason, the SAE is used by some RT programs as one of the accreditation outcome measures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the TMC SAE and the TMC credentialing exam. Methods: On April 6, 2018, 14 senior RT students (class of 2018) took the TMC SAE (Form 2015) under a proctored condition with a time limit of 3 hours. The individual score of the TMC SAE was recorded and compared with the respective score of the actual TMC credentialing exam. The scores of both exams were obtained via the online NBRC school reports. Pearson Correlation and t-value were calculated to evaluate the correlation and degree of differences between the scores. Results: As of June 1, 2018, 11 RT graduates of class of 2018 took the TMC credentialing exam. The mean scores for the TMC SAE and TMC credentialing exam were 94. 3 (N=14) and 104. 7 (N=11), respectively. Ten of 11 graduates (91%) earned or exceeded the NBRC high cut score of 94 on the TMC credentialing exam. Eight of 11 graduates scored higher on the TMC credentialing exam than on the TMC SAE. One graduate scored the same and two graduates scored lower on the TMC credentialing exam. The calculated r was 0.257 and the calculated t was 0.445. Conclusions: There was a positive but weak correlation between the TMC SAE and the TMC credentialing exam. The scores between these two exams do not show significant differences at the 0.05 confidence level. A majority of graduates (8 of 11 or 73%) earned a higher score on the credentialing exam than on the TMC SAE. This is possibly due to the time-lapse (ie, more preparation time) between the exams and the high-stake nature of the credentialing exam. A small sample size is a limitation of this study.
Spatial damage sensing ability of metallic particulate-reinforced cementitious composites: Insights from electrical resistance tomography

Abstract The paper evaluates the spatial damage sensing ability of self-sensing mortars containing up to 40% waste metallic iron powder by volume as cement-replacement. The spatial damage-sensing ability is evaluated using a framework that integrates the electrical resistance tomography (ERT)-based conductivity reconstruction algorithm with multiscale numerical homogenization with a view to enable microstructure-guided design of such self-sensing composites. The ERT-based framework uses experimentally measured boundary electrode voltages as input; assigns the effective conductivity of the composite (obtained from numerical homogenization) as initial estimate of the conductivity distribution and initiates the iterative process involving the well-posed forward model and the ill-posed inverse problem to obtain the conductivity map in the damaged configuration. The reconstructed damage maps, thus obtained, confirm sufficient spatial damage-sensing ability of mortars containing 30% or greater amount of iron powder validating the applicability of such self-sensing composites towards spatial damage sensing for health monitoring of structures.
The Specc Methodology

As we explained in Chapter 2, a methodology is a set of models and transformations that refine an initial, functional system specification into a detailed implementation description ready for manufacturing. The SpecC design methodology is based on four well-defined models, namely, a specification model, an architecture model, a communication model, and finally, an implementation model. In the following sections, we will give a detailed description of each model and of the refinement tasks leading from a functional specification model all the way to a cycle-accurate implementation model in SpecC.
Preliminary studies on development of a novel subunit vaccine targeting Clostridium perfringens mucolytic enzymes for the control of necrotic enteritis in broilers.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a pervasive enteric disease responsible for large scale economic losses within the global poultry industry. The etiologic agent of NE is Clostridium perfringens (CP), an opportunistic pathogen that utilizes numerous extracellular toxins and glycoside hydrolases (GH) as key virulence and nutrient acquisition factors. Notably, some GH, mucinases, degrade components of mucin in the gastrointestinal tract as an energy source. Targeting this mechanism may serve to reduce the incidence of disease associated with CP. Two experiments were completed that evaluated mucinase vaccine targets sourced from conserved peptide sequences of carbohydrate binding module 32 of CP mucinases. In experiment 1, 37 antigen peptides were synthetically generated and used to produce hyper-immune sera, which was then evaluated for ability to obstruct CP growth in vitro. Total CFU of CP were measured at 4, 6, and 8 h incubation to determine growth rate. Peptides 4, 5, 22, 24, and 30 were selected for further in vivo testing based on conservation or the ability to inhibit CP growth by over 50% at 6 and 8 h. In experiment 2, the aforementioned peptides were conjugated to an agonistic, CD40-targetting antibody and evaluated in vivo. Broilers were given an Eimeria maxima and CP in order to induce NE and assess vaccine efficacy. Treatments included a non-vaccinated non-inoculated control, non-vaccinated inoculated control (NVIC), vaccination with peptide 4, 5, 22, 24, or 30 (VP4-VP30), or a combination of all 5 peptides (MC). There was a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the percent change in BWG relative to NVIC for vaccination with peptide 22 and MC of 18.54 and 17.43%, respectively. MC vaccinated group had the lowest lesions with a mean score of 0.63 ± 0.18. These results suggest the MC combination was the most successful in alleviating overall performance losses associated with NE-infected broilers and encourage future testing of MC in the development of an NE vaccine.
The relationship between vowel space area and intelligibility of speech in children with velopharyngeal insufficiency

Speech of individuals with velopharyngeal insufficiency is characterized by nasalized vowels. It is well known that velopharyngeal coupling significantly alters the acoustic spectrum of vowels. Aside from changes in formant amplitude and bandwidth, formant frequencies may be modified. Centralized F1 and lowered F2 due to effects of nasalization could change the dimensions of the quadrilateral space. Such variations might cause the vowel space area to be compressed which might contribute to speech unintelligibility. In pursuing research on speech intelligibility in cleft palate, this study was conducted to address the relation between speech intelligibility and spectral characteristics of American English vowels in nasal speech. The hypotheses is that narrower vowel space will result in higher degrees of unintelligibility. Ten children aged 4-12 years with different degrees of hypernasality repeated words with four corner vowels. F1 and F2 midpoint frequencies were measured, and vowel space areas were calculated using the formula for an irregular quadrilateral. In order to determine intelligibility, seventy naive listeners were asked to orthographically transcribe the sentences produced by the participants. Correlational analysis were used to determine the relationship between the vowel space and intelligibility deficits. Further results will be discussed in the meeting.
Defaultable Bonds and Credit Derivatives: Valuation and Risk Management

This paper surveys the most common models and methodologies for valuing defaultable bonds and credit derivatives. Structural and reduced-form pricing models are discussed and credit modelling methodologies are compared with respect to their applicability to defaultable asset classes.
Achieving competitive balance in the face of resource uncertainty: a resource dependence perspective on the Negro Leagues

Resource Dependence Theory suggests that organizations faced with high resource dependency on actors in their external environment will take action to manage or minimize the dependence. In the earl...
Attention-based Joint Detection of Object and Semantic Part.

In this paper, we address the problem of joint detection of objects like dog and its semantic parts like face, leg, etc. Our model is created on top of two Faster-RCNN models that share their features to perform a novel Attention-based feature fusion of related Object and Part features to get enhanced representations of both. These representations are used for final classification and bounding box regression separately for both models. Our experiments on the PASCAL-Part 2010 dataset show that joint detection can simultaneously improve both object detection and part detection in terms of mean Average Precision (mAP) at IoU=0.5.
Novel Respiratory Disability Score Predicts COPD Exacerbations and Mortality in the Spiromics Cohort

Author(s): Cooper, Christopher B; Paine, Robert; Curtis, Jeffrey L; Kanner, Richard E; Martinez, Carlos H; Meldrum, Catherine A; Bowler, Russell; O'Neal, Wanda; Hoffman, Eric A; Couper, David; Quibrera, Miguel; Criner, Gerald; Dransfield, Mark T; Han, MeiLan K; Hansel, Nadia N; Krishnan, Jerry A; Lazarus, Stephen C; Peters, Stephen P; Barr, R Graham; Martinez, Fernando J; Woodruff, Prescott G; SPIROMICS investigators | Abstract: RationaleSome COPD patients develop extreme breathlessness, decreased exercise capacity and poor health status yet respiratory disability is poorly characterized as a distinct phenotype.ObjectiveTo define respiratory disability in COPD based on available functional measures and to determine associations with risk for exacerbations and death.MethodsWe analyzed baseline data from a multi-center observational study (SPIROMICS). This analysis includes 2332 participants (472 with severe COPD, 991 with mild/moderate COPD, 726 smokers without airflow obstruction and 143 non-smoking controls).MeasurementsWe defined respiratory disability by ≥4 of 7 criteria: mMRC dyspnea scale ≥3; Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire l5; 6-minute walking distance l250 m; St George's Respiratory Questionnaire activity domain g60; COPD Assessment Test g20; fatigue (FACIT-F Trial Outcome Index) l50; SF-12 l20.ResultsUsing these criteria, respiratory disability was identified in 315 (13.5%) participants (52.1% female). Frequencies were severe COPD 34.5%; mild-moderate COPD 11.2%; smokers without obstruction 5.2% and never-smokers 2.1%. Compared with others, participants with disability had more emphysema (13.2 vs. 6.6%) and air-trapping (37.0 vs. 21.6%) on HRCT (Pl0.0001). Using principal components analysis to derive a disability score, two factors explained 71% of variance, and a cut point -1.0 reliably identified disability. This disability score independently predicted future exacerbations (s=0.34; CI 0.12, 0.64; P=0.003) and death (HR 2.97; CI 1.54, 5.75; P=0.001). Thus, participants with disability by this criterion had almost three times greater mortality compared to those without disability.ConclusionOur novel SPIROMICS respiratory disability score in COPD was associated with worse airflow obstruction as well as airway wall thickening, lung parenchymal destruction and certain inflammatory biomarkers. The disability score also proved to be an independent predictor of future exacerbations and death. These findings validate disability as an important phenotype in the spectrum of COPD.
Cost estimates of production scale semitransparent organic photovoltaic modules for building integrated photovoltaics

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) are attached to commercial and residential structures to enable solar energy harvesting. While conventional Si photovoltaics (PVs) are dominant in the current market, second and third generation thin film solar cells based on amorphous Si, CdTe, CIGS, perovskites or organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are often considered as an alternative for BIPV applications since they may offer reduced costs compared to Si PVs. Indeed, recent advances in performance suggest that lightweight, flexible and visibly transparent OPVs can potentially be integrated into windows or other applications to which Si PVs are less well suited. Here, we estimate the cost of high efficiency, semitransparent OPVs (ST-OPVs) based on solution processing in a roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing line. Assuming modules with 10% power conversion efficiency (PCE), a 70% geometric fill factor (GFF), and 95% inverter efficiency, we anticipate a %1.6 per Wp module manufacturing cost that includes the cost of the microinverter to condition the OPV dc output to be compatible with the ac line voltage of the building. The materials and inverter cost comprise ∼90% of the total module cost. Hence, with simplified material synthesis and a lower inverter cost, including marginally improved PCE and GFF, we expect the cost can be as low as $0.47 per Wp. While the module costs ∼60% of the average (uninstalled) double-pane window, we expect the payback period can be as short as 2 to 6 years, suggesting that OPVs can be an economic and attractive candidate for BIPV applications.
Salience and Mutual Fund Investor Demand for Idiosyncratic Volatility

We find that mutual fund investors are more likely to both purchase and redeem funds with high idiosyncratic volatility (IV). Investors’ tendency to purchase high IV funds is largely driven by high...
Human lung tissue resident memory T cells are re-programmed but not eradicated with systemic glucocorticoids after acute cellular rejection

Abstract Acute cellular rejection is common after lung transplantation and is associated with an increased risk of early chronic rejection. We present combined single cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing on recipient derived T cells obtained from the bronchoalveolar lavage of three lung transplant recipients with acute cellular rejection and compare them with T cells obtained from the same three patients after clinical treatment of rejection with high-dose, systemic glucocorticoids. At the time of acute cellular rejection, we find an oligoclonal expansion of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, that all persist as tissue resident memory T cells following successful treatment. Persisting CD8+ allograft-resident T cells have reduced gene expression for cytotoxic mediators following therapy with glucocorticoids. This clonal expansion is discordant with circulating T cell clonal expansion at the time of rejection, suggesting in-situ expansion. These findings pose a potential biological mechanism linking acute cellular rejection to chronic allograft damage.
Occult Uterine Malignancy Found at Surgery for Uterine Fibroids: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to obtain an estimate of the prevalence of occult uterine malignancies of any subtype found at surgery for uterine fibroids. Metho...
Automatic Prediction of 3D Radiation Dose Distribution in Prostate Cancer Treated with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) Using a Conditional Generative Adversarial Network (cGAN).

Purpose/Objective(s) VMAT is a commonly used technique for the treatment of prostate cancer, but the planning process can be time-consuming due to the inherent complexity of the iterative optimizations. In this study, we aim to show the efficacy of a conditional generative adversarial network (cGAN) in automatically predicting the 3D radiation dose distribution trained with previously delivered plans. Materials/Methods In an IRB-approved analysis, we obtained the data of 167 patients with prostate adenocarcinoma who received definitive RT at our institution. All included cases were planned with VMAT technique with a prescribed dose of 78 Gy in 39 fx or 79.2 Gy in 44 fx to the prostate gland +/- seminal vesicles. For each patient, the inputs to the model were 6 structure masks (PTV and 5 OARs including bladder, rectum, penile bulb, and femoral heads), all resampled to voxel size of 2.5mm x 2.5mm x 3.0mm to be consistent with the grid size for dose, and the model predicts a 3D radiation dose distribution. The cGAN's generator was a modified 3D U-net, and its discriminator was a 5-layer 3D convolutional neural network. For training, mean absolute error (MAE) and binary cross entropy were used as the loss functions for the generator and discriminator, respectively, with Adam as the optimizers. Forty cases were randomly selected for testing only, and the remaining 127 formed the training set. The algorithm was implemented in Python 3.8 with PyTorch 1.7 as the framework. Model training was performed on NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPU. Model performance was assessed by comparing dosimetric metrics (based on institutional and RTOG 0415 guidelines) between the predicted doses (normalized to PTV maximal dose of 107%) and clinical doses with two-tailed paired t-test. Results The model was trained for 300 epochs. On the independent test set, the mean MAE for the predicted 3D dose distribution was 1.6 Gy per voxel (range, 0.9 – 4.5 Gy). Dosimetric comparison (Table 1) demonstrated that the predicted doses had similar to improved PTV coverage and comparable dose to OARs, except for the femoral heads for which the model predicted higher D5’s that still fell within dose constraint of Conclusion We demonstrated that, with the structures of the PTV and OARs as inputs, the 3D cGAN is excellent at the rapid prediction of radiation dose distributions of VMAT plans for prostate cancer that closely resemble clinically delivered doses. With further work on the deliverability of the predicted doses, our method can significantly increase the efficiency of treatment planning.
What Will It Take to Cure HIV

Investigational strategies to attempt HIV cure or remission include very early initiation of antiretroviral therapy to limit the latent HIV reservoir and preinfection vaccination. In the setting of viral suppression, strategies include reactivation of latently infected cells (eg, through "shock" therapy with histone deacetylase inhibitors or other agents); use of broadly neutralizing antibodies, therapeutic vaccines, immunotoxins, or other immune-based therapies to kill latently infected cells; and gene editing to induce target cell resistance (eg, by eliminating the CC chemokine receptor 5 [CCR5] coreceptor). Improved ability to detect and quantify very low levels of virus is needed. This article summarizes a presentation by Jintanat Ananworanich, MD, PhD, at the IAS-USA continuing education program held in New York, New York, in October 2014.
Targeting p53-mdm2 interaction using a potent mdm2 inhibitor to overcome cisplatin resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

3202 p53 is a transcription factor known to be implicated in more than half of all humancancers. p53 induces G1 cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis. Murine double-minute protein (mdm2) is one of the most critical regulators of p53. mdm2 directly binds to p53and blocks its transcriptional activity as wellas acts as an E3 ubiquitin ligase promoting proteasomal degradation. As mdm2 inhibition could increase the magnitude of wild type p53 activation following DNA damage, the use of mdm2 antagonists could be a promising strategy for anti-cancer drug design. Resistance to chemotherapy is a problem encountered in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We found previously that overexpression of Bcl-xL in combination with wild type p53 in HNSCC cell lines is associated with resistance to cisplatin. The purpose of this study was to look at the effectiveness of a recently developed non-peptide small molecule inhibitor of mdm2 along with cisplatin to see if these agents could be combined for more effective treatment of HNSCC tumors. To study this, we used two HNSCC cell lines: a parental, cisplatin sensitive cell line UM-SCC-74B (low Bcl-xL) and a stably transfected cisplatin resistant cell line UM-SCC-74BxL (very high Bcl-xL). Both cell lines have wild-type p53. Cell lines were treated with cisplatin alone, mdm2 inhibitor alone (MI-63), inactive control alone (MI-61), or in combination (sequentially). For combination treatments, cells were treated with cisplatin first for 4 hours, washed and 24 hours later treated with MI-63 or MI-61. The inhibition of cell growth following treatment was assessed by MTT assay. In the cisplatin sensitive UM-SCC-74B cell line, 49%, 50%, 26% viable cells as compared to control were seen in the cisplatin alone, mdm2 inhibitor alone or the combination treatment arm respectively. Similarly and more importantly, in the cisplatin resistant cell line UM-SCC-74BxL, the combination of cisplatin and mdm2 inhibitor was most effective in inhibiting cell growth (27% viable cells) as compared to treatment with cisplatin alone (70%) or mdm-2 inhibitor alone (50%). The inactive control, MI-61, had no effect on the growth of cells as compared to untreated cells. Similar results were obtained using the clonogenic survival assay. Significantly fewer clones were observed in the combination group in both cell lines as compared to the individual drug treated groups. Cell cycle analysis by propidium iodine staining showed that treating with mdm2 inhibitor alone caused cells to undergo G1 arrest. Cells seemed to arrested at G2/M in the combination treatment group, and this G2/M arrest was higher than the G2/M arrest observed in the cisplatin treated group alone. These results indicate that this mdm2 inhibitor in combination with cisplatin might have a great therapeutic potential in the treatment of chemotherapy resistant tumors with wild type p53.
A cost optimal parallel quicksorting and its implementation on a shared memory parallel computer

This paper discusses a parallel quicksort algorithm that is cost optimal, in average, using O(n/log(n)) processors. The cost optimality is mainly due to a cost optimal partitioning algorithm that utilizes all the processors when partitioning the array. A temporary array of the same size as the original array is needed during the partitioning process. The prefix sums are used to determine where a processor can copy its data. We will prove that the algorithm has an average case complexity O(log2n), where n is the size of the data array. We will also discuss the implementation of our algorithm on a shared memory parallel computer and demonstrate that it outperforms other O(log2n) parallel sorting algorithms. In addition, it outperforms the sequential quicksort algorithm starting with two processors.
The Fundamentals of Political Science Research: Bivariate Hypothesis Testing

OVERVIEW Once we have set up a hypothesis test and collected data, how do we evaluate what we have found? In this chapter we provide hands-on discussions of the basic building blocks used to make statistical inferences about the relationship between two variables. We deal with the often misunderstood topic of “statistical significance” – focusing both on what it is and what it is not – as well as the nature of statistical uncertainty. We introduce three ways to examine relationships between two variables: tabular analysis (crosstabs), difference of means tests, and correlation coefficients. (We will introduce a fourth technique, bivariate regression analysis, in Chapter 9.) BIVARIATE HYPOTHESIS TESTS AND ESTABLISHING CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS In the preceding chapters we introduced the core concepts of hypothesis testing. In this chapter we discuss the basic mechanics of hypothesis testing with three different examples of bivariate hypothesis testing. It is worth noting that, although this type of analysis was the main form of hypothesis testing in the professional journals up through the 1970s, it is seldom used as the primary means of hypothesis testing in the professional journals today. This is the case because these techniques are good at helping us with only the first principle for establishing causal relationships. Namely, bivariate hypothesis tests help us to answer the question, “Are X and Y related?” By definition – “bivariate” means “two variables” – these tests cannot help us with the important question, “Is there some confounding variable Z that is related to both X and Y and makes the observed association between X and Y spurious?”
Encyclopedia of Global Industries

The fourth edition of Encyclopedia of American Industries is the first edition published by Grey House under an exclusive license from the Gale Group, with preparation done by the Gale editorial st...
Native Colombia: Contact, Conquest and Colonial Populations

Studies done on Colombia’s population history during the last three decades have been influenced by the ideas, methods and approaches of Woodrow Borah. We will discuss three issues that he and Sherburne Cook considered in the course of their work on Latin American demography – probable size of native populations on the eve of European contact; the effects of climate and elevation on the intensity of different groups’ decline; and the impact on native populations of diseases brought from the Old World to the New. We examine the information available on Colombia’s diverse highland and lowland regions, and in that context explore questions that have arisen recently regarding nutrition and health levels of native people prior to European conquest.
On Silos, Moieties, and Health Care Reform

Contributions to the Journal continue to develop and refine knowledge regarding the phenomenology, assessment, and treatment of dual diagnosis, broadly defined as co-occurring mental illnesses and ...
A neural network learning strategy for the control of a one-legged hopping machine

Results are presented on two neural network strategies for the control of dynamic locomotive systems, in particular a one-legged hopping robot. The control task is to make corrections to the motion of the robot that serve to maintain a fixed level of energy (and minimize energy losses), which yields a stable periodic limit cycle in the system's state space. Control of the robot is achieved by the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) with a continuous learning memory. Through continuous reinforcement for past successes and failures, the control system develops a stable strategy for accomplishing the desired control objectives. The results are presented in the form of computer simulation that demonstrate the ability of two different ANNs to devise proper control signals that will develop a stable hopping strategy, and hence a stable limit cycle in the robot's state space, using imprecise knowledge of both the current state and the mathematical model of the robot leg. >
Inhibition of Sucrose:Sucrose Fructosyl Transferase by Cations and Ionic Strength.

Fructans are storage carbohydrates found in many temperate grasses. The first enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of most fructans is sucrose:sucrose fructosyl transferase (SST). In this report, we demonstrate that K+ and ionic strength noncompetitively inhibit the activity of SST from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) stems. The Ki for this inhibition is high, 122 mM, but in the range of concentrations of K+ found in the tissue (205–)314 mM). Addition of KCl to the assay system had no effect on the pH optimum (5.5) or the Km for sucrose (266 mM) but reduced the Vmax. At equivalent ionic strengths, inhibition by choline chloride was about half that of KCl, indicating that inhibition by ionic strength might be responsible for approximately 50% of the KCl inhibition. Inhibition by LiCl and (NH4)2SO4 was similar to that by choline chloride. Soluble invertase activity found in the SST preparations was less sensitive to KCl and more sensitive to choline chloride than was SST. SST from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) stems and leaves, as well as SST from leaves of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata), was also inhibited by KCl. SST from onion (Allium cepa L.) bulbs and asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) stems was not inhibited by KCl; thus, inhibition of activity by KCl is not a universal characteristic of SST from all sources.
Topology-aware mappings for large-scale eigenvalue problems

Obtaining highly accurate predictions for properties of light atomic nuclei using the Configuration Interaction (CI) approach requires computing the lowest eigenvalues and associated eigenvectors of a large many-body nuclear Hamiltonian matrix, $\hat{H}$. Since $\hat{H}$ is a large sparse matrix, a parallel iterative eigensolver designed for multi-core clusters is used. Due to the extremely large size of $\hat{H}$, thousands of compute nodes are required. Communication overhead may hinder the scalability of the eigensolver at such scales. In this paper, we discuss how to reduce such overhead. In particular, we quantitatively show that topology-aware mapping of computational tasks to physical processors on large-scale multi-core clusters may have a significant impact on efficiency. For typical large-scale eigenvalue calculations, we obtain up to a factor of 2.5 improvement in overall performance by using a topology-aware mapping.
The inertness of reason and Hume's legacy

Hume argues against the seventeenth-century rationalists that reason is impotent to motivate action and to originate morality. Hume's arguments have standardly been considered the foundation for the Humean theory of motivation in contemporary philosophy. The Humean theory alleges that beliefs require independent desires to motivate action. Recently, however, new commentaries allege that Hume's argument concerning the inertness of reason has no bearing on whether beliefs can motivate. These commentaries maintain that for Hume, beliefs about future pleasurable and painful objects on their own can produce the desires that move us to action. First, I show that this reading puts Hume at odds with Humeans, since the latter are committed, not only to the view that beliefs and desires are both necessary to action, but also to the view that beliefs do not produce desires. Second, I review textual, philosophical and historical grounds for my interpretation of Hume's argument for the inertness of reason. I argue tha...
On optimum turning configurations

Dynamic stabilization and turning of submersible vehicles is presently accomplished by addition of fin-type appendages at the stern of the vehicle, and control is sometimes augmented by forward fins. These conventional configurations are neither the only stabilizing solutions nor necessarily provide the best turning configurations. Linear turning theory is applied to find the fixed fin size and location that optimize turning performance, for a given degree of stability. It is shown that configurations having the same stability can be designed with a range of turning ability, and vice versa.
Orthogonal matched filter detection

We consider the generic problem of detecting a transmitted signal when one of M known signals is transmitted. Instead of using a classical matched filter (MF) detector, matched to the transmitted signals, we propose using an orthogonal matched filter (OMF) detector, which is matched to a set of orthogonal signals that are closest in a least-squares sense to the transmitted signals. We show that this approach is equivalent to optimally whitening the output of the MF demodulator, and then basing the detection on the whitened output. We provide simulation results which suggest that, in many cases, the OMF detector outperforms the MF detector.
Synthesis of Insensitive 5,5′-Azotetrazolate Salts

Salts of 5,5′-azotetrazolate with 5-aminotetrazole and 2,4,6-triamino-s-triazine cations were synthesized as potential ingredients for gun propellants. These salts were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared spectroscopy. Thermal properties were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Their reactions to mechanical stimuli were also determined by small-scale sensitivity testing, small-scale shock reactivity testing, and small-scale internal blast testing.
Individual and Environmental Influences on Chinese Student Creativity.

Primarily using self-report questionnaires and psychometric tests in a sample of 357 Chinese high school students, this study examines how both individual and environmental factors can independently predict student creativity as measured by three different methods, including two product-orientated measures (story completion and collage making), two divergent thinking measures (circle task and picture completion), and one self-report inventory on divergent thinking attitudes. Two different types of theoretical models — the cognitive approach and confluence approach — are compared and contrasted. Based on previous research, this study uses the confluence approach to investigate the influences of individual (i.e. intelligence, personality, motivation, thinking styles, and knowledge) and environmental (i.e., school and family environment) factors on creativity. The results have confirmed the major hypothesis that both individual and environmental factors play decisive roles in Chinese student creativity. Implications of these findings are discussed. This paper also calls for a serious consideration of research on environmental influence on creativity and various mechanisms of this influence.
Audiological findings in individuals exposed to organic solvents: Case studies

Millions of people around the world are exposed to industrial organic solvents such as toluene and xylene in the manufacturing sectors. Solvents are neurotoxic substances that are detrimental to the functioning of the nervous system, including the central auditory nervous system (CANS). This study investigated hearing and auditory processing in seven individuals with a history of exposure to industrial solvents. A battery of audiological tests was administered to all subjects: pure tone, speech, and impedance audiometry, otoacoustic emissions tests, auditory brainstem responses, middle latency responses, as well as the SCAN-A and R-SPIN tests with low predictability sentence lists. All individuals in this study exhibited findings consistent with retrocochlear and/or central abnormality. Two of the seven subjects in this study had normal pure tone thresholds at all frequencies bilaterally, yet showed abnormal retrocochlear/central results on one or more tests. The auditory test battery approach used in this study appears to be valuable in evaluating the pathological conditions of the CANS in solvent-exposed individuals.
Securing and Facilitating Trade Through U.S. Land Borders: Critical Analysis of C-TPAT and FAST Programs

A paradigm shift in U.S. policy about inbound commercial shipments has occurred in recent years. Before September 11, 2001, U.S. Customs Services' regulation of imported goods focused primarily on trade compliance. Since then, Customs' priority mission has become preventing terrorism against the United States. Two volunteer programs, the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) initiative, were created to reconcile supply chain security and trade facilitation goals. Customs has successfully engaged thousands of companies in trade security by offering benefits such as fewer inspections and expedited border processing. However, this approach is viable only if resources and mechanisms exist to ensure that the shipments being facilitated are indeed more secure. The security practices of current C-TPAT enrollees may not be validated for months or years because of funding and staffing constraints. These limitations also prevent Customs from integrating stakeholde...
Anodic electrosynthesis of Cu2S and CuInS2 films

Abstract This paper describes the combined use of voltammetry and electrode illumination during the anodic growth of Cu2S and CuInS2 films on copper substrates in sulfide containing KOH medium. The importance of compound stoichiometry in the two systems on the quality of the photoresponse was brought out in these experiments either by varying the positive potential limit (in the Cu–S case) or by In3+ ion addition (in the Cu–In–S case) during film growth. The in situ use of electrochemical quartz crystal microgravimetry and coulometry provided further insights into the mechanistic aspects of film growth in the two systems. Further, Raman spectroscopy evidence is presented in support of a new wurtzite-type structure for the CuInS2 films grown under galvanodynamic conditions.
A simplified method for the prediction of concentration polarization in reverse osmosis operation for multi-component systems

Abstract A simplified procedure is presented for the prediction of concentration polarization in reverse osmosis operation where a multicomponent stream is treated, by using the information obtained from one-solute system. The method which is based on the observation that the local Sherwood number for a given species of solute is approximately proportional to the cubic root of its Schmidt number and relatively independent of other parameters, involves the simultaneous solution of n coupled integral equations. The method is tested for two- and three-solute systems and the results are compared with those obtained from the more rigorous method. Good agreements are observed for both cases.
Templating Photodimerization of trans-Cinnamic Acid Esters with a Water-Soluble Pd Nanocage

A water-soluble octahedral Pd nanocage acting as a reaction vessel templates the photodimerization of substituted trans-cinnamic acid methyl esters in water. Irradiation of the host−guest complexes of trans-cinnamic acid methyl esters with the Pd nanocage resulted in selective formation of a syn head−head dimer in addition to the corresponding cis isomer. These results suggest that the guest molecules are preoriented in a selective fashion with the hydrophilic ester group facing water and the hydrophobic aryl group tucked within the cavity of the host. Such an orientation occurs at the hydrophobic−hydrophilic interface between the nanocage exterior and interior. Weak intermolecular C−H−π and π−π interactions between the host and the guest(s) are likely to be responsible for the lack of mobility of the reactant olefins during their short excited-state lifetime.
Cretinism with goiter; a case report.

CRETINOUS patients with goiter may show a high accumulation of radioactive iodine. In studies on 3 such siblings (1) the radioactive iodine was found to be rapidly discharged from the thyroid upon the administration of potassium thiocyanate, an observation which was interpreted to mean that the thyroid glands of these patients were unable to incorporate iodide into a protein complex. This case report concerns another goitrous cretin, referred by Dr. C. D. Cook of the Children's Hospital of Boston. Shirley O., MGH #696322 a 13-year-old female, was said to have had a large head and an umbilical hernia at birth. At five months of age because of failure to gain, poor feeding, drowsiness and constipation, a diagnosis of cretinism was made. She was given desiccated thyroid in dosages varying up to 2 grains daily. Prompt improvement followed, but she did not walk until she was 2 and began to talk only when she reached the age of 3. Mental retardation was always evident. One year before admission her parents noti...
Evolving Management of ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Update on Recent Data

Significant recent advances have been made in strategies for managing ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Based on new findings, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have updated their guidelines for acute myocardial infarction (MI) with newer recommendations for STEMI management. Many of these recommendations focus on antithrombotic agents, with a movement toward lower doses of long-term aspirin and lower doses of unfractionated heparin (UFH). Studies have also been completed on the use of enoxaparin and fondaparinux as potential alternatives to heparin, and clinical trial data support the early use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (along with aspirin, UFH, and clopidogrel) in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for acute STEMI. Clopidogrel has also been shown to improve angiographic and clinical outcomes in patients with STEMI who are undergoing thrombolysis or being treated medically. The new ACC/AHA recommendations support clopidogrel pretreatment and long-term therapy.