cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
230 PALMITIC ACID TRIGGERS CELL DEATH IN PC12 CELLS THROUGH THE ACTIVATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL PROAPOPTOTIC GENES.

The present study uses PC12 cells to investigate the mechanism by which pathological concentrations of saturated free fatty acids (FFAs) trigger cell death. Fatty acid-induced apoptotic cell death has been proposed to play a role in the neuronal loss observed following traumatic injury in the CNS and PNS. To further study this observation, we performed a series of c-DNA array experiments using mRNA of PC12 cells exposed to palmitic acid complexed with bovine serum albumin (BSA) (2:1 ration). Our data show that palmitic acid changes the levels of expression of several mRNAs of proteins that have been associated with apoptosis such as BNIP3 and Bax. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR (QRTPCR) experiments revealed an up-regulation of the proapoptotic mRNA BNIP3 that reached a maximum of 4-fold induction and Bax that reached a maximum of 3.5 induction during the course of the exposure of PC12 cells to palmitic acid. Western blots results also show an induction in BNIP3 and Bax protein. Additional activation of BNIP3/Bax can induce cell death by heterodimerization with antiapoptotic Bcl-2/Bcl-xl or by opening of the permeability transition pore resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction. Our results suggest that saturated FFAs induced cell death through the activation of proapoptotic mitochondrial genes like BNIP3 and Bax.
Ultrastructural and biochemical effects of staphylotoxin on alveoli isolated from rat mammary gland.

The early effects of cell-free staphylotoxin on isolated rat mammary alveoli were studied in vitro. Parameters evaluated included cell ultrastructure, using morphometric analysis, and milk protein synthesis and secretion as determined by measuring 3 H-leucine incorporation into protein. Staphylotoxin induced pathological alterations in alveolar cells at the ultrastructural level and inhibited both protein synthetic and secretory activity.
T2LD : interpreting and representing tables as linked data

We describe a framework and prototype system for interpreting tables and extracting entities and relations from them, and producing a linked data representation of the table's contents. This can be used to annotate the table or to add new facts to the linked data collection.
Production of glutamine and utilization of glutamate by rat subcutaneous adipose tissue in vivo.

Information about adipose tissue amino acid metabolism is limited, with most data derived from studies in vitro. The purpose of this study was to further characterize the role of adipose tissue in ...
Abstract 1924: miR-142-3p is a candidate mediator of chloride intracellular channel 4 (CLIC4) loss during squamous cancer progression

Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA Chloride intracellular channel 4 (CLIC4) is a broadly expressed protein that has been implicated in multiple cellular processes, including cellular differentiation and apoptosis. As a soluble factor, CLIC4 translocates to the nucleus following exposure to a variety of stimuli, including TGF-β, TNF-α, and etoposide. Nuclear CLIC4 potentiates TGF-β signaling by preventing the dephosphorylation of phospho-SMAD2 and 3 and promotes growth arrest. Although its primary function is as a tumor suppressor, CLIC4 expression is progressively diminished during cancer progression and CLIC4 protein is excluded from the nucleus of many human epithelial neoplasms and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines. To date, no gene deletions or mutations have been identified to account for this phenomenon; thus, identifying the mechanism of CLIC4 loss is our primary focus. To determine if epigenetic gene silencing is responsible, we evaluated the methylation status of the CLIC4 promoter in a progression panel (normal, papilloma, SCC) of epithelial cell lines by performing bisulfite sequencing. No differential promoter methylation was found between the cell lines, suggesting that the regulation may be post-transcriptional or post-translational. Because microRNAs (miRNAs) are known to regulate gene expression by mediating the degradation or translational repression of target mRNAs, we performed a bioinformatic analysis of the CLIC4 3’ UTR, which revealed a large number of putative targeting miRNAs. One such miRNA, miR-142-3p, has been predicted to target CLIC4 by multiple algorithms and has been shown to interact with the CLIC4 3’ UTR by high-throughput sequencing and crosslinking immunoprecipitation. We confirmed the functional activity of miR-142-3p against the CLIC4 3’ UTR by using a 3’ UTR luciferase reporter assay and a miR-142-3p mimic. miR-142-3p is high in the tumor tissue and plasma of patients with head and neck SCC and is correlated with worse prognosis, where CLIC4 expression is known to be low. Thus, miR-142-3p may be responsible for mediating CLIC4 loss in squamous lesions and warrants further investigation. Citation Format: Brandi L. Carofino, Stuart H. Yuspa. miR-142-3p is a candidate mediator of chloride intracellular channel 4 (CLIC4) loss during squamous cancer progression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1924.
Quark Mixing from Heavy Quark Semileptonic Decays

Heavy quark semileptonic decay data: lifetime, branching ratio and the electron spectrum are analyzed in a self consistent way. Values for the ∣Vub∣ and ∣Vcb∣ elements of the mixing matrix are determined to be <0.0051 at 90% c.1. and = 0.044 ± 0.005 respectively. Combining these results with nucleon and hyperon β-decay data the K-M angle s3 is found to be < 0.022 at 90% c.1. and s2 to be bounded between 0.044 and 0.066, and the mixing matrix to be almost diagonal.
CEARCPG: A Monte Carlo Simulation Code for Normal and Coincidence Prompt-Gamma-Ray Neutron Activation Analysis

A new Monte Carlo code named CEARCPG has been developed to generate both the normal and coincidence library spectra for the prompt-gamma-ray neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) inverse analysis pro...
Outcomes of Primary Colorectal Sarcoma: A National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) Review

Primary colorectal sarcomas are a rare entity with anecdotally poor outcomes. We sought to inform surgeons, oncologists, and researchers of the characteristics and outcomes of these understudied and difficult-to-manage tumors. The National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was queried for patients with pathologically confirmed primary sarcoma of the colon or rectum (1998–2012). Gastrointestinal stromal tumors were excluded. Unadjusted overall survival was reported using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma were used as a comparison cohort. Four hundred thirty-three patients with primary colorectal sarcoma were identified (57.5% leiomyosarcoma subtype). Median age was 63 [inter-quartile range 52, 75] years with 23.1% between the ages of 18 and 50 and 48.7% female. Majority of sarcomas were located in the colon (70.7%). When compared to 696,902 patients with adenocarcinoma, sarcoma patients were younger, had larger tumors, were more likely node negative and rectal in location, and higher grade (all p 0.05). Overall survival was lower at 5 years in patients with sarcoma (43.8%) than adenocarcinoma (52.3%, p < 0.001). Primary colorectal sarcomas are rare and present at a younger age and higher grade than adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum. Survival is significantly worse compared to adenocarcinoma patients.
Reconnection Rate and Long-Term Outcome with Adenosine Provocation During Cryoballoon Ablation for Pulmonary Vein Isolation.

Background: Adenosine can unmask dormant conduction during pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for atrial fibrillation (AF). Studies of adenosine use in radiofrequency PVI show high reconnection rates and conflicting results for long-term success, however there is limited data with cryoballoon ablation (CBA). Methods: A prospectively maintained database of patients undergoing first CBA at a single institution was analyzed. Adenosine use was at the discretion of the primary operator. Additional freezes were delivered for reconnected veins until dormant conduction was eliminated. The primary endpoint, time to AF recurrence defined as any episode > 30 seconds after a 3-month blanking period, was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: From 2011 to 2015, 406 patients underwent CBA, 361 of whom had > 3 months follow-up. The mean age was 61.7 years, 69% were male, and the prevalence of paroxysmal AF was 79% with no significant difference between those that did and did not receive adenosine (77% vs 86%, respectively, p = 0.23). Adenosine testing was performed in 78 patients (21.6%) with a mean dose of 10.6 mg/vein. Of the 306 veins evaluated, 17 (6%) demonstrated dormant conduction. Over a median 14.4 months follow-up, there was no significant difference in freedom from AF with adenosine use (p= 0.86). Conclusions: Dormant conduction with adenosine is uncommon following CBA and its use does not improve long-term success rates.
Circulating Prolidase Activity in Patients with Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND: Collagen is a major determinant of atherosclerotic plaque stability. Thus, identification of differences in enzymes that regulate collagen integrity could be useful for predicting susceptibility to atherothrombosis or for diagnosing plaque rupture. In this study, we sought to determine whether prolidase, the rate-limiting enzyme of collagen turnover, differs in human subjects with acute myocardial infarction (MI) versus those with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: We measured serum prolidase activity in 15 patients with stable CAD and 49 patients with acute MI, of which a subset had clearly defined thrombotic MI (n=22) or non-thrombotic MI (n=12). Prolidase activity was compared across study time-points (at cardiac catheterization, T0; 6 h after presentation, T6; and at a quiescent follow-up, Tf/u) in acute MI and stable CAD subjects. We performed subgroup analyses to evaluate prolidase activity in subjects presenting with acute thrombotic versus non-thrombotic MI. RESULTS: Although prolidase activity was lower at T0 and T6 versus the quiescent phase in acute MI and stable CAD subjects (p<0.0001), it was not significantly different between acute MI and stable CAD subjects at any time point (T0, T6 and Tf/u) or between thrombotic and non-thrombotic MI groups. Preliminary data from stratified analyses of a small number of diabetic subjects (n=8) suggested lower prolidase activity in diabetic acute MI subjects compared with non-diabetic acute MI subjects (p=0.02). Conclusions: Circulating prolidase is not significantly different between patients with acute MI and stable CAD or between patients with thrombotic and non-thrombotic MI. Further studies are required to determine if diabetes significantly affects prolidase activity and how this might relate to the risk of MI.
The Contemporary Bacteriologic Epidemiology of Osteoarticular Infections in Children in Switzerland.

Objectives To assess the contemporary bacteriologic epidemiology of pediatric osteoarticular infection with particular regard to children's ages, because Kingella kingae has gained increasing recognition as the predominant pathogen for osteoarticular infection in young children. Study design Retrospective file review of enrolled children from 0 to 15 years of age, admitted to our institution from 2007 to 2015 for suspected osteoarticular infection (217 cases). Information on age, sex, the bone or joint infected, imaging studies, and laboratory data (including bacterial investigations) were collected for analysis. Results Microorganism identification was possible for 138 infected children (63.6%), through blood (cultures or polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) and/or operative samples (cultures or PCR). Thirty-one patients (14.3%) were found to both have positive blood cultures and operative samples. The results of positive bacteriology specimens identified the most common causative pathogen for osteoarticular infection as K kingae (47.8% of microbiologically confirmed osteoarticular infections of all ages, and 87.7% in children between the ages of 6 and 48 months), significantly more common than Staphylococcus aureus (35.5% of microbiologically confirmed osteoarticular infections of all ages, and 78.2% in children >4 years of age). Conclusions Use of the appropriate PCR assays demonstrated that K kingae currently is the major bacterial cause of pediatric osteoarticular infection, especially in children
6+ MV laser triggered gas switch used on Z

The Z pulsed power driver at Sandia National Laboratories is used for a wide range of high energy density physics experiments in areas such as inertial confinement fusion, radiation effects, and dynamic material properties. Experimental demands are pushing for the highest energy attainable with more reliability and precision in timing and pulse compression. A previous version of the laser-triggered gas switch had been made reliable at voltages up to 5.7 MV, allowing 5 nanosecond load accuracy. The desire for higher energy and higher precision dictated a new laser-triggered switch design. In Z, 36 DC-charged Marx generators pulse-charge water-insulated capacitors in 1.5 microseconds. The laser-triggered gas switch commutes the energy stored in the water-insulated capacitor to subsequent pulse compression stages that utilize self-closing water switches. The laser-triggered switch is the last command triggered switch in the chain, and largely determines the temporal accuracy of the total load current. Both switches consist of a laser triggered section and a self-closing cascade section. The previous design required a trigger plate to provide mechanical support for the cascade section. With fixed laser energy, it was impossible to increase the triggered fraction of the switch. Because of the trigger support plate that affects the field distribution after triggering, establishing an operating pressure that provides a reliable balance between low pre-fire rate and low jitter becomes difficult, and more so at higher voltage. The new switch uses a cantilevered design that increases the electric stress in the self-closing section after triggering, even with a slightly-reduced triggered gap. It was required that the new design work within the same operating space and infrastructure as the previous. We will show details of the design and features necessary for reliable operation in the extreme electrical and mechanical environment presented by daily operation on Z.
SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT AS A PREVENTATIVE TOOL FOR OPIOID USE: A CAUTIONARY TALE.

Objective. Using a large panel sample of men who have been released from prison, the current study seeks to explore whether substance use treatment before and after release from prison helps reduce...
Gaining Cultural Competence Through Alliances in Art Therapy With Indigenous Clients (La compétence culturelle et son acquisition grâce à des alliances avec des clients autochtones en art-thérapie)

Non-Indigenous art therapists who work with Indigenous clients must carefully consider Indigenous culture as part of their practice. The historical mistrust of Indigenous people toward non-Indigeno...
Norms of Reaction in Fishes

The norm of reaction is defined as the ‘phenotypic expression of a genotype in different environments’ (Schmaulhausen 1949). This concept is of importance in fisheries management because it describes how morphology and life history can change in response to changes caused by fishing. Specifically, high fishing pressure often reduces population densities and increases resource availability to each individual that survives. I summarise experiments on guppies that show that increased resource availability causes an increase in the size at maturity, a decrease in the age at maturity, increased fecundity, increased frequency of reproduction and an increase in population growth rate. An independent experiment shows that increased mortality, a more direct consequence of fishing, selects for earlier maturity at a smaller size and higher fecundity early in life. Both of these changes can be expected in response to high fishing pressure, but the plastic response to food availability is much larger than the evolved response to high mortality rates. This environmental effect can thus overshadow the direction of life history evolution, even though the latter still occurs. If this were true of a natural fishery, then there would be active selection for smaller body size, an undesirable result, that would be masked by the environmental response to high resource availability. I also evaluate the generality of these results with respect to the published literature and discuss the possible value of investigations on such model systems for the management of economically more important, but experimentally less tractable species.
Glaciohydraulic supercooling: A freeze-on mechanism to create stratified, debris-rich basal ice: II. Theory

Simple theory supports field observations (Lawson and others, 1998) that subglacial water flow out of overdeepenings can cause accretion of layered, debris-bearing ice to the bases of glaciers. The large meltwater flux into a temperate glacier at the onset of summer melting can cause rapid water flow through expanded basal cavities or other flow paths. If that flow ascends a sufficiently steep slope out of an overdeepening, the water will supercool as the pressure-melting point rises, and basal-ice accretion will occur. Diurnal, occasional or annual fluctuations in water discharge will cause variations in accretion rate, debris content of accreted ice or subsequent diagenesis, producing layers. Under appropriate conditions, net accretion of debris-bearing basal ice will allow debris fluxes that are significant in the glacier sediment budget.
Exploration for Agents with Different Personalities in Unknown Environments

We present in this paper a personality-based architecture (PA) that combines elements from the subsumption architecture and reinforcement learning to find alternate solutions for problems facing artificial agents exploring unknown environments. The underlying PA algorithm is decomposed into layers according to the different (non-contiguous) stages that our agent passes in, which in turn are influenced by the sources of rewards present in the environment. The cumulative rewards collected by an agent, in addition to its internal composition serve as factors in shaping its personality. In missions where multiple agents are deployed, our solution-goal is to allow each of the agents develop its own distinct personality in order for the collective to reach a balanced society, which then can accumulate the largest possible amount of rewards for the agent and society as well. The architecture is tested in a simulated matrix world which embodies different types of positive rewards and negative rewards. Varying experiments are performed to compare the performance of our algorithm with other algorithms under the same environment conditions. The use of our architecture accelerates the overall adaptation of the agents to their environment and goals by allowing the emergence of an optimal society of agents with different personalities. We believe that our approach achieves much efficient results when compared to other more restrictive policy designs.
Early experience and health related quality of life outcomes following auditory brainstem implantation in children.

Abstract Objective To assess auditory brainstem implant (ABI) outcomes in children with a prospective study. Methods Twelve patients with cochlear nerve deficiency received an auditory brainstem implant. Patients were evaluated with age appropriate speech perception and production assessments, and health related quality of life (HRQoL) surveys for parents of subjects and for subjects if age appropriate. Results Twelve patients received an ABI without major complications. Eleven out of twelve received some auditory benefit from their ABI. Parental HRQoL ratings were positive for all domains with the exception of communication. Self reported overall HRQoL metrics from two subjects were also positive. Conclusions ABI is a good option for patients who are not eligible for or fail CI. Our findings show that despite varying degrees of postoperative performance, HRQoL ratings were positive. The presence of additional disabilities and health problems resulted in less positive HRQoL outcomes. Our results emphasize the need to assess outcomes in these patients beyond speech perception and communication.
Methods to improve the noninvasive diagnosis and assessment of disease severity in children with suspected nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): Study design

Abstract Background Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly associated with obesity and is the most common liver disease in the developed world. In children with suspected NAFLD, present guidelines suggest consideration of alternative diagnoses via extensive blood testing, though the yield of this work up is unknown. Furthermore, the gold standard diagnostic test for NAFLD remains liver biopsy, making the development of non-invasive tests critically important. Objectives Our objectives are: 1) to determine the accuracy of elastography and multiple serum biomarkers – each assessed individually and as algorithms (including those previously tested in adults) – for the diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and early fibrosis in children and (2) to examine the utility of extensive testing for rare alternative diagnoses in overweight or obese children with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) suspected to have NAFLD. Design This is an ongoing, cross-sectional study in children 2–18 years of age with up to 2 years of prospective follow up. Eligible patients are asymptomatic, overweight or obese, and have an ALT ≥35 U/L upon enrollment. Two forms of elastography are obtained serially along with anthropometric data and routine laboratory tests. Elastography and serum biomarkers are also performed immediately prior to any clinically-indicated biopsy. Methods Between April 2015 and April 2018, 193 children have been enrolled in this ongoing study and 71 have undergone liver biopsy. Here we carefully report the rationale, methodology, and preliminary data for this study.
Two millennia of anthropogenic landscape modification and nutrient loading at Dian Lake, Yunnan Province, China:

Landscapes have been shaped by human activities for millennia and there is a pressing need to characterize pre-industrial impacts in order to mitigate present-day effects. We present the analysis o...
ParST is a widespread toxin-antitoxin module that targets nucleotide metabolism.

Toxin–antitoxin (TA) systems interfere with essential cellular processes and are implicated in bacterial lifestyle adaptations such as persistence and the biofilm formation. Here, we present structural, biochemical, and functional data on an uncharacterized TA system, the COG5654–COG5642 pair. Bioinformatic analysis showed that this TA pair is found in 2,942 of the 16,286 distinct bacterial species in the RefSeq database. We solved a structure of the toxin bound to a fragment of the antitoxin to 1.50 A. This structure suggested that the toxin is a mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase (mART). The toxin specifically modifies phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase (Prs), an essential enzyme in nucleotide biosynthesis conserved in all organisms. We propose renaming the toxin ParT for Prs ADP-ribosylating toxin and ParS for the cognate antitoxin. ParT is a unique example of an intracellular protein mART in bacteria and is the smallest known mART. This work demonstrates that TA systems can induce bacteriostasis through interference with nucleotide biosynthesis.
Private vs public child welfare systems: A comparative analysis of national safety outcome performance.

Abstract Background Ensuring the safety of American children is one of the chief mandates of the U.S. Child Welfare System. Yet system differences, including privatization remain an area of concern for whether safety of children is achieved. Objective This study examined the effect of privatization policy on the performance of state child welfare systems in terms of achieving national safety outcome standards. Participants and Setting N1 = 10 states systems (5 privatized and 5 public systems) with N2 = 118,761 foster care cases located throughout the U.S. Method Using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), safety outcome performance measures were assessed, as were child-/case factors to predict the likelihood of the system types meeting the national safety outcome standards. Results Logistic regression models of child, case, and system factors predicting the likelihood state systems met national safety outcome performance standards were statistically significant. Private systems, compared to non-private systems, were found to have lower odds of meeting the safety outcome 1 standard (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.40–0.42), but greater odds of meeting the safety outcome 2 standard (OR = 6.79, 95% CI = 6.56–7.02). Conclusions The implementation of privatization policy in state child welfare/foster care service delivery was found to have mixed results in terms of the national safety outcome standards.
Blasting through lattice calculations using CUDA

Modern graphics hardware is designed for highly parallel numerical tasks and provides significant cost and performance benefits. Graphics hardware vendors are now making available development tools to support general purpose high performance computing. Nvidia's CUDA platform, in particular, offers direct access to graphics hardware through a programming language similar to C. Using the CUDA platform we have implemented a Wilson-Dirac operator which runs at an effective 68 Gflops on the Tesla C870. The recently released GeForce GTX 280 runs this same code at 92 Gflops, and we expect further improvement pending code optimization.
Digital Strategies for Building Spiritual Intimacy: Families on a “Wired” Camino

Researchers have explored the role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) play in mediating both religious practice and intergenerational family relationships. Few, however, have paid close attention to the interplay between ICTs and spiritual dimensions of intimacies. Drawing from an ethnographic case of parents and their young adult children from various countries who walk the Camino de Santiago together in northwest Spain, we examine family members’ reflexive use of ICTs in ways that enhance intimacy. Our analysis of in-depth interviews, field observations, and online travel journals illustrates how digital technologies can be disciplined and activated to reinforce intimacy constructed through the sharing of spiritual practice. In particular, we highlight family strategies to limit ICT use on pilgrimage to mark tech-free sacred time, as well as their embracing of digital technologies as ritual tools in the construction of visual narratives of shared spiritual practice. Our analysis adds a micro relational case to the larger literature on intimacies and contemporary media forces, furthering the conceptualization of media and digital technologies as an integral force in the pursuit of transcendent interpersonal experiences.
EMI-Regulated GaN-Based Switching Power Converter With Markov Continuous Random Spread-Spectrum Modulation and One-Cycle on-Time Rebalancing

To meet stringent electromagnetic interference (EMI) requirements in modern integrated systems, this article presents a gallium nitride (GaN)-based switching power converter operating at 8.3 MHz. It employs a Markov continuous random spread-spectrum modulation (RSSM) technique to spread EMI spectra almost uniformly, and thus attenuate EMI level effectively. On the other hand, a one-cycle ON-time rebalancing scheme is designed to stabilize the duty-ratio of the converter even if the switching frequency changes randomly, suppressing the output voltage jittering without influencing the EMI reduction by RSSM. A prototype was designed and fabricated using a 0.18- $\mu \text{m}$ HV CMOS process. With ±10% modulation range of a nominal switching frequency of 8.3 MHz, peak EMI is reduced from 66 to 35 dB $\mu \text{V}$ at the fundamental frequency and from 62 to 27 dB $\mu \text{V}$ at the third-order harmonic. In the meantime, the RSSM-induced output voltage jittering is suppressed from 240 to below 10 mV. The converter achieves above 60% efficiency over 96.6% of 7.5-W full power range, with a peak efficiency of 86.8% at 6.25 W.
Finite-size effects on molecular dynamics interfacial thermal-resistance predictions

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we study the role of finite size effects on the determination of interfacial thermal resistance between two solids characterized by high phonon mean free paths. In particular, we will show that a direct, heat source-sink method leads to strong size effect, associated with ballistic phonon transport to and from, and specular reflections at the simulation domain boundary. Lack of proper account for these effects can lead to incorrect predictions about the role of interfacial bonding and structure on interfacial thermal resistance. We also show that the finite size effect can be dramatically reduced by introduction of rough external boundaries leading to diffuse phonon scattering, as explicitly demonstrated by phonon wave-packet simulations. Finally, we demonstrate that when careful considerations are given to the effects associated with the finite heat capacity of the simulation domains and phonon scattering from the external surfaces, a size-independent interfacial resistance can be properly extracted from the time integral of the correlation function of heat power across the interface. Our work demonstrates that reliable and consistent values of the interfacial thermal resistance can be obtained by equilibrium and nonequilibrium methods with a relatively small computational cost.
Barriers and Motivators of Bicycling by Gender Among Older Adult Bicyclists in the Midwest

Introduction. Physical activity (PA), particularly low-impact activities like bicycling, can improve health in older adults. However, bicycling rates are lower in the Midwest than other regions in the United States. Therefore, it is important to identify unique social, personal, and environmental factors that inhibit or promote bicycling, and how these are associated with PA. The influences of these factors were explored using the social ecological model. Method. A cross-sectional online survey was developed using previously validated local and national bicycling questionnaires, then distributed to Midwestern bicyclists 50 years and older. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to understand the influences of social, personal, and environmental barriers and promoters on bicycling patterns. All models were conducted separately by gender, and accounted for age, race, education, marital status, income, and employment. Results. Social promoters (B = 0.386, p = .002), such as having friends/family that bicycle were associated with greater PA. Personal promoters (B = -0.311, p = .006) such as needing to lose weight were associated with reduced PA. Environmental factors had no associations with PA. However, individual environmental components, such as number of vehicles on the roads, were significantly associated with PA for both males and females. Females reported more barriers than males. The overall model accounted for 16.1% of the total variance in PA levels. Conclusion. Interventions to promote PA via bicycling in older adults should focus on social factors, while also reducing personal-level factors for males. Interventions for females could focus on reducing specific personal, social, and environmental barriers.
Approach to Pain in Patients with Central Nervous System Metastases

Central nervous system (CNS) metastasis is the condition by which a primary malignancy may spread to structures such as the brain, spinal cord, meninges, or cerebrospinal fluid. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary to care for patients with CNS metastases, with treatment of the oncologic condition to include radiation (external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy, and stereotactic radiosurgery), systemic therapies (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and hormone therapy), intrathecal therapies, and surgery. The management of pain related to CNS metastases requires an understanding not only of the pathophysiology of the underlying malignant process but also of the pathophysiology of pain. Furthermore, clinician knowledge about the available pharmacologic agents and interventional modalities is necessary to provide a comprehensive approach to cancer pain management in patients with CNS metastases. The main foci of this chapter are to explain pain processing and to describe the various classes of pharmacologic agents used to treat the different types of pain, with emphasis on neuropathic-type pain, associated with CNS metastases. Interventional modalities to manage pain from CNS metastases are described in a separate chapter in this book.
In-Tube condensation of zeotropic refrigerant R454C from superheated vapor to subcooled liquid

This article investigates the in-tube, superheated, saturated, and subcooled condensation of zeotropic refrigerant mixture R454C. R454C is proposed to replace R404A for commercial refrigeration app...
Introduction to the Special Issue on 3D Methodologies in Mediterranean Archaeology

This issue brings together several papers originally presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in a panel entitled, “Three-Dimensional Archaeology Comes of Age.” This collection takes stock of a decade’s worth of groundbreaking transformation in archaeological practices with a focus on the ancient Mediterranean. Over this time, a subtle transition has occurred in which contentious debates over the value and practicality of 3D tools, such as photogrammetry, 3D scanning, 3D reconstruction, and virtual reality (VR), have given way to an emergent consensus that these constitute a new and important class of recording and heuristic instruments. Rather than seek to cover this fundamental shift in a comprehensive matter, this issue presents a characteristic cross-section of current archaeological research-based on three-dimensional computational methodologies. The content cuts across some 3,000 years of Mediterranean archaeology, from the Aegean Bronze Age to the later Roman Empire, underlining the discipline-wide impact of this methodological revolution. It seeks to shed light on how digital tools are transforming not just the ways we record data, but the very questions archaeologists ask of this information and how this will shape methodological and analytical trends in the next decade and beyond.
Evaluation of a brief harm reduction intervention to reduce celebratory drinking among college students.

OBJECTIVES To assess the effectiveness of a harm reduction e-card at increasing protective drinking behaviors and decreasing negative outcomes from consuming alcohol.Participants: Participants were college students who turned 21 years old between January 21 2016 and September 27 2017. A total of 1,064 students completed the posttest: 737 from the experimental group and 327 from the control group.Methods: This study is a randomized controlled trial evaluation. Three days prior to their birthdays, students were randomly selected to receive a harm reduction e-card (experimental group) or not (control group). Three days after their birthdays, all students were sent an electronic posttest survey to the student's university email address.Results: Students who received the e-card intervention reported employing more protective behaviors than the individuals who did not receive the card. Conclusions: This evaluation concludes that a harm reduction e-card successfully increased the use of protective drinking strategies but did not impact negative outcomes.
Achieving Knowledge: A Virtue-Theoretic Account of Epistemic Normativity

Preface Part I. Epistemic Normativity: 1. Knowledge as success from ability 2. Against deontology 3. Against internalism 4. Against evidentialism Part II. Problems for Everyone: 5. The nature of knowledge 6. The value of knowledge 7. Knowledge and context 8. The Pyrrhonian problematic Part III. Problems for Reliabilism: 9. The problem of strange and fleeting processes 10. The problem of defeating evidence 11. The problem of easy knowledge Bibliography Index.
Book Review: Eclipse of Grace: Divine and Human Action in Hegel

Eclipse of Grace: Divine and Human Action in Hegel. By Nicholas Adams. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. xx + 240 pp. $106.95 (cloth)."Hegel has a tendency to make thinkers work harder," Nicholas Adams notes, "often with happy results" (p. xix). Adams's own work on Hegel has likewise produced a happy result: his new book Eclipse of Grace, which offers an elegant and persuasive argument for Hegel's relevance to contemporary theology.Adams suggests that too few students of theology bother to read Hegel these days. When they do, they focus on his doctrinal formulations rather than his philosophical arguments. Adams thinks that this is a mistake. Hegel's importance lies not in his theological reflections but in the shape of his logic. This logic, Adams argues, is concerned with the proper relation between terms that have been falsely opposed or identified. These terms include pairs like subject and object, thinking and being, and human and divine. In each case, each term is fully and properly understood only in light of its relation to the other. Each pair contains two terms that are distinct but in inseparable relation. Adams calls this a Chalcedonian logic: "What Chalcedon says of the divine and human natures of Christ, Hegel says of the subject and the object" (p. 21).This Chalcedonian logic provides Adams with an interpretive key to several of Hegel's most grandiose-sounding claims. At the end of the Phenomenology of Spirit, for example, Hegel claims that philosophy has achieved "absolute knowing." Adams argues that this ought to be read as a logical claim. Absolute knowing is not omniscience; rather, it is a way of conceiving the nature of and relation between knowing subjects and the objects of their knowledge. This way of thinking-more precisely, of thinking about thinking-overcomes subject-object dualism; it repairs their false opposition. In the Science of Logic, Adams argues, Hegel is engaged in a similar project of logical repair. In this case, the terms in question are thinking and being. Adams writes: "To talk of the absolute idea is to capture in logic the movement of thought as it returns to the life which is its source and its meaning. This is not the logic displayed in empiricism, where 'life' is given over and against thinking, and is available to be merely observed by it, one might say. It is an 'idealist' logic, in which thinking and life are mutually entangled in the most intimate way" (p. 140).The theological payoff of this way of reading Hegel comes in Adams's interpretation of Hegel's claim in the Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion that "the community itself is the existing spirit, the spirit in its existence, God existing as community" {LPR 3:331 in Adams, p. …
Saturn V S-IC Stage Engine Gimbal Actuation System

Saturn V S-IC stage engine guidance, flight control and gimbal servoactuation system for Apollo spacecraft
Conditional lethal expression of the vaccinia virus L1R myristylated protein reveals a role in virion assembly.

Within vaccinia virus-infected cells, the product of the L1R open reading frame is covalently modified by myristic acid at the penultimate NH2-terminal glycine residue. Previously we have shown that while the L1R protein is a constituent of both intracellular mature virus particles and extracellular enveloped virions which are released from the infected cell, it is associated exclusively with the primary membranes surrounding the virion core. Given this rather specific localization, it was of interest to study the potential role of this essential gene in virus replication and morphogenesis. To this end, we have constructed a recombinant vaccinia virus in which expression of the L1R gene can be transcriptionally repressed. Without the inducer isopropylthiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), synthesis of the L1R protein was blocked, resulting in a total inhibition of plaque formation. Velocity sedimentation of viral particles labeled in the presence of [3H]thymidine, grown in the absence of IPTG, revealed a substantial reduction in viral DNA incorporation into virions. Likewise, proteolysis of the major core proteins p4a, p4b, and p25K, believed to occur during the final stages of virion maturation, was severely impaired. In the absence of L1R expression, only immature virions could be detected by electron microscopy. Transient expression of a plasmid containing the full-length L1R gene driven by its own promoter was able to complement and rescue the defective phenotype. However, a plasmid bearing a mutation in the myristyl acceptor glycine residue was unable to biologically rescue the recombinant, and the protein was not detected in purified virions.trans complementation using a truncated, myristylated form of the L1R protein partially rescued the defective mutant. Collectively, these data suggest that myristic acid mediates essential interactions of the L1R protein with viral membranes and/or other virion components that lead to the productive assembly, maturation, and release of particles.
THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT: DETERRENT OR AID TO FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING OUTSOURCING?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has had a significant impact on the accounting profession since its enactment in 2002. Compliance costs have increased and the nature of the internal audit function has changed somewhat to accommodate the requirements of the Act. This article examines the effect the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has had on the outsourcing of accounting services and data control and security issues that result from outsourcing accounting services. The authors report on interviews conducted of outsource company executives in India, focusing on data security concerns and financial controls.
Sensitivity of optimal quality of service to bandwidth and buffer prices

Congestion-based pricing of network resources is a common approach in evolving network architectures that support quality of service (QoS). Resource usage and QoS will thus fluctuate in response to changes in price, which must be dynamically controlled through feedback. Here, we investigate the sensitivity of QoS to resource prices in a reservation-based QoS architecture. Such sensitivities are crucial to guide development of price adjustment algorithms. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for resources to act as normal goods. We then show that the minimum total cost is a decreasing convex function of loss. Finally, we prove that if a resource is a normal good, then an increase in the price of that resource causes the loss on that link to increase, the loss on all other links to decrease, and the total loss to increase.
Anticoagulant therapy in gynecologic surgery

Abstract A clinical survey of 900 consecutive, postoperative gynecological cases, in 450 of which Dicumarol was given routinely as a means of preventing any untoward complications from intravascular clotting has been presented. Plan of dosage was dependent upon the control prothrombin time, which is defined as the value ascertained on the morning of the first postoperative day. The control prothrombin time has proved an excellent index for safe and efficient Dicumarol therapy, as was illustrated in sensitive and resistant patients to the drug, in the preoperative and postoperative variations of the prothrombin time, as well as the variation in the initial prothrombin time in different individuals. The simple bedside test of Ziffren for prothrombin activity is an ideal procedure for Dicumarol therapy. A reliable experience in laboratory tests and individualization of patients are of prime importance for adequate and safe treatment. In 450 Dicumarolized postoperative patients, there were 7 cases of hypoprothrombinemia with consequent bleeding which was readily controlled by vitamin K therapy; however, there was one case of phlebothrombosis in an individual who was refractory to this therapy. In 450 comparable, non-Dicumarolized patients, there were 7 cases of phlebothrombosis, 11 cases of thrombophlebitis, 9 cases of nonfatal pulmonary embolism, and 4 cases of fatal pulmonary embolism.
Encyclopedia of Geographic Information Science

Writing an encyclopedia that concerns any field of study is a daunting task. Undertaking such a project for geographic information science, a complex, varied, and rapidly-changing field, must have ...
Transcriptional Activation of Estrogen Receptor α in Human Breast Cancer Cells by Histone Deacetylase Inhibition

Recent findings have established a connection between DNA methylation and transcriptionally inactive chromatin characterized by deacetylated histones. Because the absence of estrogen receptor α (ERα) gene expression has been associated with aberrant methylation of its CpG island in a significant fraction of breast cancers, we tested whether histone deacetylase activity contributes to the transcriptional inactivation of the methylated ER gene in a panel of ER-negative human breast cancer cells. Treatment of these cells with trichostatin A, a specific histone deacetylase inhibitor, led to dose- and time-dependent re-expression of ER mRNA as detected by reverse transcription-PCR without alteration in ERα CpG island methylation. Trichostatin A-induced ER re-expression was associated with increased sensitivity to DNase I at the ER locus in MDA-MB-231 cells. These data implicate inactive chromatin mediated by histone deacetylation as a critical component of ER gene silencing in human breast cancer cells. Therefore, histone deacetylation may be a potential target for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of a subset of ER-negative breast cancers.
Experimental verification of conditions for near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

Objectives: in vitro assessment of the reproducibility and the optimal separation and position of the optodes in continuous wave (CW-) NIRS measurement of local inhomogeneities in absorption and/or scattering. Methods: a CW- NIRS system (OXYMON) was used with laser diodes at wavelengths of 767 nm, 845 nm, 905 nm, 945 nm and 975 nm. For practical considerations (dimensions of neonatal head) the measurements were performed on a cylindrical tissue-equivalent phantom (70 mm diameter of base material with µa = 0.01 mm-1 (800 nm) and µ's = 1.00 mm-1 (800 nm)), containing rods with 10 × absorption, or 10 × scattering, and 5 × both Monte Carlo simulations were carried out of a cylinder with transport scattering coefficient µ'e = 0.525 mm-1 and absorption coefficient µa = 0.075 mm-1 and two optode positions. Results: reproducibility of repeated measurements (n = 10) was ± 0.005 OD. Maximum OD in case of absorbing rod, and of absorbing + scattering rod was measured with optodes separated by 90° and rod position angle symmetrically (45°) in between. Minimum OD for these rods was obtained with optodes at 150° angle and rod position at 240° (i.e. relative to transmitting optode position at 0°). A second maximum OD was obtained at an optode angle 180° and rod position at 180°. Maximum OD (i.e. attenuation) for the scattering rod was at optode separation angle of 90° and rod at 0°. Minimum OD for this case was obtained with optode angle of 180° and rod positions around 80° and 280°. Maximum OD changes by absorbing rod were in the order of + 0.12 OD and -0.04 OD, respectively. Simulations at an optode separation angle of 90° showed a spatial sensitivity path enclosing the rod position at maximum absorption found experimentally. Conclusions: when considering the phantom as a realistic geometrical model for the neonatal head, it can be concluded that the optode position at 90° angle would be optimal for detecting an inhomogeneity at 15 mm depth, i.e. the location of the periventricular white matter. Since the rods are relatively strongly different from the base material the question remains to be answered whether local ischemia, which might lead to irreversible brain damage, can be detected by CW-NIRS.