cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SU‐G‐201‐12: Investigation of Beta‐Emitter 90Sr‐90Y Dose Distribution Using Gafchromic EBT3 Film for Application On Conformal Skin Brachytherapy Device

Purpose: To investigate 90Sr-90Y as a high dose rate (HDR) source for application in a conformal skin brachytherapy (CSBT) device. The CSBT device has been previously developed to provide patient specific treatment for small inoperable lesions and irregular surfaces. Methods: A popular beta emitter, 90Sr-90Y was tested for feasibility in a CSBT device. A 1 cm diameter plaque was used to deliver dose to a solid water phantom containing EBT3 Gafchromic films arranged at the surface and perpendicular to it. Additionally, a 1 cm diameter 6 MeV electron beam was used to irradiate EBT3 film at 100 cm SSD with a 0.5 cm bolus. Films were digitized with an Epson Expression 10000 XL scanner and calibrated with a 6 MeV electron specific dose curve. Normalized percent depth doses (PDD) and dose profiles for both techniques were analyzed using ImageJ. Results: Dose distributions achieved with the 90Sr-90Y sources were compared with those of external electron beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Penumbra (20%- 80%) for EBRT and 90Sr-90Y were 4.3 mm and 1.6 mm, respectively. PDD values of 50% (normalized to 2 mm) were 10.1 mm and 2.8 mm for electron and 90Sr-90Y, respectively. Flatness (80% of the central beam profile) was 14.1% at a 5 mm depth for EBRT and 4.0% at surface for the 90Sr-90Y. Conclusion: As expected, the PDDs of 90Sr-90Y in water are shallower than that of external electron beams for the same field size. 90Sr-90Y can be used in CSBT to provide patient specific treatment where shallower depth doses than that provided by electron external beams may be required: e.g. eyelids, nose, lips, ears, etc. The customizability of EBRT could be replicated by using multiple adjacent 90Sr-90Y plaque placements.
Considering the Effects of Gravity When Developing and Field Testing Planetary Excavator Robots

One of the challenges of field testing planetary rovers on Earth is the difference in gravity between the test and the intended operating conditions. This not only changes the weight exerted by the robot on the surface but also affects the behaviour of the granular surface itself, and unfortunatly no field test can fully address this shortcoming. This research introduces novel experimentation that for the first time subjects planetary excavator robots to gravity offload (a cable pulls up on the robot with 5/6 its weight, to simulate lunar gravity) while they dig. Excavating with gravity offload underestimates the detrimental effects of gravity on traction, but overestimates the detrimental effects on excavation resistance; though not ideal, this is a more balanced test than excavating in Earth gravity, which underestimates detrimental effects on both traction and resistance. Experiments demonstrate that continuous excavation (e.g. bucket-wheel) fares better than discrete excavation (e.g. front-loader) when subjected to gravity offload, and is better suited for planetary excavation. This key result is incorporated into the development of a novel planetary excavator prototype. Lessons learned from the prototype development also address ways to mitigate suspension lift-off for lightweight skid-steer robots, a problem encountered during mobility field testing.
Abstract 4587: Dynactin dysregulation-induced increase in EGFR on basal-like breast cancer cells

Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA Aggressive triple-negative basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) cells are often characterized with overabundance of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Major objective of our research is to explore the possibility that dysregulation of the function of the dynactin complex as a mechanism of over-abundance of EGFR on BLBC cell surface. Our notion is that molecular defects in the dynactin-mediated retrograde EGFR recycling pathway in the BLBC cells causes the accumulation of this receptor on their cell surface making them hyper-responsive to EGF signaling. Our comparative transcriptome analysis between BLBC cells with higher levels of EGFR and the non-BLBC cells with lower levels of EGFR revealed that the expression of dynactin complex subunits 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 (DCTN1, 2, 3, 4, 6), are significantly reduced in the EGFR-high aggressive BLBC cells. In addition, EGFR-high BLBC cells also have lower levels of two other dynactin-associated proteins, CLIP1 and LRRK1. Interestingly, elevation of surface EGFR levels in BLBC cells are associated with higher levels of the long non-coding RNA PVT1. Six miRNAs are generated from the precursor of PVT1 RNA during cis-splicing. They are miR-1204, miR-1205, miR-1206, miR-1207-3p, miR-1207-5p and miR-1208. We found that relative levels of these miRNAs are significantly higher in EGFR-high BLBC cells and tissues in comparison to the non-aggressive EGFR-low BLBC cells. Bioinformatics analysis followed by experimental validation revealed that miR-1207-5p inhibits DCTN1, DCTN3 and ACTR1A; DCTN2 is inhibited by miR-1205 and miR-1208. MiR-1208 also inhibits DCTN6 and CLIP1 whereas LRRK1 and CAPZA1 are inhibited by miR-1207-3p and miR-1206, respectively. Moreover beta-spectrin (SPTB), a protein associated with dynactin complex, is also inhibited by miR-1205 and miR-1207-3p. Treatment of the cells with the antagomirs of the miRNAs increased the levels of their respective target proteins with concomitant decrease in the surface level of EGFR. Our data suggest that BLBC cells maintain a robust level of EGFR on the cell surface by repressing the retrograde transport of EGFR through the repression of the proteins in the dynactin complex and thus sustain their higher growth rates. This research is supported in part by DOD-CDMRP IDEA Expansion Grant# BC103645 and NIH/NCI grant 1R21CA181920-01 to GC. Citation Format: Gautam Chaudhuri, Smita Misra. Dynactin dysregulation-induced increase in EGFR on basal-like breast cancer cells. [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 4587.
Regression models for bivariate count outcomes

We present a new command, bivcnto, for fitting regression models suitable for analyzing correlated count outcomes. bivcnto allows specification of two correlated count outcomes with either two outcome-specific covariate lists or one common covariate list and fits models using a copula function approach in the general case or using specific parameterizations by Marshall and Olkin (1985, Journal of the American Statistical Association 80: 332–338) or Famoye (2010a, Journal of Applied Statistics 37: 969–981; 2010b, Statistica Neerlandica 64: 112–124). bivcnto also calculates a likelihood-ratio test comparing the joint model with estimation of two independent outcome-specific models.
The World Wide Web

The Web has become an integral part of our lives and has revolutionized just about everything we do. In this chapter we present a brief historical overview of the evolution of the Web. After introducing important concepts and terminology, we discuss how we have transitioned from being consumers to also becoming producers of Web available content. We postulate that the Web provides a very rich platform for lifelong learning and offer suggestions of sites that can be used for that purpose. The chapter concludes with practical recommendations on browsers, browser extensions, Internet connection speed tests, and staying safe online.
III-Nitride Optoelectronic Devices: From ultraviolet detectors and visible emitters towards terahertz intersubband devices

III-Nitride material system (AlGaInN) possesses unique optical, electrical and structural properties such as a wide tunable direct bandgap, large longitudinal optical phonon energy, inherit fast carrier dynamics; good carrier transport properties, high breakdown fields; and high robustness and chemical stability. Thanks to these inherit advantages, they are investigated for everyday to military and scientific applications such as illumination sources; bio-agent detection, concealed weapons/drugs detection; and space exploration.
The Impact of Academic Self-Efficacy and Perceived Stigma on the Performance of Students with Learning Disabilities.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of perceived stigma in the relationship between academic self-efficacy and academic performance among college students with learning disabilities and/or ADHD. Seventy-four college-aged participants with diagnosed learning disability or ADHD completed a perceived stigma scale adapted for the current study from May and Stone’s (2010) perceived learning disabilities stigma scale followed by Zimmerman and Kitsantas’ (2007) Self-efficacy For Learning Abridged Form (SELF-A ). Results indicated that there was no relationship between perceived stigma and academic performance. However, self-efficacy was positively correlated with academic performance. Results also indicated that Caucasian, non-Hispanic students reported the highest levels of academic self-efficacy whereas Hispanic students reported the lowest levels. Furthermore, students with learning disability alone reported the highest cumulative GPAs, while those with learning disability and comorbid ADHD reported the lowest. Implications of this study point to the importance of understanding the role of perceived stigma and self-efficacy on the academic performance of students with learning disability and ADHD. This information can benefit researchers, educators, and counselors as they strive to understand possible limitations of students with learning disability/ADHD and devise strategies to support them both academically and psychologically.
Deep Neural Networks to Enable Real-time Multimessenger Astrophysics

Gravitational wave astronomy has set in motion a scientific revolution. To further enhance the science reach of this emergent field of research, there is a pressing need to increase the depth and speed of the algorithms used to enable these ground-breaking discoveries. We introduce Deep Filtering---a new scalable machine learning method for end-to-end time-series signal processing. Deep Filtering is based on deep learning with two deep convolutional neural networks, which are designed for classification and regression, to detect gravitational wave signals in highly noisy time-series data streams and also estimate the parameters of their sources in real time. Acknowledging that some of the most sensitive algorithms for the detection of gravitational waves are based on implementations of matched filtering, and that a matched filter is the optimal linear filter in Gaussian noise, the application of Deep Filtering using whitened signals in Gaussian noise is investigated in this foundational article. The results indicate that Deep Filtering outperforms conventional machine learning techniques, achieves similar performance compared to matched filtering, while being several orders of magnitude faster, allowing real-time signal processing with minimal resources. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Deep Filtering can detect and characterize waveform signals emitted from new classes of eccentric or spin-precessing binary black holes, even when trained with data sets of only quasicircular binary black hole waveforms. The results presented in this article, and the recent use of deep neural networks for the identification of optical transients in telescope data, suggests that deep learning can facilitate real-time searches of gravitational wave sources and their electromagnetic and astroparticle counterparts. In the subsequent article, the framework introduced herein is directly applied to identify and characterize gravitational wave events in real LIGO data.
Ultrafine TiO2 nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide as anode materials for lithium ion batteries

Abstract TiO2 nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide (TiO2/rGO) was prepared by controllable hydrolysis and followed by thermal treatment. First, hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide formed amorphous titanium hydroxide thin layer on graphene oxide (GO). After annealing at 450 °C under forming gas, amorphous titanium hydroxide layer converted to TiO2 nanoparticles with particle size of around 5 nm and GO reduced to rGO with enhanced conductivity. TiO2/rGO was demonstrated as promising anode materials for high performance lithium ion batteries. The high operation potential window of TiO2 in lithium ion battery can prevent the formation of solid electrolyte interface and subsequently enhance the safety and cycle performance. The high rate and high cycling performance of lithium ion batteries could be ascribed to that the ultrafine TiO2 nanoparticles provide high active surface area and the strong connection between TiO2 and high conductive rGO network can enhance the charge transfer.
Drug Delivery Related to Tissue Engineering

Success of tissue engineering depends on many factors. Host response to the scaffold, template, or the cell-seeded implant is one of the critical parameters. The concept of using pharmacological means to redirect or effect a favorable biological response during the course of tissue reconstruction is appealing. Examples abound on the incorporation of a drug delivery function into prostheses (Greco, 1994). For instance, antimicrobial agents have been embedded in bone cement or catheters to combat infection, and antithrombogenic agents have been incorporated into or conjugated to the surface of vascular grafts to minimize thrombosis. Recent discoveries of potent polypeptides that can influence the course of cell maturation and development accentuate the importance of considering delivery of these factors in designing a scaffold for tissue regeneration. A prime example is bone regeneration.
Glycogenic Hepatopathy: Resolution with Minimal Glucose Control

We describe a presentation of glycogenic hepatopathy in a poorly controlled type I diabetic patient. As patients with glycogenic hepatopathy often have nonspecific complaints, diagnosis tends to be delayed and laboratory and imaging data are often indistinguishable from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Our patient’s diagnosis of glycogenic hepatopathy required a liver biopsy, which demonstrated the characteristic pathology. Her symptoms resolved with minimal alteration to her insulin regimen and only slightly improved glucose control.
A complete fault diagnostic system for automated vehicles

Abstract A “complete” fault diagnostic system is developed for automated vehicles operating as a platoon on an automated highway system. The diagnostic system is designed to monitor the complete set of sensors and actuators used by the lateral and longitudinal controllers of the vehicle, including radar sensors, magnetometers and inter-vehicle communication systems. A fault in any of the twelve sensors and three actuators is identified without requiring any additional hardware redundancy. The diagnostic system uses parity equations and several reduced-order nonlinear observers constructed from a simplified dynamic model of the vehicle. Nonlinear observer design techniques are used to guarantee asymptotically stable convergence of estimates for the nonlinear dynamic system. Different combinations of die ooserver estimates and the available sensor measurements are then processed to construct a bank of residues. The paper analytically shows that a fault in any of the sensors or actuators creates a unique subset of these residues to grow so as to enable exact identification of the faulty component. This conference paper is a brief summary of the full paper submitted for journal publication. Both simulation and experimental results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the fault diagnostic system in the presence of various faults are included in the journal version of this paper.
Abstract 141: G-Protein Coupled Receptors GPR37 and GPR37L1 Regulate Sodium Reabsorption in Renal Proximal Tubule Cells

GPR37 and GPR37L1 are closely related G-protein coupled receptors that are expressed mainly in brain glial cells and muscle-myenteric nerve layers in the GI tract. GPR37L1 transgenic mice have decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP) whereas GPR37L1 KO mice have increased SBP. However, there are no studies reporting kidney expression of GPR37 or GPR37L1 or their role in renal blood pressure regulation. Immunostaining and immunoblotting showed that GPR37 and GPR37L1 are expressed in the apical membrane of proximal tubules of the mouse kidney; RT-PCR on proximal tubule and collecting duct cells obtained by laser capture micro-dissection of mouse kidney sections, confirmed these findings. In addition, chronic high salt diet increased the renal expression of prosaposin, a precursor for saposin C, a natural ligand for GPR37 and GPR37L1. Infusion of prosaptide, a synthetic ligand for GPR37 and GPR37L1, decreased SBP in mice by 10 mm Hg. To determine the roles of GPR37 and GPR37L1 in renal Na+ transport, we over-expressed separately the two proteins in human renal proximal tubule (RPT) cells (n=3). Intracellular Na+ was increased in GPR37- or GPR37L1-transfected RPT cells (3.1 ± 0.8 and 3.2 ± 0.6 fold respectively, P
Pectus Excavatum Repair in Adults: Indications and How To Do It

The minimally invasive Nuss procedure has been effectively used for surgical correction of pediatric and adolescent pectus patients. In the past, the use of this less invasive technique was believed to be limited to young patients. This approach with technique modifications has been successfully extended to the treatment of even advanced aged adults. The presentation, evaluation and minimally invasive surgical treatment of adult pectus excavatum patient is reviewed. Adult pectus excavatum patients may present with new onset or worsening of symptoms. Repair of the deformity has been shown to improve cardiopulmonary deficits and quality of life. The increased rigidity of the chest wall in adult patients makes elevating the sternum and supporting the repair with substernal bars more difficult. Technique modification to the original Nuss procedure including the use of forced sternal elevation, multiple support bars and improved bar fixation methods have allowed for successful correction of even advanced age adult pectus excavatum patients. The modified “Nuss” is a safe and effective alternative to open repair of pectus excavatum in adult patients. Repair of the deformity can improve cardiopulmonary function and symptoms.
Getting Unstuck: New Resources for Teaching Debugging Strategies in Scratch (Abstract Only)

Debugging is an essential practice in programming. Yet for many novice programmers, the process of finding and fixing errors in code can be frustrating. Debugging is rarely explicitly taught in introductory programming courses, perhaps because best practices of teaching debugging are largely undefined. In K-12, teachers new to teaching CS may also experience trepidation about supporting student-directed work in languages and environments unfamiliar to them. In this poster, we build on previous research that documented the individual and social debugging strategies employed by young novice programmers, from studying projects to asking for help (Brennan, 2013). With a focus on classroom settings, we have designed a set of debugging activities for young people working in Scratch--the Getting Unstuck activities. Through these interactive activities, students and teachers explore creative and collaborative strategies for debugging Scratch projects. In July 2017, the authors piloted these strategies with 17 novice programmers, ages 14 to 18. This poster describes this new resource, reports on findings from the pilot testing, and offers recommendations for the design of K-12 programming activities.
Association of spring-summer hydrology and meteorology with human West Nile virus infection in West Texas, USA, 2002–2016

The emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) in the Western Hemisphere has motivated research into the processes contributing to the incidence and persistence of the disease in the region. Meteorology and hydrology are fundamental determinants of vector-borne disease transmission dynamics of a region. The availability of water influences the population dynamics of vector and host, while temperature impacts vector growth rates, feeding habits, and disease transmission potential. Characterization of the temporal pattern of environmental factors influencing WNV risk is crucial to broaden our understanding of local transmission dynamics and to inform efforts of control and surveillance. We used hydrologic, meteorological and WNV data from west Texas (2002–2016) to analyze the relationship between environmental conditions and annual human WNV infection. A Bayesian model averaging framework was used to evaluate the association of monthly environmental conditions with WNV infection. Findings indicate that wet conditions in the spring combined with dry and cool conditions in the summer are associated with increased annual WNV cases. Bayesian multi-model inference reveals monthly means of soil moisture, specific humidity and temperature to be the most important variables among predictors tested. Environmental conditions in March, June, July and August were the leading predictors in the best-fitting models. The results significantly link soil moisture and temperature in the spring and summer to WNV transmission risk. Wet spring in association with dry and cool summer was the temporal pattern best-describing WNV, regardless of year. Our findings also highlight that soil moisture may be a stronger predictor of annual WNV transmission than rainfall.
Oligonucleotide-Based Therapeutics of Human Malignancies

Conventional cancer therapies remain of limited use in treating the majority of common solid tumors. Patients with lung, breast, colonic, and pancreatic cancers, which cannot be surgically removed, will almost certainly develop metastatic spread of their disease and die. The treatment prospects for patients with hematologic malignancies are initially much better, but in these diseases as well, many patients are destined to suffer relapses. Confounding the issue of efficacy of treatment is the fact that standard cyto-reductive treatment modalities have the highly undesirable property of indiscriminately killing normal cells, as well as tumor cells. This leads to numerous side effects which can be extremely difficult to tolerate from the patient’s point of view and which can significantly complicate the medical management of cancer patients. Therefore, an important goal of any new anticancer therapeutic would be to greatly increase the number of tumor cells killed with minimization of normal tissue toxicity.
Management and Genghis Khan: Lessons for Multinational Business Enterprises

This paper juxtaposes well-known and all pervasive challenges facing the management of multinational business enterprises today and the solutions developed by Genghis Khan to meet analogous challenges 700 years ago. Genghis Khan together with his children and grandchildren conquered and controlled much of the known world. What lessons does Genghis Khan offer to multinationals? The answer is found in the scope of the actions undertaken to meet the challenges facing the creation and sustainability of the Mongolian Empire. The challenges ranged from issues of communication and coordination to the issues of leadership. With continuous adaptation, Genghis Khan found innovative solutions to these challenges through the design of his organizations and the processes for the management of his Empire.
Cryptocurrency: governance for what was meant to be ungovernable

Cryptocurrencies have the potential to revolutionize the exchange of information and money through blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. Despite the promise of such underlying technologies, their reliance upon distributed consensus processes to approve software updates raises the potential for governance failures to destabilize a given cryptocurrency. These governance failures, known as ‘hard forks,’ can separate a cryptocurrency into two rival camps. Where such events can destabilize a given cryptocurrency’s value, and instill distrust in the capacity of a cryptocurrency to survive as a reliable vehicle of exchange, it is imperative for the cryptocurrency community to improve their governance processes and limit the potential for hard forks to occur. While the distributed nature of cryptocurrency governance makes any traditional governing process unlikely to succeed, anticipatory approaches that establish thresholds and metrics to determine when software reform is necessary may help alleviate the governance failures presented by many hard forks.
Developing an Assessment of Community Equity Literacy: An Exploratory Study of Aspiring School Principals.

Principals play a critical role in school-community engagement, yet there are a dearth of instruments to measure principals’ knowledge and practice in this area. This study therefore describes the ...
Poisson Brackets on the Space of Histories

Abstract We extend the Poisson bracket from a Lie bracket of phase space functions to a Lie bracket of functions on the space of canonical histories and investigate the resulting algebras. Typically, such extensions define corresponding Lie algebras on the space of Lagrangian histories via pullback to a space of partial solutions. These are the same spaces of histories studied with regard to path integration and decoherence. Such spaces of histories are familiar from path integration and some studies of decoherence. For gauge systems, we extend both the canonical and reduced Poisson brackets to the full space of histories. We then comment on the use of such algebras in time reparameterization invariant systems and systems with a Gribov ambiguity, although our main goal is to introduce concepts and techniques for use in a companion paper.
Landscape factors predict local extirpation in an imperilled minnow species, the bridle shiner (Notropis bifrenatus)

Local extirpation events are often poorly documented and the causes are not well understood. A case in point is the bridle shiner (Notropis bifrenatus), a cyprinid that is declining and carries various conservation listings over most of its range. Recent research suggested that the apparent decline of the bridle shiner in the state of Connecticut may be in part an artefact of changes in survey methods: seining has been replaced by electrofishing, which is less efficient in bridle shiner habitat. The present study included a re‐evaluation of the distribution of the species in light of this recent finding. Historical sites in Connecticut were seined, and it was found that nine populations once thought to be extirpated were in fact extant. Nonetheless, bridle shiner occurrences have declined by 60% over 50 years. Potential correlates of extirpation, such as landscape and habitat fragmentation metrics, were identified using geospatial tools. Through an information‐theoretic approach, models were constructed to investigate the relative contribution of land use and habitat fragmentation to the extirpation of the bridle shiner. Land use had greater support as a correlate of the decline, and the current bridle shiner distribution in Connecticut could be explained by areas of high forest cover and low impervious cover. It is hypothesized that the adverse impacts of land use on the bridle shiner are attributable to its ecological specialization on submerged vegetation, notwithstanding its otherwise broad physiochemical tolerance. These results provide needed context on the decline of this species and provide potential avenues for conservation actions. This research emphasizes the impacts that land alterations can have on freshwater species and the importance of accurately characterizing extirpation events.
Mediating America: Black and Irish Press and the Struggle for Citizenship, 1870–1914

Mediating America explores the ways African American and Irish American editors used their newspapers to organize, identify and advocate for group interests in the face of systemic exclusion and ma...
Post-Election Violence in Africa: The Impact of Judicial Independence

This book explores the effect of the judiciary on the incidence of post-election violence by political actors across Africa and within African countries. It examines how variation in judicial independence can constrain or incentivize election violence among democratizing states. Using case studies and cross-national analysis, the book shows that variation in levels of judicial independence from a non-independent judiciary to a quasi-independent judiciary or from a fully independent judiciary to quasi-independent judiciary increases the likelihood of strategic use of post-election violence by non-state actors. However, the likelihood of post-election violence is significantly reduced in non-independent judiciaries or once countries’ judiciaries become fully independent. The author makes the theoretical argument that, within unconsolidated states, non-state actors that view the judiciary as semi-independent are more likely to engage in post-election violence with the purpose of creating political and professional uncertainty in order to influence assertive behaviour from judges in disputed elections. Consequently, the book argues that semi-independent judiciaries or judiciaries that are neither fully controlled by the incumbent nor fully independent from the incumbent can help explain post-election violence among unconsolidated states, all else being equal. This book will be of interest to scholars of election violence, democratic politics, law and politics and African politics.
BOREAS TE-6 NPP For The Tower Flux, Carbon Evaluation, and Auxiliary Sites

The BOREAS TE-6 team collected several data sets to examine the influence of vegetation, climate, and their interactions on the major carbon fluxes for boreal forest species. This data set contains estimates of the biomass produced by the plant species at the TF, CEV, and AUX sites in the SSA and NSA for a given year. Temporally, the data cover the years of 1985 to 1995. The plant biomass production (i.e., aboveground, belowground, understory, litterfall), spatial coverage, and temporal nature of measurements varied between the TF, CEV, and AUX sites as deemed necessary by BOREAS principal investigators. The data are stored in tabular ASCII files. The data files are available on a CD-ROM (see document number 20010000884), or from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distrobuted Activity Archive Center (DAAC).
Development of an endothermic electrode for electroporation-based therapies: A simulation study

Cell death mediated by non-thermal mechanisms is an essential characteristic of irreversible electroporation for tumor ablation. However, needle electrodes inherently promote thermal damage immediately adjacent to the electrode/tissue interface, especially in cases when intensive pulsed electric fields are applied to get a large ablation. In this study, we propose utilization of endothermic reactions in the core of clinically used needle electrodes to absorb the heat generated during electroporation, thereby accentuating the nonthermal aspect of irreversible electroporation. In this study, numerical models were developed to determine temperature profiles resulting from a typical irreversible electroporation (IRE) protocol in clinic using either conventional solid electrodes or hollow electrodes filled with NH4NO3 to facilitate an endothermic reaction in the electrode core. The results indicate that the endothermic electrodes can reduce the temperature rise and thermal damage during IRE treatment.
Living through a Pandemic: How Students Cope

The Coronovirus pandemic of 2020 has brought much challenge and disruption to the lives of students in elementary through high schools, their families, and their communities. 74 students in a graduate course in human growth and development conducted action research via interviews with volunteers across childhood and adult lifespan stages to ascertain impact and response the the pandemic experience with a special focus on the role of school in that experience. The majority of volunteers were students, with other participants being educators, parents, and various community members. Volunteers were interviewed on reactions to the pandemic experience, positive and negative life experiences both before the pandemic and during the panding that influenced coping, and reflections on what their local schools were doing to facilitate educational functtio Interview responses aligned with research already published on student experience with the pandemic and also produced new insight for future endeavors by the educational community in promotion of d evelopment of protective factors before similar crises occur and optimal interventions by schools during the experience of crises.
Hiperrealitas Makna Kesenangan dalam Iklan Bertema Gaya Hidup di Media Sosial

This study aims to reveal the meaning in the language used in pleasure-filled advertisements which are related to lifestyle. The concept of pleasure refers to hedonism which means prioritizing happiness and avoiding sadness or suffering. Ads about body care, travel and shopping are used as the subject of study. Using the analytical method of semiotic sign map of Charles Sanders Peirce, which consist of icons-indexes and symbols, this study analyzes the advertisements on Facebook and Istagram offering lifestyle from September through December 2020. Analysis is based on Baudrillard’s hyperreality and consumerism combined with the study of leisure time, hedonism and lifestyle. As the result, this research has identified terms used in verbal language of the advertisements i.e ‘lawan tanda penuaan’, ‘menyamarkan’, ‘mencerahkan’, ‘serasa’, ‘book now fly later’, ‘gajian’, ‘saatnya belanja’. Meanwhile, non-verbal signs consist of travel accommodation, lodging, blue sky, plants and temples in Bali. The analysis found that the advertising language leads to forgetting or getting away from real conditions and does not offer happiness itself. Pleasure capitalism is the heart of the advertisements offer. The conclusion of the research has shown that Semiotic sign system in the advertisements has became to maximize hyperreality.
Threshold Behavior of Microcavity Lasers

Recently the concept of threshold-less lasing has been proposed in regard to microcavity lasers (i.e. wavelength sized optical cavities). We study the quantum noise properties of microcavity lasers near threshold both theoretically and experimentally. Computations based on two-level quantum theory show that microlasers exhibit a high degree of second order coherence compared with conventional lasers as result of suppression of spontaneous emission into non-lasing modes, and there always exists a finite threshold for these lasers defined by the peak of the photon number correlation function corresponding to the spontaneous-stimulated transition.
On the mechanism of imipramine's influence in lowering p-hydroxyphenylglycol concentrations in the brain: The role of tyrosine

Abstract Administration of imipramine (IMI) to rats was shown to lower after 4.5 hr the brain concentration of the octopamine metabolite p -hydroxyphenylglycol (pHPG) in a dose-dependent manner over the range of 10–40 mg/kg of IMI. Assay of plasma and brain levels of tyrosine revealed that IMI produced a reduction in both but with a shorter time-course than for the depletion in pHPG, with the maximal decreases occurring at 1.5 hr, before there was any loss of pHPG. The reductions in tyrosine and pHPG levels could not be explained by an effect of IMI on food intake, since the levels were diminished even in 24-hr fasted animals. When rats were injected with IMI 4.5 hr before 200 mg/kg of tyrosine and 5.5 hr before being killed, the elevation in brain pHPG levels were attenuated by about 50%, as compared to the animals that received tyrosine alone. These data suggest that the ability of IMI to lower brain pHPG probably involves two distinct mechanisms: (1) a lowering of brain and plasma tyrosine concentrations, and (2) an inhibition of the conversion of tyrosine to pHPG. It is unclear whether these effects are due to IMI itself or to one of its metabolites, such as desmethylimipramine or didesmethylimipramine, which were found in the plasma in amounts equal to or greater than IMI.
Coupling of the Penicillium duponti acid protease to ethylene-maleic acid (1 : 1) linear copolymer. Preparation and properties of the water-soluble derivative.

Abstract The coupling of the thermostable acid protease (EC 3.4.23.-) of Penicillium duponti K 1014 to ethylene-maleic acid (1:1) linear copolymer in the presence of 1-cyclohexyl-3-(2-morpholinoethyl)-carbodiimide at pH 3.0, afforded a soluble enzyme derivative with a protein incorporation yield of 67% under optimal conditions. The protein content of the enzyme-polymer complex, the molecular weights of the reactants, and the mean value of 2.2 lysine residues per mol of enzyme found in amide linkage to the matrix, support a structure consisting of two polymer chains per mol of protease, each chain acylating a single lysine residue of the enzyme. The isoelectric point of the coupled enzyme was found to be 3.47, a value lower than that measured on the free protease (3.81). The specific activity of the bound protease against casein, at pH 3.7 and 30°C, was 34% of that of the free enzyme, and at 75°C increased to 70%. The increased size of the coupled enzyme resulted in an improved retention of activity by ultrafiltration membranes over that observed with free protease, alone or in admixture with ethylene-maleic acid copolymer. A water-soluble, coupled pepsin was prepared in 43% yield on protein basis by using the aminoethylmonoamide of ethylene-maleic acid copolymer and the same water-soluble carbodiimide.
A Gaussian-Like Immersed Boundary Kernel with Improved Translational Invariance and Smoothness

The immersed boundary (IB) method is a general mathematical framework for studying problems involving fluid-structure interactions in which an elastic structure is immersed in a viscous incompressible fluid. In the IB formulation, the fluid described by Eulerian variables is coupled with the immersed structure described by Lagrangian variables via the use of the Dirac delta function. From a numerical standpoint, the Lagrangian force spreading and the Eulerian velocity interpolation are carried out by a regularized, compactly supported discrete delta function or kernel. Immersed-boundary kernels are derived from a certain set of postulates to achieve approximate grid translational invariance, interpolation accuracy and computational efficiency. In this note, we present a new 6-point immersed-boundary kernel that is C3 and features a substantially improved translational invariance compared to other common IB kernels.
Evaluation and Modification of a Statistical Specification for Hot Mix

Louisiana's current statistically based specification system was initiated in 1967. This system was based upon contractor quality control and department acceptance testing using known variability concepts. A materials data base was also initiated at that time to archive materials test results and information. Since inception of the data base and system, major changes have been incorporated into the standard specifications. Further, there have been advances in equipment and operational control devices that can further reduce construction and test variation. With these changes in mind and the presence of an excellent data base for analysis, this study was directed at updating the system to reflect current operations and to exert pressure for quality improvements where this was practicable. This study began with a statistical analysis of the data, collected for various plants and mix types and proceeded to establish a framework for revision of the specification and quality control system. Its conclusion will be with recommendations for changes that would facilitate the improvement of overall quality of the hot-mix asphaltic concrete.
Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor with Ectopic Adrenocorticotropin Production: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (p-NETs) entail a vast array of tumors, which can vary from benign neoplastic growths to rapidly aggressive malignancies. Such is the case with ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-producing p-NETs. These tumors have been found to be quite aggressive and a challenge to treat, especially due to the occurrence of metastatic disease even after resection of the primary tumor. We discuss the case of a 44-year-old female who initially presented with vague, non-specific symptoms, in which a malignant p-NET was found to be the cause of her clinical presentation. Although resection of the pancreatic mass was performed, the patient presented again with metastatic disease to the liver.
The U.S. Army: A Learning Organization

Peter M. Senge, a senior lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), first introduced his learning organization concept in the early 1990’s with the publishing of The Fifth Discipline book, which has since been revised during 2006. A ‘learning organization’ focused on the development of every member with superior performance in service of that organization’s purpose. The more the organization’s members increase their ability to learn collaboratively, the more they can accomplish the higher performance, which can then effectively and positively change their organization. Learning organizations can include corporation, schools, hospitals, non-for-profits, and government agencies – basically, any organization where people are placed together to accomplish a common goal, which they could not have created on their own. Organizational learning has five lifelong disciplines: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning. This paper will introduce some of the several aspects of the learning organization in the U.S. Army based on the current fight against the war on terror.
Ullrich-Turner syndrome and neurofibromatosis-1.

There is a well-known association between neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1) and Noonan syndrome-like manifestations, including short stature, short broad neck, and hypertelorism. These anomalies are thought to be due to variable expression of the NF1 gene. We report on two girls with NF1 who were found to have the Ullrich-Turner syndrome. Case 1, a 12-year-old white girl, was followed in a Neurofibromatosis Clinic because of multiple cafe-au-lait spots and a family history of NF1 in her mother and sister. On examination, she had short stature, hypertelorism, and short neck with low posterior hairline. Karyotype was 86% 46,XY/14% 45,X. Case 2, the first child of a woman with NF1, presented at birth with lymphedema of hands and feet and a short broad neck. Karyotype was 45,X. At age 23 months she was short, had epicanthic folds, hypertelorism, narrow palate, right simian crease, 19 cafe-au-lait spots, and axillary freckling. We conclude that chromosome studies should be performed in girls with NF1 who have short stature and Noonan- or Ullrich-Turner-like findings. Dilemmas raised by the dual diagnoses of NF1 and Ullrich-Turner syndrome include potential risks of growth hormone therapy and estrogen replacement therapy.
Nanophotonic integrated circuits from nanoresonators grown on silicon

The integration of photonic components on silicon chips creates the challenge of achieving a uniform and efficient architecture. Here, the authors demonstrate on-chip light-emitters, photodetectors, photovoltaic power supply and optical data link, all based on InGaAs nanoresonators grown on silicon.
Adverse effects of xylitol in parenteral alimentation

Abstract The administration postoperatively of 10% xylitol alimentary solution, 1.5 gm/kg of body weight, produced a significant increase in lactic acid, uric acid, bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase levels in two diabetic and two nondiabetic patients. Xylitol-loading tests were then carried out in two normal adult male volunteers in a dosage of 4.5 gm/kg. Both of the xylitol-loading test subjects complained of pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, vertigo, headache, nausea, and vomiting, as early as the first day of infusion. Serum and urine uric acid, serum bilirubin, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum lactic acid, serum alkaline phosphatase and serum inorganic phosphate levels were significantly increased in both subjects but returned to normal values 10 days after cessation of the infusion. In view of these clinical and biochemical findings, we believe at present that the use of xylitol as a calorific solution in humans is contraindicated.
Abdominal relaxation during emergence from general anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil

Abstract Study Objective To characterize respiratory dynamics during emergence from propofol-remifentanil anesthesia using noninvasive respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP). Design Observational pilot study. Setting Operating room in a university-affiliated teaching hospital. Patients 50 ASA physical status 1, 2, and 3 patients scheduled for microdirect laryngoscopy or bronchoscopy using total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) with high-frequency jet ventilation. Interventions Patients were fitted with plethysmography bands around the chest and abdomen prior to induction. Following completion of surgery in patients undergoing brief airway procedures using propofol-remifentanil general anesthesia, the anesthetic infusions were stopped and ventilation suspended until resumption of spontaneous ventilation or desaturation below 90%. During this period of apnea, abdominal and thoracic girth was assessed with noninvasive RIP. Measurements Cross-sectional area of the thorax and abdomen during emergence were measured. Main Results Useful data were obtained from 41 patients, with stable apnea lasting 404 ± 193.1 seconds; of these, 34 exhibited a slow and significant decrease in abdominal girth over a period of 267.8 ± 128.5 seconds. Resumption of spontaneous ventilation generally coincided with the end of this abdominal relaxation. Conclusion Slow expiration is the initial step in the resumption of spontaneous ventilation during apnea induced with TIVA using propofol-remifentanil.
The mechanism of β-hydride elimination from transition metal alkyls (d8): Kinetic deuterium isotope effect

Abstract The kinetic isotope effect for β-hydride elimination from alkyliridium(I) complexes has bee found to be k H / k D = 2.28 ± 0.20.
A Theory of Neuropsycholinguistic Function in Stuttering

A theory of neurolinguistic function is proposed to explain fluency and the production of stuttered and nonstuttered speech disruptions Central to the theory is the idea that speech involves lingui...
Stimulation of spinal serotonergic receptors facilitates seminal emission and suppresses penile erectile reflexes.

Abstract Penile erection and ejaculation are produced by spinal reflexes subjects to tonic control from the brain. This study examines the possible involvement of serotonergic transmission in the supraspinal modulation of such reflexes. The effects of two drugs which facilitate serotonergic transmission by different mechanisms, namely the direct receptor agonist, 5-methoxy-N, N′-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeODMT), and the reuptake inhibitor, zimelidine, were compared in intact and spinal rats. Results show that serotonergic stimulation in intact rats by either drug produces a dose-related increase in the incidence of seminal emission as well as a definite decrease of the display of erectile responses. In the spinal animals 5-MeODMT treatment reproduced both effects. By contrast, zimelidine, which needs functional nerve endings to exert its agonistic action, was ineffective in the spinal rats. This is interpreted to exclude a peripheral mechanism for the effects of the serotonin agonists on penile reflexes of intact animals and makes a strong case for a spinal site of action. We postulate the existence of serotonergic receptors located in the lower segment of the spinal cord which, when stimulated, trigger seminal emission and suppress erection.