cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sociology of Normal Stem and Progenitor Cells in CML Niche

Abstract Abstract 1234 Specialized bone marrow (BM) microenvironment niches are essential for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell maintenance, and recent publications have focused on the leukemic stem cells interaction and placement within those sites. Surprisingly, little is known about how the integrity of this leukemic niche changes the normal stem and progenitor cells behavior and functionality. To address this issue, we started by studying the kinetics and differentiation of normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in mice with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). CML accounts for ∼15% of all adult leukemias and is characterized by the BCR-ABL t(9;22) translocation. Therefore, we used a novel SCL-tTA BCR/ABL inducible mouse model of CML-chronic phase to investigate these issues. To this end, BM from leukemic and normal mice were mixed and co-transplanted into hosts. Although normal hematopoiesis was increasingly suppressed during the disease progression, the leukemic microenvironment imposed distinct effects on hematopoietic progenitor cells predisposing them toward the myeloid lineage. Indeed, normal hematopoietic progenitor cells from this leukemic environment demonstrated accelerated proliferation with a lack of lymphoid potential, similar to that of the companion leukemic population. Meanwhile, the leukemic-exposed normal hematopoietic stem cells were kept in a more quiescent state, but remained functional on transplantation with only modest changes in both engraftment and homing. Further analysis of the microenvironment identified several cytokines that were found to be dysregulated in the leukemia and potentially responsible for these bystander responses. We investigated a few of these cytokines and found IL-6 to play a crucial role in the perturbation of normal stem and progenitor cells observed in the leukemic environment. Interestingly, mice treated with anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibody reduced both the myeloid bias and proliferation defects of normal stem and progenitor cells. Results obtained with this mouse model were similarly validated using specimens obtained from CML patients. Co-culture of primary CML patient samples and GFP labeled human CD34+CD38- adult stem cells resulted in selective proliferation of the normal primitive progenitors compared to mixed cultures containing unlabeled normal bone marrow. Proliferation was blocked by adding anti-IL-6 neutralizing antibody to these co-cultures. Therefore, our current study provides definitive support and an underlying crucial mechanism for the hematopoietic perturbation of normal stem and progenitor cells during leukemogenesis. We believe our study to have important implications for cancer prevention and novel therapeutic approach for leukemia patients. We conclude that changes in cytokine levels and in particular those of IL-6 in the CML microenvironment are responsible for altered differentiation and functionality of normal stem cells. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
You’ve got vulnerability: Exploring effective vulnerability notifications

Security researchers can send vulnerability notifications to take proactive measures in securing systems at scale. However, the factors affecting a notification’s efficacy have not been deeply explored. In this paper, we report on an extensive study of notifying thousands of parties of security issues present within their networks, with an aim of illuminating which fundamental aspects of notifications have the greatest impact on efficacy. The vulnerabilities used to drive our study span a range of protocols and considerations: exposure of industrial control systems; apparent firewall omissions for IPv6-based services; and exploitation of local systems in DDoS amplification attacks. We monitored vulnerable systems for several weeks to determine their rate of remediation. By comparing with experimental controls, we analyze the impact of a number of variables: choice of party to contact (WHOIS abuse contacts versus national CERTs versus US-CERT), message verbosity, hosting an information website linked to in the message, and translating the message into the notified party’s local language. We also assess the outcome of the emailing process itself (bounces, automated replies, human replies, silence) and characterize the sentiments and perspectives expressed in both the human replies and an optional anonymous survey that accompanied our notifications. We find that various notification regimens do result in different outcomes. The best observed process was directly notifying WHOIS contacts with detailed information in the message itself. These notifications had a statistically significant impact on improving remediation, and human replies were largely positive. However, the majority of notified contacts did not take action, and even when they did, remediation was often only partial. Repeat notifications did not further patching. These results are promising but ultimately modest, behooving the security community to more deeply investigate ways to improve the effectiveness of vulnerability notifications.
Automated Real-Time Analysis of Streaming Big and Dense Data on Reconfigurable Platforms

We propose SSketch, a novel automated framework for efficient analysis of dynamic big data with dense (non-sparse) correlation matrices on reconfigurable platforms. SSketch targets streaming applications where each data sample can be processed only once and storage is severely limited. Our framework adaptively learns from the stream of input data and updates a corresponding ensemble of lower-dimensional data structures, a.k.a., a sketch matrix. A new sketching methodology is introduced that tailors the problem of transforming the big data with dense correlations to an ensemble of lower-dimensional subspaces such that it is suitable for hardware-based acceleration performed by reconfigurable hardware. The new method is scalable, while it significantly reduces costly memory interactions and enhances matrix computation performance by leveraging coarse-grained parallelism existing in the dataset. SSketch provides an automated optimization methodology for creating the most accurate data sketch for a given set of user-defined constraints, including runtime and power as well as platform constraints such as memory. To facilitate automation, SSketch takes advantage of a Hardware/Software (HW/SW) co-design approach: It provides an Application Programming Interface that can be customized for rapid prototyping of an arbitrary matrix-based data analysis algorithm. Proof-of-concept evaluations on a variety of visual datasets with more than 11 million non-zeros demonstrate up to a 200-fold speedup on our hardware-accelerated realization of SSketch compared to a software-based deployment on a general-purpose processor.
Interferon regulatory factor signaling in autoimmune disease.

Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) play critical roles in pathogen-induced innate immune responses and the subsequent induction of adaptive immune response. Dysregulation of IRF signaling is therefore thought to contribute to autoimmune disease pathogenesis. Indeed, numerous murine in vivo studies have documented protection from or enhanced susceptibility to particular autoimmune diseases in Irf-deficient mice. What has been lacking, however, is replication of these in vivo observations in primary immune cells from patients with autoimmune disease. These types of studies are essential as the majority of in vivo data support a protective role for IRFs in Irf-deficient mice, yet IRFs are often found to be overexpressed in patient immune cells. A significant body of work is beginning to emerge from both of these areas of study – mouse and human.
Annexin V blockade of the immunosuppressive effects of phosphatidylserine in 4T1 murine mammary tumors.

1179 Objectives PS expression normally serves to mark a cell as apoptotic and stimulates Treg (T-cell regulatory lymphocytes) suppression of local cell mediated immunity to prevent unwanted inflammation while the apoptotic cell digests itself without harm to adjacent tissue. In solid tumors PS expression, even at low levels, also stimulates Treg immunosuppression thereby providing a pathway of escape for tumor cells from being recognized by the immune system. We wished to determine if annexin V, a human protein in clinical trials as a radionuclide imaging marker of PS exposure, could be used to treat 4T1 murine tumors by blockading PS mediated Treg immunosuppression. Methods 20 to 25 gram 6 to 8 week female Balb/c mice were injected with 1 x 105 4T1 tumor cells into the left axillary mammary fat pad. Treatment began on day 9 after implantation after mice were randomized into the following groups; control, annexin V 2 mg/kg/day i.p. x 5 doses, doxorubicin 5 mg/kg i.p. x 1 dose, and annexin V + doxorubicin. Daily tumor sizes were recorded with electronic calipers for seven days after start of treatment. Results Annexin V monotherapy demonstrated a highly significant decrease in tumor size at 7 days (105%) as compared to control (Figure 1). A similar decrease was noted with the combination of doxorubicin and annexin V (70%) but was not significantly different from monotherapy. Least effective was doxorubicin monotherapy which reduced tumor size (but not significantly) compared to control (19%). Conclusions Annexin V monotherapy can achieve significant reductions in tumor growth as compared to control in 4T1 tumor bearing mice. As the 4T1 tumors are rapidly growing, testing in relatively slower growing syngeneic tumor models will be needed to determine if gross reduction in tumor size and improved survival can be obtained with annexin V treatment. Further testing will also be needed to determine the minimum effective dose of annexin V and if it can be used as an adjuvant to existing immunologic and chemotherapeutic therapy. Research Support Gift Funds from Atreus Pharmaceuticals
RTOS support in C-language toolchains

Embedded software development, even for real-time applications, evolved along the years from using the assembly language and custom-built schedulers — often derived from a cyclic executive — towards higher-level languages and execution models. In turn, this requires a much more sophisticated support at the toolchain level with respect to the past, especially when a real-time operating system (RTOS) is involved. In this paper, the mutual relationships between several key mechanisms internal to a C-language toolchain and the underlying RTOS are analyzed. These relationships are sometimes neglected in practice, but can easily lead to subtle and hard to debug time-dependent errors. The discussion is carried out with reference to a real-world GCC-based open-source toolchain for the C language and the FreeRTOS RTOS, both of considerable practical interest.
Experiment as a service

The absence of scientific validation of results is one of the greatest obstacles in the field of cyber security. The lack of reproducible experimental environments and results is a main contributor to this problem. Scientific rigor requires that experiments be re-run to confirm their results. For the field of cyber security to progress, experiments must be run in a realistic and controllable environment. Significant advancement in cloud technology presents potential to alleviate these problems. We explore leveraging and modifying the OpenStack cloud platform to create a parameterized, repeatable, and shareable enterprise model in the context of a real experiment. Gaps and solutions are discussed to turn cloud technology into a scientific instrument.
A Close Look at Recreation Field Work

(1958). A Close Look at Recreation Field Work. Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 33-34.
Coherent Timescales and Mechanical Structure of Multicellular Aggregates

Abstract Multicellular aggregates are an excellent model system to explore the role of tissue biomechanics in specifying multicellular reorganization during embryonic developments and malignant invasion. Tissue-like spheroids, when subjected to a compressive force, are known to exhibit liquid-like behaviors at long timescales (hours), largely because of cell rearrangements that serve to effectively dissipate the applied stress. At short timescales (seconds to minutes), before cell rearrangement, the mechanical behavior is strikingly different. The current work uses shape relaxation to investigate the structural characteristics of aggregates and discovers two coherent timescales: one on the order of seconds, the other tens of seconds. These timescales are universal, conserved across a variety of tested species, and persist despite great differences in other properties such as tissue surface tension and adhesion. A precise mathematical theory is used to correlate the timescales with mechanical properties and reveals that aggregates have a relatively strong envelope and an unusually “soft” interior (weak bulk elastic modulus). This characteristic is peculiar, considering that both layers consist of identical units (cells), but is consistent with the fact that this structure can engender both structural integrity and the flexibility required for remodeling. In addition, tissue surface tension, elastic modulus, and viscosity are proportional to each other. Considering that these tissue-level properties intrinsically derive from cellular-level properties, the proportionalities imply precise coregulation of the latter and in particular of the tension on the cell-medium and cell-cell interfaces.
4,4′-Dihydroxy-2,2′-bipyridine complexes of Co(III), Cu(II) and Zn(II); structural and spectroscopic characterization

Abstract New Co(III), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes of 4,4′-dihydroxy-2,2′-bipyridine (dhbpyH2) have been structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods and studied by electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques. Both bis- and tris-dhbpyH2 zinc complexes were characterized in solution and solid state. A rare case of accidental isochronism of the H5 and H6 protons was identified in the 1H NMR spectrum of the Co(III) complex. The cobalt and copper complexes show reversible one-electron electrochemical reductions. Luminescent emission with a life time t = 4.95 ns was recorded for [Zn(dhbpyH2)2]2+ upon UV irradiation.
Preliminary validation of a Urinary Symptom Questionnaire for individuals with Neuropathic Bladder using Intermittent Catheterization (USQNB-IC): A patient-centered patient reported outcome.

Background We developed a Urinary Symptom Questionnaire for individuals with neurogenic bladder due to spinal cord injury (SCI) and spina bifida (SB) who manage their bladders with intermittent catheterization, the USQNB-IC. This project followed an approach to patient-centered patient reported outcomes development that we created and published in 2017, specifically to ensure the primacy of the patient’s perspective and experience. Participants Two sets of responses were collected from individuals with neurogenic bladder due to either SCI (n = 336) and SB (patients, n = 179; and caregivers of patients with NB, n = 66), and three sets of “controls”, individuals with neurogenic bladder who do not have a history of UTIs (n = 49) individuals with chronic mobility impairments (neither SCI nor SB) and without neurogenic bladder (n = 46), and those with no mobility impairment, no neurogenic bladder, and no history of UTIs (n = 64). Method Data were collected from all respondents to estimate these psychometric or measurement domains characterizing a health related PRO: Reliability (minimization of measurement error; internal consistency or interrelatedness of the items; and maximization of variability that is due to “true” difference between levels of the symptoms across patients), and validity (content, reflection of the construct to be measured; face, recognizability of the contents as representing the construct to be measured; structural, the extent to which the instrument captures recognizable dimensions of the construct to be measured; and criterion, association with a gold standard). Results Evidence from these five groups of respondents suggest the instrument has face, content, criterion, convergent, and divergent validity, as well as reliability. The items were all more descriptive of our patient (focus) groups and were only weakly endorsed by the control groups. Conclusions The instrument is unique in its emphasis on, and origination from, the lived experiences of patients with neurogenic bladder who use intermittent catheterization; this preliminary psychometric evidence suggests the instrument could be useful for research and in the clinic. These results justify further development of the instrument, including formal exploration of the scoring and estimation of responsivity of these items to clinical interventions as well as patient-directed self care.
The Pleasure of Getting to Know Walter Kohn

I had the wonderful luck of getting to know Walter Kohn when he was the first Director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara. At the time, I was at the National Science Foundation, and both we and the folks in Santa Barbara were trying to launch this new adventure in nurturing theoretical physics in the best possible way. As I soon learned, Walter is a man of very considerable old-world charm and erudition, and he is such an exceptionally nice and supportive person that I came to think of him as “Uncle Walter”. As Director of the Institute, he went to great lengths to create a welcoming and nurturing environment for all the participants and visitors. In this he was extremely thoughtful. An example: Walter realized that when deciding which people to invite to the Institute as postdocs, one should take into consideration what scientific programs will be running there during the time that a candidate postdoc would be present, and ask whether this collection of programs would make a strong and helpful scientific environment for this postdoc.
Prevalence estimates for pemphigoid in the United States: A sex-adjusted and age-adjusted population analysis.

Background The burden of the pemphigoid group of autoimmune blistering diseases is poorly understood. Objective To estimate standardized overall and sex-specific, age-specific, and race-specific prevalence estimates for pemphigoid among adults in the United States. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of electronic health records data for a demographically heterogeneous population-based sample of >55 million patients across all 4 census regions. Results Overall pemphigoid prevalence was 0.012%, or 12 pemphigoid patients/100,000 adults. Prevalence of pemphigoid among those aged ≥60 years was 0.038%, or 37.7 cases/100,000 adults. Prevalence increased ∼2-fold within each successive age group and was highest among patients aged ≥90 years (123.6 [95% CI 115.2-132.5] cases/100,000 adults). Adjusted prevalence in women was 12.7 (95% CI 12.3-13.2) cases/100,000 adults, slightly more than that in men (11.0 [95% CI 10.5-11.6] cases/100,000 adults). Adjusted prevalences were similar for blacks (15.4 [95% CI 14.0-17.0] cases/100,000 adults) and whites (13.5 [95% CI 13.0-13.9] cases/100,000 adults). Limitations Analysis of electronic health data might result in disease misclassification. Conclusion Pemphigoid is rare in the United States. Patients aged ≥60 years comprise the majority of cases.
How Issue Positions Affect Candidate Performance: Experiments Comparing Campaign Donors and the Mass Public

In light of important limitations in using observed contribution behavior or surveys to assess how donors respond to candidate issue positions, we present novel experimental evidence about how habitual donors (individuals who contribute above average amounts, multiple times, and in consecutive elections) respond to candidate issue positions. Using a vignette design, we provide causal evidence about the support for two types of divergence from typical candidate issue position bundles—being too extreme or bipartisan. We show “typical” candidates outperform all others in terms of likelihood of attracting donations, primary votes, and general election votes. We also find that donors’ responsiveness to positions vis-a-vis a non-donor sample is not solely driven by partisan intensity and key demographics (i.e., high educated, high income, age, etc.). These results provide evidence that party-consistent positioning among candidates and incumbents may be reinforced by donors’ opposition to issue positions that diverge from the party-standard.
Impact of Baseline Mitral Regurgitation on Postoperative Outcomes After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation as Destination Therapy.

Abstract Background Currently, there are no guidelines for management of moderate to severe mitral regurgitation (MR) in patients undergoing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of baseline MR on short and midterm survival in patients who had LVAD as destination therapy (DT). Methods The DT-LVAD patients were classified into 2 groups based on baseline MR status: ≥ moderate MR and Results Of 91 patients studied, 62 (68%) had ≥ moderate MR before LVAD implantation; ≥ moderate MR patients had a higher incidence of concomitant pulmonary disease (11% vs 0%; P = .001) and ≥ moderate tricuspid regurgitation (55% vs 23%, P = .004) than Conclusion In DT LVAD patients, ≥ moderate MR is common and is associated with worse survival at both short and midterm follow-up.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Review of the Neurobehavioral Deficits Associated With Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

In utero alcohol exposure can disrupt the development of the fetal brain and result in a wide range of neurobehavioral outcomes collectively known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). This paper provides a comprehensive review of the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of prenatal alcohol exposure, including domains of general intelligence, executive functioning, language development, learning and memory, adaptive functioning, academic performance, and concurrent psychopathology. In addition, the current status of the neurobehavioral profile of FASD and its potential as a diagnostic tool will be discussed.
Characterizing security and privacy practices in emerging digital credit applications

Access to credit can provide capital crucial to both businesses and individuals. Unfortunately, for large parts of the developing world, access to credit is not available because customers often lack the traditional data used by lenders to make such decisions (e.g., verifiable payroll statements, property ownership documents). Emerging online credit services address this need through the use of non-traditional creditworthiness data, which many believe to include user geolocation and social network information. While such systems both potentially expand credit availability and improve usability through instant evaluation, their security and privacy practices remain opaque. In this paper, we perform the first comprehensive security analysis of the emerging online credit space. To provide improved transparency, we select 51 representative companies across the industry, analyze their privacy policies and compare them to the sensitive data types mobile applications actually gather. We then evaluate the configuration of connections between mobile apps and their supporting servers to determine whether they securely handle such data. Our analysis demonstrates significant security and privacy issues across this burgeoning industry, including the gathering of previously undisclosed data types and widespread mis-configuration of encryption. We conclude by discussing our efforts to work with partners in and around the industry to improve these issues.
Factors Associated With Successfully Filling Faculty Vacancies in Family Medicine.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Faculty vacancies are a concern for chairs of academic family medicine departments who regularly face having to recruit new faculty. Faculty physicians who report lack of support for research and teaching or excessive time in activities that are not meaningful may experience burnout resulting in leaving academic medicine. METHODS Data were collected via a Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) survey of US family medicine department chairs. To determine characteristics associated with success in hiring new physician faculty, chairs answered questions about the number of vacancies in the previous 12 months, the number of vacancies filled in the previous 12 months, the months the longest vacancy was open, starting salary, whether signing bonus was offered, and the full-time equivalent (FTE) for clinical, research, teaching, and administrative time. RESULTS The response rate was 52%. Chairs reported an average of 3.9 vacancies in the previous 12 months, and an average of 2.5 (66%) were filled. Chairs who didn't offer protected time for teaching filled a higher percentage of their vacancies, but they did not fill them faster than departments that did offer teaching time. Higher salary and a signing bonus were associated with filling positions faster. Chairs who offered a signing bonus filled positions nearly 4 months sooner than those who didn't. CONCLUSIONS Offering protected time for teaching or research and FTE allocation for clinical, teaching, research, and administrative time were not associated with success in hiring new faculty. Chairs who offered higher salaries and signing bonuses were able to hire faculty more quickly than those who didn't.
Patterns of protein expression in human head and neck cancer cell lines differ after proton vs photon radiotherapy.

Background Proton radiotherapy (PRT) may be a less toxic alternative to photon radiotherapy (XRT) for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). However, the molecular responses of HNSCC cells to PRT vs XRT are unclear. Methods Proteomics analyses of protein expression profiles by reverse-phase protein arrays were done for two human papillomavirus [HPV]-negative and two HPV+ cell lines. Expression patterns of 175 proteins involved in several signaling pathways were tested. Results Compared with PRT, XRT tended to induce lower expression of DNA damage repair-and cell cycle arrest-related proteins and higher expression of cell survival- and proliferation-related proteins. Conclusions Under these experimental conditions, PRT and XRT induced different protein expression and activation profiles. Further preclinical verification is needed, as are studies of tumor pathway mutations as biomarkers for choice of treatment or as radiosensitization targets to improve the response of HNSCC to PRT or XRT.
Goal-oriented A Posteriori Error Estimates in Linearized Elasticity

In this chapter, attention is focused on goal-oriented error estimation procedures that are based on generalized error measures because they are, in most cases, of greater interest to engineers than their energy norm counterparts. The error estimation procedures presented in the previous chapter for both Galerkin mesh-based and meshfree methods are extended in this chapter to provide an estimation of the generalized error measure. This error measure is typically related to the error of a given quantity of interest that naturally occurs in the design-specific computation of an engineering model within the computational V&V strategy. Examples of quantities of interest are local displacement or stress distributions and the fracture criterion in fracture mechanics problems, which is frequently a nonlinear quantity of interest that requires a linearization. To estimate the error of a given quantity of interest, a so-called dual problem needs to be solved in addition to the primal problem, which is, in this chapter, the conventional linearized elasticity problem. Moreover, a multi-space strategy is introduced that can use used to solve the dual problem on a different mesh or particle distribution and adds versatility to the goal-oriented error estimation procedures.
SLOPE STABILITY DURING EARTHQUAKES

CATASTROPHIC SLOPE FAILURES, WHICH HAVE OCCURRED DURING MEDIUM AND LARGE EARTHQUAKES, ILLUSTRATE THE NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RELIABLE METHODS FOR ANTICIPATING AND PREVENTING SUCH FAILURES. UNFORTUNATELY THERE IS AN INSUFFICIENT BACKLOG OF ADEQUATELY DOCUMENTED CASE HISTORIES TO PROVIDE A RELIABLE BASIS FOR QUANTITATIVE EVALUATIONS BASED ON PAST EXPERIENCE, AND PSEUDOSTATIC METHODS OF ANALYSIS LEAVE MUCH TO BE DESIRED. THE LIMITATIONS OF PSEUDOSTATIC METHODS ARE OUTLINED, AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS RELATING TO DYNAMIC RESPONSE ANALYSES, INVESTIGATIONS OF SOIL BEHAVIOR UNDER CYCLIC LOAD CONDITIONS, DESIGN PROCEDURES, AND ANALYSES OF ACTUAL SLOPE FAILURES ARE DESCRIBED. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THESE DEVELOPMENTS PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING PREVIOUS FAILURES AND THEREBY OFFER THE POSSIBILITY FOR A MORE MEANINGFUL CATEGORIZATION OF EXPERIENCE AND AN IMPROVED GUIDE TO ENGINEERING JUDGMENT IN THE EVALUATION OF SLOPE STABILITY DURING EARTHQUAKES. /ASCE/
Response by Three Plant Indicator Groups of Upland Habitat to Manipulation of a Black Oak (Quercus velutina) Sand Barren

In the absence of a disturbance regime, flora at historical oak sand barrens change as leaf litter builds up and increasing canopy cover shades bare soils. Over time, black oak sand barrens become more mesic, and other trees including Acer rubrum, Fraxinus sp., Prunus serotina, and Sassafras albidum often mix with oaks in the canopy. Three different restoration techniques were applied to recreate disturbance across 10 sites within degraded black oak (Quercus velutina) glacial kames, which are mounds of sand and gravel deposited by melting ice sheets: select canopy tree thinning favoring 5–30% tree canopy cover, forest floor leaf litter removal, and prescribed fire. Ground layer richness and abundance 1 and 3 y after treatment were assessed within modified North Carolina Vegetation Survey plots and compared against both temporally and spatially equivalent control sites. Thinning the canopy induced the greatest vegetation response in species diversity, whether as xeric-tolerant indicator species, graminoid species, as a taxonomic group, or pooling all plants. Leaf litter removal produced a modest pulse response from a few select species released from the shade-creating effects of accumulating leaf litter. Prescribed burns did not create a disturbance sufficient for any significant plant response, presumably because low-intensity burning minimally reduced leaf litter cover. Thus, manipulations that opened the canopy and reduced soil moisture more directly induced barren-species recovery than did efforts to recreate historical disturbance processes.
Removal of hydrocarbon contaminants from water with perfluorocarboxylated UiO-6X derivatives

We report that treatment of UiO-66 and UiO-67 with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA) not only render the MOF hydrophobic but also capable of removing hydrocarbon contaminants from water. Additionally HFBA@UiO-66 can coat water droplets, yielding liquid marbles that can be placed in organic solvents without dissolution or dispersal.
Cultivating emotional intelligence in child welfare professionals: A systematic scoping review

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to recognize and appropriately respond to emotions in oneself and others; these competencies include, but are not limited to, empathy, emotion regulation, reflective ability, self-awareness, and psychological flexibility. Such abilities are crucial to meaningful and effective child welfare work. Further, they are part of resilience and healthy coping mechanisms, which are important for those working in child welfare if compassion fatigue and burnout are to be combated. However, little is known about how to cultivate these competencies in child welfare professionals. The present study had two goals: 1) To conduct a systematic scoping review of the literature on interventions purporting to develop and/or enhance EI-related competencies in this population, whether those interventions be at the caseworker, supervisor, or organizational level; 2) To consider future directions for the teaching and enhancement of EI competencies for child welfare professionals. A total of 18 studies met inclusion criteria, with the majority focused on developing mindfulness and/or empathy skills. However, no studies focused on child welfare professionals, and instead focused on social work students or professionals, with a few including other helping professionals. Additionally, none were focused on a supervisory or organizational level. Future directions for research are discussed, including the use of experiential or simulation-based training in order to elicit emotions within a safe and supportive learning context, the use of reflective supervision to help develop self-reflection and emotion regulation skills, and system-wide interventions that enhance the development of emotional intelligence competencies in public child welfare organizations.
Airfoil-like mechanics generate thrust on the anterior body of swimming fishes

The anterior body of many fishes is shaped like an airfoil turned on its side. With an oscillating angle to the swimming direction, such an airfoil experiences negative pressure due to both its shape and pitching movements. This negative pressure acts as thrust forces on the anterior body. Here, we apply a high-resolution, pressure-based approach to describe how two fishes, bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis Mitchill), swimming in the carangiform mode, the most common fish swimming mode, generate thrust on their anterior bodies using leading-edge suction mechanics, much like an airfoil. These mechanics contrast with those previously reported in lampreys—anguilliform swimmers—which produce thrust with negative pressure but do so through undulatory mechanics. The thrust produced on the anterior bodies of these carangiform swimmers through negative pressure comprises 28% of the total thrust produced over the body and caudal fin, substantially decreasing the net drag on the anterior body. On the posterior region, subtle differences in body shape and kinematics allow trout to produce more thrust than bluegill, suggesting that they may swim more effectively. Despite the large phylogenetic distance between these species, and differences near the tail, the pressure profiles around the anterior body are similar. We suggest that such airfoil-like mechanics are highly efficient, because they require very little movement and therefore relatively little active muscular energy, and may be used by a wide range of fishes since many species have appropriately shaped bodies.
DIAGNOSING AND PREVENTING TRAY DAMAGE IN DISTILLATION COLUMNS

Little attention has been given to diagnosing and preventing tray damage in distillation columns in the distillation control literature. However, tray damage can impose a severe operating cost. When tray damage results in a complete shutdown or limited production operation, especially of high throughput processes, the cost penalty can be severe. Costs include both the direct expense to dismantle and repair the columns and also the resulting loss in production. Based on the results of a survey of 17 incidents of column tray damage, causes of tray damage are identified. Along with discussing the cause and prevention of distillation column tray damage, the problem of diagnosing the nature of column damage is discussed in some detail. This is important since certain column behavior, such as foaming, can appear to be the same behavior caused by tray damage and/or pluggage. Column instabilities due to flow changes to and from the column and pressure disturbances can also appear to be caused by tray damage. It is obviously very important to isolate the cause of the problem since the solution can either be trivial or very costly. Also some recommendations are given for column instruments and controls that can aid in stabilizing column operation and diagnosing the cause of the problems. “It can be very disappointing for a control engineer who has spent considerable time and effort to devise and implement an improved distillation column control strategy that might be saving $100M or more per year, for that savings to be lost because during a start-up, upset, or shutdown, the column trays were damaged.”
Horizontal and vertical transmission of transgenerational memories via the Cer1 transposon

Animals face both external and internal dangers: pathogens threaten from the environment, and unstable genomic elements threaten from within. Previously, we discovered that C. elegans protects itself from pathogens by reading bacterial small RNAs and using this information to both induce avoidance and transmit memories for several generations. Here we found that these memories can be transferred to naive animals via Cer1 retrotransposon-encoded capsids. Cer1 functions at the step of transmission of information from the germline to neurons, and is required for C. elegans′ learned avoidance ability and for mothers to pass this information on to progeny. The presence of the Cer1 retrotransposon in wild C. elegans strains correlates with the ability to learn and inherit small RNA-induced pathogen avoidance. Together, these results suggest that C. elegans has co-opted a potentially dangerous retrotransposon to instead protect itself and its progeny from a common pathogen through its inter-tissue signaling ability, hijacking this genomic element for its own adaptive immunity benefit.
Silver-catalyzed enantioselective functionalizations of alkenes and alkynes: A short review

Transition metal-catalyzed asymmetric transformations of alkenes and alkynes can upgrade readily available unsaturated compounds to valuable building blocks for organic synthesis. Late transition metals supported by asymmetric ligands, particularly palladium, rhodium, and iridium, have traditionally been employed for enantioselective functionalization of alkenes and alkynes, but these precious metals are costly. Silver is a much less expensive late transition metal with good Lewis acidity that can accommodate diverse ligands and coordination geometries. Silver(I) complexes are also capable of engaging in non-covalent interactions with alkenes and alkynes to drive selectivity in reactions at both the unsaturated bond, as well as at an adjacent activated allylic or propargylic C–H bond. This short review summarizes recent developments in asymmetric silver-catalyzed reactions of alkene-containing and alkyne-containing compounds. Direct enantioselective transformations of the alkene/alkyne π bond are described, as well as examples where the site of unsaturation drives functionalization at an adjacent C–H bond.
Combination of sulindac and bexarotene for prevention of intestinal carcinogenesis in familial adenomatous polyposis

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome, which results in the development of hundreds of adenomatous polyps carpeting the gastrointestinal tract. NSAIDs have reduced polyp burden in patients with FAP and synthetic rexinoids have demonstrated the ability to modulate cytokine-mediated inflammation and WNT signaling. This study examined the use of the combination of an NSAID (sulindac) and a rexinoid (bexarotene) as a durable approach for reducing FAP colonic polyposis to prevent colorectal cancer development. Whole transcriptomic analysis of colorectal polyps and matched normal mucosa in a cohort of patients with FAP to identify potential targets for prevention in FAP was performed. Drug-dose synergism of sulindac and bexarotene in cell lines and patient-derived organoids was assessed, and the drug combination was tested in two different mouse models. This work explored mRNA as a potential predictive serum biomarker for this combination in FAP. Overall, transcriptomic analysis revealed significant activation of inflammatory and cell proliferation pathways. A synergistic effect of sulindac (300 μmol/L) and bexarotene (40 μmol/L) was observed in FAP colonic organoids with primary targeting of polyp tissue compared with normal mucosa. This combination translated into a significant reduction in polyp development in ApcMin/+ and ApcLoxP/+-Cdx2 mice. Finally, the reported data suggest miRNA-21 could serve as a predictive serum biomarker for polyposis burden in patients with FAP. These findings support the clinical development of the combination of sulindac and bexarotene as a treatment modality for patients with FAP. PREVENTION RELEVANCE: This study identified a novel chemopreventive regimen combining sulindac and bexarotene to reduce polyposis in patients with FAP using in silico tools, ex vivo, and in vivo models. This investigation provides the essential groundwork for moving this drug combination forward into a clinical trial.
Working for the Same Purpose and Yet Against Each Other: The Process of Identity Network Enactment

Scholars have suggested that intrapersonal identity networks – the combination of identities and the relationships between them – influence enactment. However, very little is known about the proces...
Unsent Letter to Luis Salinas

It's hot in the mountains now even at night and soon you will be in Texas fighting the sun & looking for the virgin in Mexican bars. Obsidian eyes that see the human and the inhuman with the same anguish, hands of broken wheat, bones resonating to the grito, all the weariness of the poor burns clearly through raw alcohol. I think of you pushing a heavy brown breast to your mouth as if you could get away for just one night or even twenty minutes. A fiery planet flies around your heart and a moon around the planet and stars are shooting everywhere. Your blood is amazed at all this activity, and the woman is amazed, and the bed creaks under the weight of the world. May you have many children and the gringos none.
Breast cancer risk following radiotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma: Modification by other breast cancer risk factors.

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004 3130 Background Young women treated for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) with high doses of radiotherapy (RT) to the breast have a significantly increased risk of breast cancer. However, risk is reduced almost in half by HL treatment with selected alkylating agent (AA) chemotherapy, or radiation doses to the ovary > 5 gray (Gy), each of which may induce early menopause. Objective We sought to determine whether the risk of breast cancer associated with HL radiotherapy is modified by established breast cancer risk factors. Methods A cohort of 3,817 female one-year survivors of HL diagnosed at age 30 or less between 1965 and 1994 were followed in six population-based cancer registries. Breast cancer developed in 105 women, who were matched to 266 controls. Since almost all women received RT to the chest, radiation dose to the site where breast cancer developed (median 22 Gy; range .07- 56.0 Gy in exposed controls) was modeled as a continuous variable. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusting for confounders and other HL treatments. Results Mean age at breast cancer diagnosis was 41 years, and 78% of cases and 62% of controls with known menopausal status were pre- or peri-menopausal at study end. Breast cancer risks in relation to established risk factors were consistent with those reported in previous studies among young women, including a negligible effect of parity on risk. Overall, breast cancer risk increased 1.04-fold (95% CI 1.01-1.07) for each 1 Gy increment in breast dose. Among women who did not receive AA or ovarian radiation > 5 Gy (treatments associated with ovarian suppression), parous women experienced an increase in breast cancer risk with increasing breast radiation dose (OR 1.05 per Gy; 95% CI 1.02-1.08; n=50 cases, 91 controls), which was less evident among nulliparous women (OR 1.0 per Gy; 95% CI 0.96-1.04; 17 cases, 29 controls). Breast cancer risk also increased with increasing breast dose among women without a known first degree family history of breast or ovarian cancer (OR 1.08 per Gy; 95% CI 1.03-1.13; 59 cases, 135 controls), and the corresponding odds ratio among women with such history was 0.98 per Gy (95% CI 0.92-1.05; n=14 cases, 14 controls). On a multiplicative scale, the RT dose-response did not appear to be modified by other established breast cancer risk factors, including age at menarche, age at first birth, number of live births, and body mass index. Discussion Breast cancer risk following RT for HL may be modified by a few established breast cancer risk factors, although data were sparse in some subgroups. HL treatment may involve large breast radiation doses, thus our findings may not be generalizable to all settings.
Rules for Experimenting in Psychology and Economics, and Why They Differ

This chapter discusses methodological differences in the way economists and psychologists typically conduct experiments. The main argument is that methodological differences spring from basic differences in the way knowledge is created and cumulated in the two fields-- especially the important role of simple, formal theory in economics which is largely absent in psychology.
Recent Planetary Physics and Chemistry

Within the last few years considerable progress has been made in our knowledge and understanding of the origin of planets and of the structure of their interiors and atmospheres. Some of these advances including Venera and Viking results are summarized for all the planets (except Earth) with accent on those facts which seem amenable to theoretical analysis. Only the minimum background information is added for completeness. (The results of the 1978–79 Mariner-Venus Orbiter, Pioneer 11 and Voyager 1 and 2 missions as well as other observations are very briefly summarized in appropriate addenda).
Nitrogen-Fixing Trees in Small-Scale Agriculture of Mountainous Southeast Guatemala: Effects on Soil Quality and Erosion Control

Abstract Intensive, subsistence agriculture on hillsides of southeast Guatemala has caused extensive soil degradation. This retrospective study evaluated the success of an agroforestry treatment in improving the sustainability of mountainous agricultural systems in terms of soil nutrient status and erosion control. Three years after maize (Zea mays) and pasture fields were alley-cropped with N-fixing Gliricidia sepium trees, soil nutrient levels were examined and compared to nonalley-cropped controls. Agroforestry treatment showed significantly higher soil organic matter (SOM) over paired plots with no alley-cropping (mean 4.3% vs. 3.2% C, p < 0.05). Mean total N was also higher, with 0.12% in the nonagro-forestry control plots compared to 0.16% underthe agroforestry treatment (p <0.05). Some improvement in soil water-holding capacity(WHC) was also observed in the agroforestry systems. Differences in soil levels of available P, ranging from 8.0 to 64.4 μg/g, were not significant and correlated more with s...
Generalization of the linearized discrete model of coupled oscillator arrays to account for coupling delay

[1] Arrays of mutually injection locked oscillators have been proposed as a means of providing properly phased excitations for the elements of a phased array antenna. Analysis of such oscillator arrays has typically made use of Van der Pol's oscillator model and Adler's theory of injection locking resulting in a system of nonlinear differential equations for the phases of the oscillators. The solution resulting from a linearization of this formulation is noncausal because it does not account for time delay in the interoscillator coupling. The present analysis extends the linearlized formulation to account for coupling delay and thus yields a causal solution.