cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thermodynamic Modeling of Equilibrium Subsolidus Phase Relations in the Ag–Pd–O2 System

From literature values of the thermodynamic activity of Pd in Ag/Pd solid solutions and the Gibbs free energy of formation of PdO as a function of temperature, subsolidus equilibrium phase relations in the Pd–Ag–O2 system have been calculated and compared to results from high-temperature XRD analyses. The developed model takes into account the nonideal activity of Pd in Ag/Pd solid solutions and confirms that increasing the Ag/Pd ratio or decreasing the oxygen activity decreases the temperature at which PdO reduces. It also accurately predicts that the temperature range over which the PdO reduces is broad for Ag-rich compositions, and narrow for Pd-rich compositions.
The globalisation challenge: Surviving at the margins

Globalisation is crucial to understanding international political economy, for it directs attention to fundamental changes underway in the post-Cold War era. The manifestations of globalisation include the spatial reorganisation of production, the interpenetration of industries across borders, the spread of financial markets, the diffusion of identical consumer goods to distant countries, massive transfers of population within the South as well as from the South and the East to the West, resultant conflicts between immigrant and established communities in formerly tight-knit neighbourhoods, and an emerging worldwide preference for democracy. A rubric for varied phenomena, the concept of globalisation interrelates multiple levels of analysis-economics, politics, culture and ideology. But what explains globalisation? What are its causes, mechanisms, and possibilities for transformation? Where to focus an analysis? On the inner workings and logic of capital itself? On strategies and actors seeking to optimise their positions? On empirical indicators or trends said to comprise this process? On the complementary and contradictory interactions among localisation, regionalisation and globalisation? On the social and political consequences? I contend that world society is entering a new era in the relationship between power and the division of labour, which is globalised. What sets the context for conflict and cooperation in the post-Cold War period is an integrating and yet disintegrating process known as globalisation. Although any given world problem has many sources, globalisation establishes novel opportunities and challenges for solving it. In developing this argument, I will first explore varied meanings of the concept of division of labour and the multilayer character of the globalisation process. The next section anchors the discussion by examining one region-East Asia-within this framework. This section is obviously not a detailed account but a synopsis of the impact of globalisation on a specific regional division of labour. Finally, I will turn to the seeds of future conflict sown by globalisation and, also, the implications for adaptation to a rapidly changing and highly competitive environment.
Assessing the mammary gland of nonhuman primates: effects of endogenous hormones and exogenous hormonal agents and growth factors.

This review provides a summary of the normal biology, development, and morphology of the breast in nonhuman primates (macaques), and of the major published work addressing hormonally-induced changes in the breast of these animals. The mammary glands of macaques are anatomically, developmentally, and physiologically similar to the human breast, with similar expression of sex steroid receptors (estrogen receptors α and β, progesterone receptor A and B, androgen receptors), estrogen dependent markers, and steroid metabolizing enzymes. Genetic similarity between human beings and macaques is high, varying from 95–99% depending on the sequence evaluated. Macaques develop hyperplastic and cancerous lesions of the breast spontaneously, which are similar in type and prevalence to those of human beings. They have a reproductive physiology typical of anthropoid primates, including a distinct menarche and menopause, and a 28-day menstrual cycle. These similarities give unique value to the macaque model for evaluation of the effectiveness and safety of hormonal agents. Such agents considered in this review include estrogens and progestogens, combined therapies such as oral contraceptives and post-menopausal hormone therapies, androgens, selective estrogen receptor modulators, phytoestrogens, prolactin, somatotropin, epidermal growth factor, and other novel agents with hormonal or growth factor-like activity. This review also includes a consideration of selected background changes and typical strategies and markers used for evaluation of experimentally-induced changes, including biopsy-based strategies designed to control for inter-individual variability and minimize numbers of animals used. Birth Defects Res (Part B), 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A hierarchical optimal control strategy for power management of hybrid power systems in all electric ships applications

This paper deals with the optimal control of hybrid power systems (HPS) for all electric ships (AES) targeting military applications to support critical missions such as weapon or aircraft launches. The optimal control of HPS manages the power flow from the energy storage device and power sources to ensure mission effectiveness, namely, meet the pulse power demands as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The real-time control is a key requirement due to the on-demand nature of the problem. This requirement, along with the nonlinear and large scale HPS dynamics, long look-ahead horizon, safety constraints and load disturbances, makes the control problem challenging. In this paper we leverage the dynamic properties of HPS and propose a hierarchical control strategy for the power management of the HPS. The key merit of the proposed approach is that both the long term optimal power demand planning and short term disturbance rejection can be solved in real-time without computational delay. A case study using the HPS model illustrates the real-time computational efficiency and mission effectiveness of the proposed method.
Power scalable processing using distributed arithmetic

A recent trend in low power design has been the employment of reduced precision processing methods for decreasing arithmetic activity and average power dissipation. Such designs can trade off power and arithmetic precision as system requirements change. This work explores the potential of Distributed Arithmetic (DA) computation structures for low power precision-on-demand computation. We present two proof-of-concept VLSI implementations whose power dissipation changes according to the precision of the computation performed.
Campus Sexual Misconduct: Restorative Justice Approaches to Enhance Compliance With Title IX Guidance.

Campus response to sexual violence is increasingly governed by federal law and administrative guidance such as the 1972 Title IX, the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL), and the 2013 Violence Against Women Act. Educational institutions are directed to expand disciplinary responses and establish coordinated action to eliminate sexual violence and remedy its effects. Compliance fosters a quasi-criminal justice approach not suited to all sexual misconduct and inconsistent with developing practice in student conduct management. This article envisions restorative justice (RJ) enhancements to traditional student conduct processes that maintain compliance, expand options, empower victim choice, and increase responsiveness to DCL aims. The article (1) defines sexual violence and sexual harassment within the DCL scope, (2) elaborates the DCL position on permissible alternative resolutions and differentiates mediation from RJ, (3) sequences action steps from case report to finalization, including both restorative and traditional justice pathways; and (4) discusses building support for innovation beginning with existing campus response. Language: en
Feeding the machine: mechanisms of proteasome-catalyzed degradation of ubiquitinated proteins

Abstract The proteasome plays a role in a myriad of intracellular processes from cell-cycle control to antigen presentation. Central to these processes is the targeting of selected proteins for proteasomal degradation via their conjugation to ubiquitin. The mechanisms by which the ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal proteolysis occurs can be divided into four steps: first, substrate protein recognition by its cognate E3 ubiquitin ligase; second, polyubiquitinated protein substrate recruitment to the proteasome; third, protein substrate deubiquitination; and four, proteolytic chamber pore opening/substrate translocation followed by proteolysis. Recent advances include the identification of novel E3 ubiquitin ligase recognition determinants, a new isopeptidase activity, and a better understanding of how the proteasome’s axial channels are gated.
Presynaptic modulation of the retinogeniculate synapse.

Modulatory projections from brainstem nuclei and intrinsic thalamic interneurons play a significant role in modifying sensory information as it is relayed from the thalamus to the cortex. In the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), neurotransmitters released from these modulatory inputs can affect the intrinsic conductances of thalamocortical relay neurons, thus altering their firing properties. Here, we show that in addition to postsynaptic effects, neuromodulators such as serotonin (5-HT) and GABA can act presynaptically to regulate neurotransmitter release at the synapse between retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and relay neurons in the LGN, the retinogeniculate synapse. Activation of 5HT1 and GABAB receptors significantly decreased EPSC amplitude. This inhibition was accompanied by a decrease in the extent of paired-pulse depression, suggesting that it is presynaptic in origin. In addition, fluorometric calcium measurements from retinal axon terminals labeled with Calcium Green-1 dextran revealed that 5HT1 and GABAB receptor agonists decreased presynaptic calcium influx. Taken together, our data indicate that serotonin and GABA can act presynaptically to decrease calcium influx at the retinogeniculate synapse and modify transmission of visual information in the LGN.
Novel Control of S Phase of the Cell Cycle by Ubiquitin-conjugating Enzyme H7

Timely degradation of regulatory proteins by the ubiquitin proteolytic pathway (UPP) is an established paradigm of cell cycle regulation during the G2/M and G1/S transitions. Less is known about roles for the UPP during S phase. Here we present evidence that dynamic cell cycle–dependent changes in levels of UbcH7 regulate entrance into and progression through S phase. In diverse cell lines, UbcH7 protein levels are dramatically reduced in S phase but are fully restored by G2. Knockdown of UbcH7 increases the proportion of cells in S phase and doubles the time to traverse S phase, whereas UbcH7 overexpression reduces the proportion of cells in S phase. These data suggest a role for UbcH7 targets in the completion of S phase and entry into G2. Notably, UbcH7 knockdown was coincident with elevated levels of the checkpoint kinase Chk1 but not Chk2. These results argue that UbcH7 promotes S phase progression to G2 by modulating the intra-S phase checkpoint mediated by Chk1. Furthermore, UbcH7 levels appear to be regulated by a UPP. Together the data identify novel roles for the UPP, specifically UbcH7 in the regulation of S phase transit time as well as in cell proliferation.
Disorders of the heartbeat during pregnancy.

Abstract Disorders of the heartbeat during pregnancy are discussed in relation to published reports and experiences at the New York Lying-In Hospital. The various disturbances are analyzed in terms of medical and obstetric implications.
Sigrid Undset's Letters to Hope Emily Allen

Ciklamini mines the letters in Rutgers' Special Collections of Sigrid Undset (1882-1949), the Norwegian novelist, to Hope Emily Allen (1883-1960), the medievalist scholar. The letters date from 1940 until February, 1940 to December, 1948, written during Undset's exile in New York city (1940-1945) and after her return to Norway. The letters reveal Undset's love of New York city, her anguish over the Nazi terror in her homeland, and their shared interest in medival studies.
Extinction Limits of Premixed Combustion Assisted by Catalytic Reaction in a Stagnation-Point Flow

Motivated by the potential use of catalytic materials in micro-combustor application, the primary scope of this study is to investigate the lean extinction characteristics of premixed flames in the presence of catalytic reaction. In particular, the effects of mixture dilution on the lean flammability limit are examined by adopting a stagnation-point flow system with a methane/air mixture over a platinum surface. For the reference fuel/air conditions, it was found that the lean flammability limit of homogeneous reaction is actually lower than that of the heterogeneous reaction. However, when sufficient amount of nitrogen is added to the reactant mixture, the surface reaction shows the benefit of extending the lean extinction limit to a lower value. It is also found that the magnitude of flammability extension by surface reaction is more pronounced in the presence of surface heat loss. Unsteady extinction behavior in response to equivalence ratio fluctuations shows an overall trend consistent with the steady results. These phenomena are explained as result of different characteristic time scale of homogeneous and heterogeneous reaction. Analytical calculation proved that under same reactant and thermal boundary condition, surface reaction has smaller time scale which is rather insensitive to dilution while gas phase reaction has larger one which changes more with different dilution magnitude.
"The Rhetoric of Literary Criticism" Revisited:Mistaken Critics, Complex Contexts, and Social Justice

Fahnestock and Secor’s “The Rhetoric of Literary Criticism” characterized literary criticism of the 1970s as conservative and self-celebratory. However, although literary theory has since undergone...
Mechanoelectrochemistry of PPy(DBS) from correlated characterization of electrochemical response and extensional strain

This paper investigates nanostructured morphology-dependent charge storage and coupled mechanical strain of polypyrrole membranes doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonate (PPy(DBS)). Nanoscale features introduced in PPy(DBS) using phospholipid vesicles as soft-templates create a uniform and long-range order to the polymer morphology, and lead to higher specific capacitance. It is widely stated that nanostructured architecture offer reduced mechanical loading at higher charge capacities, but metrics and methods to precisely quantify coupled localized strains do not exist. Towards this goal, we demonstrate the use of scanning electrochemical microscope with shear force imaging hardware (SECM-SF) to precisely measure charge storage function and volumetric strain simultaneously, and define two metrics – filling efficiency and chemomechanical coupling coefficient to compare nanostructured morphologies and thicknesses. For thin membranes (smaller charge densities), planar and vesicle-templated membranes have comparable mechanoelectrochemical response. For thick membranes (0.4 to 0.8 C cm−2), a 15% increase in charge storage is associated with 50% reduction in extensional strain. These results allow for the formulation of rules to design nanostructured PPy(DBS)-based actuators and energy storage devices.
Knockouts of high-ranking males have limited impact on baboon social networks

Social network structures can crucially impact complex social processes such as collective behaviour or the transmission of information and diseases. However, currently it is poorly understood how social networks change over time. Previous studies on primates suggest that `knockouts' (due to death or dispersal) of high-ranking individuals might be important drivers for structural changes in animal social networks. Here we test this hypothesis using long-term data on a natural population of baboons, examining the effects of 29 natural knockouts of alpha or beta males on adult female social networks. We investigated whether and how knockouts affected (1) changes in grooming and association rates among adult females, and (2) changes in mean degree and global clustering coefficient in these networks. The only significant effect that we found was a decrease in mean degree in grooming networks in the first month after knockouts, but this decrease was rather small, and grooming networks rebounded to baseline levels by the second month after knockouts. Taken together our results indicate that the removal of high-ranking males has only limited or no lasting effects on social networks of adult female baboons. This finding calls into question the hypothesis that the removal of high-ranking individuals has a destabilizing effect on social network structures in social animals.
Examining Representations of Young Adult Female Protagonists through Critical Race Feminism

This article analyses the ways in which the professional literature—by scholars, educators and reviewers—represents young adult female protagonists and approaches sexism. Drawing on critical race feminist theory, the author finds that recommended young adult female protagonists are still overwhelmingly white, middle‐class and heterosexual. Despite descriptors such as ‘strong’, ‘gutsy’, ‘feisty’ and ‘independent’, the young adult female protagonists that are recommended today still strive to meet the expectations of a socially conservative and sexist patriarchy. Moreover, the analysed texts usually address sexism only implicitly, if at all. With few exceptions sexism is approached as an individual phenomenon—that is, in isolation from other oppressive factors related to race, class, gender and sexuality. The broader social structures in which sexism is embedded and reproduced are often ignored. The author calls for greater ideological transparency by the contributors to this growing body of work.
Subsynchronous Resonance Monitoring Using Ambient High Speed Sensor Data

This paper proposes a framework for online monitoring of subsynchronous oscillations using ambient sensor data from high speed sampling devices such as digital fault recorders (DFRs). Ambient data is continuously available in the form of routine system responses to random load fluctuations. This paper shows the usefulness of ambient data for tracking the frequency, damping ratio and mode shape of torsional modes related to subsynchronous resonance (SSR). Frequency domain decomposition (FDD) and recursive least square (RLS) algorithms are tested for ambient monitoring of SSR modes. IEEE second SSR benchmark model is used as the study system. Nonlinear and linearized equations of this system are analyzed for testing the performance of measurement based methods and to compare their results with respective linearized system modes. It is shown that both electrical and mechanical signals can be used for the SSR monitoring while the torsional modes are more observable in mechanical signals such as generator speeds. In addition to estimating the frequency and damping ratio, torsional mode shapes can be identified by implementing FDD as a multi-dimensional method on the speeds of the masses of the turbine shaft. The algorithms are tested on an archived real system data set from a DFR.
ASSESSING PHOTORECEPTOR STRUCTURE ASSOCIATED WITH ELLIPSOID ZONE DISRUPTIONS VISUALIZED WITH OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

Purpose:To compare images of photoreceptor layer disruptions obtained with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) in a variety of pathologic states.Methods:Five subjects with photoreceptor ellipsoid zone disruption as per OCT and clinical diagnos
Image Analysis to Determine the Response of Passive Surface Hairs

Gust detection and mitigation is an important consideration for flight stability in small micro-unmanned aerial vehicles (MAVs). However, traditional guidance and control sensors, such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, may not be the most feasible options for MAV applications. Instead, arrays of hair-like devices are under consideration as an alternative flow detection method. Research into methods to construct active hair sensor arrays with the appropriate aspect ratios (length to diameter) is ongoing. While active hair sensors cannot be presently manufactured, models for hair structure mechanics may be validated using optical measurements of passive hairs and arrays. The purpose of this study was to develop image analysis algorithms in conjunction with digital imaging techniques to measure hair sensor deflection in response to different flows. Images of a plate containing an array of carbon fiber hair sensors were taken during plate exposure to steady flows ranging from 110 m/s, and unsteady flows ranging from 3-9 m/s. Two separate MATLAB R ⃝ image analysis functions were then developed to analyze the experimental images obtained during both the steady and unsteady flow cases. The functions included processes for cropping unnecessary image data, performing an adaptive histogram equalization, binarization, filtering, and identification of the largest connected component present in the image (corresponding to the fiber itself). Relative image shift corrections, as well as data rejection criteria, were also implemented. Fiber deflection was calculated for each image, and graphs and video describing the fiber motion were generated.
Regulation through Revelation: Politics of Expansion and Contraction

In the textbook story of rulemaking, Congress delegates decisions to an agency explicitly through directions in legislative text and implicitly through omissions of details in the language of a bill. Administrative procedures, the rules that govern rulemaking, affect how an agency will use the notice-and-comment process to resolve questions left open by Congress. When the dust settles, the agency publishes the final rule in the Federal Register , and the language devised becomes part of the Code of Federal Regulations . The requirements in the CFR become the rules of the road for the agency to enforce as law. The lives of environmental regulators would be much simpler if rulemaking followed the textbook. The real dilemmas involved in agency decisionmaking, however, often lie in the rest of the story. The complexity of a regulator's task starts first with the delegation of decisionmaking from Congress. As political scientist Ken Shepsle has pointed out, Congress is a “they,” not an “it.” Regulators at EPA in search of direction from “Congress” might get conflicting advice from Democrats and Republicans, from party leaders in the House or Senate, and from members of contending oversight committees. Which “Congress” should the regulators pay heed to, the one that drafted the authorizing legislation or the one that today apportions the agency's budget and holds oversight hearings? Add into this calculation the fact that EPA has multiple principals. The President appoints the head of the agency to carry out administration policy.
An RNA-Based Fluorescent Biosensor for High-Throughput Analysis of the cGAS-cGAMP-STING Pathway.

In mammalian cells, the second messenger (2'-5',3'-5') cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate (2',3'-cGAMP), is produced by the cytosolic DNA sensor cGAMP synthase (cGAS), and subsequently bound by the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) to trigger interferon response. Thus, the cGAS-cGAMP-STING pathway plays a critical role in pathogen detection, as well as pathophysiological conditions including cancer and autoimmune disorders. However, studying and targeting this immune signaling pathway has been challenging due to the absence of tools for high-throughput analysis. We have engineered an RNA-based fluorescent biosensor that responds to 2',3'-cGAMP. The resulting "mix-and-go" cGAS activity assay shows excellent statistical reliability as a high-throughput screening (HTS) assay and distinguishes between direct and indirect cGAS inhibitors. Furthermore, the biosensor enables quantitation of 2',3'-cGAMP in mammalian cell lysates. We envision this biosensor-based assay as a resource to study the cGAS-cGAMP-STING pathway in the context of infectious diseases, cancer immunotherapy, and autoimmune diseases.
Post-traumatic stress disorder dimensions and asthma morbidity in World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers.

ABSTRACTObjective: Using data from a cohort of World Trade Center (WTC) rescue and recovery workers with asthma, we assessed whether meeting criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sub-threshold PTSD, and for specific PTSD symptom dimensions are associated with increased asthma morbidity. Methods: Participants underwent a Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to assess the presence of PTSD following DSM-IV criteria during in-person interviews between December 2013 and April 2015. We defined sub-threshold PTSD as meeting criteria for two of three symptom dimensions: re-experiencing, avoidance, or hyper-arousal. Asthma control, acute asthma-related healthcare utilization, and asthma-related quality of life data were collected using validated scales. Unadjusted and multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between sub-threshold PTSD and PTSD symptom domains with asthma morbidity measures. Results: Of the 181 WTC workers with asthma recrui...
Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing. By Laura J. Snyder. (New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 2015. Pp. 448. $27.95.)

The author of this work is an accomplished historical storyteller. She makes the development of early modern intellectual culture come alive by interweaving narrative accounts of people and their m...
Detecting wildlife in uncontrolled outdoor video using convolutional neural networks

This paper explores the use of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to detect Interior Least Tern in uncontrolled outdoor videos for the Wildlife@Home project. To be able to use CNNs on this video, this work developed strategies to bridge the gap between video collected by wildlife biologists and the methodlogies common for training and testing CNNs by utilizing a striding methodology to extract positive and negative training examples of a fixed size. Then in order to efficiently run trained CNNs over full videos, software was developed using OpenCL which was capable of utilizing multiple GPUs and other OpenCL capable compute devices concurrently. It was also shown that an already trained CNN can be further refined by training it further on new imagery, without having to retrain the whole network from scratch, saving significant time. Further, while the CNNs trained were only for detection of Interior Least Terns, they show promise for actually detecting behavior, as obvious peaks resulted for periods of video when a tern was in flight. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to utilize CNNs for the task of detecting wildlife in uncontrolled outdoor video.
Survival in patients with HPV-positive oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma with distant metastases.

6095 Background: Prognosis for patients (pts) with locally-advanced, HPV-positive oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (HPV+OPSCC) is significantly better than for pts with HPV-negative head and neck...
How animal welfare standards create and justify realities

Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thevenot tell us that we live in a plural world in which actions are justified in multiple ways. Moreover, Anne Marie Mol argues that things, certainly including animals, are always multiple, their very existence dependent on the particular practices in which they are implicated. Thus, animal welfare policies must be understood in light of both the ways in which animals are ‘practiced’ and the particular justifications provided for these practices. Such policies make claims based on the practices involved in animal-human interactions and are justified based on appeals to the scientific (industrial), civic, market, and domestic worlds, among others. Thus, animal welfare policies must necessarily involve compromises among both the multiple ways in which animals are ‘practiced’ and the multiple ways in which those policies may be justified.
Design of efficient analog physically unclonable functions using alternative test principles

Alternative signature based testing of analog/RF circuits and systems has been established over the last two decades. Signature based testing is predicated on signature from device under test (DUT) to statistically predict specifications of an IC. Statistical correlation between specifications and signature are built from a set of initial ICs. Aliasing in signature space will produce aliasing in specification space and lead to incorrect specification prediction. Alternate test aims to create unique IC specific signature to avoid aliasing. Hardware security also entails a unique signature from the device to be authenticated. Theories and infrastructure build for alternative testing of analog/RF circuits can be leveraged to design analog security primitives (analog PUFs) for hardware security. In this paper we will focus on how the alternative signature test infrastructure can be extended to hardware security.
What Is Worrisome About Solar Power Satellites

This chapter addresses some technological constraints, implementation costs and other challenges facing space solar power satellite systems.
Ionizing Collision Reactions of Electronically Excited Atoms and Molecules

Ionization reactions that result from thermal collisions of electronically excited atoms or molecules are often termed chemiionization reactions. There is, however, no general agreement on a definition of the limits of the term chemiionization in the sense that we can say this or that reaction is or is not a chemiionization process. Thus Berry,(1) in a recent review, includes in the term “all the processes that result in the formation of free charges, electrons or ions, under the conditions of chemical reactions.” This rather broad definition includes all the ionization processes possible in collisions involving electronically excited species and, in addition, includes autoionization and very high-temperature collisions of species in their ground electronic states. Fontijn,(2) on the other hand, defines chemiionization as “a process by which the number of elementary charge carriers is increased as a direct result of the formation of new chemical bonds.” This more limited definition excludes a number of ionization possibilities in thermal collisions involving electronically excited entities, as well as autoionization processes; it would include high-temperature ionizing collisions of species in ground electronic states.
Abstract 3298: High-content phenotyping of somatic cancer mutations by functional variomics

Cancer genomes are highly complex with numerous somatic mutations identified across patient populations. Previous studies on genomic mutations have shed light on new means for cancer therapeutic interventions. With rapid advances in next-generation sequencing, accumulating genotypic information in the absence of efficient and systematic functional analyses of genomic aberrations will create a bottleneck in understanding genotype-phenotype relationships in cancer. To address these challenges, here we report a systems-level functional variomics approach integrating high-throughput phenotyping with robust computational analyses to investigate mutation-specific effects. This systematic functional platform consists of massively parallel mutagenesis, sensitive survival assays using growth factor-dependent cell models, and functional network perturbation profiling of mutations on signaling effects. We profile several thousands of genomic aberrations, including point mutations, gene fusions and indels, and significantly expand the repertoire of characterized actionable mutations. This study represents a valuable resource and provides insights in prioritizing cancer-causing mutations, and uncovering patient-specific disease mechanisms at a high resolution, a critical step towards personalized precision medicine. Citation Format: Nidhi Sahni, Patrick Kwok-Shing Ng, Kang Jin Jeong, Gordon B. Mills. High-content phenotyping of somatic cancer mutations by functional variomics [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3298.
Growth phase-specific changes in the composition of E. coli transcription complexes

Abstract In E. coli, a single oligomeric enzyme transcribes the genomic DNA, while multiple auxiliary proteins and regulatory RNA interact with the core RNA polymerase (RP) during different stages of the transcription cycle to influence its function. In this work, using fast protein isolation techniques combined with mass spectrometry (MS) and immuno-analyses, we studied growth phase-specific changes in the composition of E. coli transcription complexes. We show that RP isolated from actively growing cells is represented by prevalent double copy assemblies and single copy RP–RNA and RP–RNA–RapA complexes. We demonstrate that RpoD/σ70 obtained in fast purification protocols carries tightly associated RNA and show evidence pointing to a role of sigma-associated RNA in the formation of native RP–(RNA)–RpoD/σ70 (holoenzyme) complexes. We report that enzymes linked functionally to the metabolism of lipopolysaccharides co-purify with RP–RNA complexes and describe two classes of RP-associated molecules (phospholipids and putative phospholipid–rNT species). We hypothesize that these modifications could enable anchoring of RP–RNA and RNA in cell membranes. We also report that proteins loosely associated with ribosomes and degradosomes (S1, Hfq) co-purify with RP–RNA complexes isolated from actively growing cells – a result consistent with their proposed roles as adaptor-proteins. In contrast, GroEL, SecB, and SecA co-purified with RP obtained from cells harvested in early stationary phase. Our results demonstrate that fast, affinity chromatography-based isolation of large multi-protein assemblies in combination with MS can be used as a tool for analysis of their composition and the profiling of small protein-associated molecules (SPAM).
Helping Students Who Stutter: Interprofessional Collaboration Between Speech-Language Pathologists and School Counselors:

Children who stutter may experience challenges in their social and emotional development that can lead to academic struggles in school. School counselors and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are...
High-Temperature Mechanics of Boron Nitride Nanotube “Buckypaper” for Engineering Advanced Structural Materials

Boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) is an attractive load-bearing nanomaterial with excellent mechanical properties and high-temperature stability. In this study, the mechanics of BNNT buckypaper assembl...
Explaining and addressing racial disparities in stroke care and outcomes: A puzzle to solve now.

In the United States, black patients face greater levels of long-term disability after stroke compared to their white counterparts. The underlying driving factors are poorly understood, much like missing pieces of a puzzle, limiting the implementation of effective strategies to mitigate such disparities. A better understanding of the time point of first emergence of racial differences in functional outcomes may help hone in on the underlying causes. For example, the presence of differences in functional outcomes by race at, or close to, the time of hospital discharge would suggest access and quality of acute care as the major driver. Conversely, functional outcome differences emerging long after the acute care hospitalization would point to quality of outpatient follow-up care and rehabilitation efforts as the main drivers.
“A Lot of Flexibility within the Structure”: Academic Library Collection Development & E-Resources Management from an Athletics Perspective

AbstractThere is an established history of academic libraries collaborating with their institutions’ athletics departments to provide learning and research support to student-athletes in order to a...
HSV Amplicon Transduction Activates an Innate Immune Response in CLL B Cells;Implications for Immune Therapy and Vaccine Development.

Since gene therapy vectors are designed to shuttle therapeutic genes into various tissues, efficiency transduction is often viewed as the most critical measure of a vector’s clinical usefulness. However, other variables such as activation of the host’s innate immunity may play an equally important role shaping the clinical outcome. We have studied the application of helper-free HSV (hf-HSV) amplicon vectors to deliver costimulatory ligands into chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells for the purpose of enhancing their antigen presenting capacity. In this work, we examine the innate immune response of CLL B cells to transduction with helper-virus free HSV (hf-HSV) amplicon vectors. We screened culture supernatant of CLL B cells transduced with helper-free HSV amplicon for secretion of IL-6, TNF-α and interferon β by ELISA and observed significant induction of these cytokines upon hf-HSV transduction as compared to non-transduced and CLL cells transduced with helper virus-containing (H+-HSV) HSV amplicons. We also compared the effects of hf-HSV and H+-HSV amplicon vector transduction on surface expression of NKG2D ligand. CLL B cells transduced with hf-HSV but not H+-HSV amplicons upregulated the costimulatory NKG2D ligands MICA and MICB. To investigate mechanisms of HSV activation of innate immunity, we screened a panel of human TLR receptors for recognition of HSV amplicons using 293T cells transfected with individual human TLR receptors and assaying NF-κB driven luciferase activity as a read-out. We found that HSV amplicon activates TLR3 (receptor for double stranded RNA), TLR8 (receptor for single stranded RNA) and TLR9 (receptor for unmethylated CpG motifs). CLL B cells express predominantly TLR9 and to a lesser extent TLR8. TLR3, on the other hand is not expressed on resting B cells and is upregulated upon exposure to interferon β. In 293T cells lacking TLR receptors, viable hf-HSV but not UV-inactivated amplicons up-regulated surface expression of both MICA and MICB and activated interferon-β promoter driven luciferase, indicating the presence of a TLR-independent HSV activated innate response. To establish the presence of TLR-dependent NKG2D ligand induction, CLL B cells (expressing TLR7, 8 and 9) were incubated with their specific ligands (Loxaribine and CpG ODN motifs) for 24 hours and MICA and MICB expression confirmed by flow-cytometry. In summary, our data shows that hf-HSV amplicon vectors activate multiple aspects of innate immunity involving both TLR dependent and independent pathways, which translates into expression of cytokines and costimulatory ligands by transduced cells. The presence of helper virus on the other hand completely abolishes this response. In the setting of a vaccine development, the evoked innate response may prime the adaptive T cell response leading to improved clinical outcome.
Financial distress among cancer survivors in Appalachian Kentucky

Background Rural residence may exacerbate cancer-related financial distress. Limited research has focused on Appalachian cancer survivors' experience with financial distress. Aims The primary aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of financial distress among cancer survivors residing in Appalachian Kentucky with a specific focus on the impact of rurality and to elucidate the risk factors impacting financial distress among this population. Methods and results Appalachian Kentucky residents were sampled for receipt of a health survey based on county-level rurality. Analyses describe the prevalence and predictors of financial distress among cancer survivors. Subsequent analyses were conducted with Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) data to compare local versus national estimates of financial distress. Almost two-thirds of Appalachian survivors reported financial distress compared to one-third of the HINTS sample. Appalachian survivors residing in the most rural counties reported higher distress; this finding was not supported in the national sample. In multivariable analyses, gender, current age, and household income were associated with financial distress among Appalachians; only income was significant among the national sample. Conclusion Appalachian cancer survivors have higher than national estimates of financial distress; rurality and socioeconomics are drivers of this disparity.
Treatment of the Wave Sign With Femoral Osteoplasty With and Without Chondrolabral Stabilization Using Suture Anchors

Purpose To discuss the surgical outcomes of patients identified to have the wave sign without an accompanying labral tear treated with and without stabilization of the chondrolabral junction in conjunction with femoral osteoplasty. Methods A retrospective study was performed in patients with cartilage delamination (wave sign) treated with femoral osteoplasty alone (FO group) or femoral osteoplasty with chondrolabral stabilization (CLS group). Patient-reported outcomes including the modified Harris Hip Score, Hip Outcome Score (HOS)–Activities of Daily Living, and HOS–Sports-Specific Subscale were obtained at a minimum of 2 years postoperatively. Other outcomes included rates of revision hip arthroscopy and conversion to hip arthroplasty. Results The study consisted of 47 patients in the FO group and 38 in the CLS group. Both groups showed significant increases in all patient-reported outcomes over the study period compared with preoperative values. The final modified Harris Hip Score was 72.8 ± 9.2 in the FO group and 79.9 ± 9.3 in the CLS group (P Conclusions Chondrolabral stabilization in conjunction with femoral osteoplasty is an effective treatment in patients with the wave sign without labral tears. Level of Evidence Level III, retrospective cohort study.
Overview of Concrete Durability Evaluation Using Electrical Resistivity

The current quality control procedures for concrete production focus mainly on concrete compressive strength. Despite its relevance to concrete performance, compressive strength testing is poorly correlated to the long-term performance of concrete mixes, including the concrete ability to withstand chloride and sulfate attacks, and the concrete capability of protecting the steel bars and prestress strands against corrosion. This research presents an overview to the use of electrical resistivity testing technique as an alternative quality control procedure that is currently used in assessment of concrete long-term performance. Electrical resistivity testing conducted through surface resistivity (SR) and bulk resistivity depends on measuring the concrete porosity and pores connectivity within hardened concrete samples. The final resistivity measured in ohm-meter is inversly proportional to the pores ratio and pores connectivity. Thus, a higher resistivity is a good indicator to minimal and disconnected pores formation within the concrete, which leads to a better future performance of hardened concrete structural elements. The outcome of electrical resistivity is currently used by several state departments of transportation (DoTs) to improve concrete mix designs, and minimize the potential need to maintenance activities during concrete projects life span.
The NextGen Model Atmosphere grid for $3000\le \Teff \le 10000\K$

We present our NextGen Model Atmosphere grid for low mass stars for effective temperatures larger than $3000\K$. These LTE models are calculated with the same basic model assumptions and input physics as the VLMS part of the NextGen grid so that the complete grid can be used, e.g., for consistent stellar evolution calculations and for internally consistent analysis of cool star spectra. This grid is also the starting point for a large grid of detailed NLTE model atmospheres for dwarfs and giants (Hauschildt et al, in preparation). The models were calculated from $3000\K$ to $10000\K$ (in steps of $200\K$) for $3.5 \le \logg \le 5.5$ (in steps of 0.5) and metallicities of $-4.0 \le \mh \le 0.0$. We discuss the results of the model calculations and compare our results to the Kurucz 1994 grid. Some comparisons to standard stars like Vega and the Sun are presented and compared with detailed NLTE calculations.
A Cauchy-Distribution-Based Point Spread Function Model for Depth Recovery from a Single Image

Most approaches to recover a scene’s 3D depth from a single image often model the point spread function (DSF) as a 2D Gaussian function. However, those methods are suffered from some noises, and difficult to get a high quality of depth recovery. We present a simple yet effective approach to estimate exactly the amount of spatially varying defocus blur at edges, based on the Cauchy distribution model for the DSF. The raw image is re-blurred twice using two known Cauchy distribution kernels, and the defocus blur amount at edges can be derived from the gradient ratio between the two re-blurred images. By propagating the blur amount at edge locations to the entire image using the matting interpolation, a full depth map is then recovered. Experimental results on several real images demonstrate both feasibility and effectiveness of our method, being a non-Gaussian model for DSF, in providing a better estimation of the defocus map from a single un-calibrated defocused image. These results also show that our method is robust to image noises, inaccurate edge location and interferences of neighboring edges. It can generate more accurate scene depth maps than the most of existing methods using a Gaussian based DSF model.
High-performance GaN nanoscale vacuum electron devices in air

Solid-state, vacuum nanoelectronic devices have the potential to combine the advantages of vacuum electron devices, such as robustness in harsh environments and high frequency operation, and solid-state devices, such as size, integrability, and low-power operation. In this work, we demonstrate novel GaN nanogap field emission diodes that operate in air and exhibit ultra-low turn-on voltage, high field emission current, and excellent on-off ratio. We present experimental and modeling results on the field emission characteristics of these devices at various nanogap sizes and operating pressures. These results provide critical new insights into the behavior of this new class of devices and point to future challenges and opportunities. Sandia National Laboratories is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.