cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Miocene deep-sea ostracodes of the Iberian Portal and the Balearic Basin

Abstract Discovery of deep-sea (psychrospheric) ostracodes in the Middle Miocene (Serravallian and Tortonian) of Andalusia, Spain, and in the cores of Site 372 of DSDP Leg 42a in the Balearic Basin east of Menorca indicates the presence of an opening (the Iberian Portal) between the Atlantic and the western Tethys basin complex at a depth estimated at more than 2000 m. Because of the concurrence of the ostracodes along a structural line marking the Prebetic and Subbetic boundary with the Meseta Massif, it is inferred and the rapidly shallowing ostracode faunas suggest, that this opening represents a structural trough closed by Alpine-type lateral movements during the Late Miocene (Messinian). During the Messinian “salinity crisis” the ostracodes to the east were nonmarine, while those on the western end of the line previously occupied by the trough remained marine.
The role of radiation in melt stability in zone-melt recrystallization of SOI

Under circumstances in Zone-Melt-Recrystallization (ZMR) of Si-on-Insulator (SOI) structures where radiative heat loss is significant, the {similar to}50% decrease in emissivity when Si melts destabilizes the Si molten zone. We have demonstrated this both experimentally using a slowly scanned e-beam line source and numerically with a finite-element computational simulation. The resulting instability narrows the process window and tightens requirements on beam control and background heating uniformity, both for e-beam ZMR systems and optically-coupled systems such as a graphite strip heater.
In vitro characterization of polymer-ceramic nanofiber scaffolds

Rotator cuff tears often occur at the tendon-bone insertion site, a fibrocartilaginous interface that is not regenerated during current repairs. Our aim is to regenerate the insertion site through use of extracellular matrix based scaffolds. In this study, we evaluated the response of mineralized and non-mineralized nanofiber scaffolds to cell culture environment without the influence of cell growth and matrix deposition. We observed minimal change in scaffold mineral content, composition, and chemistry over culture time. Structural properties were influenced, in particular, fiber diameter increased throughout culture. This data is essential for scaffold characterization and understanding cell-material interactions.
Group dispersion effects in picosecond spectroscopy: Frequency dispersion

Abstract We demonstrate the importance of group frequency-dispersion in picosecond-resolution experiments, in particular those involving optical Kerr-shutters. We have correlated observations of spectral “chirping” directly with dispersion phenomena.
Proton transfer reaction of hydrogen chloride with ammonia: is it possible in the gas phase?

Abstract The mechanism of proton transfer between HCl and NH 3 and the effects of individual water molecules on the reaction are investigated by calculating the structures and energetics of a series of molecule clusters HCl–NH 3 –(H 2 O) n ( n = 0, 1, 2, 3) using high level ab initio theory. Without water, the system exists as a simple hydrogen-bonded complex and no proton transfer occurs from HCl to NH 3 . The first water molecule was found to induce a nearly flat potential energy pathway for proton transfer, but at least two water molecules must be involved for complete proton transfer from HCl to NH 3 . The study supports the likelihood of gas phase proton transfer in HCl–NH 3 in the presence of water vapor.
Differential Effects of Nebivolol and Metoprolol on Insulin Sensitivity and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor in the Metabolic Syndrome

Early-generation β-blockers lower blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular morality in coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure but worsen glucose homeostasis and fibrinolytic balance. Nebivolol is a third-generation β-blocker that increases the bioavailability of nitric oxide. We compared the effect of nebivolol (5 mg/d) and the β(1)-selective antagonist metoprolol (100 mg/d) on glucose homeostasis and markers of fibrinolysis in 46 subjects with metabolic syndrome. Subjects underwent a frequently sampled IV glucose tolerance test after 3-week washout and placebo treatment and after randomized treatment with study drug. After 12-week treatment, nebivolol and metoprolol equivalently decreased systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate. Neither drug affected β-cell function, disposition index, or acute insulin response to glucose. Metoprolol significantly decreased the insulin sensitivity index. In contrast, nebivolol did not affect insulin sensitivity, and the decrease in sensitivity was significantly greater after metoprolol than after nebivolol (-1.5±2.5×10(-4)×min(-1) per milliunit per liter versus 0.04±2.19×10(-4)×min(-1) per milliunit per liter after nebivolol; P=0.03). Circulating plasminogen activator inhibitor also increased after treatment with metoprolol (from 9.8±6.8 to 12.3±7.8 ng/mL) but not nebivolol (from 10.8±7.8 to 10.5±6.2 ng/mL; P=0.05 versus metoprolol). Metoprolol, but not nebivolol, increased F(2)-isoprostane concentrations. In summary, treatment with metoprolol decreased insulin sensitivity and increased oxidative stress and the antifibrinolytic plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 in patients with metabolic syndrome, whereas nebivolol lacked detrimental metabolic effects. Large clinical trials are needed to compare effects of nebivolol and the β(1) receptor antagonist metoprolol on clinical outcomes in patients with hypertension and the metabolic syndrome.
Genetic studies of free-ranging macaques of Cayo Santiago. I. Description of the population and some nonpolymorphic red cell enzymes.

Phenotypes of eight red cell enzymes at nine genetic loci were determined in the semi-free-ranging population of rhesus macaques,Macaca mulatta, that inhabit Cayo Santiago. The following enzymes were examined electrophoretically: adenosine deaminase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, indophenol oxidase, lactate dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase, phosphoglucomutase-1, phosphoglucomutase-2, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase. Hemolysates from at least 372 animals were analyzed, and no variants of the enzymes were observed with the exception of malate dehydrogenase. Three animals displaying a variant form of malate dehydrogenase were found.
Chemical Protective Clothing: I. Selection and Use

Abstract This paper describes chemical protective clothing (CPC) types, permeation theory, and selection of protective clothing based upon permeation data. Other factors in the selection process, such as size, dexterity, cut resistance, tear resistance, cost, and heat stress, are discussed. In addition, temperature, thickness, and mixture considerations and their effect on the permeation process are discussed. Recommendations are made regarding selection and use criteria.
Dynamic Estimation of Full Penetration Using Geometry of Adjacent Weld Pools

Control of weld penetration is currently one of the most important and crucial research issues in the area of welding. The weld pool can provide accurate and instantaneous information about the weld penetration, however, the establishment and confirmation of the correlation between weld pool and weld penetration require numerous accurate measurements and suitable geometrical modeling of weld pool. A normalized model is proposed to characterize the weld pool two-dimensionally. More than 6,000 weld pools are measured from experiments using a developed real-time weld pool sensing system. A data analysis shows that the weld penetration is correlated with the weld pool which is specified by the three characteristic parameters proposed in the study. However, the correlation is nonlinear. To approximate the complicated nonlinearity, neural networks are used. Comparative modeling trails show that the weld penetration can be more accurately calculated if the adjacent weld pools are also used. This implies that the correlation between the weld penetration and weld pool is dynamic. Hence, an on-line nonlinear dynamic estimation system is developed to estimate the weld penetration.
Electrostatically Embedded Many-Body Correlation Energy, with Applications to the Calculation of Accurate Second-Order Møller-Plesset Perturbation Theory Energies for Large Water Clusters.

The electrostatically embedded many-body expansion (EE-MB), previously applied to the total electronic energy, is here applied only to the electronic correlation energy (CE), combined with a Hartree-Fock calculation on the entire system. The separate treatment of the Hartree-Fock and correlation energies provides an efficient way to approximate correlation energy for extended systems. We illustrate this here by calculating accurate Moller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory (MP2) energies for a series of clusters ranging in size from 5 to 20 water molecules. In this new method, called EE-MB-CE, where MB is pairwise additive (PA) or three-body (3B), the full Hartree-Fock energy of a system of N monomers is calculated (i.e., the many-body expansion is carried out to the Nth order), while the EE-MB method is used to calculate the correlation energy of the system. We find that not only does this new method lead to better energetics than the original EE-MB method but also that one is able to obtain excellent agreement with full MP2 calculations by considering only a two-body expansion of the correlation energy, leading to a considerable savings in computational time as compared to the three-body expansion. Additionally, we propose the use of a cutoff to further reduce the number of two-body terms that must be calculated, and we show that if a cutoff of 6 A is used, then one can eliminate up to 44% of the pairs and still calculate energies to within 0.1% of the net interaction energy of the full cluster.
Determining appropriate precisions for signals in fixed-point IIR filters

This paper presents an analytical framework for the implementation of digital infinite impulse response filters in fixed-point hardware on field programmable gate arrays. This analysis is necessary because FPGAs, unlike fixed register size digital signal processors, allow custom bit widths. Within the framework, the designer determines the number of bits necessary for representing the constant coefficients and the internal signals in the filter. The coefficient bit widths are determined by accounting for the sensitivity of the filter's pole and zero locations with respect to the coefficient perturbations. The internal signal bit widths are determined by calculating theoretical bounds on the ranges of the signals, and on the errors introduced by truncation in the fixed-point hardware. The bounds tell how many bits are required at any point in the computation in order to avoid overflow and guarantee a prescribed degree of accuracy in the filter output. The bounds form the basis for a methodology for the fixed-point digital filter implementation. The methodology is applied to the implementation of a second-order filter used as a compensator in a magnetic bearing control system.
Introspective multistrategy learning: constructing a learning strategy under reasoning failure

The thesis put forth by this dissertation is that introspective analyses facilitate the construction of learning strategies. Furthermore, learning is much like nonlinear planning and problem solving. Like problem solving, it can be specified by a set of explicit learning goals (i.e., desired changes to the reasoner's knowledge); these goals can be achieved by constructing a plan from a set of operators (the learning algorithms) that execute in a knowledge space. However, in order to specify learning goals and to avoid negative interactions between operators, a reasoner requires a model of its reasoning processes and knowledge. With such a model, the reasoner can declaratively represent the events and causal relations of its mental world in the same manner that it represents events and relations in the physical world. This representation enables introspective self-examination, which contributes to learning by providing a basis for identifying what needs to be learned when reasoning fails. A multistrategy system possessing several learning algorithms can decide what to learn, and which algorithm(s) to apply, by analyzing the model of its reasoning. This introspective analysis therefore allows the learner to understand its reasoning failures, to determine the causes of the failures, to identify needed knowledge repairs to avoid such failures in the future, and to build a learning strategy (plan). Thus, the research goal is to develop both a content theory and a process theory of introspective multistrategy learning and to establish the conditions under which such an approach is fruitful. Empirical experiments provide results that support the claims herein. The theory was implemented in a computational model called Meta-AQUA that attempts to understand simple stories. The system uses case-based reasoning to explain reasoning failures and to generate sets of learning goals, and it uses a standard non-linear planner to achieve these goals. Evaluating Meta-AQUA with and without learning goals generated results indicating that computational introspection facilitates the learning process. In particular, the results lead to the conclusion that the stage that posts learning goals is a necessary stage if negative interactions between learning methods are to be avoided and if learning is to remain effective.
Targeting Pancreatic Cancer Metastasis by Inhibition of Vav1, a Driver of Tumor Cell Invasion

Pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal forms of human cancer, is largely resistant to many conventional chemotherapeutic agents. While many therapeutic approaches focus on tumor growth, metastasis is a primary factor contributing to lethality. Therefore, novel therapies to target metastatic invasion could prevent tumor spread and recurrence resulting from local and distant metastasis. The protein Vav1 is aberrantly expressed in over half of pancreatic cancers. Its expression promotes activation of Rac and Cdc42 and leads to enhanced invasion and migration, as well as increased tumor cell survival and proliferation, suggesting that Vav1 could be a potent therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer. The purine analogue azathioprine, well-known for its function as an anti-inflammatory compound, was recently shown to function by inhibiting Vav1 signaling in immune cells. We therefore hypothesized that azathioprine could also inhibit Vav1 in pancreatic tumor cells to reduce its pro-invasive functions. Indeed, we have found that treatment of cultured pancreatic tumor cells with azathioprine inhibited Vav1-dependent invasive cell migration and matrix degradation, through inhibition of Rac and Cdc42 signaling. Further, azathioprine treatment decreased metastasis in both xenograft and genetic mouse models of pancreatic cancer. Strikingly, metastasis was dramatically reduced in Vav1-expressing tumors arising from p48Cre/+, KRasG12D/+, p53F/+ mice. These inhibitory effects were mediated through Vav1, as Vav1-negative cell lines and tumors were largely resistant to azathioprine treatment. These findings demonstrate that azathioprine and related compounds could be potent anti-metastatic agents for Vav1-positive pancreatic tumors.
Acute sleep deprivation and circadian misalignment associated with transition onto the first night of work impairs visual selective attention.

Background. Overnight operations pose a challenge because our circadian biology promotes sleepiness and dissipates wakefulness at night. Since the circadian effect on cognitive functions magnifies with increasing sleep pressure, cognitive deficits associated with night work are likely to be most acute with extended wakefulness, such as during the transition from a day shift to night shift. Methodology/Principal Findings. To test this hypothesis we measured selective attention (with visual search), vigilance (with Psychomotor Vigilance Task [PVT]) and alertness (with a visual analog scale) in a shift work simulation protocol, which included four day shifts followed by three night shifts. There was a nocturnal decline in cognitive processes, some of which were most pronounced on the first night shift. The nighttime decrease in visual search sensitivity was most pronounced on the first night compared with subsequent nights (p=.04), and this was accompanied by a trend towards selective attention becoming ‘fast and sloppy’. The nighttime increase in attentional lapses on the PVT was significantly greater on the first night compared to subsequent nights (p,.05) indicating an impaired ability to sustain focus. The nighttime decrease in subjective alertness was also greatest on the first night compared with subsequent nights (p,.05). Conclusions/ Significance. These nocturnal deficits in attention and alertness offer some insight into why occupational errors, accidents, and injuries are pronounced during night work compared to day work. Examination of the nighttime vulnerabilities underlying the deployment of attention can be informative for the design of optimal work schedules and the implementation of effective countermeasures for performance deficits during night work.
Growth and strength of the solid solution phase (Ag) with indium

Over the past several years, we have developed several fluxless bonding processes using the silver-indium (Ag-In) system. With innovative design, the joint achieves high melting temperature, higher than 600°C, even when the bonding is performed at low temperature, 180°C. The joint has the structure of Ag/(Ag)/Ag2In/(Ag)/Ag where (Ag) is the solid solution of Ag with In. Shear test results show that Ag2In is the weak region in the structure. To increase the joint strength, an idea is to convert Ag2In compound into (Ag) by continuous reaction with the adjacent (Ag) regions. When this happens, the melting temperature of the joint will increase to 790°C. In this research, we studied this converting process with systematic experiments. The joint is made between two copper (Cu) substrates to ensure that the samples break in the joint rather than in the substrate during shear test. The upper Cu was electroplated with 15μm thick Ag layer. The lower Cu was electroplated with 15μm thick Ag layer, followed by 8μm indium, which was the capped by 0.1μm Ag layer to avoid In oxidation. The samples were bonded at 180°C in 100 millitorr for 5 minutes. SEM & EDX analysis show that the joint has structure of Ag/(Ag)/Ag2In/(Ag)/Ag, where the Ag2In region is 15μm. Samples are well bonded between Cu substrates without crack or voids. To convert Ag2In region into (Ag), samples were annealed at 200°C for 200, 300, 500 hours, respectively. 200°C was chosen because it is more compatible with the surviving temperature of most devices. The samples were cut in cross section, polished, and examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) to study its microstructure and composition. At 200 hours, the sample is still well bonded. The joint turned into Ag/(Ag)/alloy/(Ag)/Ag, where alloy is a mixture of Ag2In and Ag3In compounds. At 300 hours, the joint structure has not changed but the alloy region becomes thinner. At 500 hours, the alloy region is almost gone. The annealing process continues. After the alloy region turns into (Ag), six samples will go through shear test. Shear strength will be measured and fracture mode identified. We expect the (Ag) phase to be significantly stronger than the Ag2In compound. This bonding and annealing processes thus provide a new way to produce strong and high-temperature joints at low temperature, 200°C.
Ethnic Differences in Presentation and Severity of Alcoholic Liver Disease

Background The frequency of alcoholic liver disease (ALD), including alcoholic steatosis, hepatitis, and cirrhosis, varies significantly by ethnicity. Methods With the goal to assess the role of ethnicity in determining the age of onset and severity of ALD and to compare the risk factors for its progression among ethnic groups, we conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients with ALD who were admitted or were followed as outpatients at University of California Davis Medical Center between 2002 and 2010. After excluding HBsAg- and HIV-positive subjects, we reviewed the charts of 791 patients with ALD including 130 with alcoholic fatty liver, 154 with alcoholic hepatitis, and 507 with alcoholic cirrhosis. Results When controlling for all variables in the model, Hispanic patients presented at significantly 4 to 10 years younger ages than White/Caucasian patients, in each of the 3 disease severity categories, and the results were confirmed after excluding HCV Ab-/RNA-positive subjects. There were more obese Hispanic patients than White/Caucasian patients, whereas the proportion of patients with hepatitis C was significantly greater in African American subjects with alcoholic hepatitis, and the proportion of patients with diabetes mellitus was significantly lower in White/Caucasian subjects than in Hispanic subjects with cirrhosis. The proportion of subjects with severe alcoholic hepatitis was similar in Hispanic and White/Caucasian patients, but lower in African American subjects. Conclusions Ethnicity is a major factor affecting the age and severity of presentation of different subtypes of ALD.
Reverse Mainstreaming: Nonhandicapped Students in Special Education Classrooms

The present study compared interventions from the schema and generative learning traditions, evaluating the interventions with both narrative and expository material. Targeting low-comprehending fourth through sixth graders as subjects, the study provided more extensive instruction in comparison to previous studies. Transfer measures (comprehension questions and retells based on new selections) were administered immediately after training and again about two weeks later. Following training, scores were significantly higher, both statistically and educationally. The only significant difference between treatments favored the schema treatment on the expository maintenance test.
Ethical Standards in the NASW Code of Ethics: The Explicit Legal Model, and Beyond:

The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers loosely follows the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, but provides less protection for professionals. Social workers may benefit by adopting the Model Rules, with contrasting commentary where legal and social work practices diverge. That contrast would highlight social work's ethical advantages and demonstrate the need for nonlegal ethical principles (in economics, for example) that are underrepresented in the NASW Code of Ethics. Development of companion ethical statements (of social work economic ethics, for example) would give social workers improved ethical guidance. Such companion statements, possibly developed through empowered participation by the spectrum of social workers, may ultimately yield an empirically informed statement of definition and mission for the profession.
Fragments as islands: a synthesis of faunal responses to habitat patchiness.

Scientific interest in the impact of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity is increasing, but our un- derstanding of fragmentation is clouded by a lack of appreciation for fundamental similarities and differences across studies representing a wide range of taxa and landscape types. In an effort to synthesize data describ- ing ecological responses of animals to fragmentation across two classes of independent variables (taxonomic group and landscape), we sampled 148 studies of five major faunal groups from the primary literature and an- alyzed data on 13 variables extracted from those studies. We focused our analyses on three classes of dependent variables (effects of area and isolation on species richness, z values, and nestedness and species composition). Area ranged over more orders of magnitude than isolation and tended to explain more variation in species richness than isolation. There were few matrix or taxon effects on the patterns we investigated, although we did find that sky islands tended to manifest isolation effects on both species richness and nestedness more frequently than other patch types. Sky islands may offer insight into the future of habitat patches fragmented by contemporary habitat loss, and because they show a stronger effect of isolation than other patch types, we suggest that isolation will play an increasing role in the biology of habitat fragments. We use multiple lines of evidence to suggest that our understanding of the role of isolation on community assembly in fragmented landscapes is inadequate. Finally, our observation that consistent taxonomic differences in community pat- terns were minimal suggests that conservation actions intended to mitigate the negative effects of extinction may have far-reaching effects across taxonomic groups.
Enabling Ad Hoc Queries over Low-Level Scientific Data Sets

Technological success has ushered in massive amounts of data for scientific analysis. To enable effective utilization of these data sets for all classes of users, supporting intuitive data access and manipulation interfaces is crucial. This paper describes an autonomous scientific workflow system that enables high-level, natural language based, queries over low-level data sets. Our technique involves a combination of natural language processing, metadata indexing, and a semantically-aware workflow composition engine which dynamically constructs workflows for answering queries based on service and data availability. A specific contribution of this work is a metadata registration scheme that allows for a unified index of heterogeneous metadata formats and service annotations. Our approach thus avoids a standardized format for storing all data sets or the implementation of a federated, mediator-based, querying framework. We have evaluated our system using a case study from the geospatial domain to show functional results. Our evaluation supports the potential benefits which our approach can offer to scientific workflow systems and other domain-specific, data intensive applications.
Taking Seriously Title VII's 'Floor, Not a Ceiling' Invitation

Civil rights advocates have been insufficiently attentive to the promise of creative state and local legislating as the means by which to counteract the erosion of federal civil rights protections. The promise has not only a defensive component (trying to hold on to doctrine that the Supreme Court has been abandoning) but an offensive one as well (introducing more robust substantive and procedural provisions than Title VII has ever had). This paper examines a so-far successful attempt in New York City to implement a vision that proposed to "meld the broadest vision of social justice with the strongest law enforcement deterrent" (one that, for example, has removed the "severe or pervasive" hurdle to the prosecution of sexual harassment lawsuits). The paper, while recognizing that state and local action is no cure-all, goes on to identify several doctrinal areas that are particularly ripe for state and local legislative innovation.
Deterministic feature selection for regularized least squares classification

We introduce a deterministic sampling based feature selection technique for regularized least squares classification. The method is unsupervised and gives worst-case guarantees of the generalization power of the classification function after feature selection with respect to the classification function obtained using all features. We perform experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets, namely a subset of TechTC-300 datasets, to support our theory. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method performs better than the existing feature selection methods.
Louisiana and Mississippi Family Physicians' Contraception Counseling for Adolescents with a Focus on Intrauterine Contraception.

Abstract Study Objective The adolescent pregnancy rate in Louisiana (LA) and Mississippi (MS) is one of the highest in the United States. One approach to decrease that rate is to increase contraceptive use. We sought to characterize LA and MS family physicians' (FPs) contraception counseling for adolescents with a focus on the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD). Design, Setting, Participants, Interventions, and Main Outcome Measures Online survey of resident and practicing physician members of the LA and MS Academy of FPs. Results Three hundred ninety-eight of 1616 invited FPs responded; 244 were included in our analysis. When counseling adolescents about contraception, respondents “frequently discussed” oral contraceptives and condoms 87.5% (210/240) and 83.8% (202/241) of the time, respectively. Newer and more highly effective contraceptives such as the ring, patch, IUD, and implant were “frequently discussed” only 34.6% (82/237)-39.3% (92/234) of the time. In the previous 6 months, 56% (136/243) of respondents ever discussed an IUD with an adolescent. Respondents were more likely to have discussed IUDs if they learned IUD insertion during residency, had on-site access to IUD inserters, believed they were competent and/or comfortable with IUD counseling. In 5 clinical scenarios asking whether the respondent would recommend an IUD to a 17- or a 27-year-old patient (in all scenarios patients were eligible for an IUD), respondents were restrictive overall and significantly fewer would recommend an IUD for the adolescent. Conclusion Our results suggest that there are missed opportunities for full-scope contraception counseling by LA and MS FPs. When these FPs counsel adolescents about contraception they less frequently discuss newer methods and more highly effective methods. Additionally many LA and MS FPs use overly restrictive eligibility criteria when considering IUDs.
Very cost effective bipartitions in graphs

Abstract For a graph G = ( V , E ) and a set of vertices S ⊆ V , a vertex v ∈ S is said to be very cost effective if it is adjacent to more vertices in V ∖ S than in S . A bipartition π = { S , V ∖ S } is called very cost effective if both S and V ∖ S are very cost effective sets. Not all graphs have a very cost effective bipartition, for example, the complete graphs of odd order do not. We characterize the cactus graphs having a very cost effective bipartition. Also, we show that if a graph G or H has a very cost effective bipartition, then so does the Cartesian product G □ H .
Abstract 1745: Role and mechanism of MUC16 in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer.

Background: MUC16/ CA125 is a high-molecular weight O-glycosylated protein that has been shown to be dysregulated and aberrantly expressed during the progression of several malignant conditions including pancreatic cancer (PC). MUC16 is the gold standard tumor marker used in clinics for detecting ovarian cancer. CA125 levels have been shown to be elevated in PC but its functional significance in PC remains elusive. Hence we hypothesize that MUC16 plays an important role in the proliferation and metastasis of PC. Materials and methods: MUC16 expression was analyzed in 14 human PC cell lines and stable knockdown clones of MUC16 were established in Capan1 and Colo357 PC cell lines by retroviral transfection using the shRNA construct (pSUPER-Retro-MUC16-sh). Growth kinetics, motility and tumorogenicity assays were done on both MUC16 knocked down cells and scramble cells. In addition we also analyzed the expression of Muc16 during PC progression using the spontaneous mouse model (KrasG12D;Pdx1-Cre and KrasG12D;Pdx1-Cre; Trp53R172H) to identify the role of Muc16 in facilitating PC progression. Results: MUC16 is not expressed in the normal pancreatic ducts or acini; however, a strong expression is observed in PC tissues. Further a similar observation was obtained in the spontaneous mouse model wherein expression of Muc16 increased in tandem with PC progression. PC cells with stably silenced MUC16 exhibited significantly decreased proliferation, motility (in vitro), tumorigenicity and metastasis (in vivo) when compared to scrambled RNA transfected cells. In addition, MUC16 knockdown cells accumulated in the G1/S phase of the cell cycle indicating that MUC16 might play a role in cell cycle regulation. Western blot analysis of MUC16 knockdown cells with Cyclin E, p21 and p27 showed a decrease in their expression indicating that MUC16 could be playing an important role during PC cell cycle progression. Conclusion: Our results show that MUC16 expression is aberrantly upregulated in PC tissues and plays a key role in the proliferation and metastasis of PC cells as inferred from the various in vitro and in vivo assays. Further MUC16 may be play a significant in facilitating cell cycle progression as Cyclin E, p21 and p27 levels were altered when MUC16 was knocked down. In conclusion, our results reveal that MUC16 is differentially expressed in PC and could be a potential player facilitating distant metastasis in PC. Further studies need to be done to determine the specific role of MUC16 in the metastasis of PC. Citation Format: Dhanya Haridas, Imayavaramban Lakshmanan, Moorthy P. Ponnusamy, Satyanarayana Rachagani, Srustidhar Das, Sushil Kumar, Surinder K. Batra. Role and mechanism of MUC16 in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1745. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1745
Implications of Hadamard's conditions for elastic stability with respect to uniqueness theorems

Introduction. The purpose of this paper is to discuss implications of Hadamard's condition for elastic stability (2, §269) with respect to uniqueness of solutions of boundary value problems in the theory of small deformations superimposed on large. We show that a slightly refined form of his condition implies a uniqueness theorem for displacement boundary value problems. We construct a counter-example showing that his condition does not imply uniqueness of solutions for one type of stress boundary value problem.
Evaluating the sensitivity of lipid headgroup-bound chromophores to their local environment.

We report on the steady state and time-resolved fluorescence behavior of the chromophore 1,2-dimiryristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-lissamine rhodamine B sulfonyl ammonium salt (SR-DMPE) in a series of solution phase and lipid bilayer environments. The issue of interest is whether or not the lipid headgroup-bound chromophore is sensitive to its local environment under conditions where vesicles have not been formed in lipid-containing mixtures and where unilamellar vesicles have been formed by extrusion. Our data point to the strong interaction of SR-DMPE with 1,2-dimirystoyl-sn-glycero-phosphocholine (DMPC) in solution whether or not the solution has undergone extrusion. The amount of SR-DMPE in the lipid-containing systems affects both the steady state and time-resolved spectroscopic response. Excitation of the chromophore to the S2 state deposits sufficient excess energy into the system to influence its rotational diffusion dynamics, demonstrating significant interactions between SR-DMPE and D...
Competitive Incorporation of Perrhenate and Nitrate into Sodalite

Nuclear waste storage tanks at the Hanford site in southeastern Washington have released highly alkaline solutions, containing radioactive and other contaminants, into subsurface sediments. When this waste reacts with subsurface sediments, feldspathoid minerals (sodalite, cancrinite) can form, sequestering pertechnetate (99TcO4-) and other ions. This study investigates the potential for incorporation of perrhenate (ReO4-), a chemical surrogate for 99TcO4-, into mixed perrhenate/nitrate (ReO4-/NO3-) sodalite. Mixed-anion sodalites were hydrothermally synthesized in the laboratory from zeolite A in sodium hydroxide, nitrate, and perrhenate solutions at 90 °C for 24 h. The resulting solids were characterized by bulk chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) to determine the products' chemical composition, structure, morphology, and Re oxidation state. The XANES data indicated that nearly all rhenium (Re) was incorporated as Re(VII)O4-. The nonlinear increase of the unit cell parameter with ReO4-/NO3- ratios suggests formation of two separate sodalite phases in lieu of a mixed-anion sodalite. The results reveal that the sodalite cage is highly selective toward NO3- over ReO4-. Calculated enthalpy and Gibbs free energy of formation at 298 K for NO3- and ReO4-sodalite suggest that NO3- incorporation into the cage is favored over the incorporation of the larger ReO4-, due to the smaller ionic radius of NO3-. Based on these results, it is expected that NO3-, which is present at significantly higher concentrations in alkaline waste solutions than 99TcO4-, will be strongly preferred for incorporation into the sodalite cage.
Energy Dissipation of a Bi-stable von-Mises Truss under Impulsive Excitation

This paper examines the energy absorption and dissipation properties of a bi-stable system due to large deformation capability and bi-stability. The considered bi-stable system is a von-Mises truss, driving a damper attached to the truss vertex, used as a shock absorber. Performance of the proposed system is compared against a traditional mass-spring-damper assembly. The VMT system undergoes larger displacements due to snap-through and can dissipate larger amounts of energy. In addition, snap-through in the VMT limits the max velocity at which the system oscillate.
Information conveyed by inferior colliculus neurons about stimuli with aligned and misaligned sound localization cues

Previous studies have demonstrated that single neurons in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC) are sensitive to multiple sound localization cues. We investigated the hypothesis that...
Breeding and Utilization of Restorer Line Gui 1025 with Small and High Quality Grains

The rice restorer line Gui 1025 was derived from the multiple crosses among japonica,javanica rice varieties and indica restorer lines.It is characterized by strong restoring ability,good combining ability,small and fine quality grains.Crossed with different CMS lines,many hybrid rice combinations with high yield and good quality have been developed.Among them,Qiuyou 1025,Boyou 1025,Teyou 1025,Meiyou 1025,Peiliangyou 1025,Liuyou 1025,Qiyou 1025 and Tianyou 1025 were approved by the Guangxi Crop Variety Release Committee.Furthermore,Qiuyou 1025 and Boyou 1025 were certified by the National Crop Variety Release Committee.
Comparison of Transfer Lengths in Pretensioned Concrete Railroad Ties Subjected to Different Magnitudes of Rail Loads

In order to quantify the effect of different reinforcement types on transfer lengths, an extensive study was conducted with the selected group of twelve different reinforcement types. These reinforcements are extensively used to produce concrete railroad ties across the world. These employed twelve (12) different types are of 5.32 mm diameter wires with different surface indent geometries. A research team from Kansas state university visited a PCI certified concrete tie manufacturing plant during January 2013. During the plant visit, four (4) concrete railroad ties were cast for each reinforcement type for a total of 48 ties. Considerable part of the study conducted at the plant was previously published by the authors. However for effective understanding, brief explanation of the tie manufacturing process will be presented in this paper. Strain measuring points were mounted on the bottom surface of a concrete railroad tie during the casting process. Proper measures were taken to safeguard these strain measuring points during loading. Transfer lengths were calculated using these mounted strain measuring points. Transfer length measurements were calculated at the plant, immediately after the application of prestressing forces to the concrete ties. After the casting process, two ties for each reinforcement type were stored at plant location for approximately one year and the remaining two ties (companion ties) for the each reinforcement types were shipped and stored at Kansas state university. Transfer length measurements were again calculated at this stage for all 48 ties. Ties stored at plant location were later subjected to cumulative in-track railroad loading of 85 million gross tons over six (6) months period of time. Whereas, the companion ties stored at Kansas state university were not subjected to any loading. Transfer lengths are calculated and compared at this stage and presented [4] in the past.Ties which were already subjected to 85 million gross tons were further loaded to cumulative total of 236.3 million gross tons and the companion ties stored at Kansas State University were not subjected to any loading. Transfer lengths for the ties (twenty four) that were subjected 263.3 million gross tons were calculated and presented in this paper with detailed explanation. Transfer length behavior under different magnitudes of loading is also presented along with the discussion.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
Multiplex Quantitative PCR Assays for the Detection and Quantification of the Six Major Non-O157 Escherichia coli Serogroups in Cattle Feces.

ABSTRACT Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroups O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145, called non-O157 STEC, are important foodborne pathogens. Cattle, a major reservoir, harbor the organisms in the hindgut and shed them in the feces. Although limited data exist on fecal shedding, concentrations of non-O157 STEC in feces have not been reported. The objectives of our study were (i) to develop and validate two multiplex quantitative PCR (mqPCR) assays, targeting O-antigen genes of O26, O103, and O111 (mqPCR-1) and O45, O121, and O145 (mqPCR-2); (ii) to utilize the two assays, together with a previously developed four-plex qPCR assay (mqPCR-3) targeting the O157 antigen and three virulence genes (stx1, stx2, and eae), to quantify seven serogroups and three virulence genes in cattle feces; and (iii) to compare the three mqPCR assays to a 10-plex conventional PCR (cPCR) targeting seven serogroups and three virulence genes and culture methods to detect seven E. coli serogroups in cattle feces. ...
Digital mammography: hybrid M-channel wavelet transform for microcalcification segmentation

A novel algorithm is proposed for the automatic segmentation of microcalcification clusters (MCCs) in digital mammography. The hybrid method involves the use of a nonlinear filter for image noise suppression, coupled with wavelet transforms for image decomposition and an adaptive method for selective subimage reconstruction as a basis for segmentation of MCCs. The use of M=2,3,4 and 8 channel wavelet transforms are evaluated to determine if the sensitivity of detection of MCCs can be improved and if the selective reconstruction of the higher order M/sup 2/ subimages allows better preservation of the segmented MCCs as required for their classification. The M=2,3,4 and 8 wavelet transforms are implemented on different filter bank structures to determine if their computational efficiency can be improved while retaining properties such as near perfect reconstruction, namely polyphase quadrature mirror filters (QMF), tree structure and lattice structure.
Does Usage of an eHealth Intervention Reduce the Risk of Excessive Gestational Weight Gain? Secondary Analysis From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) contributes to the development of obesity in mother and child. Internet-based interventions have the potential for delivering innovative and interactive options for prevention of excessive GWG to large numbers of people. Objective: The objective of this study was to create a novel measure of Internet-based intervention usage patterns and examine whether usage of an Internet-based intervention is associated with reduced risk of excessive GWG. Methods: The website featured blogs, local resources, articles, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and events that were available to women in both the intervention and control arm. Weekly reminders to use the website and to highlight new content were emailed to participants in both arms. Only intervention arm participants had access to the weight gain tracker and diet and physical activity goal-setting tools. A total of 1335 (898 intervention and 437 control) relatively diverse and healthy pregnant women were randomly assigned to the intervention arm or control arm. Usage patterns were examined for both intervention and control arm participants using latent class analysis. Regression analyses were used to estimate the association between usage patterns and three GWG outcomes: excessive total GWG, excessive GWG rate, and GWG. Results: Five usage patterns best characterized the usage of the intervention by intervention arm participants. Three usage patterns best characterized control arm participants’ usage. Control arm usage patterns were not associated with excessive GWG, whereas intervention arm usage patterns were associated with excessive GWG. Conclusions: The control and intervention arm usage pattern characterization is a unique methodological contribution to process evaluations for self-directed Internet-based interventions. In the intervention arm some usage patterns were associated with GWG outcomes. ClinicalTrial: ClinicalTrials.gov; Clinical Trials Number: NCT01331564; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01331564 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation/6nI9LuX9w) [J Med Internet Res 2017;19(1):e6]
Regeneration and Regrowth Potentials of Digit Tips in Amphibians and Mammals

Tissue regeneration and repair have received much attention in the medical field over the years. The study of amphibians, such as newts and salamanders, has uncovered many of the processes that occur in these animals during full-limb/digit regeneration, a process that is highly limited in mammals. Understanding these processes in amphibians could shed light on how to develop and improve this process in mammals. Amputation injuries in mammals usually result in the formation of scar tissue with limited regrowth of the limb/digit; however, it has been observed that the very tips of digits (fingers and toes) can partially regrow in humans and mice under certain conditions. This review will summarize and compare the processes involved in salamander limb regeneration, mammalian wound healing, and digit regeneration in mice and humans.
Whole-brain connectivity dynamics reflect both task-specific and individual-specific modulation: A multitask study

Functional connectivity (FC) has been widely used to study the functional organization of temporally correlated and spatially distributed brain regions. Recent studies of FC dynamics, quantified by windowed correlations, provide new insights to analyze dynamic, context-dependent reconfiguration of brain networks. A set of reoccurring whole-brain connectivity patterns at rest, referred to as FC states, have been identified, hypothetically reflecting underlying cognitive processes or mental states. We posit that the mean FC information for a given subject represents a significant contribution to the group-level FC dynamics. We show that the subject-specific FC profile, termed as FC individuality, can be removed to increase sensitivity to cognitively relevant FC states. To assess the impact of the FC individuality and task-specific FC modulation on the group-level FC dynamics analysis, we generate and analyze group studies of four subjects engaging in four cognitive conditions (rest, simple math, two-back memory, and visual attention task). We also propose a model to quantitatively evaluate the effect of two factors, namely, subject-specific and task-specific modulation on FC dynamics. We show that FC individuality is a predominant factor in group-level FC variability, and the embedded cognitively relevant FC states are clearly visible after removing the individual's connectivity profile. Our results challenge the current understanding of FC states and emphasize the importance of individual heterogeneity in connectivity dynamics analysis.