cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intrinsic Pigment‐Cell Stimulating Activity in the Catfish Integument

In keeping with the concept that local factors in the vertebrate integument affect the expression of pigment cells, the present study was directed toward demonstrating the existence of such factors in the skin of the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. This species has a dark dorsal surface in marked contrast to an almost white midventral surface. Pieces of skin from these two surfaces were used to condition culture media, which were in turn bioassayed using the Xenopus neural tube explant system (Fukuzawa and Ide, 1988, Dev. Biol. 129:25). A certain number of neural crest cells grow out from the explant, and many of these are melanized in a culture medium of Steinberg's basic salt solution (BSS). When the BSS was conditioned with either dorsal or ventral skin, a profound increase in both the number of crest cells emigrated from the neural tubes and the percentage of melanized cells was observed. The effects of dorsal skin were stronger than those of ventral skin and were evident on a dose/response basis. Initial fractionation of conditioned BSS with DEAE ion exchange chromatography produced fractions of particular potency in the stimulation of melanogenesis. A similarly conditioned medium based upon Leibovitz's L-15 was used in the primary culture of mature chromatophores, namely, melanophores, iridophores, and xanthophores from tadpoles of Rana pipiens. Both dorsal and ventral conditioned media stimulated iridophores and xanthophores, but seemed to have little or no effect on tadpole melanophores. A melanization inhibiting factor (MIF) from the ventral surface of adult frogs has been suggested as the basis for the light colored ventrum of amphibians, and although the present experiments were not designed to study catfish MIF, the possible existence of such a factor in this species was supported by the results. The total results of this investigation are discussed in the light of the possible presence of a melanization inhibiting factor (MIF) of greater prevalence in the ventrum and a melanization stimulatory factor (MSF) of greater prevalence in the dorsal integument. It is suggested that the light-colored ventral surface of the catfish and other poikilotherms may result from the presence of higher levels of MIF than MSF. Thus, the expression of melanophores is inhibited while that of iridophores is enhanced. In contrast, higher levels of MSF over MIF in the dark dorsal surface would result in melanophore stimulation and inhibition of iridophore expression.
MiTextExplorer: Linked brushing and mutual information for exploratory text data analysis

In this paper I describe a preliminary experimental system, MITEXTEXPLORER, for textual linked brushing, which allows an analyst to interactively explore statistical relationships between (1) terms, and (2) document metadata (covariates). An analyst can graphically select documents embedded in a temporal, spatial, or other continuous space, and the tool reports terms with strong statistical associations for the region. The user can then drill down to specific term and term groupings, viewing further associations, and see how terms are used in context. The goal is to rapidly compare language usage across interesting document covariates. I illustrate examples of using the tool on several datasets: geo-located Twitter messages, presidential State of the Union addresses, the ACL Anthology, and the King James Bible.
A predictive model for fling-step in near-fault ground motions based on recordings and simulations

Abstract We identify potential data sources for fling-step and discuss their value, compile a dataset of simulated and recorded ground motions containing fling, extract fling pulses from these ground motions, and derive a predictive model for fling amplitude and period that is compared to existing empirical models. Fling is the result of permanent static offset of the ground during an earthquake, but is usually ignored because ground motion records from accelerometers contain errors that make it difficult to measure static offsets. However, some data sources include fling, such as specially processed recordings, ground motion simulations, and high-rate global positioning systems (GPS). From this data, we extract fling pulses using the pattern search global optimization algorithm. The resulting displacement amplitudes and periods are used to create a new predictive equation for fling parameters, are compared to existing empirical models for pulse period, fling amplitude, and surface displacement along the fault, and are found to match reasonably well.
Fundamentals of Data Analysis

The aim of SAS experiments is to extract volume-averaged information on the spatial distribution of scattering length density (neutrons) or the electron density (x-rays) in the sample from the measured differential cross section as a function of scattering vector. Correlation functions can be calculated directly from the SAS data and deliver information on the sample structure. This chapter begins with a brief description of the mathematical form and geometrical meaning of correlation functions, which enter theory of scattering from the two-phase random systems. Asymptotic behavior of scattering in the limit of low and high values of the scattering vector is considered, together with the unified scattering function, which bridges the Guinier and Porod scattering regimes. The rest of the chapter deals with the scattering theory from fractal systems and possible extension of the theory of scattering from the two-phase to multiphase systems.
Harry Potter and the Unforgivable Curses

For Potter fans only: In this chapter Professor Schwabach builds on and updates his earlier work on the law of Harry Potter's world, extending his treatment of the "Unforgivable Curses" to include new material revealed in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," and J.K. Rowling’s post-Book 7 interviews.Harry's story is a story about law, and about a society trying to establish a rule of law. There is law in every chapter, and on almost every page, of all seven main-sequence books, and the three others as well, especially "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Sometimes the legal questions hang in the background, while at other times they are the focus of the story. In an unusual move in a fantasy series, the author shows the readers not only numerous trials, but also statutes, regulations, school rules, and even international agreements.Harry's world is administered, ineptly, by the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry's muddling misrule is not quite dictatorship, but it is not fair and just, either. Under the stress of the first war against Voldemort's Death Eaters, the Ministry regime, like some Muggle governments in similar circumstances, adopts an ad hoc and inconsistent approach to justice. It imprisons people, and sometimes executes them, without a trial. It keeps intrusively careful tabs on law-abiding citizens, but is unable to track down terrorists. It reaches inaccurate results in about half of its criminal trials, in large part because defendants are not represented by counsel. The treatment of the Unforgivable Curses (three spells whose use on humans is supposedly punishable by life imprisonment) reveals all of these problems.In this chapter, Professor Schwabach explores the moral assumptions embedded in the Ministry's treatment of the Unforgivable Curses through an examination of the legal treatment of these spells under the Ministry's regime as well as under relevant British (Muggle) and international law.An in-depth treatment of the Unforgivable Curses in Books 1 through 6 appeared in Aaron Schwabach, "Harry Potter and the Unforgivable Curses: Norm-Formation, Inconsistency, and the Rule of Law in the Wizarding World," 11 Roger Williams U. L. Rev. 309 (2006) (available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=818185)."The Law and Harry Potter" (Jeffrey Thomas & Franklin Snyder eds., Carolina Academic Press, 2010), the book in which the chapter excerpted here appears, also includes, inter alia, works by several of the other co-authors of Jeffrey Thomas et al., "Harry Potter and the Law," 12 Texas Wesleyan L. Rev. 427 (2005).
Evaluation of the Impact of a Student Pharmacist-Supported Program to Improve Hospital-Based Quality Measures.

Background. Although previous studies have demonstrated positive impact of student pharmacists on clinical interventions, no published studies to date have demonstrated the specific impact of student pharmacists on improving National Hospital Inpatient Quality Measures (NHIQM). Objective. To evaluate the impact of a student pharmacist–supported program targeted at improving the venous thromboembolism (VTE) quality measures set forth by the NHIQM. Methods. Retrospective review of VTE quality measure compliance at a community nonteaching hospital. During this time, student pharmacists supported a VTE prophylaxis program that evaluated admitted patients for chemical or mechanical prophylaxis needs. Compliance to VTE quality measures were also evaluated by a trained medical data abstractor based on criteria given by the Joint Commission. Results. Four major NHIQM criteria for VTE were selected for evaluation. National and state averages were compared to the overall hospital averages across various timeframes....
The Influence of Lattice Mismatch on Indium Phosphide Based High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) Structures Observed in High Resolution Monochromatic Synchrotron X-Radiation Diffraction Imaging

The formation of mismatch dislocations in layered semiconductor structures was found recently in high resolution monochromatic synchrotron x-radiation diffraction images to be correlated with characteristics of the substrate as well as with the layer thickness and degree of lattice mismatch of non pseudomorphic layers.1,2 We have now extended these studies to examine the accommodation to strain as a function of lattice mismatch in a series of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on indium phosphide substrates. Five distinct types of irregularity are observed: 1) lattice warping, 2) the formation of a nonpseudomorphic layer, 3) the formation of extended arrays of linear mismatch dislocations at the interface between the substrate and a nonpseudomorphic layer, 4) the formation of oval regions of tweed-like local lattice variation imbedded among these arrays, and 5) extended tweed-like local lattice variation over large peripheral areas in which the formation of straight mismatch dislocation arrays is not observed. Warping of the lattice is found in nearly all layered structures. A distinct layer with a different lattice parameter but without visible misfit dislocations is formed with a mismatch of 0.27 %. With increase of the mismatch to 0.5 %, the other three forms of accommodation appear in distinct regions of the structure: arrays of mismatch dislocations; oval regions of tweed-like irregularity, oriented in the {xc011} direction; and peripheral regions of extended tweed-like local lattice variation.
Reservoir Induced Seismicity Near Heron and El Vado Reservoirs, Northern New Mexico

Spatial, temporal and magnitude-frequency relationships for earthquakes occurring between 1976 and 1984 near Heron and El Vado reservoirs in northern New Mexico are examined for evidence of reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS). Most of the 264 located shocks, including those with the highest magnitude (maximum ML = 2.7; mb = 3.8), occurred in 1982 when Heron reservoir reached its maximum capacity of approximately 0.5 km3 and an impoundment depth of 66 m. Between 1976 and 1984, earthquake swarms followed, or were enhanced by, reservoir filling in three out of four cases where filling resulted in new maximum water volumes for Heron reservoir. Shocks generally cluster between the reservoirs in a region of north-south block faulting. A cumulative earthquake frequency versus magnitude plot for Heron-El Vado produced a b-value of 0.92 ± 0.03 (1 SD) which is slightly higher than other b-values for northern New Mexico and is consistent with b-values for reservoir induced shocks in other areas. The spatial and temporal distribution of these events, along with their b-value, suggests most of them have been triggered by reservoir loading. Practical ramifications of this work are that RIS can occur in reservoirs with impoundment depths of less than 100 m and RIS may occur if other dams are located along the historically seismic Archuleta anticline on the eastern margin of the San Juan basin.
Using Log-Gabor Filter Array to Estimate Seismic Dip and Azimuth

In this paper, we introduce a method of orientation estimation in seismic data. Unlike conventional methods of orientation estimation with a context window, our method is inspired by the neural mechanism of visual perception. The primary visual cortex in the brain contains orientation columns, which are composed of an array of orientation detectors. A log-Gabor filter with a specific orientation and scale configuration simulates the neuronal mechanism of the orientation detector, while an array of such filters simulates the orientation columns. The resulting orientation is derived at the sample level of the input seismic data: the filter response competes with each other in the array, and the maximum response defines the seismic orientation. Our proposed method has many applications in seismic interpretation, e.g., calculating the volumetric azimuth and dip attributes without picking, guiding seismic attribute computation, and detecting seismic texture patterns.
The distribution of [3H]kainate binding sites in primate hippocampus is similar to the distribution of both Ca2+-sensitive and Ca2+-insensitive [3H]kainate binding sites in rat hippocampus.

The distribution of [3H]kainate binding sites was determined by quantitative autoradiography in three vertebrate species: rat, monkey, and human. These animals displayed a similar pattern of binding site density in the hippocampus. Highest levels were found within the stratum lucidum and moderate levels in the inner portion of the dentate gyrus molecular layer. Although the distribution is similar, there is a lower density of binding sites in the stratum lucidum of primates than in rodents. Experiments using rat brain synaptic plasma membrane fractions indicated that inclusion of Ca2+ ions results in a selective reduction in binding at the high affinity sites. The Ca2+-inhibited and Ca2+-insensitive binding sites in the rat hippocampus exhibited a similar distribution. Together, these results suggest that in a variety of mammalian species kainate receptors exhibit similar regional distributions, and that the high anf loe affinity kainate binding sites also exhibit similar regional distributions.
Think Globally, Act Locally: Regulated Deployment of Polysaccharide Degradation Abilities by our Symbiotic Gut Bacteria

Symbiotic microorganisms expand human digestive physiology by providing an armament of glycan-degrading enzymes that are absent in the human genome. Dietary glycans, mixed with endogenous mucus, pr...
Several Pretreatments of Pesticide Residue in Food

This article describes the latest research and applications on several pretreatment technology of pesticide residues in food,and related areas of development trend is predicted for the analysis and detection of pesticide residues in and reference to researchers.
Self-Retaining Loop Nephrostomy

AbstractA self-retaining loop nephrostomy with an inflated balloon in the renal pelvis to prevent accidental extraction or displacement is described. An additional feature of this tube is a plug that may be positioned to promote maximal irrigation of the kidney with a stone solvent or to allow urine to flow from 1 or both ends of the loop.
Design of heparin oligosaccharide based molecules for inhibition of Alzheimer amyloid beta (Aβ40) aggregation

In this computational study, we have combined molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation techniques to explore interactions of monomeric and aggregated forms of Alzheimer’s amyloid beta (Aβ40) with seven chemically distinct heparin derived glycoaminoglycans (GAGs) referred to as ADC, SDC, DC, V1, V2, V3, and V4. The docking procedure proposed two major binding sites, i.e., one present at the top of the fibril (site A), and the other located in the hairpin region (site B). Due to its position, site B offers an interesting target to design molecules with anti-aggregation properties. Our results predicted that out of seven GAGs, only three of them (ADC, SDC, and DC) bind to site B. The identification of these molecules can advance our efforts to develop therapeutic interventions for this deadly disease.
The out-of-town speakers

This discussion will analyze the linguistic behavior of the thirty-seven respondents in the ALS survey who completed full linguistic interviews and who were not raised in New York City. Despite the fact that many of them have spent more than twenty years in New York City, they cannot be considered native speakers; during their formative years, they were not exposed to the traditional dialect of the city. Therefore this group can be used as a valuable check upon the validity of the discussion of New York respondents in Chapters 7 and 11. Any phonological variable which is known to be widespread throughout the United States should show the same patterns for the eighty-one New Yorkers and the thirty-seven out-of-towners. Any phonological variable which is being superimposed upon a partially acquired New York City pattern, will also affect the out-of-towners. It may not affect their speech to the same degree, but the general direction of stratification should be similar. Any phonological variable which is a part of the native New York City pattern, as acquired in pre-adolescent years, should not show stylistic or class stratification in the speech of the out-of-towners.
Managing combinatorial software installations with Spack

HPC centers deploy a variety of scientific software, but the complexity of building scientific applications makes package management increasingly difficult. Users demand combinatorial versions of packages, but site administrators may need to perform in-place upgrades for security and for bug fixes.This paper describes an extension of the Spack package manager that allows HPC centers to navigate a compromise between fully combinatorial versioning and a stable, upgradable software stack. Spack provides a set of templated packages that can be deployed in arbitrarily many combinatorial build configurations. We introduce subspaces, an extension of Spack's versioning system that allows HPC sites to choose an arbitrary combinatorial complexity for packages they deploy. Subspaces allow us to use a single Spack package to generate binary packages for systems such as RPM. Using subspaces, support staff can configure the degree of combinatorial versioning exposed to the user. This capability enables an intuitive and flexible user environment that can be leveraged across multiple HPC sites.
Can reflecting on personal values online increase positive beliefs about counseling

This research developed and tested an online values-affirmation exercise to attenuate threat and enhance positive beliefs about counseling among individuals struggling with mental health concerns. There is evidence that reflecting on personal values (values-affirmation) is an effective approach to eliciting self-affirmation-a psychological process that temporarily bolsters self-worth in order to forestall maladaptive, self-protective responses to counseling information. The present study utilized a randomized 2-group between-subjects design to test the effectiveness of a values-affirmation exercise with an online sample (N = 186) of adults who reported struggling with a mental health concern. It was predicted that values-affirmation would reduce threat related to reading mental health information and increase positive beliefs about counseling. Results indicated that those in the values-affirmation condition reported fewer negative emotions such as feeling upset, irritable, hostile, and scared after reading mental health information, indicating that the information was perceived as less threatening. There was also evidence that engaging in values-affirmation was associated with greater anticipated growth in counseling and greater intent to seek counseling, reflecting greater positive beliefs about counseling. Overall, the results suggest that reflecting on personal values may have the potential to enhance the positive effects of online psychoeducation. (PsycINFO Database Record
Scavenging of oxygen from SrTiO3 during oxide thin film deposition and the formation of interfacial 2DEGs

SrTiO3 is a widely used substrate for the growth of other functional oxide thin films. The reactivity of the substrate with respect to the film during deposition, particularly with regard to redox reactions, has typically been glossed over. We demonstrate by depositing a variety of metals (Ti, Al, Nb, Pt, Eu, and Sr) and measuring the in situ core level spectra of both the metal and SrTiO3 that, depending on the oxide formation energy and work function of the metal, three distinct types of behavior occur in thin metal films on SrTiO3 (100). In many cases, there will be an interfacial layer of oxygen-deficient SrTiO3 formed at the interface with the overlying film. We discuss how this may affect the interpretation of the well-known two-dimensional electron gas present at the interface between SrTiO3 and various oxides.
Abstract 2303: Entacapone and prostate cancer in patients with Parkinson’s disease: A large Veterans Health Administration study

Background: An increased risk of prostate cancer was observed in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients treated with entacapone during a pre-approval randomized clinical trial. Objective: To investigate a potential association between entacapone use and prostate cancer in an ambulatory setting. Methods: Using data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system, new-user cohorts were created of PD patients treated with add-on entacapone or add-on dopamine agonist/monoamine oxidase B inhibitors between January 2000 and December 2014. Patients were followed on-treatment for occurrence of prostate cancer, identified via VA cancer registry linkage. Cox proportional hazards regression with time-dependent exposure was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Confounding was controlled by using inverse probability treatment weighting calculated from propensity scores. Results: Mean follow-up time was 3.1 and 4.0 years in the entacapone and control cohort, respectively. There were 17,666 subjects meeting study criteria (mean age, 74 (SD 8.6) years); the group treated with entacapone comprised 5,257 subjects. Twenty-three prostate cancers occurred in the entacapone cohort and 97 in the control cohort. The overall incidence of prostate cancer was 1.8 per 1000 person-years of risk. There was no difference in risk of prostate cancer between the cohorts for increased duration of entacapone intake (adjusted HR: 1.08; 95% confidence interval: 0.46-2.51 for cumulative exposure of ≥2 years). Time since starting drug therapy and cumulative dose (mg) were also examined. Conclusion: In this cohort of PD patients, extended duration of entacapone use was not associated with an increased incidence of prostate cancer. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Jacqueline M. Major, Francesca Cunningham, Diane Dong, Kunthel By, Kwan Hur, David C. Shih, Simone P. Pinheiro, Gerald D. Podskalny, David J. Graham. Entacapone and prostate cancer in patients with Parkinson’s disease: A large Veterans Health Administration study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2303. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2303
Modeling nonlinearity in multi-dimensional dependent data

Given massive data that may be time dependent and multi-dimensional, how to efficiently explore the underlying functional relationships across different dimensions and time lags? In this work, we propose a methodology to sequentially and adaptively model nonlinear multivariate time series data. Data at each time step and dimension is modeled as a nonlinear function of past values corrupted by noise, and the underlying nonlinear function is assumed to be approximately expandable in a spline basis. We cast the modeling of data as finding a good fit representation in the linear span of multi-dimensional spline basis, and use a variant of h-penalty regularization in order to reduce the dimensionality of representation. Using adaptive filtering techniques, we design our online algorithm to automatically tune the underlying parameters based on the minimization of the regularized sequential prediction error. We demonstrate the generality and flexibility of the proposed approach on both synthetic and real-world datasets. Moreover, we analytically investigate the performance of our algorithm by obtaining bounds of the prediction errors.
Measuring livelihood resilience: The Household Livelihood Resilience Approach (HLRA)

Abstract The concept of resilience, and livelihood resilience more specifically, is growing in prominence with international development and humanitarian organizations that aim to measure and build resilience to specific disturbances such as floods or droughts. However, measuring livelihood resilience is a difficult task, and practical methods to measure livelihood resilience, as well as analyze and visualize the data are needed. In this paper, I introduce the Household Livelihood Resilience Approach (HLRA), which draws from the sustainable livelihoods approach and it’s five capital assets to measure resilience. However, unlike other approaches that use the five capital assets such as utilized by Zurich Insurance Group, Ltd and the IFRC, the HLRA goes farther to help visualize the results and identify specific actions to build resilience. This paper illustrates the effectiveness of the HLRA through an empirical case study where this approach was used to measure livelihood resilience in Isiolo County, Kenya, and the effectiveness of agroforestry in building livelihood resilience for agricultural households. Drawing from this case study, I suggest five ways that the HLRA improves upon previous frameworks, including 1) providing practical methods and tools, not just a theoretical framework, 2) integrating ‘subjective’ measures of livelihood resilience, 3) focusing on the household-scale instead of community-scale or larger, 4) providing methods to analyze, visualize, and interpret results of livelihood resilience measures, and 5) highlighting the importance of human agency, power, and access to assets. The HLRA has the potential to help organizations identify specific interventions that could help build livelihood resilience for the most vulnerable groups of people within a community.
Genetically Engineered Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Cell and Gene Therapy

Stem cells have enormous potential for regenerative medicine to treat fatal diseases and injuries that cannot otherwise be healed. In particular, adult stem cell-based therapies have been studied for several decades. Mesenchymal stem cells/marrow stromal cells (MSCs) have shown safety and therapeutic efficacy in preclinical models of various diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, bone defects, renal failure, and neurodegenerative disorders. In spite of the great potential, several factors including low survival rate, low efficiency of MSC homing to injured sites, and poor levels of engraftment and retention have been major technical challenges to be overcome before MSC-based therapy can be applied to clinical applications in a consistently therapeutic manner. Genetically modified MSCs can be one option to overcome some of these problems and to deliver therapeutic agents. MSCs are powerful delivery vehicles and potent protein synthesis factories, and therefore the use of gene-modified MSCs to provide growth factors and other signals to improve the repair of damaged or diseased tissues holds much promise. Here we review the basic biology of human MSCs and the current status of preclinical and clinical trials using genetically engineered MSCs.
Causal attribution and judicial discretion

An important need of the criminal justice system is to better understand and structure discretionary decisions, thereby minimizing their adverse effects. The present study explored the relevance of models of attribution processes to these goals by analysing judges' verbal statements in real courtroom settings. Results reveal that these models are useful in studying discretion and that the method is a fruitful component of a multimethodological approach to studying both attribution and discretion. The importance of both developing and testing models in real life contexts was stressed.
The Term "Local Authority" in the European Charter of Local-Self Government: Different Meanings Lead to Different Implementation

The article takes a critical look at the meaning of the term “local authority”which is one of the main terms of the European Charter of Local-Self Government and considers the question: “can the meaning of the term “local authority” change theessence of local democracy in Europe?”.
Seropapillary and Endometrioid Carcinoma of the Ovary: Survival Rate after Surgery and Radiotherapy

The effectiveness of surgery and radiotherapy of seropapillary and endometrioid cancers is limited strictly to the treated region, and cancer cells outside this area may continue to grow despite regression in the treated portion of the neoplasm. The cancer may often be entirely excised, if treatment is given while it is still confined to the ovaries. Growth may at times be restrained and survival prolonged by postoperative radiotherapy used after the cancer has extended beyond the ovaries and is still limited to the pelvis. This combined treatment has little influence on survival, once the cancer has extended into the upper abdomen, where cancerocidal radiation dosage is not well tolerated. Finally, the clinical course of the disease remains unaffected by treatment to the pelvis if the cancer has genrealized. Clinical progress at this stage depends more on the resistance of the host to the growth of the metastases than on the result of treatment to the pelvis.
Teaching anti-essentialist historical inquiry

AbstractA narrative of racial progress abounds in U.S. history, making it difficult for teachers to present complex interpretations of racial/ethnic discrimination. Historical complexity challenges...
Molecular Subtypes and Genomic Signatures of Hepatocellular Carcinoma for Prognostication and Therapeutic Decision-Making

Molecular classification of cancers has significantly improved patient outcomes through the implementation of treatment protocols tailored to the abnormalities present in each patient’s cancer cells. Important subtypes with characteristic molecular features as potential therapeutic targets are likely to exist for all tumor lineages, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but have yet to be discovered and validated as targets. Because each tumor accumulates hundreds or thousands of genomic and epigenetic alterations of critical genes, it is challenging to identify and validate candidate tumor aberrations as therapeutic targets or biomarkers that predict prognosis or response to therapy. Therefore, it is important to have good overview of our understanding on molecular and genomic subtypes of HCC. Systems-level integration of data from multiple studies and development of new technologies analyzing patient tissues hold great promise for the identification of novel therapeutic targets and linked predictive biomarkers, allowing implementation of personalized medicine for HCC patients.
Functional Analysis of a Gene Cluster from Chitinophaga pinensis Involved in Biosynthesis of the Pyrrolidine Azasugar DAB-1

Azasugars, "nitrogen in the ring" analogues of monosaccharides, are known to be distributed in select plant, fungal. and bacterial species. We identify Chitinophaga pinensis DSM 2588 as the first bacterial source of the plant pyrrolidine azasugar 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-aminoarabinitol (DAB-1). Comparative sequence analyses identified C. pinensis as a putative azasugar producer, via observation of a three-gene cluster coding for putative aminotransferase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and sugar phosphatase enzymes, similar to the previously reported azasugar biosynthetic signature identified in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42. Multistep fractionation of C. pinensis culture media guided by a maltase inhibition assay yielded a component with a mass consistent with the structure of DAB-1. Heterologous expression of the three-gene cluster in E. coli, a non-azasugar producer, led to the isolation of nectrisine, a biosynthetic precursor to DAB-1, which displayed potent slow tight binding inhibition of maltase. Reduction of nectrisine with NaBH4 removed the slow tight binding inhibition kinetics, and MS analysis provided evidence for the production of a compound matching that of the isolated DAB-1 from C. pinensis. 1H NMR analysis of the nectrisine produced in E. coli after NaBD4 reduction produced a spectrum consistent with DAB-1 deuterated at C-1, primarily at the pro-S position. These results support the idea that the azasugar three-gene cluster represents a general biosynthetic path leading to several different compounds, which may prove useful for the identification of other azasugar-producing organisms.
Chapter 10 – Organometallic Chemistry

This section of Inorganic Chemistry deals with the basic and more advanced features of organometallic chemistry. This is a very important and useful subject, which requires a strong foundation of fundamental knowledge and principles. Organometallic chemistry is the study of compounds containing at least one bond between a carbon atom of an organic moiety and a metal. It lies at the interface between organic chemistry and the inorganic chemistry of metals. The last five decades have seen a virtual explosion of our knowledge and understanding of organometallic chemistry and its application within catalytic processes. A whole new technology of organometallic-based catalysis, particularly for olefin polymerization, has been developed. To present a comprehensive perspective of the subject, this chapter explains the types of organometallic compounds, the nomenclature, and their bonding nature. It also introduces the concept of effective atomic number rule for carbonyls, alkenes, and aromatic complexes.
Abstract IA-01: Role of the gut-tumor microbial axis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)

Even though Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a 5-year survival rate of 9%, there is a minority of patients that survive more than 5 years (Long Term Survivors, LTS). Genomic studies have not shown a particular signature on those patients, suggesting the potential relevance of extrinsic non-genetic factors in survival. Also, higher number of tumor infiltrating CD8+T cells and neoantigens with similarities to microbes are predictive of better outcomes. Studies have linked microbiome with tumorigenesis and treatment responses in many cancers, including PDAC, a tumor that contains bacteria. We have analyzed intratumoral microbial content and found that LTS have higher microbial diversity and a unique microbial signature. We have also found that some of the intra-tumoral bacteria originates in the intestines. Fecal microbial transplants resulted in modulation of tumoral microbiome, immune infiltration and tumor growth. Direct bacterial immune activation or indirect effect by bacterial metabolites may be some of the mechanisms implicated. Future clinical work is needed to further understand how to modulate tumors immune status by manipulating bacteria. A clinical trial with this goal is now being developed. Citation Format: Florencia McAllister. Role of the gut-tumor microbial axis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer; 2020 Sep 29-30. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(22 Suppl):Abstract nr IA-01.
Maximizing Yield with Improved Single-Axis Backtracking on Cross-Axis Slopes

Many tracking PV systems avoid row-to-row shading by backtracking in morning and afternoon. Because the common single-axis backtracking implementation assumes the array is in a horizontal plane, it does not fully prevent row-to-row shading in arrays installed on cross-axis slopes, e.g. an east-west slope for a tracker with north-south axis alignment. This paper presents the simulated effect of reduced self-shading on annual production with two modified backtracking strategies. Depending on the array geometry and the steepness of the cross-axis grade, using a modified backtracking strategy improved annual yield by 3-10%.
A role for sex-determination genes in life history evolution? Doublesex mediates sexual size dimorphism in the gazelle dung beetle

An organism's fitness depends strongly on its age and size at maturation. Although the evolutionary forces acting on these critical life history traits have been heavily scrutinized, the developmental mechanisms underpinning intraspecific variation in adult size and development time remain much less well-understood. Using RNA interference, I here show that the highly conserved sex-determination gene doublesex (dsx) mediates sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in the gazelle dung beetle Digitonthophagus gazella. Because doublesex undergoes sex-specific splicing and sex-limited isoforms regulate different target genes, this suggests that dsx contributes to the resolution of intralocus sexual conflict in body size. However, these results contrast with previous studies demonstrating that dsx does not affect body size or SSD in Drosophila. This indicates that intraspecific body size variation is underlain by contrasting developmental mechanisms in different insect lineages. Furthermore, although male D. gazella have a longer development time than females, sexual bimaturism was not affected by dsx expression knockdown. In addition, and in contrast to secondary sexual morphology, dsx did not significantly affect nutritional plasticity in life history. Taken together, these findings indicate that dsx signalling contributes to intraspecific life history variation but that dsx's function in mediating sexual dimorphism in life history differs among traits and species. More generally, these findings suggest that genes ancestrally tasked with sex determination have been co-opted into the developmental regulation of life history traits and may represent an underappreciated mechanism of life history evolution.
A TCAD Simulation Study of Three-Independent-Gate Field-Effect Transistors at the 10-nm Node

Three-independent-gate FETs (TIGFETs) are Schottky-barrier-based devices, which can be reconfigured to be either n- or p-type allowing for innovative compact logic gate implementations. In this article, we present an aggressively scaled 10-nm gate-all-around silicon–germanium nanowire TIGFET device evaluated with Synopsys Sentaurus Poisson-based Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) simulations at a 0.7-V nominal supply voltage as typically used at this technology node. The operation of the TIGFET device is described in detail, with particular care given to the majority current contributions for each operating mode. When considering a silicon–germanium channel, the maximum TCAD-simulated current drive is 880.20 and $806.58~\mu \text{A}/\mu \text{m}$ for n- and p-type operation, respectively, thus making TIGFET devices competitive with FinFET technology at the 10-nm node. These simulations are verified using device physics calculations. Further simulations of the carrier densities for each of the TIGFET-operating configurations are performed to confirm that the simulated device is operating as intended.
Children with congenital colorectal malformations during the UK Sars-CoV-2 pandemic lockdown: an assessment of telemedicine and impact on health.

This pilot study was designed to assess bowel function and quality of life (QoL) in children and adolescents with congenital colorectal malformations (CCM) during the first UK COVID lockdown period. Changes in health were assessed through semi-structured interviews, gastrointestinal functional outcomes using Krickenbeck scoring and QoL by the modified disease-specific HAQL (Hirschsprung’s disease anorectal malformation quality of life questionnaire). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)™ for adults was used to assess parental anxiety. Thirty-two families were interviewed; 19 (59%) reported no change in their child’s health during the lockdown, 5 (16%) a deterioration and 8 (25%) an improvement. Neither the severity of the CCM, nor the degree of bowel dysfunction, correlated with any deterioration. The HAQL score was not correlated to a change in health. Anxiety scores ranged from no anxiety to clinical concerns. Telemedicine was well accepted by 28/32 parents (88%); however, in-person appointments were preferred if there were clinical concerns. In the follow-up of children and adolescents with CCM during the first UK lockdown using telemedicine we found that over half had stable health conditions. Patients needing additional care could not be predicted by the severity of their disease or their bowel function alone.
Tailoring Upfront Therapy in Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Abstract Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a unique lymphoma subtype. The disease is considered moderately aggressive and largely incurable. However, outcomes have improved markedly over the past 20 years, largely due to the introduction of new therapeutic options. The prognosis for an individual patient can be estimated by applying the mantle cell lymphoma international prognostic index (MIPI-C), which integrates four clinical factors (age, LDH, WBC, and performance status) with the Ki-67 index.
“We Got to Do Better”: Interactions Between School Counselors and Black Male Student-Athletes:

This qualitative study explores the perspectives and experiences of Black male student-athletes with particular focus on their interactions with school counselors. It draws on nine participants sel...
Network Access Quarantine Control

One of the easiest and arguably most prevalent ways for nefarious software or Internet users to creep onto your network is not through holes in your firewall, or brute-force password attacks, or anything else that might occur at your corporate headquarters or campus. It’s through your mobile users, when they try to connect to your business network while on the road.
Abstract B44: The histone deacetylase SIRT6 regulates metabolism in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer death and one of the most aggressive and deadly malignancies, with limited therapeutic options. Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent histone deacetylase that functions as a novel tumor suppressor, which regulates aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells. Whether glycolysis plays a role in pancreatic cancer development remains a topic of intense study. Importantly, we found SIRT6 to be downregulated in human PDAC and most pancreatic cancer cell lines, resulting in increased expression of glycolytic genes. To determine the role of SIRT6 in pancreatic cancer we utilized human PDAC cell lines that demonstrated low expression of SIRT6 compared to a human pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPDE) control cell line. Restoration of SIRT6 expression decreased the levels of glycolytic gene expression, reduced glucose uptake, and inhibited cell growth. Conversely, knockdown of SIRT6 in HPDE cells increased glycolytic gene expression, glucose uptake and enhanced cell growth. To further explore the role of SIRT6 in a genetically defined PDAC model, we used an autochthonous mouse model with conditional alleles for KRASG12D, p53, and SIRT6, together with a p48-Cre allele to delete SIRT6 and p53 while expressing oncogenic Ras exclusively in the pancreas. SIRT6null, KRASG12D, p53+/- p48 tumor cells also exhibited increased expression of glycolytic genes and had enhanced glucose uptake compared to SIRT6+/+, KRASG12D, p53+/- p48 tumor cells, a phenotype which is reversed by restoration of wild-type but not catalytically inactive SIRT6 expression. Understanding how SIRT6 regulates PDAC metabolism through the modulation of chromatin dynamics will hopefully lead to new therapies to tackle aberrant metabolism in this devastating disease. Citation Format: Sita Kugel, Carlos Sebastian, Rushika M. Perera, Nabeel Bardeesy, Raul Mostoslavsky. The histone deacetylase SIRT6 regulates metabolism in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer: Innovations in Research and Treatment; May 18-21, 2014; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(13 Suppl):Abstract nr B44.
Promoting Resilience Through Executive Function Training for Homeless and Highly Mobile Preschoolers

Resilience is a dynamic, multifaceted, and inferential concept that refers generally to the capacity of a system for successful adaptation in the context of significant adversity or challenges. In human development, positive adaptation can be defined broadly in terms of function in many domains (e.g., doing well in all the ways expected for a person of a given age, culture, and time in history, including physical, mental, social, school, or work expectations) or more narrowly in a single domain (e.g., academic achievement or getting along with peers). In this chapter we describe a new intervention program designed to foster school readiness in homeless and highly mobile (HHM) children, with the goal of promoting their academic resilience. We hope to foster resilience in these children by promoting their executive function (EF) skills during the preschool period, which is believed to be an important window of opportunity for growth and change in the neurocognitive processes that support learning and school readiness.
Bis[tris-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN)methane]-nickel(II) bis-{[tris-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN)methane]-tris-(thio-cyanato-κN)nickelate(II)} methanol disolvate.

Attempts to prepare the mononuclear [(tpm)NiIIL3]−1 [tpm = tris­(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methane and L = thio­cyanate] anion yielded the methanol-solvated salt, [(tpm)2NiII][(tpm)NiII(NCS)3]2·2CH3OH or [Ni(C10H10N6)2][Ni(NCS)3(C10H10N6)]2·2CH3OH. The asymmetric unit consists of half a centrosymmetric bis­[tris­(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methane]­nickel(II) cation and an octa­hedral nickelate(II) anion bound to one tpm and three L ligands, and a methanol solvent mol­ecule. One of the L ligands is disordered over two positions with occupancy factors of 0.650 (3) and 0.350 (3). There are O—H⋯S inter­actions between the methanol and the disordered thio­cyanate anion, and a weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bond between the cation and the methanol O atom.
Genetic Enhancement: The Role of Parents

Genetic engineering's promises might look enticing, but the road to a perfect child is littered with pitfalls. Keywords: eugenics; genetic engineering; ethics; parenting; genetic enhancement; pediatrics (ethics of); child psychology