cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Catalytic growth of nanowires: Vapor–liquid–solid, vapor–solid–solid, solution–liquid–solid and solid–liquid–solid growth

Catalytic growth is a powerful tool to form a variety of wire (whisker) like structures with diameters ranging from just a few nanometres to the millimetre range. A range of phases (gas, solid, liquid, solution and supercritical fluid) have been used for the feeder phase, i.e. the source of material to be incorporated into the nanowire. Solid, liquid, eutectic, alloy and metastable phases have all been invoked to explain the structure of the catalytic particle. Rather than focussing on the differences that lead to the proliferation of an alphabet soup of names for the various growth techniques, this review attempts to focus on the similarities between all of these catalytic growth processes in an attempt to help stimulate a more universal understanding of the phenomenon. The review begins with a precis of the materials from which nanowires have been formed and then proceeds to a discussion of mechanistic aspects.
Opposing roles for the ventral prefrontal cortex and the basolateral amygdala on the spontaneous recovery of cocaine-seeking in rats.

Rationale The neural circuitry subserving cocaine-seeking after extinction vs abstinence alone requires different constituent brain structures. Spontaneous recovery of cocaine-seeking, a model, which incorporates both extinction and abstinence, depends on an unknown neural circuit.
Application of endograft to treat thoracic aortic pathologies: A single center experience

Purpose To evaluate our experience of thoracic endoluminal graft (ELG) repair of various thoracic aortic pathologies using a commercially available device approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Our patient population includes patients eligible for open surgical repair and those with prohibitive surgical risk. Methods From March 1998 to March 2006, endovascular stent repair of the thoracic aorta was performed on 406 patients with 324 patients (median age 72; 200 male) receiving the Gore Excluder endograft. Patient demographics, procedural characteristics, complications, including endoleak, spinal cord ischemia, and mortality, were retrospectively reviewed during follow-up. All patients were followed with chest computer tomography at 6 months and yearly. Statistical analysis was performed utilizing the SPSS Windows 11.0 program. Logistic regression (univariate) analysis used to identify risk factors for paraplegia; analysis of variance (ANOVA) for endoleak distribution; and χ 2 used to analyze variables. Survival analysis was done using SAS version 9.1 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Results Three hundred twenty-four patients were treated with Gore Excluder graft between March 1998 and March 2006. One hundred fifty-seven patients (48.5%) had atherosclerotic aneurysms, 82 (25.3%) had dissections type B (DTB), 34 (10.5%) had penetrating ulcers (PU), 26 (8.0%) with pseudoaneurysms (PSA), 11 (3.4%) had transections (MVAT), 9 (2.8%) aorto-bronchial fistulas (AoBF), 4 (1.2%) embolization, and 1 (0.3%) aorto-esophageal fistula (AoEF). Preoperative aneurysm sac size in TAA ranged from 5 to 12 centimeters, average size 6.3 cm. Sac shrinkage occurred in 65% (102 of 157) of patients. Average postoperative sac size of 5.4 cm in a mean follow-up of 20.4 months. One hundred cases (31.5%) were nonelective; 49 (15.1%) were ruptures. Overall complication was 22.7%, 14.2% (46) in elective cases and 8.5% (28) in nonelective cases. Paraplegia occurred in five (1.5%) patients and paresis in three (0.9%); two of the latter improved and one resolved completely prior to discharge. Incidence of paraplegia was statistically significant ( P value P = .29) or between DTB and other pathologies ( P = .97). Late mortality was 9.6% with 31 unrelated deaths. Follow-up ranged between 1 month and 70 months, average 17 months. Conclusions Endoluminal grafting is a feasible alternative to open surgical repair for thoracic aortic pathologies. After more than 300 cases, 30-day morbidity and mortality compares favorably with open repair. Paraplegia remains low as a complication and increases in incidence with retroperitoneal approach, increased perioperative blood loss, and increased aortic coverage.
Mercury: supporting scalable multi-attribute range queries

This paper presents the design of Mercury, a scalable protocol for supporting multi-attribute range-based searches. Mercury differs from previous range-based query systems in that it supports multiple attributes as well as performs explicit load balancing. To guarantee efficient routing and load balancing, Mercury uses novel light-weight sampling mechanisms for uniformly sampling random nodes in a highly dynamic overlay network. Our evaluation shows that Mercury is able to achieve its goals of logarithmic-hop routing and near-uniform load balancing.We also show that Mercury can be used to solve a key problem for an important class of distributed applications: distributed state maintenance for distributed games. We show that the Mercury-based solution is easy to use, and that it reduces the game's messaging overheard significantly compared to a naive approach.
Pathophysiological Modeling of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Challenges, and Progress

s t e e n t d A nimal models of disease can enormously advance our understanding of pathophysiology and the development of new treatments. Insight into Parkinson’s disease, for examle, has been greatly advanced by the demonstration that recapitlating pathologic degeneration of substantia nigra dopaminergic eurons produces behavioral changes reminiscent of the disorder nd by subsequent pathophysiologic and therapeutic investigaions in this model (1). Genetic models of Alzheimer’s and Huntingon’s diseases have likewise been enormously fruitful in shining ight on the pathophysiology of these conditions and identifying ew therapeutic targets (1). Modeling of most psychiatric condiions has proven much more difficult, which has retarded the develpment of novel, pathophysiologically informed therapeutics (2). he challenges to this project can be conceptualized in terms of the hree ways that such models are traditionally evaluated. The face validity of a model describes the extent to which it ecapitulates recognizable symptoms of a human condition. Many spects of the phenomenology of mental illness are ineluctably ubjective and therefore difficult or impossible to assess in animals. or example, although motor retardation, anhedonia, and anxiety an be plausibly investigated in an animal model, key aspects of ajor depressive disorder such as rumination, guilt, and suicidality ill always be inaccessible. Predictive validity describes the ability of a model to accurately redict treatment efficacy. For psychopharmacologic treatments, he utility of predictive validity as a guide is limited by the lack of pecificity of our medications: selective serotonin reuptake inhibiors (SSRIs), for example, are used to treat obsessive-compulsive isorder, depression, generalized anxiety, bulimia, posttraumatic tress disorder, and other conditions; and they are not close to 00% effective for any of these conditions. The ability of such a edication to mitigate a behavioral effect in an animal model is herefore not necessarily a reliable guide to the model’s validity. sychotherapeutic interventions raise different challenges; with he exception of certain concrete behavioral protocols, such as xtinction, it is difficult to see how to credibly model a psychotherpeutic interaction in an animal. Construct validity describes the extent to which a proposed isease model recapitulates well-grounded pathophysiologic unerpinnings of the disease in question. Outside of drug addiction, e are hampered in our ability to produce construct-valid models f psychiatric disease by the very ignorance of their pathophysiolgy that valid animal models could do so much to rectify. These challenges are particularly acute in the case of obsessiveompulsive disorder (OCD). Anxiety can be plausibly modeled in ice and rats, but the ego-dystonic obsessions that uniquely char-
dFMRP and Caprin, translational regulators of synaptic plasticity, control the cell cycle at the Drosophila mid-blastula transition

The molecular mechanisms driving the conserved metazoan developmental shift referred to as the mid-blastula transition (MBT) remain mysterious. Typically, cleavage divisions give way to longer asynchronous cell cycles with the acquisition of a gap phase. In Drosophila, rapid synchronous nuclear divisions must pause at the MBT to allow the formation of a cellular blastoderm through a special form of cytokinesis termed cellularization. Drosophila Fragile X mental retardation protein (dFMRP; FMR1), a transcript-specific translational regulator, is required for cellularization. The role of FMRP has been most extensively studied in the nervous system because the loss of FMRP activity in neurons causes the misexpression of specific mRNAs required for synaptic plasticity, resulting in mental retardation and autism in humans. Here, we show that in the early embryo dFMRP associates specifically with Caprin, another transcript-specific translational regulator implicated in synaptic plasticity, and with eIF4G, a key regulator of translational initiation. dFMRP and Caprin collaborate to control the cell cycle at the MBT by directly mediating the normal repression of maternal Cyclin B mRNA and the activation of zygotic fruhstart mRNA. These findings identify two new targets of dFMRP regulation and implicate conserved translational regulatory mechanisms in processes as diverse as learning, memory and early embryonic development.
Structural development of the Peregrina-Huizachal anticlinorium, Mexico

Abstract The Sierra Madre Oriental fold belt is a NW–SE-trending contractional belt that spans nearly the entire length of Mexico. This area underwent Triassic–Middle Jurassic rifting and Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic shortening. Our structural investigation of the Peregrina–Huizachal anticlinorium in east central Mexico shows that its development is characterized by two phases of deformation: an early thin-skinned phase and a late thick-skinned phase. A detachment developed at the contact between the rift sedimentary rock and overlying limestone. During the thin-skinned phase, deformation of the Upper Jurassic–Cretaceous strata is accommodated by a series of detachment folds and faults. The rift boundary faults are sub-perpendicular to the late stage compression in east central Mexico. This makes rift-related faults prone to be inverted as reverse faults. During the thick-skinned phase, the basement in the rift is uplifted along two opposing reverse faults and experience internal deformation. Its uplift contributed to the growth of the Peregrina–Huizachal anticlinorium.
Paradigm-Shifting New Evidence for Treatment of Rectal Cancer

Treatment of rectal cancer has dramatically evolved during the last three decades shifting toward a tailored approach based on preoperative staging and response to neoadjuvant combined modality therapy (CMT). A literature search was performed using PubMed/Medline electronic databases. Selected patients with T1 N0 rectal cancer are best treated with local excision by transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM). Satisfactory results have been reported after CMT and TEM for the treatment of highly selected T2 N0 rectal cancers. CMT followed by rectal resection and total mesorectal excision is considered the standard of care for the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer. However, a subset of stage II and III patients may not require neoadjuvant radiation treatment. Finally, there are mounting data supporting a “watch and wait” approach or local excision in patients with complete clinical response after neoadjuvant CMT. Current evidence shows that selected T1 N0 rectal cancers can be managed by TEM alone, while locally advanced cancers should be treated by CMT followed by radical surgery. Studies are underway to identify patients that do not benefit from neoadjuvant radiation therapy. A non-operative approach in case of complete clinical response must be validated by large prospective studies.
Can Opportunity Emerge From Disarray? An Examination of Exploration and Exploitation Following Star Scientist Turnover

How do the specific characteristics of a departing star influence the effects of the star’s turnover on a firm’s innovation processes? Proposing a contingency model of key employee turnover, we argue and demonstrate that the individual characteristics of a star scientist who exits a firm determine the effects of the star’s turnover for the organization. Based on a longitudinal study of star scientist turnover in the biotechnology industry (1972-2003), we show that while star turnover disrupts existing innovation routines and thus decreases exploitation, this “shock” creates opportunities for the firm to search beyond existing knowledge boundaries, thereby increasing exploration. However, these effects are moderated by the departing star’s innovative and collaborative involvement within the firm. Specifically, the results indicate that a departing star’s innovative involvement strengthens the negative effects and weakens the positive effects of the star’s turnover on exploitation and exploration in the fir...
THE BATTLEFIELD OF METAPHYSICS: PERPETUAL PEACE REVISITED

Basic questions about Kant's international theory remain unresolved, in part because the ambiguous language and sketchy blueprints given in Perpetual Peace lend themselves to a wide variety of interpretations. This essay proposes a novel solution for this difficulty: a careful reconsideration of the political concepts embedded in Kant's first philosophy. In the First Critique, the “Conflict of the Faculties,” and in particular his neglected essay “Perpetual Peace in Philosophy,” Kant repeatedly draws on the language of sovereignty, war, and international law, in order to describe how the critical philosophy will bring peace to what he terms the “battlefield of metaphysics.” The most striking feature of this program for “perpetual peace in philosophy” is that it does not end disagreement over ideas, but rather prevents it from becoming pathological by subjecting it to the “discipline” of critical reason. And I argue that Kant's proposal for global peace is precisely parallel: a sovereign world court that arbitrates decisively between states, while otherwise leaving them free to clash, compete, and disagree.
Automatic defibrillation for laypersons

It is argued that laypersons who arrive first on the scene of a victim of electric shock have the best opportunity to improve the victim's survival chances if they have available to them automatic defibrillators to deliver lifesaving care in case of ventricular fibrillation from the electric shock. Automatic defibrillators are external defibrillators that incorporate a heart rhythm analysis system. Some are fully automated whereas others are semiautomated or shock advisory defibrillators. The steps for the operation of all automatic defibrillators are similar: turn on power, attach device to the patient, initiate analysis of the rhythm and deliver shock, if indicated. The author cites evidence that automatic defibrillators in the hands of laypersons have been used to bring back to life one person of three in three known instances of immediate death from electric shock. >
A systems approach to photovoltaic energy extraction

Per-panel photovoltaic energy extraction with integrated converters can increase overall array tracking efficiency. Also, switched-capacitor (SC) converters have been evaluated for many applications because of the possibility for on-chip integration; applications to solar arrays are no exception. This paper presents a comprehensive system-level look at solar installations, finding possibilities for optimization at and between all levels of operation in an array. Specifically, this paper examines new arrangements and options for applying switched-capacitor circuits at 3 levels: for the panel and sub-panel level, as part of the overall control strategy, and for ensuring stable and robust interface to the grid with the possibility of eliminating or reducing the use of electrolytic capacitors.
Predicting Early Adolescent Gang Involvement from Middle School Adaptation.

This study examined the role of adaptation in the first year of middle school (Grade 6, age 11) to affiliation with gangs by the last year of middle school (Grade 8, age 13). The sample consisted of 714 European American (EA) and African American (AA) boys and girls. Specifically, academic grades, reports of antisocial behavior, and peer relations in 6th grade were used to predict multiple measures of gang involvement by 8th grade. The multiple measures of gang involvement included self-, peer, teacher, and counselor reports. Unexpectedly, self-report measures of gang involvement did not correlate highly with peer and school staff reports. The results, however, were similar for other and self-report measures of gang involvement. Mean level analyses revealed statistically reliable differences in 8th-grade gang involvement as a function of the youth gender and ethnicity. Structural equation prediction models revealed that peer nominations of rejection, acceptance, academic failure, and antisocial behavior were predictive of gang involvement for most youth. These findings suggest that the youth level of problem behavior and the school ecology (e.g., peer rejection, school failure) require attention in the design of interventions to prevent the formation of gangs among high-risk young adolescents.
The development of hindlimb motor activity studied in the isolated spinal cord of the chick embryo

The development of hindlimb motor activity was studied in an isolated preparation of the chick spinal cord. The motor output from lumbosacral segments was characterized by recording the pattern of ventral root and muscle nerve discharge in 6-14-d-old embryos. In addition, the synaptic drive underlying motoneuron activity was monitored electrotonically from the ventral roots. Spontaneous motor activity consisted of recurring episodes of cyclical motoneuron discharge. During development, both the number of cycles in each episode and the intensity of discharge in each cycle progressively increased. Monophasic, positive ventral root potentials accompanied each cycle of motoneuron discharge. Prior to the innervation of hindlimb muscles at stage 26, ventral root discharge was barely detectable despite the presence of large ventral root potentials. Following hindlimb muscle innervation, each cycle of activity was initiated by a brief, intense discharge that coincided with the rising phase of the ventral root potential. In embryos older than stage 30, the initial discharge was followed, after a delay, by a more prolonged discharge. The duration of ventral root potentials was shortest in the stage 26 embryos, but was similar in embryos at stage 29 and older. The developmental changes in the coordination of antagonist activity were documented by recording the pattern of discharge in sartorius (flexor) and caudilioflexorius (extensor) muscle nerves between stage 30 and stage 36. At stage 30 both sets of motoneurons were coactivated during the brief discharge that initiated each cycle. By stage 31 a second discharge occurred in each cycle. The second discharge was delayed in flexor, but not in extensor, motoneurons, which led to an alternating pattern of activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
If Only…? A Study on the Effects of Purchase Regret

At some point, most all consumers will experience some level of regret over a particular purchase decision. This regret may come from purchasing a product that is later determined to be a poor fit or low utility and ultimately would be deemed a poor purchase decision. This regret may also come from a missed purchase in a limited opportunity situation. Earlier studies have shown that actions are regretted more than inactions in the short run (Kahneman and Tversky 1982: Landman 1987), and that over time, action regrets tend to decrease while inaction regrets increase (Gilovich and Medvec 1995).
Desperately Seeking a Justice Stevens Who Cares About the Securities Laws (Symposium)

We concluded that recent decisions evidence a priority in the Court's analysis for certain meta issues unrelated to the sound development of the regulatory scheme under the federal securities laws. Because of this, we approached the project of reviewing Justice Stevens' opinions in the federal securities law area as something of a search for our hero on the Supreme Court. ...And generally, I question whether implied private rights of action are a regulatory burden that impose costs that are justified by the benefits they produce. So when each of us pursued Justice Stevens' opinions looking for our common hero in terms of the rejection of the literalist approach in favor of a purposive approach, we each did so with our own substantive agenda in the back of our minds. He points out that in 1974, before the Cort decision, it was reasonable for Congress to assume that under the current judicial view of the matter, a private right of action would be implied from any regulatory statute that Congress would adopt of the kind in question in the case. Is it enough that both of us applaud his negative position on a literalist approach while differing on his positive approach to a substantive outcome?
Designing molecular structure to achieve ductile fracture behavior in a stiff and strong 2D polymer, “graphylene”

As the simplest two-dimensional (2D) polymer, graphene has immensely high intrinsic strength and elastic stiffness but has limited toughness due to brittle fracture. We use atomistic simulations to explore a new class of graphene/polyethylene hybrid 2D polymer, “graphylene”, that exhibits ductile fracture mechanisms and has a higher fracture toughness and flaw tolerance than graphene. A specific configuration of this 2D polymer hybrid, denoted “GrE-2” for the two-carbon-long ethylene chains connecting benzene rings in the inherent framework, is prioritized for study. MD simulations of crack propagation show that the energy release rate to propagate a crack in GrE-2 is twice that of graphene. We also demonstrate that GrE-2 exhibits delocalized failure and other energy-dissipating fracture mechanisms such as crack branching and bridging. These results demonstrate that 2D polymers can be uniquely tailored to achieve a balance of fracture toughness with mechanical stiffness and strength.
Effect of Using RFID Technology on Supply Chain Profit and Coordination strategy

RFID(Radio Frequency Identification),as an effective technology,is increasingly being used in improving the supply chain performance.We study the supply chain with one manufacturer and two retailers,which adopt RFID technology. We build a competitive pricing game model between two retailers,and calculate the price that maintains high profit for supply chain parties,considering the misplaced and spoiled products.The objective is to study the effect of misplaced and spoiled products on profit of supply chain parties and discuss the cost condition of RFID technology leading to the improvement of the supply chain profit.We show when the retailer uses linear transfer payment strategy,the Pareto improvement of the supply chain profits can be increased.The conclusion is validated through a numerical example.
Optical coherence tomography for embryonic imaging: a review

Embryogenesis is a highly complex and dynamic process, and its visualization is crucial for understanding basic physiological processes during development and for identifying and assessing possible defects, malformations, and diseases. While traditional imaging modalities, such as ultrasound biomicroscopy, micro-magnetic resonance imaging, and micro-computed tomography, have long been adapted for embryonic imaging, these techniques generally have limitations in their speed, spatial resolution, and contrast to capture processes such as cardiodynamics during embryogenesis. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging modality with micrometer-scale spatial resolution and imaging depth up to a few millimeters in tissue. OCT has bridged the gap between ultrahigh resolution imaging techniques with limited imaging depth like confocal microscopy and modalities, such as ultrasound sonography, which have deeper penetration but poorer spatial resolution. Moreover, the noninvasive nature of OCT has enabled live imaging of embryos without any external contrast agents. We review how OCT has been utilized to study developing embryos and also discuss advances in techniques used in conjunction with OCT to understand embryonic development.
Inhibition of lipoxygenase pathway reduces blood pressure in renovascular hypertensive rats.

To assess the potential role of the lipoxygenase (LO) pathway in the vasculature in an angiotensin II (ANG II)-dependent model of hypertension, we investigated the effect of LO pathway inhibition o...
Solid target spectral variability in LWIR

We continue to highlight the pattern recognition challenges associated with solid target spectral variability in the longwave infrared (LWIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum for a persistent imaging experiment. The experiment focused on the collection and exploitation of LWIR hyperspectral imagery. We propose two methods for target detection, one based on the repeated-random-sampling trial adaptation to a single-class version of support vector machine, and the other based on a longitudinal data model. The defining characteristic of a longitudinal study is that objects are measured repeatedly through time and, as a result, data are dependent. This is in contrast to cross-sectional studies in which the outcomes of a specific event are observed by randomly sampling from a large population of relevant objects in which data are assumed independent. Researchers in the remote sensing community generally assume the problem of object recognition to be cross-sectional. Performance contrast is quantified using a LWIR hyperspectral dataset acquired during three consecutive diurnal cycles, and results reinforce the need for using data models that are more realistic to LWIR spectral data.
Creating cellular patterns using genetically engineered, gold- and cell-binding polypeptides

Patterning cells on material surfaces is an important tool for the study of fundamental cell biology, tissue engineering, and cell-based bioassays. Here, the authors report a simple approach to pattern cells on gold patterned silicon substrates with high precision, fidelity, and stability. Cell patterning is achieved by exploiting adsorbed biopolymer orientation to either enhance (gold regions) or impede (silicon oxide regions) cell adhesion at particular locations on the patterned surface. Genetic incorporation of gold binding domains enables C-terminal chemisorption of polypeptides onto gold regions with enhanced accessibility of N-terminal cell binding domains. In contrast, the orientation of polypeptides adsorbed on the silicon oxide regions limit the accessibility of the cell binding domains. The dissimilar accessibility of cell binding domains on the gold and silicon oxide regions directs the cell adhesion in a spatially controlled manner in serum-free medium, leading to the formation of well-defined cellular patterns. The cells are confined within the polypeptide-modified gold regions and are viable for eight weeks, suggesting that bioactive polypeptide modified surfaces are suitable for long-term maintenance of patterned cells. This study demonstrates an innovative surface-engineering approach for cell patterning by exploiting distinct ligand accessibility on heterogeneous surfaces.
Idiopathic myoglobinuria in man; report of a case

A case of myoglobinuria of idiopathic origin is described. A diagnostic triad of (1) muscular pseudoparalysis, (2) a highly colored urine containing a benzidine positive pigment, and (3) plasma free from visible discoloration was present. Identification of the urinary pigment as myoglobin was established by spectrophotometry, and the presence of accompanying metmyoglobinuria was detected. Exercise of the lower extremities was the precipitating factor during each attack of myoglobinuria. Attempts to induce attacks by means other than exercise were unsuccessful, and no amelioration of myoglobinuria could be produced by treatment with ascorbic acid or cortisone. The myoglobinopathies are discussed together with the present concept of the physiology of myoglobin. The differentiation of myoglobinurias from hemoglobinuria and porphyrias is readily accomplished by the laboratory procedures indicated above.
Time resolved cryogenic cooling analysis of the Cornell Injector Cryomodule

Managing parallel cryogenic flows has become a key challenge in designing efficient and smart cryo-modules for particle accelerators. In analysing the heating dynamics of the Cornell high current injector module a computational tool has been set-up allowing time resolved analysis and optimization. We describe the computational methods and data sets we have used, report the results and compare them to measured data from the module being in good agreement. Mitigation strategies developed on basis of this model have helped us in pushing the operational limitations.
MiR-9 is overexpressed in spontaneous canine osteosarcoma and promotes a metastatic phenotype including invasion and migration in osteoblasts and osteosarcoma cell lines

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate the expression of networks of genes and their dysregulation is well documented in human malignancies; however, limited information exists regarding the impact of miRNAs on the development and progression of osteosarcoma (OS). Canine OS exhibits clinical and molecular features that closely resemble the corresponding human disease and it is considered a well-established spontaneous animal model to study OS biology. The purpose of this study was to investigate miRNA dysregulation in canine OS. We evaluated miRNA expression in primary canine OS tumors and normal canine osteoblast cells using the nanoString nCounter system. Quantitative PCR was used to validate the nanoString findings and to assess miR-9 expression in canine OS tumors, OS cell lines, and normal osteoblasts. Canine osteoblasts and OS cell lines were stably transduced with pre-miR-9 or anti-miR-9 lentiviral constructs to determine the consequences of miR-9 on cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration. Proteomic and gene expression profiling of normal canine osteoblasts with enforced miR-9 expression was performed using 2D-DIGE/tandem mass spectrometry and RNA sequencing and changes in protein and mRNA expression were validated with Western blotting and quantitative PCR. OS cell lines were transduced with gelsolin (GSN) shRNAs to investigate the impact of GSN knockdown on OS cell invasion. We identified a unique miRNA signature associated with primary canine OS and identified miR-9 as being significantly overexpressed in canine OS tumors and cell lines compared to normal osteoblasts. Additionally, high miR-9 expression was demonstrated in tumor-specific tissue obtained from primary OS tumors. In normal osteoblasts and OS cell lines transduced with miR-9 lentivirus, enhanced invasion and migration were observed, but miR-9 did not affect cell proliferation or apoptosis. Proteomic and transcriptional profiling of normal canine osteoblasts overexpressing miR-9 identified alterations in numerous genes, including upregulation of GSN, an actin filament-severing protein involved in cytoskeletal remodeling. Lastly, stable downregulation of miR-9 in OS cell lines reduced GSN expression with a concomitant decrease in cell invasion and migration; concordantly, cells transduced with GSN shRNA demonstrated decreased invasive properties. Our findings demonstrate that miR-9 promotes a metastatic phenotype in normal canine osteoblasts and malignant OS cell lines, and that this is mediated in part by enhanced GSN expression. As such, miR-9 represents a novel target for therapeutic intervention in OS.
Incorporating ENCODE information into association analysis of whole genome sequencing data

With the rapidly decreasing cost of the next-generation sequencing technology, a large number of whole genome sequences have been generated, enabling researchers to survey rare variants in the protein-coding and regulatory regions of the genome. However, it remains a daunting task to identify functional variants associated with complex diseases from whole genome sequencing (WGS) data because of the millions of candidate variants and yet moderate sample size. We propose to incorporate the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) information in the association analysis of WGS data to boost the statistical power. We use the RegulomeDB and PolyPhen2 scores as external weights in existing rare variants association tests. We demonstrate the proposed framework using the WGS data and blood pressure phenotype from the San Antonio Family Studies provided by the Genetic Analysis Workshop 19. We identified a genome-wide significant locus in gene SNUPN on chromosome 15 that harbors a rare nonsynonymous variant, which was not detected by benchmark methods that did not incorporate biological information, including the T5 burden test and sequence kernel association test.
Wireless hydrogel-based glucose sensor for future implantable applications

This paper presents a hydrogel-based glucose sensor for future implantable applications employing an inductive sensing technique. The prototype system is based on an ultra-low power tunnel diode oscillator employing a 2 mm-diameter/10-turn sensing coil enclosed in a 3D-printed sealed sensor package. A 3 mm × 3 mm × 80 μm metallic sensing plate embedded in a 3 mm × 3 mm × 400 μm glucose-sensitive hydrogel slab is positioned at 130 μm away from the sensing coil by using an adjustable platform in the prototype design. The small gap is critical for a high sensitivity. The oscillator achieves a 38 MHz nominal frequency while dissipating 40 μW. Under a stable DC power supply, the sensor demonstrates a sensing accuracy around 0.2 mM in human physiological glucose range.
Division of labor of anthers in heterantherous plants: flexibility of bee pollen collection behavior may serve to keep plants honest

Heteranthery is thought to reflect a division of labor, with some anthers serving a pollinator-feeding function and others serving a pollinating function. Mutualism theory predicts that each participant should try to maximize the benefit it receives from its partner: plants should allocate more pollen to pollination, and pollinators should collect more pollen. Accordingly, plant and pollinator may engage in a ‘tug of war’ with respect to pollen from each anther type, resulting in incomplete division of labor. Here, we explored this idea by conducting a fully factorial manipulation of the availability of pollen in long and short anthers of staminate flowers of Solanum houstonii. We found the following: (1) Bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) preferred to sonicate (collect pollen from) short anthers over long anthers, consistent with a role as feeding and pollinating anthers, respectively; (2) Blocking short anther pores alone increased sonication of long anthers and resulted in collection of pollen from long anthers; (3) Blocking long anther pores alone did not influence sonication of short anthers; (4) The increase in sonication of long anthers, when short anther pores are blocked, was greater when pollen was available in long anthers; (5) Despite shifting sonication effort to long anthers, bees do not move their bodies closer to long anther pores where pollen could be collected more effectively; and (6) analysis of the growth of corbicular loads over time spent buzzing indicates that significant amounts of pollen are collected from long anthers as well as short anthers. We conclude that bees can flexibly increase pollen collection from pollinating anthers, but are constrained from fully exploiting this pollen. This results in checks and balances between plant and bee that may help maintain heteranthery.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has emerged a major challenge because of it prevalence, difficulties in diagnosis, complex pathogenesis, and lack of approved therapies. As the burden of hepatitis C abates over the next decade, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease will become the major form of chronic liver disease in adults and children and could become the leading indication for liver transplantation. This overview briefly summarizes the most recent data on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Ongoing clinical trials are focused on an array of disease mechanisms and reviewed here are how these treatments fit into the current paradigm of substrate overload lipotoxic liver injury. Many of the approaches are directed at downstream events such as inflammation, injury and fibrogenesis. Addressing more proximal processes such as dysfunctional satiety mechanisms and inappropriately parsimonious energy dissipation are potential therapeutic opportunities that if successfully understood and exploited would not only address fatty liver disease but also the other components of the metabolic syndrome such as obesity, diabetes and dyslipidemia.
CVRT: Cognitive Visual Recognition Tracker

Studies on visual attention of patients with Alzheimer's disease and Dementia is a promising way for keeping track of the individual patient's image recognition ability over. This research seeks to expand upon the current applications of combining the Android operating system with TensorFlow by providing a visual question answering platform for image analysis. This application, Cognitive Visual Recognition Tracker (CVRT), provides an entry point by which the user can ask questions concerning any image of their choosing, and then receive cumulative metrics over time to better assess any diminishing cognitive ability (i.e. Alzheimer's patients). In this work, recurrent neural networks as well as semantic analysis are leveraged to provide an interactive VQA experience. One of the main objectives of CVRT is for physicians to be able to determine trends from patient data that could either be applicable to the individual patient, or to many patients if an aggregate is formed from many individual datasets. On an individual level, these metrics would provide a way for the physician to monitor daily cognitive capability, whereas on a grander scale, these joint datasets could be used to provide better overall treatment for the disease with the future inclusion of predictive analytics. The final contribution is an interactive metrics platform by which other users can assess the primary user's cognitive capacity based on features of their questioning, and to then provide them with accurate trending or possible remediation plans based on their condition.
Organizational Citizenship Giving, Receiving, and the Mediating Role of Support

Drawing on social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) we investigated the relationship between the receipt and instigation of organizational citizenship behaviors. In Study 1, we examine the reciprocal re...
Stress-Blended Eddy Simulation (SBES)—A New Paradigm in Hybrid RANS-LES Modeling

A new global hybrid RANS-LES methodology will be presented. It is intended as replacement for existing models like DES/DDES/IDDES. The new model offers improved shielding of RANS boundary layers, a more rapid RANS-LES ‘transition’, WMLES capabilities as well as modularity with respect to the combination of different RANS and LES formulations.﻿﻿
General-Purpose Deep Point Cloud Feature Extractor

Depth sensors used in autonomous driving and gaming systems often report back 3D point clouds. The lack of structure from these sensors does not allow these systems to take advantage of recent advances in convolutional neural networks which are dependent upon traditional filtering and pooling operations. Analogous to image based convolutional architectures, recently introduced graph based architectures afford similar filtering and pooling operations on arbitrary graphs. We adopt these graph based methods to 3D point clouds to introduce a generic vector representation of 3D graphs, we call graph 3D (G3D). We believe we are the first to use large scale transfer learning on 3D point cloud data and demonstrate the discriminant power of our salient latent representation of 3D point clouds on unforeseen test sets. By using our G3D network (G3DNet) as a feature extractor, and then pairing G3D feature vectors with a standard classifier, we achieve the best accuracy on ModelNet10 (93.1%) and ModelNet 40 (91.7%) for a graph network, and comparable performance on the Sydney Urban Objects dataset to other methods. This general-purpose feature extractor can be used as an off-the-shelf component in other 3D scene understanding or object tracking works.
Regulation of epithelial chloride channels: roles of protein kinases and arachidonic acid.

Epithelial Cl- secretion plays a crucial role in controlling the content of airway fluid. The quantity and composition of airway fluid determine the effectiveness of mucociliary clearance, one of the natural lung defense mechanisms that protect the respiratory system from infection. Transcellular Cl- secretion accompanied by Na+ provides the osmotic force for water flow which hydrates the mucous coating on the surface of epithelia (see ref 1 for review).
Securities Regulation Treasure Hunt

This is a treasure hunt I assigned my Spring 2007 securities regulation class. It was a successful pedagogical exercise. It not only provided hands-on practice locating SEC and other governmental sources, but the items required and questions asked (hopefully) forced them to think practically about the securities law issues previously covered. Not to mention that everyone had a fun time while learning. I welcome comments or additional items. I will keep a database of them and update this post periodically for any colleagues who wish to use these materials.
Pass-Through Rates in the Real World: The Effect of Price Points and Menu Costs

I show that when a firm's pricing is constrained to several price points (for example, if it has to end in 9.99), then on average the pass-through rate is the same as it would have been for an unconstrained firm facing the same demand and cost. I also show that when a firm has a sizable cost of changing the price (menu costs), then the pass-through rate is half of what it would have been for an unconstrained firm, however this result crucially depends on expectations about the future. Both the price points and the menu costs results continue to hold in oligopoly, and are not driven by particular demand shape assumptions.
Applications of Second-Order Equations

Once again, second-order differential equations with constant coefficients serve as a special topic for our study. This time we study them not just because it is easy to explain everything that is going on, but because of the special interests one can have in the physical situation that these differential equations are modeling. We study several cases of the motion of a single weight hanging from a spring: where the motion is free; where the motion is damped; when there is a forcing function present.
Developmental Venous Anomaly Presenting with Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage, Acute Ischemic Stroke, and Seizure.

Developmental venous anomaly (DVA) is the most common, benign, congenital vascular malformation of the brain and mostly an incidental finding on imaging. The exact etiology of DVA is unknown but thought to be due to medullary vein thrombosis during embryonic venous development. DVA is generally asymptomatic although associated neurologic deficits and seizures have been described. Several reports of DVA causing neurovascular compression, obstructive hydrocephalus, venous infarction, and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have been described. In this report, we discuss a patient with fluctuating neurological symptoms found to have multiple DVA, predominantly draining into the deep venous system. To the best of our knowledge, DVAs leading to simultaneous ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, and seizures are not reported in the literature. We reviewed the relevant literature and discussed the epidemiology and clinical and radiological characteristics of DVA.
Potential Applications of MicroRNA Profiling to Forensic Investigations

Within the forensic science community, there is a continued push to develop novel tools to aid in criminal investigations. microRNA (miRNA) analysis has been the focus of many researcher's attention in the biomedical field since its discovery in 1993; however, the forensic application of miRNA analysis has only been suggested within the last 10 years and has been gaining considerable traction recently. The primary focus of the forensic application of miRNA analysis has been on body fluid identification to provide confirmatory universal analysis of unknown biological stains obtained from crime scenes or evidence items. There are, however, other forensic applications of miRNA profiling that have shown potential, yet are largely understudied, and warrant further investigation such as organ tissue identification, donor age estimation, and more. This review paper aims to evaluate the current literature and future potential of miRNA analysis within the forensic science field.
Prognostic Implications of Left Ventricular Cardiomyopathy in Adults With Tetralogy of Fallot.

Background Despite the significant risk of cardiovascular mortality after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair, there are limited data about left ventricular (LV) cardiomyopathy in this population, thus creating important knowledge gaps. This study aims to address some of these knowledge gaps by describing the risk and prognostic implications of LV systolic dysfunction (LVD) after TOF repair. Methods We performed a cohort study of adult patients after TOF repair with an echocardiographic assessment of LV ejection fraction (LVEF) to determine the association between LVD and cardiovascular events, defined as sustained ventricular tachycardia, aborted sudden death, heart transplantation, or death. Prevalent and incidence LVD were defined as LVEF < 50% at baseline or new decrease in LVEF to < 50% during follow-up, respectively. Results Of 574 patients (age 38 ± 13 years), the baseline LVEF was 57% ± 9% and 68 (12%) had prevalent LVD. Cardiovascular events occurred in 126 patients (22%) during 10.5 ± 6.2 years of follow-up. LVEF was an independent predictor of mortality (hazard ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.16-1.24; P = 0.003) per 5%-point decrease in LVEF. Among the 357 patients with preserved LVEF and echocardiographic follow-up, incident LVD occurred in 23 (6%) during 3.8 ± 1.6 years of follow-up. Event-free survival was significantly lower in patients with incident LVD compared with patients without incident LVD (87% vs 71%, P = 0.021). Conclusion Prevalent and incident LVD occurred in 12% and 6% of this cohort, respectively, and were associated with lower event-free survival. Incident LVD suggests the presence of subclinical LV cardiomyopathy, and further studies are required to determine optimal strategies for diagnosing and treating subclinical LV cardiomyopathy to improve outcomes in the population with TOF.
Analysis of Factors Affecting Shear Wave Speed in in vivo Skin

In 10 patients with cutaneous sclerotic skin conditions, shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) was used to measure shear wave speed in the skin in vivo. The dermis was segmented using an thresholding-based algorithm and group speeds were found in both the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue. Phase velocities were calculated in the layer, and a linear regression was fit to obtain a dispersion slope. A statistically significant non-zero dispersion was found in the skin in vivo. An ordinary least squares multiple linear regression was performed to assess what factors affected the dispersion slope. Thickness did not have a statistical effect on the dispersion slope in each model, and subcutaneous speed was only found to have a statistical effect at one of two investigated frequency-thickness products. This work shows SWEI based dispersion in the skin in vivo and demonstrates the importance of subcutaneous speed in future models.