cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Preferential Trade Agreements: Theory and Evidence

Strongly influenced by the perception that restricted commerce and preferences in trade relations had contributed to the economic depression of the 1930s and the subsequent outbreak of war, the discussions leading to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 were driven by the desire to create an international economic order based on a liberal and non-discriminatory multilateral trade system. Enshrined in Article I of the GATT, the principle of non-discrimination (commonly referred to as the most-favored-nation or MFN clause) precludes member countries from discriminating against imports based upon the country of origin. However, in an important exception this central prescript, the GATT, through its Article XXIV, permits its members to enter into preferential trade agreements (PTAs), provided these preferences are complete. In so doing, it sanctions the formation of Free Trade Areas (FTAs), whose members are obligated to eliminate internal import barriers, and Customs Unions (CUs), whose members additionally agree on a common external tariff against imports from non-members. Additional derogations to the principle of non-discrimination now include the Enabling Clause, which allows tariff preferences to be granted to developing countries (in accordance with the Generalized System of Preferences) and permits preferential trade agreements among developing countries in goods trade.
Prediction of EGFR and KRAS mutation in non-small cell lung cancer using quantitative 18 F FDG-PET/CT metrics

// Ryogo Minamimoto 1 , Mehran Jamali 1 , Olivier Gevaert 1 , Sebastian Echegaray 1 , Amanda Khuong 2 , Chuong D. Hoang 2 , Joseph B. Shrager 2 , Sylvia K. Plevritis 1 , Daniel L. Rubin 1 , Ann N. Leung 1 , Sandy Napel 1 and Andrew Quon 1 1 Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA 2 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA Correspondence to: Andrew Quon, email: aquon@stanford.edu Keywords: 18 FDG-PET/CT, heterogeneity, KRAS gene mutation, EGFR gene mutation, NSCLC Received: September 16, 2016 Accepted: March 20, 2017 Published: May 10, 2017 ABSTRACT This study investigated the relationship between epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR ) and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog ( KRAS ) mutations in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and quantitative FDG-PET/CT parameters including tumor heterogeneity. 131 patients with NSCLC underwent staging FDG-PET/CT followed by tumor resection and histopathological analysis that included testing for the EGFR and KRAS gene mutations. Patient and lesion characteristics, including smoking habits and FDG uptake parameters, were correlated to each gene mutation. Never-smoker ( P < 0.001) or low pack-year smoking history ( p = 0.002) and female gender ( p = 0.047) were predictive factors for the presence of the EGFR mutations. Being a current or former smoker was a predictive factor for the KRAS mutations ( p = 0.018). The maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ) of FDG uptake in lung lesions was a predictive factor of the EGFR mutations ( p = 0.029), while metabolic tumor volume and total lesion glycolysis were not predictive. Amongst several tumor heterogeneity metrics included in our analysis, inverse coefficient of variation (1/COV) was a predictive factor ( p < 0.02) of EGFR mutations status, independent of metabolic tumor diameter. Multivariate analysis showed that being a never-smoker was the most significant factor ( p < 0.001) for the EGFR mutations in lung cancer overall. The tumor heterogeneity metric 1/COV and SUV max were both predictive for the EGFR mutations in NSCLC in a univariate analysis. Overall, smoking status was the most significant factor for the presence of the EGFR and KRAS mutations in lung cancer.
Aerodynamics of planar counterflowing jets

The planar laminar flow resulting from the impingement of two gaseous jets of different density issuing into an open space from aligned steadily fed slot nozzles of semi-width separated by a distance is investigated by numerical and analytical methods. Specific consideration is given to the high Reynolds and low Mach number conditions typically present in counterflow-flame experiments, for which the flow is nearly inviscid and incompressible. It is shown that introduction of a density-weighted vorticity–streamfunction formulation effectively reduces the problem to one involving two jets of equal density, thereby removing the vortex-sheet character of the interface separating the two jet streams. Besides the geometric parameter , the solution depends only on the shape of the velocity profiles in the feed streams and on the jet momentum-flux ratio. While conformal mapping can be used to determine the potential solution corresponding to uniform velocity profiles, numerical integration is required in general to compute rotational flows, including those arising with Poiseuille velocity profiles, with simplified solutions found in the limits and . The results are used to quantify the near-stagnation-point region, of interest in counterflow-flame studies, including the local value of the strain rate as well as the curvature of the separating interface and the variations of the strain rate away from the stagnation point.
Evolutionary Developmental Psychology: 2017 Redux

The article introduce the special issue on evolutionary developmental psychology that represents a synthesis of modern evolutionary theory and developmental psychology, and helps to understand the development of human behavior and cognition. Also briefly discusses the history of this field and researchers provide a collection of theoretical and empirical articles that highlight recent findings and propose promising areas for future research.
Trend spotting: Using text analysis to model market dynamics:

As marketers, we are confronted by an increasingly complex world—one characterized by markets that emerge and evolve at an unprecedented rate. This has led to an increased need for methods that can...
Psychophysiological responses during cognitively demanding work in subjectively annoying background noise

People who work in noisy environments are at greater risk for stress-related diseases, including hypertension and stroke, even when noise levels are too low to damage hearing. Such noise may be harmful, especially to noise-sensitive individuals, because the psychological annoyance that it causes induces physiological stress responses that are damaging to health over the long term. This study was designed to investigate the link between subjective noise annoyance and physiological measures of arousal and displeasure due to the presence of background noise. Cardiovascular, electrodermal, respiratory, and facial muscular activity were recorded from 32 listeners during the completion of a demanding working memory task under different listening conditions. Participants completed four levels of memory task demand in silence and in two different continuous noises similar to that produced by HVAC equipment. Both noises were comparable in terms of loudness and presentation level (54–60 dBA) but differed in perceived annoyance (based on ratings from a panel of listeners in a previous study) and in acoustic properties associated with noise annoyance (roughness, tonality, and sharpness). Behavioral measures of memory task performance, noise sensitivity, personality traits, and subjective effort will be presented and related to physiological measures, and implications for future research will be discussed.
Augmentation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation with Anti-cancer Vaccines

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative therapy for a variety of hematological malignancies including acute and chronic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma [1]. In addition, better disease control and improved survival can be achieved in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), though it is presently unclear whether patients can be cured with HSCT [2]. However, relapse of the underlying malignant disease is still a significant clinical problem. After autologous HSCT, the relapse rate is as high as 60% while after allogeneic HSCT up to 30% of patients relapse [3]. If relapse occurs, the prognosis is generally poor. Thus, new and more effective treatments of relapse and/or means of preventing relapse are urgently needed. It is widely believed that much of the success of allogeneic HSCT for patients with leukemia and lymphoma is due to the graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effect [4]. This belief is based on the observations that GVHD correlates with superior disease control [4] and that clinical responses result from maneuvers such as infusions of donor lymphocytes and withdrawing immunosuppression [5]. The target antigens recognized by the donor immune system are not well-characterized and certainly are not identified in routine clinical practice [6].
Cervical spinal cord stimulation in cerebral ischemia

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is a well established therapy in the treatment for chronic pain. SCS has also been shown to increase peripheral blood flow and is now an accepted treatment in the management of ischemic limb pain and angina. There is a growing body of evidence that cervical spinal cord stimulation also increases cerebral blood flow (CBF) in both animal and human models. SCS could potentially impact on the treatment of cerebral vasospasm and stroke by an increase in CBF. The utility of SCS is also being explored in novel applications such as adjunctive tumor therapy, where resistance to therapy conferred by tissue hypoxia may be ameliorated by CBF augmentation.
Low-Velocity Impact Response of Woven Carbon Composites in Arctic Conditions

Arctic exploration has risen in the past few years due to which new challenges have emerged with regard to lightweighting in naval structures using fiber reinforced composite materials. An in-depth understanding of the mechanical behavior and failure mechanisms of fiber reinforced composites in arctic conditions need to be established for use in such applications. Towards that, the focus of this paper is on establishing the low-velocity impact behavior of carbon fiber reinforced polymeric composites in arctic temperature (– 50 $$^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$ considered here). Impact responses, such as the contact force, displacement and absorbed energy, at four impact energies of 20, 25, 30 and 35 J are determined at arctic temperature (– 50 $$^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$ ) and compared against those at room temperature (25 $$^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$ ). Optical microscopy and micro computed tomography (micro-CT) scanning are used for identifying the extent and type of failure on the surfaces and in the interior of the composites, respectively. Key changes in failure mechanisms are observed with respect to changing impact energies and temperatures, and a detailed account is provided in this paper.
Breast Cancer Screening: Women's Attitudes and Beliefs in Light of Updated United States Preventive Services Task Force and American Cancer Society Guidelines

Abstract Background: In recently updated breast cancer screening guidelines, the American Cancer Society (ACS) and United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended increasing mammo...
Phase diagrams of multicomponent lipid vesicles: Effects of finite size and spherical geometry

We study the phase behavior of multicomponent lipid bilayer vesicles that can exhibit intriguing morphological patterns and lateral phase separation. We use a modified Landau-Ginzburg model capable of describing spatially uniform phases, microemulsions, and modulated phases on a spherical surface. We calculate its phase diagram for multiple vesicle sizes using analytical and numerical techniques as well as Monte Carlo simulations. Consistent with previous studies on planar systems, we find that thermal fluctuations move phase boundaries, stabilizing phases of higher disorder. We also show that the phase diagram is sensitive to the size of the system at small vesicle radii. Such finite size effects are likely relevant in experiments on small, unilamellar vesicles and should be considered in their comparison to theoretical and simulation results.
Supporting regional cleantech sectors in North America

The development of a vibrant clean technology (or ‘cleantech’) sector has numerous advantages for a regional economy, among them economic development and job creation. But how do governments go abo...
Omni: An Application Framework for Seamless Device-to-Device Interaction in the Wild

Device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies are growing in availability and popularity and are commonly used to facilitate applications in Internet of Things (IoT) environments. Such environments are characterized by heterogeneous devices, often employing diverse communication technologies with varying energy consumption, discovery ranges, and transmission rates. These complexities pose a daunting setting for the development of IoT applications that could leverage direct communication with proximal mobile and embedded devices. While current approaches focus either on device discovery in the IoT setting or content transfer assuming established communication channels, none facilitate the intelligent discovery of useful devices and the seamless formation of temporary D2D connections to transfer content directly between devices. Our Omni middleware provides both of these features critical in the development of applications that leverage proximal devices in IoT settings. Using Omni, we demonstrate the feasibility of building applications that use heterogeneous D2D communication channels in an efficient and realistic (in terms of energy and time) manner.
Critical Literacy for Older Adults: Engaging (and Resisting) Transformative Education as a United Methodist Woman

This article explores the critical literacy practices of a conservative, Christian woman as she engages in a church-sponsored reading program. Her story provides an opportunity to interrogate dominant cultural narratives that situate faith in conflict with critical consciousness and to expand our understanding of attitude change in older adults. I examine the cultural and religious contexts of her literacy, as well as the rhetorical practices that allow her to enter into dialogue with challenging texts. Ultimately, I argue for a more expansive view of critical literacy that takes into account the nonacademic settings where it occurs and the importance of transformative process.
The limited role salt marshes may have in buffering extreme storm surge events: Case study on the New Jersey shore

Abstract The hybrid hurricane and storm event dubbed “SuperStorm Sandy” of October 2012 was the most costly natural disaster to hit the US Atlantic coast, and the second most costly to affect the United States. This extreme weather event presented an excellent opportunity to assess the effectiveness of tidal salt marshes and maritime forests in buffering adjacent development from storm-related damage. To address this question of how well did or under what conditions did coastal ecosystems buffer adjacent human development, we undertook to quantify the incremental monetary value that a hectare or linear extent of fronting salt marsh and/or maritime forest had on protecting the built environment of the back-bay communities in the Barnegat Bay region of New Jersey, USA. Statistical modeling was used to estimate the relationship between the spatial extent and characteristics of fronting coastal wetlands with the various damage metrics derived from the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Flood Insurance Program payout and Preliminary Property Modeling Task Force damage data at the scale of the individual housing unit. While salt marshes may be effective in diminishing wave energies and buffering adjacent development under normal conditions, in the case of SuperStorm Sandy, we find no evidence that New Jersey's extensive coastal marshes significantly buffered and thereby reduced NFIP payouts on the majority of back-bay residential properties. The extreme conditions of this storm event with storm surges upwards of 2 m, effectively flooded these marshes diminishing their protective capacity. The bulk of the residential properties damaged in our study area were located in lagoonal communities that are built directly adjacent to tidal water and are thereby highly vulnerable to storm surge-related flooding whether or not they are buffered by adjacent marshes. The results of this study should not be misconstrued in concluding that salt marshes do not have a positive value in protecting coastal properties; rather, their protective buffering capacity for extreme storm events is limited and that lagoonal-style developments remain highly vulnerable to sea level rise and future storms.
A fluvially derived flood deposit dating to the Kamikaze typhoons near Nagasaki, Japan

Previous studies in western Kyushu revealed prominent marine-derived flood deposits that date to the late thirteenth-century and are interpreted to be a result of two legendary typhoons linked to the failed Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281. The regional persistence and prominence of sediments dating to these “Kamikaze” typhoon events (meaning divine wind) raise questions about the origins of these late thirteenth-century deposits. This is due in part to uncertainty in distinguishing between tsunami and storm-induced deposition. To provide additional insight into the true cause of prominent late thirteenth-century flood deposits in western Kyushu, we present a detailed assessment of an additional event deposit dating to the late thirteenth-century from Lake Kawahara near Nagasaki, Japan. This particular deposit thickens landward towards the primary river flowing into Lake Kawahara and exhibits anomalously low Sr/Ti ratios that are consistent with a fluvial rather than a marine sediment source. When combined with previous flood reconstructions, results support the occurrence of an extreme, late thirteenth-century event that was associated with both intense marine- and river-derived flooding. Results therefore contribute to a growing line of evidence for the Kamikaze typhoons resulting in widespread flooding in the region, rather than the late thirteenth-century deposit being associated with a significant tsunami impact to western Kyushu.
Increased Expression of Estrogen Receptor Beta in Idiopathic Progressive Subglottic Stenosis.

Background/objectives Idiopathic progressive subglottic stenosis (IPSS) predominantly affects females in perimenopause. It has, therefore, been hypothesized that estrogen is involved in its pathogenesis. There are two main types of estrogen receptors: ER-α and ER-β. Abnormal variants of ER-β have previously been shown to be associated with poor wound healing. Estrogen receptors have recently been identified in subglottic tissue samples, with elevated levels of ER-α and progesterone receptors, and no expression of ER-β, in stenotic specimens reported in one study. The objective of this study was to confirm the presence of estrogen receptors in the subglottis and investigate levels of expression and types of estrogen receptors in normal and stenotic subglottic tissue. Methods Subglottic tissue was obtained from three female and one male cadaver without laryngotracheal pathology to serve as controls. Subglottic tissue specimens from five female patients with IPSS were also analysed. Immunofluorescence stains for ER-α and ER-β were performed on specimens. Staining patterns were compared qualitatively and semi-qualitatively between control and IPSS specimens. Results Immunofluorescence stains demonstrated the presence of both ER-α and ER-β in subglottic tissue. IPSS specimens demonstrated significantly greater staining intensity of ER-α in the epithelium and ER-β in glands and ducts compared to controls. Conclusions This study confirms the presence of estrogen receptors in the subglottis. Increased expression of ER-α in the epithelium and ER-β in glands and ducts in IPSS compared to controls may help to explain the predisposition to stenosis in these individuals. Level of evidence 3b Laryngoscope, 130:2186-2191, 2020.
A Systematic Review of Select Social Science and Humanities Literature: The Presence and Positioning of Latina Professors:

To understand the presence and positioning of Latina faculty in humanities and social science scholarship, the authors analyzed articles published between 2000 and 2016 and developed three findings...
Improving Boundary Contour Matching Using Viewing Transforms

Boundary contour matching typically involves classifying a sequence of curves and deciding what class of object that sequence represents. The geometry of the shapes is ordinarily a factor in the curve classification. Once the curves are classified the shape information is usually ignored. The variation of curve shapes in the object contour boundary should arise from a single consistent viewing transform. In this paper, techniques are developed to insure that boundary curve sequences reflect a consistent viewing transformation.
Kinerja Portofolio Saham Syariah dan Faktor yang Memengaruhi Kinerja Saham Syariah di Indonesia

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji kinerja saham syariah di Bursa Efek Indonesia melalui indeks ISSI, JII, dan portofolio yang dibentuk secara acak dari kelompok saham syariah kemudian membandingkannya dengan kinerja portofolio konvensional melalui tujuh indeks dan portofolio yang dibentuk secara acak dari kelompok saham konvensional. Penelitian ini juga menguji faktor-faktor fundamental perusahaan yang memengaruhi kinerja saham syariah dan membandingkannya dengan faktor yang memengaruhi kinerja saham konvensional. Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian berjumlah 355 emiten terdiri dari 134 emiten saham syariah dan 221 emiten saham konvensional pada periode waktu 2011—2015. Metode yang digunakan untuk mengukur kinerja saham adalah risk-adjusted model dengan empat pendekatan Sharpe, Treynor, M 2 , dan Jensen’ Alpha. Analisis regresi linear berganda menggunakan metode Ordinary Least Square (OLS) dengan Cross Random Model. Hasil pengujian dan pengukuran menunjukkan bahwa secara umum sepanjang 2011—2015 kinerja portofolio saham konvensional mengungguli portofolio syariah. Namun demikian pada periode krisis global akhir tahun 2011 dan 2012 kinerja portofolio saham syariah mengungguli portofolio saham konvensional, ini memperkuat hasil penelitian yang mengatakan bahwa kinerja saham syariah lebih baik ketika krisis karena investor melakukan mekanisme hedging . Faktor fundamental yang memengaruhi kinerja saham syariah berbeda dengan faktor yang memengaruhi kinerja saham konvensional, terutama pada debt to equity ratio, yang menunjukkan hubungan positif signifikan pada saham syariah dan hasil sebaliknya pada saham konvensional menunjukan hubungan negatif walaupun tidak signifikan secara statistik.
Highlights on the imaging (nuclear/fluorescence) and phototherapeutic potential of a tri-functional chlorophyll-a analog with no significant toxicity in mice and rats.

Abstract Herein we report the positron emission tomography (PET) imaging potential of a 124I-labeled radiopharmaceutical (PET-ONCO). In tumored mice, it shows high uptake in a variety of tumors: brain (GL261, U87), Colon (Colon26), lung (Lewis lung), breast (4 T1), bladder (UMUC3), pancreas (PANC-1) implanted in mice. This agent also shows promise for imaging associated metastatic disease (breast to lung, to bone). Interestingly, the iodinated compound derived from chlorophyll-a, in combination with the corresponding 124I-analog, can serve as a dual imaging agent (PET/fluorescence, complimentary to each other), with an option of photodynamic therapy (PDT). In contrast to Fluorine-18 (half-life 110 min), the Iodine-124 radionuclide has a physical half-life of roughly 4 days. Thus, unlike 18F-FDG, PET-ONCO can be transported longer distances. While the time for optimal tumor-uptake was observed at 24 h, improved tumor contrasts of both primary and metastasis were obtained at 48 and 72 h post- injection (i. v.) of PET-ONCO. In both mice and rats at a single dose study, PET-ONCO did not show any organ toxicity.
Differential expression of transposable elements in stem cell lineages of the preimplantation embryo

ABSTRACT Approximately half of the human genome is comprised of transposable elements (TEs), which are genetic elements capable of amplifying themselves within the genome. Throughout the course of human life, TEs are expressed in germ cells, the preimplantation embryo, and the placenta but silenced elsewhere. However, the functions of TEs during embryonic development are poorly understood. Trophoblast stem (TS), embryonic stem (ES), and extraembryonic endoderm stem (XEN) cells are cell lineages derived from the preimplantation embryo and known to have different TE silencing mechanisms. Thus, it is likely distinct TEs are expressed in each lineage and that proteins coded by these TEs have lineage-specific functions. The purpose of this research was to determine which TEs are expressed in each of these stem cell lineages and to compare expression levels between lineages. Each lineage’s transcriptome was analyzed by quantifying TE expression in RNA-sequencing data from mouse stem cells. Expression data were then used for differential expression analyses performed between the cell types. It was found that certain families of TEs are distinctly expressed in certain lineages, suggesting expression of these families may be involved in the differentiation and development of each lineage, the understanding of which can lead to improved stem cell therapies and capacity to study human embryonic development.
It’s Complicated: What Our Attitudes toward Pregnancy, Abortion, and Miscarriage Tell Us about the Moral Status of Early Fetuses

Many accounts of the morality of abortion assume that early fetuses must all have or lack moral status in virtue of developmental features that they share. Our actual attitudes toward early fetuses don’t reflect this all-or-nothing assumption. If we start with the assumption that our attitudes toward fetuses are accurately tracking their value, then we need an account of fetal moral status that can explain why it is appropriate to love some fetuses but not others. I argue that a fetus can come to have moral claims on persons who have taken up the activity of person-creation.
Oligometastases After Curative Esophagectomy Are Not One-Size-Fits-All.

Abstract Background More than one-half of patients treated with esophagectomy for esophageal cancer experience recurrence. Oligometastasis, a proposed intermediate state of isolated local or solid organ recurrence that occurs before widespread systemic disease, is a potential target for aggressive local intervention. This study investigated presentation and prognosis among solid organ recurrence sites. Methods Patients with isolated solid organ recurrence at the liver, lung, or brain who underwent R0 esophagectomy from 1995 to 2016 were identified. Clinicopathologic characteristics and outcomes were compared among sites of recurrence. Overall survival was quantified using the Kaplan-Meier approach and Cox proportional hazards models. Results In total, 104 patients were included (site: brain, 37; lung, 27; liver, 40). Eighty percent of liver, 51% of brain, and 44% of lung oligometastases occurred in the first 12 months after esophagectomy. Despite the limited use of aggressive therapy, patients with lung oligometastasis had significantly longer median overall survival (2.41 years; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.58 to 3.31) than did patients with brain (0.95 years; 95% CI, 0.62 to 1.49) or liver (0.95 years; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.41) oligometastasis (P Conclusions Presentations and prognoses differ by site of esophageal cancer recurrence. Lung oligometastases are associated with a more indolent course, and patients with these lesions may benefit from more aggressive treatment to improve their more favorable outcomes further. These differences by site of recurrence advocate for moving beyond a standardized palliative approach to all esophageal cancer recurrences.
Phenotypic Features of Isolated Essential Tremor, Essential Tremor Plus, and Essential Tremor-Parkinson's Disease in a Movement Disorders Clinic

Background: Patients with essential tremor were initially considered to have isolated tremor, but additional motor and non-motor features have been increasingly recognized. The term “essential tremor plus” was adopted by the Task Force on Tremor of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society to describe essential tremor patients with additional neurologic signs. Objectives: To characterize essential tremor patients and their phenotypes in a movement disorders clinic population in the context of the new tremor classification. Methods: Demographic, clinical, historical, treatment, and diagnostic data were retrospectively collected on 300 patients diagnosed by movement disorder experts with essential tremor. Patients were classified as having essential tremor, essential tremor plus, or essential tremor-Parkinson’s disease combination, and features between these groups were compared. Results: Of the 300 patients, 20.7% were classified as isolated essential tremor, 53.3% as essential tremor plus, and 26.0% as essential tremor-Parkinson’s disease. There was no significant difference in the duration of tremor symptoms. Essential tremor plus patients were more likely to have dystonia, tandem gait abnormalities, head tremor and greater tremor severity. Essential tremor-Parkinson’s disease patients were more likely to have RBD symptoms. There was no significant difference in cognitive impairment between essential tremor plus and essential tremor-Parkinson’s disease patients. Conclusions: Additional motor and non-motor features, including parkinsonism, are common in patients with essential tremor. Further studies are needed to clarify essential tremor phenotypes and to provide insights into possible subtypes. Highlights: 300 patients with essential tremor from a movement disorders clinic were re-classified based on the Movement Disorder Society Consensus Statement on the Classification of Tremors. Additional motor and non-motor features, including parkinsonism, were common, and only 20.7% of patients remained classified as isolated essential tremor.
Association of rurality and race with surgical treatment and outcomes for nonmetastatic colon cancer.

78Background: Rural cancer patients face limited access to care due to greater travel distance and lack of specialty cancer care. Little is known about the intersection of rurality with well-docume...
Bispecific Antibody Armed Metabolically Enhanced Headless CAR T Cells

Adoptive T cell therapies for solid tumors is challenging. We generated metabolically enhanced co-activated-T cells by transducing intracellular co-stimulatory (41BB, ICOS or ICOS-27) and CD3ζ T cell receptor signaling domains followed by arming with bispecific antibodies (BiAbs) to produce armed "Headless CAR T cells" (hCART). Various hCART armed with BiAb directed at CD3ϵ and various tumor associated antigens were tested for: 1) specific cytotoxicity against solid tumors targets; 2) repeated and dual sequential cytotoxicity; 3) survival and cytotoxicity under in vitro hypoxic condition; and 4) cytokine secretion. The 41BBζ transduced hCART (hCART41BBζ) armed with HER2 BiAb (HER2 hCART41BBζ) or armed with EGFR BiAb (EGFR hCART41BBζ) killed multiple tumor lines significantly better than control T cells and secreted Th1 cytokines/chemokines upon tumor engagement at effector to target ratio (E:T) of 2:1 or 1:1. HER2 hCART serially killed tumor targets up to 14 days. Sequential targeting of EGFR or HER2 positive tumors with HER2 hCART41BBζ followed by EGFR hCART41BBζ showed significantly increased cytotoxicity compared single antigen targeting and continue to kill under in vitro hypoxic conditions. In summary, metabolically enhanced headless CAR T cells are effective serial killers of tumor targets, secrete cytokines and chemokines, and continue to kill under in vitro hypoxic condition.
Identity, Attribution, and Self-Esteem: When Employment Status Matters

We bring self-attributions into identity theory by exploring respondents’ attributions for how their employment status affects the prominence of their worker identity, and ultimately, influences their self-esteem, specifically the dimensions of self-confidence and self-deprecation. Using a survey of nearly 1000 respondents, we explore respondents’ explanations of how their employment status is influenced by social structural conditions affecting employment and their own characteristics. The analysis focuses on those employed full-time, who we see as holding the normative status of the worker identity, as well as those who are unemployed and actively seeking full-time employment, who we see as holding a counter-normative identity. We find that those who are employed have higher self-esteem on the self-confidence dimension. The unemployed have lower self-esteem on the self-deprecation dimension. We contribute to the growing literature in identity theory on the importance of the social structure on actors’ lived experiences, normative and counter-normative identities, and how explanations for their identity status differentially impact self-esteem.
Comment on Practice Guidelines

This chapter describes practice guidelines as discussed by Hayes and Gregg. Practice guidelines properly hold out great hope for consumers, managers, payors, and providers. These practice guidelines fit within an integrated system of evidence-based care. The chapter examines the way these guidelines are implemented. It highlights specific issues of concern to behavioral healthcare providers. Hayes and Gregg provide arguments that the industrialization of health care and especially behavioral healthcare, by means of managed care, can ultimately result in better quality for consumers, is less convincing. The chapter explores the benefits of developing and adopting practice guidelines for behavioral healthcare. This discussion has attempted to point out some of the more germane issues and pitfalls.
- Vps15: Vacuolar protein sorting PK (S. cerevisiae)

The Vps15 protein kinase was identified in a selection for genes required for the efficient sorting of proteins to the yeast vacuole. Vps15 functions specifically in the diversion of soluble vacuolar hydrolases from the Golgi complex to the vacuole. Vps15 forms a membrane-associated heterooligomeric complex with another protein required for vacuolar protein sorting, the Vps34 phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase, and activates the Vps34 PI-3-kinase. Vps15 contains a region with significant sequence similarity to the repeat motif that comprises the regulatory subunit A of protein phosphatase 2A. The large C-terminal region contains no homology to any known protein sequence; however, truncation of as few as 30 amino acids from the C-terminus of Vps15 leads to a ts vacuolar protein-sorting defect. The kinase domain of Vps15 does not contain a canonical glycine-fold (domain I) but does contain a stretch of small uncharged residues that may fold into a similar structure. As Vps15 possesses kinase activity, it appears that this motif is conserved at the structural, if not the sequence, level.
Chapter 19 - Auxin-regulated genes and promoters

This chapter discusses genes and promoters that are regulated by the plant hormone, auxin, which plays a major role in a variety of growth and developmental responses. Physiological experiments have suggested that auxin regulates or modulates cell extension, cell division, tropisms, vascular differentiation, apical dominance, and root formation. Most, if not all, auxin-induced growth and developmental responses involve alterations in gene expression. To gain insight into auxin's involvement in the regulation of gene expression, a number of laboratories have developed experimental strategies to identify and characterize mRNAs and their corresponding genes that are rapidly induced in organs exposed to exogenous auxin. The identification and characterization of the cis elements and trans-acting factors important for AuxRE function represents a first step in backtraclung through the signal transduction pathway. Identification of the DNA binding domain in ARF proteins has revealed a new class of transcription factors that appear to be unique to plants. The ARF DNA binding domain shares some sequence similarity to the DNA binding domain in VP1 and AB13 transcription factors and an uncharacterized family of proteins (ESTs) that contain both an AP-2 domain and a domain related to the ARF and VPUABI3 DNA binding domains. Understanding how natural auxin-responsive promoters work should provide new insight into designing promoters that respond in novel ways to both biologically active and inactive auxins.
Meaning as a Buffer for Existential Anxiety

Not only do humans spend their lives in a densely woven web of meanings, but they also need and want meaning. Although there are a variety of reasons for why this is the case, the current chapter focuses on the function of meaning as an existential anxiety buffer. We argue that the relentless search for meaning is motivated, to a significant extent, by the uniquely human awareness of mortality. As our review of the literature reveals, meaning, at different levels of abstraction, effectively assuages the potential terror born from this awareness.
Reciprocity, repeated play, and budget-based contracts

We use a laboratory experiment to investigate how the level of a budget assigned to an employee by a firm owner affects employee effort. Consistent with reciprocity and fairness models, we find a negative relationship between budget levels and employee effort - many employees responded to a low budget with high effort and responded to a high budget with low effort. We observed higher levels of reciprocal behavior (i.e., lower budgets and higher effort) when the same employee-owner dyad interacted for multiple periods relative to dyads only interacting for a single period. Further, we find that employee participation in the budget-setting process was beneficial to owners when they interacted with employees for multiple periods but detrimental to owners when they interacted with employees for only a single period. Collectively, our results help to reconcile the mixed evidence of prior empirical research examining how budget level difficulty and employee participation affect the efficacy of budget-based performance evaluation and reward systems.
Terrorism and Insurance Markets: A Role for the Government as Insurer?

Since September 11, 2001, insurance markets have been struggling to adjust to new information about the magnitude of risks posed by terrorism, and to the loss of tens of billions of dollars in reserves because of claims relating to the September 11 attacks. Insurance coverage for terror-related losses has become more expensive and for some risks difficult or impossible to obtain. As a result, various interest groups have called for the Federal government to provide coverage for terrorism losses, and proposals for increased government involvement are moving forward in Washington. We question the wisdom of any further measures of this sort. They are likely to come too late to address short-term market disruption, and in the long run may well supplant or distort desirable market responses to the new information about terrorism risk.
Collaborative Development Environments

Abstract A collaborative development environment (CDE) is a virtual space wherein all the stakeholders of a project—even if distributed by time or distance—may negotiate, brainstorm, discuss, share knowledge, and generally labor together to carry out some task, most often to create an executable deliverable and its supporting artifacts. CDEs are particularly useful as places where engineers may collaborate to solve problems. Here we focus on software developers in their tasks of designing, implementing, deploying, and maintaining high quality software-intensive systems where they are physically separated and make use of the Internet as the basis for their interactions. In this paper, we examine the points of friction in the software development process and the mechanisms that reduce that friction. We then survey a variety of sites, both inside and outside the software domain, which provide some of these mechanisms. We conclude with observations as to what a CDE is, what it is not, and what it can become.
Endovascular and Surgical Therapy of Thoracic and Thoraco-Abdominal Disease of the Aorta

Diseases of the thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta are a leading cause of death. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for the treatment of acute aortic syndromes including thoracic aortic aneurysms, dissections, intramural hematomas, and traumatic aortic injury is evaluated in detail. The indications for treatment and complications associated with the procedure are reviewed. The endovascular technique and tools necessary to perform the procedure including the specific guidewires, catheters, and sheaths required, as well as appropriate imaging modalities are described. The use of hybrid surgical and endovascular techniques in addition to fenestrated and branched stent grafts to treat complex pathology in the aortic arch and thoracoabdominal aorta is also discussed. Finally, future trends in TEVAR including treatment of ascending aorta pathologies are introduced.
Cytochrome P-450 in insects: 3. Increase in substrate binding by microsomes from phenobarbital-induced house flies

Abstract Microsomal membranes prepared from the abdomens of two insecticide-susceptible house-fly strains (NAIDM and CSMA) and one insecticide-resistant strain (Rutgers) were examined for evidence of substrate binding by cytochrome P -450. The substrates studied in detail were benzphetamine, nerolidol, and menthone, and to a lesser extent, aldrin and heptachlor. Contrayy to previous reports, type I spectra were obtained with cytochrome P -450 from the susceptible flies. As expected, Rutgers strain P -450 also exhibited type I spectra. The spectra were typical in all cases but one (nerolidol) and were about one-third to one-seventh the size of those obtained with microsomal P -450 from the Rutgers strain. With the exception of those obtained with menthone, substrate-induced spectra were greatly enhanced (about two- to four-fold) with the P -450 from susceptible flies treated with phenobarbital. This treatment did not increase substrate binding by the P -450 from Rutgers flies. In a comparison of the epoxidation of aldrin and heptachlor by induced and noninduced microsomes, it was noted that only the heptachlor epoxidase was increased in all strains. These studies indicate that phenobarbital induction of susceptible flies results in the production of cytochrome P -450 with spectral and enzymatic properties resembling those of resistant flies.
Physician perspectives on electronic consultations for specialty care delivery for patients: implications for person-centered medicine

Background: Electronic consultations between primary care physicians and specialists can innovate care delivery for patients. We aimed to evaluate the effect of electronic rather than face-to-face consultations with primary care physicians and specialists on the quality of patient care. Methods: We surveyed primary care physicians and specialists physicians at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, in relation to the effects of this mode of specialty care delivery on the quality of patient care, patient satisfaction and physician workload. Results: Eighty-five percent of specialists said that electronic consultations can be effective if the specialist has access to the patient’s history and laboratory and imaging results. Eighty-one percent of the primary care physicians surveyed said that electronic consultations allowed them effectively to manage the needs of their patients. Fifty-seven percent said that the consultations improved the quality of care and 43% said that they did not alter the quality of care. Conclusions: The majority of primary care physicians and specialists, when surveyed, indicated a strong interest in electronic consultations for the provision of specialty care.
Early stage squamous cell cancer of the oral tongue—clinicopathologic features affecting outcome

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to report the authors' experience in the management of patients with early stage squamous cell cancer (SCC) of the oral tongue and determine clinicopathologic factors predictive of outcome. METHODS: Two hundred sixteen patients with early stage (cT1T2N0) SCC of the oral tongue were identified from a pre-existing database of patients with oral cancer who were treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1985 to 2005. Patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics were recorded. Overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and recurrence free survival (RFS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Predictors of outcome were identified using multivariate analysis. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 80 months (range, 1-186 months), the 5-year DSS, OS, and RFS rates were 86%, 79%,and 70%, respectively. Local, neck, and distant recurrences occurred in 24 patients (11%), 40 patients (18%), and 5 patients (2%), respectively. Multivariate analysis identified occult neck metastases as the main independent predictor of OS, DSS, and RFS; patients who had occult metastases had a 5-fold increased risk of dying of disease compared with patients who did not have occult metastases (5-year DSS, 85.5% vs 48.5%; P = .001). A positive surgical margin was the main independent predictor for local RFS (91% vs 66% for a negative surgical margin; P = .0004), and depth of invasion was the main predictor for neck RFS (91% vs 73% for depth of invasion 2 mm, respectively; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: In the authors' experience, patients with early stage oral tongue cancer have excellent outcomes. In the current study, the presence of occult metastases was the main predictor of survival outcome. Cancer 2012;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Scheduling tasks with Markov-chain based constraints

Markov-chain (MC) based constraints have been shown to be an effective QoS measure for a class of real-time systems, particularly those arising from control applications. Scheduling tasks with MC constraints introduces new challenges because these constraints require not only specific task finishing patterns but also certain task completion probability. Multiple tasks with different MC constraints competing for the same resource further complicates the problem. In this paper, we study the problem of scheduling multiple tasks with different MC constraints. We present two scheduling approaches which (i) lead to improvements in "overall" system performance, and (ii) allow the system to achieve graceful degradation as system load increases. The two scheduling approaches differ in their complexities and performances. We have implemented our scheduling algorithms in the QNX real-time operating system environment and used the setup for several realistic control tasks. Data collected from the experiments as well as simulation all show that our new scheduling algorithms outperform algorithms designed for window-based constraints as well as previous algorithms designed for handling MC constraints.
Multiple prediction intervals for time series: Comparison of simultaneous and marginal intervals

Simultaneous prediction intervals for forecasts from time series models that contain L (L ≤ 1) unknown future observations with a specified probability are derived. Our simultaneous intervals are based on two types of probability inequalities, i.e. the Bonferroni- and product-types. These differ from the marginal intervals in that they take into account the correlation structure between the forecast errors. For the forecasting methods commonly used with seasonal time series data, we show how to construct forecast error correlations and evaluate, using an example, the simultaneous and marginal prediction intervals. For all the methods, the simultaneous intervals are accurate with the accuracy increasing with the use of higher-order probability inequalities, whereas the marginal intervals are far too short in every case. Also, when L is greater than the seasonal period, the simultaneous intervals based on improved probability inequalities will be most accurate.