cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance of a computer-aided digital dermoscopic image analyzer for melanoma detection in 1,076 pigmented skin lesion biopsies

Background Digital dermoscopic image analysis of pigmented skin lesions (PSLs) has become increasingly popular, despite its unclear clinical utility. Unbiased, high-powered studies investigating the efficacy of commercially available systems are limited. Objective To investigate the diagnostic performance of the FotoFinder Mole-Analyzer in assessing PSLs for cutaneous melanoma. Methods In this 15-year retrospective study, the histopathologies of 1076 biopsied PSLs among a total of 2500 imaged PSLs were collected. The biopsied PSLs were categorized as benign or malignant (cutaneous melanoma) based on histopathology. Analyzer scores (0-1.00) for these PSLs were obtained and grouped according to histopathology. Results At an optimized cutoff score of 0.50, a sensitivity of 56% and a specificity of 74% were achieved. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.698, indicating poor accuracy as a diagnostic tool. Limitations This study had a retrospective design and involved only a single institution. Conclusion Our study reveals a low sensitivity of the scoring function of this digital dermoscopic image analyzer for detecting cutaneous melanomas. Physicians must apply keen clinical judgment when using such devices in the screening of suspicious PSLs.
Supervising the Family Therapist

Because of a renewed emphasis on supervision due to changes in licensure law, supervisors of family therapists are in need of guidelines for the development of good supervisory practices. The use o...
Magnetic structure of TbNi2B2C.

Neutron-diffraction techniques have been used to study the magnetic structure of Tb${\mathrm{Ni}}_{2}$${\mathrm{B}}_{2}$C. The measurements, performed on single crystals of this compound, show that below approximately 15 K the moments order in an almost longitudinal spin wave with wave vector along ${\mathbf{a}}^{*}$. The magnitude of the wave vector is close to that obtained in the Ho, Er, and Gd compounds. This observation provides additional evidence that there are common Fermi-surface nesting features along ${\mathbf{a}}^{*}$ in the rare-earth nickel boride carbides which cause the magnetic ordering of the rare-earth moments via the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida mechanism. Below approximately 8 K, the experimental results indicate the development of a small ferromagnetic component.
An Inverse Problem

Heretofore we considered the problem of deducing necessary conditions for the minimality, and hence the stationarity, of a given integral J(·) on the set of admissible functions X, that is, we prescribed the integrand function f(·) and sought the corresponding extremals.
Educating Children with Specific Learning Disabilities

Contemporary society has an informal understanding of learning disabilities (LDs) in the form of students experiencing school failure because of an inability to acquire, assimilate, or retain academic content. The difficulty is that these LDs may not involve special education. According to Stichter et al. (2008), the formal special education category of “specific learning disability” (SLD) is a legally defined entity that has its own history, characteristics, and methods. The clash between the formal and informal understandings has created controversies that remain unresolved but has not prevented SLD from becoming the largest category in special education. Children with LDs have always existed, but, for many years, educators failed to recognize their unique problems and characteristics. In this article, definitions, assessments, and instructional considerations of children with specific LDs are discussed.
Brass bands and the beni phenomenon in urban east Africa

With the advent of the German and British colonial administrations to the coast of East Africa in the late 1800s came also the complements of military machinery and military music. This paper will investigate the impact of the music of the European military brass band on the coastal and inland areas of Tanganyika as manifested in the development, florescence and demise of beni ngoma.
Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids

Anabolic-androgenic steroids include the male hormone, testosterone and its synthetic derivatives. They are Schedule III Controlled Substances with legitimate therapeutic indications, but they are also used non-medically to enhance physical appearance and athletic performance. Patterns of illicit, non-medical use include combining several anabolic-androgenic steroids, including both injection and oral preparations (“stacking”) as well as both human and veterinary preparations; using 10–100 times therapeutic doses; increasing doses of anabolic-androgenic steroids to a peak and then tapering over time (“stacking the pyramid”); and alternating periods of use with non-use (“cycling”). Although used non-medically for their physical effects, anabolic-androgenic steroids have adverse psychiatric effects including hypomania or mania (especially during periods of use), depression and suicidality (especially between periods of use), psychosis, and marked aggression. Adverse medical consequences of illicit use are manifested predominantly in the endocrine, hepatic, and cardiovascular systems, with some deaths reported. In addition to their abuse potential, anabolic-androgenic steroids can lead to withdrawal symptoms and addiction with both similarities to and differences from so-called classical addictive drugs such as opioids. Addiction appears limited to illicit, non-medical users, and has not been documented among those treated therapeutically for legitimate medical purposes. Approximately one-third of 426 non-medical anabolic-androgenic steroid users that were recruited from convenience samples across five different studies met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition criteria for anabolic steroid dependence, although the true prevalence is unknown. Both abuse and addiction generally occur in the context of intensive training with weights, combined with strict dietary regimens, in order to optimize bodybuilding effects. Screening questions for anabolic-androgenic steroid use are suggested; and knowledge of the psychiatric, physical, and laboratory findings aids detection. The level of evidence for treating anabolic-androgenic steroid dependence is currently based on case reports and series as well as expert opinion.
UNICEF Rebuttal to Claims Made in "The Tobacco Industry and Children's Rights" Article.

The article “The Tobacco Industry and Children’s Rights,” authored by van der Eijk et al,1 contains serious inaccuracies and misrepresentations of both past engagement of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with the tobacco industry and UNICEF’s current advocacy for tobacco control. We were surprised and disappointed that UNICEF was not given any opportunity to respond to the allegations set out in the article before it was published, which would have been standard practice. With this letter, we therefore identify and rebut the most serious of these inaccuracies. UNICEF’s corporate engagement … E-mail: speterson{at}unicef.org
Obesity-related heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: new treatment strategies.

Objectives: Obesity has risen in the US and worldwide, and has become a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and mostly HF with preserved eje...
Abstract A65: Evaluating an under-studied kinase as a potential druggable target for breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women, accounting for 23% of all cancer cases. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a very aggressive type of breast cancer that occurs in African-American women at three-fold higher frequency compared to Hispanic and Caucasian women. TNBC has a lower 5-year survival rate compared to other subtypes of breast cancer and no targeted therapeutics. In order to identify novel targets for TNBC, replicate kinome-wide RNAi screens were performed with HCC1806, a basal-like TNBC cell line, using a 4-day cell viability assay. Among the RNAi hits, we identified the COASY gene, encoding Coenzyme A synthase (CoAsy), as an under-studied kinase. Thus, we sought to confirm this RNAi hit and evaluate CoAsy for its potential as a novel druggable target for TNBC. CoAsy is a bifunctional enzyme that carries out the last two steps in the coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthetic pathway, including the phosphorylation of dephospho-CoA to generate CoA. Our hypothesis is that TNBC cells require a higher level of CoA synthase activity for cell proliferation compared to normal cells and thus inhibiting CoA synthase represents a novel therapeutic strategy for TNBC. Using four different individual RNAi targeting COASY, we used transient RNAi transfection of a panel of breast cancer cell lines and a non-transformed breast cell line to determine the effect of CoAsy knock down on cell viability and proliferation. Knockdown of CoAsy protein by RNAi was demonstrated by Western blot. Transient COASY RNAi transfection inhibited the cell viability/proliferation assay for several TNBC cell lines, but not for a normal breast cell line. Thus, these data suggest that knockdown of CoAsy may preferentially inhibit cell proliferation of breast cancer cell lines. In addition, Western blot was performed to determine and compare the expression of CoAsy in a panel of breast cancer cell lines and nontransformed cell lines. Ongoing studies are investigating the dependence of cell line viability and proliferation on the expression level of CoAsy by creating stable inducible shRNA cell lines. Citation Format: Hamzah Kharabsheh, Xiyou Zhou, John Scott. Evaluating an under-studied kinase as a potential druggable target for breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr A65.
Educational Experiences of Blind Programmers

As diversity efforts in computer science begin to recognize disabled programmers as an underrepresented group, we step back to chronicle the experiences of blind programmers in higher education. Through a survey and follow-up interviews with 10 blind programmers, we share reflections and barriers important for the computing education community to understand as we attempt to welcoming cultures for disabled programmers. Our findings illuminated a variety of barriers blind programmers faced in college and the impact that they had on their ability to succeed in the field. We found that barriers permeate all parts of these blind student's' education from accessing the materials and doing the homework to working with professors. These barriers increased feelings of the isolation, decreased motivation especially when tasks were inaccessible, and prevented them from learning all the concepts covered in their degree program.
Dissolved Organic Matter Sorption and Molecular Fractionation by Naturally Occurring Bacteriogenic Iron (Oxyhydr)oxides

Iron (oxyhydr)oxides are highly reactive, environmentally ubiquitous organic matter (OM) sorbents that act as mediators of terrestrial and aqueous OM cycling. However, current understanding of environmental iron (oxyhydr)oxide affinity for OM is limited primarily to abiogenic oxides. Bacteriogenic iron (oxyhydr)oxides (BIOs), common to quiescent waterways and soil redox transitions, possess a high affinity for oxyanions (i.e., arsenate and chromate) and suggests that BIOs may be similarly reactive for OM. Using adsorption and desorption batch reactions, paired with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, this work demonstrates that BIOs are capable of sorbing leaf litter-extracted DOM and Suwannee River Humic/Fulvic Acid (SRHA/SRFA) and have sorptive preference for distinct organic carbon compound classes at the biomineral interface. BIOs were found to sorb DOM and SRFA to half the extent of 2-line ferrihydrite per mass of sorbent and was resilient to desorption at high ionic strength and in the presence of a competitive ligand. We observed the preferential sorption of aromatic and carboxylic-containing species and concurrent solution enrichment of aliphatic groups unassociated with carboxylic acids. These findings suggest that DOM cycling may be significantly affected by BIOs, which may impact nutrient and contaminant transport in circumneutral environments.
The impact of deep breathing and alternate nostril breathing on heart rate variability: a human physiology laboratory

An increase in the beat-to-beat variability of heart rate (HRV) is a robust marker of enhanced parasympathetic activity and of a calm and relaxed state. The purpose of this laboratory activity was ...
Abstract 2485: Somatic analysis services with best practice workflows in a cloud-based platform

With advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies and analytical tools, genomic analysis of tumors has led to the identification of various important somatic mutations that shed light on diagnosis, prevention, and treatment for cancer. However, detecting somatic variants is not a trivial task in terms of the technical aspects (e.g. filtering germline events and removing a variety of noises in tumor samples) and computational resources to handle large-scale cohort analysis. There is also a demand for maintaining stable software versions and the workflows for studies over extended periods of time, that need consistency and traceability, such as clinical trials. We introduce here, the Translational Analysis Group (TAG), a team which deploys, validates, and conducts scalable analytical workflows in a secure, cloud-based environment. We maintain 29 well-tested workflows with best practice methods and ample resources for both somatic and germline analysis. Our cloud platform, FireCloud, enables us to run workflows at any scale. Since May 2017, our team has performed nearly 10,000 analyses for mutation detection (SNV, InDel, CNV, and SV) and cohort analysis on tumor samples and cell-free DNA samples. TAG offers a range of options for somatic and germline variant detection, from legacy pipelines through recently validated contemporary pipelines to allow for continuity across long running projects. Citation Format: Junko Tsuji, Andrew Hollinger, Alyssa MacBeth, Brian R. Grander, Micah Rickles-Young, Tera Bowers, Carrie Cibulskis, Niall Lennon. Somatic analysis services with best practice workflows in a cloud-based platform [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2485.
Procalcitonin to Distinguish Viral From Bacterial Pneumonia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Because of the diverse etiologies of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and the limitations of current diagnostic modalities, serum procalcitonin levels have been proposed as a novel tool to guide antibiotic therapy. Outcome data from procalcitonin-guided therapy trials have shown similar mortality, but the essential question is whether the sensitivity and specificity of procalcitonin levels enable the practitioner to distinguish bacterial pneumonia, which requires antibiotic therapy, from viral pneumonia, which does not. In this meta-analysis of 12 studies in 2408 patients with CAP that included etiologic diagnoses and sufficient data to enable analysis, the sensitivity and specificity of serum procalcitonin were 0.55 (95% confidence interval [CI], .37-.71; I2 = 95.5%) and 0.76 (95% CI, .62-.86; I2 = 94.1%), respectively. Thus, a procalcitonin level is unlikely to provide reliable evidence either to mandate administration of antibiotics or to enable withholding such treatment in patients with CAP.
Headway Time and Crashes Among Novice Teens and Experienced Adult Drivers in a Simulated Lead Truck Braking Scenario

Driving simulators can be used to evaluate driving performance under controlled, safe conditions. Teen drivers are at particular risk for motor vehicle crashes and simulated driving can provide important information on performance. We developed a new simulator protocol, the Simulated Driving Assessment (SDA), with the goal of providing a new tool for driver assessment and a common outcome measure for evaluation of training programs. As an initial effort to examine the validity of the SDA to differentiate performance according to experience, this analysis compared driving behaviors and crashes between novice teens (n=20) and experienced adults (n=17) on a high fidelity simulator for one common crash scenario, a rear-end crash. We examined headway time and crashes during a lead truck with sudden braking event in our SDA. We found that 35% of the novice teens crashed and none of the experienced adults crashed in this lead truck braking event; 50% of the teens versus 25% of the adults had a headway time <3 seconds at the time of truck braking. Among the 10 teens with <3 seconds headway time, 70% crashed. Among all participants with a headway time of 2-3 seconds, further investigation revealed descriptive differences in throttle position and brake pedal force when comparing teens who crashed, teens who did not crash and adults (none of whom crashed). Even with a relatively small sample, we found statistically significant differences in headway time for adults and teens, providing preliminary construct validation for our new SDA.
Biochemical pedomorphosis and genetic assimilation in the hypoxia adaptation of Tibetan antelope

Developmental shifts in stage-specific gene expression can provide a ready mechanism of phenotypic change by altering the rate or timing of ontogenetic events. We found that the high-altitude Tibetan antelope (Panthelops hodgsonii) has evolved an adaptive increase in blood-O2 affinity by truncating the ancestral ontogeny of globin gene expression such that a high-affinity juvenile hemoglobin isoform (isoHb) completely supplants the lower-affinity isoHb that is expressed in the adult red blood cells of other bovids. This juvenilization of blood properties represents a canalization of an acclimatization response to hypoxia that has been well documented in adult goats and sheep. We also found the genomic mechanism underlying this regulatory isoHb switch, revealing how a reversible acclimatization response became genetically assimilated as an irreversible adaptation to chronic hypoxia.
Finite-momentum condensate brought on by a Zeeman field

We study superfluid states in a two-dimensional fermionic attractive Hubbard model with Zeeman coupling to an external field. Focusing our attention on singlet pairing in both weak and strong coupling regimes, we reveal a rich phase diagram of finite-momentum condensates which exhibits both Fulde-Ferrell and Larkin-Ovchinnikov orders at zero temperature. The latter are commensurate stripe states that spontaneously break a lattice symmetry; many stable ordering wave vectors are found as a function of particle density and a Zeeman field. Stronger coupling significantly enhances the stability of the finite-momentum condensates, but our numerical mean-field calculations underestimate the effect of fluctuations and indicate a possible localization near half filling.
Reduced thermal tolerance of massive coral species in a highly variable environment.

Coral bleaching events are increasing in frequency and severity, resulting in widespread losses in coral cover. However, branching corals native to highly variable (HV) thermal environments can hav...
DNA-Encoded Chemistry: Drug Discovery from a Few Good Reactions

Click chemistry, proposed nearly 20 years ago, promised access to novel chemical space by empowering combinatorial library synthesis with a "few good reactions". These click reactions fulfilled key criteria (broad scope, quantitative yield, abundant starting material, mild reaction conditions, and high chemoselectivity), keeping the focus on molecules that would be easy to make, yet structurally diverse. This philosophy bears a striking resemblance to DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, the now-dominant combinatorial chemistry paradigm. This review highlights the similarities between click and DEL reaction design and deployment in combinatorial library settings, providing a framework for the design of new DEL synthesis technologies to enable next-generation drug discovery.
Enhanced differentiation of isomeric RNA modifications by reducing the size of ions in ion mobility mass spectrometric measurements

With the ability to differentiate different molecular sizes, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) has great potentials in the analysis of isomeric compounds. However, due to the lack of sensitivity and resolution, IMS has not been commonly used. To address the issue on resolution, the goals of this study are to explore a more effective way to perform IMS by reducing the size of ions prior to the IM measurements, and apply the new approach to the differentiation of isomeric RNA modifications. The size reduction of ribonucleoside ions was effectively accomplished by using the collision-induced dissociation process, in which the N-glycosidic bond in ribonucleoside was cleaved and split the ions into two parts—a smaller nucleobase ion and a neutral molecule of ribose sugar. Since the chemical group that corresponds to most of the RNA modifications makes up a relatively small part of the molecular structure of nucleobases, the differentiation of the dissociated nucleobase ions is expected to require a lower ion mobility resolution than the differentiation of bigger isomeric ribonucleoside ions. By using RNA methylation as a model in this study, the proposed method lowered the required resolution by 16% for the differentiation of 1-methyladenosine and N6-methyladenosine. Similar results were also obtained from the differentiation of methylated cytidine isomers. In comparison to the results obtained from using the conventional tandem mass spectrometric method, there was no significant loss of signals when the proposed method was used. The proposed method is expected to be applicable to other types of isomeric compounds. Also, the same approach is applicable on other IMS platforms.
Does Foreign Ownership Improve Firm Performance

The consensus in the literature is that foreign-owned firms perform better than domestic-owned firms. It is less clear if this perceived difference is due to foreign companies investing in the best domestic firms or to an improvement in operating performance following the foreign investment event. This paper uses firm-level micro data from India to study the direct impact of foreign ownership on firm productivity. To control for the endogeneity of the foreign investment decision, this study implements a difference-in-differences matching estimator using two alternative approaches to assigning a counterfactual time of foreign investment to firms in the control group. Alternative definitions of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) are also explored. There is no significant difference in the performance of foreigninvested versus non-invested firms over the short run, but there is evidence of a productivity improvement for foreign-invested firms over a longer time horizon. Conversely, foreign divestitures do not lead to significant differences in operating performance between foreign-divested firms and firms that remain foreign-invested.
Can antibody-based assays consistently detect differences in feather corticosterone?

Measuring corticosterone (Cort) in bird feathers has become increasingly popular as a non-invasive method of obtaining an integrated profile of Cort exposure during the period of feather replacement. Most studies use antibody-based assays to assess Cort levels in feathers [radioimmunoassays (RIA) or enzyme immunoassays (EIA)]. However, it is still unclear whether differences in Cort can be reliably and consistently detected in feathers using antibody-based assays, in part because it is not known how much Cort is present in feathers and antibodies can differ in their ability to detect their antigens. In this study, we tested six commercially available polyclonal Cort antibodies in a feather Cort RIA in nine species. We found that different antisera detected very different levels of Cort in feathers. Additionally, we found that the broad patterns of Cort across species were not the same when measured with different antibodies. Further analysis by mass spectrometry indicated the presence of very little Cort in the feathers of any of the five species tested, suggesting that antibodies were instead binding with Cort metabolites or other substances. These data indicate a potential hidden source of variability when measuring feather Cort with antibody-based tests. The data further suggest caution in cross-species comparisons because patterns seen in feather Cort may reflect artifacts of the specific antibody used in the assay.
FGF23 and inflammation, anemia, and iron

Abstract Chronic kidney disease is a common condition that is characterized by anemia, inflammation, disordered iron homeostasis, and early increases in fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) levels. Complex interrelationships exist among FGF23, inflammation, and anemia-related factors. Via multiple direct and indirect mechanisms, intact FGF23 inhibits erythropoiesis, thus promoting the development of anemia. Additionally, intact FGF23 can directly induce production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Conversely, anemia-related factors and inflammation affect FGF23 production and metabolism, suggesting the presence of bi-directional relationships between FGF23 and erythropoiesis and between FGF23 and inflammation.
The Effect of Presidential Particularism on Income: A County Level Analysis

Does it pay to be a locale of political importance? Political business cycle theory predicts that the executive has an incentive to manipulate policy to increase the chances of their party remaining in office. In particular, core counties (those that vote for the current administration) have been shown to enjoy disproportionately higher federal spending. In this paper, we explore how this funding affects the well-being of an area by estimating the effect of presidential particularism on governmental transfers and (productive) income per-capita using county-level data from 1993 – 2012. We find that transfer payments tend to be higher and income lower in counties that vote for the current administration. These findings are robust across a wide number of specifications including fixed effects, first differences, a first differenced model with county specific time trends, and a matching analysis. Moreover, results hold when examining the subset of counties that only voted for a single party throughout the entire sample where the treatment (whether the county voted for the current administration) is largely exogenous to the county in question.
Complement factor H protects tumor cell-derived exosomes from complement-dependent lysis and phagocytosis

Exosomes are a class of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are mediators of normal intercellular communication, but exosomes are also used by tumor cells to promote oncogenesis and metastasis. Complement factor H (CFH) protects host cells from attack and destruction by the alternative pathway of complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). Here we show that CFH can protect exosomes from complement-mediated lysis and phagocytosis. CFH was found to be associated with EVs from a variety of tumor cell lines as well as EVs isolated from the plasma of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Higher levels of CFH-containing EVs correlated with higher metastatic potential of cell lines. GT103, a previously described antibody to CFH that preferentially causes CDC of tumor cells, was used to probe the susceptibility of tumor cell-derived exosomes to destruction. Exosomes were purified from EVs using CD63 beads. Incubation of GT103 with tumor cell-derived exosomes triggered exosome lysis primarily by the classical complement pathway as well as antibody-dependent exosome phagocytosis by macrophages. These results imply that GT103-mediated exosome destruction can be triggered by antibody Fc-C1q interaction (in the case of lysis), and antibody-Fc receptor interactions (in the case of phagocytosis). Thus, this work demonstrates CFH is expressed on tumor cell derived exosomes, can protect them from complement lysis and phagocytosis, and that an anti-CFH antibody can be used to target tumor-derived exosomes for exosome destruction via innate immune mechanisms. These findings suggest that a therapeutic CFH antibody has the potential to inhibit tumor progression and reduce metastasis promoted by exosomes.
NGMA-4. Creation of a MADR brain tumor single-cell atlas for examination of inter-/intratumor heterogeneity and the results of genetic perturbations in a diverse array of brain tumor subtypes

We have recently established mosaic analysis by dual recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (MADR), which permits stable labeling of mutant cells expressing transgenic elements from precisely defined chromosomal loci. MADR provides a toolkit of elements for combinatorial labeling, inducible/reversible transgene manipulation, VCre recombinase expression, and genetic manipulation of human cells. Further, we have demonstrated the versatility of MADR by creating glioma models with mixed, reporter-identified zygosity or with “personalized” driver mutations from pediatric glioma. For example, introducing H3f3a (aka H3.3) mutation variants with MADR regulates the spatiotemporal profile of glioma, and single-cell RNA and ATAC sequencing analysis demonstrates a recapitulation of developmental hierarchy seen in K27M mutant human glioma. Moreover, we have generated novel models of H3.3 WT glioma, H3.3 G34R glioma, and supratentorial ependymoma using patient-derived oncofusion transgenes. These models display a high degree of phenotypic fidelity and we now compare these models on a single-cell level with our previous models, mouse single-cell RNA glioma datasets from other studies, and human tumor cell transcriptomes. Our multi-omics approach includes integration of ChIP-seq/Cut&Tag datasets, single-cell ATAC, and single-cell Cut&Tag datasets. Moreover, we have engineered a novel methodology for inducible gain- and loss-of function perturbation studies in vivo. Using ETS transcription factors as a proof-of-principle, we overlay these genetic perturbations on the glioma atlas to examine the gene networks altered by precise molecular manipulations. We hope that these combined approaches will enable researchers to discover disease mechanisms with increased resolution and test therapeutics in credentialed pre-clinical disease models.
A Range Extension for Manayunkia aestuarina (Bourne, 1883) (Polychaeta: Sabellidae) to the Gulf Coast of the United States with a Review of Previous Habitat Information

The sabellid polychaete Mannyunkiaaestuarina (Bourne, 1883) is reported for the first timefromtheGulf coast of the United States and from a Juncus roemerianus marsh. Individuals were collected from a brackish J. roemerianus marsh ia St. Louis Bay, Mississippi, (30o22'N,89o15'W) during the period of June 1979 to May 1980. Adults with eggs were first noted in early January and increased in number through May. Brooded young were observed from late January through May. Habitat comparisons are made between this and other North American and European populations. The present population is associated with lower salinities, more sandy sediments, and much less frequent tidal inundation than the others. A brief taxonomic discussion is presented.
FP-CPNNQ: A Filter-Based Protocol for Continuous Probabilistic Nearest Neighbor Query

An increasing number of applications in environmental monitoring and location-based services make use of large-scale distributed sensing provided by wireless sensor networks. In such applications, a large number of sensor devices are deployed to collect useful information such as temperature readings and vehicle positions. However, these distributed sensors usually have limited computational and communication power and thus the amount of sensor queries should be reduced to conserve system resources. At the same time, data captured by such sensors is inherently imprecise due to sensor limitations. We propose an efficient probabilistic filter-based protocol for answering continuous nearest neighbor queries over uncertain sensor data. Experimental evaluation on real-world temperature sensing data and synthetic location data showed a significant reduction in the number of update messages.
Nucleic acid-based antiviral approaches to HBV

Publisher Summary Nucleic acid-based approaches are actively being pursued as antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The therapeutic potential of ribozymes, antisense molecules, dominant negative mutant proteins, intracellular antibodies, and DNA-based vaccination have been clearly demonstrated in experimental systems, both in vitro and in vivo. The HBV belongs to the family of closely-related, small-enveloped DNA viruses. This family, called hepadnaviruses, includes the woodchuck (WHBV), ground squirrel (GSHV), duck (DHBV), and heron (HHV) hepatitis B viruses. Such infectious agents are characterized by hepatotropism and cause acute and chronic hepatitis. Despite the availability of a vaccine and passive immunization against HBV, more than 350 million people worldwide are chronically infected. Vaccination is the only effective approach to prevent chronic infection. Treatment possibilities involve the administration of alpha interferon (IFN-α) as well as the use of viral polymerase inhibitors—such as nucleoside analogues—either alone or in combination. The clinical success of these drugs is unsatisfactory because of transient effects on HBV replication and emergence of drug-resistant strains. The current molecular strategies designed for HBV infection, with emphasis on ribozymes, antisense molecules, dominant negative mutants of viral proteins, intracellular antibodies, and DNA-based immunization, examine their potential as antiviral agents for acute and chronic hepatitis B.
Mammalian pancreatic islet tissue in organ culture: I. Methods of culture and in vitro histogenesis*

Summary Pancreatic explants were obtained from 17-day fetal rats and organ cultured on a semi-defined liquid medium (80 per cent CMRL 1066 plus 20 per cent chick embryo extract plus hydrocortisone 20 mg/l) in a 95 per cent O 2 −5 per cent CO 2 gas phase. Details of the culture method are presented. Evaluation of hematoxylin-eosin or aldehyde fuchsin stained histological sections of explants cultured up to 10 days indicate that: (1) over 90 per cent of explants show no evidence of degenerative processes, (2) aldehyde fuchsin granule-containing beta cells are present after as little as 24 hr culture, (3) granulated beta cells pers ist through the entire culture period, and (4) no typical pancreatic acini develop in the cultured tissue. The major component of cultured tissues is an epithelial-like cell type, whose cytoplasm is usually aldehyde fuchsin positive. This differs greatly from normal pancreatic tissues obtained from rats of total ages comparable to the combined in vivo and in vitro ages of cultured explants. Evaluation of these results leads to the conclusion that, in this culture system, pancreatic explants undergo a selective endocrine differentiation. The significance of the system is briefly considered.
Implementing the Principles of Ecosystem Management Through Local Land Use Planning

While ecosystem approaches to management focus on broad spatial scales, decision makers increasingly recognize that implementation must occur at the local level with local land use decisions. This article examines the ability of local comprehensive plans in Florida to incorporate the principles of ecosystem management. It seeks to understand how comprehensive plans can effectively contribute to the management of ecological systems by systematically evaluating local plans against a conceptual model of what makes for a high quality ecosystem plan. Results measure the relative strengths and weaknesses of local plans to achieve the objectives of ecosystem management and provide direction on how communities can improve their environmental frameworks.
Surfaces—I: Momentum and moment-of-momentum balances for moving surfaces

Abstract The moment-of-momentum balance for moving surfaces with simultaneous mass transfer to the adjacent phases is developed to show that the surface stress tensor is symmetric. The momentum balance previously presented by S criven is extende dto account for the effects of mass transfer between the surface and the adjacent phases. The tangential component of the momentum balance given by S criven is shown to be valid either when the surface has no normal component of velocity or when the surface mass density is vanishingly small.
A model of concurrent, cooperating transactions in an object-oriented database

We describe a model of transactions and concurrency control that supports cooperative task and data sharing among users. The model augments traditional correctness criteria, such as global consistency for individual transactions and serializability for concurrent transactions, with programmer-defined correctness criteria that uniformly integrate both data and application semantics. Individual transactions are not required to maintain global consistency. Rather, transactions cooperate in groups, such that transaction groups are the units of consistency. The context for the model is an extensible object-oriented database: abstract data types define the behavior and representation of their instance objects, and each object is accessed only by way of the strict operational interface defined by its type. Applications can incrementally contribute new types to the database. The model effectively represents a transaction management system that is programmable by knowledgeable application designers. Although developed toward the needs of applications that provide computer support for cooperative activities, such as office information systems, graphical programming environments, and CAD tools for electronic or mechanical domains, the model provides a framework for any application for which the traditional transaction model is too restrictive. The model's key features are a nested framework of transaction groups that encapsulate nonserializable data sharing and a method for localized specification of semantic correctness criteria for concurrent histories of cooperating transactions.
LXXII. On the explosiveness of nitre, with a view to elucidate its agency in the tremendous explosion of July 1845, in New York

It is an old and well-accredited maxim in chemistry, to which there are but few exceptions, that fluidity is requisite to chemical reaction. The fluid state, of which the necessity is thus asserted...
Further insights into the geochemical evolution of fumarolic alteration, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Alaska

Abstract Factor analysis of geochemical data from nine fossil fumaroles and four warm ground argillic alteration sites indicates that the fossil and extant fumarolic alteration of the 1912 ash-flow sheet in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (VTTS) integrate a complex overprinting of primary and secondary alteration events. The five-factor solution model explains 77% of the complete data set variance and a large proportion (60–92%) of the individual element data variance. These data support halide-species (e.g., chlorides and fluorides) vapor-phase element transport having occurred during the cooling of the fumaroles and that this process was significant for As, Sb, B and Bi, and of lesser importance for Cu and Zn. Similarities in geochemical element covariance between the extant argillic alteration and fossil fumarolic encrustations suggest that many of the fossil fumaroles experienced low-temperature argillic alteration events. The combination of the results of this work with those of Kodosky and Keith (1993) enables a general history of the VTTS fumaroles to be reconstructed. During the higher-temperature stages of fumarolic activity, substantial halide-species vapor-phase element transport likely occurred. The high-temperature gases heavily altered the ejecta glass and mineral phases adjacent to the fumarolic conduit. As the fumaroles cooled, Fe-rich acidic condensate leached the ejecta and primary fumarolic deposits (Kodosky and Keith, 1993); aqueous chloride complexes were the primary mechanism of element transport. With further declines in temperature, many of the fumaroles developed moderate- to low-temperature argillic alteration. Low- to ambient-temperature leaching and ongoing hydration reactions subsequently produced abundant hydrated amorphous phases (Kodosky and Keith, 1993). Although relict mineralogical evidence of argillization remains at some of the fossil fumaroles, at many of the sites the secondary alteration reactions have removed or obscured the record of prior argillization events.
Pulsatile characteristics of spontaneous growth hormone (GH) concentration profiles in boys evaluated by an ultrasensitive immunoradiometric assay: evidence for ultradian periodicity of GH secretion.

To investigate underlying ultradian periodicities in spontaneous circulating GH concentration, blood samples were drawn from 15 normal short boys every 20 min over a 24-h period, and plasma GH concentrations were measured using an ultrasensitive immunoradiometric assay. The limit of detection for the GH assay was 0.01 microgram/L. The GH time series were analyzed using the Cluster program, Ultra program, cosinor analysis, and autocorrelation analysis. Plasma GH concentrations in 1095 samples derived from 15 normal short boys were all within the detectable range of the assay and ranged from 0.07-52.2 micrograms/L. Thirty-six percent of the GH values in the 1095 samples from 15 normal short boys were below 1 microgram/L, and 82% of them occurred during the diurnal awakening period. Cluster analysis disclosed a total of 176 peaks in 15 normal short boys, with a mean +/- SEM number of significant GH peaks of 12.1 +/- 0.5/24 h. Twelve percent of the 176 peaks were below 1 microgram/L, and 95% of them occurred ...
Ophiomorpha: Its morphologic, taxonomic, and environmental significance

Abstract Ophiomorpha, traditionally one of the most revered environmental indicators among trace fossils, is by no means an unambiguous entity in facies analysis and palaeoecology. Callianassa major, the best known modern analog for the Ophiomorpha-organism, is itself variable ethologically and ecologically, and it is only one of several species of thalassinidean shrimp that routinely construct knobby walled burrows. Other analogs presently known include not only additional species of Callianassa but also certain species of Upogebia and possibly Axius. Each species has its own peculiar range of habits and habitats. The collective result, in both recent and ancient settings, is a broad spectrum of burrow morphologies and environmental distributions. Each occurrence therefore must be evaluated independently, in terms of the specific evidence at hand. Only in this light is Ophiomorpha a valuable aid in environmental interpretation. The gross morphology of Ophiomorpha overlaps with that of such ichnogenera as Ardelia, Gyrolithes, Teichichnus, and Thalassinoides, yet these burrow forms should be retained as separate taxa. Reconized species of Ophiomorpha, also somewhat intergradational, include O. borneensis Keij, O. irregulaire n. sp., and O. nodosa Lundgren. Taxonomic criteria are based upon modes of wall construction rather than upon burrow configuration.
Starburst® dendrimers: A conceptual approach to nanoscopic chemistry and architecture

The nanoscopic domain of structural complexity, which ranges from 1 to 100 run on a particle size scale includes a relatively unexplored area of science which resides between classical chemistry and molecular biology. This rapidly growing area of science is referred to as nanoscopic chemistry and architecture. Concepts evolving in this area lead to a rich variety of precise structures, architecture and properties. These concepts are based on dendritic macromolecules in general and on Starburst® dendrimers in particular. They envision dendrimers as fundamental building blocks which may be used to synthesize nanoscopic compounds, clusters, polymers, etc. Accordingly, dendrimers are regarded architecturally as functional analogues of atoms; therefore, their potential role in nanoscopic chemistry may be compared to that of the atoms in classical chemistry.
Cosmological lower bound on dark matter masses from the soft gamma-ray background

Motivated by a recent detection of 511 keV photons from the center of our Galaxy, we calculate the spectrum of the soft {gamma}-ray background of the redshifted 511 keV photons from cosmological halos. Annihilation of dark matter particles into electron-positron pairs makes a substantial contribution to the {gamma}-ray background. Mass of such dark matter particles must be or approx. 20 MeV. We include the contribution from the active galactic nuclei and supernovae. The halo substructures may increase the lower bound to > or approx. 60 MeV.
SIR 2005 film panel case: peripheral embolization from cardiac myxoma.

A 39-year-old man presented with the acute onset of a cold, painful, and numb left leg. Physical examination in the emergency room demonstrated a palpable left femoral pulse and absent left popliteal, dorsalis pedis, and posterior tibial artery pulses. The left foot and lower leg were pale and cool to touch, and the patient exhibited diminished sensation over the anterior foot and decreased mobility at the ankle joint. Vascular examination of the right lower extremity was entirely normal. Past medical history was remarkable only for recreational drug use consisting mainly of cocaine. An electrocardiogram showed normal sinus rhythm and angiography was requested. Runoff arteriography was performed via a right femoral approach (Fig 1) and then a thoracic arteriogram was obtained (Fig 2).
Do psychologically‐minded clients expect more from counselling?

Objectives. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between psychological mindedness and clients' expectations about counselling. Design. A cross-sectional design was employed to assess correlations among study variables. Methods. Participants were 104 counselling-centre clients at a mid-size, Southwestern US university. Participant volunteers filled out the Psychological Mindedness Scale, life orientation test-revised (LOT-R), and the expectations-about-counselling questionnaire. Results. Clients who reported higher levels of psychological mindedness (PM) reported greater expectations of self-involvement in counselling and greater expectations of positive outcome. In contrast, PM was not significantly related to clients' expectations about their counsellors' in-session behaviour or to expectations about their counsellors' general personality style. Dispositional optimism (LOT-R) did not play a major role in the relationship between PM and expectations about counselling. Conclusions. High PM clients do seem to expect more from counselling than low PM clients, particularly in terms of self-involvement in the process and with respect to positive outcome. Consequently, therapists should consider assessing clients' PM, expectations, and the relationship between PM and expectations.