cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The High Energy Telescope on EXIST

The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a proposed next generation multi-wavelength survey mission. The primary instrument is a High Energy telescope (HET) that conducts the deepest survey for Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs), obscured-accreting and dormant Supermassive Black Holes and Transients of all varieties for immediate followup studies by the two secondary instruments: a Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) and an Optical/Infrared Telescope (IRT). EXIST will explore the early Universe using high redshift GRBs as cosmic probes and survey black holes on all scales. The HET is a coded aperture telescope employing a large array of imaging CZT detectors (4.5 m2, 0.6 mm pixel) and a hybrid Tungsten mask. We review the current HET concept which follows an intensive design revision by the HET imaging working group and the recent engineering studies in the Instrument and Mission Design Lab at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The HET will locate GRBs and transients quickly (<10-30 sec) and accurately (< 20") for rapid (< 1-3 min) onboard followup soft X-ray and optical/IR (0.3-2.2 μm) imaging and spectroscopy. The broad energy band (5-600 keV) and the wide field of view (~90o × 70o at 10% coding fraction) are optimal for capturing GRBs, obscured AGNs and rare transients. The continuous scan of the entire sky every 3 hours will establish a finely-sampled long-term history of many X-ray sources, opening up new possibilities for variability studies.
The Law of Incidental Findings in Human Subjects Research: Establishing Researchers' Duties

Research technologies can now produce so much information that there is significant potential for incidental findings (IFs). hese are findings generated in research that are beyond the aims of the study. Current law and federal regulations offer no direct guidance on how to deal with IFs in research, nor is there adequate professional or institutional guidance. We advocate a defined set of researcher duties based on law and ethics and recommend a pathway to be followed in handling IFs in research. This article traces the underlying ethical and legal theories supporting researcher duties to manage IFs, including duties to develop a plan for management in the research protocol, to discuss the possibility of and management plan for IFs in the informed consent process, and to address, evaluate, and ultimately offer to disclose IFs of potential clinical or reproductive significance to research participants when they arise.
Towards the ultimate limit in transmission estimation

The minimum possible uncertainty when estimating a parameter, in this case transmission, is bounded by the quantum Cramer-Rao bound (QCRB). This bound is independent of the measurement technique and as result can be used to quantify how close a measurement is to the optimal one for a given system and probing state, as an optimal measurement saturates the QCRB. The ability to perform transmission measurements through an optical system at the QCRB can lead to enhancements in the calibration of optimal states for interferometers, the characterization of high efficiency photodetectors, or the sensitivity of sensing devices based on transmission, such as plasmonic sensors or spectroscopy. We show theoretically that the ultimate sensitivity limit per photon in the estimation of transmission, achievable with Fock states or vacuum two-mode squeezed states (vTMSS), can be approached through the use of bright quantum states of light, such as bright single-mode squeezed states (bSMSS) or bright two-mode squeezed states (bTMSS). The use of bright quantum states has the advantage that they can be generated with a significantly larger number of photons, which leads to an absolute sensitivity that can be many orders of magnitude larger than the one achieved with Fock states or vTMSS. We identify a measurement strategy that saturates the QCRB for these bright quantum states and shown experimentally that transmission estimation at the QCRB can be achieved with bTMSS through optimized intensity difference measurements.
Estimation of Teacher Value Added in the Presence of Missing Data

Inappropriate treatment of missing data may introduce bias into the value-added estimation. We consider a commonly used value-added model (VAM), which includes the past student test score as a cova...
Find My Sloths: Automated Comparative Analysis of How Real Enterprise Computers Keep Up with the Software Update Races

A software update is a critical but complicated part of software security. Its delay poses risks due to vulnerabilities and defects of software. Despite the high demand to shorten the update lag and keep the software up-to-date, software updates involve factors such as human behavior, program configurations, and system policies, adding variety in the updates of software. Investigating these factors in a real environment poses significant challenges such as the knowledge of software release schedules from the software vendors and the deployment times of programs in each user’s machine. Obtaining software release plans requires information from vendors which is not typically available to public. On the users’ side, tracking each software’s exact update installation is required to determine the accurate update delay. Currently, a scalable and systematic approach is missing to analyze these two sides’ views of a comprehensive set of software. We performed a long term system-wide study of update behavior for all software running in an enterprise by translating the operating system logs from enterprise machines into graphs of binary executable updates showing their complex, and individualized updates in the environment. Our comparative analysis locates risky machines and software with belated or dormant updates falling behind others within an enterprise without relying on any third-party or domain knowledge, providing new observations and opportunities for improvement of software updates. Our evaluation analyzes real data from 113,675 unique programs used by 774 computers over 3 years.
Bacterial signal peptides: structure, optimization, and applications

Bacterial signal peptides are N-terminal tags that direct proteins for export through one of various transport pathways. These signal peptides are highly important as they are the key determinants of transport, ensuring that the correct protein ends up at the correct pathway. While these peptides consist of three domains with well conserved biochemical properties, there still remains a large amount of diversity between the signal sequences for different proteins, transport pathways, and bacterial species. Recent advancements have allowed us to predict signal sequences and manipulate them in an attempt to optimize export efficiency. This knowledge can then be exploited in the field of recombinant protein production wherein bacterial species can be used to produce and secrete proteins of interest. By fusing the protein with an optimized signal peptide, the yield or rate of export can be improved. This review focuses on signal peptides for two primary transport pathways (Sec and Tat) in E. coli specifically, with an emphasis on applications and the production of recombinant proteins.
Electronic and Optical Property Control of Polycation/MXene Layer-by-Layer Assemblies with Chemically Diverse MXenes.

MXenes, 2D nanomaterials derived from ceramic MAX phases, have drawn considerable interest in a wide variety of fields including energy storage, catalysis, and sensing. There are many possible MXene compositions due to the chemical and structural diversity of parent MAX phases, which can bear different possible metal atoms "M", number of layers, and carbon or nitrogen "X" constituents. Despite the potential variety in MXene types, the bulk of MXene research focuses upon the first MXene discovered, Ti3C2T. With the recent discovery of polymer/MXene multilayer assemblies as thin films and coatings, there is a need to broaden the accessible types of multilayers by including MXenes other than Ti3C2Tz; however, it is not clear how altering the MXene type influences the resulting multilayer growth and properties. Here, we report on the first use of MXenes other than Ti3C2Tz, specifically Ti2CTz and Nb2CTz, for the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of polycation/MXene multilayers. By comparing these MXenes, we evaluate both how changing M (Ti vs Nb) and "n" (Ti3C2Tzvs Ti2CTz) affect the growth and properties of the resulting multilayer. Specifically, the aqueous LbL assembly of each MXene with poly(diallyldimethylammonium) into films and coatings is examined. Further, we compare the oxidative stability, optoelectronic properties (refractive index, absorption coefficient, optical conductivity, and direct and indirect optical band gaps), and the radio frequency heating response of each multilayer. We observe that MXene multilayers with higher "n" are more electrically conductive and oxidatively stable. We also demonstrate that Nb2CTz containing films have lower optical band gaps and refractive indices at the cost of lower electrical conductivities as compared to their Ti2CTz counterparts. Our work demonstrates that the properties of MXene/polycation multilayers are highly dependent on the choice of constituent MXene and that the MXene type can be altered to suit specific applications.
Modeling GRACE-FO accelerometer data for the version 04 release

Abstract GRACE and GRACE-FO require the reduction of non-gravitational accelerations, through an onboard accelerometer, to accurately estimate variations in the Earth’s gravitational field. Accuracy in the accelerometer measurements is vital to this mass change recovery and significant errors will reduce the quality of the recovered science data. This paper describes our current characterization of error sources in the GRACE-FO accelerometers and the error mitigation strategies used in the generation of the JPL/CSR GRACE-FO Version 04 accelerometer data for public release. Our current error characterization model describes flicker noise on readings of one accelerometer plate pair on GRACE-D, impulse response limitations on both accelerometers, nonphysical once per revolution variations in the roll angular acceleration measurements on both accelerometers, significant correlated errors on all axes on GRACE-D, nominal thermal bias dependencies on both accelerometers, and expected nominal inter-measurement aliasing (cross-talk - expected as heritage from GRACE). Attitude reconstruction strategies incorporating star camera, inertial measurement unit, and magnetorquer measurements visibly improve angular acceleration recovery independent of the accelerometer. Error mitigation strategies for the linear acceleration measurements, associated with the calibrated accelerometer product provided in the version 04 release, dramatically improve estimates of the Earth’s gravity field. While many of the error characterizations described here are not necessary for constructing the accelerometer transplant from GRACE-C to GRACE-D, as is currently done in the Version 04 release, the error characterizations described here lay the groundwork for future use of calibrated/corrected GRACE-D accelerometer data.
RGMb is a novel binding partner for PD-L2 and its engagement with PD-L2 promotes respiratory tolerance (IRC5P.465)

We report that programmed death ligand 2 (PD-L2), a known ligand of PD-1, also binds to repulsive guidance molecule b (RGMb) which was originally identified in the nervous system as a co-receptor for bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). PD-L2 and BMP-2/4 bind to distinct sites on RGMb. Normal resting lung interstitial macrophages and alveolar epithelial cells express high levels of RGMb mRNA, while lung dendritic cells express PD-L2. Blockade of the RGMb:PD-L2 interaction markedly impaired the development of respiratory tolerance by interfering with the initial T cell expansion required for respiratory tolerance. Experiments with PD-L2 deficient mice showed PD-L2 expression on non-T cells was critical for respiratory tolerance but expression on T cells was not required. Since PD-L2 binds to both PD-1, which inhibits anti-tumor immunity, and to RGMb, which regulates respiratory immunity, targeting the PD-L2 pathway has therapeutic potential for asthma, cancer and other immune-mediated disorders. Understanding this pathway may give insights into how to optimally modulate the PD-1 pathway in cancer immunotherapy while minimizing adverse events.
Novel ⅂ 1 neural network adaptive control architecture with guaranteed transient performance

In this paper we present a novel neural network adaptive control architecture with guaranteed transient performance. With this new architecture both input and output signals of an uncertain nonlinear system follow a desired linear system during the transient phase, in addition to stable tracking. This new architecture uses a low-pass filter in the feedback-loop, which consequently enables to enforce the desired transient performance by increasing the adaptation gain. For the guaranteed transient performance of both input and output signals of the uncertain nonlinear system, the ⅂ 1 gain of a cascaded system, comprised of the low-pass filter and the closed-loop desired reference model, is required to be less than the inverse of the Lipschitz constant of the unknown nonlinearities in the system. The tools from this paper can be used to develop a theoretically justified verification and validation framework for neural network adaptive controllers. Simulation results illustrate the theoretical findings.
LAG-3 is a putative transcriptional activator in the C. elegans Notch pathway

Notch signalling controls growth, differentiation and patterning during normal animal development; in humans, aberrant Notch signalling has been implicated in cancer and stroke. The mechanism of Notch signalling is thought to require cleavage of the receptor in response to ligand binding, movement of the receptor's intracellular domain to the nucleus, and binding of that intracellular domain to a CSL (for CBF1, Suppressor of Hairless, LAG-1) protein. Here we identify LAG-3, a glutamine-rich protein that forms a ternary complex together with the LAG-1 DNA-binding protein and the receptor's intracellular domain. Receptors with mutant ankyrin repeats that abrogate signal transduction are incapable of complex formation both in yeast and in vitro. Using RNA interference, we find that LAG-3 activity is crucial in Caenorhabditis elegans for both GLP-1 and LIN-12 signalling. LAG-3 is a potent transcriptional activator in yeast, and a Myc-tagged LAG-3 is predominantly nuclear in C. elegans. We propose that GLP-1 and LIN-12 promote signalling by recruiting LAG-3 to target promoters, where it functions as a transcriptional activator.
The Toll-Like Receptor 5 Stimulus Bacterial Flagellin Induces Maturation and Chemokine Production in Human Dendritic Cells

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pattern recognition receptors that serve an important function in detecting pathogens and initiating inflammatory responses. Upon encounter with foreign Ag, dendritic cells (DCs) go through a maturation process characterized by an increase in surface expression of MHC class II and costimulatory molecules, which leads to initiation of an effective immune response in naive T cells. The innate immune response to bacterial flagellin is mediated by TLR5, which is expressed on human DCs. Therefore, we sought to investigate whether flagellin could induce DC maturation. Immature DCs were cultured in the absence or presence of flagellin and monitored for expression of cell surface maturation markers. Stimulation with flagellin induced increased surface expression of CD83, CD80, CD86, MHC class II, and the lymph node-homing chemokine receptor CCR7. Flagellin stimulated the expression of chemokines active on neutrophils (IL-8/CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL)8, GRO-alpha/CXCL1, GRO-beta/CXCL2, GRO-gamma/CXCL3), monocytes (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1/CC chemokine ligand (CCL)2), and immature DCs (macrophage-inflammatory protein-1 alpha/CCL3, macrophage-inflammatory protein-1 beta/CCL4), but not chemokines active on effector T cells (IFN-inducible protein-10 kDa/CXCL10, monokine induced by IFN-gamma/CXCL9, IFN-inducible T cell alpha chemoattractant/CXCL11). However, stimulating DCs with both flagellin and IFN-inducible protein-10 kDa, monokine induced by IFN-gamma, and IFN-inducible T cell alpha chemoattractant expression, whereas stimulation with IFN-beta or flagellin alone failed to induce these chemokines. In functional assays, flagellin-matured DCs displayed enhanced T cell stimulatory activity with a concomitant decrease in endocytic activity. Finally, DCs isolated from mouse spleens or bone marrows were shown to not express TLR5 and were not responsive to flagellin stimulation. These results demonstrate that flagellin can directly stimulate human but not murine DC maturation, providing an additional mechanism by which motile bacteria can initiate an acquired immune response.
The Scenario Computing Design to Enhance Learning in the Museum

This paper described the learning of the museum audiences, and attempted to construct the consideration of the curriculum design based on the study of audience learning. The goal is to set up new directions and new ideas of instruction as applying computer technology, from which visitors can follow to explore, to enjoy, to be inspired as well as to improve their knowledge. The study proposed both the multimedia instructional system and the interactive remote evaluation system. It also addressed some of our observations and design concerns.
The uptake in vitro of C14-labeled glycine, l-leucine, and l-lysine by different components of guinea pig liver homogenate.

We have reported (1) that L-lysine labeled with C14 can be incorporated into the proteins of guinea pig liver homogenate under two different conditions. In the one case the enzyme used was the whole homogenate, the optimum pH was near 6.2, there was an obligatory requirement of calcium, and the incorporation was independent of oxygen. This set of conditions is designated below as the “acid calcium” condition. In the other case the enzyme system was the precipitate obtained by centrifuging the homogenate diluted 15-fold with Ringer’s solution at 2500 X g, the optimum pH was near to 7.3, the reaction was accelerated a little by calcium but the presence of calcium was not obligatory, and the incorporation was a little less under nitrogen than under oxygen. This set of conditions is designated below as the “alkaline” condition.
The effect of phenylpyruvate on pyruvate metabolism in rat brain.

1. The effect of phenylalanine and phenylpyruvate on the metabolism of pyruvate by isolated mitochondria from rat brain was investigated. 2. Phenylpyruvate inhibited the fixation of H14CO3- in the presence of pyruvate by intact rat brain mitochondria, whereas phenylalanine and other metabolites of this amino acid had no inhibitory effect on this process. 3. Pyruvate carboxylase activity in freeze-dried rat brain mitochondrial preparations was also inhibited only by phenylpyruvate, and a ‘mixed type’ inhibition was observed. 4. The Km for pyruvate of rat brain pyruvate carboxylase was about 0.2mm. 5. The concentration of phenylpyruvate required for a 50% inhibition of H14CO3- fixation by the intact mitochondria and of pyruvate carboxylase activity was dependent on the concentration of pyruvate used in the incubation medium. 6. The possible significance of inhibition of pyruvate carboxylase activity by phenylpyruvate in the brains of phenylketonuric patients is discussed.
Internal friction and reversible structural relaxation in the metallic glass Fe32Ni36Cr14P12B6

A detailed study of the effect of annealing on the internal friction of metallic glass Fe/sub 32/Ni/sub 36/Cr/sub 14/P/sub 12/B/sub -/ measured by the inverted torsion pendulum method is presented. It was found that the glass reaches, after an extended period of annealing, an internal pseudo-equilibrium state as far as the internal friction is concerned, which is a function of the annealing temperature. A change in the annealing temperature results in a reversible change from one such state to another. The authors present a phenomenological model which explains the dependence of the pseudo-equilibrium state upon both the annealing temperature and measuring temperature and the kinetics of the transition from one to another, and discuss its relation to atomic level structural fluctuations.
Serial Inspection Plan in the Presence of Inspection Errors: Maximum Likelihood and Maximum Entropy Approaches

[This abstract is based on the author's abstract.]In practice, the effectiveness of quality inspections varies widely, and in some cases, multiple inspectors inspect the same product sequentially. For these serial inspections, two methods are proposed t..
Effect of dam methylation on Tn5 transposition

Abstract The effect of dam methylation on Tn 5 transposition was investigated by analyses of mutations in the host ( Escherichia coli ) and the element. Wild-type elements transposed at a higher frequency and showed higher levels of transposase expression in a dam − host. Mutations were made in the promoter region of the transcript that codes for the transposase. Transposition and transposase levels from these mutants were independent of the host methylation system. Measurements of the amount of RNA support the hypothesis that dam methylation exerts its effect on Tn 5 transposition by modulating the frequency of transcriptional initiation of the transposase gene. Since Tn 5 transposition increases when the transposase levels increase, at normal concentrations the amount of transposase is a rate-limiting factor that determines the transposition frequency of Tn 5 . Transposition of IS 50 , one of the insertion sequences that consistutes Tn 5 , is also sensitive to dam methylation by a second mechanism in addition to that of modulating transcriptional initiation, dam methylation, either directly or indirectly, inhibits the usage of IS 50 sequences by the transposase. Thus, dam methylation can affect both the expression of the transposase and the DNA substrate upon which it acts.
TH‐C‐330A‐07: Noise and Nodule Detectability in Simulated Cone Beam CT Imaging

Purpose: To evaluate and quantify the impact of various types of noise(quantum noise,photonscatter, flat panel detector blurring, and systemnoise) on the nodule detectability in simulated cone beam CT(CBCT)images by conducting the eight‐alternative forced choice (8‐AFC) observer performance experiment. Method and Materials: We used Radon transform formalism to mathematically model a 3D chest phantom with spherical nodules of various sizes. Quantum noise,photonscatter,detector blurring, and systemnoise were then simulated and added to the projection images individually. The projection images were reconstructed by using the Feldkamp algorithm and the final images were then used for the observer performance study. Other impact factors for the image quality (e.g., contrast variation, x‐ray dose, nodule size, number of projection images, cone beam angle etc.) were also incorporated into the reading study. Detection curves were then determined statistically from the 8‐AFC experimental data by using a maximum‐likelihood method. Nodule detectability was then quantified directly from the reading performance participated by 6 observers in the 8‐AFC tests. Results: Our preliminary data indicated that at the high x‐ray dose level, photonscatter had the highest impact on the simulated CBCTimages; while at the low dose level, systemnoise had the biggest impact. At all tested dose levels, detector blurring had the lowest impact on the detectability. In consistent with the previous theoretical study, the nodule detectability can be improved by increasing the number of projection images.Conclusion: Our work indicated that using photonscatter correction techniques and reducing the systemnoise had the biggest potential to improve the CBCTimage quality. We are currently investigating the impact of various scatter reduction algorithms and reconstruction methods on the CBCTimage quality. Supported in part by a research grant EB00117 by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
A Retraction of the Report of a Lyotropic Cholesteric Blue Phase

Abstract An error was made in assigning the blue phase structure to platelets of 16.3 wt % disodium cromoglycate, 26.1 wt % allow-4-hydroxy-l-proline and water, at T=34 [ddot]C. Microscopic observations show the above mentioned platelets to be batonnets of a reentrant middle soap.
Multielemental microanalysis of organic compounds using gas chromatography

Abstract Multielemental microanalysis of organic compounds has been performed using oxidative combustion and gas chromatographic separation and quantitation. Samples of low-molecular-weight compounds (less than 300 g/mol) are combusted at a high temperature in a pure oxygen atmosphere. The combustion products are then passed directly into a gas chromatograph for separation and detection. Using this system the elements carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, chlorine, bromine and iodine may be assayed with an average absolute deviation of 0.5 %. Nitrogen may be assayed separately by passing the combustion products over a catalyst and converting the nitrogen oxides, formed during combustion, to molecular nitrogen. In this manner the nitrogen content of organic compounds may be determined with an average absolute deviation of 0.4%.
Lebesgue-Type Inequalities for Greedy Approximation in Banach Spaces

We study sparse representations and sparse approximations with respect to incoherent dictionaries. We address the problem of designing and analyzing greedy methods of approximation. A key question in this regard is: How to measure efficiency of a specific algorithm? Answering this question, we prove the Lebesgue-type inequalities for algorithms under consideration. A very important new ingredient of the paper is that we perform our analysis in a Banach space instead of a Hilbert space. It is known that in many numerical problems, users are satisfied with a Hilbert space setting and do not consider a more general setting in a Banach space. There are known arguments that justify interest in Banach spaces. In this paper, we give one more argument in favor of consideration of greedy approximation in Banach spaces. We introduce a concept of M-coherent dictionary in a Banach space which is a generalization of the corresponding concept in a Hilbert space. We analyze the quasi-orthogonal greedy algorithm (QOGA), which is a generalization of the orthogonal greedy algorithm (orthogonal matching pursuit) for Banach spaces. It is known that the QOGA recovers exactly S -sparse signals after S iterations provided S <; (1+1/M)/2. This result is well known for the orthogonal greedy algorithm in Hilbert spaces. The following question is of great importance: Are there dictionaries in \BBRn such that their coherence in lpn is less than their coherence in l2n for some p ∈ (1,∞)? We show that the answer to the above question is “yes.” Thus, for such dictionaries, replacing the Hilbert space l2n by a Banach space lpn , we improve an upper bound for sparsity that guarantees an exact recovery of a signal.
Temporal Variability of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Serum Concentrations over One Year

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardant chemicals used in consumer products. They are common contaminants in human serum and associated with adverse health effects. Our objectives were to characterize PBDE serum concentrations in a New England cohort and assess temporal variability of this exposure biomarker over a one-year period. We collected three repeated measurements at six-month intervals from 52 office workers from the greater Boston (MA, United States) area from 2010 to 2011. The intraclass correlation coefficient for BDEs 28, 47, 99, 100, and 153 ranged from 0.87 to 0.99, indicating that a single serum measurement can reliably estimate exposure over a one-year period. This was true for both lipid adjusted and nonlipid adjusted concentrations. The kappa statistics, quantifying the level of agreement of categorical exposure classification, based on medians, tertiles, or quartiles ranged from 0.67 to 0.90. Some congeners showed nonsignificant increases from sampling round 1 (winte...
Abstract C14: Pim kinase inhibitors sensitize prostate cancer cells to apoptosis triggered by Bcl-2 family inhibitor ABT-737

Abstract Pim serine/threonine kinases contribute to prostate tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance, yet Pim kinase inhibitors appear to have only limited effects on prostate cancer cell survival. Since overexpression of Bcl-2 family members are implicated in chemotherapeutic resistance in prostate cancer, we investigated the cooperative effects of Pim kinase inhibition with ABT-737, a small molecule antagonist of Bcl-2 family members. Strikingly, the addition of ABT-737 to Pim inhibitors triggered a robust apoptosis of prostate cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Pim inhibitors decreased levels of the Bcl-2 family member Mcl-1, both by blocking 5′- cap dependent translation and decreasing protein half life. Additionally, Pim inhibition transcriptionally increased levels of the BH3 protein Noxa by activating the unfolded protein response (UPR), lead to eIF-2α phosphorylation and increased expression of CHOP. Increased levels of Noxa also inactivated the remaining levels of Mcl-1 protein activity. Notably, these specific protein changes were essential to the apoptotic process because ABT-737 did not inhibit Mcl-1 protein activity and Mcl-1 overexpression blocked the apoptotic activity of ABT-737. Our results therefore suggest that this combination treatment could be developed as a potential therapy for human prostate cancer where overexpression of Pim kinases and antiapoptotic Bcl-2 family members drives tumor cell resistance to current anticancer therapies. Citation Format: Jin H. Song, Andrew S. Kraft. Pim kinase inhibitors sensitize prostate cancer cells to apoptosis triggered by Bcl-2 family inhibitor ABT-737 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Prostate Cancer Research; 2012 Feb 6-9; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(4 Suppl):Abstract nr C14.
Selenate reduction by a Pseudomonas species: a new mode of anaerobic respiration.

The high levels of selenium (selenate, selenite) in agricultural drainage water in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which have led to environmental problems, might be lowered if the selenate/selenite could be reduced to elemental insoluble selenium [1]. Two organisms have been newly isolated which do this in anaerobic coculture. One, a strictly anaerobic, Gram-positive rod, reduces selenite to elemental selenium. The other, a Pseudomonas species, was shown to respire selenate to selenite. Cells grown anaerobically in Minimal Medium on acetate plus selenate oxidized 14C-acetate to 14CO2 with concomitant reduction of selenate to selenite and small amounts of elemental selenium.
Drinking Behavior and the Development of Hypothalamic Lesions from Aspartame Ingestion in Water-Restricted Weanling Mice

Weanling mice that had been deprived overnight of water, or of water and diet, were offered a solution containing L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine-methylester (APM) or monosodium L-aspartate monohydrate (MSA) as the sole source of drinking water, and/or a diet containing large amounts of APM and/or MSA for 30 min, and were killed subsequently. Only those animals exposed to concentrated (6.64% w/v) MSA solutions developed neuronal lesions in the hypothalamic arcuate nuclei. Those offered MSA in the diet only, or APM either in the diet and/or in solution, failed to develop such lesions.
Analysis of human breath samples with a multi-bed sorption trap and comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC)

A multi-bed sorption trap designed to quantitatively collect volatile organic compounds from large-volume vapor samples and inject them into a gas chromatograph is combined with a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograph (GCxGC) for the analysis of organic compounds in human breath samples. The first-column effluent of the GCxGC is modulated by a single-stage, resistively-heated and air-cooled segment of 0.18-mm i.d. stainless steel column using the same stationary phase as the first column. Cooling gas is provided by a two-stage conventional refrigeration system, and thus no consumables other than carrier gas and electric power are required. The sorption trap uses four discreet beds, three containing different grades of graphitized carbon and one containing a carbon molecular sieve. The ordering of the beds in the trap tube is from the weakest to strongest adsorbent during sample collection. Breath samples are collected in gas sampling bags, and samples are passed through the trap at a flow rate of about 50 cm3/min. After sample collection, hydrogen carrier gas flow is initiated in the direction opposite to the sample collection flow, and the metal trap tube is resistively heated to inject a sample plug into the GCxGC. Performance data for the combined GCxGC/sorption-trap instrument is described, and human breath-sample chromatograms are presented.
Ruled by records: The expropriation of land and the misappropriation of lists in Islamabad

In this article, I investigate the ongoing battle between villagers on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, and the state development agency attempting to expropriate their land. This battle has been waged through the medium of documents, particularly lists, which villagers and colluding officials have used to defraud the Pakistani government of the equivalent of millions of dollars. Through this case study, I develop an approach to contemporary state governance as material practice, showing how government discourse is shaped by the material forms it takes and highlighting the issue of reference and predication (or how words relate to things). [governance, documents, state, semiotics, technology, materiality, South Asia, Pakistan]
Permeability of the golden hamster placenta to inorganic lead: Radioautographic evidence

Trachtigen Goldhamstern wurde am 7. und 8. Tag210Pb intravenos verabericht. Von den Placentamembranen und vom Embryo wurde radioaktives Metallion stark aufgenommen und die Einglagerung autoradiographisch verfolgt.
Adipose tissue NK cells manifest an activated phenotype in human obesity.

Objective Adipose tissue inflammation is a cause of obesity-related metabolic disease. Natural killer (NK) cells are an understudied cell type in the context of obesity. The goal of this study was to determine the phenotype of human adipose tissue NK cells.
Disintegrating rural development

Ghai, Dharam, and Samir Radwan, eds. Agrarian Policies and Rural Poverty in Africa. Geneva: International Labour Office, 1983. ix + 311 pp. including preface and individual chapter references. $21.40 cloth. Chuta, Enyinna, and S. V. Sethuraman, eds. Rural Small‐scale Industries and Employment in Africa and Asia. A Review of Programmes and Policies. Geneva: International Labour Office, 1984. x + 159 pp. including preface, individual chapter references, appendix, and selective bibliography. $14.25 paper.
Large Eddy Simulation and the variational multiscale method

A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) formulation is developed from the variational multiscale method. Modeling is confined to the effect of a small-scale Reynolds stress, in contrast with classical LES in which the entire subgrid-scale stress is modeled. All other effects are accounted for exactly. It is argued that many shortcomings of the classical LES/constant-coefficient Smagorinsky model are eliminated by the scale separation inherent ab initio in the present approach.
Electric field oscillations measured near an auroral arc

A sounding rocket, launched into the expansive phase of an auroral substorm, measured bursts of electric field oscillations with a typical period of one second and a magnitude exceeding 20 mV/m. The oscillation appear to be due to an MHD wave propagating along the magnetic field. The bursts were observed as the sounding rocket passed over the southern border of an auroral arc. The southern border coincided with an increase in 1-5 keV electron flux and an increase in field-aligned current.
Atomistic-scale simulations of chemical reactions: Bridging from quantum chemistry to engineering

Abstract We provide an overview of the ReaxFF reactive force field method and discuss each calculation performed to determine the energy of a system at each iteration step. The concept of bond order is examined as well as how it is used to determine bonding, angle, and torsion energies. The calculation of the Coulomb and van der Waals non-bonded interactions is also discussed. In addition to a description of the ReaxFF method, we also investigate the thermal decomposition dynamics of a zinc-oxide nanowire with and without the presence of water. Our results indicate that the presence of water significantly weakens the ZnO surface bonding and leads to an acceleration of the failure of the material.
EBM: an entropy-based model to infer social strength from spatiotemporal data

The ubiquity of mobile devices and the popularity of location-based-services have generated, for the first time, rich datasets of people's location information at a very high fidelity. These location datasets can be used to study people's behavior - for example, social studies have shown that people, who are seen together frequently at the same place and at the same time, are most probably socially related. In this paper, we are interested in inferring these social connections by analyzing people's location information, which is useful in a variety of application domains from sales and marketing to intelligence analysis. In particular, we propose an entropy-based model (EBM) that not only infers social connections but also estimates the strength of social connections by analyzing people's co-occurrences in space and time. We examine two independent ways: diversity and weighted frequency, through which co-occurrences contribute to social strength. In addition, we take the characteristics of each location into consideration in order to compensate for cases where only limited location information is available. We conducted extensive sets of experiments with real-world datasets including both people's location data and their social connections, where we used the latter as the ground-truth to verify the results of applying our approach to the former. We show that our approach outperforms the competitors.
Effects of woody vegetation on overbank sand transport during a large flood, Rio Puerco, New Mexico

Abstract Distributions of woody vegetation on floodplain surfaces affect flood-flow erosion and deposition processes. A large flood along the lower Rio Puerco, New Mexico, in August 2006 caused extensive erosion in a reach that had been sprayed with herbicide in September 2003 for the purpose of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) control. Large volumes of sediment, including a substantial fraction of sand, were delivered to the reach downstream, which had not been treated with herbicide. We applied physically based, one-dimensional models of flow and suspended-sediment transport to compute volume concentrations of sand in suspension in floodplain flow at a site within the sprayed reach and at a site downstream from the sprayed reach. We computed the effects of drag on woody stems in reducing the skin friction shear stress, velocity of flow, and suspended-sand transport from open paths into patches of dense stems. Total flow and suspended-sand fluxes were computed for each site using well-constrained flood-flow depths, water-surface slopes, and measured shrub characteristics. Results show that flow in open paths carried high concentrations of sand in suspension with nearly uniform vertical distributions. Drag on woody floodplain stems reduced skin friction shear stresses by two orders of magnitude, yet sufficient velocities were maintained to transport sand more than 50 m into fields of dense, free-surface-penetrating stems. An increase in shrub canopy extent from 31% in the sprayed reach site to 49% in the downstream site was found to account for 69% of the computed decrease in discharge between the two sites. The results demonstrate the need to compute the spatial distribution of skin friction shear stress in order to effectively compute suspended-sand transport and to predict the fate of sediment and contaminants carried in suspension during large floods.
A novel photoacoustic spectroscopy system using diphragm based fiber Fabry-Perot sensor

Abstract A wavelength modulated photoacoustic spectroscopy system utilizing an optical fiber microphone and a tunable Erbium-doped fiber Ring laser combined with an erbium doped fiber amplifier is first developed. The diaphragm based Fabry-Perot sensor using interferometric/intensity demodulated method is used as high sensitive optical fiber microphone. This system is applied to the detection of acetylene using a resonant photoacoustic cell on its second longitudinal mode. The experimental results demonstrate that the low concentration acetylene flowing measurement can be detected by optical microphone, and the amplitude of second harmonic is proportion to the concentration of acetylene. The linearity is 0.9999. At room temperature and atmospheric pressure, the minimum detectable limit of acetylene is about 1.5 parts-per-billion (ppb) volume (SNR=1), which can be compared with condense microphone.
Rapid quantitative determination of blood alcohol concentration in the emergency department using an electrochemical method.

Study objective: To determine the reliability of a recently developed electrochemical meter to rapidly (within 60 seconds) measure blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in the emergency department. Design: A prospective study comparing the meter data with that of immunoassay and gas chromatography criterion standards undertaken during a ten-week period. Setting: Adult ED of a municipal hospital. Participants: Three hundred eighty-three consecutive patients with altered mental status or suspected alcohol intoxication. Interventions: Each patient underwent routine phlebotomy, and blood samples were obtained for meter and immunoassay BAC determinations. The first 60% of patients also underwent gas chromatography BAC determination. Results: Two hundred nineteen patients (60%) had BAC detectable by both meter and immunoassay. BAC measurement by the meter correlated strongly with immunoassay and gas chromatography determinations (Pearson's correlation coefficient, r = .94; P Conclusions: The electrochemical meter provides a rapid and reliable BAC measurement in the ED.
The type thirty triode

Recently, while trying to establish peaceable speaking terms between two recalcitrant computer modems, exasperation won out, and I drifted away to simpler times. Back then, before the pestilence of faceless electronic locusts had spread throughout the land, components carried the look and feel of their functions, and circuit boards smelled of fresh lumber. Resistors were carbonaceous aneurysms in copper arteries. Capacitors were capable of condensing when necessary. Vacuum tubes were glassy greenhouses where electrons coursed among grids and plates worthy of their names.
C-kit receptor and its possible function in human spermatozoa

The presence and role of the c-kit proto-oncogene protein was investigated in the mature sperm of the human. A polyclonal antibody against the c-kit peptide was used to perform immunohistochemical (IHC) staining, electron microscopy (EM) studies, and Western blot analysis. The acrosomal region of fresh sperm specifically stained with the antibody. No acrosomal staining or staining limited to the equatorial region was noted in the acrosome-reacted (AR) sperm. EM studies demonstrated immunogold label on the plasma membrane (PM) of the acrosome, and confirmed the lack of binding following the acrosome reaction. A 150 kDa band was detected by Western blot analysis. This protein was released from the sperm surface during sperm capacitation and the acrosome reaction. Antibody against the c-kit receptor significantly inhibited the acrosome reaction and increased sperm agglutination, but did not significantly inhibit sperm motility. These results suggest that the c-kit receptor protein is present in mature human sperm and is released during capacitation and/or the acrosome reaction. The assessment of the c-kit receptor may also be a useful assay for sperm function in male infertility. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 70: 103–110, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Analysis of education-support groups for patients with rheumatoid arthritis

A controlled study of education-support groups for patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed that participation increased patients' knowledge about their disease (P less than 0.05) and improved some patients' perceptions of the adequacy of their families' attitudes and behavior. The groups had little effect on the patients' ability to cope with arthritis or on their compliance with prescribed treatment. Some participants felt threatened by the thought of meeting another patient with more severe rheumatoid arthritis than their own. This finding suggests that group leaders should facilitate open discussion of such emotional concerns, eg, fear and depression, that admixtures may generate.
Detecting neuropsychological malingering: effects of coaching and information

Concerns that patients presenting for neuropsychological assessment may not be putting forth maximum effort during testing has prompted the development of measures designed to detect malingering and incomplete effort. Two of these measures are the Computerized Assessment of Response Bias-97 (CARB-97) and Word Memory Test (WMT). Despite widespread use of these instruments, no study has been published determining the vulnerability of neuropsychological malingering measures to explicit coaching or brain injury information. The present study, using analog participants, found that the CARB-97 and WMT differentiate "normal" from "malingered" instructional sets, and show little difference between nai;ve and coached malingering efforts. There was also little difference between providing brain injury information and a no-information condition, but when effects were present, the information group generally scored worse. Further, it was found that response times (RTs), in addition to items correct, may also be effective in detecting those who are not giving their full effort.
Relationship among body image, exercise behavior, and exercise dependence symptoms.

Objective The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship among body image, exercise behavior, body mass index (BMI), and primary exercise dependence symptoms in physically active individuals. Method Male and female university students (N = 474) completed self-report measures of exercise behavior, height, weight, exercise dependence symptoms, social physique anxiety, and body satisfaction. Results Hierarchical multiple regressions with forced block entry by gender were conducted to examine the effects of exercise behavior, BMI, and exercise dependence symptoms on body satisfaction and social physique anxiety. For females, BMI was the strongest positive predictor of body dissatisfaction and social physique anxiety. For males, exercise behavior was the strongest negative predictor of body dissatisfaction and social physique anxiety. Discussion It was concluded that after controlling for the effects of BMI and exercise behavior, primary exercise dependence symptoms were not strong predictors on body image, especially for females. © 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 32: 179–185, 2002.