cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 3157: Novel GD2-specific chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells targeting osteosarcoma

Despite intensive multi-modality therapies employed in the treatment of osteosarcoma (OS) the prognosis for children with high-risk disease remains suboptimal. Since standard systemic therapy for OS has remained unchanged in the past thirty years, with no new agents identified to complement conventional regimens, there has been a significant plateau in the survival of OS patients thus necessitating the development of more targeted and efficacious therapeutics. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified T cells can meet this need by utilizing the immune system9s surveillance capacity and potent cytotoxic mechanisms against tumor specific antigen targets with exquisite specificity. Since OS highly expresses the GD2 antigen, a viable immunotherapeutic target, we sought to assess if a novel 4th generation CAR modified T cell could target GD2 and induce cytotoxicity against OS. We have engineered a newer generation of CAR T cells that harness the vital co-stimulatory domains imperative for T cell activation while embedding the safety features of suicide induction. The latter, an advanced safety design iCasp9, is based on AP1903-induced caspase 9 dimer formation to trigger apoptosis, which has been incorporated in our CAR design. The 4th generation lentiviral CAR (4S-CAR) encodes a combination of CD28/CD137/CD27 T cell co-stimulatory domains and CD3zeta domain fused with a mutated FKBP12 (F36V) and caspase 9. To illustrate the self-destructive function, 4S-CAR T cells were treated with AP1903 to induce iCasp9 dimerization. High efficiency of apoptosis was observed within 30 min, and in 2 hours, more than 80% CAR T cells died. After demonstrated the ability to screen patient OS samples for GD2 expression, we found that OS cells expressing high levels of GD2 were effectively targeted and killed by 4S-GD2-CAR-T cells. 4S-GD2 CAR modified T cells were shown to overexpress the exhaustion marker PD-1 when in contact with target tumor cells, and multiple OS expressing cell lines were shown to overexpress PD-L1, and the PD-L1 level increased after cocultured with 4S-GD2 CAR modified T cells. The combination effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-L1 and anti-PD-1 antibodies with CAR T cells will be further investigated. Anti-GD2 expressing CAR T cells provide a novel targeted approach to eliminate residual disease with consummate specificity. As cellular therapeutics using CAR T cells become further entrenched in the forefront against refractory malignancies, OS provides a new and compulsory niche to further test the feasibility, safety and potential efficacy of this promising new technology. Citation Format: Monrat Chulanetra, Elias Sayour, Lamis Eldjerou, Joanne Lagmay, Rowan Milner, William Slayton, Lung-Ji Chang. Novel GD2-specific chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells targeting osteosarcoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3157. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3157
Simulating Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectra of Slow-Motion Systems in the Time Domain

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has proven to be an excellent tool for probing local structure and dynamics in biological systems. However, the corresponding spectra can be complex and difficult to interpret. In order to accurately interpret experimental data, there has been a corresponding active development of computational tools and user-friendly programs to simulate continuous-wave (CW) EPR spectra, especially those in the slow-motion regime (dynamical time scales of ≈10-100 ns for nitroxides at 9-10 GHz). Though the standard method has been to numerically solve the stochastic Liouville equation in the frequency domain, more recently, simulating CW EPR spectra in the time domain has become increasingly popular. Existing works have applied this method by simulating spin relaxation due to rotational diffusion, either by generating stochastic or molecular dynamics trajectories. Other significant spin relaxation mechanisms that affect CW EPR spectral lineshapes have been treated in a phenomenological manner. In order to bridge this gap in computational complexity and more accurately simulate EPR spectra obtained in experiments, we extend previous treatments by explicitly including other spin relaxation mechanisms and explore additional motional models. In addition, our programs are implemented in the widely used Matlab software environment.
University Faculty and the Value of Their Intellectual Property: Comparing IP in Teaching and Research

This chapter describes the protectionist and access functions of intellectual property for the teaching and research work of university faculty. The degree to which an individual piece of IP is protected or made accessible to others depends in large measure on its market-related characteristics, including costs of production, availability of substitutes, and repurposing potential.
An Extension of a Classical Martingale Inequality

A sequence f = (f1, f2, …) of integrable functions on a probability space is a martingale if, for each positive integer n, the difference fn+1- fnis orthogonal to every real bounded continuous function of f1,…, fn. The following beautiful result, due to Ville [11], is now classical: If α and β are positive numbers with α < β and f is a nonnegative martingale with f1= α, then $$P({\rm {sup} _n}\, {f_n} \geq \beta) \leq \frac{\alpha }{\beta }$$ (1) Thus, since α/β < 1, a gambler with an initial fortune α who plays a sequence of fair games in such a way that he has no chance of going into debt cannot be assured of increasing his fortune to β.
Superconductor Devices for Ultrafast Computing

Mainstream digital electronic technology based on semiconductor transistors keeps demonstrating remarkable progress. A reasonable question to ask, however, would be how long this progress will continue. Throughout the three decades of the exponential growth of this mainstream technology, this question has been the subject of much scientific and pseudo-scientific speculation.
The impact of pre-injury direct oral anticoagulants compared to warfarin in geriatric G-60 trauma patients.

Pre-injury oral anticoagulants are associated with worse outcomes in geriatric (G-60) trauma patients, but there are limited data comparing warfarin with direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC). We sought to compare outcomes in G-60 trauma patients taking pre-injury DOACs vs. warfarin. All trauma patients, age ≥60 who were admitted to the hospital and taking an oral anticoagulant pre-injury were retrospectively identified. Patients were excluded if their reason for admission was a suicide attempt or penetrating extremity injury. Outcome measures included blood transfusions, hospital LOS, and mortality. A second analysis was performed, whereby patients were matched using ISS and age. There were 3,941 patients identified; 331 had documentation of anticoagulant use, pre-injury (warfarin, n = 237; DOAC, n = 94). Demographics were similar, but ISS [9 (4–13) vs. 8 (4–9), p = .027], initial INR [2.2 (1.8–2.9) vs. 1.2 (1.1–1.5), p < .001], and the use of pharmacologic reversal agents (48 vs. 14%, p < .001) were higher in the warfarin group. There was no difference in the use of blood transfusions (24 vs. 17%, p = .164) or mortality (5.9 vs. 4.3%, p = .789) between warfarin and DOAC groups, respectively. However, LOS was longer in the warfarin group [5 (3–7.5) vs. 4 (2–6.3) days, p = .02]. Matched analysis showed no difference in blood transfusions (23 vs. 17%, p = .276), mortality (2.1 vs. 4.3%, p = .682) or LOS [5 (3–7) vs. 4 (2–6.3) days, p = .158] between warfarin and DOAC groups, respectively. Pre-injury DOACs are not associated with worse clinical outcomes compared to warfarin in G-60 trauma patients. Higher use of pharmacologic reversal agents with warfarin may be related to differences in mechanism of action and effect on INR.
Physicians and Cost Control

It can be argued that there are only two policy alternatives for the United States regarding the integration of cost control into the health care system: first, rationing by government, private payers, and health care plans through administrative rules, or second, rationing by providers and patients in response to economic incentives. In the first approach the rules of resource allocation are defined outside the provider-patient relationship on the basis of institution- or society- determined resource constraints. Certain service options are not made available, and providers and patients are made to choose what other services will be provided on the basis of the allocated resources. This approach is exemplified by the regulatory policies of the 1970s, which attempted to contain costs by imposing limits on the availability of resources and establishing guidelines for resource use.1
Fate of Pneumonectomy Patients Variably Captured by Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Staging System

Background Lung cancer patients rely on survival estimates to weigh risks and benefits of treatment. However, pneumonectomy-requiring lung cancer may have inherent oncologic or physiologic survival implications not captured by the current stage classification. Stage-specific survival was evaluated to refine survival expectations for patients with pneumonectomy-requiring disease. Methods The National Cancer Database was queried for treatment-naive patients who underwent lobectomy or pneumonectomy for stage I to III non-small cell lung cancer between 2004 and 2013. Patients who died within 90 days after resection were excluded. Three-way propensity score weighted multivariable Cox models were built and incorporated into adjusted 5-year overall survival (OS) curves. Results A total of 79,953 patients met inclusion criteria: 75,708 lobectomies (95%) and 4,245 pneumonectomies (5%). Stage I and II patients undergoing right pneumonectomy had worse adjusted 5-year OS than patients undergoing left pneumonectomy, which was worse than lobectomy (stage I: 55%, 58%, 67%; stage II: 37%, 44%, 48%; indicating right pneumonectomy, left pneumonectomy, lobectomy). Stage III right pneumonectomy patients had worse adjusted 5-year OS; however, left pneumonectomy and lobectomy patients were similar (33%, 39%, 40%). A doubly robust Cox model identified a similar pattern for mortality risk for stage I and II (right pneumonectomy > left > lobectomy); however, stage III right pneumonectomy patients had higher mortality risk than lobectomy patients (hazard ratio [HR] 1.23, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17 to 1.28, p Conclusions Pneumonectomy-requiring lung cancer embodies a 5-year mortality risk not completely captured by the lung cancer staging system. Refined survival estimates for pneumonectomy patients may enhance shared decision making in this population.
Nanocapsules of oxalate oxidase for hyperoxaluria treatment

Enzyme therapeutics have great potential for the treatment of systemic disorders such as urolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis, which are caused by the excessive accumulation of oxalate. However, exogenous enzymes have short half-lives in vivo and elicit high immunogenicity, which largely limit the therapeutic outcomes. Herein, we report a delivery strategy whereby therapeutic enzymes are encapsulated within a thin zwitterionic polymer shell to form enzyme nanocapsules. The strategy is exemplified by the encapsulation of oxalate oxidase (OxO) for the treatment of hyperoxaluria, because as-synthesized OxO nanocapsules have a prolonged blood circulation half-life and elicit reduced immunogenicity. Our design of enzyme nanocapsules that enable the systemic delivery of therapeutic enzymes can be extended to various biomedical applications.
Accuracy, Safety, and Reliability of Novel Phase I Trial Designs

A number of novel model-based and model-assisted designs have been proposed to find the MTD in phase I clinical trials, but their differences and relative pros and cons are not clear to many practitioners. We review three model-based designs, including the continual reassessment method (CRM), dose escalation with overdose control (EWOC), and Bayesian logistic regression model (BLRM), and three model-assisted designs, including the modified toxicity probability interval (mTPI), Bayesian optimal interval (BOIN), and keyboard (equivalently mTPI-2) designs. We conduct numerical studies to assess their accuracy, safety, and reliability and the practical implications of various empirical rules used in some designs, such as skipping a dose and imposing overdose control. Our results show that the CRM outperforms EWOC and BLRM with higher accuracy of identifying the MTD. For the CRM, skipping a dose is not recommended, as it substantially increases the chance of overdosing patients while providing limited gain for identifying the MTD. EWOC and BLRM appear excessively conservative. They are safe but have relatively poor accuracy of finding the MTD. The BOIN and keyboard (equivalently mTPI-2) designs have similar operating characteristics, outperforming the mTPI, but the BOIN is more intuitive and transparent. The BOIN yields competitive performance comparable with the CRM but is simpler to implement and free of the issue of irrational dose assignment caused by model misspecification, thereby providing an attractive approach for designing phase I trials. Clin Cancer Res; 24(18); 4357-64. ©2018 AACR.
Injectable drug depot engineered to release multiple ophthalmic therapeutic agents with precise time profiles for postoperative treatment following ocular surgery

Abstract A multi-drug delivery platform is developed to address current shortcomings of post-operative ocular drug delivery. The sustained biodegradable drug release system is composed of biodegradable polymeric microparticles (MPs) incorporated into a bulk biodegradable hydrogel made from triblock copolymers with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) center blocks and hydrophobic biodegradable polyester blocks such as poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), or Poly(lactide-co-caprolactone) (PLCL) blocks. This system is engineered to flow as a liquid solution at room temperature for facile injection into the eye and then quickly gel as it warms to physiological body temperatures (approximately 37 °C). The hydrogel acts as an ocular depot that can release three different drug molecules at programmed rates and times to provide optimal release of each species. In this manuscript, the hydrogel is configured to release a broad-spectrum antibiotic, a potent corticosteroid, and an ocular hypotensive, three ophthalmic therapeutic agents that are essential for post-operative management after ocular surgery, each drug released at its own timescale. The delivery platform is designed to mimic current topical application of postoperative ocular formulations, releasing the antibiotic for up to a week, and the corticosteroid and the ocular hypotensive agents for at least a month. Hydrophobic blocks, such as PLCL, were utilized to prolong the release duration of the biomolecules. This system also enables customization by being able to vary the initial drug loading to linearly tune the drug dose released, while maintaining a constant drug release profile over time. This minimally invasive biodegradable multi-drug delivery system is capable of replacing a complex ocular treatment regimen with a simple injection. Such a depot system has the potential to increase patient medication compliance and reduce both the immediate and late term complications following ophthalmic surgery. Statement of Significance After ocular surgery, patients routinely receive multiple medications including antibiotics, steroids and ocular hypotensives to ensure optimal surgical outcomes. The current standard of care for postoperative treatment after ocular surgery involves using eye drops daily, which has limited effectiveness mainly due to poor patient adherence. To improve patient experience and outcomes, this article presents the first thermoresponsive hydrogel able to release multiple drug molecules for the application of post-operative treatment following ocular surgery. By varying the parameters such as hydrogel type and polymer hydrophobicity, the drug release profile, duration and dosage can finely be tuned. The approach presented in this article can readily be applied to other applications by simply changing the drug loaded in the drug delivery system.
Locomotor Patterns in Humans with Impaired Spinal Cord Functions

Locomotor patterns in spinal cord injured subjects reflect residual brain control of spinal interneuronal networks and differ from those seen in subjects with intact nervous systems. The degree of difference is expressed as recognizable patterns, which combine, forming a new strategy to accomplish ambulation using the altered supraspinal-spinal connection.
SUPIR: surface uncertainty-penalized, non-rigid image registration for pelvic CT imaging

Intensity-driven image registration does not always produce satisfactory pointwise correspondences in regions of low soft-tissue contrast characteristic of pelvic computed tomography (CT) imaging. Additional information such as manually segmented organ surfaces can be combined with intensity information to improve registration. However, this approach is sensitive to non-negligible surface segmentation errors (delineation errors) due to the relative poor soft-tissue contrast supported by CT. This paper presents an image registration algorithm that mitigates the impact of delineation errors by weighting each surface element by its segmentation uncertainty. This weighting ensures that portions of the surface that are specified accurately are used to guide the registration while portions of the surface that are uncertain are ignored. In our proof-of-principle validation, Monte Carlo simulations based on simple 3D phantoms demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed method. These experiments show that registration performance can be improved using surface uncertainty in certain circumstances but not in others. Results are presented for situations when intensity only registration performs best, when intensity plus equally weighted surface registration performs best, and when intensity plus uncertainty weighted surface registration performs best. The algorithm has been applied to register CBCT and FBCT prostate images where the uncertainty of the prostate surface segmentation was estimated using contours drawn by five experts.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Truck Seat Intervention: Part 2-Associations Between Whole-Body Vibration Exposures and Health Outcomes.

This randomized controlled trial study was conducted to determine whether two different seating interventions would reduce exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) and improve associated health outcomes. Forty professional truck drivers were randomly assigned to two groups: (i) a control group of 20 drivers who received a new, industry-standard air-suspension seat, and (ii) an intervention group of 20 drivers who received an active-suspension seat. This study collected regional body pain (10-point scale), low back disability [Oswestry Disability Index (ODI)], physical and mental health [the Short Form 12-item Health Survey (SF-12)], and work limitations [Work Limitation Questionnaire (WLQ)] before and 3, 6, and 12 months after the seating intervention. WBV exposures were also collected during the same time periods. Due to dropouts at the 12-month time period, only data up to 6 months post-intervention were included in the analyses. The post-intervention A(8) WBV exposures were lower in both groups with a more substantial WBV exposure reduction (~50%) in the intervention group compared to the control group (~26%). There was little to no change in the impulsive exposures [VDV(8) and Sed(8)] post-intervention and no differences between the two groups. The self-reported musculoskeletal health outcomes showed that intervention group experienced a greater reduction in the low back pain (LBP) and other musculoskeletal outcomes than the control group. The LBP reduction in the intervention group was clinically meaningful (>25%); however, none of the changes in pain reached statistical significance (P's > 0.22). The SF-12 health scores demonstrated that the intervention group's physical health improved after the intervention (P's 0.11). The WLQ scores showed that the intervention group generally experienced reduced (improved) work limitation over time whereas the control group showed inconsistent changes in work limitation scores. These study findings indicate that reducing truck drivers' exposure to WBV through seating intervention can lead to improvements in LBP and other health outcomes.
The compressive strength of crumpled matter

Crumpling a sheet creates a unique, stiff and lightweight structure. Use of crumples in engineering design is limited because there are not simple, physically motivated structure-property relations available for crumpled materials; one cannot trust a crumple. On the contrary, we demonstrate that an empirical model reliably predicts the reaction of a crumpled sheet to a compressive force. Experiments show that the prediction is quantitative over 50 orders of magnitude in force, for purely elastic and highly plastic polymer films. Our data does not match recent theoretical predictions based on the dominance of building-block structures (bends, folds, d-cones, and ridges). However, by directly measuring substructures, we show clearly that the bending in the stretching ridge is responsible for the strength of both elastic and plastic crumples. Our simple, predictive model may open the door to the engineering use of a vast range of materials in this state of crumpled matter. Crumpled matter hasn’t been widely used to solve real world engineering problems largely due to the lack of quantitative models. Croll et al. show that it is the bending in ridges making both elastic and plastic sheets resistant to compression and describe the mechanical response using an empirical model.
Association between the oral microbiome and brain resting state connectivity in smokers.

Abstract Recent studies have shown a critical role of the gastrointestinal microbiome in brain and behavior via the complex gut–microbiome–brain axis. However, the influence of the oral microbiome in neurological processes is much less studied, especially in response to the stimuli, such as smoking, within the oral microenvironment. Additionally, given the complex structural and functional networks in brain, our knowledge about the relationship between microbiome and brain function through specific brain circuits is still very limited. In this pilot study, we leveraged next generation microbial sequencing with functional neuroimaging techniques to enable the delineation of microbiome-brain network links as well as their relationship to cigarette smoking. Thirty smokers and 30 age- and sex-matched nonsmokers were recruited for 16S sequencing of their oral microbial community. Among them, 56 subjects were scanned by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to derive brain functional networks. Statistical analyses were performed to demonstrate the influence of smoking on the oral microbial community, functional network connectivity among brain regions, and the associations between microbial shifts and the brain functional network connectivity alternations. Compared to nonsmokers, we found a significant decrease of beta diversity (P = 6 × 10 −3 ) in smokers and identified several classes (Betaproteobacteria, Spirochaetia, Synergistia, and Mollicutes) with significant alterations in microbial abundance. Pathway analysis on the predicted KEGG pathways shows that the microbiota with altered abundance are mainly involved in pathways related to cell processes, DNA repair, immune system, and neurotransmitters signaling. One brain functional network connectivity component was identified to have a significant difference between smokers and nonsmokers (P = 0.032), mainly including connectivity between brain default network and other task-positive networks. This brain functional component was also significantly associated with smoking related oral microbiota, suggesting a related cross-individual pattern between smoking-induced oral microbiome dysbiosis and brain functional connectivity alternation, possibly involving immunological and neurotransmitter signaling pathways. This work is the first attempt to link oral microbiome and brain functional networks, and provides support for future work in characterizing the role of oral microbiome in mediating smoking effects on brain activity.
Bilevel Optimization for Planning through Contact: A Semidirect Method

Many robotics applications, from object manipulation to locomotion, require planning methods that are capable of handling the dynamics of contact. Trajectory optimization has been shown to be a viable approach that can be made to support contact dynamics. However, the current state-of-the art methods remain slow and are often difficult to get to converge. In this work, we leverage recent advances in bilevel optimization to design an algorithm capable of efficiently generating trajectories that involve making and breaking contact. We demonstrate our method's efficiency by outperforming an alternative state-of-the-art method on two benchmark problems. We moreover demonstrate the method's ability to design a simple periodic gait for a quadruped with 15 degrees of freedom and four contact points.
Exact exchange-correlation potentials from ground-state electron densities.

The quest for accurate exchange-correlation functionals has long remained a grand challenge in density functional theory (DFT), as it describes the many-electron quantum mechanical behavior through a computationally tractable quantity—the electron density—without resorting to multi-electron wave functions. The inverse DFT problem of mapping the ground-state density to its exchange-correlation potential is instrumental in aiding functional development in DFT. However, the lack of an accurate and systematically convergent approach has left the problem unresolved, heretofore. This work presents a numerically robust and accurate scheme to evaluate the exact exchange-correlation potentials from correlated ab-initio densities. We cast the inverse DFT problem as a constrained optimization problem and employ a finite-element basis—a systematically convergent and complete basis—to discretize the problem. We demonstrate the accuracy and efficacy of our approach for both weakly and strongly correlated molecular systems, including up to 58 electrons, showing relevance to realistic polyatomic molecules. The inverse DFT problem of mapping the ground-state density to its exchange correlation potential has been numerically challenging so far. Here, the authors propose an approach for an accurate solution to the inverse DFT problem, enabling the evaluation of exact exchange and correlation potential from an ab initio density.
Approacher be-wear? Increasing shopper approach intentions through employee apparel

Abstract Employee-customer interactions have been shown to influence perceptions of service quality, but what encourages customers to approach an employee has yet to be explored. As technology is increasingly integrated into service and retail environments and employee presence is decreasing, much of the responsibility for initiating service encounters has shifted from employees to customers. However, many customers are reluctant to approach employees. This manuscript examines the process through which a customer decides whether to approach an employee. Apparel is among the most noticeable cues customers' use to evaluate employees, thus, signaling theory is used to examine employee apparel's effect on consumers' approach intentions. Additionally, embarrassment is shown to moderate the approach decision process. Three studies, including a 360° video experiment and a behavioral lab study, are used to assess the relationship between apparel and approach decisions. These findings provide evidence that expertise-signaling apparel may be more effective at increasing approach intentions.
Identification of lipid biomarkers of metastatic potential and gene expression ( HER2 / p53 ) in human breast cancer cell cultures using ambient mass spectrometry

In breast cancer, overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) correlates with overactivation of lipogenesis, mutation of tumor suppressor p53, and increased metastatic potential. The mechanisms through which lipids mediate p53, HER2, and metastatic potential are largely unknown. We have developed a desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) method to identify lipid biomarkers of HER2/p53 expression, metastatic potential, and disease state (viz. cancer vs. non-cancerous) in monolayer and suspension breast cancer cell cultures (metastatic potential: MCF-7, T-47D, MDA-MB-231; HER2/p53: HCC2218 (HER2+++/p53+), HCC1599 (HER2−/p53−), HCC202 (HER2++/p53−), HCC1419 (HER2+++/p53−) HCC70 (HER2−/p53+++); non-cancerous: MCF-10A). Unsupervised principal component analysis (PCA) of DESI-MS spectra enabled identification of twelve lipid biomarkers of metastatic potential and disease state, as well as ten lipids that distinguish cell lines based on HER2/p53 expression levels (> 200 lipids were identified per cell line). In addition, we developed a DESI-MS imaging (DESI-MSI) method for mapping the spatial distribution of lipids in metastatic spheroids (MDA-MB-231). Of the twelve lipids that correlate with changes in the metastatic potential of monolayer cell cultures, three were localized to the necrotic core of spheroids, indicating a potential role in promoting cancer cell survival in nutrient-deficient environments. One lipid species, which was not detected in monolayer MDA-MB-231 cultures, was spatially localized to the periphery of the spheroid, suggesting a potential role in invasion and/or proliferation. These results demonstrate that combining DESI-MS/PCA of monolayer and suspension cell cultures with DESI-MSI of spheroids is a promising approach for identifying lipid biomarkers of specific genotypes and phenotypes, as well as elucidating the potential function of these biomarkers in breast cancer.
China’s Stadium Diplomacy and its Determinants: A Typological Investigation of Soft Power

Since 1958, China has constructed over 140 sports facilities around the world. Previous research into stadium diplomacy lacks definitional clarity, has not systematically investigated the phenomenon, and crucially, has failed to explain why China employs stadium diplomacy where it does. This article defines the phenomenon and locates all known cases without temporal or geographic restrictions. We create a classification system and typology, permitting a comparison of theoretically-like types to develop and test a multi-determinant theory. We find empirical evidence that China employs stadium diplomacy to secure natural resources and to secure diplomatic recognition in line with the One-China policy. These findings have important implications for scholarship into the use of soft power within interstate rivalry, and the methodology demonstrates that a clear typology of soft power which is mutually exclusive and logically exhaustive can be created and is informative. Keywords: China, stadium diplomacy, soft power, interstate rivalry
Environmental music therapy (EMT): Music’s contribution to changing hospital atmospheres and perceptions of environments

AbstractThere are a myriad of sensory elements that contribute to the hospital sensory experience.Environmental Music Therapy is a human-centered, trauma informed strategy that encompasses a process using the metaphoric and associative properties of live music that seeks to modulate patients’ and staff’s perception of the hospital milieu as hostile. While there have been a few studies that have measured EMT’s actual impact quantifiably [1-5], this is the first article to outline the steps and provide orientation, theoretical grounding, and training guidelines for its actual implementation. It is hoped that EMT can be instituted in hospital ICUs as a viable, accessible practice for music therapists whereby its institution will address the sound environment, and perhaps most particularly in those ICUs that are extremely noisy or eerily quiet. Keywords: Environmental Music Therapy, soundscape, soundtrack, ICU, milieu perception
A Qualitative Analysis of the Coping Reservoir Model of Pre-Clinical Medical Student Well-Being: Human Connection as Making It 'Worth It'

By all indications, well-being among physicians is poor, which manifests in various outcomes, including burnout, depression/anxiety, low life satisfaction, alcohol/substance misuse, suicide ideation, and suicide. Despite the vast literature on physician burnout, there is relatively little research on how pre-clinical experiences in medical school may be an antecedent to subsequent poor health among physicians. Here we focus on two neglected areas within the literature by focusing on the pre-clinical stage of medical school and the positive, as opposed to exclusively the negative, aspects of the medical school experience as it affects well-being. This study utilizes the metaphor of the Coping Reservoir Model as a theoretical and analytical framework for understanding medical student well-being by identify the ‘depleting’ and ‘replenishing’ inputs that are deposited into students’ coping reservoirs. We analyze 105 medical students’ reflective writings using a data analytic process consistent with an interpretive description approach, engaging in a hierarchical 3-step coding process to identify the main replenishing inputs deposited into students’ coping reservoirs. The main depleting inputs that we identify are consistent with those identified by The Coping Reservoir Model. In addressing our main research question regarding the replenishing inputs, results show the main positive factors are psycho-social resources, intellectual stimulation, and social support/relationships. Most importantly, relationships with patients shape all three of these positive factors and provide the main source of hope that the stress of medical school will get better. What allows students to frame their experiences with hope and optimism are the connections they form with each other and with patients. The prolonged stress of medical school is made “worth it” in hopes that it will “get better” with more meaningful patient interaction in the future. These results that emphasize the positive aspects of medical school are discussed in context of their theoretical contributions to The Coping Reservoir Model and the practical implications for medical education to improve medical student well-being by facilitating human connection.
Airborne Release Fractions from Surrogate Nuclear Waste Fires Containing Lanthanide Nitrates and Depleted Uranium Nitrate in 30% Tributyl Phosphate in Kerosene

Airborne contaminants from fires containing nuclear waste represent significant health hazards and shape the design and operation of nuclear facilities. Much of the data used to formulate DOE-HDBK-...
Surface structure of 1,4-benzenedithiol on Au(111)

Abstract The structure of self-assembled monolayers of 1,4-benzene dithiol (1,4-BDT) oligomers on Au(111) has been investigated using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements in ultrahigh vacuum combined with density function theory (DFT) calculations. The dominant adsorption geometry of 1,4-BDT oligomer chains involves an Au adatom linker forming a complex with two trans anchoring groups, resulting in a zigzag structure. STM measurements show preferential growth from step edges where gold adatoms can be extracted to form the oligomers. Ladder-like structures involving two parallel oligomer chains are observed at medium coverages, suggesting a stabilizing interaction between neighboring chains and reduced mobility following oligomerization. At high-coverages, the gold surface is covered with close-packed domains of oligomers. DFT STM simulations were performed using the Tersoff-Hamann method in order to elucidate structures observed in STM measurements.
The Proclamation of Charles H. Long in the Time of Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, and COVID‐19

Revisiting Charles Long's 1991 proclamation of a modern crisis of materiality, this essay examines Long's theorization of the fetish-commodity legacies, that recreated African persons into objects and commodities, as a means of understanding our present tripartite pandemic of systemic racism, environmental destruction, and COVID-19 Examining the period of, what Long elsewhere terms, the “second creation,” I interrogate what this crisis means for the study of religion and for our society today Building on Long's conception of “soul stuff” and yet moving beyond notions of human exceptionalism, I argue that to move beyond fetish and colonial legacies and realize a “third creation” (or, in other words, a (re-)recreation), both scholars and the public must craft a new materialism that honors the ontological reality and value of all existence © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC
Childcare, Campus Support Services, and Other Barriers for College Students Who are Parents at a 4-Year Hispanic Serving Institution:

College student parents are a unique population not always heard on college campuses. The current study reports the voice of student parents and their challenges in pursuing higher education, while...
Edwards II: Report of an Excavation in Western Oklahoma

Edwards II is located on the North Fork of the Red River in western Oklahoma. It is one of two sites excavated in 1968 by the University of Oklahoma Field School in Archaeology. The major excavatio...
Leap Motion Controller for Authentication via Hand Geometry and Gestures

The Leap Motion controller is a consumer gesture sensor aimed to augment a user's interactive experience with their computer. Using infrared sensors, it is able to collect data about the position and motions of a user's hands. This data allows the Leap to be used as an authentication device. This study explores the possibility of performing both login as well as continuous authentication using the Leap Motion device. The work includes classification of static data gathered by the Leap Motion using trained classifiers, with over 99i?ź% accuracy. In addition, data was recorded from the users while utilizing the Leap Motion to read and navigate through Wikipedia pages. A template was created using the user attributes that were found to have the highest merit. The algorithm found when matching the template to the users newly collected data, the authentication provided an accuracy of over 98i?ź%, and an equal error rate of 0.8i?ź% even for a small number of attributes. This study demonstrates that the Leap Motion can indeed by used successfully to both authenticate users at login as well as while performing continuous activities. As the Leap Motion is an inexpensive device, this raises the potential of using its data in the future for authentication instead of traditional keyboard passwords.
Learning Web Request Patterns

Most requests on the Web are made on behalf of human users, and like other human-computer interactions, the actions of the user can be characterized by identifiable regularities. Much of these patterns of activity, both within a user and between users, can be identified and exploited by intelligent mechanisms for learning Web request patterns. Our focus is on Markov-based probabilistic techniques, both for their predictive power and for their popularity in Web modeling and other domains. Although history-based mechanisms can provide strong performance in predicting future requests, performance can be improved by including predictions from additional sources.
Computational problems in magnetic fusion research

Numerical calculations have had an important role in fusion research since its beginning, but the application of computers to plasma physics has advanced rapidly in the last few years. One reason for this is the increasing sophistication of the mathematical models of plasma behavior, and another is the increased speed and memory of the computers which made it reasonable to consider numerical simulation of fusion devices. The behavior of a plasma is simulated by a variety of numerical models. Some models used for short times give detailed knowledge of the plasma on a microscopic scale, while other models used for much longer times compute macroscopic properties of the plasma dynamics.
Degradation of linoleic acid hydroperoxides by a cysteine . FeCl3 catalyst as a model for similar biochemical reactions. II. Specificity in formation of fatty acid epoxides.

1. The degradation of linoleic acid hydroperoxide by cysteine and FeCl3 resulted in formation of a number of oxygenated fatty acids, among which isomeric epoxyoxooctadecenoic and epoxyhydroxyoctadecenoic acids were major products. Pure isomeric hydroperoxides, either 13-L(S)-hydroperoxy-cis-9,trans-11-octadecadienoic acid or 9-D(S)-hydroperoxy-trans-10,cis-12-octadecadienoic acid, were transformed into either 12,13-epoxides or 9,10-epoxides, respectively. 2. From 13-L(S)-hydroperoxy-cis-9,trans-11-octadecadienoic acid, the epoxides were identified as trans-12,13-epoxy-9-oxo-trans-10-octadecenoic acid, trans-12,13-epoxy-9-hydroxy-trans-10-octadecenoic acid, cis-12,13-epoxy-9-oxo-trans-10-octadecenoic acid, trans-12,13-epoxy-erythro-11-hydroxy-cis(trans)-9-octadecenoic acid and trans-12,13-epoxy-threo-11-hydroxy-cis(trans)-9-octadecenoic acid. 3. The 12,13-epoxides were found to be optically active, indicating that the chiral center of the 13-L(S)-hydroperoxy carbon was retained. 4. Although many epoxy fatty acids previously have been identified as linoleic acid hydroperoxide products, this study reports a more complete structural analysis of the various epoxides and allows an assessment of the mechanisms of their formation from hydroperoxides.
Radiation-induced activation of ErbB2, ErbB3 and IGF-1R in breast carcinoma cells expressing low EGFR levels

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 4386 Previous studies have demonstrated that ionizing radiation (IR) activates EGFR in diverse carcinoma cell lines both in vitro and in vivo as detected by enhanced Tyr autophosphorylation. Less studied are other members of the ErbB family and other receptor Tyr kinases such as IGF-1R. Downstream signaling from these receptor families through both the MAPK and PI3-K pathways has been shown to be critical in radioresistance mechanisms. In the present report we have examined activation of ErbB2/ErbB3 and IGF-1R in two breast cancer cell lines that express relatively low levels of EGFR (MCF-7 and T47D). Receptor activation was followed post-IR (3 Gy) or after ligand treatment (IGF-1 or heregulin) by immunoprecipitation with anti-phosphoTyr and blotting with the appropriate receptor antibodies. Immediate downstream signaling was monitored as Tyr phosphorylation of the adaptor protein, SHC, for all three receptors. SHC is in the MAPK signaling pathway. In addition, for IGF-1R, the phosphorylation state of the IRS adaptor protein (upstream of the PI3-K/Akt pathway) was determined as follows: Tyr phosphorylation as a measure of activation and Ser312 phosphorylation as a measure of inhibition. The tyrphostin inhibitors for ErbB2 and IGF-1R kinase activities were respectively, 5 μM AG 825, and 10 μM AG 1024. Initial experiments established time courses for the IR-induced activation of the receptors. Both ErbB2 and ErbB3 showed an initial transient increase in receptor phosphorylation centered at 5-10 min post-IR with a more sustained increase at time points between 30-120 mins. In contrast there was no evidence for IR-induced activation of IGF-1R although IGF-1 addition stimulated a robust increase in receptor Tyr phosphorylation.. IR-stimulated increased SHC Tyr phosphorylation consistent with the observed MAPK signaling observed in these cells after IR treatment. AG825, although effective in inhibiting IR-induced ErbB2 autophosphorylation, was without effect on IR-induced SHC phosphorylation. A 1 hr pre-treatment with 1AG1024 on the other hand blocked IR-stimulated SHC phosphorylation. Activation of IRS as measured by Tyr phosphorylation was not observed although Ser312 phosphorylation increased significantly as a consequence of an IR exposure. We propose that in cells that express low levels of EGFR exposure to low IR doses channels IGF-1R signaling into the cytoprotective pathway MAPK pathway. In keeping with our previous studies, anti-apoptotic PI3-K/Akt signaling, on the other hand, is predominantly a function of ErbB2/ErbB3 activity possibly because of the 6 PI3-K binding sites on ErbB3.
Developing Supplemental Guidelines for Music: A Case Report

Supplemental guidelines are an essential part of a regional conspectus of music collections sponsored by the New York Metropolitan Reference and Research Library Agency (METRO). In devising appropriate guide lines for this field of study, a task force of four music librarians determined that the four principal formats typical of music colleclions (books, periodicals, scores, and recordings) should be suitably individualized, both with respect to the Conspectus code definitions and to the recommended "benchmarks" (i.e., bibliographies and discographies that can be used to assess the quality of collections). Besides writing the guidelines, the task force is proposing changes to the Music Conspectus form in light of nearly a decade's experience since it was first developed by the Research Libraries Group (RLG).
'Wave' analysis of Venus ionospheric flux ropes

The behavior of the general field fluctuations observed by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter magnetometer in the Venusian ionosphere is approached via the application of wave-analysis techniques to their compressional amplitude, ellipticity, and polarization. The most marked change in these properties occurs within about 15 deg of the terminator; ellipticity and compressional power plummet, implying that flux ropes either drastically change in character there or are confined to the dayside hemisphere, within about 75 percent of the subsolar point. Attention is given to a heuristic model which attempts to unify dayside flux-rope and 'terminator wave' interpretations.
Vertical distribution of disequilibrium species in Jupiter's troposphere

Sources of organic matter and inorganic tracers on Jupiter, including solar UV photolysis, lightning discharges, and convective quenching of hot gases from the lower atmosphere, are reviewed in light of Earth-based and Voyager data with the purpose of predicting the tropospheric steady-state abundances and vertical distributions of HCN, CH2O, and other species.
The role of the adult educator in helping learners access and select quality health information on the Internet

When people turn to the Internet to learn about health conditions and issues, many are unable to understand the information they obtain. This chapter documents the gap between what is available on line and many learners' reading abilities, reviews criteria for evaluating web-based information as well as good sources of information, and examines what adult educators can do to assist learners with locating, evaluating and using web-based information.
The correlated-k coefficients calculated by random band models

Abstract The correlated-k coefficient for the cumulative distribution of the absorption coefficient in random band models is calculated with a computationally efficient algorithm based on a numerical inverse Laplace transform. A scaling transformation is introduced to partially eliminate the ill-conditioned behavior around the singularity point. In the region very close to the singularity, an analytic expression for the k coefficient derived for the Malkmus model is used to match the whole solution. The algorithm yields accurate k coefficients with a maximum error for a few percent. When applied to the random band model with an S-1-β-tailed line intensity distribution and a Voigt line profile, the algorithm yields a maximum error in the escape function of