cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Accretion disk instability revisited Transient dynamics of rotating shear flow

Accretion disk flow in a local Cartesian (or "shearing box") approximation is examined for viscous three-dimensional linear disturbances. Eigenvalue computations predict that the flow is asymptotically stable unless the rotation number falls in the range 0 < Ro < 1/2, in agreement with predictions of inviscid theory; Keplerian flow (Ro = 1/q = 2/3) is accord- ingly stable. Analysis of non-modal disturbances predicts large transient amplification factors, implying that the flow, although asymptotically stable, may be transiently unstable. Strong rotation, including Keplerian, two-dimensionalizes the system: the largest growth factors are found for disturbances which are uniform along the direction of the rotation axis and amplification occurs via the Orr mechanism, as in 2D shear flow. Amplification factors scale as Re 2/3 , implying very strong growth in actual disks. The implications of transient instability of rotating shear on disk turbulence are discussed.
Accuracy of Dobutamine Echocardiography for Detection of Myocardial Viability in Patients With an Occluded Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery

Objectives. We studied the accuracy of dobutamine echocardiography for the detection of myocardial viability in patients with an occluded left anterior descending coronary artery and regional ventricular dysfunction. Background. Contractile reserve during dobutamine echocardiography is an accurate marker of myocardial viability in patients with coronary stenoses and ventricular dysfunction. However, its accuracy in patients with an occluded vessel has not been evaluated. Methods. We studied 41 patients with >50% stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery and regional ventricular dysfunction who underwent dobutamine echocardiography for detection of viable myocardium. Contractile reserve was defined as improvement in wall motion score of two or more contiguous septal or anterior segments during dobutamine echocardiography. Recovery of function was defined as improvement in rest wall motion score of two or more contiguous segments after revascularization. Results. Patients were classified into two groups according to the presence (n = 20) or absence (n = 21) of left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion. Contractile reserve was detected in 40% of patients with an occluded and 43% with a nonoccluded artery (p = 0.8). Of 41 patients, 27 underwent revascularization, 12 with and 15 without an occluded vessel. Recovery of function occurred in 6 (50%) of 12 patients in the occluded artery group and in 5 (33%) of 15 in the nonoccluded artery group (p = 0.4). Among patients with an occluded artery, the positive and negative predictive values of dobutamine echocardiography for recovery of function were 100% (95% confidence interval [CI] 48% to 100%) and 86% (95% CI 42% to 100%), respectively. Conclusions. Our results indicate that contractile reserve during dobutamine echocardiography can be detected in patients with an occluded vessel and may be useful for predicting recovery of function after revascularization.
DCT-based scheme to accelerate multimedia search in NAND Flash memories

NAND Flash memories are gaining popularity due to their high density, robustness, low power consumption and low read times. Searching data in NAND flash memory is fast for small memory sizes but as the memory size increases, searches become painfully slow. With increased user content inclining towards large multimedia such as images, audio and video, there is a need for faster multimedia content searches (MCS). In this paper we develop a hardware based enhancement technique for fast multimedia content searches in NAND Flash memories. The central idea is to compress the multimedia data by applying Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and storing selected coefficients as signatures in the spare blocks of the memory. When a multimedia search request comes in, a signature of the search request is computed and only the signature blocks are compared for a match, thus making faster searches. DCT-based compression gives good results for text, audio, image and video files. If a small part of a multimedia data is given as search request, this technique returns all possible matches found in the set of files stored in the flash memory. Applications of this technique can be found in entertainment industry, music libraries, face recognition etc. Simulations are run for memories between size 2Gb to 16Gb. A speed-up of 450X in the search operation is achieved with this technique. The additional hardware has no performance impact on read or sequential writes of memory. The hardware overhead is estimated to be 0.03% of the total memory area.
Dynamics of carbon sequestration in a coastal wetland using radiocarbon measurements

as a function of depth in the peat cores decrease with time from � 130 ± 9 g C/m 2 /yr over the last century to � 13 ± 2 g C/m 2 /yr over the millennium timescale. The short-term C accumulation rates estimated by examining the differences in the radiocarbon and C contents of the surfacial peat between archived (1985, 1988) and present (1996 and 1997) samples range from 42 to 193 g C/m 2 /yr in low marsh, from 18 to 184 g C/m 2 /yr in middle marsh, and from � 50 to 181 g C/m 2 /yr in high marsh. The high end-values of our estimated short-term C accumulation rates are comparable to the estimated rates of C sequestration in coastal wetlands reported by Chmura et al. [2003], but are significantly higher than our estimated long-term rates in the marshes and are also much higher than the published rates of C sequestration in northern peatlands. The higher recent rates of C accumulation in coastal marshes, in comparison with the longer-term rates, are due to slow but continuous decomposition of organic matter in the peat over time. However, other factors such as increased primary production in the coastal wetland over the last decades or century, due to a rise in mean sea level and/or CO2 and nitrogen fertilization effect, could also have contributed to the large difference between the recent and longerterm rates. Our data indicate that salt marshes in this area have been and continue to be a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Because of higher rates of C sequestration and lower CH4 emissions, coastal wetlands could be more valuable C sinks per unit area than other ecosystems in a warmer world. INDEX TERMS: 1030 Geochemistry: Geochemical cycles (0330); 1040 Geochemistry: Isotopic composition/chemistry; 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309); KEYWORDS: C accumulation, coastal wetland, radiocarbon
Effects of ad hoc layer medium access mechanisms under TCP

Mobile computing is the way of the future, as evident by such initiatives as Bluetooth, Iceberg and HomeRF. However, for mobile computing to be successful, an obvious layer, the MAC layer, must be efficient in channel access and reservation . Therefore, in-dpeth understanding is needed of the wireless MAC layerif wireless computing is to takeoff. Many random access wireless MAC protocols have been proposed and even standardized. However, there has yet been an attempt to understand why certain designs are used and what makes certain protocols better than others. In this paper, we survey several popular, contemporary, wireless, random access MAC protocols and determine the effects behind the design choices of these protocols.
An Overview of U.S. Whistleblowing Law

Although efforts to encourage whistleblowers to come forward date back to 1778, the United States has enjoyed a conflicted history with respect to whistleblowers. While some commentators pillory Edward Snowden, some privacy rights advocates praise his actions. Perhaps reflecting these conflicting sentiments, current protections in the U.S. are a patchwork collection of industry-specific legislation.The current slate of legislation is largely the result of the confluence of recurring waves of media publicity exposing government fraud, the growth in government spending and involvement, and Congress’s attempts to respond to adverse publicity concerning government fraud. The succession of public crises running from Watergate to the wasteful spending in the Iraq War, to the collapse of the financial and securities industries have demonstrated that the government needs whistleblowers to help expose fraud and waste. As successive legislative attempts to extend whistleblower protections have demonstrated, reform “is usually precipitated by some crisis or new political movement that disrupts the preexisting status quo.” Ironically, in this fight to extend protections, Congress has often found itself at odds with federal judges who have repeatedly narrowed the scope of whistleblower protections and raised numerous hurdles whistleblowers.
Increased Sleep Fragmentation Leads to Impaired Off-Line Consolidation of Motor Memories in Humans

A growing literature supports a role for sleep after training in long-term memory consolidation and enhancement. Consequently, interrupted sleep should result in cognitive deficits. Recent evidence from an animal study indeed showed that optimal memory consolidation during sleep requires a certain amount of uninterrupted sleep. Sleep continuity is disrupted in various medical disorders. We compared performance on a motor sequence learning task (MST) in relatively young subjects with obstructive sleep apnea (n = 16; apnea-hypopnea index 17.1±2.6/h [SEM]) to a carefully matched control group (n = 15, apnea-hypopnea index 3.7±0.4/h, p<0.001. Apart from AHI, oxygen nadir and arousal index, there were no significant differences between groups in total sleep time, sleep efficiency and sleep architecture as well as subjective measures of sleepiness based on standard questionnaires. In addition performance on the psychomotor vigilance task (reaction time and lapses), which is highly sensitive to sleep deprivation showed no differences as well as initial learning performance during the training phase. However there was a significant difference in the primary outcome of immediate overnight improvement on the MST between the two groups (controls = 14.7±4%, patients = 1.1±3.6%; P = 0.023) as well as plateau performance (controls = 24.0±5.3%, patients = 10.1±2.0%; P = 0.017) and this difference was predicted by the arousal index (p = 0.02) rather than oxygen saturation (nadir and time below 90% saturation. Taken together, this outcome provides evidence that there is a clear minimum requirement of sleep continuity in humans to ensure optimal sleep dependent memory processes. It also provides important new information about the cognitive impact of obstructive sleep apnea and challenges its current definitions.
Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel mammalian endo-apyrase (LALP1).

Here we describe the cloning, localization, and characterization of a novel mammalian endo-apyrase (LALP1) in human and mouse. The predicted human LALP1 gene encodes a 604-amino acid protein, whereas the mouse Lalp1 gene encodes a 606-amino acid protein. The human and mouse genes have 88% amino acid sequence identity. These genes share considerable homologies with hLALP70, a recently discovered mammalian lysosomal endo-apyrase. The human LALP1 gene resides on chromosome 10q23–q24 and contains 12 exons and 11 introns covering a genomic region of ∼46 kilobase pairs. The subcellular localization and enzymatic activity of LALP1 indicated that LALP1 is indeed an endo-apyrase with substrate preference for nucleoside triphosphates UTP, GTP, and CTP.
Pioneer Italian Teachers of Italian in the United States

Author's Summary— Against the background of the educational conditions prevalent in American colleges during the first three quarters of the nineteenth century, the author examines the contributions made to the teaching of Italian in the United States by Italian pioneers in this field, principally: Foresti, Bachi, Monti, Botta, Maroncelli, Gallenga, Speranza and others. The principal textbooks used in the teaching of Italian are also briefly analyzed.
Predators reduce abundance and species richness of coral reef fish recruits via non-selective predation

Predators have important effects on coral reef fish populations, but their effects on community structure have only recently been investigated and are not yet well understood. Here, the effect of predation on the diversity and abundance of young coral reef fishes was experimentally examined in Moorea, French Polynesia. Effects of predators were quantified by monitoring recruitment of fishes onto standardized patch reefs in predator-exclosure cages or uncaged reefs. At the end of the 54-day experiment, recruits were 74% less abundant on reefs exposed to predators than on caged ones, and species richness was 42% lower on reefs exposed to predators. Effects of predators varied somewhat among families, however, rarefaction analysis indicated that predators foraged non-selectively among species. These results indicate that predation can alter diversity of reef fish communities by indiscriminately reducing the abundance of fishes soon after settlement, thereby reducing the number of species present on reefs.
The shape of things to come: woodland herb niche contraction begins during recruitment in mesic forest microhabitat.

Natural abundance is shaped by the abiotic requirements and biotic interactions that shape a species’ niche, yet these influences are rarely decoupled. Moreover, most plant mortality occurs during early life stages, making seed recruitment critical in structuring plant populations. We find that natural abundance of two woodland herbs, Hexastylis arifolia and Hepatica nobilis, peaks at intermediate resource levels, a pattern probably formed by concurrent abiotic and biotic interactions. To determine how this abundance patterning reflects intrinsic physiological optima and extrinsic biotic interactions, we translocate adults and seeds to novel locations across experimentally extended abiotic gradients. These experiments indicate that the plant distributions probably reflect biotic interactions as much as physiological requirements, and that adult abundance provides a poor indication of the underlying niche requirements. The positive response exhibited by adult transplants in the wettest conditions is offset by increased fungal attack on buried seeds consistent with peak natural abundance where soil moisture is intermediate. This contraction of niche space is best described by Connell’s model—species are limited by physiological tolerances where resources are low and biotic interactions where resources are high.
Structurally mapping the diverse phenotype of adeno-associated virus serotype 4

The adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) can package and deliver foreign DNA into cells for corrective gene delivery applications. The AAV serotypes have distinct cell binding, transduction, and antigenic characteristics that have been shown to be dictated by the capsid viral protein (VP) sequence. To understand the contribution of capsid structure to these properties, we have determined the crystal structure of AAV serotype 4 (AAV4), one of the most diverse serotypes with respect to capsid protein sequence and antigenic reactivity. Structural comparison of AAV4 to AAV2 shows conservation of the core beta strands (betaB to betaI) and helical (alphaA) secondary structure elements, which also exist in all other known parvovirus structures. However, surface loop variations (I to IX), some containing compensating structural insertions and deletions in adjacent regions, result in local topological differences on the capsid surface. These include AAV4 having a deeper twofold depression, wider and rounder protrusions surrounding the threefold axes, and a different topology at the top of the fivefold channel from that of AAV2. Also, the previously observed "valleys" between the threefold protrusions, containing AAV2's heparin binding residues, are narrower in AAV4. The observed differences in loop topologies at subunit interfaces are consistent with the inability of AAV2 and AAV4 VPs to combine for mosaic capsid formation in efforts to engineer novel tropisms. Significantly, all of the surface loop variations are associated with amino acids reported to affect receptor recognition, transduction, and anticapsid antibody reactivity for AAV2. This observation suggests that these capsid regions may also play similar roles in the other AAV serotypes.
An ultra-fast carrier recovery versus traditional synchronizers

A new ultra fast carrier recovery (CR) method based on adaptive phase tracking (APT) and frequency control (FC) is disclosed for a large class of digitally modulated system. The new digital signal processing (DSP) based methodology is demonstrated by hardware experiment for coherent demodulation. In addition, our comparative study with more conventional synchronization techniques indicate that the synchronization speed of our APT is reduced from the present state of the art (20 bits) to 4 bits. The tremendous synchronization advantage combined with robust error rate performance leads to increased spectral efficiency, power efficiency and larger capacity.
Extracting logical structure and identifying stragglers in parallel execution traces

We introduce a new approach to automatically extract an idealized logical structure from a parallel execution trace. We use this structure to define intuitive metrics such as the lateness of a process involved in a parallel execution. By analyzing and illustrating traces in terms of logical steps, we leverage a developer's understanding of the happened-before relations in a parallel program. This technique can uncover dependency chains, elucidate communication patterns, and highlight sources and propagation of delays, all of which may be obscured in a traditional trace visualization.
Assay of nitrofurantoin oral suspensions contaminated with 3-(5-nitrofurfurylideneamino)hydantoic acid.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis of oral suspensions for nitrofurantoin (1) and 3-(5-nitrofurfurylideneamino)hydantoic acid (2), an impurity derived from 1, is presented. The concentration of the impurity ranged from 20 to 300 μg/mL in several lots of commercial oral suspensions. Conversion of 1 to 2 with citrate buffer, an excipient in the oral suspension, was achieved; selective hydantoin ring cleavage was accomplished in preference to the generally observed cleavage at the azomethine linkage. The hydantoic acid 2 was synthesized and identified by NMR, IR, TLC, and elemental analysis.
Revisiting the Role of Fat Mass in the Life Extension Induced by Caloric Restriction

One of the most robust observations in the biology of aging is that caloric restriction (CR) extends life in a variety of species. Although CR results in a severalfold decrease in fat mass (FM), the role of fat on life extension was considered to be minimal. Two main reasons accounted for this belief. First, although increased FM is associated with changes in substrate oxidation and in glucose homeostasis, in part through the effects of free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerol, several studies have suggested that longevity is determined independent of FM. Second, CR has systemic effects on a range of functions including neurological, endocrine, reproductive, immunological and antineoplastic, none of which have been historically linked to fat. In the last few years, an explosion of evidence has demonstrated that fat tissue is a very active endocrine gland which secretes a variety of peptides (such as leptin and plasminogen activating inhibitor-1), cytokines (such as tumor necrosis factor), and complement factors (such as D, C3, and B). This is in addition to the presence of substrates, such as glycerol and FFA, which are stored and released by fat cells and are known to have a major role in hepatic and peripheral glucose metabolism. We propose that many of the systemic effects of CR can now be explained by the chronic effects related to decreased plasma levels of peptides, cytokines, complement factors, and substrates. In fact, all of the benefits of CR on the neuroendocrine system and those related to the improvement in glucose homeostasis can be attributed to decrease in adipose cells and their products. Other evidence from epidemiological data in human obesity supports the role of fat mass and its body distribution as a risk factor for morbidity and mortality in humans due to impaired glucose metabolism (similar to rodents), for cancer (similar to rodents), and for the development of atherosclerotic vascular disease (in humans). If all or most of the life-extending benefits of CR can be attributed to decreased fat stores, the expression of specific candidate proteins may be explored and manipulated in the search for the most powerful adipose-dependent signals that modulate life expectancy.
Antifungal pharmacotherapy for invasive mould infections

The incidence of invasive mould infections is increasing and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Among the most prevalent of these infections are those caused by Aspergillus and Fusarium species. Invasive disease caused by moulds frequently presents as a pulmonary infection, but haematogenous infection can occur. Some moulds cause cutaneous disease through either direct inoculation of the skin or secondary spread to the skin after dissemination from another body site. Early diagnosis can often be difficult and, unfortunately, diagnosis occurs late in the course of illness in many cases. Treatment options have historically been limited by the need for intravenous administration (amphotericin B), significant toxicities (amphotericin B), lack of reliable in vitro activity (e.g., amphotericin B in Fusarium and Scedosporium apiospermum infections) and relative lack of clinical experience with newer agents. The recent approval of voriconazole (Vfend, Pfizer) introduces a treatment option that demonstrates both in vitro and in vivo activity against a variety of moulds. With the recent development of the new echinocandin class of antifungal agents and newer broad-spectrum azole antifungal agents with in vitro mould activity, there is a renewed emphasis on fungal treatment strategies. Antimould therapy presents challenges in adverse effect avoidance and management, drug interactions and pharmacoeconomic considerations. Furthermore, combination therapy is being explored with these various new antifungal agents. The administration of an optimal fungicidal therapy early in the course of the illness and control of the underlying disease are vital to prevent complications and mortality from these tenacious mycoses.
The Culture of Fear and the Politics of Education

American public education has historically been considered a great success. Since the release of the landmark 1983 federal report, A Nation at Risk, concerns about many aspects of American educatio...
Defining moments: The link between definitions of teaching and the desire to teach

In response to the well documented lack of highly qualified STEM educators in the United States, this work seeks to understand how to increase interest in K-12 STEM teaching among engineering students. This paper presents a preliminary framework and findings exploring factors that motivate the choice of a teaching career among the alumni of a small engineering college. In particular, it focuses on the relationship between the ways in which study participants defined “teaching” and “teacher” and their post-graduate interests and pursuits. Fourteen subjects participated in semi-structured, open-ended interviews designed to elicit an understanding of their definitions of teaching as well as the experiences and influences that shaped those definitions. Preliminary analysis suggests that participants with very narrow views of teaching and learning are averse to teaching, while those with broader definitions are likelier to engage in teaching, teaching-related careers, or consider them in the future.
Compiling Standard ML

The ML in the name Standard ML stands for meta-language. SML was designed as a language for describing languages when it was used as part of the Logic for Computable Functions (LCF) system [9]. Two tools were designed to work with Standard ML for language implementation, ML-lex and ML-yacc. The pattern matching, ease of defining recursive datatypes, the functional nature of the language along with these two tools make Standard ML an excellent language choice for implementing interpreters and compilers.
Olaparib for the treatment of ovarian cancer

Olaparib, an oral poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, is the first FDA-approved drug in its class for patients with ovarian cancer, specifically in a subset of patients with BRCA mutations and prior chemotherapy treatments. PARP inhibitors have had other implications in different solid tumor types including breast, gastric and pancreatic malignancies. In light of the recent FDA approval of olaparib for the treatment of ovarian cancer, this article aims to outline the mechanisms and implications of the drug. With a favorable adverse event profile and improved outcomes, including progression-free survival, olaparib has demonstrated augmentation to therapeutic options in the treatment of ovarian cancer.
Design and Testing of Deployable Carbon Fiber Booms for CubeSat Non-Gossamer Applications

CubeSats have tremendous potential to facilitate low-cost astrophysics and orbital science experimentation, but are limited by the proximity of sensors to interference from the satellite itself. In order to facilitate reliable data collection from sensitive instruments, deployable booms provide a means of separation from the spacecraft. In this work, a deployable carbon fiber boom was designed and tested to show feasibility at this small scale. Prototype booms with a lenticular cross section were developed in conjunction with a computational model. Mechanical testing has shown the ability to reliably flatten the booms in a bi-stable configuration so that it can be stored on a reel.
Continuation Analysis of Nonlinear Systems with Equality Constraints on States, Parameters, and Eigenvalues

The high complexity of modern autonomous aerospace systems has created a need for new, powerful analysis techniques for control design, verification, and validation. This paper exploits the capabilities of continuation methods to analyze system properties of interest along with identification of stability boundaries of parameter-dependent nonlinear systems in the context of numerical bifurcation analysis. Direct inclusion of equality constraints and numerical implementation of continuation methods is discussed. In addition, eigenvalue-based performance metrics are investigated. For this, an extended system of equations for the continuation of equilibrium solutions subject to a specified performance constraint on the eigenvalues of the local linearization is derived. The capabilities of the methods are demonstrated through two applications. Equilibrium points for a range of operating conditions of an axial dual-spin spacecraft are found in the first example and validated with existing results in literature. The second application determines the flight envelope with contours of constant natural frequency, damping ratio, and time-to-double for the Phugoid and Dutch Roll modes of NASA’s Generic Transport Model using the recently published Generic Nonlinear Aerodynamic Model.
Abstract LB-292: NANOG promotes chemoresistance in prostate carcinoma cells

NANOG promotes chemoresistance in prostate carcinoma cells Hongmei Jiang, Man-Tzu Wang, Daotai Nie The emergence of drug resistant prostate cancer cells is a leading cause of chemotherapy failure in patients with prostate cancer. The mechanisms behind the acquisition of chemoresistance in prostate cancers are, however, poorly understood. NANOG is a transcription factor associated with the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells. Expression of NANOG has been detected in a number of cancer cells, and its expression linked with those positive for stem/progenitor markers. In the present studies, several lines of evidence are presented to suggest that NANOG regulates tumor responses to chemotherapy. First, in the surviving fractions of tumor cells after chemotherapy, there was an elevated level of NANOG expression and activities. Second, prospective enrichment of tumor cells with endogenous NANOG expression led to enrichment of tumor cells resistant to taxol, vinblastine, and doxorubicin. Knockdown of NANOG expression via small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) sensitized tumor cells toward chemotherapeutics. Real-time PCR array identified an enhanced expression of the ATP-binding cassette efflux transporter B1 (ABCB1) and G2 (ABCG2) in tumor cells enriched with endogenous NANOG expression. Inhibition of ABCB1 activities or knockdown of ABCB1 expression attenuated, but not abolished, the increased resistance in NANOG expressing cells toward taxol and vinblastine. Knockdown of ABCG2 attenuated the resistance of NANOG-expressing tumor cells toward doxorubicin. Together, our results suggest that NANOG confers tumor cells with increased resistance to chemotherapy partially through regulating the expression of ABC transporters. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-292. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-292
Abstract 638: The impact of PI3K/Akt pathway inhibition upon the c-myb oncogene

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare variant of adenocarcinoma that most commonly arises in the salivary glands. Rarely, ACC can originate at other sites, including the lung and breast. c-myb overexpression has been identified in over 70% of all ACCs, suggesting that it is a critical driver of oncogenesis for this disease. Recently, a translocation between chromosomes 6 and 9 has been described in ACC which creates a fusion gene between the transcription factors c-myb and NFIB. The C-terminal truncation of the c-myb gene in the t(6;9) translocation leads to loss of negative regulatory microRNA binding sites and hence elevated c-myb protein levels. Full length c-myb is also reportedly overexpessed in fusion negative tumors presumably via alternate mechanisms. Based upon previous reports that the phosphatidylinositol-3 phosphate kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway is activated in ACC tumors as well as data from other tumor models that this pathway is critical for maintaining c-myb protein stability, we hypothesized that inhibiting the PI3K/Akt pathway would be a novel therapeutic strategy for targeting c-myb in ACC tumors. Given the lack of validated ACC tumor models, we tested this hypothesis by transiently transfecting hemagglutinin (HA) tagged full length c-myb or the MYB-NFIB fusion gene in the breast cancer cell line MDA-468. The impact of three PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitors was tested: the PI3K/mTOR inhibitor LY294002, the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin, and the Akt inhibitor MK-2206 (Merck)(all drugs were obtained commercially). While all three drugs downregulated full-length c-myb, Akt inhibition with MK-2206 led to the greatest degree of c-myb protein reduction. For the c-myb/NFIB fusion, again MK-2206 was the most effective for downregulating c-myb/NFIB levels. The impact of MK-2206 upon c-myb/NFIB levels was dose dependent and correlated to loss of Akt phosphorylation at serine 473. Akt inhibition with MK-2206 also resulted in increased c-myb/NFIB protein ubiquitination, supporting the hypothesis that Akt inhibition may lead to ubiquitin mediated degradation of the fusion protein. To confirm the importance of PI3K/Akt signaling for maintaining c-myb/NFIB stability, we utilized an RNA interference approach to downregulate expression of p110α, the catalytic subunit of PI3K, in cells expressing c-myb/NFIB. Transfection of the p110α siRNA downregulated the target gene, decreased Akt phosphorylation, and lowered c-myb/NFIB levels relative to cells treated with an siRNA control. Taken together, these results argue that Akt is critical for maintaining stability of both overexpressed full length c-myb and the MYB-NFIB fusion gene product. This study proposes Akt as a rational therapeutic target for ACC, and suggests that c-myb overexpression may be a potential biomarker of response to Akt inhibition. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 638. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-638
Insensitivity of the sheep to prostaglandins.

SummaryAdministration of prostaglandins E2 and F2α to near-term pregnant sheep failed to produce any effects on uterine tone and on maternal cardiovascular functions. Like-wise, the administration of these substances to the fetal lamb failed to alter the fetal vascular pressures and cardiac output. It is concluded that the sheep are insensitive to prostaglandins.
How Tablets Are Utilized in the Classroom

New technologies are a large part of the educational landscape in the 21st century. Emergent technologies are implemented in the classroom at an exponential rate. The newest technology to be added ...
An economic model predictive control approach using convex optimization for wind turbines

Cost reduction of wind power motivates the development of advanced control algorithms to enhance both efficiency and reliability of wind turbines. Achieving this goal can be done through maximizing wind energy capture while mitigating turbine fatigue loads. In this paper, an economic model predictive control framework is presented to achieve the aforementioned goal. A convex formulation of the optimal control problem is adopted within the model predictive control framework, thus yielding a convex optimal control problem with linear dynamics and convex constraints that can be solved globally. The performance of the proposed control framework is compared to that of a baseline controller, which is widely used as a benchmark for evaluating new control algorithms. Simulation results show the ability of the proposed controller to reduce tower fatigue load with no or minimal impact on energy capture.
Leveraging Multiple Domains for Sentiment Classification.

Sentiment classification becomes more and more important with the rapid growth of user generated content. However, sentiment classification task usually comes with two challenges: first, sentiment classification is highly domain-dependent and training sentiment classifier for every domain is inefficient and often impractical; second, since the quantity of labeled data is important for assessing the quality of classifier, it is hard to evaluate classifiers when labeled data is limited for certain domains. To address the challenges mentioned above, we focus on learning high-level features that are able to generalize across domains, so a global classifier can benefit with a simple combination of documents from multiple domains. In this paper, the proposed model incorporates both sentiment polarity and unlabeled data from multiple domains and learns new feature representations. Our model doesn’t require labels from every domain, which means the learned feature representation can be generalized for sentiment domain adaptation. In addition, the learned feature representation can be used as classifier since our model defines the meaning of feature value and arranges high-level features in a prefixed order, so it is not necessary to train another classifier on top of the new features. Empirical evaluations demonstrate our model outperforms baselines and yields competitive results to other state-of-the-art works on benchmark datasets.
Platelet Derived CD154 Induced by Tat Contributes to HIV-1 Associated Autoimmune Thrombocytopenia.

Abstract 2669 Poster Board II-645 Enhanced platelet activation was reported in HIV-1 infected patients and strongly correlated with plasma viral load. The HIV-1 Tat protein is able to serve as a ligand of the integrin αvβ3 and several chemokine receptors (CCR2 and CCR3) and to induce downstream signaling in cells express those receptors but the effect of Tat on platelet activation has not been fully investigated yet. Activated platelets are known to express and release a variety of proteins that can modulate the immune system, and platelet derived CD154 is reportedly involved in the development of autoimmune thrombocytopenia. However, the full mechanism underlying HIV-1 induced platelet activation and the biological consequences are not completely understood. In this study, we demonstrate that Tat is able to interact with platelets and β3 integrin by S 35 label Tat-platelet binding assay and GST-Tat protein pull-down. We then show that Tat is able to induce platelet activation, up-regulates both CD62P and CD154 in both mouse and human platelets, and results in micro-particle release (as demonstrated by electron microscopy). Tat induces greatly diminished activation in integrin β3 knock out platelets or in platelets pretreated with CCR3 or calcium flux inhibitors, suggesting the requirement of chemokine receptor CCR3, integrin β3 and calcium flux for Tat induced platelet activation. The effect of Tat induced platelet activation on the immune response was studied both in vitro and in vivo. An enhanced immunoglobulin class switch was found in mouse spleen B cells co-cultured with platelets treated with Tat in vitro. In addition, an early antibody response against adenovirus was found in Tat injected mouse immunized with adenovirus suggesting an enhanced immune response in vivo. Thus, we have described a new mechanism in which Tat is able to induce platelet activation and have generated a model in which platelet activation can contribute to the development of HIV-1 associated thrombocytopenia. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Grip Strength Norms for Males

(1950). Grip Strength Norms for Males. Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 249-273.
Abstract 1068: Driver pathway blockage synergizes with PLK1 inhibition in anaplastic thyroid cancer

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most lethal malignancies, with a median survival of less than 6 months from the time of diagnosis. Molecular changes that characterize ATC have been recently well defined and involve most often p53 mutations, and activation of PI3K, RAS and BRAF. PLK1, an essential mitotic regulator, has been found overexpressed in ATC. Previous data from our lab have shown that PLK1 inhibitors are effective in ATC cell lines. However PLK1 inhibition often results in escape from growth arrest through mitotic slippage. This leads to the generation of polyploid, genetically unstable, cell populations. We have tested the effect of combining PLK1 and PI3K inhibitors in ATC cell lines. Combined treatment with the PLK1 inhibitor BI6727 and the PI3K inhibitor BKM120 resulted in a significant synergistic effect in ATC cell lines with high levels of AKT activity, but not in those with undetectable pAKT. Combination of the two drugs enhanced the G2/M arrest at doses in which the single drugs showed no effect. In addition, it led to a massive reduction of the tetraploid cells population. Furthermore, combined treatment with BI6727 and BKM120 in PI3Khigh cell lines showed a significant induction of apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Combined inhibition of PI3K and PLK1 was extremely effective in inhibiting tumor growth in vivo, in an immunocompetent allograft model of ATC. Our results show that combination of PLK1 and PI3K inhibitors is an effective treatment for ATC cells with high levels of PI3K signaling. This combination results in cell cycle arrest, inhibition of of tetraploid cell generation, and induction of apoptosis, suggesting a clear therapeutic potential. Citation Format: Daniela De Martino, Emrullah Yilmaz, Arturo Orlacchio, Antonio Di Cristofano. Driver pathway blockage synergizes with PLK1 inhibition in anaplastic thyroid cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1068. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1068
Delayed Metastasis of Clear Cell Sarcoma of Kidney to Bladder After 7 Disease-Free Years.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Clear cell sarcoma of the kidney (CCSK) is childhood neoplasm with its own distinctive pattern of metastasis and may appear after a disease free interval of 5 years or more. Materials and Methods: Histopathology and immunohistochemistry were available from the radical nephrectomy and the later partial cystectomy, which was performed after a seven disease-free interval. Results: The pathologic features of the primary tumor were those of a classic CCSK with a monotypic pattern of uniform rounded to ovoid tumor cells with a background network of delicate blood vessels. By contrast, the bladder recurrence had a myxoid hypocellular appearance (one of the known variant patterns of CCSK). Both tumors displayed immunopositivity for Cyclin-D1 and CD117 with a less intense reaction in the bladder metastasis. Conclusions: This case demonstrates that CCSK has the potential to metastasize after a prolonged disease-free interval and may have deceptively bland histopathologic features.
Pathogenesis of babesiosis

Recent clinical and epidemiological observations demonstrate an unstable host- parasite interplay in babesiosis. This is particularly illustrated by increased incidences of infectivity of various Babesia spp. for human beings [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Many of these organisms which are now of public health importance were originally considered to be host specific as implied by the nomenclature (e.g., B. canis, B. bovis, B. equi). Since the original identification of Babesia spp. as pathogens, virtually all domestic, wild animals and man have been shown to be susceptible to one or more species of Babesia [7,8,9,10,11]. Table 1 illustrates the host range of Babesias but it must be appreciated that the flexible host-parasite relationship will dictate frequent revision of this table.
Consequences of Delayed Chain Retraction on the Rheology and Stretch Dynamics of Entangled Polymer Liquids under Continuous Nonlinear Shear Deformation

We generalize our recent new ideas for the continuous startup shear rheology of entangled polymer liquids in the transient stress overshoot regime to formulate a theory for the full constitutive response and nonequilibrium dynamics over all time scales, deformation rates, and degrees of entanglement. The convective constraint release (CCR) idea that chain retraction locally triggers disentanglement in a shear-rate-dependent manner is significantly modified to be physically consistent with our nonclassical treatment of delayed retraction due to an entanglement grip force. A detailed numerical study of the predictions of the theory is presented for the full stress–strain response, scaling behavior of the stress overshoot and undershoot features, orientational stress, primitive path contour length dynamics, and nonequilibrium steady-state properties spanning the slow and fast nonlinear deformation regimes. For deformations slow enough there is little or no chain stretch, our results are qualitatively the sam...
Metabolic Engineering of Indene Bioconversion in Rhodococcus sp.

We have applied the methodology of metabolic engineering in the investigation of the enzymatic bioreaction network in Rhodococcus sp. that catalyzes the bioconversion of indene to (2R)-indandiol suitable for the synthesis of cis-1-amino-2-indanol, a precursor of the HIV protease inhibitor, Crixivan. A chemostat with a novel indene air delivery system was developed to facilitate the study of steady state physiology of Rhodococcus sp. I24. Prolonged cultivation of this organism in a continuous flow system led to the evolution of a mutant strain, designated KY1, with improved bioconversion properties, in particular a twofold increase in yield of (2R)-indandiol relative to I24. Induction studies with both strains indicated that KY1 lacked a toluene-inducible dioxygenase activity present in I24 and responsible for the formation of undesired byproducts. Flux analysis of indene bioconversion in KY1 performed using steady state metabolite balancing and labeling with [14C]-tracers revealed that at least 94% of the indene is oxidized by a monooxygenase to indan oxide that is subsequently hydrolyzed to trans-(1R,2R)-indandiol and cis-(1S,2R)-indandiol. This analysis identified several targets in KY1 for increasing (2R)-indandiol product yield. Most promising among them is the selective hydrolysis of indan oxide to trans-(1R,2R)-indandiol through expression of an epoxide hydrolase or modification of culture conditions.
Data Retention: Privacy, Anonymity, and Accountability Online

IN TRO D UCT ION 192 I. THE FOURTH AMENDMENT 197 A. "Real Space" Cases 198 1. Root of the current doctrine: Katz v. United States 198 2. Communications privacy part II: pen registers, Smith v. Maryland ....... 201 3. Record retention: The bank cases 204 4. Synthesis of the doctrine 206 B. Application to the Internet 206 1. Are the records in the possession of a third party? 208 2. Were the records voluntarily turned over to the third party? 208 3. Would an inquiring user have realized that the technological context enabled third-party access? 209 4. Do the records capture communication "content"? 211 C. Lower Court Decisions 212 D. Conclusion on the Fourth Amendment 214 E. Reasons to Distinguish the Internet from Real Space 215 II. THE FIRST A M ENDM ENT 216 A. Anonymous Speech in Real Space 217 1. The right to give information anonymously 218 2. The right to associate anonymously 221 3. The right to receive information anonymously 222 B. Data Retention and Anonymous Speech Activity 223 1. The value of online speech 224 2. Anonymity versus accountability 225 C O N CLU SIO N 229
The effect of self-affirmation on stigma associated with seeking psychological help

Even though there is evidence that psychotherapy is an effective means of helping people with mental health concerns, it is underutilized, largely because of the stigma surrounding mental disorders and psychological help. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of self-affirmation—the process of affirming important personal characteristics—on stigma and other proximal indicators of psychological help-seeking. It was hypothesized that when compared to a control group, a self-affirming group would demonstrate decreased selfstigma associated with seeking help. It was also posited that the self-affirming group would experience an increase in intentions to seek counseling, willingness to seek psychological help, and counseling-related information-seeking. Participants were 84 undergraduates from Iowa State University who had scored above a clinical cut-off, thereby approximating a clinically distressed population. Differences in outcome measures associated with psychological help-seeking were examined in the context of an experimental manipulation wherein participants completed one of two timed writing tasks; participants were randomly assigned to either a self-affirming writing task (self-affirmation), or a personally irrelevant writing task (control). Results partially supported the hypotheses. Compared to the control group, the self-affirmation condition had decreased self-stigma, but there were no other significant differences.