cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Independence and Calibration in Decision Analysis

An individual is said to be potentially miscalibrated if he is not sure whether his future subjective probability assessments will agree with observed frequency. Alternately, the individual is said to be uncertain about his own calibration. It is argued that such a person will never perceive any two events as probabilistically independent, in the same sense that an ignorant person does not perceive events as certain. Uncertainty about one's own calibration does not prevent rational behavior in the decision theoretic sense, but it may make much more difficult the process of translating decision theoretic principles into practical procedures for analysis of real decision problems.
INRICH: interval-based enrichment analysis for genome-wide association studies

Summary: Here we present INRICH (INterval enRICHment analysis), a pathway-based genome-wide association analysis tool that tests for enriched association signals of predefined gene-sets across independent genomic intervals. INRICH has wide applicability, fast running time and, most importantly, robustness to potential genomic biases and confounding factors. Such factors, including varying gene size and single-nucleotide polymorphism density, linkage disequilibrium within and between genes and overlapping genes with similar annotations, are often not accounted for by existing gene-set enrichment methods. By using a genomic permutation procedure, we generate experiment-wide empirical significance values, corrected for the total number of sets tested, implicitly taking overlap of sets into account. By simulation we confirm a properly controlled type I error rate and reasonable power of INRICH under diverse parameter settings. As a proof of principle, we describe the application of INRICH on the NHGRI GWAS catalog. Availability: A standalone C++ program, user manual and datasets can be freely downloaded from: http://atgu.mgh.harvard.edu/inrich/.
Factors influencing large wildland fire suppression expenditures

There is an urgent and immediate need to address the excessive cost of large fires. Here, we studied large wildland fire suppression expenditures by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Among 16 potential non-managerial factors, which represented fire size and shape, private properties, public land attributes, forest and fuel conditions, and geographic settings, we found only fire size and private land had a strong effect on suppression expenditures. When both were accounted for, all the other variables had no significant effect. A parsimonious model to predict suppression expenditures was suggested, in which fire size and private land explained 58% of variation in expenditures. Other things being equal, suppression expenditures monotonically increased with fire size. For the average fire size, expenditures first increased with the percentage of private land within burned area, but as the percentage exceeded 20%, expenditures slowly declined until they stabilised when private land reached 50% of burned area. The results suggested that efforts to contain federal suppression expenditures need to focus on the highly complex, politically sensitive topic of wildfires on private land.
A NEW ORDOVICIAN CHIASTOCLONELLID SPONGE FROM INNER MONGOLIA, CHINA

Lower paleozoic facies relationships, fossils, and depositional systems of the Northwest Ordos Basin, northern China, are sparsely documented in western world literature (Meng et al., 1997; Kessel, 2005). Recent field work in this area during the summer of 2004 recovered a single specimen of a new chiastoclonellid sponge. That sponge, described here, was collected from a measured section of Lower Paleozoic rocks exposed in the Suhaitu area, in the northern part of the Zhuozi Shan Range, northwestern Ordos Basin (Fig. 1), in southern Inner Mongolia Province. The Zhuozi Shan Range is part of the western Ordos fold and thrust belt, a Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous tectonic feature, that brought Lower Paleozoic rocks to the surface (Darby and Ritts, 2002; Darby, 2003). Early Paleozoic rocks exposed in the area are dominantly carbonates with minor siliciclastic rocks and they span from the Early Cambrian through the Middle Ordovician (Yang et al., 1992; Meng et al., 1997). They are unconformably overlain by Middle Carboniferous units across the North China Block (Meng et al., 1997). Figure 1 —Index and geologic maps of the northern Zhuozi Shan, northwestern Ordos Basin China, showing the locality of the Suhaitu Section (star 1), from which the specimen of Craterospongiella sinica n. gen. and sp. was collected. Star 2 shows a second occurrence of the species at a similar stratigraphic position. Wuhai City is indicated by the W. The map area designated in the inset shows the position of the study area relative to China and the western Ordos fold and thrust belt. Structural interpretations are adapted from Darby (2003), and the geologic map is adapted from Ma (2002) The sponge-bearing part of the Suhaitu section (Figs. 1, 2) is located at latitude 39°50.71′N and longitude 107°E01.28′E, in the northern Zhouzi Shan Range, and …
The Potential Cost of High-Throughput Proteomics

Improvements in speed and mass accuracy of mass spectrometers revolutionized proteomics, with high-throughput proteomics enabling the profiling of complete proteomes and thousands of posttranslational modification sites. The limits of high-throughput proteomics are constantly pushed to new frontiers, and mass spectrometry-based proteomics may eventually permit the analysis of protein expression profiles in less than a day. Increased data acquisition speed has led to a dramatic increase in the total number of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) spectra, such that millions of MS/MS spectra are now acquired in a given set of analyses. Many of these spectra are insufficiently validated; instead, statistical tools are commonly used to estimate false-positive or false-discovery rates for these data sets. Many laboratories may not realize the costs associated with using these widely available, but minimally validated, data sets. The costs associated with use of these data can include missed opportunities for biological insight, the pollution of databases with increasing numbers of false-positive identifications, and time spent by biologists investigating false leads, resulting in a lack of faith in proteomics data. Improved strategies for data validation need to be implemented, along with a change in the culture of high-throughput proteomics, linking proteomics closer to biology.
Complications of the translabyrinthine approach for the removal of acoustic neuromas.

Objective To report the complications that occurred during a large series of surgical procedures for the removal of acoustic neuromas using the translabyrinthine approach. Design Retrospective analysis. Setting Neuro-otology practice with academic affiliation. Procedures were performed at either a university medical center or a community hospital in conjunction with a neurosurgery team. Patients A total of 258 patients (142 men, 116 women; mean age, 51 years) underwent the translabyrinthine approach during a 14-year period. All patients had a histologically proven diagnosis of acoustic neuroma. Results There were no deaths. There were 3 cases (1.1%) of neurovascular compromise. There were 20 cases (7.8%) of cerebrospinal fluid leak, 16 (80%) of which presented as rhinorrhea and 4 (20%) as incisional leaks. The leaks at the incision responded to conservative management, while rhinorrhea usually required more aggressive means of closure. Four patients (1.6%) were diagnosed as having bacterial meningitis. Complete gross tumor removal was not achieved in 4 patients (1.6%). Facial nerve function, as measured by the House-Brackmann system, was recorded in all patients at 1 year: 76% had a score of I or II; 18%, a score of III or IV; and 6%, a score of V or VI. Other complications included 3 cases of pneumonia, 1 case of severe gastric hemorrhage, and 1 case of wound infection. Conclusions The results of this series generally agree with those of other large series and demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the translabyrinthine approach in excising acoustic neuromas.
Postpartum Rupture of the Posteromedial Papillary Muscle

tula emanates from the RCA in 55% of cases; the left coronary artery in 35%; and both coronary arteries in 5%. The drainage site of these fistulas occurs into the right ventricle in 41% of cases, right atrium in 26%, pulmonary artery in 17%, coronary sinus in 7%, the left atrium in 5%, and the LV only in 3%. 6 The clinical presentation of congenital CAFs may vary considerably, depending on their anatomy and the size of the fistulous connection to the left or right side of the heart. Most fistulae are single, and the LV tends to remain normalinsizedespitethefistulousconnectionbecause runoff occurs only in diastole. In this case, the fistulous opening was 18 mm in diameter, which resulted in volume overload of the LV. The fistula also resulted in ischemic symptoms because of coronary artery steal. Closure of CAFs at the time of diagnosis is recommended even in asymptomatic patients. 7
An analysis of modern pollen rain on an elevational gradient in southern Peru

The sensitivity of pollen as an indicator of elevation in neotropical lowland and Andean forests was measured using modern pollen samples collected from moss-polsters along a transect between 340 m and 3530 m elevation and from surface sediments in lowland swamps (240 m) of Madre de Dios, Peru. A blind study, using samples collected from the same transect in the following year, provided a test of reproducibility. The results show (1) clear elevational distribution patterns and (2) the ability of calibration data to predict the altitude of the blind samples. Characteristic associations of pollen taxa are found under differing hydrologies and elevations. The floodplain pollen assemblages are characterized by abundant Mauritia, Sloanea, Ficus, Iriartea and Arecaceae pollen types. At higher elevations, these lowland types decrease or are absent. Alchornea ,U rticaceae/Moraceae, Bignoniaceae and Cecropia are dominant components of the pollen rain of the low-elevation zone (< 1000 m). Acalypha, Alchornea, Cecropia ,R ubiaceae and Urticaceae/Moraceae are important between 1000 m and 1600 m elevation. Pollen of Hedyosmum, Alnus ,P oaceae and Combretaceae/Melastomataceae are abundant between 1600 m and 2000 m. Cecropia pollen dominates samples from low- to mid-elevation disturbed forests. Alnus pollen is most abundant, and Poaceae becomes rare, between 2000 and 2700 m. At high elevations above 2700 m, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Polylepis, Muehlenbeckia-type and Myrsine pollen are dominant. Statistical analysis of the data set using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) shows a precise correlation between community composition and elevation. The DCA axis 1 values are strongly correlated with sample elevation, exhibiting a linear relationship (r 2 = 0.904). The results provide an estimate of the sensitivity of pollen analysis in the Neotropics as a proxy for measuring elevation and, by inference, temperature.
Initiation of an intraseasonal oscillation in an aquaplanet general circulation model

MJO initiation is studied in an aquaplanet general circulation model that has strong and highly regular MJO-like variability. About 80% of MJO events in the model are found to be successive events, immediately preceded by another strong MJO event. Hence, the dynamics of MJO initiation in the model are dominated by interactions with preceding events. Rossby gyres associated with the previous cycle of suppressed MJO convection to the east are shown to help initiate the next cycle of MJO convection in the western warm pool, consistent with the recent study of Zhao et al. [2013]. Meridional and vertical moisture advection associated with the anomalous Rossby gyres help to moisten the MJO initiation region in advance of convective onset. An experiment is conducted in which circumnavigating Kelvin waves and their influence on the MJO initiation region are suppressed. While MJO activity in the model is just as regular with suppression of circumnavigation, MJO amplitude is reduced relative to the control simulation, especially in the western part of the warm pool. Possible physical mechanisms responsible for this change in MJO amplitude are discussed, including the role of low-level moisture convergence anomalies induced by circumnavigating Kelvin waves, and interactions with mean state changes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
GPU-accelerated differential evolutionary Markov Chain Monte Carlo method for multi-objective optimization over continuous space

In this paper, the attractive features of evolutionary algorithm and Markov Chain Monte Carlo are combined into a new Differential Evolutionary Markov Chain Monte Carlo (DE-MCMC) method for multi-objective optimization problems with continuous variables. The DE-MCMC evolves a population of Markov chains through differential evolution (DE) toward a diversified set of solutions at the Pareto optimal front in the multi-objective function space. The computational results show the effectiveness of the DE-MCMC algorithm in a variety of standardized test functions as well as a protein loop structure sampling application. Moreover, the DE-MCMC algorithm can efficiently take advantage of the massive-parallel, many-core architecture, where its implementation on GPU can achieve speedup of 14~35.
Geometric morphometrics uncovers a new species of ponyfish (Teleostei: Leiognathidae: Equulites), with comments on the taxonomic status of Equula berbis Valenciennes

A new species of Equulites is revealed using geometric morphometric techniques and is herein described. Based on features recovered in recent comparative analyses, members of Equulites have been diagnosed on the basis of internal and external male-specific traits related to their light-organ system (LOS; Sparks et al., 2005; Sparks, 2006; Sparks and Chakrabarty, 2007; Chakrabarty and Sparks, 2008). These sexually-dimorphic traits are hypothesized to allow males to signal to conspecific females in photic sexual displays using bacterially-generated luminescence (Woodland et al., 2002; Sasaki et al., 2003; Wada et al., 2005). The holotype and sole name-bearing type of Equulites leuciscus (BMNH 1858.4.21.243, 104.9 mm SL) is an adult female, and therefore lacks the diagnostic external feature of the LOS, a large, translucent flank patch, used to identify species in this genus. Geometric morphometric shape analysis of individuals ascribed to Equulites leuciscus , a traditionally widespread, "catch-all" taxon, reveals two discrete shape groups. Based on the results presented below, members of one of these groups correspond to a morphological variant that represents the new species ( Equulites absconditus Chakrabarty & Sparks) described herein, whereas the other group corresponds to traditional E. leuciscus . In addition, the taxonomic status of Equula berbis Valenciennes, to which many female and poorly preserved specimens of the new species have erroneously been attributed, is reviewed and E. berbis is concluded to be a nomen dubium of uncertain placement beyond the family level.
Designing Written Business Communication along the Shifting Cultural Continuum: The New Face of Mexico

The increasing importance of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) to the US economy makes understanding Mexico important. Because the histories and cultures of the United States and Mexico differ significantly, written communications also differ. Rhetorical strategies for written business communication in Mexico reflect the country's bloody, cyclical history and its resulting culture characterized by collectivism, high power distances, fatalism, and emphasis on building trust and relationships. Despite Mexico's economic problems, it is a country in transition. Because of the increasing presence of US business entities in Mexico, communication protocols are changing as US technology and ways of doing business infuse the traditional Mexican culture. Understanding how to communicate effectively in Mexico requires understanding its history and culture as well as changes occurring there. US writers must know where any Mexican company is situated along this changing cultural continuum and how the con...
The Anatomy and Physiology Metabolism/Nutrition of Subcutaneous Fat

Both the microscopic and the gross anatomy of the fat mass should be appreciated by the liposuction surgeon. With this appreciation a better result can be expected, especially in understanding the caveat to not injure the dermis during a procedure.
After 'Wildcat' in Mali: The Future of Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism

This Roundtable will assess the aftermath of the French military intervention in Mali to dislodge Islamists in early 2013. In the decade preceding “Operation Wildcat,” Western counter-terrorism strategy in the Trans-Sahara region consisted of training local military forces; intensifying development assistance for at-risk youth; and mounting communication campaigns to stymie Islamic extremism. Those strategies proved inadequate, at least insofar as Mali was concerned. From a variety of disciplines (history, religious studies, security studies, political science, international development), panelists will assess what went wrong and what strategies ought to be adopted henceforth. The Roundtable chair (William Miles, Northeastern University) will present the objectives of the session, and provide a summary update of the situation in Mali in particular and in the Trans-Saharan region in general since the January 2013 hostilities. Ousmane Kane (Harvard) will discuss the impact of Salafi jihad in the practice of Islam in Northern Mali, an approach to Islam otherwise characterized by Sufi beliefs and practices. Susanna Wing (Haverford) will focus on dueling proposals for administrative reform (decentralization versus federalism) as an avenue for re-integrating the North of Mali. William Miles will revisit his notion of “soft counterterrorism” as a way of conceptualizing post-9/11 development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa (including Mali). Andrew Lebovich (Columbia) will also extend the framework beyond Mali per se by considering the “local” versus “foreign” identities of the Islamist combatant groups, and the related linkages between North Africa, the Sahel, and West Africa. Robert Mortimer (Haverford) will address the regional security situation, and Algeria’s particular counterterrorist approach.
Natural Enemy Resistance to Pesticides: Documentation, Characterization, Theory and Application

After arthropod pests first developed resistance to pesticides (e.g., DDT), entomologists questioned whether or not the natural enemies of arthropods would do the same (e.g., Pielou and Glasser, 1952; Wilkes et al., 1951; Spiller, 1958). In the early 1950s Macvooentrus anyclivovus, a braconid parasite of the Oriental fruit moth (Grapholitha molesta) was selected with DDT for 70 generations to see if a resistance potential was present and if it could be exploited by design. After six years and three million treated insects a disappointing maximum resistance of 12-fold resulted. When selection was discontinued, resistance regressed back to the original level within a few generations (Pielou and Glasser, 1952; Wilkes et al., 1951; Robertson, 1957). The failure to produce a resistant M. anaylivorus was typical of other attempts at selection of resistant beneficial arthropods in laboratory experiments during the period 1955–70 (e.g., Adams and Cross, 1967; Kot et al., 1971). There were no reports of significant resistance developing in field populations of natural enemies during this time period.
Geochemical Investigation of Late Pre-Contact Ceramic Production Patterns in Northwest Alaska

Abstract Study of northwest Alaskan ceramic production and distribution patterns has the potential to provide new evidence of coastal hunter-gatherer mobility and social interaction in the late pre-contact period. This research is directed at characterizing potential clay sources and linking ceramic groups to raw-material source areas through instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and modeling of possible clay and temper combinations. Results of INAA of 458 ceramic, 31 clay, and 28 possible temper specimens reinforces prior identification (Anderson et al., 2011) of three broad compositional groups. Though raw materials were collected over a large area, the clay specimens demonstrate remarkable geochemical homogeneity and fall within one of the established ceramic geochemical groups, Macrogroup 2. This suggests that potters may have added little to no mineral temper to the clays and also that what we have termed Macrogroup 2 ceramics were produced in the north and central areas of northwest Alaska. Group 1 and 3 ceramics may be evidence of pottery being brought into the region from elsewhere. Results indicate that ceramics circulated widely around the region and suggest the possibility of areas of greater production perhaps due to an abundance of clay or wood fuels needed for firing. This work lays the foundation for further exploring the cultural processes that underlie these distributions and provides insight into the complexities of hunter-gatherer ceramic production and distribution.
Tuning On–Off Current Ratio and Field-Effect Mobility in a MoS2–Graphene Heterostructure via Schottky Barrier Modulation

Field-effect transistor (FET) devices composed of a MoS2–graphene heterostructure can combine the advantages of high carrier mobility in graphene with the permanent band gap of MoS2 for digital applications. Herein, we investigate the electron transfer, photoluminescence, and gate-controlled carrier transport in such a heterostructure. We show that the junction is a Schottky barrier, whose height can be artificially controlled by gating or doping graphene. When the applied gate voltage (or the doping level) is zero, the photoexcited electron–hole pairs in monolayer MoS2 can be split by the heterojunction, significantly reducing the photoluminescence. By applying negative gate voltage (or p-doping) in graphene, the interlayer impedance formed between MoS2 and graphene exhibits an 100-fold increase. For the first time, we show that the gate-controlled interlayer Schottky impedance can be utilized to modulate carrier transport in graphene, significantly depleting the hole transport, but preserving the electr...
Sharing My Story: Representing Social Work at the UN and Select Local Human Rights Activism

The author shares primarily select experiences having represented social work at the UN in Geneva from 2006 to the present time. Taking the adage to “think globally and act locally,” seriously, he also shares local human rights activism as Town Representative for Amherst, MA. Engaging in what can be called a “phenomenological reduction,” he places these experiences in context, by the urging primarily of students, by sharing with the reader an experiential journey, recounting his burgeoning interests in human rights as a teen at the Catholic Worker in New York City; his experiences in Eurasia and in Alaska; his connections with the International Fourth World and The Indigenous Peoples Coalition among others; and most recently his research and experiences as a Fulbrighter in Pakistan. He also shares some of his field work recounting observations and conversations with governmental and non-governmental representatives in Geneva, and for sometime, previously, at the UN in New York. He shares select portions of most recent policy oral statements given at the 30th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in September 2015 on, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the Report of the USA to the UPR process, the world drug abuse problem, and the rights of peasants, and finally, a written statement on eradicating extreme poverty before the 24th session of the HRC in September 2013. Before concluding, he mentions in its entirety Warrant Article 28 “Creating a Human Rights Culture” passed almost unanimously before Amherst Town Meeting in May, 2015. He concludes with suggestions for human rights activism, like cultivating human rights as a way of life and appealing to the human condition, which moves towards altruism in times of urgency.
The Independence of Some Exponential Values

(1974). The Independence of Some Exponential Values. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 81, No. 1, pp. 46-49.
An Early Reference to Division by Zero

(1943). An Early Reference to Division by Zero. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 50, No. 8, pp. 487-491.
WESTPA: an interoperable, highly scalable software package for weighted ensemble simulation and analysis.

The weighted ensemble (WE) path sampling approach orchestrates an ensemble of parallel calculations with intermittent communication to enhance the sampling of rare events, such as molecular associations or conformational changes in proteins or peptides. Trajectories are replicated and pruned in a way that focuses computational effort on underexplored regions of configuration space while maintaining rigorous kinetics. To enable the simulation of rare events at any scale (e.g., atomistic, cellular), we have developed an open-source, interoperable, and highly scalable software package for the execution and analysis of WE simulations: WESTPA (The Weighted Ensemble Simulation Toolkit with Parallelization and Analysis). WESTPA scales to thousands of CPU cores and includes a suite of analysis tools that have been implemented in a massively parallel fashion. The software has been designed to interface conveniently with any dynamics engine and has already been used with a variety of molecular dynamics (e.g., GROMA...
High Throughput Method for the Indirect Detection of Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonding

A supercritical fluid chromatography method was developed for the detection of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in pharmaceutically relevant molecules. The identification of compounds likely to form intramolecular hydrogen bonds is an important drug design consideration given the correlation of intramolecular hydrogen bonding with increased membrane permeability. The technique described here correlates chromatographic retention with the exposed polarity of a molecule. Molecules that can form an intramolecular hydrogen bond can hide their polarity and therefore exhibit lower retention than similar compounds that cannot. By use of a pairwise analysis strategy, intramolecular hydrogen bonds are identified within a test set of compounds with diverse topologies. The chromatographic results are confirmed by NMR chemical shift and temperature coefficient studies.
Emergence in the U.S. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce: an agent-based model of worker attrition and group size in high-density STEM organizations

The United States government forecasts a shortage of 1,000,000 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workers over the next 10 years, putting STEM workforce sustainability at risk. The U.S. federal government has launched a range of programs, initiatives, and commissions to address this critical shortage. Past research has shown that organizational group-oriented culture, smaller work team groups, and worker homogeneity relate to lower attrition rates and higher levels of reported worker satisfaction. Applying Complex Adaptive Systems, this study takes a systems approach to examine worker attrition rates and worker group sizes in relation to STEM density across high-density STEM organizations. The base-case organization for this study is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) because it maintains the highest density of STEM workers across all U.S. federal organizations and consistently ranks first in teamwork, innovation, and worker satisfaction in the annual Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The methodology for this study comprises an empirically validated NETLOGO agent-based model of worker attrition using OPM data sets for high-density STEM organizations. Model initialization parameters are represented and validated by historical attrition data for NASA and two control group organizations. The control groups include a lower-limit high-density STEM model and a medium high-density STEM model for validation with historical worker attrition data for the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Communications Commission. The findings for this study confirm that STEM worker density is negatively related to attrition rate across all high-density organization types. The model output observations further show the emergence of a negative relationship between organizational STEM density and average worker group size, yet the opposite association is observed for STEM workers. The agent-based modeling approach is an important addition to the current line of academic focused research on STEM workers because it provides a bottom-up insight which helps inform theories and policy effects on ways to mitigate forecasted STEM shortages. Future research could be extended to apply Tipping Point Theory to STEM density and attrition rate variability to better understand STEM threshold ranges across high-density STEM organizations. Future models could also investigate specific STEM and Non-STEM worker characteristics to include age, gender, salary, or education level.
Identification of plant species using non-imaging hyperspectral data

Hyperspectral non-imaging data provides the spectral range from 400–2500nm which has the ability to identify each and every unique materials on the surface. The plant species identification is critical task manually and computationally. In the present paper, we have proposed plant species identification system based on non-imaging hyperspectral data and designed our own database for experiment. Also we have identified various plant species and performed support vector machine (SVM) algorithm on it for recognition. The overall accuracy 91% was achieved through SVM.
Antibacterial Effect of the Salmine against Pathogenic Vibrio Species

The antibacterial activities of salmine against three pathogenic Vibrio species (Vibrio cholerae CDC 2164,Vibrio parahaemolyticus BE-98-2029 and Vibrio vulnificus ATCC 27562) were studied at concentrations ranging from 2000 to 4000 μg/mL.Growth of Vibrio cholerae CDC 2164 was inhibited by salmine at a concentration of 2000 μg/mL and its populations were reduced to non-detectable levels in 48 h.The same concentration (2000 μg/mL) also reduced populations of Vibrio parahaemolyticus BE-98-2029 from 3.3×106 cfu/mL to 3.3×103 cfu/mL after 48 h.Increasing the concentration of salmine to 3000 μg/mL was able to reduce the populations of Vibrio parahaemolyticus BE-98-2029 to non-detectable levels in 48 h.A higher concentration of salmine (4000 μg/mL) was capable of reducing the populations of Vibrio vulnificus ATCC 27562 from 4.9×106 to 9.4×102 cfu/mL in 12 h.
The oncolytic virus ΔPK has multimodal anti-tumor activity

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are an emerging cancer therapeutic, with a near complete absence of serious adverse effects. However, clinical efficacy is relatively modest, related to poor tumor penetration, failure to lyse cancer stem cells (CSCs) and blockade of immunogenic cell death by the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. To overcome such limitations, we developed an OV (known as ΔPK) with multimodal anti-tumor activity. ΔPK has potent anti-tumor activity both in melanoma cell lines and xenograft animal models, associated with virus replication and the induction of multiple independent programmed cell death pathways. It lyses CSCs through autophagy modulation and it reverses the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment by altering the balance of cytokines secreted by the tumor cells. This includes decreased tumor cell secretion of the immunosuppressive and procancerous cytokines IL-10 and IL-18 and concomitant increased secretion of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, GM-CSF, IL-6 and IL-1β. ΔPK also upregulates the NKG2D ligand, MICA expressed by cytotoxic NK and T cells, and downregulates the negative immune checkpoint regulator cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4). ΔPK is well tolerated in human patients in whom it also alters the Th1/Th2 balance. Further studies are designed to elucidate the role of these contributions in different tumor types.
Metastatic Cancer to the Ureter and Kidney From Malignant Lymphoma. A Review of the Literature

AbstractMetastasis to the ureter may evolve by direct or indirect extension and invasion from the mostcommon malignant tumors, such as breast, colon and lymphoma. A case of an unusual extension of metastatic infiltration to the ureter, kidney and other intra-abdominal and retroperitoneal structures is reported. Such a case has not been presented roentgenographically in the urologic or radiologic literature.
Multitask Lasso Model for Investigating Multimodule Design Factors, Operational Factors, and Covariates in Tubular Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising technology for simultaneous wastewater treatment and direct electricity generation. To build an effective large-scale MFC in field operation, it is important to identify the critical design and operational factors. However, there are limited studies that focus on developing systematic models to predict MFC performance and conduct variable selection. Herein, a multitask Lasso model (MLM) was employed to characterize the relationship among the input variables (design factors, operational factors, and covariates) and the output variables (normalized energy recovery (NER) and organic removal efficiency) of a tubular MFC with five modules. The proposed MLM can not only select the important input variables to predict the MFC performance but also simultaneously and accurately predict multiple output variables. The important design and operational factors were identified on the basis of the variable selection in the MLM. It was found that cathode moisture, especially th...
Role of ammonium in the ionization of phosphatidylcholines during electrospray mass spectrometry.

Rationale Electrospray mass spectrometry methods for the analysis of phosphatidylcholines (PCs) routinely include ammonium acetate or ammonium formate in the mobile phase. In an effort to justify and optimize the use of these additives, we investigated possible functions of ammonium compounds in the ionization of PCs. Methods Because PCs contain a quaternary amine, the role of ammonium in neutralizing the negatively charged phosphate group was investigated by using deuterated ammonium acetate, adjusting the pH, varying the organic solvent composition, and by comparing the additives ammonium acetate, ammonium formate and ammonium bicarbonate. Seven PC standards were measured ranging from lyso 1-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine to 1,2-dieicosapentaenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine as well as a mixture of PCs in a krill oil dietary supplement. Results Under all conditions tested, aqueous acetonitrile provided more abundant formation of protonated PCs than did aqueous methanol. Regardless of the mobile phase composition and electrospray ion source parameters, no [M + NH4 ]+ ions were detected. Adding deuterated ammonium acetate to the mobile phase failed to form deuterated PCs, indicating that ammonium is not the source of the proton that neutralizes the phosphate negative charge. Instead, water was the source of the proton as deuterated water resulted in the formation of [M + D]+ ions. Addition of organic acids, ammonium formate, ammonium acetate, or ammonium bicarbonate to the mobile phase did not enhance and in most cases suppressed PC ionization. Conclusions Ammonium compounds and organic acids can suppress ionization of PCs when using an aqueous acetonitrile mobile phase during electrospray. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Video Camera–Based Vibration Measurement for Civil Infrastructure Applications

AbstractVisual testing, as one of the oldest methods for nondestructive testing (NDT), plays a large role in the inspection of civil infrastructure. As NDT has evolved, more quantitative techniques...
Sexual Dysfunction in Women With Migraine and Overweight/Obesity: Relative Frequency and Association With Migraine Severity.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE Previous studies suggest that migraine might be associated with female sexual dysfunction (FSD), although this association may be complicated by overweight/obesity. To disentangle relationships of migraine and obesity with FSD, we examined: (1) FSD rates in women who had migraine and obesity with a matched sample of women with obesity who were free of migraine and (2) associations between indices of migraine severity and FSD in a larger sample of participants with migraine and overweight/obesity, controlling for important confounders. METHODS Women with migraine and obesity seeking behavioral weight loss treatment to decrease headaches (n = 37) and nonmigraine controls (n = 37) with obesity seeking weight loss via bariatric surgery were matched on age (±5 years), body mass index (BMI; ±3 kg/m2 ), and reported sexual activity during the past month. Both groups completed the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), with a validated FSFI-total cutoff score used to define FSD. In participants with migraine and overweight/obesity (n = 105), separate logistic regression models evaluated associations of migraine attack frequency, intensity, and duration with odds of having FSD, controlling for age, BMI, depression, and anxiety. RESULTS On average, participants and matched controls had severe obesity (BMI = 42.4 ± 3.8 kg/m2 ; range = 35-49.9) and were 37.3 ± 7.2 years of age (range = 22-50). FSD rate did not differ between migraine participants and controls (56.8% vs. 54.1%, P = .82). In the larger sample of participants with migraine and overweight/obesity (38.2 ± 7.8 years of age; BMI = 34.8 ± 6.4 [range = 25-50 kg/m2 ]; 8.0 ± 4.3 migraine days/month, maximum pain intensity = 5.9 ± 1.4 on 0-10 scale; average attack duration = 18.3 ± 9.7 hours), FSD was not associated with attack frequency (P = .31), pain intensity (P = .92), or attack duration (P = .35) but was associated with more severe anxiety symptoms (Ps < .017). CONCLUSIONS Rates of sexual dysfunction did not differ in severely obese women with and without migraine. Moreover, indices of migraine severity were not associated with increased risk of FSD in women with overweight/obesity. Replication of present findings in wider populations of women with migraine and of both normal-weight and overweight/obese status are warranted.
Vitamin K Deficiency Presenting in an Infant with an Anterior Mediastinal Mass: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

We report a case of a 1-month-old infant with spontaneous thymic hemorrhage secondary to severe vitamin K deficiency. He was brought to medical attention due to scrotal bruising and during evaluation was noted to be tachypneic and hypoxemic. Chest X-ray revealed an enlarged cardiothymic silhouette, and a follow-up echocardiogram revealed a mass in the anterior mediastinum. Routine laboratory work-up revealed severe coagulopathy. Further questioning revealed the patient had not received prophylactic vitamin K at birth. The coagulopathy resolved with administration of vitamin K, and a biopsy confirmed the anterior mediastinal mass was due to spontaneous thymic hemorrhage.
The berkelium oxide system

Abstract The oxides of berkelium were prepared by loading 1 μg of carefully purified 249Bk onto single beads of ion exchange resin and calcining the resin beads to remove the organic material and to yield the oxides. Air firing gave BkO2, which had a face-centered cubic lattice with a3= 5·334±0·005 A . Hydrogen reduction of BkO2 gave the body-centered cubic Bk2O3 with a = 10·880 ± 0·005 A .
Production and use of H2O2 for atom-efficient functionalization of hydrocarbons and small molecules

H2O2 is a relatively benign and selective oxidant, which has motivated research into scalable methods for H2O2 production and the design of catalysts to perform oxidations with H2O2. The energy intensive anthraquinone oxidation process is the standard for H2O2 production, however, alternatives such as electrocatalytic oxygen reduction and the direct synthesis of H2O2 have significant potential. Recent publications have investigated the reactor design, the mechanism for H2O2 formation, and the synthesis of increasingly selective catalysts and have demonstrated the role of proton–electron transfer in H2O2 formation and improving selectivities by alloying transition metals. H2O2 is a relatively unstable molecule which readily decomposes over a catalyst, making it difficult to use H2O2 for many oxidation reactions selectively. As such, there is extensive research on the use of H2O2 for different oxidation reactions, with the most common being olefin epoxidation. Olefin epoxidation is readily catalyzed by transition metal substituted zeolites, polyoxometallates, metal oxides, and homogeneous coordination compounds. These catalysts activate H2O2 to form many reactive intermediates, which possess selectivities for the epoxidation of olefins that reflect electronic properties of the reactive intermediate and the substrate. Ideally, H2O2 could be used for epoxidations within a single reactor (i.e., tandem catalysis), which would reduce costs from purification and transportation of H2O2. However, performing these reactions together typically provides poor epoxidation selectivities due to over-oxidation products. These chemistries are industrially relevant and present many unanswered questions of fundamental interest that warrant future investigation.
NRAS mutation: A potential biomarker of clinical response to immune-based therapies in metastatic melanoma (MM).

9019 Background: NRAS mutant (mut) MM comprises a distinct, molecularly defined cohort of this disease that appears to have a poor prognosis compared to other genetic subsets. In contrast to BRAF m...
Spatial and Socioeconomic Analysis of Arab/West Asians and Jews in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area

This study had three objectives: (1) to determine whether the degree of residential segregation between Arab/West Asians and Jews in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) was higher than the residential segregation between Jews and other visible minority groups; (2) to determine the spatial distribution of Arab/West Asians and Jews by census tracts; and (3) to determine the differences in the socioeconomic quality of the neighbourhoods where the two groups reside. Data from Statistics Canada's 1996 Profile Series were used. An index of dissimilarity was used to measure segregation and a composite socioeconomic index was constructed to assess inequality in the socio-economic characteristics of neighbourhoods where the two groups reside.The results revealed that Arab/West Asians and Jews were highly segregated but less segregated than Jews and most other visible minority groups. This would lead us to believe that the historical and political tensions that exist between the two groups in the Midle East ...
Evaluating hopfield-network-based linear solvers for hardware constrained neural substrates

Emerging neural hardware substrates, such as IBM's “TrueNorth” neurosynaptic system, can provide an appealing platform for deploying numerical algorithms. For example, a recurrent Hopfield neural network can be used to solve for the Moore-Penrose matrix inverse, which enables a broad class of linear optimizations to be solved efficiently, with very low energy cost. However, deploying numerical algorithms on hardware platforms that severely limit the range and precision of representation for numeric quantities can be quite challenging. This paper discusses these challenges and experimentally validates that generalized inverses can be correctly computed on such substrates. Specifically, we show that several real-time applications that require matrix inverse computations to solve systems of linear equations can be correctly implemented on hardware-constrained neural substrates. The Hopfield linear solver model is empirically validated on the IBM TrueNorth platform, and results show promising potential for deploying an accurate and energy-efficient generalized matrix inverse engine calculator, with compelling real-time applications including target tracking (object localization), optical flow, and inverse kinematics.
Toxicity and Efficacy of Triazamate Against Turnip Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) on Cabbage

Toxicity of triazamate (Aphistar®, Rohm & Haas, Philadelphia, PA) to a laboratory and a field population of the turnip aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach), was studied on cabbage in the laboratory...
Evaluation and Treatment of Obesity in Primary Care

This chapter reviews the results of randomized trials of the treatment of obesity in primary care. The results are described in the context of the recent decision by CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) to reimburse primary care providers for a schedule of visits that meets criteria for high-intensity obesity treatment, as is recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force. We found that trials in which counseling was provided by PCPs themselves or other office staff typically led to modest weight loss (1–3 kg), likely a result of low-to-moderate-intensity intervention. Trials that provided multimodality treatment, combining counseling with pharmacotherapy or meal replacements, more often achieved clinically significant weight loss (≥5 % of starting weight). Remotely delivered interventions (telephone and web-based) yielded modest weight loss in two studies involving low-income populations, but produced higher weight losses in two trials involving more socioeconomically diverse populations. In the single trial that most closely approximated the schedule of visits currently reimbursed by CMS, dietitians as counselors achieved more than twice the weight loss achieved by PCPs (with patients using meal replacements in both groups). Further study is needed to determine how best to deliver high-intensity counseling to obese patients in primary care settings, including economic analyses to determine the most efficient ways to offer treatment.
A Family of Potassium Channels from the Shaker Locus of Drosophila

Potassium channels are found in nerve, muscle, epithelial, endocrine, exocrine and immune cells. Despite their importance in the control of excitation and ion transport, biochemical understanding of the channels has grown slowly because there are no high abundance sources of these channels and because high affinity ligands for them have only recently been found (Carbone et al., 1982; Miller et al, 19854; Seagar et al., 1986; Sternsfeld et al., 1987). An alternative route to studying these molecules has been provided by the fruit fly, Drosophila melanoqaster. Many neurological mutations of this organism have been found that define loci that may encode important neuronal proteins (Ganetzky and Wu, 1986). One of these, the Shaker locus, appeared likely from electrophysiological and genetic studies (Jan et al., 1977; Salkoff and Wyman, 1983; Timpe and Jan, 1987) to contain the structural gene for a type of potassium channel, called the A channel, that opens in response to depolarization and inactivates thereafter. The gene was mapped to band 16F on the X-chromosome (Tanouye et al., 1981). An entry point to cloning the region was provided by a cDNA, cloned for independent reasons (Wollfner, 1980); the cDNA is not related to Shaker but hybridizes to the same band on the X-chromosome.