cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Applications of Vacuum Technology to Novel Accelerator Problems

Vacuum requirements for electron storage rings are most demanding to fulfill, due to the presence of gas desorption caused by large quantities of synchrotron radiation, the very limited area accessible for pumping ports, the need for 10-9 torr pressures in the ring, and for pressures a decade lower in the interaction regions. Design features of a wide variety of distributed ion sublimation pumps (DIP) developed at SLAC to meet these requirements will be discussed, as well as NEG (non-evaporable getter) pumps tested for use in the Large Electron Positron Collider at CERN. Application of DIP to much higher pressures in electron damping rings for the Stanford Linear Collider will be discussed.
ENZYME USE TO REDUCE VISCOSITY AND INCREASE RECOVERY OF SOLULE SOLIDS FROM CITRUS PULP-WASHING OPERATIQNS

Soluble solids (SS) recovered by countercurrent washing of citrus juice pulp are concentrated by evaporation and sold primarily for use in beverage bases and other food uses. On a pilot plant scale, treatment of the finisher pulp with pectolytic enzymes resulted in increasing the yield of recoverable SS from 65–80 kg SS/ton pulp (oranges) and from 45–50 kg SS/ton (grapefruit). High viscosity of pulp-wash liquids and other citrus processing liquids was found to be a deterrent during concentration by evaporation. Enzyme-treated liquids were concentrated in a medium-temperature evaporator to over 70° Brix and relative viscosities in the range of 1700–2200 centipoises; however, due to gel formation, nontreated liquids had to be pumped out of the evaporator at 25–35° Brix with a relative viscosity of over 20,000 centipoises. Careful use of enzyine to increase SS yields or lower viscosity during pulpwashing did not adversely affect the °Brix, acid, pH or clouding ability of the concentrated pulp-wash.
Virtual machine aware communication libraries for high performance computing

As the size and complexity of modern computing systems keep increasing to meet the demanding requirements of High Performance Computing (HPC) applications, manageability is becoming a critical concern to achieve both high performance and high productivity computing. Meanwhile, virtual machine (VM) technologies have become popular in both industry and academia due to various features designed to ease system management and administration. While a VM-based environment can greatly help manageability on large-scale computing systems, concerns over performance have largely blocked the HPC community from embracing VM technologies. In this paper, we follow three steps to demonstrate the ability to achieve near-native performance in a VM-based environment for HPC. First, we propose Inter-VM Communication (IVC), a VM-aware communication library to support efficient shared memory communication among computing processes on the same physical host, even though they may be in different VMs. This is critical for multi-core systems, especially when individual computing processes are hosted on different VMs to achieve fine-grained control. Second, we design a VM-aware MPI library based on MVAPICH2 (a popular MPI library), called MVAPICH2-ivc, which allows HPC MPI applications to transparently benefit from IVC. Finally, we evaluate MVAPICH2-ivc on clusters featuring multi-core systems and high performance InfiniBand interconnects. Our evaluation demonstrates that MVAPICH2-ivc can improve NAS Parallel Benchmark performance by up to 11% in VM-based environment on eight-core Intel Clover-town systems, where each compute process is in a separate VM. A detailed performance evaluation for up to 128 processes (64 node dual-socket single-core systems) shows only a marginal performance overhead of MVAPICH2-ivc as compared with MVAPICH2 running in a native environment. This study indicates that performance should no longer be a barrier preventing HPC environments from taking advantage of the various features available through VM technologies.
Not all trust is created equal: dispositional and history-based trust in human-automation interactions.

Objective: We provide an empirical demonstration of the importance of attending to human user individual differences in examinations of trust and automation use. Background: Past research has generally supported the notions that machine reliability predicts trust in automation, and trust in turn predicts automation use. However, links between user personality and perceptions of the machine with trust in automation have not been empirically established. Method: On our X-ray screening task, 255 students rated trust and made automation use decisions while visually searching for weapons in X-ray images of luggage. Results: We demonstrate that individual differences affect perceptions of machine characteristics when actual machine characteristics are constant, that perceptions account for 52% of trust variance above the effects of actual characteristics, and that perceptions mediate the effects of actual characteristics on trust. Importantly, we also demonstrate that when administered at different times, the s...
Soft X-Rays for Deep Sub-100 Nm Lithography, with and Without Masks

The development of micro- and nanofabrication, their applications, and their dependent industries has progressed to a point where a bifurcation of technology development will likely occur. On the one hand, the semiconductor industry (at least in the USA) has decided to develop EUV and SCALPEL to meet its future needs. Even if the semiconductor industry is successful in this (which is by no means certain) such tools will not be useful in most other segments of industry and research that will employ nanolithography. As examples, MEMS, integrated optics, biological research, magnetic information storage, quantum-effect research, and multiple applications not yet envisioned will not employ the lithography tools of the semiconductor industry, either because they are too expensive, insufficiently flexible, or lacking in accuracy and spatial-phase coherence. Of course, direct-write electron-beam lithography can meet many of these non-semiconductor-industry needs, but in other cases a technique of higher throughput or broader process-latitude is necessary. Our experience at MIT in applying low-cost proximity x-ray nanolithography to a wide variety of applications leads us to conclude that this technology can provide an alternative path of a bifurcation. A new projection lithography technique, zone-plate-array lithography (ZPAL), does not require a mask, can operate from UV to EUV to x-rays, and has the potential to reach the limits of the lithographic process.
D-cycloserine and cocaine cue reactivity: preliminary findings.

Background: D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor agonist, enhances extinction of conditioned fear responding in rodents and facilitates exposure-based learning in humans with anxiety disorders. Objectives: This preliminary study investigates DCS pretreatment on response to cocaine cues in cocaine-dependent subjects. Methods: Ten cocaine-dependent subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 50 mg DCS or matching placebo two hours before each of two 1-hour cocaine cue exposure sessions one day apart. HR and craving ratings were obtained before and during cue exposure sessions. Results: There was a trend towards increased craving to cocaine cues in cocaine-dependent individuals after administration of DCS. Conclusions: The administration of DCS prior to cue exposure sessions may facilitate response activation. Scientific Significance: While facilitation of extinction-based learning by DCS may have therapeutic potential for cocaine dependence, this drug may e...
Representing temporal spatial, and causal knowledge for monitoring and control in an Intelligent Simulation Training System

The objective of the Intelligent Simulation Training System (ISTS) is to train students in monitoring and controlling physical objects in time and space. The ISTS consists of a graphic computer simulation, an expert system, and a user interface. The expert system must possess a high-level model for reasoning about simulation events. Quantitative simulation data and elicited domain expertise are used to generate an abstract, qualitative model for reasoning purposes. The qualitative model is generated by a subsystem known as ELICIT (Expertise Learner and Intelligent Causal Inference Tool). This paper describes the representations used for generating such a model. ELICIT is implemented in Common LISP and Joshua (a knowledge representation language developed by Symbolics Inc.) on a Symbolics 3630 LISP machine. >
Abortion in a mare associated with Coryrtebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection

A 9-year-old Thoroughbred mare aborted a 254-day-old male fetus. Ten days prior to the abortion, the mare was shipped from Creston, California to Lexington, Kentucky. Just 3 days before the abortion, the mare was examined by palpation and found to carry a live foal. The mare had been vaccinated for influenza, EHV-4, and Streptococcus equi, and had been dewormed with ivermectin. Necropsy was performed approximately 12 hours after the abortion. The fetus weighed 16.0 kg, and the allantochorion and amnion weighed 3.0 kg and 1.0 kg, respectively. The length of the umbilical cord was 53 cm. The liver was swollen and dark with multiple various-sized (approximately 3-5 mm in diameter), irregular, firm, raised, white foci (Fig. 1). Both surfaces of the liver contained a few miliary abscesses, and the hepatic lymph node was swollen. Occasional small necrotic foci were present in the lungs. A portion of the body, including the cervical star of the allantochorion, was pale, thickened, and had a leathery appearance. Sections of liver, lung, kidney, spleen, adrenal gland, heart, thymus, hepatic lymph node, allantochorion, amnion, and umbilical cord were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin, trimmed, and embedded in paraffin blocks. Six-micrometer-thick sections were cut on a microtome and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE). In addition, sections of lung, liver, kidney, hepatic lymph node, and allantochorion were stained with Brown and Brenn (B&B) Gram stain. Samples of liver, kidney, lung, and allantochorion were collected for bacterial culture. Microscopic lesions were observed in the liver, lung, kidney, and hepatic lymph node of the fetus and in the allantochorion. In some areas of the liver various-sized abscesses which replaced most of the parenchyma were observed, and these abscesses compressed the adjoining hepatic cords (Fig. 2). Some of the abscesses contained necrotic centers with many bacterial colonies, consisting of gram-positive pleomorphic rods. The inflammatory cells were primarily neutrophils and mononuclear cells. In other areas there was extensive loss of hepatic cords, some of which were filled with blood, and fibrin thrombi were present in the sinusoids, central vein, and branches of the portal vein. Portal fibrosis was present in a few areas. The pulmonary lesions consisted of multifocal subpleural, interlobular septal, and perivascular hemorrhages. Several lung lobules contained abscesses with necrotic centers and bacterial colonies. Adjoining alveoli and bronchioles had infiltrates of neutrophils and mononuclear cells. The cortex of the kidney close to the capsule had a single round focus consisting of a collection of neutrophils and mononuclear cells. Focal accumulation of neutrophils
Republication of “Evaluating Children for Instructional Purposes”

To ensure the most successful instruction of children with learning disabilities, the teacher must have considerable understanding of each pupil’s psychoeducational strengths and weaknesses. No superficial overview of a child’s performance will suffice. Knowledge of IQ, reading grade level, or neurological status, while interesting, does not provide enough information with which either to establish appropriate goals or to construct a reality-based training program for a specific child. Therefore, the implementation in the schools of an effective, educationally oriented evaluation program is of the utmost importance for a successful instructional experience for children with learning disorders.
Sparsely-sampled, high-resolution 4-D omit spectra for detection and assignment of intermolecular NOEs of protein complexes.

Unambiguous detection and assignment of intermolecular NOEs are essential for structure determination of protein complexes by NMR. Such information has traditionally been obtained with 3-D half-filtered experiments, where scalar coupling-based purging of intramolecular signals allows for selective detection of intermolecular NOEs. However, due to the large variation of 1JHC scalar couplings and limited chemical shift dispersion in the indirect proton dimension, it is difficult to obtain reliable and complete assignments of interfacial NOEs. Here, we demonstrate a strategy that combines selective labeling and high-resolution 4-D NOE spectroscopy with sparse sampling for reliable identification and assignment of intermolecular NOEs. Spectral subtraction of component-labeled complexes from a uniformly-labeled protein complex yields an “omit” spectrum containing positive intermolecular NOEs with little signal degeneracy. Such a strategy can be broadly applied to unbiased detection, assignment and presentation of intermolecular NOEs of protein complexes.
An automatic and quantitative approach to the detection and tracking of acoustic scattering layers

Acoustic scattering layers are ubiquitous, horizontally extensive aggregations of both vertebrate and invertebrate organisms that play key roles in oceanic ecosystems. However, currently there are no conventions or widely adaptable automatic methods for identifying these often dynamic, spatially complex features, so it is difficult to consistently and efficiently describe and compare results. We developed an automatic scattering layer detection method that can be used to monitor changes in layer depth, width, and internal structure over time. Extensive, contiguous regions of the water column that have echo strengths above a threshold were identified as “background layers.” They correspond to regions of the water column that contain scattering from diffusely distributed organisms. Often, background layers contained contiguous, horizontally extensive features of concentrated acoustic scattering we identified as “strata.” These features were identified by fitting Gaussian curves to the echo envelope of each vertical profile of scattering, and their boundaries were identified as the endpoints of the region containing 95% of the area under the fitted curves. These endpoints were linked horizontally to make continuous tracks. Bottom and top tracks were paired to identify features that sometimes extended horizontally for tens of kilometers. This approach was effective in three disparate ecosystems (the Gulf of California, Monterey Bay, and the Bering Sea), and a sensitivity analysis showed its robustness to changes in input parameters. By allowing a comparable, automated approach to be used across environments, this method promotes the improved classification and characterization of acoustic scattering layers necessary for examining their role in oceanic ecosystems.
On the Relation Between Sparse Reconstruction and Parameter Estimation With Model Order Selection

We examine the relationship between sparse linear reconstruction and the classic problem of continuous parametric modeling. In sparse reconstruction, one wishes to recover a sparse amplitude vector from a measurement that is described as a linear combination of a small number of discrete additive components. Recent results in the compressive sensing literature have provided fast sparse reconstruction algorithms with guaranteed performance bounds for problems with certain structure. In this paper, we show an explicit connection between sparse reconstruction and parameter/order estimation and demonstrate how sparse reconstruction may be used to solve model order selection and parameter estimation problems. The structural assumption used in compressive sensing to guarantee reconstruction performance-the Restricted Isometry Property-is not satisfied in the general parameter estimation context. Nonetheless, we develop a method for selecting sparsity parameters such that sparse reconstruction mimics classic order selection criteria such as Akaike information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian information criterion (BIC). We compare the performance of the sparse reconstruction approach with traditional model order selection/parameter estimation techniques for a sinusoids-in-noise example. We find that the two methods have comparable performance in most cases, and that sparse linear modeling performs better than traditional model-based parameter/order estimation for closely spaced sinusoids with low signal-to-noise ratio.
Comparison of conventional and organic apple production systems during three years of conversion to organic management in coastal California.

Conventional and organic semidwarf Granny Smith apple production systems were compared during three years of conversion to certified organic management. Because of differences in fruit load with hand thinning compared with chemical thinning, apple tonnage was higher in the organic production system (OPS) in 1989 and 1991. The organic system was higher than the conventional system in number and weight of fruit per tree, but smaller in average fruit size. Using grower-receivedfarmgate premiums of 38% (1990) and 33% (1991) for unsorted, certified organic apples, comparative cost accounting showed greater net return per hectare for the OPS. The OPS required higher material and labor inputs in all years.Greater terminal growth in the conventional production system (CPS) in 1991 was the only significant difference in growth indicators between systems. N was generally higher in leaf and new wood bark tissues in the CPS. P was generally higher in the leaf and new wood bark tissues in the OPS. No decline in yield was associated with increased weed biomass in the OPS. There was no difference in fruit damage caused by codling moth between production system treatments (codling moth granulosis virus and pheromone-based mating disruption vs. synthetic insecticide). In 1991, secondary lepidopterous pests (apple leafroller and orange tortrix) caused greater fruit scarring in the CPS. In all years, tentiform leafminers caused greater leaf damage in the CPS. Apple leafhopper density and leaf damage were greater in the OPS in 1990 and 1991.Soil nutrient levels showed few significant changes during conversion to organic management. Soil bulk density and water holding capacity were useful indicators of changes in soil physical characteristics. Potentially mineralizable nitrogen andmicrobial biomass-C were more sensitive indicators of system change than total N or organic C. Two soil biological ratios, the respiratory ratio and biomass-C/total organic-C, were similar in the two production systems. Earthworm biomass and abundance increased in the OPS in the third year. The introduction of Lumbricus terrestris into the OPS greatly increased litter incorporation rates.
Designing and testing mobile interfaces for children

There is a growing body of research on usability and interaction design with and for children using computers [1, 2, 3]. Less is known about interaction design and usability as applied to children's use of mobile devices. Sesame Workshop has redesigned a web-based literacy intervention for young readers to run on the Apple iPod Touch. We report on design challenges in moving from large screens and mouse-based interactions to small screens and touch-based interactions, and make interface and interaction design recommendations based on the results of our prototyping and research with children.
An analysis of degeneracy

Degeneracy in linear programming models has been analyzed for its impacts on algorithmic properties. A complementary analysis here is on what the solutions mean. The framework presented is couched in marginal sensitivity analysis, introducing concepts of “compatible bases” and “transition graphs”.
An approach to test compaction for scan circuits that enhances at-speed testing

We propose a new approach to the generation of compact test sets for scan circuits. Compaction refers here to a reduction in the test application time. The proposed procedure generates an initial test set that is likely to have a low test application time. It then applies an existing static compaction procedure to this initial test set to further compact it. As a by-product, the proposed procedure also results in long primary input sequences, which are applied at-speed. This contributes to the detection of delay defects. We demonstrate through experimental results the advantages of this approach over earlier ones as a method for generating test sets with minimal test application time and long primary input sequences.
Social and Economic Implications of Increasing Income Inequality: Accountability Concerns

Any discussion of CSR extends beyond the concept of accounting for productive capacity and operations to the broader notion of accountability. That notion includes looking at how social resources are allocated. Accountants should assume greater responsibility to help the public understand the implications of corporate behavior, especially in relation to a major social pattern, income inequality, which has created significant social problems. We look at how income distribution patterns have changed since the Great Depression and the reasons for those changes, one of which is a shift in government policies towards neoliberalism. We then suggest information that we believe should be required in corporate reports in order to help the public understand whether and how corporate behavior contributes to increased income inequality.
Interferometry with extended unambiguous range: A system

Interferometry has traditionally been a highly useful tool for converting distance or phase information in a wave front to irradiance. With the coherence length of the source extending over many wavelengths, this mapping becomes strictly periodic resulting in an unambiguous range of only half of a wavelength. Using some version of phase shifting interferometry,1,2 this range can be extended to one wavelength. This ambiguity represents a serious limitation for such applications as profilometry, displacement measurement, and wave front sensing. These applications typically require processing of the resultant interferogram to obtain the desired range-sensitivity combination. This processing step is generally time-consuming precluding real-time measurements. We describe a new technique which allows real-time unambiguous measurement over a range of several wavelengths. The system combines polychromatic illumination with controlled phase shifting and employs very simple image processing steps.
Bilingual deaf readers' use of semantic and syntactic cues in the processing of English relative clauses.

Eye fixation measures were used to examine English relative clause processing by adult ASL–English bilingual deaf readers. Participants processed subject relative clauses faster than object relative clauses, but expected animacy cues eliminated processing difficulty in object relative clauses. This brings into question previous claims that deaf readers’ sentence processing strategies are qualitatively different from those of hearing English native speakers. Measures of English comprehension predicted reading speed, but not differences in syntactic processing. However, a trend for ASL self-ratings to predict the ability to handle syntactic complexity approached significance. Results suggest a need to explore how objective ASL proficiency measures might provide insights into deaf readers’ ability to exploit syntactic cues in English.
Turning the Ships Around: A Case Study of (Re)Membering as Transnational Endarkened Feminist Inquiry and Praxis for Black Teachers

In this case study of a young Black woman educator from the southern United States, I examine how her engagements with Africa and African knowledges, culture and womanhood in Ghana, West Africa substantively transformed her selfhood and her ability to respond in cultural relevant and accurate ways in her teaching of Black children. From her story and the larger data corpus of this study, I argue for the notion of (re)membering as endarkened feminist processes. The power of these processes illustrate clearly how encounters with the African continent and peoples can heal, humanize and ultimately transform teaching, learning and teachers' lives.
Chapter 19 Donative nonprofit organizations

Abstract In this chapter, we explore why donations are made to nonprofit organizations instead of other institutions or directly to recipients; how such nonprofit organizations behave; and what is the appropriate public policy toward subsidizing and regulating these entities. We focus on donative nonprofits—organizations precluded from distributing their surplus revenues to those in control that receive resources in the forms of donated time and money and tend to provide private pure, distributional, or excludable public goods. First, we discuss the definition of a private nonprofit organization and delineate some immediate corollaries and consequences of that definition. Next, we summarize the dimensions of the nonprofit sector—size, scope, and revenue mix—for various countries around the world. Third, we discuss various models of the role and behavior of donative nonprofit organizations. Finally, we discuss some specific behaviors of nonprofit organizations—the ways in which they conduct fundraising campaigns, set prices, employ labor, and use capital. The discussion of models of donative nonprofits forms the heart of our paper, and is organized as follows. First, we show that agency problems between donors (as principals) and charitable service-providing organizations (as agents) result whenever the latter are employed to provide public goods. If the organization is constrained against the distribution of profits, this agency problem is resolved. Second, we argue that a three-stage game is the most natural way to model the choices of intermediaries and donors. In this game, an intermediary makes a seed donation, collects donations from others, then can add to (but not subtract from) the total donated in previous stages. Third, we detail the choice the founding entrepreneur makes between organizing as a nonprofit or a for-profit organization, showing that it can be individually rational for the entrepreneur to constrain his future ability to distribute profits. Fourth, we show how commercial activities alter entrepreneurial decisions. Fifth, we discuss nonprofits that provide excludable public goods, such as those in the arts. Sixth, we discuss sorting of entrepreneurial types across sectors and industries. Seventh, we consider multiple public goods, which may be provided by a single or separate organizations, and the passthrough intermediaries that may support them. Eighth, we delineate a variety of internal agency problems and the ways in which nonprofit organizations cope with them. The final subsection looks at models of long-run equilibrium.
All Your IP Are Belong to Us: An Analysis of Intellectual Property Rights as Applied to Malware

The cybersecurity and cybercrime industries are tied together in an arms race where both seek out new security vulnerabilities to exploit on offense or to remediate on defense. Malware (malicious software) offers one of the primary weapons pioneering new computer technologies on both sides. However, the average Internet user sees malware at best as an annoyance that is merely the price of surfing the web. It is clear that cybersecurity is a business and a successful one. The cybersecurity industry maintains copyrights and patents on our cyber defense technologies—antivirus software, firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and more. There are no federal copyrights and patents on malware, even regarding the cybersecurity industry’s creations. From an intellectual property perspective, there is no difference between ordinary software and malicious software. Malware, as offensive software, can and should be protected, just as we protect our defensive software.
NAFLD: The clinical and economic burden of NAFLD: time to turn the tide.

In a new study, Younossi et al. poignantly depict the daunting and enormous prevalence of NAFLD and its associated clinical and economic burden in the USA and four countries in Europe. The astronomical health-care costs will increase as the prevalence of NAFLD increases. All stakeholders are called to action.
Abstract 1142: COP1 functions as a sensor of cellular lipids and regulator of lipogenesis in human cancer cells

Background Constitutive photomorphogenesis protein 1 (COP1; also known as Rfwd2), an evolutionally conserved E3 ubiquitin ligase, has been defined to mediate the degradation of several important proteins, such as p53, c-Jun, ETS, FOXO1 and ACC1, being involved in tumorigenesis. In response to DNA damage, COP1 is autodegraded in the context of ATM, which is triggered by 14-3-3σ. However, the biological function and expression regulation of COP1 remain to be fully understood. This study reports a novel function of COP1 in lipid metabolism. Methods We targeted COP1 expression in cancer cells MCF-7 and HepG2 with COP1 shRNA lentivirus and COP1 overexpression lentivirus, respectively. We investigated the lipid synthesis, glucose oxidation and conversion into lipids in these cells using radiolabeled acetate and glucose and lipid complex analysis. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot were used to examine gene expression. Acetyl CoA carboxylase-1 (ACC1) siRNA and TOFA, an inhibitor of ACC1, were used to modulate the intracellular lipid synthesis. Results Lipid depletion induced by acetyl CoA carboxylase-1 (ACC1) knockdown or the inhibition of ACC1 by TOFA induced COP1 expression, but palmatic acid, the end-product of de novo fatty acid synthesis pathway, reversed TOFA-induced COP1 expression. In addition, U73122, an inhibitor of phospholipase C that cleaves PIP2 into DAG and IP3, triggered COP1 expression. These data suggest that COP1 expression is mediated by cellular lipid state, and the lipid second messengers (PIP2 and DAG) are involved in the expression regulation of COP1. In contrast, the ectopic expression of COP1 greatly reduced pAMPK and pACC1 levels, but elevated fatty acid synthase (FASN) expression, leading to the increase of fatty acid (FA)/lipid synthesis. In sharp contrast, siRNA-mediated COP1 knockdown in cancer cells significantly increased pACC1 and pAMPK levels and reduced FASN expression, leading to decrease of lipid synthesis. The cell growth and proliferation was accordingly changed in response to the alterations of lipid synthesis. Altogether our data suggest that COP1 expression is regulated through the lipid second messenger mediated signaling, and the upregulated COP1 in turn enhances lipid synthesis, functioning as a positive feedback. Conclusion COP1 functions as a sensor of cellular lipid state and promoter of lipogenesis, facilitating tumorigenesis. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Chenfei Huang, Yiwen Bu, Deliang Cao. COP1 functions as a sensor of cellular lipids and regulator of lipogenesis in human cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1142. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1142
Reactivity of Ketyl and Acetyl Radicals from Direct Solar Actinic Photolysis of Aqueous Pyruvic Acid

The variable composition of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) contributes to the large uncertainty for predicting radiative forcing. A better understanding of the reaction mechanisms leading to aerosol formation such as for the photochemical reaction of aqueous pyruvic acid (PA) at λ ≥ 305 nm can contribute to constrain these uncertainties. Herein, the photochemistry of aqueous PA (5–300 mM) continuously sparged with air is re-examined in the laboratory under comparable irradiance at 38° N at noon on a summer day. Several analytical methods are employed to monitor the time series of the reaction, including (1) the derivatization of carbonyl (C═O) functional groups with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH), (2) the separation of photoproducts by ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and ion chromatography (IC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS), (3) high resolution MS, (4) the assignment of 1H NMR and 13C gCOSY spectroscopic features, and (5) quantitative 1H NMR. The primary photoproducts are 2,3-dim...
Positive clinical outcome in a patient with recalcitrant bullous pemphigoid treated with rituximab and intravenous immunoglobulin.

Summary A 41-year-old white man was treated for bullous pemphigoid (BP) for 4 years, using high-dose prednisone as well as ciclosporin and mycophenolate mofetil. Sustained clinical improvement was not observed. He suffered several serious side effects. Consequently, he was treated with a combination of rituximab (RTX) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg). He received 12 infusions of RTX in 6 months and monthly IVIg until the end of the therapy. Within 5 weeks of this therapy, appearance of new lesions ceased. Within 8 weeks, all previous lesions resolved and previous medications were discontinued. No hospitalizations, relapses, infections or other serious adverse events occurred. The high levels of pathogenic autoantibody decreased and have remained undetectable. After three infusions of RTX, CD19+ B cells were undetectable and returned to normal levels within 18 months. The patient remains in complete clinical remission off all systemic therapy and free of disease for a 20-month follow-up.
A phase 1/1B trial of ADI-PEG 20 plus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND ADI-PEG 20 is a pegylated form of the arginine-depleting enzyme arginine deiminase. Normal cells synthesize arginine with the enzyme argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS1); ADI-PEG 20 selectively targets malignant cells, which lack ASS1. METHODS A single-arm, nonrandomized, open-label, phase 1/1B, standard 3 + 3 dose escalation with an expansion cohort of 9 patients at the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) was conducted. Patients who had metastatic pancreatic cancer, up to 1 line of prior treatment (the dose-escalation cohort) or no prior treatment (the expansion cohort), and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 to 1 were included. Patients received both gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2) and nab-paclitaxel (125 mg/m2) for 3 of 4 weeks and intramuscular ADI-PEG 20 at 18 mg/m2 weekly (cohort 1) or at 36 mg/m2 weekly (cohort 2 and the expansion cohort).The primary endpoint was to determine the maximum tolerated dose and RP2D of ADI-PEG 20 in combination with nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine. RESULTS Eighteen patients were enrolled. No dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) were observed in cohort 1; cohort 2 was expanded to 6 patients because of 1 DLT occurrence (a grade 3 elevation in bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase). The most frequent adverse events (AEs) of any grade were neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, anemia, peripheral neuropathy, and fatigue; all 18 patients experienced grade 3/4 AEs. The most frequent grade 3/4 toxicities, regardless of the relation with any drugs, included neutropenia (12 patients or 67%), leukopenia (10 patients or 56%), anemia (8 patients or 44%), and lymphopenia (6 patients or 33%). The RP2D for ADI-PEG 20 was 36 mg/m2 weekly in combination with standard-dose gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel. The overall response rate among patients treated at the RP2D in the first-line setting was 45.5% (5 of 11).The median progression-free survival time for these patients treated at the RP2D was 6.1 months (95% confidence interval, 5.3-11.2 months), and the median overall survival time was 11.3 months (95% confidence interval, 6.7 months to not reached). CONCLUSIONS ADI-PEG 20 was well tolerated in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel. Activity was observed in previously treated and untreated patients with advanced pancreatic cancer and in patients with ASS1-deficient and -proficient tumors. Cancer 2017. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
JOURNAL CLUB: Diagnostic Utility of MRI After Negative or Inconclusive Mammography for the Evaluation of Pathologic Nipple Discharge.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to determine the diagnostic utility of MRI after negative or inconclusive mammography for the evaluation of pathologic nipple discharge. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We conducted a retrospective review of breast MRI examinations from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2015, that were performed after negative or inconclusive mammography for the evaluation of nipple discharge. Clinical notes, imaging findings, and pathology outcomes were reviewed. RESULTS. One hundred eighteen women (mean age, 49 years; range, 23–82 years) underwent MRI for evaluation of nipple discharge, 105 (89.0%) of whom had surgical excision or at least 2-year imaging follow-up. A total of six patients (6/105; 5.7%) were diagnosed with malignancy (ductal carcinoma in situ [DCIS] or invasive malignancy). Of 27 patients with positive MRI findings (final assessment of BI-RADS category 4), three (11.1%) were diagnosed with malignancy: DCIS grade 2–3, DCIS with focus of microinvasive ductal carcinoma, an...
Spinal Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma at the Cervicothoracic Junction.

Background Sclerosing epithelioid fibrosarcoma (SEF) is an unusual variant of fibrosarcoma that was previously considered to be a low-grade tumor with an indolent course. To our knowledge, the spine is a rare primary site for SEF, with only a few cases reported to date. Case Description We report a case of SEF occurring in the cervicothoracic spine of a 64-year-old man with complaints of neck pain and right hand tingling for 6 months before clinical presentation. Imaging revealed a large mass that extended from C5 to T1 in the right posterior paraspinal soft tissues, with involvement of the posterior elements from C6 to T1 and infiltration of the T1 vertebral body. We performed an en bloc spondylectomy and gross total resection of the tumor. Pathologic and immunohistochemical characteristics confirmed the diagnosis of SEF. Conclusions Because of the anatomic nature of the cervicothoracic spine and critical neurovascular structures that the tumor involves, a true en bloc resection might not be possible, but an oncologically sound excision is ideal.
Alterations of network synchrony after epileptic seizures: An analysis of post-ictal intracranial recordings in pediatric epilepsy patients.

Abstract Objective Post-ictal EEG alterations have been identified in studies of intracranial recordings, but the clinical significance of post-ictal EEG activity is undetermined. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between peri-ictal EEG activity, surgical outcome, and extent of seizure propagation in a sample of pediatric epilepsy patients. Methods Intracranial EEG recordings were obtained from 19 patients (mean age = 11.4 years, range = 3–20 years) with 57 seizures used for analysis (mean = 3.0 seizures per patient). For each seizure, 3-min segments were extracted from adjacent pre-ictal and post-ictal epochs. To compare physiology of the epileptic network between epochs, we calculated the relative delta power (Δ) using discrete Fourier transformation and constructed functional networks based on broadband connectivity (conn). We investigated differences between the pre-ictal (Δpre, connpre) and post-ictal (Δpost, connpost) segments in focal-network (i.e., confined to seizure onset zone) versus distributed-network (i.e., diffuse ictal propagation) seizures. Results Distributed-network (DN) seizures exhibited increased post-ictal delta power and global EEG connectivity compared to focal-network (FN) seizures. Following DN seizures, patients with seizure-free outcomes exhibited a 14.7% mean increase in delta power and an 8.3% mean increase in global connectivity compared to pre-ictal baseline, which was dramatically less than values observed among seizure-persistent patients (29.6% and 47.1%, respectively). Significance Post-ictal differences between DN and FN seizures correlate with post-operative seizure persistence. We hypothesize that post-ictal deactivation of subcortical nuclei recruited during seizure propagation may account for this result while lending insights into mechanisms of post-operative seizure recurrence.
A Review of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Public Affairs Education

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a trusted and widely used personality assessment, having extensive applications in curriculum development and research in the organizational sciences, incl...
Inferring the source of evaporated waters using stable H and O isotopes

Stable isotope ratios of H and O are widely used to identify the source of water, e.g., in aquifers, river runoff, soils, plant xylem, and plant-based beverages. In situations where the sampled water is partially evaporated, its isotope values will have evolved along an evaporation line (EL) in δ2H/δ18O space, and back-correction along the EL to its intersection with a meteoric water line (MWL) has been used to estimate the source water’s isotope ratios. Here, we review the theory underlying isotopic estimation of source water for evaporated samples (iSWE). We note potential for bias from a commonly used regression-based approach for EL slope estimation and suggest that a model-based approach may be preferable if assumptions of the regression approach are not valid. We then introduce a mathematical framework that eliminates the need to explicitly estimate the EL–MWL intersection, simplifying iSWE analysis and facilitating more rigorous uncertainty estimation. We apply this approach to data from the US EPA's 2007 National Lakes Assessment. We find that data for most lakes are consistent with a water source similar to annual runoff, estimated from monthly precipitation and evaporation within the lake basin. Strong evidence for both summer- and winter-biased sources exists, however, with winter bias pervasive in most snow-prone regions. The new analytical framework should improve the rigor of iSWE in ecohydrology and related sciences, and our initial results from US lakes suggest that previous interpretations of lakes as unbiased isotope integrators may only be valid in certain climate regimes.
Psychoanalysis in Central Europe

This chapter was originally written over a long period of time and revised and updated twice. Therefore, I wish to call attention to some of the issues I addressed originally so that I might give the reader the benefit of some new work on these subjects. I also have updated references to the periodical literature about Austria, Germany, and Switzerland in an attempt to provide guidance to some recent concerns. Some books are also included. All these additions, corrections, and references can be found in an Appendix at the end of this chapter. Also, note that in the text I have inserted “See Appendix” in specific places where it might be helpful for the reader to turn immediately to my commentary.
Chiral Pesticides: Identification, Description, and Environmental Implications

Anthropogenic chemicals, including pesticides, are a major source of contamination and pollution in the environment. Pesticides have many positive uses: increased food production, decreased damage to crops and structures, reduced disease vector populations, and more. Nevertheless, pesticide exposure can pose risks to humans and the environment, so various mitigation strategies are exercised to make them safer, minimize their use, and reduce their unintended environment effects. One strategy that may help achieve these goals relies on the unique properties of chirality or molecular asymmetry. Some common terms related to chirality are defined in Table 1.
STRATEGIES FOR QUALITY-AWARE VIDEO CONTENT ANALYTICS

Recent research in video analytics promises the capability to automatically detect and extract information from video. Potential tasks include object and pedestrian detection, object and face recognition, motion detection, object tracking, as well as background subtraction and activity recognition. However, in many instances, the quality of the video from which information is to be extracted is not very high. This may be because of system constraints (like a bandwidth constraint or VHS recorder), environmental conditions (fog or low light), or a poor camera (wobbly/moving camera, limited FOV, or just a low-quality lens).
Abstract 2629: Constitutive AhR signaling enhances androgen receptor signaling and growth in prostate cancer cells

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) has been reported to interact with multiple signaling pathways during prostate cancer progression to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) including the androgen receptor. Previously published data from our lab shows that AhR protein is overexpressed and constitutively active in castration resistant (DU145, PC3 and PC3M) prostate cancer cells. Pharmacological inhibition of AhR in these advanced prostate cancer cell lines reduced the growth rate under androgen depleted conditions. Furthermore, shRNA mediated depletion of AhR expression in castration resistant C4-2 cells, which were derived from hormone sensitive LNCaP cells, resulted in decreased expression of androgen responsive genes as well as a decreased growth rate which was comparable to LNCaP cell growth. In the present study, we evaluate cloneA (moderate increase in AhR) and CloneB (high increase in AhR) for alterations in AhR and AR signaling. AhR was overexpressed in LNCaP using PLNCX2 retrovirus vector containing AhR cDNA to determine if ectopic overexpression alone induces a castrate resistant phenotype. The highly overexpressed AhR clone (CloneB) illustrated further increase in transcriptional and promotor activity for AhR and AR compared to the moderately overexpressed AhR clone (Clone A) and control. Western blot analysis showed more AhR, AR, cSrc, and pSrc protein expression in clones compared to empty vector control. AhR overexpression was found to induce several biological properties such as migration, invasion, proliferation, and promotion of G1 to S phase during the cell cycle. Bicalutamide treatment had no effect on AR transcriptional activity in either clone, proving resistance to anti-androgen therapy. Our results confirm that overexpression of AhR induces constitutive AhR activity and stimulates androgen receptor signaling. This suggests a role for AhR in the development of CRPC. Citation Format: Maryam Ghotbaddini, Sakura McLaughlin, Kailen Turner, Devyn Pirtle, Joann B. Powell. Constitutive AhR signaling enhances androgen receptor signaling and growth in prostate cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2629.