cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Changes of lipid components during dormancy in 'Hull Thornless' and 'Triple Crown Thornless' blackberry cultivars

Chilling requirements and changes in polar lipids of two blackberry cultivars (Rubus spp.), ‘Triple Crown Thornless’ and ‘Hull Thornless’ were determined during dormancy and budbreak. Under field conditions, ‘Triple Crown Thornless’ required lower chilling units (CUs) than ‘Hull Thornless’ to overcome dormancy. ‘Triple Crown Thornless’ and ‘Hull Thornless’ achieved full budbreak after receiving 600 and 1000 CU (chilling units), respectively. Under cold temperature treatments, ‘Triple Crown Thornless’ needed 400 CU, while ‘Hull Thornless’ needed 600 CU at 48C to obtain 100% budbreak. The shoots kept at intermittent 6/248 C( 68C for 16 h, and 248C for 8 h) did not reach full budbreak even after receiving 1000 CUs. An increase in phospholipids and glycolipids was detected at the end of dormancy. The increase in phospholipids occurred prior to the increase in glycolipids. The percentage of 18 : 2 fatty acid decreased while that of 18 : 3 increased and there was approximately a fivefold increase in the 18 : 3/18 : 2 ratio observed at the time of budbreak. The increase in the 18 : 3/18 : 2 ratio could serve as an indicator of dormancy termination and growth resumption in blackberry. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Roots of Disorder: Race and Criminal Justice in the American South, 1817-80

Every white southerner understood what keeping African Americans down meant and what it did not mean. It did not mean going to court; it did not mean relying on the law. It meant vigilante violence and lynching.Looking at Vicksburg, Mississippi, Roots of Disorder traces the origins of these terrible attitudes to the day-to-day operations of local courts. In Vicksburg, white exploitation of black labor through slavery evolved into efforts to use the law to define blacks' place in society, setting the stage for widespread tolerance of brutal vigilantism. Fed by racism and economics, whites' extralegal violence grew in a hothouse of more general hostility toward law and courts. Roots of Disorder shows how the criminal justice system itself plays a role in shaping the attitudes that encourage vigilantism.
Reliability Modeling in Spatially Distributed Logistics Systems

This article proposes methods for modeling service reliability in a supply chain. The logistics system in a supply chain typically consists of thousands of retail stores along with multiple distribution centers (DC). Products are transported between DC & stores through multiple routes. The service reliability depends on DC location layouts, distances from DC to stores, time requirements for product replenishing at stores, DC's capability for supporting store demands, and the connectivity of transportation routes. Contingent events such as labor disputes, bad weather, road conditions, traffic situations, and even terrorist threats can have great impacts on a system's reliability. Given the large number of store locations & multiple combinations of routing schemes, this article applies an approximation technique for developing first-cut reliability analysis models. The approximation relies on multi-level spatial models to characterize patterns of store locations & demands. These models support several types of reliability evaluation of the logistics system under different probability scenarios & contingency situations. Examples with data taken from a large-scale logistics system of an automobile company illustrate the importance of studying supply-chain system reliability
Differential Susceptibilities of Murine Hepatoma 1c1c7 and Tao Cells to the Lysosomal Photosensitizer NPe6: Influence of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor on Lysosomal Fragility and Protease Contents

Irradiation of murine hepatoma 1c1c7 cultures presensitized with N-aspartyl chlorin e6 (NPe6) caused lysosomal disruption and apoptosis. Tao cells, a variant of the 1c1c7 line having lower aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) contents, were resistant to the pro-apoptotic effects of NPe6 in the same photodynamic therapy protocol. Colony-forming assays were used to establish light dose-dependent and NPe6 concentration-dependent cytotoxicity curves. Lysosomal breakage and cell survival paralleled one another in both cell types. When analyzed at comparable lethal dose conditions, the onset of apoptosis was delayed, and the magnitude of the apoptotic response was muted in Tao cells, as assessed by morphology, annexin V binding, caspase-3 activities, and analyses of Bid, procaspase-9, and pro-caspase-3 cleavage. In contrast, the kinetics/magnitude of pro-caspase-3 activation in the two cell lines were identical after exposure to HA14 -1 or Jo2 antibody, inducers of the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways, respectively. Tao endosomal/lysosomal extracts contained approximately 50%, 35%, and 55% of the Bid cleavage and cathepsin B and D activities of 1c1c7 endosomes/lysosomes, respectively. Western blot analyses confirmed reduced cathepsin B/D contents in Tao cells. Analyses of 1c1c7/Tao variants engineered to express antisense/sense AhR constructs suggested that endosomal/lysosomal cathepsin B and D content, but not whole cell content, correlated with AhR expression. These studies provide a mechanism for the resistance of Tao cultures to the proapoptotic effects of a protocol causing targeted disruption of lysosomes. They also suggest that the AhR, in the absence of exogenous ligand, may affect the trafficking/processing of proteases normally found in endosomes/lysosomes.
Petri net tools for the specification and analysis of discrete controllers

An approach is presented for the specification, modeling, and analysis of discrete-state systems and controllers. The approach features a rule-based state-variable-specification formalism that is translated into Petri net models composed of interconnected state machines. The concept of reduced reachability graphs is introduced as a means of reducing the computational effort required to isolate and analyze subcomponent behavior within the system. The target application is discrete manufacturing systems where the costs involved in writing, debugging, and maintaining of code for online process control can be significantly reduced through the use of automated modeling and analysis techniques. The approach is illustrated by an example of a simple discrete-state system. >
Analyzing Relative Importance of Service Quality Components from Enterprise CRM Data

Rapid growth of the services industry over the past few years has led to increased number of research efforts in the area of service quality improvement. However, analyzing service quality and determining the factors inuencing consumer's perception of service quality is a challenging problem. Our work explores a data driven approach to analyze the comparative inuence of the two primary aspects `experience' and `outcome', on service quality. With our novel approach, we analyze a large number of customer satisfaction feedback records using text analytics techniques. We apply simple statistical and machine learning techniques to study the dynamics between occurrence frequencies of keywords related to both experience and outcome in user comments and the corresponding customer satisfaction scores. Based on our analysis we observe that in the context of customer support centers, service experience has stronger inuence on perceived customer satisfaction and service quality.
Reducing Power Consumption with Relaxed Quasi Delay-Insensitive Circuits

This paper introduces novel circuits to mitigatepower consumption in asynchronous logic. By exposing a preexisting timing assumption in quasi-delay insensitive (QDI) circuits, we develop a set of circuit templates that reduce dynamic power consumption while maintaining the robustness of QDI circuits. We refer to these as relaxed quasi delay-insensitive circuits (RQDI). Power consumption is reduced in four ways. First, we present a circuit template that saves power by reducing the logic required to generate enable/acknowledge signals. Second, we develop voltage converters for asynchronous channels that allow non-performance critical components to be moved to lower voltage domains. Third, we propose a circuit template that improves upon the use of multiple voltage domains by keeping the data logic in the high voltage domain, but moves the enable/acknowledge logic to the low voltage domain. Fourth, we utilize a novel 2-phase buffer to half the switching in global routing and static switching networks. Experiments show that we can reduce energy by 30-50%, with a minimal impact on area and performance.
SUPPORT FOR THE USE OF HIERARCHICAL TEMPORAL MEMORY SYSTEMS IN AUTOMATED DESIGN EVALUATION: A FIRST EXPERIMENT

Computational synthesis tools that automatically generate solutions to design problems are not widely used in industry despite many years of research. This deficiency can be attributed to the lack of value that these tools provide for the user in terms of time saved in design or quality improvements in the design. In order to provide sufficient quality of solution, it is proposed that more human-like evaluation of solution quality is needed including qualitative concepts, the ability to allow for anecdotal input, and general inclusion of ambiguous information. A hierarchical temporal memory system (HTM) is proposed as a viable approach for capturing design quality from exemplars and subsequently recognizing the presence of that quality in other designs. This paper includes a first experiment in using HTMs for learning and recognizing quality in the form of the visual style characteristics of Hepplewhite, Stickley, and Greene & Greene chair backs. Results show that HTMs develop a similar storage of quality to humans and are therefore a promising option for capturing and recognizing multi-modal quality information in future design automation projects.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Estimating the directed information to infer causal relationships in ensemble neural spike train recordings

Advances in recording technologies have given neuroscience researchers access to large amounts of data, in particular, simultaneous, individual recordings of large groups of neurons in different parts of the brain. A variety of quantitative techniques have been utilized to analyze the spiking activities of the neurons to elucidate the functional connectivity of the recorded neurons. In the past, researchers have used correlative measures. More recently, to better capture the dynamic, complex relationships present in the data, neuroscientists have employed causal measures--most of which are variants of Granger causality--with limited success. This paper motivates the directed information, an information and control theoretic concept, as a modality-independent embodiment of Granger's original notion of causality. Key properties include: (a) it is nonzero if and only if one process causally influences another, and (b) its specific value can be interpreted as the strength of a causal relationship. We next describe how the causally conditioned directed information between two processes given knowledge of others provides a network version of causality: it is nonzero if and only if, in the presence of the present and past of other processes, one process causally influences another. This notion is shown to be able to differentiate between true direct causal influences, common inputs, and cascade effects in more two processes. We next describe a procedure to estimate the directed information on neural spike trains using point process generalized linear models, maximum likelihood estimation and information-theoretic model order selection. We demonstrate that on a simulated network of neurons, it (a) correctly identifies all pairwise causal relationships and (b) correctly identifies network causal relationships. This procedure is then used to analyze ensemble spike train recordings in primary motor cortex of an awake monkey while performing target reaching tasks, uncovering causal relationships whose directionality are consistent with predictions made from the wave propagation of simultaneously recorded local field potentials.
Statistics of cosmic microwave background polarization

We present a formalism for analyzing a full-sky temperature and polarization map of the cosmic microwave background. Temperature maps are analyzed by expanding over the set of spherical harmonics to give multipole moments of the two-point correlation function. Polarization, which is described by a second-rank tensor, can be treated analogously by expanding in the appropriate tensor spherical harmonics. We provide expressions for the complete set of temperature and polarization multipole moments for scalar and tensor metric perturbations. Four sets of multipole moments completely describe isotropic temperature and polarization correlations; for scalar metric perturbations one set is identically zero, giving the possibility of a clean determination of the vector and tensor contributions. The variance with which the multipole moments can be measured in idealized experiments is evaluated, including the effects of detector noise, sky coverage, and beam width. Finally, we construct coordinate-independent polarization two-point correlation functions, express them in terms of the multipole moments, and derive small-angle limits.
Huntington Disease: Molecular Diagnostics Approach

Huntington disease (HD) is caused by expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat in the first exon of the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. Molecular testing of Huntington disease for diagnostic confirmation and disease prediction requires detection of the CAG repeat expansion. There are three main types of HD genetic testing: (1) diagnostic testing to confirm or rule out disease, (2) presymptomatic testing to determine whether an at-risk individual inherited the expanded allele, and (3) prenatal testing to determine whether the fetus has inherited the expanded allele. This unit includes protocols that describe the complementary use of polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and Southern blot hybridization to accurately measure the CAG trinucleotide repeat size and interpret the test results. In addition, an indirect linkage analysis that does not reveal the unwanted parental HD status in a prenatal testing will also be discussed.
Wartung und Leistungskontrolle im Routinebetrieb

Wenn die Installation und die Qualifizierung fur den Betrieb erfolgreich abgeschlossen sind, kann das Gerat im Routinebetrieb eingesetzt werden. Auch im Routinebetrieb sollten Verfahren vorhanden sein, die sicherstellen, das das Gerat in Zukunft das ausfuhrt, was es tun soll. Jedes Labor sollte ein Qualitatssicherungsprogramm zur Vermeidung, Erkennung, Aufzeichnung und Beseitigung von Fehlern haben, das sowohl von dem Laborpersonal als auch von dem Management verstanden und akzeptiert wird. Die Absicht ist sicherzustellen, das jeder Zeit Analysenergebnisse von akzeptabler Qualitat erhalten werden. Mogliche Masnahmen dafur sind: Vorbeugende Geratewartung, Leistungsverifizierung, Kalibrierung, Systemeignungstests, Analysen von Blind- und Kontrollproben und Masnahmen zur Sicherheit des Systems und der damit erzeugten Daten.
Block-sparse Solutions using Kernel Block RIP and its Application to Group Lasso

We propose kernel block restricted isometry property (KB-RIP) as a generalization of the well-studied RIP and prove a variety of results. First, we present a “sumof-norms”-minimization based formulation of the sparse recovery problem and prove that under suitable conditions on KB-RIP, it recovers the optimal sparse solution exactly. The Group Lasso formulation, widely used as a good heuristic, arises naturally from the Lagrangian relaxation of our formulation. We present an efficient combinatorial algorithm for provable sparse recovery under similar assumptions on KB-RIP. This result improves the previously known assumptions on RIP under which a combinatorial algorithm was known. Finally, we provide numerical evidence to illustrate that not only are our sumof-norms-minimization formulation and combinatorial algorithm significantly faster than Lasso, they also outperforms Lasso in terms of recovery.
On the influence of trust in predicting rural land owner cooperation with natural resource management institutions

Contemporary natural resource management (NRM) emphasises the role of the public in general and land owners in particular as voluntary participants in the process. Understanding the role of trust in voluntary cooperation is therefore critical, but the current state of the relevant literature is such that it fails to systematically address a few important issues. This inquiry sought to address these issues by presenting and testing a model of land owners’ trust in and cooperation with a NRM institution. The model hypothesises that the six major drivers of trust in this context (dispositional trust, care, competence, confidence, procedural fairness and salient values similarity) are distinct but correlated constructs that drive cooperation and whose effects are moderated by the sophistication (relevant knowledge and experience) of the trustor. The results provide complicated partial support for the hypotheses and suggest that (1) although the six constructs are separable, their effects on cooperation are no...
Sexual development in Plasmodium parasites: knowing when it's time to commit

Malaria is a devastating infectious disease that is caused by blood-borne apicomplexan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. These pathogens have a complex lifecycle, which includes development in the anopheline mosquito vector and in the liver and red blood cells of mammalian hosts, a process which takes days to weeks, depending on the Plasmodium species. Productive transmission between the mammalian host and the mosquito requires transitioning between asexual and sexual forms of the parasite. Blood- stage parasites replicate cyclically and are mostly asexual, although a small fraction of these convert into male and female sexual forms (gametocytes) in each reproductive cycle. Despite many years of investigation, the molecular processes that elicit sexual differentiation have remained largely unknown. In this Review, we highlight several important recent discoveries that have identified epigenetic factors and specific transcriptional regulators of gametocyte commitment and development, providing crucial insights into this obligate cellular differentiation process.
Wendy Pearlman, Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement

Wendy Pearlman's impressive new book begins with a puzzle: Why do resistance movements shift from nonviolent struggle to armed struggle, or vice versa? What explains the change from one strategy to...
What is the best available science? A comparison of marine scientists, managers, and interest groups in the United States

Abstract In recent years there have been calls among decision makers, interest groups, citizens, and scientists alike for the use of the “best available science” when making environmental policy and managing natural resources. The assumption is that including scientists and the best available scientific information will improve the quality of complex policy decisions. Others have argued, however, that science and scientists are just one source of expertise concerning environmental management and increasing involvement will not necessarily lead to better policy. We report on a study examining the attitudes and orientations of marine scientists, resource managers, and interest group representatives concerning factors that may affect scientific credibility, the credibility of scientific research produced by various organizations, and perceptions of the ability of certain groups to understand scientific research. Using national random sample surveys and interviews of marine scientists, marine managers, and interest groups involved in marine policy issues conducted in 2011, we examine indicators of scientific credibility, data, research and reputation; the ability of scientists to communicate findings; and the role of scientists in the policy process. Further, we explore what factors contribute to credible science, the credibility of the science produced by various organizations, and the scientific literacy of various policy actors.
Abstract 219: Cardiac Autophagy in Response to Fasting is Impaired in Mice with Metabolic Syndrome

Introduction: Macroautophagy (autophagy) is highly responsive to nutrient/energy status and cellular stress. It plays an adaptive role in limiting ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in the heart. Nutrient depletion is a potent inducer of autophagy and is mediated by reciprocal regulation of AMPK and mTOR pathways which in turn regulate autophagy initiation via ULK1/Atg1. Autophagy is reduced in the setting of obesity, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). The purpose of this study was determine whether impaired autophagy in MetS is due to altered upstream signaling or a disruption in the autophagic pathway. Methods: Mice were ad-lib fed a chow (Lean) or a high fat diet (HFD) (D12492, 60% fat) for 18 weeks. In both groups, half of the mice were freely fed with the other half fasted for 24 hours prior to cardiac harvest. Protein levels were determined with Western blotting and gene expression with quantitative PCR. Results: Consistent with previous data, HFD animals ...
Heterobimetallic Bi(III)−Ti(IV) Coordination Complexes: Synthesis and Solid-State Structures of BiTi4(sal)6(μ-OiPr)3(OiPr)4, and the Cyclic Isomers Bi4Ti4(sal)10(μ-OiPr)4(OiPr)4 and Bi8Ti8(sal)20(μ-OiPr)8(OiPr)8

The reaction of a 1:2 mixture of bismuth(III) salicylate with titanium(IV) isopropoxide in refluxing toluene has been investigated and found to proceed with ligand exchange to produce the new heter...
Inoculating curiosity in fungal biology for a new generation of students

Abstract How can a new faculty member assigned to teach a course in fungal biology go about designing a course that is both informational and relevant to the 21st century undergraduate? Recent calls for science education reform recommend a shift to more active learning pedagogies that encourage students to learn by solving problems or being actively engaged in the process of experimentation as opposed to the traditional lecture reliant on content delivery. While a valid idea, practically, how can such a shift in instruction be implemented? Consider that most current faculty members were taught through the traditional lecture-laboratory format. While creativity and experience in the classroom enables us to develop as effective instructors, the reality of the demands on faculty rarely provide the time to develop enough novel instructional resources when constructing new courses. Fortunately, we can draw up educational resources to aid us beyond our own experiences via internet. Unfortunately, there is currently no central portal for fungal biology educational resources. While some professional societies and groups have begun to include educational resources, none are comprehensive. Because fungal biology topics have traditionally been taught as mycology or phytopathology or medical mycology, content tends to be partitioned to these specific disciplines. The goal of this review is to consolidate and evaluate teaching resources for fungal biology available through the internet for undergraduate education. This review will provide educators with ideas and tools to train future fungal biologists for 21st century careers.
Variations in the Color of Eggs of the Horn Fly

Although most eggs of the horn fly, Haematobia irritans (L.), are dark brown, small numbers of tan, yellow, and white eggs also are produced. With induced oviposition, about 80% of the eggs produced in 4 hours were dark brown, and 20% were lighter in color; with natural oviposition, only a few more than 5% were light in color. Dark brown eggs were deposited first and then light-colored eggs. The percentage of fertility and the sex ratio were essentially the same for eggs of all 4 colors. Arrangement of egg colors in the ovaries was inconsistent with occasional white or yellow eggs being nearer the oviduct than were tan and brown eggs.
Bacterial Vaginosis: An Overview for 2009

Bacterial vaginosis has been appreciated as a unique clinical entity for well over 50 years. Its essential manifestations are well established: a loss of the normal bacterial population of the vagina and their replacement by other species. Investigations into this condition have led to a better understanding of its prevalence and epidemiology. Microbiologic and biochemical studies have exposed the remarkably complex pathophysiologic events that occur with bacterial vaginosis. Several major morbidities accompany this condition. Advances have been made in treatment, including the recent availability of a new therapeutic agent, tinidazole. However, the root cause of the condition is elusive, and as a result managing bacterial vaginosis and its complications is unsatisfactory; moreover, data suggest that therapy now is less successful than in the past. This article brings together the current fund of knowledge about bacterial vaginosis in a way that offers clinicians a realistic view of our capabilities and concerns.
Study on the monitoring methods of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic products

Objective:To study the monitoring methods of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic products,find the aquatic products contaminated by Vibrio cholerae timely,and take effective measures to prevent and control cholera outbreak.Methods: The real-time fluorescence PCR,the colloidal gold method,the isolation and culture method were used for Vibrio cholerae detection in 180 aquatic product samples respectively.Results: With the three methods,44 nucleic acid positive specimens were detected,in which 18 specimens were cholera enterotoxin positive,and 8 Vibrio cholerae strains were isolated.Conclusion: During cholera surveillance of aquatic products,nucleic acid positive samples were screened first by real-time PCR,and then cholera enterotoxin detection was done to find the polluted aquatic products timely.Colloidal gold method was employed to isolate,culture and type the nucleic acid positive samples for further confirmation and analysis of cholera spread.
Das Geheimnis gepflegter Haare

Ruckblickend betrachtet habe ich wahrscheinlich uberreagiert. Nachdem ich all die wissenschaftliche Literatur uber den Wert des guten alten Rangelns und die potenziellen Gefahren der Naturdefizit-Storung gelesen hatte, lehnte ich den Wunsch unserer Tochter nach den neuesten und grosten elektronischen Geratschaften als Weihnachtsgeschenk rundweg ab. Ich konnte doch unmoglich den Niedergang der emotionalen Resilienz meiner Tochter auch noch unterstutzen! Ich erinnerte mich daran, dass sich meine altere Tochter einmal fur ein Chinchilla interessiert hatte, und … nun ja, der Rest ist Geschichte.
Early evidence of anti-PD-1 activity in enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer

// Julie N. Graff 1,2 , Joshi J. Alumkal 1 , Charles G. Drake 3 , George V. Thomas 4 , William L. Redmond 5 , Mohammad Farhad 5,6 , Jeremy P. Cetnar 1 , Frederick S. Ey 1 , Raymond C. Bergan 1 , Rachel Slottke 1 and Tomasz M. Beer 1 1 Division of Hematology/Oncology, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA 2 VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, USA 3 Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA 4 Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA 5 Robert W. Franz Cancer Research Center, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, OR, USA 6 Cell, Developmental, and Cancer Biology Department, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA Correspondence to: Julie N. Graff, email: // Keywords : prostate cancer, PD-1, immunotherapy, enzalutamide, Immunology and Microbiology Section, Immune response, Immunity Received : May 31, 2016 Accepted : June 17, 2016 Published : July 12, 2016 Abstract While programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors have shown clear anti-tumor efficacy in several solid tumors, prior results in men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) showed no evidence of activity. Here we report unexpected antitumor activity seen in mCRPC patients treated with the anti-PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab. Patients with evidence of progression on enzalutamide were treated with pembrolizumab 200 mg IV every 3 weeks for 4 doses; pembrolizumab was added to standard dose enzalutamide. Three of the first ten patients enrolled in this ongoing phase II trial experienced rapid prostate specific antigen (PSA) reductions to ≤ 0.2 ng/ml. Two of these three patients had measurable disease upon study entry; both achieved a partial response. There were three patients with significant immune-related adverse events. One had grade 2 myositis, one had grade 3 hypothyroidism, and one had grade 2 hypothyroidism. None of these patients had a response. Two of the three responders had a baseline tumor biopsy. Immunohistochemistry from those biopsies showed the presence of CD3 + , CD8 + , and CD163 + leukocyte infiltrates and PD-L1 expression. Genetic analysis of the two responders revealed markers of microsatellite instability in one. The surprising and robust responses seen in this study should lead to re-examination of PD-1 inhibition in prostate cancer.
Anatomy, function, and pathophysiology of the posterior tibial tendon

The posterior tibial tendon is vital for the structure and function of the foot and ankle. Dysfunction of the tendon can be debilitating and devastating. In recent years, much attention had been directed toward the diagnosis and treatment of PTTD. To properly diagnose and devise an appropriate treatment regimen, the anatomy, function, and pathophysiology associated with PTTD need to be thoroughly understood.
Nutrient-element interactions in vegetable crops

Interactions between several nutrient‐elements were studied in an extensive series of tomato, sweet corn and snapbean experiments, each at 9 production sites across Pennsylvania. Fertilizer treatme...
Social Contact and Cognitive Functioning: The Role of Personality.

Objectives Social contact has been shown to be positively associated with cognitive functioning. It is unclear, however, whether all individuals can equally benefit from social contact with regard to their cognitive functioning. The goal of this study was to examine whether the beneficial effects of social contact are affected by individual differences in personality. Method We examined the Big Five personality traits as moderators of the associations between social contact and episodic memory and executive functioning using the second wave of the Midlife in the U.S. study (N = 3,524, M(age) = 55.8). Results High levels of Extraversion and low levels of Openness to Experience strengthened the association between social contact and memory and executive functioning. High levels of Neuroticism and Agreeableness weakened the association of social contact with memory but not with executive functioning. The results are consistent across adulthood. Discussion Personality modifies the social contact-cognition association. Whereas extraverts may need social contact for cognitive stimulation, those who are high on Openness gain their stimulations elsewhere. The highly neurotic might experience contact as stressful and hence as less beneficial. Emotional rather than cognitive motivation might be the reason that the highly agreeable benefit less from social contact with regard to their cognitive functioning.
Distribution of disease phase, treatment prescription and severe liver disease among 1598 patients with chronic hepatitis B in the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, 2006-2013.

SummaryBackground Limited information exists regarding the distribution of disease phases, treatment prescription and severe liver disease among patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in US general healthcare settings. Aim To determine the distribution of disease phases, treatment prescription and severe liver disease among patients with CHB in general US healthcare settings. Methods We analysed demographic and clinical data collected during 2006–2013 from patients with confirmed CHB in the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, an observational cohort study involving patients from healthcare organisations in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Hawaii. CHB phases were classified according to American Association for the Study of Liver Disease guidelines. Results Of 1598 CHB patients with ≥12 months of follow-up (median 6.3 years), 457 (29%) were immune active during follow-up [11% hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive, 16% HBeAg-negative, and 2% HBeAg status unknown], 10 (0.6%) were immune tolerant, 112 (7%) were inactive through the duration of follow-up and 886 (55%) were phase indeterminate. Patients with cirrhosis were identified within each group (among 21% of immune active, 3% of inactive and 9% of indeterminate phase patients) except among those with immune-tolerant CHB. Prescription of treatment was 59% among immune active patients and 84% among patients with cirrhosis and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA >2000 IU/mL. Conclusions Approximately, one-third of the cohort had active disease during follow-up; 60% of eligible patients were prescribed treatment. Our findings underscore the importance of ascertainment of fibrosis status in addition to regular assessment of ALT and HBV DNA levels.
Optimization Technique for Arc Fault Control on the Navy Integrated Power System (IPS)

The Navy IPS is a highly complex network that is often times subjected to high-impact contingencies during operations. Cases that result in arc faults, which pose threats to life, mission, and/or ship components, require effective mitigation with minimal manning. This paper is aimed at developing an optimization strategy for quenching arc faults. The approach is based on (a) nonlinear optimization for optimal allocation of remedial control resources, and (b) discrete optimization that incorporates engineering heuristics using an intelligent system. In the latter case, intelligent decisions are structured into the proposed algorithm to handle discrete control variables. The paper extends the capability of other techniques for solving arc fault control such as rule base systems (RBS). The scheme for improving IPS control and protection against arc fault threats was investigated on a modified Navy IPS.
A Navigation and Control Strategy for Miniature Legged Robots

This paper reports on a model-based control strategy for miniature legged robots tasked with navigation in cluttered environments. Our approach uses a new model for crawling locomotion to derive closed-form expressions of state propagation. The latter enable the development of a feedback control navigation strategy. The strategy consists of a waypoint tracking controller that steers the system along desired paths and an outer control loop that updates the reference path to account for uncertainty. This strategy allows noise-resilient navigation for miniature legged robots and is experimentally validated on an eight-legged robot that navigates in obstacle-cluttered environments.
NF-κB Activation in Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Mediates Leukemia Cell Chemoresistance

Abstract Abstract 3518 Within the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, BM mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSC) provide leukemia cells with a rich environment that serves as a sanctuary and protects them from chemotherapeutic agents. Interactions between leukemia cells and BM-MSC are thought to change the behavior of both stroma and leukemia cells resulting in an increased resistance to standard drugs. To discover interaction-induced changes in BM-MSCs that might promote microenvironment-mediated chemoresistance we used genome-wide gene expression profiling to study normal-donor BM-MSCs co-cultured with REH cells, a pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cell line. Upregulated genes in normal-donor BM-MSCs by co-culture included many cytokines and chemokines and implicated activation of NF-κB in BM-MSCs. Similar results were obtained by co-culturing normal-donor BM-MSCs with OCI-AML3 cells, an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell line. Increased expression of NF-κB target genes in BM-MSCs was also induced by co-culture with primary cells from ALL and AML patients, suggesting that NF-κB activation is a common consequence of leukemia-stroma interaction. Blocking canonical-pathway NF-κB activation by overexpressing a super-repressor form of IκBα in BM-MSC, significantly reduced stroma-mediated chemoresistance to vincristine (VCR) of leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo using an extramedullary bone marrow model. When small-molecule IKKβ inhibitors (MLN3316 and CDDO-Me) were used in co-cultures, blocking canonical-pathway NF-κB activation in ALL cell lines (REH or RS4;11) as well as BM-MSCs, the apoptotic effects of VCR on leukemia cells were further increased. Conclusion: results indicate that leukemia cells activate NF-κB in stromal cells and that such activation is in turn essential to promote survival of leukemia cells during chemotherapy. Targeting NF-κB in BM-MSC may ameliorate stroma-mediated chemoresistance and help in eliminating BM-resident leukemia cells. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Keep your eye on the metaphor: The framing of the Common Core on Twitter

Issue framing is a powerful way for advocates to appeal to the value systems of constituency groups to evoke their support. Using a conceptual framework that focused on radial frames, metaphors, and lexical markers, we examined the linguistic choices that Common Core opponents used on Twitter to activate five central metaphors that reinforced the overall frame of the standards as a threat to children and appealed to the value systems of a diverse set of constituencies. In our research, we identified five frames: the Government Frame, which presented the Common Core as an oppressive government intrusion into the lives of citizens and appealed to limited-government conservatives; the Propaganda Frame, which depicted the standards as a means of brainwashing children, and in doing so, hearkened back to the cold war era when social conservatives positioned themselves as defenders of the national ethic; the War Frame, which portrayed the standards as a front in the nation’s culture wars and appealed to social and religious conservatives to protect traditional cultural values; the Business Frame, which rendered the standards as an opportunity for corporations to profit from public education and appealed to liberal opponents of business interests exploiting a social good; and the Experiment Frame, which used the metaphor of the standards as an experiment on children and appealed to the principle of care that is highly valued amongst social liberals. Collectively, these frames, and the metaphors and the language that triggered them, appealed to the value systems of both conservatives and liberals, and contributed to the broad coalition from both within and outside of education, which was aligned in opposition to the standards.
Can ultrasound be used as the primary imaging in children with suspected Crohn disease

There is growing literature on the use of ultrasound (US) for evaluation of Crohn disease in adults, but few studies have been conducted on children. Several studies demonstrated high accuracy of US in the diagnosis of Crohn disease. Using US as the primary screening imaging modality for Crohn disease can reduce health care costs, the need for sedation and ionizing radiation exposure. The aim of our study is to determine if US can be used for screening evaluation of pediatric Crohn disease. A prospective cohort study of pediatric patients undergoing MR enterography (MRE) for suspected or known history of Crohn disease was performed, with gray-scale and Doppler US of the terminal ileum done immediately before or after MRE. US images were interpreted by two radiologists (Reader 1 and Reader 2) not involved in image acquisition, in blinded and randomized fashion. US findings of Crohn disease including bowel wall thickening, wall stratification, increased vascularity on Doppler, lymphadenopathy, fat infiltration and extraintestinal complications were evaluated. MRE findings of terminal ileitis were considered the reference standard. Demographic data, body mass index (BMI), symptoms, and laboratory, endoscopic and histopathological data were obtained from electronic medical records. Forty-one patients (mean age: 13.7 years: 4.6-18.9 years) were evaluated. Mean BMI was 21.2 (range: 13-40.2); 10 patients (24.3%) were either overweight or obese. Final diagnoses were Crohn disease (n=24), ulcerative colitis (n=4) and normal/non-inflammatory bowel disease-related diagnoses (n=13). US demonstrated sensitivity of 67% and 78% and specificity of 78% and 83%, by Reader 1 and Reader 2, respectively. MRE sensitivity and specificity were 75% and 100%, respectively, compared to final clinicopathological diagnosis. Interobserver agreement between Reader 1 and Reader 2 was good (0.6< kappa <0.8). In screening for Crohn disease in children, US has limited sensitivity for detecting terminal ileitis.
Heparan sulfate proteoglycans regulate autophagy in Drosophila

ABSTRACTHeparan sulfate-modified proteoglycans (HSPGs) are important regulators of signaling and molecular recognition at the cell surface and in the extracellular space. Disruption of HSPG core proteins, HS-synthesis, or HS-degradation can have profound effects on growth, patterning, and cell survival. The Drosophila neuromuscular junction provides a tractable model for understanding the activities of HSPGs at a synapse that displays developmental and activity-dependent plasticity. Muscle cell-specific knockdown of HS biosynthesis disrupted the organization of a specialized postsynaptic membrane, the subsynaptic reticulum (SSR), and affected the number and morphology of mitochondria. We provide evidence that these changes result from a dysregulation of macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy). Cellular and molecular markers of autophagy are all consistent with an increase in the levels of autophagy in the absence of normal HS-chain biosynthesis and modification. HS production is also required ...
Successful Treatment of Symptomatic Intracranial Carotid Artery Stenosis Using a 24-mm Long Bare Metal Coronary Stent.

Background Intracranial arterial atherosclerosis represents a common cause of stroke. Despite aggressive and optimal medical management, many patients will unfortunately suffer additional cerebrovascular events. The role of endovascular intervention for intracranial atherosclerotic disease continues to be uncertain, particularly in regard to extensive, symptomatic stenosis. Case Description We present a case of a 42-year-old man with a complex medical history who presented with recurrent ischemic stroke in the ipsilateral hemisphere despite optimal medical management. Given the length of stenosis and the luminal size of the intracranial cavernous and petrous segments of the internal carotid artery, we used a bare metal coronary stent (4.0 mm × 24 mm). This represents one of the longest stents deployed for intracranial disease reported in the literature. Conclusions This case illustrates that a long coronary stent might be successfully used to manage extensive intracranial lesions. We also review the efficacy of using 1 very long stent versus multiple overlapping stents, with reference to the coronary angiography literature.
Larger Receptive Field Size as a Mechanism Underlying Atypical Motion Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Atypical visual motion perception has been widely observed in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The pattern of results, however, has been inconsistent. Emerging mechanistic hypotheses seek to explain these variable patterns of atypical motion sensitivity, each uniquely predicting specific patterns of performance across varying stimulus conditions. Here, we investigated the integrity of two such fundamental mechanisms—response gain control and receptive field size. A total of 20 children and adolescents with ASD and 20 typically developing (TD) age- and IQ-matched controls performed a motion discrimination task. To adequately model group differences in both mechanisms of interest, we tested a range of 23 stimulus conditions varying in size and contrast. Results revealed a motion perception impairment in ASD that was specific to the smallest sized stimuli (1°), irrespective of stimulus contrast. Model analyses provided evidence for larger receptive field size in ASD as the mechanism that expl...
A Gender Bias Habit-Breaking Intervention Led to Increased Hiring of Female Faculty in STEMM Departments.

Addressing the underrepresentation of women in science is a top priority for many institutions, but the majority of efforts to increase representation of women are neither evidence-based nor rigorously assessed. One exception is the gender bias habit-breaking intervention (Carnes et al., 2015), which, in a cluster-randomized trial involving all but two departmental clusters (N = 92) in the 6 STEMM focused schools/colleges at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, led to increases in gender bias awareness and self-efficacy to promote gender equity in academic science departments. Following this initial success, the present study compares, in a preregistered analysis, hiring rates of new female faculty pre- and post-manipulation. Whereas the proportion of women hired by control departments remained stable over time, the proportion of women hired by intervention departments increased by an estimated 18 percentage points (OR = 2.23, dOR = 0.34). Though the preregistered analysis did not achieve conventional levels of statistical significance (p < 0.07), our study has a hard upper limit on statistical power, as the cluster-randomized trial has a maximum sample size of 92 departmental clusters. These patterns have undeniable practical significance for the advancement of women in science, and provide promising evidence that psychological interventions can facilitate gender equity and diversity.
Abstract 13832: GPR39 is a High Affinity Vascular Smooth Muscle Receptor for P450 Eicosanoids

Epoxyeicosatrienoic (EETs) and hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs) are endogenous vasoactive P450 eicosanoids that play important roles in cardiovascular physiology and disease, but their mechani...
How Organizational Policies Influence Bystander Likelihood of Reporting Moderate and Severe Sexual Harassment at Work

Little is known about the causal effect of sexual harassment policies on sexual harassment outcomes at work. Based on schema theories of social cognition, organizational policies related to sexual harassment should have a greater impact on responses to moderate, versus severe, forms of sexual harassment. In Study 1, 219 undergraduate students were shown a fictitious company website describing one of three company policies on sexual harassment (a zero-tolerance policy, a standard harassment policy, or no policy), and were then assigned to read about a moderate or severe instance of sexual harassment they ostensibly observed at the organization. Results indicated participants in the zero-tolerance policy condition were more likely to intend to formally report the harassment to their organization than those in the other conditions. This effect was especially strong for the moderate, or more ambiguous, sexual harassment scenario. Study 2 replicated and extended Study 1 using 101 Human Resources professionals and actual policy statements from an organization. Results again indicated that a zero-tolerance policy leads to the highest estimates of bystander reporting, especially for instances of moderate sexual harassment. Implications for practice include a caution against using minimal or compulsory harassment policies in place of salient zero-tolerance policies.