cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Alkaline Solution to the Emergence of Life: Energy, Entropy and Early Evolution

The Earth agglomerates and heats. Convection cells within the planetary interior expedite the cooling process. Volcanoes evolve steam, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and pyrophosphate. An acidulous Hadean ocean condenses from the carbon dioxide atmosphere. Dusts and stratospheric sulfurous smogs absorb a proportion of the Sun's rays. The cooled ocean leaks into the stressed crust and also convects. High temperature acid springs, coupled to magmatic plumes and spreading centers, emit iron, manganese, zinc, cobalt and nickel ions to the ocean. Away from the spreading centers cooler alkaline spring waters emanate from the ocean floor. These bear hydrogen, formate, ammonia, hydrosulfide and minor methane thiol. The thermal potential begins to be dissipated but the chemical potential is dammed. The exhaling alkaline solutions are frustrated in their further attempt to mix thoroughly with their oceanic source by the spontaneous precipitation of biomorphic barriers of colloidal iron compounds and other minerals. It is here we surmise that organic molecules are synthesized, filtered, concentrated and adsorbed, while acetate and methane— separate products of the precursor to the reductive acetyl-coenzyme-A pathway—are exhaled as waste. Reactions in mineral compartments produce acetate, amino acids, and the components of nucleosides. Short peptides, condensed from the simple amino acids, sequester 'ready-made' iron sulfide clusters to form protoferredoxins, and also bind phosphates. Nucleotides are assembled from amino acids, simple phosphates carbon dioxide and ribose phosphate upon nanocrystalline mineral surfaces. The side chains of particular amino acids register to fitting nucleotide triplet clefts. Keyed in, the amino acids are polymerized, through acid-base catalysis, to alpha chains. Peptides, the tenuous outer-most filaments of the nanocrysts, contin- ually peel away from bound RNA. The polymers are concentrated at cooler regions of the mineral compartments through thermophoresis. RNA is reproduced through a
Child patient response to various dental procedures

Highly anxious children probably profit little from ordinary technics of reassurance during dental examination and treatment.
Family economy and the black american fertility transition.

Residential patterns in the economic roles of black children and married women are described for the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Black children were much less likely to report a gainful occupation in cities than in the countryside. And, within rural areas, farm children were somewhat more likely to work, and began working at a younger age, than their nonfarm counterparts. On the other hand, urban children were more likely to attend school, and did so for more months during the year. While black women in all settings reported relatively high levels of gainful employment, urban and rural nonfarm residents were far more likely to work outside the home. It is suggested that this residential variation in women's and children's roles can help explain corresponding residential differences in fertility levels, and the timing offertility transition.
A Novel Poling Process for Polymeric Thin Films Exhibiting Second Harmonic Generation

Carbon dioxide is used to induce glass transition in amorphous polymer films, allowing efficient alignment of chromophores with an applied electric field. The noncentrosymmetric films thus produced are capable of second harmonic generation (SHG). This method has advantages over previously investigated poling schemes, including poling at ambient temperatures and use of high glass transition temperature polymers. Several polymeric systems have been studied. The chromophrores were either dissolved in the polymer, attached as a side chain, or incorporated into the backbone of the polymer. The SHG of the films was observed as a function temperature. Of the systems studied, polyether sulfone retains SHG capability to the highest temperature. Two different systems had the greatest retention of SHG up to the glass htansition temperature. They were Poly((4-N-ethylene-N-ethylamino)- rz-cyanocinnamate), a polymer which has the chromophore incorporated in the backbone, and 4- (dimethylamino)-4'-(dimesitylboro)azobenzene, a host-guest system with a relatively large chromophore. These and other systems will be discussed.
HYBRID SILICON-MOLECULAR ELECTRONICS

As CMOS technology extends beyond the current technology node, many challenges to conventional MOSFET were raised. Non-classical CMOS to extend and fundamentally new technologies to replace current CMOS technology are under intensive investigation to meet these challenges. The approach of hybrid silicon/molecular electronics is to provide a smooth transition technology by integrating molecular intrinsic scalability and diverse properties with the vast infrastructure of traditional MOS technology. Here we discuss: (1) the integration of redox-active molecules into Si-based structures, (2) characterization and modeling of the properties of these Si/molecular systems, (3) single and multiple states of Si/molecular memory, and (4) applications based on hybrid Si/molecular electronic system.
A New Unified Treatment Approach for Emotional Disorders Based on Emotion Science

Research on the nature of emotional disorders points toward a common set of diatheses (underlying psychological vulnerabilities) and functionally (but not superficially) similar expression of pathological emotional responding (e.g., Barlow, 2002). Successful drug treatments for different emotional disorders are very similar, with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or related compounds in wide use. Successful psychological treatments, on the other hand, are currently specifically targeted to each individual disorder. Distilling common principles among existing empirically supported psychological treatments, and giving attention to new findings on emotion regulation and dysregulation from emotion science, we propose and describe a new unified psychological treatment for emotional disorders.
An investigation in student conceptual understanding of geometric design

The purpose of this paper is to investigate student conceptual understanding of fundamental transportation engineering concepts, focusing explicitly on geometric design. Geometric design is a critical element to all transportation engineering courses, encompassing essential concepts needed in current conventional roadway design. Clinical interviews with twenty students were used to investigate student understanding. Three broad areas of geometric design based conceptual misunderstanding have emerged from the initial analysis of the student interviews; including sight distance versus stopping sight distance misconceptions, inability to design horizontal curves, and increasing reliance on equations and previous homework examples to solve new problems. The results from this study can be used to assess current transportation engineering curriculum, and enlighten future researchers about the causes of conceptual difficulty.
Simulation-Based Engine Calibration: Tools, Techniques, and Applications

Calibration of engine management systems requires considerable engineering resources during the development of modern engines. Traditional calibration methods use a combination of engine dynamometer and vehicle testing, but pressure to reduce powertrain development cost and time is driving development of more advanced calibration techniques. In addition, future engines will feature new technology, such as variable valve actuation, that is necessary to improve fuel economy, performance, and emissions. This introduces a greater level of system complexity and greatly increases test requirements to achieve successful calibrations. To address these problems, new simulation tools and procedures have been developed within Delphi to rapidly generate optimized calibration maps. The objective of the work is to reduce calibration effort while fully realizing the potential benefit from advanced engine technology. The procedure utilizes GT Power engine simulation software and engine models validated through limited dynamometer testing. A front end to GT Power was written to automatically call GT Power executables and produce the calibration dataset. Several methods were used to accelerate the simulation process. Calibrations are optimized using an additional software tool that includes a weighted-optimization scheme. User-defined constraints may be applied during optimization for cam phaser position, combustion dilute limits, exhaust temperature or any other variable defined in the engine model. The overall procedure includes vehicle simulation using ADVISOR to estimate fuel economy and emissions for the drive cycle.
Infusing Sign Language and Spanish into Physical Education

(2010). Infusing Sign Language and Spanish into Physical Education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance: Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 45-49.
Solution-Processed TIPS-Pentacene Organic Thin-Film-Transistor Circuits

We have fabricated solution-processed organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) and circuits using triisopropylsilyl pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) as the active semiconductor material. Patterned bottom-gate solution-processed TIPS-pentacene OTFTs on glass substrates have mobility as large as 0.6 cm2/Vldrs and subthreshold slope as low as 0.4 V/dec. Seven-stage ring oscillators have oscillation frequency greater than 10 kHz and propagation delay of less than 8 mus per stage at a bias of 80 V. The 7- and 15-stage ring oscillators also operate with supply-voltage magnitude of less than 5 V.
APPLIANCE EFFICIENCY STANDARDS AND LABELING PROGRAMS IN CHINA

▪ Abstract Since the late 1980s, China has developed an extensive program of energy efficiency standards and labeling for household appliances. This development closely traces the rapid growth of appliance ownership and the domestic appliance industry and is an integral part of China's comprehensive energy conservation policy. The implementation of energy efficiency standards and labels for household appliances has not only achieved significant reductions in energy consumption and therefore greenhouse gas emissions in China, but it has also been instrumental in stimulating one of the world's largest appliance markets. This article reviews the historical development of Chinese programs, summarizes the most recent activities, and documents to the extent possible their impact on appliance efficiency and energy consumption.
Spectral cytopathology: new aspects of data collection, manipulation and confounding effects

This paper presents a short review on the improvements in data processing for spectral cytopathology, the diagnostic method developed for large scale diagnostic analysis of spectral data of individual dried and fixed cells. This review is followed by the analysis of the confounding effects introduced by utilizing reflecting “low-emissivity” (low-e) slides as sample substrates in infrared micro-spectroscopy of biological samples such as individual dried cells or tissue sections. The artifact introduced by these substrates, referred to as the “standing electromagnetic wave” artifact, indeed, distorts the spectra noticeably, as postulated recently by several research groups. An analysis of the standing wave effect reveals that careful data pre-processing can reduce the spurious effects to a level where they are not creating a major problem for spectral cytopathology and spectral histopathology.
Nasopharyngeal Detection of Respiratory Viruses in Febrile Neutropenic Children

Background. Although fever is common in neutropenic children, a microbiological etiology is determined in only 15% to 30% of cases. The authors investigated the frequency of respiratory virus detection in the upper airways of febrile neutropenic children with negative bacterial cultures. Methods. This is a 3-year prospective study of children younger than 19 years, hospitalized with febrile neutropenia and negative bacterial cultures. Respiratory samples were obtained for amplification of viral nucleic acids via Luminex xTAG technology. Results. There were 50 febrile neutropenic episodes among 42 patients. Respiratory viruses were detected in 26 (52%) febrile episodes. A single virus was detected in 22 febrile episodes; multiple viruses were detected in the remaining 4. Rhinovirus/Enterovirus was most frequently detected. Conclusion. Respiratory viruses were detected frequently in nasopharyngeal samples from febrile neutropenic patients with negative bacterial cultures, thus providing an impetus to determ...
Psychological well-being of mothers of youth with fragile X syndrome: syndrome specificity and within-syndrome variability

Background Research on parental well-being has focused largely on Down syndrome and autism; however, fragile X syndrome is likely to pose different challenges for parents compared with these other diagnostic conditions. Moreover, there is considerable variability among youth with fragile X syndrome; for example,  % to  % of affected youth meet criteria for a co-morbid diagnosis of autism. It is likely that parents of youth with fragile X syndrome will experience different degrees and patterns of stress, depending on whether their offspring do or do not have a co-morbid diagnosis of autism. In the present study, we compared mothers of three groups of young males on measures of psychological wellbeing and stress: those with fragile X syndrome and a co-morbid diagnosis of autism; those with fragile X syndrome alone; and those with Down syndrome. Method The sample consisted of mothers of adolescent and young adult males with fragile X syndrome and co-morbid autism ( n =  ), fragile X syndrome alone ( n =  ), and Down syndrome ( n =  ). We screened all youth for autism using the Autism Behavior Checklist, which was completed by mothers, fathers and teachers, and the youth who scored
Beginning Teacher Challenges Instructing Students Who Are in Foster Care

Children in foster care compose a population of students very vulnerable to school failure. Placement and school instability and lack of collaboration between the school and child welfare agency are some of the barriers that impede their school performance. This study focused on the classroom context and questioned beginning general and special education teachers in urban schools about their experiences instructing students living in foster care. Findings revealed that foster youth present serious challenges to beginning teachers that go largely unaddressed because of lack of information about the child, lack of teacher preparedness for such challenges, and lack of supports by the school and collaboration with the child welfare system.
Synthetic-aperture-radar imaging of the ocean surface using the slightly-rough facet model and a full surface-wave spectrum

A new model of synthetic-aperture-radar (SAR) imaging of ocean waves is described. The model is based on mapping individual, slightly-rough surface facets through the SAR processor into the image and responses of the facets in the image domain are added together coherently to give the composite image. A windowing technique allows both the orbital motion and the phase velocity of the long waves to be included. It is determined that the azimuthal cut-off is due to a smearing of the response of the facets in the image induced by the random orbital motion of the intermediate large-scale waves and that the focus adjustment that gives the greatest image contrast is half the phase velocity of the dominant long wave. The optimal processing technique, however, may consist of spatially offsetting the multiple looks on the image domain to compensate the propagation of long waves during the integration time of the SAR.
The role of gender in belonging and sense of community

This paper reports differences in belonging and connection to various levels of community between distinctly different technical fields: electrical engineering, civil & environmental engineering, and computer science. Established (reliable and validated) constructs have been used to assess community strength in these three fields at a major research university. The results emphasize gender differences within fields and between technical fields. Belonging (and sense of community) has been implicated in drop-out rates and lack of engagement in grades K-12; likewise, isolation (lack of belonging) has been cited as a persistent reason that female undergraduates leave engineering early in their programs. Our results show that sense of belonging (and connection to community) is consistently higher for women in engineering fields where women are present in higher numbers. In addition, these important affective constructs are higher overall in fields where women are more highly represented. These results may suggest that greater numbers of women enable a stronger sense of community or alternatively, the inherent nature of the field provides increased opportunity for belonging and developing a strong sense of community. In either case, related technical fields with stronger community can serve as role models for those that demonstrate less robust connection to community in helping these fields to improve their recruitment and retention of women.
Impact Mechanics and High-Energy Absorbing Materials: Review

In this paper a review of impact mechanics and high-energy absorbing materials is presented. We review different theoretical models (rigid-body dynamics, elastic, shock, and plastic wave propagation, and nonclassical or nonlocal models. and computational methods (finite-element, finite-difference, and mesh-free methods. used in impact mechanics. Some recent developments in numerical simulation of impact (e.g., peridynamics) and new design concepts proposed as high energy absorbing materials (lattice and truss structures, hybrid sandwich composites, metal foams, magnetorheological fluids, porous shape memory al loys. are discussed. Recent studies on experimental evaluation and constitutive modeling of strain rate-dependent polymer matrix composites are also presented. Impact damage on composite materials in aerospace engineering is discussed along with future research needs. A particular example for the design of a sandwich material as an impact mitigator is given in more detail. This brief review is intended to help the readers in identifying starting points for research in modeling and simulation of impact problems and in designing energy absorbing materials and structures.
Microbial colonization patterns of loosely adherent subgingival plaque in adult periodontitis

Periodontal plaque is a complex bacterial ecosystem that carries an innate history of colonization, selection and maturation. Detailed examination of this balanced environment can reveal developmental sequences and certain interrelationships, much like an archeological record, that can provide insight in the understanding of plaque formation and maturation. For the present investigation, methods are employed which enable the retrospective elucidation of the historical data of plaque development and the nature of bacterial interactions. Nonparametric statistical methods are used to analyze risk, agreement and interdependence, following analytical techniques which are well established in medical epidemiology, but not generally employed in dentistry. The fundamental concept is that many organisms which are present in plaque prefer or require a pre-existing bacterial miliue for colonization and growth to steady-state level. Plaque samples and Ramfjord attachment level measurements were obtained from 60 adult periodontitis patients. Loosely adherent plaque was sampled and different morphotypes were enumerated by darkfield microscopy. The colonization of small spirochetes (S-SP) within the loosely adherent plaque was essential for the colonization of medium spirochetes (M-SP), odds ratio = 15.7 and filaments (FIL), odds ratio = 22.2. Thus, a temporal colonization sequence is inferred for FIL and M-SP, both requiring S-SP as a prerequisite morphotype. Medium spirochetes, in turn, are required for fusiform (FUS) colonization. M-SP also enhance the colonization of FIL and large motile rods (L-MO-R) within the loosely adherent plaque. These morphotypes were inferred to be sequentially interdependent, each preferring or requiring the presence of the preceding morphotype.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Evaluation and Management of Diastolic Heart Failure

Case presentation : A 73-year-old female smoker with a history of hypertension presents to the emergency room with dyspnea on exertion for 2 weeks, now progressing to shortness of breath at rest for 1 day. She has no angina, but has 2-pillow orthopnea and possible paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. On examination, blood pressure is 180/96 mm Hg, heart rate is 95 beats per minute and regular, and she is afebrile. Jugular venous pressure is 11 cm, and there are rales in the lower third of both lung fields. On cardiac auscultation there is an S4, but no S3 or murmur. On chest radiography, emphysematous changes are present, and there are patchy bilateral infiltrates consistent with pulmonary edema or pneumonia. Heart size is mildly increased. Is she suffering from congestive heart failure, and if so, why? What are the best management options acutely and after hospital discharge? Congestive heart failure (CHF) is one of the most common reasons for hospital admission in the United States. The syndrome usually evokes images of an enlarged heart with reduced systolic function. However, perhaps 50% of patients with CHF have normal or only minimally impaired systolic dysfunction and are diagnosed with diastolic heart failure (D-CHF) by exclusion.1–4 Rather than define D-CHF by what it is not (that is, CHF without systolic dysfunction), we regard D-CHF as CHF due to increased resistance to diastolic filling of part or all of the heart. Causes of D-CHF so defined are listed in Table 1; this review will focus on the myocardial causes.5,6 View this table: TABLE 1. Causes of Diastolic Congestive Heart Failure Depending on the cohort studied and the exact definition, the prevalence of D-CHF increases with age and is higher in women than men. Hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are common. Compared with classic systolic CHF …
High Cytogenetic or Molecular Genetic Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Resistance, manifested as failure to enter remission despite living long enough to do so or as relapse from remission, is the principal cause of therapeutic failure in acute myeloid leukemia, even in patients age ≥ 75. Recently, a "monosomal karyotype" in acute myeloid leukemia blasts has been found to be a principal predictor of resistance. It is also clear that patients with a normal karyotype, and other intermediate prognosis karyotypes, can be placed into a high-risk group based on the absence of a mutation in the NPM1 gene or the presence of an internal tandem duplication (ITD) of the Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 gene (FLT3) gene, particularly if there is loss of the wild-type FLT3 allele. The effects of other genetic abnormalities have been inconsistent, perhaps reflecting differences in expression of the abnormality and its translation into protein. Several reports have shown the prognostic potential of profiling global gene expression, micro-RNA expression, DNA methylation, and proteomics. Although routine application of these approaches is still premature, pretreatment assessment of the nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) mutation and FLT3 ITD status, as well as cytogenetics, should be routine. These results can be used to guide the choice of remission induction therapy, for example, by placing patients with monosomal karyotype or FLT3 ITDs on clinical trials. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant in first complete remission is generally indicated for high-risk patients. However, new approaches are needed to reduce the high rates of relapse, even after hematopoietic cell transplant.
Mining Data with Rare Events: A Case Study

The performance of classification models can be negatively impacted if the data on which they are trained contains very rare events. While recent research has investigated the issue of class imbalance, few if any studies address issues related to the handling of extreme imbalance (rare events), where the minority class can account for as little as 0.1% of the training data. This work investigates the effect of dataset size and class distribution on classification performance when examples from the minority class are rare. In addition, we compare the performance improvement achieved by acquiring additional examples to that of applying data sampling. Our results demonstrate that data sampling is very effective at alleviating the problem of rare events.
Adolescent risk taking, dopamine, and cocaine: A vicious cycle

Aims: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is an independent risk factor for cigarette smoking. Although smokers withADHDdiffer fromnon-ADHDsmokers inmany respects, ADHD is a heterogeneous disorder composed of different subtypes. Given that past research has demonstrated differences between ADHD subtypes, including studies examining nicotine dependence, the aim of the current studywas to assess ADHD subtype differences in the immediate consequences of smoking using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). In particular, we aimed to assess subtype differences in smoking to regulate affect and ADHD symptoms. Methods: Smokers with ADHD (n=17) were subdivided into ADHD Predominately Inattentive (n=9) and ADHD Combined (n=8) subtypes followingadiagnostic assessment. Participants carried an electronic diary for at least 7 days and provided entries for each cigarette they smoked. Results: Both groups did not differ in nicotine dependence severity. 1232 EMA smoking entries were recorded. Participants responded to questions immediately prior to and after each cigarette. The ADHD Combined subtype reported significantly greater reductions in boredom (p= .011), total ADHD symptoms (p= .019), inattentive ADHD symptoms (p= .013), and hyperactiveimpulsive ADHD symptoms (p= .048) than the ADHD Inattentive subtype in a series of ANOVA’s. In addition, the Combined subtype reported a statistically significant improvement in positive affect after smoking (p= .038). Subtypes did not differ in smoking to regulate urge to smoke, negative affect, anxiety, stress, hunger, worry, or general restlessness. Conclusions: These findings have implications for the role of affect and ADHD symptom regulation in smoking maintenance among ADHD subtypes. Particularly, thosewith the Combined subtype may smoke to regulate ADHD symptoms, positive affect, and negative affect, whereas those with the Inattentive subtype may smoke to regulate primarily negative affect. Financial support: This research was supported by Grant R03DA029694 (John T. Mitchell).
Epidermal growth factor ligand-independent, unregulated, cell-transforming potential of a naturally occurring human mutant EGFRvIII gene

The type III deletion-mutant gene for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRvIII) is frequently expressed in glioblastomas and in breast and non-small cell lung carcinomas. To understand its contribution to the malignant phenotype in humans, we transfected NR6 cells with the mammalian vector pH beta APr-1-neo containing cDNA for either EGFRvIII or wild-type EGFR. Western blot analyses showed that NR6 transfected with wild-type EGFR (NR6W) contained a normal-sized protein (170 kilodaltons); cells transfected with EGFRvIII (NR6M) contained a truncated protein (145 kilodaltons). NR6W cells demonstrated a saturation binding curve with 125I-labeled EGF (affinity, 1.8 x 10(8); r2 = 0.96). NR6M cells, however, showed a low but consistent level of 125I-labeled EGF binding (affinity, 4 x 10(7); r2 = 0.99) compared with NR6, which lacked binding. The population doubling time was shorter for NR6M (0.64 days) than for NR6W (1.1 days) and NR6V (2.27 days). Soft agar focus formation assay by NR6M was 4- to 5-fold higher than that by NR6W. In nude mice, NR6M (1 x 10(7) cells), without exogenous ligand, formed tumors within 12 days; no tumors were observed over 90 days in mice receiving identical doses of NR6W, NR6V, or NR6 cells. EGF stimulated autophosphorylation of receptor in NR6W (4- to 9-fold) but caused only slight (1.8- to 1.9-fold) to no enhancement in NR6M. Further, there was no difference in constitutive tyrosine kinase activity between NR6M and NR6W. Our results clearly indicate that EGFRvIII functions as an oncoprotein, but its intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity may not be responsible for its biological function.
A MWE Acquisition and Lexicon Builder Web Service

This paper describes the development of a web-service tool for the automatic extraction of Multi-word expressions lexicons, which has been integrated in a distributed platform for the automatic creation of linguistic resources. The main purpose of the work described is thus to provide a (computationally “light”) tool that produces a full lexical resource: multi-word terms/items with relevant and useful attached information that can be used for more complex processing tasks and applications (e.g. parsing, MT, IE, query expansion, etc.). The output of our tool is a MW lexicon formatted and encoded in XML according to the Lexical Mark-up Framework. The tool is already functional and available as a service. Evaluation experiments show that the tool precision is of about 80%.
Genome-wide transcriptional regulation of estrogen receptor targets in fallopian tube cells and the role of selective estrogen receptor modulators

The fallopian tube epithelium is one of the potential sources of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). The use of estrogen only hormone replacement therapy increases ovarian cancer (OVCA) risk. Despite estrogen’s influence in OVCA, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) typically demonstrate only a 20 % response rate. This low response could be due to a variety of factors including the loss of estrogen receptor signaling or the role of estrogen in different potential cell types of origin. The response of fallopian tube epithelium to SERMs is not known, and would be useful when determining therapeutic options for tumors arising from this cell type, such as HGSC. Using normal murine derived oviductal epithelial cells (mouse equivalent to the fallopian tube) estrogen receptor expression was confirmed and interaction with its ligand, estradiol, triggered mRNA and protein induction of progesterone receptor (PR). The SERMs 4-hydroxytamoxifen, raloxifene and desmethylarzoxifene, functioned as estrogen receptor antagonists in oviductal cells. Cellular proliferation and migration assays suggested that estradiol does not significantly impact cellular migration and increased proliferation. Further, using RNAseq, the oviduct specific transcriptional genes targets of ER when stimulated by estradiol and 4-hydroxytamoxifen signaling were determined and validated. The RNA-seq revealed enrichment in proliferation, anti-apoptosis, calcium signaling and steroid signaling processes. Finally, the ER and PR receptor status of a panel of HGSC cell lines was investigated including Kuramochi, OVSAHO, OVKATE, OVCAR3, and OVCAR4. OVSAHO demonstrated receptor expression and response, which highlights the need for additional models of ovarian cancer that are estrogen responsive. Overall, the fallopian tube has specific gene targets of estrogen receptor and demonstrates a tissue specific response to SERMs consistent with antagonistic action.
Abstract TP109: Impact of ATP-Induced Mild Hypothermia on Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Brain ischemia is a devastating disorder without effective therapies. One of the most promising approaches to attenuate ischemic brain injury is mild hypothermia. Recent studies show that adenosine nucleotides can induce hypothermia in mice. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that ATP, a common form of energy currency, induces mild hypothermia in rats and reduces brain injury following focal cerebral ischemia. ATP solution was dissolved in water and intraperitoneally injected; and focal stroke was induced by a suture model of middle cerebral artery occlusion and ischemic outcomes were evaluated within 24 hr. We found that injections of ATP lowered core body temperature in a dose-dependent manner; the dose appropriate for subsequent experiments was 2 g/kg as it reduced temperature to the range of mild hypothermia for approximately 7 hours. While intravenous injection of ATP was less effective in lowering body temperature. However, when ATP-induced hypothermia was applied to stroke, a neuroprotective effect was not observed. In contrast, the infarct volume grew even larger in ATP-treated rats. Not surprisingly, this was accompanied by an increased rate of seizure events, hemorrhagic transformation, and higher mortality. Continuous monitoring of physiological parameters revealed that ATP severely reduced heartbeat rate and blood pressure. ATP also raised blood glucose to dangerous levels and this was accompanied by severe acidosis and hypocalcemia. Western blotting showed that ATP treatment decreased levels of both phospho-Akt and total-Akt in the ischemic cortex. Our results reveal that, despite inducing hypothermia, ATP is not appropriate for protecting the brain against stroke, as it is associated with exaggerated ischemic outcomes and dangerous systemic side effects.
Epidemiological characteristics and vector monitoring of dengue fever in Beijing from 2006 to 2010

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of dengue fever cases from 2006 to 2010 for determination of the risk of dengue fever outbreaks in Beijing.Methods Data of the reported dengue fever cases in Beijing were collected and analyzed for their epidemiological characteristics with SPSS software.CO_2 trapping lamp method was used to monitor the constituent ratio and density of mosquitoes.Results A total of 23 imported dengue fever cases were confirmed,of which 95.65%(22/23) of the cases were at the age of 25-59 years.The male-female ratio was 4.75:1.Among them,69.57%(16/ 23) were office clerks.The constituent ratio and density of Aedes albopictus showed 25.71 times and 6.00 times increase in 2010 than in 2007,respectively.Conclusion The density of subdominant mosquito species(Ae.albopictus) has increased in recent years.Vector monitoring and control measures should be implemented effectively to reduce the outbreak risk.
Feature selection for nonlinear regression and its application to cancer research

Feature selection is a fundamental problem in machine learning. With the advent of high-throughput technologies, it becomes increasingly important in a wide range of scientific disciplines. In this paper, we consider the problem of feature selection for high-dimensional nonlinear regression. This problem has not yet been well addressed in the community, and existing methods suffer from issues such as local minima, simplified model assumptions, high computational complexity and selected features not directly related to learning accuracy. We propose a new wrapper method that addresses some of these issues. We start by developing a new approach to estimating sample responses and prediction errors, and then deploy a feature weighting strategy to find a feature subspace where a prediction error function is minimized. We formulate it as an optimization problem within the SVM framework and solve it using an iterative approach. In each iteration, a gradient descent based approach is derived to efficiently find a solution. A large-scale simulation study is performed on four synthetic and nine cancer microarray datasets that demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.
SingleScreenFocus for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students who use sign language interpreters have to simultaneously watch both the slides and interpreter. In addition, it is difficult to scan, pick and watch new information, as the the teacher, interpreter and slides tend to be spatially distributed around the room. In addition, they become tired more quickly than their hearing peers as they have to track the movement of the teacher and interpreter. We developed and evaluated a system to address the simultaneous challenges of multiple distributed visuals (teacher, slides and interpreter), and the teacher or interpreter can move, which adds to the difficulty. Our SingleScreenFocus system has two parts: a viewing system, and a tracking and recording system. The tracking and recording system uses a iPad mounted on a tracking device to automatically track and record the teacher, and another similar system to track and record the interpreter. The recordings are then automatically streamed to the student’s large viewing screen. Our evaluation indicated that deaf and hard of hearing students prefer this system over a regular view in large classrooms because it reduced their need to split the attention between visuals and to search for details in the visuals.
Quantifying Spatial Patterns of Channel Geometry and Stream Incision in Urban Drainage Network

AbstractDigital topographic data derived from airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) provide high-resolution information for characterizing the morphology of channels and riparian zones, and can be used to map the spatial distribution of channel incision resulting from flashy runoff response in small urban streams. Here the researchers present a methodology for extraction and analysis of transects throughout the drainage network in order to quantify longitudinal patterns of bankfull channel geometry and to identify the spatial distribution of channel incision. Owing to local gaps in LiDAR coverage and anomalies in channel and riparian zone morphology, the set of extracted transects are censored to remove those that would otherwise yield spurious results. Two procedures are then utilized to identify the bankfull stage along individual transects: (1) an iterative spline procedure based on minimizing slope angle and distance from the channel for points that exceed a minimum elevation threshold above th...
Generating Abstract Comics

We investigate a new approach to comic generation that explores the process of generating the contents of a panel given the contents of all previous panels. Our approach is based on leading discourse theories for comics by McCloud (panel transitions) and Cohn (narrative grammar), unified by cognitive theories of inference in visual language. We apply these theories to comics whose panel parameters are abstract geometric shapes and their positions, contributing a computational realization of McCloud’s and Cohn’s comics theories, as well as a modular algorithm that affords further experimentation and evaluation of visual discourse theories.
Cross-scale observations of the 2015 St. Patrick's day storm: THEMIS, Van Allen Probes, and TWINS

We present cross-scale magnetospheric observations of the 17 March 2015 (St. Patrick's Day) storm, by Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), Van Allen Probes (Radiation Belt Storm Probes), and Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS), plus upstream ACE/Wind solar wind data. THEMIS crossed the bow shock or magnetopause 22 times and observed the magnetospheric compression that initiated the storm. Empirical models reproduce these boundary locations within 0.7 RE. Van Allen Probes crossed the plasmapause 13 times; test particle simulations reproduce these encounters within 0.5 RE. Before the storm, Van Allen Probes measured quiet double-nose proton spectra in the region of corotating cold plasma. About 15 min after a 0605 UT dayside southward turning, Van Allen Probes captured the onset of inner magnetospheric convection, as a density decrease at the moving corotation-convection boundary (CCB) and a steep increase in ring current (RC) proton flux. During the first several hours of the storm, Van Allen Probes measured highly dynamic ion signatures (numerous injections and multiple spectral peaks). Sustained convection after ∼1200 UT initiated a major buildup of the midnight-sector ring current (measured by RBSP A), with much weaker duskside fluxes (measured by RBSP B, THEMIS a and THEMIS d). A close conjunction of THEMIS d, RBSP A, and TWINS 1 at 1631 UT shows good three-way agreement in the shapes of two-peak spectra from the center of the partial RC. A midstorm injection, observed by Van Allen Probes and TWINS at 1740 UT, brought in fresh ions with lower average energies (leading to globally less energetic spectra in precipitating ions) but increased the total pressure. The cross-scale measurements of 17 March 2015 contain significant spatial, spectral, and temporal structure.
Public Service Motivation Research: Lessons for Practice

Public service motivation research has proliferated in parallel with concerns about how to improve the performance of public service personnel. However, scholarship does not always inform management and leadership. This article purposefully reviews public service motivation research since 2008 to determine the extent to which researchers have identified lessons for practice. The results of the investigation support several lessons—among them using public service motivation as a selection tool, facilitating public service motivation through cooperation in the workplace, conveying the significance of the job, and building leadership based on public service values. These results are important because they offer evidence that the field is coalescing around tactics that managers and leaders can use to address enduring concerns about employee motivation in the public sector. They also prompt us to articulate ideas that can guide a tighter integration of research and practice moving forward.
Stock price informativeness on the sensitivity of strategic M&A investment to Q

Using a strategic merger sample that covers the period from 1985 to 2011, we find that the acquirer’s stock price firm-specific information, the new information created by investors about the value of firm fundamentals, increases the positive sensitivity of strategic merger investment to the acquirer’s Q; the target’s stock price firm-specific information increases the negative sensitivity of merger investment to the target’s Q. These results suggest that managers learn from financial markets in identifying strategic merger investment opportunities by transferring assets from poorly managed firms to well managed firms. In addition, the target’s stock price firm-specific information itself increases the acquisition size, indicating that informed acquirer managers are more likely to take out large merger investment. Last but not the least, stock price informativeness increases merger synergies and post-merger performance, suggesting that informed managers make better merger investment that increases shareholder value. Our study contributes to the recent increasing stream of studies on managerial learning from the market.
Block copolymer templated self-assembly of disk-shaped molecules.

Stacking of disk-shaped organic molecules is a promising strategy to develop electronic and photovoltaic devices. Here, we investigate the capability of a soft block copolymer matrix that microphase separates into a cylindrical phase to direct the self-assembly of disk-shaped molecules by means of molecular simulations. We show that two disk molecules confined in the cylinder domain experience a depletion force, induced by the polymer chains, which results in the formation of stacks of disks. This entropic interaction and the soft confinement provided by the matrix are both responsible for the structures that can be self-assembled, which include slanted or columnar stacks. In addition, we evidence the transmission of stresses between the different minority domains of the microphase, which results in the establishment of a long-ranged interaction between disk molecules embedded in different domains; this interaction is of the order of the microphase periodicity and may be exploited to direct assembly of di...
Lipocalins Are Required for Apical Extracellular Matrix Organization and Remodeling in Caenorhabditis elegans

A lipid and glycoprotein-rich apical extracellular matrix (aECM) or glycocalyx lines exposed membranes in the body, and is particularly important to protect narrow tube integrity. Lipocalins ("fat cups") are small, secreted, cup-shaped proteins that bind and transport lipophilic cargo and are often found in luminal or aECM compartments such as mammalian plasma, urine, or tear film. Although some lipocalins can bind known aECM lipids and/or matrix metalloproteinases, it is not known if and how lipocalins affect aECM structure due to challenges in visualizing the aECM in most systems. Here we show that two Caenorhabditiselegans lipocalins, LPR-1 and LPR-3, have distinct functions in the precuticular glycocalyx of developing external epithelia. LPR-1 moves freely through luminal compartments, while LPR-3 stably localizes to a central layer of the membrane-anchored glycocalyx, adjacent to the transient zona pellucida domain protein LET-653 Like LET-653 and other C. elegans glycocalyx components, these lipocalins are required to maintain the patency of the narrow excretory duct tube, and also affect multiple aspects of later cuticle organization. lpr-1 mutants cannot maintain a continuous excretory duct apical domain and have misshapen cuticle ridges (alae) and abnormal patterns of cuticular surface lipid staining. lpr-3 mutants cannot maintain a passable excretory duct lumen, properly degrade the eggshell, or shed old cuticle during molting, and they lack cuticle barrier function. Based on these phenotypes, we infer that both LPR-1 and LPR-3 are required to build a properly organized aECM, while LPR-3 additionally is needed for aECM clearance and remodeling. The C. elegans glycocalyx provides a powerful system, amenable to both genetic analysis and live imaging, for investigating how lipocalins and lipids affect aECM structure.
Extraction of microRNAs from biological matrices with titanium dioxide nanofibers.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs that bind to mRNA targets and regulate their translation. A functional study of miRNAs and exploration of their utility as disease markers require miRNA extraction from biological samples, which contain large amounts of interfering compounds for downstream RNA identification and quantification. The most common extraction methods employ silica columns or the TRIzol reagent but give out low recovery for small RNAs probably due to their short strand lengths. Herein, we fabricated the titanium dioxide nanofibers using electrospinning to facilitate miRNA extraction and developed the optimal buffer conditions to improve miRNA recovery from biological matrices of cell lysate and serum. We found that our TiO2 fibers could obtain a recovery of 18.0 ± 3.6% for miRNA fibers while carrying out the extraction in the more complex medium of cell lysate, much higher than the 0.02 ± 0.0001% recovery from the commercial kit. The much improved extraction of miRNAs from our fibers could be originated from the strong coordination between TiO2 and RNA's phosphate backbone. In addition, the binding, washing, and elution buffers judiciously developed in the present study can achieve selective extraction of small RNA shorter than 500 nucleotides in length. Our results demonstrate that TiO2 nanofibers can work as a valuable tool for extraction of miRNAs from biological samples with high recovery. Graphical abstract Schematic for extraction of small RNAs using TiO2 nanofibers.
Disaster Preparedness: Meeting the Needs of the Pediatric Population

The purpose of this review is to determine how to make the most efficient use of pediatric care resources during a disaster in the hope of minimizing the potential impact of a disaster on the pediatric population. Children are known to be especially vulnerable to a disaster because of physiologic, psychologic, and developmental differences from adults. This is further complicated by the fact that most planners do not account for these differences when managing an event. Disaster response involves coordinating resources on many levels, from what is available to care for children in the home, the help a local hospital can provide, and the organization of assets across the community. The best way to respond to a disaster is to prepare before it happens, and pediatric providers have the ability to assist in the planning and response at each of these levels.