cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tumor Suppression by a Proapoptotic Calcium-activated Chloride Channel in Mammary Epithelium*

Little is known of the roles played by ion channels in cancer. Here we describe a pair of closely related calcium-activated chloride channels whose differential regulation in normal, apoptotic, and transformed mouse cells suggests that channel function is proapoptotic and antineoplastic. While mCLCA1 predominates over mCLCA2 under normal physiological conditions, this relationship is reversed by apoptotic stress both in developing mammary gland and in cultured HC11 mammary epithelial cells. Consistent with an apoptosis-promoting role, splicing of mCLCA2 is disrupted in apoptosis-resistant tumor cell lines and in HC11 cells selected for resistance to detachment-induced apoptosis (anoikis). Unexpectedly, mCLCA1 message is also down-regulated in these cells by at least 30-fold. These results suggest that both genes antagonize survival of mammary tumor cells by sensitizing them to anoikis. When MCF7 or HEK293 tumor cells were transfected with plasmids encoding either mCLCA1 or mCLCA2, colony formation was greatly reduced relative to a vector-transfected control, demonstrating that calcium-sensitive chloride channel (CLCA) expression is deleterious to tumor cell survival. Furthermore, mammary epithelial cells overexpressing mCLCA2 had twice the rate of apoptosis of normal cells when subjected to serum starvation and formed multinuclear giants at a high frequency in normal culture, suggesting that mCLCA2 can promote either apoptosis or senescence.
Estimation of relative regional neuroreceptor concentration by PET or SPECT: Theoretical comparisons of using a single late image or a late plus early image

The potential for using a single (SPECT) single-photon-emission computed tomography or (PET) positron emission tomography image to estimate quantitatively the relative regional neuroreceptor concentration depends on acquiring the image at a time when changes in the regional radioactivity localization are much more sensitive to changes in receptor concentration than to changes in delivery. Using the binding of (/sup 11/C)carfentanil to the opiate receptor as a model, the authors have applied a computer simulation approach to determine the joint and marginal probability distributions for the ipsilateral/contralateral ratio of receptor concentrations and delivery. They have found that the probability distributions depend on the sensitivities for both delivery and receptor. Incorporation of data at an early time point results in a significant sharpening of the probability distributions. There is an insignificant effect of subtraction of the radioactivity localization in a control region. >
Concepts in caregiver research

Purpose To clarify and delineate conceptualizations of the effects of caregiving for nursing research and practice with family caregivers. Organizing construct The biopsychosocial (psychosocial and physiological) sequelae, both negative and positive, associated with providing care for a relative or friend with a chronic illness. Methods Literature reviewed was obtained via searches of CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PsycInfo computerized databases through mid-2002. Key words for the searches were caregiver, caregiving, family caregiving, caregiver burden, and caregiver appraisal. Reports of both earlier reviews of literature and original research were included. Findings Negative concepts included caregiver burden, hassles, strain, and stress. Positive concepts included caregiver esteem, uplifts of caregiving, caregiver satisfaction, finding or making meaning through caregiving, and gain in the caregiving experience. A neutral concept for describing the caregiving process is caregiver appraisal. Although earlier studies were focused on negative aspects of caregiving, more recent research has also included positive aspects. Conclusions More attention should be given to (a) gender and cultural differences in caregiving, (b) development of flexible interventions, and (c) the biophysical sequelae of caregiving.
Predicting peptide structures using NMR data and deterministic global optimization

The ability to analyze large molecular structures by NMR techniques requires efficient methods for structure calculation. Currently, there are several widely available methods for tackling these problems, which, in general, rely on the optimization of penalty-type target functions to satisfy the conformational restraints. Typically, these methods combine simulated annealing protocols with molecular dynamics and local minimization, either in distance or torsional angle space. In this work, both a novel formulation and algorithmic procedure for the solution of the NMR structure prediction problem is outlined. First, the unconstrained, penalty-type structure prediction problem is reformulated using nonlinear constraints, which can be individually enumerated for all, or subsets, of the distance restraints. In this way, the violation can be controlled as a constraint, in contrast to the usual penalty-type restraints. In addition, the customary simplified objective function is replaced by a full atom force field in the torsional angle space. This guarantees a better description of atomic interactions, which dictate the native structure of the molecule along with the distance restraints. The second novel portion of this work involves the solution method. Rather than pursue the typical simulated annealing procedure, this work relies on a deterministic method, which theoretically guarantees that the global solution can be located. This branch and bound technique, based on the aBB algorithm, has already been successfully applied to the identification of global minimum energy structures of peptides modeled by full atom force
Integral-Equation Analysis of Scattering From Doubly Periodic Array of 3-D Conducting Objects

The integral-equation (IE) method formulated in the spatial domain is employed to calculate the scattering from the doubly periodic array of three-dimensional (3-D) perfect electric conductor (PEC) objects. The special testing and basis functions are proposed to handle the problem with non-zero normal components of currents at the boundary of one period. Moreover, a relationship between the scattering from the PEC screen and its complementary structure is established. In order to efficiently compute the matrix elements from the IE approach, an acceleration technique with the exponential convergence rate is applied to evaluate the doubly periodic Green's function. The formulations in this technique are appropriately modified so that the new form facilitates numerical calculation for the general cases.
Combination immunotherapy: Where do we go from here?

The remarkable clinical success of cancer immunotherapies targeting the checkpoint receptors CTLA-4 and PD-1 has generated considerable excitement and emboldened efforts to build on this important foundation. Research efforts are now focused on understanding the mechanism of action of these immunotherapies, identifying new inhibitory mechanisms that could be targeted to achieve responses in patients with refractory cancers, and developing approaches that might exhibit efficacy against “immunologically inert” tumors. The outstanding challenges in moving forward are developing reliable strategies for determining which patients will respond optimally to a given immunotherapy, and what combination of immunotherapies and conventional therapies will prove beneficial against each tumor type. These issues were discussed in a one-day workshop at the SITC meeting in November 2014.
A review of evidence on mobile use by micro and small enterprises in developing countries

The paper offers a systematic review of 14 studies of the use of mobile telephony by micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the developing world, detailing findings about changes to enterprises' internal processes and external relationships, and findings about mobile use vs. traditional landline use. Results suggest that there is currently more evidence for the benefits of mobile use accruing mostly (but not exclusively) to existing MSEs rather than new MSEs, in ways that amplify existing material and informational flows rather than transform them. The review presents a more complete picture of mobile use by MSEs than was previously available, and identifies priorities for future research, including comparisons of the impact of mobile use across subsectors of MSEs and extensions beyond studies of existing enterprises. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Wisconsin roots of the modern revolution in structural geology

Conventional wisdom long held that all important intellectual diffusion was from Europe westward to North America until the 1940s, but two examples of a reverse flow of fundamental concepts of structural geology during the 1920s challenge that dogma. Those concepts were products of the renowned Wisconsin school of Precambrian geology, and their transplantation also involved Princeton University. The first example of Wisconsin export concerns the use of sedimentary structures for establishing the original top facing or way-up direction within complexly deformed strata. Although this technique was recognized in nineteenth century Ireland, that insight was ignored and lost. Only after its reintroduction to Great Britain from Wisconsin in the 1920s was its importance gradually recognized in Europe. The second example concerns the recognition that small-scale deformational structures visible in isolated outcrops reflect larger regional structures, which are commonly not directly observable. This fundamental inference also had its roots in Wisconsin, where Englishman Gilbert Wilson learned it in 1925–1926 and then taught it at the Imperial College in London. These two key concepts of small-scale structural analysis, coupled with the use of the stereonet and insights from experimental deformation of rocks, became the basis for a revolution in structural geology during the 1950s to 1970s. After the triumphs of four generations of Wisconsin faculty members, who were outstanding both as scientists and administrators, the Wisconsin school faltered until the waves of that revolution washed back upon American shores during the 1960s.
Elastic Rods with Moderate Roration

Based on the theory of a directed or Cosserat curve of Green, Naghdi and several of their co-workers, several properly invariant approximate theories of an elastic rod are developed. The approximate theories are applicable when a rotation tensor associated with the motion of the rod is moderate. In one of these theories, some of the strains are moderate while others are small. A second theory where all of the strains are small is also developed.
Filament assemblies in foreign nucleic acid sensors

Helical filamentous assembly is ubiquitous in biology, but was only recently realized to be broadly employed in the innate immune system of vertebrates. Accumulating evidence suggests that the filamentous assemblies and helical oligomerization play important roles in detection of foreign nucleic acids and activation of the signaling pathways to produce antiviral and inflammatory mediators. In this review, we focus on the helical assemblies observed in the signaling pathways of RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs) and AIM2-like receptors (ALRs). We describe ligand-dependent oligomerization of receptor, receptor-dependent oligomerization of signaling adaptor molecules, and their functional implications and regulations.
The Correct Name for the Mimosa Webworm (Lepidoptera: Glyphipterygidae)

When I described Homadaula albizziae Clarke in 1943 I stated (p. 205) “They [moths] may represent a species described under some other genus in the family Hyponomeutidae (where Meyrick placed Homadaula ), but no description or figure that fits them has been found. The species is obviously an exotic one, probably introduced from the Indo-Australian region, and, since it appears to be new, I am offering a description.”
Development of a Numerical Model of a Superfluid Magnetic Pump for Space Science Applications

A superfluid magnetic helium pump that requires no moving parts is described. The pump consists of a canister filled with Gadolinium Gallium Garnet particles surrounded by a superconducting magnetic coil. This pump is capable of driving thermodynamic refrigeration cycles that provide cooling for space science detectors at temperatures below 100mK. A numerical model that predicts pump performance is presented. This model has been used to design a prototype superfluid magnetic pump.
Peripheral blood findings in GM1 gangliosidosis

![Figure][1] This peripheral blood is from a 3-month-old male patient with a prior diagnosis of GM1 gangliosidosis type I, who was admitted with fever and leukocytosis. There is a family history of 2 siblings with GM1 gangliosidosis. Cellulitis was diagnosed and successfully treated with
Capillary gas chromatography determination of diethylene glycol in polluted river

Objective:To establish a method for the detection of diethylene glycol in the water by capillary gas chromatography.Methods:To analyze the supernatant which have been filtrated and centrifuged by capillary gas chromatography,to figuer out the content of diethylene glycol in the supernatant by external standard method.Results:A good linear relation is observed in the standard curve range of 0.00~120 mg/L,with r=0.9995,the detection limit of 0.065 mg/L,the average recovery rate of 94%~107% and RSD 1.3%.Conclusion:This method is simple,rapidity and sensitive.It has high accuracy,low detection limit,and wide linear range.
A Model of Industrial Buyer-Seller Negotiations

The dyadic interactions of industrial buyers and sales representatives is a topic of considerable interest in marketing but has received relatively little attention from academic researchers. In other disciplines; particularly organizational behavior, psychology and economics; there has been a large volume of research on negotiating and bargaining. This paper offers a conceptualization of negotiation in the industrial marketing context which should be helpful to researchers with interests in the interactions between buyers and sellers. This conceptualization focuses on the negotiation strategies of buyers and how these relate to situational factors and the strategies and tactics of the parties.
Green Fluorescent Protein Expressed in Living Mosquitoes—Without the Requirement of Transformation

Mosquitoes transmit viruses, protozoa and nematodes that are major causes of morbidity and mortality in humans. Details of arthropod anatomy and development, and the replication and development of pathogens in the arthropod vector, have relied upon examination of dissected or histologically processed material. We constructed a double-subgenomic Sindbis (dsSIN) virus expressing green fluorescent protein to demonstrate the potential of this protein for studying pathogen development in living arthropods. We were able to observe dissemination of virus, and furthermore, it was possible to observe components of the nervous system of mosquito larvae in extraordinary detail and record this on video tape. Although green fluorescent protein has been used as a reporter gene in a number of organisms, expression has relied upon transformation of cells or embryos. Transformation technology has limited applicability, thus we have described an alternative system that, due to the broad host range and viral tropisms of dsS...
Assessment of a 7-DOF Hand Exoskeleton for Neurorehabilitation

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States with approximately 800,000 cases per year. This cerebral vascular accident results in neurological impairments that reduce limb function and limit the daily independence of the individual. Robotic rehabilitation may present an exercise intervention that can improve training and induce motor plasticity in individuals with stroke. A motorized hand exoskeleton that operates under admittance control provides support for wrist flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, pronation/supination, and finger pinch has been integrated with a pre-existing 3-Degree of Freedom (DOF) haptic robot (Haptic Master, FCS Moog) to determine the efficacy of increased DOF during proximal and distal training for neurorehabilitation.
Methodologic Considerations in the Application of Next-Generation Sequencing of Human TRB Repertoires for Clinical Use

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of immune receptors has become a standard tool to assess minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients treated for lymphoid malignancy, and it is being used to study the T-cell repertoire in many clinical settings. To better understanding the potential clinical utility and limitations of this application outside of MRD, we developed a BIOMED-2 primer–based NGS method and characterized its performance in controls and patients with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic transplant. For controls and patients with GVHD, replicate sequencing of the same T-cell receptor β (TRB) libraries was highly reproducible. Higher variability was observed in sequencing of different TRB libraries made from the same DNA stock. Variability was increased in patients with GVHD compared with controls; patients with GVHD also had lower diversity than controls. In the T-cell repertoire of a healthy person, approximately 99.6% of the CDR3 clones were in low abundance, with frequency 93% of the clones with frequency ≥10−3 in the repertoire. Sequencing in duplicate increased the average detection rate to >97%. This work demonstrates that NGS reliably and robustly characterizes TRB populations in healthy individuals and patients with GVHD with frequency ≥10−3 and provides a methodologic framework for applying NGS immune repertoire methods to clinical testing applications beyond MRD.
A Network-Fusion Guided Dashboard Interface for Task-Centric Document Curation

Knowledge workers are being exposed to more information than ever before, as well as having to work in multi-tasking and collaborative environments. There is an increasing need for interfaces and algorithms to help automatically keep track of documents that are associated with both individual and team tasks. Previous approaches to the problem of automatically applying task labels to documents have been limited to small feature spaces or have not taken into account multi-user environments. Many different clues to potential task associations are available through user, task and document similarity metrics, as well as through temporal patterns in individual and team workflows. We present a network-fusion algorithm for automatic task-centric document curation, and show how this can guide a recent-work dashboard interface, which organizes user's documents and gathers feedback from them. Our approach efficiently computes representations of users, tasks and documents in a common vector space, and can easily take into account many different types of associations through the creation of edges in a multi-layer graph. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach using labelled document corpora from three empirical studies with students and intelligence analysts. We have also shown how to leverage relationships between different entity types to increase classification accuracy by up to 20% over a simpler baseline, and with as little as 10% labelled data.
3D Printed Stretchable Tactile Sensors

The development of methods for the 3D printing of multifunctional devices could impact areas ranging from wearable electronics and energy harvesting devices to smart prosthetics and human-machine interfaces. Recently, the development of stretchable electronic devices has accelerated, concomitant with advances in functional materials and fabrication processes. In particular, novel strategies have been developed to enable the intimate biointegration of wearable electronic devices with human skin in ways that bypass the mechanical and thermal restrictions of traditional microfabrication technologies. Here, a multimaterial, multiscale, and multifunctional 3D printing approach is employed to fabricate 3D tactile sensors under ambient conditions conformally onto freeform surfaces. The customized sensor is demonstrated with the capabilities of detecting and differentiating human movements, including pulse monitoring and finger motions. The custom 3D printing of functional materials and devices opens new routes for the biointegration of various sensors in wearable electronics systems, and toward advanced bionic skin applications.
In search of regulatory circuits that control the biological activity of vitamin D

Although the cytochrome P450 CYP27B1 plays a critical role in vitamin D biology, the molecular mechanisms involved in regulation of CYP27B1 have remained undefined. A new study has identified a kidney-specific control module distal to the Cyp27b1 gene that mediates the basal activity and hormonal regulation of Cyp27b1. This work provides a novel mechanism indicating differential regulation of Cyp27b1 in renal and non-renal cells and has implications for vitamin D biology in multiple sclerosis and perhaps other autoimmune diseases as well.
Spatial persistence of reduced specific ventilation following methacholine challenge in the healthy human lung

The spatial pattern of bronchoconstriction following methacholine is persistent over time in healthy individuals, in whom chronic inflammation and airway remodeling are assumed to be absent. This s...
Inspecting Advanced Composite Materials at Ultrasonic Frequencies from 2 Megahertz to 2 Gigahertz

Ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation is an effective method of evaluating various types of composite materials for defects such as porosity, resin rich areas, fiber misalignment and delaminations. This paper discusses the role ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation performed in studying the impact tolerance of composite materials. The composite specimens were ultrasonically inspected to determine their integrity before and after exposure to impact. Traditional low frequency (2.25 to 10 megahertz) C-scan techniques evaluated an assortment of large composite panels which were made of several organic matrix resins including thermosets and a thermoplastic. After specimens were cut from these panels an ultrasonic microscope scanned them for cutting damage. After the composite specimens were impact loaded, they were again ultrasonically scanned. From the images, the extent of the damage was calculated and compared with the impact level. A damaged composite specimen was sectioned and an end view of the damage was imaged with a scanning acoustic microscope. The composite specimens were also destructively analyzed, and the results were compared with the ultrasonic inspections.
Theology and Agency in Early Modern Literature

What can I do? To what degree do we control our own desires, actions, and fate - or not? These questions haunt us, and have done so, in various forms, for thousands of years. Timothy Rosendale explores the problem of human will and action relative to the Divine - which Luther himself identified as the central issue of the Reformation - and its manifestations in English literary texts from 1580–1670. After an introduction which outlines the broader issues from Sophocles and the Stoics to twentieth-century philosophy, the opening chapter traces the theological history of the agency problem from the New Testament to the seventeenth century. The following chapters address particular aspects of volition and salvation (will, action, struggle, and blame) in the writings of Marlowe, Kyd, Shakespeare, Ford, Herbert, Donne, and Milton, who tackle these problems with an urgency and depth that resonate with parallel concerns today.
Sparse concordance-assisted learning for optimal treatment decision.

To find optimal decision rule, Fan et al. (2016) proposed an innovative concordance-assisted learning algorithm which is based on maximum rank correlation estimator. It makes better use of the available information through pairwise comparison. However the objective function is discontinuous and computationally hard to optimize. In this paper, we consider a convex surrogate loss function to solve this problem. In addition, our algorithm ensures sparsity of decision rule and renders easy interpretation. We derive the L2 error bound of the estimated coefficients under ultra-high dimension. Simulation results of various settings and application to STAR*D both illustrate that the proposed method can still estimate optimal treatment regime successfully when the number of covariates is large.
High Resolution Nitrogen NMR in Solids

High resolution nitrogen NMR in single crystals are discussed. The resolution and signal-to-noise in the experiments is excellent because of the 14N quadrupole coupling and 99.4% natural abundance. In addition, well resolved 1H dipolar splittings are observed in undecoupled spectra.
Non-urological Uses of Toxin with Genitourinary Insight

Since botulinum neurotoxin was initially approved for clinical use by the USA Food and Drug Administration in 1989, it has become a powerful therapeutic tool in the treatment of a variety of neurologic, ophthalmic, and other disorders manifested by abnormal, excessive, or inappropriate muscle contractions. Now, botulinum toxin (BoNT) has received approval from international regulatory agencies for uses including blepharospasm, strabismus, a other facial nerve disorders, cervical dystonia, hyperhidrosis, and cosmetic disorders. BoNT has also been applied in the clinical management of pain in a number of areas, including myofascial pain disorders, low back pain, and was recently approved for the prevention of recurrent migraine headaches. For the clinician interested in the genitourinary application of BoNT, an evaluation of some interesting uses of BoNT in other fields may offer insight and a fresh perspective (Table 9.1).
Thermal Gradient Approach for the Quasi-harmonic Approximation and Its Application to Improved Treatment of Anisotropic Expansion

We present a novel approach to efficiently implement thermal expansion in the quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) for both isotropic and more importantly, anisotropic expansion. In this approach, we rapidly determine a crystal’s equilibrium volume and shape at a given temperature by integrating along the gradient of expansion from 0 Kelvin up to the desired temperature. We compare our approach to previous isotropic methods that rely on a brute-force grid search to determine the free energy minimum, which is infeasible to carry out for anisotropic expansion, as well as quasi-anisotropic approaches that take into account the contributions to anisotropic expansion from the lattice energy. We compare these methods for experimentally known polymorphs of piracetam and resorcinol and show that both isotropic methods agree to within error up to 300 K. Using the Gruneisen parameter causes up to 0.04 kcal/mol deviation in the Gibbs free energy, but for polymorph free energy differences there is a cancellation in err...
Generation of synthetic accelerograms for telecommunications equipment: fragility assessment of a rolling isolation system

This paper assesses the safety of a double conical rolling isolation system designed for protecting telecommunications equipment using a probabilistic approach. Due to the limited number of input accelerograms in the GR-63-CORE guideline for telecommunications equipment (only one), eight different filters are optimized to best capture the required response spectrum. The fitted filters are incorporated into an easy-to-implement framework, which is used to generate several suites of accelerograms for the probabilistic analyses. The results of these analyses are analyzed and discussed to reveal the shortcomings of the GR-63-CORE guideline, which in general are the limited number of accelerograms and ignoring the potentially important low frequency accelerations in the prescribed accelerogram. It is shown that the prescribed accelerogram may not be representative of excitations that are expected to be experienced by telecommunications equipment or the isolation systems protecting them, and is, hence, not conservative. Moreover, the results of the probabilistic analyses are presented in the form of fragility curves that can guide the design of rolling isolation systems.
Unlocking the Dangers of a Stiffening Brain

Mechanical cues regulate neuronal function and reactivity of glial cells, the origin of gliomas. In this issue of Neuron, Chen et al. (2018) uncover a feedforward loop mediated by the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 and tissue stiffness that drives glioma aggression.
A Strong Role for the AMOC in Partitioning Global Energy Transport and Shifting ITCZ Position in Response to Latitudinally Discrete Solar Forcing in CESM1.2

AbstractOcean circulation responses to interhemispheric radiative imbalance can damp north–south migrations of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) by reducing the burden on atmospheric energy...
(119) The Role of Environmental Distractions in the Experience of Fibrofog in Real-World Settings

Cognitive problems in fibromyalgia (FM), or “fibrofog,” are highly prevalent but not well-characterized. Research shows that deficits in cognitive performance in FM only emerge in the context of a stimulating testing environment, suggesting a potentially important role for distraction in the experience of both subjective (perceived) and objective (performed) fibrofog. Unexplored to date is the role of real-world distractions in fibrofog in everyday life. To address limitations in our understanding of fibrofog in daily life, we conducted a study of ambulatory subjective and objective cognitive function in a sample of adults with FM and age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (HC) to test the hypotheses that: 1) people with FM report environmental distractions at a higher rate than HCs; and 2) relative to HCs, people with FM show steeper declines in subjective and objective cognitive functioning in the context of real-world distraction. Fifty adults with FM and 52 controls (N=102) completed ecological momentary assessments of perceived cognitive dysfunction on a numerical rating scale of 0-100 and cognitive tests of processing speed (Symbol Search) and working memory (Dot Matrix) via a smartphone app, 5X/day for 8 consecutive days. After each cognitive testing session, participants were asked whether they were distracted by anything in the environment during testing. Consistent with expectations, the FM group reported distractions during ambulatory tests at a higher rate (41.1% of tests) compared to the HCs (30.0% of tests; χ2=45.20, p
Stereoselective Conjugate Additions of Hydrazines, Oximes, and Hydroxylamines to α,β-Unsaturated Imides

Abstract The imide functionality, as part of chiral and achiral auxiliaries such as oxazolidinones, has played a key role in numerous asymmetric organic reactions. In this chapter, stereoselective conjugate additions of N–N and N–O nucleophiles to α,β-unsaturated imides are reviewed. The reactions of alkylhydrazines, oximes, O-substituted hydroxylamines, and N-substituted hydroxylamines are covered with attention to the chiral components (such as Lewis acid catalyst or imide structure) responsible for stereoinduction and the stereochemical models proposed in the literature for the observed selectivity. Further transformations of the conjugate addition products are briefly discussed in light of their relevance to the synthesis of potentially bioactive structures such as β-amino acids.
High-Intensity Fission-Converter-Based Epithermal Neutron Beam for Neutron Capture Therapy

Some results from a neutronic design study of a fission-converter-based epithermal beam for neutron capture therapy at the 5 MW MIT Research Reactor are presented. It is shown that a high-intensity beam, with ~1010 epithermal neutrons/cm2-s and low background\(\widetilde < \)2×10−11 cGy-cm2 of fast neutrons or gamma rays can be implemented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor (MITR-II). This beam is capable of delivering single-fraction treatments in a few minutes. The fission-converter concept appears to be well suited to research reactors with large area thermal neutron sources of \(\widetilde < \)0.5 m2 and \(\widetilde < \)1011 n/cm2-s. There are a relatively large number of potentially suitable reactors worldwide, e.g. in the USA there are more than 15 suitable reactors.
Relentlessly Plain: Seventh Millennium Ceramics at Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria: Olivier P. Nieuwenhuyse (ed.) . Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1789250848. Pp 442. Hardback £60.

It is an eternal truism in archaeology that decorated pottery attracts far more attention than plain ware. This has been the case from the earliest appearance of pottery as a regular domestic craft...
Fast Statistical Approaches to Geodetic Time Series Analysis

We present fast algorithms for estimating common parameters in geodetic time series based on statistical approaches to assess the impact of temporal correlations. One such assessment is based on the characteristics of the time series residuals averaged over different durations and with the statistical characteristics extrapolated with a first-order Gauss–Markov process to infinite averaging time. This approach circumvents a limitation of spectral methods, which cannot reliably account for the impact of temporal correlations over periods longer than the length of a given time series. The subsequent fast approach is the use of a Kalman filter with process noise values determined from the first-order Gauss–Markov characteristics to estimate all parameters. These methods are particularly useful for assessing long and numerous geodetic time series, which are nowadays ubiquitous, because they are much less computationally intensive than comprehensive methods, such as maximum likelihood estimators. Our approaches are compared to other commonly used programs, such as Hector, to understand the speed and impact of outliers on the algorithms, and to provide advice and suggestions on the uses of such algorithms in operational geodetic processing.
Developing a Research Program Within a Respiratory Care Department

Scientific research traditionally has been the domain of graduate school training, and it is based on higher cognitive levels associated with reflective thought. Such skills differ markedly from those needed to train competent respiratory therapists at the undergraduate level. Trainees at the undergraduate level need to acquire, comprehend, and apply large amounts of functional knowledge within a relatively brief time period. As a consequence, there is a pragmatic restriction on the level of complexity that characterizes pathophysiology, therapeutics, and associated technology that can be taught without causing confusion and thereby impeding the learning process. The era of evidence-based medicine is characterized both by the increasing complexity of medical technology and therapeutics. Because respiratory care is fundamentally a technology-driven profession, cultivating research skills among a select group of motivated practitioners is essential. Moreover, it is incumbent on all respiratory therapists to possess a rudimentary understanding of scientific methodology and a familiarity with the processes of reflective thought to become more discerning consumers of medical information. Organizing and implementing a research program within a respiratory care department or training program require forethought and devoted leadership. Crucial to this endeavor is developing mentors to guide those with little or no exposure to scientific inquiry. This article provides an overview of the pedagogical issues that underlie this predicament and then describes practical steps that can be taken to slowly build such a program.
The role of corn and soybean cultivation on nitrate export from Midwestern US agricultural watersheds

Accumulation of nitrogen (N) in reservoirs has negative effects, generating algal blooms, creating hypoxic zones, and degrading drinking water quality. Agricultural land use, specifically corn and soybean cultivation, contribute excess N to aquatic systems. This work examines whether the nitrate as nitrogen (NO3–N) export (load) from a watershed is correlated to the percentage of land devoted to growing corn or soybeans. To investigate potential relationships, Annual NO3–N load from within 10 watersheds in the US Midwest were calculated using discharge (Q) and NO3–N concentration data obtained from USGS gauging stations. The NO3–N load data were coupled with crop data from the watersheds. Watershed areas ranged from 106 to 154,767 km2. Corn was grown on between 14.3 and 56.1% of the land, while soybeans accounted for 7.2–45.4%. Crop percentages were compared to NO3–N loads per area, the quotient of annual NO3–N load (kg) to the watershed area (km2), from 2008 to 2017. The analyses of the collective data showed a positive trend between the percentage of land cultivated and the NO3–N exported. However, as the percentage of corn cultivated increased within the individual watersheds, NO3–N load per area decreased. At both the collective and individual scale, increases in soybean cultivation resulted in increases in NO3–N export. Extended cultivation of the same crop lead to higher NO3–N export. Strategies to decrease NO3–N export need to focus on enhanced crop rotation.
Tensor Multivariate Trace Inequalities and their Applications

We prove several trace inequalities that extend the Araki Lieb Thirring (ALT) inequality, Golden Thompson (GT) inequality and logarithmic trace inequality to arbitrary many tensors. Our approaches rely on complex interpolation theory as well as asymptotic spectral pinching, providing a transparent mechanism to treat generic tensor multivariate trace inequalities. As an example application of our tensor extension of the Golden Thompson inequality, we give the tail bound for the independent sum of tensors. Such bound will play a fundamental role in high dimensional probability and statistical data analysis.
Telemedicine and Inequities in Health Care Access: The Example of Transgender Health

Due to concerns about the risk of infectious exposures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the uptake of telemedicine has increased rapidly, aided by increased acceptance by cl...
Priority-Based Management of Energy Resources During Power-Constrained Operation of Shipboard Power System

It is anticipated that energy storage will play a significant role as increasing numbers of high-power and highly dynamic mission loads are introduced to shipboard systems. The energy magazine (EM) has been proposed as a potential solution for integration of these types of loads, by providing energy storage for buffering dynamics, supplying high power demand over short duration, and providing uninterruptible power system capability. However, the EM also potentially offers the capability to temporarily curtail its power demand, while still serving its loads. In this paper, a rudimentary scheme is described for management of energy resources during periods of power-constrained operation. This approach apportions available power to EMs (or other curtailable loads) based on priority, where the priority of curtailed EMs generally increases over time. Incorporating weights to allow placing higher importance on some EMs and loads, this approach attempts to judiciously allocate scarce power resources, while maintaining service to loads. Simulation results illustrating the approach are also presented.
Benchmarks in American Higher Education: Selected Approaches for Distance Education Copyright and Intellectual Property Policies

An evaluation of American higher education distance education programs was conducted to explore how they approach intellectual property, copyright and information sharing/antitrust policy concerns for Internet-based programs. An evaluation of the current status of distance education and Internet-based training in higher education was conducted through a pilot study that included a random sample of 223 accredited institutions. Seventy-seven institutions responded to a survey, of which there were 14 Research I&II, 17 Doctorate I&II, and 46 Master's I&II institutions included in this study. A review of institutional policy approaches for these 77 institutions was conducted via Internet Web site and bulletin review. A multiple-case study was also conducted which included 10 of the top 30 accredited distance education institutions in America. Policy approaches were examined for all institutions and differences were discussed for public and private institutions as well as the following Carnegie Class institutions- Research I&II, Doctorate I&II and Master's I&II. Ten percent of all institutions that responded to the pilot study developed a written policy addressing antitrust/information-sharing concerns. Additionally, the data indicated that 22% of institutions in these Carnegie Class ranges published copyright and intellectual property policy on their institutions' Internet Web site. Ninety percent of the institutions in the case study advised of central control for the distance education program, as well as central control for copyright and intellectual property policy.
Optimizing the decomposition for multiple foreground cosegmentation

We approach unsupervised MFC by decomposing it into three simple tasks.The decomposed tasks for MFC are segmentation, segment matching, and F/G assignment.Alternative optimization can be easily applied for solving the proposed framework.We obtain satisfactory performance for single and multiple foreground cosegmentation. The goal of multiple foreground cosegmentation (MFC) is to extract a finite number of foreground objects from an input image collection, while only an unknown subset of such objects is presented in each image. In this paper, we propose a novel unsupervised framework for decomposing MFC into three distinct yet mutually related tasks: image segmentation, segment matching, and figure/ground (F/G) assignment. By our decomposition, image segments sharing similar visual appearances will be identified as foreground objects (or their parts), and these segments will be also separated from background regions. To relate the decomposed outputs for discovering high-level object information, we construct foreground object hypotheses, which allows us to determine the foreground objects in each individual image without any user interaction, the use of pre-trained classifiers, or the prior knowledge of foreground object numbers. In our experiments, we first evaluate our proposed decomposition approach on the iCoseg dataset for single foreground cosegmentation. Empirical results on the FlickrMFC dataset will further verify the effectiveness of our approach for MFC problems.
Maximizing Rewards—Positive Dynamic Programming

This chapter discusses the positive dynamic programming. The chapter describes models in which one is interested in maximizing expected returns. If a countable state space and a finite action space was assumed and it was supposed that action a is taken when in state i , then an expected reward R( i , a ), assumed nonnegative, is earned. The chapter discusses the applications of gambling theory. It is assumed that an individual possessing i dollars enters a gambling casino. The gambling casino allows any bet of the form: if a person possess i dollars, then the person is allowed to bet any positive integral amount less than or equal to i . If the person bet j , then the person either win j with probability ρ or lose j with probability 1–p. The chapter examines what gambling strategy maximizes the probability that the individual will attain a fortune of N before going broke.
Phosphorylation of DARPP-32, a dopamine- and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein, by casein kinase II.

Abstract DARPP-32 (dopamine- and cAMP-regulated phosphorprotein, Mr = 32,000 as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) is an inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1 and is enriched in dopaminoceptive neurons possessing the D1 dopamine receptor. Purified bovine DARPP-32 was phosphorylated in vitro by casein kinase II to a stoichiometry greater than 2 mol of phosphate/mol of protein whereas two structurally and functionally related proteins, protein phosphatase inhibitor-1 and G-substrate, were poor substrates for this enzyme. Sequencing of chymotryptic and thermolytic phosphopeptides from bovine DARPP-32 phosphorylated by casein kinase II suggested that the main phosphorylated residues were Ser45 and Ser102. In the case of rat DARPP-32, the identification of these phosphorylation sites was confirmed by manual Edman degradation. The phosphorylated residues are located NH2-terminal to acidic amino acid residues, a characteristic of casein kinase II phosphorylation sites. Casein kinase II phosphorylated DARPP-32 with an apparent Km value of 3.4 microM and a kcat value of 0.32 s-1. The kcat value for phosphorylation of Ser102 was 5-6 times greater than that for Ser45. Studies employing synthetic peptides encompassing each phosphorylation site confirmed this difference between the kcat values for phosphorylation of the two sites. In slices of rat caudate-putamen prelabeled with [32P]phosphate, DARPP-32 was phosphorylated on seryl residues under basal conditions. Comparison of thermolytic phosphopeptide maps and determination of the phosphorylated residue by manual Edman degradation identified the main phosphorylation site in intact cells as Ser102. In vitro, DARPP-32 phosphorylated by casein kinase II was dephosphorylated by protein phosphatases-1 and -2A. Phosphorylation by casein kinase II did not affect the potency of DARPP-32 as an inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1, which depended only on phosphorylation of Thr34 by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. However, phosphorylation of DARPP-32 by casein kinase II facilitated phosphorylation of Thr34 by cAMP-dependent protein kinase with a 2.2-fold increase in the Vmax and a 1.4-fold increase in the apparent Km. Phosphorylation of DARPP-32 by casein kinase II in intact cells may therefore modulate its phosphorylation in response to increased levels of cAMP.
Bilateral Filtering and Anisotropic Diffusion: Towards a Unified Viewpoint

Bilateral filtering has recently been proposed as a noniterative alternative to anisotropic diffusion. In both these approaches, images are smoothed while edges are preserved. Unlike anisotropic diffusion, bilateral filtering does not involve the solution of partial differential equations and can be implemented in a single iteration. Despite the difference in implementation, both methods are designed to prevent averaging across edges while smoothing an image. Their similarity suggests they can somehow be linked. Using a generalized representation for the intensity, we show that both can be related to adaptive smoothing. As a consequence, bilateral filtering can be applied to denoise and coherence-enhance degraded images with approaches similar to anisotropic diffusion.
Convenient synthesis of 18F-radiolabeled R-(−)-N-n-propyl-2-(3-fluoropropanoxy-11-hydroxynoraporphine

Aporphines are attractive candidates for imaging D2 receptor function because, as agonists rather than antagonists, they are selective for the receptor in the high affinity state. In contrast, D2 antagonists do not distinguish between the high and low affinity states, and in vitro data suggests that this distinction may be important in studying diseases characterized by D2 dysregulation, such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. Accordingly, MCL-536 (R-(-)-N-n-propyl-2-(3-[(18)F]fluoropropanoxy-11-hydroxynoraporphine) was selected for labeling with (18)F based on in vitro data obtained for the non-radioactive ((19)F) compound. Fluorine-18-labeled MCL-536 was synthesized in 70% radiochemical yield, >99% radiochemical purity, and specific activity of 167 GBq/µmol (4.5 Ci/µmol) using p-toluenesulfonyl (tosyl) both as a novel protecting group for the phenol and a leaving group for the radiofluorination.