cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparative mutagenesis of the dumpy locus in Drosophila melanogaster. II. Mutational mosaicism induced without apparent breakage by a monofunctional alkylating agent.

Monofunctional quinacrine mustard (ICR 100) induces mutations at the dumpy locus with an average frequency of 0.88%. More than 90% of the recovered dumpy mutations are distributed mosaically in somatic and gonadal tissues. Mutation frequencies at 16 other loci expressing visible effects were low or negligible. These experiments suggest that x-ray-induced mosaic mutations become established primarily at the first synchronous nuclear division of the zygote and that the ICR 100-induced mosaic mutations become established primarily at a later replication. Sex linked lethals scored in the F/sub 2/ occur with a frequency of 3.7%; mosaic sex-linked lethals detected by scoring in the F/sub 3/ occur with a frequency of 13.7%. The mutational spectrum of the dumpy alleles induced by x rays does not differ appreciably from that induced by the ICR 100. ICR 100 is capable of inducing mutations in spermatozoa, spermatids, and the earlier stages of meiosis, including spermatogonia. No evidence for breakage everts at the dumpy locus was detected in the progeny derived from ICR 100-treated sperm. The use of the sex-linked lethal test as ordinarily applied, i.e. by examination only of the F/sub 2/ generation, for determining the effectiveness of a chemical mutagen or for equating an equivalentmore » roentgen dose to various conceatrations of chemical mutagen can be misleading. However, the test can be made more meaningful by continuing the analysis for another generation and/or combining it with a test for visible mutations at specific loci. (auth)« less
Analysis and Simulation of System Survivability

Survivability represents an important property of an information system which must withstand devastating malicious attacks and system failures, as well as continuously provide essential services to users. In this paper, we qualitatively analyze a system’s states under different levels of attacks with varying system recovery abilities. Then, we use Colored Petri Net tools to simulate and measure the degree of survivability given a set of attack-recovery scenarios. The analysis and simulation models provide useful guidelines for system administrators to identify the system’s survivability under given attack and recovery processes and the technical mechanisms in order to improve the system’s survivability. To better explain our models, we use a wireless ad hoc sensor network (WASN) as an illustrative example throughout the paper, although our approaches can be applied to other similar types of systems.
MINORITIES ON THE MARGINS? THE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF FRINGE BANKING SERVICES

Case studies in select large cities have found that fringe services, including payday lenders, check cashers, pawn brokers, and money transmittal companies are more geographically accessible to pre...
Tracing Johnson's Circle: Practical Experiments With EAC-CPF

Interested in collaboratively exploring the potential of EAC-CPF, the Beinecke Library at Yale and the Houghton Library at Harvard embarked on a year-long project to gain experience with the new standard and, in the process, strengthen connections between disparate but deep holdings of lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) and his circle. The project team set out to document metadata best practices while developing and maintaining one set of records and to discover the practical limits and possibilities of rich content within the EAC-CPF context. This article outlines the project's challenges, lessons learned, and remaining questions.
Genomics and Proteomics: A Signal Processor's Tour

The theory and methods of signal processing are becoming increasingly important in molecular biology. Digital filtering techniques, transform domain methods, and Markov models have played important roles in gene identification, biological sequence analysis, and alignment. This paper contains a brief review of molecular biology, followed by a review of the applications of signal processing theory. This includes the problem of gene finding using digital filtering, and the use of transform domain methods in the study of protein binding spots. The relatively new topic of noncoding genes, and the associated problem of identifying ncRNA buried in DNA sequences are also described. This includes a discussion of hidden Markov models and context free grammars. Several new directions in genomic signal processing are briefly outlined in the end.
BiBa Broadcast Authentication

To design a broadcast authentication protocol that provides real-time authentication, robustness to packet loss, efficient verification, and scales to large audiences, we invent a new signature algorithm. We call our new algorithm the BiBa signature, short for Bins and Balls signature. With a new construction, we use the BiBa signature to design the BiBa broadcast authentication protocol with the following properties: ▪ Fast generation of authentication information (in particular, if the sender uses parallel computers, generating the BiBa authentication information only requires two sequential hash function computations). ▪ Fast verification by the receiver. ▪ Instant authentication. Neither the sender nor the receiver need to buffer any packets, so BiBa is ideal for authenticating real-time data. ▪ Robustness to packet loss. ▪ Perfect scalability. The authentication information is independent of the number of receivers. ▪ Reasonable communication overhead, on the order of 100 bytes per packet.
Exponential ionic drift: fast switching and low volatility of thin-film memristors

We investigate the exponential dependence of switching speeds in thin-film memristors for high electric fields and elevated temperatures. An existing nonlinear ionic drift model and our simulation results explain the very large ratios for the state lifetime to switching speed experimentally observed in devices for which resistance switching is due to ion migration. Given the activation barriers of the drifting species, it is possible to predict the volatility and switching time for various material systems.
Kinetics of Binding of Cyanide to Sperm Whale Metmyoglobin

Abstract The kinetics of binding of cyanide to sperm whale metmyoglobin has been studied in the pH range from 4.7 to 10.6 by simple mixing and stopped flow methods with classical and relaxation techniques and the aid of a digital computer. The apparent second order rate constant is strongly dependent on the nature and concentration of the buffer. Extrapolation to zero buffer concentration at constant total ionic strength and pH yields apparent rate constants independent of which buffer is used. The extrapolated rate constants are greatest in the region between pH 7 and pH 8.5, decrease with lower pH values, and decrease more rapidly with higher pH values. The data are interpreted in terms of a mechanism providing for a single ionizable group on the protein with pK = 6.0, the acid dissociation of Fe·H2O in the heme with pK = 8.9, and the HCN dissociation with pK = 9.2.
A survey of developments in ultrasonic NDE of concrete

The goal of this paper is to develop an understanding of the current state of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation in the concrete community. Methods supplemental to the less than satisfactory procedure specified in ASTM C-597 are discussed. It is hoped that such an understanding, in conjunction with a feeling for the nature of reinforced concrete as a material, will promote research interest in this important field. Following an introductory problem statement, a literature review concerning the existing use of stress waves for the nondestructive evaluation of concrete is presented. An examination of current practice is offered. Next, new approaches are selected and reviewed from the current literature. In all cases, these are approaches that have been successful in applications to advanced engineering materials other than concrete. Where appropriate, potential benefits and pitfalls of each new technique, as applied to concrete, are discussed. >
Distinct In Vivo Dynamics of Vertebrate SUMO Paralogues

There are three mammalian SUMO paralogues: SUMO-1 is ∼45% identical to SUMO-2 and SUMO-3, which are 96% identical to each other. It is currently unclear whether SUMO-1, -2, and -3 function in ways that are unique, redundant, or antagonistic. To address this question, we examined the dynamics of individual SUMO paralogues by using cell lines that stably express each of the mammalian SUMO proteins fused to the yellow fluorescent protein (YFP). Whereas SUMO-2 and -3 showed very similar distributions throughout the nucleoplasm, SUMO-1 was uniquely distributed to the nuclear envelope and to the nucleolus. Photobleaching experiments revealed that SUMO-1 dynamics was much slower than SUMO-2 and -3 dynamics. Additionally, the mobility of SUMO paralogues differed between subnuclear structures. Finally, the timing and distributions were dissimilar between paralogues as cells exited from mitosis. SUMO-1 was recruited to nuclear membrane as nuclear envelopes reformed in late anaphase, and accumulated rapidly into the nucleus. SUMO-2 and SUMO-3 localized to chromosome earlier and accumulated gradually during telophase. Together, these findings demonstrate that mammalian SUMO-1 shows patterns of utilization that are clearly discrete from the patterns of SUMO-2 and -3 throughout the cell cycle, arguing that it is functionally distinct and specifically regulated in vivo.
Testing recurrent artificial neural networks

This paper presents a new and novel testing approach for detecting interconnection deletion faults in hardware implementations of artificial neural networks (ANNs). The proposed testing approach is based on an unusual ANN behavior manifested by faulted ANNs having apparent better performance than fault-free ANNs when neurons are operated with low activation function gains. Although transient, this noncoherent behavior can be used to detect interconnection deletion faults in ANNs. Using mathematical and simulation models, the efficacy of the low activation gain fault detection (LAGFD) method for fault detection is determined. Further, suggested design rules are stated enabling reasonable detection of interconnection deletion faults. A test algorithm is described that identifies a fault-free subset of an ANN using LAGFD. Finally, simulation examples are presented to verify the LAGFD test algorithm.
Comparing sediment equilibrium partitioning and passive sampling techniques to estimate benthic biota PCDD/F concentrations in Newark Bay, New Jersey (U.S.A.)

Sediment and polyethylene sampler-based estimates of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/dibenzofuran (PCDD/F) concentrations in Newark Bay, New Jersey (USA) benthic biota were compared. Biota concentrations based on sediment were estimated using an organic carbon (OC)-water partitioning model and an OC and black carbon (BC)-water dual model. Biota concentrations based on polyethylene were estimated from samplers deployed in the Newark Bay water column and samplers immersed in a sediment/porewater slurry in the laboratory. Porewater samplers provided the best estimates of biota concentrations (within 3.1×), with best results achieved for deposit-feeders (within 1.6×). Polyethylene deployed in deep water also provided good estimates of biota concentrations (within 4×). By contrast, OC-water partitioning overestimated biota concentrations by up to 7×, while OC and BC combined underestimated biota concentrations by up to 13×. We recommend passive samplers such as polyethylene for estimating concentrations of hydrophobic organic contaminants in field biota given its simplicity and relatively lower uncertainty compared to sediment equilibrium partitioning.
Glycemic variability and mortality in critically ill patients: the impact of diabetes.

Background:Glycemic variability (GV) has recently been associated with mortality in critically ill patients. The impact of diabetes or its absence on GV as a risk factor for mortality is unknown.Methods:A total of 4084 adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients admitted between October 15, 1999, and June 30, 2009, with at least three central laboratory measurements of venous glucose samples during ICU stay were studied retrospectively. The patients were analyzed according to treatment era and presence or absence of diabetes: 1460 admitted before February 1, 2003, when there was no specific treatment protocol for hyperglycemia (“PRE”) and 2624 patients admitted after a glycemic control protocol was instituted (“GC”). 3142 were patients without diabetes (“NON”), and 942 were patients with diabetes (“DM”). The coefficient of variation (CV) [standard deviation (SD)/mean glucose level (MGL)] of each patient was used as a measure of GV. Patients were grouped by MGL (mg/dl) during ICU stay (70–99, 100–119, 120–139...
Student and Professor Gender Effects in Introductory Business Statistics.

Studies have yielded highly mixed results as to differences in male and female student performance in statistics courses; the role that professors play in these differences is even less clear. In this paper, we consider the impact of professor and student gender on student performance in an introductory business statistics course taught by economics faculty. Using a sample of 535 students, we find, after controlling for academic and mathematical background, that students taught by a professor of the opposite gender fare significantly worse than students taught by a professor of the same gender. The presence of this gender effect highlights the importance of pursuing sound, gender-neutral pedagogical practices in introductory statistics education.
The CEA: An Inside Voice for Mainstream Economics

After initially concentrating on macroeconomic policy, the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) soon began to provide the president with advice on virtually all issues with economic content. On a wide range of issues there has been a commonality of advice given by the CEA to administrations of both parties, reflecting a broad consensus within the mainstream economics profession especially on microeconomics. While the differences within the profession and among various CEAs on issues of macroeconomic stabilization have narrowed, differences in assessing the supply-side effect of changes in taxes have grown in importance.
Cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation of rat liver 6-phosphofructo 2-kinase, fructose 2,6-bisphosphatase.

Abstract Incorporation of 32P from [γ-32P]ATP into a homogeneous preparation of rat hepatic 6-phosphofructo 2-kinase/fructose 2,6-bisphosphatase was catalyzed by a homogeneous preparation of the catalytic subunit of the cyclic AMP dependent protein kinase from rat liver. Approximately 2 mol of phosphate were incorporated per mol of the dimeric enzyme and this was associated with inhibition of the phosphotransferase activity and activation of the phosphohydrolase activity. Acid hydrolysis of the enzyme that was phosphorylated in , vitro revealed that only seryl residues were labeled. Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate inhibited the initial rate of phosphorylation of the enzyme. It is concluded that both activities of this bifunctional enzyme are regulated in a reciprocal manner by cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation and that this phosphorylation can be modulated by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate.
International perspectives on sharing clinical data with patients

Abstract Objective Engaging patients in their care has become a topic of increasing importance, and enabling patients to have access to their clinical data is a key aspect of such engagement. We investigated, on an international scale, the current state of approaches for providing patients with access to their own clinical information. Methods Individuals from 28 countries were invited to participate in a cross-sectional semi-structured interview. Interview questions focused on social and cultural influences that affected patient engagement activities, government support for current and planned initiatives, data ownership models, and technical issues. Results Interviews were conducted with individuals from 16 countries representing six continents. Respondents reported substantive initiatives for providing information to patients in the majority of countries interviewed. These initiatives were diverse in nature and stage of implementation. Discussion Enabling patient access to data is occurring on an international scale. There is considerable variability in the level of maturity, the degree of government involvement, the technical infrastructure, and the plans for future development across the world. As informaticians, we are still in the early stages of deploying patient engagement technologies and have yet to identify optimal strategies in this arena. Conclusion Efforts to improve patient access to data are active on a global-scale. There are many open questions about best practices and much can be learned by adopting an international perspective to guide future implementation efforts.
Multi-organ segmentation with missing organs in abdominal CT images.

Currently, multi-organ segmentation (MOS) in abdominal CT can fail to handle clinical patient population with missing organs due to surgical resection. In order to enable the state-of-the-art MOS for these clinically important cases, we propose 1) automatic missing organ detection (MOD) by testing abnormality of post-surgical organ motion and organ-specific intensity homogeneity, and 2) atlas-based MOS of 10 abdominal organs that handles missing organs automatically. The proposed methods are validated with 44 abdominal CT scans including 9 diseased cases with surgical organ resections, resulting in 93.3% accuracy for MOD and improved overall segmentation accuracy by the proposed MOS method when tested on difficult diseased cases.
Evolutionary of Prostate Cancer Stem Cells in Prostate Duct

A systems approach model for prostate cancer in prostate duct, as a sub-system of the organism is developed. It is accomplished in two steps. First this research work starts with a nonlinear system of coupled Fokker-Plank equations which models continuous process of the system like motion of cells. Then extended to PDEs that include discontinuous processes like cell mutations, proliferation and deaths. The discontinuous processes is modeled by using intensity poisson processes. The model incorporates the features of the prostate duct. The system of PDEs spatial coordinate is along the proximal distal axis. Its parameters depend on features of the prostate duct. The movement of cells is biased towards distal region and mutations of prostate cancer cells is localized in the proximal region. Numerical solutions of the full system of equations are provided, and are exhibit traveling wave fronts phenomena. This motivates the use of the standard transformation to derive a canonically related system of ODEs for traveling wave solutions. The results obtained show persistence of prostate cancer by showing that the non-negative cone for the traveling wave system is time invariant. The traveling waves have a unique global attractor is proved also. Biologically, the global attractor verifies that evolution of prostate cancer stem cells exhibit the avascular tumor growth. These numerical solutions show that altering prostate stem cell movement or mutation of prostate cancer cells lead to avascular tumor. Conclusion with comments on clinical implications of the model is discussed. Keywords—Fokker-Plank equations, global attractor, stem cell.
Heuristic and Eulerian interface capturing approaches for shallow water type flow and application to granular flows

Abstract Determining the wet–dry boundary and avoiding the related spurious thin-layer problem when solving the depth-averaged shallow-water (SW) equations (or similar granular flow models) remains an outstanding challenge, though it has been the focus of much research effort. In this paper, we introduce the use of level set and phase field based methods to address this issue and related problems. We also propose new heuristic methods to address this problem. We implemented all of these methods in TITAN2D, which is a parallel adaptive mesh refinement toolkit designed for numerical simulation of granular flows. Results of the methods for flow over a simple inclined plane and Colima volcano are used to illustrate the methods. For the inclined plane, we compared the results with experimental data and for Colima volcano they are compared to field data. Our approaches successfully captured the interface of the flow and solved the accuracy and stability problems related to the thin layer problem in SW numerical solution. The comparison of results shows that although all of the methods can be used to address this problem, each of them has its own advantages/disadvantages and methods have to be chosen carefully for each problem.
'Excluding Religion': A Response

In a thorough and thoughtful article, Excluding Religion, Prof. Nelson Tebbe asks "whether the government may select religious entities for exclusion from its support programs?" and concludes that, sometimes, it may. "The government," he contends, "need not remain neutral toward religion in its support programs[.]" In this short response to Tebbe's paper, I first suggest that the reasons Tebbe offers for such exclusion - including "promoting equal citizenship for members of minority faiths . . . , fostering community concord, [and] respecting taxpayers' freedom of conscience", are not particularly strong. Next, I turn to the various "limits" that Tebbe imposes on his permissible-exclusion claim, and attempt to show that, in fact, these limits fit uneasily with the claim they constrain. The aim of this attempt is not to cheer state efforts to - in Tebbe's words - "shape the content of citizens' beliefs through government speech and other means," but instead to warn that the inevitability of such efforts poses a real threat to religious freedom, one that is not likely to be repelled with assurances that the state must act nonpreferentially, or must act with a secular purpose, or must not make theological judgments. If we believe, as Tebbe and I do, that there should be limits on the power, and on the ambition, of governments when it comes to the content of citizens' commitments and the objects of their loyalty, it is essential that we think hard not only about the location of these limits, but also about the reasons for them and the worth of what it is that they protect.
Coherent diffractive imaging of time-evolving samples with improved temporal resolution

Bragg coherent x-ray diffractive imaging is a powerful technique for investigating dynamic nanoscale processes in nanoparticles immersed in reactive, realistic environments. Its temporal resolution is limited, however, by the oversampling requirements of three-dimensional phase retrieval. Here, we show that incorporating the entire measurement time series, which is typically a continuous physical process, into phase retrieval allows the oversampling requirement at each time step to be reduced, leading to a subsequent improvement in the temporal resolution by a factor of 2-20 times. The increased time resolution will allow imaging of faster dynamics and of radiation-dose-sensitive samples. Furthermore, this approach, which we call "chrono CDI," may find use in improving the time resolution in other imaging techniques.
Cost-Effectiveness of Sacubitril-Valsartan Combination Therapy Compared With Enalapril for the Treatment of Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction

Abstract Objectives The objective of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness and cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained of sacubitril-valsartan relative to enalapril for treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Background Compared with enalapril, combination angiotensin receptor–neprilysin inhibition (ARNI), as is found in sacubitril-valsartan, reduces cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization rates in patients with HFrEF. Methods Using a Markov model, costs, effects, and cost-effectiveness were estimated for sacubitril-valsartan and enalapril therapies for the treatment of HFrEF. Patients were 60 years of age at model entry and were modeled over a lifetime (40 years) from a third-party payer perspective. Clinical probabilities were derived predominantly from PARADIGM-HF (Prospective Comparison of ARNI With ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and Morbidity in Heart Failure). All costs and effects were discounted at a 3% rate annually and are presented in 2015 U.S. dollars. Results In the base case, sacubitril-valsartan, compared with enalapril, was more costly ($60,391 vs. $21,758) and more effective (6.49 vs. 5.74 QALYs) over a lifetime. The cost-effectiveness of sacubitril-valsartan was highly dependent on duration of treatment, ranging from $249,411 per QALY at 3 years to $50,959 per QALY gained over a lifetime. Conclusions Sacubitril-valsartan may be a cost-effective treatment option depending on the willingness-to-pay threshold. Future investigations should incorporate real-world evidence with sacubitril-valsartan to further inform decision making.
Synthesis of the C4-Epi-Lomaiviticin B Core Reveals Subtle Stereoelectronic Effects

An efficient synthesis of the C4-epi-lomaiviticin B core is reported. The synthesis features a diastereoselective anionic formal furan Diels–Alder reaction and a stereoselective oxidative enolate dimerization. During the investigation, subtle yet critical stereoelectronic effects imparted by the C4-stereocenter were observed.
Relationship between Lung Cancer and Smoking among Chinese Residents from 2000-2010

[Objective]To study the changes in the relationship between lung cancer and smoking among Chinese residents from 2000-2010,and provide theoretical basis for further tobacco control policy. [Methods]Meta analysis was used to perform quantitative analysis on the literature with case-control study of lung cancer and smoking published in China from 2000-2010. [Results]A total of 1 644 cases of lung cancer and 1 525 controls from 6 literatures were included.Test for homogeneity: χ2=10.66,Ω=5,P=0.06.The combined OR for smoking and lung cancer was 1.7(95%CI: 1.36~2.11). [Conclusion]Although smoking induced lung cancer risk has reduced in recent 10 years,the tobacco control issues are still the focal point for prevention and control of lung cancer.
Sooawsn: a secure object oriented architecture for wireless sensor networks

Secure Communication is a mandatory requirement in many network applications. Wireless sensor networks (WSN) require more attention regarding securing the communication between its nodes. In these kinds of networks, communications may occur between sensors themselves or between sensors and the node that is responsible of collecting information from sensors which is called a Base Station (BS). Communications between sensors are not completely controlled by the BS, where sensors are able to communicate directly with each others. Limited resources of such kind of networks require special techniques to be applied on those kinds of networks that differ from those applied to other kinds of networks. Some researches focus on providing the Sensor-Sensor communication and others focused on Sensor-BS communication. From the security side, many proposals present security solutions to be applied on those communications. Few proposals provide complete key management solutions to cover both kind of communications (i.e. Sensor-Sensor, and Sensor-BS communications). However, these proposals do not discuss the detection of the compromised nodes under network attacks. Some other proposals discuss the issue of compromised nodes detections. In this dissertation, we present a complete framework that covers all the aspects of WSN communications (i.e. Routing Protocol, Security Key Management, and Intrusion Detection). The framework is called Secure Object Oriented Architecture for Wireless Sensor Networks (SOOAWSN). We present each module as an object that contains some methods that cover all the aspects of that part. Then, these objects are applied together as a complete solution or as methods selected from each object to create a partial solution that satisfies specific application's requirements. The first model relates to routing technique. It contains one method for routing the information from sensors to the BS. It relies on Dynamic Clustering hierarchy where sensors are grouped into clusters with clusters heads. These clusters heads forward the data to the BS from other sensors. The second model relates to key management protocol. This model consists of three methods. First method relies on the Key-Predistribution technique where the BS assigns groups of keys with their IDs to the sensors prior to network deployment in order to be used during network communications. The second method adopts the Public-Private technique to digitally sign the message and for keys exchanges. The third method is an improvement and an addition to the Key-predistribution technique to support multi-generation network. In this method the keys are generated and renewed locally in each sensor without the need of the BS. The third model relates to intrusion detection and recovery. It consists of two methods; the Public-Private method and Routing-Attack method. The first method involves the authentication of the sensor using the digital signature. The second method monitors the behavior of the sensors by analyzing their activities compared to previous activities.
Establishing and maintaining a therapeutic alliance with substance abuse patients: a cognitive therapy approach.

A positive, collaborative therapeutic relationship is an essential component of the cognitive therapy of substance abuse (Beck et al. 1993). To engage substance abuse patients in treatment, therapists will need not only to connect with the patients but also gain their trust. Otherwise, the patients will be less likely to benefit from treatment, and their rates of no-show and dropout are apt to increase. Therefore, therapists must work diligently to form a working alliance by demon-strating general good will and a respectful desire to help. Further, they must carefully attend to any signs that the patients are losing interest or having adverse emotional reactions, and intervene promptly.
Chemotherapy for recurrent and metastatic head and neck cancer.

The chemotherapy for recurrent head and neck squamous and salivary gland malignancies is reviewed. Cisplatin with fluoro- uracil combination chemotherapy and single agent methotrexate are standard regimens in patients with squamous cell carcinomas. Combination chemotherapy including cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide is very active in salivary gland tumors. Significant palliation and improved survival occur; however, improvement in systemic therapy is needed.
Dynamic micromechanical properties of cultured rat atrial myocytes measured by atomic force microscopy

The atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to quantify micromechanical properties (i.e., localized to an area of approximately 0.015 microns 2) of cultured rat atrial myocytes. Quiescent cells in calcium-free solution were quite compressible over the nuclear region, e.g., a force of 3-4 nN produced 180-225 nm cell indentation. Transverse stiffness of quiescent cells increased by approximately 2-fold after an increase in extracellular calcium from 0 to 5 mM and by approximately 16-fold after fixation with Formalin. There was five- to eightfold variation in stiffness of quiescent cells over the cell surface, such that stiffness was lowest over the nuclear region, and it increased toward the cell periphery. These regional variations correlated with the cytoskeletal heterogeneity as revealed by the AFM and fluorescence imaging. Localized contractile activity of beating cells could be monitored in terms of the surface deformation with high transverse spatial (approximately 1-3 nm) and temporal (60-100 microseconds) resolutions. Alterations in cell contractile activity with physiological perturbations and dynamic changes in cell stiffness during a single contraction could be observed. These results demonstrate the feasibility of AFM-based characterization of highly localized cellular micromechanical properties. Relationships among localized cell mechanical behavior and the underlying biochemical and/or structural environment, a crucial aspect in understanding cellular (dys)function, can now be directly examined.
Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome as a complication of molar pregnancy

An 18-year-old woman, pregnant for the third time, presented to the emergency department with constant vaginal bleeding and intermittent cramping for the past 3 weeks. Her last menstrual period was 14 weeks and 2 days ago. In her previous two pregnancies, she had given birth to one living child and
Consumer price indexes: methods for quality and variety change

This paper describes the major methods used by statistical agencies to adjust for differences in the quality of a good or service when one item replaces another in a sample used to construct a Consumer Price Index. The methods are categorized as either direct, including the production-cost and hedonic approaches, or indirect, such as linking or class-mean imputation. The paper also presents simplified example calculations showing how the methods are applied in practice.
Unsupervised Classification During Time-Series Model Building

Researchers who collect multivariate time-series data across individuals must decide whether to model the dynamic processes at the individual level or at the group level. A recent innovation, group iterative multiple model estimation (GIMME), offers one solution to this dichotomy by identifying group-level time-series models in a data-driven manner while also reliably recovering individual-level patterns of dynamic effects. GIMME is unique in that it does not assume homogeneity in processes across individuals in terms of the patterns or weights of temporal effects. However, it can be difficult to make inferences from the nuances in varied individual-level patterns. The present article introduces an algorithm that arrives at subgroups of individuals that have similar dynamic models. Importantly, the researcher does not need to decide the number of subgroups. The final models contain reliable group-, subgroup-, and individual-level patterns that enable generalizable inferences, subgroups of individuals with shared model features, and individual-level patterns and estimates. We show that integrating community detection into the GIMME algorithm improves upon current standards in two important ways: (1) providing reliable classification and (2) increasing the reliability in the recovery of individual-level effects. We demonstrate this method on functional MRI from a sample of former American football players.
Abstract 106: Transintestinal Cholesterol Excretion and Macrophage Reverse Cholesterol Transport are not Stimulated in Hepatic ABCG8 Knockdown Mice Treated with an LXR Agonist

Transintestinal cholesterol excretion (TICE) is a recently discovered pathway by which cholesterol travels from plasma to the small intestine for direct excretion into the feces. Hallmarks of animal models with TICE include severely diminished biliary cholesterol secretion but near normal levels of hepatic cholesterol and fecal neutral sterol excretion. Using an ATP binding cassette transporter G8 (ABCG8) antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) to knock down ABCG8 specifically in liver (G8HKD), we created a novel mouse model with significantly decreased biliary cholesterol excretion but a 658% increase in hepatic cholesterol accumulation and a 78% reduction in fecal neutral sterol excretion, indicating a dysfunction in the TICE pathway. LXR agonists have previously been shown to stimulate the TICE pathway. In order to more definitively prove the TICE pathway was disfunctional in G8HKD mice, we treated wild type (WT) and G8HKD mice with the LXR agonist T0901317 and measured markers of TICE stimulation. As expected...
Diet diversity and nutritional status among adults in southwest China.

Background With rapid urbanization in the past decades, diet diversity continues to increase in China. The present cross-sectional study aims to explore the association between dietary diversity and nutritional status among adults in southwest China. Methods This study used data from 2011–2012 National Nutritional Survey in Yunnan Province, southwest China (N = 1105).Data of three consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls were used to calculate dietary diversity scores (DDS) and nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR). Body mass index and waist circumference were used to determine nutritional status. Surveylogistic procedure of SAS 9.2 software was used to examine the association between DDS and obesity by estimating odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results The mean DDS was 5.2 (SD 1.1) out of nine points. Being female, younger age, belonging to Han ethnicity, having higher educational level and household income were positively associated with DDS (all P<0.05). As DDS increased, consumption also increased in most food groups except grains and vegetables. People with medium and high DDS (DDS = 5 and DDS ≥6, respectively) ingested more energy than the recommended quantity(NAR = 1.1 and 1.2, respectively). However, the intakes of Calcium and Vitamin A were seriously inadequate even for people with high DDS (NAR≤0.5). With potential confounders adjusted, people with medium and high DDS were at higher risk of general and central obesity than people with DDS ≤4 (OR = 1.4–1.9, P<0.01). Conclusions Our data indicated that high DDS was associated with excessive energy intake and obesity among adults in southwest China. Although dietary diversity is widely recommended, public health messages should give less emphasis on dietary diversity.
Abstract 4050: Multifaceted targeting of drug-resistant EGFR+ and HER2+ breast tumors

Unmet needs in the breast cancer field include the development of effective treatments for 1) drug-resistant HER2+ breast cancers, 2) Triple-Negative (HER2-, ER-, PR-) Breast Cancers (TNBCs), and 3) Inflammatory Breast Cancers (IBCs). Treatment-refractory HER2+ tumors retain HER2 expression after acquiring drug resistance, and large fractions of TNBCs and IBCs overexpress either HER2 or EGFR. Thus, drugs that selectively kill breast tumors that overexpress EGFR or HER2 could benefit patients suffering from these three classes of treatment-refractory tumors. Our team has identified a class of compounds termed Disulfide bond Disrupting Agents (DDAs) that selectively kill cancer cells that overexpress HER2 or EGFR. DDA-mediated cancer-selective cytotoxicity results from A) downregulation of the EGFR/HER2/HER3 proteins, B) inactivation of the Akt oncogene, and C) activation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR). Importantly DDAs only elicit these responses in cancer cells that overexpress EGFR or HER2. DDAs exhibit striking anticancer activity in human HER2+ xenograft tumors grown orthotopically in mice, with no evidence of toxicity. DDAs function through mechanisms distinct from those of HER2 specific monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and biochemical studies indicate that DDAs are complementary with Lapatinib with respect to blockade of HER2 driven proliferative and survival signaling. Current efforts are directed toward identifying mechanism-based drugs that synergize with DDAs to potentiate HER1-3 downregulation, Akt inhibition, and UPR, and to kill HER2+/EGFR+ patient-derived xenograft tumors that are refractory to current therapies. Citation Format: Brian K. Law, Mary E. Law, Renan B. Ferreira, Mengxiong Wang, Bradley J. Davis, Ronald K. Castellano, Coy D. Heldermon. Multifaceted targeting of drug-resistant EGFR+ and HER2+ breast tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4050. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4050
Effects of fish predators and litter pack size on leaf breakdown in a subtropical stream

Many studies have examined trophic cascades in allochthonous lotic systems of temperate streams, but few have examined those in subtropical and tropical streams. Many subtropical and tropical streams are characterised as detritivore-poor stream systems, which might result in a fundamental difference in the trophic cascades of brown food webs. We performed an in situ experiment to test the effects of the presence or absence of a small-bodied endemic benthic fish and of the mass of litter packs (five levels), arranged in a full factorial design (10 treatments), on macroinvertebrate detritivore assemblages and invertebrate-mediated breakdown rates and to identify possible trophic cascades. Fish slightly reduced the invertebrate-mediated breakdown rates by depressing detritivore abundance. Effects of fish predators and litter pack size on detritivore abundance were species dependent. Nemouridae (Plecoptera), a non-camouflage detritivore (without a casing), was highly sensitive to the presence of fish predators. By contrast, camouflaged detritivores, such as Stenochironomus spp. (Diptera), which mine decayed leaves, and Anisocentropus sp. (Trichoptera), a case-building caddisfly, were able to avoid being preyed upon and thereby buffered the effect of predation on litter processing. These results suggest that ecosystem functioning of detritus-based stream systems could be regulated by the traits of dominant detritivores.
Advancing agenda building: Exploring causal relationships

This study tested the three levels of agenda building using an experimental design to identify possible causal relationships. This research contributes to the study and practice of political public relations by examining the process by which an issue is created and transferred to the public. Results indicate various support for agenda building including overall issue salience and issue attribute salience. The study also tested the compelling arguments hypothesis and found strong support for attribute salience contributing to overall issue salience. These findings are important for political public relations practitioners as it demonstrates that contextual issue attributes increase issue salience for the public.
Visualizing the Supersonic Flow around a Microvortex Generator

Microvortex generators (MVGs) have been proposed as devices for alleviating the adverse effects of shock/boundary-layer interactions [1]. MVGs in supersonic flow are generally skewed tetrahedral protuberanceswhose height is less than the boundary layer thickness (Fig. 1). Anderson et al. [1] providedMVG design guidelines, such as the standoff distance from an MVG array to the shock impingement location.
Advances in Direct Gene Transfer into Cereals

The recent progress in understanding plant biology at the molecular level has been due in part to the development of efficient gene transfer systems for many plant species. The detailed knowledge of the organization of plant gene regulatory regions gained from these studies was recently reviewed (1,2). Gene transfer into crop plants will extend the traits available to plant breeders (3) as exemplified recently by several impressive successes. For example, gene transfer has resulted in resistance to viruses (4–8), to insects (9–11), and to herbicides (12–15).
Basis of Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring is often associated with reducing the risk of postoperative neurological deficits in operations where the nervous system is at risk of being permanently injured. While the main use of electrophysiological methods in the operating room may be for reducing the risk of postoperative neurological deficits, electrophysiological methods are now in increasing use for other purposes. For example, electrophysiological methods are now regarded a necessity for guidance in placement of electrodes for deep brain stimulation (DBP) or for making lesions in specific structures for treating movement disorders and pain. Intraoperative electrophysiological recordings can also help the surgeon in carrying out other surgical procedures. Finding specific neural tissue such as cranial nerves or specific regions of the cerebral cortex are examples of tasks that are included in the subspecialty of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. Neurophysiological methods are increasingly used for diagnostic support in operations such as those involving peripheral nerves. In certain operations, intraoperative neurophysiology can increase the likelihood of achieving the therapeutical goal of an operation. Intraoperative neurophysiological recordings have shown to be of help identifying the offending blood vessel in a cranial nerve disorder (hemifacial spasm, HFS).
Warfarin Resistance and Enteral Tube Feeding: An Old Problem with a New Solution:

Nutrition Support Pharmacist features issues pertinent to the practice of clinical pharmacy in the area of metabolic support.
Connecting Generations: Preserving Memories with Thanatosensitive Technologies

Hand-written letters have morphed over the past two decades from the physical realm of ink on paper to digital text displayed on a digital screen, making emails the most common digital format for letters. Old shoeboxes were used as storage spaces for hand-written letters and photographs, bound together with ribbons or rubber bands. The shoebox would then be tucked away somewhere in the house, only to see the light of day years later after a vigorous bout of house cleaning, on a special occasion or after one’s death. Since email archives are not the physical artifact of a shoebox of letters and photographs, it is much more difficult to bequeath them to an heir after death. Our proposal is the development of an application named Shoebox that will connect family and friends through the bequeathing of Gmail archives, Picasa photos and YouTube videos.
Apology, Restitution, and Forgiveness After Psychological Contract Breach

Using forgiveness theory, we investigated the effects of organizational apology and restitution on eliciting forgiveness of a transgressing organization after transactional psychological contract breach. Forgiveness theory proposes that victims are more likely to forgive offenders when victims’ positive offender-oriented emotions replace negative ones. Three pre-post laboratory experiments, using vignettes about a broken promise of financial aid, found that while apology-alone and restitution-alone each increased likelihood of forgiving, restitution-alone was the more effective of the two responses. When combined with an apology, restitution boosted the effect of apology-alone. However, restitution was unnecessary if positive emotions replaced negative ones; third-party blame accomplished this negative-to-positive emotion replacement. Consistent with forgiveness theory, offender-oriented negative-to-positive emotion replacement partially mediated all effects, and negative emotion reductions were strongly correlated with positive emotion gains. We discuss implications for the repair of damaged norms and relationships within an organizational community. These include reparative effects of apology and restitution, dual-process conceptions of violation and repair, repair after psychological contract breach, and emotion replacement models of forgiveness.