cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling involves in the human intestinal ILC3/ILC1 conversion in the inflamed terminal ileum of Crohn's disease patients

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are emerging as important components of our immune system that have critical effector and regulatory functions in both innate and adaptive immune responses. They are enriched at mucosal surfaces, such as lung and intestine. Our previous work has shown that Lineage-CRTH2-CD45+NKp44-CD117-CD127+ILC1s accumulated in the inflamed terminal ileum of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) at the expense of NKp44+ILC3s. This phenotype conversion impairs the intestinal barrier integrity and contributes to the dysregulated immune responses of CD patients. Our next step was to search for pathways to modulate this phenotype switch. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor. Initial studies of AHR concentrated on its role in the detoxification of xenobiotics. However, recent research has focused on the immune system. Especially, AHR pathway is proven to be essential for the maintenance of intestinal ILC3s in mouse models. We examined whether AHR pathway participated in the human intestinal ILC phenotype change in the inflamed terminal ileum of CD patients. As anticipated, NKp44+ILC3s, NKp44-ILC3s and ILC1s had differential AHR expression. This AHR signaling mediated CD117 expression on the surface of ILC3s. The conversion from ILC3 to ILC1 was accompanied by the downregulation of AHR expression. We further observed that there was a disparity between AHR protein expression and mRNA expression in the inflamed terminal ileum tissues of CD patients compared to unaffected areas. These findings suggest that AHR pathway is also important for human intestinal ILC phenotype regulation and impaired AHR signaling in the inflamed gut of CD patients possibly contributes to the ILC3/ILC1 conversion.
Wavelength-Dependent Super-resolution Images of Dye Molecules Coupled to Plasmonic Nanotriangles

The emission properties of fluorescent molecules are strongly affected by proximal plasmonic nanoparticles that act as optical nanoantennas. In particular, fluorescence intensity can be greatly increased by enhancing both the excitation and emission rates of a fluorophore, and the angular and spatial emission pattern from a dye coupled to a plasmonic nanoantenna will be altered. Here, we use single-molecule imaging to measure this shifted emission pattern based on the super-resolution image of cyanine dye molecules coupled to gold nanotriangles. To compare the relative effects of excitation versus emission enhancement on the emission pattern, we vary laser excitation wavelengths, dye emission and absorbance spectra, and local surface plasmon resonance frequency. We demonstrate that the emission pattern is dramatically changed when coupling occurs and that coupling between the dye and gold nanotriangle happens even in the absence of intensity enhancement.
Reflecting on Beyond Positivism at Thirty-Five

Abstract In 1982 my book Beyond Positivism: Economic Methodology in the Twentieth Century was published. At the 2017 History of Economics Society meeting, a session was held to mark the 35th anniversary of that event. Papers by Wade Hands, Kevin Hoover, Tony Lawson, and the trio Peter Boettke, Solomon Stein, and Virgil Storr were prepared. In this paper, I respond by reflecting on how I came to write Beyond Positivism and on the state of the field of economic methodology at the time, and then commenting briefly on each of the papers noted above.
Discussion of “Financial Statement Comparability and the Efficiency of Acquisition Decisions”

Chen, Collins, Kravet, and Mergenthaler (CCKM, ) is an empirical investigation of whether, after controlling for other known determinants of an acquirer's abnormal stock returns and expected and realized synergies, financial statement comparability impacts the investment decisions surrounding the acquirer's purchase of another company. The primary result is that higher financial statement comparability, as measured by De Franco, Kothari, and Verdi (DKV, ), yields improvements on outcomes associated with mergers and acquisitions. This discussion presents some criticisms of the DKV measure as applied to this study; the main criticism being whether the DKV measure captures accounting comparability or the risk of the target firm. The empirical results presented in CCKM are consistent with both explanations, thus making it difficult to disentangle CCKM's interpretation from an alternative explanation of their empirical findings. Chen, Collins, Kravet et Mergenthaler (CCKM, 2018), dans leur etude empirique « Comparabilite des etats financiers et efficience des decisions d'acquisition », se demandent si, apres le controle des autres determinants connus des rendements anormaux de l'action d'un acquereur et des effets de synergie prevus et realises, la comparabilite des etats financiers a une incidence sur les decisions d'investissement entourant l'achat par l'acquereur d'une autre societe. Leurs recherches revelent principalement qu'une comparabilite plus grande des etats financiers, selon la mesure proposee par DeFranco, Kothari et Verdi (DKV, 2011), entraine une amelioration des resultats associes aux fusions et aux acquisitions. L'auteure formule certaines critiques a l'endroit de la mesure de DKV appliquee a cette etude et se demande notamment si cette mesure prend en compte la comparabilite des donnees comptables ou le risque associe a la societe cible. Les resultats empiriques exposes par CCKM concordent avec ces deux explications, de sorte qu'il est difficile de faire la part entre l'interpretation de CCKM et une autre explication de leurs observations empiriques.
Inhibition of Salmonella on poultry skin using protein- and polysaccharide-based films containing a nisin formulation.

The objective of this study was to examine the use of protein- arid polysaccharide-based films containing bacteriocin formulations for inhibiting salmonellae on fresh broiler skin. The lethality of the films containing a nisin-based formulation was determined against Salmonella Typhimurium-contaminated broiler drumstick skin samples coated with the film. In the first study, varying concentrations of nisin (0, 100, 300, and 500 microg/ml) plus 3% citric acid, 5.0 mM EDTA, and 0.5% Tween 80 were incorporated into 0.5% calcium alginate films at a 20% level (wt/wt) and then applied to Salmonella TyphimuriumNAr-contaminated skin samples (log10 5.0) at a 1:2 weight ratio (film:skin). Salmonella TyphimuriumNAr skin population reductions ranged from 1.98 to 3.01 log cycles after a 72-h exposure at 4 degrees C. In comparison to the 0- and 100-microg/ml nisin concentrations, significantly greater population reductions were achieved at nisin concentrations of 300 and 500 microg/ml. In related studies, the 500-degreesg/ml nisin formulation was incorporated into 0.75 and 1.25% agar gels and applied to contaminated broiler drumstick skin samples (log10 7.0). Salmonella TyphimuriumNAr skin population reductions following a 96-h exposure at 4 degrees C were 1.8-(1.25% agar gel) and 4.6-log cycles (0.75% agar gel). These results demonstrated that the inclusion of nisin-based treatments into either calcium alginate or agar gels that were subsequently applied to contaminated broiler drumstick skin yielded significant Salmonella TyphimuriumNAr population reductions ranging between 1.8 to 4.6 log cycles after 72 to 96 h of exposure at 4 degrees C. The level of kill was affected by film type and gel concentration (i.e., gel network formation), exposure time, and nisin concentration.
Conclusion, Contributions and Future Work

The explosion of mobile devices in the consumer space has been quite a disruptor for the mobile enterprise where corporate managed platforms are well defined, well contained and fairly secure. However, now with the emergence of the consumer mobile devices from Apple iOS and Google Android, the enterprise has been forced to make functional tradeoffs in order to maintain platform and data security. Due to the corporate security decisions, the end user gives up a significant amount of personal freedom and ease of use of their device. Enterprise security requirements like password complexity, device encryption, network restrictions and other techniques that restrict the access to information on the mobile device tends to drive users away and/or encourages users to find other less secure alternatives that will eventually compromise enterprise data and access. A number of mobile virtualization technologies have been presented here, each of them delivering specific features that focus on ensuring the security of the enterprise container and applications. Application level containers, type 1 and 2 hypervisors and the new hybrid application container architecture all lack the organic integration of enterprise & personal personas found in solutions like the emerging BlackBerry 10 Balance platform. Hypervisor technologies show promise; however, it is specific to the Android platform, has higher end hardware requirements and not likely to be seen on the iOS platform anytime soon.
The Architecture of Constitutions

Politics in America can be improved is the optimistic side to this book. The other side is that the Constitution may be too difficult to change in order to respond to the pressures that have come with 200 years. The U.S. political structure is stressed because the style of the Constitution suits the state of communications in the time of its designers.
Determination of the Faraday by Means of the Iodine Coulometer

There have been many efforts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to measure the Faraday by direct electrochemical methods. Of these only the experiments employing the oxidation of iodide (3), the electrode-position of silver (4), and the electrodissolution of silver (5) have ever been viewed seriously as determinations of a fundamental physical constant.
This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Greenwashing: An Assessment of the American Petroleum Institute’s Power Past Impossible Campaign

After the Obama administration signed the Paris Agreement to limit emissions, the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group for the petroleum industry, created a consumer advertising campaign to promote the different ways that the gas and oil industries benefit U.S. citizens. The advertising campaign debuted in the most-watched television program in United States—the Super Bowl—during a time when the U.S. public held strongly different opinions on U.S. Energy policy from the incoming Trump administration and Republican-dominated Congress. Generally, citizens favor investment in renewable energy while the government favors expansion of oil and gas drilling. The American Petroleum Institute campaign attempts to persuade U.S. citizens that the petroleum industry can help U.S. citizens to ‘power past impossible’ and live better lives. This chapter evaluates whether these ads can be considered greenwashing, defined as to the use of messages with environmentalism or green credentials to suggest that a company’s policies and products are environmentally friendly. The Power Past Impossible campaign provides evidence of greenwashing through both explicit communications (such as unsubstantiated claims that ‘gas comes cleaner’ and ‘oil runs cleaner’) and implicit communications (the use of green imagery). The ads also conflate the benefits of innovative products made with petroleum and the production of these products, providing a halo effect that can be misleading.
In transition: Researching the writing development of doctoral students and faculty

This article investigates the learning trajectories of graduate students and early career faculty - a group we refer to as emerging scholars. Taking a developmental perspective, our mixed-methods study employs surveys and interviews to understand emerging scholars' writing needs and experiences. This research is significant because although literature suggests emerging scholars struggle with new writing practices, perceptions, and identities, researchers rarely take a developmental perspective on the learning needs of emerging scholars, which ultimately limits access to the educational enterprise and perpetuates a gatekeeping culture in higher education. Further, no studies that we know of consider graduate student and faculty writers' needs in relation to one another. In this article, we present an innovative method for cross-analyzing data from these two groups in ways that reveal recurring/diverging features of lifelong writing development. Our preliminary findings reveal connections and variations in the needs and experiences of these two groups that could inform pedagogy, programming, and institutional policy geared toward graduate student and faculty writers. Finally, we discuss methodological implications for studying groups of writers with proximate developmental relationships and explain how future applications of our method will contribute to research on writing development across the lifespan.
An Experimental Evaluation of BFT Protocols for Blockchains

Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) protocols have been used in blockchains due to their high performance and fast block acceptance. However, their weakness is a lack of scalability to support a large number of nodes in the network due to message demanding broadcasts. There have been recent improvements to the classic Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (PBFT) protocol. Evaluating the performance and reliability of the different BFT based protocols in the context of blockchains will give users a better picture of the behaviour and scalability of these protocols under different circumstances. For this purpose, we implemented and evaluated the performance of different BFT based protocols for blockchains under normal conditions as well as when byzantine failures are encountered in the network. Furthermore, we also calculated the reliability of each protocol under the desired throughput.
Reliability Analysis Method of Power Quality Monitoring Device based on Non-Parametric Estimation

The quality of power quality monitoring device will affect the orderly development of the on-line monitoring and evaluating work. Yet with parts of the long-running in complex operating conditions and aging of components, the power quality monitoring equipment may cause reduction of reliability, which affects the accuracy of data quality. Therefore, an operation reliability analysis method for power quality monitoring equipment based on nonparametric estimation was presented in this paper, which could actualize the remote analysis and evaluation of reliability for the power quality monitoring equipment that benefits discovering the hidden peril in reliability reduction and improving management level of power grid companies. The practice proves the feasibility and validity of the method.
Sacred, Separate Places: African American Cemeteries in the Jim Crow South

This study of historic African American cemeteries relies on historical and architectural fieldwork in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee to explore the creation of these sacred places by communities in the wake of Emancipation and Reconstruction in the post-Civil War American South. As segregation took hold of the legal and political structures of the South in the late nineteenth century, African Americans had little choice but to establish their own separate, sacred places, often on the margins of towns and outside of legally defined town limits, defining what historian and activist W.E.B. DuBois called “the physical color-line” separating white and black sections of towns. African American cemeteries quickly evolved into significant markers of identity and community heritage. Their locations today help to identify the historic African American neighborhoods or rural black communities where often residents built schools and fraternal lodges adjacent to the cemeteries. This chapter highlights representative cemetery types: Golden Hill Cemetery in Montgomery County, Tennessee reflects the black middle-class and the Rural Cemetery Movement aesthetic, the Shiloh Cemetery in Macon County, Alabama reflects the different reality and class of the Black Belt and is significantly associated with the victims of the U.S. Public Health Service’s Syphilis Study of the mid-twentieth century; the Pierce-Bond Cemetery in Sullivan County, Tennessee, reflects the intimacy of African American life in Appalachia, and the Alexandria Cemetery in Dekalb County, Tennessee, which is one that W.E.B. DuBois wrote about in The Souls of Black Folk, recalling when he taught there. Together the four case studies reflect a property type that is central to the African American sense of heritage, identity, and culture.
Experiences of VA vocational and education training and assistance services: Facilitators and barriers reported by veterans with disabilities.

Objective To understand the experiences of veterans with disabilities and caregiving needs who use Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) vocational and education services, including Supported Employment, the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment. Method We conducted 26 joint semistructured interviews with post-9/11 veterans who had used at least one of three vocational and education services, and their family members who were enrolled in a VA Caregiver Support Program. Results VA vocational and education services helped veterans with disabilities transition from the military into civilian life by providing skills and incremental exposure to engaging in everyday life tasks. Veteran motivation, caregiver support, and engaged staff at VA and academic institutions were key drivers of veteran success. Veterans who experienced challenges cited the following barriers: health problems, concerns about benefits loss if they became employed, and VA and academic programs that did not accommodate the needs of nontraditional veteran learners. Conclusions and implications for practice There is a need to bolster VA vocational and educational services for veterans with disabilities in several domains, including modifying the roles of frontline staff and increasing communication between vocational counselors and health care teams to better accommodate the veteran's health-related limitations. Providing a vocational rehabilitation navigator to help veterans identify opportunities within VA and work/educational settings that are a good match for the veteran's goals and abilities could also be beneficial across vocational and educational services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
English Nasalance Values of Chinese Learners of English.

Introduction Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate nasalance scores of speakers of different languages, little research has examined the nasalance characteristics of second language learners. Objective The goal of the current study was to examine whether English nasalance values of Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those of native English speakers, examining the potential effect of the first language on the nasalance scores of the second language production. Methods Thirty-two adults (16 Mandarin Chinese speakers and 16 native English speakers) with a normal velopharyngeal anatomy participated. Nasalance scores of various speech stimuli were obtained using a nasometer and compared between the 2 groups. Results and conclusions Chinese learners of English produced higher nasalance scores than native English speakers on prolonged vowel /i/ and /a/, the syllable "nin," and non-nasal sentences and passages. The first language effect on nasalance of the second language found in the current study suggests the importance of linguistic consideration in the clinical evaluation of resonance.
Efficient leaky-wave antennas at terahertz frequencies generating highly directional beams

Due to their frequency-dependent angular emission, leaky-wave antennas have been recently introduced in the terahertz band to tackle many of the challenges associated with THz wireless communications. Most previous works have exploited conventional leaky-wave waveguide architectures developed for the microwave region. In this paper, we study in detail the emission characteristics of leaky-wave antennas at THz frequencies. We show that, at these high frequencies, the wavelength-scale interaction with the aperture causes a nonuniform electric field distribution at the slot interface, which is a unique regime that is not typically encountered at lower frequencies. This effect is even more pronounced as the slot width increases to a point where the sides of the slot act as secondary leaking structures, and the well-known frequency–angle relationship is not obeyed as the energy at a given frequency is radiated in a broad range of angles. Therefore, to exploit the phase matching condition, which couples frequency to emission angle, one must use very thin rectangular slots d ≪ λ, at the expense of device efficiency. To address this problem, we explore an alternate slot aperture design, in which the slot width increases linearly along its length (i.e., a trapezoidal shape). We show that this preserves the phase-matching constraint while allowing higher output coupling efficiencies. Moreover, since a wider effective aperture is used, the radiated beam is narrow in both angular directions, allowing the generation of true pencil-like THz beams.
Developmental programming: Adipose depot-specific transcriptional regulation by prenatal testosterone excess in a sheep model of PCOS

Abstract Prenatal testosterone (T)-treated female sheep manifest adipose depot-specific disruptions in inflammatory/oxidative state, adipocyte differentiation and thermogenic adipocyte distribution. The objective of this study was to identify common and divergent gene pathways underlying prenatal T excess-induced adipose depot-specific disruptions. RNA sequencing and network analyses were undertaken with visceral (VAT), subcutaneous (SAT), epicardiac (ECAT) and perirenal (PRAT) adipose tissues from control and prenatal T-treated (100 mg T propionate twice a week from days 30–90 of gestation) female sheep at 21 months of age. Increased expression of adiposity and inflammation-related genes in VAT and genes that promote differentiation of white adipocytes in SAT were congruous with their metabolic roles with SAT favoring uptake/storage of free fatty acids and triglycerides and VAT favoring higher rate of fatty acid turnover and lipolysis. Selective upregulation of cardiac muscle and renoprotection genes in ECAT and PRAT respectively are suggestive of protective paracrine actions. Expression profile in prenatal T-treated sheep paralleled depot-specific dysfunctions with increased proinflammatory genes in VAT, reduced adipocyte differentiation genes in VAT and SAT and increased vascular related gene expression in PRAT. The high expression of genes involved in cardiomyocyte function in ECAT is suggestive of cardioprotective function being maintained to overcome the prenatal T-induced cardiac dysfunction and hypertension. These findings coupled with changes in gene pathways and networks involved in chromatin modification, extracellular matrix, immune and mitochondrial function, and endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi transport suggest that dysregulation in gene expression underlie prenatal T-treatment induced functional differences among adipose depots and manifestation of metabolic dysfunction.
Dinosaur material from the Lower Greensand Group of Upware, Cambridgeshire, and the age of ‘Wealden’ vertebrates from the ‘Bedfordshire Straits’

Abstract Post-Wealden dinosaur remains are rare in the UK, so any material from late Early or Late Cretaceous deposits is potentially of palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical significance. Four dinosaur specimens collected from the Woburn Sands Formation (Aptian) of Upware, Cambridgeshire were described briefly by Walter Keeping in 1883, but have not been reappraised since. These specimens are identified herein as a ?turiasaurian sauropod tooth and indeterminate iguanodontian ornithopod remains (a tooth, middle caudal vertebra, pollex ungual). Although collected from the Woburn Sands Formation, it is likely that all of these fossils were reworked from older (now absent) sediments and they have usually been regarded as either ‘Wealden’ or Neocomian in age, presumably due to previous identifications of some of these specimens as Iguanodon. However, consideration of UK dinosaur faunas and regional geology indicates that these fossils could potentially be older. Further work is needed on the derived terrestrial fossils of the Lower Greensand Group in order to constrain their ages more precisely so that they can be incorporated into broader studies of regional diversity and palaeoecology.
Oncology Nursing Research: Moving Toward Equitable and Inclusive Science

One of the challenges for nurse scientists, particularly those of us educated in traditional academic models, is the question of how to make certain that our research addresses critical barriers to achieving health and healthcare equity. Traditional research inculcation taught us to focus on discrete, answerable questions, using an attainable sample given the financial and practical limitations inherent in research implementation. Although these techniques were part of an agreed-upon scientific method, the restrictions can lead to an answer to a circumscribed question but fail to articulate the broader issues inherent in designing and implementing human research that moves from inquiry to impact. Although our strong history in oncology nursing research includes a range of health concerns and responses to cancer, including biologic, socio-cultural, sex and gender, and, more recently, financial, I think that we, as oncology nurse scientists, agree that the focus of our research needs to more explicitly address pernicious aspects of health that lead to health disparities: racism and structural discrimination. Racism and structural barriers cloud all aspects of oncology: early detection, the design and uptake of promising therapeutics, quality of life, and financial well-being during active treatment and survivorship. How do we take the essential steps to not only measure but also address these critical barriers to reduce disparities and bring about more equitable and salubrious outcomes in oncology nursing research?
Impact of nonlinear effects in Si towards integrated microwave-photonic applications

As one of major integrated microwave photonics (IMWP) platforms, Si photonics exhibits the intensity-dependent Kerr effect and two-photon absorption (TPA) with associated free carrier effects (FCE). At the commonly used 1.55 µm, TPA losses and the associated FCE would eventually limit the dynamic range of Si photonic links. Resonating structures such as ring resonators (RRs) experience enhanced nonlinear effects due to significant intensity buildup. According to the bandgap characteristics of Si, TPA can be eliminated at and beyond 2.2 µm. In this work, a systemic simulation of straight waveguides and RRs is performed at wavelengths from 1.55 to 2.2 µm where the wavelength-dependent TPA loss is investigated. Moreover, the Kerr effect leads to unwanted change of refractive index, which shifts the RR resonant wavelength at both 1.55 and 2.2 µm, thus needing shift compensation. Compensated RRs operating at 2.2 µm could open a new venue for Si photonics towards IMWP applications.
Broadband and Student Performance Gaps

Launched in 2019, this study was designed to understand the repercussions of absent or poor home Internet connectivity on student performance and the associated costs to society. The focus was on Internet connectivity outside of school among middle and high school students enrolled in rural and small-town schools. Inequalities related to income and race are often used to explain why some people still do not have Internet or broadband access at home. Often overlooked in this discussion is the role of geography and varying levels of infrastructure access. Our research design allowed to disentangle these factors. Data for this project are based on a survey of students in grades 8-11 from fifteen predominately rural Michigan school districts. Between May and June 2019, 3,258 students from fifteen school districts in twenty-one schools across 173 classrooms completed the project survey; they represented 70.6% of students aged 13 and older in grades 8-11 in the participating districts. Following the survey, classroom teachers assigned students an optional homework assignment that consisted of an online speed test. Eight of the school districts that participated in this project also provided de-identified standardized student test scores that were matched with students’ responses to the project survey. Independently of socio-demographic factors, students who do not have access to the Internet from home or are solely dependent on a cell phone for access perform lower on a range of metrics, including digital skills, homework completion, and grade point average. They are also less likely to intend on attending college or university. A deficit in digital skills compounds many of the inequalities in access and contributes to students performing lower on standardized tests such as the SAT, and being less interested in careers related to science, technology, engineering, and math. Thus, students without high-speed broadband access experience disadvantages that have potentially lifelong repercussions.
Interactions of Bacterial Quorum Sensing Signals with Model Lipid Membranes: Influence of Acyl Tail Structure on Multiscale Response

Many common bacteria use amphiphilic N-acyl-L-homoserine lactones (AHLs) as signaling molecules to coordinate group behaviors at high cell densities. Past studies demonstrate that AHLs can adsorb to and promote the remodeling of lipid membranes in ways that could underpin cell-cell or host-cell interactions. Here, we report that changes in AHL acyl tail group length and oxidation state (e.g., the presence or absence of a 3-oxo group) can lead to differences in the interactions of eight naturally occurring AHLs in solution and in contact with model lipid membranes. Our results reveal that the presence of a 3-oxo group impacts remodeling when AHLs are placed in contact with supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) of the phospholipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC). Whereas AHLs that have 3-oxo groups generally promote the formation of microtubules, AHLs that lack 3-oxo groups generally form hemispherical caps on the surfaces of SLBs. These results are interpreted in terms of the time scales on which AHLs translocate across bilayers to relieve asymmetrical bilayer stress. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation measurements also reveal that 3-oxo AHLs associate with DOPC bilayers to a greater extent than their non-3-oxo analogues. In contrast, we observed no monotonic relationship between AHL tail length and bilayer reformation. Finally, we observed that 3-oxo AHLs facilitate greater transport or leakage of molecular cargo across the membranes of DOPC vesicles relative to AHLs without 3-oxo groups, also suggesting increased bilayer disruption and destabilization. These fundamental studies hint at interactions and associated multiscale phenomena that may inform current interpretations of the behaviors of AHLs in biological contexts. These results could also provide guidance useful for the design of new classes of synthetic materials (e.g., sensor elements or drug delivery vehicles) that interact with or respond selectively to communities of bacteria that use 3-oxo AHLs for cell-cell communication.
The therapeutic misconception: not just for patients.

Consider the following 2 scenarios: Scenario 1: The Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research (PCCR) has spent the better part of the last year conducting a HRSA-funded study examining the effectiveness of spinal manipulation and home exercise therapy compared to home exercise alone. As patients respond to fliers or advertisements of any sort, they undergo a computer-aided telephone interview to determine eligibility, and once past that screening effort are brought to the clinic to undergo more extensive screening for eligibility. When asked why they are willing to participate in the research study, in which the consent document informs them that there may be no benefit to them personally save the contribution they make to science, they often state that they are hoping we can help them. Scenario 2: Because the PCCR has received funding via a Center Grant from the National Institutes of Health, the Center will potentially be concurrently running trials in which the main eligibility criterion is the presence of low back pain. Because the 2 studies are staggered, it is possible that patients may be responding to a flier for the original, earlier study. If they are not eligible for that study, it is possible that they may be eligible for the second study, yet Center personnel have had to grapple with the ethics of how patients are to be informed about the second study if they are not eligible for the first. A series of discussions took place that resulted in an answer to the dilemma, and these discussions formed the basis for a master’s thesis project1 by the former PCCR clinic director, who was concurrently enrolled in an MS program in clinical research offered by Palmer College. In the course of the discussions among research faculty, the comment was made by one that he saw no need to do anything more than just let a person know about the project; after all, in his estimation, “all we are doing is trying to help them.” In both cases above, what has happened is an example of the therapeutic misconception. This paper will examine the roots of the misconception, current research and commentary about it, and will address a means to prevent researchers from making the same conceptual error patients have been documented as making.
Implementing Reliable Data Structures for MPI Services in High Component Count Systems

High performance computing systems continue to grow: currently deployed systems exceed 160,000 cores and systems exceeding 1,000,000 cores are planned. Without significant improvements in component reliability, partial system failure modes could become an unacceptably regular occurrence, limiting the usability of advanced computing infrastructures. In this work, we intend to ease the development of survivable systems and applications through the implementation of a reliable key/value data store based on a distributed hash table (DHT). Borrowing from techniques developed for unreliable wide-area systems, we implemented a distributed data service built with MPI [1] that enables user data structures to survive partial system failure. The service is based on a new implementation of the Kademlia [2] distributed hash table.
Managerial investment and changes in GAAP: An internal consequence of external reporting

This paper investigates whether mandatory changes in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) affect managerial investments in physical capital and research and development. Using a sample containing forty–nine changes in GAAP, I find evidence that changes in accounting rules affect investment decisions. I then examine two mechanisms through which changes in GAAP affect investment. First, I show that the process of complying with certain mandatory changes in financial reporting alters managers’ information sets and consequently changes the quality of their investment decisions. Second, I show that managers of firms with financial covenants likely to be affected by changes in GAAP invest more (less) when the change in GAAP increases (decreases) covenant slack. This paper contributes to the literature on the real effects of accounting by showing that accounting rules affect investment decisions and by documenting specific mechanisms through which the relation manifests.
Sex Disparities in Self‐Reported Physical Functioning: True Differences, Reporting Bias, or Incomplete Adjustment for Confounding?

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether sex disparities in self-reported physical functioning remain after adjusting for potential confounding factors and to assess associations for possible reporting bias. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: U.S. population of noninstitutionalized older adults. PARTICIPANTS: Women and men aged 60 and older (N=5,396) who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. MEASUREMENTS: Degree of self-reported limitation in 11 physical functions. RESULTS: In unadjusted models, women reported more limitations than men in 10 of 11 tasks. In multivariate ordinal logistic regression models that included adjustment for age, race or ethnicity, education level, comorbidities, smoking, hemoglobin, serum albumin, knee pain, body mass index, skeletal muscle index, and physical performance tests, women reported more limitations only in lifting or carrying 10 pounds (adjusted odds ratio=2.03, 95% confidence interval=1.45–2.84). There was no evidence of systematic reporting differences between men and women for limitations in lifting or carrying 10 pounds relative to the degree of limitation predicted by the model. CONCLUSION: Older women have similar degrees of self-reported limitation in physical functioning as older men of the same age, health, and physical abilities.
A Half Century of Monte Carlo, from Slide Rule and Mechanical Desk Calculator to the Laptop Supercomputer

Some early examples of Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport, prior to the general availability of automatic electronic computers, are recalled. In particular, some results and details are presented of a gamma ray albedo calculation in the early 1950s by Hayward and Hubbell using mechanical desk calculators (+, -, x, ÷ only), in which 67 trajectories were determined using the RAND book of random numbers, with three random numbers at each collision being used to determine (1) the Compton scatter energy loss (and thus the deflection angle), (2) the azimuthal angle and (3) the path length since the previous collision. Successive angles were compounded in three dimensions using a two-dimensional grid with a rotating arm with a slider on it, the device being dubbed an “Ouija Board”. Survival probabilities along each path segment were determined analytically according to photoelectric absorption exponential attenuation in each of five materials, using a slide rule. For the five substances, H2O, Al, Cu, Sn and Pb, useful number and energy albedo values were obtained for 1 MeV photons incident at 0° (normal), 45° and 80° angles of incidence. Advances in the Monte Carlo method following this and other early-1950s computations, up to the present time with high-speed all-function automatic computers, are briefly reviewed. A brief review of advances in the input cross section data, particularly for photon interactions, over that same period, is included.
Building a Bridge to Connect Patients to Their Homeland at End of Life.

New York City is often referred to as the Dominican Republic's (DR) second largest city due to the enormous numbers of Dominicans who reside here. This influence is seen and felt everywhere, from t...
Breaking TADs: insights into hierarchical genome organization.

The 3D organization of chromosomes enables cells to balance the biophysical constraints of the crowded nucleus with the functional dynamics of gene regulation. Physical contacts between genes and their regulatory elements are essential for proper transcriptional control and maintenance of these interactions is critical for preventing aberrations in physiological processes that could manifest as disease states. The first insights into global nuclear organization came from imaging studies using FISH analyses, which demonstrated that chromosomes occupy individual territories in the nucleus with minimal intermingling between them [1]. The development of chromosome conformation capture (3C) in which chromatin fragments in close physical proximity can be detected enabled the characterization of molecular interactions between different loci [2]. When 3C-based techniques incorporated massive parallel sequencing (such as in Hi-C), the description of molecular chromatin interactions at a genome-wide scale was finally possible [3]. Hi-C was the first unbiased approach aimed at capturing all interactions in the nucleus thereby providing a snapshot of nuclear organization at a global scale. The first Hi-C study revealed that each chromosomal territory is further divided into large domains of 5–10 Mb that physically separate two compartments (A and B), which strongly correlate with active and inactive chromatin, respectively [3]. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that interactions between loci in the same compartment occur at a higher frequency than between loci in different com
Continuing education among special librarians

Members of four divisions of the Special Libraries Association were surveyed to determine whether they participated in continuing education activities, and if so, what types of programmes they preferred. It was found that special librarians participate a great deal in continuing education programmes, they feel these programmes are very relevant to their current positions, and that those which received the most attention were ones dealing with online database searching and those sponsored by the Special Libraries Association.
Dopamine versus Dobutamine: Are All the Facts There?

During the last 5 years we believe that the prescribing of dobutamine has increased over that of the older agent dopamine. The literature reports advantages such as less tachycardia, less peripheral vasoconstriction, and fewer increases in intracardiac pressures with dobutamine as opposed to dopamine. After a thorough review of the literature, we were unable to find conclusive evidence of these initial findings, and present several studies to show potential flaws in their interpretation that may help explain the increased use of dobutamine over dopamine. The overuse of dobutamine, if it does exist, must be dealt with by pharmacy departments in an informed, yet unbiased fashion, to aid in preventing the continued escalation of health care costs.
The configuration of adenosine triphosphate as deduced from rotatory dispersion

Abstract The rotary dispersion of adenine, adenosine, AMP, ADP and ATP have been determined. The data have been interpreted to show that the ATP molecule is folded back upon itself in such a manner that bonding is permitted between the last two phosphate groups and the amino group of adenine. This stabilized structure is then proposed as necessary for the action of ATP. Parallel “ATP-like” action of CTP and UTP and other triphosphonucleotides could be explained by possession of a similar configuration.
Reflections on Documentation: A Discussion With Thought Leaders From Reggio Emilia

This article presents the voices of three central thinkers in the documentation movement in a round-table discussion that explores the key questions regarding the definition of documentation, common misunderstandings of the strategy, lessons that have emerged over decades of documenting in various contexts, and puzzles that are emerging for the future of the practice. The discussion reminds the reader that documentation is not just a teaching tool, but a pedagogical philosophy of knowing and valuing children. Engaging in documentation can challenge one's conceptions of teaching and learning, including what it means to authentically search for meaning, and to rethink notions of public versus private knowledge. Through the interpretation of images and words, documenting can create political and epistemological shifts away from traditional teaching approaches. Schools that are open to becoming a source for change and connection within a community are considered fertile contexts for exploring documentation.
Changes in photosynthetic characteristics during leaf development in apple

A comprehensive developmental survey of leaf area, chlorophyll, photosynthetic rate, leaf resistance, transpiration ratio, CO2 compensation point and photorespiration was conducted in apple. The largest changes in each of the photosynthetic characteristics studied took place during the earliest stages of leaf development, coinciding with the period of greatest leaf expansion and chlorophyll synthesis. During early development, photosynthesis increased 5-fold, reaching a maximum rate of 40 mg CO2 dm-2 hr-1 at a leaf plastochron index (LPI) of 10. During this same period, leaf resistance, transpiration ratio, CO2 compensation point and mesophyll resistance decreased, while carboxylation efficiency increased. Two especially interesting aspects of the data discussed are simultaneous changes that occur at a LPI of 10 and 12 in all of the photosynthetic characteristics examined and an apparent decrease in photorespiration as leaves age. From our results it is clear that stage of leaf development is an important factor affecting the rate of photosynthesis and photorespiration.
Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus upregulates Aurora A expression to promote p53 phosphorylation and ubiquitylation.

Aberrant expression of Aurora A kinase has been frequently implicated in many cancers and contributes to chromosome instability and phosphorylation-mediated ubiquitylation and degradation of p53 for tumorigenesis. Previous studies showed that p53 is degraded by Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) encoded latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) through its SOCS-box (suppressor of cytokine signaling, LANASOCS) motif-mediated recruitment of the EC5S ubiquitin complex. Here we demonstrate that Aurora A transcriptional expression is upregulated by LANA and markedly elevated in both Kaposi's sarcoma tissue and human primary cells infected with KSHV. Moreover, reintroduction of Aurora A dramatically enhances the binding affinity of p53 with LANA and LANASOCS-mediated ubiquitylation of p53 which requires phosphorylation on Ser215 and Ser315. Small hairpin RNA or a dominant negative mutant of Aurora A kinase efficiently disrupts LANA-induced p53 ubiquitylation and degradation, and leads to induction of p53 transcriptional and apoptotic activities. These studies provide new insights into the mechanisms by which LANA can upregulate expression of a cellular oncogene and simultaneously destabilize the activities of the p53 tumor suppressor in KSHV-associated human cancers.
Structures of two N(1)-bound platinum(II)-6-oxopurine complexes. Comparisons with complexes derived from platinum (II) anti-tumor agents.

Abstract The preparation and molecular structure of [(diethylenetriamine) (7,9-dimethylhypoxanthine) platinum(II)] (PF 6 ) 2 ·1.5H 2 O and [(ethylenediamine) (7,9-dimethylhypoxanthine) 2 platinum(II)] (PF 6 ) 2 , are reported. These complexes represent the first structurally characterized N(1)-bound Pt(II) 6-oxopurine complexes. In each case, the Pt(II)N(1) bond length [2.051(6)A in the diethylenetriamine complex and 2.021(8)A in the ethylenediamine complex] indicates a strong metal-to-base binding. Both complexes contain interligand hydrogen bonds, with the ammine ligand acting as the donor and the O(6) atom of the base acting as the acceptor. These N(1)-bound complexes are compared with N(7)-bound 6-oxopurine and N(3)-bound cytosine complexes of Pt(II) anti-tumor agents.
Fabrication of high-fill-factor photonic crystal devices on silicon-on-insulator substrates

Optimization of the photonic bandgap in finite-height photonic crystal (PhC) slab structures requires high-fill-factor lattices. We present a method for fabrication of high-fill-factor PhC devices in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates using electron-beam lithography and high-aspect-ratio reactive-ion etching (RIE). We achieve 8:1 aspect-ratio PhC structures with 60-nm vertical membrane walls using a custom deep reactive-ion etching process in a conventional low-end RIE with patterned resist as the only etch mask. We present examples of various PhC devices fabricated using this method including a high-efficiency coupling structure for PhC waveguides.