cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Novel secretome-to-transcriptome integrated or secreto-transcriptomic approach to reveal liquid biopsy biomarkers for predicting individualized prognosis of breast cancer patients

Presently, a 50-gene expression model (PAM50) serves as a breast cancer (BC) subtype classifier that is insufficient to distinguish, within each single PAM50-classified subtype, patient subpopulations having different prognosis. There is a pressing need for inexpensive and minimally invasive biomarker tests to easily and accurately predict individuals’ clinical outcomes and response to treatments. Although quantitative proteomic approaches have been developed to identify/profile proteins secreted (secretome) from various cancer cell lines in vitro, missing are the clinicopathological relevance and the associated prognostic value of these secretomic identifications. To discover biomarkers to predict individualized prognosis we introduce a new multi-omics (secreto-transcriptomics) method that identifies, in their oncogenically secreted states, candidate markers of BC subtypes whose genes bear patient-specific mRNA expression alterations of prognostic significance. First, we used label-free quantitative (LFQ) proteomics to identify the proteins showing BC-subtypic secretion from a series of BC cell lines representing major BC-subtypes. To determine and externally validate the prognostic value of these secreted proteins, we developed a secreto-transcriptomic approach that discovered a PAM50-subtypic Secretion-Correlated mRNA Expression Pattern (SeCEP) wherein the PAM50-subtypic secretion of select proteins statistically correlated with cis-mRNA expression of their encoding genes in patients of the corresponding PAM50-subtypes. Kaplan-Meier analysis of SeCEP genes was used to identify new liquid biopsy biomarkers for predicting individualized prognosis. The mRNA expression-to-secretion correlation (SeCEP) pinpointed multiple genes that are fully translated into the oncogenically active secretome in a PAM50-subtypic manner. Further, multiple SeCEP genes in distinct combinations or panels of multiple SeCEP genes were identified as ‘systems prognostic markers’ that showed mRNA co-overexpression patterns in the distinct subpopulations of PAM50-subtypic patients with poor prognosis or high-risk of relapse. Thus, our secreto-transcriptomic approach statistically linked BC subtypic secretome genes with patient-specific information about their mRNA expression alterations and significantly improved the sensitivity and specificity in patient stratification in the context of clinical outcomes or prognosis. By combining LFQ secretome screening with proteo-transcriptomic retrospective analysis of patient data our integrated multi-omics approach bypasses costly, tedious, genome-wide fishing and predictive modeling that are commonly required to distinguish a few prognostically altered genes from thousands of other non-BC related genes in a genome.
The denitrification potential of eroding wetlands in Barataria Bay, LA, USA: Implications for river reconnection

Abstract Expressions of eutrophication have led to increased stress on coastal ecosystems around the world. The nitrogen (N) removal potential of coastal wetland ecosystems is important due to increased loading of N to the coast. In Louisiana, there is rapid coastal wetland loss due primarily to the presence of river levees, which have isolated the coastal basins, and a high relative sea level rise. Ecosystem managers are planning to construct the Mid-Barataria sediment diversion which will reconnect the Mississippi River with Barataria Basin to build new wetlands and nourish existing marsh. The sediment diversion will deliver large amounts of nitrate into the surface waters of Barataria Bay. This research sought to quantify the nitrate removal potential of three bay zones; vegetated marsh, submerged peat fringe, and bay-bottom muddy estuarine sediment in intact soil cores incubated with a 2 mg L−1 N-NO3 water column. We noted: i) The areal nitrate reduction rates for the marsh, fringe, and estuary zones were 29.29 ± 3.28, 18.83 ± 1.31, and 10.83 ± 0.62 mg N m−2 day−1, respectively; ii) the majority (~93%) of NO3 was converted to N2O, indicating denitrification was the major NO3 reduction pathway; iii) the submerged, eroded marsh soils (peat fringe zone) will play a large role in nitrate reduction due to increased contact time with the surface water. These findings can inform the predictive numerical models produced and utilized by ecosystem managers to better quantitatively understand how the coastal basin will respond to nutrient loading from river reconnection. In a broader context, the current relative sea level rise in coastal Louisiana is within the range of eustatic sea level rise that most stable coastlines will experience within the next 65–85 years. Therefore, these findings can serve as an example of potential future impacts to coastal wetland systems, globally, within the next century.
Harnessing Collective Intelligence in P2P Lending

Crowd financing is a burgeoning phenomenon that promises to improve access to capital by enabling borrowers with limited financial opportunities to receive small contributions from individual lenders towards unsecured loan requests. Faced with information asymmetry about borrowers' credibility, individual lenders bear the entire loss in case of loan default. Predicting loan payment is therefore crucial for lenders and for the sustainability of these platforms. To this end, we examine whether the ''wisdom'' of the lending crowd can provide reliable decision support with respect to projects' long-term success. Using data from Prosper.com, we investigate the association between the dynamics of lending behaviour and successful loan payment through interpretable classification models. We find evidence for collective intelligence signals in lending behaviour and observe variability in crowd wisdom across loan categories. We find that the wisdom of the lending crowd is most prominent in the auto loan category, but it is statistically significant for all other categories except student debt. Our study contributes new insights on how signals deduced from lending behaviour can improve the efficiency of crowd financing thereby contributing to economic growth and societal development.
Optimal error bounds for partially penalized immersed finite element methods for parabolic interface problems

Abstract In Lin et al. (2015), a group of typical partially penalized immersed finite element (PPIFE) methods were developed for solving interface problems of the parabolic equations, and its authors proved that these PPIFE methods had the optimal O ( h ) convergence rate in an energy norm under a sub-optimal piecewise H 3 regularity assumption. In this article, we report our reanalysis of these PPIFE methods. Our proofs are based on the optimal error bounds recently derived in Guo et al. (2019) for elliptic interface problems, and we are able to show that these PPIFE methods have the optimal convergence not only in an energy norm but also in the usual L 2 norm with the assumption that the exact solution possesses the standard piecewise H 2 regularity instead of the excessive piecewise H 3 regularity in the space variable. Numerical results are also presented to validate the reported error analysis.
Ethical Issues in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Abstract Patients with stage 3–5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) have increased rates of cardiovascular mortality and cognitive impairment and are more likely to die than progress to end-stage renal disease. Because of their distinctly worse prognosis compared with age-matched patients in the general population, treatment of these patients raises ethical issues which require special consideration. These include matters pertaining to informed consent, shared decision-making, advance care planning with the completion of advance directives and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms as appropriate, the “biomedicalization” of aging, conflicts of interest in clinical practice guideline development for patients with CKD, and the ethical responsibility for particularly careful management of patients with CKD. Shared decision-making is the model for advance care planning and emphasizes an individualized patient-centered approach focusing on the patient's goals of care vs. a disease-oriented approach to treatment of CKD patients. Informed consent is especially important for older stage 5 CKD patients with multiple comorbidities because they may not benefit from dialysis. The “biomedicalization” of aging as it relates to the use of dialysis in older Americans is a key concern. Palliative care is appropriate for CKD patients with a poor prognosis and for whom the nephrologist would not be surprised if the patient died in the next year. Palliative care should be instituted early in their course so that they experience an optimal quality of life.
Bariatric Endoscopic Procedures: Space-Occupying Devices

Intragastric space-occupying devices represent a minimally invasive approach to managing obesity in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30–40 kg/m2. They may also be a viable alternative for managing patients who fall in this BMI range who otherwise meet criteria for bariatric surgery but are deemed nonsurgical candidates. There are four devices currently approved for use in the United States, and at least four other devices are being investigated. This chapter reviews the indications, efficacy, safety, and side effect profile of these devices.
Computers as Tools

Knowledge and tools have transformed human life. In industrial societies a small percentage of people can produce enough food for everyone. Automobiles, railroads, airplanes and their associated infrastructure enable easy and quick transportation anywhere. Telephones and email enable easy communication with anyone. Television, radio and the World Wide Web provide quick access to information about important and trivial events everywhere. Household machines and the food distribution network have greatly reduced the amount of time devoted to cleaning and food preparation. Medicine has greatly reduced the risk from a wide variety of diseases, and increased the average human life span.
Revisiting Intergenerational Contact and Relationship Quality in Later Life: Parental Characteristics Matter:

Contact and relationship quality between adult children and aging parents are two widely used indicators of intergenerational solidarity and are often assumed to be positively correlated. However, the association between the two may depend on characteristics of the parent involved. Using Family Exchanges Study Wave 1, this study assessed whether parental difficulties-measured as functional limitations and life problems-and gender moderated the associations between middle-aged adults' contact and relationship quality with their parents. We found that more frequent email or phone contact was associated with worse relationship quality for fathers who had functional limitations. For life problems, however, more contact was not related to relationship quality for fathers with life problems. The associations did not differ by mother's difficulties. These results suggest that frequent contact between middle-aged adult children and aging parents does not uniformly reflect better relationship quality but rather depends on parents' characteristics.
On some neural network architectures that can represent viscosity solutions of certain high dimensional Hamilton–Jacobi partial differential equations

Abstract We propose novel connections between several neural network architectures and viscosity solutions of some Hamilton–Jacobi (HJ) partial differential equations (PDEs) whose Hamiltonian is convex and only depends on the spatial gradient of the solution. To be specific, we prove that under certain assumptions, the two neural network architectures we proposed represent viscosity solutions to two sets of HJ PDEs with zero error. We also implement our proposed neural network architectures using Tensorflow and provide several examples and illustrations. Note that these neural network representations can avoid curve of dimensionality for certain HJ PDEs, since they do not involve neither grids nor discretization. Our results suggest that efficient dedicated hardware implementation for neural networks can be leveraged to evaluate viscosity solutions of certain HJ PDEs.
Global health training during neonatal fellowship: fellow and program director perspectives.

This study explored the availability and perception of Global Health (GH) training opportunities in US-based Neonatal–Perinatal Medicine (NPM) fellowship programs. Electronic surveys, containing discrete choice and open-ended questions, were distributed to current and recent fellows and to Program Directors (PDs). Fifty-eight PDs and ninety-eight fellows completed the survey. Fellows reported declining GH participation from 48% in medical school to 21% in fellowship. Among the 42% of fellows reporting GH opportunities at their programs, 30% personally participated. Fewer than 30% of these programs offer structured classroom or online learning; 10% offer research opportunities. 72% of fellows stated that GH availability is moderately to extremely important, compared with 58% of PDs. PDs cited cost, scheduling, mentorship, and lack of suitable global partners as barriers to supporting fellows in GH. NPM fellows place high importance on GH opportunities during fellowship, but only a minority engage in GH work.
Evolution: Speciation by Migratory Drop-Off in Flycatchers

Summary Identifying the isolating barriers that lead to species formation is challenging. New genomic, phylogenetic and life-history data in Tyrant flycatchers — the largest bird family — suggest long-distance migration contributes to reproductive isolation among closely related forms and to differential diversification across the family.
Most Influential Physicochemical and In Vitro Assay Descriptors for Hepatotoxicity and Nephrotoxicity Prediction.

Drug-induced organ injury is a major reason for drug candidate attrition in preclinical and clinical drug development. The liver, kidney, and heart have been recognized as the most common organ sys...
Role of Prophylactic Cholecystectomy After Endoscopic Sphincterotomy for Biliary Stone Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to perform a structured systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and complication rate of cholecystectomy deferral versus prophylactic cholecystectomy among patients post-endoscopic biliary sphincterotomy for common bile duct stones. BACKGROUND Although previous reports suggest a decreased risk of biliary complications with prophylactic cholecystectomy, biliary endoscopic cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with sphincterotomy may provide a role for deferring cholecystectomy with the gallbladder left in situ. METHODS Searches of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were performed through August 2019 in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. Measured outcomes included: mortality, recurrent biliary pain or cholecystitis, pancreatitis, cholangitis, and eventual need for cholecystectomy. Random effects models were used to determine pooled effect size and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS Nine studies (n = 1605) were included. A total of 53.8% (n = 864) patients had deferred cholecystectomy post-sphincterotomy. Deferral cholecystectomy as compared to prophylactic cholecystectomy resulted in a significant increased risk of mortality [odds raio (OR) 2.56 (95% confidence interval, CI 1.54-4.23); P < 0.0001; I2 = 18.49]. Patients who did not undergo prophylactic cholecystectomy developed more recurrent biliary pain or cholecystitis [OR 5.10 (95% CI 3.39-7.67); P < 0.0001; I2 = 0.00]. Rate of pancreatitis [OR 3.11 (95% CI 0.99-9.83); P = 0.053; I2 = 0.00] and cholangitis [OR 1.49 (95% CI 0.74-2.98); P = 0.264; I2 = 0.00] was unaffected. Overall, 26.00% (95% CI 14.00-40.00) of patients with deferred prophylactic cholecystectomy required eventual cholecystectomy. CONCLUSIONS Prophylactic cholecystectomy remains the preferred strategy compared to a deferral approach with gallbladder in situ post-sphincterotomy for patients with bile duct stones. Future studies may highlight a subset of patients (ie, those with large balloon biliary dilation) that may not require cholecystectomy.
From Birth and Throughout Life: Fungal Microbiota in Nutrition and Metabolic Health.

The human gastrointestinal tract is home to a vibrant, diverse ecosystem of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms. The gut fungi (mycobiota) have recently risen to prominence due to their abili...
Use of Point-of-care Ultrasound for the Seizing Infant: An Adjunct for Detection of Abusive Head Trauma.

Author(s): Rowland, Jonathan; Fouchia, Dean; Favot, Mark | Abstract: Case Presentation: An eight-week-old infant presented to the emergency department in cardiac arrest. Return of spontaneous circulation was obtained and the patient subsequently began seizing. Point-of-care ultrasound of the anterior fontanelle revealed an extra-axial fluid collection consistent with subdural hematoma (SDH).Discussion: Abusive head trauma is still frequently missed on initial presentation. In addition to validated screening clinical prediction rules, point-of-care cranial ultrasound can be used as a noninvasive adjunct for detection of SDH related to abusive head trauma in infants with an open fontanelle.
Activation of NRF2 by topical apocarotenoid treatment mitigates radiation-induced dermatitis

Radiation therapy is a frontline treatment option for cancer patients; however, the effects of radiotherapy on non-tumor tissue (e.g. radiation-induced dermatitis) often worsen patient quality of life. Previous studies have implicated the importance of redox balance in preventing dermatitis, specifically in reference to modulation of the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) signaling pathway. Due to the cytoprotective functions of transcriptional target genes of NRF2, we investigated how modulation of NRF2 expression could affect DNA damage, oxidative stress, and cell viability in response to radiotherapy. Specifically, it was noted that NRF2 knockdown sensitized human skin keratinocytes to ionizing radiation; likewise, genetic ablation of NRF2 in vivo increased radiosensitivity of murine epidermis. Oppositely, pharmacological induction of NRF2 via the apocarotenoid bixin lowered markers of DNA damage and oxidative stress, while preserving viability in irradiated keratinocytes. Mechanistic studies indicated that topical pretreatment using bixin as an NRF2 activator antagonized initial DNA damage by raising cellular glutathione levels. Additionally, topical application of bixin prevented radiation-induced dermatitis, epidermal thickening, and oxidative stress in the skin of SKH1 mice. Overall, these data indicate that NRF2 is critical for mitigating the harmful skin toxicities associated with ionizing radiation, and that topical upregulation of NRF2 via bixin could prevent radiation-induced dermatitis.
Towards Automated Emotion Classification of Atypically and Typically Developing Infants

The World Health Organization estimates that 15 million infants are born preterm every year [1]. This is of concern because these infants have a significant chance of having neuromotor or cognitive developmental delays due to cerebral palsy or other developmental issues [2]. Our long-term goal is to determine the roles emotion and movement play in the diagnosis of atypical infants. In this paper, we examine how automated emotion assessment may have potential to classify typically and atypically developing infants. We compare a custom supervised machine learning algorithm that utilizes individual and grouped facial features for infant emotion classification with a state-of-the-art neural network. Our results show that only three concavity features are needed for the concavity algorithm, and the custom algorithm performed with relatively similar performance to the neural network. Automatic sentiment labels used in tandem with infant movement kinematics would be further investigated to determine if emotion and movement are interdependent and predictive of an infant’s neurodevelopmental delay in disorders such as cerebral palsy.
Natural Gas in the Process of Eurasian Integration

From the construction of LNG terminals in the Baltic Sea to the development of pipeline networks across Central Asia, the former Soviet Union remains a dynamic space for the production, transit, and delivery of energy. At the core of this space lays the Russian Federation, a country whose vast resources and energy supplies have evolved from a commodity of trade and commerce to a tool for influence and political gain in the surrounding region. As the latest Russian-led regional integration project takes shape, a curious detail is visible—the development of a common market for natural gas is explicitly outlined in the founding treaty of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). This chapter explores what role the creation of a common natural gas market plays in the process of Eurasian integration, how this compares to similar energy integration efforts in the European Union, and what these developments mean for the smallest member of the EAEU, Armenia.
Clinical predictors of poor 30-day headache outcomes after an emergency department visit for acute post-traumatic headache.

Abstract Purpose We investigated clinical risk factors that predict poor 30-day headache outcomes among patients evaluated in the emergency department (ED) for post-traumatic headache (PTH). Methods This was an analysis of data from a randomized, placebo-controlled study of IV metoclopramide + diphenhydramine for acute PTH. Patients were enrolled during an ED visit and received telephone follow-up with a structured questionnaire 30 days later. The primary outcome was frequency of headaches 30 days after ED discharge. We used multivariable logistic regression models to determine which clinical variables were associated with frequent headaches at 30 days. Results In total, 160 patients were enrolled in the study. 134 (84%) patients completed the 30-day questionnaire and were included in the analysis, including 90 females and 44 males. 30 patients (22%, 95% CI = 0.16 to 0.30) reported frequent headaches at 30-day follow-up. In the multivariable analysis, female sex (OR = 4.03, 95% CI = 1.23±13.13), patients who blamed themselves for their injury (OR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.04±0.45), and patients who were unsure if they sustained loss of consciousness during the traumatic incident (OR = 5.63, 95% CI = 1.89±16.78) were found to be associated with poor 30-day outcomes. Medication received in the ED and age were not associated. Conclusions More than 1 out of five patients treated in the ED for acute PTH experienced frequent headaches 30 days later. Women and patients who were uncertain as to whether they had experienced loss of consciousness were at increased risk of frequent PTH. Blaming oneself for the head trauma was associated with less frequent PTH.
Clinician and Consumer Perspectives on Gender-Affirming Voice Services.

Summary Introduction A significant portion of the transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive community experiences gender-related voice issues. However, barriers exist to accessing gender-affirming voice care, and most existing voice research does not include the gender-nonbinary population. Our study aimed to examine transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive consumer/potential consumer (hereafter referred to as consumer) engagement and compare/contrast consumer and speech-language pathologist perspectives on gender-affirming voice services. A secondary aim was to assess possible voice impairments in transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive individuals. Methods Two surveys were distributed via listservs for SLPs and flyers and social media posts for consumers. Surveys included items regarding experience with and accessibility of gender-affirming voice services and clinician competence. Consumers and clinicians answered the same questions from their respective positions. Consumers additionally completed the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10). Results Forty-eight consumer and 54 clinician responses were collected. Twenty (41.7%) consumers were trans women, 15 (31.2%) were trans men, 12 (25%) were gender-nonbinary, and one (2.1%) was gender fluid. VHI-10 responses were in the abnormal range for 61.4% of consumers, and 68.8% indicated desire to receive gender-affirming voice services, including 58.3% of gender-nonbinary respondents. However, only 6.25% of consumers considered themselves as having a voice disorder and 29.2% reported that their voice impairs communication. In contrast, 24.1% of clinicians felt consumers seeking gender-affirming voice services have a voice disorder and 51.2% felt they have an impaired communication ability. Consumers indicated positive perceptions of voice services/providers but reported a variety of barriers to access. SLPs indicated mixed confidence in accessibility of services. Both groups perceived an affordability barrier. Conclusions This study demonstrates the desire and need for gender-affirming voice services and is the first to our knowledge to explicitly include gender-nonbinary individuals’ perspectives on them. Understanding how consumer and clinician perspectives differ can help focus provider efforts in improving experiences with, access to, and visibility of gender-affirming voice services.
Epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma with VCL-ALK fusion of central nervous system: case report and brief review of the literature

Epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcomas are an aggressive variant of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor described primarily in the abdomen and less commonly in pulmonary location. The anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion partners described in this tumor include RANB2, RRBP1 and EML4. While rare examples of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors have been described in the central nervous system, the epithelioid variant has never been described. The ALK-VCL fusion has been described in renal cell carcinoma, high-grade glioma and epithelioid fibrous histiocytoma but has not been described in epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma or even inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. Herein, we report the first case of epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma in the central nervous system as well as the first case with VCL as the fusion partner for ALK.
Management of the Patient at High Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death

Can one protect the subject at high risk for sudden cardiac death? To be able to answer this question requires identification of the specific pathologic derangement contributing to the sudden fatality. However, in most victims of sudden cardiac death (SCD) no acute lesions are demonstrable. Autopsy studies document severe occlusive atherosclerotic disease of major epicardial coronary arteries.1,2 But acute arterial events such as thrombosis of diseased vessels, hemorrhage into a plaque, fracture of atherosclerotic lesion are observed in a minority of cases.3 Even if coronary occlusion is not demonstrable, this does not preclude the occurrence of myocardial infarction. But even with sensitive stains, a majority of patients dying suddenly exhibit no evidence of myocardial infarction. Reichenback and coworkers4 noted such findings in only 5% of sudden death victims.
Analysis of the Set of Trajectories of Fuzzy Equations of Perturbed Motion

The paper presents a new approach to the investigation of the first-order fuzzy initial-value problems. We use different versions of the comparison principle to establish conditions for the existence of solutions of a set of differential equations.
Optical Measurements of Diffusivities in Incommensurate Barium Sodium Niobate

Three different optical techniques have been used for measuring diffusivities in Ba2NaNb5O15: The original method of Burkhart and Rice (1977) yielded a2 thermal diffusivity of 0.02 cm2/s at 373K in the quasi-commensurate phase; dynamic central mode measurements of Oliver et al. (1988, 1989) yield a value 20x larger near 565K, at the hypothesized lq-2q transition in the middle of the incommensurate phase from 54 3-582K; and two quite different dif fusivities are measured at 855K=TC -a thermal diffusivity of 0.03 cm2/s from a new thermal lens effect recently discovered (Scott et al., 1989), and a much larger value of 1.2 cm2/s from dynamic central mode light scattering. This shows that at both TC and TI at least two separate diffusion processes occur; the light scattering studies are sensitive to the faster process, which at 565K may be related to the roughening transition of anti-phase boundaries originally predicted by Rice, Whitehouse and Littlewood (1981).
A power stage optimization method for monolithic DC-DC converters

This paper presents a detailed power loss model for a monolithic buck converter power stage in a standard CMOS process. The loss model includes power dissipation in the drivers, as well as conduction and switching losses in the power MOSFET devices. For a given set of operating conditions, the power loss model allows optimum selection of the design parameters: the gate-drive tapering factor, the gate-drive voltage swings, and the widths of the power MOSFET devices. As an example, modeling and optimization results are described for a 2-to-1 V, 200 mA converter in a standard 0.35μ CMOS process, with switching frequencies in the range from 1 MHz to 10 MHz. The modeling and optimization results are validated by detailed circuit simulations.
Mortgage Loan Market Segmentation and Lender Pricing Behavior

This study examines the ability of financial institutions to vary rates of return on mortgages by segmenting mortgage loan markets. The research indicates that product differentials do exist among ...
Women, Gender, Feminism: Marginalization at the Inception of the World Social Forum

The World Social Forum (WSF) is a biannualmeeting space for the globaljustice movement that facilitates the coordination of worldwide events andprotests around a variety of social justice issues. I argue that although theprinciples of the WSF are based on feminist methods of participation, theresearch presented here demonstrates that women, gender, and feminism weremarginalized in the program and content at the forum’s inception. Empiricallythe paper presents the structure of programming and a quantitative examinationof women’s and feminist groups’ participation of the first years of the WSFprocess. I consider the thematic development of the WSF and role ofinformation sharing and intersectionality as feminist principles wereincorporated into the WSF. I refer to various theoretical perspectives on genderincluding feminist political economy, postcolonialism,and queer theory tomake sense of feminist participation and marginalization at the World SocialForum.
Trading off resources between overlapping overlays

Many different overlays with different properties have been proposed. Rather than using one overlay for all applications, it is likely that multiple overlapping overlays will be deployed on the same computing resources for different purposes. We present an architecture, called ODIN-S, for mediating the resources used by overlapping overlays. We can specify priorities for different overlays, and then allow ODIN-S to allocate computation and bandwidth across the network to respect priorities. The key features of ODIN-S include a common middleware runtime supporting multiple overlay logics, and "filters" for throttling, ordering and dropping messages in order to manage resources. We present experimental results that demonstrate ODIN-S's ability to manage resources between different types of overlapping overlays.
‘Can’ and the Consequence Argument

The consequence argument is a powerful incompatibilist argument for the conclusion that, if determinism is true, what one does is what one must do. A major point of controversy between classical compatibilists and incompatibilists has been over the use of ‘can’ in the consequence argument. Classical compatibilists, holding that abilities to act are dispositions, have argued that ‘can’ should be analyzed as a conditional. But such an analysis of ‘can’ puts compatibilists in a position to grant the premises of the argument while denying the conclusion. Incompatibilists remain unconvinced, and this corner of the debate over free will has reached a dialectical impasse. The present paper has two aims. First, to offer a new dialectical point of entry into this dispute on behalf of incompatibilists. By making use of Angelika Kratzer's influential semantic work on ‘can’ and ‘must’, I argue that incompatibilists are in a position to offer a plausible, positive treatment of ‘can’ that favors their view. Second, even if one does not think incompatibilism is thereby true (for as we shall see there are places to push back), the Kratzer semantics yields a number of important insights concerning the consequence argument that should be of broad interest.
Learning textual graph patterns to detect causal event relations

This paper presents a novel method for discovering causal relations between events encoded in text. In order to determine if two events from the same sentence are in a causal relation or not, we first build a graph representation of the sentence that encodes lexical, syntactic, and semantic information. In a second step, we automatically extract multiple graph patterns (or subgraphs) from such graph representations and sort them according to their relevance in determining the causality between two events from the same sentence. Finally, in order to decide if these events are causal or not, we train a binary classifier based on what graph patterns can be mapped to the graph representation associated with the two events. Our experimental results show that capturing the feature dependencies of causal event relations using a graph representation significantly outperforms an existing method that uses a flat representation of features.
Side-to-side axial movements

Aim. To study new semiological signs which help distinguish between primary and secondarily generalised tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS). Methods. We retrospectively studied 86 GTCS, 13 primary and 73 secondary, in 58 patients who underwent video-EEG (vEEG) evaluation in our epilepsy monitoring unit. Eleven patients had generalised epilepsy and 47 focal epilepsy. Two expert epileptologists, blinded to diagnosis, examined the vEEGs independently for the presence of five semiological signs. Results. Asymmetry of limb movements in clonic phase, side-to-side axial movements, and asymmetric seizure termination occurred more frequently (p<0.05) in secondary GTCS compared to primary GTCS. Combining asymmetry of limb movements in clonic phase and side-to-side axial movements provided the greatest value in differentiating secondary GTCS from primary GTCS. Conclusion. Careful examination of GTCS seizure semiology can help differentiate primary from secondary GTCS. The semiological sign of side-to-side axial movements, which has not previously been studied in this context, may add to existing literature of semiological signs and be of value for the evaluation of surgical patients in the epilepsy monitoring unit. In the out-patient setting, a clear history of these signs may help guide drug treatment choices. [Published with video sequences].
Characterization of an in vitro-stimulated, Cryptococcus neoformans-specific second-order suppressor T cell and its precursor.

Abstract Using a cryptococcal culture filtrate antigen (CneF) in a murine model, we have demonstrated previously that a cascade of Cryptococcus neoformans-specific suppressor T cells and soluble factors function in suppressing the cryptococcal delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response. In addition, we have successfully hybridized the C. neoformans-specific, first-order T-suppressor (Ts1) cell and have established that the culture supernatant (hTsF1) from this hybridoma induces second-order T-suppressor (Ts2) cells in vivo. Here we report the in vitro induction of expression-phase suppressor cells. The suppressor cells were induced by culturing nylon wool-nonadherent splenic cells from naive mice with hTsF1 in the absence of CneF. Nylon wool-nonadherent splenic cells similarly cultured with supernatants from the BW5147 thymoma cells, the fusion partners of the hybridoma, did not significantly suppress the cryptococcal DTH response. The suppressor cells were designated Ts2 cells based on their similarities in function, specificity, and phenotype, i.e. L3T4-, Lyt-2+, and I-J+, to the in vivo-induced Ts2 cells. By employing the in vitro culture technique, we demonstrated that the precursors of the functional Ts2 cells were L3T4- Lyt-1-2+ I-J- cells. The induction of Ts2 cells was not associated with [3H]thymidine incorporation; therefore, we concluded that hTsF1 induces the Lyt-2+ I-J- cells to differentiate into Lyt-2+ I-J+ functional Ts2 cells without a significant amount of proliferation. From the results of this study, a better understanding of the processes involved in the regulation of the DTH response to CneF was achieved. The in vitro culture technique will allow for further detailed studies of the interactions between the various cell populations and the Ts1 cell-derived soluble factor during the induction of Ts2 cells.
Protein tyrosine kinase activity and its substrates in rat intestinal microvillus membranes

Abstract Tyrosine phosphorylation has recently been recognized as a unique system involved in the regulation of cellular growth and differentiation. The role of tyrosine kinase activity in regulating intestinal proliferation has received little attention. The aim of this study was to document the presence of tyrosine kinase activity in intestinal microvillus membranes and to characterize the major endogenous tyrosine kinase substrates in microvillus membranes. Microvillus membranes, prepared from 21-day gestation fetal and adult CD rats by the calcium precipitation method, were solubilized in 0.1% Triton X-100 and incubated with [ 32 P]adenosine triphosphate and (Glu 80 Tyr 20 ) n , which is a heterogeneous population of synthetic peptides containing glutamate and tyrosine. Fetal, and to a lesser extent adult, microvillus membranes were shown to phosphorylate (Glu 80 Tyr 20 ) n assayed by trichloroacetic acid-precipitable 32 P incorporation as well as autoradiography of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Preliminary identification of the endogenous substrates of microvillus membrane tyrosine kinase activity was determined by three techniques. First, phosphorylated microvillus membrane proteins were solubilized in sodium dodecyl sulfate and separated on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the resultant gel was incubated in 1 mol/L KOH at 55 °C to selectively retain phosphotyrosine proteins. The patterns of tyrosine phosphorylation were dissimiliar in fetal and adult microvillus membranes; specifically, two major bands, 80 and 190 kilodaltons, were present in fetal microvillus membranes and were not prominent in adult microvillus membranes. These proteins were both phosphorylated on tyrosine residues as determined by phosphoamino acid analysis. Second, a specific antiphosphotyrosine monoclonal antibody was used to immunoprecipitate phosphotyrosine proteins from solubilized phosphorylated microvillus membranes. This antibody specifically immunoprecipitated proteins of molecular weights 36 and 68 from fetal and 33, 54, and 68 from adult microvillus membranes. Third, using a polyclonal antiphosphotyrosine antibody, Western blot analysis showed that the 68-kilodalton protein is the most abundant phosphotyrosine protein in fetal and adult microvillus membranes. These data will focus new investigations into the cellular mechanisms of the regulation of intestinal growth, particularly the role of luminal factors that may modulate microvillus membrane tyrosine kinase, and thus modulate enterocyte proliferation, differentiation, and function.
Book Review: Developments in Direct Payments

Authors: Janet Lee & Joanna Bornat, Eds. Reviewer: Kevin Dierks Publisher: Bristol, UK: The Policy Press, 2006 Cloth, ISBN – 10-1-86134-654-9, 320 pages Paper, ISBN – 13-978-1-86134-654-4, 320 pages Cost: Cloth - $85.00 USD, Paper - $39.29 USD
After the P3: Late executive processes in stimulus categorization

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that dual systems of stimulus evaluation for categorization can be observed in event-related potentials: one whose duration is indexed by the latency of the P3 component, and a second evident in a later frontal potential. Subjects categorized artificial animals by a "two out of three" rule. Stimuli with two visual features of their own category and one feature of a different category (i.e., near the boundary between categories) elicited very prolonged reaction times as compared to stimuli with three features from a single category. This response time (RT) delay was not accompanied by a delayed P3, suggesting that the P3 indexed only a first pass of stimulus evaluation. The near-boundary stimuli elicited more positive potentials than far-boundary stimuli at prefrontal and frontotemporal sites, suggesting that a secondary stage of stimulus evaluation was triggered when detection of single features or simple conjunctions was insufficient to support a correct decision. The frontal potential that was sensitive to categorization difficulty was of opposite polarity to frontal potentials previously observed in manipulations of working memory. The roles of frontal executive processes in categorization and memory tasks are discussed.
Microburst Wind Structure and Evaluation of Doppler Radar for Airport Wind Shear Detection

The horizontal and vertical structure of airflow within microbursts has been determined using Doppler weather radar data from the Joint Airport Weather Studies (JAWS) Project. It is shown that the downdraft typically associated with microbursts is about 1 km wide and begins to spread horizontally at a height below 1 km. The median time from initial divergence at the surface to maximum differential wind velocity across the microburst is five minutes. The height of maximum differential velocity is about 75 m, and the median velocity differential is 22 m/s over an average distance of 3.1 km. The outflow of the air is asymmetric, averaging twice as strong along the maximum axis compared to the mininum axis. Some technical requirements for a radar system to detect microbursts and to provide aircraft with early warnings of the onset of windshear are identified.
Spatial heterodyne spectrometer: modeling and interferogram processing for calibrated spectral radiance measurements

This work presents a radiometric model of a spatial heterodyne spectrometer (SHS) and a corresponding interferogram-processing algorithm for the calculation of calibrated spectral radiance measurements. The SHS relies on Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FTS) principles, and shares design similarities with the Michelson Interferometer. The advantages of the SHS design, including the lack of moving parts, high throughput, and instantaneous spectral measurements, make it suitable as a eld-deployable instrument. Operating in the long-wave infrared (LWIR), the imaging SHS design example included provides the capability of performing chemical detection based on re ectance and emissivity properties of surfaces of organic compounds. This LWIR SHS model outputs realistic, interferometric data and serves as a tool to nd optimal SHS design parameters for desired performance requirements and system application. It also assists in the data analysis and system characterization. The interferogram-processing algorithm performs at- elding and phase corrections as well as apodization before recovering the measured spectral radiance from the recorded interferogram via the Inverse Fourier Transform (IFT). The model and processing algorithm demonstrate results comparable to those in the literature with a noise-equivalent change in temperature of 0.35K. Additional experiments show the algorithm's real-time processing capability, indicating the LWIR SHS system presented is feasible.
Biliary elimination of oral 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and its metabolites in male and female sprague-dawley rats, B6C3F1 mice, and Syrian hamsters

Abstract The role of biliary elimination in the metabolic disposition of 2,4-D was evaluated in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats, B6C3F1 mice, and Syrian hamsters. Following cannulation of the bile duct, an intragastric (ig) dose of 2,4-D (200 mg/kg) was administered and bile was collected at 30- or 60-min intervals for up to 6 h. Bile flow rates were constant in rats, increased in mice, and decreased in hamsters throughout the collection periods. Total recovery of radioactivity was greatest in male mice (about 7% of administered dose over 4 h). Female mice and rats of both sexes excreted about 3% over the same interval and male and female hamsters about 1%. About 71–88% of the activity in bile was parent compound. The glycine conjugate of 2,4-D was found in bile from mice, rats, and hamsters and the taurine conjugate in bile from mice. The only sex-dependent difference in the metabolite profile was in mice. Male mice excreted twice as much glycine conjugate as female mice. An additional minor metaboli...
Evaluation of the hydro-meteorological chain in Piemonte Region, north western Italy - analysis of two HYDROPTIMET test cases

Abstract. The HYDROPTIMET Project, Interreg IIIB EU program, is developed in the framework of the prediction and prevention of natural hazards related to severe hydro-meteorological events and aims to the optimisation of Hydro-Meteorological warning systems by the experimentation of new tools (such as numerical models) to be used operationally for risk assessment. The object of the research are the Mesoscale weather phenomena and the response of watersheds with size ranging from 10 2 to 10 3 km 2 . Non-hydrostatic meteorological models are used to catch such phenomena at a regional level focusing on the Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (QPF). Furthermore hydrological Quantitative Discharge Forecast (QDF) are performed by the simulation of run-off generation and flood propagation in the main rivers of the interested territory. In this way observed data and QPF are used, in a real-time configuration, for one-way forcing of the hydrological model that works operationally connected to the Piemonte Region Alert System. The main hydro-meteorological events that interested Piemonte Region in the last years are studied, these are the HYDROPTIMET selected test cases of 14-18 November 2002 and 23-26 November 2002. The results obtained in terms of QPF and QDF offer a sound basis to evaluate the sensitivity of the whole hydro-meteorological chain to the uncertainties in the numerical simulations. Different configurations of non-hydrostatic meteorological models are also analysed.