cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Avoiding cumulative trauma disorders in shops and offices.

Cumulative trauma disorders have been medically described for about 100 yr and have been related to physical activities for nearly 300 yr. Yet, avoiding these disorders in the shop and office is becoming of urgent concern only now, particularly because of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) investigation and enforcement program. Such disorders occur most often in soft tissues of the body, particularly at tendons and their sheaths. They may irritate or damage nerves and impede blood flow. They are frequent in the hand/wrist/forearm area; for example, in the carpal tunnel and in the shoulder and neck. Although controversy exists, occupational and leisure activities are generally believed to cause or aggravate cumulative trauma disorders. The major activity-related factors are rapid repetitive movements, forceful movements, static muscle loading, inappropriate body postures, vibrations, and cold. Yet, the quantitative thresholds above which cumulative trauma disorders are expected to...
Compliance, elastic modulus, and burst pressure of small-intestine submucosa (SIS), small-diameter vascular grafts.

Small-intestine submucosa (SIS) is cell-free collagen, 100 mu thick, derived from the small intestine. It has been used as a vascular graft and has the highly desirable property of remodeling itself to become host tissue. To date there has been limited reporting on its preimplantation mechanical properties as a vascular graft. In this study, compliance, elastic modulus, and burst pressure have been measured on 5- and 8-mm SIS grafts. The compliance (percent of diameter increase for a pressure rise from 80 to 120 mmHg) was 4.6% av (range 2.9 to 8.6%) for the 5-mm grafts. For the 8-mm graft, the increase in diameter for the same pressure rise was 8.7% av (range 7.2 to 9.5%). The modulus of elasticity (E) increased exponentially with increasing pressure according to E = E(o)e(alphaP), where Eo is the zero-pressure modulus and alpha is the exponent that describes the rate of increase in E with pressure; the units for E, Eo, and P are g/cm2. The mean value for Eo was 4106 (g/cm2 range 1348-5601). The mean value for alpha was 0.0059 (range 0.0028-0.0125). At 100 mmHg, the mean value for E was 8.91 x 10(3) g/cm2 (range 1.02-8.80 x 10(3)). The mean burst pressure for 5.5-mm grafts was 3517 mm Hg (range 2069-4654). In terms of preimplant compliance, the small-diameter SIS graft is about (1/2) as compliant as the dog carotid artery, about four times more compliant than a typical vein graft, and more than an order of magnitude more compliant than synthetic vascular grafts.
Strategies to decrease future electricity loads in institutional buildings

As part of the University of Michigan's lighting research program, a variety of building characteristics and electric consumption patterns were documented. This information was combined with field and laboratory test results for alternative lighting design and control strategies. The results of these alternative comparisons were applied toward University guidelines and recommendations for energy management and lighting system retrofit. The authors discuss the most significant aspects of the data collection and implementation phases as well as the results of the investigation of alternative design solutions. >
Cost-efficient routing with controlled node mobility in sensor networks

In this paper, an energy-efficient strategy is proposed for tracking a moving target in a mobile sensor network. The energy expenditure of the sensors in the network is assumed to be due to communication, sensing and movement. First, the target area is divided into a grid of sufficiently small rectangular cells in order to search for near optimal locations for the sensors in different time instants. The grid is then converted to a graph with properly weighted edges. A shortest-path algorithm is subsequently used to route information from target to destination by a subset of sensors.
Teaching NeuroImages: Autosomal dominant leukodystrophy in a sporadic case

A 50-year-old man with a 5-year history of progressive genitourinary dysautonomia noticed recent leg stiffness. Neurologic examination showed mild spastic paraparesis. MRI showed an unusual pattern of white matter changes in the brain and spinal cord atrophy (figure). Electroneurography, CSF, and blood/urine metabolic studies had normal results. Despite a negative family history, the patient's features were suggestive of autosomal dominant leukodystrophy (ADLD, MIM #169500).1 Molecular testing confirmed this diagnosis, documenting a duplication in LMNB1, coding for lamin B1.2
Assessing the Productivity of Information Technology Equipment in U.S. Manufacturing Industries

In this paper we report results of an empirical assessment of the cost reducing impacts of recent dramatic increases in stocks of "high-tech" office and information technology equipment (0) using annual data from various two digit US manufacturing industries over the 1952-1986 time period. While there are exceptions, on balance we find that in 1986, estimated marginal benefits of investments in this 0 equipment are less than marginal costs, implying over investment in 0 capital in 1986. The sign of the estimated elasticity of demand for labor with respect to changes in the stock of 0 capital is evenly divided in the fourteen industries, but whether positive or negative, in all industries this elasticity increases in absolute magnitude over time, indicating ever greater impacts of 0 capital on the demand for aggregate labor. Finally, our estimates of the elasticity of technical progress with respect to 0-capital are very small in magnitude implying that increases in o capital have only a small impact on technical progress.
NIMS-AQ: A novel system for autonomous sensing of aquatic environments

As concern for water resource availability increases, so does the need for intelligent aquatic sensing applications. The requirements, and complexity of such applications has also increased due to demands for: 1) broad spatial coverage and high spatial resolution monitoring, 2) capability for resolving fine scale spatiotemporal dynamics and 3) the need for rapid system deployment with semi-autonomous operation. With these criteria in mind, we present the Aquatic Networked InfoMechanical System (NIMS-AQ). NIMS-AQ was developed based on experience gained from engineering research and collaboration with aquatic scientists and environmental engineers during several in-field measurement campaigns [1], [2], [3]. In this paper we demonstrate the effectiveness of NIMS- AQ through two experimental sensing campaigns encompassing both river and lake environments. Each campaign is centered around critical water resource monitoring objectives such as temperature, flow and contaminant levels. Experimental results for autonomous depth profiling using a submersible sonar system as well as adaptive sampling algorithms guided by phenomena models are presented herein. The found results conform with our objectives for rapid and systematic operation. Preliminary studies also indicate the systems viability for use with an autonomous iterative experiment design for environmental applications (A-IDEA) methodology that is currently under development. The IDEA methodology [1] provides effective characterization of spatiotemporal dynamics in aquatic environments. A-IDEA, as it is to be implemented on the NIMS-AQ platform, is also described.
Simulating the potential impacts of a 10-kiloton nuclear explosion on an electric power system serving a major city

This paper describes the methodology employed by Argonne to simulate the potential impact of a nuclear explosion on an electric system serving a large populated city. The method uses a combined deterministic and heuristics-based approach for the analysis. Initially, deterministic steady-state tools, such as load flow and EPfast, are used to explore the possibility of uncontrolled islanding. Heuristics are then used to estimate additional potential cascading effects, particularly during the transient period. The effects of the electromagnetic pulse are determined on the basis of findings from previous related studies, while the probable system dynamic response is estimated by using heuristics. System resilience is heuristically assessed in several aspects, including partial and full-load rejection capability of participating power plants, power swing allowance based on initial power angle values, and over-frequency relay protection sufficiency against extreme grid events such as sudden loss of a large load. Major findings are presented and discussed.
Intrinsic increase in lymphangion muscle contractility in response to elevated afterload

Collecting lymphatic vessels share functional and biochemical characteristics with cardiac muscle; thus, we hypothesized that the lymphatic vessel pump would exhibit behavior analogous to homeometr...
Angiogenesis is required for stress fracture healing in rats

Although angiogenesis and osteogenesis are critically linked, the importance of angiogenesis for stress fracture healing is unknown. In this study, mechanical loading was used to create a non-displaced stress fracture in the adult rat forelimb. Fumagillin, an anti-angiogenic agent, was used as the water soluble analogue TNP-470 (25 mg/kg) as well as incorporated into lipid-encapsulated αvβ3 integrin targeted nanoparticles (0.25 mg/kg). In the first experiment, TNP-470 was administered daily for 5 days following mechanical loading, and changes in gene expression, vascularity, and woven bone formation were quantified. Although no changes in vascularity were detected 3 days after loading, treatment-related downregulation of angiogenic (Pecam1) and osteogenic (Bsp, Osx) genes was observed at this early time point. On day 7, microCT imaging of loaded limbs revealed diminished woven bone formation in treated limbs compared to vehicle treated limbs. In the second experiment, αvβ3 integrin targeted fumagillin nanoparticles were administered as before, albeit with a 100-fold lower dose, and changes in vascularity and woven bone formation were determined. There were no treatment-related changes in vessel count or volume 3 days after loading, although fewer angiogenic (CD105 positive) blood vessels were present in treated limbs compared to vehicle treated limbs. This result manifested on day 7 as a reduction in total vascularity, as measured by histology (vessel count) and microCT (vessel volume). Similar to the first experiment, treated limbs had diminished woven bone formation on day 7 compared to vehicle treated limbs. These results indicate that angiogenesis is required for stress fracture healing, and may have implications for inducing rapid repair of stress fractures.
ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC CELLS IN MOUSE BONE MARROW II. FLUCTUATION OF THE NUMBER AND POTENTIAL OF IMMUNOCYTE PRECURSORS AFTER IMMUNIZATION

Quantitative and qualitative changes of mouse bone marrow cells were studied by limiting dilution assays 2-3.5 months after immunization of donors with sheep erythrocytes or unrelated antigens (Salmonella typhimurium, horse and chicken erythrocytes). Irradiated (C3H x C57BL/10)F(1) mice were reconstituted with an excess of nonprimed thymocytes and small graded numbers of primed bone marrow cells. Direct and indirect plaque-forming cells (PFC) were induced by secondary stimulation with SRBC and enumerated on the 9th day after cell transplantation. Marrow precursors of PFC (P-PFC) cooperated with thymocytes in the production of direct and indirect PFC after SRBC priming. The limiting dilution plots, which were not compatible with predictions of the Poisson model before immunization, changed and conformed to this model afterwards, as if the population of P-PFC had become functionally more homogeneous. The concentration of marrow P-PFC increased up to the 3rd month after priming, and decreased during the 4th, varying over two logarithms of nucleated marrow cells. The fluctuation was simultaneous and of the same order of magnitude for precursors of direct and indirect PFC, which were class restricted. A third effect of immunization was detected at 3.5 months: individual precursor units generated 3-4 times more direct and indirect PFC than at earlier intervals. Qualitative and quantitative changes of marrow P-PFC participating in anti-sheep responses were specific, since antigens unrelated to SRBC failed to induce them. The data suggested that marrow-derived cells were the major carriers of immunologic memory, but that they functioned in cooperation with thymus-derived inducer cells during secondary anti-sheep responses.
Effect of stocking biomass on solids, phytoplankton communities, common off-flavors, and production parameters in a channel catfish biofloc technology production system

The effect of initial channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus, Rafinesque, 1818) fingerling biomass (1.4, 1.8, or 2.3 kg m−3) on phytoplankton communities, common off-flavours and stocker catfish production parameters was evaluated in biofloc technology production tanks. Stocker catfish size (145.5–172.6 g fish−1) at harvest did not differ among treatments, but net yield increased linearly as initial biomass increased (R2 = 0.633). Mean total feed consumption increased linearly with initial catfish biomass (R2 = 0.656) and ranged from 10.7 to 15.8 kg m−3. Total suspended solids (TSS) in all treatments increased linearly with total feed addition, and high TSS appeared to impact negatively daily feed consumption. Initial phytoplankton populations were dominated by small colonial green algae and diatoms, and later transitioned to populations dominated by a small, filamentous cyanobacteria and diatoms. Low, variable concentrations of 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin were present in biofloc tank water during most of the study and two tanks yielded catfish with 2-methylisoborneol or geosmin concentrations that might be classified as off-flavour. One isolate of actinomycete was isolated sporadically from some biofloc tanks, but its abundance was not correlated with 2-methylisoborneol concentration in tank waters. The microbial sources of 2-methylisoborneol and geosmin in biofloc tanks remain unidentified.
Acoustic Simulation of Coaxial Hot Air Jets Using Cold Helium-Air Mixture Jets

This work examines the ability of small-scale helium-air mixture coaxial jets to simulate the acoustics of large-scale hot air jets representing the exhaust of separate-flow turbofan engines. Experiments employed a one-eighth-scale model of a separate-flow nozzle used in hot tests at NASA John H. Glenn Research Center. Comparisons were conducted for two set points using the following methods: matching velocity and density, and matching velocity and Mach number. For both methods, the helium-air data compare well with the hot data in all measures of noise: spectral shapes, spectral levels, and overall sound pressure levels. The method of matching velocity and Mach number gives slightly better agreement in the spectral shapes at angles close to the jet axis and in the overall sound pressure levels. The overall agreement between the hot air and helium-air mixture data is within 1.2 dB.
An eight-terminal Kelvin-tapped bipolar transistor for extracting parasitic series resistances

A novel DC method for determining the components of series resistance in bipolar transistors is presented. As a DC technique, it shows unprecedented accuracy as demonstrated by its application to both metal-contacted heterojunction transistors and more conventional bipolar junction transistors (BJTs). The measurement error was minimized by using a single double-base Kelvin-tapped transistor to extract all components of series resistance. This extraction technique was applied to transistors from an industrial poly-contacted BJT process with various geometries. The authors describe the theory and application of this extraction technique in both its simplified form, where the emitter resistance is assumed to be lumped and bias-independent, and in its more general form, where it includes the distributed nature of both the emitter and the intrinsic base resistances. An exact expression for the DC and AC bias-dependent intrinsic base resistance and a methodology for calculating effective resistances for bipolar devices are presented. >
Influence of selective breeding on the incidence of melanomas in Sinclair miniature swine.

The influence of selective breeding on the incidence of cutaneous melanomas was studied in the Sinclair miniature swine melanoma model. Evaluation of the results of a large breeding study that produced 349 live progeny indicated that the incidence of melanomas (54%) was highest in newborn progeny derived from melanoma female × melanoma male (MF × MM) matings. Newborn progeny from normal female × melanoma male (NF × MM) and melanoma female × normal male (MF × NM) matings had incidences of 22% and 21% respectively; normal female × normal male (NF × NM) progeny had an incidence of 2%. Although most of the progeny were black, melanomas were observed in swine of various colors. Tumors occurred at differing cutaneous sites and did not demonstrate a predilection for any particular area of the body. During the first year of life, additional melanomas developed in some animals from all groups of progeny. At 1 year of age, the incidence of melanomas (85%) remained highest in MF × MM progeny. The incidence had increased to 57% and 50% in progeny from NF × MM and MF × NM matings while NF × NM progeny had an incidence of 4%. Although tumors were observed in newborn swine, most of the tumors (75.5%) developed after birth either from flat melanocytic lesions (19.3%) or from skin free of detectable melanocytic lesions (80.7%). An age effect was observed in tumor development; tumor development decreased as the age of the animals increased. These results demonstrate that selective breeding influences the incidence of melanomas in Sinclair swine and provide basic information required for further studies of tumor development, growth and regression in this unique spontaneous tumor system.
Arkansas Corporations Involve Employees In Programs Promoting Social Responsibility

The area of social responsibility discussed in this paper is limited to that which would involve the employees of the company directly. Numerous ideas involving social programs aiding children and the local communities, social programs relating to the particular business of the companies, and social programs the company could become involved in that have a national network affiliation are discussed. Examples of companies that utilize their benefits program to further environmental or social issues are included. Further, the paper should prove valuable to university business professors as enhanced lecture material for classes. The research should prove valuable to company executives wanting ideas as to specific programs in which they can involve their employees that have proven to be successful at promoting environmental or social responsibility. The importance of the topic was verified by the 2007 Fortune Leadership issue which contained the results of a survey of approximately 550 companies around the world noted for developing leaders. These companies reported community involvement as one of the top three reasons potential employees gave for choosing a company, thus enhancing recruitment and retention. The study of Arkansas corporations revealed the state to be a leader in promoting social responsibility among employees.
A Metallurgical Evaluation of the Powder-Bed Laser Additive Manufactured 4140 Steel Material

Using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) additive manufacturing (AM) process for steel or iron powder has been attempted for decades. This work used a medium carbon steel (AISI 4140) powder to explore the feasibility of AM. The high carbon equivalent of 4140 steel (CEIIW ≈ 0.83) has a strong tendency toward cold cracking. As such, the process parameters must be carefully controlled to ensure the AM build quality. Through an orthogonally designed experimental matrix, a laser-welding procedure was successfully developed to produce 4140 steel AM builds with no welding defects. In addition, the microstructure and micro-cleanliness of the as-welded PBF-L AM builds were also examined. The results showed an ultra-fine martensite lath structure and an ultra-clean internal quality with minimal oxide inclusion distribution. After optimizing the PBF-L AM process parameters, including the laser power and scan speed, the as-welded AM builds yielded an average tensile strength higher than 1482 MPa and an average 33 J Charpy V-notch impact toughness at −18°C. The surface quality, tensile strength, and Charpy V-notch impact toughness of AM builds were comparable to the wrought 4140 steel. The excellent mechanical properties of 4140 steel builds created by the PBF-L AM AM process make industrial production more feasible, which shows great potential for application in the aerospace, automobile, and machinery industries.
Counting Lattice Points in Polytopes: The Ehrhart Theory

Given the profusion of examples that gave rise to the polynomial behavior of the integer-point counting function \(L_{\mathcal{P}}(t)\) for special polytopes \(\mathcal{P}\), we now ask whether there are general structure theorems. We will prove several such theorems in this chapter, centered around Ehrhart’s theorem, which says that \(L_{\mathcal{P}}(t)\) is a polynomial in \(t \in \mathbb{Z}_{>0}\) when \(\mathcal{P}\) is an integral polytope.
Computer Application in Second Language Acquisition: Computer-assisted language testing

In 1998 and 1999 three of the largest providers of educational tests introduced computer-based versions of proficiency tests for English as a foreign language. At the same time, many institutions and individuals began to offer Web-based tests for particular language programs and classes. These two phenomena have added immeasurably to the momentum of work in computer-assisted testing that began with a few research projects on computer-assisted language testing (CALT). Despite the fact that computer-assisted testing in large-scale programs is not without its problems, at the start of the 21st century, it seems clear that CALT is becoming a fact for all language learners in educational settings, and therefore for all teachers and applied linguists. As a growing number of people are affected by CALT, many of them express the fear that computer delivery may influence test performance. The concern, which is echoed by SLA researchers about the results of computer-assisted methods in research, is that the computer-delivered methods are less valid than those requiring conventional means such as paper and pencil or face-to-face interview. However, to address this and other issues, a means for evaluating CALT is needed. This chapter begins by explaining the concern that test method may influence test performance in undesirable ways and then presents a practical method for evaluating the validity of computer-assisted tests which is based on the framework for test usefulness developed by Bachman and Palmer (1996).
Acquisition and extinction of shuttlebox avoidance with complex stimuli

Rats were given avoidance conditioning in a shuttle-box with a complex cue stimulus, serially or simultaneously presented during training and extinction in a counterbalanced design. The hypotheses tested were that mode of stimulus presentation during training would not affect rate of learning, and serial stimulus presentation during extinction would produce significantly slower extinction. Both hypotheses were supported.The results are interpreted in a fear reduction model.
Dispersion Patterns of the Red Imported Fire Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Aphids, and Some Predaceous Insects in East Texas Cotton Fields

Discrete frequency distributions, obtained from count data on Solenopsis invicta Buren, Aphis spp., Pseudatomoscelis seriatus (Reuter) adults and nymphs. Orius insidiosus (Say). Nabis spp., and Geocoris spp., in 1973 and 1974, were fitted to seven mathematical frequency distribution models. The negative binomial distribution best described the dispersion pattern of these insects in both years, indicating an aggregated, nonrandom dispersion pattern. The parameter k of the negative binomial distribution was used to quantify the aggregation of these insects. The maximum likelihood estimate and the moment estimate were two methods used to estimate the parameter k. A common k was calculated for each insect studied, to determine whether the estimated k values were common to all sampling dates over a season. As indicated by common k values, Aphis spp. and S. invicta were highly aggregated. P. seriatus nymphs were more aggregated than the adults. Among the predators, Nabis spp. were more aggregated than O. insidiosus; and Geocoris spp. were the least aggregated. Taylor's power law was fitted to the variance and mean density values for each insect. The power function well described the relation between the variance and mean density value for each insect
Three-Dimensional Elastic Wave Modeling in Heterogeneous Transversely Isotropic Media on Massively Parallel Computers in the Laplace-Fourier Domain.

Since the recent introduction of the Laplace-Fourier domain full waveform inversion, an efficient and accurate modeling technique for the 3-D Laplace-Fourier domain elastodynamic equations has been sought. In this paper we propose a 3D code for modeling elastic wave propagation in heterogeneous transversely isotropic media on massively parallel computers in the Laplace-Fourier domain. We have developed secondand fourth-order staggered-grid finitedifference schemes based on the principles of an integral equation approximation technique for the velocity-stress formulation in the Cartesian coordinate system. The final linear system is solved by the preconditioned Krylov iterative methods. The parallel implementation uses the message passing interface library and a spatial decomposition technique for efficiency. The communication in the code consists of passing subdomain face information to neighboring processors. We observe excellent scaled speedup and achieve efficiencies of 94% on 3000 processors of a Cray XT4 for the second-order scheme. We have applied these simulators for the investigation of the wave fields in a heterogeneous medium with VTI anisotropy and the SEG/EAGE model.
In pursuit of the millennium development goals in water and sanitation

In recognition of the United Nations designating 2003 as the “Year for Fresh Water” and the endorsement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in water and sanitation, the United Nations Association of Greater Boston (UNA-GB) convened speakers to address strategies for meeting these goals. Water professionals from the public sector, private sector and non-governmental organizations shared their experiences and recommendations. Over the course of the discussions, three themes emerged that appear critical for implementing successful water initiatives. First, the water and sanitation. nancing gap requires mobilization of local capital through innovative financial tools. Second, public institutions that manage water must be focused and enabled to carry out their mandate effectively. Private sector collaboration can only succeed when coupled with strong public partners. Third, the MDG cannot be met with conventional technological approaches. Technology must be appropriate to the. nancial and technical context to which it is applied and must engender ef.cient use of water resources.
Butyrate regulates the expression of inflammatory and chemotactic cytokines in human acute leukemic cells during apoptosis.

Butyrate is a histone deacetylase inhibitor implicated in many studies as a potential therapy for various forms of cancer. High concentrations of butyrate (>1.5mM) have been shown to activate apoptosis in several cancer cell lines including prostate, breast, and leukemia. Butyrate is also known to influence multiple signaling pathways that are mediators of cytokine production. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of high concentrations of butyrate on the cancer microenvironment vis-a-vis apoptosis, cellular migration, and capacity to modulate cytokine expression in cancer cells. The results indicate that high concentrations of butyrate induced a 2-fold activation of caspase-3 and reduced cell viability by 60% in U937 leukemia cells. Within 24h, butyrate significantly decreased the levels of chemokines CCL2 and CCL5 in HL-60 and U937 cells, and decreased CCL5 in THP-1 leukemia cells. Differential effects were observed in treatments with valproic acid for CCL2 and CCL5 indicating butyrate-specificity. Many of the biological effects examined in this study are linked to activation of the AKT and MAPK signaling pathways; therefore, we investigated whether butyrate alters the levels of phosphorylated forms of these signaling proteins and how it correlated with the expression of chemokines. The results show that butyrate may partially regulate CCL5 production via p38 MAPK. The decrease in p-ERK1/2 and p-AKT levels correlated with the decrease in CCL2 production. These data suggest that while promoting apoptosis, butyrate has the potential to influence the cancer microenvironment by inducing differential expression of cytokines.
The Response of Acinetobacter baumannii to Zinc Starvation

Zinc (Zn) is an essential metal that vertebrates sequester from pathogens to protect against infection. Investigating the opportunistic pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii's response to Zn starvation, we identified a putative Zn metallochaperone, ZigA, which binds Zn and is required for bacterial growth under Zn-limiting conditions and for disseminated infection in mice. ZigA is encoded adjacent to the histidine (His) utilization (Hut) system. The His ammonia-lyase HutH binds Zn very tightly only in the presence of high His and makes Zn bioavailable through His catabolism. The released Zn enables A. baumannii to combat host-imposed Zn starvation. These results demonstrate that A. baumannii employs several mechanisms to ensure bioavailability of Zn during infection, with ZigA functioning predominately during Zn starvation, but HutH operating in both Zn-deplete and -replete conditions to mobilize a labile His-Zn pool.
Abstract 1796A: Race and gender differences in lung cancer: examining the effect of smoking history and depression on hospitalization costs

Objective: Incidence rates of lung cancer (LC) are reported to have declined in the nation. However, the role of depression and tobacco history relative to hospitalization cost for LC remains unknown. Tennessee, being a tobacco producing State, provides an opportunity to examine two issues: (i) Prevalence of LC, depression, and history of tobacco use among LC patients by race and gender; (ii) Effect of depression and smoking history on hospitalization costs by sub-groups of LC patients. Methods: We extracted data pertaining to depression, smoking history, and demographics on patients discharged with all lung cancer (adenocarcinoma, ICD-9 codes 160-165) from the 2008 Tennessee Hospital Discharge Data System (HDDS). The sample (n = 6,665) had patients that were mostly white (86%) and male (57%), with an average age of 67 years. We computed age-adjusted LC rates for race and gender (per CDC methodology), and compared the costs for LC patients with depression/ smoking history with LC patients without depression/smoking history. Results: LC rates (per 100K) were higher among blacks than whites (146.6 vs. 131.6, p Conclusion: LC rates are higher among blacks and males who also have more smoking history. Depression is higher among females and whites with LC. Further, both depression and smoking history adds significantly to the hospitalization costs. These results point to: (i) costs savings might be realized by treating depression first among the LC patients, and (ii) population-based smoking cessation programs need to be vigorously implemented to reduce lung cancer and associated co-morbidities. ___________________ This presentation at the Eight AACR annual Conference, New Orleans, April 16-20, 2016, was partially supported by grants from CDC #U58CCU422782, a sub-contract #ED-07-20811-09, and a NCI/NIH grant (5U54CA163066) to Tennessee State University, B. Husaini, PI. Citation Format: Baqar A. Husaini, Van A. Cain, Robert S. Levine. Race and gender differences in lung cancer: examining the effect of smoking history and depression on hospitalization costs. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1796A.
Advances in the model of hierarchical complexity (MHC)

The model of hierarchical complexity (MHC) has a long history that only in very recent years resulted in its formal specification as a general model. A brief history of the origins of the notion of hierarchical complexity follows. This is done in order to identify what the steps were and also those who played key roles in the model’s development over these many years. In tracing the evolution of the MHC, there are four periods, each involving different people. The two earliest periods were Commons’ pre-college years, college and graduate school years, followed by a period of more active and direct development from 1973 to 1982. After the model was developed, there were advances in the period from 1982 to present.
Dendrites in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), including classic autism and various syndromic ASDs, are a diverse group of complex developmental disability characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. As many as 1 in 80 children in the United States are affected by some form of ASDs, an alarming statistics. The core symptoms of autism are considered due to under-connectivity among the brain regions participating in cortical networks, a consequence of complex pathological gene–environmental interactions. Recent investigations on ASD susceptible genes and environmental risk factors such as exposure to environmental toxins, perinatal or postnatal infections, obstetric factors, and medications have provided greater clarity to the clinical and biological complexity of ASDs. This chapter provides a comprehensive review to illustrate that most genetic and environmental risks for ASDs cause dendritic abnormalities underlying brain under-connectivity. Rodent models harboring mutated ASD susceptible genes or exposed to environmental risk factors have helped delineate molecular pathways leading to autism-like dendritic abnormalities, and the findings can be further validated by human neuropathological studies. It is intriguing to consider dendritic abnormalities as main pathological substrates of autism; targeting specific molecular pathways driving such abnormalities could lead to realization of the ideal of providing “precision medicine” to autistic children. This review also illustrates that the immune system with its myriad of cells and mediators has a great impact on the developing brain, and our “microglia hypothesis” proposes that microglia play a pivotal role in mediating environmental and genetic effects on dendritic pathology in autism.
Lipid abnormalities in hereditary neuropathy. Part 1. Serum non-polar lipids

The non-polar lipids from sera of 54 patients, with various types of hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies, and from 72 healthy subjects were evaluated. A small but highly significant decrease in the percentage of linoleate to total fatty acids in both cholesteryl ester and triglyceride fractions was found in the sera of the neuropathy patients, except in those who had dominantly inherited sensory neuropathy (HSN-I) and who had spinocerebellar degeneration with retinitis pigmentosa and other features (SpC+). A significant decrease of serum lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase activity was also found in those patients with hereditary motor and sensory neuropathies, Type I and Type II (two types of peroneal muscular atrophy). The biochemical basis of these abnormalities is not apparent. The biochemical abnormalities reported here have been found in several neurologic disorders and hence are unlikely to be disease-specific.
A Novel Multiparameter Flow Cytometric Cytotoxicity Assay Detects p53 Deletion as the Major Cause of In Vitro Resistance to Fludarabine in B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Abstract Individual patients with B-CLL demonstrate variable responses to standard induction and salvage therapeutic regimens. It would be highly desirable to develop a predictable and reproducible laboratory diagnostic strategy that guides the selection of appropriate drugs and/or regimens based on the drug sensitivity and resistance profiles of leukemic cells for individual patients. As a first step towards this goal, a study was designed to investigate the differences of in vitro drug sensitivity profiles of leukemic cells with different cytogenetic abnormalities from CLL patients. CLL cells from 43 patients were incubated in vitro with four commonly used chemotherapeutic agents (fludarabine, chlorambucil, cladribine or prednisolone) individually or in combination. Multiparameter flow cytometry was utilized to determine the decrease in leukemic cell viability after drug exposure. Both fresh and cryopreserved samples were assessed and were found to be equivalent for assay, regardless of the percentage of B-CLL cells or the degree of spontaneous apoptosis. The highest in vitro resistance to fludarabine, was seen in all seven cases of B-CLL cells with deletions of p53, a cytogenetic abnormality associated with poor clinical outcome. Interestingly, in vitro response to chlorambucil and prednisolone was seen some CLL cases with p53 deletion and correlated with clinical response to these drugs. In CLL cases without p53 deletion, a marked variability in vitro drug sensitivity CLL cells was observed but no significant difference was detected among cases with normal cytogenetics (n=13), ATM deletion (n=4), trisomy 12 (n=3), or 13q deletion (n=7). Our findings provide direct evidence of cellular resistance to fludarabine in CLL associated with p53 deletion, confirming prior clinical observations. In vitro drug sensitivity assay may prove useful in guiding choices for therapy for CLL patients based on the drug sensitivity profile of leukemic cells in individuals.
Activity of methanogenic biomass after heat and freeze drying in air

It would be beneficial if methanogenic cultures could be preserved for anaerobic digester bioaugmentation or as seed for standard tests such as biochemical methane potential. However, storage of wet culture or drying in anaerobic atmosphere may not be economically feasible. In this study, the effect of heat and freeze drying in ambient air on the methanogenic activity of an anaerobic culture was determined. The anaerobic culture was dried in air at 104 °C for 12 h, and by freezing at −196 °C in air with subsequent drying at subzero temperatures. The rehydrated culture consistently produced CH4 from H2:CO2 and acetate after drying. Drying caused a greater decrease in acetate methanogenic activity compared to H2:CO2 methanogenic activity. Transcript qPCR results for a functional gene in methanogens (mcrA) also revealed significant survivability of rehydrated methanogenic populations. Inactivation due to drying differed among genera, with least to most inactivation in the order Methanospirillum < Methanosaeta < Methanoculleus.
Syntheses and structures of square planar diplatinum butadiynediyl complexes with two different monophosphine ligands on each terminus; probing the feasibility of a new type of inorganic atropisomerism ☆ ☆☆

Abstract Reactions of trans-(C6F5)(p-tol3P)2Pt(Cl) (PtCl) and R2PhP (1.0 equiv; R = a/Me, b/p-t-BuC6H4, c/p-MeOC6H4, d/n-Pr; CH2Cl2/rt (a) or toluene/reflux (b-d)) give mainly trans-(C6F5)(R2PhP)(p-tol3P)Pt(Cl) (Pt′Cl-a-d, 89-29%) and some disubstitution products trans-(C6F5)(R2PhP)2Pt(Cl) (Pt″Cl-a-d, 4–13%). No substitution occurs with t-Bu2PhP. However, (cod)(C6F5)Pt(Cl) and t-Bu2PhP (2.7 equiv; toluene/reflux) react to give trans-(C6F5)(t-Bu2PhP)2Pt(Cl) (Pt″Cl-e, 64%), which upon treatment with p-tol3P (1.0 equiv, toluene/reflux) yields trans-(C6F5)(t-Bu2PhP)(p-tol3P)Pt(Cl) (Pt′Cl-e, 91%). Additions of excess butadiyne to Pt′Cl-a-d (CH2Cl2, cat. CuI, HNEt2) afford the butadiynyl complexes trans-(C6F5)(R2PhP)(p-tol3P)Pt(C≡C)2H (Pt′C4H-a-d, 36–77%), but Pt′Cl-e does not similarly react. Cross couplings of Pt′Cl-a-c and Pt′C4H-a-c (cat. CuI, HNEt2) give mixtures of diplatinum butadiynyl complexes in which the two unlike phosphine ligands scramble over all four positions (PtC4Pt, PtC4Pt′-a-c, PtC4Pt″-a-c, Pt′C4Pt′-a-c, Pt′C4Pt″-a-c, Pt″C4Pt″-b; TLC separable, 27-2% each). A modified coupling recipe is tested with Pt′Cl-b,d and Pt′C4H-b,d (t-BuOK, KPF6, cat. CuCl), and gives Pt′C4Pt′-b,d (21–76%) with only traces of scrambling. Crystal structures of Pt″Cl-e, Pt′C4H-a, Pt′C4Pt′-a-d, and PtC4Pt″-b are determined, and the endgroup/endgroup interactions analyzed. Low temperature NMR spectra do not reveal any dynamic processes.
Camera network video summarization

Networks of vision sensors are deployed in many settings, ranging from security needs to disaster response to environmental monitoring. Many of these setups have hundreds of cameras and tens of thousands of hours of video. The difficulty of analyzing such a massive volume of video data is apparent whenever there is an incident that requires foraging through vast video archives to identify events of interest. As a result, video summarization, that automatically extract a brief yet informative summary of these videos, has attracted intense attention in the recent years. Much progress has been made in developing a variety of ways to summarize a single video in form of a key sequence or video skim. However, generating a summary from a set of videos captured in a multi-camera network still remains as a novel and largely under-addressed problem. In this paper, with the aim of summarizing videos in a camera network, we introduce a novel representative selection approach via joint embedding and capped e2;1-norm minimization. The objective function is two-fold. The first is to capture the structural relationships of data points in a camera network via an embedding, which helps in characterizing the outliers and also in extracting a diverse set of representatives. The second is to use a capped e2;1-norm to model the sparsity and to suppress the influence of data outliers in representative selection. We propose to jointly optimize both of the objectives, such that embedding can not only characterize the structure, but also indicate the requirements of sparse representative selection. Extensive experiments on standard multi-camera datasets well demonstrate the efficacy of our method over state-of-the-art methods.
‘You shouldn’t be making people feel bad about having sex’: exploring young adults’ perceptions of a sex-positive sexual health text message intervention

AbstractYoung adults are disproportionately affected by negative sexual health outcomes, such as sexually transmitted infections. One strategy for reducing such negative outcomes involves the use of comprehensive sexual health education. As comprehensive sexual health education programmes are adopted, there is a need to evaluate the messaging approaches that might best connect with young people. Sex-positive approaches, which describe sex as a healthy practice and personal choice, are becoming popular, but whether this strategy works has not been tested from a message design perspective. This study examines the reactions of young adults to sex-positive or sex-negative messages, framed as a gain or loss, designed for a text message-based intervention. Participants quantitatively evaluated 24 messages on their mobile phones. Gain frames were preferred over loss frames, and sex-positive messages were rated as more believable and persuasive. An interaction between the two concepts was also found. Results high...
Widespread occurrence and potential for biodegradation of bioactive contaminants in Congaree National Park, USA

Organic contaminants with designed molecular bioactivity, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, originate from human and agricultural sources, occur frequently in surface waters, and threaten the structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Congaree National Park in South Carolina (USA) is a vulnerable park unit due to its location downstream of multiple urban and agricultural contaminant sources and its hydrologic setting, being composed almost entirely of floodplain and aquatic environments. Seventy-two water and sediment samples were collected from 16 sites in Congaree National Park during 2013 to 2015, and analyzed for 199 and 81 targeted organic contaminants, respectively. More than half of these water and sediment analytes were not detected or potentially had natural sources. Pharmaceutical contaminants were detected (49 total) frequently in water throughout Congaree National Park, with higher detection frequencies and concentrations at Congaree and Wateree River sites, downstream from major urban areas. Forty-seven organic wastewater indicator chemicals were detected in water, and 36 were detected in sediment, of which approximately half are distinctly anthropogenic. Endogenous sterols and hormones, which may originate from humans or wildlife, were detected in water and sediment samples throughout Congaree National Park, but synthetic hormones were detected only once, suggesting a comparatively low risk of adverse impacts. Assessment of the biodegradation potentials of 8 14 C-radiolabeled model contaminants indicated poor potentials for some contaminants, particularly under anaerobic sediments conditions. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3045-3056. Published 2017 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor: Control of Synthesis and Signaling Function

This chapter serves two functions. The first is to introduce the area of growth factor receptors and signal transduction to an audience well versed in the action of reproductive tract hormones. The second is to summarize work from our own lab regarding the regulation of synthesis and function of the rat epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor.
Genetic circuit characterization and debugging using RNA-seq.

Abstract Genetic circuits implement computational operations within a cell. Debugging them is difficult because their function is defined by multiple states (e.g., combinations of inputs) that vary in time. Here, we develop RNA‐seq methods that enable the simultaneous measurement of: (i) the states of internal gates, (ii) part performance (promoters, insulators, terminators), and (iii) impact on host gene expression. This is applied to a three‐input one‐output circuit consisting of three sensors, five NOR/NOT gates, and 46 genetic parts. Transcription profiles are obtained for all eight combinations of inputs, from which biophysical models can extract part activities and the response functions of sensors and gates. Various unexpected failure modes are identified, including cryptic antisense promoters, terminator failure, and a sensor malfunction due to media‐induced changes in host gene expression. This can guide the selection of new parts to fix these problems, which we demonstrate by using a bidirectional terminator to disrupt observed antisense transcription. This work introduces RNA‐seq as a powerful method for circuit characterization and debugging that overcomes the limitations of fluorescent reporters and scales to large systems composed of many parts.