cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Growth and characterization of a novel hyperspectral detector using the III‐nitrides

We report on the growth and characterization of a novel, III-nitrides based, tunable hyperspectral photodetector. The proposed device structure consists of AlxGa1–xN multilayer heterostructure with Al composition of 0 < x <1 grown on a GaN/sapphire template. The AlxGa1–xN heterostructure forms a stepped triangular profile potential barrier whereby the height of the potential barrier can be tuned by varying the applied voltage. Height of the potential barrier determines the threshold energy of the photoemission current over the potential barrier and hence determines the detection wavelength of the device. Device structures with different AlGaN layer thicknesses are evaluated to understand the dependence of the dark current and the quantum efficiency of the device on the thickness of the barrier structure. Internal photoemission (IPE) measurements have been carried out to measure the potential barrier faced by the photoexcited carriers. A reduction in potential barrier by 0.65 eV is observed over an applied voltage of 1.3 V, confirming the tunability of detection wavelength. Current-voltage (I-V) measurements and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to study and improve the device performance. IPE, I-V and AFM results are presented along with a discussion on the principle of device operation, detection wavelength tunability range and device structure optimization parameters. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Nucleic acid recognition by tandem helical repeats

Protein domains constructed from tandem α-helical repeats have until recently been primarily associated with protein scaffolds or RNA recognition. Recent crystal structures of human mitochondrial termination factor MTERF1 and Bacillus cereus alkylpurine DNA glycosylase AlkD bound to DNA revealed two new superhelical tandem repeat architectures capable of wrapping around the double helix in unique ways. Unlike DNA sequence recognition motifs that rely mainly on major groove read-out, MTERF and ALK motifs locate target sequences and aberrant nucleotides within DNA by resculpting the double-helix through extensive backbone contacts. Comparisons between MTERF and ALK repeats, together with recent advances in ssRNA recognition by Pumilio/FBF (PUF) domains, provide new insights into the fundamental principles of protein-nucleic acid recognition.
Changes in content and phosphorylation of cytosol proteins in luteinizing ovarian follicles and corpora lutea.

Cytosol prepared from rat preovulatory ovarian follicles contained several specific substrates which were phosphorylated by Fr32 P1 ATP in the presence of 2 MM cyclic AMP (cAMP) or 780 nM of highly purified catalytic subunit. These substrates were identified as R11, the regulatory subunit of type II cAMP-dependent protein kinase, an Mr43,000 protein presumed to be actin, and four other proteins with Mr36,SOO1S,000. A marked decrease in phosphorylation of these proteins was observed within 6-48 h of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-induced ovulation and luteinization in hormonaily primed immature rats. The phosphorylation of these proteins was also low in cytosol of corpora lutes isolated on Days 2, 4, 9, 13 and 23 of pregnancy, The decrease in phosphorylation of R11 was associated primarily with a decrease in substrate content as measured by photoaffinity labeling and silver staining techniques, and not to a marked increase in phosphoprotein phosphatase and adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activities. Whereas the decreased phosphorylation of other proteins is also presumed to be related to a decrease in their cytosol content, the data do not exclude the possibility that luteal tissue contains a specific phosphoprotein phosphatase which is not present in granulosa or theca cells of preovulatory follicles. We conclude that luteinizing hormone (LU) or hCC, and thereby cAMP itself, induces the rapid loss of specific phosphoproteins which may be involved in regulating cAMP action in granulosa cells.
Comparing Formulations of Generalized Quantum Mechanics for Reparametrization-Invariant Systems

A class of decoherence schemes is described for implementing the principles of generalized quantum theory in reparametrization-invariant ‘hyperbolic’ models such as minisuperspace quantum cosmology. The connection with sumover-histories constructions is exhibited and the physical equivalence or inequivalence of different such schemes is analyzed. The discussion focuses on comparing constructions based on the Klein-Gordon product with those based on the induced (a.k.a. Rieffel, Refined Algebraic, Group Averaging, or Spectral Analysis) inner product. It is shown that the Klein-Gordon and induced products can be simply related for the models of interest. This fact is then used to establish isomorphisms between certain decoherence schemes based on these products.
Early history of high-altitude physiology.

High-altitude physiology can be said to have begun in 1644 when Torricelli described the first mercury barometer and wrote the immortal words "We live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of the element air." Interestingly, the notion of atmospheric pressure had eluded his teacher, the great Galileo. Blaise Pascal was responsible for describing the fall in pressure with increasing altitude, and Otto von Guericke gave a dramatic demonstration of the enormous force that could be developed by atmospheric pressure. Robert Boyle learned of Guericke's experiment and, with Robert Hooke, constructed the first air pump that allowed small animals to be exposed to a low pressure. Hooke also constructed a small low-pressure chamber and exposed himself to a simulated altitude of about 2400 meters. With the advent of ballooning, humans were rapidly exposed to very low pressures, sometimes with tragic results. For example, the French balloon, Zenith, rose to over 8000 m, and two of the three aeronauts succumbed to the hypoxia. Paul Bert was the first person to clearly state that the deleterious effects of high altitude were caused by the low partial pressure of oxygen (PO2), and later research was accelerated by high-altitude stations and expeditions to high altitude.
The impact of model resolution on differences between independent column approximation and monte carlo estimates of shortwave surface irradiance and atmospheric heating rate

Within general circulation models (GCMs), domain average radiative fluxes are computed using planeparallel radiative transfer algorithms that rely on cloud overlap schemes to account for clouds not resolved at the horizontal resolution of a grid cell. These parameterizations have a strong statistical approach and have difficulty being applied well to all cloudy conditions. A more physically based superparameterization has been developed that captures subgrid cloud variability using an embedded cloud system resolving model (CSRM) within each GCM grid cell. While plane-parallel radiative transfer computations are generally appropriate at the scale of a GCM grid cell, their suitability for the much higher spatially resolved CSRMs (2–4 km) is unknown because they ignore photon horizontal transport effects. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between model horizontal resolution and 3D radiative effects by computing the differences between independent column approximations (ICA) and 3D Monte Carlo estimates of shortwave surface irradiance and atmospheric heating rate. Shortwave radiative transfer computations are performed on a set of six 2D fields composed of stratiform and convective liquid water and ice clouds. To establish how 3D effects vary with the size of a grid cell, this process is repeated as the model resolution is progressively degraded from 200 to 20 km. For shortwave surface irradiance, the differences between the 3D and ICA results can reach 500 W m 2 . At model resolutions of between 2.0 and 5.0 km the difference for almost all columns is reduced to a maximum of 100 Wm 2 . For atmospheric heating rates assessed at the level of individual model cells, 3D radiative effects can approach a maximum value of 1.2 Kh 1 when the horizontal column size is 200 m. However, between model resolutions of 2.0 and 5.0 km, 3D radiative effects are reduced to well below 0.1 Kh 1 for a large majority of the cloudy cells. While this finding seems to bode well for the CSRM, the results ultimately need to be understood within the context of how 3D radiative effects impact not only heating rates but also cloud dynamics.
Nuclear Death in Living Tetrahymena: The Case of the Haploid Nuclei

Abstract During sexual conjugation in Tetrahymena the micronucleus divides meiotically, producing four haploid nuclei. While one of these nuclei divides mitotically to yield two genetically identical gametic pronuclei, a stationary pronucleus and a migratory pronucleus, the remaining three haploid nuclei degenerate and disappear. Typically, they migrate to the posterior end of the cell where they remain as residual bodies until they disappear. In the present study we asked whether degenerating haploid nuclei share any properties with apoptotic nuclei. Specifically, we wondered whether they would be stained by “apofluor”, a combination of vital fluorescent indicators that differentially stains apoptotic nuclei in living cells. “Apofluor” includes acridine orange, which becomes trapped in acidic compartments and stains lysosomal bodies a brilliant orange-red, and Hoechst 33342, which binds to DNA and stains nuclei bright blue. With this dye combination, while ordinary nuclei stain blue, the apoptotic macron...
The State of Media Literacy: A Rejoinder

Thanks to JoBEM editor, Susan Brinson, who offered me the opportunity to write a rejoinder to W. James Potter's essay on the State of Media Literacy. Potter begins his response to my essay by alleg...
Novel mouse mammary cell lines for in vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) of bone metastasis

Tumor cell lines that can be tracked in vivo during tumorigenesis and metastasis provide vital tools for studying the specific cellular mechanisms that mediate these processes as well as investigating therapeutic targets to inhibit them. The goal of this study was to engineer imageable mouse mammary tumor cell lines with discrete propensities to metastasize to bone in vivo. Two novel luciferase expressing cell lines were developed and characterized for use in the study of breast cancer metastasis to bone in a syngeneic mouse model. The 4 T1.2 luc3 and 66c14 luc2 cell lines were shown to have high levels of bioluminescence intensity in vitro and in vivo after orthotopic injection into mouse mammary fat pads. The 4 T1.2 luc3 cell line was found to closely model the sites of metastases seen in human patients including lung, liver, and bone. Specifically, 4 T1.2 luc3 cells demonstrated a high incidence of metastasis to spine, with an ex-vivo BLI intensity three orders of magnitude above the commercially available 4 T1 luc2 cells. 66c14 luc2 cells also demonstrated metastasis to spine, which was lower than that of 4 T1.2 luc3 cells but higher than 4 T1 luc2 cells, in addition to previously unreported metastases in the liver. High osteolytic activity of the 4 T1.2 luc3 cells in vivo in the bone microenvironment was also detected. The engineered 4 T1.2 luc3 and 66c14 luc2 cell lines described in this study are valuable tools for studying the cellular events moderating the metastasis of breast tumor cells to bone.
Large-Scale Category Structure Aware Image Categorization

Most previous research on image categorization has focused on medium-scale data sets, while large-scale image categorization with millions of images from thousands of categories remains a challenge. With the emergence of structured large-scale dataset such as the ImageNet, rich information about the conceptual relationships between images, such as a tree hierarchy among various image categories, become available. As human cognition of complex visual world benefits from underlying semantic relationships between object classes, we believe a machine learning system can and should leverage such information as well for better performance. In this paper, we employ such semantic relatedness among image categories for large-scale image categorization. Specifically, a category hierarchy is utilized to properly define loss function and select common set of features for related categories. An efficient optimization method based on proximal approximation and accelerated parallel gradient method is introduced. Experimental results on a subset of ImageNet containing 1.2 million images from 1000 categories demonstrate the effectiveness and promise of our proposed approach.
An on-line bulb inspection system using afterglow decay measurements

Abstract Incandescent light bulbs are generally filled with nitrogen, argon or a mixture of these gases. Traces of impurities such as oxygen, water or carbon vapors are known to adversely affect the life of these bulbs. We have studied the photoelectric emission from these gases by applying high-frequency, high-voltage excitation. When the excitation is cut off, the emission does not cease to exist instantaneously but it decays over a period of time. This phenomenon, called afterglow, is sharply affected by the amount of impurity present in the gas. Experimental findings showing the intensities of visible radiation from these gases with varying amounts of an impurity are presented in this paper. Based on these findings an inspection system using modern digital technology is proposed. The proposed system has the potential of being used on-line for automatic quality control in a production process.
Effect of Impurity-Core on Carrier Mobility in Heavily Doped Germanium

The effect of the impurity core on the mobility of charge carriers in heavily doped Ge is investigated analyzing the role the core plays in the process of ionized impurity scattering. It is concluded, in agreement with experiments, that at the same doping level the electron mobility in an Sb-doped Ge crystal should be larger than in an As-doped Ge crystal. The dependence of the mobility ratio on the electron concentration is also investigated and found to be due to changes in the screening of the impurity ions.
Adaptive Feedback Control by Constrained Approximate Dynamic Programming

A constrained approximate dynamic programming (ADP) approach is presented for designing adaptive neural network (NN) controllers with closed-loop stability and performance guarantees. Prior knowledge of the linearized equations of motion is used to guarantee that the closed-loop system meets performance and stability objectives when the plant operates in a linear parameter-varying (LPV) regime. In the presence of unmodeled dynamics or failures, the NN controller adapts to optimize its performance online, whereas constrained ADP guarantees that the LPV baseline performance is preserved at all times. The effectiveness of an adaptive NN flight controller is demonstrated for simulated control failures, parameter variations, and near-stall dynamics.
Gammaglobulin allotypes of Melanesians from Malaita and Bougainville, Solomon Islands.

Data are presented on the distribution of the Gm and Inv allotypes of human IgG in samples from Melanesian populations, three from Malaita and three from Bougainville of the Solomon Islands. The Lau from Malaita are polymorphic for the phenogroup, Gm1, 2, 5, 13, 14. This phenogroup is not known to be polymorphic in any other population of the world. The Inv1 frequencies of the populations from Malaita are lower than the lowest observed in samples from Bougainville, and this may indicate an extension of the north-south cline for Inv1 previously reported for Bougainville. Samples from Aita in the north of Bougainville and from the Nagovisi in the south confirm the existence of the north-south cline for Inv1 in Bougainville and suggest the presence of a Gm cline.
Tissue plasminogen activator and chromaffin cell function.

Robert J. Parmer, 1Sushil K. Mahata, 1Qijiao Jiang, 1Laurent Taupenot, 2Yun Gong, 1Manjula Mahata, 1Daniel T. O'Connor, and 2Lindsey A. Miles 1Department of Medicine and Center for Molecular Genetics, University of California, and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California 921 6191II, 1Department of Vascular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calfornia 92037 1
Genome-Scale Mapping of Escherichia coli σ54 Reveals Widespread, Conserved Intragenic Binding.

Bacterial RNA polymerases must associate with a σ factor to bind promoter DNA and initiate transcription. There are two families of σ factor: the σ70 family and the σ54 family. Members of the σ54 family are distinct in their ability to bind promoter DNA sequences, in the context of RNA polymerase holoenzyme, in a transcriptionally inactive state. Here, we map the genome-wide association of Escherichia coli σ54, the archetypal member of the σ54 family. Thus, we vastly expand the list of known σ54 binding sites to 135. Moreover, we estimate that there are more than 250 σ54 sites in total. Strikingly, the majority of σ54 binding sites are located inside genes. The location and orientation of intragenic σ54 binding sites is non-random, and many intragenic σ54 binding sites are conserved. We conclude that many intragenic σ54 binding sites are likely to be functional. Consistent with this assertion, we identify three conserved, intragenic σ54 promoters that drive transcription of mRNAs with unusually long 5ʹ UTRs.
Tenascin is synthesized and secreted by rat mesangial cells in culture and is present in extracellular matrix in human glomerular diseases

Tenascin (TN) is a large oligomeric protein recently described as a component of the extracellular matrix. The distribution of TN in adult kidney tissue has not been adequately evaluated, but preliminary data have suggested that TN is variably seen in rare mesangial areas and in stroma surrounding some tubules. The enlargement of the mesangial matrix (mesangial sclerosis) is a common feature of many renal diseases and is thought to be partially related to oversynthesis of the normal components of the mesangial matrix (collagen type IV, laminin, fibronectin, and heparan sulfate proteoglycans) by mesangial cells. However, the possibility that mesangial cells are also the source of other extracellular matrix proteins that participate in the process of mesangial sclerosis has not been explored. In this study, the synthesis of TN by cultured rat mesangial cells was documented by the following observations: (1) Northern hybridization of total RNA extracted from mesangial cells showed two distinct species of TN mRNA; (2) immunoblotting of the protein extracted from the conditioned medium demonstrated four TN protein bands; (3) immunoblotting of the protein extracted from the mesangial cell lysate demonstrated at least four TN protein bands; and (4) immunohistochemical techniques identified TN within the cytoplasm of mesangial cells and in the surrounding extracellular matrix.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Economic Impacts of Regional Development Policies and Programs

SOME five years ago the late President Kennedy signed the Area Redevelopment Act. Recently President Johnson signed the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, which continues, expands, and in some aspects revamps the ARA act. Although other agencies of the federal government are involved both explicitly and implicitly with regional economic problems, by taking a look at ARA-EDA we can offer a fair representation of potentials and pitfalls of such federal policies and programs.' To be sure, an extensive review of all of the policies and programs is beyond the scope of this paper. Yet we do hope to focus on some of the more important or overlooked elements. More specifically we shall (a) consider the normative criteria on which such policies seem to be based, (b) look at the potential for development in rural versus urban centers within the context of the development-center notion of the new EDA program, and (c) raise some questions concerning seasonality as it relates to economic development areas.
Naming Speed of Adolescents and Young Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Differences in Alphanumeric Versus Color/Object Naming

This study investigated the performance of adolescents and young adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Reading Disorder (RD), and ADHD/RD on measures of alphanumeric and nonalphanumeric naming speed and the relationship between naming speed and academic achievement. The sample (N = 203) included students aged 17-28 years diagnosed with ADHD (n = 83), RD (n = 71), or ADHD/RD (n = 49). Individuals with ADHD performed significantly faster on measures of alphanumeric naming compared with RD and comorbid groups and, within group, demonstrated significantly quicker naming of letters/digits compared with colors/objects. Both alphanumeric rapid naming scores and processing speed scores variably predicted academic achievement scores across groups, whereas nonalphanumeric rapid naming only predicted reading comprehension scores within the ADHD group. Results support findings that older individuals with ADHD show relative weakness in rapid naming of objects and colors. Implications of these findings in regard to assessment of older individuals for ADHD are discussed.
Internal Gettering in Czochralski Silicon

A review of the use of oxygen precipitation for the purposes of internal gettering in silicon is given. The review considers current ideas about oxygen precipitation mechanisms and the relationships between different precipitate morphologies. Two different paths for oxygen precipitation are considered, the first path being 450C thermal donor - coesite defects and the second being oriented platelets. A summary of the uses of oxygen precipitation gettering in integrated circuit fabrication and a simple model for optimization of internal gettering follows the precipitation discussion.
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF STEEL SOLIDIFICATION AND ELECTROMAGNETIC BRAKE IN THE BILLET MOLD

A three-dimension mathematical model of steel solidification and electromagnetic brake(EMBR) in the billet mold is presented according to the basic theory of magnetohydro dynamics and Bennon's continuous media model. By numerical simulation of electromagnetic field, fluid flow and heat transfer, it was shown that the electromagnetic force opposite to the fluid flow is the direct cause of EMBR. The induction current mainly concentrates in the region near entrance. The electromagnetic force can alter effectively the distribution of flow field and temperature field, which results in a plug-like flow in the EMBR region, decreases the temperature gradient in the high temperature region, raises the temperature near meniscus, especially in the up corner region and decreases the solidification thickness there.
Flow dependence of bicarbonate transport in the early (S1) proximal convoluted tubule

We previously found, using an in vivo microperfusion pump rate of 30 nl/min, that proton secretion in the early (S1) proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) of the Munich-Wistar rat exhibited saturation kinetics. The maximal transport capacity was very high, approximately 500–600 peq.mm-1.min-1. The present studies assessed the change in early PCT acidification kinetics in response to an increase in microperfusion rate to 45 nl/min. First, bicarbonate permeability in the early PCT was measured and was found to be flow dependent. Proton secretion was then calculated using perfusate bicarbonate concentrations from 8 to 100 mM. Saturation of early proximal acidification (Vmax) still occurred at approximately 500–600 peq.mm-1.min-1, but the bicarbonate concentration effecting half-maximal acidification (apparent Km) decreased (from approximately 11 mM at 30 nl/min perfusion rate to less than 6 mM at 45 nl/min). By increasing luminal perfusion rate further to 60 nl/min at constant luminal bicarbonate concentration (2...
Nanoparticle tumor localization, disruption of autophagosomal trafficking, and prolonged drug delivery improve survival in peritoneal mesothelioma

The treatment outcomes for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma are poor and associated with high co-morbidities due to suboptimal drug delivery. Thus, there is an unmet need for new approaches that concentrate drug at the tumor for a prolonged period of time yielding enhanced antitumor efficacy and improved metrics of treatment success. A paclitaxel-loaded pH-responsive expansile nanoparticle (PTX-eNP) system is described that addresses two unique challenges to improve the outcomes for peritoneal mesothelioma. First, following intraperitoneal administration, eNPs rapidly and specifically localize to tumors. The rate of eNP uptake by tumors is an order of magnitude faster than the rate of uptake in non-malignant cells; and, subsequent accumulation in autophagosomes and disruption of autophagosomal trafficking leads to prolonged intracellular retention of eNPs. The net effect of these combined mechanisms manifests as rapid localization to intraperitoneal tumors within 4 h of injection and persistent intratumoral retention for >14 days. Second, the high tumor-specificity of PTX-eNPs leads to delivery of greater than 100 times higher concentrations of drug in tumors compared to PTX alone and this is maintained for at least seven days following administration. As a result, overall survival of animals with established mesothelioma more than doubled when animals were treated with multiple doses of PTX-eNPs compared to equivalent dosing with PTX or non-responsive PTX-loaded nanoparticles.
Developing a wearable tactile prototype to support situational awareness

Research towards my dissertation has involved a series of perceptual and accessibility-focused studies concerned with the use of tactile cues for spatial and situational awareness, displayed through head-mounted wearables. These studies were informed by an initial participatory design study of mobile technology multitasking and tactile interaction habits. This research has yielded a number of actionable conclusions regarding the development of tactile interfaces for the head, and endeavors to provide greater insight into the design of advanced tactile alerting for contextual and spatial understanding in assistive applications (e.g. for individuals who are blind or those encountering situational impairments), as well as guidance for developers regarding assessment of interaction between under-utilized sensory modalities and underlying perceptual and cognitive processes.
Settlement scaling and economic change in the Central Andes

Abstract There is a longstanding debate in anthropology and history regarding the extent to which the determinants of past economic change are similar in any specific ways to those that operate today. In this paper, we examine the extent to which increasing returns to settlement scale in material outputs, which are apparent in contemporary urban systems, also operated in the Late Pre-Hispanic Tarma and Mantaro drainages of the Peruvian Central Andes. Proxy measures for material outputs across settlements and households show that this region experienced a marked economic expansion following its incorporation into the Inka Empire ca. 1450 CE. We argue that these changes in living standards are consistent with expectations of an emerging framework known as settlement scaling theory that specifies relationships between human aggregation, social connectivity and material outputs. Our results suggest that intensification of human social connectivity and material flows—as measured through settlement size distributions—can be sufficient to raise living standards even in the absence of markets.
Analysis of Building Textures for Reconstructing Partially Occluded Facades

As part of an architectural modeling project, this paper investigates the problem of understanding and manipulating images of buildings. Our primary motivation is to automatically detect and seamlessly remove unwanted foreground elements from urban scenes. Without explicit handling, these objects will appear pasted as artifacts on the model. Recovering the building facade in a video sequence is relatively simple because parallax induces foreground/background depth layers, but here we consider static images only. We develop a series of methods that enable foreground removal from images of buildings or brick walls. The key insight is to use a prioriknowledge about grid patterns on building facades that can be modeled as Near Regular Textures (NRT). We describe a Markov Random Field (MRF) model for such textures and introduce a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) optimization procedure for discovering them. This simple spatial rule is then used as a starting point for inference of missing windows, facade segmentation, outlier identification, and foreground removal.
Climate change is advancing spring onset across the U.S. national park system

NPS landscape dynamics monitoring project, NPScape; NASA-NPS Landscape Climate Change Vulnerability Project (NASA Applied Sciences program) [10-BIOCLIM10-0034]; United States Geological Survey [G14AC00405]
Abstract 470: Nicotine reduces survival via augmentation of paracrine HGF-MET signaling in the pancreatic cancer microenvironment

Smoking is an established risk factor for the development of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PC). However, the relationship between smoking and PC tumor biology is incompletely defined. We report reduced overall survival (OS) in PC patients who continued smoking after surgical resection with curative intention (HR 1.93; P = .040). We further demonstrate augmented paracrine signaling via the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-Met pathway as a result of nicotine exposure in the PC microenvironment. Specifically, HGF, secreted by patient-derived PC tumor associated stroma (TAS), activates the c-Met receptor in PC cells. This paracrine activation subsequently leads to downstream induction of inhibitor of differentiation-1 (Id1) in PC cells, previously established as a mediator of chemoresistance. Further delineation of the signaling pathway demonstrates HGF-induced Id1 expression is abrogated by silencing of c-Met or pharmacologic inhibition. In patient-derived PC xenografts, nicotine treatment augmented tumor growth and metastasis; tumor lysates from nicotine-treated mice demonstrated elevated HGF expression and phospho-Met levels. Additionally, patients with high intratumoral phospho-Met levels exhibited reduced overall survival compared to those with low phospho-Met levels (Median OS 6.1 vs. 15.2 months, respectively; P = .028). Taken together, our data reveal that nicotine promotes the progression of PC via a microenvironment-dependent, paracrine signaling mechanism. Citation Format: Daniel Delitto, Dongyu Zhang, Song Han, Brian S. Black, Andrea E. Knowlton, Adrian C. Vlada, George A. Sarosi, Kevin E. Behrns, Ryan M. Thomas, Xiaomin Lu, Chen Liu, Thomas J. George, Steven J. Hughes, Shannon M. Wallet, Jose G. Trevino. Nicotine reduces survival via augmentation of paracrine HGF-MET signaling in the pancreatic cancer microenvironment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 470. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-470
Improving the Health of the United States With a "Winnable Battles" Initiative.

In 2010, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified 6 focus areas termed Winnable Battles, in which concerted effort could lead to substantial health improvement in a short time.1 Teams selected a limited set of strategies that could enable rapid progress, established ambitious targets, aligned efforts within the CDC, and worked with federal and other partners to leverage each entity’s capacity.
Frequency Domain Parameter Estimation Based on Sampling and Packing Theorems

Abstract This paper considers various interpolation algorithms developed in the frequency domain for the improvement of existing frequency domain parameter estimation methods. In particular, the sampling theorem as well as the packing theorem from discrete Fourier transform theory are used to reconstruct undersampled frequency data. The improvement in the parameter estimate due to this interpolation is demonstrated by a numerical simulation of a low order dynamical system and by the processing of real flight data to estimate the stability and control derivatives of a general aviation aircraft.
Electronic cigarette use, knowledge, and perceptions among health professional students.

Abstract Introduction Our study evaluated the electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, knowledge, and perceptions of health professional students enrolled in one of five colleges at a single academic health center. Methods A 56-item survey was conducted to examine the use, knowledge, and perceptions of e-cigarettes among health professional students. An e-cigarette knowledge score was calculated according to correct responses to eight true-false survey items, with possible scores ranging from zero to eight points. Regressions were used to determine associations between students’ enrolled college/discipline and e-cigarette knowledge scores and to identify associations between three perception domains (smoking cessation, harm reduction, and enhanced regulation) and e-cigarette use. Results Of the 853 students responding, 24.2% reported e-cigarette ever-use. Of e-cigarette ever users, 85.5% had used within the past year, and 23.1% used e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. Participants from the colleges of public health, pharmacy, and nursing had significantly higher knowledge scores, compared to those in allied health. Knowledge scores from college of medicine participants did not differ significantly compared to scores from allied health. Perceptions of using e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, reduced harm compared to tobacco, and reduced e-cigarette regulation were significantly associated with using e-cigarettes. Discussion and conclusions Self-reported ever-use of e-cigarettes among health professional students in this sample was 3.5–6 times higher than previously reported among medical and nursing students. Substantial gaps in e-cigarette knowledge exist. Enhancing health professionals’ preparedness to effectively advise patients about the benefits and harms of e-cigarettes is crucial.
Is Kasei Valles (Mars) the largest volcanic channel in the solar system

Abstract With a length of more than 2000 km and widths of up to several hundred kilometers, Kasei Valles is the largest outflow system on Mars. Superficially, the scabland-like character of Kasei Valles is evocative of terrestrial systems carved by catastrophic aqueous floods, and the system is widely interpreted as a product of outbursts from aquifers. However, as at other Martian outflow channels, clear examples of fluvial sedimentary deposits have proven difficult to identify here. Though Kasei Valles lacks several key properties expected of aqueous systems, its basic morphological and contextual properties are aligned with those of ancient volcanic channels on Venus, the Moon, Mercury, and Earth. There is abundant evidence that voluminous effusions of low-viscosity magmas occurred at the head of Kasei Valles, the channel system acted as a conduit for associated flows, and mare-style volcanic plains developed within its terminal basin. Combined mechanical and thermal incision rates of at least several meters per day are estimated to have been readily achieved at Kasei Valles by 20-m-deep magmas flowing with viscosities of 1 Pa s across low topographic slopes underlain by bedrock. If Kasei Valles formed through incision by magma, it would be the largest known volcanic channel in the solar system. The total volume of magma erupted at Kasei Valles is estimated here to have possibly reached or exceeded ∼5 × 10 6 km 3 , a volume comparable in magnitude to those that characterize individual Large Igneous Provinces on Earth. Development of other large outflow systems on Mars is expected to have similarly involved eruption of up to millions of cubic kilometers of magma.
O direito à saúde à luz da legislação brasileira e a efetividade da implementação da cobertura universal de saúde no Brasil

O direito a saude a luz da legislacao brasileira e a efetividade da implementacao da cobertura universal de saude no Brasil
The role of entrepreneurial organizations in organizing collective action against administrative corruption: evidence from Russia

This study is aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of the anti-corruption activities of Russian entrepreneurial organizations and their ability to mobilize individual entrepreneurs and organize the...
A toy model for the yield of a tamped fission bomb

A simple expression is developed for estimating the yield of a tamped fission bomb, that is, a basic nuclear weapon comprising a fissile core jacketed by a surrounding neutron-reflecting tamper. This expression is based on modeling the nuclear chain reaction as a geometric progression in combination with a previously published expression for the threshold-criticality condition for such a core. The derivation is especially straightforward, as it requires no knowledge of diffusion theory and should be accessible to students of both physics and policy. The calculation can be set up as a single page spreadsheet. Application to the Little Boy and Fat Man bombs of World War II gives results in reasonable accord with published yield estimates for these weapons.
Emerging drugs for the treatment of Myelofibrosis.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Myelofibrosis (MF) is a Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). It can be sub-categorized into primary myelofibrosis, post polycythemia vera myelof...
Assignment of cytosine N3 resonances in nucleic acids via intrabase three-bond coupling to amino protons.

Coherences were observed between 15N3 of cytosine and its trans amino proton (H42) using a modified gradient-based heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) pulse sequence optimized for three-bond proton-nitrogen couplings. The method is demonstrated with a 22-nucleotide RNA fragment of the P5abc region of a group I intron uniformly labeled with 15N. Use of intraresidue 15 N3-amino proton couplings to assign cytosine 15 N3 signals complements the recently proposed JNN HNN COSY [Dingley, A.J. and Grzesiek, S. (1998) J. Am. Chem. Soc., 120, 8293–8297] method of identifying hydrogen-bonded base pairs in RNA.
The Remedy Power in Grievance Arbitration

Commentators have offered differing theories of the grievance arbi trator's function in the formulation of remedies. The author argues that an arbitrator serves as a parties' "contract reader, " interpreting and ap plying what the agreement says about remedy. From this principle, the author infers that an arbitrator is implicitly granted the authority to award only specific performance of the provisions of the agreement, not damages, unless the agreement specifies to the contrary.
The Susceptibility of Teens to Interpersonal Influences when Shopping for Leisure Products

This paper investigates recently validated normative versus informative interpersonal influence scales in relation to teen shopping for leisure products. Three major influence sources - parents, peers, and the media - were considered, each under ordinary versus special shopping contexts. The normative/informative typology was generally verified. Parent informative influences significantly exceeded parent normative and peer influences. Media informative influence emerged as the next highest influence. Parental normative and informative influences during special leisure shopping significantly exceeded those under ordinary leisure shopping.
Mossbauer Spectroscopy of Iron Biomineralization Products in Magnetotactic Bacteria

Mossbauer spectroscopy is a nuclear γ-ray resonance technique that has been extensively applied to the study of the electronic properties of iron in biological systems. The power of the technique lies in its sensitivity to the effects of the physical environment (nature and disposition of ligands, magnetic structure, etc.) on 57Fe nuclei. Moreover, it is sensitive only to 57Fe so it is not affected by other elements in the system, except as they affect the environment of the iron atoms. The technique allows discrimination of nonequivalent iron sites as opposed to magnetic susceptibility or magnetization measurements which lump together contributions from all’ the sources in the sample. As extensive reviews of Mossbauer spectroscopy are available (Greenwood and Gibb, 1971; Bancroft, 1973; Cohen, 1976, 1981) we will only give a brief introduction here, focusing on 57Fe. This will be followed by a review of spectroscopy of iron in biomineralization products, and of magnetic inclusions in magnetotactic bacteria.
Planning Interpretive and Education Programs for Wetlands

This chapter is intended to introduce readers to the fields of interpretation and environmental education, and then describe how to plan interpretive and educational opportunities focused on wetlands and wetland trails. The chapter briefly discusses the history and definition of interpretation and environmental education, as well as the similarities and differences between them. The chapter provides numerous examples and activities to help the reader better understand these concepts and how to apply them in wetland settings. The chapter concludes with an in-depth discussion of how to develop effective non-personal wetland interpretive products, which includes things like signs and brochures.
When Empathy is Not Enough: a Reflection on the Self-Experience of Black Boys in Public Spaces

This project explores the self-experiences of Black boys in public spaces, primarily in Chicago. Given the plethora of negative media attention placed on violence in the city and on violent encounters with law enforcement, this project asks how Black boys can experience themselves in a life-giving way when so many negative images and stereotypes denigrate their humanity. The author introduces the concepts of group-level racial delusion and demonic transference. The former term suggests a psychological split occurring at the societal level that historically has allowed emotional and physical violence to be disproportionately and callously inflicted on Black boys in public spaces, which society has internalized as normative while simultaneously extolling democratic and Christian values central to Western identity formation. The latter term suggests the interpersonal or group transference that occurs just prior to the infliction of emotional or physical harm on Black boys—a transference that is propped up by abject images and stereotypes of Black males. The article concludes first with reflections on a qualitative interview conducted with two groups of Black boys in Chicago pertaining to their self-experiences in public spaces and then with thoughts on future work.
Green Synthesis of Vanadate Nanobelts at Room Temperature for Superior Aqueous Rechargeable Zinc-Ion Batteries

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries are emerging as new promising energy storage devices for potential grid-scale applications, owing to their high safety and low cost. However, the limited choice of cathode materials and lack of green and scalable synthesis strategies have largely hindered their practical applications. Herein, a universal synthesis approach is developed to produce a variety of nanostructured layered vanadates, i.e., nanobelts of NaV3O8·1.35H2O (NVO), Zn3V2O8·1.85H2O (ZnVO), and KV3O8·0.51H2O (KVO), at room temperature. When examined as new cathodes for the zinc-ion battery system with aqueous ZnSO4 as electrolyte, all three nanobelts exhibit excellent electrochemical performances, particularly the NVO and ZnVO electrodes, delivering high specific capacities of 366 and 328 mAh g–1 at 0.1 A g–1, respectively. In addition, at an ultrahigh current density of 10 A g–1, the NVO shows an initial capacity of 186 mAh g–1 with retained capacity of 200 mAh g–1 after 200 cycles, while ZnVO provi...
Microfabricated electrospray propulsion for small satellites

The development of space technologies and their applications are experiencing a transformation fueled by the vertiginous progress in small systems and devices created, for the most part, for consumer electronics and portable technologies. The strong demand of these technologies requires a constant flux of innovations in the microfabrication of electric and mechanical devices. Inevitably, this progress has found its way into the space sector. Traditionally, space applications have been covered by large, complex and expensive systems. For instance, observation platforms for weather analysis and prediction are characterized by sophisticated systems based on bus-sized satellites in low (LEO) and geosynchronous (GEO) earth orbits. Such systems have high cost and long development times, becoming a significant element of governmental and industrial entities around the world. There would be much to be gained if the functionality of such systems could be achieved with much smaller, less expensive, rapidly-developed, and therefore update-able satellites.
Interfaces in Heterogeneous Dissolution of Oxides in Molten Ca-Al-Silicates

Dissolution of refactory oxides, such as Al2O3, in molten silicates has generally been considered to be a homogeneous reaction1–7. Homogeneous dissolution occurs when atoms of the solid dissolve directly into the liquid with atoms diffusing into the liquid and concentration gradients forming in the liquid at the interface. The dissolution rates are dependent upon transport in the molten silicate and proportional to the square root of time 2–4, 6–8. Heterogeneous dissolution, also referred to as in- congruent dissolution6, occurs when one or more solid reaction phases with compositions different from either the oxide or the liquid form at the solid-liquid interface. Since mass transport by diffusion is generally slower in solids than in liquids, transport in the solid will generally determine dissolution rates8.
Non-pharmacologic therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus:

BackgroundNon-pharmacologic therapies have been deemed as potentially beneficial for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. We conducted an updated review to determine the effects of these the...
The effects of closure to live poultry markets on Avian influenza A (H7N9) epidemics in China

Since March 2013, China had experienced five seasonal epidemics related to Avian influenza A (H7N9). An unprecedented outbreak of H7N9 epidemic started from September 2016, with 730 cases reported till June 30(th) 2017, in mainland China that caused profound influences on both social development and health of the people. As an emerging infectious disease, information on pathogenic characteristics, transmission patterns and other epidemiological features of H7N9 virus somehow remained unclear. Data from previous studies suggested that the live poultry market (LPM) seemed to have served as main places where H7N9 virus got originated, mutated, spread and thus infected the human beings. Hence, closure of LPMs was suggested a major measure to control and prevent H7N9 epidemics in China. However, the effectiveness of different ways of LPM closures on H7N9 epidemics had been controversial. This study systemically summarized the effects of different ways of LPM closures on H7N epidemics from previous studies, aiming to provide references for developing a better program on H7N9 control and prevention in the country.