cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
buttonhead does not contribute to a combinatorial code proposed for Drosophila head development

The Drosophila gap-like segmentation genes orthodenticle, empty spiracles and buttonhead (btd) are expressed and required in overlapping domains in the head region of the blastoderm stage embryo. Their expression domains correspond to two or three segment anlagen that fail to develop in each mutant. It has been proposed that these overlapping expression domains mediate head metamerization and could generate a combinatorial code to specify segment identity. To test this model, we developed a system for targeted gene expression in the early embryo, based on region specific promoters and the flp-out system. Misexpression of btd in the anterior half of the blastoderm embryo directed by the hunchback proximal promoter rescues the btd mutant head phenotype to wild-type. This indicates that, while btd activity is required for the formation of specific head segments, its ectopic expression does not disturb head development. We conclude that the spatial limits of btd expression are not instructive for metamerization of the head region and that btd activity does not contribute to a combinatorial code for specification of segment identity.
Decentralized cooperative collision avoidance for acceleration constrained vehicles

Safety must be ensured in the deployment of multi-agent vehicle systems. This paper presents decentralized collision avoidance algorithms for systems with second order dynamics and acceleration constraints, using a switching control law. The technique augments existing multi-agent control laws with the capability to switch to provably safe collision avoidance maneuvers when required. Two algorithms with low computational cost are presented, one for two vehicles and one for more vehicles. In both methods, each vehicle computes avoid sets with respect to every other vehicle. When one or more vehicles are on the boundary of their avoid sets, collision avoidance action is taken. These algorithms are applied in simulation scenarios for which existing techniques either fail or are computationally expensive, and used for information theoretic control of a mobile sensor network to reduce the computational complexity. Finally, they are demonstrated in quadrotor helicopter flight experiments.
Atomic structure of β-SiC(100) surfaces: an ab initio study

Abstract We examine several different reconstructions of the β-SiC(100) surface by the ab initio Car-Parrinello method. Our results confirm that the lowest energy c(2 × 2) reconstructed surface consists of triply bonded carbon dimers in a bridging position between neighboring underlying silicon dimers. Added hydrogen atoms bond to the carbon dimers, resulting in a lengthened double-bonded dimer, and a larger separation for the underlying silicon dimers, although those Si bonds do not disappear. The most stable structure found for the (3 × 2) reconstructed surface with a 1/3 monolayer excess of silicon is an alternate dimer row structure rather than the added dimer row model proposed by others. The energetics of various surface reactions that may be involved in growth of SiC are discussed.
Ubiquitous collaborative activity virtual environments

We introduce a new paradigm of collaborative computing called the Ubiquitous Collaborative Activity Virtual Environment (UCAVE). UCAVEs are portable immersive virtual environments that leverage mobile communication platforms, motion trackers and displays to facilitate ad-hoc virtual collaboration. We discuss design criteria and research challenges for UCAVEs, as well as a prototype hardware configuration that enables UCAVE interactions using modern smart phones and head mounted displays.
Network Approaches for Shotgun Proteomics Data Analysis

Shotgun proteomics has emerged as a powerful technology for protein identification with remarkable applications in discovering disease biomarkers. Protein assembly and biological interpretation of the assembled protein lists are critical steps in shotgun proteomics data analysis. Although most biological functions arise from interactions among proteins, current protein assembly pipelines treat proteins as independent entities. Usually, only individual proteins with strong experimental evidence (confident proteins) are reported, while many possible proteins of potential biological interest are eliminated. In biomarker studies, this conservative assembly may prevent us from identifying important biomarker candidates. In this study, we have developed a protein interaction network-assisted complex-enrichment approach (CEA) to improve protein identification by taking into consideration the functional relationship among proteins as embedded in protein interaction networks. CEA is based on the assumption that an eliminated protein is more likely to be present in the original sample if it is a member of a complex for which other members have been confidently identified in the same sample. Using a mouse organ data set and a mouse breast cancer data set, we show that CEA significantly improves protein identification and biological interpretation in shotgun proteomics data. First, we demonstrated the accuracy of CEA through cross-validation studies. CEA achieved an accuracy of 0.90 with a sensitivity of 0.45 in the mouse organ data set. Secondly, applying CEA on the eliminated proteins rescued 171, 156 and 181 proteins in the brain, placenta, and lung samples respectively, corresponding to 12%, 11%, and 10% increases in protein identifications in each organ proteome. Rescued proteins were supported by existing literature or transcriptome profiling studies at similar levels as the confidently identified proteins and at a significantly higher level than the abandoned ones. Finally, in the mouse breast cancer data set, CEA increased protein identification by 8% and 23% in the tumor and normal tissues, respectively. Among the 95 rescued proteins in the tumor tissue, 95% and 33% had been reported in cancer- and breast cancer-related publications, including products from some well-known breast cancer genes such as Ctnnb1 and Top1. Moreover, CEA makes it possible to compare proteomes at a network level. Comparison of the normal and tumor tissue-specific sub-networks identified some important processes involved in tumor biogenesis and progression, such as “ apoptosis” “ cell adhesion” and “ Wnt receptor signaling pathway” et al. In conclusion, CEA is an accurate approach that can be easily incorporated into routine shotgun proteomics protein assembly pipelines to improve protein identification. In addition, CEA generates a network view of the proteins and helps reveal the modular organization of proteins that may underpin the molecular mechanisms of the disease.
Autonomic Management of Stream Processing Applications via Adaptive Bandwidth Control

We present a novel autonomic control system for high performance stream processing systems. The system uses bandwidth controls on incoming or outgoing streams to achieve a desired resource utilization balance among a set of concurrently executing stream processing tasks. We show that CPU prioritization and allocation mechanisms in schedulers and virtual machine managers are not sufficient to control such I/O-centric applications, and present an autonomic bandwidth control system that adaptively adjusts incoming and outgoing traffic rates to achieve system management goals. The system dynamically learns the bandwidth rate necessary to meet the system management goals using stochastic nonlinear optimization, and detects changes in the stream processing applications that require bandwidth adjustment. Our prototype Linux implementation is lightweight, has low overhead, and is capable of effectively managing stream processing applications.
Tn5384, a composite enterococcal mobile element conferring resistance to erythromycin and gentamicin whose ends are directly repeated copies of IS256.

We have identified a 26-kb mobile element from Enterococcus faecalis CH116, designated Tn5384, which confers resistance to erythromycin and to high levels of gentamicin. Tn5384 is a composite element containing three copies of insertion element IS256. Two of the IS256 copies flank the aac69-aph2" bifunctional aminoglycoside-modifying-enzyme gene in the inverted orientation, forming a structure similar to staphylococcal gentamicin resistance transposon Tn4001. One of the IS256 elements involved in the Tn4001-like structure also forms the left end of Tn5384, the right end of which is a directly repeated insertion of IS256 approximately 23 kb downstream of the leftmost insertion. Insertions of Tn5384 into enterococcal plasmid pLRM1 have been found associated with 8- and 9-bp duplications of the target sequence.
A Follow-Up Study of Veterans Administration Stroke Patients

The purpose of this paper is to present information collected in an outcome process study involving stroke patients. Patient charts were reveiwed and each given a functional status score at hospital discharge according to 13 activities of daily living (ADL) criteria. The same criteria were used to assign functional status scores at a follow-up time ranging from eight to 18 months later. Results indicate statistically significant correlations for this sample between: (1) the functional status score at discharge and the service the patient was hospitalized on, i.e., neurology or medicine; (3) the follow-up functional status score of pateints discharged home and whether or not they received continued physical therapy after discharge; and (4) the diagnostic code and mortality. This information may prove useful in planning future services for stroke patients at this facility and in facilities with similar patient populations and services.
Scanning Probe Measurements of Electron Transport in Molecules

The ability to control the placement of molecules is essential for the patterning and fabrication of nanoscale electronic devices. We apply selective chemistry and self-assembly to reach higher resolution, greater precision, and chemical versatility in the nanostructures that we create. These methods demonstrate the possibilities of patterning films by exploiting the intrinsic properties and interactions of the molecules. We employ self-assembled monolayers as a means to isolate molecules with various electronic properties to determine the fundamental transport mechanisms, and the relationships between molecular structure, environment, connection, coupling, and function. Using self-assembly techniques in combination with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we are able to study candidate molecular switches individually and in small bundles. Alkanethiolate self-assembled mono-layers on gold are used as a host two-dimensional matrix to isolate and to insulate electrically the molecular switches. We then individually address and electronically probe each molecule using STM. The conjugated molecules exhibit reversible conductance switching, manifested as a change in apparent topographic height in STM images. The origins of switching and the relevant aspects of the molecular structure and environment required are discussed below.
Experimental Evaluation of Flexural Static and Fatigue Strength of an Innovative Splice for Prestressed Precast Concrete Girders

AbstractThis paper describes flexural static and fatigue laboratory testing of a new connection design for spliced, prestressed precast I-girders. Intended for use as a field-spliced moment-carrying connection, the joint is prestressed at the jobsite using hydraulic jacks in the joint area. The new design was developed to achieve longer spans than currently permitted by transportation limits for precast segments. Behavior at the splice is similar to that of unbonded joints in segmental bridges. Whether the prestressed joint is considered bonded or unbonded for ultimate strength calculations, the spliced test specimens outperformed established calculated values when either loaded statically or after fatigue loading.
New Electromagnetic Actuator for On-Orbit Inspection

Induction couplers are a new technology for actively controlling the relative position and orientation between an inspection spacecraft and a target without mechanical contact. To the authors’ knowledge, no other contactless actuators exploit eddy-current effects to produce force and torque relative to a conductive target. Instead, other actuators rely on magnetic dipole interactions or cooperation from the target. A model for dynamic induction-coupler systems based on previous fast eddy-current force models is presented; design requirements through a case study of an inspection mission relevant to the International Space Station are outlined; and the feasibility of flight applications is established. This model has two restrictions; it assumes the gap between the inspector and the surface is already fixed, and it holds only near locally planar surfaces. Experiments show that induction couplers in normal operating conditions can generate forces of 5 mN with a specific force of 3.33 mN/W for spacecraft ac...
The Immigration Studies Collection of the University of Minnesota

CANDIDACIES of Spiro Agnew and Edmund Muskie have reminded us forcefully in this election year that the United States is still a unation of immigrants." Yet one cannot help but wonder whether Spiro Anagnostopoulos or Edmund Muszynski would have received so high a recognition. Aside from other considerations, are the voting machines capable of handling 15-letter names? Although their names are anglicized, the fact that they are both sons of immigrants is not completely unrelated to the choice of Mr. Agnew and Mr. Muskie as vice-presidential candidates. In politics, as in many other areas of American life, ethnicity based on a sense of a common racial, religious, or national origin remains a powerful force. Yet this dimension of social reality has not received the attention from historians and social scientists that it deserves. The ethnic complexity resulting from the mass immigrations of the past century certainly constitutes one of the basic influences in the development of modern America. But our knowledge of the processes whereby ethnic groups are formed, of the internal structure of such groups, of their impact upon such institutions as the church, politics, and labor unions, of their interactions in patterns of conflict and accommodation our knowledge of these important matters is at best primitive. That this should be so is a cause for puzzlement. Andrew Greeley, a perceptive student of ethnicity, recently observed that the historians of the 23d century would probably regard as one of the most extraordinary phenomena of our era "the formation of a new nation on the North American continent made up of wildly different nationality groups." "I further suspect," he went on to say, uthat historians of the future will be astonished that American sociologists, the product of this gathering in of the nations, could stand in the midst of such an astonishing social phenomenon and take it so much for granted that they would not bother to study it."1 American historians by and large have also been strangely insensitive to the impact of the recurring tides of immigration upon the Nation. There have, of course, been able historians of immigration, but these
Patterns of rust infection as a function of host genetic diversity and host density in natural populations of the apomictic crucifer, Arabis holboellii

It is often assumed that genetic diversity contributes to reduced disease incidence in natural plant populations. However, little is known about the genetic structure of natural popu- lations affected by disease. Here I present data from three apomictic (asexual) populations of Arabis holboelliiinfected by the rusts Puccinia monoica and P. thlaspeos. An average of 300 host individuals per population were genotyped (using seven variable allozyme loci) and scored for disease presence. Arabis holboellii populations are genetically diverse; the number of clones detected per population ranged from 6 to 27. There was substantial variation in frequency of host clones within and among sites, and significant variation among clones in susceptibility to the different rusts. Contrary to predictions based on frequency-dependent selection theory there was not a consistent positive relationship between clone frequency and disease incidence within any of the populations (Spear- man's r = -0.096, P > 0.5). In addition, clonally diverse populations did not necessarily have decreased disease incidence. The population with the lowest overall (both pathogens combined) disease incidence (7.5 ? 1.9%) had the smallest number of clones (6), the lowest spatial variability, and the highest Arabis density. By comparison, another population had 22 clones, high spatial variability, low Arabis density and significantly more disease overall (16.8 ? 2.7%). Although this study does not eliminate the possibility of frequency-dependent pathogen attack in these popula- tions, the results suggest that it is likely to be weak or intermittent.
Evaluation of Anti-Glycan Antibody Status in Relationship to Disease Parameters and as a Tool To Assist the Diagnosis of MS (P02.104)

Objective: To determine whether gMSDx status correlates with additional measures of disease activity and can assist with differential diagnosis of MS. Background Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease. No single biomarker can be used to reliably establish a diagnosis of MS, or to differentiate it from other diseases. In addition to specific features of CNS autoimmunity in MS, serologic evidence of general autoimmunity, including elevated ANA and EBV titers, has been reported. A recently commercialized test (gMSDx from Glycominds) that measures antibodies against specific glycans (GAGA4 IgM, or GM) indicates 57% sensitivity and 89-91% specificity for MS diagnosis when positive. Increased titers result in less sensitivity, but greater specificity. Glycans are major surface components of cells including white blood cells and anti-glycan antibodies are reported to be produced in response to pathogens. Specific anti-glycan antibodies have been demonstrated in both MS and Crohn9s Disease. Design/Methods: Medical records of patients referred for treatment or evaluation of possible multiple sclerosis or central nervous system inflammatory disease were examined for biographical information, disease characteristics and serologic and CSF data, including serum GAG4 IgM. Results: In this cohort, 90% of patients with a definite diagnosis of MS were either serum positive for oligoclonal bands (OCB) or anti-glycan antibodies, while only 10 % of patients were positive for both. CSF from 60% of patients were gMSDx positive, but negative for OCB. Females were more likely to be positive, concurring with other reports. Conclusions: The data suggest lack of correlation between the presence of (OCB) and anti-glycan antibodies, measured by the Glycominds test. This may reflect pathogenetic heterogeneity in the MS population. Additional study is required to more firmly establish the utility of this specific biomarker in MS. Supported by: USC Undergraduate Provost Fellowship. Donation from the Keough Family. Disclosure: Dr. Burnett has received personal compensation for activities with Biogen Idec, Serono, Inc., Pfizer Inc, Bayer Healthcare, Acorda Therapeutics, and Teve Neuroscience. Dr. Kabadi has nothing to disclose.
Population Growth and Behavior of Blattella germanica (L.) (Orthoptera: Blattellidae) in Experimentally Established Shipboard Infestations

Groups of German cockroaches were established in known harborages (shelters) onboard an inactive ship. They were allowed to grow for ca. 3 months. Growth and movement were monitored by traps placed near infested harborages and at various locations between them. Three types of collection were made at the termination of the experiment: (1) the final (fifth) set of traps; (2) cartons that housed a major portion of the cockroaches making up the various groups; and (3) a “cleanout” collection from an insecticide treatment of the area around and including each of the infested harborages. Catch in traps immediately adjacent to spot infestations gave reasonably good indications of relative densities of cockroaches in the resident groups and the immediate vicinity. Age class distributions in these traps resembled those of within-harborage groups only in the relative frequencies of adult males and middle to late instars. Trap catch for the total shipboard population increased exponentially throughout the summer, whereas that of individual groups varied. Underlying changes in age class distribution distinguished the development of large from that of small groups. The results can be explained if small groups were limited by harborage, that group response to this limitation was dispersal of middle to late instars, and that much of the movement was from small to large groups, at least until the large groups reached the carrying capacity of nearby harborages. Trapping data are discussed with respect to factors that influence the amount of movement, skewed adult sex ratios, the significance of a preponderance of early instars, and the effects of removing water and food from a nearby harborage.
Balancing Professional and Personal Life

Women in science do not have enough hours in a day to do everything they might ideally aspire to do—and this realization leads to inevitable compromises. The key for women is to identify the compromises that they can live with, and that will lead to the highest level of overall life satisfaction. Barnett’s and Wethington’s stories illustrate alternative solutions to this dilemma: the former prioritizing family and the latter career. The tenure system exacerbates this problem—women may be too busy to have children before tenure, and too old after. Men are not subject to the same biological constraints and also tend more often to have home-based spouses or spouses in flexible careers who can raise their children while the men devote their lives to academic work. Many of the most helpful strategies for dealing with life balance issues focus on reducing the career costs of motherhood. More flexible careers paths and timing would help, but, with an abundant supply of PhDs, the academy has little incentive to explore them.
Small area variation analysis: a tool for primary care research

Small area variation analysis is a research tool used by health services researchers to describe how rates of health care use and events vary over well-defined geographic areas. Significant variation has been shown to exist in the rates of hospitalization for chronic obstructive lung disease, pneumonia, hypertension, and in surgical procedures, such as hysterectomy, cholecystectomy, and tonsillectomy. Potential sources of variation include differences in underlying morbidity, access to care, physician judgment, quality of care delivered, patient demand for services, and random variation. Small area variation studies have been used to determine if significant variation exists across geographic areas and to describe relationships between the observed variation and potential causal factors. Methodologic concerns include the definition of small areas, defining the at-risk population within each small area, sample size, case mix adjustments, and stability of rates over time. The use of small area analysis in primary care will require definition of appropriate small areas for ambulatory care, description of the variation in ambulatory events across small areas, development of appropriate measures for ambulatory case mix, and development of appropriate tools to measure the outcomes of ambulatory care.
Fast orthogonal approximations of sampled sinusoids and bandlimited signals

In this paper, we provide a dictionary for representing the discrete vector one obtains when collecting a finite set of uniform samples from a baseband analog signal. Like the discrete prolate spheroidal sequences (DPSS's), the proposed orthogonal basis compactly captures most of the energy in oversampled bandlimited signals. The complexity of computing the representation of a signal using the proposed dictionary is comparable to the FFT, which is much less than that involving the DPSS basis. We also give non-asymptotic results to guarantee that the proposed basis not only provides a very high degree of approximation accuracy in an MSE sense for bandlimited sample vectors, but also that it can provide high-quality approximations of all sampled sinusoids within the band of interest.
Semitendinosus Tendon for ACL Reconstruction: Regrowth and Mechanical Property Recovery.

Background:Semitendinosus/gracilis (STG) tendon autograft has been used effectively for restoring knee stability after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. Though ACL reconstruction with STG a...
Black Queer Feminism as Praxis: Building an Organization and a Movement

Bonsu offers an organizational case analysis of the theory and practice of Black Queer Feminism in transformative organizing and movement building. From a member perspective, Bonsu presents the history and values of Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), one of many organizations within a broader Black liberation movement. The chapter then discusses BYP100’s successes and struggles to build practical models for group-centered leadership, transformative justice and community accountability, policy development and advocacy, political education, campaigns and direct action organizing that are reflective of Black Queer Feminist values.
Tuning of thermally induced first-order semiconductor-to-metal transition in pulsed laser deposited VO 2 epitaxial thin films

Vanadium oxide (VO2) thin films have drawn significant research and development interest in recent years because of their intriguing physical origin and wide range of functionalities useful for many potential applications, including infrared imaging, smart windows, and energy and information technologies. However, the growth of highly epitaxial films of VO2, with a sharp and distinct controllable transition, has remained a challenge. Here, we report the structural and electronic properties of high quality and reproducible epitaxial thin films of VO2, grown on c-axis oriented sapphire substrates using pulsed laser deposition at different deposition pressures and temperatures, followed by various annealing schedules. Our results demonstrate that the annealing of epitaxial VO2 films significantly enhances the Semiconductor to Metal Transition (SMT) to that of bulk VO2 transition. The effect of oxygen partial pressure during the growth of VO2 films creates a significant modulation of the SMT from around room ...
THE ‘VOLATILE’ MARXIAN CONCEPT OF THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT

The thesis of this paper is that even some of the most fundamental concepts of Marxism have been used and abused to fit their advocates' purposes. More specifically, the interpretation of the concept of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" has been subject to a dual development. First, the dictatorship of the proletariat has come to denote an increasingly violent regime. Second, the term has been used to refer to a rule exercised by an ever smaller segment of society. This paper seeks to analyze and elucidate this much disputed and frequently misunderstood Marxist concept. In the first part Marx's use of the term is examined. The second section explores how the same concept was explicated in the writings of some of the most important first generation Marxist thinkers and "practitioners" like Engels, Lenin, Kautsky, Bukharin, and Stalin. Following the summary of my findings I attempt to formulate some meaningful generalizations about the usage of the concept by Marxist thinkers.
An ELISA test to detect antibody to Bordetella bronchiseptica

Abstract An enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was developed to measure antibody to Bordetella bronchiseptica in dogs. The ELISA test was more rapid and sensitive and required 50 to 150 times less antigen than the amount of antigen required for the conventional tube agglutination test. A survey of 50 canine serum samples using ELISA suggested that 8% of all sera had titers greater than 1:64, 56% had titers of 1:8 to 1:64, and 36% had titers of less than 1:8. The mean titer of survey sera was 1:46 and the median titer was 1:16. Serum antibody responses in dogs inoculated with a commercially available bacterin were compared with responses in dogs inoculated with experimental endotoxin depleted bacterin.
Muscarinic Effects on Cellular Functions in Cultured Human Ciliary Muscle Cells

2+ ];. Results. Carbachol, oxotremorine-M, aceclidine, and pilocarpine stimulated PLC with mean ECsoS of 20, 8, 17, and 2 (JM, respectively. The effect of carbachol on PLC was partially suppressed by extracellular Ca 2+ depletion. This muscarinic effect was blocked by muscarinic antagonists, such as atropine (apparent pKj = 9.12, nonselective for muscarinic receptor subtypes), pirenzepine (pKj = 6.76, selective for the Mi receptor subtype), 4DAMP (pKi = 9.25, selective for the M, and M3 subtypes), and fHHSiD (pK< = 7.77, selective for the M3 subtype). In [Ca 2+ ]j experiments, carbachol increased [Ca 2+ ]i transients in human ciliary muscle cells in a dose-dependent manner with a mean EC50 of 7 fjM. 4DAMP was approximately 100 times more potent than pirenzepine in the inhibition of the carbachol-induced [Ca 2+ ]j increase. [Ca 2+
Non-contrast magnetic resonance imaging for monitoring patients with acoustic neuroma.

ObjectiveTo assess the feasibility of non-contrast T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging as compared to T1-weighted post-contrast magnetic resonance imaging for detecting acoustic neuroma growth.MethodsAdult patients with acoustic neuroma who underwent at least three magnetic resonance imaging scans of the internal auditory canals with and without contrast in the past nine years were identified. T1- and T2-weighted images were reviewed by three neuroradiologists, and tumour size was measured. Accuracy of the measurements on T2-weighted images was defined as a difference of less than or equal to 2 mm from the measurement on T1-weighted images.ResultsA total of 107 magnetic resonance imaging scans of 26 patients were reviewed. Measurements on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans were 88 per cent accurate. Measurements on T2-weighted images differed from measurements on T1-weighted images by an average of 1.27 mm, or 10.4 per cent of the total size. The specificity of T2-weighted images was 88.2 per cent and the sensitivity was 77.8 per cent.ConclusionThe T2-weighted sequences are fairly accurate in measuring acoustic neuroma size and identifying growth if one keeps in mind the caveats associated with the tumour characteristics or location.
Does your left hand know what your right hand is doing? Impacts of athletes’ pre-transgression philanthropic behavior on consumer post-transgression evaluation

• Pre-transgression athlete philanthropy mitigates negative impact of the transgression on consumer responses.• The deeper commitment to charitable behavior leads to better protection compared to t...
Racism, Black Bodies, and Psychodynamic Therapy

Institutionalized forms of oppression have framed the experience of black people in the USA, yet rarely are they examined in a way that draws on Frantz Fanon’s concept of the phobogenic object. This chapter draws on the discussions of racism by Fanon (the author of Black Skin, White Masks [1952]) and by Annie Lee Jones and Megan Obourn (the authors of the article “Object Fear: The National Dissociation of Race and Racism in the Era of Obama” [2014]) to explore the application of phobogenesis in relation to recent shootings of black boys and men in the USA. By examining the projection of criminal behavior onto the bodies of black boys and men between 2012 and 2017, one can elucidate the outcome of not addressing the role of fear as it resides in those with power. This chapter focuses specifically on the cases of police shootings of young black boys and the influence they have on the behavioral responses of black men in society. Clinical case study material is also highlighted to further explore the responses of black clients to institutionalized forms of racism and intersubjective and intrapsychic dynamics, as well as the processes that have contributed to the manifestation of racism through a case study of a white man.
Real-Time 3D Face Verification with a Consumer Depth Camera

We present a system for accurate real-time 3D face verification using a low-quality consumer depth camera. To verify the identity of a subject, we built a high-quality reference model offline by fitting a 3D morphable model to a sequence of low-quality depth images. At runtime, we compare the similarity between the reference model and a single depth image by aligning the model to the image and measuring differences between every point on the two facial surfaces. The model and the image will not match exactly due to sensor noise, occlusions, as well as changes in expression, hairstyle, and eye-wear; therefore, we leverage a data driven approach to determine whether or not the model and the image match. We train a random decision forest to verify the identity of a subject where the point-to-point distances between the reference model and the depth image are used as input features to the classifier. Our approach runs in real-time and is designed to continuously authenticate a user as he/she uses his/her device. In addition, our proposed method outperforms existing 2D and 3D face verification methods on a benchmark data set.
Identification of a T Cell Hybridoma which Produces Extraordinary Quantities of Macrophage Activating Factor

It is now generally accepted that under certain conditions the macrophage can express effector cell function toward a variety of neoplastic cells (1,2). Current evidence indicates that the macrophage tumoricidal response is initiated and/or augmented by a T cell product, denoted as macrophage activating factor or MAF (3–7). MAF is thought to alter or “prime” the macrophage in such a way as to make it responsive to a second or “triggering” signal which ultimately activates the tumoricidal potential of the cell (8–12).
Effectiveness of Surf Therapy for Children with Disabilities

Abstract Background Few researchers have examined the effects of surf programs on children with disabilities. Due to previous research findings, surfing is being used, as the focus of physical activity intervention due to its numerous health and therapeutic benefits. Objective/hypothesis The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of an eight-week surfing intervention on various physical fitness measures in 71 children with disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder, down syndrome, global developmental delays, and cerebral palsy. The study also sought to compare the differences in overall fitness levels between the surf therapy group and an unstructured pool playgroup. Researchers predicted significant differences in the surf therapy group. Methods The assessment procedure consisted of pre and post physical fitness measures selected from the Brockport Physical Fitness Test in two groups: surfing (n = 71) and an unstructured aquatic program (n = 20). Results The results demonstrated significant improvements in core strength (p = 0.00), upper body strength (p = 0.00), flexibility (p = 0.01) and cardiorespiratory endurance (p = 0.00) in the surfing group. However, there were no significant differences in overall fitness levels between the surfing and unstructured pool playgroups. Body composition measurements on the surfing group demonstrated a significant reduction in total body fat % (p = 0.016) and fat free mass (p = 0.008) and a significant improvement in bone mineral density (p = 0.004) pre to post surf therapy. Conclusions This research demonstrated the effectiveness and physiological benefits of surf therapy for children with selected disabilities.
Phylogenomics of the leaf-footed bug subfamily Coreinae (Hemiptera: Coreidae): applicability of ultraconserved elements at shallower depths

Baits targeting invertebrate ultraconserved elements (UCEs) are becoming more common for phylogenetic studies. Recent studies have shown that invertebrate UCEs typically encode proteins -- and thus, are functionally different from more conserved vertebrate UCEs --can resolve deep divergences (e.g., superorder to family ranks). However, the ability of the invertebrate UCE baits to robustly resolve relationships at shallower phylogenetic scales (i.e., tribes and congeners) has been generally limited to Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Here, we assessed the ability of a recently designed Hemiptera UCE bait set to reconstruct more recent phylogenetic relationships in the largest leaf-footed bug subfamily, the Coreinae (Hemiptera: Coreidae), using a taxon-rich sample representing 21 of the 32 coreine tribes. Many well-supported, novel relationships were congruent in maximum likelihood and summary coalescent analyses. We also found evidence for the para- and polyphyly of several tribes and genera of Coreinae, as well as the subfamilies Coreinae and Meropachyinae. Our study, along with other recent UCE studies, provides evidence that UCEs can produce robust and novel phylogenetic hypotheses at various scales in invertebrates. Additionally, we used different DNA extraction and target enrichment protocols and recovered more UCE data using a touch-down hybridization approach.
Welfare Implications of Uncertain Social Security Reform

Policy uncertainty is a type of aggregate risk that has important economic and welfare implications. In this article, I develop a simple general equilibrium overlapping generations model in which h...
Pegylated-Catalase Is Protective in Lung Ischemic Injury and Oxidative Stress.

Background Lung transplant ischemia-reperfusion injury is typified by toxic metabolites and oxygen free radicals leading to worse graft function. Catalase is an enzyme involved in oxidative-stress detoxification. We hypothesize that direct delivery of highly concentrated polyethylene glycol-catalase (PEG-CAT) during normothermic ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) significantly reduces ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods To demonstrate protection, primary culture porcine endothelial cells were treated with PEG-CAT (0 to 1250 U/mL) in a model of oxidative stress (400 μM H2 o 2). In vivo, rat lungs were subjected to 0 hours or 1 hour of warm ischemic injury and 2 hours of EVLP with or without PEG-CAT. Perfusate was collected throughout the perfusion duration and tissue was collected at the end. Tissue and perfusate underwent analysis for markers of apoptosis and a biometric signature of lung health. Results Uptake of PEG-CAT into primary endothelial cells was demonstrated with Alexa Fluor 488-labeled PEG-CAT. Oxidatively stressed cells pretreated with PEG-CAT had significantly decreased cytotoxicity and caspase 3/7 activity and increased cell viability and cell membrane integrity. In a rat model of warm ischemia with EVLP, PEG-CAT improved allograft viability as measured by indications of cell membrane integrity (lactate dehydrogenase and hyaluronic acid), presence of vasoconstrictive peptides (endothelin-1 and big endothelin-1) released from endothelial cells, and reduced apoptosis (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling). Conclusions In vitro and ex vivo, PEG-CAT protects against oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity, maintains cellular metabolism, and mitigates lung ischemia-reperfusion in an experimental model. Together, these data suggest that PEG-CAT is a potential therapeutic target for donor organs at risk for ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Optimizing Short-Time Fourier Transform Parameters via Gradient Descent

The Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) has been a staple of signal processing, often being the first step for many audio tasks. A very familiar process when using the STFT is the search for the best STFT parameters, as they often have significant side effects if chosen poorly. These parameters are often defined in terms of an integer number of samples, which makes their optimization non-trivial. In this paper we show an approach that allows us to obtain a gradient for STFT parameters with respect to arbitrary cost functions, and thus enable the ability to employ gradient descent optimization of quantities like the STFT window length, or the STFT hop size. We do so for parameter values that stay constant throughout an input, but also for cases where these parameters have to dynamically change over time to accommodate varying signal characteristics.
Abstract 208: MicroRNA 122 and 300 as a Potential Prognosticator of Brain, Kidney and Liver Damage in Response to Ischemic-reperfusion Injury After Severe Rodent Cardiac Arrest

Introduction: Cardiac arrest (CA) causes ischemia and reperfusion damage to the entire body. Augmented expression of circulating microRNA (miR)-122 has been associated with poor neurological outcom...
Eigenvector centralization as a measure of structural bias in information aggregation

The principal eigenvector of the adjacency matrix is widely used to complement degree, betweenness and closeness measures of network centrality. Employing eigenvector centrality as an individual le...
PANTHER: Making genome-scale phylogenetics accessible to all.

Phylogenetics is a powerful tool for analyzing protein sequences, by inferring their evolutionary relationships to other proteins. However, phylogenetics analyses can be challenging: they are computationally expensive and must be performed carefully in order to avoid systematic errors and artifacts. PANTHER (http://pantherdb.org) is a publicly available, user-focused knowledgebase that stores the results of an extensive phylogenetic reconstruction pipeline that includes computational and manual processes and quality control steps. First, fully reconciled phylogenetic trees (including ancestral protein sequences) are reconstructed for a set of "reference" protein sequences obtained from fully sequenced genomes of organisms across the tree of life. Second, the resulting phylogenetic trees are manually reviewed and annotated with function evolution events: inferred gains and losses of protein function along branches of the phylogenetic tree. Here, we describe in detail the current contents of PANTHER, how those contents are generated, and how they can be used in a variety of applications. The PANTHER knowledgebase can be downloaded or accessed via an extensive API. In addition, PANTHER provides software tools to facilitate the application of the knowledgebase to common protein sequence analysis tasks: exploring an annotated genome by gene function; performing "enrichment analysis" of lists of genes; annotating a single sequence or large batch of sequences by homology; and assessing the likelihood that a genetic variant at a particular site in a protein will have deleterious effects. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Tumor Suppressor and Pro-progression Roles for TGF-β in Breast Cancer

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is a ubiquitous cytokine that plays complex roles in the normal mammary gland and in bresst carcinogenesis. In the normal mammary epithelium, autocrine TGF-β signaling maintains homeostasis by limiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis, supporting genomic stability, and inducing senescence. However, changes that occur during the carcinogenic process induce resistance of mammary epithelial cells to the homeostatic effects of TGF-β signaling, whereas simultaneously enabling TGF-β-mediated tumor-promoting responses such as cell survival, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, cell migration and invasion, immunosuppression, angiogenesis, and stromal modification. This switching role of TGF-β can be attributed to changes in the TGF-β signaling pathway itself, alterations in independent pathways that cooperate with TGF-β, as well as an altered repertoire of TGF-β effectors because of elevated synthesis and secretion of TGF-β by tumor cells in late-stage disease. This chapter discusses the clinical and experimental evidence, biological responses, mechanistic insights, and therapeutic challenges surrounding this dual role of TGF-β in breast carcinogenesis.
A new route for synthesis of dimethylsulphoniopropionate in marine algae

The 3-dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) produced by marine algae is the main biogenic precursor of atmospheric dimethylsulphide (DMS)1,2,3. This biogenic DMS, formed by bacterial and algal degradation of DMSP4,5, contributes about 1.5 × 1013 g of sulphur to the atmosphere annually3, and plays a major part in the global sulphur cycle, in cloud formation and potentially in climate regulation1,3. Although DMSP biosynthesis has been partially elucidated in a higher plant6,7, nothing is known about how algae make DMSP except that the whole molecule is derived from methionine8,9,10,11,12. Here we use in vivo isotope labelling to demonstrate that DMSP synthesis in the green macroalga Enteromorpha intestinalis proceeds by a route entirely distinct from that in higher plants. From methionine, the steps are transamination, reduction and S -methylation to give the novel sulphonium compound 4-dimethylsulphonio-2-hydroxybutyrate (DMSHB), which is oxidatively decarboxylated to DMSP. The key intermediate DMSHB was also identified in three diverse phytoplankton species, indicating that the same pathway operates in other algal classes that are important sources of DMS. The fact that a transamination initiates this pathway could help explain how algal DMSP (and thereby DMS) production is enhanced by nitrogen deficiency12.
The Mentat programming language and architecture

An object-oriented macro dataflow system called Mentat is described. The objective of Mentat is to provide an easy-to-use, transparent mechanism to exploit parallelism. Mentat meets these objectives by combining a data-driven computation model, the macro data-flow model, with the object-oriented programming paradigm. A high-level view of Mentat (including the macro data-flow model) is provided, along with Mentat's graph-representation mechanism called future lists, the Mentat programming language, the Mentat virtual machine, and the implementation status of a prototype Mentat system. >
Algorithm for graphic layout in VIFOR

VIFOR is a software tool for maintenance of large Fortran programs. The distinguishing feature of VIFOR layouts is the placement of all nodes into two columns depending on their class, which is referred to as a two-column graph (2CG). The 2CG consists of two subgraphs, the call graph and the reference graph. The algorithm proposed first builds the call graph by determining the positions of the nodes in the process column, and then it appends the reference graph to the drawing. The part of the algorithm that builds the layout of the call graph is described. The algorithm tries to communicate as much information about the call graph as possible. The space optimization is considered to be secondary. >