cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An examination of the nature of attentional deficits in patients with Parkinson's disease: evidence from a spatial orienting task.

Endogenous and exogenous shifts of attention were examined in nondemented patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). In the endogenous condition, an arrow was used to cue participants' attention to the possible location of an impending target, whereas in the exogenous condition, a brightened box was used to cue attention. Cues were either valid (i.e., the target appeared in the cued location) or invalid (i.e., the target appeared in a noncued location). The time between cue onset and target onset (stimulus onset asynchrony or SOA) was varied in each condition. The results indicated that PD patients were not differentially impaired in shifting attention at the shorter SOAs relative to normal controls. However, at longer SOAs, the PD patients demonstrated less of an effect from cueing than did the normal control participants. PD patients' differential effect from cueing was evident in both exogenous and endogenous conditions. These results suggest that PD patients may experience a rapid decay of attentional inhibition and do not support the notion that a decrement in processing resources underlies their attentional deficits. Moreover, these findings further support the notion that the basal ganglia may play an important role in attentional functions.
Post-modern management science: a likely convergence of soft computing and knowledge management methods

One of the distinguishing characteristics of ‘postmodernism’ in philosophy and the humanities generally is the deemphasis on fixed meanings and precise structures of measurement, and the emphasis on discourses, which dynamically shape and are shaped by the perceptions, concepts, and participants making them up. In this paper, we posit that postmodern management science will benefit from two separate related foundations. First, we argue that soft computing as a foundation for a computational theory of perception is one sign that the postmodern viewpoint has begun to contribute to the advancement of the management sciences. Second, the growing knowledge management emphasis on continuously creating, discovering, reshaping and deploying corporate knowledge by converting its tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge and vice-versa lays the other foundation for postmodern management science. This new philosophy of management science, we speculate, will have critical influence on the research and practice of management science in real world problem solving.
Henoch-Schönlein Purpura with Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome.

Henoch-Schonlein purpura is a common small-vessel vasculitis that presents in children as nonthrombocytopenic, nontender, and palpable purpura, arthritis/arthralgia, and abdominal pain. Central nervous system involvement is a reported, but likely, under-recognized complication. We present an 8-year-old boy with Henoch-Schonlein purpura and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, after proposed mechanism and treatment considerations.
Neonatal lupus risk to newborns of mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus

We prospectively studied 91 infants born to women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or with SLE-like disease. Thirty-eight infants, including 3 sets of twins, were born to women who had anti-Ro, anti-La, or anti-RNP antibodies. Four infants had definite neonatal lupus, and 4 had possible neonatal lupus. No prospectively studied infant had congenital heart block. The presence of neonatal lupus did not correlate with the titer of anti-Ro antibodies. During the same time period, 2 additional babies with neonatal lupus and congenital heart block were born to mothers not previously known to have SLE. Taken together, these findings confirm the association of anti-Ro antibody with neonatal lupus, but indicate that life-threatening neonatal lupus is rare in children born to mothers who are known to have SLE, even when antibodies to Ro, La, or RNP are present. Prophylactic therapy is therefore not indicated for these women. An important proportion of mothers bearing children with neonatal lupus do not have recognized SLE and, currently, cannot be prospectively identified.
The effects of the element factor on low sidelobe circular arc array performance

A method based upon genetic algorithm (GA) synthesis is used to study the characteristics of the array distributions and pattern performance of low sidelobe arc arrays with complex amplitude and phase element factors. The results show it is important to include both parts of the element factor in the array synthesis procedure. We examine these characteristics for small arrays that have application to wireless basestations and terminals, and for large arrays often used in radar and communications systems. Besides characterizing the performance of low sidelobe arc arrays, this work studies the applicability of GAs to complex array synthesis problems that extend beyond linear arrays.
Desmosomes of Epithelial Malignant Mesothelioma

Morphometric examination of desmosomes by electron microscopy may help distinguish epithelial malignant mesotheliomas (EMM) from adenocarcinomas (AC). The lengths of 225 desmosomes from 10 AC and 296 desmosomes from 12 EMM were measured. The mean desmosome length was not significantly different in the two groups. However, only one desmosome greater than 1-μm length was found among the 225 AC desmosomes, whereas seven such “giant” desmosomes were found among 296 EMM desmosomes (p > 0.001). These long desmosomes ranged up to 4.2 μm in length and involved 4 of 12 cases of EMM. The longest AC desmosome was 1.34 μm. Thus, it is suggested that giant desmosomes be defined as measuring greater than 1 μm in length and that such desmosomes are found much more commonly in EMM than AC and tend to attain greater lengths in EMM.
Model validation and parameter identification for systems in H ∞ and l 1

Robust control models contain unknown perturbations with assumed bounds. Modeling of systems in a robust framework requires a means of estimating such bounds. One can begin to address this problem by studying model validation - is there a perturbation and an unknown disturbance, fitting the assumptions of the model, that accounts for the experimental observation? This paper discusses this problem for systems modeled as members of H∞ or l1. The assumptions of these design frameworks are significantly different, giving very different implications for the model validation problem. Model validation can also give an approach to parameter identification in robust control models. Again the consequences of the usual assumptions of each framework are discussed.
Correlative feature analysis on FFDM.

Identifying the corresponding images of a lesion in different views is an essential step in improving the diagnostic ability of both radiologists and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. Because of the nonrigidity of the breasts and the 2D projective property of mammograms, this task is not trivial. In this pilot study, we present a computerized framework that differentiates between corresponding images of the same lesion in different views and noncorresponding images, i.e., images of different lesions. A dual-stage segmentation method, which employs an initial radial gradient index (RGI) based segmentation and an active contour model, is applied to extract mass lesions from the surrounding parenchyma. Then various lesion features are automatically extracted from each of the two views of each lesion to quantify the characteristics of density, size, texture and the neighborhood of the lesion, as well as its distance to the nipple. A two-step scheme is employed to estimate the probability that the two lesion images from different mammographic views are of the same physical lesion. In the first step, a correspondence metric for each pairwise feature is estimated by a Bayesian artificial neural network (BANN). Then, these pairwise correspondence metrics are combined using another BANN to yield an overall probability of correspondence. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the individual features and the selected feature subset in the task of distinguishing corresponding pairs from noncorresponding pairs. Using a FFDM database with 123 corresponding image pairs and 82 noncorresponding pairs, the distance feature yielded an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.81±0.02 with leave-one-out (by physical lesion) evaluation, and the feature metric subset, which included distance, gradient texture, and ROI-based correlation, yielded an AUC of 0.87±0.02. The improvement by using multiple feature metrics was statistically significant compared to single feature performance.
SOIL FUNGI ALTER INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE INVADER CENTAUREA MACULOSA AND NORTH AMERICAN NATIVES

Soil microbes may affect the way exotic invasive plants interact with native neighbors. We investigated the effects of soil fungi on interactions between the invasive weed Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed) and six species native to the intermountain prairies of the northwestern United States. We also compared the effect of C. maculosa on the composition of the soil microbial community to that of the native species. In the field, fungicide (Benomyl) reduced AM mycorrhizal colonization of C. maculosa roots by >80%. Fungicide did not significantly reduce non-AM fungi. When grown alone, the biomass of C. maculosa was not affected by the fungicide application. However, depending on the combination of native competitor and fungicide, C. maculosa biomass varied from 10-fold decreases to 1.9-fold increases. In untreated soils, C. maculosa grew larger in the presence of Festuca idahoensis or Koeleria cristata than when alone. When fungicide was applied these positive effects of Festuca and Koeleria on C. maculosa did not occur. A third native grass, Pseudoroegneria spicata, had much stronger competitive effects on C. maculosa than Festuca or Koeleria, and fungicide reduced the competitive effects of Pseudoroegneria. Fungicide increased Centaurea biomass when competing with the forb Gallardia aristata. However, fungicide did not affect the way two other forbs; Achillea millefolium and Linum lewisii, interacted with C. maculosa. Rhizosphere microbial communities in the root zones of the three native bunchgrass species differed from that of C. maculosa. However, despite the strong effects of soil fungi in field interactions and differences in microbial community composition, soil biota from different plant rhizospheres did not affect the growth of C. maculosa in the absence of native competitors in greenhouse experiments. Our results suggest that successful invasions by exotic plant species can be affected by complex and often beneficial effects of local soil microbial communities. These effects were not manifest as simple direct effects, but become apparent only when native plants, invasive plants, and soil microbial communities were interacting at the same time.
Fashion Influences between Mothers and Daughters: Exploring Relationships of Involvement, Leadership, and Information Seeking

Mother-daughter pairs were surveyed to explore their fashion influences on one another and to investigate the interrelated roles of their Fashion Involvement, Fashion Leadership, Opinion Leadership, and Information Seeking behaviors. Mothers and daughters agreed on the level of fashion influence that mothers have on daughters, but daughters perceived that they had more fashion influence on mothers than mothers reported. Additionally, levels of Fashion Involvement, Fashion Leadership, and Opinion Leadership differed statistically between mothers and daughters, with daughters possessing higher levels of each. Mothers and daughters possessed similar levels of Information Seeking, although qualitative analysis revealed that the type of information sought was different. Insight regarding the nature of intergenerational fashion influences between mothers and daughters was revealed.
Thermodynamic and molecular properties of amorphous high polymers

A potential energy function and an equation of state for amorphous polymers are developed by using a mathematical, quasi-lattice model to represent the molecular structure. The potential energy function, obtained by dividing a polymer chain into a linked series of interaction centers, is described by three molecular parameters: e*, a force constant which measures the strength of interaction between two polymer segments, p*, a range parameter which measures the minimum separation between point centers on adjacent segments, and l, a structural parameter which indicates the size of the molecular units. A theoretical equation of state is then developed by defining a cell partition function for a polymer segment in terms of the potential energy function and one additional parameter, 3Cm, which is a measure of the number of external degrees of freedom possessed by an interaction center. It is shown that the theoretical equation for the thermal expansion at constant pressure simplifies to: Similar expressions are developed for compressibility, internal pressure, and cohesive energy density. Experimental data for 13 polymers are then correlated using the theoretical equations. Densities, thermal expansion coefficients, and internal pressure measurements are used to evaluate the molecular parameters. Internal pressures over a range of temperatures are correlated to within 1% (in the best case). The cohesive energy density and the glass transition temperature are also interpreted in terms of the model. The molecular force parameters are also evaluated by a modified Slater-Kirkwood calculation, and the results are compared to the experimentally determined values. A physical interpretation is then discussed in light of these calculations. The tentative conclusions are that the thermodynamic properties of amorphous polymers can be correlated with a model containing four molecular parameters. Two of these parameters, e* and p*, are associated with the nature of the interaction potential between structural units along the chain and can perhaps be estimated theoretically. The parameter l, a measure of the size of a structural unit on a polymer chain, has a strong effect on the repulsion between polymer segments and must be evaluated from experimental data. The parameter 3Cm is a measure of the mobility and freedom of a polymer chain and must be evaluated from experimental data. The change of a given polymer from a rubbery to a glassy state probably can be related to large changes in this latter parameter.
Identification of a human protein that recognizes the 3′ splice site during the second step of pre‐mRNA splicing

Accurate splicing of precursor mRNAs (pre-mRNAs) requires recognition of the 5' and 3' splice sites at the intron boundaries. Interactions between several splicing factors and the 5' splice site, which occur prior to the first step of splicing, have been well described. In contrast, recognition of the 3' splice site, which is cleaved during the second catalytic step, is poorly understood, particularly in higher eukaryotes. Here, using site-specific photo-crosslinking, we find that the conserved AG dinucleotide at the 3' splice site is contacted specifically by a 70 kDa polypeptide (p70). The p70-3' splice site crosslink has kinetics and biochemical requirements similar to those of splicing, was detected only in the mature spliceosome and occurs subsequent to the first step. Thus, p70 has all the properties expected of a factor that functionally interacts with the 3' splice site during the second step of splicing. Using antisera to various known splicing factors, we find that p70 corresponds to a previously reported 69 kDa protein of unknown function associated with the Sm core domain of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins.
Robustness of the time between events CUSUM

Many companies have set Parts per Million (PPM) or Parts per Million Opportunities (PPMO) goals in their quest for continuous improvement. The time-between-events (TBE) CUSUM has been suggested for monitoring the number of good units or the number of opportunities that occurred between discoveries of consecutive bad units. We focus on the robustness of the TBE CUSUM. Robustness, in this case, refers to sensitivity of the procedure to make the proper decisions regarding a shift in the mean defect rate when, in fact, the time between events is not exponential. We examine and report average run lengths (ARLs) under both a Weibull and a lognormal time between events distribution. Our results indicate that the TBE CUSUM is extremely robust for a wide variety of parameter values for both the Weibull and lognormal distributions. The implications of these results in practice imply that users of the TBE CUSUM procedure need not be concerned about departures from the exponential TBE distribution. Practical implemen...
Diagnostic Imaging of the Lower Respiratory Tract in Neonatal Foals: Radiography and Computed Tomography

Diagnostic imaging plays an essential role in the diagnosis and monitoring of lower respiratory disease in neonatal foals. Radiography is most widely available to equine practitioners and is the primary modality that has been used for the characterization of respiratory disease in foals. Computed tomography imaging, although still limited in availability to the general practitioner, offers advantages over radiography and has been used diagnostically in neonatal foals with respiratory disease. Recognition of appropriate imaging protocols and patient-associated artifacts is critical for accurate image interpretation regardless of the modality used.
Extraordinary toughening and strengthening effect in polymer nanocomposites using lignin-based fillers synthesized by ATRP

Abstract Understanding of the governing parameters that control the interaction of bio-sourced fillers with synthetic polymer materials is a long-standing challenge for their exploitation as a platform for material engineering. For the case of graft-lignin embedded in poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) it is demonstrated that tethering of polymeric chains with appropriate chain length to the surface of lignin-fillers dramatically increases the mechanical properties of PMMA/lignin composites, suggesting the PMMA grafts significantly enhanced filler–matrix interactions. Most metrics were maximized at 1% loading, with a 3-fold increase in yield stress, a 4-fold increase in tensile strength, and a 7-fold increase in toughness, with a combination of properties that compare favorably to high-performance engineering polymers and polymer nanocomposites based on inorganic nanoparticles. The versatility of the surface-initiated controlled radical polymerization used for polymer graft modification suggests that the approach should be broadly applicable to a wide range of commodity and engineering polymers.
Privacy Attitudes of Mechanical Turk Workers and the U.S. Public

Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is a crowdsourcing platform widely used to conduct behavioral research, including studies of online privacy and security. We studied how well the privacy attitudes of MTurk workers mirror the privacy attitudes of the larger user population. We report results from an MTurk survey of attitudes about managing one's personal information online and policy preferences about anonymity. We compare these attitudes with those of a representative U.S. adult sample drawn from a separate survey a few months earlier. MTurk respondents were younger and better educated, and more likely to use social media than the representative US adult sample. Although they reported a similar amount of personal information online, U.S. MTurk workers put a higher value on anonymity and hiding information, were more likely to do so, had more privacy concerns than the larger U.S. public. Indian MTurk workers were much less concerned than American workers about their privacy and more tolerant of government monitoring. Our analyses show that these findings hold even when controlling for age, education, gender, and social media use. Our findings suggest that privacy studies using MTurk need to account for differences between MTurk samples and the general population.
E-012 National Trends for the Utilization of Cerebral Angiography in Patients with Unruptured Aneurysms: 1999–2009

Introduction The utilization of cerebral angiography in the diagnosis and management of patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms varies across the United States. Given advances in noninvasive imaging, such as CT and MR angiography, patients with unruptured aneurysms may never undergo cerebral angiography. This study explores shifting trends in the utilization of angiography for management of such lesions across the U. S. from 1999–2009. Methods The National Inpatient Sample was used to identify patients carrying a primary ICD-9 diagnosis code of unruptured aneurym (430.0) between 1999–2009. The primary outcomes were compared across subgroups undergoing cerebral angiography in the management of their pathology versus those who did not. The data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate regression (SAS). Results There were 127579 total admissions with a primary ICD-9 diagnosis of unruptured aneurysms between 1999–2009 per NIS weighted estimates. The total number of patients who underwent cerebral angiography and subsequent clipping were 19412 between 1999–2009. During the same time period 28095 patients underwent coiling after cerebral angiography. For the year 1999, 77% patients were clipped and 23% coiled after cerebral angiography (p Conclusions Patients with unruptured cerebral aneuryms who undergo cerebral angiography are more likely to undergo endovascular coiling rather than clipping. Disclosures O. Choudhri: None. A. Feroze: None. A. Mantha: None. G. Steinberg: None. H. Do: None.
A SEDIMENT TRAPPING EXPERIMENT AT SANTA CRUZ, CA.

Santa Cruz Harbor is located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay, California, approximately 104 kilometers south of San Francisco and 22 kilometers north of Moss Landing, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Harbor construction was authorized by Congress under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 195S, which provided for a harbor to accommodate light-draft vessels in Woods Lagoon at the eastern boundary of Santa Cruz. The authorized improvements included two rubblemound jetties 360 meters long and 243 meters long, on the west and east sides of an entrance channel, respectively — an entrance channel approximately 270 meters long, 30 meters wide and 6 meters deep, reducing to 45 meters in depth at the same width for an additional HI meters — an inner channel, 240 meters long, 45 meters wide, 45 meters deep, reducing to 3 meters in depth at the same width for an additional 100 meters — a'turning basin approximately 90 meters long, 75 meters wide, and 3 meters deep, and a sand-bypassing plan. Figure 3 shows the project features. The armor units of the seaward side of the west jetty are 28-ton quadripods. The west jetty also has a concrete cap extending to elevation +4. 8 meters MLLW. Construction of the harbor was initiated in February of 1962 with the dredging of Woods Lagoon and the start of work on the west jetty. The west jetty was completed in February 1963. Then work began on the east jetty, and it was completed in April 1963. The entrance channel was dredged to the project dimensions in the summer of 1963. Construction of Santa Cruz Harbor was completed in November 1963, with the exception of the sand-bypassing plant. Construction of the sand-bypassing plant was deferred until the littoral drift rate could be more accurately determined.
Activating Patients for Sustained Chronic Disease Self-Management Thinking Beyond Clinical Outcomes

This article describes the impact of an 8-week community program implemented by trained volunteers on the hypertension self-management of 185 patients who were batch randomized to intervention or wait-list control groups. Compared with control group participants, a higher proportion of treatment group participants moved from the cognitive to behavioral stages of motivational readiness for being physically active (P < .001), practicing healthy eating habits (P = .001), handling stress well (P = .001), and living an overall healthy lifestyle (P = .003). They also demonstrated a greater average increase in perceived competence for self-management, F(1.134) = 4.957, P = .028, η2 = .036, and a greater increase in mean hypertension-related knowledge, F(1.160) = 16.571, P < .0005, η(2) = .094. Enduring lifestyle changes necessary for chronic disease self-management require that psychosocial determinants of health behavior are instilled, which is typically beyond standard medical practice. We recommend peer-led, community-based programs as a complement to clinical care and support the increasing health system interest in promoting population health beyond clinical walls.
Experimental study on frictional factor between chuck jaw and drilling rod

The friclional factor between chuek jaw and drilling rod is important in calculaling the chuck working capacity.This thesis introduced a study method for frietional factor, based on experimental study. It obtained the variable range of the frictional factor and a principle about how to adopt the frictional factor, which cleared the elements that lake effect on the frictional factor.The solution of the experimental study can be used in the chuck design directly.
Nephrologists' likelihood of referring patients for kidney transplant based on hypothetical patient scenarios

BACKGROUND There is wide variation in referral for kidney transplant and preemptive kidney transplant (PKT). Patient characteristics such as age, race, sex and geographic location have been cited as contributing factors to this disparity. We hypothesize that the characteristics of nephrologists interplay with the patients' characteristics to influence the referral decision. In this study, we used hypothetical case scenarios to assess nephrologists' decisions regarding transplant referral. METHODS A total of 3180 nephrologists were invited to participate. Among those interested, 252 were randomly selected to receive a survey in which nephrologists were asked whether they would recommend transplant for the 25 hypothetical patients. Logistic regression models with single covariates and multiple covariates were used to identify patient characteristics associated with likelihood of being referred for transplant and to identify nephrologists' characteristics associated with likelihood of referring for transplant. RESULTS Of the 252 potential participants, 216 completed the survey. A nephrologist's affiliation with an academic institution was associated with a higher likelihood of referral, and being '>10 years from fellowship' was associated with lower likelihood of referring patients for transplant. Patient age <50 years was associated with higher likelihood of referral. Rural location and smoking history/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were associated with lower likelihood of being referred for transplant. The nephrologist's affiliation with an academic institution was associated with higher likelihood of referring for preemptive transplant, and the patient having a rural residence was associated with lower likelihood of being referred for preemptive transplant. CONCLUSIONS The variability in transplant referral is related to patients' age and geographic location as well as the nephrologists' affiliation with an academic institution and time since completion of training. Future educational interventions should emphasize the benefits of kidney transplant and PKT for all population groups regardless of geographic location and age and should target nephrologists in non-academic settings who are 10 or more years from their fellowship training.
P4GPU: Acceleration of programmable data plane using a CPU-GPU heterogeneous architecture

The programmability of the network data plane has become one of the most desirable features within the context of software defined networks, with P4 serving as a domain-specific language for defining data plane processing. In this work, we are motivated to address the challenges of mapping a P4 defined data plane to a heterogeneous programmable hardware architecture consisting of both a CPU and a GPU, which includes a salient parallel SIMD architecture for processing network flows. We first design a toolset that can be used to map a P4 program onto the proposed architecture. We then optimize the GPU kernel designs for “match-action” primitives and present latency-hiding techniques to reduce the overheads of CPU/GPU communication. In addition, load balancing is investigated to maximize the utilization of CPU and GPU resources. Our toolset and optimizations allow a P4 program to render promising performance on the given heterogeneous architecture. Specifically, the experimental results collected on our prototype systems show that the automatically configured GPU kernels achieve scalable lookup and classification speeds with 420 million IP lookups per second, and more than 60 million classifications per second (for 4K firewall rules).
Needle geometry effect on vibration tissue cutting

Needle vibration tissue cutting is a method that has been shown to reduce tissue cutting force and thereby improve needle position accuracy inside the body. Needle accuracy is crucial for minimally invasive needle operations such as the radiation cancer treatment of brachytherapy. This article uniquely determines the importance of needle geometry in minimizing cutting force in needle vibration tissue cutting. This article also determines how vibration specifically affects cutting force. This new information was found by performing needle cutting experiments with five varying conical tipped needles being inserted into ex vivo bovine liver as well as a polyurethane sheet at varying vibratory amplitudes and frequencies. Results show that applying vibration to sharper needles greatly reduced the insertion force by up to 67%, where the blunter needles saw diminishing benefits. The tissue phantom experiments showed that vibration reduced the force needed to propagate the created crack but showed no improvement ...
Research in Social Neuroscience: How Perceived Social Isolation, Ostracism, and Romantic Rejection Affect Our Brain

Social exclusion has been defined broadly as the experience of being kept apart from others physically or emotionally. Our basic premise regarding the psychological study of social exclusion is that the brain is the key organ for forming, monitoring, maintaining, repairing, and replacing the salutary connections with others that Homo sapiens, as a social species, need to survive, reproduce, and leave a genetic legacy. Therefore, we focus here on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of the neural correlates of perceptions of social isolation (i.e., loneliness), ostracism, and romantic rejection. Although this research suggests that the neural correlates may vary for these three forms of social exclusion, we discuss methodological and statistical issues that need to be addressed to determine the unique and common neural substrates across various forms of social exclusion.
Notch activation drives adipocyte dedifferentiation and tumorigenic transformation in mice

Liposarcomas (LPSs) are the most common soft-tissue cancer. Because of the lack of animal models, the cellular origin and molecular regulation of LPS remain unclear. Here, we report that mice with adipocyte-specific activation of Notch signaling (Ad/N1ICD) develop LPS with complete penetrance. Lineage tracing confirms the adipocyte origin of Ad/N1ICD LPS. The Ad/N1ICD LPS resembles human dedifferentiated LPS in histological appearance, anatomical localization, and gene expression signature. Before transformation, Ad/N1ICD adipocytes undergo dedifferentiation that leads to lipodystrophy and metabolic dysfunction. Although concomitant Pten deletion normalizes the glucose metabolism of Ad/N1ICD mice, it dramatically accelerates the LPS prognosis and malignancy. Transcriptomes and lipidomics analyses indicate that Notch activation suppresses lipid metabolism pathways that supply ligands to Pparγ, the master regulator of adipocyte homeostasis. Accordingly, synthetic Pparγ ligand supplementation induces redifferentiation of Ad/N1ICD adipocytes and tumor cells, and prevents LPS development in Ad/N1ICD mice. Importantly, the Notch target HES1 is abundantly expressed in human LPS, and Notch inhibition suppresses the growth of human dedifferentiated LPS xenografts. Collectively, ectopic Notch activation is sufficient to induce dedifferentiation and tumorigenic transformation of mature adipocytes in mouse.
A New Take on an Old Problem: Employee Misclassification in the Modern Gig-Economy

For decades, U.S. labor and employment law has used a binary employment classification system, labeling workers as either employees or independent contractors. Employees are granted a variety of legal protections, while independent contractors are not. However, the explosion of the gig-economy—which connects consumers with underutilized resources—has produced a growing number of workers who do not seem to fit into either category. Though far from traditional employees, gig-workers bear little resemblance to independent contractors. Forced to choose, however, most gig-economy companies label their workers as independent contractors, depriving them of many basic worker-protections. Gig-workers have turned to the courts, hoping to secure employee protections, and judges have struggled to apply outdated multifactor tests to resolve these disputes. Using Uber drivers as a model for workers in the gig-economy, this note argues that such workers are properly classified as employees under the common-law control test, the prevailing legal standard today. However, because of outdated factors and widespread confusion regarding the current employment classification system, reform is necessary. The ABC Test, primarily used in state unemployment-insurance cases, offers the best alternative. The ABC Test limits the number of factors for courts to apply, eliminates the most manipulable and outdated factors, and adds a presumption in favor of employee status. Reforming the classification system in this way will ensure that the law treats gig-economy workers, a growing portion of the modern workforce, as employees with the support of necessary benefits and protections. * J.D., University of Michigan, 2017 (expected); B.A., Government, Cornell University, 2012. Special thank you to Professor Rebecca Eisenberg, Professor Nina Mendelson, and the students in the Scholarship Seminar for your valuable contributions and encouragement. I also thank Professor Michael Bloom, without whom I never would have had the opportunity to write this note, and Alex Hartzband for his valuable insights on labor law. Finally, I am grateful for the editorial support of the MTTLR notes editors.
A novel gas divider using nonlinear laminar flow

Abstract Gas dividers are important in emissions measurement since they continuously and accurately mix two gases to create a known gas concentration that is needed in the multi-point calibration of gas analyzers. A novel gas divider was designed using nonlinear laminar flow induced from the density change along the capillary channels due to the high-pressure drop (relative to the inlet gas pressure). The minor losses from entrance and exit effects can be ignored due to the high pressure loss from Hagen-Poiseuille's law relative to the minor losses. Small diameter wires inside of a tube were used to create capillary channels through which gas could flow. The gas divider, using nonlinear laminar flow, showed lower measurement uncertainty at high (90%) dilution levels than using linear laminar flow due to the higher-pressure drop at the same volumetric flow rates. Experiments showed the expected gas concentration from using the gas divider to be within 2% of the measured gas concentrations.
Distributive Justice in Fisheries Management

Abstract Based on current demand for fishery resources and the status of fish stocks, many marine species are scarce. When scarcity requires the allocation of fishery resources among competing interests, not all interests will receive the allocation they want or feel they deserve. There will be claims of unjust allocations, and the issues of fairness and justice will be raised by anglers and commercial fishers. The Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires that allocations be fair and equitable; however, what is meant by these terms, or the likely response to allocations perceived to be unfair or inequitable, is not clear or easily agreed upon. Some means of understanding, evaluating, and responding to these claims is needed. Distributive justice pertains to the fairness of the distribution of conditions and goods that affect individual well-being. Two major conceptual approaches to the study of distributive justice are equity theory and relative deprivation. Differences between these two ...
Phase 1b study of orteronel in postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive (HR+) metastatic breast cancer.

538 Background: Endocrine therapies are the treatment of choice for HR+ metastatic breast cancer; novel drugs are needed due to resistance. Reducing both androgens and estrogens may circumvent resi...
A review on domestic wastewater treatment by soil biotechnology

Soil biotechnology (SBT) is a latest technology to treat the wastewater effectively, less costly, eco-friendly. In which granular media like soil, gravels and sand, biological media like earthworms, bacteria and plants are used. This technology is useful in rural area where sewer transportation is not available, ground water level is low. It has been found that percentage removal efficiency of different parameter would be increased by increasing hydraulic retention time. A type of earthworm used in this treatment technology is being found. It has been found that Eisenia Fetida is the best for domestic wastewater. Difference between removal percentage of impurities in planted and unplanted constructed wetland is described. Effectiveness of different hydraulic retention time and earthworm is being found. Treated water by SBT plant meets the discharge norms of pollution control board. There are no moving parts except the pump so, noise pollution is eliminated.
StreamQRE: modular specification and efficient evaluation of quantitative queries over streaming data

Real-time decision making in emerging IoT applications typically relies on computing quantitative summaries of large data streams in an efficient and incremental manner. To simplify the task of programming the desired logic, we propose StreamQRE, which provides natural and high-level constructs for processing streaming data. Our language has a novel integration of linguistic constructs from two distinct programming paradigms: streaming extensions of relational query languages and quantitative extensions of regular expressions. The former allows the programmer to employ relational constructs to partition the input data by keys and to integrate data streams from different sources, while the latter can be used to exploit the logical hierarchy in the input stream for modular specifications. We first present the core language with a small set of combinators, formal semantics, and a decidable type system. We then show how to express a number of common patterns with illustrative examples. Our compilation algorithm translates the high-level query into a streaming algorithm with precise complexity bounds on per-item processing time and total memory footprint. We also show how to integrate approximation algorithms into our framework. We report on an implementation in Java, and evaluate it with respect to existing high-performance engines for processing streaming data. Our experimental evaluation shows that (1) StreamQRE allows more natural and succinct specification of queries compared to existing frameworks, (2) the throughput of our implementation is higher than comparable systems (for example, two-to-four times greater than RxJava), and (3) the approximation algorithms supported by our implementation can lead to substantial memory savings.
Heat shock protein (HSP) overexpression in lung cancer and potential as a therapeutic target

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 2387 Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are molecular chaperones that play a central role in the ability of cells to survive external stresses. Many cancers have been found to express high levels of heat shock proteins (such as HSP 10, 27, 60, 70, 90, and 110). Certain HSPs, such as HSP27, HSP70, and HSP90 are of particular interest for further investigation as they have antiapoptotic properties, chaperone important signaling molecules such as Akt, erbB2, Raf-1, HIF-1α, c-Met (HSP90), and have immunostimulatory properties that can be exploited for vaccine strategies (HSP70). Early drugs targeting HSPs are currently in phase I/II clinical trials (e.g. 17-AAG and STA-4783). We investigated the role of heat shock proteins in lung cancer tissues and sera from patients and tested HSP70 modulation using STA-4783, a novel HSP70 inducer. Using standard immunohistochemistry, we were able to show over-expression of HSP10, HSP27, HSP47, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 in the majority of tumor tissues from both small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-SCLC (NSCLC) as compared to adjacent normal parenchyma/stroma. Majority of the HSP expression was cytoplasmic; in addition nuclear staining was seen in HSP70 (strong) and also in HSP90 (weak). Correlation with clinical outcomes is currently ongoing. Serum analysis of HSP70 from SCLC patients showed increased circulating levels of HSP70 as compared to normal control sera. In particular, the levels of HSPs were elevated in extensive stage and relapsed SCLC as compared to limited stage SCLC. HSP70 serum levels correlated with disease state in SCLC and levels were as follows [value+SD, in ng/ml]: Normal control 6.4+1.3; Limited Stage 11.2+3.1; Extensive Stage 15.4+3.3; No Evidence of Disease 11.4+2.1; and Recurrent Disease 19.4+5.0. Finally, modulation of HSP70 using STA-4783 leads to cell surface localization in A549 and Calu-1 NSCLC cells, and less dramatically in H69 SCLC cells. Changes in HSP70 localization expression correlated with cytoskeletal reorganization, consisting of rearrangement of the microtubule and microfilament networks. Hence, investigations of HSPs as potential tumor biomarkers and therapeutic targets are promising in lung cancer.
Nasopharyngeal microbiota in infants and changes during viral upper respiratory tract infection and acute otitis media.

Background Interferences between pathogenic bacteria and specific commensals are known. We determined the interactions between nasopharyngeal microbial pathogens and commensals during viral upper respiratory tract infection (URI) and acute otitis media (AOM) in infants. Methods We analyzed 971 specimens collected monthly and during URI and AOM episodes from 139 infants. The 16S rRNA V4 gene regions were sequenced on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Results Among the high abundant genus-level nasopharyngeal microbiota were Moraxella, Haemophilus, and Streptococcus (3 otopathogen genera), Corynebacterium, Dolosigranulum, Staphylococcus, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Bifidobacterium. Bacterial diversity was lower in culture-positive samples for Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae, compared to cultured-negative samples. URI frequencies were positively associated with increasing trend in otopathogen colonization. AOM frequencies were associated with decreasing trend in Micrococcus colonization. During URI and AOM, there were increases in abundance of otopathogen genera and decreases in Pseudomonas, Myroides, Yersinia, and Sphingomonas. Otopathogen abundance was increased during symptomatic viral infection, but not during asymptomatic infection. The risk for AOM complicating URI was reduced by increased abundance of Staphylococcus and Sphingobium. Conclusion Otopathogen genera played the key roles in URI and AOM occurrences. Staphylococcus counteracts otopathogens thus Staphylococcal colonization may be beneficial, rather than harmful. While Sphingobium may play a role in preventing AOM complicating URI, the commonly used probiotic Bifidobacterium did not play a significant role during URI or AOM. The role of less common commensals in counteracting the deleterious effects of otopathogens requires further studies.
A Systematic Review of Assistive Technology for Individuals with Intellectual Disability in the Workplace.

Research has shown that assistive technology (AT) can help support employment skills for individuals with intellectual disabilities (IDs). The authors of this review examined the effectiveness of v...
Dominance and Prestige: A Tale of Two Hierarchies:

Dominance and prestige represent evolved strategies used to navigate social hierarchies. Dominance is a strategy through which people gain and maintain social rank by using coercion, intimidation, and power. Prestige is a strategy through which people gain and maintain social rank by displaying valued knowledge and skills and earning respect. The current article synthesizes recent lines of research documenting differences between dominance- versus prestige-oriented individuals, including personality traits and emotions, strategic behaviors deployed in social interactions, leadership strategies, and physiological correlates of both behaviors. The article also reviews effects that dominance versus prestige have on the functioning and well-being of social groups. The article also presents opportunities for future research and discusses links between dominance and prestige and the social psychological literature on power and status.
Feasibility of multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy thermoset-based strain sensors for sensing in structural applications

Embedded sensors are being explored to non-intrusively monitor the loading experienced by a part either during the manufacturing process or in subsequent service. With the advancement of additive m...
Economic assessment of landowners' willingness to supply energy crops on marginal lands in the northeastern of the United States

Abstract A major critique of large scale biomass production is the land competition between food and energy crops. A commonly suggested solution is to limit energy crop production to marginal lands. Physical marginality is often used when discussing marginal lands. However, as important is the socioeconomic marginality. This research fills this gap by evaluating willingness to supply bioenergy crops for landowners who have marginal lands. We conducted contingent valuation surveys at study sites with three model crops: switchgrass, miscanthus and willow. Random utility theory is applied to evaluate factors influencing decision maker's choice to plant energy crops. The results indicate that landowners who own marginal lands are more likely to plant energy crops and they require a lower willingness to accept price compared with landowners who do not have marginal lands. At the same time, we noticed that landowners are unfamiliar with these new crops. Economic concerns are the top reasons preventing them from planting energy crops.
Bias in Estimates of Global Mean Sea Level Change Inferred from Satellite Altimetry

abstractEstimates of regional and global average sea level change remain a focus of climate change research. One complication in obtaining coherent estimates is that geodetic datasets measure different aspects of the sea level field. Satellite altimetry constrains changes in the sea surface height (SSH; or absolute sea level), whereas tide gauge data provide a measure of changes in SSH relative to the crust (i.e., relative sea level). The latter is a direct measure of changes in ocean volume (and the combined impacts of ice sheet melt and steric effects), but the former is not since it does not account for crustal deformation. Nevertheless, the literature commonly conflates the two estimates by directly comparing them. We demonstrate that using satellite altimetry records to estimate global ocean volume changes can lead to biases that can exceed 15%. The level of bias will depend on the relative contributions to sea level changes from the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets. The bias is also more sensitive...