cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Limited access to special education services for school-aged children with developmental delay.

Abstract Background Current policy in Oregon limits eligibility of children diagnosed with developmental delay for school-based services. Due to eligibility definitions, children with developmental delay may face additional barriers transitioning from early intervention/early childhood special education into school-based special education services. Aims Examine the relationship between enrollment in school-based special education programs given a change in primary disability diagnosis. Methods Logistic regression models were fit for children who enrolled in early intervention/early childhood special education services with a primary disability diagnosis of developmental delay and changed primary disability diagnosis before third grade (n = 5076). Results Odds of enrollment in future special education were greater in children with a change in primary disability diagnosis after the age of five in comparison to children that had a change in primary disability diagnosis before the age of five, while adjusting for demographic characteristics (adjusted odds ratio: 2.37, 95% CI 1.92, 2.92). Conclusion Results suggest that children who are diagnosed with a developmental delay and exit early childhood special education due to maximum age of eligibility are more likely to enroll in special education compared to children without a gap in service access. Implications Gaps in service access during early development are associated with the need for supportive services later on in life.
Femoral Alignment and Femoral Rotation

Although there have been many advancements that facilitate performing a successful total knee arthroplasty (TKA), failures that require revision surgery continue to arise. The numbers of such failures are predicted to increase dramatically in the future. It is important to appreciate that accurately establishing femoral coronal and axial component alignment is important for achieving a successful revision of TKA. Our chapter seeks to review techniques facilitating femoral resections that provide beneficial soft tissue tensions and bony relationships throughout the gait cycle. We will review the anatomy and axes pertinent to the distal femur, biomechanics and forces through the knee, and strategies commonly used to align the femur in the axial and coronal plane during revision surgery. Additionally, we have updated our chapter with a review of more contemporary techniques.
Technology readiness levels enhancing R&D management and technology transfer capabilities: insights from a public utility in Northwest USA

It is important for organisations to set their strategies so they can envision long-term goals and plans to achieve them, and there are solidly established methods and studies about the subject. To manage technology development efforts is equally important, especially to decide which technologies should be invested in and when those technologies are ready to be used. The technology readiness levels (TRL), developed by NASA, appear as a method to inform managers about the readiness of technologies under development, thus helping organisations in their decision-making processes regarding technology and product development. The objective of this study is to understand the history and main characteristics of TRLs and how the method can benefit R&D management and technology transfer. Interviews were conducted with technology managers in an electric utility in the Northwest USA, and results show that competitive advantage can be achieved through the use of TRLs.
Commitments and Projects

A computational model is developed, which captures properties of relationship and organization in sets of distributed intelligent agents. The model is inspired by sociological theory, and uses centrally a concept of commitment. A formulation of the concept of commitment is proposed. The concept is propagated into notions of agent and organization. A formulation and computational model of the basic notion of commitment is given, which represents commitments as mutually agreed constraints on action, belief and world state.
Analyzing Organized Structures

THE SYMMETRIES (OR NEAR-SYMMETRIES) OF A MOLECULE or solid unit are embodied in the operations that change it to an equivalent (or nearly equivalent) system. Each such operation transforms a local physical attribute. This may be a displacement associated with an oscillation. It may be an orbital for electrons or nuclei. It may be an angular momentum or spin. It may be electric charge or color charge.
Policing Unfair Arbitration Clauses

Until recently it was almost universally assumed that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) allowed courts to refuse enforcement of an arbitration clause found to be unconscionable as a matter of law. A.T.& T. Mobility v. Concepcion, 131 S. Ct. 1740 (2011) suggests that given the subjective nature of the doctrine of unconscionability, courts may no longer be able to use it to police arbitration clauses. Assuming this to be the case, we argue that there are two "reasonable expectations" doctrines available as alternatives. These are "The Circle of Assent" recognized only by the courts in Tennessee and the "Darner Motor" doctrine recognized by the courts in Arizona. These doctrines, applicable to any term that is non-negotiable, shift the burden of establishing unfairness from the party upon whom an arbitration clause is imposed to the draftsman who must establish that the other party would reasonably expect to find the term said to be unfair. In addition, because these doctrines do not involve unconscionability, they are not subject to Section 2-301(1) Uniform Commercial Code which allows for judicial modification to avoid an unconscionable result.
STUDIES ON THE PROPHYLAXIS AND TREATMENT OF BOTULISM

ABSTRACT The efficacy of heterologous and homologous antitoxins was evaluated for the prophylaxis and treatment of botulism in guinea pigs. Botulism Immune Plasma (Human) was shown to be efficacious for the prophylaxis and treatment of botulism in guinea pigs. The effective half-life of heterologous (horse) antitoxin was 5 to 7 days in a human patient treated for Type A botulism. A half-life of 21 days is anticipated for homologous antitoxin in man.
Tropidofusus ypotethys: a new genus and new species of Columbariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Turbinelloidea)

ABSTRACTThe genus Tripidofusus n. gen. is proposed to include Tropidofusus ypotethys n. sp. from bathyal depths off New Zealand, as well as Fulgurofusus aequilonius and Columbarium benthocallis fro...
Interdisciplinary Science and Research: A Novel Program to Advance Student Preparation in STEM

To address the need for STEM reform in K-12 schools, this article describes the design and implementation of a rigorous, interdisciplinary science and research program (ISR) in two local high schools (HS-S and HS-H). The ISR, adapted from the successful School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt program, provides seven courses over four years that focus on the development of critical thinking skills and the ability to construct and perform hypothesis driven research projects. The courses are co-taught by a science teacher (masters or doctoral level) and a Ph.D. scientist. Overall, students in both programs showed higher science end-of-course test scores and ACT composite scores compared to their non-ISR peers, completed research internships at Vanderbilt, and presented their research at local and regional meetings. Currently 62 of the 77 ISR graduates are attending college, with 62% of the declared majors in STEM areas. As the programs have matured, challenges such as low student preparation (ISR-S) and competition with other school academic offerings (ISR-H) have been addressed, resulting in increased numbers of students participating in the program. The school district has demonstrated the value of the ISR program by providing funding for the scientists and expanding to a third school in 2016.
Mobility and fractionation of copper in sandy soils

The transport and fractionation of copper (Cu) were investigated in three soils which were under continuous citrus production for over 30 years. The above soils received 50 kg Cu ha−1, and were lea...
Extratropical Transition of Hurricane Irene (2011) in a Changing Climate

AbstractTropical cyclones (TCs) undergoing strong extratropical transition (ET) can produce adverse societal impacts in areas that rarely experience direct TC impacts. This, in conjunction with pro...
Treatment of Essential Tremor: Surgical Therapy

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as an effective therapy for medically refractory essential tremor. Stimulation reversibility and adjustability give it a distinct advantage over ablative surgery. The ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus is the commonest target implanted with numerous studies showing significant and sustained benefit. However, newer targets such as the caudal zona incerta have been reported to produce robust tremor suppression with fewer side effects observed from bilateral implants compared to thalamic DBS. A unilateral thalamotomy from focused ultrasound (FUS) remains a viable therapeutic option for those patients who are not DBS candidates or are unable to undergo the procedure.
Vaccine:: Obfuscating Access Pattern Against File-Injection Attacks

Searchable Encryption can search over encrypted data without accessing data or queries in plaintext. It preserves privacy while queries are performed over data on an untrusted server. To ensure the efficiency of search, most Searchable Encryption schemes reveal access patterns, i.e., a server learns which encrypted files are retrieved for each query. Unfortunately, by collecting access patterns, a file-injection attack can completely compromise the query privacy offered by Searchable Encryption. In this paper, we propose a novel pre-encryption obfuscation mechanism, referred to as Vaccine, which can effectively protect searchable encrypted data against a file-injection attack. Specifically, the main idea of Vaccine is to introduce a self file-injection attack, which obfuscates access patterns obtained by an attacker and prevents this attacker from inferring correct queries in plaintext. In addition, by harnessing natural language processing techniques, Vaccine can effectively remove self-injected files from search results, and therefore introduce minimal tradeoffs. Our experimental results on a real-world dataset show that Vaccine can reduce an adversary's guessing probability from 1 to $3.7\times 10^{-3}$ , which significantly promotes privacy protection. Furthermore, Vaccine introduces only 3.4% false negatives and no false positives in search results.
Regulation of the Erythroid Iron Deprivation Response By a TfR2-Scribble-Epor Integrated Module Coupling Iron Sensing with Receptor Presentation

Iron deficiency in humans causes desensitization of erythroid progenitors to erythropoietin, the principal cytokine for erythroid survival, proliferation, and differentiation. This nutrient deprivation response acts in a lineage-selective, non-apoptotic manner to restrain expansion of the tissue responsible for the majority of iron consumption, thereby triaging iron utilization under conditions of deficiency. The molecular basis for this response is incompletely understood but involves transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) and aconitase enzymatic activity as extra- and intracellular iron sensors. Here, we identify a multi-component, integrated module connecting these two elements of erythroid iron sensing with endo-lysosomal trafficking, receptor surface delivery, and configuration of EpoR signaling. Specifically, iron and aconitase activity modulate the rate of TfR2 catabolism by cathepsin protease activity. Scribble, a conserved regulator of receptor transport and signaling, binds TfR2 and serves as a downstream effector through to its co-catabolism. Scribble levels in turn influence surface delivery of the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR), which physically interacts with both Scribble and TfR2. The TfR2-dependent downregulation of Scribble associated with iron deprivation diminishes surface EpoR density and skews its signaling from JAK-STAT to Akt pathways. Mice with surface-trapped, endocytosis-defective EpoR fail to develop anemia in response to iron deficiency. These findings establish a tissue-specific nutrient sensing pathway relevant to the pathogenesis of human anemias and their resistance to erythropoietin therapy. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
A few comments on passive synthetic aperture sonar in honor of Ed Sullivan

I came to know Ed Sullivan after submitting a paper on passive synthetic aperture sonar for publication in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. At that time, he was an Associate Editor of the journal. I knew of him, by reputation, of course. Only after the paper reviews came back did I get to know him, the person, the hard-core, old-school signal processor and physicist. At first, I simply tried to humor him to get the paper accepted for publication, figuring that quotes from a few of his papers sprinkled here and there would suffice. But after spending time expanding my knowledge of his work, I developed a deep appreciation for the foundation in signal processing he and colleagues had built. The published version of our paper was significantly improved as a result. This talk presents some of Ed Sullivan's results on model-based signal processing and its application to passive synthetic aperture sonar, along with some of our published results. Its main purpose, however, is to serve as a reminder that we all stand on the foundation built by those who have gone before. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research.]
The effect of the minimum wage on children’s cognitive achievement

Abstract At the center of the minimum wage debate is its role in improving the welfare of low-income families. However, there is little empirical evidence of whether minimum wage changes actually affect those families’ children. This paper examines the effect of the minimum wage on the math and reading achievement levels of children with low socioeconomic status whose parents are most likely to be affected by the minimum wage, comparing with children in households with high socioeconomic status. Estimates show that a $1 minimum wage increase reduces children’s math and reading scores by approximately 0.10–0.19 standard deviations. Further, there is evidence that increases in the minimum wage lead to deterioration in the home environment, which may be one potential mechanism underlying my main findings.
Downward burning of PMMA cylinders: The effect of pressure and oxygen

Abstract Better understanding the burning behavior of solid fuels is necessary in order to be able to estimate more accurately the fire risk that they might represent. The burning rate is an essential component when assessing the growth of a fire, since it determines the heat released during the fuel burning. The objective of the present work is to study the effect of ambient pressure and oxygen concentration on the burning of cylindrical samples of polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) in opposed flow flame spread conditions. Experiments are conducted using pressures ranging between 100 and 30 kPa and oxygen concentrations between 19% and 23%, with a forced flow velocity of 100 mm/s. The experimental conditions reflect environments potentially encountered in future spacecraft cabins. The data collected show that during downward opposed flame spread the surface regression rate, and consequently the mass burning rate, decreases with decreasing ambient pressure and increases with decreasing oxygen concentration. The data presented is correlated with a simplified model to estimate the surface regression rate based on the mixed heat convection coefficient and the B number. Model predictions are made based on fuel properties as well as the relevant environmental conditions. The predictions of the model agree well capturing the effect of ambient pressure and oxygen concentration. The correlations provide information about the variations in the burning rate in environments with variable pressure and oxygen concentration, providing guidance for potential for fire safety testing and design in different ambient conditions.
13C and 15N chemical shift assignments of A117V and M129V human Y145Stop prion protein amyloid fibrils.

The C-terminally truncated Y145Stop variant of prion protein (PrP23-144) has been linked to a heritable prionopathy in humans and is also capable of triggering a transmissible prion disease in mice. PrP23-144 can be converted from soluble monomeric form to amyloid under physiological conditions, providing an in vitro model for investigating the molecular basis of amyloid strains and cross-seeding barriers. Here, we use magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR to establish the sequential backbone and sidechain 13C and 15N chemical shift assignments for amyloid fibrils formed by the A117V and M129V mutants of human PrP23-144, which in the context of full length PrP in vivo are among the specific residues associated with development of Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease. The chemical shift data are utilized to identify amino acids comprising the rigid amyloid core regions and to predict the protein secondary structures for human PrP23-144 A117V and M129V fibrils.
Transcriptomic response of brain tissue to focused ultrasound-mediated blood–brain barrier disruption depends strongly on anesthesia

Focused ultrasound (FUS) mediated blood-brain barrier disruption (BBBD) targets the delivery of systemically-administered therapeutics to the central nervous system. Preclinical investigations of BBBD have been performed on different anesthetic backgrounds; however, the influence of the choice of anesthetic on the molecular response to BBBD is unknown, despite its potential to critically affect interpretation of experimental therapeutic outcomes. Here, using bulk RNA sequencing, we comprehensively examined the transcriptomic response of both normal brain tissue and brain tissue exposed to FUS-induced BBBD in mice anesthetized with either isoflurane with medical air (Iso) or ketamine/dexmedetomidine (KD). In normal murine brain tissue, Iso alone elicited minimal differential gene expression (DGE) and repressed pathways associated with neuronal signaling. KD alone, however, led to massive DGE and enrichment of pathways associated with protein synthesis. In brain tissue exposed to BBBD (1 MHz, 0.5 Hz pulse repetition frequency, 0.4 MPa peak-negative pressure), we systematically evaluated the relative effects of anesthesia, microbubbles, and FUS on the transcriptome. Of particular interest, we observed that gene sets associated with sterile inflammatory responses and cell-cell junctional activity were induced by BBBD, regardless of the choice of anesthesia. Meanwhile, gene sets associated with metabolism, platelet activity, tissue repair, and signaling pathways, were differentially affected by BBBD, with a strong dependence on the anesthetic. We conclude that the underlying transcriptomic response to FUS-mediated BBBD may be powerfully influenced by anesthesia. These findings raise considerations for the translation of FUS-BBBD delivery approaches that impact, in particular, metabolism, tissue repair, and intracellular signaling.
A fluid-structure interaction solver for investigating torsional galloping in solar-tracking photovoltaic panel arrays

Solar-tracking photovoltaic arrays are susceptible to aeroelastic fluttering during high-wind events. This dynamic fluttering behavior can grow in amplitude until the panels enter an unstable mode known as torsional galloping which can lead to panel failure or total array destruction. To better understand the physics of the torsional galloping phenomenon and to inform the discussion around panel design and recommended panel stow positions during high wind events, a fluid-structure interaction solver composed of a simulated atmospheric boundary layer with simplified panel structural responses was designed. The simulation choices and features of this solver were informed by the geometry and physical properties of an experimental panel array known to exhibit torsional galloping behavior during hind-wind events. These simulations revealed that the torsional galloping instability is driven by a combination of cyclic vortex shedding from the sun-facing side of the panel and the elastic properties of the torque tube linking the panel assemblies. Testing different stow angles across a range of wind speeds indicates that panels are generally more stable when stowed at negative angles where the leading edge is closer to the ground, hypothesized to be due to ground-blocking effects. These results are supplemented by a discussion of stability trends noted during testing and possible implications when considering multi-row array interactions.
A Series of Unfortunate Events: Crisis Response and the European Union After 2008

European integration has been driven by crisis since the 1950s. What distinguishes the most recent crisis context in Europe is its degree of complexity, duration, and interdependence. To understand the current chapter in European integration, one must first evaluate the unusual, combined effects of the five overlapping crises that have surfaced since 2008. I develop a general framework of analysis designed to help us understand Europe’s novel crisis context, and then apply it to the Eurozone crisis, the Russia–Ukraine crisis, the crisis of migration, Brexit, and the crisis in the transatlantic relationship. What emerges from the comparative analysis is that the level of interactive complexity generated by this succession of crises has prompted the EU to respond in ways that has brought the Union incrementally closer to “stateness.”
Energy and Dynamics of Caveolae Trafficking

Caveolae are 70-100 nm diameter plasma membrane invaginations found in abundance in adipocytes, endothelial cells, myocytes, and fibroblasts. Their bulb-shaped membrane domain is characterized and formed by specific lipid binding proteins including Caveolins, Cavins, Pacsin2, and EHD2. Likewise, an enrichment of cholesterol and other lipids makes caveolae a distinct membrane environment that supports proteins involved in cell-type specific signaling pathways. Their ability to detach from the plasma membrane and move through the cytosol has been shown to be important for lipid trafficking and metabolism. Here, we review recent concepts in caveolae trafficking and dynamics. Second, we discuss how ATP and GTP-regulated proteins including dynamin and EHD2 control caveolae behavior. Throughout, we summarize the potential physiological and cell biological roles of caveolae internalization and trafficking and highlight open questions in the field and future directions for study.
The Role of Nucleotide Excision Repair in Cisplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Mechanism, Prevention, and Treatment.

Platinum-based chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is one of the most common dose-limiting effects of cancer treatment and results in dose reduction and discontinuation of life-saving chemotherapy. Its debilitating effects are often permanent and lead to lifelong impairment of quality of life in cancer patients. While the mechanisms underlying the toxicity are not yet fully defined, dorsal root ganglia sensory neurons play an integral role in symptom development. DNA-platinum adducts accumulate in these cells and inhibit normal cellular function. Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is integral to the repair of platinum adducts, and proteins involved in its mechanism serve as potential targets for future therapeutics. This review aims to highlight NER’s role in cisplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy, summarize current clinical approaches to the toxicity, and discuss future perspectives for the prevention and treatment of CIPN.
Association Between Portal Vein Thrombosis and Pouchitis in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis.

Pouchitis is the most common long-term complication in patients requiring colectomy ileal pouch-anal anastomosis with medically refractory ulcerative colitis or colitis-associated neoplasia. A previous small case series suggests associated between portal vein thrombosis (PVT) and ischemic pouchitis. To evaluate the association between PVT and other demographic and clinical factors and pouchitis. We used Explorys Inc., a population-based database, to search medical records between 1999 and 2020 with SNOMED-CT code criteria for “construction of pouch” and “ileal pouchitis.” Patients with pouchitis were compared to those with previous pouch construction without pouchitis. Factors associated with pouchitis identified with univariable analysis were introduced into a multivariable model. A post hoc analysis further stratified demographical findings of the association between PVT and pouchitis. We identified 7900 patients with ileal pouchitis (7.5%) and 97,510 with pouch construction without pouchitis. In multivariate binary logistic regression, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for the risk of pouchitis in patients with PVT was 10.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.04–16.49, P < 0.001). Other significant factors associated with pouchitis included male gender (aOR 1.11, 95% CI 1.02–1.21, P = 0.018), deep vein thrombosis (aOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.23–1.72, P < 0.001), and the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (aOR 1.37, 95% CI 1.28–1.45, P < 0.001). Smoking was a protective factor (aOR 0.30, 95% CI 0.33–0.36, P < 0.001). Further sub-analysis showed a higher prevalence of younger patients with PVT and pouchitis. We report PVT as an independent risk factor associated with pouchitis. Our findings support that PVT is a potentially manageable perioperative complication, and intervention may reduce the risk of pouchitis.
Neighborhood cognitive amenities? A mixed-methods study of intellectually-stimulating places and cognitive function among older Americans

Abstract Neighborhoods structure health and wellbeing in later life. Local spaces can encourage physically active and socially engaged aging in place, and may also nurture opportunities for cognitively-stimulating creative and complex activities such as reading; playing and listening to music; learning; and engagement in galleries, performing arts, and museums. These activities are associated with better cognitive health outcomes. In this exploratory sequential mixed-methods study, thematic analysis of interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with 125 diverse older adults in the Minneapolis (MN) metropolitan area (mean age 71 years) explored how and where older adults participated in intellectually-stimulating neighborhood activities. Thematic analysis indicated that libraries, higher education campuses, and sites of arts and culture were frequented intellectually-stimulating places, with racial differences in perception and usage. The qualitative findings informed quantitative investigation of associations between these amenities and cognitive function in a large national sample of aging Black and white Americans (n = 21,165, mean age 67 years) in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study. We used multilevel linear regression models to examine whether living in a neighborhood with higher kernel densities of libraries, higher education campuses, and arts/cultural sites had a net positive effect on cognitive function. Analysis identified statistically significant positive associations between arts/cultural sites and cognitive function, with a significantly larger effect size for white versus Black participants. The study contributes new evidence to the emerging ecological model of cognitive health. It critically considers racial disparities in access to health-promoting neighborhood infrastructure and opportunities to age well in place.
Diversity and Similarity of Termination and Ribosome Rescue in Bacterial, Mitochondrial, and Cytoplasmic Translation

When a ribosome encounters the stop codon of an mRNA, it terminates translation, releases the newly made protein, and is recycled to initiate translation on a new mRNA. Termination is a highly dynamic process in which release factors (RF1 and RF2 in bacteria; eRF1•eRF3•GTP in eukaryotes) coordinate peptide release with large-scale molecular rearrangements of the ribosome. Ribosomes stalled on aberrant mRNAs are rescued and recycled by diverse bacterial, mitochondrial, or cytoplasmic quality control mechanisms. These are catalyzed by rescue factors with peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase activity (bacterial ArfA•RF2 and ArfB, mitochondrial ICT1 and mtRF-R, and cytoplasmic Vms1), that are distinct from each other and from release factors. Nevertheless, recent structural studies demonstrate a remarkable similarity between translation termination and ribosome rescue mechanisms. This review describes how these pathways rely on inherent ribosome dynamics, emphasizing the active role of the ribosome in all translation steps.
Biomechanics of Hip Function

The hip is a constrained and encapsulated articulation between the concave acetabulum of the pelvis and the spherical femoral head. Despite this apparent simplicity, there exists a wide variation in the morphology and version of the proximal femur and acetabulum. This leads to a femoral head that is slightly out-of-round, an acetabulum that is horseshoe shaped, and a femoral head that moves relative to the socket such that it is not a true ball-in-socket joint. Additionally, there are more than 20 muscles and a variety of other soft tissues structures that span the joint contributing to the stability and function of the hip. Comprehensive knowledge of the proximal femur and pelvic anatomy, as well as the muscles, ligaments, labrum, and cartilage that surround the hip is essential to understanding the biomechanical properties involved in the equilibrium of forces needed for controlled hip joint motion.
Network Traffic Shaping for Enhancing Privacy in IoT Systems

Motivated by privacy issues caused by inference attacks on user activities in the packet sizes and timing information of Internet of Things (IoT) network traffic, we establish a rigorous event-level differential privacy (DP) model on infinite packet streams. We propose a memoryless traffic shaping mechanism satisfying a first-come-first-served queuing discipline that outputs traffic dependent on the input using a DP mechanism. We show that in special cases the proposed mechanism recovers existing shapers which standardize the output independently from the input. To find the optimal shapers for given levels of privacy and transmission efficiency, we formulate the constrained problem of minimizing the expected delay per packet and propose using the expected queue size across time as a proxy. We further show that the constrained minimization is a convex program. We demonstrate the effect of shapers on both synthetic data and packet traces from actual IoT devices. The experimental results reveal inherent privacy-overhead tradeoffs: more shaping overhead provides better privacy protection. Under the same privacy level, there naturally exists a tradeoff between dummy traffic and delay. When dealing with heavier or less bursty input traffic, all shapers become more overhead-efficient. We also show that increased traffic from a larger number of IoT devices makes guaranteeing event-level privacy easier. The DP shaper offers tunable privacy that is invariant with the change in the input traffic distribution and has an advantage in handling burstiness over traffic-independent shapers. This approach well accommodates heterogeneous network conditions and enables users to adapt to their privacy/overhead demands.
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) involves the skin, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurologic systems, classified as primary, secondary, and idiopathic. Earlier criteria for MCAS diagnosis included episodic symptoms with mast cell mediators affecting two or more organ systems with urticaria, angioedema, flushing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, hypotensive syncope, tachycardia, wheezing, conjunctival injection, pruritus, nasal stuffiness, decrease in frequency, severity, or resolution of symptoms with anti-mediator therapy including H1/H2 receptor antagonists, anti-leukotrienes, or mast cell stabilizers. Laboratory data includes an increased validated urinary or serum markers of MCAS, documentation of an increase of the marker above the patient’s baseline value during symptomatic periods on more than two occasions, or baseline serum tryptase levels that are persistently above 15 ng/mL. Laboratory data also includes an increase of the tryptase level above baseline value on one occasion. Other assays are 24-h urine histamine metabolites, PGD2 or its metabolite, and 11-β-prostaglandin F2 alpha. A recent global classification is a response of clinical symptoms, a substantial transient increase in serum total tryptase or increase in other mast cell-derived mediators, histamine or PGD2 or urinary metabolites, and agents that attenuate production or mast cell mediator activities. “Spectrum of MCAS disorders” has been proposed, highlighting symptoms’ diagnostic tests and treatments.
Abstract #5120: Regulation of death receptor-mediated apoptosis by the RING-Finger E3 ligase Siah2

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 18-22, 2009; Denver, CO A functioning ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is essential for a number of diverse cellular processes and maintenance of overall cellular homeostasis. The goal of this study is to identify the specific UPS machinery responsible for the regulation of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway. Using an RNAi-mediated screen for all E3 ubiquitin ligases in the human genome, we have identified the E3 ligase Siah2 to be a negative regulator of caspase-8 activity upon induction of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway by TRAIL. To confirm Siah2 can function in death receptor-mediated apoptosis, we first modulated Siah2 cellular levels in prostate cancer cells by both RNAi and overexpression techniques. We then tested their apoptotic response to death receptor stimuli TRAIL and FasL. The two in vitro prostate cancer models tested (PC-3 and PPC-1) both displayed an increased sensitivity to TRAIL and FasL when Siah2 was successfully downregulated by siRNA. Stable overexpression of Siah2 in both cell lines produced a limited increase in the apoptotic response to death receptor stimulus. Siah2 is known to target the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) mediator TRAF2. TRAF2 is a component of the TNF-\#945; signaling complex I and is necessary for TNF-\#945;-dependent activation of NF-\#954;B. To determine if Siah2 function in TRAIL-mediated cell death is dependent of TRAF2, we tested the ability of Siah2 to regulate TRAIL-induced apoptosis in PC-3 cells overexpressing a dominant negative mutant TRAF2. No difference in cell viability or apoptosis induction was observed between dnTRAF2 expressing cells or vector only control cells upon TRAIL stimulation. This study suggests Siah2 is a novel regulator of death ligand-induced apoptosis and functions independently of TRAF2. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 5120.
The Early Years of HIV/AIDS

It is almost 20 years since HIV was first isolated and identified as the cause of AIDS. This Viewpoint by Gallo of the Insitute of Human Virology in Baltimore, Maryland, provides an insider9s view of the frustrations and triumphs that led to the discovery of HIV as the cause of AIDS.
Critique of Pure Music, by James O. Young

Seeing the title Critique of Pure Music, anyone familiar with the work of James O. Young will surmise that his new book is a focused, thoughtful, and clearly-written contribution to philosophy of m...
Whose Rights? Why States Should Set the Parameters for Federal Honest Services Mail and Wire Fraud Prosecutions

The citizens and governments of states and localities have a federal statutory right to the "honest services" of their public officials. The federal statutes that criminalize conduct impinging on this right, however, do not clearly define the parameters of the term "honest services," and, as a result, the U.S. Courts of Appeals have differed in their interpretation of what conduct comprises a violation of the statute. The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fifth Circuits have held that, in order for there to be a federal crime, the "honest services" must be owed under state or local law. Meanwhile, the First Circuit has held that such a state or local law violation is not a necessary prerequisite to the federal crime. This Note argues that, due to federalism and the nature of public corruption, the former approach strikes the appropriate balance between state sovereignty and the federal interest in good government.
Iodido{4-phenyl-1-[1-(1,3-thia­zol-2-yl-κN)ethyl­idene]thio­semicarbazidato-κ2N′,S}{4-phenyl-1-[1-(1,3-thia­zol-2-yl)ethyl­idene]thio­semicarbazide-κS}cadmium(II)

In the title compound, [Hg(C12H11N4S2)I(C12H12N4S2)], the Hg atom is in a distorted square-pyramidal coordination, defined by the iodide ligand, by the S atom of the neutral ligand in the apical position, and by the N atom of the thia­zole ring, the thio­ureido N and the S atom of the deprotonated ligand. The deprotonated ligand intra­molecularly hydrogen bonds to the thia­zole ring N atom, while the deprotonated ligand forms an inter­molecular hydrogen bond to the thiol­ate S atom. The deprotonation of the tridentate ligand and its coordination to Hg via the S atom strikingly affects the C—S bond lengths. In the free ligand, the C—S bond distance is 1.685 (7) A, whereas it is 1.749 (7) A in the deprotonated ligand. Similarly, the Hg—S bond distance is slightly longer to the neutral ligand [2.6682 (18) A] than to the deprotonated ligand [2.5202 (19) A]. The Hg—I distance is 2.7505 (8) A.
New Public Management and Principals’ Roles in Organizational Governance: What Can a Corporate Issue Tell us About Public Sector Management?

The article analyzes debates between institutional investors and corporate management as a way of investigating accountability issues in organizations with dispersed principals. By exploring issues at stake in entrepreneurial management in any organization with multiple owner/principals, the narrative adds to the critique of public-sector entrepreneurial management from an unusual vantage point.
Identification of expressed sequence markers for a major gene-rich region of wheat chromosome group 1 using RNA fingerprinting-differential display

This study demonstrates a successful application of RNA fingerprinting-differential display technique in identifying expressed sequence markers for a small targeted region of the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genome. Wheat genes are present in clusters spanning about 10% of the genome. One of the important gene-rich regions is present on the short arm of wheat homoeologous group I chromosomes around fraction length 0.8 ('1S0.8 region'). The region is about 0.1% of the wheat genome and is flanked by the breakpoints of deletion lines 1BS-4 and 1BS-19. The objective of this study was to identify expressed sequence markers for the region. First-strand cDNA of poly A + mRNA pooled from various developmental stages of the two deletion lines were PCR amplified in the presence of 35 S by means of 90 pair-wise combinations of 19 primers. Amplification products were size-separated on a denaturing polyacrylamide urea gel. A total of 6840 fragment bands were amplified, of which 65 were present in the deletion line 1BS-4, but missing in 1BS-19. These 65 fragment bands were cut out of the gel, reamplified, and used as probes for gel-blot DNA analysis of group 1 nullisomic-tetrasomic lines and the two deletion lines. Nineteen of the 65 fragment bands detected a smear pattern and thus were not mapped. Of the remaining 46 probes, 22 mapped to wheat homoeologous group 1 and seven mapped to the '1S0.8 region'. The same approach can be used to target other wheat gene-rich regions bracketed by deletion breakpoints.
Who Says What or Nothing at All? Speakers, Frames, and Frameless Quotes in Unauthorized Immigration News in the United States, Norway, and France:

Determining the speakers and arguments that dominate the news has long been a core task of media sociology. Yet systematic evidence linking the two—who says what or nothing at all—is lacking in news analysis, especially on the important issue of immigration. In this article, we analyze quoted sources and issue frames in U.S., French, and Norwegian news coverage of unauthorized immigration during 2011 and 2012. Supporting claims of transnational media homogenization, we find most quotes are “frameless,” that is, do not contain any substantial arguments addressing the problems, causes, or solutions associated with immigration. Of those quotes that do offer frames, problem frames are far more common than causes and solutions. Across nations and media types, government sources dominate the news, focusing on problems for society, while pro-immigration associations and unaffiliated individuals help account for overall greater attention to problems for immigrants. On the other hand, providing limited support for...
Aerodynamics: The cost of flight in flocks

There are well-known aerodynamic and energetic benefits to flying in an orderly formation. By contrast, it seems that the flocking flight seen in pigeons is metabolically expensive. So why do they do it? See Letter p.494 Close monitoring of 18 pigeons during 7 bouts of flight around their home loft, in which they clocked up more than 9 pigeon-hours and 400 pigeon-kilometres of flight, suggests that there is a high cost involved in formation flying. Pigeons in flocks flap much faster and engage in banked turns that double g-force and quadruple effort. Flying close together is, in terms of energetics, very costly. Whatever advantage flocking provides must lie elsewhere.
Mannose ligand receptor assay as a test to predict fertilization in vitro: a prospective study

Abstract Objective: To assess whether mannose receptor assays can predict fertilization outcome in vitro. Design: A prospective, double-blind study of the mannose receptor properties of spermatozoa. Setting: Assisted human reproduction program at a university hospital. Patient(s): Partners of 140 consecutive women undergoing their first in vitro fertilization cycle. Intervention(s): Motile sperm populations were tested for surface receptors for mannose by measuring their ability to bind fluorescein-labeled mannosylated albumin and to undergo a free mannose-induced acrosome reaction as judged by Pisum sativum agglutinin binding. Main Outcome Measure(s): Mannose receptor assay results were correlated with fertilization outcomes using several statistical tests, including the χ 2 test, χ 2 for proportions, t -tests, analysis of variance with Student-Newman-Keuls tests and correlational and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Result(s): The fractional increment increase on incubation in the percent of sperm binding mannose ligand over an intact acrosome correlated with fertilization rates in vitro. Threshold values of mannose ligand binding and of mannose-induced acrosome reactions predictive of fertilization rates were identified by ROC curve analysis. Men were thus classified into one of four groups with differing fertilization rates in vitro. Conclusion(s): The increment increase in sperm surface mannose ligand binding by acrosome-intact sperm correctly predicts high and low fertilization rates in vitro and identifies cases where conventional insemination can result in failed fertilization.
Structure and function of the (A)BC excinuclease of Escherichia coli.

Abstract (A)BC excinuclease is the enzymatic activity resulting from the mixture of E. coli UvrA, UvrB and UvrC proteins with damaged DNA. This is a functional definition as new evidence suggests that the three proteins never associate in a ternary complex. The UvrA subunit associates with the UvrB subunit in the form of an A2B1 complex which, guided by UvrA's affinity for damaged DNA binds to a lesion in DNA and delivers the UvrB subunit to the damaged site. The UvrB-damaged DNA complex is extremely stable (t 1 2 ⋍ 100 min ) . The UvrC subunit, which has no specific affinity for damaged DNA, recognizes the UvrB-DNA complex with high the specificity and the protein complex consisting of UvrB and UvrC proteins makes two incisions, the 8th phosphodiester bond 5′ and the 5th phosphodiester bond 3′ to the damaged nucleotide. (A)BC excinuclease recognizes DNA damage ranging from AP sites and thymine glycols to pyrimidine dimers, and the adducts of psoralen, cisplatinum, mitomycin C, 4-nitroquinoline oxide and interstrand crosslinks.
A method for the purification of oligonucleotides containing strong intra- or intermolecular interactions by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.

Abstract Synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing a high guanine content have a tendency to form intra- or intermolecular complexes in solution that make HPLC purification difficult or sometimes impossible. We have developed a simple method that has enabled us to purify a series of highly guanine-rich and self-complementary oligonucleotides by HPLC on a reverse-phase PRP-1 column. Although others have shown that this type of oligonucleotide can be purified on an ion-exchange column by adding formamide to the mobile phase, the resulting resolution is poor and the formamide must subsequently be removed from the purified product. We find that simply having 20% formamide in the loading buffer is sufficient to remove the interfering interactions. This small amount of formamide passes quickly through the reverse-phase column, far removed from the peak position of the oligonucleotides. Quantities of up to 35 ODs have been satisfactorily purified with recoveries of 95% or better. This procedure was particularly suitable for purification of oligonucleotides containing base-labile modifications, such as acetylaminofluorene-modified oligonucleotides, since other denaturing HPLC purification methods usually employ strong alkaline conditions or high temperatures that might result in damage to the adduct.
Impact of TiO2 nanoparticles on growth, biofilm formation, and flavin secretion in Shewanella oneidensis.

Understanding of nanoparticle impacts on critical bacteria functions allows us to gain a mechanistic understanding of toxicity and guides us toward design rules for creating safe nanomaterials. Herein, biofilm formation, a general bacteria function, and riboflavin secretion, a species-specific function, were monitored in Shewanella oneidensis, a metal reducing bacterium, following exposure to a variety of TiO2 nanoparticle types (synthesized, Aeroxide P25, and T-Eco). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that dosed nanoparticles are in close proximity to the bacteria, but they are not internalized. Using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), it was revealed that S. oneidensis biofilm formation is slowed in the presence of nanoparticles. Though S. oneidensis grows more slowly in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles, riboflavin secretion, a function related to the S. oneidensis metal reducing capacity, was increased significantly in a nanoparticle dose-dependent manner. Both changes in biofilm form...