cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ion-Specific Effects in Carboxylate Binding Sites

Specific ion binding by carboxylates (−COO–) is a broadly important topic because −COO– is one of the most common functional groups coordinated to metal ions in metalloproteins and synthetic polymers. We apply quantum chemical methods and the quasi-chemical free-energy theory to investigate how variations in the number of −COO– ligands in a binding site determine ion-binding preferences. We study a series of monovalent (Li+, Na+, K+, Cs+) and divalent (Zn2+, Ca2+) ions relevant to experimental work on ion channels and ionomers. Of two competing hypotheses, our results support the ligand field strength hypothesis and follow the reverse Hofmeister series for ion solvation and ion transfer from aqueous solution to binding sites with the preferred number of ligands. New insight arises from the finding that ion-binding sequences can be manipulated and even reversed just by constraining the number of carboxylate ligands in the binding sites. Our results help clarify the discrepancy in ion association between mo...
597. AAV. NT-3 Treatment Attenuates Spontaneous Autoimmune Peripheral Polyneuropathy

The spontaneous autoimmune peripheral polyneuropathy (SAPP) model in B7-2 knockout non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice demonstrates overlapping clinical features with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). Secondary axonal loss is prominent in the progressive phase of this neuropathy. Neurotrophin 3 (NT-3) is an important autocrine factor supporting Schwann cell (SC) survival and differentiation and stimulates neurite outgrowth and myelination. Recently, NT-3 delivered in bone marrow-derived neural stem cells was shown to exert therapeutic effect, by reducing the inflammation and accelerating remyelination in experimental encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis. These findings led to considerations of AAV.NT-3 gene therapy via intramuscular delivery into SAPP mice to attenuate the disease. The results show AAV.NT-3 injection into gastrocnemius muscle of 25 week old SAPP mice produced measurable NT-3 levels in the serum at 7 weeks post gene delivery, sufficient to protect sciatic nerve motor function and compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs). Sciatic nerves of mice, receiving gene transfer had a significantly greater number of remyelinated fibers and decreased infiltration of CD3+ T cells compared to controls. These data correlated with reduced expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor (Tnf-α) and increased expression of anti-inflammatory markers, interleukin-10 and forkhead box-P3 (Foxp3) in the sciatic nerve. The treatment also increased the percentage of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the spleen. This proof-of-principle study established a therapeutic benefit by neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects of AAV-NT-3 treatment in SAPP. This study demonstrates the potential clinical translational path for AAV delivered NT-3 for refractory cases of CIDP..
Abstract A132: The HER4 intracellular domain (4ICD) functions as a potent estrogen receptor coactivator mediating estrogen stimulated proliferation of breast tumor cells

Among women with breast cancer more than 70% present with tumors expressing the estrogen receptor (ER) and will be treated with a therapeutic combination that includes endocrine therapy. Unfortunately, over 50% of these women fail therapy and develop incurable and often lethal metastatic disease. Disengaging ER interactions with essential transcriptional coactivators represents an effective approach to suppress ER driven breast cancer. To this end we have identified the HER4 intracellular domain (4ICD) as a potent estrogen receptor coactivator modulating estrogen induced gene expression and mediating estrogen stimulated proliferation of breast tumor cells. In multiple clinical studies, HER4 expression is significantly associated with ER positive tumors with up to 90% of ER positive breast tumors coexpressing HER4. These clinical observations imply a strong tumor cell selection for HER4 and ER coexpression. Estrogen stimulation of the ER and HER4 positive MCF-7 breast tumor cell line results in proteolytic processing of HER4 to release 4ICD. Significantly, estrogen stimulates nuclear translocation and binding of the 4ICD/ER complex to promoters containing estrogen response elements. Here we performed microarray gene expression analysis comparing MCF-7 cells with endogenous HER4 expression to MCF-7 cells where HER4 was stably suppressed. We found that estrogen significantly stimulated expression (2 fold and above) of 786 genes and 399 (51%) of these genes also required HER4 expression. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis of two ER-inducible genes, progesterone receptor (PgR) and stromal-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) shows that 4ICD binds to PgR and SDF-1 gene promoters suggesting that it is required for efficient promoter binding of ER to certain ER-mediated genes. These results clearly indicate that 4ICD is an important ER coactivator that enhances ER promoter interactions. Finally, we have evidence that HER4/4ICD is required for estrogen stimulated tumor cell proliferation raising the possibility that disrupting the interaction between 4ICD and ER would represent a novel therapeutic approach to suppress breast tumorigenesis. In the future, we propose to identify additional transcription factors recruited with the ER/4ICD genomic complex. Citation Format: Wen Han, Frank Jones. The HER4 intracellular domain (4ICD) functions as a potent estrogen receptor coactivator mediating estrogen stimulated proliferation of breast tumor cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Breast Cancer Research: Genetics, Biology, and Clinical Applications; Oct 3-6, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2013;11(10 Suppl):Abstract nr A132.
Increased Post-procedural Non-gastrointestinal Adverse Events After Outpatient Colonoscopy in High-risk Patients

Background & Aims The incidence and predictors of non-gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events (AEs) after colonoscopy are not well-understood. We studied the effects of antithrombotic agents, cardiopulmonary comorbidities, and age on risk of non-GI AEs after colonoscopy. Methods We performed a retrospective longitudinal analysis to assess the diagnosis, procedure, and prescription drug codes in a United States commercial claims database (March 2010–March 2012). Data from patients at increased risk (n = 82,025; defined as patients with pulmonary comorbidities or cardiovascular disease requiring antithrombotic medications) were compared with data from 398,663 average-risk patients. In a 1:1 matched analysis, 51,932 patients at increased risk, examined by colonoscopy, were compared with 51,932 matched (on the basis of age, sex, and comorbidities) patients at increased risk who did not undergo colonoscopy. We tracked cardiac, pulmonary, and neurovascular events 1–30 days after colonoscopy. Results Thirty days after outpatient colonoscopy, non-GI AEs were significantly higher in patients taking antithrombotic medications (7.3%; odds ratio [OR], 10.75; 95% confidence interval, 10.13–11.42) or those with pulmonary comorbidities (1.8%; OR, 2.44; 95% confidence interval, 2.27–2.62) vs average-risk patients (0.7%) and in patients 60–69 years old (OR, 2.21; 95% confidence interval, 2.01–2.42) or 70 years or older (OR, 6.45; 95% confidence interval, 5.89–7.06), compared with patients younger than 50 years. The 30-day incidence of non-GI AEs in patients at increased risk who underwent colonoscopy was also significantly higher than in matched patients at increased risk who did not undergo colonoscopy in the anticoagulant group (OR, 2.31; 95% confidence interval, 2.01–2.65) and in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease group (OR, 1.33; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–1.56). Conclusions Increased number of comorbidities and older age (older than 60 years) are associated with increased risk of non-GI AEs after colonoscopy. These findings indicate the importance of determining comorbid risk and evaluating antithrombotic management before colonoscopy.
Assessment of Anxiety in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract Anxiety is one of the most common presenting problems for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and causes greater impairment than the symptoms of ASD alone. Despite the increased risk for anxiety disorders in ASD, there is limited research on the assessment of anxiety in this population, relative to the large body of literature on anxiety in typically developing children. This may be due, in part, to the difficulty of assessing anxiety in ASD. Anxiety is a multifaceted construct involving behaviors, cognitions, affect, and physiological arousal. These multiple components of anxiety are ideally assessed using a multimethod approach, including questionnaires, interviews, direct behavioral observation, and occasionally physiological responses elicited by feared stimuli. This chapter will review the variety of methods that can be used to assess anxiety in youth with ASD, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each method as well as the psychometric properties and uses of various assessment tools.
A real-time phenotyping framework using machine learning for plant stress severity rating in soybean.

Phenotyping is a critical component of plant research. Accurate and precise trait collection, when integrated with genetic tools, can greatly accelerate the rate of genetic gain in crop improvement. However, efficient and automatic phenotyping of traits across large populations is a challenge; which is further exacerbated by the necessity of sampling multiple environments and growing replicated trials. A promising approach is to leverage current advances in imaging technology, data analytics and machine learning to enable automated and fast phenotyping and subsequent decision support. In this context, the workflow for phenotyping (image capture → data storage and curation → trait extraction → machine learning/classification → models/apps for decision support) has to be carefully designed and efficiently executed to minimize resource usage and maximize utility. We illustrate such an end-to-end phenotyping workflow for the case of plant stress severity phenotyping in soybean, with a specific focus on the rapid and automatic assessment of iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC) severity on thousands of field plots. We showcase this analytics framework by extracting IDC features from a set of ~4500 unique canopies representing a diverse germplasm base that have different levels of IDC, and subsequently training a variety of classification models to predict plant stress severity. The best classifier is then deployed as a smartphone app for rapid and real time severity rating in the field. We investigated 10 different classification approaches, with the best classifier being a hierarchical classifier with a mean per-class accuracy of ~96%. We construct a phenotypically meaningful ‘population canopy graph’, connecting the automatically extracted canopy trait features with plant stress severity rating. We incorporated this image capture → image processing → classification workflow into a smartphone app that enables automated real-time evaluation of IDC scores using digital images of the canopy. We expect this high-throughput framework to help increase the rate of genetic gain by providing a robust extendable framework for other abiotic and biotic stresses. We further envision this workflow embedded onto a high throughput phenotyping ground vehicle and unmanned aerial system that will allow real-time, automated stress trait detection and quantification for plant research, breeding and stress scouting applications.
Near Infrared Spectroscopy: Basic principles and use in tablet evaluation

The continuous preference of the oral route for the delivery of the drugs has led the ongoing research in the field of oral delivery. With emergence of Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a fast and non-destructive analytical method, researchers have used NIRS for non-destructive evaluation of tablets. This review looks at the basics, theoretical aspects of NIRS, qualitative and quantitative treatment of sample spectra for better understanding of NIRS in tablet evaluation. Use of NIRS in tablet evaluation is discussed in detail with focus on evaluation of tablet hardness, content uniformity and dissolution with use of NIRS. In addition to advantages and limitation of use of NIRS, the current regulatory status and exploration of NIRS as a PAT tool is discussed in the later part of the review.
An Alaska case study: Organic Rankine cycle technology

Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology is mature for larger-scale power generation, but ORC systems appropriate for smaller-capacity generators, typical of Alaska village and other Arctic community power plants, are still new to the market or in the prototype phase. Many villages are being approached by product developers to invest in this new technology, and there is a significant value in the dissemination of the real world performance and costs of existing systems. In this analysis of ORC installations across Alaska, capacity factors ranged from 33% to 52%. Low utilization levels are attributed to insufficient waste heat resources (in Unalaska and Cordova) and to higher than expected maintenance costs in a prototype pre-commercial model (in Tok). Significant annual fuel savings have been realized for each installation, with annual demonstrated savings of $70 000 in Unalaska and projected annual savings of over $300 000 in Cordova. Modifying existing generation for an ORC system has proven to be challen...
Guanylate cyclase-C as a therapeutic target in gastrointestinal disorders.

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) and IBDs are two of the most prevalent disorders of the GI tract and consume a significant proportion of healthcare resources. Recent studies have shown that membrane-bound guanylate cyclase-C (GC-C) receptors lining the GI tract may serve as novel therapeutic targets in the treatment of FGIDs and IBDs. GC-C receptor activation by its endogenous paracrine hormones uroguanylin and guanylin, and the resulting intracellular production of its downstream effector cyclic GMP, occurs in a pH-dependent manner and modulates key physiological functions. These include fluid and electrolyte homeostasis, maintenance of the intestinal barrier, anti-inflammatory activity and regulation of epithelial regeneration. Studies of the GC-C paracrine signalling axis have revealed the therapeutic potential of these receptors in treating GI disorders, including chronic idiopathic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome–constipation. This review focuses on the evolving understanding of GC-C function in health and disease, and strategies for translating these principles into new treatments for FGIDs and IBDs.
A spatial ensemble approach for broad-area mapping of land surface properties

Abstract Understanding rapid global change requires land cover maps with broad spatial extent, but also fine spatial and temporal resolution. Developing such maps presents a unique challenge, as variability in relationships between spectral characteristics (i.e., predictors) and a response variable is likely to increase with the size of the region across which a model is built and applied. Although most mapping approaches apply the same predictor-response relationships globally across the entire modeling region, learned relationships from one local area may be invalid for another when predicting across broad extents. Here, we adapted a spatial ensemble approach borrowed from species distribution modeling to land cover mapping, and evaluated whether the approach could faithfully represent spatial variation in relationships between land cover and spectral data. The spatiotemporal exploratory model (STEM) uses an ensemble of regression trees defined within spatially overlapping support sets, producing a broad-extent map that reflects variability at the spatial scale of each constituent support set. As test cases for reference maps, we used 30-m-resolution forest canopy and impervious surface cover layers from the 2001 U.S. National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for the states of Washington, Oregon, and California. When testing strategies for support set size and sampling intensity, we found that predictor-response relationships were strongest when individual components of the spatial ensemble were small and when sampling intensity was high. Compared to aspatial bagged decision tree and random forest models, we found that the STEM approach successfully captured variation in our source maps, both globally and at scales smaller than the modeling region. Leveraging the spatial structure of a STEM, we also mapped per-pixel spatial variation in prediction confidence and the importance of different predictor variables. After testing appropriate spatial ensemble and sampling strategies, we extended the predictor-response relationships gleaned from the 2001 source maps into a yearly time series based on temporally-smoothed spectral data from the LandTrendr algorithm. The end products were yearly forest canopy and impervious surface cover time series representing 1990–2012. Formal evaluation showed that our temporally extended maps also closely resembled NLCD maps from 2011. The aim of this research was to cultivate the implicit relationships between spectral data and a given map, not improve them, but as the need for time series maps produced at both broad extents and fine resolutions increases, our results demonstrate that an ensemble of locally defined estimators is potentially more appropriate than conventional ensemble models for land cover mapping across broad extents.
Deviance and Vice: Strength as a Theoretical Virtue in the Epistemology of Logic

This paper is about the putative theoretical virtue of strength , as it might be used in abductive arguments to the correct logic in the epistemology of logic. It argues for three theses. The first is that the well‐defined property of logical strength is neither a virtue nor a vice, so that logically weaker theories are not—all other things being equal—worse or better theories than logically stronger ones. The second thesis is that logical strength does not entail the looser characteristic of scientific strength , and the third is that many modern logics are on a par—or can be made to be on a par—with respect to scientific strength.
Prostaglandin D2 in canine endotoxic shock: Hemodynamic, hematologic, biochemical, and blood gas analyses☆☆☆

This canine study was designed to evaluate the effects of the intravenous infusion of coliform endotoxin with a simultaneous infusion of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) on hemodynamics, blood gas, blood chemistry, and some hematologic parameters. The information derived from the present study supports the view that the intravenous administration of PGD2 moderates the effects of endotoxin, with its main beneficial effect being on the renal vascular bed. Treatment with PGD2 did not change the endotoxin-induced hemoconcentration, or the reduction in the platelet and white blood cell counts. However, four of nine animals survived more than 7 days when treated with PGD2, whereas without it only one of nine animals survived the administration of the same dose of endotoxin. Although the mechanism of action is not clear, the correlation between PGD2 infusion and improved renal blood flow warrants further study in endotoxic shock.
An Accessibility Evaluation of Social Media Websites for Elder Adults

Elder adults account for only a small portion of social networking site users despite the numerous benefits provided by social media. Although the number of elder users has grown in the past few years, many are not engaged with social media. Are there any special reasons for the elderly not to take advantage of social media? Are there any accessibility and usability challenges for the elderly to use social media? What are they? How do current social networking sites perform when it comes to accessibility for the elderly? This paper reports the preliminary findings to the above questions based on an instructor's notes on the discussions within an elderly computer class along with an accessibility evaluation of popular social media sites. The results show that many elders struggle with the understanding of Web 2.0 concepts and interpreting the complex layout of the social networking sites. Many sites do not adhere to respected accessibility standards and guidelines. Findings from this study will contribute to the understanding of the elder adults as a user group and improving the design of a more accessible website for the elderly.
High-mixed frequency forecasting methods in R—With applications to Philippine GDP and inflation

Abstract Recognizing the need to utilize high-frequency indicators for more up-to-date forecasts, this chapter surveys alternative modeling approaches to combining mixed frequency data for forecasting purposes. The models covered in this chapter include data-parsimonious (but more computer-demanding) models such as the mixed-frequency dynamic latent factor model (MF-DLFM) as well as more data-intensive ones like the current quarterly model (CQM) and mixed data sampling (MIDAS) regressions. In all these models, the fact that the data set is of mixed frequencies raises technical issues in the estimation and forecasting phases of the exercise. In the case of MF-DLFM, the additional feature of unobserved common factors introduces additional complications in implementing the estimation and simulation strategy based on the derived observable state-space formulation of the model. The alternative models are estimated and constructed using Philippine data, to forecast GDP growth and inflation in the Philippines. For this numerical exercise, 10 monthly indicators are used for quarterly real GDP and 9 monthly indicators for the quarterly GDP deflator. The whole empirical analysis is implemented in R—starting from using R to access Philippine data from Philippine and international data sources to analyze the statistical properties of Philippine real GDP and GDP deflator and culminating in the estimation of the alternative forecasting models, where numerous variations of MIDAS are explored. As the next step in this research, it would be particularly important to compare the forecasting performance of the alternative procedures that are surveyed in this chapter. A more comprehensive study of this type will be presented in a future sequel to this chapter. Indicative comparison results that have just been recently reported point to the potentially superior performance of MF-DLFM for forecasting GDP growth, while for forecasting inflation, the performance of MF-DLFM is not significantly better than MIDAS. More work is required for a more definitive conclusion on this issue—requiring further analysis and empirical applications, especially in expanding the performance analysis to cover the wider span of alternative forecasting models and variations of MF-DLFM and MIDAS surveyed in this chapter. Dynamic simulations for multiperiod forecasting also should be considered, as well as more refinements in the estimated models, especially the dynamic latent factor models, and extension of the analysis to other countries, especially in Southeast Asia.
Advances in the Treatment of Tourette’s Disorder

This article was written in order to bring the reader up to date with developments that have occurred in the treatment of Tourette disorder (TD) over the last 5 years. Despite the fact that TD has been recognized for over a century, the understanding of the underlying mechanisms remains poor. There has been limited development in the last 5 years for new therapeutic options. Aripipazole is the only newly approved pharmaceutical therapy for TD in the last 5 years, although several medications are under active study. For the most severely affected individuals, there is increasing experience with surgical interventions. One of the most promising areas of research is the work of genetic consortiums currently looking into identifying the underlying pathogenetic basis which in turn will hopefully lead to the development of safer and more effective therapies.
Quantum secret sharing with polarization-entangled photon pairs

We describe and experimentally demonstrate a more practical three-party quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocol using polarization-entangled photon pairs. The source itself serves as an active participant and can switch between the required photon states by modulating the pump beam only, thereby making the protocol less susceptible to loss and amenable to fast switching. We derive a security proof based on quantum key distribution, demonstrating our QSS protocol to be secure against both eavesdropping and dishonest participants. Compared to three-photon protocols, the practical efficiency is dramatically improved as there is no need to generate, transmit, or detect a third photon.
Subclinical Foveal Vasculopathy in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Purpose:This article identifies subclinical microvascular changes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients using vascular perfusion densities derived from optical coherence tomography angiogr...
Housing discrimination and racial cancer disparities among the 100 largest US metropolitan areas

BACKGROUND Cancer contributes substantially to the life expectancy gap between US blacks and whites, and racial cancer disparities remain stubborn to eradicate. Disparities vary geographically, suggesting that they are not inevitable. METHODS The authors examined the relationship between housing discrimination and the size of cancer disparities across large US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). MSA-level cancer disparities were measured using data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mortgage discrimination for each MSA was estimated using the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database, and MSA racial segregation was determined using US Census data. Patterns of housing discrimination and cancer disparities were mapped, and the associations between these place-based factors and cancer disparities across MSAs were measured. RESULTS Black-to-white cancer mortality disparities (rate ratios) varied geographically, ranging from 1.50 to 0.86; 88% of mortality ratios were >1, indicating higher mortality for blacks. In areas with greater mortgage discrimination, the gap between black and white cancer mortality rates was larger (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.32; P = .001). This relationship persisted in sex-specific analyses (males, r = 0.37; P < .001; females, r = 0.23; P = .02) and in models controlling for confounders. In contrast, segregation was inconsistently associated with disparities. Adjusting for incidence disparities attenuated, but did not eliminate, the correlation between mortgage discrimination and mortality disparities (r = 0.22-0.24), suggesting that cancer incidence and survival each account for part of the mortality disparity. CONCLUSIONS Mortgage discrimination is associated with larger black-to-white cancer mortality disparities. Some areas are exceptions to this trend. Examination of these exceptions and of policies related to housing discrimination may offer novel strategies for explaining and eliminating cancer disparities.
Supervision of the domestic violence offender: an exploratory study

Intimate partner violence differs considerably from other forms of violence, given the relationship between the offender and the victim. Domestic violence therefore presents several complications f...
Global Challenges to Statehood: The Increasingly Important Role of Nongovernmental Organizations

At the threshold of the twenty-first-century, the concept of the state is subject to profound challenges.1 Among Western European States, one can observe the transfer of tasks from the public to the private sector, such as the well-known example of the privatization of state owned businesses. This intrastate reshifting of tasks, which in its theoretical dimension recalls a debate of the 1970s2 among James Buchanan3 and Robert Nozick4 on the one hand, and John Rawls on the other,5 is triggered by state budgetary problems. The debate addresses the fundamental question of which state tasks: security, safety, defense, and welfare, to name but four, must be fulfilled by the public sector. A similar process of redefining the division of tasks is also presently underway with regard to the interstate division of tasks. Although the task shifting process is slightly different within the interstate context, the concept of the state is still significantly affected. Because of global challenges such as overpopulation, migration, and environmental destruction, states themselves have recognized their own
Are Words Beneficial to the Consumption of Numbers in Financial Reports

We propose that text in financial disclosures is used to complement, expand upon, and provide context to numerical disclosures. We use the ratio of words to numbers, which are often examined in silos, to consider how their combination contributes to disclosure quality. We focus on disclosures in three inherently complicated footnotes and the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) in annual filings. Using comment letters (CLs) to capture regulators’ perspective of disclosure deficiencies, we find that the ratio of words to numbers in each disclosure is associated with a lower likelihood to receive a CL related to the topic of that disclosure. We further find that the ratio of words to numbers in the MD&A is associated with lower analyst forecast errors, a stronger market reaction, and greater liquidity. These results suggest that the use of more words to explain numbers in financial reports reduces the likelihood of regulators’ intervention and is more useful to analysts and investors. The paper’s findings suggest that to improve one dimension of disclosure quality, sufficient text should be disclosed to explain numerical information.
What We Should Teach (But Don't) When We Teach Trial Advocacy.

In terms that should be familiar to all trial advocacy teachers, what follows is a critique, not criticism, of trial advocacy teaching in law schools.1 I intend to be specific, prescriptive, and forward-looking.2 My intention is not to overlook our positive achievements in teaching trial advocacy; it is precisely because we have been so successful that critique is now in order. Having mastered the basics, we can now concentrate on more sophisticated analysis, or, in the language of critique, "excellent job here's how to improve." My principal thesis is that we have concentrated our teaching too much on issues of technique, control, and persuasion, in essence duplicating trial practice courses aimed at practitioners. But we have overlooked the crucial difference between training practitioners and educating students. The goal of teaching practicing lawyers is (or at least can be) to develop or increase competency, while the broader goal of teaching students must also include orientation to and comprehension of the profession.3 I propose a deeper exploration of trial advocacy topics. My ultimate prescription is that we
Incredible Commitments: How UN Peacekeeping Failures Shape Peace Processes

Why do warring parties turn to United Nations peacekeeping and peacemaking even when they think it will fail? Dayal asks why UN peacekeeping survived its early catastrophes in Somalia, Rwanda, and the Balkans, and how this survival should make us reconsider how peacekeeping works. She makes two key arguments: first, she argues the UN's central role in peacemaking and peacekeeping worldwide means UN interventions have structural consequences – what the UN does in one conflict can shift the strategies, outcomes, and options available to negotiating parties in other conflicts. Second, drawing on interviews, archival research, and process-traced peace negotiations in Rwanda and Guatemala, Dayal argues warring parties turn to the UN even when they have little faith in peacekeepers' ability to uphold peace agreements – and even little actual interest in peace – because its involvement in negotiation processes provides vital, unique tactical, symbolic, and post-conflict reconstruction benefits only the UN can offer.
Stabilized epithelial phenotype of cancer cells in primary tumors leads to increased colonization of liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is therapeutically recalcitrant and metastatic. Partial epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with metastasis; however, a causal connection needs further unraveling. Here, we use single-cell RNA sequencing and genetic mouse models to identify the functional roles of partial EMT and epithelial stabilization in PDAC growth and metastasis. A global EMT expression signature identifies ∼50 cancer cell clusters spanning the epithelial-mesenchymal continuum in both human and murine PDACs. The combined genetic suppression of Snail and Twist results in PDAC epithelial stabilization and increased liver metastasis. Genetic deletion of Zeb1 in PDAC cells also leads to liver metastasis associated with cancer cell epithelial stabilization. We demonstrate that epithelial stabilization leads to the enhanced collective migration of cancer cells and modulation of the immune microenvironment, which likely contribute to efficient liver colonization. Our study provides insights into the diverse mechanisms of metastasis in pancreatic cancer and potential therapeutic targets.
An Efficient Approach to Solving The Boltzmann Transport Equation in Ultra-fast Transient Situations

A previously developed hydro-kinetic concept based on evolution of the distribution function is used to arrive at an efficient approach to solving the Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) in ultra-fast transient situations. The solution can properly account for effects of extreme non-equilibrium phenomena. The approach is applied to study the temporal evolution of the electron distribution in n-type Si. Results from the Monte Carlo method are also included to verify the accuracy of the proposed approach.
CMOS RF device and circuit reliability

The paper addresses CMOS device reliability such as hot carrier stress and gate oxide breakdown and their effects on RF circuit performance. Device experimental data and circuit simulation are presented. Methodology to design reliable RF circuits is also discussed.
Information for Perception and Information Processing

Do psychologists and computer/cognitive scientists mean the same thing by the term `information'? In this essay, I answer this question by comparing information as understood by Gibsonian, ecological psychologists with information as understood in Barwise and Perry's situation semantics. I argue that, with suitable massaging, these views of information can be brought into line. I end by discussing some issues in (the philosophy of) cognitive science and artificial intelligence.
Influence of Tablet Dissolution on Furosemide Bioavailability: A Bioequivalence Study

In order to evaluate the in vitro dissolution and in vivo bioavailability relationship for furosemide, a bioequivalence study was carried out. Furosemide (40 mg) was administered orally to 12 normal volunteers in a 6 x 6 crossover design using six products (five tablets and one solution) obtained from three pharmaceutical companies. Plasma and urine concentrations of furosemide were quantitated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Plasma furosemide profiles were analyzed by non-compartmental methods. Compared to the oral solution, all of the formulations exhibited lower peak furosemide concentrations, longer mean residence times, and, in some cases, diminished bioavailability (range, 66-96%). Similar results were obtained when the reference product (a rapidly dissolving tablet) was used as the standard. All of the products failed the 75/75 rule when compared to either reference standard, apparently because of large intersubject variability. The total amount of furosemide excreted in urine could be associated with the percentage drug dissolved (in vitro) at 30 min. The pH 5.6 dissolution medium (compared to pH 4.6) appears to be an appropriate test medium for assuring batch uniformity and bioequivalence of furosemide products.
Measuring Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Preservice Teacher Education

AbstractMany research efforts are underway that focus on developing the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Koehler & Mishra, 2007; Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as a lens through which to observe the role of technology in teacher knowledge. This review of literature examines the development of the TPACK framework with a particular focus on assessing TPACK in the context of preservice teacher preparation programs. In an effort to highlight the emerging instruments and methods currently available for use with this specific group, this study provides an overview of instruments and methods as well as a discussion of the challenges, purposes, and potential uses of these tools for TPACK-based evaluation of preservice teacher preparation experiences.
The silent killer disparities: race, gender and residence

Global estimates indicate that 26.4% of the worldwide adult population had hypertension (HTN) or the “silent killer” in 2000 and this number is predicted to increase to approximately 60% in 2025 to a total of 1.56 billion [1]. In the United States (US) alone, HTN occurs in 1 of 3 adults and more than 76 million Americans over the age of 20 have HTN [2]. Unfortunately, it has been established that 8% of the US population has undiagnosed HTN; a major risk factor for other chronic diseases such heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and kidney disease [3]. The financial burden associated with HTN is staggering, with costs approaching $77 billion dollars in the US in 2010, which included healthcare services, medications and missed days of work [4]. Thus, the direct and indirect health-related and financial burden is substantial. This Essay reviews the role of race, gender and residence in the creation of healthcare disparities focusing on the specific example of hypertension as a contribution to the debate on how person-centered care approaches can assist detection and treatment.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research

"With its emphasis on practical and conceptual aspects, rather than mathematics or formulas, this accessible book has established itself as the go-to resource on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Detailed, worked-through examples drawn from psychology, management, and sociology studies illustrate the procedures, pitfalls, and extensions of CFA methodology. The text shows how to formulate, program, and interpret CFA models using popular latent variable software packages (LISREL, Mplus, EQS, SAS/CALIS); understand the similarities and differences between CFA and exploratory factor analysis (EFA); and report results from a CFA study. It is filled with useful advice and tables that outline the procedures. The companion website offers data and program syntax files for most of the research examples, as well as links to CFA-related resources. New to This Edition *Updated throughout to incorporate important developments in latent variable modeling. *Chapter on Bayesian CFA and multilevel measurement models. *Addresses new topics (with examples): exploratory structural equation modeling, bifactor analysis, measurement invariance evaluation with categorical indicators, and a new method for scaling latent variables. *Utilizes the latest versions of major latent variable software packages"--
The design of a single-chip CMOS 900 MHz spread spectrum transceiver

This is a progress report on one of the first coordinated, large-scale research efforts towards realising a single-chip 900 MHz digital radio. Several factors are responsible for what has been achieved so far. First, this was an example of a simultaneous evolution of the systems architecture with the enabling circuits components, thus allowing for a joint optimisation. This luxury is seldom afforded to circuit designers working to the established specifications of an industry standard, but because our transceiver operates in one of the three Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) frequency bands opened up by the FCC for unlicensed spread-spectrum use, we could design a unique system architecture. A user of these bands is required to spread the transmitted spectrum by a minimum amount, and to transmit no more than a specified power from the antenna, but is otherwise free to use any modulation scheme or spread-spectrum strategy. Second, it was decided at the outset that the entire transceiver would be integrated in CMOS, which affords an unprecedented flexibility in choosing between an analog or digital implementation of the various receiver blocks. Third, the project has evolved from a close collaboration between analog and digital circuit designers, communication system engineers and antenna designers.
Architecture and implementation of Vulcan

IBM's recently announced Scalable POWERparallel family of systems is based upon the Vulcan architecture, and the currently available 9076 SP1 parallel system utilizes fundamental Vulcan technology. The experimental Vulcan parallel processor is designed to scale to many thousands of microprocessor-based nodes. To support a machine of this size, the nodes and network incorporate a number of unusual features to scale aggregate bandwidth, enhance reliability, diagnose faults, and simplify cabling. The multistage Vulcan network is a unified data and service network driven by a single oscillator. An attempt is made to detect all network errors via cyclic redundancy checking (CRC) and component shadowing. Switching elements contain a dynamically allocated shared buffer for storing blocked packet flits from any input port. This paper describes the key elements of Vulcan's hardware architecture and implementation details of the Vulcan prototype. >
The Role of Percolation Theory in Developing Next Generation Smart Nanomaterials

The incorporation of small volume fractions of nanoscale graphitic particles into varied base materials has been explored across fields ranging from automotive to aerospace to commercial plastics, with the goal of utilizing their enhanced thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity or mechanical strength. Percolation theory has emerged as a useful tool to aid in mapping and predicting the enhancement of properties based on the size and conductivity of incorporated single-walled carbon nanotubes relative to their less conductive base materials. These tools can aid researchers in the development of next generation smart nanomaterials. In this paper, we discuss the use of homogeneous fractions of length- or chirality-sorted single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) which are incorporated into thin film networks, and cement composites, and are evaluated in terms of their conductivity, mechanical properties and noise spectrum at critical percolation. We demonstrate that, near the percolation threshold, the conductivity of these highly characterized SWNT films exhibits a power law dependence on the network geometrical parameters. We also present our findings on the development of incorporated thin film SWNTs for the development of sensing technology for novel non-destructive failure diagnostic applications. SWNTs are able to be used as benign inclusions, capable of active sensing, when incorporated into cement-based composites for the purpose of detecting crack initiation. As such, we investigate the use of homogeneous length-sorted SWNTs that are randomly distributed in percolated networks capable of being an internal responsive net mechanism. Our findings demonstrate increased microstructure sensitivity of our networks for our shorter length nanotubes near their critical percolation threshold. This shows promise for the development of even more sensitive, embedded piezo-resistive SWNT-based sensors for preemptive failure detection technology.
The role of gas pressure and lateral stress on blistering

Abstract Both gas pressure in bubbles and lateral stress have been suggested as primary causes of blistering. An analysis of both mechanisms is presented, and the conditions for blistering are examined. To realistically predict the gas pressure in bubbles, a recently derived high-density equation of state for helium is utilized. It is shown that the formation of overpressurized gas bubbles leads to a state of stress in the surface layer which is a superposition of a tensile microstress surrounding the bubbles and a lateral compressive macrostress across the bombarded layer. When the microstress reaches a value of 0.003 μ for fcc metals or 0.009 μ for bcc metals, interbubble fracture occurs. These critical values are reached for an implanted helium concentration between 20 to 40%. The exact value depends to some degree on the bubble density, the temperature, and the helium to vacancy ratio. The lateral stress is shown to saturate prior to the onset of blistering, but it remains the driving force for blister dome formation once a sufficiently large area of the bombarded layer is detached.
Comparison of visceral adipose tissue quantification on water suppressed and nonwater-suppressed MRI at 3.0 tesla

Purpose: To systematically evaluate and compare the performance of water-saturated and nonwater-saturated T1-weighted 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the application of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) quantification. Materials and Methods: Forty-five patients underwent abdomen MRI using two different sequences at 3.0 T: 1) a traditional T1-weighted gradient echo sequence, and 2) the same sequence with water presaturation to enhance fat and nonfat contrast. VAT amounts from both water-saturated and nonwater-saturated images were quantified with a manual thresholding technique and an automated segmentation method to study quantification variability and consistency of the two imaging techniques. Results: Nonwater-saturated MRI had significantly larger coefficient of variation than water-saturated MRI in the imaging reproducibility study based on 112 slices from seven subjects (11.4% vs. 2.5%, P < 0.0001). VAT volumes measured from the nonwater-saturation MRI sequence had significantly higher variability than those from water-saturation images even when using a manual quantification method based on images from 38 subjects (1.76% vs. 1.08%, P < 0.001). In addition, the VAT volume amounts from nonwater-saturation images and water-saturated images quantified with the automatic and manual quantification methods were statistically consistent. Conclusion: Water-saturated MRI sequences at 3.0 T for VAT quantification improve reproducibility and decrease variability compared with nonwater saturated sequences, especially with the use of automatic quantification methods. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2012;35:1445–1452. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Room-Temperature Sodium–Sulfur Batteries with Liquid-Phase Sodium Polysulfide Catholytes and Binder-Free Multiwall Carbon Nanotube Fabric Electrodes

Charge/discharge of a room-temperature sodium–sulfur (Na–S) battery involves redox processes of a series of long-chain soluble sodium polysulfides (Na2Sn, 4 ≤ n ≤ 8). By taking advantage of this, a room-temperature Na–S battery is developed with dissolved sodium polysulfide catholyte and a free-standing, binder-free multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) fabric electrode. Use of liquid-phase sodium polysulfide as a cathode not only provides a facile dispersion and homogeneous distribution of the sulfur active material into the conductive matrix but also supplies a unique approach to mechanistically understand the ambient-temperature Na–S battery system. With the intermediate products (polysulfides) as the starting cathode, the electrochemical characteristics of the Na–S battery in the lower-voltage-plateau region can be readily studied without the impact from the transformation process of elemental sulfur into long-chain sodium polysulfides. The nanostructured, free-standing MWCNT fabric electrode in this batt...