cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gamma Interferon Induces Expression of Mad1 Gene in Macrophage, Which Inhibits Colony-Stimulating Factor-1-Dependent Mitogenesis

Gamma interferon (IFNg) has long been known as an antiproliferative cytokine. The mechanism of its action, however, remains elusive. Monocytes and macrophages are primary targets of IFNg. To understand the antiproliferative signaling of IFNg, we studied the effect of IFNg on expression of c-Myc, Mad1, Max, cyclin D1, and cyclin D2 genes in both a macrophage cell line and in primary bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM) in response to colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1). We found that whereas IFNg inhibits CSF-1-stimulated c-Myc gene expression, it induces Mad1 expression. Induction of Mad1 mRNA could be detected as early as 90 min following IFNg treatment and was maintained for at least 15 h. These results suggest that IFNg treatment could shift the Myc-Max complex to the Mad1-Max complex in cells. The levels of Max, cyclin D1, and cyclin D2, however, remained unchanged. Enforced ectopic expression of Mad1 in the cells results in inhibition of ( 3 H)thymidine incorporation and proliferation in response to CSF-1. This study suggests a mechanism by which IFNg inhibits CSF-1-stimulated proliferation of macrophages, i.e., by elevating the Mad1 level in the cells. J. Cell. Biochem. 72:232-241, 1999. r 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Dynamics of Induction and Expression of Long-Term Synaptic Facilitation in Aplysia

Serotonin (5HT)-induced short-term facilitation and long-term facilitation (STF and LTF) of the monosynaptic connection between tail sensory neurons (SNs) and motor neurons (MNs) in Aplysia have been useful in delineating possible cellular mechanisms contribution to short-term and long-term memory. Previous work from our laboratory showed that LTF can be produced in the absence of STF, suggesting that these processes may be functionally independent. In the present study, we explored this hypothesis by examining the temporal relationship between STF and LTF. We recorded intracellularly from pairs of monosynaptically connected SNs and MNs in isolated pleural-pedal ganglia. In the first experimental series, we followed the time course of LTF across a 24 hr period after its induction by five applications of 10 microM 5HT. STF completely decayed to baseline several hours before the expression of LTF. This biphasic expression profile of STF and LTF further supports the hypothesis that LTF is not a simple elaboration of STF. In the second experimental series, we monitored the immediate expression of facilitation during and after different numbers of 5HT applications. We identified a rapidly decaying STF (lasting 15-30 min) after one to four pulses of 50 microM 5HT and a unique, prolonged intermediate-term facilitation (ITF; lasting up to 90 min) after five pulses of 50 microM 5HT. These results raise the possibility that STF, ITF, and LTF may reflect components of different memory phases in the intact animal.
Management of inflammatory bowel disease in pregnancy

The management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in women who are pregnant or contemplating pregnancy requires special considerations. Although many of the medications in IBD treatment are generally low risk, this is not the case for all agents, and substitution of medications or adjustments in dosage or dose timing may be needed. Furthermore, while women with IBD who have not had prior pelvic surgery are as likely to conceive as non-IBD counterparts, there is evidence to suggest that pregnancy outcomes may be worse in women with IBD, particularly if they have active disease during conception or pregnancy. Therefore, a thoughtful discussion between the patient and her healthcare team is critical to ensure awareness of the possible risks of pregnancy to the mother and her infant and how these risks can be minimized with a coordinated effort in counseling, monitoring and medication adherence.
Use of Ellipsometry in the Study off Corrosion

Abstract Because corrosion processes are strongly affected by the presence of thin films, ellipsometry is an especially valuable tool in corrosion research because it allows observation of film formation, dissolution, or property changes while these phenomena actually are occurring on a metal surface immersed in any transparent environment. Experimentally the use of ellipsometry requires that light be reflected from the corroding or passive metal surface under study. Thus it allows other techniques such as electrochemical ones to be carried out simultaneously along with ellipsometric measurements. The following specific examples serve as a small sampling of the many ways in which ellipsometry has been applied to corrosion studies: (1) Determination of the nature and rate of growth of passive films on iron in inorganic inhibitor solutions* (2) Separation of different stages in the early growth process of films formed by potentiostatic anodic polarization on iron in neutral solutions. (3) Determination of t...
Role of endogenous antisense RNA in cardiac gene regulation

Endogenous antisense RNA has been detected for a range of eukaryotic genes and now appears to be a common phenomenon in mammalian cells. Its abundance compared to levels of its complementary sense mRNA indicates that antisense RNA may be involved in posttrancriptional regulation of a gene. In general a downregulating effect on gene expression has been demonstrated or suggested. Due to the heterogeneity in origin and character of different antisense transcripts alternative functions such as stabilizing the corresponding sense transcript and being part of gene recombination must be considered. Regulation by endogenous antisense RNA has been shown for a plethora of genes, including cardiac genes, such as myosin heavy chainMHC, atrial light chain, and troponin I. There is now growing evidence that antisense transcription is involved in human disease, and it is reasonable to consider antisense as a target for intervention procedures. Here we review the progress in our understanding of as well as the controversies arising from investigating the regulatory mechanisms of antisense RNA, with special focus on cardiac genes. Finally, links between antisense transcription and heart disease and the possible use of antisense as a target of cardiac intervention procedures are discussed.
Die Beweiskraft der klinischen Daten des Psychoanalytikers

Grunbaum behauptet, die Glaubwurdigkeit psychoanalytischer Hypothesen sei in Anbetracht wissenschaftlicher Methoden- und Beweisnormen empirisch nur ungenugend gerechtfertigt. (Das ist etwas ganz anderes, als zu behaupten, wie einige Kritiker der Psychoanalyse es zu tun pflegten, es sei nach heutigem Kenntnisstand vertretbar, psychoanalytische Hypothesen als falsch oder wissenschaftlich bedeutungslos zuruckzuweisen; der Unterschied kennzeichnet die Differenziertheit von Grunbaums Kritik.) Nach Grunbaum resultiert die Unzulanglichkeit des empirischen Fundaments der Psychoanalyse in weiten Teilen aus der Hartnackigkeit, mit der Psychoanalytiker falsch argumentiert und irrtumlich gefolgert haben, das ihre klinischen Daten, die sie in der psychoanalytischen Situation erhalten, ausreichend und zufriedenstellend die wissenschaftliche Zuverlassigkeit ihrer Hypothesen empirisch belegen konnen. Seiner Ansicht nach kann man aber mit solchen Daten unmoglich psychoanalytische Hypothesen uberprufen und dadurch den erforderlichen Beweis erbringen, weil hier wesentliche Merkmale der psychoanalytischen Situation und wesentliche Erfordernisse an die wissenschaftliche Methode und den wissenschaftlichen Beweis zusammenprallen. Deswegen fordert er, das die Psychoanalyse statt dessen extraklinische — epidemiologische und experimentelle — Daten beibringen soll, mit denen kausale Behauptungen, die in psychoanalytischen Hypothesen aufgestellt werden, gepruft werden konnten, denn eine solche Prufung ist notwendig, wenn eine zeitgemase Psychoanalyse das starke empirische Fundament aufbauen will, auf dem letztlich ihre wissenschaftliche Zuverlassigkeit beruhen mus.
The Search for the Top Quark at the Tevatron

This paper reviews the prospects for discovering the t-quark at Fermilab’s Tevatron pp Collider. With a wealth of experimental evidence in agreement that the top quark is heavy, above 91 GeV/c2, it appears that Fermilab is the only facility able to produce t-quarks until the LHC and SSC era begins. The search techniques expected to be used by DO and CDF until that time are summarized. Testing the Standard Model with a t-quark mass measurement, as well as other Electroweak parameters is also discussed.
Employer and Employee Reactions to Health Reform: Findings From the 2010 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey and the 2010 SHRM Organizations’ Response to Health Care Reform Poll

This paper presents data from the 2010 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey and the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2010 SHRM Organizations’ Response to Health Care Reform Poll to examine how employers might respond to health reform and employees’ expectations of changes to health coverage. Employers are uncertain regarding changing benefits in response to health reform, but they are likely to pass along any cost increases to workers. Workers are mostly expecting such cost increases. Employers are evenly split as to whether they will change health coverage as a result of health reform while workers are split between thinking their benefits will remain the same or erode. While few workers expect employers to drop coverage after 2014, and very few employers plan to drop coverage, employers are evenly split between having decided to continue to offer coverage and being undecided about the future of employment-based health coverage.
The Many Faces of Promissory Estoppel: An Empirical Analysis under the Restatement (Second) of Contracts

This Article examines more than three hundred promissory estoppel cases decided between January 1, 1981, when the Restatement (Second) of Contracts was published, and January 1, 2008, when research for this project began, to explore the manner in which courts conceptualize, decide, and enforce promissory estoppel claims under § 90 of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts. Specifically, because the drafters of the Restatement (Second) made several important changes to § 90 of the Restatement (First) with the intent of making promissory estoppel more available, the role of reliance more prominent, and the remedies awarded to successful litigants more flexible, this Article investigates whether these changes have had their desired effect on promissory estoppel doctrine as reflected in the case law.The research presented here can be interpreted to support three major claims. First, these data suggest that promissory estoppel is a much more significant theory of promissory recovery than has been previously thought and seems positioned to continue to grow in importance in the coming decades. Second, the data reveal that promissory estoppel cannot be understood exclusively in terms of “promise” or “reliance,” as some scholars and judges have suggested. Instead, the data reveal that most judges require the existence of both promise and reliance before allowing a promissory estoppel claim to proceed, although surprisingly few judges require a plaintiff to show that the equitable principle of “justice” has been satisfied. Last, and most significantly, these data reveal that, with respect to remedies, courts tend to treat promissory estoppel actions as traditional breach of contract actions, in that courts generally tend to award the (usually) more generous expectation measure of damages, which is typical in ordinary breach of contract actions, over the (usually) less generous reliance measure of damages, which is often awarded where non-contractual obligations have been breached (such as in tort law). However, by replacing these conceptual labels (such as “expectation” and “reliance” damages) with a more functional classificatory scheme capturing whether a promissory estoppel plaintiff has obtained the highest recovery available under any other theory of promissory recovery, including a “traditional” breach of contract action, this Article argues that the extent to which courts have treated promissory estoppel claims as fully contractual has been underappreciated.
Aerospace Education and Research at Auburn - From the Wright Brothers' Flight School to the Space Station

The Early Years The Wright Brother’s achievement of manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight in 1903 and their later successes, described in 1908 issues of Scientific American, provided the spark to ignite enthusiasm for aeronautics in faculty members and students of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API). Located in the small town of Auburn, Alabama, API would soon be intimately connected with flight and flying machines. Even before the Wright Brothers' great accomplishments, some independent researchers in Alabama were serious about the subject of aeronautics. In 1874, Lewis Archer Boswell, a physician from Eastaboga, near Talladega, Alabama, patented an “Improvement in the Aerial Propeller-Wheels.” Boswell continued to be actively interested in aeronautics until his death in 1909.
Inhibition of prolactin actions in mouse mammary gland explants by p-bromphenacyl bromide, a phospholipase A2 inhibitor.

SummaryThe stimulatory actions of prolactin on RNA and casein synthesis in mouse mammary gland explants were shown to be significantly reduced or abolished by incubation with p-bromphenacyl bromide (BPB) at concentrations of 0.05 mM or greater. Since BPB has been shown to be an inhibitor of phospholipase A2 activity, the inhibition of prolactin's actions by BPB provides further support for the proposal that at least certain of the actions of prolactin in the mammary gland may be initiated by a stimulation of membrane-associated phospholipase A2 activity.
The symbolic power of the modern personal physician: The placebo response under challenge

The change in a patient's condition that results from the meaning or symbolism of the encounter with the physician, rather than from the pharmacologic properties of the interventions used, constitutes the placebo response. Placebo research suggests that the placebo response forms a part of virtually all healing encounters, and is not limited to circumstances in which a “dummy” pill is used. This suggests, in turn, that the placebo effect has been important in medicine throughout history, and that the modern physician has important elements in common with her “pre-scientific” predecessors. Historical analysis of the meaning of the healing encounter for physician and patient suggests that the personal physician, as symbolizing a human intermediary between the impersonal forces of science and the suffering patient, remains an important ingredient even in modern technological medicine. Contemporary forces toward depersonalization of medical care may threaten this dimension of treatment, but appropriate resear...
Neonatal calf serum immunoregulation of lymphocyte blastogenic responses.

The ability of lymphocytes from newborn calves to undergo blastogenic responses to the mitogens Concanavalin A (Con A), phytohemagglutinin (PHA), or Pokeweed Mitogen (PWM), and immunomodulation of these responses by neonatal calf serum was assessed as a function of age. Lymphocytes were obtained from thymus, spleen, and mesenteric lymph nodes of 1-, 2- to 3-, 5- to 7-, and 9- to 10-d-old calves, aliquoted and incubated (+/- mitogens) in sera from 1-, 2-, 3-, or 7- to 10-d-old calves. Lymph-node lymphocytes responded least when cultured in sera from 1-d-old calves, regardless of mitogen or age of cell donor; the response increased as age of serum donor increased (P less than .05). Splenic lymphocytes responded similarly (P less than .005). However, when cultured in sera from older calves, splenic lymphocytes from older calves responded greater to PWM than did those from younger calves. Thymic lymphocytes responded minimally to PWM and PHA. Their response to Con A increased (P less than .005) with age of serum donor calf, but the effect was greatest on lymphocytes from 5- to 7-d-old calves. Mixing experiments with varying ratios of 1-d-old calf serum: 10-d-old calf serum suggested that serum from 1-d-old calves contained suppressive activity. Serum cortisol level (measured by radioimmunoassay) was 30 +/- 4.6 ng/ml in calves at 6 h of age and declined to 5.5 +/- 1.1 ng/ml by 10 d. Charcoal treatment to remove steroids did not enhance blastogenesis. Addition of cortisol (50 ng/ml) to charcoal-treated sera resulted in inhibition of response to PHA, but no change in response to Con A or PWM. Further investigation is indicated to characterize this immunosuppressive activity and to establish its relationship to disease susceptibility.
An Aqua Squiggle and Giggles: Pre-Teens as Researchers Influencing Little Lives Through Inking and Touch Devices

Using technology for the good of society is a skill that needs to be modeled, instructed, and practiced as young students prepare for the future. The primary objective of this action research was to locate the emergence of skill development through an intersection of human connection and touch screen laptop use in a cross-age mentoring model with middle school and preschool students in an urban independent school representing 27 ethnic groups. To increase understanding of new forms of learning within a non-traditional grouping of sixth- and seventh-graders in a 1:1 laptop environment, I drew on their perspective and creativity as they utilized production and internet tools to facilitate their own data collection as they researched and tracked learning of the little buddy they mentored in literacy projects. The data showed students in this grouping becoming active pursuers of relational bonding with preschoolers and simultaneously developing a mindset parallel with that of adult teacher-researchers. Touch and inking unexpectedly became the tool that helped facilitate interpersonal conversational skills and social emotional development with English Language Learning in one case study.
Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America: Regime Survival and Fall

This chapter presents most of the quantitative evidence related to three primary research questions in this book. First, what factors help explain democratic transitions in Latin America? Second, what factors explain the breakdown of competitive regimes once established? And third, to what extent do those explanations account for the dramatic wave of democratization that began in 1978? The chapter is structured in five sections. The first provides an operational definition of our two dependent variables (transitions and breakdowns), summarizes the strategy for statistical analysis, and uses our classification of political regimes in Latin America to document the decline in the risk of democratic breakdowns and the surprising expansion of democratic transitions that took place after 1977. The second part of the chapter introduces our control variables, which reflect alternative explanations dealing with structural preconditions, regime economic performance, and institutional factors. We discussed the operationalization of the indicators of regional diffusion effects, U.S. support for democracy, and actors’ normative regime preferences and radicalization in the previous chapter. Section three presents the results of the statistical analysis for democratic transitions and breakdowns. Transitions are more likely to occur after other transitions have taken place in neighboring countries and when domestic political actors have a normative preference for competitive politics. We document possible indirect effects of radicalism in preventing democratic transitions. Radical opposition actors undermine dictatorships, facilitating the establishment of competitive regimes. Competitive regimes are less likely to break down when more countries in the region are democratic and when elites are committed to democratic ideals. Radicalism undermines competitive regimes indirectly through the erosion of normative preferences for democracy.
Marginal zone dural lymphoma: the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and University of Miami experiences

AbstractDural lymphoma (DL) is a rare type of primary CNS lymphoma arising from the dura mater. The optimal treatment is uncertain. A retrospective review was performed on 26 DL patients. Seventeen patients underwent resection and nine had a biopsy. Twenty three patients could be assessed for a response to treatment after surgery. Thirteen received focal radiotherapy (RT), six whole brain RT (WBRT), three chemotherapy alone and one chemotherapy followed by WBRT. Twenty two achieved complete response (CR) and one a partial response (PR). Four patients relapsed (two local and two systemic). Median follow up was 64 months, with median progression free survival (PFS) and OS not reached. Three year PFS was 89% (95% CI 0.64–0.97). All patients are alive at last follow-up, demonstrating that DL is an indolent tumor with long survival. CR is achievable with focal therapy in the majority of cases, but there is a risk for relapses and long-term follow-up is recommended.
Nonpolar Organic Compound Emission Rates for Light-Duty Diesel Engine Soybean and Waste Vegetable Oil Biodiesel Fuel Combustion

Very few studies report the detailed organic chemical composition of biodiesel exhaust PM despite reports that biodiesel exhaust PM leads to more adverse health effects than diesel exhaust PM. Here, we compare light-duty diesel engine exhaust particle-phase emission rates (ng/μg PM) of target nonpolar organic analytes—19 n-alkanes, 16 priority PAHs, and 10 fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs)—during transient operation for 5 recycled waste vegetable oil (WVO; B00, B10, B20, B50, and B100) and 3 virgin soybean oil (soybean; B00, B20, and B100) biodiesel blends (where Bxx = volume % biodiesel). Biodiesel fuels were blended volumetrically from ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD) and B100 from each feedstock. FAMEs emission rates were 3–7 times higher than n-alkanes for the common B20 blend, increasing to 60–100 times for B100. Both total n-alkanes and total FAMEs emission rate trends with Bxx were consistent with expected values based on fuel volume percent and similar ratios to ULSD were observed for both feedstocks....
Low Life Cycle Cost EHF MILSATCOM Terminal Concepts

Evolution of MILSATCOM terminals utilizing the EHF/SHF (40/20 GHz) frequency band places high demands on the terminal architecture and equipment design to provide required performance consistent with affordable life cycle costs. Factors influencing the terminal architecture and design include covert operation in the presence of a high jamming environment. These requirements are generally achievable only through the use of advanced technology concepts which are usually not consistent with low cost. The effort described in this paper was sponsored by RADC under Contract F30602-81-C-0154. It develops the interrelationship between terminal requirements, available technology and terminal architecture necessary to provide low life cycle cost terminals. An iterative process applied early in the design phase leads to the identification of high cost areas and through analysis and trade-off of technology, design and architecture, lower cost approaches are developed. Life-cycle analysis is accomplished through computer programs providing sensitivity data which is accurate and accountable for both design-to-unit-production-cost (DTUPC) and Life Cycle Cost (LCC).
On survivability measures for military networks

Several measures that ensure network survivability, the measure of a network's endurance in the presence of possible component failures, are reviewed. Two additional survivability measures, the minimum cut-tree formulation and weakest cut-tree formulation, are proposed. An algorithm for the computation of the cut-trees and an example of the applications of these measures are presented. >
Imaging Studies of Reading and Reading Disability

The reading disability dyslexia is associated with orthographic and phonological processing deficits. Neuroimaging studies have revealed less gray and white matter volume and altered white matter integrity in left temporoparietal areas and abnormal activity of brain regions known to subserve reading (and its constituent processes), including left ventral occipitotemporal, temporoparietal, and inferior frontal cortices (and their connections). Brain imaging studies are contributing to our understanding of the neural correlates of successful reading intervention, the role of dyslexia-associated genes, and the causal versus consequential nature of brain-based differences in dyslexia.
Optimizing outcomes in pancreas transplantation: Impact of organ preservation time.

Recent changes to pancreas graft allocation policy have increased the number of organs available for regional and distant sharing, which results in a corresponding increase in preservation time. We sought to systematically assess the impact of cold ischemia time (CIT) on outcomes posttransplant. A retrospective review of 1,253 pancreas transplants performed at a single transplant center was performed to correlate CIT to transplant outcomes. The rate of technical failure (TF) increased with 20+ hours of CIT, with a 2.7- to 6.2-fold increased rate of TF for pancreas after kidney (PAK), simultaneous pancreas and kidney (SPK), and pancreas transplants overall. Long-term graft survival was best with 25 years) and overweight (BMI >25) donors. In the final analysis, grafts with <12 hours of CIT performed the best overall, and strategies that reduce CIT (such as early allocation, pre-recovery crossmatching, and chartered flights for organs) should be considered whenever possible. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Improving Access to Collaborative Behavioral Health Care for Rural-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objective:This study examined whether a telephone-delivered collaborative care intervention (SUpporting Seniors Receiving Treatment And INtervention [SUSTAIN]) improved access to mental health services similarly among older adults in rural areas and those in urban-suburban areas.Methods:This cohort study of 8,621 older adults participating in the SUSTAIN program, a clinical service provided to older adults in Pennsylvania newly prescribed a psychotropic medication by a primary care or non–mental health provider, examined rural versus urban-suburban differences in rates of initial clinical interview completion, patient clinical characteristics, and program penetration.Results:Participants in rural counties were more likely than those in urban-suburban counties to complete the initial clinical interview (27.0% versus 24.0%, p=.001). Program penetration was significantly higher in rural than in urban-suburban counties (p=.02).Conclusions:Telephone-based care management programs such as SUSTAIN may be an effe...
Counteracting tobacco motor sports sponsorship as a promotional tool: is the tobacco settlement enough?

Objectives. This study sought to quantify television advertising exposure achieved by tobacco companies through sponsorship of motor sports events and to evaluate the likely effect of the Master Settlement Agreement on this advertising. Methods. Data from Sponsors Report, which quantifies the exposure that sponsors of selected televised sporting events receive during broadcasts of those events, were compiled for all motor sports events covered by the service for the period 1997 through 1999. Results. From 1997 through 1999, tobacco companies achieved 169 hours of television advertising exposure and $410.5 million of advertising value for their products by sponsoring motor sports events. If tobacco companies comply with the Master Settlement Agreement and maintain their advertising at 1999 levels, they will still be able to achieve more than 25 hours of television exposure and an equivalent television advertising value of $99.1 million per year. Conclusions. Despite a federal ban on tobacco advertising on television, tobacco companics achieve the equivalent of more than $150 million in television advertising per year through their sponsorship of motor sports events. The Master Settlement Agrcement likely will do little to address this problem.
On the distributed computation of a common fixed point of a family of paracontractions

This paper is concerned with a distributed algorithm for computing a common fixed point of a family of m > 1 nonlinear maps M i : Rn → Rn, assuming that each map is a paracontraction and that at least one such common fixed point exists. Each agent i knows the paracontraction M i and receives only a subset of the entries of the state vectors of its current neighbors at each time t. Using only this information, each agent recursively updates its own estimate of a common fixed point. Neighbor relations are characterized by a collection of time-varying directed neighbor graphs N k (t), one for each entry k ∊ {1,…, n} of the state vector. It is shown under certain technical conditions that the algorithm causes all agent estimates to converge to the same common fixed point.
Transforming power in Amazonian extractivism: historical exploitation, contemporary "fair trade", and new possibilities for indigenous cooperatives and conservation

Cooperatives have been widely supported as vehicles for community-based conservation and development. However, these organizations are often developed around specific income-generating projects rather than broader considerations of how relations of power and ecological exploitation might be transformed. This article uses the case of AmazonCoop—a cooperative dedicated to the supposedly fair trade of Brazil nuts between Amazonian indigenous people and the multinational corporation The Body Shop—to illustrate how historical political ecology might facilitate the design of more radically transformative cooperatives. Contextualizing AmazonCoop within the history of Amazonian extractivism, and particularly the extraction of wild rubber, reveals the specific mechanisms and processes through which indigenous people have gained and lost power. This analysis thus creates opportunities for thinking more creatively about how contemporary conservation–development schemes might pursue ecologically sustainable and socially just social transformations. Keywords: cooperatives, fair trade, conservation, development, indigenous people, Brazil
Wafer-scale High-Density Edge Coupling for High Throughput Testing of Silicon Photonics

High-throughput functional testing of silicon photonics is a key challenge for scalable manufacturing. We present a technique for wafer-scale testing using high-density edge couplers that add excess loss of <2.2dB without requiring additional footprint.
The De Facto Independence of Federal Offices of Inspector General

The question of whether executive agencies can be subject to the control of politically elected legislators has been answered affirmatively, but it remains an open question whether legislators can ...
The W Life Cycle Model and Associated Methodology for Corporate Web Site Development

The last few years witnessed the increasing internal and external use of the Internet by organizations. Web sites grew in sophistication from conventional sites composed of a simple collection of Web pages for public relations or marketing to complex Web information systems dealing with business-tocustomer transactions or business-to-business networks. However, most organizations still do not have a formal process of Web site development, and corporate Web sites are often developed in an unorganized and uncoordinated fashion. The results of this chaotic situation include slow delivery, conflicting standards, discrepancies with respect to corporate objectives, and redundant development efforts. To help alleviate this situation, this paper presents the W software life cycle model for corporate web site development along with an associated methodology to guide Web development groups in their endeavors. The proposed process model and methodology are based on insights gleaned by studying development projects for three types of corporate Web sites: intranets, Web-presence sites, and transactional sites. However, because Web information systems are more complex, the article also provides Communications of AIS, Volume 5 Article 7 3 The W Lifecycle Model and Associated Methodology for Corporate Web Site Development by L. B. Sherrell and L. Chen recommendations for how the methodology can be adapted to handle these types of applications better.
An Adaptive Workforce as the Foundation for E-Collaboration

Abstract : E-collaboration, while having its roots in electronic technology such as telephones and other rudimentary electronic devices, has expanded dramatically with today's plethora of computer-supported cooperation and computer-mediated communication. E-collaboration technologies have transformed the "world of work" as we know it today. These technologies are undeniably the predominant factor facilitating the globalization of business, and they have transformed the fundamentals of interpersonal interaction within and across organizations. Given the tremendous changes being imposed by e-collaboration technologies, we must consider the subsequent changes be elicited at the individual (or human) level. In order words, how are the users adapting not only to the technologies themselves, but to the new "world of work" that the technologies have created?
Cities, Internal Organization of

Urban form affects a city's economic efficiency, social equity, environmental quality, and sense of place, so the understanding of spatial organization and its principles has significant theoretical and practical implications. Based on North American urban experience, this article provides an overview of the evolution of cities and presents salient regularities of the internal organizations of cities. It then discusses the important factors shaping urban form—urban morphology; technological changes; income, wealth, and preferences; economic restructuring; development processes; and public-sector actions. Finally, it summarizes four major approaches in understanding urban structure, i.e., the ecological, the utility maximization, the physical, the system, and the postmodern approaches.
mTORC2 contributes to the metabolic reprogramming in EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitor resistant cells in non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with activating EGFR mutations are often successfully treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) such as erlotinib; however, treatment resistance inevitably occurs. Given tumor metabolism of glucose and therapeutic response are intimately linked, we explored the metabolic differences between isogenic erlotinib-sensitive and -resistant NSCLC cell lines. We discovered that the growth of erlotinib-resistant cells is more sensitive to glucose deprivation. Seahorse metabolic assay revealed erlotinib-resistant cells have lower spare respiratory capacity (SRC), an indicator of metabolic flexibility, compared to erlotinib-sensitive cells. Additionally, we found downstream components of mTORC2 signaling to be phosphorylated in erlotinib-resistant cells. Knockdown of an mTORC2 component, Rictor, enhanced the SRC and rescued the growth rate of erlotinib-resistant cells during glucose deprivation. Among NSCLCs with activating EGFR mutations, gene sets involved in glucose metabolism were enriched in patients with high expression of p-NDGR1, a readout of mTORC2 activity. Furthermore, overall survival was negatively correlated with p-NDRG1. Our work uncovers a link between mTORC2 and metabolic reprogramming in EGFR TKI-resistant cells and highlights the significance of mTORC2 in the progression of EGFR-mutated NSCLC.
A New Era of Keyhole Surgery

Although endoscopic (keyhole) surgery has a rich historical heritage, it has had its most dramatic impact in the last 3 years. The new era has ushered in a new set of problems that require careful consideration and appraisal. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has taken hold firmly; the status of other abdominal procedures in this new era still await evaluation.
Depressive symptoms and actigraphy-measured circadian disruption predict head and neck cancer survival.

Objective Depressive symptoms have demonstrated prognostic significance among head and neck cancer patients. Depression is associated with circadian disruption, which is prognostic in multiple other cancer types. We hypothesized that depressive symptoms would be associated with circadian disruption in head and neck cancer, that each would be related to poorer 2-year overall survival, and that relationships would be mediated by tumor response to treatment. Methods Patients (N = 55) reported on cognitive/affective and somatic depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) and wore an actigraph for 6 days to continuously record rest and activity cycles prior to chemoradiation. Records review documented treatment response and 2-year survival. Spearman correlations tested depressive symptoms and circadian disruption relationships. Cox proportional hazard models tested the predictive capability of depressive symptoms and circadian disruption, separately, on survival. Results Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with circadian disruption, and both were significantly associated with shorter survival (somatic: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.325, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.089-1.611, P = .005; rest/activity rhythm: HR = 0.073, 95% CI = 0.009-0.563, P = .012; nighttime restfulness: HR = 0.910, 95% CI = 0.848-0.977, P = .009). Tumor response to treatment appeared to partly mediate the nighttime restfulness-survival relationship. Conclusions This study replicates and extends prior work with new evidence linking a subjective measure of depression and an objective measure of circadian disruption-2 known prognostic indicators-to shortened overall survival among head and neck cancer patients. Continued examination should elucidate mechanisms by which depressive symptomatology and circadian disruption translate to head and neck cancer progression and mortality.
Seven possible states of geospatial data with respect to map projection and definition: a novel pedagogical device for GIS education

Conceptually, the theory and implementation of “map projection” in geographic information system (GIS) technology is difficult to comprehend for most introductory students and novice users. Compoun...
Artificial intelligence: a survey on evolution, models, applications and future trends

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the core drivers of industrial development and a critical factor in promoting the integration of emerging technologies, such as graphic processing unit, Inter...
Swensen, Pelé, and the Blockchain

In this article, the authors provide a non-technical discussion about the cryptocurrency market, initial coin offerings (ICOs), the fundamental impact blockchain technology may have on a range of market segments, and the structural mechanisms with which companies create value and facilitate value exchange with their consumers. Furthermore, the authors highlight how the combination of blockchain technology, low-cost cloud computing offerings, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and so forth, are changing the way market participants create, distribute, and exchange value. The combination of these technologies is and will continue to be the fundamental force driving the transformation of commerce globally.
Chemical, mechanical and microstructural characterization of low-oxygen containing silicon carbide fibers with ceramic coatings

Room temperature tensile strengths of as-received Hi-Nicalon fibers and those having BN/SiC, p-BN/SiC, and p-B(Si)N/SiC surface coatings, deposited by chemical vapor deposition, were measured using an average fiber diameter of 13.5μm. The Weibull statistical parameters were determined for each fiber. The average tensile strength of uncoated Hi-Nicalon was 3.19 ± 0.73 GPa with a Weibull modulus of 5.41. Strength of fibers coated with BN/SiC did not change. However, fibers coated with p-BN/SiC and p-B(Si)N/SiC surface layers showed strength loss of ~10% and 35%, respectively, compared with the as-received fibers.
Marconi: the man who networked the world

This is the most comprehensive, best researched, and in many ways most provocative biography of Guglielmo Marconi we have. It is also the messiest, in the best sense of this word. The story of Marc...
Minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion vs. conservative management for chronic sacroiliac joint pain.

Dengler et al . have reported the 12-month results of a randomized controlled trial comparing minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion to conservative measures (1). This study is the second RCT (randomized control trial) of MIS SI (minimally invasive sacroiliac joint) fusion versus CM (conservative management) and it has findings consistent in direction and magnitude of effect as the first RCT (2). Why is this study important?
Perioperative management of esophageal atresia/tracheo-esophageal fistula: An analysis of data of 101 consecutive patients.

Background: The perioperative management of esophageal atresia/tracheo-esophageal fistula by open or thoracoscopic approach can be complicated by metabolic derangements. Little is known, however, about the severity of derangements of vital and metabolic parameters in the perioperative period. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the perioperative courses of vital and metabolic parameters in 101 consecutive neonates undergoing surgical repair of esophageal atresia type C. Method: In a retrospective cohort study, we extracted all data from the electronic anesthetic and medical charts of patients who underwent esophageal atresia type C repair within 30 days of life (2007-2017). We distinguished three types of surgery: primary open, primary thoracoscopic, and primary thoracoscopic surgery converted to open surgery. Descriptive analysis was applied. Results: The charts of 117 patients were reviewed: data of 101 were included. The perioperative anesthetic management was not standardized; various methods and medications were used for anesthesia induction and maintenance. Intraoperative blood gas analysis data of 72 patients were available and showed derangements regardless of type of surgery. The median pH-value decreased to 7.21 [IQR 7.14-7.30] and a pH-value below 7.20 was found in 29 patients; in four cases below 7.0, with the lowest value 6.83. The median PaCO2 reached an upper level of 7.5kPa [IQR 5.8-9.2]; in 13 cases above 10.0kPa, with a peak value of 25.8kPa. These high PaCO2 levels fluctuated with lowest measured PaCO2 of median 5.6 [IQR 4.5-6.6], with the lowest value 2.8kPa. The median PaO2 level reached an upper level of 16.9kPa [IQR 11.8-25.7], in 22 cases above 20.0kPa, with a peak value of 50.0kPa. These high levels fluctuated with lowest measured PaO2 levels of median 8.3kPa [IQR 6.73-10.5]; the lowest PaO2 value was 4.7 kPa. Conclusion: Open and thoracoscopic correction of esophageal atresia were associated with periods of severe metabolic derangements. These events need to be taken into account for the evaluation of esophageal atresia (surgical) care and in evaluations of short- and long-term outcomes.
Dietary supplementation of a fiber-prebiotic and saccharin-eugenol blend in extruded diets fed to dogs

Prebiotics and dietary fibers are nondigestible ingredients that may confer benefits to the host by selectively stimulating beneficial intestinal bacteria and microbial-derived metabolites that support gut and host health. This experiment evaluated the effects of a blend of prebiotics and dietary fibers on apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and fecal metabolites related to gastrointestinal health in adult dogs. Four diets containing either 5% cellulose (control; CT), 5% dietary fiber and prebiotic blend (FP), 0.02% saccharin and eugenol (SE), or 5% fiber blend plus 0.02% saccharin and eugenol (FSE) were formulated to meet or exceed the AAFCO (2017) nutritional requirements for adult dogs. Eight adult female beagles (mean age 4.2 ± 1.1 yr; mean BW = 10.8 ± 1.4 kg; mean BCS = 5.8 ± 0.6) were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 dietary treatments using a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square design. Each experimental period consisted of 14 d (10 d of diet adaptation and 4 d of total and fresh fecal and total urine collection). All animals remained healthy throughout the study, with serum metabolites being within reference ranges for adult dogs. All diets were well accepted by the dogs, resulting in similar (P > 0.05) daily food intakes among treatments. Likewise, fecal output and scores did not differ (P > 0.05) among dietary treatments, with the latter being within the ideal range (2.5-2.9) in a 5-point scale. All diets were highly digestible and had similar (P > 0.05) ATTD of dry matter (81.6%-84.4%), organic matter (86.4%-87.3%), and crude protein (86.6%-87.3%). However, total dietary fiber (TDF) digestibility was greater for dogs fed the FSE diet (P < 0.05) in contrast with dogs fed the CT and SE diets, whereas dogs fed FP diets had intermediate TDF digestibility, but not different from all other treatments. Fecal acetate and propionate concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) for dogs fed FP and FSE diets. Fecal concentrations of isobutyrate and isovalerate were greater for dogs fed CT (P < 0.05) compared with dogs fed the other three treatments. No shifts in fecal microbial richness and diversity were observed among dietary treatments. Overall, the data suggest that dietary supplementation of fiber and prebiotic blend was well tolerated by dogs, did not cause detrimental effects on fecal quality or nutrient digestibility, and resulted in beneficial shifts in fecal metabolites that may support gut health.
Claiming Incentive Logistics at the Heavy 4th Tuban Cement Project in Indonesia: A Practical Guidance

This practical research aims to be guidance for investors who intend to claiming projects’ incentives offered by Indonesia’s government. Many of them failed to claim such incentives due to lack documents fulfillment since preparation, they mostly unaware, when it needed just realized requiring many revisions and finally came to end-rejection. Scope of this paper is in Indonesia for investors who are in preparation-stage to do project investments. It comes to conclude that remodeling logistics’ execution can successfully reduce to only 7% of logistics costs or far below than Doing Business’ finding. Methodology applied was changing Incoterms to be free on board (FOB) instead of cost and freight (CFR).
An Effective and Computationally Efficient Approach for Anonymizing Large-Scale Physical Activity Data: Multi-Level Clustering-Based Anonymization

Publishing physical activity data can facilitate reproducible health-care research in several areas such as population health management, behavioral health research, and management of chronic health problems. However, publishing such data also brings high privacy risks related to re-identification which makes anonymization necessary. One of the challenges in anonymizing physical activity data collected periodically is its sequential nature. The existing anonymization techniques work sufficiently for cross-sectional data but have high computational costs when applied directly to sequential data. This article presents an effective anonymization approach, multi-level clustering-based anonymization to anonymize physical activity data. Compared with the conventional methods, the proposed approach improves time complexity by reducing the clustering time drastically. While doing so, it preserves the utility as much as the conventional approaches.