cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Varying femtosecond laser induced crosslink density in corneal stroma to control degree of refractive error correction

Our recent work has demonstrated the application of femtosecond oscillators to crosslink corneal collagen in absence of photosensitizers to correct refractive errors and enhance corneal mechanical properties. Here we propose a new design of the femtosecond laser station enabling significantly reduce the time of the treatment procedure to clinically acceptable duration and report the results of one-dimensional parametric study on the control of the adjustment of corneal curvature. Fresh porcine eyes were subject to the laser irradiation ex vivo. The volumetric exposure to the laser has been executed by treating multiple planar areas at varying depths, measured from the ocular surface. The degree of the refractive error correction was adjusted by varying the number the laser treated planar areas. The eye topography has been monitored within 24-hour window post-treatment to assess degree and short term stability of the induced corrections. Results have shown that the correction of corneal refractive power can be controlled with resolution of approximately 0.75 diopter. Inflation tests were performed post-treatment accordingly to assess the viscoelastic response of crosslinked corneas. Rate dependent hysteresis curves obtained from the pressure-deformation response of treated corneas under physiological conditions showed statistically significant increase in stiffness in contrast to controls, in which no change has been observed.
Networked Array Recorder (NeAR) Microphones for Field-Deployed Phased Arrays

An innovative edge-computing concept known as NeAR (Networked Array Recorder) has been developed to provide enhancements to existing field-deployable microphone phased arrays utilized for aeroacoustic flyover measurements of airframe and propulsive noise sources. The proposed system allows for the elimination of multiple miles of sensor wiring in an array installation, thereby improving the scalability of the overall system, increasing the fault-tolerance of the hardware, and reducing the effort needed to build-up and tear-down an array in the field. A demonstration of the NeAR concept was performed at Edwards Air Force Base in California in March – April, 2018, where twelve individual NeAR microphones were deployed as a piggyback on a conventional phased array system deployed for airframe noise flyover testing. The microphones operated successfully during the demonstration with good time history and spectral correlations shown between the NeAR units and conventional microphones located nearby in the array. The NeAR concept has spinoffs beyond its use for phased arrays, including applications in remote environmental sensing and noise monitoring.
Papi Jiang and Microcelebrity in China: A Multilevel Analysis

The vibrancy of China’s microcelebrity phenomenon contrasts sharply with the scant scholarly attention paid to it. To address this lacuna, this article provides a systematic analysis of Papi Jiang, the most prominent and illustrative example of a Chinese microcelebrity. I argue that Papi’s rise to fame is dependent on a particular digital environment with technological and cultural specificities. By bringing the phenomenon of microcelebrity in China into the spotlight, my work complicates Western-dominated writings that tend to emphasize the performances of microcelebrities as portraying an authentic, intimate, and accessible self. This article also calls for a broader analytical framework for the study of microcelebrity that invokes a multilevel analysis. I argue that microcelebrity could be better understood through combining a microlevel investigation of its performances, a new focus on the active role of digital technologies, and close scrutiny of the broader media ecology and sociocultural contexts in which microcelebrity takes shape.
Ward: Implementing Arbitrary Hierarchical Policies using Packet Resubmit in Programmable Switches

Datacenters in major cloud providers host thousands of competing tenants and applications. Network operators must ensure that available resources are fairly shared and isolated among tenants to meet Service Level Agreements (SLA). Moreover, operators must be able to meet application requirements inside each tenant to provide end-user satisfaction. Providing isolation among tenants, and enforcing application policies require deep, hierarchical policies to isolate tenants and applications separately. Current state of the art approaches cannot enforce deep, hierarchical policies due to the switches' resource limitations. In this paper, we propose Ward, a practical approach to enforce deep hierarchical network policies using packet resubmit in programmable switches. Packet resubmit allows switches to reuse network resources in enforcing complex traffic policies. Our empirical results in a sample hierarchical policy with two levels show that Ward could enforce tenant isolation and strict priority.
100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Modeling and Simulation of Macromolecules with Hydrogen Bonds: Challenges, Successes, and Opportunities

Macromolecular materials with directional interactions such as hydrogen bonds exhibit numerous attractive features in terms of structure, thermodynamics, and dynamics. Besides enabling precise tuni...
Micro-CT Imaging of Fibers in Composite Laminates under High Strain Bending

To be able to track the deformation of fibers in composite laminates subject to high strain bending and to study any changes that occur due to elevated temperature hold, an experimental technique using micron scale X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) was developed and is reported here. A lab based X-ray micro-CT system with resolution as low as 0.7 μ m was used to scan an approximately 0.76 × 0.76 × 0.27 mm volume of a 0.27 mm thick unidirectional carbon fiber/epoxy matrix composite laminate. Long scans of 16 hours at low energy, 40 kV, were needed to yield low noise, clear CT images. The laminate is bent to a radius of curvature of approximately 8.2 mm and held statically in a 3D printed fixture. Since the fixture is in the beam path it is important that it have low and uniform X-ray absorption. Several materials were tried, resulting in the choice of polyamide for the 3D printed fixture. Treating fiber cross sections as particles and adapting an algorithm designed for tracking particle trajectories, individual fibers in the deformed state are identified and their coordinates mapped out. Analysis of the fibers shows no measurable change to the fiber curvatures before and after being held at 80 ∘C for one hour.
A new approach to creating and deploying audio description for live theater

Audio description is an accessibility service used by blind or visually impaired individuals. Often accompanying movies, television shows, and other visual art forms, the service provides spoken descriptions of visual content, allowing people with vision loss the ability to access information that sighted people obtain visually. At live theatrical events, audio description provides spoken descriptions of scenes, characters, props, and other visual elements that those with vision loss may otherwise find inaccessible. This paper explores a novel approach to automate the creation and deployment of audio description for repeatable live theatrical events, both musical and non-musical. Using readily available tools and established sound-processing techniques, we describe a framework to automate several aspects of audio description for theater. The method uses a reference audio recording and an online time warping algorithm to align audio description with live performances, including a process for handling unexpected interruptions. We also show how a reference audio recording and descriptive tracks can be generated automatically from a show’s script and used to facilitate the deployment of audio description without sufficient resources for multiple performances or a live audio describer. Finally, a software implementation that is integrated into an existing theatrical workflow is also described. This system is used in three evaluation experiments that show the method successfully aligns multiple recordings of works of musical theater and non-musical plays in order to automatically trigger pre-recorded, descriptive audio in real time.
Contactless seismocardiography via deep learning radars

The seismocardiogram (SCG) is a recording of a human heart's mechanical activity. It captures fine-grained cardiovascular events such as the opening and closing of heart valves and the contraction and relaxation of heart chambers. Today, SCG recordings are obtained by strapping an accelerometer at the apex of the heart to measure chest wall vibrations. These recordings can be used to diagnose and monitor various cardiovascular conditions including myocardial infarction (heart attack), coronary heart disease, and ischemia. This paper introduces RF-SCG, a system that can capture SCG recordings without requiring any contact with the human body. The system operates by analyzing the reflections of millimeter-wave radar signals off the human body. RF-SCG can reconstruct the SCG waveform, and it can time 5 cardiovascular events within individual heartbeats with high accuracy. Our design is based on a hybrid architecture that combines signal processing with deep learning. The pipeline includes a 4D Cardiac Beamformer that can focus on the reflections of the human heart and a deep learning pipeline (RF-to-SCG Translator) that can transform these reflections into SCG waveforms. Empirical evaluation with 40,000 heartbeats from 21 healthy subjects demonstrates RF-SCG's ability to robustly time five key cardiovascular events (aortic valve opening, aortic valve closing, mitral valve opening, mitral valve closing, and isovolumetric contraction) with a median error between 0.26%-1.29%.
822-P: Insulin Pump Use in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes: Real-World Data from a Large U.S. Based Multicenter Observational Study

Background: Insulin pump use is known to improve glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), however, uptake of insulin pump varies among people in U.S. This study aims to examine the distribution of patient demographics and frequency of clinical outcomes across people using insulin pump. Methods: The analysis included 21,821 T1D patients in the T1D Exchange Quality Improvement (T1DX-QI) database for whom electronic medical record data was available in the T1DX-QI collaborative. Patients over 2 years with at least one completed clinic encounter between January 2014 - February 2020 were included for analysis. Results: In this population, 58% (N=12,729) of T1D patients were insulin pump users, whereas 42% (N=9,092) were non-users. HbA1c levels in the insulin pump group were lower compared to non- users (Mean [SD], %: 8.5 [2.6] vs. 8.9[2.1] [p Conclusions: This study highlights inequities in uptake of insulin pump therapy, while confirming previous findings demonstrating the use of insulin pump in combination with CGMs to be critical in effective management of blood glucose levels in one of the largest multi-center observational studies in the U.S. Disclosure N. Noor: Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc. M. A. Clements: Consultant; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Employee; Self; Glooko, Inc., Research Support; Self; Abbott Diabetes, Dexcom, Inc. G. T. Alonso: None. S. Rompicherla: None. N. Noor: Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc. S. Lyons: None. J. M. Lee: Advisory Panel; Self; GoodRx. M. Gallagher: None. J. A. Indyk: None. O. Ebekozien: None. M. Greenfield: None. Funding The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
D$^2$ABS: A Framework for Dynamic Dependence Abstraction of Distributed Programs.

As modern software systems are increasingly developed for running in distributed environments, it is crucial to provide fundamental techniques such as dependence analysis for checking, diagnosing, and evolving those systems. However, traditional dependence analysis is either inapplicable or of very limited utility for distributed programs due to the decoupled components of these programs that run in concurrent processes at physically separated machines. Motivated by the need for dependence analysis of distributed software and the diverse cost-effectiveness needs of dependence-based applications, this paper presents D$^2$ABS, a framework of dynamic dependence abstraction for distributed programs. By partial-ordering distributed method-execution events and inferring causality from the ordered events, D$^2$ABS abstracts method-level dependencies both within and across process boundaries. Further, by exploiting message-passing semantics across processes, and incorporating static dependencies and statement coverage within individual components, we present three additional instantiations of D$^2$ABS that trade efficiency for better precision. We present the design of the D$^2$ABS framework and evaluate the four instantiations of D$^2$ABS on distributed systems of various architectures and scales using our implementation for Java. Our empirical results show that D$^2$ABS is significantly more effective than existing options while offering varied levels of cost-effectiveness tradeoffs. As our framework essentially computes whole-system run-time dependencies, it naturally empowers a range of other dependence-based applications.
Surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation: MIS, endoscopic, and percutaneous techniques

Abstract Lumbar disc herniation is one of the most common causes of low back pain and may be accompanied by numbness, weakness, tingling, and radiating pain in the legs. Majority of patients with radiculopathy secondary to lumbar disc herniation may be successfully treated with non-operative management including physical therapy, home exercise, counseling, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. However, surgical management of lumbar disc herniation has also been demonstrated as an efficacious treatment modality. The purpose of this paper is to characterize the indications, techniques, outcomes, and the complications associated with the surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation treated with minimally invasive techniques.
Tutorial: creating an introductory embedded systems course for the computer science curriculum

It is clear that mobile embedded systems such as cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) comprise a growing market segement. In fact, there is a sea change that has occurred in the area of embedded systems. Somewhat swiftly over the last five years or so, full fledged operating systems are readily available in embedded systems, where not long ago only the higher end embedded systems had such capabilities. Further, these are general purpose operating systems and, where appropriate, deployed with windowing systems as a graphical user interface.This presents an opportunity for computer science students. Formerly, it was something of a leap for them to embark on a career in embedded systems, unless they had received significant hardware training. However, these newer embedded systems provide an environment where such students can contribute significantly using development tools with witch they are familiar. Such a developer can make great progress with only occasional guidance from a hardware guru. Nevertheless, the typical computer science student interested in career in embedded systems make a transition. The development environment for embedded systems is not familiar, although the software tools are.This tutorial will introduce participants to a course targeting computer scientists who wish to make the transition to embedded systems programming. The underlying course is freely available on the Internet, should tutorial participants wish to embark on a detailed course of study or adopt it for their own classroom use. This tutorial will introduce and give a short discussion of these topics:an overview of the embedded system development environmentworking with 'local' targets i.e. floppy diskettes or CDROMs to establish a somewhat prototypical environmentmoving on to working with a more typical 'alien' architecture as the embedded targetconfiguring the workstation for embedded development (software tools etc.)establishing connectivity between work station and targettailoring an operating system destined for the targetadding existing applications/functionality to the targetdeveloping new applications for the targetThe environment for both workstation and target is Linux based to provide maximum flexibility. Participants will be provided with CDs containing the full course.
PACAP: a master regulator of neuroendocrine stress circuits and the cellular stress response

The neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is released from stress-transducing neurons. It exerts postsynaptic effects required to complete the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) and hypothalamo-sympatho-adrenal (HSA) circuits activated by psychogenic and metabolic stressors. Upon activation of these circuits, PACAP-responsive (in cell culture models) and PACAP-dependent (in vivo) transcriptomic responses in the adrenal gland, hypothalamus, and pituitary have been identified. Gene products produced in response circuits during stress include additional neuropeptides, neurotransmitter biosynthetic enzymes, and neuroprotective factors. Major portions of HPA and HSA stress responses are abolished in PACAP-deficient mice. This deficit occurs at the level of both the hypothalamus (HPA axis) and the adrenal medulla (HSA axis). PACAP-dependent transcriptional stress responses are conveyed through noncanonical cyclic AMP- and calcium-initiated signaling pathways within the HSA circuit. PACAP transcriptional regulation of the HPA axis, in the hypothalamus, is likely to be mediated via canonical cyclic AMP signaling through protein kinase A.
Health care facility preparation for weapons of mass destruction

Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are a threat that all health care facilities must be prepared for. Every health care facility is a vital part of the community response system and must be ready to respond. A terrorist attack using WMD can occur in any location, urban or rural. Private vehicles or buses may transport the majority of patients, with only a small percentage arriving by emergency medical services. Most will go to the hospitals closest to the incident, even if this results in overcrowding. Others will go directly to their private physicians' offices or primary hospitals, even if these facilities are not part of the local disaster plan. Most of these victims will not be decontaminated before arrival. If a hospital allows any of these patients in, the staff may become ill from the toxic exposure and the facility may require closure for decontamination. Since the risk is universal, all health care facilities must plan for the care of victims of a WMD incident. They must plan for communications that allow local government to transmit alerts regarding the emergency. Health care facilities must also communicate their status and emergency needs to local officials during the emergency. They must be prepared to establish a single entry control point and attempt to secure all other entrances. They must be able to establish a patient decontamination team from on-duty staff with only a few minutes' notice at any time of the day or night.
A landmark-free method for quantifying biological shape variation

We implement a landmark-free method for the quantification of shape variation in evolutionary biology. The method is referred to as ‘geodesic distance analysis’ (GDA). It represents shapes as continuous boundaries that are invariant to translation, rotation and uniform scaling. Boundaries are represented as functions in an infinite-dimensional nonlinear space. The arc length of the curve is used as a parameter to model the shape. The angle between the tangent vector to the curve and the positive x axis is defined as a function of the arc length. In this way, shapes are compared and represented using their angle functions. Shape differences are calculated by finding geodesics (or shortest paths) between shapes of curves on the shape space. GDA offers an environment for the performance of shape statistics that are intrinsic to the space of planar continuous curves. The method becomes especially appropriate when the objects of study are continuous curves for which landmarks cannot be identified with certainty. We present applications of this method to the analysis of organismal morphology. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104, 217–233.
Chapter 3 The role of solid-state chemistry in the discovery of new thermoelectric materials

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of solid-state chemistry in the discovery of new thermoelectric materials. The challenge in any effort to discover new thermoelectric (TE) materials lies in achieving simultaneously high electronic conductivity, high thermoelectric power, and low thermal conductivity in the same solid. The challenge in TE research is to incorporate all the desirable features associated with the charge and thermal transport in a single solid-state material. The chapter presents a review on the criteria and the types of compounds that might be suitable. Materials suitable for TE applications fall mainly into two categories: semiconductors and mixed-valent compounds, although some semimetals may also be viable. Research groups are also investigating whether multiple quantum wells in semiconductors will improve thermoelectric behavior. The improvements for the electronic properties so far seem small, but quantum wells may have potentially a much smaller thermal conductivity than bulk counterparts, which may eventually make them useful for devices. The chapter discusses the properties for best materials of semiconductors. A highly successful approach has been performing reactions using molten salts as solvents. The future of TE relies heavily on new materials and, consequently, solid state chemistry has an important role to play in the field of TE.
Nonlinear Sigma Models in 4 Dimensions: A Lattice Definition

Consider a nonrelativistic particle of unit mass constrained to move without friction on a smooth curved surface.
The effects of a botanical anti-inflammatory nutritional supplement while participating in a resistance training program on indices of body composition and metabolic, cardiovascular, muscular, and hemodynamic function in obese females

Background Botanical supplements with flavonoids possess the ability to reduce inflammatory markers such as CRP, IL-6, and TNF-a. Also, they could potentially help reduce sugarinduced weight gain and facilitate weight loss. Diafin is a non-stimulant, botanical, weight loss product created from a blend of standardized Free-B-ring flavonoids and flavans from two plant extracts isolated from the Scutellaria genus of plants and the Acacia genus of plants. Flavonoids, specifically from the Scutellaria genus, have been used previously for anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular applications, and have been suggested to inhibit eicosanoid generating enzymes such as phospholipase A2, cyclooxygenases, and lipoxygenases, while concomitantly reducing prostanoids and leukotrienes. However, the exact mechanism in which flavonoids induce an anti-inflammatory effect is unclear.
Beneficial effects of metoprolol treatment in congestive heart failure. Reversal of sympathetic-induced alterations of immunologic function.

BACKGROUNDLittle information is available to explain why beta-blockers are beneficial in certain patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Since catecholamines alter immune function, we asked whether beta-blocker treatment leads to enhancement of immune function.METHODS AND RESULTSFifteen patients with New York Heart Association class III-IV CHF secondary to dilated cardiomyopathy were titrated to a minimum dose of metoprolol 25 mg BID on a background therapy of digoxin, diuretic, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. Cardiac and immunologic studies were done before and 6 months to 1 year after treatment. While these patients served as their own controls, an additional population of patients with heart failure was followed for a similar time period on traditional medications. A panel of seven delayed hypersensitivity skin tests were placed at 6- to 12-month intervals on the patient's forearm. Seventy percent of all CHF patients were anergic (unable to respond to more than 1 antigen). The 30% w...
Sciences, knowledges, and the practice of forestry

We address the question of how credible knowledge that will contribute to more effective forest policy and management can be produced. We argue that some forest-related knowledge-producing practices of professional scientists and of local people are similar, and given the differences in the knowledge they produce, we explore how they might be used productively together to create better understandings of forests with resulting better forestry practice and policy. Using a case study of participatory forest ecology research, we demonstrate that when professional (conventional) scientists do research in collaboration with local experts (civil scientists), the resulting knowledge can be more accurate and more policy relevant than they could produce doing research on their own or only with other conventional scientists.
Commentary: eight ways to prevent cancer: a framework for effective prevention messages for the public

Research over the past 40 years has convincingly shown that lifestyle factors play a huge role in cancer incidence and mortality. The public, though, can often discount the preventability of cancer. That health information on the Internet is a vast and often scientifically suspect commodity makes promoting important and sound cancer prevention messages to the public even more difficult. To help address these issues and improve the public’s knowledge of, and attitudes toward, cancer prevention, there need to be concerted efforts to create evidence-based, user-friendly information about behaviors that could greatly reduce overall cancer risk. Toward this end, we condensed the current scientific evidence on the topic into eight key behaviors. While not an end in themselves, “Eight Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer” forms an evidence-based and targeted framework that supports broader cancer prevention efforts.
PERCEPTIONS OF EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED MALE ADOLESCENTS ON THE THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST

20 boys aged 13 to 16 yr. and in classrooms for educationally handicapped students were studied by the TAT for adaptive functioning. Scored for pAggression, pDominance, nAggression, nAchievement, and nAutonomy, responses indicated that interactions between these disturbed adolescents and their environment were most likely to involve aggression and dominance and least apt to deal with achievement. Although IQs for all boys were average or above (M: 106), typical responses to the pictures were descriptive rather than development of a complete story. Difficulty in the expression of prediction and interpretation of personal experience was indicated.
UPTAKE OF COLLOIDAL THORIUM DIOXIDE BY MAST CELLS

Mast cells from the peritoneal cavity of the rat were obtained at various times following in situ injection of a colloidal thorium dioxide preparation (Thorotrast). They were prepared for electron microscopy by aldehyde fixation, osmium tetroxide postfixation, and embedding in Epon. Thorotrast was rapidly taken up by mast cells through enhanced or newly elicited surface specializations. It was confined at first to large vesicles which moved to the Golgi area. Subsequently, in a matter of a few hours only, it became associated with progressively more mature granules, including "fully" mature ones. In addition to demonstrating a further phagocytic or pinocytotic activity of mast cells, the findings suggest that mast cell granules share a common membranous investment, and that substances from the tissue environment may theoretically percolate over and interact with the granules. Mast cell function could thus be served primarily by absorptive rather than secretory processes.
A symmetric finite element formulation for the inverse problem of aquifer transmissivity

Abstract This paper presents a symmetric isoparametric finite element formulation for the inverse problem of aquifer transmissivity calculation with known piezometric head. An important aspect of the present formulation is that the groundwater flow equation describing the aquifer behavior is transformed into a second-order differential equation by introducing an artificial variable φ. The two-dimensional, line and transition elements derived based on the weak formulation of this transformed equation possess symmetric matrices. In the formulation of the line elements φ and its derivative in η direction are retained as primary variables. This permits modelling of sudden changes in aquifer width. The transition elements provide a natural connecting link between the two-dimensional elements and the line elements. The line elements provide an efficient means of modelling aquifers with unidirectional flow. Numerical examples are given. A comparison of the results obtained here with the Galerkin finite element solution (nonsymmetric formulation) clearly demonstrates the superiority of the formulation presented here.
Exploiting Object Escape and Locking Information in Partial-Order Reductions for Concurrent Object-Oriented Programs

Explicit-state model checking tools often incorporate partial-order reductions to reduce the number of system states explored (and thus the time and memory required) for verification. As model checking techniques are scaled up to software systems, it is important to develop and assess partial-order reduction strategies that are effective for addressing the complex structures found in software and for reducing the tremendous cost of model checking software systems. In this paper, we consider a number of reduction strategies for model checking concurrent object-oriented software. We investigate a range of techniques that have been proposed in the literature, improve on those in several ways, and develop five novel reduction techniques that advance the state of the art in partial-order reduction for concurrent object-oriented systems. These reduction strategies are based on (a) detecting heap objects that are thread-local (i.e., can be accessed by a single thread) and (b) exploiting information about patterns of lock-acquisition and release in a program (building on previous work). We present empirical results that demonstrate upwards of a hundred fold reduction in both space and time over existing approaches to model checking concurrent Java programs. In addition to validating their effectiveness, we prove that the reductions preserve LTL−X properties and describe an implementation architecture that allows them to be easily incorporated into existing explicit-state software model checkers.
A Smart Healthcare Systems Framework

A cost-effective and sustainable healthcare information system relies on the ability to collect, process, and transform healthcare data into information, knowledge, and action. However, in implementing such systems, healthcare providers face many complex and unique challenges. This article proposes a systematic framework for conceptualizing data-driven and mobile- and cloud-enabled smart healthcare systems. With adoption of smart healthcare systems, healthcare organizations can provide cost-effective quality healthcare services with less IT set-up costs and reduced risk.
Integrative Analysis of Response to Tamoxifen Treatment in ER-Positive Breast Cancer Using GWAS Information and Transcription Profiling

Variable response and resistance to tamoxifen treatment in breast cancer patients remains a major clinical problem. To determine whether genes and biological pathways containing SNPs associated with risk for breast cancer are dysregulated in response to tamoxifen treatment, we performed analysis combining information from 43 genome-wide association studies with gene expression data from 298 ER+ breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen and 125 ER+ controls. We identified 95 genes which distinguished tamoxifen treated patients from controls. Additionally, we identified 54 genes which stratified tamoxifen treated patients into two distinct groups. We identified biological pathways containing SNPs associated with risk for breast cancer, which were dysregulated in response to tamoxifen treatment. Key pathways identified included the apoptosis, P53, NFkB, DNA repair and cell cycle pathways. Combining GWAS with transcription profiling provides a unified approach for associating GWAS findings with response to drug treatment and identification of potential drug targets.
Responses of crimson clover to inoculation with genetically marked strains of rhizobium trifolii

Abstract In order to increase the utilization of annual clovers in pastures, information is needed on seasonal Rhizobium trifolii‐crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) interactions relating to factors affecting dinitrogen fixation rates. Five double‐antibiotic labelled strains of R. trifolii were evaluated for symbiotic effectiveness when in competition with indigenous rhizobia in nodulating ‘Tibbee’ crimson clover. Experiments were conducted in two soil environments, an ultisol and a vertisol, over two consecutive growing seasons. Successful nodulation of crimson clover by the introduced strains varied significantly within and between locations over both growing seasons. Strain 162K10, though highly competitive at the ultisol location, was dominated by the indigenous rhizobia over both seasons at the vertisol site. Strain RP113–14 occupied more than 90% of the nodules during the first growing season although this declined to only 60% in the subsequent season at the ultisol site. On the vertisol site, ...
Harvey cushing as medical artist: a case of cirsoid aneurysm of the scalp

Etude historique sur les dessins realises par ce chirurgien pour illustrer ses compte-rendus operatoires
Plant Zinc and the Zinc‐Efficiency Trait in Navy Bean

Abstract Seed of zinc (Zn)‐efficient and Zn‐inefficient navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes differ in Zn concentration [Zn]. Greenhouse studies were conducted to determine how Zn and P fertilizers influence seed [Zn] and within‐plant distribution of Zn in the navy bean genotypes Voyager (Zn‐efficient) and Albion (Zn‐inefficient). Addition of 60 and 120 mg P kg−1 in the absence of added Zn to a Calciaquoll low in available P and Zn decreased seed yields of Albion by 18 and 59%, respectively, but increased seed yields of Voyager by 32 and 41%, respectively. However, addition of fertilizer P with 4 mg Zn kg−1 increased seed yields of both genotypes. Seed [Zn] was generally higher in Voyager than in Albion, was increased by Zn fertilizer, and decreased by P fertilizer. In a follow‐up experiment seed [Zn] of Voyager and Albion converged as fertilizer Zn was increased from 8 to 64 mg kg−1. In contrast to seed [Zn], leaf, stem and pod‐wall [Zn] of Albion at maturity were higher than those of Voyager at e...
Logistic Regression and Probability of Business School Alumni Donations: Micro-data Evidence

This paper analyzes the propensity of business school alumni to give (or not give) cash donations to their alma mater. A utility maximization model is estimated using logistic regression and survey sample data of 1955–56 to 1990–91 graduates of a large US category I Carnegie Foundation research doctorate public university. Maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters fitted the observed data well. The probability of alumni giving has positive and strong associations with: specific fields of major; time since alumni graduated; other family members graduating from this university; children who are 18 years or older not residing at home; number of other cash-giving alumni known; household income levels; occupations of alumni and spouses; giving of cash gifts to other educational institutions and a number of charitable organizations with global outreach; charitable volunteering of time; availability of matching gift programmes at work; and how alumni view their educational experiences at the business ...
Spectators' Characteristics and Economic Impact of Local Sports Events: A Case Study of Cedar Valley Moonlight Classic Soccer Tournament

Abstract Within the events and attractions industry, short-term tourism events have increasingly gained popularity as catalysts for local economic development. Many communities promote sport, recreation and tourism opportunities to make full use of their recreational facilities, and to expand and diversify their local economy. Identifying who the spectators are in these small-scale sporting events will help to effectively apply marketing strategies and to accurately measure direct economic impact of such events. This study was designed to investigate the spectators' characteristics and the economic benefit of a small-scale sports event, the Cedar Valley Moonlight Classic Soccer Tournament, held at the Cedar Valley Youth Soccer Association complex in Waterloo, Iowa, in 2004 during the month of June. The findings are compared to area visitor statistics in order to help interpret the significance of local sport tournaments. IMPLAN Input-Output Model is utilized to assess the economic impact. The findings are...
Study of the Structure−Properties Relationship of Phenolic Molecular Glass Resists for Next Generation Photolithography

In this paper, we report the synthesis and characterization of a family of phenolic molecular glasses with variable size and branch architecture. This research is aimed at providing an improved understanding of the relationship between the structural variations of these phenolic photoresist materials and their thermal properties. In particular, the effects of the molecular weight, intermolecular hydrogen bonding, and structural effects on the glass transition temperature are studied in detail to gain a better understanding of their glass forming behavior. A fundamental understanding of such behavior is invaluable to the development of potential molecular photoresists for next generation lithography. Finally, these compounds are evaluated as positive-tone photoresists for lithographic applications for extreme UV (λ = 13.4 nm) lithography.
First-principles study of the mechanical and optical properties of amorphous hydrogenated silicon and silicon-rich silicon oxide

We use first-principles density-functional theory (DFT) calculations to predict mechanical and optical property variation with composition for hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H) ($\text{at}\text{.}\text{ }\mathrm{%}\text{ }\text{H}=0$, 5.9, 11.1, and 15.8) and ${\text{a-SiO}}_{x}$ ($x=0$, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0). A better understanding of the properties of a-Si:H and amorphous silicon oxide $({\text{a-SiO}}_{x})$ is technologically important, particularly for photovoltaic and optoelectronic device applications, respectively. However, relatively little reliable property information is available for these amorphous materials except for the well-studied end-point cases of a-Si and ${\text{a-SiO}}_{2}$. Our DFT calculations within the generalized gradient approximation predict that addition of H to a-Si monotonically reduces the elastic modulus $(Y)$ by 18% and bulk modulus $(B)$ by 16% as H incorporation increases to $15.8\text{ }\text{at}\text{.}\text{ }\mathrm{%}$ in a-Si:H. Similarly, addition of O to a-Si monotonically reduces $Y$ by 35% and $B$ by 38% as $x$ increases to 2.0 in ${\text{a-SiO}}_{x}$. Our optical spectra for the complex dielectric function, $\ensuremath{\epsilon}(\ensuremath{\omega})$, exhibit intensity reduction in the ${E}_{2}$ transition peak of $\text{Im}[\ensuremath{\epsilon}(\ensuremath{\omega})]$ and reduction in the low-frequency dielectric constant ${{\ensuremath{\epsilon}}_{\text{o}}={\text{lim}}_{\ensuremath{\omega}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0}\text{Re}[\ensuremath{\epsilon}(\ensuremath{\omega})]}$ as either H or O are added to a-Si while the ${\text{a-SiO}}_{x}$ spectra additionally resolve a vivid blueshift of both the fundamental absorption edge and ${E}_{2}$ transition energy as O content increases. Considering the large variation in reported experimental measurements and the limited availability of previous computational results, our property predictions provide valuable insight into the mechanical and optical behavior of a-Si:H and ${\text{a-SiO}}_{x}$ materials.
Photoionization of inner shells of excited atoms: Dominance of two-electron transitions.

Calculations of inner-shell photoionization of excited atoms are performed which demonstrate a general class of states for which ionization plus excitation is the dominant process. The phenomenon is explained in terms of relaxation effects and examples for Li are presented.
Gastrin and Phorbol 12-Myristate 13-Acetate Regulate the Human Histidine Decarboxylase Promoter through Raf-dependent Activation of Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase-related Signaling Pathways in Gastric Cancer Cells*

Gastrin stimulates transcription of the human histidine decarboxylase (HDC) gene through binding to the G-protein-coupled cholecystokinin-B/gastrin receptor. We have explored the possibility that mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades play a role in mediating the effects of gastrin on transcription in a gastric cancer (AGS-B) cell line. Gastrin and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) treatment of AGS-B cells was found to increase the phosphorylation of tyrosine residues of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) 1 and 2 and increase ERK activity as determined by thein vitro phosphorylation of myelin basic protein. Reporter gene assays also demonstrated that gastrin and PMA stimulated Elk-1- and c-Myc-dependent transactivation, consistent with gastrin- and PMA-induced activation of ERKs. Overexpression of wild type ERK-1 and ERK-2 or activation of endogenous ERKs using activated MEK-1 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase or ERK kinase) overexpression stimulated HDC promoter activity in a dose-dependent fashion. Interruption of the ERK-related pathway using expression vectors for kinase-deficient ERKs or an ERK-specific phosphatase (PAC-1) blocked gastrin- and PMA-stimulated HDC promoter activity. In contrast, inhibition of the Jun kinase pathway using an interfering dominant negative SEK-1 (stress-activated protein kinase/ERK-1) mutant did not inhibit HDC promoter activity. Furthermore, whereas gastrin stimulated phosphorylation of Shc proteins and association with Grb2, activation of the HDC promoter was not influenced by expression of dominant negative Ras (N15 or N17) proteins. However, gastrin stimulated Raf-1 kinase activity, and activation of the HDC promoter was blocked by coexpression of a dominant negative Raf-1 construct. Overall, these data demonstrate that gastrin regulates HDC transcription in a Rafdependent, Ras-independent fashion predominantly through activation of the ERK-related pathway.
Prenatal exposure to aspartame and seizure susceptibility

Abstract Aspartame has been reported to be proconvulsant in rats and mice. To determine whether gestational exposure to aspartame alters susceptibility to flurothyl-induced seizures in offspring, we administered either 500 or 750 mg/kg aspartame to pregnant guinea pigs throughout pregnancy. The offspring were exposed to flurothyl at age 30 days to determine the threshold for clonic and tonic seizures. We also examined offspring from a gavaged control group and a nontreated control group. There were no statistically significant differences in either clonic or tonic seizure thresholds among all groups. Therefore, aspartame administration throughout pregnancy in guinea pigs had no epileptogenic potential in the flurothyl model.
Improving technologies to reduce abortion-related morbidity and mortality

This article reviews the technologies used to diagnose pregnancy and manage abortion in developing countries. The author discusses methods of diagnosing pregnancy—including physical examination, laboratory and home testing, and ultrasound—as well as methods for performing safe abortions. Due to manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) advances, vacuum aspiration has become safer and more feasible in low-resource settings. The discussion of medical abortion includes the advantages and limitations of mifepristone, misoprostol-only regimens, methotrexate, and other methods. The author stresses the importance of post-abortion care and post-abortion contraception and, in the conclusion, identifies six areas in which technology can reduce abortion-related morbidity and mortality: pregnancy prevention, early diagnosis of pregnancy, accurate assessment of gestation, standardization and supply of MVA technology, and simple and affordable regimens for medical abortion.
The regression effect as a neglected source of bias in nonrandomized intervention trials and systematic reviews of observational studies.

Health care providers depend on the findings of observational intervention studies and systematic reviews of those studies to make evidence-based decisions about their clients' care. The nonrandom methods of group formation in observational studies necessitate carefully assessing threats to the validity of conclusions. Regression to the mean is a source of change in clinical outcome measures that has escaped widespread notice as a potential threat to the accuracy of conclusions from observational studies and systematic reviews thereof. Failure to assess the degree to which regression confounds study results elevates the risk of making clinical decisions using biased estimates of intervention effectiveness. Because the change in average outcome scores due to regression can be quantified, it is a type of bias whose direct influence can be known. Yet determining and reporting change due to regression is uncommon in observational studies or systematic reviews thereof. The means to quantify change due to regre...
Abstract C58: GS-19, a novel GSK inhibitor suppresses the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling.

The American Cancer Society estimates that over 43,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States, with a five-year survival rate below 6%. Conventional therapies are often of limited use because of the resistance development and cancer relapse. Therefore, identification of novel strategies to control and treat pancreatic cancer is of great importance. GS-19 is a novel compound designated as a GSK inhibitor and shown good activity in neural protective assay using MC65 cells. In this study, we determined the cytotoxic effects of GS-19 in pancreatic cancer cells. GS-19 treatment inhibited the growth of Panc-1 and BxPC-3 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Both the cell lines treated with GS-19 exhibited G-1 cell cycle arrest as well as apoptosis. Western blot analysis of both BxPC-3 and Panc-1 cells treated with GS-19 inhibited the activation (phosphorylation) and expression of key survival signaling proteins such as EGFR, STAT3 and AKT. The apoptosis induced by GS-19 was associated with cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP. Taken together, our results suggest that GS-19 suppress pancreatic cancer cell growth by inhibiting EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling. However, further mechanistic studies are in progress to establish the role of EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling in pancreatic cancer cells and correlate it with G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induced by GS-19. The studies in part were supported by R01 grant CA129038 awarded by NIH to S.K.S Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):C58. Citation Format: Alok Ranjan, Sanjay K. Srivastava, Parul Gupta, Ashlee Birkenfeld, Duy Hua, Jianyu Lu. GS-19, a novel GSK inhibitor suppresses the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting EGFR/AKT/STAT-3 signaling. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C58.