cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Coastal Bottom Boundary Layer: A Note on the Model of Chapman and Lentz

Abstract The bottom boundary layer of a stratified flow on a coastal continental shelf is examined using the model of Chapman and Lentz. The flow is driven by a surface stress, uniform in the alongshore coordinate, in a downwelling-favorable direction. The stress diminishes in the offshore direction and produces an Ekman pumping, as well as an onshore Ekman flux. The model yields an interior flow, sandwiched between an upper Ekman layer and a bottom boundary layer. The interior has a horizontal density gradient produced by a balance between horizontal diffusion of density and vertical advection of a background vertical density gradient. The interior flow is vertically sheared and in thermal wind balance. Whereas the original model of Chapman and Lentz considered an alongshore flow that is freely evolving, the present note focuses on the equilibrium structure of a flow driven by stress and discusses the vertical and lateral structure of the flow and, in particular, the boundary layer thickness. The vertica...
Washing mineral oil reduces contaminants and embryotoxicity

Objective To determine if washing improves the quality of mineral oil used for embryo culture. Design A 2 × 3 factorial experimental study. Setting University hospital-based infertility center. Animal(s) Mice. Intervention(s) The chemical nature of contaminants present in two lots of mineral oil was determined. Effect of washing on toxicity and amount of toxin present in media was determined. Main Outcome Measure(s) The effect of washing was determined by a quality control bioassay or by directly determining the level of contaminant in oil-conditioned culture media. Result(s) Water, culture media, and media plus albumin were equally effective in reducing toxicity and concentration of toxin. Temperature did not affect washing results. Peroxide, aldehydes, and alkenals were present in one lot of oil, and Triton X-100 was identified in the other lot. Washed oil containing peroxide passed the one-cell mouse embryo bioassay, and washing reduced the amount of Triton X-100 by 25%. Conclusion(s) Mineral oil is the least defined component used for in vitro fertilization and embryo culture; therefore, it is important to determine if washing oil is beneficial. This study provides clear evidence that washing reduces toxicity of mineral oil.
Microbial populations in Pullman clay loam receiving large applications of cattle feedlot waste.

Abstract One way to disperse waste from large commercial feedlots is to spread large amounts of the waste on limited areas nearby. The effects of this practice on the soil microbial populations was assessed. Feedlot waste (FLW) was applied for 5 yr at rates of 0, 22, 67, 134, and 269 t ha −1 yr −1 . Additional treatments were 538 t ha −1 yr −1 for 1 and 3 years and applications of N and NPK fertilizer. Soil cores from plots were sampled for microbial analysis before, during, and after the fifth growing season. April, July. and December soil samples were analyzed to 180-, 20-, and 480-cm depths, respectively. The following utritional and physiological groups of microorganisms were counted: soil fungi on Rose Bengal agar; bacteria on a basal mineral salts medium, on nutrient agar (both aerobically and in BBL GasPak jars), and on EMB agar ( Escherichia coli -type colonies and total counts); and nitrifying and denitrifying organisms. Little effect due to FLW application rates was found, and organisms producing coliform-type colonies on EMB agar did not persist in the soil. The results indicated that applying large amounts of feedlot waste will not deleteriously affect soil microorganisms.
The Changing Roles of Disability, Veteran, and Socioeconomic Status in Elderly Interstate Migration

This research explores how interstate elderly migration behavior through the life course has changed over time by examining the role of individual characteristics in different types of moves. The authors focus on disability, veteran, and socioeconomic status, which research suggests are linked with differing motives for elderly migration. Using data from the 1970-2000 Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), descriptive and multivariate analyses show that disability status has grown in importance while veteran and socioeconomic status have declined or remained stable. These changes are unique to the elderly. The growing role of disability in elderly migration is geographically universal, extending to both return (a proxy for assistance-related migration) and nonreturn migration. Possible explanations include a tendency for the “first” (amenity-based) elderly move to occur at younger ages and a decline in primarily milder disabilities that leads to relatively more severe disabilities—and need for as...
Toward a Scientific Inquiry into Superstitious Business Decision-Making

This article presents the findings of an exploratory study of the role of superstition in Chinese business decision-making. The study confirms the general perception that superstition constitutes a crucial part of business life in Chinese societies. Superstition helps Chinese businessmen cope with uncertainty by providing a sense of certainty and alleviating the anxiety associated with uncertainty. Although superstition is often regarded as irrational and unfounded, practitioners try to justify it on the grounds of superstition’s substantive validity or instrumental value. Interestingly, half-believers of superstition admit that they experience cognitive dissonance: they should not base their decisions on superstition but they do. Another important finding is that feng shui experts play their roles as expert, provocateur, legitimizer, and comforter in strategic decision-making when providing advice to their business clients.
Concerns about Recently Identified Widespread Antisense Transcription in Escherichia coli

I read with interest the article “Widespread Antisense Transcription in Escherichia coli” by Dornenburg and colleagues (1 …
Maternal separation uncouples reflex from spontaneous voiding in rat pups

Purpose: Rat pups only void when the perigenital-bladder reflex is activated by the mother rat licking the perineum. Maternal separation causes bladder distention as well as stress responses and anxiety behaviors in adult rats. We determined if MS would change voiding reflex maturation in neonatal rats.Materials and Methods: A total of 14 Sprague-Dawley rat pups were subjected to 6 hours of daily MS and 17 were subjected to 6 hours of MS with bladder emptying by perigenital stimulation at 3 hours on postnatal days 2 to 14. Age matched controls for the 2 groups remained with the mother. Spontaneous voiding in awake pups from 1 to 3 weeks was monitored in a metabolic cage and perigenital-bladder reflex latency was determined from 1 to 7 weeks. Cystometry was performed at 9 weeks with the rats under urethane anesthesia.Results: Spontaneous voiding began at 3 weeks in all animals. The latency of the perigenital-bladder reflex at 3 weeks was shorter than the latency at 2 days in MS animals (3.3 vs 6.4 seconds,...
SQUID instrumentation for early cancer diagnostics

Ultra-sensitive magnetic detection and imaging of tagged tissue cells using superparamagnetic nanoparticles is a developing technique for disease diagnosis, e.g. early cancer diagnostics. Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) are very suitable for such sensitive measurements. Super-paramagnetic relaxometry is used for detection of targeted cells with high specificity, as only bound nanoparticles are detected via Neel relaxation. By combining relaxometry with ultra-low field magnetic resonance imaging (ULF MRI), using the same instrument, the tagged area can be imaged to provide anatomical information and bounds for the inverse problem, as the same magnetic particles work as MRI contrast agents. The combination of ULF MRI and relaxometry could provide both accurate localization and cell count of the tagged tissue, which would enable detection and localization of cancerous tissue at a very early disease stage. We describe our design of such a combined SQUID-based instrument, and present our first experimental results on phantoms.
Clock synchronization algorithms for network measurements

Packet delay traces are important measurements for analyzing end-to-end performance and for designing traffic control algorithms in computer networks. Due to the fact that the clocks at the end systems are usually not synchronized and running at different speeds, these measurements can be quite inaccurate. We propose several algorithms to estimate and remove the relative clock skews from delay measurements based on the computation of convex hulls. Compared with existing techniques, such as linear regression and linear programming, the convex-hull approach provides better insight and allows us to handle more error metrics. We obtain algorithms which are linear in the number of measurement points for the case with no clock resets. For the more challenging case with clock resets, i.e., the clocks are reset to some reference times during the measurement period, we develop linear algorithms to identity the clock resets, and derive the best clock skew lines. We extend this analysis to environments in which at least one of the clocks is controlled by NTP (network time protocol). These algorithms can greatly improve the accuracy of the measurements, and can be used both online and offline. They can also be extended for active clock synchronization, to replace or further improve NTP. Numerical experiments are presented to demonstrate the robustness of the algorithms.
Moving Live Dissociated Neurons With an Optical Tweezer

The use of an optical tweezer for moving dissociated neurons was studied. The main features of the tweezers are outlined as well as the general principles of its operation. Infrared beams at 980 and 1064 nm were used, focused so as to make a trap for holding neurons and moving them. Absorption by cells at those wavelengths is very small. Experiments were done to evaluate nonsticky substrate coatings, from which neurons could be easily lifted with the tweezers. The maximum speed of cell movement as a function of laser power was determined. Detailed studies of the damage to cells as a function of beam intensity and time of exposure were made. The 980 nm beam was much less destructive, for reasons that are not understood, and could be used to safely move cells through distances of millimeters in times of seconds. An illustrative application of the use of the tweezers to load neurons without damage into plastic cages on a glass substrate was presented. The conclusion is that optical tweezers are an accessible and practical tool for helping to establish neuron cultures of cells placed in specific locations.
Broadband Characterization of Bulk and Thin Magnetic Composites Using Stripline Structures

We present two broadband characterization techniques to extract the RF (50 MHz-4.5 GHz) permeability of bulk and thin magnetic composite materials. Both techniques are based on broadband stripline structures with the permeability determined from -parameter measurements. For bulk samples, a tapered stripline fixture, supporting transverse electromagnetic (TEM) waves, is employed. As this approach is not suitable for thin material samples (thickness t <; 1 mm), a microstrip line fixture is proposed along with a new permeability de-embedding technique. Compared with conventional microstrip line methods, this approach is found to be accurate for thin samples with small surface areas (less than 1 × cm × 1 cm). The validity of the techniques is demonstrated by measuring a bulk ferrite slab and a thin patterned ferrite composite with in-plane anisotropy.
Percutaneous ultrasound-guided MANOS carpal tunnel release technique

Ultrasound (US) is used with a minimally invasive cutting device to perform carpal tunnel release with a 3 mm wrist incision. US localizes tendons, arteries, and median nerve for safe introduction of the device into the wrist. The device is inserted in a blunt configuration under the flexor retinaculum, and a cutting wire is deployed that advances a 0.9-mm needle in the palm. The surgeon releases the flexor retinaculum from the inside out through the two skin punctures. Flexor retinaculum release is confirmed with US.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THINGS FALL APART TO AFRICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

Gome, gome, gome, gome; Go-Di-Di-Go-Go-Di-Go, 1 is how Things Fall Apart and its author Chinua Achebe have roared since the novel's publication in 1958. Author and book have since generated scholar...
Situating Vijay Singh in (Asian) America

This essay considers the case of the Fijian-born golfer Vijay Singh. In reviewing the reception of Singh in the American media, several overlapping tropes arise in how Singh has been read: as silent, as prickly and isolated, as unappreciative of the opportunities he has been given, and as a mindless workhorse. I use these tropes to place him within the history of American sport, and I explore his ambivalent use of silence as a way of situating him within Asian America.
A Relation Involving Rankin–Selberg L-Functions of Cusp Forms and Maass Forms

In previous articles, an identity relating the canonical metric to the hyperbolic metric associated with any compact Riemann surface of genus at least two has been derived and studied. In this article, this identity is extended to any hyperbolic Riemann surface of finite volume. The method of proof is to study the identity given in the compact case through degeneration and to understand the limiting behavior of all quantities involved. In the second part of the paper, the Rankin-Selberg transform of the noncompact identity is studied, meaning that both sides of the relation after multiplication by a nonholomorphic, parabolic Eisenstein series are being integrated over the Riemann surface in question. The resulting formula yields an asymptotic relation involving the Rankin-Selberg L-functions of weight two holomorphic cusp forms, of weight zero Maass forms, and of nonholomorphic weight zero parabolic Eisenstein series.
A TGF-β pathway associated with cancer cachexia

Cancer cachexia leads to involuntary weight loss resulting from the atrophy of skeletal muscle and adipose tissues. Now, in metastatic mouse models of cancer, investigators reveal a cross talk pathway between bone and muscle that provides a new understanding of wasting in advanced cancers.
A new market for an old food: the U.S. demand for olive oil

While U.S. consumption of olive oil has tripled over the past two decades, nearly all olive oil continues to be imported. Estimation of a demand system using monthly import data reveals that the income elasticity for virgin oils sourced from EU is above one, but demand for nonvirgin oils is income-inelastic. The demand for olive oil as a single product is price-inelastic. Differentiated by product characteristic and origin, olive oils are highly substitutable with each other but not with other vegetable oils. News about the health and culinary benefits of olive oil and the spread of Mediterranean diet contribute significantly to the rising demand.
Clinical Investigation: Retrospective Analysis - The Effect of Nursing Interventions on Catheter-related Bloodstream Infections in Patients Receiving Total Parenteral Nutrition Through Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Lines

Abstract Background Catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI) is a serious and costly complication associated with central venous catheters. Nursing interventions that focus on decreasing bacterial colonization at the insertion site could decrease infection rates. Method This retrospective study examined CRBSI in patients requiring peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) for total parenteral nutrition. One hundred and ninety-two patients with 235 catheters and an average dwell time of 11.5 days participated. Nursing interventions included a chlorhexidine-impregnated sponge dressing and a double skin scrub prior to insertion. Conclusion The results of the study show that the interventions did not reduce CRBSI in the target population but the double skin scrub did decrease CRBSI in the general PICC population.
Generalized anxiety disorder within the course of major depressive disorder: examining the utility of the DSM-IV hierarchy rule.

Background: The current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) specifies that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) should not be diagnosed if it occurs exclusively during an episode of a major depressive disorder (MDD) or another mood disorder. This hierarchy rule was intended to promote diagnostic parsimony, but may result in the loss of important clinical information. The goal of this study was to compare individuals with MDD, comorbid MDD and GAD, and GAD within the course of MDD at intake and 12-month follow-up on self-report measures, clinician ratings, and rates of comorbidity. Methods: Participants were divided into three diagnostic groups: MDD without GAD (n=124), comorbid MDD and GAD (n=59), and GAD within the course of MDD (n=166). All the participants completed a semi-structured clinical interview and self-report measures assessing psychopathology, temperament, and functional impairment. A subset of the total sample completed a follow-up assessment of 12 months postintake. Results: Individuals with comorbid MDD and GAD and GAD within the course of MDD reported more psychopathology, negative affect, and functional impairment at intake than individuals with MDD only. The presence of GAD at intake, however, did not differentially predict symptom severity, functional impairment, or the presence of comorbidity at 12-month follow-up. Conclusions: Cross-sectional findings indicate that individuals with GAD within the course of MDD experience levels of psychopathology, functional impairment, and comorbidity similar to those found in individuals with comorbid GAD and MDD. Preliminary longitudinal findings, however, suggest that the presence of GAD in patients with MDD does not have prognostic significance. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Salamander Use of Karst Sinkholes in Montgomery County, Virginia

Abstract To better understand salamander-habitat relationships in karst sinkholes, we surveyed 25 sinkholes and three upland control sites at the Selu Conservancy (Montgomery County, VA) in the spring and summer of 2008. At each site, we measured 26 habitat parameters (e.g., number/decomposition stage of downed logs and snags, soil moisture, soil temperature, canopy coverage, leaf-litter depth). With these data, we questioned if sinkholes supported higher salamander densities than non-sinkhole habitats, if salamander densities changed throughout the spring and summer months in response to changes in soil temperature and soil moisture, and which microhabitat measures were most strongly correlated with average salamander densities. In seven rounds of surveys, we captured 292 Plethodon cinereus (Eastern Red-backed Salamanders) and 223 Plethodon glutinosus (Northern Slimy Salamanders). Although we found that capture success did vary among rounds, we found no significant differences in salamander densities bet...
Moral Reasoning in Interactional Context: Strategic Uses of Care and Justice Arguments in Mediation Hearings*

Previous studies of moral reasoning have treated moral reasoning as a product of the individual. This article extends the study of moral reasoning by analyzing its use in strategic interaction. I analyze how participants in a naturally occurring situation of conflict use moral arguments strategically and negotiate over the types of arguments that are acceptable. Gilligan’s Care and Justice modes of moral reasoning are identified in participants’ justifications for positions taken in nine videotaped mediation hearings. I found that participants may use both modes of reasoning during the course of a hearing, and that the type of moral argument used is often a response to the actions of other participants. Strategic uses of moral arguments included shifting mode to challenge or support another’s position, bridging a difference in mode between two disputants, and shifting mode to refocus the topic. Because of their institutional and interactional roles in the hearings, mediators play a major role in negotiations over mode of moral reasoning.
Hepatitis Delta Virus Minimal Substrates Competent for Editing by ADAR1 and ADAR2

A host-mediated RNA-editing event allows hepatitis delta virus (HDV) to express two essential proteins, the small delta antigen (HDAg-S) and the large delta antigen (HDAg-L), from a single open reading frame. One or several members of the ADAR (adenosine deaminases that act on RNA) family are thought to convert the adenosine to an inosine (I) within the HDAg-S amber codon in antigenomic RNA. As a consequence of replication, the UIG codon is converted to a UGG (tryptophan [W]) codon in the resulting HDAg-L message. Here, we used a novel reporter system to monitor the editing of the HDV amber/W site in the absence of replication. In cultured cells, we observed that both human ADAR1 (hADAR1) and hADAR2 were capable of editing the amber/W site with comparable efficiencies. We also defined the minimal HDV substrate required for hADAR1- and hADAR2-mediated editing. Only 24 nucleotides from the amber/W site were sufficient to enable efficient editing by hADAR1. Hence, the HDV amber/W site represents the smallest ADAR substrate yet identified. In contrast, the minimal substrate competent for hADAR2-mediated editing contained 66 nucleotides.
Evolving Thin Polymer Film Driven by Electrostatic Field

Experiments have shown that a thin polymer film subjected to an electrostatic field may lose stability at the polymer-air interface, leading to uniform self-organized pillars emerging out of the film surface. This paper presents a three dimensional dynamic model that accounts for the behavior. Attention is focused on the interplay of the thermodynamic forces and the kinetic processes. The coupled diffusion, viscous flow, and dielectric effect are incorporated into a phase field framework. The semi-implicit Fourier spectral method and the preconditioned biconjugate-gradient method are applied in the simulations for high efficiency and numerical stability. Numerical simulations reveal rich dynamics of the pattern formation process.
National Income, Income Inequality, and the Importance of Schools: A Hierarchical Cross-National Comparison

The international and comparative education literature is not in agreement over the role of schools in student learning. The authors reexamine this debate across 25 diverse countries participating in the fourth-grade application of the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. The authors find the following: (a) In most cases, family background is more important than schools in understanding variations in student performance; (b) schools are nonetheless a significant source of variation in student performance, especially in poor and unequal countries; (c) in some cases, schools may bridge the achievement gap between high and low socioeconomic status children. However, schools’ ability to do so is not systematically related to a country’s economic or inequality status.
On codes with availability for distributed storage

Modern large-scale distributed storage systems utilize erasure codes to store only cold data, i.e., rarely access data such as click logs. However, a major portion of the data that is currently used for large-scale processing is hot data, data that are frequently accessed, in some cases by many users or system processes simultaneously. When storing hot data, replication seems to be the option of choice for redundancy due to a very desirable property: a single information symbol can be accessed in parallel as many times as the number of available replicas. This is sometimes referred to as higher data availability. However, the rate of a replication scheme vanishes as we increase its availability or replication factor. This paper describes erasure codes that have arbitrarily high rate while allowing for high availability. In particular, these codes enable reconstruction of each information symbol from t disjoint groups of other code symbols, each of size at most r. This paper further shows that these codes attain a trade-off between minimum distance, availability and locality.
Perioperative management of hepatic resection

Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents the third most common malignancy in the United States, and almost half the affected patients will develop hepatic metastases during the course of their disease (1-3). Resection of CRC liver metastases remains the best option for potential cure for selected patients (4,5); however, hepatic resection is not without its inherent risks to the patient. Intraoperatively patients may be subjected to major hemorrhage and hypotension, while postoperatively, issues may include ongoing hemorrhage, coagulopathy, renal failure, cardiac, and pulmonary disturbances in addition to the inherent complications of hepatic resection such a biliary fistula and liver failure. After the initial steps of proper patient selection, management decisions made in the perioperative setting can have lasting implications for surgical recovery and patient survival. Many of the maneuvers aimed at preparing the patient with colorectal cancer liver metastases for the operating room are geared towards reducing blood loss during surgery, as acute blood loss anemia requiring blood product transfusion remains a challenge in liver surgery (6,7). Transfusion may be associated with poor surgical outcomes, early cancer recurrence, and reduced survival for this subset of patients (8-18). Prior reports have examined the role of transfusion for cancer patients in the perioperative period, and while the precise mechanism is unclear, the generalized immune dysregulation from transfusion has shown to potentially enhance tumor growth, hasten recurrence, and decrease cancer-specific survival (19,20). In the colorectal cancer patient with liver metastasis undergoing hepatectomy, the risk of blood transfusion has been found to be particularly concerning (8,21). Improvements in surgical technology and technique and perioperative management have resulted in marked reductions in mortality and morbidity over time (6,22). Despite this progress, considerable room remains for further improvement. This chapter will review established and innovative measures to manage CRC liver metastases patients in the perioperative setting. Attention will be given to anesthesia and analgesia, blood conservation and transfusion. Particular attention will be paid to perioperative strategies designed to decrease the need for blood transfusion.
Ionizing Radiation Induces Microhomology-Mediated End Joining in trans in Yeast and Mammalian Cells

Abstract Scuric, Z., Chan, C. Y., Hafer, K. and Schiestl, R. H. Ionizing Radiation Induces Microhomology-Mediated End Joining in trans in Yeast and Mammalian Cells. Radiat. Res. 171, 454–463 (2009). DNA double-strand breaks repaired through nonhomologous end joining require no extended sequence homology as a template for the repair. A subset of end-joining events, termed microhomology-mediated end joining, occur between a few base pairs of homology, and such pathways have been implicated in different human cancers and genetic diseases. Here we investigated the effect of exposure of yeast and mammalian cells to ionizing radiation on the frequency and mechanism of rejoining of transfected unirradiated linear plasmid DNA. Cells were exposed to γ radiation prior to plasmid transfection; subsequently the rejoined plasmids were recovered and the junction sequences were analyzed. In irradiated yeast cells, 68% of recovered plasmids contained microhomologies, compared to only 30% from unirradiated cells. Among th...
Publication and dating of the two "Bulletins" of the Société Entomologique de France (1873-1894)

The dating of the bi-monthly and quarterly versions of the Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de France from 1873–1894 is presented. The publication background and history of the little-known bi-monthly version of the Bulletin is given.
3D fluorescence anisotropy imaging using selective plane illumination microscopy

Fluorescence anisotropy imaging is a popular method to visualize changes in organization and conformation of biomolecules within cells and tissues. In such an experiment, depolarization effects resulting from differences in orientation, proximity and rotational mobility of fluorescently labeled molecules are probed with high spatial resolution. Fluorescence anisotropy is typically imaged using laser scanning and epifluorescence-based approaches. Unfortunately, those techniques are limited in either axial resolution, image acquisition speed, or by photobleaching. In the last decade, however, selective plane illumination microscopy has emerged as the preferred choice for three-dimensional time lapse imaging combining axial sectioning capability with fast, camera-based image acquisition, and minimal light exposure. We demonstrate how selective plane illumination microscopy can be utilized for three-dimensional fluorescence anisotropy imaging of live cells. We further examined the formation of focal adhesions by three-dimensional time lapse anisotropy imaging of CHO-K1 cells expressing an EGFP-paxillin fusion protein.
Modifying Institutional‐Legal Relations Among Private Parties to Facilitate Adjustments in Agriculture

T HE LAW can be instrumental in achieving the desired social and economic goals of which it is a part; laws are promulgated by man and may be altered by man to enhance his welfare. In those statements lay perhaps not only the essence of legal-economic endeavor but most interdisciplinary activity involving the law and the social or behavioral sciences. Whether agricultural adjustment is viewed as shifting resources from low return employments to high return employments, or whether specified income or institutional adjustments are theorized, the law can provide flexible means for the accomplishment of specific adjustment goals. The assigned topic for this paper provides uncomfortably broad latitude to the author inasmuch as "relations among private parties" encompasses a vast collation of interfirm, intrafirm and interindividual activity. In the interests of confinement to a manageable area of thought and in the interests of remaining within the stated bounds as to time and space, consideration is limited to identification of selected aspects of relationships between law and the social sciences (principally economics) to facilitate adjustments in agriculture, and examination of an application of legal-economic research in one subset of relations among private parties, that of farm firm organization.
Landscape Ecology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

In this chapter, the author describes how scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have made major contributions to the development and evolution of landscape ecology during these past three decades. He discusses the leadership, research environment, close collaboration, and interdisciplinary approaches that made ORNL a “hotbed” of advanced theories, integrative research, and holistic approaches in the field of landscape ecology. ORNL perhaps has been one of the leading centers for landscape ecology in training, productivity, and interdisciplinary research; the author describes the history and reasons for this success.
Parameterized reduced order models from a single mesh using hyper-dual numbers

Abstract In order to assess the predicted performance of a manufactured system, analysts must consider random variations (both geometric and material) in the development of a model, instead of a single deterministic model of an idealized geometry with idealized material properties. The incorporation of random geometric variations, however, potentially could necessitate the development of thousands of nearly identical solid geometries that must be meshed and separately analyzed, which would require an impractical number of man-hours to complete. This research advances a recent approach to uncertainty quantification by developing parameterized reduced order models. These parameterizations are based upon Taylor series expansions of the system׳s matrices about the ideal geometry, and a component mode synthesis representation for each linear substructure is used to form an efficient basis with which to study the system. The numerical derivatives required for the Taylor series expansions are obtained via hyper-dual numbers, and are compared to parameterized models constructed with finite difference formulations. The advantage of using hyper-dual numbers is two-fold: accuracy of the derivatives to machine precision, and the need to only generate a single mesh of the system of interest. The theory is applied to a stepped beam system in order to demonstrate proof of concept. The results demonstrate that the hyper-dual number multivariate parameterization of geometric variations, which largely are neglected in the literature, are accurate for both sensitivity and optimization studies. As model and mesh generation can constitute the greatest expense of time in analyzing a system, the foundation to create a parameterized reduced order model based off of a single mesh is expected to reduce dramatically the necessary time to analyze multiple realizations of a component׳s possible geometry.
GAAIN Virtual Appliances: Virtual Machine Technology for Scientific Data Analysis

We present our experience with technology for developing virtual machines and virtual appliances. Our goal is to facilitate scientific workflow sharing and analysis for scientific investigation using virtual machine technology. Our work is in the context of a larger effort on building an efficient data sharing and analysis network for data providers as well as scientific investigators in the domain of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) research.
FRI0250 Anca positivity in scleroderma patients identifies a poor prognosis: Myocarditis and survival

Background Previous studies have shown that about 7% of unselected systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients are positive for ANCA1. Some case reports have also described an ANCA–associated vasculitis in SSc patients with progressive renal and lung function deterioration and poor outcome. Objectives To evaluate the prevalence of ANCA positivity in a SSc cohort and to study its association with clinical characteristics, major organ involvement and risk of mortality. Methods We evaluated the positivity and the levels of p- and c-ANCA in our cohort of 294 SSc patients according with age, immunological characteristics, disease duration and clinical manifestations. Only patients with almost two positive ANCA assessments have been considered ANCA positive. Specifically we evaluated the presence of digital ulcers, glomerulonephritis, myositis and myocarditis. Myocarditis was defined as the presence of increasedcardiac enzymes associated with the presence of enhancement at late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and/or myocarditis on myocardial biopsy. The mortality in the last 12 years was also recorded. Results 17 patients out of 294 (5.8%) of the entire SSc cohort were identified as ANCA-positive. Six patients (35.3%) were c-ANCA positive with a mean level of 70.4±50.7 U/ml, while 11 patients (64.7%) were p-ANCA positive with a mean level of 65.8±47.7 U/ml. Out of the 17 ANCA positive patients, 58.8% presented anti-topoisomerase antibodies, 41.2% anticentromere antibodies. Sixteen patients (5.4%) presented myocarditis which was more frequent in patients with ANCA positivity than in ANCA negative patients (41.7% vs 3.2%, p<0.0001). Overall mortality was 6.8%. Mortality in ANCA positive patients was higher than in ANCA negative patients (29.4% vs 5.4%, p=0.003). There was no association between ANCA positivity and complement consumption, glomerulonephritis, myositis and digital ulcers. Conclusions The prevalence of ANCA positivity in our cohort was 5.8% and, as previously reported, the majority of patients was positive for anti-topoisomerase antibodies. ANCA positivity was associated with myocarditis and with an increased risk of mortality. Considering the high mortality associated with cardiac involvement in SSc patients, our preliminary data suggest that ANCA positivity in SSc patients should be a warning biomarker to identify patients at risk of myocarditis and of a poor survival. 1. Akimoto S, Ishikawa O, Tamura T, Miyachi Y. Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies in patients with systemic sclerosis. Br J Dermatol 1996;134(3):407-10. Disclosure of Interest None Declared
Abstract A01: MYC regulates glutathione depletion and glutamine utilization via miR-18a in vivo

Recent research suggests that MYC activation in tumor cells leads to a unique metabolic phenotype that is characterized by glutamine addiction and TCA cycle activation. We wish to identify novel metabolic pathways that are altered in MYC-driven cancer in vivo. To that end, we have performed microarray-based transcriptomics and mass-spectrometry-based metabolomics profiling of tumors from a murine model of MYC-driven liver cancer. Using Fisher9s exact test, we have identified glutathione metabolism as the most significantly enriched pathway across the two datasets. Notably, both the reduced and oxidized isoforms of glutathione, a major cellular antioxidant, are depleted in tumors relative to naive control livers. We find that the rate-limiting enzyme of glutathione synthesis, Gclc, is attenuated by a MYC-regulated microRNA miR-18a. Loss of glutathione production is concomitant with increased glutamine conversion into TCA cycle metabolites in vivo. Despite loss of glutathione and another antioxidant, NADPH, our MYC-driven tumors do not exhibit markers of elevated oxidative stress. Instead, they appear to upregulate a host of alternative antioxidant pathways including Vitamin C and thioredoxins. In summary, while it is well established that MYC-driven tumors have increased dependence on glutamine resulting in increased glutamate production, whether MYC also regulates glutamate utilization decisions remains poorly understood. Here we show that MYC can regulate glutamate flux by attenuating glutathione production, shifting glutamate utilization towards the TCA cycle. Citation Format: Brittany Anderton, Asha Balakrishnan, Sanjeev Balakrishnan, Lionel Lim, Rebecca Kohnz, Dan Nomura, Andrei Goga. MYC regulates glutathione depletion and glutamine utilization via miR-18a in vivo. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Myc: From Biology to Therapy; Jan 7-10, 2015; La Jolla, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2015;13(10 Suppl):Abstract nr A01.
A lab-based approach for introductory computing that emphasizes collaboration

Educational literature contains extensive descriptions and analysis of active and collaborative learning techniques. For example, experiments in mathematics date back to at least the 1980s. Physicists have been particularly active in developing courses that promote active learning and integrate laboratory activities with lectures. In the mid 1990s, Hake collected data on 6542 students in 62 introductory physics courses to conclude that lecture-based courses yield only meager learning of physics concepts, while courses utilizing "interactive engagement" are substantially better in promoting student learning of concepts. Further, extensive studies have shown that active and collaborative learning techniques improve skill development, decrease failure rates, encourage success and interest among women and under-represented groups, and promote higher-order thinking skills.In computer science, much discussion at SIGCSE conferences and other forums has focused upon active and collaborative learning. For the most part, however, faculty have focused on small-scale activities within classes, such as small-group exercises, kinesthetic learning activities, hands-on activities, and student-faculty dialog. Further, while many courses contain a component involving active learning, these courses often continue with extensive use of lecture. In many cases, it seems that active and collaborative activities are not trusted to promote learning, so lectures continue.The pedagogy described in this paper utilizes a lab-based style emphasizing collaboration. In its "pure" form, developed and refined by the author in several courses since Fall 1992, students work in pairs within introductory-level computing courses to complete about 45 laboratory exercises in a course that meets for 56 sessions in a semester. In this format, the instructor lectures about 4 hours per month --- often in 5--15 minute segments. In an "alternative" format, students complete about 35 laboratory exercises, some of which extend over two class periods.In comparing this approach with a traditional format that utilizes lectures and separate lab sections, the lab-based approach covers more material, student performance on tests is improved, students are highly motivated and consistently prepared for class, students are engaged in the material, and retention rates are very high.
"The Hacker We Call God": Transcendent Writing Machines in Kafka and Pynchon

The writing machine in fiction is almost always a self-reflexive site, a metaphor authors from Swift through John Barth, Italo Calvino and William Gibson use to explain and display their own techniques. Franz Kafka, with the Sentencing Machine in "In the Penal Colony," and Thomas Pynchon, with the therapeutic Puncutron Machine in Vineland, however, both use the writing machine in an additional way: to write directly on the body of a subject to produce transcendental illumination, the first as punishment, the second as healing. Comparing these two machines illuminates a territory of postmodern metaphysics and transcendent belief curiously underexplored in most criticism about postmodernism.
Studies of the Electrogenicity of the Reduction of Cytochrome b561: Through the Antimycin-Sensitive Site of the Ubiquinol-Cytochrome c2 Oxidoreductase Complex of Rhodobacter Sphaeroides

The electrochromic absorbance changes of carotenoids and bacteriochlorophyll have been shown to be proportional to the membrane potential (Jackson and Crofts, 1969; Jackson and Crofts, 1971; Prince and Dutton, 1978; Wraight et al., 1978) and have been widely used as a measure of electrogenic processes in the membrane.
Process development and optimization for high-aspect ratio through-silicon via (TSV) etch

Etch is one of the most critical processes for high-aspect ratio TSV as it defines the profile and wafer level depth uniformity of TSV, thus having a great impact on other downstream processes in TSV module and TSV backside reveal. This paper presents the challenges encountered in developing the 6μm × 55μm TSV (6μm diameter × 55μm depth) with a number of continuous process optimizations. These include improvements to the notch below the hard-mask, an increase in the post-etch resist retention, within wafer depth uniformity and higher silicon etch rate improving the throughput. TSV scaling to 3μm × 50μm with a higher aspect ratio is also demonstrated. This paper also describes details for setup of an Automatic Process Controller (APC) for TSV depth control in a manufacturing environment.
WE-H-202-03: Accounting for Large Geometric Changes During Radiotherapy

Deformable image registration has now been commercially available for several years, with solid performance in a number of sites and for several applications including contour and dose mapping. However, more complex applications have arisen, such as assessing response to radiation therapy over time, registering images pre- and post-surgery, and auto-segmentation from atlases. These applications require innovative registration algorithms to achieve accurate alignment. The goal of this session is to highlight emerging registration technology and these new applications. The state of the art in image registration will be presented from an engineering perspective. Translational clinical applications will also be discussed to tie these new registration approaches together with imaging and radiation therapy applications in specific diseases such as cervical and lung cancers. Learning Objectives: 1. To understand developing techniques and algorithms in deformable image registration that are likely to translate into clinical tools in the near future. 2. To understand emerging imaging and radiation therapy clinical applications that require such new registration algorithms. Research supported in part by the National Institutes of Health under award numbers P01CA059827, R01CA166119, and R01CA166703. Disclosures: Phillips Medical systems (Hugo), Roger Koch (Christensen) support, Varian Medical Systems (Brock), licensing agreements from Raysearch (Brock) and Varian (Hugo).; K. Brock, Licensing Agreement - RaySearch Laboratories. Research Funding - Varian Medical Systems; G. Hugo, Research grant from National Institutes of Health, award number R01CA166119.; G. Christensen, Research support from NIH grants CA166119 and CA166703 and a gift from Roger Koch. There are no conflicts of interest.
Perspectives in psychology: Integration in clinical psychology

In the medical field measurements of a patient’s blood pressure, body temperature, and pulse rate are routinely taken, indicative of a discipline with generally agreed-upon foundations. Nothing of the kind exists for clinical psychology because there is no agreed-upon foundation for its discipline. Q-methodology and its body of theory offer such a discipline and, as a consequence, can offer a measurement for “vital signs” as significant for clinical psychology as the familiar “vital signs” of blood pressure, temperature, and so forth are in medicine. The proposed measurement is described and its implications indicated. A reminder is given that most current clinical psychology remains in the Aristotelian mode of categorical thought, and that clinical treatment is largely “add-on” mediation.
Gut microbiota drive the development of neuroinflammatory response in cirrhosis in mice

The mechanisms behind the development of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) are unclear, although hyperammonemia and systemic inflammation through gut dysbiosis have been proposed. The aim of this work was to define the individual contribution of hyperammonemia and systemic inflammation on neuroinflammation in cirrhosis using germ-free (GF) and conventional mice. GF and conventional C57BL/6 mice were made cirrhotic using CCl4 gavage. These were compared to their noncirrhotic counterparts. Intestinal microbiota, systemic and neuroinflammation (including microglial and glial activation), serum ammonia, intestinal glutaminase activity, and cecal glutamine content were compared between groups. GF cirrhotic mice developed similar cirrhotic changes to conventional mice after 4 extra weeks (16 vs. 12 weeks) of CCl4 gavage. GF cirrhotic mice exhibited higher ammonia, compared to GF controls, but this was not associated with systemic or neuroinflammation. Ammonia was generated through increased small intestinal glutaminase activity with concomitantly reduced intestinal glutamine levels. However, conventional cirrhotic mice had intestinal dysbiosis as well as systemic inflammation, associated with increased serum ammonia, compared to conventional controls. This was associated with neuroinflammation and glial/microglial activation. Correlation network analysis in conventional mice showed significant linkages between systemic/neuroinflammation, intestinal microbiota, and ammonia. Specifically beneficial, autochthonous taxa were negatively linked with brain and systemic inflammation, ammonia, and with Staphylococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, and Streptococcaceae. Enterobacteriaceae were positively linked with serum inflammatory cytokines. Conclusion: Gut microbiota changes drive development of neuroinflammatory and systemic inflammatory responses in cirrhotic animals. (Hepatology 2016;64:1232-1248)