cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The effects of asphalt binder and granular material characteristics on foamed asphalt mix strength

Abstract This paper systematically studies the effects of asphalt foam characteristics and pulverized asphalt pavement (PAP) material attributes on foamed asphalt mix strength. A fracture face image analysis procedure was employed to quantify asphalt dispersion, which was key to establishing the relationships between material microstructural features and measured strengths. Foamability of asphalts was found to be one of the primary factors determining foamed asphalt mix quality. Foams with higher expansion ratios and longer half-life have better dispersion through granular materials, resulting in greater strength improvement. High fines contents in the PAP materials negatively affect mix strength by producing a continuous and weak unbonded mineral filler phase. The microstructural analysis found that typically unquantified physical, chemical and/or mineralogical characteristics of the PAP materials significantly affect asphalt dispersion quality and mastic strength. Therefore, the suitability of PAP materials and available binders for foamed asphalt stabilization should be evaluated for each individual project.
Problematic esophageal stricture: an emerging indication for self-expandable silicone stents

Self-expandable metal stents (SEMS) are routinely used to palliate patients with dysphagia caused by unresectable esophageal carcinoma, as well as patients with this malignancy who are poor candidatesforsurgery.However,placementofSEMS in proximal esophageal stricture remains problematic because of the potential for tracheal compression and the foreign-body sensation that arises from pressure on the pharyngeal structures. Refractory benign esophageal strictures also are problematic; treatment options include aggressive medical therapy with life-long esophageal dilation. Patients with benign esophageal stricture should have SEMS placed only if the risk of surgery is prohibitive and the life expectancy is short. 1 In addition, esophageal tissue responses to conventional metallic stents include inflammation, necrosis, and ulceration, with eventual fibrosis. 2 The resultant hyperplastic tissue reaction may lead to worsening dysphagia and restenosis at the proximal or/and the distal end of the stent. A recently developed self-expandable, silicone mesh esophageal stent may circumvent these problems associated with the SEMS. For a number of years, silicone prostheses have been used for management of benign tracheal stenoses; these are well tolerated by patients and of proven efficacy. 3 This is the first report of the use of a selfexpandable silicone stent for management of problematic esophageal strictures.
Molecular evolution of the porcine type I interferon family: subtype-specific expression and antiviral activity.

Type I interferons (IFNs), key antiviral cytokines, evolve to adapt with ever-changing viral threats during vertebrate speciation. Due to novel pathogenic pressure associated with Suidae speciation and domestication, porcine IFNs evolutionarily engender both molecular and functional diversification, which have not been well addressed in pigs, an important livestock species and animal model for biomedical sciences. Annotation of current swine genome assembly Sscrofa10.2 reveals 57 functional genes and 16 pseudogenes of type I IFNs. Subfamilies of multiple IFNA, IFNW and porcine-specific IFND genes are separated into four clusters with ∼60 kb intervals within the IFNB/IFNE bordered region in SSC1, and each cluster contains mingled subtypes of IFNA, IFNW and IFND. Further curation of the 57 functional IFN genes indicates that they include 18 potential artifactual duplicates. We performed phylogenetic construction as well as analyses of gene duplication/conversion and natural selection and showed that porcine type I IFN genes have been undergoing active diversification through both gene duplication and conversion. Extensive analyses of the non-coding sequences proximal to all IFN coding regions identified several genomic repetitive elements significantly associated with different IFN subtypes. Family-wide studies further revealed their molecular diversity with respect to differential expression and restrictive activity on the resurgence of a porcine endogenous retrovirus. Based on predicted 3-D structures of representative animal IFNs and inferred activity, we categorized the general functional propensity underlying the structure-activity relationship. Evidence indicates gene expansion of porcine type I IFNs. Genomic repetitive elements that associated with IFN subtypes may serve as molecular signatures of respective IFN subtypes and genomic mechanisms to mediate IFN gene evolution and expression. In summary, the porcine type I IFN profile has been phylogenetically defined family-wide and linked to diverse expression and antiviral activity, which is important information for further biological studies across the porcine type I IFN family.
FORMS: Feature-Oriented Reverse Engineering-based Middleware Specialization for Product-Lines

Supporting the varied software feature requirementsof multiple variants of a software product-line while promotingreuse, forces product line engineers to use general-purpose and feature-rich middleware platforms. However, each product variant now incurs memory footprint and performance overhead due to the feature-richness of the middleware along with the increased cost of its testing and maintenance. To address this tension, this paper presents FORMS ( F eature- O riented R everse E ngineering for M iddleware S pecialization), which is a framework to automatically specialize general-purpose middleware for product-line variants. FORMS provides a novel model-based approach to map product-line variant-specific feature requirements to middleware-specific features, which in turn are used to reverse engineer middleware source code and transform it to specialized forms resulting in vertical middleware decompositions. Empirical results evaluating memory footprint reductions (40%) and feature reductions (60-76%) are presented along with qualitative assessment of discrepancies in modularization of contemporary middleware.
Si-doping of Co/Pd multilayers for improved signal to noise in perpendicular magnetic recording media

Co/Pd-based multilayers have been Si doped in order to enhance their potential for extremely high-density perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) media. Co/Pd multilayers have high interface-induced perpendicular anisotropy, high coercivity, and high remnant squareness, all of which make them excellent candidates for PMR. Dopants can be utilized to reduce grain size as well as to reduce magnetic coupling between grains via compositional segregation to the grain boundaries. Here, Si was chosen for a dopant because the phase diagrams indicated that Si may migrate to form silicides at the grain boundaries. An additional benefit of Si as a dopant is that it can be detected chemically, unlike the more common dopant B, which is a much lighter element. A significant difference between the current doping and all other doping in PMR media is that Si was added into the Pd layers rather than the Co layers, which keeps the magnetic layer pure and improves the magnetic properties. This media was also made at room temperature, which yields smaller grains and reduces interfacial diffusion. The static magnetic properties of the Si-doped multilayers were very promising as measured by vibrating sample magnetometry: Hc= 5400 Oe, Ms= 160 emu/cm/sup 3/, and /spl alpha/=4/spl pi/dM/dH/spl ap/1. The fact that the latter term was unity suggests that the grains are magnetically decoupled which promises low transition noise. The samples were measured by atomic force and magnetic force microscopy (AFM/MFM) and by X-ray scattering. They were found to have 12-nm grains. In addition, Si-doped multilayer media that were spin-stand tested showed an increase in signal-to-noise ratio of 5 dB compared to high-performing B-doped media.
Time-lapse monitoring of rock properties with coda wave interferometry

[1] The coda of seismic waves consists of that part of the signal after the directly arriving phases. In a finite medium, or in one that is strongly heterogeneous, the coda is dominated by waves which have repeatedly sampled the medium. Small changes in a medium which may have no detectable influence on the first arrivals are amplified by this repeated sampling and may thus be detectable in the coda. We refer to this use of multiple-sampling coda waveforms as coda wave interferometry. We have exploited ultrasonic coda waves to monitor time-varying rock properties in a laboratory environment. We have studied the dependence of velocity on uniaxial stress in Berea sandstone, the temperature dependence of velocity in granite and in aluminum, and the change in velocity due to an increase of water saturation in sandstone. There are many other possible applications of coda wave interferometry in geophysics, including dam and volcano monitoring, time-lapse reservoir characterization, earthquake relocation, and stress monitoring in mining and rock physics.
Kinase inhibitors: a new class of antirheumatic drugs

The outlook for patients with rheumatoid arthritis has improved significantly over the last three decades with the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. However, despite the use of methotrexate, cytokine inhibitors, and molecules targeting T and B cells, a percentage of patients do not respond or lose their response over time. The autoimmune process in rheumatoid arthritis depends on activation of immune cells, which utilize intracellular kinases to respond to external stimuli such as cytokines, immune complexes, and antigens. In the past decade, small molecules targeting several kinases, such as p38 MAPK, Syk, and JAK have been developed. Several p38 MAPK inhibitors proved ineffective in treating rheumatoid arthritis. The Syk inhibitor, fostamatinib, proved superior to placebo in Phase II trials and is currently under Phase III investigation. Tofacitinib, a JAK1/3 inhibitor, was shown to be efficacious in two Phase III trials, while VX-509, a JAK3 inhibitor, showed promising results in a Phase II trial. Fostamatinib and tofacitinib were associated with increased rates of infection, elevation of liver enzymes, and neutropenia. Moreover, fostamatinib caused elevations of blood pressure and diarrhea, while tofacitinib was associated with an increase in creatinine and elevation of lipid levels.
Body Composition: Overview

The following is a listing of body composition techniques now available, together with a brief description of the underlying assumptions and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Regio- and enantioselective hydrolysis of phenyloxiranes catalyzed by soluble epoxide hydrolase

The regio- and enantioselective hydrolysis of several phenyloxiranes catalyzed by soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) was investigated using recombinant human, mouse or cress sEH. Results indicate that human and mouse sEH enantioselectively hydrolyze (S,S)-alkyl-phenyloxiranes faster than the (R,R)alkyl-phenyloxiranes investigated in this study, while cress sEH displayed opposite enantioselectivity. Preparation of pure (2R,3R)-3-phenylglycidol from the racemic mixture was achieved with a 31% yield using human sEH as catalyst. The sEH enzymes were found to be regioselective at the benzylic carbon of the phenyloxiranes, supporting the proposed mechanism in which one or more tyrosine residues in the active site of the enzyme act as a general acid catalyst in the alkylation half reaction. © 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Grand challenges in the field of stem cell research.

DISCOVERY OF ADULT STEM CELLS In 1961, Mauro first discovered that skeletal muscle fibers of frogs contain mononuclear cells underneath the basal lamina by electron microscope and termed these “satellite cells” (Mauro, 1961). By contrast, they failed to find any satellite-like cells in cardiac muscle after thorough search of electron micrographs. Since then, satellite cells have been confirmed to be a true stem cell for skeletal muscle (von Maltzahn et al., 2013). Adult skeletal muscle possesses extraordinary regeneration capability (Seale and Rudnicki, 2000). After exercise or muscle injury, large numbers of new muscle fibers are normally formed within a week because of expansion and differentiation of muscle satellite cells as a stem cell population for muscle regeneration. In the same year, Till and McCulloch first established the concept of stem cells using bone marrow transplantation into irradiated mice (Till and McCulloch, 1961; Armstrong et al., 2012). They found that donorderived hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) or progenitor cells can be colonized in the recipient spleen after transplantation. A single colony can give rise to multiple hematopoietic lineages as well as stem or progenitor cells, indicating the multipotent differentiation and self-renewal abilities for the HSCs or progenitor cells. In the last two decades, experiments have established the existence of adult stem cells in most tissues that appear to have the ability to differentiate into specific cell types following injury as a means of regeneration in vivo (Barker et al., 2010). For example, neural stem cells (NSCs) from the central nervous system can generate multiple neural cell types to respond (Gage and Temple, 2013). Bone marrow contains two distinct stem cell types: marrow stromal cells and HSCs. HSCs possess their ability to produce all blood cell lineages (Ugarte and Forsberg, 2013). Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells derived from marrow stromal cells can differentiate into a wide variety of cell lineages, including skeletal muscle, neurons, and hematopoietic cells in vitro and following transplantation (Pittenger et al., 1999; Dimarino et al., 2013). Therefore, many or all tissues may contain a population of stem cells that can differentiate in an appropriate manner in response to the growth factors and signals provided by their host tissues. The current challenge is to understand the molecular mechanisms of how these adult stem cells maintain their stem cell qualities: specific differentiation capability, self-renewal activity, and response to the microenvironments of the stem cell niche.
The validity of using image plane theory to predict printed circuit board radiation

In order to reduce the radiated emissions of a printed circuit board (PCB), a conductive plane is often placed beneath the PCB. Image theory has been used in the literature to explain why conductive planes have this effect. The validity of using image plane theory in analyzing printed circuit boards is questionable because of the finite size of these planes. Some effects of the conductive planes are due to the additional load which these planes put on the source. This effect is not predicted by image theory. >
Access Point Localization Using Local Signal Strength Gradient

Many previous studies have examined the placement of access points (APs) to improve the community's understanding of the deployment and behavioral characteristics of wireless networks. A key implicit assumption in these studies is that one can estimate the AP location accurately from wardriving-like measurements. However, existing localization algorithms exhibit high error because they over-simplify the complex nature of signal propagation. In this work, we propose a novel approach that localizes APs using directional information derived from local signal strength variations. Our algorithm only uses signal strength information, and improves localization accuracy over existing techniques. Furthermore, the algorithm is robust to the sampling biases and non-uniform shadowing, which are common in wardriving measurements.
Designing an E-grocery application for a palm computer: usability and interface issues

The coming ubiquity of handheld devices and e-commerce will offer many new design and application opportunities for human-computer interaction, many of them in "everyday" domains. This article reports on the iterative design of a handheld application for one such domain, grocery shopping. Our goal was to produce a solution for home ordering of groceries using a PDA. The article focuses on the evolution of the application design through a process that alternated design activities with formative evaluations in the field. At the end of the design and development process, 200 shoppers in the United Kingdom were using the resulting application.
Loss of Infectivity Ex Vivo in Plasma of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patients Correlates with a High CD4 Cell Count

Quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in plasma is frequently used to monitor virus load and assess the effect of antiviral agents, but information regarding the stability of the virus is limited. Plasma from patients with CD4 cell counts of 100/microL. Plasma should not be stored for > 2-4 h at room temperature for HIV-1 culture. If immediate processing is not an option, plasma can be frozen shortly after phlebotomy for later testing without a significant loss of infectious virus.
Thyroid transcription factor-1 expression in the human neonatal tracheoesophageal fistula.

Abstract Background/Purpose: Esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF) is a relatively common congenital anomaly, but its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Previous studies using the experimental Adriamycin-induced rat model of EA/TEF suggest that the fistula tract, or [ldquo ]distal esophagus,[rdquo ] is derived from respiratory epithelium and expresses the respiratory-specific transcription factor TTF-1. To better correlate the experimental rat model of EA/TEF with the human anomaly, we looked for evidence of a respiratory-derived origin in the neonatal TEF. Methods: After IRB approval, 2 human TEF samples were removed at the time of surgery. The tissue from the fistula tract was trimmed in accordance with what the surgeons deemed to be appropriate for the preparation for a primary anastomosis. The tissues then were processed for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), histology, and immunohistochemistry. Normal embryonic lung cDNA was used for positive controls. Results: Histologic examination of tissue specimens showed many epithelial tubules within loose connective tissue and a disorganized muscular coat. Thyroid transcription factor one (TTF-1) and hepatocyte nuclear factor 3[beta ] (HNF-3[beta ]) were shown to be present in the tissue specimen by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. In addition, FGF-10, a strong morphogen present in the developing lung, and FGF-1 were both present by RT-PCR. The PCR band sizes for both FGF-1 and -10 were appropriate, using human embryonic cDNA as a control, and the bands were confirmed as nongenomic by either placing the PCR primers across a known intron sequence (TTF-1) or by absence of a band in a negative RT control (HNF-3[beta ], FGF-10, FGF-1). Conclusions: The presence of TTF-1 in the neonatal TEF shows, for the first time, that parallels may be drawn between the experimental rat model of TEF and the human anomaly at the molecular level. Moreover, these results suggest that the fistula tract in the human neonate is derived from a respiratory cell lineage. This respiratory origin of the human TEF may explain the poor esophageal motility (and subsequent serious respiratory complications) of the distal segment after standard EA/TEF repair. J Pediatr Surg 37:1065-1067.
Transcription enhancer factor-1-related factor-transgenic mice develop cardiac conduction defects associated with altered connexin phosphorylation.

Background— Conduction system defects and slowed ventricular conduction are common in patients with systolic dysfunction and contribute to arrhythmias and sudden death. In animal models of heart failure, cardiac α1-adrenergic signaling is constitutively activated. Here, we report the effects of constitutive activation of α1-adrenergic signaling on connexin phosphorylation and cardiac conduction. Methods and Results— Transgenic mice were generated with cardiac-specific overexpression of the transcription factor RTEF-1 (transcription enhancer factor-1-related factor), which mediates α1-adrenergic signaling in cardiac myocytes. Surface and intracardiac ECGs revealed prolongation of the PR, QRS, and AH intervals and the appearance of progressive atrial arrhythmias in RTEF-1 mice. Optical mapping using voltage-sensitive dye revealed slower conduction velocities across the atrial and ventricular myocardium. Intercellular dye transfer between RTEF-1 transgenic cardiac myocytes confirmed impaired conduction at th...
Triple-A: a Non-SSD based autonomic all-flash array for high performance storage systems

Solid State Disk (SSD) arrays are in a position to (as least partially) replace spinning disk arrays in high performance computing (HPC) systems due to their better performance and lower power consumption. However, these emerging SSD arrays are facing enormous challenges, which are not observed in disk-based arrays. Specifically, we observe that the performance of SSD arrays can significantly degrade due to various array-level resource contentions. In addition, their maintenance costs exponentially increase over time, which renders them difficult to deploy widely in HPC systems. To address these challenges, we propose Triple-A, a non-SSD based Autonomic All-Flash Array, which is a self-optimizing, from-scratch NAND flash cluster. Triple-A can detect two different types of resource contentions and autonomically alleviate them by reshaping the physical data-layout on its flash array network. Our experimental evaluation using both real workloads and a micro-benchmark show that Triple-A can offer a 53% higher sustained throughput and a 80% lower I/O latency than non-autonomic SSD arrays.
A case study in rapid introduction of an information assurance track into a software engineering curriculum

Disciplines such as software engineering are expanding rapidly, and both the new knowledge gained as the discipline matures and the need to prepare students for changing environments make it important for departments to find a balance between evolving curriculum to match and shrinking or relatively static budgets. We describe program additions at Seattle University, a small private university in the Pacific Northwest. They were designed to expand its graduate curriculum in software engineering to include an information assurance focus. This was done with only a moderate budget increase and without hiring additional permanent faculty. A deeper look at one of the courses added, and the lessons learned from this effort, could prove useful to other universities contemplating similar attempts.
The effect of cannabis on the brain: can it cause brain anomalies that lead to increased risk for schizophrenia?

Purpose of reviewThis review explores what is known about the association of cannabis with schizophrenia, its effects on the brain, and whether the brain changes known to be present in schizophrenia could be caused by cannabis and thus lead to a psychosis.Recent findingsThe heavy use of cannabis is
Force of an actin spring.

Cellular movements are produced by forces. Typically, cytoskeletal proteins such as microtubules and actin filaments generate forces via polymerization or in conjunction with molecular motors. However, the fertilization of a Limulus polyphemus egg involves a third type of actin-based cellular engine—a biological spring. During the acrosome reaction, a 60-μm long coiled and twisted bundle of actin filaments straightens and extends from a sperm cell, penetrating the vitelline layer surrounding the egg. A subtle overtwist of 0.2°/subunit underlies the mechanochemical basis for the extension of this actin spring. Upon calcium activation, this conformational strain energy is converted to mechanical work, generating the force required to extend the bundle through the vitelline layer. In this article, we stall the extension of the acrosome bundle in agarose gels of different concentrations. From the stall forces, we estimate a maximum force of 2 nN and a puncturing pressure of 1.6 MPa. We show the maximum force of extension is three times larger than the force required to puncture the vitelline layer. Thus, the elastic strain energy stored in the acrosome bundle is more than sufficient to power the acrosome reaction through the egg envelope.
LSH forest: self-tuning indexes for similarity search

We consider the problem of indexing high-dimensional data for answering (approximate) similarity-search queries. Similarity indexes prove to be important in a wide variety of settings: Web search engines desire fast, parallel, main-memory-based indexes for similarity search on text data; database systems desire disk-based similarity indexes for high-dimensional data, including text and images; peer-to-peer systems desire distributed similarity indexes with low communication cost. We propose an indexing scheme called LSH Forest which is applicable in all the above contexts. Our index uses the well-known technique of locality-sensitive hashing (LSH), but improves upon previous designs by (a) eliminating the different data-dependent parameters for which LSH must be constantly hand-tuned, and (b) improving on LSH's performance guarantees for skewed data distributions while retaining the same storage and query overhead. We show how to construct this index in main memory, on disk, in parallel systems, and in peer-to-peer systems. We evaluate the design with experiments on multiple text corpora and demonstrate both the self-tuning nature and the superior performance of LSH Forest.
Has the Supreme Court Been More a Friend or Foe to African Americans

This essay challenges the conventional wisdom that regards the Supreme Court as a heroic defender of the rights of racial minorities against majority oppression. It argues that over the course of American history, the Court, more often than not, has been a regressive force on racial issues. Klarman draws three lessons from his survey of the Court's racial jurisprudence: (1) the composition of the Court influences whether its racial jurisprudence is progressive or regressive; (2) the composition of the Court is, in significant part, a reflection of national politics; and (3) the Court's constitutional interpretations regarding race – just as on any other issue – broadly reflect the political and social climate of the era and thus rarely deviate far from dominant public opinion.
On-Orbit Gyro Calibration for Operationally Responsive Space Systems

This paper presents a method for accurate on-orbit calibration of rate-integrating threeaxis gyroscopes. On-orbit calibration is required for operationally responsive space systems in order to deal with rapidly changing technology and support needs. However, a tradeoff usually occurs between accuracy and speed of convergence of the to-be-determined calibration parameters. In order to achieve a fully autonomous and accurate calibration approach, a two-step process is proposed. The first step determines an initial estimate of the gyro calibration parameters using an angular velocity estimate determined from a star tracker. This angular velocity estimate is provided without the need to identify stars, thereby bypassing the associated adverse issues that typically arise in star tracker attitude determination systems. The second step uses the initial gyro calibration estimates in a generalized multiple-model adaptive estimation approach, which combines outputs from three filters to determine estimates that are better than each filter alone. Simulation results are shown to assess the performance of the proposed on-orbit calibration approach.
Pretreatment SUVmax predicts progression-free survival in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy.

This retrospective study aims to assess the usefulness of SUVmax from FDG-PET imaging as a prognosticator for primary biopsy-proven stage I NSCLC treated with SBRT. This study includes 95 patients of median age 77 years, with primary, biopsy-confirmed peripheral stage IA/IB NSCLC. All patients were treated with 60Gy in 3 fractions with a median treatment time of six days. Local, regional, and distant failures were evaluated independently according to the terms of RTOG1021. Local, regional, and distant control, overall- and progression-free survival were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to determine whether SUVmax, age, KPS, gender, tumor size/T stage, or smoking history influenced outcomes. SUVmax was evaluated as both a continuous and as a dichotomous variable using a cutoff of <5 and ≥5. Median follow-up for the cohort was 16 months. Median OS and PFS were 25.3 and 40.3 months, respectively. SUV with a cutoff value of 5 predicted for OS and PFS (p = .024 for each) but did not achieve significance for LC (p = .256). On Cox univariate regression analysis, SUV as a dichotomous variable predicted for both OS and PFS (p = .027 and p = .030, respectively). Defined as a continuous variable, SUVmax continued to predict for OS and PFS (p = .032 and p = .003), but also predicted LC (p = .045) and trended toward significance for DC (p = .059). SUVmax did not predict for OS as a dichotomous or continuous variable. It did, however, predict for PFS as a continuous variable (p = .008), neared significance for local control (p = .057) and trended towards, significance for distant control (p = .092). SUVmax appears to be a statistically and clinically significant independent prognostic marker for progression-free survival in patients with stage I NSCLC treated with SBRT. Prospective studies to more accurately define the role of tumor FDG uptake in the prognosis of NSCLC are warranted.
Pathologic Factors Predictive of Local Recurrence in Patients with Invasive Breast Cancer Treated by Conservative Surgery and Radiation Therapy

The combination of breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy has been established as an alternative to mastectomy for many women with early-stage invasive breast cancer. In fact, participants at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Conference on Early-stage Breast Cancer in June 1990 concluded that the breast-conserving approach is “preferable” since it provides survival rates equivalent to those of mastectomy while preserving the breast (NIH Consensus Conference 1991).
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists for Type 2 Diabetes: A Clinical Update of Safety and Efficacy.

Introduction Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are increasingly being used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, but consideration of benefits and potential adverse events is required. This review examines the state of glycemic control, weight loss, blood pressure, and tolerability, as well as the current debate about the safety of GLP-1 RAs, including risk of pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, and thyroid cancer. Methods A MEDLINE search (2010-2015) identified publications that discussed longer-acting GLP-1 RAs. Search terms included GLP-1 receptor agonists, liraglutide, exenatide, lixisenatide, semaglutide, dulaglutide, albiglutide, efficacy, safety, pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, and thyroid cancer. Abstracts from the American Diabetes Association, European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists from 2010 to 2015 were also searched. Efficacy and safety studies, pooled analyses, and meta-analyses were prioritized. Results Research has confirmed that GLP-1 RAs provide robust glycemic control, weight loss, and blood pressure re-duction. Current studies do not prove increased risk of pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, or thyroid cancer but more trials are needed since publications that indicate safety or suggest increased risk have methodological flaws that prevent firm conclusions to be drawn about these rare, long-term events. Conclusion GLP-1 RA therapy in the context of individualized, patient-centered care continues to be supported by current literature. GLP-1 RA therapy provides robust glycemic control, blood pressure reduction, and weight loss, but studies are still needed to address concerns about tolerability and safety, including pancreatitis and cancer.
Correction of Diabetes-Induced Endothelial Progenitor Dysfunction to Promote Retinal Vascular Repair

Progressive obliteration of the retinal microvessels is a characteristic of diabetic retinopathy and the resultant retinal ischemia that can lead to sight-­threatening macular edema, macular ischemia and ultimately preretinal neovascularization. Bone marrow derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a critical role in vascular maintenance and repair. There is still great debate about the most appropriate markers that define an EPC and much deliberation occurs regarding the plasticity of monocytes and their ability to promote repair as well as contribute to angiogenesis. EPC populations can be isolated using cell sorting by surface phenotype selection or in vitro cell culture. For freshly isolated cells, EPC cell sorting is heavily dependent on the surface markers used; EPC populations can also be isolated by in vitro propagation of heterogeneous mixtures of cells in culture using adhesion to specific substrates and cell growth characteristics. In vitro isolation enables consistent reproducibility and with this approach at least two distinct types of populations with different angiogenic properties have been identified from adult peripheral and umbilical cord blood. These groups are early EPCs (eEPCs) and “endothelial colony forming cells” (ECFCs), initially termed “late outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells” (OECs).
Abstract 5184: Breast cancer cells express glycoprotein and glycolipid ligands for E-selectin

E-selectin, an adhesion molecule expressed by endothelial cells, has been implicated in various cancer metastatic processes. The hypothesis of the present study is that endothelial E-selectin is involved in the adhesion of breast cancer cells under physiological flow conditions. The characterization of E-selectin ligands expressed by BT-20 and MDA-MB-468 human breast cancer cells was performed. E-selectin ligands were broadly classified into glycoprotein and glycolipid ligands. Purified fractions of glycolipids containing sialic acid residues, known as gangliosides, were found to be E-selectin ligands at wall shear stress of 0.80 dynes/cm 2 . Immunostaining of breast cancer cells for various proteins known for E-selectin activity on non breast cancer cells revealed that P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1), CD-43, podocalyxin like protein (PCLP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were absent, but CD44 was expressed by both breast cancer cell lines. Dynamic antigen capture assay at wall shear stress of 0.80 dynes/cm 2 indicated that CD44 expressed by breast cancer cells is an E-selectin ligand; however, E-selectin ligand activity of CD44 was weak compared to LS-174T colon carcinoma cells. Efforts were then made to characterize novel glycoprotein ligands using immunoprecipitation and western blotting techniques. BT-20 cells showed presence of protein E-selectin ligands. The characterization of glycans decorating protein E-selectin ligands was performed by immunoprecipitation and western blot staining with various carbohydrate antibodies. In summary breast cancer cells express CD44 and novel glycoproteins as well as glycolipids as E-selectin ligands. Further characterization and identification of novel E-selectin ligands can lead to new diagnostic and prognostic approaches. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5184.
Ab Initio/GIAO-CCSD(T) Calculated 13C–11B NMR Chemical Shift Relationships in Isoelectronic Hypercoordinate Carbonium and Boronium As Well As Carbenium and Borenium Ions

Good linear correlations between GIAO–CCSD(T) calculated 11B NMR chemical shifts of hypercoordinate boronium 1–6b and borenium 7–9b ions and 13C NMR chemical shifts of the corresponding isoelectronic carbonium 1–6a and carbenium 7–9a ions, respectively, were found.
Reaction of 6-Methyl-2,2′-bipyridine with 1,2-Os3(CO)10(MeCN)2: Syntheses, Reductive Elimination/Ligand Displacement Kinetics, and X-ray Diffraction Structures of the Isomeric Clusters HOs3(CO)9(μ2-N2C11H9) and H2Os3(CO)8(μ3-N2C11H8)

Treatment of Os3(CO)10(MeCN)2 (1) with the heterocyclic ligand 6-methyl-2,2′-bipyridine (6-Me-2,2′-bpy) at room temperature leads to the formation of the isomeric hydride-bridged clusters HOs3(CO)9...
A Simulation Study of Factor Score Indeterminacy

Though factor analysis continues to be one of the most frequently used multivariate techniques, its value has been questioned because of the indeterminacy of factor scores. The authors review the l...
Evaluation of ecological quality in Gurigesitai nature reserve

Through the basic situation of protected areas and biological resources,the article evaluated the geographic location of gurigesi nature reserve,forest functions,biodiversity,species of rare,and so on.
Estimation Study on Partial Discharge Inception Voltage of Air-gap Defect

According to Thomson breakdown theory,a estimation method of partial discharge inception voltage and breakdown field relating to air-gap defect is proposed.After compared experiment results with simulation results,it is shown that the estimation formula has certain significance to the partial discharge inception voltage and breakdown field.
Chondromatous hamartomas arising from the volar digital plates. A case report.

A unique case of multiple chondromatous lesions arising from the volar digital plates of three digits in the same patient has been described. These were associated with fibromatous skin lesions on the dorsum of both hands. The ultimate loss of function of the digit first involved and the good results from earlier surgery of other digits suggest that earlier surgical intervention would be justified in another such case.
A lanthanide metal-organic framework based on a custom-designed macrocyclic ligand

AbstractThe lanthanum-based metal macrocyclic framework, MMCF-3, where the ligand is 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N′,N″,N′″-tetra-p-methylbenzoic acid, has been synthesized and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, single crystal X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. MMCF-3 forms in closely packed 2-D sheets. In MMCF-3, the azamacrocyclic-based ligand coordinates tetradentate to four separate lanthanum ions via its carboxylate groups, leaving the macrocycle site unoccupied. The lanthanum ions are 10-coordinate with a distorted bi-capped square anti-prism coordination environment. The vacancy of the macrocycle site within the framework encourages the utilization of the framework as a cation receptor. The availability of these sites allows for the possibility to coordinate to newly introduced metals to produce heterometallic frameworks, which could exhibit intriguing properties.
Conflicts of interest in pharmaceutical sponsored economic studies of breast cancer therapies: An empirical study.

6595 Background: Cost-effectiveness studies are increasingly included in the regulatory decisions of many countries and in formulary decisions worldwide. In 1999, we reported that pharmaceutical co...
Addition of surgical correction to compression therapy reduced recurrences in chronic venous leg ulceration

Source Citation Gohel MS, Barwell JR, Taylor M, et al. Long term results of compression therapy alone versus compression plus surgery in chronic venous ulceration (ESCHAR): randomised controlled tr...
Performance trends for operational intelligence through value chain model

Value chain is a successful management model for improving business competitiveness. A value chain based analytic approach facilitates meaningful grouping of business processes such that appropriate value from business operations can be derived. As organizations focus on competitive advantage and growth, a value chain derived operational intelligence provides insight to compete successfully in the marketplace. This paper outlines an approach to develop performance based value metrics in the form of analytic business rules for operational intelligence through the value chain model. The paper illustrates the concepts through a University value chain prototype which is implemented in Oracle’s PL/SQL language.
Nonpenetrating Gunshot Injury as a Cause of Testicular Rupture

We report 2 cases of testicular rupture owing to a nonpenetrating gunshot injury. Immediate surgical exploration on the basis of a large painful scrotum of acute onset accorded a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Time dependent control Lyapunov functions and hybrid zero dynamics for stable robotic locomotion

Implementing state-based parameterized periodic trajectories on complex robotic systems, e.g., humanoid robots, can lead to instability due to sensor noise exacerbated by dynamic movements. As a means of understanding this phenomenon, and motivated by field testing on the humanoid robot DURUS, this paper presents sufficient conditions for the boundedness of hybrid periodic orbits (i.e., boundedness of walking gaits) for time dependent control Lyapunov functions. In particular, this paper considers virtual constraints that yield hybrid zero dynamics with desired outputs that are a function of time or a state-based phase variable. If the difference between the phase variable and time is bounded, we establish exponential boundedness to the zero dynamics surface. These results are extended to hybrid dynamical systems, establishing exponential boundedness of hybrid periodic orbits, i.e., we show that stable walking can be achieved through time-based implementations of state-based virtual constraints. These results are verified on the bipedal humanoid robot DURUS both in simulation and experimentally; it is demonstrated that a close match between time based tracking and state based tracking can be achieved as long as there is a close match between the time and phase based desired output trajectories.
The case for U.S. nuclear weapons in the 21st century

This book is an excellent contribution to the debate on the future role of nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence in American foreign policy. Brad Roberts, who is the Director of the Center for Glo...
Comparison of BIA and DXA for Estimating Body Composition in Collegiate Female Athletes

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to compare bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for predicting body fat percentage (BF%) and fat-free mass (FFM) in collegiate female athletes.Methods: Forty-four collegiate female athletes (age = 21.1 ± 2.0 years; height = 166.5 ± 6.9 cm; weight = 63.9 ± 10.0 kg) volunteered to participate in the study. Each participant’s BF% and FFM was determined via BIA and DXA.Results: The mean (± SD) BF% determined by DXA was 27.7 ± 5.9% and by BIA was 25.8 ± 3.2%, which was significantly different (p < 0.05). BIA significantly correlated with DXA (r = 0.71, p < 0.05) for BF% and yielded a SEE of 4.21%. The limits of agreement (i.e., 95% confidence intervals) for BF% ranged from 10.2% below to 6.4% above the mean difference of -1.9%. The mean FFM (+/- SD) determined by DXA was 46.2 ± 6.1 kg and by HF-BIA was 47.5 ± 6.0 kg, which was also significantly different (p < 0.05). BIA significantly correlated with DXA (r = 0.89, p < 0.001) for FFM with a SEE of 2.8 kg. The limits of agreement for FFM ranged from 4.0 kg below to 6.6 kg above the mean difference of 1.3 kg.Conclusion: Due to significant mean differences and large individual error, BIA does not appear to serve as a suitable surrogate to DXA for evaluating BF% and FFM in collegiate female athletes. Sport practitioners should be aware of the study’s results and use caution when interpreting BIA analyses within this population.
Peer delinquency and student achievement in middle school

Abstract This paper studies the relationship between peer delinquency and student achievement in North Carolina middle schools. We define severity of the delinquent act using the associated punishment and calculate the average exposure to peer delinquency. Our identification strategy uses this new measure, a rich set of control variables including student, peer, and teacher characteristics, and a novel instrumental variable that captures the indirect social network impact of peer misbehavior. The instrument uses lagged delinquent behavior from students who went to 5th grade with peers of the index student's current 6th grade peers but not the index student him/herself. A 10 percent increase in the number of “major” incidents that a student at an average North Carolina school is exposed to was associated with a 6.2 percent of a standard deviation decrease in his or her standardized math score.
Aircraft-navigation-grade laser-driven FOG with Gaussian-noise phase modulation.

A laser-driven fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) is demonstrated with an angular random walk noise of 5.5×10-4 deg/√h, a drift of 6.8×10-3 deg/h, and an inferred scale-factor stability of 0.15 ppm, making it, to the best of our knowledge, the first laser-driven FOG to satisfy the performance requirements for inertial navigation of commercial aircraft. This is achieved using Gaussian white noise phase modulation to broaden the linewidth of the source laser and to strongly suppress the narrow-linewidth optical carrier. The performance of this laser-driven FOG is shown to have better noise and only slightly higher drift than the same FOG driven by a conventional superfluorescent fiber source. This result is validated for two lasers with widely different intrinsic coherence.
Creating site-specific isopeptide linkages between proteins with the traceless Staudinger ligation.

Site-specific isopeptide linkages between the e-amino group of a lysine residue in one protein and a carboxyl group in another are central to ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation and other cellular processes. These linkages are inaccessible with common recombinant DNA techniques. Here, we describe a method to link two proteins by an authentic isopeptide bond. The method unites three techniques at the forefront of molecular biology. An azidonorleucine residue is installed at a desired site in a substrate protein by nonnatural amino acid incorporation, and a phosphinothioester is installed at the C terminus of a pendant protein by expressed protein ligation. Then, the traceless Staudinger ligation is used to link the substrate and pendant proteins via an isopeptide bond. This method facilitates the study of otherwise intractable protein structure-function relationships.