cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
“Parahomologous” Gene Targeting in Drosophila Cells: An Efficient, Homology-Dependent Pathway of Illegitimate Recombination Near a Target Site

Drosophila cells in culture can be transformed by introducing exogenous DNA carrying a selectable marker. Here we report on the fate of plasmids that contain an extended fragment of Drosophila DNA in addition to the selectable marker. A small minority of the resulting transformants appear to arise from homologous recombination at the chromosomal target. However, the majority of the insertions are the products of illegitimate events in the vicinity of the target DNA, and they often cause mutations in the targeted region. The efficiency of this process, its homology dependence, and the clustering of the products define a novel transformation pathway that we call ``parahomologous targeting.''
In-vitro and in-vivo susceptibility of Borrelia burgdorferi to azithromycin

The in-vitro and in-vivo susceptibility of Borrelia burgdorferito tetracycline, erythromycin and azithromycin was investigated. A macrodilution broth technique was used to determine MBCs. B. burgdorferi was most susceptible to azithromycin (MBC 0.04 mg/l) followed by erythromycin (MBC 0.16 mg/l) and tetracycline (MBC 1.6 mg/l). Syrian hamsters were used to determine ED50S for the three antimicrobials. Azithromycin was most effective in the elimination of spirochaetes from experimentally infected hamsters with an ED50 of 3.71 (+/- 1.9) mg/kg followed by tetracycline (ED50 15.6 (+/- 4.58) mg/kg). Erythromycin possessed low activity, having an ED50 of 122.2 (+/- 51.9) mg/kg. Tissue concentrations of azithromycin exceeding the MBC were present 24 h after the final treatment.
A retrospective analysis of prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites among school children in the Palajunoj Valley of Guatemala.

This study retrospectively analyzed demographic factors that may affect the prevalence of intestinal parasites among Guatemalan school children. The findings of the study showed that young age, wet season, female gender, and severe malnutrition all correlated positively with increased rates of infection. Clinical visits were performed on 10,586 school children aged 5-15 years over a four-year period (2004-2007) in the Palajunoj Valley of Guatemala, during which 5,705 viable stool samples were screened for infection with the following parasites: Ascaris lumbricoides , Giardia lamblia , Entamoeba histolytica , Hymenolepis nana , and Blastocystis hominis. The average overall prevalences of infection for specific parasites were A. lumbricoides 17.7%, E. histolytica 16.1%, G. lamblia 10.9%, H. nana 5.4%, and B. hominis 2.8%. Statistical analysis showed significantly higher rates of infection among younger children with G. lamblia (odds ratio [OR]=0.905, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.871-0.941, p<0.0001) and E. histolytica (p=0.0006), greater prevalence of H. nana among females (OR=1.275, CI 1.010-1.609, p=0.0412), higher infection rates during the wet season for E. histolytica (p=0.0003) and H. nana (OR=0.734, CI 0.557-0.966, p=0.0275), and greater rates of infection with G. lamblia among malnourished children (for moderately malnourished children OR=1.498, CI 1.143-1.963, p<0.0001) and E. histolytica (for mildly malnourished children OR=1.243, CI 1.062-1.455, p=0.0313). The results suggest that the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites among young Guatemalan children is highly dependent on the specific species of the parasite. Key words: Amoebiasis; Ascariasis; Ascaris lumbricoides; Blastocystis hominis; Child; Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia; Giardiasis; Hymenolepis nana; Intestinal diseases, Parasitic; Parasites; Retrospective studies; Guatemala doi: 10.3329/jhpn.v27i1.3321 J Health Popul Nutr 2009 Feb;27(1):31-40
Transmission Electron Microscopy Investigations of an As-Processed Yttria-Stablilized zirconia on Platinum Aluminide Bond Coat

We examined an as-processed yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) on platinum aluminide bond coat (BC), produced by electron beam physical vapor deposition, with transmission electron microscopy, including energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and hollow-cone diffraction. Columnar α-Al 2 O 3 grains (∼100nm) formed at the interface between the BC and YSZ. A thin intermix (∼50nm) region was observed between the α-Al 2 O 3 and YSZ. Hollow cone diffraction showed that the α-Al 2 O 3 grains and the small-grained (∼10nm) YSZ near the α-Al 2 O 3 are randomly oriented, without preferential texturing. No evidence of spinel formation was noted.
Performance of multitone and multicarrier direct sequence spread spectrum in the presence of partial-band pulse jamming/interference

Variations on single-carrier (SC) direct-sequence spread spectrum (DS-SS) signaling schemes have seen much study, especially the multicarrier (MC) approach, and to a lesser degree the multitone (NIT) approach. A comparison of the techniques in the presence of partial band jamming has not yet been done. This impairment is of interest in the spectral overlay of narrowband and DS-SS systems, and in military anti-jam systems. We provide new analytical and computer simulation results for performance of NIT and MC DS-SS in the presence of partial band pulsed jamming. We investigate performance as a function of the number of subcarriers, per-subcarrier processing gain, and jammer bandwidth and center frequency for two different types of interfering signals. Comparisons between simulations and analysis show good agreement, and show that for some cases the NIT approach can be more robust than MC.
Quantitative Analysis of Molecular Absorption into PDMS Microfluidic Channels

Microfluidic devices fabricated using poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) polymer are routinely used for in vitro cell culture for a wide range of cellular assays. These assays typically involve the incubation of cultured cells with a drug molecule or a fluorescent marker while monitoring a cellular response. The accuracy of these assays depends on achieving a consistent and reproducible concentration of solute molecules in solution. However, hydrophobic therapeutic and fluorescent molecules tend to diffuse into the PDMS walls of the microfluidic devices, which reduce their concentration in solution and consequently affect the accuracy and reliability of these assays. In this paper, we quantitatively investigate the relationship between the partition coefficient (log P) of a series of markers routinely used in in vitro cellular assays including [3H]-dexamethasone, [3H]-diazepam, [14C]-mannitol, [3H]-phenytoin, and rhodamine 6G and their absorption into PDMS microfluidic channels. Our results show that the absorption of a given solute into PDMS depends on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance defined by its log P value. Specifically, results demonstrate that molecules with log P less than 2.47 exhibit minimal absorption ( 90%) into PDMS channels. Further investigations showed that TiO2 and glass coatings of PDMS channels reduced the absorption of hydrophobic molecules (log P > 2.62) by 2- and 4.5-folds, respectively.
Marker Loci Associated With Life Span in Genetically Heterogeneous Mice

Results. Five markers on different chromosomes were associated with differential longevity in male mice, and two other markers were associated with longevity in female mice. Post hoc probabilities were suggestive but not definitive, reaching p < .003 for the four strongest effects. Associations between marker loci and life span were sex-specific in almost all cases, affecting either males or females but not both. The strongest effects led to differences in mean survival Of about 20% in the affected sex. The survival curves are consistent with the idea that the markers are linked to loci that influence the mortality risks of the longest-lived animals in the cohort. Associations between markers and life span did not appear to reflect associations of these markers to specific diseases in these mice. Conclusions. Associations between genetic markers and life span in mice bred by using a four-way cross are strong enough to deserve further analysis and seem to be sex-specific in their effects.
Interteaching and Lecture A Comparison of Long-Term Recognition Memory

Although a number of studies suggest that interteaching is an effective alternative to traditional teaching methods, no studies have systematically examined whether interteaching improves long-term...
Mammalogy. 4th ed

T. A. Vaughan, J. M. Ryan, N. J. Czaplewski. 2000. Mammalogy. 4th ed. Saunders College Publishing, Fort Worth, Texas, 565 pp. ISBN 0-03-025034-X, price (hardcover), $86.50. This edition of a popular mammalogy textbook is attractive, the scientific illustrations are magnificent, and the print is readable with important words set in boldface type. Web sites listed at the end of each chapter suggest additional information. A mammalogy textbook is a treatise on one hand and a learning device for a student on the other. Years ago, this reviewer's class was mostly graduate students in vertebrate zoology, some had courses in paleontology, and all had comparative anatomy. In my teaching (63 semesters with 2–3 classes each), students were mostly undergraduates. I love this book, but for many students today it extends well beyond their available time and earlier coursework. Even for less-advanced mammalogy classes, certainly to be considered important, instructors will find this comprehensive work helpful. In “Classification,” within the Introduction (Chapter 1), one appreciates the quote from George Gaylord Simpson (1945) about putting all things into formal arrangement. Simpson continued further that modern taxonomy includes other sciences, and that studies on phylogeny will extend mammalian taxonomy a couple of centuries. To him, and to us, taxonomy (or what our authors call “systematics”) becomes mammalogy. This text introduces students to powerful, modern phyletics. The authors introduce early in the book terms as synapomorphies and outgroups, all part of the powerful, modern way of making phylogenetic dendrograms. This is painful initiation for field-oriented students of general biology and wildlife management. However, terms such as phylogeny, homology, and analogy ought to be introduced. Analogy and homology are not confined to interspecific comparisons (e.g., serial homology is the basis of the dental formula). The text has a drawback in hardly emphasizing the Linnaean system, and not naming Carolus Linnaeus as the starting point of our taxonomy. Nomenclature is never defined; such a technological text should mention its basic rules: priority, synonymy, …
What to Do about Differences? A Study of Multicultural Education for Teacher Trainees in the Los Angeles Unified School District

At the end of their initial year in the Teacher Trainee Program of the Los Angeles Unified School District, teacher trainees attend a series of presentations entitled Multicultural Week. I analyzed the content of the presentations and the teachers' views of stereotypes and of teaching culturally diverse children before and after the multicultural presentations. The presentations appeared to have little effect on how teachers think about these issues. On the basis of this analysis, I raise questions about the content and pedagogy of multicultural programs.
Pitx2 is functionally important in the early stages of vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation

Mechanisms that control vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation are poorly understood. We identify Pitx2 as a previously unknown homeodomain transcription factor that is rapidly induced in an in vitro model of SMC differentiation from multipotent stem cells. Pitx2 induces expression of multiple SMC differentiation marker genes by binding to a TAATC(C/T) cis-element, by interacting with serum response factor, and by increasing histone acetylation levels within the promoters of SMC differentiation marker genes. Suppression of Pitx2 reduces expression of SMC differentiation marker genes in the early stages of SMC differentiation in vitro, whereas Prx1, another homeodomain protein, regulates SMC differentiation marker genes in fully differentiated SMCs. Pitx2, but not Prx1, knockout mouse embryos exhibit impaired induction of SMC differentiation markers in the dorsal aorta and branchial arch arteries. Our results demonstrate that Pitx2 functions to regulate the early stages of SMC differentiation.
Formal solution to the scattering of a buried sphere

This paper presents a formal solution to the electromagnetic scattering of a buried sphere. It has been validated against the Mie scattering solution and the NMM solution. The direct application of the method will be the validation of the numerical methods for the scattering of 3D buried objects, which, though important, has not been available. It may also serve as the basis for some approximate algorithm for this problem. Finally, combined with other numerical methods, such as T-matrix method plus the fast evaluation technique of the Sommerfeld integral, it may present a new method for electromagnetic scattering by a 3D buried object.
A spatial generalized ordered response model to examine highway crash injury severity

This paper proposes a flexible econometric structure for injury severity analysis at the level of individual crashes that recognizes the ordinal nature of injury severity categories, allows unobserved heterogeneity in the effects of contributing factors, as well as accommodates spatial dependencies in the injury severity levels experienced in crashes that occur close to one another in space. The modeling framework is applied to analyze the injury severity sustained in crashes occurring on highway road segments in Austin, Texas. The sample is drawn from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) crash incident files from 2009 and includes a variety of crash characteristics, highway design attributes, driver and vehicle characteristics, and environmental factors. The results from our analysis underscore the value of our proposed model for data fit purposes as well as to accurately estimate variable effects. The most important determinants of injury severity on highways, according to our results, are (1) whether any vehicle occupant is ejected, (2) whether collision type is head-on, (3) whether any vehicle involved in the crash overturned, (4) whether any vehicle occupant is unrestrained by a seat-belt, and (5) whether a commercial truck is involved.
The Anthropologist as Alcohologist: Qualitative Perspectives and Methods in Alcohol Research

As research disciplines differ from each other in terms of their episte-mological and theoretical assumptions, they differ in the kinds of data they produce. This paper discusses the particular perspectives and methods that anthropologically produced data contribute to a biopsychosocial paradigm of alcohol use/pathology. Strategic uses of qualitative research approaches are suggested, and situations in which qualitatively produced data would be especially useful in the design and delivery of alcohol-related services are identified.
CHARMS: a simple framework for adaptive simulation

Finite element solvers are a basic component of simulation applications; they are common in computer graphics, engineering, and medical simulations. Although adaptive solvers can be of great value in reducing the often high computational cost of simulations they are not employed broadly. Indeed, building adaptive solvers can be a daunting task especially for 3D finite elements. In this paper we are introducing a new approach to produce conforming, hierarchical, adaptive refinement methods (CHARMS). The basic principle of our approach is to refine basis functions, not elements. This removes a number of implementation headaches associated with other approaches and is a general technique independent of domain dimension (here 2D and 3D), element type (e.g., triangle, quad, tetrahedron, hexahedron), and basis function order (piece-wise linear, higher order B-splines, Loop subdivision, etc.). The (un-)refinement algorithms are simple and require little in terms of data structure support. We demonstrate the versatility of our new approach through 2D and 3D examples, including medical applications and thin-shell animations.
Terrestrial Analogs for Planetary Surface Facility Planning and Operations

This paper will draw parallels and define differences between factors that drive the planning and design of human surface facilities in space and in extreme environments on Earth. Primary emphases will highlight influences upon general habitat requirements, constraints upon delivery and construction, and special provisions for safety and hazard interventions. The overall intent is to identify important lessons that can be applied across different settings which present common priorities, issues and challenges. Such environments include future bases on the Moon and Mars, offshore surface and submersible facilities, polar research and oil/natural gas exploration stations, military desert operations, and natural and man-made emergency shelters. Important topics of emphasis include the following considerations: ▪ Design influences driven by transport to remote sites; ▪ Environmental influences upon facilities and construction; ▪ Influences of crew sizes, types of activities and occupancy durations; ▪ Influences of construction methods and support infrastructures; ▪ Special safety and emergency response requirements. This presentation will draw upon research and design activities at the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA). Information is also taken from a SICSA-sponsored conference “International Design for Extreme Environments One” (IDEEA-One) at the University of Houston which attracted more than 400 interdisciplinary participants from 12 countries representing diverse professions and environmental settings. Background and History Extreme environments on Earth provide analog experience to support planning of extraterrestrial facilities and operations. Each environment presents special lessons regarding habitat design, crew operations and training, and equipment and logistical requirements for space exploration. SICSA has extensive experience in research and design for extreme environments, including orbital and lunar planetary facilities, disaster shelters, polar stations and offshore surface and submersible habitats. Investigations have addressed such issues as hardships and challenges posed by harsh climate conditions, remoteness with restricted access and return opportunities, limitations on available equipment and support services, and ever-present safety risks. All of these environments share many kinds of technical and operational priorities. Key among these are needs for appropriate transportation and
A New Shape for Religion and Public Education in Changing Times

The title of Bob Dylan's folk song, "The Times They Are A Changing," suggests not only obvious changes in our society, such as technological advance, environmental crisis, black power, women's liberation, and peace movements but also the current situation of public education. Formerly, public education in the United States had to create a unity out of a great diversity of immigrant peoples; America was a great melting pot and public education enabled assimilation. But now that our nation has, at least in some sense, "arrived," its citizens face the formidable task of deciding where and how to go from here. We have to make difficult, delicate judgments and decisions about political, economic, and ethical matters. The times are a-changing in that today the public schools, instead of having to nurture a consensus of values, are having to create a context for value formation. This observation is not the whole story, but it is partially the context for the Supreme Court's clear, emphatic decisions in 1962 and 1963—public education should be concerned not with the practice of religion, blessing the values of American society, but with the study of religion, inquiring about sources of values in mankind's religious heritage. Moreover, this gradual shift of focus in education is one cause of growing public confusion and mistrust toward education in general.
Antibody detection and present situation analysis on human Brucella in Taiyuan in 2013

Objective To investigate human brucellosis in Taiyuan in 2013,so to provide references for the development of effective measures for the prevention and control of brucellosis in the area. Methods All samples from various hospitals in Taiyuan subjected to the rose bengal plate test( RBPT) and serum agglutination test( SAT),diagnosis of the samples were performed in accordance with the criteria described in Diagnostic Standards for Brucellosis( WS269- 2007). Gender and occupational distribution of brucellosis were analyzed. Results A total of 2 145 samples were collected for the detection in 2013,and among the 2 145 tested blood samples,683 were tested positive,resulting in a positive rate of 31. 8%( 683 /2 145). Male positive rate [37. 5%( 547 /1 458) ] was higher than that of female [19. 8%( 136 /687) ]. The different positive rate between genders was statistically significant. Overall positive rate among professional was statistical significance. And the peasantry population had the highest ratio of 40. 7%( 534 /1 312). Conclusion The epidemic of human brucellosis has an increased trend; it should further strengthen the monitoring of the epidemic,and implement the prevention and control measures.
Incremental Object Perception in an Attention-Driven Cognitive Architecture.

With few exceptions, architectural approaches to modeling cognition have historically emphasized what happens in the mind following the transduction of environmental signals into percepts. To our knowledge, none of these architectures implements a sophisticated, general theory of human attention. In this paper we summarize progress to date on a new cognitive architecture called ARCADIA that gives a central role to attention in both perception and cognition. First, we give an overview of the architecture, comparing it to other approaches when appropriate. Second, we present a model of incremental object construction and property binding in ARCADIA using the well known change blindness phenomena to illustrate the time course of object perception and its dependence on attention. Finally, we discuss near-term challenges and future plans.
Percutaneous management of renal pelvic tumors: a treatment option in selected cases.

AbstractNine patients with renal pelvic transitional cell carcinomas were selected for treatment with percutaneous resection because of a solitary kidney (3), bilateral synchronous disease (1), renal insufficiency (1), poor surgical risk (2) or preoperative evidence of a single, low grade, superficial tumor (2). Eight patients underwent second-look procedures 2 to 28days postoperatively, at which time 6 received neodymium:YAG laser irradiation. Supplemental intracavitary therapy through the nephrostomy tube was given in 6 patients (mitomycin C in 1 and bacillus Calmette-Guerin in 5). Of those patients 2 had third-look procedures. Five patients remain free of recurrence with a followup of 3 to 28 months (mean 9.5 months). In the other 4 patients there was recurrent disease in the renal pelvis (3) or reappearance of positive cytology studies (1) 4 to 5 months postoperatively. Extrarenal tumor recurrence was not observed. Percutaneous surgery provided adequate information to assess tumor architecture, grade,...
Bypassing the Pentose Phosphate Pathway: Towards Modular Utilization of Xylose

The efficient use of hemicellulose in the plant cell wall is critical for the economic conversion of plant biomass to renewable fuels and chemicals. Previously, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been engineered to convert the hemicellulose-derived pentose sugars xylose and arabinose to d-xylulose-5-phosphate for conversion via the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). However, efficient pentose utilization requires PPP optimization and may interfere with its roles in NADPH and pentose production. Here, we developed an alternative xylose utilization pathway that largely bypasses the PPP. In the new pathway, d-xylulose is converted to d-xylulose-1-phosphate, a novel metabolite to S. cerevisiae, which is then cleaved to glycolaldehyde and dihydroxyacetone phosphate. This synthetic pathway served as a platform for the biosynthesis of ethanol and ethylene glycol. The use of d-xylulose-1-phosphate as an entry point for xylose metabolism opens the way for optimizing chemical conversion of pentose sugars in S. cerevisiae in a modular fashion.
Challenges in Shifting Management Responsibility From Parents to Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease.

Purpose This study explored the challenges faced by adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD) and their parents and the work they engage in to progressively shift from parent management to independent adolescent self-management. Design and methods A qualitative descriptive focus-group design with semi-structured interviews was used with adolescents (11–18 years) with SCD (HbSS genotype) and their parents/primary caregivers. Interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Results Two adolescent focus groups, with a total of 14 adolescents, and two parent focus groups, with a total of 15 parents, described adaptive challenges. Adolescents' adaptive challenges included mastering complex symptom management, communicating about SCD and symptoms, and maintaining control. Parents' adaptive challenges included giving over the complex management, communicating the management with the adolescent, balancing protection against risk with fostering independence, changing a comfortable rhythm, and releasing the adolescent into an "SCD-naive" world. Adolescents' adaptive work included pushing back at parents, defaulting back to parental care, stepping up with time, learning how SCD affects them, and educating friends about SCD. Parents' adaptive work included engaging the adolescent in open dialogue and co-managing with the adolescent. Conclusions Shifting management responsibility from parents to adolescents imposes adaptive challenges for both. Future research is needed to develop and test interventions that improve adaptive capacity in adolescents and parents. Practice implications Health care providers need to assess the parent–child relationship and their progress in shifting the management responsibility, facilitate discussions to arrive at a shared understanding of the challenges, and collaborate on adaptive work to address these challenges.
OncoHist®, an rh Histone 1.3, Is Cytotoxic to Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells and Results in Altered Downstream Signaling

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous myeloid stem cell disorder; subtypes, which can be defined histologically, cytogenetically, and genetically, have varying prognoses and clinical characteristics. However, all but those younger patients with favorable biological features are inherently resistant to available cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents; novel and less toxic therapies are required. Studies have shown that exposure of cancer cells, including leukemic blasts, to histone H1 produce cytotoxicity. The mechanism of cytotoxicity is believed to be an increase in focal membrane permeability induced by histone H1 binding to phosphotidyl serine moieties. However, the precise mechanism and functional effects of histone H1 on AML cells is currently unclear. The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of recombinant human Histone 1.3, OncoHist® (Xenetic Biosciences), on the proliferation of AML cell lines and on primary AML cells. We demonstrate that purified OncoHist® exerts growth inhibition and induces necrosis by flow cytometry assessment of staining for propidium iodide (PI) of AML cell lines (MOLM14, MV4-11, U937, HL60) as well as primary AML (n=3, including one with a p53 mutation) cells independent of lineage, stage and maturation with an IC50 of 2-5 mM. An AML cell line (MOLM13) with a FLT3 activating mutation (length or internal tandem duplication) which was developed to express resistance to the FLT3 inhibitor midostaurin/PKC412 was sensitive to OncoHist®-induced growth arrest measured by trypan blue staining and death (flow for PI) with about 70-80% necrosis at 5mM. Furthermore, 2uM OncoHist® treatment of MV4-11 and MOLM-14 cells for 15 minutes was associated with inhibition of the FLT3 downstream effectors phospho-AKT and phospho-extra cellular regulated kinase (phospho-ERK) as assessed by immunoblotting. Moreover, treatment of MOLM14 cells with OncoHist® in combination with cytarabine was associated with a significant synergistic inhibition of growth as measured by Alamar blue staining with a CI index of 0.35. Our findings support the development of OncoHist® alone and in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of AML. A Phase I trial of OncoHist® for the treatment of refractory/relapsed AML is planned. Disclosures Kharbanda:Xenetic: Equity Ownership. Stone:Xenetic: Consultancy.
Theoretical effectiveness of cell survival in fractionated radiotherapy with hypoxia-targeted dose escalation.

Purpose The goal of this article is to compute the cell survival during fractionated radiotherapy with non-uniform hypoxia-targeted dose distribution relative to cell survival for a uniform dose distribution with equal integral tumor dose. The analysis is performed for different parameters of radiotherapy with conventional and hypofractionated dose regimens. Methods Our analysis is done using a parsimonious tumor response model that describes the major components of tumor response to radiotherapy such as radiosensitivity, cell proliferation, and hypoxia using as few variables as possible. Two levels of oxygenated and hypoxic cells with the survival curves described by the linear quadratic (LQ) model are implemented in the model. The model allows for analytical solutions for relative cell survival in a single fraction simulation which can be used for additional validation of our numerical simulations. The relative cell survival was computed for conventional and hypofractionated dose regimens in a model problem with radiobiological parameters for the non-small-cell lung cancer. Sensitivity of cell survival to different parameters of radiotherapy such as the relative volume of hypoxic fraction, boost dose ratio, re-oxygenation rate, and delivery errors was investigated. Results Our computational and analytical results show that relative cell survival for non-uniform and uniform dose distributions is larger than 1.0 during the first few fractions of radiotherapy with conventional fractionation. This indicates that the uniform dose distribution produces a higher cell killing effect for the equal integral dose. This may stem from domination of linear contribution to the cell killing effect seen in the dose range of 1-2 Gy and a steeper slope of survival curve in the oxygenated tumor region. This effect can only happen if the distribution of clonogens is nearly uniform; therefore, after the first few fractions, the non-uniform dose distributions outperform the uniform dose distribution and relative cell survival becomes less than 1.0. However, re-oxygenation and delivery errors can also reduce the effectiveness of hypoxia-targeted non-uniform dose distributions toward the end of treatment. For hypofractionated radiotherapy with fractional dose >3 Gy, the relative cell survival was always below 1.0, which means the non-uniform dose distributions produced higher cell killing effect than the uniform dose distribution during the entire treatment. Conclusion The data obtained in this work suggest that non-uniform hypoxia-targeted dose distributions are less effective at cell killing than uniform dose distributions at the beginning of radiotherapy with conventional fractionation. However; non-uniform dose distributions can outperform uniform dose distribution by the end of the treatment if the effects of re-oxygenation and delivery errors are reduced. In hypofractionated radiotherapy, non-uniform hypoxia-targeted dose distributions are more efficient than uniform dose distributions during the entire treatment.
Controlling Effects Of Course Credit In A College Population

This study investigated the controlling effects of contingent credit toward a course grade in an introductory psychology class (N = 114). College students, randomly assigned to one of two groups, received either contingent credit or no credit on weekly quizzes using a between-subject crossover design. Contingent credit led to significantly higher mean quiz performance (p<.02), but did not result in differential performance on retests of the same material. The groups also did not differ significantly when both received noncontingent credit or no credit. Class attendance was highest when it was required to receive credit. Eighty percent of the students preferred receiving credit for quizzes over noncredit quizzes or no quizzes. The reinforcing functions of course credit are discussed.
Error and probability functions

Like the gamma and psi functions, the functions treated in this chapter are among the most important of the special functions.
Next-Generation Semi-infinite Discrete Fractional Programs

In this chapter, applying the new notion of the generalized \((\phi ,\eta ,\omega ,\rho ,\theta ,\tilde{m})\)-invexity, a set of higher order parametric necessary optimality conditions and several sets of higher order sufficient optimality conditions in a semi-infinite framework for discrete minmax fractional programming problem applying various classes of \((\phi ,\eta ,\omega ,\rho ,\theta ,\tilde{m})\)-invexity assumptions are established.
Multiple Criteria Optimization Using Analytic Hierarchies and Holistic Preferences

This paper proposes an approach to multiple criteria optimization when some of the criteria are intangible. Saaty’s analytic hierarchy process is used to quantify such criteria. Then Ho’s method of holistic preference evaluation is used in the optimization. In the descriptive mode, this approach may be useful in the study of cognitive decision processes. As an example a case study of a consumer’s choice in product mix is presented.
Evaluating the Service Life of Thermoplastic Pavement Markings: Stochastic Approach

AbstractThe study applied the Markov chain (MC) model that uses a transition matrix to transmit the probability of monitored pavement markings being in one service life state then changing into ano...
Image repair in the aftermath of inaccurate polling: How the news media responded to getting it wrong in 1948 and 2016

The US presidential elections of 1948 and 2016 produced surprise outcomes when the predicted winners ended up losing the election. Using image repair theory, this article explains the strategies th...
Can There Be Healing without Trust

Physicians should be aware when developing a treatment plan that patients' lack of trust in the medical profession can affect their willingness to seek medical treatment and comply with the treatment. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
The Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Energetics and Control

Many metabolic systems are either associated with, or are integral parts of cellular membranes. The metabolic function of some of these enzymes can be, in fact, absolutely dependent on the presence of the membrane and some enzymes can only be removed from the membrane by destruction of the membrane integrity. This includes a wide range of transport enzymes, enzymes which catalyze vectorial movement of water-soluble molecules across the membrane permeability barrier. These transport enzymes are responsible for such important biological functions as maintaining the ionic content of the cell different from that of the external milieu, establishing transmembrane electrical and osmotic gradients, and transport of essential metabolites into and out of the cell or subcellular organell.
SYMPTOMATIC MYOCARDIAL BRIDGING AND CORONARY VASOMOTOR DYSFUNCTION

Myocardial bridge (MB) has been associated with increased major adverse cardiac events. However, angina in this setting could be due to MB, atherosclerosis or coronary vasomotor dysfunction. A 24-year-old female with history of migraines and Raynaud's phenomenon presented with exertional and non-
Thin-Wire Antenna Design Using a Novel Branching Scheme and Genetic Algorithm Optimization

This paper presents a novel optimization method used to design thin-wire antennas to approximate any arbitrary antenna gain pattern. These types of antenna designs may be useful for specific tracking-search radars or telecommunication systems trying to maximize the antenna footprint without significant sidelobe power loss. A genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the design of a thin-wire antenna to match a predefined antenna pattern. Two different 3-D antenna topologies are allowed. The first is the conventional bent long wire or crooked wire antenna and the second branching tree antenna. The branching tree antenna resembles the structure of a natural tree. The branching tree topology allows antennas to branch in several directions at each segment’s end. This paper also describes a systematic approach of developing an objective function for any desired power pattern.
Microseism ground motion at Palisades and Weston

Abstract An analysis of microseism ground motion at Palisades and Weston is made on the basis of both statistical and individual wave studies. Data from three-component seismographs are utilized for the study of six microseism storms. The results of both methods of ground-motion analysis show that the microseisms studied for Palisades and Weston are either pure Rayleigh waves or combinations of Rayleigh waves approaching from different directions. The study also tends to support earlier findings of Lee that a relationship seems to exist between certain microseism parameters and local geology. The use of the data to determine wave-approach directions on the assumption of Rayleigh waves supports earlier reports of refraction at the continental borders, and gives further evidence for the existence of a microseism discontinuity at the margin of the continent in the vicinity of Long Island.
Acid Fasting: Modulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Metabolism at Acidic pH

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) senses and adapts to acidic host environments during the course of pathogenesis. Mutants defective in acidic pH-dependent adaptations are often attenuated during macrophage or animal infections, supporting that these pathways are essential for pathogenesis and represent important new targets for drug discovery. This review examines a confluence of findings supporting that Mtb has restricted metabolism at acidic pH that results in the slowing of bacterial growth and changes in redox homeostasis. It is proposed that induction of the PhoPR regulon and anaplerotic metabolism, in concert with the restricted use of specific carbon sources, functions to counter reductive stress associated with acidic pH.
Electrostatically Driven CO−π Aromatic Interactions

A series of N-arylimide molecular balances were developed to study and measure carbonyl–aromatic (CO−π) interactions. Carbonyl oxygens were observed to form repulsive interactions with unsubstituted arenes and attractive interactions with electron-deficient arenes with multiple electron-withdrawing groups. The repulsive and attractive CO−π aromatic interactions were well-correlated to electrostatic parameters, which allowed accurate predictions of the interaction energies based on the electrostatic potentials of the carbonyl and arene surfaces. Due to the pronounced electrostatic polarization of the C═O bond, the CO−π aromatic interaction was stronger than the previously studied oxygen−π and halogen−π aromatic interactions.
Acousto-optical modulation of thin film lithium niobate waveguide devices

Due to its strong piezoelectric effect and photo-elastic property, lithium niobate is widely used for acousto-optical applications. However, conventional bulk lithium niobate waveguide devices exhibit a large footprint and limited light–sound interaction resulting from the weak guiding of light. Here, we report the first acousto-optical modulators with surface acoustic wave generation, phononic cavity, and low-loss photonic waveguide devices monolithically integrated on a 500 nm thick film of lithium niobate on an insulator. Modulation efficiency was optimized by properly arranging the propagation directions of surface acoustic waves and optical guided modes. The effective photo-elastic coefficient extracted by comparing the first and third harmonic modulation signals from an on-chip Mach–Zehnder interferometer indicates the excellent acousto-optical properties of lithium niobate are preserved in the thin film implementation. Such material property finding is of crucial importance in designing various types of acousto-optical devices. Much stronger amplitude modulation was achieved in a high Q (>300,000) optical resonator due to the higher optical sensitivity. Our results pave the path for developing novel acousto-optical devices using thin film lithium niobate.
Behavioral changes and nutritional consequences to elk (Cervus canadensis) avoiding perceived risk from human hunters

The life-and-death stakes of predator–prey encounters justify the high price of many anti-predator behaviors. In adopting these behaviors, prey incur substantial non-consumptive costs that can have population-level consequences. Because prey knowledge of risk is imperfect, individuals may even adopt these costly behaviors in the absence of a real threat. For example, rather than only avoid hunters, many species categorically avoid all anthropogenic activity. Although hunting seasons only increase risk for speciﬁc individuals (e.g., males), non-target individuals may still perceive human hunters as a source of risk and respond accordingly. Here, we used a large-scale experiment including 89 animal-years of location data from 62 unique individuals over 6 yr to quantify the duration, magnitude, and energetic consequences of changes to movement and resource selection behavior adopted by non-target female elk (Cervus canadensis) in response to human hunters during three separate experimental 5-d hunts (elk archery, deer riﬂe (Odocoileus hemionus or Odocoileus virginianus), and elk riﬂe). We predicted that elk response to hunters would be brief, but that strong behavioral responses to hunters (e.g., strengthened avoidance of roads and trails) would carry nutritional costs. We measured the duration of hunt-related changes in elk speed using quantile regression, further quantiﬁed the strength of elk behavioral responses to hunters using population-level resource selection functions, and evaluated whether anti-predator resource selection behavior translated to measurable metabolic costs in the form of reduced body fat heading into winter. Elk responses to human hunters were stronger in the day than at night and were generally more pronounced during the elk hunts than during deer hunts. During hunts, elk shifted their diurnal behavior to avoid forage and intensiﬁed their avoidance of roads and trails. The combination of these changes in behavior led to a predicted pattern of distribution during the hunt that differed substantially from the distribution prior to the hunt. Lactating females that more strongly avoided roads entered winter in poorer nutritional condition, suggesting that the changes in resource selection we describe carry corresponding nutritional costs that have the potential to impact subsequent population performance.
Greater opportunities for academic learning and living successes: a program to support college students with disabilities

Date Presented 04/05/19 College students with disabilities who have average or above-average intellectual abilities do not have the same rate of graduation as their peers. OT has a unique skill set to support students with disabilities in higher education, however, few OTs are employed by universities. The GOALS2 program studied the effect of expanding the offerings of the disability office with OT services on the academic successes of students with disabilities. Primary Author and Speaker: Marie-Christine Potvin Additional Authors and Speakers: Monique Chabot, Janette Boney
Transitioning from Primary-Grade Classrooms to Infant/Toddler Rooms: Early Childhood Preservice Teachers' Growth and Challenges.

This qualitative study explores how a group of preservice teachers, all of whom had been well prepared to become primary-grade teachers, made a transition into infant/toddler group care settings. T...
Pockets of Efficiency and the Rise of Iran Auto: Implications for Theories of the Developmental State

Most theories of the developmental state assume that industrial transformation requires capable and coherent development bureaucracies that are “autonomous”—insulated from particularistic private interests yet benefiting from networks connecting them to relevant private industrial actors. Scholars agree that political factionalism and Islamic institutions have transformed Iran into an economically incoherent and rent-seeking predatory state. Iran’s success in developing an automobile industry with high local manufacturing content, while becoming the world’s 11th largest producer of passenger cars and the fifth largest in the global south, seems to contradict this perspective. This paper offers two contributions to existing theories of the developmental state: First, it shows that nationalists with a project of industrialization can decouple a key set of organizations sufficiently from other parts of the state apparatus to create an effective “pocket of efficiency” within a specific industrial sector. Second, sequencing in the evolution of the state’s role may be important in facilitating effective development. Construction of Iran’s auto industry resulted from a process of collective action by elite managers within the industry to first establish elite autonomous alliances within the state and then to establish network connections to economic actors outside the state who could help defend the project from opponents.
Cosmic Filaments from Cosmic Strings

Cosmic strings are generically predicted in many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. We propose a new avenue for detecting cosmic strings through their effect on the filamentary structure in the cosmic web. Using cosmological simulations of the density wake from a cosmic string, we examine a variety of filament structure probes. We show that the largest effect of the cosmic string is an overdensity in the filament distribution around the string wake. The signal from the overdensity is stronger at higher redshift and more robust with a wider field. We analyze the spatial distribution of filaments from a publicly available catalog of filaments built from Sloan digital sky survey galaxies. With existing data, we find no evidence for the presence of a cosmic string wake with string tension parameter $G\ensuremath{\mu}$ above $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$. However, we project WFIRST will be able to detect a signal from such a wake at the 99% confidence level at redshift $z=2$, with significantly higher confidence and the possibility of probing lower tensions ($G\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$), at $z=10$. The sensitivity of this method is not competitive with constraints derived from the cosmic microwave background. However, it provides an independent discovery channel at low redshift, which could be a smoking gun in scenarios in which the cosmic microwave background bound can be weakened.
The Data Mine: Enabling Data Science Across the Curriculum

In this article, we describe a large-scale living learning community (LLC) for undergraduate students of any major or background. Our students are united by a desire to learn data science skills an...
W∞ ALGEBRAS FROM NONCOMMUTATIVE CHERN–SIMONS THEORY

We examine Chern–Simons theory written on a noncommutative plane with a "hole", and show that the algebra of observables is a nonlinear deformation of the w∞ algebra. The deformation depends on the level (the coefficient in the Chern–Simons action), and the noncommutativity parameter, which were identified, respectively, with the inverse filling fraction (minus one) and the inverse density in a recent description of the fractional quantum Hall effect. We remark on the quantization of our algebra. The results are sensitive to the choice of ordering in the Gauss law.