cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 1297: SETD6-mediated deregulation of NF- κB signaling in 4-ABP-induced bladder carcinogenesis.

Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC Epidemiological data support an etiological role for chemicals from occupational exposure and cigarette smoke with increased risk of bladder cancer. However, epigenetic effects of these chemicals remain to be elucidated. Protein methyltransferases (PMTs) methylate protein lysine and arginine residues and play an important role in regulating gene transcription. Deregulation of SET-domain-containing PMTs has a crucial role in carcinogenesis. SETD6 has been shown to monomethylate RelA (a principal subunit of NF-κB at Lys310). Monomethylated RelA recruits GLP (G9A-like protein), a histone dimethyl transferase to the NF-κB target genes, which results in transcriptional repression. The role of SETD6 in bladder cancer is unknown. We used qPCR and immunoblotting to determine changes in SETD6 at the mRNA and protein level in bladder cancer cells relative to primary urothelial cells. We also found that knockdown of SETD6 significantly decreases the viability and proliferation of bladder cancer cells suggesting that SETD6 may function as an oncogene in bladder cancer. Furthermore, we also found that message and protein levels of SETD6 are induced in primary urothelial cells following treatment of 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP), an important constituent of cigarette smoke. Preliminary results indicate that induction may be mediated by 4-ABP-induced ROS. RelAK310Me1 level also increased with 4-ABP treatment showing the increase in SETD6 functional activity with 4-ABP exposure. We also found the decrease in expression of RelB, one of the target genes of RelA. Overall our results show that SETD6 may function as an oncogene in 4-ABP induced bladder cancer by deregulating transactivation property of RelA. These results show for the first time the relevance of PKMTs and epigenetic regulation of NF-κB in carcinogen induced bladder cancer. Supported by RO3 CA136058 (RG). Citation Format: Neelam Mukherjee, Rita Ghosh. SETD6-mediated deregulation of NF- κB signaling in 4-ABP-induced bladder carcinogenesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1297. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1297
Preparation and Microstructure of Spherical Composites in the System Carbon-Zirconium Diboride

In order to prepare carbon-ceramics composites having spherical shape, a powder mixture of carbon and zirconium diboride (ZrB2) was heat-treated at 2400, 2600 and 2800°C. Carbon black, calcined pitch coke and natural graphite were used. Above 2600°C, spherical bodies of silver color, about 20μm-2mm in diameter, were formed for all carbon powders. The spherical body was the spherical composites in the system carbon-ZrB2; the surface was covered with polyhedral graphite and the inside was composed of small graphite and ZrB2 particles. The formation process of the spherical composites is considered as follows: ZrB2 in contact with carbon fuses in the temperature range of 2400 to 2600°C, carbon dissolves in the fused ZrB2, the ZrB2 containing carbon changes into spheres by surface tension, and the carbon dissolved in ZrB2 separates out as graphite during cooling.
Energy Efficient Trajectory Designs for Minimizing Climate Impact of Aircraft on Various Timescales

Future air traffic management systems are developed to enhance safety and efficiency of air traffic operations while accommodating the demand. The impact of aircraft emissions and contrails on the environment adds an additional dimension to aircraft trajectory optimization. This paper describes an optimization module capable of minimizing the climate impact of aircraft emissions and contrails and analyzes the energy efficiency of the trajectory designs and their relationships with the environmental objective. The methodology is used to evaluate the energy efficiency of three designs that each minimizes the total climate impact of aircraft CO 2 emissions and contrails at the end of 25, 50, and 100 years, respectively. Alternatively these designs can be evaluated with respect to how a hypothetical tax on contrail production would influence a stakeholder’s willingness to redefine their respective “optimal” cruise trajectory. The baseline wind-optimal routes and the three designs of climate-optimal trajectories are applied to simulated traffic between 12 city-pairs in the United States. Contrail reduction using both route and altitude changes to aircraft trajectories are more energy efficient than contrail reduction using either route or altitude changes only. Initial results show that climate-optimal trajectories involving lateral changes, which minimize total climate impact at the end of 50 or 100 years, result in smaller amount of contrail formation but have larger temperature reduction per unit fuel burn than that of 25 years. Similar results are obtained for the climate-optimal designs for aircraft trajectories involving altitude changes. The contrail cost that can potentially redefine a stakeholder’s objective to these climate-optimal goals is about 3.7 $/nmi for aircraft trajectories involving altitude changes for a contrail radiative forcing of 30mW/m 2 under current scenario.
Investigation of the role of bicyclic peroxy radicals in the oxidation mechanism of toluene.

The products of the primary OH-initiated oxidation of toluene were investigated using the turbulent flow chemical ionization mass spectrometry technique under different oxygen, NO, and initial OH radical concentrations as well as a range of total pressures. The bicyclic peroxy radical intermediate, a key proposed intermediate species in the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) for the atmospheric oxidation of toluene, was detected for the first time. The toluene oxidation mechanism was shown to have a strong oxygen concentration dependence, presumably due to the central role of the bicyclic peroxy radical in determining the stable product distribution at atmospheric oxygen concentrations. The results also suggest a potential role for bicyclic peroxy radical + HO2 reactions at high HO2/NO ratios. These reactions are postulated to be a source of the inconsistencies between environmental chamber results and predictions from the MCM.
Nut consumption and prostate cancer risk and mortality

Little is known of the association between nut consumption, and prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and survivorship. We conducted an incidence analysis and a case-only survival analysis in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study on the associations of nut consumption (updated every 4 years) with PCa diagnosis, and PCa-specific and overall mortality. In 26 years, 6810 incident PCa cases were identified from 47 299 men. There was no association between nut consumption and being diagnosed with PCa or PCa-specific mortality. However, patients who consumed nuts five or more times per week after diagnosis had a significant 34% lower rate of overall mortality than those who consumed nuts less than once per month (HR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.52–0.83, P-trend=0.0005). There were no statistically significant associations between nut consumption, and PCa incidence or PCa-specific mortality. Frequent nut consumption after diagnosis was associated with significantly reduced overall mortality.
Movimiento Estudianul Chicano De Aztlán

In April 1969, student leaders from around California formed mecaha, the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan — an Indian name for the Southwest). They adopted El Plan de Santa Barbara, embracing “cultural nationalism [as] a means of Chicano liberation. “Its ideology of Chicanisrao insisted on an “ancestral communalism” that predated the European conquest of the New World. The plan’s emphasis on using college programs as a tool for community empowerment was common to the new movements among people of color. Mecha, like many student organizations, flourished for only a few years in the early 1970s, although it has reappeared periodically and remained a point of reference for Chicano militancy since then.
Semiconductor laser based optical frequency combs — Applications in communications and signal processing

Optical frequency combs from mode-locked lasers are developed and used for realizing unique functionality for applications in ultra-wide bandwidth communication and signal processing.
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Simulation Curriculum: Hyponatremic Seizures

Abstract Introduction Seizures are a common complaint in the pediatric emergency department. Effective care of this potentially life-threatening medical emergency requires the ability to stabilize ...
Cyclic Mechanical Loading Enhances Transport of Antibodies Into Articular Cartilage

The goal of this study was to characterize antibody penetration through cartilage tissue under mechanical loading. Mechanical stimulation aids in the penetration of some proteins, but this effect has not characterized molecules such as antibodies (>100 kDa), which may hold some clinical value for treating osteoarthritis (OA). For each experiment, fresh articular cartilage plugs were obtained and exposed to fluorescently labeled antibodies while under cyclic mechanical load in unconfined compression for several hours. Penetration of these antibodies was quantified using confocal microscopy, and finite element (FE) simulations were conducted to predict fluid flow patterns within loaded samples. Transport enhancement followed a linear trend with strain amplitude (0.25-5%) and a nonlinear trend with frequency (0.25-2.60 Hz), with maximum enhancement found to be at 5% cyclic strain and 1 Hz, respectively. Regions of highest enhancement of transport within the tissue were associated with the regions of highest interstitial fluid velocity, as predicted from finite-element simulations. Overall, cyclic compression-enhanced antibody transport by twofold to threefold. To our knowledge, this is the first study to test how mechanical stimulation affects the diffusion of antibodies in cartilage and suggest further study into other important factors regarding macromolecular transport.
Update on Ustekinumab for Psoriasis

This review will highlight the latest data on ustekinumab, as well as provide anecdotal evidence and insight into unanswered questions regarding its safety and the populations’ best suited for its use. In numerous clinical trials, ustekinumab has been found to be safe and efficacious. Many targeted psoriasis medications affecting the same pathway have since been approved as treatments. Recent data supports the notion that ustekinumab does not increase risk of cardiovascular events, and in fact, may be protective against them. Targeted biologic medications for psoriasis have given insight into the complex interactions of the immune system. With these medications, patients suffering from psoriasis can now achieve up to 100 % skin clearance. Ustekinumab (Stelara®; Janssen Biotech, Inc.), a fully human monoclonal antibody against the p40 subunit of interleukin (IL) 12 and IL 23, was approved in 2009 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and has become a standard against which other biologics are tested. Future studies should be directed toward exploring the long-term safety of ustekinumab, as well as efficacy of ustekinumab beyond 5 years of therapy.
First-principles study of crystallographic slip modes in ω-Zr.

We use first-principles density functional theory to study the preferred modes of slip in the high-pressure ω phase of Zr. The generalized stacking fault energy surfaces associated with shearing on nine distinct crystallographic slip modes in the hexagonal ω-Zr crystal are calculated, from which characteristics such as ideal shear stress, the dislocation Burgers vector, and possible accompanying atomic shuffles, are extracted. Comparison of energy barriers and ideal shear stresses suggests that the favorable modes are prismatic 〈c〉, prismatic-II $$\langle 10\bar{1}0\rangle $$ 〈 10 1 ¯ 0 〉 and pyramidal-II 〈c + a〉, which are distinct from the ground state hexagonal close packed α phase of Zr. Operation of these three modes can accommodate any deformation state. The relative preferences among the identified slip modes are examined using a mean-field crystal plasticity model and comparing the calculated deformation texture with the measurement. Knowledge of the basic crystallographic modes of slip is critical to understanding and analyzing the plastic deformation behavior of ω-Zr or mixed α-ω phase-Zr.
tmVar 2.0: integrating genomic variant information from literature with dbSNP and ClinVar for precision medicine.

Motivation Despite significant efforts in expert curation, clinical relevance about most of the 154 million dbSNP reference variants (RS) remains unknown. However, a wealth of knowledge about the variant biological function/disease impact is buried in unstructured literature data. Previous studies have attempted to harvest and unlock such information with text-mining techniques but are of limited use because their mutation extraction results are not standardized or integrated with curated data. Results We propose an automatic method to extract and normalize variant mentions to unique identifiers (dbSNP RSIDs). Our method, in benchmarking results, demonstrates a high F-measure of ∼90% and compared favorably to the state of the art. Next, we applied our approach to the entire PubMed and validated the results by verifying that each extracted variant-gene pair matched the dbSNP annotation based on mapped genomic position, and by analyzing variants curated in ClinVar. We then determined which text-mined variants and genes constituted novel discoveries. Our analysis reveals 41 889 RS numbers (associated with 9151 genes) not found in ClinVar. Moreover, we obtained a rich set worth further review: 12 462 rare variants (MAF ≤ 0.01) in 3849 genes which are presumed to be deleterious and not frequently found in the general population. To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale study to analyze and integrate text-mined variant data with curated knowledge in existing databases. Our results suggest that databases can be significantly enriched by text mining and that the combined information can greatly assist human efforts in evaluating/prioritizing variants in genomic research. Availability and implementation The tmVar 2.0 source code and corpus are freely available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/research/bionlp/Tools/tmvar/. Contact zhiyong.lu@nih.gov.
Effects of nutritional deprivation on development and behavior in the subsocial bee Ceratina calcarata (Hymenoptera: Xylocopinae)

By manipulating resources or dispersal opportunities, mothers can force offspring to remain at the nest to help raise siblings, creating a division of labor. In the subsocial bee Ceratina calcarata, mothers manipulate the quantity and quality of pollen provided to the first female offspring, producing a dwarf eldest daughter that is physically smaller and behaviorally subordinate. This daughter forages for her siblings and forgoes her own reproduction. To understand how the mother's manipulation of pollen affects the physiology and behavior of her offspring, we manipulated the amount of pollen provided to offspring and measured the effects of pollen quantity on offspring development, adult body size and behavior. We found that by experimentally manipulating pollen quantities we could recreate the dwarf eldest daughter phenotype, demonstrating how nutrient deficiency alone can lead to the development of a worker-like daughter. Specifically, by reducing the pollen and nutrition to offspring, we significantly reduced adult body size and lipid stores, creating significantly less aggressive, subordinate individuals. Worker behavior in an otherwise solitary bee begins to explain how maternal manipulation of resources could lead to the development of social organization and reproductive hierarchies, a major step in the transition to highly social behaviors.
Lower body functioning and correlates among older American Indians: The Cerebrovascular Disease and Its Consequences in American Indians Study.

More than six million American Indians live in the United States, and an estimated 1.6 million will be aged ≥65 years old by 2050 tripling in numbers since 2012. Physical functioning and related factors in this population are poorly understood. Our study aimed to assess lower body functioning and identify the prevalence and correlates of “good” functioning in a multi-tribe, community-based sample of older American Indians. Assessments used the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). “Good” lower body functioning was defined as a total SPPB score of ≥10. Potential correlates included demographic characteristics, study site, anthropometrics, cognitive functioning, depressive symptomatology, grip strength, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, prior stroke, smoking, alcohol use, and over-the-counter medication use for arthritis or pain. Data were collected between 2010 and 2013 by the Cerebrovascular Disease and Its Consequences in American Indians Study from community-dwelling adults aged ≥60 years (n = 818). The sample’s mean age was 73 ± 5.9 years. After adjustment for age and study site, average SPPB scores were 7.0 (95% CI, 6.8, 7.3) in women and 7.8 (95% CI, 7.5, 8.2) in men. Only 25% of the sample were classified with “good” lower body functioning. When treating lower body functioning as a continuous measure and adjusting for age, gender, and study site, the correlates of better functioning that we identified were younger age, male gender, married status, higher levels of education, higher annual household income, Southern Plains study site, lower waist-hip ratio, better cognitive functioning, stronger grip strength, lower levels of depressive symptomatology, alcohol consumption, and the absence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and heart disease. In our fully adjusted models, correlates of “good” lower body functioning were younger age, higher annual household income, better cognitive functioning, stronger grip, and the absence of diabetes mellitus and heart disease. These results suggest that “good” lower body functioning is uncommon in this population, whereas its correlates are similar to those found in studies of other older adult populations. Future efforts should include the development or cultural tailoring of interventions to improve lower body functioning in older American Indians.
Naps and Sleep Deprivation: Why Academic Libraries Should Consider Adding Nap Stations to their Services for Students

Since the invention of artificial light, people have been working, studying, and playing for longer hours than ever before. They are also sleeping less as a result. This article examines the impact...
Pediatric Palliative Care in Infants and Neonates

The application of palliative and hospice care to newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has been evident for over 30 years. This article addresses the history, current considerations, and anticipated future needs for palliative and hospice care in the NICU, and is based on recent literature review. Neonatologists have long managed the entirety of many newborns’ short lives, given the relatively high mortality rates associated with prematurity and birth defects, but their ability or willingness to comprehensively address of the continuum of interdisciplinary palliative, end of life, and bereavement care has varied widely. While neonatology service capacity has grown worldwide during this time, so has attention to pediatric palliative care generally, and neonatal-perinatal palliative care specifically. Improvements have occurred in family-centered care, communication, pain assessment and management, and bereavement. There remains a need to integrate palliative care with intensive care rather than await its application solely at the terminal phase of a young infant’s life—when s/he is imminently dying. Future considerations for applying neonatal palliative care include its integration into fetal diagnostic management, the developing era of genomic medicine, and expanding research into palliative care models and practices in the NICU.
Age‐related trends in cardiometabolic disease among adults with cerebral palsy

AIM To examine the longitudinal trends of cardiometabolic diseases in a large sample of adults with cerebral palsy (CP). METHOD The Optum Clinformatics Data Mart is a de-identified nationwide claims database of beneficiaries from a single private payer. Beneficiaries were included if they had an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code for a diagnosis of CP. Adults with at least 3 years of continuous enrollment on a single plan between 2002 and 2009 were included in the final analyses (n=2659). We examined the longitudinal trends of incident diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, cardiac dysrhythmias, and atherosclerosis, stratified by age categories: 18 to 39 years, 40 to 59 years, and 60 years and over. Kaplan-Meier product-limit survival curves were compared across age categories for each of the cardiometabolic outcomes, and a Cox proportional hazards regression was run to determine adjusted hazard ratios. RESULTS The cumulative incidence of each of the cardiometabolic diseases ranged from 6.0% for atherosclerosis to 34.4% for hypercholesterolemia at 3 years and over. Risk-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models revealed that age was a robust predictor of survival for each outcome, with higher hazard ratio ranges in middle age (hazard ratio 1.41-2.72) and older adults (hazard ratio 2.20-5.93) compared with young adults. INTERPRETATION Adults with CP have high rates of cardiometabolic diseases; and disease-free survival shortens significantly with higher ages. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS Adults with cerebral palsy have high rates of cardiometabolic diseases. Disease-free survival of all cardiometabolic diseases shortens significantly with higher ages. The highest rates were for hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.
Intracellular and extracellular loops of LRRC8 are essential for volume-regulated anion channel function.

The volume-regulated anion channel (VRAC) is expressed ubiquitously in vertebrate cells and mediates swelling-induced release of Cl− and organic solutes. Recent studies by several laboratories have demonstrated conclusively that VRAC is encoded by members of the leucine-rich repeat containing 8 (Lrrc8) gene family, which comprises five members, termed Lrrc8a–e. Numerous observations indicate that VRAC is a heteromeric channel comprising the essential subunit LRRC8A and one or more of the other LRRC8 paralogs. Here we demonstrate that the intracellular loop (IL) connecting transmembrane domains 2 and 3 of LRRC8A and the first extracellular loop (EL1) connecting transmembrane domains 1 and 2 of LRRC8C, LRRC8D, or LRRC8E are both essential for VRAC activity. We generate homomeric VRACs by replacing EL1 of LRRC8A with that of LRRC8C and demonstrate normal regulation by cell swelling and shrinkage. We also observe normal volume-dependent regulation in VRAC homomers in which the IL of LRRC8C, LRRC8D, or LRRC8E is replaced with the LRRC8A IL. A 25–amino acid sequence unique to the LRRC8A IL is sufficient to generate homomeric VRAC activity when inserted into the corresponding region of LRRC8C and LRRC8E. LRRC8 chimeras containing these partial LRRC8A IL sequences exhibit altered anion permeability, rectification, and voltage sensitivity, suggesting that the LRRC8A IL plays a role in VRAC pore structure and function. Our studies provide important new insights into the structure/function roles of the LRRC8 EL1 and IL. Homomeric LRRC8 channels will simplify future studies aimed at understanding channel structure and the longstanding and vexing problem of how VRAC is regulated by cell volume changes.
Causes and Consequences of Plant Functional Diversity in Arctic Ecosystems

Broad-scale predictions about the response of terrestrial ecosystems to global changes in climate and land use and feedbacks to the atmosphere require the simplest possible framework to be useful. This framework must contain sufficient detail to incorporate the major controlling mechanisms and be broadly applicable but omit details that are site-specific or unnecessarily complicate predictive models (O’Neill et al. 1989). What is the simplest possible framework for understanding the role of arctic ecosystems in global change? More specifically, how much do we need to know about the species composition and diversity of arctic ecosystems to predict how these ecosystems will respond to global change? At one extreme, we might consider vegetation to be a single component, as it is currently treated in most models of biogeochemistry (Agren et al. 1991), hydrometeorology (Jarvis and McNaughton 1986; Field 1991), and land-surface interfaces to general circulation models (Running and Coughlan 1988). At the opposite extreme, we might include each species in a multi-species biogeochemical model (Miller et al. 1984). In this chapter, we argue that, by grouping plant speices into functional groups, we achieve an intermediate level of detail that is useful in predicting response to and effects on ecosystem processes. More specifically, we present a framework for classifying species into functional groups in arctic ecosystems and evaluate its utility in addressing two questions: 1. What kinds of species will respond most strongly to global changes in chmate and land use? 2. What are the consequences of changes in species composition for ecosystem function?
Extremely correlated Fermi liquid of the t -J model in two dimensions

We study the two-dimensional $t\ensuremath{-}J$ model with second-neighbor hopping parameter ${t}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ and in a broad range of doping $\ensuremath{\delta}$ using a closed set of equations from the extremely correlated Fermi liquid theory. We obtain asymmetric energy distribution curves and symmetric momentum distribution curves of the spectral function, consistent with experimental data. We further explore the Fermi surface and local density of states for different parameter sets. Using the spectral function, we calculate the resistivity, Hall number, and spin susceptibility. The curvature change in the resistivity curves with varying $\ensuremath{\delta}$ is presented and connected to intensity loss in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments. We also discuss the role of the superexchange $J$ in the spectral function and the resistivity in the optimal to overdoped density regimes.
Integrating a Multi-microgrid System into Real-time Balancing Market: Problem Formulation and Solution Technique

This paper proposes the idea of integrating multiple microgrids into the balancing market to serve as additional power balancing sources in response to price signals. A bi-level optimization model is established to ensure the economic benefits of both the upper level distributed system operator and local microgrids. This is realized by developing KKT conditions of the lower-level microgrid economic dispatch problem and embedding them within the global optimization model. In addition, since the original problem is an optimal power flow problem with nonconvex constraints, convex relaxation technique is implemented to overcome the nonconvexity. Simulation results verify the feasibility of the proposed idea by demonstrating a fast and accurate multi-microgrid response in real-time scenarios.
Towards a Single-Host Many-GPU System

As computation-intensive tasks such as deep learning and big data analysis take advantage of GPU based accelerators, the interconnection links may become a bottleneck. In this paper, we investigate the upcoming performance bottleneck of multi-accelerator systems, as the number of accelerators equipped with single host grows. We instrumented the host PCIe fabric to measure the data transfer and compared it with the measurements from the software tool. It shows how the data transfer (P2P) helps to avoid the bottleneck on the interconnection links, but multi-GPU performance does not scale up as expected due to the control messages. We quantify the impact of host control messages with suggestions to remedy scalability bottlenecks. We also implement the proposed strategy on Lulesh to validate the concept. The result shows our strategy can save 59.86% time cost of the kernel and 13.32% PCIe H2D payload.
Abstract LB-022: Targeting glutamine metabolism as a mean of treating a murine model of ovarian cancer and ascites development

Malignant ascites in ovarian cancer develops in the setting of recurrent and advanced metastatic disease and is associated with poor prognosis. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that ovarian cancer patients have altered metabolism and an immunosuppressive environment in the ascites fluid. Inasmuch as the rapid proliferation of ovarian cancer cells and development of ascites is dependent on glutamine metabolism, we hypothesized that targeting the glutamine metabolism can inhibit the development of ascites and enhance anti-tumor immunity in ovarian cancer. To test this hypothesis, we developed a novel small molecule glutamine antagonist (prodrug of 6-Diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine, JHU-083). By employing JHU-083, we evaluated this hypothesis in mice bearing an aggressive and metastatic ovarian cancer (ID8 cell line with an overexpression of Defb29 and Vegfa). Targeting glutamine metabolism led to markedly reduced progression of ascites along with reduced tumor cell numbers. Furthermore, JHU-083 treatment also led to a marked diminution of the volume of fluid in mice with already established ascites. Inhibition of glutamine metabolism also led to a less suppressive tumor microenvironment by blocking the recruitment of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) to the ascites fluid. Functionally, both the TAMs and tumor cells from the JHU-083 treated group showed a lower expression of PDL1 compared to the vehicle treated group. Additionally, we also observed reduced regulatory T cell (T regs) percentages and numbers with JHU-083 treatment. These findings are consistent with our previous observations that targeting glutamine metabolism can inhibit the generation and recruitment of MDSC and T regs by targeting both tumor cell and immune cell metabolism. Further, LC-MS based metabolite analysis of the ovarian cancer ascites fluid from JHU-083 treated mice revealed distinct differences in urea-ornithine pathway, nucleotide synthesis, and redox balance related metabolites. In light of these findings, ongoing experiments are examining the efficacy of JHU-083 in combination with epigenetic drugs, VEGF inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, and checkpoint blockade. These studies suggest that targeting glutamine metabolism may represent a novel approach to treating metastatic ovarian cancer and ascites. Citation Format: Min-Hee Oh, Meghan Travers, Stephen Brown, Liang Zhao, Im-Meng Sun, Im-Hong Sun, Matthew Arwood, Wei Xu, Samuel Collins, Robert Leone, Eva Prchalova, Rana Rais, Barbara Slusher, Maureen Horton, Cynthia Zahnow, Jonathan Powell. Targeting glutamine metabolism as a mean of treating a murine model of ovarian cancer and ascites development [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-022.
Tractable Reformulations of Distributionally Robust Two-stage Stochastic Programs with $\infty-$Wasserstein Distance

In the optimization under uncertainty, decision-makers first select a wait-and-see policy before any realization of uncertainty and then place a here-and-now decision after the uncertainty has been observed. Two-stage stochastic programming is a popular modeling paradigm for the optimization under uncertainty that the decision-makers first specifies a probability distribution, and then seek the best decisions to jointly optimize the deterministic wait-and-see and expected here-and-now costs. In practice, such a probability distribution may not be fully available but is probably observable through an empirical dataset. Therefore, this paper studies distributionally robust two-stage stochastic program (DRTSP) which jointly optimizes the deterministic wait-and-see and worst-case expected here-and-now costs, and the probability distribution comes from a family of distributions which are centered at the empirical distribution using $\infty-$Wasserstein metric. There have been successful developments on deriving tractable approximations of the worst-case expected here-and-now cost in DRTSP. Unfortunately, limited results on exact tractable reformulations of DRTSP. This paper fills this gap by providing sufficient conditions under which the worst-case expected here-and-now cost in DRTSP can be efficiently computed via a tractable convex program. By exploring the properties of binary variables, the developed reformulation techniques are extended to DRTSP with binary random parameters. The main tractable reformulations in this paper are projected into the original decision space and thus can be interpreted as conventional two-stage stochastic programs under discrete support with extra penalty terms enforcing the robustness. These tractable results are further demonstrated to be sharp through complexity analysis.
Intensive Care Unit Utilization After Adoption of a Ward-Based High-Flow Nasal Cannula Protocol.

Background Hospitals are increasingly adopting ward-based high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) protocols that allow HFNC treatment of bronchiolitis outside of the intensive care unit (ICU). Our objective was to determine whether adoption of a ward-based HFNC protocol reduces ICU utilization. Methods We examined a retrospective cohort of infants aged 3 to 24 months hospitalized with bronchiolitis at hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database. The study exposure was adoption of a ward-based HFNC protocol, measured by direct contact with pediatric hospital medicine leaders at each hospital. All analyses utilized an interrupted time series approach. The primary analysis compared outcomes three respiratory seasons before and three respiratory seasons after HFNC adoption, among adopting hospitals. Supplementary analysis 1 mirrored the primary analysis with the exception that the first season after adoption was censored. In supplementary analysis 2, effects among nonadopting hospitals were subtracted from effects measured among adopting hospitals. Results Of 44 contacted hospitals, 41 replied (93% response rate), of which 18 were categorized as non-adopting hospitals and 12 were categorized as adopting hospitals. Included ward-based HFNC protocols were adopted between the 2010-2011 and 2015-2016 respiratory seasons. The primary analysis included 26,253 bronchiolitis encounters and measured immediate increases in the proportion of patients admitted to the ICU (absolute difference, 3.1%; 95% CI, 2.8%-3.4%) and ICU length of stay (absolute difference, 9.1 days per 100 patients; 95% CI, 5.1-13.2). Both supplementary analyses yielded similar findings. Conclusion Early protocols for ward-based HFNC were paradoxically associated with increased ICU utilization.
College Is . . .: Focusing on the College Knowledge of Gang-Associated Latino Young Men:

Research shows that gang-associated youth are less likely to complete high school and earn a postsecondary educational credential. However, scholars have not determined “why” gang youth do not pers...
A Reconfigurable High-Bandwidth CMOS-MEMS Capacitive Accelerometer Array with High-g Measurement Capability and Low Bias Instability

This paper presents a high-bandwidth capacitive accelerometer array that is fully integrated with reconfigurable readout circuits and on-chip distributed temperature sensors for environmental monitoring. A parallel array of 338 transducer cells, each with low proof mass, enables measurement of high shock events with low noise. Reconfigurable readout circuitry with continuous-time low-g and switched-capacitor high-g modes enables wide dynamic range acceleration detection and lowers the power 27.5X in high-g mode. A coarse-fine grain offset cancellation technique is proposed to suppress the transducer offset with 168X better tuning resolution than conventional techniques. Implemented in a standard 180 nm CMOS technology and post-processed, the accelerometer achieves 118 kHz bandwidth, high-g (> 10 kg) measurement capability, with low bias instability (22 mg) and zeptofarad offset suppression.
SciOPS: Designing and Developing a Scientific Opinion Aggregator

This research report will detail how a multi-research university collaborative team, led by the Center for Science Technology and Environmental Policy Studies at Arizona State University (CSTEPS), researched and tested a pilot interface to query science, technology, and innovation experts, and to broadcast this information in a rapidly deployed, interactive, and publicly-accessible way. This interface pilot, called SciOPS, houses a survey tool that queries science, technology, and innovation (STI) experts about issues of contemporary import. SciOPS then parses and distributes the results to the public in order to generate a more informed public discourse about what science, technology, and innovation experts think about pressing current issues in an interesting and statistically-valid way. To date, there isn't a widely-known forum for science, technology, and innovation (STI) professionals to aggregate and broadcast their opinions on a wide range of contemporary issues. Journals and traditional academic scientific outlets are slowly distributed, poorly translated for non-experts, and are only loosely linked to policy or other non-research-specific matter. More popular and widely-available science, technology, and innovation outlets, like Science, are more prone to depict science as a two-sided conversation, with a single representative expert on the one side, and any variation of interlocutor on the other. This popular depiction of the conversation presents distorting zero-sum formulations, and gives a false sense of expert unanimity and certainty. SciOPS was designed, piloted, and tested to see if involving a large team of scientists, technologists, and innovators in contemporary discussions about a range of topics could change the trajectory of how science information is generated and consumed. By designing an interface that emphasizes transparency around survey methods and process, the team aimed to disrupt mainstream genres of scientific public discourse—in particular the cloistered conversations of scientists to one another in specialized familiolects, and the two-sided conversation that pits experts vs. any range of opposed views—and instead creates a space for more nuanced representation of expert consensus or dissensus, the team aimed to present expertise as an evolving, living discourse. This research report will detail how multiple partners–a lab, a university research center, and a design firm–all coordinated work to manifest this scientific discourse in an understandable way.
Beyond the Lecture: Interactive Strategies in the Health Profession Education Curriculum

Health care is constantly evolving. Health care professionals and the educators responsible for training those professionals need efficient ways to a) assure new information is getting across to the students and/or professionals, b) relay all new and previous information in a timely manner, and c) correctly utilize the information gathered and observed and apply it to the needs of the patients. Lecture is the original teaching method, but does not cover the dynamic world of health care. Simulations with actors and high-fidelity mannequins are two methods of relaying vital information. Research is limited on these forms of education, but the results are thus far promising.
Food-energy-water-waste nexus systems optimization for New York State under the COVID-19 pandemic to alleviate health and environmental concerns

Abstract This article addresses food-energy-water-waste nexus optimization to alleviate the public health and environmental concerns from increasing food waste generation during the COVID-19 pandemic using waste-to-energy technologies. Food waste increase has become a severe global problem during the pandemic. It could alleviate health and environmental concerns by converting the food waste into electricity and heat through food-energy-water-waste nexus systems using waste-to-energy facilities, such as anaerobic digesters and combined heat and power units in wastewater treatment plants. To design efficient nexus systems, a multi-period multi-objective optimization model is proposed, while considering various impacts of the pandemic. A case study for New York State is presented. The optimized systems show a potential of reducing the food waste disposal amounts by 38%. The Pareto-optimal solutions illustrate a clear trade-off between the objectives. The minimum total cost is $27.1 million; the optimal unit processing profit is $11.9 per ton processed food waste. Spatial analyses reveal a clear correlation between facility selections and their processing capacities. Electricity price and biogas yield are the most important factors for the economic objectives, based on sensitivity analysis.
Glycosylation Limits Forward Trafficking of the Tetraspan Membrane Protein PMP22

Peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) folds and traffics inefficiently, a phenomenon closely related to the mechanisms by which this tetraspan membrane protein causes Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMTD). We report that elimination of N-glycosylation results in a 3-fold increase in the cell surface trafficking of wild type (WT) PMP22 and a 10-fold increase in trafficking of the unstable L16P disease mutant form. Studies of the interactions of PMP22 with oligosaccharyltransferases A and B as well as quantitative proteomic experiments established that critical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control decisions occur earlier in the biogenesis to cell surface trafficking pathway for the L16P mutant than for WT. CRISPR knock-out cell lines for ER proteins calnexin, RER1, and UGGT1 illuminated the role of each protein in glycosylation dependent and independent surface trafficking of WT PMP22, as well as for a series of disease mutants of varying folding stabilities. One Sentence SummaryN-linked glycosylation was seen to dramatically limit the cell surface trafficking of PMP22, with some key quality control factors in PMP22 biogenesis being identified.
A review of Gulf of Mexico coastal marsh erosion studies following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and comparison to over 4 years of shoreline loss data from Fall 2010 to Summer 2015

Abstract The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill affected nearly 1105 km of coastal marsh. Long-term shoreline loss in the northern Gulf of Mexico is an important question with far-reaching ecological and human-use implications. Numerous studies have examined potential exacerbated marsh shoreline retreat after the DWH using ground-level sampling and/or aerial/satellite imagery interpretation. This paper reviews previous DWH erosion studies, discusses their limitations and sometimes conflicting results, and provides a comprehensive analysis of a larger data set. Shoreline retreat measurements from multiple studies following the DWH incident were combined for 131 herbaceous marsh sample sites for the period from Fall 2010 to Summer 2015. Significant increases in shoreline loss were found only in the period from Fall 2010 to Fall 2011 for heavily oiled shorelines relative to other periods. The evidence does not suggest widespread long-term coastal marsh erosion from the DWH.
Obscured by 'Willful Blindness': States' Preventive Obligations and the Meaning of Acquiescence Under the Convention Against Torture

As U.S. asylum law becomes more restrictive, relief under the U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT) has become the last hope for safety for many asylum seekers. But for those who face torture at the hands of non-State actors, CAT relief has proven extraordinarily hard to win. The CAT’s torture definition encompasses privately-inflicted harm only when it occurs with the consent or acquiescence of a public official. Agency decisions initially took this to mean that officials must willfully accept or tacitly approve the private party’s actions. Courts have rejected that approach as overly restrictive. But what they have adopted in its place—a “willful blindness” test under which CAT applicants must show that officials would turn a blind eye to the torture they face—is also problematic. Under this standard, even where government officials take only half-hearted or patently inadequate steps to combat acts of privately-inflicted torture such as domestic violence, honor killings, gang violence, or mob attacks on LGBTQI people, courts frequently conclude that acquiescence has not been shown. As long as officials are doing something, the decisions reason, they are not willfully blind. This Article argues that willful blindness should not be the test for acquiescence. The term “acquiescence” is defined in a Senate ratification understanding to require that a public official have awareness of the torturous activity and breach a legal responsibility to intervene to prevent it. This definition, which has been incorporated into U.S. law, makes clear that when officials are aware of torturous activity—and in most cases there is no doubt that a country’s government is aware of widespread patterns of abuse—what matters is whether they breach their legal responsibility to take preventive action. Drawing on previously overlooked aspects of the history of the CAT’s drafting and U.S. ratification, this Article argues that officials acquiesce to torture if they fail to meet their legal responsibility under international law to take effective preventive measures. The State’s responsibility to exercise “due diligence” to prevent, investigate, prosecute, and punish acts of torture by non-State actors is widely recognized under the CAT and other human rights treaties. The U.N. Committee Against Torture has found that when States fail to exercise due diligence, they enable private parties to commit acts of torture with impunity, and thereby acquiesce. That approach accords with how the U.S., during the treaty negotiations, originally defined “acquiescence” when it proposed adding the term to the CAT’s torture definition. It also fits in comfortably with the text and purpose of the treaty and its U.S. ratification understandings. The Article concludes by considering what a due diligence standard for acquiescence would look like in practice and addresses potential objections to its appropriateness and administrability. It also offers a proposal to amend the CAT regulations to clarify the acquiescence standard.
Synthesis of Chain Transfer Agents for RAFT Polymerization by using DBU

Trithiocarbonate TTC, Dithioester DT containing RAFT chain transfer acid agents are efficiently and conveniently esterified by DBU. The significance of the reaction is mild reaction condition, high yield, easy simple workup, and reduction of reaction time. This protocol providing a useful alternative method for ester synthesis and makes the process very viable or more economic.
Multi-Agent Algorithmic Recourse.

The recent adoption of machine learning as a tool in real world decision making has spurred interest in understanding how these decisions are being made. Counterfactual Explanations are a popular interpretable machine learning technique that aims to understand how a machine learning model would behave if given alternative inputs. Many explanations attempt to go further and recommend actions an individual could take to obtain a more desirable output from the model. These recommendations are known as algorithmic recourse. Past work has largely focused on the effect algorithmic recourse has on a single agent. In this work, we show that when the assumption of a single agent environment is relaxed, current approaches to algorithmic recourse fail to guarantee certain ethically desirable properties. Instead, we propose a new game theory inspired framework for providing algorithmic recourse in a multi-agent environment that does guarantee these properties.