cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measuring affective reactivity in individuals with autism spectrum personality traits using the visual mismatch negativity event-related brain potential

The primary aim of this research was to determine how modulation of the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) by emotionally laden faces is related to autism spectrum personality traits. Emotionally neutral faces served as the standard stimuli and happy and sad expressions served as vMMN-eliciting deviants. Consistent with prior research, it was anticipated that the amplitude of the vMMN would be increased for emotionally salient stimuli. Extending this finding, it was expected that this emotion-based amplitude sensitivity of the vMMN would be decreased in individuals with higher levels of autism spectrum personality traits as measured by the Adult Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Higher AQ scores were associated with smaller amplitudes of the vMMN in response to happy, but not sad emotional deviants. The fact that higher AQ scores were associated with less sensitivity only to happy emotional expressions is interpreted to be consistent with the negative experience of social interactions reported by individuals who are high on the autism spectrum. This research suggests that the vMMN elicited by deviant emotional expressions may be a useful indicator of affective reactivity and may thus be related to social competency in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Using Java to develop Web based tutorials

This paper presents the use of Java applets acting as a web-based interface to existing, platform dependent software tools. We present an example application called GAWebTutor which was constructed from a comprehensive genetic algorithm package and web-based Java components. In effect, we packaged an interactive genetic algorithms tutorial and made it available to anyone on the WWW. Furthermore, by building a GUI front end to an existing application in Java, we leveraged browser technology to overcome platform compatibility problems. A blending of Java and platform dependent code can successfully create user friendly, portable, more versatile applications that take full advantage of all available software components. Using our approach, educators can make their educational programs or other software tools available to anyone through the WWW.
The information effects of takeover bids and resistance

Abstract This paper tests whether takeover bids and takeover resistance by target management convey information to the market about the stand-alone value of target firms. When initial bids are made, analysts' consensus forecasts of stand-alone earnings do not change significantly for any group of takeover targets. This is consistent with the synergy view of mergers and inconsistent with the undervaluation theory. Consensus forecasts fall significantly when managers resist takeover. The decline is about 10% of the level of previously forecast earnings and is approximately equal whether the target is ultimately acquired or remains independent.
Some highlights of the first four years of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly called GLAST, measures the cosmic gamma-ray flux in the energy range 8 keV to > 300 GeV. In addition to breakthrough capabilities in energy coverage and localization, the very large field of view enables observations of 20% of the sky at any instant, and the entire sky on a timescale of a few hours. With its launch in 2008, Fermi opens a new and important window on a wide variety of phenomena, including pulsars, black holes and active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants and the origins of cosmic rays, and searches for hypothetical new phenomena such as particle dark matter annihilations. A brief overview and selected science highlights from the first four years are provided.
THE PRICING AND HEDGING OF LIMITED EXERCISE CAPS AND SPREADS

Capped options are barrier option spreads that automatically create simultaneous long and short positions. Exchange-traded capped options were introduced in 1991, though with limited volume. Such options, however, have traded on the over-the-counter markets for several years. Most of these options have the unusual feature that they automatically exercise when the underlying asset closes beyond a critical strike, making them a hybrid of European and American options. In this paper I present their boundary conditions and examine the prices, deltas, gammas, and thetas of caps as well as spreads constructed with European and American options. I also examine the effect of permitting exercise based only on the closing price as opposed to exercise at any time the critical strike is reached. I show that assuming that exercise can occur at any time can lead to serious pricing errors. The results have implications for the pricing of barrier options in general, which nearly always exercise early based only on the closing price.
Why space broadcasting

This article examines some nontechnical factors that will influence both policy and technical decisions regarding operational space-television broadcasting. The reasons for using space broadcast for both community and general public services are examined. They include faster introduction of service in new areas, potentially lower cost, extension of program choice, and more efficient use of frequencies. These are considered with respect to the state of economic development and availability of existing service. Marked differences are found between developing and developed areas. It appears that developing areas could best initiate television service with a community satellite, whereas developed areas could best use the satellite for program equalization. For both areas, a combined system of both terrestrial stations and satellites appears to be the most cost-effective. Possibilities for spectrum conservation are considered along with areas needing further study.
B-complex associated immunity to Salmonella enteritidis challenge in congenic chickens

Abstract Six trials were conducted during which a total of 12 congenic lines (University of California-Davis, UCD) homozygous for various B-complex haplotypes, were challenged as neonates by intraperitoneal injection with either of two isolates of Salmonella enteritidis. Because these B haplotypes were expressed on a common genetic background (highly inbred Line UCD 003), and mortality differences among lines were statistically significant in three of the six trials, and morbidity (body weight) differences were significant in another trial; it is suggested that B-complex alleles affect the degree of immunity to these isolates. When all lines and trials were compared, line 342 (BC/BC) emerged as particularly resistant, whereas lines 253 (B18/B18) and 254 (B15/B15) were more susceptible. The remainder of the lines were of neutral (intermediate) susceptibility. Sex did not appear to influence the results of the challenge, but more resistance was observed with an increase in the age at inoculation. Although the mechanism that determined this resistance is unknown it was present as early as 3 d of age, and it is suggested that complement proteins, which have a known role in protection from bacterial infections, and are encoded by genes located within the B-complex, or acute phase proteins, may account for these observations. The results provide additional evidence for the importance of the B-complex in determining immunity to Salmonella.
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY OF COMPACTED CLAY TO DILUTE ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

Four organic chemicals over a range of concentrations were permeated through compaacted specimens of kaolinite and illite-chlorite. Permeability test were performed in both rigid and flexible-wall permeameters. Soil index tests were modified for use in evaluating the effect an organic waste may have on clay. Results of the investigation showed that dilute organic chemicals (less than 80% by volume in an aqueous solution) have little effect on the hydraulic conductivity (permeability) of compacted clay. The modified index tests showed good correlation to the degree with which an organic liquid affects the hydraulic conductivity of the compacted clay.
Chromosomal Localization and Partial Genomic Structure of the Human Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor-Gamma (hPPARγ) Gene

Abstract We determined the chromosomal localization and partial genomic structure of the coding region of the human PPARγ gene (hPPARγ), a nuclear receptor important for adipocyte differentiation and function. Sequence analysis and long PCR of human genomic DNA with primers that span putative introns revealed that intron positions and sizes of hPPARγ are similar to those previously determined for the mouse PPARγ gene[13]. Fluorescent in situ hybridization localized hPPARγ to chromosome 3, band 3p25. Radiation hybrid mapping with two independent primer pairs was consistent with hPPARγ being within 1.5 Mb of marker D3S1263 on 3p25-p24.2. These sequences of the intron/exon junctions of the 6 coding exons shared by hPPARγ1 and hPPARγ 2 will facilitate screening for possible mutations. Furthermore, D3S1263 is a suitable polymorphic marker for linkage analysis to evaluate PPARγ's potential contribution to genetic susceptibility to obesity, lipoatrophy, insulin resistance, and diabetes.
Coding lemmata in L

Under the assumption that there exists an elementary embedding (henceforth abbreviated as and in particular under we prove a Coding Lemma for and find certain versions of it which are equivalent to strong regularity of cardinals below . We also prove that a stronger version of the Coding Lemma holds for a stationary set of ordinals below .
Satellite Remote Sensing as a Reconnaissance Tool for Assessing Nautical Chart Adequacy and Completeness

National hydrographic offices need a better means of assessing the adequacy of existing nautical charts in order to plan and prioritize future hydrographic surveys. The ability to derive bathymetry from multispectral satellite imagery is a topic that has received considerable attention in scientific literature. However, published studies have not addressed the ability of satellite-derived bathymetry to meet specific hydrographic survey requirements. Specifically, the bathymetry needs to be referenced to a chart datum and statistical uncertainty estimates of the bathymetry should be provided. Ideally, the procedure should be based on readily-available, low-cost software, tools, and data. This paper describes the development and testing of a procedure using publicly-available, multispectral satellite imagery to map and portray shallow-water bathymetry in a GIS environment for three study sites: Northeast United States, Nigeria, and Belize. Landsat imagery and published algorithms were used to derive estimat...
Mire vegetation gradient established as a result of interaction with a water reservoir

In 1958, 85% of the peat-bog complex Kyselovskyles, in the Czech Republic, was flooded with water from the Lipno reservoir. A new vegetation pattern has spontaneously developed in the newly established shoreline and replaced the original peat-bog vegetation dominated by bog pine (Pinus rotundata Link) forest. This vegetation pattern consists of zonal strips with relatively sharp borders. This zonation is a mosaic of sedge fens, reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) beds, tussock cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum L.) stands, and a community dominated by ericaceous shrubs. The study focused on the vegetation development of this zonal vegetation. Measurements of the water table level, groundwater pH, and conductivity, together with terrain microtopography, were done to estimate the ways in which the water reservoir influences the mire vegetation. The most important factor is lake water fluctuation, which explained most of the vegetation gradient variability. Lake water fluctuations were represented by lake water levels, which directly flooded a certain part of the gradient from 1990 to 2006 for a known number of days.
A feedback based load shaping strategy for fuel utilization control in SOFC systems

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells are attractive energy conversion devices due to their fuel flexibility and high efficiency. Fuel utilization is a critical variable in SOFC systems that directly impacts efficiency and longevity. In this paper we propose a control strategy for mitigating drastic fluctuations in fuel utilization that arise during load transients. The strategy uses a feedback based dynamic input shaping approach. A preliminary control law derived from a model-based analysis forms the basis of this design. The strategy requires one fuel flow sensor upstream of the integrated fuel processor and admits convenient integration into a comprehensive hybrid fuel cell control algorithm.
Steady state assumptions in DALYs: effect on estimates of HIV impact.

OBJECTIVE: The disability adjusted life year (DALY) and the healthy life year (HeaLY) are both composite indicators of disease burden in a population, which combine healthy life lost from mortality and morbidity. The two formulations deal with the onset and course of a disease differently. The purpose of this paper is to compare the DALY and HeaLY formulations as to differences in apparent impact when a disease is not in an epidemiological steady state and to explore the implications of the differing results. DESIGN: HIV is used as a case study of a major disease that is entering its explosive growth phase in large areas of Asia. Data from the global burden of disease study of the World Bank and World Health Organisation for 1990 has been used to compare burden of disease measures in the two formulations. SETTING: The data pertain to global and regional estimates of HIV impact. RESULTS: The DALY attributes life lost from premature mortality to the year of death, while the HeaLY to the year of disease onset. This results in very large differences in estimates of healthy life lost based upon the DALY construct as compared with the HeaLY, for diseases such as HIV or those with a strong secular trend. CONCLUSION: The demonstration of the dramatic difference between the two indicators of disease burden reflects a limitation of the DALY. This information may directly influence decision making based on such methods and is critical to understand.
Openness in political science: Data access and research transparency

In 2012, the American Political Science Association (APSA) Council adopted new policies guiding data access and research transparency in political science. The policies appear as a revision to APSA's Guide to Professional Ethics in Political Science. The revisions were the product of an extended and broad consultation with a variety of APSA committees and the association's membership.
Characterizing blood-brain barrier perturbations after exposure to human triglyceride-rich lipoprotein lipolysis products using MRI in a rat model.

Purpose Previous studies indicated hyperlipidemia may be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, but the contributions of postprandial triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TGRL) are not known. In this study, changes in blood–brain barrier diffusional transport following exposure to human TGRL lipolysis products were studied using MRI in a rat model. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats (∼180–250 g) received an i.v. injection of lipoprotein lipase (LpL)-hydrolyzed TGRL (n = 8, plasma concentration ≈ 150 mg human TGRL/dL). Controls received i.v. injection of either saline (n = 6) or LpL only (n = 6). The 1H longitudinal relaxation rate R1 = 1/T1 was measured over 18 min using a rapid-acquired refocus-echo (RARE) sequence after each of three injections of the contrast agent Gd-DTPA. Patlak plots were generated for each pixel yielding blood-to-brain transfer coefficients, Ki, chosen for best fit to impermeable, uni-directional influx or bi-directional flux models using the F-test. Results Analysis from a 2-mm slice, 2-mm rostral to the bregma showed a 275% increase of mean Ki during the first 20 min after infusion of human TGRL lipolysis product that differed significantly compared with saline and LpL controls. This difference disappeared by 40 min mark. Conclusion These results suggest human TGRL lipolysis products can lead to a transient increase in rat BBB permeability. Magn Reson Med, 2015. © 2015 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
A Low Cross-Polarization Smooth-Walled Horn With Improved Bandwidth

Corrugated feed horns offer excellent beam symmetry, main beam efficiency, and cross-polar response over wide bandwidths, but can be challenging to fabricate. An easier-to-manufacture smooth-walled feed is explored that approximates these properties over a finite bandwidth. The design, optimization and measurement of a monotonically-profiled, smooth-walled scalar feedhorn with a diffraction-limited ~14° FWHM beam is presented. The feed was demonstrated to have low cross polarization (< -30 dB) across the frequency range 33-45 GHz (30% fractional bandwidth). A power reflection below -28 dB was measured across the band.
Impact of a mindfulness stress management program on stress, anxiety, depression and quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder with a significant psychological burden throughout the life course of affected women. Thus, use of mindful awareness may be beneficial as an adjunct to conventional medical management of women with PCOS. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted at the Evgenideion Hospital of the Athens University Medical School to explore the impact of an 8-week mindfulness stress management program on measures of depression, anxiety and stress as well as on the quality of life in reproductive age women with PCOS. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee. Twenty-three and 15 women with PCOS were randomly allocated to the intervention or control group, respectively. All participants were administered DASS21, PSS-14, PCOSQ, Daily Life and General Life Satisfaction Questionnaires and provided three-timed daily samples of salivary cortisol, before and after the intervention. Intervention group participants were provided with the Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire at the day of enrolment, to check for possible placebo effect on the outcome. Post-intervention, between-group results revealed statistically significant reductions in stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as in salivary cortisol concentrations, along with an increase in Life Satisfaction and Quality of Life scores in the intervention group only. There was no significant "placebo" effect on the outcome measures. Mindfulness techniques seem promising in ameliorating stress, anxiety, depression and the quality of life in women with PCOS and could be used as an adjunct method to the conventional management of these women.
Intra-articular fractures of the distal end of the radius in young adults: reexamined as evidence-based and outcomes medicine.

The article “Intra-Articular Fractures of the Distal End of the Radius in Young Adults,” by Knirk and Jupiter, published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery1 in 1986, in its day, was arguably one of the most important works on the management of intra-articular fractures of the distal end of the radius. Prior to the publication of that study, the critical factors that determined successful long-term management of intra-articular distal radial fractures in young patients had not been determined. The finding with the greatest impact on treatment algorithms was that accurate articular restoration was the most critical factor in preventing long-term arthritis in young patients with intra-articular distal radial fractures. However, twenty-three years of advancements in orthopaedic surgery and technology have exposed the methodological flaws of that study. The radiographic analysis incorrectly interpreted fracture lines, and the study failed to use intraobserver and interobserver validation in its analysis. The study also was conducted before the popularization of computerized tomography and wrist arthroscopy. Despite these shortcomings, an updated critical analysis reveals that its conclusions are still germane in today's treatment of distal radial fractures in young adults. The study by Knirk and Jupiter1 has been cited in 330 research and scholarly articles. Although it is sometimes inaccurately referenced2, it ranks among the most cited manuscripts in the orthopaedic surgery literature. Today, its conclusions not only direct the treatment of distal radial fractures but they also continue to generate hypotheses for outcome studies. Given the impact of the study on the standard of care and orthopaedic research, it is appropriate to critically review its methodology to determine whether the findings remain relevant today. Intra-articular fractures of the distal end of the radius in the young adult are a distinct group of fractures that can lead to accelerated …
Who Gets What and Why? Help Middle-Aged Adults Provide to Parents and Grown Children

Objectives. Middle-aged adults engage in support exchanges with generations above and below. This study investigated (a) how support to one generation is associated with support to the other and (b) factors accounting for whether parents or offspring receive more support in a family. Methods. Middle-aged adults aged 40–60 years (N = 633) completed telephone interviews regarding their relationships and support exchanges with each grown child and living parent. Results. Multilevel models revealed that most participants provided more support to the average grown child than to the average parent. Yet, a proportion of the sample reversed this pattern, providing more support to parents. Mediation models revealed that middle-aged adults provided greater support to offspring because they viewed offspring as more important than parents and offspring had greater everyday needs (e.g., being a student, not married). Parental disability accounted for greater support to parents. Discussion. Discussion integrates solidarity theory, developmental stake, and contingency theory. Most middle-aged adults provide more to grown offspring than to parents, consistent with their greater stake in their progeny. Middle-aged adults also respond to crises (i.e., parental disability) and everyday needs (i.e., offspring student status) in providing intergenerational support, in accordance with contingency theory.
Randomized trial of conventional transseptal needle versus radiofrequency energy needle puncture for left atrial access (the TRAVERSE-LA study)

Background Transseptal puncture is a critical step in achieving left atrial (LA) access for a variety of cardiac procedures. Although the mechanical Brockenbrough needle has historically been used for this procedure, a needle employing radiofrequency (RF) energy has more recently been approved for clinical use. We sought to investigate the comparative effectiveness of an RF versus conventional needle for transseptal LA access. Methods and Results In this prospective, single-blinded, controlled trial, 72 patients were randomized in a 1:1 fashion to an RF versus conventional (BRK-1) transseptal needle. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the primary outcome was time required for transseptal LA access. Secondary outcomes included failure of the assigned needle, visible plastic dilator shavings from needle introduction, and any procedural complication. The median transseptal puncture time was 68% shorter using the RF needle compared with the conventional needle (2.3 minutes [interquartile range {IQR}, 1.7 to 3.8 minutes] versus 7.3 minutes [IQR, 2.7 to 14.1 minutes], P =0.005). Failure to achieve transseptal LA access with the assigned needle was less common using the RF versus conventional needle (0/36 [0%] versus 10/36 [27.8%], P <0.001). Plastic shavings were grossly visible after needle advancement through the dilator and sheath in 0 (0%) RF needle cases and 12 (33.3%) conventional needle cases ( P <0.001). There were no differences in procedural complications (1/36 [2.8%] versus 1/36 [2.8%]). Conclusions Use of an RF needle resulted in shorter time to transseptal LA access, less failure in achieving transseptal LA access, and fewer visible plastic shavings. Clinical Trial Registration URL: . Unique identifier: [NCT01209260][1]. [1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT01209260&atom=%2Fahaoa%2F2%2F5%2Fe000428.atom
Allergic contact dermatitis to propolis in a violin maker

Allergy to colophony is well noted in the literature, however, there have been few case reports of allergic contact dermatitis to propolis in musicians and instrument makers. We report a case of a stringed instrument craftsman who developed allergic contact dermatitis to propolis, a component of Italian varnish. A review of the components, applications, and the clinical manifestations of hypersensitivity reactions to propolis are presented.
Re)Presenting the South Bronx

© 2011 Donatella Galella In the fall of 2009, the Foundry Theatre loaded audiences onto a bus for a tour of the South Bronx and its changing history and beauty through the lens of gentrification. An ambitious site-specific production, The Provenance of Beauty: A South Bronx Travelogue won an award for Distinguished New Play Project from the National Endowment for the Arts/Arena Stage New Play Development Program. Because Arena Stage intended to showcase all of the award-winning productions in what became the #NewPlay Festival, the Foundry’s artistic producer Melanie Joseph and poet-playwright Claudia Rankine knew that they would have to adapt their production for the festival in Washington, D.C. But producing a site-specific performance in a different place fundamentally alters the piece and the audience’s experience.
GENETIC STRUCTURE OF A METAPOPULATION OF BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE DOGS

Q [5FST] 5 0.118). We also used assignment and exclusion tests based on multilocus genotypes of individuals to determine the probability that individuals originated from the same colony in which they were captured. About 39% of individuals could not be assigned to colonies where they were captured, indicating they were either immigrants (adults) or the offspring of immigrants (adults and juveniles). We tested for genetic isolation by distance among colonies by comparing genetic distances to geographic distances between colonies. Akaike’s Information Criterion for model selection revealed that dispersal most likely occurred along low-lying dry creek drainages connecting isolated colonies. Genetic distances between colonies were also related to ages of colonies; older colonies were more similar genetically than younger colonies. This underscores the importance of dispersal among prairie dog colonies and has important implications for persistence of prairie dog metapopulations, in which all colonies, regardless of size, are vulnerable to extinction from plague.
Surgical Site Infections in a Longitudinal Cohort of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Patients

Objective To estimate the incidence and identify risk factors for surgical site infections (SSIs) among infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Study design A prospective cohort study of infants undergoing surgical procedures from May 2009 to April 2012 in three NICUs was performed. SSI was identified if documented by an attending neonatologist and treated with intravenous antibiotics. Independent risk factors were identified using logistic regression, adjusting for NICU. Result A total of 902 infants underwent 1346 procedures and experienced 60 SSIs (incidence: 4.46/100 surgeries). Risk factors for SSIs included younger chronological age (odds ratio (OR) 1.03 per day decrease, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01, 1.04), lower gestational age (OR 1.09 per week decrease, CI 1.02, 1.18), male sex (OR 1.17, CI 1.04, 1.34) and use of central venous catheter (OR 4.40, CI 1.19, 9.62). Only 43% had surgical site cultures obtained and Staphylococcus aureus was most commonly isolated. Conclusion SSIs complicated 4.46% of procedures performed in the NICU. Although few modifiable risk factors for SSIs were identified, future efforts should focus on evaluating the impact of current prevention strategies on the incidence of neonatal SSI.
Technologies for Health Assessment, Promotion, and Assistance: Focus on Gerontechnology

With the aging of the world’s population, it is becoming increasingly urgent to develop innovative and preventative health-care methods. If we are to provide the highest quality of care to our aging population, we must consider technological innovations in our future planning and implementation. Technologies have the potential to offer innovations for home-based prevention, early detection, independent living, safety and security, behavioral change, social support, and caregiver aid. Neuropsychologists have the opportunity to play an important role in the development, evaluation, and dissemination of these technologies. In this chapter, we describe our multidisciplinary work with both simple and artificial intelligence-based technologies that can be used proactively to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors and improve autonomy and quality of life. We also discuss challenges that remain to be addressed as the field of gerontechnology moves forward.
Thoughts on Dastar from a Copyright Perspective: A Welcome Step toward Respite for the Public Domain

Though other questions remain unresolved and other leaks unstemmed, Dastar is a welcome step towards regaining the public domain, and towards establishing that the confines of the public domain, with regard to nondeceptive reproduction of public domain works, and preparation of derivative works based upon them, must be delimited by only the copyright and patent laws. This article will provide a background discussion of the copyright and patent schemes and their delineation of the public domain. It then will discuss the role of trademark law in that balance, and some of the case law regarding both § 43 of the Lanham Act and the right of publicity. Finally, it will hail the Supreme Court's decision in Dastar as a hopeful sign that the Court will reject the approach of the more expansive cases that have hampered the free use of works in the public domain.
Control of a Looper, Lambdina athasaria athasaria on Hemlock with Three Chemical Insecticides

Carbaryl (Sevin®-4-oil) at 1.12 kg Al/ha, trichlorfon Dylox®-1.5-oil) at 1.12 kg Al/ha, and acephate (Orthene ® 75S) at 0.56 kg Al/ha all caused significant reductions in populations of Lambdina athasaria athasaria Walker) on hemlock in west-central Pennsylvania. Larval knockdown was quickest with trichlorfon and acephate, but by 4 days after treatment none of the treated areas was significantly different from any other. Carbaryl was still active during the 3rd wk after treatment.
Abstract 1434: A mouse model of the most aggressive subgroup of human medulloblastoma

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Human medulloblastomas are molecularly classified into four major subgroups. Among them, the MYC-subgroup, the most aggressive and the least curable is characterized by amplification or overexpression of the c-MYC gene. While mouse models for the human SHH-subgroup have advanced the development of targeted treatments for this subgroup, the absence of a preclinical model for the MYC-subgroup has severely limited our understanding of its biology and treatment. We have now generated the first mouse model of MYC-subgroup medulloblastoma that faithfully recapitulate the transcriptome, histopathology, and clinical behavior of the human disease. This mouse model was generated by orthotopic transplantation of percoll-purified Myc-transduced cerebellar cells from postnatal day 6-7 Trp53-deficient mice into the cortices or the cerebellum of immunocompromised recipient animals. While >2 x 105 cells from the mouse SHH-tumors are required to induce a tumor, 100 MYC-tumor cells were sufficient, suggesting that most MYC-tumor cells are tumor initiating cells. MYC-tumors can be passaged indefinitely as neurospheres that express markers associated with stem cells, including Prom1, Lgr5, Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2 and induce secondary medulloblastomas with similar characteristics as the primary tumors, after orthotopic transplant into the cortices of recipient mice. This novel medulloblastoma model should significantly advance our efforts to develop new therapeutic modalities and to determine the origin of this deadly childhood cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1434. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1434
Abstract 1732: Elevated expression of YKL-40, a cancer biomarker, is associated with tumor angiogenesis

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Growing evidence from clinical investigations has shown that increased serum levels of YKL-40 are correlated with short survival and metastasis in a broad type of human cancers. These data suggest that YKL-40 in the blood may present a powerful tool for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. However, pathological activity of YKL-40 in cancer development is poorly understood. Here, we explored a functional role for YKL-40 in vasculature development of human cancer. In a survey of twenty cases of breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and thirty-eight cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC), we found that expression levels of YKL-40 in specimens from DCIS were barely detectable, but different levels of YKL-40 were present in IDC. Nine out of thirty-eight IDC cases showed high levels of YKL-40 and nine cases displayed medium levels of YKL-40, whereas the rest twenty cases were low or negative. Interestingly, in an analysis of vasculature formation in these IDC samples, we found that different blood vessel densities significantly correlated with different degrees of YKL-40 expression. To test this possible angiogenic activity of YKL-40 in tumor development, we utilized angiogenic xenograft models by subcutaneous injection of SCID/Beige mice with a brain tumor line U87 cells which express strong endogenous YKL-40 and U87 cells with siRNA knockdown of YKL-40. siRNA knockdown of YKL-40 notably suppressed tumor angiogenesis and tumor development relative to high levels of YKL-40 expressed in control U87 cells. Further, to dissect cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying YKL-40-induced tumor angiogenesis, we treated human microvascular endothelial cells with YKL-40 and found that YKL-40 was capable of binding to heparan sulfate on ectodomain of membrane receptor syndecan-1 (S1). The activated S1 prompted its interaction with adjacent receptor integrin αvβ3, leading to activation of intracellular cascades including phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase and MAP kinase. A series of individual signaling inhibitors blocked YKL-40-induced angiogenesis in vitro. Collectively, these data strongly suggest that YKL-40 expressed in cancer activates vascular endothelial cell angiogenesis to promote tumor development. These findings may hold promise for developing novel therapeutic agents targeting YKL-40, a cancer biomarker that is overexpressed in a wide range of human cancers. Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010 because the presenter was unable to attend. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1732.
Formation of oligomeric monellin in protein denaturants.

AbstractMonellin is a protein with an intense sweet taste. It is known to consist of two dissimilar polypeptide chains that are tightly but noncovalently bound. Monellin is also known to contain a single sulfhydryl group; in native monellin it appears to be buried within the interior of the protein. An oligomer of monellin is demonstrated to form in the presence of protein denaturants. It appears to involve dimerization through formation of a disulfide linkage. Formation of larger aggregates, which occurs during removal of denaturant, is postulated to involve the molecular species [monellin]2 as an intermediate.
Investigation on Migrant Workers' Cognitive Attitudes to AIDS

Objective In order to carry out the targeted health education activities, to investigate migrant workers awareness of AIDS-related knowledge in Nansha area. Methods 325 migrant workers were selected randomly in Nansha area to conduct the questionnaire survey. Results The migrant workers had 54.15 % of general awareness knowledge of AIDS, 46.26% of dissemination awareness knowledge of AIDS. The main risk factors for migrant workers infected AIDS were young, low education level, and lack of preventive knowledge of AIDS dissemination. Conclusion It is a very important method to provide the migrant workers with various, deep, and targeted health education to control and prevent the spread of AIDS infection.
Lifelong limb preservation: A patient-centered description of lower extremity arterial reconstruction outcomes.

Abstract Background Life expectancy is short for patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI), many of whom may fear amputation more than death. In light of the reduced life expectancy of these patients, the traditional 5-year freedom from amputation (FFA) statistic may not accurately address their concern. We developed a more relevant patient-centered calculation of major amputation risk during a patient's remaining lifetime to better answer the question, Will I ever lose my leg? Methods We identified all limbs undergoing first-time intervention for CLI in a large institutional database from 2005 to 2013. We calculated the traditional metrics of amputation-free survival (AFS, for which failure is death or amputation) and FFA (for which failure is amputation but deaths are censored and removed from further analysis). In addition, we propose a new term, lifelong limb preservation (LLP). LLP defines amputation as failure, but deaths are not censored and therefore reflect that LLP has been achieved. All deaths before 30 days were considered a failure in all three metrics, reflecting the risk of surgery. Results There were 1006 limbs identified as having first-time intervention for CLI (22% rest pain, 45% ulcer, 27% gangrene; 46% treated by angioplasty with or without stenting, 54% bypass). Using life-table analysis, 7-year AFS was 14% (561 events), FFA was 78% (123 events), and LLP was 86% (123 events). LLP was similar between patients undergoing angioplasty with or without stenting and bypass (7-year rates, 86% and 85%, respectively). For patients undergoing intervention for rest pain, 7-year rates were 14% for AFS, 84% for FFA, and 92% for LLP. For those undergoing treatment for ulcer, 7-year rates were 14% for AFS, 77% for FFA, and 86% for LLP. Finally, in those with gangrene, rates were 10% for AFS, 67% for FFA, and 79% for LLP. Using LLP, patients presenting with an ulcer can be told that although we cannot guarantee how long they will live, with revascularization there is approximately an 86% chance they will not lose the leg. Conclusions These results show that the durability of our limb preservation efforts often exceeds the life expectancy of our patients. Using LLP as an outcomes assessment provides a more accurate and patient-centered answer to the question, If I have this procedure, will I ever lose my leg?
Real projects for real clients courses: conference workshop

In a very real sense, so called "soft skills" are more important in software development than is good programming. For example, if the results of a project's requirements engineering efforts are poor, then even the world's best programmers will implement useless code which will be extremely expensive to fix; if the results are close to what's necessary to satisfy the needs of the client, then moderately good programmers will produce code that will be far less expensive to fix. But these aspects of software development can be learned only by doing, that is, by going through the entire software development lifecycle to produce real software that is needed by, and will be used by, the client once it has been developed, tested, and installed. Prof. Klappholz has taught both a one-semester junior-level real projects for real clients course (RPRCC) for twelve years and a two-semester senior-level (capstone) RPRCC for five years. He is lead author of a book chapter about RPRCCs. Results of the last three years of his capstone RPRCC may be found at http://www.cs.stevens.edu/~david/index.php
The quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine.

VOLUME 91 NO. 12 DECEMBER 2008 The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of over 100 viruses, 40 of which can be transmitted through mucosal cells during vaginal or anal intercourse, thereby infecting genital areas. Different HPVs infect the body in distinctive ways. In many cases there are no obvious symptoms (until late sequelae such as cervical cancer manifest themselves), but some of the viruses cause genital warts, genital lesions (abnormal cells), and some of the viruses cause cancers of the cervix, vulva, vagina, anus, or penis. Most people’s immune systems will clear HPV within two years, but sometimes the virus persists, and if untreated, may eventually cause cancer. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20 million Americans are currently infected with HPV, and 6.2 million are newly infected every year. At least 50% of sexually active men and women will become infected with HPV at some point in their lives.1 At any given time, about 1% of the population is infected with genital warts caused by HPV.
Managing up in times of financial crisis

The use of managing up in an institution's time of financial crisis is described. The goals of crisis management include survival, maintaining quality and service, learning issues and impacts, supporting the team, and preparing for the aftermath as the crisis subsides. Survival calls for a commitment by leaders to remain focused, and to maintain and support the management team. Pharmacy directors must be able to adapt to chaos and to the limited information disseminated by senior leadership. Identifying the underlying cause of the crisis, which may not be directly related to the measures taken to resolve it, is also critical to survival. Among the keys to maintaining quality and service are keeping the staff focused on patient care and maintaining credibility by sharing all information that is available. Pharmacy directors need to maintain the confidence of their staff members and to encourage them to do the best they can with the resources available. Taking the initiative to acquire appropriate data, to translate that data into relevant information, and to seek benchmarks for comparison is also important. Once the crisis has passed, attention must be given to updating and maintaining databases, supporting the staff, and improving morale. Scenario planning can help identify measures that might be taken if another crisis should develop. Using principles of managing up can prepare pharmacy directors for optimal response to an institutional financial crisis.
Lung transplantation and gender effects on survival of recipients with cystic fibrosis

Background The overall life expectancy of women with cystic fibrosis (CF) is shorter compared with men with CF without accounting for lung transplant recipients. However, it is unclear how donor and recipient gender impact long-term outcomes in patients with CF who undergo lung transplantation. The purpose of this study was to determine if the gender disadvantage seen in women with CF before transplant continues to exist after lung transplant and if this is impacted by donor gender. Methods Patients with CF entered in the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation registry who were at least 18 years old and received a lung transplant between January 2000 and December 2012 were included and divided into groups based on donor-recipient gender combinations. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to determine post-transplant rates of overall survival and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS)-free survival. Results The analysis included 4,971 patients undergoing lung transplantation for CF. There was no significant difference in BOS-free survival or overall survival rates between genders or between gender-matched vs gender-mismatched recipients after lung transplantation. However, women with CF underwent transplantation at a younger age and died at an earlier overall age than men with CF. Conclusions Survival after lung transplantation and time to the development of BOS did not differ based on gender or donor-recipient gender combination. However, women with CF continue to demonstrate a poorer overall life expectancy, as their pre-transplant disadvantage could not be overcome after lung transplantation.
Adaptive control of the nonlinearly parameterized limb dynamics with application to neuromuscular electrical stimulation

This paper considers the lower leg limb motion tracking problem that is inherent to neuromuscular electrical stimulation systems. We propose an adaptive controller that compensates for the unknown parameters that appear nonlinearly in the mechanical dynamics. This is accomplished by exploiting the Lipschitzian properties of nonlinearly parameterized functions. The resulting discontinuous control law ensures asymptotic tracking for the lower leg limb angular position without violating its physical limits. Simulations demonstrate the control performance.
Enzyme Mediated Increase in Methanol Production from Photoelectrochemical Cells and CO2

While success has been shown in utilizing photocatalytic systems to reduce CO2 in water, most of these studies have yielded formic acid as the major product with trace amounts of formaldehyde or methanol. One reason for this is the strong equilibrium of formaldehyde toward the hydrate methanediol. To increase methanol yields from CO2, we show here the combined use of the biological catalyst alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae with CO2 reduction products obtained from photoelectrochemical cells (PEC). We first show that ADH can reduce very low micromolar amounts of formaldehyde in solution. Upon adding ADH to the PEC products, a rapid three- to four-fold gain in methanol production was observed, which we also attribute to the lack of back reaction by the enzyme. Lastly, because formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FalDH) showed very low reactivity with formate, the addition of FalDH and ADH to the PEC products demonstrated no difference in methanol yields as compared to ADH alone.
PairFac: Event Analytics through Discriminant Tensor Factorization

The study of disaster events and their impact in the urban space has been traditionally conducted through manual collections and analysis of surveys, questionnaires and authority documents. While there have been increasingly rich troves of human behavioral data related to the events of interest, the ability to obtain hindsight following a disaster event has not been scaled up. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for analyzing events called PairFac. PairFac utilizes discriminant tensor analysis to automatically discover the impact of a major event from rich human behavioral data. Our method aims to (i) uncover the persistent patterns across multiple interrelated aspects of urban behavior (e.g., when, where and what citizens do in a city) and at the same time (ii) identify the salient changes following a potentially impactful event. We show the effectiveness of PairFac in comparison with previous methods through extensive experiments. We also demonstrate the advantages of our approach through case studies with real-world traffic sensor data and social media streams surrounding the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. Our work has both methodological contributions in studying the impact of an external stimulus on a system as well as practical implications in the area of disaster event analysis and assessment.