cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
86 IS STACHYBOTRYS CHARTARUM A HEALTH RISK IN POST-KATRINA NEW ORLEANS?

Stachybotrys chartarum, a nonpathogenic mold classified in the Fungi Imperfecti, is found ubiquitously in our environment and has been the source of much media attention in the last decade because of its penchant to form dense black biofilms on surfaces in water-damaged buildings. This so-called “toxic mold” can produce toxic secondary metabolites, most notably trichothecenes; however, the link to human disease remains controversial. Our long-term goal is to determine whether this fungus poses a health risk to workers and residents in contaminated structures. Our immediate focus is to identify fungal species growing in selected flooded and nonflooded homes and to determine their relative abundance in both air and surface samples. Air samples are collected onto selective and nonselective media and incubated at 22 to 23°C to obtain total colony counts for subsequent phenotypic and molecular identification. Samples are also collected onto cellophane tape for total conidial quantification. For molecular identification, sequence analysis of ITS regions is performed. DNA is extracted and PCR primers (ITS4 tcctccgcttattgatatgc and ITS5 ggaagtaaaagtcgtaacaagg) are used to amplify the ITS 1, 5.8S rRNA gene and ITS2 regions. In preliminary studies of Fusarium oxysporum, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Phialophora verrucosum isolates, ITS analyses showed that sequences matched (100% similarity) those of respective species in GenBank. We are currently developing similar approaches to identify fungi directly from wall and surfaces samples. Despite the great amount of media attention that S. chartarum has received, to our knowledge, no one has quantified S. chartarum in flooded and non-water-damaged areas of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Thyroid Hormone Receptor-β (TRβ) Mediates Runt-Related Transcription Factor 2 (Runx2) Expression in Thyroid Cancer Cells: A Novel Signaling Pathway in Thyroid Cancer

Dysregulation of the thyroid hormone receptor (TR)β is common in human cancers. Restoration of functional TRβ delays tumor progression in models of thyroid and breast cancers implicating TRβ as a tumor suppressor. Conversely, aberrant expression of the runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) is established in the progression and metastasis of thyroid, breast, and other cancers. Silencing of Runx2 diminishes tumor invasive characteristics. With TRβ as a tumor suppressor and Runx2 as a tumor promoter, a compelling question is whether there is a functional relationship between these regulatory factors in thyroid tumorigenesis. Here, we demonstrated that these proteins are reciprocally expressed in normal and malignant thyroid cells; TRβ is high in normal cells, and Runx2 is high in malignant cells. T3 induced a time- and concentration-dependent decrease in Runx2 expression. Silencing of TRβ by small interfering RNA knockdown resulted in a corresponding increase in Runx2 and Runx2-regulated genes, indicating that TRβ levels directly impact Runx2 expression and associated epithelial to mesenchymal transition molecules. TRβ specifically bound to 3 putative thyroid hormone-response element motifs within the Runx2-P1 promoter ((-)105/(+)133) as detected by EMSA and chromatin immunoprecipitation. TRβ suppressed Runx2 transcriptional activities, thus confirming TRβ regulation of Runx2 at functional thyroid hormone-response elements. Significantly, these findings indicate that a ratio of the tumor-suppressor TRβ and tumor-promoting Runx2 may reflect tumor aggression and serve as biomarkers in biopsy tissues. The discovery of this TRβ-Runx2 signaling supports the emerging role of TRβ as a tumor suppressor and reveals a novel pathway for intervention.
Nitrogen utilization and digestibility by growing steers and goats of diets that contain monensin and low crude protein.

Two digestion and metabolism experiments were conducted to determine effects of monensin in low-protein diets. Monensin supplementation (27 mg/kg of diet dry matter) of steers (303 kg) fed 8.7% crude protein increased (P less than .01) apparent N digestibility and N retention and decreased (P less than .01) percentage of N apparently absorbed lost in urine. Apparent digestibilities of dry matter, gross energy and acid detergent lignin were increased (P less than .05). Digestibilities of neutral detergent and acid detergent fibers were not affected by monensin. In growing wether goats (15 kg) fed 8.5% crude protein, monensin (23 mg/kg of diet dry matter) improved (P less than .01) apparent N digestibility and apparent N absorption. However, urinary N excretion also increased (P less than .05), resulting in no difference in N retention. Monensin did not affect digestibilities of dry matter or gross energy. Efficiency of feed conversion and average daily gain were improved with monensin supplementation of growing goats fed a low-protein, high-roughage diet. Monensin resulted in typical shift of acetate-to-propionate ratio in both experiments. Results suggest that improved N utilization may account for some benefits of feeding monensin.
Differences in Short-Term Outcomes Between Primary and Revision Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE To compare short-term morbidity for primary and revision anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Revision ACDF procedures are relatively common, yet their risks are poorly characterized in the literature. There is a need to assess the relative risk of revision ACDF procedures compared with primary surgery. METHODS The prospectively collected American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database was used to identify patients who underwent primary and revision ACDF from 2005 to 2014. The occurrence of 30-day postoperative complications, readmission, operative time, and postoperative length of stay were compared between primary and revision procedures using multivariate regression to control for patient and operative characteristics. RESULTS A total of 20,383 ACDF procedures were identified, 1219 (6.0%) of which were revision cases. On multivariate analysis, revision procedures were associated with significantly increased risk of any adverse event (relative risk [RR] 2.3, P < 0.001), any severe adverse event (RR 2.2, P < 0.001), thromboembolic events (RR 3.3, P = 0.001), surgical site infections (RR 3.2, P < 0.001), return to the operating room (RR 1.9, P = 0.001), any minor adverse event (RR 2.5, P < 0.001), and blood transfusion (RR 8.3, P < 0.001). Revision procedures had significantly increased risk of readmission within 30 days (RR = 1.6, P = 0.001). Minor, but statistically significant increases in average operative time and postoperative length of stay were identified for revisions procedures (7 min and half a day, respectively [P < 0.001 for both]). CONCLUSION Revision procedures were associated with significantly increased risk of multiple adverse outcomes, including thromboembolic events, surgical site infections, return to the operating room, blood transfusion, and readmission within 30 days. These results are important for patient counseling and risk stratification. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3.
Approach for mapping data to client projects

In today's technological era, the volume of data being processed on a daily basis is growing exponentially. The influence of data is affecting consulting firms and the expectations client companies have of consultants. Consulting firms are expected to not only use their client's data but also to leverage open source data and data from other firms that can help address the clients' needs. Manually reviewing the relevance of a dataset to a given problem is time intensive and prone to error. Additionally, it is near impossible to detect non-intuitive correlations in the data through manual review. Hence, this project focuses on building an application that enables users to automatically find and assess the applicability of datasets to a given problem. Given that the project objectives are to increase the applicability of individual datasets, to increase the applicability of clusters of correlated datasets, and to increase the usability of individual datasets, three metrics were derived respectively. They are relevance, coverage, and quality of data. The application, known as UVa Open Miner, measures the relevance of the dataset to the client problem, the degree to which a group of datasets covers different dimensions of a client problem, and the quality of the dataset. The application can be refactored into a reusable solution that consulting firms can use for their client work.
Improving outpatient implementation of preexposure prophylaxis in men who have sex with men.

Background and purpose Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been shown to decrease the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) when used in high-risk populations including men who have sex with men. However, despite effectiveness, there is underutilization in the outpatient setting. This review aims to assess the facilitators and barriers to improve outpatient utilization. Methods A systematic search of four databases, CINAHL, Ovid, Scopus, and PsychINFO, during March–May of 2015. A total of 22 articles were included for review. Conclusions Barriers to utilization were either patient or provider centered. Patient barriers included a significant lack of knowledge, stigma, risk-taking, and adherence. Provider barriers also included lack of knowledge of treatment and protocols as well as fears of resistance and behavior change. Facilitators included adherence regimens, education, and comprehensive care. Implications for practice Men who have sex with men are a high-risk population for HIV transmission. PrEP is successful in this subgroup at reducing transmission. Through education, nonjudgmental and comprehensive care providers can utilize PrEP to decrease transmission.
RULE-BASED DEDUCTION SYSTEMS

This chapter discusses rule-based deduction systems. It describes a simple type of forward production system that processes fact expressions of arbitrary form. The forward system has as its initial global database a representation for the given set of facts. The facts are represented as a predicate calculus well-formed formula (wff) that has been transformed into implication-free form that is called AND /OR form. To convert a wff into AND/OR form, the ⇒ symbols (if there are any) are eliminated, using the equivalence of ( Wl ⇒ W2) and (∼ Wl ⋁ W2). Next, negation symbols are moved in (using de Morgan's laws) until their scopes include at most a single predicate. The resulting expression is then Skolemized and prenexed; variables within the scopes of universal quantifiers are standardized by renaming, existentially quantified variables are replaced by Skolem functions, and the universal quantifiers are dropped. Any variables remaining are assumed to have universal quantification.
“But there’s gotta be a strength”: Toward the Equitable Assessment of the Writing of Emerging Bilinguals

This chapter asks what English language arts (ELA) teachers need to know to support the writing of emerging bilinguals (EBs). The authors argue that teachers need concrete strategies to identify, honor, and more equitably assess the diverse linguistic repertoires present in EBs’ writing. The chapter presents the ways a group of ELA preservice teachers (PTs) analyzed the writing of EB middle school students. These PTs struggled to shed their monolingual lens when identifying strengths and challenges of the EBs’ writing. They also expressed concerns about giving credit for leveraging EBs’ linguistic repertoires within the constraints of existing expectations for ELA teaching. The authors argue that more opportunities for exposure to holistic bilingualism would expand PTs’ views about bilingual writers.
Time to Nadir Peripheral White Blood Cell Count (WBC) and Absolute WBC Nadir Value Following Induction Chemotherapy in Older Adults with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Predicts Survival.

Older adults with AML have a poor prognosis as a result of clinical characteristics and disease biology, including chemotherapy resistance. When older adults are treated with standard anthracycline-based remission induction therapy dosed by body surface area, the efficacy and toxicity of therapy may differ due to altered pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and clearance compared to younger patients. This may be reflected in the WBC nadir following therapy. Risk group stratification using pretreatment characteristics can be improved by incorporating parameters of early response to therapy for the prediction of outcome. The prognostic impact of time to WBC nadir and of the absolute WBC nadir value, both of which can be more readily assessed than bone marrow (BM) blast clearance, has not yet been determined. We present updated data on 123 older adults (age ≥55 years) diagnosed with AML and treated with anthracycline-based remission induction chemotherapy from 1994 to 2002 at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Time to nadir WBC and absolute WBC nadir value were assessed by univariable and multivariate analyses, controlling for cytogenetics, baseline WBC count, history of bone marrow disease, and reinduction. Survival tree methodology was used to define optimal nadir WBC groups and time to nadir WBC. Three nadir WBC groups were identified: 0.11×10³/μL (high). Time to nadir WBC was defined as 10 days after the start of chemotherapy. Pretreatment characteristics were typical of other studies in older adults with AML: the median age was 69 years (range 55–81), 54.5% were male, 31.1% had secondary AML, and the median WBC at presentation was 10.6 × 10³/μL. Cytogenetics (available in 87.8%) were classified as favorable, intermediate, and unfavorable based on CALGB 8461 in 4.6%, 60.2% and 35.2%, respectively. The median time to WBC nadir was 19 days (range 6–50) and the median absolute WBC nadir was 0.12×10³/μL (range 0.02–1.13). The median overall survival was 6.9 months. The complete remission (CR) rate was 50.8%, 27% of patients had resistant leukemia, and 4.9% had early death. In univariable analysis, time to nadir WBC of ≤10 days was significantly associated with worse survival (Hazard Ratio (HR) 3.01, p In conclusion time to WBC nadir and absolute WBC nadir are useful, independent, and easily obtainable prognostic factors in older adults and may help stratify patients for eligibility for further chemotherapy.
Comic-merciful: two works by Father Colum Power

After having once been a dominant discourse in literary studies, the discourse of religion was relegated to the sidelines when it was visible at all. It was even true of Joyce studies and Joyce is ...
Supply chain optimization at an academic medical center.

Purpose A successful supply chain optimization project that leveraged technology, engineering principles, and a technician workflow redesign in the setting of a growing health system is described. Summary With continued rises in medication costs, medication inventory management is increasingly important. Proper management of central pharmacy inventory and floor-stock inventory in automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) can be challenging. In an effort to improve control of inventory costs in the central pharmacy of a large academic medical center, the pharmacy department implemented a supply chain optimization project in collaboration with the medical center’s inhouse team of experts on process improvement and industrial engineering. The project had 2 main components: (1) upgrading and reconfiguring carousel technology within an expanded central pharmacy footprint to generate accurate floor-stock inventory replenishment reports, which resulted in efficiencies within the medication-use system, and (2) implementing a technician workflow redesign and algorithm to right-size the ADC inventory, which decreased inventory stockouts (i.e., incidents of depletion of medication stock) and improved ADC user satisfaction. Conclusion Through a multifaceted approach to inventory management, the number of stockouts per month was decreased and ADC inventory was optimized, resulting in a one-time inventory cost savings of $220,500.
The sweetness of successful goal pursuit: Approach-motivated pregoal states enhance the reward positivity during goal pursuit.

Abstract Traditionally, the reward positivity (RewP) is thought to index a binary performance monitoring system sensitive to approach motivation. However, recent theoretical models have argued that feedback processing extends beyond simple “good” vs. “bad” associations, such that performance monitoring incorporates the complex, multi-step sequence of behaviors often necessary to attain rewards. The present study sought to go beyond simple stimulus-response paradigms to examine how approach-motivated states occurring in multi-step goal pursuit impacts the RewP. Additionally, outcome frequency was varied to examine how the P3, a neural marker of expectancy, influences the RewP. Using a modified monetary incentive delay paradigm, participants played a reaction time game where multiple correct responses were required to attain a reward. Additionally, each trial had the potential for a reward (approach-motivated state) or no reward (neutral state). Results revealed that RewP amplitudes were larger after reward trial win feedback than after reward trial no-win feedback across multiple stages of goal pursuit. Additionally, after for controlling outcome frequency via the P3, RewP amplitudes were larger in reward trials than in neutral trials across incremental stages of goal pursuit. The RewP appears to be sensitive to feedback indicating successfully completing sub-goals during pursuit of a goal, even when no immediate reward is given. Approach motivation enhances performance monitoring when multiple steps are needed to attain a desired outcome, which may increase the likelihood of goal acquisition and attainment.
Epithelioid Granulomas Associate With Increased Severity and Progression of Crohn's Disease, Based on 6-Year Follow-Up.

Background & Aims Epithelioid granulomas are characteristics of a subset of patients with Crohn's disease (CD), but their significance, with regard to disease progression and severity, is unclear. We investigated the relationship between granulomas and CD severity over a 6-year time period in a large cohort of patients. Methods We performed a retrospective study of patients with CD seen at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at the University of Pittsburgh; data were collected from 2009 through 2014 and patients were assigned to groups with and without histologic evidence of granuloma. Demographic, clinical (including disease activity, quality of life, medication use, and healthcare utilization), and laboratory data were used in association and survival analyses. Differences between groups were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous variables. Results Of 1466 patients with CD, granulomas were identified in 187 (12.8%). In the subset of patients who underwent surgery, 21.0% had granulomas. The presence of granuloma was associated with increased serum levels of c-reactive protein (odds ratio [OR], 2.9; 95% CI, 2.078–4.208; P Conclusions Epithelioid granulomas develop in less than 13% of patients with CD, and are associated with a more aggressive disease phenotype. Patients who have undergone surgery for CD and have granulomas are at increased risk for repeat surgery within 6 years.
Abstract 16180: Use of CPR-sensing Defibrillators to Improve Outcomes for In-hospital Cardiac Arrest

Background: Survival among patients who suffer in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA) remains suboptimal, with currently reported survival to discharge rates of 9-38%. The use of real-time point-of-care...
Quantity and Diversity: Simulating Early Word Learning Environments

The words in children's language learning environments are strongly predictive of cognitive development and school achievement. But how do we measure language environments and do so at the scale of the many words that children hear day in, day out? The quantity and quality of words in a child's input are typically measured in terms of total amount of talk and the lexical diversity in that talk. There are disagreements in the literature whether amount or diversity is the more critical measure of the input. Here we analyze the properties of a large corpus (6.5 million words) of speech to children and simulate learning environments that differ in amount of talk per unit time, lexical diversity, and the contexts of talk. The central conclusion is that what researchers need to theoretically understand, measure, and change is not the total amount of words, or the diversity of words, but the function that relates total words to the diversity of words, and how that function changes across different contexts of talk.
Tremor suppression controller for dielectric elastomer orthosis

Pathological tremor is an involuntary, rhythmic movement that can inhibit the ability of a person to perform everyday tasks. Recent research explores mechanical means of tremor suppression as an alternative to drugs and surgery. However, traditional control methods also suppress voluntary movements due to the close proximity of tremor frequency and the frequency range of typical voluntary motions. Therefore, the controller must identify and suppress the tremor torque with minimal influence on voluntary movement. In addition to the control design, the actuator plays a critical role in the performance and potential for clinical implementation of a tremor suppression system. Dielectric elastomers offer unique actuation capabilities due to their low stiffness compared to traditional engineering actuators. In particular, dielectric elastomers have similar mechanical properties as human tissue, making them ideal for actuation of the human body. This work applies an adaptive notch filter algorithm for vibration attenuation in a narrow frequency range using dielectric elastomer stack actuators. In this controller, an estimation of the tremor frequency ensures suppression of only the tremor motion. The adaptive filter estimates the tremor torque, and a force controller for the dielectric elastomer tracks the specified force. Simulations show excellent tracking of the desired motion for slower voluntary motions and for slowly varying tremor amplitudes. Even though the controller has diminished tremor suppression in the presence of rapid changes in tremor amplitude, it still offers a significant improvement over the uncontrolled case. Altogether, this work demonstrates the potential for the use of dielectric elastomer actuators in a soft orthosis to suppress pathological tremor.
N-myc over-expression downregulates alpha3beta1 integrin expression in human Saos-2 osteosarcoma cells.

Alterations in adhesion to the extracellular matrix mediated by integrin receptors are commonly observed in a wide variety of transformed/tumor classes. Reductions in the expression of several integrin subunits have been documented in human neuroblastoma cell lines that over-express the neuroblastoma-associated oncogene N-myc. Neuroblastoma cells transfected with a cDNA encoding N-myc on a high-expression plasmid exhibit greatly reduced levels of a2, a3 and b1 integrin subunits with concomitant rounding of cells on substrata. In the current studies, we examined whether integrin downregulation by N-myc is cell-type specific by transfecting a human N-myc cDNA into Saos-2 human osteosarcoma cells and evaluating integrin expression. Several N-myc-expressing cell lines were isolated which exhibit reduced levels of b1 integrin subunit protein and significant alteration in cell morphology - these cell lines resemble N-myc-over-expressing neuroblastoma cells. In addition to reduced b1 subunit levels, the osteosarcoma-derived N-myc transfectants exhibit little or no a3b1 integrin complexes, either intracellular or at the cell surface. Finally, reduced amounts of a3 integrin subunit in these cell lines occur at the level of a3 integrin mRNA, although post-transcriptional mechanisms may also be involved, particularly with inability of pre-b1 protein to mature. These results confirm our previous studies demonstrating integrin downregulation by an N-myc-dependent process and, in addition, demonstrate lack of cell-type specificity in the action of N-myc on integrin extracellular matrix receptor expression when comparing neural precursor (neuroblastoma) cells with connective tissue (osteosarcoma) cells.
China's Financial Reform and Opening-Up over the Past Three Decades

Per the invitation of the 2008 China-US Forum and Gala Organizers, the author shared China's experience on financial reform and opening-up over the past three decades on a step-by-step basis. During this process, China has created some unique financial structures that may well be worth looking at during this time of financial turmoil. Based on this, he shared some key reflections of China's financial reform and opening-up: (i) an appropriate sequence of reform measures matters; (ii) good strategic planning matters; (iii) a gradual approach can avoid big reform failures and produce better accumulated results; and (iv) a public and private hybrid ownership structure may become a creative contribution to corporate governance theory and practices.
Club Rugby, the University Student Collegiate Experience, and Perceived Gains:

To examine the relationship between club rugby participation, collegiate experiences, and perceived gains, 37 rugby players and 33 nonathlete students completed the Student-Athlete Experiences Inve...
Preventing Premature Ovulation

After triggering the final oocyte maturation with any agent, follicles at or above 18 mm size may still collapse or ovulate before or at the time of oocyte retrieval, even when stable LH levels were assured throughout the minimal or mild stimulation in women with diminished ovarian reserve and/or advanced reproductive age. We review measures to prevent such premature ovulation or follicle collapse to maximize the mature oocyte yield.
Prospective evaluation of 18F-DCFPyL PET/CT in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer: Analysis of lesion localization and distribution.

5556Background: 18F-DCFPyL, a promising PET agent targeting prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), is prospectively evaluated in a single academic center for detecting recurrent lesions in pros...
Isotropic grating coupler for 3D silicon photonic architectures

Continual development of optical testing methodologies for silicon photonic components and circuitry is instrumental for the overall growth of the field. A mature scheme capable of coupling light between the fiber core and single mode silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguides for wafer-scale testing are grating couplers. When silicon photonics are integrated into 3D architectures, the photonics layer may undergo multiple wafer flipping steps through bond/de-bond modules. Architectures such as this require optical testing on the front and backside of the wafer. Conventional grating couplers integrate reflective layers or additional layers of gratings to increase coupling efficiency. These techniques however will not work in both wafer orientations. In addition, including separate test structures for both front and backside fabrication increases device footprint and drives up manufacturing costs. We present an isotropic grating coupler that provides moderate coupling efficiency for both front and backside wafer-scale testing. The grating coupler has been designed for use in the AIM Photonics multi project wafer (MPW) platform, thus enabling non-contact optical interfacing irrespective of the wafer orientation. We have numerically demonstrated coupling efficiencies of 34% (-4.7dB) and 28% (-5.5 dB) for the wafer front and backside respectively while operating at a wavelength of 1550 nm. With proof of concept established, we foresee an eventual pathway for achieving higher efficiency isotropic grating couplers traversing into more 3D silicon photonic architectures.
Air Pollution Control

The major task of the panel on “The Environmental Spectrum— Tomorrow” is to delineate probable changes in the characteristics of the air pollution control problem in the future on the basis of present knowledge. In this regard, it is well to keep in mind the speculative nature of any projection, and that the degree of uncertainty increases exponentially with the time span. The definition of air pollution given by the Engineers Joint Council is: Air pollution means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more contaminants, such as dust, fumes, gas, mist, odor, smoke, or vapor, in quantities, of characteristics, and of duration such as to be injurious to human, plant, or animal life, or to property, or which unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property.
YieldPredict: A Crop Yield Prediction Framework for Smart Farms

In recent years, machine learning approaches are gaining popularity with the advent of big data. The massive amount of data generated, when served as an input to machine learning approaches, provides useful insights. Adoption of these approaches in the agricultural sector has immense potential to increase crop productivity and quality. In this paper, we analyze the crop data collected from an agriculture site in Rajasthan, India, that includes both Rabi and Kharif cropping patterns. In addition, we utilize a smart farm ontology that contains concepts and properties related to the agricultural domain. We link the collected data and our smart farm ontology to populate a knowledge graph. We utilize the generated knowledge graph to provide structural information and aggregate data by using SPARQL queries. The aggregated data is further used by our machine learning models to predict the crop yield to benefit farmers and various stakeholders. We also analyze and compare our results obtained for various machine learning models used.
Research on Bulk-metallic Glasses and High-entropy Alloys in Peter K. Liaw’s Group and with His Colleagues

Bulk-metallic glasses (BMGs) and high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have attracted extensive attention in the field of metallic materials research for several decades due to their extraordinary properties. Many scientists and researchers have significantly contributed to developing new classes of metallic alloys, such as BMGs and HEAs, for various applications. Liaw’s group and his colleagues have focused on the fundamental understanding of unique features, structures, and properties in BMGs and HEAs as well as the development of new types of metallic materials. In this article, we summarized the research work of Liaw’s group and his colleagues by reviewing relevant papers. The goal is to provide an understanding of the current research progression in BMGs and HEAs while further encouraging young and junior researchers to be involved in the field of structural materials research pertaining to these classes of exotic alloy systems.
Behaviour of cranes (family Gruidae) mirrors their phylogenetic relationships

The behavioural repertoire of every species evolved over time and its evolution can be traced through the phylogenetic relationships in distinct groups. Cranes (family Gruidae) represent a small, old, monophyletic group with well-corroborated phylogenetic relationships on the species level, and at the same time they exhibit a complex and well-described behavioural repertoire. We therefore investigated the evolution of behavioural traits of cranes in a phylogenetic context using several phylogenetic approaches and two types of trait scoring. The cranes exhibit more than a hundred behavioural displays, almost one third of which may be phylogenetically informative. More than half of the analysed traits carry a significant phylogenetic signal. The ancestor of cranes already exhibited a quite complex behavioural repertoire, which remained unchanged in Balearicinae but altered greatly in Gruinae, specifically by the shedding of traits rather than their creation. Trait scoring has an influence on results within the Gruinae, primarily in genera Bugeranus and Anthropoides. Albeit the behavioural traits alone cannot be used for resolving species-level relationships within the Gruidae, when optimized on molecular tree, they can help us to detect interesting evolutionary transformations of behaviour repertoire within Gruiformes. The Limpkin (Aramus guarauna) seems to be the most enigmatic species and should be studied in detail for its behavioural repertoire, which may include some precursors of crane behavioural traits.
Collective Molecular Motor Transport

Cells constantly need to move molecules and organelles throughout their interior. RNA produced in the nucleus must be exported to then be translated into proteins. Some of these proteins must then be imported back into the nucleus. Others are packaged into membrane vesicles, which in turn must be trafficked to the plasma membrane and exocytosed from the cell. The list of such examples has hundreds of entries [1]. An energetically ‘cheap’ way to transport microscopic particles is through diffusion [2]. The trick is done by Brownian movements: all particles in cytoplasm are bombarded by countless water molecules, and if these particles are smaller than a micron in size, momentous imbalances in hits by these smaller molecules results in random movement. This paradigm is surprisingly effective when particles only must spread over short distances. However, there are three major caveats that in many cases make diffusion ineffective. (1) Diffusion is direction-less, so if the cell need transport from a source to a well-defined target (e.g. from ER to Golgi), diffusion alone does not work. (2) Distance travelled by diffusion increases as a square root of time, while directional movement with constant speed generates displacement that grows linearly with time. Therefore, long-distance diffusive movements are slow. (3) Objects that are larger typically diffuse slower, so membrane vesicles, for example, diffuse far too slowly for cellular functions.
An Introduction to Seismological Research: History and Development

Modern seismology is a relatively new science; most current ideas originated no earlier than the latter half of the nineteenth century. The focus of this book is on seismological concepts, how they originated and how they form our modern understanding of the science. A history of seismology falls naturally into four periods: a largely mythological period previous to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake; a period of direct observation from then to the development of seismometers in the late 19th century; a period during which study of seismic arrival times were used to outline the structure of the earth's interior extending to the 1960s; the modern era in which all aspects of seismic waves are used in combination with trial models and computers to elucidate details of the earthquake process. This history attempts to show how modern ideas grew from simple beginnings. Ideas are rarely new, and their first presentations are often neglected until someone is able to present the evidence for their correctness convincingly. Much care has been used to give the earliest sources of ideas and to reference the basic papers on all aspects of earthquake seismology to help investigators find such references in tracing the roots of their own work.
Chapter VI Methods for the Gram-negative Non-sporing Anaerobes

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses techniques and media for the isolation of gram-negative nonsporing anaerobes. The anaerobic nonsporing gram-negative bacteria that are included within the family Bacteroidaceae are associated with man and other animals. They occur in large numbers in the alimentary tract and are associated with necrotic lesions. The methods have been developed for the isolation and growth of strains of Fusobacterium , Sphaerophorus , and Bacteroides . There are certain tests that are considered particularly important for the differentiation of Fusobacterium , Sphaerophorus , and Bacteroides . These are the terminal pH in glucose broth, the production of butyric acid from glucose, and the presence of threonine deaminase. Stimulation by bile is also considered important for the identification of many of the Bacteroides strains, but care must be taken over the bile used for this test, as not all batches are effective. Organisms within the family Bacteroidaceae differ markedly in their reactions to dyes and inhibitors, so different media have been developed for their isolation. While strains of Fusobacterium and Sphaerophorus are resistant to dyes, such as crystal violet and brilliant green the strains of Bucteroides are inhibited by them.
IL-21 regulates the levels of key transcriptional factors in U937 leukemia cells

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 5999 IL-21 is a cytokine produced by activated CD4+ T cells and expressed in lymphoid tissues. IL-21 has an effect on the growth, survival, and activation of B, T, and NK cells. It has been suggested that IL-21 induces the activation of JAK kinases and MAP kinases, thereby influencing other molecular mechanisms in the cell. Yet IL-21 has been shown to induce apoptosis in B cells. Since IL-21 affects the responses of several immune cells, it may be a beneficial treatment for the regulation of the immune system in asthma and cancer patients. Currently, the effects and mechanisms of IL-21 remain unclear and require further investigation. In this study we examined the effects of IL-21 on transcriptional regulation in U937 leukemia cells using DNA/Protein Transcriptional Array Techniques. We observed that IL-21 downregulates a number of key transcriptional factors including STAT4 (2.8-fold), C-myc (4.5-fold), p53 (3.3-fold), MEF-1 (3.4-fold), TR (DR-4) (3.7-fold), AP-2(2.4-fold) and Smad3/4(1.7-fold), though other preliminary result indicates that it may be activating STAT-1. These results suggest that the mechanisms of IL-21 perhaps involve transcriptional regulation of key transcriptional factors. Further studies are in progress to elucidate the mechanisms by which IL-21 regulates transcriptional activation and influences cell growth and survival. Supported by NCI/NIGMS SPORE.
Erythromycin Ototoxicity: Analysis and Conclusions Based on 22 Case Reports

Although the majority of patients receiving erythromycin experience no hearing loss, certain patients are susceptible. Erythromycin ototoxicity data were analyzed on 20 patients from 13 reports in the English language literature as well as on two patients from the University of Missouri–Columbia. Patients were classified with respect to age, sex, premorbid diagnosis, renal/hepatic function, type of erythromycin used, dosage, duration of therapy, and route of administration. The following auditory effects were considered: onset of symptoms, degree and configuration of hearing loss, and recovery of hearing. The factors which, when combined with the use of high-dose erythromycin (≥2 gm/day), might place patients at risk for erythromycin ototoxicity are preexisting renal or hepatic disease, age (elderly), and perhaps being female. With knowledge of the predisposing factors and auditory effects, the clinician can more easily recognize hearing loss caused by erythromycin and properly counsel referring physician...
A general variance model in methods comparison

Valid statistical tests of paired data require correct models of how measurement variance depends on analyte concentration. One often-used assumption is that the variance is constant across the range; another is that the coefficient of variation is constant. But in many data sets, neither of these holds. A variance model containing both a constant variance and a constant coefficient of variation term is recommended as an often-useful additional analysis tool for methods comparison. The more general variance model is fitted to a simulated data set, and one from a clinical chemistry methods comparison. It is used to provide more reliable average versus difference plots, to fit weighted Deming regressions, and to provide valid paired data analyses. The calculations are implemented in r software. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Distributed amplifiers with non-uniform filtering structures

This paper presents a new design concept to better control both passband and stop-band characteristics of distributed amplifiers (DAs) by using non-uniform filtering structures instead of conventional constant-k sections. Two circuit prototypes with Butterworth and Chebyshev filtering were designed using network synthesis method, and implemented in a 0.18/spl mu/m digital CMOS technology. The Butterworth prototype achieved 11.7dB gain, 9GHz bandwidth, and -5dB/GHz roll-off. The Chebyshev one achieved 10dB gain, 8.5GHz bandwidth and -8dB/GHz roll-off.
Content-rich biological network constructed by mining PubMed abstracts.

The integration of the rapidly expanding corpus of information about the genome, transcriptome, and proteome, engendered by powerful technological advances, such as microarrays, and the availability of genomic sequence from multiple species, challenges the grasp and comprehension of the scientific community. Despite the existence of text-mining methods that identify biological relationships based on the textual co-occurrence of gene/protein terms or similarities in abstract texts, knowledge of the underlying molecular connections on a large scale, which is prerequisite to understanding novel biological processes, lags far behind the accumulation of data. While computationally efficient, the co-occurrence-based approaches fail to characterize (e.g., inhibition or stimulation, directionality) biological interactions. Programs with natural language processing (NLP) capability have been created to address these limitations, however, they are in general not readily accessible to the public. We present a NLP-based text-mining approach, Chilibot, which constructs content-rich relationship networks among biological concepts, genes, proteins, or drugs. Amongst its features, suggestions for new hypotheses can be generated. Lastly, we provide evidence that the connectivity of molecular networks extracted from the biological literature follows the power-law distribution, indicating scale-free topologies consistent with the results of previous experimental analyses. Chilibot distills scientific relationships from knowledge available throughout a wide range of biological domains and presents these in a content-rich graphical format, thus integrating general biomedical knowledge with the specialized knowledge and interests of the user. Chilibot http://www.chilibot.net can be accessed free of charge to academic users.
Characteristics of Organic Food Shoppers

Data from a national survey of food shoppers are analyzed by probit and ordered probit models that incorporate elements of Lancaster's product attribute model and Weinstein's precaution adoption process. The models are used to investigate the characteristics of organic and nonorganic food shoppers. Where one shops, food beliefs, and food knowledge have the largest significant impact on the probability that shoppers buy organic food. Among the demographic characteristics, only the lack of religious affiliation, higher education, and youth are significant explanatory variables.
The Cultural Context of Aging: Woridwide Perspectives

The Cultural Context of Aging: Woridwide Perspectives. 2nd edition. Jay Sokolovsky. ed. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 1997 (cloth and paper), xxxi. 576 pp.
Molecular Characterization of Sporadic Pediatric Thyroid Carcinoma with the DNA/RNA ThyroSeq v2 Next-Generation Sequencing Assay

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that our 60-gene DNA/RNA ThyroSeq v2 next-generation sequence (NGS) assay would identify additional genetic markers, including gene fusions in sporadic pediatric differentiated thyroid carcinomas (DTC) that had no known molecular alterations. Sporadic pediatric DTCs with informative molecular testing (n=18) were studied. We previously tested 15 cases by our standard 7-gene (BRAF, NRAS, HRAS, KRAS, RET/PTC1, RET/PTC3, PAX8/PPARg) mutation panel. Three cases were not tested previously. The standard 7-gene panel identified molecular alterations in 9 of 15 tumors (60%). Cases analyzed by ThyroSeq v2 NGS included the six previously negative cases by the standard 7-gene panel and three cases not previously tested. The NGS assay revealed new gene fusions in four of six previously negative cases (67%). These gene fusions included ETV6/NTRK3 (n=3) and TPR/NTRK1 (n=1). A point mutation (BRAF-V600E) was detected in one of three untested cases. While standard testing could identify only molecular alterations in 60% of cases, with the addition of the ThyroSeq v2 NGS, this increased to 87% (n=13/15). Some cases with chromosomal rearrangements, including ETV6/NTRK3, appear to be associated with an aggressive histopathologic phenotype, but had no documented history of radiation exposure. Additional work is needed to investigate if pediatric DTCs could benefit from a reclassification based on molecular subtypes, which may better reflect their underlying biologic potential. Our data support the use of broad gene panels for the molecular diagnostics of pediatric thyroid nodules to aid future classification, treatment, and clinical management recommendations.
Consider Your Man Card Reissued: Masculine Honor and Gun Violence

In this article, Amy Shuffelton addresses school shootings through an investigation of honor and masculinity. Drawing on recent scholarship on honor, including Bernard Williams's Shame and Necessity and Kwame Anthony Appiah's The Honor Code, Shuffelton points out that honor has been misconstrued as exclusively a matter of hierarchical, competitive relationships. A second kind of honor, which exists within relationships of mutual respect between equals, she suggests, merits theorists' further consideration. In its hierarchical mode, honor is often a source of violent action, but honor in its egalitarian mode can play an important role in peacemaking. Shuffelton turns to Homer's Iliad and Adrienne Rich's “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying” to explore honor's potential. Linking both kinds of honor to masculinity and the issue of gun violence, this article contends that to address gun violence in and outside of schools, masculine honor needs to be “reissued” as a matter of egalitarian relationships based on honest communication.
Jury verdicts: Comparison of 6- vs. 12-person juries and unanimous vs. majority decision rule in a murder trial

A total of 180 jurors from the Kings County, New York, Jury Assembly room served as mock jurors in a murder trial presented on videotape. Subjects were randomly assigned to cells of a 2 by 2 design which varied jury size (6 vs. 12) and verdict decision rule (majority vs. unanimous). An ANOVA showed that jury verdicts became more severe as a result of deliberating in the smaller jury and under majority rule. The majority decision rule clearly resulted in more convictions. Empirical support for the smaller size jury effect was limited.
Comparison of Active Cooling Devices with Passive Cooling for Rehabilitation of Firefighters Performing Exercise in Thermal Protective Clothing: A Report from the Fireground Rehab Evaluation (FIRE) Trial

AbstractBackground. Thermal protective clothing (TPC) worn by firefighters provides considerable protection from the external environment during structural fire suppression. However, TPC is associated with physiologic derangements that may have adverse cardiovascular consequences. These derangements should be treated during on-scene rehabilitation periods. Objective. To examine heart rate and core temperature responses during the application of four active cooling devices, currently being marketed to the fire service for on-scene rehabilitation, and compare them with passive cooling in a moderate temperature (approximately 24°C) and with an infusion of cold (4°C) saline. Methods. Subjects exercised while they were wearing TPC in a heated room. Following an initial exercise period (bout 1), the subjects exited the room, removed the TPC, and for 20 minutes cooled passively at room temperature, received an infusion of cold normal saline, or were cooled by one of four devices (fan, forearm immersion in water,...