cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Some further studies on the accumulation and retention of 65Zn and 54Mn by the plaice, pleuronectes platessa L.

Some further studies on the accumulation and retention of 64Zn and 54Mn by plaice, Pleuronectes platessa L., have been made. Direct accumulation from water, by eggs and larvae, is insufficient to account for the concentrations of these metals in young fish. It appears, therefore, that, from the earliest stages, food constitutes the major pathway for accumulation. Stable element analyses of liver, muscle, and bone samples from fish of differing weights and ages show that their concentrations, in adult fish, remain fairly constant. On this basis it has previously been estimated that biological half-times of these metals via food should be shorter than those observed after accumulation from labelled water. Experiments following the loss of the isotopes from fish which had been fed labelled polychaete worms support this view.
Effects of nicotine on eeg and evoked potentials and their interactions with autonomic drugs

Abstract The effects of nicotine on behaviour, electrical activity and evoked potentials from the auditory cortex were studied in restrained conscious cats. Nicotine (12.5 μg/kg i.P.) produced biphasic effects consisting, of an initial stimulation followed by depression, whereas in higher doses (25. 50, 100 μg/kg intraperitoneally and 10 μg into the lateral ventricle) it caused only depression. The stimulant phase was characterized by behavioural arousal, EEG desynchronization, decrease in the duration of both high and low alpha bursts, alpha indices, electrogenesis and auditory evoked potentials. Depression was associated with EEG synchronization, and increases in the duration of both high and low alpha bursts, alpha indices, electrogenesis and auditory evoked potentials. Most of these responses in the initial stimulation phase could be blocked by scopolamine. whereas those in later depressant phase were blocked by phenoxybenzamine and phentolamine. Nicotine exerted a biphasic action with initial muscarinic stimulation followed by noradrenergic depression. It is suggested that nicotine induces concomitant muscarinic and noradrenergic stimulations that are reflected in the time-course of action with initial cholinergic and subsequent noradrenergic preponderence.
Adjuvant chemotherapy combination of vinblastine, actinomycin D, Bleomycin, and Chlorambucil following retroperitoneal lymph node dissection for stage II testis tumor

In an attempt to reduce recurrence of nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of testis stage II, 62 patients were treated with vinblastine, actinomycin D, bleomycin, and chlorambucil after retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. Of the patients, 84% have remained in complete remission with median follow-up of three years: 33/33 stage II-A (N-1,N-2A) and 19/29 (66%) stage II-B (N-2B,N3). The relapse rate in patients who had histologic evidence of extranodal extension of the tumor (N-3) was 54% (7/13). This program did not cause any serious toxicity. Adjuvant chemotherapy is effective in reducing relapses. More recently, with the current availability of chemotherapy with a high efficacy for control of disseminated disease, patients with resected stage II-A (N-1,N2A) have been followed closely and treated only if they developed evidence of recurrence. Patients with resected stage II-B (N-2B,N-3) have been placed on a more aggressive adjuvant program.
Analogs of sparteine. IV. Mass spectral features of a series of N, N′-disubstituted bispidines

The mass spectra of a series of N, N′-disubstituted bispidinc derivatives have been investigated, and salient features analogous to those seen in the spectra of related azabieyelie compounds observed. The most important feature observed in the spectra is the common base peak (m/e 58), which results from the generation of N, N-dimethylformimmonium ion 24. The pathway by which this ion originates is discussed.
RELATION OF COMPOSITION TO GROWTH AND FRUITFULNESS OF YOUNG APPLE TREES AS AFFECTED BY GIRDLING, SHADING, AND PHOTOPERIOD

An effort is being made to record the relations of internal composition of apple trees to their vegetative responses, especially to the particular growth characters accompanying blossom bud formation. Various environmental conditions are being used to vary the plant composition. In a previous report (4) the effects of nitrogen fertilization were considered. It was observed that the vegetative condition as measured by such characters as length of growth, leaf colors, bark colors, and plant composition varied directly with the nitrogen fertilization under the cultural conditions provided : dwarf trees in pots in the greenhouse. On the other hand, blossom bud formation was not correlated to cultural treatment, but rather to growth character and to a " balance ' ' in composition when the carbohydrate and nitrogen content are compared. This is a condition similar to that described by Kraus and Kraybill for fruit development in the tomato (2). The most vegetative plants or growths were highest in nitrogen, lowest in carbohydrates, and unfruitful; the least vegetative plants were lowest in nitrogen, highest in carbohydrates and were unfruitful ; and the moderately vegetative plants were intermediate in nitrogen and carbohydrate content and were fruitful.
Recovery from an activity-induced metabolic acidosis in the American alligator, Alligator mississippiensis

The metabolic acidosis resulting from an intense exercise bout is large in crocodilians. Here we studied recovery from this pH perturbation in the American alligator. Metabolic rate, minute ventilation, arterial pH and gases, and strong ion concentration were measured for 10 h after exhaustion to elucidate the mechanisms and time course of recovery. Exhaustion resulted in a significant increase in lactate, metabolic rate, and ventilation, and a decrease in arterial PCO2, pH and bicarbonate. By 15 min after exhaustion, oxygen consumption returned to rest though carbon dioxide excretion remained elevated for 30 min. Arterial PO2, [Na+], and [K+], increased following exhaustion and recovered by 30 min post-exercise. Minute ventilation, tidal volume, [Cl−], and respiratory exchange ratio returned to resting values by 1 h. The air convection requirement for oxygen was elevated between 15 and 60 min of recovery. Breathing frequency and pH returned to resting values by 2 h of recovery. Lactate levels remained elevated until 6 h post-exercise. Arterial PCO2 and [HCO3−] were depressed until 8 h post-exercise. Compensation during recovery of acid-base balance was achieved by altering ventilation: following the initial metabolic acidosis and titration of bicarbonate, a relative hyperventilation prevented a further decrease in pH.
Entrainment in Leading-Edge and Trailing Vortices

*Leading edge vortices from delta wings and trailing vortices from wings in general may be characterized as orderly vortex flows aligned with a mainstream flow. The nature of the axial flow in the core of the vortex determines the nature of the entrainment produced by the vortex. Jet-like, wake-like, or constant axial velocity distributions in the core of the vortex result in greatly differing entrainment characteristics. The mass entrainment by the vortex and its relationship to the variation of the axial flow in the vortex according to the continuity equation is described. It is shown that conventional trailing vortices do not entrain mass but rather diffuse into the constant outer flow while leading edge vortices have substantial entrainment properties. Then further analysis of the vortex according to momentum conservation illustrates the dependence of the entrainment on the circulation in the leading edge vortex. Finally the mass entrainment is related to the aerodynamic characteristics of the generating delta wing.
Seedbank responses to spring and fall prescribed fire in mountain big sagebrush ecosystems of differing ecological condition at Lava Beds National Monument, California

Land use change in the American West has altered sagebrush dominated ecosystems, facilitating exotic grass invasion, increased woody species, altered fire regimes, and native species losses. Restoring fire regimes may be integral to the restoration of sagebrush ecosystems. However, little is known about how the timing of prescribed fire differentially impacts the soil seedbank. Further, sites of different ecological condition may variably respond to fire. To address these uncertainties, we quantified germination of invasive cheatgrass and plant functional groups (native dicots, exotic dicots, native bunchgrasses, and native shrubs) following spring and fall prescribed burns in three mountain big sagebrush communities at Lava Beds National Monument, California. At cheatgrass and native-dominated sites, there were fewer cheatgrass seedlings (91% and 86%, respectively) immediately following spring fire than in unburned controls, but this reduction did not persist one year later. Fall burns did not significantly impact cheatgrass or exotic dicot germination. At a native dominated site, native dicots increased one year following spring (1620%) and fall burns (67%), suggesting adaptation to a natural fire regime. This research shows that the prefire condition of an ecosystem greatly influences the postfire germination response, and that fire-adapted ecosystems can benefit from the natural disturbance regime.
Protein-polymer grafts, IV. A. Modification of amino acids: IIai. Modification of free lysine with reductive arylation.

Inability to increase the yield of reaction between 2, 4 dihydroxybenzaldehyde and gelatin beyond 55 and 60% has led to an extensive investigation of reductive alkylation with free lysine. Even with free lysine, the extent of reaction was about 60%. Since this could be attributed to the electron donation by the phenolic hydroxyls, reductive alkylation was performed between 0-, m-, and p-nitrobenzaldehydes and free lysine; 0- and m-nitrobenzaldehyde were ineffective in increasing the yield while with p-nitrobenzaldehyde a yield of 72% was achieved. The unreacted 28% of the lysines are susceptible to epichlorohydrin. These results suggest that the slow, reversible first step in reductive alkylation, the formation of the Schiff s base, is responsible for the low yield.
Correlation of Dislocation Loop Formation and Time Dependent Diffusion of Implanted P-type Dopants in Gallium Arsenide

Recent experimental results indicate that diffusion of implanted p-type dopants in GaAs is time dependent under certain conditions. For Mg implanted at a dose of 1 × 10 14 cm −2 , the diffusion is constant for approximately an hour, then decreases by an order of magnitude or more. Be implanted at 1 × 10 13 and 1 ×10 14 cm −2 exhibits similar behavior, but with a shorter time before the diffusivity decreases. The diffusivity in 1 × 10 13 Mg cm −2 implants, in contrast, remains constant for up to 16 hours. TEM micrographs of Be and Mg implants reveal dislocation loops in the higher dose samples, but not in the lower dose ones. During annealing, the loops grow and decrease in density, eventually disappearing completely from the crystal. This annealing of the loops appears to correlate to the time dependence of the diffusion. This behavior can be explained in terms of the substitutional-interstitial diffusion (SID) mechanism and point defect equilibria.
Theoretical simulation of thermally induced phase separation in a main‐chain liquid‐crystalline polymer solution

Phase diagrams of main-chain liquid-crystalline polymer (MCLCP) solutions have been calculated self-consistently on the basis of a simple addition of the Flory-Huggins free energy for isotropic mixing, the Maier-Saupe free energy for nematic ordering, and the Flory free energy for chain rigidity of the MCLCP backbone. The calculated phase diagram is an upper critical solution type overlapping with the nematic-isotropic transition. The phase diagram consists of liquid-liquid, liquid-nematic, and pure nematic regions. Subsequently, the dynamics of thermally induced phase separation and morphology development have been investigated by the incorporation of the combined free energy density into the coupled time-dependent GinzburgLandau (model C) equations, which involve conserved compositional and nonconserved orientational order parameters. The numerical calculations reveal a variety of the morphological patterns arising from the competition between liquid-liquid phase separation and nematic ordering of the liquid-crystalline polymer. Of particular interest is the observation of an inflection in the growth dynamic curve, which may be attributed to the nematic ordering of the MCLCP component, which leads to the breakdown of the interconnected domains.
Periodic Feedback Control Systems: Closed-Loop Dynamic Behavior

Periodic feedback is a control strategy implemented by fast zero-average oscillations in the parameters of the control law. It is well known that time invariant feedback control offers no means for zeros relocation. Periodic feedback allows zeros relocation in an asymptotic sense, resulting in improved closed loop characteristics, such as increased gain margins.
Public Health Systems: A Social Networks Perspective

In its report “The Future of Public Health” the Institute of Medicine (IOM) argued for an expanded role of governmental public health agencies and the increased involvement of community organizations to address the public health needs of Americans. In a later report, the IOM embraced the public health system vision of public health agencies as a consensus builder and the convener of organizational partnerships spanning public, private, and voluntary sectors of the community (Committee on Assuring the Health of the Public in the 21st Century 2002). A key benefit of this systems approach is greater opportunity for identifying, leveraging, and concentrating resources. Researchers define public health systems as community-based organizational networks that include “the full complement of public and private organizations that contribute to the delivery of public health services for a given population, including governmental public health agencies as well as private and voluntary entities” (Mays, Halverson, and Scutchfield 2003, p. 180). Public health systems researchers consider local health departments (LHDs) a nerve center of public health systems, facilitating “the actions of others in accomplishing systemwide goals” (Halverson 2002). This paper extends the research on public health systems using a case comparative design to examine public health systems in eight rural communities. The research objectives are to (a) describe public health systems social network structural features of density and organizational centrality by health domain (adolescent health, senior health, and preparedness); and (b) examine the relationship between social network structure and state public health governance, community size, health domain, and health status. Density and organizational centrality are two key features of social networks (Sandstrom and Carlsson 2008). Density measures the amount of interconnectedness between the organizations in a network. Interconnectedness is important because it facilitates implementation through organizations working together. Organizational centrality is important for coordinating and focusing network actions.
Clinical Use of p53 in Barrett's Esophagus

Barrett's esophagus is an established precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma. Whereas most patients with Barrett's esophagus do not progress to adenocarcinoma, patients with progression have a poor prognosis. Current management strategies use frequent endoscopic surveillance and multiple nontargeted biopsies. This approach, however, may miss dysplastic areas. Furthermore, given the relatively high prevalence of Barrett's esophagus but low incidence of progression, this invasive and expensive approach has not been shown to be cost-effective. Thus, there is intense interest in using biomarkers to identify patients at increased risk of progressing to adenocarcinoma. This has included examination of mutations in the tumor suppressor gene, p53. In this report, we discuss the biology of p53 and the incidence of p53 mutations in Barrett's esophagus and review relevant studies regarding the ability of p53 to predict neoplastic progression. Additionally, we report our results of the expression of p53 by immunohistochemistry in a group of 18 patients that have undergone endoscopic esophageal mucosal resection for dysplasia. Although the presence of a p53 mutation increases the risk of neoplastic progression, the absence of this mutation does not abrogate the risk. Continuing efforts, therefore, are needed to define and prospectively validate a panel of biomarkers to risk-stratify patients with Barrett's esophagus. Determination of p53 mutational status may ultimately be a component of such a panel.
At-column heating and a resistively heated, liquid-cooled thermal modulator for a low-resource bench-top GC x GC.

A transportable GC×GC instrument is under development for on-site applications that would benefit from the enhanced resolution and powers of detection, which can be achieved by this method. In the present study, a low-resource GC×GC instrument using an electrically heated and liquid-cooled single-stage thermal modulator that requires no cryogenic materials is evaluated. The instrument also uses at-column heating, thus eliminating the need for a convection oven to house the two columns. The stainless-steel modulator tube is coated with PDMS, which can be heated to 350°C for sample injection into the second-dimension column. The modulator is cooled to –30°C by a 100 mL/min flow of PEG by means of a commercial liquid chiller and a small recirculating pump. Resistive heating of the modulator tube is provided by a programmable power supply, which uses a voltage program that results in increasing modulator temperature during an analysis. This, together with more rapid cooling by the use of a liquid cooling medium, results in reduced solute breakthrough following each heating cycle as the modulator cools to a temperature where quantitative trapping resumes. As a result, modulated peak widths at half-height of less than 40 ms are observed. Design and performance details are presented along with chromatograms of gasoline and an essential oil sample.
Preparation and mechanism of formation of titanium dioxide hydrosols of narrow size distribution

Abstract A procedure is described for preparation of titanium dioxide sols consisting of spherical particles of narrow size distributions. The method involves aging at elevated temperatures highly acidic solutions of TiCl 4 which also contain Na 2 SO 4 . Particle modal diameters increase with the duration of aging and with the increasing concentration of sulfate ions at a given concentration of titanium(IV) ions. X-ray and light scattering analyses show that the particle composition corresponds to rutile. No sulfate ions are present in the solid phase. A chemical mechanism of particle formation and growth is proposed. It considers the hydrolysis of titanium ions and the formation of strong titanium-sulfate complexes that slowly decompose on heating to yield (hydrolyzed) titanium (IV) ions, which are used up in the particle growth. The derived mathematical formulations are in excellent agreement with the experimental results.
Robinson-Schensted algorithms for Skew tableaux

Abstract We introduce several analogs of the Robinson-Schensted algorithm for skew Young tableaux. These correspondences provide combinatorial proofs of various identities involving f λ μ the number of standard skew tableaux of shape λ μ , and the skew Schur functions s λ μ (x). For example, we are able to show bijectively that and It is then shown that these new algorithms enjoy some of the same properties as the original. In particular, it is still true that replacing a permutation by its inverse exchanges the two output tableaux. This fact permits us to derive a number of other identities as well.
A classification-based approach to question answering in discussion boards

Discussion boards and online forums are important platforms for people to share information. Users post questions or problems onto discussion boards and rely on others to provide possible solutions and such question-related content sometimes even dominates the whole discussion board. However, to retrieve this kind of information automatically and effectively is still a non-trivial task. In addition, the existence of other types of information (e.g., announcements, plans, elaborations, etc.) makes it difficult to assume that every thread in a discussion board is about a question. We consider the problems of identifying question-related threads and their potential answers as classification tasks. Experimental results across multiple datasets demonstrate that our method can significantly improve the performance in both question detection and answer finding subtasks. We also do a careful comparison of how different types of features contribute to the final result and show that non-content features play a key role in improving overall performance. Finally, we show that a ranking scheme based on our classification approach can yield much better performance than prior published methods.
An Examination of 1-Year Adherence and Persistence Rates to Antiepileptic Medication in Children With Newly Diagnosed Epilepsy

OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of the current study was to use new methods to examine 1-year quality of medication dosing (adherence) and continuation with medication treatment (persistence) rates to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in children with newly diagnosed epilepsy. METHODS: Medication-taking behaviors of AEDs were assessed using electronic monitors for 117 children with newly diagnosed epilepsy for the first year after diagnosis. RESULTS: Approximately 15% of participants were categorized as nonpersistent (i.e., failed to take medication for >15 consecutive days) 6-months after AED initiation, which increased to 26.6% of participants at 1 year. The majority of medication dosing events took place within a +/-2-hr interval as recommended. The group with lower socioeconomic status demonstrated more nonpersistence over time. CONCLUSION: Examining adherence and persistence in medication taking behaviors may yield different types of data for clinical and research purposes. Language: en
EWS/FLI1 Oncogene Activates Caspase 3 Transcription and Triggers Apoptosis In Vivo

EWS/FLI1 is a fusion gene product generated by a chromosomal translocation t(11;22)(q24;q12) found in Ewing sarcoma. EWS/FLI1 encodes an aberrant transcription factor with oncogenic properties in vitro. Paradoxically, expression of EWS/FLI1 in nontransformed primary cells results in apoptosis, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. In primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts derived from conditional EWS/FLI1 knock-in embryos, expression of EWS/FLI1 resulted in apoptosis with concomitant increase in the endogenous Caspase 3 (Casp3) mRNA. EWS/FLI1 directly bound and activated the CASP3 promoter, whereas small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of EWS/FLI1 led to a marked decrease in CASP3 transcripts in Ewing sarcoma cell lines. Ectopic expression of EWS/FLI1 resulted in an increased expression of CASP3 protein in heterologous cell lines. Importantly, expression of EWS/FLI1 in the mouse triggered an early onset of apoptosis in kidneys and acute lethality. These findings suggest that EWS/FLI1 induces apoptosis, at least partially, through the activation of CASP3 and show the cell context-dependent roles of EWS/FLI1 in apoptosis and tumorigenesis.
Laser saturation broadening in flame absorption and fluorescence experiments

Atomic absorption and fluorescence excitation spectral profiles of Na in an air/C2H2 flame were scanned for high sample irradiances. The light source was a flash lamp pumped tuneable dye laser having a spectral bandwidth of less than 0.005 nm. The transmittance profile disappeared into the noise level of the unity transmittance line for an irradiance of 500 kW/cm2. The halfwidth of the fluorescence excitation spectral profile increased from 0.0010 to 0.0019 nm for an increase in irradiance from 0.2 to 42 kW/cm2. Exciting the 588.99 nm Na line with the laser tuned to 588.53 nm allowed baseline resolution to be achieved between the fluoresced light at 588.99 nm and the scattered light at 588.53 nm. The possibility of using such far wing excitation to improve detection limits for resonance fluorescence is discussed.
Being an African in the World: The Du Boisian Epistemology

W.E.B. Du Bois sought not merely to rewrite the history of Africa but to think in epistemological terms about what it meant to be an African in the modern world and its significance for social research. This becomes apparent in part from his earliest writing—in particular, a 1904 review of The Souls of Black Folk— but takes on a more conscious form in later works. Looking at Du Bois in this way locates his intellectual project in an African-centered challenge to European intellectual and civilizational hegemony, a challenge which is wider and more profound than modern-day Afrocentrism. To achieve what is no less than an epistemic break, he sought to reconceptualize Africa from the standpoint of an African in America. This article views the Du Boisian project as a rupture of vast proportions and one which has continuing value to the social and human sciences of the African.
Mechanical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Changes Following Eccentric or Concentric Exertions

Abstract Background Prior work has shown that changes in mechanical parameters and magnetic resonance imaging parameters occur following submaximal eccentric activity but it is unclear whether similar changes occur following submaximal concentric activity. This study compared mechanical response parameters and MRI relaxation parameters following submaximal concentric or eccentric exertions. Methods This single site, randomized study investigated in vivo changes in human upper limb dynamic mechanical properties following exposure to short term repetitive submaximal eccentric or concentric exertions. Eighteen subjects were assigned to either an eccentric or concentric group and exercised for 30 min at 50% of isometric forearm maximum voluntary contraction. Changes in strength, symptom intensity, magnetic resonance imaging T 2 relaxation measurements, which are indicative of edema, and dynamic mechanical parameters (stiffness, effective mass, and damping) were ascertained prior to exercise, 1 h after, and 24 h later. Findings Strength decreased following exercise ( P P P P 2 relaxation time. Interpretation The changes in mechanical parameters and magnetic resonance imaging findings following repetitive submaximal eccentric activity could negatively impact the ability of the arm to react to rapid forceful loading during repetitive industrial work activities and may result in increased strain on the upper limb. Similar changes were not observed following concentric exercise.
Headache Education in Colleges of Pharmacy

OBJECTIVE:To assess primary headache education in colleges of pharmacy during the 2000–2001 academic year.DESIGN:A survey seeking to quantify students' primary headache education was mailed to all 82 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy member schools.RESULTS:A usable response was obtained from 65 of 74 answering schools. Per professional year, the average pharmacy student receives 1 headache core course contact hour and no headache elective course contact hours. Two schools offer clerkships devoted exclusively to headaches. Six schools offer clerkships in which a student could expect to focus on headache therapy at least 25% of the time. Seven schools plan to alter their current curriculum to include more headache education, all via additional lectures.CONCLUSIONS:Few opportunities exist for students to learn about primary headaches in colleges of pharmacy. Given the high prevalence and poor medical management of primary headache disorders along with the commonality of pharmacist—headache patient...
NEW SPECIES OF AMPHIPOD CRUSTACEANS IN THE GENERA TEGANO AND MELITA (HADZIOIDEA: MELITIDAE) FROM SUBTERRANEAN GROUNDWATERS IN GUAM, PALAU, AND THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract Three new species of Tegano are described, two from caves on Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines, and one from a cave on Peleliu Island, Palau. Sriha vagabunda from Sri Lanka is reassigned to the genus Tegano based primarily on the high degree of similarity between Sriha vagabunda and species of Tegano and the fact that these species exhibit a great deal of variation in the reduction of the mandibular palp. A new species of Melita with characters intermediate between those defining the genera Abludomelita, Melita, and Paraniphargus is described from a spring on Guam. The characters of the new species and studies by previous authors suggest that Abludomelita may not be as distinct from Melita as previously believed. The troglomorphic genus Paraniphargus from the Andaman Islands and Java is re-evaluated and synonymized with Melita.
NDT-Certification Notes

To the Editor: In responding to your feature “Perspectives: Should There Be NDT Certification?”,1 I would like to make several comments to clarify an apparent inaccuracy in one of the viewpoints expressed. Although I agree with most of Dr. Sahrmann's views on NDT certification (View 1), I take issue with her statement that “there is no evidence that the regimen is effective.” Scherzer, Mike, and Ilson's classic study comparing the effects of a neurophysiologically-based therapy approach (Bobath, Rood, and PNF) to a regimen consisting of passive range of motion in a group of infants with cerebral palsy concluded that the experimental group “consistently showed greater improvement (percent of change) for each response category.”2 (pp49–50) A more recent study examined the effects of NDT on motor performance in infants with Down syndrome.3… [ ARTICLE][1] [1]: /lookup/volpage/63/552?iss=4
Cancer Neoantigens and Applications for Immunotherapy

Recent advances in immune checkpoint blockade therapy have revolutionized the treatment of cancer. Tumor-specific antigens that are generated by somatic mutation, neoantigens, can influence patient response to immunotherapy and contribute to tumor shrinkage. Recent evidence demonstrating the success of checkpoint blockade immunotherapy in boosting T-cell reactivity against patient-specific neoantigens constitutes a strong rationale for the development of personalized vaccines against these nonself peptides. With the decreasing cost of next-generation sequencing, peptide manufacturing, and improvement of in silico prediction of peptide immunogenicity, it is increasingly important to evaluate the potential use of neoantigens in both diagnosis and treatment. Specifically, these neoantigens could be useful both as predictors of immune checkpoint blockade therapy response and/or incorporated in therapeutic vaccination strategies.
Difficult Peritoneal Access

Since the initial published foray into laparoscopic surgery in the 1970s, laparoscopic techniques have been applied to almost every procedure performed in the abdominal cavity. While advances in techniques and instrumentation have made laparoscopy generally safe in experienced surgeons’ hands, and the benefits of laparoscopy over open surgery have been amply documented, there are complications that are unique to laparoscopy, namely, trocar injuries. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires manufacturers and user facilities to report deaths and serious injuries related to devices that are kept in the Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database.
Learning Continuous Phrase Representations for Translation Modeling

This paper tackles the sparsity problem in estimating phrase translation probabilities by learning continuous phrase representations, whose distributed nature enables the sharing of related phrases in their representations. A pair of source and target phrases are projected into continuous-valued vector representations in a low-dimensional latent space, where their translation score is computed by the distance between the pair in this new space. The projection is performed by a neural network whose weights are learned on parallel training data. Experimental evaluation has been performed on two WMT translation tasks. Our best result improves the performance of a state-of-the-art phrase-based statistical machine translation system trained on WMT 2012 French-English data by up to 1.3 BLEU points.
Reasoning Words as Linguistic Features of Exploratory Talk: Classroom Use and What It Can Tell Us

Reasoning words are linguistic features associated with classroom exploratory talk as students talk-to-learn, explore ideas, and probe each other's thinking. This study extends established research on use of reasoning words to a fourth- to fifth-grade literature-based English language learning context. We examined frequency and patterning of teacher and student use of reasoning words within and across two lessons purposefully selected to elucidate use of reasoning words during a close reading of a text as students grapple to make meaning and extended intertextual talk about a text that is easily accessible. Analyses and exemplifications illuminate how usage of each reasoning word functioned to introduce/link to reasoning or to prompt for reasoning. Teacher used reasoning words to mostly prompt for reasoning and student used them to introduce/link to reasoning. We found consistent use of reasoning words by teacher and students across three categories: language of possibility, reasoning links, and pressing ...
Detecting DNS Root Manipulation

We present techniques for detecting unauthorized DNS root servers in the Internet using primarily endpoint-based measurements from RIPE Atlas, supplemented with BGP routing announcements from RouteViews and RIPE RIS. The first approach analyzes the latency to the root server and the second approach looks for route hijacks. We demonstrate the importance and validity of these techniques by measuring the only root server (“B”) not widely distributed using anycast. Our measurements establish the presence of several DNS proxies and a DNS root mirror.
Ab initio study of key branching reactions in biodiesel and Fischer-Tropsch fuels.

Many biologically and Fischer–Tropsch synthesized fuels contain branched alkanes which, during their combustion and atmospheric oxidation mechanism, produce methylalkyl radicals. As a result, an accurate description of the chemistry of these species is essential to integrating these fuels into our energy systems. Even though branched alkanes make up roughly one-third of the compounds in gasoline and diesel fuels, both experimental and theoretical data on methylalkyl radicals and their reactions are scarce, especially for larger chain systems and combustion conditions. The present work investigates all the hydrogen migration reactions available to the n-methylprop-1-yl through n-methylhept-1-yl radicals, for n = 2–6, using the CBS-Q, G2, and G4 composite computational methods, over a wide temperature range. The resulting thermodynamic and kinetic parameters are used to determine the effect that the presence of the methyl group has on these important unimolecular, chain branching reactions, for the reaction...
Excretion of vacuolating SV-40 virus (papova virus group) after ingestion as a contaminant of oral poliovaccine.

SummaryChildren ingesting vacuolating SV-40 virus, a member of the papova group, may excrete virus in their stools. When 100 to 1000 PFU of vacuolating virus present as a contaminant of oral poliovaccine, were fed to 3- to 6-month-old infants, some of them excreted vacuolating virus for 4 weeks. Vacuolating virus seemed to interfere to some degree with the multiplication of poliovirus, for SV-40 carriers excreted less poliovirus and for shorter periods than did those children who did not become infected by the vacuolating virus. Two groups of newborn infants receiving large doses of SV-40 were also studied, and in one group vacuolating virus was found to be excreted for as long as 5 weeks. No disease attributable to SV-40 occurred in any of these children, nor has illness been recorded for any of the hundreds of thousands or millions who have either been injected or been fed with this agent.Consideration should be given to the cationic treatment of oral poliovaccines. Such treatment stabilizes the vaccine...
High Charge Carrier Mobility, Low Band Gap Donor–Acceptor Benzothiadiazole-oligothiophene Based Polymeric Semiconductors

A series of benzothiadiazole oligothiophene and oligo(thienylene vinylene) donor–acceptor (D–A) copolymers were synthesized and characterized. These low optical band gap materials (∼1.5 eV) are capable of absorbing photons in the range of 400–800 nm and exhibit good thermal stability. Their hole mobilities, determined using an organic field-effect transistor (OFET) architecture, vary over a range of 3 orders of magnitude and strongly correlate with the molecular ordering and morphology of the respective thin films. Spin-coated films of the poly(benzothiadiazole-sexithiophene) PBT6, which exhibits a highly crystalline lamellar π–π stacked edge-on orientation on the OFET substrate, possesses a hole mobility of ca. 0.2 cm2/V·s. Vinylene-containing analogs PBT6V2 and PBT6V2′ are amorphous and exhibit very low mobilities. The molecular weight of PBT6 has a strong influence on the electronic properties: a sample with a lower molecular weight exhibits a mobility approximately 1 order of magnitude lower than the ...
Advantages of Solid Paraffin for Sealing Anaerobic Fluid Cultures

Preparation of Culture Tubes.?Paraffin melting at about 55 C. is heated well above the melting point, and delivered, in measured quantities, by means of a flame-heated pipet, into dry test tubes. With the ordinary half-inch test tube, 0.5 c c paraffin is sufficient. The tubes are plugged and sterilized in the upright position in an autoclave. After sterilization, the paraffin is allowed to solidify at the bottom of the tubes. The liquid culture medium is now added to the tubes, and the tubes sterilized in an upright position by the discontinuous method. After each heating, the tubes are rapidly cooled by immersing them in cold water. After the final heating, the thoroughly cooled medium is stored until needed. The paraffin at this stage forms a solid layer from 2 to 5 mm. thick, at the top of each tube (fig. 1, A). Inoculation of the Tubes.?The tube is gently warmed over a Bunsen flame, at the level of the paraffin plug. The plug can then be readily tipped with the platinum loop (fig. 1, B). After inoculation, the tube is again warmed slightly as before to seal the plug, and placed in an upright position in cold water for a few seconds.
Where networking is taking us: interconnectivity of systems and convergence of networks

The Internet information environment has become home to a diverse and rapidly growing population of communities. These and other communities have begun to consider how the Internet experience might become the rule rather than the exception of 21st Century life and enterprise. This paper will explore three lessons that can be drawn from the current or close future Internet information environment and which call attention to places where fundamental shifts in thinking may be possible, even necessary, if the full potential of the Internet, and of networks like the Internet is to be realized for communication and publication.
Comparison of 4 Different Extraction Methods for Magnolia grandiflora DNA

Magnolia grandiflora DNA was isolated using four extraction methods.They are traditional CTAB method,improved CTAB method,traditional SDS method and improved SDS method.The results indicate that improved CTAB DNA extraction produces DNA of much better quality than the others,which has higher density and purity,no protein and no such impurities as RNA and can be well applied to the analysis of ISSR molecular markers;and that the optimal DNA density in the ISSR-PCR reacting system is 30 ng/20 μL.
Threshold Digital Signature Scheme Without Trusted Center

With Combination of digital signatures and non-trusted threshold secret sharing,Based on ECC and ElGamal digital signature scheme,a threshold digital signature scheme without a trusted center is designed,.In this scheme,the trusted center to manage secret key and distribute secret shadows is eliminated,t or more than t members produce a digital signature.They don' t produce a secret key.Secret communication is required only in the secret-generating phase.The scheme is characterized by excellentsecurity as well as high efficiency.
Epidemiology of Lymphoreticular Malignancies in Man

In recent years, rapid advances have been made in lymphoma research. These advances are due in large part to a more complete understanding of basic immunological concepts and to our growing realization that some alteration in host immunity might be a prerequisite for the development of many lymphoreticular malignancies. Epidemiological investigations, which of necessity must consider the elements of person, place, and time, have also been directed at certain fundamental issues: What is the importance of environmental and genetic factors in these diseases? Do both play a role? How do the various lymphomas differ, and what are these differences telling us? In some instances, notably Hodgkin’s disease and Burkitt’s lymphoma, specific etiological hypotheses have been advanced. Our knowledge of the other lymphomas is more limited.
Conclusion and Future Directions

Having presented the totality of my research and findings, I will use this chapter to conclude my dissertation. First, I will present a brief summary of my work and discuss its implications. Then I will move on to discuss the future research direction for the Boston University Surface Laboratory.
Filtration Markers, Cardiovascular Disease, Mortality, and Kidney Outcomes in Stable Kidney Transplant Recipients: The FAVORIT Trial

Cystatin C and beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) are filtration markers associated with adverse outcomes in nontransplant populations, sometimes with stronger associations than for creatinine. We evaluated associations of estimated glomerular filtration rate from cystatin C (eGFRcys ), B2M (eGFRB2M ), and creatinine (eGFRcr ) with cardiovascular outcomes, mortality, and kidney failure in stable kidney transplant recipients using a case-cohort study nested within the Folic Acid for Vascular Outcome Reduction in Transplantation (FAVORIT) Trial. A random subcohort was selected (N = 508; mean age 51.6 years, median transplant vintage 4 years, 38% women, 23.6% nonwhite race) with enrichment for cardiovascular events (N = 306; 54 within the subcohort), mortality (N = 208; 68 within the subcohort), and kidney failure (N = 208; 52 within the subcohort). Mean eGFRcr , eGFRcys , and eGFRB2M were 46.0, 43.8, and 48.8 mL/min/1.73m2 , respectively. After multivariable adjustment, hazard ratios for eGFRcys and eGFRB2M <30 versus 60+ were 2.02 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-3.76; p = 0.03) and 2.56 (1.35-4.88; p = 0.004) for cardiovascular events; 3.92 (2.11-7.31) and 4.09 (2.21-7.54; both p < 0.001) for mortality; and 9.49 (4.28-21.00) and 15.53 (6.99-34.51; both p < 0.001) for kidney failure. Associations persisted with additional adjustment for baseline eGFRcr . We conclude that cystatin C and B2M are strongly associated with cardiovascular events, mortality, and kidney failure in stable kidney transplant recipients.
Toward Cost-Effective and Sustainable Use of Precious Metals in Heterogeneous Catalysts

Waste not, want not. There is a pressing need to maximize the use of precious metals in catalysts to attain affordable and sustainable products. Recent progress in nanochemistry suggests that it is feasible to put the majority of metal atoms in a catalytic particle to work at optimal activity and selectivity.
What does Beyoncé mean to young girls

With the release of Beyonce’s 2013 eponymous album, culture critics charged all in on whether Beyonce is a feminist figure or an antifeminist product of capitalism, and yet, no one has asked younger people how her music resonates with them. This study examines the attitudes of young girls (aged 11–16) towards Beyonce. They viewed “Girls Run the World” and “Flawless” in focus groups and were asked about their impressions of Beyonce and her relationship to feminism. Through a grounded theory thematic analysis of the data, a relationship among the emergent themes manifested as follows. When Beyonce highlights the girls’ physical, race, class, sexual, and gender vulnerabilities, they counter with sexual respectability politics that result in an ambivalence toward Beyonce who may be a feminist but is not the girls’ role model.
Prefrontal-limbic Functional Connectivity during Acquisition and Extinction of Conditioned Fear.

Abstract This study is a new analysis to obtain novel metabolic data on the functional connectivity of prefrontal-limbic regions in Pavlovian fear acquisition and extinction of tone-footshock conditioning. Mice were analyzed with the fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) autoradiographic method to metabolically map regional brain activity. New FDG data were sampled from the nuclei of the habenula and other regions implicated in aversive conditioning, such as infralimbic cortex, amygdala and periaqueductal gray regions. The activity patterns among these regions were inter-correlated during acquisition, extinction or pseudorandom training to develop a functional connectivity model. Two subdivisions of the habenular complex showed increased activity after acquisition relative to extinction, with the pseudorandom group intermediate between the other two groups. Significant acquisition activation effects were also found in centromedial amygdala, dorsomedial and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray. FDG uptake increases during extinction were found only in dorsal and ventral infralimbic cortex. The overall pattern of activity correlations between these regions revealed extensive but differential functional connectivity during acquisition and extinction training, with less functional connectivity found after pseudorandom training. Interestingly, habenula nuclei showed a distinct pattern of inter-correlations with amygdala nuclei during extinction. The functional connectivity model revealed changing interactions among infralimbic cortex, amygdala, habenula and periaqueductal gray regions through the stages of Pavlovian fear acquisition and extinction. This study provided new data on the contributions of the habenula to fear conditioning, and revealed previously unreported infralimbic-amygdala-habenula-periaqueductal gray interactions implicated in acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear.
Birds as Models for the Biology of Aging and Aging-Related Disease: An Update

Abstract Geroscientists now recognize that avian models have the potential to elucidate the basic cellular mechanisms underlying long life span and resistance to oxidative damage. Biologists from various disciplines have examined phenomena related to basic aging processes in birds, including cellular responses to oxidative stress, often in comparison to mammals. Other studies have focused on neuroendocrine changes during avian reproductive aging, aging-related changes in telomere length and telomerase activity, and changes in immune function. Cell-based approaches (including measuring responses of fibroblasts in vitro) have yielded evidence consistent with the prediction that avian cells are more resistant than mammalian cells to oxidative damage and other forms of stress. Development of good aging biomarkers for birds is challenging. In this chapter, we review some of the most interesting studies focused on aging and related studies in domestic and wild birds; we also review key considerations for making strong, useful inferences about aging and stress-related phenomena in bird studies.