cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Constitutive activation of Pim1 kinase is a therapeutic target for adult T-cell leukemia

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-associated adult T-cell leukemia and T-cell lymphoma (ATL) are aggressive diseases with poor prognoses, limited therapeutic options, and no curative treatment. In this study, we used a mouse model of ATL and restored expression of the microRNA, miR-124a, to identify in vivo downstream effectors responsible for its tumor-suppressive functions in ATL cells. Our results revealed that STAT3, a direct target of miR-124a, is constitutively activated in HTLV-I-transformed cells and ATL cells, and activating STAT3 mutations were detected in 25.5% of primary ATL patients. Interestingly, we found that the STAT3 downstream kinase effector, Pim1, is constitutively activated in ATL cells. The dependence of ATL cells to Pim1 activity was demonstrated using 2 Pim1 small inhibitors, SMI-4a and AZD1208. These studies indicated that HTLV-I-transformed and ATL cells, but not normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells, are highly sensitive to AZD1208, and the inhibition of Pim1 signaling triggers an apoptotic signal in leukemic cells. Finally, preclinical testing of AZD1208 in a mouse model of ATL resulted in significant prevention of tumor growth in vivo. In conclusion, our studies suggest that constitutive activation of the STAT3-Pim1 pathway represents a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of ATL.
Group Therapy As an Effective Treatment Modality for People of Color

The unique benefits for group therapy are examined with special emphasis on the treatment of blacks and Latinos. Because of racial prejudice, economic exploitation, and negative stereotypes, group forces have been especially detrimental to the personality development of people of color. The group therapist attempts to harness these powerful group forces and use them therapeutically, thus enabling people of color to relate better to others while retaining their own autonomy. Racial differences can intensely affect diagnosis, transference, countertransference, and the "real relationship." Distinctions between cultural and functional paranoia are particularly relevant in interracial groups. Implications for training group therapists are also explored.
Therapeutic implications of the drug lag.

The American lag with respect to Britain in the introduction of new therapeutic drugs over the past decade was analyzed to determine whether, in therapeutic terms, Britain has gained or lost from adopting the more permissive policy. The therapeutic impact of a new drug on the whole community is difficult to assess, mainly because there are few methods or data available for measuring benefit. On the evidence currently available, Britain probably did not lose appreciably from the introduction of ineffective drugs, nor from the fact that a greater number of new drugs were made available. The main deleterious effect was that Britain suffered more tOXicity due to new drugs than did the United States, as could have been anticipated from the fact that mare new drugs were marketed there. However, considering the size of the total burden of drug tOXicity, the portion due to new drugs was extremely small, and would in any case be at least partially offset by the adverse effects of older alternative drugs had the latter been used instead. Conversely, Britain experienced clearly discernible gains by introducing useful new drugs, either sooner than the United States or exclusively. On balance, Britain appears to have gained in comparison from its more permissive policy toward the marketing of new drugs coupled with a more rigorous program of postmarketing surveillance. Wider issues raised by this study include the desirability of further intensifying postmarketing surveillance, particularly in the case of new drugs; the conflict between the presently conceived public health role of a regulatory agency and the desire of a physician to choose optimal therapy for particular patients; the therapeutic and social implications of the control of drug utilization as distinct from marketing; and the significance of the latter controls for the future of medicine.
CARRYING CAPACITY IN A PILOT FLOTATION COLUMN

Concentrate flow rates were measured for the flotation of −100-mesh Lower Kittaning coal in a computer-controlled 0.076 x 3.5-m pilot flotation column. The variables studied were recovery zone height, airflow and solid feed rates. The specific projected surface areas of the feed, concentrate and tailing streams were determined from the measured particle size distributions. The results obtained show that the concentrate flow rate was independent of recovery zone height but was dependent on the hydrostatic pressure setting (measure of froth depth), gas flow rate, solid loading and particle size. New correlations for column carrying capacity and yield arc provided as a function of bubble surface area flux and the specific particle projected surface area.
Mucosal Macrophages in Defense and Regulation

The intestinal mucosa contains the largest reservoir of macrophages in the body. Intestinal macrophages are derived from circulating blood monocytes that localize exclusively to the lamina propria, where they lose certain surface antigens and receptors, including CD11a–c, CD14 and FcRI-III, but retain HLA-DR, CD13 and TLR3, 5–9. The absence of CD11a and b on human intestinal macrophages helps distinguish these cells from intestinal myeloid dendritic cells. The distinct phenotype of human intestinal macrophages, reflected by the absence of CX3CR1, challenges direct comparison between human and mouse mucosal macrophages based on single common surface antigens. Resident human intestinal macrophages are potently down-regulated for the production of regulatory cytokines such as IL-10 and all inflammatory cytokines (inflammation anergy) through stromal TGF-mediated Smad signaling and NF-B inactivation, but retain powerful phagocytic and microbicidal activity. Thus, human intestinal macrophages clear local apoptotic cells and provide host defense against microbes that breach the epithelium in a non-inflammatory manner, thereby contributing to mucosal homeostasis.
Insights from Transgenic and Knockout Mice

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses findings from studies based on the use of CNS–chemokine transgenic and knockout models, particularly focusing on the contribution of these models to the understanding of basic functions and mechanisms of actions of chemokines in the central nervous system (CNS). The discussion focuses on the constitutively expressed chemokines followed by those that are induced in the CNS during pathological states. The advents of molecular genetic approaches that permit the targeted manipulation of gene expression in an intact organism have provided powerful approaches towards understanding the actions of chemokines in the CNS in physiologic and pathologic states. Transgenic approaches to determine the function of SDF-1 and fractalkine chemokines have focused exclusively on the use of homologous recombination to generate mutant mice with targeted deletion of the chemokine receptors and their corresponding ligand. The consequences of chemokine expression in the unmanipulated CNS have been examined in transgenic mice with CNS-targeted expression of specific chemokines. More recently, with the availability of chemokine receptor knock-out mice, the absence of specific chemokine / receptor interactions has been studied in the context of experimentally induced disease such as in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Despite the limited number of chemokines examined, these transgenic studies raise a number of important points pertinent to the understanding of chemokine actions in the CNS. A number of recent reports document the use of these chemokine receptor knockout mice to study the role of these receptors in experimentally induced immune responses in the CNS.
Disorder effects on the band structure of ZnGeN 2 : Role of exchange defects

The role of exchange defects on the band structure of ${\mathrm{ZnGeN}}_{2}$ is investigated. Exchange defects are defined through the exchange of cations Zn and Ge starting from the ideal $Pna{2}_{1}$ crystal structure, which obeys the local octet rule. Each such exchange creates several nitrogen-centered tetrahedra which violate the local octet rule, although overall charge neutrality is preserved. We study several distributions of exchange defects, some with all antisites making up the exchange defect close to each other and with increasing numbers of exchange defects, and others where the two types of antisites ${\mathrm{Zn}}_{\mathrm{Ge}}$ and ${\mathrm{Ge}}_{\mathrm{Zn}}$ are kept separated from each other. We also compare the results for these models with a fully random distribution of Zn and Ge on the cation sites. We show that for a single-nearest-neighbor exchange defect, the band gap is narrowed by about 0.5 eV due to two effects: (1) the ${\mathrm{Zn}}_{\mathrm{Ge}}$ antisites form filled acceptor states just above and merging with the valence-band maximum (VBM) of perfect crystal ${\mathrm{ZnGeN}}_{2}$ and (2) the ${\mathrm{Ge}}_{\mathrm{Zn}}$ antisites form a resonance in the conduction band which lowers the conduction-band minimum (CBM). When more exchange defects are created, these acceptor states broaden into bands which can lower the gap further. When tetrahedra occur surrounded completely by four Zn atoms, states even deeper in the gap are found localized all near these tetrahedra, forming a separate intermediate band. Finally, for phase-segregated ${\mathrm{Zn}}_{\mathrm{Ge}}$ and ${\mathrm{Ge}}_{\mathrm{Zn}}$, the gap is significantly more reduced, but no separate band is found to occur. The ${\mathrm{Zn}}_{\mathrm{Ge}}$ acceptorlike states now form a percolating defect band which is significantly wider and hence reaches deeper into the gap. In all cases, the wave functions near the top of the new VBM remain, to some extent, localized near the ${\mathrm{Zn}}_{\mathrm{Ge}}$ sites. For a fully random case, the gap is even more severely reduced by almost 3 eV. The total energy of the system increases with the number of octet-rule-violating tetrahedra and the energy cost per exchange defect of order 2 eV is quite high.
Using data mining to extract knowledge from student evaluation comments in undergraduate courses

In this paper, we conduct a preliminary study about a newly established course evaluation survey given to the students by our institution. This survey contains several free-text questions which generates more qualitative but also voluminous unstructured feedback compared to the previous Likert scale question-based survey. Our aim is to apply data mining techniques to extract knowledge from these surveys, with the goal to help educators and administrators gain insight into student sentiment and views. Specifically, we apply text mining with classification to student comments regarding their perception of the teaching as a whole, in order to categorize them as positive or negative comments. Additionally, we apply text mining with association rule mining to various student comments to extract important key terms and associations of terms in these comments. Our preliminary results are encouraging and demonstrate the usefulness of employing data mining techniques to extract knowledge from the open-ended comments in our student surveys.
Integration of scheduling and control under uncertainties: Review and challenges

Abstract In order to achieve optimal operational conditions, the integration of decision-making across different layers of a company and the consideration of uncertain parameters in view of dynamic market conditions are essential. In this article, we review some of the efforts done by the process system engineering and process control communities aiming to optimize performance in a process industry, specifically in the areas of control, scheduling and their integration under process uncertainties. First, uncertainties in process scheduling and control are analyzed, and the different mathematical approaches to describe and optimize problems under uncertainty are described. Recent advances and relevant frameworks for scheduling and control under uncertainties are presented, and efforts for the integration of scheduling and control are reviewed.
Time-Periodic and Spatially Irregular Patterns

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on time-periodic and spatially irregular patterns. Slowly-varying waves cannot always remain slowly-varying. Eventually regions of increasingly rapid variation in local wave number can develop. It is the group velocities, not the phase velocities, which should be directed toward the transition zone; however, in the experimental situation, the phase and group velocities are in the same direction. Plane waves are the analogs of the constant states. Plane waves are not constant; however, are among the simplest special solutions. In the Zaiken–Zhabotinskii patterns, the patches of slowly-varying waves are frequently filled with a pattern of concentric circular wave crests propagating outward. The centers of these patterns resemble the boundaries where they meet other patches in being regions, which cannot be described as slowly varying waves.
On the Use of Smelly Examples to Detect Code Smells in JavaScript

JavaScript has become one of the widely-used languages. However, as the size of JavaScript-based applications grows, the number of defects grows as well. Recent studies have produced a set of manually defined rules to identify these defects. We propose, in this work, the automation of deriving these rules to ensure scalability and potentially the detection of a wider set of defects without requiring any extensive knowledge on rules tuning. To this end, we rely on a base of existing code smells that is used to train the detection rules using Genetic Programming and find the best threshold of metrics composing the rules. The evaluation of our work on 9 JavaScript web projects has shown promising results in terms of detection precision of 92% and recall of 85%, with no threshold tuning required.
Dissent, “Dissentals,” and Decision Making

Building on Judge Wood’s Essay on the external consequences of separate writing by judges on multijudge appellate panels, this Essay looks internally to examine how separate writing affects judicial decision-making processes by appellate courts. Studies in psychology and behavioral economics have identified various cognitive biases that may impact judicial decision making and have demonstrated that these biases can be at least partially neutralized by structured “adversarial collaboration.” Drawing on these studies, I posit that the practice of separate writing on appellate panels often aids in facilitating such collaboration, but separate writing regarding denials of en banc review does not do so.
Prevalence of hypercalcemia of malignancy among pediatric cancer patients in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink database

BACKGROUND The reported proportion of cancer patients who experience hypercalcemia of malignancy (HCM) is low, particularly in the pediatric population, ranging between <1% and 5%. HCM can be observed with any type of tumor in children and occurs most commonly with leukemia. While HCM is a potentially fatal condition, the prevalence of HCM is not well understood in pediatric cancer patients. METHODS Using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, we identified pediatric cancer patients with recorded corrected serum calcium (CSC) from 2003 through 2014. Hypercalcemic patients (CSC ≥10.8 mg/dL) were classified into 4 CSC levels. We estimated the annual prevalence of HCM using Byar's method. RESULTS Among 517 pediatric cancer patients, leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors were the most frequent cancer types. The prevalence of HCM overall (grade 1 or higher) ranged from 0.24% to 0.81% between 2003 and 2014. There were too few cases to compare prevalence by type of cancer. CONCLUSION We provide the first systematic analysis using a UK population-based data source to estimate the number of pediatric cancer patients affected with HCM by grade. Our findings showed that the prevalence of pediatric HCM was very low (0.24%-0.81%) over the 12-year study period, which is consistent with previous study of adult cancer patients in the UK (0.20%-0.67%).
Mixed Communities of Mucoid and Nonmucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa Exhibit Enhanced Resistance to Host Antimicrobials

Professional Biological Sciences: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)
Asymptomatic Large Thrombus Formation in Drug-Eluting Stent 2 Days After Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patient.

A 73-year-old man who smokes presented to the emergency room with inferior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. The patient was loaded with 325-mg aspirin and 180-mg ticagrelor, and was immediately taken to the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Coronary angiography (CAG) revealed thrombotic
A Movement Toward Greater Integration of the Global Economy

We introduce our topic and identify our primary research questions. We also show that, since the 1970s, there has been a general shift toward greater globalization. A part of this increased globalization has been increased international economic integration and, thus, greater inter-connectedness among developed and developing countries. This places us at a point in history where societies are more connected than perhaps at any time in human history, yet the extent of globalization remains uneven and “lumpy.” Given these facts, it is unsurprising that we observe pronounced cultural differences across societies. Survey findings from Germany and the USA lead us to posit that greater cultural distance may contribute to the observed variation in opinions of international trade and perhaps also of opinions toward immigrants and immigration and on foreign direct investment inflows.
Preventing skeletal related events in veterans on bisphosphonates for bone metastases.

e17654 Background: Multiple myeloma and solid tumor metastases can cause bone disease leading to skeletal-related events (SREs) such as bone pain, fractures and spinal cord compression. Intravenous bisphosphonate therapy which is indicated in such cases can lead to osteonecrosis of the jaw and hypocalcemia putting patients at risk for SREs. To decrease these risks, patients require dental evaluation prior to start of bisphosphonate therapy and should be initiated on calcium and vitamin D supplementation. Even with these practice recommendations in place, there is paucity of data on compliance with these recommendations. Our study of veterans with bone metastases or multiple myeloma aimed to 1) Identify those treated with intravenous bisphosphonates. 2) Assess screening dental evaluation prior to treatment. 3) Measure effectiveness of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on bone health. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center of 118 veterans with multiple my...
DNA Methylation Patterns Separate Senescence from Transformation Potential and Indicate Cancer Risk

Overall shared DNA methylation patterns between senescence (Sen) and cancers have led to the model that tumor-promoting epigenetic patterns arise through senescence. We show that transformation-associated methylation changes arise stochastically and independently of programmatic changes during senescence. Promoter hypermethylation events in transformation involve primarily pro-survival and developmental genes, similarly modified in primary tumors. Senescence-associated hypermethylation mainly involves metabolic regulators and appears early in proliferating "near-senescent" cells, which can be immortalized but are refractory to transformation. Importantly, a subset of transformation-associated hypermethylated developmental genes exhibits highest methylation gains at all age-associated cancer risk states across tissue types. These epigenetic changes favoring cell self-renewal and survival, arising during tissue aging, are fundamentally important for stratifying cancer risk and concepts for cancer prevention.
Stem Cells of the Ocular Surface

The ocular surface contains multiple populations of cells with stem cell-like properties. Some of these are localized to a distinctive niche in the corneoscleral limbus but other populations are more dispersed. Stem cells also are present in corneal stroma and endothelium. Stem cells support self-renewal of the corneal and conjunctival epithelia and the limbal stem cells prevent of conjunctivalization of the corneal surface; however, relationships among the different stem cell populations in normal tissue homeostasis and in response to wounding are not yet fully characterized. Ocular surface stem cells have a high potential for use in cell-based therapy for a variety of ocular pathologies, and in tissue engineering. Continuation of the characterization of ocular stem cells is, therefore, a high priority – both for understanding the biology of the ocular surface and for development of sight-saving therapies.
Holography Viewed from the Perspective of the Light Field Camera

Sometimes an understanding of one imaging modality can inform us about properties of another quite different imaging modality. We illustrate this thought with an example. First we explore the principles of the plenoptic camera, which deals with so-called light fields used in computer graphics. We replace the concept of light field with the closely related quantity, the Wigner distribution, for the case of coherent optics, and show how the effects of limited detector MTF in holography can be predicted using the Wigner distribution. Next we consider the effects of detector nonlinearities on holographic images, again using a Wigner distribution approach.
Hierarchical Aspect of Biological Organization

The spirit of the previous chapter was completely behavioral. We have talked about states of the ecosystem, the transitions from state to state, and the general relations which must necessarily obtain between the statistical behavior of the biota and the statistical behavior of the environment. So far, however, we have said nothing at all about the nature of these states.
Research on Memory and Clinical Practice

There is a vast body of psychological literature on basic processes in human behavior that ought clearly to have relevance to clinical practice. Nearly 20 years ago, Goldstein, Heller, and Sechrest (1966) attempted to demonstrate the relevance of some of that literature for psychotherapy practice. The rationale for that work was implicit in its title, Psychotherapy and the Psychology of Behavior Change. Those authors started with the assumption that the aim of psychotherapy is to change behavior, with behavior being broadly defined, and that, therefore, research bearing on behavior change ought to be relevant to the practice of psychotherapy. Even if therapists reply that their aim is to change the ways people think or feel, research bearing on how that may be brought about should be relevant to psychotherapy practice.
Adverse Events and Protocol Deviations

An adverse event is any untoward medical occurrence in a patient or subject administered a pharmaceutical product, treated with a research device, or involved in a research procedure. A serious adverse event is one that results in death, is life-threatening, requires hospitalization, results in a persistent or significant disability or incapacity, and results in a congenital anomaly or birth defect, or other serious conditions, such as a new cancer. All adverse events and serious events must be reported to the sponsor and the IRB, although some may be reported instead as endpoints, as decided by the sponsor. A protocol deviation is any change, divergence, or departure from the approved study design or procedures of a research protocol that has not been approved by the IRB.
Activity Trends for Catalytic CO and NO Co-Oxidation at Low Temperature Diesel Emission Conditions

The diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) is an essential component of modern vehicle emissions control systems. The pervasive challenge for low temperature oxidation of engine exhaust gas is the mutual ...
Posttraumatic stress disorder and incidence of thyroid dysfunction in women

BackgroundAbnormal thyroid function is prevalent among women and has been linked to increased risk of chronic disease. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to thyroid dysfunction in some studies; however, the results have been inconsistent. Thus, we evaluated trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms in relation to incident thyroid dysfunction in a large longitudinal cohort of civilian women.MethodsWe used data from 45 992 women from the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study II, a longitudinal US cohort study that began in 1989. In 2008, history of trauma and PTSD were assessed with the Short Screening Scale for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, PTSD, and incident thyroid dysfunction was determined by participants’ self-report in biennial questionnaires of physician-diagnosed hypothyroidism and Graves’ hyperthyroidism. The study period was from 1989 to 2013. Proportional hazard models were used to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident hypothyroidism and Graves’ hyperthyroidism.ResultsIn multivariable-adjusted models, we found significant associations for PTSD only with hypothyroidism [p-trend <0.001; trauma with no PTSD symptoms, 1.08 (95% CI 1.02–1.15); 1–3 PTSD symptoms, 1.12 (95% CI 1.04–1.21); 4–5 PTSD symptoms, 1.23 (95% CI 1.13–1.34); and 6–7 PTSD symptoms, 1.26 (95% CI 1.14–1.40)]. PTSD was not associated with risk of Graves’ hyperthyroidism (p-trend = 0.34). Associations were similar in sensitivity analyses restricted to outcomes with onset after 2008, when PTSD was assessed.ConclusionsPTSD was associated with higher risk of hypothyroidism in a dose-dependent fashion. Highlighted awareness for thyroid dysfunction may be especially important in women with PTSD.
Genetic Modifiers of Neurological Disease

Genetic modifiers make a significant contribution to the pathophysiology of neurological disease. A common feature of heritable neurological disease is phenotype variation among patients with the same mutation. Some of the observed phenotype variation can be attributed to genetic modifiers. Identifying modifier genes in humans is challenging due to limitations of sample size and confounding environmental effects. Complementary approaches in model organisms can facilitate the identification and characterisation of modifier genes. Identifying genetic modifiers can help elucidate the genetic and molecular basis of neurological disease. This knowledge can be used to improve genetic risk assessment and foster the development of personalised therapeutic strategies based on molecular diagnosis. Key Concepts: Genetic modifiers contribute to phenotype variability in neurological disorders. Model organisms are a useful system for identifying modifier genes and studying underlying mechanisms. Synergy between human genetics and model systems can facilitate modifier gene identification and validation. Identifying pathways that are influenced by gene modifiers may suggest novel therapeutic strategies. Keywords: modifier gene; genetics; neurological disease; nervous system disease; disease models; mice
Corrosion Improvement of Carbon Steel in Concrete Environment through Modification of Steel Microstructure

AbstractThis study investigated the impact of the grain size of low carbon steel on its electrochemical behavior in a simulated concrete pore solution. Specimens with three grain sizes were used: a...
A donor risk index for graft loss in pediatric living donor kidney transplantation.

Pediatric kidney transplant candidates often have multiple potential living donors (LDs); no evidence-based tool exists to compare potential LDs, or to decide between marginal LDs and deceased donor (DD) kidney transplantation (KT). We developed a pediatric living kidney donor profile index (P-LKDPI) on the same scale as the DD KDPI by using Cox regression to model the risk of all-cause graft loss as a function of living donor characteristics and DD KDPI. HLA-B mismatch (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] per mismatch = 1.04 1.271.55 ), HLA-DR mismatch (aHR per mismatch = 1.02 1.231.49 ), ABO incompatibility (aHR = 1.20 3.268.81 ), donor systolic blood pressure (aHR per 10 mm Hg = 1.01 1.071.18 ), and donor estimated GFR (eGFR; aHR per 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 = 0.88 0.940.99 ) were associated with graft loss after LDKT. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) P-LKDPI was -25 (-56 to 12). 68% of donors had P-LKDPI 14 (more risk than median DD kidney among pediatric KT recipients during the study period). Strata of LDKT recipients of kidneys with higher P-LKDPI had a higher cumulative incidence of graft loss (39% at 10 years for P-LDKPI ≥20, 28% for 20> P-LKDPI ≥-20, 23% for -20 > P-LKDPI ≥-60, 19% for P-LKDPI <-60 [log rank P < .001]). The P-LKDPI can aid in organ selection for pediatric KT recipients by allowing comparison of potential LD and DD kidneys.
Body size evolution in palaeognath birds is consistent with Neogene cooling-linked gigantism

Abstract Palaeognathae is an extant clade of birds with body masses ranging over several orders of magnitude of kilograms, including the largest-yet described terrestrial avian species. Most studies have suggested flight loss and increasing body size began early in its evolutionary history, prior to the divergence of the major extant lineages. However, recent phylogenetic work suggests body size increases occurred more recently and independently within many extant lineages. Here, we use linear regression equations to estimate the masses of extinct taxa from both the crown and stem of Palaeognathae to test these hypotheses. We allocate fragmentary specimens to discrete body mass categories to accommodate additional species for which more precise body mass estimation is not possible. The first fossil evidence for an increase in maximum palaeognath body size, from approximately that of a rhea (20 kg) or smaller to ostrich size (100 kg), is Miocene in age (approximately 20 Ma). The heaviest taxa, those exceeding 120 kg, all occur within the last 9 million years. Molecular divergence dating estimates for the crown ages of palaeognath subclades pre-date the oldest preserved material, often significantly; however, plotting the lightest member of each clade at the estimated crown ages does not change the observed pattern. These results may be affected by the predictive model used to estimate the mass of extinct taxa, but the observed trends in body mass do not change when four models from different studies are used. Both island-dwelling and continental clades show broad temporal congruence in the timing of their estimated gain of large body sizes, meaning geographical restriction on islands does not alone explain the observed trend. We suggest large and giant Palaeognathae body sizes may be more closely linked to global cooling which creates selective pressures on body size for thermoregulation, as well as causing landscape changes which alters dietary and locomotory requirements. Global cooling has received extensive attention as a driver of mammalian body size extremes but has been relatively little discussed with respect to birds.
Data quilting: Art and science of analyzing disparate data

Motivated by incongruences between today’s complex data, problems and requirements and available methodological frameworks, we propose data quilting as a means of combining and presenting the analy...
Elucidating Structure–Spectral Property Relationships of NegativeThermal Expansion Zr 2 (WO 4 )(PO 4 ) 2 : A First-Principles Study with Experimental Validation

The phonon, infrared, and Raman spectroscopic properties of zirconium tungsten phosphate, Zr2(WO4)(PO4)2 (space group Pbcn, IT No. 60; Z = 4), have been extensively investigated using density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) calculations with the Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof exchange–correlation functional revised for solids (PBEsol) and validated by experimental characterization of Zr2(WO4)(PO4)2 prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. Using DFPT-simulated infrared, Raman, and phonon density-of-state spectra combined with Fourier transform infrared and Raman measurements, new comprehensive and extensive assignments have been made for the spectra of Zr2(WO4)(PO4)2, resulting in the characterization of its 29 and 34 most intense IR- and Raman-active modes, respectively. DFPT results also reveal that ν1(PO4) symmetric stretching and ν3(PO4) antisymmetric stretching bands have been interchanged in previous Raman experimental assignments. Negative thermal expansion in Zr2(WO4)(PO4)2 appears to have very limi...
Hotel Revenue Management in an Economic Downturn

Excerpt] When people talk about revenue management, they typically talk about good economic times in which demand exceeds supply. Indeed, that was the assumption that supported the discussion of revenue management principles in Chapter 14. But as we pointed out in that chapter, this book was written as the United States and the world were recovering from a remarkably deep recession and credit freeze. Consequently, we thought it would be important to discuss revenue management tactics for times when supply exceeds demand, with the continuing goal of selling the right room at the right price at the right time to the right customer, so as to maximize revenue.
A temperature-only system degradation analysis based on thermal entropy and the degradation-entropy generation methodology

Abstract System degradation and material transformation are detected, analyzed and predicted using only temperature measurements. The method combines fundamental thermal energy and entropy balances with the degradation-entropy generation theorem to characterize multi-physics system-process interactions. Various experimental measurements verify the analysis and results. A universally consistent system- and process-independent model is derived, that relates heat transfer and heat storage to the system's phenomenological transformation and renders new material and process parameters for system analysis. The recently proposed maximum work-based DEG methodology is reviewed and compared to the temperature-only approach of this article. Applications to general fatigue, grease aging and lithium-ion battery degradation cycling are presented. System- and process-characteristic degradation coefficients are obtained from measured data. Similar to the maximum work models, a near 100% correlation between the temperature-only model and the nonlinear data from uncontrolled experimental measurements is observed. Model-predicted trends accord with established system behavior. The approach can be easily adapted to all systems undergoing active thermal transformations for performance characterization and optimization.
One Hundred Years of Instability: Sex, Law, and Transgender Rights

Five years before the famous Seneca Falls Meeting in which a gathering of women demanded suffrage, Levi Suydam already had encountered the problem that sex posed for suffrage. Suydam, a 23-year-old man who supported the Whigs, petitioned to vote in 1843. The opposing party challenged his petition “on the grounds that ‘he was more a female than a male, and that, in his physical organization, he partook of both sexes’” (Reis 2009, 34). Because the Whigs won by one vote, Suydam’s status was central to the election outcome. After several medical exams in which different doctors reached different conclusions about Suydam’s true sex, Suydam was determined to be “more female than male” (Reis 2009, 35). Suydam’s case presents an important corollary to a more famous case of voting “fraud” after Susan B. Anthony voted in the 1872 presidential election. The 1873 trial and conviction of Anthony was straightforward: as a woman, she could not vote. Suydam posed a greater challenge to political order insofar as neither law nor medicine could pin down Suydam’s sex within a framework of binary sex. The Nineteenth Amendment, which prohibited the denial of the vote “on account of sex,” might have rendered the uncertainty of sex politically and legally moot. It did not.
Applying Big Data Based Deep Learning System to Intrusion Detection

With vast amounts of data being generated daily and the ever increasing interconnectivity of the world's internet infrastructures, a machine learning based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) has become a vital component to protect our economic and national security. Previous shallow learning and deep learning strategies adopt the single learning model approach for intrusion detection. The single learning model approach may experience problems to understand increasingly complicated data distribution of intrusion patterns. Particularly, the single deep learning model may not be effective to capture unique patterns from intrusive attacks having a small number of samples. In order to further enhance the performance of machine learning based IDS, we propose the Big Data based Hierarchical Deep Learning System (BDHDLS). BDHDLS utilizes behavioral features and content features to understand both network traffic characteristics and information stored in the payload. Each deep learning model in the BDHDLS concentrates its efforts to learn the unique data distribution in one cluster. This strategy can increase the detection rate of intrusive attacks as compared to the previous single learning model approaches. Based on parallel training strategy and big data techniques, the model construction time of BDHDLS is reduced substantially when multiple machines are deployed.
Hedgehog signaling activates a heterochronic gene regulatory network to control differentiation timing across lineages

SUMMARY Heterochrony, defined as differences in the timing of developmental processes, impacts organ development, homeostasis, and regeneration. The molecular basis of heterochrony in mammalian tissues is poorly understood. We report that Hedgehog signaling activates a heterochronic pathway that controls differentiation timing in multiple lineages. A differentiation trajectory from second heart field cardiac progenitors to first heart field cardiomyocytes was identified by single-cell transcriptional profiling in mouse embryos. A survey of developmental signaling pathways revealed specific enrichment for Hedgehog signaling targets in cardiac progenitors. Removal of Hh signaling caused loss of progenitor and precocious cardiomyocyte differentiation gene expression in the second heart field in vivo. Introduction of active Hh signaling to mESC-derived progenitors, modelled by transient expression of the Hh-dependent transcription factor GLI1, delayed differentiation in cardiac and neural lineages in vitro. A shared GLI1-dependent network in both cardiac and neural progenitors was enriched with FOX family transcription factors. FOXF1, a GLI1 target, was sufficient to delay onset of the cardiomyocyte differentiation program in progenitors, by epigenetic repression of cardiomyocyte-specific enhancers. Removal of active Hh signaling or Foxf1 expression from second heart field progenitors caused precocious cardiac differentiation in vivo, establishing a mechanism for resultant Congenital Heart Disease. Together, these studies suggest that Hedgehog signaling directly activates a gene regulatory network that functions as a heterochronic switch to control differentiation timing across developmental lineages.
Evaluation of Thermal Contact Conductance by the Lumped Integral Formulation

A new formulation has been developed which is capable of resolving a contact conductance coefficient when the transient temperature response is measured at selected points within a composite thermal system. The lumped integral approach is particularly attractive in that it leads to a rapid evaluation of a contact conductance coefficient with a minimum of sample preparation. The short measurement time is particularly useful when working with samples which are subject to thermal degradation. Integration of this approach to measurement configurations could be useful for generating data bases for analytical correlations, as well as evaluating contact conductance coefficients for unique engineering hardware configurations.
Increasing Air Temperatures and Its Effects on Growth and Productivity of Tomato in South Florida

Florida ranks first among US states in fresh-market tomato production with annual production exceeding one-third of the total annual production in the country. Although tomato is a signature crop in Florida, current and future ambient temperatures could impose a major production challenge, especially during the fall growing season. This problem is increasingly becoming an important concern among tomato growers in south Florida, but studies addressing these concerns have not been conducted until now. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the impacts of the present ambient temperature conditions and planting dates on tomato productivity in south Florida. The study was conducted using crop simulation model CROPGRO-Tomato of DSSAT (Decision Support System for Agricultural Transfer) version 4.7. Five treatments were evaluated, and included AT (simulated treatment using 14 years of actual daily weather conditions at the study location) while other treatments were conducted based on a percentage (−20%, −10%, +10%, +20%) of AT to simulate cooler and warmer temperature regimes. The results suggested that under the current temperature conditions during the fall growing season in south Florida, average tomato yield was up to 29% lower compared to the cooler temperature regimes. Tomato yield further decreased by 52% to 85% at air temperatures above the current condition. Yield reduction under high temperature was primarily due to lower fruit production. Contrary to yield, both tomato biomass accumulation and leaf area index increased with increase in temperature. Results also indicated that due to changes in air temperature pattern, tomato yield increased as planting date increased from July to December. Therefore, planting date modification during the fall season from the current July–September to dates between November and December will reduce the impacts of heat stress and increase tomato productivity in south Florida.
Architectural Enhancements of a Packetized Display Protocol for High-Speed IRSP Operation

PDP has been shown to be an effective alternative approach to traditional display protocols incorporating dynamic refresh-rate, high-speed capabilities, and sub-windowing capabilities. This paper presents continued enhancements made to the architecture and state-of-the-art results using a newly developed compositor for high-speed operation of IRSP systems.
PRRSV2 genetic diversity defined by RFLP patterns in the United States from 2007 to 2019.

The genetic diversity of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) increases over time. In 1998, restriction-fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pattern analysis was introduced to...
A general computational framework for the dynamics of single- and multi-phase vesicles and membranes

Abstract The dynamics of thin, membrane-like structures are ubiquitous in nature. They play especially important roles in cell biology. Cell membranes separate the inside of a cell from the outside, and vesicles compartmentalize proteins into functional microregions, such as the lysosome. Proteins and/or lipid molecules also aggregate and deform membranes to carry out cellular functions. For example, some viral particles can induce the membrane to invaginate and form an endocytic vesicle that pulls the virus into the cell. While the physics of membranes has been extensively studied since the pioneering work of Helfrich in the 1970's, simulating the dynamics of large scale deformations remains challenging, especially for cases where the membrane composition is spatially heterogeneous. Here, we develop a general computational framework to simulate the overdamped dynamics of membranes and vesicles. We start by considering a membrane with an energy that is a generalized functional of the shape invariants and also includes line discontinuities that arise due to phase boundaries. Using this energy, we derive the internal restoring forces and construct a level set-based algorithm that can stably simulate the large-scale dynamics of these generalized membranes, including scenarios that lead to membrane fission. This method is applied to solve for shapes of single-phase vesicles using a range of reduced volumes, reduced area differences, and preferred curvatures. Our results match well the experimentally measured shapes of corresponding vesicles. The method is then applied to explore the dynamics of multiphase vesicles, predicting equilibrium shapes and conditions that lead to fission near phase boundaries.
The Coin of the Realm: Poverty and the Commodification of Gendered Labor

This Article examines the commodification of household labor performed by poor women. This Article also explores various perspectives on commodification, analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of commodification rhetoric. While I do not advocate payment of actual wages to mothers, I believe that focusing on the valuation of household work can be useful in clarifying some of the contemporary dilemmas faced by poor women. I conclude that market understandings can enrich family law just as family understandings can enrich market laws. My goal is not to diminish the role of caretaking by suggesting that everything has a market price. Instead, I seek to show that the inadequate economic recognition of caretaking has a market cost that does not just depress the wages of household workers, but that also interferes with social policy directed towards public welfare recipients and other poor women.
Napping backbones: energy efficient topology control for wireless sensor networks

In this study we have investigated the effectiveness of building "napping backbones" for data dissemination in wireless sensor networks. The NAPBACK protocol builds connected backbones whose nodes are endowed with a sleep/awake schedule that induces considerable energy savings, and hence prolongs the network lifetime. Via simulations on networks with up to 250 nodes we have observed increases on network lifetime up to almost 70% with respect to previous topology control protocols (S-DMAC). Increased latency is the price to pay for the improvements on lifetime, which currently makes NAPBACK a viable solution for delay-insensitive WSN applications. Multifold are the research directions opened by this initial study. We are planning to design different methods for defining the schedules of the backbone nodes. Final aims include the minimization of the latency, as well as throughput maximization. Sleep/awake scheduling methods should also be independent of nodes synchronization, and could be based on deterministic strategies, rather than the simple randomized technique used here.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) is a noninvasive neuroimaging technique that enables quantification of brain function over time with an unprecedented balance of temporal and spatial resolution. FMRI has shown great utility in cognitive neuroscience and clinical research. Targets of FMRI investigations usually involve the neural networks associated with discrete cognitive challenges (broadly defined to include all brain processes, such as emotional, motivational, sensory, and motor challenges).