cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lithium operations on the lithium tokamak experiment

spherical tokamak currently operating to investigate the low recycling regime for magnetically confined plasmas through the utilization of liquid lithium coated plasma facing surfaces. The LTX machine is unique in that it incorporates inside the vacuum vessel a heated conducting shell that encloses about 80% of the last closed flux surface of the plasma. The conforming shell operates at temperatures up to 500°C and is coated with a thin liquid lithium film. Two retractable crucible evaporators are used to deposit the lithium film on the shell inner surfaces. Various methods and procedures for lithium deposition onto the shell surfaces have been tested by varying the component temperatures and vessel pressure, and utilizing concurrent glow discharge. Operating procedures and safety systems have been developed and implemented to ensure the safe operation with lithium at elevated temperatures. The machine has successfully operated with lithium coated shells demonstrating improved plasma performance as a result. Maintaining an active lithium surface between lithium evaporations was an issue and new features are currently being installed to address this. The machine has also been vented and the internal surfaces cleaned without any difficulty. Operating results, current status, ongoing upgrades and future plans will be presented.
Likelihood methods for measuring statistical evidence

Focused on interpreting data as statistical evidence, the evidential paradigm uses likelihood ratios to measure the strength of statistical evidence. Under this paradigm, re-examination of accumulating evidence is encouraged because (i) the likelihood ratio, unlike a p-value, is unaffected by the number of examinations and (ii) the probability of observing strong misleading evidence is naturally low, even for study designs that re-examine the data with each new observation. Further, the controllable probabilities of observing misleading and weak evidence provide assurance that the study design is reliable without affecting the strength of statistical evidence in the data. This paper illustrates the ideas and methods associated with using likelihood ratios to measure statistical evidence. It contains a comprehensive introduction to the evidential paradigm, including an overview of how to quantify the probability of observing misleading evidence for various study designs. The University Group Diabetes Program (UGDP), a classic and still controversial multi-centred clinical trial, is used as an illustrative example. Some of the original UGDP results, and subsequent re-analyses, are presented for comparison purposes.
Use of Ascorbic Acid as an Indicator for Heavy Metals

MANY enzymes are sensitive to inhibition by heavy metal ions. Because of contamination of water and laboratory reagents, it is often necessary to add a chelating reagent such as EDTA, or a compound with a mercapto group, to react with the offending ion. But too high a concentration of the agent may itself inhibit the enzyme by sequestering cations which are necessary for activation. We report here a method which we have found useful for deciding the proper amount of agent to be added to media or reaction mixtures.
Meetings, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition Evaluation Practices: An Exploratory Study among Destination Marketing Organizations

This exploratory investigation benchmarks evaluation processes employed by for-profit and not-for-profit Louisiana-based destination marketing organizations. In February 2008, selected National destination marketing organizations were interviewed and findings added in our survey development. Findings indicated that 85.7% conduct evaluations; however, the respondents’ interpretation of the term “program evaluation” varied, and many lacked the knowledge and skills required to collect objective data. Study results may be used to develop mechanisms to overcome constraints to conducting defensible assessment. Additionally, the data collected may assist in the development of a parsimonious yet robust post convention/meeting/events (post-con) survey to be used by destination marketing organizations to obtain a sustainable differential advantage.
The UCLA mirror processor: a building block for self-checking self-repairing computing nodes

The design and implementation of a RISC microprocessor, called the UCLA mirror processor, which is capable of micro rollback, are reported. Two mirror processors operating in lock step achieve concurrent error detection by comparing external signals and a signature of internal signals every clock cycle. A mismatch causes both processors to roll back to the beginning of the cycle in which the error occurred. In some cases an erroneous state is corrected by copying a value from the fault-free processor to the faulty processor. The architecture, microarchitecture, and VLSI implementation of the mirror processor, with an emphasis on its error-detection and error-recovery capabilities, are described. The overhead and design issues encountered are evaluated. It is shown that micro rollback can be implemented in a practical VLSI chip and is a practical technique for minimizing the latencies normally associated with concurrent error detection. >
Unsettling Power: Domestic Violence, Gender Politics, and Struggles over Sovereignty in Ghana

This article provides a new lens for analyzing power formations in human rights practices by examining Ghanaian struggles over a Domestic Violence Bill. While the hegemonic character of human rights advocacy is well-established, we know less about exercises of power in discourses and practices that oppose rights. I analyze how the Ghanaian government constructed the discourse of cultural sovereignty and deployed it against women's rights. The government legitimated this discourse by appropriating the voice of ‘the people’ and superimposing notions of ‘foreignness’ onto both the Bill and Ghanaian women's rights activists. Drawing on the historiography of colonialism and ethnography of political performance, I argue that this case illustrates how the discourse of cultural sovereignty is mobilized in a struggle over shifting configurations of gender, political activism, and state sovereignty.
A linear algebraic model of algorithm-based fault tolerance

A linear algebraic interpretation is developed for previously proposed algorithm-based fault tolerance schemes. The concepts of distance, code space, and the definitions of detection and correction in the vector space R/sup n/ are explained. The number of errors that can be detected or corrected for a distance-(d+1) code is derived. It is shown why the correction scheme does not work for general weight vectors, and a novel fast-correction algorithm for a weighted distance-5 code is derived. >
Cardiac PET perfusion tracers: current status and future directions.

PET myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is increasingly being used for noninvasive detection and evaluation of coronary artery disease. However, the widespread use of PET MPI has been limited by the shortcomings of the current PET perfusion tracers. The availability of these tracers is limited by the need for an onsite ( 15 O water and 13 N ammonia) or nearby ( 13 N ammonia) cyclotron or commitment to costly generators ( 82 Rb). Owing to the short half-lives, such as 76 seconds for 82 Rb, 2.06 minutes for 15 O water, and 9.96 minutes for 13 N ammonia, their use in conjunction with treadmill exercise stress testing is either not possible ( 82 Rb and 15 O water) or not practical ( 13 N ammonia). Furthermore, the long positron range of 82 Rb makes image resolution suboptimal and its low myocardial extraction limits its defect resolution. In recent years, development of an 18 F-labeled PET perfusion tracer has gathered considerable interest. The longer half-life of 18 F (109 minutes) would make the tracer available as a unit dose from regional cyclotrons and allow use in conjunction with treadmill exercise testing. Furthermore, the short positron range of 18 F would result in better image resolution. Flurpiridaz F 18 is by far the most thoroughly studied in animal models and is the only 18 F-based PET MPI radiotracer currently undergoing clinical evaluation. Preclinical and clinical experience with Flurpiridaz F 18 demonstrated a high myocardial extraction fraction, high image and defect resolution, high myocardial uptake, slow myocardial clearance, and high myocardial-to-background contrast that was stable over time—important properties of an ideal PET MPI radiotracer. Preclinical data from other 18 F-labeled myocardial perfusion tracers are encouraging.
Saul I. Gass

The founders of operations research (OR) all trained and practiced in other fields before coming to OR. As OR expanded to a wider range of application areas after World War II (WWII), they turned to address OR’s new seminal challenges. If we view these founders as the first OR generation, then the second generation are those individuals who learned from and worked directly with the first generation during the late 1940s and early 1950s. By this reckoning, Saul Gass commands a senior ranking within the second generation. In 1952, as a civilian government mathematician, he joined Project SCOOP (Scientific Computation of Optimal Programs), the U.S. Air Force’s Pentagon-based organization that, under George Dantzig, was the first to develop and apply linear programming (LP). This position shaped much of his subsequent OR research and practice, and led to his 1958 book, Linear Programming: Methods and Applications, the first textbook on LP.
The risk of wound infection after simple hand laceration

BACKGROUND: This prospective observational study aimed to determine the infection rate of simple hand laceration (SHL), and to compare infection rates between patients who were prescribed antibiotics and those who were not. METHODS: The study was performed at two urban hospitals enrolling 125 emergency department (ED) patients with SHL. Exclusion criteria included patients with lacerations for more than 12 hours, immunocompromized patients, patients given antibiotics, and patients with gross contamination, bites or crush injuries. Wound infection was defined as clinical infection at a follow-up visit (10-14 days) or wound was treated with antibiotics. Patient satisfaction was also measured using a visual analogue scale 1-10, asking the patients about wound appearance. Demographic data and wound characteristics were compared between the infected and non-infected wounds. The infection rates were also compared between patients who received prophylactic antibiotics and those who did not. The results were presented with medians and quartiles or percentages with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: In the 125 patients SHL [median age: 28 (18, 43); range: 1-102 years old; 36% female], 44 (35%, 95% CI: 27%-44%) were given antibiotics in the ED. Wound infection was reported in 6 patients (4.8%, 95% CI: 2%-10%). Age, gender, history of diabetes and wound closure were not associated with wound infection (P>0.05). The infection rate was not significantly different between patients with or without antibiotic prophylaxis [7% (3/44), 95% CI: 2%-10% vs. 4% (3/81), 95% CI: 1%-11%, P=0.66]. Patient's satisfaction with appearance of infected and non-infected wounds were significantly different [7.5 (6, 8) vs. 9 (8, 10), P=0.01]. CONCLUSION: Approximately 5% of simple hand lacerations become infected. Age, gender, diabetes, prophylactic antibiotics and closure technique do not affect the risk of infection.
Hope I die before I get old.

I stand before you today, a passing mile post not just as President of the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society (MVSS), but in another sense; one that has been almost religiously reexamined by the media in recent months and thus has been celebrated often in the public consciousness. I am a survivor o f that bell-bottomed part of the bell curve, the "sixties generation." I graduated from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, in 1969, in a class that also included such luminaries as Ira Magaziner, architect o f what has until recently been referred to as "health care reform." We are the "baby-boomers" who are no longer babies, the "hip" generation who fornmately are no longer hippies. Undeniably though, we made our mark on the consciousness o f this century, and much of that impact arose as the result o f two basic forces that drove that youthful and exuberant period; political dissent on one hand and rock-and-roll music on the other. It is from these roots and in this spirit that I address you todayl Those of you who have worked with me directly will probably recognize many of the references I have chosen from when they played on the jukebox in the operating room. Others o f you may only recognize quoted lines from hearing them as they are most often heard today, in elevators, dentists' waiting rooms, or in commercials. My first selection is an easy one because we all know and love the Beatles, who my son will tell you, is the group Paul McCartney was in before Wings.
New insights into the role of Runx1 in epithelial stem cell biology and pathology

The transcription factor Runx1 has been studied in leukemia and blood for decades, but recently it has been also implicated in epithelial biology and pathology. Particularly in mouse skin Runx1 modulates Wnt signaling levels thereby regulating timely induction of hair follicle specification, proper maturation of the emerging adult hair follicle stem cells in embryogenesis, and timely stem cell (SC) activation during adult homeostasis. Moreover, Runx1 acts as a tumor promoter in mouse skin squamous tumor formation and maintenance, likely by repressing p21 and promoting Stat3 activation. Similarly, Runx1 is essential for oral epithelium tumorigenesis mediated in mice by Ras, and for growth of three kinds of human epithelial cancer cells. In contrast, Runx1 has a tumor suppressor function in the mouse intestine and shows tumor subtype specific behavior in human breast cancer. Multiple studies revealed Runx1 SNPs to be associated with human cancers and autoimmune disease. With this information as background, the field is poised for functional and mechanistic studies to elucidate the role of Runx1 in formation and/or progression of epithelial-based human disease.
Psychosocial Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Exposure in Maltreated Adolescents: Assessing More than IPV Occurrence

The majority of research on the psychosocial impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure for children has focused on IPV occurrence. The current study extended this research by examining three dimensions of IPV exposure: frequency, proximity, and severity, and tested whether these dimensions predicted variance in adolescents’ psychosocial problems over-and-above that accounted for by IPV occurrence. Participants included 140 adolescents and their caregivers, who were recruited for an intervention involving maltreated youth placed in out-of-home care. After controlling for IPV occurrence, exposure to community violence, and severity of maltreatment, results indicated a positive association between the multidimensional IPV index and youth report of psychosocial problems. There was also a trend for a positive association between the IPV index and caregiver report of psychosocial problems for boys. The study’s results are discussed in terms of their implications for prevention researchers and child welfare agencies.
Radiographic determination of proventricular diameter in psittacine birds

Objective—To establish an objective method of determining proventricular diameter in psittacine birds by assessment of lateral whole-body radiographic views. Design—Retrospective case-control study. Animals—100 parrots with no signs of gastric disease and 19 parrots with signs of gastric disease. Procedures—Measurements were obtained for the following variables: proventricular diameter at the level of the junction between the last thoracic vertebra and synsacrum, maximum distance between the dorsal serosa of the proximal aspect of the proventriculus and dorsal border of the sternum, maximum coelomic cavity height at the level of the proximal aspect of the proventriculus, and maximum dorsoventral height of the keel of the sternum. The ratio of proventricular diameter to each of those measurements was calculated and compared among species within the group without signs of gastric disease and between the gastric and nongastric disease groups. Results—No significant differences were seen among species of parr...
Sensing and Actuation in MEMS

There are number of common transduction methods in MEMS. Some transform a change of a physical quantity, such as pressure and temperature, into an electric signal that can be measured. These are called sensing or detection methods. They include piezoelectric, piezoresistive, and electrostatic methods. Also, comes under this category the so-called resonant sensors, which detect the change in the resonance frequencies of microstructures upon sensing. Other transduction methods convert an input energy into a motion of a microstructure. These are called actuation methods, which include electrothermal, electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and electrostatic. Among the transduction methods, electrostatic actuation and detection are considered the most common in MEMS. Hence, electrostatic transduction will be under extensive investigations in the upcoming chapters. Next, basic knowledge on the most common transduction methods in MEMS is introduced.
Body Language: Illness, Disability, and Life Writing

As much as we may like to evade or minimise them, illness and disability inescapably attend human embodiment; we are all vulnerable subjects. So it might seem natural and inevitable that the most u...
Interactive Dimensional Synthesis and Motion Design of Planar 6R Closed Chains via Constraint Manifold Modification

In this paper, we present an interactive, visual design approach for the dimensional synthesis of planar 4R, 5R, and 6R closed chains for a given rational motion using constraint manifold modification. This approach is implemented in an interactive software tool that provides mechanism designers with an intuitive way to determine the dimensional parameters of planar mechanisms, and in the process equips them with an understanding of the design process. The theoretical foundation of this work is based on representing planar displacements with planar quaternions which can be seen as points in a special higher dimensional projective space (called the image space), and on formulating the kinematic constraints of closed chains as algebraic surfaces in the image space. Kinematic constraints under consideration limit the positions and orientation of the coupler in its workspace. In this way, a given motion of a mechanism in the Cartesian space maps to a curve in the image space that has to stay within the bounds of the algebraic surfaces. Thus, the problem of dimensional synthesis is reduced to determining parameters of equations that describe algebraic surfaces. This paper is an extension of our previous work in which we had presented some preliminary results based on an optimization method. We show that the interactive approach presented here is general in nature, and can be easily used for the dimensional synthesis of any mechanism for which kinematic constraints can be expressed algebraically. The process of designing is fast, intuitive, and especially useful when an optimization based approach would be computationally demanding, and mathematically difficult to formulate. This simple approach also provides a basis for students and early designers to learn and understand the process of mechanism design by simple geometric manipulations.
Race and gender differences in C-reactive protein levels

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine whether there are race and gender differences in the distribution of C-reactive protein(CRP) levels. BACKGROUND: Few data are available comparing CRP distributions in different race and gender groups. Recent clinical practice recommendations for CRP testing for cardiovascular risk assessment suggest a uniform threshold to define high relative risk( 3 mg/l). METHODS: We measured CRP in 2,749 white and black subjects ages 30 to 65 participating in the Dallas Heart Study, a multiethnic, population-based, probability sample, and compared levels of CRP between different race and gender groups. RESULTS: Black subjects had higher CRP levels than white subjects(median, 3.0 vs. 2.3 mg/l; p 0.001) and women had higher CRP levels than men(median, 3.3 vs. 1.8 mg/l; p 0.001). The sample-weight adjusted proportion of subjects with CRP levels 3 mg/l was 31%, 40%, 51%, and 58%in white men, black men, white women, and black women, respectively(p 0.05 for each group vs. white men). After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, estrogen and statin use, and body mass index, a CRP level 3 mg/l remained more common in white women(odds ratio[OR] 1.6; 95%confidence interval[CI] 1.1 to 2.5) and black women(OR 1.7; 95%CI 1.2 to 2.6) but not in black men(OR, 1.3; 95%CI, 0.8 to 1.9) when compared with white men. CONCLUSIONS: Significant race and gender differences exist in the population distribution of CRP. Further research is needed to determine whether race and gender differences in CRP levels contribute to differences in cardiovascular outcomes, and whether thresholds for cardiovascular risk assessment should be adjusted for different race and gender groups.
Simultaneous occurrence of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and myeloperoxidase in individual leukemia blasts

Cases of acute leukemia showing both terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities are usually classified as acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Although some reports have implied overlap of TdT and MPO based on population percentages, direct evidence for simultaneous expression of TdT and MPO by a leukemic blast is lacking. By use of a simple new technique developed in our laboratory for identifying TdT and MPO in individual cells by light microscopy, we examined three cases of acute leukemia with both TdT and MPO positivity and found that the incidence of cells positive for both TdT and MPO was 0%, 1%, and 23%. Cytogenetic analysis showed a single leukemic clone in all patients, providing additional evidence that these leukemias arose from a single cell capable of expressing both MPO and TdT. These findings have implications for understanding the relation between MPO and TdT expression in leukemia.
Archaeological Testing and Monitoring for a Proposed Drainage Channel at Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Antonio, Texas

In October 1996 the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) completed preliminary archaeological investigations south of Mission San Juan Capistrano in areas specified for a proposed 800-ft drainage channel. Shovel tests, excavated at five-meter intervals along this route, revealed this area contains a very limited amount of Colonial period and modern artifacts in a mixed context.
Tips and Tricks in Mallet Fracture Fixation

We describe three steps to aid fracture assessment and fixation in the extensor block pin technique for mallet fractures. The first step is the use of fluoroscopy in the initial assessment to determine indication for fixation. Next is the use of supplementary extension block pin to control larger dorsal fragments. The third technique described details the steps of open reduction of nascently malunited fractures.
Long-term systemic lupus erythematosus disease control after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a disorder of the immune system, is potentially curable by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (alloBMT). Until recently, alloBMT was limited by donor availability and toxicity. Reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) combined with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) has improved the availability and safety of alloBMT permitting its exploration in severe-refractory autoimmune illnesses. We report the six-year follow-up of a young female whose refractory SLE-associated nephrosis resolved after RIC alloBMT with PTCy.
Instrumented Penetration of Metal Alloys During High-Velocity Impacts

A methodology is presented for characterizing the failure behavior of metallic targets due to high-velocity and hypervelocity impacts. Time-resolved sub-scale terminal ballistic experiments were performed at approximately 1.2 km/s to assess the feasibility of using high-speed optical imaging, photon Doppler velocimetry, and high-speed 3D digital image correlation for measuring back face deformation. Spherical copper impactors were fired into aluminum alloy targets with thickness equal to one half the impactor diameter. The approach has implications for determining the susceptibility of metallic targets to different failure modes including bulk plastic deformation resulting in tensile failure, cratering, plugging, spallation and adiabatic shear band formation. Results will be used to assist in validation of large-scale computational models used to model ballistic impact.
Universality in Chiral Random Matrix Theory at {beta} = 1 and {beta} = 4

In this paper the kernel for the spectral correlation functions of invariant chiral random matrix ensembles with real ({beta}=1 ) and quaternion real ({beta}=4 ) matrix elements is expressed in terms of the kernel of the corresponding complex Hermitian random matrix ensembles ({beta}=2 ). Such identities are exact in case of a Gaussian probability distribution and, under certain smoothness assumptions, they are shown to be valid asymptotically for an arbitrary finite polynomial potential. They are proved by means of a construction proposed by Brezin and Neuberger. Universal behavior of the eigenvalues close to zero for all three chiral ensembles then follows from microscopic universality for {beta}=2 as shown by Akemann, Damgaard, Magnea, and Nishigaki. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
How Protein Kinase A Activates Canonical Tyrosine Kinase Signaling Pathways To Promote Granulosa Cell Differentiation

Protein kinase A (PKA) has recently been shown to mimic the actions of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by activating signaling pathways that promote granulosa cell (GC) differentiation, such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK). We sought to elucidate the mechanism by which PKA, a Ser/Thr kinase, intersected the PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK pathways that are canonically activated by receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Our results show that for both of these pathways, the RTK is active in the absence of FSH yet signaling down the pathways to commence transcriptional responses requires FSH-stimulated PKA activation. For both pathways, PKA initiates signaling by regulating the activity of a protein phosphatase (PP). For the PI3K/AKT pathway, PKA activates the Ser/Thr PP1 complexed with the insulinlike growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) and insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) to dephosphorylate Ser residues on IRS1, authorizing phosphorylation of IRS1 by the IGF-1R to activate PI3K. Treatment of GCs with FSH and exogenous IGF-1 initiates synergistic IRS1 Tyr phosphorylation and resulting gene activation. The mechanism by which PKA activates PI3K is conserved in preovulatory GCs, MCF7 breast cancer cells, and FRTL thyroid cells. For the MAPK/ERK pathway, PKA promotes inactivation of the MAPK phosphatase (MKP) dual specificity phosphatase (DUSP) MKP3/DUSP6 to permit MEK-phosphorylated ERK to accumulate downstream of the epidermal growth factor receptor. Thus, for the two central signaling pathways that regulate gene expression in GCs, FSH via PKA intersects canonical RTK-regulated signaling by modulating the activity of PPs.
Normalization of Testosterone Levels After Testosterone Replacement Therapy Is Not Associated With Reduced Myocardial Infarction in Smokers.

Abstract Objective To examine the effect of cigarette smoking (CS) status and total testosterone (TT) levels after testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke in male smokers and nonsmokers without history of MI and stroke. Participants and Methods Data from 18,055 males with known CS status and low TT levels who received TRT at the Veterans Health Administration between December 1, 1999, and May 31, 2014, were grouped into (1) current smokers with normalized TT, (2) current smokers with nonnormalized TT, (3) nonsmokers with normalized TT, and (4) nonsmokers with nonnormalized TT. Combined effect of CS status and TT level normalization after TRT on all-cause mortality, MI, and stroke was compared using propensity score–weighted Cox proportional hazard models. Results Normalization of serum TT levels in nonsmokers was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]=0.526; 95% CI, 0.477-0.581; P P P P =.69). Importantly, compared with nonsmokers with normalized TT, all-cause mortality (HR=1.242; 95% CI, 1.104-1.396; P P =.001), and stroke (HR=1.590; 95% CI, 1.013-2.495; P =.04) were significantly higher in current smokers with normalized TT. Conclusion We conclude that active CS may negate the protective effect of testosterone level normalization on all-cause mortality and MI after TRT.
Abstract P2-09-06: Quantitative spatial profiling of tumor associated macrophages and the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction in breast cancer

Background: Although immunotherapy approaches are being successfully administered in some breast cancer (BC) patients (pts), biomarkers of response remain elusive. Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) are the most prominent immune cells in breast tumors, mediating the cross-talk between tumor cells and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Specific biomarkers of breast TAMs9 functional status remain to be defined. CSF-1R, is a TAMs regulator and key target across cancers clinically tested, alone or combined with anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors. The goals of the study were: 1) to objectively measure CSF-1R expression within all CD68+ and M2-like CD163+TAMs, as well as PD-L1/PD-1 spatial interaction and 2) to determine whether objectively quantifying these key immune mechanisms related to TAMs immunomodulation within the tumor microenvironment can predict outcome and potentially response to immunotherapy. Methods: Tissue Microarrays (TMAs) from two Yale BC cohorts (Cohort A, all breast cases, n=320) (Cohort B, TNBC, n=132) were assessed by quantitative immunofluorescence (QIF) for CSF-1R/CD163/CD68; PD-1/PD-L1 interaction score (proportion of PD-1+ cells co-localized with PD-L1) and co-expression of the multiplexed biomarker panels. Biomarker positive cells and their co-localization were objectively measured using the AQUA method of QIF. QIF scores were compared by linear regression coefficients (R2). Overall and recurrence-free survival (OS and RFS) were assessed. Our protein data were compared with transcriptome data from the METABRIC study obtained from www.cbioportal.org. Results: CSF-1R expression was associated with expression of both CD68 and CD163 in both cohorts (A: R2=0.64, B: R2=0.49). CSF-1R in CD163/CD68 was higher in TNBC Cohort B (p PD-L1 mostly co-localized with CD68 TAMs (R2=0.7). Tumor PD-L1 tended to be mutually exclusive of CSF-1R. PD-L1/PD-1 colocalization was higher in TNBC (p The trend of mutual exclusivity between CSF-1R in TAMs and PD-1/PD-L1 was confirmed by expression (mRNA) data from METABRIC study. Discussion: This novel multiplexed method profiling key tumor-immune suppression pathways could identify BC pts likely to respond to anti-PD-1/anti-CSF-1R therapy. This method could help stratify pts for mono- or combined therapy in future clinical trials. Citation Format: Pelekanou V, Neumeister V, Pusztai L, Rimm DL. Quantitative spatial profiling of tumor associated macrophages and the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-09-06.
A Bibliometric Analysis of Clinical and Translational Research in Pediatric Gastroenterology From 1970 to 2017.

ABSTRACTObjectives:Pediatric gastroenterology is a clinical and research discipline principally developed over the past 50 years. Bibliometric methods provide quantitative analysis and identify research trends. Study aims were to characterize the growth and trends in pediatric gastroenterology clini
Alteridade e educação: um diálogo intersubjetivo pelo viés da diversidade

This essay aims to promote a dialogue with sexual diversity in education, placing as challenge the construction of a culture open to multiple languages and differences, as a way to reduce prejudice, discrimination and learn with multiplicity in school. Based on the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, we are provoked to learn from each other, towards the formation of a collective intelligence that promotes life and qualifies social and diverse knowledge, going beyond the repetition of historically constituted gender identities. The complexity of the task implies recognizing the other by means of actions that allow the emergence of biased immobilism, reconstructing pedagogical practices that express the richness of identities through cultural dialogue rethought with the possibilities of diversity and plurality.
Eine Beweisskizze des Klassifikationstheorems

In Abschnitt 4 des vorhergehenden Kapitels ist das Klassifikationstheorem aus der Sicht der Singularitatstheorie dargestellt worden. Dieses zentrale Theorem der elementaren Katastrophentheorie besteht aus mehreren Aussagen, deren Zusammenhang nicht ohne weiteres ersichtlich ist. Die wichtigsten dieser Aussagen werden hier noch einmal aufgezahlt.
UV cross-linking/immunoprecipitation assay: glucocorticoid receptor-adrenergic receptor gene sequence interaction.

The rat β1-adrenergic receptor (β1-AR) gene contains glucocorticoid response element (GRE) half-sites at positions -2767 and -945. In electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) experiments, neithe...
Optimization and Characterization of the Metal Cap Layout Above Through-Silicon Via to Improve Copper Dishing and Protrusion Effect for the Application of 3-D Integrated Circuits

In this paper, different layouts of the metal cap fabricated above the through-silicon via (TSV) are experimented. Metal caps are able to counteract the force exerted by copper (Cu) protrusion, but the large Cu area of the metal cap increases the risk of the dishing effect. Dielectric apertures are inserted into the metal cap to eliminate this process concern. We found that the metal caps with dielectric apertures of smaller dimensions spread out throughout the metal cap provide more benefit to the prevention of Cu protrusion from the TSV than metal caps with dielectric apertures of larger dimensions.
Fluoride detection with a redox-active naphthalene diimide metal–organic framework

Abstract Fluoride is commonly added to drinking water supplies for dental health; however, exposure to elevated fluoride levels can cause significant health problems. Therefore, it is important to develop simple and robust methods for monitoring fluoride in solution. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been targeted as ideal materials for next-generation sensing technologies, due to their combination of high surface area and chemical tunability. Here we report that a mesoporous MOF with redox-active naphthalene diimide-based ligands exhibits a selective and reversible color-change response to fluoride anion. The incorporation of fluoride sensing organic molecules into a MOF allows for the development of solid-state sensor devices that offer advantages relative to solution-phase methods.
Collaborative animation production from students' perspective: creating short 3D CG films through international team-work

Massive Collaborative Animation Projects (MCAP) was founded in 2016 by Dr. William Joel (Western Connecticut State University) to test students' collaborative abilities and provide experience that will allow them to grow professionally and academically. The MCAP 1 production is a children's ghost story designed to test the massive collaborative structure. The goal of MCAP 2 is to create an animation for use in planetariums worldwide. Currently, there are nearly one hundred student contributors from universities in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Japan, Michigan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Comparison of simulated radioactive atmospheric releases to citizen science observations for the Fukushima nuclear accident

Abstract Citizen science data from the Safecast project were shown to provide a reliable estimation of the spatial distribution of concentrations of elevated radiation levels around Fukushima when compared to government data. A comparison is presented between the HYSPLIT Lagrangian atmospheric transport and dispersion (T&D) model and a reflected Gaussian model to both government and Safecast contributed measurements. The advantage of contributed data with respect to the government data is that they are collected over a long period of time and have a larger spatial coverage. First, the Safecast contributed measurements are compared to aerial surveys completed by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Then the HYSPLIT T&D model is run to simulate the nuclear release using high resolution terrain and meteorological data. A Gaussian dispersion model is also run for comparison using meteorological data observed at the time of the accident. The results of both models and observed data are decay corrected to December 2016 in order to use a larger quantity of contributed measurements in the comparison. The comparison of areas of elevated radiation shows that the citizen science observations align with the prediction of models representing dynamic behavior of radionuclides dispersed in the environment. This paper shows that citizen science data can be used to validate and potentially better calibrate atmospheric T&D models.
Corrections to “On the Quantitative Potential of Viscoelastic Response (VisR) Ultrasound Using the One-Dimensional Mass-Spring-Damper Model”

In the original publication of this paper [1] , equation (3) contained sign errors for the amplitude of the third and fourth Heaviside functions. The corrected equation is shown in the following: \begin{align*}&\hspace {-1.8pc}\frac {d^{2}}{dt^{2}}u( t )+\omega ^{2}\tau \frac {d}{dt}u( t )+\omega ^{2}u( t ) \\=&S\omega ^{2}( H( t )-H( t-t_{\mathrm {ARF}} ) \\&\quad \qquad +\,H( t-{t_{\mathrm {ARF}}-t}_{s} )-H( t-{2t}_{\mathrm {ARF}}-t_{s} ) ).\tag{3}\end{align*}
Examining the Impact of a Psychosocial Syndemic on Past Six-Month HIV Screening Behavior of Black Men who have Sex with Men in the United States: Results from the POWER Study.

Syndemic production theory has been used to explore HIV transmission risk or infections but has not been used to investigate prevention behavior, or with large samples of non-Whites. This analysis is the first to explore the impact of syndemic factors on previous six-month HIV screening behavior among US Black MSM. Data from Promoting Our Worth, Equality and Resilience (POWER) were analyzed from 3294 participants using syndemic variable counts and measures of interaction/synergy. Syndemic variables included: past three-month poly-drug use, depression, last year intimate partner violence, HIV risk and problematic binge drinking. BMSM reporting two syndemic factors were more likely to report screening (AOR = 1.37, 95% CI 1.04–1.80; p = 0.028) with no significant associations for three or more conditions. Measures of joint effect revealed that there were synergies among depression, problematic binge drinking and poly-drug use but these psychosocial factors cannot entirely explain testing patterns and excess disease burden among BMSM.
Age Differences and Similarities in Associated Stressors and Outcomes Among Young, Midlife, and Older Adult Family Caregivers.

Background and ObjectivesFew studies have simultaneously compared caregivers in all stages of the adult life course. This study examined age differences in associations among primary stressors (car...
Endocrine regulation of egg rejection in an avian brood parasite host.

Parasite–host coevolution can lead to novel behavioural adaptations in hosts to resist parasitism. In avian obligate brood parasite and host systems, many host species have evolved diverse cognitiv...
Insufficient Effort Responding as a Potential Confound between Survey Measures and Objective Tests

Following research that demonstrates insufficient effort responding (IER) may confound survey measures and inflate observed correlations (Huang, Liu, & Bowling, 2015c), a question emerges as to whether and when IER can act as a confound between objective tests and surveys. Using data (N = 243) originally designed to examine training and transfer, study 1 demonstrates that (a) IER is negatively related to performance on tests, and (b) IER’s influence on surveys depends on the sample means of these measures. As a result, IER could inflate a test’s association with other tests and surveys. Study 2 investigates the impact of two parameters—within-person consistency of IER and percentage of IER cases in the sample—by randomly replacing bootstrapped attentive responses (10,000 bootstrapped samples of 200 cases identified from study 1). When predicting the confounding effects of IER, within-person consistency has positive linear and quadratic effects, percentage of IER cases has a positive linear effect, and consistency and percentage have a positive interactive effect. Research and practical implications for the design and evaluation of surveys and tests are discussed.
The ACE2-binding interface of SARS-CoV-2 Spike inherently deflects immune recognition

The COVID-19 pandemic remains a global threat, and host immunity remains the main mechanism of protection against the disease. The spike protein on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 is a major antigen and its engagement with human ACE2 receptor plays an essential role in viral entry into host cells. Consequently, antibodies targeting the ACE2-interacting surface (ACE2IS) located in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein can neutralize the virus. However, the understanding of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 is still limited, and it is unclear how the virus protects this surface from recognition by antibodies. Here, we designed an RBD mutant that disrupts the ACE2IS and used it to characterize the prevalence of antibodies directed to the ACE2IS from convalescent sera of 94 COVID19-positive patients. We found that only a small fraction of RBD-binding antibodies targeted the ACE2IS. To assess the immunogenicity of different parts of the spike protein, we performed in vitro antibody selection for the spike and the RBD proteins using both unbiased and biased selection strategies. Intriguingly, unbiased selection yielded antibodies that predominantly targeted regions outside the ACE2IS, whereas ACE2IS-binding antibodies were readily identified from biased selection designed to enrich such antibodies. Furthermore, antibodies from an unbiased selection using the RBD preferentially bound to the surfaces that are inaccessible in the context of whole spike protein. These results suggest that the ACE2IS has evolved less immunogenic than the other regions of the spike protein, which has important implications in the development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
The fidelity of exponential and IMEX integrators for wave turbulence: Introduction of a new near-minimax integrating factor scheme

Abstract Exponential and IMEX integrators are considered for wave turbulence problems, which are stiff systems that often require long-time simulations. Applying a multi-scale asymptotic analysis to the difference equations for a simple wave turbulence problem reveals that Exponential Runge-Kutta methods incorrectly model interactions between resonant waves unless they are specifically designed otherwise, and IMplicit-EXplicit (IMEX) integrators introduce dispersive and dissipative errors that severely degrade the accuracy of slow energy exchange between resonant waves. The same analysis shows Integrating Factor (IF) methods to be the most suitable. Numerical experiments performed on the resonant triad model and the Majda-McLaughlin-Tabak (MMT) model verify the discrete-asymptotic analysis. In the MMT problem, Exponential Time Differencing methods require a time step more than two orders of magnitude smaller than IF methods to achieve comparable accuracy, and IMEX methods require more than six orders of magnitude smaller time steps. A novel near-minimax rational approximation of the matrix exponential is proposed to be used for integrating factor methods, and is demonstrated to be as accurate as the IF method but without the need to compute a matrix exponential.
Numerical and Experimental Investigations on Vocal Fold Approximation in Healthy and Simulated Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis

We have developed a novel surgical/computational model for the investigation of unilat-eral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) which will be used to inform future in silico approaches to improve surgical outcomes in type I thyroplasty. Healthy phonation (HP) was achieved using cricothyroid suture approximation on both sides of the larynx to generate symmetrical vocal fold closure. Following high-speed videoendoscopy (HSV) capture, sutures on the right side of the larynx were removed, partially releasing tension unilaterally and generating asymmetric vocal fold closure characteristic of UVFP (sUVFP condition). HSV revealed symmetric vibration in HP, while in sUVFP the sutured side demonstrated a higher frequency (10–11%). For the computational model, ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were captured at three configurations: non-approximated (NA), HP, and sUVFP. A finite-element method (FEM) model was built, in which cartilage displacements from the MRI images were used to prescribe the adduction, and the vocal fold deformation was simulated before the eigenmode calculation. The results showed that the frequency comparison between the two sides was consistent with observations from HSV. This alignment between the surgical and computational models supports the future application of these methods for the investigation of treatment for UVFP.
Mental health and demographic correlates of loneliness after left ventricular assist device implantation

Loneliness is a risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, and hospital readmission, yet there are no studies to our knowledge examining loneliness in left ventricular assistance device (LVAD)...