cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Molecular Simulations of Anhydrous Na6[Al6Si6O24] Sodalite

An empirical energy force field, one that combines previously published force field parameters with a flexible SPC water model, is used to examine the structures and dynamical properties of the hydrosodalite family of zeolitic materials. In this paper, we present the results for Na6[Al6Si6O24], one of two anhydrous end-members in this family. Experimentally derived unit cell volumes, T−O bond lengths, and T−O−T and O−T−O bond angles are used to validate the force field. Supplemental plane-wave pseudopotential density functional calculations fully support the potential-based models. Although sodalite materials usually possess P43n symmetry, the direct modeling results from both simulation techniques employed in this study suggest the formation of volume-doubled C2/c supercells. The loss of symmetry is due to the presence of only six monovalent ions in the unit cell, rather than the usual eight. This result stands in partial agreement with recent simulation and experimental studies that report volume-doubl...
Complete Genome Sequence of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 Strain Isolated from a Super-Shedder Steer.

ABSTRACT We report here the complete genome sequence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain JEONG-1266 isolated from a super- shedder steer in northwest Florida. Cattle are considered a primary reservoir of E. coli O157:H7, and those cattle that excrete this pathogen in their feces at levels ≥104 CFU/g are known as super-shedders.
Renin gene expression in the vascular endothelial cells infected by the clinical isolate of cytomegalovirus

Objective To explore whether or not cytomegalovirus(CMV)infected cardiovascular endothelial cells with renin gene expression.Methods(1)Umbilical vein cell line and abdominal aorta cell line were respectively infected with the clinical isolate of CMV BI-5 and the laboratory strain of CMV AD169 at multiplicities of infection(MOI)of 10 of each virus(107 pfu/ml CMV/106 cells)and mock infected with medium alone.The supernatant of 200μl from each culture was collected at the 23rd hour,day 3,7,10,and 14 post-infection and replaced back with 200μl of fresh medium.At the 14th day of post-infection,the cells were rinsed with PBS three times and then harvested;(2)CMV DNA copies in the supernatant from each culture were determined by COBAS PCR;(3)CMV DNA polymerase(pol)gene in the infected cells was tested by PCR;(4)The renin expression in the viral infected cells was measured with RT-PCR,real time quantity RT-PCT and western blot.Results(1)Lytic replication of CMV was not found in both venous and arterial cells infected till the 14th post-infective day;(2)The clinical isolates BI-5 persistently replicated in both venous and arterial endothelial cells and their supernatants but not the AD169,determined by viral pol gene copy number in both types of cells infected;(3)CMV DNA and renin expression in CMV infected arterial cells both were stronger than in venous cells.Conclusion CMV was nonlytic and continuously released from the infected vascular cells for the life span of the culture,and induced renin expression in CMV-infected cells.The local renin from CMV-infected cells possibly plays an important role in pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
Real-time hyperspectral anomaly detection via band-interleaved by line

Anomaly detection is one of most fundamental tasks in hyperspectral data exploitation. Since anomalies are generally unknown and unexpected, their detection must be carried out without prior knowledge. Most importantly, when anomalies are weak and moving as time goes on real time processing of anomaly detection becomes immense in detecting these anomalous targets. Due to hyperspectral sensor design two major formats are used for data acquisition in real-time. One is real-time sample processing which collects data in two different fashions, Band-interleaved by Pixel/Sample (BIP/BIS) sample-by-sample and Band-Interleaved-by-Line (BIL) line-by-line. Another is real-time band processing which follows the Band Sequential (BSQ) format to collect the data. Recently, anomaly detection using both BIP/BIS and BSQ has been reported in the literature. Since a hyperspectral imaging sensor generally collects the data in a push-broom manner, the BIL format is preferred to BIP/BIS. But it is interesting to note that AD using BIL has not been explored and investigated in the past mainly because it was expected that AD using BIL may perform similarly to AD using BIP/BIS. This paper shows otherwise due to the fact that the covariance/correlation matrix used by an anomaly detector has significant impact on the detectability of anomalies. It has been shown that anomaly detection is heavily determined by the ratio of anomalies to be detected to the image size that forms the covariance/correlation matrix. So, when AD using BIL is implemented, the information of covariance/correlation matrix provided BIL is different from that provided by BIP/BIS. As a result, it is anticipated that AD using BIL may result different performance from AD using BIP/BIS.
Long‐term anoxia and release of ancient, labile carbon upon thaw of Pleistocene permafrost

USGS through the Climate and Land Use Change Mission Area and the NRC postdoc program; Montana State University Vice President of Research and College of Agriculture; the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station; National Science Foundation (EAR 0630257)
Scope or scalpel? A matched study of the treatment of large colorectal polyps

BACKGROUND Large colorectal polyps can be treated either endoscopically or by formal resection. The aim of this study was to clarify the relative advantages and disadvantages of surgical resection and colonoscopic snaring as means of treating large colorectal polyps. METHODS This is a matched cohort study, comparing cases of surgical resection of benign colorectal polyps with endoscopic resection. Cases drawn from pathology and endoscopy databases were matched for the size and site of polyps, and the groups were compared for the end points of complications, length of hospital stay and completeness of the removal of the polyp. RESULTS There were 78 patients in each group, with mean ages of 65.6 years (colonoscopy) and 66.8 years (surgery). A total of 39 of the surgery group and 47 of the colonoscopy group were men. Mean polyp size was 34.1 mm (colonoscopy) and 32.1 mm (surgery). There was an exact match for polyp location. Complications occurred in eight colonoscopy patients (10.3%) and 42 surgery patients (56.0%) (P < 0.001, chi-square). Length of hospital stay was 0 days for colonoscopy patients and 7.3 ± 4.7 days for surgery (P < 0.001). The surgery group was separated into laparoscopic (n = 35) and open (n = 43) surgery. There was no difference in complication rates (42.4 versus 53.5%, respectively) but laparoscopic had shorter length of stay (5.8 days ± 4.9 SD versus 8.4 days ± 4.3 SD). Recurrence of surgically resected polyps was zero; at last follow-up 13% of snared polyps persisted. CONCLUSION Although resection is a more certain and absolute way of treating benign polyps, endoscopic polypectomy is preferable.
Can We Predict Success in the First Intermediate Accounting Course from Sophomore-Level Performance?

The purpose of this study was to determine potential predictors of success for transfer and nontransfer students in their first intermediate accounting class. Data was collected on the grades in the sophomore-level accounting classes, cumulative GPA, transfer status and student’s gender for 251 students completing the first intermediate accounting class. The data further identified students with the main campus and two teaching centers offering the intermediate accounting course. Further analysis was done on the 76 students that took the course at the main campus because the two teaching centers enrolled mostly transfer students. The cumulative GPA and the grades in the sophomore-level classes were highly correlated to the grade in the first intermediate accounting course. Overall, we found that the managerial accounting class was the best predictor of a student’s grade in the first intermediate accounting class when we focused on the main campus sample. The transfer status and student gender were generally not significantly associated with the grade.
Baroclinic-to-Barotropic Pathway in El Niño–Southern Oscillation Teleconnections from the Viewpoint of a Barotropic Rossby Wave Source

AbstractThe baroclinic-to-barotropic pathway in ENSO teleconnections is examined from the viewpoint of a barotropic Rossby wave source that results from decomposition into barotropic and baroclinic components. Diagnoses using the NCEP–NCAR reanalysis are supplemented by analysis of the response of a tropical atmospheric model of intermediate complexity to the NCEP–NCAR barotropic Rossby wave source. Among the three barotropic Rossby wave source contributions (shear advection, vertical advection, and surface drag), the leading contribution is from shear advection and, more specifically, the mean baroclinic zonal wind advecting the anomalous baroclinic zonal wind. Vertical advection is the smallest term, while surface drag tends to cancel and reinforce the shear advection in different regions through damping on the baroclinic mode, which spins up a barotropic response. There are also nontrivial impacts of transients in the barotropic wind response to ENSO. Both tropical and subtropical baroclinic vorticity ...
Severe Infliximab-Induced Alopecia and Scalp Psoriasis in a Woman with Crohn's Disease: Dramatic Improvement after Drug Discontinuation and Treatment with Adjuvant Systemic and Topical Therapies

Scalp psoriasis with alopecia is a rare cutaneous reaction to tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonists. This reaction often reverses with discontinuation of the offending drug and initiation of topical treatments; however, irreversible hair loss may occur if a scarring alopecia develops. We describe a woman with Crohn's disease who developed scalp psoriasis and alopecia secondary to infliximab. She had a remarkable recovery after discontinuation of infliximab and treatment with oral minocycline and topical therapy: mineral oil under occlusion, betamethasone lotion, and sequential coal tar, salicylic acid, and ketoconazole shampoos each day. The patient's alopecia completely resolved within 4 months of initiating this treatment regimen. In summary, early diagnosis of alopecia secondary to tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonist therapy is crucial in preventing diffuse alopecia and scalp psoriasis. In addition to discontinuing the offending agent, initiating aggressive adjuvant treatment with an oral antibiotic, topical therapies, or both, should be considered to reverse tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonist-induced alopecia and/or scalp psoriasis.
A Dynamic Model of Immune Responses to Antigen Presentation Predicts Different Regions of Tumor or Pathogen Elimination.

Summary The immune system must discriminate between agents of disease and an organism's healthy cells. While the identification of an antigen as self/non-self is critically important, the dynamic features of antigen presentation may also determine the immune system's response. Here, we use a simple mathematical model of immune activation to explore the idea of antigen discrimination through dynamics. We propose that antigen presentation is coupled to two nodes, one regulatory and one effecting the immune response, through an incoherent feedforward loop and repressive feedback. This circuit would allow the immune system to effectively estimate the increase of antigens with respect to time, a key determinant of immune reactivity in vivo. Our model makes the prediction that tumors growing at specific rates evade the immune system despite the continuous presence of antigens indicating disease, a phenomenon closely related to clinically observed "two-zone tolerance." Finally, we discuss a plausible biological instantiation of our circuit using combinations of regulatory and effector T cells.
Retention of Undergraduate Engineering Students: Extending Research into Practice

This session will discuss findings of a multi-site research study that contributed to a multi-site implementation project focused on issues pertaining to retention of undergraduate engineering students. Speakers will address the recommendations and subsequent implementation strategy made to engineering schools through two short presentations. Participants will be asked to respond to questions related to the challenges and ideas of implementing specific recommendations made to engineering schools resulting from these initiatives. PACE, Project to Assess Climate in Engineering is a multi-site research project funded by The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation intended to identify issues that affect persistence among engineering undergraduates while paying specific attention to the intersection of race, gender and academic experience. PACE had three main data collection components: an online student survey; interviews with current undergraduate engineering students; and interviews with undergraduate students who changed majors. All 21 PACE schools received a final report including recommendations based on data from the survey and interviews. This session will discuss the prevalence of certain recommendations that appeared across many institutions. Presenter: Elizabeth Litzler, Research Manager, PACE Director for Research, Center for Workforce Development, University of Washington Facilitator: Suzanne Brainard, Principal Investigator, PACE Executive Director, Center for Workforce Development, University of Washington Facilitator: Susan Staffin Metz, Co-Principal Investigator, PACE Senior Advisor, Center for Innovation in Engineering & Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology ENGAGE, Engaging Students in Engineering, is a five year Extension Services project funded by the National Science Foundation's Gender in Science and Engineering program. The overarching goal of ENGAGE is to increase the capacity of 30 engineering schools to retain undergraduate students by facilitating the implementation of three research-based strategies to improve student day-to-day classroom and educational experience. The three strategies were selected because there is research evidence that implementing the strategies increases retention of undergraduate engineering students, particularly women. Presenter: Susan Staffin Metz, Principal Investigator, ENGAGE Senior Advisor, Center for Innovation in Engineering & Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology Facilitator : C. Diane Matt, Co-Principal Investigator ENGAGE, Executive Director, WEPAN Facilitator: Patricia Campbell, Co-Principal Investigator, ENGAGE, President, Campbell-Kibler Associates
Obesity at diagnosis and breast cancer (BC) recurrence risk based on the 21-gene assay recurrence score (RS).

555 Background: Obesity at diagnosis has been associated with poorer overall survival in BC patients. The Oncotype Dx 21-gene assay RS has been shown to predict the risk of distant recurrence in es...
Strategies for overcoming barriers to IPE at a health sciences university

Abstract Since the identification of barriers to interprofessional education (IPE) by the Interprofessional Education Collaborative in 2011, much has been done to overcome them. A 2014 publication of a literature review found 1570 reports about barriers to IPE but only 18 reports about factors that enable universities to successfully deal with them. The purpose of this report is to describe the strategies used by leadership and faculty at one health sciences university to overcome various obstacles in order to foster a university culture that embraces IPE. Among successful strategies were university strategic planning, strong leadership by a chief academic officer, consistent engagement of deans and program directors, identification of teamwork as a core competency for all graduates, and a centralized multiprofessional faculty steering committee appointed and paid by the Provost to plan and implement the work.
Modeling of ADC-Based Serial Link Receivers With Embedded and Digital Equalization

Serial link receivers with high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) can utilize powerful digital-domain equalizers and support multilevel modulation schemes. This paper presents a hybrid statistical modeling framework for ADC-based serial link receivers. The framework builds upon the existing statistical modeling techniques for mixed-signal receivers and adds the support of ADC quantization noise, radix errors [integral nonlinearity and differential nonlinearity (INL/DNL)], and time-interleaving mismatches. A rapid purely statistical simulation mode is utilized to model systems with small front-end nonlinearity and ADC INL/DNL. To include ADC INL/DNL, a hybrid approach is presented with an initial short transient simulation. The presented modeling framework is used to explore the effectiveness of embedding an analog feed-forward equalizer (FFE) in the ADC of a 10-Gb/s receiver. Measurement results of a 10-Gb/s ADC-based receiver prototype with a three-tap embedded FFE in the ADC and a digital four-tap FFE and three-tap decision feedback equalizer are presented to validate the presented framework.
Biology of the Collateral Circulation

Collateral vascular channels are those arteries and veins which are interposed as connecting links capable of bypassing areas of vascular occlusion. Their basic function is to carry blood in sufficient quantities to maintain the circulatory equilibrium of the part they serve. In the arterial system, most diseases which lead to the development of collateral circulation interfere with delivery of blood to the tissues, often resulting in either acute or chronic ischemia. The extent to which the collateral arteries can assume the role of the parent, diseased artery is dependent upon many factors which include the location of the obstruction, the rapidity with which the occlusion occurs, the size and distribution of the preformed collateral channels, and the metabolic requirements of the organ system.
Automatic program generation for scientific computing

The code reuse problem is a common software engineering problem in scientific computing. As a prevailing programming language in many scientific fields, Fortran does not provide support to address this problem. One particular reason is that Fortran lacks the support for generic programming. By applying program-generation techniques, we developed two approaches to address the code reuse problem. The first approach is to design a program generator for the equation-based specification of subroutines that can be generic in the dimensions of arrays, parameter lists, and called subroutines. We apply that approach to a real-world problem in scientific computing, which requires the generic description of inverse ocean modeling tools. In addition to a compiler that can transform generic specifications into efficient Fortran code for models, we have also developed a type system that can identify possible errors already in the specifications. The second approach is to extend Fortran with the support for generic programming. The result is the language Parametric Fortran, which supports defining Fortran program templates by allowing the parameterization of arbitrary Fortran constructs. A Fortran program template can be translated into a regular Fortran program guided by values for the parameters. Parametric Fortran is particularly useful in scientific computing. The applications include defining generic functions, removing duplicated code, and automatic differentiation. The described Fortran extension has also been successfully employed implementing the generic inverse ocean modeling system.
Allowable stresses of flight vehicle materials

In Volume 1, the primary concern has been the determination of the applied stresses in a given structure with given applied external forces. To complete the analysis it is necessary to compare the applied stresses to the stresses that the materials can take at yield and at failure. This chapter is concerned with the allowable stresses for typical metallic isotropic materials used in flight vehicle structures. Some discussion of allowable stresses for composite materials is given in Chapter 10. The primary source for many of the allowable stresses in flight vehicle metallic materials is Reference 1, Mil-HDBK-5c, ”Metallic Materials and Elements for Aerospace Vehicle Structures”. This standardization handbook is maintained as a joint effort of the Department of Defence and the Federal Aviation Agency. Selected tables of the allowable stresses from the 1962 edition of Reference 1 are given in Reference 2.
Efficient Submatch Extraction for Practical Regular Expressions

A capturing group is a syntax used in modern regular expression implementations to specify a subexpression of a regular expression. Given a string that matches the regular expression, submatch extraction is the process of extracting the substrings corresponding to those subexpressions. Greedy and reluctant closures are variants on the standard closure operator that impact how submatches are extracted. The state of the art and practice in submatch extraction are automata based approaches and backtracking algorithms. In theory, the number of states in an automata-based approach can be exponential in n, the size of the regular expression, and the running time of backtracking algorithms can be exponential in l, the length of the string. In this paper, we present an O(lc) runtime automata based algorithm for extracting submatches from a string that matches a regular expression, where c > 0 is the number of capturing groups. The previous fastest automata based algorithm was O(nlc). Both our approach and the previous fastest one require worst-case exponential compile time. But in practice, the worst case behavior rarely occurs, so achieving a practical speed-up against state-of-the-art methods is of significant interest. Our experimental results show that, for a large set of regular expressions used in practice, our algorithm is approximately twice as fast as Java’s backtracking based regular expression library and approximately twenty times faster than the RE2 regular expression engine.
Lexicomp App Review

Lexicomp is a subscription-based pharmacological database app that encompasses everything you might need to know about medications. The app requires you to have a subscription service to be able to access the 20 pharmacological databases it has. There are three subscription plans, and each offers a different number of databases you can access. Having access to all databases will give the healthcare professional all-if not more-the information on a medication.
Nowhere to Go and No Way to Get There: Congressional Relations in the Early Bush Administration.

The transition and the president's first year in office is the most important period for establishing the tone and character of the White House's relationship with Congress. It is the time of closest scrutiny and the greatest vulnerability to making major mistakes. Taking the right steps early and avoiding errors can lay in the foundation for a productive working relationship. Actions taken in this period create lasting impressions. According to Max Friedersdorf, the “enemies and mistakes made in the first week will dog a President throughout his term in office.” Stuart Eizenstat adds, “I don't think Carter's image ever recovered from some of those early mistakes.” This essay examines George Bush's relations with Congress early in his term. First I focus on the context in which the new president is operating to explore the opportunities and constraints present in his environment. Then I assess the primary components of his legislative strategy. When George Bush took the oath of office on January 20, 1989, he was already fighting an uphill battle in his relations with Congress. He began his tenure with one of the worst strategic positions of any newly-elected president in our history. There are two dimensions of his strategic position that bear examination: his leadership resources and his leeway in taking policy initiatives. New presidents traditionally claim a mandate from the people, because the most effective means of setting the terms of debate and overcoming opposition is the perception of an electoral mandate, an impression that the voters want to see the winner's programs implemented. Indeed, major changes in policy, as in 1933, 1965, and 1981, virtually never occur in the absence of such perceptions.
Reamed Intramedullary Nailing of a Femur Fracture in a Polytraumatized Patient on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Case Report.

Case We present the case of a young adult with blunt lung trauma and acute respiratory distress syndrome requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) after a motor vehicle crash with a concomitant diaphyseal femur fracture who underwent reamed intramedullary nailing (IMN) while on ECMO support. Conclusion This case is important because it demonstrates that reamed IMN of the femur has been performed safely in a critically ill patient on ECMO.
Chapter Eight – Model-Based Reinforcement Learning for Approximate Optimal Regulation

Reinforcement learning (RL)-based online approximate optimal control methods applied to deterministic systems typically require a restrictive persistence of excitation (PE) condition for convergence. We develop a model-based RL algorithm to solve approximate optimal regulation problems online under a PE-like rank condition. The development is based on the observation that, given a model of the system, model-based RL can be implemented by evaluation of the Bellman error at any number of desired points in the state space. Uniformly ultimately bounded regulation of the system states to a neighborhood of the origin and convergence of the developed policy to a neighborhood of the optimal policy are established using a Lyapunov-based analysis, and simulations are presented to demonstrate the performance of the developed controller.
Network Engineering Using Autonomous Agents Increases Cooperation in Human Groups

Cooperation in human groups is challenging, and various mechanisms are required to sustain it, although it nevertheless usually decays over time. Here, we perform theoretically informed experiments involving networks of humans (1,024 subjects in 64 networks) playing a public-goods game to which we sometimes added autonomous agents (bots) programmed to use only local knowledge. We show that cooperation can not only be stabilized, but even promoted, when the bots intervene in the partner selections made by the humans, re-shaping social connections locally within a larger group. Cooperation rates increased from 60.4% at baseline to 79.4% at the end. This network-intervention strategy outperformed other strategies, such as adding bots playing tit-for-tat. We also confirm that even a single bot can foster cooperation in human groups by using a mixed strategy designed to support the development of cooperative clusters. Simple artificial intelligence can increase the cooperation of groups.
Disparate Disruptions: Intersectional COVID-19 Employment Effects by Age, Gender, Education, and Race/Ethnicity

These are unprecedented times, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts public health, social interaction, and employment attachments. Evidence to date has been about broad shifts in unemployment rates as a percent of the labor force. We draw on monthly Current Population Survey data to examine subpopulation changes in employment states across the life course, from January through April 2020. COVID-19 downturns produced disparate life-course impacts. There are increases in unemployment and being out of the workforce at all ages, but especially among young adults, with young women most at risk. Intersectional analyses document conjoint life-course vulnerabilities by gender, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity. For example, Black men aged 20-29 with a college degree experienced a 12.4 percentage point increase in being not in the labor force for other reasons (NILF-other). Individuals with less than a college degree in their 50s and 60s were more likely to become unemployed, regardless of race. And more non-college-educated Asian men in their 60s and 70s reported being retired (6.6 and 8.9 percentage point increases, respectively). Repercussions from the pandemic may well challenge assumptions and possibilities for older adults' working longer.
Pediatric Hospitalizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

* Abbreviations: COVID-19 — : coronavirus disease 2019 SARS-CoV-2 — : severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Social distancing measures, defined as closures of schools and public places, physical distancing, and cancellation of mass gatherings,1 were implemented to reduce the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Although children have been relatively spared from severe SARS-CoV-2 infections requiring hospitalization,2,3 it remains unknown if social distancing measures are related to pediatric inpatient use for conditions caused by other respiratory viruses. To address this knowledge gap, we examined the effect … Address correspondence to Jayme L. Wilder, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail: jayme.wilder{at}childrens.harvard.edu
Mechanisms of Vascular Remodeling in Hypertension.

Hypertension is both a cause and a consequence of central artery stiffening, which in turn is an initiator and indicator of myriad disease conditions and thus all-cause mortality. Such stiffening results from a remodeling of the arterial wall that is driven by mechanical stimuli and mediated by inflammatory signals, which together lead to differential gene expression and concomitant changes in extracellular matrix composition and organization. This review focuses on biomechanical mechanisms by which central arteries remodel in hypertension within the context of homeostasis - what promotes it, what prevents it. It is suggested that the vasoactive capacity of the wall and inflammatory burden strongly influence the ability of homeostatic mechanisms to adapt the arterial wall to high blood pressure or not. Maladaptation, often reflected by inflammation-driven adventitial fibrosis, not just excessive intimal-medial thickening, significantly diminishes central artery function and disturbs hemodynamics, ultimately compromising end organ perfusion and thus driving the associated morbidity and mortality. It is thus suggested that there is a need for increased attention to controlling both smooth muscle phenotype and inflammation in hypertensive remodeling of central arteries, with future studies of the often adaptive response of medium-sized muscular arteries promising to provide additional guidance.
Financing With Investor Syndicates

Projects and firms are often financed by investor syndicates. I study how investors acquire and share information in syndicates and solve the entrepreneur’s financial contracting problem. The key mechanism is that investors share information through strategic communication. Contracts determine whether investors have conflicts of interest and thus how they communicate strategically. When the project is not promising before the screening, the optimal contract intends to align investors’ interests and thus facilitate information sharing in the syndicate. When the project is promising before the screening, the optimal contract intends to differentiate investors, create conflicts of interest, and eventually impede information sharing. These results are consistent with the stylized facts about syndicate structures observed in reality. Welfare analysis implies that restricting investor differentiation in syndicates is not socially preferred. I develop a new theory for the formation and the structures of investor syndicates.
Unloxing the assembly and activation mechanism of Cre recombinase using Cryo-EM

Mechanistic understanding of the structural basis for DNA recombination in the Cre-loxP system has largely been guided by crystallographic structures of tetrameric synaptic complexes (intasomes). These structural and biochemical studies have suggested that conformational changes and DNA bending in presynaptic complexes underlie site-selection and activation mechanisms of Cre recombinase. Here we used protein engineering and various DNA substrates to isolate the Cre-loxP (54 kDa), Cre2-loxP (110 kDa), and Cre4-loxP2 assembly intermediates, and determined their structures using cryo-EM to resolutions of 3.9 [A], 4.5 [A], and 3.2 [A], respectively. Progressive DNA bending along the assembly pathway enables formation of increasingly intimate protein-protein interfaces. Insufficient stabilization of important protein motifs observed during the assembly process provides a compelling explanation for the observed half-the-sites activity, and preferential bottom strand cleavage of loxP sequences. We found that selection of loxP sites is largely dependent on Cres ability to bend and stabilize the spacer region between two recombinase binding elements. Application of 3D variability analysis to the tetramer data reveals a propensity for motion along the pathway between protomer activation and Holliday junction isomerization. These findings help us to better understand loxP site specificity, controlled activation of alternating protomers, the basis for the observed bias of strand cleavage order, and the importance of conformational sampling, especially with regards to site-selection and activity among Cre variants. Furthermore, our findings provide invaluable information for the rational development of designer, site-specific recombinases for use as gene editing technologies. HighlightsO_LICryo-EM structures of Cre-loxP assembly intermediates (monomer, dimer, and tetramer) provide insights into mechanisms of site recognition, half-the-sites activity, strand cleavage order, and concerted strand cleavage C_LIO_LISelectivity of loxP sites arises from few base-specific contacts made by each protomer and is mainly driven by formation of phosphate contacts and DNA deformations that are maximal in the fully assembled "active" tetramer C_LIO_LICis and trans interactions of the {beta}2-3 loop (i) define which sites are "active" and (ii) ensure half-the-sites activity C_LIO_LIProtein flexibility plays a central role in enabling DNA sequence scanning, recruitment of a second protein to form a dimer, synapsis, control of activity, as well as subsequent recombination steps C_LIO_LIConformational sampling within the tetrameric complex was uncovered using 3D variability analysis and revealed the importance of protein-protein interfaces for site- selection and activation of Cre-loxP complexes C_LI
Ability to Absorb Knowledge and Endogenous Economic Growth: Expansion of Romer Economic Model

Above the solid base founded by Alfred Marshall, Robert Solow, Paul Romer, and other famous economists around the world, this article focuses on exploring new aspects of economic growth based on the Romer Economic Growth Model. By adding two new variables, the heterogeneity and the ability to absorb knowledge, into the model, which are two main conditions that allows the spillover effect of knowledge, this article realizes that such an effect is, in fact, a mutual communication between industries, in which they absorb knowledge from each other. In order to set up a new model based on the Romer Economic Growth Model, this article imports the two variables into the model, and finally achieve a new endogenous economic growth model. Theoretically, this will be a more inclusive economic growth model: Romer Economic Growth Model, Solow Growth Model, and AK Model are all special situations of this model. Mathematically, since this model emphasizes the impact of ability to absorb knowledge in the economic growth, comparing to previous economic growth models, this one will hold a stronger point in explaining endogenous economic growth.
Abstract 276: Appalachian mountaintop mining particulate matter induces malignant transformation and tumorigenesis of human lung epithelial cells

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and after smoking, environmental and occupational exposure is the major cause. West Virginia (WV), the biggest coal mining state in Appalachia, ranks the third highest rate of lung cancer incidence in the United States. Our epidemiological studies suggest that living near WV mountaintop coal mining (MTM) activities is a contributing factor of the high lung cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of MTM particle exposure on cell transformation and tumorigenesis of human lung epithelial cells. Air particulate matter (PM) collected within one mile of active MTM site in Edwight, WV (PM MTM ), consisting of silica (Si, 48%) and molybdenum (Mo, 29%) as major constituents, was used for cell exposure studies. As control, PM collected from the neighboring areas that do not have coal mining in Green Bank, WV (PM CON ) was used. Chronic exposure (3 months) of non-tumorigenic human lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells to sub-cytotoxic concentration (1 μg/mL) of PM MTM, but not PM CON , was found to induce malignant transformation of the cells, as indicated by loss of contact inhibition and anchorage-independent cell growth. The PM MTM -transformed cells also induced tumor formation in vivo using a xenograft mouse model. Exposure to Mo (1 μg/mL), but not Si, similarly induced malignant transformation and tumorigenesis of the lung epithelial cells, suggesting that Mo may be a key contributing factor of PM MTM pathologic effects. Citation Format: Sudjit Luanpitpong, Juhua Luo, Travis Kneuckles, Michael Hendryx, Yon Rojanasakul. Appalachian mountaintop mining particulate matter induces malignant transformation and tumorigenesis of human lung epithelial cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 276. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-276
Integration of GPS-aided INS into AVCSSS

This report describes the results of an effort to implement and analyze the performance a vehicle control system using control state information obtained from a carrier phase Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) aided Inertial Navigation System (INS). Keywords: Vehicle Positioning Systems, Global Positioning System, Inertial Navigation, Differential Carrier Phase, Advanced Vehicle Control
Susceptibility of the aging thorax to motor vehicle crash injuries (922.2)

Susceptibility of the Aging Thorax to Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries Objective: Evaluate the appearance of the phenomenon that the aging thorax ribs become more horizontally oriented. It is hypothesi...
New Bounds for Union-free Families of Sets

Following Frankl and Furedi we say a family, $F$, of subsets of an $n$-set is weakly union-free if $F$ does not contain four distinct sets $A$, $B$, $C$, $D$ with $A \cup B = C \cup D$. If in addition $A \cup B = A \cup C$ implies $B=C$ we say $F$ is strongly union-free. Let $f(n)$ ($g(n)$) be the maximum size of strongly (weakly) union-free families. In this paper we prove the following new bounds on $f$ and $g$: $$2^{[0.31349+o(1)]n} \leq f(n) \leq 2^{[0.4998+o(1)]n}$$ and $$g(n) \leq 2^{[0.5+o(1)]n}.$$
Spinal Cord Stimulation for the Treatment of Upper and Lower Extremity Neuropathic Pain due to Lyme Disease.

Background. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia, a bacterium transmitted by the bite of a deer tick. A slow developing encephalopathy or an axonal polyneuropathy with distal paresthesia and spinal or radicular pain rarely occurs and can be hard to treat. Materials and Methods. We report here the case of a 44-year-old woman with four-limb, intolerable, neuropathic pain as sequelae to Lyme disease, which was resistant to conservative measures and was treated successfully with concurrent, thoracic, and cervical percutaneous spinal cord stimulation (SCS). Results. After 18 months of therapy and follow-up, this patient's analgesia, as a result of SCS, continues to be excellent, with almost complete subjective pain relief and cessation of adjuvant analgesic medication. Conclusions. SCS may be efficacious for the treatment of neuropathic pain due to Lyme disease.
Fullerene stabilized gold nanoparticles

We report a simple and one-step method of generating gold nanoparticles stabilized directly with fullerenes C60 and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid (PCBA) that led to C60-AuNPs (1) and PCBA-AuNPs (2), respectively. The C60-AuNPs (1) and PCBA-AuNPs (2) were characterized with UV-vis, FTIR, DLS, zeta potential, XRD, TEM, and AFM.
A Thermal Analysis Study of Hydroxy Benzoic Acid Derivatives Using Rising Temperature Thermogravimetry

Hydroxy benzoic acids were subjected to rising temperature thermogravimetric analysis. After optimizing the procedural variables, the kinetics of decomposition was determined and methyl paraben was taken as the calibration compound to characterize the evaporation patterns for the ortho and meta derivatives. The Eact values for ortho, meta and para derivatives were 64.8, 78.2, and 119.1 kJ mol–1, respectively. The Antoine and Langmuir equations were utilized to determine the coefficient of evaporation k, which was 124525±0.8, units being in the SI system. The vapor pressure plots were generated for the ortho and meta derivatives; ΔHvap for these two compounds were obtained as 66.7 and 80.4 kJ mol–1, respectively.
Parallel Application Development with the Hybrid MPI+OpenMP Programming Model

Many parallel platforms in use today are clusters of SMP systems, connected by Ethernet or one of the high-speed networks available. Some provide global memory addressing. Codes developed to run on these machines are often written using the MPI library for exchanging data. Increasingly, however, application developers have begun exploring the use of OpenMP in conjunction with MPI as a programming model. OpenMP is an industry standard for shared memory parallel program. Unlike MPI, it is based upon a set of directives that are inserted into a Fortran or C/C++ code and translated by a compiler into an explicitly parallel code. When used together with MPI, OpenMP is normally used to exploit the shared memory within each of the SMPs in the target platform.In this tutorial, we review the OpenMP API for shared memory parallel programming, and then consider how OpenMP directives may be inserted into an existing MPI program. In order to understand how to do this well, we also look at performance issues related to the use of OpenMP. We complete the tutorial by discussing the potential benefits of this model and reporting on experiences already gained in a variety of efforts that have developed codes under this hybrid model.
John Gergely (1919–2013): a pillar in the muscle protein field

Dr. John Gergely passed away on July 26, 2013 after a long and distinguished career. His publications spanned 67 years. He founded the Department of Muscle Research in the Retina Foundation (which later became the Boston Biomedical Research Institute) and served as director for 34 years. Dr. Gergely served on the editorial boards of ten scientific journals. He was elected as a Fellow of both the Biophysical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Gergely made major contributions concerning muscle protein structure and function. He was best known for his work on the troponin complex. The insights of John and his associates have provided the foundation for our understanding of calcium regulation in skeletal and cardiac muscle.
Treating criminal offenders in correctional contexts: identifying interests and distributing responsibilities

In Panetti v. Quarterman, three professional associations advocated commutation of capital sentences for offenders who are incompetent to face execution. Some judicial opinions deny that convicted offenders have any protected interest in avoiding a legally imposed sentence, and other opinions have found that the Eighth Amendment requires treatment for prisoners with serious mental health needs. This article examines some circumstances in which health care providers in the context of criminal punishment encounter apparent conflicts among the treatment interests of the individuals, the comprehensive interests of these individuals, legally protected interests, and the public interest. This analysis pursues clarification of these interests and of potential tensions among legal and professional obligations of health care providers. This article does not provide comprehensive resolution of this tension. Rather, it is intended to promote rigorous ongoing inquiry by clarifying the relevant interests at stake and the responsibilities of various participants in the complex interaction of health care and corrections. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Expression of Hsp70, Na+/K+ ATP-ase, HIF-1α, IL-1β and TNF-α in captive Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) after chronic warm and cold exposure

Abstract Bluefin tuna (Thunnus spp.) are recently evolved teleosts with exceptional physiological and morphological specializations, whose aquaculture has become an increasing sector of the bluefin fishery. We studied the molecular expression of target gene transcripts in respect to experimental chronic cold and warm exposure in Pacific bluefin tuna liver, spleen, kidney and gill. The genes of interest were chosen as representative “biomarkers”, shown to change in fish exposed to temperature challenges: chaperon molecules (Hsp70); proteins engaged in active transport (Na+/K+ ATP-ase); oxygen-dependent genes (HIF-1α); and cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α). In captive Pacific bluefin tuna, these genes showed constitutive expression in all organs examined. A seven-week chronic exposure to cold temperature resulted in shifts in expression levels of oxygen-dependent HIF transcripts in spleen and gill, and Hsp70 in spleen, while other gene transcripts remain unaffected. The results indicate that a long-term exposure to cold imposes physiological pressure on this endothermic fish species, especially on haemaotopoietic and gas-exchange organs. We suggest that these two genes can be considered as potential biomarkers for thermal shifts in captive bluefin.
Regional Evacuation Modeling System (REMS): A decision support system for emergency area evacuations

Abstract In this paper we present a decision support system being developed at the University of Florida. The system is a PC-based software package that is capable of testing different emergency scenarios due to hurricanes, chemical accidents or nuclear accidents. The underlying models are optimization models based on a regional transportation network. One of the most significant aspects of the software is its ability to handle time dimension of the problem explicitly. It is this aspect of REMS that makes incorporation at any time of road blockages due to the presence of extremely hazardous substances or inundation of roads due to accidents or flooding possible in evacuation scenarios tested. The software has the ability to animate the evacuation process in time and display the flow of traffic on the links of the transportation network in a time-lapsed manner with color codes. Additionally REMS is also capable to animate the progress of the plume exposure pathway of an extremely hazardous substances as it evolves in time onto the evacuation network and to display the dynamic vehicle flow in time simultaneously.
Optical constants of organic tholins produced in a simulated Titanian atmosphere: From soft x-ray to microwave frequencies

The determination of the real (n) and imaginary (k) parts of the complex refractive index of thin films of the dark reddish organic solids called tholins, produced by continuous D.C. discharge through a 0.9 N2/0.1 CH4 gas mixture at 0.2 mb, is reported. For the 250 A-1000 micron wavelength range, n and k have been determined from a combination of transmittance, specular reflectance, interferometric, Brewster angle, and ellipsometric polarization measurements. Experimental uncertainties are estimated at + or -0.05 for n and + or -30 percent for k. The results in the visible range are consistent with deductions made by ground-based and spacecraft observations of Titan, in whose atmosphase tholins are thought to be present.